Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Eric Powell, the writer/artist/creator of The Goon, has an eight page Goon story running in the pages of the USAToday. You can read it here… well part one is up today and you’ll have to go back tomorrow for part two.
I’m a huge fan of Eduardo Risso’s art. I’d buy nearly any comic that he draws. When I learned that Risso would be pencilling and inking Jonah Hex #62, I was down for a preorder faster than Hex could draw-down on a man. If you need to know a bit more about the issue, here’s what the tease says…
And thanks to the nice folks at Newsarama and DC Comics, here’s a free five page preview.
The art above was created by my brother from another mother, John Beatty at our second annual Black “Stallone” Friday. Last year Big Beatty decided to create a new piece for my Stallone art collection live on U-Stream. This allowed Stallone fans as well as fans of John’s art to watch and interact with us live as John created the piece. We called it “Black Stallone Friday” and had a blast.
This year, John decided to sweeten the pot with a free, Expendables Blu-Ray giveaway. We fired up the Beattytron and began broadcasting from the beautiful JBI Studio in downtown Holly Hill a little before 2pm. The show ran until 9pm — and John still had more to do on the piece. Along the way we were joined by Shana, Sophie, Mike aka Killer Karl Krupp, Royce, Rob Smith Jr., The Mad Pirate, Husky Courdoroy, and others. Shana was the lucky winner of the DVD set.
I can’t thank John enough for the art. As great as it looks on screen, it is even more impressive in person. John set the bar high and surpassed all expectations.
EW.com recently posted an interesting article by Clark Collis titled, “Night of the Living Dead: How a 42-Year-Old Zombie Movie Refuses to Die.” If you’re a George Romero, Night of the Living Dead, The Walking Dead, zombie fan or if you just want to know how the zombie craze was kickstarted, then you should give it a read.
The poster above was created by my buddy, John Beatty to announce our second annual Black “Stallone” Friday. As most of you are probably aware, the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of shopping. For many businesses it’s their biggest day of the year. For those of us who don’t like crowds and traffic, it’s a pain. So last year Big Beatty decided to create a new piece for my Stallone art collection live on U-Stream. This allowed Stallone fans as well as fans of John’s art to watch and interact with us live as John created the piece.
We called it “Black Stallone Friday” and had a blast. We had so much fun that we decided to make it an annual event. So this Friday, we’re going to do it again. John and I will post the specifics later this week, but our hope is that we can get a lot of folks to tune in, even if only for a bit. The more fans that pop in with questions and comments, the more fun it becomes. So check back here or at John’s site later this week for full details. Oh, and I posted the art from last year’s event to give you an idea of what we can expect this year.
The first still of Karl Urban as Judge Dredd from the upcoming movie “Dredd” has arrived. I like the fact that this adaptation is supposed to be grittier and more in line with the comic, but man, I still think that Sly Stallone made a great Judge Dredd. [Via CBR.com]
Since you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance that you know my buddy, John Beatty. That’s not really John in the photo above. John’s actually a little more intimidating. Ah, but I kid. I kid because I care. The truth is I do care. John is my oldest and closest friend [outside of my wife who is actually a little older and much closer], but I think you get the idea. Anyway…
John’s cat, Peepers got sick not too long ago. The medical bills were unexpected and fairly expensive. The good news is Peepers got better. The bad news is that John and Bella [John’s wife for those keeping score] had to dip into money that they’d been saving for Bella to take a trip back to the Philippines to see her family. They did it without second thoughts and figured that they’d both work a little longer/harder to make up the money spent. And that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.
From time to time, I join John when he’s sketching for fans on U-Stream. John always likes when I show up to “co-host” because it allows him to spend more time looking at what he’s drawing since I moderate the typed in questions and can interact with the fans. There’s always a lot of laughter, convention stories, trivia, movie, tv and pop culture talk. And it’s always interesting to see who pops in to join the fun — other artists, friends, and strangers… not to mention [but I’m going to] John’s regulars aka The Corduroy Mafia.
So I suggested to John that we do a “Bellathon”. “What?” was John’s response and probably yours too. I explained. We’d do a U-Stream sketch session to help raise money for Bella’s trip to see her family. At first John was hesitant. Some fans had already purchased sketches [and even donated some bucks] when they first heard about Peepers being sick. I countered that the Bellathon would simply be another U-Stream session with me, but the proceeds would go towards Bella’s trip. Fans would still get great deals on art and they’d know the money was going to a specific cause. I felt it was a win-win for all involved. John thought about it and agreed.
So here’s the broad strokes – John and I will be U-Streaming our BELLATHON this Saturday. John will be offering a variety of sketches. All the details can be found at John’s site. I hope you can attend, even if you don’t plan to get a sketch. It’s going to be a blast… and for a great cause!
If you’re a fan of comic books, Walt Simonson, Charlton Comics, The Twilight Zone or twist endings, then you might get a kick out of this four page story drawn by Walt Simonson back in 1973 for Charlton’s The Twilight Zone #50. The story is called “Nature’s Way” and can be read in its entirety here thanks to the great folks at io9.com.
I’ve been a huge fan of Chris Stevens’ art since I first discovered him on Deviant Art. When I first met Chris, he was pretty much an unknown artist just starting to make waves. He wasn’t even a guest at the show. Suddenly Chris burst on the scene and it seemed everyone loved his style. And why wouldn’t they? The following year, Chris was a featured guest and a line of fans that would make any artist proud!
When I found out that Chris was putting together his first sketchbook, I knew I was going to want one. The fact that Chris included free headshots with advance purchases was a beautiful bonus. I’m hoping that Chris will have a new edition sketch book next year, and will offer the same deal again! Until then, we have Chris DA Art Gallery to hold us over!
If you’re a Walking Dead fan, who didn’t discover the series until after the back issue prices had already gone through the roof… boy, are you in luck! Starting in January, Image Comics will begin reprinting the single issues of the series — shipping one issue per week all year long! For full details, click here. [Via Newsarama]
One of my favorite comics, The Walking Dead, may soon become one of my favorite tv shows. It may also become one of my favorite novel trilogies. That’s right, it’s been announced that…
…Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin’s Press, will publish a trilogy of original novels set in The Walking Dead “universe,” beginning in 2011. Kirkman will conceptualize and outline the books, which will then be developed by horror novelist Jay Bonansinga (Perfect Victim, Shattered).
Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s classic crime novel The Outfit is now available. In case you’re late getting in the game, The Outfit is Cooke’s follow-up to his award-winning adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Hunter. Stark aka Donald Westlake gave his blessing to the original plus three additional adaptations. In honor of the release of The Outfit Darwyn Cooke sat down for an in-depth interview with Tucker Stone for the Comics Alliance. Here’s a taste:
Palance was Westlake’s only visual reference. When I changed Parker, the idea was always to use plastic surgery as a metaphor for his emotional regression. He’s meant to look like a rawer, more stripped down version of himself… His jaw, and most importantly, his eyes, are the same. The rest is meant to reflect a man drained of things like remorse and compassion. A loveless, unadorned man.
I’ve got two more of these books to do. My plan is to finish the fourth one for my 50th birthday… I can tell you that it’s not wearing on me, working on this character. I can see him being a part of what I do for a long time. Maybe not constantly, but he’s going to be there.
Again, this is the benefit of having a few exchanges with Donald. One of his concerns was that I understood that Parker doesn’t operate out of anger. He never commits a violent act out of anger. He does it because it’s the expedient thing to do. It’s the practical thing, a survival mechanism.
I could continue to pull interesting quotes from the interview, but why not just read it. You’ll get insight into Cooke’s process in adapting the Stark novels, his [and Stark’s] take on what makes Parker tick, which crime movies were influences [and which modern crime classic Cooke thinks is over-rated], and so much more. Congrats to Tucker Stone and Comic Alliance for a great read and thanks to Darwyn Cooke for bringing Parker back.
CBR.com also has a nice little interview with preview art from Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Outfit.
My buddy, Jason Walker, gives a free headsketch with every sketchbook of his that you purchase. This is his take on Sly as John Spartan from Demolition Man. The caption says, “To Craig: Eating at Fuel leads to a need for the three sea shells. best – J. Walker”. Seems everyone but Spartan knows how to use the three sea shells. You can see more of Jason’s art here.
Francesco Francavilla is no stranger to the ZONE. I’ve posted about his art and gotten sketches from Francesco for my Stallone-theme collection. Over at one of his blogs for the entire month of October, Francesco is running what he calls the 31 Days of Halloween. Every day Francesco posts a drawing [sometimes more] of a monster, vampire, werewolf, well… you get the idea. It’s a great idea and a lot of fun. I hope you can join us.
