A Peek Into the Doomsday Device Called “Angelmaker”

ByProfessor Upsidasium; Source: Steampunk Chronicle

Anglemaker is about the clockwork of fates and destinies that interconnect us all, asking the question “Is our collective internal bearings true? And if not, what were to happen if someone went about ‘fixing’ that…?” More chillingly, it dares, “…And what would happen if that someone got it horribly, terribly wrong in the attempt?”

Ages, like gears, mesh together behind the backdrop of a dreary, very mundane contemporary London where the unfortunately named Joe Spork is living in the twin shadows of his father and grandfather.  Grand-dad Daniel was a master-class clockwork artisan and daddy-dearest Mathew was a master-class gangster in the 50s.  Overwhelmed by their legacies, Joe has grown into a disappointed and disappointing shade of a man, drifting without many options, stuck between gears.  When the ancient Edie Banister tests Joe’s ability to fix ever-stranger bits of clock-driven machinery, it brings both of them to the attention of vast forces seeking to find and control the “Angelmaker,” a nearly mythical device which could either push mankind into a hopeful nirvana or destroy the whole human race.

The DCU, Old and New. Part 3 of 3

By Doctor Q, Source: SpaceGypsies.com

We’ve looked at the past of the DCU and we’ve seen the road map planned for the Relaunch and how it has been perceived.  Now we look to the future of the DCU, and the manner and method this relaunch has taken. It turns out the heritage of the characters was something the creative teams on the various books have certainly honored, as well as the scope, which is truly massive.

The New 52 spans across the whole universe. With titles like The New Guardians and the various Green Lantern books taking you across the reaches of space, to the earth-bound tales of the heroes and villains of the world we live in. What excited me the most is than MANY of the books depart from superheroes. The New 52 has honored the long standing 75-year legacy of their heritage with supernatural, war, science-fiction, and western comics coming back on the stands.

The New 52 books span throughout not only space but time, as the books tell stories from the New 52’s past, present, and future. Books such as Demon Knights tell of the Medieval world, whereas All Star Western shows you Jonah Hex in the frontier town of Gotham City, long before the Bat took to the belfry. And DC’s favorite heroes from the 31^st Century continue on their tales of the future in Legion of Superheroes and Legion Lost.

But the core of the New 52 is putting a new, modern spin to superheroes. Its flagship title, Justice League, was the first to hit the stands and takes place five years before “present day” and tells of the dawn of the superheroes.

The DCU, Old and New. Part 2 of 3

By Doctor Q, Source: SpaceGypsies.com

As a result of the events in Flashpoint, DC made some major changes both to its publishing format and industry as a whole, as well as to the fictional universe – the New 52. It was, in essence, a total and complete overhaul from the top down. First up, DC canceled its entire line of publications and is embarking on the unprecedented effort of releasing 52 all new #1s. This includes titles like Action Comics and Detective Comics, which had been continuing their respective runs since the 1930s. In addition, DC is embracing the information age by releasing their titles digitally on the same day as they are published, called day-to-date publishing. This means that folks that have been using their laptops or tablets to read comics of late no longer have to wait weeks or months to keep up to date with their favorite stories.

In addition, they are not actually really rebooting their universe. DC made a very concerted point to call their effort a “relaunch,” as they are picking and choosing the best parts of their respective characters’ histories, and then putting a fresh face on it moving forward.

The DCU, Old and New. Part 1 of 3

By Doctor Q, Source: SpaceGypsies.com

Greetings fellow fanboys and fangirls. The good folks here at SpaceGypsies asked me if I could pitch in and serve as their comics correspondent. Normally, for those that know me over on Steampunk Chronicle, I tend to be overly active in that world – so I jumped at the opportunity to talk about my other love, forgoing gears in the name of graphic novels.

October now brings us a full month into what is perhaps the biggest event in the major comics industry since the rise of the independent comics companies in the early 90s – arguably bigger. I am, of course, speaking of DC’s Relaunch, dubbed the New 52. As such, I will be writing this multi-part story to give all of you whom have been curious about the DC Universe, along with those well stepped in the lore of those within, my own take on this process covering both its history, legacy, present, and projected future. Ambitious, I know. Allow me to begin with some Comics Lore 101 as we go into the beginnings of what we call the DCU (that’s short for the “DC Comics Universe” for those unaware).