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| Thursday, May 15th, 2008 |
speakerwiggin
|
11:20p |
GOOD Animal News! Well... depending on your point of view. Actually - I'll get to that in a minute. First, a tangent: Still feeling down from Li'l Miss. And I think Minkey's starting to feel it finally. But we're giving her lots of play time and making sure she's eating and drinking. On the less sad end of the Animal spectrum... Remember this skinny kitty?  Well... she's not as thin as she used to be... ( Four months later ) Current Mood:  sleepy |
evandorkin
|
6:43p |
Will Elder R.I.P.
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.
|
leezard
|
6:21p |
Writer's Block: Reacting to my bad mood
Like today...I tend to clam up. I internalize most of what's frustrating me and stew about it. Sometimes I go so far as to ignore people, or try to ignore them in my sister's case. Rarely I will vent or take out my frustration by lashing out. Many times I feel like I shouldn't complain because I am very fortunate so whatever my problem is it is so minute in the grand scheme of things and I don't find gratification in taking it out on others, I generally feel quite bad if I do that. |
evandorkin
|
1:24a |
Gene Colan 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. |
| Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 |
coppervale
|
5:55p |
A Further Observation on Living
There's a metaphor that I've assembled (in bits and pieces) from several friends and mentors, which I call The Synchronicity Freeway.
The Synchronicity Freeway is very, very central to my life, and how I live it.
Things happen the way they are supposed to, guided (or driven, or whatever word fits here for you - many do), and it's not our job to try to work out every little detail along the way - because we can't see everything. Not even a fraction of everything.
A mentor once described his version of the SF as riding in a car that he had no control over. He didn't control the speed, the direction, or the destination. His job, he said, was just to keep the windshield clear.
Inspiration; spirit; the universe; God; whatever you want to call it, I believe there is something greater than us that we can tune into as we move through our lives. And it can be done (sometimes) as well by not focusing or pressing for a solution or direction or stability of any kind - but by simply being receptive. By accepting, calmly, even subconsciously, that something more appropriate is in the offing.
By, basically, keeping the windshield clear.
I've had as many positive things in my life happen by NOT doing things as by actively seeking them; and more by NOT struggling against the bad things that have happened - but instead letting them flow over me, confident in the fact that The Synchronicity Freeway moves as it moves, and I'll see what I need to see. As long as I keep the windshield clear.
More art tomorrow - I promise. |
zubkavich
|
10:20a |
Lost Winds  WiiWare started this week, which are original games for the Wii that you can download and play for a small fee. The best launch title released is Lost Winds, with its intuitive interface, enjoyable gameplay and simple design. I downloaded it yesterday and am enjoying making my way through it in my (admittedly limited) spare time. I woke up this morning and decided to warm up with a sketch of Toku, the main character from Lost Winds. Then I scanned it in and started fiddling... digital inks and some quick highlights later, it was complete. More work than I'd originally planned to put into it, but I do like the final result. My digital inks are getting stronger bit by bit. I love little mythical worlds like this. Games that exude a feeling of mystical wonderment always draw me in - Ico, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus and Lost Winds all have an aesthetic that I greatly enjoy. Toku and Lost Winds © Copyright 2008 Frontier Developments Ltd. |
| Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 |
sirndipiti
|
7:32p |
model RR update  I've been working on the mountain end of the model train layout, this pic shows a perspective view of the rough framing for the mountain with tunnel portals and cuts for an aerial view and a close up of one of the portals, ( click here ) |
coppervale
|
4:17p |
Regarding Life and Living It
At a World Fantasy Convention a few years ago, Guest of Honor Jonathan Carroll related a story (which I'm paraphrasing) about driving around with one of his brothers. He comes from a mixed family of people who are like a religious explosion: Agnostics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Jews, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and a Sufi.
So Jonathan was riding around with his brother the Sufi, and complaining about how he's lived his life. "I've been a lousy human being," Jonathan said. "I've been a terrible husband, and father. I've been a terrible son and brother. I'm not a great friend. I've just been awful in how I relate to everyone around me. I understand this. I acknowledge this. I just don't know what to do about it."
His brother stopped the car, grabbed him firmly by the arm, and glared at him. "Look," he said, "you know there's a light. You know where it is. Try and walk in it. That's it."
And, Jonathan says, he realized his brother was right. And he tries to walk in the light.
And so do I. |
evandorkin
|
11:55a |
News At 11: Warner Brothers/DC Kills Charity Auctions 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, |
ghoizdoz
|
10:53a |
I am still here, yes. Head down, mostly, absorbed in work. Here's what's been happening: The Apocalipstix vol. 1 is done and off to Oni, who are applying their magic, led by the glorious maestro elf, James Lucas Jones, to take it through the final print stages. We're set to launch it at San Diego Comic-con in July. I'm sure it will be enjoyed by many. Cameron knocked it out of the park, art-wise, and I hope that has something to do with an inspiring script. More about this soon! I just signed a contract that means more big news for me - that will no doubt draw some attention some time this summer. Junction True is moving forward. By the time this project is done, it'll be something around five years from start to finish for me. It's feeding on me as it goes, appropriately enough, and I firmly believe it will be strong as hell by the time it makes it to shelves. I have a short story in the upcoming PopGun vol. 2 anthology, coming from Image this summer. The incomparable Justin Randall illustrates. I'm making an appearance with another short story in the Flinch anthology, coming out of Australia this summer. I'll be announcing at least one new book in July, possibly two (depending on the timing with legal/publisher quirks/etc). I'll be appearing at the Paradise Toronto Comic-con in July, The San Diego Comic-con in July, and the Hobbystar Fan Expo in Toronto in August. Back to work. |
zubkavich
|
8:21a |
Speed Racer Last week I had a blast filming a short spot for Canada's Space Channel, talking about the history of Speed Racer. Instead of just filming at the studio down on Queen Street, we actually went out to the go-kart track up at the Sega Playdium in Mississauga. You can watch a streaming version of the episode here at this link. My piece starts at 3:20 into the stream. We buzzed around the race track and made goofballs of ourselves for over two hours to get a couple minutes of footage... always amusing. Spending the afternoon go-karting and blabbing about anime as part of my job is a bit surreal. Things are good. |
| Monday, May 12th, 2008 |
speakerwiggin
|
7:39p |
R.I.P. Li'l Miss My wife's already pretty much said anything I might have said.  We've had ferrets since before we were married. We pretty much picked out Minkey together at college. She's now seven, a ripe old age for American ferrets. We got Li'l Miss only a year after we were married and just after we got our house. They didn't get along at first. Minkey wasn't happy about having another ferret in the house. She would bite Li'l Miss' scruff and drag her across the floor. After a month we thought we'd never get them in the same room, let alone cage.  But Minkey warmed to Li'l Miss. We should have known, no one can resist a girl that sweet for too long. Within a year they were snuggling together in the same sleeping bags.  And of course, there was much playing. We both expected Minkey to go first because she was older and cranky and skinny and has already had an adrenal gland removed. Not only that, but she's damned intelligent. Li'l Miss was sweet and loving and... not the sharpest tool in the shed. We figured she'd outlive all of our animals.  I took Minkey to the vet today just in case Li'l Miss had died of something contagious. Thankfully, Minkey got a clean bill of health. I described to the vet Li'l Miss' state and she was almost positive it was insulinoma. Basically, it's not uncommon for American Ferrets who are spayed earlier than any other ferrets in the world to get pancreatic tumors. This causes low blood sugar which can lead to seizures and death. The only real signs of it are changing in behavior and lower energy. But as Li'l Miss was five (American ferrets live five-nine years) we just attributed her lesser energy to age. The vet told me that even if we did catch it, there's not much you can do. There are some very expensive medications, but they're not 100%. And you can't remove the pancreas or the tumor.  Still, I can't help wishing we would have caught it so we could have at least said good bye. I actually didn't cry last night. Or this morning. My main concerns were Mel and Minkey. I took a half day so I could take care of things like the vet and also get Li'l Miss buried before the sun went down. Last night we wrapped her in a towell and put her in a box in the garage. This afternoon we buried her in her cardboard coffin in our front yard next to a small tree my mother-in-law gave us. That's when I cried. 
 We put a couple rocks over her grave and I knelt down to pay respects and it just hit me all at once. Well, I ended up writing a little more than I originally intended so I'll leave on a stupid video I did. It is dumb, but the beginning's not what's important. It's the intended punchline at the end. It stars my Li'l Miss doing what she loved doing most. ( Read more... )Good bye Li'l Miss. I love you and miss you. Current Mood: crushed |
coppervale
|
11:17a |
Fun Art Monday This was the cover image to a planned-but-never-more-than-that project called MONOGRAPHS from back in the mid 90's. It was going to be 24-hour comics, and stream-of-consciousness stories, and anything I wanted to do that 1) seemed like fun and 2) wasn't Starchild. The title of this one was to be "Secret Identity". I might follow this up with the title page (which was finished) and a few of the other interiors...  |
| Sunday, May 11th, 2008 |
coppervale
|
10:05a |
FCBD 2008 - The Unusual Suspects The photos below are from Free Comic Book Day 2008, hosted by Atomic Comics, and featuring the first ever group signing of all seven of the Image Comics founders. I was hanging at dinner with my old friend Jim Valentino (who invited me to publish with Image in the late 90's), but also really, REALLY hit it off with the fellow below - the one all of the other Image guys acknowledge as the best artist of the group when he's on his game. Look for a James Owen / Whilce Portacio collaboration in the near future. We're going to do some cool stuff together. How's THAT for a tease?  Back in 1992, at my very FIRST STARCHILD signing at B&T Comics in Chandler, Arizona, a woman in line had me sign a book for her kid, then proceeded to grill me for half an hour about how to help her son prepare for a career as a comic book artist. She was polite, but firmly insistent, and I did the best I could to pass on what I knew so that her son could do what he needed to do to follow his bliss. Apparently (among many other factors, I'm sure) my counsel helped - because young Benjamin (Glendenning) is now doing comics, and doing a great job at that. Below is a photo of myself and Ben with his wife Julie.  |
| Saturday, May 10th, 2008 |
evandorkin
|
5:05p |
|
| Friday, May 9th, 2008 |
evandorkin
|
11:10p |
Ben's Charity Auction Milk and Cheese Piece  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.  |
zubkavich
|
7:59p |
So apparently when that person from Fed Ex called today and told me that a package would be delivered and I should be around for it, what they actually meant was...
"Yeah, that package was reclaimed by customs for some inexplicable reason and you're just gonna sit on your ass all day and into the evening wondering where it is while we do our best not to communicate with you or have any relevant information."
Awesome.
Even more fun is now that Friday is gone, Monday will be wasted trying to figure out where the package ended up and how I can actually get it because they don't deliver or do paperwork on the weekend.
Thanks for sucking, Fed Ex. |
| Thursday, May 8th, 2008 |
l_10
|
5:48p |
|
coppervale
|
9:57a |
Selling Original Art & The Pending Apocalypse As I previously detailed here, I am selling some pieces of original art commissioned by Shimmer Magazine. Rajan has already claimed one of the choice pieces (thank you kindly!) but the rest are priced thusly: I'll accept offers from the peanut gallery in the $100 range (per illustration). Email me at coppervale@frontiernet.net with an offer for the piece you'd like, and we'll complete the deal via paypal (to the same address). The illos can be viewed here. (And any of the authors who may have missed this are certainly welcome to email first dibs!) UPDATE: The Furies (pictured above at the top link) is now taken, as is The Flying Spaghetti Monster and Bartleby Crow (the mouse). UPDATE: Barbary Coast (satellite with the pirate flag) is also taken. UPDATE: And the one with the Demon Lobster. |
| Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 |
hystericblue42
|
11:40p |
Sleepy update Update on the meeeeeeeeee time. I don't know how coherent I should attempt to be right now. I'm really tired. The recent: I gave myself an attitude adjustment, gave myself a break, and guess what happened. I started to get less anxious and depressed. Eliminating self-pity and taking action to help yourself, while cutting yourself a little slack really does wonders. I still have the residual tension left over, but I'm doing things in working to correct that too. I'm no longer harbouring so much fear. A bit paranoid sometimes about whether I'm doing a good job at work, yes, but that's something else to be worked on. I dropped down to 10 mg on the Lexapro the other day, hoping it reduce nighttime teeth clenching. Teeth still touching only in back, which is very uncomfortable and sometimes they clack together. Jaw is a chicken and egg situation- is bad bite causing the tension or is the tension causing the bad bite? To try and tackle this problem, I've seen a couple of orthodontists and I'm getting a third opinion from another on Tuesday (and his office has got all the X-ray equipment right there, so you don't have to go out to a lab). Also I had my first acupuncture treatment today! It was only a partial appointment since I got there late, but she put small needles in 6 places. One in each lower leg, one in the under/outside of each wrist, and one in each of the part between my index finger and thumb. I could feel an almost electric sensation in the bottom of my right foot travel up my leg. Then she massaged my shoulders, neck and jaw. She said the temporal muscle by the temples was the tightest she'd ever felt. When I left there I felt like a wet noodle. I also felt kind of high. Oh yeah, she put these pressure point stickers on my right ear to press on whenever I feel pain in my right jaw. I should have had her put them on the left since I actually do get more pain in the left side. I'm going back on Saturday morning for a full session. It was really cool. She did encourage me to get x-rays of my jaw and to generally see what's going on inside there and see if it's anything "organic". I sure would like to know. Oy, there's more I need to talk about but I'm honestly feeling like I'm going to drop off to sleep right now. Good night! Current Mood:  sleepy |
evandorkin
|
3:39p |
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coppervale
|
8:45a |
VanderMeer Speaketh My friend Jeff VanderMeer, who seems to be just about EVERYWHERE in fantastic fiction these days (from his often cool and more often very cool blog, to his editing projects, to his knock-you-over books) just posted a great review/plug for THE SEARCH FOR THE RED DRAGON over at the Amazon Book Blog, Omnivoracious. Please do drop over and check it out - then drop by Jeff's site and peruse his own stuff. It's all top-notch, and worth your time and money. (There is another connection between us as well - I did the cover art for the book A SURGEON'S TALE, by Jeff and Cat Rambo.) |
qwantz
|
11:28a |
Looking for office space in Toronto Hello! I am looking for office space in Toronto. NORMALLY in these situations I look up "office space toronto" but holy crap, apparently "office space" is the same sort of keyword that "Romanian bride" is, in that there are twenty-thousand bottom feeders with generic out-of-a-box websites promising me "office space office lease office renting office rental office opportunities office make money online NOT A SCAM office spaaaaaace". Thanks, INTERNET. So does anyone have any hot tips or things along those lines for Toronto office space? I don't need much: room for 3-5 people, internet, and so on. Maybe a phone, I don't know.  Current Music: Jason & the Scorchers - Take Me Home, Country Roads |
evandorkin
|
2:22a |
Updating The Blog
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. |
| Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 |
zubkavich
|
6:26p |
While Erik was in Hong Kong on business over the past couple of weeks he saw the new Chinese edition of our Street Fighter digest trade paperbacks. Each volume comes with special bonus material and a soundtrack CD of music from the video games:  Nifty! Wait a sec... We never licensed our comics to China! Oh fuck, these are bootlegs. The lettering is professionally done, with all our word balloons and captions immaculately touched up and replaced with Chinese, even the semi-transparent ones. The credits and copyright info is scrubbed out and there's no Chinese publisher listed, but otherwise it looks like a quality foreign edition... that sells for less than half the price of our legitimate book (yes, even with the CD pack-in). *sigh* It's simultaneously flattering and frustrating seeing this. Erik's more amused than I am by it but, then again, he's from China so none of this phases him in the slightest. |
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