Thursday, September 29, 2011

Entry 128: Trekker and Dear Creature

Oh, Man! I've got so many blog entries I want to do right now I don't know what to do first.
Here are the choices:

-"Sneak Peek of S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #3"- I put a lot of work into this issue and I want to show you what I did.

-"Blast From The Past -Part 10"- Going back to the year 2001. I get one step closer to my dream of becoming a comic book artist, but does a drug addiction nearly bring it all crumbling down. It doesn't. Or DOES it?... no.

-"My Favorite Things- Part 4: The Metabarons"- I talk a little bit about why I love the Metabarons, show you some pages, and highly recommend it.

-"I Read Comics- Part 1" This would be a new kind of post where I just talk about stuff I'm currently reading... I'm actually not to sure I want to do this kind of post. I nether want to do real reviews of the things I'm reading because it would take to long for me, nor do I want to scan pages from everything I'm reading... Maybe this could just be a feature I put into other posts where I simply state what I've read and give a very brief review. I don't know.

What else? I guess that's it. Let me know what you think my next entry should be.

At any rate, you might have noticed that there is an image at the top of this entry. "What is that image about," you might ask. "Why that there is a drawling of one Ron Randal's character, Trekker," I would answer because that's the way I talk. You didn't know that? Yeah I talk way different then I write. I'm a cowboy who doesn't know how to properly say the word "drawing". Anyways- TREKKER! A long time ago, or what I call "back in the day", Ron created the sci-fi bounty hunter “Trekker” in the pages of Dark Horse Comics. Through the years, the character has appeared in various short stories, her own Dark Horse series, and other independent, single-issue stories. Now Ron's bringing her back as a web comic! He's starting by posting the original stories in order, and then continuing with new adventures. I whole heatedly support Ron in this endeavor. And this week for the Periscope sketch Challenge the whole studio is lending it's support to Ron by doing Trekker sketches.

So GO. Reed Trekker.  http://trekkercomic.com

And check out the other Trekker Sketch Challenge pieces here http://periscopestudio.tumblr.com/tagged/Trekker


Then there's this guy. Jonathan Case. Jonathan is another artist here at Periscope studio and his first Graphic novel "Dear Creature" is out on October 11th, it's going to be in stores across the country. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Powells, comics shops, etc. And let me tell you, you should GET IT! Get it. I'm not joking around here. It's good stuff. Here just take a look at this-

This is the first page followed by a short sequence that happens a few pages in.
 I don't know where Jonathan gets off being so good. And you know what else, he's really nice. He's genuinely good natured towards everyone and it freaks me out a little. You don't know this about me but I'm angry. I struggle with jealousy and resentment and I think that deep down everyone is just like me in that they have those same problems. They cover it up with politeness and they've restructured there mental processes to bypass the ugly stuff and appear to not have the ugly stuff but it's there, and I can hear it back there, behind all the nice, and it's screaming at me FUCK YOU!... But not with Jonathan Case. With most people I want to say cut the crap. Tell me what you really think. Give me the truth. Out with it. But with Jonathan, the niceness seems to be real. He's some kind of freak as far as I can tell. Ether that or he's got some sophisticated processes by witch he hides his ugly side. That's probably it. At any rate, I like him. I like genuineness. I trust him, I'm intrigued by him, and I resent him a little because he's Mr. Perfect and because he has written and drawn his first graphic novel and it's really good. Go buy it.

See more of Dear Creature here and learn more about Jonathan Case. http://www.dearcreature.com/

2 comments:

  1. Here's my 2 cents, in order of preference:
    1) S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 pgs - C'mon, these are the (even more than usual) insanely detailed pages that legend has it almost drove you insane with deadline pressure! (I'm embellishing)
    Share, please!!
    2)You Read Comics - Full reviews would be kind of a drag & leave you sounding like a Comics Journal navel-gazer. Conversational would probably work best on your blog; what caught your eye, why you dug it, or why not.
    (Kinda like what you do now - it works!)
    3) Music That Influenced You - I'm jumping ahead to the next post, which I haven't read yet but I saw the Costello image. Personally, I find it fascinating when visual artists discuss musicians/music that were influential in their lives. It's all part of the creative stew & often lends additional insight to the artist's sensibilities & choices.
    4) Blast From The Past - Why not? I want to see if it has a happy ending...
    5) Metabarons - I'm being selfish here. I have the collected editions & you could not possibly make me love it more, so it's the final choice on this list. But to everyone else who might not have experienced it yet: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU????
    (Also, I firmly assert that Metabarons should be
    filmed as an unrated HBO maxi-series.
    And Ray Winstone must be included in the cast.)
    I was undecided about buying Dear Creature...
    until you ran those preview pages & recommended it, soo...I ordered one off of Jonathan's site last evening.
    (Note to Dustin: You continue to make me spend money. Please stop. Thank you.)
    Your Trekker drawing is way cool. Love the multiple light sources.
    I'll definitely have to check out the online strip.
    I've never read it before, but I did buy a page of art from Ron Randall @ SDCC about 3 years ago & I remember looking through his pages & thinking, "Why don't I see this guy's work in more books?" I thought his rendering was beautiful.
    Anger: I'm definitely of the opinion that a little fire in the belly can be quite the motivator - provided it's channeled in the right way.
    I agree with you that too many people wear "the mask" of 'politeness' and/or 'professionalism', when in fact their everyday actions are the equivalent of a swift kick in the balls. (To others.)
    That having been said, honesty is generally always in short supply, and personally that motivates me to do right by the people in my life that I know I can count on to return my honesty. It's always a small circle, but who needs an army.
    And speaking of honesty, I honestly hope that someone joins me in the Comments section this time!
    (See what I did there?)
    As always, this has been fun & informative.
    Think I'll go comment on the next post.

    Best,
    Frank J

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  2. God bless you, Frank.
    I think you're right in that, if I'm going to put up a preview of the next issue, that should be my first order of business. That's what I'll do next. And don't worry, I'll probably never do a real review type review of anything.
    I definitely agree that some anger, some dissatisfaction, can help drive you. There has been a certain percentage of my output that could be attributed to spite. And I'm with you, I don't need a lot of friends. I really just have a couple, but in a studio as full as Periscope is, I sometimes get a little self conscious, sensitive and paranoid. I'm just not wired for group dynamics.

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