RANTS (APRIL 2007 - SEPTEMBER 2007)
|
Dateline: September 26, 2007, 11:21 EST TOTAL. FUCKING. HASSLE.Moving. Which is to say, choppy postings for the immediate future. What the hell happened to real estate in this city anyway? |
|
Dateline: September 22, 2007, 9:41 EST CHARLES DICKENS ON NEW YORK CITY (FROM AMERICAN NOTES, 1842) “They are the city scavengers, these pigs. Ugly brutes they are; having, for the most part, scanty brown backs, like the lids of old horsehair trunks: spotted with unwholesome black blotches. They have long, gaunt legs, too, and such peaked snouts, that if one of them could be persuaded to sit for his profile, nobody would recognize it for a pig's likeness. They are never attended upon, or fed, or driven, or caught, but are thrown upon their own resources in early life, and become preternaturally knowing in consequence. Every pig knows where he lives, much better than anybody could tell him. At this hour, just as evening is closing in, you will see them roaming towards bed by scores, eating their way to the last: perfect self-possession and self-reliance, and immovable composure, being their foremost attributes.” |
|
Dateline: September 18, 2007, 3:56 EST PICTURES OF RUDYAnd we just heard about a ‘politix’ graphic novel in the works, written by some journalist dude who we’ve known forever. And we’re hoping that it doesn’t get sanitized, that none of the seamy facts are held back: America 2008 needs a funny book equivalent of Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72. Pack journalism be damned! |
|
Dateline: September 7, 2007, 9:46 EST WEB OF TERROR Blog writing is, perhaps, the most formidable form of writing ever invented. Forget the immediacy part, the fact that there’s no editorial safety net, no fact checker, no sobriety test. It is the utterly personal, invidious, soul-baring opinions which can cause moments of anguish. Huh? We said wha?? Wuz we drunk?? Will anyone notice??? Alas, we take comfort in the fact that a slurred, idiosyn-crackup point-of-view is always more compelling than a stone cold sober Robo-Blog. |
|
Dateline: August 15, 2007, 1:42 EST NOSTALGIA INC. Comics featuring capes and spandex are more-or-less the visual equivalent of a Classic Rock station. We love Led Zeppelin too…but it’s been a long time since we felt the need to play air guitar to a Jimmy Page power chord. |
|
Dateline: August 11, 2007, 3:59 EST SCARY HARRYA few weeks ago, we saw a well-meaning librarian type defending the popularity of the Harry Potter series by asserting that it was wonderful children were reading, and this would surely mean they would discover the joys of literature (or some argument to that effect). Wrong Answer! Here’s the point: Book #7 just sold like 12 million copies…in a country where only 10 million people are literate. Far better books (i.e. Bryan Talbot’s charming Alice in Sunderland) are being virtually ignored by comparison. Sorry, ma’am, but this isn’t a cause for celebration. To put it bluntly: there is something truly frightening about the empty escapism of Harry Potter, about grown-ups blissfully acting out Peter Pan fantasies in a winsome attempt to witness the world through the eyes of some uptight school-boy on a broomstick. |
|
Dateline: August 6, 2007, 11:01 EST …AND MEAN PEOPLE REALLY DO SUCK Hey, that bumper sticker is right, except it forgot to mention that…Cable “news” commentators suck…and Not-So-Fun-damental politicians worshipping at the alter of watered-down Fascism suck…and pilfering neo-Reaganomic hedge fund gamblers who are currently engaged in melting the U.S. economy down into something as valuable as an imitation gold watch suck…and we mean it, man… |
|
Dateline: August 4, 2007, 8:59 EST SAN DIEGO, 2007 The comic book world is small and hermetic. To gain access to this world, one must learn to speak the language, to understand the different dialects / inflections / linguistic nuances. Unless one happens to be a Porn Star, a bass player in a heavy metal band, a card-carrying S.A.G member, a professional sword swallower or an ex-circus freak. In which case, Step Right Up ‘n’ C’mon In! No experience (or fluency) necessary… |
|
Dateline: July 20, 2007, 4:44 EST FAST WORKING ARTIST Sound advice for any artist: learn to work fast. We read recently that Matt Baker (who drew Romance comics back in the ‘50’s) could pencil at the astounding rate of 8-pages a day. That translates into the ability to pencil an entire graphic novel in two weeks. And few artists have ever penciled as fast as Jack Kirby…or as well. Speed for artists has something to do with endurance / commitment: the ability to sit at a drawing table for 12+ hours per day. |
|
Dateline: July 19, 2007, 2:31 EST FAST WORKING WRITER Sound advice for any writer: learn to work fast. Back in the early ‘50’s, Jim Thompson wrote 12 novels in a span of 18 months. David Goodis was known to have cranked out almost 10,000 words per day. Anthony Trollope penned three massively windy books per year. Mickey Spillane could write an entire book in like five minutes flat. But beware of burn-out. The ability to endure such an insane pace is basically impossible without the aid of artificial stimulants…and that leads to dependency…and that leads to sickness and bedpans and grey-yellow flesh…and dying in some squalid L.A. motel… |
|
Dateline: July 18, 2007, 10:52 EST SLOW WORKING WRITER And last night we whipped off a grand total of around 100 words…and it took approximately two hours…and it feels like we’re going backwards. Which is further proof of the old axiom’s truth: a writer’s life really is hell. |
|
Dateline: July 12, 2007, 10:22 EST RUN & HIDE Writers to avoid at all costs, in any format, especially the comic book version, should these slight sages decide to dabble with funny-pictures: James Frey, the Sex and the City chick, Augesten Burroughs, the Harry Potter dame, Jay McInarney, Bret Easton Ellis … |
|
Dateline: July 10, 2007, 5:45 EST BUY ORIGINAL ART Hedge fund speculators have yet to take “positions” with comic book art, which means that now is a good time to acquire original funny picture drawings. Folks, there are ill-gotten billions out there being used for trophy hunting, status climbing, asset attainment. Warhol at 70 mil is prohibitive; Mignola looks just as nice, at only a few hundred clams… |
|
Dateline: July 8, 2007, 11:34 EST SHEVLES, CABINETS, SPACE If you are writing comics, purchase as large bookshelf or file cabinet: you will need many shelves to store all of your works-in-progress, unfinished scripts, rainy-day-back-burner-sometime-(hopefully)-before-I-die projects. By contrast, the shelf holding your finished products (the printed & bound books) will be comparatively small. |
|
Dateline: July 6, 2007, 2:28 EST MORE S&B LOVE From NeilAlien (June 30, 2007 entry): “Several neat storytelling decisions throughout…a real creepy sense of violence is present. There is something here. The murky art serves the story [with] soulless gazes and slow stiff movements”. For complete link to review: http://www.neilalien.com/ |
|
Dateline: June 28, 2007, 11:02 EST CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT Somewhat curious that the whole notion of “character development” is rarely discussed when considering representational art (painting, sculpture, cartooning)…as if the ability to render new, distinctive characters is something which only applies to the world of literature. |
|
Dateline: June 27, 2007, 3:45 EST VERSATILITY Versatility is a luxury, not a necessity. An artist needs to create but one original world…and that is all. |
|
Dateline: June 25, 2007, 9:51 EST MoCCA 2007 In summation: utterly enjoyable. Saw some friends, met some…blah, blah, blah. The single most significant consideration to this show is that the Puck Building is less than 100 feet from the best bar in NYC, Milano’s (on Houston and Mulberry). Which meant that by 6:05 PM we were swiggin’ pints of Guinness, listening to Sinatra sing over Nelson Riddle strings… |
|
Dateline: June 21, 2007, 9:46 EST AND FUCK HENRY DARGER If you’ve yet to hear of Henry Darger, don’t worry…you soon will. His child-like whimsical art is quite the rage in certain “outsider” circles, as if a creepy, gender-bending whimsy can pardon a talent-lacking pedophilia obsession. Alas, the artist as deranged invalid always plays well. Darger is the artistic equivalent of Charles Bukowski (without the booze or posturing machismo), and his output is proof of the thin line between innocent and retarded. Unfortunately, we’re about 60 seconds into this sad freak’s 15-Minutes-of-Fame, so expect many more puffy panegyrics along the way. |
|
Dateline: June 18, 2007, 2:28 EST ANOTHER S&B REVIEW From Dave Baxter at Broken Frontier: “Rest assured, the creators have done a bang-up job on this one. It’s dark, it’s expressionistic, it’s original, it’s a lot of things old and loved, and it’s an inarguably entertaining book. I’ll definitely remember this one for a long time to come. It’s got the goods.” For complete link to review: www.brokenfrontier.com/reviews/details.php?id=1415 |
|
Dateline: June 16, 2007, 7:21 EST WHEN WRITING AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL… Make sure to mention how Eisner’s A Contract with God was the “first graphic novel”; remind everyone that Robert Crumb was the father of Art Comics (capital “A”); cite how Speigelman’s Maus won a Pulitzer Prize; refer to the fact that Clowes’ Ghost World was made into a Motion Picture; don’t forget to point out the importance of Schulz’s Charlie Brown. |
|
Dateline: June 13, 2007, 4:56 EST THANK GOD FOR PHOTOSHOP Something to remember when drawing / hand lettering comic books: the way the art appears electronically is all that matters…as the electronic version is the final representation of how the art will appear on the printed page in book format. In other words, break out the white-out, the glue stick, the scotch tape. Unless of course your original art is selling at a gallery on East 79th Street…in which case, disregard the above: all aspects of the art / lettering must be perfect… |
|
Dateline: June 8, 2007, 1:23 EST WHEN WRITING ABOUT NEW YORK… Write (or draw) the City as it is, not was. Folks, the architectural landscape of the city is changing. It’s not 1977 anymore and CBGB’s has closed up shop and Hilly Kristal is moving to Vegas. Hell’s Kitchen? Alphabet City?? The Bowery??? These days, it’s all about Real Estate Development…condos, condos, condos! |
|
Dateline: June 7, 2007, 7:45 EST NYC, 2007 And let’s face it: Manhattan has gotten increasingly boring. Blame it on the real estate boom, the “Disney-fication” of neighborhoods, the local millionaires and their children, the trolling cops, the Starbucks on every other street corner. Stale, neutered, tame, vanilla…perhaps it should come as no surprise that the New York Corporate Funny Book Biz has become so lifeless and generic… |
|
Dateline: June 5, 2007, 4:23 EST A WOMAN OF WEALTH AND TASTE The essence of Romance Comics: heartache, glamour, suffering |
|
Dateline: June 4, 2007, 11:45 EST BIOGRAPHY COMIX We just learned of a forthcoming bio-comic about Lenny Bruce, which is in the works, to debut in 2008. Sounds superior. Other lives which would make excellent funny books: Richard M. Nixon, Dean Martin, Sylvia Plath, Victor S. Fox. |
|
Dateline: May 31, 2007, 7:56 EST ***RAW PLAY*** Graphic novel Number Two…well, part of it at least. The book is called RAW PLAY. Sample pages are up (click on the above icon) along with some info on the story. Sam Hart handled the pencils & inks for the 3 interior pages. Russ Heath rendered the cover drawing (the Silver Age version of Jack Drago). Yours truly did the lettering. The private dick in RAW PLAY is a gent named Jack Drago…a crew-cut sporting, stoop-shouldered, no-nonsense, slightly burned-out ex-cop who is something less than an idealized piece of humanity. The amazing Sam Hart (who we are totally psyched to be working with) came up with Drago’s physiognomy and cranioscopy. Drago: tough, tired, taciturn. |
|
Dateline: May 28, 2007, 11:32 EST THE STARRY WISDOM OF STANSISLAW LEM “In culture an analogous situation leads to the emergence of enclaves shut up in ghettos, where intellectual production likewise stagnates because of inbreeding in the form of incessant repetition of the selfsame creative patterns and techniques. The internal dynamics of the ghetto may appear to be intense, but with the passage of years it becomes evident that this is only a semblance of motion, since it leads nowhere, since it neither feeds into nor is fed by the open domain of culture, since it does not generate new patterns or trends, and since finally it nurses the falsest of notions about itself, for lack of any honest evaluation of its activities from outside. In such a situation publishing success not only may but must become the sole standard of evaluation, since a vacuum of standards is impossible. Hence, where there are no ratings on the merits, these are replaced by ratings on a commercial basis.” |
|
Dateline: May 24, 2007, 9:21 EST LA VIDA MOCCA The June MoCCA show is approaching (June 23-24) and we are looking forward to it. With the exception of a handful of out-of-towners who will be attending, MoCCA has more-or-less morphed into a once-a-year Comic-Con for all cartoonists living in the Metropolitan area…and there are a lot of them. And it’s only comics, which we like. No costumes. No Jedi training classes. No Dukes of Hazzard cast-members. |
|
Dateline: May 23, 2007, 6:29 EST THE NEVER-ENDING-STORY Which goes on and on, and never ends…which goes on and on, and never ends… |
|
Dateline: May 21, 2007, 4:04 EST LETTERING: A NECESSARY EVIL So, our curious penmanship has been placed on the final art (art, mind you, that is gorgeous) and we’ve come to the conclusion that our hand-written letters are decidedly utilitarian. And while the lettering doesn’t necessarily enhance the look of the final page, our freaky lines don’t get in the way. The good news is that we’ve gotten really, really familiar with the script! |
|
Dateline: May 15, 2007, 5:57 EST ANOTHER S&B REVIEW From Steve Saville at Silver BulletComics: “This graphic novel has a real ‘Raging Bull’ feel about it in places, and that is a high compliment…It is a stylishly presented volume, carefully planned, very well structured and executed”. Link to complete review: www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/smallpress |
|
Dateline: May 14, 2007, 12:21 EST SWEET SITCOM SOLUTIONS Would that each episode in life always ended on a happy note, sustained by canned laughter and recorded applause…that would be so very sweet indeed… |
|
Dateline: May 11, 2007, 11:21 EST COMMERCE VS. ART The shareholder is happy…the reader doesn’t care…and the artist needs the work… |
|
Dateline: May 10, 2007, 5:22 EST THE 75 CENT SOLUTION So, we just heard from a cartoonist / artist who is getting paid 75 cents per drawing from one of the corporate comic book companies in mid-town. That’s right: three shiny quarters per drawing, pencils and inks. Welcome to the funny book biz. |
|
Dateline: May 6, 2007, 1:43 EST SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME And speaking of PKD, it’s been years (almost decades) since we immersed ourselves in his deranged universe. A re-reading of his work is long overdue…one of these years… |
|
Dateline: May 5, 2007, 5:22 EST SUSPENSE, SICKNESS, SOPHISTICATION Our next project (an excerpt which will be available at the June MoCCA show) will introduce a new world, one completely separate / unconnected from the gory galaxy of Scars & Bars. This new-fangled installment will be a portrait of high society, a portrayal of wealth, class, sadism and murder. There will be a private dick, a mansion, a suit of armor, and an antique clock. From the front cover: “A document of the strange events inside the house of Vanderbank”. We are hopeful that it is original. More details to come soon… |
|
Dateline: May 3, 2007, 2:56 EST A GIRL NAMED MONOTONY Once, a long time ago, we were seeing a female poet. She confessed that the first poem she ever wrote was a little thing entitled “Ennui”, whipped-off when she was twelve years old. Needless to say, we don’t see her anymore. |
|
Dateline: May 2, 2007, 7:49 EST BLACK & WHITE VS. TECHNICOLOR Call us are old-fashioned (or color blind), but we have no problem with black & white art. Further, we’ve come to the conclusion that adding color doesn’t necessarily improve the finished product. This debate reminds us of the movies Marty made about New York: how much worse would Scorsese’s Raging Bull have looked if it was shot in Technicolor? And how much better would Taxi Driver have been if it was rendered in glorious black & white? |
|
Dateline: May 1, 2007, 10:22 EST BLOOD IS DRAWN Certified Cool, you ask? Apparently so. At least according to Diamond’s May previews (pg 309). We prefer to call this entry “necessary information” as opposed to “crass, shameless, bold-faced, cash-grabbing self-promotion”. In any event, Diamond Code: MAY073513. Crack it open! |
|
Dateline: April 30, 2007, 8:09 EST MISERY AND MALAISE The only trouble with books written about boredom and depression is that they generally end up being boring and depressing. |
|
Dateline: April 28, 2007, 5:54 EST PICTURE NOVELS VS. GRAPHIC NOVELS VS. GRAPHIC ALBUMS Definitions…definitions…definitions… |
|
Dateline: April 25, 2007, 11:04 EST THE STARRY WISDOM OF OLAF STAPLEDON“In these conditions it is difficult for writers to pursue their calling at once with courage and with balanced judgment. Some merely shrug their shoulders and withdraw from the central struggle of our age. These, with their minds closed against the world's most vital issues, inevitably produce works which not only have no depth of significance for their contemporaries but also are subtly insincere. For these writers must consciously or unconsciously contrive to persuade themselves either that the crisis in human affairs does not exist, or that it is less important than their own work, or that it is anyhow not their business. But the crisis does exist, is of supreme importance, and concerns us all. Can anyone who is at all intelligent and informed hold the contrary without self-deception?” -- O.S. 1937 |
|
Dateline: April 25, 2007, 8:39 EST MORE THOUGHTS ON SCI-FI It’s true: three of our favorite writers from the 20th century are merely classified as mere genre scribes: Olaf Stapledon, Philip K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle (1962) is undoubtedly a masterpiece, one of the essential texts of the last century. |
|
Dateline: April 23, 2007, 1:23 EST ALTERNATE REALITIES Our vision: we had turned into a science fiction writer, spawning paperback floppies entitled Set the Controls for Yesterday and Descent from Alpha-9. And the manuscript for our 2,000 page magus opus, The Heart of Jim Jones, had remained forever unfinished…a forever footnote… |
|
Dateline: April 22, 2007, 11:04 EST OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE We have nothing against funny-book editors, per se, and we have no problem with their “professional editorial advice”…so long as it involves someone else’s comic. In general, we’re guarded (to the point of frothing paranoia) about the content of our projects, and our current thinking is that outside interference is a very bad thing. |
|
Dateline: April 19, 2007, 1:41 EST 27 PERSONS AND COUNTING So, we just burned through a 1960’s crime novel in which the author entered no less than 27 characters into the main race (not counting waitresses, cabin boys, bell hops, cigar salesmen, taxi drivers, and three corpses). The plot was a Byzantine mishmash which read like the mystery-fiction equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, part-whodunit, part-cavalry charge. The finish was utterly impossible to predict…and it was all most satisfying. |
|
Dateline: April 17, 2007, 11:45 EST AFTER THE INFLUENCE At a certain point, the artist (painter, writer, dancer, musician, whatever) has to let go. Influence helps the artist develop an individual style…and then it ceases to be of any use. A continued reliance on influence results from inexperience and/or a lack of confidence. |
|
Dateline: April 16, 2007, 12:06 EST MOOD & EMOTION, VOL. 3 When rendering ambiguity and atmosph-fear: it’s not enough for the artist to adeptly handle anatomy. Lighting, shadows and grey-tones are all important, and misuse of these effects can undermine the finished picture. |
|
Dateline: April 13, 2007, 3:41 EST WHOLE LOTTA LETTERS In secret locations using secret methods, some gent named W. Rees is hand lettering his next graphic novel. The font seems to be some sort of pseudo-EC Comics typeface and the hand holding the pen is just a touch rickety. Which all means we have absolutely no idea what to expect… |
|
Dateline: April 12, 2007, 11:24 EST A MOVIE REVIEW Children of Men. A recent release which seemed to want to come across as a polemical / topical version of Blade Runner, but ended up as Soylent Green with an Oxbridge accent. The dystopian premise abruptly devolves into a one hour chase scene with a predictably hackneyed finish. The sound track is atrocious: John Lennon has never sounded so hopelessly maudlin. Still, an entertaining flick with some fine visuals. |
|
Dateline: April 11, 2007, 1:54 EST ANOTHER MOVIE REVIEW Germany Year Zero (Germania Anno Zero). In the summer of 1946, director Roberto Rossellini hired a cast and film crew and shot this neo-realism masterpiece in Berlin. Brutal and breath-taking, this picture documents the aftermath of war in a post-Nazi Germany. A moral play examining shattered lives, it proves that truth can be scarier than fiction. |
|
Dateline: April 7, 2007, 10:58 EST OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL At a certain level, all artists are self-taught. Formal training (or Art School, which has fairly recently replaced the tradition of studio apprenticeship) is valuable, but it is not necessarily an absolute requirement. There are many fine artists who don’t belong to “The Academy”…many fine artists who are, more-or-less, entirely self-made. |
|
Dateline: April 6, 2007, 2:21 EST FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE Forgetting is a form of destruction. Don’t remember this. |
|
Dateline: April 4, 2007, 7:21 EST CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE One of the saddest appellations in the English language: “Writer Unknown”. |
|
Dateline: April 1, 2007, 5:59 EST SELF-LOVE, SELF-INCRIMINATION Yep, an anniversary of sorts…one whole year of electronic excitement! And what a neat trick: write exclusively about “ourselves” while saying absolutely nothing at all. |