This Week in Comics October 1st
Boo!
When I started looking at creating my own comic I looked at a lot of examples and since I wanted to do something online I looked at a bunch of webcomics. Some stuck around a while, and others I stopped reading. maybe because they were focused more on monetizing than comics, or they seemed to be dealing more with fame and creating a following. I recall going to NYCC and putting my work up for critique early on… of the many things brought up, two really stuck- one was “Lettering is an art” basically use a font, because event though I had taught handwriting for years, I wasn’t proficient. The other was that I hadn’t created a site that I could put ads on. That I really needed to look at ad placement. Something I wasn’t interested in. There were other things, and I started looking at how various artists and creators were at cons. Were they genuine, or were they trying to promote a brand.
I discovered many comics while wandering Artist Alley and one of those was Katie Cook. The first time I stopped by her table at C2E2 I got a drawing of Hemi- the bestest cat in the world. and since then I tried to stop by and get something to support the cause. Her most recent work has been on Webtoons and is a wonderful coming of age story with a ghost radish- Nothing Special. I read it as each chapter arrived and then patiently have been waiting for the third “season” to conclude. Since then she’s gotten a publishing deal to turn the story into a “real book.” The first two Webtoons seasons have been turned into three books and the last season is coming to a close. Recently she had a kickstarter for an art of book- Nothing Special- The Art of The Adventure Behind the Scenes of Katie Cook’s Comic Thing which I supported enough to get not one, but two radishes.
The book goes through Katie’s process and how the comic and characters have changed over the years. The amazing things are all the little Easter eggs hidden throughout each page. I’m looking forward to pouring over this and hopefully improving my drawing and storytelling along the way.
I am trying to limit my kickstarting, although I’m still waiting for the Mystic Curling Club game to launch. I may have to go through my history with Kickstarter at some point… just not now.
My Comics
Amazing Spider-Man #13 Marvel Comics W: Joe Kelly A: Pepe Larraz
Huck Big Bad World #5 Dark Horse Comics W: Mark Millar A: Rafael Albuquerque This issue introduces our bad guy, or evil organization who is gunning for anyone who has powers, since that would upset the status quo in which the rich and powerful are rich and powerful.
Star Fleet Red Shirts #3 IDW W: Christopher Cantwell A: Megan Levens This comic has a list of the characters at the beginning and each issue shows who is left. The cast is getting smaller and who knows how many will be left by the end of the first arc. Hint: the axiom “Never beam down in a red shirt” is proving to be true.
Spider-Man Noir #1 Marvel Comics W: Erik Larsen A: Andrea Broccardo
Absolute Green Lantern #7 DC Comics W: Al Ewing A: Jason Howard & Riley Rossmo We leave Earth to gain a better understanding of how the whole lantern spectrum works… and get introduced to <spoiler> Sinestro.
Absolute Superman #12 DC Comics W: Jason Aaron A: Rafa Sandoval With a return to Smallville Lois and Jimmy try to figure things out and we learn a bit more about Sol and Kal-El. With the cliffhanger I’m sure we will see “Superman” let go to fight for justice.
TexArcanum #3 of 4 Dark Horse Comics W: Christopher Monfette A: Miguel Martos As the series winds up we take this issue to learn more about the origin of Avery Belle and how he got into this mess or became as proficient as he has in taking care of mystical problems. It’s taken a few years… decades… maybe a century or more. With one issue to go there’s just a few loose ends to tie up, and he’s brought two of them together to work things out…
Absolute Evil #1 DC Comics W: Al Ewing A: Giuseppe Camuncoli & Stefano Nesi
JSA #12 DC Comics W: Jeff Lemire A: Diego Olortegui The good guys fight the bad guys for the fate of the world. In the end… well that would be telling.
Batman #2 DC Comics W: Matt Fraction A: Jorge Jiménez n).
Department of Truth #0 Image Comics W: James Tynion IV A: Martin Simmonds
Arcbound # 6 Dark Horse Comics W: Scott Snyder & Frank Tieri A: Ryan Smallman - Did they just make things worse?
Amazing Spider-Man #13 Marvel Comics W: Joe Kelly A: Pepe Larraz Spider-Man in Spaaaaace! OK the crazy thing is this isn’t bad. I know it’s got to be tying back into the Imperial series or some big Marvel event I’m clueless about. That said this was what the first arc was kind of doing - grounding Spider-man and Peter Parker. This time he’s having to bring his moral compass into the final frontier, but still. The artwork might also be something that is making me like it. My problem is It seems like this is bouncing between issues. Which is nice in that I can skip the art and stories I’m not interested in. It would be awful if they bounced around in a single issue- that would be awful.
Spider-Man Noir #1 Marvel Comics W: Erik Larsen A: Andrea Broccardo I complain about how Spider-Man and Miles Morales: Spider-Man have slipped into the realm of gods and magic and stuff that never really was the realm of Spider-Man. Spider-Man Noir is the going the other way and I’m loving it. Of course thank to animation I hear the voice of Nicholas Cage coming from Spider-Man. The artwork is great, but I feel that maybe something more in the style of Batman First Knight (or Second Knight) might feel more in genre. That said it is great.
Peter has returned after being mixed up in Spiderverse shenanigans and has the typical Peter Parker problems with paying bills and his whole social life. In walks a dame who needs his help to solve the murder of her father. The dame is Gwen Stacy. This can only end badly, but it will be fun to see to all go south.
Absolute Evil #1 DC Comics W: Al Ewing A: Giuseppe Camuncoli & Stefano Nesi This one shot pulls together some of the key players in the Absolute universe to form a league to help keep the status quo (seems to be important to the powerful folks throughout comics). The interesting one is the unnamed guy who doesn’t like jokes. This is a one shot so it’s just around to show that there will be a concerted effort from now on to deal with this problem, and that the titles in the Absolute universe will start to cross. This goes with the leak of the Absolute Universe into Superman and the Justice League titles.
Batman #2 DC Comics W: Matt Fraction A: Jorge Jiménez Gotham City is definitely still unfriendly towards masked vigilantes, so some of the mess from the previous batman stories still exists. This issue shows not only that but the lengths at which the police will go. The most interesting parts were the flashbacks with Bruce, Tim, and Damian. A more human side of the superhero life and the importance of knowing how to drive a manual transmission (also mentioned in Deadpool Batman).
Department of Truth #0 Image Comics W: James Tynion IV A: Martin Simmonds Looks like the Department of Truth is recruiting and a certain ideology is the focus. In the past, the truth has been tweaked, but not specifically for personal gain. This zero issue brings in a new administration in which the truth is whatever and like in the real world, I’m a little scared as to how it will end up.
Bruce - I remember when you had illustrated a book one of your friends wrote - but never published. I thought it was great. If not a comic, any interest in illustrating? Dad