The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 6

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“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week [written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton]: Day 6 @ the ZONE.  Today’s art is from issue 2 [art by Dan Brereton].

All week long I’ve been yappin’ about what a great series this was.  Hopefully, from the quotes and teaser art, you’re interest has been piqued enough to either pull out your copies and re-read the dang thing, or if you’d never heard of it until this week, to round up a set for yourself.

If you’re already a fan, then why not drop Beau Smith, Chuck Dixon and Dan Brereton a line and let them know.  Better yet, why not e-mail Todd McFarlane [who holds the rights to the comic] at Spawn.com Publishing and suggest they give the series the reprint it deserves!

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 5

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“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week [written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton]: Day 5 @ the ZONE.   Today’s art is an extremely rare piece by Dan Brereton from a 1988 issue of The Comic Shop News.   It appeared with an article about “the return of a Golden Age hero” [The Black Terror] scheduled to appear in Total Eclipse #3 [a company crossover book] “who will then move into his own title in 1989“.

It’s interesting to note that the article said that “The Black Terror” would be co-written by  Beau Smith and Chuck Dixon [it was] and “illustrated by two artists new to Eclipse, Dan Brereton and Brandon Peterson” [it wasn’t].  Dan Brereton did all of the art chores.  I e-mailed Brandon to find out what happened and here is his response:

“I was given a tryout just out of High School by Beau that Beau liked, but Eclipse wanted one artist on the series and that was Dan, which was the very right decision to make at the time.”

So that’s one small mystery solved, but here’s another: Who is the the character standing beside The Black Terror in today’s art?  I believe it is Beau Smith’s comic alter ego.   Beau, am I mistaken?

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 4

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It’s Day 4 of “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week @ the ZONE.  You may be getting tired of hearing that “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton is one of the best comic stories ever.  But it’s true.

Today’s post is a very loose, and rarely seen sketch of The Black Terror drawn by the series award-winning artist, Dan Brereton.  Today’s quote by Beau Smith [who came up with the concept for the series and co-wrote it] talks about the psychological terror that runs throughout “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit”:

“Books like Batman, Punisher, and Moon Knight bring you the hostile side of violence.  The Black Terror brings you one step further – into the brutality of the mind.”

If The Black Terror sounds like something you’d like, then track down some issues and give it a go. If you’re already a fan, then why not drop Beau Smith, Chuck Dixon and Dan Brereton a line and let them know. Better yet, why not e-mail Todd McFarlane [who holds the rights to the comic] at Spawn.com Publishing and suggest they give the series the reprint it deserves!

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 3

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Day 3 of “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week @ the ZONE brings us a very rough sketch by Dan Brereton that appeared in Comics Scene #5.  For those coming in late, “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit”  was written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton.  Smith & Dixon’s writing combined with Brereton’s art to produce one of the best comic stories ever.  [Please note I didn’t limit my praise to just crime comics.]

Here’s how Beau Smith described The Black Terror in the Comics Scene piece:

“He’s going to be what characters like Wolverine or Batman could never be due to licensing and being on every kid’s lunchbox.  He is going to be the scariest thing – the boogeyman to crime… All they know about him is he gets the job done, he doesn’t get caught, and their people usually get hurt along the way.”

If The Black Terror sounds like something you’d like, then track down the three issue mini-series and give it a go.  If you’re already a fan, then why not drop Beau Smith, Chuck Dixon and Dan Brereton a line and let them know.  Better yet, why not e-mail Todd McFarlane [who holds the rights to the comic] at Spawn.com Publishing and suggest they give the series the reprint it deserves!

The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit: Day 2

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This week we’re taking a look at “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton.  Today’s art is a drawing that Brereton did and Eclipse used in an ad to congratulate Dan on winning the Russ Manning Award as Best New Artist for his work on the series.

The Black Terror series took place in an alternate universe where organized crime had become a legitimate enterpise.  In this hard-boiled setting, the Black Terror waged a one man war against crime.  Despite his best efforts, the Black Terror realized that he wasn’t making a dent in the criminal underworld.  So he decided that the only way to take down the organization is from within.  

To this end, he “did in” a couple of low level hoods and began to work his way up into the organization.  The mobsters only knew him as Ryan Delvecchio, a tough, on-the-rise thug; not his alter-ego, the criminal killer known as The Black Terror.  When Delvecchio is hand-picked to become part of an elite Mafia hit squad, he’s in the perfect position to take out the major players in organized crime… that is if the Feds don’t kill him first.

Man, I wish that someone would reprint this series in a hardcover edition.  More tomorrow when we hit Day 3.

Best of The Twilight Zone

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It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of The Original Twilight Zone.  Regular ZONErs know that I also enjoy playing around with lists.  So, when I saw that Time and CNN had put together a list of the Top Ten All Time Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes, I decided to play along.  Using just the selections in their Top Ten, I came up with My Top Five.

The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit Week: Day 1

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One of my all time favorite comics is “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton.  “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” was a three issue mini-series published by Eclipse Comics in 1989/1990.  Beau Smith described the story as “hardboiled, psychological and pulp-like” and Brereton’s painted art as “moody” and “cinematic”.  He was right.

Today’s art is a preview piece that Brereton did to help promote the series.  It sure worked for me.  I loved Beau Smith’s concept, the look of the character and Brereton’s art.  I was in and hoped that the series would live up to it’s promise… and boy, did it!

Otis Frampton’s Rambo

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Otis Frampton is an extremely talented artist who loves drawing for his fans. Every Sunday [okay, ALMOST, every Sunday], Otis has a live UStream broadcast that he calls the 7×7 Sunday. Lucky fans can get a headsketch of ANY character drawn live by Otis on a 7X7 inch bristol board for 7 bucks postage paid. It’s the best deal going.

I’ve been lucky enough to get four pieces from Otis and the Rambo shown above is my first. I’ll be showing the rest in the coming weeks. In the mean time, check out Otis’ Gallery. Most likely, after seeing more of his work, I’ll be competing against you in Otis’ next 7×7 Sunday.

Frank Miller Week: Day 7

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It’s Day 7 of Frank Miller Week.  So, how do we bring the week to a close?  Which character should we use?  Daredevil, the hero that shot Miller to fame?  Ronin?  Miller’s first creator-owned project that helped to change the look and perception of American comics?  Dark Knight?  Miller’s masterpiece?  Maybe we should jump ahead to Sin City and show a piece of from the series that is Miller’s most personal creation?

Believe me, I gave it a lot of thought.  I think that Miller’s cover to Amazing Heroes #69 [April 15, 1985] is perfect.  It showcases both a Marvel and DC character.  One character [Batman], Miller re-shaped into his own creation.  The other [Electra], was his own creation.  This cover was a fan boy’s dream team up.  And nearly 25 years later, I’m still diggin’ it.

Matt Wagner & “Green Hornet: Year One”

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CBR.com has posted that Dynamite Entertainment is going to publish “Green Hornet: Year One” and Matt Wagner is on board to write it and provide covers.  Here’s what publisher, Nick Barrucci had to say about Wagner’s involvement:

“He loves the Green Hornet, loves the original Britt Reid, and once we got into the conversation, he was really hyped about doing the origin story. It’s just a perfect marriage. You’ve got one of the most respected creators in comics writing one of the most classic characters in comics. It’s fantastic, and it’s a ‘Year One’ story like you’ve never seen before. Matt has been really incredible at nailing the essence of the character while still making it accessible to a modern audience. He’s fantastic.”

You can read the full piece by clicking here.

Frank Miller Week: Day 6

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Frank Miller Week: Day 6.  That’s Miller’s cover to Peter Parker #60.  It was cover dated November 1981.  At the time, Miller was still going strong with his amazing run as writer and penciller on Daredevil [Klaus Janson was inking each issue and more than equal to the task]. 

I saw Peter Parker #60 and despite knowing little about the interior art or story, felt that the cover was worth the price of admission.  I loved everything about it… the pose, the bold inks, the colors, the lighting, the backgrounds.  Although generic enough to be the cover for ANY Spider-Man book, I felt that Miller had knocked this one out of the park.

Tomorrow we’ll wrap up Frank Miller Week with a look at a piece that is a fanboy’s dream.

Frank Miller Week: Day 5

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Frank Miller Week: Day 5.  Today we have Miller’s cover to Comics Interview #2 promoting “Ronin”, his new creator-owned series for DC Comics.   “Ronin” was a six issue series [later collected into a graphic novel] published in 1983/1984 about a Ronin whose tale began in feudal Japan and ended in a post-apocalyptic New York City.  It was unlike any comic I’d ever read before.  Miller was breaking away from traditional American comics in both content and art style.  And I was loving every step of the way.

Tomorrow, we’ll jump back in time to 1981 and check out a cover that Frank Miller created for Marvel Comics that provides a taste of where his art was heading with Ronin.

Frank Miller Week: Day 4

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Day 4 of Frank Miller Week and we have a Batman piece that Miller pencilled and Dan Adkins inked back in 1979.  It appeared on the inside back cover of a fanzine circa 1981/1982.  Frank was still seven years away from his groundbreaking “The Dark Knight Returns” and it shows.  At this point in his career, Miller was drawing a more traditional version of Batman than he would later bring to the table.