075
Jason Young Fortni– wait. Nope. Sorry.
074 – Warbow
Here’s a thing that passed me by in my childhood, The Saga of Crystar. There was a comic and a toyline, but as far as the Shonborn household was concerned, it never happened. So, Jason Young Fortnight ends with Warbow, a supporting character from the Crystar mythos. It was not easy to find anything on this character. Also, not easy to draw or color.
Today also happens to be Jason Young’s birthday. The timing of this was absolutely coincidental. Seriously. I was gonna start scheduling these on April 1st before deciding to do something for April Fools. But then as I started queueing these pieces up, I realized it would end on Jason’s birthday. So, I saved this one for this ocassion. ‘cuz it’s a toy. So, I’m giving Jason an action figure for his birthday, like the big boy he is. Yay!
This fortnight has been an absolute joy. Thanks, Jason! Happy birthday! I love you, man.
Regular crap resumes tomorrow.
073 – Mr. Monster
Back to the things I’ve not read. Though this one makes no sense, because Mr. Monster seems right up my alley. While researching this character for Jason Young Fortnight, I discovered that Mr. Monster was actually a golden-age public domain Canadian comic character. Michael T. Gilbert took the character and made it his own. Anyhoo, he’s cool looking and fights monsters. Why am I not on board?
072 – Roachmill
Hey! I’ve read this one! Sorta. Jason Young Fortnight gave me the original run of the Roachmill series. I thought he was “giving” giving them to me, not to borrow. I was wrong. Because, as all books that I believe I own, it gets set in a pile and remains unread. I did read the first three or so of the issues. They were enjoyable, but I don’t remember them. I’ve since returned them to Jason Young Fortnight, and he has since probably sold them.
071 – Batman
Never read this goddman book either. But if Jason Young Fortnight insists on these obscure bullshit nobodies, The Carpal Tunnel abides. I was trying to experiment with something minimalistic and simple looking. Guess what? Minimalistic and simple is very difficult and frustrating.
070 – Cerebus
Jason Young Fortnight does not support misogyny.
069 – Black Vulcan
Hey, I’ve never read a Black Vulcan comic either! Jesus Christ, Jason Young Fortnight! Oh wait… Black Vulcan doesn’t exist in comics. He was a stand-in for Black Lightning on the various cartoons called the Super Friends. He was, like every other character on the Super Friends, bland and generic. However, I personally prefer to think of him from his more recent appearances on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. That show is criminally fantastic. In my pants.
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I drank coffee today for the first time in three weeks. I may be over “coffee” as a thing in my life. It was kinda disgusting.
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The Black Sabbath song “Sweet Leaf” is about tea, right? It starts with coughing, then is soothed by the wonderful tea leaves being sung about.
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I worked at a TV station 10 years ago. I swear to God, I remember seeing promos for EMPIRE and WAYWARD PINES back then. I mean, seriously, I remember seeing trailers for these shows YEARS AGO.
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Hey, speaking of Terrence Howard being awful, I watched Iron Man 2 last night. That movie gets quite a bit of shit heaped upon it, but I think its only crime is that it’s just not quite as good as the first Iron Man. It’s got issues, sure, but it’s not a bad movie at all. If anything, the replacement of Terrence Howard by Don Cheadle should elevate it. Fuck dudes, Sam Rockwell is in it, and Sam Rockwell makes everything better. The weakest parts of the movie is, sadly, Scarlet Johanssen. She’s fine, and certainly fun to watch in all ways, but Black Widow is so shoe-horned into this movie, it’s ridiculous. I’d say the same for Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury, but at least he has fun stuff to say when he’s onscreen. Remove them and all SHIELD stuff, and the movie is shorter, tighter and better. Mickey Rourke as Whiplash is also pretty great, except for the fact that he’s played by Mickey Rourke and you’re constantly thinking “Hey, that’s Mickey Rourke. What the fuck happened to Mickey Rourke?” Also, the final climactic armor battle is a little overblown and overlong. So much fighting, flying and ‘sploding, it gets a bit dull. Otherwise, Iron Man 2 is a fine addition to the Iron Man and MCU franchise.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be vibrating all fucking day because I have to wait to watch the Daredevil show on Netflix and it’s fucking KILLING ME.
P.S., in case you didn’t know – Daredevil is my favorite Marvel character. I’m also one of the three people on Earth who enjoyed the Affleck movie.
068 – Carrie McNinch
Jason Young Fortnight’s a big fan of autobiographical mini-comics. One of those is a diary comic called You Don’t Get There From Here. Guess what? I’ve never read it. But I do not particularly enjoy autobio minicomics not called Veggie Dog Saturn. But that’s just me. Anyhoo, he asked me to draw the subject of YDGTFH, the comic’s author Carrie McNinch. Y’know, an actual person. Which is weird. But, it’s his Fortnight. I didn’t want to draw her in the same style as she draws herself, so I had to try to draw an actually cartoon likeness, which is among my least favorite things to do, ever. This is probably very negative sounding to Carrie, but I don’t wish it to be. I just don’t like drawing actual people. I’m, whattayasay… bad at it. Carrie and Jason have been pen pals for a while, trading comics and art. Jason and I met Carrie briefly in Chicago a few years ago at a small press con. She seemed very nice.
067 – Concrete
Jason, of Jason Young Fortnight fame, forced me to read a Concrete comic a few years ago, and I loved it. I then went out and bought a couple of the trades. Haven’t read ’em! I’m awful. I loved drawing this, though. This is also the second time Jason has requested Concrete from me. I’m not sure what he expects me to do that I’m apparently not getting right.
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Speaking of mild-mannered, smart men trapped in inhuman bodies, I watched The Incredible Hulk last night, as part of my “let’s catch up to The Avengers 2” plan. I didn’t like it when I first watched it, and now seeing again in the light of 10 other films, it truly is the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Sure, that could be me saying “It’s good, just not as good as the rest!” But I’m not. It’s also just a terrible movie in general. The whole thing is poorly cast, the plot is paper thin, and – what should be the showcase for this type of movie – the special effects are awful. The Hulk looks like a cartoon of a rotten taffy puppet. He’s also inconsistent in size and shape everytime he appears. The character is also more of a sad-sack than he is raging monster.
William Hurt gives a more monsterous performance, though blustery and over-the-top. Ed Norton is… okay. He’s a good actor and he gives Banner a decent charm, but I’ve also never been as in love with Norton as most people are. Liv Tyler is tissue paper. Tim Roth is… sweaty. Tim Blake Nelson does a nice job with a thankless role as the future (and never will happen) Leader. And then there’s poor Ty Burrell. He does well in his two scenes as the sadly unnamed boyfriend to Betty Ross. Well, I know his name. It’s Doctor Leonard Samson, and the very least we can do is honor him by remembering that. His name is Leonard Samson. His name is Leonard Samson. HIS NAME IS LEONARD SAMSON!