Paul Pope’s Battling Boy

Coming soon from First Second Press, Paul Pope describes Battling Boy as: “a kind of a fairytale kid Beowulf, or a Peter Pan with teeth. It’s set in a mythical city called Monstropolis, a city the size of a continent that’s overrun with monsters.”

Paul Pope is a star of the indie comics field. With a style more European mixed with Manga, he has been creating comics since his first series THB in 1995. A thrilling adventure of young HR Watson, and her super-powered bodyguard, THB (Tri-Hydro Bi-Oxygenate). Pope’s subsequent works including Escapo, the Ballad of Dr. Richardson and One Trick Rip-Off got him noticed by the likes of Warren Ellis.

In no time, Pope was given a duo of mini-series, Heavy Liquid (2001) and 100% (2004) published under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. Both series continue Pope’s unique blend of teen angst with science fiction. Recently, he worked on Batman Year 100, which received critical praise as a compelling vision of Batman in a future Gotham City.

As a fan of his work, I’m befuddled… have I been living under a rock?

How did I miss this?

Superpowers- Jim Krueger and Alex Ross

Straight from comic book publisher Dynamite Entertainment, comes the new project from the incredible team of Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, ‘Super Powers.’

Krueger and Ross have left a definable mark on comic book heroes with their navel gazing ‘Earth X’ for Marvel Comics and the explosive ‘Justice,’ for DC Comics so it’s only natural that they would turn their attention to the Golden Age characters such as the Fighting Yank, Green Lama, The Death Defying DareDevil, the Black Terror, Masquerade, The Flame, Mister Face, Samson, The Scarab, The Owl, the Claw, Pyroman, the Arrow, the American Spirit, the Crusaders, and even the F-Troop.

I dunno about you, but even though I’m a wealth of comic book info and I only know the Green Lama, Daredevil and The Flame. This one completely blindsided me.

The project has been in development for over three years now and answers the ‘whatever happened to’ questions regarding these stalwart defenders of the free. The series is sure to be an intelligent and thought-provoking tale that reinvents these characters and provides a deeper look into the world they lived in… and there are sure to be lots of colorful explosions.

“‘Superpowers,’ for me, is a chance to do things with characters that don’t have to live by the end of the series,” said writer Jim Krueger. “To a degree, this project is the best of two worlds — the characters here are vital parts and icons in the history of heroes and comics. But at the same time, they can bleed, they can die, they don’t have to remain the good guys.”

The featured Ross artwork is the first painted for “Superpowers” and will be available through the AlexRossArt.com booth #2419 at the July Comic-Con International in San Diego. A special preview comic of ‘Superpowers’ will also be available at the booth.

Ross and Krueger will act as the co-creators of the series. Ongoing artists have not been announced yet but rumor is that the entire project will begin with the much-loved BIG EVENT mini-series.

I’ve been very happy with everything these two have done so I’m anxious to see how this shakes down.

Suggested Reading:

Earth X TPB (New Printing)
Justice, Vol. 1
Justice, Vol. 2
Green Lama Mystery (Mystery Puzzlers, No 20)

Newest JSA Member… Superman?

In a surprising move, DC Comics just announced that the newest member of their blockbuster super team the JSA, is none other than Superman.

But not just any Superman, specifically, the Superman last seen in the mini-series ‘Kingdom Come.’

For those who are not aware, Kingdom Come is a glimpse into a possible future of the DC Universe in which the super heroes of today have aged into jaded shadows of their former selves, leaving the world at the mercy of dangerous super powered punks.

Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come is a fan favorite and well loved in and outside the comic industry for its portrayal of comic book superheroes and the photo-realistic art.

Exactly how DC is going to pull this one off is still a mystery to me, but now the last panel of Justice Society of America #1 makes sense. Many thought the Alex Ross painted panel featured a picture of Earth-2’s Superman, but it looks like they’re wrong.

Multiple Earths, here we come?

Suggested Reading:

Kingdom Come
Justice Society Returns (JSA)
Justice Be Done (JSA: Justice Society of America, Book 1)
JSA, Book 12: Ghost Stories