Welcome to the weblog of the writers and artists of Ferret Press (a publisher of fine comix) and PANEL (a Columbus, Ohio comic creators collaborative.) Here you will find our musings on comics, art, the creative process, politics, the web, and life.
Welcome to a new weekly feature on the mightly Ferret Press/PANEL blog: Weekend Versus. Every weekend, I'll be posting a comic book cover featuring a crossover. It may feature famous characters, or it may not. But it will always showcase someone versus someone else! Because we all know conflict is at the heart of good drama.
This weekend's inaugural cover pits the king of vampires against wild jungle women. That's right, only in comics!
No, I don't know why Dracula looks more like a troll or ogre than a vampire. And no, I'm not sure how that lead jungle woman's belt is held up...it looks like it's connected to her pierced navel. Or something. Nevertheless, the fight is on. My money's on the jungle girls because they have sharp, pointy sticks.
Where was this guy before they decided to use Tony Daniels? I checked out the preview for Batman #684 and was floored by Guillem March's art. He looks like he would have fit in perfectly at Caliber. It's readable and has more of a rough around the edges tone to it. In my mind, slick is the opposite direction you should be going in for Batman. It's why I think Paul Gulacy's a terrible fit on Catwoman. Also why I think Alex Ross is a terrible pick for a cover artist. Gulacy and Daniels lack any sense of texture and grit. It's a part of why I never fully enjoy Batman.
I realize now that Morrison is partly to blame for the indeciferable RIP arc. That is painfully clear given the trainwreck that's been Final Crisis.
In today's Dispatch, they're talking about creating a Special Improvement District for the 161 corridor. There's already one for Downtown and the Morse Road area.
A Special Improvement District levies a charge on business owners in the area, and the money is spent on beautification, special programming and increased security. The downtown one organizes farmers markets, those neon-shirted "ambassadors" who pick up trash and help visitors, and off-duty police officers.
This is all great, but really, isn't this the job of the local government? If you have to go outside of the local government, isn't that a sign that something's not working? And is anyone else weirded out by the idea of a neighborhood contracting its own security? How many steps are there between this ...
... even Clone Hitler. Here's Clone Hitler receiving life-saving care from his Jewish day nurse, who was a little slow.
Clone Hitler would later realize what he'd done the first time around, and shoot himself. That, folks, is a happy ending. Read all about in Outsiders No. 35, Sympathy for the Fuhrer.
Here’s what Xmas looks like in the Bogart house this year (please excuse the crappy cell phone pic):
Check out the star-- or the bent top branch where the star would be. This year, the missus picked out a live tree that’s actually a couple inches taller than the ceiling. Oops.
Note the lovely garland, strung along the top third of the tree. It stops before going further down so that the 1-year old won’t grab it and charge across the room, knocking over the tree and destroying half the ornaments… again.
How ‘bout those lights? What lights, you ask? The three strands of lights the new dog chewed through and destroyed. Luckily, they were unplugged at the time.
All we’re missing is Linus standing in front of it, telling everyone about the true meaning of the season.
Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius (part trois)
Yeah, I’ve got the itch again...
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Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius. (Real Men of geee-nius!)
Today we salute you, Mr. 90s Speculation Fad Cover Bringer Back Man.
(Mr. 90s Speculation Fad Cover Bringer Back Man!)
Having nearly caused the collapse of the entire comic book publishing industry in the 90s under the weight of crass, ill—conceived, money-grubbing gimmicks like multiple variant covers, you’ve decided that there’s still too much money to be made exploiting dumbass fanboys not to bring back those same exact crass, ill—conceived, money-grubbing gimmicks like multiple variant covers.
(Where’s my fish scented scratch-n-sniff Aquaman #0?)
So what if you’re just fueling the same fires that nearly bankrupted the whole industry by greedily pandering to ignorant collectors? We see the method to your speculation madness, O' Hideous Huckster of the Hobby.
(Embossed metallic tits on Power Girl makes my eyes burn!)
Hologram covers? Foil embossed logos? Limited-edition leather bound books? Please. Those are so 1993. You’re all about the new digital millennium: "negative art" variant chase covers.
(I've got Photoshop, who needs to pay an artist?)
So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, Mr. 90s Speculation Fad Cover Bringer Back Man, for when it comes to repeating the mistake of history, you do it in style...with an interlocking gatefold cardstock cover.
(Bud Light Beer, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri)
