054 – The Question
I recently came to the conclusion that I love a lot of Steve Ditko creations, but I do not particularly care for the work of Steve Ditko. He’s a creative mind who has created a lot of characters that I unabashedly love like The Question, Creeper, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and of course, Blue Beetle. But usually, those characters were better handled by other creators, and quite frankly, better drawn. It’s not like I hate Ditko’s work, I just prefer others over his. That certainly doesn’t take away from his contributions of course. Just look at Spider-Man. He created him, but other creators like certainly took and expanded what he did and made it better, like John Romita, and Gerry Conway, for sure, though.
So anyway, The Question. I recently purchased the trades collecting the 80s Question series for a pretty decent price. Well, almost. Volumes 2-6, I was able to pick up for about 6 bucks a pop. Volume 1, however, I have not been able to find for less than 100 dollars. Needless to say, I haven’t bought that one yet. If anyone out there in internetland finds a good price on it, let me know.
All said, I wanted to draw The Question. I wanted to try a limited palette when coloring it, but, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s an alternate color take on it.
048 – Sandman
Ventured out to the local arthouse theater and saw What We Do in the Shadows. This is a fantastic mockumentary about 4 vampires from New Zealand who share a house, leading up to a big vampire shin-dig. The horror elements are light and barely there, but fun when they pop up. The rest of the movie is simply hilarious.
So, I like the Neon Movies – the aforementioned local arthouse theater. It’s small, independent and I ocassionally like to support local businesses and independent cinema. Plus, they serve beer. However, jesus fuck, it’s Downtown near the Oregon District, so, it’s a pain in the ass to get to and parking is a bitch. I don’t go often (I don’t go to many movies anymore). I think the last time I went to the Neon, I saw Tinkie Winkie Sloppy Spot starring Bummertude Corkyromano with my friends Joe & Jennie. So anyhoo, we get there, and there’s maybe 30 people in the lobby area, which is about 25 too many people. There’s just no way to not feel in the way. Finally, we get to go into the theater itself. Seriously, folks. This is place is small. The movie starts, and if anyone talks, you can hear them. So, y’know, the dude who decided to repeat AND explain all the jokes felt and sounded like he was right behind me, even though he wasn’t. If he had been, then I could have turned out and told him to shut the fuck up. Like the scene in which Jemaine Clement’s character – Vladislav – is discussing his personal history. So when dude says – out loud – Ha! Dracula! He’s Dracula! – hey, man, yeah, we got it. Shut the fuck up. And this went on for the remaining hour and a half.
I love going to movies and I hate going to movies.
I also feel, officially, like an old man. Pretty simple night. Dinner, movie. Nothing really hectic. I feel like a rotten, shambling zombie person today. I can no longer handle being up and out past 11 o’clock. This may be the saddest moment of my life.
047
Last night, my pal Jason & I watched a movie for Gutter Trash, and out of a discussion we had, I’ve come to the conclusion that actors should only ever play one role for their entire lives. That way, no one ever becomes famous, and movies and television are much more believable and we are able to completely immerse ourselves in the experience. That way, we’re not constantly saying: “Hey, it’s that guy!” or “You go, Tilda Swinton! Fight that robot!”