Over at the always awesome Project Rooftop site (where artists submit their ideas for superhero re-designs) the winners of the latest Batman competition are up. Below are my faves (the first one being the Grand Prize Winner). You can check out the rest of the runners up and honourable mentions at Project Rooftop.
I always admire those who risk their resources by doing something truly creative. It’s even more important in these days of Diamond’s recent changes that make it harder for the ‘little guys’ in the comic book biz to get their work noticed and appreciated by a worldwide audience. So, firstly my hat is off to Gibson and Danks, and the multitude of self-publishers like them. However, apart from all that Harker is genuinely entertaining, and it’s obvious that it’s a labour of love. From writer Roger Gibson’s nice introductions in each issue, that offer an honest peek into the process of creating a comic, to artist Vince Danks’ efforts on the art, which must be time consuming, it all makes this a pleasant change for those raised on a steady diet of spandex soap operas.
Carrying on from the debut issue, Harker #2 continues the look at the British detectives Harker and Critchley (the bald one) as they investigate a gruesome murder on the steps of a church. Last issue left us with a hint that the murder was tied into occult practices, and with this issue we delve deeper into that world. With the discovery of book remnants under the fingernails of the corpse, the two lads search a number of shops for a book entitled The Key of Solomon, but to no avail, until they meet a somewhat shifty man in an occult bookshop, who appears to be hiding something. Then it’s off to the coroner who gives the pair the identity of the murder victim, and the hunt continues.
Montages can sometimes be tricky to pull off in sequential art, but Gibson and Danks do it beautifully here. Harker and Critchley’s book hunting at the beginning of the issue, and their questioning of associates of the deceased towards the end, are both handled well. That may seem like an odd thing to praise, but in a black and white comic, it can sometimes be hard to identify faces and locales. Danks’ photorealistic approach to the art manages to avoid this pitfall though. There’s no confusion as to who is who and exactly what’s happening. With a style similar to that of Dave Sim’s current work on Glamourpuss, it’s simple, but not simplistic.
I couldn’t help but notice the incorrect spelling of “presumably,” but that’s a very minor misstep. The other one would be the differences between the two main characters. Hopefully as the series progresses, they will start to sound less alike. Harker appears to be the more level headed, logical one, while Critchley calls his partner, “guv,’ but other than that the differences are subtle. However, all their dialogue is natural and never awkward, and considering there’s no action in this issue, merely talking heads, that’s vital. Danks does well to make each page look interesting, with suitable detail of interior and exterior locales, instead of a steady stream of close-ups of whoever’s talking. Gibson and Danks are a superb team of creators. The dialogue just rings true in your head. It’s not ‘comic book dialogue,’ but rather it’s filled with the cadence and flow of something more realistic. The TV series comparison is the most obvious one to make, and Harker could easily fit into a late night slot in that format. This is another solid entry in this series and is definitely worth picking up. Gibson and Danks can be proud of what they’ve achieved.
You can order Harker from your local comic shop, or from Ariel Press. If you’re looking for something that stands out from your pile of funnybooks, I’d recommend you do.
And you can read my interview with Gibson and Danks in the latest issue of Extra Sequential here, starting from page 32.
Below is a preview of Top Cow’s Witchblade #126, which goes on sale on April 22. Written by Ron Marz with great art by Stjepan Sejic, it’s the second part of the War of the Witchblades storyline, in which Sara Pezzini, long-time ‘blade wielder and newbie Dani Baptiste become increasingly hostile towards one another. Despite the preview, it really is about more than just women in lingerie.
This has been an excellent series with every issue. It’s been tightly scripted with a genuine momentum, and especially when compared to the disappointing finale of The Remnant, this is a truly satisfying conclusion to a great adventure.
By keeping the number of characters to a minimum, namely teenage magician/thief Luci, her friend Val, bad guy (and Luci’s former boss) Dietrich and badder girl Madame Cymbaline, writer Michael Alan Nelson has been free of confusing sub-plots and unnecessary diversions. Along with artist Emma Rios, he has crafted a dark supernatural tale of friendship, thievery, secrets and power lust. This final issue brings Luci’s desire for the death-dealing item, the carasinth, Dietrich’s machinations and Luci’s relationship to Madame Cymbaline all to a tidy conclusion. Luci shows she’s more wily than she’s given credit for and Val learns the pain of being a bargaining chip at gunpoint.
I’ve praised Hexed ever since it began. Fans of Buffy must grab this, and when the Trade comes out, I hope they, and others do so. The art by Rios is bold and fluid and with Cris Peter’s colour choices, violence and blood letting have never looked so strangely appealing.
Hexed could definitely carry the weight of an ongoing series, and this is a great primer. Writers who want to know how to craft an intelligent and entertaining introduction to a new universe should take notes. The mini-series format is an artform in itself. Hexed is one of the new breed that would easily fit in the done-in-one format of a Trade, without the sometimes unnecessary recaps in every issue. It barrels along and is a perfectly captured realization of a taut tale that can be read by anyone without getting bogged down in stray details. Telling an engrossing story these days while keeping things simple at the same time, is an honourable feat. Nelson and Rios have done it with Hexed.
Go here for a preview.
I’ve been writing for Christian e-zine, Sight for about a year now. They have a cool wordle all about Jesus, made up of the most popular words that people use in describing him. Seeing as it’s Easter, here’s a peek at what people are saying lately.
Staying with the theme, here’s a great Easter comic from DC back in the day, by artist Alex Toth. Entitled, Dirty Job it’s only 4 pages long and is definitely worth a read. May your public holiday be about more than getting a sugar high and dreaming of rabbits.
Thanks to DC’s new blog, The Source, some great new artwork from upcoming titles can now be seen. Below are covers (and interiors) from writer James Robinson and artist Mauro Cascioli from the mini-series Justice League: Cry For Justice which debuts in July. You’ll also see below covers for The Flash: Rebirth #4, by Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver, and finally, there’s the cover to July’s Gotham City Sirens #2 and Batman: Streets of Gotham. I must say, the entire DCU has been disappointing for about the last year, with Batman: R.I.P and Final Crisis just being overhyped and underwhelming. However, in 2 month’s time, I may just stand corrected. Both Batman and Justice League are moving in bold directions, and having Superman live on New Krypton seems to be off to a good start too. Thank you DC. Now don’t let me down.
The 3rd volume of the much loved comics anthology, Popgun is out now from Image. Yes, now! Anthologies are the in thing now in sequential art, as it’s a pleasant and surprising distraction from superhero epics for fanboys and girls, and a great entry into the world of comics for the uninitiated. Below are a few random preview pages, but you can see a lot more of the massive 472 page (for only $30) tome at the official site. We loved Tara McPherson’s cover so much, we dedicated the back page of the new Extra Sequential #2 to it. Inside you’ll find a lot more unique art from a slew of very talented storytellers.
Savage Dragon fans are a loyal bunch. It’s no wonder, as creator Erik Larsen has poured his heart into the Finned Fighter’s adventures for almost 2 decades. Now, in the best recent tradition of Marvel, Image Comics offers up a teaser involving a classic foe. Something’s brewing.
Press release below from Image, which is good news for those who like all-ages fun and frivolity in their superhero reading.
Readers shocked by Chris Giarrusso’s departure from Mini-Marvels will be pleased to learn he’s expanding his unique take on superheroes in this May’s G-MAN, VOL. 1: LEARNING TO FLY !
“Working Mini-Marvels was cool, but G-MAN, VOL. 1: LEARNING TO FLY is what I’ve been wanting to do for years,” Giarrusso said. “It’s the story I was wanting to write and draw the entire time doing Mini-Marvels so I’m happy those fans are psyched by the collection. G-MAN and company are going to be taking up all my attention for the foreseeable future and I aim to make the long-time Mini-Marvels readers happy!”
G-MAN, VOL. 1: LEARNING TO FLY collects the entirety of Giarrusso’s Comic Bits strips, showcasing his entire line up of all-ages friendly superheroes including G-Man, his mean brother Great Man and friends like Billy Demon, Tan Man & Spark! These strips set the stage for this fall’s G-MAN miniseries, giving fans old and new the chance to catch up. Also included is a full-length origin story, a G-Man Christmas tale and the complete acclaimed Mean Brother/Idiot Brother series.
G-MAN, VOL. 1: LEARNING TO FLY (MAR092415), a 96-page full color digest-sized softcover for $9.99, will be in stores May 20 2009.
I grabbed this for 2 reasons – the cover and the name. They’re both awesome. Written by Jesse Blaze Snider (yes, he is a musician, the son of Dee Snider infact) and pencilled by Ryan Benjamin this new six issue mini-series is kind of like Twilight for the manly.
Snider is fairly new to comics, but it doesn’t really show. The old familiar story convention of having a narrator introduce us to a dying man and how he got into that predicament kicks things off, before we’re hit with, “But I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s not where the story begins. It’s not even where it ends. Our story begins six feet underground.” Sure, not entirely original to start a story with the protagonist’s death, but in this case it works-barely. The dead man is Jonathan Romero. He gets out of his grave, having been buried in 1986 and finds a homeless girl called Whisper hanging out at the cemetery with her snarling dog. They exchange unpleasantries and part ways, with Romero (nicknamed Romeo) seemingly smitten. The building of this romance between the cynical Whisper and the undead vampire Romeo is the basis of the series. Romeo has done some horrendous things to escape hell apparently, and was protected by the also-resurrected Hollywood Vampires, a collective of bad fangs. To escape hell forever they must kill a virgin.
For a debut issue, this is okay. There’s a lot to introduce here, but compared to say, Mark Waid’s Irredeemable, or even Hexed which were strengthened by their simplicity, Dead Romeo seems to be filling every page with characters. If all those characters serve a purpose, then that’s fine, but only future issues will tell. Snider’s not a bad writer though. Romeo seems quite clearly the romantic vampire, a la Angel, while every other vamp seems like they’re auditioning for the next Lost Boys sequel. They’re all bad to the bone. Got it.
I’ll give this series a go, because despite my harshness, I can see what Snider’s attempting. There’s going to be a battle, with love caught in the middle, and tough choices involving sacrifice to be made. Dead Romeo just needs time to develop the characters, and Snider shows promise in his dialogue. It’s not off to a great start, but with more streamlining this series could be interesting. Benjamin’s pencils are fine. There’s heaps of blood (if there was any swearing this would’ve been a Vertigo book) and each character, including Romeo in his glam rock outfit, Death the skeletal barman, and Dwight Phry (leader of the Hollywood vamps) possess a distinct visual identity.
Vampire tales have been through the wringer of pop culture so many times, there’s almost nothing new to say, but Snider may very well be creating an intriguing, atmospheric tale here. It’s just hard to see so far.
See a preview of this ish here.
Wow. Just – wow. I’ve never doubted Mark Waid’s mad skills behind the keyboard. The guy knows how to write good superhero comics, and has done so for years. Anyone who’s read Kingdom Come will agree. Now that he’s the EIC of BOOM! Studios, he appears to be ramping things up, free from the tight editorial reigns that The Big Two can sometimes choke a writer’s potential with.
With the clever marketing campaign stating “Mark Waid Is Evil,” fans were curious. The guy’s not exactly a squeaky clean comics writer. Those days haven’t existed since Batman was dancing on TV. Nor is he Warren Ellis though. However, with this new series, he seems to be exploring the darkness of costumed adventuring to a greater degree than he ever has before. The whole premise of this book is the slow corruption of a good superhero (the first and the best actually) before he begins to hunt down his terrified team-mates. Peter Krause’s art is suitably realistic and vicious and the terror is palpable. Waid – you’ve done it again.
To say more than that would be to ruin the wonderful slam dunk that this debut issue is. Anyone who’s read superhero comics for any length of time needs to read this. It’s a quick read (with an afterword by Grant Morrison and a preview of The Unknown), and not many details are offered, save that The Plutonian has now turned and his fellow spandex wearers are helpless. Imagine if Superman had enough of the human race. If all our stupidity and constant bickering and evil just made the most powerful creature on earth snap. And there was nothing we could do about it. That is Irreedemable, and it’s great stuff.
And it’s about time. Marvel has always been the cooler company of The Big Two, while DC has done little to curb its closed off gentlemanly vibe. However, DC were the first to embrace the digital comics revolution, with Zuda, and Marvel soon followed with their slyly named Digital Comics Unlimited. However, Marvel’s E-I-C, Joe Quesada is always on TV chats shows, and on-line chatting Marvel up, especially with his informative weekly blog on MySpace Comic Books.
This is greta, but somewhat frustrating when compared with DC’s lack of chat. I’ve always had a love affair with DC. I’m a comic book nerd today because of them. Superman: The Movie, The Super Friends cartoon, The Killing Joke, The Death of Superman, Kingdom Come – all these and more were the watershed moments for me as a reader. They continued to reveal to me the awesomeness that comics can contain. However as a company, DC has always been tight-lipped about its plans compared to Marvel, and their relationship with the mainstream press can be awkward at the best of times. Things are finally looking up though. Finally DC has realised that it’s time to play catch-up and be pro-active. Their PR guy, Alex Sequra is now running their brand new blog. That’s great news. Hopefully it’s the first step towards new movements the company will be making to be embraced by, and embrace, the press and fans. You can see their blog right here and to give you a hint of what’s been happening lately, you can see pics of Ravager (the new co-feature in Teen Titans) and Ed Benes’ triptych cover to the upcoming Blackest Night: Tales of the Corp 3 ish mini-series. Your daily dose of DC is now here.
I picked this up on a whim last week and have only now forced myself to read it. I’m glad I did. I followed Superman for years after his Death in 1992-93, which brought me firmly into comics. Then I gave up on his books, only following his latest adventures in JLA or Superman/Batman. Then Geoff Johns did wonders with the character, specifically with his re-introduction of Braniac. Now Superman is leaving earth, and his own title. Or titles. As of this issue, Superman will not be appearing in his titular series, or in Action Comics. He’ll be replaced in the latter by the new crimefighting team of Flamebird and Nightwing, and in this issue we learn who’ll become the new “Superman.” Or Supermen. As was the case in the awesome World Without A Superman storyline that lasted almost a year after his death, DC proved just how strong his supporting cast is, and do so again here. As Supes makes a new home on New Krypton, he’s filled in by Mon-El, his similarly powered hero, and returning heroes The Guardian and Steel, who both played a big part after Supes’ death. Supes appears in flashback cameos as he says his farewells and goes on his recruitment drive. Mon-El gets a secret identity, in Jonathan Kent, taking the name of Clark’s recently deceased father, and beats up on female baddie Rampage, while realising he’s got a lot to learn about superheroics. It’s awesome to see Steel and Guardian back, if purely for sentimental reasons. John Henry Irons is a great character and held his own series for years, but hasn’t been much of a player in the DCU lately.
Writer James Robinson knows these characters, though unfortunately Superman’s goodbyes to his long-time friends seem rushed. There is a lot to set up here however in this bold new direction. Renato Guedes’ art is as gorgeous as I’ve come to expect. The Mon-El/Rampage battling free-fall double page spread is rendered exquisitely and David Curiel’s washed out colours compliment the bright skies and cityscapes perfectly.
I had my doubts that Superman’s absence could continue the strength of this title, but so far things are looking up. For newbies, this is the place to start. It’s a great new beginning for a trio of heroes, as well as readers who haven’t visited Metropolis in a while.
Like most readers, I felt disappointed after reading this issue. Sure, superheroes come back from the dead all the time, but Barry Allen, who for a generation of readers wasthe Flash, was dead for a long time. He gave his life to save the world, or worlds, from the Anti-Monitor in 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Virtually unseen since then, Barry’s mantle was taken over by his nephew Wally West. In my mind, Wally isthe Flash, and then when Bart Allen showed up as Impulse, and later Kid Flash, that was enough to fulfill my speedster requirements. So why bring Barry back? Good question.
And it’s one that goes unanswered here. Writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver are a great dynamic duo, and they brought Hal Jordan back to the land of the living in Green Lantern: Rebirth 5 years ago. That was a phenomenal, meaningful, action-packed series, and as much as I grew up enjoying Kyle Rayner as GL,it was great to see Hal return. That’s not the feeling I get here. There’s enough of a framework constructed for future issues to build upon, but I can’t really say I’m entirely interested. I’ll keep paying attention though, only because Johns is an expert story builder, and Van Sciver’s art is impressive here, as always, with it’s fluidity and extreme motion. At last year’s Comic-Con I sat in on the panel where Van Sciver explained his enthusiasm for this series and his interpretations of the Speed Force. I look forward to seeing that more than anything else in this series.
This is an issue not for newbies, with it’s abundant guest stars (primarily the JSA) and the complicated relationships Barry has with other speedsters (exactly how did Bart get resurrected, and why his anger at Barry’s return?). I can only hope this series will become more focused in the future, and I am somewhat intrigued to see how the DCU adjusts to this latest development.
Not much happens here though. Basically Barry talks with Hal at the Flash Museum, and various other spandex wearers talk about Barry, filling in a few details about him along the way for perplexed readers. I was happy to see the return of Savitar, a villain I haven’t seen in years, and the surprises that the Speed Force holds are intriguing. THough the revelation about Barry’s father-not so much. The ads for this series have claimed that Barry is back and it’s the worst thing that could’ve happened to him. How that plays out will be mildly intriguing, but I guess after the spoils of GL: Rebirth, I was expecting more. This is a slow build rather than a shot out of the gate, but Johns can usually be trusted. I hope he knows what he’s doing.
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