blond | DC Comics

“Who would want to stop this story enough to kill?”

A reporter working on a story about Batman’s true identity has been murdered. In addition to his own moral struggle over whether or not he is responsible, Batman must hunt the killer down and figure out why he’s so desperate to stop the story’s publication. Meanwhile, Clark Kent is assigned to finish the piece. But will Superman really reveal who Batman is to the world? And furthermore, does taking over this assignment mean that Clark Kent is the killer’s next victim?

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and featuring art by Tomàs Giorello and Blond, SUPERMAN/BATMAN #86 arrives in stores today.

[gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2"]

Tags:

blond, Joshua Hale Fialkov, superman/batman, Tomàs Giorello

With all these new villains, Arkham Asylum is going to need a new wing

This October, Gotham City will be overrun by new villains. In DETECTIVE COMICS, Batman will face the Gotham Ripper. In BATGIRL, Barbara Gordon will take on Mirror. Mysterious villains will be terrorizing Gotham in BATMAN, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT, BATWOMAN and NIGHTWING. And around the globe, evil takes new forms in BATWING and RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS. Can the Bat family defeat all these foes or is the fate of Gotham – and the world at large – permanently doomed?

BATMAN #2

Written by SCOTT SNYDER

Art and cover by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION

Cover by GREG CAPULLO

Variant cover by JIM LEE

1:200 B&W variant cover by GREG CAPULLO

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Bruce Wayne is back in the cowl, hunting a new and deadly killer in Gotham City – a killer with a vendetta against Bruce Wayne! But who is this mysterious killer in an owl skull mask? And is he the key to unlocking one of Gotham’s oldest and most terrifying secrets? Be there for their first brutal encounter!

BATWING #2

Written by JUDD WINICK

Art and cover by BEN OLIVER

On sale OCTOBER 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

He is called Massacre, and he brings death. What does the soldier in service of Batman Incorporated do when he’s met his match? When he’s been brought so low and been wounded so badly? What does he do when lost Super Heroes begin turning up as victims? Batwing fights back!

DETECTIVE COMICS #2

Written by TONY S. DANIEL

Art by TONY S. DANIEL and RYAN WINN

Cover by TONY S. DANIEL

On sale OCTOBER 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Batman sets his sights on the Gotham Ripper, who in turn has his sights on Batman. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne explores a budding romance with television journalist Charlotte Rivers, who’s visiting Gotham City to cover the gruesome slayings – while also trying to uncover Bruce’s own mystery. But time is running out as both Commissioner Gordon and Batman work to uncover the true identity of this new serial killer.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #2

Written by DAVID FINCH and PAUL JENKINS

Art by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND with JAY FABOK

Cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND

On sale OCTOBER 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Something sinister surges through Arkham Asylum, and Batman finds himself bombarded by his greatest foes in this second sensational issue from superstar creator David Finch!

Bigger, meaner, and more powerful than ever before, the inmates of Arkham Asylum run rampant as the entire Bat Family struggles to keep the walls from falling down, unleashing Gotham City’s worst criminals on the unsuspecting population. And you won’t believe the jaw-dropping final page! Just keep repeating, “It’s only a comic book. It’s only a comic book...”

BATMAN AND ROBIN #2

Written by PETER J. TOMASI

Art by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY

Cover by PATRICK GLEASON

On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Batman’s fears about Robin’s tendency to dish out more pain than necessary are growing! And who is the man named NoBody, visiting Gotham City to say hello to his old friend Bruce Wayne and find out where he went wrong in his battle against crime.

BATGIRL #2

Written by GAIL SIMONE

Art by ARDIAN SYAF and VICENTE CIFUENTES

Cover by ADAM HUGHES

On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The nightmare-inducing brute known as Mirror is destroying the lives of Gotham City citizens seemingly at random, and an explosive confrontation between Batgirl and Mirror leads Babs to question wearing the cape and cowl at all!

The riveting adventures of Batgirl continue in stunning fashion, with script by fan-favorite Gail Simone and stellar art by superstar Ardian Syaf!

BATWOMAN #2

Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN

Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III

On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+

Horror! A terrifying new villain stalks the innocent children of Gotham City! Intrigue! A threatening government agency is hot on Batwoman’s trail. Romance! Kate Kane’s new relationship is heating up!

Can Batwoman stop the new evil rising from the damp back alleys of Gotham’s barrios? And overcome the many challenges she faces as both Batwoman and Kate Kane? 2011’s most anticipated new series intensifies in this exciting second issue!

NIGHTWING #2

Written by KYLE HIGGINS

Art and cover by EDDY BARROWS and JP MAYER

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

When a mysterious assassin targets Dick Grayson, Nightwing must work fast to uncover the killer’s plot before he strikes again. But as Haley’s Circus continues to perform in Gotham City, Dick finds himself torn between two lives: His old one as a circus performer and his new one as a Super Hero. And they may be more connected than he ever realized!

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #2

Written by SCOTT LOBDELL

Art and cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT and BLOND

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Red Hood is already globe-trotting in an effort to find the ancient assassins behind the slaughter of those who taught him some of his darkest skills... and if Roy and Kori are going to be of any help, well, they’ll just have to tag along – whether Jason wants them to or not!

BIRDS OF PREY #2

Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI

Art and cover by JESUS SAIZ

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

An explosion in a secure Gotham City airport terminal hurls Black Canary and Starling headlong into a nightmare involving stolen pharmaceuticals, terrorists for hire and killers in stealth suits who can appear – and disappear – at will. When Canary calls in backup, Starling’s not so sure a vengeful samurai who talks to her dead husband in a sword is the best choice.

CATWOMAN #2

Written by JUDD WINICK

Art and cover by GUILLEM MARCH

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+

She’s a thief who lives to steal just for the thrill of breaking the law. He’s The Dark Knight, obsessively driven to battle evil with every ounce of his strength. They should keep each other at arm’s length, but...they just can’t seem to help themselves! Don’t miss this issue – things are gonna get messy!

Artist Spotlight: Bernard Chang on SUPERGIRL

Bernard Chang's done some great work on books like WONDER WOMAN and SUPERMAN over the years, but he's been straight up killing it on his most recent gig as an ongoing artist for SUPERGIRL.

We asked Bernard to walk us through his artist process and how he creates the stunning art currently appearing in the pages of SUPERGIRL:

“I’m all about ‘story’. Choosing the right images and compiling them in layout and sequences that create the most impact. Everything should be in service of that concept.

I break down my creative process into two stages -- the layouts and the drawing. All of this encompasses approximately one day's workload. The layout stage is where most of my brainpower is used. From the script, I need to decide what images best tell the story, what panel construction to organize them in, the tempo and pacing of panels, and other important details like research and design. I'll use SUPERGIRL #63, pages 2-3 as an example. The script called for eleven panels, starting with a closeup on Supergirl as she's waking up from being knocked out at the close of issue #62, finding the three Harvard friends, Justin, David and Elise. We recap her previous fight with a brainwashed Miss Martian and our new villain, Alex, and then she takes off to go rescue Robin and Blue Beetle.

My first thoughts were to take advantage of the double-paged spread and designate the two action flashback panels (five and seven) as the "money shots". I then figured the two should be about the same size since they held about the same weight, one reintroducing her allies in the story, and the other their capture and the villain(s) intro, so that helped form four tiers. The top tier, panels one through four, focused primarily on her waking up and coming to, the middle two tiers on the flashbacks, and the bottom tier, panels eight through eleven, on her flying off and the three students talking amongst themselves.

Then I felt we needed to drag out her waking up moment out a little bit longer, really show the effects of her being knocked out from before, so I decided to expand a sequence of close-ups of Kara's eyes opening in varying stages, intermixed with establishing shots of her in the Harvard courtyard surrounded by the three students. The close-ups of her eyes would culminate in panel six, when she is fully awake -- and aware -- of the events of the last issue. And lastly, in the bottom tier, the movement of the characters would flow left-to-right, pushing the action from one panel to the next, and then building a crescendo to page four, exposing a full splash page.

The second part is the actual line drawing. This is mostly technical, and not a lot of design or research work is going on here because everything should have been solved in the previous stage. I take my thumbnail layouts and rough them out on the back of the bristol board, loosely putting down the figure work, laying down the perspective angles. I'll then begin to flush out certain details and then I flip over the page and lightbox a tighter pencil on the front.

I've been using this process since the mid-90's, and learned it from my good friend and fellow comic book artist, Sean Chen, when we were both just starting out at a company called Valiant Comics. Sean had learned this process from Chris Sprouse, so you know if Chris is doing this, then it must be good! Flipping the art and viewing it on the lightbox allows me to catch any errant drawings, like skewed faces or misproportions. I tend to erase a lot, so this allows me the freedom to erase to my hearts content, without damaging the front of the board.

When I'm done pencilling, I'll move straight to inks, employing a variety of pens and markers. For the SUPERGIRL books, I've been keeping a consistently thinner line than my previous books, like SUPERMAN or WONDER WOMAN. My intent was that this thinner line would be more subtle and delicate, and being that Supergirl herself is a teenager, this linework would re-enforce that approach.

After the inks are finished, I scan the page into the computer and move to the digital phase, prepping the page for the colorist, and adding a layer of greytone shade and shadowing, as well as additional special effects. The greytones are something new that I'm experimenting with and I think I will continue on my future books as it allows me to open the lineart more and create additional sculpting of the figures.

All the digital work is done in Photoshop, although I have used Illustrator in some cases when I'm adding text or other graphics. Finally, when everything is finished, I upload the file onto the DC server and send over a layered version to the colorist extraordinaire, Blond.

Equipment used:

Pentel graph 1000 .05 mechanical pencil - H lead (rough pencils on back)

Pentel graph 1000 .03 mechanical pencil - H lead (tight pencils on front)

Pentel clic eraser

Micron pigma ink pen .01

Micron pigma ink pen .05

Micron pigma brush pen

Copic 110 marker (for larger areas of black)

DC Comics smooth plate bristol board

Apple Mac w/ Cintiq 21

Photoshop cs3”

SUPERGIRL #63 lands in stores today.

Tags:

bernard chang, blond, supergirl

Supergirl's Mysterious New Enemy

Supergirl has faced off against her fair share of villains – Metallo, Clayface, and oh, some guy who goes by Darkseid, to name a few. But with the introduction of a new foe in SUPERGIRL #62, an enemy that promises to unleash havoc, Kara must be prepared for what could be one of her most dangerous battles yet.

Written by James Peaty and featuring art by Bernard Chang and Blond, SUPERGIRL #62 flies into stands tomorrow.[gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2"]

Tags:

bernard chang, blond, james peaty, supergirl

Search form