Marshall Rogers Week: Day 7

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MARSHALL ROGERS WEEK at the ZONE concludes, as it had to, with Marshall’s take on Batman. Over the years there have been a hundreds of artists who’ve worked on the Dark Knight.  Few have had the lasting impact that Marshall Rogers did as a young buck breaking in to the business. While credit must also be given to the stories that Steve Englehart wrote and the inks that Terry Austin provided, no one can argue that Marshall Rogers work on the character was pure joy.

Sadly, Marshall Rogers passed away in 2007. He was only 57 and should have had many more years to amaze us with his talents. But instead of mourning over what could have been, we should celebrate what was. To that end, I hope you’ve enjoyed MARSHALL ROGERS WEEK @ the ZONE.

21st Century Einstein

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Here’s a survey that I took part in via my Facebook page after I saw my buddy, John Beatty, had taken it. According to the results I am a 21st Century Einstein.  I guess I would take more pride in the results, if not for all the mistakes in the summary:

You not just smart in the brain, but also in your common sence. You always no what to do, and everyone goes to you for answers. You brain is… a big balloon! Not literally! It’s full of information. You love learning about things, and you like to read. There’s no stopping you in this world. Be who you want!

“You not” instead of “You’re not”.  Smart in the brain??  “Sence” instead of “sense”.  “No” instead of “know”… and so on.  Well, I do like to learn new things and read.

“Shutter Island” Trailer 2

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I’ve been singing the praises of Dennis Lehanne’s novel, Shutter Island for years. Publisher’s Weekly said it best: Shutter Island “carries an ending so shocking yet so faithful to what has come before, that it will go down as one of the most aesthetically right resolutions ever written.”

With Martin Scorsese directing a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley, each step closer to the premiere has me thinking that the movie will live up to the book’s excellence.  This new trailer is even more evidence that we’re going to be in for a great couple of hours.

Me, a Running Back?

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Here’s a survey that I took part in via my Facebook page.  According to it I am most like running back, LaDainain Tomlinson, of the San Diego Chargers.  Me, a running back?  Maybe for short yardage in my high school days.

The part that does sound like me [or at least I hope it does] is:

You are most likely a fair and understanding person who tends to access situations with a clear head.  You probably get along best with people who are down-to-earth and see things as they are.

While I like the assessment of my personality, couldn’t they have found just one CHICAGO BEARS player that met the description?

Marshall Rogers Week: Day 6

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Marshall Rogers Week: Day 6 and we have for your viewing pleasure the cover to Mr. Miracle #24. It was the last of a six issue run that Marshall had starting in September 1977 and concluding in June 1978.

I’d been a fan of Jack Kirby’s Mr. Miracle comic when I was a kid and so it was very cool to discover that the series had been re-started with the same numbering and this new artist named Marshall Rogers.  It wouldn’t be long before Marshall would shoot to fame with his groundbreaking work [along with Steve Englehart and Terry Austin] on Batman.

You can probably guess the character that will bring to a close Marshall Rogers Week at the ZONE.  Tune in tomorrow and find out if you’re right!

Marshall Rogers Week: Day 5

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Marshall Rogers Week: Day 5.  Today we have the cover to Marshall’s Strange portfolio which featured his orginal characters.  It was published in a limited edition of 1200 copies [I have #220] by Schanes & Schanes in 1979.   The cool thing about the portfolio was that it was all Marshall’s work.  He created the characters, he pencilled, inked and added the wash tones.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at Marshall Rogers’ take on a classic Jack Kirby character.  It’d be a miracle if you couldn’t figure out which one.

Survey Says

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Here’s a survey that was sent to me via my Facebook page:

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Diet Coke

2. Where was your profile picture taken? School

3. Can you play Guitar Hero? Never tried

4. Name someone who made you laugh today? John Beatty

5. How late did you stay up last night and why? 11:30… Watched “The Ultimate Fighter”

6. If you could move somewhere else, where would it be ? North Carolina / Tennessee area

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? Yep.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? My wife lives in the same house.

9. Do you believe ex’s can be friends? Maybe with each other.

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? It’s not a bad third or fourth choice.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? Probably at my grandmother’s funeral

12. Who took your profile picture? A very brave photographer

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? My niece and her newborn son.

14. Was today better than yesterday? Yep, but not as good as tomorrow.

15. Can you live a day without TV? Sure, but why deprive myself a little pleasure?

16. Are you upset about anything? Just the length of this survey

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Yep.

18. Are you a bad influence? Never. Seldom. Okay, maybe on a rare occasion.

19. Night out or night in? Mostly night in.

20. What items could you not go without during the day? Computer and cell phone.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? My niece and her handsome newborn son.

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? “USATODAY: David Letterman reveals affairs, extortion attempt”

23. How do you feel about your life right now? I am blessed.

24. Do you hate anyone? Nope.

25. If we were to look in your facebook inbox, what would we find? Nada.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? Without a doubt.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Yeah, but they were wrong about some other things, so take it with a grain.

28. What song is stuck in your head? “Some Like It Hot”… heard it on the way to work this morning at about 5:50am

29 . Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be? Anyone in a dream.

30. Wanna have grandkids by the time you’re 50? Fifty? LOL. If so, it had better happen within the next 20 days.

31. Name something you are doing tomorrow? Chaperoning at a homecoming carnival and a homecoming football game.

32. Do you think too much or too little? Too much about too little.

33. Do you smile a lot? Is all the time a lot?

Marshall Rogers Week: Day 4

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Marshall Rogers Week: Day 4. Today we have one of my all-time favorite Marshall Rogers pieces. It was published as the front cover of The 1978 Atlanta Comics and Fantasy Fair program book and features Marshall re-design of DC Comics Blackhawk character. Although I’ve never been a Blackhawk fan, I would have loved to see what Marshall could have done with his version of the character.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look a some characters that Marshall created. Hope you can swing back by!

Marshall Rogers Week: Day 3

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It’s Marshall Rogers Week: Day 3 and we have a pinup that Marshall pencilled and inked for Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan #44 [September 1979].  I’ve always really liked this pin-up.  Marshall didn’t draw Conan as the traditional musclebound brute.  I also liked the all black winged creatures.  It would have been interesting to see Marshall draw a Conan story — the younger Conan when he was a thief.   

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at a redesign on a classic DC character that Marshall did for a con cover.  It is one of my favorite Marshall Rogers pieces ever.

“The Crazies” Ain’t Bad

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That’s the poster for the remake of George Romero’s “The Crazies”. While I’m a HUGE fan of Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”, I felt that “The Crazies” wasn’t in the same league. The idea did have a lot of potential though, so I’m hoping that the remake will be even better. As for the poster, it ain’t bad. Let’s hope we can say the same thing about the movie.

Marshall Rogers Week: Day 2

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It’s Marshall Rogers Week: Day 2 and we have a pinup that Marshall penciled and inked. The piece appeared in Rampaging Hulk #2 cover dated April 1977.   Although Bloodstone is a pretty cool looking character, he’s never been a major player in the comics world.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at a character that has been a major player in the comics world, not to mention novels and movies — well, I guess I did mention it, but you know what I mean — at least you will if you come back tomorrow!

Marshall Rogers Week: Day 1

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Marshall Rogers seemed to just burst on the scene with his work [along with Steve Englhart and Terry Austin] on DC’s Detective comic series featuring Batman.  Marshall, at about the same time,  did a couple of really well done issues of Mr. Miracle.   From there he went on to do Detectives, Inc., a graphic novel that he pencilled and inked [written by Don McGregor, his co-creator].  Other favorite favorite Marshall Rogers projects included the Demon with a Glass Hand graphic novel [with Harlan Ellison], his run on Doctor Strange for Marvel, his Strange portfolio, his Batman portfolio, and Coyote for Eclipse Comics.

The Batman pinup above appeared in Visions #2 which was a fanzine published in 1980.

Sadly, Marshall Rogers passed away in 2007 at the age of 57.   Luckily for fans, his work lives on.  Join us here tomorrow for Day 2 of Marshall Rogers Week at the ZONE.

Bill Marimon’s Jack Carter

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Bill Marimon provides his take on Sly as Jack Carter. I’ve known Bill aka “The Raytrix” for years. He’s humble, funny, and a talented artist. Bill showed up on Saturday at Mini-MegaCon. He wasn’t set up as a guest, but I was able to persuade him to do a couple of Stallone sketches. This is the first. I’ll post the second soon. In the mean time check out Bill’s home on the web. There’s plenty there to hold you over.