I just came across this site today, that apparently has been in existence in various forms since 1998.
Hey Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time!! is a collection of various artists interpreting their favorite literary figure/author/character.
Much time can be wasted browsing..
As a sample,, here is Bruce Timm’s rendition of Lovecraft
In a piece on the crime fiction market the BBC online magazine leads with HarperCollins plans to issue the classic Agatha Christie mysteries in graphic novel format. The series is scheduled to debut next month during Agatha Christie Week.
Their hope is that this will open up the Christie books to the hip young things that read graphic novels. Maybe it will also open up traditional mystery readers to the possibilities of the graphic novel format too.
The BBC story includes a link to a short gallery featuring some art samples.
Well that didn’t last long did it? A brave attempt to get the fantasy book reading crowd into the comic book stores, that never quite seemed to find a place in either market.
The official press release is rambling and vague, so here is the best summary from Tom McLean at Variety’s Bags & Boards comics blog.
| Quote: |
| Marvel’s relatively recent and high-profile co-publishing arrangement with Dabel Bros. has come to an end after less than a year.
Move comes as a surprise given the success the Dabel imprint had in launching its titles, most notably "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter," which was a hot seller that brought author Laurell K. Hamilton’s fans into comicbook shops and is presumably primed to be a huge bookstore market hit when it’s collected. Dabel will return to self-publishing, while Marvel will hang onto and continue to publish a number of the properties Dabel began, including "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter." |
| Quote: |
| The comics industry lost a luminary this weekend – Mike Wieringo passed away Sunday of a sudden heart attack. Details are still sketchy as of this time, but according to close sources, the acclaimed artist had chest pains at some point during the day and called 911, but the responders did not make it in time.
Wieringo was 44 years old. He was a vegetarian, and "one of the healthiest ones of us in the bunch," as his longtime friend and collaborator Todd Dezago described him. Currently, there are no details about services or a funeral. Wieringo worked every day, updating his blog and website with a constant stream of sketches at MikeWieringo.com. His last sketch was posted on Friday. |
Not much to add except – Damn!
It seems like my debut as a James Bond feature article writer will be delayed a bit more, at least in the UK. JAMES BOND: DEATH WING was to have shipped on July 29th in the UK, but it looks like it has now been put back to match the American on-sale date. Look for 007 to arrive in stores on both sides of the Atlantic on 11th September.
In the interim here’s a look at the cover art.
The Chemist
Image Comics (32 pages / 3.50)
Writer / Artist: Jay Boose
I must admit I am totally unfamiliar with writer / artists Jay Boose’s work*, but after picking up the first issue of The Chemist I will definitely be looking out for more. The European style of the cover called out to me from the rack. A quick flick through reinforced that opinion as the art showed strong influence from French bandes dessinées (BD) albums – mixing urban noir crime drama with slick stylish protagonists and a realist, almost illustrative, approach to detailing backgrounds. And anybody that can accurately illustrate a 1967 Renault Alpine sports car scores immediate points with a gear head like me.
The story in this first issue is a simple tale of man meets woman, they get shot at, and escape over the Canadian border. But the man is a drug dealer with a neat twist, he doesn’t dispense heroin – he reverse engineers, manufacturers and sells prescription drugs on the black market. While the woman is a decoy set up by the mob, an alluring companion with what will undoubtedly be an equally alluring back story to unfold. The action runs from Boston to Montreal and reflects the different feel and sensibilities of both locations. It’s fast, witty, sexy and enthralling.
The book is literally crammed with story as both the inside front and back covers as well as every page are used for art rather than adverts – such a simple and seemingly obvious way of getting more story for your money, that I’m amazed that other publishers haven’t used it before.
This will be one I will definitely be buying when a hardback collection is published (please make sure that happens Image) and will happily rack it alongside my European BD albumes.
* It seems that Jay Boose is an animator at PIXAR – so I must have seen his work before.
Just received this from my good friend Jay Willson, who once more took my scribbled pencils for the back cover of Comicopia #103 (due out in October) and transformed them with his inking into something more intense and dramatic than I’d ever imagined.
Seems there a possibility that this may end up as the front cover instead.
Back from the madness that was this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego.
As most of my time was spent meeting with, and pitching to, editors I don’t have too much in the way of convention report; and let’s face it the web is full of those at the moment.
Instead here’s a few photos just to give you a flavor.
The ComicCon flags flying from lamposts all over San Diego’s Gas Lamp district.
The line to get in – this was two hours before opening time for Wednesday evening’s Preview Night.
Wednesday evening at Door D entrance looking left.
Same spot looking right…
If like me you were less than impressed with the news this week that comedian Seth Rogen is on tap to write, and star in, the in-development GREEN HORNET movie, then do your self a favor and click on over to
A French made short featuring the Lone Ranger’s favorite grand-nephew and his ass-kicking sidekick.
Don’t worry it’s in English and features a cool, gritty look at the style of cinematic Hornet we would love to see, but is unlikely to happen.
The fight scenes are well choreographed and the end credit sequence is just about perfect.
OK – I lied – one more post before the madness that is SDCC.
Press Release From DC Comics that comes as a surprise to no-one.
DC COMICS TO PUBLISH COMIC BOOK SERIES BASED ON WORLD OF WARCRAFT
| Quote: |
| DC Comics, the world’s largest English language comic book publisher and home to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman announced plans today to publish a new comic book series based on World of Warcraft®, Blizzard Entertainment®’s popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Preview art from the series will debut at Comic-Con International, held in San Diego, CA from July 26–29. The World of Warcraft comic book will be published through DC’s WildStorm imprint and debut this fall.
The ongoing monthly series will be written by industry veteran Walter Simonson (Thor, Orion) and feature art by Ludo Lullabi and inker Sandra Hope. The first six issues of the World of Warcraft comic series will each feature two covers, one by superstar comic book artist Jim Lee and a second by Blizzard Entertainment Senior Art Director Samwise Didier. The Warcraft® series has been a pillar of gaming culture for over a decade, with multiple #1-selling titles. Blizzard’s World of Warcraft MMORPG allows thousands of players to explore the rich, war-torn setting of the franchise together, and has attracted more than 8.5 million subscribers worldwide. The Burning Crusade, the first expansion to World of Warcraft, recently shattered PC game sales records by selling more than 2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours of release and approximately 3.5 million in its first month. The first storyline of the new ongoing series begins when a human is found unconscious on the shores of Kalimdor, with no memory of who he is or how he arrived there. Enslaved by an orc shaman, the man must fight for survival against members of both the Alliance and the Horde. He strikes uneasy relationships with other races in his quest to find the secrets of his past. |
First look at WoW concept art below.
