Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
That’s Big John Beatty getting caffined up before he starts sketching away at the second gathering of his Sketch Society. This time we’re meeting at Java Junction in Holly Hill, Florida. As you can see in the shot below there’s already a dozen folks here drawing away. I’ll post more as the session goes on!
… but right now I just want to remind you that John Beatty is bringing together the Sketch Society this Saturday at 2pm. If the gathering is anything like last time, it’ll be a blast. For full details click HERE. I plan to do some live blogging during the get-together so even if you can’t be there, you can take part via the internet!
Just like everything that Rick does, it’s well worth a look.
I first met Andrew Robinson when he was crashing at my buddy John Beatty‘s joint years ago. Andrew was just breaking into comics with his creation “Dusty Starr.” A blind man could see that this kid had TALENT. Andrew was also cool to hang with because he was so friendly and humble. I wasn’t back in to collecting original art then and so I missed my chance at a Andrew Robinson “Stallone.”
My buddy, John Beatty has announced the date of the second Sketch Society meeting. The first meeting was held at the local Barnes & Noble and was a lot of fun. You can read my report here. If this sounds like something that you’d like to take part in, then check out John’s post for full details.
As I told you in an earlier post, this past weekend John “Johnny Star Warz” Higashi, and I drove down to Fort Pierce with “Big” John Beatty who was making an appearance at Keith and Monica Mallow’s Collector’s Comics shop. [That’s Keith and Monica pictured below. ]
Beatty and I have known Keith for about 20 years, so we were both looking forward to catching up with him. He’s a pretty funny guy [maybe not as funny as he thinks he is, but he still has a pretty good batting average for humor]. We knew it would be a fun day.
Keith had advertised for weeks that Beatty would be at the shop signing autographs and sketching for fans. You can even see that Keith spared no expense with the sign to welcome John to his store.
Never one to be left out, John Higashi put down the manuscript that he was working on in order to get a massage of his own! As for me, well…
When six o’clock rolled around it was time to go. Everyone was having such a blast that Keith offered to take us out to dinner [again] and put us up for another night. Unfortunately, we had planned to get back home [and I really needed to]. Keith attempted to bribe us not only with another meal, another night in the hotel, but even tempted us with a poker game!
Next time, Keith! Next time!
If you’re in the area of Fort Pierce, Florida, check out Collector’s Comics. Tell Keith and Monica I sent you. Who knows, you may even luck out and get a massage in addition to some great deals on comics!
Keith is actually a pretty funny guy — and I’m not just talking about his looks. Ok, ok, all kidding aside. Keith has a really nice comic shop that carries action figures, statues, dvds, trade paperbacks and, oh yeah, comics. When I found out that the shop also had a wireless internet connection I decided to give “live blogging” a try. If you’re reading this, I was successful and we’ll have more updates as the day continues.
I’m currently reading Underland by Mick Farren. It’s got modern day vampires, as well as modern day Nazis, conspiracy theories, UFO’s and more. I’m digging it and am only about 1/2 way through.
Before Underland I read Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Huston has quickly become one of my favorite writers. Already Dead also features a modern day vampire, uh vampyre. As much as I’m enjoying Underland, Already Dead is even better. It combines The Godfather, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and the end result is pure Charlie Huston. I highly recommend this one!Okay… enough about me and vampires. I’d write more but I’m off to watch the latest episode of Blade.
Then tomorrow we’ll head to the show. It’s got a pretty impressive guest list for a small one day convention. There will also be a costume contest, door prizes and a film room. I’m really looking forward to seeing an old [as in longtime, not because he’s 81] friend of mine, Jim Ivey.
If you’re within driving distance of Tampa, come on over and join us. If you want to hook up with our group, more than likely I’ll be wearing a StalloneZone shirt, or just look for a 70’s lounge singer who was bitten by a vampire.
It’s seems like I’ve been talking up “300” forever. By now you know that Zack Snyder is directing the adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel. Surely you know just how hard I think the movie is going to rock.
Over at Ain’t It Cool News they’re starting to post reviews from folks lucky enough to attend a test screening. Seems everyone likes it… a lot.
Now if the release date would just get here so we could see it!
Robert Smith [red shirt] drove in from Ocala. Jesse and his crew came down from St. Augustine and arrived at the Daytona Beach Barnes & Noble before John – who was an hour early! 
Jeff Whiting and his lady friend dropped in. Although they both had sketch books and Jeff was drawing in his, if you can make out the title of the book she was reading, you can see she seemed to be more interested in drawing to a full house!
Ralph is a local artist who dropped in. It was my first time meeting him. Not only was he having a great time sketching but he also served as the pitch man for Fiji water. He did his job well, and I ended up buying a bottle just to try it out. It was okay, but not as good as the packaging [or Ralph] would suggest.
Craig did this reflective shot of Sly from “Get Carter.” You can see it here. Comments are always appreciated.
You can see more of Craig’s work here.
