SUPER REAL NOTES: Heroes Con this weekend!

I'll be in Charlotte North Carolina for the big Heroes Con, this Friday thru Sunday at small press table 840.


This will be my first time at the show, and I'm looking forward to it, as I always here such great things!

I know quite a few friends will be there, and a few others I've yet to meet, so should be good times!

Here's to a good show, and if you're there, please come by and say hello!

I'll of course have comics, sketchbooks, prints, and be doing sketches.

Recent commissions...

Thought I'd share some recent commission work I'd done...



And this Firestar sketchcard that still needs color...

Meanwhile at the Movies... Land of the Lost, don't believe the hype

Land of the Lost is all kinds of awesome!!

Made it to the multiplex yesterday, and happy to report Land of the Lost has gotten a really bad rap!

The movie is a visual treat, and is fun, and often funny, throughout.

First, the special effects, they're great. The dinosaurs and world are fully realized and of the highest level. There are tons of different dinosaurs, creatures, and environments at play, and they all look wonderful. Both in terms of quality, and character. The budget on this one really shows.

Second, the art direction and set work, are amazing!
A lot of care and design was put into making the land of the lost unique, vibrant, engrossing, and also very much the orgasmic evolution of the oh so crude original. From the lush forests, to the craggy rocks, to the windswept deserts... they've really built a new dimension for the cast to explore.

Which brings me to, the cast. It's great.
Sure, not everyone is fan of Will Ferrell, and yes, he's in full on man child mode here. But, I suspect even if that's not to your liking, he's solid enough to overlook.
Then we have Danny McBride, who again, has a shtick, and if you're not into his macho redneck loser thing, well, your missing out! I find McBride to be a treat, and anyone who's a fan of Eastbound and Down, will find Danny to be on his game here too.
Which leaves "Holly" and "Chaka", played by Anna Friel, Chuck from the late Pushing Daisies, and Jorma Taccone of SNL respectively. Both are great here. The Chaka from the original series was always more annoying and downright ugly than anything else, except to children, so he's upgraded here to a more cool version, that's a touch easier on the eyes... part caveman, part wookie, and much more low key. And Anna Friel brings the same charm to her role here, with a touch more edge.

As a fan of the mid 70's Sid and Marty Kroft original, the movie is even more rewarding. Sure the main draw as a kid was the dinos, but you also got the epic cool lizard men, the Sleestak, who are also upgraded here. With lavish high tech updates to their cool but low-tech original look, and most of their connecting mythos intact as well; temples, Enik, pit, library of skulls, etc.
It's cool to see that world brought to life with the full budget modern Hollywood treatment, that's faithful to the source.

All that said, is it a great film, or really good story?
No, not really.
But it is a great escape to another dimension of space and time, full of vibrant characters, and fun action.
It's also played very adult for a PG-13 film. It's definitely not aimed at the kids. Just as the show, a Saturday morning kids program, had gobs of actual sci-fi writing that likely zoomed way over our young dino-crazed heads.

Land of the Lost is a tachyon radiated trip to a crazy land of legendary adventures, with potty mouths and humor. The scheduling on this one, a quirky oddity aimed at big kids, releasing amidst the explosion of summer blockbusters, didn't do it any favors, and you might be surprised at just how good this one so many have written off is. Check it out if you ever considered giving it a shot.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


But wait! There's more!!

Check out my posting of the review over on my DeviantArt journal for some discussion on the movie HERE

And hey, I'm not the only one who dug the film, check out these reviews over on AICN!

Annnnd, if you are a true old school Land of the Lost fiend, then you need to check out this fan site I was pointed to from my last LotL post!

Now here's some Land of the Lost fan art by my bud E Pun!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Haven Distribution's COMICS! catalog

For all you comic book fiends out there, just want to spread the word... Diamond is cool and all that, but Haven Distribution is an alternative distributor that now has a new catalog that offers independent comics as an option to just Diamond via comic book shops.

The first issue of the new catalog, Comics!, came out recently, and you may be able to see one via your local shop, or order one, but they're also available via the Haven website, either as a free download/online or order your own print copy.
Check it out HERE

There is a lot of really cool stuff in there that you either miss via Diamond, or isn't offered by them at all... and because of that, there's a lot of oddball stuff in there too (like my stuff, lol), but if you're a fan of books outside the big publishers, you need to check this out!

I'm saying this as a fan of comics, not as a sales pitch.
Sure my stuff is listed in it, but so could yours, and that's what's cool. It's a level playing field, and a way to check out a much wider selection of books.
Sure, it's cool to see the latest and greatest professionally polished corporate offerings, but we all know the underground, the alternative, is where the really exciting and cool stuff can happen!

Check it out... NOW!!!
(And spread the word!!!)

SUPER REAL NOTES: Super Real in Front magazine

I was recently alerted to the fact that Super Real made an appearance in UK magazine, Front, in the new July issue. Apparently there was a section that included a model holding the Movie Industry Special Jonboy Meyeres "Kill Bill" cover...

Upon seeing a scan of the page, turns out the book is indeed pictured, in a section detailing a models embracing of all things geek, and references comics "with big tits and/or zombies" in the "What I Does Love This Month" section with accompanying Super Real cover...

So there ya go.

Cool to see the book getting some love, whatever the case may be ;)

Have a look!

SUPER REAL NOTES: Newsarama interview

We interrupt your regularly schedule broadcast for this news update...

Land of the Lost is out today (and looks to have reviews on par with the flat attempts at humor on exhibit in the ads)...

Initial sales numbers are in, and the Super Real Graphic Novel is locked in at Diamond (I know this may not seem like much of a statement, but in today's market, and with their new thresholds, nothing is guaranteed)...

Oh, and an interview I did with Newsarama's Chris Arrant over a month ago finally went live!!
Newsarama is the industries leading news source, so check that out HERE

The interview is centered on the graphic novel release, but covers the entire scope of self publishing the series, and publishing comics in general, and I think came out really well! Be sure and check that out!

STAY TUNED

SUPER REAL NOTES: Graphic Novel new colors 2

This week I'm doing a little show and tell of the production for the Super Real graphic novel collection, and focusing on the inclusion of the Super Real VS The Comic Book Industry special issue, which was originally in black and white, but will now be in color.

There were five sections in the special, each by a different artist, and my section was in color (of sorts) already, so that left four sections needing color, with no time on my schedule to do it.

Yesterday we looked at samples of the first section, and today we'll focus on another, the section by Edward Pun, who worked in a manga style, as his section pit our cast member Kit against Poke-Zap, a Pokeman stand-in.

It was also one of the sections I filled via an open call, so today, here are the two sample pages I received for the section...


So that's Ed's lineart (with grayscale), and sample 1 by Jesus Alessandro Esparza Hurtado, and sample 2 by Fabián Cobos...

Both samples were cool, but quite similar, so I had a tough time picking. Stay tuned to see some future samples from the selected artist!

And again, a big thanks to everyone who took the time to do up some samples, and color some pages!

Tune in tomorrow for more before and after from new colorists on new artists!

SUPER REAL NOTES: Graphic Novel new colors

When I started to setup Super Real in one graphic novel collection, I knew right away, that with the collected format being in color, there was an opportunity to go back and colorize our first special, Super Real VS The Comic Book Industry, as it was originally printed in black and white. However, I also knew, with everything else that needed done, I wouldn't have time to color the pages myself. Even though, since it featured 4 sequences by guest artists Jim Mahfood, The Boo, Daniel Campos, and Edward Pun, it would've been a lot of fun to color all those different artists. So, I asked a couple folks if they were interested, and decided to try putting out an open call to the DeviantArt.com community, for the remaining sections.

Over the next few days, I'll share some of the newly colored pages here, starting with the three folks who were kind enough to submit color samples for the two open sections (by Daniel, and Ed). As you'll see, I found some cool artists, and I really appreciate them taking the effort to try out for a non paying gig like this.

Today I'll show our first selection, by Oliver Lee Arce, and his colors over Daniel Campos' first page from the special...


A side by side comparison, from inks, to colors, and letters...
As you can see, his colors really bring the page to life, and also are full of unique touches. Very nice!

If anyone else wants to play with colors on the pages, feel free, just click on the ink image, and let me know so I can post your results here (just remember the slots for the book are already filled!).

Tune in tomorrow, and we'll share the two submissions we got for Edward's section, and then after that, some of the cool colors provided by friends!

STAY TUNED!