THE TORCH

After the success of the Avengers/Invaders miniseries, 2009 brought a sort of continuation or extension of this storyline in the form of the eight-issue The Torch series. Below are the regular covers for each issue, there were also some sketch covers which again reprinted some material from the SDCC sketchbooks.



IN MY COLLECTION: All 8 issues with their regular covers.

NOVEMBER 2010 SOLICITATIONS

INVADERS NOW! #3 (of 5)
Story by CHRISTOS GAGE & ALEX ROSS
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE
Penciled by CAIO REISS
Cover by ALEX ROSS
Variant Cover by RAMONA FRADON
The Invaders return to the scene of their darkest moment from World War II—and their most feared enemies are waiting to meet them! Warrior Woman, U-Man, Master Man and a brand new Alex Ross-designed Iron Cross would be challenge enough, but there are larger forces at work...dark forces that tip the scales against the Invaders and will turn one of them against the others by issue's end!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

KEVIN SMITH’S GREEN HORNET #9
Written by KEVIN SMITH
Art by JONATHAN LAU
Covers by ALEX ROSS (50%), GREG HORN (50%) & JOE BENITEZ (1-in-10)
“Negative Art” retailer incentive cover by ALEX ROSS
“Virgin Art” retailer incentive cover by ALEX ROSS
Green Hornet and Kato's confrontation with The Black Hornet has left them in an unimaginable death trap of epic proportions. Only Kato's drastic, dangerous gambit can save them. Even if it does, The Black Hornet's insidious plans for Century City spell doom for our heroes. Only their self-sacrifice can prevent the utter destruction of their beloved city. Will the new Green Hornet's first mission also be his last?
32 pages FC • $3.99 • Teen +

KEVIN SMITH’S GREEN HORNET #10
Written by KEVIN SMITH
Art by JONATHAN LAU
Covers by ALEX ROSS (50%), GREG HORN (50%) & JOE BENITEZ (1-in-10)
“Negative Art” retailer incentive cover by ALEX ROSS
“Virgin Art” retailer incentive cover by ALEX ROSS
TOP SECRET! CONFIDENTIAL! NO, REALLY, WE CAN’T TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENS HERE!
32 pages FC • $3.99 • Teen +




THE LAST PHANTOM #4
Written by SCOTT BEATTY
Art by EDUARDO FERIGATO
Covers by ALEX ROSS (main), JOE PRADO (1-in-10) & FABIANO NEVES (1-in-15)
“Negative Art” retailer incentive cover by ALEX ROSS
“Virgin Art” retailer incentive cover by ALEX ROSS
The Phantom's legacy comes full circle as the epic "Ghost Walk" continues! The very first Ghost Who Walks battled buccaneers nearly five centuries ago in his earliest recorded adventures. Almost a half-millennium later, the current Kit Walker encounters modern-day piracy on the high seas! As he sets a course East to avenge his loved ones, does The Last Phantom have what it takes to avoid a watery grave?!
32 pages FC • $3.99 • Teen +


VAMPIRELLA #1
Written by ERIC TRAUTMANN
Art by WAGNER REIS
Covers by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL (25%), ALEX ROSS (25%), JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC (25%), JOE MADUREIRA (25%) & ALEX ROSS (1-in-21 original art variant)
Dynamite Entertainment is pleased to reintroduce readers to the scourge of the undead: VAMPIRELLA, and she is all that stands between us and the end of the world! Vampi's back and hot on the corpse-strewn trail of her nemesis, Vlad Dracula. It's a darker world for Vampirella, and something more sinister than vampires lurks in the shadows, something even Dracula himself has cause to fear... Written by Eric Trautmann (ACTION COMICS) and illustrated by Wagner Reis. As a bonus feature - A rare Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale story!
40 pages FC • $3.99 • Teen +

MY TWO CENTS: Great-looking covers this month. Invaders: Who's that leather-clad villainess? Looks hot, otherwise, too noisy a cover for my tastes. TWO Green Hornet covers? Not too shabby either. The Vampirella covers are freaking awesome!!! I can't decide which one rocks the hardest. And The Phantom cover just takes the prize for coolest cover EVER!!! I don't know, it's so simple, yet so iconic.

ASTRO CITY UPDATE

I have made a huge update on the Astro City section of this site which includes the mini-series and specials up to 2010. In this section you can check what you're missing in your collection and enjoy high resolution scans of most covers. Click here and enjoy!

JUST IN: A BUNCH OF HARD-TO-FIND STUFF [UPDATE]

I was able to get on eBay a rare item, the photos belong to a promotional display for Superman Forever. When put together all the images form a spinning octagon that "animates" the change from Clark to Supes. Also this is the only way of getting all single images of the transition, which I am now making available to you my fellow collectors below.





Also, my friend Emilio made a cool donation to my collection, the five-issue mini series Astro City: Local Heroes (left). I'll have these scanned and uploaded in the Astro City part of this site soon!

Finally, I bought the print that comes with the "Kollector's Edition" of the Mortal Combat vs. DC Universe video game. This purchase saved me from buying the actual game for around US$60.



Here it is, this is the scan of the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe print, as you can see this image has a kind of texture which is reflected in these kinds of grooves in it. That is because this special image was printed on canvas. Awesome, there's so much detail in such a little image. I love it! It's my new favorite thing in my collection.

Hope you guys enjoy the new images!

OCTOBER 2010 SOLICITATIONS

INVADERS NOW! #2 (of 5)
Story by CHRISTOS GAGE & ALEX ROSS
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE
Penciled by CAIO REISS
Cover by ALEX ROSS
Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA SR.
Journey back to the darkest days of World War II, and witness the horrible events that took place on the worst day of the Invaders' career...when the legendary heroes committed a deed so terrible its repercussions threaten us all in the present! Plus: Learn the never-before-told circumstances behind Arnim Zola gaining his freakish artificial body! All this, and the return of the Invaders' worst enemies!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

KEVIN SMITH'S GREEN HORNET #8
Written by KEVIN SMITH
Penciled by JONATHAN LAU
Cover by ALEX ROSS
The new Green Hornet faces his greatest challenge as the deadly Black Hornet engages him in a high-octane duel to the death on the streets of Century City. As The Black Hornet strikes at the very heart of the Hornet's Nest, even the aid of the Kato family may not be enough to keep the legacy of The Green Hornet intact, or Britt Reid alive. Only on the verge of their own destruction do Green Hornet and Kato realize that Century City itself faces an equally disastrous fate.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

THE LAST PHANTOM
Written by SCOTT BEATTY
Penciled by EDUARDO FERIGATO
Cover by ALEX ROSS
It began with a name: Krieghund. And to learn just what it means, Kit Walker is forced to flee war-torn Bengali and seek out an old and trusted member of the Jungle Patrol. With the world believing him dead, Kit is now a Phantom in the truest sense of the word as the Ghost Who Walks tracks the dogs of war to their den in South Africa for an explosive confrontation!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


WARLORD OF MARS #1
Written by ARVID NELSON
Penciled by STEPHEN SADOWSKI
Cover by ALEX ROSS
The original warrior of Mars returns from Dynamite! Warlord of Mars is an enhancement of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs story, Princess of Mars! If you thought you knew the story, think again! This series will capture the grit and action of the original while expanding on it with new elements. The story is about John Carter, an ex-cavalry officer in the Confederate Army who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars! Joining him in his adventures there are Tars Tarkas, his Martian comrade, and Dejah Thoris, a Martin Princess. This series is written by Arvid Nelson and is illustrated by Stephen (Avengers/Invaders) Sadowski and Lui Antonio, and features covers by Alex Ross, J. Scott Campbell, Joe Jusko and Lucio Parrillo!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$1.00

MY TWO CENTS: Awesome Invaders cover! Alex might be picking up some new techniques for that one. I'm not digging the Green Hornet and Phantom covers, and I can't quite point out why, maybe they're a little too bland, but the Warlord of Mars cover is truly great, it harkens back to the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs book covers.

NEWS: ASTRO CITY TO BECOME A MOVIE

Source: Spinoff Online

"Working Title Films has acquired the movie rights to Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s long-running superhero series Astro City, Deadline reports. Busiek will write the script.

Debuting in 1995, the comic is set in the titular metropolis, home to countless super-powered beings such as Samaritan, The Hanged Man, The Apollo Eleven and The Astro City Irregulars. The Eisner and Harvey award-winning series typically focuses on how people, both ordinary and extraordinary, react to living in a world populated by superheroes and supervillains.

Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce the adaptation, with Ben Barenholtz, Busiek and Jonathan Alpers executive producing. Barenholtz and Alpers previously tried to develop an Astro City film in 2003."

MY TWO CENTS: Here's hoping that Alex Ross will be in charge of costume and/or production design or at least let him contribute with a poster, I mean they're his designs after all, and if Busiek is writing the screnplay, it's only fair to involve Alex and Brent Anderson as well.

VIDEO: ATOMIKA ANIMATED TEASER

Created by Sal Abbinanti and developed by ZAZZ Animation Studio. One Word: Awesome!

Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey is sharing with us, Sal Abbinanti's views on Atomika on an interview he did. Check it out below!