Comic Book Resources

on army at love - ewwww she's lying on the grossest snail trail i have ever seen.

The Campbell Gen13 cover is a really really old cover, actually. He isn't emulating his old style, it IS his old style

Dude, that Jeff Smith Shazam cover rocked! It was easily the best cover of the month!

"Man, is Batman pulling a Linda Blair in the Exorcist or what?"

Huh, isn't he Hal Jordan?

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

"What I don’t get is, J. Scott Campbell has a lot of talent. He really does. So when asked to do a brand new cover for a book DEVOTED to his art, he decides to basically draw like it was 1995 again?"

Almost there. Look at the date on te signature, 96.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

My experiences working in a theater and working around theatre people tell me that the more archaic spelling is used when applied to acting and, more specifically, drama, where theater would be the building. So it's not like Dodd's House of Mystery, it's The Strange Drama of Dodds.

I think. I can honestly never tell when the theatre people are putting me on, I just know that they're adamant about it, that and the MacBeth thing.

On the IOn cover i can see....Kilowog and....hmm nobody else.

On the Ion cover i recognized Hal Jordan, Guy, Kilowog, Alan Scott, and I think the person next to the other corpsmen is John Stewart. I guess the other people were supporting characters on Kyle´s GL run, but I didn´t read it.

Batman's ejecting out of a crashing Batplane, right?... Right??... Ehhh, who cares...

Actually I had a friend from college that went to work for a company that builds ejector seats for fighter planes - some very disturbing stories about the ones that didn't work right...

Someone should tell Stony that that's Green Lantern on the cover of Brave & the Bold.

A few items of note:

You wrote:
"Man, is Batman pulling a Linda Blair in the Exorcist or what?"

Uh...pretty sure that's Green Lantern.
I'm SURE you knew it but had a brain-fart.
No biggie.

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Looks like Batman has a bad case of Explosive "Gas" on that Whilce Portacio Batman Confidential cover.

And no. I'm not going to make a Taco Bell joke.

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Andy Kubert Batman cover sux.
But then I don't usually think that ANY of the Kubert's have much practical ability.
Their father has skills, but his style always left me cold.

This is a whole apple / tree thing I guess.

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J.H. Williams’ Crossing Midnight cover is excellent. Having the person who "has something on their mind" see it made manifest in the mirror is well done.

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"Rainmaker showing no signs of being wet on most of this cover is because:"

She has lightning arching all over her body, which would dry off any rain.
Of course there SHOULD be hella lot of STEAM present, but hey.
Steam is hard to draw I guess.
(not really. At least not with Photoshop these days.)

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Ivan Reis Green Lantern cover...
Is there ANY reason for Star Sapphire's costume to be ripped there?

I mean she BARELY HAS a costume in this version, so why is it ONLY ripped in her "hoo-hah" area.

Also, I think gravity should be affecting her boobs, but maybe those two hook-like strips of cloth hold them in place.

Sure. Let's go with that.

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Tim Bradstreet's Hellblazer cover shows that my 15+ year belief that if ANYONE who is not British should have played Constantine it should have been Keifer Southerland.

Anyone ever see FLATLINERS?
In the opening he's walking around in the fog with a ratty brown trenchcoat and looks exactly like Constantine.

Sure, he was much older by the time they finally made the Hellblazer movie, but his chops on 24 show he still has it.

Otherwise, ANYONE who is not Keanu Reeves would have been acceptable.

gah!

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Michael Turner Wonder Woman cover...
Good lord can he NOT draw.

That's a torso and a lower body (of 2 separate bodies) joined by a big red rubber band.

When will the damn fanboys realize that he sux.

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Patrick Gleason Robin cover... uses some wonky anatomy. That's for sure.

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Jerry Ordway.
Still great after all these years.

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heh heh...
the shadow "monster" in Robert Pope's Scooby Doo cover seems to have a "monster member".

Just sayin'.

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The ONLY thing missing from Barry Kitson's cover for Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes is a little word baloon over the Alien's head that says;
"Ripley?"

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Why doesn't Chaykin's Robot Hawkgirl have missle launchers in her nipples?

It seemed kinda obvious.

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About the archery on Derec Donovan’s Conner Hawke cover... WHY is his bowstring hand twisted around backwards like that?

Minor nit.
I guess it could be so that the fletchings don't scrape his face.

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Mario Alberti's Aquaman cover is gorgeous.

It seems like it was taken (at least in style) from those Japanese paintings of earlier centuries.

Still. VERY nice.

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There were many beautiful works this month.
I didn't mean to call out the bad ones as much as I did.
These are the one's I thought were EXCELLENT (aside from the one's I already gave kudo's to:

- Pete Woods Firestorm cover. All-around good job!

- Steve Uy's JSA Classified. VERY nice feel.

- Dale Eaglesham's JSA variant cover. "Explosive!"

- Matthew Clark's cover for Outsiders. Great layout.

- Massimo Carnevale cover for Y the Last Man. Very striking. Excellent use of monochromatic coloring.

- Adam Hughes' Catwoman. Less sexploitation. More solid design.

Sorry for the length.

~P~
P-TOR

I'm pretty sure that outside of the U.S., theatre is the only correct way to spell it (it certainly is here in Canada). As far as I know, the 'er' version is specific to 'American English'.

Is there a Flint Henry AND a Henry Flint working in this business? 'Cause I thought the guy's name was Flint Henry, but I keep seeing Henry Flint pop up various places. Can't decide if there's two different guys or if it's a common mistake. Or maybe his name is Henry Flint but started off as "Flint Henry" to be cool.

Theater is a building; theatre is used to refer to an acting company.

There are both Henry Flint and Flint Henry.

Henry Flint is british and did a lor of work for 2000 AD.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

Isn't Kilowog dead?

Theatre is a medium. A theater is a building where you go to see theatre.

Kilowag got better.

It must be Christmastime. Cronin didn't bust my balls.

Love,
Ethan

A theater is a building where you go to see theatre.

But only in the US. Everywhere else, it's a theatre.

Power Boy is a silly idea for a character, and he's clearly no boy, but damn that's a hot outfit (in an over-the-top Mardi Gras kinda way). I love it when guys' costumes approximate the silliness of women's costumes. This one reminds me of those glory days of the 1970s Legion with all those outrageous outfits on the women and some of the men. Projectra, Shadow Lass, Cosmic Boy and Dawnstar had the best. Anyway, who drew that cover? Reminds me of Steve Lightle. Where the hell is he these days?

The Omega Men are being picked up by a giant hand and dropped (like loose grapes) (or M&Ms!) into a giant mouth.

The Manhunter cover featuring Wonder Woman by Sean Phillips should have at least earned an honorary mention. As should the JSA (variant). (And why is that not the main cover? It's waaay more dynamic and eye-catching than ANOTHER round of boring Ross portraits on a black background. Sheesh.)

And clearly Michael Turner exhibits the worst grasp of anatomy this month. I actually think little Kubert did a good job on his Batman cover and don't see your complaint there ... but that Turner Wonder Woman? Yikes. It looks like Bane snapped her back, dislocated a few discs and popped a few ribs, then (because he still couldn't achieve the pretzel look he was going for) slipped her some Gingold so he could stretch her out some more. Man, that Turner draws some really fugly stuff. Why oh why is this man a big name?

Batman clearly lit the fireworks that Robin lovingly packed into his rear end, and is propelling himself with them. It's the only sensible explanation.

The reason people in the U.S. use theatRE, where we fought a freakin' Revolution so we wouldn't have to spell words in bizarre ways (seriously, British people - colour?), is so they can hip and cool. It's just not EDGY enough to spell words the ways they're supposed to be spelled, man! That and Matt Wagner has always seemed to be a Anglophile, so maybe he suggested the spelling way back when.

Did DC seriously pixelate those bugs having sex? Yeah, because nothing warps a kid's mind more that - certainly not Fairchild with no clothes on, or Wonder Woman in good porn pose, or two post-coital soldiers half-dressed. Good job, DC!

Looks like Star Sapphire got her fashion ideas from reading Witchblade.

And the secret Worldstorm character is obviously Gogo Yubari.

That Kubert Batman cover is signed by both Andy and his father, which helps explain why it looks a lot more powerful than Andy's stuff normally does to me. Whereas he has a more wispy line, the addition of Joe Kubert's inking just solidifies everything in that. Certainly makes that punch look a lot more painful.

I love to see the Kubert Brothers inked by their father. It just ends up looking excellent each and every time. That kind of look is good on Batman, I think.

I still want an all-Kubert (dad writing, andy or adam penciling, dad inking) Sgt Rock miniseries, though.

This is somewhat related to my thirst for a JRsr/JRjr collabo mini.

Did DC seriously pixelate those bugs having sex? Yeah, because nothing warps a kid’s mind more that - certainly not Fairchild with no clothes on, or Wonder Woman in good porn pose, or two post-coital soldiers half-dressed. Good job, DC!

Er, I think it was kind of a self-aware joke? I know the first thing I did was chuckle. If the mosaic wasn't there, you wouldn't be able to tell that the bugs were doing anything at all besides looking weird.

Marvel's done one of these recently, though it actually had reason to be censored. During the Barracuda arc on Punisher, one of the covers was just Barracuda's smiling face, with his "F YOU" grill on display. The F bit was covered with a black box that said "CENSORED." I thought it was pretty funny, at least.

Anyone have problems with the archery on the cover?

Yes. Have you ever tried to twist your left hand over completely like that? It doesn't work, and it woun't give you any power even if you could get it like that in the first place.

garbonzo

Am I the only one who doesn't have any problem with Spectre's goatee?

Critics are people that remove the bodies after the war is over. I would like tosee yor covers chuckles.

P-Tor beat me to the nipple joke, and carpboy to pointing out Joe Kubert's involvement in the Batman cover (which I think is pretty nice, with a good sense of drama and depth). But perhaps I'll be the first to say that (to my eyes at least) that nice Aquaman cover is more reminiscent of Mike Kaluta than Seth Fisher. The Japanese art influence comes in from the evocation of Hokusai's famous "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" (http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/hokusai.html), which was used on the cover of Nextwave #1.

I don't know anything about Rainmaker, but I do note that the artist has drawn splashes or mist around her head and arms. So s/he at least gave some thought to the effect of rain. Which still doesn't answer the question of whether or not the absence of wet hair, etc. is intentional or not.

Do you really like that Sienkiewicz cover that much, Brian, or is it just for the goatee joke? Because I think it's nothing special. And I'd note that for all his "radical stylistic innovation" over the years (which has consisted largely of borrowing ideas from folks like Gustav Klimt, Ronald Searle, Ralph Steadman, and Warner Brothers animators), his knowledge of human anatomy still seems to derive almost exclusively from Neal Adams.

I definitely share your admiration for Ty Templeton, though.

"Critics are people that remove the bodies after the war is over. I would like tosee yor covers chuckles."

Uh, no. Critics are people who criticize. You don't have to be skilled at something, yourself, to know if it's done well. At least, those of us with the ability to take an objective perspective don't.

Maybe you refuse to form any opinions about professional athletes, musicians, writers, and actors, unless you can do it better than them. I bet you don't.

"The reason people in the U.S. use theatRE, where we fought a freakin’ Revolution so we wouldn’t have to spell words in bizarre ways (seriously, British people - colour?), is so they can hip and cool. It’s just not EDGY enough to spell words the ways they’re supposed to be spelled, man!"

Actually, Greg, if you notice the comments from folks explaining how there's only the one spelling outside of America, you'll see that theater is the werid spelling of the word. It was a misspelling that got accepted into the language to placate the folks who were too dumb to spell it right.

Really, Americans are the ones who are spelling it in a bizarre way. So, that would make Americans the posers who are trying too hard.

Gotta love that US pretentiousness about how "humble" they are, though.

Thanks for the heads up regarding the Campbell cover!

It says "new cover by Campbell" in the solicit, so I was REALLY disappointed by that cover - so if it is an old piece, that is grand news!

That Joshua Middleton cover has an old, "Beatiful Stories For Ugly Children" look to it - only colored, eh?

What was the artists name -

(checking)

Dan Sweetman!

Dan - didn't Daniel Webster change the spelling to distinguish it from British English? I thought he wanted an "American" orthography, but I could be wrong.

I don't have a big problem spelling it "theatre" (except that I want to pronounce it theaTRA), but then shouldn't we spell all "er" words "re"? Someone who drives could be a drivre! Now THAT'S edgy!

I really hope the pixelated insects is a self-aware joke by DC. Knowing DC, I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be nice, because it's just too stupid otherwise.

Anyone have problems with the archery on the cover?

Bunches.

About the archery on Derec Donovan’s Conner Hawke cover… WHY is his bowstring hand twisted around backwards like that?

Minor nit.
I guess it could be so that the fletchings don’t scrape his face.

If you're doing it right, the fletchings don't touch your face at all.

Doing it right involves putting the arrow on the correct side of the bow, among other things. Apparently the artist saw a photo of a compound shooter using a mechanical release, which is used with the hand turned palm-out as shown here, and decided that this is how the pros do it. Not with a recurve they don't.

Also, the faked-up bow should be, y'know, bowed when it's at full-draw. This one looks like it's not even strung, let alone drawn.

Free archery lessons in Pasadena CA every Saturday morning. Equipment provided. Artists welcome.

Also, thanks for the Batman/Hal Jordan mix-up heads up!

Luckily, I was crediting Stony for the joke, so I can also blame him.

Wow, a chance to use my trivial knowledge!

"Theater" is not a misspelling that became accepted into the language, nor is it an effort on the part of Daniel Webster. It's part of a turn-of-the-century effort by Teddy Roosevelt, called the Campaign for Sensible Spelling, which attempted to remove the odd and unusual spelling "legacy" of our borrowed words. Most of his efforts failed ("night" is not spelled "nite" outside of motel signs, for example) but the changing of "re" to "er" in words that use them ("tyre", "theatre", et cetera) is down to good old TR.

All this information is taken from the book 'Fabulous Fads and Fantastic Flops', which I wholeheartedly recommend; it's also got the complete story on New Coke!

Yeah, I thought it was one of Teddy's moves, but I wasn't sure.

Just another reason to love Roosevelt. I remember the Campaign for Sensible Spelling, because the movement (or its spiritual heir) is still around. TR rulez, man!!!!

Jamie: Ahhh! Beetles! Get them off of me.

Seriously you're right Hector looked hideous with a goatee.

I like the Spirit cover, nice gender role-reversal.

My problem with the Spirit cover is that it doesn't look natural - she doesn't seem to be straining enough.

But yeah, it IS a nicely drawn image - I just don't think it is a great cover.

"Now mind you, this is issue SEVEN.

“Best-selling author Brad Meltzer and super-hot artist Ed Benes deliver what you’ve been waiting for: the debut of the new Justice League of America!”

It’s issue SEVEN!!!!"

Lucky you never read Giffen's Legion of Super-Heroes V4....The team didn't debut until Issue 12.

I know what cover Supergirl is homaging. Do I get a cool point?

And while nobody loves Bill Sienkiewicz more than me, I'm not sure what the point of that last cover is.

Also, I'm a tad worried about the positioning of the Stranger's crotch re: the Spectre's leg.

Exterminators was my favorite. Laughed out loud.

"Gotta love that US pretentiousness about how “humble” they are, though."

We're not humble, we're humbel.

The Justice League thing is still better than the record for Legion of Super-Heroes volume four. It was an entire year before the characters even decided to be a team again.

Odd that Giffen complains about decompressed storytelling these days.

Even though the cover wasn't that impressive I so can't wait for the Jeff Smith Captain Marvel book. That image has the right energy for Cap.

What exactly is Magneto doing on that Wildcats cover?

Jericho's outfit looks to be a riff on Deathstroke's and Ravager's. I mean, they're all related. Might as well dress the same!

And I thought it was *Rafael* Albuquerque.

Nice commentary as always. I can't believe I overlooked this post. Curse my eyes.

Brian sez: "Yeah, I thought it was one of Teddy’s moves, but I wasn’t sure."

TR hated the nickname "Teddy" and never allowed anyone to call him by it. His friends called him TR.

I'm disappointed that no one mada Hawkgirl nipple joke until like 12 posts in. And that Middleton cover reminded me a lot of a 1980s Sienkiewicz cover for some reason.

can you make a ben 10 in black and white!
ooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmdddddddddddddddzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdzomdz omdz omdz omdz omdz om dz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz omdz

what is omdz ???? what does it mean???