Bill Walko, Titans and Super Friends sidekicks

by on February 21, 2011 at 10:38 am
Posted In: Blog, Water Cooler Discussion

Another nice write-up about my artwork (and redesigning teen heroes) at J. Caleb Mozzocco’s“Every Day Is Like Wednesday”:

“Walko’s stripped down, simplified, only-the-necessary-lines approach highlights how strong an awful lot of those costumes are (Tell me Rose Wilson didn’t look cooler back then than she does now!), and even makes the gaudier, more over-adorned ones like Donna’s or Minion’s look pretty cool (of course, he drew Minion in the act of putting on his big, goofy liquid metal battle suit that made him look a bit like the Hulk wearing the Silver Surfer’s skin).

Walko, of course, has the advantage that comes with this amount of distance from the year 1994, but none of his characters suffer from steroidal, tree trunk + Liefeld anatomies, the all look pretty human, if exaggerated to show off the fact that they are idealized humans. Plus, the teens look like teens and their expressions vary to the extend that you can tell that, say, Mirage and Terra have pretty different outlooks on life and being Titans, and that Impulse and Damage probably don’t agree on all that much.

The art boasts a sense of style, of youth, of energy and, well, coolness that was lacking in covers like that of the sole New Titans Annual featuring these characters. Certainly, the art was produced in two different eras, but even in the ’90s, covers like that one were things I had to look past in order to read New Titans; artwork like Walko’s makes me want to read…whatever he’s drawing. ”

Read the whole article here.

Wow, thanks, Caleb!

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Classic Teen Heroes Boogie Down to the Art of Bill Walko

by on February 21, 2011 at 10:37 am
Posted In: Blog, Water Cooler Discussion

Or, so Comic Alliance says. They have a really sweet write-up spotlighting my art:

“If all superheroes lived out their lives in ways that mirrored the social activities of Archie Comics and Flintstones character spinoff series, the world would look a lot like the works of artist of Bill Walko. Walko has composed some lively sequences involving well-known faces from the Teen Titans, X-Men and Wonder Twins that would fit nicely into their own animated Hanna-Barbera teen bands.

Walko’s comic art, which resembles what you might expect superhero Archie comics drawn by Josh Howard to look like, can be checked out over on his deviantART page. Whether you love Hawk and Dove or have always wondered what Booster Gold would say if he found himself hitting on Fred Flintstone’s daughter Pebbles and what Skeets would say over his shoulder, you should check his work out.”

Check out the full post here.

Thanks to Brian Warmoth for the shout-out!

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Chris Roberson Wants You To Check Out The Hero Business

by on February 8, 2011 at 11:08 am
Posted In: Blog, Water Cooler Discussion

Another nice shout-out for The Hero Business, from the Myriad Worlds of Chris Roberson (writer of SUPERMAN, co-creator/writer of iZOMBIE, and a bunch of other cool stuff):

“Last year I raved about Bill Walko’s fantastic Wonder Twins fan art, but at the time I wasn’t aware of his ongoing webcomic, “The Hero Business.” Set in a PR firm that handles superhero clients, the strip has alternated between longer story arcs and done-in-one gags, but along the way Walko is gradually mapping out the boundaries of his world and how it works, and using some clever twists on the conventions of the superhero genre along the way. Well worth checking out.”

Thanks, Chris!

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Dark Matters Finds HB “Smart and Funny”

by on February 1, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Posted In: Blog, Water Cooler Discussion

Another nice blog review of the Hero Business, from Dark Matters:

“I want to thank my good friend Bob Voros for introducing me to two great webcomics.

Comiccritics.com is follows a group of comic geeks who work in a bookstore. It also takes a funny look at the business and insider news of the comic book world. It’s pretty cool.

The Hero Business is my personal favourite. It’s about the people who work in a marketing firm for superheroes. It combines office humour with standard superhero tropes. It’s very smart and very funny. Check it out.

It takes me back to one of the first webcomics I discovered in 2009. Snafu comics used an anime-inspired style to combine characters and from some of my favourite Cartoon Network cartoons such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack and create what I still think are some of the coolest art on the web. Sadly, the site hasn’t been updated in nearly a year. You can still see them here.”

Thanks for the kind words, Chinelo.

I also second her thoughts on Comiccritics.com. It’s a pretty funny comic! Check it out.

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“Amused” by The Hero Business

by on January 31, 2011 at 9:34 am
Posted In: Blog, Water Cooler Discussion

Another nice review, from “Looking To The Stars” livejournal:

“Just stumbled across a new web-comic called The Hero Biz. Rather funny, fairly new weekly strip about a company that handles costume-design, name-selection, continuing education and technical support for superheroes.

Of course the idea of a comic deconstructing the tropes of superhero comic books from the perspective of a real-world profession is hardly a new one. John Kovalic’s Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink covered much the same territory as did the classic mini-series Common Grounds. And yet, The Hero Biz managed to put a fresh new spin on the concept.

Told through the eyes of a rookie receptionist, the first storyline details her walking a prospective new superhero (a vapid Paris Hilton expy) through the process of picking a name, choosing a costume, testing her powers and setting up a class schedule for basic training. Through this, we are introduced to the rest of the staff.

You’ve seen any office comedy show, you’ve seen most of these characters – the slacker artist in charge of costume design, the sleazy douchebag in charge of marketing. The most interesting and unique of these is Dr. Malefactor – a former super-villain who is in charge of R&D, barely reformed and just itching for an excuse to break out the ray gun.

Recently, the strip seems to have changed from the longer story-driven strips to a series of one-strip gags based around specific comic book characters. Some of these are amusing but require some knowledge of the character being parodied, such as a heroine named Amerigirl who keeps having her background rewritten and her costume changed every time there’s any sort of crisis. (Am I Greek now? I feel vaugely Greek.)

Still, it amused me and it might amuse you too.”

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