'One Sentence' Comic Reviews

Bit of a running joke with my office mate these, so here goes:

I'm an absolute nobody in the world of comics so none
of this means crap all, but we all have opinions, likes and
dislikes. Either way, this past year or so I have really grown
to appreciate the huge amount of work and love that goes
into these things....and I seem to be buying more.

'Transmetroplolitan:back on the street'
by Warren Ellis, Darick Robertson
Great stuff, wasn't sure about the art at first but it was a 'grower',
reminded me of 2000AD from years back'


'Identity Crisis'
by Brad Meltzer, Rags Morales
Really engaging and well written, never expected to give a crap
about 'Elongated Man', Art kinda trad 'comic booky' but still cool.


'B.P.R.D: The Dead'
by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis
Ok..if a bit incoherant with two unrelated story threads, I just wish
Mignola himself was still doing the art, tough shoes to fill
for anybody.


'Batman Faces'
by Matt Wagner
Short but neat story, really enjoyed the pace and 'simplicity'
of the art.


'Superman & Batman: Generations'
by John Byrne
Not really my usual cuppa being such an 'out there' soap opera
story, but I enjoyed the traditional comic book visuals more than
I expected.


'Batman deathblow'
by Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo
Story is cool and the art is dark, gritty in your face stuff, didn't like
the 're-design' of Batmans costume though.


'The Moth'
by Steve Rude
Great fun pulpy 'phantom' kinda stuff, retro art perfectly
compliments the 'hero lives in a circus' groove.


'The Pulse: Secret War'
by Brian Michael Bendis, Brent Anderson, Michael Lark
Having been a huge Bendis fan for a long time, I feel bad I'm losing
interest, but this book feels more like an excuse for a crossover
than a story.


'The Originals'
by Dave Gibbons
Ok..Quadrophenia with hover bikes, but the visuals felt kinda
too 'friendly'.


Selina's Big Score'
by Darwyn Cooke
Terrific all round... how anybody can draw such beautiful faces with
half a dozen brush stokes I just have no idea.

Champion Pinup Number 3

My errant child of a MAC will not let me have the No2 Pinup
right now, so here is number 3.
The Champion as depicted by the hugely talented

Ronnie Del Carmen
www.ronniedelcarmen.com

Aside from being annoyingly good, a seemingly effortless
draughtsman and all round 'story Yoda'. Ronnie is the creator
of 'Paper Biscuit' which to me seems just about the cleverest
excuse around to draw pretty girls.

The dog ate my homework

Bloody hell its October all ready!
So much for Mr "Post More Regularly"
So..I was all set to upload another of the nifty pinups
that my talented pals did for the Champion but....

Despite working for Pixar and supposedly being a 'Computer Guy',
the last month has been just painful due to my misbehaving MAC.
This time the backup drive that contains my copy of the Champion
is refusing to giving me any files... jees, you'd think I'd purchased
HAL two years ago.

News wise, since that last post I've been busy in my spare time doing
a Batman cover for DC Comics!!...yep, you heard right, my first 'pro'
comic job :-) An especially rewarding task for me as I'm quite a fan
of the character. It was very cool to get an opportunity to do ones
personal 'take' on something quite so iconic.
Though I hadn't drawn Batman since my teens, felt kinda naughty.

I had been approached by DC's Mark Chiarello back at San Diego Con
(check out his beautiful Batman:The Devil's Workshop)
after a few emails and a bunch of thumbnail ideas, he chose one of
the designs and suddenly I had a commision...

Despite a really good attempt on my MAC's part to screw up all the
files on my drive, I managed to complete and turn in the final image
just the other week. (credit to local MAC meister, Dr Terry)
I can't imagine any editor wishes to hear "er.. my computer crashed"
from a first time cover artist. Though it's often quite a legitimate
excuse back at Pixar...

I shall ask the nice folks at DC if I may put anything related up here,
perhaps at least the rejected thumbnails if my MAC lets me have
them back. Not sure when or how the 'final' will make it to the
stands, I'll post details when I have them.

and yeah...every post should have a picture


This was a previous incarnation
of 'The Champion' from 2004