Review: Milk: Udder Nonsense: Dairy consumption and our health (Healthy living Book 1) by Ariah Avni

Milk:Udder Nonsense is a very well, written and informative book about the dangerous effects of cow's milk on human beings. The author makes a valid point, "If a human mother's milk isn't suitable for cows, who would cow's milk be suitable for humans?" Avni backs up his ideas with research and provides footnotes for every statement he makes. If you love milk, this is a book you need to read so you can save yourselves a lot of physical discomfort and harm.

Firestorm Comics "Catman: Evolution!" Launch Starts Today!

Click on the picture above to join the party!

Review: Catman: Evolution Issue #1 & Interview with Brad Linder from FireStorm Comics

Catman: Evolution is the first release from Firestorm Comics.  The first Catman comic was launched in 1940 by Tem Publishing and picked up by the late great Holyoke Publishing where it ran until 1946.  The original Catman told the story of David Merrywether, a man who had been raised by a Tigress in Burma after his parents were killed.  When David was returned to the US, he was aghast at the way criminals were preying on citizens.  David first became a private detective and later served as an officer in the US Army.  David was stationed stateside and began to wear an orange and olive green costume along with a black cat symbol and became known as Catman.  That was then, and this was is now.

Catman is back, this time Darren Merrywether, the grandson of the original Catman, is the man behind the mask.  Darren treads a fine line between protecting the innocent and becoming a ruthless vigilante willing to use extreme measures to right wrongs.  The comic is very well drawn and the story line has many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing from page to page.  I definitely am glad to see catman back and can't wait to see what happens in future issues.  
Please be aware, Catman maybe a comic book, but it does not shy away from coarse language and extreme violence.  As a huge fan of Kirkman's 'The Walking Dead" comics, this is right up my alley and i did not find it offensive in anyway.

I had the pleasure of being able interview Brad Linder. creator, editor, and penciler for Catman.  Brad provided a great deal of insight to the future of Catman and Firestorm comics.  That interview is posted below.

Q. Tell us about the character Catman.  What are his origins, his motivations, and what he hopes to accomplish?

A.  Darren MerryWether is a man that is heir to both the MerryWether foundation and the CatMan anti-hero persona, which his grandfather, David MerryWether first established.

Q.  When did you first come up with the idea of Catman and how long have you been working on the book?

A.  I created the CatMan Evolution concept in 2007 and have been sitting on it, developing the character as part of a much larger original universe that has and will become FireStorm Comics. I was working on some of Brett Kelly's direct to video film and comic projects at the time, when he brought public domain characters to my attention as ' real properties ' of use.

I was working on his Jack-of-Spades comic and was helping with suggestions on the finishing storyboards for his next Scarab movie.  After some research and some serious though, I decided to go into creating my own unique line up of these characters...That's when I cam up with the ' origin ' story and CatMan Evolution was the second in the first fave properties to come out of that flahship lineup.

Now, it is well over a thousand characters both original and inspired  characters and over 60+ titles in the works over the next 3 years.

Q.     In what direction do you see the series moving as more editions are released?

A: We are pushing into a few key directions right now. Without giving the whole plot away, we are going to be exploring Darren holding his own in his family's firm, as he is forced to take the lead when his grandmother is pushed out of office, while trying to control his ' feral instincts ', as his powers develop and grow within him as CatMan.

We will see just how far he is willing to go in each situation, as he fights an internal battle to remain Darren, the humanitarian, vs. the limitless bounds of the Cat spirit craving justice in it's most primitive form.

Q.     Do you have any other projects you are working on and can discuss at this time?

A.  We have a large number of projects already well into production but we have our next two titles specifically that are ready for reveal, sure.

The first one is ' Lone Rider: Frontier Galaxy ' , a sci-fi/steampunk western that is set in the future, on the planet, New Kansas. It is about a soldier turned rancher that is trying to make a life for his family, when his family is killed and he becomes the new face of outlaw justice.

The next one is ' Fox: Den of Shadows ', a man that becomes a hero out of nessessity, after being in real war and getting a peek at who is really in charge. Fox brings a new style of crime fighting to the underworld, sincerely trying to make the world a better place. This series has a lot of deep twists and turns, dealing with spies, assassins, terrorists and the underworld, putting Fox face to face and toe to toe with them.

Q.    I noticed Catman isn't afraid to crack skulls and spill blood in his effort to fight crime.  What else differentiates him from the “do no harm” type crime fighters?

A.  He is an amazing detective but with more of a hard-hitting ' beat your way to the truth ' type of character. He is a very reactionary character and once he has solid information, doesn't hesitate to act on it immediately. We are taking a very aggressive direction with the way this character handles any given situation. He is all about getting the job done.

Unlike any other character, this one is driven by his primal and emotional impulses of the moment, in constant confliction with his mind.  Where most characters have an established set of rules, it is left up to the moment as to what CatMan will decide to do in eliminating a threat. The character is a true wild card.

Q.     Does Firestorm Comics have a mission statement and if so, what is it?

A.   FireStorm Comics is a mainstream quality company with indie creativity and freedom, dedicated to creating comics for fans that grew up with comics but comics never grew up with them.

Q.     In what direction do you see Firestorm Comics moving with future releases? 

A.  We are going a completely different direction with FireStorm projects, as we plan to completely avoid the common fad of rebooting and rehashing characters once they get into a storyline they weren't written out of in the first place.

Granted all of the characters and titles are based from original creator-owned properties, coming in as brand new custom creations or inspired from public domain properties. However, each is unique, new and original material that was developed for the FireStorm Comics Universe.

Every title we release is contained within our own unique universe timeline and the possibilities are truly wide open and endless.

Q.     You’re working on a unique form of distribution and customer support.   Can you tell us what it is all about?

A. Yes, we are releasing a sister company that is strictly digital distribution and will be revolutionizing the way comics are promoted, produced and even funded in some cases.

The service is designed with both the comic creator and fan involved. Our goal with the service is to expose comics to fans that wouldn't otherwise see these books, due to the mainstream monopoly on distribution of the comics market that exists at this moment.

The service puts the book out there for the fans, retailers and press, giving it the max potential of public awareness and option to support funding, promote and even purchase directly from the publisher.

All of the funding, payments, sales and distribution/delivery is on the individual publisher at this time, as this service is in it's beta testing phase and is strictly for exposure at the moment, which is what is primarily needed. The current distribution process is drastically flawed and is set by standards to filter out any submitted projects as potential competition to the existing ' exclusive clients ', which are guaranteed first option of publishing a given style of title/character.

With this service, you publish your book, print and/or digital and we promote it to the masses for you, where it will be seen and potentially lead to sales. We send it out to all major retailers, news outlets and fan social media outlets across the globe.

Q.   There were a total of 7 people who worked on Catman Evolution.  Are they all staff members?  Can you tell us a little bit about them? 

A.  Sure, we are all dedicated members of the FireStorm staff and we work in ' teams '.

Writer - Veronica " Ronnie " Massey came to my attention a couple of years ago, as a successfully published paranormal romance novelist. She wanted to cut her teeth in comics and after discussing a few of her ideas, I knew she was the person to step up and bring this series to full script.  She has come through without a doubt and is a solid anchor for the team, as she is very supportive of each level of the process.

Artist - Rod Islas came to me as a very talented artist that had worked on a few indie projects that were coming together. This was his first real title though and he did a beautiful job on it, until he suddenly decided to leave the project at page 18. We still hold his credit in the title and we wish him the best but, he completely took himself off the grid, with emails, ids and profiles across the board.

Inker - Luis Alonso is a very direct and private guy, as well as an extremely talented inker. He is one of the most loyal and dedicated members of our team and hasn't failed to help me in a pinch while always being on top of his game for getting his page work in ahead of schedule.

Colorist - Blue Zhao is an amazing young talent that lives in China and works for a full time graphics production studio that produces comics and animation, as well as freelances on projects she really enjoys, which CatMan Evolution caught her interest. That is luck for us, as along with losing Rod, we had a chain reaction of doubt and concern on the project, which lead to the termination of two colorists before we found Blue. She has been another key team player, as she is the colorist on the ' origin ' story as well as the CatMan Evolution title.

Letterer - T. Perran Mitchell, the man we know as Tom or ' Blam-Blam ' for his classic use of sound effects, is an amazing graphics guy as well as family man, which is all about getting the job done and is truly someone you can count on. He has been one of the members that keeps in the thick of things and prefers to know as much as possible of the progress of a project he is involved with. However, it isn't out of being in control but, sincere interest and wanting to help as much as possible.

Then, we finally come down to me...in a nutshell; I'm a Comic Book Creation & Marketing
Expert. I'm a family first and business second type of man but passionate about both to a fault. I've worked in every aspect of the industry, with both wins and losses, having every day be a more driven reason to do what I love to do, make comics and improve this industry for the people working so hard within it.

Q.   Please feel free to offer any closing statement or other information about the book, Firestorm Comics, or anything else you’d like to share.

A.  CatMan Evolution is not just the evolution of a single character for the modern age of comics but, for all comics and characters within the FireStorm Comics Universe. We are hoping to lead the way for other creators to follow our example and see that there is room for all of us and that your creation does deserve to be seen and heard.

If you produce a professional grade product and present it to the world, we support you, just as you support us. It takes a lot of hard work, time, effort and bravery to make a comic come to life and I'm so proud of my team, as well as anyone that puts themselves out there on that level.

Support comics you like by reading them, buying them in both print and digital formats, as well as spreading the word and sharing them with friends, family, retailers and distributors alike. Spread the word so that not just FireStorm Comics can bring you more great titles but, all of the great creators can get their time in the spotlight as well.

Comics are about creativity, entertainment, expression and community sharing all of those experiences through the common middle-man that is the character in the title.

Be sure and check us out on our new blog over at our Kickstarter and follow the FREE  online preview of the origin story , CatMan Evolution, Fox: Den of Shadows and Lone Rider: Frontier Galaxy and everything else we've got coming up on our main site.

Thank you for your time.  It's been a pleasure discussing Catman and Firestorm comics with you!

Thank for your time and doing this for us. FireStorm Comics - We're Just Getting Warmed Up!

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The interview was a great experience for me.  I want to make everyone aware that the release date on the pre-order Kickstart Edition is October 15, 2014.  For more information, please visit the following sites:

https://www.facebook.com/FireStormComics?ref=hl

http://www.firestormcomics.com