Tom Derenick helps us celebrate that, at long last, Wonder Woman1984 opens today in theaters and starts streaming on HBO Max.
Probably not a Christmas film per se, it is still something of a Christmas Miracle that the film, completed in time for a Holiday 2019 release, will finally see the light of day.
I’m looking forward to it, especially since I’ve already completed most of my Christmas film rituals, including watching Die Hard last night.
“Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s The Green Lantern is imaginative, surprising and just plain weird. And one of the most fearlessly unique comics currently on the stands.” –Rosie Marx
Liam Sharp reunites Green Lantern and his old teammate Green Arrow for a trippy alien drug ring story written by Grant Morrison.
Sharp has been a stellar artist since he broke into the industry in the 80s with work at 2000 AD, but in my opinion, his storytelling and draftsmanship get (ahem) sharper all the time.
I loved his contemporary work on Wonder Woman as well, but many of those originals were drawn at 18×24, and I hate to say it, but space is finite.
The GL pages — at least from this issue — are drawn at standard art size, and therefore a bit more manageable.
And of course, terrific.
I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the Green Lantern series on HBO Max. Managed well (and budgeted accordingly) it has astonishing potential.
Today is officially “Batman Day”, so here is a gallery of all the Batman images published prior to this year’s celebration. Click on any name to see larger images and the original post.
Concluding for now our celebration of Wonder Woman, in anticipation of the much anticipated (and delayed) superhero film, Wonder Woman 1984.
Scott Kolins creates a fierce “in-action” pin-up of Wonder Woman using only graphite. (The page is colored and published directly from the pencils.)
DC has created some terrific celebratory issues and this one is no exception. Plenty of other pinups in the oversized issue from 2010, featuring art by Adam Hughes, Jock, Ivan Reis and many more.
We will back with one more Wonder Woman post, whenever the film finally opens.
Continuing our celebration of Wonder Woman for the next few posts — no matter when the new film finally releases.
Gene Colan delivers an outstanding splash in an offbeat story involving t video-game mania. Well, it was 1982. Think Atari 2600. Only here we have a cast-off villain –General Electric — from Jack Kirby’s Sandman (I kid you not) who uses a kind of mass hypnosis… oh never mind.
As mentioned previously, I’m a passionate fan of Gene’s work and picked up nearly everything he did at Marvel. By the time he jumped ship to DC I was less interested in superhero comics in general and paid little attention to his work on Wonder Woman. (Batman was another story, as I thought he was a great choice for the dark detective.)
Turns out it was a short but memorable run on WW (artistically at least) and Gene is actually responsible —under the direction of publisher Jeanette Kahn — for her very first costume re-design, replacing the eagle on her chest with the “WW.” (Not including a brief stint in “mod” civilian attire in 1968- 1973.)
The exact new design may have been a work in progress, because the halter on this original has an art patch on it.
Wonder Woman gets an updated halter, logo and creative team, as previewed in DC Comics Presents #41, and ultimately launching in Wonder Woman #288.
Gene’s work at Marvel looked nothing like the other “bullpen” artists, yet somehow fit in perfectly. Where he went, I typically followed.
Sensation Comics, (digital) #26, (print) #9, June 2015
Continuing our celebration of Wonder Woman for the next few posts — no matter when the new film finally releases.
Plenty of reboots. Rebirths. New universes. New timelines. Old characters return. New characters die. Old characters becomenew characters.
Rinse. Repeat.
And yet somehow, through all of this, the dynamic duo art team of Chris Sprouse and Karl Story are not illustrating a mainstream superhero comic book on an ongoing basis.
The ONLY —and I mean ONLY – reason this should be possible is speed. Plenty of talented art teams have trouble with long-term monthly output. (As they say, I have the gray hair to prove it.)
But that can fixed with some long-term creative planning and execution.
Meanwhile, even if it’s a rare sighting, it’s definitely a welcome one.
Like this Wonder Woman splash, from a “digital First” Sensation Comics series featuring multiple creative teams.
The pages have to work in both digital and print format, and that’s certainly not a problem here. Good, clean storytelling from a fun tale featuring Diana and Lois Lane.
Continuing our celebration of Wonder Woman for the next few posts — no matter when the new film finally releases.
As noted previously, I’m a passionate admirer of Alphonse Much and the Art Nouveau period of the late 19thand early 20th century.
Aaron Lopresti captures the style flawlessly with his print “Warrior Nouveau,” — Wonder Woman as if developed during the Nouveau period.
In addition to the print, Aaron is using the graphic on his personalized convention banner as well. (I wonder — only half-kidding — if he will sell it to me when he’s done with it.)
Not much to add here other than I’m certainly glad I happened upon the original when I did. It’s one of those pieces that typically disappears deep into a collection, not to be seen again for a long time, if ever.
A work in progress: Rough and finished pencils.
Alphonse Mucha’s renderings are astonishing, even if his ladies are less battle ready than Wonder Woman.
Continuing our celebration of Wonder Woman for the next few weeks — no matter when the new film finally releases.
Jim Lee’s 12-issue run on Superman, “For Tomorrow”, is classic. Even though the story itself is not as highly regarded as his Batman “Hush” storyline, the art and storytelling start off pretty great and quickly proceed to spectacular.
Comic Book Resources summed it up:
“Superman: For Tomorrow” is an uneasy mixture of introspection, lamentation, and explosive action (think “Hamlet” mixed with “Godzilla”), Lee’s art only increases in spectacle as the story unfolds.”
Case in point, this issue featuring Wonder Woman: Epic action, glorious detail, creative and dynamic storytelling. Do you get the sense I like the art?
Inks on this page are provided by the talented Sandra Hope, filling in for Scott Williams. Based on high quality of the finished story, I’m certain there were some deadline struggles along the way.
Re-reading the entire story today, it’s also better than I realized the first time around. That said, the Absolute Edition is definitely worth owning for the art alone.
Continuing our celebration of Wonder Woman for the next few weeks — no matter when the new film finally releases.
David Finch provides us with a beautifully illustrated, classic splash page of Wonder Woman in flight. An iconic pose, it could easily be used in a DC licensing style guide.
She’s wearing her “2011” costume, which disappeared with much fanfare in issue #41 — and then mysteriously reappeared, without explanation, a few issues later. (The interim issues had featured a brand new costume design by Finch and his writing partner and wife, Meredith.)
Finch’s detailed and lush artwork speaks for itself, of course. He is easily one of the most well regarded artists of the 21stcentury.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing quite a few of his originals from his inkers (this piece is inked by the terrific Scott Hanna) and their art reps.
We should all be getting ready to go see Wonder Woman 1984, the follow-up to the mega hit original Wonder Woman, this week.
Well, actually, we should have seen it back in June.
Ummm… actually, we could have seen it last fall. It’s been in the can for quite some time. The first delay was because of strictly commercial scheduling reasons, while the next two are due to COVID. I’m pretty certain Warner would like to go back in time and release it on its original schedule. (Come to think of it going back in time is a good idea for pretty much every reason.)
Its currently on the schedule for October 2, and If I were guessing, it will arrive then no matter what, even it means some sort of weird combo of theatrical and Video On Demand (VOD).
But that’s just an educated guess.
In the meantime, we’ve moved the Wonder Woman art posts around a few times to accommodate the film’s timing, and they can’t be moved anymore, as we’ve run into to other scheduling roadblocks. (Just like the film studios, except we don’t have millions of dollars on the line.)
And, were starting off our next two weeks of Wonder Woman blogs with not only a great piece of art by the terrific Tony Daniels, but a very appropriate one as well: That’s Maxwell Lord she’s got under control, and he apparently plays a major role in the film.
I don’t know much more than what I’ve seen in the trailer, because if I’m not actually working a project, I try to avoid any spoiler details, whatsoever. And the more this film gets delayed, the more difficult that becomes.
Fingers crossed, it’s only two more months.
Fun Fact #1: This is the only appearance of Diana in the entire issue. As the published page clarifies, Cassandra (Wonder Girl) is viewing Wonder Woman’s confrontation with Max on a TV.
Fun fact #2: The printed page is reversed, but I’m wondering if a last minute page layout change (because of an advertisement) renders the change moot. It appears on the left side of the spread and, in my mind, works better with its original direction if it’s a “lefty.”
