Category: Art

Coffin Bound by Waters, Dani, Simpson and Bidikar

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Coffin Bound by Dan Waters (writer), Dani (artist) and Brad Simpson (colorist) is a new series coming from Image Comics.  It doesn’t look or sound like a typical comic…

Chased by an unstoppable killer, Izzy Tyburn has decided that if the world won’t have her in it, it can have nothing of her at all. She’s retreading her life, leaving nothing but burned rubber, ash… and the sun-scorched bones of those who get in her way.

“This is a book all about the inevitability of death, and the choice each of us faces between coming to terms with it, or trying to deny it,” said Watters. “This is a book drawn beautifully by Dani, with Brad Simpsons’ filthy bright colors. This is a book about cars, guns, and sex—and how each of those things does little to stave off the bottomless void waiting just beyond the veil of our known existence. What was the question again?”

Image has an eight page preview that you can see here.  I’m on board.

Neal Adams’ Savage Sword of Conan Painting and the Theft That Didn’t Happen

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The cover above is to the Savage Sword of Conan #2 and was created by the legendary Neal Adams.  It’s always been one of my favorite Conan and Neal Adams’ covers.

I had the good fortune to see the original painting at an OrlandoCon. The year was 1978 or ’79 (to the best of my memory). Mike Kott, a  buddy of mine, had it on display for sale.  He was asking $10,000.00 for it.  Although that was a ton of money back then (and is still a lot today), the painting in person was so nice, it had more than one person saying, “If I was a rich man…”

I’d see Mike Kott on a fairly regular basis.  He’d come into Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum or over to my apartment (we had a weekly card game) or I’d go by his place.  It was on one of those get-togethers that Mike said his house had a break-in and thieves had made off with some cash (not a lot).  Nothing else had been taken.  Mike said that they had to have seen the painting but obviously hadn’t known the value of the art.  Not long after that Mike sold the painting.

$10,000.00 was a small fortune back then.  As to what the painting is worth today… I won’t venture a guess, but I will say that Neal Adams gets $50 for his autograph and fans line up all day long.

HeroesCon 2019 – Craig’s Report

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been a week since HeroesCon 2019 kicked off.  We’ve been going to the show for decades and it’s always a treat.  Here are the highlights…

I went to the show hoping…

Friday
My first stop was Richard Cox’s table.  My buddy, Little John had told me that Richard’s list filled up on Thursday night.  I thought LJ was messing with me and it turns out he was.  I was able to get on Richard’s list.

I was also able to get on Pan Quinn’s and Dan Panosian’s lists.  Matthew Childers’ had my sketch ready and also shared some cover commissions that he was doing for fans.  Little John had ordered a cool one to add to his Search for Superman theme.  Matthew also was working on a Batman & Godzilla cover.  Inspired pairing, that one!

I met Shane Douberly for the first time and commissioned a Rocky head sketch from him.  I then spent the bulk of the day visiting with old / new friends and walking the convention floor.  My sketch commissions were set up, so the pressure was off.

Little John and his wife Patricia, along with my better half, Doralya, and son Chris headed over to the Red Ginger for a great hibachi dinner.  LJ repeated his feat of draining the saki sprayed from the bottle.  Luckily, there were no college kids at our table this year to try to replicate this feat.

After dinner we headed over to the HeroesCon Drink and Draw for charity.  LJ and Patricia scored a few very nice pieces.  Chris Flick created 3 sketch cards for the charity.  LJ picked up two and I scored the other (Stallone from Expendables).  Yeah, Chris knows what I like.

Saturday

Because of flight issues (detailed at ME’s blog), Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones weren’t able to arrive until Saturday.  So ME was my first stop.  I was able to meet Mark Evanier and get his autograph in my Kirby hardcover.  I also attended a panel that ME moderated.  The panel featured my best bud, John Beatty along with Mike Royer and Klaus Janson.  The panel was informative and it was nice to see so many people there to hear inkers talk about their craft.

Today was art pick-up day.  Richard Cox had a great Rocky (III) painting waiting for me.  Dan Panosian’s piece was ready as well (Rocky II).  Dan’s sketches are second to none. (By the way, Dan was turning all of the proceeds of his head sketch commissions over to the Heroes Initiative charity.)  When I picked up my sketch, I also purchased Dan’s second sketch book.  Pat Quinn created a very cool Jack Carter sketch for me.  Chris Visions was still working through his sketch list but assured me it would be ready by Sunday.

Hainanu Saulque goes by the name Nooligan.  I’d never met him before, but after seeing his Rocky: Once and Future Champ print, I knew he was an artist I wanted to meet.  Nooligan is an amazing artist with a unique style.  We spoke about Stallone, films, comics and more for the better part of an hour.  I usually don’t buy prints, but I purchased both Nooligan’s Rocky and John Wick prints.  Hopefully some day I’ll get a Nooligan original for my Stallone art collection.  Meeting Nooligan was a definite HeroesCon highlight this year.

Dinner that evening was at the Redeye Diner with my wife, son, Little John & Patricia, Richard Cox and his wife.  My only regret about eating at the Redeye Diner is that we only made it there once this trip.  Great atmosphere and food.

Our next stop was the HeroesCon Art Auction.  LJ showed a lot of restraint purchasing just one piece — a painting by Josh Greathouse.  I made it most of the way through the auction but called it a night before it was over since we were heading home early Sunday.

I proud to say that I was able to complete all of the things I had hoped to get done.  It was great meeting Mark Evanier after following his blog daily for nearly 20 years.  I was happy that my son Chris joined me at the show on Saturday.  Comics aren’t his thing, but he had fun at the panel (he’s known John Beatty his whole life) and art auction.

It was great seeing old friends and meeting new.  The art on display was, as always, jaw-dropping.  I need to give a special shout out to Casey Jones.  His art book was filled with page after page of beautiful art ranging from sketches to inked pieces to published pages.

I’ll be posting my art pick-ups in the coming weeks.

A few years ago, we began going to Charlotte on Thursday night to meet with friends before the show starts on Friday.  Sadly, we usually cut out before the show ends on Sunday.  Little John has convinced me that we need to stay for the full experience.  Starting next year, that will be the plan.  Let the countdown begin!

Sebela and Visions: New Supernatural Crime Series!

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Trust Fall by Christopher Sebela (writer) and Chris Visions (artist) is a new comic series that’s worth a look.  Here’s how Aftershock describes it…

Ash Parsons was raised to believe she’s special. As someone with a quirk of genetics that lets her teleport things, she’s the golden goose of her family — the foundation of a struggling criminal outfit.

Ash is able to pop out whole fleets of cars and entire bank vaults. But while she can teleport valuables and her accomplices, she can’t teleport herself — making every job a trust fall with her family there to catch her and escort her to safety. It’s a perfect setup, but as things begin to change and the Parsons move up in the world, Ash will find herself pushing back against her golden cage, with deadly results.

Dead Letters’ Christopher Sebela (COLD WAR, Shanghai Red) and Chris Visions (Spider-Gwen, Bitch Planet) reunite for a criminally provocative tale of give-and-take with a style all its own.

If you’d like to see a preview of Trust Fall, you’re in luck because Syfy has an exclusive nine page preview!

Alex Toth’s Bravo for Adventure!

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Alex Toth’s Bravo for Adventure is out in a trade paperback for the first time and fans are going to want to grab a copy.

Alex Toth’s magnum opus contains all three of The Genius’s stories starring Jesse Bravo, knock-about pilot and reluctant swashbuckler, including the original graphic novel.

More than forty years after its creation, Bravo For Adventure remains a rollicking pastiche of 1930s high-adventure, replete in the visual trappings of film noir without any of that genre’s existential depression. By this point in his career Toth had stripped out all extraneous lines and detail, demonstrating complete command of his staging and chiaraoscruo technique, and cementing his reputation as the medium’s most sophisticated storyteller.

Also included are never-before-seen pencil roughs, preliminary drawings, and story fragments, as well as Toth’s own coloring samples for an edition that never saw print, and–freed from storage after 40-some-years–the coloring for what was intended to be Bravo’s original 1975 first printing in France! It’s not just a comics collection, it’s a capital “E” Event — the ultimate Bravo for Adventure, published by special arrangement with the Toth family!

Tom Reilly Teams Jack Carter and John Wick!

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I usually don’t post any of my Stallone commissions until I’ve received them, but Tom Reilly sent me a scan of the Jack Carter/John Wick piece he did for me and I like it so much I just couldn’t wait!

Tom Reilly is an artist from Mount Desert Island, Maine. He is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, with a BFA in Illustration. Tom’s work has been included in exhibits such as the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Exhibition, the Rhode Island School of Design Illustration Triennial Exhibition, and the 2017 MoCCA Arts Festival.

You can check out more of Tom’s art at his website or follow him on Twitter.

The Best Noir Comics

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Eddie Muller (Host of TCM’s Noir Alley) and Michael Kronenberg (Designer/Artist for the Film Noir Foundation) posted their choices for the Top Ten Noir Comics.  Their list is a good one as you can see above.

I’ve read 8 of their top 10 only missing out on Crime Suspense Stories (their first choice!) and Blacksad.   I’ve heard great things about both and plan to check them out at some point.

My top three (in alpha order) would be:

  • Chandler by Steranko
  • Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson
  • Richard Stark’s Parker adapted by Darwyn Cooke.

If you’re a fan of crime fiction/noir, then check them out.  I’d also add one more.  That would be Frank Miller’s Sin City yarns and I’d start with The Hard Goodbye.

Andy Smith’s “Dynamic Hero Templates”

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My buddy, Andy Smith has been a working professional artist for over 25 years.  He’s worked for all the major companies and equally impressive; Andy has been the author and artist on several “how-to” books on drawing super-heroes  and comics.

Andy’s latest book is on Kickstarter and is titled, Dynamic Hero Templates.  The 48 page book is 11″ x 8.5″ in a landscape format.  It features 8 varying male physiques so there’s a variety of body shapes to use to design your characters.

Andy created Dynamic Hero Templates for all ages and skill levels.  He also priced the book at $10 which is not only affordable but less than the $12.95 price point after his Kickstarter ends.  If you missed out on Andy’s earlier books or are a fan of his art, there are addition levels of support that will get you exactly what you crave.  Dynamic Hero Templates also would make an excellent gift!

Ken Meyer, Jr. Presents Adams, Kirby, Kane, Frazetta and More!

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Ken Meyer, Jr. presents a monthly column called Ink Stains. In the column Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts a fanzine from his collection.  Here’s Ken…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

In Ink Stains 114, Ken shares with us Gaslite #10 which is a fantastic fanzine.  Gaslite #10 is filled to the rim with talent and features a cover by R. Crumb, Jack Kirby art and interview, a Dick Giordano interview, Frank Frazetta sketch, Klaus Janson spot illo, Neal Adams art and interview, Kirby and Dan Adkins full-pager, Bill Gaines interview, Vaughn Bode art and interview, Isaac Asimov interview, Gil Kane backpiece and more.

As always, thanks to Ken for bringing back great memories of fandom!