New decade, new Lobo.
DC has given the bad-ass Simon Bisley-designed character of Lobo—a crazy madman who epitomized the heavy metal years of the 90s—and moved him to the Warped tour with a more…well, it’s hard not to see a bit of Twilight in the new Kenneth Rocafort design. According to DC editor in Chief Bob Harras, the new Lobo is the REAL one, with the bastich-hunting lunkhead of before being a mere imposter:
The Lobo you think you know doesn’t exist.
Back when we introduced this “What’s New In The New 52” column, I told you that the most important word in The New 52 is “New.” We’re always striving to keep things exciting, different and surprising. Which is why JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.2: LOBO (from the creative team of Marguerite Bennett, Ben Oliver, Cliff Richards and Daniel Brown) contains a major surprise – one we’ve had planned for a while. The Lobo you’ve seen so far in the New 52 is not who you think he is. In this one-shot, you’ll be introduced to the real Lobo. A ruthless killer, Lobo is on a quest to kill the man who has taken his name.
This Lobo is equal parts strong, vicious, and driven. There’s a darker and more logical idea about what a force of nature like him is capable of. After all, this is someone who can infiltrate high society, fly a space ship, and adhere to a very specific moral code that’s not your typical anti-hero one. Oh, and, this one-shot takes place very far away from Earth. And when I say very far away, I mean it takes place literally on the other side of the galaxy.
There was a lot of thought put into how the real Lobo should look. Kenneth Rocafort’s various interpretations blew us away, but the design we landed on as the final choice is the last one in the above gallery. In this design, Ken updated Lobo’s facial tattoos and weaponry by adding laser edges to his blades and gloves that’ll give him extra strength with their mechanical usage. In the end, Ken transformed Lobo into a lean, mean killing machine.
Rocafort—who is definitely one of the most talented artists on the New 52 starting lineup turned in several more traditional Lobos, as well as a wispy one who was more American Idol tour. All rejected.
ANYTHING CAN REALLY HAPPEN in this new world, people. I know a lot of women who loved the old Lobo, maybe this new one will have more of an Edward Cullen feel.
[Thanks to Beat Lobo consultant Zena T. for help with this post.]
As fresh as last decade’s blockbuster.
I don’t believe it. I think the impostor’s going to kill the “original” and claim the Lobo rep of baddest bastich there is once and for all.
I think — well, I hope — this is an epic-level fakeout on DC’s part. Because those “rejected” designs look pretty damn great — modernized, but true to the character.
Last year at a WizardWorld, I had the opportunity to ask Stan Lee the question, “which of your Distinguished Competition’s characters did he most wish he could have created?”
His response (as if it’s a surprise in the thread) was Lobo. He didn’t take long to suggest it, striking me that Stan remembers 20 years ago like it’s yesterday.
So they’re going to go the Clone Saga/Principal Skinner route with Lobo? Yup, that’s certainly New.
That Samurai looking one isn’t half bad…but the others…SO MUCH BAD LOOKING CRAP….I mean rip off Underworld bad…
The demise of comics continues right before our eyes…
As someone who laughed at the humor and was blown away by Bisley’s draftsmenship when The Last Czarnian and Lobo’s Back came out originally, I can only equate the ronin Lobo piece with him. The new one is not the parody I enjoyed as a teen but another boring loking leather clad, heavily armed metorsexual.
…or metrosexual. So much for proofreading.
Bwahahahahahahaha. Etc.
Okay, if no one’s going to trademark “The Meteorsexual,” I call dibs! The Character Find of 2014!
Maybe instead of trying to randomly turn random characters into whatever market demographic fad is hot this week or three years ago, DC should look at their characters and think what worked.
As I said with Man Of Steel, instead of asking what is wrong with Superman, ask what was right with him.
Lobo was a grim yet fu. and goofy send up to the overly gim and serious books of the 90s. Now DC is yrying to turn eveyone into that and could really use an enema of the real main main. Instead we get an RPats version of bishonen Lobo. Is this some atyempt to court a Hollywood film? Remember when Hollywood messed up characters like Jonah Hex and Catwoman? Now DC is doing it for them.
And I am not against courting the anime fangirl market with bishonen. I asked Jim Lee how DC could do it years ago at a con before the reboot. Yet Lobo? That is not the one to go with.
Hmm. I’m gonna buy this. Me gusta.
@Rob S.- Ha. It would definitely work for this intergalactic bounty hunter but, I’m positive you can do something much more intersting with it.
Lucky for readers, now Lobo can be a SERIOUS character in SERIOUS storylines. However, if I learned anything from Lobo’s Back, it’s the old version of Lobo has trouble dying so new Lobo has his work cut out for him.
I was having trouble thinking of a worse redesign… and then I remembered the new Harley Quinn. This one just hits closer to days of comics past for me.
I bet Rocafort did that design as a joke. The others are exceptional. Harras just loves to reset that DC clock.
@ Thomas Wayne: One misfire with a character update/redesign does not the downfall of the industry make, but it’s still kind of boneheaded to take ANYTHING in a “Twilight” direction thinking it’ll attract more lady readers. Apparently this is also the approach DC is taking with the Superman/Wonder Woman pairing. Just to clarify, I personally will be going nowhere near that book. And just in case the point isn’t obvious, romance isn’t the only thing that will get women to consume whatever media you’re trying to get them to consume. The very assumption is deeply insulting.
I liked the old Lobo, he was appropriately over-the-top for the era and the stories never failed to deliver the laughs. Will those aspects of the character be gone as well? Is this redesign even real? I hope not.
Lobo is another one of those characters I liked back in the day. I look back now and the only thing that comes to mind is, “what was I thinking?!?”
The writer of this one shot, Marguerite Bennett, stopped by my shop over the weekend and said the internet took the ball and ran with this, but the design everyone’s talking about is NOT the final design. He’s gonna be a lot bigger and meaner looking.
Scheduled release: April 1st
So now Lobo get’s “Afflack’d” also…. First Batman and now Lobo… Such a bad week for my relationship DC Comics. I’m having a hard time understanding their logic with character designs & movie casting. No, no, DC….it’s not you, it’s me. I think we both need sometime apart to think about our future together (or most likely not).
Comments are closed.