Archive for November, 2005
New pages up over at CBR of Paul Pope’s next venture. Which seems like it got pushed back to February but hey, what’s new? I’m just happy Pope throws out a bone once in a while.
John Byrne in Funky
For those of you who care, the storyline that was started last year in Funky Winkerbean about the comic book retailer being arrested for selling an adult comic to an adult, finally comes back to center stage. Here’s the start of the current court trial storyline.
Guest starring John Byrne as himself. No, seriously.
Stupid Comics
Ah, comics. When they’re good, they’re fun. When they’re bad, not so much.
But when they’re really bad, then they’re fun again.
So in that spirit, here’s another great time waster site: Stupid Comics. Apparently it gets updated each week, plus there’s currently an archive of 28 weeks worth of bad comics to ridicule.
Las Vegas
Not the city, but rather the s*** show on NBC. I had the misfortune of catching the first 5 minutes of the episode tonight. Seems they’re hosting a comic book convention at the fictional casino. And in just those few minutes, we have several references to comic book geeks, several on-camera geeks seeking the autograph of Lara Flynn Boyle’s character who they think is MothWoman, and some other comic book geek dressed in green spandex and cape swinging from a rope across the casino hall and crashing into a pillar.
So you know, basically what happens at every comic book convention I’ve been to.
F***ing worthless TV writers.
Monday Morning “Guess the Artist”
This one’s one of my favorites, simply because this page is so bad, yet the artist responsible for it went on to become an incredible draftsman. But man, looking at this page, it makes my eyes hurt. That awkward pose in the last panel? Yeesh! And this is one of the better pages from the story, some of the others were just…pure ass. I can’t believe DC would even publish something like this.
As always, use the comments section to make your guess. I have a feeling this will be an easy one, though.
(click images to fully appreciate the “no backgrounds” style)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005)
Lost recap
Sorry, too much going on this week, which is why I didn’t get a chance to post the usual Thursday morning recap of this week’s episode of LOST. So instead, I’ll make a few quick comments and then point you to a couple of awesome LOST fan sites with great clues and theories.
Although it was cool to see what happened to the tail section “losties” in this episode, not much of it was something we hadn’t known before. It was interesting to see the two kids, though. One would assume they were the legs we saw in the jungle in a previous episode, abducted by The Others. But the big thing in this episode was what went down between Ana Lucia and Goodwin. So he was another “infiltrator,” much like Ethan. Blending in with the crash survivors, but not one of them. So the question is, who are these guys? The Others? Project Dharma personnel? The way she disposed of him was pretty gruesome, though hinted at in a previous episode. Also, the comment he made about why they took some people but not others…something along the lines of they only take the “good” ones. Curioser and curioser. It has many ramifications. First, is it because The Others are trying to create a utopian society, and as such only want good people in? If so, how can they tell who meets those standards. And by extension, doesn’t that mean that the ones not taken are “bad” in some way?
My money is on Mr. Eko being a murderer of some type, only recently trying to exorcise the ghosts of his past misdeeds. He’s by far my favorite new character, by the way.
Ok, now for some fun reading:
This site has transcribed all the “whispers” heard in the jungle by the various losties. Clues aplenty, I’d imagine.
And on this site, a guy going by the name of Andrew Smith has an incredibly detailed, well thought out theory regarding what’s going on in the show. The crux of it is a “collective consciousness” guiding every event, via the electromagnetic properties existing on the island. Fascinating stuff, and probably the best out of all the theories I’ve read so far.
Come meet us at Mid-Ohio-Con!
The following members of Ferret Press and the PANEL writers/artists collective will once again be attending Mid-Ohio-Con in our backyard of Columbus, Ohio:
- Dara Naraghi
- Andy Bennett
- Tom Williams
- Craig Bogart
- Tony Goins
- Matt Kish
The show will take place on November 26 & 27, and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. Stop by the official Mid-Ohio-Con website for details, directions, and a full list of guests (such as Adam Hughes, Peter David, Paul Jenkins, Joe Jusko, and more.)
In addition, several of us will be on panels at the show:
“SATURDAY – 2:30pm Panel Room B – Delving The Digital
How do you take it digital? Or does it start digital? How do you manipulate images and text on the Web? What works best? How do you display your page on the Web? Can you turn clicks to cash? Jeff Carlisle (artist, Piezo Publishing) discusses comics and using the Web with Justin (World Famous Comics), Thom Zahler (Web and graphic design), Dara Naraghi (Ferret Press), Chris Moreno (illustrator), and Sean McKeever (seanmckeever.com).SUNDAY – 1:30pm Panel Room B – Let’s Dialog About Dialog
Writing dialog is easy unless you want to do it well. Good, natural dialog can be a real challenge, so let’s talk about talking. How do you avoid stilted speech patterns? How do you capture an accent on paper? Can the rules of grammar be ignored completely? Matt Kish (Spudd 64) discusses dialog with David Mack (Kabuki), Paul Storrie (Revisionary), Dara Naraghi (Ferret Press), CJ Henderson (lots of writing!), and America’s Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist, Tony Isabella.SUNDAY – 2pm Panel Room B – The Draw’n Of The Dead
They shamble and they stumble. They rot and they stink. They moan and they groan. Where the heck do you get a photo reference for that kind of stuff? Do I need an anatomy class or can I fake it? What about using gore, should it be implied or splashed generously around the room? Jeff Carlisle (artist, Piezo Publishing) hosts a chat about the technical aspects of drawing the dead, the near-dead, and the undead with James O’Barr (The Crow), Dave Aikins (Zombies!!!), Andy Bennett (Kolchak: the Night Stalker), Jerry Beck (Evil Ernie, Chaos), and Tony Moore (The Walking Dead).”
Be sure to check out the program of events for all the details.
Wasting time with web comix…
Long time no post…I’ve been trampling through the world of web comix and have a new favorite…Butternut Squash. Looks like I’m late in finding this, buy what the hell…good stuff. Check these guys out for some good work avoiding times…
Any one out there have any favorite digital reads?
Ahhh buddy, I bought a copy of the Fountain. The new DC adaptation by Darron Aronofsky and Kent Williams. It’s f’ing beautiful. I haven’t seen that much press on the book. Weird. Here’s the trailer for the film.
More fun with the news
Tom Peyer’s back at The Pulse with more comic book covers explaining the news. My favorite is the last one, with the guy saying “Follow me into the unknown!”
Superhero or…household cleaner?
“Boraxo”?
“Mr. Muscle”?
I got 17 out of 20 right.
Hey kids, boobs…er, comics
The DC Comics solicitations are out, and you know what that means. Yep, it’s a little game we play once a month where we tally the number of comic covers using T&A (mostly T) to sell, sell, sell issues.
However, it saddens me to report this month that DC is letting down all the pre-pubescent fanboys with their dismal number of boobie covers.
- I mean, there’s this, but that’s a group cover with dozens of other distractions, so it doesn’t really qualify.
- The metallic boobies from last month are very disappointing this month.
- See point number 1 above regarding this one.
- This kinda’ sorta’ counts.
- Ditto for this one.
Nah, the only legitimate entry this month is courtesy of the always reliable fetish master, Howard Chaykin.
Better luck next month, DC. Just keep in mind, you have to keep your eyes on the (ahem) ball, otherwise you’ll find Marvel gaining on you and stealing your thunder.
Check this out: comic books and…belly dancers?
Only in California. The Oakland Tribune writes about “Carnival of Stars,” a comic book and belly dancer festival!
“They’re surprised that I’m a belly dance teacher and a comic book artist,” Alexandria said. The Berkeley woman declined to give her last name. “When you put it all together, it’s a really fun, cultural, artistic experience.”
Now that’s what we need in Columbus. Maybe we should talk to Bob Corby and spice up the next SPACE show?