Author: Craig Zablo

1st Black Cross Cover

The cover above features the first appearance of a character created by Chris Warner called Black CrossDark Horse Presents #1 was an anthology and Black Cross got the cover.  The character was also popular enough to spin off into a mini-series, a couple of stand alone short comic stories and a one-shot. At one point, Black Cross was even close to becoming a big screen feature with Howie Long in the title role. At about the same time another Black Cross mini-series was in the works called “My War”.  Neither it or the movie ever happened.

Maybe one day Chris Warner will bring back Black Cross.

Chris Mills Made Me a Winner!

Hey! Chris Mills recently held a contest in honor of his birthday. How about that? Chris gives presents to readers to celebrate another year on this planet. So… he had a drawing for a two issue mini-series that he wrote back in the day called “Bloodthirst: The Nightfall Conspiracy” and I was the lucky winner.

Chris runs a lot of cool sites including: Atomic Pulp, Femme Noir,  Perils on Planet X,  Guns in the Gutters, and many others.  Chris also wrote one of my all-time favorite crime comics, Gravedigger: The Scavengers and is currently working on a Gravedigger sequel in between running all of his websites and working on other writing projects.   Check out his sites.  My guess is you’ll find several that will appeal to you.

UFC 100 Results & Bad Boy Brock

Lesnar vs. MirMy prediction was a Lesnar win and he did, but Lesnar’s antics after the fight got more press.  Sure, Lesnar won via a 2nd round stoppage.  He was able to take Mir down, but once on the ground was either unable or afraid to try and advance his position.  Instead he would lay on Mir and punch away.  Lesnar is huge and uses his weight and canned ham-fists to full advantage.  Mir did manage to rock Lesnar with a knee in the second round, and although Lesnar admitted it made him see “Tweety-birds”, he was lucky enough to land on top of Mir.  I don’t think that Mir realized how stunned Lesnar was, and he was able to quickly recover and start pounding away until the ref called the fight.

After the fight, Lesnar was loudly booed by fans.  He responded by giving them a double-middle finger salute.  Lesnar then ran over to Mir and began yelling in his face.  Talk about gracious in victory!  Then in the in-ring post-fight interview, Lesnar said he was going to drink Coors because UFC sponsor Bud Lite wouldn’t pay him enough!  He told fans to keep booing because he loved it and that he’d probably go home and get on top of his wife.  Very classy, right?  At the post fight interview with the media, Lesnar apologized for his rude behavior, said that he was really going to drink Bud Lite all night, blah, blah, blah. 

Normally when someone messes up and apologizes, I’m quick to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Not this time.  Lesnar admitted that Dana White had taken him aside to talk to him about his antics.  There’s no doubt that White explained to Lesnar how insulting a company sponsor would hurt future events and ALL UFC fighters, that insulting the fans would hurt Lesnar’s own pay-per-view and t-shirt sales, etc.  So although Lesnar apologized, I think there was more “showmanship” in his apology than his antics after the fight.  Think back to how Lesnar acted when he lost to Mir the first time.  Lesnar said he “gave” the fight to Mir.  That Mir lucked into it.  That the ref was at fault for stopping it when Lesnar hit in the back of the head.  Lesnar talked all kinds of junk and never once said, “Mir beat me because he was the better man that night and when he pulled the kneebar on me I tapped out.”  Contrast that with his behavior after earning a decision against Heath HerringLesnar was showboating and acting the fool.  He loses with no class and wins the same way.

I hope that Lesnar does learn from his mistakes.  Time will tell.  If he does begin to show some class, then my opinion of him will change.  if not, not.  

GSP vs. AlvesMy prediction was a GSP victory and we’re one step closer to him fighting Anderson SilvaGSP easily won and we are.

Henderson vs. BisbingMy prediction: Henderson wins.  He did by the most devestating KO of the night… maybe the year!

Fitch vs. Thiago – My prediction was Fitch wins by crazy beard.  He did and still has the beard.

Bonnar vs. ColemanMy prediction was Bonnar wins and he lost and now is a bit closer to sitting with fans during the fights.

Ted Naifeh’s Sly Art

I picked up this cool sketch by Ted Naifeh at the last MegaCon. John Higashi suggested I consider Ted for a Stallone sketch. Thanks John! Ted opted to do Deke from “NIghthawks” and did a bang-up job. You can check out more of Ted’s art at his site.

UFC 100 Predictions

Lesnar vs. Mir – Although Mir tapped out Lesnar in the first round the last time they fought, Vegas Odds have Lesnar as the favorite [as do fans voting on the UFC website]. How can you go against Vegas Bookmakers AND the fans? My prediction is Lesnar wins [but I’d take Mir if I could could decent odds].

GSP vs. AlvesGSP is looked at as either the greatest pound-for-pound fighter fighting today or second to Anderson Silva.  If GSP can beat Alves [who is currently on a long win streak], he gets that much closer to the hall of fame legacy he wants. Alves is a beast. He’s huge. He’s skilled. He wants the title. My prediction is a GSP victory and we’re one step closer to him fighting Anderson Silva.

Henderson vs. Bisbing – I like both of these guys. I’m surprised that Henderson is the big favorite. While it’s true that Bisping has had the most trouble with good wrestlers, I thought Henderson’s age would be more of a factor. My prediction: Henderson wins a tough fight by decision.

Fitch vs. Thiago – I can’t come up with a better prediction than Ryan Cody when he said: Fitch wins by crazy beard.

Bonnar vs. Coleman – A lot of the popularity of the UFC can be traced back to the first Ultimate Fighter finale when Bonnar and Forrest Griffin stood toe-to-toe for three rounds. It’s said that the ratings for that event continued to go up as the fight went on because fans were calling friends and saying to tune in. Unfortunately, Bonnar’s career since that fight has gone on a very different path than Griffin’s. My prediction: Bonnar wins and perhaps gets a bit closer to becoming a headline UFC fighter.

Cap Ain’t No Bas– Watch Your Mouth!

It’s been a long day.  Went in to work early for three hours [well, for summer anyway when I’m supposed to be off] — then ran some errands, came home and did some major spring [summer cleaning] and worked to get my computer up and running again.  Actually, things went pretty well.  Then I came across the latest poster for Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” and things got even better.  It kind of reminds me of an old Captain America cover.  Of course Cap wouldn’t have machine gunned the Nazis.

District 9 Poster

The new poster for “District 9” is starting to pop-up around the web.  I sure hope this movie lives up to my medium-high expectations!  This poster does at least.

Scotty Shumaker’s Rambo

This week’s piece is Sly as Rambo by Scotty Schumaker. I’d been following Scotty’s work at his Deviant Art site for a while, so when he offered up sketch commissions, I had to jump on board. Scotty was great through the whole process, keeping us all informed on where he was on his posted commission list. He sent the art in a package that a tank couldn’t have destroyed.

Thanks to Scotty for a wonderful commission experience.

Happy 4th of July!

I want to wish everyone a happy 4th of July.  If you’re in the USA, it’s Independence Day, if you’re not in the states, feel free to celebrate anyway.  Just remember, don’t eat or drink too much and if you plan on playing with fireworks, be sure not to blow up any pets or family members.  Other than that, have at it.

CNN Michael Jackson Video

CNN.com has posted video of Michael Jackson rehearsing with dancers during a June 23rd session at the Staples Center.  In that one minute and 34 seconds, we can see just how magical it was when MJ was on stage.  Anyone doubt that when the rehearsal tapes are released on dvd, they’ll shoot straight to number 1… as will the CD?