Twitter Report: Phil Hester Lays Out His Honest Opinion About Valentine's Day

Phil Hester lays out his honest opinion about Valentine's Day:

@philhester Valentine's Day is a childish holiday. In case you haven't noticed, I'm fighting like hell to stay a child.
-Phil Hester, Writer/Artist ("Green Arrow," "The Irredeemable Ant-Man")

Source: MTV Splashpage

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Newsarama: Marz, Sook, and Simonson weigh in on Magdalena cover

Yesterday, Newsarama had an exclusive look at the 1-in-50 retail incentive cover of Top Cow’s April-shipping Magdalena #1, showcasing the beautiful, raw pencil work of cover artist Ryan Sook. The incentive cover actually shows an alternate version of the issue’s striking iconic image of Patience, the current Magdalena. The series continues the story of the Magdalena lineage, descendents of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, who have served as the Catholic Church’s monster hunters for centuries.

Blog@ had the chance to talk with Sook, series writer Ron Marz, and legendary artist Walter Simonson, whose classic cover to Thor #337 played an important role in the development of the Magdalena #1 cover.

“The Magdalena story that Ryan and I did for in the First Born: Aftermath issue is one of my favorite jobs ever,” Marz said. “So when we started talking about a cover artist for the Magdalena series, Ryan was the obvious choice. He was the only choice, in fact. His style, his use of shadows and light, is just a perfect fit for what we’re doing with Magdalena visually. I feel really blessed – no pun intended – that Ryan is part of the team.”

Source: Newsarama

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Comic Book Resources: Magdalena #1 (Unlettered)

Magdalena #1
STORY BY: Ron Marz
ART BY: Nelson Blake
COVER BY: Ryan Sook
PUBLISHER: Top Cow Productions
COVER PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE DATE: Wed, April 28th, 2010

The Star of the Forthcoming Feature Film Gets Her Own Series!
The Magdalena has been the official protector and warrior of the Catholic Church for over two thousand years, sworn to defend the Faith with the Spear of Destiny against all manner of supernatural threats. However, Patience, the latest Magdalena, has seen through the hypocrisy of her masters and struck out on her own. When her old mentor comes to her with a mission to prevent Armageddon, will she be able to resist the call?
From writer Ron Marz (Witchblade, Angelus) and the art team of Pilot Season: Murderer, Nelson Blake II, Sal Regla, and Dave McCaig. Featuring covers by Ryan Sook (Wednesday Comics)!

See the rest of the preview here.

Source: CBR

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Newsarama: Body-painted Witchblade is a bit surprising

Newsarama came across a picture of a body-painted Witchblade from Great White Snark and Comics Alliance.




Source: Newsarama

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Newsarama: BROKEN TRINITY: PANDORA'S BOX - A Who's Who

With Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box arriving this month, a preparation of sorts was in order. We went straight to the source, creative team Rob Levin and Bryan Edward Hill, who gave us this handy rundown of the characters at the heart of Pandora’s Box.

Michael “Finn” Finnegan - Ex-gun runner Michael Finnegan grew up on the coldest side of Northern Ireland, learning from a young age that surviving meant combining violence, luck and charm into a way of life. Unaware of the legend of the Witchblade, Finn was hired to follow Sara Pezzini by Jackie Estcado a.k.a The Darkness. Finn quickly found himself in a new world of magic and terror when The Curator gave him the Glacier Stone...and made him the person responsible for serving its legacy in our time. After a violent confrontation with Glorianna Silver, Finnegan now struggles with the power of the Glacier Stone, half curious about its potential -- half resentful that his life was turned upside down because of it.

Glorianna “Glori” Silver - At seven years old, Glorianna Silver was orphaned when marauders invaded her poor Norwegian farmhouse. Just when it appeared she would be another statistic of poverty, she was found by Wulfgar Olafsson. On her eighth birthday, she was given a new purpose: Wulfgar told her it was her destiny to bear the power of the Ember Stone. Since that day, Wulfgar has trained Glori in everything from the highest-level academics to the most brutal fighting arts. Upon finding the Ember Stone, Glori claimed her legacy and set off to fulfill it...by taking the Glacier Stone, uniting the trinity and using its power to remake the world according to her vision. Now Glori commands a multi-million dollar empire given to her by Wulfgar’s lineage. She has charities. Political contacts. Global influence...but she doesn’t have the Glacier Stone, and that’s where her obsession lies.

Wulfgar Olafsson - The Olafsson family line has existed for one purpose: to find and train the bearers of the Ember Stone. Stretching back to the dark ages, they have cultured a multi-million dollar fortune. In the modern day, Wulfgar is the patriarch of the Olafsson’s estate. Wulfgar created the Sons of Ember, a group dedicated to protecting the Olafsson Empire and the bearer of the Ember Stone, Wulfgar’s adopted daughter, Glorianna Silver. A lifetime student of history, literature and philosophy, Wulfgar has been Glori’s teacher, mentor, trainer and protector. Now that Glori possesses the Ember Stone, it is through Wulfgar’s counsel that Glori wages her war to unite the Broken Trinity.

Read the rest of the characters here.

Source: Newsarama

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Ain't It Cool News: What They Know About Everything (So Far) w/ Rob Levin & Bryan Edward Hill

Top Cow would like to present two new voices in our universe, co-writers Rob Levin and Bryan Hill, the gents responsible for BROKEN TRINITY: PANDORA'S BOX and more work to come. We asked them to tell us WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING (so far...) and here's the best of what they had to say.

ROB LEVIN
Writer. Los Angeles, CA.
Follow him: @roblevin

You have to get it done before you can worry about it being perfect.
Comics are about iconography. Not Superman's S or Batman's symbol, but finding the most iconic visual elements of a sequence and using those as your engine.
Your work defines you. Most people that read my writing don't know who I am, so I'm hoping they just assume I'm the baddest character in one of my stories.
There are few drinks smoother than Captain and Coke, but Seagram's Sweet Tea is a hell of an alternate.
Music and exercise have secret medicinal properties. Never run without your iPod.
I'm not the writer I want to be, but I'm getting closer with every page.
Your opinion is the only one that matters, just as long as you're right.


BRYAN HILL
Writer. Filmmaker. (32) Saint Louis, Mo.
Follow him: @bryanedwardhill

Years ago I had a cup of coffee with an NYPD homicide detective to learn about how crimes happen. He told me "how things happen doesn't matter. Learn why things happen." That's probably the best advice I've ever been given about writing.
The price of comics has a lot to do with the passion. Comic books were the first stories I could afford to buy with my own money. That made those stories mean that much more. It also makes me work my ass off for the people buying what I write. If someone's babysitting to afford my book, then I need to work at least as hard as they do.
Writers tend to create the women we wished we knew in real life, or just really awesome versions of our prettiest grade school teacher. Mine was Marsha Gold. She taught French. Oil dark hair and blue eyes. She always smelled like jasmine. You'll see her in my work a lot.
I've had a gun pressed against my head. I don't think you need to go through that to be a good writer, that's obviously not true. It does make it very hard for me to be intimidated by someone who's not trying to kill me.
I like to improv a scene before I write it. My wife often times finds me standing in my office, talking to myself, pretending to be at least two different people.I also use props. I have a closet full of replica guns and swords.
You can pretty much get through any situation by taking a step back and thinking to yourself, 'What Would James Bond Do?'
The eleven year old kid in me really loves a good splash page.

Rob Levin and Bryan Hill’s BROKEN TRINITY: PANDORA'S BOX, launches on February 24. It's a lead-in series for Top Cow’s summer event, ARTIFACTS.


Click here to see more interior photos of Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box #1.

Source: Ain't It Cool News

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Graze Anatomy: Alex is Angry!

Tracker 3 is in stores as of this Wednesday. Here's a fun shot of Alex from the book giving in to his inner werewolf. A great book if you like police procedurals and supernatural!

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