Happy Holidays from WCG Comics

Thanks to everyone for a great 2014 and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2015.

This past year was a banner year for WCG—Rob Hanes Adventures #15 was released and we exhibited once again at the San Diego Comic-Con in July.

In addition, WCG marked its 20th anniversary publishing and, in July, Rob Hanes Adventures debuted at Comixology, marking the series’ debut in digital format. The first two issues are now available there, with more on the way as the entire series becomes available at the site. But not to worry—the print edition will continue as always!

Yes, it’s been a busy year—in fact, we have really big plans for 2015, but we’ll save that news until after the holidays!

Until then, have a happy holiday season and new year!

Click here to view holiday greetings from years past...

REVIEWS: iPhone 6

Around the time I began thinking about upgrading my mobile phone, reports emerged that Apple would be announcing and then releasing the iPhone 6. I decided the release of the new device presented the perfect opportunity to upgrade from my iPhone 4s.

When the phone was released, I bided my time until I truly felt in the mood to upgrade. In the meantime, I checked it out a few times at local stores—my first reaction was, “Boy, that’s big!” — and I was just referring to the smaller iPhone 6.

At the end of October, I finally decided I was ready, only to discover the phone was sold out and on back order at most places. My local AT&T store—which is my carrier—said that they could put me on a waiting list. They couldn’t give me a delivery date, but said customers usually received them in 2-3 weeks. Meanwhile, I went straight to the source at apple.com. The site had them on back order too, though they had “real time” updates that allowed you to check immediate availability by stores in your local area. Only one Apple boutique that was local to me (I had four within reasonable driving distance) was listed as having them in stock—but when I called to confirm, they said they were out.

That evening, I decide to just go to my AT&T store and get on the waiting list. As we sat down to start the process, the AT&T representative told me that a friend of his told him earlier that day the store was available at the Apple Store in Century City and suggested that I go ahead and call so that I could get the phone immediately! He even pulled up the number for me.

Unfortunately, when I called the Century City store, they informed me that they had sold out—but their records noted that it was available at stores at the Grove (an open air upscale mall near Farmer’s Market) and Santa Monica. Since I live just a quick freeway ride of about 4 miles from Santa Monica, I drove there, arriving about 40 minutes before closing, only to be told they were no longer selling the phones for the day (I presume because of the time it takes to register and activate the phone). But the sales person advised me to go online that night, reserve the phone for pickup, and return the next day for it. Which I did. Which is how I got my phone.

Just as exciting, a few days later, I transferred my old iPhone 4s to my wife’s Net10 pay-as-you-go account under their “bring your own phone program.” Since it was no longer on contract, all I needed to do was purchase a compatible Net10 SIM card at a local Best Buy (they’re also available online from Net10) and activate the phone with Net10, porting over my wife’s number from her old Net10 Nokia phone. With Net10, the plan is more than half of what my plan was with AT&T with the same level of phone, text and data (unlimited calls and text, 500 MB of data) –– $35 per month.

REVIEW: When people ask me how I like the new iPhone, I simply reply, “It works exactly like my old phone.” Yes, of course, it has upgraded features (particularly the camera I hear) and the main reason I went with the 6 (as opposed to the 5) was to have the ability to use Apple Pay if the feature gains critical mass. But since I use it exactly as I did my last phone, it isn’t much of a new “toy” with “new” features to explore. Aside from making and taking calls, texting, my main use of the phone is to surf the web; use the maps function for travel and GPS; social media; picture taking; and banking. (I also use it to store all my passwords via SplashID.) Just like my old iPhone. I do like the extra real estate of the screen, which has given me a bit more breathing space for organizing my apps on different screens.

Twenty Years (and more!) of Rob Hanes Adventures

Classic High Adventure Lives on in the Modern Age in the Long-Running Indy Series

Be sure to click here or the read more button at the bottom of this link to expand and read the full post.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of my globetrotting action-adventure series as a full-size indy comic-book series under my WCG Comics imprint.

For those needing a primer to the series, Rob Hanes Adventures features the globetrotting exploits of the newest agent at Justice International, a worldwide private investigation, espionage and security firm. This simple premise has given me the freedom to put the character in a wide variety of settings, taking him to one international hotspot to another, and just as importantly, tell stories that have varied widely in genre and tone, ranging from straight adventure and espionage to light comedy. Along the way, there even has been a sports issue and a romance story!

I’ve made no secret of my inspiration for the series: the great syndicated newspaper adventure comic strips that had their heyday from the 1930s through the ‘50s, like Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, Noel Sickles’ Scorchy Smith, Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy and, later, Buz Sawyer. Other major influences include Will Eisner’s Spirit and the work of Alex Toth, another standard-bearer of the classic adventure strips epitomized by Caniff, Sickles and Crane.

I'm a fan of modern-day comics too, but for some reason, those classic strips really captured my imagination when I first discovered them in the 1970s in books about comics history. I loved the black and white art and how the stories dove-tailed with real-world events—such as revolutions in South America and World War II—which gave the stories an immediacy I found compelling.

However, Rob Hanes Adventures has never traded on nostalgia. I’ve tried to develop a style of my own while staying true to the genre and creating a fun, forward-looking strip that reflects modern-day sensibilities, intrigue and political realities.

The War Comics Group

Of course, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the long-winding history of the series and the character.1994 is the year that WCG Comics officially became a small business and solicited its first title, Adventure Strip Digest starring Rob Hanes in the direct-sales market. In actuality, however, the roots of the character and WCG Comics go back to the 1970s and the early days of the small press of comics fandom.

REVIEW: My Favorite Martian

Note: Minor spoilers in the review below.

Based on a review in Entertainment Weekly, I picked up Andy Weir’s The Martian on my Kindle. With so much modern-day science fiction dominated by a dystopic view of the world, it’s easy to forget that the genre has also at times advanced a positive and benevolent view of science, technology and the future.

The Martian falls in this latter camp. Weir’s book tells the story of an American astronaut named Mark Watney who becomes stranded on Mars after his fellow crew members strand him there after he is thought to have been killed during a dust storm that forced them to evacuate. When NASA discovers Watney is still alive (one of many delightfully clever sequences in the book), they commit to rescuing him. Because of the distance of the planet from earth, the book largely follows Watney’s efforts to survive the several years it will take for the rescue mission to arrive, interspersed with scenes on earth as NASA mounts the operation (sometimes involving the contributions of other nations), as a whole world watches.

Before the book was picked up by a publisher and became a success, Weir’s book had been rejected by every publishing house he brought it to. I can only guess that it was because author Weir spends a lot of time explaining the science and getting it right. (Indeed, the book was partly rooted in the author’s interest as a NASA geek to understand how such a long distance space mission would be mounted and how astronauts would sustain themselves on the planet after landing.) Regardless, Weir (through the lead character’s first person narrative voice) keeps the science accessible, reflecting a modern-day geeky DIY sensibility. The science and workarounds are clever but always based on real science.

Above all, the book is suffused by the lead character’s sunny, positive, can-do outlook – as the book mentions, astronauts chosen for a long-term mission to Mars would likely need to go through a rigorous personality screening process to ensure they could withstand the rigors and emotional demands of such a trip. (I remember the film the Right Stuff portrayed a similar screening process that the Apollo astronauts had to undergo.) As the books shows, Watney was not only the best person for the job, but the best person qualified to become stranded.

Note: Director Ridley Scott is reportedly set to direct the film adaptation of the novel, with Matt Damon cast as the lead.

Comic Book Store Guy

I posted a version of this at Facebook, but wanted to post this tribute here for posterity as well.

Thanks to longtime buddy and award-winning audiobook narrator extraordinaire Scott Brick (whose photos grace this post), I learned that my local comic-book shop, Comics Ink, in Culver City, California, was closing next week, prompting me to stop by and offer my own thanks and congratulations on the owner's retirement...

I've been going to Comics Ink (in its various iterations) since the mid '80s (or so). In those early years, on most Saturdays or Sundays, it was the last leg of the day for my buddies and me (which included Scott and several others college friends), when we met for baseball in the morning at a park in West L.A. or Santa Monica, which was followed by a relaxing late breakfast or lunch at the same diner where we were usually served by the same waitress (who's still there by the way), ending with a visit to Comics Ink to get our weekly fix. That ritual changed then eventually ended with the advent of marriages, children, and the realities of adulthood, but Comics Ink remained our source for comics and, yes, a touchstone to our younger days.

In any case, I was glad to know Comics Ink's owner is retiring on his own terms and comfortably. I'm not sure everyone in his line of business can say that, but this and the fact that he's remained in business through the endless cycle of boom and busts of the comics industry says much about the man and his business sense!

Thanks, Steve, and to the Comics Ink staff for their great work over the years!

Scott Brick (second from left) with Comics Ink's owner (second from right) and his staff.

REVIEW: Now a Major Motion Picture: The Monuments Men

Though I plan to, I haven’t yet seen the film, the Monuments Men. I did, however, have the opportunity earlier this year to read the book on which it's based, by Robert M. Edsel, which I review here.

The story of the plunder and repatriation of art during World War II has received some coverage over the years, but sometimes lost amidst that coverage was the important role that the so-called Monuments Men played in these efforts. This is partly due to the fact that the effort was an ad hoc operation that involved a relatively few number of individuals. Though the group eventually had a chain of command, it was never officially an independent unit and, thus, no official history of the unit’s work exists.

Driving the effort were individuals from the U.S. and Great Britain, primarily from leading museums and cultural institutions, who recognized early on the great risk that works of art and cultural and architectural artifacts faced due to the war. Understandably, allied leaders at first put little stock in such efforts, since they were focused on fighting the war and not interested in anything that might hamper efforts to wage war against an implacable enemy. Over time, however, the importance and public relations value of protecting such works—as well as stopping Nazi Germany’s systematic plundering of them—came to be recognized and appreciated.

An oft-repeated assertion of Hitler’s psychological profile was that he was a failed and frustrated artist. Whether or not this played a role in the Nazis’ methodical cultural ransacking of Europe, it’s clear that Hitler and his henchmen, including Herman Goering and others, went beyond simple war plundering in confiscating some of the great art masterpieces of Europe: they even created a list of works they coveted (including, according to this book, several in the United States!), so that when the war began they mounted a systematic, organized effort to confiscate art, which involved special military and civilian units. The Nazi state even tried to legitimize these activities using legal cover, such as passing legislation that made it illegal for Jews to own art, which they believed gave them the right to pillage the private collections of dealers and private collectors. As foreign occupiers, they believed they were entitled to confiscating the national treasures of other countries with impunity.

Not George Stout

On the flip side of the coin were the museum and cultural leaders—led by a few particular visionaries, including George Stout, an American art conservation specialist and museum director, who recognized early on that artwork and culture around the world were at great risk with the world on the precipice of global conflict. Beginning with position papers sent to the U.S. and British governments that predated the war, these cultural leaders essentially forced the issue. Other than lip service, however, the U.S. and British governments provided little in terms of resources or manpower (Stout used a commandeered German army vehicle through much of the war.) Though the allies gave these efforts low priority, it was enough of an opening for Monuments Men to mobilize themselves and insert themselves into the war.

The Monuments Men initially focused on protecting the great cultural legacy of Europe from wartime destruction. This particularly included minimizing as much as possible unnecessary destruction of art and architecture by the allied military machine, which sometimes involved educating commanders and soldiers in the field, as well as standing up to both the military establishment and line officers who did not immediately understand or appreciate their roles. But as the allies began to see the extent of the Nazis’ plunder of both cultural institutions and private collections, their roles quickly expanded to include extensive detective work as they sought to identify, track down, and repatriate stolen art. As the war wound down, this also extended to protecting Germany’s cultural history. It’s unlikely in the annals of war that any military victor had gone to the extent of the allied armies, with the support of the Monuments Men, to restore and repatriate cultural and artistic treasures that might have otherwise been destroyed or claimed as the spoils of war. (At one point, among the treasures, the allies even found a large part of Germany’s gold reserve hidden away, some of it stolen from the reserves of the countries conquered by Germany. Though some advocated keeping it, the allies took great efforts to protect the gold—particularly from the Soviet Union—for eventual repatriation.)

Not Rose Valland

Of course, the work of the Monuments Men would not have been possible without the work of counterpart museum staff and curators across Europe. Chief among them were Jacques Jaujard, director of the French National Museums, who as early as 1939, at least a full year prior to the invasion of France,  began spiriting away the Louvre’s national treasures to keep them from being confiscated by the Germans; and, perhaps even more crucially, the work of Rose Valland, a low-level staff person personally asked by Jaujard to stay at the Louvre during the war. (Many assumed her to be a collaborator.) Kept on by the Germans and often close to arrest and execution by her Nazi handlers, Valland surreptitiously and doggedly kept close track of the disposition of stolen works, information which became invaluable at war’s end. (It helped, as well, that the Germans worked with their usual Prussian efficiency by keeping meticulous records of their activities and the disposition of the pieces.) And as the war shifted in the allies’ favor, German cultural officials similarly began protecting their art from destruction by bombs and soldiers.

While little needs to be said to expose the level of depravity and psychosis of the Nazi leadership, it even extended to art. As Germany and Berlin collapsed around him, Hitler issued the “Nero Decree” which ordered all German infrastructure to be destroyed so that they could not be used by the allies. Beneath the scorched earth policy was Hitler’s psychotic and narcissistic belief that the German people and its state had failed him and, as such, did not deserve to survive him. The Nero Decree caused much consternation within the inner circle and the ranks, as the “true believers” did their best to fulfill Hitler’s orders—including the wholesale destruction of art—while the more pragmatic (led by Nazi minister and Hitler confidant Albert Speer) sought to stop their peers and soldiers and commanders in the field from carrying out the orders, which would only deepen the misery of Germany and its people. Told in a novelistic style, the book delves deep into obscure papers and interviews to ascertain what actually happened during some of the incidents at the end of the war that led to the near-destruction of some of the greatest cultural treasures of Europe.

Order Rob Hanes Adventures #15 Now!

Issue 15 of Rob Hanes Adventures is now available for purchase!

Use the purchase button below to place your order immediately (via PayPal) or visit our online store to purchase the newest issue and other back issues (including the full series).

Purchase Rob Hanes Adventures #15:

In the issue, Rob is sent to China to investigate the mysterious death of a German national who was consulting in the construction of a high-speed bullet train and discovers corruption that reaches into the highest levels of the government.

A preview of the issue is available here.

Walk, Don’t Run: A Report of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con

Click here to go straight to the photogallery from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con

"There is no running in the exhibition hall. Please walk to your destination." --repeated announcement each morning at the show's opening

The 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, held July 24-27, 2014 (with the usual preview night on July 23), was another fun and successful show. I sold lots of comics, connected with fellow cartoonists, friends and longtime fans, and made many new ones as well. The event’s footprint continued to expand beyond the convention center, with many official and non-affiliated programs and events now being held at nearby hotels or across the street from the convention center in the Gaslamp District. Even if you didn't have an attendee badge, there was plenty to take in—in fact, when I went out to grab lunch across the street one day, the crowd outside was as shoulder-to-shoulder as inside the convention hall!

Issue 15 of Rob Hanes Adventures debuted at the show, my 11th consecutive appearance as an exhibitor at Comic-Con since 1993 and my 17th overall. As noted in a prior press release, this show also marks the 20th anniversary of the series—admittedly, a slightly arbitrary number since I created and have worked on the title since well before then. The anniversary marks the year that WCG Comics officially launched as a business and released the series as a full-size comic-book, so that is the milestone I celebrate.

As anyone who attends the four-day show knows, Comic-Con is a big tent for all things fannish, pop culture, and geek: Films, books, television, cosplaying, gaming, anime—and, yes, even comics—are all there under one roof, with large, impressive, lavish exhibitor booths sharing the same convention space with small tables and booths like mine.

Though I generally stayed tied to my table, I did occasionally wander around to check out other booths, say hi to friends, and look at the various merchandise on sale, from comics, original art, posters, t-shirts, books, action figures, cosplay outfits and accessories (steampunk!), and more.

A Small Exhibitor’s Perspective
Though sales were in line with past conventions, this year’s Comic-Con crowd seemed a tough sell relative to prior years. As I’ve noted in past Comic-Con reports, unlike the convention’s early days when the show was exclusively about comics, not everyone attending the show  is there necessarily to buy comics, let alone commit to a little known ongoing indie comic-book series. (Some fellow exhibitors have found it necessary to boost their sales with merchandise having nothing to do with their comics—such as t-shirts and prints with cool images or fan-favorite characters.) With so many booths and tchotchkes competing for people’s eyes and a finite amount of disposable dollars, a small exhibitor like myself has to be very proactive to catch people’s attention for a few moments. And even though all my stories are stand-alone, it is always a challenge to convince people to commit to a series now 15 issues and two trade paperbacks in, even though “binge-reading,” like binge-television, is now a thing!

As a result, I was surprised by how many people pulled back from making a purchase, especially when they seemed genuinely excited about and tuned in to my work—an observation that some of my neighbor exhibitors (at least on some days) also noticed.

Nevertheless, it was still heartening to have people instantly connect with the series based on the concept or the sample art on display; or to have others return to buy everything, excited about discovering a new title, after reading a sample issue they picked up the day before. There was also the usual crop of people who had not seen me for years and were delighted to rediscover the series and learn it was still being published. And, of course, the wonderful longtime fans and supporters who stopped by to pick up the latest issue and ask about what was up next.

I genuinely enjoy Comic-Con (as does my family)—it is the major convention in my "backyard," which I have steadily attended since the late 1980s. Comic-Con has done well by me, playing a major role in putting my book on the map when it launched. I have established a presence here and many people know make a point of looking for me to get their latest fix of Rob Hanes Adventures. So though it may no longer be exclusively a comic-book convention, it remains a show I still enjoy immensely.

The Fan Experience 

Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop signing

I rarely have the time or patience to stand in lines for panels or signings. With that in mind, a friend asked me to purchase at Comic-Con the book, The Art of Film Magic: 20 Years of Weta, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the special effects company that rose to prominence supporting filmmaker Peter Jackson’s extraordinary work on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie trilogies, and get the authors' signatures during one of their scheduled signings. (Since I'm a huge fan of the books and movies,it gave me an excuse to visit the Weta booth.)

Though I initially warned my friend that I might not be able to break away to fulfill her request, I was pleasantly surprised to find no line when I went to purchase the book; and not only did I get the author to inscribe the book to my friend, but I was also easily able to obtain the autograph and photo above of the head of Weta, Richard Taylor, as well as the one below of one of Weta's concept artists, Daniel Falconer, who I recognized from the Lord of the Rings DVD making-of extras. These were some of the most  memorable fan moments for me personally in many years!

With Weta concept artist Daniel Falconer

Fellow professionals I saw at the show included Sergio Aragones, with whom I took a picture (I have a picture with him from many years ago, but couldn’t pass up an opportunity for a newer one!); John Roberts, one of the co-founders of Comixology, which earlier this year was purchased by Amazon (John has been incredibly encouraging of me to finally get on the platform and sent out the tweet below to mark the appearance of my first issue on Comixology; and Barry Gregory of indyplanet.com and Ka-Blam and Steven Butler of Gallant Comics, who were there to promote John Aman: Amazing Man, and with whom I discussed at length our mutual admiration for cartoonists Milton Caniff, Roy Crane, and Frank Robbins. I unfortunately heard I missed Usagi Yojimbo writer-artist Stan Sakai who stopped at my table early during the show to say hi. (A book to raise funds to help Stan with medical costs he has incurred due to his wife’s illness was released at Comic-Con.)

Twitter announcement about the release of Rob Hanes Adventures #1 on Comixology

Every Comic-Con, I also spot the occasional celebrity walking by. This year I saw comedian/actor/screenwriter Tom Lennon (Reno 911), actor Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men—in fact, I’m pretty sure I saw Cryer last year!), and actor Deidrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show), most with their families.

Apparently, actor Paul Rudd (for the upcoming Ant Man) and the full cast of the Avengers also visited the Marvel Comics booth on the main floor. Given how crazy it became just for free posters when I walked by a few hours afterwards, I can only imagine how frenzied it was with the actors there!

I half joke each year that I must depend on outside news sources like everyone else to learn what has gone on at Comic-Con. Some of this year's highlights appeared to be Stephen Colbert's appearance as the moderator of the Hobbit panel; the appearance of the Avengers cast at the Marvel Comics booth; and the appearance of the stars of the upcoming Superman vs. Batman film.

Swag

Even by my standards, compared to past shows, I really didn’t walk the floor much or attend panels. My main purchase was the first coffee table book sized volume of a projected collection of the Terry and the Pirates comic-strip by George Wunder after its original creator, Milton Caniff, left the strip to create Steve Canyon. I was strongly tempted to purchase some original Johnny Hazard comic strip art dating to the 1960s, but decided to hold off as there were so many good pieces to choose from.

My children are now older and went quite to town with purchases thanks to the generosity of my wife. One of my favorite purchases for my son was a set of steampunk goggles we found for him at a retailer booth.

The kids also exercised more independence exploring on their own—my daughter has become quite a big animé fan in the past year, so she was frequently going to showings, sometimes with her little brother in tow.

Cosplayers
Of course, what gets all the attention at Comic-Con are the cosplayers. Some people clearly attend just to be seen, but they of course add to the fun and atmosphere.

It’s always interesting to see what the popular themes are at each show. This year, it was clearly the Disney film, Frozen, with plenty of Princess Elsas on hand. Also popular was Maleficent and Finn (or Fiona) from the animated television show, Adventure Time.

It’s obvious that some cosplayers choose certain characters because they bear some resemblance to them (like here and here from previous years), which occasionally leads to fun appearances. In the photo gallery, you’ll see a steampunk Teddy Roosevelt; characters from Orange is the New Black; and John and Yoko (the Yoko was indeed a dead ringer, not so much John though).

Steampunk continued to be a nifty cosplaying category. It has even begun mashing up with superheroes: I saw a steampunk Green Lantern and Iron Man. See the photogallery for more!


Food and Drink
If I have any complaint about Comic-Con, it's the quality of the food at the show. Concessions appear to be operated by the convention center and consist of a rather unimaginative menu of unappetizing hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and packaged salads and deli sandwiches. The only outside vendors are Starbucks and Mrs. Fields.

Clearly, they are banking on the fact that attendees simply want to eat and run. Given the long day, however, I like to enjoy a good meal and the only way to do that is to go to the Gaslamp or a nearby hotel. With all the great eateries in San Diego, it seems a shame they can't get better quality and more variety of food inside the convention center or even food trucks (which they did one year).

On top of that, unlike past years, we had bad streak of dinners this year. There are several tried and true upscale restaurants that I have frequented regularly through the years, but this year we decided to explore new places and were somewhat disappointed each time. The quality of the meals were themselves generally fine, but for the money, they seemed a bit skimpy on the portions and one place gave us some of the worst service we ever experienced, by getting our orders wrong and then not getting the correct meals to us for more than a half hour.

Oh, well, you can't have everything!

Anyway, it was otherwise another amazing show. I’ve always given credit to the organizers for their skill at handling a crowd as large as Comic-Con. Every year they make adjustments to respond to issues. In a show this size, problems will always arise, and there are always the scofflaws, but the staff should nevertheless should be complimented for their outstanding work.

See you in 2015!

Click here to go straight to the photogallery from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Special thanks to Rodney Reynaldo, who took some of the photos featured in the photogallery.

For Immediate Release

WCG Comics Kicks Off 20th Anniversary Celebration at San Diego Comic-Con

Rob Hanes Adventures #15 also to Debut at the Show

 

Rob Hanes Adventures #15 will debut at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, July 24–27. To pick up the issue, visit WCG Comics at exhibitor's booth K1 in the Small Press Area (off aisle 1400). This is WCG’s 11th consecutive appearance at Comic-Con as an exhibitor and 17th time overall since 1993 when the Small Press Area debuted.

In addition to the new issue, WCG also kicks off its 20th anniversary celebration at Comic-Con, making it one of the longest-running indie comics titles. In 1994, WCG officially opened for business, releasing Adventure Strip Digest #1 that year, the series’ original title. (Adventure Strip Digest ran four issues and was re-booted in 2000 as Rob Hanes Adventures. These early four issues have been collected as a trade paperback, Rob Hanes Adventures, Volume 0.)

“It’s been a real labor of love, working on this series and trying to capture the excitement and feel of the newspaper adventures trips I admire so much,” said Reynaldo. “I’m proud to say that many of the fans of Rob Hanes Adventures have been with the series since the very beginning, who look forward to each issue, and every year more people discover or re-discover it. I know it’s always a challenge for a series to succeed when issues come out so irregularly, so the patience and support I’ve received for the series over the years is incredibly gratifying.”

Inspired by the classic adventure comic strips like Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates and Roy Crane's Buz Sawyer but set in the modern day — with dashes of light-hearted humor reminiscent of Will Eisner's Spirit — readers and fans alike have lauded Rob Hanes Adventures for carrying on the spirit of the classic adventure strip genre for modern day audiences.

Click here for the previous press release announcing Rob Hanes Adventures #15 and to see a preview.

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Preview of Rob Hanes Adventures #15 Now Available

For Immediate Release

Issue Scheduled for Release this Summer

In advance of the release later this summer of Rob Hanes Adventures #15, WCG Comics has released a preview of the new issue at its website at wcgcomics.com. (Scroll down to see the pages or click here.)

In the story, “Just Another Gilded Age,” globetrotting Justice International troubleshooter Rob Hanes is hired to investigate the mysterious death of a German engineer who was consulting on the construction of a high-speech bullet train in China. But in the course of his investigation, Rob uncovers corruption that reaches up into the highest levels of the ruling establishment. Inspired in part by real life scandals that have recently rocked the country and made international headlines, the story features the kind of intrigue, mystery and topicality that have made Rob Hanes Adventures a favorite among fans of classic high adventure.

Set in the modern day, the long-running indie series continues the tradition of the classic adventure comic strips like Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates and Roy Crane's Buz Sawyer — with dashes of light-hearted humor reminiscent of Will Eisner's Spirit. Readers and fans alike have lauded Rob Hanes Adventures for updatingf the classic adventure strip genre for modern day audiences.

Every issue of Rob Hanes Adventures is self-contained. All back issues are still available, including issues 1–14 and two trade paperback collections of earlier work, Rob Hanes Adventures, Vol. 0 and the Rob Hanes Archives. For more information about the series, previews and to purchase back issues, visit the WCG Comics website at wcgcomics.com.

Over the years, Rob Hanes Adventures has been reviewed, spotlighted and featured in numerous respected comics industry news publications and websites, including the Comics Buyer’s Guide, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, and Bleeding Cool. The series also was featured at wired.com and included in 1000 Comic Books You Must Read by Tony Isabella (Krause Publications, 2009).

The year 2014 marks WCG’s 20th anniversary publishing. The company also makes its 11th consecutive appearance as an exhibitor at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con and its 17th overall in July. More details about the 20th anniversary celebration and WCG’s Comic-Con appearance will be made available soon.

For more information about WCG Comics, visit wcgcomics.com or facebook.com/rhadventures.

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To see the images below as a slideshow, click here.

 

REVIEW: Genius, Animated

Just released is the third and final volume of the oversized illustrated biography of cartoonist Alex Toth, Genius, Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth.

I’ve written about Toth extensively and reviewed the first volume of this handsome series here. Though Toth is not well known by the general public, within the industry he is remembered as a true “artist’s artist,” one of the most admired and influential cartoonists in both the comics and television animation industries. (He was even the subject of an extensive and comprehensive documentary, “Simplicity: The Art and Life of Alex Toth,” which I reviewed here). Adding to Toth’s mythos was his dark, surly and tortured personality that broke friendships and relationships on what seemed to be the smallest of provocations. Yet it’s a testament to how much the artist and his work were revered that he remained someone fellow artists continued to reach out to and publishers wished to work with. Any lesser artist would have never been able to repair the many bridges he burned over his lifetime. Driven to attain perfection in his art and his life by setting impossibly high standards, he was his own worst critic and could be equally hard on others (as I can attest to in some of the correspondence I’ve received from him!)

This last volume concludes what is surely one of the finest and most ambitious art biographies of any cartoonist to date. Measuring approximately 13” x 9.5”, these lavish volumes tell Toth’s personal history in his own words—as well as those of colleagues and family (who cooperated with the author)—and includes extensive reprints of his art (original, printed and unpublished), full stories, photographs, etc. The book includes numerous reminiscences and tributes from contemporaries and modern masters.

The first volume, Genius, Isolated (2011, reviewed here), focuses on Toth’s early years, through the 1950s, when he was a journeyman cartoonist. Though much of this work was for romance comics for small publishers, it was during this time that his art style and philosophy jelled and others began taking notice.

The second volume, Genius, Illustrated (2013), covers his work from the 1960s, through his death in 2006. During this period, Toth settled in California, where he continued working as a freelance cartoonist and dabbled a bit in Hollywood. In his later years, he remained an admired talent, but the volatile Toth worked sporadically and only on his own terms. (The closest he came to a signature work was his outstanding Bravo for Adventure, which captured all his interests and tastes. But sadly, he only produced two full Bravo stories.) He became a recluse in his Hollywood Hills home after the death of his last wife, Guyla, who was his lifeline into the everyday world, though younger artists who admired him continued to seek out his friendship and mentorship, and contemporaries tried to remain in touch. Towards the end, Toth found a measure of peace, reconciling with many old friends with whom he had become estranged over the years.

The third and final volume, Genius, Animated, released earlier this month is an addendum of sorts to the first two volumes that covered the span of his life. This final volume exclusively covers his work in television animation, beginning in the 1960s and ‘70s, where he worked on some of the most seminal television animated shows of the era, including Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Scooby-Doo, Super Friends, and many more. The fact that this whole volume is focused on his animation work is a tribute to his influence in the industry.

Character model sheet for Jonny Quest

Though Toth’s work was primarily with Hanna Barbera, he worked for many companies. As in the comic-book industry, Toth could be difficult to work with, but he was indispensable, particularly at Hanna Barbera which benefited greatly from his ability to sell the networks on a series because he could quickly convey a concept, story and character through his presentation art. Aside from presentation art, Toth was a sophisticated storyboard artist and outstanding at character and set design. Plus, his photographic memory enabled him to work at a good clip.

Given the quality of Saturday morning animation during that time—they were done quickly and cheaply, and many of the artists simply did not have the talent to adequately translate Toth’s work to the small screen—Toth was likely working at a quality level far beyond what was necessary or could be affordably or realistically replicated with limited animation. Nevertheless, the strength of his design work shone through well enough that it inspired a new generation of animators who grew up on his animation work and revered Toth before they even realized he was responsible for it. These artists would eventually enter the animation (and comics) industry themselves and bring new vitality to the medium. The first and most prominent of these was Batman: The Animated Series, which many fans credit as remaining one of the best Batman adaptations of any medium. The critical and commercial success of the series launched and spun off a whole slew of high-quality animated television in the genre. Toth, himself, was a fan and became friends with many of the animators associated with the series.

One interesting sidenote: In 1996, a massive collection of Toth’s animation work, including model sheets and storyboards, were published in a book called Alex Toth: By Design. Some of the pieces included in this book appear in Genius, Animated. I was fortunate to snag a copy when it first appeared and, like many artists, it has become an invaluable resource and inspiration for me in my own character design work for my comic-book series, Rob Hanes Adventures. The book is no longer in print and remains highly prized—a used copy goes for $250 or more. Though I haven’t confirmed it, my understanding is that the book did not get proper permission to reprint the pieces included in the collection, especially since they involve well known characters and properties. (Model sheets used to be considered useless and nothing more than fit for the trashbin after they were used.) Which doubly makes this book a valued part of my comics-related book collection.