Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you’ll find my review of Rex Mundi, Book 1: The Guardian of the Temple, originally published in 2006 by Dark Horse Comics. Created by writer Arvid Nelson (Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris, Lords of Mars) and artist Eric J, it’s the first volume in the pulp-influenced adventures of Julien Saunière, a French doctor in an alternate-history Europe who becomes involved in a murder mystery that leads to a quest for the fabled Holy Grail. Think The Da Vinci Code meets Indiana Jones meets Hercule Poirot, with the world-building detail of Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re in store for. Head over to C4S to learn more.
Speaking of pulp influences, have you seen SWC’s The Bob Larkin Sketchbook? If not, you’re missing out on spectacular pencil drawings of femme fatales, pulp adventurers, superheroes, and a host of other characters by the talented Mr. Larkin, whose cover paintings graced such Marvel Comics titles as Dazzler, The Hulk!, Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian, Haunt of Horror, and Tomb of Dracula, not to mention his renowned work as a cover painter for Bantam Books’ Doc Savage pulp novel reprints.
It’s 24 pages of artistic goodness, available exclusively from the StarWarp Concepts webstore, and boasts two drawings done exclusively for this collection: a pinup of Doc Savage’s butt-kicking cousin, Patricia, and a two-page Mexican standoff between Doc and his crimefighting ally, The Shadow!
Visit the Bob Larkin Sketchbook product page for all the ordering information, as well as sample pages.
