More Kolchak

I am still working on the Kolchak book! It's the third issue and I have some pencils to put on the blog!

Toth Talks

www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77013&highlight=toth

If I knew anything about html you could just click on that web address and you would read a savage art critique by Alex Toth.

I had a chance to meet Steve Rude at the San Diego Comic Con this year. I bought his latest sketchbook and told him that I was fan. As I left, another fan asked why he would not show up at the Alex Toth tribute the con was holding. Steve said that he didn't have much to say. He could only recommend his art because Toth was such a miserable person. I am paraphrasing here, but I got the impression that there was no love lost. I thought that was strange because Steve Rude has done so many Hanna-Barbera characters for comics, like Space Ghost and Jonny Quest. Characters that Alex Toth had a hand in creating.

Toth critiques the first issue of Jonny Quest, drawn by Steve Rude in 1986. Published by COMICO. Toth's comments on the first 12 pages of the book and he does not pull any punches!
He chides him for his lack of research, his poor composition and storytelling. After reading the review, I agree with Toth. His observations make sense and I wonder how he would have interpreted the same script. I don't know how Rude reacted to the review... But it puts the comments he made in San Diego in perspective.

Before he died, Alex Toth evaluated his own work and you can see his self-critiques at www.tothfans.com.

Sketch of the day

What is the sketch of the day?

Kolchak in color

My MOONSTONE book is staring to come together. The first issue will hit the shops in January and I have a page of color that I can share with you. In this page, Kolchak is arguing with his boss. I think he is always arguing with his boss!

Super Sketches!

It's always great to see how other artists work. You can see Jerry Ordways' skill as he does these cover sketches.

Comicraft gets around!

I had a conversation with R. Starkings at the SDCC earlier this year about the ubiquity of his fonts. I see his work on billboards and cereal boxes and it's cool! I took this photo in Vegas. This is the kind of peppy font that gets me in the gambling mood!

Day trip to Vegas

I took the day off and caught the 8:15 flight to Las Vegas! Wednesday's are the best time to go to sin city and it was a quick trip, only six hours. I took a cab to the MGM Grand and did well with blackjack. Stayed there for a while and walked to the Paris casino. I did well at both places! Walked back to MGM for the tasty buffet and the tasty craps table! I caught the 3:00 flight back to LA. Ahh. Such a nice way to spend the day!

Hey kids! Let's Sketch!

I have been doing a lot of sketching lately...and this is the sketch of the day.

Some strange drawings

My previous post was about my new Tokyopop blog and how I'm trying some kind of manga style. It seems a little awkward to me, but I've given myself the challenge. I tried something like this years ago but did not stick with it. Four pages of sequential sketches. It's a slow moving story about a girl and an empty subway station.

I like MANGA!

I have a new blog at TOKYOPOP.com! I am joining all the cool young kids who blog and post photos and chat on the forums! The site is cool and it's growing. I plan on posting some sketches on it.

www.tokyopop.com/Koumorisan/blog

Superman Covers

I am a fan of BACK ISSUE magazine! It's a fan mag devoted to comic books of the 70s and 80s and that's an era I am familiar with. I met the editor of BACK ISSUE, Michael Eury, at the SDCC and asked him about the proposed book on Michael Golden. He admitted that there was one planned, but since the artist was somewhat "mercurial", progress was slow.

I've loved the art of M. Golden since high school and I have tons of photocopies of his original art. I sent several scans to Back Issue but I forgot to include these covers done in the early 90s. They were for SUPERMAN and not sure they were ever published.

Tex Cover

This cover really caught my attention when I first saw it! Mark Texiera did some great inking and some nice work with white paint.

Annie strips!

In response to the Bucce, I am posting more ANNIE Sunday comic pages. Enjoy!

Overboard cute

I can't help it. So beautiful!

New Orleans

The Saints are playing right now in New Orleans and I can only imagine how happy the fans are. I hope the city recovers quickly and I hope the Saints win their game!

UPDATE- The Saints beat The Falcons! 23-3

Sunday comics

I was really into comics around 1982. It was my second year of High School and I started hanging out with like minded fans of comic books. My art sucked, but I kept trying hoping to improve. I'm still trying to improve!

My family read the NY Daily News and I read the Magazine section and the Comics! At one point I started clipping and saving a certain strip and really studying the art, and that strip was ANNIE.

Not Little orphan ANNIE, just annie, Drawn by Leonard Starr. The line looks simple enough, but it's drawn with ease and confidence! Excellent work of a bygone age. Another thing is that in the Sunday strip I've posted, you see that a number of characters not only hold, but fire guns! Not a big deal back then, but today there is an unofficial rule that weapons can't be shown in newspaper strips today. You may not have read your local Sunday paper lately, so take a look. Just corny jokes, save the violence for the front page.

Cloak and Dagger

Cloak and Dagger premiered 20 or so years ago in an issue of Spectacular Spider-Man. I thought that the pairing of a teenage blond girl and a teenage black guy was a bit ahead of it's time. The two were runaways who gained powers of light and darkness, after being injected with some strange drug. They were a hit with me, and they kept popping up in the pages of Spider-Man. After sharing space in a comic book with Doctor Strange they got their own book and the act got stale.

Cloak would be a little overbearing trying to protect Dagger. He needed her light to survive and Dagger provided it.. The book had no real supporting characters until the writer introduced a unique storyline. After fighting some villain named Ecstacy Dagger was blinded! Dealing with her lack of sight in a realistic way, like learning how to walk the street, was great reading. She learned how to fight and protect herself. She made friends other than Cloak and the art by Mike Vosberg improved with every issue.

The storyline lasted maybe a year and I remember those issues fondly.

Magazines

I subscribe to a lot of magazines and I'm constantly at the newsstand looking through anything that catches my eye. I wind up with stacks of them at my apartment and I have to make time to read them. I do read them, but I buy them because I'm looking for something. Reference.

I look at every newspaper and periodical from OK Magazine to USA Today clipping photos. Hey, there's a shot of a sinking oil rig! I'll put that in my files! Hey, there's a photo of an overturned truck! I think I'm getting nutty with reference stuff. When I draw, I want my work to look authentic, so I have to dig up that Space Shuttle ref.

So I guess I have to keep buying magazines. And keep drawing. And keep reading!

More art I admire!

As Art Director for Comiculture Magazine, I am on the mailing list of a number of Advertising industry magazines. I caught this painting in the Sept. Issue of Creativity magazine! This is a great painting by Michael Koelsch that recalls the old-fashioned Men's Mags of the 50s and it's for a Dutch beer company. How Macho! I like it!

Another win

Yesterday was a good day! I really enjoy watching football and there was some excellent games on Sunday. The Chargers won easily, The Giants had a thrilling overtime win and The Saints beat The Packers! If The Saints win 6 more games, I win my bet!