Rare Cowboy Sketch by Steranko!
Here’s a rate cowboy pencil sketch by the legendary Steranko!!
Category: Art
Marv by Libertore!
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have Marv by Libertore.
Silver St. Cloud, Executioners and Batman by Marshall Rogers!
This is one of the best all-time Marshall Rogers sketches that I’ve ever seen. Silver St. Cloud being led to a potential sacrifice by hooded thugs (satanists?) with Batman about to save the day. This is a story that begs to be told!!
Vampire by Andrew Robinson!
Here’s a vintage vampire piece by the great Andrew Robinson. I believe this was for a role-playing game. What a talent!
YOU ARE HERE by Kyle Baker
YOU ARE HERE by Kyle Baker
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Noel Coleman has it all. He’s a successful artist. Helen, his beautiful fiancée, loves him. He owns an attractive house in the country. For the past year that Noel and Helen lived together, life has been perfect.
Noel plans to ask Helen to marry him. It’s just… he has secrets. Noel wants to come clean. But how do you tell your future (hopefully) wife that you were a criminal when you met her? Noel decides he’ll figure out how to tell her when the time comes.
So Noel informs Helen that he’s going into the city to clean the last things out of his apartment. When he gets back, he’ll pop the question.
Noel heads in to the city and runs into his old crime partner. They decide to have a drink. The more they talk the more Noel realizes he misses the life. His partner talks about a job he’s set up. He offers Noel a piece of the action if he wants to come. Noel is tempted. He decides once he comes clean to Helen, her reaction will decide the life he’ll live.
Then Noel learns that an infamous serial killer just got released from prison. The killer has made it known he’s going to kill the bum that slept with his wife. Noel is that bum! Noel realizes he needs to get out of the city and quick. Thank God Helen didn’t come with him.
Noel sees Helen at about the same time as he catches sight of the killer. Unfortunately the killer has seen them.
Noel will have a lot of explaining to do if they survive. And odds are they won’t.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The art feels very Disneyish and yet the story is noir. The combination works. Baker sets us up to expect one thing and gives us another. The bathtub scene (in the preview below) is just one example. I love the cartoony style used in this tale. I also thought telling the story without word balloons was creative. Having the serial killer resemble Robert Mitchum was icing on the cake.
This isn’t a story for kids. There is sex and violence. Happy endings are for Disney and this is noir.
YOU ARE HERE gets my highest recommendation!
YOU ARE HERE by Kyle Baker rates 5 of 5 stars.
Rating:
100 Bullets’ Megan & Cole by Eduardo Risso!
One of the all-time best crime comics is 100 BULLETS written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. Here Risso gives us two characters from the tale, Megan and Cole.
“Touch of Evil” by Sean Phillips!
Sean Phillips gives us a cool shot of Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), Mike (Charlton Heston) and Susan Vargas (Janet Leigh) from Touch of Evil!
If you’re not familiar with Sean Phillips or Touch of Evil, you should correct that straight away.
Leon & Matilda from “The Professional” by Jason Pearson!
Here’s a vintage piece by Jason Pearson. Leon and Matilda from The Professional!
Brik by Dan Panosian!
Brik by Dan Panosian. I believe (and hopefully Dan will set us straight) that this was a character design he created. Like everything Dan draws, it’s very cool.
Marv by Joelle Jones!
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have Marv by Joelle Jones.
“Curse of the Werewolf” by Shane Oakley!!
Now THAT is a great Curse of the Werewolf drawing by Shane Oakley!!
Pre-Dark Knight Batman by Frank Miller!
Here’s a sketch saved from the Zablo vault. It’s a pre-Dark Knight Batman by Frank Miller. This piece appears to be from the late 70s or very early 80s.
Batman by Jorge Fornés!
This is wonderful. Bravo! Jorge Fornés nailed it.
MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL by Saurav Mohapatra & Vivek Shinde / Z-View
MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL BOOK ONE: GOOD COP, BAD COP by Saurav Mohapatra (writer), Vivek Shinde (artist)
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Five years ago life was good. Arjun Kadam was happily married. He was a cop with a bright future. Kadam was personally selected by the Chief to join the Mumbai Encounter Squad. The squad was a strike force authorized to use whatever force necessary to take down the worst criminals.
But that was then.
After Kadam’s wife died, things began to spiral. The Squad was crossing lines in the name of justice that were questionable at best. Then a hit and run driver put Kadam in a coma and killed the little girl he was talking with.
Now Kadam has recovered. He’s no longer a cop. Kadam’s dealing with depression and drug dependency. The thing that keeps Kadam going is his determination to find the little girl’s killer.
Kadam’s journey will take him from slums and back alleys to the richest Bollywood nightclubs. As Kadam digs deeper into the Mumbai Underworld the difference between gangsters and cops becomes blurred. No longer a cop, Kadam is on his own. Survival is unlikely when mobsters and out of control cops want you dead.
Arjun Kadam doesn’t care. He’s going to take them all down… or die trying.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
If you’re a fan of noir, The Shield, and 100 Bullets, then MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL is for you. Featuring a non-linear storyline and wonderful art, it reads like a novel. Saurav Mohapatra has the tough guy dialogue down. Vivek Shinde’s art compliments the story with his exciting visuals and muted colors. (It was originally conceived to be done in ink wash.)
As the story unfolds we get interludes by different artists that take us deeper in the world of MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL. I found the different art styles interesting and added to my enjoyment of the main storyline. The interludes are…
- Remaster by Sid Kotian
- House of Cards by Saumin Patel
- Missed Call by Vinay Brahmania and Shounak Jog
- Full Moon by Vinay Brahmania
- Demand and Supply by Devaki Neogi
MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL gets my highest recommendation!
MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL BOOK ONE: GOOD COP, BAD COP by Saurav Mohapatra (writer), Vivek Shinde (artist) rates 5 of 5 stars.
Rating:
“Over the Top” Alt Poster by Robert Samelin!
Robert Samelin created this neat alt Over the Top poster. Click over to this world-arm-wrestling-championship-sized version and you’ll get a good look at the background characters. Terry Funk is front and center. Right next to him is Robert Loggia. You can check out the rest of the crowd too.
Source: Retro Rewind.
