The number one reason why I love comics.

It is this magnificent scene and dialog from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' highly touted Watchmen (1986) - known by many as arguably the greatest comic book of all time and the only graphic novel that was included in TIME Magazine's Top 100 Novels.

 

(Click on the images to enlarge.) 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful prose, amazing artwork, and a whole lot of meaning than any other title in the medium packed in just 10 panels.

And this is not even the whole 12-issue book itself. 

If you haven't read Watchmen yet, please do pick it up and read it before you die. Its one of the greatest stories mankind will ever have and one of the rare books that gets better and better after every re-read. Its just that damn good.

Baroness

New personal work, this time I choose an villain
with glasses, from G.I. Joe series:Baroness.. :)
Painted with brushes of ps-CS3.

Baronesse @ Hasbro

Strange People (Part 1)

Qui sotto è linkata la prima parte di un vecchio fumetto che disegnai nel 2002,
edito da Medicina Nucleare. La storia e il soggetto
sono di Andrea Antonazzo. Si tratta di una interessante e curiosa storia noir
che attinge sia nella grafica che nella caratterizzazione dei personaggi dai noir
classici anni '30-40 americani, con i bianchi e neri espressionisti.
All'epoca esordivo come fumettista, quindi mi si perdonino certe ingenuità
artistiche-tecniche ;-)))
Come dicevo questa è la prima parte, pubblicata a puntate sul blog di Andrea:
Strange People (prima parte)

You can check out from the URL below the first part of an old comics that
I drawn in 2002, published by Medicina Nucleare (Italy).
The script was written by Andrea Antonazzo, the text is in italian language.
It's a very interesting noir story, in a expressionistic black & white style.
You can enjoy the first part here:
Strange People (part 1)

Harley Quinn 004

new piece of the Harley Quinn series..:)
we can view this supervillain with her hammer..
Painted with brushes of ps-cs3, as usual.

Harley Quinn @ DC Comics.

Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn directly from Arkham Asylum...
sketched and pianted in ps-CS3

Harley Quinn © Warner Bros / DC

Spider-Woman

new piece dedicated to Spider-Woman.. :)
sketched and painted in ps-CS3, as my usual.

Spider-Woman © Marvel Comics

EDIT: added a step by step process here:

Black Cat 009

New piece of the series.. :)
Painted in digital with psCS3.

Black Cat © Marvel Comics

Poison Ivy

Other comic book supervillain... Poison Ivy.. :)
painted with digital brushes of ps-CS3 and textures.
used some photos as references.

Poison Ivy @ DC Comics.

Power Girl

this is a piece I originally done a couple of years ago,
now I changed it in some parts.. I thinks it's a little better.. :-)
done with brushes of psCS3.

Power Girl @ DC Comics.

Catwoman 0027

another piece of the series dedicated to
my favourite female character..
painted in ps-cs3 as usual..

Catwoman © DC Comics

Supergirl 006

new piece of the series..
done with brushes of ps-cs3 and textures, as usual..

Supergirl © DC Comics

Batgirl 0011

new portrait of Batgirl... :)
painted with various brush of ps-cs3 and some textures..

Batgirl © DC Comics

Catwoman 0016

this is a new digital drawing of catwoman... :)
I did another version a few mounths ago..now
changed in some parts..

Catwoman © DC Comics

Green Arrow

Green Lantern and Green Arrow here.. :)

it goes out from an old idea I sketched a few time ago

for a private client.. now I completed it.. I hope..eheh





Green Arrow, Green Lantern © DC Comics

Cyclops and Storm Lock Lips On The Cover of "Astonishing X-Men" #44

Wow. What happened here? Did Cyclops break up with Emma or somethin'? And why is Storm back with the 80's mohawk?

Its a nice cheesecake cover, but I'm damn sure Cyke and Ororo swapping saliva's doesn't have to do anything with the story inside the comic. That's the trend nowadays guys, get used to it.  Gone are the days where the actual cover is not only awesome, but is actually something relevant to the actual plot of the book. God, I miss those days.

And just for the record, Cyclops has been a jerk ever since. Maybe that's why he's my favorite X-Man. Yeah that's it! Its not because of his stupid mutant powers... 

It's because he gets to stick his dick with all the hottest ladies in the mutant world. Lucky basterd.

Winners Of The 2011 Eisner Awards [List]

Here is the list of the winners for this year's awards,considered as the "Oscars" of the Comic Book World. This is the best of the best right here, and some of my favorites won like Daytripper, American Vampire, and Mouse Guard in their respective categories. 

I'm a little bit disappointed though that Pinoy komikero Gerry Alanguilan (Superman: Birthright, Superior, Elmer,) didn't win the Best Graphic Album category for his amazing work with Elmer, considering that there were two winners in that one category.  Still, I'm happy for Gerry for getting nominated in this year's Eisners. Its a remarkable feat. Just goes to show that there's life in Pinoy Komiks.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Best Short Story
"Post Mortem," by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

Best Continuing Series
Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)

Best Limited Series
Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)

Best New Series
American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)

Best Publication for Kids
Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)

Best Publication for Teens
Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Humor Publication
I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)

Best Anthology
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Digital Comic
Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc

Best Reality-Based Work
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New
Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia)
Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)

Best Adaptation from Another Work
The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

Best Writer
Joe Hill, Lock & Key (IDW)

Best Writer/Artist
Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit (IDW)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist
Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)

Best Coloring
Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Neil Young's Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)

Best Lettering
Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
ComicBookResources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)

Best Comics-Related Book
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)

Best Publication Design
Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW)

HALL OF FAME
Judges' Choices: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Jackson, Martin Nodell, Lynd Ward
Elected: Mort Drucker, Harvey Pekar, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award:
Nate Simpson
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:
Patrick McDonnell
Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award:
Del Connell, Bob Haney
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:
Comics & Vegetables, Tel Aviv, Israel - Yuval Sharon, Danny Amitai

[via ComicCon]

Marvel Expands To The Original Graphic Novel Line With 'Season One' Books

Sure, Marvel is beating rival DC in terms of monthly comic book titles, but they're pretty much mediocre when it comes to creating and publishing original graphic novels, where DC is really really kicking some ass. Just check out the success of DC's most recent OGN: Superman Earth One, which topped the New York Times Bestsellers List for graphic novels for more than 10 weeks.

So in that light, Marvel has decided to push their luck in that department, with their 'Season One' line of books, which will re-tell the origins of their most popular characters starting with X:Men, Daredevil, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Some of the titles will be released starting  February 2012.

Check out the covers for the aforementioned titles by Julian Totino:

X-Men Season One by Dennis Hopeless and Jamie McKelvie

Daredevil Season One by Antony Johnston and Wellinton Alves

Spider-Man Season One by Cullen Bunn and Neil Edwards

Fantastic Four Season One by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and David Marquez

Graphic Novel Review: Batman - "Gotham By Gaslight"

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

Written by Brian Augustyn

Art by Mike Mignola

Inks by P. Craig Russell

Published by DC Comics

Time for some old graphic novels folks, and this one I picked up from the grave is one that was published months before I was born. 

Published in February 1989,  Batman: Gotham By Gaslight is an Elseworld story that re-imagines the whole Batman mythos in the year 1889, pitting the Caped Crusader himself up against a slick and dreaded opponent who stalks and kills women in the shadows... the famed Jack The Ripper. 

Written by  Brian Augustyn, the story is a straightforward mystery-detective thriller set in the late 1800s steampunk age, designed by Augustyn to keep readers engaged in its rich, history-influenced plot, while making them guess until the big finale.

 Bruce Wayne is depicted as a millionaire who comes back to Gotham City after a visit from Europe, who is secretly putting down thugs and criminals as Batman during the night - with a little bit of help from Jim Gordon - who feeds him with useful information about Gotham's gangs and tells him just when is the right time to prowl on these criminals. 

At the same time, a plain murder of a wife by his husband came across Gordon and Batman's attention, and they found something similar to that of the Jack The Ripper murders - who has seemingly returned to Gotham to spread his terror. Both agree to hunt down the Ripper, but even as the Batman himself would realize, his mysterious opponent is not of a slacker and is pretty intelligent and wily, even for the World's Greatest Detective.

What follows are intriguing, and perfectly-executed twists bound in one all-original story courtesy of Augustyn. He writes in a way in the manner of most thriller novelists, making his main character (Batman) think aloud as he traces down a killer that nobody has ever seen, and creates scenarios where the reader will be forced to make their own hypothesis and possible solution for the mystery.  

And just what I have said in the beginning, you won't be able to guess what's the going to happen next as the story goes on, and that is exactly what Gotham by Gaslight offers from the beginning to the end.

As if the fresh take on Batman vs Jack The Ripper isn't good enough, legendary artist Mike Mignola (yeah the creator of the celebrated Hellboy) joins Augustyn in bringing an all-time classic that stands the test of time. His unique style of pencilling that made him famous is old-schoolish, yet elegant.  

Mignola's most memorable panels comes in where Batman (who has already figured the true identity of the Ripper) hunts the killer down in a dynamic cat and mouse scene in the middle of the night, that ends up with a gut-wrenching revelation that you couldn't have seen coming.

I have never seen Mignola work on any other comic book aside from Hellboy, and this is the first Batman comic that I read that has Mignola as the artist. With that said, he did a splendid job of putting Batman in the steampunk setting, capturing the 1800s feel in all different aspects like clothing and the way his characters look, and most of all, keeping every scene fresh all the time.

All in all, Gotham by Gaslight is one of the best Batman graphic novels that I have ever read and few of the greatest DC Elseworlds tales that will keep you satisfied even if it was somewhat short in its entirety.

DC New 52 Preview: Aquaman #1

Here's a 4-page preview of the Geoff Johns' and Ivan Reis re-imagining of Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, out in stores in September:

Images courtesy of BleedingCool via Hollywood Reporter

Aquaman looks bad-ass here, the costume looks great, and he's kind of respected just like any other superhero. What's not to like? Awesome Geoff. I'm sold on this one. 

What's nice about this is that Geoff nailed the whole thing with that  "you need a glass o' water or somethin?" line, then Reis follows it up with a panel that's ridiculously spot on. Can't beat that.

Never thought I would say this with Aquaman - but I like him now after seeing this preview. And that's coming from a guy who never liked Aquaman.

Catwoman 005

new catwoman..:)
from a drawing I did a couple of years ago..
now more complete..

Catwoman © DC Comics