kurt busiek | DC Comics

MTV GEEK Announces ASTRO CITY

After a three year hiatus, ASTRO CITY is back and better than ever! This spring, the entire award-winning creative team – including writer Kurt Busiek and artist Brent Anderson – is back to kick off a new epoch of the human and the super human.

Earlier this morning, MTV GEEK announced that the fan-favorite series would be returning as a part of the DC Comics imprint this spring.

In ASTRO CITY, a new ongoing monthly series that showcases old heroes and new, The Ambassador comes to earth, and an ordinary man is caught up in the cosmic conflict! Featuring the return of favorites such as Samaritan and Honor Guard, the series will also feature the debut of some new sensations, including the mysterious Broken Man.

“You'll meet him on page one of our new first issue, but while this'll be your first time meeting him as the Broken Man, that doesn't mean you haven't met him before,” Busiek teased to MTV GEEK. “So in some ways he's a new character and in some ways he's a returning character. And he's got a very, very unusual and complex history, and an even more unusual heroic quest. One the readers will actually get to be a part of as something more than passive observers. But ah-ah, I don't want to give away too much.”

Head over to MTV GEEK to read their full coverage and complete interview with Busiek. And don’t forget to get in on the ground floor of ASTRO CITY’S next epic when ASTRO CITY #1 lands in stores on June 5th!

Tags:

Astro City, kurt busiek, brent anderson, alex ross

IAN SATTLER TALKS EMERALD CITY COMICON

Hey comics fan, got any plans this weekend? If you're like me you're at a bit of a crossroads during this time of year. The NFL season is over, the Olympics are over, Oscar Season is over...what are you supposed to do? Well fear not because Convention Season has just started! That's right, chances are that we'll be bringing the 2010 DC Nation Tour to a town near you sometime soon and trust me when I tell you that it's a show you won't want to miss.

I leave for our first stop this week and I am STOKED. We'll be at the Emerald City Comicon at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington on March 13th & 14th. If you're anywhere near the area please come out and see us. As if the chance to meet myself and Group Editor Eddie Berganza wasn't enough there are some special guests at the convention that you've maybe heard of. Check it out:

Brian Azzarello, Kurt Busiek, Sterling Gates, Patrick Gleason, Brandon Jerwa, Geoff Johns, Aaron Lopresti, Kevin Maguire, Doug Mahnke, Dustin Nguyen, Mike Norton, James Robinson, Greg Rucka, Philip Tan, Pete Tomasi, Eric Trautmann, Jen Van Meter, Len Wein, JH Williams III and Pete Woods.

I hope your face is OK after it was melted off by the sheer awesomeness of that list of artists and writers!

If you are planning to attend the show, please come by and get all kinds of cool stuff from us at the DC booth and be sure to check out our panels:

DC NATION!

Saturday, 1-2pm

GREEN LANTERN: THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

Saturday, 3-4pm

SUNDAY CONVERSATION

Sunday, 12-1pm

SUPERMAN GOES TO WAR

Sunday, 2-3pm

And listen Seattle - no pressure but you guys are the first convention of 2010 and the Canadian fans have started to bring us potato chips so I hope you guys are ready to step it up.

See you in Seattle!

Tags:

aaron lopresti, brandon jerwa, brian azzarello, doug mahnke, dustin nguyen, eric trautmann, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, James Robinson, Jen Van Meter, kevin maguire, kurt busiek, len wein, mike norton, patrick gleason, pete tomasi, pete woods, philip tan

Unveiling the details on the WEDNESDAY COMICS collection

WEDNESDAY COMICS, the groundbreaking weekly series featuring the all-star talents of Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Lee Bermejo, Brian Azzarello, Kurt Busiek and many more, was a critical and commercial success across the board, featuring DC's greatest characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern, in stories from the most talented creators in the industry. For 12 weeks, fans were treated to an historic and energized collection of newspaper strips compiled by editor Mark Chiarello that ranged from standard and captivating superhero drama to the surreal and innovative. But wait, there's more?

Just announced at the Baltimore Retailer Summit, we've got the details on the WEDNESDAY COMICS collection, a topic that's been hotly debated and prognosticated by fans since the inception of the series.

The hardcover collection of the series, which will retail at $49.99, will clock in at 11 x 17 inches, which will present the series in a deluxe, big-screen format befitting the series, which was originally printed on broadsheet newspaper pages.

So, there you have it. WEDNESDAY COMICS, presented in oversized and deluxe glory. Not too shabby, huh?

Tags:

Batman, brian azzarello, Flash, green lantern, joe kubert, kurt busiek, lee bermejo, mark chiarello, neil gaiman, Superman, wednesday comics, wonder woman

A few links of note for Monday

Here's hoping everyone had a relaxing weekend. In case you weren't chained in front of your computer, here are a few of the things you may have missed while enjoying two days or rest.

• AIN'T IT COOL NEWS unveiled an exclusive first look at BATMAN AND ROBIN #1, by Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. Keep your eyes peeled for a few more sneak peeks at the first issue in the coming days.

• Pete Tomasi talks to NEWSARAMA about the road to BLACKEST NIGHT. The site also talks to writer Keith Giffen about the newly-announced MAGOG series, and to the supremely talented J.H. Williams about Batwoman's upcoming stint in DETECTIVE COMICS.

• COMIC BOOK RESOURCES' Jeff Renaud chats up artist Mark Bagley to discuss the conclusion of TRINITY, while the folks io9 explain why TRINITY is a 'metaphysical epic done right.

• Remember that time back in March, where BATMAN Group Editor Michael Marts talked to IGN about his very neat photo board, featuring key characters heading into BATTLE FOR THE COWL? Well, now that the major event is over, the board has changed, which means Marts once again drops hints as to where your favorite characters are going, in a chat with IGN's Dan Phillips.

• And last, but certainly not least, THE NEW YORK TIMES unveiled their Graphic Novel Bestseller list for the week of May 23. Of note: SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, BATMAN R.I.P., JOKER and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS all made the list.

A few links of note for Tuesday

Well, here's hoping everyone had a reasonably relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Here at The Source, we've gathered a few links you might have missed while you were out grilling or enjoying the balmy weather (or not, depending where you're located):

• BATMAN & ROBIN writer Grant Morrison gave a lengthy interview over at IGN, discussing the post-BATTLE FOR THE COWL status quo and his plans for Gotham's villainous population:

IGN Comics: So the wait is over and now fans know the identities of the new Batman and Robin – Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. Before we get into specifics though, I'd like to talk about the big picture. You've made no secret of the fact that this is all part of a greater, long ranging story that you're telling. How does Batman and Robin fit alongside your recent Batman work?

Morrison: It's pretty simple. It comes in straight chronological order after the recent stuff. This is the sequel to Batman RIP, which is why the first arc is called 'Batman Reborn.' It builds directly off of it, and there are threads we pick up from before. As I've said before, the main villain in the first arc has already been seen in Batman #666, which had the potential future for Gotham City in it. So it's a straight continuation and the next part in the long running story from 'Batman and Son' onwards. We'll be picking up threads from that first book as well.

• Speaking of IGN, the site also previewed GREEN LANTERN #41, which continues the build-up to July's BLACKEST NIGHT mega-event. They've also got artist J.G. Jones' stellar variant cover for BATMAN & ROBIN #1.

• Has it really been a year? NEWSARAMA has a preview of TRINITY #52, the final issue of the series, while COMIC BOOK RESOURCES ROBOT 6 blog annotates the 51st issue of the weekly series.

Tags:

batman and robin, Battle for the Cowl, doug mahnke, frank quitely, Geoff Johns, grant morrison, green lantern, ivan reis, kurt busiek, mark bagley, philip tan, Tony Daniel, trinity

Take a look at the final TRINITY cover

On 5/27 (that's next Wednesday, folks), TRINITY comes to a close. The weekly series, featuring the work of writer Kurt Busiek and artist Mark Bagley with a stellar supporting cast, will commemorate its historic final issue with a special cover by Bagley and inker John Dell, featuring -- you guessed it -- the trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The trio will be spotlighted on a gatefold cover that opens to three panels.

But enough build up. Check out the cover for yourselves.

Tags:

Batman, kurt busiek, mark bagley, Superman, trinity, weekly series, wonder woman

Another WEDNESDAY COMICS peek -- GREEN LANTERN

This time, we've got a look at a page from the GREEN LANTERN story, by writer Kurt Busiek and art by up-and-comer Joe Quinones. Pretty neat, if I do say so myself.

Tags:

green lantern, joe quinones, kurt busiek, mark chiarello, wednesday comics

Taking a moment to give the TRINITY team some kudos

This past Wednesday saw the publication of TRINITY #45… and as of today all the plots are written… the co-features are drawn and inked through issue 51… And Mark Bagley and Art Thibert are well into the art for issue #50.

So that’s seven more issues for you… and one and a half for us!

Without patting ourselves on the back here for doing what we set out to do (we SHOULD always do that)… I WOULD like to pat the guys who’ve done the Herculean part of the assignment for the last year! Weekly comics are hard… but we’ve done a few of them lately… and I was personally involved in the SUPERMAN titles when they were virtually weekly back in the day. But weekly comics are HARDER when you have a bunch of people represented on virtually half of the pages of every single issue for that year!

No one writer or artist did that on SUPERMAN… JG Jones DID do every single cover on 52—and that was amazing. The writing team of Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Geoff Johns did a quarter of each issue for a year. And only Paul Dini was in on the whole of COUNTDOWN… supervising another team of writers.

But Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Fabian Nicieza and Art Thibert have touched the equivalent of about half an issue every single week for the last year! This is a simply phenomenal achievement!

For the artists this is a commitment of over 600 pages in one year and Kurt’s had his hand in every single page that’s 1160 pages in one year, sports fans!

Sure we’ve had help from co-featured players like Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick and Mike Norton with Andy Owens and Wayne Faucher, too… and most of them had other gigs producing comics on time for DC this year!

(And you won’t catch leaving out recognizing the weekly work of colorists Pete Pantazis on the Bagley-Thibert section and Allen Passalaqua on the co-features—they haven’t missed an issue either. And while letterer Pat Brosseau HAS missed about 30 or 40 pages… it wasn’t his fault, AND that’s still 1100 pages on this one series!)

In an age where everyone can debate the ultimate merits of any single comic series (or novel, or movie, or TV show), nobody can argue with a great work ethic… I would like to offer a round of applause to the TRINITY team!

Tags:

52, art thibert, countdown, fabian nicieza, kurt busiek, mark bagley, mike carlin, trinity

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