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In this column and the next I will write some about my recent visit to San Diego Comic Convention International. I went though to make connections and plan interviews and meet with publishers so I did not so much have fun as I did work.
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SDCCI NEWS
MARK WAID signs an exclusive agreement to work for DC.
His arrangement allows for some work to be continued with or at other publishers (TOP COW Hunter Killer), but not MARVEL comics but more so, the contract makes Waid a writer with editorial consultative abilities. His role at DC will expand, and he will be writing some new books, but at the moment all that is known is BRAVE AND BOLD, a throw back title that will team Waid with different artists per story arc, and, different or new characters to team up with in each arc. DC also has Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison at DC with similar contracts and responsibilities. I think Mark Waid is amongst the most talented writers in comics, and I think DC made certain to stay ahead of the game to sign him. Well done DC! |
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I met and talked with Brian Petkash a PR dude for ARCHAIA STUDIOS, DEVIL’s DUE, ALIAS and numerous other talents. The comics industry is filled with people interested in selling stuff. Brian does a great job of sharing his enthusiasm for comics and making connections to increase the appeal of the medium. I met the beautiful Jen Vuckovic from Rue Morgue magazine, and she was quite a sight. Five inch heels, crimson red hair, pierced and tattooed. Horror is a growing genre in the comics medium and there is little doubt in my mind that with such amazing people as Jen fronting such magazines Horror will continue to grow in its appeal. I met a very talented fellow, artist Paul Gulacy. We’ve been emailing back and forth for three years and have spoken upon the phone so it is good to have a name to go along with the face. His work on Master of Kung Fu, RELOAD, and much more has made Paul a favorite artist of mine. In the midst of a large crowd someone shouted my name, and I turned and found the brothers Goldman from FWD Books. We briefly chatted about whether I was getting their review books in the mail. I have in fact received them and reviews are to come shortly.
More next week, including, close friends newly met, and lots and lots of eating. And more eating. |
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AQUAMAN, BATMAN, BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, and SPECTRE artist JIM APARO Dies:
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The comics community of professionals, publishers and fans mourned the recent loss of Jim Aparo who died at the age of 72. His work was welcomed upon any book he did the art for, his pencils and inks were professionally done, and the look he achieved was smooth, and even beautiful and expressive. His best work included misty wharfs, moonlit evenings where the shadows moved, and the Batman hunting criminals, and creatures of the night. The fraternity of great BATMAN artists is fairly small. Not for the lack of artists, but for the fact that DC Comics tended to place well considered veterans on the books featuring Batman.
Jim Aparo was good from start to finish, and I enjoyed nearly everything he did. I will miss him, as we do all who pass who are well thought of, but more, I will cherish the comics I still possess from where he was the artist. The best work I think from Aparo was THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD issue 178, titled PAPERCHASE when BATMAN and The CREEPER fought a unnatural, Origami creature with massive powers that manifested due to hate. The story was good, but even as a kid I recognized that Aparo had hit a grand slam with the art. It was brilliant.
Click here to see my favorite Jim Aparo comic at the Grand Comics Databse
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X-MAN
Warren Ellis -plot ideas
Steven Grant -writer
Ariel Olivetti - artist
The Counter X experience did not quite happen as it was planned. Warren
Ellis was enlisted by MARVEL comics leadership to reimagine some of the MARVEL X books Generation X, X-Force and X-Man, and present a counter X earth tale that would somehow and eventually entwine and envelop ongoing MARVEL continuity. |
But MARVEL seemed to get cold feet and despite the general excellence of X-MAN, the sales did not follow the creative success and the title was canceled. But the titled character, the X-Man, Nate Grey spoke the words ”I’m a shaman” and nothing would be the same for the series again. A shaman could be seen as a protector of his “tribe” and Nate Grey’s tribe was the mutant population of his world. Inspired by Warren Ellis’ concept, Steven Grant and Ariel Olivetti made a former loser of a character, the protector supreme of the mutant race. The work is not one that is a valuable piece of the puzzle of continuity at MARVEL, rather, a moment in the timeline when a series was far greater than its origins, concept and history. As such I am telling you that it deserves being collected as a testament to lost causes or something. |
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Comic Industry veterans often fade away without our seeing them leave. It is the nature of the industry to constantly infuse new blood into the pages and ink of comics. But lost in the search for new ideas and new talent is the proven, and true talents who simply happen to have aged. I recommend writing to them, meeting them at conventions and collecting whatever work you see of theirs upon the shelf. You see, in that fashion you are supporting them, and making certain that they are able to feel appreciated for their creative work.
Oh, also, Go LANCE ARMSTRONG!!!!!
Yo Publishers...Send review products to:
Alexander Ness
The Land Of Frost
Box 142
Rockford MN 55373-0142
e-mail: alex@stlcomics.com
ONLINE ARCHIVES:
PopThought.com
Land of Frost Blog
RobinGoodfellow.com
SlushFactory.com
Comic Book Network
StlComics.com
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL, German philosopher (1844 - 1900)
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