SUPERHERO SLEEPOVER: The Girls

SUPERHERO SLEEPOVER: The Boys

COMICS INSIGHT: Finishing JACK KIRBY's HAWKMAN

New York-based comics illustrator and designer Brendan Tobin provides some quick insight into the creative process of comic book creation here by completing a rough sketch of DC Comics' Hawkman by legendary artist, the late Jack Kirby.  Kirby originally penciled  the work as a presentation piece for an unrealized Hawkman cartoon, presumably dating his initial sketch back to the late 60's or early 1970's. 

[Interestingly, Kirby left New York and the comics industry behind in the late 1970's, disillusioned with both Marvel and DC Comics for not giving him fair payment or enough credit for his creations. He went to California and began a new career in animation, working briefly for Hanna-Barbera before winding up at Ruby-Spears in 1980.  There, he designed characters and backgrounds for the Saturday morning action series Thundarr the Barbarian as well as created presentation boards for potential new projects. Although none of Kirby's concepts were produced before he died in 1994, the Ruby-Spears company (in tandem with Sid and Marty Krofft) announced in April they plan to revisit his ideas for production. ]

Working from the original pencils, Tobin completes what Kirby began, first by inking the Hawkman, then finally coloring and lettering. What he ends up with is an amazing piece of comics art and history. Tobin also posts this process on his own blog, which you can find [here].

Hawkman  - Jack Kirby's original pencilsTobin inks Kirby's line work, then adds the lettering

 Hawkman completed, Kirby -style - by Brendan Tobin

MORE TO SEE

The New York Times recently compiled an online slide-show of Jack Kirby's yet-to-be-produced cartoon characters and concepts, found [here].

DYNAMIC DUO: A HALF-DENARY

Family  

Colored by qBatmanp [via]

Batman & Beaker [via]

Batman & Robin 

by Dryponder [via]

Rite of Passage

by Eiko Chan [via]

Strings (revisited)

By Eiko Chan [via]

KIRBY IS THE HERO OF DREAMLAND

LMFAO.  Ape Lad's a Southern California professional illustrator with Disney Interactive with a penchant, he says,  for drawing hobos. He's also an amazing - and rather prolific - cartoonist with a flare for caricatures.  His Jack Kirby is perfect; if the 'King' were alive today, he'd be laughing along with the rest of us. Check Mark Evanier's weblog  [here] for a thorough and straight-forward Jack Kirby primer, and Ape Lad's Flickr stream is full of talent and goodness you'll spend hours with [here].

Boy, It's Vintage! The Many Faces - and New Possibilities - Of SUPERMAN

                                                                                                                                                               (Right click to enlarge)

It's odd to say, but before comics artist Curt Swan came aboard Superman in 1957, a page filled with drawings of Superman at his most expressive wouldn't have even been considered. Although he had a penchant for drawing action, Superman's former penciller, Wayne Boring, in many ways lived up to his own name; assisted by the far-seeing vision of editor Mort Weisinger, the man who assigned him to the book,  Swan defined the look and feel of Superman  for the duration of the Silver Age -- and beyond it.  Indeed, from 1957 and for the next 30 years, Superman was Swan's character. The squared jaw was gone; so, too, Superman's single-plane flying style.  All of this was replaced by Swan's realistic, strong, expressive human faces and scenes of flying that were at once both fluid and graceful.  Swan didn't retire from Superman until 1986, and it was his characterizations of The Man of Steel - of Superman's humanity- that Christopher Reeve emulated for the classic role which he, too, lent his signature.  Superman's Many Faces from The DC Vault [via].

Two Uniquely BATMAN and ROBIN

Batman? Robin? Batman AND Robin?? We don't have to be the world's greatest detectives to know a clue when we see one. We'll keep digging. But if we're right -- and we just might be -- a comicsblog fan-favorite is about to return...and nothing will ever be the same again...

Artistic Credits

(Top) The Bat-Signal by sneed

(Bottom) Robin Tim Drake by Iantoy [via]

Jim Woodring's TREEHUGGER Is Freaky Funny Phantasmagoria

Treehugger

It's like Wednesday Addams and Winsor McCay's love child drawing black-and-white old skool Disney on a bad acid trip , isn't it?   Strangely freaky, surreal stuff is the style of Jim Woodring, who's been Seeing Things his entire life and even dropped out of college after hallucinating a cartoon frog during an art class. Since then, he's designed for Mr. T, mentored with Jack Kirby, and even penciled for Harvey Pekar.  Jim, and then Frank, are his best known works, but Weathercraft is his most recent, which according to Woodring is best described as an "unholy hybrid of human ambivalence." If you dig dream art, comics sans words that take you places you didn't think possible without popping a pill, check him out. You'll find his blog [here].

CAPTAIN AMERICA For A Patriotic 'Puter: MEMORIAL DAY

(Right-click to enlarge, then save)

CALVIN & HOBBES: Don't Sell The Dreams You Should Be Keeping

Outside Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, 

 Calvin and Hobbes say 'Good-bye'.

[via]

Pop Psychology Perfected in Purple

Quite possibly the Best. Picture. Ever. Strawberry Shortcake, astride My Little Pony, holds high her mighty sword after victory in a great war against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  With the corpse of Leonardo at her feet, this is the warped day-dream we've always suspected put The Dabbler's sister in therapy. There's probably a deeper meaning, but we're laughing our asses off too much to care.  [via]

Who Will Help Us Watch The MR MEN?

Illustrator Steven Anderson adds some superhero style when he boldly takes Roger Hargreaves’ Mr Men and Little Miss series to a place its never been before.  Our favorite Hargreaves is Mr. Bump by far, but our top Anderson is still a really tough call. We're liking his Watchmen Mr Men a lot -- especially since Mr. Smiley Face and even Mr. Moore are right there along with the rest.  Still, Anderson and prolific artistry have created plenty of tough choices and we've yet to decide. Hmmm... Maybe you can help us name a favorite? You'll find all Steve Anderson's designs on his Flickr page [here]. Pick one or two, and get back to us via  Back Issues below!

Even Aquaman Would Swim Clear of CARNOPOLIS

Artwork from the zombie-focused comics magazine, Carnopolis [link]

AQUAMAN: Talks To Fish, Not To Women

Mid-1990's Aquaman poster by Craig Hamilton

GREGORY GALLANT's Tempting FATE

[via]

We immediately loved this wicked-cool rendition of our fave sorcerer, Dr. Fate -- a definite stand-out among a lot of great artwork recently on special auction to benefit Canada's Doug Wright Awards.  DC's Golden Age magic maker doesn't seem fazed at all by the wacky attack about to be waged on him by a bunch of ghosts right out of last Halloween's New Yorker; he looks amused, and for a dude who wears a metal helmet on his head, it's often not easy to tell how he's feeling. 


Gregory Gallant - better known as the artist Seth - makes Dr. Fate  so accessible here, we wouldn't be at all surprised if our hero made the cover of The New Yorker himself.  Seth has - at least three times -and that artistic milestone is just one of his many credits. Single-handedly responsible for designing all 25 volumes of Fantagraphics' complete Peanuts collection, he created the look of Aimee Mann's 2001 Lost In Space album (it's soooo good) and, back in the day, was the illustrator for Vortex Comics' most-awesome series Mister X. 


Seth's best known for Palooka-Ville, which he's been publishing (thanks to Drawn and Quarterly) since 1991. Aside from winning multiple awards, the series played a big part in Canada's "alternative comics" renaissance back in the early 1990's.  Fashionably well-read dabblers might also recognize Seth as the genius behind George Sprott,  originally serialized in the The New York Times Magazine, but available today in hardcover, completely re-mastered, for everyone else who missed it. Check it out [here].

Mellow Yellow: Pretty Kitty (Pryde)

DREAM GIRL: The Legion's Original Dreamer

Source: Comics Alliance

80's Hits: George Perez and The LEGION OF SUPERHEROES

The Legion of Superheroes - Art by George Perez (circa 1982)

Jean, Girl, You Need To Quit It

Either Jean's been up again for three days, or Professor X is up to his old tricks...

New X-Men #126  by Grant Morrison & Frank Quietly (Marvel Comics, 2002) via

Imagine: Our 700th Post!

April Showers 

By Joe Phillips [via]