Flight, Volume 5
Written and Illustrated by JP Ahonen, Graham Annable, Chris Appelhans, Bannister and Grimaldi, Matthew Bernier, Scott Campbell, Svetlana Chmakova, Tony Cliff, Phil Craven, Michel Gagné, Steve Hamaker, Kazu Kibuishi, Kness and Made, Sonny Liew, Reagan Lodge, John Martz, Sarah Mensinga, Ryan North, Richard Pose, Paul Rivoche, Dave Roman, Israel Sanchez, Kean Soo, and Joey Weiser; Edited by Kazu Kibuishi.
Villard Books; $25.00

I’ve got some catching up to do on the Flight series. I read the first one ages ago when it came out, but various other reading obligations prevented my getting Volumes Two through Four. There’s nothing like a free review copy to renew your interest though, and now that I’ve read Volume Five, I very much want to go back and read the ones that I missed.

Volume One was unique and beautiful, but as with most anthologies, not all the stories were successful. At the time, I still thought it was one of the best anthologies I’d ever read, but there was room for improvement. For one thing (whether this was the fault of the book or my own misinterpretation, I’m still not sure) it seemed like every story in Volume One was somehow tied to the theme of flight or flying. At some point since then, I’ve read somewhere that “flight” isn’t the focus of the anthologies anymore, if it ever really was in the first place. So, with Volume Five, I felt freer to just enjoy the stories on their own terms without trying to read a unifying subtext into them. Possibly as a result of that – but possibly as a legitimate increase in quality as the editor and artists have grown and matured – I enjoyed every single story in the latest volume. Certainly some of them affected me more deeply than others, but each of them affected me in some way. I wasn’t tempted to brush off or dismiss any of them. And together, they form a harmonious package that’s absolutely lovely.

The anthology opens with Michel Gagné’s “The Broken Path.” It begins as a beautiful, silent fantasy about the inhabitants of an alien world who are trying to save themselves from an oncoming meteor. The action is easy to follow, even when it involves magic spells and otherworldly solutions to the crisis. But I say it “begins” as a fantasy, because by the end it’s become more than just that. It’s a touching story about sacrifice, gratitude, and love.

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Paramount Pictures has updated the official Star Trek movie website with high-res versions of the new posters released over the weekend at Creation’s Star Trek Las Vegas convention. Like the character posters released last month at Comic-Con, these four images combine to form the familiar “delta emblem” from the original TV series.

These teasers showcase Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, Karl Urban as McCoy, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov.

The other three posters can be seen after the break. J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek opens on May 8, 2009.

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Tom Brevoort pays tribute to the late Mark Gruenwald, who died 12 years ago today, by reprinting an old “Mark’s Remarks” column about what makes Captain America Captain America:

To me Captain America is the ultimate self-made hero. The Super-Soldier Serum didn’t make him what he is, the Super-Soldier Serum was just a tool he used to make himself all he could be. Even without it, I believe Steve Rogers could have made himself great- perhaps not in such an overtly physical way, but great nonetheless, the way a humanitarian or activist for human rights is great. Before he ever even heard of Project: Rebirth, Steve Rogers possessed the qualities and attitudes that he would later be in a position to publicly expouse once he had the physique that commanded attention. He was brave, had a great reverence for life, and a passion for freedom. I think freedom- free will- plays a bigger part in Captain America’s conception than any of the four aforementioned archetypal heroes. Steve Rogers chose to be Captain America, and worked hard at defining just what a Captain America was.

More at the link, and even more Mark’s Remarks columns can be found here.

More details on the Isotope Comics website.

Some people think these are adorable. Others shudder at a moment’s glance. Whatever the reaction, these contacts are made for anyone that wants disproportionately large manga or anime eyes. Korean manufactureres G&G and Dueba seemed to have cornered the market.

The contact lenses are available in a large variety of colours and more importantly, have a larger diameter than normal contact lenses. The effect gives the wearer the appearance of gigantic irises for that alluring cartoony look. Both cosmetic and prescription lenses are available.

At $35-40 a pair online, big eyes are much more reasonably priced than a small nose and more readily available than the Astro Boy makeover.

Doed-eye wannabes can get these contacts through Shopping Times.

Found via Inventorspot.

More details here.

Brendan McCarthy is working on a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange mini-series:

I’ve been commissioned by Marvel Comics to write and draw a new Dr Strange and Spider-Man three issue mini series. I’m just getting into it and I expect it to be finished early next year. It’s quite a thrill to finally get to draw the Doctor, my favourite Marvel character - and Spidey too.

To harmonise myself with the sublime ‘Ditko Dimension’, I have been digitally remixing some of his original 60’s pages, trying to get a feel for them from another ‘fresh’ visual angle… And in doing so, realizing just what a total genius he is.

Well, if Fantagraphics can’t own the character, this will certainly do just fine …

– The Hero Initiative has more Hulk covers up for auction this week.

– Congrats to Janelle Siegel, who is the new assistant editor in the Batman office at DC Comics. Way to go, Janelle!

– Matt Fraction dreams of Doom.

Last month at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Randal Jarrell from Oni Press and I hosted a panel called “How Not to Break into Comics.” We talked about the common and often unintentionally hilarious mistakes people make in their efforts to get their comics published. This is one of them.

I didn’t mention the overly-taped-and-bubble-wrapped glitter-filled submission specifically at the panel, but it fits into the category of one of the common problems we see: style over substance. Elaborate packaging, “cute” details like glitter confetti, “bonus” material like T-shirts and stickers — these are not what editors care about. This extends into the work itself — flashy coloring won’t cover up basic drawing problems or poor writing and a slick cover letter and pitch (which often are not a slick as you think they are) won’t make up for a lackluster project.

Simplicity in approach and an ability to follow directions will get you farther than gimmicks when it comes to breaking into comics. Here’s a little step-by-step for the submitting life:

1. Research comics companies. Know what they’re publishing, their submission guidelines, and who their editors are. Read their comics. Look for interviews with their editors and current artists.

2. Honestly assess your work. Your submission lives or dies by, more than anything else, what the editor thinks about your art and writing. How does your work compare to other comics being published by the companies you plan on submitting to? Hone your skills until you feel your work is ready. Don’t fall into beating yourself up, but don’t be cocky, either.

3. Write a cover letter and put together a package that is customized for each publisher. We can tell if you’re sending the same submission package to every publisher you submit to, especially if you accidentally don’t change the company name in the letter. (I get cover letters that are addressed to Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics pretty regularly.) Publishers all have different requirements and different priorities. You can find the former in submission guidelines and learn enough about a company for the latter through that research you did.

4. If you’re rejected, don’t immediately become defensive or self-pitying. Neither will get you any closer to getting published. And they’re not attractive personality traits. If you received feedback with the rejection, think about what it says, and use it or don’t use it as you see fit.

And for goodness’ sake; your submission isn’t the Holy Grail. A sealed envelope will keep it plenty safe enough.

Over at the Fourth Letter, David Brothers uses a Grant Morrison quote from DC’s Final Crisis Management panel in San Diego as a springboard to talk about the New Gods and Afro
Futurism. First, the Morrison quote, which is interesting in itself:

The whole idea with Mister Miracle, Mister Miracle was supposed to be a book where everyone was black and that was the idea. I wanted to do like, Metron as Sun-Ra. He’d sit in this big Sun-Ra chair with mirrors and stuff.

But, it wasn’t drawn that way. And when they drew the second issue, they drew the homeless New Gods as white guys, don’t ask me why. ’cause everyone in that book was supposed to be black characters ’cause I wanted the whole thing to be based on Shilo Norman and his world. But, those guys shouldn’t be white, sometimes things just happen, artists tend to draw white guys.

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The ever-watchful Scans Daily has images from The Dark Knight: Batman Saves the Day, a somewhat surreal children’s book adaptation of part of the movie, by Jennifer Frantz, Cameron Stewart and Dave McCaig:

Bruce Wayne’s friends throw him a birthday party. But a surprise guest shows up to spoil the fun—it’s the Joker! Can Batman get there in time to save the day?

I can’t wait for the sequel, Harvey Goes to the Hospital.

(Via K.D. Bryan)

At Den of Geek, James Hunt names the best and worst of DC and Marvel’s “event” comics. Unsurprisingly, he gives the DC crown to the grandaddy of the company’s continuity-fixing -rattling series, Crisis on Infinite Earths.

But for Marvel, Hunt passes over the likes of The Clone Saga and The Infinity Gauntlet in favor of Age of Apocalypse, the 1995-1996 X-Men story arc:

While it’s hard to fully appreciate this crossover if you’re not deeply interested in the X-Men and the hundreds of mutant characters that exist in the Marvel Universe, those that DO understand it are free to appreciate the sheer intricate majesty of it all. Even though it only featured the X-Men, it easily hammers any prior or subsequent attempt into the ground.

I sat out comics for the better part of the ’90s, so I can’t speak to the crossover’s “sheer intricate majesty,” but any storyline that hinges on “a time-travel hiccup” gives me pause. But perhaps I’m missing out.

Hunt’s list of event comics “we wish they hadn’t done” includes Zero Hour and Civil War.

I picked up a preview ashcan of Faith Erin Hick’s next comic, The War at Ellsmere, in San Diego. She definitely won me over as a fan with Zombies Calling, so I’m looking forward to buying her sophomore book when it comes out in December.

She talks about the new book over on her blog:

The War at Ellsmere is the story of Juniper, an aggressively self-sufficient 13 year old who wins a scholarship to the prestigious (and slightly creepy) Ellsmere Academy, a girls’ school which Jun hopes will gain her easier entry into ivy league post-secondary schools. While at the school Jun makes friends with a crazy girl named Cassie who thinks there’s a mythical monster living in the forest next door, and offends the school’s alpha student, a dead-eyed, probably dead-souled girl named Emily. Jun’s defiance of Emily leads to an escalating war between the two of them, which finally results in … well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out, won’t you?

I have to tell you, this book has been kicking my ass since January. When I started I was pretty terrified, sure I wouldn’t be able to properly convey the school setting and manage the multiple plotlines, and I took everything I learned from doing Zombies Calling and applied it to this book. I think it is a big step up in terms of storytelling for me. I tried to pay attention to all the legitimate criticisms I received from Zombies Calling and address them (the most common being that Zombies Calling was a bit short; Ellsmere will be nearly 40 pages longer).

You can check out a preview of the book here.

Remember these?

Invincible Iron Man writer Matt Fraction posts a downloadable image for the “Tony Was Right” T-shirt he wore at Comic-Con.

A Distant Soil creator Colleen Doran does the comics world a solid and posts on her blog about several health care resources for freelance creators:

In the last week, I have read a number of creators and people in the industry posting ill-informed items about the lack of health insurance options for the self employed and for creators in particular. One woman flatly stated that the only reason she had never quit her job and started her own company was because she knew self employed people could not get insurance. This is simply false.

As a self employed person, I have never been unable to get health insurance, and when I started out, was only paying about $134 a month. For those who fear giving up insurance while just leaving school or a job, there are companies that also offer affordable short term health insurance that can run from 30 days to 6 months.

Don’t think you can’t afford insurance and then give up seeking it without even trying to look though this site.

Follow the link up top for more info and a lot of resources. Doran also moderated a panel about these topic in San Diego, so major kudos to her for reaching out to her fellow creators who may not realize what options are available.

It’s one of those things you wish you thought of first.

Although it’s unlikely to ever happen, I thought Eric Reynolds came up with a really good idea involving Bottomless Belly Button creator Dash Shaw and Dr. Strange:

By the way, Fanta has just gone back to press on BBB, which we’re thrilled about. I was thinking this morning that the two artists we’ve published of late with perhaps the most “heat” at the moment are Dash Shaw and Steve Ditko. Which then reminded me of Dash’s unpublished Dr. Strange strip (see below), and inevitably led me to one conclusion: that really, Marvel Comics should give Dr. Strange to Fantagraphics. Marvel doesn’t know what the fuck to do with him. Give him to us and we’ll start an ongoing Dr. Strange anthology with new work by Los Bros, Dash Shaw, Daniel Clowes, Kim Deitch, and other longtime Ditko fans, and include reprints of the classic Ditko Strange as well. Joe Quesada, it is your moral duty to make this happen.

Related: The First Post presents a preview of Bottomless Belly Button.

Kevin Huizenga discovers an early Frank King strip.