Tagged: art

SDCC Interview: Mike Mignola on the Hellboy Universe

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  • July 29, 2008

hellboy2poster-00-8033153Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy has certainly been a star in the comics scene for some years but the spotlight must be shining a little brighter now that his franchise  includes two hit movies.  We were lucky to get a chance to talk to him briefly at the show this year about the future of his book, the impact of the movies on his own storytelling, and the difficulties of letting go of the art chores on the book.

“If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I don’t know what’s going to happen to the book,” said Mignola about the notion of passing the book off to other creators.  He said he couldn’t imagine letting go of the character the way Todd McFarlane has let other people work on his most popular creation, Spawn.

When asked if, given that, it was hard to stop being the artist on the book, Mignola said it was at first — but he really likes the look of the book these days and he’s fond of the work Duncan Fegredo has done for the book.  “Besides,” said Mignola, “if I was still doing the art it would take forever.”

Readers of Hellboy are undoubtedly aware of the way Mignola uses real-world mythology, so we asked him what we should be brushing up on for his upcoming books.  He said they were going to be doing a take on some British mythology and that the content would be similar to the second film in a few ways.

We also asked if he was concerned that Guillermo del Toro’s film franchise seems to be building to a very different conclusion than his comics are. “The only thing that worries me is that the third movie will come out too soon,” said Mignola. Adding that he had a very firm plan for the comics and that this plan might take 15 years to be realized in the comics.

Watchmen Comic Gets Animated on iTunes

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  • July 25, 2008

Creators have been struggling with how to bring comics into the digital age: CD-ROMs, subscription based services like Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, or for free on the web like ComicMix.

A full-page ad in the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine gave readers a link to download the premiere episode of Watchmen Motion Comics for free on iTunes. Motion Comics is Warner Premiere’s new videos of comic books animated with full audio.

In many ways, it’s like those old Marvel cartoons where they took comic art and moved mouths and use limited animation to move cut-out pieces of art. But this time, they’re using modern digital manipulation technologies. The effect is weird, but it works. It’s Dave Gibbons’ art, but it’s moving.
 

SDCC ’08: PopCandy Looms Large

  • News
  • July 18, 2008

While keeping a running tally of all the events of note at this year’s Comic-Con International is a job best left to the professionals, I can’t help but draw attention to one event that caught my eye — mainly because of its outstanding promotional art.

Check out the poster for Saturday evening’s PopCandy Meetup, painted by USA Today illustrator Keith Simmons, and based on the original art from Attack of the 50 Foot Woman:

I’ll certainly be there with one or more other members of the ComicMix crew, so if you’re interested in dropping by, here are all of the details. Be sure to RSVP ahead of time, as PopCandy’s Whitney Matheson has promised one-of-a-kind giveaways to everyone who does so.

Review: ‘Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko’

As a history of Steve Ditko’s career as a comics artist, Strange and Strange: The World of Steve Ditko is an unquestionable triumph, the latest in a top-notch series of art books from Fantagraphics.

Blake Bell’s book ($39.99) features hundreds of beautifully reprinted Ditko pages, from his earliest horror stories to his triumph with Amazing Spider-Man run to his eventually paying-the-bills work in cartoon coloring books. This art comes with insightful analysis from Bell, who even gives side-by-side comparisons with art from some of the artists who inspired Ditko.

Yet, I came away from the book disappointed, because as well as it explains Ditko as an artist, it hardly begins to explain him as a man.

Admittedly, that’s a tough task, as the reclusive Ditko hasn’t been interviewed since bell bottoms were cool (or thereabouts), but it’s the task Bell sets out upon. The chapters accompanying the art read more than anything like a more-detailed Wikipedia page, full of facts but empty of story.

We hear about all the important moments in Ditko’s career, often fleshed out through the quotes of his acquaintances, but we hear less than whispers of his personal life or childhood. Perhaps Bell put on a reporter’s hat and tried to find some such information, but if so, he includes neither that information nor an account of how he failed to obtain it.

The few included quotes from Ditko are flatly boring descriptors of his work, overladen with parentheticals. And, again, they only hint at who he is.

For people who come in with a familiarity of Ditko’s story, like ComicMix editor Mike Gold, that’s a pardonable offense. But for any more unfamiliar reader looking to [[[Strange and Stranger]]] as a true biography, they’re sure to find it sorely lacking.

There’s a clear narrative to Ditko’s life; it’s a tragic story of a man who followed the philosophy he thought would make him great, but instead Ayn Rand’s objectivism would prevent him from achieving that greatness. And that story remains untold.

Van Jensen is a former crime reporter turned comic book journalist. Every Wednesday, he braves Atlanta traffic to visit Oxford Comics, where he reads a whole mess of books for his weekly reviews. Van’s blog can be found at graphicfiction.wordpress.com.

Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Van Jensen directly at van (dot) jensen (at) comicmix (dot) com.

Review: ‘The ACME Novelty Date Book, Vol. 2’ by Chris Ware

The ACME Novelty Date Book, Vol. 2: 1995-2002
By Chris Ware
Drawn & Quarterly, December 2007, $39.95

In typical Chris Ware fashion, this is an attractively (and extensively) packaged book – so much so, in fact, that what this book precisely is isn’t immediately clear. Is it some kind of notebook, journal, or calendar, perhaps? No, it’s Ware’s sketchbook, or perhaps selected pages from that sketchbook, from the years in the title.

Drawn & Quarterly published the first volume of the “[[[ACME Novelty Date Book]]]” in 2003, which included sketchbook pages from 1986 through 1995. That book covered most of Ware’s twenties, starting when he was in college in Austin, Texas and following him forward as he developed the early ACME characters and themes. That first book also had a wide variety of materials; Ware was young and trying out different art styles, but he’d mostly settled down into his current mode by 1995.

So Vol. 2, as Ware mentions himself partway through it, is mostly made up of three kinds of entries: drawings from life, journal entries, and some short comics strips (mostly autobiographical). There are also some sketches and ideas for [[[ACME Novelty Library]]], and the occasional joke or reference to older comics, but, mostly, it’s those big three.

(more…)

26 Cartoonists Dustin Harbin Met and Liked

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  • July 12, 2008

Dustin Harbin continues to both surprise and amaze.

The Heroes are Hard to Find comics shop employee is also THE GUY when it comes to Heroes Con, seeming to be everywhere at once, making sure everything was just right. He also donned one sweet white suit for the nightly bar crawl, but that’s neither here nor there.

Now he’s showing off both his love of cartooning and his art chops on his blog, with the following image "26 cartoonists which I have recently met and liked." And there’s a larger version on Dustin’s Flickr page.

Writer Shares Origins of ‘Batman’ TV Series

  • News
  • July 11, 2008

The 1960s Batman TV series couldn’t be more different than the current movie versions — Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight — with the former being campy fun and the latter being dark, psychological action epics.

Variety tracked down Lorenzo Semple, Jr., writer of the Adam West TV version, and printed a lengthy article from him on the differences between the Batman stories and how his version came to be.

As we sat in the garden of that splendid caravanserai, sipping cool sangria, Bill pulled something from the inner pocket of his jacket. For those who never had the privilege of knowing him, Bill Dozier was one sophisticated gent. "This," he said, with a look of humiliation bordering on shame, "is what ABC has given us." It was, as the shrewd reader will have guessed, a copy of the comicbook "Batman." I’d seen this comic from time to time, even read it with amusement, but I was hardly a dedicated fan. Nevertheless. At the risk of pretending to Minerva-like wisdom, I must tell it like it happened: The TV show concept virtually exploded in my sangria-enhanced brain, full-blown. Bill asked me what I was thinking. I replied it was a really terrific idea — trust me and fly back home to Los Angeles, and I would write it. Trust me. …

It was a writer’s hog heaven. I was sent four issues of the comic for plot ideas, each featuring one of the Big Four villains. The Joker seemed the best pilot choice, though I’m not sure why. I mailed Bill the script at Fox. He and his folks loved it. Then I flew back from Malaga to New York for a meeting with ABC, where Bill eloquently pitched the script and its high-camp POW!! BLAM!! WHAMMO!! style, those onscreen graphics already written in. The network was a bit flabbergasted, so different was this from their usual pilot, but they got it. A particular supporter was exec Douglas Cramer, whom I like to think was only exhibiting the same exquisite connoisseur’s taste that has since made him one of America’s leading contemporary art mavens and collectors.

Exorcising the Comic Shop Stigma

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

George Munoz is a new comic shop owner, having just purchased Windy City Comics in Northlake, Ill., and he’s gotten a little local press for wanting to combat the Android’s Dungeon stereotype.

For anyone who hasn’t seen The Simpsons, that’s the comic shop owned by the Comic Book Guy, the obese, stinky, rude resident nerd on the show.

From the article in the Franklin Park Herald-Journal:

As such, he wants to change some of what he describes as stereotypes in comic book stores.

"Many have this weird funky smell, the owner is a jerk and won’t even let you look at the books," Munoz said. "I want to convert this to a different style of comic store."

His ideas include bringing in comic book creators for signings, selling original comic art, showing comic based movies in the store, adding gaming and perhaps a small cafe.

"I want to bring in people who wouldn’t normally come into a comic book store," Munoz said.

Now, a lot of those ideas aren’t the most novel, but I’m curious what other comic book buyers think about their shops. How inviting are they, especially to non-traditional comic book readers?

And, alternately, for retailers, what are you doing to entice new readers?

‘DC Universe Online’ Wants To Be Your MySpace Friend

Just last week, Jim Lee dropped some details on Sony Online Entertainment’s MMO videogame based on DC Comics. We made a wish that screenshots would be soon to follow.

Well, consider that wish granted!

This week’s batch of DC comics featured links to a MySpace page showcasing the first public images of the much-discussed game.

dcu1-1158391

If you’re eagerly anticipating the upcoming PC and PlayStation 3 game, then head on over to www.myspace.com/dcuo for tons o’ details on DC Universe Online.

In addition to screenshots (which we’ve posted after the jump) the site also features developer interviews, Jim Lee concept art, wallpapers, and buddy icons. You might also want to add the social networking page to your Friends List because Sony is sponsoring contests for anyone who makes the game one of their "Top Friends."

But will DC Universe Online comment on my page about that time we got drunk and went to McDonald’s at 2:00 AM? Good times…. good times. (more…)

J.G. Jones on ‘Wanted,’ ‘Final Crisis’ and his Newspaper Background

31_26_jgjonesinpaper1_z-1420866So far, the one saving grace of DC’s Final Crisis has been the superlative artwork of J.G. Jones, previously best known for his stunning covers to DC’s weekly series 52 and the art in Mark Millar’s Wanted.

Out of the "little known fact" department comes a profile of Jones in the Brooklyn Paper, where he previously worked as, among other things, an editorial cartoonist. I wish the paper would’ve reprinted more of his cartoons, but at least they pulled from the archives the one seen at right, which shows some skillful inkwork and an economic use of space to push a complex story.

The article is quite a good read, touching on many interesting subjects, including how the newspaper experience helped Jones succeed in comics.

“There’s no question that creating on deadline is the best experience,” Jones told The Brooklyn Paper via phone from his West Orange, N.J. home. “It’s the same thing in comic books. Just like at The Paper, we have some very long nights.”

Back in his glory days at The Paper’s old headquarters at 26 Court St., Jones worked part-time while he pursued his larger dream: to be a painter.

Ah, but that dream, like so many other dreams that newspaper people cling to like battered childhood dolls, never quite worked out.

(via Journalista)

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