Jon Morris is a Washington-based cartoonist and is probably best known for his webcomic Jeremy. He is also the writer of the comic blog Gone&Forgotten, operates the Cornered collaborative art blog, and is the founder and curator of this, the DC Fifty-Too project. His website is Calamity Jon Save Us!
Stephen DeStefano is a legitimate cartooning legend, and is best known for 'Mazing Man, Hero Hotline, Instant Piano and the very popular pilot for the Plastic Man cartoon, plus his extensive storyboarding work, liscensing artwork for Popeye, and most recently his new book "Lucky In Love." Much more of Stephen's work can be seen at his blog.
Jon says: First off, it was a real thrill and an honor to have my pencils inked by Stephen DeStefano. I'm all kinds of a fan of this guy, this is a high point of my cartooning career.
I've always thought Plastic Man worked best in the way Jack Cole originally intended him - as a perfectly sane man in an utterly insane world. As much as I've enjoyed the 'wacky' Plas from other stories, I've always enjoyed it more when Plas is a flexible and unflappable straight man and everyone else around him provides the absurdity. I'm also a big fan of Kyle Baker's Plastic Man series, so it's in the spirit of that book that I picture Plas as a family man - not only is his 'adopted' daughter Edwina still lurking around, as is Plas' teenage son (you may know him as Offspring) but Plas has a new pair of bouncing baby Plases - I've named them "Sugar and Spike". I couldn't fit him into the cover (except as a photo), but no fear, "Uncle Woozy" is still part of the crew.
One of the things Kyle Baker was so good at doing was parodying not only the contemporary 'events' of the DC Universe, but the conventions of the superhero comic genre in general, so that's the inspiration behind taking a shot at Blackest Night...
The only other thing I wanted to mention was the logo - I'm sure you noticed that it's a Batman logo with Plastic Man's head popping out of the top. I envisioned the logo changing every issue to another familiar silhouette of another character's logo - Superman's one month, The Justice League the next, Aquaman, Flash, etc - with Plas' head popping out of it and the actual title in that lovely Organda Bold (you have to love that "C", don't you?)
Plastic Man was created by Jack Cole. Read more...
Great work. You two are a great team. and this is a great concept.
ReplyDeleteA thousand times yes. The Jack Cole and Kyle Baker Plas-es are huge to me, and this would be something I would get on the monthly. Completely undervalued character considering what a monolithic affect his creator had on the art form.
ReplyDeleteso great, jon and stephen! i still miss that Baker Plastic Man series. oh- and the concept behind the logo is genius. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic! I also love the newspaper headline hahaha - a classic!
ReplyDeleteI would love to read a Plastic Man book by the two of you. That would be amazing. And your idea for the logo is awesome!
ReplyDeleteToo cool, man.
ReplyDeleteSeriously.... way too cool.
I don't know where to start; I love everything about this!
That ever-changing logo, aaarrrgh! So good!
golden!
ReplyDeleteFantastic!
ReplyDeleteThat is so brilliant, it might just be my favorite of the whole New52II! It's like Ambush Bug had a baby made of silly putty! Love the idea, love the art, love the shifting logo idea, love the joke. Love it.
ReplyDeleteWould read? So much it hurts.
Great work! I miss Kyle Baker's rendition of the title, you guys seem to be in the same vein. I'm on board!
ReplyDelete--B
The shifting-logo concept is fantastic! I mean, the whole thing is a hoot, but I love that idea for the logo.
ReplyDeleteIt's plastic fantastic from stem to stern!
ReplyDeleteWow. I've already told you this, Jon, but this cover just punched the lights out of all the other covers and made them go crying home to their mommas.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
Fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteAnd the style does suit Plas' :D
Awesome! And the logo is fantastic!
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