Alex Ross | ComicMix

Sneal Peeks: ‘Black Terror’ #1, ‘Lone Ranger’ #15

News
November 12, 2008

Here are sneak peeks at Dynamite Comics’ The Lone Ranger #15 and Black Terror #1, both hitting shops tomorrow.

The Lone Ranger presents "Scorched Earth" Part Four, from writer Brett Matthews and artist Sergio Cariello cover artist John Cassaday. The Lone Ranger and Tonto are hot on the heels of a serial killer. Plus: Cavendish continues to fall back into old habits as his quest for The Lone Ranger and his revenge continues.

The Black Terror continues Alex Ross and Jim Kreuger’s reimagining of the Golden Age heroes. They cowrote the story with art from Mike Lilly and Vinicius Andrade. Spinning out of Project SUPERPOWERS, this will be the first new ongoing series -opening with this four-part story.

Each issue will feature a cardstock cover and the first issue also features a 50/50 cover split — one by Alex Ross and the other by Greg Land (Uncanny X-Men). This new series is the foundation to the storylines spinning out of Project SUPERPOWERS 0-7 (the opening chapter), and will lead directly in to Project SUPERPOWERS Chapter Two.

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Mortal Kombat Versus DC Universe Kollector’s Konundrum

News
October 9, 2008

We’ve talked about Midway’s upcoming Mortal Kombat Versus DC Universe fighting game plenty. Consider it a done deal that we want to play Green Lantern fighting Sub-Zero. So the only question that remains is to get the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version.

Not so fast. A Kollector’s Edition has been announced. For an extra $10 you get a removable Alex Ross alternate cover, making of videos, and a 16-page comic book.

“But wait. There’s more,” as the cheesy infomercial announcers say. Pre-order at Gamestop and get a lithograph of The Joker finishing off Scorpion in the Batcave.

“We’re not done yet!” Another wrinkle in the mix is that the PS3 version will have a neat exclusive for comic book fans: a digital version of the Kollector’s Edition comic book viewable on your game system.

Mortal Kombat Versus DC Universe is scheduled to ship for release on November 10th.

Jo Chen’s Comic Art Cover for ‘Fable II’

News
July 7, 2008

Microsoft recently dropped some details for Fable II, one of their big games for holiday 2008. Pre-order bonus games, collectible figurines, making-of discs, yadda yadda yadda… But what’s cool for fans of Jo Chen’s amazing comic cover art (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Runaways) is that she did the box art for Fable II. (A larger version of the image is posted after the jump.)

Of course, this isn’t totally surprising since she received considerable acclaim for doing the cover art for the original Fable.

So what I want to know is, why haven’t game makers discovered the likes of Alex Ross, Adam Hughes, and J.G. Jones for videogame covers? Instead, they seem content to stick with dreck made by art students with access to Photoshop. *sigh*

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‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’ Report – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

News
June 23, 2008

The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art set aside Sunday, June 22, for a day of panel discussions about superheroes, the people who create them, and what they wear.

In promoting the event on their website, the Museum took the unusual step of admonishing visitors as follows: "Please note that visitors in costume will not be admitted to the Museum."

They don’t tell that to people who attend lectures on the Egyptian collection.

ComicMix was able to attend two of the afternoon programs. The first, "Designing Superhero Costumes," was a conversation with Alex Ross and John Cassaday. It was moderated by Stanford W. Carpenter, assistant professor at the University of Chicago. He divided the talk into three sections: 1) Designing for characters with an established history; 2) Designing for referential characters; and 3) Captain America, a character for whom both artists have designed.

Ross described his process as photorealistic, working from live models. "I draw better when I’m looking at something," he said. To provide a sense of realism to how clothing would look on a body, he had a Superman costume built for his model. He now has a collection of several costumes.

Cassaday described how his aunt had given him a book on Batman from the 1930s to the 1970s when he was four years old. As a result, he became a fan of several different eras of Bat costumes. He used this affection in a Planetary story, one that paid special homage to Adam West.

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