General
Last Day for the Fred Van Lente/Archer and Armstrong Art Challenge!
The deadline to participate in our art challenge to draw a page from Fred Van Lente’s Archer and Armstrong #1 is tonight, December 3rd at 11:59 PM Pacific.
It’s a nice challenge for artists wanting to test their sequential skills. And since you should be able to draw a page in a day, there’s still time left for you!
Click here to see the script page and learn how to enter!
Do You Have Questions for Fred Van Lente?
The great Fred Van Lente is not going to be able to do a public chat this Fred Van Lente Day (he’ll be tied up with some important comic book business that day), so he’s instead agreed to let you folks submit questions and I’ll ask him them on Monday and I’ll provide the answers on Fred Van Lente Day.
Sounds like a good deal, no?
So e-mail me any questions you have for Van Lente at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Remember, he’s going to be writing G.I. Joe soon, so I expect at least seventeen variations of the question, “What are your plans for Flint?” Don’t disappoint me, America!
Extension for the Fred Van Lente/Archer and Armstrong Art Challenge!
A couple of folks wanted to participate in our art challenge to draw a page from Fred Van Lente’s Archer and Armstrong #1, but the end of the month was kind of tough for them, so I decided to extend the deadline to Monday night, December 3rd at 11:59 PM Pacific.
I’d really like to see a nice turnout, so if you’re interested, give it a shot over the weekend! It’s a nice challenge for artists wanting to test their sequential skills.
Click here to see the script page and learn how to enter!
A Black Friday Sale That You All Hopefully Can Get Behind
My latest book, Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent And Other Amazing Comic Book Trivia, is on sale at Amazon.com for just $10.20. Also, you can buy BOTH of my books for just $21.40!
The perfect Christmas present for…well…everyone!
Check it out here (do note that if you buy the book, or anything else on Amazon, using that link, I get a cut of the sale).
Tarzan and the Phantom: Showdown at the Skull Cave
John Trumbull’s piece for this week’s The Line it is Drawn was a bit too late for the initial post, but I’ve added it now. Here it is here, as well, based on a BigMike20X6 suggestion of
Tarzan & the Phantom
Comic Book Art Challenge!
Hey folks, in case you missed it, we’re doing another art challenge where we ask you artists out there to draw a page from a comic book script. This time around, it is a page from Fred Van Lente’s Archer and Armstrong #1. The winning page will be displayed on Valiant Comics’ website!
We got a great turnout last time, but the turnout is lower this time around, so please show us your stuff! Since less people have entered, your odds of being chosen are presumably better, so it is a great chance to get your work showcased!
Click here to see the script page and learn how to enter!
“Don’t Be Selfish” – Heartbreakingly Powerful Art Piece
Over at her DeviantArt page, Wenqing Yan recently put up a piece about her dealing with being the only child of a broken marriage where both parents have moved on with new spouses and new children. A recent piece of news about her father has only spotlighted the isolation in her life and Yan has responded with a strikingly powerful (and heartbreaking) piece about her life.
Here’s a glimpse…
Go to her DeviantArt page here for the whole piece (but prepare yourself to be depressed after finishing it).
Support Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan’s Joe Frankenstein!
Something I come across very often in the comments section of this site is people bemoaning the lack of comics written by Chuck Dixon at Marvel and DC, especially DC, where Dixon had so many successful and acclaimed runs on books like Detective Comics, Robin and Nightwing. Therefore, it surprises me a bit when Dixon launched a funding campaign at Indiegogo for his brand new series of original graphic novels with artist Graham Nolan (who created Bane with Dixon and worked together with Dixon for an acclaimed run on Detective Comics) and so far has only seen $4,000 or so raised. Just people who have complained to me that Dixon doesn’t get enough work chipping in $15 would add a grand or so.
So come on, folks, Dixon and Nolan, back together again! Go fund this baby! I contributed enough to get a signed first edition, but just $15 gets you a PDF of the book.
Here’s a description of the book:
Joe Pratt is seventeen and in his last year of living in a foster home before moving on to the rest of his life. He’s delivering pizzas now but has no clue as to what he wants to do about his future.
All of that changes when he’s attacked by a houseful of vampires and rescued by none other than Frankenstein’s Monster. The Monster reveals to Joe that he is the descendent of Baron Victor vonFrankenstein . The most famous undead creation the world has ever known has been watching over Joe since birth; staying to the shadows to protect him from… The Bride.
Here‘s the fund link.
Read on for some sample pages!
Awesome Cabin in the Woods Piece
I saw this on Alice Lin’s website. She did a hilarious job envisioning the recent film, Cabin in the Woods, as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book…
You sort of have to know the movie to get the joke. Still, an excellent piece by Lin. You can check out her site here.
Other Surprisingly Relatively Quite Recent Additions to the Batman Mythos
Earlier today, I noted how it was surprising how relatively quite recent the addition of Batman vanishing on Commissioner Gordon was to the Batman mythos, coming in 1973 in the pages of Swamp Thing, of all places.
So I figured I’d feature some other surprisingly relatively quite recent additions to the Batman mythos, things you figure must have been around much earlier than they actually became part of the Batman mythos.
Worth Something Someday: Ravage 2099 #9
Welcome to the first installment of Worth Something Someday, a series of (as Archduke Cronin would say) indefinite length and regularity, in which we critically re-examine and attempt to contextualize comic books of the 1990s. “The ’90s” was the most infamous and tumultuous decade of comics since the 1950s, during which the industry experienced its highest highs as well as its most crashing lows. Some call it “The Dark Age,” but now comes the time to shed some light on the era. Many of the comics we shall cover were purchased by speculators and secreted away with the hopes that they’d be worth something someday. So let’s ask: are they worth it?
Where else to start our look at comics at the tail end of the 20th century, than with one that takes place at the tail end of the 21st, with a cover that declares everything we know… is wrong!?
Ten Worst One-Liners From Batman and Robin
And now, apropos of nothing, here are the ten worst one-liners from the 1997 film, Batman and Robin, starring George Clooney as Batman, Chris O’Donnell as Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy.
Enjoy (or not, I guess it depends on whether you’re a believer in “so bad it is good”)!
Just Hours Left to Get Your Ballot in for the Top 100 Comic Book Runs Poll!
Oops, I made a mistake about today’s date. You have a whole other day to vote. Still, the main point is, go vote!
Let your voice be heard! The more votes, the better!
Click here to vote.
Just One More Day to Vote for Your Favorite Comic Book Runs!
Come on, folks, just one more day to vote! The more ballots cast, the better the results are!
Click here to vote.
Thanks, Tony Isabella!
In Comics Buyer’s Guide #1694, Tony gave a very nice review of my new book, Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? (which you can, of course, purchase right here and not only will you get a cool book but I’ll get a referral fee).
You can read Tony’s review at his nifty blog here. Thanks to my pal Michael for the head’s up!
