Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
On Sunday I told you about Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s comic “The Walking Dead.”
Eduardo Risso is a genius. His work on 100 Bullets is astounding. What makes Risso even more unique is that although he’s been honored with the top awards the industry has to offer, and he’s admired by fans and pros alike, he continues to work on the regular monthly title 100 Bullets. There’ve been six trade paperback compilations and I highly recommend them all! [ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR / FIVE / SIX] Risso and Azzerello have recently teamed to produce a six issue arc of Batman. The first issue is #620 and is on stands now. The first printing sold out from the publisher, but you may find a few still around. It’s great stuff, so it’d be worth your effort to find a copy.
I love a good end of the world, small band of survivors fighting to survive against all odds story. You know, like Stephen King’s The Stand… “28 days later” and the clasic “Night of the Living Dead.”
Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s comic “The Walking Dead” can now join the list! I’m not kidding. It’s really that good. Don’t believe me? Then check out this
review. And this one. Better yet, read it yourself. I did and I’ve added it to my monthly must buy list.I really wasn’t familiar with Robert Kirkman before reading “The Walking Dead.” If you’re like me and want to know more about him, you can check out this
interview. If you want to know a bit more about Tony Moore, here’s a link to his site.I’d like to hang around and tell you more about “The Walking Dead” but I think I’ll go back and re-read it again.
It’s really THAT good!
I’m looking forward to this weekend. Big John Beatty and I will be motoring down to Tampa for Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention. Big Beatty is a guest but before I get to that…Saturday night Beatty and I are going to attend a little get together put on by Randy Martin. Randy is an avid art collector whose theme happens to be Edward Scissorshands. How cool is that? John Higashi will be there with his Star Wars theme [which includes are from just about anyone who is ANYONE. How many collections do you know that feature Drew Struzan originals [note the “s” as in many]? John Dell and other artists will be attending as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
The next day is Tampa Con. John is a guest [which makes me a guest of a guest, I suppose]. Other real guests include MARTY NODELL [creator of the original GREEN LANTERN], ETHAN VAN SCIVER [X-Men], ALEX SAVIUK [Spider-Man], JIM FERN [Scion, Wolverine], AUSTIN JANOWSKY [Superman], DICK KULPA [artist and publisher of CRACKED], MARK and STEPHANIE HEIKE and others.
If you happen to be in the area, stop in and say, “Hi.” I’ll be the guy in the StalloneZone shirt angeling for more Stallone sketches!
1] The
Punisher is a pretty cool character and2]
the trailer makes it look like the movie will be fun.So yeah, I think that it’ll do well even though the guy playing the
Punisher doesn’t look like the “bad mofo” I’ve come to know and love. Mike Zeck’s Punisher… now that’s the real Punisher!Man, I love Halloween!
As we get closer to the big night, I find myself drawn to scary books and movies. For some reason even more so this year. Maybe it’s because there are so many good ones available.
I just finished reading Steve Niles‘ Dial M for Monster. Dial M is a book of short stories featuring his monster hunter, Cal McDonald. You’ve heard me praise Niles‘ work before and this book is no exception. I love everything about the world Niles has created for Cal [and I’m especially glad I can safely visit without fear of vampires, werewolves, fiends or other creatures coming after me!]. I’d suggest that you start with Guns, Drugs and Monsters [the first novel in the series] and then follow it up with Savage Membrane [the second].
If you’d like to get a taste of Niles‘ work before commiting to a novel, then by all means check out 30 Days of Night. This award winning comic series [with art by the extremely talented Ben Templesmith] is being developed into a feature film produced by none other than Sam Raimi! Why wait for the film? The graphic novel is available now and well worth every penny!
Changing gears just a bit… on Tuesday, one of my two favorite movies so far this year, becomes available! That’s right 28 Days Later is available Tuesday! Man, I can’t wait!
If you’ve read this far, then you’re probably a real horror fan. You probably already know that a Dawn of the Dead remake starring Ving Rhames is coming out next March. But did you know that the trailer is available now? At first I didn’t think that a re-make of Dawn of the Dead was a good idea since the original trilogy [Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead] by George Romero are considered cult classics. But I did like the remake of Night of the Living Dead ]… and Ving Rhames is starring… so why not?
Plus, it’ll give me one more thing to love about Halloween!
The drive up was great. John H. was at the wheel, Beatty was in the back seat doggin’ John H’s amazing collection, and I got to ride shotgun, laughing at all of the nonsense. We made it up in record time, or maybe time just flew by because we were laughing so much.
When we arrived things were just getting set up. A couple of tables had been set up inside, so we joined Don Perlin (Marvel Comics), Duck Edwing (MAD Magazine), Ed Hall (political cartoonist), and Jason Sobel (Fuzzy Dice Studios). Robert Smith was out in the crowd set up to do caricatures.
John H. wanted to speak to Mr. Perlin about a Star Wars commission, but told me that I should try to commission him up for a Stallone sketch first. Unfortunately for both of us, Mr. Perlin had a line already. But sitting directly in front of me was Ed Hall. I really enjoy his work and so I approached him about doing a Stallone piece. He agreed and the result was really cool. I’ll post it with next weekend’s update. Ed was amazing in that he was able to draw so many caricatures of famous people without any reference.
Seeing that I had popped for a piece, John H. approached Duck for a Spy vs Spy commission. John asked for a panel gag and offered four times the going rate for a sketch. Duck agreed and then to our surprise said, “You know I’m the writer for the strip, not the artist, right?” To John‘s credit, he said, “that’s cool” and went ahead with the commission. Duck drew him a funny seven panel Spy vs Spy strip. John then kicked in an extra $20 toward the charity so Duck came back and drew him a large executioner!
The crowd was constant throughout the day. “Soft Spike” jokes were flying from everyone. Big Beatty did some really nice sketches. He started off with a nice Captain America and Deathlock. He also did cool sketches of Iron Man, Green Goblin, and others!
Jason Sobol was sitting in front of me with his portfolio and a great sense of humor [especially when I called him Josh a couple of times]. At any rate, he didn’t soft spike me [you’d had to have been there] and drew me a cool Sly as a young Judge Dredd. I’ll post that this weekend.
As the show wound down it was time for the auction. John H. had his eye on two pieces, the Kubert “Sgt. Rock” and a Beetle Bailey Sunday page. It came down to the wire between John and another guy for the Kubert piece, but I’m happy to say that John won! Man, the Sgt. Rock is even more impressive in person. It could be the cornerstone of ANY collection! [John also won the Beetle Bailey page!]
All in all it was a great little event that raised a fair amount of money for a very good cause. I hope that they’re able to put it on again next year. If they do and you live within driving distance, you should plan to attend… you’ll get to meet some really nice people, possibly pick up a sketch or original art and maybe, just maybe, find out what it means to be soft spiked!
If you live within driving distance of Jacksonville, Florida, you may want to take a trip this coming Saturday. Big City Comics! [10131 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, Florida, phone 904-268-9006] is hosting a fundraiser from 11am – 5pm to benefit the Tourette Syndrome Association. Musical entertainment, door prizes, and many other exciting events are planned.
Don Perlin (Marvel Comics and Acclaim Comics, artist), Duck Edwing (MAD Magazine, artist and writer), Ed Hall (political cartoonist), Robert Smith Jr. (cartoonist and caricaturist) are going to be on hand signing autographs and sketching. There’s going to be an auction of rare, original comic art featuring characters such as Superman, Popeye, Beetle Bailey, and many others, all drawn by their respective artists.
It looks to be a fun time. I’m planning to attend. Where else can I get Sylvester Stallone sketches and help out a good cause at the same time?
Phil Hester does really cool sketches.
This is one of Mike‘s favorites. Phil does a tough looking Batman!
Dave Cook of Splatter Comix was not only doing free sketches…
…but giving away cake as well! His enthusiasm is contagious! Check out his site and tell him I sent ya!
We met up with Tim Flanagan at AtlantaCon.
Tim’s a super nice guy who’s more than willing to sketch away! I’ll bet we’ll see him again at future shows!
Jacen Burrows was drawing some really cool sketches.
Mike just had to get one from Jacen [and so did I]! Take a look at his art and I’ll bet you want one too!
So where did we leave off? Oh yeah…
I’m at AtlantaCon with my son, Mike. I’ve picked up sketches from Jason Alexander, Andy Lee, and Cully Hamner. Adam Hughes will have my sketch ready on Sunday. Believe it or not the day gets even better!
How? Glad that you asked! Well, let me tell you…
AtlantaCon and Chud.com have teamed up to present a special screening of Equilibrium followed by a Q&A session with writer/director, Kurt Wimmer. Seating was limited, but I was able to get two tickets.
The only thing that I knew about the movie was that it starred Christian Bale and Taye Diggs, was scifi set in the future and received good word of mouth. I figured we’d be in for an entertaining evening even if the movie was just “ok.”
The screening was set for 7:30. Everyone was to get there by seven. Mike and I arrived at 6:40. A crowd was already forming. Mike and I ended up next to Nick from Chud. We had a nice conversation. I was pleased to learn that he knew of StalloneZone. He was also a Stallone fan. Nick said that we were in for a very cool film with Equilibrium. It was a movie that he was really proud to help promote. I also spoke briefly with Jen who has set up a very nice Equilibrium fan site.
Soon it was time to go in. Mike and I took seats in the middle of the last row. People continued in and the theater was nearly full. Nick thanked us all for coming and that Kurt Wimmer had flown in from LA to attend the screening. Kurt had brought drinks and chips for the crowd!
As Mike went down to get a couple of sodas Cully Hamner, Phil Noto, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story came in. They sat directly in front of us. When Mike came back and saw them sitting there a giant smile came across his face. [For those of you who aren’t comic fans, this would be like driving to a basketball convention and having Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, and well, you get the idea, sitting in front of you.] Right before the movie started a gentleman and his young son took seats next to Mike.
The movie started. It immediately took you to another place. It’s our world, but in the near future. The opening scene is so cool and so well done that I knew we were in for a ride. Then comes the action and – MAN – it is AWESOME! I loved Christian Bale‘s work in Shaft and Reign of Fire but Equilibrium shows that he is a star. Taye Diggs, Emily Watson and Sean Bean are also excellent… but the real star of the show is Kurt Wimmer who wrote and directed it.
Kurt has also written other screenplays including The Recruit and The Thomas Crown Affair. After the movie ended Kurt Wimmer was introduced. He went to the front of the auditorium for the Q&A session. It was the guy sitting next to Mike! Mike looked at me like he couldn’t believe it… watching the movie with the Gaijin guys and the director of the movie!
Kurt was really entertaining. He spent an hour answering questions about the film. After the Q&A ended a group of us [including Brian Stelfreeze] stood in the lobby discussing how cool the film was. The dvd will be out in May. My advice is to pre-order now. I think this baby is a sleeper.
Sunday arrived. The final day of the show. The main question on my mind: Would Adam Hughes be able to get to my sketch? As we walked in I heard John Higashi yelling, “Craig, come and see what Adam did for you!” Needless to say, I was excited. Adam had created a very, very cool drawing of Sly dressed for an audition as Superman. I absolutely love the idea and execution. Adam Hughes is da MAN! I got a picture of Adam holding the sketch and thanked him.
Phil Noto was setting up. I checked to see if he would be able to fit me in. Unfortunately Phil was booked solid. He said he would do something for me and asked if I would leave him my address. I did and offered to pay for the sketch in advance. Phil said we’d settle up once he was finished with it. Believe me, it will be worth the wait! [Next on my list will, hopefully, be Brian Stelfreeze!]
Mike and I then went over to see Dan Brereton. We discussed a Stallone sketch. Dan was leaning towards a Rocky, but as he looked through my reference book he mentioned that he really liked Nighthawks. Whatever he wanted to do was fine by me. He said to check back in a couple of hours.
Mike and decided to visit some artists one last time. Mike got a headshot of Batman by Phil Hester, a Batman by Dave Cook of Splatter Comix and a Batman by Tim Flanagan. Our final stop was with Jacen Burrows. Jacen was doing some really interesting sketches. Mike got one for his sketchbook. I asked Jacen if he’d be interested in doing a Sly drawing for me. He said he would, but that he’d want to do it at home. We agreed on a price and Jacen said he’d have it to me in about a month!
Mike and I then headed back over to Dan Brereton‘s table. The piece was finished. It was a knockout! Dan had opted to do Deke DaSilva from Nighthawks! I got a picture of Dan and his lovely lady, thanked him. It was time Mike and I got back on the road for home.
It was a great show. I’ll post pictures of the artists and their artwork later this week. Mike and I hope to return next year. Maybe we’ll see you there!
AtlantaCon was this past weekend. My son [Mike] and I had a blast! It was my goal to try and get sketches from Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner, Dan Brereton, Phil Noto and whoever else the budget would allow.
The con was scheduled to open at 1PM Friday. We got to our hotel before 9AM. I was surprised that we could check in early. As we were completing the paperwork, Dan Brereton began to check in as well. We decided to wait until the con to say, “Hello.” As the elevator doors were closing to take us up to our room, Mike Kaluta came on board. He is always so friendly.
We decided to eat breakfast. Dan Brereton had the same idea, but since he was with a couple of friends we didn’t want to bother him. After breakfast, Mike and I headed over to the convention center. There were already people in line. The con wasn’t scheduled to open for another hour and a half!
I was talking to a couple of guys when I heard someone yelling, “Craig Zablo, you lied!” I looked up to see John Higashi coming down the escalator. “You said, you wouldn’t be here until Saturday!” John continued yelling. John is such a fun guy to be around. He collects Star Wars art and his collection is one of the best I’ve ever seen. He has art by almost everyone. Who else do you know that has several pieces from Drew Struzan? John came down and showed us all where the line would start so we could pick up our con passes, and then entertained us with pieces from his collection until it was time for him to go in. John had a lifetime membership to the show, which meant that he would be allowed in to the dealer’s room an hour before everyone else.
Once the lifetime members were allowed to enter, the regular paid attendees lined up at the door. Mike and I were fourth and fifth in line and so I felt my odds of an Adam Hughes sketch were pretty good. Cully Hamner had already put me on his list [thanks to an e-mail from Big Beatty — thanks, bro!] so Adam would be my first stop when the gates opened. From where we were standing, we could see the line for Adam was already nine deep and growing… The crowd was allowed to enter and I ended up 13th in line for an Adam Hughes sketch. When I spoke to Adam about what I wanted [a drawing of Sylvester Stallone], he liked the idea. I left him a book for reference and hustled over to see Cully.
Cully remembered me and we discussed what I wanted. I thought that Cully would do a very cool Jack Carter. Cully hadn’t seen the movie but I had reference. I explained that Carter was a Vegas enforcer, a low level mobster. Cully looked at the pictures and said, “nice suits, right?” Yep. Cully said to check back later in the day.
Mike was walking around checking out things. I caught up with him and we walked the convention center. Dan Brereton was setting up and I spoke to him about a commission. He said that he would definitely be interested. We agreed to hook up later in the show to work out the details. The first day wasn’t even half over and I had basically set up three commissions. I was loving life.
We walked around and spoke with Mike Kaluta, Andy Lee, Phil Hester, Jacen Burrows, Jason Alexander, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Shane Glines, Dean Motter, Bo Hampton, Alex Saviuk, and many others.
Jason Alexander‘s art is really cool. I spoke to him about a commission and he agreed to do a Rambo for my sketchbook. It turned out awesome. Watching Andy Lee paint was amazing. I spoke to him about a commission. We agreed on a Rambo. It also turned out great. I decided to check on the progress of Adam and Cully. Cully asked if it would be ok if he gave me the Jack Carter drawing in the morning which, of course, was no problem. Adam was still working on his first drawing. Gulp!
Saturday was the busiest day of the show. Kent Williams showed up [he shares a studio with Jason Alexander]. I told John Higashi that Kent was there [he wasn’t listed on the guest list]. John commissioned a really cool Star Wars piece! Mike spent the afternoon in a HeroClick‘s tournament. I walked around talking to more artist’s. Cully finished my Jack Carter piece. Whoa! I couldn’t be more thrilled with it! Adam said that he would have my piece for me on Sunday. Yes!
Believe it or not, the day was going to get even better…
[I’ll post the rest of my con report soon. Scans of my commissions and pictures from the con will also be posted soon.]
On April 11- 13, I heading up to Georgia for the AtlantaCon Convention. The Guest of Honor is Mike Kaluta who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time over twenty years ago at an Atlanta convention! Mike is best known for his work on “The Shadow,” and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
Dan Bereton is going to be a guest. I’ve loved his work since I saw the first preliminary piece for “The Black Terror” years ago. Dan has gone on to draw [and write] many other projects and I’ve followed them all. One of my favorites has been his work on The Nocturnals. It’d be cool to get a Stallone drawing by Dan.
I’m also excited because the guys from Gaijin Studios [Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story] will be there sketching as well. As Stuttering John would say, “I’m a big fan, big fan.” I was hoping to get some Stallone sketches from them at MegaCon but I was only there for one day,and they were allready booked up. Thanks to Big Beatty, I’m on Cully‘s list for AtlantaCon and hope to get on Adam‘s and Brian‘s as well. At least that’s the plan.
Phil Noto is going to be there. His popularity has soared in recent years. Take a look at his art and you’ll know why. There’s going to be dozens of other artists on hand as well. Part of the fun of going to a convention is meet established pros, but also to meet the new people who haven’t broke through yet but have the talent to take you by surprise. There’ll also be tons of panels, screenings of movies, videos, and animation… not to mention gaming, but since I already did, well, nevermind.
It’s going to be a fun time. If you’re able to make it to the show, it’d be cool to talk to you. I’ll be easy to find. I’ll be the guy wearing the StalloneZone t-shirt getting the Stallone drawings.
People will collect almost anything.
I collect movies, books, comics and Sylvester Stallone memorabilia such as books [biographies, novelizations of his movies], magazine articles and pictures, and now original drawings of Sly or characters that he’s played. Recently I began to have artists draw in a sketchbook instead of on loose sheets of paper.
This may sound like a unique idea but it’s really not. There are a lot of people out there collecting drawings for their themed sketch books. Some of the more interesting themes include “cliffs,” “time,” “silverfish,” and… well, you get the idea. Phillip Anderson has several themed sketchbooks going. You can get a look at all of them by clicking [HERE].
Who knows? After seeing the cool stuff that Phillip has, maybe you’ll be inspired to start your own themed sketchbook collection!
Eric Powell writes, pencils and inks The Goon, which is one of the few comics that I buy EVERY time it comes out. Dark Horse just picked up The Goon so if you wanna beat the crowd, get on board now! You’ll also find Eric’s work on the covers to DC‘s Arkham Asylum: Living Hell six issue mini-series starting in May.
Eric did his version of Sly when I caught up with him at MegaCon. I was so tempted to get a Goon sketch but just had to have Eric in the SZ Gallery. Eric‘s take reminds me of a sports drawing from the ’30’s.
Rough Stuff, a trade paperback which collects The Goon‘s first three issues is now available.
I’ll bet it’s the first graphic novel to come with a “director’s commentary!” Yep, a trade paperback book with a director’s commentary.
Isn’t that just goony?
If you’re a regular ZZ reader, then you know how much I enjoy the artwork of Bill Marimon. I like Bill‘s work enough to create a web presence for him. Have you checked it out yet? If not you should.
Perhaps if you take a peek at the thumbnail to Bill‘s latest painting you’ll see what I mean about his art. If you can’t see it, then maybe it’s time for an eye exam.
