Phil Noto

At its Star Wars panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego Friday, Marvel announced that Han Solo's trusty co-pilot and better half will get his very own five-issue miniseries, written by Gerry Duggan (Deadpool) and with art by Phil Noto (Black Widow) starting in October.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, and some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

Phil Noto knows how to create a stylish retro vibe, and he can conjure up a soft-edged gauzy aesthetic that perfectly evokes the nostalgic familiarity of photographs from the 1960s and 70s. It's a talent that he exploited to beautiful effect in a series of pieces for his Tumblr that presented Silver Age Marvel heroes in the mode of old celebrity snaps from Life Magazine; the images that would have existed if these heroes had been real in the age they were created. Those Tumblr images are the clear inspiration for a month of Phil Noto variant covers at Marvel this February, though the inspiration stretches beyond Life Magazine pastiches to cover hip-hop, fashion photography, and even candid personal images. Several of the covers were released this week courtesy of Marvel, Comic Vine, CBR and Newsarama, and they're a gorgeous selection of images, so we've collected them all in one place for your appreciation.

As cynical and bitter and disdainful that most right thinking people have become with respect to the subject of Star Wars movies over the last decade or so, it is difficult not to view the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser with, at the very least, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. The tense 80-second teaser for JJ Abrams' sequel to Return of the Jedi stirred some of the psychic wall left erected in many viewers' thoughts after the abominable prequel trilogy seemed to have destroyed all remaining affection for the once beloved trilogy, and through the cracks has come the first sprays of that by which we can best judge cultural affection for a thing: fan art.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

Fox's action/horror/comedy Sleepy Hollow is one of the best shows on TV right now, and it deserves a tie-in comic that captures its oddball charm. Luckily, it looks like that's what fans are getting in the new Boom Studios series by writer Marguerite Bennett and artist Jorge Coelho. The team isn't just shoehorning TV plots into comics form, though. While Bennett and Coelho do a really nice job of capturing the voices and looks of lead characters Ichabod Crane and Lt. Abbie Mills, the team also adds in some big action that you can't really pull off on a TV budget. Check out the first six pages here at ComicsAlliance.

In the process of writing my article about muscles vs curves, and how the big dudes of superhero comics typically fail to represent the tastes of most androphile women, I gathered a collection of images and recommended artists from my correspondents that illustrate the sort of art they'd love to see more of -- but which there's sadly very little of compared to all the T&A fan-service targeted at straight men. I had far too many recommendations to put in the article, so I've compiled the collection (and a few personal favorites) into a very special one-off post. The collection includes pin-ups, fan art, sketches, and some traditional superhero art from artists who aren't afraid to put a little male eye candy in their work!

As a man who reads superhero comics, I confess that I share a commonly-held prurient interest in big-chested, long-legged heroes in skin-baring costumes that barely cover their naughty bits -- or as I like to call him, Namor. Sadly, Namor is pretty much alone in his category. Contrary to the perception that male heroes in comics are frequently sexually objectified, it's my experience that even Namor is only rarely presented as someone to lust over. Yet I'm fortunate that my tastes run towards the Hemsworth end of the scale. Like many straight men, I admire the kind of buff dudes that are the staple of superhero comics, even though they are rarely sexualized. If I shared the tastes of most of the women I know, I think I'd find superhero comics an even more frustratingly sexless wasteland.

The subgenre of woman-led spy comics seems to be making a healthy surge right now, and Archaia is adding another title to the mix. Butterfly, a new, four-issue series written by Marguerite Bennett (Angela: Asgard's Assassin) and Arash Amel (Grace of Monaco), and drawn by Antonio Fuso (G.I. Joe: Cobra), will start up Sept. 24 with a Phil Noto cover. It'll follow a deep cover agent who is a complete ghost--no birth certificate, no Social Security number--meeting her long-lost dad after being set up for murder. Turns out her dad was a spy, too.