Click on the title for a link to an amazing new tool for graphic designers or anyone who loves art . . . the I/O Brush! Make sure to watch the video, it's amazing and the music rocks too!
Thanks to Drawn! for the link and heads up!
Oh yeah, and that image??
Stephen King + Marvel Comics + The Dark Tower = Ryan in Geek Heaven!
Had to post this preview page and cover from Kubert's latest Rock GN: Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy - get it from DC in January! It ain't ever easy in Easy!
My favorite holiday is right around the corner . . . BOO! Click the title for a link to a cool site about horrible pop culture or cut and paste the various links below to more mayhem and murderous fun . . .
http://allhalloween.blogspot.com/
http://www.horror.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000844IT/103-9180272-
4279048?v=glance
http://www.wescraven.com/
http://www.stephenking.com/
That should keep you busy!
After another long delay between posts, here's a view at the front of an invite I did for a Halloween party my wife and I are having.
More in a day or two
Click the title for a link to the latest in a long line of must-see blogs I visit at least bi-weekly!
Canadian Artist Paul Rivoche is probably best known for his work on the seminal indie comic Mister X. He has a heavy hand with the inks that gives a great depth. And the sci-fi monster rockets and space stuff he draws is just plain killer.
Rocket on over there and don't forget to check out his companion blog, The Scientific Artist - cool stuff!
Click the previous title for a link to the online museum and click this title for a link to a truly excellent Kirby blog.
'Nuff Said!
The Jack Kirby Museum has finally made its debut. Albeit, an online museum only at this point, but future plans call for educational seminars, traveling tours of Kirby's works, and I hope an eventual home. No one deserves it more. Comics remain one of the few truly American artforms and Kirby was more of a pioneer and gave more to the field than nearly any other creator in the form's 100+ year history.
A true American original, spend some time on the site, get to know the man and his work, and then stop wasting time. Get to a comic store or even Barnes & Nobles or Borders and buy some Kirby classics. A great resource is Marvel's Essentials collections - usually containing about 20 comics, reprinted in black & white for under 15 bucks. Can't be beat. Do yourself a favor and check out the Fantastic Four first!
Here's a page from C. Ware's brilliant, moving, and sometimes, inscrutable "Jimmy Corrigan - The Smartest Kid on Earth". If you like the artwork and the madness behind in, be sure to get the NYTimes this Sunday for the first of a new serialized gn as described in the article below.
from the NYTimes:
'N.Y. Times Magazine' Debuting Comics in September
By E&P Staff
Published: September 06, 2005 12:26 PM ET
CHICAGO The Good Gray Lady has got the giggles.
One hundred and ten years after “The Yellow Kid” made its first appearance in the old New York World, The New York Times is publishing its first comic strip.
The Times announced Tuesday that it is turning over 10 pages of The New York Times magazine to a new section called “The Funny Pages.”
Each Sunday beginning Sept. 18, the magazine will run "The Strip," a serialized, full-color and full-page comic strip that will feature one self-contained story. The strips will be created by what the Times announcement calls “stars of the graphic novel,” with each running about six months. The first strip will be by alternative newspaper star Chris Ware, author of the graphic novel, "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth." His first Times strip “tells the story of a young girl and her adventures in her apartment house,” the magazine said.
The new section will also include the Times Magazine's first foray into fiction with “The Sunday Serial.” The 14-week installments of an original work will kick off with a story by Elmore Leonard, best-selling author of "Get Shorty" and other novels. His serial will be followed by one from Patricia Cornwell.
A new column, "True Life Tales," will feature pieces of “the best young humor writers who tell hilariously true stories about everyday family life and societal trends.”
Times Magazine Editor Gerald Marzorati said the section is intended to give “our youngest readers a go-to destination when the paper arrives.”
"The Funny Pages is our own take on the traditional Sunday paper funny pages," he said in a statement. "We wanted a place in our pages for genre fiction--mysteries, detective stories, and the like--which is having a particularly vibrant moment in popular culture just now. And we wanted to make a place for the work of those creating narrative comics and graphic novels, a great new art form.”
"The Funny Pages" will also be available on NYTimes.com.
Four years gone. My thoughts with the families and friends of the thousands lost. My anger to Bush and his cronies. Still no Osama - "dead or alive." But a hell of a lot more American patriots dead in Iraq for no reason and with no foreseeable end in sight. Yeah, this guy is a great President.
9/11 - Never forget . . .
Browse or build your own, I challenge you not to be addicted to this site. Click the title and view thousands or just mine at id # 15560 in the gallery.
Have fun.
THE FOUNTAIN HC
Written by Darren Aronofsky
Adapted by Kent Williams
Art and cover by Williams
Darren Aronofsky proved himself a filmmaker to watch with his provocative debut, Pi. His follow-up, Requiem for a Dream, continued the accolades, receiving Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. His latest accomplishment, however, comes straight to comics in the form of The Fountain, a gorgeously painted, oversized original graphic novel about the timeless truths of life, love and death.
Working with acclaimed painter Kent Williams (Blood: A Tale, Havok & Wolverine), The Fountain crisscrosses through three distinct time periods: 1535, during an ancient Mayan war; the present day, following one doctor's desperate search for the cure for cancer; and the far future through the vast exotic reaches of space. Interweaving these three periods, The Fountain follows Tomas - warrior, doctor, explorer - as he feverishly tries to beat death and prolong the life of the woman he loves.
A story so grand, one medium couldn't contain it, Aronofsky's feature film version of THE FOUNTAIN will be released by New Regency and Warner Bros. Pictures, starring Tony Award-winning actor Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Van Helsing, The Boy from Oz) and acclaimed actress Rachel Weisz (Constantine, The Mummy, the upcoming The Constant Gardener). But before he did, the filmmaker wanted The Fountain to be realized the unique storytelling power and artistic beauty of the graphic novel. Together, Aronofsky and Williams deliver what might be considered the ultimate director's cut. This deluxe volume also features an afterword by Aronofsky. A softcover edition will be solicited in conjuction with the film's release. Retailers please note: This project is resolicited. All previous orders are cancelled.
Resolicited; on sale November 2 o 8.625" x 11.625" o 176 pg, FC, $39.99 US o MATURE READERS
Edited by Karen Berger
Finally almost unpacked. New baby and new house leave no time for blog. Many graphic projects rolling about, hopefully an announcement or two soon. Must bolt. Pick up the new Stooges re-release coming out tomorrow! Iggy's back and remastered!
This fall DC Comics is launching a massive new cross-over that will effect the entire line of books. Called Infinite Crisis the plotlines of the stories have been seeded throughout the company's books for the last 2 years, officially kicked off with Identity Crisis, and have gone into full blown assault this summer with a ton of minis and tie-ins.
Anyway, I am really looking forward to this crazy event, and since it is coming at the same time as the 20th Anniversary of the first ever company-wide crossover -- 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths -- it's only appropriate that Terror Central provides a preview image of the alternative cover to this October's Infinite Crisis #1 by none other than original Crisis art-chitect, George Perez!
Behold . . .
Terror Central is back online after the move to a new top secret location! More posts soon.
Below find a poster I did for the great Joel R.L. Phelps who'll be making a quick stop in the Biggest Little for a show! Amazing!
ComiCon International started yesterday and tons of great photos, comics and movie news and more are all over the web. Click on the title above for a link to Comic Book Resources for more . . .
Not much posting until August - Terror central has a new baby in the mix and we are moving to a new highly secure location at the end of July. So sporadic until then, but keep checking in for weekly updates and interesting tidbits!
From BoingBoing:
Bollywood album cover gallery
A collection of rare Bollywood LP cover art from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. We've blogged this before in a Web Zen edition, but you can never have enough of this sort of weirdness. I don't know what "Dariya-Dil" means, but it looks infringalicious!
Update:: Reader Ashfaq Talajawala says, "Dariya-Dil means big-hearted or generous. Literally, Dariya means a river (signifying big) and dil means heart."
Click the title of this post for a link to all the insanity!
Click the title for a link to an online comics adaptation of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds. It is pretty impressive and will end up being about 120 pages total. The perfect way to gear up for the movie next weekend.
It's on Dark Horse Comics' site, home of classics like Sin City, Concrete, and Hellboy!
Get there now.
One final thought - saw Batman Begins yesterday and absolutely loved it. Finally, DC is back in the movie game! Watch out Spidey, there's a Bat in the Belfry . . .
Tonight, Batman Begins begins. I will see it tomorrow and post comments on the weekend. Can't wait - always has been my fav mainstream superhero and while I can enjoy certain parts of Burton's Batman, this looks like the first real Batman movie.
Click the title to a link to a great Batman comic site.
The world of Japanese manga and anime can be a difficult one to navigate. Manga are comics -- usually black and white, in a digest format -- that sell like hotcakes in Japan to everyone from schoolgirls to salarymen. In the U.S., the format has become popular mostly with the schoolgirls and boys under 17. But there is a wealth of material out there, almost none of it in the superhero genre. Just the opposite of the vast majority of domestic comics. Anime on the other hand is the collective name for Japanese animation movies that are often based on manga or sprout manga after success in theaters. While anime has been available in the U.S. for a couple of decades now (the oldest hit and most popular being Akira, more recent examples being Myazaki'sPrincess Mononoke or Howl's Moving Castle), but the real popularity boost to anime came from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim slot.
And, with that, the point of this post . . .
Click the title above for a link to a great article on a manga/anime that I really enjoy: GTO or Great Teacher Onizuka. This is a fantastic manga (there about 27 250-page volumes that sell at most major book retailers for about 10 bucks a volume) and, while I haven't seen it, a superior episodic anime show. This is one that Cartoon Network should be adding to their programming schedule.
In the meantime, we will have to be happy with 67 episodes of uncut Dragonball Z!!
Ah-so, indeed.
The General returns (maybe) at the Blackstone in the wayout, suburbs known as Cumberland.
Click the title above to link to a fascinating, addicting, terrifying, entertaining, and sometimes, downright disturbing website.
Postsecret.blogspot.com is a collection of cobbled together, home-made postcards that share unidentified individuals secrets - some are dark and dismal, some are light and funny.
I can't stop reading them.
And you won't be able to either.
Have a great weekend.
David Lapham, indie comix hero and author/artist of the amazing "Murder Me Dead" and "Stray Bullets", is currently writing and laying out a 12-issue run of Detective Comcis. It hasn't been this good since Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams were on the title in the late 60s/early 70s. If you aren't reading this story, entitled "City of Crime", you should be. . . here's the latest cover ::
posted by jax
The baddest ass of all Western comics is coming back this fall from the kick-ass writing team of Jimmy Palmiotto and Justin Gray. And man, Luke Ross's pencils just look killer. That is a one sweet page of comic goodness.
hit the title to link to the trailer for Disney's Sky High a new action family movie about a high school for the kids of superheroes. Looks kick ass, and fun. The way comics can sometimes be. Hmmm . . .
READ MORE COMICS, you zombies!
The season finales this week of 24, Lost, The Contender, and Alias. My ass is glued to the couch like never before. I will probably post a review of Revenge of the Sith soon, but I may see it again first. In short - I liked it. A lot. Probably better than Jedi . . . but I'm not sure yet, until I see it again. One thing, in Sith annoying droids replace the cloying Ewoks of Jedi.
But, I liked it. Some great stuff in it, and I think the overall best thing about it, was that it makes Episodes 1 and 2 better. And that's saying a lot.
Finally, click the title for the ultimate site on Lost speculation!
Jack's back, and there's only 120 minutes until Zero Hour.
. . . after a rockin' show in the Boro of Attle, the General is back in the Little Big state for a performance with local degenerates, Mustache Ride.
for a supposedly great band, that my brother's band is opening for.
While searching for a comic that seems to be sold out everywhere I look (Batman #639 for those who are interested in the minute details of my life), I came across an interesting listing.
Click the link embedded in the title of this entry for the absolutely easiest way to get comic geeks (or Star Wars-, computer-, D&D-, or any other kind of geek) to browse your ebay listings.
Lordy, some people will do anything for a little green in the pocket.
Too funny, man. Too funny.
So click the title to be 'ported over to my new favorite daily haunt. The people at Drawn have an uncanny ability to link to/feature artists that I instantly fall in love with. Enjoy it and I hope that it can inspire you to better art.
Night!
Click on the title above for a link to Gig Poster.com and a look at my new designer space there. GP's a great site for concert posters/flyers, the criteria for posting being that it has to be for a band and the show had to have happened. So I have two posters I did up there now, and one in the approval cue. Other than that, I hope to be adding more as I get them done. The idea is that bands will be looking around the site, see my work and hopefully I will get some work out of it.
Anyway, much appeciated if you all would hop on over and check the site out, especially my poster page.
'evening!
Looking through my email, I came across my monthly newsletter from Matador Records and this interesting item about the upcoming Stephen Malkmus album. So, I repost it here for your viewing information and generally to spread the "fuck you's" to Paste Magazine.
Read on . . .
As we count down the days until the release of
SM's ridiculously great 3rd album, 'Face The
Truth', we call your attention to the following free
instore performance:
Seattle
May 24th at 7PM
Sonic Boom Ballard
2209 NW Market St.
You can hear Stephen performing live on KEXP
(http://www.kexp.org) at noon (PDT) on May 24.
Download the new Stephen Malkmus e-card and do
with it as you will:
http:/www.matadorrecords.com/stephen_malkmus/face_e_card/index.html
Finally, we'd like to offer a shout-out (ie.
"fuck you") to the cowards and thought-cops at the Ad
Dept at Paste Magazine who have deemed our
proposed advertisement for 'Face The Truth' to be
beyond the bounds of "good taste." God forbid that
anything might challenge the sensibilities of
Paste's Yep Roc-loving, Starbucks-guzzling, Wes
Anderson-worshipping readership. Seriously, if there's
anything we or SM have done that is a poor fit
with Paste's Ad Dept's narrow worldview, that is
the highest compliment we've been paid since the
last time Spin refused to run one of our ads.
The ad in question can be viewed here:
http://www.matadorrecords.com/images/news/sm_paste_ad.jpg
Commie muthafuckas!
The album cover for the new EP "Shrimp Has a Death Wish" by Six Star General is below. Click on the title above for a link to their site. They play Tinker's Nest in Warren, RI this Saturday. Fun-for-all . . .
The band wanted the logo on the EP - because of the shape of the logo and the standard size of cd cases, I had to work around a lot of blank space. Using the ep title and the band name seemed to be the way to fill the space, but if they were too big, they would have been competing w/ the logo. Enter the compass-y design. Not overly thrilled with the front, but I am pretty happy with the inside info insert - I think using the lightning star was a good tie-in to the cover, but didn't make it too overused. I always loved the RKO Radio-Pictures logo that played before King Kong and bunch of other classic horror movies, so I swiped it for the insert. Simple fonts kept it from looking like they were FONTS. I hope. Anyway, about a week's worth of work, not counting the logo design that was done months ago and just touched up recently. I think it still needs one more thing touched, but I'll get to that later.
posted by jax
working hard on a handful of projects, so short post tonight - FX's The Shield has been as good if not better than any of the last three seasons. If you're not watching Macky and Shane, you should be, scumbag.
24 also better this season than last, but there just seems to be something bigger around every corner. I miss the idea from Season One where there was a single threat and Jack had one day to stop it. Now there's a new threat each hour and its just a juggling match to see how he can leap to the next hurdle. Still intense though and better written than 99% of the dreck on the rest of the major networks.
Finally, if you aren't aware or already reading them, head over to www.hardcasecrime.com -- a new mini-publisher specializing in crime fiction with a pulp slant. Featuring new writers, some of the biggest names in fiction (like Donald Westlake, Robert Bloch and Stephen King), and reprinting long out-of-print classics, this is the publisher everyone should have in their radar. Personal favorite so far: Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie - the best thing to come out of Scotland since Sean Connery.
Over and out.
For a few years now I have been tracking down and collecting the somewhat rare and mostly pretty cheap 1960s paperback re-issues of the classic Doc Savage pulps from the 30s. Re-presented in pocket-sized paperback novel form wrapped in the gorgeous art of James Bama, these are the ultimate in action-adventure tough guy pulp fiction. This past week, at one of Providence's best kept secrets -- Cellar Stories -- I found a new batch of these tough-to-find gems in absolutely minty condition.
Sure, The Shadow is more popular and more well known than Doc Savage. And, right, you're thinking Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow showed you enough of those silly "pulps" to last a bitter lifetime. But the Savage novels are the real deal my friend. And just to tantalize you with a taste of the freaky uber-action that happens in every one of the 161 novels:
The Menace of the Deadly Dwarf: Cadwiller Olden was only three feet tall, but he was the most dangerous man on Earth. With his legion of brutal giants, and control of REPEL -- a massive, devastating energy force -- the murderous midget began an all-out assault against the defenseless bastions of the free nations. As the entire world huddles in fear, DOC SAVAGE battles against the bizarre doll criminal, and the unleashed fury of his deadly tool of destruction, REPEL!
That's from the cover description to "The Deadly Dwarf", number 28 in the series. With a lead-in like that, and other titles like: The Gold Ogre, The Thousand-Headed Man, The Spook Legion, and The Evil Gnome, how can you resist?
You can't, my friend.
You surely can't.
Click the title at the top of this post for a link to the best Doc Savage resource on the web.
I'll put something up from the others in a day or so when I get them more in line. read on . . .
. . . also, check out http://www.super7magazine.com/ - they have a killer magazine (new issue out now) and I have been haunting the site a lot more lately. It's not just about Japanese toys, but great art, music and more. Go now, Gaijin!
here's a project that should be complete in the next day or so. All original art, by hand with photoshop. The inspiration was a Wheaties cereal box. This is for my brother's band, a fundraiser they are playing for a local pub's softball team. Just need to figure out the layout of the rest of the text . . .
posted by jax
click the link for instant transport to another article about Darren Aronofsky's upcoming flick "The Fountain." This movie just sounds sick and this article was written by a guy who had an exclusive set visit. I have been reading a lot about this movie and I can't wait for it to come out.
If you haven't seen Pi or Requim for a Dream go rent them NOW!
Anyway, I haven't even read this article yet, but now that I am linked to it, I will be able to come back to it later.
Night-night. . .
Click on the word "hate" above for a link to a nice little interview with Peter Bagge, creator of the indy comic Hate - then, continue through the interviews section of Suicide Girls for an interview with director Darren Aronofsky (Requirum for a Dream) - his new flick The Fountain sounds like it is going to be superfantastic. That is all.
GO!
this is a little work-in-progress, I'm not sure for what yet. I have a few things in the works and now that I have Photoshop and Illo back up and running, I am going to try and get on these projects a little more. Also, I think a biggish announcement in about a week or two. Stay tuned . . . 
posted by jax
I'm back online, in the mix, working the magic, gleaming the cube - the new computer has arrived and I'm finally able to get into the blog again. Have a bunch of cool stuff to share in the next few weeks, so stay tuned and stop by towards the end of teh weekend for the first of it. In the meantime, I have to fix up the new machine, get all the nodes right and read the patterns. Terror-central will be busy in the next few weeks, so drop me a line whenever you can.
Oh, and one last thing before the weekend: SEE SIN CITY!!
BLAM!
Coming from Long Island: The computer at terror central has been down for about 2 weeks now. just ordered a new Dell to sink my cashflow into. should be back on line and reporting in on a semi-daily basis again by next weekend. in the meantime, go see "Sin City" this weekend, no matter what you think is good for you. See it, you bastard, or I'll send Marv over to your place!
click the title above to be linked to the official movie website for the classic Alan Moore and David Lloyd comic: V for Vendetta.
one of the most subversive comic works by Moore and groundbreaking in many ways, V is the story of a not too-distant future in London where fascism rules and freedom is non-existent. one man, however, is ready to rock the boat and blowing up Parliment is only the beginning.
one of the most striking innovations of the series was Moore's total non-use of thought captions. long the standard crutch for writers to give readers the "inside view" of their characters, the trend of abolishing thought captions is common now. But in the early 80s when Moore/Lloyd started V at the English anthology, Warrior, it was innovative, daring, and I would imagine, a serious writer's challenge. hell, I can't write a six page script without at least a page or two of internal exposition by my hero!
anyway, Joel Silver and the Wachowski Bros. are behind this one, so I would hope that they don't fuck it up. unfortunately, Moore's previously brilliant work has been slaughtered and shat upon on the silver screen (see, or rather don't see, the movies From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or the abominable Swamp Thing movies from the 80s!)
england prevails.
This is a work in progress that I am working on, probably for a poster for my brother's band. Anyway, I started with a color paletter - I wanted blues and browns. Then I hunted for a while online and found this owl image. Once I got the owl how I wanted him, I took a cue from the color of the eyes and made the "x-ray eyes" effect. I will probably use the sights for the info for the band and whatnot. Or I may change that . . . who knows? But the owl is in. I think he is just right. more later. . .
posted by jax
Click on the title above for a link to an interview with Ong-Bak star, Tony Jaa. This Thai madman is coming soon to a theatre near you. HoooAAAAAAAHHHH!!
While you're there, check out some of the other interviews - they have some cool ones.
Sandra Dee and Hunter Thompson over the weekend . . . who's next?
I've been a fan of Thompson's work for a long time, my personal favorite being his book on the Hell's Angels. But I think what another favorite writer of mine wrote is better than anything I would be able to fumble out. And, I agree with what Ellis has to say here, never a big fan of the suicide exit myself, I think that it kind of reeks of the drama, but that doesn't diminish the work (nor did it for my other fav, Hemingway.)
Anyway, read on:
bad signal
WARREN ELLIS
People keep asking if I'm going to
say something about the death of
Hunter S Thompson. Hell, a couple
of newspapers have asked. This
is because (for the sake of the
Marvel readers who have joined us)
I wrote a graphic novel series called
TRANSMETROPOLITAN, the creation
of whose protagonist was somewhat
influenced by Thompson's writing,
persona and life.
I got the news from a friend at CBS
at four in the morning, two minutes
after it hit the ticker. I was, and
am, numb. I've tried to write about
it a couple of times. When John
Peel died, I was wrecked. This
time, I'm just numb.
I read an article a few years ago,
that I haven't seen cited in the
obituaries yet, wherein it's stated
that Thompson's body was pretty
much packing up on him. His
stomach was having problems with
toxic substances like, um, food,
and his diet was mostly liquid,
mashed avocado and yoghurt. He'd
spent time in a wheelchair in recent
years. His drug use had always been
exaggerated for comedic effect,
but, at 67, he'd been hammering
his body in a committed way for
some 50 years. And, at 67, you
don't grow back the bits you killed.
There's a fair chance he was looking
at years of dependency, chronic
illness, and listening to his own body
die by inches. Anyone would find
that frightening.
He always wore his influences on
his sleeve. JP Donleavy, Faulkner,
Mencken, Fitzgerald, Kerouac,
Hemingway. He used and re-used
the last line from A FAREWELL TO
ARMS, over and over: "I walked back
to the hotel in the rain." Legend
has it that he retyped a Hemingway
novel to understand how the writer
got his effects.
Hemingway, of course, shot himself
in the head. Old and sick and unable
to live up to his own ideas on manhood.
I always thought it peculiarly apt
that the man who wrote that line,
whose work was all about keeping
the expression of human feeling
underneath the surface, sat
somewhere quiet and alone and put
a shotgun in his mouth.
Hunter Thompson waited until his
young wife left the house, and then
shot himself in the head with a
pistol. He must have been quite
aware that either she, or his son,
there in the house with his grandson,
would find his corpse. Dead bodies
don't lay neatly. They splay,
spastic and awful. There is often
shit.
I nev er met Thompson. Had the
opportunity a couple of times --
magazines wanting to send me out
to Woody Creek, that kind of
thing -- but turned them down. I've
been lucky so far, in meeting my
great influences. But they don't
always go well. Friends of mine have
had horrific experiences with their
personal heroes, and it often leaves
them unable to enjoy the work
afterwards. And I wanted to keep
the work. So I don't know what kind
of man he was.
And the numbness, in part, comes
from now finding that he was the
kind of man that'd let his family
find him like that. I have a personal
loathing for suicide. It's stupid and
selfish and ugly and cowardly and
reeks of weakness. Someone said
to me yesterday about Thompson,
"What a ripoff." And I kind of know
what he meant. It's become
convenient to write Thompson off
as parody in recent years, and
there's a case to be made that he
peaked around the age of 36, with
FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72. But he could
still make me laugh, even in the
most recent collection, HEY RUBE.
" 'We have many cigarettes here,'
I said suavely" still makes me smile.
Writing had clearly become
difficult, and a job, but every now
and then you'd get a clear burst
of the old anger, as in his support
for Lisl Auman (google it). He was
done with the big fireworks, but
the devil was still in him. Probably
his great work of the last twenty
years was in Being Hunter Thompson.
In performance.
But how you leave the stage is at
least as important as how you enter
it. And he left it alone in a kitchen
with a .45, dying in -- and wouldn't
it be nice if it were the last time
these words were typed together? --
-- dying in fear, and loathing.
Warren Ellis
down by the sea
February 2005
Who indeed? Finally, after years of languishing in studio limbo, "Watchmen" -- the most critically acclaimed comic of all time by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons -- is under way as a film. With Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremecy) set to direct, the official movie website is up at http://www.watchmenmovie.com/
Go now.
Then read the book, dunderheads.
From my friend Slick's blog, I re-post to spread the word. Check out this website: http://www.theminutemen.com/home.html to see the trailer and more about the seminal Minutemen.
From the man himself:
an email i received from mike watt....
We are proud to announce that WE JAM ECONO -
THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN is done! Please
help us get the word out about the premiere.
Post the info to every newsgroup that you're on,
e-mail your friends, and tell the whole world!
The San Pedro Film Society in association
with Rocket Fuel Films is proud to announce
the premiere of WE JAM ECONO - THE STORY OF
THE MINUTEMEN at 8PM on Friday, February 25,
2005 at San Pedro's historic Warner Grand
Theatre. Minutemen Mike Watt and George
Hurley along with Director Tim Irwin and
Producer Keith Schieron will sit for a
question and answer session with the audience
after the screening.
WE JAM ECONO - THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN is
a feature length documentary chronicling this
ground breaking, early 80's punk rock band
from their humble beginnings in the harbor
town of San Pedro, CA to their untimely
demise when lead singer and guitarist D. Boon
was killed in a van accident in December of
1985.
Told by those who were there, WE JAM ECONO -
THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN weaves together
footage from over fifty newly shot interviews
with archival interviews and live performances
to capture the dynamic energy and
do-it-yourself spirit of these punk rock
pioneers. Newly shot interviews include
Minutemen Mike Watt and George Hurley as well
as Bill Morgan, Brendan Mullen, Brother Dale,
Brother Matt, Byron Coley, Carla Bozulich,
Carlos Guitarlos, Chris Morris, Colin Newman,
Dave Markey, David Rees, Dez Cadena, Ed
Crawford, Flea, Greg Ginn, Henry Rollins, Ian
Mackaye, J Mascis, Jack Brewer, Jean Watt,
Jello Biafra, Joe Baiza, Joe Carducci, John
Doe, John Talley-jones, Keith Morris, Kevin
Barrett, Kira Roessler, Kjehl Johansen, Kurt
Schellenbach, Lisa Roeland, Martin Lyon,
Michel C. Ford, Mike Martt, Milo Auckerman,
Nannette Roeland, Nels Cline, Pat Hoed, Randy
Jahnson, Ray Farrell, Raymond Pettibon,
Richard Bonney, Richard Derrick, Richard
Hell, Richard Meltzer, Bobby Holtzman, Scott
Becker, Thurston Moore, Tom Watson, Tony
Platon and Vince Meghrouni.
In Virginia today, the powers that be passed a law that fines people up to $50 for wearing their pants below their underwear. Gangstas and plumbers BEWARE!
Also, in Michigan a CEO fired a number of employees for failing his Tobacco Tests or refusing to submit to the tests. Apparently, employers can now dictate what you may do outside of work in your own homes. Yippee.
Freedom spreads at an unbelieveable pace with this fine President we have. 4 more years! Great.
Next stop, Iran!
for those who don't know, M.O.D.O.K. stands for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. Check out more on this dynamic hipster at http://www.ludickid.com/modok.htm or at Last Gasp Publishing's website, here:
http://www.lastgasp.com/1/
tonight's ep of Dinner for Five hosted by Jon Favreau featured an eclectic crowd as usual: Billy Bob Thornton, Peter Berg, Buzz Bissinger and Brian Grazer. Always been a fan of Berg (both as an actor and director), plus Thornton is constantly amusing (he was decked out in full gangsta gear for the diner at LA's Le Meridian). Anyway, the thing that shocked me about the show was how producer Brian Grazer (24, Friday Night Lights) actually won me over. I always thought he was a tool - no particular reason, other than I can't stand his spiky faux-Iggy Pop hair do and the fact that his name is attached to everything under the California sun. But he was actually very down to earth, self-deprecating and humble on the show and spoke with great conviction about making films and television that other people didn't want to look at twice. If you can catch it, do so.
also, on the comic-book-front, I am about 1/2 way through the first volume of Walter Simonson's masterful run on Thor from Marvel back in the 80s. I wasn't a big Marvel-kid growing up, expect for the X-men and the Punisher, so I never caught this on the stands and it took me twenty years and countless articles before I shelled out the cash for the new collected editions of the material. Damn good stuff. I loved Simonson ever since his work on the Detective Comics back-ups of Manhunter from the late 70s, but this surpasses even that. Later in the week I will try to upload some of the mind blowing artwork.
So, after a month off for the work on NaNoWriMo, I took an additional month off because I am a lazy bastard. Anyway, with the new year arrived in one piece, I will try for at least weekly updates with the Weekly 5 and a review or interesting weblink here and there.
Let's start it off with the Weekly 5 Year End Review:
Scan It: Best Graphic Novel or Comic of the Year: My vote goes to Brian K. Vaughn's and tony Harris's Ex Machina. A mix of political commentary and superhero action, with just the right amount of wise-ass comedy, this book rocks consistently. Fantastic art by Harris (the best stuff he's done since his seminal run on Starman) only adds to the high quality of this book.
Read It: The final three volumes of Stephen King's Dark Tower series is hands down the winner. Among the three, I have to pick Wolves of the Calla as the best.
Listen to It: Three way tie here for me: Mission of Burma's On off On, Mike Watt The Secondman's Middle Stand, and finally, even though I don't think it came out this year, I got it this year, so My Morning Jacket's It Still Moves. Rock.
View It: Easy-peasy Japanesy -- Movie: Hellboy: the new special edition dvd makes it that much better. TV: Lost: more intense than a bowel movement after a latenight session at Wes's Rib House.
Bookmark It: Shameless plug time: www.forcesofgood.com - Sure, there was only one issue this past year, but the online pop culture mag/authority figure will be back in February with an all new format and daily updates, plus weekly reviews of all the hottest films, books, comics, and more. Check back for the new launch date!
So, first in for the year, let me know what you call Tops in your own little spacepods. Comment and tell me what made you squirm in '04.
So, while reading some forum stuff over at the NaNoWriMo site, I discovered that posting fiction whole hog on the web constitutes publication and might actually adversely effect my chances of having some shite really published. Being so informed and hoping that, as weak as my writing is, I might someday want to try some stuff for publication I have taken down Open Wounds from this site and will no longer be posting the full text of my WriMo novel over on my sister blog, The City, Wide.
I have left up the first chapter of Open Wounds here and if anyone is interested in reading the rest, drop me a line. As for the novel over on the other site . . . I'm not sure. I will keep posting word counts daily (or whenever I have more words) and I might throw in weekly excerpts and take down what's already there, not really for sure on that yet.
But in any event, that's that.
Night, Clementine. Night, Boris.
Still working on the challenge and finding it harder (but not much more) than I thought. I am a bit behind, but with the next four days off from work, the goal is to get back on track so that I am at least 1/2 way there by Monday at Midnight. Otherwise, I seem to have gotten a second wind with 2000 words written so far today and over 3500 for the last two days.
Otherwise all things quiet. Looking forward to tonight's episode of Lost and Smallville.
Expect a possible article up on this blog over the weekend that I won't be using for Forcesofgood.com. Speaking of which expect a new issue of that e-zine to premiere in early December retooled and with a continuation of the Chop Socky Creature Feature in a new format.
Finally, check out the attached poster that I just completed for my brother's band - go see them in a couple of weeks if you're in the Motherland of Providence.
Bedtime for Democracy and Goodnight, Bonzo.
So my first batch of writing is done and blogged. 1860 words down. Check it out at:
www.thecitywide.blogspot.com
Visit my writer profile "ryanjackson" at the National Novel Writing Month website at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ under the writer's profile search.
Thanks and wish me luck.
Spooky night, happy frights!
Bookmark It: My fave Helloween Website: http://www.geocities.com/dzilla1964/ - Fond childhood memories spent in front of the boob tube!
Read It: Salem's Lot by Stephen King - perfect October reading. Also any of the horror stuff by Ray Bradbury, particularly, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Listen to It: this is a given: Rob Zombie! Or White Zombie. You decide.
View It: I could have you here all night. But top of the list right now -- 28 Days Later, The Fog, Nightmare on Elm Street (the original.)
Scan It: DC Comics' new title, Toe Tags -- a horror anthology that just started; the first issue features the talented George Romero, writing a zombie story (what else!?) - awesome!
So there it is. Get out there and treat yourself to some of these tricky little numbers.
Happy Halloween!!
I figured out the next fiction project: Here it is . . . . Wait for it . . . .
I am going to participate in National Novel Writing Month. That's right, write a novel in 30 days. 50,000 words from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. I think I can, I think I can. I have to at least try. So Weekly Five tomorrow, the new novel (man!) on Monday.
Visit my new sister blogspot at www.thecitywide.blogspot.com
Wooo . . .
The Red Sox won the World Series. It finally sunk in today as I watched the parade through Boston on TV. Wow. Unbelieveable.
So, there haven't been any posts in a while, because of my computer problems, then the ALCS and then, astonishingly, the Series! But, those are done, I am finishing a graphic design project this weekend and then I am back in the saddle. I am puzzling over what will be the next fiction piece on here and I am narrowing it down, but expect some fiction on Tuesday.
In the meantime come back tomorrow for the 3rd installment of The Weekly Five -- Special All Hallow's Eve Edition.
Boo!
That's right, mofos, the Sox did it. The Yankees didn't choke - they just got their pansy, little girls asses handed to them by a team with more heart, more drive and more guts than any other team in the history of sports. That's right, ANY other!
The Series will be great. Sure it will. But the real beauty here was sticking it to the team that gets everything handed to them. Beating the Goliath of the sporting world. Defeating the ogre, the bully, the oversized jackass, the monster, the monkey on our back.
Yeah, Red Sox Nation is going into a Shakespearean cathartic (sp?) exhale.
We won.
We finally, really, actually won.
Man, it feels good.
More tomorrow.
No posts since friday due to a single reason - the Sox. Be back in the swing of things after them. Sorry.
Yankees Suck.
Didn't really get a new look yet, just tweaked my template a little in an effort to make the viewing and load times a little easier. Anyway, now that my computer is back and raring to go (thanks to my main man, Slick), I will be trying to get back into a regular swing of posting daily. We'll see how long that lasts. At least I have two days in a row right now . . .
So, if you haven't already, go check out www.forcesofgood.com, read my column, a review I wrote on the comic Starman and lots of other cool stuff. Then circle back here and let me know what you think.
The next issue of Forces of Good will be premeiring at the beginning of November with new interviews, columns and reviews.
I'm back in computerland! Yeah! Here it is:
Scan it: The excellent new comic from writer wunderkint (sp?) Brian K. Vaughn, Ex Machina. This books rocks so hard it hurts. This guy is the genius behind Y the Last Man and his newest title is a full of the same passion and twisty-turny plot development. Take one part of the West Wing, add two parts super-hero action and a final dash of X-files like mystery and you have one sick comic.
Read it: Stephen King's The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower. Stop whatever it is you've been doing for the last 20 years, get to your local book seller and buy these books. Finishes like it started - strong and hard.
Listen to it: Cake's new album -- I've only heard a few tracks, but they stand up with all the rest of this band's classic sounds.
View it: Lost - best new show of this season or last. Or the one before that too, maybe - tied for my favorite show in recent history with The Shield. Yeah, it's that good.
Bookmark it: Browse on over to www.batmanbegins.com for all the latest info on the newest Batman movie. Including the sick-ass trailer featuring the truly demented Christian Bale as a truly disturbed young Bruce Wayne. This movie is going to blow every other comic book movie out of the water come Summer 2005. Check out the pic of Gary Oldman as a young Commissioner James Gordon!
That's it for now. Over the weekend, come on by and scan the new look I will be sporting.
Check you later! (Name that movie and win a DC "No-Prize"!)
So! My computer has bedeviled my friend's efforts to repair it for about two weeks - in fact it is still with him. This is just a breif update, the blog will be back on course, hopefully next week, when I get my computer back. In the meantime, head over to www.forcesofgood.com on Monday (10/4/04) to check out my column, "The Chop Socky Creature Feature."
Forcesofgood.com is a new pop culture e-magazine that I will be a regular contributor to and will feature interviews, articles, regular columns, reviews, and news about all the things we love about pop culture - be it movies, books, TV, comics, fashion, art or trends. So, if you are sick of reading whining internet nerds bitching about every little thing that they can bash, head on over to a new magazine with a new approach - let's celebrate the things we love, instead of trashing them and complaining about it all the time.
As ever, thanks for reading and I hope you take the time to check put my newest venture. If you go, come back here and let me know what you think of my column and the whole site.
Thanks, and I will be back with a vengeance next week!
Promises, promises . . .
As I stated a week or so ago, my computer was trying to kill itself. It succeeded. I am having a friend do surgery on it and it is even resisting that! So, no post 'til I get it back in a week or so. Sorry, talk to you all soon.
the ultimate in cosmic sounds and dragracing rhythms, Six Star General performs this Friday at Gabriels in Warren, RI. See the flyer above, designed, executed and posted by me. More tomorrow on fiction.
"What I'm doing isn't vengeance. It's punishment." -- Frank Castle, The Punisher
Here is the first of the new weekly review installment. Enjoy. Find comics, read them, scan them, love them.
Rating Scale (based on the thought processes of Ash from The Evil Dead Trilogy):
1 out of 5 Boomsticks = total misfire - you suck, asshead.
2 out of 5 Boomsticks = dud - lotsa ammo, no boom
3 out of 5 Boomsticks = bang - Shop smart. Shop S-Mart!
4 out of 5 Boomsticks = deadshot - Hail to the King, Baby!
5 out of 5 Boomsticks = superfine - Filled with atoms and molecules, and things you primitive screwheads wouldn*t understand!
Avengers #500 and 501 - Marvel Comics
writes: Brian Michael Bendis
pencils: David Finch
inks: Danny Miki
The first two chapters of the "Disassembled" storyline that will see the end of the long running Marvel title. The opening of the story "Chaos" finds the Avengers relaxing in their headquarters when a supposedly dead teammate shows up at the front door. When that zombie-like ally explodes, killing another Avenger, Ant-man, Chaos ensues. Brutally attacked on multiple fronts, the Avengers quickly find themselves outnumbered, outgunned and outclassed. With more deaths promised and the resurrection of the team advertised with mostly new members in the November-shipping New Avengers, this story promises to have lasting effects on the entire Marvel universe.
Having only just started reading The Avengers during Geoff Johns' run on the title, I am not as emotionally attached to these characters as long-time fans. Bendis has received a lot of slack in the fan press and online for the quick and apparently uncalled for abuse to the team and the resulting deaths. Looked at by many as a quick gimmick storyline, designed to attract people with shock value only, the book reads differently to me. Not knowing a lot of the history of the team during its latest incarnation (this is the third series of the team, the original having been launched in 1963 under the reins of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) I find that Bendis' story is gritty, intense, and pulse pounding. Normally a writer who depends on talking heads and slow moving character development, this is a departure for Bendis and shows his creative depth. Portraying classic heroes like Iron Man and Captain America as indecisive and confused is not a slight by the writer to those characters, but rather a more realistic take on how any person would react under such horrific conditions. When She-Hulk loses her cool and "hulks out" it is regressing the character and that's exactly the point. This is a calm and reasoning lawyer who all of sudden turns into a raging monster on par with her cousin David (the Incredible Hulk) Banner at his worst. And no one in their reviews seems to be pointing out the obvious -- if Tony (Iron Man) Stark can be made to appear drunk at the UN when the recovering alcoholic hasn't had a drink in years, don't you think that whoever is ultimately responsible for this vicious attack on the Avengers could have also drugged She-Hulk in the same manner, to cause her breakdown?
On the art side of the equation things are a little less clear. While I think that Finch is an above average artist and very good at big action scenes, he doesn't quite have the chops to pull off the emotional elements that are key to this story. Bendis would be better complemented by a more well rounded artist for such a big story. Marvel is really touting this as their big "event" story of 2004 and as such should have had a higher profile artist on the gig -- my pick would have been Bryan Hitch (regardless of his slow turn around time.) That being said, however, I have to commend Finch on the above-mentioned She-Hulk scenes (started in #500 and ended with aplomb by Captain America in #501) -- he pulled it off in spades. It's blurry with rage and chaotic beyond the call of duty.
All in all, I am really looking forward to the remainder of this story. Sure, everybody is sick of the death of characters just to sell books. But Bendis has never been about that kind of storytelling and I am confident that all of the destruction and mayhem are serving a bigger purpose. Bendis is a long term, big picture type of writer and for those readers who stick in for the long haul, the pay off is always worth the blood, sweat and tears that you put in.
4 out of 5 Boomsticks! (I reserve the right to downgrade this, if the last two parts of the story totally blow!)
Batman #631 - DC Comics
writes: Bill Willingham
pencils: Kinsun
inks: Aaron Sowd
Part of the massive, 3-month long "War Games" storyline, this is the pinnacle issue of Act 1. For those unfamiliar with the Batman books (including Detective Comics, Nightwing, Legends of the Dark Knight, Robin, Birds of Prey, and Catwoman) these "event" stories happen pretty much on a bi-yearly basis now * something so big going on that it carries over into all of the books and effects the lives of all the characters in the Batman Family. Last time around, Batman's alter-ego, billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, was accused of murder and then became a fugitive of the law (check out the trade paperbacks Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Batman: Fugitive).
This year's macro-series finds the Batman operating mostly alone in Gotham, having alienated some of his most trusted allies and his partner, Robin, having given up his heroic mantle because of a promise to his father. When the devious Penguin unleashes a genetically altered Scarecrow on some of the other crime families in Gotham City, the ensuing power vacuum leaves the city open to a massive gang war. It's Russian mob vs. Asian street gangs vs. meta-freak. A bloodbath results and Batman has to do everything he can to hold the pieces together -- including trusting new allies that he normally wouldn't deign to speak to.
So far this storyline has been so-so to me. Admittedly, I have not read all of the 8 parts that made up the first act, I only read the main titles (Batman, Detective, Robin, and Nightwing.) But, in all fairness to the writers, I didn't need to read all the parts to follow the story fully - which is great when you consider the price of buying all the books. The flip side of that, however, is a proof to my "so-so" analysis - not enough important stuff is going on to justify the length of the story. Decompressed stories are great when the creators are exploring characters and their motivations, but this story is all about sweeping change to the criminal landscape in Gotham and Batman's role in that arena. So action is the key to the story, and Batman works best in those stories as a super-hero, not a detective. Another problem is the so-called "mystery" of this entire storyline -- the question of who started this gang war. If I'm right about who it is, I figured it out in the very first chapter (Batman: the 12-cent Adventure) and it didn't take a Batman-caliber computer to put it together. Hopefully, I'll be surprised at the end and the obvious deduction that I made is just a red herring.
The three things in the story so far that stand out as the better parts of the story are so buried beneath the machinations of the gangs and Batman's operatives, that they are almost overlooked. First, Batman's relationship with police Commissioner Jim Gordon has always been a classic comic element. But since Gordon's retirement from the force, Batman has been at best on a no harm, no foul-type of truce with the Gotham City Police Department and the new Commissioner Akins. This storyline is finally bringing the strain of that relationship to light. Second, the recent retirement of Robin and the much bally-hooed (bally-"booed" on a lot of the message boards) replacement by a female Robin also seems to be coming to an end, with the return of Tim Drake to the Robin outfit and some resolution to the strained relationship between Bruce and Tim.
Finally, the last element of this storyline that seems to be a goal of the writers is the outing of Batman. I don't mean that he's gay (although he seems to have more kids staying in that stately Wayne Manor, that Michael Jackson has at Neverland . . . ) but rather televised proof that Batman indeed exists. Where the caped crusader has always relied on the myth of his existence to scare criminals (a superstitious and cowardly lot), this new public revelation of him, in broad daylight no less, is bound to have dire consequences for his crime-fighting future. That's if the writers follow through with it. We'll see.
With 16 more issues to come in this gigantic story, I am not sure how much more the writers can stretch the gang war theme. They better have something big up their sleeves if they expect readers to stay tuned and commit the cash to follow the rest of the story. I didn't mention the art, because, while its not bad, it's just about competent and not much more -- basically, it doesn't rate mentioning one way or the other -- eh.
3 out of 5 Boomsticks.
So that's the first. Let me know what you think and more to come next week - and I promise, those'll be shorter!
Quick hits this week, a day late and a dollar short. Check it:
Scan it: Mythology by Alex Ross and Chip Kidd with photography by Geoff Spear. This is an retrospective coffee table book of painter Alex Ross's career, focusing exclusively on his work done for DC Comics. Unbelieveable. By it now. Try www.midtowncomics.com
Read it: This week I am recommending a classic, since I am in the middle of two books and don't want to recommend them until I am done. So, on weeks like this, I'll pick one of my favorites. This week: Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Nothing more to say.
Listen to it: I am really digging this song that's getting a ton of airplay by the band Coheed and Cambria - the song is pretty good (not great) but the background on the band rocks - all of their songs and records are about fictional siblings from outer space and their misadventures through the universe. Sci-fi Rock!
View it: Two picks here. First, go see Hero right now. Drop whatever you're not doing and see it. Beautiful and kick-ass at the same time. Second, just picked up the DVD Special Edition of The Manchurian Candidate (the original with Sinatra.) Forgot how much I love Frankenheimer.
Bookmark it: Already mentioned above, but I have to rec www.midtowncomics.com - the best full service comic shop in the world. I haven't lived in NYC for nearly 5 years, but I still get the majority of my books there. Great website, better store. Go see 'em and let them feed your need for pop culture!
That's it, Captain - I'm givin' her all she's got!
So the end of summer is upon us and the weekend is loaded with parties - should be coolio. Monday will be the first of a weekly comic review section (in addition to Sunday's Weekly 5) - they'll be quick two or three paragraphs, probably of two or three books that came out the previous week, plus a trade paperback review. I need to be writing more and since I read about a billion comics, I figure it's a good way to get the writing in on something I'm already reviewing in my head anyway.
So, stay tuned . . . stop by the corral on Monday for the Roundup Review. I'm probably going to come up with a better title than that . . . that's weak.
I seriously believe that my computer is trying to kill itself. I have run every virus protocol and protective scan on the thing imaginable. It runs fine and fast for weeks on end and then, out of the blue, disaster strikes and the thing wigs out!
Anyway, because of said proclivity towards self-destruction, I have to be brief tonight. So, two quick things: Comic of the week: Y the Last Man - the story of the last man on Earth, this book continually rocks it out. This week's issue focuses on the last man's sister, Hero. Gripping. Seriously, check it out. The first two storylines (from about 2 1/2 years ago) are collected in very affordable trade paperbacks. From DC.
Second, my brother's and friend's band, the newly dubbed Six Star General, are playing at Gabriel's in Warren, RI on Friday night, September 10th. Get your groove on at www.sixstargeneral.com -- tell 'em the roadie sent you.
More tomorrow.
