Chrissie Zullo Supergirl Statue

DC Comics Collectibles has come out with a set of statues based on Chrissie Zull's art.

I have been a fan of Zullo for a long time and have seen her art evolve over time. I really like her current style so I couldn't say no.

This statue is a pure delight. It is cute. It is bright. It sort of pops on the shelf. I love the colors in her eyes. And adding a snarky looking Streaky is perfect.

From the hands on hip, to the smile, to the sideways look, to the proportions like the chunky boot, this whole thing works for me. Throw in a pointy belt and oversized sleeves and you have my perfect costume.

Let's take a closer look.

DC February Solicits

Last week, DC released its solicits for February and I have thoughts. Here is a link to Newsarama's coverage of all the books:  https://www.newsarama.com/42789-dc-comics-february-2019-solicitations.html

Let's just say when I saw the cover for Supergirl #27 I felt a bit deflated.

I have been covering this character for ten and a half years. I have seen her character go dark and get redeemed at least 4 times over that period. Four times ... that I can think of.

It seems like every so often, DC's upper echelon thinks that a 'dark Supergirl' is what is missing in the world. And every single time the take fails ... because THAT'S NOT SUPERGIRL ... and someone has to come in and smooth things over. Sterling Gates, Tony Bedard, Mike Johnson and K. Perkins, even Steve Orlando and Jody Houser all have needed to bring Kara back from the dark and have her embrace Earth as home and swear to defend it.

So, of course, after Orlando and Houser have Supergirl back on the straight and narrow, DC pulls the plug and has Marc Andreyko send Supergirl away from Earth, away from her supporting cast, away from that role of hero, and sent her into space. From the get-go, I was nervous. But Perkins sent her to Crucible and that worked out so I took a breath.

Then I saw the first cover and read the issues. Gritty Kara, wielding a battle axe, on a path of vengeance and swearing she 'isn't Kal' ... I was worried we were back to Dark Supergirl.

I didn't know how good I had it back then.

Because now we have this Supergirl, de-powered, wielding a Liefeldian gun, shooting at some unknown foe while screaming in battle.

THAT'S NOT SUPERGIRL!

Look, you want to read Scarlet, Black Widow, or any of the other gritty female-led books with gun-toting heroes, go ahead! Heck, *I* read some of those books.

But who wants to read a Supergirl book with a powerless teenage girl shooting a gun?

Maybe this will all turn out fine. Maybe it's a stun gun.

But I am not happy. Supergirl shouldn't be powerless. Supergirl shouldn't be mowing people down with a rifle. So I know that Supergirl shouldn't be powerless AND be mowing people down with a rifle.

Granite Con 1 Week Away

The Granite State Comicon is only two weeks away and the crew and I will be heading up the highway to attend. Here is a link to the convention: http://www.granitecon.com/

This has always been a fun convention for me. There are great guests but not an overwhelming amount so I can relax a bit more and actually shop for comics at a convention rather than just running around and lining up to meet all the creators. There is a more laid-back approach to this convention so it ends up being a great day.

I was going to try to get a commission from Eric Powell, most famous for being the creator of The Goon. He provided great art for the three part 'Escape from Bizarro World' story in Action Comics. But he had to cancel. Too bad because I was hoping to convince him to do a Bizarro Supergirl for me. I think that would be a great addition to my collection.

With Powell gone, my commission list suddenly will have to be rethought.

Keith Champagne is going to be there.

I don't know if I am going to try to get a commission from him but I definitely will have books for him to sign. Champagne inked the earliest issues of the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle Supergirl run. I have most of those issues already signed by Gates and Igle so Champagne's sig would make it the trifecta of writer/artist/inker.

And while I already have a commission from The Stuff of Legend artist Charles Paul Wilson III, I have seen him doing 'Pooh Bear-ish' style commissions recently and think one of those would be excellent.

There are other great creators attending including Chrissie Zullo, Ming Doyle, and others.

Should be a blast!

Chrissie Zullo Commission

I am nearing the end of my review of the 2012 Boston Comic-Con and so I thought I would share another of the commissions I was able to grab, this one by Chrissie Zullo.

Heading into the con, I knew I wanted to get a piece by Zullo, contacting her beforehand and securing a spot on her list. Now I usually have one 'steal' commission per convention, one piece where I am absolutely stunned by the quality of the piece and end up think that I underpaid the artist. Two years ago it was Cam Stewart. Last year it was Oliver Nome.

Zullo's piece is the 2012 steal piece. I handed over $80 and got this nuanced marker powerful bust piece which basically filled the sheet in the sketch book. From the fully marked costume, to the detailed and layered hair, to the look of determination on Supergirl's face, to the energy crackling in the background, this whole thing just jumps off the page.

Just fantastic. As I have said before, I was running around so much that day at the con, I really didn't have time to talk at length with any creators. I thanked Zullo for the commission, but maybe not as profusely as I should have. So I am gushing now because I couldn't then.

Zullo is best known for her covers for the Cinderella Fables mini-series. I am not a Fables guy (although everybody I know tells me I would love it) but Zullo's covers are just captivating, stylish, and really jumped off the rack, enough for me to get both mini-series. In this day and age, with hundreds of books on the shelf, when a cover is able to grab me enough to have me buy the book, it is huge deal, a big success for the artist and the company. That is the mesmerizing power of Zullo's art.

I hope to see her work in another book soon.

Boston Comic Con Wrap-Up And Kevin Maguire Commission

Boston Comic Con, my hometown show, happened this last weekend and it has become a such a great convention bringing in great talent as well as supporting local artists and independent creators. I have been there since the beginning and I have seen this show grow to pretty mammoth proportions.

Now I usually attend both days of the con but this year a family commitment kept me away from the second day. I usually spend the first day of the show getting commissions and signatures from the creators. And the second day I have a more relaxed day, trying to talk more to the creators if I can and thumbing through the back issues.

The place was absolutely jammed with fans. This felt like the biggest crowd  that I have seen here, even more than the Jim Lee attended one from a couple of years ago. Some creators tables were mobbed, specifically Simon Bisley (so crowded I never got to him), Kevin Eastman, and Ed McGuinness. The lineup was very impressive. It was a fantastic time, spent with friends, and meeting and chatting with creators, and talking comics nonstop with other fans.

As a result of missing Sunday though, I didn't get the opportunity to really chat at length with any of the creators I was hoping to, especially catching up with Jamal Igle. Something of a bummer.

As for me, my mission going in to the convention was to get three commissions from Kevin Maguire, Francis Manapul, and Chrissie Zullo. Amazingly, despite being there on just the first day, I accomplished that goal ... albeit with a little bit of luck. I also, somehow was able to grab a commission from Joe Benitez and a quick sketch by Ed McGuinness. I'll end up posting all of these over the next couple of weeks.

I went to Maguire's table when the doors opened and got on the top of his list. I thought I was only getting a head sketch but instead got this unreal piece. Maguire's sketch list is unique in that it asks for what type of expression you want for the character. I put 'joyous'. So when I picked up this 3/4 body commission of this lovely and happy Supergirl I was floored. Just wonderful.

I asked about World's Finest. I thought the breakdown of art was based on the timeline with Maguire doing the flashback scenes but he said instead that his pages are on Earth 1, in the present, and mostly the pages of Helena and Karen in their secret identities. I also expressed how much I enjoyed the Tanga strip in Weird Worlds and My Greatest Adventure. Despite having other stories in mind, it sounds like DC has no plans for more Tanga. Too bad, she is such a fun character.

Anyways, this was a great convention and I would love to hear from anyone else who was there!