Just checking in with a few random bits...not been online much the past few days as I've been busy working on samples for the Birmingham comic convention (which is shockingly close now!). It's going slowly but surely now, I'm about a third of the way through the second page of some action stuff (layouts above). I only have a couple of hours to draw each night but I've stuck to the routine pretty rigidly this week, except for Tuesday when I worked on my new Back Issue article.
It doesn't help that I've been feeling pretty run down the past few days (shockingly, a look at my leave card shows that other than four days in April-ish, I've had no more than one day off here and there since last November, but plans are afoot to decamp to Slovenia for the first week in December, carrying 5 days of leave over from this year). We've had a ton of upheavals at work, not to mention my patience slowly but surely being chipped away by an irritating temp (although today the head of service and I had a long conversation about Watchmen!) and we're coming through the other side, but I need a break pretty urgently. I try to keep my leave for when I need it rather than just taking it because it's summer or whatever and my body usually screams at me when it's time to have a break.
Luckily, I'm off for 10 days from the middle of next week to theoretically get some art done for the show, and then to recover from the long weekend itself. The first show in Birmingham at the Custard Factory was a bit ropey but I really enjoyed last year. I'm going with three objectives:
1. Show my art, get some feedback, find out if I stand a chance at drawing comics or should just do it for pleasure.
2. Find Nexus God Con #2, the last Steve Rude issue I need.
3 Grab some sketches (I have one artist and character already in mind, pleasepleasplease!)
Smallville will be finishing its current season soon, which has been quite dull other than the odd episode here and there. The lovely Erica Durance looked quite foxy this week though, but I'm still looking forward to the Legion next season. Heroes is back in two weeks which is just as well, as the only other show I watch is Family Guy on BBC3 and they've started putting it on later and later. Entourage is back with a new season but ITV2 promoted the hell out of it before screening its last season then played silly buggers with the scheduling so that I missed most of the second half. As a result, I can't be bothered, which is a shame as I really enjoy the show...my own forgetful self has also missed most of this season of My Name Is Earl, another show I loved that has lost its place in my heart for the moment as a result.
I've mainly been watching the last season of Teen Titans on DVD an episode at a time before bed each night and generally it's more enjoyable than earlier episodes and has less gawky looking character designs than the Legion series. I'm looking forward to the Kid Flash episode but you still can't beat the Justice League series.
Anyway, as I doubt I'll be posting too much for a while, here's some stuff from the net today. First up is a stunning pencil piece of Sandman and Death by Colleen Doran: I was blown away by this, despite not really liking the Sandman. (You can see various stages of development of this piece at www.adistantsoil.com/blog). Following up are two new additions to the Bowen Designs roster of mini busts: Jim Lee-era Cyclops and the original Kirby-designed Wonder Man. The best look for Wondy is the sleeveless black unitard with the red "W" and boots but there's something classic about the original outfit that just epitomises what a traditional superhero should like to me.
I'm off to have me dinner now that it's 10.20pm...
4 comments:
Skrulls? Is them Skrulls?
Yeah, they're skrulls...I was gonna use Klaw, Tiger Shark, Electro and the Constrictor but this skrull pileup idea appeared out of nowhere.
I've not been reading Secret Invasion as it appears to be another hollow crossover that has moments but very little actual story...I reckon the Skrulls will win the invasion or at least remain as an occupying presence (seeing as Reed guided Galactus to their homeworld, I reckon Earth kinda owes them SOME housing). The last page is supposed to feature some twist with Namor and unless he is revealed as a skrull or skrull sympathiser, I have no idea what that may entail.
Wasn't there supposed to be the return of some lost heroes (I hope they weren't aluding to the 70s heroes)?
Yeah. It's been particularly dull. (I had high hopes for it too.) And yeah, I'm guessing occupation or some Skrulls & Humans Living In Harmony bollocks, which frankly I can do without.
I think the Lost Heroes thing was a con too, which is another waste opportunity. I'd have liked to have Mockingbird back.
It was a good moment but fell apart as soon as you thought about it. Remember the Spider-clone mess? They'd never do THAT again! Then Cap died almost instantly and was revealed as a Skrull, losing all those "Yeah but..." doubts.
Don't like the Skrull occupation idea either. It's great for a few stories but not indefinitely across the board. Reread some Morrison JLA trades and the ones with electric blue Superman really jar, and this alien presence may be interesting in the short term but also datable in the long term. It loses the supposition that the Marvel Universe is set in the real world (despite the suspension of disbelief regarding supercharacters, who still remain essentially human)if you have a permanent alien presence...
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