GeekMom Dives into Capt'n Eli and The Sea Ghost

Check out what Jenny Williams has to say on GeekMom about Jay Piscopo's "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" graphic novel series and his new Sea Ghost comic book. Read review HERE.

March 28, 2011
Jenny Williams

The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli and The Sea Ghost

On my exciting new journey to becoming a comic book person, I’ve gotten to read the beginnings of a series that is great for both kids and adults. Called The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli and done by Jay Piscopo, this series has origins in the world of root beer, yet has nothing to do with fizzy beverages. It’s about a boy with a mysterious past who is drawn to the sea. He joins others to help keep peace and keep people safe in the sea, and he finds other mysterious beings as well as whole cultures that are hidden from the surface.

The artwork in Capt’n Eli is a cross between old school styles and computer animated images. It contains both at the same time, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. But the drawings are simple and uncluttered. They instantly made me think of Jonny Quest.

I was sent the first two issues of Capt’n Eli to review. They started out with uncomplicated story lines that would be easy for kids to follow and get excited about. Not having a comic book reading background, I have little comic comparisons to make here, but the story beginnings remind me of shows like Scooby Doo and others from my childhood. As an adult, you see the obvious solutions to the problems that come up, but as a kid, you’re just along for the ride.

The series starts off with “The Mystery of Me,” which explains where Capt’n Eli came from and his back story. The series then continues with “The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea,” which takes everyone into the Bermuda Triangle area. Havoc ensues. Time travel figures prominently in the story lines, along with plenty of mystery, adventure, intrigue, and history, all surrounding the sea and its environs.

To learn more about the history of the characters, the story lines also contain plenty of back story, often well-integrated into the story lines. Also, each issue ends with a bit of a cliff hanger, getting you to buy the next issue to see what happens next.

In the second issue, “The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea” continues. The story really develops here with plenty of sub plots, twists, parallel story lines, and quite a bit more complexity. Perfectly wonderful for kids, but also interesting enough for adults to read, you learn about life under the sea and see more of a glimpse into other characters’ lives. One of the major characters in the series, Commander X, is, to me, the most intriguing character. He, too, has a mysterious past, but is a responsible adult who tends to take matters into his own hands. The back of the first comic has comic book covers from Commander X’s days in the golden age of comics, in a more classic style. They tell his past like it is history, but is in the form of a comic book. It seems that in this universe, history is chronicled in comic books, which is pretty awesome.

The black page borders throughout much of the books make it feel a bit like you’re under water, which is where much of the series takes place. Little jokes are inserted for those who will get them, such as a transmitter called the Anti-M. A parrot is the plucky sidekick who tosses out sort-of-funny lines from time to time.

The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli was also reviewed over at GeekDad in 2008. Check out Brad Moon’s review there. He liked the series, too!

In response to the reception of the Capt’n Eli books, Jay Piscopo built on one of the characters in the series, doing a stand-alone comic on The Sea Ghost. The Sea Ghost artwork reminds me of the 1970s/1980s Super Friends! It’s a thin paper comic issue, instead of the longer graphic novel format with thicker paper that is the Capt’n Eli books. The plot is as simplistic as some of the beloved 70s shows, and some of the creatures look like they’re from Planet of the Apes. There isn’t a lot of character development and some of the dialogue is a bit corny, but it’s short and fun, and a good read for kids. Plus Sea Ghost’s uniform is awesome: black and white with a seahorse on his chest!

The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli graphic novels retail for $9.99. I recommend them to anyone, the young or the young at heart. Become a fan of the series along with your kids, and you’ll have one more thing in common to talk about. The stories are interesting, complex, and well done.

The Sea Ghost retails for $3.99. It is an interesting side story in the Capt’n Eli universe, but this one is better for kids than it is for adults. The comic isn’t necessary to the main story lines, but adds more background to one of the characters.

In addition to the comic books, there is a Capt’n Eli collectible card game and a coloring book. The Capt’n Eli website also has fantastic lesson plans for geography, history, and art subjects, using the comic books as reference, but expanding on them. For additional information on any of these, check out the Capt’n Eli website.

Note: I received copies of these comics for review purposes.

Dive into the Sea Ghost on the Aquaman Shrine

March 25, 2011 - The Aquaman Shrine's Rob Kelly dives into Jay Piscopo's new comic book "The Sea Ghost #1." Read it HERE.








It's been almost two years since the Shrine ran its last Undersea Heroes segment; I always intended to bring it back every so often but other things kept getting in the way.

But no more! We have a new hero to add to the pantheon of underwater heroes, and his name is The Sea Ghost!

The Sea Ghost is the creation of Jay Piscopo, a friend of the Shrine whose work has appeared here before--he's done three(!) different pin-ups featuring Aquaman and The Sea Ghost, an Aquaman costume re-design, and a sketch from my Aqua-Sketchbook.

The man is a fountain of creativity--I've lost count of how many characters he's created, and he's always posting something new on his Facebook page. Many people have remarked how prolific I am; Jay makes me look like Fran Lebowitz.

Anyway, last week Jay's undersea character The Sea Ghost got his own title, so I thought this was a perfect time to bring back the Undersea Heroes feature. CLICK HERE to continue reading the article.

"...the ideas and concepts are flying at the reader at a breakneck pace, and there's no winking at the camera--this is no post-modern ironic superhero: The Sea Ghost would have fit in perfectly in the back of DC comic from the 1950s, albeit with more eye-popping color." ~ Rob Kelly, The Aquaman Shrine

The Sea Ghost: 5 out of 5 stars

Invest Comics check's out Jay Piscopo's new comic book: THE SEA GHOST #1

Follow this link to read the review.

NEMO PUBLISHING GROUP
Art & Story: Jay Piscopo
Pin-ups: Ramona Fradon, Danny Kelly, & Robert Caine Jeffcoat
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
March 20, 2011

This is one of those special comics. The kind you find out about through various facebook posts, and it just looks so cool, that when you see it PREVIEWS, you check it off with your special orders. I’ve been excited about this character since before I knew there’d be a book. And to make things even better, it LIVED UP to each and every one of my pedestal-placed expectations!

This book reads like the best of the old Aquaman and SpaceGhost cartoons. You can actually hear the voice overs and sound effects in your head as you read! Heck, even the caption bubbles ring with that old-school narrator voice.

No over rendered art, or decompressed story-telling. This book harkens back to when comics and superheroes were fun. It isn’t silly or campy. It’s just a good, fun, romp. And getting a pin-up by legendary Aqua-artist, Ramona Fradon just makes it perfect.

In fact, it was so good that I’ve got to tell my LCS to go ahead and order me the two volumes of THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPT'N ELI, in which Sea Ghost first appears.

THE SEA GHOST is one of the best books I’ve read in some time.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Sea Ghost #1 -- Good Comics for Kids

Brigid Alverson previews Jay Piscopo's new comic book "The Sea Ghost #1" on School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids.





Preview: The Sea Ghost #1
March 13th, 2011

Here’s something a little different: Jay Piscopo, who writes and draws The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli graphic novels, has spun off a comic featuring one of the characters from that series, The Sea Ghost.

I like Jay’s penciling, and he has a knack for classic characters. Check out the preview...and then check out the comic — it’s supposed to be in comics shops on March 30, but we hear it has been reaching the shelves a little early.

Seven by 6 | Seven Seas; Seven Superheroes

Seven by 6 | Seven Seas; Seven Superheroes
by Michael May
March 16, 2011

Read the full write up at this link.

MTV Geek recently ran a list of their 7 Best Superheroes of the Seven Seas and it got me thinking, as these things are designed to do. I love ocean-adventure comics and appreciate the topic, but on a list of superheroes, I think we can do better than One Piece and Last Airbender. Those are great characters; they’re just not superheroes. Superhero comics are full of fantastic, undersea heroes, so this is my list. To open up spots for some lesser-known (if not exactly obscure) characters, I decided to leave off the obvious Sub-Mariner and Aquaman. We can agree that they deserve to be here; I’m just not confident that I have anything new to say about them. I worried at first about picking seven characters for a Six by 6 column, but since the precedent has been set…here they are in reverse order:

7. Triton
6. Marine Man

5. Sea Ghost is probably the most obscure character on this list, but he’s also one of the coolest. Spinning out of Jay Piscopo’s The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli, Sea Ghost is as an homage to Space Ghost and other classic Hanna-Barbera characters and concepts.

Piscopo’s put a lot of thought into Sea Ghost and Capt’n Eli’s world. Though it’s a relatively new series, the allies and villains all have back-stories that give everything a sense of grandness, like every story is a special event. Even if you don’t know who Commander X and Lord Hydro are, seeing them team up with or fight against Sea Ghost is almost as exciting as if you’ve grown up with these characters and been waiting for this battle your entire life.

4. Mera
3. Namora
2. Marrina
1. Abe Sapien

So that’s my list. What’s yours? Any great, sea-based superheroes that I didn’t mention?

All Pulp Checks out Sea Ghost and Capt'n Eli

All Pulp's Tommy Hancock continues his tips of the hat to Jay Piscopo in these reviews for Nemo Publishing's The Sea Ghost #1 and The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli - Volume 2.

The Sea Ghost #1:
“FIVE out of FIVE Tips of the Hat – This one hit with me on all cylinders.” ~ Tommy Hancock, All Pulp

THE SEA GHOST is a rollicking tale that has a ton of stuff in it, but also stays very true to the 'undersea' nature of the character as well as evokes comic tales of times past, the ones that were full of wonder and excitement and just had the intention of telling one heckuva tale. Continue reading HERE.

The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli - Volume 2:
"FIVE out of FIVE Tips of the Hat - No doubt. This middle chapter of this great adventure had everything the first part had and more. If this were a movie, I'd be in line for Volume Three now." ~ Tommy Hancock, All Pulp

The first issue/appearance/episode of anything is the best, right? It's a law, someone surely has said, that sequels and/or continuations cannot stand up to the first time whatever great awesome concept it is we're encountering again made itself known. It's just not possible, right?

Well, maybe so...but that was all before Jay Piscopo released the second volume of THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPT'N ELI! Continue reading HERE.

Capt'n Eli: Five out of Five Tips of the Hat from All Pulp

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO CAPT'N ELI...A LOT!

TIPPIN' HANCOCKS' HAT-Reviews of Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock
THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPT'N ELI: VOLUME 1
Written and Illustrated by Jay Piscopo
Cover Art by Steve Rude
Nemo Publishing, 2008

WARNING!! If you are one of those adult type readers who believe that as you age, your reading choices should mature, become less exciting, more prose than picture, and border on bland and spoon fed to you, then STOP READING! This review IS NOT for you!

For the rest of you who actually probably enjoy life and love things both nostalgic and cutting edge, continue on with my blessing...

For those who aren't Facebookers like most of us, you might not know who Jay Piscopo is. If you travel in the social network circles most of our readers do, though, it is likely. Jay is an accomplished creator that has also proven to be one of the best I've seen at self promotion. Whether it be work on his original creations or his awesome takes on classic pulp characters or his breathtaking renditions of the work of others (He's the guy behind my much bally hooed YESTERYEAR novel cover), Jay has made a name for himself as being up and coming, awesome, and dead on with his work.

That reputation is furthered by this first volume of THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPT'N ELI, Jay's own tale put out by Nemo Publishing set in a wild and wonderful universe all his own. This graphic novel/digest like tome centers around Capt'n Eli, a genius of a boy who has a very familiar feeling origin and takes off almost from birth on adventures that while reminding some of us of things we've read or seen in the past, manage to be innovative, original, and exciting.

Jay brings all his creative wonder to bear in this first volume of Capt'n Eli's adventures. Within this you see tips of the hat to adventures and creators of the past as Jay's influences for both art and story are pretty obvious. Capt'n Eli has traces of Johnny Quest, Superman, Doc Savage, Tom Swift, and the list goes on. But what makes this cool is although you, if you're a reader steeped in this Saturday morning/pulp magazine stuff, get all the references, they are simply that. References, little things that Jay does with the story or the art to put you in mind of what we all thought was a simpler time, a time when storytelling was about telling the story and the art backed up the story, but didn't overshadow it.

In this first volume, we get Capt'n Eli's origin, his first meeting with and hints of connection to Commander X, Jay's mix of Doc Savage and Captain Nemo that is DEAD ON, Eli's teaming up with a crack team of sea based heroes, and two of the coolest sidekicks in a long time-Barney, the knot tying dog and Jolly Roger, a parrot of some years who knows seventy languages. Oh, and time travel, strange ships, a historic moment (literally) and so much more!

Also included in the volume is a story from 'the golden age' of Jay's universe done very much in a golden age style that showcases Commander X in his hero days along with two others that make up the Big Three. Stir this in with words from Jay, a hit-the-head-on-the-nail introduction from argon Zark! creator Charley Parker, and pin ups by Steve Rude, Herb Trimpe, and Howard Chaykin, and you have one classic, now and later, tale that makes me want to watch Boomerang late at night to see more stuff like this!

The layout of the book is awesome, part action adventure comic, part edutainment (and not boring edutainment, but story supporting, mind enhancing edutainment), and part sunday newspaper comic strip! I enjoyed the size of the book, not a TPB size, more digest like, and the overall layout does what a layout should do, makes the book stand out among others and not only compliments, but adds to the tale it tells!

The only thing I found a bit hard to deal with at first was the mix of art with 3-D backgrounds. Although stunning in many places, I initially had a little difficulty with this, mostly because the look is a bit jarring at times. I will say, though, about halfway through the first read of this, I was not only adjusted to this mix of things, but actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It added a bit of uniqueness to the book as a whole.

THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPT'N ELI: VOLUME ONE is a high sailing, deep sea divin', time travellin', ocean explorin' story that cannot be missed!!!

FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Probably the best comprehensive (touching many points of my inner fanboy) read that I've had in a long time! Thanks, Jay!

The Pop Culture Network Reviews new comic book: The Sea Ghost #1

The Sea Ghost #1

Friday, March 04 2011
DiRT takes a look at The Sea Ghost #1 by Jay Piscopo and Nemo Publishing!

As a father of two young children, I can appreciate an “all ages” title a little bit more than the average comic book fan. To most, the idea of a “family friendly” book usually carries a connotation that it's written for kids and won't appeal to their more mature senses. However, often a book comes along that isn't written for children as much as it's just so strongly wholesome that it finds itself often overlooked by fans who have grown accustomed to dark and gritty tales. The Sea Ghost #1 from Nemo Publishing isn't really aimed at children. In reality, it's more of a throwback to a simpler time in comic book publishing where wholesome was the norm in society. If it weren't for a few modern publishing touches, this could easily be a long lost silver age gem and comic book fans of any age should stop and take a look.


Spun out of the pages of the Capt'n Eli graphic novels, The Sea Ghost comes from Atlantis and hosts a variety of powers. He seems to be very strong, can shoot energy beams from his hands, and has psychic abilities. Of course, ha can also breathe underwater, but shouldn't everyone from Atlantis? The Sea Ghost seems to occupy a character space somewhere between the classic version of Space Ghost and the Superfriends version of Batman. He's smart as well as strong, and often mediates matters instead of simply resorting to fisticuffs. His look is classic Alex Toth and creator Jay Piscopo plays the Toth-esque style for all it's worth. For every aspiring artist who says all the good classic looks are taken, Piscopo has them schooled with my number one new choice of character dying for an action figure.

Despite the classic look of the characters, the overall art has many post modern touches. The word balloons are not white slabs covering the artwork, but instead are translucent cells layered over the artwork. All the lettering has that crisp look of professional typefaces and colors are vivid and sharp. In some instances, even the layout of the individual panels seem to be based off of 3D modeled figures, though they still appear hand drawn. When Piscopo often seems to be looking backward for inspiration in his characters, he also seems to be looking forward to blaze a new course in the production of the book.

The story is probably the best throwback for classic comic book fans. Anyone familiar with the Kirby-esque stories of the past will instantly feel at home. The Sea Ghost finds himself mysteriously transported to another world where a Cthulhu inspired tentacle monster feeds a war between two races. To end the war, The Sea Ghost must fight off a dragon, escape from prison, and unite the two opposing sides together in a battle against this monster. It's a whimsical sci-fi tale that still retains that inability to shy away from discussions of death and loss in tales of battle often seen in classical literature. It's certainly safe for children to read, but I think it really is geared more towards adults and mature minds.

For $3.99, you get 31 pages of story, several pin-ups, and a note from Jay Piscopo explaining how much he loves classic cartoons, Alex Toth, Jack Kirby, and classic comic book “cartoonist” Ramona Fradon. It's a $4 love-fest of classic comics books and super-hero culture and simply can't be beaten.

Great Comic Book Heroes recommends Sea Ghost #1

The Great Comic Book Heroes

Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Review of Jay Piscopo's Sea Ghost #1!

Jay Piscopo is the man! I've been seeing Jay Piscopo's fantastic creations on Facebook for a few years now. He is the kind of friend you want to have on Facebook! It seems like every day Jay is posting new and incredible drawings of the most interesting super heroes that you've ever seen! Jay has an incredibly inventive mind and prolific output.

Jay's done a number of books from the Cap'n Eli universe. I got to see Sea Ghost, a 30 page, full color one-shot. It’s a great book!

Jay's fit a lot of info into a very small space here! Not only does he introduce Sea Ghost and his children, Coral and Triton, but he gives a quick origin of Sea Ghost AND to top it off he has a whole slew of characters popping up on what seems like every page, and he does it seamlessly without slowing down the fast pace of the book! Now this is what superhero action comics are suppose to be (Marvel take notes)!

He even has a fascinating text page explaining his influences; people like legendary Ramona Fradon, who actually does a pinup for the comic; Noel Sickles; and most notably Alex Toth. Jay states, "Mr. Toth's body of work in comics and animation is vast and deep. Anyone looking to work professionally should study his work and philosophies."

With Jay's work you can really feel the Silver age Marvel, Kirby influence, as well as the great action cartoons of the 60's and 70's like Space Ghost (this influence being the most obvious) and the Herculoids! But you never feel like he is copying or ripping them off. No this is the best kind of homage that is all Jay!

One thing about Jay's work, like the Saturday morning cartoons they are influenced by, it is geared towards kids, ages 5 and up. Sea Ghost, as a character, is a strong man ready for any adventure and yet at the same time a loving father and devoted husband. This a great book to read to your children or indulge in yourself!

I highly recommend Sea Ghost to any lover of action and adventure! You can see more of Jay's great work here at his website -- The Undersea Adventures of Cap'n Eli.