Doc Savage Dynamite Covers by Alex Ross

I read some news on Facebook (via Sal Abbinanti) that Dynamite will be publishing a Doc Savage comic at the end of this year!  Makes sense as they already publish The Shadow.

Alex Ross is doing the covers!  I think this is the greatest part of the announcement.  The cover for the first issue has Doc Savage in a classic pose with montages of his gang around him -- you can see the Fabulous Five and Pat Savage.  The arrangement of this cover reminded me of Steranko's cover for SHIELD #4...and now I see that Ross signed this one "after Steranko".

Doc Savage #2 sports a cover that is a direct homage to one of James Bama's paperback paintings.  I like how Dynamite created the logo and cover lettering to resemble one of the old Bantam paperbacks.

After a little investigative research (Google searching) I found a nifty Pinterest board for James Bama artwork.  The Bama cover that inspired Ross must have been this cover to Doc Savage paperback #38, Red Snow.  I remember buying this one for 60 cents!  It was a terrifying image with Doc standing stoicly in front of the red haze.  Look at the face and compare some of the details to the face on Ross' painting -- I am pretty sure he was looking at this for inspiration.

No idea what to expect from the story, this article on CBR has a small interview with the writer, Chris Roberson.  Robeson plans to start the story in the 30s and bring Doc into the present day?  Doc would have to be over 100 years old!  There would have to be an "Infinity Formula" keeping him alive or else time travel -- something that I think DC Comics tried in their revival decades ago.  Nuff Said!

New Legion of Super-Heroes cover by Alex Ross for Back Issue 61

I just discovered this phantasmagorical cover by Alex Ross, featuring the classic Legion of Super-Heroes, for the upcoming Back Issue #61 from TwoMorrows.  Notice all the 1970s Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell costumes, including Saturn Girl's outfit which robs men of their minds.  Superboy's look seems to be based on someone, perhaps one of the actors from the 1980s Superboy TV shows?

Alex Ross did this cover as a tribute to Mike Grell's cover for Limited Collectors Edition C-49, from 1976.  Ross added many details, including the futuristic city background, and increased the closeup on all the Legionnaires.  Back Issue 61 is a tribute to those tabloid sized specials.  Sounds great, but we will all have to wait for the end of the year, as this one ships in November 2012!  Nuff Said.

Mad Magazine Green Lantern parody: In Dumbest Day…

I love this wacky new cover to the August issue of MAD Magazine (on sale 6\28\11) with Alfred E Newman in a Green Lantern uniform.

The MAD twist on the GL oath is classic: 

In Dumbest Day,
In Dimmest Night,
We’re Looking for Readers,
Who Ain’t Too Bright!

Reminds me of the MAD About Superheroes trade paperback with a brilliant cover by Alex Ross, showing Newman alongside Superman and Batman.  Nuff Said!

Link: DC Universe Source Blog

Alex Ross TV Guide 2001 Smallville covers and a look back at ten years of the show

Hard to believe that Smallville has been on television since 2001!  Having been in production ten years, this must be the most successful show ever created about a comic book character.  I recently came across these cover scans of TV Guide from December 2001, when they commissioned Alex Ross to do 4 covers.  The first one here has Tom Welling as young Clark Kent.  I think Welling was born to be a Ross model!

Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang.  While the likeness is good, I think this painting misses part of her personality.   That desperate soap-opera watery longing for Clark in her eyes, which stretched out an impossibly doomed romance over 6 years. 

Michael Rosenbaum, as young Lex Luthor.  A thumb and fore-finger cradling a bald head always points to Machiavellian levels of intelligence.  I often try this trick on my enemies, but it just doesn’t seem to intimidate them at all.

Finally, Alex Ross’ superb rendition of Superman.  I always read TV Guide in the 70s, and having Ross’ painting next to that famous logo just seemed to legitimize the comics art form.

The interior article featured this photo of Kristin Kreuk, who looked incredibly young and fresh back then.  When this series first went on the air, didn’t we have internet trolls saying that Lana couldn’t possibly be portrayed by a girl of Asian-mixed heritage?  Years later those same trolls probably watched Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li five times because she starred in the movie.

Tom Welling also seemed impossibly young.  It will be interesting to see if he can star in anything else after being associated with Clark Kent for 10 years.  He has directed a lot of the episodes and can have a career as a producer/director.

I’ve watched Smallville sporadically, cherry picking what looked to be the best episodes.  My favorite episode was in 2004, Run, which featured The Flash.  They used Bart Allen as a super-speed troublemaker and there was a nice light-hearted tone to the story.  Any of the episodes featuring Justice League characters were worth watching.  Another favorite was Red from 2002, which was written by Jeph Loeb.  It was fun seeing Clark Kent’s personality change under the influence of Red Kryptonite, and it almost brought him together with Chloe, Allison Mack’s character.  I think the Smallville writers really missed a beat—if this universe is different than the comics, why not have Clark wind up with Chloe rather than Lana/Lois?  In the past couple of years, the Geoff Johns episodes have been special, especially the Justice Society one with Hawkman.  Nuff Said!