MARCH 2010 SOLICITATIONS [UPDATE]

ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE BOOK 4 #3
Written by KURT BUSIEK
Art by BRENT ANDERSON
cover by ALEX ROSS
The Pale Horseman makes his deadly debut! But is he a villain or the Dark Age’s purest hero? Plus, Charles and Royal confront their parents’ killer in Las Vegas, only to see matters take a strange and dangerous new path. Featuring Mirage, the Silver Agent, Honor Guard, the First Family, the Blue Knights and more!
On sale MARCH 31 • 3 of 4 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US


JSA: THY KINGDOM COME PART THREE TP
Written by GEOFF JOHNS, ALEX ROSS & PETER TOMASI
Art by ALEX ROSS, DALE EAGLESHAM, FERNANDO PASARIN & NATHAN MASSENGILL
Cover by ALEX ROSS
Collecting JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #19-22 and the JUSTICE SOCIETY: KINGDOM COME Specials MAGOG, SUPERMAN and THE KINGDOM, now in trade paperback! Picking up where PART TWO left off, The Justice Society begins to dissolve as Gog vows to bring peace to Earth in a way that frightens some and thrills others. Torn between Gog’s desire to help the world and the moral cost it comes with, it’s old guard vs. new as the line that was drawn is crossed.
Advance-solicited•On sale APRIL 7 • 224 pg, FC $19.99 US

SUPERMAN: THE COMING OF ATLAS TP
Written by JAMES ROBINSON & JACK KIRBY
Art by RENATO GUEDES, JACK KIRBY & OTHERS
Cover by ALEX ROSS
When Atlas stakes a claim on Metropolis in this tale from SUPERMAN #677-680, it’s up to Superman and Krypto to take him down. Also including FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #1, the 1975 tale that introduced Atlas!
Advance-solicited •On sale APRIL 21 • 128 pg, FC $14.99 US



SUPERMAN FOREVER #1 MINI STATUE
DESIGNED BY ALEX ROSS • SCULPTED BY KAREN PALINKO
A classic DC Direct statue gets miniaturized!
Based on one of the most popular Alex Ross covers ever, this 1:2 scale mini statue features all the sculptural details and intricate painting fans of DC Direct have come to expect.
This limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 6.375” high x 5.875” wide, is packaged in a 4-color box and is manufactured to order.
Advance-solicited; on sale August 18, 2010 * Statue * $79.99 US


BATMAN: THE DARK CRUSADER MINI STATUE
BASED ON THE ART OF ALEX ROSS • SCULPTED BY ADAM BEANE
A classic DC Direct statue gets miniaturized!
Based on the 2003 DC Direct oversized poster designed by Alex Ross (later to be used on the back of BATMAN: WAR ON CRIME), this 1:2 scale mini statue features all the sculptural details and intricate painting fans of DC Direct have come to expect.
This limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 6.375” high x 5.875” wide, is packaged in a 4-color box and is manufactured to order.
Advance-solicited; on sale August 18, 2010 * Statue * $79.99 US


THE TORCH #6 (of 8)
Written by ALEX ROSS & MIKE CAREY
Penciled by PATRICK BERKENKOTTER
Cover by ALEX ROSS
A Funeral in Berlin, part 1 of 3
The Torch may not truly be alive, but now he's dying,
condemned by the same chemical agent that defeated the Thinker's artificial virus. His only chance? To follow a seventy-year-old trail into the depths of the Bolivian jungle, and face a monstrous parody of himself in a battle to the death!!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: CHAPTER TWO #9
Plot by ALEX ROSS & JIM KRUEGER
Script by JIM KRUEGER
Art by EDGAR SALAZAR (main story) & DOUG KLAUBA (American Crusader origin story)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
The all-out action continues month in and month out from Dynamite, Ross, Krueger, and Salazar! Things are coming to a head between the Superpowers and Zeus (formerly their ally, Captain Future), but as that battle reaches its climax, another old foe is waiting in the wings... Plus: The painted origin of The American
Crusader bonus spread by Ross, Krueger and Doug Klauba!
32 pages FC - $2.99

BLACK TERROR #9
Plot by ALEX ROSS & PHIL HESTER
Script by PHIL HESTER
Art by MIKE LILLY
Cover by ALEX ROSS
A special done-in-one featuring the return of artist Mike Lilly to the pages of the Black Terror! Alex Ross and Phil Hester welcome Mike Lilly as together, they present the return of Mystico and more about the Mad Magi!
32 pages FC - $3.50


GREEN HORNET #1
Written by KEVIN SMITH
Art by JONATHAN LAU
Cover by ALEX ROSS
The Green Hornet is back and Dynamite is the new home for the avenging hero and his faithful sidekick, Kato (and, the Black Beauty, ‘natch!)! And we’re kicking things off with a BANG as we launch the first of a new series of adventures starting with the great Kevin Smith. And let’s get it out of the way, right here, right NOW – THE ENTIRE STORY IS IN! Every single chapter from BEGINNING TO END! All 10 issues to this first story arc! Joining Smith in bringing his unproduced screenplay to life is artist Jonathan (Black Terror) Lau as they present the one and only origin of the Green Hornet and Kato. This is the comic book version of Kevin Smith’s unproduced Green Hornet film and has not been seen or read ANYWHERE else! Dynamite is the only place to get in on the action – it all begins here! Pre-Order yours TODAY!
32 pages FC - $3.99

MY TWO CENTS: This month everything is a reprint or a reissue of previously printed (or sculpted) material, except for the Astro City cover which looks creepy enough yet I guess the background should've been darker because the fiery horse and all that blends too much with it. The Torch cover is quite remarkable, out of all the covers from this series this cover is one of the better ones, I love the way it feels like a Golden Age cover. On the Dynamite front the PSP cover is oddly creepy, a big contrast with the usual action-packed ones. The Black Terror cover is amazing in its simplicity, it kinda reminds me an Astro City cover, Alex did once. And that Green Hornet cover simply rocks, I know we've seen the image before, yet it's still striking, can't wait for the next ones.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

To all of those who visit this site religiously as well as the casual readers, here are some warm greetings from your friendly neighborhood Alex Ross Collector. May you find that special, hard-to-find item your collection is missing in this new year.

Thanks for all the support you guys have given to this little project of mine, thanks to everyone who contribute to this site by sending me any relevant information, from high resolution images to news tidbits, all of which is greatly appreciated.

Have a great new decade!

Andres Avila
The Alex Ross Collector

Note: This site is going on hiatus for the holidays (unless there's some late breaking news). See you in 2010 with our special 2009 Cover Gallery post.

THULSA DOOM

In 2009 the deal between Alex Ross and Dynamite Entertainment flourished up to a point where they weren't only doing volume 2 of Project Superpowers and its respective spinoff mini series together, they were using Alex for nearly every project they could think of.
Thulsa Doom is a project based on a character that appeared in the Conan the Barbarian stories created by Robert E. Howard and even in the movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, where it was portrayed by James Earl Jones a.k.a Darth Vader's voice. The idea of this character looking like actor Djimon Honsou is no coincidence or Alex's idea to begin with. Dynamite and the academy award-nominated actor from Gladiator and Amistad are shopping around Hollywood to make a movie about this character, so he lent his likeness to the comic book covers and interior art.
The first four-issue arc features striking covers by Alex which feature the character in various poses, emphasizing his reptilian nature, yet you don't see much action in them. These covers were also produced in "spot color" form which changed the color motif in them via computer which in my opinion just ruins Alex's original idea. But on the other hand they released, in very limited form, the "virgin" covers which feature the art in its original form without any logos or captions, these are the ones I'm trying to find to appreciate the art.

None of these are in MY COLLECTION yet.

JUST IN: XMAS PRESENTS!

A special treat came for me straight from Santa's north pole headquarters. And a very rare one too. What you see in the picture below are 2 very hard to find items that have new and original art by Alex Ross. On the left is the Wondercon program from 1997, which features a combination of characters by 3 different artists in a collage. There's the Kingdom Come Superman by Alex as well as a Batman by John Estes and Robin and Batgirl by Dan Bereton.
On the right there's a promotional flyer that was given away at comic book stores to promote the Uncle Sam mini-series.

Here are the scans of these great findings. Left to right: Wondercon program and Uncle Sam flyer front and back (in case you're interested in seeing both sides of it). I'll post my opinions on these items in a future post. Thanks!
Continue supporting this site, buy something this holiday season from Amazon.com or mycomicshop.com through these links. Thanks!

MIKE HILL - SCULPTOR EXTRAORDINAIRE!

Since I've been posting about statues and busts lately, an anonymous tipster pointed me in the direction of Mike Hill Artworks which is the website of this extraordinary sculptor who has worked with Alex on several projects such as the 1:1 scale Marvel statues (more on that soon).
Well, he also took it upon himself to build life-size, wax statues of Alex Ross' Superman and Batman (left and right respectively). Watch more photos of the Batman statue here and learn all about the Superman one, here.

NEWS: WIZARD "BEST OF 2009" ISSUE

From Wizard World.com:
"With picks and opinions on everything from the best movie of 2009 to the best comic book writer and artist, the latest WIZARD issue also features an in-depth retrospective on the classic Justice League International series from creators J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire.

Check out the huge holiday gift guide, the latest Marvel and DC news and a look at the Broadway musical staring everyone’s favorite Web-head at your favorite comic book shop now. On newstands everywhere on December 22."


Take a look at that cool mash-up of both Captain Americas old and new by Alex Ross and try not to drool all over your keyboard...

UPDATE: DC ENCYCLOPEDIA

This site is back in full swing now that the blackouts in my country are, apparently, gone. I've been updating some sections with images and some new text. Check out our Encyclopedias post that now sports a high resolution image of the cover (below) in all its fully-spread glory. Enjoy!


Keep on supporting this site, buy something this holiday season from Amazon.com or mycomicshop.com through these links. Thanks!

THE KINGDOM COME SUPERMAN COSTUME!

Heads up, people! Out of all the weird stuff one can find on eBay, this one takes the prize for being the coolest. The nifty custom-made costume you see on the right is now being sold on the popular auction site. It's a completely out-of-the-ballpark selection but it looks pretty awesome (never mind the dude in the pic). It's a rather accurate reproduction of the classic Alex Ross-designed suit. Now a warning, it won't come cheap and I know Halloween was a month ago, but if you have the money, I'd say go for it, 'cause I sure wish I could. It really looks like a lot of work and effort was put into making it. So, what are you waiting for?

BID ON IT HERE!