Ghost Rider is one of those characters that few writers seem to handle well. From one series to the next, the character has often seemed ill-placed, awkwardly written or just plain phoning it in. That all seems to have changed with the current Ghost Rider series, though.

According to the majority of Ghost Rider fans, however, the current, ongoing Ghost Rider series (scripted by Daniel Way and launched in time with the character’s big-screen debut) finally managed to sync up with the character’s appeal. Way departs the series this month, but will be replaced by Jason Aaron, the writer behind the critically praised ongoing series Scalped and the Eisner-nominated Vietnam War miniseries, The Other Side.

ComicBookResources has a nice interview with Jason Aaron about his upcoming Ghost Rider kickoff arc titled "Hell-Bent & Heaven Bound", the threat of machine-gun nurses (yes, you read that correctly) and, of course, where Ghost Rider will fit into the greater Marvel Universe:

“Other than the occasional guest star, Ghost Rider will remain confined to his own little corner of the Marvel U, which I think is when he works best,” Aaron remarked. “Right now, Blaze basically doesn’t give a damn who is or isn’t a Skrull or if Captain America is really dead.  He’s got his own problems to worry about and everybody else can go to hell.”

Aaron’s first issue of Ghost Rider will hit shelves Feb. 13.

Did Saturday seem a little bit drab without your weekly dose of The Adventures of Simone & Ajax?  A little less funny?  This Thursday, we make it up to you with brand-new stories, in full color. 

Written and drawn by Andrew Pepoy, the new story was colored by Jason Millet.  Since graduating from the American Academy of Art in Chicago in the early 1990s Jason Millet has worked as an illustrator in advertising, publishing, games, toys and, of course, comics. His clients include DC Comics, Devil’s Due Publishing, Dark Horse, Penny Farthing Press, Scholastic Books, Wizards of the Coast, Disney and Choose Your Own Adventures.

We had a chance to ask Andrew some questions about his new stories.

COMICMIX:  Tell me about your first color story!

ANDREW PEPOY: "Simone, Queen of the Jungle" is a tribute to the old Sheena/Cave Girl/Jungle Girl comics, and picks up where we left off at the end of "Moon Madness," with the rocket ship crashing towards Earth. Fortunately Simone and Ajax leap out with jet packs over a strange prehistoric land in the middle of Antarctica. Simone lands on Jayn of the Jungle, knocking Jayn out as she’s trying to unite the native tribes so they can defeat the unleashed Tiki Monsters. So Simone has to take her place, dressing up as a jungle girl and doing what she and Ajax can to stop the monsters and Ajax’s much larger dino relatives.

CMIX: Does color make it better?

AP: In this case, I think it does. I’m actually a fan of well-done, black-and-white comics, so I don’t always think color is needed, and I sure did have fun doing the earlier stories on duo-shade board to get all those Roy Crane-ish effects, but in my mind Ajax has always been very green, Simone always very colorful, in more ways than one. And I think my colorist has really gotten the look I always pictured, though I can give him pretty detailed notes on what I want.

These days the colors I’m thinking of most for S&A is the work on the more recent Franka graphic novels by Henk Kuijpers. His palette is so bright and lively without being gaudy, and it’s mostly flat with only a little modeling to the color. I’m asking Jason to do a bit more on the modeling, but he’s really keeping the spirit of what I’m looking for, so I’m very happy with it. I really do think the bright color will add a bit more sense of fun to the stories. (more…)

Turning water into wine: superpower or blessed miracle?

The recently released Manga Bible presents it as a little bit of both, apparently. Illustrated by British-born Nigerian illustrator Ajibayo Akinsiku (a.k.a. Siku) and written by Akin Akinsiku, the 200-page book claims to be the "first ever Manga adaptation of the world’s bestselling book."

According to a report in The Plain Dealer, the book doesn’t shy away from applying modern-day vernacular to Old and New Testament tales:

In one panel, for example, the prodigal son leaves his father with the words, "See ya! Don’t wait up." In the next panel, he’s surrounded by women and booze.

Much of the book is dedicated to the Old Testament, of course – a discrepancy Siku claimed was as much due to the more colorful storytelling of the Old Testament as it was to the difficulty of navigating the conflicting gospels of the New Testament.