Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Mike Mignola, best known as the creator of Hellboy, has teamed with best-selling novelist Christopher Golden and artist Peter Bergting for Joe Golem: Occult Detective – The Drowning City, a five issue mini-series premiering in September. This will be the third mini-series featuring Golem with the first two being Joe Golem: Occult Detective—The Rat Catcher and the Sunken Dead and Joe Golem: Occult Detective—The Outer Dark.
Source: Paste.
Cemetery Beach sounds like something that readers of this site would enjoy. Created by writer Warren Ellis with art by co-creator Jason Howard, Cemetery Beach will be an action fan’s fix.
“Jason wanted to do an action book, so I wrote something that starts with a conversation in an interrogation room, ignites four pages later, and doesn’t stop until the end of the final issue—which he’s drawing right now, so when issue #1 comes out, the whole series will be in the can,” said Ellis. “It might be the most relentless action book I’ve ever written.”
For more information check out the Cemetery Beach press release from Image Comics.
I’ve been singing the praises of Stephan Franck (writer & artist) since I discovered his Silver graphic novels which he describes as…
… an original universe built around Bram Stoker’s original Dracula, and it begins 40 years after the events of the novel, into the noir/pulp era of the 1930s. You meet James Finnigan, who is the most notorious conman/gentleman-thief of his day, as he teams up with Rosalynd “Sledge” Van Helsing (granddaughter of the original Van Helsing, and altogether the last of the Van Helsings), to steal a mystical treasure hidden in Dracula’s castle. Finn, of course, brings his known associates—a fun assortment of conmen and grifters of all kinds—as well as the kind of amoral attitude that puts him immediately at odds with Sledge. Lastly, the team enlists Tao Leu (or more accurately, he enlists himself), who is a 10-year-old boy with the gift of second sight and who might be the biggest scoundrel of them all.
Jake Rossen and Mental Floss present 10 Things You Might Not Know About Beetle Bailey.
1. IT STARTED AS A COLLEGE CAMPUS COMEDY.
Walker’s initial idea for a strip didn’t feature any fatigues or military equipment. While drawing cartoons for The Saturday Evening Post, he decided to try creating a story around a university student named Spider who kept his hat pulled over his eyes and tried to navigate college life by doing as little as possible. Changing his name to Beetle Bailey—the surname was a nod to a supportive editor at the Post—Walker had him wander into an Army recruiting station. Inspired, he retrofitted the strip so that barracks would take the place of a dorm. (Walker himself had been drafted, serving four years during World War II.) Debuting in 1950, Beetle Bailey set a record for the longest continuous work by a comic strip artist: Walker worked on it for 68 years.
2. IT WAS BANNED BY THE U.S. MILITARY.
In the 1950s, Beetle Bailey took its place as a steady but otherwise unremarkable addition to the comics pages. Then Walker got an unexpected promotional boost. The U.S. military’s Stars and Stripes newspaper, which had been running the strip, banned it from its Tokyo editions over fears it might incite disrespect toward commanding officers. (Beetle was lazy and typically disinterested in following orders.) The prohibition lasted for a decade and was subjected to so much ridicule that Beetle became a recurring presence in newspaper headlines. The strip was eventually syndicated to more than 1800 papers.
10. THE STRIP WAS RECOGNIZED BY THE PENTAGON.
After 50 years of “service,” Beetle Bailey finally got a little acknowledgment from his higher-ups. The (real) Pentagon invited Walker and three of his costumed characters to a ceremony in May 2000 that honored the cartoonist for his work in supporting the military. Walker was presented with the Secretary of the Army’s Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service, the Army’s highest civilian honor. “I think finally the brass has learned how to laugh at themselves a little bit,” Walker said. “They’re not kicking me out of Stars and Stripes anymore like they did a couple of times.”
Recently Christopher McQuarrie sent out the following in a Tweet…
After 25 years of making them, I’ve learned to measure movies not in terms of quality, but of resonance. Some resonate with me. Others don’t. Some resonate with the masses, others don’t. I wasted years of creative energy arguing quality. I was wrong even when I was right.
That quote really, pardon the expression, resonated with me. So many times when I was reviewing a movie (book, tv show, etc.) and tried to grade it, the end result felt wrong. There are movies (books, tv shows, etc.) I absolutely love that fall short of being classics, but I don’t love them any less. At the other end of the spectrum there are movies (books, oh, you get what I mean) that are considered classics that I can’t stand.
Arguing the point with someone who felt differently was, ah, pointless. So I’ve decided to change up my ratings. The grades are gone. Now we have a simple number system that indicates how the movie resonated with me.
Your mileage may be different. And the cool thing is we’d both be right.
Over Batman’s long history there have been hundreds thousands of artists who have drawn the Dark Knight. Marshall Rogers is one of the best. So today we have a vintage sketch by him.
Source: The Bristol Board.
Bill Sienkiewicz is an artist’s artist. Bill just started a YouTube channel and it’s worth a look even if you’re not an artist.
Empire Magazine took a look at The 50 Greatest Comedies. Using just their list, here are my top three with their rankings & comments as well as mine…
12. Dr Strangelove
Stanley Kubrick‘s jet black comedy famously stars Peter Sellersplaying three separate roles and wildly improvising in all of them. He’s the buttoned-down British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake; the ineffectual US President Merkin Muffley; and the mechanically-armed cartoon ex-Nazi Dr Strangelove (real name “Merkwürdigliebe”) who can’t quite get out of the habit of calling the president “Mein Fuhrer”. Sellers was also supposed to play Texan Air Force Major TJ “King” Kong, but injured himself and couldn’t work in the fighter plane’s cockpit (he was replaced by Slim Pickens). Devastatingly deadpan, this has the darkest of all imaginable endings, which is all the more impressive given that it originally climaxed with a pie fight. Kubrick, wisely, thunk again.
Dr. Strangelove is the perfect mix of comedy and drama with a strong message that will leave you laughing at the absurdity of nuclear escalation. Dr. Strangelove is played straight which makes it all the funnier. Some comedies aren’t as funny on repeat viewings but Dr. Strangelove offers increased pleasure with each visit. And remember, “There’s no fighting in the war room!”
35. Young Frankenstein
Slap bang in the middle of Mel Brooks‘ 1970s run of movie parodies, Young Frankenstein is obsessive in its devotion to the Universal take on Frankenstein’s monster (down to using the same props and lab equipment as the 1931 film) but also willing to go to any length for a gag. Physical humour brings the wordplay to life, and there’s even a legendary dance number in ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’. Brooks and co had so much fun shooting that the writer-director even added scenes near the end of production just so they could keep on going, resulting in a disastrously long first cut that required a marathon editing session to bring down to the swift, 106 minute final running time.
Young Frankenstein is the perfect merging of two genres (horror and comedy) to create a classic. Brooks was at his best with a cast in sync with his vision. Blazing Saddles was released around the same time as Young Frankenstein, but while Blazing Saddles seems a bit dated, Young Frankenstein is timeless.
34. Step Brothers
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play pampered fortysomethings whose juvenile worlds collide when their single parents get married, in this classic Adam McKay comedy. Often overlooked as the difficult third album following Anchorman and Talladega Nights, it can actually hold its head high in that company, and Reilly is great Ferrell foil. The pair are currently at work on Etan Cohen’s Holmes And Watson.
I absolutely love this movie. This pairing of Ferrell and Reilly is perfect. So many laughs and stuff that would just get eye-rolls from other actors. Sure, I’ve seen this same pairing in other comedies, and they’re ok. Step Brothers rules.
Since we’re talking comedies, I have to give shout-outs to 3 movies that I saw in crowded theaters and the audiences (myself included) roared with laughter throughout the viewings:
I’ve seen them at home and without the large audience, they just weren’t quite as funny.
Stephan Franck is the genius (writer & artist) behind Silver which he describes as…
… an original universe built around Bram Stoker’s original Dracula, and it begins 40 years after the events of the novel, into the noir/pulp era of the 1930s. You meet James Finnigan, who is the most notorious conman/gentleman-thief of his day, as he teams up with Rosalynd “Sledge” Van Helsing (granddaughter of the original Van Helsing, and altogether the last of the Van Helsings), to steal a mystical treasure hidden in Dracula’s castle. Finn, of course, brings his known associates—a fun assortment of conmen and grifters of all kinds—as well as the kind of amoral attitude that puts him immediately at odds with Sledge. Lastly, the team enlists Tao Leu (or more accurately, he enlists himself), who is a 10-year-old boy with the gift of second sight and who might be the biggest scoundrel of them all.
With the fourth and final volume now on Kickstarter, Franck sat for an interview with Johhny Hughes at Comic Crusaders.
Last week I shared Andy Bennett’s riff on a Jack Carter and Lono from 100 Bullets. I liked Andy’s work on it so much, I’ve ordered a Jack Carter & John Wick piece for pick-up at HeroesCon this year. Although Heroes is still a couple weeks away, Andy shared with me the piece that will be waiting for pick-up. Yowzers! (And don’t you just love the nod to Tango & Cash?)
If you’d like to see more art from Andy, you can by clicking here.
The original Jonny Quest ran on ABC during the prime time 1964 – 1965 season. Most series, especially a cartoon series, that ran for such a short time would hardly be remembered. Yet Jonny Quest came back in two television series, two television movies, at least one comic book series and three computer games.
When it premiered, I was the perfect age for Jonny Quest. Check out the video below and you’ll see why Jonny Quest made such an impact.
I would by THAT comic in a second! Of course, I’m a huge fan of Rick Burchett’s art, but the mock-up cover Chris Mills designed just (no pun intended) screams that this will be a fun comic. Although it is just a mock-up, Mills has announced some very interesting and exciting news. Take it away, Chris…
I’m currently planning a line of action-adventure comics featuring my own versions of some old, public domain comic book heroes. My goal is to take characters from the 1940s and re-invent them in a 1970s-1980s style — which was my favorite era of comics.
Chris currently has plans for two on-going titles: Space Crusaders and Sleuth Comics with a third title, Savage Sagas, being a one-shot.
This is exciting news and something I hope you’ll consider supporting. I know I will.
Check out Chris’ site for full details.
Last year at HeroesCon, Andy Bennett created his take on a Jack Carter and Lono from 100 Bullets team-up. Sure wish there was a real series coming with these two. I liked Andy’s work on this so much, I’ve ordered a Jack Carter & John Wick piece for pick-up at HeroesCon this year.
If you’d like to see more art from Andy, you can by clicking here.
Today we have a vintage Steranko riff on Doc Savage and his crew. You can see a much larger version of it as well as Doc Savage art by Gene Colan, Marie Severin, Dan Adkins and Michael Ploog if you click over to I Can’t Stop Thinking About Comics.
Once a week Joblo.com posts Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net. As you can imagine, they post awesome art that they, well, you get the idea.
I always enjoy seeing what JoBlo has found because with each post they list the artist’s name and a link to more of his/her art. That’s where I saw this John Wick and Atomic Blonde piece by ManFr0mNowhere
