Early Reviews of Owlgirls #1

OK kids, Owlgirls #1 (Red Anvil Comics) has been released and it is apparently getting some rave reviews. I'm going to post a few of them here.

First up is: 

Larry’s Comics pick of the week for Delivery 7/23/14

OWLGIRLS #1

RED ANVIL INC
(W) Robert J. Sodaro (A) Rachele Aragno, Dave Ryan (CA) Rachele Aragno

NYC, 1945, three mystical private detective sisters, better known as Owlgirls, live in a mortuary in SoHo. Often doing the bidding of Death by tracking down supernatural creatures, they also investigate murders, unsolved cases, and assist in sundry other paranormal activities.

Microscopic print run that in addition to appealing to the Wednesday Warriors can also service the recent fangirl explosion to the industry. Strong female lead charachters & an element of fun made me pull the trigger on this sure to be tough to find #1.

Next is: 

The GeekNation Pull List – 7/24/2014

From Red Anvil: Owlgirls #1 by Rachele Aragno (Characters, Story and Art), Robert J. Sodaro (Story and Script), and Dave Ryan (Art)

Cover art to Owlgirls #1, by Rachele Aragno.

I have to admit right up front: Owlgirls #1 is a weird comic book.

That’s not an admonishment, by any means. More often than not, when it comes to independent comics, usually the weirder it is, the better. There’s just simply a lot going on here, and the story attempts to mix so many elements together that it can be a little easy to become lost in the mix. The funny thing about that, though, is that even with so many different elements in play (period piece, ethereal mysticism, women with the heads of owls), this issue never becomes incoherent. There’s a lot to keep track of, sure, but the writing and artwork tell a story that seems to very much know what it’s doing, even if that idea is unclear to the audience upon a single read-through.

Normally, I would attempt to summarize at least the beginning for you here, but it would be difficult to do so in a way that makes a whole lot of sense to anyone that hasn’t actually read the issue. We’re introduced to a lot of characters by the end of issue #1′s first half, and the creative team has laid the foundation for a lot of interesting implications that dabble in the genres of mystery, romance, fantasy, and even noir. As a story being told in the comic book medium, it uses the inherent efficiency that comic book storytelling inherently contains and pushes the amount of information on characters, setting, rules, and overall possibilities to the absolute limit. Even having said that, I never felt overloaded while actually reading this book. What may take other creators and titles at least a few issues in the pursuit of world-building has seemingly been accomplished in a single stroke by Aragno, Sodaro, and Ryan, and on that merit alone I have to applaud them.

You won’t have all of the answers by the time you get to the last page. If anything, you’ll actually have more questions coming out than going in, but the questions you’ll have likely weren’t even conceivable by the time you started reading the issue anyway. It’s kind of cool, and definitely intriguing.

If it isn’t clear, I’m definitely recommending this book. As vague as the issue seemed to be, I never felt it was vague simply because it wanted to be. It just seems that there’s a lot of material to cover before we go on this adventure fully. So, as a first issue, I think Owlgirls has a lot of interesting potential as we head into the second issue. 8/10

If you’re interested in giving it a read, check out it on digital platforms or you can encourage your local comic shop to order you a copy that you can then pick up with your regular pull list!

Here is what Word of the Nerd had to say: 

Owlgirls #1

NYC, 1945, three mystical private detective sisters, better known as Owlgirls, live in a mortuary in SoHo. Often doing the bidding of Death by tracking down supernatural creatures, they also investigate murders, unsolved cases, and assist in sundry other paranormal activities.

Written by: Robert J. Sodaro
Art by: Rachele Aragno, Dave Ryan
Cover Art by: Rachele Aragno

From Red Anvil Comics

And finally Comic Book Resources:

From start to finish, "Owlgirls" #1 is quite possibly the most unique comic book flying under the radar and hitting stands this week. After achieving success via Kickstarter, Dave Ryan, Robert J. Sodaro and Rachele Aragno bring a 1940s story to print starring three owl-faced sisters.

Magdalena, Maggie and Martha have the faces of owls, but otherwise appear to be normal women in New York City. Betrothed to Gebedhia, the mortuary proprietor, Magdalena serves as the matriarch of this odd little clutch. The cast is rounded out with an old lady who appears to be an analogue for Death, or may very well be Death herself. Writer Sodaro doesn't spend the entirety of "Owlgirls" #1 running the reader through expository boot camp, choosing instead to add flourish to the version of SoHo these ladies inhabit. The writer does scatter plenty of mystery seeds, however, and ends the issue with a threatening cliffhanger.

The art is what really separates "Owlgirls" #1 from everything else. The comic book opens with a quick of 1940s New York presented in a style that treads between photo-referenced and clearly hand-drawn. It's charming and engaging right from the start, especially with letterer Wilson Ramos, Jr. selecting Courier or a similar typewriter looking font to inform the reader and serve as tour guide.

The art itself is a solid collaboration between Rachele Aragno and Dave Ryan. Readers might see bits of Howard Chaykin, Matthew Clark, Guy Davis and early Mike Mignola in the these pages that are filled with 1940s fashion and decor, complete with flowery wallpaper and black and white checkerboard pattern tile flooring. Rather than spoil the art by applying modern coloring processes and tones, Ryan and Aragno elect to preserve the period feel and deteriorated nature, leaning heavily towards shades of sepia with deep, rich blacks to anchor imagery throughout the story. The characters throughout "Owlgirls" #1 are very distinct, a fine decision by the artists as they establish the foundation for this series to build upon.

While "Owlgirls" #1 snuck under the radar for me during its Kickstarter campaign, I'm glad I found it now. This is an odd little mash-up that could only succeed from an independent publisher and stands out as a true gem. I don't know where the creative team plans on taking this adventure, but "Owlgirls" #1 provides plenty of options, from tales of acceptance to mystical mayhem to mobsters showing up at a mortuary. Robert J. Sodaro, Rachele Aragno, Dave Ryan, Wilson Ramos, Jr. and Lawrence John Hansen have cooked up a bizarre time capsule packed with mystery that has my attention and deserves some more eyeballs checking it out.

__________

I have to say that I am honored and pleased to have so many of my peers to say such nice things about Owlgirls. I would like to take credit, but I can’t as this is truly a team effort, from Rachele Aragno's original concept, to Dave Ryan's vision and artistic magic, yes, to even my story, this is a great book, and not just because I’m part of the team that put it together, but because as Joe Martino and Dave Ryan (The publishers of Red Anvil Comics) have said. “We want to publish comics that are so cool that we'd spend our own money to buy them even if we weren't publishing them.” 

Thanks everyone, the best is yet to come!

Bob

Owlgirls drops this month!

As you may know, I've writing Rachele Aragno’s amazing comicbook (Aided and abetted by the able-bodied Dave Ryan), Owlgirls published by Red Anvil Comics. As you may not know it drops this month in comic shops all around the country.

Here are a couple of reviews of the comic that have just been posted.

OmniComics

Fanboy Comics

Indie Corner

As well as a preview from CBR

Recollection #2

Here is Recollection #2, a very cool retrospective mag by Rusty Gilligan. In it there is a couple of articles I wrote (one about Rich Buckler,and a second about Rachele Aragno’s debut Red Anvil Comicbook, Owlgirls).

The reviews are in for Owlgirls

Well, we are extremely pleased to announce that a couple of reviewers have weighed in on Owlgirls, and the response is overwhelmingly positive (three reviews, to of them loved it and we are discounting the third as being from the Russian Judge).

First up, is a review from Comics Bulletin where the Reviewer totally got what I as the writer was attempting to do in the comic's first issue.

Then there is one from Fanboy Comics where the reviewer also understood what we were going for witht he book.

If you are a reviewer and would like a review copy, please reach out to us and let us know so that we can get you a copy.

Vodka O'Clock

A short time ago Dave Ryan, Rachele Aragno, and I were all interviews by Amber Love on her podcast, Vodka O'Clock about Owlgirls.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety here.

Mission Accomplished: Owlgirls fully funded!

Well kids we did it! That’s right the Owlgirls comic that I'm writing (which was created by Rachele Aragno and art-directed by Dave Ryan), is a go!

We were looking for a mere $3,463.00 but what we managed to raise was a whopping $4,000.00! So as you can guess, I’m wicked excited that managed to squeeze in at least one stretch goal!

This was my first time running a Kickstarter campaign, and man, did I have fun...It made me a total nervous wreck, but yep I totally had fun creating and posting all the Memes that I did (I’ll have to repost ‘em here for you fine folks who didn’t get to see them on my Facebook page.)

I said it elsewhere but I’ll say it again, Thanks to both Rachele who let both Dave and I participate in her dream, and thanks to Dave for thinking of me that I would be able to rise to the task of actually bringing life to Rachele’s characters.

Also I would like to thank Joe Martino for all of his invaluable suggestions and advice as well as for his unflagging support as I started to unravel towards the end of the program.

The first issue is all done, Rachel and Dave are working on issue #2 (which I already wrote), and now I’m moving forward on scripting issue #3. Seriously kids, the best part of this ride is yet to come!

Owlgirls: People are talking.

Well, you all know that we love Owlgirls (and not just because we are the writer of the series), but we have begun to notice that other folks are talking about Owlgirls as well, these include our very good friend Bill Baker, who wrote about them in The Morton Report, but a couple of other bloggers who report on Kickstarter campaigns.

Nick Ahlhelm wrote about them in his Super Powered Fiction blog, and than Den of Geek talktalked about us in one of their Crowd Funding Friday reports as well. 

Of course there was also Amy Wood (the Interactive News Anchor in the Carolinas at WSPA-TV News Channel 7 in Greenville, SC) who did a brief video interview with us a couple of days ago on her Spreecast, and of course our project coordinator Dave Ryan was interviewed by Slamfest Media about the Owlgirls. 

We even got a mention on our local Norwalk Patch site, plus we know that many of our friends have been re-tweeting and re-posting our links, and we totally love you all for that.

Still, kids, we are not quite there yet, we are still shy some $670.00, so we could still use your help, if you have already pledged, thanks much, you have our undying gratitude, If you haven't, now would be a great time to do so, every little bit helps. 

In any case, if you could please pass our link around we are certain that there are people out there that would love to help us out, but haven't yet gotten the word. 

Thanks again, and see you in the funny papers!

Owlgirls: A quick snapshot

OK folks here we are in the final stretch of the Owlgirls Kickstarter campaign, and we are almost there.

With just 4 days to go we are $670.00 shy of our goal. We so totally don't want to miss out on producing this wonderfully eclectic comic for what amounts to just a few bucks.

Please dig down deep and help us reach our goal!

Thanks!

Owlgirls are going Viral!

No really, it is very cool that the Owlgirls are starting to catch on with other folks.

First off, our good pal and fellow Journalist, William (“Bill”) Baker just posted an article about the Owlgirls in his column in the Morton Report.

Then there is a short announcement that was posted by our hometown website The Norwalk Patch.

Yep. All the world is in love with the Owlgirls, and we’d totally love it if you, gentle reader, could find your way to help us fund our project (I’m the writer).

Please check out our Kickstarter page to find out more about the Owlgirls project and to learn how to donate to help out our very worthy cause to launch this very entertaining comicbook.

Do what the Minions say!

Minions love Owlgirls!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/DaveRyan/owlgirls/?ref=kicktraq

The OwlgirlsKickstarter is running hot!

Hey Kids, just wanted you all to know about the Owlgirls Kickstarter event that is currently going on.

Owlgirls are the creation of Rachele Aragno who developed this very engaging story of  a trio of Italian sisters who are living in the SoHo district of New York City and operate as sort of a team of psychic  private detectives during the 1940s. The girls have mystical powers and heads of owls. While they are trying to live a normal life, that just isn't going to happen.

The Project is being Art-Directed by Dave Ryan (The War of the Independents) and written by myself (Wülf Girlz). We are looking to crowd-source fund this project, and really could use your help in gettig that done. Please click over to our Kickstarter page check us out, and then make your pledge, You'll be glad you did (and so will we).

 

Owlgirls are coming

So, after some three decades of promoting other people's project (a friend and fellow journalist pointed out to me that makes me one of the longest-running journalists in the field of comics) I’m here now promoting one of my own projects. Owlgirls. 

On this kickstarter project I’m the writer which was conceived by Italian artist Rachele Aragno. Rachele was introduced to me by my good friend, Dave Ryan (mastermind behind the War of the Independents), who is also acting as Art Director on the project. Again, I'm the writer, and I built the story of the Owlgirls on Rachele’s wholly original concept, and have crafted a five-story arc to introduce them to the world.

Well, the first issue is completed, the second issue has been written and is now being illustrated, and I’m currently working on crafting the third story now. We have until September 1, 2013 to raise $3,463.00 to get the first issue into print, and are offering up all sorts of very cool rewards for people who assist us in getting this project to market.

For those of you who might not be familiar with the Kickstarter paradigm, it is a crowd-sourcing, fund-raising venue that allows Independent creators to seek backing from numerous friends and family in small amounts — which is actually easier than attempting to seek larger sums of money from individual backers. The way this works is that we have "X" amount of time to raise "Y" amount of money to fund our project. If we do that, it is off to market. If, however, we fail to raise the required amount of money, then the project is over and no one who pledged money has to come up with that funding.

Needless to say, we are highly confident that we will raise that money and we will get the Owlgirls published.So click over to the link ad start your pledging!

Oh, and thanks a bunch for helping us with this endeavor!