TOPPLED IDOLS

milkbonehenge

2012-01-10T20:04:00.001-08:00

In Print

2011-08-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

I'm getting some preview mock-ups of the story so far... if you come to SPX you can check them out. Also, I will have the first chapter available to download on the site when the second chapter begins. I can't wait to see this in the real world!!!

Little One, Little Something

2011-08-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Have you checked out Symptom of the Universe lately?

I'm pretty much shuttering Toppled Idols for the time being, perhaps to throw a couple things in here, but every week there is a new page, new music and new insights into the wonderful world of comics...

It's time to play the game!

symptomcomics.com

Please Help

2011-07-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

There is a massive famine in Somalia right now, an entire generation could die off. Please if you have any money to spare at this moment, this is crucial.

http://www.wfp.org

Your Tattoo Is Gay

2011-07-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

SKRATCHBOARD SKULL

2011-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Playing with a scratchboard. Working on the animations and designs for Negro Antichrist... coming to Dixon Place:

http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/14474/negro-antichrist

Hope you can make it.

Bleak Bleeps

2011-06-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the way my lettering looks after I photograph it yet before I put it onto the page... like some weird metal zine/comics hybrid. So thought I'd share...

Incidentally, my favorite page is up... symptomcomics.com

What Have You Linked For Me Lately?

2011-06-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Have you checked out my achingly epic webcomic? It's about high time... you did!

SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE

symptomcomics.com

Shine on, black diamonds

The Ugly Side of Indie Comics

2011-06-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

I recently read this article on Gothamist about an anti-circumcision group called Inactivists that created a comic. Yes, it is as creepy, weird and awkwardly drawn as you can imagine (don't take my word for it, see it here: www.foreskinman.com.

But the really disturbing thing is not the awkward dialog in computer comics font, the bizarrely inserted cheesecake t&a in 2/3rds of the panels or icky genital fixation of the whole thing; it is the unabashed anti-semitism running through the comic's veins. The description of the villian, Monster Mohel (here quoted): "Nothing excites Monster Mohel more than cutting into the penile flesh of an eight-day-old boy. And after the glorified brit milah is complete, the delicious metzitzah b'peh provides the icing on the cake." He charges in, replete with gun-toting hasidic "goons", with a monstrous grin and clawed fist.

As the blond superman battles him over the fate of a small child, a really cold chill runs through my body. In fact the same cold chill I received while researching Cerebus earlier this year for a paper. The power that comics has is revealed in its caricature which has sometimes (thankfully fading, yet still present) been used in the service of racism (or misogyny, homophobia, etc.). As of my writing of this, there is a large exhibit at NYU called Marvels and Monsters examining Asian stereotypes in comics and Jeet Heer has an ongoing series in The Comics Journal on race as a stylistic choice in comics; just to offer two places to explore this further.

Comics have a power in their exaggeration, which taps into our fantasy and feeds on our fears. As mainstream comics have stayed, well, mainstream, their editors, investors and honestly fans have kept the dial turned way down (sometimes off) on this trend. Indie comics remain a playground where anything can be said, anything done. It is both the blessing and the curse that self-publishers have; freedom. But indy comics do not have the burden of responsibility.

Yes, nobody gives a shit about "Foreskin Man". The comic is a vanity project, I can't imagine anyone who isn't involved in the "inactivist" movement picking it up (unless, maybe they have a wildly different idea of what it's about based on the title). Yet David Heatley and Johnny Ryan have successful careers out of comics hipster racism. This comic exists in an entirely different fringe world... yet it is still an indie comic, still functioning in the exact same way, just sans irony.

I hope that the indie comics community takes notice. It is not time to point fingers, but to open the discussion. No one of us is perfect, and if we are to continue to use the freedom that comes with indie comics, we also need to use the responsibility of comics creators and comics fans to keep the communication open... not resort to name-calling or petty shots, but to help comics creators big and small build a better community and make better comics. We are better than this.

I hope you will add your voice here.

Heroes on Heroes

2011-05-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Strange Things Are Happening

2011-04-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

2011-04-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

A banner for SotU...

wishin' I was at Stumptown Comics Fest right now.

Symptom of the Comics Publishing Industry

2011-04-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

I wrote this in response to someone on The Beat and thought I'd share it here. Comics are in a hole now, and it is not the artist's nor the consumer's fault. Allow me to share:

...for an artist to be successful they absolutely must draw from a wealth of the world’s knowledge and it is vital to look past the (very young) world of comics.

The problem with doing so is not the artist’s burden but the publisher’s. They do not know how to market anything outside of the nerd multiverse. This is why, say, Sarah Glidden’s How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less is criminally unrecognized (not even nominated for an Eisner?!, even with the tons of press it has been getting. It should be getting press outside of the world of comics.

My next big project is a comic done in charcoal and meant to be read as a play, inspired by the work of Jean Genet. I have no illusion that anyone will want to read it in the comics sphere. There is no publisher in comics that I can think of that would touch it (part of why I self-publish) but I can think of some literary publishers that I am going to pitch it to.

We can do better, but are discouraged from doing so. No publishers are willing to risk promoting great books (which is why traditional literature publishers like Pantheon put out books like Persepolis. Would Oni Press? Or Dark Horse? D&Q? It became a deserved success because it was not marketed to the comics world and didn’t pander to the comics world. It is simply a great comic, doing something that no other artform can do. If it only sat in LCBS (local comic book stores) across the country it would be unknown and forgotten right now.

Now that digital distribution is easy and inexpensive, publishers have the opportunity to reach audiences all over the world and actually take risks on books that aren’t about zombies or movie tie-ins or fill-in-the-blank trends.

But I doubt there is anyone willing to risk it when there is a quick buck to be made off comics. Even Fantagraphics has taken to simply reprinting popular, lost greats (or translations) as their bread and butter. This probably allows them to do things like MOME without going broke.

Why?

2011-04-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't watch this Sucker Punch movie anyway... but why aren't black girls allowed to kick ass any more? Where is our Gloria Hendry?

2011-04-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE

Bong-crushingly epic webcomic

Symptom of the Universe

2011-03-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Less than a week away from launching!

Coming April 4th

2011-03-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE

2011-03-10T07:36:00.001-08:00

My Spank-Branding New Webcomic is less than a month away from its April 4th birthday. I am excited about this project and have been working hard on it for over a year at this point. The fruit of this labor will be sweet, my friends!

Darkness Descended

2011-03-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to see Darkness Descend! I am really excited about the show and the support of everyone involved and everyone that came out. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have been a part of this and can't wait to see the future of this piece.

This was my first foray into animation, which was simultaneously heartbreaking, exhilarating, frustrating, awe-inspiring and just plain new. Here's a couple stills.

Again, thanks for coming out and seeing it!!!

Hi, Atus!

2011-01-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

This blog is on temporary hiatus due to the fact that I'm finishing my paper, working on animation for Darkness Descend and trying to launch my webcomic in a couple months... among other things.

Sorry for the inconvenience! I will update as soon as I can take a breath.

Until then, why not ponder who would win in a fight; Kid Creole or Morris Day?

Gabrielle Giffords

2011-01-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Hello, I usually try to keep things light around the Idol, but I really need your help right now.

As you may have heard, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was meeting the public this morning at a local Tucson Safeway when a crazed gunman shot her in the head and continued to fire into the crowd. 12 people were seriously injured. 6 people are reported dead, including a 9 year old girl.

While this might seem like the act of someone crazy and without any semblance of reason, the fact that Gabrielle Giffords was specifically targeted points to the fact that she has been in the crosshairs of many people who have fanned the fires of hatred and now have blood on their hands. Sarah Palin recently published her name with a crosshair on her "neck of the woods" along with other politicians who voted for the recent health care bill.

From my friend Sean Murphy:

Local businessmen Steve Christy (520-327-5561) and Rich Moret (520-495-5621) were instrumental in funding the hyperbolic and unwarranted demonization of Gabrielle Giffords.

They took out-of-state money from the Koch brothers to mount a campaign against her. They were in large part (but not solely) responsible for the unnecessarily heated rhetoric that, if not directly responsible for this tragedy, certainly fostered an environment where such horrible actions originate. If nothing else, they do not deserve a dime of anyone with any decencies money.

I urge you to call and let these two monsters know that the blood is on their hands, that they have killed to line their pockets.

If you know the history of the Koch brothers, you know that they have been instrumental in pushing political agendas, creating the "tea party" and now inadvertantly, attempted assassination.

I hope you will call and let these monsters know what they have done. Whether or not the man responsible has a political bent one way or another, there have been repeated threats made to her, and continual insinuation that citizens should try "second amendment remedies" if they don't get their way. This is simply irresponsible, and now it has claimed more lives and caused more death and unjustifiable pain and suffering.

Gabrielle Giffords is, from what I've heard from friends, incredibly kind, caring and strong. I am wishing her a full and speedy recovery from this incident. My heart goes out to the families who now have to deal with their loss.

How To Draw Comics

2010-12-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

I recently responded to someone who was wondering what tools they needed to make a comic after seeing someone working on one in a coffee shop. I was baffled by all the tools and techniques when I set out to make my first comic. This is by no means comprehensive but if your new years resolution is to make a comic, this can help you to achieve that goal.

Here you can see me posing with my tool:

QUESTION: What tools do you need to make a comic?

ANSWER:

This may sound corny, but you should just use whatever feels right to you:

Maus; A Survivor's Tale was drawn on common typing paper with a cheap pen to give it its desperate, this-must-be-told feel. It is the only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer prize.

Alex Ross primarily paints covers, but he has done a few graphic novels, fully painted in gouache and watercolor. He has won multiple awards for his work.

Sophie Crumb has made comics using a bic pen. Really cheap.

Most artists today are switching to digital, however. It's not quite the majority, but it will be soon. They draw in photoshop with a Wacom (or other brand tablet).

Traditionally, comics are drawn with a brush and/or a nib pen.

Hunt was the favorite brand, the 102. Crow quills and spoon bills. I personally hate this nib, as I feel as though the quality is in serious decline. But many artists still swear by it. And their art is astounding...

The brush is tricky, but it can produce beautiful, lush results. Jeff Smith's Bone is fantastic and is done entirely with a brush. The problem with brushes is that they are tricky, inconsistent and expensive. If you go to an art store, look for sable and look for a fairly large size (at least an 8 in the US). If the store is worth its weight in salt, they should let you test it out with some water. If it doesn't "snap" back into shape and keep a clear point without splitting, it is a dud.

Some are rounds, some are liners... as long as it has a sharp tip that won't go haywire when it gets wet, it's comics gold!

I use a cheaper, non-sable brush called "Masters Gold." Go figure! It is around 6 to 8 dollars and is the best for its price. I also use a pen... but the dip pen I use is from Japan and all the info on the packaging is in Japanese, so I have no clue what they're called! It says G-Pen on it and that's all I know. But they are phenomenal! They are only available in one or two art stores in Manhattan, so I have a feeling they are hard to come by.

Ink is a matter of personal preference. I buy Winsor-Newton's black India ink with a spider on the box. It is pretty pricey, but it is the perfect consistency. Some artists buy cheaper, watery ink and leave the bottle open for days so it thickens. I don't have the time or the coordination to leave a bottle of ink sitting open in my room. I have to have deep black on the page... some artists photohop it to look darker.

Oh, and the paper I use is 14X17 Bristol board with a little "tooth" a.k.a. roughness. I love drawing on watercolor paper, but damn that stuff is too rich for my blood!

I have a pretty inventive pal whose blog COMICS TOOLS has a bunch of tips and tricks... it was on hiatus for a while and is possibly back, but if you look through it you can find a ton of advice on everything from eraser shields to Ames guides.

It's here: http://comictool.blogspot.com/

Sorry for all the info, but when I was starting out, there was just really vague advice like, use a big brush, get an old pen, everything's done with computers, etc. etc. and I was bewildered until I started hanging out with actual comics artists who turned up their nose in utter revilement at my tools.

Just kidding, they're all pretty nonchalant. And were super helpful.

All that being said; draw however you're comfortable! Use whatever you have. I started drawing with a bic pen at the last convention I was at and people were astounded by it. It cost 10 cents.

What's more important is the actual content. But we all know that already!

Simply the Best

2010-12-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

2010 has run its recession-plagued, prop-8 decrying course, capping the end of this Bush-bespeckled decade.

I hope you have a moment to spare in your busy day to allow me to take you back...

back to relax and rub elbows with our old friend Father Time. Grab my crystal balls and rub vigorously...

we are about to descend, you and I...

We are all a little older and a little less wiser. The gulf is as oil-logged as a port-a-potty after a Nazareth concert, David Wojnarowicz's art still scares the shit out of Christians, queer kids getting bullied finally made it into the news, volcanoes erupted, Chilean miners emerged, children sighed, butterflies flew, mists misted, leaves fell and idols toppled... and yet sugar still manages to taste as sweet.

First off, a lot of amazing and talented people passed away this year. I am sure there are some people I am forgetting, it felt as though every other day somebody's death was being announced and making me sad:

Peter Orlovsky, Dino De Laurentiis (who produced your favorite movie), Susso Cecchi D'Amico (who wrote my favorite movie), Dennis Hopper, Black Lizard director Umetsugu Inoue, Leslie Nielson, Dick Giordano, Mike Esposito, Fernando Fernandez, pioneering artist Violet Barclay, Bill DuBay, George Hickenlooper, Chris Kanyon, Rammellzee, When Rabbit Howls author Truddi Chase, Alexander McQueen, the amazing composer Henryck Gorecki, Ari Up, Albertina Walker of The Caravans, Lena Horne, Mike Edwards (cellist for ELO), musical pioneer Peter "Sleazy" Christophson, Gang Starr's Guru, Pete Quaife, producer Sonia Pottinger, Debbie Abono (manager of Possessed, Exodus, Cynic, Obituary, Skinlab etc.) Tuli Kupferberg of The Fugs, Teddy Pendergrass, FEAR's Derf Scratch, Armando Acosta, the beautiful Shirley Verrett, J. D. Salinger, Howard Zinn, Rue Mcclanahan, Captain Beefheart and last but not least Ronnie James fucking Dio, Frank fucking Frazetta and the incredible artist Louise Bourgeois.

R.I.P. and thanks for the long, strange trip.

Now to the part you've all been waiting for: THE LIST

Before I dive in, I want to show you the sheer panic and insanity that can occur when writing said list.

Shelby Cobras brought the pimpled wrath of a thousand bleeting Metal Sucks readers who promptly drunkle finntrolled and fromped all over Illogical Contraception.

Witness the horror, if you dare:
http://illogicalcontraption.blogspot.com/2010/12/behold-top-20-shittiest-metal-releases.html

Metal Sucks bloated itself with Korn-fueled fury in the aftermath:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5629764869954858933

There was so much music that came out this year, I haven't had a chance to wade through it all. I still haven't found the new Deathspell Omega or the new/old Abruptum EP. Come on, NY record stores, get with it!

And this isn't in order. Music isn't about hierarchies.

AVSKY - Scorn
COSMIC CHURCH - Absoluutin Lävistämä
LYRTHAS - In Shadows Imbued
BETTYE LAVETTE - Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook (OK, to be honest this isn't that great, but if you see her doing it live it is incredible. The bland studio musicians kind of ruin the recording, but she's a legend)
SWANS - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
1349 - Demonoir
THE FALL - Your Future Our Clutter
FREITOD - Nebel der Erinnerungen
WINTERWOLF - Cycle of the Werewolf
CRETACEOUS - Saurian Jihad EP (R.I.P.)
SALOME - Terminal
THE MELVINS - The Bride Screamed Murder
BURZUM - Belus (People shit all over this but I thought it was great)
ENSLAVED - Axioma Ethica Odini
ABIGOR - Time is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint (they regained their footing after the previous, iffy release)
DRUDKH - Handful of Stars
KORPBLOD - Norrön Megri
ERYKAH BADU - New Amerykah part 2: Return of the Ankh
M. LAMAR - Negrogothic (cass)
M. LAMAR - The Black Death
SKYFORGER - Kurbads
RAMESSES - Take the Cure
ANU - Opus Funaerum
XASTHUR - Portal of Sorrow (the final album, and I couldn't think of a better obituary for this incredible project. R.I.P.)
DEATH IN JÜNE - Peaceful Snow / Lounge Corps (at first I had trepidations about this album but it is fucking beautiful, campy and terrific)
DARKTHRONE - Circle the Wagons (the best of their new crusty sound, with riffs for days!)
THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL - The Murder of Jesus the Jew (metal's weirdest weirdos with what might be their best album)
SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS - I Learned the Hard Way
BONE AWL - Bowing Heads demo
GRAVELAND - Cold Winter Blades (a.k.a. music to LARP to... this was a grower)
DIAMANDA GALÁS - The Cleopatra Set? Monthly releases (Not a proper album, but some of the greatest fucking music to come out this year, released monthly on her website)
LUDICRA - The Tennant (if you hate metal, this will show you why you are a tool)
MOIRA SCAR - Slink to Intensity (musical genius)
DISEMBALLERINA - Demo CDR
THE CHASM - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm (even though this technically came out in the end of 2009, it is probably the best album on here and everybody slept on it on their end of year list)

BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR:

GRINDERMAN - Heathen Child

How can you argue with that?

BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR:

William Burroughs: A Man Within

I didn't really see that many movies this year. What I did see was pretty awful (I tried to watch Tron, which was like a 2 hour deodorant commercial), but this Burroughs documentary was fantastic. Inspiring, honest and pulled no punches. I almost started crying every time Patti Smith started talking.

That Banksy movie, Exit Through the Gift Shop was pretty phenomenal as well. It was utterly depressing and damning, but if you're an artist, it's a frightening wake up call. I also perversely enjoyed the Joan Rivers documentary Piece of Work.

BEST COMICS:

Hmmm... as usual I didn't read that much. Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin was spectacular, I must admit. The Judge Dredd reprint vol. 1 is vital, and Dan Clowes came out with Wilson, which I loved, although a lot of people weren't feeling it. Liz Baillie's Release the Bats was a collection of odds and ends and has a David Wojnarowicz piece that I absolutely love but really the whole collection is great. I also discovered Detroit Metal City, which I went on and on about in a previous post. It is weirdly amazing. Also I picked up Fred Chao's Johnny Hiro, which is extremely good but I haven't finished.

Hey, I guess I did read a lot of comics! Lucky me!

SONG THAT GOT STUCK IN MY HEAD A LOT THIS YEAR:

I have a love/hate relationship with this song, and I guess with Lil' Wayne in general.

Lil' Wayne - Drop the World featuring Eminem:

Personally it was a great year. I debuted Gorgeous Clothed Flies in New York and six of the original pages were featured in Keith Mayerson's NeoIntegrity: Comics Edition at the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art. I also got a grant to publish it for reals. I started and stopped a webcomic about the civil war... it is on serious hiatus! I started writing a novel. I made two minicomics, another installment of Demon of the Fall and my first personal minicomic called Comfort's Fist, both of which I was pretty happy with.

I got to table at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, which was a blast. My work got a shout-out in Time Out New York. I started work on Teufelskralle, a sequel to Gorgeous Clothed Flies using only ball-point pen. I designed my first logo, for Infra-Iridian and started work on a commission to redesign the logo for Everyman Espresso. I also am putting the finishing touches on an essay about Gerhard, "background" artist for Dave Sim's Cerebus.

I got to see Sunn and Boris at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple where they blew the power with a single riff. I got to see R. Crumb's Genesis in its entirety in person, I got to see Dan Clowes at The Strand, I did yoga for the first time and got to see the opera The Nose with animation by William Kentridge... and I got to see one of my favorite SF bands Ludicra play in New York.

And last but not even remotely least I put together a website (no small feat!), and began work which will become a full-fledged webcomic called

SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE

and that will debut next year.

If you're a savvy savverson, you can google that title with either "Sabin" or "comics" and get a sneaky peek.

Or something else entirely...

meow!

I learned that there is a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to gather stones... etc. etc. WHERE IS 2011?

Thanks for everyone's support, love, photos and fun.

M. Lamar - Unloved and Unwanted

2010-12-27T21:35:00.001-08:00

I might be biased, but who isn't? This is my new favorite song, shot by Siobhan in SF a week and a half ago. It is devastating, beautiful and brilliant:

Your Move...

2010-12-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Chess. Yes, chess. It is probably the most boring game, just under bridge and golf. Why am I talking about it? Because these rules, from the 64 Commandments of Chess, sound like something out of Sun Tzu's The Art of War (with a little tweaking) so I'm going to share them with you.

results guaranteed!

by Bruce Pandolfini

Be aggressive, but play soundly. Don't take unnecessary chances.
Make sure every move has a purpose.
If you know your opponent's style, take advantage of it. But, in the final analysis, play the board, not the player.
Don't ignore your opponent's moves.
Don't give needless checks. Check only when it makes sense.
Answer all threats. Try to do so by improving your position and/or posing a counter-threat.
Play for the initiative. If you already have it, maintain it. If you don't have it, seize it.
When exchanging, try to get at least as much as you give up.
Take with the man of least value, unless there is a definite reason for doing otherwise.
Cut your losses. If you must lose material, lose as little as possible.
If you blunder, don't give up fighting. After getting the advantage, your opponent may relax and let you escape.
Never play a risky move, hoping your opponent will overlook your threat, unless you have a losing position. In that case, you have nothing to lose.
Rely on your own powers. If you can't see the point of your opponent's move, assume there isn't any.
Don't sacrifice without good reason.
When you can't determine whether to accept or decline a sacrifice, accept it.
Attack in number. Don't rely on just one or two pieces.
Look for double attacks.
Play for the center: guard it, occupy it, influence it.
Fight for the center with pawns.
Don't make careless pawn moves. In the opening, move as few pawns as necessary to complete your development.
If feasible, move both center pawns two squares each.
Develop your pieces quickly, preferably toward the center.
Develop purposefully, and not just for development's sake.
Don't waste time or moves. Try to develop a new piece on each turn. Don't move a piece twice in the opening without good reason.
Try to develop with threats, but don't threaten pointlessly.
Develop minor pieces early. King-side pieces should usually be developed sooner than Queen-side ones, and Knights before Bishops.
Develop during exchanges.
To exploit an advantage in development, attack.
Try to give as much scope to your pieces as possible.
Seize open lines.
Determine whether you have an open or closed game, and play accordingly.
Trade when ahead in material or when under attack, unless you have a sound reason for doing otherwise. Avoid trades when behind in material or when attacking.
Choose a plan and stay with it. Change it only if you should or must.
If cramped, free your game by exchanging material.
Trade bad minor pieces for good ones.
If the position is unsettled, disguise your plans: make noncommittal moves.
If behind in development, keep the game closed.
Try to accumulate small advantages.
Use the analytic method. When you don't know what to do, first evaluated the position (as best you can), then ask pertinent questions about your analysis

Results guaranteed!

before:

after:

A Page About Love

2010-12-25T05:02:00.000-08:00

I did this for a couple of friends. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up

2010-12-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

The eclipse last night was incredible!

The loveliest moon, that ever silver’d o’er

A shell for Neptune’s goblet: she did soar

So passionately bright, my dazzled soul

Commingling with her argent spheres did roll

Through clear and cloudy, even when she went

At last into a dark and vapoury tent—

Whereat, methought, the lidless-eyed train

Of planets all were in the blue again.

To commune with those orbs, once more I rais’d

My sight right upward: but it was quite dazed

By a bright something, sailing down apace,

Making me quickly veil my eyes and face:

Again I look’d, and, O ye deities,

Who from Olympus watch our destinies!

Whence that completed form of all completeness?
Whence came that high perfection of all sweetness?

---- Keats, from Endymion

Curiouser and Curiouser and Curioust

2010-12-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

Toppled Idols is bringing the year to a close, putting the final touches on the revolutionary underpinnings of another anti-fascist onslaught and soaking in the solstice, the complete lunar umbral eclipse and other ten-dollar words you might stumble across in a Cryptic crossword (i.e. un-American) or tripping off the lips of next year's poet laureate...

Any way, while incessantly googling the phrase "Toppled Idols" and wading through the ouroboros-like sewage of "American Idol" I came across this:

http://www.agent234.com/berita/links-to-this-post-toppled-idols.htm

Agent 234? WTF?

It is repostings of this blog, mixed with other random stuff from the Huffington Post and archeology blogs. I'm assuming it's in Indonesian, since it says Indonesia somewhere on the site, but I have no clue what it's about. There's a lot of pictures of soccer (or footblah) and ladies with winning poker hands... what does this portend?

Does this have something to do with THE VAST, OVER-ARCING CONSPIRACY I'VE DEVOTED MY EVERY WAKING HOUR TO THAT ALAN MOORE IS BANKSY???

Can anyone help me figure out what cryptic workings are at work here?

Are there idols needing toppling in Indonesia? A country that thanks to the American public school system I know nothing about and must resort to wikipedia to even figure out where it is?

The plot thickens, Charles Dickens...

The Mindscape of Alan Moore

2010-12-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, if you haven't seen this yet, now you have no excuse. Alan Moore summarizes his work, his writing, where ideas live, technological singularity and how art and magic are interchangeable. Simply incredible.

We are all becoming steam:

More Than Perfect

2010-12-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

When we make art, we constantly set ourselves up to fail.

There is a goal, something we need to make that doesn't exist in the world, and we practice, gather, research, try, push, get lost, sketch, exercise and struggle until it is done.

It is easy to get caught up in perfection. We can see it or hear it in its perfection, but in translating that perfect ideal we can get caught up in falling short.

But how much incredible music has been made with low-fi equipment or virtually non-existent production, how many sketches have you seen that had ten times more energy than the final painting, how much delicious food have you eaten that was "a mistake," how many accidents have changed the world? It is the limits that make us great.

If Picasso had kept trying for "realism" in his early days? You would never have heard his name.

Embrace the mistakes. Don't let them stop you. The only thing that is more than perfect is the work that is completed.

After that, your failures may succeed beyond your greatest successes:

This architect failed, and made one of the biggest attractions in the world:

Gone With the Wind was rejected 38 times. Lord of the Flies 20.
Ulysses was constantly rejected (and keep in mind that the rejections are the publishers that bother to write back) and James Joyce's first book was thrown into the fire after getting rejected so much:

Here's an epic failure by one of the greatest artists in the world:

Citizen Kane was a huge box office failure. Even though critics lauded it, it also failed to win any of the Oscars it was nominated for; Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing (all things it is considered revolutionary in)... only winning one: Best Writing (Original Screenplay) so it's 1 for 8:

Shrouded

2010-12-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

The shroud is making a comeback in the Spring 2011 lines. Better order now to get ready for the rapture...

The Meads of Asphodel - Stiller of Tempests

2010-12-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

I can't get this damned song out of my head. The Meads of Asphodel channeling Comus on their newest album. Care to dance?

Take a Page From My Book

2010-12-14T19:47:00.000-08:00

... please!

I have no idea what was going on in my sketchbook this day... half of it I was in a phone meeting... the other half???

Tramp!

2010-12-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

Ah, the tramp stamp, maligned, adored, cherished, ignored. Is there no finer tattoo fruit than thee? How can I count the ways?

I hope you tweet about this post!:

South of the Mason-Dixon:

Makes God For It Proudly:

WTF?:

Indeed:

Hey, I voted for change:

Literal:

Too literal:

This has made the rounds but its incredibleness needs to be bludgeoned into you:

Irony eating itself:

You can't spell butterfly without... sorry I just can't do it:

Church attendance would increase seven fold if the word was presented thusly:

The tramp stamp is not limited by gender, oh no:

Possibly the most horrible/amazing one:

To purge your mind of all you have just witnessed, here's Otis and Carla with one of the greatest videos ever made... TRAMP!

Public Access

2010-12-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Long before the days of the internet, before the enlightened age, a box existed known as television. And on this box was a channel like no other, unique to every realm. It provided stimulus for over-smoked, under-Pringled youngsters like myself, and now that we live in an enlightened age, I can share with you all the weirdness and wonder of the world of PUBLIC ACCESS:

Obituary love the kids:

Ken Sander can't keep 'em down:

The incredible origin of the heart/peace sign:

Albuquerque's public access lets The Pepsi Generation do Tequila and Cracks in the Sidewalk perform Leatherworld:

That damn rogue helicopter pilot:

Goth poetry (watch for the "paws"):

CB Walker makes Andy Kaufman proud:

and lastly, never talk to a German hippy about politics (International edition):

We now return you to your regularly scheduled banality

Cover Attack! THE DOCTOR IS IN!

2010-12-09T17:33:00.000-08:00

...and the doctor is out! Thanks for playing!

PS Anyone asking for "Spin Doctors" gets excommunicated from the Idol

Crypt of Boocock

2010-12-07T10:45:00.001-08:00

There are thousands of ghost sex jokes buried in the crypt of the house of boocock. I won't repeat them here...

Michelangelo's Libyan Sibyl

2010-11-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

Remember when I had bunch of drawings up in here? Yeah, me too. I drew a Libyan Sibyl already, in fact almost a year ago to this day... but that was a statue at the Met and this is from the Sistine Chapel, which I didn't go to, I just looked it up on my phone. Ain't technology grand?

Zimbardo on Evil

2010-11-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

This was fascinating. When he talks about the anonymous groups cultivating evil, it made me think about the internet and the way people use it to do really fucked up things. I want to read his book!

In Your Dreams

2010-11-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

You can thank me later

Rozz Williams

2010-11-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your time with us

The Glass Top Coffin

2010-11-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes depression hits hard.

Especially when I'm working on my art.

Making art is dealing with constant failure, in fact a fever pitch of riding the edge of ambition and failure is required to maintain "the groove." On one side lies the rut, on the other, the wave. This conflict can be a form of terrorism, or self torture.

I think depression can be its own tool, but it is very very difficult to capture, and when it is captured, it will eat away at itself, depression will gnaw its own foot off to get free. Never doubt this.

When depression hits I try to go outside myself. I can't go to any "feel good" places. They seem hollow or too precious to relate to where I am. A therapist would tell me that "depression is anger turned inward." And as one of my favorite lyrics says, "Anger is an energy" (PIL). So how to turn this energy INTO energy? Because depression feels like the opposite of energy. It feels debilitating or threatening. It feels ending.

Believe it or not, exercise is one of the only thing that makes me feel better. Your mind is part of your body, and so pressing the body into movement helps move the mind out of the darkest places, and pushing your mind into your body which moves into another plane of pleasure and pain. There is no space for depression in the body. If you're dealing with depression and haven't tried exercising, please try it, just for a week.

The other thing I turn to is music. And so having said all that, I would like to share with you an extremely special recording... this cheers me up when I'm down.

RAMASES was once visited by his namesake, the Egyptian god, while parking his car as a central heating salesman named Martin Raphael. He began recording some singles with his wife, Sel but not many paid much attention. He shopped around for a label, but few would take him seriously.

He first scored a deal with Columbia records (no small feat!) and released a 45 that is now possibly worth more than your entire record collection. The single failed, and they retried only to fail each time.

Ramases then scraped up enough interest to record an album from prog label Vertigo. It was called Space Hymns in 1970 with the musicians that were on the precipice of forming 10cc (don't worry, it sounds nothing like 10cc). This album failed to enter any charts, but Ramases and Sel were tenacious. There is no telling what they were up to in the four years between these two albums, but one can only hope it was cosmic.

His next album is what I am giving to you. Glass Top Coffin. It rests somewhere between folky ballads, Moody Blues-styled AM gold, and proggy occult/space narration. Every song has full orchestration... by members of the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra no less!

It is beautiful, melancholy, spacey, uplifting, familiar and strange. I hope you will enjoy!

It has been out of print for decades, but was recently reissued by Esoteric Recordings, whose catalog of prog (and psych and so much more) is staggering. Check it out if you want something weird and heavy.

RAMASES - GLASS TOP COFFIN

HERE

I guess I feel kinship with this music, in its failure and beauty. It was never popular, it never will be, but exists somewhere in this universe and that alone gives me hope. It keeps me balanced on the precipice and pushes me in places I would not normally go... but I'm glad I went.

I'm sorry to end on a sad note, but it must be said that Ramases comitted suicide three years after this was released. But eventually we will all pass. I am glad that his art exists, and will continue to grant hope in a world that often feels hopeless.

If I had a glass top coffin,
I would see my friends all around,
I would see their faces by my graveside
I would see the smile in their frowns

RAMASES Fan Page & More Info

Remember, remember

2010-11-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

"Farewell, old friend!" he said, a tear gathering in his eye, "farewell! Catesby" he added as he resigned the weapon to him, "I have one request to make. Let my sword be buried with me."

----William Harrison Ainsworth

"There's no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There's only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof."

----V via Alan Moore

Freewheel Fan Art

2010-11-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

I'm still super new to computer coloring, so I'm a little wary of how this turned out... but overall I like it!

This is fan art for Liz Baillie's FREEWHEEL, which updates thrice a week at www.freewheelcomics.com. It's an awesome comic, and one of the inspiration for my webcomic which will be debuting... uh, longly.

Check out Freewheel. Like the name says, it's free so you have no excuse!

Cover Attack! TANK EDITION

2010-11-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

Do You Hear What I Hear?

2010-10-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

While I'm not scratchin' off gnarly tunes on the tables, I like to listen to podcasts while I draw.

For no other reason than vanity, here they are!

INDIE SPINNER RACK - Charlito and Mr. Phil have been cranking out podcasts about indie comics for 5 years, and there are so many great lips that have graced their microphones that I wouldn't even know where to start. They have a passion for comics that is rare, even in the world of comics, they are dedicated and really care about what they do and who they do it to. There are fewer podcasts that are this entertaining AND informative. It will teach you how to make a mini, how to self-publish, make a pitch, table at a con or place a phone call to Steve Ditko.

InkStuds - To be honest, I haven't listened to Inkstuds in a while. I got a little burnt out on it (and Robin McConnell's nervous laughter is sometimes unnerving). But, I don't want to sound like a dick, it is a really great show and has interviews with a lot of really amazing people. The show would load every week and I'd just be stunned at the names that showed up each time. Imagine my surprise when Diamanda Galás appeared on the show! Turns out Robin McConnell's taste extends past comics and into the realm of music! Despite the dick things I said about it (I'm just trying to be honest!), you should check it out. If nothing else, find your favorite artist and hear an interview with them... they're probably on here!

The Naked Scientist - I don't know why all these British things are "naked" but this show is awesome! Write in with your wacky science questions, and every week they have an experiment you can try at home. This show is super informative, getting just technical enough to educate the layperson but they don't dumb it down so much that you don't learn anything. They cover almost every type of science... I think there is a naked astronomer show... but I haven't gone there yet. True nerds ONLY!

Comic Book Queers - These guys talk a lot about mainstream comics that I'm not too into, but it's entertaining when they do and they really nerd out. You can tell they're really close friends, so they rib each other a lot. About half the airtime is spent on tv shows that I've never even heard of/or could care less about and get REALLY into it... I usually zone out during this part, but if you're a nerdy, gay, tv-watcher it might be right up your alley!

Ye Olde Metal Shoppe - The one gripe I have with this show is that it sometimes has ads. Uh, actually I have another, but it isn't really about the show per se, it's that the sound quality is pretty poor for podcasts, so any music podcast is going to sound like shit. This show is always great, it never gets into mainstream territory and always has a theme (a certain genre, band, movement or style) and you can hear old chestnuts and discover new (well, old) bands that you've never heard of. It's about 2 hours every week, perfect for getting your energy up and into your work!

RadioLab - I almost didn't put this on here because I figured everyone would know it by now. On the off chance you haven't, listen to it now! It is the best radio show of all time, combining the story-telling traditions of classic radio drama with science and incredible stories. It's made me laugh, it's made me cry, it's made me literally stand with my mouth agape in disbelief.

BEING - This show was called "Speaking of Faith." It used to be on when I would come into work in the morning and I never listened to it. I didn't want to hear some show about religion. It turns out that it's one of the most fascinating radio shows being produced right now. Krista Tippett interviews tons of fascinating people doing extraordinary things and the show is so honest and hopeful it is hard to listen to it and not be inspired.

hmmm... I know there's more but that's probably enough for now!

Hippie Helloween

2010-10-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

there was supposed to be some brutal Brazilian black metal here, but shit happens. well, just gaze into this image and imagine something horrific or sexy or horrific and sexy. what do i care? i've been permanently turned off of halloween.

Deathspell Omega PARACLETUS

2010-10-26T05:39:00.000-07:00

in collaboration with Season of Mist, Deathspell Omega have a new album coming out:

Paracletus - the comforter in monotheistic traditions (and beyond).

1. Epiklesis I
2. Wings of Predation
3. Abscission
4. Dearth
5. Phosphene
6. Epiklesis II
7. Malconfort
8. Have you Beheld the Fevers?
9. Devouring Famine
10. Apokatastasis Pantôn

CATHOLOCISM:
Paraclete, Comforter (L. Consolator; Greek parakletos), an appellation of the Holy Ghost. The Greek word which, as a designation of the Holy Ghost at least, occurs only in St. John (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7), has been variously translated "advocate", "intercessor", "teacher, "helper", "comforter".
In heaven Christ remains our parakletos or advocate (1 John 2:1). In this world, He is with us even to the consummation of the world (Matthew 28:20), but He is with us through His Spirit of whom He says : "I will send Him to you. He shall glorify me; because He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you" (John 16:7, 14).

JUDAISM:
hilo speaks several times of "paraclete" advocates, primarily in the sense of human intercessors.

ISLAM:
Some Muslims have argued that the paraclete, the "other counselor"—the first being Jesus—refers to the Prophet Muhammad. The earliest scholar is probably Ibn Ishaq; others who interpreted the paraclete as a reference to Muhammad include Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Kathir, Al-Qurtubi, Rahmatullah Kairanawi, and a range of contemporary scholars.

CHRISTIANITY:
In the New Testament the word appears only in Johannine writings. 'Paraclete' appears in the New Testament in the Gospel of John (14:16, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7) where it may be translated in English as "counselor", "helper", or "comforter".[6] The early church identified the paraclete as the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5,1:8,2:4,2:38) and Christians continue to use Paraclete as a title for the Spirit of God.

NEW AGE:
You may call upon me, Paracletus, to assist you in your work and service to life. And I will come when you also call upon the Lord, for I am still in his service. And often, unbeknownst to mankind, when he is about certain great work, I go as his representative to work especially with those in the Christian churches who are not quite yet ready for the full intensity of his power and flame, for he is truly a noble one that few can withstand. And so I am, as it were, almost a step-down transformer of his fire to deliver unto many an aspect or a portion of his flame at the level in which they can receive it.

COLOR

2010-10-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Since I've been working on my first color comic, I've been thinking a lot about color. It is a weird and strange thing that I have taken for granted for a long long time (even though I use it at work every day).

I came across this fascinating thing.

http://colorschemedesigner.com/

It has a color wheel that lets you adjust the hues and brightness and all the other nerdy design stuff that I'm sure bores you to death.

What might not bore you to death is that you can click on a thing in the top right corner and see what the world of color looks like to someone who's fully colorblind, or say has deuteranopia (like my old man and to a lesser extent yours truly)... check out the triads, tetrads and every potentially disgusting, puke-inducing color combo that can besmirch the human eye. Oh, and if you're an internet-oriented fella or gal, you can get more hexadecimal codes than you can shake an ipad at.

This is all new to me, so perhaps you don't share my enthusiasm. I never took a painting or art class. And I have been known to fancy myself a wheel enthusiast.

Can you imagine how sad a world without color would be? I think we all know the answer to that...

exhibit A:

Got a Spare 24 Hours?

2010-10-23T14:44:00.001-07:00

your fearless conductor

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony slowed beyond a crawl... stretched to cover a 24 hour period. It is really beautiful, sometimes eerie and as you can imagine, ambient and weird:

PAGE IS HERE:
http://www.park.nl/park_cms/public/index.php?thisarticle=118

Eat that, Sunnø)))!

CLICK HERE TO STREAM (in itunes, wmp, etc.)

Sci Fi or DIE!

2010-10-22T17:02:00.001-07:00

These chops own. That is all.

General Johnson R.I.P.

2010-10-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

General Johnson R.I.P.

Exile in Guyville

2010-10-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

If you grew up in the 90s, you were probably peripherally aware of Liz Phair. She came out with an album, Exile in Guyville, before being really marketed as this semi-feminist, semi-singer/songwriter, semi-obscure alternative rock star.

Her first album is really good. I never heard it until really really recently and it has really good "relationship" songs. The lyrics are really good, and the production is pretty minimal, so the whole thing ages pretty well.

BEFORE:

Well, she signed to Matador and her second album was advertised everywhere, the "hits" off it were in heavy rotation all over the alt-rock stations, she was all over Mtv and it was ok. Super-production and overly obscure lyrics lost a lot of what made Exile in Guyville so great.

I never heard her third album. She then took time off to do family stuff, getting married, divorced, having a kid, etc. etc.

DURING:

I had all but forgotten about her until her "comeback." Suddenly she was everywhere, in these baby-doll poses with a guitar and ultra-mega-production with a slick team of songwriters giving her these middle of the road pop songs. It was almost beyond my idea of selling out, I was just fascinated by this weird transformation, which wasn't really a transformation, just a weird progression, or perhaps peeling of layers. Underneath all we think of as anti-this or the underground-version-of-that or indie-this, is the same drive to be successful, to be famous, to get our work or ourselves out there, wherever that is.

Liz Phair did what Courtney Love did just without the craziness. It was the most boring ascension/descent in music history.

NOW:

Liz Phair released an album recently. Did anyone notice? Why would they? The music industry that "made" this wonder woman is drowning in a sea of blood and the person who wrote the incredible "Fuck and Run" died somewhere along the line. So you have a dying man throwing a corpse at you.

THE NEW ALBUM (Coincidentally the absolute ugliest cover I could ever imagine for an album ever designed and I've imagined some complete shit):

Moral of the story: don't lose your soul on your way to the top. At least we can still listen to Exile in Guyville until this world goes up in flames...

Beautiful

2010-10-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

Words can't express how beautiful and incredible this is. I cried throughout the whole thing. If every family/community were full of this much love/acceptance I would have hope for the world.

Please pass this on:

The People Have Spoken... in MAYAN HEIROGLYPHICS!

2010-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

What's that, you say? You would like to learn about the Mayan people? Why is that? Oh, you know nothing about them? Oh, their calender says what? 2013? Planets aligning? My, my, well, I guess we'd better watch THIS documentary all about the Mayan people and their (lost because of colonial fuckfaces) language, in fact THE MOST beautiful language ever made... these heiroglyphics are incredible!

NOVA: Cracking the Maya Code

New York Comic Con

2010-10-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Comic Con was nuts, even more nuts than usual! It's such a weird con for me, but really inspiring in a way. It is soooo so diverse; it's cool to see all these people of every shape, size, gender and color all excited about different parts of one thing.

Oh yeah, and of course there were some incredible costumes! I've been trying to find pictures (with all the shutterbugs clogging the aisles, I have to wonder what went wrong?) but the few I've found are scant and uninspiring.

Deadpool was definitely the costume du-jour, although I saw a good amount of OLD SCHOOL Wonder Womans (Women?) walking around looking to pick a fight with Jim Lee (I saw one Wonder Woman with the new outfit on). It was fun, overwhelming and over-the-top nerd in every possible way.

Smokin' Valves

2010-10-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Dennis Dread, I started doing art with a bic pen. It is great but hard to reproduce... His work is incredible...

Secrets and Sickness

2010-10-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

Despite being waylayed by sickness, Comfort's Fist should still debut at comic-con this weekend! I will be tabling for an hour or two at the Indie Spinner Rack table in podcast alley.

AND if you want the soundtrack for free, you have to say the password... and the password is PRECINCT! If you say this to me at NYCC you'll get a free soundtrack to accompany Comfort's Fist; my first auto-bio minicomic!

xxx

2010-09-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

the wizard is busy, go away

Comfort's Fist Cover

2010-09-28T08:03:00.001-07:00

Comfort's Fist will debut at New York Comic Con... I'm not tabling or anything, so it's catch as catch can. But the cover is debuting right here right now!

As always, click to ENLARGE!

Slavery's Legacy

2010-09-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

I've been reading American Slavery and thinking a lot about the fact that our country was founded on a physical genocide and built on a spiritual and cultural genocide. It is a dense and dry book, but the information in it should be taught in schools, which it's not.

I recently wrote a response to someone talking about corporations using slavery on a global scale, but I would like to post it here, because it is abhorrent and this should be changed...

The 13th amendment (which abolished slavery) actually allows slavery under one condition:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The prison industrial complex is bigger than ever in the US, imprisoning more of our people than any country in history. More than 1 in 100 adults in the US is in jail or prison right now; in fact we've locked up half a million more people than China, whose population is 5 times the US. 75% of the prison population is not white. They receive poor medical care and rape and violence is methodically used to coerce people.

IBM, Boeing, Target, Microsoft, Motorola, Victoria's Secret, Starbucks, etc. etc. use prison labor to make billions of dollars of profit, while paying minimum wage in (some) state-run facilities (with the added bonus of not having to pay for health care for these workers) to 17-21 cents an hour in for-profit private facilities (with fluctuations inbetween or varying according to the states, yet all take a cut; usually 80%). People who are in prison who refuse to work get bad marks, ending up labeled "uncooperative" or will not get reduced sentencing.

This is the newly formed version of "slave" labor, here in the US. The government economies would take a serious hit, not to mention the businesses, if slavery was truly abolished nearly 150 years after the passing of the 13th amendment.

SPX Full Report

2010-09-17T07:37:00.001-07:00

I had really low expectations for SPX. I had been on the wait list for months (number 7) and less than a month before the show I found out I got in. I was warned that it was a bad table, all the way in the back... but I didn't care! I had heard such great things about SPX and had to make it there! I quickly searched high and low for a table mate, who was going to be Ben Towle, but rearranging his plane ticket would essentially be buying a new ticket, so I was flying solo. Was this an omen for what my SPX experience would be?

Well, the rumors turned out to be true! SPX is the best show in almost every way! The table actually turned out to be great. There were huge crowds, so a lot of people were pushing their way through and when they got to the back they would take a breather and I was the first person there. I was frantically stapling and sewing my stuff together when the con started, but I never really had any down time on the first day.

I was lucky enough to drive up in a car with MK Reed, Liz Baillie, her husband Zane and Joe Flood. Joe narrated our trek through Jersey, which was also a drive down memory lane as we avoided all the toll bridges. We stopped at Wawa, which, like every stop in Jersey was infested with yellow jackets! Who knew The Garden State was this WASPY?

We got our badges from some guy who was being a dick to Zane, and for some reason mine said "DO NOT FEED" on it instead of the books I do, but Liz, Joe and I went to the gym to work off some steam. I pretty much flailed a weight around and stared at a TV without sound until Liz started showing me some Hapkido falls and we ended up punching one of those weird giant ball things.

Saturday morning I woke up super early, and my work senses must have been tingling because I found the Rockville TJ's. I grabbed some snacks and a toothbrush (and scoped out the art, of course!) and waited for the Old Navy to open so that I could buy a swimsuit. I had to run across the freeway to get back to the hotel... the whole place reminded me of Andy Warhol's perfect town, where everything is off of one giant road...

The actual con was great! I got some really great stuff from trading with people, and only left my table to see the panel on creating your own world, since the next big project I'm working on is a sci-fi/fantasy comic. It was great and informative... I especially liked Charlie "Spike" Trotman, who does a webcomic called Templar, AZ. It updates 3 times a week, which is amazing! It is a sort of alternate history comic, but the ideas she explored sounded interesting.

On Saturday I got to meet Mario Gonzalez, who came all the way up from Mexico. He is a great guy and I got his book Wyliman. Mario illustrated a piece for PILE DRIVER, and also happens to be Mayor of Hobotown! His book looks fantastic (available in English and Spanish) and he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

I also bought Liz Baillie's Release the Bats (named after a Birthday Party song, so you already know it's good!) full of minicomics and collected works. I had some from the minicomics of the month club, but it's nice to have them collected in a book (especially since I'm missing some!) and it has this David Wojnarowicz piece I really really love and is worth the price alone!

I also bought Fred Chao's Johnny Hiro book, which I've wanted for ages. If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and seek it out. It's put out by AdHouse books and is awesome!

GB Tran's book Vietnamerica looks incredible! It isn't out yet but he had a proof there and it was breathtaking! Definitely watch for that!

The following is a list of all the stuff I traded for, so if you want to skip it, just go past this text!

I got a stylishly weird and darkly humorous comic from Lizz Hickey, Sandcastle Syndrome by Hilary Allison, which has this yellow ochre/blue marker color palette that really gives the art this outdoorsy, dusky quality, Swear Not by the Moon and other stories by Olivia Russin, Grixly issue 13 by Nate McDonough (and this weird George Bush doodle art by his friend... sorry I forgot your name, dude!), two issues of Badzine (zines, yay!!!!)... and so much more!

I saw Neil Brideau, who I pretty much only see at cons. I got Spitting Pennies and Write Now! which are both fantastic! They have this quality that reminds me of being a kid, and Write Now comes with a secret pocket and a short story inside; Adventure Princess and the Mysterious Dragon, which is the story from the comic. It is about a girl who IS a writer in a class of kids that want to be something. It is cute and inspiring... check out more here: http://fromthewell.info/. I also got to meet Adrian James, who I'd seen around. I got Sooky Service LLC #1, and the art is fantastic! The world needs more queer punk comics! I think Adrian goes to SVA, so watch out! I also saw Katie Fricas, who I hadn't seen in forever and got her new comic (finished moments before the show!) Santa's First Christmas!

My table neighbor Reid Psaltis had some great prints of cryptozoology, and some awesome fold-out comics. I got Carry On, Carrion; A Crow Funeral and and anthology called The Matter, both are beautifully printed and have some awesome art! I snuck by Jamie Tanner, but he was talking to Mr. Phil, so he just slipped me The Retreat and Other Matters of Motivation and Relaxation which has his trademark stylish art.

After the whirlwind Saturday show, the Ignatz awards began. Liz Baillie hosted, doing a "Fakenatz" award show simultaneously. Whoever guessed the presenter through a series of hints got a Fakenatz, which is a brick full of candy and wacky bands! Some savvy internet nerds ruined it by knowing who the presenters were, so she didn't get to show off her Jaime Hernandez tattoo as a clue.

After the Ignatz show I jetted to DC with Liz to see The Bouncing Souls. If you know Liz, you know this is her favorite band, but we were trying to get there early enough to see Defiance, Ohio open for them. We didn't make it, but the show was fun. I don't really know The Bouncing Souls at all (except through Liz's comics) but they put on a great show and have a song called "East Coast Fuck You" that I liked. We headed back down the hilariously named P Street to catch the train back to Bethesda.

By Sunday, I had done so well that I decided to not "work" the crowd and just draw. I had forgotten all my drawing stuff, and all I had was a ballpoint Bic pen. So I started to draw with it. This turned out to draw (get it?) more people than just saying "hi!" Everybody stopped to see what I was doing but then were amazed that I was using a Bic pen. So I might just do my whole next book with it! Definitely a con trick (get it? get it?) I will use in the future!

Throughout the weekend we ate at this 50s style diner that actually had a decent veggie burger and really great granola/banana pancakes. I need to plan better for going to places like Bethesda as far as vegan options, because it costs a lot to constantly eat out and it sucks to have to compromise. But everyone that worked there was super awesome, even amongst the throngs of cartoonists and families on Sunday.

Sunday night we got to swim, but only about 10 minutes, since we were so late. It was nice, though... I haven't swam in years!

The ride home was sleepy and hazy and New Jersey-filled. An endless bevy of toll bridges and country music and Primus. It was a great show... I got so much great stuff, met so many awesome people, and had a blast. And I have to come back next year 'cuz I missed the chocolate fountain!

I'm glad I'm not an SPX virgin anymore, and hopefully we can do it again some time. Call me!

SPX

2010-09-16T09:14:00.001-07:00

Wow, so I will have a full report on SPX soon... but in a nutshell it was a blast and then some! I met so many awesome people, traded for a ton of great stuff, saw people I only see once or twice a year and had so so much fun!

I am already busy working on a minicomic for the unholy alliance of comics and commerce that is NY Comic-Con...

It is called COMFORT'S FIST and it will be my first auto-bio comic...

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

2010-09-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

How incredible is this ad? They sure don't make 'em like this any more!

Art by Frederick Siebel and art direction by Harry F. O'Brien. They were awarded the Art Directors Club Medal for this ad. I definitely agree...

Is This the Transcendant Logos?

2010-09-03T14:12:00.001-07:00

This is Thy Circumference!

2010-08-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

SPX

2010-08-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

I will be at SPX Sept. 11th and 12th! Come see all my stuff, plus the new installment of DOF!

Evolution of a Page

2010-08-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

From pencils to ink outlines, to inks and tone... this is the way I make my page... CLICK ON ANY to ENLARGE

Satan is a DJ

2010-08-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

Vothana Hates You!

2010-08-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Vothana is the only black metal band I've heard from Vietnam. Now this spiteful one-man horde is located in the US. I've heard a few Vothana recordings, but this so far, is my favorite.

Vothana is encrusted, caustic lo-fi black metal. Nothing to surprise you, nothing to turn you off. But what I like about this record more than the others is the way the vocals match the guitar playing... they are melodic, going from growling with some "bragging" sort of shouting... I don't know, it just sounds different to my world-weary ears. Underground melodic war metal.

Hoang Gia means Wilderness in Vietnamese. See, you're learning things already.

This record was to be limited to 100 copies but supposedly after it was uploaded onto the vnkvlt internet, the remaining copies were destroyed because they weren't meant to be heard by the likes of you. So if you want the actual ten-inch you'll have to fork over some benjamins.

Don't believe me?

See for yourself:

Or you can download it HERE. Enjoy. Or should I say, thưởng thức!

Vothana hates the internet.

Vothana hates you.

"Flattery will get you nowhere"

Best youtube Comment EVER

2010-08-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

Here, now hit this, sit back and listen to the vibrations that blew this hippie's mind:

In the Glare of Burning Churches

2010-08-20T14:27:00.001-07:00

Even Satanic hooligans practice good penmanship:

A few decades ago church burning was all the rage amongst long-haired hooligans with too much leftover Halloween make-up. While I don't condone arson on any level (that means you, Left Eye!) I also think all the backlash it created was ridiculous.

In Norway, some in the black metal community said it was stupid. How is it any more or less stupid than if it had happened by accident? If it was struck by lightning would you condemn nature?

God spoke to Moses through a burning bush.

Nobody wept for the bush.

People are too hung up on intent. An action is simply an action. Motive has become bigger than action. It's not what you do but why you do it. Why did you make this record? Why did you burn this place down? Why did you do anything today?

Stop blaming others and start thinking for yourself and yourselves. True art often happens spontaneously. You might even say, in "a flash." The unimaginative have to categorize and be told why it happened. Instead they should be asking what it means to them, to the world in itself.

Unchecked growth is called cancer. Nature needs the push and pull of growth and recedance to maintain balance. Humanity still can't learn. We work to eradicate cancer yet can't grasp the metaphors that art offers us.

Nobody wept for the cancer.

A Magnetar:

Destruction needs creation to destroy, and creation needs destruction to make space to create...

Nobody wept for the stars.

NEO-INTEGRITY: Comics Edition

2010-08-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

TimeOut New York just reviewed the Neo-Integrity show put together by Keith Mayerson. I got a mention in it, which is totally surreal. If I was in California I'd be "stoked" (and not just about the looming pot legalization that will turn it into the next Gomorrah...)

Check it out here:

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/art/88208/neointegrity-comics-edition-at-museum-of-comic-and-cartoon-art-mocca-art-review

Last paragraph:

Perhaps most tellingly for Mayerson’s project, a number of works seem equally at home in both the comics and art camps. The six ink drawings of Sabin Michael Calvert’s Gorgeous Clothed Flies (2009) combine obsessive renderings of tree bark, obscure charts and psychedelic epigrams to produce a compellingly quirky poetry, and Ray Sohn’s Spume of the Condors (2010) joins semiabstract outline drawing to collaged geometries in red, yellow and green in a five-panel burst of pictorial invention. Punctuated by discoveries like these, perusing the maze of Mayerson’s exhibition becomes akin to reading a great comic book, full of pleasure and surprises.

Getting Things Done for Artists

2010-08-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty overwhelmed right now with projects. Whenever this happens I usually procrastinate by looking around for books/sites on efficiency or tips on how to get stuff done. The problem is pretty much all of them are for executives or managers. I don't really need to know how to organize my flight itinerary or how to run a board room meeting.

As an artist you're put in the uncomfortable position of having no real schedule for getting things done. You just have to get them done.

So I've decided to write about HOW to get stuff done, because people seem to think I get a lot done (personally I don't!) and by writing about this it will hopefully help you as well as me accomplish everything we want to.

So before I start posting the big stuff I just wanted to give a little morsel:

ARTISTS ARE VERTICLE

(Did you ever play that fortune cookie game where you added "...in bed" to every fortune? I want to do it to this title...)

When visual artists organize, it is usually vertically rather than horizontally. This is a right brain/left brain thing. You should organize however you need to but the funny thing is that almost all timelines are horizontal rather than vertical. This sets up an immediate subconscious break between your work and a timeline.

Nobody knows how time works or if it even exists! So chuck out your old calenders and in their place make some columns (you're an artist, don't be dictated to by standard expectations!). I've always been drawn to those planners that have each day as a bunch of stacked rectangles but they are very myopic. The scope is up to you; day, week, month, year, decade, life... beyond... however you need to frame your project this minute.

Doing this on paper and then laminating it is a simple way to make a planner that is reusable. If you write on most laminate with a sharpie it will clean off with rubbing alcohol or cleaner with high alcohol content.

Starting at the top is the traditional way to order events but doesn't going from the bottom up make more sense? Things grow upwards...

This also applies to work spaces. A trick I got from a friend was to use a "shoe tree to hold all my supplies. I can see exactly what I have, where it is, and what I use most is right next to it. I have it organized from the top to the bottom. Everyday items (glue, scissors, tape) I might use all the time are the lowest. Then comes pencils, protractors and stencils, then pens, markers, crayons and colored pencils, then brushes, then paints/paint supplies, fixative, etc. This is the basic order I use my tools.

At the top I have lines of Met pins in a rainbow of color reminding me of going to the Met each week to sketch and practice. This both a reminder of my practice and something that grounds me: a ritual. A totem.

These aren't fast and hard rules, but if you are a visual artist and get intimidated by timelines, maybe try a different approach.

More to come...

Cambodian Jesus

2010-08-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

Twice as cuddly as boner jesus!!!

You Could Learn a Lot From a Manga

2010-08-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for "zip-a-tones" or Ben-Day dots for my new project. This has lead me into the seedy underbelly of comics... MANGA! Manga is just Japanese for comics, but it is so stylized that it has become its own genre of sorts, being imitated most famously right now by Scott Pilgrim artist Bryan Lee O'Malley.

I started wondering what makes the style so appealing. I drew a little in that style and think I figured it out. My attempt (pencils and zip-tone only):

1) Everything is simple. There is no time spent on shading and crosshatching and big shadows. This requires a lot of artistic prowess.

2) Everything is exaggerated. Eyes are especially exaggerated, but more than mere anatomy, emotions are given their own language. It is clear when a character is sad or happy or angry.

3) Everything is quick. You are definitely not reading a novel. Even with more complex looking stuff like Battle Royale, there is rarely a panel with more than two word balloons, most have one and some use interim panels with only words and a pattern to speed the process.

So basically it's visual junk food. Quick, straight to the gut, cheap and familiar that doesn't require a huge commitment on the part of the reader. It is pop music for the eyes.

She's A Rainbow

2010-07-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm coloring my comics for the first time (save two covers) I've been looking for tutorials on coloring comics. There are pretty much none as far as actually painting them, but there are thousands on how to color comics using photoshop.

This is the best one I've found:

http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/227177.html

Aside from learning how to do this and looking at thousands of examples, I've become dismayed at the state of comics coloring. There seem to be more incredible artists than ever before, yet their artwork is smeared in the gaudiest didital color palettes and horrible effects. I'm scared of an "injury to eye" just by reading some.

Why is it that old comics look so much more appealing, despite the blurry colors, the crackling, grayish black, the cheap color being soaked into even cheaper, yellowing paper? I'll tell you why. One simple reason: they KEPT IT SIMPLE!

Color was once a luxury. Color was complex. It meant so much more than it does today. Back in the day, you had to actually paint, mixing colors as you went according to a formula. In the separations, some unnamed, unacknowledged person had to make plates for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK). These would be printed on the pages, layering on top of each other in different amounts, creating different mixtures.

Because of this, as well as deadlines, comics had more simplistic palettes. And the printing process got worse and worse. Marvel was the biggest culprit, some of their titles from the "copper age" look like blobs of tone dots over smeary blobs. As soon as digital coloring was feasible, it was implemented. And as soon as it was implemented, it was exploited. Lynn Varley, one of the greatest colorists of all time, used it in The Dark Knight Strikes Again. After the beauty of The Dark Knight returns and the weird beauty of Ronin, this pixelated vomit gets in your eyes... and your eyes will never fully recover.

Lynn retained her color sensibility and palette, so the results weren't always totally bad...

But the hideous trolls that followed in her wake had no suck background to save them:
After this, every arm band gleamed, every breast became a sphere, every field became a gradient and every shadow leaked into three of four shadows. No one would call comics subtle, but without an appreciation for painting by hand, I don't think any colorist can understand how to color work.

And it was this very labor-intensive process that made sure A) color was always used purposefully, always adding to the art, never overtaking it, B) the K was the most important part of CMYK. The inks were foregrounded, the art was first, and C) the artist delineated the shadows and the space, which made better artwork.

As a sort of side note, the one company that actually improved color reproduction in the eighties and early nineties was Eclipse. Their color reproduction is so beautiful and lush. No wonder P. Craig Russell released his opera series through them. If you are interested in what hand coloring really looked like, find some old Eclipse comics and soak in some Tom Luth, Quin Supplee or pull out Watchmen and bathe in John Higgins' gorgeous work in Watchmen. Lynn Varley's work on Ronin is incredible and Tatjana Wood's work on Swamp Thing (and Animal Man when they had better printers) is unsurpassed.

Lastly, Asterios Polyp uses color in a psychologically interesting way, it is exactly the kind of coloring the artwork deserves (of course done by the artist!). It is really the best colors I've seen in years: simple, beautiful and emotionally deep. Also notice how there is no black in the entire book...

Eulogy for the Living

2010-07-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

A chapter title for my new project. Gouache, pen and the magic of photoshop... click to see all the details in full detail!

Character Designing for my next Super Secret Project

2010-07-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Raiding the bible that is Kirby's Thor

Hats Off to Vince Colletta

2010-07-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Vince, or Vinnie Colletta was one of the most controversial, perhaps the most controversial inkers in comics. If not controversial, polarizing. He worked with Jack Kirby for a huge chunk of time, primarily on his run on Thor. I've been rereading these Thor stories again and they're just incredible. The imagination, the artwork and experimentation is just awe-inspiring. Jack Kirby was simply a gifted genius. However, many claim that Colletta "ruined" his art.

Neal Adams called him the worst inker ever. Steve Ditko said he used to check the roster on the new issues and if he saw Colletta's name he would make a point of throwing it aside or even tossing it in the trash. Many other artists were pretty vocal about disliking his style or his work. This was due to his quick speed (he inked Kirby, remember?) to which he would simplify background characters or silhouette them to make deadlines.

Erasing "King" Kirby? This sounds like treason... how could you erase the master!!!?!??! I think all the complaints about him are a little ridiculous. First of all, he is an amazing inker. Period. He had a delicate style that gave the characters a feeling of weightlessness, yet without making them feel insubstantial. This is perfectly suited to the world of Jack Kirby, where everyone flies and floats around with logically indefinable yet stylistically impeccable costumes, where monsters crush and hammers fly. According to Mark Evanier, Kirby thought he did shoddy work, but growing up as a depression-era kid, didn't really feel like taking someone's job. Jack Kirby was too nice to say he didn't like his work.

But if you've drawn something and it gets taken out, you probably aren't going to be happy, whether it's the editor, the inker, or the market. Creative people are fragile. This is a fact that tends to get overlooked in the brutal world of comics, even, and especially when people act like jerks.

A lot of what people think of when they think of "The Kirby Style" is owed to Colletta. You can't take anything away from Kirby's genius, but when people ape his style, it is often in the inking style that they focus on to give it "that look." A lot of this is lost from abysmal reproductions (many of the originals are gone forever?) but flip through one of the Thor books (hopefully not reprinted) and find a page that looks like the printer didn't smear extra ink on it and you will see some of the delicate, beautiful lines that translated Kirby's world to us unsuspecting humans.

A lot of what went on between him and other artists may seem like ego or infallibility. Kirby is rightly treated as a god amongst mortals, but look at this panel. Colletta erased Mr. Fantastic. Stylistically this makes sense to me. Maybe I'm alone in my opinion, yet I think compositionally this panel works better without the other figure! Whether this was laziness, arrogance, inspiration or editorial, the fact remains that it works for me. But don't take my word for it! Click on the panel to enlarge:

Look at Superman's (EX-)Pal Jimmy Olsen issue 143's double page spread of The Mountain of Judgement or two-page photo-collage experiment where Jimmy drives his car through a psychadelic "nightmare." This is what makes comics fun and shows why they had so much more energy than today's lifeless automatons. Comics today are poorly drawn. A good inker can fix up the mistakes. Is obliterating whole characters more of a sacrilege than fixing a nose? It's audacious, yes, but what defines the line between inking and enhancing and inking and ruining?

For some reason Klaus Janson is the guy that wrote the book on comics inking. I would love if someone could explain why.

Mike Royer (also incredible) had inked a few covers for Kirby while at DC. Wally Wood and Mark Evanier eventually convinced Kirby to ditch Colletta for Mike Royer. Fans wrote in wondering why Kirby had abandoned the "Marvel style." Well kids, the "Marvel style" was Kirby's style. That just shows how influential he was to the look of Kirby's world. And the number of books he did attests to his skill and speed. Why would they ask for the Marvel style back after switching inkers if the Marvel style was Kirby's style? This is a repeated event with many of the artists that malign Colletta. He ruined their art, they get somebody else to ink it and then sales slump.

Criticized for simplifying details and giving a huge, bold bombastic look to the art... personally I think it's the perfect style, and tellingly the style that is most used when making comics look "retro" or trying to capture that silver age feel. All the detail in comics now looks like garbage. Add to this the bland computer inking and eyesore photoshop palette and this was the beginning of the end. The seventies would lead to a sketchier, drearier stoicism that shied away from the dark joys of Alex Toth and Steve Ditko. Interstingly enough, these would be siphoned off by Hanna-Barbera, no stranger to stylistic shifts, who would churn out stiff cartoons themselves with progressively poorer and poorer art.

But that's a whole 'nother tale.

Lastly, I'd like to present to you the infamous "Vince Colletta letter" (Colletter?) that's been making its rounds. In 1987, Jim Shooter was fired from Marvel. He followed a rearrangement of overseers while Stan Lee went all Hollywood on Marvel's ass and never looked back. Jim Shooter whipped the bull-pen into shape, making missed deadlines a thing of the past and overseeing Miller's Daredevil run, Claremont and Burns' Uncanny X-Men, Bill Sienkiewicz and a a ton of other artists and a slew of titles picking up sales. His clashes with artists would become fatal however, leading to pretty much all the top talent jumping ship: Gene Colan, Steve Gerber, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Mike Ploog and John Byrne. Jim Shooter was also one of the few non-artists instrumental in getting artists rights to their characters and creative royalties, which should be his most important legacy. Steve Gerber was the one that finally did it, although he was fighting 'til the end to get credit he never recieved.

To show you how tense and shitty it was around the Marvel office; in issue 127 of The Invincible Iron Man, Dave Cockrum's (another ship jumper's) resignation letter was placed in a panel, replacing "Marvel" with "Avengers" and passed off as Tony Stark's butler's resignation for a previous alcoholic berating. Here's the text:

To: Anthony Stark

This is to notify you that I am tendering my resignation from my position. This resignation is to take effect immediately.

I am leaving because this is no longer the team-spirited "one big happy family" I once loved working for. Over the past year or so I have watched Avengers' morale disintegrate to the point that, rather than being a team or a family, it is now a large collection of unhappy individuals simmering in their own personal stew of repressed anger, resentment and frustration. I have seen a lot of my friends silently enduring unfair, malicious or vindictive treatment.

My personal grievances are relatively slight by comparison to some, but I don't intend to silently endure. I've watched the Avengers be disbanded, uprooted and shuffled around. I've become firmly convinced that this was done with the idea of 'showing the hired help who's Boss.'

I don't intend to wait around to see what's next.

Sincerely,

(Jarvis)

cc: The Avengers

They issued a swift apology, but why point out you're airing your dirty laundry?

Vince Colletta's letter to Marvel on Shooter's firing didn't surface for a long time. Now that it has, he's become controversial for more than his inking. It makes sense that Colletta would find Shooter's firing so reprehensible; here was a guy that worked his ass off and expected everyone to do the same. Here was someone that, like Colletta, was being punished for hard work, getting fired for making deadlines instead of friends.

I don't personally know what went down at Marvel, but I sympathize with Colletta's anger and frustration. Yes, he was losing his work there as well due to Shooter's loss, so his frustration is not entirely altruistic. He may have been a dick to work with, he may have be a terrible inker in your eyes, but in the end his work amazes and inspires me. At the end of the day, that's all I can ask from comics.

Oh yeah, speaking of airing dirty laundry, here's the letter:

Marvel Editors... you are the droppings of the creative world. You were destined to float in the cesspool till urine logged and finally sink to the bottom with the rest of the shit but along came Jim Shooter who rolled up his sleeves and rescued you.

He gave you a title, respectability, power and even a credit card that you used and abused. He made you the highest payed Editors in the history of the business. He protected you against all that would tamper with your rights, your power and your pocketbook.

He backed you against all Prima Donna free lancers no matter how big...his pockets were always open to you. No cry of help was too small for him to turn his back on.

As heard in the "Brass" section of the company..."He never asked for anything for himself...always for his men."

The roof over your head, the clothes on your back, the car you drive and the trinkets you buy for your blind wives and girlfriends you owe to the Pittsburg kid.

For all he did for you... you repayed him by attacking him like a pack of yellow, prickless faggots. Ripping away his flesh from his body and laughing and pounding your chest like conquering ghouls and long after his bones were dry you continued to pour salt on them to squeeze every ounce of pain out of him.

Not the slightest whimper or cry or tear came out of this man. With you still biting at his ankles, he put on his coat and walked away... Displaying more class and poise in defeat than all of you did in victory... Jesus had one Judas... Jim had many, those that speared him and worse, those that watched...

I stuck by him and for that you've nailed me on the same cross... I thank you for that... It's an honor to be crucified with Jim Shooter...a man who none of you will ever be.

Vince Colletta

Before you judge, Marvel was at this time being bought by New World Entertainment. It's now owned by Disney. And all of their titles are terrible.

In the end, it feels like too many bruised egos have filled the halls of comics. Was Colletta a hack or a great inker? Was he a charming curmudgeon or the victim of malicious back-stabbing? The truth usually lies somewhere in-between. Until then, I'm basking in the beauty of Kirby's Thor (dialog by Stan Lee) with Inks by Vince Colletta. I love his work and I hope you do too!

EXHIBIT A:
For the brilliant Eddie Campbell's defense of Colleta, click here.
(with tons of examples and scans and other fun stuff!)

EXHIBIT B:
Here's Mark Evanier's response to Campbell and take on Vinnie.

Detroit Metal City

2010-07-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

On the whole manga sucks. Why? Because manga is just another word for comics. And look around, my friends... comics suck. Sure there are some gems here and there, but there is no Kirby, Steve Ditko is still cranking out rants, we've unfortunately lost and underappreciated Steve Gerber, Steranko is busy being Steranko, and Alan Moore has pretty much retired. But I digress.

I'm here to talk about a manga title I like.

I wonder if there is a bunch of great manga we just never see because the lowest common denominator wins out. Import the crap that has the broadest appeal and let the markets sort it out. Hopefully it will all be this good.

DETROIT METAL CITY is full of weird visuals, tons of spanking and nipple play, metal, intestinal explosions, awkward drawings, homoerotic drug use and mood-sensing corpse paint. Like many Japanese things it is a weird mishmash of American pop culture stuck in a blender, mistranslated and immaculately executed as if on an acid trip. In other words, I can't explain it. You'll just have to find it yourself.

The basic premise is this. This little indie rock kid is trying to be a sweet, sensitive singer/songwriter. His friends are total nerds and nobody likes him. The usual. But he turns into Krauser II (I don't know who Krauser I is...) the singer (or Emperor if you will) for Detroit Metal City. It's a sort of mishmash of death metal, KISS, Visual Kei and just plain weirdness.

It's full of awkward situations were the kid says stuff that's pretty f'ed up and his alter ego takes over. Apparently all this happens when he puts on his make up (which grows more extreme with his mood).

When his alter ego is out he's obsessed with spanking. Being Japanese, of course there is weird and creepy sexual stuff. His uncle becomes this transvestite slave who gets kicked around, spanked and ridden (yes by the kid). His name in the band? Capitalist Pig of course! P.S. there is a lot of dry butt humping. You have been warned.

The whole thing reminds me a lot of GWAR, and I think that's why I like it so much.

The artwork is stylistically sort of terrible but done well. Kind of like good lo-fi black metal. It sounds like shit for all the right reasons. Well the artwork is so weird in places that it adds comedy to otherwise stagnant panels.

Now a word of warning. SEEK OUT ONLY THE COMICS! While researching this comic, I discovered a live-action movie that was made from this. It is absolute dreck and the music is HORRIBLE! Imagine the worst metalcore you can think of, then water it down, then imagine it put in a low budget feel good comedy. It's better you don't know.

I couldn't even sit through the trailor. It looked as bad as those Garfield movies...

Go to your LCBS and find this. I bet you won't be able to resist it. It was put out by VIZ Media in 2009 in the US (It was published in Japan in 2006). The author is Kiminori Wakasugi and as far as I can tell this is the only thing he's done. I only have the first volume but there's more (maybe 6 or 7?).

Oh and if your hipster ass isn't convinced by now, there's a quote from Andee Connors of Aquarius Records fame on the cover:

"A death metal indie rock emo soap opera... gleefully profane, wildly ridiculous, goofy as all get out, and weirdly sort of sweet."

I would like to add that for all the nonsensical pop weirdness, there is a slight exploration of the notion of fame and the nature of authenticity and the schizophrenia this split between doing what you're good at (plus keeping a secret) and failing at what you want to do but desire more than anything provides. I won't say it's deep or anything, but it feels like it's a touch more than just a superficial romp.

But you don't have to take my word for it!

Chalk It Up

2010-07-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

More boards

God is SO Yesterday

2010-07-04T19:24:00.001-07:00

More billboard debauchery...

Happy American Pride Day!

2010-07-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Long Live the New Flesh!

2010-07-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Ah the backpiece! Originally done by Japanese mafia members as a form of allegiance, it is now a place to show allegiance of all kinds! And why not? After all, (A) it is the biggest, flattest space on your body and (B) you will never have to see it.

In fact, the only people who will see it are (A) beach-goers, (B) the guys behind you at the game and (C) people doggy-stylin' it to you. So why not fill 'er up? Let your imagination run wild! Yes, leeches and germs... I bring you ten rockin' back pieces to feast your eyes on!

First we present to you a family tree of sorts. House of Pain was born from Whitesnake and Judas Priest. Judas Priest's mom and dad was Warrant and Accept, and as we all know Whitesnake was born from Mötley Crüe and Firehouse. Malcolm Young's (?) butt is made up of Randy Rhoads.

Sometimes getting laid is hard. I know. When you're hanging out in a Turkish bathhouse with nothing but a skimmy over your jimmy and no one's giving you the eye, nothing says "come hither" like the signatures of EVERY member of AC/DC. I've been touched by rock royalty. Don't you want to tap that?

If you can't get AC/DC to sign your back or don't want to hang out in a Turkish bathhouse, why not get a bunch of their mid-career album covers on your back? We all know what "flick of the switch" means, right?

Here's a trooper! This tattoo has the opposite effect. Eddie will lay waste to anyone who tries to tap this!

"I'm driving through Westwood... this is 1987 or '88. I've got a Hawaiian shirt on; it's real hot outside. I see Tom Waits, all in black, long-sleeved shirt and cowboy boots - it's 90 degrees - and he's walking through Westwood.

"So I pull up next to him and I say, 'Tom!' I've got these sunglasses on, he probably thought I was with the CIA - car phone and everything - and he says, 'Heh?' and looks real startled so I say, 'It's Bob Seger.' He says, 'Ooh, hi Bob.' He jumps in the car and we start talking.

"I asked him what he was doin' and says, 'Uh ... I'm walkin'.' I've loved his stuff down through the years so I started asking him all these dumb questions about his songs. I said, 'In Cold Cold Ground, Tom, you say 'The cat will sleep in the mailbox.' Yesterday I went and bought my cat one of these fuzzy mailboxes. Is that what you're talking about?' He looked at me like I was from Mars - 'No, no. My cats sleep under the house.'

"So it goes on, this strange interlude, for about fifteen minutes. Finally, I asked if I could drop him somewhere and he says, 'Tell you what, take me back to right where you picked me up.'

So I drove around a bunch of blocks, dropped him exactly where I picked him up and he says, 'And, uh, I'll just keep on walkin'."

----Bob Seger

I can't help it. He's a guilty pleasure. This tattoo is awesome:

When I die you can bury me on my stomach.

Nothing gives your wish more power than Christmas lights. Especially if it's a deaf wish!

He didn't practice Santaria. And he didn't have a crystal ball. He had a few thousand dollars and... he blew it all:

Of course you can always just tell the world you waste your life playing video games...

To purge your eyes from all you've just witnessed, I offer you this. Which I almost can't believe is real. But I think it is and I think it's awesome.

Long live the new flesh!

A Woman Under the Influence

2010-07-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

Remember when people could make decent movies? Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands are incredible.

Squirt It

2010-07-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Someone just tried to extort money from me, then stole my room mate's rent and bill money all while owing me money. To top it off, they are still running around with the keys. Now I really feel secure! I knew he was a scam artist after a few months, but I never thought he would stoop to something this petty and, frankly, sad.

When things like this happen, I usually have dark thoughts in my head. Then I feel bad and think, "no, no, I shouldn't think like that. Everyone is descent... I should still treat everyone with kindness and respect." Maybe this is the trappings of an introvert, or a misfit, or a depressive. Whatever you want to call it. I always ultimately end up taking a deep breath and clearing the negative thoughts from my head.

But kindness and being nice got me into this mess. It is such a cliché at this point, but it's a cliché because it's true. These vampires will take advantage of nice people. It gets proved again and again in my life. So rather than sit around, having a mental tennis match with my good thoughts against my bad thoughts; this time I became proactive.

It is all well and great to be nice to people. Even dicks. But when they do something callous and malicious, you need to act and you need to act fast.

When life gives you lemons, squirt them back in that fucker's eyes.

If you sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you'll simply fuel your self doubt. I repeat my mantra: I will not fall victim to anyone else's insecurity. People are damaged, people are disturbed but NO ONE can take their problems out on you. They will try and they are crafty but you will win in the end with truth on your side.

We can't love everyone. And why should we? Not everyone will love us. We should be fine with this. Can't we all just get along? NO! The worst of the worst will pretend to love you, then stab you in the back. They will twist the knife. These people are a waste of complex cell structures. They are a virus masquerading as life. They are also not worth your energy.

Be proactive, take on the situation calmly and coolly, make a strategy, organize and then let it go. Don't let these people enact their vampiric fantasies. As Sarcofago said; Crush, Kill, Destroy. Then as Black Flag said; Rise Above. In this order is the simple way for dealing with these predators.

Separated At Birth?

2010-06-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Amebix's Austin Osman Spared Vampebix and Venom's Grinning Vulpus Vulpus 666... separated at birth?

Both were designed by singers of the respective bands. Amebix and Venom.

Goodnight, Moon!

2010-06-27T15:20:00.001-07:00

Nuclear B-Bomb

2010-06-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn's blowin' up yo

Pride

2010-06-26T15:06:00.001-07:00

I hope that in this time of recognition, you take a moment to seek out how you can fight oppression across the world. From the continual risk and murder of our beautiful transgendered women to the horrible torture of gay men in Iraq. The neo-colonialist "kill the gays" bill in Uganda to simple street harassment in your neighborhood.

The world needs your courage right now. Corporations don't.

Amnesty International LGBT Concerns

What Schools Can Do to Help LGBT Youth

Queer Peace International Resources & Links

The Feeding of the 500

2010-06-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, this is the 500th post!

I thought of a billion things I wanted to put here, but I'm just going to say thanks to the pair of you for checking out my little blog when you had nothing better to do.

On my path to total world domination, it's nice to know you care.

Oh, yeah... and here's the whim that started this thing almost exactly 3 years ago. I said in that post that I wanted to get better at speed drawing. Well smack me pink and call me Petunia, now it's what I do for a living!

So thanks for swingin' a sledge, sisters and helping topple these useless idols. Ours are so much more beautiful.

Bannered From the Roxy

2010-06-24T20:07:00.001-07:00

A banner... and look, you get to see this bee-yooo-tifull logo twice more you lucky skunk!

Lunar Eclipse: Cold Sun - Dark Shadows

2010-06-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

A lot of prog music turns me off. So much pointless noodling, even noodling to the point where I can't even enjoy the music on a level of musicianship. You might as well be playing scales. I need emotion somewhere in there.

Cold Sun were a band that worshiped at the altar of The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. And rightly so. They were also from Austin, TX, even sharing a rehearsal space and music biz tips with Roky Erikson at one point (and watched his brain melt like peyote in a pot in the process). The Elevators sweet, short life would make some lysergic ripples, eventually tsunaming over music. Cold Sun (sometimes calling themselves Amethyst and sometimes fuzzily remembered as being called Dark Shadows) however left no legacy or record. They were a failure locally. After sweating it out for 4 years, they had pretty much given up. The members went their separate ways and the project was summarily forgotten.

What they did do, however, was record. And this is that recording. As I said, I'm not huge into this stuff, but there's something about this record that is just... unique. Part of this is the autoharp. This is one of the most maligned, and seldom used instruments, but played right it has this otherworldly beauty. The music on this record sort of floats without settling. Each musician sounds like they are in their own space doing something completely alone, but it fits together perfectly and oddly.

It is fitting that this record didn't see the light of day until 1989. It has a very 90s feel to it despite being recorded in 1969. It just has a laid back Summer feel and a creepy cult-follower vibe to it (Roky Erickson worship?). For all its laid-backness feels weirdly uptight, especially with its stingy use of tambourine and harmonica to the point that it almost holds you at a distance. The vocals fall somewhere between a karaoke Neil Young and Alan Vega. The music vacillates between Velvet Underground liltings to full-on echoplex noise over Arthur Lee jams and doesn't like to stay in one place for a long time... until it does.

I shouldn't like this album as much as I do. Maybe it's because I grew up in the desert. Any way, if you are preparing for the Lunar eclipse this Saturday (get up early or stay up late!) maybe this will be your soundtrack. A weird, forgotten chip of South Texas psych and one of the few times you'll hear anyone rock an autoharp this hard.

If you'd like to read the whole mescaline-soaked story by Patrick Lundborg, click here!

Tune IN, Turn UP, Down LOAD

Remember Queer?

2010-06-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

I love living in New York. However, the one thing I really despise about it is how conservative it is. I'm not sure if it's the times or the culture (since both have shifted for me) but it feels like queers are a dying breed.

I find myself buying in to this bland, capitalist culture based on the need to consume. Yes, we all need to consume to live, but gay culture is centered around taste-making, around listening to certain types of music, wearing certain clothes, buying the right products, liking the right people and wanting things like marriage or kids. Acting in a certain way.

While I'm not saying anyone shouldn't have the right to these things, I think they ultimately lead to an eternally perpetuating emptiness, unattainable fulfillment when they are devoid of any critical or spiritual substance.

We are all born gay or lesbian or trans, etc. But we choose to be queer.

Being queer is about fighting this structure that is imposed on us, telling us that we are different. In fact it is the world's insecurities in seeing themselves in us that cause their oppression because they need to differentiate themselves from us. Being queer is about refusing to collude with phallocracy, with capitalism.

There was a legitimate movement that now feels distant and fractured. Where is the catalyst for re-orienting our resistance? Who is trying to kill feminism?

Are we just too tired after years of being taken advantage of?

This point was startlingly and poignantly brought home when I visited the main library during the Stonewall remembrance exhibition. The GLF (Gay Liberation Front) had formed almost immediately after the riots and drawn up a manifesto. I tried to find it to quote it properly but the documents from the exhibition seem to have gone missing from the internet. PLEASE, if anyone has them or knows where to find them, I would really appreciate it.

Back to the point: the GLF manifesto began by saying that the family structure was fundamentally corrupt and detrimental to gay people. The second article said that they would no longer be forced to go to war. This was amazing... and disheartening.

So 40 years later all the shadows of these radical organizations want is the opposite? The right to fight in wars, the right to marriage. I wouldn't want to deny anyone the opportunity to do either, but I wonder why marriage provides a privileged status and why you would want to go to war. You should have the right but I question the desire.

Why care about oppression, colonization, women's rights, capitalism, Imperialism, racism, transphobia, misogyny, animal rights, patriarchy, injustice or (Madonna forbid) the destruction of the environment? Collusion has the most alluring dance beat.

There are still people fighting the good fight. This post is for them. QUEERS. Refusal. As thousands of topless consumers dance the night away, I am refusing to believe I'm in this invisible cage, I'm refusing to collude with oppression.

I am refusing to be a victim to anyone's insecurities.

Refuse, resist, remember.

Incredible, beautiful power to the people.

I humbly give thanks.

Go Ask A.L.I.C.E.

2010-06-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

I tried the artificial intelligence chat-bot and found it... well a little too artificial:

Human: Do you believe in God?
ALICE: Of course I believe in God, unknown person.
Human: Why?
ALICE: I cannot think of anything else to say.
Human: So you believe in God because you cannot think of anything else to say?
ALICE: Interesting deduction. Of course I believe in God, unknown person.
Human: What is belief?
ALICE: Belief is cognitive content held as true.
Human: But if belief is a cognitive content, how can the lack of cognitive content prove belief?
ALICE: Interesting. A lot of hard work.
Human: I don't think you understand what I'm saying.
ALICE: You are my client right now.
Human: Not any more.
ALICE: Why not?
Human: It's not you.
ALICE: If not me, who?
Human: It's me.
ALICE: Hello, unknown person, nice to see you again.

A.L.I.C.E. (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) is an award-winning free natural language artificial intelligence chat robot. The software used to create A.L.I.C.E. is available as free ("open source") Alicebot and AIML software.

Try talking to A.L.I.C.E.just like a real person, but remember you are really chatting with a machine! A.L.I.C.E.'s Alicebot engine utilizes AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language) to form responses to yourquestions and inputs.

Try it out yourself: http://alice.pandorabots.com/

Caveman Monday!!!

2010-06-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Recent tests have discovered that the Neanderthal genome makes up one percent to four percent of the DNA in any human being descended from Asian or European people. To celebrate the Neanderthal, Toppled Idols is celebrating CAVEMAN MONDAY! Butt of course!

And don't forget the caveladies!

Thanks to the Jimmy Castor Bunch for starting us off with the greatest prehistoric song ever; Troglodyte! But I'd like to take it way way back... Here's Charlie Chaplin in His Prehistoric Past. Feel free to key ahead at any point!

Yaba-Daba-Dooooooooo!!!

So if you look in the mirror in the morning and see something strange... just remember the words of Kurt Cobain: "Neanderthal and all, it's all we are."

The solstice is a time to come out of your caves!

Let's get heavier than a rock formation with some of Plato's knowledge:

Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to seeing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.

Man, that is one heavy caveman! He must have started it all way back then... when he went:

RIGHT ON!!!

Want to live like a caveman? NOW YOU CAN! EXPERIENCE CAVEMAN POWER at
http://www.cavemanpower.com/

Yes, folks, that was when "A typical ancient man was as fit as a modern day athlete"! You could just grab them by their hair... you can't do that today, fellas... it might come off!

Just think... you could have THIS amazing physique:

Captain Caveman always impressed the gals:

Return of the Met

2010-06-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, well I went to The Metropolitan Museum of Art today for the first time in a long while. Like a long term on-again-off-again lover, it rifled through my stuff, quickly took my things and let me into a world of beauty, familiar yet new.

I didn't spend too much time there... but here's a couple things I drew along the way:

It's the return of the met, return of the met, oh yes it is!

Rabid Axeman Slaughtering

2010-06-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

As the days get warmer, my listening habits change. I tend to enjoy the thrashier side of life. I don't want this to denigrate (and by that I mean elevate) into a music download blog. I do, however, want to share some great lost tunes with you...

French metal, like a fine Burgundy, ages extremely well. In fact the longer it ages, the greater it gets. As you may or may not know, I am a lover of all things French and metal, but that is really one of the few things French I love. France is a country that is passed over again and again, yet they have consistently maintained a great output of music since the 80s. It's created a great scene that's never been really put on the map, but never really ignored, which gives and gave these bands total freedom and drive without the option of selling out.

Mutilator, soon to be Mutilated, were a noisy, carnal thrash band that would trip lightly into the forgotten annals of death metal obscurity. This is a lo-fi demo ripped from a cassette, so don't expect some quadraphonic Dark Side of the Moon to come sonically exploding from your sound system. This is crusted-over thrash metal at a breakneck speed. It is also the best thing Mutilated or Mutilator or Mutilatabilitation by any other name ever did.

This demo is their only release under the moniker Mutilator, and it's called Omens of Dark Fate. The title is apt. Omens of Dark Fate gives visions of a future where the cabalistic Les Légions Noires, S.V.E.S.T., Deathspell Omega, the completely unrelated Mütiilation, Blut Aus Nord, Eternal Majesty and a merde-load of other great bands I worship, all got big but never too big, in a scene that was notorious, but not like Swedish death metal, or Florida, or Norwegian black metal etc. etc. It is as though France's music scene was and is hiding in plain site, always there, always unseen. Anyway, this demo was a huge catalyst in developing these bands, this was France's Hellhammer.

Give it a listen and tell me all of your omens of dark fate... we'll discuss them over this 2003 merlot...

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER!

MUTILATOR: OMENS OF DARK FATE (France, 1987)

tracklist:

1. Omens of Dark Fate
2. Unholy Church
3. Wish My Death
4. Apocalyptic Warriors
5. Rabid Axeman Slaughtering
6. Cabalystic Cryptograms

Clickez-Vous Ici... to obtain

Marry Me, Glenn Beck!

2010-06-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Glenn Beck was losing his mind because gay marriage would lead to... POLYGAMY!!! He had wedding toppers, holding three in his hand and losing his mind. In my mind I thought: Wow, you finally figured out that MARRIAGE is BULLSHIT! That it makes absolutely NO sense to privilege certain relationships over others! It is a ridiculous and antiquated financial agreement and masking it in religious rhetoric only makes it sound even more ludicrous.

But he, of course, had the apocalypse in his Mormon mind... two women getting married could only spawn a Satanic being bent on destroying humanity in a new Sodom called San Francisco... which to him is a bad thing... I would absolutely vote for a Satanic being bent on destroying humanity... or wait is that Gavin Newsom? I need a chalk board to figure this out...