Tagged: art

#SDCC: Stan Lee and BOOM! Studios press conference

#SDCC: Stan Lee and BOOM! Studios press conference

  • News
  • July 22, 2010

During a press conference at Comic-Con International yesterday, Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and BOOM! Studios revealed the characters, series and creative teams for three superhero titles to be published by Stan Lee and BOOM! Studios this fall, as hinted at back in March. (And how are we supposed to stop those “POW! BOOM! Comics aren’t just for kids!” headlines now?)

The three titles are:

SOLDIER ZERO, written by Paul Cornell with art by Javier Pina, tells the story of a wheelchair-bound astronomy teacher who finds himself in a freak accident that bonds him with an alien weapon of war.

THE TRAVELER, written by Eisner Award-nominee and BOOM! Studios Chief Creative Officer Mark Waid with art by Chad Hardin, features a mysterious new superhero with time-traveling powers battling the Split-Second Men, super-powered assassins from the future.

STARBORN, written by Chris Roberson with art by Khary Randolph, tells the story of a regular guy who discovers he’s the heir to an intergalactic empire, putting him the center of a war between five alien races.

We have partial video of the press conference, recorded by Zennie62:

Captain America & Thor Poster Art

Captain America & Thor Poster Art

  • News
  • July 21, 2010

Paramount Pictures has released these images featuring concept art for 2011’s Thor, opening May 6, 2011 and Captain America: First Avenger, which follows on July 22. No doubt more movie imagery will be release during the course of Comic-Con International which opens tonight.

Happy Birthday: Warren Kremer

Happy Birthday: Warren Kremer

  • News
  • June 26, 2010

Born in the Bronx in 1921, Warren Kremer had art in his blood—his father was a sign painter. After graduating from the High School of Music and Art and the School of Industrial Arts, Kremer got work with various pulp and aviation magazines. His first comic book work was on Hap Hazard for Ace Publications.

In 1948 Kremer began doing work for Harvey Comics—working with publisher Alfred Harvey and editor Sid Jacobson, Kremer was responsible for creating Richie Rich, Stumbo the Giant, Hot Stuff, and others, and for revising Casper the Friendly Ghost into the character everyone knows today. Kremer worked for Harvey for thirty-five years, many of them as Art Editor but he always contributed art as well.

After Harvey closed in 1982 Kremer did some work for Marvel Comics, creating and drawing characters like Count Duckula, Planet Terry, and Top Dog for their Star Comics imprint.

Sadly, in 1989 a stroke paralyzed his left side, including his dominant hand, and though he managed to train his right hand Kremer wasn’t happy with the results and soon stopped drawing. He died in 2003.

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: Gunnerkrigg Court

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: Gunnerkrigg Court

  • News
  • June 18, 2010

“Gunnerkrigg Court” doesn’t need me to play its publicist, but then again, a little extra publicity never hurt anyone. (Unless you’re Kate Gosselin…Ahem!) This webcomic has truly earned its fame and fans. It offers a crisp look, detailed environment, fine-tuned story.. everything that ultimately captivates the audiences.

Created by Tom Siddell, “Gunnerkrigg Court” follows the adventures of Antimony “Annie” Carver, a model for calm and collected characters. After the death of her mother, Annie enrolls in Gunnerkrigg Court, a boarding school devoid of nature and saturated in artificiality. The Court is filled to the brim with friendly robots, magical creatures, secretive teachers, lively students, and mystery; don’t forget the mystery. Although Annie is more comfortable around ghosts and shadow creatures than her fellow students, she soon befriends the outgoing, techno-savvy Katerina “Kat” Donlan. Together with her companions, Annie explores the Court to unveil the truths hidden within its walls — Why are the Court and Woods divided? Who exactly is Reynardine? Where is Annie’s father?

Siddell has worked on the webcomic for over five years, and avid readers are still hanging on every update, hoping to discover answers to the mysteries that plague the Court.Siddell assures his audience that by the end of “Gunnerkirgg Court,” all major mysteries will be solved. The creator throws his readers bones (i.e. clues, hints, explanations) throughout the story, some of which you may not notice unless you’ve read through the webcomic more than once. Now don’t let all this talk about mysteries intimidate you. If you’ve developed the impression that “Gunnerkrigg Court” will leave you unsatisfied due to a lack of answers, then please don’t fret. A substantial number of answers have been revealed since the start of the webcomic, and trust me, the unanswered questions are nowhere near as frustrating as LOST’s.

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Rik Levins: 1950-2010

Rik Levins: 1950-2010

  • News
  • June 17, 2010

Richard “Rik” Levins, a penciller for well over a hundred comic books, passed away June 12, 2010. He died peacefully at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Levins was born on October 15, 1950, in Somerville, New Jersey. He is survived by his wife Sandra, nieces Robin and Lynn, nephew Robert, and great-nephews Kenneth and Johnathan.

Before launching a career in the comic book industry, Levins worked for the US Postal Service. He later attended art school, which lead him to become a successful artist. He penciled covers and pages for titles such as Avengers, Femforce, The Shade, X-O Manowar, and many others. He is best known for penciling Captain America from 1991 to 1994, where he worked with writer Mark Gruenwald. Levins drew for several publishers, including Marvel, AC Comics, Acclaim, and Innovation.

Levins switched to working with computer art, and became a game developer and modeler. He followed this path for fifteen years, the last seven of which he spent instructing labs for Full Sail University’s (in Winter Park, Florida) gaming department. Levins never stopped contributing his time and talent to comic books, and worked on graphic novels up into his later years. Some of his final projects were Avengers: Galactic Storm, Death Hawk: The Soulworm Saga, and Nosferatu: Plague of Terror.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service for
Richard at 5:00 PM., Friday, June 18th with visitation at 4:30 at the
Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, 7520 Aloma Ave., Winter
Park, FL. 32792.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Richard’s memory to
Moffitt Cancer Center “Gifts of Memory” at www.moffitt.org/giving or the
American Cancer Society. Please sign and view the family guest book at www.baldwinfairchild.com.

Happy 100th Birthday, C.C. Beck!

Happy 100th Birthday, C.C. Beck!

Born in 1910 in Zumbrota, Minnesota, Charles Clarence “C.C.” Beck started learning art via correspondence course before studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Minnesota. Fawcett Publications hired him as a staff artist in 1933.

Initially Beck worked on pulp magazines, but when Fawcett started producing comic books in 1939 Beck was assigned to draw Whiz Comics, starring a character called Captain Thunder. The character’s name was changed before the first issue ever came out—to Captain Marvel.

Beck drew not only Whiz Comics but Spy Smasher and Ibis the Invincible, and in 1941 he set up his own studio in New York City—he later added a second location in Englewood, NJ, and oversaw artwork for most of the Marvel Family line while also producing commercial art. Fawcett discontinued its comic book line in the early 1950s and Beck was forced to close his studios in 1954.

After that he only worked on comics occasionally, though he did illustrate the first ten issues of DC’s Shazam! series (continuing Captain Marvel, whom DC had purchased from Fawcett). Beck retired in the 70s and moved to Florida, where he wrote an opinion column, “The Crusty Curmudgeon,” for The Comics Journal. He died in 1989.

Beck was inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997.

Review: ‘Graylight’

Review: ‘Graylight’

Graylight

By Naomi Nowak
NBM ComicsLit, 144 pages, $12.95

[[[Graylight]]] is a wispy story surrounded with lovely, ethereal artwork, but utterly fails to create characters or situations with enough clarity to maintain your interest. The attractive Swedish artist hails from Sweden and developed her style as she discovered comics and began producing graphic novels, influenced by European albums and [[[Manga]]].

She received excellent notices for her first two offerings and this third book, released this month through NBM’s ComicsLit imprint, is said to be aimed at women 16 to 24.

It’s attractive and certainly a quick read but everything is sketchy. A woman has a son, Edmund, sees her mate walk away, and then she becomes a reclusive and famous author. Erik, middling journalist arrives in town to seek her out for a profile but first encounters Sasha, a woman who claims to be collecting geological samples but clearly has been drawn to the area for other reasons. She’s been there long enough to develop relationships with the locals and has a demonstrated habit of stealing. When she accompanies the journalist, the woman is offended that permission wasn’t obtained before hand and is rude. The younger woman leaves but not before stealing a book. Over the next few weeks, the handsome son stalks her in the hopes of retrieving his mother’s book.

So, we have several triangles going: the two women and the son; the two men and the woman. Toss in some witchcraft and you have the makings of something interesting.

Nowak’s pastels and art are lovely to look upon and her page compositions are interesting to study. Somewhere along the way, though, she needs to stop and learn storytelling, both in words and pictures. Her characters are underdeveloped and the exact motivations for the reclusive mother/witch are murky at best. Who Sasha is and what she really wants is left up in the air.

The story is sparse and the dialogue does nothing to help the reader. In fact, her characters need more distinctive voices to help make them more identifiable.  While lovely to look at it, its misty look and feel is easily forgotten because you care nothing for the people and the situation. The book has no substance and can be easily dismissed. If you like Nowak’s art, then check this out, otherwise, wait until she has something to say.

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‘Watchmen 2: The Smell Of Fear’ (and other potential titles)

‘Watchmen 2: The Smell Of Fear’ (and other potential titles)

  • News
  • February 4, 2010

Watchmen 2All right, let’s get them all out of the way…

  • ALAN AND DAVE’S BOGUS JOURNEY
  • WATCHMEN 2: THE QUICKENING
  • BLUE HARVEST
  • WATCHMEN: THE SALLY JUPITER CHRONICLES
  • BRIDE OF NITE-OWL
  • WATCHMEN 2: THE LEGEND OF CURLY’S GOLD
  • COMEDIAN’S LITTLE DIVIDEND
  • WATCHMEN 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO
  • ERNEST SAVES WATCHMEN
  • WATCHMEN 2: THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
  • FROM RORSCHACH WITH LOVE
  • THE WATCHMEN ALWAYS RING TWICE
  • I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU WATCHED LAST SUMMER
  • WATCHMEN 2: WATCH HARDER
  • NIGHT OWL AND SILK SPECTRE ESCAPE GUANTANAMO BAY
  • WATCHMEN 2: BIGGER, BLUER, AND STILL UNCUT
  • OZYMANDIAS AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
  • WATCHMEN VS. GHIDRA
  • SON OF WATCHMEN
  • THE CHARLTON MENACE
  • WATCHMEN 2: THE AZURE ARMY
  • THE ROAD TO KARNAK
  • WATCHMEN 28 WEEKS LATER
  • THE WATCHMEN STRIKE BACK
  • WATCHMEN 2: THE SECRET OF THE OZY
  • A VERY WATCHMEN CHRISTMAS
  • WATCHMEN, TOO!
  • THE WATCHMEN SUPREMACY
  • TO DAN DREIBERG, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, SALLY JUPITER
  • DIAL W FOR WATCHMEN
  • And finally, WATCHMEN: WE DID BLUE CGI PEOPLE FIRST, WHERE’S OUR OSCAR NOMINATION?

In case you haven’t heard, Rich Johnston is talking about the disturbing possibility that there will be Watchmen spinoffs now that Paul Levitz is gone. And in case you want to know how bad this could get, let’s give you a reminder:

Special thanks to Marc Alan Fishman for the art and @miss_sarah_s for extra titles. And if we missed any titles, please add them in the comments.

On sale today: ‘GrimJack: The Manx Cat’ #6!

On sale today: ‘GrimJack: The Manx Cat’ #6!

  • News
  • January 6, 2010

GrimJack is in a race to
save Blacjac and Bob from the Manx Cat. The problem is… everyone who falls
asleep becomes an unwilling Night Terrorist in the Manx Cat’s army! Bullets,
blood, bikes, bombastic babes… and the St. John Knives! What more can you want
in a stunning conclusion? Creators John Ostrander and Timothy Truman on script
and art.

Frazetta break-in update

Frazetta break-in update

  • News
  • December 11, 2009

Continuing from our earlier article: Frank Frazetta’s son breaks into father’s museum using backhoe, attempts to take $20 million in paintings

See this? It’s Frank Frazetta’s “Berserker”, used as the cover to Conan The Conqueror. It hung in the Frazetta Museum for ten years until about a month ago, when it was sold to a private collector for one million dollars.

That link is interesting, because it also mentions that Frazetta contradicted himself at times… so if he told his son to get the art and then later said he didn’t, well… that could put his son’s words in a new light.

Heidi MacDonald has been doing great work on this story, and she adds a connection I didn’t make: one of the people who assisted in the break-in was Kevin Clement, who lived next door to the Frazetta museum. Clement is a familiar figure to east coast fantasy fans are the organizer of the Chiller Theatre Expo horror conventions held twice a year in New Jersey. Clement, it is important to note, has not been charged with any crimes.

She also reports:

Over the years Frank Frazetta Sr. has held on to his artwork,
refusing huge sums to sell such iconic works as his Conan covers.
However, after Ellie’s death, Frazetta’s three other children, Heidi,
Holly and Bill retained art dealers Robert Pistella and Steve Ferzoco
to start handling the artwork, licensing and other business matters.
The two formed Frazetta Management Corp. and the way Frazetta’s art was
being handled began to change — in November for the first time one of his legendary Conan covers was sold for $1 million. Not chump change and just the beginning of a likely goldmine.

It’s not exactly a secret that there are a lot of legal questions regarding Frazetta’s iconic artwork — the Frazettas had a legal entanglement
with David Spurlock/Vanguard productions, for instance. With mentions
of a family lawsuit, and other infighting it’s clear that just how to
run the family business has become a matter of contention to the point
where a backhoe was brought in.

This story is just getting started, I think.

So let me ask all the creators who are reading this: have you updated your will yet? How about your power of attorney? When writer John M. Ford died, Neil Gaiman was extra saddened to discover that his good friend and favorite writer had not made out a will to deal with his literary estate. So he went and commissioned a simple boilerplate will that anyone could use so no one would have to suffer this grief and creators’ works would be handled the way the creators would want.

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