A Venger Classic

I came across this picture while going through some older Venger folders. This cool pic was created by John West, the colorist for the first issues of The Venger: Dead Man Rising. He wanted to throw together a quick piece that would have Black Mercy and the new Venger in it. I do love what he came up with. As to the Venger series well work is still going on issue 3 and the Venger Special. I've been revising scripts while the art teams are doing their thing. I've also been trying to outline a few more stories featuring other members of the cast. Hopefully I'll finish them and have more info on creative teams soon.

Just a reminder for anyone who hasn't gone and voted in the Eagle Awards. Again as I posted earlier The Venger: Dead Man Rising has been nominated for the 2010 Eagle Award for Favorite American Black and White Comic Book. Please go to the link and vote if you haven't already.

Captain America movie costume

The last couple of days there has been a lot of rumor talk regarding the costume Chris Evans will be wearing in Marvel's Captain America: First Avenger movie that will be filming later this summer I believe. For months the bloggers have gone back and forth on what should and would the uniform he wears look like with alot of it focused on what looks good on film might not be the same as the comic. I love the character of Captain America. But I'm more of a realist and not a purist. I realize that what we see in the comic books every month just won't work in a motion picture. Remember that low budget Matt Salinger movie?

Well it seems that finally some of the concept art Marvel Studios is using to develop the uniform has been leaked. Check out Aintitcool.com for a look at all FOUR images. I have to say I approve. They look close to a combination of the designs Bryan Hitch did for 'The Ultimates' and 'Captain America Reborn'. They look realistic and purposeful and close to something that might be from WWII. And folks need to remember we will probably get another uniform for the Avengers movie too and that might be a little closer to his classic look.

costume design from the Captain America movie

Venger nomination for 2010 Eagle Awards!!

I'm so excited and honored to post that The Venger: Dead Man Rising has been nominated for the 2010 Eagle Award in the category of Favorite American Black and White Comic Book. This really is awesome news that an independent book like mine is being paired up with so many great creators and titles. I truly appreciate all the support the book has received from friends and readers that placed it in the nomination process and in contention for the award.

Please go visit the Eagle Awards website and place your vote for The Venger: Dead Man Rising. Every vote counts and with such great competition could help. Thanks everyone for your support.

The Venger vs the Wolfman UPDATE

I haven't updated progress on this story in a while so I'll try to catch up. This is an 'illustrated prose' story that will be appearing in the Venger Special along with the Black Mercy and Deadly Beginning stories. I had posted a teaser for the story, which is written by my friend Barri Lang and myself. The story is modeled after the old pulp novels of the past and features the original Venger. The illustrations that will be placed throughout the story are being penciled and inked by Eleonora Kortsarz who is doing some beautiful work on them. Here are some of her original unfinished sketches for the project.

Super 8 movie trailer

The preview trailer for J.J. Abrams' latest top secret movie project is running before Iron Man 2. This time Abrams is working with Steven Speilberg on the film, slated for a summer 2011 release. Much like with Cloverfield no details are known on it- no cast has even been announced yet. The latest rumor has that actually filming of the movie is to begin shortly. I love Abrams' work and the way he can drive hype for his movies. I'm really looking forward to this.

The Venger Special: Black Mercy LETTERED PAGES

Just got the proof pages back from the letterer for 'Black Mercy: No Mercy'. They look great! Fantastic job from the whole team: Jun on pencils, Scott on inks and tones and Scott B on the lettering. The Special is really coming together. We are still in production of the second feature for the book, 'Deadly Beginnings'. Still it is great to see the Black Mercy piece ready for publication. Here's a sample...

Iron Man 2 trailer

I know this post isn't Venger related but I just love this new interactive trailer for Iron Man 2. Check it out and after the trailer plays be sure to click all the thumbnails for tons of cool stuff.

The Venger Special: Deadly Beginnings

As I said before work continues on the Venger Special. The Black Mercy story is done art-wise and needs lettered. Now Jun and I are tackling the next and probably most 'important' of the stories that are in the Special- 'Deadly Beginnings'. I've hinted at this story a few times over the years. I guess it can best be described as Venger: Origin Part 1. It's going to be great. Here's a look at some of the breakdowns for it...

The Venger Special: Black Mercy FINISHED PAGES

Hey everyone. Last time I posted the first two penciled pages for the Black Mercy story by Jun Joe Monares. These look great and wait til you see the others! Today I am posting the finished version of those pages, with inks and tones by Scott Shriver. The Venger Special is coming along at a steady pace and hopefully soon I'll be able to give a time for publication. Anyway, here are those finished pages. Enjoy.

The Venger Special: Black Mercy

Still going over the story lineup for the Venger Special. So far I have covered 'Crossfire' and 'Venger vs the Wolfman'. The third story to be in this over-sized one shot is Black Mercy: No Mercy, a spotlight on the mysterious assassin introduced in the first issue of The Venger: Dead Man Rising. Since that issue I've received a lot of feedback from readers and other creators who have really been drawn to that character. So in the special we will see her in this 11 page solo story, getting a hint or two on her shadowy past. The story is written by me and features fantastic art by penciler Jun Joe Monares and inks and gray tones by Venger team member Scott Shriver. We are really enjoying working this story and have talked about publishing a Black Mercy Special as well. Here's a look at some of Jun's rough's for the story. I'll post a couple of pencil pages soon followed by some of the colored pages.

The Venger vs the Wolfman

I'm continuing my look at the stories I'll be including in next year's The Venger Special. So far we've seen the cover choices by Marco Rudy and a couple of the finished art pages from Matt Zolman's "Crossfire" story. Also included in the book will be a prose short story of the original Venger. Written by Barri Lang, "Venger vs the Wolfman" is a great period piece and really invokes the old pulp novel feel. Artist Sam Crouch will be contributing several spot illustrations to go with the Barri's story as well. Here is the title piece, built around the style of an old time circus poster. I'll post a couple more later down the line.

The Venger Special- update 2

Last time I posted a cover image done by Marco Rudy for the Venger Special. Here is another version of that cover image. On this one Marco threw some red color to the blank background. The final decision hasn't been made yet on which one that will be used. I'll wait until we are almost done with production to finally decide. There are some more tweaks to it and photoshopping that will need to be done. I have a certain look I'll be going for, something  that will remind the reader of the old pulp novels.

The Venger Special- update 1

Well I have been  busy recently working not just on reviews for Comics Bulletin but also on writing and production of the Venger Special. Tim is plugging away on The Venger: Dead Man Rising #3 so my hope is to have the Venger Special out sometime soon to give you readers some Venger material between issues. So moving forward I'm going to posts some updates on what to expect. First up is the cover, done by Marco Rudy, the regular artist of DC's The Shield. He has also done an issue of Justice League, worked on an issue of Final Crisis as well as Image's After The Cape.

The Venger: Dead Man Rising #2- I got MINE, did you get YOURS?

Just got my copies in today from the printers. They look great! So like the tiles says- I got mine, did you get yours? If you haven't yet then click the link in the sidebar and get one, or more!

Facebook Superhero Status Updates

I saw this on Newsarama this morning and thought it was great. Follow the LINK for more of these hilarious updates. I'll post one of them here but PLEASE go to the link for more. Thanks to Chris Sims of the Invincible Super Blog and Comics Alliance for the great job with this.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Indy Comic Book Week- 12/30/09

Diamond Distributing has announced that they will not be shipping any new comics the last week of the year, so on the normal new comic book day- 12/30/09- stores won't be receiving anything. Zip. Nothing. Many indy comic creators such as myself have decided to take this as an opportunity to hopefully increase our readership and get our books onto those empty new release shelves.

There are several websites that have been driving this- www.indycomicbook.com is one of them, check it out. So I'll be contacting comic book retailers and offering to have Venger comics available to them that week. If you know of a retailer I should contact please email me with the contact info at matts128@aol.com and I'll drop them a line and get others to check out Venger!

The Venger: Dead Man Rising #2 NOW ON SALE

Finally, it is here and ready for purchase. Click on this link to purchase your copy of The Venger: Dead Man Rising #2.  Thanks for your patience and support- much appreciated. So go out there and buy one or two or more, and tell your friends to get their copies as well. Check out this preview of the issue as well.

Cap is Back!

I have been loving the Captain America: Reborn series so far. Brubaker and Hitch are doing excellent work. It's been a slow build up to Steve's return but we still have a couple more issues to go. But Marvel has solicited this one-shot follow up to the series- Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?. This will be written by Brubaker and with art by Butch Guice who is going solo after working with Hitchy on Reborn. I am so eager to get this. Like almost everyone I have been enjoying Bucky's turn as Cap and I feel confident in Bru to keep true to the characters and story. I know he has something planned for Bucky. Anyway, can't wait for the book.

Mid Ohio Comic Con

Well Brett continues his con season appearances. Hopefully next season I will have a few dates of my own. Anyway he will be appearing at this weekend's Mid-Ohio Comic Con, October 3 and 4. Brett will be there signing and sketching and selling copies of The Venger: Sins and Secrets #1 as well as posters of the cover to issue 2. He will also be selling copies of his new book with writer Eric Rampson, The Silver Bullet. So any of you comic book and Venger fans please stop by and see Venger artist Brett Wood.

The Venger: Dead Man's Revenge FINALE

Thanks to everyone that has been coming here and checking out the story. I hope you enjoyed the story and Victor's artwork. Today's page is the conclusion.