Last night's opening night for the month-long CARTOONISTAS art show was a rollickin' good time! The show is hosted by GEEKS comic shop, located in the historic Uptown Whittier section of my fair city.
GEEKS hosted the Q&A for the Uptown Whittier Film Festival screening of EL MUERTO earlier this year. Saturday evening's festivities brought it's own type of fun. All but one of the exhibiting CARTOONISTA's attended (Jose Cabrera was out of town). As usual with these type of events, my picture-taking moments were sporadic at best. But here are some shots:
WILL CAULFIELD with a digital print of his one and only BAT-BAT!
Me an' JIM LUJAN, fun-lovin' and multi-tasking animator/cartoonist.
Jim had several pieces in the show, all from his classic 'Security Man' toon. Jim's other claim to fame is that he came to me with the dream of uniting area artists into a league that would rival, well, the Mafia, in terms of impact on American culture! I was honored to co-found the Cartoonistas with him. ( Check out the Cartoonistas blog Jimmy maintains for more pix and a cool little video he made...)
Me and Steve Romo, another Whittier artist. Steve actually colored Jim's 'Security Man' pieces, using a real nice application of watercolor. You can see a couple of the pieces above us.
I created three new paintings for the show. One being the first-ever Demolition Dove painting. Appropriate to create it for an Independence Day weekend opening. And in an egg-shaped (well, okay...oval) canvas!
And in honor of their new movies, or perhaps in homage to their classic tv shows I grew up on, Speed Racer and The Incredible Hulk!
A few years ago I had the good fortune to have been contacted by an old friend of mine from my High School days. Raul teaches at a local elementary school in the area, and I've been visiting his class every June for the last three years. Last week he and his wife hosted a little get together at their home. Among the attendees was myself and a mutual friend of ours I had not seen since 1984! My best friend from Jr. High School and into High School, Elias Hernandez! Well, both Raul and Elias came to the opening. The Whittier High School Class of 1984!
Elias, (on the right) and I seemed to have seamlessly picked up where we left off 24 years ago! He still has a box of comic books he collected when I got him into comics. THE HUMAN FLY, Jack Kirby's ETERNALS, SHE-HULk, etc. Wow, the memories are crystal clear and they come flooding back. Very nice to be able to have the three of us long-time Whittier residents finally hook up at the same time again! See guys, all them comics and drawing led me to something cool!
This was a very special night for me personally, no doubt. Sure, I'm always glad to have a chance to exhibit my artwork. And to share the space with so many great artists, especially in our first Cartoonistas group show, that was really gratifying. And having friends dating back to 1980, well, it makes one glad to be alive.
By 10:30pm, everyone had finally cleared out! Here are the final five, starting from the left: Tony Saxon (a friend I met back in college, which would be about....sheesh, 1989/90!), Jennifer and Sal (Sal is another friend from High School that I ran into about 2 years ago. He and I, and a few other artists, formed an art/discussion group called Cesos!), and on the far right, Bernyce Talley (an artist herself, and a best friend to me for several years now....)
Thanks to all the artists and friends for coming out that night. And thanks to GEEKS for hosting the show. The exhibit will be up until August 3rd, so please visit the store if you can!
This is the first-ever group art show for the Cartoonistas!
The Cartoonistas is a group of San Gabriel Valley artists/cartoonists/animators that I helped co-found with my friend Jim Lujan, web-toonist extraordinaire. Jimmy had a dream to unite his fellow creative individuals from our area. Well, who am I to not help another artist with his dream of cartoon glory? We're still slowly putting the group together, but we had a chance to partner with Geeks during their 2nd Year Anniversay Sale this Independence Day Weekend so here we are! We know a great opportunity when we see one!
I'll post more about this event in a few days (I'll even include a pic of one of the new paintings I'm creating for this show!).
Blake is expertly versed in the work of Steve Ditko, of course. Not just for the last several years worth of research for his book, but he's maintained the internet's premier Steve Ditko website for 10 years. Blake talks about his first exposure to Ditko's work in the form of this 1977 pocket book reprinting the first six issues of Amazing Spider-Man.
I tell folks that the interview works so well because the guest is knowledgeable, passionate and articulate. I did indeed prepare for the show with more extensive notes than usual. Mostly to keep us both on track. There is so much to talk about in Ditko's 50-plus year career, as well as the path his choices have taken him. And to be honest, the third thing I credit for such a successful podcast is that Blake and myself are diehard fans of Steve Ditko.
One thing I wanted to make sure came across in the interview was the fact that no matter how many times Stan Lee considers himself the sole creator of Spider-Man, the fact of the matter is that two people created that character, the writer and the artist. Regardless of my admiration for Stan's work in comics, the truth about Ditko's contributions cannot be dismissed by Stan with any fanciful word play. Comic book fans would do good to get a better perspective on the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko collaboration. (And the Stan Lee/Jack KIrby collaboration, for that matter.)
Another thing I loved about doing this episode was that I had my nephew Christian hanging out with me in the studio, listening in to my interview with Blake. Well, after talking to Blake, I decided to do an impromptu interview with Christian! While he's not a comic book artist, he has picked up the art bug (From where, I don't know....). Anyway, we talked about his drawings and paintings, and even a little bit about when his Uncle J used to by him McFarlane Spawn action figures!
I'm really glad I took Christian in the studio with me. I've been hoping he'd one day accompany me, and this was a perfect episode to have him on. He's probably heard me talking about Steve Ditko for most of his 17 years!
That's the great thing about doing this radio show with the fine folks at Perspective Radio. I have carte blanche to produce the show the way I see fit. Of course my objective is to create a popular show that brings us a loyal audience, and a good amount of sponsors. But I get to have a weekly show were I talk to such a wide-variety of people creating comics in print, the web and even syndicated newspapers. And I also talk to people who create websites and books and products drawing from many aspects of the comic book culture.
Blake, thanks for providing my show with an amazing hour of interesting dialoge on one of my creative heroes.
And Christian, thanks for hanging out with Uncle J. Love ya.
My friend and occasional collaborator MORT TODD just sent me this pic:
He took a sketch of mine and finished it with his mighty brush and nuclear-powered color palette! Thanks, Mort.
Mort and I worked on the mini-comic book that's included in the EL MUERTO DVD. He finished the art and colored it in grayscale. I like working with him on projects because we have a similar enough sensibility about comics but also we have enough differences in our approaches that it always leads to a good hybrid.
Mort's got about a quarter century experience as a comics pro. His work has ranged from comics, strips, film, television and the web. I had the chance to interview him on my radio show, PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO where we talked about everything and everyone from Dan Clowes to Steve Ditko to Speed Racer!
He and I will certainly be working together again!
This past Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for the 4th Grade students at Daneil Phelan Elementary here in Whittier. I visited the class and talked to the kids about El Muerto, art, comics and film.
A few years ago, an old High School friend of mine, Raul Almada, attended one of my gallery shows in the area. I had seen him a couple of shortly after our High School days, but it had been some time since we had seen each other. I brought him up to speed on my comic book and film project, and we talked about the 'good ol' days' at Whittier High. I used to draw these little one page gags about several of our teachers, particularly coach Kelly and our geometry teacher Mr. Vickers. Well, in the years following High School, Raul had become a teacher himself. About three years ago he started to invite me to speak to his class, usually around the last week or so of school. So this past Friday's event was my third in a row.
There was Raul, or Mr. Almada, as refer to him in front of his students, decked out in his El Muerto T-shirt, awaiting my arrival. I usually arrive during the lunch hour when the kids are out on there break. Raul's wife will bring us some great lunch (Los Sanchez!) and we'll talk and catch up. It's funny, but everytime we're eating, there will be a steady stream of kids popping into the class to check out the guest. They have all kinds of excuses for entering: "I came to get some water", "I need a paper towel for my wet shoes", "I came to help Edgar get another ball"!! Of course, Raul has to firmly remind the kids to stay outside the class during the break (I mean, there are plenty of water fountains outside!). I tell Raul I'm flattered by the attention, but he brings me back to Earth by saying that they do that to anyone visiting the class!!
Well, once the bell rings and the kids come back to class, they march in and there are about 30 pairs of eyeballs staring at me! Okay, I guess I'm on! I keep my 'routine' very spontaneous, trying to tie my love of art with my early school days. This way the kids see me as someone who just like them, enjoyed drawing as a kid. Who knows, we may have a future artist in the group. They all seem pretty hip to the idea of El Muerto, as Raul has a very well worn copy of El Muerto that the kids have read beforehand. He also tells them about the funny drawings I did of our High School teachers, and the kids ask me about those too!
My favorite part is when I ask them to draw El Muerto, based on two examples I draw on the board. Every kid dives right into it, and I love seeing their final drawings. They're so eager to share it, and I can't help but be encouraging to every kid. It's always interested me that pretty much all of us at that age will draw. But as we get older, some of us will 'realize' we're not all artists and will stop drawing. Then we're left with a small group of us who are artists. I've always felt that the art skills are something we're born with, but on the other hand, too bad so many people stop pursuing any artist impulses. Of course, most people will be creative in other ways....
Near the end of the visit, Raul had the kids work on Father's Day Card to take home over the weekend. I was amazed by some of the kids who would glue their Muerto drawings in the cards! Some asked me to sign them as well. It's funny to me that there were some Dads today in Whittier that received hand-made El Muerto cards from their kids! Pretty awesome.
At one point as the kids were drawing, Raul joked to me: "Hey, you have to get a 25¢ commission everytime one of these kids draws your character". Well, I guess one little girl heard what he said, because the next thing I know, she comes up to me with a blank sheet of paper and a quarter! I felt terrible! I immediately told her that the drawings are free and gave her a quick drawing.
At the end of the visit, I gave each student a signed copy of one of the comics. One kid asked if I could sign one for his father, which I was happy to oblige. I have a great time with these visits. Sure, it allows me to talk about my work, but really, it gives a kid a chance to meet someone that is doing something creative and may spark an interest in them to do something similar. When I first arrived on the campus, one kid called out to me "Do you remember me from last year?". Of course I told him yes! But that really shows that these type of visits can leave a good impact on someone. That to me is what makes most of what I do worthwhile.
Tomorrow's guest will be talking about a book he's written on the history of James Bond's appearances in comic book and newspaper strips!
And remember, you can now subscribe to my radio show via iTunes. Just go to the iTunes store, search for PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO and hit the Subscribe button! Each new episode will be delivered directly to your iTunes library once it's posted on the show's website.
After seeing the new SPEED RACER film, and absolutely loving the film, I knew I had to contact Peter Fernandez and ask him for an interview. Well, he happily agreed! After I woke up from my feinting spell, I had to email some friends and share the news.
I've been lucky enough to meet some of my childhood favorites in terms of comics and such: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, John Romita, Mil Mascaras, Roddy Piper, Adam West, among others. So I am so glad to at least have the opportunity to talk to the man who not only voiced Speed Racer (and Racer X) but also wrote the scripts and directed the episodes. Remember, SPEED RACER came from Japan as MACH GO GO GO, so Peter had to translate all the episodes and get his small group of actors to voice the roles. So I will be very interested in asking him how all this was accomplished.
Back in the early-mid 70s, when I first caught the series, I was immediately captivated by the show: the characters and the outlandish car races. So it goes without saying that I'm so grateful that, in my role as show host, I can interview the man (and try to not geek out too much)! Anyways, please tune in on Tuesday, May 27 at 5pm (Pacific Time) if you can...
It was reported this week that comic book artist Gene Colan, whose career spans from the late '40s to today, has been reported as being in a serious medical condition. Liver failure and related complications, according to his wife. For the past week the comics community has been reporting on the story, and the call has gone out for assistance for the Colans. Apparantly, they don't have medical insurance (or adequate), and the mounting medical bills are pretty daunting.
Gene has done so much work for the various comics companies over the decades, but I think it's fair to say that his most memorable work includes work on DAREDEVIL, CAPTAIN AMERICA, DR. STRANGE and IRON MAN at Marvel in the 1960s and TOMB OF DRACULA and HOWARD THE DUCK in the 70s. He's worked on BATMAN, SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN at DC and also for various publishers such as Dark Horse and Eclipse in the 80s and 90s. He's even done occasional stories for Marvel on DAREDEVIL in the last several years.
When I was started reading comics in the 70s, my older brother gave me a box of his books he had bought in the late 60s/1970. Among those were several books by Colan; DAREDEVIL and CAPTAIN AMERICA, among others. His style stood out (and he was competing with Kirby, John Romita, John Buscema among others!) to my puny little eyeballs even then. His figures would often looks like swooshes of limbs propelling across the panels, the compositions featuring dynamic and innovative angles and perspectives. And when stationary, his characters had a life to them, their body language and facial expressions telling us all we needed to know.
HOWARD THE DUCK was one of my favorite books as a kid, probably because it was so different. A freakin' talking duck in the Marvel Universe! And at the same time Gene was drawing his waddling, cigar-smoking curmudgeon of a duck, he was also drawing the most ungodly horror book of the day, Marvel's TOMB OF DRACULA! Dracula was all flowing cape and billowing smoke, his persona a combination of unrelenting evil and power. Simultaneously drawing a duck and the Lord of the Undead...month after month! And no matter what he drew, Gene made each character believable. Humor, superhero or horror. When Gene drew those characters, they really lived on the page. Beyond it, actually. Unbelievable.....
A couple of things we can do to help: To make a donation to the Colans for help with medical expenses, you can Paypal some funds to Gene Colan's Paypal account at: genecolan@optonline.net (I sent a small donation myself the other day)
And/or you can send a card to Gene at: 2 Sea Cliff Avenue, Sea Cliff, NY 11579
A few words of support or appreciation could provide a nice comfort.
Obviously, we all hope that Mr. Colan recovers from his ailment. It was reported yesterday at writer Clifford Meth's blog that Marvel is making arrangements with Colan's wife Adrienne "to provide some immediate and long-term relief". That was wonderful news. Gene has always been there for Marvel, year-after-year, book by book. I applaud Marvel for helping out one of their legendary artists. Gene, in my own opinion, has to rank up there with Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita and John Buscema as one of the pillars of Marvel classic artists.
Gene 'The Dean' Colan (as Stan Lee used to call him).... We're rooting for you man!
It's still amazing to me to see shows and comic books I loved as a young kid being made into multi-million dollar films. The most recent one I saw was SPEED RACER. And judging by the opening weekend box-office, there wasn't too many people watching (relatively speaking, of course!)
SPEED RACER was, and still is, probably my favorite cartoon show of all time (if you don't count the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes shorts). As a kid I would be in awe of the high speed chases, the dastardly villians, the mysterious Racer X and of course Speed Racer and his family. The show really was about a family, after all.
Because the filmmakers focused on the family apsect of Speed, I think this is what made the movie work for me. Mind you, I was not a big Wachowski Bros. fan. I saw the first MATRIX film and thought it was good...except for the stoic people walking around in black sunglasses and black trenchcoats for 2 hours! So I never saw MATRIX 2 and 3..... But I saw SPEED RACER for Speed Racer. When I first heard about the film, I thought the casting choices were really well chosen. And the Mach 5! Geez, is there a cooler car in the whole world? (The Adam West Batmobile and James Bond's Aston Martin DB4 come very close!). I'll admit though, when I saw the first images for the RACER movie I was a little put off. The night scenes with the huge neon lit racing track caused me some concern. Was this film going to be too dark and hyper kinetic?
But the draw of the movie was too much to pass up. I had to at least see the film. Well, the film really surprised me in all the best ways. First off, I was really surprised to see how well the dramatic family moments in the film came off. There are a lot of great dynamics in the film: Pops Racer's relationship with his two sons, Mom Racer and Speed, Speed and his younger brother. And the nice romance with Speed and Trixie. Real heartfelt family ties.
And the action of course, as I watched it, literally emulated the action in the cartoon series. The Mach 5 flying through the air with it's Jumper Jacks, Speed zipping his car along the most impossible routes imaginable. Right out of the TV show. The look of the movie reminded me of DICK TRACY with the MATRIX. I was probably thinking, originally, that the film would have looked like it took place in a world most closely resembling ours. But watching the movie, I think the Wachowskis took the right approach in creating a whole world to match the TV show. Here, Speed Racer's world looks like a brand new anime/video game. And the car chases were right out of the cartoon, racing along deserts and icy mountains and gigantic palaces!
It's a shame that the movie has performed so poorly at the box office. But as a lifetime Speed Racer fan, I am glad to see a great adaptation on the big screen.
STUMPTOWN in Portland was only my second out-of-state show, and like that previous WIZARD WORLD TEXAS, I had a great time at the convention and in the city.
I left LA on Friday around Noon and arrived in beautiful Portland, Oregon at about 3:30pm. My good friend Jason Martin picked me up and from there it was a non-stop 5 days of tourism, conventioneering and talkin’ comics! I’m glad I took the extra days to spend time in Portland, because what usually happens whenever I do any show in a city that’s not my own is I never really get to enjoy the location outside the exhibition centers, other than the inevitable dinners with friends and fellow artists.
Even as my plane descended on the city, I could see the lush forests and greenery surrounding Portland, that in itself was pleasant. Jason’s a great tour guide, as he’s been a resident in the area all of his life. Two things that floored me immediately where the fact that A) there is no sales tax in Oregon and B) you do not pour your own gas into your car!!!
Good-bye LA, hello Portland!!
We capped off that Friday with a huge Mexican meal and a pitcher of strawberry margaritas, then headed back to his home where we watched a DVD his wife had recently purchased…C.H.U.D. Luckily, we had some homemade cocktails to get us through that one!
So the next morning we hit the convention Downtown. I was surprised by the rather large exhibit hall, and even more so later when I would see rows upon rows of artists occupying those tables. By mid-Saturday, the room was packed with fans filling up every single isle. This show, like the A.P.E. in San Francisco, was comprised of true Independent/indie artists. From mini-comics and zines, to traditionally printed comics, all the books were created by independent creatos and publishers. There were people selling sreenprinted comics, T-shirts and even stuffed toys. The roller-skating fan got around pretty good!
I got to see several friends of mine, including local resident Ethan Nicolle, who’s new series, CHUMBLE SPUZZ has found a home with Slave Labor Graphics. And Stan Yan made the trek all the way from Colorado to attend the show! Stan’s another great creator I’ve know for quite some years now, mostly through San Diego Comic Con. Both of these gents will definitely be guests on my show in the near future.
It’s interesting, Portland is divided by the Willamette River. Both sides of the city are connected by numerous bridges every several blocks. So it shouldn’t have been too surprising that there were two Jason Martins exhibiting at the show! One for each side of the city?
Jason, being local and all, was able to bring his full line of display fixtures to maximize his presence. I was able to interview him on my radio show the previous week, helping to publicize his appearance and the debut of a new book he’s publishing, GNOME, by cartoonist David Dwonch (who was also on my radio show).
Me, I was able to spead out my twin creations, EL MUERTO and DEMOLITION DOVE across all 8’ of table space. I had Muerto comics, buttons and DVDs, and also the new Demolition Dove Preview Book available.
I even had some of the limited edition sketch covers of the Preview Book, and couldn’t resist doing at least one El Muerto/Dove 'cross-over'image!
Good thing too, as one of my biggest fans made the trek from Washington to see me at the show. Good ol’ ‘Juny’! And his friend Brice (black hat) came down as well, whose turned into a big Demolition Dove fan (he loves the Punisher, so the gun-toting Dove gwets his approval). These guys were really fun to talk to, and it’s very nice that Juny’s mother brought them down to visit.
DEMOLTION DOVE got the usual hoped for reaction , an incredulous smile. But the interesting thing was, since no one really was familiar with me or El MUERTO, I didn’t get the ‘whoa, you came up with this?” reaction I would get when I debuted the new book in the LA area!
The show overall was very well attended, particularly on Saturday. Admittedly, I wish I had sold more product, but then again, one thing I’ve learned over the years is that sometimes you have to be a repeat exhibitor to start getting people’s attention. I had already planned to attend next year’s Stumptown, and nothing that weekend changed my mind.
Like I mentioned earlier, I’m glad I took the time to stay in Portland a few extra days. Thanks to Jason and Tami for having me in their home, and to their little Chihuahua Choco for warming up to me in record time!
Jason took me around and out-of-town on Monday to sample the sights. Among the great locations were local burger chain BURGERVILLE, Multnomah Falls, a state-of-the-art dam and even a quick drive into Washington.
Later that evening Tami joined us for dinner at P. F. Chang’s and then we spent a couple of hours at the word’s biggest bookstore, POWELLS. I kid you not, this place occupies one city block, is four stories tall, and is divided into nine rooms!! Sheesh, their art/film/music department is as big as some bookstores I’ve been in!!
Those five days went so quick, to be honest. I wouldn’t have minded staying there longer, but it was time to get back to Whittier. I sure would consider staying in Portland over a summer. It’s a beautiful city, rich with artists and cartoonists, and I’ve got several friends in the area. And it would be nice to skip out one of LA’s sweltering hot, smog-filled summers!
I flew back into LAX later that Tuesday. And who better to great me there, after spending the whole weekend with Super Real creator Jason Martin? Well, howzabout Sonambulo creator Rafael Navarro?! Complete with Arriving Passenger sign…
I will be participating at the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event at THE COMIC BUG in Manhattan Beach on Saturday from 12-4pm. Big group of artists/creators will be there, so it should be fun for all. Come on down and get free comics!!!
Here's the list of participants. There will also be a screening of THE ROCKETEER! Sam Sarker (writer, Caliber) Dave Wilkins (cover artist, Caliber) Phil Ortiz (artist, The Simpsons) Scott Koblish (artist/inker, Marvel Adventures: Iron Man) Joshua Dysart (writer, Buddha, BPRD: 1946) Rafael Navarro (artist, Sonambulo, TV's Spectacular Spider-Man) Robbi Rodriguez (artist, Maintenance, Hazed, Tek Jansen) Javier Hernandez (artist/creator, El Muerto) Ted Seko (artist, Billy Cole, TV's SpongeBob Squarepants) Ray Anthony-Height (artist, Spider-Man Family, Noble Causes) Danny Miki & Crime Lab Studios (inkers extraordinaire, New Avengers & more) Norm Rapmund (inker, Supergirl) Michael Aushenker (writer, Gumby, Back Issue) Mel Smith (editor, Gumby) Ryan Winn (inker, The Darkness) Jose Cabrera (artist/writer, Crying Macho Man) Lord Mesa (artist, Chibi hero art) Brett Nance (artist, Spazz, Manboy) Michael Delipine (letterer, Grimm Fairy Tales)
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