Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Once a week Joblo.com has a feature called Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net. As you can imagine, they post awesome art that they, well, you get the idea.
I always enjoy seeing what JoBlo has found because with each post they list the artist’s name and a link to more of his/her art. If you check it out you’ll discover amazing artists like Eduardo Francisco who did the very cool Addams Family piece above.
The Bride of Frankenstein by the legendary Basil Gogos.
Today is Howard Chaykin’s birthday, I’ve been a Chaykin fan for decades. His work on Cody Starbuck in Star*Reach won me over. Everything that Howard Chaykin writes or draws entertains. I hope his birthday is a great one.
I love this opening sequence for Cowboy Bebop. I’m not familiar with the anime series, but I will be checking out the live action Cowboy Bebop when it premieres on Netflix on November 19th.
It’s time to blow this scene. Who’s in? Cowboy Bebop arrives Nov. 19.
COWBOY BEBOP is an action-packed space Western about three bounty hunters, aka “cowboys,” all trying to outrun the past. As different as they are deadly, Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) form a scrappy, snarky crew ready to hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals — for the right price. But they can only kick and quip their way out of so many scuffles before their pasts finally catch up with them.
Based on the beloved anime series, COWBOY BEBOP is executive produced by André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Makoto Asanuma, Shin Sasaki and Masayuki Ozaki of Sunrise Inc., Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost. Nemec serves as showrunner. Original anime series director Shinichirō Watanabe is a consultant on the series, and original composer Yoko Kanno returns for the live-action adaptation. The series also stars Alex Hassell and Elena Satine.
Watch Cowboy Bebop, a live-action series, only on Netflix.
The Scorpion was Howard Chaykin’s short-lived series for Atlas Comics. What we’re seeing today is a recreation of an unpublished cover by Chaykin that would have appeared on issue two. The Scorpion was a cool character and concept… but then again, it was by Chaykin so what else would you expect?
Ron Salas posted this on Twitter this morning and throughout the day I kept thinking about the amazing job that he did. 100 Bullets was a crime comic written by Brian Azzarello with art by Eduardo Risso. Dave Johnson provided the covers. The series won multiple awards for excellence and remains one of my favorite comics. Ron’s piece is an excellent tribute.
I’ve known Ron for years and am lucky enough to have several Stallone sketches from him. You can see more of his art by following Ron Salas on Twitter. You won’t be disappointed.
Newburn is a new crime comic series coming from Chip Zdarsky (writer) and Jacob Phillips (artist). Here is the first issue synopsis…
EASTON NEWBURN is a private detective without loyalties, investigating conflicts between rival crime factions while collecting enemies along the way. In this DEBUT ISSUE, a man is murdered after stealing from his own mafia family, but they aren’t the ones who ordered the hit…
Below is a page from the first issue which drops November 3rd from Image Comics. If you’d like to see more preview pages you can. As for me, I’ve seen enough. Deal me in.
Marv, created by Frank Miller for his Sin City yarns, is one of my all-time favorite comic characters. If you follow Alex Maleev on Twitter or Instagram, you may have already seen his riff on ole Marv. Even so, the art is so good it is worth another look.
Frank Miller is the writer, artist and letterer on all of his Sin City tales. I get it. Sin City is his baby. When I see cool art like Maleev’s Marv, I wish that Miller would oversee a new Sin City series with guest artists/writers. If not something like that, then how about a pinup book with Sin City art by other talented artists. C’mon, Mr. Miller. We need more Sin City.
Following up on yesterday’s list of 10 Essential Films from the American Neo-Noir Movement, it isn’t much of a stretch to turn our spotlight on crime comics. Richard Keller at CBR compiled his list of The Most Influential Crime Comics Of All Time. Keller’s list is a good one. Before you click over, here are my thoughts on his selections and a few not on his list that are favorites of mine…
Dick Tracy: As a kid I read Dick Tracy comic strips off and on. As an adult I’ve read some Dick Tracy comics (notably those by Kyle Baker and Michael Avon Oeming), but Dick Tracy has never been a character I’ve held dear. I wouldn’t mind someday reading some of the old Dick Tracy comic strips.
The Spirit: Will Eisner’s The Spirit is considered one of the classic comics by nearly everyone. Eisner’s work on The Spirit is cited as an influence by many, many great artists. I’ve read and enjoyed a cross-section of The Spirit comics, but not nearly enough. I need to remedy that. (Oh, and if all you know about Will Eisner’s The Spirit is the movie… you don’t know The Spirit.)
Crime Does Not Pay: I’ve never read any of these comics as they were well before my time. Perhaps I should try to find reprints.
True Crime Comics: Like Crime Does Not Pay, these comics were before my time and I’ve never read any.
Crime SuspenStories: Although also well before my time, I would like to read these EC comics. I’ve toyed with getting the reprints but have never, uh, pulled the trigger. I should.
Sin City: As most of you probably know, Frank Miller’s Sin City comics are my favorite series of all-time. If you like film noir, Mickey Spillane, tough mugs and sexy dames, then these are the comic yarns for you!
Sam & Twitch: I’ve never read any Sam & Twitch comics. Reading Keller’s write-up, I need to change that.
100 Bullets: A classic crime comic where the story was a great as the art. I loved that it was always scheduled for 100 issues and when the story was told, the comic ended… at 100 issues.
Powers: Where the focus is on the cops in a world of super-heroes. I’m a fan.
Stumptown: I haven’t read the comics. That needs to change.
Keller’s list provided me with some crime comics I need to track down. Here are a few I’d recommend that didn’t make his list…
The Black Terror, Seduction of Deceit written by Charles Smith, Beau Dixon, with art by Daniel Brereton. If you liked The Godfather and the tv series Wiseguy then this is for you!
Scalped written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, Scalped is a modern day western where organized crime has moved onto a fictional Indian Reservation.
Gravedigger written by Christopher Mills with art by Rick Burchett. Sadly there are only two Gravedigger tales, but they should be in every crime comic fan’s collection. The stories are collected in the trade Gravedigger: Hot Women and Cold Cash.
The next graphic novel in Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Reckless series. Destroy All Monsters, is now available for pre-order.
Bestselling crime noir masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips bring us a new original graphic novel starring troublemaker-for-hire Ethan Reckless.
It’s 1988 and Ethan has been hired for his strangest case yet: finding the secrets of a Los Angeles real estate mogul. How hard could that be, right? Only what starts as a deep dive into the life of a stranger will soon take a deadly turn, and find Ethan risking everything that still matters to him.
Another smash hit from the award-winning creators of RECKLESS, PULP, MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES, CRIMINAL, and KILL OR BE KILLED — and a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips fans!
I can’t wait to get my mitts on it.
I was reading a discussion between Andy Rausch and Michael Gonzales titled HOW TO WRITE A MEMORABLE HIT MAN: A CONVERSATION AMONG CONNOISSEURS. If you’re a crime fiction fan, especially the sub genre of hitmen, then you’d enjoy the post by Michael Gonzales.
At the end of the article Gonzales listed his Top Ten Hitman List from popular culture. It’s a good list, so I decided to come up with one of my own (listed in alphabetical order):
I know movie fans will like this one. We have the poster and trailer for The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott and starring Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Watch the new trailer for “The Last Duel” a tale of betrayal & vengeance set against the brutality of 14th century France directed by Ridley Scott and starring Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. In theaters October 15.
Back in February I posted about something that Sam Vivano (former MAD magazine art director and friend of Al Jaffee) called The Jaffee Project. Sam’s idea was to get friends and fans of Al Jaffee to send in birthday cards to celebrate Jaffee’s 100th birthday. Al Jaffee was the artist who invented (and produced for decades) Mad Magazine‘s fold-in page as well as Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions.
I sent in a birthday card wishing Mr. Jaffee a happy 100th and thanking him for all of the smiles he brought to me and fans around the world with the art he produced art for Mad Magazine. Little did I know Mr. Jaffee would present me with another smile. I received the post card above yesterday. What a cool gesture for Al Jaffee to respond to all of his fans. I love it when someone you admire turns out to be worthy of the admiration.
I really like everything about this Alien art by Alex Ogle.
First, it tells a story or at least makes you want to know what happened before and after what we see. Second, Alex’s color choices are awesome. They highlight the pen and ink work instead of drawing attention away from the foundation of the piece.
This art reminds me of a synthesis of Bernie Wrightson and Kyle Holtz, but is 100% Alex Ogle. You can see more of Alex’s art at his Instagram page.
Howard Chaykin is one of my all-time favorite comic creators. Chaykin started as an assistant to Gil Kane, worked his way up to being an artist on lesser known titles, then some of the more popular characters including the first issues of Star Wars. Along the way he began writing and drawing his own stories and he never looked back.
Chaykin’s comic stories are intelligent and assume the reader is as well. He has a sense of humor and irony in every tale. His work usually contains adult language and adult situations for which he does not apologize. Comics aren’t just for kids.
If you’ve never read anything by Howard Chaykin, you really should consider changing that.
