Oh, ye of little faith. Those initial trailers didn’t do justice to the seamless conversion of Tatiana Maslany, the Emmy Award-winning star of Orphan Black, as Jen Walters, Esq. transformed into Marvel Comics’ famous She-Hulk. Not only was the greening CGI as spot-on as the de-aging marvels we’ve seen in several Disney movies and TV series this century, like Michael Douglas in the Ant-Man movies, producer Kevin Feige and showrunner Kat Coiro delivered all the backstory TV viewers need in only 30 minutes instead of spending another entire season on an origin story. Leaning into the humor instead of giving audiences another heavy drama, the new Disney/Marvel series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is probably the most comic book-y series Disney has delivered–an awesome triumph for fans of the character and lovers of fun comic reads. A faithful re-creation of 42 years of the brash and bold cousin of Bruce Banner, it’s a particularly strong reflection of Mike Mayhew’s run of comic book cover art, and you couldn’t ask more from a half-hour series opener.
If you skip over the commentary from the critics and modern writers, and focus on the quotes from the past from the actual filmmakers and actors, you may find some new details behind the nine Star Wars movies in a book coming in July. In their two volume treatise The Fifty-Year Mission, The Complete Uncensored Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek, authors Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman compiled quotes from dozens of people inside Gene Roddenberry’s creation, which meant a lot of what you’d expect by way of discussing the creation of the franchise, colliding with what you might not expect–speculation, ranting, gossip, and even anger among the crew. With their new book the authors switch gears to compiling quotes from people behind the scenes of George Lucas’s creation, including many expected, nostalgic trips to the past coupled with equal parts speculation, ranting, gossip, and anger.Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars explores the Star Wars material in a single volume.
We’re continuing our ten-year celebration of borg today with our favorite comic books. If you missed them, check out our Top 40 movieshere and our Top 40 TV series here.
We reviewed thousands of books and comics that we recommended to our readers since June 2011, and some even made it onto our favorites shelf. We don’t publish reviews of comic books that we read and don’t recommend, so this shortlist reflects 21 comics and creators we view as the Best of the Best.
Dark Horse Comics is bringing another unused movie screenplay out of the vaults and adapting it into a five-issue comic book mini-series. Dark Horse’s biggest success at this approach was adapting George Lucas’s original 1974 treatment for Star Wars as The Star Wars, featuring the incredible artwork of Mike Mayhew (reviewed here at borg). Next up will be Dan O’Bannon’s original screenplay for Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror classic Alien, which was heavily edited and modified before arriving in its final form for theaters. It’s arriving with the comic book touch as Alien: The Original Screenplay, in bookstores this summer.
Detective Comics, the title DC Comics took its name from, first hit the shelves of newsstands just before March 1937, 26 months before Batman would first appear in the famous Issue #27 in May 1939. This Wednesday the monthly comic book’s landmark Issue #1000 is arriving, and it’s going to be packed with content from several writers and artists. It’s 96 pages in all, including the first appearance outside video games of Arkham Knight. And as you’d expect, DC Comics is releasing the issue with several covers (our count below is a whopping 84 or about a cover for each year Detective Comics has been in print!), including a standard cover, a set of decade-inspired covers, both a blank sketch cover and new black edition, retailer incentives featuring logos or no logos, and several limited, exclusive shop, convention, and creator store variants. More than a few are simply stunning, and this is the rare mass cover event where the final regular cover set (10) includes several works as interesting or better than the exclusives (the Frank Miller with the classic title art really takes us back to the 1980s). Check them all out below–all 100 images including art without logos–with links to where to buy them (exclusives that haven’t sold out in pre-sales).
Writers for stories in Detective Comics Issue #1000 include Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Dini, Warren Ellis, Geoff Johns, Tom King, Christopher Priest, Dennis O’Neil, Kevin Smith, Scott Snyder, Peter J. Tomasi, and James T Tynion IV. Interior artists include Neal Adams, Greg Capullo, Tony S. Daniel, Steve Epting, Joëlle Jones, Kelley Jones, Jim Lee, Doug Mahnke, Alex Maleev, Alvaro Martinez, and Dustin Nguyen.
DC Comics did a nice job of pulling out creators defining each decade, with Steve Rude (1930s), Bruce Timm (1940s Detective Comics #69 homage), Michael Cho (1950s), Jim Steranko (1960s), Bernie Wrightson (1970s), Frank Miller (1980s), Tim Sale (1990s), Jock (2000s), and Greg Capullo (2010s)–all appear to only be available with the trade “Detective Comics” logo (but we’ve included images of the original art below). DC Comics publisher Jim Lee is back again with the standard cover, a wraparound design. The rest reflect a crazy big stack of variants by everyone and anyone, most available with the Detective Comics logo (with “trade” logo) or without logo (“virgin”), some in black and white, some with sketch art, some with foil cardstock. The following are all the non-standard variant artists and where to get them (we heard an Andy Kubert cover may be out there, but could not confirm this): Neal Adams (three designs, NealAdams.com), Jay Anacleto (trade, virgin, and B&W) (Unknown Comic Books), Kaare Andrews (trade only, no virgin-only edition confirmed) (Third Eye), Artgerm (trade, virgin, retro) (Forbidden Planet), Lee Bermejo (virgin, trade) (Midtown), Brian Bolland (trade, virgin, B&W) (Forbidden Planet), Greg Capullo (gold foil version of his 2010s cover) (WonderCon variant), Clayton Crain (virgin, trade) (Scorpion Comics), Tony S. Daniel (trade, no virgin-only) (artist website, Comic Stop), Gabriele Dell’Otto (trade, silver virgin, and gold convention) (Bulletproof), Jason Fabok (trade, virgin, B&W) (Yesteryear Comics), Riccardo Federici (trade, virgin) (ComicXposure), Pat Gleason & Alejandro Sanchez (trade, virgin, B&W) (Newbury Comics), Adam Hughes (trade, virgin) (Frankie’s Comics), Jee-Hyung Lee (trade, virgin, B&W) (Frankie’s Comics), Dan Jurgens & Kevin Nowlan (sketch, line art, and color versions) (Dynamic Forces), Mike Lilly (trade-only, no virgin cover) (Comics Vault), Warren Louw (virgin, trade) (KRS Comics), and Doug Mahnke (trade, virgin) (Planet Comicon).
Plus there’s Francesco Mattina (trade, virgin) (Midtown), Mike Mayhew (trade, virgin) (The Comic Mint), Stewart McKenny (trade, we couldn’t locate anyone selling the virgin cover) (Comics Etc.), Dawn McTeigue (virgin, trade) (Comics Elite), Rodolfo Migliari (trade, retro trade, virgin) (BuyMeToys.com), Lucio Parrillo (trade, virgin) (Scorpion Comics), Alex Ross (two covers) (via his website), Natali Sanders (virgin, trade) (KRS Comics), Nicola Scott costume match design to her Superman image for Action Comics #1000 (trade, virgin) (Kings Comics), Bill Sienkiewicz (two designs, signed or not, one in trade, one virgin, via his website), Mico Suayan (trade, virgin) (Unknown Comic Books), Jim Lee & Scott Williams (midnight release vertical and convention silver foil, B&W, and four villain designs) (Torpedo Comics, Bedrock City Comics, Graham Crackers).
Today writer Dan Slott and artist Sara Pichelli are bringing back the title Fantastic Four to Marvel Comics with a re-launch beginning with part one of a new Issue #1 story, “Fourever,” arriving at comic book stores today. Marvel Comics sidelined the team of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm since the end of its Secret Wars series. Now fans of the team and “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” will find out what they’ve been doing since then. We’ve gathered the dozens of cover options available for this issue, shown below.
As Marvel states in its marketing materials for the new series:
A void no other team can fill. And it’s time for the world to move on. But can it? A life-changing decision by the Thing! A momentous declaration by the Human Torch! A clarion call-to-arms that summons Doctor Doom! And a signal in the sky that heralds the return of hope to the Marvel Universe! All this, and Alicia Masters adopts kittens! So cute! Plus, the Impossible Man!
Marvel has amped up its cover artists yet again for the variant covers for this latest of several recent renumberings of main titles. So you’ll find covers from Alex Ross, Artgerm, Art Adams, Adam Hughes, Steve Epting, Sara Pichelli, Esad Ribic, George Perez, Mark Brooks, Skottie Young, Simone Bianchi, Joe Quesada, Eric Powell, Humberto Ramos, Nick Bradshaw, Mike Wieringo, Jack Kirby, John Cassaday, Emanuela Lupacchino, Walt Simonson, Rob Liefeld, Jen Bartel, Will Sliney, Mike Mayhew, Bill Sienkiewicz, and many more–more than 55 including virgin art and blank covers, most new, some pulled from archives of artists of the past, plus some homages to comic book covers from the past.
Bonus stories will be included in the issue by Simone Bianchi and Skottie Young. New Fantastic Four pins and backerboards will also available at some comic book stores today.
The wedding of Batman and Catwoman is shaping up in the issues of DC Comics’s Batman bi-weekly series, with the date set at Issue #50, greeting comic book readers next month. Writer Tom King continues his ongoing Bat-tale with an abundance of interior and variant cover artists, including Mikel Janin, Joëlle Jones, Jim Lee, Frank Cho, Alex Ross, Mike Mayhew, Tim Sale, Neal Adams, Lee Bermejo, Joshua Middleton, Dawn McTeague, Frank Miller, Jock, Andy Kubert, Ant Lucia, Eric Basaldua, Natali Sanders, Greg Capullo, Joe Jusko, Olivier Coipel, Scott Williams, Warren Louw, Tyler Kirkham, Rafael Albuquerque, Tony S. Daniel, J. Scott Campbell, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, David Mack, Lee Weeks, Mark Brooks, Dave Johnson, Clay Mann, Greg Horn, Francesco Mattina, David Finch, Paul Pope, Joe Madeurera, Mitch Gerads, Alé Garza, Becky Cloonan, Jae Lee, Francesco Mattina, Ty Templeton, Joseph Michael Linsner, Nick Derington, Jason Fabok, Arthur Adams, Jim Balent, Lucio Parillo, Amanda Conner, and Michael Turner. The standard cover will feature the work of Mikel Janin. So how is this going to go down? Anyone else remember the wedding storyline for Green Arrow and Black Canary? It seems plenty of villains will be around if the variant covers are any indication.
We think we found nearly all the base images for the variant covers (below). Let us know if you see one when missed and we’ll update the images below. We did not include every logo or no-logo version, or black and white or similar variants.
A quick heads-up for Frank Cho fans. He is selling the above interlocking triptych variant cover series, and if you want these beauties, you’ll want to order them soon. The image features the main characters of the Batman Universe: Catwoman, Nightwing, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. (Cho’s covers will be available at a discount off his release price with a code you can get by signing up for his newsletter here), and Joe Madureira has a similar offer for his covers here. Even more artists are posting pre-order options for their own variants almost daily.
Did we mention variant covers? If you haven’t been following Batman, the cover art of Batman and Catwoman over the past few months has been something fans of the characters dream of. With black and white and other versions available, expect at least 30 variant covers for Issue #50. Many of these options from contributing artists, like Frank Cho, will be found at exclusive sellers, including Kirkham (Hastings), Fabok (Yesteryear), Mattina (7-Ate-9), Jimenez (ZMX), Jae Lee (DF), Sanders (Comic Market Street), Jusko (Midtown), McTeigue (Yancy Street), and Adams (Legacy), and creator exclusive variants only at San Diego Comic-Con or webstores include Alex Ross, Mark Brooks, Greg Horn, Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell. With the release of Batman Issue #50 on July 4 comes Catwoman, Issue #1. In a rarity for comics, take a look (above, right) at what Catwoman is holding in this cover by Joëlle Jones… Janin’s cover to Batman 50.
And even more have been announced, like three Alex Ross exclusives, available for pre-order for San Diego Comic-Con at his website here. Greg Horn has three covers available only at his website here. Mark Brooks has eight variants available here. J. Scott Campbell has five variants available here. Jock has three covers here. Aspen has pulled some art from the late Michael Turner for variants, too. See even more below.
Here are many of the 50+ cover images and some variations on those variants for Issue #50 previewed so far:
Our borg.comBest of 2017 list continues today with the Best in Print. If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2017 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2017here, and the Best in Televisionhere.
So let’s get going. Here are our selections for this year’s Best in Print:
Best New Edition of Previous Published Work – The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, David Petersen (IDW Publishing). David Petersen’s artwork was the perfect excuse to get Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful classic The Wind in the Willows into the hands of new readers. The new edition from IDW Publishing was the perfect storybook, and Petersen, known best for his Mouse Guard series, showed his understanding of these characters and their natural world full of wonder through his fantasy images.
Best Read, Best Retro Read – Forever and a Death, Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime). Not every good idea comes to fruition. Not every excellent project gets off the ground. Not every great book gets published. The Hard Case Crime imprint of Titan Books came through again, seizing the opportunity to take a lost, never before published work of Donald E. Westlake--Forever and a Death--and brought it to life. And what a great adventure! Originally the story commissioned to be the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, the projected was shelved, and only now do we get fantastic characters (like environmental activist and diver Kim Baldur) in a very Bondian situation–destroying Hong Kong as payback for China taking it back from Great Britain. Honorable mention for Best Retro Read: Turn on the Heat,Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dragon Teeth, Michael Crichton.
Best Sci-Fi Read – Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom: A Novel of Retropolis, Bradley W. Schenck (Tor Books). Imaginative, new, and fun, Schenck took us into a timeless world full of nostalgia and classic science fiction. Great tech, and a sprawling story. Interesting characters and great world-building, this novel will be a great surprise for sci-fi readers. Honorable mention: War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations, Greg Keyes.
Best Fantasy Read – An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors, Curtis Craddock (Tor Books). The plot of this debut novel is labyrinthine and action-packed, full of assassination attempts from all quarters, courtly intrigue galore, grandiose philosophies, and a cast of characters anchored by the strong, smart, resourceful, and eminently likeable heroes. Supporting everything is Craddock’s strong, confident, often-funny, and sharply observant writing that goes from heart-wrenching to hilarious on a single page without missing a beat. A dazzling debut.
Best Genre Non-fiction – Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen, Daniel Falconer (Harper Design). We wish every genre franchise had such a magnificent, thorough, monumental guide. Falconer’s guide to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies is full of interviews at all levels of the creative process, and supported by concept art, photographs, maps, and so much more. Worthy of the six films it covers, it’s the ultimate fan book and a model for any franchise attempting to put everything fans could want into a single volume.
There’s much more of our selections for 2017’s Best in Print and more, after the jump…
Kansas City Comic Con 2017 wrapped after three days yesterday, full of great opportunities to meet comic book and other genre creators, celebrities, and participate in all sorts of activities from how-to classes on cosplay armor building to LEGO building, and several panels covering a variety of topics. For regular convention attendees the best part is the ability to see friends you’ve known for sometimes decades, and forging new bonds with other like-minded, positive and fun people.
What came as a surprise for many this year was the enormous participation of attendees in their favorite cosplay. On Saturday the open areas of the convention floor were often so filled with cosplayers and others getting photographs that you could hardly move through without bumping into someone. That’s a pretty great feat, because Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City is a major sized venue.
So let’s take a look at a few of the hundreds of great characters found at this year’s show:
To my left above is one of the first people to create Obi-Wan Kenobi as designed by Mike Mayhew in Star Wars Issue #15, written by Jason Aaron. He really nailed the look with the great backback, rifle, and goggles. This wins my “I am definitely going to borrow this idea” award. This is the version Sideshow is expected to release in 1:6 scale in late 2018:
Here is Jennifer and Nicholas Forrestal with their Morticia and Gomez Addams from The Addams Family:
And a great Uncle Fester was on-hand as well. The best ad lib physical humor award goes to Kevin Dilmore for his quick rendition of Thing.
I was surprised by all the Rogue One cosplayers that Elizabeth Bunce (as Jyn Erso in Imperial disguise) and I (as the Blue Squadron X-Wing pilot general) were able to get some photos with, including our boss, Mon Mothma:
… and a soldier from the Battle of Scarif (where we both met our doom):
For those millions of Star Wars fans that purchased their Blu-ray and DVD copies of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this week and were disappointed that the special features did not include the many missing scenes that appeared in the bulk of the movie’s trailers, have no fear: Today, Marvel Comics is releasing the first of a six-issue adaptation of the film, and it will include many scenes not in the final theatrical version of the movie, woven into the film for the first time. Check out a preview below of Issue #1.
The adaptation is written by Jody Houser (Max Ride), with interior art by Emilio Laiso (Star Wars Annual) and Oscar Bazaldua Nava with colorist Rachelle Rosenberg. Phil Noto is the cover artist for the series with variant covers by Mike Mayhew and several other artists, plus a movie poster cover, action figure cover, and blank sketch cover. You’ll find all the look and feel of the movie here. Here is a preview of Phil Noto’s cover art for Issues #2 and #3:
