The Phantom – Alex Ross paints a badass Ghost Who Walks

This is an alternate cover from a series called The Last Phantom. Due out from Dynamite in August.

Source: Bleeding Cool

Captain America is going to be played by….

Hold up. Not so fast there pilgrim. Nothing is totally official, but here is what I know.

According to IESB, the role of Steve Rogers is down to there – Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, The Losers), and a sneaky entry by Sebastian Stan (Gossip Girl). However, Tatum could be down for another G.I. Joe, Stan is not American (he’s Romanian and apparantly they don’t want a non-American in the part, that’s why Sam Worthington ruled himself out) and Evans could be tied to another FF film (although all reports suggest any new FF film will be a reboot with an all new cast.

Wait there though, I’m not finished.

According to Heat Vision blog Chris Evans has been offered the role of Captain America.

Marvel has not confirmed the development and CAA, which reps the actor, declined to comment.

Out of the three mentioned I would have to say Evans is the best choice. He’s got a bit more to him than the others and has the charisma needed to play Cap. Plus he is a known name and face, but not a huge name if you know what I mean.

Therefore, we may have finally got out Captain America. Mind you Alex Ross (the brilliant artist behind Marvels, Kingdom Come and so much more) has suggested John Hamm (Mad Men) as “Captain America is supposed to be the patriarch of the Marvel universe. To get a guy in his early to mid-20s is only thinking about where the character began, not what he ultimately needs to become.”

I have to agree with him. All the people chose to audition for the role are just that bit too young, Aaron Eckhart or Mark Valley would have been cool, but Hamm would also work (he’d be great as Superman though). Like I said out of the three names at the top Evans is the best of them.

Let’s just wait for the official announcement.

Do you think Chris Evans is the best choice for the role? Will he be able to fit it in with his Radio 2 morning show (a joke for the Brits there)? What superhero role should John Hamm play?

Planet Hulk – Cool Alex Ross cover for the new DVD

It was back in July that I posted the trailer for the animated adaption of the Greg Pak story arc, Planet Hulk.

This is the story which finds the Hulk exiled from Earth and forced to become a gladiator before leading a rebellion against the planet Sakaar’s tyrannical emperor.

Well now we have this super-duper DVD cover by the excellent artist Alex Ross.

I loved the comics that this was based on so cannot wait to see it. I wonder if the Silver Surfer is in it?

What do you think of the cover? Will you be buying the DVD

The Green Hornet: Year One – New Comic book series by Matt Wagner heading our way

There has been lots of news on the Michel Gondry directed Green Hornet film. Seth Rogen stars as the crime fighter aided by Jay Chou as Kato.

Now Dynamite Entertainment kicked off the 2009 Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend with the announcement of Green Hornet: Year One from writer/cover artist Matt Wagner and interior artist Aaron Campbell.

Publisher Nick Barrucci spoke with CBR about Matt Wagner’s involvement on the project. “He loves the Green Hornet, loves the original Britt Reid, and once we got into the conversation, he was really hyped about doing the origin story. It’s just a perfect marriage. You’ve got one of the most respected creators in comics writing one of the most classic characters in comics. It’s fantastic, and it’s a ‘Year One’ story like you’ve never seen before. Matt has been really incredible at nailing the essence of the character while still making it accessible to a modern audience. He’s fantastic.”

Campbell was last seen penciling Dynamite’s “The Trial of Sherlock Holmes,” and Barrucci noted, “Matt really enjoyed his artwork on that series, and they compliment each other so well. It’s definitely going to be a great, gritty style. Not over the top gritty, but it’s going to have enough of the elements of the original Green Hornet while, again, still making it cool for a modern audience.”

One thing that won’t be modern per se is the setting as “Year One” will remain a period piece set in the 1930s when the character was invented by radio writer Fran Striker, and will feature original crime-busting pair Britt Reid and Kato. “Without getting too far into it, you’re going to find out how they found each other, and you’re going to have some nice Easter Eggs in there.”

Maybe they will build on the links the Green Hornet has with the Lone Ranger. We will have to wait and see.

The alternate cover is by Alex Ross (as if you needed telling).

Thulsa Doom by Alex Ross

CBR had an exclusive first look at Alex Ross’ cover for Red Sonja Presents: Thulsa Doom” #1.

From the pages of writer Robert E. Howard comes the debut of Dynamite’s
Thulsa Doom!

Written by Kull writer Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Lui
(Red Sonja) Antonio, the opening story arc also features cover artist Alex Ross!
Featuring the origins of the ultimate anti-hero, Thulsa Doom #1 opens after the
destruction of Atlantis, when the world was in chaos and Thulsa sought his own
path to ultimate power!

Back in July 2008 I mentioned that fact that Djimon Hounsou was saying he would be playing Thulsa Doom in a live action film. It looks as if Alex Ross has used him for the basis of his painting.

Discuss in the forum

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Buck Rogers – Alex Ross has given him a whole new look

Buck Rogers – sci-fi pulp hero. He’s been around for years in comics, radio play and TV shows featuring the lovely Wilma Deering. Now he is back with a new look in Dynamite Entertainment’s new comic book. Creator of Buck’s new wardrobe (which I feel is very Adam Strange in design, but then Adam Strange was very much inspired by Buck Rogers) and technology is artist extraordinaire, Alex Ross (Marvels, Justice, Project Superpowers etc). Comic Book Resources have a great interview with the artist along with some cool artwork. I’ve included part of the interview along with some pictures by Alex Ross and cover artist John Cassaday (Planetary).

If one theme pervades the entirety of Ross’ vision for the world of Buck Rogers, it’s the idea of a “neo retro” take to the hero and his world, taking the Depression-era designs that remain the visual cornerstones of space opera and marrying them with artistic techniques garnered from decades of science fiction art and movie special effects.

Ross dove deep into his reference library to pull together the new Buck’s motifs. “Looking at that suit exhaustively and thinking, ‘Is there anyway I could justify that original version so completely?’ and wishing that I could paint a new version of the exact thing they had done 70 years ago, I realized there were only so many things people were going to swallow,” the artist explained. “So I backed away from a lot of what had been and replaced it with this kind of ‘Tron’ effect. That was a big influential film from my childhood.

“With that same concept, part of my approach to this universe is that it uses that holographic hard light effect as part of their technology and their guns. The spaceships have a contour that gives the overwhelming effect of being the ships that were designed in the 1920s but with this projected, hard light effect that makes them look immaterial.”

The most divergent piece of Alex Ross’ Buck Rogers design from the origin source material – the hero’s propulsive jetpack – was inspired by a piece of art from the same era, the December 1932 “Wonder Stories” pulp cover by artist Frank R. Paul. “The jetpack was me riffing a completely different source from the 1930s – an old pulp cover – a design that wasn’t so much a jetpack as it a disc on the back of a flying man with three blades. But these weren’t moving propeller blades. They were almost something that would seem to be causing the person to be weightless. The glowing effect applied by my painting gives a hint to a phenomenal level of power that we don’t have which is somehow breaking the boundaries of gravity. I was bringing that one other element in because I think that the regular jetpack from Buck Rogers was pretty traditional. I don’t think it was entirely original in its design.”

Taking Ross’ designs from concept to penciled pages is interior artist Carlos Rafael, who teams with writer Scott Beatty on the Dynamite series, and the artist brought his own history with the character to bear in how he approached drawing the series. “Well, I already knew Buck Rogers from the ’70s TV show, which still runs on cable,” Rafael told CBR. “But through my interest in comics, I came across his older version, the comic strips one, several times. So I didn’t start to work on this story without knowing the character, but I was amazed by the new concept. It’s a modernized version of the retro visual. As a challenge, I think that in terms of design, the costume is a single piece, well balanced in light and shadow. Maybe the greatest challenge is the completely black uniform in certain environments. But it’s worked out studying the masses of light and shadow in the environment. I think that, overall, the aspect of the uniform is great and seeing it on paper is very exciting.”

Buck Rogers #0 will be available for $0.25 on Free Comic Book Day (May 2) with the ongoing series launch following in June.

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Alex Ross cover for Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

What do you think of the artwork for this? Never been much of a fan of the Mortal Kombat games – anyone know anything more about the game? Is it meant to be any good? Wouldn’t Superman and Batman beat everyone anyway?
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