Two-Face Tuesday! Dick vs. Harvey, Round 4! Two-Face breaks into the Batcave, wrecks up the place!

[thehefner]

When Dick Grayson put (back) on the cape and cowl as Batman, most of the critical and fan attention was seemingly focused on Grant Morrison's BATMAN AND ROBIN, whereas Judd Winick's five-issue-reign on BATMAN was dismissed as--to quote the AV Club's review--"a bit too much like business as usual compared to what Morrison and Quitely are up to."

Having finally read the Winick story as a whole, I'd say it feels less like "business as usual" as much as a more direct continuation of the Batman Family stories of the past fifteen years, as opposed to Morrison's overarching focus on the concepts of Batman over the past sixty years. He's not interested in the soap opera dynamics and relationships between the Bat-Fam and the classic Rogues. Problem is, those are the things that I love best about Batman comics. I dare say that would be the same for most of you.

So for me, there was a lot to enjoy in Judd Winick's too-short BATMAN run from issues 687-691. Not the least of which being the use of Dick's arch-nemesis (or whatever he's supposed to be), followed not long after the events of NIGHTWING: THE GREAT LEAP.





( Absolutely no scans of the horrible Tony Daniel Bat!Harvey costume behind the cut! Seriously, what was he thinking? )

Casstoons: Competition!

[espanolbot]

( Explanation and strip behind cut )

title: casstoons
char: batgirl/cassandra cain
medium: webcomics

Secret Six #21 preview

[sherkahn]

IGN has the preview for number #21 as Catman's becomes the lead in this story arc.

( Kraven would want to say something about this )

RIP Peter O'Donnell

[angelophile]

Bleeding Cool's reporting that Peter O'Donnell, creator of Modesty Blaise has passed away.

He created Modesty Blaise, the gadget-toting super spy with artist Jim Holdaway back in 1963 for the Evening Standard and the character appeared in strips right up until 2001. Although it was syndicated across the world and the character's been upheld as being a feminist rolemodel, apparently the strip wasn't widely available in the US until relatively recently - apparently the occasional nudity was considered a problem - but Chris Claremont, at least, has noted Peter O'Donnell as being a major influence and Warren Ellis has just payed tribute to him as "one of the finest comics writers of the last century".



Bitch Magazine has a great article for the uninitiated.

RIP Peter O'Donnell.

( A sampling from Modesty's origin story under the cut. )

Black is white and white is black

[arbre_rieur]

Due to this month's Incorruptible being delayed by a week, both Incorruptible #5 and Irredeemable #13 came out this week...



( Four pages from each... )

creator: mark waid, title: irredeemable, title: incorruptible, publisher: boom!

Anyone in the mood for some exquisite corpse?

[arbre_rieur]

Matthew Sturges explains the deal behind the latest issue of House of Mystery (#25):

'In the 1920’s, a group of French surrealists, drunk on good wine and Hegelian philosophy, stumbled upon a curious literary parlor trick. Passing around a notebook, each writer would compose a bit of story—whatever came to mind—and then pass the notebook on. The results were interesting, nonlinear, and often surprising. During their first time out, one of them scribbled the evocative phrase, “The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine,” and thus was born a literary fad.

'The Exquisite Corpse, as it thus became known, took hold among writers, and then artists and musicians as well, celebrating the Surrealist philosophy of subverting reason and thought and allowing the unconscious to run rampant across the creative landscape. It was an ideal expression of their belief that the associations thus unearthed were superior to those generated by aesthetics and cognition.

'As you might expect, it was mostly total garbage.

'Regardless, I always thought it would be a fun experiment to try in comics. And in what better forum to try it than the pages of House of Mystery, where trying weird stuff has become something of a hobby for us?'

(The above text copy-pasted from the Vertigo blog.)

( Lucien: librarian, storyteller, warrior )

creator: bill willingham, creator: paul levitz, title: house of mystery, creator: luca rossi, publisher: vertigo

The stupidest supervillain in the world

[arbre_rieur]

One page from this week's Doom Patrol #10...

( How can someone so self-aware be so boneheaded? )

creator: keith giffen, creator: matthew clark, title: doom patrol, group: doom patrol, publisher: dc comics

Gotham Adventures #4

[inexpediency]

( Read more... )

Tags: title: Gotham Adventures, creator: Ty Templeton, creator: Rick Burchett, char: Selina Kyle/Catwoman, char: Bruce Wayne/Batman, theme: DCAU

Batman's New Costume

[cyberghostface]

( Scan under the cut... )

Bakuman Chapter Two: "Dumb and Smart"

[skjam]

So, you might be wondering what Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata got up to after completing "Death Note." It's "Bakuman", a manga about a writer-artist duo trying to make it in the world of professional manga creation. And yes, it's just as self-referential as it sounds.

Shonen Jump USA has been running a preview, and this is the second chapter which came out in the June 2010 issue. (Four pages as per our newly published comics rule.) Previously, junior high student Moritaka Mashiro, a talented artist who likes drawing manga, was latched onto by bright but eccentric transfer student Akito Takagi. Akito wants to write manga, and to team up with Moritaka to do so. Moritaka's uncle was an unsuccessful mangaka, and his death has made Moritaka cautious about going into the field. But thanks to Akito's interference, Moritaka learns that his crush, Miho Azuki, wants to become a voice actress. One thing leads to another, and Moritaka and Miho vow to marry once they've gotten into their chosen careers.

( WARNING! Sexism ahead. )

Your thoughts and comments?

Suggested tags
creator: Takeshi Obata
creator: Tsugumi Ohba
medium: manga
publisher: Viz
theme: sexism
title: Bakuman
title: Shonen Jump

whatever

[twigcollins]

Karl Stevens is the creator of 'Whatever' and 'Failure,' among other indie comic projects. His current project can be seen every week in the free paper the Boston Phoenix, and online. His highly detailed and shaded sketches can also be seen in Anthony Apesos' "Anatomy for Artists" book.

His work is generally a combination of slice of life and very short stories, with some random sketch and figure studies throughout.

And then there's Olaf.



The chronicles of Olaf, collected in 'Whatever' under cut. 12 large images out of 127 page collected graphic novel.

( Olaf is one of God's special creatures )

suggested tags: medium: indie comic

Martian Manhunter Vol 2 issue 24 - J'onn goes beserk

[brushed_velvet]

And does a very passable impression of the Hulk?

( Booster and Beetle are so going to yelled at big time! )

suggested tags - title: martian manhunter, char:martian manhunter/j'onn j'onnz, char:green lantern/kyle rayner, char:green lantern/guy gardner, char:booster gold/michael jon carter, char:blue beetle/ted kord, creator:john ostrander, creator:doug mahnke