Fred Van Lente

Jack Kirby is considered by many to be the single most influential figure in the development of American comics. He defined the parameters of superhero artwork in the 1940s, he helped invent romance comics in the 1950s, he was one of the primary architects of the Marvel Universe in the 1960s, he brought a sweeping cosmic sensibility to DC in the 1970s, and he played a vital role in the independent publisher boom of the 1980s. Kirby was astoundingly prolific, drawing thousands of pages and covers in a career that spanned seven decades, and created or co-created many of the world's most memorable and popular characters: The Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, the Wasp, Ant-Man, the X-Men, Black Panther, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, the New Gods, Nick Fury, the Avengers, and countless others. Theatre-goers in New York City will learn about the man behind those iconic creations when the new play King Kirby has its world-premiere engagement as part of the Comic Book Theater Festival in Brooklyn, starting June 20 and running through June 29. We spoke to playwright (and acclaimed comic writer) Fred Van Lente about the roots of the show, and his motivation in adapting Kirby's life for the stage.

If you've read Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey's Comic Book Comics, then you already know that Van Lente is pretty passionate about comics history in general and the life of the great Jack Kirby in particular, and with good reason. Kirby's story is fascinating, and, as Van Lente says, covers a massive chunk of the history of American comics, starting at their beginning in the late '40s and contin

If you've been keeping up with Dark Horse's line of superhero comics, then you've already heard of Project Black Sky -- both the shadowy government agency ostensibly meant to protect Earth from alien threats, and the upcoming event tying in Brain Boy, Captain Midnight, Skyman and more. If have, then you already know that as sinister government organizations go, those folks are pretty creepy, right

Each week, ComicsAlliance’s Chris Sims and Matt Wilson host the War Rocket Ajax podcast, their online audio venue for interviews with comics creators, reviews of the books of the week, and whatever else they want to talk about. Com...

Two classic Valiant Comics characters, Rai and Doctor Mirage, are set to make a splash in the new Valiant universe later this year, with the publisher introducing a slew of new titles in its Valiant First initiative all the while. There's a new team-up, a major crossover event, and a few spinoffs in the mix. Valiant is planning to release seven new #1 issues between May and September. Creators inc

For all the flaws it might have, New York Comic-Con has one very, very important thing going for it: A gigantic, well-organized Artists Alley that takes up an entire convention hall all by itself, full of amazing creators showing off their newest comics. There's enough there that you can spend the entire con checking out great stuff and never have a chance to set foot on the floor, and come away

Most creators would probably consider a con to be successful if they had one big project announced. This weekend at NYCC, Fred Van Lente, who's already had a big year with G.I. Joe, Brain Boy and Archer & Armstrong, managed to land himself two. Not only will he be part of Dynamite's Gold Key relaunch as the writer of Magnus: Robot Fighter, he'll also be taking over Dark Horse's Conan the Barb

A common set of questions at every Valiant Comics panel since Dark Horse wrapped their stint on the properties has been about what's up with a group of characters originally published by Gold Key but later licensed by Valiant in the 1990s: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Solar: Man of the Atom and Magnus: Robot Fighter. Those questions can be put to bed now, as Dynamite Entertainment, not Valiant, has ann

  For the past few years, I've been taking a sketchbook to conventions across the country and getting pieces of art with a single theme: Characters created or co-created by the King of Comics, Jack Kirby. After 52 sketches, you'd think I'd be running out of characters, but with only a couple repeats, it's still going strong. Today, in honor of Kirby's 96th birthday, I'm putting all the sketches in

Depending on your religious upbringing, geography and love of stories where dudes kill monsters and rescue princesses from certain death, you may already be passingly familiar with the story of Saint George, the holy soldier who put an end to dragons and was canonized for it. This November, though, Fred Van Lente and Reilly Brown are teaming up to pick up where the legend leaves off in the pages o