So Much Work, And Nobody Even Dies

Just got hold of the original art for Firestorm v2 #45 page 12. Aside from a couple of great Hyena shots, I found this one panel really interesting purely for the amount of editorial guidance that went in to it:

First of all, we have the letterer Carrie Spiegle needing to add one of those line thingies (technical term) over the E in CAFE (all red markings are by me to highlight)

Next, the point on Felicity's speech bubble was lengthed. I've roughly drawn in where it originally went, as it's twinked out and doesn't show on the scan. I guess it looked a little too much like the woman in the background was talking, although you'll notice they didn't exactly follow the editor's suggested look (in blue).

The note in the margin reads "lenthen point to Felicity"

Finally, there's a note to change the hairstyles on a couple of figures. The margin note reads "More black in both Ronnie & Ed Raymond's hair, also fix Ed's hair style". Both figures in question are circled.

One small problem though. While that's certainly Ronnie on the left, on the right it's Doreen, not Ed! Ed is the figure with his back to the camera. Editor Janice Race missed that the figure on the right is wearing a skirt, so we're left with a very masculine head on a woman's body.

That's pretty funny.

Manhunter in 30 seconds

Chris over at the ISB is running his annual "30 second" event, which means more bad art from me. Hooray!

This time around, it's the "Trial By Fire" arc from Manhunter, in which Shadow Thief is put on trial for the murder of Firestorm.











Previous years efforts here and here

Identity Crisis vs Identity Crisis

...wherein we combine Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer, with Identity Crisis by Kate Donovan, in the hopes of making Identity Crisis (the former) better.

I..... I Don't Think I'll Sleep Tonight

You can get anything on eBay. Even a Firestorm figure that's been set on fire.

And you can be charged $300 for a figure that is worth $20 in un-burnt condition.

If anyone needs me, I'll be over in the corner, crying silently...

Hi, I'm From Japan. Please Show Me Your Panties.

I've been giving the manga a bit of a go lately. Currently I'm reading Rahxephon, having gotten it cheap. It's ok, nothing spectacular. The editorial at the end of volume 1 was a touch concerning though:

What was I letting myself in for with volume 2?

Well ok, I guess that's not too bad, it's not over the top or anyth...

errrrr...

Was I supposed to notice that one?

Hey, 3 in one panel:

Even when the heroine is in mortal danger, her dignity isn't safe...

But not to worry the special agents will save everyone. Quick, don the camel toe suits!

Ha! Can't flash your panties when you're not wearing any.

I'm rapidly forming the view that I'm gonna just stick with American comics...

East Meets West, West Steals From East

It was obviously deliberate (atleast, I hope so!), but in Firestorm #69 they totally ripped off Guyver, with the introduction of a new villain, the Zuggernaut!

A strange artifact gets discovered beside a lake.

Just like Guyver.


It envelops it's host in tentacles.

Just like Guyver.


Apart from the teeth, Zuggernaut's armour plating is identical in it's layout.




Hey look, it shoots a beam from it's forehead. I wonder who else does that?

Oh, that's right.


Zuggernaut isn't the only one with a Mega-Smasher.
Those things look fake ;)


Plus he has elbow blades.

I bet those would be handy, eh Guyver?
Interestingly, Zuggernaut would look decidedly different in his next appearance a few issues later. Coincidence?

Ok, so what's worse?

That when I saw a promo pic for the new Wildcats, I immediately thought of porn star Aria Giovanni, or that the artist probably did it on purpose?

Guest Appearance: Firestorm in Arena

Dear DC

I purchased all four issues of Countdown: Arena. I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify something. I didn't buy Arena because I thought it was a good idea, or that it was going to be any good. Don't take my $15.96US as a sign that I'm in any way interested in Countdown, or indeed Final Crisis.
No, I bought this because it had Firestorm in it. An alternative-Earth Firestorm sure, but Firestorm nonetheless. Clearly it's a good idea to have Firestorm in a comic. Just please in future make the comics he appears in not suck quite so horribly as Arena did.

Regards
Jon

Ok, now that's out of the way, let's get down to the reason I forked out for this sucker (heh, double meaning!) :

We get a short glimpse of Earth 12 Firestorm.

Same chest emblem as the current one, the main difference in uniform being the red torso instead of yellow. Also a funky faceplate. The fire wings are a lot like Firehawk- possibly Lorrain's part of the matrix?

He only hangs around for a page though. The main Firestorm in this story is from Earth 37, dubbed "Quantum-Storm".

The matrix being made up of Ronnie and Captain Atom. That raises some interesting possibilities. Ronnie and Cap had an at times rocky student/teacher relationship. Also an interesting combination of the 2 hero's costume. Cap's chest symbol replaces the circle in the Firestorm one. The Firestorm emblem is reversed ala the JLU version. Plus obviously the yellow is replaced with white (silver? That would be more Captain Atom-ey, but it's hard to say).

Quantum-Storm has a bit of a rough time early on in his appearance. First of all he gets cut in half by the edge of the page.

Then he loses his nose.

He does however get to take part in the most low-budget rendering of a group shot in comic book history.

I know this thing came out weekly, but they couldn't have actually produced each issue in a week, could they? The art certainly suggests they tried...

There's a few shots of Quantum-Storm standing around watching the Supermen argue, but I'll skip all that highly interesting content, and get to some action.

Vampire Batman (the new one, not that other one) has a plan to bust out, and Quantum-Storm is a major player in it. This should be interesing.

Unless, y'know, he decides to wimp out or something...

He was entirely too eager to hand that over *sigh*

But not to worry, he's still going to get to go off with Bat-Batman and beat up some bad guys.

Looks like a trap though.

D'oh. Monarch had planned for all this, and steps in. What chance do the heroes have against a foe that easily dispatched with 3 Green Lanterns, and 3 Supermen? (Supermans?)

About what you'd expect.

Which is to say, none.

So long Quantum-Storm, we hardly knew you.