Overkill Comics (Mockups)

Overkill Comics - FAKE

Is it time for some more FAKE comics? I feel it is.

The options are as numerous as there are artists/bands to choose from, but it works best when there's an associated theme or mascot, as there is with Overkill.

The skull with wings creature made its first appearance on album number three, titled Under the Influence (1988), which, incidentally, was the first Overkill album that I ever owned and is largely responsible for the love of that decade's Thrash music that I still have today.

Named Chaly, the skull-bat has been the cover star of most of their subsequent studio albums. At time of writing that's a 'holy-shit-impressive' nineteen more - and that's not counting Live stuff, EPs, or Compilations, which would add another nine or ten to the tally. 

Overkill are prolific and, with very few exceptions, are still producing albums that put their peers to shame - newcomers and old duffers alike. Yes, that absolutely includes Metallica and Megadeth. [1]

The Official Star Trek Fact Files (1997-2002)

The Official Star Trek Fact Files (1997-2002)

Authors: Various | Illustrators: Various | Page Count: 8512 (28 pp x 304 issues)

(Alternatively, 7904 not counting the cover + table of contents of each individual issue.)

Partworks - they keep making them, so there must be an acceptable profit margin in it for publishers, even though a huge percentage of folks will get pissed off with the duration and expense and give up buying the damned things before the final issue rolls off the presses.

The Official STFF ran longer than most, over five years, and anyone buying the bi-monthly issues was lucky if their copy wasn't dog-eared and coming apart at the seams, which were designed to come apart (they were perforated), but not, I think, before they even left the fuggin' store!

Information on what the Files contain is better documented on the dedicated Star Trek wikis (Memory Alpha, for example), so if you want a detailed rundown, I recommend visiting those.

What's below is just one person's thoughts on the publication. I didn't have the full collection, I stopped buying the issues when the store that I got them from failed to fulfil the request, but I'd a hell of a lot. I donated the entirety of what I had to a children's charity some years back, when moving into a smaller property, but I got years of enjoyment from them and am pleased that they also aided a good cause - and this post.

Ōkami: Official Complete Works Art Book (2008)

Ōkami: Official Complete Works Art Book (2008)

Author: Capcom | Illustrator: Various | Page Count: 288

'As my evangelical work, I do record herein the various events to which I bore witness during my long travels with Ōkami Amaterasu.'

~Issun, Celestial Envoy.

Once upon a time it seemed like every cash-grabbing, whoring video game dev or publisher was producing special editions of their biggest titles that asked fans of 'Deluxe' to dig deep into their pockets to acquire.

Most included some kind of plastic figurine with little or no articulation, made for display purposes only; and that's fine as long as you know beforehand what you're getting and have the shelf space to display it.

The lazier developers didn't bother with any kind of plastic tat. They'd throw in an A5 art book with shiny paper and minimal content and figured it'd suffice.

The Ōkami Complete Works is kind of like that except it's on a bigger, grander and more beautiful scale, and the content is worth celebrating.