2010 January
Straight for the art | HLK
Sample from Weissman's 'HLK'
Looking for some cool, cheap art to hang on your walls? Ten dollars gets you a print of this swell Hulk — I mean “HLK,” sorry — image by Steven Weissman. (via)
- January 13, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Letterheady
Anyone with an interest in design, logos or typography should check out Letterheady, a site devoted to “interesting letter head designs” of yesteryear. They’ve even go a few comic and cartoon-related stationary to share, like Marvel Comics, Walt Disney and Superman Inc., which … is that what DC was calling themselves back in the ’40s? Or did Seigel and Schuster have a separate corporation set up?
- January 13, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Warner Home Video releases images from “The Spectre” short
The Spectre
Next month Warner Home Video will release their next DC Universe Original Animated Movie, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Included on the DVD will be a new short in what they’re calling their “DC Showcase” series. This first one features the Spectre. From the press release:
The Spectre focuses on a detective story with an ethereal twist, featuring the otherworldly character originally introduced by DC Comics in 1940. The short is written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos (G.I Joe: Resolute). The voice cast is led by Gary Cole (Entourage) as the title character and Alyssa Milano (Charmed) as Aimee Brenner.
The Spectre will be distributed February 23 by Warner Home Video as part of the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray/DVD.
Check out a couple of additional images after the jump.
- January 13, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | King Conan, by Dustin Nguyen
Conan O'Brien, by Dustin Nguyen
Batman: Streets of Gotham artist Dustin Nguyen takes sides in NBC’s late-night kerfuffle with this wonderful take on The Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien. So that’s one more for Team Coco. See the full illustration on Nguyen’s blog.
- January 13, 2010 @ 07:21 AM by Kevin Melrose
Simone and Benes reunite for new Birds of Prey series
Birds of Prey #1
DC Comics announced this morning that writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes will reunite this spring to launch a new Birds of Prey series.
Simone and Benes took over the series, which centers on Oracle and a roster of superheroines ranging from Black Canary and Huntress to Big Barda and Lady Blackhawk, in 2003. Benes left the title two years later, but Simone continued her run until July 2007.
Birds of Prey was canceled in February 2009 with Issue 127 during DC’s shakeup of the Batman titles.
The relaunched series will see the return of Black Canary, who left at the team at the end of Simone’s tenure.
“… Even if you’ve read every previous BoP issue multiple times, I think you’re going to really feel the ground shift a little with this. It’s going to be a blast,” Simone tells Comics Alliance. “It’s Black Canary putting her boot in bad guys’ faces and the Huntress taking no *&^% from anyone and Oracle being smarter than anyone else in Gotham. That’s what I loved about the book in the first place.
“… It’s classic Birds of Prey but maybe just a little tougher and a little naughtier. I’ve been given some really surprising approvals and I think long-time readers and newbies will find it quite unlike any other comic on the stands. I’ve always said the secret of the book is that it’s a female buddy cop story, basically, and that is a surprisingly rare thing in all media.”
- January 13, 2010 @ 06:25 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Two Bat previews from DC Comics
DC Comics posted two images yesterday related to two of the Bat titles … first up, here’s Andy Kubert’s cover to the first issue of Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne:
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
But wait, there’s more! Here’s a double-page spread from Detective Comics #861 by Jock, who is working with Greg Rucka on the next story arc:
- January 13, 2010 @ 05:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics nominees announced for 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards
Nominations were announced this morning for the 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards, which honor media for their representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and issues.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is the nation’s leading LGBT media-advocacy group.
The nominees for Outstanding Comic Book are:
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer, by Jane Espenson, Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Z. Greenberg, Jim Krueger, Doug Petrie, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty and others (Dark Horse)
• Detective Comics, by Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III and Cully Hamner (DC Comics)
• Madame Xanadu, by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley and Richard Friend (DC Comics)
• Secret Six, by Gail Simone, Jim Calafiore, Doug Hazelwood, Nicola Scott and others (DC Comics)
• X-Factor, by Peter David, Bing Cansino, Valentine De Landro, Marco Santucci and others (Marvel)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and writers Drew Goddard, Jeph Loeb and Joss Whedon, won the award last year.
Winners in all categories will be presented during ceremonies in New York City (March 13), Los Angeles (April 17) and San Francisco (June 5). At which event the comics category will be honored is anybody’s guess.
- January 13, 2010 @ 04:07 AM by Kevin Melrose
Bat Boys, Vampire Slayers and Muppets highlight a quiet week at the comic shop
I’m running a little later with Can’t Wait for Wednesday this week, so in the interest of getting it out before I have to change the name to Can’t Wait for Thursday (or Friday, or Valentine’s Day, or whatever), I’m going to skip my usual intro and jump right into this week’s books. Which means you get to see what Kevin’s pick of the week is “before the fold,” as they say … how is that for service?
Don’t forget to tell us what you’re getting this week in the comments section.
Lola: A Ghost Story
Kevin Melrose’s pick of the week: Lola: A Ghost Story
I’ve been a fan of writer J. Torres’ work for a while now, from Jason & the Argobauts and Alison Dare to Teen Titans Go! and Days Like These. So whenever his name is attached to a comic — often a fun all-ages title — I make sure to give it a second look. Or a third even, as is the case with Lola: A Ghost Story; I’ve gone over this preview several times already.
As the title suggests, the 112-page hardcover (with artist Elbert Or) is a supernatural mystery, one involving a boy named Jesse who can see ghosts, demons and other beings that no one else can see. Well, no one except his ailing grandmother, who has long used her ability to help people in her rural town. When his grandmother dies, Jesse is forced to face his demons — both psychological and supernatural, I presume. (Oni Press)
- January 12, 2010 @ 04:55 PM by JK Parkin
Mostly I just wanted to do a post with “Buffygate” in the headline
If you haven’t been following the drama around the big reveal of the identity of the villain Twilight in Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, here’s a quick rundown on what’s been happening since Thursday. And I promise I’m really not trying to be a smart ass when I say SPOILERS WARNING, just in case you haven’t heard the news or seen any of the numerous covers depicting who exactly Twilight is (It’s nobody from the books/movies of the same name, so let’s just get that joke out of the way, and it’s not Freddie Prinze Jr. either, if you had him in the betting pool) and want to stay in the dark …
- January 12, 2010 @ 04:01 PM by JK Parkin
Unbound: Talking Gyakushu! with Dan Hipp
Dan Hipp‘s graphic novel Gyakushu! debuted in 2007 as one of Tokyopop’s original global manga titles. Like many of the books in that line, Gyakushu! could only loosely be described as manga, as Hipp has a drawing and storytelling style all his own, and judging from the favorable reviews it garnered online, the series seems to have been popular with fans of American comics as well as manga. Although the third (and final) volume has been complete for some time, it has yet to be published, due to structural changes at Tokyopop, although the plan is to eventually publish it online.
So Hipp decided to take matters into his own hands and use the web to build an audience. This week, with Tokyopop’s permission, he put the first two volumes online in their entirety, along with a preview of the third volume. We were curious about this and e-mailed Hipp to find out what he is up to. In addition to Gyakushu!, Hipp is the artist for The Amazing Joy Buzzards and Ben 10 Alien Force: Doom Dimension, which was scripted by Peter David and is due out in February from Del Rey. He is also the creator of Bonehead.
- January 12, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
CBR on the Spider-Man movie franchise’s Brand New Day
artwork from Amazing Spider-Man #50 by John Romita Sr.
As reported by Mike Fleming and Nikki Finke yesterday and subsequently made official in statements by the various involved parties — which you’ve no doubt already seen thanks to your spider-sense and/or RSS reader — the Spider-Man movie franchise as we know it has ceased to exist. With director Sam Raimi out after script and deadline problems, Sony Pictures is moving forward without Raimi and his recurring cast, including Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst (not to mention John Malkovich), using a reboot script by writer James Vanderbilt that puts the Wall-Crawler back in high school. But reports are coming in so fast and furious, you might feel like you’ve been left back.
Fortunately, our CBR compadre Kiel Phelgey has been all over this story like webbing on a gang of old-timey bank robbers. In his initial piece he gives the full story of the move, and in this ambitious follow-up he rounds up all the facts, rumors, speculation, known unknowns, theories about what happens next, and so on, contextualizing the fate of the franchise by invoking everyone from Brian Bendis to Blake Lively to Batman. The two pieces’ll tell you everything you need to know. (You’ll have to get your dose of “Spidey 3 was my favorite because it had a bunch of fun and silly parts in addition to the self-serious hero worship you got from the first two flicks” contrarianism from me, though.)
- January 12, 2010 @ 11:04 AM by Sean T. Collins
Wanna see what the Chinese edition of Jimmy Corrigan looks like?
Chinese cover to Jimmy Corrigan
Of course you do! And thanks to this Flickr set, you can! (via)
- January 12, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Chris Mautner
Everyone’s A Critic: A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces
Asterios Polyp
• Domingos Isabelinho reviews Asterios Polyp. Well, OK, he doesn’t really, but really more of a commenting on the various reviews the books have received so far. Still, it’s an entertaining read.
• Ng Suat Tong has, with the help of folks like Frank Santoro, Noah Berlatsky and others, has put together a list of the “Best Online Comics Criticism” of 2009: “These writers have helped make comics a slightly more interesting place to inhabit for readers like myself, ensuring that the conversation doesn’t end the moment a comic is consumed or half-digested by the reader.”
Some familiar, as well as unexpected names, dot the list. Additional commentary is promised to follow.
• One thing I haven’t linked to, but really should have, is Andrew Weiss’ great “Nobody’s Favorites” series, where he looks at utterly forgettable comic book characters. His latest take on DC’s two-issue adaptation of Robotech.
• Over at the Savage Critics: Brian Hibbs looks at some recent releases; David Uzumeri takes DC to task; and Douglas Wolk savages Siege and then wonders whatever happened to the Marvel Zombie?
• If that’s not enough Wolk for you (and how can it possibly be?), he also reviewed Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary for Barnes and Noble’s Web site.
• Over at the Comics Journal: Shaenon Garrity reviews The Eternal Smile; Rich Kreiner reviews last year’s Humbug collection; and Rob Clough reviews mini-comics by Darryl Ayo and Aaron Cockle.
• Stephen Weiner on Alec: The Years Have Pants: “[It] should be treated like the wines that Campbell comes to appreciate: slowly sipped and savored.”
• Craig Fischer takes a long, hard look at Alan Moore’s new Dodgem Logic magazine.
• At the Comics Reporter: David Welsh gives a preview of notable manga for 2010, while Tom Spurgeon reviews the first issue of The Aviatrix.
• Matt Brady read Al Columbia’s Pim & Francie and now has trouble getting to sleep.
• Finally Katherine Dacey provides an in-depth examination of the first six volumes of 20th Century Boys.
- January 12, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Giffen, Winick team on Justice League: Generation Lost
Justice League: Generation Lost by Tony Harris
DC Comics announced on The Source this morning that Keith Giffen and Judd Winick will team to write Justice League: Generation Lost, a 26-issue bi-weekly series featuring many of the characters from Giffen’s classic run on Justice League back in the late 1980s.
The two writers spoke with Vaneta Rogers over at Newsarama about the project, where Giffen addressed why his JLI co-conspirator, J.M. DeMatteis, isn’t working on it.
“Because Marc and I – along with artist Chris Batista – are taking over Booster Gold, that’s why. And yes, it’s exactly what you think it is,” he said.
According to Giffen, the new bi-weekly series will feature Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice and Rocket Red, among others. Check out the interview over at Newsarama for more details.
- January 12, 2010 @ 09:38 AM by JK Parkin
Jesus Christ, comic star (Do you think you’re what they say you are?)
Faith Series: Jesus Christ
Bluewater Productions has received international publicity, and more than a little criticism, for its biographies of political and cultural figures ranging from Barack Obama and Sarah Palin to Princess Diana and Stephenie Meyer.
But in April the Washington-based publisher is setting its sights a little higher. No, not Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor or even political pundit Rush Limbaugh (although they’re both getting biographies). Go higher.
That’s the one: Jesus Christ. Hey, his first biography still sells pretty well, so why not?
The 32-page Jesus Christ, which launches the publisher’s Faith Series line, “tackles the life of arguably the most famous person in history” and “highlights different aspects of the life of Christ to show that Jesus of Nazareth was more than just a great man in history, but proof of a providential force at work in the universe.”
So it’s safe to presume the comic, written by Don Smith and sporting a cover by Mike S. Miller — interior artist is listed as “TBA” — will have a clear point of view.
Unfortunately, however, it looks as if Faith Series: Jesus Christ will miss Easter by this much.
- January 12, 2010 @ 08:55 AM by Kevin Melrose