What does Smallville, Battlestar Galactica and Sanctuary have in common?

They all have actors who are starring in a new series, Riese. It actually debuted about a month ago, but I’m now just hearing about this through a friend of mine. Riese has numerous stars from other sci-fi shows like Allison Mack (Smallville), Allessandro Julini (BSG), Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary), Ben Cotton (Stargate Atlantis), and Patrick Gilmore (Eureka).

The story follows a young traveler named Riese, who has fled across the dying lands of Eleysia with her wolf, Fenrir. Hunted by a terrifying religious group, “The Sect”, Riese must evade the assassins that have been sent to kill her and discover their true agenda.

I dig the steampunk aspect of the show, and I’m certain this is one of the first live action sci-fi web series to feature the steampunk genre. Production of the first five episodes has wrapped, and the next six begin production sometime this month. Episodes will begin streaming online this fall via their YouTube channel and other various video distribution channels.

You might have noticed this a few days ago that Google had this image up. It was to celebrate the birthday of Popeye creator E. C. Segar’s birthday. He would have been 115 years young.

I really admire what Google did. I remember this past Summer when they had DC characters to celebrate Comic Con weekend. Popeye is a cultural icon and a precursor to the super-heroes of today and was a staple of my youth (as were the Fleisher Superman cartoons), of course alongside cartoons of the early 80′s.

Here’s to you, Mr. Segar.

For the longest time, there was speculation about some secret unpublished graphic novel that the Robert Downey Jr. movie, “Sherlock Holmes” was based upon. Well, as I reported to you in May, the drawings in question are not a graphic novel, although they certainly could be turned into one. The fact is the artist, John Watkiss, was chosen to create graphic novel style artwork that was used in development of the movie. So, now you can see the evidence for yourself. If you’re in LA, here’s your chance to see all 17 of these pieces at Gallery Nucleus. The show includes a painting by Watkiss specifically for the show.

“The Art of the Motion Picture: ‘Sherlock Holmes’ by John Watkiss” runs from December 12, 2009 thru January 18, 2010. The opening reception is Dec 12 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Check out the Gallery Nucleus site for more details and check out the John Watkiss blog for more on the artist.

Prince Valiant vol. 1: 1937-1938
Written & Illustrated by Hal Foster
Published by Fantagraphics

It’s possible, I realize, that I’m a little bit of a comic book snob. I can admit it. I’m not readily impressed by or enthusiastic about anything (with the cancellation of Jim Shooter’s Legion title, quite literally) going on in the realm of the modern superhero comics. The same feeling holds true for many of today’s over-amped, under-thought action films as well. Fortunately, I live in a golden era for the availability of classic adventure storytelling. I can go into Netflix Instant and stream Cool Hand Luke directly to my television. And comics publishers are putting out beautifully produced, carefully recreated, deadly-in-heft tomes of work from the three giants of adventure newspaper strips. The entirety of Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates from IDW is available in six volumes, all of which are easily among my favorite bits of escapism ever written. I’ve just started a similarly formatted run of Alex Raymond’s post-Flash Gordon detective strip, Rip Kirby, and so far, so good.

And, of course, Fantagraphics completes the triumvirate of adventure masters by giving me Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant. Published in the oversize Sunday page format ala the Fantagraphics’ Popeye collection (also, brilliant), Prince Valiant vol. 1: 1937-1938 collects the earliest of Foster’s tales of the exiled Prince of Thule. As editor Kim Thompson notes in his afterword, the earliest strips have a slight haze, as quality scans of the artwork (seventy-two years gone!) simply weren’t available, but only ten or so pages in, and the quality of the reproduction skyrockets. The colors are warm and vibrant, and the line art pristine.

The stories themselves are a delight. I’m not at all a mark for Arthurian myths, but Foster takes an interesting tack here. The stories are set in Arthurian times, but with the exception of Sir Gawain, they take only background roles during the strip’s first two years. In fact, the legendary characters sometimes feel as if they don’t belong in the story. Foster’s copious research into the geography and lifestyles of the era ground Val’s adventures in a sense of time and place, even if it is a time and place given to occasional giant reptiles!

Moving quickly from one point to the next, Val’s restless nature is quickly established. In only two years, Val and his people go into exile in the marshy fens on England. Setting out on his own, Val has a foreboding fortune told, becomes squire to Sir Gawain and joins him on two quests, journeys with a romantic rival to save a princess, encounters the man who drove his people into exile, challenges for the right to knighthood and warns Camelot of an impending invasion. As each page appeared a week after the previous, Foster drives the story quickly. Something happens on each page, and Foster still manages to fit in solid character work throughout. Val’s burgeoning respect for his rival Sir Arn is handled deftly, as is his desire to be treated as a respected knight of the kingdom. Each of the cliffhangers is consistently fraught with tension.

The art is consistently stunning, stuffed with beautifully detailed landscapes, horses, flocks of sheep, and Val’s beloved, wind-blown fens. Foster’s very, very good at creating a sense of movement, and the tiny details like how clothes lay on a body and how horse’s move and fall only add to the convincing nature of the narrative. The research and illustrative power grounds every scene, no matter how fantastic, in palpability. In short, each page is spectacular to behold.

Now, depending on your mileage, the pacing may be a sticking point. Valiant is, after all, a once-weekly strip, so there is a recap caption in the first panel of each and every page from the second strip on. This storytelling necessity does lead to some repetition. I suppose it would be easy enough to simply skim past the captions, but I found it most effective to read four to six pages at a time and then take a break. The stories were created to be read over time, after all, and the recap isn’t quite so overwhelming when you allow the story to breath. The extra time also allows the breakneck storylines a moment to linger pleasantly on your brain.

Personally, I felt that – when compared to other back-breakingly heavy newspaper strip reprints – Prince Valiant could’ve been somewhat thicker. Four years per book would give the reader a meatier chunk of adventure, and the tome would look more inspiring on a shelf. Of course, that’s nitpicking, but I’m allowed to pick occasionally.

So maybe I’m a comic book snob, but when publishers keep putting out work this great, why on Earth wouldn’t I be? Hal Foster is – rightly – regarded as one of the masters of the medium, and Prince Valiant is his masterwork. The strips in Prince Valiant vol. 1: 1937-1938 are merely the first installment of a massive, groundbreaking, and thoroughly exciting adventure saga that was better than nearly anything during its time, and remains better than nearly anything on the shelves today.

The first issue of X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain hit the stores today, and artist Dennis Calero was working overtime to promote the book on Twitter, using a series of bizarre and hilarious tweets to describe the book. A partial list can be found below. You can follow Dennis on Twitter here.

The announcement regarding Grant Morrison’s “The Return of Bruce Wayne” promises plenty of action as Bruce Wayne fights his way through time. One wonders if Morrison might not have drawn at least a tiny bit of inspiration, if not from Elseworlds past, then perhaps from the mid-’90s “Legends of Batman” toy line from Kenner.

Viking Batman?

Pirate Batman, you say?

How about these guys?

Might this one fight witches?

Too bad he skipped Gladiator Batman . . .

“My name is Bruce Anthony Wayne. Son to murdered parents. Father to countless orphans. Member of the Justice League of America and loyal servant of the Lady Justice. And I will have my vengeance, in this event, or the next.”

Find out more about Global Freezing here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.

By Filip Sablik, Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc.

I’ve been a fan of art for most my life and a fan of comic art for a good part of that. I’ve taken art and art history courses and earned a degree in Illustration. I’m a big fan of fine artists, such as Degas, Sergeant, Mucha, Klimt, Van Gogh and many more. I’ve chased down comics solely because they contained art by Pérez, Mignola, Miller, Tomine, Lee, Burns, and many more. I’m not telling you all of this to brag or put myself in any kind of position of authority when it comes to art. I’m laying this down to be up front and give you an idea of where I’m coming from and what my tastes are, which are fairly varied.

I want to address a couple of things in relation to art this time around. The first is on the general topic of art and the second is on another one of those pesky preconceptions about Top Cow. I figured I was on a good tear here and here, so why not keep the ball rolling?

My first thought is that past a certain technical level, there is no “good art” or “bad art.” What I mean by that is this – there are a number of fundamental technical skills one can learn when training as an artist – things like human anatomy, perspective, composition, color theory, and so on.  Like other technical skills, they can be taught like programming a computer, playing a sport, or repairing a combustible engine. The learning and application of these skills will come easier for some people than it will for others, but I believe anyone can learn over time how to draw a proportional and accurate human figure. Artists, in my mind, are people who not only can learn and acquire these technical skills easier than the average person, but also have some innate talent to interpret these skills toward their own unique vision. That’s the difference between someone who can play a composition by Mozart on the piano and well, Mozart.

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“Pattern emerging: Woods only dates women who sleep during the day. Trendy vampire angle?”: NPR recently interviewed Doonsebury cartoonist Gary Trudeau about his new book, “My Shorts R Bunching. Thoughts?”: The Tweets of Roland Hedley. You can read the story, or listen to it, here.

“Cameo!?“: I would have cast Stan Lee as Odin. He’s perfect for the role! They’re both older guys who talk kinda funny! And besides, the Stan Lee cameos are getting old…let’s give The Man a meaty role, just for a change of pace. (Note: This may be one of the many, many reasons why I’m a comics blogger and not a filmmaker).

“I wanted to integrate all of my cartooning knowledge, but I also wanted to forget some of it”: That’s Stephen DeStefano on some of the art that he drew inspiration from while working on his highly-anticipated-by-me graphic novel Lucky in Love. (Via Flog!)

But how did a snake make lemonade?!: Randall Christopher’s amusing little Top Shelf 2.0 strip asks a haunting question. Okay, maybe I’m the only one that will be haunted by it. But seriously, he’s a snake! He doesn’t have hands…!

People really, really wanted those plastic rings: ICv2.com has some initial numbers pertaining to how the Blackest Night tie-ins that were incentivized by the plastic rings did. I’ve been trying to think of other low-selling DC titles the publisher could try to incentivize with future plastic doodads. The best I can come up with are maybe Flash rings or Legion flight rings. It’s really too bad that Wonder Woman, Warlord, Jonah Hex and some of DC’s lower-selling heroes don’t wear rings…

If Marvel jumped off a bridge, would DC do it too?: The latter is apparently planning to adopt one of the former’s more annoying habits—arbitrarily changing the numbering of their comics arbitrarily for no real reason. At least in the case of Wonder Woman having its numbering de-re-rebooted, it at least seems like they did a better job on the math than Marvel sometimes does.

Map of My Heart

By John Porcellino

Published by Drawn & Quarterly

It is the simple pleasures of life that John Porcellino celebrates in his beloved and influential zine, “King-Cat Comics & Stories.” Porcellino shares with us the most simple and basic pleasures which ultimately leads to sharing the joy of being alive. There is a life struggle too, and Porcellino shares his with you, his heart being broken, his illnesses, but he keeps coming back to the joie de vivre.

“Map of My Heart” is the latest collection of “King-Cat” and covers 1996 through 2002. These are the years that Generation X comes of age. And while a case can be made that John Porcellino is a voice for his generation, he is actually much more than that. He is himself. He’s what all of us from Generation X were suppose to be: authentic. It helps if you believe in something. John Porcellino finds inspiration in Zen Buddhism and it looks like it helps to inform and guide his comics. He often will draw something from his studies like his references to the Zen-Monk poet, Ryokan. He’ll also find inspiration from the Marx Brothers and the Beach Boys. Whatever it might be, he seems to know how to tap into the good stuff.

For example, “Psalm,” is a magical meditation on being in the moment. Porcellino goes out for a walk at night. He lets his cat, Maisie Kukoc, know he’s leaving. He wanders through the neighborhood. When he returns, he sees Kukoc through the window and she might be asleep. The stars inspire Porcellino to stay outside. On the porch, he can hear the living ground beneath his feet. He tunes in to the sounds of worms, “click, click, click.” And the sounds of bugs, “zha, zha, zha.” All is well and good.

Porcellino has a simple and direct drawing style that fits in so well with his clear-eyed vision. It is just one of those things, along with the letters from readers, his extended written narratives, the top forty lists, the research on bugs and animals, all of this you can’t fake. So, brother and sister, enjoy. You too will be moved by something in this book whether it is a discussion on football plays, pill bugs, root hogs or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” suddenly tuned in on the car radio.

Something will get to you. Maybe it will be the comics essay, “Forgiveness,” which is about Porcellino as a boy from Chicago visiting his aunt down in Prairie City. He’s out of his element but is anchored by the family dog, Duchie, and a new gift, a slingshot. He promises he won’t get into trouble with the slingshot but how can he predict what may happen? Another intriguing comic is “Suburban Dreams,” which finds a man kneeling in front of a television. On the screen is the image of a beautiful woman who stares back at him and sort of sighs. He dreams. She dreams. They may find themselves together at least in a dream.

Among Porcellino’s many celebrations  of life is quite a list of movies, books, music and special moments. You’ll find Annie Dillard’s “The Writing Life,” Frank Sinatra’s “Ring a Ding Ding” and “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” Here’s one talking about my generation, #9 from Top Forty, Summer 2001:

“Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azerrad (Little Brown) Yes, it’s a book about Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Replacements, etc. etc. In other words: my formative years! Worth it for the Minutemen chapter alone. Also: Butthole Surfers, Minor Threat, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, lots more. America’s last great blast of post/pre-corporate rock.

Those top forty lists are about the fun stuff, with a big nod to humanity and authenticity. It is stuff that inspires you to want to share with someone else for whatever reason is peculiar to your own private world view.

So, on one level, John Porcellino is saying he’s just another human being doing his best to live his life. He has his own life struggle, like we all do, and he has his assorted interests and passions, like we all do. He also happens to be someone who does something very special and makes it all look easy. However, much care has gone into it and is not easily emulated.  ”Map of My Heart,” the latest collection of “King-Cat,” from one of the nicest guys you’ll ever know.

Visit Drawn & Quarterly, the awesome publisher of “Map of My Heart,” and buy yourself a copy today.

It can’t be emphasized enough that Charles Schulz is a genius.

When you’ve already made arguably the most universally beloved holiday special of all time (A Charlie Brown Christmas, if you had to ask), and the network comes to you and says, “Let’s go for two,” what do you do? Well, if you’re the Peanuts creator, you take a character like Rerun Van Pelt—someone who’s pretty redundant and in a contemporary television show would be considered a “jump the shark” character along the lines of Cousin Oliver in The Brady Bunch—and build an entire Christmas special around him.

And it’s actually pretty good.

I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, deals with just about exactly what you’d think from the title—after seeing the awesomeness of Snoopy, Rerun decides that he wants a dog for Christmas. How this is Charlie Brown’s problem escapes me a bit, except that I guess he’s the proxy adult since all the parents in these specials can only talk in vague, inaudible babbling. At any rate, I think there was a rule at some point that all the Peanuts specials had to have Chuck’s name in the title. Lucky for all involved, Snoopy has some family coming in for the holidays and the result is a match made in Heaven—even if nobody sees it right away.

There’s actually a lot of special features on Warner Brothers’ new, collector’s edition reissue of I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, and one of them is a documentary on the creation of Rerun (There’s also, as one reader noted below, a never-before-released Charlie Brown New Years’s special). It’s interesting, seeing the character (about whom I had completely forgotten) talked about in semi-reverential tones, as though his introduction was something of a turning point for the strip and the animated specials that aired pretty constantly through the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Certainly when you watch this movie, and especially with the special features, it’s hard to continue thinking of Rerun as a Cousin Oliver, although I maintain that he did little to really add to the cast and his story could just as easily have been told with Linus or Pigpen.

A couple of characters who have gone the other way–breakout characters once, but now just kind of barely tolerable in their own special–are the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser, the leads in A Miser Brothers’ Christmas, a years-later sequel to the classic claymation Christmas special Year Without a Santa Claus. When an enthusiastic young elf tries to soup up Santa’s sleigh, the result leaves him laid up with back pain and unable to perform his duties on Christmas. Enter the Miser Brothers, who have spent their whole lives fighting and now must cooperate so that they can bring Christmas to the good children of the world. Along the way, they learn why it is that Santa had always overlooked them when they were young, and the reason is sufficient not only to make them behave this year, but to put behind them the hatred they have for Santa Claus that was such a major part of their personalities when they first appeared years ago.

Unfortunately, The Miser Brothers are given very little original material; everything they do is either borrowed from the original special, or exactly like a half-dozen other stories you’ve heard over the years. The end result is a story with very little heart or soul, that relies on face recognition and affection for the characters to sell…but these characters are so old, few children in the target age range will ever have seen them before.

No, really. There is actually a one-shot coming out this week entitled Wolverine: Under the Boardwalk. It’s by Stuart Moore and Tomm Coker, and it’s about the same exact thing every Wolverine comic is about. Personally, I won’t be satisfied until they name one of these random Wolverine one-shots Wolverine: Slush Pile.

More comics set for release this week, most of which have less-goofy titles, after the jump.

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Hasbro just released a number of new product images and lists for forthcoming assortments. We’ll provide a peek at some offerings from the Marvel Univerise 3-3/4″ line, as well as a look at a Super Hero Squad pack that’s sure to be a hit in these parts.

And now, an update for your checklist . . .

G.I. Joe:

· Rip Attack – Grey
· Rip Attack – Red

Marvel Universe

· Black Widow
· Bucky
· Captain America
· Luke Cage
· Thor

Spider-Man

· Arctic Attack Spider-Man
· Mass Attack Doc Ock
· Power Charge Rhino
· Power Punch Spider-Man
· Super-Charged Glider Spider-Man
· Stealth Ninja Spider-Man
· Web Blast Spider-Man
· Web Shield Spider-Man

Super Hero Squad

· Captain America & Motorcycle
· Iron Man & MODOK
· Wolverine & Spiral

Star Wars:

· Comic Packs IG97 & Rom Mohc
· Comic Packs Plourr Ilo & Dllr Nep
· Comic Packs Storm Commando & General Weir

Transformers:

· Alliance Bumblebee
· Armorhide
· Autobot Wheelie
· Barricade and Decepticon Frenzy
· Bluesteel Sideswipe
· Dirge
· Soundwave
· Tuner Mudflap

If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

(Click the image above for a larger version of the strip.)

WORLD OF HURT – The Thrill-Seekers – Episode 11: “A Minor Inconvenience”

This is another one of those rare strips where everything just seemed to come together.  Most of the time, I find myself agonizing over every detail, but this one flowed together well.  I thought the characterization came through strong, plot elements were addressed, and I even laid the foundation for future story elements that will be introduced soon in the arc. Even the wardrobe choices really worked for me.  Even though it’s in black and white, every time I look at Tuck’s tux, I see powder blue.

- JEP

Ready to see the creator of the Invisibles, the Filth, and All-Star Superman in all his glory? Then check out the trailer for Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods, a documentary created by Respect Films:

Want to know more about the movie, which is due out at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con? Then check out their web site at www.grantmorrisonmovie.com.

Heads up, Twi-hards — we might have a werewolf superhero on our hands!

Okay, maybe not a superhero who IS a werewolf — but Taylor Lautner, who plays the werewolf/giant ab muscle Jacob in New Moon, is apparently in talks to play Max Steele.

Who’s that? According to the LA Times, Steele is “a 19-year-old extreme-sports athlete who is accidentally exposed to the unleashed power of nanotechological machines, which become part of him and (in the old show, at least) give him increased strength, near-invulnerability and the ability to change his appearance.”

Additionally, the LA Times reports that Paramount has J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani — who are also slated to work on Rob Liefeld properties Capeshooters and Youngblood — on board to write the Max Steele script.

I… uh, wow. Well, there’s really no good way to describe this.

Other than: Groom gets pals to dress up as General Zod, who yells at the wedding party to kneel before him, and threatens to make the bride clean his shoes.

All I gotta say is, that groom must be damn confident the father-in-law likes him (or Superman), or I’d be watching my back for the next 35 or so years. Comics Alliance calls it “deeply, deeply awkward” — I call it horrifying. I’m sure we can find an adjective that describes both.

(Upon further viewing — does Supergroom actually purple nurple General Zod? Just about 3:02. If this wedding were a bird, it would cry, “Awk, Awk, Awk.”)

Blazing Combat
Written by Archie Goodwin, with Wally Wood, Reed Crandall and Alex Toth
Illustrated by John Severin, Wally Wood, George Evans, Russ Heath, Alex Toth, Reed Crandall, Joe Orlando, Gene Colan, Al Williamson, Gray Morrow, Al McWilliams and Angelo Torres
Published by Fantagraphics

If you know anything about the history of comic book art, do I really need to say anything more about the quality of the artists and writers in this book? Look at that list of illustrators! How can you not want this book immediately? And if the names above aren’t enough, the covers to the four original issues of Blazing Combat were painted by Frank Frazetta. And though they appear only at a reduced size in the supplemental materials, all four are great paintings.

If you haven’t heard of Blazing Combat, it’s not really that surprising. The back story, explained in interviews with publisher Jim Warren and editor/writer Archie Goodwin that are reprinted in Fantagraphics’ hardcover collection of the series, goes like this: Warren Publishing wanted to launch a war comic magazine to accompany its horror mag Creepy. Thus, Blazing Combat was born, and four issues later – crushed by distributors who refused to sell it due to its controversial anti-Vietnam leanings (this was 1965, when America’s presence was still “advisory”) – Blazing Combat was dead.

Interestingly, despite its anti-war reputation, Blazing Combat is not without its sensitivities to conflict. Taking a humanistic stance, Goodwin rarely acknowledges the need for warfare between nations, but several short stories credit the individual heroism of soldiers. Others, of course, shows soldiers physically beaten down and morally eroded by the incessant stress and anxiety of their circumstances. Among the highlights, a timid soldier in Korea becomes caught in a killing zeal; a Vietnamese farmer, caring more for his crop than his country’s political circumstances, is killed during conflict between opposing forces; a recounting of Benedict Arnold’s pre-betrayal victory over the British at Saratoga (a reminder how history forgets); and the heroism of army medics shines a spotlight on those often overlooked by anybody besides the wounded soldier.

The book’s success grows from two equal creative roles. First, Archie Goodwin has long been recognized as one of the comic book industry’s best writers and editors. He counted Blazing Combat among his best works, and with good reason. As a short story writer, Goodwin has few, if any, peers in comic book history. He’s able to place characters into immediately recognizable circumstances, and their reactions span a range of human behavior. Goodwin’s soldiers grapple with fear, are overcome by bravado, show the value of experience, persevere through unwinnable circumstances, and unfortunately, all too often die sad, unheroic deaths.

The contributing artists, among the finest to ever illustrate a comics page, have rarely been graced with production and paper values this high. I can’t speculate to the print quality of the original magazine run of Blazing Combat, but Fantagraphics’ collected book captures all the nuances of cross-hatching and tensions borne of exquisite gray-tones. Russ Heath’s single story might be the best work of his career, with subtle lighting cues that could’ve come from a photograph, but coupled with Heath’s sense of movement and life. Alex Toth’s minimalism distills each story to its human core, and John Severin does some of his finest ink washes. Gene Colan handles sea battles, while the aerial battles over Britain in World War II are Wally Wood’s domain.

If you’re going to read war comics, Harvey Kurtzman’s EC titles are the place to start.  Beyond Kurtzman, the work of Garth Ennis and Archie Goodwin’s Blazing Combat are the most essential reading available. Fortunately for today’s readers, Blazing Combat – nearly impossible to find for over a generation – is now conveniently available and immaculately produced in hardcover from Fantagraphics.  Anybody who wants to read great great comics, war stories, or a superb tutorial in short form comics writing and unsurpassed comics illustration needs to read this one.

Find out more about Global Freezing here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.