Category: Art

American Flagg is Back, Baby!

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After nearly two decades out of print, a collected edition of Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! series is finally coming!American Flagg

was originally published in 1983 by First Comics and was an instant hit! This new, definitive edition is currently planned for a late June or early July release. It will include the first six issues of the series, as well as new art and materials from the creator.

This was one great series and I’m looking forward to the collected editions!

Hellboy & The Goon Team Up

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If someone asked you to name some great team-ups you might think of Abbott and Costello… Batman and Robin… Bogie and Bacall… Hellboy and The Goon…

Wait a minute! Hellboy and The Goon?

But hey’ve never teamed up… Oh yeah, you guessed it fanboy…

Hellboy and The Goon are teaming up in Goon #7 which ships in June from Dark Horse Comics. Click [HERE] for full details.

Now how cool is that?

Cool enough that I’d call my local comic shop and reserve a copy or two now

Art of Hellboy

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As most of you know, I’m a big fan of Mike Mignola‘s Hellboy. The comics, novels and short stories [including the spinoffs] and even the calendar are all above average to excellent each time out.

Despite Big Beatty‘s complaints about Hellboy‘s voice, I’m really looking forward to the movie as well. Mignola has had a hand in almost every aspect of getting it to the big screen. Guillermo del Toro [“Blade II,” which I loved] is directing and he and Mignola seem in sync. They’ve got Ron Perlman [their first choice] as Hellboy…

So what could make the anticipation for “Hellboy” the movie even greater?

How ’bout a Hellboy: the Art of the Movie hardback for less than eighteen bucks?

Christmas Eve Thoughts

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As the hour quickly approaches for ole Saint Nick to arrive, I want to tell you a few things before I hustle off to sleep with dreams of what the morning will bring.

JoBlo has the first official pic for “The Riddick Chronicles.” I’m really hoping that this one lives up to my expectations.

There aren’t many foods that I dislike… except for beets and fruitcake. You can imagine my surprise that anyone likes fruitcake… but why in the world would Jay Leno want to eat a piece that was 125 years old?

Comic artists and comic companies usually send out the coolest Christmas cards.

Christmas will be upon us in less than an hour. I hope this message finds all ZONErs happy and healthy and surrounded by loved ones. I hope that each of you gets what you most desire or at the very least avoids getting what you don’t want.

best,

Craig

Goon or Bust

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I’ve been a fan of Eric Powell and his creation “The Goon” since Eric first started self-publishing it a few years ago.

I talked it up as each issue came out… and again when Eric put out each Goon trade paperback… and again when Dark Horse picked up the series. Well, I’m talking it up again since Dark Horse is providing a free on-line preview of The Goon! Check it out, and if you’ve never picked up an issue, you’ll see what you’ve been missing [and what I’ve been yapping about all these years]!

And by the way, isn’t that the coolest Goon bust?

Meet Ben Templesmith

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If you’re a regular reader of my ZONE posts, then you know I’m a huge Steve Niles fan. I first discovered Niles through his novels and then his comics. Niles’ classic 30 Days of Night is being prepped for the big screen.
Since I’ve talked so much about Steve Niles, I think it’s time I give some time to Ben Templesmith the artist who helped make 30 Days such a runaway hit. Templesmith has his personal website here. If you enjoy them you should give his comics a try!

Mad #438 features Art Adams, John Byrne, J. Scott Campbell, Dave Gibbons, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, John Romita, Jr. and More!

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The last issue of MAD magazine that I bought featured a Frank Frazetta cover for the parody of Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone.In other words it’s been years.

That’ll probably all change in January when Mad #438 hits the stands.

Mad #438 features the work of Arthur Adams, Michael Allred, John Byrne, J. Scott Campbell, Dave Gibbons, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, and John Romita, Jr.

You may not buy it, but you’d be, uh… mad not to at least give it a look!

Meet Rick Remender

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Rick Remender.

You know, the award winning animator who created Swingtown. He worked on the classic Iron Giant. Titan AE. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.Still not sure? OK, maybe if I list some of his comic work. The Avengers. The Terminator. Doll and Creature. Black Heart Billy. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Ok.
Granted, Rick Remender is not a household name. But he should be. The guy has a gazillion cool ideas. He writes. He draws. He animates. The dude is a natural born creator. Rick is pencilling and Big Beatty is inking a 48 page Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book and I gotta tell ya, the art is amazing. It’s black and white with really sweet tones thrown in. I’ve never bought a Turtles book before. Ever. But I may have to break down and get this bad boy.But back to Rick. Check out his website. The new school design rocks. Plan to spend a while. Be sure to check out his Swingtown animations, his sketchbook [I want to see more of The Last Days of American Crime], heck order a book or two if the spirit grabs ya, and drop him a line and tell him I sent ya!

Meet Bill Black

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Bill Black has been publishing comics since 1969. He’s outlasted every other independent comic company and is still going at it. 

Bill is best known for writing and drawing his own creations, but has also published the work of big name artists such as Mike Zeck, Dave Dorman, Dick Ayers, Erik Larsen, George Perez, Greg Horn, Jerry Ordway, Pat Broderick, Paul Gulacy and Wm. Michael Kaluta to name just a few. Bill even gave Big Beatty his first professional job in comics…
…and believe it or not Beatty pencilled, Jerry Ordway inked and I scripted a story which appeared in the comic above!

Meet Tim Bradstreet

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If you like moody, photo-realistic art then you owe it to yourself to check out the work of Tim Bradstreet.I first discovered Tim’s work when he was inking Tim Truman’s Dragon Chiang. It wasn’t long after that that Bradstreet was doing his own stuff. Really cool black and white pinups, covers for just about everyone and giving us glimpses of his Red Sky Diaries.

 

Risso Rocks

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Eduardo Risso is a genius. His work on 100 Bullets is astounding. What makes Risso even more unique is that although he’s been honored with the top awards the industry has to offer, and he’s admired by fans and pros alike, he continues to work on the regular monthly title 100 Bullets. There’ve been six trade paperback compilations and I highly recommend them all! [ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR / FIVE / SIX] Risso and Azzerello have recently teamed to produce a six issue arc of Batman. The first issue is #620 and is on stands now. The first printing sold out from the publisher, but you may find a few still around. It’s great stuff, so it’d be worth your effort to find a copy. 

The Walking Dead!

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I love a good end of the world, small band of survivors fighting to survive against all odds story. You know, like Stephen King’s The Stand… “28 days later” and the clasic “Night of the Living Dead.”

Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s comic “The Walking Dead” can now join the list! I’m not kidding. It’s really that good. Don’t believe me? Then check out this review. And this one. Better yet, read it yourself. I did and I’ve added it to my monthly must buy list.

I really wasn’t familiar with Robert Kirkman before reading “The Walking Dead.” If you’re like me and want to know more about him, you can check out this interview. If you want to know a bit more about Tony Moore, here’s a link to his site.

I’d like to hang around and tell you more about “The Walking Dead” but I think I’ll go back and re-read it again.

It’s really THAT good!

Tampa Con & More

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I’m looking forward to this weekend. Big John Beatty and I will be motoring down to Tampa for Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention. Big Beatty is a guest but before I get to that…Saturday night Beatty and I are going to attend a little get together put on by Randy Martin. Randy is an avid art collector whose theme happens to be Edward Scissorshands. How cool is that? John Higashi will be there with his Star Wars theme [which includes are from just about anyone who is ANYONE. How many collections do you know that feature Drew Struzan originals [note the “s” as in many]? John Dell and other artists will be attending as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

The next day is Tampa Con. John is a guest [which makes me a guest of a guest, I suppose]. Other real guests include MARTY NODELL [creator of the original GREEN LANTERN], ETHAN VAN SCIVER [X-Men], ALEX SAVIUK [Spider-Man], JIM FERN [Scion, Wolverine], AUSTIN JANOWSKY [Superman], DICK KULPA [artist and publisher of CRACKED], MARK and STEPHANIE HEIKE and others.

If you happen to be in the area, stop in and say, “Hi.” I’ll be the guy in the StalloneZone shirt angeling for more Stallone sketches!

Cool & Fun

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I’ll bet that the new “Punisher” movie does pretty well at the box office. I say this for two reasons:

1] The Punisher is a pretty cool character and

2] the trailer makes it look like the movie will be fun.

So yeah, I think that it’ll do well even though the guy playing the Punisher doesn’t look like the “bad mofo” I’ve come to know and love. Mike Zeck’s Punisher… now that’s the real Punisher!