Last comics of 2009, December new comics! Options

[Super Monkey]

THE CREEPER BY STEVE DITKO HC
Written by Steve Ditko, Don Segall, Dennis Neil and Michael Fleischer
Art by Steve Ditko and others
Cover by Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man, struck again in 1968 with the strange hero The Creeper. Now, for the first time, DC collects Ditko s Creeper epics from SHOWCASE #73, BEWARE THE CREEPER #1-6, 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL #7 and short stories from WORLD S FINEST COMICS #249-255.
Advance-solicited; on sale February 24 • 256 pg, FC, $39.99 US

SUPERBOY: THE GREATEST TEAM-UPS EVER TOLD TP
Written by Bill Finger, Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel and others
Art by Curt Swan, Al Plastino, John Forte and others
Cover by Alan Davis
Superboy, the hero who would grow up to become Superman, battles evil alongside some of the world s greatest heroes in this new collection. Features content from ADVENTURE COMICS #216, 253, 271, 280, SUPERBOY #55, 63, 80, 171, 182 and NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY #13.
Advance-solicited; on sale January 20 • 168 pg, FC, $19.99 US

TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS VOL. 2 TP
Written by Alan Moore, Len Wein, Kurt Busiek and others
Art by Dave Gibbons, Kevin Neill and others
Cover by Brian Bolland
It s another incredible collection of classic tales of the Corps from the pages of GREEN LANTERN #168, 169, 171-173, 177, 179-183, 185, 187-190 and TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS ANNUAL #1, and featuring the work of Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and many others!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 27 • 144 pg, FC, $19.99 US

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD TP
Written by Matt Wayne and J. Torres
Art by Andy Suriano, Phil Moy, Carlo Barberi and others
Cover by James Tucker
Inspired by the hit Cartoon Network series, The Caped Crusader teams up with heroes including Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Blue Beetle, Aquaman and others. In these tales from the first six issues of the monthly series, Batman and his allies tangle with The Time Lord, saves the world s children from the Queen of Fables and more!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 13 • 128 pg, FC, $12.99 US

DC ORIGINS SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURE TWO-PACKS
Trace the history of some of the most popular DC Comics characters with these special two-pack action figure sets!
Each set includes two full-sized figures packaged together one based on art from the character s early appearances and the other based on art from the modern era.
One collectible trading card featuring each character will also be included in each package.
All figures feature multiple points of articulation and include display bases and character-specific accessories.
4-color clamshell blister card packaging.
CATWOMAN - 6” H (CLASSIC) - 6.75” H (MODERN)
THE JOKER - 6.5” H (CLASSIC) - 6.75” H (MODERN)
NIGHTWING - 6.25” H (CLASSIC) - 6.5” H (MODERN)
BATMAN - 6.75” H (MODERN) - 6.5” H (CLASSIC)
Advance-solicited; sale May 2010 Action Figures PI

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE: BATMAN BY FRANK QUITELY
BASED ON THE ART OF FRANK QUITELY
SCULPTED BY PAUL HARDING
For the first time in the BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE line, Dick Grayson dons the mantle of the bat.
Eisner Award-winning artist Frank Quitely s cover from the first issue of the best-selling BATMAN AND ROBIN is adapted here in classic black and white.
The statue measures approximately high x wide x 3.25 deep, is painted in monochromatic tones, features a Bat-logo-shaped base and is packaged in a black and white box.
Limited edition. Manufactured to order.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 5, 2010 • Statue • $80 US

DC CHRONICLES: SUPERMAN STATUE
SCULPTED BY TIM BRUCKNER
The Man of Steel is the second statue in a new series that captures the original depictions of DC Comics most renowned heroes.
While evoking a gritty, old-school feel with Superman bending a tommy gun, this statue is a modern, sculptural interpretation of Metropolis hero.
The DC Chronicles statue line has a consistent base, and the retro-style logo on the base further gives the piece a sense of the period from which it originated.
This limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 6.75 high x wide x deep and is packaged in a 4-color box with a 4-color Certificate of Authenticity.
Manufactured to order.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 12, 2010 • Statue • $99.99 US

See the rest here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22997

[Nightwing]

Russ Heath




Carmine Infantino



Joe Kubert




Jack Kirby



Jim Steranko




Steve Ditko



John Romita



Gil Kane




John Buscema





...and a lot more. But maybe your point is that it's unfair to compare modern artists to Nick and his peers, in which case I agree. But there's no excuse for the slippage.

BTW, all the above scans are from the newly-revamped Grand Comics Database. Check it out.

[Michel Weisnor]

Gotcha. I'm bad.

Just wondering, why reinvent the wheel? I've noticed quite a few homage covers over the years. Is it recognition of the original illustrators, just plain laziness, or publisher's choice?



Those covers are magnificent! I am so used to guys and gals standing around posing. Russ Heath, wow just wow...

[Nightwing]

Just wondering, why reinvent the wheel? I've noticed quite a few homage covers over the years. Is it recognition of the original illustrators, just plain laziness, or publisher's choice?

That's a good question, considering many of the covers being "honored" tend to date to the Silver Age, a period modern fanboys look down upon. It can't be to appeal to the old-timers who remember the originals...we've mostly moved on, and why bother buying a copy when you have the real thing?

I imagine what's behind it is that modern artists grew up on that old stuff and want to take a stab at recreating it for their own amusement.

[Aldous]

I don't know about that. I can think of any number of artists whose covers are in a league with Cardy's:

It's a pretty eclectic league.

While you've taken pains to "cover" some legendary talents (great gallery by the way! ), no, I am sorry, but some of your examples do not rate alongside Cardy's best.

Schomberg, Wally Wood, Ditko, Gil Kane........... they've all done better on Cardyesque covers. In spirit you might think the Kane one is like a Cardy, but, really, it is an awful cover. (Well, I don't like it.) Romita has done far better than his example. (Yes, Cardy had rare off days too.) Robinson, Heath, Infantino, Kubert, the Kirby one, Buscema... these are more like it. Jim Steranko's.......... that's a neat one. Like I said: eclectic.

My point was really about comparing the lady artist who'd been currently under discussion, rather than the whole roll call of top-notch comic book artists.

But there's no excuse for the slippage.

It really is unclear what "slippage" you're referring to. A "slippage" on my part, or some other "slippage" (in comic book artists' abilities perhaps)?

[Nightwing]

Schomberg, Wally Wood, Ditko, Gil Kane........... they've all done better on Cardyesque covers.

Well, I wasn't really going for "Cardyesque." Each of those guys were masters at covers, but each had their own style. Cardy's forte was the super-clean, uncluttered layout that said more with less. Schomberg was the opposite; everything went in but the kitchen sink. But both were brilliant, and served the same role for their respective companies: make a cover that will sell the book, regardless of whether the content lives up to it.

In spirit you might think the Kane one is like a Cardy, but, really, it is an awful cover.

Truthfully, I'm not the biggest Kane fan, but he did do some stellar covers. Most of them were for DC, but I wanted to show a little diversity so I went for one of the few Marvels he did that stuck with me.

My point was really about comparing the lady artist who'd been currently under discussion, rather than the whole roll call of top-notch comic book artists.

I know, I'm just being contrary. You said "Putting another artist's cover work up alongside Cardy's is just plain mean." I'm suggesting you should modify that to "a current artist's cover work."

More to the point, we should say, "Trying to equal Cardy at his own schtick is a game for fools."

It really is unclear what "slippage" you're referring to. A "slippage" on my part, or some other "slippage" (in comic book artists' abilities perhaps)?

The latter, naturally. I'm saying it's not right that I can list so many great cover artists from the 30s through the 70s*, and almost none today. Especially considering what today's artists get paid in comparison to their predecessors. Shouldn't artists be getting better as they have more to build on, and generally speaking more formal art education than they once did?


*I actually had to delete a few because I "exceeded the number of allowable images". Also on the list originally were Lou Fine, Reed Crandall, Jack Burnley, Fred Guardineer, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Michael Golden and Win Mortimer. No doubt I'm forgetting a few.

[Aldous]

Shouldn't artists be getting better as they have more to build on, and generally speaking more formal art education than they once did?

A lot of the greats had formal art education. I think the difference is, they quickly transcended their education.

Could it be like popular music? All the good stuff has been done, and modern pop is drowning in a smaller and smaller incestuous cesspool of recycled garbage?

[carmine]

Well don't forget that we had some bad comic book artists in the "good ol' days' too. I think their are some good artists work now but the main difference is that while they can draw really well....they can't tell a story with their art.

It's all splash pages and heroes posing.

[Michel Weisnor]

It's all splash pages and heroes posing.

Really, I don't get it. Usually, it's like school picture day.

I am not saying they aren't artists just where is the gotcha cover, outside of the female anatomy? That's why when I see artist covers with action, form, and ingenuity, I am blown away.

Today, how much does the publisher influence the artist's cover decisions?

[Aldous]

Truthfully, I'm not the biggest Kane fan, but he did do some stellar covers. Most of them were for DC, but I wanted to show a little diversity so I went for one of the few Marvels he did that stuck with me.

I'm a BIG fan of Gil Kane... mainly because of Green Lantern. But he did outstanding work all over the comics landscape.

Now -- I have to take issue with "most of them were for DC" because he did an awful lot of covers for Marvel, many of them iconic Marvels.

Briefly, here are a few... I have all of these comics in my collection, so they come to mind.

How could you forget THIS milestone? (Gil Kane/Dave Cockrum.)



A fav from childhood:



First Punisher.



Not my favourite turn of spidery events, but a shocker in its day:







Great cover, great story... Stan shoves it up the Comics Code:



That's all I have time for. Excuse the rush. There are plenty more.

[Nightwing]

Wow, you own Giant-Size X-Men #1? You must have texted that message from the back seat of your Rolls Royce.

I remember seeing that book on the stands, but I passed it over for (I think) a "Superboy and the LSH" super-spectacular and maybe something else. Even if I'd been in the mood for a Marvel that day, I'd have been a lot more likely to buy "Giant-Size Invaders #1." Hey, who knew?

That cover to Spider-Man #150 was cool enough to get me to buy the issue, and I don't even like Spidey. A Kane cover also persuaded me to buy issue 181:



...which wasn't nearly as pretty on the inside, if memory serves, and issue #154, where the addition of Romita's inks made for one of my favorite covers of any book, ever:



That one had awesome interiors, as well.

[Aldous]

It's very doubtful that Giant-Size 1 ever appeared on the stands in Australasia. I don't have the original, but a reprint edition. The earliest original X-Men comic I have is (I think) No. 108, and the ones before that, back to Giant-Size, are reprints, out of necessity.