Comic Review: ChiSai - Karma

ChiSai: Karma - The Complete Collected Edition
Written by Bart A Thompson
Various Artists
Approbation Comics
Cover Price: $3.50; Available Now

A lone mystery man has been making the life of crime lord Jeno a living hell with a constant barrage on his henchmen and bank accounts. Jeno has searched through his entire payroll looking for the perpetrator, only to discover that this "man" is actually a woman by the name of Shy, a young trained assassin that used to be in his employ and had thought to be left for dead. Armed with a katana and retractable matching sais, and protected head to toe with bulletproof armor, Shy is out to destroy Jeno's empire before finally facing him one last time...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls Vs. Zombies -- Special Edition Preview Issues #3 and #0

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls Vs. Zombies
Special Edition Preview Issues #3 and #0
Writer: Bart A. Thompson
Artist: Steve Doty, Jed Raven
Approbation Comics
Cover Price: $3.50; Available Now

Bart A Thompson's adventures of three buxom badass zombie-busting gals have been floating around for a few years now, courtesy of his own Approbation Comics. So far there have been three Special Edition Preview issues put forth, and you can read all about the first issue, where Paige, Jamie, and Brittney make their debut, right here on Geeks Of Doom. This review should get you up to speed on just what Thompson is going for with this series...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: ChiSai: Duality #1

ChiSai: Duality #1
Written by Bart A. Thompson
Pencils & Inks by Francisco Paronzini
Grayscale by Jorge Mongiovi
Letters by Richard Nelson
Cover Colors By Mike Beals
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $3.99; Available Now

There comes a time in every person’s life when they must ask themselves the *tough* questions:

Who am I?

Where is my life headed?

What would I do if I were suddenly accosted by gun-toting assassins while taking a shower?

Well, friends, the answer to one or more of these questions (...prrrobably just the one...) can be found in the pages of Approbation’s new two-part mini-series, ChiSai: Duality.

ChiSai is the story of Shy, a badass martial artist with a dark past who is just trying to live a peaceful existence in relative isolation with her boyfriend and their daughter. When visitors of the masked and violent variety come a-callin’ (during the most personal of moments), Shy learns that said dark past (established in the original miniseries, ChiSai: Karma) has come back to haunt her. She is forced to leave her peaceful life behind to tie up loose ends and ensure her family is never threatened again...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Eleven Questions with T.E. Pouncey: Bart A. Thompson

(Because 10 are not enough --- and who has time to read twelve?)

In 1992, Bart Alexander Thompson created the first incarnation of Approbation Comics. In that early version he hand wrote, drew, lettered, and distributed Xerox copied "ashcan" copies of his vision. In the following years, Bart devoted his time to creating and cultivating characters and storylines, watching trends, and researching the graphic illustrated novel industry. His first full color, Diamond-distributed comic book was Vampires Unlimited: Shades of Things to Come.

Since 2005, Bart has worked as a professional writer, editor, and letterer working for companies such as Alias Enterprises, Arcana Studios, and Dead Dog Press. With limited funds, Thompson has been able to publish numerous small press titles including Myriad, Vampires Unlimited, ChiSai, Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies, Amour, the Evil Inside, and more...continue reading this interview at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: Amour #1

Amour: The Amour Anthology #1
Written by Bart A. Thompson
Art by Ezequiel Pineda
Letters by Brant W. Fowler
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $3.50; Available Now

The skinny on Amour, an Approbation Comics title, is that it’s a black-and-white anthology of three one-and-done storylines about dating life in our society today. Billed as a romance comic book, each story is a bite-sized chunk of early relationship stages, i.e., the really uncomfortable dating portions. The anthology format is one that caters to shorter story, limiting the overall scope of a book, generally frustrating interested readers but pulling in casual readers with easy to access stories and fresh characters. Amour is a nice balance of short-play stories generally centered around two individuals in situations that are, for the lack of a better term, called dates. The shorter stories play down Bart Thompson’s likely weakness with writing longer narratives...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: Myriad #1-4

Myriad #1-4
Various Artists
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $2.99; Available Now

Anthology comics are few and far between, and are always tricky to market to the masses, especially when you are dealing with a title with not just multiple short stories, but multiple titles and storylines that are entities unto themselves under that anthology umbrella. The choice to make it as homogeneous as possible to target a specific audience (think Marvel Comics Presents), or to make it a diverse compilation that will force readers out of their comfort zone and expose them to new genres and storytelling is always difficult. Approbation Comics, with their Myriad line, decides to take a huge gamble by bringing together five titles that couldn’t possibly be more different under the same umbrella, with each title getting approximately eight pages per book. Does the gamble pay off?...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: The Evil Inside #2

The Evil Inside #2
Writer: Bart A. Thompson
Illustrators: Chris Kohler,
Michele Buscalferri, and
Alex Massacci
Lettering: B. Alex Thompson
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $3.50; Available Now

Writer and CEO of Approbation Comics Bart A. Thompson returns for a second go-around of short anthology horror stories with a different artist penciling each story. This time around, Thompson strays a bit from the Tales From The Crypt dark-humored twists, and though each story retains a "gotcha" ending, his artists decide to all but abandoned any thematic linking the EC Comics art style.

In "Identity," a young man awakens in an alley, unaware of who he is and why he is beat up, but senses that there is someone after him. As he makes his way out of the alleyways, he comes across an equally beaten young woman, who is shaken by whoever attacked her. The amnesiac takes the woman, practically by force, back to a familiar building to both defend her and protect himself. But as he makes his way through the building, fragmented memories begin to needle him in the back of his mind. Who is he, and why does this apartment building look so familiar?...continue reading this article at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: The Evil Inside #1

The Evil Inside #1
Writer: Bart A. Thompson
Illustrators: Paul Schultz,
Jake Sumbing, and
Giovanni P. Timpano
Lettering: Brant W. Fowler
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $3.50; Available Now

CEO and Editor-In-Chief of Approbation Comics Bart A. Thompson spins three tales from different horror genres in this first issue of short story anthologies. The comic, as stated in the back of the comic, was a test that Thompson put on himself to see if he could tell a full story within the confines of a set page length. He then asked one artist each to pencil the stories. Now, you can't go around creating horror anthology comic books without having to deal with comparisons to the king of horror anthology, EC Comics and their numerous titles. Thompson's writing comes off solid here, as he quickly sets up the characters, lets them lead the reader into thinking they know what is going to happen, and then pulls the rug out with an unexpected twist. Even by the time the third story comes around, and you are consciously looking for the hidden twist, Thompson still manages to surprise...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies
SPECIAL PREVIEW EDITION #1
Writers: Bart A. Thompson
and S. Michelle Thompson
Art & Letters: Andy Screen
and Louis Bernal
Cover: Christian Duce
and Martin Coccolo
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $2.99; Available Now

The world as we know it is quickly coming to an end as the undead are rising from the graves, infecting the living, and spreading the zombie apocalypse worldwide. Caught in the middle of all of this is Jamie, a tough ass-kicking action junkie, Brittney, a flirtatious and clueless blonde who has survived purely on luck, and Paige, your average level-headed co-ed whose got just enough smarts to become a leader. Together, these three college cuties become a buxom trio out to save themselves and put a few walking corpses back in the cemetery, if only they can tolerate each other’s clashing personalities long enough to survive...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom