GrowlersWorld - Introducing Superhero Comic Books

Storytelling Reborn! - Creating A NEW Superhero Universe...

These series of articles I've written give you the background of the superhero comic book industry from an avid, long time fan's point of view. They detail my ongoing journey from fan to creator. I essentially cut my writing teeth on these articles, over the last ten years, which formed the early backbone of this website. Raw and rough around the edges. Compelling reading for the creatively curious and the intelligently innovative!

An Introduction

Superhero fiction is often a combination of sci-fi, fantasy and supernatural elements. Perfectly blended into fantastic tales of action and adventure and constant jeopardy that eventually leads to triumphing against the odds. Featuring larger than life figures at peak physical shape that are created to be aspirational in the actions and the choices they make. Superhero fiction is found in many mediums, platforms and formats.

The formats that superhero storytelling can be found in are endless and include comic books, graphic novels, movies, laptops and desktop computers, television, smart phones, tablets, the internet, books, magazines, mobile phones and console video games (e.g., PlayStation and XBox).

Marvel Now by Joe Quesada

Rawle Austin presents...

"Blowing your mind and leaving you begging for more by combining words and dynamic pictures in a stunning, unique stortyelling art form."

Superhero fiction is created by successful, talented people in the form of spectacular stories and artwork. "These shouldn't be your parents heroes; they should be YOUR heroes!" - Marv Wolfman, on the formation of Image Comics in 1992. That notion represents the periodic change necessary to keep the comic industry vibrant and relevant throughout the ages. Comic book creators constantly achieve their goals and dreams by striving to provide quality entertainment.

Comic books are capable of sending you on an action packed, emotional roller coaster ride of amazement! Simply by providing captivating stories that thrill your very senses! Comic books are enjoyed throughout the world, uniting fans globally.

Comic books and graphic novels inspired by the superhero genre are used as a canvas to tell great stories and entertain on many different levels. Comic book stories can also fulfill that primal, emotional need for heroes, people who triumph over almost impossible odds. To inspire to greatness. This comic book source material has led to the recent success of superhero movies, which started with Marvel Comics' Blade and led to Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Batman Begins from DC Comics.

These were quickly followed up by the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Batman: The Dark Knight, Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, the awesome Avengers and Man of Steel to name a few. Stories from comic books are making the leap from the page to the big screen before our very eyes! Not since the original Superman (Christopher Reeve) and Batman (Michael Keaton) movies have comic book based films had such an impact!

So try superhero comic books yourself for a great read and feel that creative energy of innovation!

The Classic Justice League by Ed Benes. All ™ & © DC Comics

And now! A classic series of articles to delve into the awesome universe of superhero storytelling, told from my humble perspective! So sit back and enjoy!

Comic Book SuperFan expresses the passion that has developed since I've been reading and loving superhero comics for over twenty-five years. During that time I've seen loads of changes and lots of creators, characters and companies come and go. And you know what? I still love 'em! So much so that I've started on a journey to create my own, The GrowlersWorld Universe.

I'm in awe of he creativity, the innovation and the sheer artistry of writing stories with dynamic drawings. This column highlights the latest goings on in the superhero comic book and related industry and will be looking forward to what's coming up next. So buckle up and enjoy the ride, the future is superheroic!

A moment of silence for my previous comic book comment column which this brand new one replaces. I am a huge superhero comic book fan, especially of the Marvel heroes that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby built. I follow the genre faithfully but due to the explosion of great quality titles I now mainly focus on the Avengers, which was always my favourite title and indeed it was the first superhero comic book I ever bought. With a plethora of new devices to read comic books on from tablets to smartphones, superhero storytelling is moving up to the next level. There literally is something for everyone, whatever your taste.

An example of this creative goodness can be found in the comic book titles coming in January 2011 from Marvel Comics. The home of the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk and Fantastic Four.

DC Comics, home of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman also have a quality creative line up of titles due out in January 2011.

Artwork is the first thing you notice when you glance at a comic book. In my opinion, the best artists, the ones who defined the superhero genre for me were John Buscema, Jack Kirby, George Perez, John Byrne, John Romita Jr and Jim Lee. These are the cream of the crop who helped to shape all we see around us and mould the present day industry into what it is today.

They all had years of practice behind them before they became superstar artists. All have an incredible body of work behind them which act as a wonderful legacy that present and future creators can learn from. I hope I can evolve into some kind of hybrid of all these artists. Many years of practice ahead. The fun continues... ;)

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Growler on Superhero Fiction explains why superhero fiction is one of the hottest storytelling genres out there! It is a hallmark of innovation and quality which is regularly seen in its content in comic books, films and other places. Here's where I comment on everything you need to know!

This new style is great for adding new content and writing as I found the previous layout a little unwieldy and cumbersome.

I'll be focusing on comic books but expect films, TV and other mediums to get a mention too.

There'll be reviews and comment on the latest developments in the comic book industry.

The trailer shows a mid air chase sequence between the the Human Torch and the Silver Surfer.

In one fell swoop, the Fantastic Four is poised to enter the stratosphere of superhero movie quality.

The Ghost Rider movie. I was impressed. I have to rate it higher than Daredevil as this was a more complete story, centring around a love story.

It had all of the classic Marvel sensibilties of emotional conflict and action and the special effects were out of this world.

Nick Cage was awesome as Johnny Blaze, giving him a depth of character that made me care about what happened to him and where his journey would take him.

His transformation to Ghost Rider and the CGI used for him was fantastic. I couldn't spot any flaws in the charatcter at all.

Peter Fonda was great as Mephisto, giving off a certain menace that was quite spooky. The decision not to make him a CGI character was a wise one.

Eva Mendes. This was actually the first film I've seen her in and boy, was she good. Playing Blaze's girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson, she absolutely captivated me in every scene she was in.

There was actually one scene in the film that made me jump. Now, don't get me wrong, I never jump in movies and the last time was at a scene in the film Candyman.

My sister lent me the DVD so I finally had a chance to check it out. I'd heard it had got universally panned but it's always good to see it for yourself and make up your own mind.

And you know what? It's not that bad. It's a competent superhero movie but needed a more compelling story. It suffered by not being set in the DC Universe proper. So only the name was related to the comics. Maybe she should have been a brand new character made especially for the film. Oh well, lessons learned. It's not as good as Blade or Spider-Man by any means but it's better than the Elektra movie, in my opinion.

I loved the extra's on the DVD though. There was a meaty documentary of the history of the Catwoman character, hosted by Eartha Kitt (a previous Catwoman) which took in its comic book roots and previous TV and film incarnations.

It also talked with notable comic book creators from DC Comics which is always great to see, including Dan Didio and Jeph Loeb.

Virgin Comics have been making waves recently. Firstly, they've entered into a partnership with the Sci-Fi Channel to co-produce new shows and comic book material.

With the huge popularity of shows like Heroes, LOST and 24 which use fast paced comic book storytelling expect some great programming in the future.

Also, veteran comic book writer Ron Marz has joined Virgin Comics in an editorial capacity. He'll be editing the titles Devi, Ramayan 3392 A.D., and The Sadhu.

This will tighten up the line as his vast experience will come into play and help to build new audiences.

Found this great link which shows you how Marvel Comics recent superhero movies have fared at the box office.

Ranked in order of the most successful you'll see Spiderman is at the top of the pack and Elektra rounds off the bottom.

As long as the quality is kept paramount there should be more films at the top end of the list in the future.

Marvel Comics is set for a bumper year at the cinema, this year with no less than three movies coming out.

These are all great characters with cool background concepts and I'm looking forward to them all.

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Learn About Comic Books celebrates the superhero fiction found in comic books and graphic novels, old and new, highlighting favourite characters, creators and showing you the beauty of the form! So here goes!

Comic books have been around for over 70 years covering many different topics, fact and fiction.

I'm focusing on American superhero comic books as they are the market leaders, originators and innovators of this genre.

In Japan, comic books are called Manga (which literally means 'entertaining visual').

They are a greater part of everyday culture, read by people of all ages and backgrounds.

There is a wealth of mature, relevant and entertaining material being produced by the mainstream publishers and a thriving independent press.

I want to help highlight some of these works.

Click here to check out the Infinite Crisis (DC Comics) trade paperback by Geoff Johns and George Perez

To join others, already in the industry, spreading the word and celebrating comic book culture, past, present and future.

Annual comic book sales in 2000 were over US$250 million (roughly £100 million) and rising.

There are comic books written for everybody and whatever your personal tastes there's something out there for you.

So. What is a comic book?

Basically, in my opinion, it's a combination of written words and pictures arranged in a particular way and used to tell a story.

Any story.

Unlike movies, where there are budget restraints on special effects, any idea or concept can be realized. In fact, it's only now that movies are able to show, through advanced special effects, comic book concepts in all the glory that their creators intended.

Click here to check out the House of M featuring the Avengers and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) by Brian M Bendis and Olivier Coipel

The good news is that, on a good day, comic books are able to produce literature that can go toe to toe with Shakespeare or Charles Dickens.

Unfortunately, there can be more bad days than good ones in the comic book industry but the overall quality is steadily improving.

The comic book creators who inspired me the most have to be the writer, Stan Lee and the late artist/writer, Jack Kirby.

Between these two, at Marvel Comics, they created some of the best known comic book characters and stories of all time.

The personality and energy that Stan put into his stories and the incredible visuals provided by Jack helped define a new dawn for comic books.

I grew up on many reprinted stories written and inspired by these two masters. Their style is still being emulated by todays creators.

They worked for a new company called Marvel Comics (this was the early 1960's) and with other creators produced Spider-Man, X-men, Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four and many others.

Another comic book character, Blade (created by writer Marv Wolfman) was the first successful film featuring a Marvel Comics character and paved the way for the X-Men movie followed by Spider-Man.

Black Panther is another popular Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

The character had recent updates by writers Christopher Priest and Reginald Hudlin.

At this stage I must mention two comic book characters that are probably the most well known throughout the world.

These characters are owned and produced by a company called DC Comics (DC meaning Detective Comics).

They first appeared in comic book form in the late 1930's and early 1940's and are still going strong today. Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The above characters, creators and publishers are just the main icons of the industry.

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The State of the Superhero Comic Book Industry is where I let loose my views on the current direction of the business of superhero fiction found in comic books and graphic novels. Taking you behind the scenes of this exciting industry!

Sometimes the writer co-plots the story with the artist or penciller to give a shared vision.

The script has to contain instructions to the penciller telling them what is happening in each panel.

Sometimes the writer will detail which 'camera angles' or points of view they want for a particular panel.

In reality the work is more often scanned into a computer and passed via cd-rom or email.

The inker's basic job is to trace over the sketches in the panels to tidy and clean them up.

Also, they choose the best appropriate font for the text inside those balloons, and the shape and the style of the balloons.

The letterer also has the job of providing sound effects which if done well will be all but invisible but will read as part of the story.

Sound effects are read and heard in your head like the dialogue in the word balloons.

Basically, all the written words you see in a comic book have been placed there by the letterer who has to use his or her judgment and experience as to where to put what.

The last step is sending the fully lettered comic book to the colourist, mainly via email attachments.

The colourist, using colour guides indicated by the penciller and letterer, completes the process by adding various colours and tones to the final pages.

The colourist's job is also vital because if the artwork isn't clear to the reader it can kill a good story.

The finished comic book is now ready to be mass printed for the enjoyment of the reader, me and you.

It is essential that all the above jobs are done well to produce a good story in a comic book.

When the pages fly between your fingers, you feel that wow-factor and when finished, you can't wait to read the next chapter or issue!

These are few and far between but a couple of names that spring to mind are Frank Miller who catapulted the Marvel comic title Daredevil to new heights of fame in the mid 1980's.

Also, John Byrne who wrote and updated the DC comic title Superman for a modern audience also in the mid 1980's.

John Byrne as an artist helped to co-plot the Marvel comic title Uncanny X-Men with writer Chris Claremont. Between them they produced, arguably, some of the best comic book stories of all time from the mid 1970's to the early 1980's.

All the people involved in the jobs described above are the superstars of the comic book industry!

They are responsible for creating whole new worlds for us to travel to and enjoy.

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Breakfast & Comic Books! What’s the breakfast bit about? Well, it’s supposed to be the most important meal of the day and I’m aiming for this to be the equivalent in comic book comment. So come and get your all day breakfast! And Comic Books!

A little while ago I predicted that CrossGen would eventually be the number three publisher in the comic book industry. Click here to read that article!

However, non payment of talent (the creators) will never endear you to the fans or the industry as a whole.

After a steady stream of bad press it was enevitable that they were destined to follow previous big name publishers like the Valiant Universe, Ultraverse and Awesome Entertainment into the history books.

And they did just that. It’s a crying shame because it will make it harder for any new publishers to challenge the dominance of Marvel and DC, which is needed for a healthy industry.

When we hear big announcements, from a fresh publisher, of a brand new concept universe, here to save the industry, we’ll be that little bit more jaded (if we weren’t already!).

Only time will tell but I feel that the forced link between the titles, the Sigil, hurt them in the long run.

It felt like you had to read all the titles even though most were written as self-contained.

Ironically, in hindsight, I think they would have had greater success if they had started with the current line up of titles that are coming out now including El Cazador and Kiss, Kiss, Bang Bang, designed to replace the Sigil-orientated ones!

With the demise of CrossGen being played out in the public eye, via online news sites, message boards and the printed comic book press, valuable lessons should be learnt by the next generation of publishers who want our business.

The success of a brand depends on the product and though some quality did come through (Mark Waid's Ruse and Ron Marz's Sojourn) it was not enough for the comic book buying masses.

After all this, I have to say I loved Negation (from the Sigil based titles) and I recommend you check out the trades or back issues as this is a true gem written by Tony Bedard and pencilled by Paul Pelletier. It was a great epic sci-fi tale which ended half way with the stunning Negation War. Definitely one of comics greatest unfinished symphonies.

The First was a highly ambitious series featuring the lives of gods and their interference on the world of men. Excellent story by Barbara Kesel and Bart Sears.

Scion was a beautifully illustrated coming of age fantasy tale by Ron Marz and Jimmy Cheung. Plenty of action, adventure and dragons!!

Also, Ruse by Mark Waid was a play on Sherlock Holmes set in a similar time period with a strong fantasy aspect. The Path by Ron Marz and Bart Sears and Way of the Rat were stories set in Japanese and Chinese settings respectively. Both had a great feel and atmosphere and were must reads.

All in all, CrossGen is greatly missed, and that is the lasting legacy of all who were involved in creating those quality comic books.

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Comic Books at the Gate shows how the superhero comic book is banging at the gate of popular entertainment. Too long kept out by self-doubt and historical misconceptions. A new vanguard of creative talent is forging a permanent legacy, soon to be embedded in everyday life. Are you ready for conquest?

This time the expansions feature top notch talent which will further bolster the titles.

I mean, get this, Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, Mark Waid, J M Straczynski and newcomer, and quality find, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

All accomplished writers at the top of their game and complimented by the artistic talents of Steve McNiven, Stuart Immonen, Mike Wieringo, Adam Kubert and Mike Mckone.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four is a total reworking of the original concept with new takes on all the original characters with new ones thrown in.

There is also a Marvel Adventures version for a younger audience which has been neglected in recent years.

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