Link Ink: 'Life In Hell' Concludes, Tasting CAKE and 'Boy God'

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Creators: After more than three decades, The Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening has ended his syndicated comic strip, Life In Hell. [USA Today]

Industry: Want an insight into just what comic editors do? Dark Horse's Jim Gibbons provides some insights. [Enemy of Peanuts]

Toys: If you're bummed that you didn't catch one of NECA's 5,000 standard Portal gun replicas, there'll be 5,000 "Cave Johnson Limited Edition P-body Portal Device" versions available at Comic-Con. [NECA]

Art: Rob Steibel at the Kirby Museum compares an original Fantastic Four pinup by Jack Kirby to its recolored and retooled Marvel Masterworks counterpart. Which do you prefer? [The Comics Reporter]

Conventions: How was the debut of the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo? According to CBR's Kiel Phegley, pretty dope. [CBR]

Collectibles: TriForce will have 100 Catwoman trophy replicas from Batman: Arkham City available at SDCC... to those who preorder soon enough. [Joystiq]

Video: Boy God needs an extended cut Blu-ray, pronto. [io9]

Tags: Batman Arkham City - BatmanArkhamCity - Boy God - BoyGod - Catwoman - Chicago Alternative Comics Expo - ChicagoAlternativeComicsExpo - coloring - Dark Horse - Dark Horse Comics - DarkHorse - DarkHorseComics - Jack Kirby - JackKirby - jim gibbons - JimGibbons - Life In Hell - LifeInHell - Matt Groening - MattGroening - NECA - Portal - Portal Gun - PortalGun - Riddler - The Kirby Museum - TheKirbyMuseum

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Elias Algorithm

The Sue Storm pin ups are a tough call to be honest.

June 21 2012 at 10:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Elias Algorithm's comment

Thad

I gotta go with the one where she's not wearing a Photoshop Gradient.

June 21 2012 at 10:56 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Seth E.

The Kirby update is a classic updating, with all the pros and cons: the remastering does away with the enforced technical limitations of the original, but those limitations are what Kirby knew he was operating within, and taking them away takes away a lot of the original's character. It's true that the hot-color background in the original was a mistake, but in the updating, the subdued, tasteful, modern color scheme makes Kirby's big-head-flat-face character style look completely inhuman. Stylistically it's out of balance.

If someone were making a whole new picture, the color scheme on the right would be a wise choice. But the original is what it is, weird flaws and all. The update looks a little awkward, like it's not sure what it's supposed to be saying.

June 21 2012 at 10:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Seth E.'s comment

Thad

There's also the point of the paper stock to consider -- looking at them on a computer screen isn't the same thing.

The old colors look like hell on glossy paper but great on newsprint.

June 21 2012 at 10:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mr. Komodo

I like the Sue Storm on the right. I'm guessing from the gradients in suit and hair (as well as the horrid yellow decorations that only happened back in the 60's in the left pic) that THAT is the retooled Masterwork.

June 21 2012 at 9:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Mr. Komodo's comment

Meekrat

I agree. While I'm sure the colorist for the original did the best they could (or maybe not, I can't remember if that was one of the professions that cared back then) but there's just too much yellow. It makes Sue's head sort of vanish into the background, while her body pops off the page being such a stark contrast to the rest of the art. The one on the right is just more cohesive, and while it's not perfect, it's more pleasing than the one on the left.

June 21 2012 at 9:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply