Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
The Hellboy II movie website has been plugging along and adding concept art, video updates, first looks at the major characters and more. So why haven’t I been talking it up? I don’t know I guess I just forgot.
Next Sunday, December 9th, my buddy John Beatty will be one of the guests at the Epic Comic Con in Orlando, Florida. He’ll be there along with a bunch of comic book artists, professional wrestlers as well as a couple of actors and authors. Talk about an interesting mix!
John will be sketching and signing autographs. I’ll be there hanging out as well. If you’re in the area, plan to drop on by!
ComingSoon.net scored a first look at the Soloman Kane poster above. Kane was created by Robert E. Howard [the pulp writer best known for Conan].Raf and Chris Mills are our experts on Soloman Kane. My experience with Soloman Kane is from a couple of Marvel comics [written and drawn by the great Howard Chaykin] from the 70’s… and maybe a story or two from one of the Marvel Conan or Savage Sword black and white mags. I enjoyed the character enough to read those stories when I came across them, but never felt compelled to seek out more. Maybe this movie will change that.
Zombies are in. Nearly forty years after George Romero recreated a horror genre, zombies have never been more popular. Let’s take a look a three currently running zombie comics.
The Walking Dead, which single handedly jump started the genre back to comics continues to go strong. I’ve been talking up this series since the first issue and it continues to be the only comic that I must read as soon as I get it home. Issue 42 [43 is on stands now] has the most surprising double page spread that I’ve seen in any comic in years… then there was an even bigger shock when you turned the page. The original issues are hard to find and pretty expensive when you do. If you’re just coming to the series you might want to seek out the paperback trades [Volume 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] or spend a bit more for the hardcovers [Book 1 2 3]. However you get the stories, I can guarantee you a great ride thanks to the talents of writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard.
Living with the Dead #1 just came out from Dark Horse. Writer Mike Richardson and artist Ben Stenbeck team to bring us a Shaun-of-the-Dead-type zombie series that has just the right mix of humor. Two slackers are making the best of a bad situation. These guys have been best buds for years and if a zombie infestation can’t break up their friendship, surely a cute babe won’t. Right… right?
XXXombies #1 also just hit the stands. Featuring the talents of some of my favorite comic creators [Rick Remender, Tony Moore and Kieron Dwyer] this zombie tale is definitely not for kids [are any zombie tales?] since it follows a group of adult film actors and crew having to deal with, you guessed it, a zombie infestation.
My guess is, if you are a fan of the zombie genre, you’d enjoy any of these comics. If not, then not.
Frank Miller has The Spirit. Yeah, man!
The more I see of the Iron Man movie the more I think I’m really gonna dig it. The international trailer is short but, oh so sweet.
I’ve been a fan of Scalped by Jason Aaron [writer] and R.M. Guera [artist] since issue one. In fact I like the series so much I’ve purchased both the individual comics and the trade paperbacks [Indian Country and Casino Boogie] as they become available.
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There are two comic cons within driving distance of most folks living in the central Florida area. The first, on November 11th is the ever-popular Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention put on by Tim Gordon. You’ve heard me rave about it over the years and there’s no doubt that this one will be another good ‘un.Another buddy of mine, Steve Meyers, owner of World of Comics [where I’ve gotten my comics for the last 20+ years] is putting on a small show which will feature two big guests! Legendary comic artist Dick Giordano will be on hand along with Big John Beatty!
Since many of you enjoy art I thought you might get a kick out of some recent sketches that I picked up for addition to my Stallone Theme Gallery! 
ComicBookResources.com posted the Top 50 Marvel and DC characters as voted on by fans. It gave me the idea to list my Top 10 Marvel and DC characters:
If you’re in the Port St. Lucie, Florida area on October 13th, you should come by the The show is always a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!
I got a chance to watch the Superman / Doomsday animated movie yesterday.While not on par with the Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 30’s [not many cartoons are], Superman / Doomsday is an enjoyable tale brought to life by co-writer/co-director, Bruce Timm and a well chosen cast of actors including Adam Baldwin [Superman], Anne Heche [Lois Lane], James Marsters [Lex Luthor], Ray Wise [Perry White] and others.
The bonus features include behind the scenes with the voice actors, the animators, commentary tracks, as well as a sneak peak at The New Frontier [an upcoming animated feature based on Darwyn Cooke’s award-winning series — and I can’t wait to see it].
If you’re a Superman or comic book fan, my guess is that you’ll enjoy it. If you’re not a fan of either then you probably stopped reading this post long ago.
My old buddy, Andy Smith wrote the book on Drawing Dynamic Comics.
Next weekend I’ll join my best bud, John Beatty, at OrlandoCon. John will be a there all weekend signing autographs and sketching. I’ll be there to hang with Big J, see some old friends and hopefully relax a bit. Who knows I may even try to get an addition to my Stallone sketch collection.
If you’re in the area, swing by and say, “Hi.”
Iron Man was never really one of my favorite characters. I did read the title when David Michelinie was writing it with art by Bob Layton. They had a great run, but when they left the book so did I.
The Iron Man movie trailer hit the internet today and I’ve gotta tell ya, it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I guess I’ll have to give ole Shell Head another try.
