Hey, looks like we made it!

Five years ago today, Elizabeth C. Bunce, Art Schmidt, Jason McClain, and I had already spent a few months talking through the technical details for the launch of borg.com.  What should it look like?  What should we write about?  How do we get to there from here?  Then it all came together on June 10, 2011, and I sat down and just started writing.  Should this be a weekly thing?  Once I started I just couldn’t stop and we cemented borg.com as a daily webzine.  And readers started showing up every day.  Soon we had hundreds of followers, and hundreds of thousands of visits per year.

The best part?  Working with friends and meeting new ones each year.

We’ve had plenty of high points.  Cosplay took off in a big way in the past five years.   Elizabeth and I hit the ground running at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2011 with our Alien Nation/Chuck mash-up and you can find us all over the Web in photos taken by others at the show.  Our years were dotted with the random brush with coolness.  A retweet by actress Alana de la Garza, coverage of Joss Whedon visiting the Hall H line at 3 a.m. outside SDCC in 2012, Zachary Levi calling out Elizabeth for her cosplay at Nerd HQ, interviewing the stars of History Channel’s Vikings series, our praise for the Miss Fury series appearing on the back of every Dynamite Comics issue one month, tweets from Hollywood make-up artist family the Westmores commenting on our discussion of Syfy’s Face Off series, our Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (negative!) review featured on the movie’s website, that crazy promotion for the Coma remake mini-series, planning the first Planet Comicon at Bartle Hall and the Star Trek cast reunion, attending the first Kansas City Comic Con and the first Wizard World Des Moines Con, hanging with comic book legend Howard Chaykin, Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Darryl McDaniels, cast members from Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Star Trek, bionic duo Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner.  And borg.com gained some well-known followers (you know who you are) along the way.

We’re grateful for some great Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and other feedback over the years from Felipe Melo, Mickey Lam, Michael Prestage, The Mithril Guardian, Francesco Francavilla, Adam Hughes, Judy Bunce, Mike Norton, Jack Herbert, Mike Mayhew, Rain Beredo, David Petersen, Rob Williams, and Matt Miner, and for creators we interviewed including Mikel Janin, Penny Juday, Tim Lebbon, Kim Newman, James P. Blaylock, Freddie Williams II, Jai Nitz, and Sharon Shinn.

What did readers like the most?

• Our “Artist Spotlight” on Alex Ross.
• Our poll where we asked readers to vote for their favorite Bond girl (Eva Green!).
• Our “Anatomy of Science Fiction” segments.
• Our look at the many faces of the Man of Steel.
• Coverage of the Firefly 10th anniversary reunion.
• Our rundown of the best Westerns.
• The Borg Hall of Fame.
• Our poll to select one image to define all sci-fi movies.
• Our “favorite fantasy movies” series.
• Our list of British TV shows better than Broadchurch.

We amassed an extensive archive of hundreds of book reviews, movie reviews, reviews of TV shows, and convention coverage, thanks in part to the good folks at Titan Books, Abrams Books, Lucasfilm Press, Weta New Zealand, Entertainment Earth, Dynamite Comics, IDW Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, and several TV and movie studios and distributors.

My own favorites?  Sitting down to come up with my own five all-time favorite characters with the borg.com writing staff.

Thanks to my family, my friends, especially my partner in crime Elizabeth C. Bunce, Art Schmidt and Jason McClain, my support team, and William Binderup and the Elite Flight Crew.

Onward and upward!

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Dynamite Comics is releasing three compilation editions of previously published work tomorrow, and we have previews of all three below for borg.com readers.

Sherlock Holmes Omnibus Volume 1 collects three stories:  The Trail of Sherlock Holmes, Liverpool Demon, and Year One, written by Leah Moore, John Reppion, and Scott Beaty, with artwork by Aaron Campbell, Daniel Indro, and Matt Triano, and a cover by John Cassaday.  At 400 pages this will keep Holmes fans busy.

Xena: Warrior Princess – All Roads includes the first six issues of Dynamite’s monthly series.  Written by Genevieve Valentine, with artwork by Ariel Medel and cover by Greg Land, this is a great series Xena and Gabrielle fans will love.

And finally, Art of Red Sonja Volume 2 collects more of various artist interpretations of Red Sonja published by Dynamite over the years.  The 336-page volume includes an introduction by the great Roy Thomas, and you’ll find plenty to love with works by artists including Alex Ross, Arthur Adams, Nicola Scott, Ed Benes, Jay Anacleto, Jenny Frison, Lucio Parrillo, Paul Renaud, Joseph Michael Linsner, plus several others.  Cover art is by Jenny Frison.

Check out previews of all three books after the break:

Look for Sherlock Holmes Omnibus Volume 1, Xena: Warrior Princess – All Roads, and Art of Red Sonja Volume 2 in comic book stores everywhere tomorrow.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

After two meet-up issues, Wonder Woman and The Bionic Woman are back in their 1970s TV action mode in the DC Comics/Dynamite Entertainment crossover series Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman, Issue #3, hitting comic book shops today.  And Max, the bionic German Shepherd, joins the team.

Writer Andy Mangels (Star Trek & Star Wars) and artist Judit Tondora (Grimm Fairy Tales) have at last tapped into that 1970s nostalgia fans of classic superhero TV shows have been looking for.  Today the duo takes on fembots, and the series reintroduces characters and plot points footnoted to specific episodes of the original TV shows.

The series features great covers and variants by artist Cat Staggs, Alex Ross, and others.  Check out some past and future covers from the series above and after the break, followed by a preview of Issue #3:

Look for Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman, Issue #3, at your local comic book store today.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Here I come to save the day!

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Mighty Mouse, who first appeared in short animated films from Terrytoons for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s, including one that was nominated for an Academy Award.  So what better time to bring back the powerful mouse who can protect Pearl Pureheart from Oil Can Harry, and maybe even save us all?  Dynamite Comics is answering the call with a new monthly series beginning today with an initial story arc that deals with bullying.

Mighty Mouse was created by Ralph Bakshi (known also for Fritz the Cat, the animated The Lord of the Rings, and the Kim Basinger flick Cool World) and Paul Terry, whose cartoons with sound beat Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie to cinemas in 1928 (one of the first animators to use cel animation).  Mighty Mouse would appear as part of the Saturday morning cartoon line-up in various versions in each of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.  A rather odd update, the 1980s version would feature a crossover episode with Bakshi’s Mighty Heroes characters, a group of middle-aged lawyers that included a superhero called Diaper Man, and comedian Andy Kaufman would make famous for another generation the Mighty Mouse theme song in a skit for Saturday Night Live in the 1970s.  Marvel Comics produced a 10-issue comic book series in 1990-1991.

Today, writer Sholly Fisch and artist Igor Lima are bringing the classic mouse to the 21st century.  It’s a book for kids of all ages–the kind of comic book to introduce young kids to the medium.  A boy is getting bullied in school, and he’s a young artist and fan of the classic Mighty Mouse cartoons.  As he is watching television, a portal across dimensions interferes with his show, and with the characters within the television.  The third wall is breached as a boy meets his hero.

Dynamite tapped Alex Ross and Neal Adams for some classic-styled covers with a cover by interior artist Igor lima, a classic image cover, and a coloring book variant.  Trapped in an alien world, where not even the laws of physics work the way they should.  The only person who even believes you exist is a young kid whom no one will listen to.  Yet, you’re the shining light that this drab, cynical world needs to restore its color and life.  Oh — and you’re a cartoon mouse.

Here is a preview of Issue #1 of Mighty Mouse:

Look for Mighty Mouse, Issue #1, today at Elite Comics or your local comic book shop.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

The Silent Seven–a mysterious crime organization from the 1920s-30s, from the time of Miss Fury and… The Shadow?  Batman and Robin encounter Professor Pyg and his transforming “Dollotron” masks as the villain crashes a New Year’s Eve party.  This is the Robin named Damian, Bruce Wayne’s son, a 13-year-old raised by assassins.  Batman must forge a relationship with his son as The Shadow appears out of the past and looking for answers.

DC Comics and Dynamite Comics have partnered for a blend of the past and the present as Batman and The Shadow collide in a new crossover series, arriving at comic book shops today with The Shadow/Batman Issue #1.  The Shadow: The World’s Greatest Mystery.  The Batman: The World’s Greatest Detective.  What if they encounter The World’s Greatest Evil?  As they protect New York, and ancient evil surfaces.  Can they work together to save their city?

Writer Steve Orlando (Batman/The Shadow, Justice League of America), artist by Giovanni Timpano (The Shadow, Transformers), and colorist Flavio Dispenza (Eclipse), come together to craft an action-filled noir story and a crossover of worlds and characters forged in comics’ Golden Age.  DC Comics’ key hero and Dynamite’s classic pulp character are an obvious team-up opportunity.

Check out a preview of Batman/The Shadow, Issue #1, below courtesy of the publishers, as well as a look at another giant release of variant covers–a showcase of comic art talent–from Issues #1 through #3:

Cover artists for Issue #1 include Alex Ross, Bill Sienkiewicz, Howard Porter, Giovanni Timpano, Brandon Peterson, Dustin Nguyen (2), Ethan Van Sciver and Jason Wright, David Finch, Tyler Kirkham, Anthony Marques, and Robert Hack.  They are joined in Issues #2 and #3 by artists Philip Tan, Tony Daniel, Artyom Trakhanov, Mike Kaluta, and Johnny Desjardins.

Look for Issue #1 of The Shadow/Batman, Issue #1, at Elite Comics or your local comic book shop today.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Our borg.com Best of 2017 list continues today with the Best in Print.  If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2017 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2017 here, and the Best in Television here.

So let’s get going.  Here are our selections for this year’s Best in Print:

Best New Edition of Previous Published Work – The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, David Petersen (IDW Publishing).  David Petersen’s artwork was the perfect excuse to get Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful classic The Wind in the Willows into the hands of new readers.  The new edition from IDW Publishing was the perfect storybook, and Petersen, known best for his Mouse Guard series, showed his understanding of these characters and their natural world full of wonder through his fantasy images.

Best Read, Best Retro Read – Forever and a Death, Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime).  Not every good idea comes to fruition.  Not every excellent project gets off the ground.  Not every great book gets published.  The Hard Case Crime imprint of Titan Books came through again, seizing the opportunity to take a lost, never before published work of Donald E. Westlake--Forever and a Death--and brought it to life.  And what a great adventure!  Originally the story commissioned to be the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, the projected was shelved, and only now do we get fantastic characters (like environmental activist and diver Kim Baldur) in a very Bondian situation–destroying Hong Kong as payback for China taking it back from Great Britain.  Honorable mention for Best Retro Read: Turn on the Heat, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dragon Teeth, Michael Crichton.

Best Sci-Fi Read – Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom: A Novel of Retropolis, Bradley W. Schenck (Tor Books).  Imaginative, new, and fun, Schenck took us into a timeless world full of nostalgia and classic science fiction.  Great tech, and a sprawling story.  Interesting characters and great world-building, this novel will be a great surprise for sci-fi readers.  Honorable mention: War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations, Greg Keyes.

Best Fantasy Read – An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors, Curtis Craddock (Tor Books).  The plot of this debut novel is labyrinthine and action-packed, full of assassination attempts from all quarters, courtly intrigue galore, grandiose philosophies, and a cast of characters anchored by the strong, smart, resourceful, and eminently likeable heroes.  Supporting everything is Craddock’s strong, confident, often-funny, and sharply observant writing that goes from heart-wrenching to hilarious on a single page without missing a beat.  A dazzling debut.

Best Genre Non-fiction – Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen, Daniel Falconer (Harper Design).  We wish every genre franchise had such a magnificent, thorough, monumental guide.  Falconer’s guide to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies is full of interviews at all levels of the creative process, and supported by concept art, photographs, maps, and so much more.  Worthy of the six films it covers, it’s the ultimate fan book and a model for any franchise attempting to put everything fans could want into a single volume.

There’s much more of our selections for 2017’s Best in Print and more, after the jump…

Best Book Design – The Great Wall: The Art of the Film, Abbie Bernstein (Titan Books).  Bernstein’s look at the big-budget China-America production The Great Wall features the best quality images, the best layouts, and the best book design of any book yet reviewed at borg.com–the book itself has a traditional Chinese book binding and gilded edges.  It also features an element left out of many film books these days–it includes images of the entire film, and doesn’t remove spoiler elements, such as, in this case, detailed images of the film’s monsters and ending.  Gold foil cover art, insert pages to protect the ink of certain pages, transparency page introducing chapters, fold out pages detailing maps and concept art.  Content is always the point of any book, but this volume demonstrates bookmaking can still be its own art.

Best Behind the Scenes Film Book – The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History, Caseen Gaines (Insight Editions).  The best education in the creative process of storytelling can be found in Gaines’ richly researched account of Jim Henson creating his labor of love, The Dark Crystal.  A rewarding document for fans of the man and the film on its 35th anniversary, readers will walk away with a better sense of what made this beloved creator tick.

Best Crossover/Mash-up Comic Book Series, Best Comic Book Writer – Batman/Elmer Fudd, Tom King, Lee Weeks, Byron Vaughns (DC Comics/Looney Tunes).  DC Comics and Looney Tunes had fun this year with a series of great mash-ups.  The best of the bunch was Batman/Elmer Fudd, the most unlikely combination, yet written by Tom King and artwork by Lee Weeks and Byron Vaughns, the impossible became possible in this noir winner.  

Best Comic Book Cover Artist – Alex Ross, Mighty Mouse, Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern, Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77, The Shadow/Batman, Marvel Legacy, The Mighty Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman, and more.  Alex Ross had another banner year, providing the best nostalgia for fanboys and fangirls with his classic painted artwork.  And as always, he didn’t just paint a few covers, but more covers in 2017 than we could even track down.  Honorable mention: Frank Cho, Liberty Meadows variant covers for Harley Quinn monthly series.

Best Comic Book Interior Art – Star Wars: The Last Jedi — The Storms of Crait, Mike Mayhew (Marvel Comics).  The most nostalgic view of Star Wars came late this year from writers and artist Mike Mayhew.  A Luke, Leia, Han, and Wedge adventure that provided some backstory for what later would become the Battle of Crait in the new film. Mayhew provided that great Star Wars look we loved in the Star Wars monthly series his Dark Horse Comics series The Star Wars.

Best Comic Book Single Issue, Best Cover, Best Humor Comic Book, Best Horror Comic Book – Jughead: The Hunger (Archie Horror).  Keeping up with the great titles in Archie Comics’ horror imprint, we loved Jughead: The Hunger, a great tale about Jughead, so popular it led to an ongoing series.  Robert Hack’s variant movie poster cover was a great throwback to the 75-year-old character.

Best Sci-fi Comic Book, Best Comic Book Series – Star Trek: The Next Generation —Mirror Broken, Scott Tipton, David Tipton, and J.K. Woodward (IDW Publishing).  Our favorite Star Trek event of the year,  The Tiptons and Woodward gave fans of the series something new and something we didn’t know we’d want all at the same time.  A great story that demonstrated the Tiptons understanding of these characters, it looked exactly right thanks to the covers and interior art by Woodward.

  
Best Comic Book Event – Marvel Legacy Lenticular Variant Covers, various.  (Marvel Comics).  Some people hate them, but for the rest of us it’s an opportunity to hold some of the best, classic comic book covers from years’ past in our hands again, and thanks to the lenticular format that cover is tilted to view the latest series cover.

Best Comic Book Homage – Star Wars: Darth Vader #1, Mark Brooks.  Artist Mark Brooks took the image of Dave Cockrum’s cover to Uncanny X-men #145 and made it different and cool, adding in foxing and brittle edges to look like a classic 1970s book pulled out of a comic box in his basement.  A great, creepy image!

Best Star Trek Non-fiction – Star Trek Beyond: The Make-up Artistry of Joel Harlow, Joe Nazarro (Titan Books).  This beautiful volume shared Harlow and his creators’ complete, firsthand accounts of developing, designing, casting and even applying many of the makeups for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Star Trek franchise on film.  This look at costumes is something we’ve never seen before for any franchise, comprehensive and interesting material about the development of so many great futuristic designs and otherworldly creatures. 

Best Star Wars Non-fiction – The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Phil Szostak (Abrams Books).  Stunning images of concept art for the latest entry in the Star Wars saga.  If you didn’t understand the motivations behind many of the decisions Rian Johnson made for this film, this book supplies many explanations.  Paintings, storyboards, and designs for environments and ships make this the must-have companion book this year for Star Wars fans.

The Best of the Rest:

Biggest Genre Event of 2017 –  We witnessed the 90th anniversary of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, while Disney’s The Jungle Book, The Dirty Dozen, and the original Casino Royale turned 50.  Along with Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind turned 40.  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner, Tron, and The Dark Crystal turned 35.  Predator, The Princess Bride, and Robocop turned 30.  But best of all, many made it back into theaters this year thanks to Turner Classic Movies, Fathom Events, and participating theaters, giving us the best Retro Fix we could hope for, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Princess Bride, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Best Genre Auction – This year saw Bonhams auction house get a seller the best price ever for a non-costume movie prop, and what better statement for the love of science fiction than for that honor to go to the actual Robby the Robot.  The robot was sold with his space chariot to an anonymous buyer in November.

Best Real Science – This year saw plenty of interesting science encounters.  Astronaut Peggy Whitson became the human to have lived in space the longest, after also breaking the record for most spacewalks of any human.  At age 56, Whitson is the oldest woman to fly in space.  Billionaire philanthropist adventurer Paul Allen discovered the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis on the ocean floor.  It was lost at sea with its crew 72 years ago, as recounted in a famous scene in the movie Jaws.  And somehow most of us didn’t become blind watching the Solar Eclipse in August.

Best Nerd/Fanboy Tech – When we first learned about kid-sized working landspeeders from Radio Flyer in the press materials for San Diego Comic-Con, we had no idea it could look this good.  Some lucky kids are out there right now soaring around their homes in these (and making their parents very, very jealous).

Best Action Figure Design (budget) – Kurt Russell as Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Marvel Legends). Check out our discussion of Kurt Russell action figures here.

Best Action Figure Design (high-end) – Obi-Wan Kenobi – comic book middle-aged version (Sideshow).  This was announced early this year, but we still don’t know when it will be available to collectors.  We just want to make sure everyone has seen it, because the blend of Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor and that superb costume work make for one of the coolest figures/statues we’ve seen.

So that’s it!

Come back later this week as we add some new members for our annual update to the borg.com Borg Hall of Fame.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

DC Entertainment and Marvel Studios offered superhero genre fans live-action adaptations of some of the comic book world’s best-loved superheroes last year.  The concept artwork behind each of DC’s Justice League and Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok are the subject of two new books for fans wanting to dig deeper into the development of these films: Justice League: The Art of the Film, by Abbie Bernstein, and The Art of Thor: Ragnarok, by Eleni Roussos.  Both share the feature of being primarily photographic essays, visual guides illustrating the phases of characters and environments leading to the final art design used in the films.  So both will make good souvenir or coffee table books in addition to showcasing the artists’ visions for film aficionados and comic book fans.

Justice League: The Art of the Film is a 206-page, full-color, hardcover book similar to last year’s Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film.  This volume gives much attention to the variety of costumes created for the film, particularly the looks of the new characters to the film series, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg.  Cyborg’s cybernetics were added in post-production via CGI.  This is not so much a behind-the-scenes, detailed account with interviews about the production as we’ve seen in other volumes, but it does include statements from each of the key actors and production members peppered throughout the photographs  The layout of pages and overall design is stylized keeping with the themes of the story.

An excerpt from Justice League: The Art of the Film.

Well-designed with gorgeous concept art, The Art of Thor: Ragnarok is a hefty 320 pages in a slipcase holder, featuring classic Jack Kirby art on the book cover inside the dust jacket.  Kirby’s designs can be found as inspiration throughout the film, and are reflected in the concept art and design work, particularly that found in the fantastical world of Sakaar.  Each of the key characters you’d expect get plenty of coverage.  Readers will find hundreds of images of Mayes C. Rubeo’s costume designs for Thor, Hulk, Hela, Loki, Odin, Skurge, and the Grandmaster, as well as supporting characters.  The fiery Surtur has a surprisingly thorough section, showing the various stages that resulted in the finished look seen in the film.

Artwork from the back cover of The Art of Thor: Ragnarok.  Artwork by Andy Park.

In the Justice League book you’ll find much attention given to the “Mother Boxes” featured in the story, including detailed design images.  Less attention is given to the film’s villain, Steppenwolf.  The book follows the story, revealing a chronological account of the film so readers who haven’t yet seen the film will encounter some spoilers along the way.

The additional 100 pages in the Thor: Ragnarok book comprises coverage of the environments in paintings and digital renderings, taking the concepts from decades of the comic books and translating them to live action.

An excerpt from Justice League: The Art of the Film.

Although he is not referenced in the book by the production artists, Alex Ross’s works permeate many designs and layouts in Justice League, creating a more modern look from the comics, while Thor: Ragnarok looks back to the early comic book roots for its inspiration.

Cosplayers of superhero characters will find plenty of ideas and reference material in both volumes.  A fun addition to the libraries of fans of each film, Justice League: The Art of the Film is available here, and The Art of Thor: Ragnarok is available here, both at Amazon.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Last week we saw Superman turn 80 and reach his 1000th issue of Action Comics for DC Comics.  It’s hard to believe that Spider-man is the first character to be featured on a cover for an Issue #800 from rival publisher Marvel Comics.  But that issue finally arrives this month for the long-running monthly series The Amazing Spider-man, more than 55 years after Spidey’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.  This month’s benchmark issue will be a giant 80 pages wrapping up the four-part story “Go Down Swinging.”  Written by Dan Slott, interior artwork was created by Stuart Immonen, Humberto Ramos, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Nick Bradshaw.  Peter Parker takes on Norman Osborn and Carnage, combined to become the Red Goblin.  Then in July as part of Marvel’s “Fresh Start” it all begins again with The Amazing Spider-man, Issue #1, with creative duties handed over to Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley.

The Amazing Spider-man #800 is arriving with at least 38 variant covers, drawn by Steve Ditko (2 remastered covers), Alex Ross (2 versions), Frank Cho, Adam Hughes (4 versions of an image of Mary Jane), Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson, John Romita, Sr., John Cassaday, Gabriele Dell’Otto (2 versions of 2 covers and a third image with wraparound cover for Comicxposure), Mark Bagley, Moebius (2 versions), Inhyuk-Lee (2 versions for Frankie’s/7 Ate 9), Greg Land, Tyler Kirkham, Ron Frenz and Brett Breeding, Humberto Ramos, Nick Bradshaw, Paolo Rivera, Francesco Mattina (connecting cover to Venom, Issue #1), eight covers by Scott Campbell, two editions pre-autographed by Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr., and a blank sketch cover.

We’ve searched high and low and came up with 38 covers being offered.  Are more coming?  Possibly.  The difference in some is the inclusion of a logo–or not (frequently referred to as a “virgin cover”).  Many will require work to track down as some are store exclusives, and at least one will be offered at an initial price in excess of $1,000, while ten standard release variants will be easier to acquire.  Take a look at large images of all these great covers:

Add The Amazing Spider-man, Issue #800 to your comic book pull lists now.  Look for this issue in stores May 30, 2018.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

The wedding of Batman and Catwoman is shaping up in the issues of DC Comics’s Batman bi-weekly series, with the date set at Issue #50, greeting comic book readers next month.  Writer Tom King continues his ongoing Bat-tale with an abundance of interior and variant cover artists, including Mikel Janin, Joëlle Jones, Jim Lee, Frank Cho, Alex Ross, Mike Mayhew, Tim Sale, Neal Adams, Lee Bermejo, Joshua Middleton, Dawn McTeague, Frank Miller, Jock, Andy Kubert, Eric Basaldua, Natali Sanders, Greg Capullo, Joe Jusko, Olivier Coipel, Scott Williams, Warren Louw, Tyler Kirkham, Rafael Albuquerque, Tony S. Daniel, J. Scott Campbell, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, David Mack, Lee Weeks, Mark Brooks, Dave Johnson, Clay Mann, Greg Horn, Francesco Mattina, David Finch, Paul Pope, Joe Madeurera, Mitch Gerads, Alé Garza, Becky Cloonan, Jae Lee, Francesco Mattina, Ty Templeton, Joseph Michael Linsner, Nick Derington, Jason Fabok, Arthur Adams, Jim Balent, Lucio Parillo, Amanda Conner, and Michael Turner.  The standard cover will feature the work of Mikel Janin.  So how is this going to go down?  Anyone else remember the wedding storyline for Green Arrow and Black Canary?  It seems plenty of villains will be around if the variant covers are any indication.

We think we found nearly all the base images for the variant covers (below).  Let us know if you see one when missed and we’ll update the images below.  We did not include every logo or no-logo version, or black and white or similar variants.

A quick heads-up for Frank Cho fans.  He is selling the above interlocking triptych variant cover series, and if you want these beauties, you’ll want to order them soon.  The image features the main characters of the Batman Universe: Catwoman, Nightwing, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl.  (Cho’s covers will be available at a discount off his release price with a code you can get by signing up for his newsletter here), and Joe Madureira has a similar offer for his covers here.  Even more artists are posting pre-order options for their own variants almost daily.

Did we mention variant covers?  If you haven’t been following Batman, the cover art of Batman and Catwoman over the past few months has been something fans of the characters dream of.  With black and white and other versions available, expect at least 30 variant covers for Issue #50.  Many of these options from contributing artists, like Frank Cho, will be found at exclusive sellers, including Kirkham (Hastings), Fabok (Yesteryear), Mattina (7-Ate-9), Jimenez (ZMX), Jae Lee (DF), Sanders (Comic Market Street), Jusko (Midtown), McTeigue (Yancy Street), and Adams (Legacy), and creator exclusive variants only at San Diego Comic-Con or webstores include Alex Ross, Mark Brooks, Greg Horn, Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell.  With the release of Batman Issue #50 on July 4 comes Catwoman, Issue #1.  In a rarity for comics, take a look (above, right) at what Catwoman is holding in this cover by Joëlle Jones… Janin’s cover to Batman 50.

And even more have been announced, like three Alex Ross exclusives, available for pre-order for San Diego Comic-Con at his website here.  Greg Horn has three covers available only at his website here.  Mark Brooks has eight variants available here.  J. Scott Campbell has five variants available here.  Jock has three covers here.  Aspen has pulled some art from the late Michael Turner for variants, too.  See even more below.

Here are many of the 50+ cover images and some variations on those variants for Issue #50 previewed so far:

And, of course, expect a blank sketch cover variant.  Here is what DC Comics says about the issue:

It’s the wedding you never thought you’d see! The Batrimony is real as Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are set to tie the knot in a can’t-miss, extra-length milestone issue that will reshape Gotham City. All their friends (and a few enemies?) will be party to a comic book coupling for the ages. Superstar scribe Tom King officiates the sure-to-be-offbeat nuptials, joined by an all-star lineup of guest classic Bat-artists doffing their hats to the lucky couple in a series of pre-wedding flashback scenes sure to set the romantic mood.

Be careful ordering variants for this issue from retailers you haven’t done business with–some online sources have the prior Batman volume’s Issue #50 cover images mixed in with advance orders for the new variants.

Batman Issue #50 arrives July 4, 2018.  Get this one on your comic book store pull list now.  And don’t forget–Frank Cho’s three cover variants for the issue go on sale at his online store today.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Today writer Dan Slott and artist Sara Pichelli are bringing back the title Fantastic Four to Marvel Comics with a re-launch beginning with part one of a new Issue #1 story, “Fourever,” arriving at comic book stores today.  Marvel Comics sidelined the team of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm since the end of its Secret Wars series.  Now fans of the team and “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” will find out what they’ve been doing since then.  We’ve gathered the dozens of cover options available for this issue, shown below.

As Marvel states in its marketing materials for the new series:

A void no other team can fill.  And it’s time for the world to move on.  But can it?  A life-changing decision by the Thing!  A momentous declaration by the Human Torch!  A clarion call-to-arms that summons Doctor Doom!  And a signal in the sky that heralds the return of hope to the Marvel Universe!  All this, and Alicia Masters adopts kittens!  So cute!  Plus, the Impossible Man!

Marvel has amped up its cover artists yet again for the variant covers for this latest of several recent renumberings of main titles.   So you’ll find covers from Alex Ross, Artgerm, Art Adams, Adam Hughes, Steve Epting, Sara Pichelli, Esad Ribic, George Perez, Mark Brooks, Skottie Young, Simone Bianchi, Joe Quesada, Eric Powell, Humberto Ramos, Nick Bradshaw, Mike Wieringo, Jack Kirby, John Cassaday, Emanuela Lupacchino, Walt Simonson, Rob Liefeld, Jen Bartel, Will Sliney, Mike Mayhew, Bill Sienkiewicz, and many more–more than 55 including virgin art and blank covers, most new, some pulled from archives of artists of the past, plus some homages to comic book covers from the past.

Bonus stories will be included in the issue by Simone Bianchi and Skottie Young.  New Fantastic Four pins and backerboards will also available at some comic book stores today.

Take a look at all these covers we spotted:

In addition to the above covers, you’ll find some available from certain retailers with logos and some without (virgin covers).

Look for Fantastic Four, Issue #1, and several of the above cover variants, at Elite Comics or your own favorite comic book store today.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Our borg Best of 2018 list continues today with the Best in Print.  If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2018 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2018 here, and the Best in Television 2018 here.

So let’s get going.  Here are our selections for this year’s Best in Print:

Best Read, Best Sci-fi Read – The Synapse Sequence by Daniel Godfrey (Titan Books).  The Synapse Sequence is one of those standout reads that reflects why we all flock to the latest new book in the first place.  The detective mystery, the future mind travel tech, the twists, and the successful use of multiple perspectives made this one of the most engaging sci-fi reads since Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park.  Honorable mention: Solo: A Star Wars Story novelization by Mur Lafferty (Del Rey).

Best Retro Read – Killing Town by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime).  The lost, first Mike Hammer novel released for the 100th anniversary of Mickey Spillane’s birth was gold for noir crime fans.  This first Hammer story introduced an origin for a character that had never been released, in fact never finished, but Spillane’s late career partner on his work made a seamless read.  This was the event of the year for the genre, and a fun ride for his famous character.  Honorable mention: Help, I Am Being Held Prisoner, by Donald E. Westlake.

Best Tie-In Book – Solo: A Star Wars Story–Expanded Edition novelization by Mur Lafferty (Del Rey).  Not since Donald Glut’s novelization of The Empire Strikes Back had we encountered a Star Wars story as engaging as this one.  Lafferty took the final film version and Lawrence and Jon Kasdan’s script to weave together something fuller than the film on-screen.  Surprises and details moviegoers may have overlooked were revealed, and characters were introduced that didn’t make the final film cut.  Better yet, the writing itself was exciting.  We read more franchise tie-ins than ever before this year, and many were great reads, but this book had it all.  Honorable Mention: Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove (Titan).

Best Genre Non-fiction – Hitchcock’s Heroines by Caroline Young (Insight Editions).  A compelling look at the director and his relationship with the leading women in his films, this new work on Hitchcock was filled with information diehard fans of Hitchcock will not have seen before.  Young incorporated behind-the-scenes images, costume sketches, and a detailed history of the circumstances behind key films of the master of suspense and his work with some of Hollywood’s finest performers.

There’s much more of our selections for 2018’s Best in Print to go…

Best New Edition of Previous Published Work – The Secret Garden, Francis Hodgson Burnett, MinaLima (Harper Design).  MinaLima’s artwork was the perfect excuse to get Burnett’s magical classic The Secret Garden into the hands of new readers.  This new edition was the perfect storybook, and MinaLima, the duo of Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima known best for their Harry Potter film work, provided several beautiful, tactile add-ons to make any young reader (older ones, too) excited to flip to the next page.

Best Book Design – The Archive of Magic – The Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Signe Bergstrom and MinaLima (Harper Design).  It’s probably no surprise that MinaLima produced two works on our list this year.  With several good books in the Harry Potter universe hitting shelves this year, this one had the added dazzle of being a beautiful artifact to behold, thanks to MinaLima’s incorporation of artwork and replica props based on their own movie designs.  Everything from the foldover hardcover, the gilded design, the tipped-in ephemera, and brilliant quality layouts all resulted in an incredible work of craftmanship.

Best Concept Art Book – The Art of Harry Potter by Stuart Craig (Harper Design).  Not every book deserves the word ginormous, but this work qualifies.  Densely packed, this treatise on the concept artwork from 2001 to 2011 that resulted in eight films is a course in visual worldbuilding.  A rewarding document for fans who haven’t seen anything new like this from the Potterverse in seven years.  It’s also a showcase of the thousands of creators whose ideas combined to make one of genredom’s most popular film franchises.

Best Pop Culture History/Overview – Art and Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer (Ten Speed Press).  Every faction of fandom deserves a thoroughly research and comprehensive book on its history like that found in this book.  The creators compiled nearly 450 pages of Dungeons & Dragons development, its creators, its variations, its manuals, and its artwork.  And for non-gamers, it’s a fascinating look inside the game, and its ever-growing popularity.  It also smartly incorporates recurring thematic sections for anyone wanting to easily return for later reference.

Most Fun Read of the Year – Help I Am Being Held Prisoner by Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime).  Every work of a well-known author doesn’t have to fall among the author’s best work.  Sometimes the more oddball choices can be as much fun to encounter.  That was the case with this entry, a humorous tale, and non-standard offering by the noted crime writer.  Laugh-out-loud funny, and preposterous circumstances, Westlake made it all work with engaging characters.  A great choice for a modern re-print.

Best Book Cover Artist – Hydro74 variant Covers for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (Wizards of the Coast).  We couldn’t get enough of these ornate designs by the artist known as Hydro74.  The unique style and colors was like nothing else in book design, and evokes the 19th century cover styles that clung to every book years ago.  A refreshing, interesting way to jazz up otherwise standard cover styles.

Best Limited Series, Best New Series – X-Men: Grand Design/X-Men: Genesis by Ed Piskor (Marvel Comics).  The highlight of this year in comics was Marvel Comics giving Ed Piskor the brass ring and fans of Marvel Comics past and present getting the opportunity to relive the first part of the history of Marvel in a few comic book issues.  His styles, his choices, his paper selection, his color work, his lettering, all made this series stand above everything else this year.

Best Crossover/Mash-up Comic Book – Aquaman/Jabberjaw by Dan Abnett, Paul Pelletier, Andrew Hennessy, Rain Beredo (DC Comics/Hanna-Barbera).  DC Comics and Hanna-Barbera must have had a blast continuing their series of team-ups this year, but none was better than joining these two unlikely denizens of the deep.  Sticking to what makes Aquaman cool and Jabberjaw funny they created a quick, fun tale we’d be glad to read every month.

Best Comic Book Writer-Artist, Best Graphic Novel – Cynthia von Buhler, Minky Woodcock, The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini (Titan Comics).  Cynthia von Buhler was a double threat this year.  As a writer, she combined a well-researched story pulled from her own ancestral research, tying in historic events and weird supernatural pieces of America’s past.  As an artist, she revealed a beautiful style mixed with realistic characters and places, and nostalgic colorful layouts emblematic of the Golden Age of comics.  The resulting graphic novel was one of the most refreshing and unusual reads of 2018.

Best Comic Series, Best Comic Book Single Issue – X-23 (Marvel Comics).  We’re constantly looking for the next series that has it all like Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto’s Black Widow and Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye.  So far it looks like Mariko Tamaki, Juann Cabal, and Nolan Woodard are building that series in the pages of X-23.  The first issue was both the best and the year’s most fun in a year of several reboots, restarts, and event issues.

Best Comic Book Cover Artist – Alex Ross, Captain America, Batman, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, The Immortal Hulk, Astonishing X-Men, and more.  We lost track of how many covers Ross must be producing per month.  As with some past years we’ve named Ross as #1–it’s his choice of subject matter, his quality, his consistent ability to amaze us with his one of-kind superhero concepts, and incredible volume of output that dazzled us again in 2018.

Best Comic Book Cover – Batman #50 classic Catwoman variant, Alex Ross (DC Comics).  With a year that saw masses of variant covers, from Action Comics #1000 to Spider-Man #800 to a new Fantastic Four #1 and on and on, how do you pick one?  Among the variant covers for the misfire Batman/Catwoman wedding-that-wasn’t event, this Alex Ross cover still brings a smile to our faces.  Catwoman seems to emerge from the comics as a real person here, her smile genuine, and she really seems to be enjoying the moment.  Only an idea and achievement that you’d find from the paints and mind of Alex Ross.

Best Comic Book Interior Art, Best Comic Book Writer – The Once and Future Tarzan, Thomas Yeates, Alan Gordon (Dark Horse).  Yeates took writer Gordon’s epic new Tarzan story and applied the look and feel of old adventure stories, a nostalgic view that took many of us back to the classics.  Flash Gordon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Conan the Barbarian, and The Jungle Book, ideas from all of these seemed to be infused into this graphic novel.  Action in comics should always be this good.

Best Comic Book Event – The Amazing Spider-Man #800, various covers (Marvel Comics).  Of all the events this year, we think the best bang for the buck was the quality of all the cover art options for The Amazing Spider-Man Issue #800.  Maybe it’s something about Spider-Man’s design that brings out the best in artists, or maybe it’s what he stands for.  If you only bought one it was a difficult choice.  It’s events like this that beg for a re-release reprinting all the covers in one volume as the Hero Initiative does each year for original charity sketch art.

Best Comic Book Homage – Fantastic Four #1 variant covers – Our favorite homage covers this year could be found in the reboot of the Fantastic Four series.  Homage covers included great pieces like Mike Mayhew’s new take after Gil Kane and David Cockrum’s cover to Giant-Size X-Men #1 and Alex Ross’s homage to Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four #1.

Best Comic Anthology or Collection – The Fantastic Four: Behold… Galactus! (Marvel).  This 312-page, affordable, epic hardcover book reprinted at the giant size of original comic book artwork provided a look at Fantastic Four (1961) Issues #48-50, #74-77, #120-123, and #242-244.  The artwork by Kirby, Buscema, and Byrne is a feast for the eyes.  (And yes, that’s another Alex Ross cover).

Best Star Trek Non-fiction – Star Trek: Lost Scenes by David Tilotta and Curt McAloney (Titan Books).  Just when you think everything has been written about one of the most popular genre franchises, something like this book surfaces.  Everything that went before the cameras during the production of Star Trek: The Original Series, both intentionally and unintentionally, made it to film.  These collectors compiled these extra film cuts and were able to publish them so fans of Star Trek could actually see images never seen before.  The book was a huge hit with fans, and the selection and design highlighted this unique offering.

Best Star Wars Non-fiction – The Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars: Creatures and Aliens by Mark Salisbury (Abrams Young Readers).  For the first time a genre book focused on aliens and creatures of a franchise in a compelling way.  This book is full of tipped-in replica paper artifacts, and insight into the entire Star Wars saga–all ten films.  Featuring animatronics, puppetry, practical effects, costuming, CGI, sculpts, animal actors, prosthetics and makeups, stop-motion animation, and motion capture creations, this book covers all sorts of visual effects.  A great book for every Star Wars fan.

Best Firefly Non-Fiction – Firefly Encyclopedia by Monica Valentinelli (Titan Books).  So many Firefly books have been created to dig into the details of the short-lived series, yet the giant fanbase demands it.  It must create a challenge to bring forward something new, yet the Firefly Encyclopedia presented loads of in-world and behind the scenes content so any fan who has amassed all the other non-fiction books will be surprised at all that is presented here.

Best Doctor Who Non-fiction – Doctor Who Who-ology: Regenerated Edition by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright (Harper Design).  This updated edition included everything and anything Doctor Who fans could want to know about their favorite series.  Part encyclopedia, part trivia trove, both in-world information and real-world information, cross-references to actors, creators, and episodes of the series, plus references to the radio dramas, audio books, comic books and other tie-in stories will allow anyone to access answers to Whovian questions quickly.

The Best of the Rest:

Biggest Genre Event of 2018 – We witnessed several major franchise anniversaries in the past few years, but nothing generated (or re-generated?) the anticipation created by the announcement of a new Doctor on BBC’s Doctor Who, resulting in this year’s premiere of Jodie Whitaker as the 13th Doctor.  And it was quite a payoff, with new writers and a new cast, the infusion of new blood proved that better Doctor Who stories can be told.  This season proved to be the best in years, and the excitement for the latest Doctor was felt around the world from the UK to San Diego Comic-Con.

Biggest Comics News of 2018 – Stan Lee is unprecedented in comic book history, so it’s no surprise his passing brought together legions to remember him.  No other creator did more for comic books and had a public persona that made him beloved by fans worldwide like Stan the Man.  Stan lived a long life, but that doesn’t mean everyone won’t miss his appearances on-screen once they wrap-up in a few years.  His legacy lives on in each new story and film about many of his creations, but none more so than the world’s most popular superhero, which he co-created, the spectacular Spider-Man.

Biggest Star Wars News – With movies coming out so often, it seems like the fanbase is ready for a change.  Jon Favreau announcing a new live-action television series featuring the Boba Fett tribe Mandalorians to be called The Mandalorian was just the news everyone needed, generating some excitement next year from Star Wars in advance of the year-end premiere of film Episode IX.

Biggest Star Trek News – A unifying announcement stretched across Star Trek fandom this year that everyone can agree on.  More Captain Picard is a good thing.  Patrick Stewart announced his return to play Captain Picard next year and social media erupted with glee.

Biggest Firefly News – With little hope of anything involving Firefly actors, new tie-in stories finally began as Joss Whedon launched a tie-in novel series beginning with the well-written Big Damn Hero.

Best Genre Auction – Han Solo Prop blaster from Return of the Jedi (Julien’s).  Several auction houses auctioned great entertainment memorabilia this year.  Julien’s had our favorite win, when a blaster from Return of the Jedi sold for $550,000.

Best Real Science – NASA’s Juno Mission.  Juno brought back the most beautiful images of Jupiter that have ever been taken.  Then marking the eighth time NASA has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, NASA’s InSight lander successfully arrived on the red planet, sending back to Earth new photographs and data for study.

Best Nerd/Fanboy Tech – Adult Big Wheel.   The High Roller Big Wheel is a dream car for adults who never got over the feel and fearlessness of driving a Big Wheel.  We’ve always thought the world needs more bumper car arenas for adults.  Until then this is the next big want.

Best Action Figure Design (budget) – Maria cyborg from Metropolis (Super 7).  The Kenner-style figure from Super 7’s ReAction line must rate as the longest time between a film and a tie-in toy, coming in 91 years later.  A good sculpt, and two great package options were made available.  So many licensed properties are now coming off of copyright protection and entering the public domain, expect to see many more tie-ins like this next year.

Best Action Figure Design (high-end) – Honey Trap Army Series 2 (Gentle Giant).  This series was announced earlier this year, but we still don’t know when they might be available to collectors.  We just want to make sure everyone has seen it, because the designs and superb costume work make for one of the coolest figure/statue series we’ve seen yet.  Sideshow continues to roll out great figures, but last year’s winner in this category (Sideshow’s middle-aged Tatooine Kenobi) has yet to be shipped, so don’t expect this series from Gentle Giant for a while.

So that’s it!

Come back Monday as we wind up our year-end review, and add several new members for our annual update to the borg Hall of Fame.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Review by C.J. Bunce

A new edition of a book about the popularity of Fawcett Comics‘ original Captain Marvel, the world’s mightiest mortal–the superhero renamed Shazam and featured in a new movie this month starring Zachary Levi–will be the perfect trip through time for fans who have enjoyed the character in his many stories going back to his debut in 1939.  My personal favorite Captain Marvel stories can be found in the original Whiz Comics (all in the public domain and available to read online now here) and as drawn by Alex Ross in his landmark graphic novel with Mark Waid, Kingdom Come.  For the first time in a softcover edition, Chip Kidd’s Shazam: The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal has been reprinted by Abrams ComicArts just in time for the release of the film, Shazam!

For those not in-the-know, this is the Captain Marvel who now goes by Shazam (the word that causes him to bring forth his powers)–the one owned by DC Comics today, and not the one owned by Marvel Comics and also in theaters now in the movie Captain Marvel (reviewed here at borg).  Shazam: The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal is a historical work, and it doesn’t hesitate to use the name he’s always been known as by his fans.  As told by writer Chip Kidd, the Captain Marvel fan club had 400,000 people in it in its best year in the 1940s, and Fawcett projected 40 million followers of the character in books and film.  Captain Marvel books sold 1.3 million copies per month, not a common feat even today.  Does anything approach that kind of fan club status today?  At the height of the character it was more popular than Superman and Batman, and so of course the character had hundreds of tie-in products.

Readers will marvel over a reprint of the entire story from Captain Marvel Adventures, Issue #1–created by two then unknowns: Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, and reprints of several colorful covers from Whiz Comics, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., Mary Marvel Comics, WOW Comics, Master Comics, America’s Greatest Comics, Spy Smasher, and even Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny, plus pages of scans of original comic pages from ex-Fawcett staff.

The book uses photographs from a collection of some of the scarcest superhero collectibles known, including images of books, toys, and paper ephemera for Captain Marvel and the entire Marvel Family–superhero kids like Billy Batson–the boy who turns into Captain Marvel–and his friends who use the Shazam powers but remain as kids.

It’s noteworthy that Captain Marvel was about integrity, and as found in an original Fawcett document included in the book, he was written in adherence to Fawcett’s self-regulating code, which included “no comics shall use dialects and devices in a way to indicate ridicule or intolerance of racial groups” and “no comics which ridicule or attack any religious groups are permitted.”

As with many comics of the day, readers can also expect plenty images of Captain Marvel punching Nazis– a subject of many stories and comic book covers.

Here is a book trailer for the hardcover release in 2010, showcasing many items found inside:

Anyone after this book will already be a fan, looking back for some good nostalgic reminders of the popularity and success of this character for 80 years.  That’s a good thing because the brief text remarks are a bit snarky and off-putting.  Although I liked writer Chip Kidd’s works on Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schultz, and his book on Alex Ross titled Mythology, this one doesn’t have the same reverent tone.  Kidd doesn’t really seem to like a lot about Captain Marvel, as seen through the criticism he volleys at the collectibles he discusses in the book and the various choices made in the 1940s by the writers and artists for Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family characters.  It’s simply ill-placed.  Nobody interested in this book is looking for a critique of a character loved by millions or potshots at marketing giveaways made for kids in the 1940s.  Despite the legal wrangling over the past 80 years, Captain Marvel is unique, strong, forthright, and interesting, which can be attested to by his many fans.  But fortunately you don’t need to care about the brief text inclusions to enjoy the great images in the book.

Reprinted with 22 more pages than in its original hardcover edition in 2010, Shazam: The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal, including hundreds of photographs by Geoff Spear, is highly recommended for fans of the superhero and fans of the Golden Age of comics and superhero toys and collectibles.  It’s now in softcover from Abrams ComicArts, available here at Amazon.  Or order a copy from Elite Comics or your local comic book store.

Detective Comics, the title DC Comics took its name from, first hit the shelves of newsstands just before March 1937, 26 months before Batman would first appear in the famous Issue #27 in May 1939.  This Wednesday the monthly comic book’s landmark Issue #1000 is arriving, and it’s going to be packed with content from several writers and artists.  It’s 96 pages in all, including the first appearance outside video games of Arkham Knight.  And as you’d expect, DC Comics is releasing the issue with several covers (our count below is a whopping 84 or about a cover for each year Detective Comics has been in print!), including a standard cover, a set of decade-inspired covers, both a blank sketch cover and new black edition, retailer incentives featuring logos or no logos, and several limited, exclusive shop, convention, and creator store variants.  More than a few are simply stunning, and this is the rare mass cover event where the final regular cover set (10) includes several works as interesting or better than the exclusives (the Frank Miller with the classic title art really takes us back to the 1980s).  Check them all out below–all 100 images including art without logos–with links to where to buy them (exclusives that haven’t sold out in pre-sales).

Writers for stories in Detective Comics Issue #1000 include Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Dini, Warren Ellis, Geoff Johns, Tom King, Christopher Priest, Dennis O’Neil, Kevin Smith, Scott Snyder, Peter J. Tomasi, and James T Tynion IV.  Interior artists include Neal Adams, Greg Capullo, Tony S. Daniel, Steve Epting, Joëlle Jones, Kelley Jones, Jim Lee, Doug Mahnke, Alex Maleev, Alvaro Martinez, and Dustin Nguyen.

DC Comics did a nice job of pulling out creators defining each decade, with Steve Rude (1930s), Bruce Timm (1940s Detective Comics #69 homage), Michael Cho (1950s), Jim Steranko (1960s), Bernie Wrightson (1970s), Frank Miller (1980s), Tim Sale (1990s), Jock (2000s), and Greg Capullo (2010s)–all appear to only be available with the trade “Detective Comics” logo (but we’ve included images of the original art below).  DC Comics publisher Jim Lee is back again with the standard cover, a wraparound design.  The rest reflect a crazy big stack of variants by everyone and anyone, most available with the Detective Comics logo (with “trade” logo) or without logo (“virgin”), some in black and white, some with sketch art, some with foil cardstock.  The following are all the non-standard variant artists and where to get them (we heard an Andy Kubert cover may be out there, but could not confirm this): Neal Adams (three designs, NealAdams.com), Jay Anacleto (trade, virgin, and B&W) (Unknown Comic Books), Kaare Andrews (trade only, no virgin-only edition confirmed) (Third Eye), Artgerm (trade, virgin, retro) (Forbidden Planet), Lee Bermejo (virgin, trade) (Midtown), Brian Bolland (trade, virgin, B&W) (Forbidden Planet), Greg Capullo (gold foil version of his 2010s cover) (WonderCon variant), Clayton Crain (virgin, trade) (Scorpion Comics), Tony S. Daniel (trade, no virgin-only) (artist website, Comic Stop), Gabriele Dell’Otto (trade, silver virgin, and gold convention) (Bulletproof), Jason Fabok (trade, virgin, B&W) (Yesteryear Comics), Riccardo Federici (trade, virgin) (ComicXposure), Pat Gleason & Alejandro Sanchez (trade, virgin, B&W) (Newbury Comics), Adam Hughes (trade, virgin) (Frankie’s Comics), Jee-Hyung Lee (trade, virgin, B&W) (Frankie’s Comics), Dan Jurgens & Kevin Nowlan (sketch, line art, and color versions) (Dynamic Forces), Mike Lilly (trade-only, no virgin cover) (Comics Vault), Warren Louw (virgin, trade) (KRS Comics), and Doug Mahnke (trade, virgin) (Planet Comicon).

Plus there’s Francesco Mattina (trade, virgin) (Midtown), Mike Mayhew (trade, virgin) (The Comic Mint), Stewart McKenny (trade, we couldn’t locate anyone selling the virgin cover) (Comics Etc.), Dawn McTeigue (virgin, trade) (Comics Elite), Rodolfo Migliari (trade, retro trade, virgin) (BuyMeToys.com), Lucio Parrillo (trade, virgin) (Scorpion Comics), Alex Ross (two covers) (via his website), Natali Sanders (virgin, trade) (KRS Comics), Nicola Scott costume match design to her Superman image for Action Comics #1000 (trade, virgin) (Kings Comics), Bill Sienkiewicz (two designs, signed or not, one in trade, one virgin, via his website), Mico Suayan (trade, virgin) (Unknown Comic Books), Jim Lee & Scott Williams (midnight release vertical and convention silver foil, B&W, and four villain designs) (Torpedo Comics, Bedrock City Comics, Graham Crackers).

Want to see them all?  Here goes:

Jim Lee & Scott Williams standard cover (wraparound and front)

Steve Rude (1930s)

Bruce Timm (1940s)

Michael Cho (1950s)

Jim Steranko (1960s)

The late Bernie Wrightson (1970s)

Frank Miller (1980s)

Tim Sale (1990s)

Jock (2000s)                                                              

(Jock – clean art)      

Greg Capullo (2010s)

Blank sketch

Black sketch

Three Neal Adams:
 

Three Jay Anacleto:

One Kaare Andrews (second image is full art shown):

Three Artgerm:

Two Lee Bermejo:

Three Brian Bolland:

Greg Capullo gold foil:

Two Clayton Crain:

One Tony Daniel (second image shows full art):

Three Gabriele Dell’Otto:

Three Jason Fabok:
 

Two Riccardo Federici:

Three Pat Gleason:
 

Two Adam Hughes:

Three Jee-Hyung Lee:

Three Dan Jurgens & Kevin Nowlan:

One Mike Lilly (second image shows full art):

Two Warren Louw:

Two Doug Mahnke:

Two Francesco Mattina:

Two Mike Mayhew:

One Stewart McKenny (art follows):

Two Dawn McTeigue:

Three Rodolfo Migliari:

Two Lucio Parrillo:

Two Alex Ross (showing full artwork for trade logo version/virgin art available as print):

Two Natali Sanders:

Two Nicola Scott:

Two Bill Sienkiewicz:

Two Mico Suayan:

Seven more Jim Lee & Scott Williams:
   

The winner?  Anyone who can actually land one of the limited covers (most above limited to around 2,500) from their favorite artists.  But how about Mike Mayhew’s incredible villain-filled design?  And Alex Ross’s two covers for sale on his website–including an homage to issue #27–sold out early, as have many others.  Alex Ross, Artgerm, and Bruce Tim’s homage to Jerry Robinson with retro title covers would make a great framed set:

Look for the base cover and decade covers this Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at Elite Comics, or your local comic book store.  Your best bet for the rest will be the artists’ websites or eBay.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg

Warner Brothers continues to struggle with how next to turn the DC universe of films into a cash cow like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  First a report that Ben Affleck′s replacement will be Robert Pattinson, an actor known for both the lucrative Harry Potter franchise and Twilight franchise, was then followed by a report that Nicholas Hoult was being considered.  Hoult, co-star of the X-Men movies as Beast, among other roles, makes more sense, as first–he has the charisma and look to be both Batman and alter ego Bruce Wayne, and second,–because he’d follow that common casting preference that already has seen two dozen actors playing superheroes flip from DC characters to Warner characters or vice versa.  These reports were followed by word that two other actors were on the Batman shortlist: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who already portrayed both Quicksilver in the MCU and Kick-Ass in his own series) and Armie Hammer.  Why wouldn’t they just stop with Armie Hammer?  If the studio has already ruled out Denzel Washington (just watch him in the Equalizer franchise, he’d be perfect!), then the closest to how Batman and Bruce have been drawn in the comics for 80 years is Armie Hammer.  He has that John Hamm suave manner and he’s already shown he can play a great hero opposite Superman Henry Cavill in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  With the next new comics adaptation it does seem like Warner Brothers may be doing something right.  It’s on television instead of at the movies, where the Arrowverse group of series has seen greater success than the studio’s movie efforts.  It’s the new Batwoman series, and the CW released the first trailer for the series late this week (check it out below).

For whatever reason, Warner Brothers, the CW, etc. are hesitant to put their prime DC character–Batman–on the small screen.  Just like they were hesitant showing Superman on Smallville back in “the WB” days, or giving Batman his due within the Gotham series continuity.  But this new Batwoman series looks like it could be the closest viewers are going to get to a TV bat-hero.  Series star Ruby Rose proved she has the charisma and physicality for a major superheroine/action role in The Meg, Resident Evil, Vin Diesel’s XXX series, and the John Wick series.  Her character of Kate Kane aka Batwoman in last August’s CW Arrowverse crossover “Elseworlds,” the highlight of the event (along with John Wesley Shipp donning his 1990 Flash costume), was received well by viewers.  The new trailer seems as “Batman” in look and feel as anything Warner has produced for TV–or film.

Even better, the great Rachel Skarsten (former Black Canary of Birds of Prey and star of Lost Girl and Reign) plays a villain named Alice–Batwoman’s twin sister who took on the persona of an evil Wonderlander in the comics–who looks like she can run circles around Harley Quinn.

Batwoman has been one of DC Comics′ most fascinating characters since she was re-designed by Alex Ross for DC’s 52 series in 2006, but she really came into her own in 2009 in the Justice League: Cry for Justice mini-series written and drawn by Eisner Award nominees James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli, and she was fleshed out further in 2010-2013 in the award-winning Batwoman solo series written and drawn by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman.

Take a look at the first trailer for CW’s Batwoman:

Camrus Johnson (Luke Cage) will play a young Lucius “Luke” Fox, Dakota Daulby (iZombie, Wayward Pines, Falling Skies) will play a villain called Cheshire Cat, and Scottish character actor Dougray Scott (Ever After, Doctor Who, The Woman in White) will play Kate’s father.

Like Iron Man was a less popular character in the comics who became “big” because of the movies, maybe Batwoman will get her day in the spotlight, too?

Look for Batwoman on the CW network airing Sundays this Fall.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg

The #1 top selling issue of Vampirella is arriving in comic book stores this month.  It’s part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the popular horror character, and already pre-orders for #1 of a new series have surpassed 130,000 copies.  This makes the forthcoming first issue of the series, the fifth solo-titled Vampirella comic series, the biggest selling Vampirella issue ever, even beating sales numbers for the original classic magazine from decades ago.  Publisher Dynamite has pulled out all the stops, scheduled to release several variant covers from familiar artists for the first issue.  Pre-sales numbers also make this Dynamite’s all-time best selling issue.

Several creators had a hand in developing Vampirella back in 1969, from monster guru Forrest J. Ackerman to artists Trina Robbins, Tom Sutton, and Frank Frazetta, and editor Archie Goodwin.  The new series will be written by Christopher Priest, with interior artwork by Ergün Gündüz.  Frank Cho is providing the main cover, with variants available from Alex Ross, Joe Jusko, Adam Hughes, Ed Sanjulian, Guillem March, Jose Gonzalez, and J. Scott Campbell and Frank Frazetta “icon” covers, a wraparound Frank Cho cover, plus cosplay editions for each issue and a blank sketch cover, and limited no-logo and black and white cover editions.  Stanley “Artgerm” Lau will provide the main cover for Issue #2, J. Scott Campbell for Issue #3, and it seems there’s a hint from the publisher of a possible new Frank Frazetta cover coming, too.  If you’re lucky enough, you already picked up the 50th anniversary Free Comic Book Day issue we previewed here at borg back in May.

Gündüz′s use of color is probably the best contribution of the first issue, especially in his splash pages.  Fans of the character and monster-zines will find the story is filled with the body count, blood, and horror they’d expect in a Vampirella book.

Take a look at these variant covers for the first two issues, and keep a look out for the life-sized Vampirella display by Jose Gonzalez:

Look for Vampirella, Issue #1, at Elite Comics or your local comic shop July 17, 2019.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg

The first major variant comic book cover event of 2020 launches tomorrow as the landmark 750th issue of Wonder Woman arrives at comic stores everywhere.  As with last year’s Detective Comics Issue #1000, DC Comics will feature a set of decade-inspired cover art variants plus a sketch cover version, joining an incredibly rendered Joëlle Jones standard cover with Wonder Woman holding the Earth on her shoulders (which might be the best of all), all available in most comic book stores.  Nearly 40 other variants will also be available if you’re willing to track them down, from retailer incentives to artist and store-exclusive issues.

Look for homage covers by Joshua Middleton (1940s), Jenny Frison (1950s), J. Scott Campbell (1960s), Olivier Coipel (1970s), George Perez (1980s), Brian Bolland (1990s), Adam Hughes (2000s), and Jim Lee and Scott Williams (2010s).

The first story features writer Steve Orlando and artist Jesus Merino wrapping the Year of the Villain arc.  DC announced previously that a story by writer Scott Snyder and artist Bryan Hitch will basically reboot the DC universe timeline, establishing Wonder Woman as the first DC superhero.  Other stories were created by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott, Gail Simone and Colleen Doran, Marguerite Bennett and Laura Braga, Mariko Tamaki and Elena Casagrande, Kami Garcia, Phil Hester, and Ande Parks, Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Riley Rossmo, and Vita Ayala and Amancay Nahuelpan.  Readers will also find pin-up art by Emanuela Lupacchino, Ramona Fradon, Bilquis Evely, Travis Moore, Liam Sharp, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

So which is your favorite cover?  Check out the final covers and original cover artwork below:

Standard cover – Joelle Jones

Joshua Middleton (1940s)

Jenny Frison (1950s)

J. Scott Campbell (1960s)

Olivier Coipel (1970s)

George Perez (1980s)

Brian Bolland (1990s)

Adam Hughes (2000s)

Jim Lee and Scott Williams (2010s)

Blank sketch cover

Stanley “Artgerm” Lau – artist shop exclusive

J. Scott Campbell – artist store exclusive

Lucio Parrillo – Scorpion Comics exclusive

Adam Hughes – artist shop exclusive

Jay Anacleto – Unknown Comics exclusive

Nathan Szerdy – Comics Elite exlusive

Bosslogic – Planet Awesome exclusive

Shannon Maer – Comic Mint exclusive

Liam Sharp – Comic Stop exclusive

Derrick Chew – ComicXposure exclusive

Gabriele Dell’Otto – Bulletproof exclusive

Nicola Scott – Kings Comics exclusive (costume series)

Alex Ross – artist shop exclusive

Kiat Ejikure – Unknown Comics exclusive

Jim Lee – three styles/nine variants for Torpedo Comics

Look for Wonder Woman Issue #750 at Elite Comics or your local comic book store tomorrow, Wednesday, January 22, 2020.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg

Review by C.J. Bunce

In the early 1980s a segment of genre films was eclipsed by blockbusters like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but they were important and unique and genre fans loved them every bit as much as the box office winners.  Films like Tron, The Dark Crystal, and Flash Gordon.  Now after 40 years fans of Flash Gordon at last have a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the making of the film.  John Walsh, author of Harryhausen: The Lost Movies (reviewed here at borg) unearthed concept artwork, original costumes, props, and sketches, and new interviews with the director, production staff, and cast members for the 40th anniversary tribute, Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film, the only comprehensive look at the art, promotional material, and music available for this classic sci-fi/fantasy favorite.

At one level this is the typical “art of” or “making of” book for a movie.  The difference here is the movie premiere was so long ago that many details are unavailable, and so the primary source materials end up being the best way for the production to speak for itself.  Walsh tracked down original props, costumes, and artwork to get new, detailed photographs, never before available to fans.  All the swords, the helmets, and those amazing eyepopping costumes with that splash and dazzle never seen before or since fill page after page.  This is foremost a showcase of the vision of Flash Gordon production designer and costume designer Danilo Donati–a double threat on the film who ensured a singular look to the movie from location to location and set to set.  The book includes never before seen drawings and photographs of costumes that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film.

In a major way, the book is also the story of director Mike Hodges–who contributed much to Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film, and powerhouse producer Dino De Laurentiis, a quirky executive and visionary whose ideas drove the vision of Flash Gordon from inception to final cut.  De Laurentiis wanted audiences to take the film seriously as a comic strip translated to film, but Hodges knew the humor would be essential to translate to modern audiences.  Despite the funding and cutting edge special effects technology recently developed for Star Wars and Superman, Walsh conveys that De Laurentiis intentionally took a different approach, highlighted by the fact British rock band Queen was brought in to create themes and songs (Walsh includes recollections from band member Brian May), expanded into an eleventh hour, rapidly concocted full score by composer Howard Blake.

Fans of the film will learn how actor Brian Blessed says he was born for the roll of Vultan, how not paying the actors timely caused Flash actor Sam Jones to walk off the set before production was completed, how Dale Arden actress Melody Anderson updated her character from Alex Raymond’s comic strips to attempt to create a powerful female force on par with contemporary 1980s genre heroines Lois Lane and Princess Leia.  Of the new cast interviews the key exception missing is Max Von Sydow, who played Ming the Merciless in what is probably the single greatest adaptation of a comics character ever put on the big screen (Von Sydow passed away in 2020 at the age of 90, after a long and distinguished career).  Those without new interviews are filled in by Walsh with more contemporary recollections via fandom magazines and other sources.

Those who love concept artwork will be thrilled with pages of storyboard art, drawn by artist Mentor Huebnor–although neither De Laurentiis nor Hodges relied on them.  Paintings from art director John Graysmark and artists Ferdinando Scarfiotti, Chris Foss, and Tom Adams defined the look of the film.  John Walsh showcases the special effects, like the powerful clouded skies made with Perspex cloud tanks, the use of blue screens, the use of a motion control camera and optical printer, plus scale models (like a 25-foot model of Ming’s palace), rod work and wires, matte paintings, and other movie magic.  The author utilizes interviews new and old from special effects supervisor Frank Van der Veer, his assistant Barry Nolan, model makers Martin Bower and Bill Pearson, and others.  Best of all, fans get to see the full model of the dreaded Arborian tree insect, which we only barely saw inside the holes of the tree stump.

Walsh pieces together deleted scenes from the film, including an alternate ending.  The book wraps with discussions of the opening title art, promotional poster art, including Richard Amsel’s definitive poster seen on the book cover, and input from fan and noted comic book creator and poster artist Alex Ross.

It’s the ultimate source book for fans of Flash Gordon, and a great look back at the film production methods of the year 1980.  Highly recommended for sci-fi fantasy fans, in a full-color jacketed hardcover edition, Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film is available now here at Amazon.

Review by C.J. Bunce

If you only know Alex Ross from his extensive work with the DC Comics superheroes, get ready for a great book of poster art featuring all-new paintings of the superheroes of the Marvel universe.  Bar none, Alex Ross is the creator whose coverage has received the most views and feedback in the past 10 years of borg (early on we looked at some of our most favorite of his artworks here and you can see all our coverage of his projects here).  You’ve probably already checked out Alex Ross’s previously reviewed art overview books Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, Rough Justice: The DC Comics Sketches of Alex Ross, and The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross.  Although Ross has created countless covers and projects like Marvels over the years, what you may not be aware of are full-figure, painted portrait, images of the Marvel Comics superheroes Ross installed last year in Marvel’s New York offices as a life-sized mural.  All 35 individual character posters used in the mural are now available in a giant-sized book, The Alex Ross Marvel Comics Poster Book, full of premium cardstock, ready-to-frame posters, including a 44″x16″ foldout of the entire connected image.

We’ve shared his 1990s DC Comics character posters before (see here and here).  Here’s what that looked like together in a single image that has been reproduced in prints millions of times since:

Ross’s painted art is a favorite of comic book fans everywhere.  His unique style has become a trademark of sorts, and a must-have for a sure-fire successful launch of many new series.  His prints, like those shown above and those in The Alex Ross Marvel Comics Poster Book, regularly sell at comic conventions for $20 each, which makes a book like this, listing at $24.99, a steal (Ross’s original color painted superhero works go for $4,000 to $25,000).  Publisher AbramsComicArts was careful to have each character poster include on its reverse the description of Ross’s influence and design for that image, further making it easy to separate the poster prints.  This book will find itself eventually selling as frameable prints all over the Internet.

Included is a discussion by Ross of the commissioning of this project, how he selected these 35 characters of all the hundreds of available heroes to incorporate in this project, and an image of four tiny superheroes he wanted to incorporate in 1:1 scale that would have been too small for the mural.  As a bonus, the back cover pulls out to show a pencil-sketch print with Spider-Man taking center stage.  The highlight of the book is a fold-out of approximately 44″x16″ of the entire mural.  It looks like this image, but in brighter, more crisp detail:

Here is a video of Ross discussing his creation of this project:

A must for Alex Ross fans, superhero poster collectors and fans of Marvel Comics.  You can order The Alex Ross Marvel Comics Poster Book now via Elite Comics or your local comics shop, or pre-order it here at Amazon (it lists an April 20, 2021, release date).

We’re continuing our ten-year celebration of borg today with our favorite comic books.  If you missed them, check out our Top 40 movies here and our Top 40 TV series here.

We reviewed thousands of books and comics that we recommended to our readers since June 2011, and some even made it onto our favorites shelf.  We don’t publish reviews of comic books that we read and don’t recommend, so this shortlist reflects 21 comics and creators we view as the Best of the Best.

So let’s get going!

Best Superhero Series (tie) — Black Widow (Marvel Comics).  Phil Noto’s art and colors were incredible and Nathan Edmondson’s story didn’t let up once.  Full of action, espionage, and intrigue.  A great series to catch-up on in a trade edition.  Hawkeye (Marvel Comics).  Before Black Widow, Matt Fraction and David Aja set the stage for a successful Tier 2 superhero story.  If you don’t usually go for the dramatic superhero book as opposed to the masked action story, this may be the one exception you should check out.  

Best Sci-Fi Series – Copperhead (Image Comics).  Fans of sci-fi Westerns like Firefly should take note.  There’s a great series released by Image Comics–Copperhead.  It features one of the best characters of 2014, the tough Sheriff Bronson, large and in-charge in an off-world, sparsely populated town.  Writer Jae Faerber and artist Scott Godlewski created an instant hit complete with plenty of alien crime.  

Best Tie-in Comic Book Series: Star Trek The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation² (IDW Publishing).  Writers Scott and David Tipton and Tony Lee and artist JK Woodward’s painted artwork throughout this limited series was stunning.  Probably the best depiction to-date of Star Trek characters in a comic book, Woodward took a fanboy’s dream job of merging two of the biggest sci-fi franchises together for the first story ever attempted and delivered a great looking series.

Best Supernatural Comic Book Series – Ghost Tree by Bobby Curnow and Simon Gane (IDW Publishing).  Haunting, mythic, and sweeping, this story of a man reflecting on his past and coming to terms with the present incorporates Asian legends to form an emotional, curiously funny tale.  

Best Retro Comic Book (Ongoing Series) – Miss Fury (Dynamite).  The 2013 Miss Fury series was a unique take on the world’s first superheroine.  Writer Rob Williams and artist Jackson Herbert concocted the surprise hit of the year–a book that might not have been on pull lists yet it was swiped off the store shelves every week as readers couldn’t get enough of the series–a non-stop, action-filled, fun read–it’s a comic book series that will remind you why you love comic books in the first place.

Best Retro Comic Book (Limited Series) – The X-Files Year Zero, aka The X-Files Mystery Magazine (IDW Publishing). Writer Karl Kesel crafted both a great Mulder and Scully tale and a film noir mystery in this five-issue limited series, flipping from the present to the past in a tale that is worthy of being canon for the franchise.

Best Comic Book Writer – Matt Kindt, Dept.H (Dark Horse).  Kindt pulled together an incredibly nostalgic assemblage of the best action concepts: classic science fiction of the H.G. Wells variety, G.I. Joe Adventure Team-inspired characters, and a fun character study and whodunit that will have you digging out your old game of Sub Search. 

Best Comic Book Interior Artist – Mike Mayhew, The Star Wars, Star Wars #15, Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Storms of Crait, etc. (Dark Horse).  Mike Mayhew’s great artwork make a 1974 George Lucas script something bigger and better than it otherwise might have been.  Superb interior work on several titles, with a specialty in getting Star Wars just right. 

Best Comic Book Cover Artist – Alex Ross, Mighty Mouse, Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern, Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77, The Shadow/Batman, Marvel Legacy, The Mighty Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman, etc.  Alex Ross had another banner decade, providing the best nostalgia for fanboys and fangirls with his classic painted artwork.  And as always, he didn’t just paint a few covers, but hundreds, across nearly every major title.  

Best Comic Book Cover Multi-Artist Event — Betty & Veronica Issue #1 variant covers (Archie Comics).  Reaching out to a few dozen comic book artists to create their impressions of the world’s oldest–and longest published–frenemies provided a brilliant and beautiful result, reprinted in a collected volume.

Best Graphic Novel (tie) Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, Jill Thompson (DC Comics).  Writer/artist Jill Thompson is probably the best creator in comics today.  Her origin story of Wonder Woman is vibrant, and she presents a flawed, complex, and ultimately strong and fearless heroine.  The best Wonder Woman book we’ve ever read. Minky Woodcock, The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini (Titan Comics).  Cynthia von Buhler was a double threat on this book.  As a writer, she combined a well-researched story pulled from her own ancestral research, tying in historic events and weird supernatural pieces of America’s past.  As an artist, she revealed a beautiful style mixed with realistic characters and places, and nostalgic colorful layouts conjuring artists of the Golden Age of comics. 

Best Single Issue – Hawkeye Issue #11 (Marvel Comics).  Writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja set a new standard for writer/artist partnerships as they created a silent story told from the perspective of rescued pooch Arrow aka Pizza Dog aka Lucky.  It’s a standalone issue that folks will look back on for years as an example of the best work of both creators.

Best Retro/Reboot Comic Book Series — Afterlife with Archie (Archie Comics).  Who would have guessed someone could make Archie and friends so accessible to any demographic in the 2010s?  And whose brilliant idea was doing it via a horror genre story of zombies taking over Riverdale?  Smart writing by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and spooky atmospheric illustrations by Francesco Francavilla.  

Best Superhero (Limited) Series – X-Men: Grand Design/X-Men: Genesis by Ed Piskor (Marvel Comics).  Ed Piskor took the brass ring and took fans of Marvel Comics past and present to relive the the history of Marvel in a few comic book issues.  His styles, his choices, his paper selection, his color work, his lettering, all made this series stand apart.

Best Crossover/Mash-up Series – Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by writer James Tynion IV and artist Freddie Williams II (DC Comics/IDW Publishing).  A great idea executed wonderfully, combining two key franchises in a way fanboys and fangirls will keep coming back for.  Williams once again shows why his eye-popping Batman and TMNT layouts are the best for both properties you’ll find in any series today.

Best Comic Book One-Shot – Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls, No. 1 (Kevin Eastman Studios).  A single issue that is screaming to be its own series with a quick but thoroughly crafted world and unlikely but superb superheroes.

Best Comics Moment – Detective Comics arrives at Issue #1000, various writers and artists (DC Comics).  Even more so than past events, the #1000 issue’s look at Batman really brought the best out of every writer and artist that participated, and documented a key high point in comics history.

Best Comic Book Surprise/Best Borg Comic – Star Wars No. 108 (Marvel Comics) – A big win no one could have predicted–the return of Valance, The Hunter.  For anyone who read the original Star Wars comics in the 1970s and 1980s, this issue came out of nowhere.  It also showed that these stories and characters are still loved by fans, and there is a market for the Expanded Universe aka Legends stories today.  

Best Online Comic – Aztec Empire by Paul Guinan, David Hahn, and Anita Bennett (Big Red Hair Comics).  Probably one of the best uses of comics in a web format so far, the great storytelling and vivid, quality artwork was a fresh look at a history lesson–for comic readers and history fans.

We hope you find something you haven’t read from the past four days–and past ten years–of recommendations. 

Thanks for reading!

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg