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“The Silence” / Z-View

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The Silence (2019)

Director: John R. Leonetti

Screenplay: Carey Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke based on the novel by Tim Lebbon.

Stars: Stanley Tucci, Kiernan Shipka, Miranda Otto, Kate Trotter, John Corbett, Kyle Breitkopf, Dempsey Bryk and Billy MacLellan.

The Pitch: “Let’s turn Tim Lebbon’s novel into a movie.”

Tagline: They’re listening.

The Overview:

The Silence can be summarized as Pitch Black meets A Quiet Place but unfortunately The Silence is not on the same level as either.

The creatures in The Silence are like smaller versions of those in Pitch Black.  And like the monsters in Vin Diesel’s best movie, they are accidentally released from underground.

The similarities to A Quiet Place include: monsters that are blind and hunt by sound, a young girl who is deaf and a family struggling to survive.  I’m sure many folks will think The Silence was made to cash in on the success of A Quiet Place but the truth is Tim Lebbon’s novel and filming on The Silence came first.

The Silence follows a family (father, mother, son, daughter and grandma) as they work to survive in a world where prehistoric flying creatures who hunt by sound are wiping out cities.  In addition, sometimes the other people hoping to survive are as dangerous as the monsters.

The Silence works best when things are first starting to go sideways.  What is happening?  How do we survive?  What is the best course of action?  Things should be off and running but it’s more like off and walking.

I enjoyed The Silence but not to the degree I had hoped.

Rating: 

The 25 Best Horror Movies Based on True Stories

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Gem Seddon and Games Radar present The 25 best Horror Movies Based on True Stories.  Here are three that I enjoyed and my thoughts on each following Seddon’s comments.

21. The Strangers (2008)

The horror movie: House invasion horror starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a couple who go to stay at a summer home, only to fall victim to a trio of menacing, mask-wearing psychopaths.

The true story: Director Bryan Bertino revealed the movie’s premise was based on an incident that happened to him; as a kid a stranger appeared at his door, asked for someone who didn’t live there and left. He later found out that a series of break-ins occurred in his neighbourhood that night. On top of that, he also drew inspiration from the infamous Manson killings, carried out by the minions of occultist Charles Manson.

Craig’s Thoughts:  The Strangers is a creepy movie.  The idea that murders would randomly choose your house — not much is more frightening.  No reason, no rationale other than you were selected.  Brrr!  That gives me the chills.

14. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

The horror movie: A micro-budget indie slasher that pre-dates Halloween (but not Black Christmas). A hood-wearing killer terrorises a town in 1946 Arkansas, while a Texas Ranger attempts to bring him down.

The true story: A spate of murders in the 1940s, called the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, were carried out by the so-called Phantom Killer. Over a ten week period, the Phantom Killer murdered eight people… and the culprit was never found. Shudder.

Craig’s Thoughts:  I, like many folks, am intrigued by serial killers who never get caught.  First of all there’s something terrifying about a person who is compelled to kill again and again.  It’s even more frightening to think that despite the increasing publicity and police presence the killer still goes out and finds victims to slaughter.  Then add in that the killer could still be lurking around the corner…

5. The Silence of the Lambs (1990)

The horror movie: An Oscar-winning horror-thriller in which FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is chucked in at the deep end when she’s tasked with working alongside cannibal Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to bring down Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine).

The true story: Author Thomas Harris based Buffalo Bill on a number of serial killers, including Ed Gein (skinning his victims) and Ted Bundy (using a cast to lure in innocent women). Harris also based the relationship between Starling and Lecter on that between Bundy and Robert Keppel, a criminal profiler and professor at the University of Washington.

Craig’s Thoughts: The Silence of the Lambs gives us two serial killers but interestingly enough, the one that gets remembered is the one that’s already caught!  Anthony Hopkins wasn’t the first to play Hannibal Lector, but he owned the role in such a way that not only is he the actor people remember, but it is THE role of his career.

Why not share YOUR thoughts by clicking on the link below and adding them?

11 Collectible Facts About Hot Wheels

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Marck Mancini and Mental_Floss present 11 Collectible Facts About Hot Wheels.  Here are three of my favorites…

5. 16 MILLION HOT WHEELS CARS WERE SOLD IN 1968 ALONE.
Demand for these toys hasn’t waned: Mattel estimates that over 4 billion cars have been produced and claims that eight of them are bought every single second.

6. IF YOU’VE GOT ONE WITH RED CIRCLES ON THE WHEELS, IT MIGHT BE WORTH SOME MONEY.
From 1968 to 1977, thin red lines were typically painted around the sidewalls of Hot Wheels tires. But in an effort to cut costs, Mattel went with all-black wheels partway through 1977. Collectors prize the old “redline” Hot Wheels—in fact, certain mint-condition models sell for thousands of dollars.

11. IN 2011, THE HOT WHEELS BRAND WAS INDUCTED INTO THE NATIONAL TOY HALL OF FAME.
Located in Rochester, New York, the National Toy Hall of Fame honors the world’s most influential playthings, from the cardboard box to Raggedy Ann. Mattel’s Hot Wheels line was formally inducted in 2011, along with the dollhouse and the blanket.

11 Fun Facts About “My Three Sons”

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Kara Kovalchik and Mental_Floss present 11 Fun Facts About My Three Sons.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE STAR MANAGED TO NEGOTIATE A SWEET SET OF WORKING HOURS FOR HIS SCHEDULE.
Fred MacMurray was a well-established film star when he was approached by executive producer Don Fedderson about starring in a TV series. MacMurray agreed with two conditions: one, that he would own a percentage of the show, and two, that he only would be required to work three months of each year. In reality, MacMurray was a dedicated family man, and after years of being away on movie sets had planned to retire early and spend the majority of his time at home with his wife and four-year-old twin daughters. But the money Fedderson offered him was too tempting to pass up—and would secure his children’s future—so he signed on to play the widowed patriarch on My Three Sons.

MacMurray’s “three month” stipulation meant that the writers had to have each season’s scripts ready in advance so that MacMurray could film all of his scenes in one fell swoop and have them edited into the various episodes of the series after the fact. Years later, several other actors caught on to this concept and agreed to star in a project only if it was filmed in “the MacMurray Method.”

4. BILL FRAWLEY CARRIED A GRUDGE … TO GREAT LENGTHS.
That there was no love lost between former I Love Lucy co-stars William Frawley and Vivian Vance was certainly no secret in Hollywood, but Frawley had been willing to set aside any personal differences when Desilu proposed a spin-off series starring Fred and Ethel Mertz. Vivian Vance absolutely refused, however, and Frawley never forgave her for denying him a steady paycheck.

“On the third season of our show, lo and behold, Lucy decided to do The Lucy Show and they were on the next stage over from ours,” Stanley Livingston recalled. “She probably picked that stage knowing Bill and Vivian would have to pass each other. When Bill saw Vivian, he’d yell some sort of obscenity at her. He got me to participate in a couple of his pranks. When she was doing a scene, he’d get us kids on the show to sneak in and knock over a stack of empty film cans or throw them like a Frisbee to make a big racket and ruin her scene so she’d have to do it again.”

8. THE SERIES CHANGED NETWORKS MIDWAY THROUGH ITS 12-YEAR RUN.
My Three Sons was effectively cancelled by ABC in 1964 because the network was bowing to pressure from rival networks and slowly converting their black-and-white prime time shows to color. All things considered, in their opinion the added expense of filming My Three Sons in color was not worth it, so they axed the show from their schedule. CBS, however, thought the series still had some legs so they picked it up for the fall 1965 season (and continued running it through 1972).

Z-View: Shaft #1 by David F. Walker and Bilquis Evely

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Shaft is an on-going series published by Dynamite.  Shaft created by Ernest Tidyman.

Writer: David F. Walker

Artist: Bilquis Evely

Colorist: Daniel Miwa

Cover Shown: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz & Ivan Nunes

Who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine with all the chicks? Shaft! Created by author Ernest Tidyman, and made famous in a series of novels and films, iconic hero Shaft makes his comic book debut in an all-new adventure. He’s gone toe-to-toe with organized crime bosses, stood up to the cops, squared off against kidnappers, and foiled assassination attempts. But who was John Shaft before he became the hardboiled investigator with a reputation as big as New York City itself?

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • Ernest Tidyman’s John Shaft gets his own comic!
  • 10 Cool Variant Covers: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz & Ivan Nunes’ cover [shown above] is my favorite followed by covers created by Sanford Greene, Francesco Francavilla, Matt Haley, Michael Avon Oeming and Ulises Farinas.
  • Love the art by Bilquis Evely.
  • Daniel Miwa’s colors compliment Evely nicely.

The Bad:

  • Juius Tate and Knocks Persons.

The Ugly:

  • What happens when you don’t take a dive ordered by Junius Tate and Knocks Persons.

 

Shaft #1 should appeal to fans of the Shaft movies and is for mature audiences due to adult language.

Rating: 5 out of 5

JFK Assassination & the Air Force 1 Tapes

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It is hard for me to believe that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.

When I was in high school and we learned about World War II that time period seemed so far in the past.  The great depression even farther back.  At the time, both of those historical “landmarks” were less than 50 years gone by.

There are going to be quite a few shows revisiting the Kennedy Assassination and the effect that it had on our nation the world.  Some of these programs will be geared to “new” evidence of multiple shooters and a conspiracy to kill the most powerful man in the world.  I’m more interested in just revisiting the event and have already scheduled to dvr several specials… with more to come.

If you have an interest in the Kennedy Assassination, then you’ve probably started planning which specials to record and which to avoid.  Perhaps we’ll learn some new information… something along the lines of the rarely discussed Air Force One audio recording taken during the flight of JFK’s body back to Washington, D.C.  Jackie Kennedy was on board and watched as Vice President Johnson was given the oath of office that made him President of the United States.

JFK assassination researcher Bill Kelly says…

“The Air Force One tapes are sort of like the black box of the assassination. It has all the basic information there you want to know of what happened at the highest levels of government in the two hours after the assassination…”

Conspiracy buffs will love this… it appears that the tapes have been edited.  If that is the case, and it appears to be true, then why were the tapes edited, what is missing and where are the original recordings.

Like so many things surrounding the Kennedy Assassination, isn’t it time for full disclosure?  Fifty years has passed, you know.

Source: USAToday.

The Evolution of Zombies in Film

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Like most of you, I’m a fan of (most) zombie movies.  Recently The Hollywood Reporter took a look at “Night of the Living Dead” to “World War Z”: The Evolution of Zombie Movies.  The title of the article is a little deceptive since the first zombie movie they look at is 1932’s White Zombie that starred Bela Lugosi (which premiered 37 years before Night of the Living Dead).

But I digress, the article shows how zombies in movies have changed over the years.  Initially zombies were people put into a trance or raised from the dead.  Slowly zombies became anyone who had lost self-control and were influenced by some outside source (black magic, aliens, etc.).

George Romero reinvigorated the zombie genre with his classic Night of the Living Dead.  Romero’s zombies were the standard for several years and then folks started to play with the zombie concept.  This led to zombies that could learn, zombies that could run, zombie comedies, and even a zombie romance.  Yeesh.

Using just the films in The Hollywood Reporter post, here are my top five and a couple of closing comments:

  • Night of the Living Dead (1968): George Romero set the bar high, reinvented the zombie movie and NOTLD remains the standard to shoot for when making a zombie movie
  • 28 Days Later (2002): While pureists would argue that 28 Days Later isn’t a zombie movie, I disagree.  Not only is it a zombie movie, it’s a great one.
  • World War Z (2013): Yeah, I agree.  World War Z the movie is not World War Z the novel.  To those who complain that the movie isn’t the book, I say, “Of course not.  It’s a movie and a very good one! If you want the book, it”s still available.
  • Dawn of the Dead (1979): Romero’s return to the genre that made him world famous.  I saw it twice in the original theatrical run.  The first time was with my wife-to-be and we walked out after the helicopter scene.  The gore was just too much for her.  I returned to a later showing without her and my appreciation of a zombie apocalypse continued. 
  • Zombieland (2009): Zombieland wasn’t the first zombie comedy, but for my money it is the best.   

Some final thoughts: I love well-done apocalyptic movies and a zombie film can easily fill the bill.  I don’t care if the zombies move fast or slow. A little gore is fine, but I’m not there to see how many ways I can be grossed out.  I don’t want zombies that learn, talk or have romantic feelings.  That’s just gross.  And, as I said, I’m not there to be grossed out.

10 Entertainment Careers Cut Short by Unsolved Mysteries

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10 Entertainment Careers Cut Short by Unsolved Mysteries is an interesting piece by Robin Warder that was recently posted over at Listverse.  While the article doesn’t discuss the deaths of George Reeves, Tupac Shakur or the Black Dahlia, the entertainers that it does cover definitely died/disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Thanks to Bill Crider for pointing me in the right direction.

The Top 10 Characters from Marvel & DC

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Recently CBR.com posted the results of a poll of comic book readers to determine the top 100 Marvel and DC characters.  Using just their list of the top 50 for each company, I present my top 10…

10.  Namor – 539 points (7 first place votes):  There was a summer when I was a kid in elementary school that I thought that Namor was the coolest cat walking swimming.  He looked like Spock, was a Prince, could breathe on land and sea.  Yeah, Namor was the man.

09.  Black Widow (Natasha Romanova)- 452 points (3 first place votes):  I’ve read fewer stories with the Black Widow than any of the other characters in my top ten, but I like this character.  The first time I really noticed her potential was in a black and white magazine that featured her in a story drawn by Paul Gulacy.  Around the same time, Frank Miller put her to good use in Daredevil.

08.  Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) – 1495 (17 first place votes).  Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, Mike Grell, Trevor Von Eden and Jock all have worked their riffs on the Green Arrow.  I’ve enjoyed all versions… especially those without the trick arrows.

07.  Luke Cage – 633 points (3 first place votes):  I can still remember picking the first issue of Luke Cage: Hero for Hire off the newsstands, reading it and thinking, yeah, this is how it would in real life if someone got super-powers.   When I was in junior high I had a “shop” class and one of the things we had to create were business cards.  It had to be for a business that wasn’t real and we couldn’t use our own names.  My card read “Blackjack Joey – Hero for Hire.” So you can see the influence that Luke Cage had on me.  Bonus points to anyone who can figure out where Blackjack Joey came from.

06.  Question (Vic Sage) – 382 points (6 first place votes)  Although I never read the original Question stories, I really dug the Denny O’Neil / Denys Cowan / Rick Magyar stories.  Add in the covers by Bill Sienkiewicz and you have a top ten character.

05.  The Punisher (Frank Castle) – 995 (17 first place votes)  I’m talking about the real Punisher.  You know the one who appeared in the mini-series and graphic novels by Steven Grant, Mike Zeck and John Beatty.  You can throw in a bit of Miller and Romita Jr’s riffs, but count me out when the Punisher becomes a substitute teacher or starts hanging out with Microchip or any other sidekick.

04.  Daredevil – 2280 points (71 first place votes):  If Frank Miller wrote Daredevil and either he or David Mazzucchelli drew the series, I’d be a lifetime subscriber.

03.  Wolverine – 2728 points (54 first place votes)  Wolverine during Claremont, Byrne and Austin’s run was the coolest character ever.  His biggest fault was he became too popular and was everywhere.  Miller’s mini-series was cool.  Chaykin has done some neat stuff with Wolverine as well.  Unfortunately, too many people tried to work their magic on Logan and I lost interest.  I’d still return to read stories about the runt if the right creator took the reins.

02.  Nick Fury – 619 points (7 first place votes):  I remember buying an issue of Nick Fury: Agent of Shield off the stands when I was elementary school.  I’d never seen a comic that looked so cool.  Steranko was is amazing.  When I attended my first comic convention, the first items I purchased were a complete run of Steranko’s Nick Fury comics [and an issue of his publication, MediaScene].  Someone find a way to get Steranko to do covers for a Gulacy drawn, Doug Moench written Nick Fury series set in the 1960’s.  The time is right.

01.  Batman (Bruce Wayne) – 6585 points (313 first place votes)  It doesn’t matter who draws Batman [Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Jim Aparo, Frank Miller, etc.], what kind of stories [funny, serious, set in any time period or genre], Batman works.  That has to make him the #1 character… at least in my book.

TV Shows We Miss

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Recently Bits and Pieces ran a piece listing tv shows that have ceased production but would be welcomed if they returned.  Here is the list with my comments in [ ].

  • 24 [I totally agree.  I never missed an episode and would rather see it return to tv as a series or mini-series than go to the big screen as a movie.]
  • Hill Street Blues [Although I never missed Hill Street Blues back in the day, I think it’s time has passed.]
  • Cheers [Was a great show when it first started but ran it’s course.]
  • The Shield [I never missed an episode and would be a faithful viewer if The Shield returned.  It’d be interesting to see where life has taken Vic Mackey.]
  • Sopranos [Since I didn’t have HBO, I came to The Sopranos late.  I’m not even sure I’ve seen every episode, but I’d love to see it return.]
  • All in the Family [I used to watch it every week in the early years of it’s run.  Then when the cast started to leave, I lost interest.  Plus, what would the show have to do in this era to be controversial?]
  • Everybody Loves Raymond [This is another show I didn’t watch in it’s prime time run.  I do enjoy the reruns though.  If they could get the cast back together — Peter Boyle would be missed — it could work.]
  • Seinfeld [My all time favorite comedy.  I didn’t start right watching right away — who did? — but once I did, I never missed an episode.  If they could get the original cast back along with the show’s writers, could they catch lighting in a bottle again?  I don’t know, but I’d tune in to find out.]
  • Six Feet Under [Never watched it.]
  • NYPD Blue [Never watched it.]
  • The West Wing [Never missed an episode.  I’d tune in if it was brought back — even with a new cast, if the writing was as good.]
  • E.R. [I used to watch every episode until it became more of a soap opera than stories about the ER.]
  • 3rd rock From The Sun [It was fun and I’d tune in from time to time, but nah, for me, it ran it’s course.]
  • Police Squad! [If they could get Leslie Nielsen back, I’d tune in.  Zombies are in!]

Going way back

  • The Monkees [Loved the show as a kid, but unless you have the original Monkees, it’s not the same… and who wants to watch 4 zany 6o plus year old musicians?  Hey, maybe we’re on to something!]
  • Superman [Loved the show as a kid.  I’d tune in to check it out… especially if they did it in black and white and tried to recapture the feel of the original.]
  • Wild Bill Hickok [[Don’t remember ever seeing it.]
  • Sky King [Watched it as a kid and remember liking it.  Saw a clip as an adult and thought “time for a nap.”]
  • Dragnet [Times have changed and I thought it was slow back in the 60’s.]
  • Roy Rogers [Loved it as a kid.  Would tune in to check it out.]
  • Tonight Show with Johnny Carson [That show was fun… and as history has shown the magic could not be recreated]
  • Red Skelton Show [Another fun show.]
  • Carol Burnett Show [Part of the Saturday line-up that made CBS the network to watch!]
  • Dick Van Dyke Show [The supporting characters were the best… I loved that series!]
  • The Fugitive [It uh, ran it’s course.  A remake might be fun… as a mini-series.]
  • Get Smart [It was okay… could it be re-invented?  Ah, let’s do Police Squad instead!]
  • Hawaii Five-O [The new series was more fun than the original and I’ve already lost interest in it.]
  • Leave It To Beaver [ A classic when the Beaver was younger… not so much when he aged.]
  • Ozzie and Harriet [Never watched it.]
  • People Are Funny [Might have seen an episode or two…]
  • Laugh-In [A product of it’s times… and times have changed.]

What about The Wild, Wild West?  Cheyenne?  UC Undercover?

The Greatest Pro Wrestlers of All Time

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Recently UGO listed their choices for The Greatest Professional Wrestlers of All Time.  Using just their list, here is my top ten:

  1. Hulk Hogan – Without a doubt one of the worst “wrestlers” to make the list, but also without a doubt one of the most popular of all time.  Hogan at the top of his game could sell out any arena no matter who he was wrestling.  Everyone knew who Hulk Hogan was and he was one of the first wrestlers to successfully move into movies.
  2. Ric Flair – The “jet-flying, limo-riding, kiss-stealing, dirtiest player in the game.”  Flair wrestled for so long, for so many organizations and always at the top of the card that he became a fan favorite despite his bad guy image.
  3. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – came in and changed the face of wrestling at a time when it was fading.  Austin had “tried” other personas with limited success, but his no-nonsense, take no guff from the boss attitude struck a chord with fans.  Austin has made the transition to movies.
  4. Bruno Sammartino – one of the most popular wrestlers of all time.  Because of his popularity, Bruno held the title for over ten years in two runs [something unheard of in the last few decades] and at one time held the record [perhaps still does?] for selling out Madison Square Garden.
  5. Dusty Rhodes – After a run in the midwest as part of a “bad guy” tag team, Dusty came south and became a literal Superstar.
  6. Mick Foley – has had more wrestling personas than most, but it’s Mick Foley the fans love.  His “hell in the cell” match with the Undertaker made him a legend.
  7. The Undertaker – Biker or Spawn of Hell?  “It doesn’t matter!” said in the best Rock voice.  The fans love him.
  8. The Rock – had the Rock stuck with wrestling he’d be higher on the list.  Actually I’m glad he didn’t since I dig most of his movies.
  9. Andre the Giant – a living legend.  Fans came to see Andre.  It didn’t matter who or how many wrestlers he was wrestling.
  10. Superstar Billy Graham – Paved the way for Hulk Hogan and all the musclebound, roided wrestlers of the 80’s and on…

UGO’s list is very limited.  Where was Dick the Bruiser [my personal choice for #1], Mil Mascaras, Blackjack Mulligan, Wilbur Snyder, and so many others.  And yes. Andy, I did see Moose Cholak wrestle many times, but he wouldn’t have made my top 50.  Sorry Moose.

Sammy Terry

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Here is a link to about 20 minutes of Sammy Terry from the early 80’s. Of course I started watching Sammy when he premiered in the early 60’s out of Indianapolis when I was but a child. You can imagine how spooky he seemed in black and white. [That’s right youngsters, there was a time when television shows weren’t broadcast in living color.]

I don’t guess you’ll watch the entire clip, but if you do you’ll see ads for used cars, Billy Graham, a brand new $350 VCR, John McEnroe, Cowboy Bob and a bunch of other stuff… but Sammy Terry is the reason to click on the link.

Tampa Con, Here We Come!

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In just a couple of hours I’ll be heading down to Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention. Tim holds the show three times a year and it’s always a fun time. Although the show is on Sunday, “Big” John Beatty, “Johnny Star-Warz” Higashi, “The James” Howell and I go down the night before. It’s always a blast with these guys and the convention is like an added bonus.

This trip could turn out to be even more fun than most since our buddy, “Wild Bill” Black is going to film some scenes for one of his movies. Bill is a guest at the show and decided that while he was in Tampa he could combine work with pleasure [or in Bill‘s case pleasure with pleasure]. He’s even enlisted “The James” to play the role of a 70’s lounge singer who gets attacked by a vampire!

Then tomorrow we’ll head to the show. It’s got a pretty impressive guest list for a small one day convention. There will also be a costume contest, door prizes and a film room. I’m really looking forward to seeing an old [as in longtime, not because he’s 81] friend of mine, Jim Ivey.

If you’re within driving distance of Tampa, come on over and join us. If you want to hook up with our group, more than likely I’ll be wearing a StalloneZone shirt, or just look for a 70’s lounge singer who was bitten by a vampire.


Heroes Con 2004 Report

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Shelton Drum‘s Heroes Con 2004 was a blast.  I arrived at the Westin, [truly one of the finest and most reasonably priced hotels anywhere thanks to the Heroes Con rate] at 10:30AM on Friday. The show opened at 11 and I was anxious to get in.

 

As we were unloading the car I saw Cully Hamner and Casey Jones who were also getting ready to head over.

Big John Beatty was able to get me a guest pass since I was helping him with his art and thanks to Shelton, my son, Mike and I were able to get right in. John‘s table was next to tables occupied by Craig Hamilton, Neil Vokes, Michael Avon Oeming, Arron Lopestri and Andy Smith. We were in good company.

 

Mike and I took a quick trip around the con to get our bearings and ran into several fans including Steven Lee [who was wearing a StalloneZone t-shirt! Thanks Steven!], James Howell, Hal, Robert Jewell, Kwan, The ComicDude and others. I saw that Tony Harris was setting up and took him a StalloneZone shirt since I ran out before he completed my sketch at AtlantaCon. Gus Vasquez told me that he’d have my Stallone piece on Saturday.

I then made my way to Jason Pearson‘s table. Only two other people were ahead of me so I felt pretty confident that I’d get a sketch if Jason didn’t mind drawing Stallone. Jason was running late, but luckily “The Big Man” had his portable dvd player and entertained us with a history channel dvd on comics. Jason arrived and when it was my turn I asked him about doing a Stallone piece. Jason said that he wasn’t real good at likenesses, but I explained that I wanted HIS take on Sly. He said he’d give it a try and that I should bring back my reference material at the end of the day since he wanted to work on it in his hotel room. Cool!

Next was Michael Avon Oeming‘s table. I picked up his sketchbook [a bargain at five bucks]. Michael had already turned out a couple of cool sketches and I asked if I could get on his list. He said that he wasn’t real good at likenesses [where had I heard that before?] and I told him that I wanted HIS take on Sly. He looked at my portfolio of Stallone sketches and said he’d like to give “Nighthawks” a shot and that I should check back in an hour or so.

Then it was back to Beatty‘s table where he was working on a Punisher commission. Craig Hamilton had arrived with his lovely lady,and he was sketching. Craig‘s amazing. Not only is he a super talented artist, but he puts a lot of thought into his work. For each of his convention sketches Craig draws roughs and really thinks about the character. Not just what the character looks like or what kind of costume he/she wears, but how they would sit or stand and what kind of attitude they would project. I loved hearing Craig talk to fans and having the opportunity to watch him sketch all weekend. Craig has a broad knowledge and appreciation for all types of art. You just know I had to ask to get on his list! Craig said that he’d like to draw Sly from “Oscar” since he has a real affinity for the time period [and he really liked the movie]!

As Friday was winding down I picked up my sketch from Michael Avon Oeming who did a great job [and I think that it does look like Sly] and dropped off my reference material for Jason Pearson.

Several of us, actually about 20, had decided to walk over to Uno’s for dinner. My wife and two sons, Big Beatty, James Howell, Steven Lee, Robert Jewell, Gary McGee, Jason WalkerGary and Big Beatty… and believe it or not Gary was wilder. It was about 10:30 when we finished up with dinner so it was back to the hotel for a little visiting and then to the room for some sleep. and others made the trip. Because our group was so large it took a while for them to get us in and even then we were split into two groups. And of course my group was the rowdy one thanks to

As the con was gettting ready to open on Saturday I found myself in line for some breakfast at the concession stand with Michael Avon Oeming. He said that he met several StalloneZone fans on Friday [they saw him working on the Sly sketch]. Michael offered to buy me breakfast! I thanked him, and instead offered to buy his breakfast! As it ended up, we both bought our own eats, but what a cool guy. I’d heard good things about Michael and he lived up to his rep of being “one of the good guys.”

I spent Saturday alternating between Beatty‘s table and walking around the show to talk to fans and pros. I was able to spend a bit of time with or at least say hi to Kelsey Shannon [Beatty‘s son!], Cully Hamner, Brian Stelfreeze, Jeff Parker, Adam Hughes and Allison Sohn, Phil Noto, Tony Harris, Eric Powell, Casey Jones, Tommy Lee Edwards and so many others.

Gus Vasquez was able to get me my sketch before he had to fly out to the set of Sin City! He gave me two characters [Rocky nailing Clubber Lang] and it was definitely worth the wait

Neil Vokes and I had fun conversations about movies [horror flicks, re-makes, B-movies], comics, and more. Neil is a cool guy and I had a blast hanging with him. Neil’s project The Wicked West has the tagline “What would happen if Josey Wales rode into Salem’s Lot”… it’s a great concept and the art is right on. It’s going to rock! In the meantime you might want to check out Neil’s Parliment of Justice [with Michael Avon Oeming] or Black Forest. It was also cool to see Neil‘s apppreciation for other artists. Neil keeps a sketchbook and was excited when Eric Powell contributed a killer piece! [Michael Oeming also keeps a Lord of the Rings sketchbook from other artists!]

I checked in with Jason Pearson. He had sketched out my Stallone piece and had decided to do Rocky hitting the meat. It was looking great. The big beefy Rocky punching the beef! LOL!

Dinner Saturday night was at Fuel for some pizza or subs. This time it was Beatty, James Howell, Steven Lee, Hal and others. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and spent an hour or so in the lobby talking with fans and pros. Then a bunch of us headed up to James and Hal‘s room to look at their portfolios and latest acquisitions.

On Sunday Jason had my Stallone piece ready. Several people came up to me and told me it was done and looked great. When I picked it up I saw that they were right. Jason Pearson is such a talented guy.

Craig Hamilton was not going to be able to get to my piece before the end of the show. He offered to do a take home piece but part of the joy of Craig‘s work is watching his process so I decided to wait… I may be able to up to DragonCon later this year.

As you can see from this picture Craig and Big Beatty hit it off pretty well!

I had been by Tommy Lee Edwards‘ table. He was doing some really cool sketches and I hoped that I’d be able to get on his list. Luckily he could fit me in. Tommy and I talked about which character he would do… he wasn’t sure and so I suggested Jack Carter if he couldn’t decide on one. I went back to Beatty’s table and told him I had the hook-up with Tommy.

Beatty was stoked. He’s a big Tommy Lee fan and so we walked over. It turns out that Tommy likes Beatty‘s work as well. We all talked for a bit and then Tommy said I should check back in a little while. When I did, I found that Tommy had started to do Deke from “Nighthawks” but then remembered that I suggested Jack Carter and so he changed it to Carter. Man, I can’t tell you how much I love this piece. The energy and colors and… just look at it! Beautiful!

The auction was a lot of fun. So many artists donated work to help support the con. Some of the highlights included Phil Noto‘s painting of “The Bride” from “Kill Bill,” Brian Stelfreeze‘s painting of Mary Jane, Mike Wieringo‘s huge Fantastic Four piece, Craig Hamilton‘s Fairey [done in crayon — you’d have to see it to belive how nice it was!], Alison Sohn‘s Harliquinn, and many others.

Believe it or not Big Beatty was even recruited to serve as one of the auctioneers with Tim Townsend!

As you can probably tell, if you’ve read this far, it was another great show.  We make Heroes Con part of our annua; family vacation — it’s that much fun. If you haven’t ever attended you should give it some thought. Next year Heroes will be on June 24-26, 2005.

Maybe I’ll see you there!