My Conan Idea

A few years ago, when Dark Horse Comics started printing Conan, I had an idea for a story that I wanted to pitch on spec. I wanted to do it in Gouache and watercolor! I called my friend Vince, an excellent painter! We have collaborated before on a similar project and I wrote a few sample pages. It didn't work out. I sketched a few pages but then I got distracted by another job. I think it would have been fun.

Sketch of the day!

And what is the sketch of the day?

Shorthand for hands

I worked in animation for a few years and I learned a lot. This scan of hand positions was a cool learning tool. It's like a shorthand to drawing hands!

My little Garden

I have a little garden that I am proud of. it's more like a few pots on a fence. My friend Cat gave me a Strawberry plant that I was able to nurture, and now it's bearing fruit! I love watching things grow.

The Secret Defenders and Me

I came across a blog that talked about Tom Grindberg and his work on an issue of The Secret Defenders. That book was about Dr.Strange and his efforts to gather different heroes to combat evil. It was an early 90's attempt to bring back the old Defenders group, but with a twist! It was a good idea. I was there at the beginning.

Mike Rockwitz was Editor of the book. I was the regular inker of another book he was editing, Nick Fury, Agent of Shield and he wanted me to jump to SD. I was all for doing it, but I wanted to ink the final issue of Shield. I felt that I could do both jobs, but I wasn't given a choice.

When I got the first issue of The Secret Defenders, I was disappointed with the pencils. The penciler was just starting out and I could see that he was using a lot of 'swipe' shots insted of doing the hard work. The figures looked awkward and if you take a look at the 7th issue of the book, you will see some strange Michael Golden swipes. I'm no snob, I believe in photo reference and research and doing as little work as possible. I also believe in quality control.

So anyway, The Secret Defenders sold well in the beginning. But things went south and the penciler fell out of favor. Tom Grindbergs' art had been floating around the office for a little while. I had inked an 8 page Beta Ray Bill story that Tom drew in a "Magnola-esqe" style. He put in some powerful lines and it was different! I inked Tom on a few books. Daredevil, Spidey 2099 and a great looking story about MORG, a herald for Galactus. I remember him changing his art style constantly!
My opinion is he would change to whatever style that would get him work. Not a bad thing per se, but you would see a difference every two issues. From a Neal Adams style to a Mignola style to a mix of both. I think I was able to keep up and I wound up working with him for a while.

My favorite SD story was issue 14. It was the last of a 3 issue story arc that featured 4 villains deceived by Thanos. They were sent to steal a powerful item, then Thanos strands them to take the blame. Nice story by Ron Marz.

The book changed editors. New direction and all that. The new editor wanted me to stay on, but there were other jobs to do. I helped ink half of issue 18, but it was over another new penciller. I did my best to help out. Take a look at the pencils next to the inks.

Check out the above link to read the discussion about The Secret Defenders #9. Someone made a comment about my inking and I thought it was unfair. That guy has no idea.

Changing City

I picked up an old Life magazine and I saw this photo essay on crime in the city. The mag was from November 1971 and the writer spent some time with people living on East 78th in Manhattan. Crime was so bad back then, the residents were afraid to leave the apartment. Things would only get worse.

I remember playing softball in Central Park in the early 90s. The team would head to the eastside around 86th st. to hang out and get an after game bite. I never felt like the city was on lock down at all. It seems like the city was as grey as the photos in LIFE shows. If there were any bad people on 78th street, I hope the high rents got rid of them.

Harry Potter

Today was a good day. I bought a set of new tires for the car, had a nice brunch in Santa Monica complete with people watching and I saw the latest Harry Potter film. I enjoyed it! No spoilers here, but I will say that it's darker than the previous films. As for darker I noticed something about the actor Daniel Radcliffe.

As he grows up, I see fewer photos of him with the rest of the cast. No more shots of him with a stupid owl. For example, here are two magazine covers. The Entertainment Weekly has Radcliffe in his movie outfit, but with a menacing kind of light above and behind him. The Details Magazine has brighter light, but that facial hair says no good brother-in-law that won't get a job.

I guess Warner Bros. is trying to sell a movie about wizards again. It worked with me!

iTunes

There was a TV show about Les Paul, the Jazz guitarist. After the show I bought some of his music from iTunes. Buying music online is a little too easy.

Underdog Bites

I got something in the mail from Disney. It's just a postcard advertising their latest movie playing at the El Capitan Theatre. It's a great place to see a film for sure, but I have no interest in seeing the next film opening in August.

Underdog opens Aug. 3rd. It's a live action film based on the cartoon series from the 1960s. The cartoon was kinda funny, why they need to make a movie about it, who knows. The hero would fly and fight crime and everything else, but when he would get in a bind or lose his power, he would open a compartment in his ring and pop a special pill to restore his strength!

Pop a pill to restore his strength? It would happen in every show and that's probably why you can find it on TV anymore. It was not so strange for that era in animation when The Flintstones sold cigarettes and Racial stereotypes on Saturday Morning shows were normal.

My beef with the movie is that there won't be any ring on the dogs hand. That's bogus! You would think Disney would show a few cartoons before the movie. Instead, they have some woman and her stunt dog.

Come on Disney!

Online Shopping

I have been buying a lot of stuff online lately. It started with Banana Republic. Once I got used to my slacks arriving 3 days later than promised, it was a cinch. Then it was ITunes. Looking for 'Jeff Becks 'Bolero'? It's only 99 cents! It was easy to buy 'Battle of the Bands' on Amazon. Now I hold in my hands another Amazon purchase. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin!

I must have been a kid when I first saw this flick on a Saturday. Before Cable TV, the local NY station would play Kung-Fu movies all day. When I found out about the restored movie on sale, I had to get it. I won't ruin the ending, but I'll tell you that the good guys win!

Lucky Day

I thought that I might be off of work these last few days. No such luck. I think it's the awkward wednesday holiday. I flirted with the idea of going to Las Vegas this weekend because of the once in a century day this Sat.

7-7-7! Can you believe it? How can anyone not make a bet today? I know that the streets will be clogged with wedding processions, so maybe it's best to stay out of Vegas. Oh boy...I gotta get lucky today!

Burbank Kwik E Mart

Today I visited a Burbank 7-Eleven store that was transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart for the day! I love the power that advertising wields, so I waited 10 minutes to enter. They offered Simpsons inspired products like Buzz Cola and Squishee Drinks at a 7-Eleven price! It was a great idea to promote The Simpsons movie and I bought into it! I don't know if there are any such Kwik-E-Mart stores near you, but if you see one, stop in.

Membership

it's been a while since I've worked in Animation. I prefer the creative freedom of drawing comics, but every now and again I'll check the Animation Guild Blog.

Heroes are in Fashion!

These photos are from Paris Fashion Week. The designer, Felipe Olievira Baptista, has been influenced by comics. My question is for the ladies; would you wear this on the street? Am I missing the point to Haute Couture?

Pink Taco

There is a new place to hang out in LA. I remember going to the Pink Taco restaurant in Las Vegas. I caught a quick bite in the Hard Rock Casino inbetween Blackjack games. Now there is a new Pink Taco, located in Century City! It just opened, so I'll visit soon.

I found the concept drawing in a magazine and it's close to the finished bar. Except the finished bar has a lot more pink.

Back to Greenpoint!

When I visited NYC earlier this year, I made a point to go back to Greenpoint. I shared a place with two other guys and it was cool. One of the roomies like to make films and he got a bunch of his friends, including me, to act in his photoplays. If you are not familiar with Greenpoint, Brooklyn, it's an old neighborhood on the East River. It had a harbor that once built ships for the Union Army in the Civil War. So, as an old port, it has a lot of old buildings. Those old buildings made some great scenery for movie making!

Like I said, I was an actor in my roomates 'movie'. It was on VHS, so I don't think you will see it in Cannes anytime soon. It was fun and I was so impressed by this location, I returned a few days later to shoot a sepia snapshot of the corner. It's the corner of West st. and Oak st. in 1989.

Twelve years later, I go back to the scene of the crime and I find out that one of the warehouses in the old photo was burned down. Some thieves used fire to help strip the copper wire from the building. I read that the fire was pretty big. I'm sorry I missed it.

Like I said, My friend got some good shots of the location. Maybe one day he'll transfer the tapes to DVD.

Time to hang out

Now that the story is done, I can hang out with my homies on the bridge.

Actually this is a photo from a party at Paramount studios at Stage 14.

Star Trek Art

This is a sample of the work I'm doing for the Star Trek Manga. The final BW tone is being done by The Bucce and I look forward to seeing the final art!

A Job...well it's Done

I am no stranger to a job taking longer than expected. There was a job I did for Jazzercise that put me over the edge...that's a long story as well. But this job I'm working on for TokyoPop is finished! Good thing too, because I was starting to lose weight worrying about the deadline.

Now that I have handed over the pages, I can start a to-do list. There was no such list for the last month or so because I was consumed with the job. Now that I have more time, this is what's on the agenda.

San Diego Con. So much to prepare for San Diego!

Still Wondering.

Another photo from the Daytime Emmy Awards. I guess Lisa Renna is a Soap-Opera star and Elmo is a star from his toys and Children's programming. It makes sense that they would be seen on the red carpet together. I only hope they are not dating.

Pretty Face

It's been along day Inking Star Trek Manga. I have just enough energy to post a photo of Marcy Rylan. A Soap Opera actress. She was at the 34th Annual Daytime EMMY Awards in LA recently.

Raising a Family

My Friend Jose Marzan just sent me photos of his newborn baby boy. It's been a stressful day, but that email link to his photo gallery perked me up. I've known Jose since High School and he started Inking Backgrounds as a senior. I was so jealous! Now he and his wife have a beautiful baby. Now I'm so happy for him.

UPDATE...This is a photo of Jose back when he lived in NYC. He moved to FLA a while ago. I think that Florida is a great place to raise a family; except when it's hurricane season.

Where are these Cougars?

I read an article about Cougars at NYTimes.com. There seems to be an increase of TV shows with sexier, single older women. Older Actresses portraying professional women on the prowl! Only on TV! Where are these prowling Cougars? Do they only date younger men?

I'm looking for a 40 year old professional female to date. Do I have to take an acting class? I'm just sayin...

I read The Onion

The Onion 'Newspaper' has an article about "5 wonderfully weird moments from Fantastic Four comics". I saw the headline and thought that it was some snarky, sarcastic humor piece. How could they insult my favorite Super Team? Then I read it and realized that they were right. Now you read it! Onion.com

Iron Man

I caught this snapshot in a magazine. This photo in addition to the great casting I hear about. It makes me want to see the film in 2008!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.

Unseen Alan Weiss

As you may know, I am a big fan of the work of Alan Weiss. He puts a lot into every page he pencils and it shows. I don't remember when I came across the art I've posted here. I do know that it was drawn by A. Weiss after his stint on The Avengers in the mid-Eighties.

Weiss draws the Sub-Mariner entering a colorful, swabby bar and I guess the locals pick a fight. He lays out the storytelling in notes on the bottom of the page. This stuff looks like so much fun to ink, and I think I might have lightboxed a page to ink for practice a few years ago.

He did not finish the story. Only 5 pages were done and the fifth page is incomplete. He could have handed over the pages to the Editor of the book at the time, and they sat around the Marvel office. That's how I saw them. These are some beautiful pages and i wish I knew the whole story. If someone can shed some light, let me know!

Old fashioned

I am inking my Star Trek story and I find myself using a variety of pen points. I even went to the old Esterbrooks. For those unfamiliar with this type of nib, It's a steel pen point that you dip in your choice of black ink. It's a pen and ink point used by all kinds of old school inkers. If memory serves me, I bought 2 boxes from J. Rubinstein a long time ago. There were so many in the boxes, I wondered if I would ever use them all! Now I am so glad I made the investment.

R. Esterbrook 600-School, steel pen points. Maybe the same type Frank Giacoia used! They don't make them like that anymore.

Star Trek Art

For my 300th post, I will post a page from the Star Trek Manga I am working on!

Let's have some laughs

Comic Conventions used to be a lot of fun! Mark Gruenwald used to enlist a bunch of MARVEl regulars in his Convention skits way back when. These shots were printed in Marvel Age Magazine in 1992. Can you believe that I was Capt. America?

Hey! That was 15 years ago!

Let's draw Jeannie

It might have been 6 or 7 years ago when I did a few tryout sketches for an 'I Dream of Jeannie' Comic Book. I forget what company published it, but they didn't go for my version of what it could look like. Oh well.

Pretty Horse

As I fan of Western comics, I can appreciate a good horse.

Robots

This month, Mass Appeal magazine is all about the history of TRANSFORMERS! The toys, the fans of the toys and of course, the comics. There are interviews with the comicbook Editor Bob Budiansky and Writer Simon Furman, but no interview with Editor Rob Tokar! I hope that Rob is not missing out on the TRANSFORMER bandwagon. This movie coming out might rain a few bucks on anyone associated with it.

Do not fear PUFNSTUF

A friend said recently that he had gotten the HR Pufnstuf Complete Series on DVD. The Sid and Marty Krofft TV show from the 70s known for it's freaky characters. My friend mentioned that although he's had it for a while, he could not bring himself to watch it. That the show scared him! What's that? Frightened by a Saturday morning kids show? I remember watching reruns of the show but I could not understand what might have affected him so.

I asked if I could borrow the DVD set. I know the show was freaky, but maybe I could figure out what was so frightening.
Yep. I figured it out.

The opening credits show the beautiful young boy Jimmy running around and playing with his flute. A magic flute he calls Freddy. A boat appears on the shore, the boy and his flute climb aboard and the the seas get rough. The boat was really a trap! It seems like there's a witch interested in Jimmy's flute. Witchiepoo is working herself into a frenzy and can wait to put her hands around Freddy! The pair escape the evil boat and are rescued by HR Pufnstuf. HR Pufnstuf is the Mayor of Living Island, A freaky fellow with a strange accent and bags under his eyes.

After jimmy dries his clothes while in Pufnstufs' home, Freddy the Flute cries out, "Jimmy, squeeze the water out of me or I'll go rusty!" The dripping flute is a suggestive visual. Knowing that need help against the aggressive, dramatic Witchiepoo, the threesome head to Doctor Blinky for some protection. At one point in the second episode, there is a shot of the Magic Flute sticking out of Jimmys' pants. Don't you all get the hint?

I'm sure that the Krofft brothers were only trying to create some groovy, early seventies entertainment. But when you look at the subtext of the show, it's scary. Witchiepoo is the only Woman on Living Island. An Island filled with strange Male creatures. The creatures want to befriend Jimmy and his incredible flute, The Crazy old Witchiepoo wants to grab his Freddy and this underage boy only wants to escape this strange Island with his flute in his pants.

If you are a kid watching this show for the first time, you could enjoy the lame jokes and wacky makeup. But if you are an adult you may see the show for what it really is. You could be frightened for poor Jimmy and his Magic Flute.

Unseen Blevins

Another artist I admire is Bret Blevins. When I lived in NYC and worked for MARVEL, I loved looking at his work. He penciled Doctor Strange, Cloak and Dagger, Sleepwalker and The New Mutants among others. Speaking of The New Mutants, this is a page he penciled. It was inked by Terry Austin, but I think I like it better this way.

Unseen Neal Adams

I love the Art of Neal Adams. He's good and fast and I think he's done just about everything when it comes to drawing. I buy the sketchbooks he puts out because I want to see how he does it! I know the guy is busy with his studio and he has a body of work, he must have a lot of drawings gathering dust. Unfortunately, I see the same old 20 year old stuff. I'm so demanding!

I'm posting a Neal Adams drawing that I bought at a convention many years ago. It was for some Country Music Christmas show and you can clearly recognize a few likenesses. This is the type of art I would love to see more of!

My VALIANT effort

I worked for VALIANT Comics in 1990. I wasn't there long, just long enough to get my business cards and a few stories printed. One of those stories was a back-up in a Nintendo book. I pencilled a METROID story as a back-up in a Captain N book. I had more experience as an inker at that time and I think it's obvious! I did layouts for the story first and the Art Director at the time, Art Nichols, made his notes. I was eager to learn and he had a lot to teach me!

I can't stand to look at my old stuff.

Okay Gang! Let's INK!

Whenever I get ready to ink a page, I make sure my ink is black, my pens are clean and that my reference is close at hand. I mean, samples of other inkers that I admire! I have my own style of course, but looking at some great work for inspiration and guidance can't hurt. Who are these inkers? I'll tell you!

Garcia-Lopez- I look at his stuff from the 80s. His line went from thin to strong when he got to DC in the 70s. I also look at D. Giordanos' work from the 70s as well.

Jorge Zaffino- I love the Winter World art and how he used his brush!

Al Williamson- whenever I ink hair or faces, I check his Secret Agent X-9 work. He knows how to keep it simple!

R. Villegran- Another master of the brush. His work on Atari Force in the 80s was excellent!

There are many others of course, but I keep it simple. I hope I'm able to influence someone someday.

Trish Hale signs my book!

I broke away from the drawing board to see an old friend and buy a book! I've known Trish since I first moved to LA and this is her cool new manga. I liked it and you should read an independant review HERE.

Sketch of the day!

The sketch of the day is some character design I did for my Western book. With the other stuff I'm working on, I can't say when I will finish. At least there's progress!

More Art

I got over my horrible 'Meltdown' by getting to work. I am drawing something for 'Tales from the Crypt' put out by Papercutz. I'll post the finished inks soon.

Meltdown Comics Sucks

On April 1st 2001, I was the first in line at a new Comic shop on Sunset Blvd. in LA. Meltdown Comics moved to a new location about a block away from the old location. I enjoyed shopping at the old location and I looked forward to the bigger, better store. I guess I had nothing going on that day, so i was the first person in line. Good deal, because the first 100 customers would get all kinds of cool stuff. Well, I waited and it the doors opened... But no stuff.

The manager at that time told everyone in line that a shipment was delayed in customs and all the neat Japanese stuff would not be there. Yes, I was disappointed, but the Manager wrote me a raincheck on the back of the flyer.

'#1/100 entitled to bag of Planet X toys' and a signature at the bottom. when I would visit the shop I would ask about it, but no one had an answer for me. I decided to go elsewhere for my comics. I felt ripped off!

That was six years ago and I kept the document.

Today, my friend Tricia Hale is promoting her TOKYOPOP book Grand Theft Galaxy at Meltdown Comics. I have not been to that place since the 'ripoff', but I wanted to support a friend. I brought the document with me. Trish was not there, but I asked for the Manager. A older guy who said he was the brother of the owner looked at it and listened to my story. His response was "I don't know what I can do for you...Good seeing that though." he went back to what he was doing. I got pissed and left.

So that's it. No more Meltdown. Meltdown Comics Sucks.

What's that?

I said, Meltdown Comics Sucks.

The Sketch of the day!

And what is the sketch of the day?

Eye-Candy for Marcus

I am posting some images of Lacey Chabert! I am a sucker for a pretty face and this actress fits the bill. I have been a big fan since the 'Lost in Space' Movie!

Book Festival video

Enjoy this jumpy video of my visit to the UCLA Book Festival!

Jersey Boys Book

I found out this week that the Jersey Boys Broadway show will have a book published. It's a chronicle of it's journey from idea to TONY Award-Winning hit! I am happy to see that I am featured in the book and my contributions are shown. I'm not sure when it will hit the stands, but as soon as I know, I'll let you know!

Words of Encouragement

I remember visiting a friends house a few years ago. She was going through some emotional problems and she was taking the right to get better. Anyway, while hanging out in her kitchen, I saw an Insipational message written on a blackboard. I don't remember what it was. I know it was something to keep her focused. Something that was important.

Well now I have something I've written on a bulletin board on my wall. It's something I need to remember when I draw.

Heebink Comments

Back in the early 1990s, I started inking a number of comics for MARVEL. One of my first monthly jobs was Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD and it was after doing background inking and One-shot issues. I was already on the book by the time J. Heebink started as regular Penciller. His art was good when he started and he inproved with every issue!

His figures were strong and his lines were fun to ink. He was a professional, and we got along well, so I guess by the third issue he wanted to give his opinion on the inking! I read his comments and made the adjustments I felt were needed. I have to admit that the best thing about the note was the paper he sent it on! I looks like he did layouts and blew them up to 11by17. Then I guess he recycled the paper. It was great to see the process!