Monday, October 31, 2011

NEWS: JUST DO IT, ALEX! [UPDATED]

Going back to his roots in advertising, Alex Ross has painted this baseball player for NIKE, an ad which will be used in the asian market, more exactly in China/Taiwan as can be noticed from the website ending in TW.
The pitcher's fully-concentrated look is amazingly captured by Alex. The ball player in the art is Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang who has played for the NY Yankees and currently plays for the Washington Nationals as well as representing his country in the Baseball World Cup. The Chinese caption is a slogan which loosely translates to "To Change it All"

SPECIAL THANKS to THX WM and Fernando Rodriguez for the info on the player and the slogan. Much appreciated guys!


Nike used this art (although modified) in t-shirts sold in Taiwan.
Also, check out this advertisement. In the 0:22 mark you'll see Alex Ross' art in a giant poster. AWESOME!!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

LUCCA COMICS AND GAMES 2011

This weekend, Sal Abbinanti and the AlexRossArt.com crew will be attending one of the biggest conventions in Italy and hey, maybe in all of Europe, The Lucca Comics and Games 2011. They will be at Tent E-123 with lots of original art on hand. So, to all the European fans of the art of Alex Ross, go check it out!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

NEWS: THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN!

THE LONE RANGER® RIDES AGAIN AT DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

NEW COMIC BOOK SERIES AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2012

Official Press Release
Runnemede, NJ (October 26th, 2011) - Dynamite Entertainment and Classic Media welcome the return of America's quintessential Western hero-The Lone Ranger® to the comic world! The masked man returns with a new #1 in January 2012 as an ongoing series. This new The Lone Ranger comic series kicks off with a six-part story called "Hard Country." To allow new fans to jump into the series, the first two issues will be included within a larger story. It will then move into a longer, serialized tale, respecting the excellent template provided by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello with John Cassaday, setting off on a new trail.

At the end of the Matthews series, The Lone Ranger and Tonto were ready to strike out in the old west, fighting for what is right and helping those in need. "Hard Country" is about the old west striking back - a harsh environment where only the tough really make it. This is the story about these two American legends, early in their development, as they learn this bleak reality. While they're not going to fold, they will come to see that this is a hard task they've set for themselves. A hard task in a vast "hard country."

"The Lone Ranger #1 begins our Hard Country arc with a heart-breaking tale of loss that holds a mirror up to John Reid's past," says writer Ande Parks. "The man John Reid has become in his The Lone Ranger identity was shaped by tragic loss. Now he sees that loss on the faces of a new generation. Can one man make a difference in the lives of a father and his children whose world is crumbling? The Lone Ranger is damn well going to try!"

"Kudos to Ande and Esteve doing an incredible job leading in to The Lone Ranger #1 and following up Brett, Sergio, and John's series so successfully with The Lone Ranger: Death of Zorro series, which has received a considerable amount of critical acclaim," said Dynamite President and Publisher Nick Barrucci. "The Lone Ranger: Death of Zorro showed fans that Ande and Esteve were the right successors for the series. They "know" The Lone Ranger, and are making the series their own. Fans will be excited when they read the first issue, and with covers by Award-Winning artists including an Alex Ross painted cover and Francesco Francavilla as the ongoing cover artist, The Lone Ranger will be a must-read book!"

"The Lone Ranger is arguably the most popular Western character of all time and we are thrilled to team up with Dynamite Entertainment to introduce fans to another adventure," said Nicole Blake EVP, Global Marketing & Consumer Products, Classic Media.


Here are some of the critic's reactions for The Lone Ranger: Death of Zorro series:

"Anyone who naturally finds themselves drawn to the legends of Zorro or The Lone Ranger will be enraptured by this crossover." - Comics Bulletin

"The Death of Zorro is a solid read!" - Major Spoilers

"The Lone Ranger: The Death of Zorro is, at its heart, the epitome of a good western story. It's the story of good people struggling against bad people. It's the story of a road dusty hero avenging a fallen hero." - Invest Comics

"A few months back I mentioned in a review that Dynamite currently publishes the finest comics. The Death of Zorro is another clear example proving that point.." - Inside Pulse

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

2011 SDCC SKETCHBOOK

Another year comes and a new sketchbook arrives. This time, although limited in the same way as the previous ones (500 copies), this one was cheaper, only costing US$10 making it the cheapest and hardest to find yet. Noticeable in this amazing sketchbook are the different versions of the Marvel DVDs for Thor and Planet Hulk. I also enjoy the amount of sketches from Dynamite Comics, which is where Alex is primarily working, as well as The Rocketeer and Astro City ones.



CHECK OUT THE REST OF ALEX ROSS' SKETCHBOOKS:
SDCC 2007
SDCC 2008
SDCC 2009
C2E2 2010
LUCCA 2010
TOY DESIGN VOL.1 (2010)
UPPER DECK & FLASH GORDON ACTION FIGURES

Thursday, October 20, 2011

INTERVIEWS: ALEX ROSS AND KURT BUSIEK

TFAW.com, has published some very cool interviews.
The first one is with Kurt Busiek about Kirby: Genesis, check it out HERE.
The second one with Alex Ross is also about the same series but also about his career at Dynamite. Read this one HERE!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

JUST ARRIVED: 2011 SDCC SKETCHBOOK

IT has arrived. The sketchbook for this year's (2011) San Diego Comic-Con is finally here and it has lots of cool artwork in it. Expect the scans of this wonderful piece of work shortly...

Friday, October 14, 2011

NEW YORK COMIC-CON 2011

Sal Abbinanti will be at the AlexRossArt.com booth #1454 at the Javits Center in New York City for the New York Comic-Con all through this weekend. He will be selling original art by Alex Ross as well as giving out free kisses. So if you're in the area go over to this massive event and get yourself a piece of original art.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

JUST ARRIVED: DC VS. SYSTEM BOX & JUSTICE PORTFOLIO

New in my collection are these two great items from DC and Upper Deck Entertainment. On the left is the Justice cover portfolio which contains all 14 covers (12 regular and 2 variants) of the acclaimed series, they are super-sized and without any logos so it's pure art by Alex Ross.
Below is the scan of the top of the box for the DC VS. System box which was created to house all your card collection for said game. Remember that a few of these cards were painted by Alex as well, check out which ones HERE. The box contains 4 tin mini-boxes with the same art.