Michael May
Simon Gane’s mummy cover for Halloween Classics
Simon Gane (Nelson, Godzilla Legends: Rodan) has posted his cover to Eureka’s upcoming Halloween Classics, volume 23 of their Graphic Classics line. It’s from Arthur Conan Doyle’s mummy short story, “Lot No. 249,” which Gane is also helping to adapt for the anthology. Gane’s also shared some amazing, intricately detailed pages from that.
Halloween Classics goes on sale in August and also features adaptations of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” HP Lovecraft’s “Cool Air,” Mark Twain’s “A Curious Dream,” and the German Expressionist silent film classic, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
(via The Comics Reporter)
- February 9, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Michael May
Food or Comics? | Conan the barberryan
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Thief of Thieves #1
Chris Arrant
If I had $15, I’d start with Thief of Thieves #1 (Image/Skybound, $2.99). The gang at Skybound gave me an advance PDF of this issue, and I like it so much I want to hold the physical thing in my hands. Shawn Martinbrough really nails this first issue, and Nick Spencer really puts his Marvel work to shame with this story. Next up I’d get my favorite DC Book – Batwoman #6 (DC, $2.99) – and favorite Marvel book – Wolverine and The X-Men #5 ($3.99). I’d finish it all up with Northlanders #48 ($2.99). I’m not the biggest fan of Danijel Zezelj’s work, but I can’t let up now to see my long-running commitment to Northlanders falter at this point.
If I had $30, I’d dig into Richard Corben’s Murky World one-shot (Dark Horse, $3.50). Corben’s one of those “will-buy-no-matter-what” artists for me that Tom Spurgeon recently focused on, and this looks right up my alley. Next up I’d get Secret Avengers #22 (Marvel, $3.99) because Remender’s idea of robot descendents intrigues me, and then Wolverine and The X-Men: Alpha and Omega (Marvel, $3.99). I didn’t know what to expect from the first issue, and after reading it I still don’t know where this series is heading – but I like it so far. Finally, I’d get Haunt #21 (Image, $2.99). The combination of Joe Casey & Nathan Fox is like a secret code to open my wallet.
If I could splurge, I’d take the graphic novel Jinchalo (D+Q, $17.95) by Matthew Forsythe. I loved his previous book Ojingogo, and this looks to continue in that hit parade.
- February 7, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May
Amanda Conner’s Power Girl toilet seat cover
Jimmy Palmiotti recently posted a bunch of pictures of Amanda Conner at conventions. They’re a lot of fun, but sitting there amongst the photos of Conner with Wookiees and Black Canaries is a picture of a weird and hilarious piece of original Conner art: a Power Girl toilet seat cover on which the character discusses why she’s there and the impracticability of her costume.
There’s no real nudity, but its subject matter makes it possibly NSFW, so we’ll put the picture below the jump.
[Update: A commenter points out below that this is part of the Comic Rockstars Toilet Seat Museum at Isotope, which includes other lids from artists like Brandon Graham, Darwyn Cooke, and Ben Templesmith. Thanks, Brian.]
- February 7, 2012 @ 01:00 PM by Michael May
Yet still more animated comics covers by Kerry Callen
Because they’re like crack.
Visit Callen’s site to also see Daredevil #7 (from the current Mark Waid/Paolo Rivera run) and Batman #15 (which should put to rest that whole Batman-hates-guns myth once and for all). I hope someone starts paying him to do these as covers for digital comics. I’d never buy print again.
- February 6, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by Michael May
Skottie Young redesigns Labyrinth’s Goblin King
You remind me of the babe!
While we’re waiting for Skottie Young to show off his takes on more Bone characters, here’s Young’s interpretation of Jareth, the Goblin King from Labyrinth. “As much as I love that movie,” he writes, “I do not have a ton of love for the David Bowie Goblin King [...] It’s a bit dated. So today I played with that design a bit.”
- February 6, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Michael May
Women of Action | Batwoman
Women of Action is an experiment exploring superhero series starring and named after women. Which are worth supporting, which aren’t, and why?
Batwoman (by Amy Reeder, who is also awesome)
Batwoman’s blessing and its curse is its stunning art and design by JH Williams III. I know it’s weird to call it a curse, but in my case, when every mention I hear about a comic begins and ends with the art, it gets me wondering about the story, and not in a good way. Pair that apprehension with a start date that got pushed back several times and I was downright skittish, so it took me a while to check out Batwoman. I probably never would have except for my decision to read more comics starring and named after female superheroes.
I don’t know why more people don’t mention the story in Batwoman (well, I do – see: The Art – but the story’s still not mentioned as much as it should be), because it’s amazing. Williams’ contribution to the comic is more than imaginative page layouts and long, flowing hair. Everyone knows that he’s also a co-writer, but I’m not talking about that either. It’s how the mood of the comic perfectly matches the gothic, spooky tone of the ghost story that Williams and other co-writer W. Haden Blackman chose for their introductory arc. It’s one thing to say that comics are a mixture of story and art; it’s quite another thing to see those two elements work together as well as they do in Batwoman.
- February 2, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by Michael May
Strangeways: The Thirsty to quench parched comics shops in April
Strangeways: The Thirsty
Matt Maxwell announced yesterday that his second Strangeways graphic novel, The Thirsty will be in the upcoming Previews catalog under the order code item FEB121066. For those not familiar with it, Strangeways is a series of horror-Western graphic novels written by Maxwell and drawn by Argentinian artists Gervasio and Jok. The first Strangeways novel, Murder Moon plunked former Union officer Seth Collins into the Weird West to confront a werewolf; The Thirsty brings him to a new town infested with vampires.
Maxwell has serialized The Thirsty here on Robot 6 and is currently doing so again on his own site (where you can also read Murder Moon in its entirety), but this will be the first time it’s available in print.
- February 1, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May
Food or Comics? | Winter squash or Winter Soldier?
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
John Romita's The Amazing Spider-man: Artist's Edition
Graeme McMillan
Congratulations, Dark Horse: You pretty much own my first $15 for the week, with Dark Horse Presents #8 ($7.99) and Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi #0 ($3.50) both being my go-to new releases for the week. DHP has the new Brian Wood/Kristian Donaldson series The Massive launching, as well as more Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson and new Skeleton Key by Andi Watson, which is a pretty spectacular line-up, and the new Star Wars book coincides with the latest flare up of my irregular longing to check up on that whole universe’s goings-on. Apparently, I’m keeping it local this week, who knew?
If I had $30, I’d add Action Comics #6 (DC Comics, $3.99) and OMAC #6 (DC Comics, $2.99) to that pile — I’m particularly treasuring the latter before it goes away, although I have to admit that the time-jumping nature of these Action fill-ins has gotten me more excited than I should ‘fess up to — as well as a couple of Ed Brubaker books, Winter Soldier #1 (Marvel, $2.99) and Fatale #2 (Image Comics, $3.50). I wasn’t bowled over by Fatale‘s debut, but it intrigued me enough to want to give it another go, while the noir + super spy sales pitch for the new Marvel series pretty much guarantees my checking the first issue out at the very least.
When it comes to splurging, there is nothing I would buy – were I rich enough — more quickly than IDW’s John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man Artist Edition HC ($100), because … well, it’s classic Romita as the pages originally looked on his drawing board. How anyone can resist that (other than the price point), I don’t know.
- January 31, 2012 @ 01:00 PM by Michael May
This! is how women in superhero comics should be portrayed
One of many moments This! would like you to remember
I understand the importance of complaining about things that need changing — it’s the stick that gets the donkey pulling the cart in the right direction. I don’t think it’s completely effective on its own, though. In the conversation about women in superhero comics, the carrot is under-utilized, so I appreciate a blog like This Is What Women in Superhero Comics Should Be (aka This!) that points out specific examples of women used well in superhero comics. The cart needs to get moving, but it also needs a direction, and This! offers one.
The blog’s only three days old and has already captured more than 30 great moments for women, from Wonder Woman and Catwoman to Jessica Jones and Jennie Sparks. It’s pretty DC-heavy so far, but it’s taking submissions for moments from all superhero publishers.
- January 31, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Michael May
Moonstone has pulp comics for a buck
Lady Action Special no longer $3.99
It’s always exciting to discover a dollar bin of old comics, and Moonstone has just set one on the flea market table and opened it up. The publisher has put 27 titles (more, if you count variant covers) from their back stock on sale for 99-cents each. There’s some cool stuff in there, from Captain Action and Lady Action to the Moonstone Monsters line of anthologies featuring issues about ghosts, sea creatures, witches and more. Perfect for browsing and trying out some old stuff that’s new to you.
- January 30, 2012 @ 01:00 PM by Michael May
Young Bones in love
See what I did there? Skottie Young drew Fone Bone in a post titled “Bone Daily Sketch.”
I really want that title to mean that there are more Bone Daily Sketches coming, because in spite of Young’s statement that the character has “a style and design so solid that if anyone else touches it, they explode and it just looks like the original[...]there is no really making it your own,” I think he’s done just that. I agree that it’s super-rare though, which just shows how strong Young’s style is.
He does hint that “there are some other characters in [the Bone] universe that lend themselves to a bit more freedom,” so hopefully that means we’ll see Young’s versions of those too over the next few days.
- January 30, 2012 @ 12:00 PM by Michael May
Bill Sienkiewicz covers Godzilla for Criterion
Like all giant monster fans, I’ve been excited about the Criterion release of the original Godzilla, but I somehow missed that Bill Sienkiewicz painted the cover for it. Apparently there’s been some controversy about his depiction’s being more 2002 than 1954, but Criterion responded that while “we can see why some viewers consider it to be more akin to the 2002 incarnation of Godzilla because the back plates seem more sharp-pointed and jagged than the curved tips of the ‘54 original, for example, or the tail tapers more to a point,” the design isn’t actually all that much like the more recent version either and ultimately, simply reflects Sienkiewicz’ “personal [though Toho-approved] vision of the creature.”
According to Trouble With Comics, Sienkiewicz also provided black-and-white illustrations for the Blu-Ray booklet.
(via The Comics Reporter)
- January 26, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by Michael May
Paul Tobin’s new superhero book is a novel
Paul Tobin
Paul Tobin (Marvel Adventures, Gingerbread Girl) announced yesterday that his first novel, Prepare to Die will be published this summer (June 5 is the current target date) by Night Shade Books. Appropriately, it’s a superhero story.
Tobin describes the book as being about a hero named Reaver who during a battle receives the traditional villains’ imperative: “Prepare to Die!” When Reaver surprisingly accepts his fate and asks for time to prepare, his arch-nemesis grants it. The novel explores Reaver’s trip to his hometown where he attempts to make peace with the past, but also finds a new reason to want to see the future.
Though he makes clear that he’s not leaving comics, Tobin states that he expects the novel to be the first of many, though not necessarily all about the same characters. The attraction of novels for him is to “delve into characters on a level that would take fifty comic book issues to explore.”
Stayed tuned to Tobin’s website for more details, including sample chapters.
- January 26, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Michael May
Atomic Robo: She-Devils to synthesize “everything that is an Atomic Robo tale”
Brian Clevinger discusses the next Atomic Robo miniseries, Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific and it’s going to be a doozy.
She-Devils was supposed to be Volume 2. And then 3. Also 4 through 6. We kept finding reasons to push it back, but the truth was simply that we weren’t yet good enough to pull it off … Which means that, yes, a multi-generational time travel story that eschews traveling through time was a less intimidating story to us than She-Devils … [W]hat happens in it is hard as hell to pull off on a craft level. Moreover, I think Scott and I sensed that this had the potential to be one of those stories, a synthesis of everything that is an Atomic Robo tale. Hopefully we’re nearly good enough now that we won’t screw that up.
Click the link for his full comments as well as Scott Wegener’s thoughts and research on the She-Devils, pictured above.
- January 25, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
Food or Comics? | Bulletproof Coffee: Disincaffeinated
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Fantastic Life
Chris Arrant
If I had $15, I’d try something new first with the Xeric-winning Fantastic Life GN (Big If, $9.95) by Kevin Mutch. I’ll always give Xeric winners a second look, and this looks built for me: slackers, punk rock, zombies. Next up I’d get the ongoing adventures of Butcher Baker – the Image one – with Butcher Baker Righteous Maker #8 ($2.99). I’ll admit that the series went off a little bit around #5, but I’m still holding on for hopes it’ll right itself or I’ll figure out what I’d been missing. Lastly, I’d get Secret Avengers #21.1 (Marvel, $2.99). Seriously, is Rick Remender becoming the writer of all-things secret in the Marvel U? I’m not complaining though, as he’s bringing his Uncanny X-Force mojo and, from what it looks like, a lot of new cast members.
If I had $30, I’d get my usual pull of The Walking Dead #93 (Image, $2.99) and a Hickman two-fer, Fantastic Four #602 (Marvel, $2.99) and FF #14 (Marvel, $2.99). If you would have told me two years ago I’d be seeing two Fantastic Four titles (and two I’d be reading, no less) I would have been gobsmacked. Hickman does it again. And that’s it.
What, you say I didn’t spend my full $30? It’s a light week for me, so I’d spending the remaining on bags and boards or, *gasp*, food as it says in the title. Tijuana Flats, Taco Tuesday, be there.
Coming back if I could splurge, and I’d put down my tacos and pick up the ADD HC (Vertigo, $24.99) by Douglas Rushkoff, Goran Sudzuka and Jose Marzan Jr. From the outside it looks like The Hunger Games meets Ender’s Game, and Rushkoff looks to be just the one to make that mash-up more than, well, a mash-up.
- January 24, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May