This is a very hard to find issue of this short-lived magazine from 1996 and I'm very proud of having it IN MY COLLECTION. I already mentioned this mag on part 2 of our Kingdom Come post, so here's my review, the cover is fantastic, it's one of my favorite renditions of KC Superman along with the one on the hardcover edition where you see him in this sad, yet somewhat heroic poses, which is a perfect example of what this character really is in this series. This magazine is part of the publishing company created by Robert M. Overstreet which releases a yearly guidebook to comic book prices, some of which have covers by Alex Ross, we'll talk more about them in our future posts about books. This issue also contains an article and an interview with Alex, about KC and other stuff. I have reprinted the article below. 
Thursday, June 26, 2008
OVERSTREET'S FAN #14
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
HERO ILLUSTRATED #6
Continuing our Magazine-related posts, I'll showcase those ones with Alex Ros's art and/or interviews which are NOT Wizard. This is the oldest one I have IN MY COLLECTION Hero Illustrated #6 was published on December 1993, it features an amazing, no pun intended, cover that reproduces the classic cover to Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man's first appearance, originally penciled by Steve Ditko. Alex's version doesn't stray from the original he just makes it lifelike. Later Alex would do similar covers for the X-Men and, most recently, The Hulk. I like this image so much that, not only do I have this cover but I also have a poster of this image that was released later. There's an article about Marvels in this issue, which you can read below.
Monday, June 9, 2008
WIZARD MAGAZINE part 10
THE ARTICLES
This section contains the articles and special painted projects that Alex has done for Wizard magazine. This post will be updated regularly because I'm still scanning all the articles, so make sure you bookmark it so you won't miss out.
DISCLAIMER: This articles are published here without permission from Wizard Magazine despite my efforts of contacting them and getting the clearance, they just didn't reply my e-mails so I'm guessing it's OK. Remember I'm just doing this as a tribute to Alex Ross and to all of his fans who come to this blog. If you use any of these images I've scanned, remember to give due credit to this site. So until I get the "Cease and Desist" letter, enjoy!
ART IMITATES LIFE from Wizard #42: Alex's first interview and article, about Marvels, Terminator: The Burning Earth and the "upcoming" Kingdom Come.
THY KINGDOM COMES from Wizard #57: A sketchbook of Kingdom Come characters, nothing we haven't seen in the Absolute KC edition, if you haven't, here's your crash course.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT from Wizard #89: A step-by-step account on what went on with the massive Crisis on Infinite Earths poster.
BATMAN - WAR ON CRIME FIRST LOOK from Wizard #95 &
BATTLEFIELD EARTH from Wizard #108: Article and interview with Jim Krueger and Alex Ross about the success of Earth x and what are they going to do for an encore in Universe X.
POWER TRIP from Wizard #111: Article and sketchbook about Shazam: Power of Hope, in the same vein as the War on Crime one.
WONDER LAND from Wizard #123: Again here is the sketchbook from yet another one of the treasury-sized books, this time it's the chance for Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth.
ALAN MOORE article from Wizard #130: The article is not about Alex Ross or his art, it's exclusively about Alan Moore. But this art opened the article and it just kicks so much butt (just like Mr. Moore's writing), and you won't find it anywhere else except for this issue.
ALEX ROSS UNCENSORED from Wizard #146: An interview in which fans submitted their questions to Alex Ross through the magazine.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
WIZARD MAGAZINE part 9
THE SPECIALS
WIZARD SPECIAL - BEYOND ZERO HOUR: This special from 1994, showcases the event DC Comics called Zero Hour; another one of those continuity-cleansing events รก la 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Now I have to be honest with you, you know how much I love Alex Ross's art in any form, but this cover is just SO AWFUL, I mean, the lighting looks weird, Superman looks fat and Batman looks even fatter, just check out his chin and don't get me started on Supes' mullet. As a matter of fact, even Alex Ross himself, hates this cover as much as the fact that they made him paint Superman with long hair just as he was in the comic at the time.
WIZARD'S ALEX ROSS - MILLENNIUM EDITION SPECIAL: This is your MOST IMPORTANT tool (next to this blog, of course) if you are to become a collector of Alex Ross' art. This guide from 1999 contains a visual guide of everything Alex has done up to that point, interviews and more. It's chockfull of Alex Ross art goodness. This special came with a new comic called Open Space (right) which was Alex and Kurt Busiek's first collaboration pre-Marvels. This guide also came in hardcover form and was updated in 2003 with more info but with the same cover as Wizard #89. The cover speaks for itself, Kingdom Come Superman and Earth X Captain America, cool sunset, what more could you ask for?
WIZARD SPECIAL - THE X-MEN: This special didn't have a cover by Alex Ross but as they say, "it's what's inside that counts". So inside you have Alex's redesigns for the X-Men costumes, specially commissioned for this issue. Plus there's a mini poster of this "new" X-Men. These designs weren't used by Marvel, but frankly it's their loss. Just check out these designs which I have scanned and made available to you, our faithful readers. They combine the early Jack Kirby costumes with Alex's own Earth X design's while still retaining some of the key features that Dave Cockrum created. All wrapped into a cool new package. Enjoy them!
Monday, June 2, 2008
WIZARD MAGAZINE part 8
WIZARD #155: This wonderful cover was created by 2 comic book legends, Alex Ross and Jim Lee. Lee pencilled this cover and these guys enjoyed working together so much that they did it again for the cover of Countdown to Infinite Crisis. I just have to say that both collaborations produced the coolest DC art around because they merge 2 wonderful styles into one fantastic final product. This issue includes an interview with both creators on making this cover.
WIZARD #167: This is the only Wizard magazine that is not in my collection. The cover art on this one was used to promote the Justice maxi-series. The cover is a first time for Alex to use this "split-screen" gimmick which looks a bit odd but gets the job done which is, to display as many characters, heroes and villains on a single cover.
WIZARD #191: This is Alex's first Wizard cover in 2 years. This Sep. 2007 issue celebrates Alex's return to his Kingdom Come world courtesy of Geoff Johns and the Justice Society of America. I love anything related to Kingdom Come and this cover is especially nice; it features the 2 time (or dimension) displaced characters from the story, Superman from Earth 22 (Kingdom Come Earth) and Power Girl, who was Earth 2's Supergirl. I love it!
WIZARD #194: This cover is another milestone in Alex's work, his return to Marvel with the new Avengers/Invaders series, from which we can see it's most important players Captain America, Namor and the original Human Torch. The lighting on the cover is amazing with the use of fire as its source, what bothers me a little is how the characters seem to turn to smoke. It doesn't look horrible, just strange, nevertheless, this is one fine-looking cover.
WIZARD #202: Great new cover which features completely unknown characters (The Death-Defying Devil, Masquerade and Black Terror) from the surprise hit, Project Superpowers. Inside there's an article about the end of the first volume of this series and what's coming next. Although the poses of the 2 guys in the back look a bit stiff and the white background is just dull, the pose on Masquerade just makes up for it, look at the little stream of smoke coming from her gun that's being blown off by her, brilliant!
