50 mins. We go green and delve into the murky depths of DC’s classic monster/ hero Swamp Thing. Also leaping Superman, ostracizing Martians and non-human love.
Our look at Swamp Thing, including his great cartoon theme song, film appearances, superhero cross-overs, and much-loved reinvention from writer Alan Moore.
The second issue of the Dark Horse Presents anthology is out this week, and it looks much better than the debut. In DHP #4 (out on September 21, and ready for ordering in this week’s new Previews catalogue) those four legged detectives return. Official details below.
RETURN OF THE PACK IN DHP #4!
Coming to you fresh from the upcoming eighty-page spectacular, Beasts of Burden returns in Dark Horse Presents #4!
Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s lovable and crafty team of critters is back in action for a story that will tempt your taste buds and leave you wanting more!
Adventure, mystery, horror, and humor thrive on every page of Beasts of Burden—a comic-book series that will capture readers’ hearts and haunt their dreams.
Award-winning comics creators Evan Dorkin (Milk and Cheese) and Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) first introduced these very special investigators in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings and the other Dark Horse Book of . . . anthologies, for which they won coveted Eisner Awards for Best Short Story and Best Painter.
Evan and Jill will both be in attendance at San Diego Comic-Con 2011!
Quite the scoop for Bleeding Cool. Here’s a video, that’s just over 3 and a half minutes of Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, Grant Morrison and others talking excitedly about September’s 52 series debuts. It doesn’t reveal anything new, apart from a few seconds of Lee sketching, but I must say, their enthusiasm for the bold move is infectious.
Here’s a look at the evil (and articulated) alternate version of The Reverse Flash, otherwise known as Professor Zoom. He can be yours in August, or next month at San Diego Comic-Con. Official details below.
This summer, the bestselling series FLASHPOINT has taken the comic book world by storm. In August, four FLASHPOINT action figures (manufactured by DC DIRECT) will be shipping to retailers. And if you’re heading to San Diego next month, you’ll want to pay very close attention:San Diego Comic Con is the only place where you’ll be able to complete your FLASHPOINT action figure collection. Head over to the Graphitti Designs Booth (#2315) for your chance to purchase an extremely limited DC DIRECT action figure of one of FLASHPOINT’s central villains: Zoom.
Zoom stands approximately 6.5” inches high, features multiple points of articulation and includes a removable display base. But don’t wait too long! Due to its rare availability, attendees will each be limited to only one Zoom figure each.
Comics Alliance has a great post featuring 19 different evil Supermen (and some women and boys). Yes, there’s some whacky Superman-centric villains from the Man of Steel’s past, but artist Culver makes them all look great. Below are three of my faves – The Negative Superman, Draaga and Saviour.
See the rest here and Culver’s great art blog here. I bet Culver could even make Superman’s new underwear-less, armoured costume look good.
Roger Langridge has garnered many fans with his accessible work on Thor: The Mighty Avenger and BOOM!’s Muppet Show. Working with the latter publisher’s Kaboom! imprint, New Zealander Langridge again shows what comics can, and should, be – easy on the eyes, easy to understand and most importantly – fun.
There’s an insightful interview with the writer/artist about this new monthly series here, in which he reveals how he’s inspired by the kind of lunacy seen in Monty Python and The Goon Show. Using Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and The Carpenter characters from the 1871 Alice in Wonderland sequel, Through The Looking Glass, and giving them the spotlight certainly is an unusual premise for an ongoing series, but this has great dialogue, zany adventures and a general sense of playfulness on every page.
Wilburforce J. Walrus is arrogant, ignorant of the needs of others and quite full of himself, but Langridge makes him a likeable lead. With his trustworthy and dim offsider, McDunk (The Carpenter, obviously) in tow, the pair head off to the King’s castle, upon learning that he’s just left for a 3 month journey. Pretending to be Princess Scarlett’s ballet teachers, they dance their way in and then form another lie by claiming to be looking for the dreaded creatures known as snarks within the royal walls. While Scarlett, and the baby Prince Rusty follow Walrus and his wild claims of the snarks, he seizes the moment and steals food.
As it’s a #0 issue, it acts like a primer, with fewer story pages ( only 8 ) and more back up pages, including character sketches, a 2 page excerpt from Scarlett’s diary (oddly enough, recounting the events that we’ve just read), The Hunting of the Snark, and the original Walrus and The Carpenter poems by Carroll, plus puzzles and games. It’s only $1, so is a bargain for an entertaining tale that both adults and kids can read, and if it introduces more people to the works of Lewis Carroll, even better.
The art is loose, but not sketchy and the setting, the character designs, body language and timing all add to the comedic charm. The only nitpicks I have are that, in Scarlett’s diary she mentions that her father has been on his voyage for, “three months, twelve days,” and The Walrus and The Carpenter visited her on the same day. However when we see The Walrus reading the newspaper in the main story, it states that the king has just left for an expected three month voyage, so either the newspaper is wrong and he left 3 months ago with another 3 months left, or Scarlett doesn’t know how to use a calendar. Yes, nitpciky, but noticeable. The other odd moment is when The Walrus, while in the castle, notices a golden statue of the king and becomes greedily transfixed by it. On the next page, both he and McDunk are being chased out by soldiers. The implication of course is that The Walrus tries to steal it, but if there was an extra panel of him attempting to stuff the statue into his bag while being watched by angry guards, the transition between panels would work better.
Snarked #0 is released in August and can (and should be) be ordered now, and the series kicks off with the #1 issue in October.
It’s an awkward title, but it has pretty art. Text-free preview of the August releasing debut below.
Your First Look At ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #1
Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1, from the critically acclaimed creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic! Iron Man, Hawkeye, Nick Fury & Thor are back together after the monumental events of Ultimate Comics Fallout! One of the biggest villains that ever faced the Ultimate Universe has returned. But with a teammate out of action, can the remaining members save the world as they struggle to find their place in the Ultimate Universe? Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn kicks off this August in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1!
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #1 (JUN110620)
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Good news below about a new regular contributor to Broken Frontier, a great comics site that, yes, I sometimes write for.
Joe Keatinge Starts Weekly Column ‘One You Want’ on Broken Frontier
Broken Frontier is proud to announce that Joe Keatinge has started a new weekly column at the site, titled One You Want. Each Monday, One You Want declares its love for a creator-owned, international or otherwise unsung comics gem that hits stores that week, and tells you why you should go get it first chance you get.
“I constantly feel a lot of the most brilliant comics get swallowed up in the PR machines of the larger companies, so I’m using the spotlight Broken Frontier has handed over to me to do my part in making sure they have a fighting chance in this ever fiercely competitive industry,” Keatinge says.
“One You Want is dedicated to seeking out the very best in comics, in whatever form they come in from whatever region of the globe, whether they’re long-lost classics or the most exciting innovations in the creator-owned world.”
As for why Keatinge chose Broken Frontier as the home of his column, he says “In my all my years of working PR with Image Comics, Broken Frontier was one of the most enthusiastic supports of untested and independent comics. They’re the perfect partner to help shed the spotlight on a lot of books people might not see otherwise.”
Says BF Editor in Chief Frederik Hautain, “We’re thrilled to have Joe join the fold. Broken Frontier has always been about giving creator-owned and independent comics and graphic novels a big push. One You Want is a very natural addition to our range of coverage.”
Joe Keatinge is the Eisner and Harvey award-winning co-editor of POPGUN and writer of the upcoming Image Comics series, BRUTAL, with illustrator Frank Cho. For the column’s first installment, Keatinge looks at Humanoids Publishing’s INCAL: THE CLASSIC COLLECTION, written by Alejandro Jodorowsky and illustrated by Jean “Moebius” Giraud. Go read it here.
Each week a lot of comics hit the stores.
Some you’ve heard of. Some you haven’t.
Some have superheroes. Some don’t.
They might be comic books, they might be graphic novels.
This is the One You Want.
About Broken Frontier
Established in the fall of 2002, Broken Frontier (www.brokenfrontier.com) quickly built a solid reputation for its extensive, unique, and critical coverage of the comic book industry. Coverage includes headline news, interviews, articles, reviews, columns and blogs. The website covers every corner of the comic book industry, from mainstream to independent publishers, from print and digital publications to film and tv adaptations. Additionally, Broken Frontier is the publisher of the first digital comic book magazine for mobile devices, The Frontiersman.
I first saw this book on holiday in Sydney last year when it was released. I’m a big fan of artist Adam Hughes and his gorgeous covers for DC Comics over the years. This 208 page book, entitled Cover Run features his best work of Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl and co. It was the (obviously fake) quotes of some of these superheroines on the back cover that got my attention however, including the bold one below from Barbara Gordon.
Barbara was the original Batgirl until she retired and was then shot by The Joker in the spine in the classic one-shot The KIlling Joke in 1988. She then became the wheelchair bound Oracle and has been an integral part of the DC Universe for the last 2 decades. You see the quote they made up for her though? Just bad taste really. Now, though, with DC’s September relaunch including Babs returning to her walking, running and jumping phase as Batgirl (complete with a Hughes cover), the questionable quote is proving to be farsighted.
Of course, it is a pretty book, as this video attests.
And here it is, the first (leaked) image of the new JLA come September, or rather August 31 when the series relaunches. We have the usual Big Seven, but with Cyborg replacing Martian Manhunter. There’s 8 other characters in the background, including Deadman, Hawkman, Firestorm and more, meaning the JLA will continue its usual changing roster. I actually like this, even though I think The Flash’s boots still look clunky, but Jim Lee can make anything look good.
Usually we here in Australia get things last, but for some reason we got this first, in January 2010 and the DVD release in December, although the series was originally supposed to air on iTunes. Well, it did, but was pulled off after 3 episodes for some reason but has now been released on DVD in America too. Created in conjunction with America’s BET network, it stars Djimon Hounsou as the titular hero, Kerry Washington as his sister (and future Panther) Princess Shuri, Alfre Woodard as U.S government agent Dondi Reece and Jill Scott as Storm from the X-Men (and his future wife).
I’ve never been a huge fan of the classic character, but his comic series lately has been great, as he’s taken over protecting Daredevil’s old haunt of Hell’s Kitchen in New York. Written by novelsit David Liss, it’s the only Marvel title I’m buying regularly.
This DVD is broken down into 6 chapters, for about 2 hours of fluid motion comic animation goodness. Marvel also have motion comics based on Iron Man: Extremis, Astonishing X-Menand Spider-Woman available.
This series is based on the Who Is Black Panther? arc form a few years ago by writer Reginald Hudlin and artist John Romita Jr.
It begins in 5B.C when invaders try, and fail, to get in to Wakanda and we are introduced to their never say die attitude and advanced technology.
Taking things to the present, we see Stan Lee (well, hear) as an arrogant general in the White House and learn that Wakanda has never been invaded, and have a flashback to 1941 as a fresh faced and oddly voiced Captain America tries to do so.
Classic Panther baddie Klaw is the main antagonist here. He soon recruits Batroc the Leaper, here reimagined as a less lame and agile French hitman, and Cannibal, an imprisoned man who becomes a woman (yep) to get revenge. Klaw wants T’Challa, the current Black Panther dead, as Klaw killed T’Challa’s father 15 years earlier, but was left with one less hand. Igor, otherwise known as the Radioactive Man also shows up and causes earthquakes. Klaw also gets help from the Black Knight (who is loaned from the church) and his handy Pegasus who leads the troops with a speech about a “holy crusade.” Hudlin does a great job with these villains, and not having them show up in their whacky costumes (well apart from Juggernaut, who’s stuck in his) and not really using their codenames, keeps it all more grounded than a traditional superhero story would be.
The animation is generally fluid and doesn’t look stilted, like you may imagine for a motion comic. The colours work well, from the dust and dirt of Wakanda’s past to its hi-tech gizmos, and New York streets. At times the faces resemble the work of cover artist Dave Johnson, and that’s good.
Adding to the cameos, Cyclops, Wolverine and Nightcrawler show up as they battle Juggernaut, before Klaw recruits him. If surviving an assassination attempt/invasion from warlord Mbutu wasn’t enough, the Queen Mother keeps pressuring him to get married and provide a royal heir, prodding him to get together with “that nice, mutant girl.” Classic. That’d be Storm by the way, and we also see how they first met as children. An army of Dethloks made from dead U.S soldiers also show up in the midst of the chaos.
Yes, there’s a lot happening, but the story starts small and builds to a great final battle and Hudlin never allows the burgeoning cast to get out of his control. Really, all most people will know about Black Panther is that he rules Wakanda and it’s the only place in the world that has the powerful mineral, vibranium. Hudlin builds the world here though, giving depth to the nation’s culture and politics, but not in a dreary way. If you’re new to the character, or the Marvel Universe at large, this is an entertaining entry, and does well to present some usually goofy villains in a more streamlined, modern way.
It also has a pretty cool theme song and Juggernaut colliding head on with a rhino, and throwing a cow at a jet, to boot.
There are no extras on this Oz DVD release, besides trailers for the Astonishing X-Men, and Iron Man: Extremis motion comics which both look visually dazzling. Below is the opening credits sequence.
13:07 Ramblings including the Green Hornet film and comic, and Batman’s bladder.
16:45 LIAR’S KISSfrom Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano. Black and white noir goodness with a scruffy P.I and a tangled web of intrigue.
29:10 THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVEfrom Robert Venditti and Mike Huddleston. A visually dazzling, and complex tale involving a doctor on the run, the rogue government agents who aid her and a vast conspiracy involving politics and medicine.
As part of their massive September relaunch DC will be unleashing day and date releases, meaning you’ll be able to get your comics in print or digital form on the same day. Woo hoo! They also have a relatively new, but impressive array of issues from their back catalogue, and if you’re curious about the Amazon Princess, this weekend is the time to read about her. Official details below.
Beginning this Saturday at 12:01 am The WONDER WOMAN 101 digital comics will be on sale for only $0.99 each. Offering a comprehensive digital collection of all things WONDER WOMAN, the sale event covers her storied beginnings to her reimagination in the 80s to the most recent critically-acclaimed storylines ENDS OF THE EARTH, RISE OF THE OLYMPIAN, WARKILLER and CONTAGION. Don’t miss out on stories from WONDER WOMAN creator Dr. William Moulton Marston and writers and artists including George Pérez, Adam Hughes, Greg Rucka and Roy Thomas – after 48 hours all titles will go back to their regular price.
If you’re going to Supanova Perth this weekend, you might want to pick one of these up. It’s only $10 and all proceeds go to the Premier’s Appeal to aid victims of the recent Queensland flood. Here’s the official info from Supanova and it has contributions from an impressive array of creators, such as Tom Taylor, Colin Wilson, Chris Claremont, Greg Horn, Jason Paulos, Alex Maleev and more.
Inspired by Sydney based comic-book writer Christopher Sequeira, who edited the comic and contributed a story illustrated by hotshot Marvel Comics artist (and visitor to Supanova in Brisbane) Leinil Francis Yu, the comic became reality through his and the combined efforts of Art Director and contributor, Tim McEwen, Publisher and Supanova Event Director, Daniel Zachariou, and all the other amazingly talented individuals who provided their time and art; 47 creators in all!
Sequeira relates that “Seeing true heroism, sacrifice and pathos on my nightly TV screen made me think of the potential of some creative folk reflecting and paying tribute to that in comics-form; so, why not put out the call for help? And our professional colleagues, world-wide, did not shirk that call – they leapt at the chance. They made it a brilliant, moving collection.”
‘Tides of Hope’ is 36 pages with 100% of proceeds from its $10 cover price going to charity while an auction of all the artwork, kindly donated by the illustrators, will ultimately be added to that pool of funds with comic-art collector, dealer and expert Royd Burgoyne also donating his time and expertise to do so.
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