Cover of the Week – DOUBLE FEATURE!

Yes kids! Time for another edition of COVER OF THE WEEK! This time, I will showcase two covers from the past two weeks (Oct 13 & 21 releases), featuring the covers of Hellblazer – City of Demons #1 (Sean Murphy) and Thor – First Thunder #2 (Jay Anacleto)

It’s not always easy choosing the cover for the week, especially if there’s not that many good books out on that week. Most of the time, they have a generic cover format or pose; and although it’s not noticeable to most of the readers, they have a tendency to look stale and static. But there are times when gems like these are found along with average and “meh” cover art. Two books with two very different styles, but both really are very pleasing to the eyes. (oh wow, did I just make a rhyme?)

So now let’s take a look at the covers, starting with Hellblazer – City of Demons #1.

… and Thor – First Thunder #2.

And there you have it! Sean Murphy and Jay Anacleto cover of the week double feature!

If you have your own cover of the week, or if you think I don’t know my art theories (which I don’t) and I’m just making these things up (which I do). Feel free to post a comment and we can do a pokemon battle!

Prejudged: Second Chances (10.20.10)

Welcome to Prejudged: Second Chances. This week is surprisingly big on releases with a ton of titles. Here are three that have either been beaten up by fans and critics alike, have a not-so-beloved character, or wasn’t even published to begin with. Fortunately, in comic books you can always get another whack at it.

KICK-ASS 2  #1
Written by MARK MILLAR
Art by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.

Love it or hate it, all the attention from the movie can only help get Kick-Ass 2 more readers. The forums were flooded with comments about both the film and comic, from too violent to insanely fun. There’s no denying that Mark Millar knows how cause a stir, and this new volume promises more bone-breaking, bloody fun from Dave Lizewski’s exploits as Kick-Ass. This new volume also features ass-kicker Hit-Girl more prominently, and we’ll likely see much more super hero wannabees following in Kick-Ass’ blood-stained footsteps. Aside from all that there’s really no telling what’ll happen next in this wildly unpredictable series. John Romita Jr. alone makes this worth it.

HULK#26
Written by JEFF PARKER
Art by GABRIEL HARDMAN
Cover by ED MCGUINNES

SPOILER ALERT: Yes. There’s another hulk. He’s red. He’s the Red Hulk. “Rulk”. And this is his Avengers initiation. But instead of a paddle he gets a sweet, refreshing spinkle of Mjolnir across the face. Jeff Parker puts (!!SPOILER!!) the former Gen. Thunderbolt Ross (!!SPOILER!!) through the gauntlet, first pitting him against the Invincible Iron Man in the last issue, and now throws him in the ring with our favorite God of Thunder, and Thor’s probably still pissed about that time Rulk snatched Mjolnir from him. This title has been a notoriously fun book to read and just gorgeous to look at, with artists like Ed McGuinnes,  Arthur Adams, John Romita Jr., Frank Cho, and now the talented Gabriel Hardman. If you ever thought this character was stupid, here’s your chance to really find out.

VERTIGO RESURRECTION #1
Written by WARREN ELLIS, BRIAN AZZARELLO, GRANT MORRISON, GARTH ENNIS & others
Art by JIM LEE, PHIL JIMENEZ, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, & others
Cover by TIM BRADSTREET

During Warren Ellis’ short run on Hellblazer in 1999, he wrote a one-shot story in response to school shootings in the United States in the 90’s called “Shoot”. And then, prior to the release of Hellblazer #141 (Ellis’ story) the Columbine High School massacre happened. Due to the incident, DC execs asked Ellis to rewrite the issue. Refusing to do so, Ellis quit DC and the story was never published… Until now. Vertigo Resurrection #1 brings us Warren Ellis’ controversial yet unpublished tale, “Shoot”, along with other never before seen stories from the Vertigo archives from creators like Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis and Brian Azzarello. If you plan on getting any book this week, make it this one.

OTHER RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF 10/20/10
Batman and Robin #15
Brightest Day #12
Morning Glories #3
Green Lantern Corps #53
Walking Dead #78
Daredevil #511
Power Girl #17
Fables #99
Bruce Wayne the Road Home: Commissioner Gordon #1
Bruce Wayne the Road Home: Catwoman #1
Steve Rogers Super Soldier #4
DC Universe Legacies #6
Chaos War #2

Tres Komikeros 55

John and Migs set up camp and talk about Return of Bruce Wayne #5, Superior #1, and New Avengers #5.  After a  round of quick shots, the boys bring you the first edition of TK Comics 101: What are Legacy Characters?

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Cover of the Week! (Oct. 6, 2010)

Hello and good day! It’s another edition of NITPICKING ON COMIC BOOK COVERS AND ACTING LIKE I KNOW A LOT ABOUT ART!

In this week’s edition of CoTW! Wolverine #2 by JAE LEE (I like to call him Jay)Don’t you just love Jae Lee’s covers. They’re simple, clean, dynamic, and they make very good posters! Also, this cover reminds a lot of this painting:Notice how similar it is to the illustration above? Come to think of it, almost all of Jae Lee’s (recent) covers look like Frazetta paintings. Sounds like a good homage to me.

Anyway going back to the cover, let me point out the magic points.First, the characters follow a general diagonal motion, starting from Sabretooth up above, to the tentacles under wolverine. They all follow one motion, and Wolverine goes against that motion, creating an “underdog ” effect to his pose.  Second, the simple effective use of a warm foreground color versus a cool background color. This separates the figures from the backgrounds while maintaining a sense of environment. The simplistic background provides a third purpose, allowing the main title to be clearly visible to the reader. One more thing is that the cover follows the natural zig-zag pattern people do when reading.Jay is awesome, no?

So there you go, my pick for the Cover of the Week! If you have a better opinion as to what cover should be CotW, or if you think I don’t know what I’m talking about, feel free to drop a comment.

Prejudged: Under the Radar (10.13.10)

This week in Prejudged we’ll feature some titles that are probably going to fly past your radar in the midst of all the big releases. Amongst established names like Bendis, Morrison, Johns, and Millar you’ll find some fairly familiar ones occupying the “New Releases” shelves this week. Here are a few titles that are worth adding to your stack.

 

THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER #5
Written by: ROGER LANGRIDGE
Art by: CHRIS SAMNEE
Cover by: CHRIS SAMNEE

Thor gets the “All Ages” treatment in this recent title from the Marvel Adventures line. Although, don’t let that “All Ages” tag fool you. This is a fun series. Doing away with the weight of years of continuity, “Thor: The Mighty Avenger” breaks it down to the things that make the God of Thunder such a great character. You don’t even need to brush up on your Asgardian history to enjoy this title. It’s all about old-school superhero entertainment with good writing and spectacular artwork from Chris Samnee and Matt Wilson. I personally can guarantee a smile on your face while reading this. Grab the back issues too if you can, especially the joy that was issue #4. Have fun.

LOCKE & KEY: KEYS TO THE KINGDOM #2
Written by: JOE HILL
Art by: Gabriel Rodriguez
Cover by: Gabriel Rodriguez

For those who haven’t caught wind of this spectacular series yet, I assure you you’re missing out on some of the best artwork in comic books today. From the mind Joe Hill, the spawn of none other than Stephen King, and mind blowing art from Gabriel Rodriquez, Locke & Key tells the tale of three children who go through terrible tragedy and find themselves in the mysterious and powerful Key House. This comic book was also just recently picked up by Fox to be adapted into a TV series by the team of Kurtzman, Orci, and Steven Spielberg. So for anyone who’s looking for the next Lost, keep an eye on Locke & Key.

STRANGE TALES 2 #1
Written by: RAFAEL GRAMPA, JEFF LEMIRE, FRANK SANTORO,  JOHONEN VASQUEZ, SHANNON WHEELER & LOTS MORE.
Art by: SEE ABOVE
Cover by: RAFAEL GRAMPA

Marvel’s premier Indie stage, Strange Tales, comes back with another helping of up-and-coming writer/artists bringing their own unique take on classic superheroes. It’s quite rare for anyone to place an anthology series anywhere near the top of their weekly stack, but this new volume of Strange Tales could be the exception. There’s a long list of creators on this title, and if you’re looking for the next great talent in comics, Strange Tales is definitely a good place to look. One particular creator to look out for is Rafael Grampa who drew that amazing cover. Do click on the image for a larger, more awesome view.

OTHER RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF 10/13/10:
Superior #1 (with Gerry Alanguilan)
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #5 (featuring the art of Ryan Sook)
Green Lantern #58
Thor #616
Incredible Hulks #614
New Avengers #5
Amazing Spider-Man #645
Invincible Iron Man #31
Superman #703
X-Men #4
Unwritten #18
Irredeemable #18
Jonah Hex #60
Casanova #4

Tres Komikeros 54

Alex and John meet up to talk about Ultimate Thor #1, Brightest Day #11, and Uncanny X-Force #1.  After a round of quick shots, special guest Jad joins John in a special segment where she recommends Runaways and Neonomicon to new readers.  At the tail end of the show, the boys share their thoughts about Zack Snyder being tapped to direct the next Superman film.

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Cover of the Week – Sept. 29 2010

OK,  here we go!

For this edition of CoTW, I choose Captain America – Patriot #2 art by Mitch Breitwiser

So, I guess Captain America is the new Wolverine or Deadpool now. He has a million books with his name on it, and he’s spread out so thin you can see through him.  Joking aside, this cover gets the medal because of the dramatic pose and the clean effective poster-like layout.

Let me illustrate:Also, even though I’m not a big fan of digital art in comics. I’m a big fan of Mitch Breitweiser’s art.  He’s able to give this book a sense of rawness and sketchy pulp feel with his portrayal of a 1940’s superhero era.

So even though I really liked Ryan Sook’s detailed sexy female trio cover in Artifacts #2 (which is really good), this book’s efficient layout and design gets the cake.

Prejudged: The Writers Strike – Marvel Edition

Welcome back to a new season of Prejudged! to go along with your new season of Tres Komikeros. This edition will feature Marvel’s rising stars in the writing department; Rick Remender, Jonathan Hickman, and Jason Aaron.

UNCANNY X-FORCE #1
Written by RICK REMENDER
Art by JEROME OPENA
Cover by ESAD RIBIC

Introducing the new mutant black ops team of Wolverine, Archangel, Psylocke, Fantomex, and some other obscure character who rarely appears in a comic book… Dead-something… Remender takes a swing at the mutant world of the Marvel Universe along with long time collaborator, Jerome Opena. This team has tons of potential for greatness, with 2 viable funny men, and one really hot ninja. This is also one of those titles where you get to see Wolverine get his claws real dirty, and with Rick Remender on the wheel there’s little doubt about how much fun this new series can get. Plus, it’s good to be able to give that other character some time in the spotlight. What’s his name? Something-pool? Yeah.

ULTIMATE COMICS THOR #1
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Carlos Pacheco
Cover by Carlos Pacheco

Featuring the untold story of the beginnings of Ultimate Thor, Ultimate Loki, and the rest of Ultimate Asgard, this mini-series by rising star Jonathan Hickman and fan-favorite Carlos Pacheco should keep you occupied enough while you wait for the Thor movie to come out. There are tons of Thor titles to choose from now to help fill you in on everything you need to know about your favorite Norse God of Thunder, and in Hickman’s very capable hands, we should be in for a treat in this title. Also, between Pascal Ferry, Chris Samnee, and Carlos Pacheco, the God of Thunder’s universe looks as good as ever. It’s a good time to be Thor fan.

WOLVERINE #2
Written by JASON AARON
Art by RENATO GUEDES
Cover by JAE LEE

Wolverine goes to hell in one of the most interesting concepts for the character in the past few years. It’s easy to see that Jason Aaron is the best person to write Wolverine, and considering how many stories the character has been in throughout the years, Aaron has come up with inventive new situations and messes to throw Logan in, and this time sending him to the depths of hell the meet the masses of Hand ninjas and Hydra henchmen he’s gutted throughout his long lifetime. I’m sure you’re asking yourself why you never thought of that before too. Also, how awesome is that cover by Jae Lee?

Other releases for the week of 10/06/10:
S.H.I.E.L.D. #4
Brightest Day #11
Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit HC
American Vampire #7
Avengers Academy #5
Chaos War #1 (of 5)
Hawkeye & Mockingbird #5
Sweet Tooth #14
Locke & Key TP Vol. 2 Head Games

Tres Komikeros 53

WE’RE BACK!  With Alex away on assignment, EJ, Migs, and John reunite to do what they do best — nerd out!  Aside  from talking about the books, TV shows, and movies they’ve been enjoying during the break, the boys review Action Comics #893, SkullKickers #1, and Avengers Prime #3.

After a round of quickshots, the boys discuss rumors of David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman involvement, Emma Stone as MJ, and Tom Welling’s super suit.  Lastly, in the panel discussion: What creative advantages does Marvel have that DC doesn’t; and vice versa?

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