Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Image du Nuit
An absolutely gorgeous Shang-Chi splash by Rudy Nebres, one of my all-time favourite comix artists (who I nearly worked with alongside Rich Buckler on my proposed Defenders Inc. project for Marvel in 2006). Those were the days when the Master of Kung Fu was shown some respect!
Image du Jour
Norma Bengell rocks the black leather space suit in Mario Bava's exquisite Planet of the Vampires (1966).
CONCLAVES: a small preview of a long story...
(top to bottom) Georgina "Georgie" Strathmore; Zenovius; Dack Nolan, agent of S.C.E.P.T.R.E.; Doctor Vincent Thomas Oblique; Dane Christian Hellstrand, a son of the demon Samael; Onus (Marisol D'Aulaire) and Pierce (John "Jack" Trantham aka Operator Zed); Solomon Anger; The Exterminating Angel (Tristan Sorrell); and Mescalita (Camille de Mauvais).CONCLAVES is yet another dream project of mine that nearly came to fruition in 2008. I had spent that year inventing scores of characters; writing the first two issues' scripts; and devising a lengthy story bible beyond that. It was pitched to CAG (Comicbook Artists' Guild) member Steve Kanaras' Free Lunch Comics, which published a book by my later collaborator, Shawnti Therrien. But somehow, between developing projects for other indie publishers (which crashed and burned when those publishers went under); getting back in the game of freelance published journalism (in Astonishing Adventures Magazine and later Dark Discoveries); searching for secure employment; and dealing with family health issues and a deteriorating relationship, my commitment to CONCLAVES and to seeing things through with Steve (a great guy by the way; none of this is a reflection on him) fell far by the wayside.
I continued to generate characters and story ideas and even wrote an erotic short story, "The Ballad of Onus and Pierce" (my first sexually explicit writing in many years). But then, the chance to be a part of With Honor came about in October 2008 and I began to focus on "Snow Leopard" and on the cycle of short stories that have come to form the backbone of Iron Creek and Purple Rooms. These projects and Dark Discoveries filled my time in 2009 and early 2010, and I put CONCLAVES on an indefinite back burner. My search for an artist for the book had proven fruitless anyhow. It's hard to say when I'll have the chance and the wherewithall to pick back up CONCLAVES, but I have been doing some more character sketches this week, and pondering future plotlines. It's impossible to resist really. When the characters speak, I must listen.
Oh, and for those who've asked: "what exactly is CONCLAVES actually about?", I can only describe it as semi-autobiographical, metafictional pastiche, inspired by my experiences pitching comics stories.
CONCLAVES and all related art, characters, and designs depicted, and all story elements are Copyright 2008-2011 George Henry Smathers Jr.
DESOLATION FALLS: a very small preview
Like FLICKER STREET, DESOLATION FALLS is yet another dream comix project of mine that just might find a home one of these fine first days. Above are three original rather rough character sketches (one sometime comic book writer derisively dismissed them immediately because I'd sketched them on lined paper - something I didn't plan; I was just bitten by a spontaneity bug - and i wasn't even pitching them to this guy). The characters above are: Sully Mower, Ossuary, and Nestor Blue. I have a few more sketches, and when I actually find them, I'll post them as well. As always, all art, characters, designs and story elements are Copyright 2002-2011 George Henry Smathers Jr.
Friday, July 1, 2011
CROSSOVERS and Assorted Projects from Win Scott Eckert
Win Scott Eckert's mammoth tomes, CROSSOVERS: A Secret History of the World, Volumes 1 and 2, have been out for awhile now. I reviewed them in March over at my wife's site, She Never Slept, but I feel they're still current enough, and I'm consulting them so much on a daily, if not hourly, basis, that I have to recommend them yet again to anyone reading my blog who doesn't follow SNS (for shame!) http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/4277
Win filled me in on his various projects, current and upcoming, all filled, like Crossovers, with Wold Newtony goodness (What's Wold Newton you ask? Keep reading). Win's so prolific it's hard for a brother to keep up. So I'll let Win himself fill you in on his some of the exciting things he has on the horizon:
"THE GREEN HORNET CASEFILES (the second Green Hornet anthology), co-edited by me and Joe Gentile; my story "Bad Medicine" is co-written with Vito Delsante; it's at the printer now, so hopefully shipping in a month or so? The book features the 1960s Hornet (TV version) and our story takes place in 1964. http://www.amazon.com/Green-Hornet-Casefiles-Joe-McKinney/dp/1933076941/
It's at the printer now, so hopefully shipping in a month or so? http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-Justice-Inc-Files/dp/1933076909/
""Zombies under Broadway" is my Green Ghost tale co-written with Eric Fein. It should appear in a forthcoming issue of MOONSTONE PULP FICTION MAGAZINE. I don't have any further scheduling details. http://www.comicbooknews.us/comicbooknewsstory.asp?story=5186
"I am currently writing a Honey West-T.H.E. Cat crossover story for Moonstone's Honey West prose anthology (not to be confused by a Honey West-T.H.E. Cat crossover comic by another creative team, also for Moonstone). The tale picks up on a back-story line from David McDaniel's THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. novel THE RAINBOW AFFAIR. No schedule as of yet.
"Coming in the pipeline... another Avenger tale; a new "Wold Newton Origins" story for Meteor House (for THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER vol. 3, to be released some time in 2012); a Patricia Wildman story (picking up from the events of the novel THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE); and a Sherlock Holmes novel."
Also be sure to check out Win's recent digital releases:
http://woldnewton.blogspot.com/2011/06/iron-and-bronze-by-christopher-paul.html
http://woldnewton.blogspot.com/2011/06/going-digital-captain-midnight-at.html
... as well as Win's sites: Win Scott Eckert.com (http://woldnewton.blogspot.com/) and An Expansion of Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe at:
http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp2.htm ,which is where I first encountered his work and which has provided the backbone of not only Crossovers but the excellent book Win edited, Myths for the Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe.
I highly recommend any and/ or all of Win's currently prodigious output. His work is of special appeal to pulp and genre fans, followers of the Wold Newton Family concept, and, most of all, aficionados of the late, great taboo-busting author Philip Jose Farmer. A love of Farmer's works is what introduced me to Win and to many other folks whom I now number among my closest friends.
To get an idea of what PJF and Wold Newton were and are about, I shamelessly direct you to another of my SNS articles:
http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/1874
I'll be waxing about Wold Newton a great deal on this blog in the future, and, especially, on my own website (currently under construction): www.purpleserpent.com . I wanted to save my thoughts on Wold Newton and my own attempts at literary archaeology for my own site one day, and now, thanks to my wife, that day is nearly here. I also own the most heavily-trafficked public forum on the web devoted to all things Wold Newton and Philip Jose Farmer: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wold_Newton_Family/ . Drop by and apply for membership if you're interested.
Thanx to Win for the information, and for his support and friendship over the past seven years, and for being the custodian of Phil's legacy and the keeper of the Wold Newton flame.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Hack/ Slash # 20: Closing thoughts on "Closer"
Stop by the Comics Forge and read my closing thoughts on the Hack/ Slash story arc "Closer" here: http://comicsforge.com/2011/06/1880/
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