more comics

here's the rest of the comics i picked up 2 weeks ago.




Mouse Guard #3 (of 6) - i'm not really paying too much attention to this story when i'm reading it because i know i'm gonna pick up the Winter 1152 hardcover when it's available, to go on the shelf next to my beautiful Fall 1152 hardcover. the art is gorgeous, though. GREAT














Narcoleptic Sunday TPB (Oni press) , by Jeremy Haun and Brian Koschak - i had forgotten that i had ordered this, i can't remember when but it was a while ago. the only reason i bought it is because it is about a narcoleptic dude. i don't know why but i like stories about narcoleptic's. i think this was artist, Jeremy Haun's first attempt at writing and it was alright. it was a little too Sin City-ish in plot and suspense, but it was a nice little tale. the art was good in some parts but very amateur in others. i like Koschak's layouts, story telling and characters, and especially his use of grey tones instead of solid blacks, but little things like crudely drawn hands, faces and overall anatomy take you right out of the story, as if you were at a portfolio review for a guy trying to break in. Koschak needs a bit of developing but will soon be a very good artist. i would read this again though. PRETTYGOOD







OMEGA the Unknown #8 (of 10) - this story is getting better and better, and questions are being answered as it wraps up with issue 10. Farel Darymple's art is spectacular. BRILLIANT

Thor # 8 - Marko Djurdjevic continues to fill in for Olivier Coipel, and i'm so very happy. there's not many other artists that could replace Coipel on Thor that i would be happy with, but Djurdjevic is definitely one. i do look forward to Coipels return though. oh yeah and the Odin story by Straczynski (JMS) was pretty good. i have a hard time telling if the story is actually good or if the art has been so incredible that i think the book is better than it actually is. feel free to give me your opinion on the new Thor series. in my eyes GREAT

last up, is the book i read first, Walking Dead #48 - i'm one issue behind everyone else but that's ok because i don't really read the online comic news, so it won't get spoiled for me. also, i've noticed that everyone who reads Walking Dead is careful not to spoil it for others. well, it was fuckin' BRILLIANT. i love this book, and i'm not a fan of horror or zombies.

NEW Podcast!

this Podcast is called 'Movies You Should See' , and it has a bunch of British people from a group called 'Simply Syndicated'. they pick a movie (usually a classic) and talk about that one movie for the entire hour. it is pretty amusing. i like hearing their thoughts on movies i've already seen, or movies that i want to see. sometimes, it is a movie like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, that i haven't seen in a long time, and it makes me want to watch it again. or something like, Pan's Labyrinth, that i haven't seen and had no interest in watching until i listened the that particular episode. i'm gonna end up watching Pan's Labyrinth even though i know what happens. it sounds so cool.
anyway, if you dig cinematic adventures then you might like this. i like it, and i don't even like movies that much.

more comics

Avengers: the Initiative #1 - i keep hearing great things about this book and now that it's revealed that Hank Pym was a skrull i figured i'd give this book a try from #1 and if i like it i'll catch up to the Secret Invasion stuff. i liked Stefano Caselli's art, but i think it might have been the colouring that put me off. not sure, but something about the art could've been better. story was alright but i didn't really want to read more, so i won't be getting anymore Avengers:Initiative. PRETTYGOOD

Daredevil #105 - wrap up to the Mr. Fear storyline was pretty solid. when is Murdock gonna catch a break? GREAT
Daredevil #106 - new storyline has Matt losing it. again. but still interesting. i really liked the art by (newcomer?) Paul Azaceta. i would like to see this guy really cut loose and not have to do his impression of series artist Michael Lark. GREAT

KickAss #2 - continuing this dumb kids real world journey into thinking he can be a superhero. Mark Millar writes, John Romita JR draws, it doesn't get much better than this. BRILLIANT

Lone Ranger #11 - i'll be honest, the art direction and covers by John (super amazing) Cassaday are not enough to get me to buy this book. i picked up this issue because half of the interior art was done by Paul Pope. i didn't really pay attention to the story because i don't plan on buying anymore Lone Ranger, but the Paul Pope wolf sequence was excellent.

the overall book, PRETTYGOOD.

the Paul Pope pages, BRILLIANT

wicked Joe Samurai

Secret Invasion

so i finally got around to picking up Secret Invasion at my local comic shop (LCS, oh yeah baby, you like that shit?.) i actually picked up a ton of stuff, because i hadn't been there in a couple months. i'm gonna do 'em bit by bit, so that i'm not too boring. first up, i'll do my batch of Secret Invasion's and tie-ins.

Secret Invasion #1, & #2

Mighty Avengers #12

New Avengers #40 - i love 'em. i was pretty skeptical about this Skrull deal, but again, Bendis pulls it off. #1 was wonderful, my favourite part is when Hank Pym shoots Reed Richards all over the room like spaghetti. i love the Nick Fury story running through the Mighty title, just great. New Avengers was great, great. and i loved issue 2 of Secret. not everyone did, i guess cuz there was no big Skrull reveals, but screw that, it was awesome. i forgot how great Leinil Yu's art looks with good inks over top. wow! gorgeous. i thought Jim Cheungs Skrull-filled New Avengers was incredible. Cheung is always solid. now, after the Fan Appreciation Event, this past April, i am not a fan of Alex Maleev personally, but that did not stop me from loving his art on the Nick Fury story. gritty and wonderful. even if i didn't love this story, i would buy all of these books for the stellar artwork. my ratings are BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT, and BRILLIANT. i don't know how this is gonna end but i ain't goin' anywhere. good show, Bendis.

Super hero movies

so, my bud Chank brought over some bootleg movies. i kinda watched 'em while drawing the latest Awesome Marcus Ninja.

first up was Iron Man - to be honest i wasn't paying attention the whole time, but from what i did see i thought it was pretty awesome. I'm not a fan usually of super hero movies but i think this is easily the best one i've ever seen. i would put Superman 1, and XMen 2 in second and third places. Robert Downey jr was excellent. this movie had the right amount of comedy and action, making it something a child or an adult can enjoy. GREAT

next was Super Hero Movie - i really did not want to watch this but i wasn't about to get up and turn it off, so i sat there and tried really hard to not like this. i failed. it's got a lot of shit jokes, i won't lie, but it also has a lot of really funny jokes. i kept saying out loud that this movie sucks, which, if you know me that's what i do during movies, and my room mate Andre kept saying from the next room, " if this movie sucks so bad, why do i keep hearing you laughing so hard?" i tried really really hard to not like this, sorry. GREAT

Fan Expo (Aug 08) guestlist

there are a lot of really great creators coming into Toronto this Aug for the Fan Expo. i will say that there are some really 'wow' guests like, Alex Ross, Brian Bolland, and J. SCott Campbell, but it seems liek there is something missing. maybe it's because there is only 2 writers (Matt Fraction and Peter David) among the top headliners for this con.
if you wanna see the whole list check out Hobbystars site, i'm just gonna mention the creators that interest me.

Featured Guests ALEX ROSS Award winning illustrator - i'm impressed as everyone else that they got Alex, but i'm not waiting in hourlong line ups to get books signed. i love Kingdom Come and Marvels, but i dont think it'll be worth the hassle.

BRIAN BOLLAND Legendary illustrator - i may actually attempt to meet Bolland. his work is incredibly influential on me.

STEVE McNIVEN Artist, Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine - i love McNivens art and i think his Wolverine with Mark Millar will be out by the time of the con, so i'll probably get one of those signed.

J. SCOTT CAMPBELL Artist, Gen 13, Danger Girl, upcoming Spider-Man - i wasn't that amazed with Campbell's work until i recently saw his actual pencils pre-inked by Townsend in the latest issue of Rough Stuff. wow! he is a true master. i am very impress that he is coming to the con.

MARKO DJURDJEVIC Marvel cover artist, Thor guest artist, super talented painter - i love Marko's painted covers for Marvel and i'm especially loving his non- painted interiors on his Thor fill-in for Olivier Coipel.

C.B. CEBULSKI Avengers Fairy Tails writer, editor - i went to a work shop last year with C.B. and he gave me a lot of good info about how the business of comics works. he was too busy the whole weekend so i never did get a portfolio review from him. i will try again this year, and i feel my art is a lot better now than at last years Fan Expo.

FRANCIS MANAPUL The Legion of Super-Heroes artist - i am gonna try to get a Francis Shagaharamesh sketch. he said he'd do it for me at the Fan Appreciation event in April but i never did get around to his table. Francis is just an incredible artist.

Jeff Lemire the Essex County trilogy from Top Shelf, upcoming The Unknown from Vertigo - i can never get enough Lemire. i love his art. Jeff is truly a future super star. by the time this con rolls around we will know if he won any of his 2 Eisner award nominations.


NICK POSTIC , artist of Impaler - Nick is an incredible artist. i never got a chance to thank Nick for his wonderful advice that he gave me at last years TCAF.



all in all, great guestlist.

Huntress sketch

akira and invincible

today my friends were watching Akira, the 1988 animated movie, based on the manga books by Katsuhiro Ôtomo. this movie is also directed by Otomo. now i usually don't dig Anime or Manga, other than Scott Pilgrim, but when i spoke with Frank Quitely at last years Fan Expo, he told me that Otomo was a big influence on his art, so i decide to give it a try. i thought Akira was a little long and the ending dragged, but it was PRETTYGOOD. the animation was quite good for 1988. the backgrounds were very detailed and the shots were excellent. and i can definitely see how influential it is on modern anime and comics. i don't know if i would watch this again, but i will probably pick up the manga books. i really liked the character of Tetsuo so much that i sketched this head shot while i watched.


i also, sketched these Invincible pics, cuz i realized that haven't drawn much of Invincible but i like the design.

sketches

here's a couple warm up profile sketches. the first is a penciled Villain Moriarty (from Awesome Marcus Ninja) profile headshot. the second is a Thor, upper body profile, done with a Pigma Graphic 0.05, and a

Faber-Castell Pitt pen, type 'S' .

Free Comic Book Day?

i got over to The Beguiling about 6 pm.
to be honest, i wasn't really looking forward to the free comics. i was looking forward to the awesome selection of indy books that only The Beguiling offers. it didn't matter anyway, cuz there wasn't any left by then. that's cool, i hope all the kids got some.
i did drop about $70 though. i did get some really cool shit. i won't get into detail until i've read 'em all, but i did get some stuff from some indy authors that i've been meaning to check out. i got a cool Top Shelf book ( Top Shelf is always good), i got a Dan Clowes book, an Adrian Tomine, and a Chris Ware book. i'll let you know what i think, as i read 'em.

i did get 2 books that i have read already. ya see, i went to Beguiling on my lunch break from work and when i got back i decided to read comics, instead of working.

i read

Local #11, by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly - i didn't love this book. i only bought it because it is set in the Toronto art scene. i love Wood's DMZ, but i wasn't to impressed with this story. i liked Kelly's artwork. i didn't particularly like the people he draws, even though his style is Paul Pope-ish. i do love how he crams a ton of detail into his backgrounds. not bad, just not for me. this book: PRETTYGOOD

The Fart Party, by Julia Wertz - i love this book! i love the webcomic! i'm glad to have a collection of these funny ass strips. Julia's art is crude, juvenile and wicked, at the same time. if you've never read Fart Party, you gotta try it. i've posted a sample or you can check out the strip for free on her website. Julia will be attending HeroesCon in June and i look forward to meeting her.

here's some sketches i did today, while i wasn't working but still getting paid