The all new Strange Tales

Strange Tales #1 cover by Paul Pope

Marvel Comics is proud to announce the release of STRANGE TALES MAX #1 (of 3) in September 2009, featuring the most acclaimed creators in independent comics today! This landmark three-issue limited series, overflowing with 48 pages of all-new stories, features your favorite Marvel heroes—from Spider-Man to the Hulk—like you’ve never seem them before! Paul Pope, Peter Bagge, Molly Crabapple & John Leavitt, Junko Mizuno, Dash Shaw, James Kochalka, Johnny Ryan, Michael Kupperman, Nick Bertozzi, Nicholas Gurewich, Jason and more unite for the all-new STRANGE TALES MAX!

Pinch me.

Coober Skeber cover by Seth

I had just been perusing the Bizarro Comics hardcover DC Comics published back in the day. For those unfamiliar with the book, it featured off-the-wall short stories by creators more familiar to the independent comics set such as Paul Pope, Jay Stephens, Kyle Baker, Eddie Campbell and James Kochalka. I was pining over my long gone copy of Coober Skeber (pictured to the left) which featured short stories by creators more familiar to the independent comics set such as James Kochalka, but using Marvel Comics characters (illegally). I wondered if such a thing was ever to be possible again… and here it is.

Perhaps as an answer to DC Comics’s current foray into the land of high quality comics by some of the best creators in the  business (and Dan DiDio) known as Wednesday Comics this anthology series will also be ‘out of continuity’ appealing the the comic book collector who dislikes super hero books. Related to Wednesday Comics or not, Strange Tales looks like a fantastic read.

With creators such as Peter Bagge (of HATE and the Megalomaniacal Spider-Man), James Kochalka (indie darling superstar), Paul Pope (Batman Year 100, 100% and THB) and Dash Shaw (of Meathaus)  in the mix and what looks like an assemblage of characters from the heyday of Marvel’s ‘pop art’ era Strange Tales will surely generate a lot of attention.

A series carried over from the days when Marvel was Atlas comics, Strange Tales was a monster book debuting such creatures as Fin Fang Foom, Groot and Spore. With the revival of the superhero set, the series changed gears and starred Johnny Storm and the Thing sharing the spotlight with Dr. Strange. In time, Johnny Storm departed and Nick Fury arrived before Dr. Strange graduated to his own monthly comic.

The new 3-issue series promises to be something wholly other:

Just what does Peter Bagge have planned in “The Incorrigible Hulk,” a story so incredible that we had to serialize it over all three issues? Will Spider-Man make it out alive of Jason’s thrilling story? This first issue comes wrapped in a marvel-ous cover by Paul Pope and Jose Villarubia!

“Flat out, this is the apex of human artistic achievement,” says Editor John Barber. “This is it. The end. The crowning result of tens of millions of years of evolution, right here, in three packed-to-the-gills issues. The philosophy of the book was to have these creators from ‘indy’ or ‘alternative’ or ‘literary” or ‘art’ comics come in and do what they do best. I think Marvel readers will really dig seeing radically different versions of their favorite characters, and the fans of these cartoonists will get to see the creators work in a milieu they never thought they’d get to see. It’s win-win. It’s really the best of both worlds.”

Editor Jody LeHeup adds, “This book is a metric ton of solid gold awesome. The talent we’ve got lined up are without hyperbole some of the greatest creative minds working in comics today. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a Spider-Man story by Jason? Or an Iron Man story by Tony Millionaire? Or anything by any of the contributors we’ve got attached to the project? I’ve been reading independent comics my whole life and I’ve always wanted to see what those creators could do with Marvel characters if they were given free reign to tell their stories. Well, now that vision’s becoming a reality and I can’t tell you what an incredibly special thing it is to see the final result. If you’re a fan of comics of any school, do yourself a favor and pick this up.”

Click on the image below for an interview with Dash Shaw about his Dr. Strange story.

The first issue hits the stands in September.

Paul Pope

Living in the heart of Manhattan like some John Carter of Mars in an alien environment, Paul Pope sees the lines of telephone poles and smells the odors of street car vendors with the appreciation of a child. In the moment, his artwork conveys his electric persona and captures his passion for life and the movement of the human body. It’s a rare thing to see so talented an artists working in this funny book medium and rarer still to see him so refined.

Heavily influenced by European comics and Japanese Manga, Paul Pope also has a healthy dose of American comics in his line that hearkens back to the 1960′s of Marvel Comics. There’s both innocent and an ingenious flare of imagination in each of his panels as characters playfully scale the confines of the page. He left the familiarity of Ohio to work for Kodansha, the world’s largest manga publisher in Japan, where his brushwork was influenced by the local style. An incredible innovator, Pope took the energy of manga and the character of European comics with as dash of American action.

After developing his own comic series THB and working with Jay Stephens on several projects, Paul Pope created Heavy Liquid for DC’s Vertigo imprint. A sci-fi melodrama mixed with elements of film noir, the series was a gorgeously produced work that scared off many thanks to its high cover price. Not the wisest decision on DC’s part to introduce an artist new to their company and charge readers so highly for taking a chance. In any case, the series was a critical success and lead to the follow-up 100%.

But don’t let the film noir sci-fi angle put you in the mind that Pope is above funny books or guys in tights. A deep admirer of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s, Pope’s Spider-Man is a joy and his Batman at DC Comics is remarkably refreshing.  His Batman Year 100 told a gripping tale that replaced the character’s haunting characteristics, portraying him as a demonic creature of the night, ageless and mysterious in a futuristic setting. The comic won him the coveted Eisner for best limited series and best writer/artist in 2007. A brand new take on the mythos of Batman, Pope described his version as “someone with the body of David Beckham, the brain of Nikola Tesla, and the wealth of Howard Hughes, who is pretending to be Nosferatu.”

Not restrained to comics, Paul Pope has also done work for the hipster footwear company Diesel and contributed the cover to John Spencer’s side-project Heavy Trash album. He has had his brushes with Hollywood as Tim Burton once attempted to adapt the scintillating Escapo into a feature film, but nothing doing. Truth to tell, Pope couldn’t be bothered anyhow. He’s much more interested in the printed medium than some glamorous mega-corporation project run by committee. But he has coyly stated that he’d gladly take the money (think on that Alan Moore).

A true modern master of the sequential medium, Paul Pope is a comic artist to get acquainted with.

Recommended:
Batman: Year One Hundred
100% HC
Heavy Liquid