Recently, the subject of rotating art teams in superhero comics reached a tipping point, and people have started to wonder if the concept does more harm than good in the long run. With double-shipping in superhero comics becoming more prevalent and artists’ contributions are becoming seen as interchangeable, it’s important to stop and ask: Are rotating artistic creative teams good for comics in the long-run, or does it start us down a path of recognizing the writer’s contributions as inherently more important to the finished product?
Over the past few years, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti have carved out their own little corner of the DC Universe and filled it with some of its weirdest antics and strangest characters. The writing team has been responsible for shepherding Harley Quinn through her most popular years in pop culture, and will soon take on the duties of re-inventing The Jetsons for a modern age.
ComicsAlliance caught up with the team, who are also a married couple, to talk about their approach to Harley, their luck with artistic collaborators, and translating millennial fears to a hopeful post-apocalypse.
Creativity abounds at Toy Fair every year, but you can always count on Square Enix to show up with some of the most clever and inspired action figures. Though they might not have the volume output of some of the larger companies at the show, Square Enix certainly brings the quality. This year was no exception with a couple of great new Marvel Variants planned, as well as even more Tetsuya Nomura DC Comics designs.
Before we all left to enjoy the weekend, DC Collectibles spoiled us with a number of preview images of its numerous Toy Fair reveals. Seeing new Justice League statues, DC Icons figures and more Batman: The Animated Series collectibles was great, but there's nothing like seeing them in person to really get the full effect. We soaked all the details in when we visited with DC Collectibles, and this year and beyond look to carry the momentum built up during the later half of 2016.
The Lego Batman toy line has been going strong for over a decade now, but with this week's release of the Lego Batman Movie, we've seen a truly unprecedented explosion of merchandise based around the Caped Crusader's blockiest incarnation. And with that many figures, going from the Dark Knight himself all the way down to super obscure deep cuts like the Mime and March Harriet, our course here at ComicsAlliance is clear.
We need to rank them.
So today, we've dug through every single Lego Batman Movie minifig (and eliminated simple variations like "Batman with a slightly different face") to rank them all, worst to best.
Jimmy Palmiotti knows the comics industry. I don't just mean that he knows how it operates, although his thirty-year career has proved that to be the case; Jimmy Palmiotti literally knows everybody in the comics industry, having started out as a freelance inker working with people like Gene Colan before turning his hand to writing and publishing.
Palmiotti has been at the heart of the industry throughout his career as part of the New York comics scene, and his work has pushed publishers to be more bold and creative. We spoke to him about five of his career milestones.
I don't want to blow anyone's mind here, but I have the sneaking suspicion that the Joker who's been hanging around in the pages of Harley Quinn for the past few issues claiming that he's changed and wants to apologize to her for years of abuse isn't quite what he seems.
Regardless, he's been trying to get some facetime with Harley for the last three issues, and in next week's Harley Quinn #13 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and John Timms, he's finally going to get a little more than he bargained for. Check out a preview below!