JUST IN: MORE POSTERS

I'd like to give a big holler to Mike Giordano over at Boondock Collectibles and their fine eBay Store where I've bought many of the posters now in my collection, such as the huge Earth X poster (below left) as well as the Universe X and Marvels posters. I've also bought that awesome Classic Seventies Marvel poster (below right) which rocks beyond believe, it's probably one of the greatest unknown poster Alex has ever done.








So hit those links and get your posters, they start as low as US$9.99 and they have signed versions as well.

NEWS: ROCKETEER MINI-SERIES

Official Press Release
San Diego, CA (July 24, 2010) - IDW Publishing, a premier publisher of graphic novels and books, is pleased to announce today an all-new, four-issue miniseries featuring Dave Stevens' beloved character, The Rocketeer. Coming in 2011, IDW's The Rocketeer mini-series will be written and drawn by some of today's finest comics creators, including Mike Allred, Kurt Busiek, John Cassaday, Darwyn Cooke, Michael Golden, Gene Ha, Michael Kaluta, Garry Leach, Bruce Timm, Bill Willingham, and many more. Alex Ross will supply stunning covers on each issue.

The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens was first published in 1982, and appeared sporadically into the mid 1990s. Despite this infrequent publishing schedule, the series developed an intensely devoted fan-following that treasured each new installment. Tragically, Stevens passed away in 2008 after a lengthy battle with Leukemia. In remembrance of this brilliant artist, a substantial portion of profits earned from this new mini-series will be donated to Hairy Cell Leukemia research bythe estate of Dave Stevens, the creators involved,and IDW Publishing.

"Dave Stevens was an incredibly talented artist and a wonderful person," said IDW Special Projects Editor ScottDunbier. "I would like to think that he would be happy with a book like this, one that pays such loving tribute to his greatest creation."


The Rocketeer #1 (of 4) will be available in stores in 2011.

REMINDER: SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON

Heads up! If you're going to the San Diego Comic-Con don't forget to drop by booth 2419 of AlexRossArt.com and get yourself some swag.

PREVIEW: GREEN HORNET #6

Continue supporting this site, buy something from Amazon.com through this link. Thanks!

NEWS: DYNAMITE'S WARLORD OF MARS

Official Press Release

The original warrior of Mars returns! Dynamite is proud to announce the October release of Warlord of Mars, an enhancement to the classic story Princess of Mars! If you thought you knew Princess of Mars before, think again! We are so proud and excited about this book, that we are offering the first FULL issue for the introductory price of just $1.00!

Princess of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the first of his famous series, which initially began publication in serialized form within the pages of All-Story Magazine in February 1912. It is also Burroughs' first novel, predating his Tarzan stories. Full of swordplay and daring feats, the story is considered a classic example of 20th century pulp fiction. This series is written by Arvid Nelson and is illustrated by Stephen (Avengers/Invaders) Sadowski and Lui Antonio, and features covers by Alex Ross, Joe Jusko, Lucio Parillo, and J. Scott Campbell!

"We're trying to stay as true to the spirit of the originals as possible," says writer Arvid Nelson. "The novels are told as the "memoirs" of John Carter, the main character, and the comics will be told the same way. I think Mars is going to be something really special. We're doing this adaptation the right way, and I'm so excited for people to read it!"

"This is a project that we've been working on for quite a bit," says Dynamite Entertainment President Nick Barrucci. "We plan to capture all the grit and action of the original, while expanding the story with brand-new elements, exploring the back story and earlier events of this classic tale! To allow the series to be accessible to fans old and new, we are offering the first issue at the Introductory Price of $1.00 for the full ENTIRE 32 page comic, as well as dedicating both of the Dynamite front gate folds of the October shipping Previews Magazine to our launch. Get on board for the biggest comic book launch in October!"

JUST IN: THE TORCH - COMPLETE SERIES

So, lately I've begun a new business model for my collection, instead of the hassle of buying comics monthly with the ensuing missing or sold out issue and then having to hunt for said missing comic, I just wait until somebody buys the full run, (maybe) reads them and takes the utmost care of them and then sell those online as a complete series, if the price matches what I'd pay for them, then it's a done deal. I did it with Avengers/Invaders, and now with its "sequel" The Torch.

I'll have these scanned and reviewed soon.

NEWS: ROSS & BUSIEK ON KIRBY: GENESIS

Press Release
July 12, 2010, Runnemede, NJ - Having already thrilled fans with the release of teaser images for the upcoming Kirby: Genesis comic book line, Dynamite Entertainment is now proud to announce that the "friend" who is joining Alex Ross, will be none other than best-selling and multiple Eisner and Harvey award winning writer Kurt Busiek! Kurt Busiek will be re-teaming with Alex Ross for their first full collaboration since 1993's Marvels. With Kirby: Genesis, Busiek and Ross are primed to expand on the vision of the legendary Jack Kirby with the same dynamic and unique perspective on superheroes that made Marvels such an original and successful story, allowing a new generation of comic book readers to become acquainted with the genius that is Jack Kirby!

About the chance to work with Alex Ross and the Kirby characters Kurt Busiek exclaimed, "If you look up ‘dream come true' in the dictionary, it's defined as ‘Working with Alex Ross on a big, epic project featuring dozens of Kirby characters,' In my dictionary, at least.

"Jack Kirby was the premier creative force in American comics history. And to have the chance to work with his creations in their purest form -- some who've been seen before and some who haven't, from the Ninth Men to Galaxy Green to Tiger 21 to Silver Star -- and to build a new world and a grand story with them, is the kind of opportunity and challenge I couldn't possibly turn down. When we started talking about this, there was just so much stuff, so many great ideas, that I was confused as to where we could possibly start. But then Alex described one image -- a single moment -- and that was all it took to make me say, ‘Got it. I see the whole story now. Man, this is going to be fun.'

"And it is. Stand back. We're gonna need the room."

"One thing that Kurt and I have always shared is our love for Jack Kirby's comics and legacy," adds Alex Ross. "The Kirby: Genesis project is a way to repay the impact this one man's creativity has had in shaping our lives. I'm excited to be plotting this adventure with Kurt as well as to be contributing to some of the interior art. This epic will be an ambitious assembly of every Kirby design we can lay our hands on."

And other creators expressed their enthusiasm with:

"Jack had the ability to imbue everything he drew with drama and excitement. He was a master at costume design and at depicting action scenes in such a way that each seemed totally fresh and compelling. His every illustration had power, drama and originality. Jack was to comics what Hitchcock was to movies. Excelsior!" - Stan Lee
"Seventy years ago Jack Kirby raised a torch for all Comic book creators to follow. He showed us how to turn a crude, news-print product into an art form. He told us in the late sixties we would see Comics Art in museums, and we chuckled." - John Romita

"Jack Kirby was the best at what he did. His storytelling was groundbreaking. His voice was in everything he did. The power. The composition. What made Kirby so exciting to me was his imagination. Not only the number of characters, but their design (Black Bolt for me still stands out as the coolest look ever). The places he took us -- The Negative Zone, Wakanda, Attilan, Asgard - the list goes on and on. He transported the reader into a brand new universe of fun and adventure and I loved the ride." - Jeph Loeb

"Jack Kirby was American comics' first great mad inventor, and his legacy remains a strange cabinet of wonders to be treasured." - Warren Ellis

"Jack Kirby distinguished himself from his peers as the most influential voice in comics along with Stan Lee. Dynamite is fortunate and honored to be able to expound upon Jack Kirby's ideas with such high caliber creators as Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross!" - Nick Barrucci

Jack Kirby was an American comic book artist, writer and editor. Growing up poor in New York City, Kirby entered the comics industry in the 1930's. In 1941, Kirby and writer Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America published by Timely Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby would create a number of comics and bring them to various publishers, often teamed with Simon.

After serving in World War II, Kirby returned to comics and worked in a variety of genres. He sold his work to a number of publishers, including Archie Comics and DC Comics, but ultimately found himself at Timely's 1950's iteration, Atlas Comics, later to be known as Marvel Comics. In the 1960s, Kirby co-created many of Marvel Comics' major characters including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Hulk along with writer-editor Stan Lee.

In the early '70's DC Comics began publishing Jack Kirby's work, includikng his Fourth World saga, which spanned several comics titles. The characters in this Fourth World saga have proven to be timeless and are still a significant part of the DC Universe. Kirby was published again with Marvel briefly in the mid-to-late 1970's, then ventured into television animation and independent comics. In his later years, Kirby received great recognition for his career accomplishments, and is regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic-book medium.

NEWS: SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2010

Straight from an e-mail from Mr. Sal Abinnanti himself:

"We're booth 2419 at SDCC we'll have over 12 portfolios of new original art on display for viewing and purchase. Rough, tight finished sketches to full size water color originals from Alex's DC, Marvel and Indy projects.
We will also have a new assortment of Alex Ross sketchbooks and lithographs only available at SDCC.

Alex won't be attending the con, but make sure you drop by their booth and get yourself some cool swag.

Stay tuned, I'll post some more info and images as soon as possible. Thanks again to Sal for the info.

JUST IN: 3 PRINTS AND A BABY

Fun times! Check out the new arrivals. Left to Right: Superpowers poster, which reprints both interlocking covers to issue #0 (vol. 1) this comes signed as you can see.
Spider-Man battles The Green Goblin, great looking print, vibrant colors and a cool, odd P.O.V.
One of my favorites, the Captain America Origin poster, I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. One of the coolest posters Alex has ever done, the color composition rocks and the whole visual aesthetic is fascinating.
Last, but not least, that Stewie Griffin-looking young fella' in the last photo is my newborn son, Alex. Yes, I named him after Mr. Ross. I'm that big a geek!

NEWS: MORE MARVEL VISIONS!

Santa Monica, California art gallery Every Picture Tells a Story and Marvel Artworks are proud to present for the upcoming San Diego Comic-con, 2 more prints of the Marvel Visions line (the first in the series featured Iron Man).
The second print (left) features Spidey and the third one called "Assemble" featuring the Avengers (below). There will be 100 canvas prints of this poster and 250 paper prints.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times website.

NEWS: ALEX ROSS INTERVIEW

ON INVADERS AND PHANTOMS
COMIC BOOK RESOURCES has recently published an interview with Alex Ross in which he discusses his new projects, Marvel's Invaders miniseries and Dynamite's Last Phantom.
About the Phantom's redesigned costume, Alex says:
"Why would anybody be wearing garments that were heavy and restrictive in the African jungle? That's where the whole bodypaint thinking came into mind. If you take your Tarzan archetypal figure and have him go take a big wine bath with crushed berries or dripping blood – any way that you could smear this person all over with this red-violet color – that causes him to have a striking presence. Obviously, the color purple doesn't equal justice or violence or something subconscious, but this dripping effect has an impactful feeling. He's basically like Sissy Spacek coming out of that scene in 'Carrie' where she's dumped with pig's blood

Read the rest of the article here