Round Up
The Heroes Of Earth –NICE 3D animation from games? –check out Galactus!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RV9j5Yq4W9Q&feature=related
Marvel:Battle Between Super Heroes & Super Villains –using images from various computer games. Still nice.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rV4wqtvQ8bk&feature=related
It may seem corny now but if you read the current edition of BACK ISSUE you’ll learn more about….
LEGENDS OF THE SUPER HEROES!
A cast including Burt Ward and Adam West and Frank Gorshin!! Watch Batman & Robin ambushed by Solomon Grundy!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=InjMX8yxxZo&feature=related
Did you know that Woking,Surrey [UK] has a Martian War Machine on display? Check this out:
ARCHIE COMICS
And,for more Archie Comics news…
JUGHEAD’S DOUBLE DIGEST #136
“His Hidden Talent”: Jughead discovers a hidden talent – although he hates to work himself, he devises a way to find work for others… a way that results in free snow removal AND free pizzas! Just what is Jughead’s marvelous new method for avoiding work? Be sure to read this issue to find out!
SCRIPT: George Gladir. ART: Fernando Ruiz. PLUS: Other new and classic tales!
BONUS: Puzzles, games and pin-ups!
Shipping Date: December 5th, 2007
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: December 12th, 2007
On
Full color digest format $3.69 US.
“Hidden Worlds, Forbidden Power”: After discovering the “Duality Wands,” Sabrina finds once forbidden powers and abilities are opening up to her. While attempting to grasp this new, unbelievable power, she discovers one of her new powers is the ability to create portals into hidden worlds – worlds filled with magical treasures! Entering these hidden worlds results in at least two consequences: separated from her boyfriend and other loved ones, Sabrina is left to face the unknown alone; and with nothing else to do but continue trying to control the power of the ”Duality Wands,” she doesn’t realize that it is the power that is controlling her!
SCRIPT: Tania del Rio . ART: Tania
Shipping Date: December 5th, 2007
On
On
32-page, full color comic $2.25 US.
BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #180
“Love Can Be Nasty”: Cheryl Blossom is tired of competing with Betty and Veronica for Archie’s affections. Likewise, Reggie is tired of competing with Archie for dates with Betty and Veronica. Guess it’s time for Reggie and Cheryl to form an alliance to solve this once and for all! But will putting their heads together result in their hearts coming together, too? It’s the romantic jigsaw puzzle of the year, as only the matchmakers (and breakers) at Archie Comics could conceive it!
SCRIPT AND ART: Dan Parent.
PLUS: Other new and classic tales, including the “animated” Sabrina! BONUS: Puzzles, games and pin-ups!
Shipping Date: December 5th, 2007
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: December 12th, 2007
On
Full color digest format $2.49 US.
JUGHEAD #186
“The Big Sleep”: The annual ice shuffleboard championship is on, but Riverdale’s star player Jughead is in deep hibernation! Will his teammates be able to revive him before they’re “iced?!” “To Beach His Own”: Jughead discovers how to beat the crowds at the beach – go in the dead of winter! “Chilly Reception”: When a girl gets tangled in Hot Dog’s chain, Jughead untangles her and treats her at Pop’s. The question is, will their hearts get tangled, too?
SCRIPTS: Craig Boldman. ART: Rex Lindsey.
Shipping Date: December 5th, 2007
On
On
32-page, full color comic $2.25 US.
JUDHEAD #140
Jughead’s Dynamic New Look Last year, one of the most talked about stories in the comic book industry was the Dynamic New Look for Betty & Veronica; as seen in the story “Bad Boy Trouble”. Thousands of Archie fans responded by e-mail, snail mail and phone expressing their disapproval of the new look before the story was even printed.
Those same fans, after reading “Bad Boy Trouble” let us know how much they enjoyed the story once seeing it in print. They thought it was fun and interesting to see the characters with a different look, AS LONG AS IT WASN’T IN ALL OF THE COMICS. The story was so popular it was collected into a Graphic Novel.
Thanks to the response of those thousands of fans, we have created another story with a Dynamic New Look. This time, starring Jughead in a story that will shock you. You can see Jughead’s Dynamic New Look in four consecutive issues of Jughead’s Double Digest starting with issue #139 through issue #142, with Dynamic art by the legendary Joe Staton.
Remember, it is only one of the stories in Jughead’s Double Digest, the remaining stories will be in the classic Archie art style you know and love. Make sure you contact your local comic book retailer to reserve your copies today.
VIRGIN DAN DARE [but we guessed that anyway,right?]
Dan Dare no.1
Virgin Comics 22pp [story] colour
Writer Garth Ennis Artist Gary Erskine
Well,I’ve been waiting for this one for a while so when it hit the shelves I bought a copy. The names Ennis and Erskine seemed to guarantee quality.
However,the variant cover for this issue was FAR from impressive:it looked like someone had taken a very large image and cut out a small portion of it. It just looked sooo awful. But the interior is what I was interested in.
Now,if you’ve been on any internet groups ,such as Scanarama,you’ll see people praising the return of the legendary Hampson space hero. Two people I know referred to this comic as “Dan Dire”! It did seem very,very clichéd –the holographic ideal England we saw Dare walking around was quite reminiscent of the holographic ideal American rural scene used by the Superman in Kingdom Come a few years back. Oh,and various Star Trek The Next Generation episodes.
However,as with the super hero genre there are only a certain number of storylines and it’s how you use them that counts. So no big problem here.
We then got to the Earth space patrol on casual patrol when attacking craft suddenly appear…the patrol is almost devastated but gets the warning out and images of the mysterious attackers –in book form this is nothing new [the first of this type I read was back in the 1960s. Film-wise:Star Trek The Motion Picture,The Fifth Element and others –I’ll not refer to the number of TV shows or ST:TNG!
That theUK survived a war which led to it becoming a super power was so hokey that I thought “He’ll wake in a minute and it will have been a dream”….sadly,no.
It really was one cliché after another. I actually read through this four times and was utterly disappointed.
And the art…well,okay,nice space craft but there were quite a lot of jarring anatomy blunders that really stuck out –legs too short in some panels and the whole thing seemed off.
I was really surprised.
Ignoring that awful cover,I guess that if you are a Dan Dare fan you may be excited. I know two 1950s Eagle fans of DD and I’m waiting to see what they think. But –and it is a major “but”- this is only the first issue and as a writer you need to establish the scene,etc.. So it is very likely that I am being harsh on Ennis [others may well think it’s great nostalgic fun]. We need to see how issue 2 develops. I’m hoping that the series works.
So,I’m waiting for that second part!In the meantime,you want good old Dan Dare style adventure why not check out Space Ships Away! Or,find someone with copies of the New Eagle comic from the 1980s or,even better on a rainy day,early 2000 Ads with the Massimo Belardinelli drawn Dan Dare versus the Biogs and more!
IMAGE COMICS –Back To The Golden Age!
Jonah Weiland over at CBR –Comic Book Resources- has spoken to Erik Larsen re. Image Comics “Next Issue” project,which,as a Golden Age fan,I’m very interested in. The intro reads:
“This December, Image Comics will publish an anthology featuring characters you haven’t seen in a very long time.
“The Next Issue Project” will showcase top talent from the world of comics reimagining Golden Age characters that have fallen into the public domain. But it’s not quite as simple as that - the series will literally publish the next issue of a great golden age book, with modern interpretations of Golden Age super heroes. The series is attracting considerable interest, with commitments coming from an august list of creators that includes Erik Larsen, Mike Allred, Kyle Baker, Frank Cho, Bill Sienkiewicz, Howard Chaykin, Steve Niles, Phil Hester, Dan Brereton, Ashley Wood, Joe Casey, Ivan Brandon, Eric Canete, Gerry Duggan, Frank Espinosa, Jay Faerber, Steve Gerber, Brandon Graham, B. Clay Moore, Moritat, Tom Scioli, Jim Valentino and Tony Salmons. CBR News caught up with the man behind “The Next Issue Project,” Image Comics Publisher Erik Larsen, to learn all the ins and outs of this series and where the inspiration for this series came from. “
And you can read the full interview over at:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/printthis.cgi?id=11230
You’ll learn why these titles and much more thought to be in DCs “stable” can be used by Image…one of my favourite companies!
MARVEL COMICS TIMELY RETURN
THE TWELVE #0
Anyone remember my 1997/99 proposal to Marvel Comics to bring back their “forgotten” Timely characters fighting alien incursion,voodoo cults and more in the 1940s US? Well,Defence Force America was never to be. However,I did get emails when The Twelve series was announced;people thought I was involved. Sadly,I’m not. The fact that J. Nichael Straczynski uses the same characters I selected is coincidence.
That out of the way,what is #0 like? Well,as soon as I heard that old strips were to be the main body of the comic I thought “bloody con”. But I was wrong.
There are three superb Timely strips and the choice was excellent. Rather than the characters reprinted/used ad nauseum,the team went for three that have never,as far as I am aware,been reprinted:
The Phantom Reporter [Daring Mystery Comics #3,April,1940];
The Laughing Mask [DMC #2,Feb.,1940] and
Rockman:Underground Secret Agent [[
The Phantom Reporter was written by Mike Robard and drawn by Sam Cooper and centres on Cub Reporter Dick Jones who,not content with all his scrapes as a newsman,adopts the alter ego of the Phantom Reporter. It may seem odd today but during the 1920s-1940s newsmen were practically seen as crusading crime-smashers so the idea of a reporter masked and fighting crime wasn’t far fetched.
Rockman:Underground Secret Agent was drawn by the late great Basil Wolverton and [inked] by Charles Nicholas. I loved the underground city and the quirky nature of the story. It is wonderful!
And,sadly,many of today’s comic fans are uneducated in comics history and I was surprised that no one I spoke to was aware of Basil Wolvertoons incredibly surrealistic “Wolvertoons” of later years!
The Laughing Mask was written by Will Harr and drawn by Maurice Gotwirth. This is waaay pre-The Creeper [perhaps Ditko’s inspiration?] and this masked beauty is more likely to shoot a villain…or throw one from a train….or strangle –but you get the point? This was eye-for-eye justice of the time.
I haven’t given any spoilers here but readers might wonder about reproduction quality. They needn’t. Dale Crain and Matt Moring were responsible for Art Reconstructyion and deserve quite a bit of credit. The same can be said for Colour Reconstruction by Tom Smith and Tom Ziuko. This team saw to it that the art looks crisper and clearer than it probably was on first printing over 60 years ago!
Chris Weston’s cover is excellent and has a good “fun” feel to it. But there is far more to this comic. There are some preview pages that I thought were incredible and the grouping of heroes was very much like the late lamented Classic series ALL STAR SQUADRON by Roy Thomas. There are also some great “mini posters” in the shape of character illoes by Weston and The Black Widow I thought “
Believe me that if you miss this one yer cracked! From cover to cover [adverts excepted] this was a treat! This issue has shown what we can expect and I am holding my breath until The Twelve #1!!!! 10 ********** out of 10!
OUTLAWS ARE HERE!
Lyr Mann
Following the well publicised scrapes between writer Darron Northall and artist Paul Brown it looked as though OUTLAWS,the follow-up to Terry Hooper’s classic 1980s Outlaws Of The Urban Forest,was never going to appear. But,incredibly,it is set to appear in 2008! Terry asked me to chat to artist Paul Brown about the series. It turned out to be a very brief discussion.
It was clear that the severe antagonism between the writer and artist still rages. I met Paul at his studio in central
LM:Paul,the artwork which Terry has received –is this now issue one of Outlaws completed?
PB:Yes. Bloody glad it’s done with!
LM:Have you started on Darron Northall’s second script yet –how does it develop?
PB:Northall could shove his scripts up his ***** as far as I’m concerned. But I’ve known Hooper over 20 years and you do not mess him about. He’d seriously hospitalise me if I ****** him about.
LM:He’s not that bad! PB:Oh? Who threw A.B. Rose into the
You want to know why I finished the work quickly? I was in Boots The Chemist getting a prescription filled and Hooper comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder:”You…WILL…have..OUTLAWS…completed…in…two…weeks!” I thought “You get it when it’s ready” –you do not say it to his face! A week later I’m on my mobile phone,walking into town,and I realise someone is very close behind me. I turn and it’s Hooper. “One week” he says and walks off. I go home and get to work on the art!!
LM:Seriously?
PB:He’s an ex-pro wrestler and have you seen his teeth??!!
LM:uh,right. So,Outlaws 1 is done –is it a continuation of Hooper’s 1980s strip?
PB:No! Hooper’s is a classic. What I originally said to him and Northall back in 2005 was that I wanted a straight forward Star Trek style story. Northall included things such as what looks like oral sex with plants,walking trees and more…maybe not Star Trek after all. And I mean the ****** real Star Trek starring the great William Shatner,possibly one of the greatest living American actors of his generation!
LM:And how does the story develop?
PB:No idea.
LM:You must have some idea? PB:If I ****** knew I’d say! What **** Northall comes up with we’ll see.
LM: You don’t have a script or ideas meeting? PB:Like hell.
LM:So what is this problem between the two of you?
PB:I’m not ****** talking about him or it. I’m not ******* continuing this ****** interview either! Just **** off out of it.
Sadly,it was at this point the interview ended. When I told Terry he replied:”See what I have to put up with? Fights and arguing! Outlaws should be out for May/June 2008 and I’m looking for no.2 out in July/August. I don’t get my series delivered someone will –will- pay!
One thing I can say:I would NOT want to be a publisher! Sample pages of Outlaws 1 follow and are [c]T.Hooper/BTCG & D.Northall & P.Brown
Comic Bits Online is the web version of the Comic Bits magazine Edited and run by Terry Hooper. Currently Interviews Editor at Manga Life,Terry has over thirty years experience in the comic industry as script writer,artist,freelance Editor,publisher and much more. But if you want the facts:
Curriculum vitae Name:Terry HooperDob:6th June 1957 [50 yrs]Currently living Ashton Vale,Bristol,United Kingdom ...
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