2011 February
David Johnson joins Comic Twart
Just what we need — one more comic artist twarting around.
Iconic cover artist Dave Johnson has announced that he’s joining the online group Comic Twart. Spun out of online camaraderie on Twitter among a group of comic artists, Comic Twart is a site where those artists draw a new piece based on a theme each week. Johnson joins a murderer’s row of comic artists that include Francesco Francavilla, Mike Hawthorne, Mitch Breitweiser, Dan Panosian, Chris Samnee and Evan Shaner.
This week’s theme over on Comic Twart is Doom Patrol, and Dave’s submission on the left is the first of the bunch. Go to the site to see what the others turn in!
- February 11, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Who’s Who?
Longtime Doctor Who fans will need no explanation, but for the rest of us, Bob Canada has put together a handy infographic with a rundown of all the different incarnations of Doctor Who. I tend to think of them by the actors’ names, but he skips that and just discusses their personalities and quirks. There’s some handy general information in there as well. He promises to eventually make this available as a poster.
(This is how old I am: I spent part of my childhood in Scotland and Ireland, so I watched these in first run and was terrified by the first Doctor Who movie. Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor Who, is the real Doctor Who to me; I still think of Tom Baker as the newcomer.)
(Via Geeks of Doom.)
- February 11, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Tomer Hanuka’s dreams of the Al Gore administration
Although they don’t get to spend too much time doing comics anymore, the Hanuka brothers carry their comic sensibilities with them on their high profile magazine illustration assignments. And a recent project by Tomer Hanuka is really something special.
Hanuka was hired by art director Josef Reyes to do the lead art for a New York Magazine story documenting the fictional decade where Al Gore, not George W. Bush, became president in 2000. It poses the question, “How would Al Gore have handled 9-11 and everything in those eight years?” This lead art goes with the first chapter, written by Kurt Anderson, about Gore’s White House being struck by United Flight 93. As Tomer puts it, “Al Qaeda doesn’t care who’s president.”
To view several process sketches and more of Hanuka’s art, visit their blog.
- February 11, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Chris Arrant
Snyder, Higgins and McCarthy open the Gates of Gotham
Batman: Gates of Gotham
DC Comics continued rolling out announcements this week with word that Detective Comics and American Vampire scribe Scott Snyder, along with co-writer Kyle Higgins and artist Trevor McCarthy, will explore Gotham City’s dark secrets in Batman: Gates of Gotham.
Here’s the solicitation text:
BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER and KYLE HIGGINS
Art and Cover by TREVOR MCCARTHY
1:25 Variant cover by DUSTIN NGUYENWhen a mystery as old as Gotham City itself surfaces, Batman assembles a team of his greatest detectives – including Red Robin, Owlman, I-Ching and others – to investigate this startling new enigma. As clues are discovered and the mystery deepens, Batman’s team soon finds itself on a journey that explores different eras in Gotham’s history and touches upon notable Gotham families including the Waynes, Kanes, and Elliotts.
This miniseries spins out of recent events in the Batman titles and sets the stage for several exciting storylines in 2011. Additionally, this limited series touches upon mysterious story elements introduced in Grant Morrison’s RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. Featuring many exciting Batman Family guest stars!
The six-issue series begins in May.
- February 11, 2011 @ 09:45 AM by JK Parkin
Static Shock returns to comic stores this May
Static Shock #1
DC Comics has revealed the release date, art team and first cover for Milestone Media and cartoon star Static’s new ongoing series. Static Shock #1 by Felicia Henderson, Scott McDaniel and Jonathan Glapion will arrive in May, with a cover (above) by Keron Grant.
Announced last July, Static Shock sees the return of the second Milestone Comics character to his own comics series this year, as Virgil Hawkins joins Xombi on comic store shelves again.
Static was one of the four original titles published by Milestone Media back in the 1990s, and his title ended in 1997. He made the jump to TV in the form of an animated series, Static Shock, and joined the Teen Titans shortly after the Milestone characters were merged into the DC Universe in 2008.
- February 11, 2011 @ 09:30 AM by JK Parkin
Toby Cypress kicks off Kursk webcomic
Phenomenal artist Toby Cypress has been letting his independent spirit flow these past few years; last year the Joe Kubert-graduate announced he was self-published his graphic novel Rodd Racer, and now the artist is branching out with his first webcomic: Kursk.
Set in a dystopian future Earth with the world’s most dangerous man, Kursk is a chance for the world-at-large to see this unique talent that until now has been hard to come by.On his blog, Cypress says that Kursk is “an experimental project for me, that I produce on my free time. Instead of watching TV, or playing videogames…or dating *sigh”.
Cypress is perhaps best known for his work with Brian Wood on the graphic novel The Tourist, but he’s also worked far and wide on things as diverse as Uncanny X-Men, Predator, an issue of Batman/Nightwing, and work in Popgun Vol. 1 and Swallow Book Four.
- February 11, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Cho knows super-heroes
Artist Frank Cho is a busy man. Between illustrating Marvel’s New Ultimates, working on his upcoming Image series 50-Girls-50 and continuing his newspaper strip Liberty Meadows on his website, he’s just announced a new creator-owned project. Talk all we want, but this released art will tell you more than we ever could:
According to Cho’s blog, the working title of this series is Brutal and is being done in collaboration with Popgun impresario Joe Keatinge. More to come, we’re sure!
- February 11, 2011 @ 08:15 AM by Chris Arrant
Becky Cloonan unleashes the Wolves this spring
Wolves
Artist Becky Cloonan of Demo and most recently Northlanders fame has what will likely be a must-buy item at several upcoming conventions — a mini-comic called Wolves.
“Anyone who has been following my blog for a while might remember that last year I published this short story in an anthology me and some friends published in Japan for a convention in Tokyo- it was originally in Japanese; this version will be in English, and will have a few added pages,” she said on her blog. “I’m right now looking for a printer, hopefully it will be out for the spring in time for MoCCA, TCAF and MCM!”
Click on the link above to check out a preview.
- February 11, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | Bizarre love triangle
Fanboy #5
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it’s time once again to ask, “Are you ready for the thing called love?” It’s many-splendored, you know. All you need is love, so I hear; and if you are all out of love, you may still be able to make love out of nothing at all. Some say love, it is a river which drowns the tender reed. Others counter that love is a burning thing which makes a fiery ring. One fairly unimpeachable source asserts that love is patient and kind, it bears, hopes, abides, etc.
All that aside, however, I imagine that everyone reading this post feels that particular kind of love we call Fandom. Obviously fannish impulses are not always patient and kind; obviously fandom must take a back seat to more meaningful loves like friends and family. Still, it seems to me that fandom’s affections come from a very sincere place. At some point in our past, our hearts were touched by the charms of Star Trek, Wally West, the Cincinnati Reds, whatever — and somehow we felt better. For whatever reason, we wanted more. Fandom can turn ugly, but at its heart is hope — namely, the hope that whatever-it-is can give us that same lift again.
So today I write in appreciation of us fans. Not that we are always right; not that we always agree; but that we can each point to something which (as my parents would say) keeps us off the streets.
* * *
- February 10, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Your video of the day | MAC Cosmetics Wonder Woman trailer
Last month we mentioned MAC Cosmetics’ Wonder Woman collection — Themyscira mascara! Obey Me nail polish! — which is being marketed with stunning art by Michael Allred. Now, just in time for today’s line launch, MAC has debuted a trailer/motion comic — featuring even more Michael Allred art.
- February 10, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Gingerbread Houses is complete
Alexander Danner sent a note yesterday to say that he has finished Gingerbread Houses, his retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story, and it is now complete online. He has also been releasing the story in a series of mini-comics, and the last one should be ready in a couple of weeks.
Written by Danner and illustrated by Edward J. Grug III, Gingerbread Houses presents the Hansel and Gretel story as if it had really happened and explores the dyanamics of a family in which the stepmother tried to kill the children, their father didn’t stop her, one child was force-fed in anticipation of being eaten, and the other had to rescue them all. Some of the most powerful passages are the ones in which Danner juxtaposes the words of the traditional story with images that show a different aspect; in the opening scene, for instance, the words tell of Hansel and Gretel being left in the forest while the images show their father and stepmother at home after leaving them. Grug’s cartoony, expressive art keeps it at just the right emotional pitch, and at just 97 pages, this is an amazingly moving story.
- February 10, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Viz adds two more shoujo series to its iPad app
When Viz Media first rolled out their iPad app, I was rather critical because they launched with their most popular properties, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, and early volumes of both are as common as dirt—why would anyone pay $4.99 for something they can get for free from their local library, Paperback Swap, or their best friend’s older brother?
I should have held my fire, because since then, Viz has been aggressive in rolling out new series and volumes on the app. They are launching two more series on the iPad this month, Merupuri and Natsume’s Book of Friends, which brings the total number of series to 15, and they have posted the first seven volumes of those launch series, which is great—volume 7 of Naruto is a lot harder to find than volume 1.
The app still focuses on series with a lot of teen appeal, mostly if not entirely from their Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat lines. That part still seems questionable—how many teenagers have iPads? On the other hand, plenty of parents have iPads, and mine gets passed around quite a bit in my house, so maybe it doesn’t matter.
Given their propensity for branding, it’s possible that Viz will release manga for older readers as a separate app—they are currently publishing manga online at their Shonen Sunday and SigIKKI sites, so apps tied to those imprints would be logical extensions of the brand. What I would really like to see, though, is a Viz Signature app gathering works by Naoki Urasawa (Pluto, 20th Century Boys), Fumi Yoshinaga (Ooku: The Inner Chamber, All My Darling Daughters), Natsume Ono (Gente, Ristorante Paradiso), and other more literary manga for grownups. It seems to me that the overlap between iPad owners and potential readers of those comics would be pretty large, so it could help them find a new audience—if the grownups can get the iPads away from the teenagers.
- February 10, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
The day indie rock defeated Alan Moore: Al Columbia reveals what happened to Big Numbers #4
Is this the only Big Numbers #4 art you'll ever see?
It’s one of comics’ greatest mysteries, and Inkstuds interviewer extraordinaire Robin McConnell just solved it. And the answer involves…’90s indie-rock icons Sebadoh?
McConnell covers a lot of incredibly fascinating ground in his astonishingly candid and in-depth interview with cartoonist Al Columbia — do not say “tl;dl” to the two-hour podcast — but he also cuts right to the chase, asking the mercurial artist what, exactly, happened to the artwork he created for Watchmen demigod Alan Moore’s great lost comic Big Numbers #4. As you might recall from our post on Columbia’s one-time mentor Bill Sienkiewicz’s recent words on the subject, Big Numbers was intended to be Moore’s magnum opus.
- February 10, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
More on the pricing of Flashpoint and its related mini-series
Flashpoint
Last month when DC Comics announced that the upcoming Flashpoint event would include not only a five-issue Flashpoint miniseries, but also 15 other miniseries that would “expanding on the events, along with several important one shots,” folks naturally wondered how much all that would cost.
Any way you slice it, 16 miniseries are going to add up if you decide you want to buy all of it, but today DC revealed the price for each comic. “The five issues of the core Flashpoint series are oversized, 40 page books priced at $3.99 each, while the other mini series and the one shots will be priced at $2.99,” said David Hyde on DC’s The Source blog.
Hydealso shared the solicitation text for the first issue of Flashpoint:
FLASHPOINT #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by ANDY KUBERT
1:25 Variant cover A by ANDY KUBERT
Variant cover B by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PEREZEverything You Know Will Change in a Flash!
Not a dream, not an imaginary story, not an elseworld. This is a Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It’s a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it? It’s a place where America’s last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of the Outsider, the Secret 7, S!H!A!Z!A!M!, Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces.
It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!
Welcome to FLASHPOINT!
On sale MAY 11 = 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US = Rated T
- February 10, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Lee Bermejo to write and draw Batman: Noel graphic novel
Batman: Noel
The first news to emerge from the ComicsPRO annual meeting in Dallas is that Lee Bermejo, the critically acclaimed artist of Joker and Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, will write and draw a Batman graphic novel for DC Comics.
Titled Batman: Noel, the holiday-themed book will mark Bermejo’s comics-writing debut. It’s edited by Mark Chiarello, DC’s vice president of art direction & design.
“I’m totally excited by this project, and not only because Lee Bermejo is such an astounding artist,” Chiarello tells the DC Universe blog The Source. “Sure, the work he’s done in the past (Joker OGN, Wednesday Comics) has been pretty brilliant and I’d expect nothing less from Lee, but the added bonus of Batman: Noel being drawn and written by Lee is extra cool. In other words, I knew Lee could deliver the goods artistically, but I never knew he was also this great of a writer!”
No released date was mentioned.
The meeting of ComicsPRO — the Comics Professional Retail Organization — continues through Saturday.
- February 10, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Kevin Melrose