McCartney-Lennon vs Lennon-McCartney

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I’m a Beatles fan. I also enjoyed the work of each of the boys after they broke up, but if pressed to pick a favorite, it’d be Paul McCartney .

That’s why I’m disappointed that Paul has decided to reverse the traditional “Lennon-McCartney” songwriting credit on many songs that he and John Lennon co-wrote. When they were just starting out, they agreed that all of their songs would be credited to “Lennon-McCartney.”

And that’s the way things have been for forty years. It’s rumored that Paul wanted to reverse the credits on some of their songs before this, but that never happened. Until now. On Paul‘s most recent album certain songs contain the credit “McCartney-Lennon.”

Naturally this has angered many fans who feel it is a slap in the face to Lennon. Paul, of course feels otherwise, “I personally don’t see any harm in John‘s songs such as ‘Strawberry Fields’ and ‘Help’ being labeled ‘Lennon-McCartney’ and my songs such as ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ being labeled ‘McCartney and Lennon.’“

Paul may not see the harm, but fans certainly do

Osbourne & Garner Are Free and Diesel is Apart

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I didn’t post anything up yesterday. I could use April Fool’s Day as an excuse. But I won’t. I’m not much for April Fool’s jokes… especially people and websites that post up something which seems like exciting news and then ends with APRIL FOOLS!

Sharon Osbourne is cancer-free. That’s great news. I don’t think that Ozzy could get along without her. Jennifer Garner [Alias] is also free, but this news isn’t happy. She and her husband, Scott Foley [“Below”] have separated.

Vin Diesel‘s “A Man Apart” had its world premiere in Hollywood yesterday and opens everywhere on Friday. Although it’s getting mixed reviews, I’ll probably see it before it leaves theaters. I’m not overly excited about this one. I say bring on “The Riddick Chronicles!”

See you tomorrow. No fooling.

Lord is Crowned King! Peter Jackson to Helm “King Kong”

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Peter Jackson, the creative genius behind the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy has signed on to helm Universal’s remake of “King Kong!”

Jackson had this to say, “No film has captivated my imagination more than ‘King Kong.’ I’m making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story.”

What Peter Jackson was able to do with “The Lord of the Rings” was amazing. You can tell by his quote that his true passion is for Kong. Can you even begin to imagine how cool this is going to be?

Gulacy is Back, Baby!

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Paul Gulacy is one of my all-time favorite comic artists.

Growing up, I spent hours enjoying the work he did with Doug Moench on the classic series “Master of Kung Fu.” I know, terrible title, but believe me, it was [and is] one of the best runs on any comic book series.

I got to know Paul back in the late 70’s when I was dealing original art. I commissioned him to do several pieces for me over the years. This cool Bruce Lee was my first commission form Paul. Sadly it was stolen back in the early 80’s.

Although Paul has worked on many cool projects over the years, none of them [not even Sabre, the James Bond mini-series, or the MOKF “reunion” this year] have been as popular as the original run of “Master of Kung Fu.” That may change with his latest work, “Reload.” The first issue is out and is excellent. The series is written by Warren Ellis and inked by Jimmy Palmiotti.

Give it a look. Gulacy is back, baby!

Sly Sends His Best

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How cool is that?!? I came home this week to find this personalized, autographed picture from Sly! Simon, who runs both Sly and Frank‘s Official Sites and I exchange e-mails from time to time. Simon thanked me for something that I had done for him and asked if there was ever anything that he could do for me… I told him [half jokingly] that a personalized autographed picture from Sly would be cool…

Wow!

Please don’t bombard Simon for autographs. He called in a marker for this one!

– Craig Zablo

AtlantaCon 2003 Bound!

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On April 11- 13, I heading up to Georgia for the AtlantaCon Convention. The Guest of Honor is Mike Kaluta who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time over twenty years ago at an Atlanta convention! Mike is best known for his work on “The Shadow,” and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.

Dan Bereton is going to be a guest. I’ve loved his work since I saw the first preliminary piece for “The Black Terror” years ago. Dan has gone on to draw [and write] many other projects and I’ve followed them all. One of my favorites has been his work on The Nocturnals. It’d be cool to get a Stallone drawing by Dan.

I’m also excited because the guys from Gaijin Studios [Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story] will be there sketching as well. As Stuttering John would say, “I’m a big fan, big fan.” I was hoping to get some Stallone sketches from them at MegaCon but I was only there for one day,and they were allready booked up. Thanks to Big Beatty, I’m on Cully‘s list for AtlantaCon and hope to get on Adam‘s and Brian‘s as well. At least that’s the plan.

Phil Noto is going to be there. His popularity has soared in recent years. Take a look at his art and you’ll know why. There’s going to be dozens of other artists on hand as well. Part of the fun of going to a convention is meet established pros, but also to meet the new people who haven’t broke through yet but have the talent to take you by surprise. There’ll also be tons of panels, screenings of movies, videos, and animation… not to mention gaming, but since I already did, well, nevermind.

It’s going to be a fun time. If you’re able to make it to the show, it’d be cool to talk to you. I’ll be easy to find. I’ll be the guy wearing the StalloneZone t-shirt getting the Stallone drawings.

Following Dan Simmons to Different Genres

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Dan Simmons writes in a lot of different genres. That could be the sign of an artist looking for his voice. In Simmons’ case, it’s a talent who refuses to be constrained.

Simmons‘ first published story, “The River Styx Runs Upstream,” won the Rod Serling Memorial Award. His first novel, Song of Kali, won the World Fantasy Award. His first horror novel, Carrion Comfort, won the Bram Stoker Award. His first science fiction novel, Hyperion, won the Hugo Award. The man can do no wrong. He’s also gone the dark streets of the tough guy genre with two very well received Joe Kurtz novels.

I’ve just finished reading Darwin’s Blade which is described as a suspense thriller. Ok, an intelligent suspense thriller. Or better yet, an intelligent action-packed suspense thriller. I loved every page, but who wouldn’t when you have Russian Hit Men, car chases, glider vs helicopter gun fights, death by elephant dung, and more! Actually all of these things are in the book, but it also contains two of the best written leads, a realistic backstory and romance that doesn’t seemed forced or out of place.

Dan Simmons writes in a lot of different genres. So far I’ve loved every book that I’ve read of his. Looks like I’ll be expanding my reading to a lot of different genres

Themed Sketch Collections

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People will collect almost anything.

I collect movies, books, comics and Sylvester Stallone memorabilia such as books [biographies, novelizations of his movies], magazine articles and pictures, and now original drawings of Sly or characters that he’s played. Recently I began to have artists draw in a sketchbook instead of on loose sheets of paper.

This may sound like a unique idea but it’s really not. There are a lot of people out there collecting drawings for their themed sketch books. Some of the more interesting themes include “cliffs,” “time,” “silverfish,” and… well, you get the idea. Phillip Anderson has several themed sketchbooks going. You can get a look at all of them by clicking [HERE].

Who knows? After seeing the cool stuff that Phillip has, maybe you’ll be inspired to start your own themed sketchbook collection!

“The Shield”

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I was ready to write a ZONE piece about Andrew Vachss, or a cool series of sketchbooks that I found on the web, but then I read this article.

If you’re a ZONE regular then you know that I’m a huge fan of The Shield. I was intrigued by the ads for the premiere and it’s ending hooked me. The writing and acting is first rate. ALL of the characters come off as real people. The Shield racked up numerous positive reviews and awards during it’s first season. The question was could they do it again?

As the second season comes to a close, I find myself enjoying The Shield more than ever. In case you haven’t checked it out, FX is going to run a Shield marathon of all of this season’s episodes.

That’s it until tomorrow, when I’ll probably tell you about Andrew Vachss or this cool series of sketchbooks.

Eric Powell Takes the Goon Through Rough Stuff

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Eric Powell writes, pencils and inks The Goon, which is one of the few comics that I buy EVERY time it comes out. Dark Horse just picked up The Goon so if you wanna beat the crowd, get on board now! You’ll also find Eric’s work on the covers to DC‘s Arkham Asylum: Living Hell six issue mini-series starting in May.

Eric did his version of Sly when I caught up with him at MegaCon. I was so tempted to get a Goon sketch but just had to have Eric in the SZ Gallery. Eric‘s take reminds me of a sports drawing from the ’30’s.

Rough Stuff, a trade paperback which collects The Goon‘s first three issues is now available.

I’ll bet it’s the first graphic novel to come with a “director’s commentary!” Yep, a trade paperback book with a director’s commentary.

Isn’t that just goony?

Steve Niles is Quite a Writer

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Steve Niles is quite a writer.

I guess he should be though since he’s been making a living at it for about fifteen years. What? You haven’t heard of him? Sure you have! I wrote a ZONE piece on Steve way back on January 4th, after I read his novel, Guns, Drugs and Monsters.

I was so impressed with Guns, Drugs and Monsters that I immediately bought Savage Membrane, the first Cal McDonald novel. It was just as good! There are more Cal McDonald novels in the works, as well as a series from Dark Horse Comics.

Steve is also the author of 30 Days of Night, a vampire graphic novel that Ben Templesmith illustrated. It has just gone into it’s third printing, and was optioned [for a cool million bucks] by Sam Raimi‘s production company! Plus Steve get’s to write the screenplay!

You might think that all of this has gone to Steve‘s head. You’d be wrong. I got to meet Steve at MegaCon and he was very kind, gracious, and appreciative of his fans. Read this interview with Steve, check out his website [tell him I sent ya!] and then order his books. You’ll be glad you did because…

Steve Niles is quite a writer.

Deadline for War

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The deadline for war has almost arrived. Who knows what the next few days [weeks?] will bring us.

The nation has gone to a higher state of alert. Cities are tightening their security. Turn on the tv and all you can find on news channels are reports from the front and speculation about what will happen next.

The NCAA basketball tourney will continue as planned. And that’s a good thing. I have three of the four number one teams in our annual family contest.

The Academy Awards are scheduled to be held on Sunday as planned [although there will be less red carpet and after party coverage]. I’m glad that both of these major events will go on as scheduled. We’re going to need something to divert our attention from the media overkill covering the war. I also think that we can’t let the possibility of terrorist attacks on the homefront cause us to change our lifestyle.

Well… it’s 8:00 straight-up. May God bless our troops and may this war end quickly.

John Carpenter

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I learned about another classic that CARPENTER had created even earlier in his career. That was the cult classic “Assault on Precinct 13.” In the following years CARPENTER went on to direct “Escape From New York,” “The Thing,” “Big Trouble in Little China” and even “Starman.”

After that his movies began to be hit or miss and mostly miss.

Still when I go back and watch one of JOHN CARPENTER‘s early films, like “Assault on Precinct 13,” it’s obvious why he was one of my favorites!

Below Rises to the Top

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Way back on October 5, 2002, I told you about a movie that I couldn’t wait to see. And I wouldn’t have to since “Below” was scheduled to premiere the following week.

Funny thing was, it never got a theatrical release.

“Below” came out on dvd and video this week. I went to Blockbuster to rent it and all copies were gone. I called Best Buy and Circuit City and they were sold out. I went to Wal Mart and they had three copies left. Now they have two.

“Below” is the story of an American submarine crew facing Nazi war ships on the surface and something worse below. It’s not just a war movie though, it’s a haunted house movie as well… and there’s no leaving the house! After watching it, I can tell you it’s GREAT! David Twohy co-wrote and directed it just as it did on another favorite of mine, “Pitch Black.” Keep an out for him – he’s the real deal!

If you like scary movies, you’ll love “Below” and unlike me you won’t have to wait five months to see it!

MJ – Maybe Now We’ve Heard It All

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Just when you think you’ve heard it all about MICHAEL JACKSON…

Vanity Fair, in its March 11 edition reports that MJ bleaches his skin white because he doesn’t like black people, whom he sometimes refers to as “spabooks.”

The article also says that the “King of Pop” paid $150,000 to an African voodoo chief who promised that STEVEN SPIELBERG, music mogul DAVID GEFFEN and 23 other people on the reclusive entertainer’s list of enemies would die. Supposedly the voodoo priest sacrificed 42 cows during a special ceremony that was to gurantee GEFFEN‘s death within a week.

As if that wasn’t enough, the article claims that JACKSON is in such financial trouble that the amusement park equipment at his Neverland Valley Ranch was almost repossessed.

Now… maybe… we’ve heard it all.