The Official ‘The Wake’ Exit Interview
The creators of the popular and award-winning Vertigo series The Wake, Scott Snyder & Sean Murphy go in-depth on their ambitious and provocative adventure story.
Oh F–K Me: Deadpool Test Footage!
Test footage from the unlikely-but-not-impossible Deadpool movie has been appearing and disappearing all over the Internet. Which parts work, and which don't?
Murder Me Dead: The Finest Despair
A dark and emotionally manipulative noir about self-destruction, lies, and guilt, Murder Me Dead may be David Lapham's best book that isn't Stray Bullets!
The Valiant Interview: Kindt & Lemire
Writers Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire talk about 'The Valiant,' a prestige mini-series bringing together Valiant characters Bloodshot, Geomancer and Eternal Warrior.
Chuck Palahniuk Talks ‘Fight Club 2′
In this interview conducted at Comic-Con International in San Diego, the author talks to ComicsAlliance about why he chose to revisit the world of Fight Club.
Here’s The Thing Episode 17: Superman’s Hair Is Serious Business
If our weekly Ask Chris column isn't enough of definitive comic book (and pro wrestling) opinions for you, good news: ComicsAlliance is proud to present Here's The Thing, a series of videos where you can join our own extremely opinionated senior writer, Chris Sims, as he dives into comics history to explain why you're wrong and he's right.
This week, Chris has a very serious discussion about Superman's hair. No, really: You will believe a man's coif can provide a strong visual signifier of his character and can make another, slightly more volatile man hate a movie six months before it comes out.
Joe Quinones’ Robin ’66 Challenges Cameron Stewart’s Batgirl For Selfie Supremacy
If you follow the ComicsAlliance Instagram account, then you already know that we are pretty passionate about selfies. It's one of the reasons that we're actually so excited about seeing all the covers for DC's upcoming Selfie Month, in which the heroes of the DC Universe snap pictures of themselves while they're going about their heroic duty. It's a fun way to inject some much needed levity back into these most colorful characters, and one that fans respond to in enormously positive ways if the reaction to Cameron Stewart's Batgirl is any indication -- and that wasn't even part of the Selfie Month promotion.
This week, one such cover was unveiled that has risen above all the others as possibly the single greatest superhero selfie of all time: Joe Quinones' cover to Batman '66 #14, where Robin the Boy Wonder can be seen snapping a photo of himself with the rotary Bat-Phone.
Hire This Woman: Artist Chrissie Zullo
In the overwhelmingly male comic book industry, it has been a challenge for some editors and readers to see the ever growing number of talented women currently trying to make a name for themselves. With that in mind, ComicsAlliance offers Hire This Woman, a recurring feature designed for comics readers as well as editors and other professionals, where we shine the spotlight on a female comics pro on the ascendance. Some of these women will be at the very beginning of their careers, while others will be more experienced but not yet “household names.”
Artist Chrissie Zullo got her break in comics via the DC Comics Talent Search in 2008 and has been working consistently ever since. She has worked for a variety of major comics publishers, including Archie, Dark Horse, IDW, and Vertigo, on covers and interiors for series including Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, Fairest In All The Land, Womanthology: Space, Madame Xanadu and Life With Archie.
No, You’re The Joke: The Cast Of ‘Steven Universe’ At Comic-Con 2014 [Interview]
Cartoon Network's Steven Universe has quickly become one of my favorite shows on television. The action, the comedy, the fact that there's an episode all about secret underground pro wrestling where the lead character becomes a manager named Tiger Millionaire, these are all things that I tend to respond to pretty favorably.
That's why I sat down for a roundtable interview at Comic-Con International with Zach Callison (Steven), Deedee Magno (Pearl),Michaela Dietz (Amethyst) and Tom Scharpling (Greg Universe) to go behind the scenes and find out what their favorite episodes are, what the response has been, and the magical formula for turning into Aimee Mann.
‘Oh, F–k Me’: The Good And Bad Of The Leaked ‘Deadpool’ Test Footage [Video]
Test footage from the unlikely-but-not-impossible Deadpool movie has been appearing and disappearing all over the Internet for the past few days, with a high-res version popping up on Vimeo (since deleted) and DailyMotion (the player above).
Here's what we know about it: director Tim Miller and actor Ryan Reynolds made the two minutes or so of footage back in 2012 to convince 20th Century Fox to greenlight a film. It hasn't convinced them yet, and Reynolds has been less than optimistic about the movie's chances in recent interviews. Fans can assume that if there had been (or could be) a Deadpool movie, it would have looked a lot like this. There's a lot to like about what's in here, and a few things that seem to be missteps. Let's take a look.
She’d Rather Not Talk About It: New ‘Spider-Woman’ Team On Jessica Drew’s Past (And Future)
Last weekend at the "Women of Marvel" panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Comics announced a new ongoing Spider-Woman series that will debut in November, from writer Dennis Hopeless and artist Greg Land, which will follow directly on from events in the Spider-Verse crossover. We had the opportunity to have a quick chat with the creative team in the wake of the announcement, and ask a few questions about their plans for the series.
Be Unafraid: The Official ‘Wake’ Exit Interview With Scott Snyder & Sean Murphy
Creators Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy's mind-bending, centuries-spanning Vertigo Comics horror/sci-fi series The Wake comes to an end today, and it has covered a lot of ground in its 10 issues -- which is quite an accomplishment for a book that takes place in a world almost entirely covered by water.
A mix of horror and mythology spanning three different time periods, The Wake features a group of scientists, led by Dr. Lee Archer, attempting to uncover the secrets of a vicious Merman-like creature captured by the U.S. government. As Dr. Archer and her team do their best to discover the truth, the creature -- with the ability to invade their thoughts, granting them each what they believe to be their heart's desires -- has other plans. The creature unlocks many of mankind's myths of the sea -- and, consequently, itself -- and propels a wild-eyed, high adventure narrative that traverses centuries and brings in monsters, pirates, super-science, post-apocalyptic cultures and some of the most haunting psychological horror Vertigo's published in years.
Throughout, the Eisner-winning series has taken the emotional, intellectual and philosophical and made them manifest on the page with some highly innovative and bold storytelling techniques, such as when, after five issues of following Dr. Lee's adventure, the book jumps hundreds of years into the future to focus on a new protagonist and her cybernetic dolphin. The final issue takes that approach to a whole other level, telling a creation myth while providing closure for the characters. It's quite an accomplishment, and we talked with Snyder and Murphy about how they pulled it off.
WARNING: Issue #10 spoilers ahead.
Link Ink: ‘Arrow’ Casts Its Wildcat, Bob Kane’s Comics Auctioned And ‘Ant-Man’ Director Sounds Off
Each weekday, ComicsAlliance brings you a carefully selected variety of links from around the web about comics and comics-related media, including movies, video games, toys, and whatever else might be worth noting. Quite frankly, these are items you may just need to know about to have a productive day. Take a look at today's hand-picked links after the jump.
‘Mad Men’ With Capes: Kyle Higgins & Alec Siegel Talk ‘C.O.W.L.’ At Comic-Con 2014 [Video]
COWL is an Image Comics series which stylishly depicts an alternate history Chicago of the pre-”swinging” 1960s, when the (in)famously political city experienced all manner of socioeconomic upheaval — including the dissolution of the Chicago Organized Workers League. Also known as COWL, it’s a union for costumed superheroes, and its days are numbered.
Besides the very cool and original artwork of Rod Reis, we like COWL because it avoids some traps into which most non-Marvel and non-DC cape comics fall. Crucially, despite its “real-world” premise and period setting, COWL is not a Watchmen cover version, offering a decidedly less dour tone and honest-to-god superhero adventure blended deftly with its dramatic take on city politics. Sometimes it’s even really funny. The book also bucks the origin fetish of the superhero genre by introducing us to its intriguing cast not at the start of their sagas, but at what might be the end.
Last week at Comic-Con International in San Diego, we had a chance to talk to COWL co-writers Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel about their series.
Starting With Character: Matt Kindt And Jeff Lemire Discuss ‘The Valiant’ [Interview]
Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire, the co-writers of the upcoming miniseries The Valiant -- a prestige-format miniseries featuring Bloodshot, Geomancer and Eternal Warrior -- have each done superhero work in the past, but they've really made their names with creator-owned work that they wrote and drew. Kindt's Mind MGMT has taken off, and Lemire struck a chord with series including Sweet Tooth and Trillium.
Those credentials are part of why Valiant invited the two creators to work on the new miniseries -- one that's being touted as an entry point for new readers, but also as a turning point for the whole Valiant Universe. They've been given some wiggle room to develop a character-based story and put their creative voices to work. The result is something both writers seem really proud of, not to mention a story that's bound to look good, with artwork by Paolo Rivera.
We sat down with Lemire and Kindt at San Diego Comic-Con International to ask them about their collaboration, how their backgrounds in cartooning inform their superhero work, and how Valiant's universe differs from others.
