Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Paul Gulacy Week: Day 7 and we conclude with a sweet Paul Gulacy pencilled and inked Doc Savage piece that appeared as the centerspread of a fanzine from the late 70’s. In the version above, we’ve covered up the woman since she’s drawn without clothes and we sometimes get younger viewers to the ZONE.
It’s hard to believe that the week is over and we didn’t post even a single Master of Kung Fu piece.
Here’s a nice little interview with Ed Brubaker about the next Criminal mini-series. They even preview some great Sean Phillips’ art. So what are ya still doing hanging around here?
Tonight we have UFC 103, so here are my picks:
Cole Miller vs. Efrain Escudero – I know of Cole Miller from the Ultimate Fighter show. He doesn’t look like much of a fighter, but don’t let that fool you. He’s a tough kid and I’m picking him to win fairly easily.
Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin – This should be an entertaining fight. Both have a good ground game, but I think that Griffin is a more rounded fighter who always comes ready to rock. I pick Griffin in what should be an excellent fight.
Frank Trigg vs. Josh Koscheck – This should be another excellent fight. I think that Koscheck will win by decision.
Paul Daley vs. Martin Kampmann – Kampmann should win this pretty easily.
Juniior Dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic – I keep changing my mind on this fight. At first I was thinking Santos… then I thought “Cro Cop”… then Santos. Okay. I’m going with “Cro Cop” — the deciding factor? Bartledoo Joey said so.
Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin – Belfort came in slightly over weight. He did make it by the required time, but he doesn’t look as in shape as he needs to be in order to hang with Franklin. It should be a good fight, but I see Franklin taking this one.
John Beatty created a piece for the Marla/Bea Benefit Comic Book Art Auction and inked it live on UStream this morning. I sat in as co-host and we had a fun time. You can find all of John’s Videos here!
Paul Gulacy Week: Day 6. Today we have a Paul Gulacy pencilled and inked [and autographed] cover to the Ohio Con ’75 program book. I always thought that this was a bold design for a cover. I picked this up at Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum approximately 32 years ago.
Tomorrow we have a Paul Gulacy pencilled and inked Doc Savage centerspread coming our way.
PAUL GULACY WEEK: DAY 5 and we have the promised Paul Gulacy pencilled and inked cover to CPL 12. Now, before all you pureists out there start complaining about censorship, let me remind you that folks of all ages swing by the ZONE. Yes, it’s true that we cover zombies, and “R” rated movies and the like, but as we all know, a bare breast can really upset the apple cart.
The cover was done for CPL which stands for Contemporary Pictorial Literature was a fanzine published in the 70’s. Bob Layton who went on to fame as a professional comic book artist, writer and publisher was the Editor-in-Chief. You can read more here.
PAUL GULACY WEEK: DAY 4 and we have a sweet pencil illustration that Paul did for the cover of the NAPCON ’75 program book. The convention and program booklet were put together by a group called the CPL Gang. The chairman was Robert Layton and Roger Stern was on staff. Both of these guys went on to become extremely popular comic book professionals. Guests for the 1975 con included: Nick Cuti, Howard Chaykin, Dave Cockrum, Walter Simonson, Mike Vosburg, Don Pendleton, Mike Uslan “and whoever else shows up”. Due to personal problems Don Newton, Paul Gulacy, Val Mayerik and Rex the Wonder Panda were not able to attend. ; )
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at a cover that Paul did [pencils and inks] for the CPL Gang’s fanzine, titled appropriately enough, CPL. Heck, I’ll even tell you what CPL stands for… that is, if you join me here tomorrow for PAUL GULACY WEEK: DAY 5.
PAUL GULACY WEEK: DAY 3 brings us the scan of the first Paul Gulacy pencil sketch that I ever owned. I can’t tell you how excited I was to get it. At the time, and you have to remember this was about 150 years before the birth of the internet, original art and sketches by comic book artists were as hard to come by as a health care plan acceptable to both parties. But I digress…
Tomorrow we’ll see more of Paul’s pencils in a piece from 1975.
Patrick Swayze died yesterday, after a 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was just 57 years old.
I first remember seeing Patrick Swayzee in “The Outsiders” based on the classic S.E. Hinton novel. Later that same year he appeared in “Uncommon Valor.” But it was in “Red Dawn” that I really took notice of Patrick’s work. He was excellent as the leader of the young rebels fighting against a Soviet invasion. Patrick’s next big hit was “Dirty Dancing” and it propelled him to superstar status. Patrick went on to star in such films as “Road House”, “Ghost”, and my personal favorite, “Point Break”. I also have to mention his appearance on Saturday Night Live and the classic sketch with Chris Farley.
Patrick Swayzee was a dancer [“Chicago” and “Guys and Dolls”], an actor [nominated for three Golden Globe awards], a composer and singer [he co-wrote and sang “She’s Like the Wind” from “Dirty Dancing”], and even People’s Sexiest Man of the Year. But was his role as a husband [married for 34 years to Lisa Niemi], humanitarian and conservationist that he would probably most want to be remembered.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
PAUL GULACY WEEK: DAY TWO and we have Paul’s frontpiece to issue 10 of Marvel’s Vampire Tales magazine cover dated April 1975. Paul provided the pencils and Duffy Vohland the inks for their rendition of Morbius.
Tomorrow I’ll share a scan of a pencil sketch of Morbius and a victim that was the first Paul Gulacy sketch that I ever owned. In fact, if I dig deep enough into the vault, I should be able to find the inked version that John Beatty did for stationary that I used when I regularly bought and sold original art back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
It’s no secret that I’m a Paul Gulacy fan. I was checking out Paul’s site and discovered that he recently did illustrations for a new Master of Kung Fu series. You can check out a larger version of the illo above and more at Paul’s site.
Today’s post is also the perfect lead-in to Paul Gulacy Week at the ZONE. Come back tomorrow and we’ll begin with a look at Paul’s early work.
Dick Giordano is a legend. During his fifty plus years in the biz he’s done everything from ink all the greats (including himself) to serve as Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics, to co-founding his own comic company. Mr. Giordano also has a great sense of humor.
I recently had the good fortune to pick up six model sheet headsketches of Sly that Mr. Giodano did before starting work on DC Comics adaptation of “Demolition Man.” That’s the third posted above.
The Beatles have been all over the news lately. Pretty impressive considering that the band formed nearly 50 years ago, broke up almost 40 years ago, and two of their members have passed on. Still, no one can argue the impact that Paul McCartney. John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr had on the world. I was a Beatles fan, still am. Not a fanatic, mind you, but a fan.
Entertainment Weekly in their September 11, 2009, issue featured The Beatles on the cover and several articles. One of the articles picked the Top 50 Best Beatles Songs. You know me and lists, so using just songs from Entertainment Weekly’s 50, here are My Top Ten Beatles Songs:
10. Yesterday [1965]: Who hasn’t covered this song? It seems to get more melabcholy the older I get.
09. A Hard Day’s Night [1964] One of their first, and 45 years later, it’s still hard not to sing along when it starts playing.
08. Revolution [1968] “You say you want a revolution? Well, you know, we all want to change the world.” Still do.
07. She Loves You [1963] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nuff said.
06. Hey Jude [1968] This song has grown on me over the years [after learning that Paul wrote it to help John Lennon’s son after John broke up with his first wife].
05. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away [1965] From the album and movie Help!
04. I Want to Hold Your Hand [1963] My first intro to The Beatles… getting to stay up late to watch Ed Sullivan. Thanks mom!
03. Help! [1965] My uncle took me to see the movie and let me play his Beatles albums. Thanks Jim!
02. Something [1969] Frank Sinatra called it “the greatest love song of the last 50 years” – who can argue with old blue eyes?
01. Let It Be [1970] From their last album before they broke up… showing us that they were still on top of their game.
Yesterday’s post about the All Time Top Marvel Comic Panels reminded me of one of my favorites. It was a panel from Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy’s run on Master of Kung Fu. I loved that panel and page from the moment I saw it. And a few years later even came to own it.
Although I was never a fan of the original series, ABC’s reboot of “V” has my attention. This trailer could be an indication of good things to come. [Thanks and a wink of a lizard’s eye to Chris Mills for the original link.]
