Meltzer the Terminator

Thanks to Rags, who for some reason did this as a convention sketch (when asked if he'd rather draw me or Deathstroke). So, this is...uh...me as Deathstroke. I think.

http://tinyurl.com/22dw6d

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JLA 7 Preview

For some reason, this made the rounds last week, but for those who didn't see it, here're the first two pages of tomorrow's JLA issue...

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http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/mar07/previews/mar28th.html

JLA 1 Reprints

The best part is Ed's quote. And just fyi, the reason for the reprint now? With issue zero as the free comic in the Free Comic Book Day giveaway, they wanted to make sure all the kids could go and buy the next issue, rather than having to search out the hardcover.

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Press Release

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1, the first issue of DC Comics' new series written by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Ed Benes and Sandra Hope, has sold out its Second Printing and is going back to press for a new, Third Printing.

"This is totally awesome," says Benes. "I feel like we did a great job and delivered a great story! I'd like to thank the fans for all the kind words on the message boards and blogs - and I also would like to thank Dan DiDio, Brad Meltzer and Eddie Berganza for all their faith in my work and . . . I still can't believe it!"

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1 Third Printing (FEB078133) features a pencils-only version of this issue's variant cover art by Michael Turner and is scheduled to arrive in stores on April 11 with a cover price of $3.99 U.S.

To ensure delivery on April 11, retailers must place orders by Sunday, April 1. Please note that quantities will be limited and may sell out before April 1.

Also, retailers may order one copy of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1 Variant Edition, featuring a color cover by Michael Turner, for every ten copies of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1 Third Printing (FEB078133) ordered through April 1. The JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1 Variant Edition now may be ordered under the Diamond item code FEB078172. Quantities on the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1 Variant Edition are limited; orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Retailers may order these issues by contacting their Diamond Customer Service Representative or DC Sales Representative, or by email at reorders@diamondcomics.com.

Marshall Rogers Dies

As I've said many times, the first comic book I ever read was JLA 150. But the first comic I ever got was the Detective Comics issue with the Laughing Fish Joker cover. I think it was issue 475. It scared me so much, I was terrified to read it. And so I read JLA instead. It took me years before I read that Detective issue -- and all because of Marshall Rogers's amazingly scary and wonderful art. It was so real, so detailed...he was the true precursor to Perez. Last year at NY Comicon, I told him how much I loved his work. I didn't tell him I worked for DC. I was just one of his fans. So sorry to see that man go.

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http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=106531

MARSHALL ROGERS DIES
Comics have lost another luminary. Details are still sketchy, but word came earlier today that Marshall Rogers died yesterday or Saturday. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

Rogers was born on January 22nd, 1950 in Flushing, New Jersey.

From "DC Profiles #26" which appeared in 1978 (courtesy of the Marshall Rogers fan Site):

Of all DC's rapidly rising new stars, Marshall Rogers' ascent has been swiftest of all. In less than a year, Marshall has gone from back feature artist to first-stringer on Detective Comics and Mr. Miracle.

Marshall almost didn't make it to comics. His studies in art school concentrated on architecture, but after two years of studying designing parking lots and shopping centers, Marshall decided "the world wasn't ready for another Frank Lloyd Wright" and left school seeking fame and fortune in the comic field.

Unfortunately, the comics world was not yet ready for Marshall Rogers. For the next two years, he worked in a hardware store while doing occasional illustrations for mass circulation magazines and sharpening his artistic skills.

Apparently, those two years did the trick. Marshall broke into comics, landing a stint pencilling for Marvel's Britain weeklies.

Not long after, Marshall showed up at DC Comics, portfolio in hand, and was given his first assignment: a two part Tales of the Great Disaster story for Weird War Tales. That was followed by some mystery stories, a Tales of Krypton piece and a four part feature in Detective Comics featuring a new villain named The Calculator. His work on the latter led Editor Julie Schwartz to hand Marshall a real plum for a newcomer: pencilling the book length Batman versus the Calculator story in Detective Comics. What came next surprised even Marshall. The powers that be assigned Marshall to Detective as the regular penciller. And he almost immediately picked up the art chores on the newly-revived Mr. Miracle book as well.

"What I try to do," Marshall told DC Profiles, "is first think of what's been done before and then I discard that and try to approach it from a completely different angle." After looking over Marshall Rogers' work, we'd have to say he's found his different angle.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Rogers' career covered many different characters, Rogers is best known for his Batman work when collaborating with writer Steve Englehart. The two first worked together on the character in Detective Comics #471-#476, and for years, their version of the character was considered to be the definitive one – a dark, brooding hero who stayed to the shadows and flowed with a natural grace.

An architect by training, Rogers work always stood out for its attention to detail, from the cityscapes of Gotham and articulated (and realistic) muscles of the heroes, to the different techniques he would employ, from bold blacks and zipatone to a wide array of others.

Rogers work was seen in many other comics from the major publishers including brief runs on Marvel's Silver Surfer, and Dr. Strange as well as a wide variety of independent titles: Detectives, Inc., Coyote (again with Englehart), his own Capt. Quick and the Foozle, and Scorpio Rose.

Rogers left comics for a period in the early '90s to work in videogames, but returned later in the decade, where his work was seen in projects such as Green Lantern: Evil's Might and most recently, Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns Starring The Black Rider, and Batman: Dark Detective a continuation of his and Englehart's story from Detective Comics two and a half decades earlier.

Dah Winnah!

Remember the contest where you played The Book of Fate game and we pick a winner for a free signed copy of the novel? Well, we reached into the giant metal churning thingie like they have in Bingo, and all the balls swirled around, and the winner is...Tom Kozars, who I've never met before, but seems like a good guy because he said I could put his name in the blog, and also said he'd like it personalized to himself. So thanks to all who entered and played and bought duplicate Bingo cards.

Now we gotta come up with something really cool when the paperback comes out next month (see--snuck a plug in! I'm ruthless). Come up with something cool and I'll...we'll find a new prize.

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Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels

We should make t-shirts of all these!

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http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2007/03/top_15_unintent.html

NASCAR Lawsuit!

It's the Nextel punchline that kills me.

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From The Consumerist.Com

AT&T Sues NASCAR Over Cingular Car's Logo

AT&T would really like you to know that Cingular is now part of the new AT&T. In fact, they are claiming in a lawsuit that by not adding the AT&T logo to the existing Cingular car (driven by Jeff Burton) NASCAR is doing "substantial and irreparable" harm to AT&T.

From USAToday: "AT&T submitted a mock-up of the paint scheme in January that kept the car's orange paint scheme and Cingular's logo on the hood. The only AT&T branding was its trademark blue and white globe on the quarter panels. But NASCAR rejected the design. What's the big deal? Well, NASCAR is sponsored by Nextel, and what Nextel says goes. Sorry, AT&T." —MEGHANN MARCO NASCAR, teams rubbing fenders in bid for sponsors

What Scares Me Today

...is this.

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Study Finds One-Third in D.C. Illiterate

WASHINGTON (AP) - About one-third of the people living in the national's capital are functionally illiterate, compared with about one-fifth nationally, according to a report on the District of Columbia.

Adults are considered functionally illiterate if they have trouble doing such things as comprehending bus schedules, reading maps and filling out job applications.

The study by the State Education Agency, a quasi-governmental office created by the U.S. Department of Education to distribute federal funds for literacy services, was ordered by Mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2003 as part of his four-year, $4 million adult literacy initiative.

The growing number of Hispanic and Ethiopian immigrants who aren't proficient in English contributed to the city's high functional illiteracy level, which translated to 170,000 people, said Connie Spinner, director of the State Education Agency. The report says the district's functional illiteracy rate is 36 percent and the nation's 21 percent.

Adults age 65 and older had the lowest literacy score of any group, the report found.

The District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, which contributed to the report, said the city lost up to $107 million in taxes annually between 2000 and 2005 because of a lack of qualified job applicants.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

JLA 1 Redrawn

I love it so much when people do these...

Here's another artist redrawing the first few pages from JLA 1 from the original script. So say hello to T. J. Frias (find more of him at http://www.tjfriasartanddesign.com/comic_book_art.html).

There's a really cool art experiment to be done here...

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Click on the images to enlarge

Cover of JLA 10

As promised, here's the first look at Michael Turner's cover for JLA 10, the final chapter of the JLA/JSA crossover. And yes, this will fit together with the two previous covers. And yes, we don't have the cover for 8 yet. And yes, this is AFTER we asked to reduce Power Girl's chest. I call them the bottled cities of Kandor.

As for interiors, Shane Davis is done with issue 8 (oh, the team-meeting spread), and Ed Benes just handed in his first two Gorilla City pages for issue 9. Geoff and I email art back and forth like thirteen year-olds passing notes or texting or doing whatever thirteen year-olds do these days. But we do the happy dance like Snoopy and can't wait for you to see it.

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Why I Love Alex Sinclair

When we revealed the cover to issue 7 of JLA last week, I talked about all the great artists. And, moron I am, I left one out. So let me use this moment to give a huge apology to colorist Alex Sinclair, who colored this piece, not once, but twice. The reason it pops so much...the reason the background is as lively as the foreground...that's Sinc.

Plus he colored it as poster-sized, so we all owe him massive for that.

Sinc, you own the Crayola box, pal. Thanks for making the rest of us look good.

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JLA #6 Interview

From the post-game show I did with Wizard about JLA #6.

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/003810941.cfm

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JLA #6 Spoilers and Book of Fate Paperback

Just got back from the comic store and there's still nothing like seeing JLA up on the racks. Thanks to all those who have emailed reaction. For over a year now, I've been dying to talk about this issue.

And so glad everyone got to see the cover to #7. The real heroes there are the hundreds of creators who built those past eras. That's who we all owe it to.

And finally, just got word that The Book of Fate will be out in paperback in May -- with some JLA in the back. Can't wait to see that.

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JLA #7 Cover Revealed

Here it is, the cover to JLA #7, courtesy of Eric Wight, George Perez, Luke McDonnell, Kevin Maguire, Howard Porter, Gene Ha, and Ed Benes. And yes, that's the issue where they get the new headquarters.

Writers need to know when to shut up, so I'm letting the image speak for itself.

Thanks to Eric Wight for the brilliant design.



...and, the preview for this week's JLA is up at Newsarama. Reddy vs. Grundy....Amazo vs. The League. Enjoy the carnage.

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JLA Miracle

Just got the first half of the JLA #7 cover. I say this with much restraint: if we pull this off, it's my favorite cover of all time. Eric Wight is a genius for what he designed. And wait till you see the George Perez and Luke McDonnell parts.

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