First off, thanks to John Britton who was kind enough to send me some Philly highlights worth checking out. I did not get it until I get home, but, oddly enough, I had actually done most of them anyway. Great minds think alike and all that I suppose.
Anyway, you all could probably care less about that particular tidbit so instead chew on these tidbits of news
LATE BREAKING NEWS: Byrne on Doom Patrol
Check it out straight from the man himself at The John Byrne Forum
Special thanks to John Babos for alerting me to this and sending me the link. For that, he has the gratitude of myself and the entire 411 staff. And that is some seriously strong gratitude. Oh, and John, the last name is Stevens, not the first. But hey, you sent the link, so I guess you can call me Steve as much as you want.
Johns Sits Down With an @$$hole
Hey folks! Ambush Bug here from the AICN @$$holes.
You know, we don’t always do reviews. Us @$$holes are a multitalented bunch. The Comedian plays a mean rendition of “Whoomp There It Is” on the moog. Sleazy G is a professional big time wrassler on the weekends. And our very own Jon Quixote is one wicked interviewer. Why just a short while ago, Jon had a talk with comic book writer extraordinaire, Geoff Johns, and pummeled him with an @$$load of questions. Johns is one of the top writing names in the comic book industry and I’m as surprised as the rest of you that he would have a sit-down with the likes of us.
Let’s listen in and see what JQ and Mr. Johns had to say.
Enjoy a truly excellent interview at Aint-It-Cool-News
First of all, I need to compliment Jon Quixote, (if that is his real name), on what is one of the more quality interviews of a creator I have read since I started doing this little gig. By not focusing on any one character or storyline, he really opens the format up and gets great responses from Johns. By foregoing the “story of the moment†format, Quixote may fail to gain any broad new scoops for the reader, but the interview remains current (as in having a bearing on the present in comics, as opposed to a retrospective piece) and is, at times, genuinely insightful. It is a credit to Quixote that after all the Johns interviews I have read, he still managed to elicit information that I was unaware of or delved a little deeper into topics that had already been covered.
On the other hand, what was the deal with this question: “Running characters are usually just one step up on swimming characters on the lame-o-meter. Did you expect you would be able to revitalize FLASH the way you have?†First off, it is not as if Flash was toiling in relative obscurity before Johns came on the book. Granted many, (myself included), would argue that Waid’s latter issues were not of the same standard that we had grown accustomed to and sales and popularity suffered accordingly. However, Flash had not dropped off the radar and was still a fairly viable character when Johns came on. Johns work is still excellent, don’t get me wrong, but come now, let us not overstate our case.
Second, and more egregiously, what is with comparing Flash to everyone’s favorite character to dump on, Aquaman, in the powers department. As for myself (and I know Ben Morse echoes me on this) super speed is easily at the top of my “if you could have any power, what would you have†list. Not as obvious as flying, not as dangerous as invisibility, but incredibly useful, super speed is the superpower for those of us too cool to follow the mainstream (i.e. the flight or invisibility folks, the two most common answers). So on behalf of all prospective super speedsters, screw you Quixote.
In terms of interesting info, it is pretty spectacular how far in advance Johns has plotted Titans and Flash. About two and a half years and two years respectively of Johns penned stories on the horizon is great news and Johns throwaway comment on why (You ever see The X-Files?) generates a nice smirk for any of you (like me) who suffered through the post-movie X-Files in the hope that Carter would salvage things (not to give anything away or anything, but no…no he didn’t). There are also some nice bits on Thing: Freakshow, Johns recent run on Avengers (which I appear to be the only one who preferred it to the bulk of Busiek’s run, who I also quite liked), Titans, and other creators, in and out of comics, who’s work Johns recommends.
Like I said, a great interview, Mr. Quixote.
But watch it with those speedster cracks, okay?
She’s Supergirl and She Sure is Purrrrrrrty
Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman AND Supergirl. Sounds like all the right ingredients for a great story, and that’s just what the creators are trying to deliver in Superman/Batman. The first of six-parts hits stores March 24 and Loeb gave us a few details about what to expect.
Gawk at Turner’s art and enjoy Loeb’s words at The Pulse
While it is something I have always been aware of as a possibility with comic book fans, I am still stunned by the speed with which Loeb has turned from golden god to everything wrong with comics. It is, to be honest, ridiculous.
I expressed my disappointment in the end of the first Superman/Batman arc, but I still have faith in Loeb as I have enjoyed the vast majority of his catalog of work (especially Commando…letting off some steam indeed). I do not understand how overnight so many people can change their opinion, if that is in fact what is happening here. Are comics becoming the new Hollywood where you are only as good as your latest arc or issue? Where is the faith in the creator here? Isn’t everyone entitled to an off issue or storyline? The suddenness of this negativity is so disappointing to me because it does not feel organic. Either these people always felt this way and kept their mouth shut while Loeb was exalted or they are letting their disappointment over one thing he has done entirely color their opinion. Neither option pleases me and I look forward to cooler heads prevailing and this dump on Loeb bandwagon moving on.
Porter on Flash: Good Art Fast
The first issue of Geoff Johns’ and Howard Porter’s Flash (issue #208) is due in stores March 31. We caught up with the new artist of the Fastest Man Alive, Howard Porter, to get his thoughts on what makes Wally West tick.
Enter the Speed Force at The Pulse
The first issue of Johns/Porter’s run was a great jumping-on point and a very enjoyable read. Plus, it looks great. As a fan of Porter since the beginning (alright, since JLA), I found that I still dug his artwork. Curious about how it matched up with his JLA tenure, I pulled the issues. I still love his work from then, but between Flash and Fantastic Four I noticed that he has indeed matured. The anatomy has been refined, but he has not lost the stylistic flairs (and “special effectsâ€) that first caught my eye. Plus, and I am not sure how this happens, he always seems to have great colorists on his work.
Spotlighting the Unsung: Inker Michael Bair in the Spotlight
When you talk about “Hawkman” or the upcoming DC Comics mega-crossover “Identity Crisis,” you hear the usual names: Geoff Johns, Rags Morales and Brad Meltzer. One name you don’t often hear is that of penciller turned inker Michael Bair, who any of the three aforementioned creators will tell is an important contributor to their books. With “Identity Crisis” set to hit the shelves in June, CBR News caught up with the series’ inker to learn more about one of comics’ unsung heroes.
Appreciate my restraint in not punning off Bair’s last name when you read the article at Comic Book Resources
I know it completely defeats the purpose of the entire interview, but after reading this, I would really like to check out his pencil work. How dumb of me is that?
Of course, out of this interview, the real news has become what the two half pages of art included mean for the storyline. As we comic fans are so wont to do, speculation has run rampant on what every little pose, look, and location means, if the two pieces of art are truly random or is there some connection between the two, how does this fit into the whole of the storyline, etc? I, for one, will not participate in this process. Don’t get me wrong, I am overanalyzing just as much as everyone else is. The difference is I know the answer, and I am just keeping it to myself. So there.
Anyway, my point with that deviation was this: isn’t ironic that an interview with an individual who is working at one of the comics’ most overlooked and overshadowed positions, that of inker, finds the text of his interview overshadowed by two (possibly) random pieces of art from the series? And I mean ironic in that literary sense, not in that Alanis sense. Which is not meant as any disrespect to Alanis as I recognize her superior skills at song writing, especially in comparison with, let’s just say, myself. Did I cover my tracks alright on that Daron?
If not we’ll just fire you, delete all your news posts, and claim to have never hired you…so no big deal – The Overlord
Let The Blood Guzzling Begin Anew
Confirming what he had told Newsarama he was hoping to do months ago, Judd Winick told Fanboy Radio that he and Tom Coker are working on a sequel to his Vertigo miniseries, Blood + Water.
In speaking on the radio show, Winick said:
“This one will be a little bit more action oriented as well. The first one was written with the plan and hope that we would do more. Not a series, not in a row, but kind of in a sense like Hellboy – that we would keep coming back to the characters. And with each arch, we’ll evolve.
Avoid the sun and garlic at Newsarama
Ever wonder if eternal life was worth never seeing the sun again? No? Yeah, me neither.
Making An Impact, Then Fading Away
The idea was for DC Comics to launch an entire new set of books aimed toward younger readers. The launch of these books would cross over from comic shops to the mainstream and try to attract the attention of those who might have never read a comic book before. The imprint was ‘Impact Comics’ which looked to refashion an older set of superheroes for the 1990’s. Two years later, the imprint would come to a grinding halt.
The year was 1987 and DC’s Director of Development Mike Gold was brainstorming with distribution chief Matt Ragone. During a series of conversations, the duo talked on and on about the severe lack of comic books aimed toward readers under the age of thirteen. “DC’s superhero fare was targeted towards readers older than that,†Gold remembers. “It was so severely interlocked – particularly at that time – that younger readers didn’t have the time, the attention span, or the financial resources to get involved in the mainstream superhero line.â€
From these discussions an idea was brought forth to create an ‘entry level’ line of comic books for younger readers that would be available, first and foremost, at newsstands.
Witness the birth and death of an imprint at Newsarama
I always dig these looks back, whether they be focused on an entire line (as in this case) or a single crossover (as in the Crisis columns that were run on this site). It is interesting to see, in retrospect, why or why not something succeeded and if anything could have been done to change it or was the end result inevitable. In the case of Impact, I am not really sure. All I remember was that I received the first issue of Crusaders in my stocking one year for Christmas and found myself so confused. I liked it (or at least I think I did) but I had no background with the characters whatsoever. Mainstream books like Spider-Man or X-Men may have been weighed down by continuity in those days, but at under 10 years old, familiarity with the character(s) was more than enough to carry me through a comic, continuity laden or not. The Crusaders, however, was an entirely different animal and I remember spending at least as much time trying to discern “who†they were, origins, powers, etc., as actually reading the issue. It was a great experience in my creativity at the time, but I never bothered to look for or ask for any more issues of it. The 22 year old me, intrigued by this column, kind of wishes I had, but the not yet double digit me liked Spider-Man and dammit, that is what he was going to read. Oh well, these things happen, I suppose.
DC PRESS RELEASE CORNER
Exclusive Creator Contracts A-Go-Go
DC SIGNS ARTIST ETHAN VAN SCIVER TO EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT
Ethan Van Sciver, the acclaimed artist behind projects including THE FLASH: IRON HEIGHTS and New X-Men, has signed a two-year exclusive with DC Comics.
“DC Comics and I are finally going steady,†says Van Sciver. “It’s a distinct honor and a privilege to join the ranks of DC exclusives, and I wish to thank Dan DiDio, Joey Cavalieri, Peter Tomasi, Stephen Wacker and all of the editors and staff who have made the past year so enjoyable and exciting for me. I’m grateful to be recognized as one of the creators who DC doesn’t like to share with other companies. That’s love reciprocated. With BATMAN/CATWOMAN: TRAIL OF A GUN and several FLASH covers completed and ready for release later this year, I’m looking forward to the challenges that 2004 will bring, and anticipating the monumental project that comes with the signing of this contract.â€
“Ethan is a very accomplished creator on the verge of becoming a comic book superstar, says Dan DiDio, DC’s VP-Editorial. “Ethan’s style and attention to detail is exactly what we are looking for as we continue to push and improve on the caliber of our storytelling. He is a welcome new addition to the DC family.â€
BATMAN/CATWOMAN: TRAIL OF A GUN is a 2-part Prestige Format miniseries written by Ann Nocenti with art and covers by Van Sciver. Issue #1 will be solicited in the June issue of Previews (Volume XIV #6) and is scheduled to arrive in stores in August.
JERRY ORDWAY SIGNS 2-YEAR EXCLUSIVE WITH DC COMICS
Renowned artist Jerry Ordway, whose many credits include recent projects such as JLA, PLANETARY/JLA: TERRA OCCULTA and TOM STRONG, has signed a two-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics.
“I have had many great experiences in 20-plus years in this business, and most have happened while working for DC Comics,†says Ordway. “I’m thrilled to be working exclusively for DC, with editors like Scott Dunbier, Mike Carlin, Peter Tomasi and others over the next two years, doing a job I love.â€
“Jerry Ordway is a tremendous talent whose artistic style is in the best tradition of classic Golden Age illustrators- but without ever feeling dated,†says Scott Dunbier, Executive Editor-WildStorm. “I look forward to continuing our working relationship.â€
It is official, DC owns everyone except Bendis and Millar. Everyone.
SNEAK PEEKS LIVE AT DCCOMICS.COM
ROBIN #126- MAR040290
Dude Looks Like A Lady: Robin Gets Replaced
LUCIFER #50- MAR040367
Frasier Crossover? Lilith Visits Lucifer
That’s it folks. This week is also it for the favorite comic book experience contest. If I don’t get ‘em by Friday at parallax2@juno.com, no chance of comics for you. What comics you ask? How does Flash sound? Human Target? Argus? DARKHAWK? Yeah, you know you want it.
Un Gajje’s blunt, but he has a point.
