Behind the Times: DMZ

I'm finally getting around to reading Brian Wood & Riccardo Burchielli's series, DMZ.

After slogging through the painfully overrated series, the Walking Dead (didn't even finish it... seriously, what the fuck people? Are our standards that low? Don't open a can of philosophical worms, then abandon it to go on a tour of repetition & hollow struggle), I am so pleased to finally have my hands on a series that takes the questions it raises seriously enough to make the bloodshed secondary to the personal/political struggle.

However, that's not why I'm here today. No, it's to discuss the appearance of one character, Parco Delgado.

Who I was so pleased to see was so obviously modeled on Sen Dog, from Cypress Hill.

For the kiddies out there, who don't know, and have no respect for real rap (not hip-hop, not entirely gangsta, but hard as fuck & miles high), Cypress Hill came up in the late '80s, and joined the ranks of Public Enemy & NWA, as something truly original, a little scary, and -not incidentally- reppin' the Latino pride.

Hand on the Pump:

Movie Review: The Possession

I've recently delved back in to a hobby that I used to really enjoy, but slipped away from me during some phase or transition in my storied life.

Watching movies.

 More precisely; watching movies at the theater, alone.

It struck me today, while in the theater, alone, that I should write reviews, so that other people can marvel at my brilliant observations.

Or, y'know, just so maybe someone might stumble across one and say unto him-or-herself, "Oh, he hates it... then clearly I must rush out to see it."

On the docket today we have The Possession, which is basically the Jewish Exorcist, minus the whole "actually scary" thing, at which the Exorcist excelled.

The only performance worth noting was 13 year old Natasha Callis, who does a beautiful job in the role of the sweet girl who winds up playing host to a demon & the becomes creepy enough to want to make you lock your kids in their rooms.

Actually that was a lie. Her performance was not the only one worth noting... just the only one notably good. The role of the mother is made into a buzzing shrew by Kyra Sedgwick. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, as the father, sheds light on why he's usually cast as a dead guy (see Supernatural, Weeds, Watchmen), and in one of the most devastatingly poor casting choices since Keanu Reeves was hired to play anything other than Ted "Theodore" Logan, the role of the exorcist (played in the aforementioned film, The Exorcist, by one of the greatest actors of any age, Max von Sydow) was handed to Matisyahu.

Matisyahu is good at what he does.

What he does ain't actin'.

Ultimately, if you're home late one night & it's on cable... go to bed. What are you doing up at this hour? Watching scary movies? Pah! You'll rot your brain.

60 Minutes

Why did 60 Minutes ever have Andy Rooney, when they could have had Stan Lee?

Do You Remeber This

Good lord, Dolly Parton was so hot, back when she had a human face.

... and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

This morning, I happened across an article about a young man in England who had his name legally changed to Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined. 

This prompted me to search the internet for other Really, Really Good Ideas.

How about I take your Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined, and raise you two friends who had their names legally changed to Emperor Spiderman Gandalf Wolverine Skywalker Optimus Prime Goku Sonic Xavier Ryu Cloud Superman Heman Batman Thrash, and Baron Venom Balrog Sabretooth Vader Megatron Vegeta Robotnik Magneto Bison Sephiroth Lex Luthor Skeletor Joker Grind.

Or, how about the Norweigian who changed his name to Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacca Highlander Elessar-Jankov...

Also, this is a photo of him:

We also have the 22 year old James Bond fanatic who changed his name to James Dr No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live And Let Die The Man With The Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View To A Kill The Living Daylights Licence To Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond.

Unfortunately, I'm having a difficult time tracking down too many that aren't just dumbass celebrities, so if you come across any, please let me know.

You may now go about your business.

The Surreal Sweater of Alan Moore, The Audacity of Marvel, & Other Terrifying Tales of Terror

Dear you,

I know I'm not much at keeping in touch... but I swipe too many lines from obscure texts...

It's like this: My thinking becomes too disorganized to keep stopping by your place with gems of delight. Fingers in too many pots, and all that. Trying to quit smoking. Taking the aggression that produces out on my weight set. My arms won't fit in my shirts, soon.

The good: Last weekend I was, thanks to the generosity of a dear friend, one of the handful of live participants in the Alan Moore video chat, which was done for the purposes of raising funds for the Harvey Pekar memorial statue, at the Cleveland public library.

Alan was, as ever, brilliant, thoughtful, funny, and articulate in a manner that we Americans will never master.

He was also wearing the most unexpected & daring sweater. Go here to see the full chat, along with his sweater, and a peek at his boots (made from tiny cows).

The bad: I want to call for a boycott of the new Ghost Rider film, but who the hell is going to go see it anyway?

Oh, wait... probably a lot of people, seeing as the first Ghost Rider film grossed $228,738,393, worldwide.

That's a whole lot of cheddar. If Marvel is pulling that kind of skrilla in off of one diabolically bad movie, then explain to me how this shit is OK?

I get that he signed away rights of ownership. I don't like the system which designed that fact, but legally he's got no claim. That said, how in the name of something incredibly crude -which I shan't type, for fear of religious retribution- was it reasonable for the defendant (which is worth enough money that Disney was willing to buy it for $4 billion, in 2009) to lay a counter claim against Gary Friedrich, for $17,000?

To the defendant & it's parent company, $17,000 is an insult tip.  To Gary, it's a whole lot more money than he has. I met Gary at Comic-Con, when he was receiving an industry award, for his outstanding contributions to the field, last year (yes, that recently). A recovering alcoholic, and a devout Christian, he is a sweet, incomparably genuine man.

And broke.

This is the long way of begging you to donate to the Hero Initiative.

Oh, and Roy Lichtenstein can continue to kiss my ass.

More Muck

Alright, so I've posted scans from my Swamp Thing sketchbook, and now I figure I'll throw in a sketch of the Swamp Thing that I did during dinner at the hotel bar, while I was on vacation:

Sketching Celebrities

It's probably fair to say that each of us could define the word "celebrity" a bit differently.

For myself -for the time being- I'm going to define a celebrity as being a person who has gained a rather widespread notoriety for having a productive and/or entertaining skill, which they use to say things of artistic & cultural value.

No, there is no way to quantify this.

This means that my definition of celebrity is, in practice, just famous & kinda famous people that I like.

I've been keeping a sketchbook of my bizarre little doodles of celebrities for some time now (I've been ignoring said sketchbook for most of that time), and I want to start showing some of those sketches to you... the three people who ever see this blog.

We'll start with the first in the book; Tom Waits (looking rather more like John Steinbeck)

And, hell, why not, a watercolor sketch of Ornette Coleman

What Would Tim Gunn Say?

This is inspired by (but should in no way be blamed on) my little homie, Kenny.

He's been working on a new, more rapid style of drawing, and this had led to a series of sketches of comic book heroes with tragic costumes.

I decided that I wanted in on this action, so I present a rapid sketch of Wolverine, in his original costume:

All apologies to Logan. I'm aware that someone else designed it for you, and that you would never have picked this absurd look for yourself.

Holy Crap!

I have not been paying enough attention...

Tomorrow is 24 Hour Comics Day.

I'd best gather my supplies.

Oh, wait... I can't. Tomorrow I'm visiting my grandfather's grave. Never mind.

An Interview With Harvey Pekar

I do hereby present the first follow through to my earlier post:

Some years back I was working for an online Pop Culture mag (that ended up dead before it even began), writing comic-book related articles. The mag had me covering Wonder-Con, in San Francisco, where I lucked into the opportunity to interview the legendary Harvey Pekar (who was in attendance to promote his book The Quitter, illustrated by Dean Haspiel and published by DC), whilst wandering the floor of the show.

Harvey wrote one of greatest autobiographical comic series, American Splendor, chronicling his life in stories ranging from epic graphic novels (Our Cancer Year), to single page accounts of encounters with characters on the streets of his home town, Cleveland.

Eventually American Splendor was adapted into a ground-breaking film, starring Paul Giamatti in the role of Harvey.

Harvey died in July of 2010, and I think it's long past due that people got to read this brief interview, where we get a good glimpse of Harvey's personality, and (perhaps more importantly) a true sense of what it's like to deal with some of the fans who attend comic conventions:

The Snob: It’s great to see you here. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. I know you're very busy.

Harvey: Well I, San Francisco I, y'know, it's a nice town. I like it, but I'm not really crazy
about comic book conventions. I'm just here to do some signings and stuff,  & answer some
questions & I'll do that

TS: (laughing) Cool.

HP: I mean, I got paid pretty good money, so I'll do it, y'know. But, uh, In fact in my,
in this book I have, I just wrote, I wrote about how much I couldn't stand comic conventions

TS: You've been doing a lot more [conventions] since the movie, & actually since Our Cancer
Year, really. The first time I saw you at a convention was when you were up for the Eisner
down in San Diego.

HP: Oh yeah...

TS: You've been doing quite a few of them, or quite a few more.

HP:Well, not "quite a few," I did a San Diego convention, uh, after the comic book came out. Y'know, before the movie came out, I just happened to be down there so they, y'know,
they trucked me over from L.A.

[it is at this point that a large, ape-like man, whose intellectual capacity seems almost
entirely occupied with the problem of keeping the saliva in his mouth, approaches the table,
obliviously interrupting the interview. I allowed the tape to continue rolling. I have not edited the transcription in any way. You can not make up shit like this]

Ape Man: What character you do?

HP: Naw, I'm just... Actually, I do me. I write autobiographical comics. I'm like an
alternative comic book artist, and uh...

Ape Man: Which one do you do?

HP: American Splendor. I don't normally work for DC, I do stuff for Random House, But I'm
just doin' a special project for DC.

[Ape Man wanders away confused, and another man approaches. I become convinced that this is going
nowhere. However now the new interloper proves himself to be a very different sort of gem. An
enthused fanboy, with legitimate questions.]

FanBoy: The movie adaptation [of American Splendor], how did you feel about that?

HP: I liked it

FanBoy: Yeah?

HP: Yeah, I thought they did a great job. Very imaginative, y'know, I wasn't prepared
for it. It was an innovative movie, and, y'know, I mean I was just lookin' to get paid for the
thing.

FanBoy: Right.

HP: And I didn't care, y'know, I mean, well, I did care if it came out... y'know, I mean
I was hopin' it would come out good.

FanBoy: Yeah.

TS: I mean, you don't want to be made to look like an ass.

HP: (laughs) Exactly. You know, I mean it was worth the money for me if it did.

TS: (laughs)

FanBoy: Did you have any kind of, y'know, control over the cast?

HP: No, no...

FanBoy: Did you like Paul Giamatti in it?

HP: Yeah, he was great.

FanBoy: Cuz I mean we just saw his newest, his latest movie, the, uh...

HP: Sideways?

FanBoy: Sideways. It was wonderful...

HP: Y'know, he got screwed out an Academy Award nomination for the second straight year.

FanBoy: Right

TS: Yup

FanBoy: Right. Well, it was nice talking with you. I'm gonna let you get back to this.

TS: Well I appreciate your questions

[As if on cue the table is again deluged with geeks wanting to press famed flesh, so I said my
goodbyes to Mr. Pekar, in search of some sore thumb]

Note: I transcribed this several months ago, & I haven’t the faintest notion what I meant by “in search of some sore thumb”

It was brief, but I really felt that it deserved to be seen, unedited. One of those things you couldn't make up.

The sort of thing that Harvey would write about.

Remember; if you'd like to have your comics reviewed here, leave a comment & we'll get something going.

A Decision

I have decided that I am going to add a new angle to this blog, in part because the current angle of self-aggrandizement is a bit inconsistent (this does not mean I'm eliminating that angle), and in part because I just bloody well feel like it.

So here's the intent: I'm going to start using this space for purposes of review.

I intend to review comics, publish comic related interviews, maybe even review comic related media.

I am aware that there is no shortage of such things on the internet. However, I feel that most other review sites have three flaws: 1) Their writers can't tell an adjective from an asshole. 2) They aren't honest with themselves, or with the rest of us, that they really are just rants & opinions. 3) They aren't MY rants & opinions.

Alright, with that all decided, if you want me to review your book, just leave & comment & we'll work something out. If you're a friend, I want you to think really hard about whether you want me to review your comics, because if they suck it's going to really awkward for both of us.

Let's do this.

Batman & Robin

Working on improving with this whole "internet" thing.

As opposed to my last post, where I realized that I'd failed to mention a book I'd worked on until well after it was released, this time around I'm going to mention it the day prior.

That's right, tomorrow will see the release of Batman & Robin #1 (of New 52 fame), for which I assisted the Right Honorable Mick Gray with the inks.

Here is the cover to be looking for, when you walk into your local shop, with a fistful of cash:

And here is a sample page of the interiors (one of the pages on which I worked):

Buy it. Many copies.

Oh, and buy it early. Rumor is that it's already headed toward a second printing.

Thanks.

Jonah Hex

I am bad at The Internet.

It is a tool for many things, and I am -in theory- utilizing it here for self promotion (Scientifical Fact: This is the third most popular use for The Internet, after 1) pornography & 2) saying stupid, thoughtless and/or mean things about other people), but doing a terrible job of it.

Which brings me to my point (it's 6:23 a.m., and I'm baking muffins; I shall not tarry): I believe I mentioned a while back that I had done some work assisting the great & powerful Mick Gray on a couple of books. The release of the first of those came and went with the first week of this month, and I forgot to say anything.

See? I'm bad at The Internet.

I shall now attempt to make up for my earlier transgression:

Jonah Hex #70!

I did fills & background inks on page 2!

Go buy it.

Now!

Bonus Fun Time

YouTube is the fucking Devil. Let's just be clear on that, now.

Sure, it's not as sinister as "social networking" sites, but it's got a greater universal appeal, and it combines the glory of the internet's One True Purpose (everything at your fingertips, at all times), with an unparalleled capacity for feeding the two great human weaknesses for mind-numbing nonsense & anonymous cruelty.

That said, it gives people an outlet for some really funny ideas, however pointless. In the following video someone handed over a combination of two of my all-time favorite monsters, Cookie Monster, and Tom Waits:

SDCC '11: The Aftermath, Pt. 2

And in this chapter, I shall present Con Sketches.

As recently as recently I picked up my first sketchbook that was intended to be a Con Sketchbook. I finally figured, "Hell, I'm old enough now to not be so cool as to think I'm above this sort of thing."

Quite by accident (kinda through the fault of some new friends who have "themed" sketchbooks) my Con Sketchbook ended up becoming a Swamp Thing sketchbook.

That said, before I post the images I feel it is important to note that Swamp Thing is the property of DC comics, was created by Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson, and was absolutely dominated by the genius of Alan Moore, Steve Bissette & John Totleben.

Now, I present the glory that is my Swamp Thing Sketchbook, up to now:

The opening salvo of the book, and the man largely at fault for the glorious theme, my dear friend, Rafael Navarro:

Next we have the creator of Blue Estate, Viktor Kavalchev, who claimed to have never heard of Swamp Thing, then looked at a couple of images & whipped this out:

Third in is one of Viktor's co-conspirators on Blue Estate, Mr. Toby Cypress

Next in is none other than Jason Shawn Alexander, whose most recent work graces the cover & interiors of Dark Horse's Creepy #6. 

I hate this guy. He's way too handsome to be this talented.

Then we face the might & glory of Barron Storey. If I need to tell you anything about him, then I'm not certain that I can talk to you.

And finally (for now), is something I never thought I'd have, from a man I never thought I'd get to meet. A man who was at the forefront of redefining the possibilities of art in the comic medium, in the 80s, Mr. Michael Zulli.

That's all for now, and good lord, it is more than I ever thought possible.

SDCC '11: The Aftermath, Pt. 1

Alright, let's just get this out of the way: This blog has not yet found its voice. I know this. I'm working on it.

It frustrates me, frequently. As I was handing out business cards at Comic-Con I found myself hesitant, regretting having put the URL on the cards, because of this lack.

Never fear, we'll find our way. This will not be another 40 years in the desert.

Now, for the bits to which the title of this post referred.

I have only two words that can accurately summarize this year's San Diego Comic-Con International, and those words are: Holy Shit!

The retelling of Con will come in chunks. There was a lot worth reporting, and you can't do justice to this sort of madness by blurting it out in one breath.

We'll start with the fact that the whole fucking thing is a massive fire hazard. 126,000 people in attendance, and I'd say less that 1/4 of that number knows their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes down to crowd dynamics & crisis management. The fire marshal almost shut down the Fox booth, because a massive crush of people couldn't pull their shit together & behave like reasonable human-beings when the Fox people trotted out yet another celebrity (seriously, Fox people, you need to find a better system, and request a booth in a location more suited to your shenanigans). Artists' Alley has been condensed down to less than 1/3 of the space it used to occupy, though it would appear that the number of artists in the space has not changed. This condensation means that the artists are cramped into unreasonably tiny spaces, with their only mode of egress from behind their tables being to move down the row, behind everyone else between their table & the next available aisle.

This is both uncomfortable & unsafe.

I've become concerned that the organizers of the convention have become a bit too attached to the success of the show. This is understandable, but the flaw is in overlooking that exponential growth is not an interminably supportable system. Sooner or later a thing will collapse under its own weight.

Don't take me wrong; I'm not one of those who is upset that "Con isn't what it used to be." Things change. This is the way of the world. This is how things work. Hell, this is why things work. Physical evolution; emotional evolution; social evolution. These are the keys to progress. This is, in fact, entirely my point: The show is changing, but there doesn't appear to be any attempt at balance & temperance.

It's like a localized version of the Dot Com boom, and without temperance & balance it will continue to zoom toward the same fate.

More soon.

SDCC 2011

Comic-Con 2011 is breathing down our necks. Just around the corner. Lurking in the shadows. Other metaphors, as well.

I'm walking into Con this year with a renewed sense of excitement, having just scored a gig writing a mini-series for Committed Comics, and having just come off a stint working as the inking assistant for the Great & Powerful Mick Gray on issue one of DC's new Batman & Robin relaunch, and on Johan Hex, over the pencils of the Almighty Ryan Sook.

I'll be out there looking for new gigs, & doing sketches.

See you there.

Two for One

It's O.C.F. time again. Two at once, because I haven't updated in so long.

Evolution of Style & Methodology

Way back when, I did a comic strip called Emcee Square. I didn't do it for long, but I really enjoyed it.

I recently came across the old strips, and it is absolutely hilarious to me how rapidly & drastically the style tightened up, and the method of producing the strip changed, taking us from a primitive cartoon to something far more slick (but no less a cartoon).

Here is the first of the Emcee Square strips:

& here is number 6:

Maybe it's time for me to take up doing a weekly strip again...