Dan Panosian Talks ‘Slots’ at FORCES OF GEEK

 

Artist Dan Panosian is best known for his work on Marvel and Image books as penciller and inker. Remember those sweet fake X-Men books in the movie Logan? Yup, Dan did those too. Dan joins us today to talk about his bold new crime redemption story from Skybound, Slots. He also reminisces about the early days of Image Comics, why he decided to break into storytelling with Slots at Skybound/Image, and what the future holds for his hero, Stanley Dance.

* * * * *

FOG!:  What can you tell us about Slots and your lead character Stanley Dance?

Dan Panosian: Stanley is the guy who made every selfish decision that most normal people would deem far too indulgent . We can all look back and wonder what our lives would be like if we took some left turns here and there. But generally we’re reasonable and responsible.

Stanley always listened to the devil on his shoulder and brushed off the angel. Consequently, he doesn’t have many friends or family left. Or chances for that matter.  He’s pretty much done.  That’s where we start off.

We’ve been a fan of your art for a long time, what made you want to tell this particular story as the writer and artist?

Hungry? Trycaviar.com - Order Now!

 

JEFF LEMIRE Chats With FOG! About 'DESCENDER' on the Cosmic Treadmill at FORCES OF GEEK

 

That escalated quickly! Before our tape machine was cold with a hot interview with one of the most in-demand writers in the business Jeff Lemire (All-New Hawkeye, Green Arrow, Sweet Tooth, Trillium, Swamp Thing) about his scorching hot new book with Dustin Nguyen (Lil’ Gotham, Detective Comics), Sony acquired the feature film rights to Descender!


Published by Image Comics, Descender is a new science fiction comic appearing on shelves in March, and Jeff was kind enough to take the time to tell us about TIM-21, working with Dustin and creating a whole new universe.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Jeff! We’re here to talk about Descender with Dustin Nguyen. What is an overview of the book for our readers out there?

JEFF LEMIRE: Descender is a new monthly science fiction series for Image Comics that I am writing and Dustin Nguyen is drawing and painting.

The high concept is that it centers on a young boy, a robot named TIM-21 in a universe that has outlawed all robots and androids. There is something very special about TIM that everyone seems to want a piece of.

This is TIM’s adventure and quest to discover his own origin and the mystery surrounding his origin in a universe that hates and fears him, slowly building new friendships and companions as he jumps from planet to planet and gets closer to discovering the truth of who he is.

 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]


Fandango Now Tickets for AMC Theatres!   Big Hero 6 Save 10-50% on Thor Comics, Apparel, and More!
Entertainment Earth

STARLIGHT TPB (Image Comics, by Mark Millar - review) - at FORCES OF GEEK

 

Starlight
Written by Mark Millar
Art by Goran Parlov
Colors by Ive Svorcina
Cover by John Cassaday
Published by Image Comics
ISBN 978-1-63215-017-2
Diamond Comic order code DEC140693
Available via Comic Stores 2/11; Bookstores 2/24


Some creators, musicians and authors have a knack for cranking out hits. Stephen King, Tom Petty, you get the idea.

And like those gentlemen, Mark Millar’s work is often imitated but never surpassed. An upstanding member of a Bill and Ted-esque order of chivalry—Most Excellent Order of the British Empire—the Scotsman’s latest trade paperback is Starlight, another gold record to put on the wall.

With Goran Parlov (Punisher MAX) on art, this sendup to pulp heroes, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, John Carter and Adam Strange is a pop-art celebration of comics, serials and retired superheroes.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Get Guardians of the Galaxy Comics and Graphic Novels at TFAW
SuperHeroStuff - Shop Now!

Entertainment Earth

THE IMAGE REVOLUTION (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

‏Twenty years ago, the comic book industry’s top guns took their pen nibs, pouches, flowy capes and big eyes away from the Big Two and started Image Comics. Creator ownership and the comic book industry fundamentally changed that day when McFarlane, Larsen, Liefeld, Silvestri, Lee, Valentino, and Portacio took control of the business of comic books and the rights to their own characters. 

‏Written and directed by Patrick Meany and produced by Seqart in association with Respect! Films, The Image Revolution interviews the guys, plus Sean Howe (Marvel Comics: The Untold Story), Image publisher Eric Stephenson, Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) and many more to tell the tale of the early ‘rock star’ days of Image Comics and takes us through today. With the success of The Walking Deadand Image Comics dominating the creator owned market and business model, the impossible dream became real.

 



We get another great inside the bullpen look from Respect! Films here, highly recommended for fans of these superstar creators but mostly for people of my comic book reading generation. The early ‘90s were an amazing time to be reading the books coming out from Marvel. 

‏The split happened right before our eyes, and like many things no one was sure if it would work.

 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Buy Star Wars Comics at TFAW.com SuperHeroStuff - Shop Now! HalloweenCostumes.com Entertainment Earth

MIGHTY Q&A: STEVE ORLANDO GOES FOR A DEEP DIVE WITH IMAGE’S UNDERTOW AT 13TH DIMENSION

Steve Orlando and Artyom Trakhanov’s Undertow takes a new look at the Atlanteans — and Steve invites us below for a taste of the salty brine before the launch this Wednesday, Feb. 19.

UNDERTOWCOVER

By CLAY N. FERNO

Clay N. Ferno: How long have you been working on this concept?

Steve Orlando: Undertow has been coming together in one way or another for almost four years. From early development as an underwater police procedural, it grew into something more, something less rooted in Dick Wolf story structures and more launched out of Jules Verne adventure. Artyom and I bounced around two years ago with some short stories, and when I told him what I was thinking about for a longer story, he was instantly sold on my strange fish people.

UNDERTOW1

This is a very different world in which the Atlanteans are exploring the world on land as explorers. It does not look like surface humans are using tools yet. And the Atlanteans are as advanced as space explorers. Did I catch that right?

The feral humans actually can use tools, but that’s about as sophisticated as they get. Atlantis, though, is far more advanced. It’s almost like the spark that jumpstarted our evolution maybe sparked somewhere else. Being under water, there’re some things they just don’t have that we have, and some things they have that we wouldn’t think of. It’s maybe not taking place during human development, but maybe in place of it. The humans have developed in a different way. They kept evolving and specializing physically, with different coats and furs for different climates, but they never quite developed higher consciousness.

[READ MORE at 13thDIMENSION.COM]

Find All-New Marvel Now at TFAW.com!

EARTH PRIME TIME: NATHAN EDMONDSON OF THE ACTIVITY AND WHERE IS JAKE ELLIS?

THE ACTIVITY - MITCH GERARDSSome interviews are so sensitive that you might get a call from an unknown number asking you to take it down for the sake of national security. We hope we’re not getting another one of those calls this week, as we got a chance to talk to the top spy-fi and espionage comic book writer in the business, Nathan Edmondson. Nathan has written Grifter for New 52, as well as a recent Ultimate Iron Man series for Marvel (now in trade paperback). For creator-owned work, Nathan’s The Activity and Jake Ellis series continue to draw attention from real military and fans of spy fiction, and more books are in the works including being tapped by Ubisoft to develop a Splinter Cell comic series. We conducted the following interview over a secure line.

 

DIGBOSTON: Hi Nathan, Thanks for taking the time today. We’re just now caught up with The Activity, a special ops book you do with artist Mitch Gerards. What’s the inspiration for such a real world espionage book?

NATHAN EDMONDSON: Mitch and I are fascinated by this nearly untouchable world, and when we found a side of it never seen before in fiction, we knew we wanted to tell stories about it.

The attention to detail on the missions are really what grabs me with this book in particular. How important is the tech to the book?

Tech is second to soldiers and story, but technological superiority is part of what makes a group like this so effective on the battlefield.

We do our best not to distract with the tech, but to give a real-world feel of the gadgets and gear employed by Tier 1 operators on missions.

The Activity - Mitch Gerards

The Activity - Mitch Gerards

I have a relative that dealt with special ops military, he’s pretty tight-lipped about his time there, but I understand you have had some great support from ex-military and special forces members. 

How do you gain access to the right people you need to help you tell an accurate story? And who or what is at U.S. Army Entertainment Liaison Office?

The armed forces has offices that are set up to provide information and support to the entertainment world.  We have worked a bit with the Army’s office, but most of our direct research comes from relationships we’ve forged with individuals who have or who continue to serve in the Special Operations community.  In the back of the trade you’ll see a list (though names are changed and much information withheld) of some of those who have given us support.

We are careful, however, not to disclose information that would compromise any of these individuals.

The Activity - Mitch Gerards

A Comic Book Fan gets to pick the Mission Codenames! - The Activity - Mitch Gerards

This is a very different flavor of book from your other series, as you are not only showcasing the heroes on the ground with direct action, but also dealing with the structure of the whole operation including international cooperation. 

At some points a team member or a team might disagree with the orders from on high—but ultimately carries out the mission. Other missions may get scrubbed or not go as planned. Is your Activity team balanced well? Will there be any roster changes coming up?

If you’ve read issue 11, you know there are some changes stirring within Team Omaha.  In the real world, part of what makes a Special Missions Unit team effective is they grow together and train together as a team so that they can trust one another fully and completely on the battlefield.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

Save 20-35% on Dark Horse Comics Pre-Orders at TFAW.com!