Following the original Ronin series, this follow up and takes Casey and her new born son across the ravaged landscape of America.
Story: Frank Miller Layouts: Frank Miller Art: Philip Tan, Daniel Henriques Letterer: John Workman Artist Producer: Silenn Thomas
Get your copy now! 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.
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Baltimore Comic-Con will return to the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on September 8-10, 2023. The convention has started to reveal its 2023 guests, starting with comic creators Jon and Judy Bogdanove, Steve Conley, Greg Hildebrandt, Pop Mhan, John K. Snyder III, and John Workman. Tickets for the show are now on sale.
As one of the chief architects of the record-breaking epic The Death of Superman, Jon Bogdanove is best known for his long run as penciler and occasional writer on DC’s Superman: The Man of Steel (most issues between #1-#85) where his dynamic work brought to life many landmark Superman stories, including some of the best-selling comics of all time. He also co-created Steel with Louise Simonson.
At Marvel, Bogdanove penciled — and later wrote — Simonson’s Power Pack and drew Fantastic Four vs. The X-Men by Chris Claremont. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, a few of Jon’s other comics projects include X-Factor, X-Terminators, Superman vs. Savage Dragon 2, Superman vs. Aliens 2, and issues of Batman, The Hulk, Alpha Flight, Solomon Kane, and an upcoming science fiction series from Storm King, Terraformed.
In 2021, Jon drew animation keys and cycles for a special sequence in the episode of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go, “Creative Geniuses”. In 2022, he reunited with Louise Simonson to draw a brand new Steel origin prequel story for DC’s The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special.
Judy Bogdanove aka Judith Kurzer, has worn many hats (she’s a Sagittarius) – singer, actor, composer, lyricist, teacher, editor, writer…wife to Jon and mom to Kal-El. In the world of comic books, she wrote for DC (Steel Annual #1) and for Marvel, stories in The New Mutants Annuals #5 and #7, and Power Pack #54, and was also editor of the Letters Column of Power Pack, during which time she had the pleasant task of awarding the coveted “No Prize.” She also wrote content for 8 DuckTales stories in Disney’s Weborama Audio.
As Judith Kurzer, she performed with the New School Opera Workshop, the St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral Choir, and with companies that presented opera excerpts for children in the New York City School System. She sang the roles of Katisha in The Mikado and Meg in Damn Yankees for Maine Community Theatre productions.
Her music includes composing the score for Petunia’s Perils, an off-off Broadway show, new lyrics for the World Premiere of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha: the Concert Version, and scores and lyrics for three shows with the Moving Target Theatre Company: I Suppose You’re All Wondering, Till Death Does Her Part, and So: A Guy Walks Into a Bar.
Long-time friend of the show, Ringo, Harvey, and Eisner Award nominee, and guest since our inception in 2000 (!), artist and writer Steve Conley has contributed to numerous comic titles, both printed and on-line. His Astounding Space Thrills was self-published, published by Image Comics, and collected as a trade paperback by IDW. He has been featured in titles such as JLA-Z from DC Comics, Star Trek: Year Four from IDW, and Michael Chabon’s Amazing Adventures of the Escapist from Dark Horse Comics. His self-published Bloop is available through his online store in print or soft copy editions, and you can find his Ringo and Eisner Award-nominated webcomic The Middle Age on his website, tapas.io, Line Webtoon, and GoComics, and hard copies and digital collections can be purchased from his online store.
The sons of a Chevrolet division chief, Greg Hildebrandt and his identical twin brother, Tim, were born in Detroit, Michigan in 1939. Both boys were avid artists and creative thinkers from a young age and carried their artistic passion with them throughout their childhoods.
After attending the Meinzinger Art School at age 18, Greg and Tim worked for the Jam Handy Organization and Industrial Film Production Corporation. They worked on animated training films for the auto industry, the military and major US corporations. In 1963, they moved from Detroit to New York City to work for Arch Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. He hired them to create art for his weekly TV show, Life is Worth Living, and to produce films on world hunger.
Eventually their focus moved on to commercial illustration, and in 1975, Greg and Tim illustrated the first of a series of Lord of the Rings calendars for Ballantine Books. This series of paintings launched the two men into international fame, with over a million calendars sold, and the name The Brothers Hildebrandt(R) was born! In 1977, Lucas Films hired the Brothers Hildebrandt to create the movie poster for the first Star Wars film, Star Wars: A New Hope. They only had 36 hours to create and paint the art. The movie was about to break in the theaters. They completed it on time. Lucas was very happy and another worldwide fandom was created.
In 2015, Greg had the opportunity to return to Star Wars after 20 years for Marvel Comics. He painted three new pieces for them for Star Wars compendium covers. He also painted Deadpool, Old Man Logan, Secret Wars, Captain America vs. Hitler, Black Panther, Thor, Thanos, The Inhumans, Conan and Old Man Logan comic covers for them.
In 2015, Greg started a new series titled “The Dark Side”. In this series, he painted his favorite villains in extremely large paintings, focusing mostly on giant head shots. The first three in the series are The Joker, Harley Quinn, and Batman.
In 2018, Greg began a new series titled “What If”. What if he wasn’t a kid in the 40’s and 50’s? What if he was an artist hired to paint the movie posters for the films he has loved since his first movie at age 5? So, he started with Creature from the Black Lagoon. The second painting he completed in this series is a painting for King Kong, 86 inches tall! This one is a killer piece of art. Then, Greg decided to repaint the 1977 Star Wars poster. In 1977, he painted it in 36 hours with his brother Tim. This time, he painted it in 36 hours alone.
Recently, Greg was honored by the Air Force at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. They requested a license to put one of Greg’s pinup paintings titled, “Keep em Flying”, on the nose of a transport plane. Greg, of course, said yes. This is a dream come true for him.
Pop Mhan was lucky enough to get his jump into the comics industry under the tutelage of Jim Lee at Wildstorm Productions. Since those early days, his art has graced the pages of comics from Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Top Cow, Dark Horse Comics, and Tokyopop. His recent work can be seen at DC Comics, where he has been penciling licensed properties like Gears of War 3 and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Marvel Comics on All-New X-Factor and variant covers for Amazing Spider-Man.
John K. Snyder III is an Eisner-nominated illustrator and writer of comic books and graphic novels. Creator of the independent comic series Fashion In Action, and adapter/illustrator of the graphic novel adaptation of Grand Master mystery writer Lawrence Block’s classic novel Eight Million Ways to Die published by IDW, he has worked for nearly every major publisher including DC, Dark Horse, Marvel, IDW, and many others. Snyder worked on Suicide Squad during its classic 1980’s run with writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale, and provided covers for the 2007 Suicide Squad mini-series. Along with Matt Wagner, Snyder co-created the Pieter Cross version of Doctor Mid-Nite for DC and Lady Zorro for Dynamite. Snyder also worked with Wagner on the epic Grendel: God and the Devil storyline. John’s recent work includes work for The Doors’ graphic novel anthology, Morrison Hotel written by Leah Moore and published by Z2 Comics, and a return to Suicide Squad with new covers for DC Comics to coincide with the release of the Warner Brothers movie. John’s future work includes all-new Fashion In Action adventures to be published by Clover Press. John encourages all artists and writers, young and old, to actively pursue their own creator-owned aspirations.
John Workman managed to turn a love for the comics form into a career. During the past five decades, he has held the position of editor, writer, art director, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, production director, and book designer for various companies. He created (with some help from Bhob Stewart and Bob Smith) the offbeat stories in Wild Things (with much of that material having first appeared in Star*Reach and Heavy Metal) and both wrote and drew the comics series Sindy, Fallen Angels, and Roma. In 1991, he reflected on model Bettie Page in Betty Being Bad (Eros), and later produced the hardbounds Heavy Metal: 25 Years of Classic Covers and Innocent Images: The Sexy Fantasy Females of Viper and Kiss, as well as The Adventures of Roma, a reformatted graphic novel version of his earlier series. He continues to write and draw and to do a whole lot of lettering for a number of comics companies on an international level.
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Sarah Andersen (Sarah’s Scribbles), Brian Michael Bendis (Action Comics), Jon Bogdanove (The Death of Superman), Judy Bogdanove (Steel Annual), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Amy Chu (KISS: The End), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Abby Denson (Uniquely Japan), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Garth Ennis (The Boys), Barbara Friedlander (Swing with Scooter), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Gene Ha (Mae), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Greg Hildebrandt (Star Wars), Jeff Lemire (Black Hammer), Matthew Loux (Prunella and the Cursed Skull Ring), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Pop Mhan (Gears of War 3), Ed Piskor (Red Room: Trigger Warnings), Joe Prado (Superman), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Jim Rugg (Hulk Grand Design), Andy Runton (Owly), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), and John Workman (Wild Things).
Following the original work and takes Casey and her new born son across the ravaged landscape of America.
Story: Frank Miller Layouts: Frank Miller Art: Philip Tan, Daniel Henriques Letterer: John Workman Artist Producer: Silenn Thomas
Get your copy now! 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.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
30 years ago, Superman sacrificed himself to defeat Doomsday. To celebrate the special anniversary of this defining moment, DC has reunited the original creative teams of Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding; Roger Stern and ButchGuice; Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove; and Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett for The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1. Available at comic shops on November 8, the comicfeatures four all-new stories that explore the lasting impact that Clark’s death had on his family and friends as well as nine pinups and variant covers by some of the top names in comics.
Each of the original creative teams from The Death of Superman has reunited to tell a story that shows how some of Superman’s biggest allies reacted during and after his fateful battle with Doomsday:
“The Life of Superman” by Dan Jurgens (W & A), Brett Breeding (A), Brad Anderson (C), and John Workman (L) – A young Jon Kent finds out in school that his dad had died years earlier, as his parents never told him about that fateful day. In the midst of dealing with this emotional news, Jon and Clark need to team up to fight a new villain connected to Doomsday called DOOMBREAKER.
“Standing Guard” by Roger Stern (W), Butch Guice (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – The epic battle between Superman and Doomsday from the Guardians’ perspective.
“Time” by Louise Simonson (W), Jon Bogdanove (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – The story of how the death of Superman looked from John Henry Irons’s perspective.
“Above and Beyond” by Jerry Ordway (W), Tom Grummett (P), Doug Hazelwood (I), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – A powerful story of Ma and Pa Kent watching their son fight Doomsday live on television and going through Clark’s photo albums with the feeling that their son always prevails.
Highlighting the milestone, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary will feature variant covers by artists including Jim Lee and Scott Williams; Dan Mora; Ivan Reis and Danny Miki; Francesco Mattina; Dan Jurgens; and Brett Breeding. Fans can also order a premium polybag variant that features a black armband with The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary logo and the main cover inside.
DC had previously announced details of The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, which will include Superman: Day of Doom #1-4 for the first time ever and will be available at comic shops and local bookstores on December 6, 2022. DC will also be releasing Superman #75 Special Editionfeaturing the original story by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, which will be available at local comic shops on November 1.
Last week, more than three dozen comic-book writers, artists, colorists, letterers, designers, and editors announced a collection of all-new comic-book stories to raise money to aid refugees in Ukraine. Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, the benefit anthology edited by Scott Dunbier, with all proceeds going to Operation USA, surpassed an initial $35,000 funding goal just twelve hours after the campaign launched, with over $113,000 from over 900 contributors raised to date. The book will be full-color, 96 pages, 8 x 12 inches, and available in both hardcover and softcover editions, with hundreds of supporters on day one. As the campaign enters a second week of funding, it is announced that Eisner Award-winner Colleen Doran, legendary illustrator Greg Hildebrandt, and celebrated cover artist Joe Jusko have joined the project.
These three creators join the incredible roster of comics talent assembled for Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds; united under the mission of providing relief to a war-torn Ukraine, which has suffered attacks from neighboring Russia since late February. There will be multiple versions available: a hardcover with a painted cover by Alex Ross, and softcover versions by Arthur Adams, Dave Johnson, and Bill Sienkiewicz. At press time, stories will be created by a virtual who’s who of writers and artists, including Brent Anderson, Sergio Aragones, June Brigman, Kurt Busiek, Howard Chaykin, Joshua Dysart, Mark Evanier, Emil Ferris, Dave Gibbons, Rob Guillory, John Layman, Gabriel Rodriguez, Stan Sakai, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Chris Sprouse, Jill Thompson, Matt Wagner, Mark Waid, and more.
Apart from hard costs (printing, credit-card fees, marketing, etc.) all of the funds raised by Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds will benefit the relief efforts in Ukraine in partnership with Operation USA, so while the initial funding goal has been met, continued support will maximize the impact on the lives of those deeply affected by the ongoing war—improving conditions for Ukrainian refugees in neighboring countries via the provision of emergency grants and in-kind material aid.
Operation USA supports health and education programs to help children and families at home and abroad recover and thrive in the wake of disasters, disease, violence and endemic poverty. Every day, they strive to meet the needs of under-served and overlooked populations so that future generations may have the tools they need to create meaningful change in their own communities and lives. Working with partners around the world, they empower communities to recover, build resiliency and thrive in the face of pervasive obstacles during a time of unprecedented global need. Since 1979, OpUSA has delivered $450 million in aid to 101 countries.
Disclosure: The site founder is a part of this project handling some of the marketing for Zoop
More than three dozen comic-book writers, artists, colorists, letterers, designers, and editors have announced a collection of all-new comic-book stories to raise money to aid refugees in Ukraine. Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds is a benefit anthology edited by Scott Dunbier, with all proceeds going to Operation USA. The 96 page graphic anthology will available in both hardcover and softcover editions with multiple cover choices.
The Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds anthology features an incredible roster of comics talent united under the mission of providing relief to the war-torn Ukraine, which has suffered attacks from neighboring Russia since late February. There will be multiple versions available.
Covers:
Alex Ross
Arthur Adams
Dave Johnson
Bill Sienkiewicz
Stories:
Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Wade Von Grawbadger, Alex Sinclair, Richard Starkings – New Astro City
John Layman, Rob Guillory – New Chew
Walter Simonson, Laura Martin, John Workman – New and Exclusive Star Slammers
Howard Chaykin, Nitro Yen, Ken Bruzenak – New and Exclusive American Flagg
Stan Sakai, Hi-Fi – New and Exclusive Usagi Yojimbo
Matt Wagner, Brennan Wagner – New and Exclusive Grendel
Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones, Stan Sakai – New and Exclusive Groo
Jill Thompson – New and Exclusive Scary Godmother
Louise Simonson, June Brigman, Roy Richardson, Dave Stewart, John Workman – New and Exclusive short story “The Cost of War“
Dave Gibbons, Chris Sprouse, Kevin Nowlan, Laura Martin, Todd Klein – New and Exclusive short story “Hardrada“
Mark Waid, Gabriel Rodriguez, Dave Stewart, Todd Klein – A new and exclusive short story
Emil Ferris – New and Exclusive short story “Bombings“
Additional material by:
Joshua Dysart
Pia Guerra
Peter Kuper
With the exception of hard costs (printing, credit-card fees, marketing, etc.) all of the funds raised by Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds will benefit the relief efforts in Ukraine in partnership with Operation USA.
Operation USA supports health and education programs to help children and families at home and abroad recover and thrive in the wake of disasters, disease, violence and endemic poverty. Every day, we strive to meet the needs of under-served and overlooked populations so that future generations may have the tools they need to create meaningful change in their own communities and lives. Working with partners around the world, we empower communities to recover, build resiliency and thrive in the face of pervasive obstacles during a time of unprecedented global need. Since 1979, OpUSA has delivered $450 million in aid to 101 countries.
Check out the cover by Alex Ross below.
Disclosure: I am a part of this project and act as the marketing director for Zoop.
Script: Micol Ostow Art: Thomas Pitilli, John Workman, Andre Szymanowicz Cover: Thomas Pitilli 978-1-64576-958-3 $14.99 US 6” x 9” 144 pp, Full Color Direct Market On-Sale Date: 4/14 Book Trade On-Sale Date: 5/4
Archie’s second original graphic novel features the world of CW’s Riverdale! Four interconnected stories trap each of our main characters in a unique high-stakes conflict over the course of a few pressure-cooker hours! Jughead’s locked in and left behind with Moose at Stonewall Prep, Veronica is trapped with Cheryl at a nearby suburban shopping mall, Betty and Polly are stalked by a possible madman when a girls’ night goes horribly awry and Archie is held hostage by a ‘long lost relative’ of Fred’s who’s come to town seeking payback of any and every kind. Will Archie and company even make it to sunrise? If they do, will they ever be the same again?
Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child is Frank Miller‘s latest entry into his world of Batman. Following up on The Master Race, the comic feels like a bunch of ideas jotted down but not fleshed out. It’s a mess of a result.
The story revolves around Lara, Carrie Kelley, and a young Jonathan Kent. Miller sets up some interesting dynamics between the three. Lara struggles with humanity and Carrie devolves into her cold role as Batwoman. Jonathan is caught between the two. With godlike power he’s conflicted as to what it means to be human and compassionate. That could be a story unto itself with an easy conflict. It’d play off of themes Miller has previously addressed in other volumes. Instead, we get his take on the current state of political affairs and interference in elections. The result is a jumbled mess of a result.
Miller decides to make the villain of the story a combination of Darkseid and Joker whose initial gambit is meddling with an election. Donald Trump is their candidate and they manipulate the masses through computers and protests. It all feels rather odd for the pairing and with motivation unclear it comes off as lazy writing. It’s a plotline and two character that didn’t need to exist for an interesting follow up.
The end result is a comic that feels like Miller is attempting to say something but he’s unsure of how to do that and maybe even what it is he’s trying to say.
Rafael Grampá handles the art duties this time around. Jordie Bellaire joins on color with John Workman and Deron Bennett handling lettering. The art style is interesting with some scenes looking fantastic and at other times characters looking like distorted beings. There’s times it all works but at others it’s hard to not be distracted by giant foreheads.
There’s something interesting in the Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child but the end result is a mess of a result. The story comes off as if it thinks it’s an intelligent take on the current state of affairs. But, then the dialogue betrays all of that with such memorable lines like “I’ll rip yuh gonads off.” The dialogue at times is laughable, and not in a good way. It’s a frustrating comic with flashes of Miller’s brilliance but a final result that’s a chaotic mess.
Story: Frank Miller Art: Rafael Grampá Color: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: John Workman, Deron Bennett Story: 5.0 Art: 6.5 Overall: 5.5 Recommendation: Pass
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Script: Micol Ostow Art: Thomas Pitilli, Joe Eisma, Matt Herms, Andre Szymanowicz, Janice Chiang, John Workman Cover: CW Photo Cover 978-1-68255-803-4 $17.99 US/$31.99 CAN 6 5/8 x 10 3/16” 144 pp, Full Color Direct Market On-Sale Date: 11/13
Everyone is hiding something in this companion to the third season of the massive hit CW series Riverdale, by Scholastic writer Micol Ostow and RIVERDALE artists Thomas Pitilli and Joe Eisma. Take a deeper dive into some of the skeletons buried in and around Riverdale as well as hidden and unexpected connections to the Farm and the Game. Collects RIVERDALE SEASON 3 #s 1–5.
Superman: Year One #3 wraps up the DC Black Label series with story and art by Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr. It’s a “year one” story that doesn’t really feel like “year one” at all and takes place over numerous years of Superman’s life. So, the title is the first perplexing thing about the series as well as the issue.
Superman: Year One #3 feels disjointed too. It just moves on from Clark living in Atlantis, never to really dive into that storyline again. There’s military just attacking him. Luthor just reaching out to him. Apparently a love interest in Wonder Woman. It’s all over the place with leaps in facts.
Again, it’s also not “year one.”
The comic feels a bit rushed wanting to hit certain beats like Superman questioning his battle and humanity and his meeting Batman and Wonder Woman. Whether that connects in a flowing narrative is another thing.
The art by Romita, Jr. and Miller have their styles and flair and some works and some doesn’t. In some scenes Superman’s cape is stiff as a board and positioning makes little sense. In other scenes it flows majestically and looks great. It’s just all over the place in details and comes off at times as stiff.
Superman: Year One started with promise but has slid downhill from there. While the finale isn’t quite the cringe-worthy wtf release that was the second issue, it’s also choppy enough to make you wonder if you’re missing pages. One step forward, two leaps back.
Story: Frank Miller, John Romita, Jr. Art: Frank Miller, John Romita, Jr. Ink: Danny Miki Color: Alex Sinclair Letterer: John Workman Story: 6.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 6.0 Recommendation: Pass
