A Hint of Why
I’m looking forward to Matt Fraction and Cory Walker’s arc on The Punisher War Journal.
I’m looking forward to Matt Fraction and Cory Walker’s arc on The Punisher War Journal.
Category: Comics
I’m looking forward to Matt Fraction and Cory Walker’s arc on The Punisher War Journal.
RIP: Mike Wieringo
John Beatty called me at work this morning to tell me the news. Mike Wieringo had passed away. It was hard to fathom. Mike was only 44 years old and appeared in good health. He worked out, ate right and by all appearances was in fine shape. The news hit hard. Big Beatty was at a loss… and so was I. What could be said? What could be done?Mike was one of the most popular artists currently working in comics today. Fans loved him. Pros loved him. I never, ever, heard a single negative thing said about Mike or his art. My dealings with Mike were limited, but they were always positive. I first met Mike about 5 or 6 years ago. Mike was gracious and kind to both my son and me, but that’s the way he was with ALL of his fans.
I became a regular visitor to Mike’s blog and would often leave comments about his weekday posts. When Mike posted a sketch of Rocky Balboa along with his thoughts on the movie, I wrote to say that if he ever considered selling the sketch, I would be interested. Mike wrote me back to say that several of the fans who post on his site had already suggested that I might like to have it for my collection. Mike said that as he was drawing it, he thought the same and it was mine for the taking… gratis. Mike went on to say that he would be honored to have his work appear in my gallery. Can you imagine? That’s the kind of guy Mike was. I suggested that if he wouldn’t take money, since he liked the movie, I would be happy to purchase the dvd for him. He said that wasn’t necessary, but did finally agree and acted like I was doing him the favor.
I knew that my blog today would be about Mike Wieringo. Mike positively touched so many lives that I knew that my voice would just be one of the many remembering him, but I knew that I had to mark his passing. I figured that I would probably post the Rocky sketch that he gave me. The when I checked my mail, I found a letter from my old friend Jim Ivey. Jim has always teased me about being a Sylvester Stallone fan. One of Jim’s comments is that Sly has sad eyes… and Jim drew them on the envelope of his letter. Talk about appropriate.
Today Mike Wieringo’s family, friends and fans are in mourning. Yes, there are tears in our eyes. We’ve lost not only a great artist, but a wonderful human being. My life was better for knowing Mike Wieringo. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
Fraction & Walker Will Punish Us
I haven’t bought an issue of The Punisher in years… maybe a decade or more? That will all change when Matt Fraction and Corey Walker team for a three issue story arc!
Fem Noir Mini Coming!
Ape Entertainment has announced that writer Christopher [Gravedigger: The Scavengers] Mills will team team with artist Joe [E-Man, Green Lantern, Scooby Doo] Staton to produce a four-issue, full-color miniseries based on their popular webcomic, Femme Noir.Mills describes what to expect when he says: “The Femme Noir series is my unabashed valentine to the crime fiction genre… All the conventions of the genre – and the cliches – are happily and enthusiastically embraced. It’s an amalgamation of 40’s Poverty Row B-movies, Golden and Silver Age comics, old radio shows, pulp stories… a little bit of everything I love in Pop Culture, old and new.”
BIG CONGRATS to Chris!
Time for Tampa
On Sunday, August 19th, I’ll be joining Big Beatty and hundreds of other fans of comics, movies, sci-fi and other interesting hobbies as we converge on Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book & Toy Convention.You’ve heard me rave many times about what a great show Tim puts on. This one could be the best ever! In addition to John Beatty, guests will include Bill Black, Alex Saviuk, Herb Trimpe, Gary Friedrich, Chuck Dixon, Pablo Marcos, and many others. There will be something for everyone… artists sketching and signing autographs, a costume contest, a continuously running film room and more.
If you’re able to make it, swing by Big Beatty’s table and be sure to say, “Hi!”
Killing Girl
Newsarama has a brief interview with writer Glen Brunswick about his upcoming miniseries, Killing Girl which hits the stands next week. Brunswick teamed with artist Frank (Rocketo) Espinosa to create a series that is worth a look.
Hard to Believe… Jock Mahoney
Hard to believe, but that’s a photo of me that appeared in 1980 on the inside front cover of Bill Black’s Fun Comics #1. Although it was 27 years ago, it seems like yesterday… ok, maybe not really yesterday, but definitely not 27 years ago.
OrlandoCon 1980. Bill Black, Jim Ivey, and Mike Kott were all friends of mine [still are in fact] and the main men behind OrlandoCon. That year Jock Mahoney was the media guest of honor.
Jock had a long, successful career in movies and on tv. He started out as a stuntman, but soon was playing the lead as The Range Rider, Yancy Derringer, Tarzan [in 3 movies], and in so many other roles. Jock was also Sally Field’s stepfather!
Because of my connections with Bill, Jim and Mike, I was able to appear on stage with Jock when he did some demonstrations of how fights are filmed for movies. Jock was a great guest. He even posed with Bill and his wife Rebecca for the fumetti below. Hard to believe that it was done over 1/4 century ago…
30 Days Just Got Scarier
And speaking of Steve Niles [as we just were], he must be absolutely loving how the movie adaptation of his classic “30 Days of Night” graphic novel is coming along. Over at the “30 Days of Night” movie website, they’ve just added an “R” rated trailer and additional scenes from the movie. This is NOT appropriate for all ages, but those who are of age and enjoy this type of movie are going to dig it.
Wolfman vs Dracula
Wolfman vs Dracula.The title alone should be enough to get people to pick up the comic. Throw in Frank Frazetta and Steve Niles and you should be guaranteed a winner. Of all of the comics that will be in Frazetta’s Universe, this was the one that immediately sprung to mind as the one that I’d want to see.
Anyone Going to Stumptown?
Greg Rucka, one of my favorite novelists, has announced that he’ll be writing a new detective series called Stumptown that takes place in the same world as his novels!Although Rucka has been writing award-winning [Whiteout — soon to be a major motion picture] and fan favorite comics [Queen & Country, Gotham Central, etc] for some time, it is his five Atticus Kodiac novels [Finder, Keeper, Smoker, Shooting at Midnight, and Critical Space] that put him on my “must buy” list.
Rucka has a new Atticus Kodiac novel, Patriot Acts, coming out next month. It’s already on my pre-order list!
Frazetta’s Universe
ComicBookResources.com posted a report today that Image comics will be expanding their take on “Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer” into several series based on other Frazetta paintings. As I read the piece, I started thinking, this could be very cool if done correctly. Then I read…
“The Silver Warrior” is a four-issue mini-series by Fotos, Nat Jones and Joshua Ortega. One-shots include Rick Remender on Frazetta’s “Creatures,” “Swamp Demon” written by Joshua Ortega, Steve Niles handling “Dracula Meets The Wolfman,” and Mark Kidwell doing the same for “Dark Kingdom.”
Rick Remender, Steve Niles and Nat Jones and everything is run by Frank Frazetta for his approval. Yeah, they’re doing it right.
No One is Safe
Nearly four years ago issue #1 of The Walking Dead hit the stands. I bought it and really dug both the art and story. I soon discovered that I wasn’t alone. A lot of people were buying and loving it!
Before long The Walking Dead was my favorite comic. After the first six issues, artist Tony Moore left the regular art chores and Charlie Adlard took up the slack. The book remained my favorite regularly published comic.
Each month The Walking Dead was the comic that I most looked forward to reading. From time to time, I’d talk up the series so that ZONErs who’d never heard of it would have a chance to jump on board. Robert [creator of The Walking Dead] Kirkman’s interview at Newsarama.com reminded me that I hadn’t crowed about The Walking Dead in a while.
So I decided to remedy that with this post.
The Walking Dead Book 1 [Collects the first 12 issues in an affordable hardcover] A+ rating
The Walking Dead Book 2 [Collects the second 12 issues in an affordable hardcover] A+ rating
Criminal Love
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are tearing it up with their series, Criminal. I know I’ve mentioned my love for their work a time or two, but it was Phillips’ stunning cover above that reminded me to spread the word a bit more. And don’t forget to pick-up the monthly issues or the first trade paperback.
You’ll be glad you did.
Mallow-Con Report
That’s Brenna Barry surrounded by Keith Mallow and Wild Bill Black. For some reason the guys seem much happier than Brenna. I wonder why? That photo and those that follow were taken yesterday at Collector’s Comic-Con in Fort Pierce, Florida. Keith puts on the show and brought in Brenna, Bill and John Beatty as special guests. Keith and Big John always invite me along and since I enjoy their nonsense, I always make an effort to attend.
That’s Aleissa [hope I spelled that correctly] and her boyfriend. Aleissa is one of John’s returning sketch customers. This time she opted for a Batman and Beatty came through in style.
Jesse “Cadre” Hansen was set up selling prints and sketching!Wild Bill Black brought in a bunch of his movies and showed us the latest trailer [which features me, Big John Beatty, James “The James” Howell, and John Higashi in a cameo – where’s our IMDB listing?] for “The Ghost of Garganta.” Bill also talked about plans for future movies as well as a possible syndicated horror movie package complete with a horror host [the excellent Lon Midnight]!
Big Beatty was sketching away and each one was a winner. He was in the ZONE [and I don’t mean this ZONE… although he IS in it as well]. The Punisher sketch below got a lot of attention from fans, but it was the final sketch of the day, a Joker piece, that won the Best Beatty Sketch of the Show Award.
As always, Keith’s shows are a lot of fun. His next one is scheduled for late October. If you can make it, you should!
More Art from Heroes
Mike Wieringo is one of the nicest and most talented artists you could ever meet. Soft spoken and humble, but oh man, what an artist!
Mike did this drawing of Rocky Balboa for his blog [which I read daily and suggest you do as well]. Mike knew about my Stallone art collection and told me it was mine for the asking when I commented about it.
Check out Mike’s Blog when you have some time to spend. You’ll be amazed and impressed with the amount that he’s posted [but his insightful comments will also be part of what brings you back].
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My buddy, Andy Smith whipped up this cool rendition of Rocky Balboa. Andy is mostly known for his penciling and inking work for DC and Cross Gen comics. But I like to tell people is that when it comes to dynamic drawing, Andy wrote the book. You see, he truly did. Really! You can check it out HERE! You can also check out Andy’s site by clicking HERE. – Craig
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Mike Wieringo’s drawing of Jack Carter is one of my favorite pieces from this year’s Heroes Con. I not only love the look and attitude of the piece, but I was able to watch Mike sketch it!
Mike was selling his latest sketch book and if you bought a copy, Mike threw in a head sketch for free! Talk about a great deal. I was worried that because Stallone isn’t a character that Mike had drawn repeatedly, it might be more difficult and therefore he might decline my request. Boy, was I wrong. Mike proceeded to sketch it out in no time and like I said, he really captured the look and attitude of Sly as Jack Carter.
In my previous post, I suggested you check out Mike’s Blog. I should have remembered to tell you about where you can buy Mike Wieringo original art. Now you have all the facts and links you need.
Enjoy!
