Reading: Dark Detective
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Research
Sure a lotta people see Miller’s Batman as the real Batman, with its grit and cynicism, but that rendition was Bruce Wayne at the end of his career as the Dark Knight. But what about Batman at his prime? Call me out as old-fashioned, I don’t give two tugs of dead dog’s cock, but I tend to pay attention to Knight more than Dark, in Batman’s moniker. And with that medieval analogy must also come a sense of chivalry and, dare I say it, romance.
Steve Englehart and Marshal Rogers’ run on Detective Comics, and more importantly their return in Dark Detective (which I’ve just been lucky enough to flip through), definitely has its share of Gotham’s most gushingly insane criminals. No, no… this Joker doesn’t just crack jokes related to whatever evil he’s plotting, he’ll lose himself in tangents and wordplay in mid-sentence, delightfully disappearing into himself, and then somehow find his way back to whatever mischief he was in the middle of before he left. He is, for all intents and purposes, bat-shit crazy. And that’s not even counting Two-Face and the Scarecrow, who show up to give the shit a healthy gust as it hits the fan.
But as thoughtfully written as the baddies are, so too is the romantic side of the story. Silver St. Cloud, a great love interest to Bruce, assumes a pivotal role throughout the six-issue mini. And if you read into things enough, you can start to see how a lot was taken from this book and shot into Nolan’s arm for The Dark Knight. You see it. It may have a different label on the jar, but it’s there.
Strictly speaking, I’m a child of the IMAGE generation of comics, but reading this book is like discovering Frazetta when all you’ve been looking at was Bisley. And that’s not a knock on Bisley on any level, I’m loving his Hellblazer stuff, but it just amazes me how strong some of the older stories were despite having to work within classic boundaries and comics codes. Especially when it comes to Batman, it’s nice to know you can look back and not have it all be nipples and bad sets.
Tags: Batman, bruce wayne, comics, Dark Knight, DC, gotham city, Joker, marshal rogers, recommended reads, scarecrow, silver st. cloud, steve englehart, two-face
Joonyah!
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Trash
Don’t. Ask.
Tags: 007, I don't know, Sean Connery
Medium View
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Work
We are not smart people.
The night of the Watchmen premier, one of my friends asks the table if any of us thought all this knowledge of Star Wars, Marvel continuity, Mass Effect side quests, and Chuck Norris jokes actually meant anything. There were about six of us, with a beer tower in the middle. It was as close as we got to quarterlifing, and that tends to shake me pantsless. “No,” I said. Coz this stuff is important to me, sure, and I love it… but by no stretch of the imagination does it kick our IQ levels up any. What we are, are a few of many kids hanging ten on a mortal wave. I remember tossing the term Creative Zeitgeist out… but I don’t remember why.
See? (Read first sentence)
Been having fun lately. Got to travel with my girl up to one of the country’s highest peaks to help shoot her music video. Hummer was a bit cramped with crew and tech, but the view and how the music carried up there was well worth it. Don’t get a lotta chances to do that, y’know?
PLUCK won Zuda’s October competition, so now Gabe is working like an animal for you people, making sure we give you a story well worth following. I’m on creature design duty for the next week or so, that’ll probably gimme an excuse to update the blog. Also… FUCKYES!!!
Local comic scene has been gaining steam, and monthly Drink n’ Draws (bastardized DnD for you paladin-types) are proving fun and energizing, to say the least. Never hurts to be around fellow fanboys to help you feel like a real person. Oh snap. Related to this, in the Public Validation Department, I recently got talked to by a local newspaper about working in comics and the scene in general. Managed not to curse too much, so I’m fairly proud about that. Interview should run near the end of the month if they don’t misplace the transcript amid post-Manny fight analyses and 2012 reviews.
Need to see that movie.
Looking to wrap up JUDAH and a coupla other projects and commissions by year’s end, as January is already looking busy. Not quite ready to talk about the new projects yet, but it’s all pretty exciting. Haven’t gotten to finish that Glutton God piece either, but it can wait.
*****
Wolfgang Parker is polishing the knobs on a previously discussed project. Be afraid.
*****
Finally, shopping Tres Komikeros around to find it an FM radio home. Each podcast episode runs for roughly an hour, which is way too much geek talk than is healthy (trust us, we know), so we’re looking into making only the half-hour review portion air-friendly, while the rest is online bonus stuff that’s bad for your children.
Bonus. What a funny word.
Tags: artist, cebu, comics, freelance, gabe white, jad montenegro, pluck, tres komikeros, wolfgang parker, work ethic, zuda
Glutton God Process
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Trash
On a slow night, me and my buddy Sean will get on Skype and just shoot the shit as we work. This personal piece, tentatively titled ‘Glutton God’, was a weekend painting I did for myself in-between pending projects, just to loosen up and let the air in a bit. The absence of any need whatsoever for intellectual conversation redefines catharsis. Here’s a glimpse into this foolishness. I’m sorry.
Tags: Art, ceature, digital painting, Photoshop, video
