Comic Book Resources

Veitch shares the secret origin of the Sentry

early Sentry concept art

The Sentry has had an interesting history at Marvel ... remember how the Sentry was first publicized -- as a "forgotten" character created by Stan Lee back in the day? And in the comics, there's the whole plotline about how he made everyone forget who he was to save the world from the Void, even his best friends the Hulk and Reed Richards. So the whole theme of forgotten history has been crucial to the character.

Well, here's one more "now it can be told" piece of the character's puzzle: Rick Veitch has started a series of blog posts that explain his role in creating the Sentry with Paul Jenkins. Check out the first part here, the second here and the third here. It's an interesting, and fitting, reveal about the character.

Straight for the art | Rick Veitch's Good Friday commission

Jesus + Swamp Thing

Back in March I listed six comics that fell into limbo for various reasons that I'd love to see more of. Earlier this month on his blog, Rick Veitch gave a small taste of what one of those comics would have been like, as he shared the above commissioned sketch of Swamp Thing and Jesus.

Via the Forbidden Planet blog

Six by 6 | Six other comics I'd like to see more of

Miracleman #23

After almost 20 years, it looked like the first two issues of Big Numbers were the only issues we'd ever see. But last week the third issue miraculously surfaced on the internet.

Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz's aborted epic is one of those series that, even 20 years later, still gets people talking and wondering about what might have been. On his blog, Eddie Campbell remembers talking to Kevin Eastman about why the third issue was never published, even though it was finished: "I recall asking publisher Kevin Eastman at the time why, even though the 12-issue series was abandoned, he couldn't put out the existing third issue," Campbell writes. "He looked at me as though I was daft. Who would want a third issue if they knew there wouldn't be any after that?"

And yet here we are, in 2009, talking about a third issue no one would want.

Big Numbers is far from the only series that ever fell into comic limbo. In honor of Pádraig O Méalóid's eBay purchase, here are six other comics that I'd like to see more of. Note that for the purpose of this list, I avoided titles that were officially canceled for sales reasons (like Blue Beetle, Aztek or Chase ... that's another list for another day) and instead focused on comics that we expected to see one day, but for some reason or another, they were never published (at least not yet, anyway). Books where I feel I could use some closure. Like last week, I received a little help from my fellow Robot 6 bloggers, so thanks to Kevin Melrose, Tim O'Shea and Michael May for their suggestions.

1. Miracleman: I would consider three comic titles the "holy trinity" of stories lost to comic book limbo -- three books that were created but never saw print for one reason or another. One would be the previously mentioned Big Numbers #3, while another would be Miracleman #25. Written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by Mark Buckingham, the 25th issue of this epic series was never published.

Continue Reading »

Late to the party: Get the first issue of Brat Pack free

Brat Pack

Missed this: To drum up some interest in the upcoming rerelease, Rick Veitch is offering the first 32 pages of his superhero sidekick saga, Brat Pack, as a free download:

BRAT PACK’s been my best-seller over the years, with the fourth edition selling out in late 2007. There’s a new generation of fans who dig twisted superheroes, such as THE BOYS and KICK-ASS, who will feel right at home in old Slumberg. Folks looking for something really dark and menacing in the wake of the WATCHMEN hype might go for BRAT PACK too.

The new trade collection of Brat Pack will be 176 pages and cost $19.95. A bargain!