There’s been a bit of discussion on the web lately of the relative merit of comics from the 1970’s. These folks make some interesting points… and I agree with a lot of what they say. What it comes down to for me, though, is that I headed into the double-digits, age-wise, in my life reading comics in the 1970’s… and they were instantly imprinted on my psyche as wonderful, inspirational and utterly enjoyable. They’re why I’m doing what I’m doing for a living now. My love for the medium was born during that time– and whether there were any ground-breaking, industry-influencing events and/or books to come out of that period or not isn’t really important. They were my entry into an art form that I have loved (some times more, some times less) from that beginning. I’m betting I’m not alone in that feeling, as the sales on the MARVEL ESSENTIALS from that time have been pretty brisk. When I re-read that stuff…. it’s so obviously goofy in places– but that’s not a bad thing. It still makes me feel like that 10-11 year old kid who first bought those comics all those years ago.

And that’s enough for me.

So today’s sketch is of the ‘Blacksploitation’ era LUKE CAGE inspired by this recent wave of discussion (and because I’ve always wanted an excuse to draw him).

OK… have a great weekend, all.

This is Entry 355.

Mike

Just a quick one today… deadlines are crushing in on me. I thought I’d do something fun and fast… so today’s sketch is of the ‘HAM’ variety again. Meet the MARTIAN HAMHUNTER and the HAMAZON PRINCESS (I couldn’t think of anything to go with WONDER WOMAN).

Yesterday, Marvel released the solicitations for books shipping in June– and so for those of you who might not have seen it– this is the cover for issue 3 of SPIDER-MAN/FANTASTIC FOUR. I actually like the way this one came out.

OK… gotta get back to work…. OH… and OINK, OINK.

This is Entry 354.

Mike

It’s no secret that I enjoy drawing anthropomorphic characters… human-like folks based on animals. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve always been someone who’s fascinated by the animal kingdom and loves all creatures great and small — or if it’s because I’m a Disney and animation fan. Anthro characters are a staple of Disney animation… and one of my favorite recent Disney films is TREASURE PLANET, which features character designs based on various animals. Whichever the case… I was inspired to draw a ‘beast-man’ today after spending the weekend on and off looking at the blog of Federico Bertolucci.

I can’t remember where I first saw Bertolucci’s work…. but I remember copying a lot of his illustrations and comic work to my computer desktop and creating a folder for it in my hard drive. I was instantly in love with his drawings and color work. I don’t read Italian… but from the images, he seems to be working on some sort of Arthurian medieval comic that’s populated by anthropomorphic characters… and the main character is based on Richard the Lionhearted …. who’s– no coincidence– a lion. Check out his blog link in the paragraph above… there’s so much amazing work there. Bertolucci doesn’t just draw animals and anthro characters well… he does EVERYTHING. He’s got an amazing grasp of color– and there’s work there that features ‘regular’ humans as well. The man’s imagination is prodigious… and I’m thrilled to have found his stuff.

OK… gotta get back to work.

This is Entry 353.

Mike

Yesterday, I did a couple of quick sketches for stuff that caught my attention while I was visiting some of my usual stops on the web. I did them very quickly… and they were fun to do, so I thought I would share them with you here today.

This first one is a sketch of EDITOR GIRL. I frequent the IMAGE COMICS forum because, frankly, I buy so many of their books… and I’m an IMAGE alum with Todd’s and my work on TELLOS. The forum is also a fun place to post… it’s not one of those negative places that so many message boards end up being. In the SHADOWLINE FORUM Jim Valentino asked any artists who might be interested to draw a version of his editor Kris Simon’s online avatar, EDITOR GIRL, for use in the SHADOWLINE letters pages. I thought it would be fun… so I whipped this up in about a half-hour. It was fun to do something like this in color so quickly… it makes me think about doing some comics stories like this– not worrying about being ‘precious’ with the work… just having fun.

Yesterday was Scott Kurtz’s (of the PVP online comic strip fame) birthday– and so I did this impromptu birthday card sketch for him that I then emailed him. An angry Panda Bear attacking Brent (one of the main characters of the strip) is a recurring gag Scott does… so I thought I’d draw a more benevolent looking Panda for him in this birthday card sketch.

OK….I hope you all have a great weekend.

This is Entry 352.

Mike

… If he wasn’t a MANDRILL. I felt like drawing another ‘MARVEL APES’ character today (because, frankly, I couldn’t think of anything else relevant to do…)– but instead of drawing a gorilla-as-superhero sketch today, I wanted to go with another member of the primate family. I thought it would be fun to draw a ‘WOLVERAPE’ type character… and after mulling over which kind of hairy fellow to use, I thought that a Mandrill would be appropriate due to their aggressive reputation. The problem is that ‘WOLVERDRILL’ or ‘MANDRILLINE’ just doesn’t sound all that catchy. Even if he WERE to be called ‘WOLVERAPE’ regardless…. that just sounds a bit… awkward. It makes him sound more like he’d be comfortable hanging out with DOCTOR LIGHT– if you get my meaning.

OK… no time for anything more…. so have a great day. If you’ve got a more catchy name suggestion for this guy, feel free to post it.

This is Entry 351.

Mike