louise simonson

This year's Angouleme was the subject of controversy when the list of creators in contention for the Grand Prix was unveiled, and all 30 nominees were men. The longlist was eventually thrown out in favor of an open vote, which coalesced around three names; Hermann Huppen, Alan Moore, and Claire Wendling. Huppen, known professionally as Hermann, is rumored to have won, despite having said he would decline the award. The controversy prompted some debate about which women should have been in consideration, with the sort of career and longevity that a lifetime achievement award is meant to recognize. Some people have argued that few eligible women exist, but the reality is that women are undervalued, and the extent of their contributions have been overlooked. We've compiled a list of 12 women who deserve recognition for their lifetime of work in comics, but this is just scratching the surface.

Over the past couple of weeks, DC Comics' Convergence event has resulted in some of the most exciting and most bizarre announcements since the company threw out their previous shared universe canon in favor of the "New 52" reboot -- especially since the core idea of next April's big crossover is that they're bringing back a bunch of the versions of characters that they got rid of for a big battle against the new batch. Last week was particularly enticing for long-time fans, teasing us with Greg Rucka's return to writing Renee Montoya in The Question and Gail Simone going back to the fan-favorite pairing of Nightwing/Oracle. This week, they've attempted to top that with a whole new roster of books, and this time they're set in a pre-Flashpoint Metropolis. The second week's launches will see the return of characters from 1996's Kingdom Come and the landmark Justice League International, plus Louise Simonson writing Steel. Of course, we're also getting Azrael and the return of Larry Hama to writing Batman, so someone out there needs to stop wishing on the Monkey's Paw already.

I watched a lot of Cartoon Network in the '90s (and the 2000s, and the 2010s, but that's beside the point), and I distinctly remember thinking that if there was one thing that could really improve shows like Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory, it would be throwing all the characters together into one big fight against robots, preferably while hanging out at San Diego's Comic-Con International. Fortunately for me, my dreams have once again made reality thanks to Derek Charm's variant cover for IDW's upcoming Cartoon Network crossover, Super Secret Crisis War! Not only will the series tell the tale of a crossover between the shows' heroes and villlains written by Charm and legendary writer Louise Simonson with art by Charm, but there's a SDCC variant cover featuring characters from the shows engaging in that most time-honored Comic-Con tradition: Cosplay! Check out an exclusive preview below.

Writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson's House of Secrets #92 is historic for serving as the 1971 debut of of Swamp Thing, but it's also famous for featuring Louise Simonson as a model. Since then Simonson has had a storied career in comics, working as an editor at Warren Publishing in the '70s and Marvel Comics in the early '80s before shifting into a full time writing career across scores o

Writer Louise Simonson and artist Derek Charm's six-issue Super Secret Crisis War! is set to bring Cartoon Network stars from from Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, and Ed, Edd and Eddy together in story this June, but Troy Little will be stacking the crew on his alternate covers for the series -- interlocking covers, to be exact. Unlike some of the more landscape-ori

When the evil Aku, Vilgax, Mandark and Mojo Jojo join forces in an axis of awfulness, their respective nemeses are going to have to team up to stop them, right? That's the idea behind IDW's new series Super Secret Crisis War, which brings together Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory; Samurai Jack; The Powerpuff Girls; Ben 10, and Ed, Edd and Eddy to form a super-team of characters with different skill

Released around this time last year, the first hardcover collection of Rocketeer Adventures anthology quickly shot to the top of my list of 2011's best looking comic books. Created by the late Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer offers creators a platter of uncommon beauties with which to work --the gorgeous pre-war period and associated Americana, the masterful Rocketeer character design, and the stunnin

On sale this week from IDW Publishing is Rocketeer Adventures (vol 2) #4, concluding another all-star anthology miniseries of short-form comics starring The Rocketeer Cliff Secord and his girlfriend Betty. Created by the late Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer offers creators a platter of uncommon beauties with which to work --the gorgeous pre-war period and associated Americana, the masterful Rocketeer

While DC's upcoming Flashpoint event is poised play out across an altered present, the publisher's also got plans to pay tribute to the past this July through August. This afternoon during the DC Nation Live panel at WonderCon, DC Entertainment co-publisher Dan DiDio announced Retro-Active, a wave of one-shots that will pay homage to the spirit of the Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern,