Black Panther – In My Not So Humble Opinion

Welcome to Super Blog Team-Up 6! Has it really been three months since the last SBTU? I guess time flies while life’s kicking you in the gut! Seriously, lately things have been insane. I’m grateful that I have this blog as a creative outlet to help me unwind.

The theme of SBTU 6 is “Top Ten.” All the contributors have come up with cool comic-related Top Ten lists. I must thank Karen Williams of Between the Pages for suggesting that I do a list involving my hobby of collecting comic book convention sketches. Since a number of SBTU 6 bloggers are doing Avengers-related lists to tie in with the release of the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, I decided to assemble my top ten Avengers sketches.

I’m a long-time fan of the Avengers comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and I started an “Avengers Assemble” themed sketchbook in 2007. Okay, I’m not too enthusiastic about some of the stories from the last ten years or so. But there are many classic stories that have been published in the decades before, and numerous amazing characters have been members of the various Avengers teams. The Avengers are the perfect subject for a convention sketchbook.

Narrowing it down to ten picks was difficult. I’ve gotten over fifty sketches in this book so far. There are a few that just missed the cut. If you asked me again next month I might come up with a different list. I also didn’t include a couple of pieces that were commissions, where the artists has the sketchbook for a few days and created detailed illustrations. I will probably spotlight those in some other post in the future. If you are an artist who contributed to this book and did not make the list, please don’t be offended! I also posted these in chronological order because I couldn’t make up my mind which one was the best. Without further ado, here is my list of top ten Avengers sketches:

1) Scarlet Witch by Richard Howell Once I decided to start an Avengers sketchbook, I knew that I wanted Richard Howell to start it off with a drawing of the Scarlet Witch. As a teenager who saw Wanda drawn by Howell in the pages of Marvel Comics Presents #60-63, I thought it was the sexiest version of the character I had ever seen. Of course, Howell had also penciled the twelve part Vision and Scarlet Witch miniseries a few years before which I later read via back issues. To this day, I still consider Richard’s depiction of Wanda to be one of the most beautiful in the character’s history.

I was thrilled that I was able to kick off the sketchbook with this lovely portrait by Howell. He also drew / lettered the “Avengers Assemble” title page for the book that appears at the top of this post.

2) Black Widow by Hannibal King Hannibal King is good at illustrating tough, sexy women. When I asked him if he’d draw the Black Widow, he smiled and said “You just made my day.” Obviously he’s fond of the character, which was good news for me. King proceeded to create this stunning pencil illustration. While King was drawing this, I looked through his portfolio. He had done some incredible pieces featuring Captain America, Nick Fury, Val Fontaine, and Hydra. Someone at Marvel ought to give him a S.H.I.E.L.D. story to illustrate ASAP!

This sketch was later printed in Back Issue #26. Head over to the TwoMorrows Publishing website for information on that magazine, as well as other quality comic book-related publications.

3) Wasp by Brian Kong Brian Kong drew a whole heap of very cool Avengers sketch cards, including several of the Wasp. When I asked Kong if he’d do a drawing of the Wasp, he asked “Which costume?” Because, oh lordy, Janet Van Dyne had had soooooo many different costumes over the years! One of my favorites was the one George Perez drew her in during the early 80s, and again in the late 90s. I asked Kong if he could draw the Wasp in that, and he grinned, responding “I was just about to suggest that one.”

I’ve seen Kong at a number of NY area conventions over the years, and obtained several sketches from him. This one of the Wasp is probably my favorite. He did an amazing job on it.

4) Warbird / Ms. Marvel by Taki Soma Back in 2008 Taki Soma was also drawing Avengers sketch cards, and so she had a book full of Marvel reference on hand. I flipped through the Avengers chapter, saw there was a profile on Ms. Marvel, and asked Soma if she would be able to do a sketch using that. I was very happy with her depiction of Carol Danvers. Soma is definitely a talented artist. In the last few years she’s collaborated with her husband Michael Avon Oeming on several projects.

5) Jocasta by Andy MacDonald It was his excellent work on NYC Mech that caused me to ask Andy MacDonald to sketch Jocasta. He draws incredible robots and sci-fi tech. I just knew he’d do a great job rendering “the bride of Ultron.” I always liked the character, and in the past wished she’d been an Avengers member for longer (I was thrilled when Dan Slott featured her in the Mighty Avengers series). Jocasta has such a distinctive visual, as well as an unusual backstory (inspired by Oedipus Rex, naturally).

MacDonald really captured the character of Jocasta, both in terms of her look and her personality. It’s a very expressive piece. This is another sketch that was published in Back Issue, appearing in Jarrod Buttery’s article on Jocasta in the robot-themed issue #72.

6) Black Panther by Sal Abbinanti Atomika creator Sal Abbinanti was drawing some amazing, rather surreal color sketches at the 2008 MoCCA Art Festival. He certainly did a great job on this one. Not even having a fire alarm going off and he building getting evacuated by the FDNY when he was halfway done with it threw him off his game. I suppose you could say Abbinanti was “on fire” with this one! He really went all out, and it shows.

7) Patriot by Ben Granoff I really did enjoy the various Young Avengers miniseries, even if they did come out infrequently. The team had some cool characters, including the current Patriot, Eli Bradley. I saw independent artist Ben Granoff‘s work on the small press series We Were The… Freedom Federation published by Bag & Board Studios, and I was impressed. Indeed, he drew an amazing illustration of Patriot. This one totally surpassed my expectations.

8) Hercules by Chris Giarusso I’m a fan of Chris Giarrusso, creator of Mini Marvels and G-Man. He seemed like the perfect choice to draw Hercules, the mythical and mirthful Avenger who is never more happy than when he’s busting heads together, or knocking back a large flagon of mead, often doing both at the same time! The reference I had for Hercules had the character grimacing, but I asked Chris to draw a smiling Hercules, adding “Pretend he’s just left the bar or something.” Chris literally ran with my suggestion, and here we see Herc with a frosty mug of beer in hand, having a grand old night on the town!

9) Hawkeye / Kate Bishop by Ed Coutts Here’s a great sketch of Kate Bishop, another member of the Young Avengers, and co-star of the Hawkeye ongoing series featuring her teamed up with the original avenging archer Clint Barton. This was drawn by Ed Coutts, a very talented artist. His work has appeared in a number of issues of Femforce from AC Comics. He renders very beautiful women. I’ve met Coutts at a number of conventions and acquired several nice sketches from him.

10) Ant-Man / Scott Lang by Jacob Chabot Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man, is drawn by Jacob Chabot. This is the costume & helmet Scott wore when he was a member of Heroes for Hire, and when he first officially joined the Avengers (I wasn’t a fan of his “gas mask” helmet that briefly followed). Chabot he drew a very cool sketch of the character. I love the inking on this piece.

Scott Lang has a new solo comic book currently running, and he’s scheduled to make his cinematic debut in the upcoming Ant-Man movie. That gave me yet another good reason to include this great sketch in this top ten list.

11) Ultron by Chris Duckett Ultron, that murderous mechanical menace, arch adversary of the Avengers, and current star of the silver screen is superbly rendered in this pencil illustration by the talented Chris Duckett from the Bronx Heroes team of creators. If you ever meet Duckett at a convention, I recommend getting a sketch from him. He does fantastic work.

What’s that, you say? This was supposed to be a top ten and not a top eleven?!? Bah!!! Ultron laughs at you humans and your silly rules! And soon Ultron will rule the world, humanity will be destroyed, and every single entry on this list will be a different incarnation of his mechanical brilliance! Until that day inevitably comes, weak creatures of the flesh, you will have to learn to accept that there is an extra entry to spotlight the supreme genius of Ultron 🙂

I hope everyone enjoyed this top ten (um, top eleven) countdown of Avengers convention sketches. You can see scans of the entire sketchbook at Comic Art Fans… http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=43066

Be sure to also visit the other fantastic blogs participating in Super Blog Team-Up 6…

Two thumbs up to Charlton Hero for organizing this whole shebang. As always, it’s been a blast!

There is a Kickstarter fundraiser currently taking place that I really wanted to draw everyone’s attention to. Writer Don McGregor and artist Trevor Von Eeden are attempting to raise the funding to publish their brand new graphic novel Sabre: The Early Future Years. I’ve already written about how much I enjoy Von Eeden’s artwork in my July 24th blog post. Because of my appreciation for his artwork, I’d really like to see this project get funded. McGregor and Von Eeden’s target is $17,000 to me met by September 9, 2013. As of this writing, they have only raised $6,631, approximately one third of their goal. I did pledge a few dollars, but due to my current work and financial situation, I wasn’t able to offer too much. So I’ve been promoting the hell out of this, really hoping that others can also pitch in. Here is the link to their page on Kickstarter where you can pledge funds:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jsacks/sabre-graphic-novel-by-don-mcgregor-and-trevor-von

And below is a preview of Trevor Von Eeden’s artwork for Sabre: the Early Future Years. It features coloring by George Freeman, who previously worked with Von Eeden on his two volume graphic novel The Original Johnson.

In addition to being a fan of Trevor’s art, I also greatly enjoy Don McGregor’s writing. He has a very distinctive style of prose, narration, and dialogue, a real sophistication to his plots and scripts. In the past, McGregor has worked on a number of critically lauded, groundbreaking stories.

In the 1970s, while at Marvel Comics, McGregor did well regarded work with the character of Black Panther in the pages of Jungle Action. He also had an exception run on Amazing Adventures, chronicling the saga of Killraven, a freedom fighter struggling to overthrow Martian invaders in an apocalyptic future. Debuting in Amazing Adventures #18, the Killraven / War of the Worlds feature was initially conceived by Roy Thomas & Neal Adams, inspired by the H.G. Wells’ novel. However, with the character’s fourth appearance in issue #21, McGregor took over as the series’ writer. He worked with several different artists over the next few issues. And then an up-and-coming P. Craig Russell became the regular illustrator with #27, producing stunningly vibrant, bizarre artwork. The two collaborated on Killraven until Amazing Adventures was cancelled at issue #39 in 1976. McGregor and Russell reunited to craft a coda to their run which saw print as the Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds graphic novel in 1983.

It was in 1978 that McGregor teamed with artist Paul Gulacy to create the first Sabre graphic novel, which was released by up-and-coming independent company Eclipse Comics. In the early 1980s, an ongoing Sabre series was also published by Eclipse, lasting 14 issues. Comics Bulletin is currently running a multi-part interview with McGregor looking at the origins of Sabre. Here’s a link to the first installment:

http://comicsbulletin.com/columns/6013/the-great-sabre-interview-part-one-characters-that-are-alive-in-an-alternate-universe/

While at Eclipse, McGregor also wrote a pair of noir mysteries, Detectives Inc. The first graphic novel, A Remembrance of Threatening Green, was drawn by the talented Marshall Rogers, with the equally amazing Gene Colan illustrating A Terror of Dying Dreams. McGregor and Colan later re-teamed on a mammoth 25-chapter Black Panther serial “Panther’s Quest” which ran in Marvel Comics Presents. I’d like to see that one collected in a trade paperback.

Those original Sabre and Detectives Inc. stories have subsequently been reprinted by other publishers such as Image and IDW. Those collected editions are well worth seeking out.

So, having gone into all this detail about McGregor’s amazing writing, I really hope that I’ve piqued some interest, and that people will show their support for his latest project. Separately, McGregor and Von Eeden have each rafted truly exception work in the past; together I expect that they make an amazing team. I definitely hope that one day soon Sabre: The Early Future Years will be published. I’ll keep you all updated on their progress.

September 10, 2013 Update: Unfortunately, the Kickstarter fundraiser did not meet its goal, only reaching $11,618 of the needed $17,000. I was really looking forward to seeing the new Sabre graphic novel. I am going to keep in touch with Don McGregor on Facebook, and see if he decided to attempt another Kickstarter campaign in the future, or perhaps go another route. Hopefully, one way or another, the book will make it into print in the near future.

Tag: Black Panther

Super Blog Team-Up 6: Top Ten Avengers Sketches

Don McGregor and Trevor Von Eeden are on Kickstarter