Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne Deluxe Hardcover Collection

DC Comics officially solicited the Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne Deluxe Hardcover Edition today. This slightly over-sized book will collect all six issues of the mini-series and will include previously unseen sketches and design artwork. I sent the editors a bunch of prelims and preparatory drawings and I’m curious to see what they picked. This collection goes on sale Feb. 2, 2011. I’ve posted the cover image above.

In other news, Wildstorm released a color image of my 3rd cover for the End of Nations video game tie-in series and you can see that below. That particular book goes on sale December 29.

–C

Peter Hogan Interview
Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #5 will be published in a few weeks, but in the meantime, here are a few items of interest to Tom Strong fans:

First, click HERE to read a great interview with Robots of Doom writer Peter Hogan. Peter’s entire career is covered, including his time in publishing, music journalism and comics. It’s a fun and informative read and was full of surprises for me (such as Peter’s association with various people and bands I’ve followed for years).

Second, see below for a sneak preview of some art from Robots of Doom #5. This is the big battle issue, with Tom Strong, Dr. Permafrost and the lava people (the Salamanders) vs. the maniacal Albrecht and his army of Dero robots. Lots of cool imagery in this one, beginning with the splash page below, reproduced from the pencil art.

…and third, since I announced it to a crowd at the Toronto Fan Expo in a panel overseen by DC Comics honcho Dan Didio (urged to do so by Dan, actually), I suppose it’s okay for me to reveal here that Peter and I have begun work on a new Tom Strong mini-series entitled Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril. Since we’re just starting, I have no info yet on when it will be released.

–C

Return of Bruce Wayne #1 3rd Printing Cover

Above is the cover of the third printing of Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #1, out now at your local comics retailer! Also out today: Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #4 and The Authority #26, which features a cover I drew earlier this year.

–C

Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #4 Color Preview

Page 1 of Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom

The official Wildstorm blog posted a preview of issue #4 of Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom today, so if you can’t make it to your local comic shop right away, click HERE to get a glimpse of the latest chapter of our six part story.

Pencil art for the page shown above

–C

Toronto Fan Expo 2010

Xan and I spent this past weekend at the Toronto Fan Expo, a convention catering to aficionados of science fiction, horror movies, anime and comics. Thanks to some severely unpleasant traffic, we ended up arriving late on Friday, but I was still in time to be on the DC Nation Panel with DC Comics honcho Dan Didio and artists Jeff Lemire, Ethan Van Sciver, Francis Manapul and writer Brian Azarello. After that, I was off to Artists’ Alley to sign and sketch for the unfailingly nice and friendly Canadian fans. Saturday started off well, with me arriving early and producing some sketches I was actually pleased with for a change. Xan walked the con floor, visiting the Tron booth which featured huge displays of Tron props, toys and various merchandise. She also caught the Tron Legacy panel with Bruce Boxleitner and managed to see a few of the many other celebrity guests–a large and surprising selection which included David Cronenberg, Ernest Borgnine, Lance Henriksen, William Shatner, Stan Lee and many more. As the day wore on and the crowd grew and the temperature inside rose, I signed at the DC Comics booth and sketched for hours, finally leaving the building just in time to join Xan and the DC staffers and freelancers for good food and great conversation at a local Italian restaurant. Thanks go to Dan, Fletcher, Matt and Vince (who I’ve known ever since I got into this biz) for showing us a fine time! Sunday, the con floor seemed just as crowded and I worked just as hard as I had the previous day. Xan shopped the dealers’ room and kept me company for a while before leaving to visit friends Sara and Henning and their kids that night.

The very large Tron display

Lance Henriksen (left) and Ernest Borgnine (right)

The view from my table in Artists’ Alley: Jill Thompson–still managing to sketch
while plagued by a Brain Slug Xan bought her, and Tim Bradstreet

Monday morning we headed South towards the States again, stopping and spending the rest of the day exploring and enjoying both the Canadian and U.S. sides of Niagara Falls before driving back home that night. I’d like to say “thanks!” to all of the fans who stopped by during the con, to the DC guys who treated us very well, and to Tiz and the rest of the con staff for inviting us and taking care of us!

Niagara Falls, as seen from Canada

Xan flagrantly disobeys the rules…as usual…

Double rainbows with the Rainbow Bridge in the far background

Xan has some good cheesy fun

Looking for Lois Lane on the U.S. side of the Falls

–C