Good old Kirby fisticuffs

In the past, Chris Sims has praised Jim Aparo, saying that when he draws somebody like Batman punching someone, it looks like the punchee's head is exploding. Well, I say Aparo has nothing on Jack Kirby, as we see in today's Fourth World panel, from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #136:



Ouch! By the way, that's a clone of Kirby's Golden Age hero, the Guardian, fighting a giant, Kryptonite-laced clone of Jimmy Olsen. And that's one of the less crazy concepts this issue, which also has stuff like an army of tiny clones of the Newsboy Legion and Dubbilex the D.N.Alien. Kirby rules.

Comics from Mars and boy battlers

Via Jog, I found this bit of awesome news: First Second is going to be publishing Paul Pope's complete THB, in color, in 2009. That's going to be a long wait. This is Pope's big unfinished masterpiece, so it's awesome to hear that he has finished it (or is soon going to). I'll be first in line to read it. Here's a cover, or something (it's actually the cover to the preview book that Adhouse has at SDCC):



And this isn't new news, but First Second is also publishing Pope's Battling Boy in 2008, and that also looks really cool:


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In other Pope news, I picked up his Pulphope art book yesterday, and while I haven't started reading it yet, it looks awesome, with tons of amazing artwork, comics, and essays. I can't wait to dig into it.

"CLINK-INK-INK-INK!!!!"

Today's Fourth World panel, from Mister Miracle #1:



Scott Free can produce real miracles! Cool issue, although I'm still waiting for the origin story. More to come tomorrow!
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Since my scanner is still broken, that will probably be all for tonight. Unless I decide to write another review and add the pictures later. I definitely have some stuff I want to talk about, so we'll see what happens. Later!

Artist alert!

One of the cool things about the internet is discovering exciting new talents, and I stumbled across the site of one of those today. His name is Connor Willumsen, and his art is scary good, considering he's only 20 years old (according to his Blogger profile). Here's his blog, and I hope he doesn't mind me posting a few of his pictures here. I loved these illustrations of scenes and characters from Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude (a favorite of mine):





And even his sketchbook pages are crazy good:



You can also download a short comic he did here:



He notes in a recent post that he's working on some more comics, so I can't wait to see what he comes up with. He's got some talent, that's for sure, and I'll be keeping an eye on him. Hopefully he'll make it big someday.

Orion = OMAC

Here's today's Fourth World panel, from New Gods #1:



It seems to be a prototype for the famous double-page spread in OMAC #2 (as seen in this post on the always reliable ISB). Awesome. Reading through the Omnibus, this is definitely the best issue yet (although they've all been awesome), and I'm struck by how crazy it all seems even when I've known about concepts like Mother Box, the Source Wall, the Anti-Life Equation, and Boom Tubes for years now. I can't imagine what it must have been like to pick this up when it first came out. I love the bombastic style of the whole thing, especially the Biblical nature of the story, from the New Genesis/Apokolips duality to a scene in which Orion smashes a pillar, Samson-style. It's truly awesome stuff, and there's so much coolness, I couldn't limit myself to one panel. So here's some more, with Orion and High-Father entering the trippy "chamber of the source":



Orion's discovery of what's been left in charge of Apokolips:



And the revelation of Darkseid's dastardly plan:



God, I love this stuff. Tomorrow: Mister Miracle!
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By the way, I'm having issues with my scanner (which should explain the odd nature of some of these scans), so while I hope to have a review up tonight, it might not be complete until I'm able to get a replacement unit. Stupid technology!

"Power knows no prejudice!"

I was writing a review, but my scanner is on the fritz, so it looks like the only content tonight is going to be today's Fourth World panel:



From Forever People #1. The pink guy is one of Darkseid's "gravi-guards", who "transmit gravity waves from heavy mass galaxies". Awesome.

This week: low on pamphlets, (possibly) high on expensive stuff

That's if the various more expensive books show up. Anyway, on with the look at:

New comics this week (Wednesday, 7/25/07):

Immortal Iron Fist #7
Immortal Iron Fist vol.1 HC

I've dropped this in monthly format, but I do intend to pick up the collections. If I remember correctly, this issue is a one-shot about an Iron Fist of the past, the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay. I expect it will be quite fun, whenever I get to actually read it. As for collected versions, you can pick up the hardcover collection of the first six issues this week for $20, or wait however long it takes for Marvel to put out a softcover version.

Batman #666

Ah, we finally get the "future Batman vs. the devil" issue of Morrison's run. I've been looking forward to this one, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. I'm curious how it will tie into the "black casebook" plot that's been going on. I guess we'll find out.

Black Summer #1

It's a big week for Warren Ellis fans (like me), with this supposed first issue (it's actually the second) of his superhero series.

Doktor Sleepless #1

And then we've got this Transmetropolitan-esque techno-futuristic series, which I'm hoping will be enjoyable.

Warren Ellis’ Crecy

And then this graphic novel about the Battle of Crecy, France, which took place in 1346. Kind of a different sort of thing from Ellis, and I'm hoping it's good.

Hellboy Darkness Calls #4

Another issue of this cool Hellboy series, but if you haven't been following it, it's probably best to wait for the trade.

Speak of the Devil #1

This is the first issue of a four-issue miniseries by Gilbert Hernandez, and it should be good, since he's awesome. I'm excited to read it, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to wait for a collection. I'll decide in the store, I guess.

Love & Rockets vol. 2 #20

Speaking of Los Bros Hernandez, here's the latest issue of their long-running series. I'll read it someday, whenever I catch up to what's currently coming out. I have a long way to go...

Tank Girl the Gifting #2

I picked up the first issue of this, and I'm not sure whether I liked it or not. Ashley Wood's art was nice, as always, but the humor and the writing were kind of inexplicable. It doesn't help that it was pretty much the first Tank Girl comic I had ever bought. I'll consider buying this one, but I don't know if I'll keep reading the miniseries or not. That art sure is tempting, though.

Pulphope Art of Paul Pope

And here's the expensive item of the week, if it shows up at my store. It's one I've been waiting for ever since I first heard about it, so I'm pretty excited to get my hands on it.

Postcards True Stories That Never Happened TP

This looks interesting: an anthology of stories inspired by postcards found in thrift stores and the like. Featuring contributors like Harvey Pekar, Michael Gaydos, and Phil Hester, among many others. Might be worth a look, and I really like the cover, which you can see on Amazon.

Dust #1

This is that weird-looking book from Image about an alternate World War II with modern technology, or some crazy shit like that. Here's some info.

Multiple Warheads #1

I don't know if this is coming out this week or not. Midtown Comics has it on their list, but my store doesn't. It's an awesome new quarterly book from Brandon Graham; you can read my early review of the first issue here.

To Terra Vol 3 TP

I still haven't read the second issue of this nice manga series, but I'll get to it someday.
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I think that's everything that I found notable. I expect it'll be a fairly cheap week, unless I get the Paul Pope book. But I won't be sorry if I do! As for content here, I should have a review or something up tonight. Watch and see!

"Darkseid is hard, naked truth!"

Today's Fourth World panel, from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #135:



That's one of the first appearances of Darkseid, and he's already awesome. And it's easy to go from that quote to Grant Morrison's simple and effective "Darkseid IS". Stay tuned for more!