Thor: For Asgard #1 Preview

Man, that Simone Bianchi really can draw hey? I met the Italian artist at last year’s Comic Con and a pic of his X-Men has been stuck up on my wall ever since. Below are a few text-free pages from his upcoming work on a new Thor mini-series.

Your New Look At Thor: For Asgard!

Marvel is pleased to bring fans a new look at Thor: For Asgard #1 (of 6), the hotly anticipated series by the masterful writer behind Loki, Robert Rodi, and astonishing artist Simone Bianchi. Starting this September, Thor: For Asgard #1 (of 6) begins an epic adventure beyond the Rainbow Bridge , showcasing the mighty Avenger as you’ve never seen him before! With Balder dead, and Odin missing – it will be up to Thor to handle the vassal uprising in Asgard. But when his trusty Mjolnir is being denied him, how can the mighty son of Odin put his empire back together? With the first two issues hitting in the same month, fans can’t miss this epic adventure full of action, suspense and intrigue!

THOR: FOR ASGARD #1 (of 6) (JUL100615)
Written by ROBERT RODI
Pencils & Covers by SIMONE BIANCHI
Parental Advisory …$3.99
FOC – 8/12/10, On Sale – 9/1/10

THOR: FOR ASGARD #2 (of 6) (JUL100616)
Written by ROBERT RODI
Pencils & Covers by SIMONE BIANCHI
Parental Advisory …$3.99

FOC – 8/26/10, On Sale – 9/15/10

August 10, 2010
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Torchwood Comic Trailer

Now I’ve not seen an entire episode of the relaunched Doctor Who, not its spin-off Torchwood. However, I know a lot of people will be buying this tie-in comic from Titan Publishing, which goes on sale tomorrow. It’s written by lead actor from the series John Barrowman with art by Tommy Lee Edwards, who’s currently working on Turf from Image Comics with Englsih TV personality and life-long fanboy, Jonathan Ross. Trailer and press release for the new series below.

Tommy Lee Edwards and John Barrowman team up for Titan’s new Torchwood comic!

Titan Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of Torchwood comic, based on the hit BBC America show.

Acclaimed artist Tommy Lee Edwards, currently working with outspoken TV personality Jonathan Ross on the hit comic series ‘Turf’, has teamed up with John Barrowman (Torchwood’s Captain Jack) and his sister and frequent coworker Carole E. Barrowman, to produce ‘Captain Jack and the Selkie’.

‘Captain Jack and the Selkie’ is one of two original Torchwood stories in issue #1 and sees Jack facing a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one. To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who, or rather what, is responsible.

Barrowman is overjoyed to have worked with Edwards, who he describes as one of his favorite artists. The pair began their collaboration when Barrowman and his sister Carole came across a poster of Captain Jack at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con.

“Tommy and Trevor had drawn a brilliant poster of my face super-imposed over the Face of Boe, which I think is the best piece of Captain Jack art I’ve seen,” said Barrowman. “The four of us hit it off immediately and I asked if they’d ever be interested in working with us on a Captain Jack project. They thought about it for, oh, about 30 seconds, and so ‘Captain Jack and the Selkie’ was born!”

The second story is part one of a special five-part story written by Torchwood TV script editor Gary Russell. Entitled ‘Broken’, the story sees Captain Jack, Gwen and Ian to get trapped in a cosmic hotel, while an old villain from the TV series returns.

Artwork for ‘Broken’ is provided by Adrian Salmon, whose work includes The Cybermen for Doctor Who Magazine and Judge Karyn for the Judge Dredd Megazine.

August 9, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Extra Sequential Podcast Episode One

On the wonderfully sunny Saturday morning just gone, my mate Mladen and I launched our very first podcast! It’s something we’d been talking about for a while now, and sure, we know there’s quite a few comic book/pop culture podcasts out there already, but hardly any in Australia, and especially in Perth, Western Australia. In fact, I think we are the only one. Most of the American podcasts are superhero centric, but Mladen and I have quite different tastes and rarely agreee on matters of the spandex brigade, so we thought we’d give it a shot. I must say, it went rather well. Both of us have had stints on community radio in the past few years so it was quite an easy experience, but tell us what you think dear listeners/readers!

We’ll be chatting it up weekly, and like the Extra Sequential magazine our aim is to make diehard fanboys and girls, and comic book newbies feel at home, so fear not if you’re not a regular comics reader!

You can listen to it our first episode through the player above or download it right here . It goes for just over 70 minutes and is broken down in to segments, if you want to skip through to the parts that may interest you more. So what did we talk about exactly? Well, here goes…

2:55 NEWS

Will Eisner’s A Contract With God film adaptation

Broken Frontier’s free, fortnightly digital mag now on iTunes

The death of Superman: The Movie and Superman II writer Tom Mankiewicz

The Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon

Also…Arkham City, the sequel to the excellent Arkham Asylum game

17:40 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

(Mladen) 20th Century Boys, Vagabond, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, Bouncer

(Kris) Brightest Day, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Franken-castle

Also…impressive vocalisation of the names of foreign creators, Kill Bill, how DC is like Twilight, Alien vs Predator and more.

32:30 SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES

We talk about the animated film, the comic that inspired it, the upcoming sequel and what we liked and didn’t like about it and somehow manage to discuss orphans, Superman’s exercise regime, baldness and craving for power.

52:48 TABLOID SIZED COMICS

We discuss oversized comics in the large newspaper style format, focusing on DC’s Wednesday Comics experiment and the indie anthology Pood #1 and also bring up 3 new TPBs from Top Cow, Rocky Balboa, Hawkman’s business card and cadmium.

1:05 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Project Rooftop We also chat about Wonder Woman’s new costume.

1:08:34 NEXT WEEK’S TOPICS

For episode two we’ll discuss vanity projects, Eisner Award winners and Asterix. Oh and for some reason we mention Vegemite.

August 9, 2010
Categories: Cartoons, Comic Art, Comics, Movies, New To Comics?, News, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

See Mitch Breitweiser Paint

Artistically inspiring site Abduzeedo has a new post dedicated to showing the sketchy stylings of exclusive Marvel artist Mitch Breitweiser and his wife Elizabeth. There’s also a short video of him digitally painting a cover (not the one below) compressed to 5 minutes. The cover he’s painting is from last year’s collection of Golden Age goodies entitled Marvel Mystery Handbook: 70th Anniversary Special #1.

August 4, 2010
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Batman And Deadpool Mania In October

We all know that, in the wake of the Merc With A Mouth making his big screen debut in Wolverine’s solo film last year, Marvel have been going nuts with Deadpool fever. In the new Preview solicits for October, Deadpool appears in 7 books, and 2 TPBs. That’s almost 2 new issues a week for the whole month. However, the new Uncanny X-Force title by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena sounds like it might be great, and the more adult Deadpool Max by Dave Lapham with art by Kyle Baker sounds just whacky enough to hold much promise.

The Dark Knight has him beat though, and how. Counting every book that has a Batman in it, whether that be the returning Bruce Wayne, or former Robin Dick Grayson, there’s a whopping 23 appearances of the Caped Crusader, and that’s assuming he doesn’t show up in Azrael, DC Universe Legacies, Knight & Squire or Red Hood: Lost Days. He’s sure to show up in at least one of those. So on average that’s almost a new Batman comic everyday for October. Phew. What has me excited though is Batman: Hidden Treasures, which is an old unpublished Bernie Wrightson tale, and with the assistance of Ron Marz, Len Wein and Kevin Nowlan, I’m sold.

August 2, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #3 Preview

From the writer of Hopeless Savages and Black Lightning: Year One and the artist of Robin: Year One comes this text-free preview of the penultimate ish of the new Black cat mini.

Your First Look At Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #3!

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #3, from the acclaimed creative team of Jen Van Meter and Javier Pullido! The Kravens have set their sights on the Black Cat! Now, Felicia Hardy must face down the family who has made it their mission to take out Spider-Man and everyone he holds dear! Will the Black Cat luck out or will she fall before the dreaded Kravinoff family? Find out in Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #3!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: BLACK CAT #3 (JUN100547)

Written by JEN VAN METER

Penciled by JAVIER PULIDO

Cover by AMANDA CONNER

Rated T+ …$3.99

FOC – 8/5/10, On-Sale – 8/25/10

July 31, 2010
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: , , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Pilot Season: Stellar #1 Review

It’s been far too long since I’ve read anything from Top Cow, but I must say, it’s good to be back. Stellar is the latest offering from the Cow’s very smart Pilot Season initiative that sees a bunch of different one-shots compete for a mini-series. This batch is from Image partners Robert Kirkman (writer of The Walking Dead, Invincible) and superstar penciller Marc Silvestri.

Written by Kirkman, with art by Bernard Chang and cover by Silvestri, this is a very good example of how not to judge  a book by its cover. At first glance this may appear to be some sort of homage to the kinds of comics that were far too frequent last decade, ie, bad girl/good girl/sexy girl in a tight outfit fighting crime with mysterious poses, gravity defying poses and a basic plot that’s merely an excuse for all of that. However, upon further investigation, Stellar proves itself as a solid read, thanks mainly to the skilled Kirkman.

As he details in a closing page explaining the genesis of this concept, the book has the potential to go anywhere – to exotic planets with wild creatures and more and we get a tantalising glimpse of those concepts here, but based on these pages, I hope Stellar wins.

The premise for the book is an intriguing place to start. We’re not told the main character’s name, but can assume her nickname is Stellar. Essentially, she’s 1 of 5 soldiers who have been genetically enhanced on Earth. The powers are good, but the fact that the radiation within them causes other humans close to them to get sick is not so good. Nor is the fact that Stellar’s fellow volunteers were driven mad (and apparently evil) by the process. Stellar is the only one who desires to be a hero, so uses her powers to wander the universe doing just that, all the while aware she’s truly alone. All of that is a great spring board for an even greater tale, and Kirkman wisely drops hints about all this throughout each page turn. No awkward exposition here!

The issue begins with Stellar fending off a Rhino-Predatorsaurus type creature to find a healing herb for an old friend’s son, while recording in her journal, Captain Kirk-style. After some interesting developments including a possible romance, her feelings of loneliness and a foreboding offer she can’t refuse, Stellar’s world gets dangerous and complicated, and interesting.

Chang’s art is a nice blend of emotional moments and sci-fi splendour. His layouts are dynamic and there’s never a page without a  sense of drama or danger. Creatures and characters look real; leaning more towards Star Trek than Wars.

My vote’s on Stellar. Kirkman, as he reveals in his afterword, has a host of ideas for this book and I hope we get to see them. Stellar is but a tasty appetiser to what could be a potential buffet.

July 29, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics?, Reviews . Tags: , , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Days Missing: Kestus Covers

The first Days Missing series from Archaia was a bold, time tripping sci-fi tale (get it now in TPB!). The second series follows again follows the mysterious and powerful Steward in his endeavour to erase dark days from our history, while revealing more about him Official details below about the second volume and its impressive array of cover artists.

FIVE SUPERSTAR COVER ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR ARCHAIA AND RODDENBERRY’S ‘DAYS MISSING: KESTUS’

ALEX ROSS, DALE KEOWN AND DAVID MACK AMONG THE ARTISTS ILLUSTRATING THE COVERS TO THE SECONG VOLUME OF THIS HIT MINISERIES

At the Archaia: Black Label panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Archaia Entertainment and Roddenberry Productions proudly announced the all-star lineup of cover artists contributing to the second volume of the critically acclaimed comic book series DAYS MISSING.

A different artist will illustrate each of the five upcoming covers of Days Missing: Kestus, which launches in September. As previously announced, Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Astro City) will be creating the cover for issue #1. Jorge Molina (Marvel Superhero Team-Up, What If? Spiderman: House of M) will design the cover of issue #2, and Ryan Benjamin (Grifter/Midnighter, New Mutants) will lend his talents to the cover of issue #3. David Mack (Daredevil, Atomika) has signed on to draw issue #4’s cover, and Dale Keown (The Darkness, Pitt), who illustrated all of the covers for Days Missing volume 1, will return to illustrate the cover to issue #5.

“Each talented cover artist brings his own perspective of The Steward and Kestus to the series, which creates a richer, deeper understanding of these multi-layered characters,” said Roddenberry Productions Head of Development Trevor Roth.

Artist David Marquez (Syndrome: The Graphic Novel) will illustrate the pages of all five issues of the continuing epic, which fan-favorite and Eisner Award-nominated author Phil Hester (Firebreather, The Darkness, Green Arrow) will write.

Days Missing: Kestus continues the tale of The Steward, a mysterious being who has the ability to literally “fold” days of time, secretly removing critical days from history. At the end of the first series, hints were dropped that The Steward was not alone in his powers. The second series will focus on his relationship with a new being, Kestus, as well as more days for him to “fold.”

Hester and Marquez joined Archaia’s SDCC panel along with Roddenberry Productions’ CEO Rod Roddenberry. Fans were treated to a limited run, complimentary preview book written by Creator Trevor Roth and drawn by David Marquez.

“Archaia and Roddenberry Productions have assembled five of the best cover artists in the industry today to lend their talents to this exciting franchise,” said Archaia Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy. “It just goes to show that Days Missing is one of the best science-fiction comics out there, and this new set of issues will not only just add to its popularity, but bring in new fans!”

Days Missing: Kestus will be published under Archaia’s new Black Label line of titles, which specializes in co-developing intellectual properties with prestigious partners who are seeking to flesh out and realize their original ideas through the use of Archaia’s resources.

Issue #1 of Days Missing Vol. 2: Kestus (five-issue miniseries, full color, $3.95, 32 pages, Diamond Order Code JUL10 0764) is set to debut in September wherever comic books are sold.

Future updates on the series, including preview images and other behind-the-scenes material, can be found at www.daysmissing.com.

July 28, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Marvel’s Tron Comic

It looks like this is the first official collaboration between Marvel and Disney since their new merger, and they’ve picked a good film to partner with. Official details below.

Marvel Announces TRON: THE BETRAYAL

Marvel is proud to announce TRON: The Betrayal, a new two-issue limited series serializing the highly anticipated graphic novel from Disney Publishing Worldwide, tying into Walt Disney Pictures’ high-tech adventure TRON: Legacy, which hits U.S. theaters in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX 3D® on December 17, 2010. The limited two-issue series arrives in October and serves as a prequel to TRON: Legacy. Each extra-sized issue of TRON: The Betrayal features a new cover by superstar artist Salvador Larroca (Invincible Iron Man). Featuring art and stories by some of the top names in comics today, this all-new story extends upon the mythology of the world of TRON.

The storytelling picks up in the aftermath of Walt Disney Pictures’ first film in its franchise TRON. Kevin Flynn is now in charge of Encom, the world’s largest video game company. Kevin, a break-through game developer, has built the Grid, a digital world filled with living programs. This new virtual world is about to develop a life of its own and, in order to control it, Flynn’s going to need to help of an old friend…named Tron.

“Marvel Publishing is excited to bring Disney Book Group’s first TRON graphic novel to comic book fans in this limited series,” said Ruwan Jayatilleke, Marvel Senior Vice President, Development & Planning, Print, Animation and Digital Media. “So whether you’re new to TRON or a longtime fan, TRON: The Betrayal is an action-packed thrill-ride that will not disappoint!”

This October, experience this must-read story in TRON: The Betrayal #1 before TRON: Legacy lights up the big screen!

TRON: THE BETRAYAL #1 (of 2)

Written by JAI NITZ

Plot courtesy STARLIGHT RUNNER ENTERTAINMENT

Pencils by ANDIE TONG

Cover by SALVADOR LARROCA

Rated A…$3.99

ON SALE IN OCTOBER 2010

July 28, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, Movies, New To Comics?, News . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Invincible Iron Man #29 Preview

Text-free preview below of next month’s Invincible Iron Man, the only Marvel series I buy regularly.

Your First Look At Invincible Iron Man #29!

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Invincible Iron Man #29, from the Eisner Award winning creative team of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca! After life-threatening surgery, Pepper Potts lays in recovery as she eagerly awaits the moment when she can suit up in her all-new Rescue armor! Meanwhile, miles away Detroit Steel continues to make Iron Man look like old news by beating him to the punch time and time again. With Iron Man’s reputation slipping away and War Machine shut off from the Pentagon, could it get any worse for the world-saving armored duo?

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #29 (JUN100598)

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #29 WOMEN OF MARVEL FRAME VARIANT (JUN100599)

Written by MATT FRACTION

Art & Cover by SALVADOR LARROCA

Women of Marvel Frame Variant by SALVADOR LARROCA

Rated A …$2.99

FOC – 7/22/10, On-Sale – 8/11/10

July 20, 2010
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 2 Comments

DC Teaser Image

DC haven’t released a cryptic teaser image for a while, but here’s one from today, just in time for some Comic Con speculation. Click here to see a much larger version for closer inspection.

July 20, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Incredible Hulk #611 Preview

Below is a text-free look at the clash of the green titans in next month’s Incredible Hulk.

Your First Look At Incredible Hulk #611

Marvel is proud to present your first look at Incredible Hulk #611 from the renowned creative team of Greg Pak and Paul Pelletier with a special wraparound cover by the legendary John Romita Jr.! In the Earth-shattering climax to World War Hulks, Skaar, Son of Hulk, finally confronts the father he never knew…and must destroy! It’s a gamma-infused showdown for the ages and only one Hulk is walking away from it!

INCREDIBLE HULK #611 (JUN100596)

Written by GREG PAK

Penciled by PAUL PELLETIER

Wraparound Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.

Rated A …$3.99

FOC – 07/22/10, On-Sale – 08/11/10

July 13, 2010
Categories: Comic Art . . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Amazing Spider-Man #639 Variant Cover

I gotta give it to Marvel EIC, and now CCO, Joe Quesada – he knows what the people want, most of the time. Whether it’s (hopefully) somehow reversing the unpopular Bran New Day storyline that made Peter Parker a swinging bachelor, or giving us some gorgeous cover art. For next month’s ASM #69, Quesada gives us both. I like the billboard for the much-delayed Spidey Broadway musical in the top left too.

Marvel Unveils Joe Quesada’s New ONE MOMENT IN TIME Variant Cover

Marvel is proud to unveil the jaw-dropping variant cover to Amazing Spider-Man #639, the second chapter of the hotly-anticipated “One Moment In Time”! Written by Marvel’s EiC and CCO Joe Quesada and featuring art from the dynamic duo of Quesada and superstar Paolo Rivera, Amazing Spider-Man #639brings readers the answers that they’ve been demanding. What really happened at the wedding of Spider-Man and Mary Jane? Will the answers come with a cost – and should readers be worried for the ones Peter Parker holds dear? Find out in Amazing Spider-Man #639!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #639 (MAY100555)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #639 QUESADA VARIANT (MAY100556)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #639 QUESADA SKETCH VARIANT (MAY100557)

Written by JOE QUESADA

Penciled by PAOLO MANUEL RIVERA & JOE QUESADA

Spidey Sundays backup by STAN LEE & MARCOS MARTIN

Cover by PAOLO MANUEL RIVERA

Variant Cover by JOE QUESADA

Rated A …$3.99 (each)

FOC—7/15/10, On-Sale—8/4/10

July 10, 2010
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Scratch9 #2 Preview

Behind the awesome Mike Kunkel cover of September’s Scratch9 #2 lies the tale of Scratch’s secret life as a Pharoah’s cat. Good all-ages fun from Ape Entertainment’s new KiZoic imprint, which is also putting new DreamWorks comics on the shelves. Here’s the official skinny, as seen in the current July Previews catalogue:

W) Rob M. Worley
(A) Jason T. Kruse

Scratch has escaped Dr. Schrodinger but his friends are still in the clutches of the C.R.U.E.L. Corporation. Can even his past incarnations as Bektah (the Pharaoh’s cat) and Ichirou (the Shaolin cat) save them? And what’s this? Not all his other lives are from the past! New paw-sibilities this issue!

And for an added bonus, here’s a cheeky homage to Wonder Woman’s controversial new costume.

July 10, 2010
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics? . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 1 Comment

« Previous Page — Previous page Next page — Next Page »