Gumbo: Japan’s First Free Manga Weekly

Here’s a news report from Japan on Gumbo which will be a free weekly manga publication:

Found via Japan Probe.

DrawerGeeks!

DrawerGeeks is a website where professional artists (mostly from the comic book, animation and illustration world) draw their own version of a famous fictional character. Since 2004 the site has been a showcase for quite a few little gems representing every character from Catwoman (shown above) to King Kong.

Lunchbox

Lunchbox is a new webcomic by Ovi Nedelcu, an illustrator based out of Portland, Oregon. He’s best known right now the Pigtail comic published by Image. Ovi’s new webcomic features a sister/baby brother team, and has a sort of nice Sendak “Where the Wild Things Are” quality to it (minus the monster suits of course). There’s also a hint of the playfulness that you see in Calvin & Hobbes as well. Ovi ‘s draftmanship is A+, and there are already six strips in the series. I can’t wait to see more…

Ghost Rider: From Comic to the Big Screen

Below is a new video from the Ghost Rider blog for the upcoming film:

The new film will be out February 16th this year!

Creepy Cryptics

There’s a great interview with Ben Roman over at Comiccon.com on his new comic book series the Cryptics, published by Image Comics. The interview is a great read, but what stands out is the fresh look of the comic itself.

Bat-blog is Batastic!

In the real world having an obsessive compulsive disorder is a bad thing, but if you run a blog, it’s a great thing! And Bat-blog is a great example of this, it’s a daily dose of everything Batman. The site does a great job of showing off a wide variety of toys, videos and anything else related to Batman:

tomztoyz.blogspot.com

Comic Art Community

Comic Art Community is a website that features an open gallery that allows users to upload artwork (and the selection is quite amazing) and also has a comic arts auction section as well. Shown above are images from Emily the Strange, Scarlet Traces, and Blood of Saints.

New Ninja Turtle Snaps

Well one things is for sure, with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Transformers film coming out t’s loking like 2007 is going to feel very much like the 80s! By the way for more Ninja snaps IESB.net has a gallery of over 150 images…

Ten Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1996

Ten years ago comic book fanboys were into (from top to bottom and left to right): ‘Sin City: The Big Fat Kill’, ‘Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #6’, ‘Acme Novelty Library #6’, ‘Milk & Cheese #666’, and comic strip themed stamps from the U.S. Postal Service.

Which Super Hero are You?

I just took the super hero quiz and here are my results:

To be fair to results above I did read Spiderman as a kid, but I had no I idea that I was 15% like Wonder Woman!

Also don’t forget to also take the Super Villain Quiz too (it looks like I’m Dr. Doom):

Quiz found via Jason Calacanis (also known to his friends as Green Lantern).

Twenty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1986

Twenty years ago the graphic novel started to impress comic book fanboys like myself: At the top a cover and a close up of Batman punching Superman from ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’, and some interior panels and a cover from ‘the Watchman’ are shown below.

Batgirl, Catwoman & Wonder Woman Commercial

I’m pretty sure that the above commercial is from Argentina, but I have no idea what it’s advertising!

Thirty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1976

Back in 1976 Jack Kirby was THE king of comic books (shown at the top), while the first issue of American Splendor was produced (shown on the lower left) and Doonesbury made the cover of Time Magazine (shown on the lower right).

Far Arden

Minneapolis based illustrator Kevin Cannon is working producing a webcomic as part of a “288 hour comic book challenge”. In this cartooning marathon each chapter is produced in a single day (twenty four pages in twenty hours, and one chapter per month).

The resulting work is “Far Arden” which is a very enjoyable read. The story tends to go all over the place, but the chaos has a sort of charm that draws you into the book. So far Kevin has three enjoyable chapters online, and the next chapter is due out around the end of January 2007.

Forty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1966

Forty years ago the Silver Surfer (top left) was introduced for the first time, and on the top right fanboys were watching Batman on TV in FULL COLOR and reading ‘The Fantom’ by Lee Falk (shown on the middle right). In 1966 comic books tackled heroin abuse, shown below are two panels from ‘Hooked!’.

Forty Years Ago in Comics: The Beatles Saved My Romance!

Forty years ago fangirls were going through a Beatlemania phase as seen in the above comic book ‘Summer Love’ published by Charlton Comics in 1966. For only twenty five cents you can learn how “The Beatles Saved My Romance”! Hint: ‘She loves you yeah yeah…’

Fifty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1956

In 1956 fanboys were mad about Mad magazine (Issue #30 from December shown on the top left) and reading tons of comic books littered with space aliens like ‘Mystery in Space’ on the right which sports a cover by cover by Gil Kane. Below that are some panels shown from a classic Peanuts comic strip from March of ‘56, and on a more serious note the comic book on the right features Martin Luther King Jr. and a story about the early civil rights movement.

Sixty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1946

In 1946 for ten dollars you could buy 100 comic books! Shown above is Captain Marvel Adventures #67 in which the captain gets a secretary, on the left is Startling Comics #41 which features the newspaper headline ‘Volunteers Wanted for Atomic Tests’, below is America’s typical teenager Archie and to the right is a cover from Will Eisner’s The Spirit, Oct. 6, 1946.

Racketeers Kidnap Miss Santa Claus

Above: A classic 1948 Wonder Woman themed Christmas cover illustrated by Harry G. Peter.

Here’s a sensational description of the story synopsis:

Racketeers Kidnap Miss Santa Claus

“Diana Prince meets a poor boy named Pete Allen who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. Wonder Woman decides to visit the boy’s family and deliver presents. She discovers that the boy lives in a slum. His mother is scared that her sister’s husband, Joe Bamko, will hurt the children.

Wonder Woman meets Joe who kidnaps the kids to use as hostages against her. Wonder Woman is forced to surrender to the gangster. Under the influence of her own magic lasso, Wonder Woman is then forced to break into the treasury to steal gold for the gangster. With the help of Steve and Etta, Wonder Woman frees herself and stops Joe’s gang from escaping. She then finishes delivering presents to Pete and his sister.”

However historians can only guess why a Christmas themed comic book was released in February…

Calvin & Hobbes: The Art of the Snowman

For Christmas I’d like to share this very enjoyable collection of comic strips that made me smile:

A special tribute to Calvin, Hobbes and
the Underappreciated Art of the Snowman

Found via Comic Ne.ws.

Bugs Bunny Celebrates Christmas

Above: A 1946 cover of Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies Comics #51 featuring Bugs Bunny.

Found via this Looney Tunes Collectibles page.

Tezuka Exhibition Coming to US in 2007

“Tezuka the Marvel of Manga”, an exhibition featuring the work of manga and anime master Osamu Tezuka currently being hosted in Melbourne, Australia, will move on to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in June 2007, after a tour stop at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia.

Found via Toonzone.net and Animaxis.com.

Sparta 300: Latest Trailer

I have no idea if this film has any sort of plot, but man it looks real slick:

Sparta 300: Latest Trailer

“Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.”

ComicsSpace

ComicsSpace is like MySpace, but for Comic Book professionals and fans. Right now the service allows you setup a page and network with friends, but there are plans in the works to allow comic artists to hosttheir work on the website:

ComicsSpace.com

And if you’re already on ComicsSpace, add me to your buddy list:

Comicspace.com/fanboy/