Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
The new Zorro comic that Matt Wagner is heading up is coming along nicely. Francesco Francavilla has come on board as the artist. Francesco is an excellent choice due to his artistic talents coupled with his love of the character. Check out Matt Wagner’s character designs for Zorro as well as his thoughts on the project by clicking HERE.
Next Sunday, December 9th, my buddy John Beatty will be one of the guests at the Epic Comic Con in Orlando, Florida. He’ll be there along with a bunch of comic book artists, professional wrestlers as well as a couple of actors and authors. Talk about an interesting mix!
John will be sketching and signing autographs. I’ll be there hanging out as well. If you’re in the area, plan to drop on by!
I was surfing the net and came across this really cool Terminator artwork. For a wallpaper size look, click HERE.
Since many of you enjoy art I thought you might get a kick out of some recent sketches that I picked up for addition to my Stallone Theme Gallery! 
Yesterday I wrote about the amazingly talented artist, Joe Bluhm, and his book Rejects. Here’s what I said:
Friday night I drove down to Orlando to hang with my best bud, John Beatty who was going to be a guest at OrlandoCon. John had driven down ahead since I had to work late. I pulled into the parking lot to find Beatty, John Higashi, Mike Gowcharan and Kwan walking back from the convention hall. They had gone over to get the lay of the land. We decided to get some dinner and ended up at a Chinese Buffet. It was a little hole in the wall joint, the grub was okay but the company was better. We talked about everything from what our con expectations were to Mike Wieringo’s untimely passing, to poker strategies, to Big Beatty’s upcoming trip to the Philippines.
We went back to the hotel and ended up looking at some of Higashi’s latest art pickups. Mike brought out his poker chips, we all threw a ten spot into the pot and played a winner take all no limit Texas Hold’em Tournament. Despite a great start, the best I could manage was second place [Mike came in first] and as Beatty reminded me, second paid the same as last place. Harumph!
The next morning Higashi and I got up early to meet Mike and Kwan [and his girlfriend] for some breakfast. Beatty decided he needed more sleep and didn’t join us. He was up and ready to roll when we got back to the room so we all headed over to show. The convention hall was really much bigger than I had expected.
As I was walking around I was surprised to find Joe Bluhm set up. Joe is a fantastic artist and I regularly visit his site. I hadn’t known Joe was going to be at the show and immediately talked to him about doing a Stallone sketch for me. Joe agreed and I knew that if I wasn’t able to get any other pieces, his would make the show worthwhile.
I knew that Ron Salas was going to be at the convention. I really am impressed with his work and also visit his site regularly. Once Ron was set up Higashi and I went over to meet him. Ron was as nice as he is talented. He agreed to do a Stallone sketch for me. Higashi proceeded to set up a Star Wars sketch for himself and a World’s Finest piece for Hawaiin Dave.
It was time for the Leinil Yu raffle drawing so we headed over. They were only drawing two winners and you had to be present to win. The first number was pulled and the crowd waited to see who would step forward… going once… going twice… new number! The next number was pulled and immediately a guy yelled, “That’s me!” Time for the last winner. The ticket was pulled and the numbers called out… “Six…” – I had a six! “Eight…” – I had an eight! – “Zero…” I had a zero! I quickly looked again, 680! Yep! It was me. I raised my hand and yelled, “I’ve got it!” I could hear Kwan and others laughing, Zablo won!
I went over and turned in my ticket. I walked over to talk to Leinil about my request. He was in to it and said that he was going to do me a nice drawing. Did he ever! As he was drawing it, other fans continued to come over and tell me how cool it looked and how nicely it was coming along. Beatty and Kwan didn’t want me to see it until it was completed. That didn’t stop them from going over to look at and film Leinil’s progress. Word came back that he was doing it bigger than normal and putting way more details than usual. I couldn’t wait to get my mits on it… but I didn’t want to rush Leinil so I stayed far away. LOL!
I headed back over to see how Joe was doing with my Stallone piece. It was finished. Joe had decided to whip up Sly as Rocky Balboa. It was an amazing piece. Joe absolutely nailed it. I thanked him and headed back to show the guys. Beatty is very seldom impressed. His response was, “Wow! That’s really nice! Let me see that!” He then positively commented on everything from the drawing itself to the color choices. If Beatty’s impressed, it’s a rare thing, indeed. Beatty was working on his second Punisher commission [above] so I decided to walk around a bit more.
Alex Saviuk was set up. I had swung by earlier to say, “hi.” I was walking by his table when he called me over and said, “I saw you have your Stallone reference here. Bring it by and I’ll give you that sketch I owe you!” [Alex had been doing sketches for charity a while back and I purchased one with the understanding that he’d do it when he got the chance.] Alex drew Sly as Superman! What a great guy and great sketch!
Leinil finished my Rambo sketch. It was amazing. Several fans came over to say how nice it was. I couldn’t believe my luck in winning and then that Leinil would come through in such a spectacular way. I’ll post up a better scan to it [and all of my pieces] soon.
I was showing my sketches to a friend who came by the table. He wasn’t familiar with Joe Bluhm’s work. I was telling him about Joe and his book Rejects. Joe is a caricaturist and occasionally he does a drawing that the customer doesn’t want. Surprisingly these are often some of the best drawings of the day! Joe has put together a great book called Rejects. It features rejected caricatures and his comments about them. When Joe told Beatty about the book, Beatty said it was a great idea and that he’d pay to have me drawn in “reject mode.” We all laughed. Higashi heard this and decided it was a great idea. The next thing I knew Higashi had his camera out and aimed in my direction…
It was almost time for me to head out… I wasn’t staying for both days of the show. I swung by Joe’s table to thank him again for the great drawing. I saw that he had an opening and asked if he’d do another Stallone piece for me. He agreed.
I walked down to say goodbye to Ron Salas. I told him that Higashi or Beatty would pick up my piece on Sunday and that it was a pleasure meeting him. I swung by to say good bye to a few other folks. I then picked up my second Joe Bluhm piece [was my luck running good or what], said so long to Beatty and Higashi and then was headed for home!
My old buddy, Andy Smith wrote the book on Drawing Dynamic Comics.
Next weekend I’ll join my best bud, John Beatty, at OrlandoCon. John will be a there all weekend signing autographs and sketching. I’ll be there to hang with Big J, see some old friends and hopefully relax a bit. Who knows I may even try to get an addition to my Stallone sketch collection.
If you’re in the area, swing by and say, “Hi.”
Another first issue that caught my eye while going through Previews was Crawl Space: XXXombies #1 by Rick Remender, Kieron Dwyer and Tony Moore. The idea is it’s 1977 and a low rent movie producer has brought together a cast of adult film stars for a weekend shoot in LA… just as a zombie plague hits.
The piece above is a close-up of a fanzine cover created by Willie Blyberg back in 1978. At that time, Willie was a very prolific and talented fan artist who not only created his own fanzines, but contributed to others as well. Willie’s goal was to break into comics as a professional inker and his dream became a reality.
My favorite Willie Blyberg ink job was over Paul Gulacy on the
Valkyrie: Prisoner of the Past mini-series. I must not have been the only one to enjoy it, because Paul and Willie were nominated for the 1988 Best Art Team Eisner Award. Willie inked a lot of other comics, but then I lost touch with his career.Tonight as I was looking through my copy of Willie’s fanzine from 1978, I wondered where Willie is today. Perhaps someone reading this knows?
I’m looking forward to Matt Fraction and Cory Walker’s arc on The Punisher War Journal.
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.
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!
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!
The above drawing came with a letter I received today from my old buddy Jim Ivey. You might not be able to tell, but that’s Jim remembering how I looked over 30 years ago when I first met him … well, if I was a cartoon character. The first time Jim ever drew a caricature of me, he turned me into Conan. Those days are long gone…
Jim wrote to tell me about the wonderful time he had in Washington, DC when he was recently honored at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists 50th-anniversary convention. Jim is one of three surviving original members. Not only did Jim get to see them again, but also to meet many new artists for the first time. The highlight for Jim was meeting Ann Telnaes whose work he’s admired for some time. Jim favorably compares to Herblock, Rube Goldberg and Roy Crane! Lofty company! [Jim’s right, she is an amazing talent.] You can read more about Jim’s trip HERE.
What’s really amazing is that it’s been 50 years since the first AAEC meeting. Jim is 82 and probably in as good of shape now as he was then! Conan, indeed!
