Black Phoenix Volume 1 - Rich Tommaso

Black Phoenix Volume One – Something Has Gone Terribly Wrong, by Rich Tommaso / 136-page paperback, 7 x 9 inches, published by Floating World Comics / ISBN 9781942801191 *** Black Phoenix is, at its core, a contemporary comics magazine featuring original characters and stories of various comics genres–all dreamed up by its sole author, Rich Tommaso. Don’t be fooled by the pseudonyms inside–he changes names as often as drawing styles. But, the magazine is also like a walk through comics history itself. Each volume of these golden age, pulp styled digest anthologies is headed up by a long-form comics adventure which is backed up by a bunch of short-form comics–all in the same genre or flavor. Inspired by the crime and horror films of the 1970s – 1980s, artist/writer Rich Tommaso has effectively utilized those influences in his first two original titles at Image, DARK CORRIDOR and SHE WOLF. Having grown up during these same time periods, he’s also been able to draw from his own life experiences to elevate and personalize his comics while simultaneously working within those classic genres. “The stories created by Tommaso reflect an incredible variety of genres and tones. While many comics creators tend to be pegged for the one thing they do best, Tommaso defies definition in this regard. He regularly tackles a wide array of stories, including horror, crime, thriller, and even funny animals. There’s really no guessing what his next project might look like.” – Chase Magnett