February 14, 2006
Spreading The Love

   Hopefully, tonight, you'll be out enjoying Valentine's Day with your sweetheart, and not waiting too long for reservations at the restaurant!

   Hmmmm...when intially typing this, I accidentally dropped the 'r' in sweetheart, which made the word "sweetheat". Sweet-heat could be an expression for a person you've had a brief, hot n' heavy fling with. I may have just given Hallmark a new holiday to capitialize on (I understand there are still a few non-holiday days open in the calender year)!

   Okay, buckle yourself in: This week's blog is going to be one of freeform association, less orderly than a Robin Williams rant.

   I must recommend fellow inker Tom Nguyen's new article "I draw the line" at http://www.comicon.com/pulse/ I met him briefly at Chicago last year, and he's very cool. The kind of cool that makes you jealous, like: "We do the same thing, but he's so cool and self-assured and worldly. Why aint I like him?". If his subsequent articles are anything like the first one, it'll be a good read. Although I haven't seen it, I would also recommend his 'how-to-ink' DVD based on the quality of his work alone. We're not all cutthroats in freelancerville, so I can give an ink-brother a shout-out.

   Whatever happened to the DAT cassette from Japan that was supposed to replace the still-new CD format? I remember it being ballyhooed in the mid-'90's as the next step in music quality. I guess the idea was rejected soundly (get it?) from the music-buying public, myself included, who already went through great lengths and no small expense replacing their vinyl records with the CD incarnation. Not to mention the great movie videocassette-to lazerdisc exchange in the early '90's. Back then, (during the big comics boom), a certain comics creator allegedly spent some sizable royalties buying out the inventory of a Lazerdisc store. Not what you'd call investing in Blue Chip stock.

   On the subject of home entertainment formats, I must wonder aloud, well, in print, actually: Why do some DVD's come with a faux bottomless 'slipcase' cardboard packaging with redundant info printed on it? It seems awfullly wasteful to me. It reminds me when the music CDs first hit the stores. The Compact Disc, being smaller than it's precursor, the album, was easier to shoplift, in the days before electronic scanners at store entrances. The record industry reasoned that a larger item was harder to steal, so they added a tall cardboard containment box that made the item twice as tall. After a few years, there was increased pressure from environmental groups to kill the 'Longbox'. The term Longbox is not to be confused with the white longboxes we fussily store our comics in. Thankfully the scanner/barcode sticker was initiated in response, and the wasteful longbox became history. Hopefully the faux DVD slipcase will follow suit.

   One thing that cracks me up how some recent movies get a 'director's cut' treatment in an attempt to redeem a crappy product. If ONLY the Daredevil director's cut edited out Ben Affleck and digitally replaced him with an honest-to-gosh actor capable of a range beyond bored self-centeredness. Cupie doll Colin Farrell (Bullseye) was a casting misfire as well. He was too fresh-faced to pull off a cold-blooded assassin's air of menace, looking more like a fun-loving member of a college thrash band eagerly awaiting the next kegger. Okay, maybe these cheap-shots of mine are somewhat outdated, but I had to get it out of my system.

   More blog house-cleaning: Last year, about this time, I made the prediction that the Dabel Brothers (DBpro) were going to be a 'big' player by now. They're not yet, obviously. They've hit some considerable bumps in the road, but I'm still pulling for them.

   Finally finished the Jonah Hex Showcase, and it's the best comics reading I've experienced in years! Tight, compelling stories with the scarred bounty hunter who makes Eastwood look like Clay Aiken. There's a high body count of deserving scoundrels, but through it all, Hex retains some manner of moral compass and helps decent folk (often while scolding them for getting in trouble's way in the first place). Jonah also has a scathing sense of humor, delivering clipped no-nonsense one-liners. Hollywood could do worse than adapting these stories verbatim. Tony Dezuniga, Gil Kane, Neal Adams and others keep the entire volume a high quality visual feast.

   Over at Marvel, Tony Bedard & Paul Pelletier's title, Exiles, has been going on a 'World Tour' for some time, having the dimension-travelling characters visiting worlds from various points of Marvel's history, such as the Squadron Supreme world, The New Universe, etc. This makes for great stories and I'd like to make a few suggestions: Keep going with universes that are in 'legal limbo' or have been 'legally mothballed' (my term) or even 'public domain'. I'd love to see them visit, say:

   *The 1960's Charlton non-'Action Hero' characters (DC owns the Action Hero line). Grass Green's The Shape, Pat Boyette's Spookman and other wacky one-shot characters.

   *The 1970's Atlas Universe (Chip Goodman's Marvel knockoff). The Brute, The Destructor, Manstalker (John Targitt), The Protector/Phoenix, The Tarantula...

   *The 1980's Eclipse Universe: The Libery Project, DNAgents, Scout... I know McFarlane sorta "owns" them, but his batting average in the courts has been less than stellar.

   *The 1990's Valiant Universe (minus Solar and Magnus): X-O Manowar, Shadowman, Harbinger...

   *The MALIBU Universe from the 1990's!!!! Prime. Hardcase. The Night Man. All purchased by Marvel, briefly kept alive, then promptly ignored. Marvel needs to renew these copyrights periodically anyway, like they're doing the New U, right?

And last but not least...

*The Crossgen Sigil-Universe (there, I said it!)

   This past weekend, I was wrapping up a deadline for DC. One of the final pages I inked, ironically right before Valentine's Day, was a page with a couple kissing (can't say who, as it'd be a spoiler. I'll reveal it when the book comes out). It struck me that I've inked quite a few lip-locking characters over the years.

Below is a sample of the ones I could remember off the top of my head: Batman & Catwoman, Captain America & Diamondback, Icicle & Tigress and Princess Projectra & Brin Londo (inset)
 
I'd like to dedicate this week's blog to couples Webmaster Chris & Sky and my Uncle Larry & Aunt Angela in Sarasota, who will be celebrating their 60th (!) anniversary this year. Before you think ol' Drew's getting overly sentimental (or just mental), remember: It's much easier to dedicate a blog than, say, a statue or even a store opening!
 
 
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