Bat-Mania on PCBR August 19!

Check out the Bat-Blog!!

ROM, SpaceKnight...He lives! He walks! He conquers!

Yep, it finally happened! I got my hands on a ROM action figure today!!



Alas....it was only for a short while......

My friend Michael Aushenker, (cartoonist, writer, bon vivant) has a major article on the 1970s Marvel Comic ROM, Spaceknight coming up in the January issue of BACK ISSUE. He was looking for a good photo to accompany his article and I informed him that our mutual friend Steve Ross had an actual ROM toy in his collection. ROM, the toy, apparently bombed when it came out, but the Marvel Comic book based on the property continued on for over 5 years!! The series was written by Bill Mantlo with art by Marvel Bronze Age mainstay, Sal Buscema, then later by Silver Age legend Steve Ditko.
The book was definitely a favorite of mine when I was in my formative comic collecting days. The character design was unique in it's day, and the story of a man becoming a cyborg and sacrificing himself to save his planet, and traveling to Earth to eradicate the evil Dire Wraiths was for me more exciting than any sci-fi movie could be at the time (sorry STAR WARS!!).

But I digress....

So Mike contacted Steve Ross and asked if we could shoot his Rom figure. Steve said yes and so me and Mike traveled to Pasadena to meet Steve at the bookstore he works at and began to photograph Rom right there at the desk where the store does there presentations and signings!



As a kid I never saw a Rom in any store. Only the ad in the comic would taunt me and torture me for decades....



One of the really cool things about the Rom comic was whenever Rom exposed one of the Dire Wraiths hiding amongst the human race he would vaporize them with his Neutralizer! HE EXTERMINATED AN EVIL ALIEN RACE...in a kids comic!! (Okay, so he was really just vanquishing the Wraiths to Limbo, never to return again. But the way the Wraiths would fear the Neutralizer and the screams of horror they would utter when 'neutralized' was spectacular!!). The original Terminator folks: half-man/half-machine and 100% exterminator!!



It's nice to grow up and be able to give something back to the great times one had growing up as a fan. I was able to give my own homage to Rom when I contributed a pin-up to a Rom gallery show in Portland last December.



And I was fortunate enough to interview writer Bill Mantlo's brother Mike on my radio show in January. So, to all the Rom fans out there (and I know they are out there, like so many Dire Wraiths, waiting, waiting....), enjoy this little tribute to Rom, the greatest of the SpaceKnights!




YouTube ROM toy trailer!


And here's a brief clip of a song 'ROM, Spaceknight" by HB3! Go to iTunes and buy the song!!


Me, my friend Michael and our ol' buddy, Rom! (I'll remind you folks when Mike's Rom article comes out!)

Thanks to Steve Ross for sharing his cool toy with us! And great lunch, eh?

BALDO writer HECTOR CANTU on my radio show

I'm a guest 'panelist' on TALK OBJECTIVISM radio

I'll be returning as a guest to TALK OBJECTIVISM today at 5 pm (PST). Today I will be joined by author Blake Bell (Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko) and my friend Mort Todd, who hired Ditko when he was the Editor-in-Chief of CRACKED magazine, as well as an editor at Marvel!

I was actually on the show last week as well. I was only going to preview today's episode but I ended up talking about Ditko for over an hour!

TALK OBJECTIVISM is a show dedicated to the philosophy founded by Ayn Rand, of which Ditko has been a follower of for decades. I had emailed the host of the show, Jason Mosley, and told him about Steve Ditko. He invited me to come on his show and talk about Dikto's work (Ditko co-created Spider-Man with writer Stan Lee) and how he's incorporated Objectivism in his comics.

Here's the link to last week's episode:
It's episode 071.


If you want to listen to today's episode, just click on the above link. You can even join the Chat Room with a quick registration and participate in the show.



And here's acclaimed comic book writer Alan Moore talking about a song he once performed based on Steve Ditko and his legendary creation, MR. A!

CARTOONISTAS meeting on Friday night was extremely fun and eventful!

On Friday night, Aug. 8, we held a meeting of the CARTOONISTAS, a local group that I co-founded with animator/cartoonist Jim Lujan. Our goal was to create an art group of sorts, or a gathering of area artists brought together as a networking tool. Really though, it's more fun to describe it as a cartoonist clubhouse!

Anyways, we held a meeting at the offices where my radio show is podcast from. Since we were all gathering that eveing, Jim Lujan suggested a hold a live podcast with the Cartoonistas as the guests! Well, I wholeheartedly took Jimmy's idea and viola! We had a special Friday night party edition of PCBR! The episode will be posted up at the PCBR website this coming week, but in the meantime enjoy this little behind-the-scenes clip of the 'Toonistas crashing in on my interview with Ms. Bernyce Talley! (And find out how the modern radio host operates off of a Mac instead of a Wolfman Jack-style studio with headphones, microphones, misc. equipment, etc. etc.)


Thanks to Jim for recording the clip!

Check out the Cartoonistas blog for more pix and even more exclusive behind-the-scenes video!

Super special PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO podcast this Friday!

First time I've done two PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO shows in one week! And it will be my 4th radio appearance this week!!!

I'll be interviewed live on Thursday at 4pm

I will be interviewed live on Kevin Cross's Blogcast on Thursday, August 7 at 4pm (Pacific Time). An added bonus will be that you can either call in or participate in the chatroom while the interview is going on!

Kevin Cross is the cartoonist who I just interviewed on my radio show this past Tuesday! (As of this post, the interview hasn't been added to our website yet).
Kevin's Blogcast is new, he's got four episodes under his belt. He puts on a pretty good little show, though. He'll talk about his current comics projects, but also has a feature spotlighting urban monsters and another segment where he talks about classic animated shows like THUNDARR and MIGHTY MIGHTOR! And being a musician, Kevin has all kinds of music throughout his episodes.

I'll be his first interviewed guest, so that's pretty cool. And it's funny to me that two days after I had him on my show, I'll be the subject on his show!

His show is hosted on TALK SHOE.COM, the same outfit that hosts the TALK OBJECTIVISM show I was a guest on this past Sunday (Episode 071). It's a simple matter to register for the show, which allows you to listen and interact with the live podcasts. If you want to hear my interview live, and ask me any questions, log on about 10 minutes before show time and register. It's a quick, simple process.

My appearance on TALK OBJECTIVISM

Well, here's a different type of appearance for me!

I was a guest on TALK OBJECTIVISM, a podcast that discusses the philosophy founded by Ayn Rand (author of THE FOUNTAINHEAD and ATLAS SHRUGGED). How, and why, was I a guest on the show? Glad you asked!

As readers of this blog probably know, I'm a big fan or Steve Ditko (his Spider-Man is shown above). Ditko, besides being one of comic's true great talents, has been a follower of Objectivism for most of his life. Much of that philosophy has found it's way into his comic book work, particularly his independent/self-published work (MR. A being a prime example). Over the years I've always been curious about Objectivism, since it's been such a prevalent influence in Ditko's work. When Blake Bell, the author of STRANGE AND STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO appeared on my radio show, some of the questions I asked him were about the Randian influence in Ditko's work.

In the interest of learning more about Objectivism, I found the TALK OBJECTIVISM site and started listening to the podcast via iTunes for the last couple of weeks. I immediately found the show interesting because of the host, Jason Mosley. I was hoping the host wouldn't be some stuffy, pedantic, academic stiff, because that would put me to sleep. Mosley is a graphic artist, who maintains a blog about bacon (!), he's a tech-nerd, and even does an online comic-strip. He's what I call a regular guy (only a comic-creating, blogging geek like me would think that, right?!). He's been into Objectivism for about 4 years, and is learning as he goes along. So for me, his view on the philosophy, while he's dedicated to it, is coming from the point of view of someone finding his way into it. As there are things about Objectivism that don't fit in with my world view, I can listen to his show without feeling preached to about the philosophy.



So anyway, I emailed him to tell him all this, and asked him if he was aware of Steve Ditko. I gave him some background on Ditko's work on Spider-Man and his own Objectivist heroes like The Question and Mr. A. Mosley was quite interested in all of this, and soon we are talking about me appearing on his show to talk about Steve Ditko! I was happy to do it, of course. Not because I fancy myself a Steve Ditko expert, or even a representative, but I figured I knew enough about Ditko's history to lend my opinions and share some knowledge. Plus for me it was an opportunity to appear on a talk show and not necessarily promote my own work (not that I'm shy about that!). As a Ditko fan, I thought it would allow me to expose more people to his work, and that gives me satisfaction.



So anyway, I spoke on the show yesterday, and it's now available on the TALK SHOE site as Episode 071 (you can also download via iTunes). I had a really great time talking on the show with Jason and his regular guest Arthur. They were genuinely interested in Ditko's work. Plus it allowed me to talk with them about various philosophical issues, and some political talk. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

By the way, I'm going to be on the show again next Sunday, this time with Blake Bell making an appearance! I'll be there to ask Blake some questions specifically how Ditko's Objectivist views shaped his run on The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as how it affected his other work.

In the meantime though, I have to get ready for my own guest on my own show tomorrow!

Cartoonist/Musician KEVIN CROSS interview

Comic Con 2008- I MADE IT!!!

Well, a last-minute turn of events enabled me to make it to the San Diego Comic Con after all. Not as an exhibitor of course, but as an old-fashioned fan. Really though, the main thing I wanted to do was catch up with friends. Oh, and attending Blake Bell's Steve Ditko panel was another priority! Here is my report....One week later....

I arrived in San Diego late Saturday, about an hour before the Ditko panel.
Actually, as soon as I got off the bus in front of the Con, I ran into three friends I knew! One guy introduced to his friend, and after I introduced myself this person realized I was the guy who created EL MUERTO, which delighted both of us! I have to say, despite not being able to exhibit, and knowing I was only going to be at Con for less than 10 total hours, walking in the front doors always gives me a big rush. I attended Con for about 6 years until I became an exhibitor, so unlike many publishers/cartoonists I have memories of San Diego far beyond trying to sell books (which I love doing, of course).

Once inside, I tracked down some friends at their Small Press tables and then made my way to the Ditko panel. I introduced myself to Blake Bell, telling him that he was a guest on my radio show a few weeks back. (Thanks to Blake for mentioning me on his Comic Con report!). His panel included artist Jim Starlin, Marvel editor Carl Potts, Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth and Kim Deitch. All had good insights and stories about Dikto. After the panel I made my way down to the floor and visited more friends.

One of the other main reasons for attending the Con was to make our annual trip to Old Town after the show. We've been going for years now, a whole group of cartoonists and friends and spouses making our way to a secret location for a feast of Mexican food and pitchers of strawberry margaritas! In an outdoor patio to boot! It's really at this dinner that I get such a sense of euphoria of being involved in the comics biz. Just sharing great moments with some really good friends; some new, some I've known for a longer while.


Ms. Bernyce Talley and I bump into each other...


Two cartoonist pals of mine, CRYING MACHO MAN Jose Cabrera and SQUIDWORKS' Stan Yan (both are former guests of my radio show as well!)



Alex here is a long-time fan and friend I met at Comic Con some years ago.



Jose and his wife Blanca have just moved to San Diego from Chicago. How convenient is that? I originally met Jose a few years ago when I had a Message Board at El Muerto.com. We had never met before in person until earlier at the convention center. He's always been an extremely supportive fan, and I always had a good sense of him as a person just by his posting on my Board. When we met we carried on like we've been friends for years. Which we have, actually!

The next day at the Con I had more time to actually visit more people and check out more of the Exhibit Hall. One side of the hall seemed to be comprised of more-or-less comic book related exhibitors. Small Press, Publishers, comic book retailers, etc. The
other side if hall hosted more of the media outfits like movie studios, cable networks, video game makers, toy companies, etc. And this is the side that was choked with 1000s of people blocking the isles and trying to get glimpses of movie props or grab the freebies being handed out! I swear this place was unmanageable when I walked through it!


I did manage to take this pic of the IRON MONGER from IRON MAN. Geez, imagine if this thing started going berserk amongst all the people!



I saw this Boba Fett (or is it Jango??) and tried to take his picture, but then he stormed off! Oh well, if he's reading this: I don't care about Star Wars anyway!!


What I do care about is the old Adam West BATMAN, represented here by the Batcycle. You younger fans can have your Batpod or whatever it's called in the DARK KNIGHT!


My good friend Jason Martin of SUPER REAL fame. Jason's expanding his publishing interests with a line of books created by other cartoonists, but published under his SUPER REAL PRESENTS brand. Me and Jason have bounced around the idea of me publishing one of my new creations under his brand. But that's just one of many, many things we talk about. You never know.....


Long-time friend and cartoonist compadre Michael Aushenker wonders how he got bamboozled covering the CRYING MACHO MAN table!



Taking a well-deserved break with Grasiela(L) and Tammy(R)....




I was very happy to finally meet New Jersey's powerhouse Puerto Rican comics/podcast mogul, Samuel Vera! Sammy and I exchanged visits on one another's podcast earlier this year, and I wrote the intro to his THERE'S AN ALIEN IN MY TOILET traderpaperback....He told me when he received it that it brought a little tear to his wife! Awww, that's sweet!



Ran into the Space Pope in Small Press and went into Good Catholic-mode!


Chris Wisnia, creator of DORIS DANGER and TABLOAI, has charmed his way to a guest slot on PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO in the near future!

Like I said, I had a great time seeing old friends and new friends. The plan is to apply for a talbe early, early, early...... But for now, the memories I made at this year's Comic Con will hold me over for awhile.

See you there next year!

My in-studio interview with 10 WORLDS STUDIO

Now up at the PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO website is my interview with the creators of LAZARUS:IMMORTAL COILS.


L to R: Editor Vincent S. Moore, penciller Alex Lugo, creator/writer Joseph Gauthier and your humble and happy radio host...ME!!

I had met Alex a few months earlier at the local comic book show I helped organize through the NUVEIN FOUNDATION (backers of my radio show). Alex is a local here in the San Gabriel Valley, and so I extended him and invitation to appear on the show.

He brought along Joseph and Vincent, this way we could have the principal creative team of the comic book. Beforehand, I wondered how this would turn out, because I hadn't had three guests all on at the same time. Plus I had not really met Joe and Vince before, and only met Alex briefly at the festival.

Turns out though that these three folks were tremendously entertaining and informative. They not only joined me in going over my weekend at Comic Con (I promise I will blog about that over this weekend!), but we spent 70 minutes talking about all kinds of issues related to the business and craft of comics! Topics that were discussed included Hollywood's love affair with the Con and comic book properties, spirituality, Jesus Christ, collaborating with others, the dedication needed for self-publishing and on and on. They even got a few words in there about their own comic book!!



Seriously though, I was really happy with this show. I hadn't had an in-studio guest for a few episodes, and to have three really interesting people all at one was wonderful. The three of them are pretty close in terms of friendship as well as philosophically, and the synergy they demonstrated was genuine and inspiring. I think we could have gone on for another half hour, but it's always good to leave 'more for next time'!

So thanks to Joe, Vince and Alex for coming on the show and sharing their passion for comics! (Now my next guest better not be a killjoy!!)

Let me share a little behind-the-scenes of the radio show. Usually, with the in-studio guests, we head over to a local Mexican restaurant for a post-show dinner. Well, the four of us continued the tradition and the energy level actually went up! What happens at these dinners is more shop talk, but really uncensored!! If the guest isn't too familiar with me, they'll usually ask me about my comics and the EL MUERTO movie. We'll also get to know more about one another on a more personal basis, but as I mentioned, we usually discuss more private matters about our work and industry issues! To be professional on the podcast, we save this stuff for outside the studio. (Avoids lawsuits, no doubt!)

Well, with that little tidbit, I guess I'll sign of the blog for now!!!

Trailer for XOMIX COMIX imprint!

So here's the trailer I debuted earlier this evening on my radio show. It's for the co-publishing venture I'm doing with my friend Ted Seko, XOMIX COMIX. This will be the imprint I'll be publishing DEMOLITION DOVE under. Ted's new character will be ZOMBIE MAN ZERO.

Look for the debut book from XOMIC COMIX in the Fall! For now, enjoy this great video!

New, post-Earthquake episode of my radio show!

San Diego Comic Con...here I come!!

Well, I originally wasn't going to attend Comic Con (which is why I haven't posted about it!) but it turns out through some good fortune I will indeed be attending Comic Con!

I'll be there by Saturday afternoon, just hanging out and checking in with several of my friends in the Small Press Pavilion. I also want to attend the Steve Ditko panel, hosted by Blake Bell.
Saturday July 26: 5:30-6:30pm, Room 4
"World of Steve Ditko" panel featuring Jim Starlin, Kim Deitch, Gary Groth, Dean Mullaney, Liana K. and Carl Potts.

As I mentioned, I wasn't planning on attending the Convention this year. The cut-off time to order a table came and went just way to quick for me! 'Early bird gets the worm' nowadays at Comic Con, that's for sure. The show has just grown beyond the capacity of the Convention Center in the last couple of years, and if you don't jump on getting an exhibitor table, or even an attendee badge, you might get shut out.

But I'm sure glad to be going! I actually like attending the show as a 'spectator', believe it or not. I think the first show I attended was about 1992, and went every year up to 1998, when I started exhibiting under LOS COMEX. And doing the Con as an exhibitor is also fun and exciting in it's own way. But being able to walk the vast cavern of the Exhibit Floor and checking out assorted panels ,well, that's fun. I know a lot of my fellow exhibitors wouldn't go out of there way to attend the shows if they're not working it. And that's fine for them. But for me, I still have that love for not only the comics, but the whole crazy culture of comics. To be able to walk a floor and look for inexpensive 1970s back issues, or find bobble heads of characters like Speed Racer of the Banana Splits, or running into old friends, well, how could I not like that!

I'll share my weekend at the Con, with the all-important photos, when I get back. Look for the post by Wednesday or so next week!

'Rowdy' Roddy Piper is a COBRA agent?!

This is too dang cool not to blog about!



Apparently, Roddy Piper was made into an action figure for the G.I. Joe Real American Hero line!! This was released last year as an exclusive convention special. Only 1000 were made! Piper appeared at the convention to sign the figures. I have no idea how Hasbro came to approach wrestling icon Piper to become an agent of the international terrorist organization, COBRA, but how freakin' cool is that!! I know Sgt. Slaughter was part of the toy line back in the 80s, so I guess it was time to have another wrestler in the line!




Soon as I found out about this the other night, I jumped on eBay but was crushed to discover the figure is selling for over $200!! Man, I would so love to get one of these, but I ain't paying a couple of hundred bucks for one!



Piper, it goes without saying, is my favorite wrestlers. I used to watch him as kid back in the mid-70s, when he'd be wrestling in LA on the Spanish stations, waging war on the entire Guerrero Family! Then of course, in the 80s, when Vince McMahon was able to turn wrestling into a mainstream entertainment business, there was Roddy Piper battling against champ Hulk Hogan (and really, what would Hogan have been like if he didn't have such a superstar to fight against?). Piper brought wrestling right into the mainstream by feuding with Mr. T and kicking Cindy Lauper in the head on MTV!!!

Ah Roddy, you were the best!

STRANGE AND STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO review

Blake Bell's new biography on Steve Ditko is a long-overdue retrospective on one of comic's most imaginative creators and true iconoclasts. "STRANGE AND STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO" takes us on a 216 page odyssey covering Ditko's 50+ years in the comics business. And every step of the way we're following the path of an artist whose independent streak remains unfaltering year after year.

A few years ago Fantagraphics co-publisher Gary Groth approached Bell with the idea of producing a monograph on Ditko, immediately after Bell had conducted a successful panel on Ditko at the 2002 San Diego Comic Con. Blake soon began researching a subject who hasn't given any formal interviews, or made any appearances at comic conventions, since the late 1960s.

The end result is this exceptionally written book detailing the professional career of one very private individual. Beginning with Dikto's early life in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the book details young Steve's love of comic books (Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT, The Batman) and his development as the class artist. Comics were all Ditko really wanted to do, and by the early 1950s Ditko is working in New York as a professional comic book artist. Some 10 years later, in 1962, he and Stan Lee co-create create The Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.

The chapter dealing with Spider-Man is probably my favorite part of the book. If only because of Bell's analysis of all aspects of the creation of the strip, guided so strongly by Ditko himself, and for best portrait we have on how the partnership began to grow increasingly difficult to maintain. It's Ditko's steadfast belief in fighting for what he believes to be right that made him stand up to Stan Lee and demand he get the plotting credit on the book, in addition to the art credit. The 'Marvel Method' in which the early books were created would often involve no more than a suggestion of a storyline from Stan, at which point Steve would basically create a whole 28 page comic book from scratch. Stan would afterwards write the actual dialog and add the captions, endowing the book with much of it's success. The day came though when Ditko turned in his last pages and walked off the book, the reasons put forward by Bell.

The co-creation status of Ditko on Spider-Man has long been a point of contention between the two legends. Lee often claiming sole 'creator' status for coming up with the initial idea, Ditko maintaining that as the person who came up with all the visual elements (costumes, physical appearances, gimmicks, etc), co-creator credit is an indisputable fact. Regardless of whatever Stan Lee believes, his very own Marvel Method gives validation to Ditko's claims, (and Jack Kirby's, for that matter) of co-creating the characters he worked on with Stan Lee. As young kid in the 70s, when I read Stan Lee's ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, I immediately realized that the Lee-Kirby-Ditko partnerships were responsible for creating the original Marvel universe. To dispute that is intellectual dishonesty.


© Fantagraphics Books 2008.

After Spider-Man, Ditko continued to work in comics, creating characters such as The Creeper, Hawk & Dove and Shade the Changing Man for DC and working on Captain Atom, The Blue Beetle and The Question for Charlton (these three would later inspire Alan Moore's creation of the Watchman). For Ditko though, he would never work on as high-profile an assignment as Spider-Man. Bell's book chronicles Ditko's adherence to the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand and how the decisions he made regarding work, and even the way in which he would tell his stories, have had a hand in taking Dikto further away from the comic book spotlight.




An unexpected and welcome account in the book chronicles Frank Miller's contacts with Ditko to collaborate on a project. My friend Mort Todd, who in his capacity as Editor-in-Chief of CRACKED Magazine hired Ditko as an artist, and again at Marvel on a line of Marvel horror reprint books in the early 90s, also shows up in a chapter.



The majority of Ditko's career is formed by his Objectivist views, and Bell covers this in detail, providing the reader with an understanding, and critique, of Ditko's career choices. But also, the book spotlights the virtuosity of Steve Ditko the artist. With a rich variety of artwork covering everything from many rare pieces (Ditko's 1970s contributions to the San Diego Comic Con program) to the landmark iconic imagery of Spider-Man and Mr. A, this book also functions as an exquisite coffee table book. With virtually every page containing artwork from Ditko's entire career, the visual power of his inventive cartooning and design skills are really why Ditko is in the upper pantheon of comic book artists.

If you're interested in comic books, you owe it to yourself to read about this iconic practitioner of the art form. And if you consider yourself an independent artist, or thinker, then I would suggest to read about this man who steadfastly stood by his core values, regardless of the cost to him socially or professionally. A man who co-created on of the top three comic book characters of all time. And a man whose artwork is teaming with innovation and imagination.



FYI: I had the good fortune to interview Blake Bell on my radio show, PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO, a few weeks ago. You can listen to it here.

CARTOONISTAS Opening Night-wrap up

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:

GRASIELA RODRIGUEZ with her Punisher painting!



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!

New DEMOLITION DOVE painting for CARTOONISTAS show