CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIGHTING AVENGER by Mitch Gerads

I LOVE comic books. Always have, always will. I'm not a nutjob or anything, but man I was actually pretty aggravated when Thor: The Mighty Avenger got cancelled. The all-ages concept was done so smartly without talking down to kids OR adults and to top it off it was just plain well written. Straight up. Some hack was drawing it though. (I KID! I KID!)

So when they announced that Captain America: The Fighting Avenger was going to be a "thing" I was ecstatic. They were continuing the line! Actually one of the best parts about it all is that they never said anything official that TMA and TFA were in a shared world etc. etc. because really, WHO CARES?  Good comics is good comics! 

Then the hammer hit the fan. Thor got cancelled, we know the story. Then to make matters worse the Fighting Avenger went from an ongoing to a mini and then about a week later, a ONE-SHOT!  Fast forward to a couple weeks ago and TFA comes out and it's genius. The same caliber of fun and ingenuity and comics all-ages excitement that Thor had and again, COMPLETELY just well done.

It was bittersweet because I knew I wasn't going to get anymore. Until NOW dammit!  So long story made long and now coming to a head, my pick this week is Captain America: The Fighting Avenger. Let's let this thing live on for at least one more week and pay our respects to comics being good comics.

REVOLUTION!

M! 

HOT DAMN I love classic Americana!

Inks!

MADMAN by Mitch Gerads

Steve Bryant, you magnificent genius.

There's two books that are super near and dear to my heart and those are Steve Rude's NEXUS and Mike Allred's Madman. Imagine my reaction when they did the crossover!

Aside from the best Zany, wacky, crazy adventures around, Mike Allred's opus features my 2nd favorite comic couple of Frank and Joe. Lois and Clark being the #1 pick. Imagine my reaction when they did the crossover!

You know what crossover Frank hasn't been a part of? Batman. So without dealing with any copyright crossovers, here's my homage to a Madman/Batman crossover, cuz' you KNOW Frank would be all over that if he could!

M!TCH

Inks!

PLASTIC MAN by Mitch Gerads

It's been too long! The last TWART that I was able to contribute was Nexus, and that seems forever ago. It's great to be back!  I promise I haven't just been eating Dairy Queen and watching The Mentalist...well, that's exactly what I'm doing right now but let's move on...

My time has been eaten up by a new book I'm illustrating/designing/lettering etc. with Nathan Edmondson over at Image Comics. That starts up later this year and I'm SOOOOO pumped to show you guys. Otherwise I continue to illustrate covers, and color Stan Lee's STARBORN, over at BOOM! Studios along with a couple other unannounced gigs.

Also, a reminder for anyone attending the Emerald City Comic-Con (ECCC) in Seattle next week that a big handful of us TWART guys, including myself, will be in attendance, and we even have a panel Friday at 7pm, hosted by ADAM WARROCK. Come on down, it will be entertaining, of this I am SURE.

M!

Update:

A quick reminder if you missed it on Twitter, I am running an original art clearance sale over at my Etsy site. All my TWART pieces are for sale, including the original for ol' Plastic Man here! http://www.etsy.com/shop/POPGUNPULP

NEXUS by Mitch Gerads

            I had ZERO time budget to do a ComicTWART this week, but when Dan [Panosian] suggested we push our TWART plans back a week and do a NEXUS week to support Steve Rude, I MADE TIME! Like some sort of sorcerer who can control time and space, for The DUDE I will conjur time from the infinite nothing! (Steve was The Dude LONG before that Lebowski fella.)
           Nexus was the first comic book I can remember reading as a kid, not so much reading because at age 6 I guarantee I didn't understand any of the complexities of that book. I would sneak into my brother Greg's room and flip through his copies of Nexus and that is what's responsible for me doing what I do now, some 23 years later.
          Support Steve by purchasing some of his amazing originals and especially if you haven't read Nexus before. Now's the perfect time to start and what better way than to get them straight from the guy who made them! CLICK HERE TO BE AMAZED!
         I gave this TWART a lot of extra love because I feel so strongly about this book and The DUDE behind it.  I also included some process work from inks to final color for ya, cuz I know youze guys dig that stuff.

M!TCH

POPEYE by Mitch Gerads

Ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug!

Thanks for the pick, Evan! This one was super fun!

M!TCH

Pencils for the Process Junkies:

MAN-THING by Mitch Gerads

I just knew I'd be the last guy to put my Man-Thing in the Twart...blog...

Ok, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that all week I've been LAYING on the MAN-THING jokes pretty THICK. I promise I'm done now that this week is over. Maybe. Probably...

THIS MAN-THING WAS REALLY HARD TO DO BUT I FINALLY GOT MY MAN-THING ON THE INTERNET!

In all seriousness, you should all be picking up Thunderbolts, especially now that our very own Declan Shalvey is on the title for the next couple issues! The first of which is on stands NOW!!

M!TCH

EDIT for the Process Junkies: Thought it might be fun to, again, show you the inks for comparison to final illustration!

DOCTOR WHO by Mitch Gerads

I consider myself a big WHO fan, but I am going to come clean with you folks. Prior to the relaunch of the series in 2005, I knew it existed but never cared to watch. So when The Breitweisers told me I should watch it, who was I to argue with them? So I did and I became a mega fan! I'm also a believer in each Doctor has been better than the last, so the current Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith is my top Doctor choice. It could also be largely due to Amy Pond. SWOON!

Hope you dig my illo, this one was an absolute blast to do. I've been wanting to do a definitive Doctor piece for some time now, so Mr. Samnee gave the perfect excuse. Thanks, Chris! Below you'll also find my inks for the piece as well as a Matt Smith Doctor illo I did a few months back.

GERONIMO!

M!TCH

CAPTAIN MARVEL by Mitch Gerads

The kitty's name is Meatball.

M!TCH

Edit: You can see the original inks at my personal blog. http://www.popgunpulp.blogspot.com

LONE WOLF AND CUB by Mitch Gerads

Best Father/Son Work Day Ever!

Another one of those hugely influential books for me. Much like Nexus, I remember the Frank Miller reprint books lying around my brother's bedroom, so obviously "2nd Grader + Samurais + Blood= flipped through every single one of them."

M!TCH

SANDMAN by Mitch Gerads

The designer in me needed OUT!

Great pick, Dan!

M!TCH

Edit: I think I might even like it better upside down!

FRANKENSTEIN by Mitch Gerads

"I don't think those pitchforks and torches are gonna do ya much good."

"PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ!!"

M!TCH

1960's NICK FURY by Mitch Gerads

So this week at ComicTWART was my pick and you might notice I got kind of specific with it. The reason for that is I used my week here to live out my ultimate dream book/project.

A 1960's set, period spy book, starring Nick Fury has been that "Ultimate Dream Gig" for a good long while now. A Nick Fury story set in the sixties where Fury is a field agent working in this world of super heroes all in the background, all kinds of James Bond-ian awesome.

I picked Jim McCann as my dream gig writer for two reasons. 1. His books are so clean, clear, fun, and they read like a good character TV program (Seriously, pick up "Hawkeye and Mockingbird" if you haven't already) and 2. He's a huge Burn Notice fan, which as far as mood goes is exactly what I picture.

I honestly could go on about this for pages and you guys just want to see everyone's pretty art. If you ever need to kill time at a convention, find me and ask about this, ha!

M!TCH

ASTERIX by Mitch Gerads

The epic battle that none of you have asked for!

M!TCH

TINTIN by Mitch Gerads

The coolest Belgian Boy Adventurer around! Also posted below are my original inks and the best Tintin panel ever that nearly made me spit my cereal all over my purty iMac.

M!TCH

AL WILLIAMSON TRIBUTE by Mitch Gerads

Al Williamson deserves every bit of praise that has ever been cast upon him. Hands down one of my biggest, and earliest, influences. Without Al, I highly doubt there would ever be a Johnny Recon. His Flash Gordon work blows me away just as much now as it did when I saw it as a wee lad.

The man may have passed on but his legacy and his artistic footprint will live on forever. You'll be missed, Mr. Williamson, but never forgotten.


M!TCH

TARZAN by Mitch Gerads

Tarzan, as picked by the Eleventh Doctor, I mean Matt Smith, I mean Mitch Breitweiser.

M!TCH

FRAZETTA TRIBUTE by Mitch Gerads

I was never a HUGE Frazetta guy, i'm going to be honest. Early on I associated Frazetta with Death Dealer, Conan, etc. and that stuff was just too Heavy Metal for me at the time. As I grew wiser etc. etc. I learned of his work on John Carter, a story which I LOVE to death. Recently I've dipped into the Lil Abner stuff and i've now become a HUGE fan of the man and his work. He will be missed for sure.

This piece was pencilled by myself with inks by the always awesome, Mark Stegbauer, for the benefit auction today at SPRINGCON !

M!TCH

THE THING by Mitch Gerads

I finally got around to putting my THING on the Internet ;)

M!TCH

BATMAN by Mitch Gerads

I'm baaaaAAACCCKKKKK!

I've been sequestered away the last few weeks trying to meet deadlines for JOHNNY RECON #2 to debut at Springcon so I've been forced to take a few weeks off from the Twart blog.

It wasn't easy.

John Carter of Mars, Dan Dare, Johnny Quest, HAWKMAN! Then Declan went and picked Batman. Somehow I found the strength to carry on before, but the day I pass up a chance to draw Batman is the day I hang it all up.

So thanks, Declan, for pulling me out of deadline obscurity. I'll have to buy you a drink. Irish people still drink, right?

M!TCH

JOHNNY RECON by Mitch Gerads

I just couldn't NOT do it! This week's character choice landed on me and I just couldn't NOT pick my boy. Johnny Recon is the book I'm currently working on and created with my best friend and writer of the series, Scott Dillon.

Johnny Recon is a space adventurer through and through. Scott and I have this huge love of the sci-fi pulps and Johnny Recon helps us scratch every one of those story itches that plague us when we're on other projects.

The timing couldn't be better either, as we are reaching the tail end of our 90 day Kickstarter pre-sale campaign for Johnny Recon No.02. If after seeing what I'm sure will be a ridiculously amazing collection of illustrations this week here on Comic TWART, you want to learn more about the book or even better yet, learn about the book AND pre-order a copy or copies of JOHNNY RECON No.02, head over and check out our KICKSTARTER campaign. Right now, besides conventions, placing an order through Kickstarter is our only distribution system. Hopefully if we're super successful with it, we'll be able to change that in the future!

JOHNNY RECON KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN!

So prepare yourself for one hell of a thrilling week rife with space chills, planetary spills, and Daring HI-FI Adventure!

M!TCH

**EDIT**

JOHNNY RECON INTERNET CONTEST from co-creator, Scott Dillon!

Hi Everyone!

Mitch and I have been talking the last few days, and we are both so excited about the success of the project (reaching an amount way beyond either of our expectations) that we've decided to offer one lucky backer a page of original art from the second issue (currently listed as a $100 pledge reward for our project)!

After the time on our Kickstarter project has run out, we will pull a name out of a very cool space helmet (you didn't think I was going to say hat, did you), and that person will receive a page of original art along with their other rewards! The very, very cool thing about this opportunity is that, whether or not you've pledged up until this point, all backers will be entered into the drawing! Our small way of saying thanks to all of you for making our dreams come true!

Cheers,
Scott