Meet Ben Templesmith

Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views




The last issue of MAD magazine that I bought featured a Frank Frazetta cover for the parody of Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone.In other words it’s been years.
That’ll probably all change in January when Mad #438 hits the stands.
Mad #438 features the work of Arthur Adams, Michael Allred, John Byrne, J. Scott Campbell, Dave Gibbons, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, and John Romita, Jr.
You may not buy it, but you’d be, uh… mad not to at least give it a look!

Rick Remender.

Bill Black has been publishing comics since 1969. He’s outlasted every other independent comic company and is still going at it.


I remember a man saying that the President had been shot and all of the adults looking scared. I’d never seen that before and it caused me some concern. My grandfather assured me things would be ok, but I remember us hurrying back to the hotel. I was only five years old but I followed the details as they became clear. President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald while visiting Dallas, Texas. Oswald acted alone and was caught after he killed a police officer named Tippett. Oswald in turn was murdered [in a police station of all places] by Jack Ruby. I remember adults saying that Ruby should be given a medal for killing Oswald.
It wasn’t until I was older that I began to learn that maybe there was more to the Kennedy Assassination than we were led to believe. I read the Warren Commission Report. I watched and read every related item that I could get my hands on. As the years have passed I have continued to read and search out new information. I hope that someday we will definitively know exactly what happened.
But as each year passes, I find the only thing that I am truly sure of in relation to the Kennedy Assassination is where I was when I first heard of it.

It just had to happen. Rupert was voted off Survivor.
Rupert was just too strong… too smart. I can’t say blame them. If Rupert stuck around much longer he would have probably won it all.
Now Burton hopes to go to the finals with Jon. At first glance this seems a wise move. Since Jon irritates everyone, Burton’s a cinch to win, right?
Not necessarily. Once the judges learn that Burton set up the ousting of Rupert [coupled with the fact that Burton was already kicked off once] and Jon might win the million bucks. And you know Rupert will be on the jury!
Eduardo Risso is a genius. His work on 100 Bullets is astounding. What makes Risso even more unique is that although he’s been honored with the top awards the industry has to offer, and he’s admired by fans and pros alike, he continues to work on the regular monthly title 100 Bullets. There’ve been six trade paperback compilations and I highly recommend them all! [ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR / FIVE / SIX] Risso and Azzerello have recently teamed to produce a six issue arc of Batman. The first issue is #620 and is on stands now. The first printing sold out from the publisher, but you may find a few still around. It’s great stuff, so it’d be worth your effort to find a copy.
Tim Sale didn’t become a professional comic book artist until he was 29 years old. That’s pretty old to just be entering the profession.
The cool thing is that Tim didn’t give up on his dream and now he is one of most in-demand artists around, able to pick and choose the projects that HE wants to do.
Tim doesn’t have a website, but HERE’s a link to a recent interview. Tim talks about his influences, his art and what he plans to do next. Tim has worked on all of the classic characters. Batman. Daredevil. Wolverine. Spider-Man. Superman. The Hulk. He’s even drawn a really cool on-line Matrix story.
Pretty impressive for such a late bloomer, eh?