Comic Book Resources

Talking Comics with Tim: Jeff Parker & Steve Lieber

Underground #1

Getting to talk to Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber about their upcoming  Underground project, I discovered one shocking revelation: Lieber is immensely funnier than Parker. I learned a great deal more than that in our email interview. Before starting the interview, here are the book's vitals: "UNDERGROUND is a five-issue color series beginning in September from IMAGE COMICS. Written by Jeff Parker, drawn by Steve Lieber, and colored by Ron Chan, the story follows Park Ranger Wesley Fischer as she tries to save Stillwater Cave-- and then has to save herself." My thanks to Parker and Lieber for the interview.

Tim O'Shea: At what point did you pitch this to Image, had an issue already been drawn or was it still in proposal mode?

Jeff Parker: We showed the complete black and white art for the first issue to Eric Stephenson this year at Emerald City Comicon.

Steve Lieber: They said yes and we were off and running.

O'Shea: How much did the two of you enjoy the flexibility of revision, given that you work in the same studio?

Lieber: It's a very natural collaboration. Everything's done in the same room -- script, line art, letters, and color. I love the sense of freedom that comes from being able to tweak things at any step.

Parker: And I love changing what Steve thought was right. On a whim!

Lieber: Obviously.

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Thunderbolts: Rebirth?

Thunderbolts #137

As I've been following the current Thunderbolts run by Andy Diggle, particularly the subplot involving Songbird and her mission to take down Osbourn's team, one of the questions that's been on my mind is, "Where the heck are the rest of the original Thunderbolts?" It's been awhile since we've seen Atlas, MACH-IV and the rest of that crew, and you figure if Songbird's going to ask someone for help, wouldn't it make sense to give her old friends a call?

Well, in issue #134, that call goes out.

As revealed in yesterday's Cup o' Q&A with Joe Quesada over at the main CBR site, the original team is coming back to help Songbird. Two other fans apparently had the same question that I did, and asked Marvel's Editor in Chief about Baron Zemo -- the team's original leader -- and the rest of his crew.

"It's a great question, Steven and Mike, and I guess you can say you heard it here first," Quesada responded. "Old school T-Bolts fans rejoice! Songbird is actually going to begin to assemble the original TBolts in issue #134. Her mission basically is to destroy Norman Osborn and his crazy pack of killers who have taken the good name of the original T-bolts. And yes, Zemo has been discussed internally, so stay tuned. We haven't decided just yet... or maybe we have and I’m just not going to tell you. [laughs]"

From the artwork above, it looks like at least MACH-IV and Techno are back, teaming with Songbird and ... well, if you've read the most recent issue (or even if you just recognize those bracelets) you know who they're standing with ...

Heroes Con + Wizard World Philly | Catching up on the weekend's news

Longbox

This past weekend Philadelphia welcomed Wizard World, while Charlotte hosted HeroesCon. Two East Coast conventions, separated by more than 500 miles and a couple of states. If you were away from your computer, then you may have missed some of the announcements that sprang from both venues:

• For years people have been asking for an "iTunes for comics." Well, it looks like we might actually get one. Rantz Hoseley's Longbox will be a free download available later this year for PC, Macs and Linux. Comics can be download for a suggested price point of $.99 per issue, with the potential for block and subscription pricing. BOOM! and Top Cow have already signed on.

• Marvel had a lot of announcements at the show. Spinning out of the Uncanny X-Men/Dark Avengers crossover that kicks off any day now will be a series of one-shots that fall under the heading of Dark Reign: The List. Basically Norman Osbourn starts making a list of everyone standing in his way who he needs to do dirty, nasty things to.

The eight one shots and the creators working on them are:

Dark Reign: The List – Daredevil by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan
Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic
Dark Reign: The List – Hulk by Greg Pak and Ben Oliver
Dark Reign: The List – Amazing Spider-Man by Dan Slott and Adam Kubert
Dark Reign: The List – Avengers by Brian Bendis and Marko Djurdjevic
Dark Reign: The List – Uncanny X-Men by Matt Fraction and Alan Davis
Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors by Jonathan Hickman and Ed McGuiness
Dark Reign: The List – Punisher by Rick Remender and John Romita Jr.

The project was announced at around the same time both in Philadelphia and in Charlotte. For more info, check out CBR's interviews with Bendis, Fraction and Remender, as well as Pak, Hickman and Aaron. Also, Aaron talks a little bit about his Wolverine one-shot on his blog; it will feature both Marvel Boy and Fantomex, as well as a new Weapon XVI.

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She's come a long way, baby, since her wrestling days

Songbird

Much like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has transitioned from the wrestling ring to the silver screen, Marvel's former female grappler, Screaming Mimi, has done pretty well for herself since ditching the squared circle and becoming Songbird, the former heart and soul of the Thunderbolts. And while her tenure with that group may be over, it doesn't look like she's fading into oblivion ... in fact, she's the latest playable character announced for Activision's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 game. Concept artist Dave Phillips talks about designing the character for the game:

Songbird was one of the easier characters to concept since we already liked her design a lot and decided that we really didn’t want to change all that much. We had lots of great reference material but ultimately it was Marko Djurdjevic’s cover art from the Thunderbolts (series #111-121) that really resonated with us. We felt that his overall art style and costume designs perfectly suited the look we were going for – A kind of gritty realism with more subdued colors and a great attention to detail. The covers are very beautifully painted and we wanted some of that illustrative quality to come through in our models as well. Additionally, we liked how Marko gave Songbird a harder look rather than being just another pretty face: her expressions are tense and serious. Of course, we still wanted to make Songbird attractive, but we tried to choose a likeness that conveyed her underlying emotions in a more believable manner.

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