Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Pablo Marcos drew Watchmen art

Yeah yeah yeah, Pablo Marcos may not be as impressive a revelation as Todd McFarlane, but dammit, I know I get excited when I see anyone other than Dave Gibbons draw Watchmen characters.

Same deal as before. Watchmen characters found their way into the Who's Who 1987 update miniseries. This time, though, it was the "current" roster and it was Who's Who #5. Front cover seen below:


Artist Pablo Marcos did the wraparound cover this time, and it was the final issue in the set. Below is the art that accompanies the write-up inside:


You may recognize it as the cover of the newest trade paperback printing. Also, beware dudes who kneel in group photos. Below is the text for the group that appears inside the issue:


Click to enlarge

And now the cover. Below is the back of the wraparound, which features the Watchmen character mingling with some DCU regulars such as Rip Hunter. And I think that extra lady on the right is Laurie, though she's also there as Silk Spectre II, so I dunno...
I've labeled them all off for easy identification:



Click to enlarge

And there you have it. But speaking of artists covering Watchmen, below are a few of the recent images of note that I was able to find by artists whose names are not Dave Gibbons. Not included are the images from the likes of John Cassaday and David Finch, which appear in this book as concept art for the film. You ain't lived 'til you've seen Cassaday draw a crouching Nite Owl. Respeck. Anyways...

The group by Gabriele Dell'Otto of Marvel's Secret War:


Rorschach by Mike Mayhew for a Wizard Magazine feature a WHILE back:


The group by Chris Giarrusso of Mini Marvels:


The cover of the CURRENT Mad Magazine (on sale now!):


The group in a Peanuts homage by Eric Shaner:


And soon, my own Watchmen sketchbook will make it's first full online debut...

13 comments:

Jesse T. said...

Two things I needs ta know:

Who is that smirky asshole who got the primo spot under the bar code on that Who's Who cover? I wanna say it's Shockwave, who I believe was a lame Batman villain for five minutes.

And dear lord, what the hell is "Strikeforce Kobra"? Man, '80s DC rocked balls so hard.

Sorry Rickey, none of this pertains to Watchmen. But Alex Ross also painted the characters for that sweet Alan Moore retrospective feature that ran many moons ago in Wizard. Early 2002, I think.

Ben Morse said...

That is absolutely Shockwave, JT. He was technically an Outsiders villain.

And Strikeforce Kobra was Kobra's elite band of assassins and mercs who used to fight Checkmate. And yes, they were as much like Cobra from G.I. Joe as you're probably imagining.

80's, man. Radtastic.

Jesse T. said...

Yeah, B-Mo with the save! I knew I'd seen Jim Aparo draw that Shockwave dude SOMEWHERE...

And now it's my mission to pick up any and all Checkmate! issues from the '80s in which Strikeforce Kobra turned up.

DC's original Kobra series from the '70s had some of the most unintentionally hilarious covers of all time, IMO.

Rickey said...

I believe you're wrong, Ben. That smirky dude is Todd, the Wonder Weirdo. Todd showed up a lot in old issues of Infinity Inc. and would stand around and make people uncomfortable and stuff, but that was about it. There was one issue where he crashed a dinner all drunk, but it got awkward.

Also, Strikeforce Kobra is actually Martian Manhunter's secret move during dates. Whenever he takes a lady out, he attempts the maneuver, but always misses. If you know what I mean.

Ben Morse said...

Have you ever read the Janus Directive, Uncle Jesse? You really should. I should have included that on our list of stuff that needs to get put in trade.

Ben Morse said...

Oh shit, Rickey's right. Dude knows his Infinity Inc.

Jesse T. said...

I read the Janus Directive way back when ... I think I may have some of the individual storyline issues. My New Teen Titans collection is kind of all over the place.
Rickey, how's that complete run of Infinity Inc. coming along?

Rickey said...

Stalled, Jesse. Stalled.

Ben Morse said...

Janus Directive wasn't New Teen Titans. You're thinking of Judas ontract (maybe?).

Janus was in Suicide Squad, Checkmate, Captain Atom, Manhunter and Captain Atom. It was the black ops equivalent of like Secret Wars or something.

Jesse T. said...

Sheesh, I'm a piss-poor excuse for a comics fan today. But you're right, Ben ... I must've been thinking of Judas Contract, even though I knew that it had been collected many times over.
I've got a few random Janus Directive issues, too ... Suicide Squad and Captain Atom at least.
Wait, so what's "Judas Chalice"? Oh yeah, that's a Noah Wyle Librarian movie.
Rickey, let me know what Infinity Inc. issues you need. I've still got mad Great Escape trade credit left over, yo.

Gianco said...

That's not Laurie 2, The girl on the right is Janey Slater, Manhattan's former girlfriend and physics lab partner.

Rickey said...

Gianco, great call! That makes so much more sense that Pablo Marcos messing up. Her hair's even shorter than Laurie's. Thanks for pointing that out for me.

Will Dockery said...

Another classic moment in time, a sweeping run from the 1980s all the way to... 2009.

The distant, somewhat innocent past, either way you look at it.