Quantcast
Channel: ComicsAlliance.com
Viewing all 577 articles
Browse latest View live

'Wonder Woman' Goes Clubbing in Issue #4 [Preview]

0
0

Filed under: ,

On sale now in comics shops everywhere and in the DC Comics digital store is Wonder Woman #4, concluding the new series' inaugural storyline. Written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Cliff Chiang with colors by Matthew Wilson, the book has been a critical standout of DC's ambitious and commercially successful New 52 initiative, reimagining Wonder Woman as the warrior daughter of the Amazon Hippolyta and Father of the Gods himself, Zeus, and caught up an ancient family feud of epic proportions. The new issue finds Hera descending angrily upon the Amazon's Paradise Island while Diana takes a moment to unwind at a rock 'n roll music recital in London. Check out the preview below.Talking with Comic Book Resources' Josie Campbell earlier this week, Azzarello addressed the value that came with expanding Wonder Woman's family beyond Hippolyta and the Amazons and bringing in more of the duplicitous Greek pantheon.

CBR: Does making her part of that cool-but-cruel family also plant doubts in Diana's own head about her heroism? That she might actually be more like the Gods?

Azzarello: Does it do that or does it actually solidify how she feels about herself, her view of the world? I think that's one of the aspects we're getting at when we talk about humanizing her. In prior "Wonder Woman" stories she came from a perfect place and she was a perfect person. That's not human. It's very one-note, so we're trying to add some other notes to the character. Have her flawed, have her family have flaws. It makes for a -- it just makes for story, I'm not even going to say richer. The bottom line of story is conflict.


Wonder Woman has left Paradise Island behind, but Hera is just arriving. Without the Amazons' most powerful daughter to protect them, can they withstand the wrath of a God who once favored them? And why would Zola want Diana to march right back into the eye of the storm?





 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments


Too Late, Nolan: First 'Batman Voice Vs. Bane Voice' Parody Video Emerges

0
0

Filed under: , , ,

As we predicted in our early review of The Dark Knight Rises prologue, actor Tom Hardy's heavily affected accent filtered through the mouth-covering mask of Bane has resulted in an immediately distinctive and eminently mockable voice. Reports indicated that director Christopher Nolan was largely satisfied with Bane's speech but that slight modifications were forthcoming. It would seem the filmmaker is too late.

The Dark Knight Rises prologue and first theatrical trailer have inspired what's only the first of many parody videos depicting a conflict of incomprehensibility between Tom Hardy's Bane voice and Christian Bale's Batman voice. In this particular clip, Commissioner Gordon finds himself in in the middle of an unintelligible confrontation between the hoarse hero and mumbly villain.

[Via The Mary Sue]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Watch 'Daredevil' Artist Paolo Rivera Draw Issue #10's Cover [Video]

0
0

Filed under: , ,

Have we told you we like Marvel's new Daredevil comic book? In particular, we're extremely fond of series artist Paolo Rivera, whose art you've seen lots in CA's Best Art Ever (This Week) feature and in the Hitler-punching Captain America: The First Avenger poster. Rivera's work on Daredevil has been superlative as he and writer Mark Waid reclaim the sonar-guided superhero from the noir realm in which he'd lived for decades. In Rivera's hands, the book has not only been a revival of the "fun" Marvel Comic Book, it's also been a master class in crisp, clever storytelling and elegant draftsmanship.

On sale in March, Daredevil #10 pits Matt Murdock against the Mole Man. Rivera's illustrated the cover in wood cut style, and you can take a look at how in the time-lapse video below.


[Via The Comic Archive]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Holiday Gift Guide: Deluxe Edition Comics and Art Books

0
0

Filed under:

If you're like me, you wait until the last minute to do things (like this post) and you're a fetishist for expensive hardcover books that are available only in absurdly limited numbers and packaged in exquisite slipcases and loaded with supplemental material and artwork. With the gift-giving season rapidly winding down, people like us are looking for those last-minute gifts that are so expensive and so impressively large that they could never actually seem like you totally forgot to get your shopping (or blogging) done in a timely and responsible manner. The best sort of gift along those lines is of course the deluxe edition comic or art book, and I've put together a list of some great ones that you can still find at your local comics stores and online booksellers before the clock runs out on the season.

DC Comics / Vertigo / WildStorm Absolute Editions

Price: Usually $99 per book

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

A perennial holiday favorite: comic book perennials! Few comic book packages match the luxury of DC's famous Absolute Editions, which reprint beloved stories in a pristine, oversized format with thick, heavy paper and a handsome slipcase. The holidays is the best time to buy these books for your friends and loved ones or put them on your own wish lists, as most booksellers will offer the high-priced volumes (usually $99 per book) at a seasonal discount. The selection is far beyond what's reflected in the images above, of course.



Marvel Comics Omnibuses

Price: Varies

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

There's no better way to read the most essential Marvel comics titles than in the publisher's high quality omnibus editions, reprinting a vast variety of stories from the Silver Age to the present. The majority of Ed Brubaker's lauded and bestselling Captain America run is available in this oversized hardcover format, as is Walt Simonson's legendary work on Thor. But in addition to those high profile books, Marvel also reprints fan-favorite titles like The Immortal Iron Fist and X-Statix in this extremely cool way. Marvel's vast collection of omnibus volumes are the best way to introduce someone to a series or character they've never read before, so check out what's available.



IDW Publishing's Artist Editions

Price:
$100

Available from: Your local comics store, the IDW Store

When it comes to prestige, nothing beats the astonishing Artist's Edition series from IDW Publishing. Each contains a complete story, and are made from high resolution scans of the artist's original artwork and printed at the same size as drawn. Available now are books by Wally Wood, Walt Simonson and Dave Stevens.



Hellboy Library Editions by Mike Mignola and others

Price: $49.95

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

Take it from me, you haven't read Hellboy until you've read it in the Library edition format. The cloth hardcover invokes the feeling some kind of ancient tome, and the crisp, oversized pages bring Mignola and his collaborators' always brilliant work to life in a way single issues and trade paperbacks just can't. Recommended for reading by candlelight in a study full of books and trophies from your adventures.



The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga by Helen McCarthy

Price: $40.00

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

Already essential for its tremendously comprehensive cataloguing of the prolific work of manga and anime innovator Osamu Tezuka, this book also provides a compelling biography of the man himself. McCarthy tracks the life of Tezuka from beginning to end, detailing how his childhood experiences informed the groundbreaking work he would produce throughout his life. The book is packaged with a 45-minute DVD documentary with additional biographical information, because you will want even more by the time you're finished reading this most excellent guide to a great master.



Scott Pilgrim Box Set by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Price: $72.00

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

While it seems unlikely that ComicsAlliance readers haven't collected all six volumes of Bryan Lee O'Malley's indie comics opus, we wouldn't want you to forget what a handsome gift Oni Press' boxset makes for any friends and loved ones you'd like to introduce to comics. It's hard to imagine a friendlier introduction to the medium than Scott Pilgrim.



Steve Rude: Artist in Motion

Price: $39.95 / $59.95 (Limited Edition)

Available from: Steve Rude Store

A must-have for fans of ComicsAlliance's Best Art Ever (This Week) feature, Artist in Motion features 200 pages of impossibly gorgeous artwork by the co-creator of Nexus. The book demonstrates Rude's unmatched abilities and exquisite techniques in various media (including animation) and offers more than enough pretty pictures to justify the purchase, but Artist In Motion also comes with extremely personal insights into Rude's life, shedding light on why the artist has found himself at the fringes of the comic book industry.



Parker: The Martini Edition by Darwyn Cooke

Price: $75.00

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

This luxurious 9" x 13", 334-page slipcased hardcover exceeds the size of even DC's mighty Absolute editions, but mimics the gorgeous production techniques of the 1960s, where the story/contents/book is set. Besides Parker: The Outfit and Parker: The Hunter -- two of my all-time favorite graphic novels, I should add -- the Martini Edition comes with a massive assortment of supplementary artwork by Darwyn Cooke and a brand new eight-page story about Richard Stark's legendary score-settler.



MAD's Greatest Artists: The Completely MAD Don Martin

Price: ~$65-$100

Available from: Amazon

This beautiful slipcased set of books compiles every single piece of MAD work by the hilarious Don Martin created between 1957 and 1987. It's over 1,000 pages and was originally listed as $150, but savvy e-buyers can find it online for far less this holiday season.


The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010

Price: $125

Available from: Amazon

Al Jaffee's complete collection of fold-ins is still in print in the form of this lovely four-volume set, which you can find on sale from many booksellers. The beauty of this is of course the fact that you don't have to actually fold your expensive book to see Jaffee's amusing punchlines. Rather, each fold-in is reproduced at its original size on one page, while the opposite page contains the image as it would appear folded.



Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Collector's Box Set (Vol. 1-2)

Price: $49.99

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

You've read our effusive praise for the incredible cartooning and hilariously grim Mickey Mouse stories of Floyd Gottfredson, and this excellent two-volume set leaves you with few excuses for not reading these classic comics for yourself. Created in 1930, "Race to Death Valley" was hailed by our own Chris Sims as "one of the best comics of all time." It's hard to go wrong with this as a gift for your comics fan friends (or yourself), as it's a superlative example of the form from one of its greatest masters.



The Manara Library Volume 1 by Milo Manara and Hugo Pratt

Price: $59.99

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

As far as I'm concerned, Tumblr proved its worth by providing fans of Italian master Milo Manara with an outlet to share images from his many beautiful works, precisely none of which I have read. This new volume from Dark Horse, collecting some of Manara's most famous work like Indian Summer, is definitely on my wish list and would make a fantastic gift for anyone who's a fan of excellent comic book artwork from abroad. You'll probably be reading more about Manara's work on ComicsAlliance in the near future, and for more on this volume, check out this very special episode of Let's Be Friends Again starring CA's David Brothers and David Uzumeri.


The Love and Rockets Collection by Los Bros. Hernandez

Price: ~$15.00 per book

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

This indie comics mainstay has been going for nearly 30 years, making Love and Rockets as intimidating to some new readers as even the densest superhero mythologies. Luckily, Fantagraphics has made the Los Bros Hernandez saga about a massive cast of startlingly lifelike characters digestible in the form of affordable reprint volumes published in chronological order. I can tell you from personal experience that even one of these books makes a fantastic present, but to give the gift of the complete Love and Rockets is to provide your friend or loved one with a reading experience richer than virtually any other. For help with the reading order, check out Fantagraphics' convenient guide.



Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes

Price: $39.99

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

Few match Hughes' talents for synthesizing the sultry with the strong when it comes to depictions of comics' most fantastical heroines (or anti-heroines), and that ability is explored quite entertainingly in this collection of his DC Comics work. Hughes provides insightful and amusing commentary for nearly every image in the 200-page hardcover, which features not just his famously buxom interpretations of some of comics' best known female characters but also work from early in his career, dating back to the 1980s.


Criminal: The Deluxe Edition by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Price: $49.99

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

One of CA's picks for best comics of the year, Criminal is best read in this oversized, deluxe format that collects the series' first three arcs: "Coward," "Lawless" and "The Dead and the Dying." Three additional volumes have been released in paperback and a second deluxe hardcover is hotly anticipated. However, writer Ed Brubaker tells us that such a release will not be forthcoming until existing stock has dried up. As such, we implore you to buy as many copies of Criminal: The Deluxe Edition as you can and give them to anybody you know with good taste. Even if your friends or loved ones have already read the compiled material in single issues or paperbacks, Criminal takes on new significance in this beautiful format. You will not regret the purchase.




The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Price: $150

Available from: Amazon

One of the best and most popular newspaper comic strips of all time, Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes is honored in this uncommonly elegant set from Andrews McMeel. Three hardcover books coming in at nearly 1500 pages -- comprising every Calvin and Hobbes strip that was ever syndicated -- makes for a holiday gift that won't be soon forgotten, if only because it will take until next year to finish reading it.



The Starman Omnibus Volumes 1 -6 by James Robinson, Tony Harris, Peter Snejbjerg, Mike Mignola and others

Price: $49.99 per book

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

Arguably the best ongoing superhero series ever published by DC Comics and unquestionably the most line-defining of the pre-52 era, Starman is available in six high quality hardcover volumes, each with new wraparound cover illustrations by co-creator Tony Harris. These volumes contain every Starman story written by James Robinson including the 1990s The Shade miniseries, the various Starman annuals, the crossover with Mike Mignola's Hellboy and even the Blackest Night tie-in, all printed in chronological order. Telling the story of a prodigal son and reluctant hero, this collection is essential not just for fans of the DC Universe and its rich history of characters both famous and arcane, but of decades-spanning adventure, romance and drama.



Dave Stevens: Complete Sketches and Studies

Price: $50

Available from: The IDW Store

As part of its uniformly excellent series of Dave Stevens material (including the Rocketeer Artist's Edition listed above), IDW Publishing has compiled the legendary Dave Stevens' limited edition sketchbooks into a single hardcover volume. The book contains overwhelming evidence as to Stevens' status as one of the greatest "good girl" artists of all time, including an entire section dedicated to his muse: Bettie Page. Also found in IDW's hardcover are sketches and studies of familiar characters from the Batman family as well as genre and fantasy illustrations of all kinds. This is a great gift for fans of Best Art Ever (This Week), pin-up art, studied draftsmanship and classic illustration technique.



Top Shelf Graphic Novels

Price: $29.95 - $39.95

Available from: Your local comics store, the Top Shelf store

Just in time for the gift-giving season, Top Shelf has in print deluxe editions of some of its most famous publications. Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's classic From Hell is available in hardcover for a limited time. The winner of Eisner, Harvey and Ignatz awards, Craig Thompson's Blankets has recently been reissued in a deluxe hardcover format that makes a great gift. While the hardcover edition of Jeff Lemire's excellent Essex County saga is out of print, Top Shelf offers a handsome softcover edition.



Complete Narbonic Perfect Collection by Shaenon K. Garrity

Price: $30

Available from: Couscous Collective

Shaenon Garrity recently compiled the entire run of her popular mad science webcomic Narbonic in a cool two-volume collection.




OBJECT 5: Works by Killian Eng

Price: $20

Available from: Floating World

This collection of artwork by Killian Eng makes a great gift for anyone who's a fan of old school illustration. Eng's work invokes masters like Moebius in depictions of fantastic worlds and exotic, unreal environments. OBJECT 5 is limited to just 1,000 copies.



The Art of Jaime Hernandez: The Secrets of Life and Death by Todd Todd Hignite

Price: $40.00

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

Like Abrams ComicAts' great Tezuka book, The Art of Jaime Hernandez offers compelling insights into the life and work of the Love and Rockets cartoonist. Even those who haven't dived into the vast L&R saga will enjoy this exquisite book.



Vertigo Deluxe Editions

Price: ~$30-$50 per book

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

The many creator-owned series from Vertigo offer a special gift-giving possibility: a complete, finite series from beginning to end. Lauded titles such as 100 Bullets, Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables (which is ongoing) are available in this slightly oversized and high quality format, which reprints two or three trade paperbacks' worth of material in each volume. Alan Moore's celebrated run on Saga of the Swamp Thing is also reprinted in this helpful and prestigious fashion.



The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross

Price: $39.99

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

One of comics' most popular artists, Alex Ross' work with the DC Comics and Marvel icons has become so ubiquitous that may have lost some of its impact. The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross is a good attitude for that, as the hardcover book presents an eoeuvre of pulp adventurers and forgotten relics of the Golden Age of comics that will be entirely new to anyone whose Ross appreciation is limited to his DC and Marvel work. Ross is an artist who has definitely improved with age, and Dynamite Entertainment has put together a truly excellent collection of his most recent work (which does include the Avengers/Invaders series produced for Marvel).



BONE: 20th Anniversary Full Color One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith

Price: $150

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

One of the most deluxe editions of all, this collection of Jeff Smith's legendary indie comics series is the most perfect gift I can imagine. Fully colored and presented in an oversized format, there can be no better way to get lost in the rich fantasy world of Smith's creation, which has won all sorts of awards for cartooning and in multiple countries.



AKIRA by Katsuhiro Otomo

Price: ~$25-$30 per book

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

With Warner Bros'. ominous AKIRA adaptation coming ever closer to reality, now is the perfect time to invest in Dark Horse's essential collection of phonebook-sized reprints of this most beloved manga series. Reading AKIRA will make you a better person and also give you all the necessary fuel for the nerd rage that is sure to come in the very near future.



Chew Omnivore Editions by John Layman and Rob Guillory

Price: $34.99 per book

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

These are a couple of items that I would love to receive as gifts. I've yet to taste this much acclaimed Image Comics series about a detective who gets psychic message from the things (or people) he eats. Everyone I know who's read it loves Chew, and what better way to read it than in the Omnivore editions, oversized, collecting two complete storylines and stuffed with bonus material? Image's hit The Walking Dead is also available in a similar format.



James Jean Art Books

Price: $9.95-$200

Available from: Your local comics store, James Jean's store, Amazon

As something of a collector of art books, I can tell you that few illustrators put out books as gorgeous as former Fables cover artist James Jean. And I don't just mean gorgeous with respect to his artwork (although gorgeous it unquestionably is), but the books themselves are incredibly high quality for what they cost (typically around $50). Jean's collection of Fables covers is of course a great gift, full of unobscured work and lots of process material that will only enhance your appreciation for this prolific illustrator. But he's got loads more besides, and you can check out the selection in his store. I personally recommend Rebus and Process Recess Vol. 2.



The Metabarons Ultimate Collection by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Juan Gimenez

Price: $129

Available from: Your local comics store, Amazon

Oversized, slipcased and coming in at 544 pages, The Metabarons Ultimate Collection is an impressive volume to say the least. Limited to just 999 copies, this edition reprints in English all the essential material from Alexandro Jordowsky and Juan Gimenez's hit spinoff of The Incal (the hardcover collection of which would also make a nice gift, by the way, if you can find a copy for less than several hundred dollars).



The Complete Peanuts Collections by Charles M. Schultz

Price: $28.95 per book, $49.99 per slipcase set

Available from: Your local comics store, Fantagraphics store, Amazon

Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang are often associated with the holiday season (also with Halloween, and that counts), so there's no better time to give to yourself or your loved ones one or all of Fantagraphics' hardcover collections of Charles Schultz's beloved cartoon strip. Reprinted in chronological order with the highest production values, any one of these books would make an auspicious addition to any bookshelf.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Merry Christmas from Supergirl and Batgirl (and Mike Maihack) [Webcomic]

0
0

Filed under: , ,

Cartoonist Mike Maihack concludes his trilogy of one-page Supergirl/Batgirl strips with this eminently cute Christmas-themed one-off in which the Girl of Steel once again defeats her old chum on the battlefield of fashion. In this case, Batgirl endures the superhero equivalent of getting socks for Christmas. Check it out below.

Writing on his blog, Maihack said this holiday episode is likely the last of his Supergirl/Batgirl strips (the first one is here, the second one is here, and Supergirl/Batgirl piece for DC Fifty-Too is here) Although they've proved to be very popular and inspire everyone who reads them to wonder why they aren't proper DC Comics projects released as often as possible, Maihack wishes to focus more on his own work, the similarly lovely Cleopatra in Space. Keep with that and all of Maihack's art at his website and Tumblr blog.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Every Major Batman Costume in One Convenient Infographic [Art]

0
0

Filed under: ,

Benjamin Andrew Moore impresses us greatly with this remarkably thorough chart which tracks every major revision of Batman's costume, starting from its first appearance in 1939 and all the way through 2012's Batman: Earth One drawn by and Gary Frank. See the full-size image below.
Click to enlarge

Each costume is sourced to the appropriate year or era and storyline, film or animated series, but Moore purposefully left out Elseworlds versions and some others that may be crucial, depending upon your level of commitment (it is almost heartbreaking to read his considered disclaimer, as you can imagine the poor artist bracing for the impact of a thousand "um actually" comments). Personally, I would like to see that early-to-mid '90s variation of Batman's costume that included shoulder spikes, not to mention Moore's take on the ridiculously over-the-top AzBats upgrade.


However, looking at that now, it seems like it would probably be too painful to draw. In any case, kudos to Moore for creating this most excellent resource.

[Via ScreenRant]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Best Art Ever (This Week) - Holiday Edition 2011

0
0

Filed under: ,

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists and/or specific bodies of work, but there's just so much great work on sites like like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and other countless blogs that we've created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the virtually countless pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the digital media landscape. Some of it's new, some of it's old, some of it's created by working professionals, some of it's created by talented fans, and some of it's endearingly stupid. All of it's awesome.
WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?

We're very much interested to see what you've dug up and think should be featured here in Best Art Ever (This Week). Please submit any great art links to andykhouri-at-comicsalliance.com. Artists, feel free to send in your own work - we won't judge you (publicly) - or to request that your work be removed.

ComicsAlliance Best Art Ever (This Week) Exclusive Debut!

Island of Misfit DC Comics Characters by Philip Bond


Tintin Nightmare Before Christmas mashup by Dan Hipp


Superman by José Luis García-López


Batman and Robin by unknown


Spider-Man vs. the Grinch who Stole Christmas by Michael Delmundo


The Bumble by Christine Larsen for Planet Pulp




Batman by Dustin Nguyen


Galactus Santa by Steve Bowman


Superman by Pete Woods


Batman and Plastic Man by Jim Aparo


Batman by James Kei


Tony Stark's Holiday Party by Phil Noto


DC Universe Holiday Special by Frank Quitely


Teen Titans by Bill Walko


Wonder Woman by Sean Galloway


Wonder Woman Holiday by Nigel Halsey



DC Comics Holiday Card by Sean Galloway


The Punisher by C.P. Smith


Batman by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano


Iron Man by Marco D'Alfonso


Wonder Woman by unknown


Hellboy by M.S. Corley


Batman #45 by... Charles Paris?


A Christmas Story by Joshua Budich



MODOK by Mitch Breitweiser


Santa and Mrs. Claus by Ilias Kyriazis


Hellboy by Mike Mignola


Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah or Anti-Life by Michael Cho


Holiday cards by Chris Giarrusso




DC Christmas images by Alex Ross



Marvel Holiday Special by Arthur Adams


The Thing by Jack Kirby


Batman Adventures Holiday Special by Bruce Timm


And because every one of the following panels is just as good as any pin-up we've ever published in this feature...

"White Christmas" by Paul Dini and Glen Murakami
From Batman Adventures Holiday Special




 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Archaia's 'Dark Crystal: Creation Myths' is a Proper Prequel on an Epic Scale [Preview]

0
0

Filed under: ,

On sale this week from Archaia is The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths, the first of a three-volume prequel to the events of the cult classic Jim Henson film. Devised by Brian Froud, the conceptual designer behind the original movie, Archaia's Dark Crystal book is not just an unusually handsome and lavishly illustrated graphic novel (even by Archaia's typically high production standards), it's also in my view one of the best attempts at any kind of prequel story I can remember. As you can see in the preview pages below, Froud and writer Brian Holguin and illustrators Alex Sheikman and Lizzy John go deep, deep into the origins of the fantasy world of Thra and the titular crystal, creating a story of biblical proportions that will delight fans of the original Henson film.Creation Myths Volume 1 focuses largely on the enigmatic Aughra character, who in the film was a kind of Yoda figure who helped the hero Jen learn some crucial information he needed to save the day. As it turns out, Aughra is a hugely important individual in the history of Thra, as you can see in the pages below. The origins of Henson and Froud's memorably weird world are explored in even greater detail as the book progresses, and the conclusion left me wanting to read the next volume at once.

Fans of the Henson original will be extremely happy with this graphic novel, which delivers on the "untold story" prequel concept like almost nothing I've ever seen (certainly nothing in comics, where a "prequel" is typically an annoyingly misidentified prelude to an upcoming film or video game). I love the epic storybook style of Creation Myths. The artwork, language and scope of the tale are reminiscent of an illustrated Bible or something similarly opulent, and I was impressed that Froud and his collaborators generated nearly one hundred pages of comics based on just the couple of sentences of back-story we heard in the The Dark Crystal's opening narration -- and this is just volume one.

You can buy The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Volume 1 this week at finer comics shops and bookstores or from online retailers.

Part one of a three-part graphic novel prequel series delving into the origins of the Skeksis, Mystics, Gelflings, the world of Thra and the Dark Crystal itself. Spanning a time period from thousands of years ago to right up to the start of the original Jim Henson film, this graphic novel epic will tell the definitive origin of the Dark Crystal, under the supervision of The Jim Henson Company and The Dark Crystal concept designer Brian Froud.







 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments


Drunk Hulk Cosplayer Sentenced to Two Years for Selling Cocaine

0
0

Filed under: , ,

A man was sent to jail for two years last week following a curious drug arrest in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Scott Anderson was caught selling cocaine in April while dressed like the Incredible Hulk, a Marvel Comics superhero with green skin, attire that made him easily identifiable by police. No explanation has been offered as to why Anderson was dressed as the Hulk -- such as attending a costume or "fancy dress" party -- so we choose to believe he simply does so as a matter of routine.The Coventry Telegraph reports that Anderson was intoxicated and attempting to sell his excess cocaine to passersby at the city's SkyDome Arena. Police were alerted to the man's actions and had no trouble finding him because, as previously mentioned, Anderson was painted green and dressed like the Incredible Hulk. Arresting officers discovered cocaine as well as five grams of cannabis in one of his sneakers -- footwear that, we should point out, is not presently in-continuity for the Hulk (non-canonical cosplay remains legal in England).

Anderson's lawyer stipulated to the conspicuous nature of the Hulk costume and the foolishness of the act, but argued that his client was not a serious drug supplier.

"This was a serious lapse on his part, a serious lapse and aside from the comedic element, his dress, he couldn't have stood out more to police.

"This was a drunk man seeking to get some money back for a purchase that he had made for himself," he added.

"It was a drunk attempt to get his money back on his way home. That's very different from low level street dealing."

Unfortunately for Anderson, the court found little mercy to show the beleaguered Hulk cosplayer, as he had already served jail time ten years earlier for selling heroin and ecstasy. The record makes no mention of what if any superhero costumes Anderson wore during the previous incident, but if he was selling ecstasy, it seems likely he was dressed as Dazzler.

[Via io9]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Happy Hanukkah from Jewish Superheroes (and Jon Morris) [Art]

0
0

Filed under: ,

Tuesday marked the final night of this year's observance of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. In honor of the holiday, cartoonist Jon Morris rolled out on each day of Hanukkah a new illustration of one of comics' Jewish characters, including some superheroes and cartoonified real-life legends, to create a cool and clever comic book menorah.
The creator of the Cornered, DC Fifty-Too and Marvel Universe Too blogs is an artist frequently spotlighted here on ComicsAlliance, but Morris may have outdone himself with this lovely holiday series. Note how each character is perfectly expressed not just in how Morris draws them, but in the way they interact with their candles i.e. Batwoman perching on hers or Arthur worrying about dropping his.


The Thing

Morris says:

Starting us off, it's arguably the most high-profile Jewish superhero in comics, Ben Grimm - the Ever-Lovin' Blue Eyed THING! Even though he debuted in 1961, it wasn't until 2002 that Ben was officially revealed in canon to be Jewish, although creator Jack Kirby had always intended for and thought of Grimm as Jewish (for instance, see this great sketch by Kirby dated 1976).

Ragman

Morris says:

Ragman has an interesting history as a Jewish superhero inasmuch as he started off Irish (not that he couldn't be both, mind you). Still, in his original Seventies' incarnation, Rory Regan was clearly scripted to be of Irish descent, but the broody, vibrant illustrations of Joe Kubert and the Redondo Studios seemed to summon a very Jewish feel to the character and his environments, and readers took to assuming that Ragman was Jewish. When the character was rebooted and relaunched in 1992, he was made explicitly Jewish with strong ties to Jewish folklore.


Judah "The Hammer" Maccabee (he converted)

Morris says:

The most unusual Jewish superhero, alien Thune warrior Judah "The Hammer" Maccabee from Mike Baron's and Steve Rude's superb classic indy sci-fi book NEXUS.

(Morris noted on his blog that he chose to spotlight The Hammer over Howard Chaykin's Reuben Flagg from American Flagg! As a devoted Steve Rude fan, I'm grateful to see Judah get some love from one of our favorite cartoonists. However, everyone here really wants to see Morris' version of Flagg (and Raul), so please don't forget him, Jon.)

Arthur

Morris says:

Accountant-turned-superhero and long-suffering sidekick to the boisterous TICK. Arthur is one of the most refreshing characters in comics, the perfect accompaniment to the Tick's bombast and buffoonery - he's just a quiet, unassuming, good-hearted guy who craves a little adventure and crime-fighting, like any nine-to-five joe.


Batwoman

Morris says:

Batwoman (Kate Kane) is among the newest Jewish superheroes to hit the stands, and I believe - and I may be mistaken here, let me know if I am - currently the only Jewish superhero to be headlining her own title at either of the Big Two companies.


Kitty Pryde

Morris says:

Introduced in 1980 as part of Chris Claremont's and John Byrne's groundbreaking multi-ethnic X-Men, Kitty may be the first long-running Jewish Marvel superhero to actually have been acknowledged as Jewish from the start.

(Having Lockheed serve as the candle is genius.)

Stan Lee

Morris says:

Stan Lee isn't a comic book superhero! Well, sort of - he's certainly been IN enough comics as a character, alongside a passel of Marvel's famous Bullpen - even once as an alternate version of the Fantasic Four's own Mister Fantastic. Of course, as a writer, editor and - possibly most importantly - as a relentless promoter of the Marvel brand, Stan Lee is more than slightly responsible for the prevalence of superhero comics as indelible mainstays of popular culture.

Jack Kirby

Morris says:

The greatest Jewish comic book hero of them all, Jack "King" Kirby! Happy Hanukkah, everybody!

Keep up with all of Jon Morris' work via his website and Tumblr blog.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

'Mouse Guard' Creator David Petersen Builds Models to Assist in Making Awesome TMNT Art

0
0

Filed under: , ,

As readers of his Eisner award-winning Mouse Guard series know very well, David Petersen is no slouch when it comes to draftsmanship. The artist's work on Mouse Guard and really anything else he draws is characterized by incredibly lush and extremely precise line work. Petersen's backgrounds in particular seem as though they were designed as sets for film shoots rather than comic book panels. As it turns out, that's essentially what they are.

Faced with the daunting task of drawing a sewer tunnel for the cover of IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #2 one-shot, starring Donatello, Petersen put his pencil down and picked up an exacto knife to create a three-dimensional model upon which to base his drawing. Read more about the fascinating process after the cut.Petersen explained in a recent blog post that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles inspired his lifelong interest in comics as well as role-playing games, making the IDW cover gig especially important to him. To convey the story of Donatello in a single image, Petersen set the character alone in a sewer tunnel so as to express Donny's "loney-loner vibe." But that came with a number of technical challenges, as Petersen explained:


After searching for good sewer photos, I wasn't able to come up with something I liked, so I just drew a sewer with a vaulted ceiling. I was worried about all the perspective for the concentric circles the arched roof was made of. I was also worried about getting the spacing of the bricks right.

I quickly mocked up a sewer model to match my sketch using printed out sheets of a brick pattern conformed to the shape of the arched cardboard. I added a few dowels and straws to simulate steam and or electrical pipes that can run along the roof of sewers and drain pipes.

I printed my rough drawing above with a photo of the model substituted for my rough background drawing. I inked the piece on my lightbox using my rough & photo as a guide for the ink lines. Like usual, when inking I'm concerned with texture and line quality...how different patterns of line can suggest different textures or surfaces.

The next step is to scan the inks and start 'flatting' which is the starting stage of coloring. Here I'm establishing areas of color..making the area that is Don's front shell different than the colors that are his arm or head or the sewer. Some color choices are made in this stage, but they could be all wrong on purpose if I wanted. The goal is to make sure that the different parts are all separated by a different color. Here I was pretty close and only made a few adjustments after I got into the rendering. I have to admit, even though I know the process, the flatness of these flats left me worried. I had envisioned a very atmospheric cover with a lot of depth and the flat colors showed that I had a long way to go to get there.

The last step was to render the piece. This means adding in all the shading and lighting effects and color holds and highlights. I was right when I thought it was going to be a long process from the flats to this point. There was a few hours of just tweaking the lighting and shadows until it was the right amount of contrast and glow.

TL;DR version: David Petersen is so for real that he will build a f***ing model of a sewer before turning in an imperfect drawing of a Ninja Turtle. And that's not all -- he does this kind of thing all the time. Check out this Facebook gallery of models Petersen made to help him illustrate Mouse Guard, and feel your appreciation of that excellent work grow even stronger.

Petersen's Michelangelo cover for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #2 is on sale now in finer comics shops from IDW Publishing. Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #3 is on sale now from Archaia.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read the Out-of-Print 'Blade Runner Sketchbook' by Syd Mead and Ridley Scott

0
0

Filed under: ,

Among the great out-of-print art books of the world is Blade Runner Sketchbook, collecting original production artwork from what is perhaps best designed science fiction film ever. Originally published by Blue Dolphin Enterprises in 1982, the book includes material by Blade Runner conceptual designer Syd Mead as well as Mentor Huebner, Charles Knode, Michael Kaplan and director Ridley Scott himself, whose contributions are drawn in the style of one of the film's primary visual influences, Moebius.

Because physical copies go for hundreds of dollars, Blade Runner Sketchbook has been available online in various bootleg forms for years, but we've just become aware of an embeddable version uploaded in October that makes reading this lost gem easier than ever. Click after the cut to read the entire book, which includes artwork for sequences and concepts that were never filmed (like Tyrell's Cyrpto-Crypt and Zhora's Orgasma Mask).

Some favorites:

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

SLG Publishing Endures Infinite Crises of Drunks, Rats and Urine [Video]

0
0

Filed under: , ,

We've heard time and again how hard it is to be an independent comic book publisher, but never have we heard of trials and tribulations so harrowing as those of SLG Publishing. The San Jose, California-based publisher of such eccentric titles as Ross Campbell's Shadoweyes, Roman Dirge's Lenore, Evan Dorkin's Milk & Cheese, Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins' Pinocchio: Vampire Hunter and Jhonen Vasquez's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac has weathered storms that would make even the filthiest of indie rock labels pack up and go home. Among them, mutant rodent infestation, apocalyptic plumbing and drunk driving collisions.

In a recent blog post, SLG's plucky President and Publisher Dan Vado took stock of his company's remarkable resilience, and you can read some highlights of his victories after the cut. Beware: some of these ordeals are so outrageous that they could have come right from the pages of SLG comics themselves!Drunk Driver


A drunk driver plowed through our office in 2004, destroying everything ( I mean EVERYTHING) in her path.

The only good thing about this incident was that it happened when it did (around 2:00 AM). Had it happened during the day, at least a couple of people would have been seriously injured or killed. The woman, who had just gotten her license back after having it suspended for drunk driving, had her own car keys taken from her at whatever club she was at by her friends who knew she was too drunk to drive. Her answer to this was to take someone elses keys and car.

Rodent Wars

What we discovered when we moved into our building is that the varmints infesting our place were of a legendary size and stature and considered US the inconvenience to be dealt with. Our building had stood vacant for so long before we moved in that these hell-creatures had set themselves up a nice little habitat just below the surface of our walls and floors.

With a combination of traps, poisons and just plain old luck we battled these beasts until we curbed the invasion. The low point was when a rat got stuck in our insulation in a place that was hard to access and died, rotting and raining rat parts down on us.

Toilet Crisis

The first major crisis was noticing some younger people going into the restroom two or three at a time (the space is small and only one toilet). There was also the floor pee incident of 2010 and the foreign object incident of 2011 which had erstwhile SLG employee Bryan Dobrow driving all over town in search of a proper plunger.

Termite Flight

One fine spring day a group of subterranean termites hatched, took wing and took flight in our building. I repeat, IN our building. Coming from every crack and crevice in the walls flying termites buzzed our heads inside the office for what seemed like forever but really was only like 20 minutes.

THE BEES NOT THE BEES

Unknown to us a bee hive had taken root in the walls of the adjoining building, where it flourished and grew unchecked for what a bee professional estimated was a good 5-7 years. Apparently once a hive reaches critical mass a second and a third queen will arise and split off to found her own empire somewhere else close by. A colony of an estimated 20,000 bees took hold in our attic, which we didn't notice until a random bee or two would drop down into the office out of one of the light fixtures.

The honey they pulled out of the building next door was a black tar looking substance that scarcely resembled any honey I have ever seen. The estimate was that there were hundreds of pounds of rotting honey in the walls of the building next door.

Kudos to Dan Vado and the whole SLG crew on their continued survival of threats both animal and human. Let's hope for a new year filled with more cool comics and minimal urine.

[Via The Beat]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Russia's 'The Avengers' Trailer Comes with Extra Loki and Black Widow [Video]

0
0

Filed under: , , ,

A new Russian trailer for Marvel's The Avengers has revealed even more new footage from the hotly anticipated superhero film directed by Joss Whedon. In the clip that you can see after the cut, Loki dispatches a non-caped combatant in a characteristically unfair manner, and we see some new shots of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow looking pensive. The Russian overdub may be unpalatable to some of you, but we think it'd be kind of awesome if ScarJo as Natasha Romanoff was subtitled throughout the film.
<a data-cke-saved-href='http://video.ru.msn.com/?mkt=ru-ru&vid=0bc0d65f-99c7-44a2-825e-d914178c7cce&from=RURU_msnvideo_embedd&src=FLPl:embed::uuids' href='http://video.ru.msn.com/?mkt=ru-ru&vid=0bc0d65f-99c7-44a2-825e-d914178c7cce&from=RURU_msnvideo_embedd&src=FLPl:embed::uuids' target='_new' title='Мстители' >Видео: Мстители</a>

Don't forget to check out the German version of the trailer, and you might as well re-watch the American original while you're at it.

Directed by Joss Whedon and starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders, The Avengers opens May 4, 2012.

[Via Spinoff Online]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Best Art Ever (This Week) - 12.30.11

0
0

Filed under: ,

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists and/or specific bodies of work, but there's just so much great work on sites like like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and other countless blogs that we've created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the virtually countless pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the digital media landscape. Some of it's new, some of it's old, some of it's created by working professionals, some of it's created by talented fans, and some of it's endearingly stupid. All of it's awesome.
WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?

We're very much interested to see what you've dug up and think should be featured here in Best Art Ever (This Week). Please submit any great art links to andykhouri-at-comicsalliance.com. Artists, feel free to send in your own work - we won't judge you (publicly) - or to request that your work be removed.

Wolverine by Leinil Francis Yu


The Prisoner by Craig Cermak


The Li'l Endless by Jill Thompson


Attack the Block by Dan Hipp


"City Escape' by Rozefire


Alien by Chris Bachalo from the collection of Joseph Hedges


Hercules by Don Heck


The Big Guy by Geof Darrow


Star Wars by Matthew Humphreys


Wonder Woman by Victoria Ying


Philip Seymour Hoffman from Boogie Nights by Erik Jones (uncensored version at link)


Jurassic Park's Ian Malcolm "From Chaos" by John Larriva


Scarlet Witch by K. Van Dam


Batgirl by Phil Noto


House of Mystery by Bernie Wrightson


Robin by Ryan Sook from the collection of Ivan Costa


Madame Xanadu by Amy Reeder


Chief Sitting Bull by Dave Johnson for What Not


Robert Mitchum by Kevin Nowlan


From "Soho Dives Soho Divas" by Rian Hughes


Darkseid by Steve Rude


From "glamourpuss" by Dave Sim


Batgirl by J. Scott Campbell


Spock and Uhura in the style of Tamara de Lempicka by lymanalpha


MegaTRON by Tim Anderson


Magneto vs. Wolverine by Dustin Harbin


Amelie by Stephanie Pena


Batman vs. The Joker by Bernie Wrightson


Batgirl by Douglas Holgate


Batman by Norm Breyfogle from the collection of James Jaunakais


Chat Noir Catwoman remix by Rafael Albuquerque for What Not


Superman and Batman by Adam Hughes


Batman and Robin by Declan Shalvey


Zangief by Nina Matsumoto


Galactus by Giorgio Comolo


Spider-Man by Adam Lichi


The Sandman and Death by Hanie Mohd


The Umbrella Academy's White Violin by James Jean


Red Sonja by Cliff Chiang


Black Canary by Bruce Timm

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments


Alan Moore Talks Science, Imagination, Other Trippy Stuff [Video]

0
0

Filed under: ,

The writer of such works as Watchmen, V for Vendetta and Violator Vs. Badrock, Alan Moore was among the speakers at last week's Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People. Organized by the Rationalist Association and New Humanist, the annual event offers an alternative to the season's spiritual observances by celebrating science with entertaining lectures and presentations on subjects like quantum mechanics and other mysteries of the universe. Moore briefly summarized some of his remarks in a filmed backstage interview. Among his talking points: the heredity of our universe, our holographic nature, and the distinctions between science and religion.

As always, Moore's remarks are thoroughly fascinating, particularly those concerning the nature of imagination and its relationship to the physical world, and his history of science that I choose to accept at face value with no further investigation. While some viewers may disagree, I think Moore's points are only strengthened by the fact that he's wearing a t-shirt that says "Sperm" in the style of the Superman logo.

Some highlights from the interview:

"Universes can actually reproduce. Our universe is not a first-generation universe... it's inherited its parent universe's more manageable attributes."

But who does our universe have sex with?


"We may well be living in a computer simulation."

I became completely convinced of this after I saw an old Keanu Reeves movie, and it is on this premise that I base essentially all my actions.


"This is stuff that rationalists find credible. I would say in that light, my worship of a second century snake god seems entirely reasonable."

Indeed.


[Via Bleeding Cool]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Wonder Woman Costume from Show You Never Saw Appears on Show You Never Watch, Worn by Actress from Show You Hated

0
0

Filed under: , , ,

ComicsAlliance extends sincerest kudos to NBC and producer David E. Kelley for executing what is one of the cleverest, grandest bits of trolling we've seen in quite some time: Adrianne Palicki's costume from Kelley's much maligned and unsuccessful Wonder Woman television pilot will appear on his latest series, Harry's Law, worn by Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane on the controversial quasi-Superboy series Smallville. Kelley's deft maneuver invokes and sews together layers and layers of nerd trauma, and the news of this meta-trolling has already generated consternation around the Web. We break it down in more detail after the cut.It struck everyone as a dubious if not outrightly bad idea when it was announced that Ally McBeal creator Kelley would film a new Wonder Woman television pilot in 2011. As demonstrated by ten seasons of Smallville, geeks are prepared to forgive all manner of televisual sins. Except of course when it comes to Wonder Woman's pants, which as all ComicsAlliance readers know is probably the single most written about topic in the history of sequential art. Fandom had just endured the introduction of Jim Lee's '90s-infused leather-jacketed, black-panted redesign of Diana, Princess of the Amazons, for a comic book revamping of the character when NBC released a photo of actress Adrianne Palicki in a version of her TV costume (left):


While unmistakably Wonder Woman and coming far closer to capturing the majesty of the character than the Lee design of the time, the costume as photographed resembled the kind of cheap, rubbery, unlicensed female superhero costumes you see brimming out of Hollywood Boulevard exotic dancer supply stores around Halloween. Although refined for the pilot itself (image on right), this costume instilled great fear and sadness in many comic book fans. The Wonder Woman show was not upgraded to a proper series, and leaked copies of the pilot have taken on the mythic status of an especially grotesque celebrity sex tape. For a great many Wonder Woman devotees, the entire ordeal remains a painful memory ripe for trollish exploitation.

Invoking an unloved costume and aborted series is the easy part, though. The main thrust of Kelley's attack comes in the form of Erica Durance aka Lois Lane from Smallville. As you know, ComicsAlliance writers Chris Sims and David Uzumeri authored the most definitive and essential analysis of the recently concluded CW series, and in that mammoth work, Sims and Uzumeri determined that Durance's portrayal of the intrepid reporter of DC Comics legend was the show's single most intentionally entertaining element. Indeed, for years dedicated Smallville viewers rationalized their weekly self-flagellation by citing Durance's Lois as being so good that her presence excused the rest of the series, whose standard method was, as Uzumeri put it, to "use the names and appearances of things we recognize and then tell a story with them that basically has nothing to do with those original stories."

It was through that prism of weirdness that Durance appeared even more radiant, and compounding nerd love for her was a very special episode of Smallville in which her character -- again, Lois Lane -- dressed up like Wonder Woman. What's more, the costume she wore is generally considered to be among the best Diana designs of all time, and certainly the best one ever seen on screen:


In the January 11 episode of David E. Kelley's laywer dramedy Harry's Law, Erica Durance guest stars as a "psychologically infirm woman who retreats into the persona of the DC Comics heroine to help wreak revenge on perpetrators of domestic abuse." That according to TV Guide, with whom Durance discussed her role:

TV Guide: How does it feel actually getting to play Wonder Woman... of sorts?

Erica Durance: "Of sorts" is the best way to put it and it's probably the best way to play it because you get to have a little bit of freedom and you're not judged quite so harshly. The way that I was able to work with the character Wonder Woman in this is through the eyes of a woman who desperately needed a strong female archetype to look up to, and she had gone through such terrible things and this was her alter ego. I would challenge anybody who said that she didn't think she was Wonder Woman. This is how she found her way out.

So, as an actress, getting to put on the suit and play Wonder Woman was fantastic and then I got this whole other layer because of the way David E. Kelley had written it, to ground it in this kind of humanistic viewpoint, which was lovely.



As Smallville fans know all too well, there's nothing quite as agonizing as seeing "sort of" versions of your favorite comic book characters on television, and Durance's appearance on Harry's Law makes it the second time the beautiful and talented actress has "sort of" played Wonder Woman.

But this isn't enough for Kelley's epic revenge troll, whose coup de grâce was dressing the fan-favorite Durance in precisely the same costume that Palicki wore in the Wonder Woman pilot everyone hated.

To recap: a performer everyone loves for playing a character everyone loves on a show that everyone hates appearing as yet another version of a character everyone loves (and wants her to play legitimately) on a show that nobody watches and wearing a costume everyone hates from a show that nobody will ever see.


Epic trolling, David E. Kelley.

[Via The Mary Sue]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Sci-Fi Brothel 'Alien Cathouse' to Open in Nevada

0
0

Filed under: ,

We''ll forgo the tired jokes about geeks and sex and the obstacles typically associated with connecting those two things and just tell you that in the near future there will be a place people can go to have sex with prostitutes dressed up like science fiction characters. Devised by Dennis Hof, one of the United States' highest profile panderers and star of the HBO documentary series Cathouse, the "Alien Cathouse" will open within a few months at a renovated bordello in Nevada, 90 miles outside of Las Vegas."Sex From Another Planet" and "Alien Cathouse Girls Do It Different" and "Girls From Another World" are among the slogans Hof invoked in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, who report that infamous madame Heidi Fleiss will consult Hof on matters of decoration and clothing. "She's the chief alien design queen," he said.

Ostensibly Area 51-themed, employees of Alien Cathouse will be dressed in "alien costumes" of an unspecified nature. While we're loathe to imagine that a brothel duly licensed by the great state of Nevada would operate under anything but the strictest legal and ethical standards, we nevertheless suspect that some unauthorized characters and costumes will find their way into the Alien Cathouse (we're sure you can imagine what convention cosplay favorites might appear on Hof's "menu," as it were -- or even [shudder] "off-menu"). But setting aside any moral objections we may or may not have to the Alien Cathouse project, we'd be impressed on a mercenary level if Hof took some inspiration from the deeper, darker places of nerd lore like perennial Federation holo-novel Vulcan Love Slave or even its sequel, Vulcan Love Slave II: The Revenge. After all, if you're going to go geek, might as well go hardcore.

[Via Time NewsFeed]

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

21 Portraits from Tony Millionaire's '500 Portraits' [Preview]

0
0

Filed under: , ,

On sale now from Fantagraphics is 500 Portraits, a very handsome hardcover volume collecting more than two decades of pen-and-ink portraiture by Tony Millionaire, the award-winning cartoonist of Drinky Crow's Maakies and Sock Monkey. The book contains, as advertised, 500 drawings of wildly diverse real-life figures from the realms of comics, music, film and history, not to mention animals and fictional characters as well, many of which first appeared in esteemed publications like The Believer and The New Yorker.

Fantagraphics provided ComicsAlliance with a hefty and beautiful preview of some of 500 Portraits' comic book-related subjects, including visages of Hergé, Popeye, Danny Hellman, Johnny Ryan, James Kochalka, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware.In support of the book, Millionaire will attend exhibitions of 500 Portraits material at two comics stores later this week: Floating World in Portland, Oregon on Thursday, January 5; and the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle, Washington on Saturday, January 7. Be sure to stop by those events if you're in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hellboy Commiserate in Duncan Fegredo Art [Exclusive]

0
0

Filed under: , ,

It's common at this time of year to take stock of the last twelve months and reflect upon all that's changed. Monster hunters and vampire slayers are no different, as demonstrated by this delightful sketch by Duncan Fegredo. The brilliant illustrator of ComicsAlliance Best of 2011 pick Hellboy: The Storm and the Fury has depicted Joss Whedon's enduringly popular Buffy and Mike Mignola's apocalyptic hero Hellboy sharing a groan over all that befell them in 2011 (and what we know will befall them in 2012) including dismemberment and death. This exclusive art comes courtesy of Dark Horse Comics, and you can check out the full piece below.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Viewing all 577 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images