Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
If you enjoyed Part I of Newsarama’s interview with Tim Bradstreet, then you won’t want to miss Part II [it even has a couple of images from Archetype!]
This Saturday, September 27th, is the next meeting of Sketch Society. The festivities will once again be held at Java Junction Donut and Coffee. This month we’re meeting earlier in the day. Big John Beatty and I plan to arrive by 9am… and hope to see you there!
If, like me, you’re a fan of Tim Bradstreet’s work, you’ll probably want to check out this interview with him conducted by Newsarama. Heck, you might even want to learn more about his latest art book, Archetype.
Who doesn’t love Jason Pearson’s art? And when Pearson kicks it into high gear to write and draw Body Bags, who can resist? Of course with a title like Body Bags, you can guess that the violence is over the top. If that doesn’t bother you then check out this interview about the latest Body Bags One Shot and six page preview!
Remember when I posted that my buddy, John Beatty, had opened up his commission list and created a special blog for it? Well, a few things have changed and if you were considering getting a commission, now is the time!
John decided to close down the sketch blog and post the commissions on his new site at JohnBeattyArt.com. Plus, and this is the biggie, John has decided to take 1/2 off of all commissions!
No, that doesn’t mean he just draws 1/2 the figure for the full price, it means you get the full figure for 1/2 the price! Click here for full details and remember to let us know if you put in an order!
The “Fatman” art above is by Ed Hall. Although I first met Ed five years ago, I’ve been a fan of his work for much longer. Ed is an award-wining political cartoonist with a wit to match his artistic talent. He also has the uncanny ability to draw caricatures from memory. I first saw him do this when I asked for a sketch for my Stallone gallery. Although I had reference available, Ed said that he’d drawn Sly before so the reference wouldn’t be needed. He then proceeded to draw this right before my eyes. Amazing.
You can check out Ed’s work here at his blog. You’ll find that he does a lot more than just political cartoons, and my guess is you’ll like it all.
Crossed #0 [written by Garth Ennis with art by Jacen Burrows] is available now. That’s the wraparound cover by Jacen pictured above and it should give you a good idea of what to expect. At first glance, you might think it’s another zombie comic, but it’s not… at least not exactly.
An event happens which causes a good portion of the population to go crazy. Normal folks in a small town are suddenly surrounded by friends and neighbors killing each other and worse [much worse in some cases]. This introduction by Ennis is smart in that it places us in the middle of things as the insanity spreads. There are enough inspired touches that we understand that this is not a limited event and the world will never be the same. The most frightening scene in my opinion wasn’t any of the attacks by the infected, or the bomb blast, or the widespread shots of carnage all around. To me the most creepy shot was of a plane crashing — we see it strike a clock tower as it hurtles to the ground and then Jacen gives us a close up of the cockpit. In it we see two flight attendants in the background fighting, an infected passenger with an evil grin killing the co-pilot as the infected pilot laughs maniacally as he dives the plane into the ground.
Crossed was definitely good enough that I’ll be back for more. Jacen Burrows provides the pencils and inks and this is his best work yet. Greg Waller provides the colors and did a great job in capturing the mood of the book and complimenting Burrows’s line work. Garth Ennis’s story leaves me wanting more. He knows how to hit all the right notes but be aware that he’s not afraid of going over the line when it comes to shocking gore and violence.
Crossed isn’t for everyone. However fans of horror and the zombie genre [although the infected aren’t zombies… at least traditional zombies] might want to check it out. Issue 0 would be a great place to start. It’s only a buck and available now.
Duane Swierczynski posted a link to the full art above. Don’t ya just love how the drawing sets up the story. Logan, all alone, walks into a small town wanting nothing more than a cold beer and a place to rest. Instead he learns that a savage creature is on the loose killing everyone in the town… and now that Logan is in town…
My buddy, John Beatty has opened up his commission list. John is best known for his work on Captain America, Secret Wars, Batman, and my personal favorite, The Punisher. John’s commission prices are very reasonable, there’s something for every budget, and the turnaround time is pretty quick. I’m thinking that it might be time for a new Beatty Stallone piece… although I am partial to his take on Hellboy. 
My August Sketch Society Report is now up HERE for those of you interested in that sort of thing.
Evan Bryce is an artist to keep an eye on. His blog should be a regular rest area on your internet travels. Evan’s new sketchbook, Roman Thug Life is now available. It contains 54 pages of Evan’s work. I’m looking forward to getting a copy. Check it out and you might be too!
Our next Sketch Society get-together is this Saturday. If you like to draw and live within traveling distance to Daytona Beach, Florida, come and join us. Click HERE to learn more about the meeting!
Since we have a lot of Hellboy fans here at the ZONE, I thought I should mention that Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy, will be back in October with the first Hellboy comic that he’s drawn in three years! Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch is a one shot that finds Hellboy investigatating an ancient chapel where he discovers “an artist compelled by something more sinister than any muse” locked away in order to complete his “life’s work.”You can see the entire cover and read more about the issue here.
Emily is not real, but she’s a better actress than some I’ve seen. All kidding aside, that is some pretty amazing animation.We’re getting close to the point that I wrote about nearly two years ago when discussing that lifelike animation…
“will also usher in the next generation of all-star movie casts! Think about how cool it would be to see Sly Stallone, young Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart and Lee Marvin acting alongside each other. The possibilities are endless.So, what would your dream cast be?”
My buddy, John Beatty asked me to become a moderator on his Sketch Society blog. I’ll still do reminders and updates about Sketch Society meetings here at the ZONE, but now the major reports and photo dumps will occur at the Sketch Society blog. The next sketching get-together is coming soon. You can read more about it here.
