I’m just not sure how I overlooked The Perhapanauts which is published by Image, shown above is issue #6 which just came out. I have no clue why an issue that comes out in June has a Halloween theme, but that doesn’t matter — what does matter is that this book looks great inside and out. Most publishers pull the bait-and-switch cover routine, but I have to say that the draftsmanship and character designs within this book are A+. Read more…
Ed McMahon represents the passing of the age of broadcast television which his career mirrored, and of course he’s best known for his long lasting gig at the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson from 1962 until 1992. But over the years he worked on a number of side projects: And from a fanboy point of view the most amusing to me is Legends of the Superheroes. This 1979 show was a sort of live action version of the Super Friends cartoon which was produced by Hanna-Barbera at the time. Read more…
I came across this recent manga themed advert for the Nissan Cube and was blown away — I really love how the design of this spot picks up on the conventions of Japanese comics from the black and white characters to the use of zip-a-tone patterns.
This amazing rare video shows illustrator Al Hirschfeld in action drawing a caricature of Paul Newman. Hirschfeld was born on this day in 1903 and lived to be 99 years old (he passed away in 2003). His legacy of drawing Broadway stars was so strong that they named a theater after him, and he honored his only daughter Nina by sneaking her name into each illustration (often doing it several times). What’s amazing to me about this video is that it was shot when Hirschfeld was 99 years old, yet the detail and quality of his draftsmanship looked as good as ever. Read more…
I love Skottie Young’s work, but I’ve been wondering just when Marvel would allow him to take a pass at one of their more well known characters and it looks like for Wolverine First Class #19 they’ve let him run with the ball. The first thing I love about this cover is that it has a sense of humor, too often Marvel covers (or DC) take themselves too seriously. Yet you get right away who Wolverine is despite Young’s cartoony approach. In addition to the usual great draftsmanship and page layout the coloring here is A+: The added zip-a-tone as a texture is nice homage to comics books of the past: Read more…
It strikes me as amusing that Kitty Pryde, the girl who can’t be touched, is being used to touch all of our hearts. I’d complain, but she phased through the soft spot of my soul years ago. In Full of Pryde over 70 artists created new fanart of Kitty Pryde as a part of a fundraiser for the Oregon Hemophilia Treatment Center. Shown above is a purrfect illustration by Aleks Sennwald and below are just a few highlights from the show: Read more…
Happy Memorial Day! While most of us usually commemorate this date with hot dogs and hamburgers, sometimes it’s awe inspiring just to remember what this date is is all about: Those who made sacrifices for the rest of us. One such person was Corporal Weinert, a soldier during World War II. Weinert made a habit of personalizing his envelopes sent home with rich cartoony illustrations that can only be described as pure Americana. This amazing collection has a good number of his envelopes, but unfortunately lacks the letters within. Although they paint an charming picture of the thoughts of a GI sharing his insights with his family and friends on the home front: Read more…
I was looking through the latest stack of Marvel covers due out in August and one artist leaped off my screen time-and-time again: Skottie Young! Most of the Marvel covers have that flat photoshopped color look to them, but with Skottie I love how the power of his drawing comes out to dominate the page. Also Skottie isn’t afraid to be cartoony, and his illustrations always have a small amount of humor that brings the characters to life without the need to show them in some super stretched position or battling to the death with some super villain. Shown above is a detail from the cover of Iron Man & The Armor Wars #1 (Of 4) — what’s great about this cover is that it’s a homage to every previous Iron Man character design: Read more…
On the surface this cover illustration of Red Robin #3 may not look like much, but to me that’s why it’s so good. Every month I see tons of covers that are crammed with detail but have little graphic impact, however this artwork by Francis Manapul is a great example of “less is more”. Although his cover looks simple there’s actually a great deal of detail and though going on under the surface. Here’s a breakout of what I love about this cover: Read more…
Published by Silverline Books The Lava is a Floor is a kids hardcover comic book which is due out in August which looks like a great deal of fun (especially for us fanboys who are still kids at heart). The illustrations by Jeremy R. Scott have a energetic gregarious quality to them which makes you wish you had these devilish creatures as your personal pets to hang out with and to amuse your friends at parties. The story for the book is by Justin Shady and Wayne Chinsang and features the tale of a brother and sister (Blarg and Clarg) who live live in the crater of a volcano: Read more…
This is a detail of a cover from issue #3 of the comic book Chew which will come out in August. This illustration by Guillory is wonderful because it has a sense of humor which is sadly lacking from most comic book covers these days, I especially love the reference to the the 1958 cult film Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Here’s the full cover (click on it to see it at full size): Read more…
Nathan Lane will be an amazing Gomez Addams!The Addams Family is being turned into a Broadway musical and is slated to open in April 2010. In addition to Lane, Bebe Neuwirth will star as Morticia Addams. The Addams Family first started life as a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine in 1938 and was then turned into a hit TV show in the 60s. There have also been two films made in the 90s and even two animated TV series. Read more…
