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My top pick is the collection from Jim Woodring‘s work, including a preview of the yet-to-be-released Weathercraft. Woodring is a master of surreal, mind-bending comics and this collection should be a nice introduction to his strange world.

Also promising is Drawn & Quarterly‘s “YOW! The John Stanley Library.” Another collection, this time focusing on Little Lulu artist John Stanley whose clear-line work and distinct aesthetic defined a generation of cartoonists. I am not really familiar with Stanley’s work, but the preview definitely has my interest.

IDW is offering a collection of action/adventure comics from the 1970s. Want to know where that photo-realistic, dynamic superhero style came from? Look no further.

And finally, The Tick. In celebration of the 24th anniversary of issue one of The Tick, NEC is re-releasing issue on of The Tick. (that seems to make sense).

Indie comics supa-star Chris Ware was commissioned to draw the cover of the May issue of Fortune.  Ware’s appropriately cynical take on “these economic times” was probably the reason for the rejection (keep an eye open for the workers at “Fabrica de Explotacion” and the Wall Street types being showered with cash), but Fortune has not said why they turned it down. Check out the story here and take a look at the cover after the jump.

Update: Here is a blog post about the process of creating the cover Fortune decided to print. No mention of Ware, but an interesting look at design and revision.

This is my comics font mega-post. I will update it as often as possible. Get ready for fun.

First, a little history:

• Todd Klein gives a great overview of his long and fascinating career over at his site. Click lettering to learn a whole lot about the history of letters in mainstream comics.
• Richard Starking and John Roshell run Comicraft, a major lettering company. This site is less detailed than Klein’s but has some interesting stories.

Some online resources:

• Blambot, tons of free comic fonts (as long as you don’t use them to make money)  Probably the best resource on the web for free comics fonts. The site also includes tutorials on how to install the fonts and other important topics.
• League of Movable Type Great fonts, great approach to open source font making. Read their manifesto, it is worth it. For comics folks, Sniglet might be of particular use.
• Comicraft also runs Balloon Tales which has very specific tips on lettering and the software associated with it. Mostly focused on Illustrator and Quark, but there is something for everyone.

TO BE CONTINUED

Tons of pictures after the jump

The first appearance of Captain America was in Captain America Comics #1 in 1941. Note that he is punching Hitler and deflecting a bullet with his shield. Not too shabby.

The second issue saw a round shield that can still deflect bullets.  The title gets the 3d treatment, and Hitler is foiled again.  Nice work, Cap.

After five years working with similar themes, Captain America’s popularity waned and he was shifted over to heading Marvel/Timely comics first superhero team, The All Winners Squad.  Apparently, their first enemy is some kind of puppet-master/ninja.

Sales continued to slip and, after some style experiments, “Captain America Comics” became “Captain America’s Weird Tales” in 1950 (Note Captain America is not even on the cover)

The comic went on a brief hiatus before returning as “Captain America… Commie Smasher!” in 1954.  Note the blue ring is gone from the shield.

“Captain America…Commie Smasher” only lasted three issues (plenty of time to  “defy the communist hordes“) and was then canceled.

Then, in 1964, the body of Captain America is found frozen in suspended animation (sound familiar?) and he joins The Avengers, a team of superheroes that fights supervillains instead of Nazis.

As near as I can tell, Captain America looks pretty much the same until 1987 when he sports a black version of his costume as a protest against a corrupt fictional president.

After a few issues he changes back to the classic look. Based on my image searches, this look is modified with some scales on his shirt, and some pouches for hero stuff, but remains pretty similar to the 1960s costume.

Apparently, there is a now a new Captain America who has a new costume and complicated back story that dates back to the 1940s. If anyone wants to do the research on that, be my guest.

I will leave you with the suggestion that Captain America’s look has as much to do with the political climate of the times as it does with being fashionable. In the 40s, he is a flag flying over enemy territory.  In the 50s, he is an over-anxious response to a vague threat. In the 60s, he is a capital “S” Superhero leading a team of big name heroes (no more All Winners Squad, thank you). In the 80s, he becomes disenfranchised with the system (briefly). And in the most recent images I could find, he looks “realistic” in the ways that blockbuster movies are “realistic”:  A photograph of an ideal.

But that is just my two cents. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think .

Included in the book is Dash Shaw‘s take on Dr. Strange, the namesake of the Strange Tales comic during the 1960s. Since we have read some of Shaw’s work as a class, I thought it was fitting to take a peak (courtesy of Shaw’s website) at his take on a classic character as we move into the superhero portion of the semester. I haven’t read the whole story, but, judging by the two pages below, taking on Dr. Strange seems to be a good fit for Shaw whose work often trends toward the more expressive and abstract.

Plus there are some nice colors. Pictures >>

Mazzuchelli also worked on an adaptation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass as part of Avon Book’s short lived Neon Lit series. The series only adapted two novels (Currently, Avon publishes romance novels) Cit of Glass is still in print and continues to inspire creators [1, 2, 3, 4].

And for fun, here are some pages from Batman: Year One [1,2,3] and Daredevil [1, 2, 3] all by Mazzucchelli and Frank Miller (and an army of inkers, colorists, and letterers).

Hey, I don’t know much about this event, but it looks pretty fabulous. Here is what they say:

In MOTIONARY COMICS, groups of teams will be creating a mural-sized comic strip over the course of Gallery Night. One choreographer, six paintable people, three painters, six illustrators, three videographers, one still photographer, and five producers. (via their FB page)

It takes place on Friday, April 16, 2010 from 5pm-midnight the Moct Bar (sorry, under 21 year-olds). Some more information can be found here. Seems like it will be pretty cool.