Archive for September, 2007
Farel Darymple’s got a new graphic novel coming out from 1st Second called The Wrenchies. A 250 page ‘postapocalyptic fantasy that takes place 3,500 years in the future, featuring a group of street children called “The Bolts.”’
Omega the Unknown begins next month. A preview is up over at CBR.
If I was in Portland, Oregon this weekend: I’d be at the Stumptown Comics Festival.
Wow, apparently it’s 80s comics nostalgia week in the news:
Newsarama reports on the return of perhaps the most famous of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip-off comics that flooded the market after TMNT’s success: Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters. Seriously? Someone actually thinks there’s a demand for this “franchise”? (And I use the term very loosely.) What’s next, such 80s indy blockbusters as Trollords?
Meanwhile, Comic Book Resources profiles 80s and 90s fan-favorite artist Larry Stroman’s return to comics. I was a big fan of Stroman’s art, especially during his Alien Legion run. But the pages they preview in the article are a bit…well, underwhelming. On a side note, I found this comment by Stroman to be interesting: when asked why there were only 4 issues produced of his creator-owned series at Image – Tribe – he responds:
“I told the story I wanted to tell at that time.”
I think the real story there is that his series came out just as the Image hype bubble was bursting, and speculators were abandoning the hundreds of series being pushed by the company. In fact, I remember being at a Motor City Con in the mid-to-late 90s where Stroman was a special guest, and overhearing him bitching quite loudly about the poor sales on Tribe. He ended up leaving halfway through the show in a huff.
That aside, I look forward to seeing more of his work in the comics field.
Quick update for you guys and gals: “The Routine” is the new storyline starting this week on my webcomic, Lifelike. Art is by Steve Black.
You can read Lifelike here.
I don’t know as much about science as I wish I did, so hopefully someone can help me out with this.
1. What you “see” is actually the light reflected off an object hitting your eye. On Earth, you see things pretty much instantaneously. But in space, the distance is a factor. It can take billions of years for the light from a star to reach the Earth.
2. Since nothing’s faster than light, the quickest way to detect something in space will still be to “see” it, either with the eye or some kind of camera. I don’t know how a “scanning beam” would be able to see farther/faster than light.
3. But, at stellar distances, you’ll be seeing an image of what the object was doing minutes, hours or days ago.
4. This would be significant for space combat. You’d see the enemy ship, but you wouldn’t know what it had been up to since the image first set out toward you.
5. This would mirror the pre-radar days of ocean battle. Before radar, it could take days to detect, track and close with an enemy ship.
6. One possible tactic would be this: Suddenly turn the ship and charge toward your enemy at light (or near-light) speeds. By the time he “saw” you turn, you’d already be almost upon him.
7. Another tactic would be this: Let off a flash of light between you and the enemy ship to mask whatever you were doing.
This is the sort of thing that I lay awake thinking about. If anyone can tell me if this makes sense, I’d appreciate it.
Hey gang, I made onto Juxtapoz online this week in their weekly Reader Art section. Looks like I didn’t waste a Sunday afternoon for nothing. Happy belated birthday to meeeeeee.
I’m reading Douglas Wolk’s Reading Comics. So far it is a good read bringing a critical eye to comics and graphic novels.
I’m only a couple of chapters in, but it is clear that while Wolk enjoys some “mainstream” comics, his real interest is what he calls “art” comics. I’m sure, and he’ll admit, that there will be some gnashing of teeth over his labels and his approaches, but no one can argue with this statement made during the discussion of being an auteur:
Rob Liefeld, for instance, is a stylist above all else, and his drawing is instantly identifiable by its bursts of tiny marks, its hyper-exaggerated anatomy, it reptilian detail…He’s also a god-awful hack with no tonal range at all, and his flailing attempts at storytelling are inevitably derailed by his inability to think beyond the next dramatic full-page shot. ‘Distinguishable personality’ his work has plenty of, but that doesn’t give it value (34).
Not sure if the 370 remaining pages will have anything that good in it.
I think this week’s page will be a bit easier. If you have the comic this is from, please refrain from guessing.
(click image to SNIFFerize)
(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, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006, 9/18/2006, 9/25/2006, 10/2/2006, 10/9/2006, 10/16/2006, 10/23/2006, 10/30/2006, 11/6/2006, 11/13/2006, 11/20/2006, 11/27/2006, 12/4/2006, 12/11/2006, 12/18/2006, 12/25/2006, 1/1/2007, 1/8/2007, 1/15/2007, 1/22/2007, 1/29/2007, 2/5/2007, 2/12/2007, 2/19/2007, 2/26/2007, 3/5/2007, 3/12/2007, 3/19/2007, 3/26/2007, 4/2/2007, 4/5/2007, 4/9/2007, 4/16/2007, 4/23/2007, 4/30/2007, 5/7/2007, 5/14/2007, 5/21/2007, 5/28/2007, 6/4/2007, 6/11/2007, 6/18/2007, 6/25/2007, 7/2/2007, 7/9/2007, 7/16/2007, 7/23/2007, 7/30/2007, 8/6/2007, 8/13/2007, 8/20/2007, 8/27/2007, 9/3/2007, 9/10/2007, 9/17/2007)
I just lettered the last page of story for the Lifelike graphic novel, burned the files on a DVD, and plan on dropping it in the mail to IDW tomorrow morning.
Wheh.
I’m not quite done, though. There’s still the matter of the “bonus” material in the back of the book. I’m hoping the art director will let me know soon what he’d like for those, so I can wrap this puppy up for good.
Almost there…
As Tom noted below, PANEL is on ComicSpace. But maybe your thinking to yourself “Why would I want to check out PANEL there? I get my fill of the gang from this here blog.” Here’s your answer: The first issue of the PANEL anthology, long sold out, will be presented in its entirety over the next few weeks. Here’s the line-up:
- Front and back covers by Steve Black and Tom Williams up now
- Monday, Sept. 24: TOC and pages 1-7 featuring Steve Black
- Wednesday, Sept. 26: pages 7-12 featuring Tim Fischer
- Friday, Sept. 28: pages 13-17 featuring Dansen T. Stahl
- Monday, Oct. 1: pages 18-23 featuring Andy Bennett, Tony Goins, and Steve Black
- Wednesday, Oct. 3: pages 24-27 featuring Tony Goins
- Friday, Oct. 5: pages 28-35 featuring Dara Naraghi and Tim McClurg
- Monday, Oct. 8: pages 35-40 featuring Tom Williams
While this won’t make up for holding the vellum-covered book in your hands, it will allow you to see where it all began for the PANEL anthology.
Panel is now representin’ on myspace & comicspace. Friend us up.. or not.
We’re thinking about dropping HBO, since it’s basically a complete waste of money. I don’t care for any of their current shows, and have no interest in watching “You, Me, and Dupree” 18 times a day. In fact, the only show that both Wendy and I watched religiously was Flight of the Conchords.
Sure, the episodes were very uneven, and the humor is definitely not for everyone, but I still crack up every time I see these clips. So for your enjoyment, here are my…
Top 6 favorite Flight of the Conchords songs:
2. If You’re Into It:
1. Mutha Uckers:
Pope working on the cover to Dara’s story for IDW. On the left is the final product. Paul’s birthday is this 25th. Happy Birthday to Paul. His flickr set also sports some studio shots including Frank Miller’s. In progress stuff on some Marvel things: Silver Surfer, etc.
I read a fascinating story in the LA Times about this huge collection of 20th century western art being kept in the basement/archives of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in Iran. Apparently pre-Islamic Revolution, during the Shah’s regime, the government funded a massive procurement of works by the masters of 20th century painting. Unfortunately, between the current regime’s anti-western stance, and the decidedly non-Islamic subject matter of some of the works, they aren’t on display to the public.
Here’s a link to the article, though it’s behind one of those annoying subscription walls.
“You can’t find any collection of this comprehension outside the Western world,” said Samiazar, who now teaches at a Tehran art institute. “In Tokyo, you may find important works by Impressionist artists. But in terms of a comprehensive collection covering all the major movements, no. Nowhere. Not in the East European countries, not in Scandinavia, not in South America or Asia. Not anywhere. It’s one of the most important cultural assets of this country.”
Curiously enough, the museum’s website not only lists all the works in the collection, but has links to pictures of each piece.
“Monet’s “Environ de Giverny,” Max Ernst’s “Histoire Naturelle.” Four of Andy Warhol’s Mick Jaggers and a Mao Tse-tung. Georges Braque’s “Guitar, Fruits et Pichet,” and an Edvard Munch self-portrait. One of Edgar Degas’ Dancers. Gauguin, Matisse, Renoir, Chagall, Klee, Whistler, Rodin, Duchamp, Dali. Photographs by Man Ray. Important Abstract Expressionists such as Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.”
Over at Optical Sloth, Whitey has reviewed the second issue of PANEL.
This is still a pretty solid group of stories, even if it only got better from here. Worth a look if you’ve been following this series and/or these people and want to see what their stuff looked like when they were only relative babies at this business…
He has now reviewed all but issues #1 and #6.
I was thrilled to see Hussar show up on LA Ink the other night. One of my favorite painters from the California scene and featured often in Juxtapoz for his dark imagery. Above is one of the tamer paintings on his site. The site is pretty but seems half finished and viewing the gallery is kinda funky. Worth a look.