Cast No Shadow

There is no theme here.

Subjects can be important and real or utter nonsense. Mostly I'll be the one spouting off, but look for occasional guest editorials and visuals from comic writers, artists, novelists, friends and acquaintances. At least that's the idea. This space is for thought. Or not.

Flagship

03.30.2004

I've been off on my own for a stretch. Getting odd things in order, sorting out the garbage, dusting the brain and placing priorities in their life-allotted slots. Only half of it is professional, but it is the half we're talking about here, after all...

- ASTONISHING X-MEN launches in May. I'm drawing and the excellent Joss Whedon is writing. We've signed on for the first year. Twelve monthly issues. Though I've always had a special place in my heart for X-Men, Joss is the reason I'm doing this right now. He's a big Planetary fan and we've known each other for a couple of years. We discussed putting together a creator-owned project of some sort before, but when X-Men came up, we both agreed it was a good fit. And we're off to a good start, may I add.

- PLANETARY will continue on a quarterly clip. As of right now, I've got two scripts in front of me. The first, # 20, will come out this summer.

- I AM LEGION is a 54 page graphic novel also coming out this summer. It's the first of a three book series. Written by Fabien Nury, a fantastic French screenwriter.

PLUG:

I'm guilty of not reading a huge amount of comics these days, truth be told, I read very few. But Darwyn Cooke's NEW FRONTIER is the best fucking comic I've read since I can remember. Hands down. Darwyn, the ever astute and prolific storyteller, has impressed me before (I've always been a fan), but he's creating work that may not get into to the top ten, but will still be selling to the intelligent reader a decade from now. It's a book that will last. The most interesting element of the story to me is how unexpected the big moments are. It's about Wildcat Grant's fierce last boxing match, not Superman saving the world. Although the heavy hitters get their due here, it's the B-crowd that shines. Darwyn shows us how these characters, who may slip under the radar when we think of our favorites, are actually the glue of the DC heroverse.

Click here for coolness: http://www.dccomics.com/features/newfrontier

Run out. Get yours. Read it twice.

Be good.

- J