Kickstarting the Image Revolution

Earlier tonight -- though I guess it would be earlier this morning by the time this is posted -- I put out a call for donations for Patrick Meaney's upcoming "Comics in Focus: The Image Revolution" documentary. I said I would match whatever donations were made within the hour, up to $500.

I was happy to do it. (As I write this now, and the clock is running down on the hour, it looks like I will end up matching $245 in donations.) Even though I have old ties with Sequart, the gang behind the documentary, and got my start in comics punditry writing for a now-defunct version of their website, I heard about the documentary the same time everyone else did when it was announced on Kickstarter (though maybe I guessed it a little earlier than most, with Mike Phillips's Andre Agassi references on Twitter, and my ability to plumb the depths of Professor Phillips's subtle mind.)

Because I know Patrick, and I was a talking head in the Grant Morrison documentary, I will likely get a chance to provide some historical context on camera for the Image doc. But that's not why I donated money to help fund the project.

I also find myself increasingly fascinated with Image Comics, and early Image comic books specifically. My interest in that era predates the current retro-enthusiasm generated by the excellent work guys like Joe Keatinge and Ross Campbell and Brandon Graham and Friends are doing on the relaunched Extreme titles. Basically, as corporate comics become more obviously manufactured products pumped out into the marketplace, it's fun to go back and look at the early Image books and see a bunch of young guys making marks on paper and churning out things to entertain themselves and their fans.

Many of the early Image comics aren't good by what I used to call my objective standards of comics criticism. But I'm less and less interested in that -- pulling myself away from doing traditional reviews has been healthy in that regard -- and more and more interested in seeing weird images and offbeat narrative choices that may not even be in the best interest of the stories being told. The imperfections, writ large, are endearing. I genuinely love them. And the fact that the Image founders shook up the industry, that's a monumental event. But that's not why I donated money to help fund the project.

I donated money to help fund the project because I know how Patrick and the guys at Sequart operate. I know Julian Darius and Mike Phillips (and friends) have constantly invested their own money into projects, before even asking for a penny from anyone else. I know for a fact that I was paid royalties on my books before those guys even made any kind of reasonable profit from the sales. They reinvested whatever money came out of those early book projects to fund other books, and, later, movies, that had no real shot of making any kind of money. They did it to get more people involved. To grow the brand, not to become rich, but because they wanted more people to say and write and direct cool, interesting things about comic books.

So, know this, if you're ever faced with donating to help a Sequart or a Patrick Meaney project: the money goes right into helping make the project happen, along with whatever personal money everyone involved can scrape together. And they will do right by you, because that's just how those guys are.

And with your help, with all of our help, they can keep producing interesting books and films and websites and whatever else they think we might like to see. And they will do it because they love it.

The Image Comics documentary Kickstarter ends in a few days. Donate if you have the chance. If not, keep your eyes peeled for whatever they have coming up next. It will be worth your time, for sure.

Jonathan Hickman = Jared Harris

Not the 1998 Film

I was flipping through the channels yesterday and I caught a minute of the 1998 Matt LeBlanc vehicle better known to cinephiles everywhere as Lost in Space. When I saw Jared Harris on screen, everything clicked into place (I actually saw the entire movie in the theater when it came out, all those years ago, because time somehow moved slower back then): Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four run is entirely based on the 1998 Lost in Space film.

Jared Harris plays what amounts to a time-travelling future Franklin Richards.

Cracked the code. Your move, Hickman.

Tucker Stone Destroys for Fun and Profit

If Tucker Stone only wrote his hilariously scathing reviews on a chalkboard outside of Bergen Street Comics, I would be sure to make extra trips to Brooklyn just to enjoy his prose. I have obsessively clicked on The Factual Opinion some late Sunday nights, when I'm working on some column for a deadline, hoping that his "Comics of the Weak" would miraculously update, even though  half of the comics he writes about so savagely are ones that I regularly enjoy with unrestrained enthusiasm.

But somehow, shifting his weekly take-down of "mainstream" comics to The Comics Journal site has added a weird new dimension to his words. Because now, though his tone is exactly the same as it has been for years, his biting mini-reviews have the weight of authority behind them.

Coming as a weekly (or less-than-weekly, more recently) blog post on his own faux-haughty Factual Opinion site, Tucker's snarky vitriol seemed like harmless but gut-punchingly entertaining pub talk. The sort of ultimate example of how we might all like to rant about the terribleness inside the comics that we find ourselves reading. And if you've been following Tucker's writing over the years, it's seemed that some of his exaggeratedly vicious criticism has become less and less of a pose and more and more of an acceptance that, yeah, these comics are pretty much as bad as he's been saying. At least, that's what seems to be reflected from his point of view. Increasing disillusionment from a source that was barely illusioned to begin with.

The comments, though -- and I should know not to read comments ever, sure, yes, I know -- on his second-and-most-recent TCJ column. His newly-relocated "Comics of the Weak." These comments remind me that because The Comics Journal barely covers front-half-of-Diamond-Previews comics, Tucker's words are not only seen as authoritative about the individual comics he writes about, but they're also seen as representative of an entire massive subsection of comics. Tucker indicts all of "mainstream" comics by ridiculing his particular selections on a weekly basis, to an audience that seems reassured in its bias.

"Aha!" they shout. "We knew those COMIC BOOKS were unreadable all along. Why, we gave them up years ago to focus on archiving our Ernie Bushmiller collections and waiting for the new Alison Bechdel. Thank you, Tucker Stone, for reminding us that we no longer have to waste our time on nonsense."

It reminds me of the "Little Cinema" in the lower level of the small museum here in my town. My wife and I used to go there to see independent and art house films every month or two. And the place would always be packed with retired folks, and they would laugh at all the wrong parts of every movie and applaud at the end of everything, seeming to miss the point of what they saw but yet clearly entertained by every moment. They would, haltingly, scoff at any mention of the big summer blockbuster playing at the multiplex.

I think of that crowd when I read some of the comments underneath Tucker's new column. And I think of these shambling septuagenarians (or worse, their snarling adolescent nihilist pals) interpreting a few funny, too-true reviews as some kind of blanket criticism of everything that comes out of Marvel and DC and IDW and Boom and whoever else publishes comic books that have action and punching and explosions and important conversations about whether society hates the protagonists or fears them. And I think of those readers feeling safe in their choice of sticking with The Collected Nancy Artist's Edition and I hate them in their narrowmindedness.

Then I turn and begin to celebrate all the variety and genre-smashing comics that those readers might be missing if they let Tucker turn them away from everything that the "mainstream" comic book publishers have to offer.

But, sadly, I can't even muster the energy to do that. I can't advocate for Justice League International or Dominique Laveau or X-Factor or Peter Panzerfaust or even the comics I like. I like them, these days, the way I like Chocolate-covered Peeps and the doodles of Inspector Gadget in the corners of my notes for work. But I don't advocate for them, necessarily.

Tucker may be right after all, even if he doesn't mean it. (Though he totally does.) And I'll be obsessively clicking on TCJ.com, waiting for more.

I Watched This Thing Called "Game of Thrones"

Boromir is Very Sad

The place where I buy my comics is called "Fautasy Realms," according to the sign. That's no typo -- that's just an upside down, dot-matrix-printed "n" in the store name, officially.

Back when Fautasy Realms was called "Virtual Reality," the owner talked about George R. R. Martin a lot, specifically about the sense of realism in his "Song of Ice and Fire" series. That didn't make me want to read the books.

A few years ago, when rumors of an HBO "Game of Thrones" project started bubbling up, and everyone freaked out about how amazing such a thing would be, I looked into the books a bit, and then realized that George R. R. Martin was the same guy who wrote that thing in "Wild Cards" about the superhero who was also a Volkswagen Beetle or something. So I stopped looking into the books.

Then, a bit before "Game of Thrones" actually premiered on HBO, I heard Sam Humphries, who I respect greatly for his wit and wisdom (long before he was a superfamous Marvel Comics Writer Extraordinaire), say that he loved the "Song of Ice and Fire" series even though he HATES ALL THINGS WITH ELVES AND SWORDS AND WIZARDS. So I bought "Game of Thrones."

I don't have HBO.

I tried to read "Game of Thrones" on a family cruise last summer, but I couldn't remember (or care to remember) all the characters in the opening 50 pages and I decided to read every New Mutants comic instead. I think I made the right choice.

I tried reading "Game of Thrones" again over the winter, and I got 150 pages into it, and I liked that Tyrion guy well enough but, let's be honest...it's a sleazy book, isn't it? Super sleazy, with incest and underage barbarian marriage-rape and mostly just a lot of pages that are like all the boring bits of "Lord of the Rings" without all the monsters and wizards and fancy obsession with British cuisine and pipe smoking. Also, it was just about the most plodding mystery story ever. Starring a guy named Ned.

I finally watched "Game of Thrones" last week. The whole first season.

Halfway through, I still thought it was sleazy and dull and yet the performances were strong enough to keep me watching and it looked nice all wintry and fur-lined and swordy.

But by the end, I wanted to know what happens next.

So I bought "A Clash of Kings." I have read the first two chapters. I think maybe I should go read all the "Youngblood" comics instead.

Though Boromir was pretty good in all those TV episodes. Too bad how it turned out for him. He'd make a good Chapel in the big-budget Youngblood movie. Boromir for Chapel. 2012!

Sean Witzke says it better than I ever could: Jean Giraud/Moebius 1938-2012.

Best Comics of 2011

Hey, I never posted the Best Comics of 2011 here at this still-not-abandoned blog. So here it is, for the ages.

I spent two weeks of "When Words Collide" over at Comic Book Resources running down my Top 30 list, so if you want the capsule explanations and/or justifications for the entire List o' Thirty for Twenty-Eleven, that's the place to go. First go to BEST COMICS OF 2011: THE RUNNERS UP then finish strong with THE TOP TEN COMICS OF 2011.

Here's the list, unadorned with comment:

10. Batman, Inc.
9. Lose
8. Xombi
7. Forming
6. Loose Ends
5. Deadpool MAX
4. Butcher Baker, The Righteous Maker
3. Casanova: Avaritia
2. Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance
1. Scalped

A solid list, I think, even though it feels like a million years ago.

The Annotated Chemical Box UPDATED

I recently appeared as a guest on The Chemical Box podcast to talk about comics and movies and writing about comics and not having time to watch movies.

[NOTE: THE PODCAST IS NOW POSTED! GO, LISTEN!]

These are the Top 10 Annotations for the episode.

1. The Golden Age spaceman comics of Basil Wolverton are good.

2. This guy doesn't like Rob Liefeld much, but he's dead wrong and you can tell just by looking at the sweet art he uses as examples. Also: Rob Liefeld drew THIS kernel of greatness.

3. Alec likes Savage Dragon comics a lot, especially this one but also all these ones.

4. Joey likes Suburbia, mostly because it was written by this guy, but also because it was directed by this guy, and stars this other guy. Tim agrees.

5. Mark Bagley used to be good. Oh wait, no he didn't.

6. We didn't talk about this movie at all.

7. Abhay didn't like this comic very much, and we wondered why the men-in-suits-shuffling-paperwork genre was popular with podcasters with bad taste.

8. Michael Deforge wrote and drew this just so Joey would have something to do for a month.

9. This is definitely NOT the best comic ever. But THIS may be!

10. There exists a demarcation in the world. On the one side, those who think they like movies but are actually quite ignorant and possibly evil. On the other side, those who actually like movies and have immense knowledge and insight. You can tell you're talking to someone in the former category because they continue to insist that this is a good movie, even though everyone else in the world knows they are wrong. I mean, yeesh!

Splash Page Holiday Special! Go. Listen.

Chad Nevett and I return -- one last time (unless we decide to do it again someday) -- to the podcast that made our fame and fortune around the world.

THE SPLASH PAGE PODCAST!

In this special, LONG, holiday edition, we talk about our Best of 2011 lists, where the layer of escapism actually appears in our comics reading, and why this is such a banner year for Joe Casey comics.

Chad makes some kind of appeal on behalf of Jonathan Hickman's "Ultimates" comics, but while he was talking about that stuff, I was thinking about how pretty Javier Opena's work on "Uncanny X-Force" has been.

Anyway, we're glad to be back, even if it's just for this special edition, so go on over there and spend two-and-a-half hours of your life listening to two guys talk about something they love. And comics too!

Reader's Guide to the New DC Universe

I've been working on this all summer, over at Tor.com, but I've neglected to mention it here on the blog. Please forgive me for the oversight.

Basically, it's my 800 words on each and every new DC title launching in September, based on the interviews and solicitations and the previous work of the creative team(s). All 52 of them. Plus an overview about the whole thing and the digital distribution angle. It's the most comprehensive look at the DC relaunch that you're likely to see, because I was crazy enough to write about all of these series with so many damned words.

I'll probably end up being right about 85% of it all, too. Enjoy!

READ: TOR.COM READER'S GUIDE TO THE NEW DC UNIVERSE, by me!

Blackhawk at Tor.com

Tor asked me to write a piece on the history of Quality and DC's "Blackhawk" series, since it is one of the lesser-known properties to join the relaunch this fall.

I mean, we all know who Blackhawk is, but the average Tor.com reader might not be familiar with some of the character's greatest hits, and it's not like Absolute Blackhawk is on the reprint schedule anytime soon. Though I would buy it, of course, assuming it reprinted either (a) the swinging 60's superhero years, (b) the Evanier/Spiegle run, or (c) Chaykin's three-parter, which was THE FIRST HOWARD CHAYKIN COMIC I EVER READ AND THAT WOULD PROBABLY EXPLAIN A LOT ABOUT ME.

Anyway, my history of Blackhawk turned into a piece about Blackhawk throughout the ages and, oh yeah, Will Eisner is racist. I didn't intend to go there, but as I read the DC Archives edition of the first "Blackhawk" stories, I just couldn't give Eisner a pass. He sometimes gets a pass for Ebony White, but Ebony White PLUS Chop-Chop? A pattern of foul racism derailed my "Blackhawk" retrospective a bit.

Still, I marched on. Go READ: Such a Man is Blackhawk.

The DC Relaunch and Reasonable Readers of all Types

I wrote this week's piece for Tor.com mostly because Ron Marz and a random fan were debating how much to freak out about DC's relaunch. The fan (or fans -- maybe it was more than one) seemed to think everything in the past would cease to exist, and all his DC comics would be meaningless now. Marz didn't agree. At all.

Of course, now we know that Marz is part of the DC relaunch (which I'm happy about, because he's a good guy and a hard-working writer), but I don't think that's really all that significant in the debate. What's important is...the two fundamentally different way people read comics. And that's what I wrote about.

Go, read: "What Does it Matter? Stories and Comic Book Readers" at Tor.com.

BLASTOFF: I Write for Tor.com Now

Hey, you know Tor Books, the imprint (now) of Macmillan, and publisher of authors such as Larry Niven, George R. R. Martin, and Robert Jordan?

I am now the weekly comics blogger for their website.

If you haven't been following the goings-on at Tor.com, and I'll be honest and admit that I only started checking it out when they contacted me about working for them, then you probably don't realize that they have a Nebula award-winning original fiction component AND a vigorous blog, covering a wide variety of geek culture topics like books and movies and, yes, comic books. I didn't realize any of this until they reached out to me, but, man, it's a damn good site, and I'm not just saying that just because they wanted to hire me.

(Would I have taken the gig if it was a crappy site? Maybe, maybe not. But I sure wouldn't have bragged about how good the site was!)

So go check out Tor.com, and read my first weekly post (which actually debuted a few days ago, but I'm just getting around to telling you about it): Xombi -- Monster Hunters and Mysteries.

I wrote it a week before the DC relaunch announcement, and I have no idea how "Xombi" will fare in the 52-ongoings version of the DCU, but enjoy that comic while it lasts!

And between Tor.com, Comic Book Resources, and Marvel.com, (and this very blog you are now reading!), I will be all over the internet this summer, with or without a podcast.

DC Speculation: The Play-at-Home Version

I've been hearing that DC will relaunch all of it's comics with new #1 issues and slightly modified (streamlined) continuity after "Flashpoint" for a few months now, and DC has confirmed the rumors today.

The day-and-date digital announcement is actually more surprising, and it's a bold move. I imagine the conference room in which that decision was made featured an oversized dry erase board with the words "day and date digital" on one side and a gigantic question mark on the other side.

At least it's SOMETHING. Though, unless the digital prices drop substantially, here's what I imagine will happen. Readers with iPads will slowly start to wean themselves off weekly comic shop visits, and then they will realize there's no real hurry to buy comics day-and-date on their mobile devices, since there's no way any of the digital content will be out of stock, so they'll wait for a sale. Then they'll lose interest. Then realize that life without comics isn't that big of a deal. Maybe they'll read Chris Ware hardcovers once a year, and that will be enough.

But until that happens, DC will kick of FIFTY TWO new monthly series in September. The "monthly" designation doesn't necessarily mean ongoing, I'll point out. I'm guessing maybe 30 firm ongoing series and 22 miniseries. 52 ongoing series would be waaay more than they have now, in the DCU. It could happen, though. We'll see.

Here are some of my gut feelings about what we might see (and even though I have some contact with some of these creators, I have not yet asked them about any of this -- it's pure guesswork on my part):

• Scott Snyder writing two big ongoings -- probably a Superman book (to complement the supposed Morrison Superman series) and the Batman main title.
• Jeff Lemire writing a "Smallville" series and maybe...Nightwing and the Outsiders.
• Paul Cornell writing Flash.
• Sterling Gates writing two ongoings. I'm thinking the Kid Flash series announced a few years back might finally show up, in a new form. Maybe he'll be on the Multi-Colored Lanterns series. Or, no. He'll write the Cyborg solo ongoing.
• James Robinson will surely do more than just Hawkman. Don't be surprised to see him on an Atom series as well. Or, if the New Gods are in play, something from that pile of toys.
• Judd Winick will write a Red Hood ongoing.
• I think they must have courted Brian Azzarello for something. I wouldn't be shocked to see an Azz-written Suicide Squad comic. That would be a good fit.
• I also expect a resurrection of some other classic titles, with new versions of the characters. Like the Secret Society of Super-Villains, perhaps, based more on the JLU interpretation. Or World's Finest, with a youngish Superman and Batman teaming up.

Overall, I'm looking forward to the relaunches. Besides the current DCU work of Morrison, Snyder, and Lemire, and an occasional Johns or Cornell book, the DC Universe is stale and uninspiring right now. I just hope the relaunched series pair some superior artists with the good writers. The thought of, say, Eddy Barrows on a Grant Morrison comic doesn't encourage enthusiasm.

BACK! And then some. Plus: Sol Star at the Movies

Okay, after my way-too-long hiatus, I'm back to begin a stint of semi-regular blogging. I don't want to promise daily posts, or even weekly posts, but you can be sure that I will keep this blog relatively up-to-date on my comings and goings, since I have a new writing gig that I'll be promoting pretty darn soon, along with whatever else keeps me busy over the summer.

(And, sadly, no, I didn't keep up with the sketching, and that's just not something I can devote myself to these days, when the paychecks are coming in for my writing, not my drawing.)

I put a little picture of John Hawkes here to remind myself that I'm only halfway through "Winter's Bone" and I really have no interest in watching the rest of it, even though everyone tells me it's a great film. Does it get better after the first hour? I mean, sure, it looks good, but it's a hell of a lot less interesting than, say, David Gordon Green's "Undertow," which is kind of a similar white trash on-the-run tragedy, and that movie didn't get anywhere near the accolades as "Winter's Bone." Maybe I'll watch the rest of it before I judge it. That would probably be smart.

And, hey, did you see that I write for Marvel.com now, too? I turned a Walt Simonson phone conversation into two Marvel.com posts and two "When Words Collide" columns, mostly because it was a pretty fascinating conversation, but also because Walt Simonson had a LOT to say. Looks like I might be doing some other things for Marvel.com over the summer months.

I'm sort of caught up at work too. I mean, I'll never really be caught up. But I can see over the pile of papers on my desk, now. I'm not buried like I was.

Also, it turns out that we canceled The Splash Page podcast. Well, I suppose I canceled it, by saying, "I'm done." And Chad didn't want to carry on without me, though I would listen to him and Sean Witzke talk every week if I could. But it's probably for the best that they aren't doing that, so I'll have an extra three or four hours a week to get things done.

Um, how has everyone been?

A Double Secret Hiatus

Okay, the weekly Sketchblog has been awesome, but I just haven't been able to keep up with it at all between my work, my family, and my recent stupid illness. It may also have helped if I didn't have to go outside and snowblow my driveway twice a day for the past 35 days.

So, yes, this blog is on hiatus until Spring. Until I can figure out how to make time to do more things in 24 hours.

Sketchblog Week 7: Keith Giffen

Each week, I try to carve out time to spend one hour a day sketching, building up a set of skills that should, we all hope, show improvement over a one-year period. Sometimes I'll draw by copying comic book artists, sometimes I'll draw from life, sometime I'll draw from how-to books, and other times, I'll just sketch with whatever is at hand. This is WEEK SEVEN of a 52 week experiment to see how well I can learn how to draw.


I could draw like mid-to-late 1980's Keith Giffen all day, every day. I love this stuff. This week's study comes from "Dr. Fate," a four-issue miniseries published in 1987, with art and covers by Keith Giffen.

I can't help wondering how much this comic influenced Todd McFarlane. Look at the way Giffen draws capes here. Look at the teeth in the upper left (and this miniseries is all about gods of order and chaos and lots and lots of giant teeth -- Kent Nelson even has a giant-toothed mouth in his belly for most of the story). This comic debuted during the same month as McFarlane's first issue of "Detective Comics," and about a year before Venom made his first appearance. It doesn't seem like McFarlane could have seen this comic before he started drawing Batman's cape with a zillion folds, shooting out in an expressionistic way, but the similarities are obvious. Maybe Giffen drew something else cape-heavy before this (though I can't think of what), or maybe they were inspired by Michael Golden's capes. I don't know.

What I do know is that Giffen's work in this Dr. Fate comic is some of my favorite art in any comic ever, ever, ever. It was a joy to sketch some studies of this stuff.

I had the most success once I just went straight into inks after roughing out some basic shapes. That's how I sketched the most detailed image on the top left: big, blocky shapes, then all rendering with pen and brush and sharpie. I love the look of it, and though the purpose of this year-long experiment isn't to fall in love with my own drawings but to learn and improve, I can't help but see how much the attention to detail -- and the layering of blacks and whites -- adds a sense of depth to what is an incredibly odd, almost abstract, but beautiful composition.

Yeah, man, I could wallow in this Keith Giffen glory forever. And I didn't even look at any Ambush Bug comics this week.

NEXT WEEK: I'm open to suggestions! Someone scratchy, maybe. Cowan? Sienkiewicz?

Sketchblog Week 6: Nothin' Doin'

Yeah, I didn't sketch at all last week. Well, that's not exactly true. I did draw out some character sketches for a top-secret project Television's Ryan Callahan and I will be working on in 2011. But I didn't draw any Keith Giffen sketches like I wanted to.

Too much Christmasing! I'll be back next week with some studies of Giffen!

Sketchblog Weeks 4-5: Alex Raymond

I bought a new sketchbook last week, not because I had filled up the old one, but because the old one was an unwieldy, sewn-binding, cloth-covered thing that wouldn't stay open very well for sketching and scanning.

The new one is wire-bound and smaller, easier to carry around and use and scan.

I did draw a few "Flash Gordon" sketches in the old book, but now I can't find it. You'd think a giant blue book would be easy to find, but I guess it's not. Especially when you have thousands of books it could be mixed in with.

So here are some images from the new book. Mostly inked with a practically dried-out brush pen. The two on the top from studies of the Checker "Flash Gordon" reprints, and the bottom two from the second volume of IDW's "Rip Kirby" hardcover series.

What struck me about trying to draw from the "Flash Gordon" strips was how hard it was to see what Alex Raymond was actually doing, through the years of degraded quality and then the imperfections of the Checker reprints. (It's like a color xerox of a color xerox, of a shoddy printing job to begin with.) Plus, I'm sure Raymond worked much, MUCH larger than print size, and the panels in "Flash Gordon" are tiny.

Another thing that struck me is that though my memory of Raymond's Flash work is that he had classical figures and imaginative scenery, when I was looking at the architectural designs I was surprised to see that his fantasy backdrops were almost Dr. Seussian. His backdrops had an organic strangeness that contrasted with the almost-Renaissance figure work. I know "cartoonish" can be a derogatory term, but in this case, Raymond's cartoonish quality helped to create a sense of wonder in his alien landscapes.

Contrast that with the bleak photorealism of "Rip Kirby," and it's as if there are two Alex Raymonds, each with a major impact on the look of comic books (and comic strips, of course). Obviously, Dave Sim has spent the better part of two years exploring the Alex Raymond photoreal style in his own study of the genre (or artistic mode), but I'm sure much more can be said about how much Raymond's "Rip Kirby" style impacted the look of late Silver Age and Bronze Age comics. That's not what I'm interested in doing here -- I'm interested in drawing and seeing what comes out of my pencil and inky tools -- but someone could tackle that topic, I'm sure. Maybe someone like you.

Me, I'm content to sketch away and leave such heady discussions for other parts of my life. Like writing Monday columns for CBR. Or arguing with Ron Marz and Dean Trippe on Twitter.

NEXT WEEK: Speaking of xeroxes of xeroxes (and after reading last month's "Doom Patrol" and "The Outsiders," and talking to Joe Casey about unpublished 1980s comics) I'm thinking that I might want to dive into some Keith Giffen. Maybe mimic some of the different phases of his career and see what it looks like filtered through my pencil. It just may be a very Ambush Bug Christmas!

Sketchblog Week 4: Alex Raymond Will Wait

Each week, I spend one hour a day sketching, building up a set of skills that should, we all hope, show improvement over a one-year period. Sometimes I'll draw by copying comic book artists, sometimes I'll draw from life, sometime I'll draw from how-to books, and other times, I'll just sketch with whatever is at hand. This is WEEK FOUR of a 52 week experiment to see how well I can learn how to draw.

This week got the best of me, and I did very little sketching. I don't have anything to show off, though I did study and copy about half a dozen Alex Raymond drawings from "Flash Gordon." But since I want to spend more time with Alex Raymond, and get into his "Rip Kirby" stuff too, I will make this a two-week session with Raymond. Me and Alex Raymond for 14 days, some of which will be spent sketching! Look for some of my attempts next Monday.

Splash Page Podcast: Special Guest Joe Casey

This week's special episode of The Splash Page podcast features Chad Nevett and I talking about comics and Doc Savage and other amazing topics. And, oh yeah, Joe Casey joins us for the entire three hours.

He tells us about "Butcher Baker" and a million other things, like what it was like to work during the golden age of Wildstorm, how comics criticism is often better than actual comics, and the secret work of Bob Fleming and Keith Giffen.

Listen! Splash Page Podcast Episode 38 (The Joe Casey Episode)