Tag Archives: ferran delgado

Exclusive: Check out Vanessa Cardinali’s art process for The Golem of Venice Beach

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Superstar artists Frank Quitely, David Mack, Nick Dragotta, Howard Chaykin, Dean Haspiel, Jae Lee, Das Pastoras, Juan Jose Ryp, Stan Sakai are teaming up with artist Vanessa Cardinali, writer Chanan Beizer, and letterer Ferran Delgado for the stunning star-studded second and final volume of graphic novel The Golem of Venice Beach. Picking up immediately after the thrilling cliffhanger of Book One, Book Two continues and concludes the epic story about the adventures of a 400-year-old Golem spanning from 16th century Europe, to the horrors of World War II, to modern day Venice Beach, where the Golem has become entangled in a war between a gang and the police. Both a riveting narrative and a celebration of Southern California, both volumes of The Golem of Venice Beach will soon be available on Kickstarter.

Returning to THE GOLEM OF VENICE BEACH to complete the story of Adam the golem presented me an opportunity to experiment with my process in an effort to inject a new vitality into the world Chanan has created. I chiefly accomplished this by, for the first time in my career, skipping the pencil stage and focusing my energy on the layouts, where all the important decisions and storytelling choices are made, and then in the inks & colors, where atmosphere is born and feeling & expression—the most important elements of comics for me—become paramount.

There is an extended fight scene later in the book and this was a challenge that turned out to be my favorite part of the whole story, I had so much fun illustrating this epic battle page after page.

I grew to love some of these characters and will miss them. Working on the GOLEM books with Chanan and Chris these past years has been a highlight of my time in comics and I hope readers enjoy how we concluded this part of the golem’s adventures!

–Vanessa Cardinali

The Golem of Venice Beach: Book Two is a 184-page oversized deluxe hardcover and also available are Kickstarter Exclusive prints, the seven prints from the artists in Book One, and a unique signature plate signed by Quitely.

Vanessa is the engine of THE GOLEM OF VENICE BEACH and has pulled off the neat trick of a girl from Italy living in Italy completely manifesting modern day Venice Beach, California. Her scene setting and character work bring each diverse element of Chanan’s world to distinct and vibrant life all while grounding things with a verisimilitude even lifelong Venice residents could recognize and admire. Already in fine form on Book 1, her shift in process on Book 2 has lifted her even higher up the ladder of today’s best working artists. Did I say work? She is a rarity in comics as I can’t think of one deadline missed, one extra mile not walked in pursuit of the best result. As this story ends now, Vanessa has left her mark on all these characters and places I’ve come to know and love, and I thank her for making the journey with us.

–Chris Stevens (Editor)

In The Golem of Venice Beach: Book 1, Adam is a Golem, a creature of vengeance and destruction, of violence and death created 400 years ago in Eastern Europe. Today he spends his days adrift on the sunny boardwalks of Venice Beach, the only hope of release from his lonely existence being the clueless Jake Loeb, the sole remaining heir of the Golem’s creator. But when Jake becomes involved with a mysterious tattooed woman and a drug-dealing death worship cult, things get complicated and dangerous for Adam. Golems are not meant to walk the Earth forever. Can Adam make a difference? Can he find peace in the California sun? And can a monster have a soul? 

In The Golem of Venice Beach: Book 2 we find Adam the Golem in the midst of gang warfare while trying to protect two runaway teens. To make matters worse, Jake comes under the scrutiny of the very same gang while Uncle Steph tries to mend a rift that has formed between Adam and Jake, and things come to a head when Stephan is kidnapped. It’s up to Adam and Jake to save him—but first, Jake must first find a way to make Adam whole again and restore the Golem that has been part of his family legacy for over 400 years.

We have an exclusive look at Vanessa Cardinali‘s art process including pencils, inks, colors, and lettering as well as some designs.

Crowdfunding Corner: Armored, Andy and his suit of armor return for more action and adventure

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Backer Beware: Crowdfunding projects are not guaranteed to be delivered and/or delivered when promised. We always recommend to do your research before backing.

Armored is a spooky, supernatural comic book series about an orphan who stumbles across a mystical suit of armor haunted by the ghost who wore it centuries ago. Created and written by Michael Schwartz, Armored is illustrated by Ismael Hernandez, lettered by Ferran Delgado, and edited by Eisner-winner Chris Stevens. Issues 3-5 are now being crowdfunded by Clover Press and feature NEW covers by superstar artists David Mack, Becky Cloonan, Trevor Henderson, and Jeff Dickson. And not to be missed, Matthew Therrien continues his stunning character portraits!

Issues 1 and 2 saw orphaned teen Andy get adopted by a strange couple who lost their son under mysterious circumstances. When Andy starts at a new school out in the countryside, he accidentally discovers a haunted suit of armor and its ghostly keeper, Sir William. When Andy is attacked by the same mysterious creature that killed his adoptive parents’ biological son, Sir William and the suit help Andy defeat the monster — but the monster was conjured by someone, and they’ll stop at nothing to gain control of the armor. Issues 3 to 5 unravel the mystery of who that certain someone is and open up the world of Armored to bigger mysteries and further adventures!  

The Armored Kickstarter runs until Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 12:00 AM EDT.

Crowdfunding Corner: Jack Kirby and Wally Wood’s Sky Masters of the Space Force

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Backer Beware: Crowdfunding projects are not guaranteed to be delivered and/or delivered when promised. We always recommend to do your research before backing.
Disclosure: Graphic Policy’s founder Brett is a member of the Zoop team.

Sky Masters of the Space Force

If you’re a fan of comics, then you no doubt know that the godfather of modern comic books is none other than “The King”, Jack Kirby. The co-creator of the Marvel Universe, including such mainstays as Captain America, Fantastic Four, X-Men,, The Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers and many others, Kirby has firmly established himself on the Mount Rushmore of comic book creators. Fans have always clamored for more of Kirby’s work, and now with the work of Jack Kirby coming to crowdfunding for a historic first time, those fans can get their hands on the collected edition of Sky Masters of the Space Force – The Complete Sunday Strips in Color! The crowdfunding campaign for the book has launched on Zoop.

Sky Masters of the Space Force Sunday comics from 1959-1960 features art and story by Jack Kirby with masterful inking by Wallace Wood, Dick Ayers, and Kirby himself.

And you may be asking yourself, how can new work from Jack Kirby be coming out? Well, that’s all thanks to Tom Kraft and Rand Hoppe, President and Director respectively of The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center. They have teamed with book designer Ferran Delgado to re-print his Eisner Award nominated book in an expanded deluxe edition! The book compiles the long out of print color Sunday strips of Sky Masters from the 1950s.

Every strip has undergone meticulous remastering back to its vibrant, full-color brilliance thanks to the work of designer/producer Ferran Delgado. But that’s not all – discover an array of never-before-seen visionary scrapbook panels, articles by renowned experts, and examples of stunning original art, among other surprises added by the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center for this special brand new edition.

The Bugs Head South in Marcus Parks and Henry Zebrowski’s Operation Sunshine: Already Dead

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Did you think that four issues were enough for our ragtag team of bugs to turn themselves human and live happily ever after? Not even close! Marcus Parks and Henry Zebrowski’s Operation Sunshine continues with Operation Sunshine: Already Dead. Written by Parks and Zebrowski, illustrated by David Rubín, colored by K.J. Diaz, and lettered by Ferran Delgado, Operation Sunshine: Already Dead #1 will also feature variant covers by Martin Simmonds and Tyler Jenkins, with a final variant cover to be revealed at a later date.

In Operation Sunshine: Already Dead, the group of young, alienated vampires heads down to the swamps of Florida to disrupt a nasty ancient vampire party and to put into motion “Operation Sunshine”–their plot to steal a magical object that can turn themselves back to human and put an end to the elder vampires once and for all.

Operation Sunshine: Already Dead #1 (of 4) travels to comic shops on April 24, 2024. It is now available to pre-order at your local comic shop for $3.99. 

WildC.A.T.S. #12 wraps up a fun ride

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WildC.A.T.S. #12

In a final, climactic battle for control of HALO and all its secrets, it’s the WildC.A.T.s versus the Seven Soldiers versus the Court of Owls! Winner take all! WildC.A.T.S. #12 wraps up a wild run that finally brought the Wildstorm characters into the DC Universe in a way that makes sense and works.

WildC.A.T.S. #12 delivers a satisfying ending to Matthew Rosenberg‘s run on the classic characters. As I said in my early reviews, the series has done a solid job of integrating the Wildstorm characters into the DC Universe, giving them opponents that make sense and encounters that don’t feel out of place.

While WildC.A.T.S. #12 doesn’t really stand on its own, it does wrap up the series bringing various plots together and connecting those final dots. As a finale, it works well, though at times it feels rushed.

What Rosenberg nails, and it shows in this issue, is the connection of the team members to each other. This is a dysfunctional team that butts heads and argues with each other but the second some outside force comes for them, they rally around their brothers and sisters. There’s a love there that’s only present in a squabbling family. And, it leaves things open in a fun way where we’ll hopefully get more of that dysfunction and fun.

The art by Danny Kim and Tom Derenick slips a bit in the issue. Not sure what’s up but the early half of the comic doesn’t have the usual polish and splash we’ve seen delivering a little but of bump in an otherwise fun ride. They’re joined by Elmer Santos and letterer Ferran Delgado. WildC.A.T.S. #12 isn’t the flashiest comic, in that it doesn’t deliver moments that stick with you, but it does deliver fun visuals and small details that pop. Grifter lighting up a cigarette while facing down Halliday and the Court of Owls is as cool as you can get, encapsulating the character in one panel. Maul going on a rampage is fun in a “Hulk Smash” sort of way. And the ending pages… they tease a lot for what might come delivering the mental state of the characters through images alone.

I’ve enjoyed the entire run and a bit bummed to know WildC.A.T.S. #12 ends the current run. There was a fun aspect of the series remixing these characters a bit as they get folded into the DC Universe more. Hopefully, it has laid the groundwork for more of that and this isn’t the end but only the beginning for something more down the road.

Story: Matthew Rosenberg Art: Danny Kim, Tom Derenick
Color: Elmer Santos Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Story: 8.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle

Crowdfunding Corner: Zip #2: A Grungy Superhuman Comic

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Backer Beware: Crowdfunding projects are not guaranteed to be delivered and/or delivered when promised. We always recommend to do your research before backing

Following the first issue reaching 110% funding, the Kickstarter campaign for Zip #2: A Grungy Superhuman Comic has launched. The comic is written by Mike Scrase, with art by San Espina, and lettering by Ferran Delgado. Artists for variant covers are anticipated be announced throughout the campaign. Set in Bristol, it follows Zip, a superhuman whose flawed superpowers are an analogy for disability, especially neurodivergence.

The second issue explores a strange and dangerous quirk of Zip’s powers that she has struggled with since childhood: a release of high energy generated by her body’s speed, which makes her touch explosive in stressful situations.

But Zip’s control over her powers are challenged when she clashes with a kidnapper out to settle an old score. The stories about him say he’s so skilled in the martial arts that there is no attack he cannot evade and no technique he cannot counter. They call him: Mr Untouchable.

But are Zip and this deadly stranger more alike than they think? Zip #2: A Grungy Superhuman Comic has the answers!

Responding to feedback about the first campaign, Scrase has made an acknowledgement in the comic’s credits available to everyone who pledges to the campaign with a reward tier. He has also expanded the countries the print version of the comic will be available in to all European countries which Kickstarter supports delivery options for.

Backers who missed the first issue are able to pick it up in digital or digital and print format using one of the campaign’s bundle tiers.

There is also new reward options, including the chance to get a Zip sticker pack and poster with your pledge.

The campaign ends on Thursday, November 23 2023 3:00 PM EST.

Exclusive: Get a Look at Armored #2’s variant cover by Jeff Dickson!

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Screenwriter Michael Schwartz is making his comic book writing debut with Armored, a spooky, supernatural comic book series about an orphan who stumbles across a mystical suit of armor haunted by the ghost who wore it centuries ago. Created and written by Schwartz, Armored is illustrated by Ismael Hernandez, lettered by Ferran Delgado, and edited by Eisner-winner Chris Stevens. The five-issue comic book series features covers by artists Jae Lee, Nick Pitarra, Chrissie Zullo, Scott Kolins, Matthew Therrien, and Jeff Dickson. The project is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter by Clover Press.

Meet orphaned teen Andy, whose parents mysteriously vanished years before he was adopted at the outset of our story. When Andy starts at a new school out in the countryside, he accidentally discovers a haunted suit of armor and its ghostly keeper, Sir William. When Andy is attacked by the same mysterious creature that killed his adoptive parents’ biological son, Sir William and the suit help Andy defeat the monster — but the monster was conjured by someone, and they’ll stop at nothing to gain control of the armor. 

Sir William must train Andy to use the armor properly — not just to defeat the other creatures being summoned by the mysterious antagonist, but also to defeat an even more dangerous other-worldly being prophesied to return to Earth and take the suit of armor for its own kind. As he faces off against more and more horrifying monsters, Andy will need to learn to look within himself to find the strength to overcome his own demons in order to save the Earth. But this mystery may be bigger than just Andy and his suit…

We’ve got an exclusive look at the variant cover for Armored #2 by Jeff Dickson and get a look at more art from the first issue of Armored! Check it out below then check out the project and support it!

Wild.C.A.T.s #10 continues the action and twists and turns

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Wild.C.A.T.s #10

Locked, loaded, and ready to roll…Grifter’s back, and the WildC.A.T.s are going to war! Wild.C.A.T.s #10 is packed with action as we get some dots connected and some twists and turns. The issue continues the series’ mix of over the top moments, humor, and surprises.

Written by Matthew Rosenberg, Wild.C.A.T.s #10 is another solid issue in the series as it bounces around a few aspects of the story. In the past, we get to see what went down with a clash between Spartan and Peacemaker. Good action, funny moments, it’s a lifting of the veil a bit. But, in the present Spartan is dealing with Maul in his attempt to protect Voodoo. That of course escalates as these things do with some surprising moments that should be really interesting going forward.

But, the real surprise is who made the offer to the WildC.A.T.s that are presumed dead. In the previous issue, they’ve been given the opportunity for some work and to take on the HALO Corporation but the offer has been given by an unexpected person which is absolutely going to set up some conflict. But, the real conflict is between the team and Batman, Arsenal, and Black Canary. It’s borderline superheroes misunderstanding each other and fighting first with questions later but it’s fun to see the team go against some pretty big DC heavy hitters. It’s a battle that doesn’t go quite as expect which is par for Rosenberg’s take on this series. As usual, the story keeps readers on their toes.

And, that’s what’s been fun about this run with the team. You never know who’s going to show up and what their role in everything will be. What’s clear though is the WildC.A.T.s aren’t quite heroes and not quit bad guys, though they are willing to do bad things to achieve their goals.

The art by Stephen Segovia and Tom Derenick is where issues are here. With color by Elmer Santos and lettering by Ferran Delgado, the art usually packs a punch to match the story. But, there’s some stumbles with this issue with characters that the detail isn’t quite there and fight scenes where the art doesn’t feature the crispness that we usually see. Overall, there’s an art change here and it’s noticeable unfortunately.

Wild.C.A.T.s #10 is another piece of the bigger picture dance that’s going on and it’s a hell of a lot of fun. The series continues to entertain with every issue delivering so much with every one. As a fan of the characters within, it’s great to see this new mix and see it working so well. Here’s to hopefully more Wildstorm in the DC Universe, especially if it’s this quality.

Story: Matthew Rosenberg Art: Stephen Segovia, Tom Derenick
Color: Elmer Santos Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Story: 8.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.85 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle

SDCC 2023: Henry Zebrowski and Marcus Parks’ Operation Sunshine arrives this October

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Dark Horse Comics presents Operation Sunshine, an all-new humorous horror series from the New York Times bestsellers and hosts of The Last Podcast on the Left, Henry Zebrowski and Marcus Parks. David Rubín joins as artist, along with K.J. Diaz as colorist, and Ferran Delgado as letterer. Operation Sunshine #1 will also feature variant covers by David Aja and Malachi Ward.

A group of young, alienated vampires known as “bugs” plot to steal a magical object from ancient monstrous vampires to turn themselves back to human. Along the way they uncover a sprawling monster underground, a top-secret plot run by the elder creatures, elite militant vampire slayers, and madness beyond imagining blocking their path to humanity.

Operation Sunshine #1 (of 4) comes to life on October 11, 2023, just in time for Halloween. It is now available to pre-order for $3.99 at your local comic shop.

WildC.A.T.s #9 continues the fun action

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WildC.A.T.s #9

Grifter is still making his way back to his Earth while the rest of the team is made an offer they can’t refuse. WildC.A.T.s #9 makes things really interesting as three stories bounce around adding to the threat and delivering the fun action the series has been delivering since its debut.

WildC.A.T.s #9 continues its trio of focuses. Matthew Rosenberg delivers solid time to each moving things along in entertaining ways and making sure to deliver some surprises for each.

Grifter delivers the emotion of the comic as Rosenberg has done so much for the character. To make it back to his world he must kill someone but in doing so, he condemns another world. That world features his brother and his former lover, both want him to not do what he needs to. All of it is a bit tragic and is sure to haunt Grifter as the series continues.

The WildC.A.T.s team itself is being made an offer by a mysterious individual who promises them support. It’s clear there’s others who really want the team on their payroll and a surprising name is dropped, one that could open up the characters for a very interesting future. This part of the story delivers the humor the series has packed in.

Then, there’s Voodoo who’s capture by the Court of Owls and their superhero team. It’s interesting to see where it goes and the friction there but it also delivers a great ending full of action. It’s a bit of been there, seen that overall, but the scene is entertaining in its own ways.

The comic continues its solid visuals from Danny Kim and Tom Derenick. There’s such a great balance of drama, action, and humor when it comes to the visuals. A line is delivered with a great look on a face or body language, it helps deliver each punch. The duo is helped by Elmer Santos‘ coloes and lettering by Ferran Delgado.

WildC.A.T.s #9 continues a great story and integration of the characters and series into the greater DCU. It’s been fantastic and delivered with each issue nailing key moments and doing a solid job of folding so many classic characters.

Story: Matthew Rosenberg Art: Danny Kim, Tom Derenick
Color: Elmer Santos Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Story: 8.15 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purhcase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle

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