JMart

More and more

2012-02-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

So yeah, last week I posted about the upcoming Fanboys VS Zombies comic, and how that was fairly close to a concept I'd been developing myself, and I lamented about missing out to other ideas beating mine to the punch. Since then the marketing of said zombie con concept has gone on, with double page ads in their books, and a full page ad in Previews... sigh. I just noticed something I hadn't before on their cover, that covers another story element of mine... double sigh.

Anyways, BleedingCool.com mentioned the book again earlier this week, but this time they linked to my previous blog post. So at least that's out there.

Not to mention, right after that happened last week, this image started floating around...
"'Falcon Girl' (Tank Girl / Star Wars)" T-Shirts & Hoodies by James Hance | RedBubble:

A Princess Leia mash-up with Tank Girl (and a great design too btw)... rather similar to an idea I had a while back, based on the popularity of my Molotov Cocktease fan art. Like I had done with Cherry Darling, I started dreaming up my own idea based on the character, and came up with this mash-up, to make my own...

Well, now there are other Leia mash-ups. Swell.
Again, likely just a good idea.
But who knows, this guy could've seen mine and thought up his own. His prerogative. After all, that's all I'd done.
Whatever.

Here's a look at a near finished version of of the artwork.

I plan to do more with her, including a likely shirt design.

TEE DESIGN: A game of previews 3

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here's another look at my new Game of Thrones/Tyrion Lannister/Peter Dinklage t-shirt design!These are the finished lines, done in pencil (col erase, H, and 2B lead) from the reworked in Photoshop roughs, which I then printed out and redrew using my light box.

Tomorrow we'll get a look at the next step, flat colors!

TEE DESIGN: A game of previews 2...

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

I posted the first rough lines for this Tyrion Lannister fan art yesterday, and today I'm back to share the next stage of the design process.

Here we've taken the original line art, and instead of just redrawing it, to get it more in line with Peter's likeness, I've beat it up a while in Photoshop, to get things more in line with what I'm looking for (re-positioning features, tweaking lines, etc). Instead of just digitally cleaning this up though, I wanted to redraw it, so everything could be clean and polished. So that will be the next stage (tomorrow)...

TEE DESIGN: A game of previews...

2012-01-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

I've got soooo many t-shirt ideas I'm planning and working up, but here's the first of which I'm close to finishing, so thought I'd share the stages of production all week!

Starting with the original rough lines.
It's a fan art, and a likeness, which is pretty off the mark here in this first stage, but not to worry, that's what all the various tools in the arsenal are for...

Here's the reference I was working with...

With Game of Thrones set to return shortly, and it being an amazing show that both I and the wife just absolutely love, I've been working on a couple fan art pieces for it. This is the first one, a t-shirt design of fan favorite character Tyrion Lannister, aka the imp. Peter Dinklage is all kinds of cool at bringing this character to life, so it's also a bit of a fan art for him as much as it is the show and the character.

Tune in tomorrow for the next stage...

More art on eBay

2012-01-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

This marker sketch of Psylocke goes off tonight...

And there's also an Amazing Spider-Man 129 (first Punisher) homage AVENGERS X-SANCTION 1 sketch cover...

Check them out HERE

Race to Redline!

2012-01-24T21:49:00.000-08:00

I'd been waiting to see the just released (in the US) anime, REDLINE, for over a year. TwitchFilm.com had featured it back before it hit the festival circuit, and it was jawdropping. Insane design, technically flawless, drop dead sexy animation. It's also the directorial debut of Takeshi Koike, whom you may know from the amazing Animatrix "World Record" segment, and he was also a key animator on my all time favorite anime, the blisteringly cool DEAD LEAVES (with Redline sharing a fairly similar style). It didn't hurt that it's produced by renowned anime studio Madhouse either.

Got a chance to watch last weekend, and it does not disappoint!

The animation is sublime throughout, but where Redline maintains the next level cool is with the vision and scope of the story. Sure, it's ultimately a simple race tale, and for those amped up by it's high octane race visuals from previews and scenes online, it doesn't disappoint. However, there's more to this anime then just mindless racing action (not that it might not have been better served with more of that), but it offers a full story, on a few levels, with many sub-plots, character arcs... more than you'd expect from a title like this. Also, with it's intergalactic race circuit, it's of course rich with supporting characters of amazing variety. Basically, there's a lot to love, and that makes Redline utterly re-watchable. It did not supplant Dead Leaves at the top of my anime list though. Here's hoping we don't have to wait several years for another anime to challenge for the title!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Con wars! (zombie comic style)

2012-01-22T02:27:00.000-08:00

Since I have lots of ideas for comics, concepts, characters, and stories, many get through various stages of development, from ideas, to plots, to production art, and beyond. It's often the case, where some time will go by, and I'll eventually see those ideas show up in other places, be it TV, movies, or comics (and I'm sure it's not an occurrence exclusive to myself). It's always frustrating to see new fun ideas you came up with though, creative gold, being mined by someone else, but I've gotten pretty used to it.

Well, it's happened again, but this time it's especially stinging for a few reasons.

A couple years ago I had an idea for a zombie story centered around San Diego Comic-Con, that I quickly dubbed CON of the DEAD. Plotting a graphic novel, scripting, and actively looking for an artist to partner with (as, at the time I was still finishing Super Real, and also developing Pulp Girls). For a time there were a couple different artists even potentially attached, and I even promoted the title with flyers at Comic-Con, created a page on the SRG site/blog, and again a bit later with a nice poster at the inaguaral ZomBcon (I even ran an ad for it in the SRG Presents: Wolves of Odin GN). So with the various promotional materials and efforts, the concept has been pretty public - an independent comic company hires a booth babe to portray their bad girl comic character, Vampblade, complete with twin 30" replica blades, at Comic-Con International, when a fanboy zombie outbreak occurs, and the model is forced to fight for survival alongside some other rather unique equipped con-goers.

Now, it turns out, as reported by BleedingCool.com, Boom! has a comic book coming soon called Fanboys VS Zombies, with the concept being that a group of fanboys band together to fight off a zombie outbreak at Comic-Con International.I'm not frustrated that the concept is so similar, as much as I am that it will likely come out before mine. I don't really think the folks behind this idea stole mine or anything. I mean, it's entirely possible, I've had it out there for the taking, but it's just a cool idea, that I think it was just a matter of time before someone else came up with or executed it. It does make it extra rough to know it's set up as comic book though, and that the cover art is so similar to the poster we created for Con of the Dead...

Their cover art (by Humberto Ramos no less)

Our promo image

Our image, to be precise, is from October 2010, just over one year ago, and was posted to DeviantArt as well as my blog. Notice how both covers feature fanboys and zombies pictured outside the actual San Diego convention hall... Again, I don't really think this is swiped or taken from our work, it's a pretty easy image to create for such a concept, but it is at least annoying to see such similarities.

However, to further make this a tough one to swallow, the artist that's attached to the project also happens to be a good friend of mine in the industry!

Sheesh!
Rub it in fellas!
LOL

So yeah, I know this is all on me for not getting my project out there sooner, but unfortunately, it never came together like I wanted (anyone who follows me, knows I've been talking about this for some time). All that said, I by no means am throwing in the towel here, or conceding to this other nefarious doppelganger!! Con of the Dead is, beyond it's fun concept, a cool story and cast of characters, that stands on it's own (and also sounds somewhat different from this new concept), and I look forward to competing in the market with it. (And it should be noted, I'm not exactly a stranger to rolling out a concept that has rival projects breaking similar new ground... Super Real wasn't the first or only mash-up of reality TV and comic book superheroes to hit the racks in the mid/early aughts when it finally saw full release.)

I guess it should also be mentioned, that it certainly won't hurt to be clear up front that I've got a similar concept to this new one, should there be any eyebrows raised in a similar fashion on the other side of this zombie Comic-Con coin.

The lesson here is one I've known for far too long, get stuff out asap before someone else beats you to the punch! For once I just wish this didn't come true.

More to come!

Not80sU UPDATE quatro

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

I bring more manic 80's zombie production art from my upcoming NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD comic...

Bill (the fabulous Mr McKay) gets just the right amount of motion and detail jumping off in this partial glimpse of a double page sprawling panel!

Can we outdo ourselves with preview cinco?!?!Stay tuned!!!

Another week...

2012-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

another batch of sketch cards and art on eBay!!
CLICK HERE

Another round of: Rantz Angels, Pulp Girls, and Galaxgals!

Uncanny X-Men 1 sketch cover (Emma Frost), and Wonder Woman sketch

More sketch cards on eBay!

2012-01-11T00:36:00.000-08:00

Just listed another batch of ARTIST EXCLUSIVE sketch cards on eBay - CLICK HERE

Rantz Angels (from my buddies card set), Pulp Girls (from the 5finity series from my concepts), and Galaxgals (from the 5finity series)

Tis the season...

2011-12-31T13:09:00.000-08:00

to worry about the end of life as we know it on Earth?!?!?

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

If nothing else, here's some good music to check out from the last year... BEST of 2011 SPOTIFY playlist

Not80sU UPDATE 3

2011-12-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Time for another weekly glimpse at production art from my upcoming NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD zombie comic...

Since we've been peeking at the zombie action lately, I thought I'd show a panel from some down time.

Calm before the storm!

Looks like quite the party! At least there's a fair amount of 80's action going on there...
It's actually a shot of our protagonist, Jen, having not quite a great time (looks like she'd rather be squaring off with hordes of coke-zombies!).

Artwork by Bill McKay.

Sketch Cover!

2011-12-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

Here's another sketch cover I just finished up of the recent Marvel Comics DEFENDERS issue 1 relaunch...

It's done as an homage to GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS number 1, and features most of the new Defenders; Namor, She-Hulk (red), Doctor Strange, and Silver Surfer!

Listed on eBay HERE

Here's the original (Gil Kane) cover...

sketchcards!

2011-12-16T12:32:00.000-08:00

More of them, back on ebay to be precise...

Like this one, snatch it up for cheap, she's going to be like my mascot and/or future comic character. Right now she qualifies as a Pulp Girl.

My art on eBay can be found HERE

Not80sU UPDATE 2

2011-12-16T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd show another glimpse at production art for my upcoming NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD zombie comic...

Here's another panel from the first issue's 17th page, with more feral coke zombie action!

"Nose candy!!!!!!!!!"

Artwork by Bill McKay.

Not80sU UPDATE

2011-12-09T16:43:00.001-08:00

Just got some new artwork for my in production new book, NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD, so thought I'd share a small peek...

Coke zombies going gonzo for that foo-foo dust!

Artwork on the book is by Bill McKay.

We're nearing completion of pencils for the first issue.

Artwork on eBay

2011-12-07T15:14:00.001-08:00

The winter purge continues...
I've got another round of artwork recently listed on eBay.

This time I've got another Uncanny X-Men 1 sketch cover (and again with Emma Frost, since the last was popular):

A couple of my AE cards from the 5finity Galaxgals Eradication set:

(I call them Martian Princess and BluBarella)

Another Painkiller Jane, and a Pulp Girl (my Dust Bunny, from my Pulp Girls concept/s):

Contact me if you want anything similar, I have more sketch cover and sketch card blanks!

New Tee design: FROG BROS.

2011-12-07T09:32:00.001-08:00

Here's a new tee design I just finished...
For some reason the idea hit me to mash-up THE LOST BOYS' teenage vampire hunters, the Frog Brothers, with the 8bit goodness of Super Mario Bros.

Which gives you Edgar and Alan Frog in the style of Mario and Luigi!!

You can vote for the design over on UK custom shirt site, QWERTEE now: HERE
Go on and pop on over there now and help me out (they've got some cool stuff)! ;)

Or you can pick it up now from my RedBubble account: HERE

Sketchcards on eBay

2011-12-02T14:48:00.001-08:00

Time to do some winter art clean out, which means wrangling up all the loose artwork that's accumulated throughout the year and sell sell sell!

I've got a bunch of blank artist exclusive (return) sketch cards to get rid of, including; Painkiller Jane, Galax Gals, and more.

I sketched up a couple of the Painkiller Jane cards the other day and posted those on eBay (along with a couple others) with low opening bids...

I've also added a bunch of sketches/originals from various pieces to the for sale gallery in my DeviantArt gallery, as well as marking down old stuff, and offering a buy one get one free and other incentives. You can check those out and details on the offers HERE

Stay tuned to the blog or LIKE my new Facebook fan page for updates on more winter sale stuff!

Artwork: sketch cover

2011-11-22T20:37:00.001-08:00

Did an Emma Frost wrap-around sketch cover for the recent Uncanny X-Men number 1 relaunch...

Sketch cards for charity

2011-11-18T09:35:00.001-08:00

Steve Frank runs the sketch card company 5finity, and every year he does a charity auction for March of Dimes. This year I contributed 5 cards to the auction, and they're now up on eBay for bidding.I did my cards right as DC was doing their new 52 comics relaunch, so all the cards are inspired by the new takes on some of my faves...

Wonder-Woman, Batman, Superman (in his Action comics street Supes guise), Superman, and Supergirl

BRONZED BEAUTIES 6: bronze blitz!

2011-11-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Bronze Age, comics forgotten era.
In the 1970's comic companies pushed their content in new and wildly different directions inspired by the anything goes social attitudes of the times, while also balancing new fan fostered talent at the helms of post Comics Code adherent, kid friendly books.
While not much born of the era had lasting impressions, there's a cool factor to the books that's singular in style, and inescapable if one looks just a bit closer...
That's where I come in, with Bronzed Beauties, my weekly look at some of the books from the era, that feature more were-men, cyborgs, man-things, barbarians, sorceresses, dinosaurs, monsters, and damsels in distress than any other time, all in striking and vibrant (or should I say faded) four color ink!

Since it's been a few months since I last featured any bronze age beauties, before I get back into doing full weekly book reviews, I thought I'd do quick reviews of multiple bronze books I read through a while back, just highlighting some of the key bronze attributes for each, and not fully detailing them this time. With some cool new books in full review to follow, starting next week!

So, let's get started...

THE BOOK: THE SPIDER-WOMAN
ISSUE NUMBER: 2
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 35cents - May 1978
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

You may recall, I left off my tales from the bronze age with a look at this book's first issue. And, since I was on a bit of a Spider-Woman kick (having never checked out her original run), I dove into the second issue as well...

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT):
It's crazy! Spider-woman amidst a scene that includes a colorful knight on horseback and a wizard?!? With talk of excalibur?!?!

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY):
We met Spider-Woman in the aforementioned previous review, so please revisit that (and the link above) if you'd like to get the skinny on Jessica Drew...

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 Hostess snack cakes:
With the same creative team as her first issue, the second issue continues the storyline, with Jessica (aided by what may be Merlin) finding her destiny leading her to the states, with the smitten London SHEILD agent still hot on her trail, and ready to follow Drew to America, agency job be damned. Oh yeah, and a lowlife gets possessed and turned into a knight that wields the excalibur. On paper it sounds nicely wonky, but in execution it's still fairly middling...

Silly, but borying, with decent art, and a lame story... 5 out of 10 variety of snack cake!

THE BOOK: Edgar Rice Burroughs' JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS
ISSUE NUMBER: 1
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 30 cents - June 1977
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

With a major live action Disney feature film (from a Pixar director) due out early next year, and John Carter all over the 2011 comic shop racks, it was really hard to resist picking up a full run of the bronze age Marvel comics on the cheap...

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY):
Before he created Tarzan, Edgar Burroughs created John Carter, the civil war soldier who was mysteriously transported to Mars, only to wield amazing strength and power because of the difference in Martian gravity. Turns out Mars had a couple waring races, one almost completely human, except for their redder skin, and the other, massive, green, and with extra appendages. Oh yeah, there was also a stunning Martian princess, that John Carter took for his mate!

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN):
Inspired!
Gil Kane does the heavy lifting here, and is joined by Dave Cockrum (of Uncanny X-Men fame) on the first issue (and cover). It's illustrative, detailed, and expressive. Some of the best you'll find for the era.

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS):
Here's where this one falters, for a couple reasons. First, the scripting is dense. Marv Wolfman runs the show there, and being that this is tied into a series of books (if I understand it correctly, the comic actually takes place between two paragraphs of one book), Wolfman tends to be a bit verbose (especially by today's standards). The book is filled with text, often times describing the action in prose, and also fleshing out the backstory of the books. Which leads to the second weak point, that while this is a first issue comic, it doesn't really begin at the start of the story, instead it drops us into the middle of a conflict for our hero, who's already been established on Mars for years. Thus, the narrative is filled with text catching us up on the story of John Carter, while little action happens on the page. And if you're familiar with the John Carter backstory (I've only just begun to learn it with the current Dynamite series/s), this is a bit tedious. But, on the other hand, if you're not familiar with the story, it's kind of a lame introduction to it.

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 Hostess snack cakes:
With the storytelling issues here, and the so far fairly generic impression of John Carter as a character and hero, I can only give this one so much love for the great art and concepts...

7 out of 10 variety of snack cake!

THE BOOK: Edgar Rice Burroughs' JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS
ISSUE NUMBER: 2
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 25cents - July 1977
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

Like I said, I picked up a fat stack of this run, so I decided to try my hand with the next issue...

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 Hostess snack cakes:
After being disappointed by the first issue, I wasn't too pumped to slog through the second issue... but I'm really glad I did! With the same creative team as the first issue, with the exception of Rudy Nebres replacing Cockrum on inks (and actually adding a quite different lush textured style), John Carter gets off to a bit of a slow start, still weighed down heavily by Wolfman's text heavy style (which of course, again, is standard for the era), the book really takes off and gives us a full arcing, and fun, sci-fi story, that leaves me anxious for resolution in the next issue.

8 out of 10 snack cakes for this issue!

THE BOOK: MARVEL CHILLERS featuring TIGRA THE WERE-WOMAN
ISSUE NUMBER: 6
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 25cents - August 1976
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT):
First off, how about that title!!! Wow, they don't make 'em like that any more!
But yes, there's plenty to love about the cover too!!
There's Tigra, fierce and feral, in chains, with her claw and skull adorned bikini... in some kind of high tech location... being assaulted by a hatchet throwing muscle-bound native with a wolf headdress and sidekick screaming, "DIE, WERE-WOMAN, DIE!"!!!
Wow!!!!!!

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY):
Tigra, formerly known as "The Cat".
The Cat was a four issue limited-series in the early 70's that was part of a small group of female characters, by female creators, that also included books like Shanna The She-Devil, and Night Nurse.
As the top first page blurb tells us, The Cat was killed early in her super hero career, only to be brought back by a mysterious race of Cat People... making her stronger, faster, and more agile and aware, at the cost of her humanity (perhaps explaining her tiger stripes)!!!

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN):
Inspired baby!!!
It's got the legendary John Byrne, very early in his career.
Byrne could not only draw with style and detail, but also was well adept at illustrating the ladies!!
Of course, he never looked better than when being inked by Terry Austin (as with many artists), but here he's inked by Frank Springer, and although overall his work does look decidedly different, there's still plenty of magic in his effort here.
Plus, after the first page splash, we're treated to an amazing double page splash... recreating the stunning cover image (that was not by Byrne), from the reverse angle!!! I always love when we get a massive splash page in forced perspective with foreground characters looming large and nearly bursting off the pages!!!!

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS):
Well, we pick up the action of the last issue or issues, with Tigra chained in some kind of underground lab set to explode!!! Enter Red Wolf and Lobo (also from the cover), who appear to be coming to finish Tigra... but actually set her free!
It's written by Tony Isabella, and his style is light and zippy. With text that doesn't weigh things down like Wolfman, but gives us insight into the character and puts an exclamation on the action! This is my first taste of his work, and I really like it. It's very in line with the newer creator driven vibe of the bronze age.
But hey, that's just the first few pages, there's still escaping from the collapse, high speed rail rides, and a face off with The Rat Pack to be had!
The Rat Pack?? Well there like a mid-70's styled group similar to AIM or any number of Marvel hench organisations... led by some dude with a "weird beard" and a soul-catcher device!!!

GUESTS (ARE THERE ANY, HOW COOL ARE THEY):
Well, it doesn't get much cooler than Red Wolf and Lobo does it?
How about...
The Super Skrull!
Yep, tune in next issue for the face-off with the skrull with the super powers of the mighty Fantastic Four (all four of them), in a single (Skrull-faced alien) being!!!!

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 Hostess snack cakes:
I fucking loved this book!!!
It was so much fun, with such great art!
It really doesn't get much better than this, but, since I'm new in the bronze game, I'm going to leave a bit of leeway for perhaps something greater, and give this one 9 out of 10 variety of snack cake!

So there you have it, a look at four fabulous funnies from the famous era four decades gone by!!!

Keep your eyes peeled for more 70's beauties very soon in this same space bronze believers!

Artwork: New 52 Supergirl sketch

2011-11-16T09:29:00.001-08:00

Here's a recent sketch (pencil, ink, and marker on 8.5x11" acid free paper) of the New 52 version of Supergirl (loving the new reboots of Supergirl and Wonder Woman btw)...

Which is available on eBay now!

I hope to do more sketches and sketch covers (like this recent Wolverine and the X-Men number 1, I sold on eBay, pictured below) to put up on eBay this winter!

Portland Comic Book Show

2011-11-12T23:52:00.001-08:00

My local con, the PORTLAND COMIC BOOK SHOW is tomorrow (Sunday), so just a quick note that if you're from the area too, you can catch me at the show (table 149).

I'll have my new NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD books, as well as much much more, and will be doing sketches!

New Facebook fan page and store

2011-11-10T22:05:00.001-08:00

I recently created a new store with all my comics, sketchbooks, and items in it, including fan art prints (which until now I've never offered online) and more! You can check that out by clicking below here:

You can also get 20% off right now if you visit my new Facebook fan page and "like" that!

I plan to add more material moving forward, including more prints, and t-shirts.
Right now there aren't any t-shirts in there, but don't forget you can pick up some of my designs from my Redbubble store:

New comic available now!

2011-11-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

My latest crazy comic creation, NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD (aka NIGHT OF THE COKEHEADS), is available now in a limited edition full first issue preview!!!

Can you say commie contaminated Colombian cocaine carnage?!?

Check it out now...
The book showcases full story pages, plus script to thumbnail, and character sketch sections (plus a zombie Selleck lookin cover by yours truly)!!

Pick it up HERE

ARTWORK: Dr Mrs The Monarch

2011-10-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a fan art I did recently, colored up by Steven Mack, of THE VENTURE BROS. Dr Mrs the Monarch.

Tales from Netfilix

2011-10-26T02:09:00.000-07:00

It's time once again to catch up on all the cool and genre DVD's that pass through my Netflix account...
Take note, there are always some gems that most folks haven't heard of or seen.

Let's see what we had over the last few months...

Cedar Rapids

Ed Helms (he of The Office, and The Hangover, and The Daily Show) finally gets a starring role, and even though you'd never suspect he could pull it off, Cedar Rapids is just the right mix of goofy earnestness to make him shine.
I love this story of insurance salesmen (and women) having adult fun in the not-so-big city. It's quite the journey for our stunted small town boy child.
Don't confuse any of this for something big or flashy, Rapids is just as small and dry in scope as it's premise. But it's pretty sublime if you get sucked into the ride.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Creepshow 3

This 2006 horror anthology is called Creepshow 3, but it really has nothing in common with the original 1980's films, other than it's format and tone. It's decidely low budget, but, if you can tolerate it's crude production, does have some fun horror shorts to while away a couple hours.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry

It's easy to see why Tarantino got some of his inspiration for Death Proof from this 1974 car picture. What's surprising however, is how much this inspired Smokey and the Bandit!

DMCL is a terse car chase film starring Peter Fonda as the wheel-man in a robbery, trying to outwit a savvy local cop, that's too cool for his superiors, but also way smarter than them. But is he smarter, or better, than Fonda's driving wunderkind, and can Fonda's character outmaneuver his one night stand that's hitched along for the great escape??

It's a damn good time of a 70's movie, with a bad ass car.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

This would make a pretty uneven TV pilot, that feels like the best you could say for this dud.

If you want a good Dylan Dog flick, try CEMETERY MAN!

NOT RECOMMENDED

Elektra Luxx

A strange duck of a movie. Like Tarantino meets Lifetime...

It doesn't really come to much, but is a fun attempt.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

Future Kill

If a 1985 post apocalyptic rambler sounds good to you, you could do worse than Future Kill.

Okay, not really. It's painfully slow, and aside from the main cyber-baddie, Splatter, is missing any sci-fi production outside it's premise. You'd never know it by looking at this flick.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Hell of the Living Dead

A 1981 Italian zombie schlock-fest, set in Papua New Guinea and featuring some stock footage of disturbing bits of gore. There's a SWAT team too, zombie natives, and zombie kid kills.

Aside from the scientific facility stuff, not much engaged me here

NOT RECOMMENDED

Insidious

No.

Just no.

Too much.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Martyrs

Wow!
This film is French, twisted as hell, and delightfully surprising.

It will potentially scar you... yes, scar, not scare (though it will of course possibly do that too). Like Human Centipede it's an inspired story of all too human horror.

It's nasty, and it's fucked up. But I loved it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Paul

Just like Your Highness, Paul is a movie I should love, and really wanted to like, but man, it's a complete failure. A by the numbers plot, that focuses on Simon Pegg in an awful hairpiece, and an alien that should never have been voiced by the usually infallible Seth Rogen. He completely takes any focus on "Paul" and places it on his voice acting. So what should be a fun twist on the alien being genre, ends up a bad Set Rogen picture.

Everyone involved here should deliver something better.

NOT RECOMMENDED

The Perfect Host

This is a great setup, where what you see, is definitely not what you get, or expect.
Frasier's David Hyde Pierce is great in the showcase role here.

This only falls apart once it lays on the plot twists too cutely. Not sure how anyone is meant to roll with these conveniences on top of everything and not get taken out of the movie. That's too bad.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

Priest

After starting off promisingly, Priest devolves into action and plotting that's increasingly cookie cutter and paper thin.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Quarantine 2: Terminal

For a direct to video sequel (to the US remake of the Spanish gem), this was surprisingly entertaining.

Setting the story on and around a plane, with the mysterious zombie-like breakout, Terminal builds a good survival horror story for the money.

RECOMMENDED

Rammbock

Rammbock is a straight-forward German zombie movie, that's short in length (64 minutes), and completely watchable, but doesn't really stand out in any way.

Check out my full review on my Zombie Related blog!

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

[REC] 2

Speaking of REC, here's the aforementioned sequel...

While I enjoyed this, I didn't like it as much as the first, and found it lacking the dangerous vibe of good zombie survival horror.

The third one looks good though...

RECOMMENDED

The Reef

While pretty much the same movie as Open Water, a based on true events retelling of people being hunted by sharks, I enjoyed The Reef much more for it's production values (since it is told traditionally as opposed to first person video), and it's survival horror propulsion. Whereas in Open Water, the protagonists just float and hope for rescue, in The Reef, they have clear goals to strive for, and therefore, engage us viewers much more as we watch to see if they can make it.

RECOMMENDED

Scream 4

It's better than the first, and was hooked into and enjoyed the ride. The intro scene was the standout, and the reveal was not. Plus SPOILER ALERT...
I really would have rather seen the status quo of the cast shaken up by the end, not left intact.
...END SPOILER

But it's better then the 3rd, and maybe the 2nd.

RECOMMENDED

Source Code

Duncan Jones' follow up to his stand-out debut, Moon, is a trippy cool time-twisting sci-fi romp.

Part Groundhog day, part Tom Clancy, part 2001, all good.

RECOMMENDED

Stake Land

Basically a mix of the classic post apocalypse/zombie survival story, and the road, this low key and gritty film makes vampires the center of the thrust.

Much better than I expected, and only really marred by some to cute vampire cult developments.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Stripperland

A low budget parody of Zombieland, with zombies replaced by zombie strippers.

Despite it's bargain basement production, bad acting, and on-the-nose humor, it's still quite fun.

Check it out if you can handle that.

RECOMMENDED

Super

James Gunn (Slither) returns with an inspired take on the Kick Ass story - real life regular person fighting crime (see also Defendor or Special) - starring Rainn Wilson as the fucked up loser who has a mental slash theological break and decides to don tights and a giant wrench of wrath.

It's delightfully twisted and fucked up fun, with some amazing work from Ellen Paige as his demented sidekick.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Supergirl

I'd been on Superman kick recently, rewatching the original series of films, which included the fourth film that I'd never seen before, and then this spin-off staring Clark's cousin. Unlike the awful waste of celluloid that is Superman 4, the 1984 Supergirl motion picture was pretty damn fun.

It has some great moments, and plenty of bad one's too, sure, but it works really well in the spirit of the franchise as a more female spin on the mythos. It also has some great set pieces (and again, some really awful one's too, lol).

RECOMMENDED

Take Me Home Tonight

Many a critic espoused on this not really needing to be set in the 80's, but they're missing the point.

It's a fairly enjoyable coming of age tale, with a likable cast, and fairly good 80's nostalgia come to life.

It won't be a classic, and will most likely leave most cold, but I enjoyed it.

RECOMMENDED

Trollhunter

Oh how I wish I knew less about this going in.
That said, the title kind of says it all.

This Norwegian genre film told from the perspective of documentary filmmakers is inspired and an amazing thing to behold.

The production and story bring it absolutely to life.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Vampire Killers

What starts out as a really fun premise, two single London dudes in the backwoods with sexy vampires on the prowl, that's chock full of great production and a likeable cast. Does nothing much with all that.

From there it kind of tries, but only ever reaches for story or comedy, and misses.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

Vampire Party

Unlike the previous UK vampire-comedy offering, this French horror-comedy delivers in spades!

Vampire Party pops with creative directing and editing, clever plotting and character development, and slickly produced visuals.

The effects are great, and the whole things is a blast from start to finish. Imaginative and witty fun!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Ward

A new John Carpenter genre film.

While solidly shot, and engaging, is ultimately a lame Shutter Island rip-off.

NOT RECOMMENDED

The Warrior's Way

Let me just say that I was completely blown away by this one. Mainly because I expected it to be as bad as advertised. But man, instead I was totally caught up in the magical mix of stylized action and blending of genres.

Just like most Eastern films, the pacing can be challenging. And sure it's got other problems, but it more than makes up for them with creativity and production design that creates a unique cinematic experience. From the sets, to the wardrobe, to the characters, plotting and the action, everything has a level of craft that's both unique, and exciting. Some will find this to be a dud, but it's got plenty of charm to give it a shot!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Wild Zero

This 1999 Japanese zombie movie is more a rock'n'roll story, with zombies. Low budget zombies.

But, it does have the uber cool Guitar Wolf, and Ace to follow.

Off beat is the key here.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

YellowBrickRoad

A solid trip into madness, as a research group, put together to write a book on a decades old town disappearance, go on a journey of discovery down an untraveled forest path.

RECOMMENDED

Your Highness

Big dissapointment.
The tone of this is just a mess, and being a huge Danny McBride fan, I have to say, he's grossly misused here. Instead of playing to his strengths, he plays against type and it fails woefully. This could have been so bad ass if he was his typical self.

As it is, it's pretty bad, with moments of whimsical fun.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Zombi 3

The 1988 sequel in name only (at least mostly, there may be some story element, likely centered around the zombie origins, that I don't recall), to the 1979 Italian zombie classic, Zombie (aka Zombi 2, which was not really a sequel to the retitled Italian release of Dawn of the Dead, Zombi).
Fulci returns, but to little effect.
It does have a couple fun 80's themed elements, in conjunction with mild zombie action, to make it bearable, but nothing otherwise remarkable, or remarkably entertaining.

NOT RECOMMENDED (MILDLY so, if you're a zombie completest)

The standouts here have to be MARTYRS, SUPER, TROLL HUNTER, and VAMPIRE PARTY.

They're assaulting, demented, inspired, and smartly made (respectively) genre work that make seeking out new stuff so much fun!

ZOMBCON this weekend - and a new book!

2011-10-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Ahhh yes, it's that special time of year, fall is here and the undead are shambling their way to Seattle for the second annual zombiepalooza know as ZOMbCON!!!

I'll once again be exhibiting, and though it's tough to beat last year's guest list (Romero, Bruce Campbell, Max Brooks, Malcolm McDowell) this year's is pretty good:
Tam Savini
Bill Moseley
Sid Haig
True Blood people
Walking Dead people
tons of zombie movie people

So, if you're in Seattle or the NW, make your way to the killer festivities at the Sea-Tac Hilton this Friday-Sunday (I'll be at booth 101).

I'll have a special preview version of my brand new zombie comic - NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD!

Zombie P.I. cover (featuring my artwork)

Featuring artwork by Bill McKay

It's 1986 and the Russian's last ditch cold war effort is to strike at our American excess lifestyle with bio-engineered Colombian cocaine.
What happens when two girls out for a good time cross paths with a huge celebrity party hyped up on zombie blow?!?!
Radical undead action man!

These books are limited, but I'll offer them online after the show (if any copies remain), otherwise email me asap and I can hold copies aside ($5 each plus shipping - I'll note you the pay info)!!!

We'll also have a brand new issue of Zombie Tramp!!!

Should be fun!

Meanwhile at the movies... Thing vs Thing!

2011-10-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Waited in line last night for a preview screening of the new THE THING prequel/reboot, so here's a quick review...

Go see it!

What? Want more?

It's really good!

What's that you say, what if you love Carpenter's The Thing?

Well hell, I do, as with most horror/genre afficionados, I fucking love it. So imagine an actually really good prequel (unlike the Star War prequels - though I have little gripe with those prequels myself), with more of most everything you liked about the first.

Is it as great as Kurt Russell and the 1982 version?

Nah, he's not in it, and it's not John Carpenter at his prime, but Mary Elizabeth Winstead is solid, and it is really damn good in it's own right, plus it works really well with that film.The director works really hard to keep you off balance throughout, which is key since we know how this plays out. Plus, it's got a bug nuts Silent Hill meets Lovecraft style upgrade to the creature/s that 30 years of cinematic improvement allow!
Kudos to the producers, and again, the director, for crafting this in the same cinematic style as the first, and not leaving too many "Hollywood horror production" fingerprints on it. It's rated R and built right... unlike some recent horror classic reboots (AHEM Friday the 13th, COUGH Nightmare on Elm Street)!!!

As I said, this one gives you an update of the story we know, but it also gives us more than we got before...
Man, it was good!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

ARTWORK: Painkiller Jane sketch cards

2011-09-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Had a busy summer, but I'll be getting back on track online soon...

Here are the rare cards I did for the recent 5finity sketch card set of Painkiller Jane.

I never read the comics, as I always thought the character looked silly (to be nice), but it did become a short lived Sci-Fi TV show...

The cards are based on the comics, and the character was fun to draw!

I have a few artist exclusive cards for this available, email me if you're interested.

NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD

2011-08-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so back at San Diego I had a bunch of new project announcements, both personal and on the publishing side, that I said I'd go into more detail about. So, since I just got done finalizing some script pages on one the projects, my NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD, I thought I'd go ahead and go into some details about that now...

As you might guess from the title, it's a zombie story. I love zombies, and survival horror, but with a never ending stream of zombie comics I'd resisted writing my own for quite a while. Until I came up with my CON OF THE DEAD graphic novel (which is still in limbo, in need of an artist) a couple years back. However, already having one zombie story in the works, I felt no need to muse on further zombie comic ideas, that is until last year's ZomBcon. Something about debuting (Dan's) Zombie Tramp, taking part in a first ever all zombie convention, and meeting George Romero got my zombie juices flowing. Aside from CotD, and Zombie Tramp, I really wanted to do more zombie comics. So after many months of not actively doing anything about it, inspiration struck again and I started thinking about new zombie concepts.

That's when this image hit me...

The simple stark silhouette of the iPod ads, converted to a zombie with a Walkman... a zombie story with an 80's theme. I didn't have a story, but damn if that image didn't work and perfectly capture and inform what could be a zombie story. One set in the 80's, like so many of the classic films (like one of my all time faves, Return of the Living Dead), but written with the fetishistic hindsight of 80's nostalgia and pop culture reverence that those films couldn't have. The story itself had to be quintessential 80's. And so that's when Night of the 80's Undead really took off.

What if it was a story about Regan era cold war, drugs, celebrities, and of course, zombies? Wouldn't that capture everything?

And what if aside from the 80's celebrities, the story touched on 80's youth, a la John Hughes?
Wouldn't that be even cooler?

So yeah. Walkmans, Swatch watches, coked-out zombies, mall-rats, and 80's icons, all mixing it up in a blast of VHS B-movie carnage. That's Night of the 80's Undead (aka Night of the Coke Heads)!!!

The plan is to include Not80'sU as part of a new zombie anthology, to start being released at this year's ZomBcon. But it may just be released all on it's own to start with, but definitely upon completion as it's own graphic novel. Production is already underway, with a teaser script (similar to a trailer) being completed in time for San Diego Comic-Con (with a limited amount of copies still available HERE), and the first full part already underway.

For this project I'm scripting, but working with another artist. Someone I'd considered for CotD, but knew instantly fit perfectly here... Bill McKay. Bill has been working quite a bit recently with 5finity on their Zombies VS Cheerleaders comics, and brings a great indie toonish horror vibe to his stuff, that's big on detail and great at illustrating offbeat zombies. With his attention to detail, and style to an extent, also great at conveying real world stories, like zombie comics, where things are all very rooted in reality. No, it's not photo-realistic by any stretch, it's very stylized, but still very much grounded in reality.

Take a look at some of his work, I'm lucky to have him!

And while Bill does great inks, at this point I'm leaning towards leaving the line work at his ultra-detailed pencil stage, and coloring straight from that. As, besides being a big time pencil honk (inks? bah!), I think the gritty linework serves the zombie story well...

I intend to color the artwork myself, and am considering a couple different options. Either using a limited neon color palette (in keeping with the 80's), or a subdued tonal wash style... We'll see!

Night of the 80's Undead will be a crazy fun time, and I can't wait to get you more of it as soon as possible!

Stay tuned for more coke-fueled, Aqua-Net soaked undead previews and info!

Comic-Con '11

2011-08-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, since it's been wrapped for a week, it must be past time to post anything I plan to share about the world's craziest comic show!

It was a great year for SRG, with Zombie Tramp continuing it's strong performance at shows. And then also with our many debuts and previews for upcoming works (see the previous post about the show, and stay tuned for more to come with more details on the various projects!)!!!

It was also a good year for me personally at the show, sales wise. The show is always a great time, as I get to see many old friends (some of which I only see once a year there, or less), meet new friends, both that I've known online or have just met, plus see fans new and old. And then spend time after the show catching up in and around San Diego. It can't be beat! But sales are a different matter, and it's always good to have those play out well too. And since the focus of most of my recent shows has been publishing centric, it's tough to get attention on my art and more personal work. But that's a balance that I'll keep managing, and have some plans to wrangle better next season.

I got a new smart phone a little while back and had hoped to use it more to take pictures and maybe video, and to do a better job capturing the crazy and cool moments of these shows to share, but unfortunately, with everything I was juggling, I didn't really do much of that here at all. I do have some pictures of my one early AM walk around the show floor that I'll post on my Facebook HERE

So check those out!
(The highlight of stuff I saw had to be the awesome Mego style Presidential Monsters figures - the concept, design, sculpts, and art for which were pitch perfect brilliant - and, having just re-watched the entire first four original Superman films, the life size and very life like dead-on replica of Christopher Reeves Superman!)
There were, as always, some really cool things to see (and buy, and wish for, etc etc).

Comic-Con, even though it's now radically changed, is still my favorite show to do, and I look forward to it every year (as I always say) like I used to Christmas morning! Plus, I have a few days of withdrawals post show every year too, wishing I had more time at the show to do and see and take it all in... it's so crazy to watch G4's coverage back at home and see the metric ton of stuff I missed. Your perspective of the show from behind the table is so different from what actually transpires all around you!

Also, on the exhibitor side of things, the show continues to perform more like a media fan event than comic show, but with 130,000 people in attendance, there's still plenty of comic book related goodwill to be had. For those creators that see the con as the end all be all of shows to get to, be warned, there are many other shows that will better serve you from an exhibiting standpoint. That said, there are many things that only Comic-Con can offer!

Now stay tuned for those updates on the various new projects I have in the works!

Cowboys and Aliens just root...

2011-07-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

but don’t toot.

It's actually a fun movie though. A bit long, detached, and over the map directoraly on the downside, Cowboys and Aliens still musters up a decent popcorn mash-up. Craig and Ford make the most of their parts, which, in the hands of Favereu, are pretty slim on dialogue and long in grit... lots of posturing and scowling, with bursts of gunplay, horseplay, and the requisite western accoutramonts. There's no Coen bros. scripting to chew on here... not even Bruce Willis or Arnold action guy quipping.

And while the standard western shots look great, Fav is not up to task on the more advanced scenes. The alien tech and set pieces feel pretty shoe-horned and not really exciting visually.

What we're left with is forgettable but enjoyable fluff that only offers up a by the numbers effort to make good on the promise of the concept.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

On the plus side, we caught it as the first in a double-feature at the drive-in. Yes, I said DRIVE-IN! They do still exist... if barely. There's one in our area, not too far from us, and we like to go when we can, but hadn't made it out in years. So, a warm July night with a Cowboys and Aliens and Bridesmaids double-feature was too good to pass up! With the temperature in the mid-80's and clear blue skies, it was perfect.

Also, you can take your dog to the drive-in, and pack in beer or whatever you choose. Plus, if you grew up in the drive-in era, there's a great sense of nostalgia for those lost late night evenings with giant movie screens all around you, the buzz of the people, and radios broadcasting the sound. There's nothing like it! 99W, where we go, also do a great job of capitalizing on that, running various old time promos before the film, and old trailers in-between... complete with a time capsule snack bar.

Seek out and support any remaining local drive-ins that may be near you!
99w.com has a list of active drive-ins HERE

Oh, and though it's not really the type of material I cover here, Bridesmaids was indeed a great movie - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

San Diego Comic-Con

2011-07-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

I'll once again be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con International, setting up to exhibit Super Real Graphics, as well as my art, along with Zombie Tramp creator Dan Mendoza.

The show runs from Wednesday preview night, til Sunday, and you can find us in the small press area at L-02.

This will be the debut of the Zombie Tramp graphic novel in San Diego, so we'll have a brand new limited edition print for those who pick up the book.

Plus we'll be debuting a new zombie preview flip book, a limited edition run of 100 copies featuring preview pages from Zombie Tramp volume 2 (by Dan) on one side, and a preview of a new project of mine on the other, NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD.

Night of the 80's Undead is a new comic created and written by me, and featuring epic zombie artwork from Bill McKay (Zombies VS Cheerleaders). What's the book about? Grab a copy of the preview book to find out!
For those who can't make it to the show, you can pick up a copy from me directly via PayPal for $7 with shipping in the US:
12 pages
color and black and white
complete story intros from both books

Plus I may have another top secret preview for another project of mine...

However, on the art side, I'll have some new prints...

And a brand new 2011 JMart sketchbook:

28 full color pages
featuring fan art, t-shirt designs, and comic book pinups and commissions from the past year
hand made for $10 each
- or $12 online with domestic shipping:
Let the madness begin!

ARTWORK: Galaxgals Eradication sketch card sample

2011-07-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Been pretty quiet online lately... had issues with my PC and it was down for a couple weeks (my new 1 terabyte external drive seems to be the culprit... grrr). Busy ramping up for San Diego con in just over a week, but thought I'd share a preview from the just released 5finity sketch card series GALAXGALS ERADICTION...

Since the card series was open to space girls of any variety, I went ahead and did a special six card series of my very own space girl, HONEY BROWN (IN THE X DIMENSION), from Pulp Girls! Even styling the cards after the first trading cards I ever collected, the old school Topps Star Wars card series' from back in the day. I loved ripping into new packs of those and getting elusive cards I'd been missing, with all the cool shots from the movies, telling their stories. So, of the six cards, two are character shots, and four are story cards that tell her origin, all numbered and designed the same (as seen here).

I'll have a few artist exclusives here soon if anyone's interested (to put Honey Brown, or whomever you choose, as long as they're not copyrighted by someone else, on).

Oh! and the artwork on this card here is a swipe!!!
I stole the layout from the pages of the first part of Honey Brown as drawn by the amazingly talented Jerry Gaylord... so props to him!!

TALES FROM NETFLIX:

2011-06-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

It's once again been many moons since I've spoken about the myriad movies I and the wife view at home... I like to highlight the genre stuff that others may miss, and call it TALES FROM NETFLIX.

So, here's a big ol rundown of the last few months...

BATTLE LA

I waited in line for an hour to see a preview screening of this, and didn't make it in.
And sure it would've been better on the big screen... maybe.
Maybe not, because despite the big-screen premis here, the story really works better on a small home video scale.
And if it weren't for some third act stalling and fumbling, trying to shoe-horn in too much "gosh these marines are sure heroes" and "hey, he got our buddies killed" BS that wasn't necessary and only derailed and cheapened things, this could've been an epic flick.
As it is, the inspired cyborg aliens and tech design, and richly illustrated battle was on par with classic 80's concepts.

RECOMMENDED

BLOOD NIGHT: THE LEGEND OF MARY HATCHET

Stalker/Slasher urban legend terrorizes a group of teens here.
So it's reliant on some strong directing, and inspired backstory and script to make it work.
And for the most part it does.
The teens here are fun and believable.
The antagonist is done well... though straight from the Rob Zombie school of origins, complete with Bill Mosley (in the role of Graveyard Gus... yes, Graveyard Gus, lol).
It's fun enough and has enough spark to enjoy.
Just don't get caught out on blood night, when Mary, or her kin are experiencing a heavy flow!!!

RECOMMENDED

ALIEN TRESSPASS

Just got around to watching this, a love letter to 1950's alien/creature flicks, from a couple years back. I thought it would be a fun romp, but I was surprised by just how much fun it was, and how much I liked it. The cast - including Eric McCormack, Robert Patrick, and the dad from Wonder Years, Dan Lauria - and story are great. Perfectly capturing the era and those classic monster matinées!

RECOMMENDED

DRIVE ANGRY

Nick Cage escaped from hell and out for vengeance?
Nope, not a Ghost Rider sequel, but a grindhouse/70's dark hero send up from the team that did the 3D My Bloody Valentine remake.
Should be cool right?
Well, in theory, not so much in execution.
It is an entertaining enough watch though.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

THE VIDEO DEAD (1987)

Zombies? Check.
80's zombies? Oh yeah.
80's zombies that spring out of a fucked up old tv set!?!? Hell yes!
Video Dead is great.
What a cool fun story concept, and it's well done too.
Though the human cast is serviceable, the zombies are inspired... with "iron head", and the bride. Wow!
And shit, they made up their own video zombie rules!!!
Shoot or harm them and they'll think they're being hurt!
Show them their reflection and they'll be reminded they're dead and freak out!!
Lock them up and they'll go crazy and eat themselves!!!

RECOMMENDED

OPEN HOUSE

Twisted, if a bit cold, but still some demented fun... if you want to see a kinky couple come into a home and kill for no reason, other than to make snuff videos... with the cast of True Blood (Sookie and Bill) and Cylon number 5 (Tricia Helfer).

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

BLACK DEATH

This is one of those where you know crazy demonic shit is going to happen, eventually. Only in this case it's set in medieval times with Sean Bean.
I wanted this one to go further... but it's still effective.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

NEIGHBOR

Very similar to Open House, where a serial killer, this time instead of a young couple, a young girl, goes from home to home torturing and killing people for no apparent reason. Here though, there's a little more gonzo flair, and gore (some very graphic), as this killer is really twisted. It shines though, thanks to the performance of the main sadistic killer girl. It's hurt though by it's convoluted beginning that's hard to follow and confusing (and I never have that problem with movies)...

Neighbor has a meant streak that's beyond most.

RECOMMENDED

BURIED ALIVE

Standard cookie cutter horror here. A group of college kids going to a family ranch, stalker/slasher horror ensues. However, what it lacks in any kind of originality is a fun spirit that makes it easy to watch and enjoy.
Plus it's got Tobin Bell as a dirty old caretaker...

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

ASTRO ZOMBIES (1969)

Late 60's camp with zombies unleashed from reanimating corpses to use as astronauts, that sport luchador style masks, and are being chased by a Chinese commie spy played by Tura Satana!?!?
Yep.

This is epic b-movie at it's best. From the opening sequence and it's antique robot toys flailing to mod music, to the CIA agents who spend their time at a go-go bar, to the aforementioned robo-zombies who stalk young women...

RECOMMENDED!

6 FILMS TO KEEP YOU AWAKE

This collection of Spanish horror packaged by Lionsgate in 2006, proceeds their 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR series, and is much better. In this case each disc has two features, so 3 DVDS total...
Of the 3, 2 are very good, and 1 is just okay. Not bad.

BLAME / SPECTRE
These are the weakest two.

NOT RECOMMENDED

THE BABYS ROOM / TO LET

The Baby's Room is an entertaining suspense thriller in the spirit of Twighlight Zone or Hitchcock... not great, but a decent watch that's well done.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

To Let is from the modern torture genre, where a young couple are held against their will in a forgotten apartment complex with some twisted inhabitants. Some inspired leftfield stuff, and strong performances reel you in...

RECOMMENDED

A REAL FRIEND / X-MAS TALE

These are by far the best two of the bunch...

A Real Friend, while subtle and slow, is charming and just a really cool idea. If you like the horror genre, you'll get a kick out of this one that features a young girl, neglected by her single mother, who conjurs up some cook imaginary (or real?!?) friends.

RECOMMENDED

X-Mas Tale, like Super 8, is inspired by those 80's kid-centric fantasy tales, where a group of friends deal with the supernatural. In this case a wanted covict woman dressed as Santa Claus who's fallen down a pit, that the kids blackmail into giving up her stolen loot... who may or may not be undead! It's fun, well done, and inspired.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

SKYLINE

Hey look, another sci-fi movie!
Well, Skyline got drubbed at the theater, for not being Battle LA I guess.
It is however an effective small budget sci-fi/horror survival piece, that while not great, is not nearly as bad as people with high expectations thought it was...

RECOMMENDED

SHADOW

A war vet biking in Europe stumbles into torturous evil.
Like many modern European horror works, it's got some unique spins on modern torture porn horror, but at it's core we've seen it all before.
There are some nice creative touches though...

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

THE LAST LOVECRAFT: RELIC OF CTHULHU

No, that's not Nick Frost of Shaun of the Dead fame on the cover... though I'm sure it's meant to look like him.
And that's fine, because Relic Hunter is to Lovecraft, what Shaun was to zombies.
Twenty-somethings dealing with Lovecraftian creatures come to life.
It's inspired, but not executed as well as it could be.
The humor, while amusing, is pretty flat.
But it's still really fun.

RECOMMENDED

SIREN

Kind of a modern spin on the siren song.
Not bad.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

HIGH LANE

Modern torture porn horror meets French hiking story that paralels The Descent.
It's pretty good, til it devolves into your standard inbred Hills Have Eyes scenario...
But the first act, with the scenery and hiking that's involved is pretty spectacular.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

BITTER FEAST

Food critic torture porn!
James LeGros (Ally McBeal, Phantasm II) is really good as the pompous TV chef who goes psycho when Joshua Leonard (Blair Witch Project) gives him a bad review.
Some fun food based items ensue...

MILDLY RECOMMENDED

DEATH RACE 2

Even though I liked the first, in spite of itself, you know a straight to DVD sequel with an all new downgraded cast (except, or including, Danny Trejo) can't be any good... and it's not.

NOT RECOMMENDED

CATFISH

While not a genre movie, it is off-the-beaten-path, and boy is it good.
A much better Facebook movie.
And one that creates such edge of your seat suspense and drama!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

Though it can't be as good as the first, it's surprisingly effective.

RECOMMENDED

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE

Yay, one more modern torture porn!
This time another remake of one of the true classic torture porns (like Last House on the Left etc)...
Look kids, gang rape! Yeesh.

NOT RECOMMENDED

I'm sure I've missed some, but that'll have to do for now!

Now get over to Netflix and queue some of these up! (But keep in mind, these recommendations often times assume a predisposition to liking these types of movies... if you're not a big horror/genre fan, you may want to bump the recommendations down a notch)

BRONZED BEAUTIES DOUBLE FEATURE: Marvelous Ladies 2

2011-06-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

The Bronze Age, comics forgotten era.
In the 1970's comic companies pushed their content in new and wildly different directions inspired by the anything goes social attitudes of the times, while also balancing new fan fostered talent at the helms of post Comics Code adherent, kid friendly books.
While not much born of the era had lasting impressions, there's a cool factor to the books that's singular in style, and inescapable if one looks just a bit closer...
That's where I come in, with Bronzed Beauties, my weekly look at some of the books from the era, that feature more were-men, cyborgs, man-things, barbarians, sorceresses, dinosaurs, monsters, and damsels in distress than any other time, all in striking and vibrant (or should I say faded) four color ink!

This is the second part of a special double-feature this week, chronicling not one but two Bronzed Beauties, and this week we get a bit more literal, featuring the mighty Marvel debuts of two female heroes... The Spider-Woman and The Savage She-Hulk!

Next up we have...

TODAY'S BOOK: The Savage She-Hulk
ISSUE NUMBER: 1
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 40 cents - February 1980
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT):
Like Spider-Woman, another purely classic superhero offering, showcasing the characters transformation from mild mannered young lady, to massive savage green goliath! It's illustrated by John Buscema, and though pretty simplistic, is very affective in showcasing the all-new, all-female Hulk!! Buscema also gets points for making the character sexy and lady like, and not too she-male looking, as other artists can tend to do.... yet not pushing those elements too far either, a nice balance.

And hell, it's got the tagline "Stan Lee proudly presents" on it!!!

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY): In the late 1970's Marvel had had some success getting their properties into other media, namely with the Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk TV dramas. So, Stan and crew began to worry that others would try to steal their thunder by creating knock-offs of their core characters, and rushed to get female versions in their books to establish copyrights as well as creative directions for them and such.

She-Hulk, as it turns out, unlike Spider-Woman, is tied to her namesakes character, Bruce Banner - The Hulk! Bruce Banner kid cousin, Jennifer Walters, who he hasn't seen in years (since she all growed up), is an attorney in Los Angeles... that is until Bruce pays her a visit!!! You see as fate would have it, Bruce shows up while Jen's being targeted by some mob muscle involved in one of her cases, and she gets shot, leaving Bruce with the only option of giving her a blood transfusion to save her life. Being a genius scientist he remembers they're the same blood type, the only problem is, you know, his blood's kind of gamma irradiated!!!! She-Hulking ensues!!

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN):
The art here is solid, for the debut issue we have one of the stars of the Marvel Bullpen, John Buscema. If you've read any back catalog of Marvel heroes, you know John's stuff is clean and heroic, all strong jaws, chiseled bodies, and gritted teeth. His modern disciple being Ed McGuiness, and Rob Liefeld to an extent. His work here is only hampered by the TV-esque plotting that's surely meant to mesh well with the concurrently running and popular Hulk TV series.

John really shines in the brief bit where Jen transforms into She-Hulk, and we get some true blue mighty Marvel action... however brief.

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS):
Not much.
Unless you count a couple failed mob hits, and Jen Walters less-than-shocking transformation (see cover art for a mild spoiler in that department) into the jade giantess...

70's style gangstas!

Bruce Banner, lethal hoser!!

However, the story here is rather special, in that it's written by none other than STAN THE MAN freaking LEE!!!!!

Yes true believers, this was Stan's swan song as it were at Marvel, being the last character that he created, before pretty much putting down the mighty Marvel scripting pen. And while the plot is pretty mellow yellow, the dialog is Lee-rific! Plus you get not only a She-Hulk origin story, but also a recap of that of The Incredible Hulk! Not bad for the friends of ol' Marvel I'd say.

This is also the debut and first appearance of the character, in what would be only a 25 issue run. She-Hulk was brought back, to a bit more success, mainly created by John Byrne, in the late 80's (in the copper age, and thus outside our purview here at Bronzed Beauties).

GUESTS (ARE THERE ANY, HOW COOL ARE THEY):
Why yes, we get treated to a guest by the aforementioned Bruce Banner, who does indeed Hulk out... albeit off panel. But we do get to see a hole punched through the hospital room wall he was being treated in! (Plus the brief origin... which I just absolutely am a fan of... the brief one two three page origin stories, worked into the larger issue stories)

ADS (WHAT COOL STUFF ARE THEY SELLING):
ROM SPACEKNIGHT, who's all over the ads this month... what, being a toy tie-in, there's a full page ad for his comic, and a full page ad for his toy (and comic). Plus an ad on the Bullpen Bulletins page!

Rom, dear readers, is one of my all time faves. I picked up his book starting with issue 3 (or was it 4) off the spinner racks, and spent many an hour scouring local convenience stores for those first couple back issues. Not to mention countless hours devouring his long running series!

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 Hostess snack cakes:
I'm going to go ahead and give a savage 7 out of 10 variety of snack cakes here... I'd like to rate it a notch higher, but really this story, outside the central notion of Banner's female cousin getting a Hulk-sized blood transfusion and makeover, is fairly uninspired.

BRONZED BEAUTIES DOUBLE FEATURE: Marvelous Ladies 1

2011-06-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

The Bronze Age, comics forgotten era.
In the 1970's comic companies pushed their content in new and wildly different directions inspired by the anything goes social attitudes of the times, while also balancing new fan fostered talent at the helms of post Comics Code adherent, kid friendly books.
While not much born of the era had lasting impressions, there's a cool factor to the books that's singular in style, and inescapable if one looks just a bit closer...
That's where I come in, with Bronzed Beauties, my weekly look at some of the books from the era, that feature more were-men, cyborgs, man-things, barbarians, sorceresses, dinosaurs, monsters, and damsels in distress than any other time, all in striking and vibrant (or should I say faded) four color ink!

This is the first part of a special double-feature this week, chronicling not one but two Bronzed Beauties, and this week we get a bit more literal, featuring the mighty Marvel debuts of two female heroes... The Spider-Woman and The Savage She-Hulk!

First up we have...

TODAY'S BOOK: The Spider-Woman
ISSUE NUMBER: 1
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 35 cents - April 1978
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT):
Nothing crazy here, classic hero stuff, very much in the vein of Spidey... probably because it's illustrated by none other than John Romita, who, along with Steve Ditko, are the artists most associated with Marvel's wallcrawler! Is is a very strong work of cover art though, perfectly capturing the character in an iconic and illustrative way, with striking desigin elements spotlighting the titular hero in action against men with guns all aimed squarely at her, amidst the center of a spotlight...

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY): In the late 1970's Marvel had had some success getting their properties into other media, namely with the Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk TV dramas. So, Stan and crew began to worry that others would try to steal their thunder by creating knock-offs of their core characters, and rushed to get female versions in their books to establish copyrights for the name/gender variations, as well as creative directions for them and such.

First up was Spider-Woman, in early 1978, but this wasn't actually her first appearance... she had debuted a year earlier in Marvel Spotlight number 32, but her origin is recapped (or first revealed, I'm not sure) here. Turns out Spider-Woman, though appearing very much like Spider-Man, has no ties whatsoever to him and his origins. Instead, there's some convoluted back-story of scientist parents, colleagues, death, and sickness to their child (brought on by their work in their top secret European high tech labs amidst what appear to be the Alps), who can only be saved... by utilizing the experimental work they're doing, naturally. Which essentially turns her into a half human half spider hybrid, complete with spider abilities and a venomous sting (but yet leaves her looking completely normal when not in Spider-Woman garb!).

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN):
Carmine Infantino is the artist here. And for other Gen X Marvel comics fans, you'll probably know him as I do, the longstanding early artist for Star Wars, post the initial issues. To be honest, I always hated Infantino's work back in the day, it can be very stylized in an odd exaggerated way, that I found to be nothing short of ugly back then. Now, looking back, I love his work. I don't know why I couldn't handle him on Star Wars, probably because he didn't try to stick very close to the likenesses and style of the property, but I find his work to be quite dynamic and fun now. On Spider-Woman, with inks here by Tony DeZuniga, his work is a bit more reigned in, but still a solid choice to depict Jessica Drew's agile nature. Infantino's stuff, like it or not, is rock solid in depicting motion and movement, and those are the bedrock of sequential storytelling.

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS):
Written by Marv Wolfman, who appears to be quite prolific at Marvel during the bronze age. We pick up with Spider-Woman slinking around a grocery store in the middle of the night, conflicted as to whether she should steal food to survive, or hold to her moral ground and tough things out. What an epic dilemma and intro to a character folks! Yikes. Turns out she sides on theft as being wrong, but gets caught as she leaving (by an old timer security guard no less!), and then another mysterious man. Escaping and alluding both, after knocking the latter into store displays and rushing off unmasked! What drama!! From there we see her human identity, which oddly has her living for free in an English apartment, with all around her finding her to look cold and inhuman, despite appearing totally normal... queue flashback origin, repeat happenstance conflict and coincidental collision with mysterious well dressed older man from earlier, who she later saves, despite having just recently smacked him upside the head with a lamppost!

It's pretty pedestrian stuff, with some soapy elements I suspect sewn in to appeal to more than just boys, but it's all very odd. The fact that she's not tied in any way to Spider-Man. Her convoluted origin. Her current story being set in London England, and tied to this mysterious British spy... it's definitely a departure from the rest of the original Marvel Universe, but not not trafficking in the bizarre or outlandish elements that so much of the era was known for.

GUESTS (ARE THERE ANY, HOW COOL ARE THEY):
No guests here, it's all Spider-Woman all the time!

ADS (WHAT COOL STUFF ARE THEY SELLING):
Sea-Monkeys anyone?

It's mind blowing that you could send away for these things, that were really what? Plankton???
A comic book staple, as iconic an ad as the muscle gain spots featuring the undersized teen getting sand kicked in his face by the musclebound man...

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 Hostess snack cakes:
Despite this being a debut of a cool female character, complete with flashbacking origin, sporting art from a fairly exciting artist, the whole thing is lacking in any real drama or especially anything very spectacular. So, cool design, art, and core concept, with not much else.

I like Spider-Woman, but can only muster 6 out of 10 variety of snack cake here!

Stay tuned for part two of our double-feature... THE SAVAGE SHE-HULK!!!!

MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... When JJ met Steven

2011-06-09T23:18:00.000-07:00

Got to see another movie preview screening this week (gosh I'm lucky), this time it was the much hyped top secret JJ Abrams project (is there any other kind?), SUPER 8, which comes out Friday.

Super 8, for those that don't know, is the follow up directorial effort by Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost, Fringe, Mission Impossible 3, Star Trek) inspired by classic Spielberg mystery/spirit of wonder blockbusters, that also happens to be produced by, Steven Spielberg. However, we know movies are produced by other directors all the time, and that doesn't necessarily mean we can expect something very much in line with what they themselves would do. Just look at the Transformers franchise, also produced by Spielberg, I don't think many people would say those movies feel very akin to ET or Close Encounters. Here though, it's got Spielberg written all over it... Small town besieged by some kind of unknown otherworldly entity? Check. ...youth driven cast of pre-teen misfits? Double check - Hell, there's even a young up and coming blonde girl in the group from a famous Hollywood family (Elle Fanning, younger sister of Dakota, ala Drew Barrymore, of the Hollywood Barrymore's, in ET) ...Lots of sweeping shots of wide eyed wonder that are both sublimely lit and swirling with wind and air? Oh yeah, chock full of it! If it wasn't for the trademark lens flares (yes lens flare detractors, JJ's back at it here) and harder science bent to the mystery, you'd swear it was actually a Spielberg pic... and that's all meant as a compliment. And, in a movie that's a love letter to this type of thing, that's all good.

And Super 8 is plenty good. It's full of movie magic, charm, and a cast that lights up the screen. The story, and it's core mystery/development are both solid. Unlike M Night Shyamalan, another Spielberg devotee, instead of adding his own "twist", JJ simply teases us as to just what it is we're seeing unfold. Like the best Speilberg. Jaws became an all time great movie because Spielberg understood he didn't have to show the massive great white to scare the living shit out of us, he just had to tease us with glimpses of it, and we'd do all the heavy lifting. Super 8 is very much of this school of film... for better or worse.

The difference between the Spielberg classics and what JJ's reaching for here is in the execution and reveal of what's behind everything, and when we finally piece together exactly what's at play in Super 8, you're either completely on board, or not, and lets just say the details of what's happening are decidedly JJ Abrams in nature. This JJ centric core conceit, coupled with some rather jarring things that he hopes you'll just go with in the spirit of film (I don't want to say what, for sake of spoilers... but if you really want to know, I'll put them here in invisible text which you can highlight: A) the train crash being caused by a pickup truck (which is even pointed out by the characters) B) the driver of said truck surviving the crash C) the survivor of said crash keeping all his top secret government notes in the same school storage locker as confiscated items from class, and D) the prominent use of a Sony Walkman, in the summer of 1979, a little too early from my recollection of when someone would actually be using one of these), ultimately keep this from being a truly great film for me. I just wrestled too much with the nature of what was driving the story (again without spoiling anything, if you want to know, see the invisible text: the creature, as we learn about it, was too conflicted in design, being both primal monster, and super evolved alien intelect, wasn't something I could fully buy into... I felt they wanted to have their cake, a Cloverfield monster, and eat it too, ET), and if I can't buy into that, I can't ultimately buy into your movie. As always though, your mileage may vary.

There's certainly enough amazing things here for a really good movie; the stories' setup, the cast - especially the young group of friends and their interplay, the spot on recreation of 1979 America, and the over all beautifully shot and staged production, I did really enjoy it. I just wanted to like it more.

RECOMMENDED

MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... more like 2nd class.

2011-06-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Saw X-Men: First Class today... here's a review.

So, after first hearing about this reboot origin story to the X-Men film franchise, and learning of the characters (and cast) in place, I had mixed feelings. But, in the buildup to it's release, I'd begun to get genuinely enthused about the movie. The early 60's era setting look and vibe was really appealing, and the mish-mash character line-up of mutants, not adhering to really any kind of X-Men continuity (I'm a huge long time X-fan), and the use of truly lower tier characters (and even some that were either made up, or just so obscure I have no idea) looked to work in the samples and snipets I'd seen. Then as release came even closer, a strong positive buzz began to build. Having seen the film, I'm very much back in the mixed feelings category.

I did really like the majority of the film taking place in 1962, and I thought they brought that to life and used it in the story quite well, but the pure Hollywood fabrication of the X-Men origin story was as big a mess as the cast appeared. There was a good story in there somewhere, perhaps, but it never came together in any way that worked for me. I'm not sure if it was just a flawed movie in setup, or in execution, or both.

What worked. Like I said, the 1960's asthetic fit the story and concept well, and was brought to the screen nicely too. The core story of the budding friendship and rivalry of the x-universe's two father figures, Xavier and Magneto. There's a genuine good story there, and both actors worked well, I'm just not sure enough was done with that, or that enough drama was focused on them to make it worthwhile. Of the cast and characters, only Emma Frost and Havoc (and maybe Banshee to an extent) truly worked, both on screen in general as a concept and in this story.

What didn't work. There are some really bad effects at play a couple times, but primarily they're tied into the odd cast of characters and the lameness of some of their abilities. Or, conversely, when you take a character like Magneto, who has some pretty massive omega-level magnetism powers, it's one thing to bring them to life in printed art, or even in fluid animation, but quite another to have him manipulate freight ship anchors, or levitate submarines on screen in shoddy CG... And then to a lesser degree, the actors attempting to bring the eclectic cast to life. Jennifer Lawrence shined in Winter's Bone (and got an Oscar nom), so her turn as (the young) Mystique will be particularly scrutinized, and I'm not sure she didn't take a major step back here. She's got a fairly big role and doesn't really make much of it, being competent at best, to mostly odd and lifeless, but that could be more to do with the directing as much as it was acting, because the same could be said of most of the cast, particularly the young mutants. Most all of them, outside of Beast, who's okay, aren't given much to do and come across pretty flat and generic. Of course, as I keep coming back to, they're also saddled with the task of making their B to D list mutants believable as real life characters. I mean, the bug winged Angel is pretty lame even in the comics, what with her insect wings and acidic flem wads, so what made the creators (which includes the original X-movie honcho Bryan Singer, who scripted and produced here) of this film gravitate to such goofy choices. Seems pretty simple, with the bazillion characters to choose from, stick to those that are cool or can work well on film... Instead of a character like "Riptide" (who I only know the name thanks to IMDB), ie the nameless, line-less mutant who's mutant power seems to be to generate miniature table-top sized twisters from thin air. Really??

Aside from the boatload of issues with the cast/characters, and the film's half-assed attempts at humor, ultimately the whole thing is bogged down by it's focus on origin and putting all this made-up x-stuff together. Besides Sebastian Shaw and his push to force world war III by escalating the US/Russian arms race, there's not much else being offered here. And when your origin backstory consists of things like a young Mystique, just, I guess, going from well-to-do home to affluent home raiding refrigerators disguised as the tenants, and that she just happens to do so at a young Charlie Xavier's Westchester mansion, of all the places on Stan Lee's Earth... yeah, it's pretty contrived. Or that Sebastian Shaw, in the books, leader of the arch rival Hellfire club of mutants, in the movie was apparently a high ranking German officer that crossed paths with and then glommed onto Magneto in World War II era, but then also somehow, was a mutant too (with one of the few affective looking powers at play in the movie), that later got his own submarine and mutant sidekicks to plot his mutant takeover of the world... the only relation to the Hellfire club being that he, for some reason, most likely just to get at a crooked general/high ranking US official, has an elaborate club in Las Vegas of that name... all to essentially force the official to do his bidding... uh, couldn't he have accomplished that much more easily through force and skipped the massive subterfuge efforts?? Why is he the same man that crossed paths with young Eric/Magneto? Just to add to this story of course, consequently making the Hellfire Club pointless (like they did with the days of future past storyline in X3 by turning it into a lame 30 second danger room exercise), and making the Magneto backstory, or linchpin of the film, all that more contrived! That's the kind of logic at play here. It's as if a bunch of various producers, screenwriters, and directors, who have nothing to do with comics, just got together, smoked some medical marijuana, and made up their own half-baked X-Men origin story. Thanks Hollywood.

Like I said early on, I'm a big x-fan, so yes I bring my own baggage here, and it may seem like that's at the crux of most my problems, but while that may be true to an extent, I'm perfectly willing to accept other takes on anything I may know and like in one way, if it offers me quality and/or enjoyment in a different way or form... Burn it all, abuse everything, if you can make a great movie or story, and this is not.

X-Men: First Class looks pretty, when it's not doing anything (which is also most the film), and flirts with some great ideas, but that's about it.

NOT RECOMMENDED

BRONZED BEAUTIES 3: Astonishing Tales 28 featuring DEATHLOK the Demolisher!

2011-06-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S BOOK: Astonishing Tales featuring Deathlok the Demolisher!
ISSUE NUMBER: 28
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 25cents - February 1975
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT): It's pretty cool. While it's not as gonzo as most of the era, it's got a cyborg facing off with post apocalyptic evil-doers on a tank! Plus 3 word balloons!!!

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY): Deathlok, a half-human mechanism programmed solely for destruction!

How's that for cool?!?

Turns out Deathlok once shared a life with his wife and child, and now instead shares it with a machine, complete with it's own AI computer intelligence.

Yeah, it's cool.

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN): Inspired. Rich Buckler does both script and artwork here, and his art; loose, expressive, and stylized, had to be cutting edge for it's time. And maybe my lack of experience with this era misleads me here, but there are some really daring and unique page layouts and setups used here too. A two page spread, that's broken up into one tall panel on the first page (left side), and a grid spanning both pages laying out the rest (to the right). Or, on the following page, when there's a hard card-stock advertising insert at the book's center, two pages are turned on their axis to create one over-sized page with a massive grid of panels (practically begging you to pull out the ad, spin the book, and enjoy a double-sized page!)!! If I was pressed, I'd say Buckler was inspired by, or from the Ditko school (maybe a touch Kubert), but my knowledge here, again, is lacking...

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS): Deathlok stalks a dystopian future after apparently escaping the mysterious (to me at least) "Project Alpha-Mech". He's competing with a computer intelligence inside his own thoughts, only wanting to off himself... but unable to, as it goes against the computers programming. All while being pursued by another cyborg, his former master and previous failure of Alpha-Mech!!

So while Deathlok stumbles his way around the bombed-out (NYC?) cityscape that used to be his home, he's lured into a trap by six humanoid cannibals. Fisticuffs, tanks, and machine gun battles ensue!

Hell yeah!!!

Plus, the whole book starts out with titles and text inspired by lyrics from The Doors!!!

GUESTS (ARE THERE ANY, HOW COOL ARE THEY): Nope, just the cast of characters from the Deathlok storyline.

ADS (WHAT COOL STUFF ARE THEY SELLING): Only one of the single greatest ads of the 70's... EVEL KNIEVEL toys on the back cover baby (can you imagine cruising the highways and catching a glimpse of Evel's Scramble Van?!?!)!!!

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR - ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 - this week with a new rating system (inspired by comments from my buddy Clay)... Hostess snack cakes:

This is a good one ladies and gents!
Great story, great character, and good art. I've always loved cyborgs, sci-fi, and post apocalyptic stories, so this is a slam dunk... I like me some Deathlok!!
Can't wait to read more (I've scored a small set off eBay that's en route now)!

9 out of 10 variety of snack cake!

ARTWORK: Hangover fan art

2011-06-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

So after seeing The Hangover II I got this idea for a fan art...

I call it the 3 Man Rebel Pack (as you can see), and it seemed to make a cool tee as well... so you can get that at my Redbubble page

Just a Hangover Star Wars mash-up with the 3 man wolf pack as their Star Wars counterparts!

BRONZED BEAUTIES 2: Skull the Slayer 3

2011-05-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

THE BOOK: Skull the Slayer
ISSUE NUMBER: 3
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 25 cents - January 1975
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT): It's got everything we want right on the cover folks... colors and inks that pop (along with the logo and graphics), with two caption boxes... including, "MECHANICAL MURDER IN THE WORLD OF THE DINOSAURS!"...
Now I would've dropped a question mark or two after that, but the cover communicates the WTF factor well enough on it's own... with what appears to be our titular hero smashing a robo-saur while saving another friend and damsel in distress. Why are there dinosaurs and space age clothes?? Why is the dinosaur mechanical? Who is Skull the Slayer?!? I'm sold!

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY): Skull the Slayer and his three companions... trapped a couple million years in the past. Apparently there were dinosaurs in this era, since we're introduced to Skull and crew, as he rides a dinosaur like a bronco in the first page splash! It seems this quartet have some differing views about their circumstance, and opposing and criss-crossing friendships amongst themselves, as they argue and bicker while giving us new and returning readers some exposition to catch somewhat up to speed. Looks like our hero, Skull (aka Jim Skully), was a war vet (Viet Nam) who picked up a belt off a dead alien that gives him super-strength and other abilities. Skull's all reckless and headstrong, while he's clearly got a friend/sidekick amongst the group, in the shaggy headed hipster Jeff, and a girl, Ann, with divided loyalties, from romantic feelings for Skull, and a connection to the fourth member, her boss, the older Doctor Corey, who is the source of constant friction with Skull.

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN): I'm not familiar with the artists here, who are Steve Gan on pencils, and with Pablo Marcus helping on some inks. Gan is a quite capable artist though, with a strong classic illustrative style, and of a high ability, making for quality art that holds up to time, without being transcendent or otherwise remarkable.

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS): Marv Wolfman of Teen Titans fame scripts here, and after the aforementioned first splash page with Skull trying to tame a single dinosaur, the team must escape a stampeding heard of them, only to stumble upon a massive and mysterious graveyard, with remains of what may be pilots who've disappeared in... the Bermuda Triangle (of course)... among other strange things! And, after scoring some space age newer and cleaner threads (from the cadavers), the group next find a giant tower, that upon entering, appears enormous and cavernous inside, with different levels representing each era of Earth!!

So naturally they duck into the prehistoric era, and must square off with a Tyrannosaurus... that of course is revealed to be... a robot!
(That's right folks, the cover wasn't mere hyperbole!!! We actually get to see everything teased within the pages of this issue!)
So anyway, while Skull and the others survive the robo-saur, the good doctor disappears only to end up captured in... ancient Egypt (with a big reveal on the final shocking splash page)!!!

GUESTS (ARE THERE ANY, HOW COOL ARE THEY): Guests are commonplace in this era, but StS issue 3 doesn't have any. Probably because we're still early in the origins and story of the concept here (because I know a certain medieval Avenger makes an appearance very soon!).

ADS (WHAT COOL STUFF ARE THEY SELLING): Nothing can come within a mile of the full page ad for BIG JIM'S P.A.C.K. (Professional Agents / Crime Killers)!!!

Wow! It's GI Joe meets Bionic Man, with killer Kirby (esque? or genuine?) artwork!!! Pure genius, and a forgotten gem of a toy property! (You can check out some more on Big Jims PACK HERE)

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR (ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10): The writing here moves nicely, and the character interaction works well to serve the story, which is all very simple and in purpose of four-colored adventure and mystery, that's well fleshed-out by the art. So, what it lacks in originality, or depth, it makes up for in spectacle and silliness. Fueding characters hurling cheasey quips at one-another, while threats and intrigue of great head-scratching variety await around every corner... Skull the Slayer is a bit like Lost meets Flash Gordon, so I'd give it an 8 out of 10 on the bronze factor!

See you next week for BRONZED BEAUTIES 3!!!

SPOKANE COMICON wrapup

2011-05-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

The guest/creator room of the con.

This past weekend I journeyed about 6 hours East/Northeast of home for the 5th annual Spokane Comicon, in Spokane Washington. I'd heard about the show for a few years but hadn't traveled out until this year.

Since it was a bit of a trek, and worked best with at least one night at a hotel, I threw in with a couple friends and past convention travel buddies, Randy Kintz and Jack Stepp. Also, since I got a new phone recently, I tried to take more pictures to share online. I just put up my pics in a Facebook photo album, HERE, but I'm pretty terrible at remembering to use the camera, so I unfortunately didn't take any shots of the town itself, which was surprisingly large (second biggest in Washington) and also pretty cool.

The show itself was well run, and a solid low level show, having both a lot of varied dealers, and artist/guests, plus a fair amount of traffic. For NW natives, it was pretty much on par with the Portland Comic Book Show. I would've like to have sold more Zombie Tramp stuff, and books in general, but I sold quite a few prints and did pretty well.

Aside from the con, the show also hosted a Drink N Draw event the night before at Cyrus OLeary's, with the special guests of the show being Dave Johnson and Dan Panosian, who also happen to be originators of the popular Drink and Draw Social Club in LA. I hadn't truly gone to a Drink n Draw before, so it was fun to sit in on one of those, as I find the two activities compliment each other quite nicely ;)

My Tarman sketch from the event.

Hopefully the show continues to grow, because they put on a good event, and I'd like to return, it's just unfortunately a bit of a reach in these days of inflated gas prices, so the bigger it gets, the better.

HANGOVER 2 ...a quick (preview screening) review

2011-05-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

Got to see a preview screening last night...

Now, I wasn't a big fan of the first, finding it to give away just about every shred of hilarity via the commercials, and then it seemed hyped up beyond anything resembling reality. So with that said, I was glad to get into a preview screening of the sequel, to try and avoid all the good bits via the new ads (which already were wayyyyy too spoiler heavy - message to studio marketing assholes, it's the biggest comedy ever, I don't think you need to give away anything in the ads for the sequel!!)...

I found the movie overall to be mildly entertaining, and sometimes humorous (unlike the lady next to me how must have climaxed a dozen or more times and couldn't stop gasping in laughter at every. little. thing. that. ever. happened), until close to the end, when things got pretty hilarious, and finished very strong.

This is however the exact same movie, redone in Bangkok. The formula works though, so I look forward to a third... I just don't know where they'll set it, having gone from Vegas to Thailand... I'm guessing the moon maybe (if only the ads for it didn't give away the alien sidekick, stolen Millennium Falcon replica the wolfpack pilots, and the Mike Tyson as leader of Mars cameo)???

RECOMMENDED

SPOKANE COMICON this Saturday!

2011-05-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

Okay friends... if Spokane Washington is anywhere near to you, I'll be seeing you at the 5th annual SPOKANE COMICON Saturday 5/21.

Dave Johnson and Dan Panosian are guests, and are hosting a Drink n Draw Friday night... I've never done one of those (lord knows why, what with the drinking and the drawing, often together, that I'm known to do).

Hopefully I'll be seaworthy enough to make a go of it Saturday, it should be a good show ;)

I might have some new prints, I might not... we shall see :)

Where's Spokane again?!?

BRONZED BEAUTIES 1: The Human Fly 9

2011-05-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spoke about my newfound passion for "bronze age" comic books (roughly translated - comics from the 1970's), and today I offer my first review from that era, allowing you to come along with me as I discover more about these mysterious comic gems. So, please kick back and enjoy our first Bronzed Beauty...

THE BOOK: The Human Fly
ISSUE NUMBER: 9
COVER PRICE AND YEAR: 35cents - May 1978
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER (HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY IS IT): It's cool, it's got the requisite color, the Human Fly in action, and 3 caption boxes. However, what's really cool is that it's a John Byrne cover, back before he was really big (but had already started on Uncanny X-Men). Conversely though, because of the Byrne art, while it's got cool elements like the Human Fly diving to save drowning children, and guest star The White Tiger fighting villain Copperhead in the background, it's pretty straightforward super hero stuff.

But yes, there are caption boxes aplenty... like "DOOMSDAY DAWNS AT NIGHT!"... a true hallmark of the era! :)

WHO'S IT ABOUT (AND HOW COOL AND/OR CRAZY ARE THEY): The Human Fly of course. And man, he's one cool looking dood. His red body suit is full mask, with only his eyes showing, which is always cool. Plus he sports 70's style gloves, belt, and Evel Knievel style half cape (which is only pictured on the cover character box)... plus he's got some kind of cane or staff (but I've no idea why, or what it does - he never uses it really). And like the mysterious staff, ol HF is a bit of an enigma in his own mag, if it weren't for him proclaiming again and again that he wasn't a super hero, and just a stunt man, I wouldn't know that. But he's still pretty damn cool, and I want to know more about him!
(From what I understand, he's based on a real life person)

ART (INSPIRED OR PEDESTRIAN): The artwork here is good, and solid. It's by Frank Robbins, who I've never heard of, but I'd say his stuff (paired with inker Mike Esposito) is very much a blend of Kirby and the Buscema brothers, so very much the house Marvel style of the 70's.

STORY (WHAT CRAZY SHIT HAPPENS): It's written by Bill Mantlo and starts out via a splash page, mid crisis, with HF about to drown along with some school staff and kids, while The White Tiger (the world's first Hispanic super-hero!) lies poisoned by Copperhead... with a Daredevil appearance teased. Pretty good!

The whole issue cuts back and forth from these 3 groups til everything comes together and gets resolved by the books end. So, it's a solid page turner with snappy 70's dialogue and pacing. HF guides the drowning school folk through flooded underground tunnels, using a giant urn for a boat (being stolen by the villain, of course, by floating it away from an art museum)... hell yeah! But that's about as gonzo as it gets. So a touch low on the absurdity meter.

GUESTS (ARE THERE ANY, HOW COOL ARE THEY): Yep, lots.

The White Tiger - who switches from a completely white-suited fully masked hero, and his normal Hispanic persona (like most 70's Marvel characters, it seems, via some kind of power medallion)... Speaking of powers, I'm not really sure, but none I recall here, unless you count Spanish quips!
Copperhead - A villain, with another pretty cool character design, and some kind of invulnerability.
And of course Daredevil - the man without fear!

ADS (WHAT COOL STUFF ARE THEY SELLING): Each review I'll spotlight one of the ads, and this time, although these don't do much for me now, since I saw and studied all of them back in the day, there's a great "Darth Vader Lives" full page Star Wars ad offering stuff I'd love to see now, like a portfolio with 21 full-color paintings (for $8 no less), blueprints, and transfers...

What's perhaps most striking about the ads, and this one here, is the simplistic nature of them. Look at it, it's hand drawn at only a moderate level of skill or professionalism (and for a modern day licensing juggernaut like Star Wars no less). How quaint :)

OVERALL BRONZE FACTOR (ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10): This is the first book I'm rating here, which makes it kind of tough, without any census to compare it to, but I'm going to go with a 7 overall. Pretty high. You've got the Byrne/Austin cover, fairly nice art, pretty cool character, guests galore (of a pretty good cool factor), and it's got a fairly fun plot with a totally readable story.

Can't wait to review more books! Maybe I'll go for a weekly feature here, I've already got 2 or 3 books I'd like to write up, so, see you soon!

BRONZED BEAUTIES

2011-05-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

As a child of the 70's and 80's, comic books were a huge part of my formative years, I was introduced to them with the late 70's Marvel Comics adaptation of Star Wars, and then became a junky, for various Marvel books and 80's indies (mostly), til I gave up the habbit in the mid 80's. I got back into comics in the mid 90's, but through it all, I was never too keen on the books from the era just before I started reading, books of the 70's, known as "the bronze age".

The bronze age is kind of a mostly forgotten era that saw the proliferation of horror and exploitation genre books, that saw limited staying power and few notable new properties... whereas the precursors to it, the golden and silver age, bore most every major popular character and property, and the modern era, of the 1980's and 90's that followed it, saw the indie revolution and many other movements still popular today. That, and the fact that the bronze era was filthy in kitschy, more or less simplistic, and often formulaic craft. They were simpler times, post creation of the comics code, but prior to the comic shop movement (and subsequent focus on more mature material), when by and large, comics were created for kids. However, it was an odd marriage in that the material of the age had a burgeoning matureness to it, both in the creators that had grown up with comics as fans first, and so brought new sensibilities and ideas to them, and again with the wild and crazy content that was rampant.

To an outsider coming in at the tail end of that, and following the birth of the indie and mature comics movement, it was easy to look at those books as sophomoric and pointless (not to mention I'm a big fan of art, and the 80's saw an explosion of new talent and more contemporary influences, like European and Japanese styles, along with animation... and 70's comics were sorely lacking in transcendent artists). So I never really gave them any attention. Now though, as I get older and gravitate towards things from my formative era, out of nostalgia and cool appeal, these books have become a treasure trove of undiscovered fun and charm, that modern books are hard pressed to compare to.

So, I've started to pick up stacks of these bruised and battered, torn and tattered, aged and decomposing pulp pamphlets. I'm in love.

They're colorful, full of over the top characters, with anything goes stories, and so much a part of the era... the clothes, the slang, the ideas.
Super-Villain Team-ups, kung-fu, barbarians, sci-fi, were-men, man-things, sorceresses, cyborgs, dinosaurs, and more monsters than you can shake a stick at!
They're just plain fun.

So, I thought it would be a perfect thing to blog and share, as I dig into some of these amazing books I've brought home, with this new feature, BRONZED BEAUTIES.

I'll set up some criteria that fit these books, and grade various ones on these different facets of what makes the bronze age stuff so damn cool!
(I just want to fill a room with them, soak in their essence, and then remix it for the 21st century... see Pulp Girls)

Tune in tomorrow for our first review... THE HUMAN FLY number 9 from May of 1978!!

Waaaughhh!!! Indeed...

2011-05-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

The late great Steve Gerber created HOWARD THE DUCK, for Marvel. Marvel got sued by Disney for Howard looking too much like Donald, so they made mandated changes to his look, which were horrible, but it was mostly a moot point since Gerber had litigation of his own over the rights with Marvel and the character was in limbo for years to decades. However, Gerber returned to the character briefly some years before his passing, and Marvel have since used him sporadically. Fast forward a year or so and Marvel is owned by Disney, so why is Howard still looking so god awful?!?!

Marvel, if you're going to continue to use Steve's character, can't you at least restore him to how he should look? Is that too much to ask?!?
(And, NO, the movie design doesn't count!!!!)

The one true Howard

ARTWORK: Rubber fan art

2011-05-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

I recently watched RUBBER, the horror-ish killer tire film, and immediately wanted to do this fan art/t-shirt design!

"No Reason" is a quote from the movie that also pretty sums it up!

I also set this up as a t-shirt via RedBubble.com...

click here

ARTWORK: Osama Bin Zombied

2011-05-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist drawing a zombie Bin Laden... or Zomladen as I call him!

I thought it'd make a snazzy t-shirt (available now!)
You can go to RedBubble.com and buy one if you like ;)

click here

Maybe I'll also make it into a collectors plate, to commemorate this occasion in a truly American way ;)

MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... Thor blasts into the comic book movie forefront!

2011-04-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to see a preview screening of THOR this Saturday AM (in 3D), so here's my review (with mild spoilers)...

First off, let me just say, WOW!
I've never been a Thor fan, never cared for the character in the least, and I also was very un-enthused by the trailers for the movie (finding the Captain America trailers to be much more enticing, even though I'm equally un-enamoured with Cap), but dang, I am now!

The movie Thor kicks ass, and is a bolt of fun from the first frame. The first half or so of the movie is downright magical, and had me gleefully squealing time and again at the comic book spectacle portrayed on screen, the pure imaginative anything goes action that can, until this time, only take place on the comic page... where you get to see the fantastic and beyond real brought to visual life, page after page... or in this case, scene after scene. Thor operates on a level no comic book movie to this point has, it goes further in depicting the out of this world elements of super heroes and fantasy than any other adaptation has to date (though I suspect Green Lantern could rival or surpass that). While we've had some truly great movies based on comic book characters, stories, or franchises, most of them are so firmly grounded in the real world, that they, due to the constraints of budget, and effects, focus more so on those elements of the comics than the books themselves. And while Thor certainly does it's fair share of that, it also seamlessly depicts the fantasy realm of Asgard and Norse gods at play and war.

Thor is shown doing things we haven't seen a comic book hero do on screen since maybe the early Superman films, only of course, a bit more fantastically thanks to 21st century movie making. He comes close to a Superman level of iconic heroism, and Chris Hemsworth turns in a Christopher Reeves level performance of braun and charisma. The rest of the cast is amazing too; you believe Natalie Portman as the passionate astrologist that goes ga ga for a fallen god, Kat Dennings is spot on as the young comedic relief, Stellan Skarsgard adds weight and consciance as the nordic born astrologist counterpart, the warriors three and other Asgardians bring their roles to life, and, most of all, Anthony Hopkins makes Odin THE father of all gods and quickly wiped away any doubts I had that he could pull off the role at his adavanced age, he's amazing and turns in his most memorable performance since Silence of the Lambs! I love this cast.

Then there's all the little geek things that shine. Seeing SHEILD in action, and getting their asses handed to them as they encounter the first omega level super power, who's merely mortal here... The Asgardians in battle... the Frost Giants, who while simplistically done, come off far better than they do in the previews... the massive Frost Giant beast... Hawkeye being onhand to potentially deal with Thor... the way the Frank Kirby Destroyer creates unholy carnage as his blasts pierce your eardrums!!!! Damn this is a fun movie, especially for us comic geeks!!! This is the most comic geeked I've been since the first X-Men and Spider-Man flicks, but agian, it delivers so much more geekyness, even IF you're not a fan of the character!

Then there's the 3D. It doesn't suck! It actually adds a bit to the movie. But like Green Hornet, the film should play well in 2D as well. The 3D isn't ever overbearing, or in your face, it just enhances things and stays pretty much in the background. I would recommend seeing the movie in 3D, but don't worry if you can't or don't.

As much fun as the movie was, and as great as the first half to two-thirds were, I felt while the ending was solid, it lacked a bit of a punch. (MILD SPOILERS) After seeing the Asgardian on Frost carnage, the Asgardians dueling the Destroyer on Earth, and Thor in action against SHEILD, I felt the finale with Thor and Loki was a bit weak, and needed more drama. You never got the sense that Loki was any real match for Thor, in direct combat, so having them go toe to toe for the ending was pretty perfunctory.

Also, with Marvel running things now, and committed to an immersive universe where the characters cross over with each other, why not push that a bit more. Sure Hawkeye makes a cameo (and that was only tacked in via last minute reshoots), but can't Nick Fury show up more, or have the big SHEILD heavy be some other hero or villain from the Marvel universe? Don't be afraid to go further with these geek/character things, and give us a bit more of that...

All that said, get your ass to the theater and prepare for a genuine comic book treat. Thor delivers the goods on all counts and is a pure joy to behold! WOW!! Branagh perfectly blends the fantastic Asgardian story, with that of the god on Earth, and stages it all fairly epically. I can't wait to see it again!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

ARTWORK: recent commissions

2011-04-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple recent completed commissions...

Mystique (full body, with guns, color)

X-23 (2/3rd shot, color)

If you're interested in a commission, my rates are HERE

MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... when tires become self aware, no one is safe, but we'll all have a good time.

2011-04-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

In theaters now, but also on-demand, RUBBER (which I watched the other night in an insane double bill with Hobo with a Shotgun), is an inspired piece of film making. And it is a film, in the sense of the word, much more than a movie, in that it plays with the medium as an art form and toys with the audience in a meta way, but it doesn't get too caught up in all that to still deliver a fun movie along the way.

After first hearing about Rubber, as it confounded foreign audiences with it's story centered around a murderous tire... yes, murderous.tire. I knew I had to see this French horror(?) film as soon as possible.

Aside from the truly strange premise, Rubber goes further into the bizarre by introducing meta elements that play on expectations and mess with the conventions of movie making/watching. But for as radical as the story and narrative are, it's balanced by an accomplished hand at the wheel... If you thought early Cohen brothers were inspired film makers, or Michel Gondry was out there, make way for Quentin Dupieux! He's a mad man. But he also knows how to make a sharp and gorgeous looking film, that's as solid to watch, as it is insanely fun to experience.

Binoculars, tires, tricycles, turkeys, no object is too mundane or left field to become a key element in the film. Why? No reason. If you can roll (pun not really intended) with this kind of anything goes, just for the heck of it cinema, then you should by all means see Rubber. You may find it as charming and intoxicatingly clever as we did.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Here's a fan art I'm working on...

MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... Hobo with a Vengeance!

2011-04-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

In theaters in May, but on-demand now, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN is part Grindhouse, part Clockwork Orange, and all bad-ass in-your-face creative buckshot!

The film is pretty special in that not only was it born from a fake Grindhouse trailer contest, but it actually delivers, and then some, a pitch perfect love letter to all the best of video era schlock, complete with 80's straight to video action star Rutger Hauer (who doesn't mail this one in, but rather gives a great performance), as the titular hobo. Our "hobo" rides the rails and only wants to save up enough in his coin sock for a lawn mower and another chance at life, but fate has brought him to a city just this side of hell, and pushes him to dig deep and invest in some pump action justice.

Pedofile santas, brazen pimps, a hooker with a heart of gold, and a family clan more sinister and twisted than any imagined, running rough shod over it all, must all face the force that is Hobo with a Shotgun. A simple down on his luck tramp turned wild bear with a taste for human flesh. Oh yeah, it's on. Not for the squeemish, the easily offended, or most anyone, but for those that like the crazy-shit-dial cranked to 11, run to the cinema with brown paper bag beverages, Hobo with a Shotgun will make you howl and squeal with delight... deliverance style!!!

Truly inspired and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Here's the trailer...

And here's an awesome fan art of "The Plague", amazing characters that show up towards the end of the movie (you know a movie's great when perhaps the coolest thing isn't even key to, or needed in, the movie)...

Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend

2011-04-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

The big annual indie comics fest in my hometown of Portland (Oregon), STUMPTOWN, is this weekend (Saturday and Sunday), and I'll be exhibiting at space E4.

I haven't done this show since 2008, but it's a vibrant, growing show, that happens to skew decidedly art/alt comix, or "indie" (with air quotes)... ;)
but hey, I love all types of comics, I'm no snob (mainstream or otherwise), and it's truly a great place to see a metric ton of talented creators and unique comic book makers (the show is creator-centric).

Plus I'll have my new YETi books (now in it's second limited edti, which should fit in rather well...
and then there's the SRGraphics books, like ZOMBIE TRAMP (we'll see how she handles a tough crowd), and of course books like Gnome and Wolves will be right at home!

Should be fun.

Hope to see you there!

It's been a long time...

2011-04-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here's hoping the new (and long delayed) Beastie's disc is a return to form (after a couple not so epic discs in the aughts).
If this video is any indication, hells yes it is!

Rise indeed!

2011-04-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

OMG! Rise of the Planet of the Apes looks good!!!

Gone is the absurd Burton abomination, and here is a hard sci-fi spin more in line with 28 Days Later and the zombie apocalypse... with apes!
I always loved the Planet of the Apes movies as a kid, and perhaps what was most fascinating about them was the way they were set in reality, more than fantasy... or a fantasy born of reality. This looks to take that to the next level, with a top flight cast, and effects in tow!
Wow!
Can't wait!

WONDERCON will rock you!

2011-03-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

Thousands of sweaty fanboys and geeks lathered up for movie previews and genre stars pressing madly towards a bazillion cool things tends to do that.

And I'll be at the center of the madness, Wondercon San Francisco, artist alley space 76.

Exhibiting all things SRGrpahics, including the wildly popular undead call girl graphic novel, ZOMBIE TRAMP, and offering a new limited edition Alcatraz themed print along with it...

Plus of course my own wares, like my new book YETi

All things SUPER REAL, and fan art prints, and sketches, etc etc.

Hope to see you at the show!

IN CASE U MISSED IT... Soul Man

2011-03-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

This.
Looks.
Awesome.

XLRender renderfarm - SOUL MAN Teaser from xlrender on Vimeo.

If not a bit much like Honey Brown, but that's the way it goes.

YETi remixed

2011-03-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

I posted briefly a couple weeks back leading up to Emerald City Comicon about a new book I'd created, but I didn't have much of a chance to preview or talk about, so I thought I'd go ahead and do that now.

As I mentioned, it's actually a short story that I created back in 2007 for the Josh Howard Presents SASQUATCH anthology, published by Viper Comics. The anthology featured many comic creators working from stories inspired by Sasquatch, Bigfoot, The Abominable Snowman, etc, and mine was simply titled, YETi. There was no editorial mandate for style, tone, or scope, each artist had free reign to do anything they'd like story wise, from comedy to horror, sci-fi or whatever. So I took advantage of that and did something that on the surface appeared to be fairly in line with the Sasquatch theme, but was actually only very loosely tied to it (without giving away too much of the story). It was a decidedly sci-fi, and cartoony approach, and about 180 degrees from what I was doing with Super Real. So I had a lot of fun with it, and always intended to do more with the concept and story.

Fast forward to 2011, and I felt the time was right to work on Yeti once more, if only to update the work and make it available in stand alone form, as I'd only previously had it available in the anthology, which while that was a great book, it was quite sizable and had a cover price of over $20. Since I only had 10 pages in the massive book, I really wanted Yeti to have it's own little book to offer along with all my other work at shows and online. However, as the artwork was created in quite a different fashion, I also wanted to take the opportunity to rework it somewhat, and get it more in line with what I now envisioned stylistically. So we have the new book, with the original 10 page story intact, but with completely reworked colors, and other minor updates.

A panel from the original (top), and the new updated ("remixed") version (bottom)...

The book now is brighter, and more graphic, two elements I can't seem to keep away from with my art... and by graphic, I mean graphics based visuals, not tone of content... and though my work does tend to delve into graphic story content, YETi does traffic in some graphic violence, but it's decidedly more cartoonish!

With the change of tone, and focus on a cuter and cartoonier style and character, the book received a good amount of attention from the fairer sex in it's debut at Emerald City con, something I'm happy to find, because while I love to create good girl and pin-up style artwork, I don't always enjoy the fact that that can be off-putting to a good portion of the potential audience. However, if you're a fan of that aspect of my work, Yeti isn't quite devoid of those things either. Again, without giving away too much, as the first story has a bit of a twist/reveal aspect to it, Yeti does have more to offer than just a cute furry Chewbacca-Schmoo-Mogwai-vinyl mash-up creature aesthetic... I've always loved the big furry sidekicks of sci-fi and cartoons, so this is my love letter to those, a fun and vibrant blast of comic book joy!

So, that should be enough teasing and peeking at the book. If you want to know just what it's all about, you have to pick up a copy and read it... and now you can do that! If you'd like your own copy of this full color 12 page book that I hand make on nice shiny 8.5x5.5" paper, you'll have to send me $5 (shipping included - for the US). The books are pretty limited, but as each pressing sells out, I'll make a new one (with the pressing noted in the indicia). That means if you want to get some of the first batch of Yeti's, you better act fast!

Digital copy, or upcoming second pressing cover

I've also created a PDF file you can download, if you prefer to go digital for your YETi consumption...

Here's the PayPal info/link for those:
PRINT
DIGITAL
PDF download - $.99

You can also check out more on YETi at it's brand new site (with more to come), where I plan to offer other goodies like prints and t-shirts etc. Just click HERE

SUCKER PUNCH review... beautiful images, furious sound

2011-03-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

Got to see a preview screening of SUCKER PUNCH late last night (not since Ghostbusters had I been forced to sit this close to the screen though... front row, left side, sore neck). Here's my review... (with only very mild spoilers)

Sucker Punch is ambitious.
As you may know, the story has layers, and the dream within a dream is where all the action takes place... or rather parallels in a hyper-real fashion the action in the second layer (which may or may not happen in the first layer).
Got all that?
Basically, it's this dream within a dream (because I don't want to call it a world, it's more like a limbo, or dream-scape) where all the epic visual shit we see in the trailer takes place. If you've heard about the movie, or seen much of the previews, I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't know going in.
It's all of these layers that allow for the fantastic action and costuming etc.; the steam zombie Nazis, the giant rail-gun wielding samurai, the dragons, etc, and the outfits, the costuming gone wild, all the cool stuff. All the stuff everyone wonders if it will all work together. So that's the big question, does it?
The short answer, no.

All of these levels, and the fantasy worlds tend to disconnect you from the story and the sense that any of this is really happening, or means anything. The characters feel too much like cut out dolls, or puppets, who rarely ever breathe... okay, well, actually, there's lots of breathing, but just on a surface level (as Snyder likes to decompress scenes in his trademark bursts), and not in a way that makes them lived in or brought to life in any realistic fashion. Oh sure they want to get out from under their oppressor, and they'll tell you that in flat line reads, of cookie cutter dialogue, repeatedly, as they stare at you with dead eyes (because they’re dead inside from their shackled existence). And they’ll use words like freedom, and fighting, or fighting for freedom… or their mystical guide, Scott Glenn, will pop up at each dreamland juncture, and dryly outline their objectives in the basest of words, punctuated by intentionally hokey cliches (yet it doesn't feel like it's played as tongue and cheek as it reads).
Not to mention, the PG-13 rating, on a film that already traffics in some mature subject matter and themes of abuse (sexual, physical, psychological), as well as giant action set pieces centered around war and excessive killing, means it's all watered down, or sanitized. You have multiple sequences where these girls are fighting armies, with blades, semi-automatic guns, grenades, bombs, you name it, but with virtually no bloodshed (because the enemies are all conveniently non-human automatons).
I imagine it goes something like this. Zack Snyder directs 300 (an R rated bloodbath of a film), sets box office records, gets a blank check to do whatever... okay, Watchmen, full on, true to the source rated R adaptation. It stinks up the box office. Studio, "Okay Zack, you've still got some house money, but this time you play by our rules." And we get the homogenized studio treatment we have here. (Not really a good formula for a visionary work by a director, Snyder practically does everything here, soup to nuts.)
And because of this, you don't really get too invested in any of it. It's just pretty pictures, put together in what's meant to be a clever or mind-bending way, but it all collapses without the special sauces (actual character, gore, blood, or anything with substance).
Then there's the music.

Zack Snyder should not be allowed to have anything to do with his own soundtracks or scores. He's terrible. Sure he can cut together a kick ass trailer to Silversun Pickups, or Nine Inch Nails, but Watchmen and now Sucker Punch are beyond laughable in their song selection. He goes out of his way to use music that's been used to death elsewhere, or here, using the brilliant idea to literally "cover" that up with cover songs, of songs that have been famously used, or used to death. A third remake of Sweet Dreams anyone? Or how about the Pixies "Where Is My Mind", you know, the same song that famously plays, to great affect, at the climax of Fight Club. Worst of all, it's a trippy Matrix style themed flick, so yep, White Rabbit is used. Stop, you're terrible. We all need to prey that he has nothing to do with the Superman soundtrack, I fear for what will become of the Superman theme, and what "clever" tunes ol' Zack has cued up for Supes. (Now, I have no idea, but perhaps this reeks of studio involvement, I don't think so since he likely had carte blanch with Watchmen and did the same nauseating shit (All Along the Watchtower anyone? Ever heard that in a movie?? Maybe that should be the climax… ugh), but either way, it's just as lame and disturbing).
So, song selection rant over, what's even worse about the soundtrack/score, is that the music is part of the visual/thematic formula that the movie settles into, and it's very distracting. Each action vignette is prefaced with the latest blaring cover track, which eventually fades to score, and the back to a reprise to tie up the scene. Nothing wrong in theory there, but the problem is they take the focus, there's too much emphasis on the music, it overrides the visuals, and again, the music is terrible. Zack's on record as being a Heavy Metal fan, so I'll assume that includes the movie, which is probably inspiration, to some extent, for this movie, as well as the soundtrack, the difference being, that was a really good and very contemporary soundtrack... again, this is neither.
I know I rant at length about soundtracks, but folks, think about it, sound and music are a HUGE part of good movie making. Name any classic or blockbuster film, 9 times out of 10 they have a great piece of music or score at the heart. Think Star Wars, think Jaws, or Psycho, etc etc, most likely you immediately think of their soundtracks, or at least tie those to your thoughts of the movie. Try and imagine Star Wars without John Williams’ score, if it had some lame synth space music of the era, it may still be a classic, but it’s an entirely different film. Go out of your way with the sound and miss, and you severely damage your film.

So, that's the bad stuff.
The good stuff?
It's pretty, and there's lots of cool stuff to watch (arguably most of which is in the trailer).
So, if you're really stoked by all the cool stuff that's teased, go see it on the big screen. There’s more of it, and it’s some damn cool stuff. Otherwise, Zack needs to stick to adapting strong source material, because Nolan he ain't.

You'd think by all my thoughts here I hated this film, and I didn't. I kind of liked it, but only with qualifications, and I really wanted to like a movie that's built around all this incredible shit a lot more. I get what Snyder was going for here, I mean most any geek does, Sucker Punch does indeed have a lot of cool shit going on, the hyper-reality of the dreamscapes and it's elaborate combat sequences, with multitudes of weapons, where you see and feel the action in exaggerated concussive force, or super-slo-mo, with shell casings falling at the camera, or characters flying 100 yards and collapsing into eruptions of earth and stone, it's visual candy, expertly rendered and staged from killer angles. And maybe, with all the cool it does have to offer, it's quite possible I'll like it better with repeat viewings, when I can just turn off all my hopes and expectations and enjoy it for what it is. I just might not be rushing back to the theater to do so.

MILDLY RECOMMENDED
Go and see it, have fun with it, just don't expect too much beyond the visuals.

Dance Baby Doll, dance! (SPOILER - she never does!)

Dear Internet, you're silly...

2011-03-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

The Beat linked to this webcomic, BATTLE PUG by Mike Norton, and it is indeed inspired fun that's only just begun... with talking pugs, storytelling barbarian princesses, and giant village destroying baby seals!!!

Check it out HERE

MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... Sucker Punch

2011-03-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

I'll be going to a preview screening of Zack Snyder's SUCKER PUNCH tomorrow night... I'm stoked!!

So, here are a couple cool Sucker Punch tidbits...

First up, here's a cool animated short that ties into the movie...

Next, Bleeding Cool is hosting a Sucker Punch art contest... hmmm. I planned to do a fan art... we'll see how I feel after the movie tomorrow night!

ARTWORK: Sheena sketch card returns

2011-03-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here are the cards I have available from the SHEENA: QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE sketch card set for 5FINTIY.

I'm asking $50 each, please email me if interested.

UPDATE: cards are now listed on eBay for buy it now/make an offer, right HERE

ARTWORK: Sheena sketch cards

2011-03-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

A little bit ago I did a few cards (I was a rare artist) for the SHEENA: QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE sketch card set for 5FINTIY that just released on February 28th.

Here are the cards I worked up for the set:

I'll also have a few artist exclusive return cards available shortly... stay tuned.

New book! - Emerald City Comicon this weekend!!

2011-03-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

Also in preparation for this weekend's Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, I went into the vault and updated to make more available a short story I did four years ago now, YETI.

Yeti was a short story that I contributed to and was published in JOSH HOWARD PRESENTS SASQUATCH April 2007. The book was one of many stories that were somehow related to Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti, etc, and had everything from horror, to comedy, sci-fi, and everything in-between. My story took a decidedly different approach to the subject, and was a fun cartoony sci-fi flavored departure, with a bit of a twist ending. I also took the gig as a chance to work the opposite of what I did with Super Real, and use all actual media (well, mostly). I always really liked the story and intend to revisit it for Pulp Girls (more on that later), and since I was out of copies of Sasquatch to offer, I felt it was time.

Since the work was a bit old, and simplistic, I took some time to spruce it up a little and play with some new artistic styles I'd been wanting to work out. So I'm really happy to offer the book again, for the first time!

You can get a copy at the show, I'll have a very limited amount, all hand made, full color, ash-can size bursts of fun. But plan to make more upon my return, which I'll offer online at that point.

Here's a look at the book...

EMERALD CITY COMICON

I will be at the always amazing Emerald City Comicon this weekend in Seattle WA, in artist alley at space B-21!!

The ECCC is my best show now, and one of my faves. A really tremendous show, very well run, that has the most amazing artist alley bar none, and this year they're moving to 3 days. Should be a good time. I'm looking forward to the show, and catching up with old friends!

Also along for the trip riding co-pilot is my ZOMBIE TRAMP creator, Dan Mendoza. Dan's hanging out at the Super Real Graphics compound and making his first appearance at the show. We'll both be signing and sketching all weekend, with copies of all my stuff, and of course the recent ZOMBIE TRAMP graphic novel!

See you there!

ARTWORK: Brock/new Venture Bros fan art - WIP

2011-03-04T01:27:00.000-08:00

Here's another stage of the new Venture Bros/Brock Samson fanart...
Nearly finished, but had to go with this version for this weekend's Emerald City Comicon.

But wait, there's more! (see next post!)

ARTWORK: Brock/new Venture Bros fan art - WIP

2011-02-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

I posted the roughs to this work in progress Venture Bros fan art a little while back, and I've now got some finished lines.

Just need to color it, to have it done in time for Emerald City Comicon next weekend. I'll be in the artist alley at the show, which has been my best show for a couple years now.

IN CASE U MISSED IT... a new Grindhouse flick?!?

2011-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Or just a cool video for the Black Keys latest tune...

Obviously inspired by a little Rodriguez trailer... even going so far as to dub Todd Bridges "sir". Now if only they turned it into a full movie like Machete!

More info on the cast and such HERE

IN CASE U MISSED IT: Superman Classic

2011-02-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

The video speaks for itself...

Awesome!
RobbPratt.com
I kinda wish the new Superman would be retro like this. Superman just seems to come to life in the era he was created, and much less so in a contemporary setting. Heck, a story about a Superman born of that era, living in today's world, and coming to terms with that would be fun too. But Snyder's great, so I'm sure the new movie will be leaps and bounds better than the Singer locomotive wreck :)

Tales From Netflix: Horror roundup

2011-02-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted DVD reviews in ages (aside from my zombie reviews on my Zombie Related blog), but had a handful of exciting new genre movies at home this weekend, so thought I'd give a rundown!

LET ME IN - the 2010 US remake of the Swedish vampire hit, Let the Right One In, from the director of Cloverfield, and featuring "Hit Girl" as the young blood sucker. Let the Right One In was a huge genre hit a couple years ago, but aside from having a great tone and mood, I was fairly underwhelmed and found it pretty lackluster. So, I wasn't too excited about a US version, that was going to stick close to the original. Matt Reeves' Let Me In does just that, and I found it a challenge to sit through. He does some nice stuff, again with mood and tone, but knowing the story arc, plot, and pretty much everything to come neutralizes any improvements. Not to mention, if most of your movie is going to have one set, please make that set believable... the snow covered apartment playground looked like, and undoubtedly was covered in fake snow, with the jungle gym at it's center being capped in what looks like plastic/pizza dough snow drifts.

Cute story, but very tedious.

NOT RECOMMENDED

HATCHET II - The original Hatchet from a couple years back was somewhat heralded as a slasher on par with 80's franchise originals. It wasn't. It was a generic low rent premature effort in most every way, aside from it's filmmakers passion for the sub-genre. Hatchet II, while still a bit low rent, improves in nearly every aspect from the first. While it's basically the same plot, utilizing the Aliens twist, reversing the hunter and prey this time by arming the invaders into Victor Crawley's swampland, the story is fun.

The sequel manages to find a couple solid performances from it's very pedestrian cast too. The original had an ensemble cast of bad and uninspiring actors, and while the new effort doesn't really improve on that much, it does have a couple players who actually shine. The clown of the group Vernon, who starts out your blueprint antagonizer, turns in some genuinely inspired comedic moments (well, by comparison at least), and the much overused b-movie horror all-star, Tony Todd, aka Candyman, who tends to just sleepwalk through his endless roles, gets properly utilized here, so that he's not just a useless placeholder.

But mostly Hatchet II shines for fans of slashers and gore, because Victor Crawley, while pretty forgettable as a character, does some inspired things with his hatchets and shed tools!

If you like dumb horror fun, Hatchet II serves up a heaping bowl full.

RECOMMENDED

Here's the main event folks...

MONSTERS - Basically a mix of District 9, and Cloverfield, but with a much smaller budget, and is therefore quite minimal and character driven. That said, what they do in with the simple story, in terms of effects and effectiveness, is inspired, and haunting.

Yes it's a monster movie, but like any good genre work, it hangs on the core story of the people we follow, and how they bring us into their world and extraordinary journey. In this case, half of Mexico has been quarantined, and a photographer must help the daughter of the media mogul he ultimately works for cross back into the US safely.

The writer director, Gareth Edwards, has a background in digital effects, and he employs that craft seamlessly here to subtly change and build the Central American scenery and bring this extra terrestrial trek to life. Destroyed buildings, warning signs, fences, walls, shot out military or civilian vehicles, and fighter jets engaging giant creatures can be found at almost every turn.

Monsters is a rich, low key, character driven giant monster movie of the highest order.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BONUS RECOMMENDATION:
FROZEN - Since we reviewed Hatchet II by Adam Green, I should also mention his last film that only just recently hit Netflix too, Frozen. Like Monsters, Frozen uses a simple horrifying setup to spin gripping character driven drama... all on a lift chair (with Iceman no less!).

RECOMMENDED

ARTWORK: Brock/new Venture Bros fan art - WIP

2011-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Ever since I did the Molotov Cocktease fan art in early 2009, it's been one of my most popular pieces. Both catching the attention of Cartoon Network (and being used in their 2010 calendar), as well as drawing the most attention at comic shows. Venture Brothers fans are many, and they are passionate.

So, being a fan of the show myself (though admittedly, lacking in much viewing), and with the response Venture Bros art garners, for the longest time I've intended to do more fan art for the Bros. I've even known exactly what I was going to do... an homage/swipe of Frazetta's classic Conan image, but themed around Brock (see a couple posts earlier for the reference artwork I'm using). It was just a matter of finding the time to work on it...

Well with convention season rolling around again, and my schedule more open during the winter months, I was finally able to start work on it. I've finished the roughs for the piece, and have scanned those in and plan to resize them and create a finished pencil illustration at a larger size.

We'll see if I actually get the larger size to work out, or if I'll just clean it up at the smaller size, as I've found that I like to work increasingly smaller to get the best out of my work. But for now, here are the rough lines for it!

As you can see, Brock himself needs a bit of work yet, and that I've added Dr Mrs the Monarch and Molotov Cocktease to the layout, flanking Brock's legs - actually combining two different, but similar Conan works, but still mainly the classic Frazetta. You'll also notice that I've reversed Molotov's eyepatch... by accident. I really liked the way her face was coming out, so I didn't rework it. We'll see if I can switch that in the final line work, or if I'll make an artistic choice and leave her with the patch on the opposite eye (I considered reversing the entire image, but then it deviates from the original Frazetta homage).

I hope to have this finished in time for the upcoming Emerald City Comicon (next month)! So stay tuned for updates...

ARTWORK: True Grit finished fan art

2011-01-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

After seeing an advanced screening for True Grit I worked up a fan art of main characters Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross, but never got around to finishing the colors til this week...

So, here's the finished piece...

By Crom!

2011-01-26T00:16:00.000-08:00

Some Conan art I dug up for reference on... something.

I used to love the Conan magazines in the early 80's... I could never get into the Conan comics of the time, but I do remember they always had the weird formula of starting each issue with the climax from the previous issue. I did dig the King Conan comics though.

I'm looking forward to the new movie too.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: cool flash comic

2011-01-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here's an amazingly cool new flash comic preview directed by French animator Balak. He really gets the potential for this type of new breed comic, that isn't motion based (and painful), but flash enhanced (and joyous). So sequential reading is enhanced by slight tweaks to pacing and format, heightening the experience to create something more than just a traditional comic, but at the same time, remains true as a comic and not some lame hybrid/cheap animation...

Plus the art (by Barth) and story are spot on too!

Check out MONKEY GIRL and DRAGON DUDE - HERE

ARTWORK: Femforce sketch cards

2011-01-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

And yet more sketch cards I did recently...
I did 10 cards to be used for dealer exclusives on the just released FEMFORCE set by SadLittles.com
The cards were all done as 2 card puzzles, and featured many of the wide range of characters...

I also have a few blank artist exclusive cards up for grabs from the set for $35 each.
(Like this card here...)

Dear Internet, you're silly...

2011-01-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

File this one under: music/video/cool/dream/art

And file this one under: crude/fart/humor/starwars

ARTWORK: Sheena sketch cards

2011-01-20T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample card from the small run of cards I'm doing for the upcoming 5finity, Sheena (queen of the jungle), sketch card series. The series was very limited and from what I understand pre-sold out...

I'll have a couple cards up for grabs once the set comes out.

ARTWORK: Phoenix PSC

2011-01-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

Here's another custom sketch card, this time of Phoenix, from the classic Uncanny X-Men...

The card is on eBay HERE

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: publishing stuff

2011-01-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

A couple cool links from TheComicsBeat...

First, a link to a DIY approach to digital publishing that may be a nifty idea - HERE

With an interesting alternate idea floated in the comments from digital trailblazer DJ Coffman.

As I'm grappling with a clear path forward digitally, both for my work, and my publishing output. It's clear there are any number of directions one could go, and that ultimately there should be an option, or standard, for doing it on one's own, but I also think there's a big potential in the collective space... or digital publishers. As with anything, there needs to be focal points for choosing content on the user side... something to replace the comic shops, the newsstands, etc.

Then second, we have a lengthy conversation with Joe Casey, a comic writer synonymous with creator driven work, and quite the success story - HERE

I've always been a fan of Joe's work. And while nothing of his has ever been a pure favorite, his work is interesting and exciting. And I'm very much looking forward to his and Mike Huddleston's BUTCHER BAKER (from Image).

Meanwhile at the Movies... Green Hornet has Kato-vision

2011-01-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

And so does this Green Hornet Kato (Jay Chou) sketch card!

On eBay now HERE

I've seen Green Hornet twice now and really like it. Not a great movie, but great fun. See my full early review from a while back HERE

Meanwhile at the Movies... are we unprepared?

2011-01-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

A couple of new SUCKER PUNCH images...

After Watchmen, I need Snyder to bring more than just the pretty...
Here's hoping.
Oh, and yeah, it's Pulp Girls.

ARTWORK: Rooster PSC WIP 2

2011-01-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

Here's the Rooster Cogburn sketch card stage 2, inks:

and final stage, with marker colors:

Card is on eBay HERE

ARTWORK: Rooster WIP

2011-01-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a Rooster Cogburn, True Grit, custom sketch card, and thought it'd be fun to show the lines before I ink it, and color it (with markers)...

Card will be up for grabs!

2011 commission rates

2011-01-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

I just posted my updated commission rates on my DeviantArt page...

You can see them HERE

Take a look if you want to get some custom comic/fan art at good prices!

Daily sketch card: Morigan

2011-01-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

Now on eBay:

Daily sketch card: Spider-Woman

2011-01-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Now on eBay:

Daily sketch card: Super Girl

2011-01-04T19:13:00.000-08:00

Now on eBay:

Sketch cards on eBay this week

2011-01-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

I'll be listing new personal sketch cards on eBay this week, one card per day.

The first card is of Power Girl:

You can view the listing HERE

I've also relisted the few cards that did not sell from the last set.

ZOMBIE RELATED: The Horde REVIEW

2010-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

TITLE: The Horde (La Horde)
YEAR: 2009
DIRECTOR: Yannick Dahan, Benjamin Rocher
RATING: NR

The Horde is another well made zombie entry from France, this time mixing a crime face-off, with impending zombie uprising, to mostly good affect.

The first thing you notice about The Horde, co-directed by Yannick Dahan (2007's Frontiers), is the gorgeous cinematography, and it's sense of scene and place. The film is firmly grounded in a French slum high rise, and for all intents and purposes, is a crime thriller for the first act of the movie. However, as the French policeman out for blood off the clock face off with the criminal syndicate holding the high rise, hell is unleashed in the surrounding city.

While the zombies are introduced and carnage gets underway in the second act, it really moves pretty slow as we setup the dynamics of our survivors, and the third act, where they're forced into final confrontation with the zombie hordes invading below. At that point The Horde really takes off and almost shines. It's just too bad that aside from looking great, and being fairly engaging, that the overall film doesn't hook you better.

TYPE OF ZOMBIE, OR ACTUAL ZOMBIES?: Fast zombies, but pretty traditional otherwise, if not a bit more on steroids than just fast. These zombies are seriously amped.

GORE: Not too strong, but well done.

EFFECTS: Not too heavy on effects, but well done.

STRAIGHT REVIEW: MILDLY RECOMMENDED

ZOMBIE FAN REVIEW: RECOMMENDED
The Horde is a solid zombie film, with a decent budget, that tries to offer it's own unique story, set during the zombie apocalypse, that features a fairly epic last stand for the remaining cast.

It's worth a watch, if not just for the thrilling finish.

TRUE GRIT fan art!

2010-12-27T11:19:00.000-08:00

After seeing True Grit, I couldn't help but do a fan art of Rooster (Jeff Bridges) and Mattie... Here is the line art finished up, but I still need to color it...

And you can see my review HERE

ARTWORK: sketch cards on eBay

2010-12-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

UPDATE 12/22: Cards go off tonight (in roughly 12 hours), and a few now have bids... last chance!

I just put a big batch of custom sketch cards up on eBay for sale (at low prices), check them out HERE

UPDATE 12/17: Two have sold, but if you use buy it now, put notes in the payment and I'll include a copy of my 2010 sketchbook for free (or some other item if you have the sketchbook already).

Meanwhile at the Movies... Green Hornet early review!

2010-12-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

The Green Hornet, most famous for it’s 1960’s TV show featuring Bruce Lee, gets the Hollywood movie treatment, but my knowledge (and I’d wager most of Amerca’s) on the history and details of this property are pretty fuzzy. It started out as a radio serial, then a TV show, but the show never got any rotation that I’m aware of, either in the 1970’s TV syndication, or post 1980’s via cable. Nor did it exist as a comic book or other property, so I’m not really aware of too many people anxious for a big budget film treatment, but regardless, Green Hornet is on it’s way to movie screens in January, and I had a chance to catch an early screening.

I should note, movie is being released in 3D, and I’m not sure, but I think it’s another 3D retrofit… I don’t think this was created with 3D in mind, and in fact, the version I saw was 2D. So, keep that in mind, but from what I noticed, there wasn’t much in the movie created for 3D effect, except for the minor 3D gotcha moment or two.

So, how was the movie?

First off, as you likely know if you’re around the movie/comic websites, or Comic-Con etc, this is a bit of a reimagining, and not a straight adaptation of the source material. With Seth Rogan in the lead, a notable comedic actor usually attached to subversive anti-hero type roles, and Michel Gondry, the offbeat French director of such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Be Kind Rewind, Science of Sleep) directing. Also, Stephen Chow was at one time attached to direct and play Kato, then just play Kato, and then was no longer involved at all. Plus there was also some talk of reshoots or at least a rescheduling of some sort, leading to speculation the studio wasn’t too keen on the final product, with speculation (again) being, that it was perhaps too much of a skewed take on a superhero film for mainstream audiences (especially in light of the woeful performance of comic book movies that weren’t big budget made-for-the-masses adaptations in 2010 - not that this is really a comic book movie per se).

Now, I don’t know if the film was ultimately meddled with, or if it remains true to the Rogan/Gondry vision, but, being familiar with the creative flourishes of Gondry’s past works, Green Hornet plays pretty much like you’d expect a big budget Hollywood PG13-type superhero movie that aims to be different from the traditional comic book blockbusters. That is to say, it feels much more like a Seth Rogan film, with off color humor and antics, with Gondry supplying a visually solid foundation, that only occasionally takes to unique approach. Overall though, Green Hornet the movie is more of a character study than action film, and the combination of Rogan and Gondry bring enough of their styles to make that work.

The story itself is nothing fresh or original, borrowing elements from Iron Man and Batman most notably, mixed with a modern crime film sensibility. The main villain here is really just a generic crime lord, but in this case played subtly by last years breakout supporting actor and villain, Christoph Waltz, of Inglorious Basterds fame. In fact, the whole role is built around the fact that Christoph, or Chudnofsky in the film, is just that, a pretty forgetful kingpin, coming to terms with the fact that he may need to up his game, while Rogan and his mechanic, Kato, begin their heroes journey as the Green Hornet, posing as villains in the LA scene, but acting as heroes, thus ultimately setting the two on the path to an inevitable series of confrontations.

So it’s the typical super hero origin story, with Rogan in the role, as actor, of Downey Jr. - playing against type for what’s normally an A list alpha male role, and, as character, Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne - wealthy playboy with limitless cash and toys, to use for his own heroic ends. And GH does relatively well mining that Tony Stark/Downey Jr territory, as does the film, with Rogan a capable comedic actor with plenty of charisma in his own boyish, buffoonish way. Where it really shines, is where it difers from that template, and that is in the partnership that is formed with Kato, the estate’s mechanic and coffee maker, who’s really a jack of all trades that excels in particular at kung-fu, and mechanical design. And, with the original TV series being remembered almost entirely for this role, as portrayed by the legendary Bruce Lee, it’s here both in terms of the story, and casting, where Kato is again key. Because Rogan’s Britt Reid is nothing without his partner Kato, and the role of Kato, or the Green Hornet film itself, is nothing without a star turning performance form it’s Kato, and I must say, Jay Chou is amazing here in the role. He’s quiet cool, connects with the audience, and truly shines. You want your very own Kato to be "shon-di" or "brothers" with, and all the cool cars and toys that go with it. The only downside to Chou being, you don’t get the sense that he’s a bad ass martial artist, just that his character is in the film. So that’s either a credit to the filmmakers for making it mostly work on screen, or a failure on their part for not showcasing his skill more. I’m not saying the fight sequences with Kato are bad, there are plenty of them, but they’re just mostly reliant on post production gimmickry, that ultimately works fairly well (to both explain and illustrate his superhuman fight abailities), but the direction or editing keep things a bit murky whenever action ramps up in general, and Kato’s skills are lost to this somewhat too.

And besides the fairly unoriginal plot (that is, perhaps, the weakest part of the film), there are plenty of action scenes throughout, and they’re mostly cool, but they often felt like more noise and motion than actual substance. Like, “Okay, here’s a big car chase! Now if we flip over 3 vehicles, it’ll look cool!!” Those two things are what keep this Green Hornet from being a truly great film. As it stands though, it’s a lot of fun, with a good cast, that’s a lot of fun to watch, regardless. It’s just not a new classic in the genre like Iron Man, or The Incredibles. So yes, it is better than you’re likely expecting... and while the action can be a bit detached, Gondry and Chou imbue the whole thing with a cool factor that’s just fun to ride with!

RECOMMENDED