Evan Dorkin

Regulax

2008-05-18T18:07:30Z

Will Elder R.I.P.

2008-05-15T23:07:27Z

Cartoonist Will Elder passed away today. I consider him one of the all-time greats, and his influence on my work is substantial. I am in awe of his work, the effort he put into his drawings, the dynamic style, the seemingly effortless aping of other artist's signature styles, his pen work, his sense of humor, his playfulness on the page, his insane background gags, and just how much he loaded into a standard page of comic art. If God is in the details, Will Elder channeled God.

If you want to be a cartoonist, or just appreciate amazing cartooning, and you do not know this man's work, for shame, doc, for shame. Look and learn: EC, Mad, Panic, Trump, Humbug, Help!, Goodman Beaver, Little Annie Fanny. He was the great Harvey Kurtzman's greatest collaborator, together they were perhaps the greatest two-man tag-team in comics.

He was one of the best.

Recognize.

Gene Colan

2008-05-15T06:01:23Z

The veteran comic book artist Gene Colan is suffering from liver failure, and there have been a number of postings and updates and efforts on the artist's behalf launched over the last few days that I wanted to link to in case anyone reading is unaware of what's happening and would like to pitch in. I meant to post about this earlier but got sidetracked by the Ben's Charity debacle and work.

The simplest thing anyone interested can do is drop Mr. Colan a card or letter just to cheer him up. Well-wishes, sympathy, thanks for a lifetime of fine work enjoyed, whatever. The details, as well as a letter on the subject from Mr. Colan's wife, can be found here.

Beyond that, apparently the health issues being faced by the Colan family has taxed them financially, and there are several ways folks can help out if they can and choose to do so.

Art by Gene Colan is being auctioned off here.

Direct donations can be sent to the Colans through Paypal. The Colans are registered at genecolan@optonline.net .

I made a small donation. I wish I could have sent more. I don't know anyone who has a bad word about the Colans (we've met them briefly at two local conventions over the years and they were just simply swell folks), and if I had a dime for every person involved in comics who was a fan of Gene Colan's lovely artwork, I'd have a nice big fat check to send them.

Personally, I have tremendously fond memories of growing up on rich, non-house style Colan artwork on Daredevil, Iron man, and especially, especially, Howard the Duck, a comic I loved and was likely heavily influenced by in some way, shape or form. Steve Gerber has passed on, and Gene Colan is ill, and I'm heartsick and wish I had Todd McFarlane money. Or a way to get George Lucas to cough up a few grand in spare change lying around the couches at Skywalker Ranch as a way to apologize for the Howard the Duck "movie". And, hey, Marvel, yeah, it would be nice if they chimed in, but Marvel and DC suits don't necessarily act like heroes, they just make money off them. Okay, the cynicism's starting to leak out, so let's tie this off and wrap it up before I get good and cranky about how the publishers treated the old-timer freelancers who built them up and created their characters, and the U.S health care system and industry.

Dirk Deppey's Journalista write-up with further links can be found here.

Tom Spurgeon's write-up at The Comics Reporter with further links can be found here.

If you're a fan, give it a think, won't you? Every $5 helps. Every letter brings cheer. Skip a few crossover comics this week and send the amount to someone who broke their hand working on hundreds of comics that looked swell and entertained a ton of people. We all say we love the older artists. They ain't getting any younger, folks, and most of them didn't make anything close to the money the Wizard Top 10 studs make working on the characters and concepts the vets bashed out like clockwork in order to pay the bills.

It looks like some big guns are coming out to donate items for a benefit auction, which is a great sign and hopefully just the beginning of a major effort on the part of comics professionals and fans.

Drop a line, transfer a few bucks. Show the damned love.

News At 11: Warner Brothers/DC Kills Charity Auctions

2008-05-13T16:14:44Z

Warner Brothers legal has had the DC character-related listings for Ben's Charity Auction stopped, and is apparently going after the auctions that were already completed, as well.

The letter from e-bay that Thomas received states that it was the use of DC copyrighted characters that got them noticed and squelched the auctions, although I wonder if it was also the use of the Superman silhouette in the listings (and perhaps the accompanying text alluding to Superman?) that got them noticed. Only a corporate lawyer or a complete cretin could think that constituted DC's involvement or approval, but, that's life in the big wide business world. Cripes. You'd think someone could let this go, for a cancer-related charity, it's a limited deal, and there are hundreds of other DC-related fan art and pro commission auctions on e-bay set up for personal gain that they don't bring the hammer down on.

I think it's bullshit, and I know it's easy to have a knee-jerk "corporations suck" response like this, but, well, this sucks. If Thomas Denton overstepped his bounds, he was being naive, and he was trying to do a good thing that really isn't going to hurt poor Warner Brothers/DC, and someone in a suit could have made this right with a little work. Or quietly tossed in some bucks to the charity to cover the deal and been heroes about it even while stepping on someone's good efforts. I know, it only works that way in the movies.

Maybe Thomas can recoup somehow, he's apparently out of pocket for the listing and e-bay fees, which he doesn't have. Hopefully the remaining auctions can cover his expenses. No good deed goes unpunished.

Truth, Justice and the American Way.

Read more about it at Thomas Denton's blog,

Milk and Cheese Charity Piece Up On E-Bay

2008-05-10T21:13:18Z

The Milk and Cheese piece for Ben's Charity Auction is now up on e-bay.

Please consider tossing it a bid if you're into it, or consider bidding on one of the other pieces if you're of a mind. The money will benefit a good cause. I'll be shipping the M&C piece directly to the winner, so if they want, I will gladly personalize it for them. And maybe toss in a few extras, to boot.

Bidding starts at a measly buck for everything.

Ben's Charity Auction Milk and Cheese Piece

2008-05-10T03:33:22Z

Milk and Cheese/World's Funnest pin-up for the Ben's Charity Art Auction organized by Thomas Denton through his Say it Backwards website. From what I understand, this is going up for auction tomorrow with a second wave of offerings. If I hear otherwise, I'll let folks know.

UPDATE 5/10: The M&C piece is now up for auction, you can see the listing HERE.

There's a number of drawings up for auction at the moment, this first wave goes up in about twelve hours from the time I type this. Here's a link to the auction for the Transmetropolitan page by Darick Robertson.

Also, the Hulk piece I posted a few weeks ago will be auctioned off soon as part of Korry Smith's fundraising effort for The American Cancer Society. That benefit's been held back while Mr. Smith recovers from leg surgery, as soon as it goes ahead I'll post the information on it.

New Milk and Cheese Strip @ MySpace Dark Horse Presents

2008-05-07T19:57:15Z

Issue #10 of the Myspace Dark Horse Presents comic went up today, and so did a new two-page Milk and Cheese strip:

Milk and Cheese in "The Fur Suit of Crappiness".

Please enjoy.

Updating The Blog

2008-05-07T06:50:59Z

Had a nice time at the Free Comic Book Day celebration at Comic Book Jones. Signed a few things, did a few sketches, got to see an old friend of mine who I hadn't seen in a while. Picked up a few comics for Emily, she really likes Owly and enjoyed the Top Shelf book. The Tiny Titans book was lousy, script-wise, but she's only three and change so she doesn't 't know that. The art's cute, but what a dreary read, nothing there, threadbare and unfunny, with extended gags riffing on old fandom jokes like "Speedy" not being a speed character. Two pages for that gag. Sheesh. The strips make Li'L Jinx look like Little Lulu. The characters basically talk while walking down the street or sit at school desks. That might work in Peanuts, it blows dust here. And they adhere to current DC continuity so there's two Wonder Girls, which actually confused Emily, as she knows who Wonder Woman is and could handle one little version of her. When the blonde version shows up we were all confused, actually. Bad, weak comic.

She wasn't crazy about the Disney book, unfortunately, Gyro Gearloose not being the most killer-endearing character, imho. Not enough Donald Duck for her tastes. Or mine, to be honest. I got a copy of the Hellboy/BPRD comic for myself, which I enjoyed. The Hellboy story is an odd choice, insofar as it would be fairly useless for new readers to geta hell of a lot out of, but folks familiar with the comic, and I guess the movie, might like it fine, like I did. It's a bit of business more than a story but nicely done, and it'll read well in a collection. The other two stories are serviceable and look good.

Otherwise, we've been busy with some stuff. I've been writing something for Mad, I've found it difficult going, I feel like I'm working a bit stiff trying to mix my verbose (i.e., blabbermouth) "Dork" style with the more terse and direct Mad style, and there are some other things bugging me about my first draft. Hopefully editing and revising will make something decent of it.

We turned in a couple of gag panels for Nick Mag, another for Mad Kids. We're designing a Story Time segment for Yo Gabba Gabba!, which we also wrote. I'm finishing up another charity drawing tonight or tomorrow (dunno when the Hulk piece I posted a few weeks ago will be auctioned off, I better check in on that), then I have a Bart Simpson script for Bongo to finish up. And then I start on some scripts for Dark Horse on a project I've been hoping to get going for quite some time now. Yay.

Speaking of DH, the latest "issue" of Dark Horse Presents on Myspace should be uploaded sometime today, with a new 2-page Milk and Cheese strip in the mix. It's about Furries. Guess what? They make fun of them. Yay.

Back to work for me.

FCBD Signing @ Comic Book Jones NYC

2008-04-30T22:54:25Z

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, blah blah blah.

I'll be signing comics (if anyone asks me to) and doing free sketches (ditto) from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Comic Book Jones shop here on Staten Island. It should be pretty laid back. If nobody wants anything I'm just going to sit on a couch and read comics for a while. Sarah will be dropping by late in the day, I goofed up and made plans for the signing without remembering it was the same day as a local event we wanted to take Emily to. Duh. So, the gals will drop me off like a ruined omelette at the comic shop and head back once they're done acting like normal people enjoying themselves to watch daddy talk horseshit about drawings of superheroes and talking ducks or whatever the hell..

(Today Emily told Sarah, "Daddy likes that place", when they left the comic shop, as if she understood completely what kind of sad person I am when in my element. She also sounded a little sorry for me, I bet. I am alone even in my own home. But now my home has a copy of Willie & Joe: The World War 2 Years by the great Bill Mauldin, so I am temporarily happy in my little fanboy purgatory. And actually, Sarah digs Mauldin as well. Still...from what Sarah told me, Emily said "Daddy likes that place" as if they were helping me out of a bar I had disappeared into since late afternoon, hiding the fact that I had been fired from my job at the firm weeks ago).

More information on the signing and the store here.

Energetic folks can hit up both Comic Book Jones and the Jim Hanley's Universe on the South Shore and potentially load up on free stuff like there's no Free Comic Book Tomorrow.

Bring the kids while you're at it. Or leave 'em at home, just make sure they have some water and something to eat handy or whatever. You could always leave the T.V. on, it's not like comics, kids love that stuff and it keeps 'em entertained for hours and hours.
.

AIGA Event In Brooklyn, Wed. June 4th

2008-04-29T21:11:03Z

Here's one that freaks me out for various reasons:

On Wednesday, June 4th, Dan Nadel will moderate a discussion on comics featuring Kim Deitch, Lauren R. Weinstein and myself. The event is being put together by the NY chapter of AIGA, which is apparently a professional graphic artists association whose membership is made up of professional graphic artists. Like I would know about that stuff. I had to leave the Nestle's Quik fan club because I couldn't keep up with my dues. Anyway, it will be held at Galapagos, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and costs $30 for non-members to attend. I don't think I'll be seeing many familiar faces at this one, I can't get my readers to cough up thirty beans for my artwork half the time, forget shelling it out to hear me talk about my artwork. Or whatever it is we're going to talk about. Juxtaposition or something. Formal attributes of the thought balloon. Who's stronger, Hulk or Superman? Who knows.

I will wear my non-cursing mouth and try to behave myself. I'm not sure why I was asked to do this, considering how many cartoonists run amok in the NYC area, but, well, I'll show up and see what happens.

Kim Deitch!? Wow. That's crazy. And then I'm on a panel with Jaime Hernandez at Heroes Con later in the month. Crazy.

Details about the AIGA talk can be found here.

Comic Book Club Podcast

2008-04-27T05:06:26Z

Been meaning to post this, but things have been so hectic I haven't been able to get to it until now. Last month, as some of you may recall, I was a guest on the Comic Book Club talk show thing held here in NYC, along with Chris Duffy. The CBC folks post podcasts of the shows, and if you have a care to, you can listen to Chris and I and some other folks bullshit about comics.

Here's the link I was given for those who are interested in this sort of thing:

http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=43

Listen at your own risk. Chris was a gentleman, I was on seriously low blood sugar and in a mood to be obnoxious on purpose for some reason. Some folks found my shenanigans funny, your mileage, as they say, may vary. My thanks to the CBC hosts for inviting me and not punching me in the jaw for some of my stupider comments and for constantly stepping on their lines, etc. I'm not a professional comedian, folks, I just ramble and die like one. That;s why I spend most of my time at a drawing board and not in front of a live audience.

How I Spent My Birthdays

2008-04-24T05:41:37Z

When we realized last week that we had to cancel going to NYCC, we also realized that my birthday was not only going to be spent at a friend's wedding, but at home working on the overdue Milk and Cheese strip which was currently ruining our schedule and lives. Emily was really looking forward to my birthday, more than I was myself -- for her, it was a day out, for me, a step closer to oblivion. In order to not disappoint her, we began to tell her that my birthday was this past Tuesday, rather than the actual date. We figured we'd be done with the strip on Monday, drop dead for the rest of the day, and take her out to celebrate the following day. So, my birthday was Sunday, but for Emily's sake, it was Tuesday.

Unfortunately, after we got back home from the wedding on Sunday night, I ended up working for the next 23 hours, fairly straight, to finish up the strip, which I'd already put some marathons into the previous week ( I remember back in the day Bob Burden telling me to do more Milk and Cheese strips because they were "easy", and looking over the first few year's worth of strips, I see what he meant. They are awful-looking affairs whose charm escapes me at this point in time. Only a decrepit market such as the Direct One could have allowed that ugly collection of pen scratches to become semi-successful. But anyway...). I ended up staying awake for about 34 hours all told from Sunday afternoon to Monday evening, finishing the troubled strip up hours later than expected or desired, and blowing the second deadline offered up by my editor. Hurrah.

Sarah then had to pull a marathon coloring session, allowing the strip to go out Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, this meant that going out for my birthday was a no-go. We somehow convinced Emily that my birthday was not yesterday, but today (always fun to lie to the kiddies). Okay, then, birthday number three was set, at least. I expected to sleep for many hours, but awoke, I thought, at 6 a.m or thereabouts according to the alarm clock. I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I got up and had some toast and read for while, before seeing the clock on the stove, which let me know that it was actually sometime after 1 a.m. Disoriented and stressed out by recent events, I stayed up another three hours.

Exciting reading, eh, folks? Wait, it gets duller.

Today, I found out that the library talk/workshop on comics that I agreed to give a few weeks ago was scheduled not for 4 pm on Thursday, as I deadline-drunkenly thought, but at 4 pm on my latest "birthday". Huzzah. This was an event put together by folks associated with NYCC, or something like that, it was spottily organized as far as I could see, with no web presence or real promotion of any kind. Basically, some cartoonists were asked to show up at local NY Public Library branches and give a talk about comics. Blah blah blah, stupidly, I agreed, because what I need to do is schedule more things in my week that cost me time and money when I'm already late on stuff and have the cash flow of an anemic dandelion. Huzzah.

So, our plans were canceled once again, and Emily took the news hard. We hurriedly ran to the post office to pick up a pile of mail and send out some things that had needed to go out days ago, then bought groceries to replace our depleted stocks, then drove back home where I tossed together a batch of artwork and xeroxes and paper and drawing supplies to impress the three or four kids who would doubtless show up to hear the local schmuck nobody talk and angle for freebies. I usually get about two to five kids at these things, the result of smart parents realizing they could get an hour or two's worth of free daycare while they plopped down elsewhere and slept or chatted away on their phones.

Anyhow, I show up at the Richmondtown branch a few minutes late, only to be met by a blank stare from the librarian staff. They had no idea I was coming, had not heard of the talk, had not been contacted by anyone either at NYCC, the folks organizing the events, or their main office. They had received no flyers. Huh. Zah.

I called Sarah to make sure I wasn't nuts and that the NYPL website really did have a listing for the event (which is how I found out the talk was Wed and not Thursday, as my lizard brain thought). The librarians checked as well. The site mentioned the appearance, but nonetheless the branch was never notified, and there was nothing to be done. The only people who showed up was a friend of mine from my high school/D&D days, who brought his daughter to get some books while he was saying hello to the loser. I was asked if I would stay a while in case anyone showed up, the event having been mentioned in the Staten Island Advance, hidden in the body of an article on NYCC , which I was interviewed for (back when I thought Sarah and I were going to the show, and I'd be doing my Saturday signing). I sat in the rather large Community Room with my friend and his daughter, a community of three. Nobody else showed up. My friend's daughter was tired of listening to her father and his loser friend talk over old times, and they left to find some books for her. I spoke to the head librarian at the branch, and I agreed to do a workshop in the summer that we could organize properly without the help of the comic book industry.

I bought a Carvel cake and went home feeling on top of the bottom of the world, wondering why I agreed to do the talk in the first place, why I agreed to do the summer workshop since these things are usually a bust for me even when folks know about them, wondering why I couldn't just belt out a simple two-page dumb-ass strip about Furries, and why I don't just get a job somewhere with benefits and spend my nights watching movies and getting drunk.

We ate some cake, I was in a mood, we played Hi Ho Cherrio with Emily, and I couldn't sleep after a few hours so I typed up this jagoff kvetch report. Tomorrow we make a go of my sort-of-fourth birthday this week. I expect a hailstorm of fire ants on top of a mild earthquake that only affects our possessions followed by a hold-up and the car breaking down in New Jersey. We shall see.

The Milk and Cheese strip goes live on the DHC MySpace page May 7th. Unless I'm wrong and no one told DHC I was coming.

Huzzah.

H.O.F. A No-Show At NYCC

2008-04-17T05:44:41Z

We won't be showing up at NYCC Friday, and I've also had to bow out of my signing at the Harper Collins booth on Saturday. We're overwhelmed with work and have a wedding to attend on Sunday. So, the con plans are shot, among other things. I'm bummed because we wanted to see a few people there, touch base and show Em the crazy stuff she gets a kick out of, like the Ugly Doll set-up. Oh, well. Shit happens.

Cleek

2008-04-15T07:25:59Z

Grimsby

2008-04-11T19:30:06Z

Extra-Curricular Activity

2008-04-10T16:57:55Z

On Friday, April 18th, Sarah and I will be waltzing around the New York Comic Con. We won't have a booth to sit at, but if we're sitting around at, say the Dark Horse booth, and you catch us, I'd be happy to sign a few things. On Saturday I'll be signing copies of I Love You Beth Cooper. Afterward I'll be traipsing about looking for someone to talk to before I head home on the ferry. Maybe I'll bring my portfolio if anyone is interested in buying anything. Otherwise, I'd be happy to sign stuff or chat if you catch me roaming around while you're on the way to the Battlestar Galactica panel.

Speaking of NYCC, time is running out for you folks to grab some of the Ultimate Experience con packages. Don't miss out on the chance to spend hundreds of dollars on hero worship and exclusive junk merchandise. $200 to get three whole items signed by a big shot, and the chance to exchange a few humble platitudes and well-wishes. Sheesh. No one should have to pay for an autograph. And as is always the case, the people doing these things make good coin and don't need to make more off the backs of the fans. Some might say this is the only way they can have contact with the fans and keep things on an even keel, yadda yadda yadda. I watched Jeff Smith sit at his plain old booth and sign stuff for a few hundred folks last year. They didn't have to dig out the wallet. If the stratification of fans is an outcome of the new comics age, give me the old hotel shows any day. Bad enough you have to deal with lines, now you have to deal with exclusive signings at events where those without $200 get stiffed. Who the hell made these folks popular? The fans. So, let's pay them back by setting up events that benefit retailers who will recoup their costs by selling the giveaways on e-bay. Sheesh. Sheesh, I say. This is Wizard Magazine garbage. At least, as usual, Neil Gaiman is doing his events for charity, and the admission fee for the reading is reasonable. I'm sorry, maybe I protest too much, but this stuff makes me crazy. If signing is a hassle, don't do signings. Otherwise, sit your ass down, limit the number of items if you need to, let the rank and file fans get a shot at you, and let the chips fall where they may for an hour or two.

Anyway, mini-rant over. Moving on.

Related to NYCC, they're setting up creator appearances along with the NY Public Library throughout the month. I don't have any solid information on a promotional website or list of appearances yet. I'm supposed to be doing a talk/presentation at the Richmondtown library branch on Staten Island on April 23rd at 4 p.m. More on that later, I hope.

The DRAW event for AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (click on the link and you can read an interview with the great designer/typographer/cartoonist Rian Hughes) is being hosted by Dan Nadel this year, and for some reason they're doing a panel discussion on comics, and for some reason I was asked to participate. I'll have more information on dates and times soon, they just let us know the original date has been changed, it looks like the discussion will take place in early June.

On June 7th-8th we'll be attending MOCCA, and setting up in our usual corner space in the big room on the first floor. Huzzah.

HeroesCon 2008 (June 20th-22nd) is shaping up to be a great show on paper. Plenty of mainstream folks, plenty of small press folks, plenty of panels and events. Sarah and I will be doing a panel on Friday about what it's like to be a working couple in the industry (along with Stuart and Kathryn Immonen and Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick). On Saturday I will be doing a panel discussion with Jaime Hernanzed (!). Both panels will be moderated by Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter.

Watari The Ninja Boy Vs. Weasles Rip My Flesh

2008-04-07T05:43:50Z

Last Friday I made it over to The Lawgiver's to talk trash, eat garbage and watch kick flicks. Lately the Lawgiver has been relegating the kick portion of the evening to one flick, with the second feature often consisting of some laughable attempt at a horror movie. This evening was a pretty memorable double bill along those lines.

The martial arts pick was Watari The Ninja Boy (1966), a film I'd never heard of until Sarah stumbled onto it a few weeks ago on the web. This led us to the Japanese trailer for the film. We notified the Lawgiver, who used his powers for chaotic good to track down a copy. This might be old news to some of you folks, but it was new news to us. Apparently it floated around in a dubbed version on T.V. stations a ways back, I'm one of the unluckies who missed it. It would have blown my mind and ruled my world as a kid, as an adult, it merely blew part of my mind and lorded over my world for a few hours. Meaning, I loved it.

It's based on a manga by Sanpei Shirato (The Legend of Kamui) and it has a real cartoonish, go for broke whatever-the-hell attitude, very inventive and over the top and entertaining, even if the effects and ideas come up short a number of times. If you like old Japanese tokusatsu stuff, or the fantasy themed martial arts stuff, or just oddball movies in general, you might dig this. There's lots of crazy action, nutjob villains a'plenty, wild art direction and costumes and makeup, expressionistic sets (which often involve models), a fat comedy relief kid, and even a musical number with dancing kids and shenanigans. Don't worry, most of the kids die, even without the dark stuff reportedly jettisoned from the source material, this is still Asian cinema. Die, kids, die, die in the kiddie film from Toei.

One thing I always appreciate in a film like this is that nothing is explained. Watari is a ninja boy. This other guy has a death ring. That guy over there can fly and do crazy shit, that other idiot has magic he forgets to use when things get crucial, boom boom boom, go, man, go. It starts with fighting and ends with fighting, and in-between there's more fighting. Ninja Boy Watari goes up against mean people. They fight. People die. Crazy shit happens. They play the theme song a few times, which rocks, if you like 60's J-pop/ theme music. Thank you, Asia. Fuck you, Hollywood, for eating up half of everything with stupid explanations.

So, I give this the nod. I say find your very own Lawgiver, or be your very own Lawgiver, and obtain this by whatever means necessary involving as little cash as possible (wink wink).

Um, the second movie was called Weasels Rip My Flesh. Not to be confused with the Frank Zappa album, Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Or with an actual movie. This is, I mean, this thing...it's really bad. I mean, wow, it's something else. Apparently this was made by a high school student in the late 70's, "filmed" in Super 8 mm, and left sitting around until somebody put it out on DVD a few years ago. It's a home movie. So you can cut the guy who made it some slack for this being so incredibly awful. I don't know how much slack, but a little slack. A modicum of slack. It plays out like a filmed version of a kid's comic. And if that sounds good to you, by all means, track down this blight, because there is entertainment here to be had if you like yourself some stupendous trash.

I won't lie, we had a blast watching it. Bad gore effects, insanely bad monster designs, laughable special effects, sub-amateur acting, hilariously stupid characters, mind-numbing dialogue, incoherent plot elements, cheap-ass sets (a mad scientist's newly-built lab is a living room and a basement, he can't even afford matching drinking glasses) and possibly the best/worst mad scientist ever captured on film ever, played by a Ron Jeremy lookalike. It has an ending that I still can't figure out in regards as to whether it was a joke or not.

This is possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. Quite honestly. Ed Wood would be embarrassed. Perhaps it isn't fair to compare a giddy Super 8 nightmare from some kids to other movies, but, hell, someone dared to release this in order to make a few dollars, and the rotten thing's on Amazon like a real grown-up motion picture and all. For the first ten minutes or so, we weren't sure of just what the hell we were looking at. I thought someone slipped us a Stan Brakhage film by mistake. The opening consists of a pan past some trees with some idiotic narration spoken over it, followed by grainy close-ups of who the hell knows what, some smoke and a terrible model of a rocket and a lamp that's supposed to be the rocket blast, and some gunk being poured into something, some lights, some more gunk...gah. My head hurts a little thinking about it. Then it stopped being incoherent and became straight-out crazy stupid-ass, with some radioactive crap turning a weasel into a giant turd-looking weasel puppet thing that kills some very killable people. And then there's the mad scientist in the basement, and eventually there's a weasel-man monster that shows up. He looks like a bunch of turds, too. And then there's that ending. I won't say this is so-bad- it's-good, but I will say it's so-bad-it's-entertaining. If you go for this sort of horseshit. And if you're reading this, then you probably go for this kind of horseshit.

It's sort of amazing that the Film Gods decided that the world gets to have the complete and unsullied Night of the Ghouls and Weasels Rip My Flesh, but fuck 'em if anyone wants the Magnificent Ambersons and Greed intact. On the other hand, I sincerely doubt I'd have had a ton of fun sitting around with my friends during ten hours of Von Stroheim. So, there is that. Whatever that is.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, ends another useless internet post.

Bookins

2008-04-03T21:49:57Z

No, no, not The Boogens.

Bookins is a site where folks can exchange books, or just dump books, which is pretty much what we're using it for. Sort of like Peerflix, which we've used and enjoyed, and which is unfortunately shutting down. Anyway, we're in the midst of culling all our collections, and we didn't want to just dump the reading material we're shedding in the garbage/recycling. So, we're using Bookins to try to get some books into other people's hands, if possible. We tried donating a bunch of books to a charity out here, but they wouldn't take them, but another one, an animal rescue program, will take some, it seems. The local Salvation Army thrifts don't like taking books anymore and give people a hard time over donations in general these days. We've given our old comics to a local shop and to the Center For Cartoon Studies, given away collectibles, some toys, now we're going through mid-century magazines and yet more books, always books, good god, the books. Boxes and boxes, and bags and bags (when it comes to the ones that are riddled with mold or just damaged or yucky).

Anyway, in case you might want to look/get something, here's our list of books on the Bookins site. Iirc books cost $4.49, basically, you pay the shipping, although I think you are supposed to also list some books for exchange to participate. I'm not sure, check the site link above for more info. Sarah's handling the details, I just box the books we're sending out and say, "Jah, boss" like the assistant in the old Frankenstein parody in Mad.

We'll likely have more stuff added in the coming weeks, no comics-related stuff going up, sorry, that's all going to CCS or trade or staying in the H.O.F until we die. Just an attempt to keep a few books alive and out of the landfills.

Other than that, I was going to post some work-related stuff but now I don't really care to. Maybe later.

Instead, ladies and gentleman...please enjoy the musical stylings of the fabulous Lecuona Cuban Boys.

Hulk Smash For Cash

2008-04-01T06:03:26Z

This is a drawing I just (finally) finished up for a charity auction run by Korry Smith of All Star Comics in Texas. Proceeds will be going to the American Cancer Society. My drawing ran late but I looked at the site where the donated art is being displayed and it looks like I can still get the piece into the event in time to be auctioned off. It's 11" by 14" or something like that and in pencil and if anyone wants it you can probably bid on it fairly soon. More details if and when.

In the meantime, here's a link to the other art being auctioned off.

Richard Widmark R.I.P.

2008-03-27T02:47:36Z

If you haven't seen it already, you owe it to yourself to see Kiss Of Death, in which Widmark portrays the memorable psychopath killer Tommy Udo. This is the one with the famous wheelchair scene, and which put the scary twitchy Widmark giggle on the map, earning him an OScar nomination and kicking off a decades-long career. Despite the fact that Widmark played truly menacing scumbags in many films, he was able to come off as a likable guy in his more normal, non-threatening roles. Not easy to do.

Anyway, I'm a fan. Always sad to see another member of the old Hollywood community pass on, but hell, he had some run.

NY Times obit here.

Widmark's IMBD listing here.

You might want to check in with TCM to see if they set up a tribute night of programming, as they usually do in these situations. They might run Kiss of Death, I know that's where Sarah and I saw it some years back.

Final Warning: Comic Book Club Tomorrow

2008-03-24T18:40:20Z

You're heard it before, now hear it once more:

Chris Duffy, Dave Roman and I will be guests on The Comic Book Club tomorrow.

Live talk show. Comics. Alleged comedy.

The People's Improv Theater. 154 West 29th St. NYC.

8:00 p.m. $5.

Be there or be somewhere else.

What We've Been Up To

2008-03-20T05:13:12Z

So, yeah, I know, not too many posts these days.

One reason is that Sarah and I have been working on a script for season two of Yo Gabba Gabba. This has been in the works for a while, but I didn't want to post anything until it was actually happening. We turned in a first draft yesterday, based on an idea of Sarah's, and it seems to have gone over well. I'm sure we'll have notes back and there will be some rewriting, but so far everything has gone very smoothly. Which, of course, terrifies me. It also looks like we may work on some of the animated segments, we pitched some Story Time ideas and at least one looks like it will be used.

I don't know if we'll do any design work for season two, or if Super Martian Robot Girl will return, but I can't complain if that doesn't happen. It's been pretty thrilling and gratifying to be involved with the series on this level, especially since our three-yr old is such a super-fan (she's been giving us some very entertaining/confusing/bizarre ideas for the show, often involving the always-crying Gooble character). I'd be even more excited if we weren't so tired and stressed out.

Otherwise, working on some gags for Nick Magazine and Mad Kids, finished penciling an Indie Island Milk and Cheese t-shirt design for a Heroes Con promo, almost done with a drawing for an upcoming charity auction, roughed out a drawing for another upcoming charity auction, the revised contracts came in for the long-awaited (by me, at least) creator-owned DHC series I'm hoping to write, I'm starting a Milk and Cheese strip for the Dark Horse Presents web page, and there's some other stuff I can't remember that I'm supposed to be doing instead of typing this up. We're suddenly busy again. A little too busy, actually.

While I'm typing, it looks like I'll actually be at the NYCC in April, albeit in a very limited fashion. I was asked to do a signing on Saturday at the Harper Collins booth with Larry Doyle, author of I Love You, Beth Cooper. The paperback edition should be out soon, the cover will feature the interior illustrations I did for the hardcover edition. Come by and ask Larry about the book, his scripting work on the Simpsons show, and the Beth Cooper movie currently in pre-production at a major studio. Come by and ask me about my having nothing to do at the convention once the signing is over.

And next week is the Comic Book Club talk show which I'll be a guest on, along with Chris Duffy and Dave Roman. For goodness sake, somebody please show up.

Dave Stevens R.I.P.

2008-03-11T22:56:07Z

Just read on the web that Dave Stevens passed away.

Didn't know him, loved The Rocketeer comic and character back in the day, still fond of both, a fan of his artwork, etc.

Heidi MacDonald has written a short piece about Stevens and his work at her blog, The Beat.

I'd expect much more will be written about him in the coming days.

Bow Down

2008-03-10T20:11:38Z

Fuck the Humbug collection. To hell with the Bill Mauldin slipcase. That Mazzucchelli book? Blah blah blah.

Bow down before the publishing event of 2008.

Popnecker, motherfuckers. Popnecker.

Milk and Cheese Lunchbox Illustrations

2008-03-05T22:40:31Z

I forget when the Dark Horse lunchbox came out. Late '90's.