New He-Man Mini-Comics

Dark Horse are creating new comics to be packaged with Mattel’s upcoming He-Man action figures, and the stories will be a continuation from the original ’80s mini-comics. Wow. Good news. You can read an interview here with their writer Tim Seeley (Witchblade). The covers are by Eric Powell (The Goon) with interior art by Wellinton Alves.

On a related note, action figure collectors can join Mattel’s new Club Eternia, which begins next year. For $20 a month, you’ll receive a host of goodies and exclusives throughout next year.

July 29, 2011
Categories: New To Comics?, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

David Mack’s Swamp Thing Cover

Mladen and I discussed the first issue of Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing in a recent Extra Sequential podcast episode in which we focused on Swamp Thing. I saw the second ish at the comic shop today and didn’t grab it, as the first issue really wasn’t that great and my investment in Swamp Thing as a character isn’t monumental. I am curious to see what DC actually do with him (and John Constantine) now that they’re both outside of Vertigo’s world and in the DC Universe proper though.

Anyway, here’s David Mack’s variant cover for August’s Brightest Day Aftermath #3. Another winner from Mack.

 

July 29, 2011
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Hulk vs Dracula #1 Preview

Could this be the end of Bruce Banner? Quite possibly.

DEATH CLAIMS The HULK?

Witness the cataclysmic showdown between Dracula, Lord of the Undead, and Dei-Hulk that changes the life of the gamma-irradiated monster… FOREVER!

FEAR ITSELF: HULK VS. DRACULA #1 (JUL110595)

FEAR ITSELF: HULK VS. DRACULA #2 (JUL110596)

Written by VICTOR GISCHLER

Art by RYAN STEGMAN

Covers by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO

Rated T+ …$2.99

FOC – 8/22/11, ON SALE 9/14/11

 

July 28, 2011
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Kirby Krackle’s Super Powered Love Out Now

Nerdcore band Kirby Krackle’s third album, Super Powered Love, has just been released. They’ve also released new merchandise, a music video and a live album from Australia recently. Yay!

Get SPL right here or on iTunes. The album cover is again by artist Jim Mahfood and comes with an 8 page booklet and includes 13 songs (their most ever), all inspired by comics and pop culture such as Mario Bros. and Transformers.

July 27, 2011
Categories: Comics, Music . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Com.x’s Babble

From English publishers Com.x (Cla$$war, 45, and it’s spinoff BlueSpear-out next month!) comes Babble. All we know so far is that it’s written by Lee Robson with art by Bryan Coyle and is described thusly:

Carrie Hartnoll is a girl lost in a life going nowhere fast, until a chance encounter with an ex-boyfriend affords her the opportunity of a whole new career in Ivy League America, working as part of a research team attempting to resurrect the language of Babel – a language, it is theorised, that can be understood by any human, from anywhere in the world.
As Carrie pieces together her fractured personal life, she becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding the apparent suicide of the project’s original team leader, which propels her to uncover the horrific truth about the language and why it was written out of the history books…
That’s a pretty intriguing premise, and I like the promo image too, with its use of Genesis in the logo. Nice.

July 26, 2011
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Sam Sarkar Interview

Now up at Broken Frontier is my interview with Sam Sarkar, writer of the new Image mini-series, The Vault. The first issue is out tomorrow and is definitely worth picking up. It’s a smart underwater mystery with a good mix of science and the supernatural, and it looks great too, with art by his Caliber: First Canon of Justice collaborator, Garrie Gastonny.

Sarkar, with his background in comics and film is an interesting guy. The interview can be read here and if you’d like to see Sarkar, you can do so at a signing tomorrow. Details for that are under the pretty pictures.

 

MEET SAM SARKAR, CREATOR AND WRITER OF THE VAULT

 

On July 27th, starting at 7:00 P.M., Golden Apple Comics will present an autograph signing with Sam Sarkar, for the release of the new comic book from Image Comics, THE VAULT.

 

THE VAULT is about a small team of treasure hunters, struggling to excavate a dangerous and legendary treasure pit before a massive storm hits Sable Island, the “Graveyard of the North Atlantic.” Equipped with all the latest technology, the scientists believe they are prepared against all of nature’s fury, but nothing can prepare them for what they are about to unleash.

 

“THE VAULT is kind of a contemporary Pandora’s Box story,” explained creator and writer, Sam Sarkar. “Though it appears on the surface to be a pretty straightforward story, it has most of its mythology buried deeply. It gets uncovered both literally and figuratively as the pit gets excavated.”

 

THE VAULT issue #1 autograph event will take place in Los Angeles at Golden Apple Comics on July 27th, 2011 from 7-9 P.M. at 7018 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. For more information, please call 323-658-6047.


 

July 26, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, Interviews, New To Comics? . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Heaps More DC Comic-Con Art

Ooh, pretty. From the last day of the San Diego Comic-Con, comes a heaping helping of sketches and art for September’s DC relaunch, showing how the new designs of characters such as Hawkman, Lois Lane (and her potential hairdo), Kid Flash and more progressed. See more, including Animal Man, Supergirl and Red Hood right here.

 

There’s also more perty peeks at interior pages from DC’s so-called Dark titles, such as Blackhawks, Resurrection Man and Frankenstein. Much more including Men of War and Justice League Dark can be found here.

Finally, even more unlettered interior pages from the likes of Blue Beetle and Legion Lost can be seen right here.

 

 

 

 

July 25, 2011
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

2011 Eisner Awards

Announced at Comic-Con was the full list of the prestigious Eisner winners for this year. As usual there’s no surprises, including CBR as Best Comics Related Journalism, but there’s a few deserving surprises, such as Daytripper, Return of the Dapper Men and Darwyn Cooke. And a comic shop in Israel. Called Comics & Vegetables. Yep. However, it’s not what they literally sell, as this interview reveals.

How was the name of CNV decided upon? Are you guys actually a vegetable store as well?

The name is based on a phrase in Hebrew, the closest word in English is “etc.”.

2011 Eisner Award Winners List

Best Short Story
“Post Mortem,” by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

Best Continuing Series
Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)

Best Limited Series
Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)

Best New Series
American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)

Best Publication for Kids
Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)

Best Publication for Teens
Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Humor Publication
I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)

Best Anthology
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Digital Comic
Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, http://www.abominable.cc

Best Reality-Based Work
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New
Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia)
Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)

Best Adaptation from Another Work
The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

Best Writer
Joe Hill, Lock & Key (IDW)

Best Writer/Artist
Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit (IDW)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist
Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)

Best Coloring
Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics(DC); Neil Young’s Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)

Best Lettering
Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
ComicBookResources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)

Best Comics-Related Book
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)

Best Publication Design
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW)

HALL OF FAME
Judges’ Choices: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Jackson, Martin Nodell, Lynd Ward
Elected: Mort Drucker, Harvey Pekar, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award:
Nate Simpson

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:
Patrick McDonnell

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award:
Del Connell, Bob Haney

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:
Comics & Vegetables, Tel Aviv, Israel – Yuval Sharon, Danny Amitai

July 25, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 2 Comments

Extra Sequential #50

60 mins. Join us as we celebrate our first milestone episode and talk about heaps of Comic-Con news, and a few recent reviews. We also answer some fanmail and talk about bad Robin Williams’ films, MacGyver, Klingons, Jarvis Cocker, and invisible pants.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

 

6:54 NEWS

IDW’s Popeye comic

Vertigo’s House of Mystery is ending

Trailers for next year’s Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man

Marvel’s Season One newbie friendly OGNs

Tom Morello, Guillermo del Toro and P.C Cast working with Dark Horse

The dissolution of Superman’s marriage to Lois Lane

DC’s comic based on the game, Uncharted

Star Trek and Legion of Super-Heroes cross-over

Spider-Man and X-Men titles go digital

25:33 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Osama Tezuka’s little known Apollo’s Song

Conan: Island of No Return

Taiyo Matsumoto’s Gogo Monster

DC Retro-Active – Wonder Woman – The ’70s. 2 tales starring a powerless, judo loving WW.

Big Baby, another weird comic from Charles Burns

Harlan Ellison’s collection of reviews, Watching

X-Men: Schism #1 by Jason Aaron and Carlos Pacheco

July 24, 2011
Categories: Comics, Movies, New To Comics?, News, Podcast, Reviews . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Star Wars – Digitally

Announced at Comic-Con was this great piece of news for Star Wars fans. Apparently there’s some price issues with the site and the iPad app, but they’re being worked on now to get the 99c price mentioned in the press release below.

STAR WARS™ COMES TO THE DARK HORSE DIGITAL STORE!

ENTER THE GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY ON YOUR iPHONE, iPAD OR LAPTOP!

The wait is finally over, as Dark Horse and LucasFfilm announce the arrival of Star Wars comics in the Dark Horse digital store! At the start of the Dark Horse Star Wars Comics 20TH Anniversary panel today, news of digital Star Wars comics was delivered to a packed house of fans, media and industry professionals.

Now, fans are encouraged to head over to Digital.DarkHorse.com to download their favorite Star Wars titles today, with over 50 comics available for purchase! Fans can now download, the original Star Wars: Crimson Empire series, Marvel’s adaptation of Episode IV: A New Hope, The Clone Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, Legacy: War, Knight Errant, The Old Republic, Jedi: The Dark Side, and the top-selling Darth Vader and the Lost Command. Most single issues will be priced at the standard $1.99, with KOTOR #1 and Clone Wars #1 available for free download! Additionally, Crimson Empire #1, Knight Errant #1, and The Old Republic #1 will be just $.99!

Going forward, Dark Horse will release a mix of new and backlist titles weekly. Stay in the know on all of your favorite titles, and sign up for the Dark Horse Digital newsletter at Digital.DarkHorse.com today!

July 23, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Lots of Comic-Con News

As the pop culture madness of San Diego Comic-Con starts winding down for another year, there’s far too much to talk about, but here’s a few interesting tidbits.

Apart from Captain America’s snazzy costume (the one he’ll wear in next year’s The Avengers film) 4 posters were on display, spotlight Cap, Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye, all sporting slightly tweaked versions inspired by their comic counterparts as seen in The Ultimates.

Oni Press’ popular Western/ supernatural series from Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt is getting a 6 episode TV mini-series.

Solomon Grundy is The Penguin’s secret weapon,a nd Talia al Ghul appears in the Batman: Arkham City game.

MacGyver gets a comic (!) next year from Image.

Red Hulk gets up to mischief in the curiously titled Hulk of Arabia.

DC’s relaunch in September is not far away and they’ve released a whole bunch of new images, including 8 text-free pages from Justice League #1, pics from the Superman books and more (including The Flash’s fancy new costume and Mr. Terrific).

July 23, 2011
Categories: Comics, Movies, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Gestalt’s Torn at CBR

Comic Book Resources has an interview with Andrew Constant, writer of Torn, an upcoming horror/ werewolf OGN from Perth publisher Gestalt. Check out some impressive preview pages from Nicola Scott (Secret Six) and Joh James there. Go Gestalt!

 

July 21, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Bats and Spidey Trailers

Movie studios are learning that if you can’t beat them, join them. Just one day after The Amazing Spider-Man trailer leaked online, Columbia have released the official version. The film stars Anderw Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker and opens in July 2012. Time will tell if it’s too early for a reboot, but so far, and including the released pics, this looks pretty enjoyable. The film is the first to feature Peter’s parents, and has some rooftop acrobatics reminiscent of the parkour game Mirror’s Edge.

The same story applies to the teaser for next year’s final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, and it is a teaser, with not much new footage. Equally as impressive are these two fan made posters which mash up the posters from the entire trilogy.

Lastly, the new version of Marvel vs Capcom 3 is out in November, which features 12 new characters (below) and more. 

Capcom:
Strider
Firebrand
Vergil
Frank West
Phoenix Wright
Nemesis

Marvel:
Ghost Rider
Dr Strange
Nova
Rocket Raccoon
Hawkeye
Iron Fist

July 21, 2011
Categories: Games, Movies . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 2 Comments

Biblically Inspired Posters

As featured on Abduzeedo, comes designer Jim LePage’s frankly awesome Word posters designed to highlight individual books of the Bible. As LaPages states:

Basically, Word is a series where I create original designs for each book of the Bible. Before each design, I spend time researching the book, finding out the themes, historical context, weirdest stories, etc. I also scan through parts of the book looking for a passage or story that could translate into a cool design. Each design isn’t meant to completely represent the book, rather it is merely based on a passage from the book.

Some of my faves are below, and you can find heaps more at LePage’s site. Apart from his keen eye, his writing is just as good, with his explanations behind each design offering honest, and sometimes funny, approaches.

July 20, 2011
Categories: Art . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

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