Category: Celebs

Michael Jackson – RIP

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It’s still hard to believe that Michael Jackson died today.  He was only 50 years old and in preparation for a new tour.  At first it was thought that perhaps MJ had gone too far in his rehearsals and was exhausted, but when word kept coming out that he died, we knew at the very least the situation was grave.

Unfortunately for some, the bizarre behavior of Michaeal Jackson’s later years, and the allegations of child abuse will overshadow his accomplishments in the entertainment industry.  But most will remember the first time they heard a Michael Jackson song that made them move [even if they couldn’t dance a lick]. they’ll remember the Michael Jackson song that made them smile when everything was going wrong, or the first time that they saw him moonwalk, or the video that they kept rewinding to watch again.

That’s the Michael Jackson I want to remember.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

Evan Bryce’s Stallone

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I’m a big Evan Bryce fan. I’ve been following his work for a few years now and we’ve become friends via the internet.

When I saw that Evan was going to be at this year’s Heroes Convention, I knew that I’d want to get a sketch from him to go with my other two. We talked and Evan asked what character I wanted. I told him it was his choice and handed him the reference photos. I had high expectations for what Evan would come up with. He exceeded them all.

Evan is an exciting artist and one to keep an eye on. You can see more of his work at his blog or his Deviant Art site. Plan to spend a while.

Farrah Fawcett – R.I.P.

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Farrah Fawcett passed away today at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer.

Although best known as a 70’s sex symbol, Farrah actually started working in commercials and bit parts in television in the late 60’s.  Anyone besides me old enough to remember her 1973 commercial with Joe Namath?  Then in September of 1976, and the premiere of Charlie’s Angels, Farrah shot to superstardom.  The show was a hit and Farrah was the fan favorite angel.  Her poster sold millions of copies and became a 70’s icon.  Farrah stayed with the series for just one year before leaving to try her hand at movies.  Although her theatrical movies didn’t do well [I do remember liking “Saturn 3” with Kirk Douglas], she continued to be a fan favorite.

In 1984, Farrah earned an Emmy nomination for “The Burning Bed”.  She would earn two more before her career was over [“Small Sacrifices” and “The Guardian”].  In 1995, at the age of 48, Farrah posed nude for Playboy.  It became the best selling issue of the decade.

The last few years had been tough ones for Farrah as she struggled to beat the cancer that ultimately took her life.  Farrah has passed on, but her icon status will be outlive most of us.  Growing up in the late 60’s and 70’s, Farrah Fawcett was our Marilyn Monroe.

Our thoughts go out to her family, friends and fans.

Florida SuperCon

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I spent last Saturday at the 4th annual Florida SuperCon and had a blast.  It was my first time to the FSC, so I really didn’t know what to expect.  I’m happy to report that the show was well run, and contained plenty of media guests, artists, activities, and panels to keep fans of all interest levels entertained.

If you like checking out convention photos, then you can click on the individual links in the post or here to see a slideshow of photos [with additional ones not linked below].

I walked onto the convention floor just a bit before the doors opened to find Pat Broderick setting up.  It was cool talking to Pat, and refreshing to hear that he still collects art.  In fact, Pat was disappointed to learn that legendary artist Gene Colan wasn’t going to be able to make the show due to health reasons. Pat had hoped to get something from him.

Dick Giordano was surrounded by fans the entire day.  Dennis Calero was set up and sketching.  I had hoped to get him to sign my copy of Duane Swierczynski’s Severance Package novel [Dennis did art for it] and it was the first place I ever saw his work.  Can you believe that I accidentally left my copy at home?  [I didn’t forget my Walking Dead hardcover and was able to get Tony Moore to sign it.]   Still, it was nice to meet Dennis.

Another artist that I met for the first time was Mitch Breitweiser.  Mitch was twittering from the show and cracking me up with some of his tweets.  It’s also possible that Mitch has some magical powers, since I took at least one photo of him and when I got home none were on my camera!

Sean Shaw was set up and drawing when he wasn’t talking up the UFC!  In fact artist alley was hopping with folks like: Saint James Comics, Derrick Fish, Chris Darden [who was painting], Alex Ferrer, Austin Janokowski, Richard Green and so many others.  I picked up two Stallone sketches at the show: Andrew Charipar gave me his take on Deke from “Nighthawks” and newcomer, Cayce Moyer took a shot a Rambo.

It seemed that every third person was in a costume and man, there were some really good ones.  Like this one, or this one, and especially this one.  I taken more photos of the costumed guests and you can see them here.

Brian Thompson, Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell were the main media guests.  Ted Raimi did a one hour panel where he talked to the audience and then led folks chosen from the crowd to join him in a skit of “How a Movie Gets Made in Hollywood.”  Bruce Campbell won the crowd over with a one hour session where he simply took questions from the audience.  Talk about rapport with the fans, stage presence and great sense of humor.  I enjoyed that panel more than any I’ve ever seen and I’m not a HUGE Bruce Campbell fan… or maybe I should say I wasn’t…

As you can probably tell, if you’ve read this far, I had a great day at the Florida SuperCon.  I expect that next year will be even better since I’m going to try to make it for more than one day.  If you can, you should too!

Francesco’s Zombie Jack Carter

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Francesco Francavilla is a talented artist.  I visit his art blog and pulp blog regularly.

Here’s Francesco’s take on Freddy from “Cop Land.” The sketch was free since I purchased Francesco’s Chiaroscuro sketchbook.   Chiaroscuro is 70 pages full of Francesco’s black and white work.  It features everything from quick sketches to more detailed work of characters like Hellboy, Batman, Kong, Marv, and so many others.  It arrives securely packaged [which is a major plus knowing my mail carrier] and the last page contains the quick sketch.

Francesco has another sketchbook available.  Schermoscuro is a classic horror movie guide in artbook form.  Francesco offers the same deal on it.  How could I pass up such a bargain?  I couldn’t.  I love that Francesco tied my drawing to the sketchbook’s theme by making Jack Carter a zombie.

RIP: David Carradine

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David Carradine was found dead this morning.  He was on in Bangkok, Thailand where he had been acting in a movie called “Stretch.” Although his friends are reporting that he had been in good spirits, and many who knew him are shocked, David Carradine’s death is being reported as a suicide.

Although younger fans will know him best as Bill from Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”, older fans will remember him as Kwai Chang Caine from the hit series “Kung Fu” which ran from 1972 – 1975.  Some may be surprised to know that the series was originally developed to star Bruce Lee.  After the series, Mr. Carradine continued to find roles on television as well as films such as “Death Race 2000”, “Bound for Glory”, and “The Long Riders”. There were no real blockbusters in the mix, but David Carradine never seemed to be without a project that he made better simply by being in it.

David Carradine comes from a family of talented people.  His father was the famous actor, John Carradine, and his brothers Keith and Robert are also actors.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

Florida SuperCon

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Next week is the Florida SuperCon in Miami.  With over 100 media celebrities and comic guests in attendance [including Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Chris Claremont, Tony Moore, Dick Giordano, Dennis Calero, Mitch Breitwesier and scores of others], costume events, video gaming, panels and more, there should be something for everyone.

I’ll be there on Saturday checking things out.  Hope to see you there!

Andrew Charipar’s Cobra

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Here’s Andrew Charipar’s take on Stallone as “Cobra” and a humorous story that goes with it.  I got this sketch from Andrew at the 2009 FX con.  Although I regularly visit Andrew’s blog, I’d never met him.  A few weeks before FX, Andrew posted that he’d take requests for sketches to have ready for anyone attending the show.  I put in for the Stallone character of his choice.  A few days later, Andrew posted the Stallone piece you see here and said I could pick it up at FX.

The weekend of the show arrived and I found Andrew’s table.  He had art available for sale, his sketchbook, and comics spread out.  A small group of folks were around his table ordering or picking up sketches.   I waited my turn, stepped up and said, “Hi.  I think you have a Cobra for me.”  A puzzled look crossed Andrew’s face and he replied, “I don’t think so.”  Now I was the one looking confused.  Andrew asked, “Are you sure you requested a Cobra from me?”

Now I know that he’s drawn the piece — I’ve seen it on his website, but I can tell by the look on his face that he has no idea why I would think that he’s drawn me a Cobra sketch.  I go on, “My name is Craig Zablo.  I requested the sketch through your website and you decided to do Stallone as Cobra.”  It’s like a light went on and Andrew replied, “Oh, a Stallone Cobra!  My buddy and I were just talking about GI Joe and we thought you were referring to ‘that’ Cobra.”  Andrew then proceeded to pull out the piece you see above.

Andrew’s a cool guy with very reasonable prices for his sketchbook and originals.  Check out his blog and give him some props.

Insignares’ “Expendable”

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Miguel Insignares gifted me with this cool shot of Sly from “The Expendables”.  Miguel said that once I send him a high-res copy, he’ll color it and add Sly’s tats.  Miguel always has several irons in the fire and he’s currently developing a very cool concept for a comic/movie.  I can’t say any more about it at this time, but believe me, I’ll keep you posted as it develops.

Big thanks to Miguel for hooking me up!

Chaykin Departure with Bruce Lee

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Yesterday I posted the cover to The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #14 published by Marvel back in 1975.  Today we have the front piece to the same mag, again featuring Bruce Lee, but this time drawn by Howard Chaykin.  One of the interesting things about this is that it’s a departure from Chaykin’s usual style.

I wish that the scan had come out better because the pencil work was much more delicate than it appears here.

Two Legends – One Cover

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Two legends grace this cover of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #14 published by Marvel back in 1975.  Who’s the other legend, you ask?  Well, it depends on which you see.

Action fans immediately know that it’s Bruce Lee shown on the cover.  Comic art fans just as quickly see that Neal Adams did the art.  My guess is, if you regularly read the ZONE you recognized both,

Marshall Rogers’ Bruce Lee

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Time for another dip into the ZONE vault.  This time we come up with the front piece to “The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #26” published by Marvel and cover-dated July 1976.  Ah, that was a great time.  My senior year in high school had yet to start… ah, but I digress.

The front piece is a tribute to the legendary Bruce Lee as drawn by Marshall Rogers.

Chris Lopez & FX Countdown

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Today’s Stallone sketch is by Chris Lopez.  I love his work, but Chris’ website disappeared years ago and unfortunately I have no idea what happened to him.

Chris Lopez is a very talented artist who used to run SpaceBop.com. I sent Chris an e-mail praising his work and the next day this digital sketch and explanation appeared in my e-mail:

“The Lords of Flatbush is one of my favorite flicks. So I figured I’d do one of Stanley. I loved the scene with him in the pigeon coop, or when he goes to buy the engagement ring and gets pressured into buying the more expensive one. Oh yeah, swinging around 2 football helmets!!! Classic stuff.

So anyway, here it is. I hope you like it. I really had fun doing it. I tried not to fall back on the stereotypical Sly caricature features (eyes, lip) and give him a more realistic approach.”

That was about eight years ago. I lost track of Chris when SpaceBop.com went offline. [There is a site with the same name now, but it’s not Chris’.] Periodic searches for Chris on the internet haven’t turned him up.

Maybe one of you know him??

We’re less than a week away from FX and the fever is growing.  I had breakfast yesterday with Big John Beatty [who else has a milkshake with a sausage & cheese omelet?] and he’s ready to rock some sketches.  LOL.  Mike Zeck is putting us up for the weekend.  Too bad we can’t get Mike to join us for some FX fun.  Mike, like Bella [John’s wife] and Doralya [my wife] will probably enjoy the quiet while Beatty and I are at the show.

 
  • Mood:  Sunny Mood
  • Listening to: Smiling Faces by The Undisputed Truth
  • Reading: Patient Zero by Jonathon Mayberry
  • Watching: Pitch Black
  • Playing: Dead
  • Eating: Easter Dinner soon!
  • Drinking: Diet Coke

“The Wrestler” Wrestles

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Last night Mickey Rourke was ringside for Wrestlemania 25.  As you can imagine, Rourke got some ring time and even laid the smackdown on Chris Jericho.  Sounds like fun.

Of course some folks will probably bash or at least question Rourke’s participation in “rasslin’.”  Not me though.  I say if Mickey Rourke wants to get in the ring and have some fun, more power to him.  The only thing that would have made it better is if he’d have won the Oscar!