Mark Schultz/Xenozoic Tales
One of the big things that got me into comics was Mark Schultz's Xenozoic Tales(or rather, the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs cartoon based on the comic) Schultz's art and the book itself are heavily based on 1920s pulp fiction. The series is set in the future, when a great war set the world back centuries, redid the landscape and somehow made it possible for dinosaurs to return(hey, I DID say it was based on 1920s pulp fiction...) Most of the general New England area, where the story takes place, is deserts and swamp, primarily just outside what was NYC. There a mechanic named Jack Tenrec who also spends his time working on classic cars when not serving as a reluctant troubleshooter, survical guide and all around fixit guy for the politicians he hates finds himself butting heads with Hannah Dundee, an ambassador from the swamplands that used to be DC who's more than intellectually capable of keeping up with anyone in the series and is more than capable of handling herself in a fight. She's clever, capable, cunning and far to curious for her own good, and really everything Jack hates. Of course, she's also one of the only worthwhile people around, and they soon become allies, and then more.
For an idea of what these two are like...well, you can pretty much take Mal and Inara from Firefly/Serenity's personality and stuff them into those roles. I have very few comic book otps(not even 10, I don't think) but Jack and Hannah are WAY up there...Rugged outdoorsman survivalist who hates politicians and corruption and has a hero complex and a strong, intelligent, capable heroine who can more than take care of herself-physically and verbally-against anyone she faces, icluding him? Talk about made for me. Of course, I love ALL of it, Jack/Hannah is just one of the main draws.
Unfortunately, Schultz is a slow artist(makes Jo Chen and Bryan Hitch look fast) so he eventually had to drop the book and focus on writing and the occassional cover. The series as whole, though, has been collected into two VERY nice trades by Dark Horse(though they only collected the stuff he wrote AND drew, which means several backup stories that he wrote but didn't draw aren't collected) and there are rumors that he'll be putting out a Xenozoic Tales mini series once he's through drawing it, but I haven't heard anything on that in over a year(though, with Schultz, it could just mean he's still working on it. When you look at the pics, keep in mind that he does EVERYTHING...the man does not know what the word "assistant" means)
Cover to the first Dark Horse trade:
Did I mention Hannah llllooooooovvvvveeeessss books and Jack thinks they're a waste? The background here is that books deteriorate when they're exposed to air, so they're kept locked underground...Jack had to go to one of the vaults for work, and he arranged for Hannah to be able to look at the books while he was working. The water valves broke and there was a flood and Hannah went back to seal off the vault so the books wouldn't get ruined. (You'll notice someone doesn't quite get why he's being hugged)
Hannah's superiors don't approve of Jack when she brings him home with her, but she has a good excuse:
*squishes*
Cover to one of the older trades(which I DO have and which do have the back ups the DH trades don't)
Cover to something I don't have but want.
Pinup Schultz did for the CBLDF(Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, I believe):
Schultz's idea of a preliminary drawing, and the final version:
They were also republished-colored-by epic comics when the show was around(and there were a lot of spinoff miniseries under the "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" banner, but they weren't as good):
Dinosaur vs Classic Car=WIN
For an idea of what these two are like...well, you can pretty much take Mal and Inara from Firefly/Serenity's personality and stuff them into those roles. I have very few comic book otps(not even 10, I don't think) but Jack and Hannah are WAY up there...Rugged outdoorsman survivalist who hates politicians and corruption and has a hero complex and a strong, intelligent, capable heroine who can more than take care of herself-physically and verbally-against anyone she faces, icluding him? Talk about made for me. Of course, I love ALL of it, Jack/Hannah is just one of the main draws.
Unfortunately, Schultz is a slow artist(makes Jo Chen and Bryan Hitch look fast) so he eventually had to drop the book and focus on writing and the occassional cover. The series as whole, though, has been collected into two VERY nice trades by Dark Horse(though they only collected the stuff he wrote AND drew, which means several backup stories that he wrote but didn't draw aren't collected) and there are rumors that he'll be putting out a Xenozoic Tales mini series once he's through drawing it, but I haven't heard anything on that in over a year(though, with Schultz, it could just mean he's still working on it. When you look at the pics, keep in mind that he does EVERYTHING...the man does not know what the word "assistant" means)
Cover to the first Dark Horse trade:
Did I mention Hannah llllooooooovvvvveeeessss books and Jack thinks they're a waste? The background here is that books deteriorate when they're exposed to air, so they're kept locked underground...Jack had to go to one of the vaults for work, and he arranged for Hannah to be able to look at the books while he was working. The water valves broke and there was a flood and Hannah went back to seal off the vault so the books wouldn't get ruined. (You'll notice someone doesn't quite get why he's being hugged)
Hannah's superiors don't approve of Jack when she brings him home with her, but she has a good excuse:
*squishes*
Cover to one of the older trades(which I DO have and which do have the back ups the DH trades don't)
Cover to something I don't have but want.
Pinup Schultz did for the CBLDF(Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, I believe):
Schultz's idea of a preliminary drawing, and the final version:
They were also republished-colored-by epic comics when the show was around(and there were a lot of spinoff miniseries under the "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" banner, but they weren't as good):
Dinosaur vs Classic Car=WIN