Category: Comics

Thomas Boatwright and Jack Carter

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Thomas Boatwright is back and Jack Carter is with him.  Over the years I’ve gotten several Stallone pieces from Thomas.

If you’d like to see more of Thomas Boatwright’s art check out his blog. Send him some love.

If you get commissions, you should consider a piece from Thomas. He keeps you totally in the loop on his progress, finishes his commissions on or ahead of schedule, has very reasonable prices, is a fantastic artist and always gives you more than you’re expecting!   – Craig

Stephen Franck’s Silver Volume 3 Kickstarter is Live!

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Stephen Franck, the creative genius behind Silver is back with Volume 3 and his Kickstarter for the project is live.  Franck is the writer and artist for Silver which can be summed up as…

…a high-concept, super fun genre-blender, featuring pulp-era conmen and a troubled female vampire-hunter as they try to steal a mystical treasure from a castle full of vampires — what could go wrong with that plan?!

Silver is great fun.  Franck is a talented writer/artist who has created a tale that meshes a horror story with a heist yarn pitting an unlikely team consisting of a rouge thief, his two partners, a con man, a old forger, a ten year old who can catch glimpses of the future and young woman who hunts vampires against Dracula and a castle full of the undead.

If you like what you see, you can jump on board with Franck’s Kickstarter for Silver Volume 3.  Volume 1 and 2 are also available through the Kickstarter, if needed.

Man, I can’t wait to get my mitts on Volume 3!

Meet Karl Slominski

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The Mister Monster piece above was created as a commission for some lucky person at HeroesCon 2017 by Karl Slominski.  I met Karl for the first time at the same convention because I had requested Karl’s take on Jack Carter and John Wick (which will be posted in the near future).

When I picked up the sketch, my buddies LittleJohn and Mike Cross were with me.  They both liked my sketch so much they commissioned sketches of their own.  LittleJohn got John Wick and John McClane, while Mike asked for Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) and Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau).

This encouraged me to go back for another “Jack Carter and…” sketch, this time getting Carter and Raylan Givens from Justified.  I post that in the near future as well.

At any rate, you can see more of Karl’s art at his Instagram.  Check it out!

15 Mature Comic Book TV Shows We Need To See Next

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Michael Edward Taylor and ScreenRant present 15 Mature Comic Book TV Shows We Need To See Next.  Using just their choices here are my top three plus a few that didn’t make their list…

11. HUMAN TARGET
Please try to wipe that lame 2010 Fox series of the same name from your memory, because it was the second worst adaptation of the DC/Vertigo title of the same name featuring detective/bodyguard Christopher Chance. (For what it’s worth, the top honor goes to a short-lived 1992 series starring Rick Springfield.)

The key to the character’s appeal is taking on the appearance and persona of the clients he’s sworn to protect in order to take down assassins and other nefarious entities who stalk them, and the effect his unusual profession has on his psyche. This is ripe for a mature television adaptation that delves into his complicated psychology and dangerous line of work. Sure, the character made an appearance on the 5th season of Arrow, but he deserves to be front and center with his own series with no content restrictions.

2. WATCHMEN
Ever since Terry Gilliam’s aborted 1980s adaptation, there has been a growing consensus that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s groundbreaking classic Watchmen would work better as a television miniseries than a feature film.

And even with Zack Snyder’s 2009 movie still fresh in our minds, a big-budget premium cable adaptation should still happen. Why? Because Moore’s densely plotted 12-issue series simply can’t be completely covered in a movie, no matter the length.

It would take 12 episodes (or more) to fully explore every major plot reveal and characterization. Just a few years ago, Snyder was in contact with HBO to pitch a series, and while that idea seemed to dissolve, Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Lost) appears to be picking up where he left off. This may still happen yet. Will it be live-action or animated? Will it add new storyline elements (a risky proposition), or stick close to the source material (…giant psychic squid, another risky proposition)? We’ll have to see if it comes to fruition first.

1. 100 BULLETS
There have been rumors of a 100 Bullets movie or television series in the works for years, and to be honest, it’s kinda maddening that the Brian Azzarello Vertigo series created in 1999 still hasn’t made it onto the small screen. It’s probably the one adult comic series that would make the easiest transition to the medium.

The premise revolves around a shadowy organization that equips victims with the ability to take revenge. They’re told the guns they use have untraceable bullets, letting them get away with murder. But while that may be true, they eventually get coerced into a world of contract killing and political intrigue.

A crime drama full of murky anti-heroes, sex, violence, and unpredictable plot twists would be a perfect match in the modern television landscape where all great characters exist in shades of gray. It’s beyond time for 100 Bullets to blast through the television screen and into our hearts.

+++++

Here are other comics that would make great transitions to tv shows.

Joshua Greathouse Gets Carter!

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This amazing watercolor was created by Joshua Greathouse. When I saw that Greathouse was taking pre-show commissions for HeroesCon, I contacted him about a Get Carter piece.  Man, did he nail it!

The funny thing is, when I picked up the art, Greathouse told me it was the second piece he’d ever done for me.  I was sure it was the first.  Greathouse went on to say he’d done a Rocky sketch for me at another show several years ago.  That night I checked my online posted art and there was nothing by Greathouse.  Of course I have many pieces that have not been scanned and posted yet.  When I returned home I found the piece Greathouse was talking about.  You won’t believe his growth as an artist.  I’ll post the Rocky piece soon.

In the meantime, if you’re a sketch collector, check out Greathouse on the web.  You can find him here and here.

Breakfast to Honor Jim Ivey!

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What a fun morning!  About every six months I try to pull together a group of folks to get with our buddy Jim Ivey for a marathon breakfast session.  This time we belatedly celebrated Jim’s 92nd birthday!  That’s Jim Ivey to the far right, me, Mike Sikes, Bill Black, John Beatty, Cliff Weikal and Jim (missed his last name). Taking the photo was Steven Martinez.

Jim Ivey is one of my oldest [as in been a friend the longest], oldest [as in age] and dearest friends. I first met Jim in the mid 1970’s when he was running The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida. At the same time Jim was working as a syndicated cartoonist [The Thoughts of Man], a political cartoonist [The Orlando Sentinel], a publisher [CartooNews], teacher [UCF cartooning class] and even a comic book convention organizer [OrlandoCon]. I was just graduating high school and into collecting comic books and later original art. Jim’s shop was like heaven.

Going to The Cartoon Museum became a weekly trip [almost always accompanied by my best friend, John Beatty]. When I moved to Orlando to attend UCF, my trips to Jim’s Cartoon Museum became even more frequent. We’d spend the day shooting the breeze and playing cards [blackjack, gin, hearts, poker] and would occasionally stop for lunch or Jim to make a sale. Jim hated it when business got in the way of fun!

You never knew who would come through the store. Sometimes it was other buddies like Bill Black [pictured in the photo above with Jim and I], Mike Kott, Rafael Kayanan, or Robert Smith. Sometimes it was established artists like Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Bruce Stark or so many others.

As the years have gone by and we’ve all gone in different directions.  Many of us correspond via e-mail, but Jim doesn’t mess with computers. So it’s snail mail correspondence for us. I love getting my letters from Jim. Just like when we’d go to his shop and you’d never know what would be waiting; it’s the same experience opening an envelope from Jim.

Getting back to today’s breakfast…

John Beatty, Cliff and I went in on stogies for Jim — got him some really nice cigars individually rolled ones from a specialty shop.  Other gifts included a nice Prince Valiant book, a Bill Black movie, a homemade carrot cake and more.  Jim was truly touched that so many old friends made the trip to honor him.  Old stories followed faster that our ice tea refills.  It was a wonderful time for all.  My guess is that our next get-together will be more of the same.  How could it not be when old friends make a point to re-connect?

“John Wick” Coming to Dynamite Comics!

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Fans of the John Wick movies may want to check out the new comic series coming from Dynamite Comics.  Written by Greg Pak with art by Giovanni Valletta, the series will delve into John Wick’s world and even feature stories about his origin adding to the John Wick mythos.

(On a side note, I’ve commissioned Valletta for a Jack Carter & John Wick sketch! And if John Wick’s father ever makes a movie appearance he should be played by Sylvester Stallone.)

Souce: SlashFilm.

Matt Wagner and Mage: The Hero Denied

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Matt Wagner has announced that Mage: The Hero Denied, the conclusion to his Mage trilogy will be a 15 issue series coming from Image later this year. Wagner describes Mage as…

… the archetypical Hero’s Journey told as a modern, urban fantasy. Our unlikely protagonist, Kevin Matchstick, is a cynical everyman until he encounters a ragged and beguiling street wizard named Mirth who soon reveals that Kevin is heir to a heroic destiny that he had never imagined. Along the course of his adventures, Kevin gathers a posse of comrades who all aid in his struggle to defeat the dark magic of the villainous Umbra Sprite. At the end of the first volume, The Hero Discovered, Kevin accepts his role and finds himself the wielder of an ancient and mythical power. In the second volume of the Mage trilogy, The Hero Defined, Kevin finds himself paired with a whole new posse of companions, all reborn heroes based on the mythic cycles from a variety of cultures. As they track down and battle supernatural threats together, Kevin is pursued by a befuddled vagrant, Wally Ut, who claims to embody the next stage of Matchstick’s mystical mentorship — his second Mage. Eventually, Kevin’s own arrogance and stubbornness leads to devastating consequences that threaten to undermine his entire struggle against the forces of darkness. The new series, The Hero Denied, is the third and final part of the trilogy. The storyline takes up, as I said, about ten years after the conclusion of the previous series and finds Kevin at a very different place in both his personal life and his role as the reborn Pendragon. The Hero Denied #0 kicks things off in July and is a half-sized issue that features the third “Interlude,” a motif I’ve traditionally used to bridge the gap between the various Books of the trilogy. It’s a great jumping-on spot for new readers and an exciting fresh return to the world of MAGE for longtime fans.

If you’re so inclined you can read a short interview with Wagner and see Mage: The Hero Denied preview pages at Previewworld.

Adam West – R.I.P.

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Adam West passed away last night after short battle with leukemia surrounded by his family.

West, known as tv’s Batman, is (along with Leonard Nimoy as Spock) perhaps the best example of the danger of typecasting.  Chosen to play the Caped Crusader for television, West shot to such fame that he had trouble finding new leading roles when Batman ended.  Yet he persevered and in later years did very well on the convention circuit meeting fans who couldn’t wait to get an autograph and photo with Batman.

I was seven years old when Batman premiered.  Adam West instantly became one of my childhood heroes.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

Frank Miller’s Sin City TV Series One Step Closer to Reality

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Deadline is reporting that a Frank Miller’s Sin City tv series is closer to becoming a reality.

…Glen Mazzara, the showrunner whose resume includes The Shield, The Walking Dead and The Omen…

…would take over the writing chores with  Len (Luficer) Wiseman set to direct.

If this comes to pass on a network like AMC, or FX or one of the other networks that’s not afraid to make Sin City without wholesale changes, then I’m all over it.  Bet you are too.