One of the comics that I am most looking forward to this coming year is the new SHAZAM: THE MONSTER SOCIETY of EVIL by Jeff Smith. Jeff has been keeping a running journal about his process over on his BLOG/Web site. I’ve been a HUGE Jeff Smith fan since I first discovered BONE #3 in a small comic shop in Lynchburg, Virginia back…. jeez…. it must be about 17 years or so ago. I had never seen anything quite like BONE– or Smith’s work. It was revelatory, in a way… to see someone with such a fluid, fun animation style creating a fantasy comic that featured a simple cartoon character like BONE in a lush mystical setting. Anyone asking me for my list of the best comics of all time to represent the medium to the world would see BONE listed near the top. Jeff Smith’s abilities and the sensibilities in his work truly thrill, astound and amaze me… and when I heard that he was planning on working on a mini series that features CAPTAIN MARVEL, I was absolutely ecstatic. I can’t think of anyone more perfect to bring the lyrical and magical qualities to the character than Jeff Smith… and to counteract the apparent attempts by Judd Winick to ruin the character. It might be an edict from on high at DC… but it seems to me that Winick has been on a crusade to bring CAPTAIN MARVEL into the already busting-at-the-seams crowd of ‘grim and gritty’ characters populating the long-underwear set. Why anyone would want to gut the charm of a character and cast like that of the ‘Big Red Cheese’ is beyond me.

Which is why I see Jeff Smith as a hero on this matter.

And one of the things that thrills me the most about Smith’s take on the book is his reviving of TAWKY TAWNY. This quote from Smith’s blog rings so perfectly to me:

“Talky Tawny is one of those characters that causes people to roll their eyes. A talking tiger? And I admit he was handled pretty goofy in the 40s, but Captain Marvel’s powers are more mythological than most – – derived from ancient gods and sages – – so wandering spirits and talking animals don’t feel out of place to me. Gods and talking animals are part of our oldest storytelling traditions.”

The things that have always attracted me to CAPTAIN MARVEL and his world is the fact that he’s so different from SUPERMAN. His powers are derived from magic. His rogues gallery is populated by so many odd and humorous characters that it just makes me smile when I see them; DR. SIVANA and MR. MIND (the talking worm) among them… they’re all just so wonderfully odd and fun. And CAP’S buddy TALKY TAWNY was right there with them as a personal favorite. Sure, he was silly… but that’s one of the things that’s so appealing to me about CAP. The brightness and goofiness that stands in stark contrast to everything else comics is offering these days. That’s why even though Smith is tweaking TAWNY into an actual tiger instead of an anthropomorphic ‘tiger man’ … that’s OK. He’s bringing drama and gravitas to TAWNY… but still keeping that mystical quality that infuses CAPTAIN MARVEL as well as his own work.

So a public ‘THANK YOU’ to Jeff Smith for reminding me once again that comics can be fun AS WELL as dramatic. SHAZAM…!

This is Entry 330.

Mike

Today was totally backwards for me– which is why today’s post is so late. I got up very early this morning to finish a page I had been working on over the weekend and hopefully get a jump on the next page for this week. Unfortunately, when I finished the page and then ate lunch, I became overwhelmingly sluggish and lethargic. My eyes got completely heavy and I felt like I needed more sleep. It’s a very cold day here– and my cat Charlie has been sleeping all day. He rarely– if ever– does that… he’s usually very rambunctious during the majority of the day. But the cold in the outside air seems to be permeating everything– even the inside of my house, although the heat’s on. It just sort of changed the atmosphere and we’ve both been in a fog all day. Charlie spent about an hour sleeping on my lap while I napped myself… in fact, I had to move him off so I could start sketching again. He’s STILL asleep now… it’s amazing.

Today’s sketch was like pulling teeth. I was planning on drawing a bunch of what are supposed to be young characters and write a commentary on how even teenaged characters in today’s comic books are drawn like steroid cases. To my eyes, even some of the youngest of heroes seem to be depicted as being in their late 20’s, when they’re supposed to be teens. I don’t know if it’s because the artists are not capable of drawing young characters as looking truly young– or if it’s because those artists have an instinctive knowledge that the fan base is so much older than they averaged in the past that it’s entirely possible they wouldn’t connect with characters drawn to look younger than they themselves are. Whatever the true reason– it feels as though that’s another strike against the potential for attracting new and younger readers to comic books. It’s one of the reasons why I like the TEEN TITANS and LEGION OF SUPERHEROES cartoons so much– the characters look like kids… which is cool, and as it should be.

OK… hopefully this sluggish feeling will go away as my body adjusts to this new cold snap running through our state. Hey… it’s not even THAT cold compared to the rest of the country– this is North Carolina, after all. But I’m spoiled. I’m used to very mild winters.

This is Entry 329.

Mike

I’ve often said that I don’t really read many superhero comics these days. I still BUY a lot of spandex adventures… but it’s mostly to admire the work of whichever artist I happen to admire that might be drawing that title. For my reading enjoyment, I mostly stick to alternative and small press books these days… books that sort of break the mold of what’s happening in the ‘mainstream’ these days. However, it’s not like I don’t WANT to read superhero comics. I’m so much older than I was when I first started buying and amazing at the adventures of those colorfully clad heroes I loved so much in my childhood. I still love the superhero genre, though. They might be labeled as Adolescent Power Fantasies… but it’s the drama and struggle– both outer AND inner– that the characters go through… the journey of self… that’s attractive to me. That, and good design. I love well designed costumes and characters… both visually and substantive. That’s what was so attractive to me about the UNCANNY X-MEN comic when I saw my first issue — issue #104– on that news stand rack back when I was 11 years old. That’s what made me grab it up like a starving man with a turkey leg and keep coming back month after month for so very many years afterward, as well as made me go back and buy the beginning of this new incarnation of the characters with GIANT SIZED X-MEN #1 and UNCANNY X-MEN #94. The book was my absolute favorite through all its various permutations over the years and decades…. the changes of costume and personality for the many characters. That fascination lasted up until probably 10 years ago or so. I don’t know what the dividing line– the demarkation– of when my interest began to wane. I’m also unclear as to what the reason was for that change in interest– but I suspect it was the fact that the X-MEN franchise got too huge… too cumbersome in scope and cast. There’s something comforting, I think, for the comic book fan, in knowing that their favorite characters might be put through the wringer and face challenges that might leave indelible marks on them… but at the end of the day, they will remain those same basic fictional ‘folks’ they have come to enjoy so much. I think that the X-MEN characters became rather unrecognizable to me over the years and caused me to lose interest in a group of characters I used to enjoy so very much.

Anyone else have that same sort of experience with a once-favorite comic book?

Michael Ransom Getty recently contacted me on DRAWINGBOARD.ORG to ask if I’d like a scan of a THING sketch I did for him at last year’s MEGACON in Orlando, Florida. Of course, I said ‘YES’– because I like to share them with you folks whenever I can get the opportunity to do so. And so… here you go. Great thanks to Michael for offering this scan– it’s much appreciated.

OK… another week down. Have a great weekend, all.

This is Entry 328.

Mike

This is a little bit more than a warm up sketch. I actually started playing with it over the weekend.. and did a little bit each day until I finished it this morning. I might have finished it earlier if I wasn’t so busy with the SPIDER-MAN/FF miniseries pencils these days. I’ve been doing so many sketches lately that are just single character shot type drawings that I decided I wanted to do something that was more of a storytelling piece. I still have aspirations to publish a hardcover art/sketchbook one day. I have been collecting pieces for it— and I started to feel that I had too many of those single character sketches and not enough pieces or sketches that would tell a story– something that would give someone something to look at and think about. Hopefully I achieved that with this sketch

Yesterday MARVEL released the solicitation copy and images for book shipping in April… and so I thought I’d post the finished cover to the first issue of the SPIDER-MAN/FANTASTIC FOUR miniseries that my old studio-mate Jeff Parker and I are working on. Inks by my old (lots of ‘old’) artistic partner-in-crime Karl Kesel. Colors by….. not sure who. But I like the way it came out.

I also want to remind everyone that I now have a DEVIANTART gallery, so if you feel like going through and seeing some of the sketches from past blog posts you might have missed, now you can do so. There’s almost 130 pieces there now.

OK.. that’s it for today.

This is Entry 327.

Mike

Here are the last two pages from the failed/aborted STREETFIGHTER comic book proposal. These two were inked by Rick Ketcham because I just ran out of time to devote to this project. Rick was kind enough to step in and help out, and I have to thank him once again for the wonderful assist. I’m going to have to keep it very short today…. I’ve got so much to do. My apologies.

OK… until Wednesday….

This is Entry 326.

Mike