Tag Archives: bill watterson

The Mysteries is an intriguing fable for adults from Bill Watterson and John Kascht

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In a fable for grown-ups by cartoonist Bill Watterson, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.

Story: Bill Watterson
Art: Bill Watterson, John Kascht

Get your copy in comic shops! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon

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Review: Spencer and Locke Vol. 1 TP

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Spencer_and_Locke_1_COVER-A-Jorge-Santiago-Jr-MAINMINOR SPOILERS BELOW

I heard about Spencer and Locke a few months ago. I had seen the premise somewhere online, and thought it was an interesting concept, but never got around to reading it until this past week. I soon discovered I was missing out on something that was familiar, but also new. Sure, it’s no secret that Spencer and Locke borrows its basic idea of a childhood toy coming to life for adventures with his human friend from the legendary Calvin and Hobbes, but it adds a wrinkle to the classic formula by having the boy be a full-grown man, Detective Locke, and the childhood toy and friend, Spencer, be a blue panther, complete with a button for an eye.

You constantly hear the term page turner, but that is exactly what this is. Writer David Pepose writes a fantastic and quick-moving story following the death of Detective Locke’s high school sweetheart, Sophie Jenkins. Along with the help of his panther friend, Spencer, whom to everyone else is of course a stuffed animal, they uncover many things from their past. The story gets dark in spots, but it never felt out-of-place. That may seem odd, since much of this is familiar to the childhood tale most everyone loves, but this is still an adventure after all, similar to what Calvin and Hobbes went on. The only difference is the adventures of Spencer and Locke involve murder, alleyways, abuse, and many more horrible things that exist in the real world of a traumatized boy who grows up to be a man.

The art by Jorge Santiago Jr. and colors by Jasen Smith works quite well with the story, and while most of the book has a distinct cartoon noir style, there are some great pages that channel the classic style made famous by greats like Bill Watterson. You really feel like you’re looking at a Calvin and Hobbes strip until the end where something like violence, child abuse, or something else really deep hits you hard. It’s effective, nostalgic, and really pulls off something that could have come off as cheesy, or as a cheap rip off. That’s the beauty of this entire book. It’s an ode to the past while bringing a new perspective to an old idea.

While it borrows from Bill Watterson’s classic comic strip, there’s a lot of Frank Miller and Ed Brubaker type inspired crime drama here as well. It’s somehow a perfect marriage of the two, which probably wasn’t an easy thing to pull off by the creators.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new take on an old classic, or just some original idea to what seemed like an already done formula. It’s a buddy cop story with a man and his stuffed panther doll. The ending was intense, and left me wanting more. The producer of the Hitman movies has optioned the movie rights, so hopefully something comes of this, because it would be awesome on the big or small screen. This could work awesome as a Netflix series. I look forward to more of this series, and think you should check it out as well, because there is something here to love for everyone.

Story: David Pepose Art: Jorge Santiago Jr. Colors: Jasen Smith Lettering: Colin Bell
Story: 9.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Action Lab provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Artist Mike S. Miller Gives us Rocket & Groot

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If there break out stars from Guardians of the Galaxy, it would be Rocket Raccoon and Groot (especially Groot). Walk around any convention and you’ll see the two adorning numerous fan made prints, posters, hand made bobbles…. lots of stuff. As if the two couldn’t get any cooler, artist Mike S. Miller has decided to mash up the two with Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes.

The below results are amazing.

rocket and groot 1 rocket and groot 2 rocket and groot 3

You can find more at his Facebook page.

(via AV Club)

Around the Tubes

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It’s a new week and I’m doing my best to recover from Gen Con (especially after a massive failure by US Airways, do everything you can to avoid them). We’ve got a special guest on tonight Graphic Policy Radio, so listen in LIVE tonight!

Until the episode airs, here’s some news to keep you busy.

Around the Tubes

Kotaku – Articulated Lego Batman Figure – So cool!

The Spire – Bill Watterson Auction Raises $62000 for The Michael J. Fox Foundation – Great to see!

ICv2 – ‘Action Comics’ #1 Soars to $1.6 million – Oh I’m sure I’ve got a copy laying around somewhere….

 

Around the Tubes Reviews

ICv2 – Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards Vol. 1 HC

ICv2 – The Art of Princess Mononoke HC

Talking Comics – Batman #34

CBR – Batman Eternal #19

CBR – Hexed #1

Talking Comics – Original Sin #7

Eisner Winner Craig Yoe To Debut Four Books at San Diego Comic-Con 2011

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Official Press Release

Eisner Winner Craig Yoe To Debut Four Books at San Diego Comic-Con 2011

San Diego, CA (July 13, 2011)—Adding to the growing excitement for San Diego Comic-Con 2011, author/designer Craig Yoe and IDW Publishing today announced the debut four beautiful coffee table hardcover books at the year’s convention, following close on the heels of other major books by Yoe.

[Amazing 3D Comics]AMAZING 3-D COMICS (IDW) is a stunning retrospective on these unique comics, featuring a special multi-layered lenticular cover by Joe Kubert, the co-inventor of 3-D comics. The book opens with a fascinating introduction by Kubert. This is followed by Yoe’s revealing forward, leading directly into the book’s detailing of the beginnings of the 3-D comics of the 1950s, and drawing parallels to today’s hot 3-D movies. Comic publishers of the 1950s jumped on the 3-D wagon, fortunes were made and lost, even causing one publisher to take his own life. AMAZING 3-D COMICS boasts incredible 3-D art by Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Bob Powell, Al Jaffe, Milt Stein, and many more artists, with over twenty stories, all in eye-popping 3-D. To ensure readers enjoy this book to the fullest, AMAZING 3-D COMICS comes with free, custom 3-D glasses, and also includes a 3-D photo of Kubert and Yoe on the back cover.

[The Big Book of Carlo Bark's Barney Bear Cover]THE BIG BOOK OF CARL BARKS’ BARNEY BEAR (IDW) collects for the first time in color and English all the Barney Bear and Benny Burro team-up stories by comics’ genius Carl Barks. While stories of Barks’ Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck are known and loved around the world, the adventures of the animation film stars Barney Bear and Benny Burro have been often overlooked. At last, THE BIG BOOK OF CARL BARKS’ BARNEY BEAR offers a deluxe, hardcover archiving of this warm and hilarious , “lost” alternate world. And the book has a cover and an introduction by Jeff Smith of Bone fame, himself a big Barks fan. Added Yoe, “This volume is sure to delight Carl Bark’s legions of fans, young and old alike!”

[Archie's Madhouse Cover]ARCHIE’S MADHOUSE (IDW) collects the greatest stories from the swinging 1960’s title. MADHOUSE is crammed-full of searing satire, silly surrealism, sick superheroes, mirthful monsters, and, of course, tantalizing teenage girls as only the Archie artists can draw them!  Artists include powerhouses like Dan DeCarlo, Harry Lucey, Chic Stone, Bob White… and Wally Wood! Said Yoe, “I don’t think any book I’ve ever done offers more fun that this material from Archie artists at their zaniest! Archie, satire fans and Good Girl Art fans are gonna go ape!”

[Krazy Kat and the Art of George Herriman Cover]KRAZY KAT AND THE ART OF GEORGE HERRIMAN (Abrams ComicArts) unearths an incredible array of countless unpublished and ultra-rare paintings, drawings, strips, photos, animation-related art, essays, and ephemera of the comics greatest master, George Herriman. Starting with a special appreciation by Bill Watterson, this beautiful large format book astounds page after page. Patrick McDonnell of Mutts exclaimed, “This book is a treasure-trove of classic Kat art and Kat curiosities. Like a brick out of nowhere, you’ll be knocked out by its many surprises.”

[Archie Celebration Cover]Other recent books by Craig Yoe and the IDW imprint, Yoe! Books, include: ARCHIE: A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS, and POPEYE: THE GREAT COMIC BOOK TALES BY BOB SAGENDORF, featuring an introduction by Jerry Beck.

Yoe concluded, “I’m proud and excited about this cornucopia of comics books. A lot of wonderful stories and incredible art are between the covers, which I’m positive will delight Comic-Con going fans of great cartoonists!”

Headquartered at the Yoe! Books section of the IDW booth #2643, Craig Yoe’s scheduled appearances at the con include:
•    KRAZY KAT AND THE ART OF GEORGE HERRIMAN signing; Thursday, July 21st, 1:00-2:00 PM, Abrams Booth #1216

•    Amazing 3-D panel, in actual 3-D with free glasses for all audience members; Friday July 22nd 1:00-2:00 PM Room 4

•    Yoe! Books signing; Friday, July 21st, 2:00-3:00 PM, IDW Booth #2643

•    The Art of Design panel with Chip Kidd, Seymour Chwast and Michael Gross; Friday, July 22nd 4:30-5:30 PM Room 24 ABC

•    ARCHIE: A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS signing; Saturday, July 23rd 3:00-5:00 PM, Archie booth #2547

•    ARCHIE signing, with Victor Gorelick, John Goldwater, Mike Pellerito and Dan Parent; Saturday, July 23rd, 6:00-7:00 PM, IDW Booth #2643

•    IDW: Special Projects and Imprints panel with Scott Dunbier, Dean Mullaney and others; Sunday, July 24th 11:00 AM-12:00 PM, Room 24 ABC

•    Yoe! Books signing; Sunday, July 24th, 1:00-2:00 PM, IDW Booth #2643

Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books.

About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s Doctor Who; Toho’s Godzilla and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio; and is the print publisher for EA Comics.

IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.