I couldn’t think of anything topical to draw today, so I thought I’d just warm up with a good ol’ fallback with SPIDER-MAN jumping off a rooftop that, now that I look at it, is very, very similar to the cover I did for FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #1. Well, when it doubt, repeat yourself.

Well, yesterday’s experience was a lot of fun… very TIRING… but very fun. We arrived in Charlotte a little later than we should have, I think…. because I had no idea how huge the tailgating atmosphere was in the city before a game. We had to park about 5-6 blocks from the stadium because every lot nearby was absolutely filled with folks grilling, drinking, and partying. As it turns out, many of these folks don’t even go into the stadium…. they’re just there for the festive football tailgating experience. And there were some very experienced, professional tailgaters there, believe me. I saw some very impressive setups on the walk to and back from the game. For our part, we had one little old grill that we sat on the ground– and we sat on coolers and the back of my KIA’s hatch (although I did a nice fold-out chair with me that I relaxed in on and off). It’s a very friendly climate, with people sharing food and drink back and forth… and it was all very cool. I was the designated driver, so I stayed away from the alcohol except for a beer during the game– but it was one of those little beers in the plastic bottle that sports stadiums are selling these days.

As for the game itself– there were as many Steelers fans there as there were Panthers fans… and I THOUGHT that the Panthers would play up to the playoff atmosphere that was permeating the area since if they lost this game, any chance of them making it to the post-season would be gone. Unfortunately, the Panthers played in a very sluggish manner– almost like they didn’t care. Maybe without the injured Jake Delhomme in to play quarterback they just gave up. I dunno. But they certainly didn’t play with any urgency, so they were soundly trounce by the Steelers 37-3. Oh, well… it was still great to watch my first pro football game, even if it wasn’t much of a competitive affair.

So– I loved the experience… but I was very happy to get back home last night. I got up at 5:30 AM to get the day started… and I got back home right before 10 PM. I went to bed as soon as I got in.. I was numb. I was really feeling my middle-age by the end of the day yesterday.

OK.. that’s it for today.

This is Entry 316.

I’d like to thank Royce Thrower for sending me a nice scan of the sketch I did for him at the PARTS UNKNOWN one-day show back on the 9th of this month. I was only able to do two sketches that day– and both of them were for the Thrower bros. I liked the way this SERRA sketch came out (and thanks for asking for one of my favorite characters to draw, Royce)– so I asked for the scan– and thought I’d share it here with you.

I’m pretty excited about this upcoming weekend. I told you about going to see my first pro baseball game back during the BALTIMORE COMICON thanks to the generous John Higashi buying an entire block of tickets for the pros attending the show to go to the game where the Orioles took on the Yankees. Well, this weekend, I’m going to be attending my first pro FOOTBALL game. Joe Oaks, a guy I work out with at the gym, got a bunch of tickets for this weekend’s home game between the Carolina Panthers taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Someone that Joe works with is a Panthers season ticket holder– and isn’t planning on attending this game, so Joe, me and a couple other buddies will be heading down to Charlotte on Sunday to catch the game. I’m really excited about this. I’ve always wanted to go to a pro football game… and now I’m going!

OK… I’m gonna keep it brief for today. Have a great weekend, all.

This is Entry 315.

Mike

Looking back through my DC LEGION ARCHIVES once again, I came upon one collection that is entirely made up of the heart of the Mike Grell era as LEGION artist… and I remember buying those issues way back then. I was initially very disappointed when Grell took over as LEGION artist… because I had been so enamored with Dave Cockrum’s wonderful work on the title. It didn’t take long, though, for Grell’s work to quickly grow on me. There was a very raw energy to his drawing that was appealing– and there was this ‘cool factor’ that his style brought to the title with his long, lithe and dynamic figure-work. One of the things that ALSO marked Grell’s work on that period of LEGION was his design work on the characters’ costumes that showed a lot of skin. A LOT of skin. And that sort of hit its apex with the introduction of the character TYROC in issue 216. His costume has got to be one of the skimpiest costumes for either a male or female character in mainstream superhero comics that I can remember. It’s funny to look back on those costumes with their 70’s sensibilities and lots of exposed flesh. I guess maybe the new redesign of the WHITE QUEEN in X-MEN might be more skimpy… but not by much.

I’ve had a MYSPACE page up for some months now. It’s a phenomenally popular site that has millions and millions of users. So I thought it would be good to get involved with the site to try to use it for self promotion. Well, now there’s a similar site just for comic book enthusiasts called COMICSPACE. I have signed up for a COMICSPACE page as well. If you’re interested in either or both of those kinds of ‘community’ sites, add me to your ‘friends list’.

Yesterday, Marvel released the solicitations for their books shipping in the month of March. I thought I’d nab the cover image for FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #18 I drew (and was wonderfully inked by my old TELLOS artistic co-hort Rob Stull) and post it here for you to see. I started doing covers for the title again with issue 17.

OK… that’s it for today.

This is Entry 314.

News of the passing of Golden Age artist Martin Nodell hit this past weekend. I saw Marty at almost every show I ever attended… and he was always such a sweet, cheerful man who was very proud of his creation of the Golden Age GREEN LANTERN character. Marty’s wife Carrie was always by his side, cheerleading and sharing in the adoration his fans bestowed on him at shows. They were always so grateful and wonderful to the fans that would get Marty to sign and sketch for them. Carrie passed away back in 2004, and it seemed to me that a large part of Marty died with her. He seemed to have lost some of that spark he had when she was with him– he didn’t seem like his old self at the few events at which I saw him after her death. I spoke with him briefly at many of the shows we were both attending…. but I only had one opportunity to spend a large chunk of time with him. I was lucky enough to be at the same table with Marty and his wife at an after-con dinner party one year quite a while back, and it was a delight to hear him talk about not only his time as a comic book artist in the ‘old days’– but also hear tales about his work as a commercial artist…. and as the guy who designed the PILLSBURY DOUGH BOY. When I heard him talking about that, it blew me away.

Two characters… from two completely different worlds… that have stood the test of time, created by one delightful fella.

Rest in peace, Marty.

This is Entry 313.

Mike

There a new trailer up on YAHOO MOVIES for Frank Miller’s 300 film. It looks absolutely amazing. I went to see SIN CITY when it debuted… and I was impressed by the visuals of the movie… it was beautifully done. The dialogue, however, left me cold. I know that it was totally faithful to the comic… and that the comic itself was used as the storyboards for the film. But that was the one problem I had with the film– the dialogue. It was so faithful that what sounded cool in my head when reading the book sounded very hokey when I heard it out load coming from the big screen. I know it was meant to be reminiscent/inspired by the film noire, hard boiled stories that Miller grew up reading… but it just sounded bad to my ears.

300, however, has me very excited. I’ve read the comic… and I think that Miller’s dialogue in this movie is going to work very well… and visually, it’s just mindblowing to see so far. I have very high hopes for this film. I know that the story is rather light in concept– very simple. But that’s fine with me. This movie is based on a singular event in the history of the world… and it’s going to be a high intensity testosterone-filled, bloody film. It’s very exciting to me to see Frank Miller making such inroads with his properties in Hollywood. And that they’re so very faithful to his vision– even when the dialogue sounds odd to my ears as with SIN CITY.

Have a great weekend, all.

This is Entry 312.

Mike