Craig Zablo’s Zone

Archive for August, 2009

UFC 102 was Saturday so let’s how I did:

Chris Tuchscherer (17 - 1) vs Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4)   My pick: Tuchscherer by decision.  Actual Result: Tuchscherer wins by TKO  My Average: 100%

Krzysztof Soszynski (18-8-1) vs Brandon Vera (10-3) My pick: Vera by decision.  Actual Result: Vera by decision  My Average: 100%

Demian Maia (10 - 0) vs Nate Marquardt (28 - 8 - 2) My pick: Marquardt in a close decision.  Actual Result: Marquardt by 1st round KO  My Average: 100%

Jake Rosholt (5 - 1) vs Chris Leben (18 - 6)  My pick: Leben by decision.  Actual Result: Leban by 3rd Round Submission  My Average:  75%

Thiago Silva (13 - 1) vs Keith Jardine (14 - 6)   My pick: Jardine by decision.  Actual Result: Silva by 1st Round KO  My Average: 60%

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1) vs Randy Couture (16 - 9)   My pick: Couture by KO.  Actual Result: Nog by Unanimous Decision  My Average: 50%

Man, I started out like Anderson Silva and ended up like a journeyman fighter.  Oh well, there’s always next time!

It’s DAY 7 of MIKE ZECK WEEK at the ZONE and we’re going out with a bang. First up we have the photo above of my good buddies, Jim Ivey and Mike Zeck. My brother, John Beatty, forwarded it to me to share with fans. Beatty took it on a visit to Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum back around 1992 or 1993!

Before we go to our final art for MIKE ZECK WEEK at the ZONE, I thought it would be fun to check out a self portrait that Mike drew nearly 35 years ago, along with a more recent photo of the man. [By the way, Mike is wearing his "Damned" shirt -- from the excellent crime graphic novel written by Steven Grant and drawn by, you guessed it, Mr. Zeck, his own bad self].

Okay, for the last piece of Zeck art, I wanted something dramatic. I was tempted to go with a piece from Damned… or Captain America… or Master of Kung Fu… or his Spider-Man / Kraven graphic novel… or his work at DC on Batman… or Secret Wars… okay, I never really considered Secret Wars because I decided that the final page of the Punisher in the Return to Big Nothing graphic novel would provide a fitting end to Mike Zeck Week at the Zone.

Hope you think so too.

Jeremy Bartic recently ran a contest on his Deviant Art site and I was the winner! My prize was the drawing above! How cool is that? Very cool I say. You can see more of Jeremy’s art here. Drop by and check him out!

Thanks again Jeremy for running the contest and for the cool art!

UFC 102 is tonight so let’s go right to my picks:

Chris Tuchscherer (17 - 1) vs Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4) Gonzaga has fought the better quality of fighters, but Tuchscherer is no slouch. If he can get through the first round and make use of his All-American wrestling skills, he should be able to take the win. My pick: Tuchscherer by decision.

Krzysztof Soszynski (18-8-1) vs Brandon Vera (10-3) Vera is favored because Soszynski seems made to order. Vera is bigger, and more skilled.  Still, I’ve never been a Brandon Vera fan. I’m pulling for the upset in this one however… My pick: Vera by decision.

Demian Maia (10 - 0) vs Nate Marquardt (28 - 8 - 2) This could be the best fight of the night. I like both of these fighters. It’s hard to go against an undefeated talent like Maia, but… My pick: Marquardt in a close decision.

Jake Rosholt (5 - 1) vs Chris Leben (18 - 6) I’m not a huge fan of Leben, but even I can’t deny he is one tough fighter. If Rosholt sticks to wrestling, he could have a very good shot at an upset. My guess is Leben won’t let him. If Rosholt tries to slug it out with Leben, game over. My pick: Leben by decision.

Thiago Silva (13 - 1) vs Keith Jardine (14 - 6) Keith Jardine goes into every round looking for the knockout.  Silva won’t want to trade with Jardine.   Jardine shouldn’t want to take it to the ground with Silva. This could make for a very tactical fight… it could also end up a snooze fest if Silva refuses to stand and trade in order to set up a takedown. My pick: Jardine by decision.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1) vs Randy Couture (16 - 9)  I like both of these fighters.  Couture is older and has had less fights. Both are coming off of losses [Nog was KO'd by Frank Mir and Couture was KO'd by Brock Lesnar]. Both need the win in order to remain at the top of the MMA food chain. My pick: Couture by KO. [And the fact that Couture is co-starring in "The Expendables" had very little to do with my decision. ; ) ]

Day Six of Mike Zeck Week and we have some really early, really rare Mike Zeck art.  I’ve posted an ad that appeared in RBCC 132 [December 1976] offering five pages of Mike’s art that originally appeared in RBCC 117.  The five pages consisted of the first [and what turned out to be the last] installment of an adaptation that Mike was drawing of a science fiction story called “Subjectivity.”  Unfortunately for fans of the strip, Mike began getting regular work from Charlton Comics and had to bow out of the project.  [As a side note, Kerry Gammill redrew the five pages and finished the story which ran in RBCC 124 - 127.]    The ad offered the five pages at $50 for the set. 

Tomorrow is MIKE ZECK WEEK: DAY Seven and I hope to end the week with a bang.

My buddy, John Beatty will be drawing live tomorrow from his studio starting at about 10am EST tomorrow.  John will answer questions and chat with folks who tune in.  Click here for the details.

I hope that “The Descent 2″ lives up to the orginal. This trailer left me feeling like that might be a tall order.

Day Five of Mike Zeck Week and we get a splash that Mike did to accompany an article about Adam Strange that appeared in RBCC 132 [December 1976].  I’m not an Adam Strange fan, but I like what Mike did with the character. 

Tomorrow is MIKE ZECK WEEK: DAY SIX. Even I’m not sure exactly what we’ll see, but I can promise it’ll be something from Mike.  [It is his week after all.]

I saw this Science quiz at Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Magzine.  Like Bill, I got all the answers right.  And like Bill, I thought:

“No wonder. It’s incredibly simple. The surprising thing, however, is that I did better than 90% of the public. That doesn’t make me feel smart. It just kind of makes me wonder about the rest of the people who took the test.”

Give the test a shot.  Odds are you’ll do real well, and if you don’t do well it can be your secret.

Day Four of Mike Zeck Week and we’re still going strong.  Today we have the inside frontpiece that Mike did for RBCC 132 [December 1976].  The piece originally appeared as an ink wash drawing on the back cover of RBCC 119. That’s some vintage Zeck art, ZONErs.  It was published as above, without the ink wash, in RBCC 132.  At first glance you might not recognize the art as Mike’s work.  Check out the woman’s face though and you can see the Zeck’s style coming through.

Tomorrow is MIKE ZECK WEEK: DAY FIVE.  We’re going to take a look at the splash that Mike did to accompany an article about Adam Strange in RBCC 132.