Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Yesterday we got a look at Francesco Francavilla’s classic Universal Monsters posters. It seemed only natural to follow them up with Dell Comics adaptations of the same.
Above is Creature from the Black Lagoon, but if you click over to The Bristol Board you can see larger versions of it as well as Dell Comics covers for Dracula, The Mummy and Frankenstein!
Stan Lee has died at the age of 95. Lee was a writer, editor, publisher, creator or co-creator of some of the most popular comic characters the world has ever seen. Lee began his career in comics in 1939, but it was in the early 1960’s that he hit his stride. Teaming with Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby they created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk and so many other heroes beloved by children and adults throughout the world. Under Lee’s leadership Marvel soared.
I had the good fortune to see Stan Lee at HeroesCon a few years ago. My wife and I were attending the HeroesCon annual art auction. It was probably 9 or 9:30 and the auction was well underway when a murmur went through the crowd. Stan Lee had entered the banquet hall! The crowd became quiet as Stan took the microphone and said a few words. When he’d finished, the crowd erupted with applause. I’ve rarely seen a person who so captivated such a huge crowd.
Thanks Stan for the hours and hours of entertainment you provided or inspired. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Lee’s family, friends and fans.
This Sin City poster by Greg Staples was just too cool not to share. See more of Greg’s art here and a slightly bigger version at Movie Poster Movement.
I think a lot of folks who drop by here would like Slots by Dan Panosian. Besides being beautifully drawn, the story involves an aging boxer looking for redemption…
You can say this about the life of Stanley Dance: he did it his way. Unfortunately, his way never took getting old into account. Now, the former boxer is on his last legs, looking for redemption… but he’ll settle for going down swinging.
Roll the dice with superstar artist Dan Panosian as he creates a bold and breathtaking vision of Las Vegas, where everything old can become new, and superstition influences just how the chips fall.
I’m putting in my order. You should consider doing the same!
If you enjoyed Frank Miller’s graphic novel or the movie adaptation that followed, you may want to check out Xerxes: The Fall of Darius and the Rise of Alexander. That mouth full of title is Miller’s 300 sequel. Here’s the synopsis:
This historical epic, set in the world of 300, tells of the upsurge and decline of the Persian King’s empire, and the ascent of the Grecian realm through Alexander.
Written and illustrated by comics luminary and legend, Frank Miller (Sin City, The Dark Knight, 300), and colored by Alex Sinclair (Batman: The Dark Knight III: The Master Race), this companion to Miller’s epic masterpiece, 300, brings the historical story of Xerxes to the graphic novel audience with grit and visual style!
The ongoing Greek rebellion against Persian tyranny reaches a turning point after the destruction of the city of Sardis and the later battle of Marathon: on a military campaign to vanquish the city of Athens and silence the Greeks once and for all, Xerxes, Persian Prince, watches as his father, King Darius, falls in battle . . . The mantle of king is passed and while his newly-inherited fleet retreats toward home, Xerxes’ hatred is cemented toward Athens–and his incentive to build the Persian empire is fueled. Xerxes becomes the king of all countries–the king of Persia, ruler of Zion, and Pharoah of Egypt–and his empire is unlike any the world has ever seen, until . . . The mantle is again passed, the god king dies and Darius III continues as the king of all. But then, from the west, a tiger force strikes in Asia Minor and is on a course for collision with Persian forces. This will be the beginning of the end for Persia and the launch of Alexander the Great’s rise to power!
Xerxes: The Fall of Darius and the Rise of Alexander drops on March 5, 2019. But you can click on the link and get your order in now if you so desire.
Stephen Franck’s Silver, a four volume graphic novel series set in the original universe inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but 40 years later, has repeatedly received my highest recommendation. In this interview at ComicsBeat, Franck discusses Vampires and Endings and more. Check it out!
Matthew Jackson and Mental Floss present 11 Legendary Facts About Enter the Dragon. Here are three of my favorites …
2. THE LOOK WAS INSPIRED BY A COMIC STRIP.
Enter the Dragon was made quickly, on a tight schedule, and with a budget much more constrained than what we commonly associate with action movies today. As a result, Heller and Weintraub had to start concerning themselves with getting sets built in Hong Kong even before Michael Allin’s script was completely finalized. To do that, Heller looked to his childhood and to a comic strip about adventures in China that he’d loved, Terry and the Pirates.“It was high chroma reds, blues, golds, and it just lent itself to this project so closely,” Heller said.
So, with Terry and the Pirates in mind, Heller began working with a sketch artist to design various sets, including Han’s (Kien Shih) underground layer, the banquet hall on the island, and other key areas of Han’s domain. From there, the sketches were turned over to set builders in Hong Kong, and construction was underway
8. THE ICONIC MIRRORED ROOM WAS NOT IN THE SCRIPT.
It’s impossible now to imagine Enter the Dragon without the iconic final fight between Lee and Han, which takes place in a mirrored room that replicates Lee’s movements several times over as he delivers his famous kicks. Once upon a time, though, this was nowhere in the script, and only came about because Heller noticed the effect mirrors had at a Hong Kong hotel where he was eating one day.“I took Bruce and showed it to him. He thought it was too fragmented, that you couldn’t get any action that would mean anything out of it,” Heller recalled. “Bob Clouse and I really fought hard for it, and we created this mirrored room.”
Clouse and Heller pushed ahead with the mirror concept, and once they showed the set to Lee and he was able to move around in the space, he became a believer. A special “closet” made of mirrors with a hole cut in one side for the camera lens was built, so that the cameraman would always blend into the rest of the scene, and filming of the famous sequence began. According to Hubbs, though, working for hours on end in that environment created a unique set of challenges.
“I remember that I would always have to touch, because if I’m looking at something, they might not be there, they might be over there,” Hubbs said. “I found that I could only be in there for a couple of hours, and I’d have to go out and sit down and look at a wall and real dimension, because it’s like there was a fourth dimension in there.”
9. LEE CHOREOGRAPHED THE FIGHT SCENES HIMSELF.
Lee was not just the star of Enter the Dragon. He also played a key role in how it was staged, as the screenplay would often describe action sequences by simply saying “This Will Be Choreographed by Mr. Bruce Lee.” As Heller recalled, Lee would often walk through the various sets, particularly Han’s underground lair, and look for details and props that he could then incorporate into each sequence, with the help of Clouse. Together, they worked closely to engineer the film’s iconic fight sequences, and by the time early footage from the film was available, Lee was so excited that he didn’t want Enter the Dragon to end. According to Weintraub, he later went back to Hong Kong to shoot the early sparring sequence at the monastery with his friend Sammo Hung.
Vin Diesel’s next film is Bloodshot based on the Valiant comic book character created by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin, and Bob Layton. The art above (autographed by Diesel and featuring him as Bloodshot) was created by Lewis LaRosa for Paul Walker’s Reach Out Worldwide charity.
Check out Chris Evangelista’s post Vin Diesel As ‘Bloodshot’ Revealed in Concept Art at /Film to learn more about the movie, the comic character and to see a larger version of the art above.
Three years ago this month, I posted Victor Santos’ Polar Headed to the Big Screen! Well, guess what! Premiering in 2019, on Netflix, Polar: Came from the Cold, the movie adaptation (directed by Jonas Åkerlund and starring Mads Mikkelsen) follows a retired assassin who finds himself and his child the target of assassins. In anticipation of the film Dark Horse has prepared a second edition of Polar: Came from the Cold (the graphic novel that started the series).
Santos followed the original story with Polar Volume 2: Eye for an Eye. Here’s the synopsis:
Left adrift in arctic waters with a gunshot wound to the head, adrift in arctic waters, Christy White was rescued from an icy death by a mysterious man. She craved retribution, and he taught her how to get it–how to make sense of her past and how to kill. They tried to freeze her out, but they should have finished the job, because now she’s back with a vengeance!
Santos was on a roll, so next came…
Polar Volume 3: No Mercy for Sister Maria…
After two years on the run, mob boss Don Cagliostro discovers his young wife, Maria–seeking escape from a life of organized crime–has been hiding in a nunnery in northern Europe. What the don doesn’t know is that his right-hand man, Sullivan, who’s been tasked with bringing the girl back home, is actually an undercover FBI agent seeking out Maria as a star witness in his case against the family. A simple-enough task . . . until info on Maria’s whereabouts leaks. When mobsters, mercenaries, and hit men converge on the convent in the hopes of collecting a reward for bringing Maria to the don, the holy ground becomes a battleground!
Up to this point, all the Polar stories first appeared at Santos’ Polarcomic.com before being reprinted in hardcover editions. Santos surprised his fans recently with the announcement that a fourth Polar volume would be coming out on April 2, 2019!
Polar Volume 4: The Kaiser Falls…
An indomitable, yet aging spy assimilates to retirement in Miami, until a rookie assassin locates him and challenges him to his crown.
Living a simple life down in the Miami sunshine gets complicated when Black Kaiser’s housemaid has some problems involving a local gang. However, resurfacing to maintain the peace, puts him right in the new adversary’s crosshairs. Buckle up because Black Kaiser’s last ride is going to get rough!
Wait! There’s more!
What? How can that be if Polar Volume 4 is the final chapter?
I’m glad you asked. You see, Santos originally published an origin story in Spain that has never seen print in the US! But thanks the fine folks at Dark Horse and Victor Santos we’ll get to see the original story but remastered to make it look even better!
Polar Volume 0: The Black Kaiser…
The Black Kaiser, a name whispered in dark corners amongst power czars across the globe. A cold knife in the dark. A secret agent. Delve into the origin of the most feared assassin as his current mission lands him on American soil and in direct conflict with the nefarious agency known as the Damocles Initiative.
New York Times Bestseller Victor Santos (Filthy Rich, Violent Love) takes you back to the beginning with the origin of his iconic character Black Kaiser! A violent and fast-paced thriller. Now a Major Motion Picture.
I’m stoked for the continuation of the Polar series. Polar is unique in that in each volume a new (or returning character) becomes the star for that volume. Black Kaiser was the lead in the first book, but was a supporting player in the next tale with the Christy White character getting the starring role. The third volume was set in the Polar universe and with the fourth volume the Kaiser returns to center stage.
I’ve gotten the first three Polar volumes and look forward to revisiting that universe with Volumes 4 and 0. And if the movie is good, that’s just a bonus!
Today we have a rarely seen barbarian drawn by the master, Barry Windsor Smith. You can see a larger version at The Beauty of Black Lines.
The Rocky drawing above was created by the guy in the photo below. He goes by Moritat but his given name is Justin Norman. I met Moritat at The Infinity Toy and Comic Con in Kissimmee earlier this year. I was hanging out with John Beatty (who was also set up at the show) and Moritat was at the next table. I saw the fantastic art Moritat was creating and enjoyed talking with him, so it was only natural I asked for a sketch. If we hadn’t had to leave the show early, I’d have gotten another.
Brad Gullickson and Film School Rejects present The 10 Best Comic Book Horror Movies. (Sadly the original post is no longer available.) Using just Gullickson’s list, here are his comments (and mine) for my top three:
30 Days of Night (2007)
Most vampire movies leave me cold, so color me surprised to find one of my favorites set in the freezing wasteland of Alaska’s eternal night. In addition to a brilliant premise — a tribe of vamps arriving in Barrow, AK just as the town settles into month-long seasonal darkness — the film delivers with some truly brutal and terrifically designed creatures and kills, engaging characters, and memorable cinematography. It’s a tight, visceral horror film that breathes life into the undead the same way 28 Days Later did with “zombies,” and it ends with a legitimately touching emotional beat. Now where’s my goddamn sequel?! (he said, knowing full well a lesser follow-up came and went in 2010). – Rob HunterCraig: I was a big fan of Steve Niles work, so his (and Ben Templesmith’s) 30 Days of Night comic series set the bar pretty high. I loved the concept of an isolated city in Alaska about to go through its annual 30 days of night. Of course vampires would want to go there. And they do, with the intent to wipe out the town during a month of excessive feasting. Just writing about this movie makes me want to view it again.
The Crow (1994)
From page to screen, the legacy of The Crow is synonymous with tragedy. The original graphic novel was created as a form of catharsis for writer James O’Barr after his girlfriend was taken too soon because of a drunk driver. Of course, most of you will know the story of Brandon Lee’s freak death while filming a shootout scene cpurtesy of a real bullet among the blanks. As a result, there’s an air of melancholy to The Crow that few other movies have captured. At the same time, it’s also a highly stylish and entertaining actioner with a rocking soundtrack befitting of the dark gods. The sequels all suck, but the first movie is a bona fide masterpiece of supernatural vigilante storytelling. – Kieran FisherCraig: Like 30 Days of Night, I was familiar with James O’Barr’s The Crow from it’s first published appearance in Caliber comics. The movie did a great job of adapting the comics and staying true to O’Barr’s vision. Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee’s son, who died during filming) was a bonus.
Blade II (2002)
I love Wesley Snipes, and I adore the joyful bravado that he injects into his Daywalker. He may pretend he’s brooding, but that’s a cat who (internally) whistles while he works. Slaying vampires has never been more satisfying. But – look. This is not just a Blade film. Guillermo del Toro came off Mimic and The Devil’s Backbone and threw his entire geeky consciousness into Blade II. Each frame is packed with references to Hellboy, Watchmen, The Searchers, Vampire Hunter D, Predator, Nosferatu, etc. For as suave and cool as the vampires were in the original film, del Toro comes at his Reapers with a Richard Matheson “I Am Legend” mentality. These are not pretty creatures that sip blood to the tunes of the children of the night. These are savage animals that threaten to devour the world, and force night and day walkers to unite in a Dirty Dozen team-up. The climax amounts to a vicious series of showdowns between hero and monster: the traitor, the goon, the count, and finally, the beast. After all is said and done, you may even find yourself getting misty over the tragedy of it all. – Brad Gullickson
Craig: I never read comics featuring Blade. I didn’t care for the original Blade movie at all. I thought Wesley Snipes was perfect as Blade and as a fan of Guillermo del Toro, willing to give Blade II a chance. I am so glad I did, because I loved it. How could you not love Blade going up against the King of all Vampires? Blade II is going to get another viewing from me soon.
This is one of four Universal Monsters trading cards drawn by Mike Mignola and posted by Cool Comic Art. You can see the one above as well as the other 3 Mignola Universal Monsters cards here.
Check out the new Walking Dead Official Season 9 Opening Animated Credits!
Wow. This brought back some great memories. Frank Miller (writer) and David Mazzucchelli (artist) were killing it with their new limited series Batman: Year One. There was no internet. The Comic Buyer’s Guide (a weekly newspaper for comic fans) was the nearest thing to advance word on comics besides some monthly fan magazines.
So when DC started posting teaser ads for Batman: Year One and promoting the series like it was a special event (which it was), you knew you were in for a treat.
Thanks to I Can’t Stop Thinking About Comics for posting this rare ad. If you’d like to see a larger version ICSTAC has one at their site.
