Matt Price’s top 10 comic-book series of 2011
DC Comics regained the public’s attention — and the lead in market share — with a publicized revamp of its superhero line, but not all of the year’s best comics involved capes and tights.
The following are 2011′s best 10 periodical comic books.
DC Comics releases preview art of Batman: Earth One, Superman: Earth One, Vol. 2
Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s “Batman: Earth One” will be released in 2012, and DC Comics has released preview art from the book at the DC Comics Source blog.
The book is a retelling of the Batman legend in a contemporary setting.
“Gary and I are tackling BATMAN from the beginning, before he knows what he’s doing and with a very different ultimate goal in mind,” said Johns. “He’s never left Gotham. And our Gotham and the people in it are very gray. Our heroes unlikely. Our villains hidden. Our story is only beginning with volume one.”
Also, the best-selling “Superman: Earth One,” by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis, will be getting a second volume in 2012.
“The overwhelming success of volume one of SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE – 37 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list for graphic novels – meant we had to ensure that Volume Two was even better,” said Straczynski. Preview art for vol. 2 was also released at the Source blog.
- Matt Price
Click past the cut to see the preview art released for the two books.
“A Christmas Carol” has long found home in comic books
Batman mixes with Charles Dickens in this year’s graphic novel “Batman: Noel,” but that’s not the only time the classic “A Christmas Carol” has been remixed into comics. English author Charles Dickens’ novella, first published in 1843, features the transformation of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge after he is visited one Christmas Eve by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
Second Dark Knight Rises trailer online
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The second “The Dark Knight Rises” trailer has been officially released online. The third film in Christopher 
Nolan’s Batman trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises” stars Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy, and is set to be released July 20, 2012.
- Matt Price
RIP Eduardo Barreto
Former “New Teen Titans” artist Eduardo Barreto has died at age 57, Comic Book Resources is reporting.
The artist worked with Marv Wolfman on the popular “New Teen Titans” series starting in the mid-1980s.
He was also an artist for the “Judge Parker” newspaper strip from 2006-2010 and the “Phantom” Sunday strip.
Barreto, who was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, contracted meningitis in 2010.
Comics writer and critic Rob Vollmar, of Chickasha, said Barreto had versatility and a deft artistic touch.
“Eduardo Barreto was an artist who brought style and impact to the books that he drew,” Vollmar said. “He was able to retain the sexiness that George Perez had brought to the Teen Titans revival of the late-70s while making the figures more organic and less posed. Though he was probably best known for his superhero work, Barreto was capable of much more, as evidenced by his collaboration with Ande Parks on ‘Union Station.’ It is a shame to see talented artists like Barreto go so young.”
George Perez shared the following comment on the George Perez facebook fan page:
“I was totally stunned to learn of the death of former TITANS artist Eduardo Barreto, at the incredibly young age of 57 (which is the same age as me),” Perez wrote. “Eduardo was probably second only to me in the number of issues of THE NEW TEEN TITANS drawn during its initial run. He was an exceptional draftsman and, as I learned in my only meeting with him during a convention, a very nice gentleman. My condolences to his family, friends, and fans.”
Barreto was closely associated with DC Comics for much of his career, and was the artist on publications including “Action Comics” and “Atari Force.”
Oni Press, for whom Barreto drew “Union Station” and “The Long Haul,” released the following statement.
All of us at Oni Press were saddened to have learned of the passing of our friend and colleague, Eduardo Barreto. It was our absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to collaborate with this great artist. Eduardo fit the classic model of a working illustrator, and he particularly loved the wide variety of comics that he read growing up in Uruguay. He had a pronounced passion for space operas and horse operas alike, and though he made his name drawing iconic characters like Superman and the Teen Titans, his art truly shined when he was let loose to play with heroes whose abilities—and foibles—were far more human. Those who worked with him remember as a true professional, and everyone who met him could instantly call him a friend. Eduardo Barreto leaves behind a tremendous body of work, as well as a legion of fans, all of whom will miss him dearly. We join them in extending our deepest condolences to his family for their loss.
- Matt Price
Gary Oldman done as Gordon after “Dark Knight Rises”; Marvel movie news
Gary Oldman retires James Gordon’s badge; Fox plans more Marvel films; and reviews of “Action Comics” and more in the Planet 46 Comics Podcast at NewsOK.
GARY OLDMAN DONE AS GORDON
Gary Oldman tells Moviefone that “The Dark Knight Rises” will be the end of his run as Jim Gordon, and talks about using Bane as the villain. 
“It’s great. It’s a terrific conclusion to the trilogy,” Oldman tells Moviefone. “Nolan rounds it off: he brings in a bit of the first one, from ‘Batman Begins,’ and he does some really surprising things with it. I thought his choice of villain was very interesting, to use Bane instead of Riddler or Penguin. He’s not gone with the most obvious choice. The challenge for Chris was always really the story and I think he didn’t want to make a third one for the sake of it. I think there was pressure on him, obviously, because the second was so successful. So there’s always going to be some pressure to keep it going. But he’s too smart and classy, really to just make a third just for the sake of making it, because others are demanding or want it from him and I think he felt that, ‘Let me get the story right.’ So the fans won’t be disappointed.”
Read more: http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/12/06/gary-oldman-dark-knight-rises-steve-buscemi-snl/
FOX STILL PLANS MORE X-MEN, FF, DAREDEVIL
Fox’s Tom Rothman tells MTV that he wants another “X-Men: First Class.”
“We’re trying like hell,” he said. “We’re trying as hard as we can. We really want to do it. We’re planning to do it.”
Rothman also commented two other Marvel properties that Fox plans to revive: “Daredevil” and “Fantastic Four.”
David Slade is attached to “Daredevil,” while “FF” is earlier in the development process.
REVIEW FILE: Valen the Outcast #1, Action Comics #4, Hawk & Dove #4, Raphael #1, Defenders #1
Comics read in 2011: 1902. Still to go: 109.
New “The Dark Knight Rises” poster features Bane
Tom Hardy as Bane is the focus of the newly-released poster for “The Dark Knight Rises,” which will open in the U.S. on July 20.
The new poster features Bane and a torn Batman mask. Bane was introduced in the comics in 1993′s “Vengeance of Bane,” and was the chief villain in the “Knightfall” story arc.
“The Dark Knight Rises” will star Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Also starring are Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Read more at NewsOK.
- Matt Price
Comics holiday gift guide: Comics fans may have a very batty Christmas
Batman: Noel
Comics fans could have a very Batty Christmas with the cool Bat-themed gifts available this year.
Inspired by Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” the hardcover graphic novel “Batman: Noel” ($22.99) features different interpretations of the Dark Knight from various eras. Different cast members from “Batman” take on roles from “A Christmas Carol,” including Robin, Superman, Catwoman and the Joker.
The story is written and drawn by Lee Bermejo, who drew the hit “Joker” original graphic novel in 2008.
(more…)
Astro City: The Dark Age is a modern classic
Astro City: The Dark Age
Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson look at the 1970s and 1980s through the prism of the superhero world of Astro City, in a 16-part storyline. Four four-issue miniseries (“Astro City: The Dark Age” Books 1-4) follow Charles and Royal Williams as they seek the man who murdered their parents. Their lives are intertwined with that of the Silver Agent, who is traveling through time in an attempt to avert a coming disaster.
Busiek and Anderson are taking apart the grittier comics of the 1970s and 1980s and exploring them from the point of view of characters who are living it. It recreates the feel of reading comics as a younger person in the late 70s and early 1980s, but with a story that works on multiple levels. Any superhero fan should take a look at The Dark Age, which probably suffered from its extended shipping schedule as far as sales. But with two collections containing all 16 issues, there’s no reason not to read this modern classic. Alex Ross remains active with the book as a character designer and cover artist.
Also read recently:
Grifter 2-3 (2011) Nathan Edmondson continues his slow burn in revealing who exactly Cole Cash, aka Grifter, is in this new unified DC Comics universe, but it’s an intriguing read with beautiful art by CAFU.
Planet Terry 1-4 (1985)Lennie Herman and Warren Kremer were the creative team for “Planet Terry” (a pun on “Planetary”), which featured young Terry, sort of a Richie Rich of space, on a quest to find his parents, with the help of his robot, Robota, and a gruff alien, Omnus.
- Matt Price
Comics read in 2011: 1,821 Still to go: 190.
Grant Morrison tweaks status quo, refers to history in “Batman” run
Writer Grant Morrison shifts the status quo of the Batman titles from the get-go in his run on “Batman.” The first collection, “Batman and Son,” collects issues #655-#658 and #663-#666 of the DC series “Batman,” written by Morrison and drawn by Andy Kubert. 8
