Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I met Colin Lawler at last year’s HeroesCon. I liked Colin’s art and enjoyed speaking with him, so getting a sketch was a natural. As you can see above, Colin decided on Demolition Man. What a great addition to my sketch collection!
If you’d like to see more of Colin’s art, you can here.
As a fan who has been touting The Walking Dead comic since issue one, it still surprises me how well the comic series translated into a tv series which caught on with the general population.
Not only has The Walking Dead tv series lasted six plus years, but has spun off the Fear the Walking Dead tv series and is now becoming a major attraction at Universal Studios.
The Comics Reporter posted Beauty And Power: 100+ Stand-Alone Pieces Of Art By The Late Darwyn Cooke.
I love seeing so much Darwyn Cooke art being posted since his passing. His art will be around as long or longer than comics. What a legacy!
I met Dwayne Biddix at last year’s HeroesCon. I’d been following Dwayne on DA and Twitter so it was a no brainer to get a Stallone sketch from him. Hope you dig it!
When I read yesterday that Darwyn Cooke was battling an aggressive cancer, it was like an unexpected gut shot. Truth be told, I only knew Darwyn through his art, stories and the several times I met him at comic shows… but I was such a fan and Darwyn always treated me (and other fans) with such respect and kindness, it sure seemed I knew him better than I did.
I’ve always loved Darwyn’s art and when he began adapting Richard Stark’s Parker novels, I thought it could never get better than that. Each time I caught up with Darwyn at a show I’d have his latest hardcover for him to sign and he always included a quick headsketch with the signature. I loved talking to Darwyn about his latest project and what was coming.
Sadly it was announced today that Darwyn passed at 1:30 this morning surrounded by friends, family and aware of all of the well-wishes that had been pouring in since the news about his illness had been announced.
My thoughts, prayers and best wishes go out to Darwyn’s family, friends and fans. Rest in Peace, Darwyn.
If you’re not following Rafael Kayanan on Twitter, then you’re missing out on cool art like the werewolves drawing above. I say that not because Raf is an old buddy of mine, but because he’s one of the most talented artists [as in martial and art-art] out there!
Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day and my buddy, John Beatty is going to be in Melbourne Florida at Famous Faces and Funnies signing autographs, doing free quickie head sketches, selling prints and more. Big John won’t be the only artist there sketching.
I’m going to show up in the afternoon too. Although I won’t be sketching so consider yourself lucky.
Steranko is one of the living legends of comic art. Marvel in a very wise move brought Steranko back in 2016 to create never-before-seen variant covers, like the art for one above. The variants ran through 2017.
Diversions of the Groovy Kind has posted up Master of Kung Fu #60 The Phoenix Gambit Part II: End Game! by Doug Moench, Mike Zeck, and John Tartaglione.
Click over and check out some vintage Mike Zeck art!
Today we have a Jack Kirby splash inked by Frank Miller! You can see a larger version as well as a Kirby Spider-Man drawing inked by Miller at Brian Michael Bendis’ Tumblr.
Darwyn Cooke was the cover artist for the Batman: Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1.
Over at the Almost Darwyn Cooke Blog they show us some of the prelims Darwyn created before coming up with his finished cover.
Andy Fish created his take on Sly as Stanley from Lords of Flatbush using no reference! If you’d like to see more of Andy’s art you can here!
Mathew Jackson and Mental_Floss present 16 Super Facts About Superman. Here are three of my favorites…
6. EVERY MAJOR STAR OF THE DAY WAS SEEMINGLY CONSIDERED FOR THE TITLE ROLE.
In order to secure the rights to adapt the comic book, the Salkinds had to bow to certain demands from DC Comics, and the publisher ultimately sent along a list of “approved” actors who were allowed to play Superman. The list was far-reaching, and basically included every major star of the time. Among the names on the list: Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and Muhammad Ali.
7. RICHARD DONNER WANTED TO CAST AN UNKNOWN AS SUPERMAN.
The Salkinds, hoping to land a major movie star in the title role, offered Superman to Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who both turned it down. The Salkinds also booked a meeting between Donner and Sylvester Stallone, who was hot at the time because of Rocky.
“I tried to be nice and say, ‘This is wrong,’” Donner said.
Believing that a movie star in Superman’s costume wouldn’t be believable, because audiences would only see the movie star and not the character, Donner lobbied hard for an unknown. He eventually found his man in Christopher Reeve, who impressed the director with his theater work.
9. MARGOT KIDDER’S CLUMSINESS WON HER THE LOIS LANE ROLE.
For the role of Lois Lane, several actresses—including Lesley Ann Warren and Anne Archer—were considered, but Margot Kidder ultimately won the role by simply being herself.
“When I met her in the casting office, she tripped coming in and I just fell in love with her,”Donner said. “It was perfect, this clumsy [behavior]. She was one of the few [actresses] we flew to London to test with Chris. Anne Archer [also tested]. But they were magic together.”
To compound Kidder’s clumsy, silly side even further, an eye injury meant that she had to act without contact lenses one day. Donner was so charmed by the way it made Lois bump into things and widen her eyes that he made sure Kidder continued to play the role without her contacts.
“There was a law after that: every morning people had to come to me and make sure she didn’t have her contacts in, and that she would act without her contacts. It just made her wonderful.”
Years ago, I used to own the original art to the page shown above by Mike Zeck and John Tartaglione. But that’s not the reason I posted it today.
You see one of my daily stops on the internet highway is Diversions of the Groovy Kind. DotGK recently posted…
“The Phoenix Gambit Part I: Temples of Time” by Doug Moench, Mike Zeck (his MOKF debut!), and John Tartaglione from Master of Kung Fu #59 (September 1977)…
and there you can see the entire issue. And THAT is the reason for showing the art.
