Tagged: Image Comics

Studio Tour: Jay Fotos of ‘Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer’

Studio Tour: Jay Fotos of ‘Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer’

  • News
  • February 7, 2008

The latest installment in CBR’s tours of comic artists’ studios is a fun one. This time around, they take you through the workspace of Jay Fotos, one of the co-writers and artists behind the surprisingly good Image Comics miniseries Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer.

Sure, Fotos’ studio is nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to research material, artist’s equipment and knick-knack geekery, but then you come upon his desk:

I’m also including a nice “clean” picture of my desk. People freak when they see past all the crap on it and really notice it. This is a solid one piece 8ft long table top with 10 skulls, bones, chains, rivets all over it giving it a look of a giant hunk of wrought iron metal, even though it’s MDO board, bondo and model kits of human skulls.

Me, I’ve got action figures of Hourman and The Question on my desk. He’s got human freakin’ skulls.

Fotos wins. Fatality.

 

Perhapanauts Return With New Publisher

Perhapanauts Return With New Publisher

  • News
  • January 27, 2008

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the under-the-radar series The Perhapanauts, written by Todd DeZago and with art from Craig Rousseau, you owe it yourself to do so. Lucky for you, they’re returning to comics shelves in February with a new annual and a new publisher in Image Comics.

ComicBookResources recently featured a chat with the creators of the series, which focuses on a government-sponsored team that operates in secrecy and investigates supernatural events. The team is made up of living, breathing representatives of various cultural myths, including a sasquatch and a chupacabra.

Of course, this could also explain why The Perhapanauts might have found itself falling under a pretty large shadow at its previous publisher, Dark Horse Comics, whose well-established Hellboy and B.P.R.D. titles offer up stories that might seem similar from a back-of-the-book perspective.

According to DeZago:

… in the beginning people compared us to ‘BPRD’ and, when they debuted ‘Proof,’ Alex [Grecian] and Riley [Rossmo] were compared to us. But I think all three of them are very different books and, while they may tread some of the same ground — ‘Proof’ and ‘The Perhapanauts’ in particular — they are worlds apart. I would hope that anyone who wishes to make that comparison will pick up the books and see for themselves.

DeZago goes on to discuss why they eventually made the change in publishers and what they have in store for the Perhapanauts team down the road.

 

Yeah, Robert Burns got it right…

Yeah, Robert Burns got it right…

  • News
  • January 1, 2008

No doubt you’ve seen the awesome (and I mean that in the traditional sense of the word) response to John Ostrander’s column last week in tribute to our friend Paul (Zeus) Grant. As of this writing, there have been 78 responses to John’s piece — quite a lot for an upstart operation such as ours. Lots of good people: old friends, folks I haven’t heard from in a while, industry professionals, fellow comics fans. Damn, what a turnout.

Paul would have been pleased. Well, not with the "his death" part – we all could have done without that. But as one of the very first comic fans to understand, appreciate and act upon the relationship between the Internet and comics fandom, he was the grandfather of this project, as well as the many, many others to be found online. So it is most fitting that this genuine outpouring of love, this virtual wake we’ve been having, is being done in honor of him.  Coming at the end of the year, at the moment of auld lang syne... how fitting. And how grounding.

Comics fandom was founded, in part, to honor the first generation of writers and artists who had no choice but to survive the humiliating travails of Fredrick Wertham and the funny book burnings of the late 40s and 50s. Most of those folks are gone now, but most of them knew the respect that we have for their work. They knew their names would live on. They might not have seen efforts such as the Grand Comic Book Database, but they saw their names in the fanzines, the comics history books, and on the autograph pads at decades of conventions.

And now we’re losing the first generation of comics fans. Jerry Bails died about 13 months ago, Paul this past month. Others of our founding fathers and mothers passed previously, of course, but now it’s becoming clear that we must honor those who got the ball rolling, in mimeo-zines all the way up to the Internet.

John did a swell job last week honoring those who put it all together. Thanks, bro.

*  *  *  *  *

Seeing as how I’m filling in for Denny, I want to honor this time-slot with a RECOMMENDED READING offering. But, unlike Mr. O’Neil, I’m going to recommend a comic book — a mini-series one-third done that will no doubt be anthologized: Kyle Baker’s take on Iraq War II, Special Forces, from Image Comics. Perhaps the most important comic on the racks right now.

Things to come, by Elayne Riggs

Things to come, by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • December 12, 2007

This is the time of year when people usually start to compile "best of" lists and recaps. But as 2007 has been more "the worst of times" for me than "the best of times," I prefer to look forward. After all, as Criswell once "predicted" in a hardly-memorable Ed Wood film, "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!"

Crystal ball gazing also helps if you have the retention level of a hyperactive gnat, which I’m afraid is the case for me. I don’t tend to get worked up over details in comic books or TV shows or movies because most entertainment is ephemeral to me; I just don’t feel I need to keep all the minutiae in my head. It carries the added advantage of making rereading the same book a lot more fun to me, a constant surprise as I encounter things again that I didn’t remember from the last time I read them.

In the land of graphic literature, at least in this country, Diamond’s magazine Previews is the only consumer choice in terms of moving from baseless speculation about what may or may not happen in monthly story installments months down the line (that’s more the realm of comics "news" sites, which often busy themselves in breathlessly extolling events yet to happen to the detriment of examining current comics) to actually planning out and ordering one’s reading of choice for the foreseeable future (say, two months down the line). Time was, order forms were the sole purview of retailers. Of course, time was when Previews wasn’t the only game in town. Not that the disappearance of competitors like Capital City and Heroes World constitutes anything like a monopoly for Diamond! At least not according to the antitrust investigation, which didn’t consider comics as separate from other literature. In any case, with all the major companies sewn up with exclusives and treated as Premier customers (some pigs being more equal than other pigs), Previews is the only choice now for readers who wish to support their local retailers, as well as for publishers who want to reach audiences they can’t afford to grow on their own (even in this age of online ordering). Unfortunately, Diamond doesn’t accept every comic published into the hallowed pages of Previews, so now more than ever it pays to see what’s out there in the virtual world, but online content distribution is another column entirely.

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Rob Liefeld’s 40 worst drawings? You missed a few…

Rob Liefeld’s 40 worst drawings? You missed a few…

  • News
  • December 3, 2007

This list is making the rounds, The 40 Worst Rob Liefeld Drawings, highlighting his particular style of anatomy, perspective, teeth-gritting and shoulder pads. If you can get through to the site, it’s worth a view. However, the compilers missed an entire category of sins. Look below:

The first image is from New Mutants #93, cover date September, 1990, reprinted here. I would normally say that it’s by Rob Liefeld except when you look at the second image, from Fantastic Four #247, by John Byrne back in October 1982, reprinted here— well, it’s not quite Rob’s art, is it now?

If you have other examples of other places where Rob Liefeld has been less than a scrupulous stickler for credit, list it in the comments below and we’ll find the art and post it.

Free Mike Grell Forever

Free Mike Grell Forever

  • News
  • November 1, 2007

Starting Friday, November 2, ComicMix is proud to present, online and for free, Mike Grell’s newest graphic novel, Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden.

Jon Sable is many things: freelance bounty hunter, bodyguard, mercenary… even a children’s book author. It’s true. Under the pen name of "B. B. Flemm," Sable is the author of a popular series of children’s stories about a troop of leprechauns living in Central Park. How did he get to this point in his bizarre life? Ivory poachers slaughtered his family when Sable was a professional hunter in Africa. Deported back to the States, he drank himself to the bottom. With the help of his mentor, Sonny Pratt, and his literary agent, Eden Kendall, he struggled to put his life back together.

In Ashes of Eden, his newest adventure, Sable is hired by the head of an African diamond cartel to transport a magnificent raw diamond to an exhibit in New York. But his task is complicated by having to play escort, bodyguard and babysitter to the cartel’s corporate spokesperson, Bashira, a temperamental model with a history of drug problems. While Sable struggles to keep her under control and out of tabloid headlines he finds himself the center of a deadly hunt and a plot that reaches beyond the world of glamour and into the world of terror. But when diamonds are on hand, who would you expect to find behind the scenes, lying in wait?

Jon Sable: Ashes of Eden also marks the long-awaited reappearance of another classic Mike Grell, Maggie The Cat. The Jon Sable series was the best-selling title published by First Comics, one of the most important independent publishers at the birth of the direct market. Created (and owned) by Mike Grell, the character of Jon Sable is so popular that he was the inspiration for the ABC network series, Sable, in 1987. Rene Russo was a regular cast member, and guest stars included Lara Flynn Boyle and Del Close.

To celebrate, ComicMix is launching the first internet publication of two major works by Mike Grell, Shaman’s Tears and Bar Sinister. Shaman’s Tears was published by Image Comics in the 1990s, featured Grell’s Joshua Brand and guest-starred Jon Sable. Bar Sinister, with art by Rick Hoberg, contained a super-hero team introduced in Shaman’s Tears, was published by Valiant soon after. These will be full, 22-page issues, free and in color, online and for free at ComicMix.

Here’s the schedule: Shaman’s Tears Issues 0-4 runs 11/1 Shaman’s Tears Issues 5-8 runs 11/8 Shaman’s Tears Issues 9-12 runs 11/15 Bar Sinister runs 11/22 — Thanksgiving.

BIG BROADCAST’s Stories Behind The Stories

  • News
  • October 7, 2007

Needless to say, it has been a rather eventful week here at ComicMix, but not so much that we can’t take the time out to WELCOME all of you who may have just discovered us via news of our new, weekly and FREE comics. If you missed some of our Big ComicMix Broadcasts this week, here are some things we pointed you toward:

Even if you hate CSI: Miami, you will still enjoy this montage of cheesy David Caruso one-liners here, then take a trip here for some ideas on making your own montages and getting CBS to use them!

That preview of the new Wallace and Gromit special can be seen here. Actually it is a short film about the next TV special, Trouble At’ Mill, which will debut on BBC One in fall/holiday 2008. 

If you are lucky enough to own any original Jack Kirby art from Captain Victory, Image Comics needs your help in order to produce the best looking hardcover of this project. Drop them a line here.

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BIG BROADCAST: Cruise is Wonder Woman

BIG BROADCAST: Cruise is Wonder Woman

The Big ComicMix Broadcast kicks off our week long look at collecting toys with a shopping trip to one of the biggest online action figure dealers and a sneak peek at what the next wave of hot product will be. Then, speaking of hot product, it’s time for another dive into this week’s pile of new comics and DVDs ,including a preview of Image Comics’ Bonds #1 from creator Durwin Talon. AND we’ve got the latest news of Kristen Bell on Heroes  and Katie Holmes as…WONDER WOMAN?

Insert your own Tom Cruise joke here and PRESS THE BUTTON!

Metal Men, Naruto, and Other Unfathomable Things

Metal Men, Naruto, and Other Unfathomable Things

  • News
  • August 20, 2007

Comics Links

Comic Book Resources looks back at the long, odd history of the Metal Men.

The Toronto Star reports on a Toronto Comic Arts Festival presentation on four wordless graphic novels from the early 20th century.

If you’re like me, and spent much of the weekend in the company of kids watching a Naruto marathon, you might also find this Paul Gravette lecture about Naruto to be useful in explaining what the heck it all is about.

Comics Should Be Good takes a look at all of Image Comics’s October covers.

Mike Sterling discovers that if you stare at a poster of Superman’s funeral long enough, the abyss also gazes into you.

Comics Reviews

Comics Reporter reviews Rian Hughes’s Yesterday’s Tomorrows.

The New York Times reviews Emily Flake’s These Things Ain’t Gonna Smoke Themselves and Jessica Bruder’s Burning Book.

Warren Peace Sings The Blues reviews Whiteout by Rucka and Lieber.

SF/Fantasy Links

Douglas Cohen responds to comments and criticisms of his drive to increase subscriptions for print SF/Fantasy magazines.

Irene Gallo of The Art Department showcases Jon Foster’s covers for Timothy Zahn’s “Dragonback” series.

The Hugo Awards now have a website of their own – just in time for this year’s awards, which will be announced at Nippon 2007 in less than two weeks.

The UK SF Book News Network lists all of the newly-published books that they’ve received in the last three weeks.

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Today’s Smoky Comics Links

Today’s Smoky Comics Links

  • News
  • July 19, 2007

Marvel editor Tom Brevoort posts Mark Millar’s original memo/pitch for Civil War.

Comic Book Resources presents the third part of their look at Homosexuality in Comics.

Blogcritics reviews a pile of DC and Image comics, starting with Dynamo 5 #3.

Blogcritics also has a Marvel comics review, and is particularly fond of Nova #4.

Forbidden Planet International reviews a couple of Marvel Comics from years past..

Comics Reporter reviews Ted May’s Injury #1.

Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog reviews the saga of the Mighty Marvel MegaMorphs.

Hannibal Tabu reviews his purchases this week for Comic Book Resources.

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