Happy Holloweiner

Ah yes... Another October 31 and yet another night of kids pounding on our door even though all the lights are turned off. Although I gotta confess I do have a weakness for scary movies so yesterday I watched Paranormal Activity which I enjoyed quite a bit even though afterwards I was all like, "If the boyfriend hadn't been such a jerkass none of that mess woulda happened." And today in the spirit of the holiday I watched the documentary Hell House which was frightening in it's own way (hella good movie. go see it if you haven't...)

Watching those films got me thinking about when was the last time I was really scared by a movie. I mean... really really REALLY scared. Jump out of your seat and yelp scared. Weeeeeeell. There is one incident in particular that I remember from a while back. Ahem...

It was the early 90's and I was meeting my Dad for a visit. We had lunch, talked and decided to go see a movie. Now this was in the Summer and the sky was getting dark so we hustled into the theater and counted ourselves lucky we got inside before it started to rain. Checking the marquee, the only film showing that didn't totally suck was Clive Barker's Candyman so ok two tickets for that please.

We're watching the film and in the background you can hear the sounds of rain pounding on the theater exterior (good thing we beat that storm!) The film rolls on and we get to a scene where Virginia Madsen's character is interviewing people trying to get information on the Candyman but nobody wants to talk to her about it because it's just too horrible.

Finally she meets this kid who agrees to tell her a Candyman story he heard second-hand about this guy who's son was a crack baby that grew up into a crack toddler that basically screamed all the time. One day they're at the park and the kid has to go to the bathroom so he sends the shreiking kid into the bog all by himself. After a short while he notices that his kid isn't screaming anymore and thinks to himself, "That can't be good." So he goes into the public restroom looking for his kid and doesn't see him. He also notices all the stall doors are open except for one. The kid continues his story, "So the guy reaches for the door... and pulls it open... and he sees..."

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Right at that moment there is the LOUDEST clap of thunder I've ever heard in my life and all the power goes out in the theater casting everyone into total darkness.

Holy shit. For a moment it's silent. I mean pin-drop silent. Then people start screaming. Within seconds the emergency power comes on and theater staff tell us that a severe thunderstorm knocked out the power and all tickets will be refunded or exchanged for another showing. My Dad and I opt for the refund because there is NO WAY anything else that happened in that film could match the scare we just got.

Happy Halloween folks.

Hey kids! COMICS!!!

After what seems like an eternity I'm finally back to doing what I love. Drawing comics. Now granted I've been drawing doodles and sketches and little one-offs here, there and everywhere but I finally decided to get back on the horse and do actual full blown stories.

After spending so much time doing loose drawings in my sketchbooks I practically had to re-learn how to draw comics. The end result being this little number. Any comments and critiques to help me learn how to suck less would be greatly appreciated. So without further adieu let's read on...

Dude... Where's my manga?

I've been catching up on my web reading lately and I saw Top Shelf announced that due to a shipping snafu the AX anthology has been available just not showing up in stores. Fortunately the problem has been resolved and hopefully I'll be able to get my grubby mitts on a copy soon enough. I feel like I've been waiting forever for this book to come out and it got me thinking about various little comic gems that seem to have fallen through the cracks.

Remember Eiji Nonaka's Cromartie High School? When AD Vision went belly-up not only did this result in us not getting the last leg of the series but I think it also killed the chances of us getting to enjoy his follow-up series Mirai Chounaikai (Future Neighborhood Association) which follows the adventures of a... well... A neighborhood association in the future. Every chapter had them dealing with various issues affecting the community. Maintenance, littering, alien abductions, psychic warriors.

Tokyo Flow Chart by Eiji Miruno is one of the titles that's a part of Viz's partnership with Ikki and I must say I am loving this comic. TFC takes the standard yonkoma strip and spins it off in a zillion different directions wringing larfs out of every panel. Ok, this one hasn't exactly "fallen through the cracks" but I do feel it's kinda on the bubble seeing as how it's part of the Sigikki "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" initiative and this comic deserves a wider audience.

Hmmmmm... Two brilliant gag manga authors both named Eiji. COINCIDENCE!?

And while poking around on the Ikki website I saw that Taiyou Matsumoto's No.5 will be available on the iPad in Japan, Canada and the US!

Oh and one more very important thing. In the latest entry from Same Hat! they linked to a section of manga previews from AX publishers Seirinkogeisha and I found out that the gentlemen who I've been referring to as Jiro Ishikawa all this time is actually named Toyo Kataoka. Oops. My apologies all around especially to Mr. Kataoka. And boo to Tokion magazine for getting his name wrong in the creator credits.

GRANNY NOOOOOO!

I'm still working over my fevered little brain how to get this comic jam thing to work. I really really reeeeeeeeeally need to talk to the guys at Bedrock City because they expressed a definite interest in making this happen (even if it's just to promote their store...)

Still chugging forward on the comic which is almost finished (not almost enough though for my tastes) and I've uploaded some more Toyo Kataoka manga. Cheggit Oot.

~bonk~

More Tokion manga! This time we've got the first of three strips by Toyo Kataoka. Let's kick things off with Building Fetish...

North Houston Comics Jam post-report

The first NHCJ came and went. So "how'd it go?" you may be asking yourself. Weeeeeeeeeell... Not so good. Let's be honest, I didn't seriously think we'd be busting the doors down but I thought at least a FEW people would show up. Instead one guy showed up asking, "Is this that drawing thing?" and I had a hunch he was there under the impression there'd be free food. At least he was a good sport about it and we even drew a couple of strips before calling it a night.

So it looks like the first NHCJ is also going to be the last NHCJ. Oh well. I tried. Lynn pointed out to me that this part of town is mostly older families/retirees and probably has fewer creative folks than the in-town Montrose/Westheimer areas. Ok, I'll give you that. But this part of town is also home to one of Houston's best comic shops, one of Houston's most ecclectic record stores, and a great art supply store that told me they had a lot of customers who draw comics so I guess you can understand why I'm so baffled by the dismal turnout.

~sigh~

I wonder if Cheese Hasselberger ever had days like this?

T-24 and counting...

Welp. Tomorrow is the big day! The very first meeting of the North Houston Comic Jam. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen. A ton of people might show up or nobody might show up. Either way I'm going to be there with my ziplock baggie full of pens and a stack of sketchpads ready to dive head first into whatever the hell happens. And also... Weinerboy.

FIRE BAD! RIFFZ GOOOOOOOOD!!!

Madamluna done went and posted a thing recently that reminded me of an old project I had squirreled away in my "Widows and Orphans" box of unfinished comics. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you...

Mo manga, mo problems...

I am seriously jazzed. Less than two weeks until the comic jam!

Also I've uploaded some more Tokion/Garo manga for your enjoyment. This time we've got Jiro Ishikawa's Got Little Got Big.

Sneak-a-peek

After way too many years of farting around in my sketchbooks I've finally mustered up the effort to get back to doing what I love.... Drawing comics. Here's a little preview of the strip I've been working on for the last couple of weeks.

It feels so weird to be making comics again. I'm practically having to re-learn how to do a lot of things but it's so satisfying to have something to focus my energies on. The finished product will be cleaned up on Photoshop and hopefully I'll have it up for your reading enjoyment in a week or two.