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BobBretall wrote:Titles still "up for grabs"....

Batman: The Dark Knight
Batwing
Birds of Prey
Captain Atom
DC Universe Presents
Flash
Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE
Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern: New Guardians
I, Vampire
Legion Lost
Legion of Super-heroes
Men of War
Red Hood & the Outlaws
Superboy
Voodoo

I'm cleaning up Batman: The Dark Knight. I hope to have it to you by later this evening.

I believe that leaves:
Batwing
Birds of Prey
DC Universe Presents
Flash
Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE
Green Lantern Corps
I, Vampire
Legion Lost
Legion of Super-heroes
Men of War
Red Hood & the Outlaws
Superboy

Sorry Bob, just saw your post about wanting these this past weekend (which I couldn't have done). Will try to get these done tonight and email to you late this evening.

Thanks!

Sorry I missed the DC June 24th date. I thought it was this Friday and got mixed up.

John is going to put up the episode next week to balance out the publishing schedule, so there is some extra time.

Please get in any outstanding clips this week, please.

BobBretall wrote:

abysslord wrote:Anyone ever read Gregory's work before? I think the art will be the determining factor for me on this one. The covers look great, but I know that doesn't mean anything as far as what the inside looks like.

Yes. I like some of it and am lukewarm on others.

For his most recent Zenescope stuff:

GFT: Myths & Legends - I really like this one
GFT: Dream Eater Saga - This is OK
Fly - This was poorly paced and since coupled with what I considered to be weak art, I dropped the title.

So, try out the #1 if it sounds interesting, the proof will be in the reading.

PS: Zenescope is ABSOLUTELY a company where you cannot judge a book by the cover. They have tons of really nice covers and the insides often do not measure up.

I actually enjoyed the writing in Fly #1, but I'll raise your 'weak art' and call it 'bad art'. Since abysslord was asking about the writer I'll use that last sentence to encourage him to check out The Theater since I enjoyed Fly despite the art. In the interest of full disclosure I don't plan on picking up The Theater because I'm not big on horror comics.

I liked the art when I read the story, and were it not for another podcast, Pete's Basement, I probably wouldn't have realized how bad the art was. Here's why:

Spoiler Alert, but I'll try to make it generic enough to minimize the impact.

The guy in the story is beat up pretty good, including being thrown through a window. The person who threw him through the window is shown crouching in front of him, gripping some pieces of glass in his face. When I read it I assumed the glass was being removed (kind of like when a psycho is shown to do something nice for their victim which underscores their craziness, and provides a juxtaposition to make the torture even more brutal). The Pete's Basement hosts saw that same panel and assumed the glass was being pushed in to his face to increase his pain and discomfort. Two different perspectives on the same exact art. There shouldn't be this level of ambiguity from the artist.

boshuda wrote: I actually enjoyed the writing in Fly #1, but I'll raise your 'weak art' and call it 'bad art'. Since abysslord was asking about the writer I'll use that last sentence to encourage him to check out The Theater since I enjoyed Fly despite the art. In the interest of full disclosure I don't plan on picking up The Theater because I'm not big on horror comics.

I liked the art when I read the story, and were it not for another podcast, Pete's Basement, I probably wouldn't have realized how bad the art was.
<<snip>>
There shouldn't be this level of ambiguity from the artist.

I try really hard to not use the word "bad" related to art, since art is very subjective. That said, I didn't really notice the ambiguity in the scene you mentioned while reading the issue and would attribute that ambiguity as much to the writing as the art (e.g. a verbal accompaniment could have been there to reinforce the action).

The art didn't particularly impress me at any point and seemed to flip between 2 different core styles. That was coupled with what I thought was really poor pacing in the story (the reveal at the end should have been in the middle of the story, IMO, so that they could have developed the actual cool concept of the series in the #1 issue instead of making it a 1 panel cliffhanger at the end.

So, I'll say I really liked Raven Gregory's basic concept for the series Fly, but I think he dropped the ball in the execution of the #1 issue.

Just re-sent the .wav file for Red Hood and the Outlaws as my AOL was acting up last night. Hope it works. I compressed the file to decrease the size. My admiration for those of you that regularly do this has increased as this was much more work than I would have thought (or then may be surmised by listening to the end product). Thanks.

BobBretall wrote:I try really hard to not use the word "bad" related to art, since art is very subjective.

Normally I don't like to use value judgements with regards to art either, I try to say "I like it", or something similar. I feel comics are a special case because the artist needs to convey a story. If they can't do that, then they've failed and therefore the art is 'bad'. If the art doesn't convey a story (sequential or otherwise) then it's no longer a comic and is now a bound collection of thematically similar art. I liked the art, but since it failed in properly telling the story I call it bad.

BobBretall wrote:The art didn't particularly impress me at any point and seemed to flip between 2 different core styles.

I was impressed with the 2 different core styles, since it made a clear delineation between current events, and past events. The gritty, dark artwork of the present created a wonderful dichotomy with the cartoony, happy, shiny flashback panels. But there wasn't so much of a difference between styles that I was jarred from the story by the abrupt change. The difference really helped underscore how badly things were going for the protagonist, and how great things used to be.

BobBretall wrote:That said, I didn't really notice the ambiguity in the scene you mentioned while reading the issue and would attribute that ambiguity as much to the writing as the art (e.g. a verbal accompaniment could have been there to reinforce the action).

I have to blame the artist on that one. Mainly because I can't come up with something the writer could have supplied the artist that would have caused them to draw it like this. I imagine that particular panel being written one of three ways:
1. Nothing was said beyond the most vague statements like "person a is beat up by person b", maybe it was as specific as stating the victim had glass embedded in his face
2. The glass was to be removed by the assaulter - this could be conveyed by a skilled artist
3. The glass was to be inserted by the assaulter - again, a straightforward action that could be illustrated clearly

The way it was drawn the only way I could blame the writer is if it said "have the assaulter touch a piece of glass embedded in the victim's face", or some variation of that.

Admittedly, this is an argument from ignorance (I can't conceive of the writer being to blame for this, therefore it must be the artist's fault).

OK everyone......

NOW it's time to think about some clips spotlighting the "best of the rest".

All those other publishers are putting out books in September too!!!

Send clips by this Saturday, the 9th.

Added links to solicits for Boom! / Moonstone / Zenescope

BobBretall wrote:OK everyone......

NOW it's time to think about some clips spotlighting the "best of the rest".

All those other publishers are putting out books in September too!!!

Send clips by this Saturday, the 9th.

I am going to send a couple of recommendations:

Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 (yes, shocking)
New Avengers #16.1

Has anyone claimed Buffy #1? I'd like to do that one, unless someone else already is.

Tom wrote:Has anyone claimed Buffy #1? I'd like to do that one, unless someone else already is.

Go for it!!!

Here are the books john & I are doing:

John Mayo Star Trek Ongoing #1
Bob Bretall Near Death #1
John Mayo Witchblade #150
Bob Bretall Lovestruck OGN
John Mayo Herc #7
John Mayo X-Men #17
Bob Bretall Flash Gordon: The Vengeance of Ming
Bob Bretall Black Powder #1
John Mayo Orbit: Stan Lee
Bob Bretall The Rinse #1
Bob Bretall Extinction Seed #0
John Mayo Atomic Robo & the Ghost of Station X #2
Bob Bretall Black River one shot