With Michelle Carter stuck in the past, and a new time-traveler (Sondra Crain, seen for the first time last issue as an experimental time-traveler sent by the government to stop Hank Henshaw from destroying Coast City) converging on the Cyborg Superman’s endgame, Booster Gold #29, out this week, dealt with the repercussions of good people doing stupid things with time travel quite a lot. Michelle isn’t so much stupid and reckless as she is irresponsible, traveling back to just before Coast City was annihilated and telling her boyfriend (who is living the timeline as his present) about it. Crain tries to evacuate the city, only to find out that her damaged, primitive time-travel circuits have brought her to the wrong spot, and all of the players are standing at ground zero less than an hour from when Mongul and the Cyborg rained doom down upon the doomed heads of the doomed city. And throughout the whole thing, Booster and Skeets debate whether Rip Hunter can really be right that it’s “wrong” to save seven million people.

My question: If Superman never comes into contact with Engine City’s modified Kryptonite, and thus never regains his powers, how many more people will die? (more…)

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!

Want to get some tips on comics-making? David Gallaher has answers for you!

The High Moon writer and Zuda star is compiling a list of tips over on the DC Message Boards for all up-and-comers. Among his suggestions are Web Comic Triage, I Should Be Writing, and Scott Kurtz’s How to Make Webcomics.

If you want to learn more — or if you simply want to contribute your two cents — check it out here!

This past Wednesday DC shipped the twenty-fourth issue of their Super Friends title, the kid-friendly Johnny DC book based on the Mattel toy line of the same name. That means cover artist J. Bone has been working on the title for two straight years now, providing all 24 covers and the interior art for a handful of those issues.

Writer Sholly Fisch devised a heck of a script for the issue, about a mad scientist convention in Oolong Island that includes just about every villainous scientist in DC’s extensive character catalog. The number of cameos and in-jokes—about one a pane—make the issue perhaps the best jumping-on point for grown-up DC fans the series has had so far. The task for introducing the likes of Mr. Mind, Dr. Cyclops, Dr. Poison and Dr. Togg and his Gombezis into the Super Friends-iverse fell to Bone, who drew this particular issue cover to cover.

I took the opportunity to talk with Bone about drawing DC’s biggest stars (and all of the company’s mad scientists).

Blog@Newsarama: One of the behind-the-scenes aspects of comics like Super Friends that I’ve always been interested in is seeing the way a particular artist’s style converges with the pre-existing design of the concept the book’s based on. For example, seeing artists drawing in a Bruce Timm-inspired style on some of the animated books, or, in this case, adhering to the basic design of the toy line.

Was it at all difficult for you to sort of calibrate your style to fit the look of the Super Friends toy line? Or am I making an unfair assumption—was there a point at the beginning with model sheets and the like involved?

J. Bone: In the beginning (and still) there were model sheets. I take them out with each cover just to make sure I’m not going too far off the mark. I’ve definitely streamlined a few things and melded my style with the look of the book. I think the main difference for me in the start was that I don’t tend to draw a lot of muscle definition and the Mattel Toy Line is all about muscles. The proportions I had no problem with, I just had to consciously add more muscle definition. They’re big, fun, cartoony characters. You could compare them to the old He-Man toys in that they’ve got very large upper bodies.

Since doing a few interiors I’ve learned how to add the chunky muscles without, I think, losing my own approach to drawing. Looking at Kirby art really helped with that. He’s the master of those big, muscley supermen!

(more…)

What Ed Brubaker is doing with Captain America, in this new story arc, is great stuff and don’t let anyone tell you different. As a casual observer, my big question as I became familiar with the title was whether or not Steve Rogers was really interesting. What would make someone want to care about him? The big one, Issue 25, doesn’t really tell you. And this last event, Cap Reborn and all, doesn’t tell you either. But, if you start at the beginning of the Brubaker run, “The Winter Soldier” story provides the hook. It’s way cool. Who will wield the shield indeed. Between Brubaker’s script and Steve Epting’s art, Steve Rogers and that shield fly! And then those first interactions between Steve and Sharon let you know there’s chemistry. Steve comes across as a tough but vulnerable guy. He’s stubborn, brash and likable. He does have a story to tell on a large and not so large stage.

Getting back to the new story, “Two Americas,” this is set on a smaller stage. We go from the grand and sweeping events of “Reborn” where we get a lot of big things going on for brief bursts to something more specific that can be rolled out and examined more closely. Allowing this story to unfold, I’m sure you’ll find something very worthwhile. A story that brings in the crazy version of Captain America from the ’50s to confront today’s Cap sounds good already. What an opportunity to speak to what’s going on in America today. How far have we come and how far do we still have to go?

To think of America as predominantly one beautiful landscape made up of white picket fences surrounding one gorgeous home after another, with two cars in the garage, a chicken in every pot and a joyful nuclear family dwelling in each is pure fantasy. It’s an American dream but not a reality. No, reality is far more complex and even scary for some. It’s scary for William Burnside, once a pudgy little boy from Boise, Idaho, transformed by the US government into an alternate Captain America in the ’50s. Things didn’t go quite as planned and William grew unstable, finally running away. He finds comfort among other outsiders, one of Marvel’s band of domestic terrorists going back to the ’80s, The Watchdogs.

It’s not long before Bucky and Sam travel to Idaho in response to the violence crazy Cap and his new friends have already wrought. Of course, we’ve got a loaded situation here made worse with Sam, a black man from New York, dropped into a primarily white community of people who appear isolated and hostile to anything or anyone different from themselves. It looks like a powder keg ready to blow up.

And that’s the set up for what we can feel confident will be a compelling four issue story. Will Sam experience more hostility among people who seem to only see him as an Other instead of a person? Or is there room here for Sam and the natives to communicate? We hear so much in the media about America being divided but how often do we hear from those who are truly disenfranchised? What is real and what is fabricated? You know, something tells me that our friend, Ed Brubaker, will have some answers for us and he’ll keep knocking the ball out of the park with Captain America.

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

WORLD OF HURT – The Thrill-Seekers – Episode 30: “Storming the Gates”

Pastor takes the fight directly to Ned’s front door!  To show you how committed I am to this, my Mac crashed two nights before I was supposed to post this strip.  Thankfully, I ink the old fashioned way, but I still letter using Adobe Illustrator.  Thankfully, my pal Stephen Lindsay, the prolific writer of Jesus Hates Zombies and The Frightful Fetus, among others, came to my rescue and supplied the lettering for this one.  However, when I scanned the inks, I accidentally sent him a truncated version of the strip.  Nonetheless, I kinda dug the way it was cropped.  In my original inked version, the first panel actually features a more panoramic shot of stately Belmont manor.

New strips of WORLD OF HURT – The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomicare posted every Wednesday at www.worldofhurtonline.com.

- JEP

Artist Nick Bradshaw is having a sale with assorted original art he has done in his career in order to raise funds for his ten year-old cousin, Madison, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Bradshaw has said that “prognosis is good but she’ll still need to run the gamut on tests and treatments for the next year. Which means her family will be having to travel back and forth and that can get expensive”.

Bradshaw has five pages from his run on Danger Girl and can be seen and bought here.

Next week, he’ll be posting a few more in that folder from other series he has worked on and will make a donation to the cancer society in Madison’s name.

This sounds like a win-win situation here.

Your favorite CB is back with a new installment of The Life of High Adventure. Last time I left you we were still stuck in 2009 — a year that felt in many ways like a vortex. Time expanded and contracted. Parallel universes were born and then died. Physical media eroded. New media fought back with the combined might of 20 Twilight vampires shimmering the sunlight. No one felt as if they won. Well, maybe everyone except for James Cameron.

We try to not look back here at The Life of High Adventure. Unless vodka is flowing through our blood, that is — then we remember a time in a Nordic past… No, neigh, we like to push forward in the name of progress! In the spirit of adventure. For we are warriors and our blades are sharpened, ready for battle. Ready to win new readers over one by one.

To help spread the word about the good fight I have decided to hit the road aggressively in 2010. I am pleased to announce appearance dates and give a few notes about each show I’ll be attending. Some spots are old favorites, others present new adventures that will be told in the annals.

So, without further ado:

CB’s The Life of High Adventure 2010 Tour

Long Beach Comic Expo
Long Beach, CA
February 20
http://www.longbeachcomiccon.com/comic-expo-2010.php

I wasn’t able to make the first Long Beach Comic Con last fall. I heard nothing but good things, so when this one day show popped up I had to give it a shot. I’ll be there sharing a table with Contropussy and 20% artist Christian Meesey. I got a preview of the first issue of Contropussy and it’s quite good. You can find out more info about here: http://www.contropussy.com

Emerald City Comicon
Seattle, CA
March 13 – 14
http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com

It would take a lot for me to miss this show. I’d have to be hunting the last dragon or sipping margaritas at a private island hideaway. Jim Demonakos and crew put on one of the best shows you’ll ever attend. And I’m serious about that. It’s amazing. I’ll be there with Super Frat creator Tony DiGerolamo. You can find out more about his work here: http://www.superfrat.com

C2E2
Chicago, IL
April 16 – 18
http://www.c2e2.com/

Finally a show in downtown Chicago! I’m not sure what to expect yet but I’m excited. I’ll be there supporting my good friend Josh Blaylock of PopCult fame. I’ve heard there will be an amazing party thrown by that group to celebrate the show. You can find highlights of their last party in San Diego here: http://www.youtube.com/popculttv

Phoenix Comicon
Phoenix, AZ
May 27 – 30
http://www.phoenixcomicon.com/

Another amazing event with the most professional convention staff I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. The show is moving to a much larger location this year to accommodate attendance growth.

Heroes Con
Charlotte, NC
June 4 – 6
http://www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/

Shelton Drum is one of the classiest guys in comics. Heroes Con reflects that. I had to miss it last year but am thrilled to be returning.

Texas Comicon
San Antonio, TX
June 18 – 20
http://www.texascomicon.com/

This is the first year for this show. The promoters have shown a lot of enthusiasm and are putting together quite the guest list. San Antonio is a big damn town. Could bode well!

So there you have it, the first half of the 2010 campaign. I hit the road with a purpose: To win over new readers. I look forward to hopefully seeing you at some of the events. Don’t be a stranger and stop by and say hi.

Convention season is upon us and adventure awaits!

Christian Beranek is a writer, producer, actor and musician. Currently he is in production on a project for Disney’s Kingdom Comics and has a major role in a feature for Lakeshore Entertainment. CB is never late for dinner and invites you to add him on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/beranek.

As the movie Nashville once said, politics is everywhere — and it seems like a character like Captain America would certainly not be immune to it, either.

Fox News has reported that the last issue of Captain America, which had a sign that said “Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag You,” will be altered to remove the sign in future editions.

“I don’t know who did it, probably someone who thought it was funny,” writer Ed Brubaker told Fox, explaining that he did not write that sign in his script, but was likely put in by lettering or production. “I didn’t think so, personally. That’s the sign being changed to something more generic for the trade reprint, because I and my editor were both shocked to see it.”

There’s a lot that could be discussed over something like this — on the one hand, I could certainly understand that no one wants to see their personal beliefs slammed by their favorite comic, and on the other hand, I could certainly understand the idea of “if you’re not a racist/reactionary/crazy person, don’t take this scene personally, it’s not bashing the Republican party as a whole.” (In fact, that might open up a whole can of worms over whether or not the very practice of being a superhero could be a liberal or conservative act!) What say you, Rama readers? Sound off!

[Image via Whyzzat]

Joe Sacco is awesome: his books are gorgeous, and in this interview he gives an eloquent argument for a non-comics audience for using comics to tell stories. Love.

In Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel, Joe Sacco looks back at 1956 in Gaza, when one bloody day in Rafah left 111 Palestinians dead. He tells the story in intricate pictures as well as the words of the people who survived that day, and like his other graphic works, he combines journalism with cartooning to create a hybrid art form that not only relates a story, but transports the reader back there.

“But for all its manifest, egregious, bottomless badness, this book has something to teach American publishers”: Noah Berlatsky wants to encourage American comics publishers to start making bad comics for the masses, rather than just making bad comics for Green Lantern and X-Men fans.

Neil Gaiman is magic: He must be. I can’t think of any other reason why I don’t feel like laughing at him, despite this LA Times blog post reporting on one of his readings, in which he tells a fan, “Trust your dreams, your heart and your story.” I literally can’t feel cynical about Neil Gaiman!

“My family came to me and said, ‘Maybe it’s time’”: Here’s a brief article on the current status of the late Johnny Hart’s strip B.C., centered on the fact that the current cartoonist, Hart’s grandson Mason Mastroianni, will now have his name added to the byline.

Maybe they should have just called the book World’s Finest: Because Superman/Batman #69 just sounds wrong to me.

I think I’m going to like this “Heroic Age” business: Yesterday Newsarama’s own Chris Arrant spoke with Jeff Parker and editor Bill Rosemann about Parker and artist Kev Walker’s upcoming run on Thunderbolts. The new line-up will include both Luke Cage, and Man-Thing, my favorite Marvel character who isn’t Namor! Parker also talked about the new Thunderbolts for an interview with Marvel.com. Please join me in saying a prayer that this will be a $2.99 book.

Wow, that makes two Shamus shows in my home state: Here’s Don MacPherson on Gareb Shamus’ ever-expanding slate of “comics” conventions, and here’s Heidi MacDonald’s location-scouting for future Shamus shows.

Sadly, not a Ben Grimm spin-off: “NEW ‘The Thing’ Movie Stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton”

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

There’s an interesting paradox at the heart of the new Planet Hulk animated film. “Planet Hulk” the comic book arc was conceived as a diverting detour from the Hulk’s status quo, not to mention a lead in to a cros-over mega-event. In the comics, with hundreds of issues of prototypical Jekyll and hyde Hulk stories weighing writers and readers down, a riff like the Maximus-meets-John Carter vibe of “Planet Hulk” worked as a novel break, a bit of variety to spice up Hulky’s pulpy life. With “Planet Hulk” fans got a few months of something different knowing fully well that eventually the character would return to something close to his Jekyll/Hyde status quo. (more…)

As many of you are no doubt already aware, vengeful snow gods focused their wrath on Diamond HQ this week, temporarily destroying them and making their webiste un-look-at-able. This coincided with the time I normally put this column together, so there’s an even higher likelihood than normal that mistakes have been made. Also, no cartoon this week as, um, my colored pencils were buried in an avalanche, maybe…?

Anyway, here are some of the books coming out this week–provided your local comic shop hasn’t been buried under one million feet of snow…

The Anchor Vol. 1: I’ve really enjoyed the first few single issues of Phil Hester and Brian Churilla’s lighthearted series about a mysterious monster-fighter who exists simultaneously on the earthly and infernal planes, and, if you haven’t sampled the series yet, this $10, 110-page trade paperback is a pretty perfect way to do so. If you’re already on board, the fifth, $4 issue of the series is also due in shops this week. So let’s see, $10 plus $4 equals…lemme get a piece of paper for this…$14! Just $14 and you’re all caught up!

Batman and Robin #8: It’s part two of Cameron Stewart’s (way too) brief run on Grant Morrison’s Batman title, in which we find out what happens after Batman Dick Grayson (“DickBats”) lets the corpse of Batman Bruce Wayne (“OB”) marinate in a Lazarus Pit. What’s weird about this storyline is the fact that there seems to be at least two sets of Batman’s remains, as Black Hand has been lugging Batman’s skull around throughout Blackest Night. If this story is set before Blackest Night, it’s possible that Dick re-buries Batman’s body in the unmarked grave that Black Hand dug it out of, which sort of spoils the resurrection aspect of this story, and then Black Hand also brings OB back to life temporarily. If it’s set after Blackest Night, then that means DickBats recovered Batman’s body and skull at the end of Blackest Night, put it in a vault, then decided to take it out of the vault and try to bring it back to life, after Black Hand temporarily restored OB to life. Either way, it seems a little silly that Batman has been brought back to life so often in so short a span of time. But who cares?! Cameron Stewart drawing DickBats, Batwoman and Knight and Squire fighting undead Batman! It looks like this.

The Brave and the Bold: Milestone: If last week’s Milestone Forever whet your appetite for more appearances by the Milestone characters, this collection of three issues of DC’s team-up title—featuring Black Lightning and Static, Blue Beetle and Hardware and The Spectre and Xombi—may be of interest. The $18, 160-page trade paperback is filled out by three issues of the Milestone characters’ original series.

The Choker #1: Artist Ben Templesmith and writer Ben McCool do noir. It’s a $4 comic, and you can see a ton of stuff about it here.

(more…)

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!

Looks like the Terminator is unstoppable — even as it’s pushed away Sony and Lionsgate.

io9 has a great article up about the hedge fund Pacificor snagging the rights for the Terminator franchise away from heavyweights like Sony and Lionsgate.

What’s particularly interesting is that the current rightsholders, Halycon, has previously sued Pacificor for extortion — they owed them about $30 mil for raising the funds for the last Terminator movie.

According to Deadline.com, Warner Bros. has tapped Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan to have a sort of hands-on/godfather role in the upcoming Superman reboot to “ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground”.

There is doubt he would direct both the reboot and the next Batman flick, but knowing Nolan’s eye is being used on production gives me happy thoughts that touch all my nerdy parts just right. Nolan has handled superhero noir to 19th Century rival magicians, I think his voice of reason will be a grand addition to the Superman pot-luck that is slowly getting under way.

The article does like to mention the obvious differences between Superman and Batman, but notes that Superman in the comics has more of a darker edge in the past and how  ”shortly after Dark Knight hit it big, fans assumed that Superman would be taken to the ‘dark’ side as well. That’s because Warner Bros mogul Jeff Robinov stressed post-Dark Knight that ‘we have to look at how to make these movies edgier’.”

I’m not sure if Nolan would make this production “edgier” by any means, but what do you think of this announcement, readers? Do you think Nolan’s hand and eye are what a Superman movie needs?

Wait a minute — Hector Hammond’s DAD appears in the Green Lantern movie?

According to the Heat Vision Blog, that’s exactly what’s going to happen, with Tim Robbins playing the role of Senator Hammond, Hector’s disapproving father.

Does this feel a little bit like overkill to you? Like, one of those reactions to Anthony Hopkins joining the cast of Thor? Either which way, this’ll be an interesting choice — last comic book movie that Robbins starred in was Howard the Duck.

And the less said about that movie, the better.

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

WORLD OF HURT – The Thrill-Seekers – Episode 29: “Feeling the Heat”

I was glad for an opportunity to shift the scene after the long mini-arc of “Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil….”  Pastor still remains an enigmatic phantom to the Thrill-Seekers at this point, but Charles is sensible enough to review him as a legitimate threat.  I enjoy setting up Ned for the big fall (but not in the same sense as Duke) that is to come.

New strips of WORLD OF HURT – The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomic are posted every Wednesday at www.worldofhurtonline.com.

- JEP

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