Dale Eaglesham’s Alpha Flight Variant

Below is a look at the former Green Lantern artist’s variant cover for Marvel’s Canadian superteam relaunch.

Marvel Unveils Dale Eaglesham’s ALPHA FLIGHT #1 Variant

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at superstar artist Dale Eaglesham’s variant cover to Alpha Flight #1 ( of 8 ) – featuring the return of Canada’s greatest heroes! As the shadow of Fear Itself falls across the globe, will a nation turn to – or turn on – Alpha Flight in Canada’s greatest hour of need?

“I’ve always wanted to do Alpha Flight, but didn’t think I’d ever get the opportunity, so I’m very excited about this,” said Eaglesham. “This is the ideal team book – the characters have such depth and are so unique, so colorful. We have the heroic and iconic in Guardian, Snowbird and Northstar, for example, along with some quirkier heroes like Sasquatch and Marrina. As an artist, this is something I can really sink my teeth into and I’m loving every minute! With Greg and Fred writing, we also have some very topical, gripping and moving stories. I think the fans are going to fall in love with this book. I know I am.”

Discover why the team still stands tall as the greatest heroes of the Great White North, only in the Alpha Flight #1 ( of 8 ) Eaglesham Variant! No fan can miss the thunderous return of a legendary Marvel superteam this June!

ALPHA FLIGHT #1 ( of 8 ) (APR110547)

ALPHA FLIGHT #1 ( of 8 ) EAGLESHAM VARIANT (MAR118215)

Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE

Penciled by DALE EAGLESHAM

Cover by PHIL JIMENEZ

Variant Cover by DALE EAGLESHAM

FOC – 5/16/11. On Sale – 6/8/11

Deadlands in June

Image Comics is launching a new western series called Deadlands. Below is the official info, with an impressive list of creators, plus covers for the first 3 issues, and some text-free pages from June’s #1.

HOW THE OLD WEST WAS WEIRD!

Image Comics Presents a Series of One Shots with Can’t-Miss Creative Teams 
 
Westerns, one of the truly original American genres! From books, movies and comics, the genre has always held a special place in the hearts of fans. This summer, Image Comics and Visionary Comics, along with Strider Nolan and Pinnacle Entertainment are bringing westerns to comics in a big way. But not just any western… the weird western! With a mix of horror, steampunk and the supernatural, the old west was never a more frightening and weird place than with DEADLANDS!
 
The old west will get a fresh new take in the DEADLANDS comics with the exciting interpretations of a list of super star talents. Those contributing their masterful storytelling to the series will include: David Gallaher, Steve Ellis, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Lee Moder, Ron Marz, Bart Sears, Steve Niles, and Francesco Francavilla.
 
Ron Marz, who also heads up the project as series editor, stated, “It’s been amazing. All these guys have been wanting to do a western, and there it was, the perfect chance. The books have each taken shape by creator choice. We couldn’t have hoped for better.”
 
C. Edward Sellner, Creative Director for Visionary and writer of the four part backup series appearing in each book also commented on the enthusiasm of the teams, “We just keep hearing how much fun everyone is having and this stuff looks like some of the best work of their careers. I think everyone loves westerns, and everyone loves a scary story, so when you combine the best of both, you get something everyone can love.”
 
While Deadlands is based on the popular RPG game from Pinnacle, one doesn’t have to be a gamer to love the books, explained Marz, “If you love westerns, if you love horror tales, if you love good comics, great art and storytelling, you’ll love these books. Part of my job was to make sure these books were accessible to all.”
 
The first book out of the gate is DEADLANDS: THE DEVIL’S SIX GUN by the Harvey award-winning team of David Gallaher and Steve Ellis. In classic Faustian tradition, a weapons maker comes to America to pursue the American dream in the former colonies. Instead, he becomes immersed in plots and manipulations to gain unearthly power through the supernatural Ghost Rock. His goal? To make a gun that can kill anything, including the powerful Hellstromme! Its a journey that will cost him everything he loves, including his soul!

DEADLANDS (APR110410), the first 32 page full color one shot in this series of weird westerns, will be available in stores June 15, 2011 for $2.99.

Behind the Flashpoint Covers

Flashpoint is the new Flash-centric DC Comics event which, apart from the main mini-series, has 15 different mini-series showing alternate versions of well known characters. Not much is known about these series yet, but we know Aquaman looks set to rule a flooded earth, Bruce Wayne spends his time running Wayne Casinos, Lois Lane is a resistance fighter and Cyborg plays a pivotal part. We’ll certainly no more when Flashpoint #1 launches on May 11. Go here to download the complete checklist for the event.

In the meantime, DC’s blog The Source have revealed a few behind the scenes looks for 2 Flashpoint series, the Emperor Aquaman #1 cover and  a scene from its pages, and the cover for Reverse Flash #1. Click the links for the process behind these great pages from Ardian Syaf and to see the great job the inkers and colourists do.