Renee Witterstaetter passes on the sad news that Minck Oosterveer, a Dutch artist best known in this country for his work on The Unknown for BOOM! and Ruse for Marvel, was killed on September 17 in a motorcycle accident. He was 50.
Born July 19, 1961, he grew up in The Netherlands with European comics, but was soon more interested in American comics, especially the newspaper comics of the 1930s-50s. The pulp-ish, direct style and the usage of black and white in the realistic artwork of Milton Caniff, Alex Raymond, and Will Eisner attracted his attention, although he also showed a Herge style in some of his more cartoony work. After working for a studio on productions like ‘Tom & Jerry’, ‘Sesame Street’, ‘Paddington’, ‘Ovide’ and ‘Spider-Man’, Minck moved in the direction of another stylistic forte, working with Willem Ritstier on the series ‘Claudia Brücken’ for the franco-belgian publishing-house ‘les editons Lombard’ and Tintin-magazine . Minck also became known for ‘Jack Pott’, ‘Zodiak’, ‘Rick Rolluik’, ‘Arachna’, ‘Excalibur’, ‘Nicky Saxx’ (pictured above in a picture to benefit MoCCA), ‘Storm’, and ‘Ronson Inc.’.
Minck Oosterveer debuted in American comics with Zombie Tales for BOOM! Studios. He’s best known in the US for his collaborations with Mark Waid on The Unknown for BOOM! and Ruse for Marvel.
This Halloween, Moonstone heads back to their monstrous roots with the Return of the Monsters Event. Return of the Monsters features four stand-alone tales of pulp’s mightiest heroes facing off against some classic monsters. One of those titles is Domino Lady vs. the Mummy by co-writers Nancy Holder and Bobby Nash with art by Rock Baker and Jeff Austin. All Pulp sat down with Bobby Nash about this upcoming book.
All Pulp: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp interests.
Bobby Nash: I’m a writer of prose and comic books, many of which feature pulp characters and themes. Some of the characters I’ve written include Lance Star: Sky Ranger, Domino Lady, Secret Agent X, Ravenwood – Stepson of Mystery, the Green Hornet, and more. You can see all of my various books at http://www.bobbynash.com/. I also run the http://www.lance-star.com/ website as well.
AP: Your story, co-written with Nancy Holder, for the Return of the Monsters Halloween event is called Domino Lady vs. the Mummy. What can we expect from this titanic throw down?
Art: Rock Baker & Jeff Austin
BN: Domino Lady’s adversaries tend to be more human so it was a fun experiment having her face off against a supernatural threat. Getting the opportunity to work with writer Nancy Holder, whose novels and comics I’ve enjoyed over the years was just icing on the cake. She developed an interesting plot that was fun to play with. She has Domino Lady’s character down pat. Working with the art team of Rock Baker and Jeff Austin again was an added bonus. Together, Rock and Jeff have that classic art style that really fits a character like Domino Lady and the world she inhabits. I hope we get to see them work on this character again.
Here’s a tease about the story. The Domino Lady and her police friend, Detective “Mad Dog” Vernia are targeted by an Egyptian sorceress and her mistress, a mummy hell-bent on finding the perfect mate. The mummy’s search for the perfect “parts” leaves a rail of victims all over 1930’s Hollywood and only the Domino Lady stands in her way.
Art: Rock Baker & Jeff Austin
AP: Domino Lady Vs. The Mummy has a pulp hero battling a classic monster, a combination that even though done in some regards hasn’t ever really been done the way Moonstone is doing it with the Return of the Monster event. What do these genres have in common and how do they differ in ways that complement each other?
BN: When Moonstone boss, Joe Gentile first told me about this project he mentioned going for a black and white with gray tones feel I thought it was a brilliant idea that would capture the mood of both those old noir films as well as monster movies. From that point on it clicked for me and I play around with things like lurking shadows a lot in the script. Seriously, see how many you can find when the book comes out in October.
AP: The Return of the Monsters Halloween event brings back several classic monster archetypes to Moonstone’s lineup. How does this version of the Mummy compare and contrast to previous versions of the character?
BN: It compares in that it’s a mummy and that comes along with certain trappings like being wrapped in bandages, canopic jars, ritual organ harvesting, that sort of thing. Y’know, just a fun night in Hollywood. (laughs). This particular mummy isn’t based on any particular mummy we’ve seen before. Taking Nancy’s concept of the mummy as a starting point, I tried to make it as scary and dangerous a mummy as possible. The art really sells that, starting with Dan Brereton’s cover straight through the book.
Covers by Dan Brereton
AP: What appeals to you about pulp heroes battling classic monsters? What was it that excited you about pitting the Domino Lady against a mummy?
Art: Rock Baker & Jeff Austin
BN: I was excited for the opportunity to write the character again. I really took a liking to the Domino Lady when I was reading the original stories as research for my story in the Moonstone Domino Lady prose anthology. Since then I’d been looking for any excuse to work on the character again. The thought of dropping Domino Lady into a situation that is completely alien to her was of interest. We played up her detective skills, which I really enjoyed. All of that had me excited, but then I found out I would be co-writing with Nancy Holder and I got even more excited. Then Rock and Jeff came on board. Then I saw the cover. By that point I was over the moon.
AP: What, if any, existing pulp, monster, or comic book characters would you like to try your hand at writing?
BN: Oh, take your pick. I’ve written a few pulp characters, but would love to try my hand at the Spider, Captain Action, or maybe team up G-8 with Lance Star: Sky Ranger. That would be fun. As for monsters, I’ve written a lot of werewolves over the past year or two (not one, but two comic book projects that feature a werewolf are in process), plus I’ve written Dracula and now the mummy. I might have to go with a sea monster next. With comics, my dream gig would have to be the Fantastic Four, but I wouldn’t sneeze at Spider-man, Thor, Nightwing, or Captain America either.
Cover: Shannon Hall
AP: What does Bobby Nash do when he’s not writing?
BN: I sleep. I also spend way too much time in front of the TV or with my nose in a novel. I love traveling and attend a lot of conventions, which even though not technically writing is still part of the job. I’m also a co-host for the Earth Station One podcast. We record an episode each week. Check it out at www.esopodcast.com. We always like new listeners. Other than that I’m generally doing something creative. I’ve never learned the art of sitting around and doing nothing.
AP: Where can readers find learn more about you and your work?
AP: Any upcoming projects you would like to mention?
BN: Just released: Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 3 (Airship 27), Green Hornet Casefiles (Moonstone), and Golden Age Good Girls (Mini Komix). Coming soon (in no particular order): The Ruby Files (Airship 27), Domino Lady vs. the Mummy (Moonstone), Zombies Vs. Robots (IDW), Tales From The Zero Hour Vol. 4 (Blinding Force Productions), Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (Moonstone), All-Star Pulp Comics (Airship 27), Green Hornet: Still At Large (Moonstone), and more Lance Star: Sky Ranger prose and comics. Plus a few surprises I can’t talk about yet. You can see all of my upcoming announcements at http://www.bobbynash.com/.
AP: Thanks, Bobby.
BN: My pleasure.
Domino Lady vs. the Mummy is solicited in August Previews for an October in store release.
Editor’s Note: This originally appeared at www.michaeldavisworld.com on January 28, 2011. It is being reprinted here without permission. It’s been reformatted to meet ComicMix’s high editorial standards.
A long time ago in a galaxy, blah, blah, blah…
…Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz and I shared a studio next to some creators who are all legends now. It was the second silver age of comics and we were in the thick of it.
Howard Chaykin was doing American Flagg!, Walt Simonson was on Thor, Al Milgrom was doing Spider-Man. Jim Sherman was in the studio but I forgot what he was working on, I do remember it was bad ass.
The studio where all those superstar upstarts were was called Upstart Studio.
Duh.
Also at Upstart was Frank Miller who was doing Daredevil and about to do Ronin. I seldom saw Frank but when I did more often than not he would ask what I was working on and was just a great guy. I remember being a bit jealous when Bill and Frank started working on Elektra and for the life of me I can’t remember why.
All that said, how’s that for a line up?
Those guys (Denys included) sounds like a comic fan’s dream team even now. Speaking of my best friend Denys a few years forward in time from our studios days would see him nominated for an Eisner for best penciler… twice. People forget just how badass Denys Cowan is.
Our studio never got an official name although Bill liked to call it Bill and his little helpers… the bastard.
As far as what we were doing at Bill and his little helpersStudio, Bill was working on Elektra and The New Mutants; Denys was doing The Black Panther for Marvel, V (the comic adaption of the original TV series) and Vigilante for DC.
What was I doing? Nothing great in comics, that’s for sure.
I was working on children books, movie posters, etc. I had one comic book assignment for the Marvel magazine Epic. The assignment was given to me by the late great Archie Goodwin. I made an appointment with Archie hoping for a cover assignment I never dreamt he would give me an interior job.
I loved comics but I was trained as an editorial and mainstream illustrator. I never learned to do comics like, say, a Denys Cowan who can imagine and draw anything from his head. I need reference, I need to look at stuff, and I need dozens of layouts before I start a finished piece. Comics that are fully painted and tell a non-liner story at that time were rare. I was always jealous (still am) of guys that can do that make it up from nothing jazz.
Dwayne McDuffie recently commented on multitalented guys that can write and draw. Truth be told Dwayne, just as a writer, is light years away from where I will ever be as a visual storyteller. That, to me, is multitalented. When Christopher Priest was the editor on the Spider-Man book he once dissected a cover painting I did for him like he was a high school science teacher and I was the frog. He’s also a hell of a writer and just as good a musician. Reggie Hudlin glides between producing and directing movies and TV shows to writing some of the best comics I’ve ever read. Those guys are multitalented.
20 or so years ago, except for Heavy Metal and a few other outlets, painted comics were few and far between. The graphic novel as a fully painted editorial piece of art and content was not quite there yet. It was about to come into its own lead by people like my brother from another mother Bill Sienkiewicz. The work of Kent Williams, George Pratt and Dave McKean was just around the corner as well but not there yet.
Howard Chaykin saw over 20 years ago where comics were going and produced a few painted books before just about anyone did.
Like an asshole, I tried to do comics the way Denys, Walt, Howard and Frank did. I was too stupid to listen to Howard Chaykin when he told me, “Do what you do, the industry is changing and you can bring something new to it.’
Some of the best advice I’ve ever been given. It’s right up there with, put your hands on the wheel and answer in a civil tone of voice, “Yes officer, whatever you say officer.”
I wish I was joking about the cop advice, but I assure you I’m not.
I did not listen to Howard. Years later Mike Gold told me the same thing after I delivered a Wasteland story, which was not my finest hour. I didn’t think he would but Mike gave me another Wasteland story and said, “Do this like any other illustration assignment.” The story was about South Africa and I nailed that mother.
Of all the high profile regular illustrations gigs I was doing (Newsweek, NBC, etc.) the assignment I was the most excited about was Epic. It was a six-page story I was writing and drawing and taking forever to do because I wanted to do it like “regular” comics artists did. Could not do it then, can’t do it now.
Long story short, I will never forget those late night talks with Howard, Bill, Frank, Jim, Al and Denys. It was indeed the second silver age but for me it will always be my golden age.
Bill and his little helpers. Somehow that does not brother me anymore.
This year has seen a ton of comics-to-feature-film releases, and the video game market is not different. However, the trend to games doesn’t always yield positive results, as many are done as quick cash-ins to support the film releases (“[[[Thor]]]”, “[[[Green Lantern: Rise Of The Manhunters]]]”). However, every so often, a tie-in turns into a gem (the latest “[[[Captain America: Super Solider]]]” game was a pleasant surprise), but when they work best is when they are using original material to tell the story. There are three titles coming out later this year that gamers and comic fans alike should be looking forward to. Below, you’ll find the most recent trailers for “[[[Batman: Arkham City]]]”, “[[[Spider-Man: Edge of Time]]]” and “[[[X-Men: Destiny]]]”, all due out in the next coming months.
FORTUNE’S PAWN Written by Nancy A. Hansen Pro Se Press ISBN 9781466243460 179 pages, $12.00
Okay, let’s establish something right away: I don’t generally read fantasy. I did when I was younger, really digging Dragonlance and the like… but nowadays, the only time I read fantasy is when I dig open a Robert E. Howard collection for old-times sake. So I’m not really the target audience for this one. But I’ve read some short stories by Nancy in the past and enjoyed them so I figured I’d dive into her first novel and see how it went.
First impressions: the cover is intriguing but I really, really would not have obscured the title. This is okay if it’s Spider-Man or something: we all know what the title is anyway so breaking it or obscuring it can be a bold design move. But when it’s an unfamiliar title (especially one that’s rendered in a confusing font), I think it’s not bold… I think it’s not wise. I showed the book to three different people and not one of them could figure out what the title was from the front or spine — the font chosen was way too busy. It looks like the book is called Forgude’s Pawd.
Okay, once I got past the cover design issues, I jumped into the story and found that it was told in a very readable style. For some reason the opening with the weremon seemed awkward to me but I think it just took a few pages to get into Nancy’s world. Once things shifted to the ill-fated family, things picked up and from there it all went smoothly.
The basic premise is classic and familiar: a prophecy warns that a red-haired child will rise up to overthrow the bad guys so the villains are out killing everyone with red hair. One infant survives such an attack and grows up to become our protagonist. Callie is an enjoyable character and her motivations and emotions are well depicted.
I found the parts of the story featuring conversations between characters or internal monologues to be the best part of the tale. The action scenes were clearly depicted but lacked the kind of edge that I usually like in my fantasy (think Robert E. Howard’s ability to depict sweaty violence). I was impressed by Nancy’s willingness to get her literary hands dirty, though — no one is safe in this book, including little kids. Everybody has an equal opportunity to get eviscerated.
This is obviously the first chapter in a larger story and I’m curious about where it goes from here. If I were a diehard fantasy fan, I think this would be something that would definitely go onto my shelf of favorites. As it is, I would still recommend it to anyone looking to dip their toes into the fantasy genre or who are looking for a character-driven adventure of any type.
Continuing a great and long-standing tradition, about 90 of our top newspaper comic strips will be commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on and in Boston MA, New York City NY, Newark NJ, Shanksville PA and Washington DC by producing special strips, with each cartoonist making his or her individual comment on the event.
Strips that will be participating include Agnes, Apt. 3-G, Archie, Arctic Circle, Ask Shagg, B.C., Baby Blues, Barney & Clyde, Beakman And Jax, Beetle Bailey, Between Friends, Big Nate, Bleeker The Rechargeable Dog, Blondie, Brewster Rockit: Spaceguy!, Buckets, Buckles, Candorville, Chuckle Bros, Crankshaft, Curtis, Daddy’s Home, Deflocked, Dennis The Menace, Dick Tracy, Dog Eat Doug, Dogs Of C-Kennel, Doonesbury, Dustin, Edge City, Elderberries, Fastrack, Fort Knox, Freshly Squeezed, Funky Winkerbean, Gasoline Alley, Grand Avenue, Hagar The Horrible, Heart Of The City, Heathcliff, Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop, Herb And Jamaal, Hi And Lois, Home And Away, Ink Pen, Lacucaracha, Lio, Little Dog Lost, and Luann.
Continuing our alphabetical list: Mallard Fillmore, Mark Trail, Marvin, Mary Worth, Momma, Mother Goose & Grimm, Mutts, Nancy, Ollie & Quentin, On A Claire Day, One Big Happy, Over The Hedge, Pardon My Planet, Pluggers, Pooch Caf’e, Prickly City, Pros & Cons, Real Life Adventures, Red Rover, Reply All, Retail, Rhymes With Orange, Rubes, Safe Havens, Sally Forth, Sherman’s Lagoon, Shoe, Six Chix, Snuffy Smith, Speed Bump, Stone Soup, Strange Brew, Tank Mcnamara, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Brilliant Mind Of Edison Lee, The Duplex, The Family Circus, The Meaning Of Lila, The Other Coast, The Pajama Diaries, Tina’s Groove, Todd The Dinosaur, Wizard Of Id, Zack Hill, Zippy, and Zits.
Further, special exhibits and presentations will be made at The Newseum in Washington, D.C., The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, The Toonseum in Pittsburgh, and The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) andThe Society of Illustrators, both in New York City. Contact the individual museums or go to http://cartoonistsremember911.com/ for more information.
These are some of the neatest superhero posters I’ve come across in a while. Take a look at his posters for the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers, Wolverine, and Magneto.
IDW Publishing and its talented team of creators, editors and designers were honored with four prestigious Harvey Awards at the 2011 ceremony in Baltimore on Saturday, August 20th. IDW’s four wins ties as the most awards for any one publisher this year, and include two for famed creator, Darwyn Cooke.
Starting off IDW’s impressive roster of wins, Cooke was voted both “Best Artist” and “Best Cartoonist” for his much-lauded work, RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE OUTFIT, a sequel to the first book in this series, THE HUNTER. At Long Beach Comic-Con in October, IDW and Cooke will release RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE MARTINI EDITION, collecting the first two, award-winning books in the series, plus all-new material in an oversized volume.
IDW’s hugely popular DAVE STEVENS’ THE ROCKETEER: ARTIST’S EDITION also won two categories. This first Artist’s Edition in IDW’s rapidly growing series was voted “Best Domestic Reprint Project,” as well as honored with the “Special Award for Excellence in Presentation.” DAVE STEVENS’ THE ROCKETEER: ARTIST’S EDITION was designed by Randall Dahlk, and edited by IDW’s senior editor for special projects, Scott Dunbier, who edits all of the Artist’s Edition books. Currently, the series also includes WALTER SIMONSON’S THE MIGHTY THOR, which launched at San Diego Comic-Con. The Artist’s Edition series will expand impressively over the next year, with the release of WALLY WOOD’S EC STORIES in October, and JOHN ROMITA’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in December. As announced at Comic-Con, IDW will also release WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT: ARTIST’S EDITION in 2012.
Conceived to “recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art,” voting in the Harvey Awards is open to all creative professionals in the comics industry. Nominees and winners for the Harvey Awards are both selected by comic book professionals.
So, there I was, doing what I suppose I do far too often… scouring Facebook for status updates. A quick refresh, and there was an update from a friend saying how “This is not my Bucky Barnes.” He was referencing a purchase he’d recently made of a golden age Bucky figure, and how he hated the new Winter Soldier-era Barnes figure. Suffice to say, after seeing his umpteenth remark how a modern interpretation of one of the classic comic book heroes he loved so dearly rubs his rhubarb the wrong way, I had enough.
Call it being cantankerous in my own “Hey, I know you think I’m too young to form a real opinion, but screw you, I can anyways” way… but I’d like to say that this kind of general malaise towards interpretation and experimentation grinds my gears to a screeching halt. In short? Quit your bitchin’ gramps. It’s 2011. Your childhood memories remain intact, in spite of your fear that they won’t.
It’s this common thread amongst the older comic book fans that I truly find offensive. Maybe that’s not the right word. I’m not implying it’s anyone here on ComicMix mind you, but the conglomerate of silver/golden-age dick-chuggers who poop their pampers anytime anything changes in the fictitious worlds of their youth, drags us all down. We’re all entitled to our opinion, mind you, and I don’t deny anyone their right to express that opinion. See folks, I’m young, under-appreciated, and don’t know shit-about-nothing; But I’m taking this time to start a large debate. Mind you no one will answer my call, but I’ve never not had fun at screaming into the black abyss of the internet before.
This notion, that the creators of today can’t reinterpret a character because it’s not their version of the character, is a waste of breath. Ed Brubaker’s retcon of Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier was an amazing feat. He took a character that was long gone, and brought him back in a story that got real attention from new fans. Here was this relic of another era, repurposed for modern times, done with a deft hand. His origin remained intact. He never took away from the character who he was. Yes, he turned a once chipper, bright-eyed innocent kid (who had no problem murdering Nazis with guns) into a cold and ruthless killer.
IDW’s senior editor for special projects, Scott Dunbier, who edits all of the Artist’s Edition books. Currently, the series also includes 
