Awesome Marcus Ninja Sketch Page

random headshot doodles

comics

I read 2 trades recently.

Death By Chocolate : Redux , by David Yurkovich - I didn't love it. to be honest, i was very put off by the art style. I just didn't think it was great. I wasn't a fan of the concept and I tried but I could not get into the art. this is one of the few Top Shelf books that I didn't love. I'll give it a rating of LAME, but that doesn't mean it's bad, it just wasn't for me. I can totally see others loving this.
RASL, by Jeff Smith volume 1 - I don't think Jeff Smith is capable of doing a book I don't love. he is such an amazing, complete artist. his visual storytelling has no flaws. I'm not even sure if the story is that good or I'm just super biased because I love the art. much like Smith's Bone, I will be buying all the RASL Jeff can put out. I hope one day I am half as good an artist as Jeff Smith is. BRILLIANT

more ink wsh

I'm still playing around with the watercolour pencil. it's not great but I'm learning

Too fat Too Fish

I just finished Artie Lange's autobiography Too Fat Too Fish. If you don't know Artie, he is a regular on the Howard Stern Show. He was part of the original cast of Mad Tv when it debuted in 1995, & I've been a huge fan of his since he did a movie Dirty Work with SNL alum & hilarious comic Norm MacDonald.
this book is very honest, very funny, and tremendously sad. Artie is a very funny comedian, and one of the best story tellers I've ever seen, but he has very self-destructive habits. this book is just BRILLIANT. I love Artie & I love this book.

BIG HEAD !!!!!!

i've recently re-read a bunch of Jeffrey Brown books and I did some Big Head drawings of my own

More GAN 5

I wanted to practise using this Staedtler Watercolour pencil, so I did some more Gan 5 drawings with washes.

GAN 5 !!!!!

i gotta talk about 'The GAN 5' .

if you've not checked out this weekly web comic by Digital Kontent's Iby, then you should do it here.
Iby posts 4 new panels per week and they are dope. the Gan 5 are a group of miniature beings , each with their own unique powers, who are awakened to find themselves in a strange new gigantic world. The Gan 5 will be doing battle with termites, cats, and evil versions of themselves. the action is just geting started, check it out.

I am so obsessed with the Gan 5 that I've been doing lots of my own sketches. here's a few,

kitty

this is a pencil illustration drawing I did as a commission

Awesome Marcus Ninja Valentine's Day Special !!!!!!!!!!!

hey ya'll,

please go on over to Awesome Marcus Ninja and check out the latest.

we have a special romantic strip this week, illustrated by the very talented Kristin Lapensee.

Kristin is a local Toronto artist & you should expect to see more from her soon.

movies

i watched a few movies, here's what I thought,

GRAN TORINO - Clint is basically doing what he does best, be Clint. It's like watching a very old and racist Dirty Harry or The Man With No Name from the spaghetti westerns.
I've heard that this was shot very quickly and it really feels like it.
Clint is awesome, the dude that plays the catholic priest is great, but the 2 Hmong kids next door are not good actors. Luckily Clint is so bad ass it's easy to overlook the other bad actors.
I could've done without Clint singing at the end.
GREAT
THE WRESTLER - I must say that this had an excellent cast. If anybody else had played Randy 'the Ram' Robinson it would've been a very different movie. All of my friends are big pro wrestling fans, so I've seen my fare share of wrestling DVD's ( in fact, I'm looking at DVD rack and we've got wrestling DVD's about 2 feet high, including 3 Ric Flair & 3 Stone Cold Steve Austin ) & I'm pretty sure Rourke's Ram Robinson would fit in seamlessly.
also, there is a lot of naked Marisa Tomei, which is never a bad thing.
my biggest problem with the Wrestler is that it is very anticlimactic and it leaves you feeling like nothing really happens. I'm glad I watched it but I don't think I need to ever see it again. PRETTYGOOD

stay tuned for some of my reviews of really lame early 90's action movies. coming soon.

Scott pilgrim VS the Universe

yesterday, I got me a shiny (literally shiny) , new Scott Pilgrim volume 5 : Scott Pilgrim VS the Universe. I've been anticpating this book for a long time. In fact this is the first time in a long time that I hit a comic shop ASAP on a Wednesday. I've already read this twice. at first, I was a little disapointed, then I realised that it wasn't because the book was bad (it's not, it's BRILLIANT ) it was because it wasn't as easy going and fun as the previous volumes. With one more book left Bryan Lee O'Malley is starting to give us answers about Ramona's mysterious past and the famous evil ex boyfriend Gideon. Because Scott is such a relatable character when everything doesn't go good for him it affects my fragile emotions as well, & this book was not an easy ride for Scott. Another thing that was kinda missing was that there wasn't any focus given to a specific Toronto landmark. Volume 1 had Sonic Boom and even the CN Tower, Volume 2 had the Toronto Reference Library & Casa Loma, Volume 3 had Lee's Palace, Honest Ed's & the University of Toronto, Volume 4 had the beaches, Dufferin Mall, & Sneaky Dee's (get the nachos), & Volume 5 had a building being renovated at Queen & Bathurst? I still loved this book and I have no doubt in my mind that Volume 6 (the next & last Scott Pilgrim ) will be the best. also, I really dig Volume 5's foil cover and the Mega Man style video game pics on the back cover.

Super Excited!!!

Scott Pilgrim Volume 5 is in shops tomorrow!!!
I don't get to the comic shops on Wednesdays like i always used ta, but this is definitely the exception. every volume of Scott Pilgrim is better than the last, and judging by the cover of Volume 5 i don't think i will be disapointed. go out and get one.