Posts tagged comics

This is a comic book cover

If you were at all into comics in the 90’s, or were a depressed goth kid who probably had an inappropriate relationship with their drama teacher, then you’ve heard of Neil Gaimen’s Sandman.

Dave McKean did the cover art for the book. He, like lots of comic artists, often sells his original art to collectors. I’ve bought some original art from creators I like from time to time. Most of it is a black and white, inked drawing on an 11x7 piece of bristol board.

Here’s what Dave McKean original art looks like:

I, like most people, I’m sure, assumed McKean’s work was done in photoshop. Apparently, it was mixed media that was then photographed and printed. Amazing. Here’s what the resulting cover looked like:

Guh…

Had to look the Captain America and Thor trailers up online since I wasn’t home to see the Super Bowl pieces. I have to admit, the ten year old in me and the thirty-seven year old in me are geeking out pretty hard. I’m slightly worried about the Captain America movie, but mostly hopeful. I still can’t believe there’s going to be an Avengers movie in 2012…

X-Men: First Class

Honestly, I never thought I’d be excited about an X-Men movie again. Iron Man kind of shined a big spotlight on how mediocre the the mutant movies really were by showing us how good a Marvel movie could be.

Every time I see a new image or hear something new about X-Men: First Class, though, I have to rethink my stance.

It’s set in the 60’s. It only kind of nods at comic continuity and previous movie continuity. January Jones is in it. Do I have to go on? I do? Okay, here are some pictures:

It’s definitely not stacking up to be your standard X-Men movie, thank goodness. Someone, Erik Larsen maybe, theorized that some comic properties work best in the decades they debuted in. Superman has a certain charm in the 40’s that is missing in modern incarnations, for instance. And there’s something about the X-Men set in the 60’s surrounded by issues like civil rights and the bourgeoning fear of atomic power. It just works. In my head anyway. We’ll see this summer.

State of The Union - Comics Edition

The recently deceased Harvey Pekar famously (well, famously in comic circles) said, “Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.” That little bit of truth is one of the reasons why now, decades after my grandmother assured me I would one day outgrow them, I still love comics. While technology is finally starting to catch up with imagination, it’s still relatively expensive. If you’ve got the talent, though, a pencil, some paper, and access to a photocopier, you can tell any story you want, budget be damned. Comics are pirate radio.

I like all kinds of comics. I grew up reading Marvel and DC super hero comics. On the rare occassion that I’d find a comic from another company they always seemed strange to me; alien; unsettling. They even smelled weird. It was the differences in ink or paper, I’m sure. Or I was just imagining it. Whatever it was, it’s the kind of thing I love nowadays. I still like the good old Marvel/DC stuff, but there’s nothing I like more than finding something new and weird on the comic rack that I’ve never seen before.

I miss old spinner racks. There used to be nothing better than spending a half an hour crouched down in front of a magazine stand or leaning next to a spinner rack for a half an hour reading comic while my mom grocery shopped. You don’t really find comic in grocery stores anymore. That’s a tragedy for the industry and for kids as far as I’m concerned.

I love the way comic properties are represented in television and movies these days, even though I give a lot of it a pass on a regular basis. I would have given an eye as a kid to have an Avengers cartoon to watch. It can’t really hold my interest these days, but I like that it’s there for kids. I also like that there’s a Batman cartoon called The Brave and The Bold that seems hell bent on committing every obscure DC character ever to celluloid - or whatever TV show are made of these days.

It’s weird that everybody and their mother knows who Iron Man is now.

One of the best comics I’ve read in years is about a federal agent on an Indian Reservation. One of the other best comics I’ve read in years was about Superman arm wrestling Samson and Atlas at the same time. Comics have range

Comics are disposable entertainment. There are some I want to keep forever, but when I’m done with most of them, they get sold, trashed, or donated. I’m always scared to donate them, though, because lots of them have adult content, but adults will buy them for kids without ever looking at them because, you know, comics are for kids…

I go to the comic book store every Wednesday when the new books come out. I can only think of one week ever where I couldn’t find something to buy. My guess is I’ll probably go every Wednesday until I can’t anymore.

5 Things I love

Once again, taking inspiration from Promise Tangeman, here are 5 things I love:

Pulp covers
They’re weird, they’re sleazy, and they suggest all kinds of sordid stories with just one picture. I’ve never actually read a pulp - and my guess is that I’d be disappointed if I did, so for now, I’ll just stick with the covers.

Videocopilot.net
There are a lot of sites out there dedicated to After Effects tutorials, but the most stylish and entertaining of them all has to be Andrew Kramer’s Video Copilot. It and Matt Fraction’s advice to “%$#@ around as much as possible” have helped me more than anything with the software. Of course the problems with tutorials is that there’s a temptation to rip them off completely (which I’ve done a couple of times…), but Kramer always encourages people to take what he teaches and build on it.

Siege - Marvel Comics 4 issue limited series
I not a huge fan of all the event storytelling taking place at Marvel these days - but man, Siege has knocked it out of the park so far. Bendis is writing an action packed story that gets my childhood favorites, The Avengers, back together and it’s being drawn by Olivier Coipel - one of the best artist working in the biz today. Only two issues in and I’m already in love.

Love, Power, Peace - James Brown Live at the Olympia, Paris , 1971
I saw the aforementioned Matt Fraction recommend this album twice so I finally checked it out. From now on, live is the only way to listen to James Brown to my mind.

iPod Nano
I got my iPod stolen a month or so ago. I replaced it with a 16 gig Nano. That’s quite a bit less storage than I had before, but that’s actually turned out to be a good thing. It’s made me invest myself a lot more into what music I put on the thing - and it’s much smaller footprint has me carrying it everywhere. It’s really kind of invigorated my music-listening. It also has a video camera that I’ve never used and a pedometer which I assume tells you how many child molesters are in your area.

There you go. Five things I love.

5 things i love

Partly inspired by and partly in response to this post by the very talented Promise Tangeman, here are five things I love:

1. Casanova by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Ba, and Fabio Moon - I’ve read comic books since I was a very little boy, but Casanova had an effect on me that very few books ever have. I felt like it was written specifically for me. Casanova Quinn is a reality-hopping super spy with father issues. I don’t know why that particular concept rang my bell the way it did, as I’ve only ever been moderately interested in the spy genre and don’t have any significant daddy issues that I’m aware of. Fraction’s writing seems very sincere. That probably sounds like a strange way to describe writing about a spy, but it all just seems very self-aware and doesn’t talk down to the reader. And the artwork provided by Brazilian twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba is among the best on the stands.

2. Our new king-sized bed- A couple of weeks ago Sara and I bought a king-sized bed. I’ve never owned anything bigger than a full. I can’t believe the difference it’s made in our sleeping. I love being close to Sara and doing all the bed-related things that married couples do, but when it comes time to sleep, I need my space apparently - especially now that we’ve started sharing our bed with Penny lane.

3. The Avett Brothers in conert- It was serendipity that lead me to pick up my first Avett Brother’s album in CD Central that Saturday morning four years ago. They quickly became my favorite band in the world. Since then I’ve seen them 5 times (with another showing coming up next month at the Palace in Louisville). Their shows are marked by unreal amounts of energy and an undeniable likability - and I’ve never introduced them to anybody that didn’t immediately love them.

4. Anthony Bourdain- The first book I read after my divorce was Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. It probably helped to launch my three year post-marriage journey of self-indulgence. Bourdain seemed a suitable patron-saint of eating what I wanted, drinking too much, and making bad decisions. While I like to consider myself somewhat more reformed and restrained these days I still appreciate and try to emulate Bourdain’s lust for life. Sara and I are going to hear him speak later this month. A friend of mine is trying to get me into a small reception to meet him after his talk. If I get the chance I’ll thank him for coaching me through my divorce recovery.

5. After Effects- I am an old dog and this is my new trick. As Crossroads tries to beef up it’s video capabilities we’re realizing it’s always important to have the right tool for the right job. I’ve been using After Effects for a couple of months now. So far it’s equal parts fun and frustrating. It’s amazing the things this sotware can do, but, like anything new, has a significant learning curve. I look forward to being able to look back in a couple of years and think, “Ha! Remember when I didn’t know how to do that effect?” Until then…

morrison and quitely’s batman and robin out today!

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