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Liquid Latex Empowers Excellent 'Empowered' Cosplay Photography

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-24T18:00:00+00:00

The outfits worn by our favorite comic book characters are routinely skintight and, particularly with female characters, often quite revealing -- sometimes in the extreme. Adam Warren's longrunning and very acclaimed (by us, especially) graphic novel series Empowered takes this dubious convention of comics and runs with it to create something delightful, a sexy superhero comedy about a heroine whose hypermembrane costume becomes a major obstacle in her life; clinging embarrassingly to every contour of her body and completely falling apart whenever it feels like it.

Typically skintight superhero costumes can offer a challenge to cosplayers, but the winking audacity of Empowered's threads inspired photographer Paul Hiller to get really real with one of the most exceptional cosplay shoots we've ever seen. Check out how he and his team realized Warren's outrageous Empowered design with the help of liquid latex.

NOTE: Some of these images may be considered not-safe-for-work.

A fashion and portrait photographer by trade, Hiller is an Adam Warren fan from way back. On his blog, Hiller wrote about the inspiration to undertake a full-on Empowered shoot.

"[Warren] was a huge influence on me back when I was just a little Paul," he wrote. "He was one of if the the first to bring the manga style to the mainstream of comics and got me on the road to liking anime which lead to liking Japan which lead to moving there for five years of my life."

Hiller and his team worked for two hours applying multiple coats of liquid latex to model Christine. A few lights and a little Photoshop later, Warren's creation was brought to life. Hiller met with the cartoonist at this year's Toronto Comics Arts Festival to show him the photos, which Warren obviously dug.

Empowered volume 7 comes out later this month, and you'll be hearing more about it soon on ComicsAlliance. For more of our coverage of the series, click here.

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'Dark Horse Presents' #12: Motter and Rude Make for an Ideal Anthology [Exclusive Art]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-23T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Dark Horse, Indie, Previews, Art, Opinion

On sale today, Dark Horse Presents #12 may be the most impressive yet of Dark Horse Comics' already prestigious anthology series. The new issue is an almost ridiculous who's who of my favorite comics creators and characters including: Mike Baron & Steve Rude (new Nexus!), Dean Motter (new Mister X!), John Layman and Sam Kieth (new Aliens!), plus prose by Harlan Ellison illustrated by Richard Corben and continuing work by Carla Speed McNeil, Francesco Francavilla Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer, John Arcudi & Richard Case, Steve Niles & Christopher Mitten, Tim Seeley & Victor Drujiniu, and Mike Russell.

With such an auspicious lineup, we reached out to Dark Horse Publisher Mike Richardson, who shared some remarks about why this specific issue is something of an ideal model for DHP, as well as some exclusive behind-the-scenes art by the great Dean Motter and Steve Rude.

Click to enlarge (Nexus variant cover via CBR)

The comic book art I tend to enjoy most is that which aspires to create a world entirely different from the one in which I sit reading, and there are few creators who can do so as thoroughly as writer/designer/illustrator Dean Motter. Working with artists like Paul Rivoche, Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Seth, and Michael Lark, Motter's Mister X, Terminal City and Electropolis (all in print from Dark Horse) comprise American comics' best and most beautiful vision of what Motter likes to call the "antique futurism" aesthetic. Motter's work draws from expressionism, film noir, Art Deco and cyberpunk (and whimsical wordplay, it has to be said) to realize a world that we seem to remember despite its never having existed. The Mister X story in DHP #12 serves as a keen introduction to Motter's immersive dystopia of Radiant City aka Somnopolis, a place whose very architecture -- or psychetecture -- drives its inhabitants insane. In this story, Mister X, one of the designers of this cursed place, goes on a quest that's tied to Radiant's dark, narcotics-fueled origins.

Click to enlarge

Elsewhere in Dark Horse Presents #12 is a new installment of Nexus, the long-running sci-fi serial by Mike Baron and Steve Rude. Like Motter's Mister X story, this Nexus piece serves as a convenient introduction to the similarly in-depth world of Ylum, a lunar refuge for immigrants and refugees from different worlds. Baron uses the melting pot of Ylum to explore themes of politics, theology and morality, while Rude -- one of the greatest living comic book artists, in my estimation -- creates distinct alien species, fantastic and delicately detailed stellar locales, and dynamic superhero action (there are also often some quite sexy intimate moments). In this story, Ylum is rocked by riots stemming from social inequality among its diverse population while its protector, Nexus, investigates a mystery in space.

Click to enlarge

Since reading Batman: The Black Mirror, I've become a massive fan of the pulp stylings of Francesco Francavilla, who indulges himself to the fullest in the splendid Black Beetle 1940s crime/vigilante serial that continues in DHP #12. And obviously The Maxx creator Sam Kieth is a stylistic master in his own right, so to see him work with H.R. Giger's enduringly terrifying/gross/beautiful/rad Alien creature is a treat. Like Rude and Motter, Francavilla and Kieth create aesthetically specific worlds for their readers to fall into, and those kinds of stories (see Prophet by Brandon Graham, Simon Roy, et al) are what excite me the most about comic books right now.

Click to enlarge

These quirky, undiluted excursions into the minds of uniquely talented creators is the true joy of reading anthologies, which for me have always been the kind of comics you read last from the pile; the ones that seem a little daunting compared to the comfort and familiarity of the latest issues from whatever ongoing series or creator you've been following for years; the ones that seem like it's only proper to read them in the middle of the night, or when you're home sick from school, whatever scenario that allows you to get lost in some storytellers' peculiar dreams. The new series of Dark Horse Presents has demonstrated that quality with every issue, hosting an eclectic mix of veteran creators and new talent alike, with content ranging from brand new short stories and idiosyncratic serials to the return of cult favorite characters and properties. Many of those creators and concepts can trace their roots back to the 1980s indie comics explosion that gave birth to the original DHP in the first place, and Publisher Mike Richardson told me via email that blend of pure indie comicbookery and pop culture care-taking that was integral to the book's early success remains the strategy today.

"Dark Horse Presents reflects the ideals on which the company was founded: Artists and writers controlling the work they create while reminding readers that a wide variety of content exists 'out there,'" Richardson told ComicsAlliance. "In the 'early days,' our approach to licensed material (more specifically, movie-based titles) was also unusual. We decided to actually create sequels that fans wanted to read. Sounds simple, but rarely accomplished back in the day. Not that we didn't put out great books, but I feel we essentially lost our compass for a time after we cancelled the original run of DHP, and that the relaunch has been a sort of renewal. The book offers a monthly glimpse at the heart of our company, a joint effort here that reflects the types of projects we love... a variety of content combining some of comics' most exciting creators as well as our favorite licensed properties. The book is a great place for creators to try out their own ideas and at the same time allows us to showcase some of our own characters. Issue #12 actually has a bit of everything I've mentioned. Philosophically, this puts us right back where we started -- which is right where we should be."

Dark Horse Presents #12 is on sale now in finer comics shops and digitally via Dark Horse Digital.

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Rise of the New 'The Dark Knight Rises' Character Portrait Posters

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-22T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: DC, Movies, News

Following yesterday's release of the first theatrical poster for The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. has transmitted a new series of teasers for the much anticipated film directed by Christopher Nolan. The new posters depict each of the principals -- Batman, Catwoman and Bane -- in portraits set against the falling debris and sleet. Unlike the poster released yesterday (which was not happily received by some ComicsAlliance readers), these new images are in keeping with the color scheme and other motifs established in the initial posters and trailers.

U.S. posters

U.K. posters

Based on the DC Comics characters originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Dough Moench, Graham Nolan and Chuck Dixon, among others, The Dark Knight Rises concludes director Nolan's much beloved (by us) Batman cycle in what promises to be truly epic fashion. The film opens July 20 in the U.S.

[Via Badass Digest]

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Parting Shot: New 'The Dark Knight Rises' Movie Poster

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-21T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: DC, Movies, News, Parting Shot

Following two characteristically chilling teaser images, Warner Bros. has released the first theatrical poster for The Dark Knight Rises, the new Christopher Nolan film based on the Batman character originally created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The poster maintains the series' tradition of displaying the Batman symbol in violently whimsical ways, and you can see exactly how in the high-resolution image below

Click to enlarge

If the past is any indication, we can expect to see a myriad of attractive poster designs as The Dark Knight Rises' July 20 release date draws nearer.

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'Sin City: A Dame To Kill For' Release Date Confirmed With New Movie Poster

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-18T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Dark Horse, Movies, Indie, News

Seven years after the release of the first film based on the popular and award-winning Dark Horse graphic novel series by Frank Miller, we now have an official release date for the long-awaited sequel. Sin City: A Dame To Kill For will open on October 4, 2013, as confirmed by a new teaser poster. Co-directed once again by Miller and Robert Rodriguez, the movie will adapt not just the titular story but also, in the fashion of the first film, other disparate yet interconnected tales from the comics as well as a brand new Sin City "yarn." Auspiciously, the screenplay is co-written by William Monohan, an Academy Award winner for his work on The Departed.

Click on to see the new Sin City teaser poster.

SPOILER WARNING: The following contains spoilers for A Dame To Kill For.

Originally serialized from 1993-1994 and now available as a complete graphic novel, A Dame To Kill For remains one of the grimmest and bloodiest tales of the Sin City canon. The story stars antihero Dwight but takes place before the events depicted in the first film, in which the character was played by Clive Owen. The eponymous "dame" is Ava, an old flame who's now married to a depraved millionaire. Ava begs Dwight to take her back, and when he sees her menaced by her husband's brutish bodyguard, Dwight's compelled to rescue her. Hooking up with the invincible Marv (Mickey Rourke in the first film), Dwight raids the luxurious home of Ava's cruel husband, confronts him and kills him.

Sadly, it turns out that the whole thing was a setup orchestrated by Ava to drive her foolish ex Dwight into killing her gross husband so she could inherit his fortune.

Wah, wah, waaaaaah

Ava proceeds to shoot Dwight a few million times, including once in the head, and leaves him a bloody mess in the street before telling the cops that he's a crazy jealous murderer who dispatched her beloved husband in cold blood. Also she sleeps with one of the cops. Dwight's nursed back to health by his other ex, the dominatrix Gail (played by Rosario Dawson in the first film), whose army of "Old Town girls" includes plastic surgeons who provide Dwight with a new face. After he's recovered, Dwight teams up with Old Town's resident ninja protector Miho (played by Devon Aoki in the first film) to revenge himself upon Ava.

Rodriguez has confirmed that Mickey Rourke and Rosario Dawson will return for the A Dame To Kill For film, as will Jessica Alba, who played stripper Nancy Callahan in the original movie. The status of the remaining cast is presently unknown, but it was once Rodriguez's wish to cast Angelina Jolie in the role of Miller's ultimate femme fatale Ava, which, it has to be said, would be excellent.

Released in 2005, Sin City is among the most faithful film adaptations of a comic book we've yet seen, with virtually every panel of its source material recreated on screen while maintaining Miller's idiosyncratic visual style via a mixture of photography and computer-aided special effects. Reportedly, copies of Miller's comic books were employed on set instead of formal screenplays. Although Sin City is not without its flaws and is considered by some to be a cautionary tale against being too reverential of comic book source material, the film was a critical and financial hit upon release, grossing nearly $160 million worldwide.

[Via Spinoff Online]

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Best Art Ever (This Week) - 05.17.12

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-18T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Art, Culture

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great images on sites like like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we've created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it's new, some of it's old, some of it's created by working professionals, some of it's created by future stars, some of it's created by talented fans, and some of it's endearingly silly. 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 or to request that your work be removed.

Tribute to Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch by Phil Noto

Suicide Squad by Cal Slayton

Ren and Stimpy by Nick De Spain

Art by Cameron Stewart

Art by JH Kim

Batgirl and Supergirl by Ryan Roman

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Jack Kirby

Tribute to Dark Shadows' Jonathan Frid by Francesco Francavilla

Iggy Pop by Vlad Rodriguez

Snoop Dogg by Nicholas Ivins

"Branded Woman" by Glen Orbik

Nausiccaä of the Valley of the Wind by Zack Soto

Warren Ellis Station Identification by Harper Jaten

"Monsters & Dames" art by Tom Fowler

Silver Surfer vs. The Thing by Michael Cho

Art by Killian Eng

Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman by Nik Ukleja

Cool Goodyear advertisement from the 1940s by unknown

Wonder Woman by Cliff Chiang from the collection of Sue from DC Women Kicking Ass

Adventure Time by Matthew Woodson

Blues Brothers by Anthony Marques

Delirium of the Endless by Dustin Nguyen

Batman by Bruce Timm

Art by Lundi

Batman and Hellboy by Matt Cauley

Hellraiser by Mike Mignola

Star Trek: The Next Generation by Scott Kowalchuk

"The Underdog" by Pascal Campion

Batman by Paolo Rivera from the collection of Justin Leiter

Harley Quinn by Jesse Stasiuk

Batgirl by Julian Totino Tedesco

"Flower Sounds" by Andrew Lyons

G.I. Joe's Lady Jaye by Blain Hefner

Daredevil by Michael Cho

Superman and Batman vs. Darkseid by Dan McDaid

Captain Harlock's Kei Yuki by Leiji Matsumoto

The Thing by Moebius

Captaiin Marvel by Hanie Mohd

Tribute to Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch by Steve Howard for The Line It Is Drawn

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Parting Shot: Mike Allred To Draw 'Daredevil' #17 In August

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-16T17:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Marvel, News, Art

As strongly hinted by a faux fan letter published in last month's issue of Daredevil, the mighty Michael Allred will be drawing a one-off issue of the Mark Waid-written Marvel Comics series that ComicsAlliance named one of the best of last year. Speaking with USA Today, the Madman cartoonist said, "Daredevil is one of the first comic-book icons I was ever exposed to. I clearly remember hanging upside down on the monkey bars at recess and reading a Daredevil paperback." It's difficult to imagine a more Allred-esque image than that, and it's obvious that fans of the artist's bright, high-energy pop-art style will enjoy his work with the superhero originally created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett, and whose current series has seen similarly excellent work from artists including Marcos Martin, Paolo Rivera and Chris Samnee.

Allred's artwork will appear in August's Daredevil #17. For more great Mike Allred comics, be sure to catch up on his and writer Chris Roberson's iZombie paperbacks in time for the Vertigo series' conclusion in August, and if you didn't know, Red Rocket 7 is one of the coolest comics ever and is available in a collected edition from Image Comics.

Click on to see Allred's full-size Daredevil illustration.

Click to enlarge

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'Fatima: The Blood Spinners': Gilbert Hernandez's Beautiful & Violent Zombie Sci-Fi [Exclusive Preview]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-11T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Dark Horse, Indie, Previews

Following up on his and brother Mario's sexy future-noir graphic novel Citizen Rex, Gilbert Hernández is back with his latest vision of the dark days ahead: Fatima: The Blood Spinners. The four-issue miniseries stars a beautiful and deadly woman who finds herself increasingly isolated in a future where a zombie outbreak was caused not by a plague or supernatural event, but by choice.

Fatima #1 doesn't go on sale until June 20, but publisher Dark Horse Comics showed us some stunning, action-packed pages from this latest work by the legendary Love & Rockets co-creator, and we thought you'd want to check them out right away.In the world of Fatima: The Blood Spinners, a drug called "Spin" offers users the best possible experience in the history of narcotics. It is simply beyond anything we can imagine, which is why it's worth it, for a lot of people, to die and quickly return as a flesh-eating zombie. You see, that's how you come down from Spin. Abuse is rampant and the world's population dwindling accordingly. Fatima's job is to clean up the mess while the world waits for a cure, which seems to have taken a psychic toll on the grim heroine.

There will likely be more to see in the weeks leading up to release (it's always nice to tell your local comics store to order you a copy, by the way), but for now check out these gorgeous Gilbert Hernández pages from Fatima: The Blood Spinners #1.

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Disaster Expert: Fictional 'Avengers' Mayhem More Expensive than Real-Life Tragedies

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-11T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Marvel, Movies, News

In one of the more unique bits of film coverage we've seen, The Hollywood Reporter commissioned Kinetic Analysis Corp., a disaster-cost prediction and assessment firm, to analyze Joss Whedon's The Avengers film and estimate what financial damages would result from the climactic action set in midtown Manhattan. Kinetic's conclusions, which are presented with the company's tongue planted firmly in its cheek, put the dollar count of the devastation at over $160 billion, which is far in excess of the combined amounts to repair damages caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami that struck Japan last year.In the completely fake but amusingly thorough and straight-faced report prepared by Kinetic, researchers Chuck Watson and Sara Jupin were able to study and predict the physical and financial particulars of the Chitauri attack on Manhattan by applying techniques developed for use in instances of nuclear destruction as well as other fictional assaults upon another Earth city.

"Using computer models created by KAC R&D for estimating nuclear weapons effects, as well as techniques developed for use in predicting damage in Japan from attacks by Godzilla, Mothra, and particularly Mechagodzilla, the damages and losses resulting from this weekend's invasion by the Chitauri have been estimated."

The costs of the Chitauri invasion of New York are approximately $60-70 billion in physical damage and another $90 billion in estimated losses of services, businesses and overall cleanup. For a comparison, Kinetic's report said the financial costs of the 9/11 attacks came to $83 billion, the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami came to $122 Billion, and Hurricane Katrina came to over $90 Billion.

Kinetic's report also explores how the Chitauri incident would be classified for insurance purposes: "Most insurance policies have special provisions for acts of war, civil unrest, or terrorism. Given the involvement of individuals considered deities in some cultures (Thor, Loki), there is even the potential to classify the event as an 'Act of God,' although that designation would be subject to strenuous theological and legal debate."

THR's feature and Kinetic's report are obviously meant to be bits of fun but they also demonstrate, I think, the desensitization phenomenon we hear so much about with respect to film violence. Like a lot of people I loved the third act of Avengers but I don't think the stakes -- both as defined by dollars and by loss of life -- occurred to me even once. I've spoken with viewers who are disappointed by the relative bloodlessness of the Joss Whedon film, which is in keeping with the light-hearted, not-quite-cartoony style of the Marvel Studios canon in general. But other viewers are turned off by the simulated reality and overwhelming sense of death and mayhem that pervades Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, so of course your mileage may vary on how you perceive and contemplate things like the recurring destruction of American cities in film (and the appropriateness of imagining the financial costs of such things against real-life tragedies, as the THR comment thread indicates). In any case, that a humor piece has provoked this brief reflection strikes me as a good thing.

If you like this stuff, be sure to read the full Kinetic report by downloading this PDF, which goes into liability issues including whether a bill for the Chitauri invasion will be delivered to Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.

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Best Art Ever (This Week) - 05.11.12

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-11T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Art, Culture

Batman vs. Guy Gardner by Kevin Maguire

Game of Thrones by Roberto Flores

The Spirit by Will Eisner

Phil Coulson by Megan

Jonah Hex starring John Wayne by Chris McDonald

RanXerox by Tanino Liberatore

Tori Amos by Dustin Nguyen

Batman by Jim Lee and Travis Charest

Sin City by Frank Candiloro

The Virgile by Laurent Durieux

Art by Virgil Finlay

Moth City by Tim Gibson

Batman by Midnightride

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots/Muhammed Ali/Sonny Liston mashup by Eric Joyner

James McAvoy as Professor X by Tran Nguyen

"The Demon Wolf" by Logan Faerber and Greg Ruth

The Wizard of Oz by Helen Huang

Star Wars by Paul Pope

Maurice Sendak tribute by Dan Hipp

The Question by Glenn Turner (our first photographic art?)

Uncanny X-Force by Matteo Scalera

Lovecraft by David Hartman

Spider-Man by Travis Charest

Huntress by Lily's Factory

Art by Eric Canete

Art by OneQ

Maurice Sendak tribute by Joe Hunter

Star Wars Millennium Falcon by Ryan Bodenheim (click the link)

Marvel Comics heroes by Michael Golden

Maurice Sendak tribute by Henry Bonsu

The Sandman by Andrew Mar

Black Bat Cassandra Cain by Phil Noto from the collection of Steve Pieper

"Unfadeable" by Jim Mahfood

Tank Girl by Stephanie Buscema

Where The Wild Things Are by Mike Maihack for Terrible Yellow Eyes

The Spirit by Chris Samnee for Comic Twart

The Shadow by Michael Kaluta

Lois Lane by Ramon Villalobos

Batman by Dan Davis

Silver Age Avengers and Justice League by Elena Casagrande

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Gillen & McKelvie's 'Phonogram: The Singles Club' Available Digitally

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-10T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Image, Indie, Previews, News, Digital Comics

In advance of the Image Comics series' much anticipated return later this year, Phonogram: The Singles Club has finally manifested on the mighty comiXology digital comic book service. The sequel to the Britpop-inspired, black-and-white indie opus Rue Britannia, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's full-colo(u)r Singles Club delved further into the series' urban fantasy premise that music is magic, wielded by mostly beautiful young people called phonomancers who live among us in their own kooky sects and cults. A slogan for the last series was "last night this DJ ruined your life," and in Phonogram, that can actually happen.

The first issue of The Singles Club is available now as a free download, and if you read on I'll show you why I really dig it and maybe why you'll dig it too.Launched in 2006, the first series, Rue Britannia, was inspired by British music and, in particular, the psychic fallout of a certain kind of British music. If you follow any of my extra-ComicsAlliance activity, you know I am very into that sort of stuff, both the music itself and the idea of music's influence on or reflection of our lives. That there is a comic book about music, or at least about this dimension of music, is an important thing to observe.

The Singles Club raised Gillen and McKelvie's artistic game with an emotionally affecting and technically marvelous story set during one night at a dance club, with each of seven chapters tracking the perspective of a different patron while maintaining strict temporal and visual continuity throughout. Vignettes include a young woman desperate to get the DJ to play her favorite song; a young man literally haunted by a past experience, triggered by every sound and sight within the club; and a beautiful witch struggling with her dual personality, something that plays into the forthcoming third album, Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl.

Here's a preview of Phonogram: The Singles Club #1:

Head over to comiXology to read the free first issue of Phonogram: The Singles Club, which includes bonus material by Gillen and Laurenn McCubbin and Marc Ellerby. As of this writing, issues #2-3 are also available for $1.99 each, with the remaining four to appear on the site shortly.

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Clark Gregg's Five Favorite Agent Coulson Scenes [Video]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-10T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Marvel, Movies, Video

Firstly, be assured the following video contains no spoilers for The Avengers. In fact, it contains no spoilers for any of the Marvel Studios films in which actor Clark Gregg appears as Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D., Secondly, that is because for some reason Next Movie only include about two seconds per scene. Which is a bummer, because Gregg's performances are often everyone's favorite parts of these films, but there's a lot of the guy just hanging out and being funny in this video and getting a glimpse at his experience making them, so check it out.

Get More:

For more from NextMovie: Trailers | Movies | DVD & Blu-Ray

You can see Gregg now in The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon and based on the superhero team first assembled by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the pages of Marvel Comics. The film has been embraced by superhero comics fans and critics, but some industry professionals like Golem's Mighty Swing cartoonist James Sturm have called for a boycott in protest of Marvel and its parent company Disney's treatment of the late Kirby and his heirs, who recently lost a court battle to reclaim rights to the lucrative characters. Mindful of the ethical conflict some people feel about the situation, cartoonist Jon Morris proposed an option whereby movie-goers can match the cost of their tickets with donations to The Hero Initiative, the not-for-profit group dedicated to assisting comics industry professionals in dire financial straits.

[Via Topless Robot]

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'Higher Earth': Sam Humphries' Sci-Fi Revenge Epic [Exclusive Preview]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-09T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Indie, Previews

On sale now from BOOM! Studios is Higher Earth #1, beginning a new ongoing series from writer Sam Humphries (Ultimate Comics Ultimates, Our Love Is Real) and artist Francesco Biagini (Elric: The Balance Lost). The story is set across multiple Earths whose citizens serve (whether they know it or not) at the pleasure of a Higher Earth that's conquered over a hundred of its alternates in different universes. The first issue introduces Rex and Heidi, who traverse this multiverse on a violent quest for revenge against an as yet unrevealed adversary. Below you will find a first look at seven pages from issue #1, along with a gallery of handsome variant covers by Joe Benitez, Phil Noto, Frazer Irving, David Aja, Stephanie Gonzaga, Michael Golden and Sanford Greene.Higher Earth opens with an Incal-invoking shot of the series' enigmatic hero, Rex, falling onto the surface of a planet of junk. It's just one world in the Higher Earth empire, dedicated entirely to refuse. There Rex picks up Heidi, who has no idea that there's anything more to existence than garbage falling out of the sky. Future issues promise to reveal more of the intricacies of the Higher Earth multiverse, but BOOM! is hyping this series as a true revenge thriller.

Here's your first read of the first seven pages of Higher Earth #1, followed by the many variant covers BOOM! has commissioned to draw attention to the ambitious new book.

Higher Earth #1 is on sale for $1.00 in U.S. comic book stores and digitally via comiXology.

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Bernie Wrightson Returns to 'Frankenstein' with Steve Niles in 'Alive, Alive!' [Preview]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-08T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Indie, Previews, IDW

On sale this week from IDW Publishing is Frankenstein Alive, Alive! #1, which sees Bernie Wrightson return to the subject of one of his most enduring works, the illustrated edition of Mary Shlley's Frankenstein which was originally released all the way back in 1983. While that project was a presentation of Shelley's legendary prose alongside Wrightson's gorgeous artwork, this miniseries sees the Swamp Thing co-creator team with writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) to produce an actual comic book sequel that imagines what became of the monster after he was last seen in the classic gothic tale.

Needless to say, Wrightson's skills are as pronounced today as they were in the early 1980s, and you can preview some of his excellent images below (which were scanned in color from the artist's pages, showcasing Wrightson's unmatched brushwork).

Frankenstein Alive, Alive! imagines what might have become of the doomed monster after he was last seen in the pages of Shelley's original novel. In keeping with the style of the source material, Niles sets the monster on an existential quest across creation, providing Wrightson with opportunities to illustrate the character in beautifully dark locales like carnival freak shows, icy waters and desolate, volcanic wastelands. Niles does a good job of emulating the grim tone of Shelley's prose with the creature's tortured monologues, and creates an adversary for the monster in the form of Frankenstein himself, who haunts his horrible creation from beyond the grave.

However, the book is not without some humor, as you can see in the preview images below.

Frankenstein Alive, Alive! #1 goes on sale this week in finer comics stores and digitally from comiXology. Wrightson's original work, the illustrated edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, is available in hardcover from Dark Horse.

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'Daredevil' Artist Paolo Rivera's 'Wacky Reference Wednesdays' [Art]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-08T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Marvel, Art

A multiple Eisner Award nominee for his superlative work on Marvel Comics' Daredevil, Paolo Rivera is one of mainstream comics' most compelling artists. His stuff is incredibly stylish, fun and classy, anchored with a technical proficiency and clever design sense that sets his images apart from everything else on the stands. Indeed, Rivera's covers are routinely impressive, like that of Daredevil #12, a striking illustration of a disrobing woman as seen via the blind Matt Murdock's "radar sense." It's a balance of sexy, sophisticated and superhero that's rarely achieved on a comic book cover, and I was surprised to learn that Rivera used himself as reference. As it turns out, he does this all the time.

For Daredevil #12, Rivera intended the woman's shirt to be white, but a computer coloring mistake changed it to flat black. "It was a happy accident," he wrote. The artist also pointed out that even though he used himself as a model, he remembered to make the buttons on the left side, something many illustrators overlook when drawing women's blouses.

Rivera has been cataloguing such photographic examples on his blog in a weekly feature called Wacky Reference Wednesdays. Apparently he's been doing this for over 170 weeks, which is distressing to me because I only just found out about this but it's also good news because I now have a lot of fun reading to do. Here's the tag for all of Rivera's process posts, which are must-reads for fans of great illustration.

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Jim Lee's Massive 'DC Comics: The New 52' Gatefold Cover for Free Comic Book Day [Art]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-04T15:30:00+00:00

Filed under: DC, Art

Tomorrow (May 5) is Free Comic Book Day, where participating publishers and comics retailers offer a selection of specially produced free comic books to reward loyal customers and entice new readers. DC Comics will be represented with a number of free titles including DC Comics - The New 52 FCBD Edition, representing the publisher's popular superhero line. The book will include a new story by Justice League writer Geoff Johns and artwork by Ivan Reis, Gene Ha, Kenneth Rocafort and of course DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee, who provides five interior pages and a typically action-packed cover that folds out to four pages of art.

DC Comics hooked us up with an early look at Lee's gatefold cover, which you can check out in high resolution below.

Click to enlarge

As you can see, Lee observed the beloved DCU tradition of liberating superheroes from their arms. Additional credits were not provided, but we presume the inks and colors come courtesy of Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair, respectively.

In addition to the new story by Lee and Geoff Johns, the FCBD book also comes with first-look material from the "second wave" of New 52 titles including Batman Incorporated, Dial H, Earth 2, G.I. Combat, The Ravagers and Worlds' Finest.

Also available from DC tomorrow is a free preview of Vertigo's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo comics adaptation and an all-ages offering called Super Sampler, containing preview material from DC's Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Young Justice and Superman Family Adventures comic books.

For more on Free Comic Book Day, visit the event's official website and don't forget to check out ComicsAlliance's guide to the FCBD releases.

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Best Art Ever (This Week) - 05.04.12

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-04T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Art, Culture

Runaways by Russell Dauterman

Superman and Lois Lane by Frank Quitely

Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke

Wonder Woman by Bruce Timm

"Network System" by James Paick

Phantom Breaker's Candy by Dzoan Ho

Wolverine by John Romita, Jr.

Art by Killian Eng

"The Exchange of Flowers" by begemott

"Stargazing Turtle" by Pedro Peirano

Spider-Man by Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr.

The Thirteenth Doctor by Paul Sizer

Armor and Pixie by Nina Tooley

Spawn vs. Violator by Greg Capullo

Art by Johan Thörnqvist

Shaolin Cowboy by Geof Darrow

Superman, Captain America and Nick Fury vs. Stormtroopers by Darick Robertson

Twin Peaks by Scott C.

Doom Patrol by Richard Case and Tom McCraw

Avatar: The Last Airbender/Star Wars mashup by Dave Filoni

Art by Buster Moody

Queens of the Stone Age gig poster by Craig Phillips

Death Jester by Dark134

"Hackney Rooftop Sunrise" by Jamie McKelvie

Art by Moebius

Brave's Princess Merida by Samantha Kallis

Batman by JJ Harrison

Bubblegum Crisis' Vision by Adam Warren

"Udaipur Palace" by Yoshida Hiroshi

Batgirl by Maris Wicks

Harley Quinn by Admira Wijaya

Sandor and Joffrey from Game of Thrones by Phobs

Storm by Lynne Yoshii

"Deconstructing" by Asaf Hanuka

Flex Mentallo by Frank Quitely and Peter Doherty

True Romance by Massimo Carnevale

Art by Killian Eng

Art by James Jean

Art by Fyodor Pavlov

Art by Guillaume Ospital

"Rock N Roll" by Manuel Robollo

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Disney Debuts Stunning New Trailer for 'TRON: Uprising' Animated Series [Video]

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-03T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Television, Video, Animation

Disney XD has released a new trailer for its newest animated series, TRON: Uprising. Featuring character design work by Robert Valley, storyboards by Eric Canete, and music by Daft Punk collaborator Joseph Trapanese, the new cartoon would seem to live up to the stunning visual and aural standard set by TRON: Legacy. You can see and hear for yourself in the video below.

TRON: Uprising features story work by Legacy screenwriters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and is set between that sequel and the original TRON. In this cartoon, Tron trains a successor, a young program called Beck, to take his place in defending the The Grid from Clu 2, the villainous program who betrayed The Grid's human creator, Kevin Flynn.

I think it is fair to say this material looks amazing, and is far beyond what many of us expected when word first came of a weekly TRON animated series. While both live-action films are superlative in their own rights, both have definitely left something to be desired with respect to the story of The Grid itself. There's a lot of potential in creator Steven Lisberger's computer world there that remains untapped, and Disney would seem to agree, having staffed up TRON: Uprising with some auspicious talents indeed. The series features not just the work of Lost and Once Upon a Time writers Horowitz and Kitsis, brilliant iillustrators like Canete and Valley (who channel some of the much missed ferocity of Æon Flux), and music by the immensely talented Trapanese (seriously, his work with Daft Punk on the Legacy score is excellent), but also an impressive voice cast including Elijah Wood, Lance Henrikson, Paul Reubens and the original Tron himself, Bruce Boxleitner.

TRON: Uprising debuts June 7 on the Disney XD network.

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Stan Lee on Michael Jackson's Desire to Buy Marvel and Play Spider-Man

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-03T12:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Marvel, Movies, Video, News, Culture

Marvel's Chairman Emeritus Stan Lee has been making the promotional rounds in support of the company's latest motion picture, The Avengers, based on the classic superheroes he created with Jack Kirby. By this point in his life, the 89-year-old publishing icon has seen a lot of Marvel movies come and go (and has appeared in at least 15 of them), and with that experience comes a lot of great stories. Among them, that time that noted comic book fan Michael Jackson was so keen to play Spider-Man that he attempted to buy Marvel just to make it happen.Lee was asked about the Michael Jackson experience in an interview with Eric Larnick for our sister site Moviefone:

Moviefone: The most interesting bit of almost-casting that I've ever heard came from a Producers Guild conference last summer: the "X-Men" producers revealed that Michael Jackson seriously lobbied for the part of Professor X.

Stan Lee: I wasn't aware that Michael Jackson wanted to be Professor X. I knew Michael Jackson. And with the things he discussed with me, I felt he wanted to be Spider-Man. That was the character that interested him. He never discussed the X-Men with me.

MF: How do you think he would have fared as Spider-Man?

SL: I think he'd have been good. I think he'd have been very good. But I must say that Tobey Maguire was wonderful.

MF: I'm fascinated by the fact that Jackson worked with Stan Lee Media and attempted to buy Marvel, in the 90s.

SL: Yes, he wanted to. He felt that would be the only way that he could play Spider-Man. [Laughs]

MF: What do you think the company would have looked like now if that partnership came to fruition?

SL: I can't imagine it would have been totally different of course, but maybe not as successful. Michael was not a great businessman.

For more on Stan Lee, including his favorite Marvel film cameos, click over to Moviefone for the full interview. For a little more on the Michael Jackson anecdote, check out this 2009 video from the Associated Press:

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MorrisonCon Confirms Special Guests, Prices, and Programming

Andy Khouri — 2012-05-01T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Conventions, News, Culture

First announced back in January, MorrisonCon seems to be a stylish and forward-thinking antidote to the chaos and commercialism of the traditional comic book trade show. Curated by Grant Morrison and the Ignition Sequence (a collaboration of Isotope proprietors James Sime & Kirsten Baldock and iFanboy co-founder Ron Richards) and featuring no showroom floor, no merchandise dealers, and no lines, MorrisonCon will be held in Las Vegas this September and feature event programming based around Morrison and just nine hand-picked guests: Jonathan Hickman, Gerard Way, Frank Quitely, JH Williams III and Chris Burnham, with four more yet to be announced. Admission will be limited to only around 1,000, and take the form of all-inclusive packages that cover lodging at the Hard Rock Hotel, attendance to parties and symposia, and con-exclusive gifts. Existing comics conventions, even the more manageable and extremely fun ones like Emerald City Comicon and Stumptown Comics Fest, are generally based around the same basic concept of a showroom floor where various retailers, cartoonists and other creators can sell their wares, publishers can host signings and other events, and where fans can attend panel discussions generally designed to promote upcoming products. MorrisonCon is more in the model of a TED Talk or something similarly symposium-based, but seemingly with the rock n' roll attitude of something like the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival. There will also be an art gallery.

MorrisonCon prices reflect the VIP approach. A pre-sale period begins May 9, with $699 for a single package (or Singularity, in MorrisonCon parlance) or $1,099 for a double (Polarity) package. Both package prices will increase by $100 after June 15, when the pre-sale period ends. Packages will be sold on a first come, first serve basis, and the costs include lodging at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel, which will also host nightclub parties which will be DJ'd by Morrison and other guests.

While some of the special guests have now been announced, specific programming information is still forthcoming. In an interview with Kiel Phegley at Comic Book Resources, Richards and Sime hinted at the flavor of MorrisonCon's events:

Sime: When we first talked to Grant about this, I was sitting at a table in a restaurant with him and his wife Kristan, and I said, "Grant, what I envision is you and Jonathan Hickman sitting in a room together doing a panel called 'Splitting The Atom.'" I was just throwing ideas out, and you should have seen Grant's eyes light up with the magic sparkle of Grant Morrison-ism. It was a beautiful thing. So the creators are people that Grant and we have worked to combine ideas on in terms of who it would be excited to have along.

...

Richards: For example, we know Sundays at shows can be kind of burnt out, so on Sunday we'll have "Chris Burnham's Sunday Hangover Breakfast and Sketch Jam." We'll have a breakfast for all attendees, and Chris will be on stage doing some sketching that's projected on a screen. He'll be taking requests from the audience and talking about his process.

Perhaps most auspiciously, Ignition Sequence hope to host an event that will require no waiting in lines.

You can learn more about MorrisonCon and the venue by visiting the event's official website.

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