| July 20, 2003 | Alan Moore Interview in CBA |
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From Vu
COMIC BOOK ARTIST #25 is an all-Alan Moore issue. In a rare interview with Moore, I found out a lot of things that I didn't know about Moore. For instance, he broke into comics writing and drawing his own strip. I also did not know that he truly love the comic book medium, that when he was a child he would read all the UK comics and genuinely love the Superman mythology. There is an interesting comment that he made, which if you write about a character who can fly, the reader reads this and imagines what if you could fly. What if *I* can fly. Suddenly, all the wonder and imagination is put into the reader's head. Anyway, here is an excerpt which George got mentioned.
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ALAN MOORE
Interview conducted by Jon B Cooke & George Khoury
(excerpt)
 SUPERMAN #423
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SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW
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CBA: It took me some time to finally read your work. I would go into comic stores and people were always saying, "Alan Moore this, Alan Moore that," and the talk made it sound like you were trendy and I usually been disappointed buying into trendy stuff. But when I finally read "The Anatomy Lesson" [SWAMP THING #21] I thought, "No f*cking way! This guy's putting hallucinogenics into mainstream comics!" [laughs]
Alan: But it wouldn't have worked if I wasn't a traditionalist. None of this radical work would occur to anyone who wasn't a traditionalist. Unless I understood the tradition of Swamp Thing, how could I ever come up with exactly the right sort of twist to put in them?
When I got my crack at doing Superman stories, my last two stories for Julie, I didn't intend to be irreverent or take the character to some ultimate extreme. I used elements from earlier stories and certainly stretched them, but for instance, I loved Krypto. I knew Krypto was going to be thrown out with all the other garbage in the next issue when John Byrne took over, but at the same time I thought I would try to get the readers to appreciate the good stuff they were losing. I tried to write a Krypto scene that would make grown men weep, and it did. I got some good reports on that death of Krypto. It is okay that we can love this stuff, and I do.
CBA: Did you art direct that?
Alan: This is the only comic book cover [ACTION COMICS #583] I've ever got paid doing the layouts for. That was a delight. I got to work with Kurt Schaffenberger, inked by George Pérez.
| April 11, 2003 | Curt Swan Book |
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From
Newsarama
Topic: CSN @ NEWSARAMA - CURT SWAN: A LIFE IN COMICS
posted April 10, 2003 12:15 PM
by Cliff Biggers
(excerpt)
Curt Swan: A Life in Comics is a most impressive volume; not only has Zeno selected an amazing array of Swan art from his lengthy career—work that has been cleaned up and reproduced with loving care to show off Swan’s skills in the best possible light—but he has supplemented that work with scores of unpublished pieces, pencil drawings, sketches, commissioned drawings, layouts, rarely-seen cartoons and non-comics work, and more. The pencil work in particular conveys the strength of Swan’s artistry in knowing how to convey maximum impact with no wasted lines, no cluttered layout, no pretentious visual gimmickry.
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(Vu: As you know, George Pérez was a big fan of Curt Swan's humanistic approach to drawing Superman. It was a dream come true when he was asked to inked Swan in part two of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" story in SUPERMAN #423.)
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January 4, 2003 | Superman & Swan in CBM #97 |
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From COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE #97 (Dec 2002)
COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE #97
Dec 2002
(excerpt)
Swan's Superman seldom expressed feelings of melancholy; rarely did he brood; yet there was often an air of palpable sadness about him, taken to the extreme in 1961's "The Death of Superman!" (inked by Stan Kaye), above and in Swan's last Superman story in '86, inked by George Pérez, below.
| October 13, 2002 |
DC Collected Editions Version 2.0 |
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From Vu
Newsarama reported:
"DC Comics announced Thursday that a “staggering” 200 titles from the DC Comics backlist are showcased online now at
dccomics.com/collect/, each with cover art, three interior story pages, and content descriptions. The newly-posted site updates the previous version of the DC Graphic Novels webpage and last year's DC Comics Collected Editions Library CD-ROM, reflecting the upcoming Version 2.0 of the CD-ROM."
I went to the link and there are information on CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS TP (one of DC's most popular trade paperback), HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE (popular), WONDER WOMAN: PARADISE LOST TP, NEW TEEN TITANS ARCHIVES HC #1, and SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?.
| July 20, 2002 |
In Case You Missed It (7/16) |
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From Movie Poopshoot
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
posted July 16, 2002 09:09 PM
(A guide to the undiscovered, underrated and underappreciated)
By Tom Grozan
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SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?
Written by Alan Moore with art by Curt Swan, George Perez and Kurt Schaffenberger
In late 1985, with John Byrne scheduled to take over and relaunch SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS, longtime SUPERMAN editor Julius Schwartz was presented with the opportunity to present a grand finale to his stewardship of his titles. His idea was to make believe the last issues of SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS were the last issues ever. His first choice to write the last Superman story was the person who wrote the first, co-creator Jerry Siegel. However, legal entanglements prevented that from happening. He was at the San Diego Comic-Con, having breakfast with none other than Alan Moore, when Schwartz found the answer to his dilemma. Moore literally rose up out of his chair, put his hands around the editor's neck and said, "If you let anyone else write that story, I'll kill you!" Schwartz, like any sane person involved in comics, didn't need to have his life threatened to let Alan Moore work his magic and the result, as usual, is something special.
The story opens in the far-off future of 1997! It's been a decade since the last sighting of Superman and Daily Planet reporter Tim Crane is interviewing Lois Elliot (formerly Lane) about Superman's last days for a special anniversary memorial edition. After putting her baby to sleep and making coffee in her futuristic fishbowl-like coffee maker, Lois' mind flashes back to recount the tale.
It starts off with some of Superman's more benign foes going to surprisingly violent and definitive extremes. Bizarro decides the only way to be the perfect-imperfect duplicate of Superman is to go on a murderous rampage and then commit suicide. The Prankster and the Toyman torture Superman's identity out of Pete Ross and then murder him. They then expose Superman as Clark Kent on national television. With his secret identity destroyed, Superman transports those closest to him to his Fortress of Solitude, fearing that if the likes of the Prankster and Bizarro are committing these acts, what will his truly dangerous foes do?
His fear is prescient as Lex Luthor, Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Villains lay siege to the Fortress, leading to the last stands of a number of beloved characters and the unveiling of the true mastermind behind everything. The unavoidably final solution to the crisis leads Superman to seemingly strip himself of his powers with gold Kryptonite and disappear forever. Moore's story does a great job of bringing the cast and the Silver Age to its logical and final conclusions while still serving up a number of surprises. While newer readers might not recognize the more arcane Silver Age references, everything you need to know is explained in the story, and it's a wild ride. If ever there was a super-hero Ragnarok, this is it. The art is by longtime Superman artist Curt Swan, whose work is considered by many to be the definitive look for character and his cast. While some of the visuals are campily dated (Reporter Tim Crane's "futuristically modern" wardrobe looks like a cross between Austin Powers and Mister Furley from THREE'S COMPANY), it is the classic look for that era and the perfect choice for the story that closes it out.
I could go on dissecting the key moments and surprises in this story, but that would ruin the thrill of reading it. Trust me, it's worth a look. While Alan Moore followed this with more serious works like WATCHMEN and FROM HELL, his post-modern take on the Silver Age has resurfaced from time to time in works like SUPREME for Awesome Comics and TOM STRONG for his own ABC line. This story, however, is where those ideas first surfaced and is still his best take on the subject matter.
| June 27, 2002 |
Wizard's Top 100 TPs |
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From WIZARD #131 (Aug 02)
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS
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80. CRISIS ON INFINITIE EARTHS (DC Softcover)
The most ambitious comic project ever could fill another volume with its body count. Marv Wolfman and George Perez's Crisis aimed to clean up DC's cluttered 50-year-old continuity by merging the handful of its parallel Earths into one, but not before a being called the Anti-Monitor destroys an infinite amount of worlds in the process. This cover, penciled by Pérez and painted by Alex Ross, is easily one of the most beautiful ever produced and worth the purchase alone. "It was actually the first series I ever followed," says JSA writer Geoff Johns who was 12 at the time. "For me, it really shaped the DCU. I doubt I would've read many DC comics before Crisis."
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AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED
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79. AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED (Marvel softcover)
The perfect killing machine has just received an upgrade, courtesy of Kurt Busiek and George Pérez. Ultron, one of the Avengers most powerful foes, returns with an appetite for destruction and holds the fate of mankind in his adamantium grip. After Ultron slaughters the small European country of Slorenia in under three hours, Earth's Mightiest Heroes must rally like never before in order to put a stop to this reawakened threat. But do they have what it takes to send this maniacal killing machine to the scrap heap once and for all ?
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INFINITY GAUNTLET
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60. INFINITY GAUNTLET (Marvel softcover)
Even when he's a god, Thanos still can't get lucky with the ladies. Possessing the six Infinity Gems, Thanos gain omnipotence and kills half the universe's population with the snap of his finger in an attempt to earn the affection of the mistress Death. A plethora of Marvel heroes mount a defensive to thwart the mad Titan, but how can you beat a god? Only writer Jim Starlin knew the answer. "It had a hundred characters and mindless destruction, but for all the bombast, it was really about a guy trying to impress a girl," say Sojourn writer Ron Marz. "Thanos' failure is ultimately one of unrequited love. Who can't relate to that?"
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THE NEW TEEN TITANS: THE JUDAS CONTRACT
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15. THE NEW TEEN TITANS: THE JUDAS CONTRACT (DC softcover)
The Titans have a traitor in their midst. This spy knows their secrets and hands them over to the deadliest mercenary alive: Deathstroke the Terminator, who systematically takes out the team. Only Nightwing escapes… but even he needs help in order to rescue them before it's too late. In this storyarc, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez pull off a lot in six issues: Dick Grayson becomes Nightwing for the first time, Kid Flash quits, Jericho (the son of Deathstroke) joins up… and a tragic blow hits the team. "Judas Contract is a perfect template for powerful, dramatic storytelling," lauds Steve Kurth, penciler for G.I.Joe. "This story was pure magic."
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SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?
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9. SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? (DC softcover)
It was time for the Man of Tomorrow to become the Man of Yesterday. As DC prepared to start Superman from scratch in 1986, the publisher watned to send off the "old" Man of Steel that had been around since 1938. writer Alan Moore had Supes face off with Lex Luthor and Braniac in the Fortress of Solitude a final time, leaving every reader with a tear in their eye. "A bittersweet goodbye to Superman continuity in order to pave way for a revamped Man of Steel, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow worked as both a nostalgic nod to a simpler past, and alook forward to all that comics could be," says Sojourn scribe Ron Marz. "This 'last' Superman story is also one of the best."
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GREATEST STORIES NOT IN TPBS
JOHN BYRNE'S NEW SUPERMAN Ain't it amazing that with everything DC collects, it hasn't collected Byrne's headline-making 1986 revamp of the regular series? Especially the three-part story where Supes must help save Earth once inhabited by the "pre-Byrne" Superman where the Man of Steel must take the role of judge, jury and executioner.
GEORGE PEREZ'S NEW WONDER WOMAN Ditto for Pérez's 1987 revamp of everyone's favorite Amazon princess. With stunning art and stronger ties to Greek mythology, Diana enters man's world for the first time, learning lessons the hard way.
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Sun, 14 Jan 2007 01:34:59 CST
