Well, damn. Maybe I will get an iPad

Wired has a review of Marvel's iPad app and it looks pretty sweet.


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R.I.P. Dick Giordano

R.I.P. Dick Giordano

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Whew! Take that Senator Kelly!

Hypericon Gaming Schedule

The Hyperion 2009 game schedule has been posted. We've also added some new guests.

Hypericon 5! June 5 - 7. Nashville, TN.

BatLogo Evolution

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Cosmopolis Lexicon

The three of you who are still reading this or who are seeing this post through the magic of the RSS feed might be interested in the Cosmopolis Lexicon. A Lexicon is a shared world-building exercise created by a really cool guy called Neel Krishnaswami a few years ago.

Click the link above for details on that.

This Lexicon features the superheroes and supervillains of a fictional city called Cosmopolis. The game begins on March 18, 2009 and is open to anyone who's interested.

Check it out.

Thanks.

Awesome Cover Friday: The Spirit Part Two

Hey, Kids! It's part two of my Spirit coverfest! Part one is over here.

What I said yesterday still stands but I want to point out Eisner's use of shadow and line. Especially in the first two covers below. Also, I want to reiterate how awesome it is that each of these covers tells a story. Each image feels active as if there are things happening before and after it instead of just being a portrait.

Awesome Cover Friday: The Spirit Part One

I love The Spirit. I have a deep fondness for Will Eisner's work and I am a big fan of Darwyn Cooke's recent reboot. I have such a love for this comic that I am making this Awesome Cover Friday last two days. The covers below are from Kitchen Sink Press's reprints of the post-WWII spirit issues.

I'm not going to comment on each one because they speak for themselves. Each one is an exemplar of what comic-book covers should be. They are evocative and each one practically tells a whole story in a single image. It really makes me want to see how The Spirit got into that predicament and, more importantly, how he's going to get out.

Weird-Ass Cover Wednesday: Feature Comics

Greeting, subcreatures. I have returned to shake each of you out of the stupor induced by your recent food-and-gratitude orgy.

For the record, I am thankful for my three brains, limoncello, and lax extradition treaties. Now, go and enjoy the jocularity! King Clownape commands you!

Vaklam: Thanks again, your majesty and welcome back. This week, we're going back to the late 1930s - early 1940s to focus on Feature Comics:

I so want the octopus to be named Vincent so this cover will be the lead-in to a Twilight-Zone style twist ending!


Joe Palooka was actually a highly-skilled assassin. Knobby was never seen again after this tragic "hunting accident".


Fun Fact! This same cover also appeared on an issue of Laundry Fetish Quarterly,

Weird-Ass Cover Wednesday Goes to Hell

Ah, Marvel Comics in the 1970s. They were both awesome and ridiculous. This was the company and the decade that brought us Hellcow, Manphibian, Shang-Chi, Heroes for Hire, the motorcycle-riding Ghost Rider, and a whole slew of monster titles.

They also brought us Daimon Hellstrom, Son of Satan. You know how he got that nickname? It's because he's literally Satan's kid. Unlike his sister Satana (now, that's a name!), Daimon rebelled against his father and sought to do good. Seriously, though, how surprised can Satan be when his son betrays him? He really should have seen that coming.

Daimon (not Damien, please don't sue!) was a badass magician and healer who went around the Marvel Universe kicking ass. And being the son of Satan. Check out the covers from his title:

This comic wasn't messing around. You know that climactic confrontation that most story arcs end with. This one started with it! Take that dramatic expectations!


Marvel was known for it's hyperbole, especially on its covers. This is the company that proclaimed The Fantastic Four to be "The Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine" every single month. Now, let's take a look at the text in the lower right-hand corner of the cover:

Possibly the most thrill-packed supernatural adventure you'll read this month!

Hey, now! Don't get cocky, Marvel copy writers!

What's with all the qualifiers? "Possibly" and "this month" are bad enough but to further limit this issue's competition by only including supernatural adventures does not inspire the reader with confidence.


Holy crap! That dude's got three faces! And he's fighting Satan!

Hmmm. Maybe this one should have gone in with the Awesome covers.

Again with the Watchmen

I just saw the new Watchmen trailer and hoo-boy! I continue to be encouraged by what I'm seeing.

Also, I noticed something on the Ozymandias poster that thrills me beyond words:

That long-eared cat thing looks exactly like the ones Gibbons drew. Aieeeee!

I am easily amused. Carry on.

Awesome Cover Friday: Creepy

Apparently I've still got Halloween on the brain because I was thinking about Creepy the other day and how cool the covers were. Creepy was technically a magazine due to its larger format but it contained sequential art so to me it counts as a comic book. The covers did a great job of selling the stories inside.

Frank Frazetta did a lot of covers for Creepy and this is one of my favorites. I love the dark palette and the sense of claustrophobia the image evokes. Also, the fact that you can't quite make out all the details on that beast just rocks.


This cover by Vic Prezio is in sharp contrast to the moody, dark Frazetta above but it is no less effective. The palette is bright but still fairly limited. Prezio's sense of composition and line really comes through on this piece.


Here's another cool Frazetta piece that is more indicative of his fantasy-action work. That dude with the knife has got his work cut out for him.


This is one of the Creepy covers that lives up to the magazine's title. It's by Kenneth Smith and there's not much I can say about it that the image doesn't say for itself.

Weird-Ass Cover Wednesday From Beyond The Grave

Casper's adventures were pretty lighhearted, in general. However, in the 1970s, the editors at Harvey Comics approved a title which put a darker spin on the character. They added a spectral horse named Nightmare to the Casperverse and the two of them rode around the world making more dead people in the name of their unholy lich lord, Morguul.

This policeman reported a strange sighting out past the old Johnson place on Highway 4. He was never heard from again but they say that on moonless nights, when the wind is right, you can hear a spectral voice saying, "Is this sort of thing even my jurisdiction?"


And here we have Casper and Nightmare cooperating to lead ships to their doom against the sharp, unforgiving rocks. There was much celebrating in the Grand Bonehalls of Morguul's blood-soaked realm that night.


Having a drought, boys? Well, let's see how you like it when my horse and I drink all your water. And here's the kicker! We don't even need it! We're already dead! See you in hell, amigos!


Hey, Sonny Bono! Race you to the bottom! Loser buys the hot chocolate!

Casper Covers Preview

Weird-Ass Cover Wednesday is going to be Weird-Ass Cover Thursday this week. So, here's a hint of what I'm working on:

Hey everybody! It's DEAD-alus.

Thank you, I'll be here all week.



And here's everyone's favorite spectre on his dead, rabid horse!

More ghoulish hilarity tomorrow.

Watchmen Posters Revealed

These look pretty sweet:



Click here for more images.

Hope? Hope!

Weird-Ass Cover Wednesday is taking a week off. King Clownape has retreated to an undisclosed location but he reports that two thirds of him is pleased with the results of the recent US presidential election.

Speaking of which, does Alex Ross need to 'have a talk' with the Obama campaign? You be the judge!



It's a good thing this didn't come to light during the campaign.

Kelly Does Zatanna

So, Zatanna is one of my favorite characters and Ryan Kelly is one of my favorite artists.

Behold!

VOTE!

OK, so this isn't directly comics related but if you are in the US and have not yet done so:

BPAL + Gaiman = CBLDF Win!

The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has released a series of scents inspired by Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

This is awesome news for two reasons:

1. BPAL makes incredible scents that people go crazy over. Seriously, I've seen it. Dozens of women in a hotel lobby sniffing each other.

2. The proceeds from every single bottle go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Go buy yourself something nice.

Video Time: Sing - Dresden Dolls

The Dresden Dolls are one of my favorite bands and this is one of their best songs. There are two versions of this video but I like this one better because a friend of mine is in it.