Bill Sienkiewicz

Ever since it first launched, IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series has been too big for a single ongoing title. In what has to be one of the most impressive editorial feats of the past few years, the massive story that was being told over the course of the series was spread throughout multiple titles, weaving through the main title and then splitting off to books like the one-shot Micro-Series or minis like Casey and April - and as astounding as it was that it all held together, I'll admit that as a reader, it was a little bit of a pain to flip back and forth through at least two collections while trying to figure out a reading order. It seems like they're going ahead and putting everything into one official second ongoing series: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe, which kicks off in August with an issue that features Kevin Eastman and Bill Sienkiewicz teaming up for a brand-new backup story.

The weekend is here! Put down your paperwork, throw your stationery out of the window, and do a victory spin in your office chair, because it’s time to catch up on that greatest of all media: comics! What’s been going on this week? There’s so much comics that there’s no way anybody can keep up with all of it — so Weekender is here to catch you up on some of the stories you may have missed, and some of the best writing about comics from the past few days.

For a character who's been on superhero teams since the '40s, the Spectre sure does tend to cause a whole lot of trouble. I mean, sure, sometimes it's the harmless fun of turning criminals into candles and burning them until the wax melts into a pool of eternal torment, but every now and then, the embodiment of the Wrath of God can go a little too far. Which, you know, is probably something someone should've told the Midnight Shift of the Gotham City Police Department. Alas, the message seems to have gotten to them too late. When Gotham By Midnight #10 by Ray Fawkes and Juan Ferreyra hits stores next Wednesday, Detective Corrigan is going to have a whole lot of trouble keeping his more wrathful half under wraps. Check out a preview below!

The week’s over! And with it we reach the final days of September --- which you've all done a dazzling job with, by all accounts. But while you’ve been off working and living and doing all those things that humans do, what have you missed in the world of comics? With Weekender, ComicsAlliance is here to give you a heads-up on some of the stories that you might have overlooked, and to showcase some great writing on comics for you to enjoy over buttery crumpets this weekend.

Created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff, Poison Ivy first graced the comic page back in the historic year of 1966, when The Sound of Music won Best Picture and England somehow won the World Cup. Her first appearance was in Detective Comics #181, and since then the character has remained a constant thorn in the Dark Knight's side.

Bill Sienkiewicz is one of the unquestioned greats of the comic medium, a creator who, over his long and stories career, has constantly pushed the limits of sequential art, blending media, blurring boundaries between seemingly disparate techniques, and creating work that's endlessly innovative and instantly identifiable. And his work hasn't been limited to comics – he's painted cover art for best-selling albums, created animation design, illustrated trading cards, and co-created picture books. Now he's contributed to a multi-media "post-digital" project entitled H8 Society: How An Atomic Fart Saved The World that combines his visuals with an original sci-fi/comedy ebook by the postmodern duo known as 2Dans. The project also includes a collection of 26 original songs from independent musical artists. It's an ambitiously unorthodox enterprise, and on the eve of its release, we got the chance to sit with Bill and discuss his contribution to the project, his stylistic choices, the balance of artistry and reality, and all manner of other things.

Created in 1964 by Bill Everett and Stan Lee --- with substantial input from Jack Kirby and Wally Wood --- Daredevil has been brought to life on the page by an extraordinary roster of comics greats, including Gene Colan, David Mazzucchelli, Frank Miller, Alex Maleev, and, in recent years, Chris Samnee, Paolo Rivera, and Marcos Martin. The striking red suit that he's worn since his seventh appearance is one of the best costumes in comics, and creates an irresistible contrast against the grime of Hell's Kitchen. For this special gallery, we've picked out some of our favorite Daredevil pin-ups and images to pay tribute to ol' hornhead.

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, 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.