CA Staff
Best Comic Books Ever (This Week): New Releases For January 20 2016
The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats.
It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.
Free Stuff: Mondo’s ‘Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm’ 20th Anniversary Poster Signed by Bruce Timm & Dana Delany
Two Christmases ago marked the 20th anniversary Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, a film that’s arguably its creators’ most perfect expression of their enduringly influential animated vision of DC Comics’ dark knight — a vision that many believe is the most perfect expression of Batman in any medium. While Warner Bros. has yet to announce any plans for a high definition reissue or any other offerings connected with the special occasion, the film fanatics at Mondo — purveyors of extremely fine illustrated film posters and other cinematic celebrations — decided to honor Mask of the Phantasm with an anniversary event in connection with the famous Alamo Drafthouse of Austin, Texas, where they screened the film in its original 35mm format for a sold-out house. As always, Mondo came prepared with an extremely limited quantities of an original screen-printed poster, which serves as an update of the film’s original theatrical one-sheet and an homage to the aesthetic legacy of co-directors Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski’s work. Naturally, being a Mondo release, the poster is no longer on sale except on the collectors' market, where it fetches hundreds.
Now, ComicsAlliance was in attendance that night in Austin, and we were lucky enough to procure a variant edition of the poster -- illustrated by Phantom City Creative -- to offer to our readers in this giveaway contest. It took us quite a while, but we finally tracked down Timm as well as Andrea Beaumont herself, actor Dana Delany, who graciously signed the poster in the presence of former CA editor Andy Khouri, making this a truly one of a kind collectible.