ALTER EGO #104 is in the house, proudly celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fantastic Four #1—and the birth of Marvel Comics! Editor ROY THOMAS presents a new, never-before-published interview with STAN LEE—featuring a number of real surprises—and rare art and artifacts by JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOE SINNOTT, DICK AYERS, ROY THOMAS, and others, plus lots more secrets behind the Marvel Mythos! Also included are JIM AMASH’s interview with 1940s Timely editor AL SULMAN, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT presenting another episode of Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt. It’s all behind a new cover by RON FRENZ and JOE SINNOTT, offering a pastiche of the cover of Fantastic Four #1.

You can order here!

TwoMorrows Publishing returns to Comic-Con for our 16th consecutive year, at booth #1301 (our usual spot, right up front beside the Golden & Silver Age Pavilion, just inside the doors for Hall B). Be sure to stop by and see the “super” surprise LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya is creating for our booth, and bring your kids to meet our life-size Minifig Storm Trooper, appearing daily!

This year, TwoMorrows will be debuting these magazines:
• Jack Kirby Collector #57 (on Legendary Kirby characters)
• Alter Ego #103 (featuring a career-spanning Steve Englehart interview)
• Back Issue #50 (a special full-color issue on Batman in the 1970s and ’80s)
• BrickJournal #15 (spotlighting LEGO Mecha building)

We’ll also have DVD and Blu-ray copies of the Harvey Award-nominated documentary Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist by Jon and Andrew Cooke.

Other new books on hand include:
• Alter Ego: Centennial (the 100th edition of Roy Thomas’ magazine, released as a double-sized book)
• Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur (by Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington)
• Modern Masters Volume 25: Jeff Smith (spotlighting the creator of BONE)
• Minifigure Customization: Populate Your World! (showing amazing ways to personalize LEGO figures)
• And our very own limited edition LEGO Tulip Kit, designed by BrickJournal editor Joe Meno!

Most everything at our booth will be on sale, including $10 Modern Masters books, plus almost every book and magazine at 40% off! Last year we sold out of many items quickly, so get there early, and be sure to pick up your FREE copy of of our newly updated Catalog.

Join editor Roy Thomas (one of this year’s Comic-Con special guests), publisher John Morrow, and associate editors P.C. Hamerlinck and Bill Schelly for the “50 Years of Alter Ego” panel on Friday, July 22 from 3:30-4:30pm in Room 24ABC.

On Friday night, July 22, Roy Thomas will be in attendance at the annual Eisner Awards ceremony, where Roy’s ALTER EGO magazine is nominated for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism.

Roy Thomas will also be signing autographs and greeting fans at the TwoMorrows booth on Friday from 10:00-11:00am and Saturday from 1:00-2:00pm.

And the annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel will take place on Sunday, July 24 at 10:00am in Room 5ABC. Walter Simonson, Erik Larsen, Mike Royer, and Richard Kyle are this year’s panelists, as moderator Mark Evanier quizzes each about how Kirby influenced them. TwoMorrows publisher John Morrow and Jack Kirby Museum curator Rand Hoppe will be in attendance, and hope to see you there as well.

So you say you like Batman—not the sometimes homicidal maniac of today, but the heroic dark creature of the night of the 1970s and early ’80s, before Frank Miller inadvertently changed the course of the character with one (albeit great) “imaginary” tale set 20 years in the future? Is that what’s bothering you, fella?

Well, you’re in luck. BACK ISSUE #50 is a special 50th Anniversary issue spotlighting “Batman in the Bronze Age”, with the entire issue in FULL-COLOR! Editor Michael Eury has got DENNY O’NEIL, NEAL ADAMS, and PAUL LEVITZ discussing Batman in the 1970s and beyond in a “Pro2Pro” roundtable. There’s praise for (and lots of artwork by) JIM APARO, plus Batman’s Unsung Creators (DAVID V. REED, BOB BROWN, ERNIE CHAN, and JOHN CALNAN),the Joker’s Daughter, the Batman Family, Nocturna, Untold Legend of the Batman, and the one that started all the mess, Miller’s Dark Knight. The issue just went to the printer, and should be out at the end of July.

Did I mention it’s ALL FULL-COLOR? And only $1 more than usual; what a bargain!

The Diamond Order Code is MAY111320. And you can download a FREE PDF PREVIEW of the issue RIGHT HERE, right now!

By now, you’ve probably heard of the passing of Gene Colan. It’s personally heartbreaking for me, as I’m sure it is for many of you. Of all the artists working at Marvel in the 1960s, his was, to my mind, the most distinctive, recognizeable style there. After seeing his pencils for the first time, with their detailed shading, I had to wonder, how in the world does an inker take something so rendered, and turn it into simple black-&-white ink lines?

Some were great at it (like Tom Palmer). Others struggled with it, as I would have if I’d had to ink it. But just like when you’d put a powerful inking style over Kirby (as when Wallace Wood inked Jack), you couldn’t subdue Colan’s style underneath. He told great stories, and when he came to DC and started drawing Batman (with Klaus Janson inking him), I couldn’t have been happier.

Gene had continued doing amazing commissioned drawings for fans up until recently, and those beautiful pieces showed that, like a select few (Will Eisner comes to mind), he just kept getting better as he got older (even more amazing considering his past eyesight problems).

Tom Field wrote a wonderful book on Gene which we published several years ago, called Secrets In The Shadows. It’s been sold out a couple of years now, but we’ll be re-releasing it shortly as a Digital Edition. It tells Gene’s story beautifully, and I’m thrilled we were able to produce it while Gene was here to see it. Tom did an amazing job on it, and I know Gene was proud of it too.

My pal George Khoury just wrote a wonderful tribute to Gene, and you can (nay, should) go read it here.

As part of a crossover with Back Issue #51, ALTER EGO #103 (just nominated for “Best Comics-Related Journalism” in the 2011 Eisner Awards) takes an in-depth look at the career of STEVE ENGLEHART. The issue ships in late July, and debuts at Comic-Con International: San Diego at the TwoMorrows Publishing booth #1301, where editor and former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief and writer ROY THOMAS will be on hand to meet fans and sign copies each day.

ENGLEHART is widely acclaimed for his scripting work at Marvel, DC, Warren, and other companies, and this issue (the first part of a two-part interview, continuing in Back Issue #51 in August) covers it all: The Defenders—Captain America—Master of Kung Fu—The Beast—Mantis—with rare art and artifacts by SAL BUSCEMA, JIM STARLIN, TOM SUTTON, DON HECK, BOB BROWN, and others. Plus, we present JIM AMASH’s interview with early artist GEORGE MANDEL (Captain Midnight, The Woman in Red, Blue Bolt, Black Marvel, etc.)—FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK—and MICHAEL T. GILBERT uncovering the secret of Will Eisner’s letterer in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt.

You can download a FREE PDF preview of the issue at this link.

Whheeeeewwww! I just finished the latest issue of my own mag, Jack Kirby Collector #57, dealing with Kirby’s use of myths and legends in his work. It’s at the printer now, and barring any snags on press, it should debut next month at Comic-Con, and go in the mail right after we return from the West Coast.

This issue actually has quite a bit about Comic-Con in it, including a transcript of Kirby’s panel discussion from the very first full con in 1970. Lots of interesting questions for the “King” there, since he’d just left Marvel to go to DC, and his Fourth World books were about to launch. In hindsight, there’s some pretty telling answers to fans’ questions by Jack.

Of course, I wouldn’t be a publisher if I didn’t state that you can order it (print or digital form) here.

Just wanted to let everyone know that our printer had some snags this month, and these new issues are running late:

Alter Ego #102
Back Issue #49
BrickJournal #15

All are printed; we’re just waiting on them to arrive here at TwoMorrows so we can get them mailed to subcribers. I’m sorry for the inconvenience; they should be in the mail shortly.

A wonderful, touching, and thought-provoking post by Jack Kirby’s son Neal is at this must-read link.

I’m chest-deep in the new issue of my mag, the Jack Kirby Collector (#57), and this is just the thing I needed to give me that final push to get it finished, after a lot of long days and nights working on it. Thanks, Neal!

BACK ISSUE #49 is digging up a “1970s Time Capsule” as it flashes back to the early Bronze Age, spotlighting all the key moments of that era: Relevance in comics, Planet of the Apes, DC Salutes the Bicentennial, Kung-Fu Fighter, FOOM and Amazing World of DC Comics, groundbreaking new formats, Fireside Books’ reprints, Fast Willie Jackson, Marvel Comics calendars, Captain Sticky, and a countdown of the Bronze Age’s Biggest Events. It features art by and commentary from NEAL ADAMS, FRANK BRUNNER, JOHN BUSCEMA, DICK GIORDANO, BOB LARKIN, PAUL LEVITZ, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, MIKE PLOOG, and other top creators of the Bronze Age of Comics. The issue’s cover features ’70s superstar Deathlok the Demolisher by RICH BUCKLER and JOHN BEATTY. Back Issue is edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Diamond Order Code is: APR111277

Getcha FREE PDF PREVIEW of the issue rite ‘cheer at this link.

And once you’re blown away by that sample, you can order the PRINT or DIGITAL EDITION simply by clicking on this underlined text.

BACK ISSUE #49 will be on sale in comic book stores on Wednesday, June 22.

Just in time for this summer’s blockbuster film, ALTER EGO magazine (just nominated for “Best Comics-Related Journalism” in the 2011 Eisner Awards) examines the origins of the Golden and Silver Age Green Lanterns. Issue #102, shipping in June, spotlights the character’s 1940s creators MART NODELL and BILL FINGER, and his 1959 creators JOHN BROOME, GIL KANE, and JULIUS SCHWARTZ. The issue provides unknown details behind both Lanterns’ history, and includes rare GL artwork by CARMINE INFANTINO, PAUL REINMAN, IRWIN HASEN, NEAL ADAMS, and others. The issue also includes part 2 of an interview with JACK MENDELSOHN, as he discusses being a scripter for Quality, DC, Dell, and Jay Ward’s animation studio. Rounding out the 84 pages is a “Fawcett Collectors of America” section, featuring recollections of working at Fawcett Comics by MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT with another installment of Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt. The issue’s new cover features previously unseen Green Lantern art by GIL KANE & TERRY AUSTIN, and MART NODELL.

The Diamond Order Code is: APR111276

Check out a FREE PDF preview of the issue at this link.

You can order a PRINT or DIGITAL EDITION here.

ALTER EGO #102 will be on sale in comic book stores on Wednesday, June 15.