Broken Trinity Lithograph

Top Cow Productions, Inc. announced today it will make available a limited number of lithographs of Jeffrey Spokes’ triptych image created for the company’s Broken Trinity summer event. The image features the Trinity of the Top Cow Universe – Witchblade, The Darkness and The Angelus.

The image was broken into three parts and initially appeared as alternate covers for the Broken Trinity tie-in issues published by Top Cow. Broken Trinity is a three-part mini-series with three tie-in books in which at least one established character dies and new characters with permanent ramifications for the Top Cow Universe are introduced. The three main books are by the Witchblade team of Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic with Phil Hester providing layouts, while the three tie-in books include work by writers Marz and Phil Hester (The Darkness), and artists Jorge Lucas (The Darkness), Brian Stelfreeze (Batman: Black and White) and Nelson Blake II (Black Vault).

Jeffrey Spokes’ comics work outside of Broken Trinity includes covers for Virgin Comics’ Sahdu: The Silent Ones and Devi. He has also done commissions for Star Wars, X-Men and Hellboy, and his original works have appeared in The New York Times, all showcasing his highly sought-after work. More examples of Spokes’ fantastic artwork can be found at his website.

“We were introduced to Jeffrey Spokes’ work by Broken Trinity writer Ron Marz and I was immediately taken by his incredible sense of design and artistry,” says Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. “We’re incredibly proud to offer Jeffrey’s three covers for Broken Trinity as the unbroken, beautifully iconic piece he originally envisioned.”

The 11″ x 17″ lithograph is available in October and comes in a protective sleeve with a certificate of authenticity. The lithograph retails for $29.99. Fans who wish to pre-order the item should provide their comic shop retailers with Diamond Item number AUG082283.

Pretty Pics

Here’s a look at some snazzy artwork from Marvel. First up is a text-free gander at the cover and the first 3 pages of Mighty Avengers #18, a look back at the disappearance of the eye-patch wearer himself, Nick Fury, as he begins training his Secret Warriors for the Skrull Invasion. This tie-in to the colossal Secret Invasion storyline is written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Stefan Caselli, with a cover by Marko Djurdjevic. Mighty Avengers #18 goes on sale on September 17.

Secondly, there’;s the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #569, the second part of the New Ways To Die storyline, and the first appearance of the Anti-Venom. It’s written by Dan Slott and pencilled by John Romita Jr. The Adi Granov villain close-up is the variant cover and is on sale now.

Captain Kung-Fu

This is what has kept me busy over the last few weeks. Made for a church anniversary, it screened last weekend. Because of YouTube’s 10 minute limit, I had to cut off the stuff at the end which made it make sense in a church context. (It was basically mentioning that Jesus is the ultimate superhero – even though he doesn’t have a costume)

It was a blast to make, and I have a lot of extra footage, which will become the basis for an extended edition, but that’s a few months away yet. For now, enjoy this short mockumentary and behold the dodgy wigs, razor sharp wit and nonsensical ramblings of Captain Kung-Fu.

Coming Your Way

Here’s a bunch of words from various companies espousing some of their upcoming releases, namely some Vlad action from Top Cow, a creepy art book from artist Ben Templesmith and IDW, and finally, the unusual I Hate Galaxy Girl from the fine folks at Image.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. announced it will publish the first, complete story arc of William Harms’ Impaler in a new trade paperback that will debut this October, and then will launch a new series for the property in December.

The first three issues of the series were initially published by Top Cow parent company Image Comics in 2006-2007, but was never completed. The Impaler Vol. 1 trade paperback collects those three issues plus the final, three never-before-seen issues of the initial story arc. Top Cow was so excited by this series that it also greenlighted a new ongoing to follow the collection.

In Impaler, a derelict cargo ship is found adrift offshore during a terrible blizzard in New York City. When New York’s Finest is sent to investigate the missing crew, an unspeakable horror is unleashed that quickly spreads all over the snow-covered borough, as a vampire plague quickly moves through the city’s population. The people’s only hope lies in Vlad Tepes, the real-life historical inspiration for the vampire legend, Dracula. Vlad the Impaler arrives to defend the city from the ever-growing vampire horde, but how much can one man do against an army of thousands?

Impaler Vol. 1 boasts a stunning cover by John Paul Leon (Earth X) and features artwork by Nick Marinkovich (Nightwolf), Nick Postic (Underworld) and Francis Tsai (Marvel Comics Presents). The introduction is written by noted science fiction and horror writer F. Paul Wilson, who is responsible for the popular Repairman Jack series of novels and such horror books as The Keep, Midnight Mass and The Touch. Extras in the collection include script pages from unused scenes and bonus artwork.

In December, Top Cow will launch Impaler as an ongoing series, featuring art by British newcomer Matt Timson (Popgun).

“One of the nice things about having the break between the Image series and the new series is that it really gave me time to nail down where the story is headed,” revealed Harms. “I have the next couple arcs already plotted, and I think fans of the book will really dig where things are going.”

“William Harms has managed to put a truly unique spin on ‘the vampire story’ by taking Vlad the Impaler and making him a vampire hunter,” said Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. “This trade collection gives birth to this original idea but the upcoming ongoing series from Harms and Matt Timson will really keep you up at night!”

IDW Publishing will release Ben Templesmith’s Art of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse on August 27.  The book collects all the notable art plus a large amount of sketches, unpublished ideas and never-before-seen paintings from his semi-regular, off-beat serial Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. It includes an original Wormwood short story.

Templesmith’s visual approach, which has been described as “daring, horrific, and sometimes just plain perverse” has gained a cult following for his work in graphic novels including 30 Days of Night, Fell,  Wormwood,Gentleman Corpse and more recently Welcome to Hoxford.  He has said he is influenced by the science-fantasy cosmos of H.P. Lovecraft’s Old Ones and the work of H.R. Giger.  Templesmith’s black sense of humor, his delicate yet vigorous style, his nuanced but bold use of color, and knack for finding just the right detail to make a panel or page come to life have given Wormwood a huge fan base.

“Wormwood is really just me having fun and trying to throw in as many disgusting perversions of my old childhood influences.  I call it my riff on Doctor Who, if it were more demonologically oriented and written for very juvenile adults with a sick sense of humor”, says Templesmith.

Every underdog gets their day this November as newcomer Kat Cahill and BRAT-HALLA’s Seth Damoose take a stand in Shadowline’s newest three issue superhero mini-series, I HATE GALAXY GIRL!

“While I HATE GALAXY GIRL was originally Kat Cahill’s runner-up for our ‘Who Wants To Create a Super Heroine Contest’, Shadowline Editor Kris Simon and I loved the concept so much we had to put it on the fast track to becoming its own series,” Shadowline Publisher Jim Valentino said. “When Kat saw Seth’s upcoming work on BRAT-HALLA, she knew he was the perfect artist to capture the mood she was going for. We really can’t help but agree!”

Based on skill alone, Renee Tempete should be the new Galaxy Girl. Instead, a buxom blonde with no actual powers holds the title. As events unfold, Renee struggles not only against monsters, criminals and giant robots, but also a society that desperately wants to keep her in her place.

Cahill added, “The core of I HATE GALAXY GIRL is Renee finding the self-confidence to achieve her dreams despite constantly being told to give up. The experience is something I think just about anybody can relate to while the overall story is still a heck of a lot of fun!”

I HATE GALAXY GIRL #1, a 32-page full color mini-series for $3.50, will be available in-stores November 12th.

Rest & Mercy Sparx Reviews

I’m always up for a bargain. Lately, I’ve been spoilt. Devil’s Due Publishing is one of the latest indie companies (after Radical Publishing) to offer 99 cent first issues of new series. Both Rest and Mercy Sparx got my attention pretty much for this reason. Also, because I haven’t given DDP much of a chance, so here goes.

Rest is produced by Heroes and Rocky Balboa star Milo Ventimiglia. What the term, “produced” actually means in a comic book context is anybody’s guess. Well, mine would be that he’s just a name with a vague idea that came to a comic publisher, allowing both to take advantage of each other’s fans. Nicolas Cage, Hugh Jackman and director Richard Donner have all got in on this act, so Milo’s not necessarily paving the way for actor/comic inspiration projects.

Rest is the most interesting concept, compared to Mercy Sparx. Written by Mark Powers, with art by Shawn McManus and Lizzy John, Rest centres on John Barret, just an ordinary guy like the rest of us. It’s his mediocrity, and his settle-for-second-best attitude that has piqued his college mate Teddy’s interest. Teddy sees potential in John for his new wonder drug, and in this ish attempts to convince his superiors that John is the right man for this wonderful opportunity – to partake of a drug that makes sleep redundant. John is unaware of this focus on his mundane existence throughout most of the tale until Teddy shows up in the final pages, hoping to save his friend with the pharmaceutical, as he has been.

Mercy Sparx is a far less subtle tale. Heaven and hell, angels and demons have been fodder for comics for as long as they’ve existed. AS writer (and DDP President) Josh Blaylock explains in his afterword, he’s attempting to forego what’s been done before, while honestly admitting, that in regards to pop culture spirituality, it’s pretty much all been done before. Matt Merhoff draws this intro tale with an almost cartoon vibe and fills Sheol (a hell in City) with horned red devils (the titular character), bug-eyed creeps, and dingy bars. The art is simple, but it gets the story across. Scantily clad women, swearing and God bashing seem to be the quickest way to make something appear “bad” and unfortunately Blaylock doesn’t avoid the cliche here. It does have potential however, especially in the last few pages, where Mercy is transformed into a far more friendly looking human. Blaylock’s one page background of this title, some funky sketchbook pages and a preview of the upcoming issue #1 fill up the ish, as there are far fewer story pages here then in Rest.

Both titles have their own mini-series coming in October by the same creative teams that produced these introductory books. For only $2 for both, these titles are worth picking up, especially for newbies to sequential art. For penny pinchers, choose Rest as it is the more novel concept, and you can read a preview here.

Marvel Pics (& News) Galore

Over at the always informative MySpace ComicBooks  (become their friend! They’re lonely and in desperate need of companionship) you can check out a free issue of The Luna Bros’ new series, The Sword, and check out the trailer for novelist/comics scribe (Identity Crisis)  Brad Meltzer’s new book, The Book of Lies. Lies is an intriguing tale, which weaves humanity’s first murder, (when Cain killed his brother Abel in the Old Testament) with the little-known story of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel’s father’s unsolved murder.

Marvel head honcho, Joe Quesada also continues answering fans burning questions about Spider-Man’s New Ways to Die story arc, and the new DVD toon, Next Avengers, which centres on the kids of Captain America and his fellow Avengers teaming up with an ageing Hulk and Tony Stark (Iron Man) to take down the future Ultron.

A good starting point, though it may be too kiddie for hardcore Marvel zombies.

TwoMorrows Sale

I’ve picked up a few nifty items from these guys in the past. They have a wide selection of books and mags catering to the fan of comic book history, specifically stuff from the 1970s and 80s. And now they have a sale on! Woo hoo! The largest sale in their 15 year existence, in fact, including $2 magazines and 50% off books and DVDs, as part of a “Back-To-School Blowout” sale, now through September 30, 2008. You can check out the full list below, or grab further details at their official site. While you’re there, you may also like to download a few free PDFs, including the art lesson mag Comics 101, film and TV adaptation mag Comics Go Hollywood, or the Lego fan mag, Brick Journal #9.
The “Back-To-School Blowout” sale features all in-stock issues of Rough Stuff, Write Now, and Comic Book Artist, plus other miscellaneous magazines, for only $2 each. It also features more than 25 of the company’s acclaimed book and DVD titles at 50% off cover price, including several “Companion”, “Artist”, “Comics History”, and “How-To” titles. 
This sale is only valid for orders placed at www.twomorrows.com through the end of September, and does not include shipping costs. Special categories atop the TwoMorrows’ home page link directly to the magazines and books on sale.
The complete list of sale items includes:
$2 magazines:
Rough Stuff #1-9 (edited by Bob McLeod)
Write Now #1-18 (edited by Danny Fingeroth)
Comic Book Artist (all in-stock issues) (edited by Jon B. Cooke)
Comic Book Nerd (by Pete Von Sholly)
Crazy Hip Groovy Go-Go Way Out Monsters #29 and #32 (by Pete Von Sholly)
Wallace Wood Checklist (edited by Bhob Stewart)
50% Off Books & DVDs:
Alter Ego Collection Volume One (by Roy Thomas)
Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine (by Roy Thomas and Bill Schelly)
Best of the Legion Outpost (by Glen Cadigan)
Best of Write Now (by Danny Fingeroth)
Blue Beetle Companion (by Christopher Irving)
Brush Strokes With Greatness: The Life & Art of Joe Sinnott (by Tim Lasiuta)
Comic Book Artist Collection – Volume 3 (by Jon B. Cooke)
Comic Books And Other Necessities of Life (by Mark Evanier)
Comics Above Ground (by Durwin Talon)
Comics Gone Ape! (by Michael Eury)
Comics Introspective: Peter Bagge (by Christopher Irving)
Dick Giordano: Changing Comics One Day At A Time (by Michael Eury)
G-Force: Animated (by George Khoury and Jason Hofius)
I Have To Live With This Guy! (by Blake Bell)
Image Comics: The Road To Independence (by George Khoury)
John Romita… And All That Jazz (by Roy Thomas and Jim Amash)
Modern Masters: In The Studio with George Perez DVD
Modern Masters: In The Studio with Michael Golden DVD
Mr. Monster – Volume 0 (by Michael T. Gilbert)
Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan (by Tom Field)
Streetwise (edited by Jon B. Cooke and John Morrow)
Superheroes In My Pants (by Mark Evanier)
The Art of George Tuska (by Dewey Cassell)
THUNDER Agents Companion (by Jon B. Cooke)
True Brit (by George Khoury)
Wertham Was Right! (by Mark Evanier)
Since 1994, TwoMorrows has been celebrating the art and history of comics through their magazine and book publications, and is preparing for its 15th anniversary celebration in 2009.

A Song of Fire and Ice Calendar

Dabel Brothers Publishing is proud to announce the publication of the first ever-illustrated calendar from the epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, written by George R. R. Martin. A New York Times #1 Bestseller, Martin’s fantasy series has garnered popular and critical praise since the first novel, A Game of Thrones, saw publication in 1996 and has recently been optioned for development by HBO.

The incomparable Michael Komarck, an artist who has amazed fans with his faithful, detailed artwork inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire, illustrates the twelve images in the calendar. His renderings for the calendar are immaculately executed depictions of some of the most popular characters of the series and bring to vivid life some of the most memorable scenes in the epic that’s taken the publishing world by storm.

As the only calendar sanctioned by Martin, Dabel Brothers Publishing’s A Song of Ice and Fire 2009 Calendar is unarguably a rare treat, and will be limited to 1,000 copies, which will be distributed to the Direct Market and booksellers. Of these, 500 will feature an exclusive, Jon Snow cover and only 250 of them will be numbered, as well as personally signed by George R.R. Martin himself. These exclusives will be sold exclusively from Dabel Brothers Publishing’s on-line storefront.

“I am a long time fan of ASOIAF, says Dabel Brothers Vice President, Les Dabel, “being able to help bring it to life visually is a dream come true.”

The A Song of Ice and Fire 2009 Calendar will be available in December 2008, well in time for the holiday season.

For more information about George R. R. Martin and the A Song of Ice and Fire series, please visit the author’s official site For more information about the artist, Michael Komarck, please visit his site.

Radical Trailers

No, I’m not attempting to describe caravans in 1980s vernacular, but rather shine the light on a few trailers from new publisher, Radical Publishing. These trailers for their new comic series had their debut at July’s Comic-Con, and I gotta say, they all look very impressive. I’ve seen a few dodgy comic book trailers in my day, but these are very well crafted. First up is the fantasy Mateki: The Magic Flute, followed by the Western, Caliber: First Canon of Justice and lastly, there’s the sci-fi of Shrapnel, which is being released in 2009. You can also check out my review and the trailer for Freedom Formula here.

Read Daredevil and The Sentry for Free

If you’re a fan of bold crime fighters, without super powers (well, sort of) then Daredevil may just be the hero for you. Forget the bad Ben Affleck film, Ed Brubaker has carefully woven an intricate, violent crime saga in blind lawyer Matt Murdock’s title these last few years. Ol’ Hornhead has certainly had an eventful life and you can read all about it in The Daredevil Saga, a handy recap of his recent events, right here. A great jumping on point for curious readers, or catch up to past readers, it’s an insightful look at DD’s busy life, as well as offering a sneak peek at Daredevil #111, the debut of Lady Bullseye.

Known as the Golden Guardian of Good, he has the power of a million exploding suns. (That’s a lot of suns.) The Sentry is an interesting character. Created by writer Paul Jenkins and artist Jae Lee in 2000, Marvel touted the character as a forgotten creation from way back in the dawn of Marvel, and only recently discovered in a drawer somewhere. It was all later declared to be a prank, but now the character exists in the pages of The New Avengers as shy, mysterious and way too powerful.

You can now read his adventures in The Age of Sentry by Jeff Parker & Paul Tobin, with art by Nick Dragott & Ramon Rosanos. Yeah, I’ve never heard of them either, but this series, done in the retro style of the classic Silver Age may be some good old fashioned fun. You can find out yourself by reading the first issue for free, right here, on Marvel’s new Digital Comics Unlimited extravaganza. You can buy the paper version on September 17.

War Machine Pics

With Iron Man occupied in the  Savage Land , the Skrulls may think they’ve eliminated their armored opposition, but War Machine (ie, Tony Star’ks mate, James Rhodes) is out to prove them wrong in this must-read Secret Invasion tie-in! Iron Man: Director S.H.I.E.L.D #33, from acclaimed Thunderbolts writer Christos Gage and fan favorite artist Sean Chen (Nova), kicks off “War Machine: Weapon on S.H.I.E.L.D,” which redefines War Machine’s place in the Marvel Universe as a result of Secret Invasion…and setting the stage of his upcoming ongoing series! A major new chapter in Tony and Rhodey’s history begins right here!

The ish goes on sale September 17. A preview art of the first four interior pages below, and the cover by Adi Granov, courtesy of the fine folks at Marvel.

The Art of Marc Silvestri

Those Image Comics founders sure know how to draw. Without those mad pencilling skills, there’s no way they ever could’ve jumped Marvel’s ship back in 1992 and bring a whole lotta fans with them. Silvestri is one of those original rebels and his pencils on his own creations like Witchblade, Cyberforce and The Darkness (also a freakily good console game) are things of equal beauty and horror. He has returned to Marvel over the last few years to perty up the pages of X-Men, primarily during the Messiah CompleX series.

The Art of Marc Silvestri book covers the Top Cow CEO’s whole career and also features commentaries by fellow artists Dave Finch, Brandon Peterson, Billy Tan, Mike Choi and Michael Broussard.

The full colour 96 page hard cover book goes on sale August 20, for $US29.99. It’d make a great coffee table book for art lovers or fans of superheroes and villains and the tight bodies that they all possess. See what I mean by checking out a few luscious pages below.

Savage (Dragon) Politics

One of the beauties of comics is the speed in which they can be made. After 9/11 the comics community was the first medium to tackle the complexities and heartache that went with that heartbreaking day, while film took years to tell their tales. This year, as US politics takes centre stage again (in the 2000 presidential race, Lex Luthor won in the DC Comics world) the real life candidates become comic book figures once more. Just take a look at this variant cover for Savage Dragon #137 by creator (and until recently, Image head honcho) Erik Larsen. The finned one leaves no mysteries as to where his vote is going. The 32 page ish goes on sale September 3.

As reported in the New York Times, a former presidential candidate will give his endorsement for this years’ race in SAVAGE DRAGON #137, as the titular character supports Democratic nominee, Barack Obama!

“Four years ago the Dragon was a reluctant presidential candidate,” SAVAGE DRAGON creator Erik Larsen said. “Fans have asked if he’ll be running again, but given the importance of the upcoming election it seemed appropriate that he would back Barack Obama, the candidate whose politics most reflect his own. Savage Dragon will be giving Barack Obama his full support.”

Savage Dragon made his initial play for the presidential election in the 2004 campaign, but rescinded once the man claiming to be his running mate turned out to be Dreadknight, a supervillain bent on world domination. SAVAGE DRAGON #137 will sport a special 1:5 variant cover featuring Dragon formally endorsing the one candidate he is confident is not a potential nemesis, Barack Obama.

A week after Dragon makes his political leanings public, so do a whole bunch of DC heroes, in the 4 ish mini-series, Decisions, by Judd Winick, Bill Willingham and Rick Leonardi, which has various characters weighing in on some fictional candidates in the DCU.

And, finally, IDW also get in on the act. Their comic biographies of Obama and his arch-nemesis John McCain go on sale on October 8. Comics and politics – what a combo!

Justice League Film?

When I first heard about the Justice League film I was excited like most fan boys. Then I learned it was to be helmed by director George Miller (Happy Feet) and would star a bunch of almost unknown actors. As I then reflected upon Warner Bros. history of screen adaptations of their DC heroes (Catwoman) I prayed that the JLA film would never be made. With the writer’s strike, it’s all been up in the air anyway, but Variety has an interview with DC VP Gregory Noveck and WB dude Jeff Robinov regarding this potentially awesome/potentially disastrous film. In their words:

Either way, there’s no question Warner Bros. will produce more superhero pics. The question is when.

“These are big, iconic characters,” Noveck says. “So when you make them into a movie, you’d better be shooting for a pretty high standard. You’re not always going to reach it, but you have to be shooting for it. We’re going to make a Justice League movie, whether it’s now or 10 years from now. But we’re not going to do it and Warners is not going to do it until we know it’s right.”

At least they’re smart enough to know not to rush it. Marvel will surely beat them with Avengers in 2011 anyway, but us DC fans know how to be patient.

Justice League On Film