If you were at today’s Superman panel at San Diego Comic-Con, you were treated to a first look into some of the art for the Superman group books in DC Comics-The New 52. But fret not if you weren’t able to attend. We here on The Source have got you covered. Below, take a look at the art from ACTION COMICS, SUPERBOY, SUPERGIRL and SUPERMAN that debuted today:
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(The cover for SUPERGIRL #1 by Mahmud Asrar)
Michael Green (BATMAN: LOVERS AND MADMEN) and Mike Johnson (FRINGE) are no strangers when it comes to collaborating on the Superman group titles together. This September, the SUPERMAN/BATMAN co-writers reunite for SUPERGIRL, a new series chronicling the adventures of Kara Zor-El. We caught up with the duo as they teased at what’s in store for SUPERGIRL this fall.
THE SOURCE: What about DC's new 52 titles excites you the most?
MICHAEL GREEN and MIKE JOHNSON: New = exciting = scary = surprises = great comics!
How and why are you shaking up the series' status quo?
We’re introducing a Supergirl you only think you’ve met before, as part of an amazing new era of super-books.
What new characters will debut in the series?
If we tell you, we’ll ruin the surprises!
Will we see new character designs?
Absolutely! And not just the Girl of Steel’s (awesome new) outfit.
What's the first line of dialogue in the first issue?
“Multiple incoming.”
What's the biggest surprise you've had working on this character/book?
How much potential there is with such an iconic character. So many stories yet to tell!
What secret has been the hardest to keep?
The one we are keeping right now. It’s big!
What’s the unofficial tagline for this series, in your own words?
Brave new world. Brave new girl.
What were your thoughts about the day-and-date digital announcement?
Excited by the opportunity to reach more people than comics ever have!
Over the course of last week, we provided you with a first look at the solicits for the October titles in DC Comics-The New 52. In case you missed it, earlier today THE NEW YORK POST exclusively revealed the cover to ACTION COMICS #1. Below, check out the solicits for the second issues in the Superman group books in DC Comics-The New 52:
ACTION COMICS #2
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art by RAGS MORALES and RICK BRYANT
Cover by RAGS MORALES
Variant cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
1:200 B&W variant cover by RAGS MORALES
On sale OCTOBER 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
In his weakest moment, Superman is taken down – but by whom? And if the world wasn’t ready for a man with super powers, they’re utterly unprepared for the rage of a Superman cornered! The cornerstone character of the new DCU continues his debut adventure!
SUPERMAN #2
Written by GEORGE PEREZ
Breakdowns and cover by GEORGE PEREZ
Art by JESUS MERINO
On sale OCTOBER 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The all-new adventures of Superman continue! Everyone can see the new villain who’s attacking Superman – except The Man of Steel! How can he stop a threat that none of his super-senses can detect? Meanwhile, a Daily Planet reporter starts digging up some dirt on Superman, including a secret that could ruin him forever!
SUPERBOY #2
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by RB SILVA and ROB LEAN
Cover by ERIC CANETE
On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. has put a lot of effort into creating their Superboy, and they intend to make sure he performs to their standards. And what better opportunity for him to demonstrate his raw power than to throw him into an alien prison riot? Good luck, Superboy… you’re going to need it!
SUPERGIRL #2
Written by MICHAEL GREEN and MIKE JOHNSON
Art by MAHMUD ASRAR and DAN GREEN
Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Get ready for a super-smackdown as Supergirl fights her cousin, The Man of Steel! What could cause these two to come to blows? Can the teenage Supergirl hold her own against the adult Superman? Well, let’s just say she’s got a trick or two up those fancy new sleeves of hers...
ACTION COMICS #1
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art by RAGS MORALES and RICK BRYANT
Cover by RAGS MORALES
Variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
The one and only Grant Morrison (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN) returns to Superman, joined by sensational artist Rags Morales (IDENTITY CRISIS), to bring you tales of The Man of Steel unlike any you’ve ever read! This extra-sized debut issue is the cornerstone of the entire DC Universe!
SUPERMAN #1
Written by GEORGE PEREZ
Breakdowns and cover by GEORGE PEREZ
Art by JESUS MERINO
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The new adventures of Superman begin here! What is The Man of Steel’s startling new status quo? How does it affect Lois Lane and The Daily Planet? There’s no time for answers now, because Superman must stop a monstrous threat to Metropolis – one that he somehow is the cause of!
SUPERBOY #1
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by RB SILVA and ROB LEAN
Cover by ERIC CANETE
On sale SEPTEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
They thought he was just an experiment – and a failed one at that! Grown from a combination of Kryptonian and human DNA, the Clone was no more than a set of data to the scientists of Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. But when the scope of his stunning powers was revealed, he became a deadly weapon! Now the question is: Can a clone develop a conscience?
SUPERGIRL #1
Written by MICHAEL GREEN and MIKE JOHNSON
Art and cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Meet Supergirl. She’s got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman – and none of his affection for the people of Earth. So don’t piss her off!
A new era of DC Comics begins as the longest-running monthly comic of all time releases its first issue #1 since 1938.
This September, New York Times bestselling writer Grant Morrison (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN) joins with sensational artist Rags Morales to bring you tales of The Man of Tomorrow unlike any you’ve ever read before in ACTION COMICS #1. This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn't trust their first Super Hero.
The first Action Comics #1 is now the most sought-after comic book of all time. This September, one of comics’ most imaginative storytellers will make history again in Grant Morrison and Rags Morales’ ACTION COMICS #1.
Superman #1: The Man of Tomorrow, Today
What is Superman’s startling new status quo? How does it affect his friends, loved ones and his job at The Daily Planet? Find out in SUPERMAN #1, written by legendary comics creator George Perez (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, NEW TEEN TITANS and WONDER WOMAN) and illustrated by Jesus Merino.
Supergirl #1 and Superboy #1: The New Superman Family
Supergirl’s got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman and none of his affection for the people of Earth. Writers Michael Green and Mike Johnson (Smallville, SUPERMAN/BATMAN) will team up with artist Mahmud Asrar to give a new take on the teenager from Krypton in SUPERGIRL #1.
They thought he was just a failed experiment, grown from a combination of Kryptonian and human DNA. But when the scope of his stunning powers was revealed, he became a deadly weapon. SUPERBOY #1 will be written by Scott Lobdell with art by R.B. Silva and Rob Lean.
Ongoing JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA artist Brett Booth’s distinctive drawing style allows for some of the most exciting and eye popping work currently out there. One of my favorite things about Brett’s work is his ability to capture the subtlety of facial expressions so vividly that sometimes it’s easy to forget that you’re not looking at photos.
For instance, on page 3 of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #56, the last panel is a close-up of Batman’s face as he feels like he let Supergirl down. It is no easy feat to zoom in on the sorrow and disappointment in a face covered by a mask, yet Brett’s illustration showcases Batman’s devastation and vulnerability without question. From the tilted head to the cracked frown, Batman is undoubtedly in pain. And furthermore, his art supporting the Rise of Eclipso proved that not only can Brett give attention to subtle detail, but that he knows how to tackle events and characters of epic proportions.
It’s not just with JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA that Brett excels. Just take a look at his thought provoking cover to the upcoming FLASHPOINT title, THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #2. Pretty cool stuff, right? Working with him has been nothing short of a pleasure, and I look forward to all the art that’s yet to come.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #56 lands in stores today.
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.
A baseball game has nine innings. Catwoman has nine lives. Here on THE SOURCE, we’ve got nine art teams we’ll be focusing on over the course of the next week. We’ll be in conversation with various artists – pencilers, colorists, and inkers - and editors to shed spotlight on nine samples of art. Needless to say, comic books are a visual medium, and we here at THE SOURCE like to pay extra attention to those artists who bring our stories to life.
Why nine? Obviously there are far more styles of comic book art, but nine is just the nice, magical number we decided on. The artists we’ll be spotlighting run the gamut from superhero artists like Brett Booth or ChrisCross and Marc Deering (whom we’ll be leading off with today), to genre artists like Moritat, to the cartoonists of children’s titles like Art Baltazar and Franco.
ChrisCross and Marc Deering have formed a dynamic pencils/inks team, as evidenced in the above spread from the upcoming issue of SUPERMAN/BATMAN with writer Cullen Bunn.
Up next for those two after this arc of SUPERMAN/BATMAN? A stint on SUPERGIRL, joining writer Kelly Sue DeConnick with issue #65. ChrisCross and Deering's next issue of SUPERMAN/BATMAN is #83, and hits stores next week.
We asked the duo to talk a little bit about what it’s been like for them collaborating on these titles and to give us a backstage tour of how they take the script pages and turn them into the final art you see in their books. Click on the jump to read what they had to say:
“For my part, this has been an awesome opportunity,” Marc Deering said. “ChrisCross is a phenomenal artist and it's been a pleasure to ink him. I try to bring a slick, clean look to everything Cross draws as well as adding all the textures that an epic story like this asks for. It's been a blast!”
“You never know how a story is going to go and how one should tackle it until you read it,” ChrisCross told us. As for his artistic process?
“My method usually goes: editor gives me the script, and I go automatically to the heading to see if the writer put their personal info up on the top of the front page of the script. I read the script ‘cover to cover’ 2 to 3 times so I can memorize all I need to know so that I can dream on the story a bit.
Then I call up the writer and talk with them. And most time's not even about the script. Just to hear them. Get their views, their humor, their lifestyle. SO I can mimic them. Get in their minds. Their heads. I spend an inordinate amount of time collecting tons of reference. Either from the editors themselves or the writers, but mostly from books I have or the web. Or taking pics from outdoors. Take a trip. Take a pic. By either my phone camera or an actual factual, 'hood way of saying, ‘the real deal.’
I start thumbnailing the pages. 2 to 5 pages at a time to get the rhythm and to figure how many moves are in one panel in word form so I can make decisions. Add more panels, or take away panels and/or combine. Ad-lib some panels to make things more natural as far as flow ...
Then I get into the actual drawing. I blue-line and then I pencil. After each page, I scan at 400 dpi and import into Photoshop. I clean up the page to the best of my ability (I can be messy on a page) and switch it to grayscale. Then to duotone, which gives me many options as to which type of blue I’m going to turn the gray and black lines. Once converted to blue-line, I switch to RGB mode, which now allows me to "stroke" borders in black on top of the blue in layers. I don't ink borders anymore and neither do the inkers I work with. They thank me heavily.
I add in many layers and many sfx that will tell the story. It could be clouds, trees, leaves, cracks in pavement, explosions, tornadoes, speedlines, energy signatures, Kirby Bubbles...even 3D rigged cities and photographs altered by various other programs at my disposal (including Photoshop)... whatever it takes to make it seem flawlessly hand-drawn when it gets inked, colored and printed. After I apply my PS techniques, I collapse the layer and turn it that background layer into a "0" layer. By this time, I have already set up background bordering that will fill the gutters between panels that will accent or spiritually mood the story. You won't notice it on purpose, but your mind has already accepted it as information. I do tons of graphics that will go behind panels. Art you'll never see in one image. But it's there. Once I fill those areas and add whited borders to separate the panels from the background art in the gutters, I finally collapse the page and name it for the file folders, which I hold on to until the job is over.
I then make small grayscaled jpegs of the images for the inker, the editor and the colorist. For the inker, so he can see what he couldn’t in the blue-line on the page he's inking. For the editor, to give he/she the virtual idea of what it will look like when it's finished in black and white. And to the colorist for color notes, which I will work on again in Photoshop with notes (purely digitally) so that the colorist knows what I'm going for – yet not encumber their abilities. That's a fine line. Colorists and inkers can make you or break you. So you have to treat them right. :)
I put the blue-line TIFF files on the DC FTP server or the inkers personal server, or even mine, where they'll be able to print the blue-lined and black and white images on paper from their own printer – thus saving on courier costs.
And then it starts all over again the next day until it's all done by, GOD HELP ME .... DEADLINE!
All that production goes into a page so that the reader can enjoy something from me that will be of singular experience to that of any other artist. Storytelling, graphics, draftsmanship, special fx. Even cinematography. I take a ton of pics that in some way will find itself in those pages. I wanted SUPERMAN/BATMAN #81-84 to feel like a great cartoon or a cool DVD the reader had just picked up and could had the time of their life with. And that's what I had on those four books. And having a great team with me... Marc Deering, Brad Anderson and Cullen Bunn didn't hurt one bit. I wanna do it again with Supes and Bats soon!”
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"]
Super villains are appearing out of thin air, ambushing the DC Universe’s young heroes. There’s a new smart phone app that let’s users photograph and track superheroes.
Could there be a connection?
Kara takes a page out of Lois Lane’s book and begins to investigate in SUPERGIRL #61, by James Peaty and series regular Bernard Chang, on sale February 16.
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