Archive for May, 2010
Googling around for Black Bolt imagery, I came across this blog that’s nothing but Kirby inspired art by other artists. Which I realize is most of what mainstream comics are today. In their own warped screwed up way. The quality level runs somewhere between the wow factor and a deviantart trainwreck. It appears to be one run by the Kirby Museum.
Some mindless fun while you’re chompin’ on a brat this Memorial Day.
Do you like Batman? Do you like The Demon? Do you have $100,000 to spare?
If so, then you can own all fully-painted 48 original art pages of Batman/Demon: A Tragedy (DC, 2000), by British artist Jim Murray. It’s up on ebay now.
So what do you get for all that cold hard cash? Lots and lots of pages of vividly-painted sequential art:
But before you plunk down your $100K, a word of warning: while there’s plenty of Bruce Wayne in this comic, there really is no Batman. At least, not the way you’d think.
On the other hand, there’s this take on Catwoman:
Somewhere, Nicolas Cage is salivating…
Since I’ve skipped this features a couple of times recently, and in honor of the 3-day weekend here in the US, let’s do 3 days of comic book crossovers. And since Batman is my all-time favorite superhero character, they’re all going to involve him. First up, Batman vs. The Joker:
When you have such a classic confrontation, the only thing left to say is ‘Nuff Said.
Benefit concerts and telethons are nothing new, and they often raise millions of dollars for worthy causes. Benefit comics are not all that unheard of either, but given how incredibly small the market for regular comic books is to begin with, I personally think that they exists more as a publicity tool for the publisher than an actual desire to raise money for a cause. Maybe if you’re a Marvel or a DC, with access to top name talent, you can do a 9/11 or Katrina benefit comic and actually have something to show for it. But a small indie publisher printing a benefit comic? Please. If they really wanted to help, they could write a check for $100 and it would still be more money than sales from such a book would really bring in, after the retailers and Diamond get their cut of the cover price. But whatever, I don’t normally get worked up over these things.
But then something like this comes along, and I can’t help but feel offended, not just as a comic book fan, but as a regular citizen and human being:
Grimm Fairy Tales #50 Haiti Relief Cover – The earthquake that struck Haiti this year caused catastrophic damage and loss of life. With as many as three million people being affected by the quake. Through this special variant Zenescope is offering its support to those struck by this tragedy. A portion of proceeds from this book will be donated to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund. This special exclusive will be limited to initial retailer orders only. 32 pgs, FC, $20
Did you catch that? “A portion of proceeds from this book will be donated…” and “…limited to initial retailer orders only.”
But more importantly, are you fucking kidding me? A “Haiti Relief” special edition of Grimm Fairy Tales, the flagship T and A title from publisher Zenescope, purveyors of such fine softcore porn (with a touch of pedophilia) as this:
and this:
Look, I understand how they’ve found themselves a nice little T and A niche in the indie market and they’re making money at it. Not my cup of tea, but it’s a free country and more power to them. But when something this blatantly crass and opportunistic comes along, you just have to call out these assholes on their disingenuous bullshit.
Unbelievable.
Here we go again; a different character each week, chosen by a member of the group for the rest to tackle. This week, the mighty Brent Bowman picked one of my personal favorites, the Man-Thing. Enjoy.
Craig Bogart
Andy Bennett:
Brent Bowman:
Brent now gets to tap the person who will choose next week’s subject. Better hurry, Mr. Bowman.
In an interesting bit of synchronisity, look what was posted yesterday on the Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues blog:
No, it’s not Marvel’s old Fun N’ Games magazine; it’s Shang-Chi battling his way through a maze of assassins, and artist Paul Gulacy provides an actual maze for our enjoyment. From Giant Size Master of Kung Fu #2.
(posting a little early because I don’t know when I’ll be near the computer tomorrow.)
That’s what my cousin-in-law Jack always said about shows. Something I get asked from time to time is questions on gallery pricing. I had a good talk with a local gallery owner on the topic. What reminded me was a recent visit to Agora. Basic question: now that I’ve painted this piece, what do I charge for it? Everyone has a different answer. My answer is time + materials + gallery fee. If you’re going to take the effort to price a work, price it. What flagged me at the show was some of the large scale original pieces at the show were going for $300. $300??? Too many people short-change themselves in this process.
Now that artist has backed themselves into a corner by confusing a buyer. If they show locally and often, they’re stuck charging $300 for large scale works. If that artist decides to charge more for a similar size piece, the buyer’s going to balk and walk away. Not only locking them into a lower price range for work (for who knows how long) but continuing to *lower expectations in the marketplace.
If one’s going to slap a price on a piece, the rule of thumb is to price by scale over some random number you came up with. Pricing lends some credibility to the work. Too cheap can be a turn-off too. It hurts the scene and local galleries by pricing your stuff too low. This is why a show of pieces at $100 is a suicide mission, not a help to the local scene. It builds a perception that art is cheap and disposable. Like stock art or those dipshits that started up elance.com. The arts festival formula is a good way to go. You have the $2000 originals up and the lower cost (limited edition) prints at a much lower price point.
‘Start small (with the pieces) then work up.’ It’s something I didn’t want to hear. Naturally my inclination is to go big. Building an audience from scratch, you have to work it like a crack dealer. Just a taste first, then you hit them later.
The new fattest city rankings are out, and I call shenanigans.
Columbus weighs in at 35 (out of 50), behind Cleveland (25) and Cincinnati (12!).
Skimming the report, it seems the other C’s have us on the basis of infrastructure: more parks, more swimming pools, more baseball diamonds. But c’mon– the Home of the Bike Messenger Hipster behind Porkopolis and the home of Drew Carey? I say thee nay.
I braved the pop-up storms today and checked out Agora. The layout’s vastly improved from last year as far as vendor booths go. Vendors are up in front of the space. With no live music stage to contend with which makes vastly more sence. The crowd was really slow but steady, which seems normal now that I have a frame of reference. My only qualm was the noise (band) act that chased me out of Junctionview. This guy was taking two pieces of styrofoam and rubbing them onto a snare drum. It was miked, deafening, and went on for one minute too long. Sounded like a band saw but higher pitched.
One of my friends got a studio space in Junctionview. Pretty cool set-up for making fake rubber knives. He had his space closed up to the public. Still setting up the space. We had a pretty nice chat till the hipster idiot started in on the styrofoam act.
Show runs till midnight tonight.
This week sees the release of my latest project for IDW, an original 4-issue limited series based on the characters and settings from James Patterson’s young adult novel, Witch & Wizard:
Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland #1 (of 4) – In a blink of an eye, their world has changed, with the oppressive New Order declaring all magic as evil incarnate! In this action-packed first issue spinning out of best-selling author James Pattersons’s #1 novel, sibling teenagers Whit & Wisty Allgood use their newly discovered magical powers to infiltrate into enemy territory of the New Order to gain control of the inter-dimensional Shadowland.
The artwork is provided by talented Spanish artist, Victor Santos. I’ve had a blast working with Victor; his work is dynamic, fun, and full of energy. I can’t wait for everyone to see what he does with the double-page action sequences in subsequent issues. In the meantime, here’s a look at one of the pages from the first issue, showing most of our main and supporting characters…first up, Victor’s pencils:
Followed by his inks:
And finally colored by Jamie Grant (All-Star Superman):
And given that IDW Publishing has fully embraced the digital distribution of comics, Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland #1 is also available through the Apple App Store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on the PSP through Sony’s Digital Comics storefront.
And finally, looking forward to next month, here’s a peek at the cover for issue #2, courtesy of Brazilian artist Fabio Moon:
Been saving these links for a while:
Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues – a blog about a comic book series that never existed…
The Comichron looks back at the start of the direct market…a few decades ago, Dazzler was posting sales figures that The X-Men and Batman can only dream of these days:
“Dazzler and the direct-only titles. Something Shooter did have an exact number for was the number of copies the first Marvel direct-market only comic book sold: Dazzler #1 had orders of 428,000 copies, he said. It was ironic, he said, because an issue featuring a new, untried character had been deliberately chosen for the test so as not to antagonize Marvel’s newsstand accounts. If anything, the enormous orders that the title received only served to underscore even further the enormous potential the emerging comics shop market had”
25 year old Anthony Le built an Iron Man/War Machine suit at home from high-impact urethane. Total cost: around $4K. But apparently the guy is not very well liked in the make-high-end-movie-props-at-home circles.
Funnybook Babylon asks Why Won’t People Stop Swiping Mark Millar? It’s no secret that while I’ve never read any of the man’s writing, I find him to be a complete and utter douchebag based solely on his self-serving online persona. Oh, and the use of rape as a plot point in almost all his stories. So yeah, when other people call him on his juvenile antics like in the link above, it puts a smile on my face. That, and snarky comments like: “The nerve of those pre-WWI French writers, and of everyone else who wrote about the same idea before Millar did. And of every other writer who isn’t Millar, in general. Those guys are jerks!”
Local boy with cancer turns into a superhero for a day – Wendy sent me this link, and it’s actually a really sweet story. The Seattle chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation organized a superhero fantasy for 13-year-old Erik Martin, who is living with cancer. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, he got to save the day as Electron Boy.
“Erik got into his red-and-blue superhero costume, and called on the powers of Moonshine Maid, who owns a DeLorean sports car. For good measure, more than 20 motorcycle officers from the Bellevue Police Department and King County and Snohomish sheriff’s offices escorted Electron Boy to Seattle. “They shut down 405 — they shut down I-90…”
Chris Sims over at Comics Alliance asks what if comics were actually given titles based on what you said when you read them?
And finally, on a more serious note, marvel at these beautiful pictures of the Large Hadron Collider, as presented on the National Geographic website, and remind yourself: holy f***ing sh*t, this isn’t science fiction, this is real!!!
The AV Club interviews Grant Morrison on Batman, Joe the Barbarian, and etc., with some pretty sharp questions. Here’s a sample:
AVC: In Batman And Robin, you have Dick Grayson as Batman, not Bruce Wayne, but it still reads as “Batman.” When you’re writing the character, do you think of him as Batman, or Dick Grayson?
GM: No I always think of Dick Grayson, because I think of him as younger, skinnier, more working-class. Because for me, coming from Britain particularly, I think there’s a big class element in Batman. I like the idea that Dick Grayson was a carnival kid and kind of lower-class specimen. And Batman’s an aristocrat, a blueblood from the higher echelons of Gotham City society. But the two of them work really well together. So I saw the character in that light, and in that way, Damian the orphan is very much an aristocrat and privileged kid, so you kind of get the same dynamic, but in reverse. So when I write him, I always think of that. It’s a little more colloquial than Bruce Wayne might be.
Click on that handsome devil above to read the whole thing.