#Aspen MLT

[ungoliantschilde]

some Michael Turner artwork in black and white.

Fuck cancer. Seriously. Mike was a gem of a guy, and a tremendous artist that everyone in the industry liked. Fuck cancer.

[levisgeekstuff]

Ken je Fathom van Michael Turner nog?

Vorige week was ik nog eens aan het scrollen door mijn longbox met Image vertalingen van Juniorpress. Daarbij botste ik op 'Fathom'. In mijn hoofd is dat nog steeds een recente comic, maar intussen is die alweer 25 (!) jaar oud. 🙈 Hoog tijd voor een terugblik.

Fathom werd in 1998 bedacht door Michael Turner. Op dat moment was Turner één van de populairste tekenaars dankzij zijn werk aan Witchblade voor de Image imprint Top Cow. Na het lezen van een nummer van National Geographic over de oceaanwereld kreeg hij de inspiratie voor Fathom. Een kleurrijke comic waarin de oceanen en hun geheimen centraal staan. Het hoofdpersonage is de knappe Aspen Matthews, een vrouw met mysterieuze connecties met water, mensen en onderzeese wezens.

Uitdagingen en tegenslagen

De publicatie van Fathom verliep niet zonder hindernissen. Na een vliegende start in 1998 werd de serie plotseling onderbroken in 2002 nadat bij Turner kanker werd vastgesteld.

Na enkele miniseries door andere artiesten maakte Turner in 2004 wel nog een comeback naar Fathom. Intussen was de reeks ook verhuisd naar zijn eigen uitgeverij Aspen MLT inc.

In 2008 zou Turner uiteindelijk toch de strijd tegen kanker verliezen.

Juniorpress

Zoals de meeste Top Cow en Wildstorm reeksen van dat moment kreeg ook Fathom als snel een Nederlandse vertaling bij Juniorpress. Na een eerste extra dik nummer met daarin de Amerikaanse delen 1 tot 3 volgden nog 5 nummers in d eigen serie met daarin telkens 2 Amerikaanse deeltjes.

Typisch voor die periode waren de nodige deadline problemen bij de originele uitgaven. Dat zorgde ook bij Juniorpress voor de nodige vertragingen en frustraties. Zo werd er 2 jaar gedaan over de 6 nummers van de eigen serie.

Duur

Het 6e nummer van Fathom bij Juniorpress zou de geschiedenis ingaan als één van de duurste comics uit die periode. Door de vele late deadlines werd besloten niet langer te wachten op de Amerikaanse nummer 13 en Fathom 6 uit te brengen met daarin enkel het originele nummer 12. Een dun boekje dus, maar wel aan de prijs van fl 6,95. Terwijl een gewoon, dubbel zo dik nummer fl 8,95 kostte. Dat was toen wel een dingetje 💩

'Special' en bijzonder

In 2002 zouden de Amerikaanse nummers 13 en 14 alsnog opgenomen worden in een nummer van Image Special. Daarmee was het verhaal van het eerste volume van Fathom ook afgerond.

Deze Image Special is samen met Fathom 6 trouwens best bijzonder. In deze nummers komen de personages Witchblade en Lara Croft voor, die destijds ook bij Top Cow zaten. Nadat Fathom verhuisde naar de eigen uitgeverij van Michael Turner, mochten deze passages niet meer gebruikt worden. In de Amerikaanse heruitgaven vind je deze nummers dus ofwel helemaal niet meer, ofwel sterk bewerkt terug.

Succes

Het succes van de Fathom comic wekte ook al snel de aandacht van Hollywood. Zo werd al in 2002 groen licht gegeven voor een verfilming door niemand minder dan James Cameron. Voorlopig is dat echter nog steeds niet concreet geworden.

[ungoliantschilde]

It bears noting that this was a sketchbook pinup that Mike did in the early 2000s. The costumes and the backgrounds are a combination of Danny Miki’s Inks and Finishes, and Peter Steigerwald’s Colors and Finishes. It’s hard to say who did what on each piece, but I’ll add Mike’s pencils to this post here in a second.

At the Aspen MLT booth in the mid 2000s, Mike was never alone. Peter Steigerwald was right next to him the whole time. They were dear, dear friends.

Wolverine Madripoor Knights Vol 1 #1 (2024)

Michael Turner variants

[arctimon]

6 Degrees of Separation - A Big Hero 6 & Marvel Discussion

I’ve mentioned before that even though Big Hero 6 is a Disney show/movie, at its core it is still a Marvel universe (Earth-14123 to be precise).  And even though I’m pretty sure that the showrunners didn’t have the go-ahead to do all of the Marvel stuff they could, you could still see a few references being put in.

Examples like Momakase cosplaying as Lady Deathstrike:

Boss Awesome’s gallery of villains from Chief Cruz’s flashback:

And this isn’t even mentioning more direct ones, like Fred’s recommendation letter written to SFIT by none other than R. Richards (which isn’t on my laptop because I’m not at my computer, but just believe it’s here right now.  XD)

The movie obviously had a bit more leeway than the show, but even the team themselves is in the Marvel universe, so in some ways, they are a reference themselves.

Wouldn’t it be nice if they could use that to possibly bring some other, perhaps more obscure, Marvel characters into the mix?

And just to sweeten the pot a bit, each character from the team has their own unique way to bring someone into the fold.

Luckily, I’ve already compiled a list of candidates that Hiro and the others can help bring into the spotlight.  Starting with:

The Cousins - Hiro Hamada and Peni Parker

I’ve already talked and written about them extensively in my stories, but I feel that showing that Hiro isn’t the only young genius around (sorry, Rishi).  That plus adding the family angle into the mix (Peni being raised by Cass’s sister May) would make for a positively compelling storyline.

The Cousins Part 2 - Karmi and Kamala Khan

Listen, at this point in time we all know about the exhaustive amount of times that I’ve written about Karmi either being an homage, direct reference, or just straight up the Kamala Khan of this universe (so much so that I’m not even going to link any of it), but that doesn’t mean you still can’t bring Kamala in somehow.

The Childhood Friend - Go Go and Nico Minoru

A younger (even all the way to being a child) Go Go growing up in the mean streets of wherever she’s from, serving in a bike gang and getting in trouble in her neighborhood.  Nico, unaware of the fact that her parents are dark wizards (long story), strikes up an unlikely friendship with her.  After Nico becomes a Runaway (and the capitalization is important), they lose touch and only reconnect when the full groups meet up to take down a common cause.

Plus, the sarcasm levels would be off the charts.

The Forgotten Encounter - Wasabi and Aspen Matthews

One of the things that wasn’t really expanded upon was the childhoods of the Big Hero 6 gang.  And given that Wasabi had barely any expansion period, I think it would be perfect for Aspen to get introduced via the way I had written it:  Aspen and Wasabi meet when they were kids and Aspen saves him from drowning on the military base’s pool, thus unconsciously unlocking her powers for the first time.

That and imagining a nine-year-old Wasabi in duck floaties is pretty cool.

Speaking of characters in non-Marvel comics...

The Alternate Reality Counterpart - Honey Lemon and Molli

There will be other posts talking about her, but one of the other properties that Aspen MLT has involves the far future and a team of people that rob from the rich and give to...well, themselves.  And other people so that they don’t get killed.

And that team of ragtag heroes is Molli, the girl that handles the aforementioned Bubble Gun, a high-tech weapon that shoots globs of plasma.

That sound familiar to anyone?

Whether you treat it as an alternate reality or a group inspired by BH6′s heroics in the past, having them show up would be a nice foil to the original team.  Maybe a time-traveling corporation executive is in their future?

(In addition, Molly and her sister Devyn have a very nice HL/Go Go relationship and I’m all for it.)

The Children of Famous Fathers - Fred and Matt Murdock

Now you’d forgive me I was a little off my rocker for this one.  What on Earth would Fred Frederickson and Matt Murdock have in common with each other?

Well, they’re both sons of famous fathers.  Fred’s dad is Boss Awesome and Matt’s dad was one of the best boxers in NYC.

Both are blind (Fred metaphorically, Matt “literally”).

They...both have horns on their costumes...

OK, look, the tie-in between these two wouldn’t necessarily be them, but their dads.  Imagine if Jack was not only blessed with the boxing skills that made him a legend, he also had the lawyer mind to back it up.

Now, imagine if Boss Awesome had to get a lawyer for something that happened in his superhero career (botched rescue, supervillain lawsuit, etc.).

Now, imagine that took place after Matt’s accident that left him blind.

An older Matt and a younger Fred.  Wouldn’t that be an interesting pair? It’s almost like I have it imagined already...except when Matt pops his head into San Fransokyo as an adult, it won’t be Fred that will need his help.

Oh my God, how do these two end up popping up here?

And stop looking at me like that, Go Go and Nico.  I haven’t forgotten about you two, either.

Although the magic thing is going to be a tad bit more difficult to work around.

[girlsofcomics]

Anika

-Real name: Anika

-A.k.a.: -

-Publisher: Aspen MLT

-Type: Sub-mariner

-Afilliations:-

-Powers: Sub-mariner, swordsmanship, unarmed combat, water control, weapon master.

[sofiamantegafan110]

[lady-loki-laufeyson]

Comic Heroines - Faye

Alter Ego - N/A Species - Alien Power / Abilities -

Flight

[psicopathya]

Eduardo Francisco

Iris [Executive Assistant Iris]

[ungoliantschilde]

Fathom, Vol. 3 # 01-C by the late Michael Turner, with Colors by Peter Steigerwald.

[comiccrusaders]

Review: Aspen Universe - Decimation #1

Review: Aspen Universe – Decimation #1

Over time, I have grown to like some of the Aspen books.  Lola XoXo is a fun read, with the focus on Siya Oum’s stylised painted art and the recent Fathom books from Blake Northcott have been good solid fun, with a few pokes at social media thrown in for good measure.  Building on the successes, Aspen MLT has started to coalesce their universe, and now that the time for Revelations is over; the…

[lynx-013]

[arctimon]

Oh hey.  Aspen’s got a new comic that just released: Fathom: The Core.  Seems to be setting up something pretty big in the world of The Blue and The Black.

Also, is it bad that I have to remind myself that my origin story for the BH6 version of her is not the actual origin story for her?

...Sort of.

Both of ours involved a giant laser from space.

But only one of them had a fanfiction-writing Pakistani-American girl jumping off a sub and flattening a Genius Boy into a dock.

Guess which one.  XD

Anyway, find it and read it.  The art and alternate covers are very well done, at the very least.

[girlsofcomics]

Arliquinn

-Real name: -

-A.k.a.:-

-Publisher:Aspen MLT

-Type: Human

-Afilliations: Cirque Du Romani

-Rol: Daughter of Gitano, sister of Seraphina

-Powers:-

[sofiamantegafan110]

[hondobrode]

LOLA XOXO VOL 2 #1 COVER A, B

ASPEN MLT INC 

(W) Siya Oum (A/CA) Siya Oum

The best-selling Aspen series from creator Siya Oum returns!

In the epic first volume, the tough-minded Lola learned the brutal reality of the apocalypse within the confines of the ruthless Wasteland Trading Company led by the treacherous Edgar and his posse! However, the true challenge lies ahead, as her desire to be reunited with her lost parents still burns greater than ever!

click for best comics talk

[lady-loki-laufeyson]

Comic Heroines - Anya

Alter Ego - N/A Species - The Blue Power / Abilities -

Hydrokinesis

Amphibian