Tomorrow: YouTube Wednesday presents The Spirit!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Ant Invasion
Tomorrow: YouTube Wednesday presents The Spirit!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Kaare Andrews on Why He Can't Draw as Fast as Jack Kirby
In a recent Bleeding Cool column, illustrator Kaare Andrews sez...
Let me admit that I’m not the fastest artist in the world.
It can take a long time to draw a page.
In the olden days, you had inkers basically ‘finishing breakdowns’ over Jack Kirby.
"Breakdowns" like this, which was typical of Kirby's "2-4 page a day" period (and he was writing the book as well)...?
That’s how he could push through 4-6 pages in a day.
Kirby’s art was bold.
It was beautiful.
It was awesome.
But I’m not sure he would have as much success in today’s climate.
Which explains why Jack Kirby's art is used on so much of Marvel's licensed product output, and why sales of reprints of Kirby's work equal or exceed a large number of Marvel's new-material titles!
The truth is that the level of detail demanded on a page has risen dramatically.
Comics aren’t 10 cent disposable newsprints anymore.
They are a legitimate art form.
They always were a "legitimate" art form.
Ask any European or Asian art aficionado.
Paper stock is slick, coloring is high tech, and you can now print as many tones, in as many shades, with as much detail as you can imagine.
It’s expected from the fans.
Which "fans"?
Not me!
Must be the same "fans" who aren't buying the current output of Marvel and DC at even the same sales levels as five years ago, and not like 15 years ago, when I was working on-staff, and sales at 50,000 or below were a reason for cancellation, not celebration!
One other point, Andrews is an illustrator, not a comic book artist.
He's a decent cover artist, but his interior work is average at best, mediocre at worst.
Curiously, it also appears to be uncollectable or unwanted.
Every gallery I see online features his heavily-photo-referenced covers or pin-ups, not his panel pages!
Want proof?
Google "Kaare Andrews", then Google "Jack Kirby".
How many interior pages or panels do you see in each case?
It can take a long time to draw a page.
In the olden days, you had inkers basically ‘finishing breakdowns’ over Jack Kirby.
"Breakdowns" like this, which was typical of Kirby's "2-4 page a day" period (and he was writing the book as well)...?
 |
| From Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ |
Kirby’s art was bold.
It was beautiful.
It was awesome.
But I’m not sure he would have as much success in today’s climate.
Which explains why Jack Kirby's art is used on so much of Marvel's licensed product output, and why sales of reprints of Kirby's work equal or exceed a large number of Marvel's new-material titles!
The truth is that the level of detail demanded on a page has risen dramatically.
Comics aren’t 10 cent disposable newsprints anymore.
They are a legitimate art form.
They always were a "legitimate" art form.
Ask any European or Asian art aficionado.
Paper stock is slick, coloring is high tech, and you can now print as many tones, in as many shades, with as much detail as you can imagine.
It’s expected from the fans.
Which "fans"?
Not me!
Must be the same "fans" who aren't buying the current output of Marvel and DC at even the same sales levels as five years ago, and not like 15 years ago, when I was working on-staff, and sales at 50,000 or below were a reason for cancellation, not celebration!
One other point, Andrews is an illustrator, not a comic book artist.
He's a decent cover artist, but his interior work is average at best, mediocre at worst.
Curiously, it also appears to be uncollectable or unwanted.
Every gallery I see online features his heavily-photo-referenced covers or pin-ups, not his panel pages!
Want proof?
Google "Kaare Andrews", then Google "Jack Kirby".
How many interior pages or panels do you see in each case?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Flash Gordon #8 Cover Preview
There's no Flash Gordon like a "classic" Flash Gordon.
Have you noticed that all the attempts to "update" the character modify him so much as to be unrecognizable?
(Remember the Smallville-ized Sci-Fi, er, SyFy version? YUK!)Thankfully, Dynamite's current series goes back to the basics, combining the best of Alex Raymond's (and successor Mac Raboy's) original strips with the movie serials, 1980 feature film, Filmation tv series, and Al Williamson's contributions in the '60s and '80s, to make a kool pastiche almost on the level of the Dini-Timm-McDuffie DC Animated universe.
Top it off with superb covers like this one for #8 by Francesco Francavilla, and it's a must-have package for high-adventure fans of all ages.
Sadly, this is Francisco's final Flash for the foreseeable future. (Say that five times fast!)
But, considering he's doing covers for The Shadow, The Spider, and other classic genre characters, I think I'll still be getting a hefty dose of Francavilla art every month!
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Saturday, March 24, 2012
1950s Space Heroes!
Discussing Major Inapak made us reflect back on the sci-fi tv shows of the early 1950s...
Space Patrol (1950-1955)
Rocky Jones: Space Ranger (1954-1956)
Tom Corbett: Space Cadet (1950-1955)
and the original space hero...
Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949-1955)
Ironically, Captain Midnight, who ran on tv from 1954 to 1956, making him the last survivor of the genre, didn't have a comic book adaptation of his tv series! (His original comic book, based on the radio show, ended in 1948!)
Our "brother" blog, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ has been running the comic book adaptations of both Captain Video and Rocky Jones, and will shortly be adding Space Patrol and Tom Corbett to the lineup!
Don't miss 'em for a dose of kool retro sci-fi action with art by greats like Mort Meskin, George Evans, Dick Giordano, Bernie Kreigstein, and Norm Saunders!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Was INAPAK the Chocolate Drink That NEVER Existed?
Yesterday, we presented the miracle chocolate drink Inapak...
It apparently didn't exist!
Really!
From extensive research (we're talking off-line and on-site) thru the archives of several dealers and collectors who handle related food ephemera like Ovaltine and Quik (now Nesquik) packaging and advertising, I've yet to come across anything (besides the comic book) relating in any way to Inapak!
Could it have been a proposed project that never got off the ground, like Victor Fox's Kooba Kola?
If so, who was behind it?
Magazine Enterprises, the publishers of the The Avenger, FunnyMan, and original Ghost Rider, produced the comic, and it's copyrighted in their name, not an outside corporation, as most licensed comics are!
Bob Powell is obviously the artist, though the writer is unknown.
It's theorized on the Grand Comics Database that Gardner Fox scripted the two stories in the book.
Speaking of which, here's the short tale from the back of the book...
Now, here's my theory about who Major Inapak is and how he came to be...
At this point (1951), there were a number of kids' sci-fi tv shows like Captain Video, featuring characters who also promoted their sponsors' products...
Magazine Enterprises, the publishers of the The Avenger, FunnyMan, and original Ghost Rider, produced the comic, and it's copyrighted in their name, not an outside corporation, as most licensed comics are!
Bob Powell is obviously the artist, though the writer is unknown.
It's theorized on the Grand Comics Database that Gardner Fox scripted the two stories in the book.
Speaking of which, here's the short tale from the back of the book...
At this point (1951), there were a number of kids' sci-fi tv shows like Captain Video, featuring characters who also promoted their sponsors' products...
...and there was talk of a tv version of Captain Midnight (which was still owned by Ovaltine) with a heavier sci-fi flavor to compete with Captain Video, Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, Space Patrol, et al.
(A Captain Midnight show eventually aired in 1954-56, with some sci-fi elements, but set present-day to keep the budget down.
And of course, it had lots of promotion for products...)
Could this book have been a tryout with the original, futuristic, format for Captain Midnight?
And, when it didn't sell, the story was reformatted for a non-existent product to demonstrate what Magazine Enterprises could do for potential clients, and used as a trade-show giveaway to drum up business for a licensed-comic line (like both Marvel and DC have today)?
Think about it...
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