Category: Art

Live & In Person

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I just want to remind everyone that at about 11am EST, John Beatty will be drawing live $10 head shots.  Not only can you watch as he creates ’em, you can even order your own to be drawn as you watch. I’ll be in the luxurious JBI studio to co-host the event.  It will be a blast.  Hopefully you can drop in, even if you don’t plan to order a sketch or five. I’m on board for at least two! Full details are here.

I also want to remind ZONErs that John and I will be guests at Tim Gordon’s November 7th TampaCon.   Tim’s Tampa show is always a blast and this one will be no exception.

Tim has put together an anthology Christmas comic with the proceeds going to charity.  John and I did a three page story for it [which John pencilled, inked and colored] and we’ll be there with about 2 dozen guests including:

Dark Horse Team Ups

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When most folks think of Adam Hughes, they usually think of the beatiful women that he draws.  Adam can draw anything well, but he’s so wickedly talented at drawing the ladies, that fans lucky enough to get a sketch from him usually opt for, you guessed it, a female character.   You wouldn’t immediately think of Adam illustrating Hellboy [although I’d love to see a full Hellboy story drawn by Mr. Hughes].

That is one of the things that made Dark Horse 20 Years such a cool comic.  In order to celebrate their second decade in publishing, Dark Horse Comics brought together over 35 of the most talented pencillers, inkers and colorists in the business to create 21 pinups for a comic that they sold for just 25 cents.  In addition to the Adam Hughes Hellboy, the issue contained:

  • Ghost by Art Adams & Michelle Madsen
  • Conan by Sergio Aragones & Tom Luth
  • Groo by Paul Chadwick
  • Concrete by Chris Warner & Dan Jackson
  • Black Cross [For the record, I really think it’s time for a new Chris Warner Black Cross mini-series] by Killian Plunkett & David Nestelle
  • Star Wars by Eric Powell
  • The Goon by Matt Wagner & Dave Stewart as well as many other characters & creators.

The issue makes a fun addition to any collection and the Adam Hughes Hellboy piece alone is worth more than the price of admission!

John Beatty Works to Get a Head

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My buddy, Big John Beatty, has decided to try something new. He’s going to be drawing ten dollar head sketches this Saturday on UStream. Folks will be able to watch and comment live as John draws. Fans wanting a sketch, will be able to order, paypall their payment and then watch as John draws it.  For full details, click here.

Big Beatty has asked me to co-host and I’m going to try and make that happen. It should be a lot of fun… especially if I’m able to get in an order for a Stallone sketch!

Steranko Speaks

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Jim Steranko [or simply Steranko as most folks know him] is quite a character.  In addition to being a groundbreaking artist, a writer, editor, and publisher, Steranko was also a singer in a rock band, a magician and escape artist.

Oh, the stories Steranko could tell.  Thankfully, he does [at least a few] in this nice little Q & A over at CBR.com.

Mike Zeck’s “Demolition Man”

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My buddy, Mike Zeck sent me the scan above as well as this one. That is of course, Sly in his role as John Spartan from “Demolition Man”. Here’s what Mike had to say about his involvement with DC’s “Demolition Man” adaptation:

DC asked for a pencil image of these two characters. I delivered, got paid, and that’s the total extent of my knowledge. No idea if they were ever used for anything, ever inked, or anything else.

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Interesting unseen art though for the ‘Zone‘.

I thanked Mike and said that I wondered how much Stallone-related art is out there that hasn’t been seen. I told Mike that when Joe Kubert was a guest at an OrlandoCon several years ago he told me that he had worked up some dailies for a potential “Rocky” newspaper strip that never sold. Mike wrote back to say that he’d been approached about samples for a potential “Rambo” newspaper strip, but because the pay was so low, he never got around to doing any.

At least we have these two previously unseen pieces of Stallone art to enjoy. Thanks to Mike for sharing.

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 7

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“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week [written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton]: Day 7 @ the ZONE. Today is the last day of our tribute to Smith, Dixon & Brereton’s Black Terror story so I thought it fitting that our last piece of art be the final page of the mini-series.

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If you’ve enjoyed this week’s posts, then tell a friend or seven.  If enough people [re]discover The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit, perhaps we’ll someday get a trade edition, it so richly deserves.

The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 6

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“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week [written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton]: Day 6 @ the ZONE.  Today’s art is from issue 2 [art by Dan Brereton].

All week long I’ve been yappin’ about what a great series this was.  Hopefully, from the quotes and teaser art, you’re interest has been piqued enough to either pull out your copies and re-read the dang thing, or if you’d never heard of it until this week, to round up a set for yourself.

If you’re already a fan, then why not drop Beau Smith, Chuck Dixon and Dan Brereton a line and let them know.  Better yet, why not e-mail Todd McFarlane [who holds the rights to the comic] at Spawn.com Publishing and suggest they give the series the reprint it deserves!

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 5

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“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week [written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton]: Day 5 @ the ZONE.   Today’s art is an extremely rare piece by Dan Brereton from a 1988 issue of The Comic Shop News.   It appeared with an article about “the return of a Golden Age hero” [The Black Terror] scheduled to appear in Total Eclipse #3 [a company crossover book] “who will then move into his own title in 1989“.

It’s interesting to note that the article said that “The Black Terror” would be co-written by  Beau Smith and Chuck Dixon [it was] and “illustrated by two artists new to Eclipse, Dan Brereton and Brandon Peterson” [it wasn’t].  Dan Brereton did all of the art chores.  I e-mailed Brandon to find out what happened and here is his response:

“I was given a tryout just out of High School by Beau that Beau liked, but Eclipse wanted one artist on the series and that was Dan, which was the very right decision to make at the time.”

So that’s one small mystery solved, but here’s another: Who is the the character standing beside The Black Terror in today’s art?  I believe it is Beau Smith’s comic alter ego.   Beau, am I mistaken?

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 4

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It’s Day 4 of “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week @ the ZONE.  You may be getting tired of hearing that “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton is one of the best comic stories ever.  But it’s true.

Today’s post is a very loose, and rarely seen sketch of The Black Terror drawn by the series award-winning artist, Dan Brereton.  Today’s quote by Beau Smith [who came up with the concept for the series and co-wrote it] talks about the psychological terror that runs throughout “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit”:

“Books like Batman, Punisher, and Moon Knight bring you the hostile side of violence.  The Black Terror brings you one step further – into the brutality of the mind.”

If The Black Terror sounds like something you’d like, then track down some issues and give it a go. If you’re already a fan, then why not drop Beau Smith, Chuck Dixon and Dan Brereton a line and let them know. Better yet, why not e-mail Todd McFarlane [who holds the rights to the comic] at Spawn.com Publishing and suggest they give the series the reprint it deserves!

“The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week: Day 3

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Day 3 of “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” Week @ the ZONE brings us a very rough sketch by Dan Brereton that appeared in Comics Scene #5.  For those coming in late, “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit”  was written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton.  Smith & Dixon’s writing combined with Brereton’s art to produce one of the best comic stories ever.  [Please note I didn’t limit my praise to just crime comics.]

Here’s how Beau Smith described The Black Terror in the Comics Scene piece:

“He’s going to be what characters like Wolverine or Batman could never be due to licensing and being on every kid’s lunchbox.  He is going to be the scariest thing – the boogeyman to crime… All they know about him is he gets the job done, he doesn’t get caught, and their people usually get hurt along the way.”

If The Black Terror sounds like something you’d like, then track down the three issue mini-series and give it a go.  If you’re already a fan, then why not drop Beau Smith, Chuck Dixon and Dan Brereton a line and let them know.  Better yet, why not e-mail Todd McFarlane [who holds the rights to the comic] at Spawn.com Publishing and suggest they give the series the reprint it deserves!

The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit: Day 2

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This week we’re taking a look at “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton.  Today’s art is a drawing that Brereton did and Eclipse used in an ad to congratulate Dan on winning the Russ Manning Award as Best New Artist for his work on the series.

The Black Terror series took place in an alternate universe where organized crime had become a legitimate enterpise.  In this hard-boiled setting, the Black Terror waged a one man war against crime.  Despite his best efforts, the Black Terror realized that he wasn’t making a dent in the criminal underworld.  So he decided that the only way to take down the organization is from within.  

To this end, he “did in” a couple of low level hoods and began to work his way up into the organization.  The mobsters only knew him as Ryan Delvecchio, a tough, on-the-rise thug; not his alter-ego, the criminal killer known as The Black Terror.  When Delvecchio is hand-picked to become part of an elite Mafia hit squad, he’s in the perfect position to take out the major players in organized crime… that is if the Feds don’t kill him first.

Man, I wish that someone would reprint this series in a hardcover edition.  More tomorrow when we hit Day 3.

The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit Week: Day 1

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One of my all time favorite comics is “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” written by Beau Smith & Chuck Dixon with art by Dan Brereton.  “The Black Terror: Seduction of Deceit” was a three issue mini-series published by Eclipse Comics in 1989/1990.  Beau Smith described the story as “hardboiled, psychological and pulp-like” and Brereton’s painted art as “moody” and “cinematic”.  He was right.

Today’s art is a preview piece that Brereton did to help promote the series.  It sure worked for me.  I loved Beau Smith’s concept, the look of the character and Brereton’s art.  I was in and hoped that the series would live up to it’s promise… and boy, did it!

Otis Frampton’s Rambo

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Otis Frampton is an extremely talented artist who loves drawing for his fans. Every Sunday [okay, ALMOST, every Sunday], Otis has a live UStream broadcast that he calls the 7×7 Sunday. Lucky fans can get a headsketch of ANY character drawn live by Otis on a 7X7 inch bristol board for 7 bucks postage paid. It’s the best deal going.

I’ve been lucky enough to get four pieces from Otis and the Rambo shown above is my first. I’ll be showing the rest in the coming weeks. In the mean time, check out Otis’ Gallery. Most likely, after seeing more of his work, I’ll be competing against you in Otis’ next 7×7 Sunday.

Frank Miller Week: Day 7

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It’s Day 7 of Frank Miller Week.  So, how do we bring the week to a close?  Which character should we use?  Daredevil, the hero that shot Miller to fame?  Ronin?  Miller’s first creator-owned project that helped to change the look and perception of American comics?  Dark Knight?  Miller’s masterpiece?  Maybe we should jump ahead to Sin City and show a piece of from the series that is Miller’s most personal creation?

Believe me, I gave it a lot of thought.  I think that Miller’s cover to Amazing Heroes #69 [April 15, 1985] is perfect.  It showcases both a Marvel and DC character.  One character [Batman], Miller re-shaped into his own creation.  The other [Electra], was his own creation.  This cover was a fan boy’s dream team up.  And nearly 25 years later, I’m still diggin’ it.