Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
John Beatty Week: Day 5. Today with have the second of three portfolio pieces that John created in 1978. Gotta love John’s use of zip-a-tone! Again, if you look closely you should be able to spot John’s name and year the piece was done hidden in the rocks.
Tomorrow, for Day Six of John Beatty Week, we’ll have the third and final piece of John’s 1978 portfolio.
John Beatty Week: Day 4. Today with have the first of a three piece trifecta. The year was 1978 and a 17 year old John Beatty decided it would be a cool idea to create a portfolio of pieces that would showcase his talent. John was [and continues to be] a Captain America fan, so of course Cap and Buckey was a natural.
By the way, if you look closely you should be able to spot John’s name and year a la Steranko, Neal Adams and Al Hirshfeld.
John Beatty Week: Day 3 and Thor dropped in to help celebrate.
This piece pencilled by Mitch O’Connell and inked by Big John was published as a full page splash in a magazine sized fanzine… [Comics Scene?] back in 1980.
Tomorrow we go back in time to 1978 and will check out John’s pencils and inks on the first of three pieces that we take us through days 4, 5 and 6 of JOHN BEATTY WEEK at the ZONE! [Said in the voice used by announcers talking about truck shows at the fairgrounds]
John Beatty Week: Day Two brings us John’s inks over Mitch O’Connell’s Batman. Mitch’s art was turning up in fanzines [Comic Buyers Guide, The Comic Reader, Amazing Heroes, and many others], and in fact, Mitch published several issues of a pretty cool fanzine of his own.
Mitch and I exchanged a couple of letters [this was in the dinosaur days before the internet]. One thing led to another and soon Mitch and John agreed to team up on a couple of pieces. I’m pretty sure that this is the first.
Tomorrow we’ll see the result of another of Mitch and John’s team ups. This piece was done in 1980.
It wasn’t a question of “If” but “When”. As you can see from the sketch posted above… the time begins now. Yep, it’s John Beatty Week at the ZONE and this is Day One.
As most ZONErs know, John and I have been friends since Junior High. And while it’s rare that two kids meet up and stay best friends for as many years as we have, it’s even rarer for a junior high student to know what he wants to do when he grows up, never waiver in his dream and to actually accomplish it. For as long as I’ve known him, John has wanted to be a cartoonist… to make his living as an artist. And he’s done it.
This week we’re going to look at some of John’s art from 1978 – the early 80’s. Today we start off with a quickie sketch of Wolverine that John did while hanging out at my house before a penny-ante poker game. We’d probably spent the afternoon playing tennis. Yeah, I know hard to believe, but we used to play for hours… and even longer at the poker table. Ah, those were the days.
Tomorrow we have John’s inks on a popular fanzine artist of the day… who also went went on to be a professional artist.
I’ve been a fan of Jeff Wamester’s art since I first laid eyes on it. We exchanged a few e-mails and I’d picked up a copy of sketchbook, but we’d never met. You can imagine my surprise to discover that he was going to be a guest at Heroes Con this year. I was fortunate enough to get on his sketch list and he came up with the very cool take on Deke DaSilva from “Nighthawks”.
You can see more of Jeff’s work at his site, Deviant Art, WMD: The Saga, and hopefully again here at the SZ!
Last night’s UFC 103 had some surprising results. Let’s see how I did:
Cole Miller vs. Efrain Escudero – I picked Cole Miller in an easy win. He was KO’d in the first round. I’m 0-1 and off to a terrible start.
Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin – I picked Griffin and predicted an excellent fight. Griffin wins by TKO in round 2. I’m now 1-1 for the night.
Frank Trigg vs. Josh Koscheck – I predicted a Koscheck victory and he wins by TKO in the first which makes me 2-1.
Paul Daley vs. Martin Kampmann – I said that Kampmann should win pretty easily. He lost by TKO in the first. Now I’m 2-2.
Juniior Dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic – I kept changing my mind on this fight, finally settling on Cro Cop. Although it went three rounds, Cro Cop lost via verbal submission. Santos was rocking him with brutal knees and punches and Cro Cop had had enough. With this loss, I am now 2-3 heading into the final fight of the night.
Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin – Belfort had trouble making weight and didn’t appear to be in great shape. I went with Franklin and was shocked when Belfort KO’d him in round one. I ended up 2-4 on the night. So like, Franklin, Cro Cop, Kampmann and Miller, it’s back to the drawing board for me.
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.
