Aric, Visigoth Metal Superstar

By Popular demand, the X-O theme music is available for download here in all of it’s high file quality glory:

MP3 file: Episode 65 intro – X-O Manowar Metal

(right click/save as to save the file)

This is the opening music from Episode 65, X-O Manowar’s greatest hits.

Valiant Comics FCBD 2012 Cover

The news we’ve been patiently waiting for is here.

Valiant Comics will return in 2012 on Free Comic Book Day

For those of you marking your calendars now, Free Comic Book Day is May 5, 2012. My calendar is marked.

Looks like the FCBD issue will be a sort of preview book, with info about characters, creators, and such. It seems that it will definitely include X-O Manowar (obviously), Harbinger, and Bloodshot.

The cover to this Free Comic Book Day issue is by Jelena Kevic-Djurjevic. The redesigned X-O Manowar looks pretty sweet!

It also looks new issues of comics featuring these characters will be hitting the store shelves around the same time. May is looking to be a very good month indeed.

Dude! X-O Manowar is holding a sword made out of lightning!

Here’s a nice long quote of quotables and information:

“This has been an event a decade in the making, and we’re approaching this with dedication, passion and a commitment to excellence,” said Executive Editor Warren Simons. “We’ve lined up some colossally talented colleagues – both new and old friends alike – and if you have a love for great comics and innovative stories, we’ve got some great stuff in store for you.”

Featuring a cover of the brand new X-O Manowar by superstar artist Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic, this sneak peek into Valiant’s extraordinary first year comes packed with never-before-seen stories, character redesigns, and interviews with Valiant’s team of visionary creators.

“We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with comics retailers, Diamond and ComicsPro for Free Comic Book Day 2012, the most exciting day in comics,” said Publisher Fred Pierce. “In 2012, fans and retailers can expect some of the best books in all of comics to be shipping monthly from Valiant.”

Valiant’s Free Comic Book Day special edition is just the first title that the publisher has lined up for the month of May. Look for announcements regarding the full array of new titles, creative teams, and shipping dates to be released in the New Year.

“Free Comic Book Day is just the beginning,” said Valiant Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “For anyone who loves comics and top-notch storytelling, the return of the Valiant Universe will be an event not to be missed.”

Valiant Entertainment is a character-based publishing and licensing company that owns and controls some of the most cherished comic characters ever created across all media worldwide. Since their creation in 1989, Valiant characters have sold 80 million comic books and have been the basis of a number of successful video game franchises. Valiant’s extensive library includes over 1,500 characters, such as X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, and Ninjak. Visit:

ValiantUniverse.com

www.facebook.com/ValiantComics

www.twitter.com/ValiantComics

So far, I’ve received the first 27 of those 52 books. Some I really enjoyed (Action Comics, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Stormwatch, Batwoman), others I didn’t like very much. I didn’t expect to like them all, so I’m not too disappointed.

I have been disappointed that almost every book has been a very quick read. There isn’t a lot of story contained in each issue.

The first title that DC relaunched was Justice League. After reading some previews, and on a hunch, I started a stopwatch when I sat down to read it. It is 24 pages long, cost $3.99 cover price, and it took a little over 8 minutes to read.

That’s fifty cents a minute.

Decompression

There has been a trend in comics, developing over the last 10 to 12 years, to decompress the comics. This means stories are spread out over several issues, rather than packed into one issue. While this has led to some improvements in storytelling, allowing comics to be more cinematic, and use storytelling with nuance and more emotional impact, it has also resulted in less amount of story in each comic.

Most of these new DC Comics are heavily decompressed. In a lot of the comics, not much happens in the first issue. After I finish reading most of these comics, even many of the issues I really enjoyed, I feel like I haven’t really gotten my money’s worth in terms of the amount of storytelling included.

The experiment

I have noticed that a lot of the attitude towards decompressed storytelling is a reluctant acceptance. It is considered “just the way it is”, or the price to pay for better quality comics.

I’m not convinced, so I recompressed Justice League #1.

I edited the entire comic, moved some panels, removed other panels, moved word balloons, etc., to see if the story that was told in 24 pages could have been effectively told in fewer pages.

Every word balloon in the original comic is included in this (except for one, can you figure out which?), and I tried to be respectful of things like splash pages, and other story beats. I did overlay some panels over existing splash pages, since I don’t think that two splash pages, and one double-page splash are necessary for quality storytelling. Also, the last three pages are unchanged, because I couldn’t find a good way to edit the three pages down to two, and maintain the cool final splash page of Superman.

It is a little rough in places, since these panels were not drawn to fit on the page in the size, order, and placement that I put them, this was meant to illustrate a point, not be a final product.

As it is, my edited version of Justice League is 16 pages, compared to the published version which is 24 pages.

This is an experiment, to see what people think. Please let me know, do you think the edited pages convey the story as well as the original?

I think that they do, and I think that we could have had an additional 8 pages of Superman squaring off against Batman included in this comic.

I might be wrong though, and my tastes may just be different, and I very well may have butchered this thing to the point of neutering the quality of the original. This is, after all just an experiment.

The Results

I’m not gonna display the whole darn comic on this site, here are a couple pages as an example.

First, the original four pages of comic are from the middle of the story, and introduce the character of Vic Stone. These are the original pages, unedited, as they appear in Justice League #1

ORIGINAL PAGES:

Justice League #1, page 18, as originally published

Justice League #1, page 19, as originally published

Justice League #1, page 20, as originally published

Justice League #1, page 21, as originally published

Now, the edited version. I edited the above sequence down to 2 pages.

EDITED PAGES:

Justice League #1, page 12 in the compressed, edited version

Justice League #1, page 13 in the compressed, edited version

What do you think? Does the storytelling hold up in the edited version? Does it lose anything in the edited version? If it loses something, are you willing to lose that to gain an additional 8 pages of story in this comic?

Judge For Yourself

Here’s the whole thing. All 16 pages of Justice League #1, edited down from the 24 published pages seen if you bought the comic off the rack.

Now, PLEASE, before you check this out, GO BUY THE ORIGINAL. This comic has been wildly successful, and DC quickly printed 2nd and 3rd prints when the comic immediately sold out. You should be able to get this book at your local comic book retailer, or you can buy a digital copy and read it on your computer.

This is a cool issue, and Jim Lee’s art is amazing. In fact, the most difficult thing about this project was removing the awesome Jim Lee art. I’ve been a fan of Jim Lee since I bought my first X-Men comic (Uncanny X-Men 274) back when I was 12.

The reason I took the time to do this is that I like the DC Comics characters, and I will continue to buy DC comics, as long as I feel like I am getting a good value. I haven’t felt that way about most of these, and this experiment is meant to demonstrate why.

So please, buy the comic! This edit isn’t meant to replace the original, only as a means of demonstrating an opinion, based on having read the original.

Now, here’s the complete edited version.

Check it out while it’s hot, before I have to take it down or something.

Chiclo, Why are you so happy? (Click to find out the answer!)

Why is Chiclo so happy?

What did he find on a recent adventure?

Click on the picture to find out, or just click here.

San Diego is calm, there are no folks in costumes, no bombardment of lights and sounds, no horrendously long lines (though there is already one short line, and I’ll get to that).

After checking in to my hotel, I walked down to the convention center for a look around. There isn’t much top see, yet, but here’s what is there.

I don’t remember if it started last year or the year before (or was it even before that), but there is a new tradition of wrapping the hotels next to the convention center in a gigantic advertisement. This year, The Marriott is wrapped with Immortals, with Batman: Arkham City going up on the other side of that same tower.

Immortals on the Marriott

The Hilton got Cowboys & Aliens, a giant advertisement for the world premiere of the movie, which is happening in San Diego, this Saturday during Comic-Con.

Cowboys & Aliens advertisement on the Hilton

Across the street from the Hilton, the ballpark is getting a giant Arkham City ad put up as I was walking by.

The gaslamp isn’t the insane maelstrom of people that it will be by tomorrow evening, but the Hard Rock building is already sporting its ads for the Amazing Spider-Man movie, coming out next year (seems a bit soon for ads to me).

The Amazing Spider-Man advertisement on the Hard Rock

There is already a line for Hall H. I talked to the lovely ladies who are first in line, they have been in the line since Monday around noon. They are waiting for the Twilight panel, which is the very first panel on Thursday morning. They were excited, and were having lots of fun being there. The line they formed was an unofficial line, and while I was talking to them, one of the event organizers came by to tell them that they would be opening up the official line in one hour. They were thrilled.

Line for Hall H at San Diego Comic Con as of mid-day Tuesday before the show

Batman: Arkham City is all over the trolley car train, they seem to be pushing this game like nobody’s business. I sure hope it is better than Arkham Asylum…

Batman Arkham City Advertisement on the Trolley Car

Peter Cuneo, former CEO of Marvel, has joined Valaint Entertainment as the Chairman of the company, and this comes along with an investment by Cuneo & Co., to give them working capital to produce new books in 2012.

They are planning to stick with the core characters, X-O, Harbinger, Bloodshot, Ninjak, etc., from what it sounds like.

Read the Press Release here.

Read the news on the major news sites:

Story on CBR

Story at Newsarama

Dennis Calero

Dennis did the art for the Doctor Solar portion of Free Comic Book Day Magnus/Doctor Solar, as well as Doctor Solar 1 and 2. I’m not sure yet if he will be returning after issue 3, but I will certainly be asking him.

Dennis will be in Artist Alley booth FF-05. He is also scheduled to be signing at the Dark Horse Comics booth (#2615) on Thursday from 4-5pm.

Roger Robinson

Roger is drawing the upcoming third issue of Doctor Solar. I’ll be stopping by his booth to get his take on the character, and see if I can find out what is in store for upcoming issues.

Roger will be in Artist Alley booth DD-20

Raymond Swanland

Raymond has been painting the incredible covers for Magnus, Robot Fighter, and Turok, Son of Stone. He also did the cover art for the Free Comic Book Day Magnus/Doctor Solar issue.

Raymond doesn’t have a booth, but is scheduled to sign at the Dark Horse Comics booth (#2615) Friday from 4-5pm. He will also appear at the Heavy Metal Magazine booth (#1629) and the Wizards of the Coast, Magic the Gathering booth (#1128/1130/1132) at times during the weekend.

M.I.A.

Looks like Jim Shooter won’t be making it to San Diego Comic-Con.

Also, Bill Reinhold, the artist for the new Magnus, Robot Fighter series isn’t going to make it this year.

That’s too bad, I was hoping to get the Free Comic Book Day Magnus/Doctor Solar issue signed by all 4 creators. Maybe at another con.

Valiant Alumni

Bernard Chang and Sean Chen will be in their BLVD Studios booth (#1223). Both were great Valiant artists, Sean Chen is well known for his work on Rai and the Future Force, Bernard Chang is well known for his work on Dr. Mirage. They will also have Bill Sienkiewicz and David LaFuente at their BLVD Studios booth. Stop by annd say hi!

Bob Layton will be at the convention, though I don’t know when his scheduled appearances and signings are. He does not have an artist alley booth this year.

Don’t forget us!

Only The Valiant will be recording LIVE from the convention floor, startign Friday at 2:30pm. Check out the recording schedule and map posting for more information.

Any other creators that we missed? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you don’t know what this is a parody of, shame on you! (and click here)

We will be recording at 2:30 pm Friday from the convention floor. We will be right here:

2:30pm Friday in the Lounge. Meet us there!

We would love to meet people we haven’t met yet, and see those of you we already know. We will be sharing our thoughts about the show, and we’d love to here your thoughts too!

Also, we will be going to the Tilted Kilt Wednesday after Preview Night, just a few blocks from the convention hall. Join us for a beer and talk comics!

Here’s the solicitations, click on the images for larger images of the covers.

Doctor Solar 3, Michael Komarck Cover (click for a larger image)

DOCTOR SOLAR #3

Jim Shooter (W), Roger Robinson (A), and Michael Komarck (Cover)

On sale Oct 6

FC, 40 pages

$3.50

Ongoing

The dark god Moloch the Devourer pits his demonic hellfire against the thermonuclear fury of Doctor Solar. Whitmore Pickerel, whose power to bring his imagination into existence unleashed the Devourer, conjures the mighty sun-god Surya for protection. But instead, Surya bows before Moloch, and the Man of the Atom faces cosmic-scale war on a second front. With the power of Solar pitted against the god of the sun, can the planet survive?

• All-new series written by Jim Shooter!
• New artist: Roger Robinson (Azrael, Batman: Gotham Knights).

Sean’s comment: Looks like Dennis Calero is off the book for this issue. I wonder if this is a permanent change?

Magnus Robot Fighter 3 Comics Raymond Swanland cover (clikc to enlarge)

MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #3

Jim Shooter (W), Bill Reinhold (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Raymond Swanland (Cover)

On sale Oct 27

FC, 40 pages

$3.50

Miniseries

In the year 4000, savage illegal prizefights operate in the shadows of the milespires. In one corner, the deadly, gen-enhanced number-one contender—Hyppolyta. In the other corner, the remorseless robotic champion—Steelhammer, who has annihilated every opponent he has faced, man or machine. Drawn unwillingly into the ring to save a life, Magnus must battle them both—steel-smashing man against super-woman, robot fighter vs. robot fighter—to the death.

• All-new series written by Jim Shooter!

Sean’s Comment: This should be a smash-a-riffic, action packed, high entertaimo issue.

Turok, Son of Stone 1, Raymond Swanland cover (click to enlarge)

TUROK, SON OF STONE #1

Turok returns! All-new series written by Jim Shooter!

Jim Shooter (W), Eduardo Francisco (A), TBD (C), and Raymond Swanland (Cover)

On sale Oct 20

FC, 48 pages

$3.50

Ongoing

Turok, wandering warrior from a far land, rescues Andar, son of a Chiricahua chief, from the ruthless King Maxtla and his Aztec horde. Pursued into a vast cavern, prey and predators are swept away by an unimaginable force to a savage, timeless land of nightmares and miracles, where dinosaurs thunder and rampage. Beset by bloodthirsty enemies and beasts, Turok and Andar encounter an even deadlier threat—the fearsome Panther People and their mesmerizing goddess, Aasta.

Turok, Son of Stone returns, reimagined by legendary writer Jim Shooter and illustrated by hot new talent Eduardo Francisco (Victory, Executive Assistant: IRIS).

• 48-page first issue, includes the very first Turok story from 1954!

Sean’s Comment: This should be a cool take on things. At least the Lost Land will be back. And dinosaurs. It’s not Turok without dinosaurs.