Parker: The Hunter adaptation by Darwyn Cooke

The genius preview is here.

This one is in the must-buy category.

THE COMPLETE ROCKETEER from IDW

Two Versions, Including A Deluxe Edition Featuring Many Never-Before-Seen Images

(San Diego, CA; February 28, 2009) -- IDW Publishing is proud to announce the upcoming release of The Complete Rocketeer by Dave Stevens, collecting the classic series in its entirety for the first time ever.

After more than a decade out of print, The Rocketeer makes a triumphant return to stores this October with a comprehensive hardcover edition featuring artwork digitally re-mastered from Stevens’ own lovingly maintained collection of originals, and all-new coloring by Laura Martin, the Eisner-Award-winning colorist handpicked by Stevens himself.

The Rocketeer, a rollicking tribute to pulp novels and Saturday morning matinee serials, follows the high-flying adventures of stunt pilot Cliff Secord and his girlfriend Betty, after Cliff finds a mysterious jet pack and takes to the sky. The graphic novel went on to become a much-loved major motion picture directed by Joe Johnston.

In addition to the mass-market hardcover, a very special deluxe edition is planned. Presented in a larger format, the deluxe edition will be filled with behind-the-scenes material, a treasure of additional pages featuring previously unpublished Rocketeer designs, preliminaries, and sketches by Dave Stevens, many taken from his personal sketchbooks.

“It is an honor to work on The Rocketeer,” said IDW Special Projects editor Scott Dunbier, “I’ve been a fan of Dave Stevens and The Rocketeer since I first read it in the early 80s. It was a dream of Dave’s to see his creation return to the shelves in a complete collection. We are dedicated to making this the definitive edition, a book Dave would have been proud of.” This October The Rocketeer will fly once more.

Dr. Who Whispers "Templesmith? Really? Brilliant!"

From our friends at IDW:

In this special one-shot, Dr. Who, The Whispering Gallery, superstar artist Ben Templesmith tackles his first full Dr. Who project, alongside comic book writers Leah Moore & John Reppion.

In The Whispering Gallery, the TARDIS lands in a maze-like gallery filled with thousands of talking pictures, and the Doctor and Martha discover they've come across a planet where showing emotion has been outlawed. The inhabitants have good reason for their supression, but it wouldn't be like the Doctor to leave them in fear of truly living.

Married writing team Leah Moore and John Reppion have been fans of “Doctor Who” for nearly as long as they can remember, and pitched IDW Publishing on their story idea for the classic British sci-fi hero after Leah had a dream about a two-page spread one night.

Leah Moore said the couple had a hard time initially thinking up an original storyline. “Everything we could think up had already been done, or was not the right kind of story. We went off to bed one night after brainstorming fruitlessly for hours, and I went to sleep worrying that we'd not be able to think of anything and miss out on writing it altogether.”

After the dream, Leah says she woke up knowing clearing what they would do for Dr. Who, and got the story turned around very quickly after that.

Moore and Reppion became involved in the project after being approached by artist Ben Templesmith, an admirer of their work.

“Ben actually approached Leah via the modern miracle of Twitter and asked her if we'd be interested in pitching for a Dr Who one-shot with him as the artist,” explained Reppion. “Naturally, we were thrilled and said yes immediately. Ben is a fantastic artist and we both really admire his work, so it's great to be able to work with him on such a brilliant little project.

Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery hits stands February 29 from IDW Publishing.

32 pages, $3.99

To Read: SHOCK FESTIVAL

From the folks at IDW:

Shock Festival, a lavishly illustrated tribute to the world of B movies in the form of a “mockumentary”, hits bookstores October 25.

Created by screenwriter/author Stephen Romano, the book will be released in a deluxe, oversized 9” x 12” hardcover edition. It is recommended for mature readers only.

An elaborate work of illustrated fiction, Shock Festival is a raunchy and hilarious tale of imaginary exploitation films, brought to life with hundreds of original movie posters and memorabilia items.

Romano (The Riot Act, Masters of Horror) joined forces with legendary comic artist/film designer Tim Bradstreet (Hellblazer) and film actor/director Thomas Jane (The Mist, The Punisher) to create Shock Festival.

The story depicts an alternate universe of B-movie actors, producers, and directors, all struggling for the brass ring as they churn out films in the B movie universe.

According to Stephen Romano, “We wanted to do a book that was a complete fabrication, but remain completely true to the spirit of these films we love. Basically what you are looking at is a sort of ‘historical novel’ that uses the period and the art styles of movie posters of the ‘70s and ‘80s to tell a compelling story. It’s an epic tale disguised as a garish, over-the-top work of ‘psychotronic’ film journalism,” he explains.

Romano combined his own experience of working in Hollywood with a longstanding passion for the world of B-movies to create the story. “There’s a rogues’ gallery of whacky characters populating this story, which begins in 1970 and ends in 1987,” Romano explains. “I'm also a character in the book—a nerdy journalist who tracks down his heroes and eventually gets to make his own movie at the end.”

HC • FC • 356 pages • 9" x 12" • $39.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60010-322-3

Shock Festival is co-branded by IDW Publishing and Raw Entertainment.

Raw Entertainment is the brainchild of artist Tim Bradstreet, who serves as art director/designer and illustrator on the project, and Hollywood actor/director Thomas Jane, who appears in the book as the wild and crazy B-movie tough guy Elliot Swann.

------------------------------------------

Not-So-Special FX

Yesterday (Comic Book Day for the uninitiated) I picked up a copy of Wayne Osborne and John Byrne's FX from IDW Publishing. The story is a simple one we've seen before: Young Tom Talbot, for reasons as yet unknown, receives a blast of energy which gives him the power to become what he imagines. He becomes a human "special effect" (FX in Hollywood parlance) and uses his power to help capture a semi-intelligent Silverback ape (he speaks).

Again, not a sophisticated story by any means but one that isn't without its charms. Tom's naivete' and the urgings of his best friend Jack echo the relationships we've seen many times in comics (NOVA, SPIDERMAN, etc...) and that seems to be the point of this FX exercise - nostalgia. The cover art mimics 70's Marvel including the price box in the upper left corner.

The interior art is serviceable Byrne with minimal backgrounds and adequate staging. All of which is designed to recall those comics of the 60's and 70's which he built his reputation upon. The color scheme is simple mimicking the old 4-color process as well.

I really want to like this book - I REALLY WANT to - but I don't. Most of my reasons for not liking the book relate to the way the content is presented, and not necessarily the story itself. There's the rub -- I have to fault the publisher for this one.

If you are going to mimic a comic from another era, then it behooves you to adopt all of the conventions of that comic, and look to twist them somehow to benefit today's readers. In FX, there are no caption boxes, and in omitting them I believe a whole other level of story has been lost. FX could have been given a much richer and deeper context if they had chosen not to omit this comics motif. To me it actually jars the whole mis en scene out of kilter leaving you with the impression that something is "wrong," but you just can't quite put your finger on it. Excluding captions is a missed opportunity that I hope Osborne and Byrne correct asap.

Byrne's art is serviceable here, but in looking at its presentation, I get the feeling that it would look much better in B&W with ziptone for texture. The backgrounds are lacking in depth and detail which reflects on both the color and the original line work.

One major problem I have with this comic is its price - $3.99. I would have liked it a lot better at the $1.99 price with a 4-color cover and B&W interiors. This is too much to pay for a comic that isn't printed with full, photoshop enhanced color.

Image did it better with their nostalgic look at old comics.
(look at the preview for FANTASTIC COMICS#1)

Read FX at your own risk. Not an auspicious beginning...