Popa's 10 Favorite Planetary Quotes

"Planetary" is easily one of my favorite comics of all-time.  Each issue Warren Ellis, John Cassaday and Laura Martin took a scalpel to one of our great fictional archetypes and explored what made it relevant.  I'm pretty sure everything was hit - westerns, pulp heroes, super heroes, 50's science fiction, Japanese monster movies ... it went on and on.

And Ellis was NOT taking the piss out of these archetypes, quite the opposite, in many cases he was exposing the souls of the work, showing us why these stories matter far beyond their plots or the simplicity of what are, in many cases, simple action stories.

Below are my 10 favorite quotes from the series, they won't all make sense out of context but these are the ones that still punch me in the gut when I reread the book, all these years later.

10. 'You're never what I expect, Jakita.' - Issue 7.

9. "People always said The Dead Ranger always shot to wound, but that wounded badmen died of shane. Nobody ever worked out that the bullets were poisoned." - Issue 21

8. "Good morning, Dr. Dowling. From here things will only get worse." - Issue 15.

7. "Bomb makers could be heroes, in 1962." - Issue 0

6. "This where we made the monster movies. I was killed here." - Issue 8

5. "Why did you invent me?" - Issue 9

4. You want to know the secret of the world. It's this: save it and it will repay you, every second of the day." Issue 5

3. "Time to be someone else." - Issue 7

2. Brass: "You should have been around with us in the thirties, Mr. Snow. I can't begin to tell you what you missed. Glories."

Snow: I was busy. - Issue 5

1. "And then they brought me back. Just to see if they could." - Issue 8

CRANBOYZ 2015: ARMED And DANGEROUS

 I have to start by saying that this feels like one of our biggest collection of theme sketches, yet! Everyone seemed to get into the spirit of things and we have a diverse collection of sketches to prove it! 2015 was also a banner year for us in that 2 new Cranboyz began sketch collections, Angel and Nick! And they both got Armed and Dangerous sketches, too! Also in 2015, Eric comleted his Iron Man sketchbook! He still has big sketch plans, so don't think a full sketchbook means he's done! Now, let's get onto some ARMED And DANGEROUS Art!

Popa and Jeremy Haun love them some horror movies and Jeremy did this American Mary sketch in Popa's Horror book!
 

 Proving that Armed and Dangerous can still be cute, Dave  got this Danger Mouse sketch by Arthur Ball, Eric got his son this Casey Jones by Scoot McMahon and Andy got Stitch (Experiment 626) by Dave Aikins!

Shane added some Captain America bad guys with this Watchdog by Nate Lovett and Ultimatum soldier by Sean Forney!

A few more Marvel bad guys. Eric picked up Force by Nate Lovett and Unicorn by Andy Bennett while Shane got Red Guardian by Pat Quinn and Taskmaster by Adam Withers!

Now some high level Marvel villains! Eric got Iron Man 2020 by Tom Raney, Popa got Terrax and Kang by Craig Rousseau and Andy got Ultron by Uko Smith! 

Popa brought in 2 Buffy versus Freddy Commissions! The first is by Matt Haley and the second by Jeremy Haun!

Popa also got this water color of Buffy by Gene Gonzales!

This collection of  butt-kicking ladies was all drawn by our good pal, Darryl Banks! Popa got Ballistic, of Cyber Force fame, and Angel got Catwoman and a marker Commission of Wonder Woman!

A few of us enjoyed the Free Comic Book Day festivities at Carol and John's Comics, where they had local artists drawing for the fans! Janie Walland did this Huntress for Angel and Green Arrow for Eric! 

Shane added some Cobra firepower to his GI Joe sketchbook! Copperhead by Tim Shinn and Tomax and Xamot by Brendon and Brian Fraim! 

Of course this meant Shane had to add some good guys to his GI Joe collection! Snake Eyes is by Tim Switalski, also from FCBD! Pat Quinn drew Torpedo vs some Cobra EEls, Outback is from Ron Frenz, Law and Order are from Ron Salas and Wild Bill is by Nate Lovett!

 Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow! Ninja throwdown in the thick of battle! Darryl Banks drew this scene for Shane's GI Joe book!

 Some Marvel Heroes were added to the ranks! Angel got Dare Devil by Darryl Banks, Shane got Captain America from Comfort Love and Eric got Nick Fury from Ron Salas! 

Eric added to his Iron Man collection with the Mark 2 armor by Arvell Jones, War Machine by Uko Smith and Ultimate Iron Man by Adam Withers! 

Nick didn't mess around with his Armed and Dangerous sketch, Jonah Hex by the masterful,  Francesco Francavilla!

From the screen to the sketchbook! Popa got Dr. Horrible by Comfort Love and Andy got the Rocketeer by Tom Zahler! 

While it's been proven that all original art is better in person, I need to take a moment to let you know that this scan does not do this piece any justice! The Medusa of Mythology was drawn by Daniel Govar for Popa!

Travis went for the big guns! The Punisher by both Klaus Janson and Dave Johnson!

Andy picked up some color pieces from Craig Rousseau, Hiccup and Toothless, as well as, the Rocketeer and Indiana Jones!

It surprises me that we don't get more duplication of characters within the group but when we do, we do it right! Andy got Silver Sable by Chris Sprouse and Popa got her from Ron Frenz!

Karen picked up some Star Wars sketches for Alaina! Ahsoka by Gene Gonzales and Anakin Skywalker by Silvere Elve! 

Shane took Armed and Dangerous seriously with these Team 7 pieces! Dane (of Wetworks) by Uko Smith, Grifter and Backlash by Scott West (a gift from our friends Christopher and Leigh) and Deathblow by Daniel Govar!

A few Teen Titans were added to Shane's collection! Arsenal by Phil Hester and Wonder Girl by Darryl Banks!

 Never one to miss a chance for some Ninja Turtles art, Andy added these pieces! Leonardo (as a member of the FOOT Clan) by Andy Bennett, Splinter versus Shredder by Dave Wachter and Karai by Landon Franklin!

Karen had Jaiver Avila and Tony Kordos create this Lady Sif for her!

Angel went all out on this color commission of Wonder Woman and Catwoman by Brendon and Brian Fraim and she also picked up this Wonder Woman piece by Paco Baidal!

Lastly, and far from least, are Shane's additions to his X-Men art! Cable by Uko Smith and Scalphunter by Dave Wachter! 

There you have it! All the Armed and Dangerous characters we were able to cram into our sketchbooks! Lots of guns, gear, brawn and attitude! Plans are under way for our 2016 theme and big plans are under way for the Cranboyz 25th Anniversary in 2017!