CBR's Greg Burgas has been keeping ELEPHANTMEN in his sights... and we made his Best of 2007, alongside our stablemate CASANOVA and a certain graphic novel by one Justin Norman, otherwise known as Moritat!
Best Ongoing Series:
5. ELEPHANTMEN
"Starkings' science fiction tale, like all good sci-fi, illuminates issues that we grapple with in the present, such as war, bigotry, genetic engineering, and an unfair class system. It's a very nice package for your money, and the story, as it unfolds, is gaining in momentum and intensity."
Best Collected Edition of an Older Work:
1. SOLSTICE
"Utterly spellbinding. Seagle tells the story of a young man and his domineering father's quest for the Fountain of Youth, using this fanciful conceit to examine mortality and how an older generation gives way to a newer one. This is a brilliant book."
Best Cover:
2. ELEPHANTMEN #6 by Ladrönn.
"There's the wonderful hint of eroticism in her figure, which contrasts with Obadiah's overwhelming sexuality. Ladrönn has done some great covers for this book, but this one is the best."
Newsarama's Ryan the Iowan published his Yearly Review Power Rankings, featuring his picks for the Best of 2007, and singled out Moritat as Best Penciller of the Year!
"I'm speechless," reported the Artist formerly known as Justin Norman, "And also very, very cold," with that, Moritat ducked out of the rain into his local library with nothing more than an armful of drawing paper and a bellyful of Seattle's Best coffee, and promised not to emerge until the art for WAR TOYS #2 was completed.
ELEPHANTMEN also ranked highly in the following categories:
Best Ongoing Title of the Year
2. ELEPHANTMEN -- "There is no ongoing series that is more hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking than Image's criminally under-read Elephantmen, by the masterful creative team of Richard Starkings, Moritat, and Ladronn."
Best One-Shot of the Year
3. ELEPHANTMEN: PILOT -- "The gorgeous pin-ups and fun alternate reality stories made this one-shot a can't miss issue for fans of the regular series."
Best Cover Artist of the Year
3. LADRÖNN (Elephantmen, All-New Atom, Incredible Hulk)
and last but not least...
Writer of the Year
Honorable Mention: Richard Starkings
It's rare that Richard Starkings is mentioned honorably, so it's rather nice of Ryan to honor him so, um, honorably... "It's true," said Starkings, "I am not always honorable, primarily because we spell it correctly in England, with a 'u' -- my capacity for appreciation is bottomless however, as it's very hard to take the 'u' out of gratitude, and I wold like to offer my hmble thanks to Ryan for inclding me on his list of so many redobtable writers."
For one day only, on January 1, 2008, it’s the COMICRAFT 8th annual never-to-be-repeated sale. All fonts will be just $20.08, and while we know the $20.08 sale price may be a tough-to-swallow one-penny price hike from last year’s never-to-be-repeated sale, it sure is cheap when you consider you can buy some fonts that normally go for upwards of $300!
The sale begins midnight December 31st and ends midnight January 1st (as per your time zone). Now’s the time to build up your font library at remarkably low prices, spend some of that holiday cash, and enjoy using the fonts the comic book professionals themselves use. Check in and order at comicbookfonts.com and let the savings commence!
Additionally, be sure to grab the MIKE WIERINGO font, as all its proceeds will go to the Hero Initiative, a non-profit group that helps comic book creators in need.
"We feel we have the greatest customers on the planet," said President & First Tiger Richard Starkings. "And this sale is our annual way of saying thanks -- so Thanks for all your support this year and best wishes for a safe holiday and a Happy New Year!"
ELEPHANTMEN #11 sells out, WAR TOYS flash movie trailer online
December 11, 2007
Image Comics reprts that ELEPHANTMEN #11 has sold out at distributor level within a month of its release. If you missed out on this issue, scour your local comic book store for copies -- and place upcoming issues on reserve -- as there are no plans for reprints of this issue or #10, which is also sold out at Diamond.
"I'd really like to thank retailers, podcasters and online reviewers for giving our book so much incredible support," said Richard Starkings, ELEPHANTMEN writer and creator, "You can't buy word-of-mouth but we're getting a LOT of incredible buzz on the book and Moritat and I are committed to getting the book back on schedule now that Moritat has recovered from his recent repetitive strain injuries."
Elephantmen: War Toys #1 hits stores December 12th, 2007, and Comicraft's Secret Weapon, "JG" Roshell has created yet another incredible flash movie promo for the book, which you can find here.
Comics' foremost design studio celebrates with new font, new website blog
The studio that revolutionized the way words are placed in comic books celebrates a milestone this month: Comicraft, Purveyors of Unique Design & Fine Lettering, is 15 years old! President & First Tiger Richard Starkings and Secret Weapon John 'JG' Roshell, pioneered the use of the computer in the art of comic book lettering in the pages of hundreds of your favorite Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse books throughout the nineties and into the naughties.
To celebrate fifteen years of lettering and design purveyance, those Cheeky Chaps at Comicraft have created a brand new font, imaginatively entitled COMICRAFT... it's a font that's not just a bunch of letters arranged in alphabetical order... this one's Carefree, Original, Mirthful and Interesting, it's Clever, it's a little bit Raunchy, a little bit Adventurous, Friendly and Tenacious all at the same time -- and if that doesn't spell COMICRAFT, then you just didn't eat enough chocolate today
FIFTEEN YEARS! Dozens of awards, Hundreds of fonts and logos of Unique Design, Thousands of pages of Fine Lettering, Millions of satisfied customers and Elephantmen served! While a complete list of titles featuring Comicraft's quality work would fill this entire press release, a few stand out: The Killing Joke, Spider-Man Blue, Marvels, Astro City, Battle Chasers, Danger Girl, Steampunk, The Red Star, Batman: Hush, Superman For All Seasons, Strange Embrace, and, of course, Starkings' own HIP FLASK and ELEPHANTMEN.
If you're lucky, you might still find copies of Comicraft's definitive step-by-step lettering guide, helpfully entitled COMIC BOOK LETTERING: THE COMICRAFT WAY (ISBN: 978-0974056739, $9.95, 64 pages) in your LCBS or online, and many up-and-coming comic book letterers are already familiar with Comicraft's Tips and Tricks site, BALLOON TALES.
"JG and I feel very fortunate to have worked with so many top talents in the industry during the last fifteen years," said Starkings, "and we feel really honored to have been able to contribute to so many great books. We're very proud of our track record and we're continuing to invest the same level of quality and commitment into our own titles and websites, and the fonts we make available at comicbookfonts.com."
