Robert Kirkman's Blog, page 26

This Week’s Comics: Slots #6

Hey there, Skybounders! We’ve got one comic for you this week but it’s a big one! This week we have the final issue of SLOTS! SLOTS #6 sees the conclusion of Dan Panoisian’s epic series. Does Stanley Dance have enough luck to make everything right again? You’ll have to read and find out.

Check out a three page preview below. Make sure to grab SLOTS #6 at your local comic shop this Wednesday and have a great week everyone!

SLOTS #6

STORY/ART/COVER: DAN PANOSIAN

MARCH 14

32 PAGES | Full Color | Mature | $3.99

END OF ARC

Les and Lucy, Mercy and Tess… now that everyone’s put their cards of the table, Stanley Dance has the fight of his career ahead of him. The odds are against him? Hell, he wouldn’t want it any other way.

    

The post This Week’s Comics: Slots #6 appeared first on Skybound.

The Best Superhero Comic In The Universe

When I was a kid, everything in superhero comics felt like the end of the world. Whether it was a massive fight, a character death or the Earth actually being destroyed, I’d finish a comic and be thrown completely for a loop. Staggered, stunned and shaken, I’d reassess everything I read just to make sure this apocalypse truly happened.

“That’s it,” I’d think to myself afterwards. “Nothing will ever be the same.”

That’s what great superhero comics were all about to me. But as you get older, it’s not quite the same. You might still enjoy superhero comics, but you start to recognize the tricks they play and the formulas they follow. There’s an appreciation there, but as you age, cynicism joins it, changing the way you engage with that type of comic even as you continue to read them.

Eventually you realize, in a weird way, you’re chasing the feeling you had when you were a kid. That feeling of everything being an event; of earth-shattering changes to the status quo; of knowing with every fiber in your body that nothing will ever be the same. It’s an eternal pursuit for comic fans, and one that can be hard to fulfill.

 

I found that feeling once again with Invincible #11.

 

Early on, co-creators Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker established the book as a good one, and it was something line artist Ryan Ottley (as well as colorist Cliff Rathburn and letterer Rus Wooton) helped build in those initial arcs as well. Invincible lived up quite well to the text it displayed above the title: “Girls, acne, homework, super-villains. When you’re a teenager, it helps to be INVINCIBLE.” It wasn’t just a cute thing the book did; it was a mission statement of sorts.

Invincible was a fun comic about a young man named Mark Grayson who had to balance his life as a high school senior with newfound superpowers. It helped a ton that his dad was, secretly, the world’s greatest superhero and that his mom was almost remarkably casual about what that kind of life entailed, but still, there were complications as there always were for heroes.

It was exactly what many comic fans have been conditioned to want out of our superhero comics. If it weren’t for the “i” on the corner of each cover, you might have guessed that Invincible was a Marvel comic even. Mark was every bit the Marvel Comics hero archetype. Sure, he had superpowers, but he also had relatable problems – a.k.a. the aforementioned girls, acne and homework. We didn’t see a god, we saw ourselves if our lives had turned out a little differently. It was a pitch perfect example of what made superheroes so special, and it established Grayson as a quintessential iteration of that character type.

And that was great. That’s a wonderful thing to be as a comic. Initially, I enjoyed Invincible for the comfortable experience it offered. It was something familiar that was done incredibly well by a creative team at the top of its game. If it was just that, I’d have been happy with the comic.

 

But then Invincible #11 came and ruined everything.

 

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of what happened. Up until that issue, we thought Mark’s dad Nolan – the aforementioned greatest superhero in the world, Omni-Man – was an alien from a benevolent, peaceful planet. Those origins were where both his powers and Mark’s came from. While we knew there was a darker side to Nolan, as he had brutally murdered the super team the Guardians of the Globe in issue #8, we didn’t know the reason for that. We just knew he did it. But in issue #11, we discover that his people weren’t peacekeepers; they were conquerors, and Nolan wanted Mark to join him in taking over the Earth. Join or die, his father effectively tells him.

Naturally as a hero, Mark goes with option C: stop his dad, change his mind and save the day. What transpires is an absolutely brutal beating – as potently depicted by Ottley and Crabtree in issue #12 – that ends with Omni-Man leaving the planet and his broken and bloodied son left cratered into the Earth. It was savage, shocking and ended with the status quo forever changed. In short, nothing would ever be the same.

My childhood fervor for superhero comics was reawakened right then and there.

 

That’s Invincible, though.

 

It’s a superhero comic created by people who clearly missed the emotions we had as kids about superhero comics as much I did, so they set out to make a comic built to bring those feelings back to us. But how did they accomplish that when so many before them struggled? I mean, superhero comics were still good elsewhere, but you appreciated them for their storytelling and craft, and not necessarily because of how they could reignite the feelings of our youth. How did Kirkman, Ottley and the rest manage to succeed not just with the Omni-Man fight, but Robot’s heel turn, the Conquest battle, The Viltrumite War, and so many other moments?

Part of it was how Invincible dispensed with an old Marvel staple that is one of the governing ideas behind most superhero storytelling. Stan Lee called it “the illusion of change,” or the idea that no matter what happens to our heroes and their world, everything would return to its status quo eventually. Superheroes are, after all, a place of comfort for us as readers, and this idea helped ensure we’d get back to where we all began eventually.

Unlike most superhero comics, though, Invincible was one filled with change. And the most impressive way this attribute manifests itself, though, isn’t in the shocking bits of destruction – of which there are many in Invincible, on a scale few comics can compare to – but in how this change is reflected in the interpersonal moments. Look at the titular hero for a perfect example. When we first meet Mark, he’s a high school senior who is single and working in a burger joint. By the final issue, he’s married, has children and is even the king of the alien race he barely knew anything about when we first met him. He actually grew with us, a true rarity in the genre.

It isn’t just the lead character who goes through that, though. Every character has an arc, from Mark’s parents Nolan and Debbie to supporting characters like Allen the Alien and The Mauler Twins. By allowing for not just change, but growth, we’re given a superhero comic that is capable of surprising us if only because we truly never know where it’s going to go.

Naturally, we have the stellar creative team to thank – or blame, depending on your perspective on some story beats – for all of this as well. Let’s start with the book’s constant. If I could come up with an analog for Robert Kirkman outside of comics, it’d probably be George R. R. Martin, if only because they’re both so adept at delivering story beats no one could see coming (the Omni-Man fight is Invincible’s answer to Ned Stark’s death, of course). But like Martin, Kirkman is also gifted at creating characters we love and want to follow to the bitter end, all while creating a fully realized world we love to visit. While The Walking Dead is obviously a giant accomplishment, for me, Invincible is Kirkman at his absolute finest, showcasing the wonder he can deliver that so few others can match.

 

 

It helps that the book has had one of the most astonishingly gifted art teams we’ve seen this century on any superhero comic.

 

From Rus Wooton (and Kirkman himself!) on letters and Cliff Rathburn’s inks and greyscales to the coloring of Bill Crabtree, FCO Plasencia, John Rauch and Nathan Fairbairn, this is a book where every facet has been exceptional from day one. But I have to focus on line artists Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley in particular, if only because of what they represented.

From day one, Invincible looked the part as a superhero book we could and should love because of Walker’s ability as not just an artist, but as a designer. Walker and his costume design for characters like Invincible, Omni-Man, Atom Eve, Robot and beyond paid dividends long after he departed from the book. He defined the look of this book, and every time he returned to the title, he reminded us what we’d been missing since he’d left by perfectly depicting some of Invincible’s most memorable moments.

And if Walker defined the look of this book, then Ottley was the one who elevated it into the stratosphere – which is incredible given where he came from. When he joined the title, Ottley was a relative unknown. By the time the book came to its end, he was on the shortlist for the greatest superhero artists in comics today. The growth you can see in his work over the life of the book is staggering. And Ottley was almost as constant of a presence as Kirkman. Maybe the most underrated part about the series is that in an era defined by rotating art teams, Ottley was the artist on 127 of Invincible’s 144 issues.

And those 127 issues are filled with exceptional moments from Ottley throughout. I’m not just talking about the fights where it feels like you can feel the punches being exchanged between characters like Thragg and Battle Beast, either. Sure, Ottley can deliver beats like Mark literally punching through a planet better than just about anyone, but his abilities with character acting in quiet moments are underrated and essential to readers loving this book as much as we did. Without Ottley’s eye for detail and character work, the heart of the book – its atypical growth and penchant for change – might not have connected as much as it did.

One of my favorite random parts about Invincible as a series were those little bits of text above the title each issue I mentioned earlier. While it started with the “Girls, acne, etc.” line, the most regularly appearing line was some variation of this phrase declaring with tongue-in-cheek braggadocio that Invincible was, “The best superhero comic in the universe.”

Initially, I found it to be this little charming thing the book did. It both existed as a throwback to superhero comics of yesteryear, like Fantastic Four being declared “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” on each cover, and as a bit of bravado from an upstart superhero comic that wasn’t from one of the two houses most known for them. I liked it. It was fun.

 

 

But the funny thing about it was, after a while, it stopped being bravado and just became the truth. While other titles over its run might have been better for a time, Invincible was the rare superhero comic in an era of reboots and rebirths that was a singular narrative, and one that was consistently great throughout.

 

Weirdly, they spent so long telling us what Invincible was that eventually it just became that:

the best superhero comic in the universe.

 

 

Ultimately, over the 15 years and 144 issues of its run, Invincible perfectly captured everything I loved about superhero comics to begin with. That’s a magical thing. And now it’s over. But that’s okay.

 

Sure, nothing will ever be the same.

 

But as Invincible reminded me, sometimes that can be a good thing.

– David Harper

 

For more on Invincible check out:

Skybound Looks Back At Invincible

Fans Favorite Invincible Moments

Exclusively for Insiders:

 

Phil Lamarr Fan Casts the Animated Invincible of his Dreams!

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FOC for March 12th

Hey there, retailers! We’ve got a new issue of THE WALKING DEAD on FOC for you this week. It also comes with another of our 15th anniversary TWD Bill Sienkiewicz variant covers so don’t miss ordering up on that. As always, let us know if there’s anything we can help you with. Have a great week!

THE WALKING DEAD #178 [FEB180713] [Cover B: DEC178343]

  

STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN

ART: CHARLIE ADLARD, STEFANO GAUDIANO & CLIFF RATHBURN

COVER: CHARLIE ADLARD & DAVE STEWART

APRIL 4

32 PAGES | Black & White | Mature | $3.99

NEW WORLD ORDER PART 4 OF 6

Princess unleashed-It’s possible Princess doesn’t quite fit in at the commonwealth.

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Annalisa Leoni – The Colorist of Oblivion Song!

The time has come! Oblivion Song is now available in stores and on comixology!!! To further our deep dive into the new book, we’re following up last week’s interview with artist and co-creator Lorenzo De Felici with a chat with Annalisa Leoni, the colorist of Oblivion Song! Not only are Annalisa and Lorenzo creative partners on the book, but they also happen to be dating and it’s just the gosh darn sweetest thing we’ve ever seen.

Annalisa has held many artistic duties since 2008, filling various roles such as: character designer, storyboard artist, and environment artist for many projects. Afterwards, she worked as an illustrator on her publication Frankenstein – The Modern Prometheus. It wasn’t until 2010 that she started working as a freelance comic book colorist for multiple French, Italian, and American publications.

She even worked on the Monster University graphic novel for Pixar!

She would continue her endeavors in the world of comics as a collaboration with Sergio Bonelli Editore on Orfani, Dylan Dog, a Dylan Dog coloring book, and 4Hoods (digital painter). In 2015, Annalisa entered the Skybound fold starting her work as colorist on Oblivion Song! And the rest is history… or will be history as Annalisa is just getting started sharing her beautiful colors and art with the world through comic books! Check out our interview with Annalisa Leoni (conducted entirely in Italian) below! Enjoy!

Check out more of our interviews below!

Lorenzo De Felici (Co-Creator & Artist of Oblivion Song): https://www.skybound.com/lorenzo-de-felici

Pollyanna McIntosh (Actress playing Jadis, AMC’s The Walking Dead): https://www.skybound.com/pollyanna-mcintosh/

Matt Wilson (Colorist, Paper Girls): https://www.skybound.com/matt-wilson

Go pick up Oblivion Song, Issue #1 at your local comic book shop and on Comixology today!

Thanks for watching!

The post Annalisa Leoni – The Colorist of Oblivion Song! appeared first on Skybound.

This Week’s Comics: Extremity #12, Oblivion Song #1, The Walking Dead #177 & Vol 29!

Hey there, folks! We’re back from ECCC and we’ve got a butt load of comics for you. You’ve waited patiently for it and now, OBLIVION SONG #1 is finally here! You can pick up the first issue of Robert Kirkman’s new epic at your local comic shop today and get in on the ground floor. Also in this week’s comics you’ll find the final issue of EXTREMITY. We apologize in advance when issue #12 breaks your heart. Finally we’ve got a double dose of THE WALKING DEAD. Pick up issue #177 and, for those of you who aren’t caught up, grab volume 29!

Whew, that’s a lot! What are you doing waiting? Head over to your local comic shop or comixology and stock up!!

OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #1

STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN

ART: LORENZO DE FELICI & ANNALISA LEONI

COVER: LORENZO DE FELICI

MARCH 7

40 PAGES | Full Color | Teen+ | $3.99

NEW SERIES

A decade ago, 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them but after many years they gave up. Nathan Cole… won’t. He makes daily trips, risking his life to try and rescue those still living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion. But maybe… Nathan is looking for something else? Why can’t he resist the siren call of the Oblivion Song?

OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #1 – COLLECTOR’S EDITION

    

MARCH 7

$200.00

This collector’s edition of the DEBUT issue of OBLIVION SONG #1 features an exclusive limited-edition variant cover by Lorenzo De Felici! It comes with a STATUE based on the cover to OBLIVION SONG #1, an exclusive print and a collector’s pin. These items will ONLY be available in this limited-edition set.

EXTREMITY #12

STORY/ART/COVER: DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON

COLOR: MIKE SPICER

MARCH 7

40 PAGES | Full Color | Teen+ | $3.99

END OF SERIES

In this extra-sized finale, the Paznina and Roto go to war with Thea caught in the middle. But in war, there are no winners…

THE WALKING DEAD #177

STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN

ART: CHARLIE ADLARD, STEFANO GAUDIANO & CLIFF RATHBURN

COVER: CHARLIE ADLARD & DAVE STEWART

MARCH 7

32 PAGES | Black & White | Mature | $3.99

NEW WORLD ORDER PART 3 OF 6

Meet Officer Mercer.

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 29

STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN

ART: CHARLIE ADLARD, STEFANO GAUDIANO & CLIFF RATHBURN

COVER: CHARLIE ADLARD & DAVE STEWART

MARCH 7

132 PAGES | Black & White | Mature | $16.99

Recent events have thrown Alexandria into turmoil, and now Rick, Dwight, Eugene and Negan all have something to prove.

Collects THE WALKING DEAD #169-174.

The post This Week’s Comics: Extremity #12, Oblivion Song #1, The Walking Dead #177 & Vol 29! appeared first on Skybound.

Lorenzo De Felici – The Artist of Oblivion Song!

The biggest book of the year is about to drop in your lap! Oblivion Song, Robert Kirkman’s newest creative endeavor in comics, is being visually driven by artist Lorenzo De Felici. The Drakka and Dylan Dog alumn has entered the world of American comics.

And BOY, are we thrilled about it.

Lorenzo’s art is unique in the best way possible. Within one issue, he’s already solidified an art style that will capture more and more readers for many issues to come. But Lorenzo has been working towards this opportunity for a long time.

Dive into the our full interview with Lorenzo below! We met up with him in New York and chatted about his career and the big book that lies ahead. And if you haven’t seen his artwork before, go check out his previous books! He’s got plenty of work on DeviantArt as well for you to check out!

If you haven’t already, go check out the episode of The Skybound Insider!

And make sure to follow Lorenzo on the social webs!

DeviantArt: https://dietrock.deviantart.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorenzo.defelici

Go watch our recent episodes!

Pollyanna McIntosh (Actress playing Jadis, AMC’s The Walking Dead): https://www.skybound.com/pollyanna-mcintosh/

Matt Wilson (Colorist, Paper Girls): https://www.skybound.com/matt-wilson

Stefano Gaudiano (Inker, The Walking Dead) & Tony Akins (Inker, Manifest Destiny) on The Job of an Inker!: https://www.skybound.com/comic-book-inking

Next week, we’ll be sitting down with his partner in life, as well as in comics – Annalisa Leone, the colorist of Oblivion Song! Tune in next Thursday.

Go pick up Oblivion Song, Issue #1 at your local comic book shop and on Comixology next Wednesday, March 7th!

Thanks for watching!

The post Lorenzo De Felici – The Artist of Oblivion Song! appeared first on Skybound.

This Week’s Comics: Gasolina #6 & Redneck #10

Hey there, Skybounders! We’re on our way to Emerald City Comic Con for the week but we wanted to make sure you all knew about the awesome new books we’ve got headed your way Wednesday. We’ve got the last issue of GASOLINA’s first arc as well as the next chapter in the saga of the Bowmans in REDNECK. Make sure to pick up both issues wherever fine comics are sold! Have a great week everyone and hopefully we’ll see some of you in Seattle!

GASOLINA #6

STORY: SEAN MACKIEWICZ

ART: NIKO WALTER & MAT LOPES

FEBRUARY 28

32 PAGES | Full Color | Mature | $3.99

END OF ARC

Detective Arguello has seen enough horrors over the course of a career to make his soul sick. But investigating the monsters of Los Queridos will push him past his breaking point…

    

REDNECK #10

STORY: DONNY CATES

ART: LISANDRO ESTHERREN & DEE CUNNIFFE

COVER: NICK PITARRA

FEBRUARY 28

32 PAGES | Full Color | Mature | $3.99

With the Bowman clan otherwise occupied, their human familiars Phil and Evil take the wheel, fighting federal agents and vampires alike, all in the name of family.

The post This Week’s Comics: Gasolina #6 & Redneck #10 appeared first on Skybound.

FOC for February 26th

Good morning, retailers! Very glad we got to chat with some of you at ComicsPro this past weekend. Looking forward to seeing more of you at Emerald City Comic Con this week (If you didn’t get an invite from us to our retailer meet up and you’ll be at ECCC, shoot an email to sjacka@skybound.com). We’ve got EVOLUTION and OUTCAST for you this week so go ahead and order up on those! As always, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help you. Have a great week!

EVOLUTION #5 [JAN180741]

STORY: JAMES ASMUS, JOE KEATINGE, CHRIS SEBELA & JOSHUA WILLIAMSON

ART/COVER: JOE INFURNARI & JORDAN BOYD

MARCH 21

32 PAGES | Full Color | Mature | $3.99

Dr. Hurley decides to take matters into his own hands, while Hannah finds shocking evidence of evolution’s work at hand—or is it God’s?

OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #34 [DEC170731]

STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN

ART/COVER: PAUL AZACETA & ELIZABETH BREITWEISER

FEBRUARY 28

32 PAGES | Full Color | Mature | $3.99

INVASION PART 3 OF 5

A community is built. Preparations are made. But will it be enough?

The post FOC for February 26th appeared first on Skybound.

Pollyanna McIntosh on Acting, Directing, and Her First Jobs!

Pollyanna McIntosh is one of the sweetest actors you’ll ever meet in person. However, she lives for the art of filmmaking, and it has shown in her resumé of work thus far.

You might know her as the leader of all trash – Jadis – in AMC’s The Walking Dead. Her character does not stem from our source material in the comic books, but she has brought a breath of life and unique, quirky personality into a character that was built from scratch. She has, though, had plenty of practice to get here.

And she’s making her opportunity count.

In our interview below, Pollyana tells our good friend Ti about how films like Filth and The Woman helped her get her start in The United States after working across seas in London. She’s even currently working on a film she wrote and directed… but no details yet! Nosey viewers…

She’s an inspiring female creator and artist who has some excellent knowledge to share with ya’ll! She even answered some fan questions, so check it out and see if yours made the cut!

Go watch the episode of The Skybound Insider on our Youtube channel, along with our recent episodes with comic book creators Matt Wilson, Greg Rucka and more! – https://goo.gl/C7ci39

Follow Pollyanna!

Tweeters – @PollyAMcIntosh

Instagreems – @pollyannamcintosh

Check back in every Thursday for a new interview with another artist and creator! Next up are Lorenzo De Felici and Annalisa Leone, the artist and colorist of Robert Kirkman’s newest book – Oblivion Song. Thanks for tuning in folks!

The post Pollyanna McIntosh on Acting, Directing, and Her First Jobs! appeared first on Skybound.

Skybound at Emerald City Comic Con 2018!

It’s time for our first BIG con of the season! Emerald City Comic Con 2018 is just a week away and we’re here to let you know where to find the fabulous folks at Skybound and what you need to be saving your hard earned pennies to buy. You’ll be able to find our smiling faces at ECCC booth #316 with our buds at Image Comics and Skybound Games will be at booth #815.

Now on to the fun stuff. Below we’ve got previews of the two new items we’ll be debuting at the show: Atom Eve and Lying Cat! We’ve also got our signing schedule featuring talent from GASOLINA, EVOLUTION, THE WALKING DEAD and MANIFEST DESTINY. Check it all out below and let us know what you’re most excited for! We’ll see you folks in Seattle!

DEBUTS

Atom Eve Action Figure – $25

  

From INVINCIBLE, comes one of the most iconic female superheroes of all time, Atom Eve! Now you can add this atom-manipulating 5″ figure to your Macfarlane Toys INVINCIBLE collection. Available in two versions, clean and bloody battle version.

Lying Cat Glow in the Dark Pop (Skybound Exclusive) – $15

From Brian K. Vaughan’s and Fiona Staples’ epic series SAGA, Lying Cat makes her long awaited debut with the Pop! Family. This Skybound Exclusive variant figure created by Funko glows in the dark!

Also, don’t forget to head over to the Funko booth to get their ECCC exclusive Mourning Prince Robot IV figure!

SIGNINGS

Thursday 3/1:

11:00am-11:45am – Tony Akins

2:00pm-2:45pm – Stefano Gaudiano

Friday 3/2:

12:00pm-12:45pm – Joseph Keatinge, James Asmus & Christopher Sebela

2:00pm-2:45pm – Lukas Ketner

3:00pm-3:45pm – Sean Mackiewicz

Saturday 3/3:

3:00pm-3:45pm – Joseph Keatinge, James Asmus & Christopher Sebela

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