Marking the 35th anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series, Dynamite Comics is bringing the original series back for an ongoing monthly comic book series beginning next week. The Alex Ross cover art for the first three issues have been released and they look great, with homages to other 1970s science fiction posters. The cover to Issue #1 is above and here are the covers to Issues 2 and 3:
You wouldn’t be off base thinking of Batman when you see the superhero The Black Bat, as their history and origin is linked in controversy. Both The Black Bat and Bob Kane’s Batman derived the look of their characters from common pulp fiction renderings. Both characters emerged at about the same time and the publishers Thrilling Publications and DC Comics sparred over rights until a DC editor who had worked with The Black Bat’s publisher mediated the dispute where both publishers could continue using the characters.
Which brings us to 2013 and Dynamite Entertainment. Dynamite has the rights to publish The Black Bat along with the great pantheon of classic 1930s and 1940s characters we have discussed before, including the featured characters in their ongoing series Masks: The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Kato, Miss Fury, Black Terror, Zorro, and The Spider. But don’t confuse the Black Bat with a similar modern noir retro-creation, Francesco Francavilla’s The Black Beetle from Dark Horse Comics, which we previewed here at borg.com earlier. But both The Black Bat and The Black Beetle are different enough and similar enough that if you like one you probably will like the other.
Following the further exploits of Portland detective Nick Burkhart, his partner Hank Griffin, Blutbad werewolf pal Monroe, and girlfriend Juliette, Dynamite Comics has released some teasers and cover art for its new ongoing monthly series Grimm, to be released in May. The story is written by show writers David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, with final script by Marc Gaffen and Kyle McVey. Jose Malaga will serve as series artist. Alex Ross is back again with a cool incentive cover.
The TV series is filmed in Portland, and often you get glimpses of nearby surroundings, but because so much happens with the Wesen of the week in the woods, we think they could show some more of the beautiful and lush area where the series takes place. Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for several years we have our own list of haunts we think Nick & Co. should visit on future cases in both the TV series and new comic book series. How about considering these locations, Grimm creators?
The Saturday Market. This weekend fixture is surrounded by classic architecture and brick we think we have spotted before, but how about having Nick run in pursuit through a crowd of shoppers buying homemade soaps and incense, or grab a gyro from a street vendor?
Fleet Week on the Waterfront. It’s about the “port” in Portland, the Willamette Riverfront hosts giant naval vessels each year in a grand show of seapower–a great stage for an episode of Grimm.
Original art cover sketch by Alex Ross.
Columbia River Gorge. One of the most beautiful places on Earth and we’ve yet to see Nick and Monroe drive down the Gorge to track the scent of some “creature from the Columbia River”.
Miss Fury was the one of the first female superheroes, created 42 years ago this month by June Tarpé Mills (1915-1988)–one of the few early female comic book creators. Written and drawn by Mills, Miss Fury is also the first female superhero created by a woman. Original Miss Fury works were signed merely Tarpé Mills–to mask the fact that the work was created by a woman. Mills’ stylish socialite Marla Drake was provided glamorous images by Mills in the pages of Miss Fury, with classy costumes for the character. Appearing just months after The Cat–which would become the Catwoman over time, Miss Fury also wore a catsuit to fight crime.
June Tarpé Mills–with cat.
Mills’ characters gave similar inspiration to the war effort in World War II as Captain America and Superman. Mills herself would be an excellent subject of study for comic book historians.
Miss Fury most recently has appeared in the recent Masks series from Dynamite Comics and this Wednesday Dynamite releases a standalone series starring Miss Fury with Miss Fury #1. Just as the original pages of Miss Fury inspired Allied troops during World War II with planes named after the characters from the series, Dynamite’s new series also brings the Nazi menace back in a story with time-out-of-joint elements that will factor into Miss Fury’s reality. Miss Fury is being pulled from time period to time period–from 2013 to 1943 and back again–and someone or some thing has changed the course of history. The artwork provided by Jack Herbert is lavish and stylish in ways original artist Mills may have approved of. Just check out this image of the sophisticated Marla Drake–the wealthiest woman in Manhattan in 1943 (and high-end thief): View full article »
Review by C.J. Bunce
If you have already checked out Alex Ross’s prior art overview books Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross
A borg serial killer is on the loose, making his way from Kansas City to somewhere nearby Lawrence, Kansas, 40 miles away. OSI has video footage of his last rampage, taking out several agents. The results aren’t pretty. OSI has identified a well-established, horrifying M.O.
Unlike the OSI-created menace from Phil Hester’s Bionic Man series, Oscar Goldman has no idea who is behind this new villain. But he’s going to loan Steve Austin to the FBI to attempt to sleuth out the answer to that question.
Meanwhile in Manhattan (presumably Manhattan, NY and not Manhattan, KS) Goldman has set Jamie Sommers (sometimes spelled in the book as Jaime) on a mission to a stripper club to bring in an international arms dealer.
The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher’s popular series of fantasy meets mystery novels about a wizard living in modern day Chicago, has had an incredible run in print, with some 14 books released since 2000, including the November 2012 release Cold Days. It also was turned into a Syfy Channel (then Sci Fi Channel) TV series (albeit short-lived one) starring Paul Blackthorne as the magic wielding Harry Dresden. A bit X-Files meets a grown-up Harry Potter, The Dresden Files revolves around a fun lead character. Dresden has also been turned into a roleplaying game, and four works in comic book form: Welcome to the Jungle
Beginning with with a nicely designed cover by DC Comics Supergirl artist Ardian Syaf, Ghoul Goblin #1 drops readers into the middle of Dresden’s strange world, with Dresden battling a sea monster he chased into Lake Michigan. Whether you’re a fan of Butcher’s novels or the TV series, this Dresden and his optimistic and confident cheery inner voice will be familiar to you. We even get to see Dresden discuss details of the new case with long-time spirit companion Bob, who lives in a skull. Here Dresden is minus one Karrin Murphy, friend and police department partner in fighting crime, presumably to resurface in later stories.
If you didn’t get to see The Hobbit this weekend in theaters you may have missed the release of the first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s new sci-fi movie, After Earth, starring Will Smith and Jaden Smith.
We first discussed After Earth here at borg.com earlier this year when we reviewed the comic book prequel from Dynamite Comics leading up to the film. The first trailer seems pretty bleak–not as exciting and interesting as the book we reviewed. But like many first trailers and teasers, the first look is often holding back a lot, to be released bit by bit as we get closer to the full release, so we’ll reserve judgment until we see a lot more. Will Smith alone will likely get people into theaters for this one.
Here is the first trailer released for After Earth:
Tomorrow–comic book Wednesday–Dynamite Comics launches one of its biggest events of the year, Issue #1 of the new mini-series Masks, with story by Chris Roberson and painted art by Alex Ross. We’ve previewed Issue #1 and readers are in for a beautiful book, featuring a stellar mash-up team of some of Dynamite Comics’ best licensed characters: Green Hornet, Kato, The Shadow and Spider, with even a nod to The Lone Ranger.
A new group of leaders called the Justice Party has taken over New York, and their rule includes the creation of a dark, masked police force. Unlike a typical change in power, this new government is run by mobsters and thugs, swiping people off the street and throwing them in jail simply because the new police force has a quota, with no attention to actual justice. Our classic heroes enter the picture, now on the other side of the law, fighting for true justice, and hardly no time passes by before their mantra is uttered at some bad guys: Crime Does Not Pay.
Is it an homage, parody or satire? Or just the inability to agree on licensing rights? Either way Dynamite Comics’ new one-shot release Vampirella vs. Fluffy the Vampire Killer is good fun. How would Vampirella interact with the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? This book answers that question with lots of shots back and forth between the two franchises, despite the fact that this really isn’t Buffy, its Fluffy. Yeah, right.
The sign of good parody is getting the mood, characters, and for Buffy, Joss Whedon’s pop-culture-filled snappy dialogue just right. Writer Mark Rahner knows his Buffy-isms. Although I am not an expert in Vampirella, I expect he has her figured out, too. The Buffy and her Scooby Gang found in the pages of various Dark Horse titles would be very familiar with the world Rahner has re-created here. Artist Cezar Razek creates a fun group of teens from “Shiny Hill High School” (not Sunnydale), where we meet Fluffy, Sallow, Carmilla, Xtanley, boyfriend Cherub, and Fluffy’s “minder” Miles. Could this be just another vampire slayer? No, the closeness of these characters to the Buffyverse almost takes this out of the parody realm and into Rahner and Razek’s portfolio submission to Dark Horse to try to work on the Buffy series.
