Archive for January, 2009
If the economy doesn’t do these guys in (and eventually I get a house), I am so getting a couple of walls or rooms done with this wallpaper. Since I’ve never bought wallpaper in my life, I have no idea how reasonable this stuff is. Still some pretty cool designs. Personal favorites are Flower of Love, Tunnel Vision and Celestial Dragon.
What sparked this was a link to Dan Funderburgh’s site, who has some nice designs of his own. Love the Death from Above design he did for Hellz Bellz. Sadly a custom job.
I’ve seen some artists silkscreen designs right onto the walls for installations. Something I might do.
So Columbus’ weekly Alive newspaper did an interview with me in their “Alive & Unedited” section this week. You can read it here.
I feel like I must make a small clarification about the last quote in the article, though. It has me saying “Comic books are really just soap operas for adolescent boys and, I guess, pseudo-men.” Unfortunately, that was taken a bit out of context. I was talking about the convoluted and inaccessible continuity of most mainstream superhero comics (as I was properly quoted at the beginning of the article with “The mainstream superhero stuff can be so incomprehensible…”), and specifically about the X-Men books when I made the “soap opera” statement. Just didn’t want anyone to think I’m hatin’ on comics. Hell, even when it comes to the “underwear perverts”, I’m an adolescent boy at heart. I read Hawkman, fer Pete’s sake.
Continuing our new feature, every weekend I’ll be posting a comic book cover featuring an often silly comic book crossover. Today’s versus pits Heroes vs. Hitler!
Golden age superheroes in WWII action…let me guess, it’s by Roy Thomas? Yep, sure enough. I think most of these characters were either public domain characters, or fan-created. In any case, I dig “The Eye”. Unfortunately he has many weaknesses: a sharp stick, running with scissors, BB guns, sandstorms, etc.
(Disclaimer: Hamster Press is in now way related to, a subsidiary of, or a sister corporation to Ferret Press. Hamsters are rodents, ferrets are not. That is all.)
…every time I see Obama on screen or hear him freezing something Bush concocted, I do a fist pump in the air. Which is the opposite reaction I had every time the Bush/Cheney hydra came on screen. I hope this isn’t a gag but Obama made a reference to the Savage Sword of Conan #24 during his first cabinet meeting. I think I just had a nerd-gasm. I know Craig or Brent might faint after this.
We just had the dog fixed yesterday, and the vet’s instructions included limiting her physical activity for the next seven days. That’s a tall order in a house with a 3-year old and a 1-year old. The poor beast is going to have to spend most of the next week in a cage, let out for a brief spell in the evenings when the kids are asleep and quick trips to the back yard.
She seems to be making the best of the situation, though; she put up a nice Raquel Welch poster on the back of her cage, against the wall. Not sure where she got it.
I totally dig this cover for Marvel’s DEAD OF NIGHT FEATURING WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #4, by Brazilian artist Rafael Grampá:
Here’s an interview with him regarding his book Mesmo Delivery, from AdHouse Books. And check out more of his work here.
Hey, Columbus’ own Bob Corby gets interviewed over at The Pulse. He talks about the Oh, Comics! anthology, the small press scene here, and much more.
“THE PULSE: Wow, so you’ve been at this for 20 years! What was the independent scene like when you began Oh, Comics!?CORBY: I started sending mini-comics out in the late 80′s to anybody willing to trade with me. Mostly to small pressers with reviews in Tim Corrigan’s Small Press Comics Explosion. It was a pretty isolated experience back then. I did finally start to see some local guys with listings after awhile. Local people like Michael N. Neno, Mike Toth and also regional people like Jim Pack, Larry Blake, Larry Nibert, Ian Shires and Allen Freeman. That’s one of the reasons I started Oh,Comics (or Ohio Comics) was because there seemed to be so many people doing the same thing I was attempting alone. “
Today’s page is once again provided by PANELista Craig Bogart. As always, when Moon Knight is involved, this page is dedicated to Andy.
(click image to enlarge)
(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, 9/24/2007, 10/1/2007, 10/8/2007, 10/15/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/29/2007, 11/5/2007, 11/12/2007, 11/19/2007, 11/26/2007, 12/3/2007, 12/10/2007, 12/17/2007, 12/24/2007, 12/31/2007, 1/7/2008, 1/14/2008, 1/21/2008, 1/28/2008, 2/4/2008, 2/11/2008, 2/18/2008, 2/25/2008, 3/3/2008, 3/10/2008, 3/17/2008, 3/24/2008, 3/31/2008, 4/7/2008, 4/14/2008, 4/21/2008, 4/28/2008, 5/8/2008, 5/12/2008, 5/19/2008, 5/27/2008, 6/2/2008, 6/9/2008, 6/16/2008, 6/23/2008, 6/30/2008, 7/7/2008, 7/14/2008, 7/22/2008, 8/4/2008, 8/11/2008, 8/18/2008, 8/25/2008, 9/8/2008, 9/22/2008, 9/29/2008, 10/6/2008, 10/13/2008, 10/20/2008, 10/27/2008, 11/3/2008, 11/10/2008, 11/17/2008, 11/24/2008, 12/1/2008, 12/8/2008, 12/15/2008, 12/22/2008, 12/29/2008, 1/5/2009, 1/12/2009, 1/19/2009)
is the lid off Dave’s Long Box once again?
A while back while I was still employed, the store where I worked did a donations drive for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our contact was a regular customer who was from a military family and had connections at Rickenbacker. I approached her with the notion of sending comics printed from my Marvel DVD-Roms on a weekly basis so those people trapped in the desert could have a subscription of sorts rolling in for some much needed escapism. She passed the message along to someone at the base who thought it was a great idea, but then she developed some form of family crisis and moved, and I quit my job, so I had no idea who to contact.
My recent foray into Facebook put me in touch with an old friend who was in the military and had just returned from a deployment himself. I ran the idea by him and he directed me to www.anysoldier.com, a site listing military personnel who serve as contacts to get general care packages distributed to their specific units. The site has a searchable database listing items that troops need or have requested; I entered “comic books” and was amazed to get a bazillion hits from troops who need their funny books to pass the time.
Of course, I was in total disagreement with the fool who made the decision to send our military into an unnecessary war; but having known a couple people now who have returned, I have a great deal of sympathy and respect for those who are trying to stay alive out there because they decided at some point they wanted to do something good, only to be let down by their leaders. The specific contact I found was a chaplain who spent half his introductory post talking about how much he missed his comic books. So, starting this week a unit in Iraq will start receiving weekly deliveries of old Marvel comics, fresh off my printer. I’ll rotate titles every other week to get some semblance of variety, and I’ve picked a few of my favorite runs with some of the more recognizable characters.
“A” Week:
Iron Man (beginning with issue #117): I still say he’s not Marvel’s most compelling character, but everyone should be familiar with him by now, and this era was the best it ever got. Michelinie and Romita jr. had a ridiculously long run, created a great supporting cast and had a rogues’ gallery comparable to Barry Allen’s (I mean that in a good way) lining up to get easily shellacked by Iron Man.
This weekend, we look at an unusual Spider-man crossover comic, Spider-man vs. The Prodigy:
I’m a little sketchy on the details. I mean, sure, The Prodigy is a psychedelic rave/punk/electronic/industrial/hardcore band with a frontman that easily resembles a comic book villain:
…but I’m still unclear what their beef is with everyone’s favorite wallcrawler. Or maybe Peter Parker started the static because he’s just not down with the full frontal nudity and massive drug use in the video for “Smack My Bitch Up”.
Oh wait, it’s not that Prodigy? Oh. Well, um, never mind then.
Our 232-year tradition of peaceful transfers of power is OK — for us, maybe — but here’s how Geo-Force does it:
(Additionally … Mike W. Barr’s Batman was unusually bloodthirsty.)
I thought I was done with “Leave Geo-Force Alone!” but I’m still having fun. Next time: Madame Ovary! Then: The Way Forward!
Be Here! It’ll be good!
I’ve been iTuned!
IDW Publishing is selling the first issue of the IGOR movie prequel comic book that I wrote for them on iTunes, for a mere 99 cents. You can read it via iTunes or on your iPhone.
If you have iTunes installed on your machine, you can click here to go directly to the Igor book. Or search in iTunes for “Igor movie prequel”.
Tom, this is a sign that we need to get our butts into gear and get Brainbot on iTunes…
Because you demanded it! Here is the tragic tale of the Duke of Oil!
When we first meet Earl J. Dukeston, he’s a Texas-sized Texas oilman visiting Markovia’s offshore drilling platform, Station Markovia. Markovia’s Dr. Helga Jace has discovered a way to extract oil from oil tar with 96.32 percent efficiency — and extract gold from seawater. Suck on that, Martian Manhunter.
Dukeston has a number of affectations, including calling the brilliant scientist “Helgie.” He’s folksy. You betcha.
Inevitably, he attempts to steal the technology, and finds out that Station Markovia is really a front for the Outsiders. Along the way, we reveal his origin:
After suffering a near-fatal oil rig accident, the Duke’s brain is recovered by a group of evil scientists called Skull. They promise to clone him a new body, but for now his brain is encased in a cyborg shell. He has to do their evil scientific bidding.
He stands off the whole team for about 20 pages, turning their own headquarters against them. Along the way he sheds parts of his human form, becoming this:
Looker notices she can’t pick up his brainwaves, and later the whole team manages to open up his brain case. There’s nothing there! He’s all robot! The evil scientists have been lying to him! Realizing he has become an Outer Limits-style sci-fi plot twist, he throws himself into the Pacific Ocean.
This is the part where your brain starts to hurt. Why the deception? Why didn’t Skull just build a robot? Why not get a volunteer? Isn’t the DC Universe chock-full of people willing to sacrifice their physical forms for a powerful robot body? Did they need the brain engrams of specifically a Texas oilman?
So that’s the Duke of Oil: A fairly powerful villain, a ridiculous backstory, a dollop of pathos, a small metaphor on the environment, and a bad pun. One-dimensional villain? Oh, no. This guy’s an onion.