Alex Ross Gets Granular with Marvel Dimensions
We chat with Alex Ross and Sal Abbinanti about Marvel Dimensions, the ICON Festival of Comic and Narrative Art, and preserving the soul of superheroes.
We’re back from New York Comic Con and The Harvey Awards, and we’ve brought Alex Ross and Sal Abbinanti with us. On the show this week, we recap our experience hosting The Harvey Awards for the third straight year and discuss how purchasing a couple of original art pieces has propelled us into a bold new world. We also dive into Marvel Dimensions, the bold new graphic novel from Alex Ross, published under the Marvel Arts banner at Abrams ComicArts, and debate the core qualities of all your favorite superheroes.
Marvel Dimensions also began as a sort of recap for Alex Ross. Similar to his The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes project for DC from a few years earlier, Marvel Dimensions was originally conceived as an emphatic account of Marvel Comics. Basically, Alex Ross explains The Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Uncanny X-Men, and so on. However, Marvel Dimensions eventually found an interloper observing everything - Machine Man. Before he knew it, Alex Ross included a book within a book, a tie-in to his Earth X concepts, and a decree to readers and fellow artists: let’s remember what makes these characters great, and forget the add-ons that diminished their core ideas.
As Alex Ross’ official agent, and a heckuva artist in his own right, Sal Abbinanti carries a unique perspective. We see him every year at New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con, patrolling the Alex Ross booth and chatting with comic readers and art lovers. He has a finger on the pulse of what resonates with folks and what doesn’t. Abbinanti responds dramatically to the mighty swing Ross attempts in Marvel Dimensions.
Also, next month, on November 7th and 8th, we’ll see the launch of the ICON Festival of Comic and Narrative Art, co-founded by Sal Abbinanti. This high-end show will feature numerous rockstar artists: Daniel Warren Johnson, Nick Dragotta, William Stout, and Bill Sienkiewicz. Even Alex Ross contributes the show’s mascot, the ICON Angel.
Today’s podcast examines our community of readers and collectors, what they want from their favorite characters, and what Alex Ross wants from HIS favorite characters. We get granular, scrutinizing what the original Marvel Comics characters still offer us in 2026 and how they challenge our empathy and connection to our neighbors.
Continue this conversation with Alex Ross by following his Website and Instagram. And follow Sal Abbinanti on Instagram.
Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
This Week's Sponsors
This winter, rising star George Northy and Eisner Award–nominated artist Caitlin Yarsky invite you, dear listener, to a distant castle to behold a meticulously crafted, first-of-its-kind comics murder mystery starring the greatest man-made monster of all. Decades after his creation, the creature once known as Frankenstein’s Monster has reinvented himself as Europe’s most formidable mind. After years underground, his scars have faded, and his genius-level intellect has tamed his hulking nature, revealing an extraordinary talent for solving the world’s most inexplicable mysteries. Today, he is Prometheus Graft: Gentleman Detective, expert investigator, and something still not quite entirely human. From the ashes of Frankenstein’s past, witness the birth of a new legendary detective – only in Prometheus Graft: The Slayings at Death’s End #1 from Oni Press – on sale December 9th!
We’re cutting the Law down to size! As Judge Dredd celebrates fifty years of publication in 2027, now is the time to read his stories from the beginning. Judge Dredd: The Compact Crimes begins in January 2027 - a new series of compact comics featuring the Lawman of the Future. Collecting his original stories right from the start, this is the perfect way to try out Judge Dredd for the first time. Printed in compact size, each volume is filled with the sharp satire, keen wit, and all-out action Dredd is known for. Each volume costs only $12.99, with a new volume releasing every month in 2027 – so you can keep your Law in Order!
Horror fans may know Steve Niles’ paranormal detective from the cult-favorite Criminal Macabre series and his many adventures in prose. Now Cal returns in Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories! This brand new collection from the creator of 30 Days of Night is officially LIVE on Kickstarter from Clover Press! For more than three decades, Cal has taken on the cases nobody else would touch, facing vampires, werewolves, ghouls, demons, and every other nightmare lurking in the shadows of Los Angeles. Joining him through his investigations is his undead sidekick, Mo’Lock. Now Steve Niles brings Cal back to prose with ten all-new hard-boiled tales packed with supernatural crime, monsters, dark humor, and noir. The 216-page hardcover book features a foreword by David Dastmalchian, a painted cover by Joe Jusko, and chapter illustrations from an incredible lineup of artists.
Comments