Category: Comics

“They were 300. He was one.”

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Yesterday, CBR.com followed up on a Dark Horse Comics announcement via its twitter page that Frank Miller is returning to comics with a prequel to 300.  The long rumored series won’t hit the stands until sometime in 2011 and will be titled Xerxes.

Xerexes was the Persian king who attempted to conquer the world, only to fall short thanks to the efforts of 300 Spartans. The tagline for the new series is a good one…

Xerxes: “They were 300.  He was one.”

You can read more about the Xerxes mini-series and the Frank Miller lithograph that Dark Horse is releasing by checking out CBR.com’s post.

Heroes Con Countdown

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In just about exactly 72 hours, I’ll swing by and pick up my best bud, John Beatty, and we’ll be off to Heroes Con.  John will be a guest there, sketching and signing autographs for his fans.  Although I’ll hang out at his table and help keep the good times running, I’ll also spend time on the other side of the aisle as a fan, visiting other artists to get books signed and some new sketches for my collection.

Heroes is always a blast.  I can’t even begin to imagine how much fun it will be this year.  The guest list has never been bigger.  In addition to all of the regular comic superstars that always attend, this year we’ll also get to see folks like Tim Sale and Mike Mignola for the first time.  As LittleJohn312 said today, “The guest list keeps growing, but my budget doesn’t.”   Amen to that.  My plan this year is the same as last: get the most bang for my [limited] buck.  So I’ll be looking for sketchbooks with head sketches and avoiding the superstars.

If you’re going to be at Heroes, you can usually find me hanging out at John Beatty’s table [#721 in artist’s alley].  If I’m not there, I’ll be the guy looking to score some Stallone sketches.  Either way, I’m not too hard to find.

Mark Pennington’s Jack Carter

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Mark Pennington graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 1985. Upon graduation Mark became a toy designer at Hasbro. Mark created designs for the G.I. Joe line of action figures including a Rocky Balboa GI Joe that never saw production! Mark’s first work as an inker in the comic book industry was for SQP on Judge Dredd!

When I started collecting original sketches of Sly, Mark was one of the first artists that I approached. I was excited to get this Rambo head sketch from him. Earlier this month I posted Mark’s take on Sly as Rambo.

Today we have Mark’s take on Sly as an older Jack Carter. Although we’ll never get a sequel to Get Carter, and it is not a perfect film, Get Carter remains one of my favorite Stallone movies. Sly was perfect as the “bad brother” — the man who knew that he’d taken the wrong path and saw a chance at redemption by finding his brother’s killer and keeping his niece and sister-in-law safe. So I thought it would be cool to get Mark to draw Sly as Jack Carter, but with some more years on him… sort of like Clint Eastwood’s performance in Unforgiven. I couldn’t be happier with the result!

“The Walking Dead” Speak

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I’ve been a fan of The Walking Dead comic since shortly after the first issue was pulled off a printing press.  The Walking Dead is the best comic series being regularly published today.  I’m especially excited about the new AMC tv series that will bring the comics to life.

Quint over at AICN recently posted an interview with The Walking Dead creator, David Kirkman.  Here are a few tidbits…

AMC is giving us a huge deal of support and they have already shown that they have a lot of confidence in the show just by immediately picking up the six episode first season without ever even starting to shoot the pilot…

I’m actually writing the fourth episode in the six episode first season…

…Frank Darabont… His vision for this show is so unique and the pilot script is so strong that I think that that’s why AMC got behind it so quickly. I think Darabont’s hand in this is the thing that is driving it. I think that he’s going to turn this into a pretty awesome television show…

To read the entire interview, simply click here.

Comics on the Fringe

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If you’re a regular viewer of Fringe, then you know all about the alternate universe which is very similar to ours.  It’s an interesting concept and fun to see how things are just tweaked a bit and yet those tweaks make all the… I would say “all the difference in the world,” but I guess I should instead “all the difference in the universe.”

One of the characters on the show likes comics books and so several slightly different prop comics were created for the alternate universe.  Bleeding Cool compares the alt. reality comics with those from our universe.  Slightly tweaked comics can be seen here.

Preview of Stark/Cooke’s The Outfit

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Newsarama recently ran a six page preview of Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Outfit.  It’s the sequel to Hunter [also an adaptation of a Stark novel] and it…

…won the 2009 Diamond Gem Award for Original Graphic Novel of the Year, is nominated for a 2010 Eisner and was a New York Times bestseller.

If that doesn’t make you want to check it out, nothing will.

Joel Carroll’s Topaz

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Today Joel Carroll started his new weekly web comic, Topaz.  Topaz is…

… a space trucker with a heart of gold, blasting from world to world, hoping to make the galaxy a better place.  But trouble seems to follow her…

If this sounds like something you’d like, then check out Topaz by Joel Carroll.

Frank Frazetta – RIP

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Frank Frazetta died today.  He was 82.  Although Mr. Frazetta had been in failing health for many years, the news of his passing is shocking.  Perhaps it’s because his paintings had such strength, such life.  And perhaps because Frank Frazetta’s art has always have been a part of our lives. Mr. Frazetta’s art appeared on the cover of over 150 books and comics, as well as movie posters, album covers, comic book stories, newspaper strips and more.  Equally as important are the number of artists and writers who have been influenced by Frank Frazetta’s talent.  Thankfully, Frank Frazetta’s art will live on to influence future generations.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Frazetta’s family, friends and fans.

Two Guys Talkin’ The Guns of Shadow Valley

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Dave Wachter and Jim Clark created a web comic, The Guns of Shadow Valley, which was recently nominated for an Eisner award.  Although Jim’s name may be new to you, regular ZONE readers should know Dave’s because of my posts about the Stallone pieces he’s drawn for me.

At any rate, here’s an interview from the good folks at Fandomania with both Dave and Jim about their creation The Guns of Shadow Valley…

“Somewhere in the mysterious Shadow Valley lies a secret that could forever change the face of the frontier. To protect that secret, a posse of gunmen with special abilities must come together and defend against a tribe of ghostly warriors, an advancing army led by a deranged Colonel, and the perils of the valley itself.”

Everyone Needs A Bullet to the Head

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That’s the partial cover to Bullet in the Head #2 published by Dynamite.  I’d actually meant to post about the series sooner, but it’s still not to late to get on board — the first issue won’t be out until June.  Bullet in the Head was first published in France back in 2004.  It went on to win “Best Story” at the Prix Saint-Michel comics awards.  In 2009 the film rights were optioned by Warner Bros.

So, what’s Bullet in the Head about you ask?  [And I’m glad you did.]  Bullet in the Head is a crime noir about a pair of buddy cops, a pair of buddy hitmen, some femme fatales and a ever-increasing body count.  Written by Matz, with art by Colin Wilson, the series is geared toward mature audiences.

You can read more about the series and see the first two covers here.