I was pretty much at a loss for a subject for today’s sketch and post until I saw Erik Larsen’s post about E-MAN by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton over on his ONE FAN’S OPINION column this morning.. I’m not going to quote from or reiterate what Erik has written about there because I want you to all go (if you’re so inclined…. no pressure) and read the column for yourselves. It’s a wonderful tribute to a couple of great creators and one very special creation.

Often the terms ‘under-rated’ and ‘unsung’ will be used for the comic book creators that some folks think don’t get enough attention– and those terms are never more true than when I think about the great Joe Staton. Joe’s work on E-MAN with Cuti at CHARLTON COMICS back in the 70’s was my first exposure to his work– and I was instantly hooked. The open and friendly quality of Joe’s art is tempered with a wonderful angular edgy quality that just struck me as totally unique at the time. That angular quality allowed Joe to handle just about any material and look well suited for it. You name it– superheroes, science fiction, horror… he could handle it all, and he did with CHARLTON. Once I notice E-MAN, I started recognizing his work on various things that CHARLTON was publishing– he even did work on their SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN black and white magazine and was spectacular in it. In subsequent years, Joe did some work for Marvel– and one of my favorite things from him was a stint he did inking Sal Buscema on THE AVENGERS. They were an amazing combination on that book…. it was inspired stuff. He also did a great run on ALL STAR COMICS at DC… I was blown away seeing Joe handle these wonderful Golden Age DC characters. Joe’s work was something I was always looking for– I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do next. He’s remained busy over the years– and is now working on SCOOBY DOO comics for DC. As Erik points out in his article, though– every once in a while, Joe and Nick Cuti will return to E-MAN…. and comics are always richer for it.

That’s it for another week.

This is Entry 286.

Mike

Recently someone over on my forum. (don’t forget– I DO have a forum, if any of you are interested in that kind of interaction) asked if I had any more sketches based on the LEGION OF SUPERHEROES comic. I didn’t…. but it got me to thinking about how much I would love to draw the LEGION characters. I came close a couple of times– once many years back when Jeph Loeb was pitching a project to DC using the LEGION and TEEN TITANS characters and asked me to get involved (the sketches I did for the proposal are in the gallery section that you’ve probably all seen)… and once when I was in negotiations with DC about working with Mark Waid on the LEGION comic he’s now writing in the wake of his ‘firing’ from FANTASTIC FOUR by Bill Jemas a few years back. Neither of those opportunities worked out…. but maybe some day, I’ll at least get to draw a story arc or something.

The LEGION characters have such a rich history…. and they’ve changed costumes so many times that it affords tons of opportunities for drawing the various members of the team from the different eras. So I thought I’d work up a COSMIC BOY drawing to start off with. Once in a while, whenever the mood strikes, I’ll post another LEGIONNAIRE just for fun.

Gotta make it quick today…. lots to do.

This is Entry 285.

Mike

The most amazing, wonderful thing happened to me last week.

I was driving home from the gym last Wednesday evening. I got close to a right turn I have to take to get to the major thoroughfare on which I live, when I saw two little dogs running down the side of the road in the same direction I was traveling. One of them was a beagle-mix and the other was a terrier-mix of some sort. They spotted my car coming, and started to dart out into the road in front of me. They were clearly a couple of happy, playful and exuberant dogs….. but they were also being very reckless and were in danger. I slowed down and eventually stopped in the middle of the road. Another car was coming down the other side of the road and also stopped, with both dogs vibrating excitedly between us. I rolled down my window and tried to shoo the two pups away…. but they weren’t having it. They just alternated between looking up at me with these happy, friendly faces — and chasing each other around, in and out of the road. I was very concerned for them– but I didn’t know whether to stop and scoop them up or not. They could have belonged to someone who lived nearby…. and just out for some fun. They had collars…. I really didn’t know what to do. They took off running down the edge of the road down the other side of the street I needed to turn down to head home…. and when I saw that, I decided to just go home.

But once I got about 50 feet or so down the road toward home, I started to feel guilty and worried about the two errant dogs. I was very afraid that they would get hit by a car and hurt… or worse, killed. They had come close to that fate a couple of times as people sped down the road while I was watching them as I decided to go home…. it always amazes me that some people refuse to slow down when they see animals crossing or running in the road. It’s like they have not regard for life. So, thinking all this, I turned my car around and went back. When I returned to the intersection, I looked both ways down the road… and didn’t see them. I supposed they had simply run further down the road or into someone’s yard and out of harm’s way. At least, I HOPED they had run out of harms way. So– I crossed over the intersection and proceeded to turn around in the first driveway I came to on the other side of the road. No sooner had I done that and looked to the side– but there were the two dogs by my car, wagging their entire rear-ends and beaming up at me happily. I immediately got out of the car, and after a bit of cajoling, finally got them into the back seat– and drove them home. Fortunately their collar tags had a phone number on them, and when I called it, I got a very excited woman on the other end who told me that her husband had been out looking for the two little dogs all evening. He had just returned home after another run, and she gave him the phone. I gave him directions to my house, and he was on his way.

The amazing thing in this story is this: when the man came to my house to get the dogs, he told me that they belonged to his daughter who was at this point down in Mississippi volunteering with the cleanup and reconstruction efforts there. The dogs were actually FROM Mississippi…. they were among 5 different puppies that this man’s daughter had found abandoned at different points while she was there last year in the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina as a volunteer. She had brought the puppies back and found homes for 3 of them– but fell in love with the two I now had in the back of my car and had decided to keep them.

The fact that these were Katrina survivors…. and were now such healthy and happy little dogs in a loving home made me feel that much happier for having decided to corral them and try to get them safely back home. They were truly delightful dogs…. they settled down in to the back seat of my car when I got them in and were so happy and calm and sweet. I especially fell for the little beagle-mix immediately– the way he would look at me melted my heart. I’m so thrilled that they didn’t survive the hurricane in Mississippi only to come here to North Carolina and get hit and killed by a car a year later.

That’s it for today.

This is Entry 284.

Mike

I was still in a Miyazaki frame of mind today, so I thought I’d do a sketch of the lead from his wonderful film SPIRITED AWAY. This film is somewhat in the more lyrical vein of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, but it’s much more heavily driven with fantasy elements– as well as a sense of menace and peril– than TOTORO was. TOTORO is just plain sweet in nature (even though there’s the underlying theme of Satsuki’s and Mei’s mother being sick) and is a movie that even the youngest of children would love. SPIRITED AWAY is a bit more… nightmarish… in theme and action. There’s people being transformed into animals and bizarre and threatening creatures populating a strange and magical realm where witchcraft rules. Miyazaki’s usual themes of family, loyalty and love still thread through and infuse the film, however…. and for me, it’s every bit as wonderful and thrilling as anything else he’s done.

I’ve gotta keep it brief today— I’ve got a lot to do.

Everyone have a great weekend.

This is 283.

Mike

I think the first Japanese animated film I ever saw was NAUSICAA OF THE VALLY OF THE WIND back in the 80’s. I had seen the trailer on TV, and it intrigued me, so when it hit the theaters, I went to see it (alone, as I did with many movies back in my early 20’s). It was a revelation for me– NAUSICAA was a beautiful film with an epic scope and it immediately emblazoned the name Hayao Miyazaki… the creator and director of the movie…. on my young mind. NAUSICAA is the story of a young princess who desperately tries to stop a war between her people and their greatest enemies– and in doing so, also tries to stop the very destruction of her planet. Many parts of her world have become poison zones– populated by fascinating and bizarre insectoid creatures. These poisoned zones hold a key to the survival of the planet even as they threaten the survival of NAUSICAA’s people.

I always remembered the NAUSICAA film…. and years later, when I became more aware of the diversity that Japanese animation offers, I bought almost everything I could get my hands on that looked like it would be of interest to me. I amassed a rather large collection of anime (as it’s known) over the years…. but sort of fell out of love with it a while back. I gave away most of my tapes to friends– I only have a few absolute favorites left like GIANT ROBO and APPLESEED….. but the anime most special to me is the work of Miyazaki that’s been released here in the States in the years since NAUSICAA. Films like MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, PRINCESS MONONOKE, and SPIRITED AWAY hold a very honored place in my DVD collection… they’re wonderful gems that I never get tired of watching over and over again. Hayao Miyazaki has been referred to as Japan’s Walt Disney– but I think that does him a disservice. Miyazaki’s films are so epic in scope and deep in meaning– often exploring the themes of man’s struggle to co-exist with nature… and each other– that they are timeless fantasies that strike a major chord in my heart. I have enjoyed many Disney films over the years, and count many of them as influences on my artistic growth– but Miyazaki’s films move me in ways that no Disney film ever has.

Any other Miyazaki fans out there…..?

This is Entry 282.

Mike