Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
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!
On Sunday, August 19th, I’ll be joining Big Beatty and hundreds of other fans of comics, movies, sci-fi and other interesting hobbies as we converge on Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book & Toy Convention.You’ve heard me rave many times about what a great show Tim puts on. This one could be the best ever! In addition to John Beatty, guests will include Bill Black, Alex Saviuk, Herb Trimpe, Gary Friedrich, Chuck Dixon, Pablo Marcos, and many others. There will be something for everyone… artists sketching and signing autographs, a costume contest, a continuously running film room and more.
If you’re able to make it, swing by Big Beatty’s table and be sure to say, “Hi!”
Newsarama has a brief interview with writer Glen Brunswick about his upcoming miniseries, Killing Girl which hits the stands next week. Brunswick teamed with artist Frank (Rocketo) Espinosa to create a series that is worth a look.
Wolfman vs Dracula.The title alone should be enough to get people to pick up the comic. Throw in Frank Frazetta and Steve Niles and you should be guaranteed a winner. Of all of the comics that will be in Frazetta’s Universe, this was the one that immediately sprung to mind as the one that I’d want to see.
ComicBookResources.com posted a report today that Image comics will be expanding their take on “Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer” into several series based on other Frazetta paintings. As I read the piece, I started thinking, this could be very cool if done correctly. Then I read…
“The Silver Warrior” is a four-issue mini-series by Fotos, Nat Jones and Joshua Ortega. One-shots include Rick Remender on Frazetta’s “Creatures,” “Swamp Demon” written by Joshua Ortega, Steve Niles handling “Dracula Meets The Wolfman,” and Mark Kidwell doing the same for “Dark Kingdom.”
Nearly four years ago issue #1 of The Walking Dead hit the stands. I bought it and really dug both the art and story. I soon discovered that I wasn’t alone. A lot of people were buying and loving it!
Before long The Walking Dead was my favorite comic. After the first six issues, artist Tony Moore left the regular art chores and Charlie Adlard took up the slack. The book remained my favorite regularly published comic.
Each month The Walking Dead was the comic that I most looked forward to reading. From time to time, I’d talk up the series so that ZONErs who’d never heard of it would have a chance to jump on board. Robert [creator of The Walking Dead] Kirkman’s interview at Newsarama.com reminded me that I hadn’t crowed about The Walking Dead in a while.
So I decided to remedy that with this post.
The Walking Dead Book 1 [Collects the first 12 issues in an affordable hardcover] A+ rating
The Walking Dead Book 2 [Collects the second 12 issues in an affordable hardcover] A+ rating
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are tearing it up with their series, Criminal. I know I’ve mentioned my love for their work a time or two, but it was Phillips’ stunning cover above that reminded me to spread the word a bit more. And don’t forget to pick-up the monthly issues or the first trade paperback.
You’ll be glad you did.
That’s Brenna Barry surrounded by Keith Mallow and Wild Bill Black. For some reason the guys seem much happier than Brenna. I wonder why? That photo and those that follow were taken yesterday at Collector’s Comic-Con in Fort Pierce, Florida. Keith puts on the show and brought in Brenna, Bill and John Beatty as special guests. Keith and Big John always invite me along and since I enjoy their nonsense, I always make an effort to attend.
That’s Aleissa [hope I spelled that correctly] and her boyfriend. Aleissa is one of John’s returning sketch customers. This time she opted for a Batman and Beatty came through in style.
Jesse “Cadre” Hansen was set up selling prints and sketching!Wild Bill Black brought in a bunch of his movies and showed us the latest trailer [which features me, Big John Beatty, James “The James” Howell, and John Higashi in a cameo – where’s our IMDB listing?] for “The Ghost of Garganta.” Bill also talked about plans for future movies as well as a possible syndicated horror movie package complete with a horror host [the excellent Lon Midnight]!
Big Beatty was sketching away and each one was a winner. He was in the ZONE [and I don’t mean this ZONE… although he IS in it as well]. The Punisher sketch below got a lot of attention from fans, but it was the final sketch of the day, a Joker piece, that won the Best Beatty Sketch of the Show Award.
As always, Keith’s shows are a lot of fun. His next one is scheduled for late October. If you can make it, you should!
