Ray Harryhausen passed away last week. This has been noted by people more qualified than I to discuss the master of stop-motion magic—Rick Baker, Adam Savage, Todd Masters, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and more. The superhuman talent and perseverance evident in a Harryhausen effects sequence can easily be seen in countless visual effects artists since he first brought his creations to frame-by-frame life on the big screen. That makes sense. So how can I really say anything of worth when I say that I was also profoundly influenced by the artistry of Ray Harryhausen? With modesty, and a story about Clash of the Titans. Continue reading…
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Ray Harryhausen and Me: A Life of High Adventure and Escapism
Things That Change You Forever
I have a ghost story of my own. At least, I have a ghost-cat story.
My final year as an undergraduate was spent in relative splendor. My friends and I lucked into tenancy in the house of a professor on sabbatical. Twelve foot ceilings! Built in bookshelves! Three cats! Real, grown-up furniture! Wait… let’s get back to the cats. The professorial family had three cats and a dog, though the dog was sent to a friend with a farm (later, they told us later that we clinched the lease when they told us that cat care was part of the deal and our response was, “Aw, we don’t get the dog?”).
So. Three housemates, three cats. One morning around the (solid oak!) table, we were chatting about the cats’ sleeping habits. Two of the cats routinely slept in my room, the third with one of the others. Feeling a little left out, the third roommate said, “That’s okay, because Ghost Cat slept on my bed last night.” Continue reading…
Secret Agent, Detective, Genius, Jerk: Modernizing Sherlock Holmes
A man with dark wavy hair wakes up in an iron-framed bed in the middle of a windowless room. He leaps out from under the white sheets and stares intently at a corner of the white ceiling. Suddenly, gracefully, he spins to defeat an invisible opponent in four swift motions, finally falling to his knees in front of an empty chair, hands outstretched.
There’s something about the way Benedict Cumberbatch plays the lead role in the BBC series Sherlock that seems like it could be Holmes’ fantasy version of how a brilliant detective behaves. Continue reading…
My New Weapon of Choice
In April, the Guttersnipes like to mix it up a little. This month, Comics Editor Carol Borden writes about romance.
“You hit him with a frying pan,” he said to her. “How come you didn’t grab a knife?”
“The frying pan was closer.” Her eyes slid away. “It’s not like I had time to pick a weapon. It’s not like the frying pan is my weapon of choice.” –Agnes And The Hitman (27)
Growing up in a town where Elvis was sighted post mortem, I despised and mocked The King. Now, I have held wakes in his honor. I used to only like punk. Then I used to say I liked everything but country. Now I don’t even bother arguing that I’m listening to “Americana,” not country. It is a truth universally acknowledged that something I once despised I will come to appreciate and, often, love. So when both Chris and alex recommended Jennifer Crusie, the author of many romance novels, and in particular her collaboration with Bob Mayer, Agnes And The Hitman, I knew I needed to read it. Continue reading…
Metropolis Magazine
Program pages for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis depicting “Scenes, Story and Incidents in the Making of the World’s Greatest Modern Spectacular Film Masterpiece[.]“
Vintage Ninja
Vintage Ninja offers, “A 1962 Point of View” on “ninjutsu”–including covers and pages from an out of print copy of Jay Gluck’s Zen Combat. My favorite line, “The ninja never swaggered.”
Muckey Spleen’s The Bloody Drip
Walt Kelly presents Pogo‘s Albert Alligator in Muckey Spleen’s The Bloody Drip, “a Publication of the New National Treasury of World Culture.”
Framing Stan Lee
Some pretty sweet portraiture by Joel Kimmel for “The Inquisition of Ms. Marvel.”
Scans of Man Gataro’s Art
Pages from comic artist/mangaka Man Gataro’s Jigoku Koshien / Battlefield Baseball, vol. 2 at The Joseph Luster Report.
Captain 3-D Page by Jack Kirby, Mort Meskin and Joe Simon
Seven scans of one Captain 3-D page, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin.
RIP, Joe Kubert
Comics creator, educator and founder of The Kubert School, Joe Kubert has died. The Beat has an obituary. NPR’s Monkey See has an appreciation with links to many others, including a gallery of Kubert’s comics covers. The New York Times has a slide show including pictures of his workspace and his original art. Here he [...]
“Great Changes After The Liberation”
ChinaSmack has scans of of a 1950 propaganda comic predicting China’s future. “From the portrayal of working class hardship, to unaffordable housing, to foreigners behaving as they please in China, the problems of pre-liberation China seems to remain very much relevant even to this day.” (via @paleofuture)
“As Told To Stan Lee”
Dedicated to romance comics–especially Marvel romance comics–As Told To Stan Lee shares panels of shirtless men and bikini-clad ladies in love. (Thanks, Keith!)
The Power of Paper!
Artist Yusuke Murata displays the awesome power of paper in an amazing comic about an artist avoiding his work. (Thanks, Andrew!)
Wonder Woman vs. Xena
Beau Smith tells the story of the Wonder Woman vs. Xena comic that never came to be–with snippets of his script and pages of Eduardo Barreto’s art. (via DCWomenKickingAss)
The Story of Negro Romance
History Detectives has 13 pages of, “Possessed, ” a story from a comic, Negro Romance. Watch the segment to learn more about the history African-Americans in comics, how the comic represents changes in American society after World War II and the creators of Negro Romance. (There is also a link to the full 55 minute [...]
Michael Corleone Kills the Turk
Page 152 from Francis Ford Coppola’s marked up copy of Mario Puzo’s novel, The Godfather. The Atlantic has kindly provided a link to the relevant scene from the film. I can’t help noticing that Coppola takes notes with a ruler.
Moebius’ “Le Monde d’Edena”
Halcyon Realms looks at a Japanese collection of French comic artist Moebius’ series, Le Monde d’Edena.
Archie Meets KISS Preview
Comic Book Resources has a preview of Archie Meets KISS, another creative comic from Archie, which recently announced Kevin Keller’s wedding to Clay Walker and published an ambitious parallel timeline story where Archie was married to Betty in one life and Veronica in another. For their part, KISS has been in comic storylines since the [...]
Jaws Retold as a Comic Strip
Charles Forsman adapts Jaws to the world of Charles Schulz’ Peanuts.
The Creature in the Black Bog
In honor of Steve Ditko’s birthday, The Belated Nerd has posted Steve Ditko and Stan Lee’s “The Creature in the Black Bog” from Tales of Suspense #23
25 Horror Comics Proving Wertham Right (Not Really)
Over at Dork Forty, Mark puts up a gallery of harrowing pre-Comics Code horror comics: “In spite of Frederick Wertham’s claims in his legendary anti-funnybook screed Seduction of the Innocent, reading lurid comics featuring gruesome images of horror is cathartic, natural, and (most important) fun! For the whole damn family! But, man. Sometimes, when I’m browsing [...]
It’s the Hummingbird-Whale that puts it over the top…
More “classic” cover art at Good Show Sir: “OK, I want a triad of spiritual guru, alien Venus, and bull-man, linked by a strip of computer punch tape (futuristic!). Also, it must have a hummingbird-whale. I insist.”
Good-bye, Oracle. Hello, Batgirl.
Comics Alliance says good-bye to Barbara Gordon as Oracle and hello her as Batgirl in the DC relaunch, with some nice art by Phil Noto.
keep looking »Of Note Elsewhere
“It’s easier to tell the same stories everyone else does. There’s no particular shame in it.
It’s just that it’s lazy, which is just about the worst possible thing a spec fic writer can be.
Oh, and it’s not true.”
Kameron Hurley writes about lazy writing, cannibal llamas, female soldiers, and women here. (Thanks, James!)
Patton Oswalt’s multi-franchise super-movie described in his Star Wars filibuster from Parks and Recreation, animated.
Corrigan Vaughan writes an open letter to “Fans of Geek Things“: “I appreciate that you think I have a nice rack and that some of you even find my friends and I to be pretty. That’s very kind. I’m not, however, super in love with the fact that having a rack at all seems to preclude me from being considered a ‘real’ fan.”
The Hollywood Reporter interviews director Takashi Miike about his new film, Shield of Straw: ” In Japan now, films are very safe. When I was young and went to old cinemas, they had a distinctive feel, an adult smell about them. As you got in your seat and the lights went down, there was a feeling of excitement: What if the film is scarier than I thought it’s going to be? You’re taken into that world. Nowadays, you can sit in the theater and know it’s going to be safe. That’s good for business, but not for filmmaking.”
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