JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL

In amongst all the revamped DC Comics, there is a series of one-shots called Retroactive, giving popular creators of the past another bash at the characters they've previously worked on.
I was delighted to see that Keith Giffen, J.M.DeMatties and Kevin Maguire have done another issue of Justice League International.
I really liked this series during its 1987-1992 run, and also the follow-ups Formerly Known as The Justice League in 2003, and I Can't Believe it's not the Justice League in 2005.
Unlike those latter two series which updated the storyline to the present day, this new issue takes place during the original storyline. It's a blast.
Personally I never tire of this trio's work. I was gutted when it finished in 1992, and have lapped up every revamp since. This issue was good too. Giffen's plots and situations are imaginative, clever and quite ludicrous at times. DeMatteis is very witty and keeps all the individuals in character. Maguire is a classy superhero artist.
The funny thing this go around is the computer colouring (as with the recent Ditko Hulk book). It just swamps the line art in my opinion. I guess I'm old fashioned and I want flat colours!

SUPERHERO MOVIE EXCITEMENT

I'm looking forward to seeing the new Superman film when it's on Channel 4 Sunday night in four years.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMIC ART: MOORE/O'NEILL


The new edition of The International Journal of Comic Art is out now. It has an article by myself in it. A report on a talk given by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, discussing their careers and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

More details can be found here.

GET THEE TO A LIBRARY: GORGO

This is the BIG one!

Another great thing to do at your local library is have a dig through the newspaper collections. On a recent look through local press I found this 1962 advertising strip for the monster movie "Gorgo"



Quite nice actually. I wonder who drew it? I remember strips like this advertising movies 20 years later for things like "Clash of the Titans".

This paper had another delighful feature. Design Gorgo's head.



Looks like the same artist. I got curious and a referral to Phil Hardy's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies got me a look at a photo of the big monster.



Comics were used a lot more in the past to advertise anything and everything. I'm looking forward to chancing upon more of them.

SCOTLAND IN COMICS 9



A new documentary aired Monday past. Have a look here.

NEW DITKO HULK BOOK



There's a nice Marvel comic out now called "Incredible Hulk & The Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault". It's a first printing for a story pencilled by Steve Ditko in the 1980s to serve as a filler for when the regular arist on Marvel Team-Up missed a deadline. However it was never needed before that series came to an end in 1985.

So now it's out and has been re-scripted by Karl Kesel who also inked it - recently. He writes a suitably gushing and proud introduction wherein he tells of his excitement at drawing over Ditko. He also says he's very fond of the character Johnny Storm and misses him now that he's gone, so he must be dead currently in Marvel Comics. It's great to see Ditko's Hulk back in sequences like the first one shown here (click for larger version).

I found the computer colouring really strange over Ditko's work. The story looks like his 80s work apart from that. The new writing from Kesel too throws in modern references - such as the one shown here to Youtube.



A lovely wee comic for Ditko fans.

P.S. Bonus bemused chuckle: The numbering on Marvel comics has become rather convoluted. There's an ad in this mag for a comic called Iron Man 2.0 #7.1

GENE COLAN



Gene Colan has died.

I remember his work from childhood days of reading Doctor Strange. He did beautiful work on Howard the Duck, Daredevil, Iron Man, Dracula, Spectre. Loads more.

In the 80s he did Nathaniel Dusk - a series which reproduced his pencils without any inks. Very interesting work.

I last saw work by him on a rock album cover in the late 90s/early 2000s. At first I thought someone was ripping him off, but no, it was the real deal.

A true original. One of the great American comic artists.

BARBIE

I picked up a book called "The Art of Barbie" recently. It's edited by Craig Yoe, who has put together many fine books on comics, so I figured there would be a good representation of cartoonists in there.



And indeed there is. The comic shown here is by Jay Lynch. The book also features Charles Burns, Guido Crepax, Chuck Jones and Milo Manara amongst others. Worth a look if you get a chance.

SUPERHERO MOVIE EXCITEMENT

I'm looking forward to seeing Thor, Green Lantern and X-Men 1st Class when they're on Channel 4 Sunday night in a couple of years.

WRITING FOR ANOTHER ARTIST.

Last night I rewrote an already finished script called "A Book with Death in the Title" for another artist to draw. It was the first time I've done that as I usually do my own stuff.

It took 3 hours to rewrite 6 pages with notes so that he'll be able to follow it and give me what I want. An interesting process.

Very curious to see what he comes up with.