Archive for May, 2004
Superhero Day Jobs
Worth1000.com has daily Photoshoping contest. Today’s theme: Superhero Dayjobs. (link courtesy of BoingBoing)
My favorite is Daredevil as a bellhop: “You’d better give a tip (when he eventually finds your room)”.
The 3 Elements of Comic Book Art?
Something from today’s Steven Grant column which I found interesting:
“In a different conversation I resurrected my old adage about the three elements of comics art: proportion, storytelling and dynamics. (All of which, as in subnuclear physics, become the same thing when you break them down far enough, but let’s not go there today.) Proportion includes all the basic elements of art: anatomy, perspective, consistency, etc. Storytelling is, obviously, the ability to use pictures to tell a story. Dynamics are the tricks that catch a reader’s eye, that get the pulse moving, and dynamics are dismissed as cheap tricks by many, but they’re really not. They’ve become essential. Great comics art needs all three, but the market is such that if you can only have one, the one you want is dynamics. And, yet, in the midst of discussing this, I realized what I mean by dynamics � which under my definition covers a much wider range of techniques and effects than most people seem to suppose � I realized I’d had it wrong all along, and dynamics is itself a subset of something else much more important: immediacy. Dynamics make comics a much more immediate, visceral experience. Someone brought up Steve Dillon. At a quick glance, his art may look still, though he’s more than capable of big action when he wants to draw it. But the genius of Steve Dillon is the way he uses space, places characters and objects in space, to give his work such a sense of reality that it sucks you right in. You believe what Steve Dillon draws. His work isn’t usually dynamic in the sense that, say, Jim Lee’s is, but Dillon’s characters exist on the page; you can see where they moved from and they’re moving to, you can feel their muscles tense and loosen. That’s immediacy.”
I like his thoughts on “immediacy” in art. We have a tendency to notice the over-the-top dynamics of artists like Lee (or god forbid, Liefeld), but that’s usually more flash and less substance. Whereas certain other artists capture your eye and make you believe what you’re seeing without resorting to overly-rendered panels or psychedelic layouts. Bryan Hitch comes to mind. As do Zander Cannon and Adam Hughes (if only he’d do more sequentials). Just not sure if I’d agree that Steve Dillon is one of them. Now, I do like his stuff for the most part, and his characters seem real, but I still can’t shake the feeling that his artwork comes across as stiff (at least to my eyes).
What does everyone else think?
Mmmmmmm, T&A
Newsarama is reporting that “Image Comics has announced plans to publish Allen Curtis and Mark Beachum’s SYPHONS Graphic Novel, an updated look at the superhero genre, originally produced by Now Comics in the early nineties. SYPHONS is a mature science-fiction thriller about four young adults who accidentally acquire intergalactic “siphoning” powers and are burdened with the task of protecting Earth from an alien race hell-bent on destruction.”
I mention this only because I caught Mark “Me Love Titties and Ass” Beachum’s name in there. Part Bill Sienkiewicz draftsmanship, part Adam Hughes cheesecake, I always enjoyed looking at his not-so-anatomically-correct eye candy art. Of course, the best part was when he’d illustrate the odd issue of some mainstream comics, like Spider-man or Moon Knight. Then all of a sudden even the most basic panel layout would turn into an ass shot straight out of a porn mag. Case in point:
Good times. Anyway, you can check out more of his art here.
Steve Seagle on NPR
From a press release: This Wednesday, Seagle is scheduled to tape a segment for the NPR show FRESH AIR with Terry Gross discussing his semi-autobiographical DC Comics/Vertigo hardcover graphic novel “It’s a bird…”
If you can’t catch the show, they usually archive them online on the Fresh Air website.
Check This Out
Frodo Has Failed!
Troy Drinking Game
I just saw �Troy� last night. Pretty good flick — overly talky in some points, but that Homer guy sure knew how to weave a good story. Anyway, instead of a review, I give you the Troy Drinking Game.
* Whenever anyone talks about their name being remembered throughout the ages, take a drink (you could get hammered on this one alone).
* Whenever you get confused on a Greek name, take a drink.
* Whenever the pronunciation of someone�s name seems to change, take two drinks. (Watch out for Menelaus.)
* Whenever you want to punch Orlando Bloom, take a drink.
* Whenever someone invokes the gods, take a drink. Drink twice if the actor manages to say it with a straight face.
* Whenever you suspect the filmmakers are making a comment on the war in Iraq, take a drink.
* Whenever you look at your watch, take a drink.
* Whenever you see a sweeping overhead shot of the ancient landscape, take a drink.
* Whenever someone ends a battle early, take a drink.
* When you see Brad Pitt�s ass, finish your beer.
Robbed
The 24 different entries for the big fat 24 Hour Comics TPB have been selected. Andy Bennett’s phenomenal book Remember, which can be read in its entirety here, is not one of them.
What a shame.
No disrespect to the creators whose work was selected (after all, I haven’t seen any of them so I’m not going to judge them unread), but there better be some truly fantastic efforts there if Andy’s didn’t make the cut. That’s all I’m saying.
—
Official Press Release
After a careful effort reading through hundreds of the comics stories created on 24 Hour Comics Day, editor Nat Gertler has selected 24 tales to go into the book 24 Hour Comics Day Highlights 2004. These stories were selected not just for their quality but also for the breadth of styles and participants involved in the event.
The better known creator whose works are included are:
* Christian Gossett of Red Star fame does 24 pages on the creative effort
* Leave It To Chance’s Paul Smith spent the day creating a one-man anthology of stories, one of which will be in the book.
* Joel Priddy of the award-winning Pulpatoon Pilgrimage shows us an encounter between a space alien and a king
* Eric Wolfe Hanson from G.I. Joe and Micronauts tells an action packed tale of “Late Fees”
* Dead @ 17′s Josh Howard puts his talent into an adventure with gorgeous gals and space aliens
* Ken Lashley unleashes a new superhero team, the R-Force
Also included in the book are:
* Skeezix, and his humorous short tale “Bird Calling”
* Jennifer O. brings her square cat from Squarecatcomics.com to the party
* Marketing exec Mandy Marxen muses about high school reunions
* Ben Towle deals with the childhood reality of a girl (uggh!) moving into the neighborhood
* Canadian Dani Atkinson drew her tale on a series of 24 trading cards
* Patrick Joseph looks at cause and effect in life
* Chris Watkins tells tales based on his days as a teacher in Japan
* Comic book store owner Jefferson Powers gives us a photocomic about what 24 Hour Comics Day was like in his store
* 12 year old Clara Harbour shows her own characters fighting for a chance to appear in her comic
* Artist Alida Saxon makes her first comic book ever, a charming bit of animal myth
* Danielle Corsetto deals with the perils of being a heartbreaker
* David Steinlicht on “Cleaning My Work Area!”
* Amanda Levinson and Adam Rosenblatt turn their prospective wedding vows to one another into a comic
* Michael Conner’s tale of rather abstract creatures
* Ryan Browne shows us the difficult life of a superpowered demon in Hollywood
* Community college teacher Ryan Claytor unleashes “Rock & Soul”
* Stephen Sloane’s Young Hip Priest gets his 24 pages
* Geno Heleen puts forth the wordless tale “Hats Off 2 Ya!”
24 Hour Comics Day Highlights 2004 (ISBN 0-9753958-0-7) is a 496 5.5″x7.75″ paperback, a nice thick paperback that ships in July from About Comics. It can be found on page 206 of the current Diamond Previews, order code MAY04 2158. It is also offered through FM International and Cold Cut.
Update: Sin City movie
According to Comic book Resources, ‘…Robert Rodriguez has closed his cast on “Sin City” by adding Benicio Del Toro and Clive Owen to the Dimension Films ensemble project. The noir drama is divided into three chapters named for titles in the Miller series: “Sin City,” “That Yellow Bastard” and “The Big Fat Kill.” Del Toro and Owen will be seen in the last segment, along with Brittany Murphy.”
and:
“The film cast also includes Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Mickey Rourke, Nick Stahl, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Carla Gugino, Jaime King and Marley Shelton.”
Chernobyl Story a Fake?
According to this thread, the story of a woman motorcycling through the Chernobyl related on this site (which looks to be down now) and blogged about here last month, is actually a fake.
I’m not sure that it matters to me one way or the other that it is a fake. Sure, getting the facts about the disaster correct would be good, but the work itself had an effect on me and had me thinking about Chernobyl for the first time in years. Furthermore, I wasn’t just thinking about the disaster in some abstract way as something that happened far away from here, but rather as a real event that altered (and continues to alter) thousands of lives.
Thanks to Neil Gaiman’s journal for pointing out this story.
Warren Ellis’ experiment
Over at the Ninth Art site, John Fellows contemplates Ellis’ “attempts to go it alone in the murky world of creator-owned comics for corporate bigwigs.” He’s talking about series such as Ministry of Space, Red, Tokyo Storm Warning, Reload, and Mek. The conclusion?
“His revolutionary ‘pop comics’ idea was to publish a series of three-issue minis, get in, get out, and get the job done. The comics equivalent of a throwaway music single. Something he can get out of his system without committing several years and a lot of energy to. And unsurprisingly it’s failed miserably.”
Did anyone read any of these series? If so, what are your thoughts? (I’m not a big Ellis fan myselfand even though I just recently got on the Planetary train, which is an awesome read, I’ve never felt compelled to seek out his other works.)
9 Songs
When American filmmakers wants to “explore human sexuality”, we get overhyped Hollywood wankfests like Showgirls (not that I didn’t enjoy it, mind you, it was just so…overblown).
When a British director decides to do the same, you get 9 Songs. Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, In This World) is screening his film, featuring explicit (and real) sex between the two main actors, at Cannes this week.
From The Guardian newspaper: “The most sexually explicit film in the history of mainstream British cinema, containing unsimulated sex scenes including fellatio, ejaculation and cunnilingus, many in close-up, yesterday had its first screening at Cannes. Michael Winterbottom, the Lancashire-born director of Nine Songs, a love story, said: “I had been thinking for a while about the fact that most cinematic love stories miss out on the physical relationship, and if it is indicated at all everyone knows it is fake.”
From The Independent newspaper: “With a cast of two, it is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Although you might find the sex scenes graphic, it is certainly not pornographic. The nine songs of the title break up the action, as the starring couple make occasional forays from the bedroom to watch live bands: Primal Scream, Super Furry Animals, Franz Ferdinand, Von Bondies, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and, to add some generational balance, Michael Nyman.”
Here�s my old college friend and former student newspaper colleague Amanda Flaig giving a Heisman-quality stiff arm to wonkette.com about the Washingtonienne affair:
http://www.wonkette.com/archives/washingtonienne-wonkette-works-the-phones-004195.php
Amanda is a p.r. flak for Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who apparently had to fire a staffer for blogging about her sexual escapades under the pseudonym �Washingtonienne.� Those escapades included letting a GOP sugar daddy get to fifth base in exchange for rent money.
Bushy Bush
Also from ArtBlog: Coming this September from Fantagraphics, The Bush Junta, edited by Gary Groth & Mack White
“An international assemblage of world-class cartoonists take on the Bush administration in this historical account of high crimes and misdemeanors – just in time for the election. This fact-based, impeccably researched work of comics journalism chronicles the Bush administration in the context of the Bush family dynasty that spawned it.”
Persepolis 2
ArtBlog reports on two new graphic novels from Random House. This one caught my eye:
“Pantheon will release Persepolis 2, the sequel to the hugely successful Persepolis 1 on August 31st in hardcover for $17.95. Persepolis 1 was the story of writer/artist Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in Iran during the Islamic revolution and the war with Iraq. Persepolis 2 picks up where the first volume left off, with Satrapi leaving Iran for Europe for a time, then returning to her homeland.”
Jim Jarmusch interview
The Onion a.v. club has a short interview with avant garde/indy filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. If you’ve never seen Dead Man (“a black-and-white, psychedelic Western” starring Johnny Depp) or Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (introspective action/black comnedy about a reclusive hitman, played by Forrest Whitaker), you really ought to check them out. They are both rather slow, decompressed movies, but are incredibly unique and quirky. A far cry from the usual crap pumped out by Hollywood.
Plus, he gives a shout out to filmmakers from Iran:
O: You’ve always been a voracious moviegoer. What’s your impression of what’s going on in the world now? Are certain filmmakers or filmmaking countries particularly exciting to you now?
JJ: Definitely. There’s a lot of incredible stuff coming from Asia�from Japan and Taiwan and all over the place. Certainly, Iran has become a beautiful garden of cinema. The best film I’ve seen recently is Crimson Gold by Jafar Panahi, about a pizza-delivery guy in Tehran, that was written by [Abbas] Kiarostami.