Ed Wood has risen from the grave!

In yesterday's post, I gave an overview of the life, and tragic ending, of filmmaker Ed Wood. Today I'd like to catalog the series of events that have helped propelled Ed from forgotten Hollywood has-been to cult film icon.

Ed Wood died on December 10, 1978. Having worked in Hollywood since 1947, his passing went relatively unnoticed in the press. By then though, some of his films had received rotation on television, featured on late night screenings and weekend 'Creature Feature'-type shows. When his films did air, Ed would happily call friends at all hours of the day to let them know one of his movies was playing.


In 1980, Harry and Michael Medved published their book THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS, in which they had asked their readers of their previous book, THE 50 WORST FILMS OF ALL TIME, to name the Worst Film Of All Time. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE was the winning Worst Film Of All Time with Ed himself awarded the Worst Director label. These 'awards' clearly helped spread much wider interest in Ed's entire oeuvre, sparking revival screenings and tributes to his work.


The 1982 comedy film IT CAME FROM HOLLYWOOD featured clips of forgotten B-movies, exploitation films and other shlock productions.  One of the segments, hosted by John Candy, lampooned the films of  Ed Wood, showing clips from PLAN 9 and GLEN OR GLENDA. While not a positive tribute, many more people were introduced to the work of Ed Wood.




In 1989, British TV host Jonathon Ross featured an episode on Ed Wood on his INCREDIBLY STRANGE PICTURE SHOW. The program featured interviews with Dolores Fuller (Ed's former girlfriend and actress in some of his films) as well as other Ed Wood cast members like Paul Marco, Maila Nurmi (Vampira) and Gregory Walcott. Really the first filmed production to try to present Ed Wood in a better light, with interviews with people who actually knew and worked with him. The film offers a quick sketch of the man and his work.

In 1990, the publishers of CULT MOVIES MAGAZINE, Buddy Barnett and Mike Copner, produced a movie called ON THE TRAIL OF ED WOOD, featuring one of Ed's loyal friend, Conrad Brooks. While shot with minimal production values, the documentary features an hour long interview with Conrad sharing his fond memories of his friendship and working relationship with Ed. I really enjoy this film as it presents Ed as a real human being who loved making his movies, especially when surrounded by his close network of friends. One of my favorite parts is when Conrad describes the time when he started to realize PLAN 9 was being revived as a cult film, with himself being invited to film screenings at festivals. The film doesn't appear to be available to view online, but you can currently find inexpensive copies via the web.

FLYING SAUCERS OVER HOLLYWOOD: THE PLAN 9 COMPANION, a documentary film released in 1992, provided a two hour behind-the-scenes look on the creation and influence of Ed's most famous film, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. A fascinating look at how this one-time forgotten film went on to achieve cult status for itself, it's cast and creator. This is a very detailed account, with lots of location shots of the various places Ed filmed the movie at, including the graveyard and the soundstage. With great insights into the film by historians and cast & crew, this is one of the best Ed Wood related spin-offs to experience. The documentary is oft-noted for being a half hour longer than the actual movie it's covering! The film is included on Image Entertainment's DVD release of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, which is the perfect way to experience both films. The film is also currently available on YouTube, which I've included here as well. The version I found has German sub-titles.

 
















Another milestone released that same year was Rudolph Grey's NIGHTMARE IN ECSTASY: THE ART AND LIFE OF EDWARD D. WOOD Jr. 

First released in 1992 (re-issued in 1994 to coincide to the Tim Burton movie), this is the first biography of the filmmaker. Some reviews complain about the format of the book, which is composed of snippets of commentary from a wide array of  people who knew Ed. While it's true the book isn't written in the standard narrative of most fiction and non-fiction, it's through the personal recollections of family members, friends and associates that an intimate image of Wood appears. Plus Grey has included various helpful extras such as a filmography, a bibliography of Ed's numerous novels, a chronology of his life and descriptions of every person interviewed for the book. There are numerous photographs from every decade of Ed's life, including his later years. What I found to be a real treasure trove was Grey's synopsis for many of Wood's unrealized projects. Ed truly had a vivid and hyperkinetic imagination, and while many people say the end results may have lacked so-called finesse, it's a creative person's imagination that truly is there thumbprint they leave on the world, I believe. 

NIGHTMARE IN ECSTASY was instrumental in my immersion into the world of Ed Wood back in 1994. And of course, Tim Burton's ED WOOD film released that year really brought Wood to the mainstream. When I saw the film, it left a huge impression on me. Not just in appreciating the struggles and work of Ed Wood, but also on relating to the constant difficulty as an artist in trying to find one's audience and using every single method at one's disposal to get the work out there. It remains to this day both my favorite Tim Burton film and favorite Johnny Depp movie, by far. The irony of Ed getting a big budget, high profile biographic film on his life is both charming and bittersweet, because Eddie would have been flabbergasted to be the subject of such a loving tribute. But really, it's such a great thing that there is such a movie. 


Depp of course knocks the performance out of the park, with a mesmerizing, award-winning performance by Martin Landau as the great Bela Lugosi. Bela himself has an amazing story, and the fact that he and Wood intersected for a few magical years only adds to the whole miraculous circumstances of Ed's life.

1994 was indeed a banner year for the cult of Ed Wood. Another film was released that year as well, this one by Rhino Home Video. LOOK BACK IN ANGORA, a documentary by Ted Newsom, featured Gary Owens narrating the life story of Ed Wood solely via clips from Ed Wood's own movies. Newsom's script very cleverly uses the dialogue from the films to illustrate and bring to life Ed's upbringing, filmmaking method & idiosyncrasies, gradual decline and eventual postmortem notoriety. When I first bought this videotape, I would watch it over and over again, quickly buying the videotape releases of Wood's movies as well. I was hooked! (Recently I upgraded my old videotape copy, which I haven't seen in years since I quit using my VHS player. Apparently, the film is only currently available as an extra on the DVD release of an adult film Ed wrote and starred in back in 1969, PRETTY MODELS ALL IN A ROW a.ka. THE LOVE FEAST a.k.a. THE PHOTOGRAPHER. So, wishing to once again LOOK BACK IN ANGORA, I ordered it.)  

And in 1995, yet another documentary appeared, this one premiering at the Chicago International Film Festival. THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EDWARD D. WOOD JR. featured several of the usual Ed Wood players, but also featured appearances by Bela Lugosi Jr., among others. In the film, Bela Jr. isn't particularly fond of Wood, calling Ed 'an abuser and a loser'. However, on the commentary track of the DVD release of the movie, Bela Jr. offers a more balanced attitude toward Ed, stating that he did indeed keep his father employed in down times, allowing Bela Sr. a certain amount of self-respect. The DVD release actually has some really great special features in addition to the commentary track. Ed's first film, the uncompleted THE STREETS OF LAREDO (1948), was finally released in 2005 with a musical score by Dolores Fuller and  Ben Weisman and a narrative track featuring Cliff Stone. This newly restored version was renamed CROSSROADS OF LAREDO. The DVD also features coverage of the premiere of LAREDO, a reunion of Ed Wood players at a film festival and several other extras. 


HAUNTED WORLD is currently available to watch online for free on Hulu.com.

It may have been inevitable, considering the bizarre nature of the world of Ed Wood, but in 1996 Steve Galindo founded THE CHURCH OF ED WOOD! The church's site includes an on-line baptismal application if one chooses to get indoctrinated into the church. What can I say, it's Ed Wood's world, we're all just living in it...

The 90s certainly seemed like the Decade of Wood. But, there was more than enough interest in Ed's work to propel him into the 21st Century. I'll post about that in my next entry here, with a surprise or two...

"We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives! And remember my friend, future events, such as these, will affect you in the future!"
-Criswell
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE

The Death of Ed Wood (December 10, 1978)

Have you seen the movie "ED WOOD", starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton? Martin Landau won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for playing screen legend Bela Lugosi, who starred in 3 Ed Wood movies at the end of his career.

Depp plays Edward D. Wood Jr., the 1950s B-movie filmmaker behind such movies, to name a few, as GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and his most notorious creation, the infamous PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (which in the 1980 book THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS was named 'The Worst Movie of All Time', with Ed himself named 'The Worst Director of All Time'). Was he the worst director of all time, and PLAN 9 the worst movie ever made? I guess it depends on who you poll. 

Edward Davis Wood, Jr. was born on October 10, 1924 and died on this day, December 10, in 1978. The fact that Tim Burton persuaded Disney to back his black & white biopic back in 1994 speaks more to Burton's clout at the time than any widespread appreciation for Wood. However, there was already a strong cult following for Ed Wood and his movies at the time, and Burton & Depp's film really propelled Wood into the mainstream (to a point, as ED WOOD, while critically acclaimed, failed to find an audience at the time).

Ed Wood served in the Marines during WWII, and upon leaving the service joined a traveling circus, where his penchant for wearing women's clothes came in handy when playing the half-man/half-woman!

His Hollywood career started in 1947, when he started directing commercials and westerns, wrote and directed a stage play, and even worked as a stuntman (in drag!) in the Vincent Price movie THE BARON OF ARIZONA.

His first big break though came in 1953 when he wrote and directed GLEN OR GLENDA, a film about a cross-dressing man (played by Wood himself) and his desire to be accepted by his fiance and society at large. Ed was originally hired to make an exploitation movie based on Christine Jorgenson, who had made headlines at the time with her sex-change operation. But instead GLEN OR GLENDA became a somewhat auto-biographical message movie told with a convoluted, surreal narrative with Bela Lugosi playing on omnipotent god spirit overseeing the whole affair. 

 Ed as Glenda.

 

From there, Ed went on to create more films in his singularly individual, peculiar style. Crime films and horror pictures were his specialty, and using a stable of friends as actors, he was able to knock out over a half dozen movies throughout the 50s. Maligned and criticized by many for his  micro-budget production values, clunky dialogue, slapdash directing, nonsensical logic and often amateurish actors, Ed Wood today remains a cult figure of a status unimagined in his own lifetime.

The pinnacle of his film career is embodied by 1959's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, an endlessly fascinating picture featuring space aliens resurrecting the dead, in hopes of stopping the Earth from destroying the universe. Now, on paper that's exactly how the story reads, but by the time Ed got done with it he had created his surrealist masterpiece! Footage of Bela Lugosi which Ed filmed before the actor's death in 1956 became the genesis for PLAN 9, and eventually Ed got the local branch of the Baptist Church to finance the movie (their hope being that with the profits from the film the Church they would be able to fund religious-themed films). Populating the film with TV horror hostess Vampira, 400 lb. wrestler-turned actor Tor Johnson, the late Bela Lugosi and the famous television psychic Criswell, PLAN 9 was destined for cinematic cult status.

 

Criswell predicts!

In addition to his own films he wrote & directed, Ed wrote screenplays for other films as well, including his script QUEEN OF THE GORILLAS which became 1958's THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST and the girl gang picture THE VIOLENT YEARS (1956)

And in a startling bit of trivia a friend of mine informed me of a few months ago, Ed wrote a script in the 1950s called THE VENUS FLYTRAP which in 1970 was filmed in Japan by Toei Studios with an American and Japanese cast. Even today, Ed continues to surprise his fans....

There are several other films which he is reported to have written, but outside of speculation, none of these have ever been proven to be a fact. Although it's believed that Ed was a 'creative consultant' on Ronald Ashcroft's THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER (1957), which starred Wood regular Keene Duncan.

 In 1960, Ed Wood wrote & directed his last 'mainstream' film, THE SINISTER URGE, a crime caper dealing with the 'smut picture racket' and a psycho murderer. From there, Ed's luck at securing evern meager financing for his films dried up, while his drinking seemingly increased to the point of making him unreliable for the film business. With a new career as a writer of trashy sex novels (upwards of up to 75 by one account), Ed managed to keep money on the table for booze, groceries, and a string of living quarters that seemed to get more run down as the years wore on.

Beginning in the late 1960s and throughout the 70s, Ed was writing and/or directing (and sometimes appearing in) a growing number of adult movies (the very same pornographic films his movie THE SINISTER URGE seemed to rail against). He even created a series of 8mm films for the 'Sex Education Correspondence School'. Clearly, the man who created such low-budget, classic B-films like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS deserved better... but due to his own penchant for drinking and unreliability, he had to find some way to earn money.

By 1978, the end was near. He and his wife Kathy, who had been married since 1956, were evicted out of their low-rent apartment at 6383 Yucca Street in Hollywood. By all accounts, the building was a den of derelicts and drug addicts, with plenty of access to liquor stores and neighborhood bars. With most of their personal belongings left behind, the Woods were taken in by a friend, Peter Coe. Within a few days, on December 10, 1978, Ed Wood died in bed, watching a football game. He was cremated and his ashes scattered along the coast. No obituary appeared in any of the Hollywood trade magazines.

With Christmas approaching, I think it'd be nice to remember Ed in a better light. Here's a photo of him at a Christmas party with his friend Bela Lugosi in the mid 50s:

Just like in the film industry though, there is a 'sequel' to this tragedy of Ed's final days. Tomorrow I'll talk about Eddie's stardom rising from the grave, much like the characters in some of his movies. Ed Wood has died, but the legend had now begun it's slow rise to cult film icon!

The set of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Tor Johnson rising from the grave, surrounded by Vampira, Dr. Tom Mason (who doubled for the deceased Bela Lugosi by hiding his face with the cape!) and Criswell.

Jacob & Joaquin POSTER COMIC!

Here it, my first-ever Poster Comic! Featuring Jacob & Joaquin: The Wandering Jew and Catholic Boy, two brand-new characters of mine. Starring in "HAUNTED HOLIDAYS":
  
(To view the poster at a readable size, go to my DeviantArt page here, and click on the image to enlarge)

 

A special Holiday themed comic, with a little monster-hunting thrown in for good measure!  U.S. readers, if you'd like to order this Poster Comic as an 11"x 17" full-color print, it's yours for $8. That includes shipping in a large, flat envelope with thick cardboard backing, and it'll be signed by me as well. Readers outside the U.S., please contact me at azteczombie (at) yahoo.com for shipping rates.

Please sign it to:

A poem for The Coma ( from COMA CON )

COMA CON was held this past weekend at GEEKS Comics in Whittier, and it was far from comatose...

This was the release/signing event for my comic book THE COMA. I also debuted THE ART OF THE COMA & THE COMA COLLECTOR BOX  
featuring both books, a button and a Coma sketch doll! (Order your copies of THE COMA and/or my other comics from my webshop or stop by GEEKS Comics)


Among the friends and fans who attended where my two sisters with one of my nephews and two nieces. There were even a few students from my Comic Book Workshops who showed up. The event went off great, and I was happily surprised to see some of the people who came. I slipped up and only took two photographs, but they're enough for this blog post, because I want to use the space to present a very special extra. 


My friend Christopher Luke Trevilla attended as well and enlightened us all with the first-ever reading of his poem...THE COMA! I've had one comic turned into a movie, and now my new one has inspired a poem. (Still waiting for the MAN-SWAMP breakfast cereal!). Chris is a very active & imaginative poet/performer in the Los Angeles area, so it was truly a pleasure to be able to receive this from him. He also gave me his hand-written first draft of the poem, complete with a series of sketches he drew alongside the words. I'm reprinting his poem and sketches here, and I hope you enjoy what he wrote. He really captured various elements of my story in his piece, and intermingled with his particular inner voice, created a whole new experience.

The Coma(Inspired by the eponymous comic by Javier Hernandez, and the track "Peace of Mind/The Candle Burns" contestedly attributed to the Beatles)

 

Open eyes into absent skies,
my vision dulled with void
Inside burns
a flame to meet me here-

I leave
the cold shell there
emotions peeled away,
no laughter no tears,
I manage not a smile.

The world
around me
takes shape at will,
molecules, shadows, and worlds between
unfolding

Suddenly
there’s fear- a kind of ripping pain
Surely this
is not eternal – is it?

This world or whatever it may be
is only held inside
Repressed and now free
alive and changing
perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

 
Can it be...
World and Time
have ended at long last?
Or am I?
still
silent
nothing
dead
No, I must be in my head.
Feels too real to be over now
Don't keep me
from begin.

I need
to find
a cause, meaning, purpose
can’t just float freely..

 
Inner ear
spoken to
by ancient man and serpent
at war,
at odds,
or one in the same?

I say
I want to hear, see, and be
in the world I knew before

I scream
into the void

Ancient man
looks into me
telling me to retreat further inside
Ancient serpent
slithers into me
telling me to give up hope, I was 
meant to stay.

 
In the void
I listen
to sounds that say

All you want
ought be to fly all day
be led
into a free world newly borne
to build things
never built before
to do things
never before done
And just before
it’s over
it’s really
just begun.

Silent I run.
No pause, no coma, no doubt.
Silent I run.

CLT

New interview on LOS ANGELES EASTSIDE SCENE

I was interviewed for a local website called EASTSIDE SCENE, which covers events and culture in East Los Angeles and the surrounding neighborhoods. The upcoming COMA CON (this Saturday at GEEKS Comics in Whittier) is talked about in the interview. 

 Give it a read, as there are a good round of questions (and hopefully, answers!).

THE COMA finally available to order online!

THE COMA has landed, folks!

 

Yesterday afternoon I received my shipments of THE COMA and THE ART OF THE COMA. These books will be available this coming Saturday, Nov. 19 at GEEKS Comics during COMA CON, my big release/signing party. But, I figure since many of you won't be able to fly out to California for the event, I'm putting them for sale in my webshop today. You can order your copies by going to the LOS COMEX Webshop now!.

  Just to make sure we don't break our 'street date' of Nov. 19, I'll ship the books around the middle of this week, depending on where you live. Hopefully you'll get them by Saturday, but I would imagine Monday at the latest. 

Oh, and for the folks who pre-ordered the now-out-of-print digest sized edition of THE COMA, (Thanks!) I will offer you a special deal. If you order the full-size magazine edition of THE COMA, (which features a brand-new 2 page prologue to the story, along with the new cover), I'll give you a rebate of $1.50. Just my way of trying to lessen the feeling of 'double-dipping'! I know it's not the way most greedy comic publishers do business, but what the heck, we do things a little different here around Los Comex! Just order the comic online, pay through the checkout, and I'll refund you the $1.50 through Paypal. And yes, I have the records of who bought the pre-orders, so everyone play nice!

If you do live in the Los Angeles area, I'd be great to have you come out to GEEKS for COMA CON. Nothing like meeting in person, ya know. Plus there will be food and lots of other stuff to buy like some original Coma comic book pages, other artwork of mine, a special GEEKS exclusive Coma print, etc.  

If you haven't seen the Coma micro-documentary "IT'S ALL IN MY HEAD", check it out here.

EL MUERTO artwork on display at UCLA

I have some artwork in a collection currently on display at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library.

The CHICAN@S COLLECT show features work collected by Mary and Armando Duron. The Duron Collection numbers about 500 pieces, collected over a period of almost 30 years. The exhibition began on September 22 and runs until December 9, 2011.


The exhibit catalog states that the collection "is comprised of books and catalogs that have a bearing on Chicano art, whether the subject is Mexican, Mexican folk, Spanish, Latin American, or North American art." I recently received copies of the catalog, in which both of my pieces in the exhibit are reproduced. One of the items is a copy of my comic book EL MUERTO. Judging by the date under my signature, they bought this at the Self Help Graphics festival on the Day of the Dead in 2002:

 

The screenprint above was produced back in 2006, when I had a week-long residency in East LA's historic gallery/art studio, SELF HELP GRAPHICS. Creating the screenprint, and contributing to SHG's art collection, is definitely one of the accomplishments I'm most proud of as an artist. And #51 of the series made it to the Duron Collection. 

While looking through the catalog, my sister actually noticed the El Muerto image in the top right corner of this magazine, which is also part of the exhibit:

LA GENTE (The people) is the UCLA Latino students magazine about pop culture, news and events. Upon re-reading the article, I remembered when they originally contacted me. For some reason, I don't believe I ever received a copy of the magazine, but you can read it online here. 

So basically, in the 12 page catalog for the exhibit, El MUERTO is represented on some 3 pages! But I'm glad that art collectors like the Durons and many others make these exhibits possible, allowing so many artists a platform to keep their work visible and made available to new audiences over the years.

I'd like to thank the Duron Family and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library for their continued work, and for letting me be a small part of this exhibit. I often tell folks that there is more to life than comics, and mind you, I love creating comics and enjoying the entire span of the culture of comics. But being able to reach audiences outside the comics medium has always been one of my goals, and also to celebrate and add, in my own way, to the Mexican-American experience.

COMA CON at GEEKS Comics NOV 19

 

GEEKS Comics in Whittier, CA will be hosting COMA CON, my release & signing party for my new comic book, THE COMA and the companion art book, THE ART OF THE COMA! 

 

For those who missed getting a copy of the sold-out Limited Edition version of THE COMA (originally printed up in a special digest-sized edition), the new release of THE COMA features an all-new 2 page prologue, and is published in an eye-popping 8" x 10.5" magazine format!

Featuring an all-new cover illustration penciled by me, inked by Michael Neno and colored by Mort Todd, this 40 pg, b&w comic book takes you on mind-bending head trip into the mind of Damian Arkadian....The Coma!

THE ART OF THE COMA is a full-color 32 page portfolio featuring tons of sketches, production art and other rarities detailing the origin of my new comic book character. There's also a Guest Artist Pin-Up Gallery featuring unique takes on The Coma by an eclectic group of artists: Mary Bellamy, Crystal Gonzalez, Celina Hernandez, Blair Kitchen, Rafael Navarro and Mort Todd!

Come out to GEEKS on November 19th and get your own copies. I'll have lots of other stuff there as well, including the original pages from The Coma, a special print created exclusively for GEEKS and lots of other products from Los Comex, my publishing imprint! Get your Holiday shopping done early and get yourself, or a friend , some cool comic swag!

GEEKS is located at:

6747 Greenleaf Ave, Ste A, Whittier, CA 90601

Steve Ditko, comic artist legend, turns 84 today

A very Happy Birthday to Steve Ditko, the great comic book creator who's creations/co-creations include Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, The Creeper, Hawk & Dove and Mr. A., among many others.

Here's some artwork I did that was featured recently on the back cover of DITKOMANIA #85, the fanzine dedicated to the work of Steve Ditko. That issue featured stories on Ditko's work for black & white magazines, and one of the stories he did for EERIE Magazine that I wanted to pay homage to was one called 'The Fly':

Ditko's career began in 1953, and almost 60 years later, the man is still producing new work! Published under the Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko banner, his latest book was just released:

 

This is his 14th new comic book released in the last 3 years, so Steve Ditko still has some stories to tell. This one features another chapter in the saga of Miss Eerie, and also introduces The Distorter, a character who never once appears in the actual story (unless you count a trail of energy an appearance!) but you still see the results of his/her/it's crime fighting abilities.

In addition to his singularly imaginative artwork and storytelling, what's specifically appealed to me, as a self-published comics creator, about Ditko's work is his reliance for the last 20 years or so on creating his work for himself, without the editorial oversight or worse, marketing input, of any third parties. He's creating pure art at this point, and he leaves it up to others to decide the merits of that choice. His desire is to create personal work and release it to the marketplace, no other considerations come into play. I'm not saying I have the exact same mindset, but his example is one that inspires me tremendously often keeps me going in this crazy comics business.

Ordering info for Ditko's new books is available at the DitkoComics Blog. To order DITKOMANIA, visit the Ditko-Fever site. Bleeding Cool.Com, a comics news site, has a nice gallery of original Ditko comic book pages you might be interested in checking out.

2nd ANNUAL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EL MONTE

This Saturday you can find me at the Day of The Dead event in El Monte, CA.

This event is put on by the Nuvein Foundation, of which I've been on the Board of Directors for the last several years. Last years event was a surprise hit, so this year should be even bigger and better! Fun for the whole family, and it's free! 

Event will be held at the Valley Mall:

10933 Valley Mall, El Monte, 10933.

Michael Lapinsky COMA artwork/Javier Hernandez FEEDING GROUND artwork

Michael Lapinski, freelance illustrator and designer, is also the co-creator and artist of FEEDING GROUND, published by Archaia Comics. Earlier this year, Michael asked me if I could contribute a pin-up to the FEEDING GROUND series, which I was more than happy to oblige.

FEEDING GROUND is a story about border crossings across the Mexican/U.S. border, with the twist being that the story involves werewolves! But beyond that, it really highlights the very real drama in human trafficking, geopolitics, and the truly perilous trip across the land, both natural and supernatural. An innovative approach to a very modern and relevant political issue.

Flash forward a few months later, as I'm prepping my premier edition of THE COMA. I only had room to include one pin-up in the book, but it was a natural decision to ask Michael to contribute. I really liked his expressive artwork in FEEDING GROUND, and thought that he made a very imaginative use of color in the book as well. I had actually mentioned to Michael that just as Ennio Morricone's scores greatly enhanced the onscreen drama of Sergio Leone's 'spaghetti westerns',  so too did his evocative coloring bring out so much of the story of FEEDING GROUND.


Here's Michael's Coma pin-up:

If you follow this link to Michael's blog, you can see his original sketches he came up with before finishing the final piece. And here's a brief, informative interview with him over at sketchmaven.com. 


As of this writing, there's exactly one more copy left of THE COMA Premiere Package, featuring the limited edition, digest-sized copy of THE COMA and some additional extras. Available via my blog while supply lasts!)

Coma Premiere Package at APE this weekend!

 

The Alternative Press Expo is coming this weekend, October 1 & 2, in San Francisco. Which means I'll be there debuting my newest creation, THE COMA! I'll have THE COMA PREMIERE PACKAGE, which includes the special, limited, digest-sized edition of THE COMA, an 8.5" x 11" color print made exclusively for this edition, and 1 of 25 hand-drawn & colored cards (5" x 5" Bristol paper squares), featuring the Coma.

For the folks who pre-ordered these sets, I'll have them shipped out between October 3-5. A few of the pre-orders will be picked up by their owners at the convention. And of course I will have a limited number of copies of the Package, or just the comic, available there as well. If I have any available after the show, I'll put them on my website for purchase.

I'll be at table #109, alongside Michael Aushenker of CARTOON FLOPHOUSE notoriety. Drop by and fall into...THE COMA!!

THE COMA PREMIERE PACKAGE!

Thanks to those of you who pre-ordered THE COMA PREMIERE PACKAGE last week. I'll have these available for purchase at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco the weekend of October 1 & 2. If you pre-ordered, and you're going to be at APE, visit me at Table #109 (I'll be partnered up with Cartoon Flophouse, cartoonist Michael Aushenker's imprint). Otherwise, all orders will be mailed out by October 7.

THE COMA micro-documentary plus art by me and Jim Lujan

Today's Coma color art, done as a warm-up drawing for the long, productive day ahead:

 

When I first created the Coma, I didn't actually have his name figured out (his "secret identity"). I knew what he looked like, but his name I just let percolate in my head while I worked on the comic. About halfway through the story, I settled on a name I liked, Damian Arkadian. I had told a friend that I was originally torn between 'David' and 'Damian', and he voted for 'Damian' and, well, here we are. For a variety of reasons, I wanted to give the character a Greek/Roma background. I'll share more on that later, but speaking of that friend of mine.....

Jim Lujan, the creator of numerous animated films via his Ghettomation brand, was kind enough to create this short film about my creation of the Coma......

Jim shot the footage and put together the whole package in an evening, all together he probably spent about an hour or so working on it! The guy's amazingly talented and intuitive with his art. And better than that, he's a great friend. Also, he gives art away like it was peanuts. I asked him if he could do his own Coma doodle on a sheet of 5.5" x 5.5" Bristol paper I use. Here's the spiffy piece he came up with:

Check out Jim's music video he created for MOONWALK, a new song by the band KOUNTERCLOCKWISE!