Another random scribble piece, this scribble provided by my friend Jessie.
551
550. Finite
I don’t know the name of this character or what its deal is, but I know I spent all weekend coloring him. He appears in issue #2 of my friend Bruce Hughes’ comic, Finite. I’m helping him out with flats to get the book done for Bruce’s next convention, The Cincinnati Comic Expo. Decided to draw him.
549. Invincible
I was trying something here. I failed.
***
I watched a horror movie last night called We Are Still Here. I did not enjoy it. It’s a little too slow, the internal logic of the ghosts/monsters was wonky and not completely thought out, it seemed, nor the central gimmick of the movie. The lead actor was kind of terrible. Barbara Crampton was kind of okay. Poor Man’s Rip Torn was distracting, because he was Poor Man’s Rip Torn. Then Larry Fessenden and Tim Burton’s ex-wife showed up and kinda ruined whatever was happening, which wasn’t that great in the first place. The ghost monsters looked neat, I guess. Also, the movie took place in 1979, which I did not figure out until after the credits were over. There were literally no indications that this was the case, if there were, I missed it completely.
I also caught the season finale of Preacher last night. I think I’m gonna pass on season 2. 10 episodes to reach a conclusion that the 1st issue of the comic did. I don’t mind deviation from the source material. I prefer it. Why faithfully adapt a thing I’ve already experienced? Give me something new with the premise. But make the deviations count. Nothing that happened in the 10 hours of television mattered that the comic didn’t cover in 48 pages. All the time spent with the cartoonish buffoonery of the folks of Annville, Texas didn’t matter. Nothing new came out of all the side-trips and build-up and relationships established in 10 hour-long episodes. We wind up in the exact same place as the end of the first story arc of the comic (which was maybe 3 issues at most? 4?) The new dynamics of the relationship between Jesse (I’m sorry. “Preacher”), Tulip, and Cassidy presented in the show don’t really add anything to their characters. Whatever hints we get at Cassidy’s true nature (an abusive, exploitive addict [which in the comic weren’t truly revealed until well into the run]) are kind of just… forgotten. Same with Jesse & Tulip’s previous relationship. What made their inital contact in the comic work was the time they spent seperated, and Tulip’s not knowing what happened to Jesse. In the show, she just seems to have always been around. The timeline of the show and the flashbacks to Jesse’s previous crime lifestyle with Tulip are also not well established. The show has elements that work, but as of the finale, it’s all been re-set. None of it mattered, and basically season 2 will be a soft-reboot to a more “faithful” adaptation? I dunno. But season 1 didn’t do anything to make me care.
That said, I also started watching Mr. Robot based on my friend Joe G.’s recommendation. I’m still digesting what I’ve seen so far (about 6 episodes into season 1). But, I think it could be the new Breaking Bad.
548
Visual depiction of my current emotional state, probably.
546. Winter Knight
I asked my friend Joe G. to name 1 Marvel character and 1 DC. I didn’t tell him why or what I was planning. I am however not surprised he chose the adult versions of two of the most well-known kid sidekicks. But here they are, Amalgamated.
545. Justice League of America
I was at my friend Jason’s house and had brought along this Justice League sketch cover to work on. My initial idea was to recreate an old JLA cover. Jason had recently bought a book called Fucked Up & Photocopied, a collection of old punk rock fliers and posters, many of them hand drawn and collaged. He suggested I look through the book and find an old poster to redraw as the Justice League. Unfortunately, 99% of all old punk fliers are just photocopied pictures of Ronald Reagan with a gun or in diapers, with the remaining 1% being just a drawing of a skeleton. Then I stumbled on the poster above this paragraph from the “Mad George” chapter of the book. Screaming Mad George, actually, was the singer of the band The Mad, and drew all his band’s posters. This particular one was so cartoony, and populated with characters, it was a perfect fit to be the JLA. Plus, the crouched figure – George himself, presumably – is a perfect Batman pose. While I think the band on the right (The Mad) seems to be staring at the Stimulators on the left, unfortunately, my recreation makes it seem like Wonder Woman is staring at Superman’s dick. Which she might be. I would.
So rather than just stealing the poster, I did a little research on The Mad and Screaming Mad George. I’d never heard of the band, but then I discovered that George went on to be a special effects artist for such films as Big Trouble in Little China, Predator, the Re-Animator movies, and directed The Guyver. He still does special effects today. I just thought that was awesome.
542
So, in an effort to battle my burgeoning agoraphobia, I am making a better effort to leave my house and be social on occasion. I am trying to accept offers of doing stuff with friends when they ask. Sometimes that means doing stuff I may not particularly want to do, like, go to the bar my ex and I would go to a lot. Or see a movie I was never planning on watching, like the animated adaptation of BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE.
THE KILLING JOKE may be one of the worst things I’ve ever sat through. Like the worst, most sexist episode of a Batman cartoon tacked onto a painfully dull and faithful adaptation of the comic. And, just super skeezy and gross. Plus, there’s absolutely no point to THE KILLING JOKE if it doesn’t look exactly like Brian Bolland drew it.
Anyway. This is another random scribble experiment. Today’s scribble was provided by my friend Carrie S.