firehose

A man who decided to offer ‘free hugs’ in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh has been arrested by the state’s religious police.

HBO Go has finally added support for the Chromecast. From both its iPhone and iPad app, HBO Go will now allow users to stream directly to Google's media player, filling in one of the Chromecast's biggest missing services. With today's addition, Chromecast can now stream from Pandora, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and YouTube, giving the device access to many of the most popular content providers around. The HBO Go app for Android still hasn't been updated with support for Chromecast streaming, however, and there's no word yet on when it should come — but at least there's one big way to start watching some of HBO's much-loved series on Google's new device.

In continuing the publisher’s recent trend of restarting titles at #1 for its All-New Marvel NOW initiative, last week Marvel revealed plans for Wolverine #1. Beginning in February, the new Wolverine series will continue to feature writer Paul Cornell, but now he’ll be collaborating with new series artist Ryan Stegman.

Perhaps best known for his recent work on Superior Spider-Man, launching that title with Dan Slott, Stegman will come on board as the regular Wolverine artist following the conclusion of “Killable,” the series’ current major storyline. Stegman brings a style that stands in contrast to the work Alan Davis and Mark Farmer are currently producing on the title, but his grittier, thicker line work also seems well-suited for the title.

ComicsAlliance spoke to Stegman about the challenge of drawing one of Marvel’s most popular characters, working with Cornell, designing a new supporting cast, and the Wolverine artists that inspire him.

ComicsAlliance: It’s been announced that with Wolverine #1, Logan will be working with a group of super villains. What can you tell us about the plot of this new series?

Ryan Stegman: As far as I know, I can’t say much! Pretty much everything is a spoiler. I CAN say that I got to do a little designing, which I always enjoy. And I tried to give the characters a modern yet simplified look. And Paul has given them some cool powers that will be exciting to draw.

CA: Can we expect a tonal shift from the previous Wolverine series? What style of book can readers expect?

RS: There will naturally be a tonal shift in the art because I draw differently than Alan Davis. I generally find that I draw a little differently for every project. It’s not necessarily conscious, but I can already sense that I am approaching Wolverine a little differently than I did Spider-Man. I’ve got a little more “dark” going on.

I think of Wolverine as a slightly scary character at times and I’m trying to convey that.

As a person that’s read all of Paul’s run up to this point I think our run will be a little different in that we’re introducing new characters and expanding Wolverine’s universe. In the first series you saw a lot of SHIELD and Wolvie’s usual supporting cast. But this time around we have new characters, and they’re clearly villains which makes this a much darker book.

There will still be plenty of big action though. I’ve already drawn a lot of it and I’d imagine that’s why I was asked to draw this book, because that’s what I like to draw!

CA: You’ve drawn a lot of Spider-Man recently — how has it been taking a crack at Wolverine?

RS: Luckily, Wolverine fits into the same sort of mold drawing-wise that Spider-Man does. What I mean by that is, Wolverine is one of the characters that you can go a little cartoonier with. And that’s something that I definitely prefer to do.

Spider-Man is long and angular, Wolverine is short and more rounded. But they both put me into the same mindset of exaggeration. I have a little more difficulty drawing “stoic” characters like a Captain America. But Wolverine and Spider-Man, they are both full of personality and humor, and I really gravitate to that.

CA: Have you had to change how you draw at all for this book? If so, how?

RS: As I mentioned before, I have changed somewhat. I don’t think I HAD to, it just sort of happens organically when you sense the tone of the story. Also, we have Mark Morales inking, whereas I inked a lot of my Spider-Man stuff. Mark is a much better inker than me. As in, he’s one of the best in the industry and I’m not very good at it. Haha. So the gap is quite large.

So it may look a little different, but for the better.

CA: Are there any comics, movies, TV shows, etc. that are providing inspiration for your art on Wolverine?

RS: There are so many comics that inspire me. Sometimes I will go through phases for a week or two where I have to stop looking at comics because I get so inspired that it’s almost detrimental to my work. All of a sudden I will want to do something like my inspirations rather than just being myself.

Specifically for Wolverine I have always been inspired by how Joe Madureira drew him and how Marc Silvestri drew him. I’m trying very hard to do my own thing with the book, but it’s hard because the way those guys draw him is now in my DNA. So I’m sure fans will see it seeping through at times. But I think there’s still plenty of me in there too.

CA: The promo image for the new series shows Wolverine with a new costume and a gun! What’s the deal?

RS: Ha! Well, all will be told in the story. There’s been plenty of speculation on the message boards that I’ve seen about it. A lot of people want to write it off out of hand but Paul is an awesome writer and I know for a fact that it all makes sense. So all I can say to that is: Read the book! All will be revealed.

CA: Did you design the new Wolverine costume? If so, what were your considerations for the design? What was important to you for the new costume?

RS: I did not! Kris Anka did. Kris has been designing a lot of costumes for Marvel lately and with good reason. He’s awesome. I believe I was told his inspiration for this costume was a samurai motif.

CA: The super villains Wolverine falls in with are all-new — have you enjoyed creating their visuals? What can you tell us about how they’ll look?

RS: Yes! I always enjoy creating new costumes. I try to keep costumes very simple. My idea of a good costume is one most anyone can see once and then re-create from memory because it is so universal. So that’s what I tried to do here. Just make them simple and iconic.

CA: What’s it been like working with Paul?

RS: It’s awesome! I love Paul’s work. It’s very well thought out and it has a ton of heart. The characterization is some of the best in comics.

When I first started on the book I had an adjustment period because I was so used to working with Dan Slott who writes Marvel style. Paul’s scripts are much tighter and now that I’ve fully adjusted I really, really love it. There’s a lot of subtlety in the scripts that I enjoy pulling out.

CA: Tell us about the rest of the art team you’re collaborating with for this series.

RS: Well, we’ve got the aforementioned Mark Morales. One of the greatest inkers not just right now but of all-time. I am so lucky to be working with him. I can’t even handle it. He tells me that I should be seeing the first pages he’s inked tomorrow (Sunday) and I am absolutely dying in anticipation.

David Curiel is coloring, and he is great. I actually didn’t know him or his work until Jeanine Schaefer suggested him and sent me a bunch of his work. I was blown away. He has a very modern look and he handles cartoony, clean art very very well. He adds a lot of style and I can’t wait to see what he does. I think this’ll be a very exciting looking book.

CA: What’s your favorite Wolverine story of all time?

RS: Geez, too many to say! I’d have to say that the Wolverine that is most burnt into my memory is the Wolverine that Joe Mad was drawing back during his run on Uncanny X-Men. So I’ll just say that whole era. Even though a lot of people had problems with that stuff, I had none. Because I was 15 years old and it was flipping awesome!

A controversial panel depicting a nude Harley Quinn in a bathtub surrounded by plugged-in electronics is not in the final version of Harley Quinn #0.

Fans found out about the panel when DC Comics announced a contest seeking an artist to draw one page of the issue. DC Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee said they would personally select the artist based on submissions of a single page, and included a description of the page’s four panels.

The page has been revised to replace the bathtub panel with one in which Harley is inside the mouth of a giant sea creature, tickling the roof of its mouth with a feather.

Out of context, the panel in question was pretty jarring — my first impression, in fact, was that the page wouldn’t be in the issue at all — but within the issue itself, it makes more sense. The issue plays out as a conversation between Quinn and writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner as they sort out a new artist for the title, sort of like “Duck Amuck” but with more clown makeup and less fencing.

The page in question brings up Quinn’s membership in the Suicide Squad. Conner and Palmiotti say they don’t know what that name means, and imagine a few possibilities while Quinn says they’ve got it all wrong. A panel of Quinn covered in raw chicken while surrounded by alligators remains.

One side note: The contest winner was artist Justin Roberts, who is introduced in the issue as a newcomer, even though he has been doing work for major comics publishers for several years. He’s been a cover artist and a colorist at Marvel and Devil’s Due. It looks like it may be his first work as an interior penciler at DC, though.

When’s the last time you got six art books for five bucks?

Well, here’s your chance. Portland, Oregon-based Periscope Studios‘ new Kickstarter, “Maiden Voyage,” offers six 32-page art books by artists Erika Moen, Ron Randall, Paul Guinan, David Hahn, Natalie Nourigat and Ben Dewey, and all donors have to contribute to get PDFs of all six is a fiver. A $50 donation will even get contributors print copies of the six books. That is, provided the project meets its $25,000 funding goal.

Each artist also has his or her own incentive. With $55 comes an omnibus of Randall’s Trekker. $75 will get you both print volumes of Moen’s webcomic DAR. For $85, Nourigat will draw you a movie-review comic strip. $150 gets donors a piece of original art from Hahn. A $200 donation means a huge collection of books by Guinan. And $500 gets you an extra-special commission from Dewey.

So far the Kickstarter has achieved roughly 14% of its total funding with 29 days left to go until its December 19 backer deadline.

[Via Kickstarter]