Civil Warriors: Chuck Dixon and Gary Kwapisz

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Independent,

Sometimes a Civil War reenactor will don a floppy felt hat, pick up an old musket and spend a weekend in the rain chasing his beer-and-poker buddies down a hill. But if you’re Chuck Dixon and Gary Kwapisz, you’ll probably forgo the smell of soggy felt and take your action to the printed page. That’s what they’re doing with a new line of historical graphic novels. If you remember Savage Sword of Conan, then you’ve seen what happens when Chuck (Punisher, The Simpsons, Robin) works with Gary. Good stuff happens, that’s what.

Chuck and Gary have launched their own publishing company, History Graphics Press. Their first book, Civil War Adventure, is a 144-page b&w trade paperback anthology of historical Civil War stories, written by Chuck, illustrated by Gary. Stories feature the famous, guys like Winslow Homer and George Armstrong Custer and also the not-famous, guys in the trenches just trying to stay alive and help their cause. And there are lots of horses and soldiers, all beautifully and accurately illustrated by Gary. This promises to be merely the first book in a series of graphic novels on the American Civil War and American history.

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Read More | History Graphics Press

Weekend Reading: Spider-Man, Skin and The Princess And The Frog

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Happy holidays! Gravy is the Giant-Size X-Men #1 of my family and I’m so stuffed that my stuffed fingers keep hitting double keys. So I’ll celebrate with a shortened post for the holiday season. 

First off, over at The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon has the Ultimate Black Friday Holiday Shopping Guide to nothing but good stuff - sound recommendations for you, your friends and even your family. Highly recommended, if only to open discussions.

Virginia Comic Con: Scoop over at Diamond Galleries has some nice photos of the recent Virginia Comic Con up. Michael Golden, John Gallagher, Chris Claremont, Larry Hama, Louis Small, Chuck Dixon, Steve Conley, Alex Saviuk, and Billy Tucci were among those present who got their picture taken.

Skin: Over at the Forbidden Planet blog, Joe revisits an old favorite, Skin by Brendan McCarthy, Peter Milligan and Carol Swain.

Spider-Man: You know what I really want for Christmas this year? A Spider-Man action figure dressed like Chris Claremont circa 1981.

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Simpsons Comics #158: Chuck Dixon and Phil Ortiz

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Independent,

Chuck Dixon has been responsible for some of the manliest comic books in the direct market. From his work on Airboy to Punisher and Batman, his characters know how to take a punch and keep punching back (sometimes accessorizing with big guns).

Dixon is now at Bongo Comics where he writes Simpsons Comics. When you’re working on corporate comics, you’re always answerable to the corporate owners about how best to handle their characters. When you’re working a licensed property—whether it’s Farscape, Star Trek, or Terminator—there’s yet another corporate layer added into the “Please me” mix: the corporation that controls the license. Sometimes the actors step in as well. A well-known Star Trek actor had it in his contract that artists couldn’t draw the top of his bald head too pointy. That’s right: he had baldness approval. So it’s never easy working on licensed properties and I admire those who do it and do it well. Like Chuck Dixon.

At first glance, he might seem an odd choice for The Simpsons universe—the Batman writer tackling America’s favorite yellow cartoon people—but he’s a professional writer and that’s what they do: write. In Simpsons Comics #158, Homer is outraged that his newly won hot tub violates the Homeowner’s Association rules so he’s convinced to run for President of the Association in the conveniently upcoming election. Once he wins, it all goes horribly awry in the best Simpsons manner.

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Read More | Chuck Dixon's Blog

Yo Joe

Posted by Todd Matthy Categories: Reviews, IDW Publishing,

Although growing up I was more into Transformers and Voltron, I’ve always been a GI Joe fan. I think the Marvel series had some of the best stories and most compelling characters in comics history, and was thrilled when Devils Due not only revived, but continued the story begun by Larry Hama. Last year when Devils Due lost the license they ended the story begun by Larry, allowing the new license holder, IDW to reboot the franchise.  I can honestly say after reading IDW’s GI Joe # 1, I can relate to Superman fans after their favorite character rebooted in 1986’s The Man of Steel - I have feelings of both excitement and skepticism.

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Liberal Politics and Comics

Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

On a link from the Drudge Report, the website breitbart.com is reporting that in an upcoming issue of “Amazing Spider-man,” President-Elect Obama will be making an appearance. Peter Parker attends the inauguration to take some pictures and while there springs into action as Spider-man and punches out an impostor attempting to pose as Obama. I think it’s The Chameleon from the page posted on the website. This really annoys me!

People are entitled to have their political opinions. If you are a writer or an artist, you are free to incorporate your views into a story if you wish.  If you are a liberal, that’s fine. I live in New York, so I have a lot of liberal friends and family members. What pisses me off is that there is no balance when it comes to incorporating politics into comic book stories.

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