Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I’m a Nick Fury fan. Not the Nick Fury of the movies. I prefer the comics version. Particularly the 1960s series by Steranko.
I’d love to see a graphic novel or limited series starring Nick Fury set in the 1960s. And by checking out Bernie Cooke’s art above, I think that he would be a great candidate for the job.
Getting on Tony Harris‘ commission list wasn’t easy. It filled up fast and actually took more than a couple of conventions to make it. But when I did, Tony came through with a winner. As you can see above, Tony opted to draw Sly Stallone as Johnny Kovak from the very underrated film, F.I.S.T.. What a knockout! I love this piece as much today as the day I got it.
I can’t tell you how excited I was to get this piece from Craig Hamilton. Craig is a true “artist’s artist.” I had the pleasure of spending most of a Heroes Con 2004 seated next to Craig (I was hanging out with my best bud, John Beatty). All weekend Craig was sketching and interacting with fans. It’s always cool when someone whose art you admire turns out to be as nice as the work they produce.
I love that Craig came up with a reflective shot of Jack Carter. In the movie there is this exchange between Cyrus Paice and Carter…
Cyrus Paice: Wait a minute, Jack. All of a sudden you care? All of a sudden, what are you, some fuckin’ goodguy? Hmm? Hey, you’re the bad brother, remember?
Jack Carter: I know who I am.
Carter is a Vegas enforcer… a thug. He knows the choices he made have brought him to this point.
Sly Stallone is Rocky by Paul Gulacy!
Back in the late 70s to 1983, I bought and sold original comic art and sketches. My favorite series at the time was Master of Kung Fu by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy. I loved Gulacy’s art.
It was so cool to discover Paul was as nice a person as he was great as an artist. We’d talk on the phone from time to time. I commissioned Paul to draw Sly Stallone as Rocky Balboa and this is the end result. It was a dream come true for this Gulacy / Stallone fan.
When I graduated college, I sold my original art collection except for one piece. You guessed it, this one. When I started collecting sketches again a few decades later, I opted for a Stallone character theme. So, it is true to say, this was the piece that started it all for me.
My #1 goal at HeroesCon 2023 was to get a sketch from Sanford Greene for my Stallone Sketch Collection. Mission accomplished!
Check out Sanford’s very cool take on Sly as Jack Carter! (Side note – The BITTER ROOT series is AMAZING!!)
Jack Carter by the legendary Michael Golden!
I’m still in awe that there is a piece by Michael Golden of a Stallone character in my collection. And I owe it all to my best buddy, John Beatty.
John teamed with Michael Golden on The Nam. They’ve been friends for decades. Over the years John has done several Stallone pieces for me. From time to time he’s surprised/gifted me with Sly art from friends and folks he’s worked with. It would be hard to top this one.
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have a Marv painted sculpture by Dave Cortes.
I love this cover art (without the cover dressing) for Tex Willer: The Convicts by Massimo Carnevale. Hope you do as well.
I’ve been a fan Evan Bryce Cranston aka artgantuan’s art for years. This is one of his sketchbook pages. I don’t own it, but I wanted to share it. We have Ghost Rider, Batman, Blue Beetle and Rambo!
I’m a fan of Steve Bryant’s art. So it’s a no-brainer to subscribe to his free newsletter. Earlier this year Steve posted a commission of Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday from Tombstone. Doc was standing in front of a wanted poster — for him. I loved it.
Not long before that I saw that Ralph Meyer had the same idea with his Undertaker character.
Of course that got me thinking that it would be cool to see Jack Carter in the same situation. When I approached Steve with the idea, he loved it. And man, did he come through like a champ.
I got to meet Steve at HeroesCon 2025, where I picked up the art. It looks even better in person. I am also happy to say that Steve is as cool a person as he is good an artist. There will be more Steve Bryant Stallone pieces in my collection in the future!
I met Dee Fish at a Florida con (not sure which one) over 20 years ago. Dee was doing a strip called Dandy and Friends. That’s Dandy in the corner after a bout with Rocky. This was my first Dee Fish sketch. You can see the second here.
I’ve been a Dan Brereton fan since I first saw his work in The Black Terror decades ago. [Someone should publish a nice trade edition of The Black Terror, but we’ll save that for another post.]
When I was lucky enough to get on Dan’s sketch list in 2003. I asked him to pick the Stallone character he’d like to draw. As you can see he chose Deke DaSilva from Nighthawks. Awesome choice to go with Dan Brereton‘s awesome art.
Bullet to the Head (2012)
Director: Walter Hill
Screenplay: Alessandro Camon; based on the comic Du plomb dans la tête by Matz
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Holt McCallany, Brian Van Holt, Weronika Rosati, Dane Rhodes, Marcus Lyle Brown and Jon Seda.
Tagline: Revenge never gets old.
The Plot…
James Bonomo, a.k.a. Jimmy Bobo, and Louis Blanchard are hitmen hired to take out a dirty cop named Hank Greely. After the successful mission, an attempt is made on Bobo and Blanchard by a large killer. Blanchard is murdered, but Bobo survives.
Washington Police Detective Taylor Kwon is sent to investigate the execution of Hank Greely. When corrupt cops attempt to kill Kwon, he is saved by Jimmy Bobo. Kwon’s a police officer and Bobo is a killer. Neither trusts the other, but Bobo and Kwon will have to work together if they want to survive.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Bullet to the Head is based on the French comic Du Plomb Dans La Tête (“Lead in the Head”).
Wayne “Running Scared” (2006) Kramer was originally set to direct. He dropped out because he wanted a darker film than Sly Stallone. Stallone then reached out to Walter Hill.
Thomas Jane was originally set to play the cop who teams with Jimmy Bobo. Producer Joel Silver wanted a more “ethic” actor to increase overseas sales. Jane was replaced by Sung Kang.
Sly Stallone’s character’s name is James “Jimmy Bobo” Bonomo. In the film Oscar, Stallone’s gangster character says that he once worked with James “Jumpin’ Jimmy” Bonomo.
Bullet to the Head (2012) rates 4 of 5 stars
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have Marv by Christian DiBari.
Hey! Here’s the poster and trailer for Peacemaker: Season 2!
Deal me in.
Making peace with yourself is harder than it looks.
Season ✌️ of #Peacemaker premieres August 21 on HBO Max.
Welcome to DC, the official home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and the rest of The World’s Greatest Super Heroes!
