Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Since the news was announced that Frank Miller was returning to comics in a big way with his Frank Miller Presents publishing company, news has continued to come out detailing what we can expect. IGN posted Frank Miller Presents: Why the Acclaimed Comic Book Creator Is Reviving Sin City and Ronin. If you click over you’ll see Miller’s The Geek (above) as well as Phillip Tan art for Ronin II and more.
Murder in Greasepaint: A Rock Cobbler Case by Whiskey Leavins
Trade Paperback: 242 pages
Publisher: Independently published (March 30, 2022)
First sentences…
“STOP IT! We’re not clowning around here. Just put it down, why don’t you?” I used my best cop voice.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
The first thing you notice with Murder in Greasepaint is another very cool painted cover by Rafael Andres. Andres also did the cover to Leavins’ first book, The Devil’s Own Piss. I’m happy to see this partnership continue.
Rock Cobbler is a detective with the Santa Lacrimosa PD. An apparent suicide at the local clown college, gets Cobbler’s number called. What looks to be an open and shut case turns out to be murder. Rob Sofritas aka Mr. Rubadubdub was tortured, stabbed and then thrown from his dorm window.
Sofritas was well-liked and had a bright future in clowning. Did jealousy lead to Sofritas’ murder? He also came from money. Blackmail gone wrong? Then there’s the nasty rumor about Sofritas’ affiliation with a clown faction and their legendary fights to gain control of an artifact that supposedly gives power to those who posses it. Did Softitas have the item?
With so many leads, Cobbler seeks the assistance of Professor Wiggles aka Corine D’Ambrosia. From their first encounter, Cobbler finds himself attracted to her. She’s beautiful, smart and also a suspect. D’Ambrosia may have nothing to do with the murder, or she may be setting Cobbler up for a fatal pratfall. One thing’s for sure, clowning ain’t no joke.
Hat’s off to Whiskey Leavins for finding the perfect balance of suspense and humor. While we meet many colorful characters, they’re believable because of the way Leavins presents them. The situations are humorous and sometimes silly, but we never lose sight that the danger is real. I was especially impressed with the exchanges between Cobber and D’Ambrosia. They reminded me of the flirting patter we’d get in an old Bogart/Bacall film. Also kudos to Leavins for bringing back three characters from The Devil’s Own Piss.
Whiskey Leavins has another winner. This is his second novel in a row that has earned my top rating. I hope he goes for a trifecta. Murder in Greasepaint earns 5 of 5 stars.
Rating:
Murder in Greasepaint Trade Paperback
Murder in Greasepaint Kindle
Rockets and Rayguns by Dan Boultwood is a blast (pun intended). It’s a throwback to old movie serials and comic books where brave men and women save the galaxy from evil. Boultwood’s web comic is more entertaining in just three than many 28 page comics.
I love the art style Boultwood chose for Rockets and Rayguns. It reminds me of Bill Pressing’s Rex Steele, Nazi Smasher (and that’s a very good thing). Boultwood isn’t just an excellent artist, he also shows writing chops by moving the story along with just the right amount of dialogue and a heaping helping of humor.
I hope that Dan Boultwood is able to keep Rockets and Rayguns going for a long time. I’d also be down for trade compilations once enough strips are created. Rockets and Rayguns can be found at: tapas.io/series/Rockets and here: instagram.com/rocketsandrayg and even here: rocketsandrayguns.space/?webcomic1=roc
Ciarán O Donovan has hit another home run with his alt poster for Rosemary’s Baby. That shouldn’t be a surprise to regular readers here. O Donovan’s first appearance here came in 2019 with his alt poster for Escape from New York. That was followed up with his alt Maltese Falcon poster. Then last December we got a look at O Donovan’s alt Sin City: The Hard Goodbye alt poster.
I’d love to see an The Art of Ciarán O Donovan book. Until that time, we can make do with Ciarán O Donovan’s Instagram or Twitter!
It’s no secret I’m a fan of Joel Tesch’s art. Check out his Apollo Creed & Rocky Balboa piece above and you’ll understand. Click on it and you can check out a championship-sized version.
This is Joel Tesch’s third appearance here. His first was with his Spider Rico vs The Italian Stallion at the Resurrection Gym. His second appearance was with his riff on “Yo, Adrian! I DID IT!!” I hope there’s a fourth Joel Tesch art appearance in our future.
You can see more of Joel Tesch’s art at his website, Twitter and Instagram.
George Pérez
We all knew the day would come. Especially since December 7, 2021. That’s when George Perez announced that he had surgically inoperable Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer. Although offered other options George said,
“… after weighing all the variables and assessing just how much of my remaining days would be eaten up by doctor visits, treatments, hospital stays and dealing with the often stressful and frustrating bureaucracy of the medical system, I’ve opted to just let nature take its course and I will enjoy whatever time I have left as fully as possible with my beautiful wife of over 40 years, my family, friends and my fans.”
And that is what he did,
George Perez passed away yesterday the result of his pancreatic cancer. He was 67. The announcement on his Facebook page read:
George passed away yesterday, peacefully at home with his wife of 490 months and family by his side. He was not in pain and knew he was very, very loved.
We are all very much grieving but, at the same time, we are so incredibly grateful for the joy he brought to our lives. To know George was to love him; and he loved back. Fiercely and with his whole heart. The world is a lot less vibrant today without him in it.
He loved all of you. He loved hearing your posts and seeing the drawings you sent and the tributes you made. He was deeply proud to have brought so much joy to so many.
Everyone knows George’s legacy as a creator. His art, characters and stories will be revered for years to come. But, as towering as that legacy is, it pales in comparison to the legacy of the man George was. George’s true legacy is his kindness. It’s the love he had for bringing others joy – and I hope you all carry that with you always.
Today is Free Comic Book Day. A day George absolutely loved and a fitting day to remember his contributions to comics and to our lives. I hope you’ll enjoy your day today with him in mind. He would have loved that.Please keep his wife Carol in your thoughts and again, I thank you for respecting her privacy. I remain available through the contact on the page.
George’s memorial service will take place at MEGACON Orlando at 6pm on Sunday, May 22nd. It will be open to all. Details to follow.
We will miss him always.
George Perez entered comics as an assistant to Rich Buckler in the early 1970s. He quickly graduated to penciling his own series. It didn’t take long for George Perez to become a fan favorite. Throughout his career George Perez worked on some of the most popular comic series published: The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Justice League of America, The New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman, The Infinity Gauntlet, to name just a few. Whatever George Perez worked on was worth the price of admission.
Evidence of George Perez’s importance and impact to comics is the number of places his death is quickly being reported. Sadly, often when we lose comic creators, the only place their passing is noted is comic-related websites. George Perez’s passing has shown up already in The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Daily News, TMZ and The Daily Mail (England) to name just a few of the mainstream publications.
George Perez won numerous fan favorite awards of the course of his career. Here are some of them…
George Perez was not only one of the most popular artists to ever work in comics, he was one of the nicest. I first became aware of his art on The Avengers. Then I went back and found his earlier work. Following George Perez was easy, because word of his art on a new comic always spread quickly.
I was fortunate to spend time with George Perez at a comic convention in 1980 or 81. My best friend, John Beatty was inking George on Justice League and was also a guest at the show. Sitting with John and George was great. George was wonderful with each fan that came up. He listened and smiled and exchanged stories. George had as much fun (if not more) than the fans.
After the show, George invited John and I to have a bite to eat and hang out. George drew more sketches as we talked. I’ve never seen an artist more at ease while drawing. At one point he even was lying on his back and drawing!
When George Perez announced that he had cancer and most likely only 6 months or so to live, he continued to interact with fans and enjoy the time he had left. What a great human spirit! It was an honor to meet George Perez not only because he was a legendary artist, but also because of the great human being we came to know.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to George Perez’s family, friends and fans.
Ron Galella, one of the world’s most famous photographers, died on April 30, 2022, as a result of congestive heart failure. Mr. Galella was 91.
Ron Galella was an Air Force photographer in the early 1950s. After leaving the Air Force, Mr. Galella received a degree in photojournalism from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Ron Galella always enjoyed snapping photos of celebrities and would often find a market for those pictures at publications like The National Enquirer or in movie magazines. As Mr. Galella’s photos became more in demand, he began selling to better publications such as Time, The New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair and many, many others.
Ron Galella become one of the first and best known paparazzi. Mr. Galella’s style was to take candid photos of celebrities by approaching them at very close range. Often he would hide or surprise the celebrities, catching them off-guard. Several celebs took exception to Ron Galella’s methods:
The negative publicity created a greater demand for Ron Galella’s photos. His run-ins with celebrities continually made news. Remember, these events took place when most celebrity photos were planned shots used to put the celeb in the best light and promote their latest movie, book or show. Ron Galella’s photos were to show celebs in in a light that they couldn’t control.
Ultimately Ron Galella had several books dedicated to his pictures, and his photos have been shown in museums!
Ron Galella became a celebrity because of his photos of celebrities. He also inspired a generation of photographers in an era where there was no internet or TMZ. Mr. Galella really leaned into his bad-boy image and it helped make him famous. Still, it is important to remember that if his photos were terrible, none of that other stuff would have mattered.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ron Galella’s family, friends and fans.
Casey Edwards did the Rambo drawings above. You can see larger versions of the drawings by clicking on the pic above. Better yet swing over to Casey Edwards’ Instagram and check out all of his cool art. Here’s what he had to say about the pieces…
“Live for nothing or die for something”
Put this on the list of “things I never thought I would draw for any official capacity!”
– art for @roguecompanygame x @rambomovie*special thanks to Nate Rose and Stu Harrington on painting assists!
Thanks to @officialslystallone for well…everything.
View this post on Instagram
Once a week Joblo.com posts Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net. As you can imagine, they post awesome art that they, well, you get the idea.
I enjoy seeing what JoBlo finds because they list the artist’s name and a link to more of his/her art. Click the links and you’ll discover amazing artists like Eddie Holly, who did the White Men Can’t Jump piece above.
Check out this cool Contra sketch by Jim Rugg. Forget the game, how about an animated movie featuring Arnold, Sly and Aliens? Don’t we wish!
Want to see a biggie-sized version of the art above? Check it out at The Bristol Board!
Neal Adams died yesterday as result of a sepsis infection. Mr. Adams was 80.
These days the word “legend” is used pretty loosely, but Neal Adams is a true legend in the comic book field. He is known for both his art and his passion for creator’s rights.
Neal Adams is best known for his Batman comics with Denny O’Neil and his Green Lantern/Green Arrow run, again with Denny O’Neil. Often Neal Adams was asked to draw covers for comics that didn’t have his art inside. A Neal Adams’ cover alone could increase sales.
Neal Adams opened Continuity Studios which took on comic and commercial art assignments. Neal Adams’ art appeared in magazines, movie posters, book covers and more.
Neal Adams is in the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame (1998), the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame (1999) and the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame (2019).
Neal Adams’ RIP write-up is one of the toughest I’ve written. Neal Adams was a huge part of my childhood. When I think Neal Adams, I think of his take on Batman, Superman and Conan. I think about the many times I saw Neal Adams at conventions. He was always smiling. If I had the talent of Neal Adams, I’d always be smiling too.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Neal Adams’ family, friends and fans.
Frank Miller fans rejoice! Frank Miller is starting a new publishing company called Frank Miller Presents. Check out the cool logo above. FMP plans two to four titles a year. Among the first up are Sin City 1858 a western set in Miller’s mythical city and a tale that Miller has hinted at for years. Ronin Book Two will be the sequel to Miller’s futuristic tale of a reincarnated samurai warrior. Sign me up now!
Miller will be joined by Dan DiDio (co-publisher at DC from 2010-2020) who will serve as publisher of FMP. Silenn Thomas (CEO of Frank Miller Ink.) will serve as the Chief Operating Officer of FMP.
For full details check out The Hollywood Reporter‘s Frank Miller Launches Independent Publishing Company, New ‘Sin City, ‘Ronin’ Comics in the Works (Exclusive).
This is the best news I’ve heard in weeks. I couldn’t be more excited about this.
Last night word began leaking that James Bama had died. I wanted to wait for a verified source. Sadly, it is true. James Bama died yesterday, just 4 days short of his 94th birthday.
James Bama grew up wanting to be a cartoonist. He had his first professional sale, a drawing of Yankee Stadium, at the age of 15. After a stint in the service, Mr. Bama began his career as a commercial illustrator. He created art for paperback covers, movie posters, and magazine illustrations. James Bama is perhaps most widely known for the 62 paperback covers he did for the Doc Savage series. Later in his career Mr. Bama became known for his many western paintings.
James Bama was inducted into the Illustrator’s Hall of Fame on June 28, 2000. He was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall Of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards in 2005.
I first became aware of Mr. Bama’s art with his beautiful renditions of the Universal Monsters on the Aurora Monster Model Boxes. I can remember how much my buddy and I loved the art, often more than the models. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned Mr. Bama’s name as I saw more and more of his art. What a wonderful and varied career he had.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to James Bama’s family, friends and fans.
Bleeding Cool scored a first look at the promo poster for Expendables 4! Click on the pic above for a biggie-sized version. Then click over to Bleeding Cool’s full report CinemaCon 2022: New Expendables 4 Standee Shown Off.
Today must be the day for limited edition prints. Andy Fairhurst’s Rocky IV goes on sale today from Grey Matter Art. You can see more of Fairhurst’s art at his Instagram page.
