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Tom Ziuko Update
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics
Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy has an update on the health of legendary comic book colorist Tom Ziuko. If you have a little something to spare, please consider helping Tom out.
[Artwork: A nice example of Tom's coloring, taken from Daniel Best's blog post, © DC Comics]
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P. Craig Russell: Graphic Storytelling
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
One of the great, eclectic masters of comic book art is P. Craig Russell.
Since he burst on the scene in the Marvel comics of the 1970s (Killraven), then jumped to projects like Night Music, Michael Moorcock’s Elric, Sandman, Fables and so many others.
He's worked with everyone from Roy Thomas and Don McGregor to Neil Gaiman and Mike Mignola.
And along the way, he’s collected Kirby and Eisner awards and an army of fans.
Now, thanks to Kickstarter, he’s getting ready to launch P. Craig Russell’s Guide to Graphic Storytelling, a “a web series (and companion DVD) consisting of educational videos that teach the art of graphic storytelling, also known as ‘Comics.’”
Here’s the coolness from their Kickstarter pitch:
DC Comics: New Logo?
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics
Word raging through the internets - Bleeding Cool, Comics Beat, Comics Alliance - has it that DC is going through a new logo design, replacing the one they just redesigned a few years ago.
I think the new peel-back design looks great, and a very good idea if DC’s finally getting serious about the appliance business.
[Artwork: New DC Logo, © DC Entertainment]
DC Comics: The New 6
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
After a few months in the #2 slot, Marvel regained its long-standing #1 position, by a tiny margin. It pushed out DC Comics, which had been #1 since it's big reboot and launch of 52 #1's.
Now DC’s New 52 is changing.
Heidi at Comics Beat reports that the New 52 is about to become the "Recent 46 and the New 6" with the cancellation of 6 titles with issue #8, and 6 others coming in off the bench.
Plus the return of Earth 2 and crossovers.
If you had 8 months in the office pool, you're the winner. I had 10, so I have to cough it up.
Happy new year!
[Artwork: Men Of War #7, the penultimate, © DC Entertainment]
James Leary & Mitch Byrd @ IndieGoGo
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Independent
Mitch Byrd is one of my favorite artists. We worked together for many issues of my comic book, Dinosaurs For Hire and he also illustrated a comic I edited, Planet of the Apes: Sins of the Father, that was written by a friend of mine, Mike Valerio.
Later on, he moved over to DC and worked with Beau Smith on the very manly Green Lantern spin-off, Guy Gardner: Warrior series.
Now, in conjuction with writer and actor James Leary (he played Clem on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Mitch is working on a new title called James Leary’s House Of Screams.
James and Mitch, along with cover artist Steve Scott, are working through IndieGoGo to try to raise the necessary money to make it all happen.
Take a look and see if you’d like to help. I love Mitch’s work (I was a fan long before we worked together) and I can’t wait to see his new work in print. So go make it happen.
[Artwork: James Leary's House Of Screams #1, cover pencils by Steve Scott, © Alarm Comics]
Justice League International #1
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics
Have you got the reboot fever yet? There are a lot of the new DC Comics titles that I’m interested in, and a lot that I’m not.
But that should be expected when there’s a Fifty-Twoniverse to deal with.
One of the new titles that I’m anxiously awaiting is Justice League International. It’s written by Dan Jurgens - a guy who certainly knows his way around super-heroes, and it’s illustrated by my friend Aaron Lopresti (the recent Wonder Woman artist who just did a stint on Weird Worlds with his own creation, Garbageman).
I’d let Aaron draw my Costco shopping list, so turning him loose on the JLI characters is a no-brainer for me.
Here’s what DC says about the first issue:
Top 10 Changes In Superman Reboot
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics
There are those in the industry who track these kinds of things who believe that DC Comics has been making significant changes to the Superman character over the years in a continuing effort to thwart claims by the estates of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster about the character.
A good place to start with this story is at Comics Beat.
With DC’s newest relaunch/reboot/do-over of their universe this fall, they are making more changes to Superman, and it's not just his costume or his fresh L'il Abner look. A lot of the changes won't be clear until you actually read Action Comics #1, on sale September 7. I've read that first issue, and here are the Top Ten changes to Superman's mythology.
10. Able to leap Kim Kardashian’s butt in a single bound.
9. Fights for truth, justice and the Military/Industrial Complex’s way.
8. Bottle City of Kandahar.
Weekend Reading: Apes, Captain America and Spongebob Squarepants
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics
If you’ve been following the post Comic Con International discussion about female creators and DC Comics, you should run over to Fleen and read Gary Tyrrell’s take on the matter.
Apes: My pal Rich Handley gets himself interviewed at Newsday about Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.
Fan: My funny book acquaintance David Seidman was profiled recently in Jewish Journal. All I can say is that the interviewer would probably be overwhelmed by the San Diego con.
Actors: Chad Michael Murray of One Tree Hill has written a graphic novel that Archaia will publish.
Kamandi The Last Boy On Earth Omnibus
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Collecting, Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics
What do you do if you can't get the comic book license to Planet Of The Apes?
If you're DC publisher Carmine Infantino and the time is the early 1970s, you simply encourage someone to follow an old comic book tradition: create the homage.
Except that Infantino made that request of Jack Kirby and he took – to his credit – only the very basics of that idea (which was a staple of post-apocalyptic sci-fi for decades) and ran wild with it. According to Wikipedia, Kirby took the germ of Infantino's request, mixed it with a couple of pre-POTA projects of his from earlier and the result was Kamandi, The Last Boy On Earth.
It debuted in 1972 as part of Kirby's "2nd phase" at DC, after they cancelled all his debut books from the Fourth World series – New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle – and turned Jimmy Olsen back into a red-headed d-bag.
Weekend Reading: Kirby, Ditko, Cowboys & Aliens And Marvel Comics
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Kirby family lost its claim in court to the copyright to characters Jack Kirby created. As usual, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the best analysis.
Now let’s see what else is out there.
Cowboys: Deadline continues to do the number-crunching on this week’s comic book-inspired film, Cowboys & Aliens. The early results show an under-performer.
Blood: And over at Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston looks at the long journey getting Cowboys & Aliens from concept to screen.
Ditko: Tom McLean at Bags & Boards doesn’t post as often as he should, but when he does, it’s worth reading. His latest is a review of Blake Bell’s Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko from Fantagraphics. This is a beautiful snip: “Could Ditko be a first-generation fanboy, an 83-year-old whose life was spent obsessing first over comics and later over a juvenile political philosophy that only makes sense within a self-imposed bubble?”
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