justiniano | DC Comics

Pardon me while I gush over The Spirit for a moment

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I eagerly anticipate the next issues of Green Lantern, Action, Detective and Brightest Day each month as much as the next guy, but I'll take a few paragraphs here to talk about a book that's quietly snuck its way to the top of my read pile each week it's been released.

For the past nine issues of the series, David Hine and Moritat not only created a comic that captures the spirit (no pun intended) of what makes the The Spirit fun, but also a series that's very accessible to comic fans who haven't been lucky enough to read all of Will Eisner's original Spirit (I'm about 1/3rd of my way into that epic undertaking myself, courtesy of a pile of The Spirit Archives volumes tracked down around the office.)

And if that weren't enough, I'd be remiss not to talk about the great black & white co-features by guest creators that make up the back of each issue.

I mean, we had a Harlan Ellison and Kyle Baker co-feature story a few issues back. HARLAN ELLISON. Really, the talent they round up to do those second stories is pretty sick. Walt Simonson and Jordi Bernet. Joe Strnad and Richard Corben. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. David Lapham and Michael WM. Kaluta. Marv Wolfman and Phil Winslade. Denny O'Neil and Bill Sienkiewicz. Michael Uslan, FJ DeSanto and Justiniano. This issue's co-feature is by Paul Dini and Mike Ploog. That's a group of creators that you'd be really hard-pressed to beat in just one year's worth of a single monthly comic title.

Et tu? Are you reading The Spirit? Which co-feature's been your favorite?

THE SPIRIT #9 is in stores today.

Welcome to WEIRD WORLDS

We teased a bit from this series last week, but now, we’ve got lots more to unvel.

But what is WEIRD WORLDS? Well, I’m glad you asked.

Each month, you'll be treated to new 10-page chapters in three exciting serials. In this debut issue, Kevin Van Hook and Jerry Ordway bring you the continuing adventures of Lobo – yup, the last Czarnian is back and up to his usual misdeeds. Aaron Lopresti introduces you to his newest creation, the kind-hearted monster called Garbageman. And Kevin Maguire takes you to the farthest reaches of outer space with the space-faring hero known as Tanga.

And it’s all nicely wrapped by a cover from Justiniano. So get your ticket, you’re on a one-way trip to WEIRD WORLDS #1, which hits in January.

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Tags:

aaron lopresti, garbageman, jerry ordway, justiniano, kevin maguire, kevin vanhook, lobo, tanga, weird worlds

PRODUCER/WRITER Michael Uslan on his SPIRIT BLACK AND WHITE story

It's quite rare in this day and age for me to get excited about the artwork in a particular comic book story. It happened to me when I saw my first Golden Age Captain America comic as Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's art tore through panel borders and leaped directly at me. I witnessed it in those nine panel cinematic pages by Steve Ditko in the '60's. I was shaken up by it when I bought Spectre #2 in the Silver Age and saw the work of some guy named Neal Adams who then continued to push the envelope of graphic story-telling through his every Deadman page. I was captivated by it when Jim Steranko took comic book art to an entirely different level in SHIELD and Captain America.

And right now this very minute, I'm looking at the third issue of THE SPIRIT and am dazzled by some of the best and most contemporary graphic story-telling I have seen in decades. I can't help but get excited. I believe that I have seen the next super-star in the comic book industry and his name is Justiniano. His design and art in our "Spirit Black & White" story, "Fifteen Minutes of Fame," (yes, today's salute to Will's "Ten Minutes") shows not simply what he is capable of using black and white to its natural artistic maximum, but that he is my Neal Adams- Jim Steranko break-through artist of 2010.

I discovered how special a talent he was when he illustrated our three issue "Spirit" story arc a year ago and, since then, while he's been drawing... innovating, actually... this story for SPIRIT #3. The last time I worked with an artist like this was when I did "The Question" with Alex Toth, a story also in black and white that wound up in the hardback DC Archives book, ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES, Volume 2.

Fellow fan-boys, I really want to bring to your attention this man's work. Fans who vote for the yearly big awards in the comic book industry should not overlook his black and white gem. His name is Justiniano and he's one damn good artist.

Tags:

justiniano, michael uslan, the spirit

The Doom Patrol comes face-to-face with the BLACKEST NIGHT

Few people have more skeletons in their proverbial closets than Niles Caulder, founder of the Doom Patrol. And with BLACKEST NIGHT doing a bang-up job of bringing those skeletons back in the form of Black Lanterns, you can only imagine how complicated things are going to get for the Doom Patrol. Caulder's been playing god for years, and the time for a reckoning is at hand. Check out a few pages from this BLACKEST NIGHT tie-in issue below, from writer Keith Giffen and artist Justiniano, with a few pages from the METAL MEN co-feature, by Giffen, writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire.

DOOM PATROL #4 hits 11/4.

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Tags:

blackest night, doom patrol, Geoff Johns, ivan reis, j.m. dematteis, justiniano, keith giffen, kevin maguire