Tagged: Image Comics

New ‘Perhapanauts’ Site, Preview Launched

  • News
  • February 13, 2008

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau’s Perhapanauts.

So I was pretty happy to see them launch a new Perhapanauts website, complete with previews of the upcoming "King-Size Annual" that marks their debut with new publisher Image Comics.

Oh, and if you’re the type who’s been holding your breath until they put out a Chupacabra t-shirt, you can finally exhale. The new website is selling one of those, as well as a bunch of other cool merch, too.

 

 

 

First ‘Incredible Hulk’ Abomination Images

  • News
  • February 11, 2008

Wondering what The Abomination, Hulk’s nemesis in the upcoming "Incredible Hulk" film, will look like? Well, a photograph of a flier posted by SuperHeroHype should provide you with a good idea of how the villain will appear on screen in the June 2008 film.

Although the story posted by SHH seems to have vanished from their site, there was no stopping dissemination of this image of the flier, which features an image of the Abomination toy with "steel" pipe weapon!

 

(via cinematical)

Scott Kurtz, Halfpixel on ‘How to Make Webcomics’

  • News
  • February 7, 2008

How to Make Webcomics goes on sale later this month, but CBR managed to track down the book’s authors, PvP creator Scott Kurtz and cabal of webcomickers known as Halfpixel, for a great discussion of why the book is necessary, who it’s intended for and the state of the comics scene today.

“I’ve toyed with the idea of writing this myself for years but always put it off for fear that people would react poorly to it,” said Scott Kurtz of the impetus of producing an instructional book on webcomics. “Maybe I felt it was too egotistical for me to attempt to write some definitive tome on making webcomics. Then we started the Webcomics Weekly podcast and response to it was so overwhelmingly good and positive that we knew that it was time for a book like this. People are hungry for shop talk about making webcomics.”

According to Kurtz and the Halfpixel crew, which includes Brad Guigar (Greystone Inn, Evil Inc.), Dave Kellett (Sheldon) and Kristofer Straub (Checkerboard Nightmare, Starslip Crisis), the book is aimed at people who already have the basic drawing and scripting skills, but want to learn more about the business end of webcomics.

“Newspaper comics are on a very easily charted trend — straight down,” Guigar said. “Webcomics are on the rise. As we say in the book, the days are gone in which one could earn a living through a publisher or a syndicate that held the keys to the mass market. The Internet busted the bottleneck. The entire world is out there waiting to discover your work and they don’t need a newspaper or a bookstore to do it. The only remaining barrier between you and success is yourself.”

Preach on, brother.

How to Make Webcomics is published by Image Comics and will hit shelves later this month.

 

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.

 

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

  • News
  • December 12, 2007

elayne100-7452000This 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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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

captain_victory_3-9826848Needless 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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Today’s Smoky Comics Links

  • News
  • July 19, 2007

civil-war-3780394

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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MICHAEL DAVIS: Art School Confidential

  • News
  • April 13, 2007

michael-davis100-2929148The one thing you can count on in the comics business is people want to get in. By this I mean there are a zillion people who want to make comics their lifework. To some “comic books’ is a silly way to make a buck. Well forget them. Tell them to have a ham sandwich and shut up. I’m talking to all the young creators who want to make this their careers. I know a bit about this and if you allow me I would like to share some of what I know with you.

The first step on the road to comic immortality is education. I want to talk to the young artists out there. I will let my good friend Mike Baron in a guest column talk about becoming a comic book writer (Mike, please write a guest column for me!).

There are a lot of young artists who think it’s smart to simply copy Image Comics from the nineties and that will give them the art background they need. It won’t. By the way, Image does great books and Jim Valentino has a fantastic nose for good content. I’m sure that Jim would agree that the books Image is doing today are vastly different from the ones they were doing when they revolutionized the comics industry in the nineties. There are a great many young artists who think that copying Todd McFarlane or Rob Lefield will give them the tools they need to be the next Todd McFarlane or Rob Lefield – again, it won’t.

There are no sure fire ways to break into the comic industry as an artist. The industry is filled with self-taught artists-some of these self taught creators are superstars. However, most people can’t simply draw themselves into the field. For the majority of you I think a good art school is a great first step, the first step you will need to establish your own way in a very competitive comics business. How do you choose a good art school?

Very carefully.

An art school should not just teach you art, it should equip you to navigate the business. You want a school that will deal with you as an aspiring professional and not just an artist. A lot of schools don’t do that. Some of the best schools have working professionals teaching there. You would think that will be a great place to go right?

NOT necessarily.

Some instructors will share with you every single thing they know. Some won’t. Why won’t they? Because you will be their competition in a very short time. Because they will someday fear you.

Oh. Nobody told you that?

Look, the professional art school is a business. Before I go on let me be clear: I’m not talking about teachers in fine art curricula. Those teachers teach students who want to make art for art’s sake. Those students want to bring their vision to people for no other reason than to make their personal statements. I’m talking about teachers of Illustration, Cartooning, Animation, Graphic Design or any commercial art course. Chances are if your teachers are working professionals they will not share with you all their contacts or their knowledge. Or to put it another way, if you were an rookie on The New York Mets and your position was center field, do you really think the veteran who held that position would tell you all he knew?

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