Groo the Wanderer vs Conan the Barbarian? Yup, Dark Horse Comics Is Making That Happen!!!

Dark Horse Comics always seems to find a way to appeal to the comic fan in me by giving me things I have always wanted yet felt I could never get. That is why they are firmly my #1 favorite Indy comic company behind the Big 2. Yet just when I don't think they can ever give me more of a shock with an announcement, they find a way to get me once again. Groo the Wanderer is one of the best titles ever created... Sergio Aragones draws the big guy, and Mark Evanier collaborates with Aragones on the scripts. They had a 120 issue run back in the day on Marvel's Epic Comics line... yup, that is a 10 year project! And it was so great. They have also had the character published by Image, Dark Horse, Pacific, Eclipse, and many other comic companies. Groo, the hapless barbarian, wanders the known world looking for a way to use his superior swordsman skills but unwittingly causing death and destruction to his surroundings. One of the reasons I love him so much is because he reminds me of Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther movies. He gets good results, but his methods are downright ridiculous and mayhem usually follows where ever he goes. The character is hysterical in every aspect of his being, like him using a katana blade sword instead of a barbarian type sword. Aragones & Evanier have consistently put forth amazing creator owned character and his adventures are so much fun. Way back in 2005 Evanier & Aragones teased a Conan/Groo crossover and said Dark Horse was going to make it happen, and over the years fans such as myself have waited patiently. And now the wait is over!!! The 4 issue mini series will kick off on July 23rd, followed by a 12 issue mini series called Groo: Friends and Foes. In an interesting twist, artist Tom Yeates will draw Conan whenever he appears, with Aragones handling all the rest of the art. All of this was confirmed way back at Wondercon, and I popped into my local mom and pop comic shop the other day and they said the 1st issue is scheduled for 7/23 on time. You can pre-order the first three issues by clicking here. Check out a cool logo, as well as some interior pieces of art from the upcoming comic...

Hellboy Turn 20, Gets Some Awesome Fan Art Creations Courtesy Of Multiversity Comics

Hellboy is one of my favorite characters and could possibly be one of the most popular characters in the history of independent (not DC & Marvel) comics. Big Red is easily recognized not only from his adventures on the pages of Dark Horse Comics (courtesy of the great Mike Mignola, but also from the two films based on his comics by famed filmmaker Guillermo del Torro. The two movies made booku bucks and have lead to Red being more popular then ever. So it is no surprise that our old buddy is getting the full fledged bday barrage from not only DH Comics but tons of other outlets that spotlight comics as well. But few have gone just as far as Multiversity Comics in honoring the comic. Multiversity had over 80 professional artists do their best Hellboy pieces in honor of the 20th anniversary. They were posted daily through the Month of March, all leading to the grand celebration in April. The work that resulted is amazing, as each artist uses their unique styling to create vastly different yet familiar versions of the bug guy. Most DO NOT really look much like Mignola's original art, but they all feature some unique aspects put forth by Mignola through the years. At the end of the month Multiversity made a huge roundup of all the posts (over 80... wow) in one page, which makes for some really cool viewing and makes it a lot easier to compare and contrast all the pieces. You can find that full post by clicking here, and you can see my personal faves after the jump. There are many great pieces, so make sure you visit the above link to see 'em all. Happy bday Big Red... 20 years down, many more to go!!!

Is 'Beasts Of Burden' Finally On Its Way To The Big Screen?

 

Independent comic companies are a plentiful bunch, but there are a few of the so called 'smaller' companies that are putting out tons of great material to compete with Marvel & DC. Image is riding high with The Walking Dead, which helps fund a plethora of their other creator owned books. Dark Horse is the other major player in the second wave of comic publishers. They have a monster property in Hellboy, and they use that main character to drive most of the titles they offer. Due to Hellboy's horror/supernatural influences, Dark Horse tends to dabble into this area more often then not. One of the cooler titles that they have come out with is 'Beasts of Burden, which is a title that appeared in a bunch of 'Dark Horse Presents...' collections and a mini series of its very own, as well as a cross over one shot with Hellboy. The base of the story is a group of five dogs and a cat who investigate paranormal activity in the town of Burden Hill. The book is extremely well written by Evan Dorkin and drawn by Jill Thompson, and it is a lot of fun. Now it is possibly getting the big screen treatment from Shane Acker, the director of the the underrated CGI/animated movie '9'...

Check out more from the official press release after the jump...

Commercially Acclaimed: Vol.#20 - Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley For Nike

TV commercials are a part of our everyday lives as TV viewers. Even though Tivo and DVR have allowed us to "skip through" the commercials, the advertising companies are still trying to peak our interests by coming up with creative commercials. To me, great commercials are an art form and are under appreciated by a society that is always trying to speed through things. Think about it... how many times did you see a great commercial that made you laugh hysterically or want to go out and purchase the advertised product??? And how many times has the best part of the Super Bowl been the commercials during a blow out game??? Whether you want to admit it or not, commercials are cool as shit... and here are some of my favorites.


This week we got a vintage spot from Nike that pitted down low nightmare Charles Barkley 1 on 1 against the Tokyo Destroyer himself, Godzilla. This is from the classic era of Nike commercials (face it, they have some of the absolute BEST tv spots ever), and Barkley is great as the good guy who isn't afraid to get dirty. You gotta love the sports glasses that Godzilla pops on right before they start playing (in purple for Barkley's Phoenix Suns!!!). The effects were actually done by George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic, which makes them automatically awesome.

***Bonus***

This was right around the time Nike began to embrace Barkley as the "anti-Jordan", the bad guy you could root for in contrast to Jordan's perfectly good guy. They even crossed over with Dark Horse comics to do a one shot featuring Barkley balling with the beast. How many atheletes can say that they starred in their own comic, and got to beat up on Godzilla? Here is the cover and some panel art. Enjoy!!!

I need this in my comic collection asap!!!

Barkley taking a shot at fellow Nike colleague Jordan and The Bulls

Holy Early 90's Euphamisms Batman!!!

Godzilla is definitely a Jordan Brand guy... lol