Blog Archives
Comic Cover Of The Week: Battle Of The Batmen!
That’s correct, old chum, these burly, brawly bodacious Batmen are battling it out once more, to see which of these utterly captivating comic cover classics end up on top of this breathtaking bat-pile! Delightful and dazzling DC Comics have bestowed upon us, humble comic book fans, another perfect plethora of phenomenal pictorials starring everyone’s favourite curmudgeonly creature of the night – The Batman, but which of these cool and creatively compelling covers will win out in the end… only YOU can decide.
Another month, another bustling, brimming battalion of brush-stroked Batmen! DC Comics know what their frenzied fans want, and that is, apparently, a cavernous cadre of crazy chiroptera clad comic covers, there’s more images of the dark and surly one here than you could shake a batarang at, but which of this cavalcade of caped crusaders is your fave? Why not sound off in the comments below, fellow fans of fantastic fiction!
Batman #134 – Variant Cover By – Stanley (Artgerm) Lau
The Batman & Scooby Doo Mysteries #7 – Cover by – Dario Brizuela
Batman #134 – Cover By – Joe Quesada
Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #6 – Cover By – Marc Silvestri
Batman Incorporated #7 – Cover By – Mico Suayan
This Brethren Of Bodacious Bat-Books Are Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium, Right Now!
Batman and all related characters and imagery are copyright: DC Comics.
Comic Cover Of The Week: Action Comics #1052
Welcome, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to another cool and compelling cadre of classy comic covers! And this week we don our red boots and cape to move faster than a speeding bullet, and leap tall buildings in a single bound to guarantee we get our fevered mitts on this particularly gorgeous rendering of the Super-Family, courtesy of the terrifically talented, Steve Beach.
Plus, for all you steadfast Superman stockpilers, there is also a titanic and tantalising trinity of vivacious and vaunted variants, daringly delivered unto you by astonishing artistic auteurs – Rafa Sandoval, Clayton Henry and Khary Randolph.
Super Synopsis: Metallo Attacks! The crown jewel of Superman’s new Metropolis is in ruins, and the increasingly violent Blue Earth movement is managing to keep the entire Super-Family on their toes. Meanwhile, Metallo’s powerful new body is evolving in hitherto unforeseen and horrific ways. As Metallo’s life and sanity continue to unravel, he sets out to capture the only person who can help him, John Henry Irons, aka Steel! And so, a super showdown between Metallo and Steel beckons as the new era of Action Comics continues!
Action Comics #1052 Is Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Detective Comics #1069
Well, hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction… and yes, we’re back! That’s right your favourite DC dispensing majestic mansion of mystery returns from its ancient slumber to regale you once more with its decidedly delectable DC documentation!
So, let’s kick off our rambunctious return with an utterly stunning comic cover featuring that cool, compelling, caped and cowled crusader against crime… The Batman. This entrancingly eerie entry into our comic collecting compendium – Detective Comics #1069 – is illustrated by the great Evan Cagle who has been the resident cover artist on ‘tec for the past year and has wowed us every single issue with his dazzling depiction of the dark and surly one. This month also heralds a dynamic duo of variant covers by the terrifically talented – Ivan Reis and, the legendary JH Williams III.
‘Batman investigates the frozen Azmer, given to him by Mr Freeze and comes to a startling discovery about these ancient demons. Meanwhile, the Azmer begin to pour into the streets of Gotham, taking control of the helpless and the other poor souls the city cares little for… all for the bidding of the Orghams!’
Detective Comics #1069 Is Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Batman and Detective Comics Are Copyright: DC Comics
Comic Cover… Of The Year!
Felicitations, fellow fans of fantastic festive fiction, and welcome to our astonishing award for the most outstanding comic cover of space year 2022!
That’s right, the magical mansion of mystery – Precinct1313 has re-materialised back unto your physical plane after an extended stay in the Phantom Zone, where it lay unfettered as it recharged it’s mystic batteries. And, phew! we’re back just in time to share our absolute fave comic cover of the year, and with so many cool and compelling covers released this annum it’s been a rather difficult decision, but we ultimately landed on this pictorial piece of perfection, the Batman #1066 watercolour variant by the dynamic Colleen Doran.
This absolutely astonishing piece of art from Colleen recreates Herbert Draper’s classic oil painting – The Lament For Icarus – the opulent oil painting, first unveiled in 1898, depicts the deceased Icarus surrounded by lamenting nymphs and currently resides in the Tate Gallery, UK. Colleen’s vivid and vivacious variant of this cover is exquisite, re-creating Draper’s original vision perfectly, depicting a dying Batman surrounded by a bevy of Batgirls – Babs Gordon, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
Many congratulations to Colleen for this year’s standout cover, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t, at least, provide a visual tour of some of our other fave covers from this year that were considered for the coveted title but didn’t quite match the ingenuity of Colleen’s standout piece.
Harley Quinn’s Plundering of DC Comics’ Past…
Bruno Redondo’s Outstanding Run On Nightwing…
DC Comics’ Pride 2022 Covers…
Happy Holidays!
(All art and imagery copyright – DC Comics)
Comic Cover Of The Week: Wonder Woman #790
Well hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome to yet another cool, compelling and creatively compulsory – Comic Cover Of The Week. The star of this week’s post is none other than Canadian artist supreme, the great Yanick Paquette and his rather stunning JG Jones homage for this months Wonder Woman #790.
JG Jones much loved cover classic was the first image that greeted Wondy fans when they got their fevered mitts on the fantastic 2002 Greg Rucka penned graphic novel – Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia. The Hiketeia was a standalone story by Greg Rucka and JG Jones that weaved the tale of a young woman named – Danny Welles invoking the ancestral rite of “The Hiketeia” which found Diana honour bound to protect and care for Danny by ancient Amazon tradition.
But, when Wonder Woman learns that Danny has sought out and killed the drug dealers who murdered her sister, it casts her into a tumult of indecision, which gets even worse when that curmudgeonly creature of the night – The Batman – turns up to bring Danny to justice. Wonder Woman is now faced with breaking her sacred oath to protect Danny or turning her back on injustice.
Though, ol’ Batsy made a huuuuge mistake when he came gunning for Wonder Woman, as he notoriously gets a bit too big for his Bat-boots, and Wondy unceremoniously puts him in his place – face deep in the mud! Moral of this tale – don’t upset the overtly powerful, millennia old demi-god, even if you are The Batman!
Wonder Woman #790 Is Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Superman – Son Of Kal-El #13
Welcome, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to another cool, compelling and creatively compulsory Comic Cover Of The Week, and this week’s immaculate image is brought to you by the terrifically talented – Travis Moore!
Superman: Son Of Kal-El is yet another great title from the sensational scribe that is Tom Taylor, I’m highly impressed with Tom’s ability to plot and weave his magic on so many different books for DC each month, alongside Superman, Tom is also knocking it out of the proverbial park with Nightwing and also Dark Knights Of Steel, each and every month… he most definitely gives the energiser bunny a run for it’s money!
On this particular issue though, Tom has handed over co-writing opportunities to Nicole Maines, of whom you may remember as the character – Dreamer from CW’s Arrowverse. The transgender rights activist and actor has proven to have the requisite cognizance and literary skills to help her television character jump mediums and make her first contact with the characters of the DC Universe in a fun issue with lovely art by Clayton Henry, in fact the issue has proven so popular, that DC have commissioned a second printing!
Superman: Son Of Kal-El Is Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now.
Comic Cover Of The Week: Nightwing #93
Well hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome back to another cool and compelling – Comic Cover Of The Week – and once more our bodacious bat-signal bears down on that notably nifty and nimble ninja – Nightwing, who dynamically duets this captivating cover alongside the Precinct’s all time favourite Batgirl – Babs Gordon, in yet another charming comic cover classic by the terrifically talented – Bruno Redondo.
As I mentioned on a previous Nightwing post, Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo have been literally hitting a home run with every single issue of Dick’s dynamic adventures, Taylor is most definitely the hot property for DC at the moment, but it’s Bruno’s vibrant and vivacious visuals that draw this particular Nightwing fan back month after month. His wildly inventive use of splash pages and linked imagery is just amazing, giving his art a tangible sense of motion, as the above image portrays so well.
Nightwing #93 Is Available At Your Local Comic-book Emporium Right Now!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Nightwing #92
Felicitations, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome back to another cool and compelling Comic Cover Of The Week. This week’s delightfully drawn dalliance is by none other than the fantastic Jamal Campbell, and is one of a quintessential quartet of marvellous masterpieces featuring that peerlessly popular paragon – Nightwing, and his very own good boy – puppy powered – Bitewing!
The titanic and thrilling team up of superstar creators – Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo have absolutely astonished us with their superb run on Nightwing, their take on Dick Grayson’s life both in and out of his iconic costume has been absolutely fabulous.
Tom Taylor’s scripts have been both thrilling and full of heart, his love for this character shines through in every panel and exchange by these classic characters. Alongside Tom’s brilliant writing we have Bruno Redondo’s, quite frankly, superlative art, beautifully experimental and full of flowing motion, bringing Nightwing’s character to life like no other artist prior, his use of the splash-page is, in my humble opinion, completely unparalleled in the wonderful world of comics.
Though what really made this particular issue for me was the loving shout-out to the late great George Perez and his legendary comic collaborator – Marv Wolfman, it was through these two greats that Dick originally shed his Robin persona and became Nightwing, finally stepping out of The Batman’s shadow.
Nightwing (And Bitewing!) #92 Is Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Nightwing, Bitewing and all related characters are copyright – DC Comics
Comic Cover Of The Week: Battle Of The Bats!
Welcome, my cool and compelling comic collecting cohorts to another Comic Cover Of The Week, and “Holy Bat Bust-Ups, Batman!” it seems we have the mother of all bodacious bat beatdowns, as these brawly bat brethren go (pointy eared) head to (pointy eared) head in a month that sees no less than five Bat-tacular covers released. But which of these creatively charming Chiroptera covers will claw its way to the top? That, my Bat-tastic buddies is up to YOU!
Whether it’s the 60’s Adam West ‘Kapowing’ criminals, or 80’s Keaton ‘getting nuts!’, 2000’s Bale’s broody belligerence, Affleck’s vengeance fuelled vigilante or Robert Pattison’s grim and gothic variant, you can be sure there’s a Batman out there for every taste and the same can be said for these stunning covers, personal favourite is the Batman 89 cover in all it’s Michelle Pfeiffer-tastic glory, but which of these fabulous five is your favourite, well why not sound off in the comments below!
Batgirls #5 – Cover By Jorge Corona
Batman 89 #5 – Cover By Joe Quinones
Batman/Catwoman #11 – Cover By Clay Mann
Batman: Urban Legends #14 – Cover By Karl Mostert
I Am Batman #8 -Cover By Stephen Segovia
So, which of this breathtaking battalion of brush-stroked Bats is your fave, my bodacious bat-buddies? You know what to do… oh and don’t forget to tune in again next week for another comic cover classic. Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel!
Batman, Catwoman, Batgirl, And All Imagery Are Copyright: DC Comics.
Comic Cover Of The Week: One Cover To Rule Them All!
Felicitations, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome once more to our crazy cavalcade of cool and compelling comic cover collectables!
And, hoo-boy, there is an astonishing array of illustriously illustrated issues available at your nearby newsstands this week, so many in fact that it was impossible to pick just one. So here, for your decidedly delightful delectation, are my four fantabulous favourites…
Titans United #6 –
I’m a sucker for absolutely anything Starfire, so naturally I fell in love with this captivating cover the moment I laid eyes upon it’s marvellous magnificence! Cover artist in question for this bodacious beaut, is the amazing Jamal Campbell, with interior art handled by by Jose Luis and Jonas Trinidade.
Detective Comics #1052 –
Another DC Comics’ red-headed revelation is the beguiling Batwoman, and this gorgeous painterly piece of Kate Kane by Irvin Rodriguez is utterly stunning! Interior art is handled by Fernando Blanco and Max Raynor, with a tantalising tale by one of my current fave authors, the magnificent Mariko Tamaki.
I Am Batman #6 –
I Am Batman #6 is penned by 12 Years A Slave screenwriter – John Ridley, and follows the unfurling destiny of the new and mysterious variant of The Batman – Jace Fox. This is yet another tremendous tale by Ridley who wowed us recently with his Black Label masterpiece series for DC – The Other History Of The DC Universe. The commendable cover is by Olivier Coipel, and interior art by Ken Lashley and Rex Locus.
Strange Love Adventures #01-
Love is most definitely in the air again, and good ol’ DC Comics are here to warm the cockles of your heart, and brighten your soul with eight enthralling tales of… strange love? including a burly, brawly bodacious bromance between Peacemaker and his elegant Eagle sidekick – Eagly! The compelling cover is by Yanick Paquette, with interior art lovingly crafted by – Geraldo Borges, Jon Sommariva, Scot Eaton, and Pablo M Collar.
Personal pick of the bunch this week is Titans United #6, thanks to it’s radiant cover star – Starfire, but which of the featured foursome is your fave, why not sound off in the comments below!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Robin And Batman #3
Welcome, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to our very first Comic Cover Of The Week for 2022! Our compendium of cool and compelling comic cover collectables continues with this magnificently melancholic rendering from astounding artist – Dustin Nguyen, whose immaculate image hearkens back to the classic 1988 series – A Death In The Family – by legendary Batman stalwarts, Jim Aparo and Jim Starlin.
1988’s Death In The Family series is one of the most important and iconic chapters in the life of the dark and surly one, dealing with the calamitous death of Robin #2 – Jason Todd, whose short and tragically turbulent life was violently ended by none other the Jester of Genocide himself – The Joker! Jason inherited the mantle of the Boy Wonder from Dick Grayson, who had moved out from the shadow of his grim mentor and had taken up the role of Nightwing, thus leaving Batman to wallow even further in his despair and despondent longing for the vengeance of his dead parents.
However, Jason was not a hit with the fans, who lamented the parting of the original Dynamic Duo. Jason, unlike the former holder of the title “Robin” was a brash and rebellious teenager with little regard for his actions and consequences, a life of petty crime ultimately led to him being taken under the (bat)wing of Bruce Wayne, after the Dark Knight discovered the tenacious teen boosting the wheels from the Batmobile! Jason was in fact so unpopular with the fans (though, conversely, he is in fact, my absolute favourite version of Robin of all time) that DC Comics held a poll to determine his fate, with a narrow majority voting in favour of his deadly demise.
DC Comics received an unprecedented amount of backlash for Jason’s expiration, with Todd’s demise ushering in a major move in the mythos of Batman, pushing him even further down his depressingly dark and despairing crusade of retributive justice. Jason, however, was later resurrected as the violent vigilante – The Red Hood, and has since gone on to be one of DC’s most popular characters of all time.
Robin And Batman #3 Will Be Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium On January 11th.
Comic Cover Of The Week: The Human Target #1
Welcome back, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to another cool, compelling and creatively compulsory – Comic Cover Of The Week! And what a cover we have for you this week, the deftly defined drawing skills of gregarious – Greg Smallwood are put to sublime use in the premier issue of DC’s Human Target, and combined with the superstar scripting scribe that is – Tom King (Mister Miracle/Strange Adventures) this fantastic first issue is an absolute must buy!
Christopher Chance has made a living out of being a human target, a man hired to disguise himself as his client, as to invite would be assassins to attempt his murder. He’s had an absolutely remarkable career, that is until his latest case, protecting Lex Luthor, when things go sideways. An assassination attempt that Chance did not see coming leaves him vulnerable and left trying to solve his very own murder! Now he has just twelve days to discover just who in the DC Universe hated Luthor enough to want him dead (Seriously! I mean that would be pretty much everyone, right?)
Human Target is a hard-boiled detective noir tale, with absolutely gorgeous visuals by Greg Smallwood, and yet another sublime story from the palpably persistent pen of astounding auteur – Tom King, and if that wasn’t enough awesome for one issue, this titanic tale also benefits from the presence of THE greatest line up in Justice League history – the infamous and incorrigible – Justice League International! I mean, who can say no to the brilliance that is Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, Fire and Ice, Mister Miracle and Big Barda, Rocket Red, Captain Atom, Guy Gardner, Gnort, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, and, of course… The Batman!
The Human Target #1 Is Available To Buy From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Wonder Woman – Black And Gold #5
Welcome fellow fans of fantastic fiction to another charming collation of comic cover collectables, and lo, once more do we set foot in the glorious realm that is the Wonder Woman: Black and Gold series, an awesome anthology album dedicated to telling thrilling tales set deep within the amazing Amazon’s long standing mythos.
I have to say, the WW Black and Gold limited series is truly a gift from the glorious Greek gods themselves, with each and every cover seemingly handed down from Olympus itself, thus are their splendour and magnificence. And Black and Gold #5 is no slouch in this superlative series, with a fantastically comical and quirky comic cover take of the venerable Themysciran Princess.
Prepare yourselves, my astonishing Amazonian associates, to be whisked away with four fantastic fables commencing with – an astonishing Amazon fairy tale, then travel back in time to World War II, get swept up in a nautical ghost story, and finally blasted by a bitter space princess! Sanya Anwar, Christian Alamy, Kurt Busiek, Josie Campbell and more once again bring their prodigious talents to this stunning series with thrilling tales that run the gamut of comedy, horror and mythology, making this illustrious issue yet another must buy!
Wonder Woman: Black and Gold #5 Is Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Wonder Woman – Black And Gold #4
Welcome back, my cool and compelling comic collecting cohorts to another compendium of comic cover collectables! This week we are once again celebrating the outstanding offering of the superb – Wonder Woman: Black and Gold – an awesome anthology series that venerates the astonishing adventures of the Princess of Themyscira.
Ok, ok, I know that the Wonder Woman mini-series – Black and Gold – has had a rather majestic monopoly on our Comic Cover Of The Week series in the past few months, but it is with good reason… because each and every cover has been a marvellously magnificent masterpiece! and this month’s opulent oeuvre is most certainly congruent to it’s compatriots!
Our lead image is rapturously rendered by the talented Mathias Bergara, and is my personal pick of the absolutely awesome cover art available this issue, which was, to be honest, a truly difficult choice considering the standards on display from the competing covers by amazing artists – Nicola Scott, Tula Lotay, and Joshua Middleton. Nicola Scott also provides the interior art for the anthology’s first tale – Prayer – and once again provides the glorious goods with some absolutely superb two tone imagery, Nicola is one of the very finest artists ever to grace Wonder Woman and her art is reason alone to snap up this thrilling tome.
– Gorgeous Interior Artwork From The Fabulous Nicola Scott –
Wonder Woman: Black And Gold #4 Is Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Supergirl – Woman Of Tomorrow #4
Welcome back, oh fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to another cool and compelling compendium of comic cover collectables as we highlight this weeks outstanding offering from the bedazzling and bodacious – Bilquis Evely!
Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow has been a delirious delight from its very first issue onward, the Tom King penned opus has been a resounding success for fan and critic alike, but that was never really in any doubt when you have the superstar scribe behind such classics as Mister Miracle and Strange Adventures. But for this particular fan of the Woman of Steel it has been the absolutely vivacious visuals of Bilquis Evely that sold me on the series, they are stunning to behold, beautiful in-depth line work and detail, which in turn are ascended to even greater heights by the bold and gorgeous colours of Matheus Lopes… this magnificent mini-series is the absolute definition of high art!
This impeccable issue finds Supergirl setting her sights on The Brigands, a group of iniquitous nomads hell-bent on slaughtering all they come across. Now Kara must follow in their path of destruction to find the fugitive they’ve been concealing, whom initially set her on this on this intergalactic odyssey in the first place. Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow #4 is another sublime chapter in the stunning series by King and Evely, and if you haven’t already taken the plunge on this breathtaking book, then why not don your red cape and boots and super-speed over to your local comic-book emporium and ask, nay demand, that the proprietor hand over a copy tout-suite!
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