Well, we’re happy to announce the return of Shades of Blue in digital format. Who would have thought digital comics would take off like this? Not a publishing company with the name “Digital” in their name, would it? Ha!

Look for Shades of Blue (and several other titles soon to be announced) on ComiXology.

Happy Halloween!

And coming soon, our fan-favorite anthology Digital Webbing Presents will experience a DIGITAL EVOLUTION and return as a digital series with all-new original material!

Check out the Digital Webbing page at Comixology

Look for Revenge of the Butcheress this November. Be sure to ask your local comic shop to save you a copy! More details on order numbers by the end of this month.

Anyways, our Diamond rep got the order to cancel the book but pushed for distribution because of our recent FCBD edition. Of course this means it may be the last issue distributed through the distributor. It may also be the last issue in single issue print form.

We’ve been working on the series for a while now and have up to issue #8 finished and are starting development on #9 as I type this. How are we going to get these issues out, you ask? Well, we’ve signed a deal to get FOJ on the iPhone/iPod through the Apple Store. We’re also thinking about collecting the issues into once or twice a year trade paperback releases. More details to follow.

Our hopes are to keep FOJ out there every other month for as long as we can keep getting distributed. So if you’re a fan of the series — you NEED to have your local shop order these for you.

Here’s the solicit info for this issue:
A blast from Marc Mason’s past shows up and turns on the heat.  Because you demanded it! The return of Blaze!  And just who is this old man claiming to know who Fist of Justice really is?  Trust us when we say, he’s going to change Fist of Justice’s life forever!

Written by Mike Imboden, illustrated by Pow Rodrix, colored by Edemilson Alexandre, lettered by Ed Dukeshire, edited by Mike Exner III, cover by Chad Hardin

Plot: Fist of Justice returns to crime fighting after 30 years of being locked away in an asylum. Upon returning to Charm City he discovers a new Fist of Justice has taken his place and this one isn’t so nice.

This was a very interesting read, as the story for Fist of Justice has been thoroughly thought out and developed to create a complex look at the superhero genre. Spanning 30 years through continuity we see what happens when a hero fails and the repercussions of him giving up. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but its fun nonetheless.

We are given full backgrounds of both Fists of Justices, but I wonder whether the flashbacks actually occurred somewhere else. I can’t put my finger on it but it seems like by just picking this issue up, you do miss something, but the good thing is its nothing that hinders the storytelling. Apart from some overly descriptive thought bubbles and somewhat of a “lets explain how we did it” ending, nothing is really that weak.

The art is pretty good, is consistent throughout with no sense of rushing like mainstream comics sometimes have. However, the good Fist of Justice is a little cartoony compared to the cover art (which I felt had a beautiful hint of something Kirby-esque) and the bad Fist of Justice seems to channel the 1990s a bit too much.

I have no idea how this fits into the Fist of Justice series, but this issue has sparked my interest and it should get you to look for the rest of the series the next time you go to the store. Fist of Justice definitely deserves more a little more attention.