Final Crisis #3: Giving Me An Art Attack

I love J.G. Jones. I really do. I think he can be an amazing artist. But occasionally everyone does something that works on my nerves. And FINAL CRISIS #3 had a couple of those moments.

Like, when he's drawing Wonder Woman, I wish he could just decide and settle upon whether he's drawing Lynda Carter or Jennifer Connelly.
My other big gripe is the big hero group shot. One word: perspective. Or is it: proportion? Hmm, I'm not sure...
But anyway, the line-up alone should make you go "WOW!" but it doesn't. Maybe because they all look like they're only 3-feet tall. And:

• Why is Jay Garrick crying?
• Why does Shazam look like he's about to cry?
• When was the last time Huntress wore that costume?
• Why do all the women have the same blank expression on their faces?
• Why does Starfire look unlike any other version of Starfire we've ever seen?
• Who is standing behind Alan?

I do love J.G. Jones, but am way less than impressed with this spread.
Maybe next time...

Donna Troy: The Quicker Picker-Upper

That's such a stupid title for this post...but I just couldn't think of anything!

Anyway...my buddy Doug (over at dougsploitation, check it out!) was awesome enough to share this with me (and allow me to share it with all [3] of you!). It's a drawing of Donna Troy on a cocktail napkin done by no-less-than Phil Jimenez!! How great is that!?
Almost makes me want to start a con-sketch collection of Donna Troy napkins!

I love Donna. I love Phil. I guess I'm going to have to love Doug now, too...

The things I'll do for my blog...

Project Superpowers: Rainbow Boy!

Although Rainbow Boy has yet to make a proper appearance, he did appear in a one-panel cameo in PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #0, as one of the victims of The Fighting Yank and his urn. (Although he looked a bit more like Rainbow Grandpa...)

It's kind of interesting to note: that while The Flame and The Black Terror are constantly worrying (and whining) about their sidekicks, Hydroman (who teamed-up a few times with Rainbow Boy, including RB's first appearance) doesn't seem too concerned about his friend.

Rainbow Boy first appeared in HEROIC COMICS #14 (Sept 1942) and stayed there through issue #20 (Sept 1943). He made one final appearance, in a team-up with Hydroman, in HEROIC COMICS #25 (July 1944). And then he was gone...

This Rainbow Boy story concludes yesterday's Hydroman tale from HEROIC COMICS #19 (July 1943):

Project Superpowers: Hydro(Man)!

Playing more catch-up on PROJECT SUPERPOWERS Golden-Age-y goodness!!

Today we've got Hydroman (known as Hydro in PS), who was featured on the cover of PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #4!

Hydroman first appeared in HEROIC COMICS #1 (Aug 1940). He was created by Bill Everett, who also created the Sub-Mariner.

Although he's referred to as "Hydro," both in the PS book and press releases, if you look closely at his logo on the cover of PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #4, you can see shapes that spell out "man" at the bottom of the "Hydro" logo.

Here's a Hydroman tale from HEROIC COMICS #19 (July 1943). At the end, he even has a special guest-star!!

Can Hydroman and Rainbow Boy save the earth from the alien invaders!!
Come back tomorrow for the pulse-pounding conclusion!!


(Because golden age comics were so...pulse-pounding...)

Lookin' at Marvel Covers for October 2008

Just because I don't hardly read any Marvel stuff, doesn't mean I don't like to look at pretty pictures...

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #122
by Clayton Henry & Guru eFX
I don't know why Namor is trying to bite Hercules' stomach, but I'm not complaining. It's almost worth buying just to hang it on the wall...

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #18
by Mark Brooks
I don't know what it is about this cover, but I just think it's really neat. I love the art, the lighting, the coloring. It's just a really nifty image!

ASTONISHING X-MEN: GHOST BOXES #1
by Simone Bianchi
Boxes. Heh.
Nice boxes, too...

SECRET WARS OMNIBUS HC
by Alex Ross
I think it's really cool when Alex Ross takes an old, well-known image that was just a line drawing with flat colors and pops it out into three dimensions. This is a nice one. It would definitely make a cool poster.

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #1
and

ULTIMATE HULK ANNUAL #1
by Brandon Peterson

I really love Brandon Peterson's art. He must have a real job somewhere, because he just doesn't draw enough comics! I wish he'd do more interior stuff (and I wish he'd do it for DC! LOL). I love his line work. I wonder if he does his own colors? If not, whoever did on these covers is an awesome match. The lighting, palette, textures...they all just really make these images pop! Awesomeness.

The power of MIKE ZECK:
Two of the above covers coming in October are based on artwork originally done by Mike Zeck for the covers of MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #1 (May 1984) and CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #8 (1986). Here they are:

Project Superpowers: Pyroman!

Time for some more PROJECT SUPERPOWERS Golden-Age-y goodness!! (Considering I've fallen behind, LOL).

Today we've got Pyroman, who was featured on the cover of PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #4!

Pyroman first appeared in STARTLING COMICS #18 (December 1942). Although "pyro" means flame, and he looks like he's burning, Pyroman's powers were actually electrical-based and that's electricity crackling around him that causes the glow.

Alrighty, then, without further ado, let's get on with a story from the early days of Pyroman's career!!

From AMERICA'S BEST COMICS #4 (February 1943):

I took this story (and cleaned it up a little) from an AWESOME blog: Nedor-A-Day. You really need to go check it out. All kinds of Golden-age Nedor/Better/Standard goodness!

WONDER WOMAN Trailer!

When I bought the Batman Gotham Knight DVD for the "Wonder Woman Preview," I was expecting something that would show what the movie would look like. Not a behind the scenes chat with the people...well, behind the scenes. Boring.
But now Yahoo! Movies has got an actual Wonder Woman trailer!!!
Unfortunately, Yahoo! Movies is effin' lame and doesn't have an embed feature. Boo. But here are some screen caps:
I'm kinda excited about it. But I really hate the costume design. I've always been bugged when artists felt the need to wrap the "WW" around to her back. Why? And now here it is in all it's hideous glory.
Plus: What is that thing on her chest supposed to be? It doesn't look like 2 W's, and it doesn't look like an eagle. So what is it? It looks like a single W with two extra thingies for no apparent reason...
Sometimes I think people are stupid.

But I still can't wait until February 2009!!!

Batman and Robin's leather thong...

from BATMAN #83 (April 1954)

A friend of mine posted this to a Yahoo! group, then I found it at Scans Daily.

It just doesn't get any better...

Lookin' at DC Covers for October 2008

SUPERGIRL #34
by Josh Middleton
The actual figure of Supergirl doesn't really do much for me, but I love the design of this cover, and the real-look 3D newspaper. It's just kinda cool looking.

WILDCATS #4
by Neil Googe
I don't know what it is about this cover. Maybe it's that even with all the detail in the drawing it's still a very clean piece of art. Maybe it's the detail in the coloring technique. Maybe it's the color palette and lighting. I don't know. But this is a great cover. And if I cared one lick about the Wildcats, I might even buy it.
But I don't, so I won't. LOL

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS VOL. 4 TP
by Adam Kubert
You couldn't pay me enough to buy this again (okay, that's not true...If you paid me or even offered it for free, I'd take it!). But for some reason I really like this cover. It's kinda cool.
And look, there's Donna! Hi Donna!!

THE AUTHORITY #3
by Simon Coleby
The thing about this cover that struck me is how familiar it looks. Not like an homage (although I suppose it could be), but just the design layout. Is it just me or does it look like a throw-back to the late sixties/seventies? Like something Neal Adams might've done. I don't know why I think that, but that's the vibe I get from it.

WONDER WOMAN #25
by Aaron Lopresti
I really don't like this cover much. The WW-Eagle looks too flat, which is something I've noticed a couple of times in the book, too. It makes her look completely flat chested. It should curve around her breasts, not just sit there. There are lines around it that imply breasts are there, but I just don't see them.
And what the hell is that little girl pointing at!!?

THE ALEX ROSS COVERS
I'm definitely fan of Alex Ross, not the obsessive he-can-do-no-wrong fan, but I really like his work. For awhile he was doing this weird (experimental?) stuff where he'd use light colors for large shadow-y areas. Didn't work for me. Shadowed areas should be dark. Light colored areas should show detail. But that's just me.
This month he hit 3 covers out of the park. BATMAN #681 is I think the best. I love the layout and design of this one. It would make a cool poster (not limited edition giclee -- poster). Although I do like the design and execution of SUPERMAN #681 and JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL #1, I think it's more what's happening on those covers and the excitement of what it means that grabs me with those two.

And when did Superman and Batman's numbering start running in tandem? I must've missed that...