Todd Klein's Blog, page 142

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERNS #48

Image © DC Entertainment. Written By Aaron Gillespie, art by Ronan Cliquet, colors by Hi-Fi, letters by Dave Sharpe.

New storyline, new writer (at least to me). Jessica Cruz suddenly “wakes up” to find herself on a distant planet at the scene of a fight, one where she wiped out a whole police force. She doesn’t remember any of it. The planet’s local GL is trying to arrest her, and calling in Hal Jordan. Rather than explaining her loss of memory, Jessica talks her way to freedom and then flees, making her look guilty.

I like the setup. It drops us into an intriguing mystery. Jessica’s choice to flee is unlike her, though, and her backstory as written here has her frequently visiting other planets, having a close friend on one. We haven’t seen any of that previously, so unless this is a long jump forward in time, it feels out of character. Otherwise, I’m interested to see where it goes.

Recommended.

Pulled From My Files #90: X-LOGOS

All images © Marvel.

In 1994 I was doing lots of logos for Marvel. It was a boom that would soon be followed by a bust. Here are three X-Men-related ones. I did only one sketch for X-MAN, probably from a suggestion by editor Bob Harras. The design is similar to one I had recently done for X-MEN UNLIMITED, but with telescoping like that on the much earlier design for UNCANNY X-MEN by Jim Steranko.

Harras must have asked me to make the main outlines thicker, as seen here on the final inked logo.

Here it is on the cover of issue #3 looking pretty good, though of course partially covered, as you would expect for such a tall logo.

For WEAPON X I have only two marker sketches, not sure if there were more. Marvel was liking the big X idea, and here I also put their belt-symbol X in the O. Again, a very tall logo.

The second sketch is less tall and emphasizes the X, but is less interesting to me now.

The first sketch was chosen, seemingly without any changes. Here it is on the first issue cover looking pretty good to me.

X-MEN ARCHIVES was meant to be a book featuring a variety ofindividual characters. I thought a name-plate idea for the logo would be a good idea, leaving room for the character logo below, and FEATURING could fit in where it worked best.

I think it was felt X-MEN needed to be larger, so I came up with this design. Note that I planned to space the letters and diamonds in ARCHIVES better when and if I inked it.

The final logo used sketch 4 without the frame. Works okay, I’m not crazy about the color choice. I also lettered that LEGION logo, I’ve already written about it earlier in this series, I think. I’m not sure if I lettered that FEATURING, or if it’s typeset.

More of these when I have time.

Hall of Famers DAVE GIBBONS and KAREN BERGER

Photos © Todd Klein, from 2009 and 2003.

Congratulations to Dave Gibbons and Karen Berger for their Eisner Hall of Fame awards. Friends and colleagues for decades, talented creators and excellent people. Well deserved!

Here’s a link to my article about working with Dave Gibbons in the early days.

And Then I Read: WONDER WOMAN #48

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by James Robinson, art by Jesus Merino, colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr., letters by Saida Temofonte.

So far I found the current Dark Gods storyline short on character development and full of set-up, and looking around online, I see that it is set-up. Writer James Robinson is heading an entire Dark Gods imprint of several titles. Perhaps that explains all the exposition and the heavily plot-driven story. In this issue, several of the Dark Gods are introduced, and I found them merely odd and uninspired. Surely if they are your focal point, they should be intriguing, and threatening, but I thought them rather dull, I’m afraid. Trying for something akin to Kirby’s New Gods or Eternals, but failing, at least for me. I can see that this title is one that is not going to entertain me, and this will be the last one I read for a while.

Not recommended.

Incoming: BATMAN, SEVEN SOLDIERS

Images © DC Entertainment.

A handsome hardcover edition collecting BATMAN  #536-552. Written by Doug Moench, wild and wonderful art by Kelley Jones and John Beatty, colors by Greg Wright, letters by me. It was a great run. It’s amusing to see it touted on the back cover as “one of the best Batman creative teams” considering the hard time we were often given by certain editorial persons who shall remain nameless.

Also just in is an Omnibus Edition of SEVEN SOLDIERS by Grant Morrison and a host of talented artists. I lettered the opening and closing issues with art by J.H. Williams III. More great art by Doug Mahnke, Pasqual Ferry, Cameron Stewart, Simone Bianchi, Freddie Williams and others.

Not sure if these are out yet, but they will be soon!

Watching: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

Image © Marvel. No spoilers.

I did not read a lot of their adventures growing up, except as part of The Avengers, but I always thought the ant and wasp connection was interesting. I heard good things about this film, and it lived up: funny, exciting, action-packed, good characters, interesting ideas. For one thing, the writers thought of many more uses for the shrinking/growing science than I ever imagined. This is a sequel to the film “Ant-Man,” which I haven’t seen.

Paul Rudd as the new Ant-Man looked familiar, but all I could find in his credits that I’ve seen were some “Seinfeld” episodes. He’s under house arrest for crimes committed when helping Captain America (perhaps in a film I haven’t seen). His young daughter visits, and the opening sequence with her is a charming cardboard-cut-out adventure he’s made for her that takes over his house. The original Ant-Man, played by Michael Douglas, is hiding from authorities, using his shrinking power to hide his entire laboratory. With him is his daughter Hope, played by Evangeline Lilly, the new Wasp. They are trying to find a way to rescue the original Wasp, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who has been trapped in the quantum realm for decades. They need the new Ant-Man’s help for that, but he’s only days away from freedom from house arrest.

To say the plot is complex is putting it mildly, but it all worked for me. There are plenty of action sequences, hundreds of uses of the shrinking/growing power, which for Paul Rudd’s character often seems to malfunction, and time is taken for nice character moments too. I liked nearly everything about this film, though I don’t think I could give you a coherent synopsis of the plot. Just go with the flow and have fun.

Oh, one thing. I was pranked into staying to the very end of the credits by some “friends” on Facebook talking about the extra scene there of great importance. It’s not. It’s nothing you haven’t already seen in the film. There is a longer mid-credits scene that looks like a coming attractions for a third film. That one is worth seeing.

Recommended.

 

And Then I Read: HAL JORDAN & THE GL CORPS #45

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by Robert Venditti, art by Ethan Van Sciver, colors by Jason Wright, letters by Dave Sharpe.

The Darkstars are showing up everywhere, taking justice into their own hands, and dealing death to those they feel have committed serious crimes. If a few Green Lanterns get cut down in the crossfire, so be it. On Earth, Hal Jordan is trying to spring Hector Hammond from prison, and facing the super-villain turned prison guard Atomic Skull. Elsewhere, John Stewart is trying to talk reason to Zod (former Phantom Zone criminal) and his family to enlist them in the fight against the Darkstars. And elsewhere again, Guy Gardner is trying to recruit Arkillo and the Sinestro Corps. It all seems rather desperate, and the Darkstar version of justice is even appealing to some on the Lantern side.

Recommended.

Pulled From My Files #89: TRITON, URSULA, HALLOWEEN

This and following three images © Disney.

Today’s post is three logos that were essentially designed in one sketch, approved, inked, and sent in. First we have another Little Mermaid character logo from 1991, similar to the Scuttle design I showed last time. There are a few notes on this sketch about leaving a little more space between the I and the T and correcting the angle on the right leg of the R.

The finished logo for comparison, almost the same except for those two areas.

Another character logo from Little Mermaid, and one that was great fun to design. Who can resist letters made from tentacles for an octopus character? Not Disney, in this case.

Again, the finished logo is almost exactly the same. As I said last time, I don’t know if these were ever used in a comic, I see no solo stories for the characters in the issues of LITTLE MERMAID comics that are indexed on the Grand Comics Database.

This and the following two images © DC Entertainment.

In 1997 I was asked by Mike Heisler of WildStorm to design this scary logo. My obvious inspiration for HALLOWEEN was logo designs by Gaspar Saladino in the 1970s for titles like HOUSE OF MYSTERY and HOUSE OF SECRETS.

The final logo is identical as far as I can tell. I probably auto-traced the marker sketch in Adobe Illustrator, then cleaned up the edges where needed.

Here’s the printed comic.

All these logos were fun and easy to do, not always the case!

More when I have time.

Incoming: A STUDY IN EMERALD by Neil Gaiman and Rafael Albuquerque

Image © Neil Gaiman and Dark Horse Comics.

For many years, Dark Horse has been adapting Neil Gaiman prose works to graphic novel form. I’ve lettered a number of them. This is the latest. I particularly enjoyed the story this is based on, as it combines two literary worlds I like: A. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft’s Elder Gods. If you like either of those, or if you simply want to enjoy the excellent art of Rafael Albuquerque and the words of Neil Gaiman, I recommend this book. It should be available in shops or from Dark Horse now.

And Then I Read: TOUJOURS PROVENCE by Peter Mayle

Cover illustration by Ruth Marten.

Continuing from the very popular “A Year in Provence,” Peter Mayle’s follow up has more delightful adventures of he and his wife living in the south of France. While the first book was more structured, about a chapter a month over a year in which they were renovating the old house they bought and adjusting to French customs and culture, this one is more episodic, but no less entertaining. Some of the adventures are culinary, some involve the friends they’ve made: neighbors, workmen, townsfolk, all of whom are quirky and unusual in one or more ways. There are more encounters with tourists, both British acquaintances who insist on being houseguests and those who merely come to Provence from Paris or elsewhere because it’s the thing to do. There are animal stories, a drought, a dog show, and lots more to keep you laughing, as the author pokes as much fun at himself as he does at those he meets. Another relaxing summer read and recommended.