Doll Man Follies

I'm really not too sure I want to know what was going through the minds of the artists as they composed these covers...

FEATURE COMICS 34 (July 1940) No. Words.	FEATURE COMICS 91 (September 1945) The guy Doll Man has pinned looks like he's afraid of what DM's planning next...
DOLL MAN 21 (March 1949) "solves the problem of the Poison Pistol..." Does DM just assume that the guy in the "active" position has a communicable disease?	DOLL MAN 26 (January 1950) Aside from the whole bong thing, we get DM blowing, and the big guy getting splatted in the face. I'm just sayin...

Latest Views and News from the Comics Blogosphere

If you like to check out what all the comics-bloggers are saying but don't want to have to visit each site to find the stuff you want to read about: Check out Comic-Feed.net. It feeds the latest blog headlines from comics-related blogs and you can click over to read the articles that interest you.

I've also put up a permanent link to Comic-Feed.net just under the Blog Archive listing on the right.

What's Dick good for?

Well, as Robin the Boy Wonder...Dick Grayson doesn't seem to be good for much more than getting tied up and rescued.

DETECTIVE COMICS 45 NOVEMBER 1940	DETECTIVE COMICS 51 MAY 1941
DETECTIVE COMICS 66 AUGUST 1942	DETECTIVE COMICS 93 NOVEMBER 1944

Wonder Woman Wardrobe War Winners Announced - UPDATED

Well, Project: Rooftop has posted the winning entries to the Wonder Woman Wardrobe War contest. And one of them wasn't mine. Sob, boo hoo.
LOL!
Nah, I wasn't expecting to be there. And when you look at the quality of what did win...it's no "wonder!" (Get it?)
Anyway, go check 'em out. They're hot!!!!

UPDATED:

OH AND...!
Head over to the Zeus Comics website (they provided the prizes for the winners)! They've posted the entries that didn't make the top echelon. There is some great work there. I can't imagine how hard it was to pick just a few winners!! Mine's there and it's very happy to be!!

DC Universe Previews for November 28 2007 - UPDATED

Newsarama has previews for TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10, UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #3, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13, GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18, DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3, (UPDATED) BATMAN #671, BATMAN and the OUTSIDERS #2, GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #2 and:

TEEN TITANS #53

Written by Sean McKeever
Art by Eddy Barrows & Rob Hunter

I'm loving the final spread of that preview. Great group of characters. I'm guessing that Vulcan and Hawk didn't die in the TITANS EAST SPECIAL after all. Probably the most interesting "new" character is Huntress. Very interesting...

DC Universe - November 28 2007

Here's a list of DC Universe-related titles expected to come out this Wednesday, according to the Diamond Previews website.

52 AFTERMATH: THE FOUR HORSEMEN #4 (of 6)
ALL-STAR BATMAN and ROBIN the BOY WONDER #8
AUTHORITY: PRIME #2 (of 6)
BATMAN #671
BATMAN and the OUTSIDERS #2
BATMAN: RULES OF ENGAGEMENT HC
BLUE BEETLE #21
COUNTDOWN: LORD HAVOK and the EXTREMISTS #2 (of 6)
COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #4 (of 8)
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 22
CRIME BIBLE: THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #2 (of 5)
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3 (of 8)
DEATHBLOW #8
GEN13: ARMAGEDDON #1
GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #2 (of 9)
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18
HAWKGIRL: HAWKMAN RETURNS TP
JLA CLASSIFIED #47
JSA CLASSIFIED #32
MIDNIGHTER Vol. 1: KILLING MACHINE TP
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERGIRL Vol. 1
SUPERGIRL and the LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #36
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #43
TEEN TITANS #53
TEEN TITANS GO! #49
TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10 (of 12)
UNCLE SAM and the FREEDOM FIGHTERS #3 (of 8)

Snoring now.

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #23

Written by Paul Dini with Keith Giffen, Story Consultant
Art by Tom Derenick & Wayne Faucher
Cover by J.G. Jones

Well, about the nicest thing that can be said about this issue is that it's presented with a beautiful J.G. Jones cover.
Otherwise, ugh. I felt like I was reading an issue of COUNTDOWN PRESENTS THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER. Issue after issue of that series is like a waste of time because absolutely nothing happens to advance the story. And this fits right in with those.
Three issues ago (COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #26), we had basically an all-recap issue. But nothing about it felt stagnant. It still moved along, and even partially forward.
In this one we got nothing except an extended Mxyzptlk-tortured-by-Superman-Prime scene, that ultimately led to...nothing.
And why do they keep introducing potentially interesting characters, like Jokester and Annataz Arataz, just to kill them off? While forcing us to endure Forerunner?
About the only good thing about this issue (and I'm being subjective), is that it sort of helps save Tom Derenick's art from last issue. The writers actually told us that Superman-Prime is 19 years old. He looks 30. And the last issue made no sense, because why was he suddenly so big and bulky. And old. But what Tom couldn't show us, the writers told us. So there is that.

And I'm wondering how the battle between Sodom Yat and Superbrat-Prime turns out in this coming week's GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18, which obviously takes place, oh yeah, before this...

Patrolling Random Packages

EARTH-MAN

from ACTION COMICS #859
art by Gary Frank & Jon Sibal

Hmmm.
Why do I get the feeling that Earth-Man's "abilities" aren't restricted to mere "super-power absorption and duplication?"

FLASH

from FLASH #234
art by Freddie E Williams II

You just know that if Wally hadn't cut off Iris' thought, we would've found out that she'd broken the fourth wall and was gonna say: "Dad. Ummm, there are some weirdos out there looking at us. And they're staring at your stuff."

CYBORG

from TITANS EAST SPECIAL #1
art by Ian Churchill & Norm Rapund

JASON TODD

from COUNTDOWN #30
art by Ian Churchill & Norm Rapund

I'm not the biggest fan of Ian Churchill. He's not bad in a Rob Liefeld sort of way, but he just doesn't excite me. However, it can definitely be said that Mr. Churchill is not afraid of the package.

Meanwhile...

Thanksgiving is over, and I was kinda over the theme. So I'm putting this up for a week until it's time for the Christmas Holiday theme...

Thanksgiving Comics - Untimely end...

When the Thanksgiving theme started with this...you had to know it wasn't going to end well.

Look at the happy family gathering from JSA #54 (JANUARY 2004). All settled down for a sweet little Thanksgiving dinner.

Yeah right. We already know how these people are!!
For the first time ever, here's the unedited cover that DC didn't want you to see!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Teen Titans: Year One Preview

Newsarama has an interview with TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE writer Amy Wolfram, with some preview pics from the first issue. Click to read the article. Here's the pics:

TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE #1

Written by Amy Wolfram
Art by Karl Kerschl & Serge Lapointe
Cover by Kerschl
On sale January 2 • 1 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Thanksgiving with the Grundys

There's so much wrong with this picture, that it's one of my favorite Thanksgiving images...

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN #2
(NOVEMBER 1996)

DC Universe - November 21 2007

Here's a list of DC Universe-related titles expected to come out this Wednesday, according to the Diamond Previews website.
Click on the highlighted titles to head over to Newsarama for previews (you'll have to scroll to see some of them). Except for the GASLIGHT preview, it has Donna, so I stole it! :P

52 Vol. 4 TP
ACTION COMICS #859
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #11
BATMAN: DEATH IN THE CITY TP
BIRDS OF PREY #112
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #8
CATWOMAN #73
CHECKMATE #20
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #23
COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #3 (of 8)
DETECTIVE COMICS #838
FLASH #234
JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS Vol. 3 HC
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES in the 31st CENTURY #8
METAMORPHO: YEAR ONE #4 (of 6)
SHADOWPACT #19
SUPERGIRL: IDENTITY TP
WORLD WAR III TP

COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT #1

Written by Brian Augustyn
Art by Greg Tocchini
Cover by Dustin Nguyen

My Project: Rooftop Wonder Woman Redesign

Here's my entry for the Project: Rooftop Wonder Woman Wardrobe War. It's not awesome. But I put time into it, so I'm sending it up! LOL!And unless anyone thinks I'm unaware of the lack of originality...it was designed that way. I was trying to pay homage to the history of the character and her creators:
The John Byrne/Hippolyta tiara, the Phil Jimenez/Donna Troy jumpsuit and choker, Mike Sekowsky pulled-back hair, H.G. Peter golden-age eagle, Terry Dodson "WW" belt, large George Perez-style bracelets, and baggie Adam Hughes boots.Anyway, I just did it for fun. Take it for what it is. :P

More Thanksgiving Comics

Don't mess with the turkey!!

ACE COMICS 33. DECEMBER 1939

FUNNY STUFF 29. JANUARY 1948

Panels of the Week - November 14 2007

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2

Written by Judd Winick
Art by Cliff Chiang

NIGHTWING #138

Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher

RE: Green Arrow/Black Canary #2 Preview

Okay, I forgot about "Athena" and her group heading over to the island in COUNTDOWN. So that explains the "Amazons" that kidnapped Ollie.

But that doesn't explain how Hippolyta is on the island "alone" (WONDER WOMAN #14) and unaware that it's inhabited (GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2)!

AHHH!

Green Arrow/Black Canary #2 Preview

Newsarama has this preview for GA/BC 2. I just had to snag it.

Naked Green Arrow! What's not to love!?

Of course, there is the question: If all the Amazons were "deactivated" at the end of AMAZONS ATTACK, and only Hippolyta is left... WTH is going on in this series?

Comics New Bites

• Gail Simone talks with Newsarama about her run on WONDER WOMAN (when the site works...)


• Amy Wolfram and Karl Kerschl discuss TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE with Comic Book Resources


• Chuck Dixon gives CBR the scoop on his BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS plans

Ch'p of Earth-616?

Alrighty...this Green Lantern Corps member appears in SUPERGIRL #23 from DC Comics. I'm not sure who he is.

At first I thought he was Ch'p. But Ch'p is dead.

He could be Ch'p's successor, Bd'g...but Bd'g is usually represented by a character that looks more like an actual squirrel than a cartoon character.

So while I'm uncertain as to who this character actually is...
I am certain of one thing:

He's also on the cover of Marvel Comics' ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - STAR-LORD #2:

Wonder Woman's Costume 101 - It's in the Details

I've always gotten angry when someone doesn't take the time to get Wonder Woman's costume right. I don't know why. It's not like she looks like someone else if an artist misses a detail. But they never do that with Superman or Batman.
And I'm not talking about doing a redesign. I mean, for example, when John Byrne restyled Diana's outfit, if she had made an appearance in another title and the artist there just decided to ignore what was current and do their own thing. I don't know if that happened then, but it's just an example.
Batman and Superman always look the same (barring artistic styling), but Wonder Woman is at the whim of whatever the artist wants to do. Jim Lee is the worst. Every time he draws Wonder Woman she's wearing a different outfit. And never the same one twice. Alex Ross blew it big time with the cover to JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12, he drew everyone in their current, modern, up-to-date outfits...well, everyone except for Wonder Woman. Go figure. She lucked out and got the tired, old standard Alex Ross-style look. I so would have bought that poster...

So what am I whining about? A couple days ago I said George Perez got it right in BRAVE AND THE BOLD #7.
I was wrong.
I guess I just wasn't paying attention. I was so happy that he got the eagle head and tail on the breastplate, that I guess I stopped looking.
Anyway, here's what he drew along with my adaptation of what he should've drawn:
If you don't see the differences, then you're probably just like everyone else.
It's time to take y'all to school. Class is in session.

WONDER WOMAN 101
Beginning near the end of 1982, Wonder Woman's eagle breastplate was replaced by one that looked like the one drawn by George Perez below on the left. Two W's stacked on one another with "branches" that extended from the sides. The "branches" were separated by third branch stuck inbetween. This is the way it remained until the end of INFINITE CRISIS and a redesign by Terry Dodson.
Terry Dodson's design (above, right) changed the placement of the third "branch." Now the branches of the two W's were next to each other, with the third placed below them. He also added an bird's head and tail to the W's to pay tribute to the eagle WW wore during the first 40 years of her existence. In BRAVE AND THE BOLD 7, George did get the eagle's head and tail, but he drew the two W's in a way that was familiar to himself, instead of the current, proper way.
Terry also gave Diana a double-W belt (overkill?). The W's actually form the belt. This is another mistake George made, he drew the belt as two W's with the belt extending from the sides of the W's. That one is a little nit-picky, and I'll go soft on it. But the breastplate should've been right, especially coming from a master of detail like Perez.

Tom Welling in Smallville

Just for the heck of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK7Cy4_ZLAA

DC Universe - November 14 2007

Here's a list of DC Universe-related titles expected to come out this Wednesday, according to the Diamond Previews website.
Click on the highlighted titles to head over to Newsarama for previews (you'll have to scroll to see some of them).

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #9
BATMAN and the OUTSIDERS #1
BATMAN STRIKES #39
BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #4 (of 6)
BOOSTER GOLD #4
CAPTAIN CARROT and the FINAL ARK #2 (of 3)
COUNTDOWN to FINAL CRISIS 24
GEN13 #14
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2
JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL 3 HC
JLA CLASSIFIED #46
JLA: ULTRAMARINE CORPS TP
JONAH HEX: ORIGINS TP
NIGHTWING #138
SALVATION RUN #1 (of 7)
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SGT ROCK Vol.01
SIMON DARK #2
SUICIDE SQUAD: RAISE THE FLAG #3 (of 8)
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #42
SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #9
TEEN TITANS EAST SPECIAL #1
TEEN TITANS GO: TITANS TOGETHER TP
WELCOME to TRANQUILITY #12
WONDER GIRL #3 (of 6)
WONDER WOMAN #14

Supergirl #23 (January 2008)

Written by Kelley Puckett
Art and Cover by Drew Johnson and Ray Snyder

Can anybody tell me what the hell is going on here?
The art is wonderful (yeah, that's kind of a pun. if you don't get it, tough).
The writing seems decent enough. I absolutely loved the exchange between Kara and Batman.
But the whole space thing!? I have no clue!!
Why did she fly away from the ship? Why did she fly through the sun? After she got back, what was the whole "Wait a second...two hours." thing? If she'd been gone two hours Batman should've come and got his box, but he didn't? So she wasn't gone two hours? Ack.
I mean, I figure the whole Superman/Green Lantern Corps thing was probably some sort of fake thing. But how did she figure it out? One little clue for the readers may have been nice.
I didn't f-ing get any of it.
Maybe I'm just stupid.

Well...probably.

Thanksgiving with the Thimble Theatre Thespians

KING COMICS 32 (NOVEMBER 1938): I'm not sure if Wimpy is sweating because he's so hungry he can't stand it, or if he's afraid he'll get smacked if he says, "Hey dumbass, the turkey's right behind you!" And WTH is up with Henry? Is he a budding proctologist?

KING COMICS 32. NOVEMBER 1938

FOUR COLOR 17. 1942

FOUR COLOR 17 (1942): Who knew that Wimpy was such a health nut? Eating turkey burgers decades before anyone else thought of it!!