Catching Up
Let's start off with this Flash video of my inking process. All of the cool kids are doing this, so I thought I would be a lemming too. This video will eventually have a permanent home in the Creating Comics section, which I will be rewriting from scratch at some point since my process has changed so much. Flash Player/plug-in 8 (or even better, 9) is required to view this:
Heroes Con 06
Heroes con went well. I got to meet several pros and hear them speak about publishing, self-publishing and the craft of writing. Due to my work schedule, we were only able to drive 8 hours on Saturday, check into a hotel, eat, sleep, go to the con on Sunday (the slowest day), then leave at 4pm so that we could make the 8 hour drive back before the wee hours of Monday morning arrived. Downtown Charlotte was very nice. Clean and modern, with what seemed like an active nightlife.
Other than that, I'm not sure what I was thinking, driving 16 hours round-trip for a 4-hour convention circuit. I am so bad at meeting comics pros (who were all just very pleasant) that it's like I'm having an out-of-body experience while I watch a bomb detonate in slow motion. I think I'm better off just hiding behind my website and letting the work speak for itself.
Superman Returns
With all that was going on, last night was my first chance to finally see Superman Returns. And even then, it was a close one, since Wordplay came to town and my wife, the crossword puzzle
I thought the 3D technology was damn near perfect, and it added a great deal to the Airplane and Boat crash sequences. No question that this incarnation of 3D is here to stay. That being said, I don't think that the movie as a whole gained anything extra with 3D sequences. All we really need is a good story for a movie to suck us in.
Which brings us to the movie itself. I thought it was excellent. The character of Superman is in desperate need of modernization. Since DC comics seems so unwilling, I'm glad that the filmmakers had the guts to do the job. And what I'm talking about is the addition of Lois' son, which was nothing less than a stroke of genius. Superman has no real flaws (I consider kryptonite to be a gimmick), but if you give Lois a son and a fiancee who is a really good man, as well as a likeable character, Superman has to eat a shit sandwich just like any other joe sixpack in a similar situation. (Why didn't James Marsden have this much to when he was Cyclops?)
The action sequences were real white-knucklers, and Brandon Routh gave us a strong-but-silent-type version of Superman laced with mannerisms that were an homage to Christopher Reeve. I liked that they made no attempt to retell the origin story, that they basically used the final scenes of Superman II as the launching point for this. The third act was especially pleasing. The movie didn't take the easy way out. They told us that life is hard for everyone, even if you're Superman. I can't wait to see this again.
Fun tidbit: Did anyone notice that the publication date for Lois' Pulitzer-winning article ("Why the World Doesn't Need A Superman") was February 13?
10 Comments:
Who sings the audio on your flash clip john ? That's kickin', I've played that three times now, just to listen to the song ! *s-u-weet* !
*throws up the horns*
The first song. That is.
The first song is "Who Invited You" by The Donnas.
I really wanted some Ramones, but the Donnas were the next best thing.
Stay tuned for the upcoming clip #2, with John's music choice. I had to talk him out of Neil Diamond.
I think if anybody who can draw thinks they can be a cartoonist, they should be made to watch your inking clip.
Us mortals have no idea how much work goes into each strip. Your work doesn't speak for itself, John, it shouts.
Good on you, mate, and with any luck it won't be very long before the years of toil pay off and you become an overnight success.
Regards
Charlie
How do you get it to spin around like that? Is that input from a tablet to do that? I have a hand me down wacom and a copy of Painter 8. Very confusing program.
I went out and bought the album. Awesome. Always so happy when i find a kick-ass new band, so much mediocre stuff around these days.
Neil Diamond ? John, listen to wife your man, you married her for a reason. That reason is now clear !
I think if anybody... [snip]...Good on you, mate, and with any luck it won't be very long before the years of toil pay off and you become an overnight success.
If I weren't married, I send you flowers.
How do you get it to spin around like that? Is that input from a tablet to do that? I have a hand me down wacom and a copy of Painter 8. Very confusing program.
That is Painter's Rotate Page tool, and it's available in Painter 8. (lower left side of the Toolbox.) It lets you rotate the page to draw at a comfortable angle instead of rotating the tablet, which is so very awkward. When drawing with any instrument, you have more control over your stroke if you move the pencil/brush/stylus toward you instead of away from you or to the side.
I went out and bought the album. Awesome. Always so happy when i find a kick-ass new band, so much mediocre stuff around these days.
Neil Diamond ? John, listen to wife your man, you married her for a reason. That reason is now clear!
Yeah, The Donnas Kick ass. I was going to put Neil Diamond & Barbara Streisand ("You don't bring me Flowers") in there as joke, but we decided it would be more of a sick joke than a ha-ha joke.
The Donnas are pretty good. Lately I've discovered The Go, Eagles of Death Metal and Wolfmother, all of which I recommend wholeheartedly.
It's the name.
Wolfmother is both name and description, I think.
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