TOMB RAIDER: SCARFACE'S TREASURE [Archive]

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MattBrady

02-20-2003, 09:49 AM

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Cover_Low_Res.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Cover_Low_Res_t.jpg" width="175" height="257" align="right" border="0"></a>Following up on it’s exclusive Darkness Prelude, co-produced with Top Cow, Dynamic Forces has provided Newsarama with a preview of its next exclusive book, Tomb Raider: Scarface’s Treasure by Geoff Johns and Mark Texeira.

Clocking in at 24 pages, the story is a hitherto untold Tomb Raider tale of Lara Croft as she infiltrates Chicago's underworld, hunting for Scarface’s treasure.

The regular edition of the issue retails for $5.00 and is slated to reach stores in April.

Click on the thumbnails below for larger versions.

<center> <a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1156.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1156_t.JPG" width="140" height="214" border="0" alt="page 1" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1157.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1157_t.JPG" width="140" height="214" border="0" alt="page 2" hspace="2"></a></center>

<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1158.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1158_t.JPG" width="140" height="214" border="0" alt="page 3" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1159.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/DSCN1159_t.JPG" width="140" height="214" border="0" alt="page 4" hspace="2"></a></center>

For further preview pages, click <a href="http://www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/trscarfacestreasure.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.

Jonas.Vesterlund

02-20-2003, 10:22 AM

Why does Top Cow do all these one-shots with really intersting creators lined up for Dynamic Forces while their regular comics still relay on T & A appeal to sell? (gasp...long sentence...)

Wis this a precursor as to how their books will be done very soon or? I flipped through EVO the other day and thought "the same ol' Top Cow T & A".

They have some interesting ideas. It would be really something if thses DF specials were the first issues of the relaunched regular books.

Grendel Prime

02-20-2003, 10:25 AM

In my opinion, Mark Texeira is one of the best (and under-rated) artists of all time. I really wish someone would get Tex back on a regular high-profile monthly title. I think his style would be perfect for the current direction of Incredible Hulk. Or even if it was a brief return to his roots on titles like The Punisher or Black Panther. I will buy anything that has Tex attached. Even Tomb Raider (egads!).

Yossi K

02-20-2003, 10:37 AM

I wonder how many alternate covers this rip-off will have.

comicpanther

02-20-2003, 11:40 AM

The creative team looks awesome. Can't wait to checkout this comic. I hope Tex starts doing a monthly title again.

fistofkhonshu

02-20-2003, 11:43 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> In my opinion, Mark Texeira is one of the best (and under-rated) artists of all time.<hr /></blockquote>ditto

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> I really wish someone would get Tex back on a regular high-profile monthly title. I think his style would be perfect for the current direction of Incredible Hulk. <hr /></blockquote>That would be cool.

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> Or even if it was a brief return to his roots on titles like The Punisher or Black Panther. <hr /></blockquote>A new Werewolf by Night book

jasinmartin

02-20-2003, 12:00 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Yossi K:
I wonder how many alternate covers this rip-off will have.<hr /></blockquote>Why is this a rip off? Is it because the cover price is $5 or because there'll be variants?

$5 is pretty steep for one book, but it is through a specialty publisher. Looks like a good package to me, and it's worth the extra $2 for that. I mean the line-up DF has for these books is pretty close to the creative line-ups on Marvel's Ultimate books in terms of quality. If they're going to sell you big dollar books, at least they got the talent to back them.

But if it's a complaint about variants being rip offs, well I'm sure you've heard the argument there before...

dogisred

02-20-2003, 12:26 PM

Johns seems to be every where I look now (not that I'm complaining). What I really like about this project is TEX!! He really needs to get back into mainstream work (that does not mean that he has to work for DC or Marvel, but that he needs to get a book out on a regular basis...for whatever company he wants to). The thumbnails look fantastic and the whole "variant" issue is dumb. Buy one...don't buy one, we don't care. This is definately worth my $5.

I agree with the previous poster that Top Cow needs to get back to good storytelling to sell their books and leave the T&A stuff to smaller publishers. That's not to say you can't have both...there are several examples of having T&A with good stories...Terry Dodson's work on Harley Quinn and Black Cat & Spider-Man are well written stories (most of Harley Quinn anyway). Top Cow has shown that they have the ability to attract quality creators, but they don't seem to be able keep them around for long periods. Silvestri said he was going to be doing more work...where is it? Get a good writer and team them with the artists they have...continue to do specials, but I'd really like to see more out of the Top Cow group than what they've been doing lately.

Jonas.Vesterlund

02-20-2003, 01:05 PM

Tex did last months Stormwatch....check it out incase you missed it...

blankpoint

02-20-2003, 01:15 PM

doesn't anybody else feel like both Top Cow and Dynamic Forces are relics of the mid-90s? Like Chaos (dead, thankfully) or American Entertainment / Another Universe (still operational but pretty much just afloat)...

Too bad Texiera is attached to these fellas... he's a talented artist, especially when he's doing painted or heavily inked work.

Jordan Raskin

02-20-2003, 01:17 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> In my opinion, Mark Texeira is one of the best (and under-rated) artists of all time. I really wish someone would get Tex back on a regular high-profile monthly title. <hr /></blockquote>I think I can answer this here. Tex hasn't been taking on high profile large projects because he's hard at work in between jobs on his CREATOR OWNED BOOK which is called "PSCYTHE". He's painting his book in grey tones much like he did Black Panther.
The book will be coming out from Image and most likely solicited following a debut at the San Diego show this year.

Why do I know this? Because my creator owned book, "INDUSTRY OF WAR" will be featured as the backup story in his title. :D

Samples of what the books look like can be found at our respective websites:
<a href="http://www.marktexeira.com" target="_blank">Mark Texeira's Website</a>
<a href="http://www.jordanraskin.com" target="_blank">Jordan Raskin's Website</a>

Cheers

A.N.Onymous

02-20-2003, 04:34 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Yossi K:
I wonder how many alternate covers this rip-off will have.<hr /></blockquote>While "rip-off" is a subjective term owing to the strictly voluntary nature of the purchase, I would estimate 4-5 variants, given DFE's history.

This would include, of course, the retailer ordering-plateau variant, this summer's ComiCon variant, and the probable foil-enhanced signed-&-numbered edition to be hawked on QVC. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

A.N.Onymous

02-20-2003, 04:40 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by blankpoint:
doesn't anybody else feel like both Top Cow and Dynamic Forces are relics of the mid-90s?<hr /></blockquote>At least as far as Top Cow's continued clinging to the Bad Girl trend, and Dynamic Forces' relentless saturation of the market with endless cover variants and/or enhancements.

Those two trends are SO over, yet they persist in beating their respective dead horses. :D

thefuuma

02-20-2003, 05:02 PM

hey its Jordan Raskin!

Weren't you the dude who did Ripclaw waaaaaay back in the Image heydays? If I remember your stuff was pretty tight. Where have you been all these years?

MindTricked

02-20-2003, 06:30 PM

Picture this...

Lara, after fighting through left-over goons from a bygone era, out-of-place beasts (like tigers) and the local government, reaches infamous mobster Scarface's hidden vault. With tense muscles and a calculating mind, Lara dissembles various traps, and finally, with eager and breathless anticipation, opens the vault. With a gasp of incredulous surprise, Lara takes in Scarface's treasure, which is not gold nor cash nor "lost" art... but none other than Geraldo Rivera!

I don't know about you, but I'm there! :D

EMeadow

02-20-2003, 08:17 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by jasinmartin:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Yossi K:
I wonder how many alternate covers this rip-off will have.<hr /></blockquote>Why is this a rip off? Is it because the cover price is $5 or because there'll be variants?

$5 is pretty steep for one book, but it is through a specialty publisher. Looks like a good package to me, and it's worth the extra $2 for that. I mean the line-up DF has for these books is pretty close to the creative line-ups on Marvel's Ultimate books in terms of quality. If they're going to sell you big dollar books, at least they got the talent to back them.

But if it's a complaint about variants being rip offs, well I'm sure you've heard the argument there before...<hr /></blockquote>Well DF may be selling them for 5 bucks (not including S&H) but we have no idea what Diamond themselves will be selling them for.

The Darkness Prelude will be in the new catalog next week in the DF section and it's got one of those Please Inquire prices on it so no one knows yet just what the retailers will charge.

El Argentino

02-20-2003, 08:59 PM

A-haaa!, I got you Mark, using DC paper for Top Cow!!!!....bad boy! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Don't kill for oil!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

bakla

02-20-2003, 09:17 PM

The interior art looks great, except those are the STUPIDEST sunglasses I've ever seen! The bridge is so damn huge, it can only sit on her face the way they are on the cover, apparently giving much needed sunscreen to her cheeks! All that attention to detail in Tex's work, and yet....aaargh!!

Cray_ws

02-20-2003, 10:14 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by bakla:
The interior art looks great, except those are the STUPIDEST sunglasses I've ever seen! The bridge is so damn huge, it can only sit on her face the way they are on the cover, apparently giving much needed sunscreen to her cheeks! All that attention to detail in Tex's work, and yet....aaargh!!<hr /></blockquote>I've seen worse drawn glasses but I agree with you they look flawed. Mark Texeira strong points are his techniques of coloring and use of a brush. However he whinds up being a poor man's Joe Jusko. I don't mean this as criticism, because I definetly agree he's under-appreciated artist.

Don't get me started about Top Cow's modus operandi I went on a rant recently over at Pulse when they ran an editoral about their new office and so-called new books. Here's the link to the <a href="http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000694" target="_blank">Pulse editoral</a>. After reading it, I got stiired up and couldn't resist going into a longwinded rant. Here's a copy of my post at the Pulse:

I remember seeing Silvestri's Wolverine work which along with Jim Lee's X-Men got me into comics. When Cyberforce came out I was instantly impressed how much Marc had improved artisticly and creatively. Granted Cyberforce had many of the borrowed elements of what made Marvel properties successful. What also impressed me is the writing which was no better or worse than X-Men was.

I think TopCow has come a long way as I look back and see how they turned out alot of spin-offs of Cyberforce, One shots featuring character origins and Mini-series called Strykeforce. It was then that TopCow was forming their own identity and pushing themselves further away from Jim Lee's crew which had distinguished talent such as J. Scott Campbell(Gen13) and Scott Clark(StormWatch). Topcow struggled to put out anything constant but whatever they did put out sold fairly well. Their bullpen or studio had people like Anthny Winn(Ripclaw) and David Finch filled in Cyberforce, Brandon Peterson did Strykeforce. Joe Benitez was starting Weapon Zero and Silvestri took time off Cyberforce to start what we know is The Darkness

So while I can't fault TopCow for reinventing itself so well, however they lose alot of readership by doing this. They can't have it both ways....maintaining legion of fans and still reinvent themselves according to the trends. Silvestri appears like a brillantly talented guy and is lucky to be surrounded by such succesful people.

Biggest fault TopCow has is maintaing consistant creative integrity. What do I mean? Simply stop doing spin-offs after spin-off till they are forced to reinvent themselves. It all started with the success of Cyberforce which spun off into a way too many books and Now look at how many badgirl goodgirl(call it what you like) books from Cyberforce Origins:Cyblade to Ballistic to Witchblade to Magdalena to Tomb Raider to Fathom to the new Evo, Lets not forget the countless crossovers Witchblade and other badgirls like Lady Death or Vampirella. I'm not saying these books are bad, its just that TopCow gets a whiff of the success and they just go with it without ever looking back to other successful books they produced. Rising Stars was quite a success at the beginning but it's fallen apart with lack of consistancy. Weapon Zero had so Much potential as did the short lived Arcanum which I believe Brandon Peterson owns the shared rights.

I have to say despite my wish for them to bring back Cyberforce I did like like the sense of unity that The Darkness & Witchblade had, if only they found a way to correlate their older properties along with the new things would seem to show forethought and depth of the TopCow universe.

Well I've rambled enough. I mean no offense to anyone who loves TopCow books

Stratus

02-21-2003, 12:02 AM

There was a time when I really liked Top Cow. A time when they were bringing new things to the industry and they had a lot of internal energy. Their superhero-ish approach to sci-fi fantasy genres, seen in Witchblade, The Darkness, and Ascension was refreshing in a way, and their artists, while somewhat blending together, did good work.

But in the years since they dropped their absolute committment to on-time shipping (remember that?), a great deal of things have interfered with their ability to deliver what fans want - poor sales of some of their better books (Weapon Zero, Spirit of the Tao), illness in creators of their more popular (Fathom), and too many false starts to count (Inferno, Universe, 3 Witchblade "reboots", Evo, Minotaur Press) and more have reduced their credibility to almost nil.

I understand there are always extenuating circumstances, but Top Cow seems to get more than their fair share, which leads me to wonder whether they'll really be able to stick around in the long run.

I hope so, because they've shown they can turn out very good material. But I'm just not so sure anymore.

Regardless, this looks like a good book and it's a shame it's a DF exclusive - I would get it if it were less money.

Regards,
Stratus

littlewolvie

02-21-2003, 03:45 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by jasinmartin:
Why is this a rip off? Is it because the cover price is $5 or because there'll be variants?<hr /></blockquote>Well, they could simply release the book the normal way, so that it would be accessible to everybody, instead of trying to make some easy money by making this a DF exclusive. But of course, Top Cow has a rich history with variants and exclusives. And as long as people keep buying them, they will keep doing it.

Jordan Raskin

02-21-2003, 11:12 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> hey its Jordan Raskin!
Weren't you the dude who did Ripclaw waaaaaay back in the Image heydays? If I remember your stuff was pretty tight. Where have you been all these years? <hr /></blockquote>Wow, someone actually remembers my work? I'm sincerely flattered. Yeah that was me.

To answer your question, I left the comics industry for better paying work, lol. I started working in advertising and animation. You can see my work as a background designer on TV shows like cartoon networks Courage the Cowardly Dog and more recently the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Fox Box.

As I said before, you can find out more info on the book and my work in general on my website listed below.

Thanks again for remembering me, I'm truly flattered <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Monkey in a Wheelchair

02-23-2003, 04:46 PM

Tex should do some American Century. Or at least paint an arc's covers. He'd fit in perfect.
-- chip

boomboom

02-25-2003, 06:41 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Jordan Raskin:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr /> In my opinion, Mark Texeira is one of the best (and under-rated) artists of all time. I really wish someone would get Tex back on a regular high-profile monthly title. <hr /></blockquote>I think I can answer this here. Tex hasn't been taking on high profile large projects because he's hard at work in between jobs on his CREATOR OWNED BOOK which is called "PSCYTHE". He's painting his book in grey tones much like he did Black Panther.
The book will be coming out from Image and most likely solicited following a debut at the San Diego show this year.
Cheers<hr /></blockquote>DAMN
You beat me to it!!!

I wanted to say that stuff!!!

:p

Anyway, TEX is awesome and I think his best work ever was with HARRIS and I think this is because he does a great job of portraing beuties and giove them somethin extra!!

rEMINDER: I must finish my TEXtribute-page soon!!

<img src="http://isd.usc.edu/~shoaf/vampirella/vspantha/001varia.jpg" width=250 heigth=400>