The Ladies Of DC Comics Take A Trip Back To The 1940s Thanks To Ant Lucia

Ant Lucia is an accomplished artist that has a dope website and very unique style to his pieces. He gets the 'pin up' feel to everything he draws, and the realism in his work is balanced out by the fun nature of the characters poses and surroundings. It is not so serious, which makes all that he does really dope. Case in point: Check out his new series of DC Heroines and Villains with a 1940s feel. These are perfect, and the setting and background that each character is placed into fit wonderfully. And the ladies... well the ladies are looking pretty spectacular themselves. And the coolest part is the website QxM is offering these prints in a huge 18 x 24 format for a mere $ 14.95 !!! That is really cheap considering how big that print is. There are 10 all together, but some are available for purchase now and some are just available for pre-order to be shipped down the road. Either way, you can't go wrong for 15 bucks.... you can click here to check out the specific page on QxM to order Lucia's DC Bombshells, and you can view them all after the jump....

Why?

Why Not? This image of some DC Comics characters comes from the 1970's Sea World stunt show. Awesome!!!!

The DC Reboot: A Long Time Reader's Opinion by James West

Hey everybody. As you may or may not have heard, come September, DC will be “rebooting” it’s continuity. I put that in quotations because it’s not really a reboot, but it’s the generally accepted term to describe what’s happening. Basically, every title is being scaled back to #1 and will be a jumping on point for new readers. They will not be origin stories for the most part, just stories that fill readers in as if they were reading them for the first time. That being said, there is many things being changed, added, and taken away, like any giant event. Here’s my analysis on the Good and the Bad.

The Good

1-    People who have fallen out of reading comics can start back up again without worrying about buying massive amount of books. “You know, I used to read Batman when I was younger, but I fell out of it and haven’t been able to get back into it.” Have no fear, this whole thing is directed towards people like you. Go out and start supporting again!

2-     

          Vertigo characters have been re-introduced into the DCU. Swamp Thing, John Constantine, etc., are all back and interacting with the superheroes on a daily basis. Many Vertigo readers are upset about this, but I have no problem with it. I’m interested to see how these characters are integrated, since I’m not very familiar with them.

3-      Some creative teams kick ass! I’m looking specifically at Kyle Higgins on Nightwing and Grant Morrison on Action Comics. I really look forward to seeing how both of those go.

Well, that’s…about it for the good. Now onto the bad…

The Bad

1-      Good, GOD. Most of the creative teams are terrible. It’s the 90’s all over again. Let me put things in perspective…Rob Liefeld is drawing Hawk and Dove. ROB. LIEFELD. If you don’t know who that is, well, here’s a picture of Captain America he drew:

My, what a great artist. Notice how Cap’s…I actually can’t begin to make fun of this picture. There’s too much. Not to mention, many of DC’s talented writers (Judd Winick, Keith Giffen) are surprisingly lacking in the solicitations…but cheaper writers left over from 1997, like Scott Lobdell, are on like, 6 books. Which brings me to my next problem…

2-      The New Teen Titans book looks like the worst things to disgrace God’s green Earth. Check out these super  rad and x-treme new costumes:

Oh yeah! Check that out! Robin covered in pouches? Check. Kid Flash with a Faux Hawk? Double Check. Wonder Girl being retconned as a “mysterious thief” (what?)? Check.   Superboy looks like his alter ego dances nights at a club in the Village. Oh and check out that awesome tattoo! He’s too badass to have an S on his chest. Totally appealing to the younger demographic. Right? Right?! Oh and we’ll throw in some sort of Witchblade-esque mysterious robot spider girl that looks like shes from Image, some smoke girl thing, and purple guy in the background. I’ll gladly eat my words if this book is good, but I don’t see that happening. (I must say, I don’t really mind Red Robin being able to fly…or his costume that much. If it were to be simplified a bit I think it’d be good.)

3-     

T  There is no costume redesign that is an improvement. Let’s look, shall we.

Booster Gold, before reboot:

Booster Gold, after:

Supergirl, before:

Supergirl, after:

That’s just a small example. The only costume designs that are good are the ones that didn’t change much (Aquaman, Batman, Green Arrow). It looks like they’re trying to change for the sake of change. The problem is, so many things weren’t broke, but DC is still trying to fix them.

4-      Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne are no longer Batman and Robin. Their dynamic was one of the freshest things in comic books in a long time. It was new, it was exciting, it was everything DC is trying to do and failing with this reboot. And they’re getting rid of it. Dick Grayson is also going from having about 4-5 books to having only one: Nightwing.  Le sigh.

5-      Superman’s new costume deserved his own section apart from the rest. What do you think of when you think of Superman? Do you think of something iconic, never changing, a symbol for truth, justice, and the American way? Something like…this?

Well too bad! Nu-Superman is super edgy! Check it out!

Alright alright, I can understand them getting rid of the underoos. Okay, fine, I get that. But what’s up with the books? And the kneepads? And the cybernetic forearms?! Why?!? It’s too complicated. At least George Perez is doing covers.

I could keep going. Basically, my verdict: I can’t say that it’s good or bad until these books come out. But, from what I’ve seen so far…I’m not liking it very much at all. There are some exceptions, but not many.  Click here for the full list of solicitations:

The Comic Pull List: Halloween Edition by James West

Hey kids! On this Comic Book Pull List, I was debating doing Blackest Night or Marvel Zombies…but then I decided that I had already previously reviewed some Blackest Night stuff, and I actually think Marvel Zombies is more depressing than scary. So, I went into my hidden lair (basement), and did some looking around for some good horror/scary comics for you Halloweenies!

MARVEL ZOMBIES vs ARMY OF DARKNESS

Okay, Marvel Zombies is depressing…but Ashley J. Williams killing them is not. The story begins with Ash having died (something from his own comic series that I didn’t read), and waiting in line at the gates of Heaven…but when he turns around, he sees that people in line are currently acting as lunch for a now zombified Sentry. In an attempt to escape, Ash falls into the Marvel Zombies universe…and the sh*t hits the fan from there. Ash’s journey takes him from beating up Daredevil because he thinks he’s a bad guy, to hitting on Scarlet Witch, to accidentally leading to Spider-Man’s infection, to witnessing the version of himself from his world killed (eaten by none other than Howard the Duck), to killing said duck (see above), then going all the way to Latveria to ask for help from none other than Doom himself. Ash thinks the Necronomicon is at work here, and Doom is the one who currently owns it. The mini-series combines the same comedy and horror as Army of Darkness does, and boy is it groovy.

NEAL ADAMS’ MONSTERS

Anyone who’s familiar with comics knows that Neal Adam’s is the MASTER artist. Famous for reinvigorating Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman in the 1970’s along with writer Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams is one of the “big” names in the industry, up there in terms of legendary-ness with Stan Lee, arguably. Adams’ reputation as an artist is definitely not put into question here. The art is stunning as Adams ever was. The redesigns of the monsters are different than those of the Universal Studios classic versions, but are still respectful, and much better than a certain other reimagining of the classic monsters *cough*Van Helsing*cough*. All in all, definitely a fun read, with a pretty awesome battle at the end. Also worth it for the sketches and concept art in the back of the book (I say back, but it’s a pretty hefty portion) that Neal has worked on over the years, including work for movies like Funhouse, From Beyond, and more!

Superman/Batman #77

Superman/Batman is a monthly that focuses not so much on current goings on in the DCU, and really just tells stories about whatever the writer at the time wants. This month’s ish doesn’t star Superman, or Batman, but rather Supergirl and Robin! Supergirl needs help on a case, so she goes to Gotham to find the world’s greatest detective (in this case, Dick Grayson, since Brucie is MIA still). Instead, she finds Damian Wayne, the newest Robin! Damian and Supergirl don’t get along very well…in fact, anyone and Damian don’t get along very well (Except for Batman and Alfred). Damian is a 10 year who acts like a 40 year old, arrogant mastermind…and it’s fantastic! The two team up, infiltrate a Halloween party, run into the Scarecrow (is there a better Batman villain for the Halloween season?), etc, etc. Damian is such a fun character to read, and is an especially a fun character when he’s making fun of Batgirl or Supergirl. Definitely worth it for the interplay!

There ya go, folks! Some of the spookiest comics to pick up for the season! Happy Halloween!