For this cover of Marvel's Secret Invasion: Front Line #4 (Of 5) illustrator Juan Doe has created a wonderful comic tribute to Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Want. While I always appreciated Rockwell as a vegetarian the site of the poor turkey in the original painting always turned my stomach — but in this homage Doe turns our feathered friend into a cut looking lizard creature (of sorts):
I have sort of mixed feelings on this one: For starters I feel like the art direction looks too detailed and the lighting is a also a bit too film noir. Although it looks like they have some characters nailed down like the Nite-Owl and Rorschach, other characters like Adrian Veidt don't feel right. Also for me I associate Watchmen with the music of the late 80s when the comic was produced — I would have loved to hear something like an updated version of Pop Will Eat Itself on the soundtrack rather than the Smashing Pumpkins.
But maybe the main thing is that perhaps DC Comics should have thought of doing the movie as traditional animation rather than live action? If this was a Japanese film based on a manga there would be no question that we'd expect to see something akin to an Akira. But in Hollywood animation is always thought of as something for kids, it would have been nice to see them take a chance instead of produce yet another film that looks like Batman.
It was my lack of athletic ability that drew me to science fiction and comic books, after all you didn't have to hit or kick a silly ball when it came to zapping space aliens or commanding a starship. So with rare exception I tend to look down my nose at anything associated with sports — however with Blood Bowl Killer Contract #2 I'll have to make an exception.
Published by Boom! Studios this book looks pretty funny as by putting together two negatives (football and silly fantasy escapist fantasy that I hate as a hardcore science fiction fanboy) you get a real plus. There's something that just seems to work well by putting together the false bravado of jocks with the over the top world of elves, dwarves, orcs, and ogres. I think part of what makes this story by Matt Forbeck is that the artwork by Lads Helloven just pushes the concept further over the top. In short you should think of getting a copy of this when it comes out on July 16th, 2008.
Not only will I recommend this comic book, but I'll go out on a limb here: If Boom! Studios ever manages to get this concept made into a film I'd be the first on line to get tickets...
Below: The cover and an interior page from Blood Bowl Killer Contract #2:
I'm so happy that Marvel is taking a chance and trying something different by bringing over Soleil: Sky Doll from France. Issue #3 of the book is set to hit comic book shops on July 16th and this issue looks just great. Shown above is the cover illustration which is by the team of Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa. The interior of the book measures up to the cover by the way...
Yeah I already know what you're thinking! And yes I'm sorry that I sound like a broken record, but Dave Stewart (the comic book artist not the dude from the Eurythmics) keeps pumping out great covers for The Goon. They never take themselves too seriously, yet their technique has an amazing level of detail when you look at it up close — and the characters always seem animated, yet not too over the top. Shown above is the cover for The Goon #29 which Dark Horse will release this October.
I read with excitement that Devil's Due was putting out a Voltron comic book — but oh boy was I sorry when I looked at the previews: The inside of the comic book looks nothing like the series, in fact it doesn't even look like anime! Now I'll grant you that Voltron didn't have the best character designs in the world, but any kid could tell that it was Japanese:
For some odd reason it looks like the team behind this Voltron comic book was looking at the wrong YouTube video because I swear these character designs look like they were lifted from the Crest Gel Toothpaste Cavity Creeps commercial:
Although those cavity creeps seem better drawn! Devil's Due would have been better off licensing some unknown 70s manga, then cutting-and-pasting a robot every few frames and then colorizing the entire thing in Photoshop. And now that I'm thinking about it even the robot looks bad on the cover — it looks like instead they wanted to do a Lord of the Rings comic instead or were just too busy playing D&D.
Everything about this comic looks wrong — it's one thing to Americanize something, but these illustrations look like a bad copy of Marvel. The characters are too buff, the coloring is all wrong, and even the princess character doesn't look cute enough:
So if you see your childhood defaced Voltron: A Legend Forged #1 will be hitting cmic book shops on Thursday, July 10th.
The above cover for Marvel Adventures Hulk #13 caught my eye for a number of reasons: First there's the pre-aged look of a pulp fiction magazine, but then as you look further you see that the mummies are the good guys — oh no! This illustration is by Sean Murphy and his characters have a nice cartoony quality to them as seen in the detailed image below. This most mummified issue will be out on July 9th.
I love the design of this new poster for The Dark Knight, it's great to see a major Hollywood studio take an illustrational approach for a change instead of the same old pretty photos. Click on the image to see it at full size.
The above cover for the Madame Mirage collection immediately evoked the essence of a 70s movie poster for me, although I have to admit that the featured characters are sporting film noir and goth attire. But the sultry spirit reminds me a bit of a James Bond girl which might be giving me that early disco vibe. The cover artwork is by Kenneth Rocafort, and this trade paperback will be published by Image Comics. Here's the description:
Madame Mirage (Oversized First Issue!, # 1)
"From the magical mind of Paul Dini (Countdown, Detective Comics) comes a new, original femme fatale story that combines elements of film noir, tech, and superhero comics. Superbly drawn by rising star Kenneth Rocafort (Hunter-Killer), this volume collects Season 1 of this amazing story, a cover gallery, and insightful behind-the-scenes material, plus an all-new cover by Rocafort!"
I get a real kick out of seeing the work of Jim Mahfood — above is a detail from the cover of Kick Drum Comix #1 which will be published by Image Comics this September. It's part one of a two part series:
"Kick Drum Comix is an over the top full color two-issue miniseries from fan-favorite Jim Mahfood! All-new material here, including the exciting stories "Coltrane's Reed" and "Death of the Popmaster." Great stories, beautiful artwork, all in a full color package! "
Below is the full cover:
Anthony Lister is Brooklyn based painter who was born in Australia — many of his subjects are superheroes. The above painting is wonderwoman1 and below is fat bat man. His work reminds me of a deconstructed Richard Linder who became well known for his pop art during the 60s.
Continue reading "Anthony Lister: Expressionistic Superheroes" »
Tite Kubo will celebrate his 31st birthday today, and I have to say that I'm very happy to admit to being a Bleach fanboy: I first heard about Bleach when the Anime Pulse Podcast first started out: They were hardcore fanboys when it came to the show. But the first thing that struck me was that it seemed like too much of a soap opera to invest the time in. Man was I wrong!
I managed to hold out held out until they started showing translated episodes on Adult Swim and I was hooked right away. At first it seemed that the show had pretty much everything I'm not crazy about in anime: I'm a science fiction fan at heart so fantasy driven stories with Samurai outfits just aren't my thing.
But I got hooked into the clever world that Tite Kubo had constructed. At its heart Bleach is one of the most elaborately constructed soap operas that I've ever been hooked on. My friends will yammer on about Battlestar Galactica, but Bleach seems to be keeping me si fi free these days. As crazy as work becomes to me I always manage to DVR the show and find that golden half hour during the week to escape the world of the living and hangout with the soul reapers. Thank you Tite Kubo...
Nod Young is a designer and illustrator based out of Beijing, China. Above is a sample of one of the amazing graphic illustrations that he's created with a paper cutout technique. I was blown away by his wonderful attention to detail and slight sense of humor with his subjects.
I love how the cover for Avengers Fairy Tales #3 combines both that classic Victorian look with just a little dab of anime thrown in for good measure. This cover illustration is by French comic book artist Claire Wendling and will be appearing in comic book shops this week (kudos to Marvel Comics for their good taste).
Paging Dr. Freud! Yes I know that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but this cover art is still quite silly: Although it's so over the top that there's a sort of lovable quality to it. The above illustration is by Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, and Paul Mounts and will storm into comic book stores today thanks to Marvel Comics.
I think one of the nice side effects of The Spirit movie hitting theaters in Christmas will be that it might just introduce an entire new generation of fanboys and fangurls the genius of Will Eisner. This upcoming book from DC Comics which is due in out in October looks promising:
The Spirit: Femmes Fatales (The Spirit)
"With Frank Miller's movie version of Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT set to hit theatres in December, DC Comics collects some of the most memorable stories pitting The Spirit against his most sultry opponents! Featuring 23 selected tales of mystery originally published between 1940 and 1949, these stories star P'Gell, Sand Saref, Saree, Silk Satin, Thorne Strand, Autumn Mews and many others. "
Shown above is a detail of the cover of Fables #76 by James Jean. I love his use of candy colored hues, and if you look closely you'll see quite a bit of nice detail in his illustration as well like the stickers on base of the streetlight. Below is the full cover which is due out in September from DC Comics:
I was looking at what Marvel has coming out for September and I came across the above gem by David Mack which is a wonderful homage to Gustav Klimt:
"This square-bound art book acts as a tie-in to the DVD documentary on Mack's work, THE ALCHEMY OF ART: DAVID MACK from Herovideoproductions.com. REFLECTIONS #11 includes details and commentary on never-before-seen art and stories - including Mack's new children's book THE SHY CREATURES, handmade books and paintings from the DVD. Also featuring step-by-step art techniques, loads of art and extras you've never seen before, figure drawings, new paintings, sketches and art for Tori Amos' new Comic Book Tattoo story, album cover art, large art, live art shows, original scripts and more!"
I love comic book covers when they're less serious and more cartoony and this cover of Billy Batson and The Magic of Shazam #3 by Mike Kunkel does the trick! The above issue hits the streets on September 24th from DC Comics.
As a nerd I've always hated the character of Conan who always seemed like the poser child for stupid. Shown above is my improved version of the upcoming cover of Conan the Cimmerian #0 which will hit the street on June 25th from Dark Horse Comics.
Yes I know perfectly well that the character seen above is in fact a giant hippo and not an elephant, but that doesn't take away from the high quality of this gritty cover by Rob Steen and Ladronn for Elephantmen #12 which will be released this Wednesday by Image Comics.
I think the best part of MoCCA 2008 was getting to shake the hand of comic book legend Gary Panter who played a major role in putting RAW magazine on the map in the 80's. He was showing off a limited edition model of his famous character Jimbo:
Shown above is a photo of Craig Yoe at MoCCA 2008. Craig was asking me why more folks weren't buying Comic Arf
Shown above is Brian Wood at MoCCA 2008, I follow Brian on Flickr so it was nice to see him in person! Below is a sample of his graphic approach to illustration:
Shown above are Hyeondo Park and Jeanette An at MoCCA 2008. Jeanette was showing her comic book The Side Story of Mei-Lan and below is an illustration by Hyeondo Park:
Shown above is Liz Baillie at MoCCA 2008 — she's one of our favorites here at fanboy.com: Indie comic book critic Jenny Gonzalez praised her as a breakout cartoonist for her work on My Brain Hurts
P.S. Have you ever noticed that only cool people wear Black Flag t-shirts?
Shown above is Kensuke Okabayashi at MoCCA 2008, he's the author and the artist behind the book Manga For Dummies
At MoCCA I came across Trio Magnus, a nice looking publication by Aaron Leighton, Clayton Hanmer, and Steve Wilson. The artwork in the book is a cross between comic art, illustration and fine art:
Below are two of the authors at MoCCA 2008 (Clayton Hanmer is on the right):
Shown above is Lance Hansen at MoCCA 2008. In his hand is a copy of Hayseed no. 1 which is his collection of short and humorous comics:
Shown above is Alisa Harris at MoCCA 2008. In addition to her comic book work she's also an animator and illustrator — below is a sample of her work:
Shown above are comic artists Jeff Mumm, Steve Seck and Sara Lindo at MoCCA 2008 showing off their books.
Shown above is the crew behind Boston Comics Roundtable at MoCCA 2008, they were showing of their comics anthology Inbound #1:
Above is Jim Campbell at MoCCA 2008. In addition to his comic and illustration work Jim is in two bands: Paper Fleet and The Ottomen Empire. Below is issue #2 of his comic book Krachmacher:
Shown above is Erik Falk from Jippi Comics at MoCCA 2008. Erik was showing me a few issues of Angst - The Best of Norwegian Comics which just looked amazing. Below is a detail from a cover illustration:
Shown above is Lars Jakobsen at MoCCA 2008. Lars travelled all the way from Denmark to attend the show, below is a sample of his work:
Shown above is Keith McCleary at MoCCA 2008. McCleary is the writer and illustrator behind Killing Tree Quarterly shown below:
Above is my video review of the MoCCA Art Festival 2008 which is being held at the Puck Building in New York City this weekend. I only got to spend a few hours running around, but I have to say that this is one of my favorite shows of the year. Firstly the profits go to support The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, but secondly going to the event is like getting into the best art school in the world — only it's crammed with nothing but comic book majors! This year I was able to meet people from every place from Norway to less exotic Vermont. The creativity on display would put some museums here in Manhattan to shame, and yet most of the folks in the scene aren't doing it for money (although they may be trying).
It's funny I've heard of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. but I never heard of The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. until I came across the above comic book cover which was found by digital archivist Frederick Barr. I did some research and it seems the spin off-series lasted for one season from 1966 until 1967 when it was cancelled due to low ratings. The show starred Stefanie Powers who would later find fame as the lead in Hart to Hart in 1979.
Below are some other covers from publisher Gold Key:
Shown above is the cover from Joker Comics #24 which was published in August 1947 by Timely Comics (just a little over sixty years ago!). By the way Timely Comics is still in business today, they would go on to evolve into a company called Atlas Comics which would then go on to become Marvel Comics.
Found via Jello Kitty who is based out of Dallas, Texas, USA! Check out his Flickr page here...
The crew at ComicMix just did a nice job of upgrading their online comic book reader. As a usability geek I like what they've done — it's a hard task to bring print to the web and the new interface helps to bridge that gap. I also love the range of titles that the site has been adding since they launched, shown below is a sample of The Adventures of Simone & Ajax: The Case of the Maltese Duck:
I think I would have gotten even more into Spiderman as a kid had I known that he had a matching giant robot! This Japanese toy set is from 1978 and photographed by tOkKa.
I love the power and humor in this illustration by Cesar Evangelista Bautista who is based out of Mexico City, México.
Coco Wang is a comic book artist and animator from China, and he has an amazing collection of comics covering the earthquake. The stories are heartbreaking and touching at the same time, you can check them out here:
Coco Wang: China 5.12 Earthquake
"Thousands of heart-breaking stories are happening 24 hours non-stop everyday, some are so sad that you can hardly bear, some are incredibly moving that you just can't stop crying... I wanted to go to the front to help with all those people, some of my friends have already gone there, but I heard that the traffic needed to be kept totally clear for rescue transportation at the moment, people like me without knowledge of first-aid and experience of rescue operations going there now would cause choas and trouble... but I can't just sit at home and do nothing, I have been crying my eyes out in the past three days, I have never felt more proud of my country and people... their love, courage and kindness rock me to my core! I have decided to tell these touching stories by drawing comics. I am going to send you comic strips almost everyday from now on, I hope you could know something about the earthquake in China, although you don't have to do anything, but I hope you could feel our love and hope."
Found via metafilter.com and monkeyfilter.com.
I dread looking through the Marvel covers each week because there are so many uninspired heroic images of dudes in tights — but this cover for Omega #9 caught my eye right away. Firstly the graphic designer in me loves the hand lettering at the top, it's very unslick but shows a great deal of charm. And then the illustration hits you: Our hero is having a bad time of it! Not only won't his super powers out wit the robots, but there seem to be a few working class bubbas in the horde looking for a piece of Omega. The humor is great, the draftsmanship is good, and even the crude coloring technique adds to it all. Credit for the cover goes to Farel Dalrymple and Paul Hornschemeier — and Omega hits the stores this week on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008.
If they make this into live action they'll mess this up, unless they're very careful with the art direction:
Emily the Strange heads to big screen
"Counterculture icon Emily the Strange is on the road to the big screen, with Dark Horse Entertainment president Mike Richardson coming on board to produce a feature film that would tell the origin of the gothic figure and her four mysterious cats.
Skateboarder Rob Reger created the character among a multitude of designs he was printing up for stickers, T-shirts and skateboards in Santa Cruz in the early 1990s. The Emily design took off, with Reger's company, Cosmic Debris, going on to become a multimillion dollar business with toeholds in fashion, books and comics, toys, school supplies, and accessories. The character, often seen with four cats, has also become a figure for female empowerment and anti-conformity. Reger has remained the creative director behind the character and is one of several artists who work on "Emily."
"Emily's" connection with Richardson comes from the comic book line Dark Horse publishes. The company began publishing the title in 2005, with "Emily the Strange #1: Chairman of the Bored," which was followed by several other popular miniseries. "
Jules Feiffer has done it all: He wrote for Will Eisner's Outer Space Spirit, illustrated the classic children's book The Phantom Tollbooth and an extract from his book The Great Comic Book Heroes was used by Quentin Tarantino in the film Kill Bill. However he's best know to me and a few generations of comic book fans for his Pulitzer Prize winning work in the the Village Voice here in New York.
So I was very pleased to find out that Fantagraphics will be publishing a collection of Feifffer's early work for the Voice, the book will be titled Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-1966)
"In 1956, a relatively unknown cartoonist by the name of Jules Feiffer started contributing a strip to the only alternative weekly published in the US, a small radical newspaper called The Village Voice. His strip tackled just about every issue, private and public, that affected the sentient American: relationships, sexuality, love, family, parents, children, psychoanalysis, neuroses, presidents, politicians, media, race, class, labor, religiion, foreign policy, war, and one or two other existential questions. It was the first time that the American public had been subjected to a weekly dose of comics that so uncompromisingly and wittily confronted individuals' private fears and society's public transgressions."
Here are some samples from the book (click on to view at full size):
And here is Mr. Feiffer at his drafting table in 1958:
Found via comicsreporter.com.
For too many people Memorial Day is just another three day weekend, so with this in mind I was curious about the history of the day. So I was surprised to find out that the tradition dates back over a century ago to right after the Civil War when a day set aside to honor those who had died in battle.
While doing my research I was take aback by the above political cartoon that I found to be quite touching. In my mind I associate most political cartoons from the turn of the century with likes of Thomas Nast making satirical comments on political corruption. So to me it was quite a contrast to see the tone of this illustration by John T. McCutcheon which is set in a Civil War graveyard and has this caption:
"You bet I'm goin' to be a soldier, too, like my Uncle David, when I grow up."
Continue reading "On Decoration Day by John T. McCutcheon" »
As part of our ongoing campaign to support the destruction of superheroes I've decided to shine some light on publisher :01 First Second books. What I like about these folks is that they've done an amazing job bringing high quality yet quirky graphic novels to a world that's been lost to the epic battle of comic book clichés. So here's a title from their back catalog which I think is worth checking out:
Whenever most fanboys (and fangurls) think of Asian comics often manga from Japan comes to mind first, followed perhaps by manhwa from Korea and manhua from China. However if you go a bit further south to Malaysia you'll find the well beloved cartoonist Mohamed Nor Khalid who goes by the pen name Lat.
Lat is very much a local legend: At the young age of thirteen his first comics were published in the Majallah Filem and Movie News and by age 23 became editorial cartoonist of the New Straits Times, a large Malaysian newspaper. Lat is best known his creation which is the Kampung Boy series, of which Town Boy is the second book. What makes Lat's work so enjoyable is that he draws what he knows, so while you won't find any giant robots what you'll experience is a vivid visual sense of what it's like to live in Malaysia through the eyes of someone coming of age:
As part of our ongoing campaign to support the destruction of superheroes I've decided to shine some light on publisher :01 First Second books. What I like about these folks is that they've done an amazing job bringing high quality yet quirky graphic novels to a world that's been lost to the epic battle of comic book clichés. So here's a title from their back catalog which I think is worth checking out:
A dog and his robot, what else would you need? This graphic novel follows the adventures of a lonely dog who finds companionship with a mail order robot. While the setup of the plot sounds silly (and yes the book is filled with whimsy) Sara Varon's work is unique in that it also manages to be rather touching at moments. Her work reminds me of the Peanuts school of comic art in that personality of her characters aren't one dimensional even though they're drawn that way. Yet unlike Charles Schultz, Varon's work features few words — it's like looking at stills from a classic silent film where the pictures do the work of storytelling:
I'm bringing this to your attention because Indiana Jones and Iron Man are just so last week:
Shown above is an action packed scene from the upcoming Incredible Hulk film in which our green protagonist takes on Abomination. My first thought: "This looks like a flick designed to sell a videogame!" And of course I was right, below is a "making of video" on the videogame:
Although I have to admit that if the actual film is nothing but a two hour long fight scene with zero dialogue that would be worth waiting in line for!
Action packed video clip found via newsinfilm.com.
On May 29th Ms. Marvel #27 hits the newsstands! While I like the technique that Greg Horn is using in the above cover illustration the subject matter just looks so damn silly to me with the contrast of the blazing fire and the sexy superhero pose in the foreground. I'm not sure just who Marvel is trying to target with this book: Is it female teen manga readers who hate comic book stores? Or is it twentysomething guys who don't want to date the Supergirl next door? Marvel should just make this book a comedy title, just look at this cute clichéd description:
"There is a Skrull in Lightning Storm's midst. There is a secret truth to the life of Ms. Marvel's lover, William Wagner. Something happens between Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man that can never be undone. And an era comes to an explosive end in a pivotal moment in the life of the most important woman in the Marvel Universe."
Warner Brothers has launched the full version of the Batman: The Dark Night website which has all of the usual stuff: trailer, plot, photos and downloads. I guess we'll find out on July 18th how good the film is!
Shown above is the variant cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz for All Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder #12 which is due to hit the streets on August 27th. What makes this cover work so well is that the Joker isn't a xerox of an live action actor, yet he's not so cartoony either. With Sienkiewicz what we get is a stunning surrealistic portrait where the dramatic sense of lighting which goes back to the film noir roots of Batman.
Why can't Black Panther give his girlfriend the only seat in the jungle? And where do you go shopping to get that tight fitting superhero clothing in the jungle any way? Cover artist Francis Portela may know the answers...
Living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and being slightly dyslexic I misread the title of this sketch as "Hipster Monsters" — the title is in fact "Hip Monsters" and the artwork is by Grant Gilliland who is also known as TheGrossUncle (also check out parseitup.com).
I first came across the work of Tony Millionaire (Scott Richardson) in the 90s while following his comic strip Maakies in the New York Press newspaper here in NYC. His work harkens back a great deal to old school comics like Krazy Kat and Popeye. So I was very pleased to hear that Dark Horse will be publishing a collection of his work in late October which should be an ideal Christmas gift for any co
