Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
This is the teaser poster for Otis Frampton’s new sci/fi action web comic ESCAPE FROM PLANET NOWHERE. Starting this Sunday [March 7th] a new page will be uploaded every week. Since I’m a fan of Otis’ art and I love good science fiction/action stories, dropping in each week will be a no-brainer for me. I bet you’d dig it too!
The Pitch: Darwyn Cooke [artist] teams with Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti [writers] for the 50th issue [a double-sized extravaganza] of Jonah Hex.
The Overview: Hex and a female bounty hunter named Tallulah have found that working together has benefits… their relationship has become more than just professional. After a night spent together celebrating a huge reward, Hex wakes up alone. Determined to find Tallulah and the reason she left, Hex accepts a bounty mission to bring in 50 criminals. Fifty bounties is a huge burden, but it’ll be easier than accepting what he learns about Tallulah.
The Good: Darwyn Cooke’s art. The story by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti. Tallulah is a cool character and the perfect love interest for Hex. The reason Tallulah left. Fifty bounties for the 50th issue was a nice touch.
The Bad: What happens to those hunted by Hex or Tallulah. Hex’s attitude after Tallulah leaves. What happens along the way and when Hex finds her.
The Ugly: Jonah Hex.
The Summary: Jonah Hex #50 is a great read. The story has twists that will surprise even the most jaded comic reader. It’s a double-sized issue and presents a complete story, so even the most casual comic reader can enjoy it. It’s definitely worth searching out.
Mike Torrance pencils, inks and colors. Mike regular posts a sketchcard idea contest at Retro Cowboy Productions and his Deviant Art site. Here’s how it works, Mike posts a subject and the first one to make request which fits the theme is the winner! This is the second time I’ve won [the theme this time: 80’s Action Heroes — the first time I won: Detectives].
Mike is available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable. Check him out.
And now.., I give you, Newsarama’sTony Harris Week: Day Five!
This month’s Previews featured a full page ad for a new printing of Steranko’s classic Chandler: Red Tide. Originally published in 1976, Chandler: Red Tide is sometimes referred to as the first graphic novel. At the time it was published, Steranko called it an illustrated novel. I think a more accurate description is the one used by Dark Horse in the press release:
After emerging as Marvel Comics most controversial superstar, Jim Steranko tackled his greatest artistic challenge: creating an entirely new medium, the visual novel -not an illustrated novel or novel-length comic book, but a seamless fusion of interdependent graphic and prose narratives forming a powerful and original new method of telling stories.
But why stop there? Let’s go on… Chandler: Red Tide is an…
… artistic tour-de-force, Red Tide is hard-boiled detective fiction in the bare-knuckle tradition of Hammett, Cain, and Chandler, as well as the dark, atmospheric milieu of film noir.
Although I own an original printing that’s been in my collection since it was first published, I will be picking up the Dark Horse edition since it…
has been remastered with state-of-the-art digital colors by Eisner Award-winner Dave Stewart, in a collector’s quality hardcover edition.
Can’t let the day slip away without mentioning Newsarama’sTony Harris Week: Day Four!
Hey, I almost forgot to tell you about Tony Harris Week: Day Three. It’s Newsarama’s follow up to Tony Harris Week: Day One, and Day Two. Anyone starting to see a pattern?
Hey, if you enjoyed Tony Harris Week: Day One, then you’ll want to check out Day Two. Tony talks about his role as a founding member of Gaijin Studio, his early work breaking in to comics, his influences and more.
If you’re a Tony Harris fan [and if you’re not, you should be], then you’ll want to check out Newsarama’s A Week of Tony Harris. Here is Day One.
Today’s piece is Jon Riggle’s take on Sly as Jack Carter from Get Carter. Jon is an illustrator and photographer. He also created the Sci-Fi comic strip Sonic Jack and is available for commissions. You can see more of Jon’s art here.
Thanks to Jon and John Beatty for the gift.
I was already looking forward to Turf, a four issue mini-series by writer, Jonathan Ross and artist, Tommy Lee Edwards, before I read this interview with them over at Newsarama. As you may recall, Turf is set in New York in 1929 and involves gangsters, vampires and aliens. Or as Turf is described on the Image site:
A 4-issue hard-boiled noir crime thriller with girls, guns, fangs and aliens.
New York, 1929. The height of prohibition. The cops turn a blind eye while the mobs run the city, dealing in guns, girls and illegal liquor. But the arrival of the mysterious Dragonmir Family from Eastern Europe with more of a taste for blood then booze coincides with a series of brutal attacks on the gangsters themselves. As the gangs fall before the fangs, only a handful of mobsters survive. But an unlikely alliance formed between tough guy Eddie Falco and a character from a long way from New York City – a long way from Earth in fact – offers the humans a glimmer of hope. As the strong willed young reporter Susie Dale from the Gotham Herald tries to survive in the middle of the maelstrom, and an ancient prophecy unfolds, no one can guess who’s going to win the battle for this particular slice of Turf.
I’ve already put in my order for the series. You may want to as well.
This week we have Sly as Rambo by Tom Hodges.
I discovered Tom’s art through his DA site and then last August, Tom had a 24 Hour Draw-A-Thon live on UStream. I got on board and commissioned a sketch of Jack Carter and this Rambo.
Tom still draws regularly on UStream and it’s always fun watching him go at it.
Here’s an idea for a website. Round up sixteen top-notch artists like…
Have one of the artists pick a character for all of them to draw. Post the drawings as they are completed. Wait a week and do it all over again. That’s exactly what happens at Comic Twart.
So far we’ve been treated to their riffs on Zorro, The Rocketeer and Torpedo. I can’t wait to see what next week will bring. Heck, truth to tell, I’m excited about what will be posted tomorrow. I’ll bet you will be to, if you spend a few minutes checking out Comic Twart.
Derek Fridolfs offers a free headsketch with every sketchbook purchased through his website. I own three pieces by Derek and am looking forward to more. I picked up Derek’s take on Sly as Cosmo Carboni from “Paradise Alley” at last year’s Heroes Con.
You can check out Derek’s work here.
I was diggin’ through the ZONE vault today and came across this Howard Chaykin sketch of American Flagg that appeared in an old FIRST COMICS newsletter probably over 25 years ago. Hope ya dig it as much as I do.
