January 11, 2005
Cleaning out Mental Dust Bunnies

   Time to clear some more mental shelf-space with some random thoughts that I've had lately...

   Have you noticed the disturbing resemblance between the Fat Albert character 'Dumb Donald' and Captain America's enemy Baron Zemo? Both always wear face-covering PINK hoods!

   Remember Dave Cockrum's cover signature, with the tail of the capital "R" curling under and around the "UM"? Ever notice Cracker Barrel restaurants have a similar logo? Every time I see a billboard on the side of the highway, I think "Cockrum Barrel". When I started getting serious about drawing comics (after five years of just drawing them), I liked Cockrum's signature so much that I signed my name with the capital "R" curling under and around the "ACI". Then I sadly had to make myself accept that I'd eventually need my own style of signature (this was before the McFarlane clones all decided their signatures merited an elaborately-detailed scroll to accompany them).

   As promised, we return to the mailbag...

   Drew,
   You asked for questions so here's one from me: When are you going to fill us in on some of those Crossgen stories? I know you have to be careful for your career. I'm surprised that so little has come out when obviously a lot of creators were &$^#&! over. Maybe in a few years.

   A few years at the earliest. It's not so much my career I'm worried about, as CG is a moot point now, but a lot of deep wounds, both personal and professional are just now starting to heal for a lot of the people involved. I myself am considerably less bitter about it than last year, which is why I didn't attend any conventions in '04. Oddly enough, for a pack of formerly-freelancing rugged individualists, the CG creative staff was always aware that protecting the company was protecting our coworkers, our families and friends. That created close bonds on varying levels. It was hardly a 'love-in', but most of us who would have occasion to speak to 'outsiders' (freelancers working for other companies) would button our lips about what the company plans were. A few idiots were guilty of blabbing crucial info, which didn't help us keep whatever tenuous foothold we'd established.

   We've all moved on, so it'd probably be best to wait until, I dunno, the tenth anniversary in 2009. We live in such a legalese era, that you can't fire accusatory mortars like the old pros do about the crazy antics in the Golden Age of comics.

   Which is why I, instead, highly recommend Twomorrow's Comic Book Artist Vol. 1, #16, (cover dated Dec. 2001). The entire issue is an extensive examination of a woeful chapter in comics history, the short-lived company from the 1970's called Atlas. They had the highest page rates in the industry and plenty of promises. As I read the issue when it first came out, I was shaken to the core, recognizing some discomforting parallels. CBA #16 is still available as backstock at www.twomorrows.com If anyone chooses to start up a large-scale company. There's a lot of invaluable information, even though Atlas ended thirty years ago. Valiant didn't learn from Atlas' lessons either.

   On a more positive note, I predict colorist Jason Keith, affectionately known at the CG compound as "Bam Bam" will win an Eisner Award eventually. His El Cazador work qualified him as a nominee last year, but his new Dark Horse series, Samurai: Heaven and Earth, written by Ron Marz with pencil art by Luke Ross is nothing short of phenomenal! I usually gripe about inker-less comics (job protection, don't you know), but Ross and Keith create an amazing painterly quality to the art so vivid you could touch the characters (and you'll want to with the likes the scrumptious Yoshiko). Read it and see what I mean...

   Since I've swerved into a recommended reading list, I like Mike Baron's The Detonator. The first issue is jam packed with a wild series of events and cool concepts (don't want to spoil them) worthy of a James Bond film. It's not one of those padded first issues that's waiting for the Trade Paperback. Mel Rubi's doing some of his best work and can tell a story well (a vast improvement over those for those awful DH issues of the Kiss comic, where he was going for the loony pseudo-Manga style). Baron sometimes loses me with the lexicon used in matters of high-tech and international intrigue, but it's more my failing as a reader, because he's more well-read than I. I haven't retained the info on all the players just yet, but when I read the second issue, I'm sure the first will make more sense to me. Good stuff!! Also, it's nice to see Barbara Kaalberg's (inks) name out there again. Brett Evans uses a lot of flat colors, which is a good thing. Too many comics look like a poor man's Final Fantasy with the zany overpowering colors.

   Chris Giarrusso's G-Man's been out for a while, but I guess the hefty pricetag ($5.95) turned me off initially, but I bought it last week and enjoyed it. Granted, Giarrusso's work owes a tremendous debt to Calvin & Hobbes, but he has his own comedic stamp on superhero life and snappy dialogue that is fun that doesn't try too hard for the laughs. Get it to remind yourself that, at one time in your life, being a superhero was the coolest thing you could aspire to.
 
To be continued...
 
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