Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Iron Man was never really one of my favorite characters. I did read the title when David Michelinie was writing it with art by Bob Layton. They had a great run, but when they left the book so did I.
The Iron Man movie trailer hit the internet today and I’ve gotta tell ya, it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I guess I’ll have to give ole Shell Head another try.
In Stephen King’s August 10, 2007 column for Entertainment Weekly, he could be talking about why I enjoy daily blogging. King says:
“…the real purpose of these things we write about – to cause a sudden burst of happy emotion, a sudden rush to the head…”
King goes on to say that IT can be a movie, a song, or a book, but whatever IT is causes us to smile and become caught up in the moment. King said that it happened to him when he saw Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” and it happens every time he hears Van Halen’s “Jump” or gets ready to watch the latest episode of “The Shield.”
I know exactly where King is coming from. I felt the same rush the first time I saw “Rocky.” I can’t help but smile whenever I hear “Grooveline.” I still dig the original “Star Trek” and not much is better than Byrne and Austin’s run on “X-Men,”or Moench and Gulacy on “Master of Kung Fu.” Charlie Huston, Barry Eisler, and David Morrell are just three authors who can bring about “the rush.”
We all have things that give us the rush. King calls them our “personal joy buzzers.” The great thing about blogging is that we get to share our personal joy buzzers and re-experience “the rush.”
And that’s why I enjoy daily blogging.
I finally got a chance to post up some of the art that I picked up at this year’s Heroes Con. Let’s take a look…Sly Stallone by Rick Remender. I’ve been a fan of Rick’s work for years. He’s that rare talent that can write and draw and he does both very well. Check out his bio and you’ll be amazed at all of the cool things that he’s worked on. Check out his site and you’ll become a fan [if you’re not already]. Now if Rick could just find time to get around to The Last Days of American Crime!
Rambo by Megan Ruiz. Can you believe that Megan just turned 14 and she can already draw like that? Of course her dad is Alberto Ruiz so we know where she gets her talent. Not only can the young lady draw, but she is one of the nicest and most polite people you’ll ever meet. It was a true pleasure to get a drawing from her.
Cosmo Carboni by Robin Mitchell. I discovered Robin through Alberto’s site and Robin’s blog. I dug his art enough to pick up his first art book and was thrilled to get an original sketch from him. Robin has a second art book out and you can get both HERE.
Rocky Balboa by Kyle Baker. Kyle Baker is an amazing talent with a wicked sense of humor, mad drawing skills, storytelling that just sucks you in… let’s simplify life and call him a genius. Check out Kyle’s site and you’ll get a taste of what I’m talking about.
Rocky Balboa by Andrew Robinson. Andrew Robinson is an artist’s artist. When he starts to draw or paint, other artists gather round. I met Andrew years ago through my good buddy John Beatty. It was obvious then how much talent Andrew possessed… and he just keeps getting better and better. Andrew will have an art book coming out soon. Save some coin, because it’s a “must have” item. Until then, here’s a link to his site to hold you over!
This is the crew that I hung with for most of the weekend. Starting at the left and working around the table, my oldest son Mike, “The James”, Raf Kayanan, John Beatty, Andrew Robinson, Matt, Lazenby and Hal. Getting together with these guys is always a blast. Raf, Beatty and Andrew were set up at the con next to each other [Bob McLeod, Derec Donovan and John Dell were also within reach] so it was a pretty hopping spot. Originally Dave Johnson was supposed to be set up in the same area, but unfortunately he couldn’t make it this year.
That’s Matt Fraction pictured above. He’s about to autograph my copy of Last of the Independents which I highly recommend! It was my first time meeting Matt who also writes the popular Casanova comic series.
Rick Remender not only autographed my Doll and Creature graphic novel [review coming soon], but did an amazing piece for my Stallone gallery. I’ll post it once it’s scanned. Rick said that The Last Days of American Crime is in the works. I can’t wait. Rick has so many irons in the fire with Fear Agent, Sea of Red, Strange Girl and more that I was starting to think that he’d never get to it.
Another first was meeting Kyle Baker. I’m a huge fan of Kyle’s work. You Are Here is one of my all time favorite graphic novels. Kyle signed mine and told me his an idea for a sequel. I truly hope that someday he’s able to do it. I also picked up Kyle Baker Cartoonist Volume 1 & Volume 2 and Nat Turner Volume 1 & Volume 2. I was also lucky enough to get a Rocky sketch from Kyle [which I’ll post later]. Kyle Baker is an amazing talent and it was a pleasure meeting him.
One of the best parts of each Heroes Convention is watching artists create pieces for the auction. That’s Craig Hamilton working on his “300” piece. Craig’s an amazing artist who puts some much thought into everything he does. One of the cool things about Craig’s painting is that it works both horizontally [as seen above] or vertically! Tony Harris worked on a wicked “Phantom of the Opera” piece, while Phil Noto brought Batman, Batgirl and Catwoman together as Andrew Robinson started “After the Parade” .
That’s Gus Vasquez and his lil cousin Rosario Dawson. [Yeah, Rosario Dawson as in “Sin City”, “Grindhouse”, “Clerks 2”, and a whole lot more!] Rosario and Gus were back as special guests of the show and also the auctioneers! They did a great job and a new record was set when Adam Hughes’ Star Wars painting topped out at $5K!
It was so cool just to spend the weekend among friends, many of whom happen to be talented artists. Andrew Robinson definitely falls into both categories. The drawing above and this one are just two pieces that Andrew had created for his latest sketchbook. I was also lucky to see an advance copy of Andrew’s new art book that will be coming from Alberto Ruiz’s Brandstudio Press. Andrew’s book is going to be a hot seller and I can’t wait to get my copy!
Raf and Alberto spoke and Raf may have an “art of” book coming soon. I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of any of the sketches Raf produced. I was just too in awe of his work since it had been so many years since I’d been able to sit and watch him draw. I did get this shot and this one of two Punisher sketches that Beatty worked up for some lucky fans.
I guess I was just too busy actually talking to friends [Gary McKee, Jason Walker, and Eric Layton to name just three] and saying “hi” to artists [Jeff Parker, Brian Stelfreeze, Cully Hamner, Adam & Alison, Casey Jones, Cliff Chang, Tommy Lee Edwards and so many others] that I didn’t take many pictures. I promise I’ll do better next year… but please understand, no one does it as well as Pat Sun.
I was able to get some great additions to for my Stallone sketch collection. That’s Mike Wieringo pictured above. Mike’s blog is regular reading for me, not only because of his great sketches, but because of his thoughts about each sketch. When I contacted him about a Rocky sketch he posted after seeing “Rocky Balboa”, he said I could pick it up at Heroes. Mike was also selling a sketchbook and with each book purchased fans got a free sketch. Talk about a great deal! I picked up a sketchbook and got Mike’s take on Jack Carter as a bonus. [I’ll post it soon.]In addition to the two sketches I got from Mike Wieringo, I also was able to get one each from Rick Remender and Kyle Baker. Andrew Robinson did a cool Rocky for me before arriving at the show. So did Andy Smith. Megan Ruiz [Alberto’s daughter — a true prodigy] came through with Rambo. I also was able to get on Robin Mitchell’s sketch list and come home with The Art of Robin Mitchell, Volume 1 and his take on Cosmo Carboni from Paradise Alley. I’ll post all of these sketches once I get them scanned.
If you’ve made it with me this far, then you know a good time was had by all. Thank you and good night!
Crimeland is a graphic novel by writers Felipe Ferreira & Ivan Brandon and artist Rafael Albuquerque that you might want to pick up. I’m putting in my order for a copy. If the story seems familiar it’s because I first told you about the comic HERE and then HERE and even provided a link to a preview of the book HERE.
Remember when I said that last week I’d ordered two graphic novels and told you how much I enjoyed Last of the Independents by Matt Fraction and Kieron Dwyer? Well, today I’m going to tell you about the second book, You Are Here by Kyle Baker that I enjoyed even more!
Chris Mills has started a new blog called Guns in the Gutters. There you’ll find Chris’s reviews of crime comics. Chris has great taste [in other words we like a lot of the same movies, books, comics, etc.], not to mention he wrote one of my personal favorite crime comics, GraveDigger: The Scavengers! Okay, okay, so I mentioned it. Believe me, the comic is more than worth a look. 
FX, Day 2, got off to a much better start. I was able to breeze right in. John Higashi was already there and we met at Jason Palmer’s table. Then it was over to Matt Wagner. Matt said that he had finished my Jack Carter sketch, but wasn’t happy with it and wanted to re-do it. I told him that I didn’t want him to have to do double work, but he said it was no problem.
John and I decided to walk artists’ alley. We visited with Andrew Robinson, Mike Perkins [I set up a Judge Dredd Stallone sketch], Gene Ha, Whilce Portacio, Billy Tucci, Andy Smith, and others.
I swung by Miguel’s booth where I met up with some Stallone fans that were familiar with my site. Miguel and I talked about the Rocky Balboa card sets that he’s putting together. Stallone / Rocky fans are going to love them.
I saw that Matt Wagner was getting ready to have Q & A session and headed over. The 45 minutes flew by as Matt talked about his career in comics. It was interesting to learn that Matt postponed doing Mage when he learned that DC was doing a take on King Arthur with Camelot 3000. Then after seeing what they had done, Matt decided that Mage would still be a new spin on the legend… and the rest is history. It’s hard to believe that Matt has been in comics for 25 years. It’s cool to see how his style has changed and he has matured as an artist. It’ll be interesting to see where the next 25 years takes him.
After the Matt Wagner panel, I swung by Steve Niles’ table to get a couple of books autographed. Steve said that the “30 Days of Night” movie is going to make a lot of fans happy. Of course, I can’t wait to see it! Then I made my way to Mike Higgins’ table to pick up my Stallone Judge Dredd sketch.
Joe Pekar and I shot the breeze over a couple of Cokes. Joe’s a guy to keep an eye on! I hope to get a Stallone piece from him at some point.
Higashi and I met up again. We stopped by to talk to Andy Smith, Gene Ha, Bill Tucci and others. Although Bill is best known for his creation Shi and drawing the female form, he showed us a cool Sgt. Rock piece that he created for a proposed series. We stopped in for a visit for Dave Johnson and then back over to Matt Wagner’s table. Matt had started the second attempt on the Jack Carter sketch, but wasn’t happy with it and decided to take a third stab at it. Higashi agreed to pick up the piece for me since I wasn’t coming back on Sunday.
Then it was over to Miguel’s booth again to touch base. The “Rocky Balboa” card set will be out in March featuring 72 cards from the movie. Originally, the card set was going to cover all of the Rocky movies, but after seeing how well received “Rocky Balboa” was, Miguel worked out a deal for two separate card sets. The second set, out later this year will cover all five Rocky movies. Each will be sold as complete sets in custom binders. I’ve seen mock-ups of some of the cards and the binders. Stallone / Rocky fans are going to love them! I’ll premiere the items and post updates on the SZ as they become available.
FX 2007 was a worthy show. It had something for everyone. If they can get back artists like Dave Johnson and Matt Wagner, I’ll return next year. And who knows, maybe by then they’ll have the opening day kinks worked out.
When I got into the show I made a beeline for Dave Johnson’s table. I already had one sketch by The Potentate in my collection, [a cool Rocky Balboa] and was hopeful that I’d get another to compliment it. Reverend Dave arrived about 15 minutes later and seemed surprised that he had people waiting. I spoke to Dave about my admiration for his work and he was genuinely humble. As he looked at my Stallone sketches, he commented about ones that he particularly liked. I think it’s always cool to hear artists talking about their craft and other artists that they admire. We agreed on the price and Dave said that he’d do me a nice Jack Carter.
My next stop was Matt Wagner’s table. Matt, like Dave Johnson, is one of my favorite comic creators. I’ve followed Matt’s work since his Comico days. Mage remains one of my all-time favorite graphic stories. I knew that Matt’s sketches were out of my price range, but I still wanted to meet the legend. Matt was as down-to-earth as Dave Johnson. We talked for a bit while I was looking at his pre-done con sketches. They were all sweet. Of course there weren’t any of Stallone. ; ) During the course of our conversation though, Matt agreed to do a smaller Jack Carter sketch that would work with my budget.
Getting a sketch from both Dave Johnson and Matt Wagner made my show. I wouldn’t be looking for more sketches despite the fact that it was a slow day for the artists. Still, I did make my way around the show to visit with Miguel at his Rocky Balboa booth, Andrew Robinson, Joe Pekar, Andy Smith, and the guys at Cadre’s Corner. In fact while I was talking to Cadre another guy came up and had a couple of pictures taken with some of the crew. As the guy was telling them how much he enjoyed their work, I realized that it was William “The Greatest American Hero” Katt! He must have noticed me looking at him because he reached out to shake hands and say, “Hi.” Surreal.
Dave Johnson finished my Jack Carter piece. It was a knockout… absolutely perfect. Then to top it off, The Potentate presented me with an autographed copy of his latest sketchbook as a bonus! [Later that evening, as I was looking at my sketchbook, I was surprised to find that my Rocky sketch was in it! Too cool.] It was a great ending to a fun day.
Remember when I told you about the Drink and Draw Social Club?
Today is Muhammad Ali’s 65th birthday. It’s hard to believe that the champ is 65. It’s harder still to believe that Parkinson’s disease has been able to rob Ali of much of his health for many of these years.
I can remember buying the first issue of Dark Horse Presents right off the rack. Chris Warner’s Black Cross was on the cover and in the lead story. [For the record, I really think it’s time for a new Chris Warner Black Cross mini-series.] The rest of the book featured Concrete [Paul Chadwick‘s story and art], Mindwalk [Randy Stradley and Randy Emberlin], and Brighter [art and story by Paul Chadwick]. I knew this little comic company had a bright future…
So here we are twenty years later. Dark Horse has decided to publish a celebration comic of sorts. Aptly titled, Dark Horse Twenty Years, will feature art by Art Adams, Sergio Aragonés, Paul Chadwick, Adam Hughes, Frank Miller, Cary Nord, Eric Powell, Matt Wagner, Chris Warner, Joss Whedon, Mike Mignola, and many others!
What will make this even more fun is that every page will feature a different piece, with each showcasing a character from the company’s rich history. As an added bonus, instead of drawing their own creations, the artists have traded titles, so they can provide an unexpected take on the characters that made Dark Horse famous!
The final kicker? As a gift to fans, Dark Horse is pricing this bad boy at just a quarter!
* One of his limited edition signed and numbered sketchbooks
* Preliminary art that Mike created as possible covers to a Wally Wood tribute book
* A rare [#1 of six] Marvel Punisher portfolio [Mike has autographed all plates and is including an original sketch]
* The first preliminary sketch that Mike worked up for the portfolio
* The second prelim that Mike created for the portfolio
You can’t go wrong if you win any of the auctions. Zeck is the man. [But you already knew that, didn’t you?]
The original Highlander is one of my favorite movies.
I can remember seeing it in a theater for the first time and just loving everything about it. The classic tale of good vs evil, the blessing/curse of living forever, the coolness in being immortal and the sadness of losing a true love who isn’t. Then there was the great direction by Russell Mulcahy, the soundtrack by Queen, Christopher Lambert in a role that he owned, Sean Connery as his mentor and Clancy Brown as the Kurgan. Everything came together to create a movie that was magical.
Highlander II took everything that was cool from the original and trashed it. Literally. Highlander II is without a doubt the worst sequel in history. I actually left the theater angry.
Highlander III was almost as bad.
I never even gave the tv series a single viewing.
In July, Dynamite Entertainment is releasing Highlander #0 which will jump start the Highlander comic book series. Written by Brandon (Battlestar Galactica) Jerwa with Michael (Red Sonja) Oeming, and art by Lee (Red Sonja) Moder and will set you back just a quarter! 50% of the covers will feature a photo from the movie with the other half sporting a painted cover by Gabriele Dell’Otto.
I’m going to pre-order a copy, but I have a feeling that it might still boil down to: There can only be one! [And if that’s the case, for me it will be the original movie!]
Artist’s Alley and and Indie Island will be filled to the brim with artists sketching, signing autographs and hanging out with fans. Dealers will fill the convention hall selling everything from vintage toys, comics and magazines to the latest games, t-shirts, and dvds. Comic book writers, horror novelists, publishers and editors will also be on hand. There will be a ton of informative [and fun] panels where creators will discuss everything from how to get into comics, to self-publishing to what’s next for them. Gaming tournaments will run almost non-stop. And of course there is the traditional art auction.
I can’t wait. If you can make it, you should. I can guarantee you’ll have a blast!
