Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Hard to believe, but it’s been almost a year since the last regular issue of The Goon appeared. That’s about to change as Eric Powell, Goon creator, writer, and artist is back, baby!
Universal has acquired the rights to Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro [who co-wrote and directed the first Hellboy movie] and Mike Mignola [creator, writer and artist of Hellboy] are excited about the prospects of not only a sequel [or two] to the 2004 movie, but the fact that a Hellboy movie could now feature some of the classic Universal monsters! That’s right, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more!!
Mignola and del Toro have discussed the possibilities. Here’s a couple of quotes from del Toro: “I must say that I’m having a great experience right now at Universal, because I find that their understanding of Hellboy as a possibility is so great… My hope is that if everything goes well and we continue [the franchise], Hellboy can start fighting the Universal monsters! I would love to see that.”
So would I. For the full article, click HERE.
Today’s banner looks like something that you might expect in an Eric Powell drawing. As I’m sure most of you’re aware, Eric is the creator of the hugely popular The Goon series. The Goon frequently finds himself up against all manner of mobsters and monsters [werewolves, witches, zombies, etc].
So yeah, that’s a typical monster from The Goon in today’s banner, right?
Wrong.
Actually it’s part of this cover that Eric did for Marvel Westerns: The Two-Gun Kid! Although Eric didn’t do the enterior art [Eduardo Barreto did], it should still be worth a gander.
One of the best parts of attending conventions is meeting up with folks that you don’t get to see often enough. MeganCon was no exception. I spent the bulk of the show hanging at the table shared by my best buddy John Beatty and Alberto Ruiz. Now THAT was a blast [and I plan to write about the experience later].
Directly across from Alberto and Beatty’s table, Bob McLeod was set up. Bob‘s sketch list was full and his new book, Superhero ABC was selling like hotcakes. If you have [or know anyone who has] young kids, Bob‘s book would make the perfect gift! Heck, I even saw fans without kids buying it for themselves!
Alex Saviuk was set up. Alex is a great guy who’s been busy the last couple of years doing storyboards for movies in addition to his comic work. Alex has a true love of film and so it was great to spend a few minutes catching up with him.
Mark Pennington was there on Saturday sketching for fans. Mark had a really cool Conan painting on display. Mark said that it was a commission for a fan and the fan wanted Mark to change it so that Conan was wearing a horned helmet rather than the wolf’s head. While I can understand the fan’s thought process, I think that the painting would look cooler the way that it is.
Mark was sketching for fans and turning out some really nice pieces. James Howell got a Batman in the rain that was so nice that he went back to get a Joker [also in the rain] so he’d have “bookend” pieces. Matt Hollub also got on board for a piece from Mark. I would have as well, but my reference was with another artist and Mark was only going to be at the show on Saturday. Still, I know just the sketch I’d like to get from Mark, so the next time we’re at a show together, you know I’ll be in his line.
Although I was on two sketch lists [Adam Hughes and Phil Noto], and Alberto did me three gratis [3!!!] Stallone pieces [more on that later], I wanted to try and pick up a piece of art for a buddy who’d done me some favors.
I thought that Shawn Surface might just be the man for the job, and boy was I right. Shawn has done some work for my buddy, Bill Black’s AC Comics, as well as Mitch Hyman’s Bubba The Redneck WereWolf. I’d talked to Shawn at a few cons over the years about getting a Stallone sketch from him… but since I wanted to get a piece from my buddy, that had to come first. Shawn was more than up for the task. I really liked the way it turned out. I’d like to tell you that you can click HERE to see the piece, but instead you’ll see Shawn and what a Mage sketch might look like. LOL. Ok, ok… it wasn’t THAT funny [unless you know James Howell and have read THIS].
Gus Vasquez was there. We talked a bit about the work that he’s been doing on an animation feature. I also asked him about his niece, Rosario Dawson. What a year she’s had with her involvement in Sin City and Rent. We also discussed the comic, OCT [Occult Crimes Taskforce] that she’s co-creating with David Atchison and Tony Shastee. Rosario and Gus will be among the tons of guests at Heroes Con later this year.
Andy Smith was there. When he wasn’t sketching for fans, he was looking for something to take back home to his daughter.
Jesse “Cadre” Hansen “the hardest working man” in comics was set up with his crew. I really wanted to spend a few minutes catching up with Jesse, but the time just wasn’t there. We did say “hi” a few times as we passed each other though.
MegaCon, like most cons these days, has people showing up in amazing costumes. Sometimes the folks really look like the characters that they’re supposed to be.
Thor had a cool helmet and his beard and hair were right. Still I thought Thor would be taller than me. I love Eric Powell’s The Goon. And he’s a character that people seldom choose to dress up as. Still, I thought The Goon would be bigger than me. A lot of people choose to dress up as Batman. Although, not too many are lucky enough to have Batgirl and Robin [also in great costumes] along for the ride. But I have to admit, I thought that Batman would be taller than me. You might think that I was starting to feel like “the big man in comics” but you’d be wrong… see I met up with the Kingpin!
If you’ve ever been to a con, you know how much goes on. I’m sure I’m leaving out some stuff… still, I’ll post my new Adam Hughes sketch tomorrow [I LOVE IT!] and my thoughts on hanging with Big Beatty and Alberto soon.
In the spirit of Halloween, I’ve been watching [and enjoying] quite a few horror movies lately. As most of you know, I’m a big fan of the genre especially the classic monsters… Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon…
Until this week I was never a fan of
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde [in any of the many movie versions]. I decided to watch the 1931 film starring Frederich March and Miriam Hopkins. I know I had seen it before when I was a kid and it didn’t impress me. Watching it again the other night was like seeing it for the first time.Fredric March won a Best Actor Oscar for his role[s]. Miriam Hopkins is just right as the saucy barmaid who adds fuel to March’s fire. The special effects were excellent.
What suprised me most was the movie used Jekyll’s sexual frustration as the focal point of the duality of man’s battle with good vs evil. For a film made in the 30’s it was pretty surprising.
At any rate, if you’re looking for a good movie for Halloween, give the 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a view. You might discover that there’s more to both Dr. Jekyll and the movie than appears at first glance!
“Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hide” [1931] rates a B
Actually it was good that we went up on Friday since the con organizers set up a pre-show sketch session. For a $25 donation [which went to Jeff Jones] you could mingle with the artists who were doing really nice head sketches and more. Artists sketching included Phil Noto, Mike Kaluata, Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, and many others. I’ve got to make special mention of a cool sketch “combo.” Georges did a nice head shot of “Captain America looking up into the distance” for one of the fans. Later the same fan returned. Adam Hughes had added a headshot of Bucky looking up in the same direction as Cap with the caption, “Uh, Cap… what are we looking at?” That just cracked me [and everyone else at the table] up.
Mike was making the rounds getting Hellboy sketches while I sat at a table with Big Beatty and Phil Noto who were both sketching. As the sun went down Phil moved to a better light source and his seat was taken by a rotating crew which included Kelsey Shannon, James Howell and others. The table got kind of rowdy as people came up asking Big Beatty for sketches and he determined whether or not it was for a “fetish collection.” It was really cool talking movies and comics and “stuff” with everyone at the table or passing by. A guy named “Little John” was gettting sketches and said that he checks out The StalloneZone and ZONE on a regular basis. How cool is that?
The next morning Mike, Beatty, and I met James Howell at the Waffle House for a hearty breakfast. Then it was off to the con! As we were walking in we saw John Higashi and Steven Lee arriving. Higashi was sporting his StalloneZone shirt!
Beatty and I went up to get our passes. Adam Hughes was there to get his as well. The guy giving out the passes asked Adam if he was an artist! Adam patiently said he was and proceeded to spell his name. No passes. The guy looked in a couple of different places. Still no passes. As Adam looked around for someone he knew [or at least knew him] I asked if the passes might be under Gaijin Studio. Adam asked the man and sure enough, they were. Adam then asked if there was a pass for Allison. Nope, but the man quickly made her one. Beatty and I picked up our passes and followed Adam into the show.
The artists were starting to set up. Most dealers were ready to go and fans were lined up waiting to get in. After a bit of looking Beatty found his table. Mike and I decided to check the place out. My goal was to get Stallone pieces from Jason Pearson, Tony Harris, and Brian Stelfreeze. Anything else would be gravy. A quick circuit of the con and I was able to learn that Jason Pearson had to cancel, Brian Bolland was running a few hours late [due to a flight problem], and other artists were just rolling in. A line was starting to form for Brian Bolland. I got in along with John Higashi, Steven Lee, James Howell and a few others.
I saw Tony Harris starting to set up the Jolly Roger display. The guys said they’d hold my spot so I could go down. There was already one guy in line and knowing that Tony is very slow I decided to take them up on their offer. I was there at #2. [Last year at Heroes I just missed getting my first Harris sketch — I was next on the list when Tony had to stop sketching so he could get ready for the charity painting session — and I didn’t want to face the same thing again.] Steven Lee was behind me. Things were looking good for both of us. When it was my turn to make a request I told Tony I wanted a Stallone piece. He remembered me from last year. Tony said he’d give it a shot.
Then it was over to the Gaijin booth. The whole gang was there Adam and Allison, Cully, Karl, Brian and Kelsey [who was wearing his StalloneZone shirt!]. Phil Noto was sketching there as well. Several fans were oogling a Brian Stelfreeze painting which was a beaut! I asked Brian if he had started a list and he hadn’t. I was first! When I told Brian I wanted him to do a Stallone piece he called out to Cully [who was sitting further down the way], “Hey Cully! I’m being called up to the big leagues!” LOL! Brian said he wanted to give Jack Carter a shot! Cool by me, as that would have been my choice for him as well.
As I walked the convention I met up with fans that I usually only get to “talk” to via e-mail like Terry webmaster of ComicArt Community, Benno, Rich DeDominicis, Ken Danker of Monster Collectables and Scott Blacksher.
Scott Blacksher has a really cool “Astro-Zombies” Theme. We’ve exchanged a few e-mails over the past year. Scott came by the table and commissioned Beatty to do him an Astro-Zombie sketch.
I could tell that Beatty wasn’t feeling well [too much junk food on the ride up is our guess] but before the sketch was done, I thought that he’d recovered. John didn’t think so. He told Scott that he was sorry that the sketch wasn’t better and he could have it for free.
Scott was really surprised and said the sketch was fine, but Beatty refused to take any money and even said he’d try to come up with a better piece sometime in the future. Scott thanked Beatty and said that he had an autographed copy of “Mark of the Astro-Zombies” that Beatty could have. Big John passed the tape on to me since he knows that I’ve been wanting to see the movie and I’ll get to it before he ever does!
Finally Brian Bolland arrived! By this time Brian had a huge line of people waiting. With almost no time to even catch his breath, Brian began to take time with each fan. Some only wanted a chance to thank Brian for the wonderful work that he’s produced [and continues to produce]. Others were hoping for a sketch or even an opportunity to buy one of his prelims. When it was my time with Brian, I thanked him for providing me with many hours of pleasure, asked if he would autograph a book for a friend and pose for a picture with me. Brian was gracious and modest. He was a true pleasure to meet and I hope that he enjoyed meeting his fans as much as they enjoyed meeting him!
It was cool catching up with some artists that I hadn’t seen in a while. Dan Bereton and his lovely lady were there leading the celebration of the tenth anniversary of The Nocturnals. Eddie Powell and his wife had some really cool Goon t-shirts [James Howell got the last 2XL before me!], sketchbooks, and more. Gus Vasquez was there and promised to have my Stallone commission ready at Heroes. Gus said he’d do it that weekend, but I want him to take the time he’d like to do it “up right.”
Speaking of doing it up right, Sanford Greene has been turning out some great stuff lately. Sanford was sketching away, but did take some time to show us the latest book he’s putting together. It’s got a really hip look and should be a lot of fun once he gets it rolling. LeSean was also doing some work that really kicks butt. Hmmm… perhaps I’ll get them in the Stallone Gallery at some point. Andy Lee was there… and Jason Walker too!
I also gave shirts to Cully and Adam since they had completed Stallone sketches before I had the shirts and I didn’t want them to be left out. The cool thing is that some fans and pros are wearing the shirts to conventions [and not just to mow the grass]. At this point I’m totally out of shirts and I unfortunately ran out before getting one to Tony Harris [I thought we had put a couple back… but they got away].
Speaking of Tony Harris, I decided to check and see if he had finished my commission since Saturday was winding down. I was surprised to find that Tony hadn’t even finished the first sketch yet. Well… at least I was number 2 and Tony was confident that he’d be able to finish before we pulled out on Sunday at noon.
As the show was winding down Kelsey and I were laughing about the hacki-sack game that he got into at MegaCon. Before you could say hacki- Kelsey, Mike and Big Beatty started up a game. Soon Brian was involved… then Cully… and things were rockin’. I don’t know if watching Beatty keep missing with his kicks or Mike‘s doublekicks had us laughing more. The game was called when the janitors were ready to turn off the ligjhts. [At least it seemed that late!]
John Higashi, Steven Lee, James Howell, Jason Walker, Big Beatty, Mike, and I [along with another six or eight people] decided to have dinner at Road House. The meal lasted literally for over two hours as we all laughed and told “war stories” of conventions and art collecting. After everyone had ordered and some of us had even started to get our food the waitress came back to tell John Higashi that they were out of baked potatoes.
John was pretty disappointed, but not as disappointed as Big Beatty when he was told they were out of club sandwiches! Higashi opted for the onions [don’t ask]. Anyway… John‘s picking at his steak mumbling that he would have really liked his potatoe when the waitress brings out baked patatoes to others! Finally she comes back by [John‘s finished his steak by now] and she says, “Oh, we’ve got potatoes now.” John [looking sad] says, “No, that’s ok… I’m finished now.” “But sir, would you like your onions brought out?” John hung his head even lower and said, “No thanks. I’m finished.”
When we finally left the restaurant it was after 10:30… and we were beat. So it was back to the hotel for a bit of sleep… The next morning Mike and I headed back to the Waffle House where we crossed paths with John Higashi, James Howell and Steven Lee. Then on to the convention.
Beatty and I were hanging at his table talking to the folks from Cute Girl Demographics who had the next table. Kelsey came by and hung out for a while. Ya just gotta love Kelsey [even if he did spill coffee on Mike]! After a bit I decided to go down and check on Tony Harris‘ progress. It’s always a good feeling to hear someone tell you how cool your piece is before you get to see it and that’s exactly what happened as I approached Tony‘s table.
Tony had really created a beautiful piece. This is the same guy who told me he had problems with doing a likeness! Man, his Stallone is dead on. Tony always turns out a great sketch and this one was exceptional. Big Beatty thinks it’s the best in my collection. And getting any compliment from Beatty is as rare as Higashi getting a baked potato at Road House.
I couldn’t belive my luck. I was able to get both Brian Stelfreeze and Tony Harris to do Stallone pieces for me… and they both nailed him. Life is good!
As much as I wanted to stay, I knew that we needed to head back to Daytona since we all had work or school the next day. [And in my case I had both since I’m a middle school administrator.] We made a final pass of the convention floor and said our good byes.
We’d had a great time… and are already counting the days untl Heroes!
Wow! What a cool time I had yesterday at the Megacon Convention in Orlando, Florida. I was able to spend a lot of time with some friends and met some people whose work I really admire. MegaCon is a convention which features celebrities, comic artists, novelists, dealers and more… Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the original Star Trek series was there. When I was a kid Star Trek was THE show, so it was really cool getting to meet Mr. Koenig and to shake his hand.
One of my favorite writers was there, Steve Niles. I was first in line to meet him. [And if that sounds like a geeky thing to say, well, I was geeking out yesterday.] I was able to speak with Steve for a few minutes and get him to autograph both of his novels [more are coming!].
Eric Powell, the creator of The Goon, was there. I got him to autograph his new graphic novel and do a Stallone sketch for me [the sketch will appear in the SZ Gallery soon].
Many, many more artists were there from Adam Hughes to Frank Cho to Mike Zeck to… well you get the idea. I picked up several new pieces for the SZ Gallery which will appear in the near future.
After the show John Beatty, Mike Zeck, Rik Levins, Howard Shum, Brad VanCata, Mike [my son] and I all went out for some Chinese. It was a great capper to a great day. I’ll talk more about the show in future ZZone updates
I used to love staying up late to watch the monster movies that he presented. Thanks to Sammy and his “Nightmare Theater,” I discovered the classics (“Bride of Frankenstein,” “The Thing,” “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and many others]. Sammy would come on to introduce the movie and tell bad jokes… he would then be back after commercial breaks with more bad jokes… and of course, he would end each show wishing everyone “pleasant nightmares.”
I was happy to find a site dedicated to Sammy, the scariest guy that we all loved!
