Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 7, 2008 in Comic Books
It’s funny I’ve heard of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. but I never heard of The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. until I came across the above comic book cover which was found by digital archivist Frederick Barr. I did some research and it seems the spin off-series lasted for one season from 1966 until 1967 when it was cancelled due to low ratings. The show starred Stefanie Powers who would later find fame as the lead in Hart to Hart in 1979.
Below are some other covers from publisher Gold Key:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 7, 2008 in Comic Books
Shown above is the cover from Joker Comics #24 which was published in August 1947 by Timely Comics (just a little over sixty years ago!). By the way Timely Comics is still in business today, they would go on to evolve into a company called Atlas Comics which would then go on to become Marvel Comics.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 4, 2008 in Comic Books
I think I would have gotten even more into Spiderman as a kid had I known that he had a matching giant robot! This Japanese toy set is from 1978 and photographed by tOkKa.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 2, 2008 in Comic Books
Coco Wang is a comic book artist and animator from China, and he has an amazing collection of comics covering the earthquake. The stories are heartbreaking and touching at the same time, you can check them out here:
“Thousands of heart-breaking stories are happening 24 hours non-stop everyday, some are so sad that you can hardly bear, some are incredibly moving that you just can’t stop crying… I wanted to go to the front to help with all those people, some of my friends have already gone there, but I heard that the traffic needed to be kept totally clear for rescue transportation at the moment, people like me without knowledge of first-aid and experience of rescue operations going there now would cause choas and trouble… but I can’t just sit at home and do nothing, I have been crying my eyes out in the past three days, I have never felt more proud of my country and people… their love, courage and kindness rock me to my core! I have decided to tell these touching stories by drawing comics. I am going to send you comic strips almost everyday from now on, I hope you could know something about the earthquake in China, although you don’t have to do anything, but I hope you could feel our love and hope.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 1, 2008 in Comic Books
I dread looking through the Marvel covers each week because there are so many uninspired heroic images of dudes in tights — but this cover for Omega #9 caught my eye right away. Firstly the graphic designer in me loves the hand lettering at the top, it’s very unslick but shows a great deal of charm. And then the illustration hits you: Our hero is having a bad time of it! Not only won’t his super powers out wit the robots, but there seem to be a few working class bubbas in the horde looking for a piece of Omega. The humor is great, the draftsmanship is good, and even the crude coloring technique adds to it all. Credit for the cover goes to Farel Dalrymple and Paul Hornschemeier — and Omega hits the stores this week on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008.
“Counterculture icon Emily the Strange is on the road to the big screen, with Dark Horse Entertainment president Mike Richardson coming on board to produce a feature film that would tell the origin of the gothic figure and her four mysterious cats.
Skateboarder Rob Reger created the character among a multitude of designs he was printing up for stickers, T-shirts and skateboards in Santa Cruz in the early 1990s. The Emily design took off, with Reger’s company, Cosmic Debris, going on to become a multimillion dollar business with toeholds in fashion, books and comics, toys, school supplies, and accessories. The character, often seen with four cats, has also become a figure for female empowerment and anti-conformity. Reger has remained the creative director behind the character and is one of several artists who work on “Emily.”
“Emily’s” connection with Richardson comes from the comic book line Dark Horse publishes. The company began publishing the title in 2005, with “Emily the Strange #1: Chairman of the Bored,” which was followed by several other popular miniseries. ”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 28, 2008 in Comic Books
Jules Feiffer has done it all: He wrote for Will Eisner’s Outer Space Spirit, illustrated the classic children’s book The Phantom Tollbooth and an extract from his book The Great Comic Book Heroes was used by Quentin Tarantino in the film Kill Bill. However he’s best know to me and a few generations of comic book fans for his Pulitzer Prize winning work in the the Village Voice here in New York.
So I was very pleased to find out that Fantagraphics will be publishing a collection of Feifffer’s early work for the Voice, the book will be titled Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-1966). Here’s a description from the publisher:
“In 1956, a relatively unknown cartoonist by the name of Jules Feiffer started contributing a strip to the only alternative weekly published in the US, a small radical newspaper called The Village Voice. His strip tackled just about every issue, private and public, that affected the sentient American: relationships, sexuality, love, family, parents, children, psychoanalysis, neuroses, presidents, politicians, media, race, class, labor, religiion, foreign policy, war, and one or two other existential questions. It was the first time that the American public had been subjected to a weekly dose of comics that so uncompromisingly and wittily confronted individuals’ private fears and society’s public transgressions.”
Here are some samples from the book (click on to view at full size):
And here is Mr. Feiffer at his drafting table in 1958:
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 26, 2008 in Comic Books
For too many people Memorial Day is just another three day weekend, so with this in mind I was curious about the history of the day. So I was surprised to find out that the tradition dates back over a century ago to right after the Civil War when a day set aside to honor those who had died in battle.
While doing my research I was take aback by the above political cartoon that I found to be quite touching. In my mind I associate most political cartoons from the turn of the century with likes of Thomas Nast making satirical comments on political corruption. So to me it was quite a contrast to see the tone of this illustration by John T. McCutcheon which is set in a Civil War graveyard and has this caption:
“You bet I’m goin’ to be a soldier, too, like my Uncle David, when I grow up.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 25, 2008 in Comic Books
As part of our ongoing campaign to support the destruction of superheroes I’ve decided to shine some light on publisher :01 First Second books. What I like about these folks is that they’ve done an amazing job bringing high quality yet quirky graphic novels to a world that’s been lost to the epic battle of comic book clichés. So here’s a title from their back catalog which I think is worth checking out:
Lat is very much a local legend: At the young age of thirteen his first comics were published in the Majallah Filem and Movie News and by age 23 became editorial cartoonist of the New Straits Times, a large Malaysian newspaper. Lat is best known his creation which is the Kampung Boy series, of which Town Boy is the second book. What makes Lat’s work so enjoyable is that he draws what he knows, so while you won’t find any giant robots what you’ll experience is a vivid visual sense of what it’s like to live in Malaysia through the eyes of someone coming of age:
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 24, 2008 in Comic Books
As part of our ongoing campaign to support the destruction of superheroes I’ve decided to shine some light on publisher :01 First Second books. What I like about these folks is that they’ve done an amazing job bringing high quality yet quirky graphic novels to a world that’s been lost to the epic battle of comic book clichés. So here’s a title from their back catalog which I think is worth checking out:
A dog and his robot, what else would you need? This graphic novel follows the adventures of a lonely dog who finds companionship with a mail order robot. While the setup of the plot sounds silly (and yes the book is filled with whimsy) Sara Varon’s work is unique in that it also manages to be rather touching at moments. Her work reminds me of the Peanuts school of comic art in that personality of her characters aren’t one dimensional even though they’re drawn that way. Yet unlike Charles Schultz, Varon’s work features few words — it’s like looking at stills from a classic silent film where the pictures do the work of storytelling:
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 24, 2008 in Comic Books
I’m bringing this to your attention because Indiana Jones and Iron Man are just so last week:
Shown above is an action packed scene from the upcoming Incredible Hulk film in which our green protagonist takes on Abomination. My first thought: “This looks like a flick designed to sell a videogame!” And of course I was right, below is a “making of video” on the videogame:
Although I have to admit that if the actual film is nothing but a two hour long fight scene with zero dialogue that would be worth waiting in line for!
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 24, 2008 in Comic Books
On May 29th Ms. Marvel #27 hits the newsstands! While I like the technique that Greg Horn is using in the above cover illustration the subject matter just looks so damn silly to me with the contrast of the blazing fire and the sexy superhero pose in the foreground. I’m not sure just who Marvel is trying to target with this book: Is it female teen manga readers who hate comic book stores? Or is it twentysomething guys who don’t want to date the Supergirl next door? Marvel should just make this book a comedy title, just look at this cute clichéd description:
“There is a Skrull in Lightning Storm’s midst. There is a secret truth to the life of Ms. Marvel’s lover, William Wagner. Something happens between Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man that can never be undone. And an era comes to an explosive end in a pivotal moment in the life of the most important woman in the Marvel Universe.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 23, 2008 in Comic Books
Warner Brothers has launched the full version of the Batman: The Dark Night website which has all of the usual stuff: trailer, plot, photos and downloads. I guess we’ll find out on July 18th how good the film is!
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 20, 2008 in Comic Books
Shown above is the variant cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz for All Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder #12 which is due to hit the streets on August 27th. What makes this cover work so well is that the Joker isn’t a xerox of an live action actor, yet he’s not so cartoony either. With Sienkiewicz what we get is a stunning surrealistic portrait where the dramatic sense of lighting which goes back to the film noir roots of Batman.
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 19, 2008 in Comic Books
Why can’t Black Panther give his girlfriend the only seat in the jungle? And where do you go shopping to get that tight fitting superhero clothing in the jungle any way? Cover artist Francis Portela may know the answers…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 17, 2008 in Comic Books
Living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and being slightly dyslexic I misread the title of this sketch as “Hipster Monsters” — the title is in fact “Hip Monsters” and the artwork is by Grant Gilliland who is also known as TheGrossUncle (also check out parseitup.com).
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 15, 2008 in Comic Books
I first came across the work of Tony Millionaire (Scott Richardson) in the 90s while following his comic strip Maakies in the New York Press newspaper here in NYC. His work harkens back a great deal to old school comics like Krazy Kat and Popeye. So I was very pleased to hear that Dark Horse will be publishing a collection of his work in late October which should be an ideal Christmas gift for any comix fanboy:
“Prepare to set sail on a drunken fever-dream of dollies, apes, and exotic mysteries that once seen can never be UN-seen! The Art of Tony Millionaire collects illustrations, comics, stories, photographs, and anecdotes from the man once referred to as “Beefy McManus” by the late rock star, “Rocky Stardomes!” — the one and only Tony Millionaire! THRILL to never-before seen illustrations that have made women gasp and grown men gasp, too! PARTAKE in the beautiful genius of the only cartoonist in the history of mankind to have won five Eisner Awards, three Harvey Awards and an Ignatz! He also won Best Marksman at summer camp when he was twelve, but lost the art competition at High School to a girl who drew a lovely ear of corn!”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 13, 2008 in Comic Books
Shown above is the Batmanesque inspired painting Duo again (2008) by fine artistRichard Mullins. What I like about his work is that in addition to be inspired by pop art subjects, his style of painting and bold use of vivid colors reminds me a great deal of the Fauvism of Henri Matisse. Below are some additional examples of his work that caught my eye:
In August of this year Buck Rogers will be 80 years old! The franchise which takes place in the year 2419 first started life as a short story in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories has has spawned comic books, novels, toys, serialized movies and two TV series (first in 1950 on ABC and then the disco version in 1979). Now it looks like Nu Image/Millennium Films has acquired film rights to the property and will create a live action film:
“Nu Image/Millennium’s Avi Lerner got the rights from the Dille Trust, which is run by the surviving family of series originator Frank Dille. Those rights had once been with Disney, but the Dille family was attracted to moving them to a small movie and gaining more control over the direction of the film. Despite web reports that Frank Miller had boarded the project, sources at Millennium disputed than any creatives had yet aligned to the project.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 6, 2008 in Comic Books
Methinks Italiano Spidy likes his pasta just a wee too much! Although the bad guys seem out of shape too so maybe that’s not so critical to his crime fighting skills…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 5, 2008 in Comic Books
El Estratografico collects cropped Spanish comic book images and posts them to Flickr, I just love the Roy Lichtenstein quality of his picks. What I love about the above image is how poor Bugs Bunny seems to have had his head cut off!
