Comic Coverage

A Tale of Two Iron-Men

Iron-Man © Marvel Comics

So, who's going to see the movie today? I'd love to go tonight, but I'm not sure if the timing is going to work out. We'll see. Whenever I do get to see it, I'll be sure to give you the full report!"

Iron Man? Is that YOU?

The gang over at Project Rooftop (the Superhero Fashion Site) are running a cool new contest in honor of the new Iron-Man movie and comic book series. Iron-Man: Invincible Upgrade is looking for creative redesigns of Tony Stark's armor, so I dreamed something up and sent it off to them today (click on the armor for a larger view). The contest runs through the end of March, so it'll be awhile before the judging starts..but I'll let you know if I win any of the fabulous prizes (or not).

Even if I don't win a thing, it's still fun to take a shot at redesigning the costume of such a classic character.  What made the task such a challenge was the sheer number of times Iron-Man's armor has been altered and upgraded over the years. Unlike some heroes, whose costume designs are more or less static, Iron-Man has changed with the times as technology and design standards evolve...making the design of a truly original look somewhat elusive.

I didn't set out with a clear idea of where I wanted to go with the design, but after some rough sketching, I liked the "futuristic Samurai" look that was emerging, maybe with some Middle Ages mixed in there somewhere (must be the rivets).  The gray metal accents are a tribute of sorts to Tony Stark's original gray armor, which ended up looking surprisingly good with the yellow and red color scheme.

Okay, now for the helmet.  Yeah, it's pretty "out there", but I really wanted to make a break from the standard eye and mouth slits...and I liked the somewhat eerie look it gives him (although one man's "eerie" may be another man's "goofy").  Plus, with the death of the great Dave Stevens on my mind, it looks like a little bit of the Rocketeer may have snuck in there as well.

So, let's see where this thing goes.

Profiles in Villainy: The Rhino

Adversary of Spider-Man and The Hulk!

700 pounds of raw, rampaging power!

Tired of the "horny" jokes.

Rhino © Marvel Comics

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Late Comics: A Thing of the Past?

Question:  What's the easiest way for comic book publishers to lose fans, alienate retailers, and throw gobs of money out the window?

Answer:  Habitually late comic books!

Granted, late comics are nothing new.  Most experienced (i.e. "old") comic book fans remember when an occasional "reprint issue" was sheepishly served up by Marvel or DC when their creative teams blew a deadline.  Of course, the key words to remember are "occasional" and "sheepishly"...since hasty reprint issues were pretty rare occurrences and were almost always acknowledged by an apologetic "We blew it" blurb from the title's editor.

Not so today.  For the past several years, chronically late comics have become much more common...many of which are heavily-promoted "event" comics by high profile creators.  In fact, late comics have become so commonplace, that a large segment of comic fans (and even some company officials) seem to be accustomed to "monthly" comics that are published (at best) bi-monthly or (at worst) once or twice a year.  Their rationale is usually something like "I'll get the comics whenever they come out.  I don't want to compromise quality for quantity"....creating the false dichotomy that late books are somehow better than on-schedule monthlies, or (conversely) that on-time monthlies are inherently lower in quality. This mentality, in turn, only feeds the problem, as habitually "deadline challenged" creators become oblivious and seemingly immune to any negative consequences.

However, according to comic book gossip-hawk Rich Johnston, it looks like that depressing trend might finally be coming to an end.

Leading off his February 18th Lying in the Gutters column, Johnston reports (emphasis mine):

"There's been a lot of fuss of late about late comics. How they damage publishers, retailers, brands and consumer loyalty. Well, DC are taking a stand and it's gong to be brutal for some.

Sources close to freelancers inform me that DC Comics has a new in house policy for pencillers. Aside from very specific contracted creators (such as Jim Lee), any penciller contracted to work on a monthly book must deliver complete turnaround of 22 pages of work in four weeks. Not a month, four weeks. If that schedule isn't maintained, they'll pull pages and assign them to other creators. And you may run short of future work. A reduction in quality is more acceptable than a reduction in quantity.

Specific examples I've been given include the recent issue of "Wonder Woman" was half Dodson and half Ron Randall. Also why Koi Turnball was dropped from "Jack Hawksmoor." And it has been pointed out that there are already three fill-ins on the new "Legion" schedule.

Creators are also being dropped from exclusive contracts over this new regime."

About time!

Some might say, "Oh, Mark...you don't know what it's like to create tons of artwork in such a short period of time!"

Well, as a professional artist for 20+ years...yes I do. 

Creating artwork under extremely tight deadlines is just part of the job for most professional artists.  Part of the "professional" part of that title is the ability to accurately assess if you can (or can't) finish the assignment in the given amount of time. In my case, if it looks at all doubtful I can hit the deadline, I'll be up front about it and say (A) I need more time (B) I may need help, or, if neither of those options are available, (C) I don't agree to the deadline in the first place. At that point, another artist (with more time or speed) is often assigned.

For the past several years, this kind of common sense professionalism seemed to have vanished from the Big Two comic publishers...but if Johnston's account is to be believed, maybe it's making a comeback.  It's easy to see why, since late books represent money publishers won't be making from retailers and their customers. Or maybe it was my Fighting the Scourge of Late Comics post that helped them see the light.

Whatever the cause of the turnaround, it's about time that DC (and hopefully Marvel) will be expecting more professionalism and discipline from their freelancers.  The vast majority of them have nothing to fear, since they're able to hit their deadlines with little to no strong-arm tactics.  But for those who just can't get the job done on time, they have no business in the business of monthly periodicals....just as comic book publishers have no business assigning "deadline challened" artists to monthly comic book titles.

This new policy can only make the field stronger, as retailers and customers get the books they expect, and creators refine their skills to meet the very real demands of the marketplace.

Hulk vs. The Thing: A Lesson in Conflict Resolution

Beginning with their first clash in Fantastic Four #12 (1963), the Hulk and the Thing have spent most of the intervening forty-five years smashing and clobbering the heck out of each other (click on the covers for a larger view):

However, after all those decades of earth-shaking slugfests, modern technology has finally provided a new (though somewhat less exciting) way for ol' Greenskin and Mr. Grimm to resolve their legendary animus...

Hulk & The Thing © Marvel Comics

Profiles in Villainy: The Green Goblin

Spider-Man's deadliest arch-enemy.

Secretly Norman Osborn, father
of Peter Parker's best friend.

Early proponent of the Man Purse.

Green Goblin © Marvel Comics

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Wisdom for the Ages

Profiles in Villainy: The Kingpin

a.k.a. Wilson Fisk, the 6' 7", 450 lb. master
of New York's organized crime network.

Bitter enemy of both Spider-Man and Daredevil.

Lousy department store Santa.

Kingpin © Marvel Comics

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Attacking the Stack

You know, I'm usually pretty good about filing away my comics.

I seldom let more than a few weeks go by before finding a place for them in those familiar white boxes. Ahh, but sometimes...well, sometimes I don't quite keep up.  When I don't keep up, things can get ugly.  Really, really ugly.  Like this past weekend, for example.

First, a little background.  Prior to building our current house in 1995, I'd always kept my comic book storage boxes out in the open within my home art studio.  Not only did they take up precious space, but they were also a big eyesore.  When my wife and I were designing our home in '95, I took the opportunity to include a cute little room (well, basically a glorified closet) just off my studio that could be used exclusively for comic book storage. Using sturdy steel shelving, I've been able to expand my collection while keeping all of those bland looking boxes out of sight (not to mention climate controlled and out of the light). 

So...maintaining and growing the collection while preventing it from taking dominating the room?  Best of both worlds, right?  Well...yeah, most of the time.  When I'm on a "discipline jag", it's a great thing.  Buy comics, put 'em in bags, then into the box. Just like clockwork.  However, when an extremely busy time hits (like summer or the Christmas season) or, frankly, when my discipline runs out of gas, the comics I need to file start multiplying like rabbits.  Really affectionate rabbits.

Adding to the stack of new comics to put away are older comics that I, as an active comics blogger, occasionally remove from their boxes to reference, scan, or skim for material.  The logical thing would be to put away any comics I use for that purpose, but when I'm in the middle of gathering material for a fun post, it's easy to set them aside to put away at some nebulous future date.

Which brings us to this past weekend.  After ignoring the messy stacks of comics to file (or "CTF's") for months, I finally broke when I realized every single storage box had comics stacked on top of them...which had to be shifted out of the way to remove the box lids...which pretty much defeats the entire purpose of having storage boxes, right?

Having seen the light, I grudgingly began the time-consuming process of sorting, bagging, occasionally boarding, taping, alphabetizing, and...yes...filing away nearly four months of CTF's (both old and new).  Two hours later, as I placed the final comic book into its proper box, I vowed, "Never again will I let it come to this!"

Yeah....right!

What about you?  I don't really see this sort of mundane "housekeeping" stuff discussed in the comics blogosphere...but at the same time, every collector has to do it, right?  So, how often do you "Tackle the Stack"?  Are you a highly-disciplined soldier who files them away as soon as you're done reading them?  Do you keep them around a few weeks before they hit the white boxes...or do you just toss 'em wherever they land and deal with them "later"?  Let me know...I'd love to find out how different people handle the always daunting task of "stack management".

Profiles in Villainy: Black Adam

Imbued with the power of Ancient Egyptian gods by the wizard Shazam.

The Evil Opposite Number of Captain Marvel.

Ecstatic that Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson has
been cast to play him in the SHAZAM! movie.

Black Adam © DC Comics

It's good to see that Hollywood can occasionally get it right now and then. 

Other than Christopher Reeve as Superman or Patrick Stewart
as Professor X, I can't recall a more perfectly cast role...can you?

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