Monday, May 19, 2008

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



Thursday, May 15, 2008

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.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sunday, May 11, 2008

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.










Saturday, May 10, 2008

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' .


Saturday, May 3, 2008

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