Tagged: monster

Win a Copy of Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Paranormal crime scenes combined with comedic mishaps are all in a day’s work for New Orleans’ most surreptitious investigator in DYLAN DOG: DEAD OF NIGHT. The producers of Terminator Salvation and Cowboys & Aliens introduce audiences to a whole new genre of dark fantasy filmmaking that blends crime-fighting and humor in this tongue-in-cheek supernatural horror in the spirit of Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead.

Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) stars as Dylan Dog, a supernatural detective who will go where the living dare not facing friend and foe alike in the monster infested backstreets of New Orleans. Armed with an edgy wit and an arsenal of silver and wood-tipped bullets, Dylan must solve a series of murders before an epic war ensues between his werewolf, vampire and zombie clients. Based on one of the world’s most popular comic books (over 60 million copies sold), this inventive horror comedy will slay you with humor and genuine frights.

Acclaimed horror director Kevin Munroe (TMNT) guides this comedic cast, which also includes Taye Diggs (Private Practice), Peter Stormare (Minority Report), Sam Huntington (Being Human) and Kurt Angle (Death From Above).

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is available July 26 as a 1-disc Blu-ray and a 1-disc DVD.

For your chance of winning one of three DVD copies of Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, courtesy of our friends at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, simply answer the following question:

In Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, what city does Dylan Dog practice his supernatural investigations?

  • New York
  • New Orleans
  • Paris

The winner will be selected from the proper answers submitted by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 26.The judgment of ComicMix is final.

MOONSTONE MONDAY-CHILLS AND THRILLS IN OCTOBER!

MOONSTONE MONDAY-CHILLS AND THRILLS IN OCTOBER!

OCT ’11 releases
RETURN OF THE MONSTERS: The Spider vs Werewolf
Story: Martin Powell
Art: Jay Piscopo
Cover: Dan Brereton
40pgs, grayscale, $3.99
A Return of the Originals event!
A seething, ferocious nightmare from the Spider’s dark past invades New York City, preying upon the innocent and the helpless. Mutilated victims are strewn in the blood-slick streets, and once normal men have become murderous monsters. The Master of Men must face the deadly demons alone. Not even his beloved Nita Van Sloan can be trusted when everyone—including the Spider himself—may not be what they seem.
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RETURN OF THE MONSTERS: BLACK BAT vs Dracula
Story: Mike Bullock
Art: Eric Johns
Cover: Dan Brereton
40pgs, grayscale, $3.99
A Return of the Originals event!
For the first time in history three eras collide in one place as Pulp Fiction’s newest heroine, Death Angel joins forces with Pulp’s enduring vigilante The Black Bat to battle the eternal face of horror, Dracula. Mike (The Phantom) Bullock and rising star Eric Johns bring this spine-tingling tale of darkness, lust and fear to you, wrapped in a visceral cover crafted by horror comic legend Dan Brereton.
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RETURN OF THE MONSTERS: DOMINO LADY vs Mummy
Story: Nancy Holder, Bobby Nash
Art: Rock Baker, Jeff Austin
Cover: Dan Brereton
40pgs, grayscale, $3.99
A Return of the Originals event!
The Egyptian sorceress Nephthys has promised to build her mummified mistress the perfect mate. Together, they cut a bloody swath across 1930’s Hollywood in search of the last few perfect bodies to harvest to complete the process. The last thing Nepthys or the mummy expected to run across was The Domino Lady, a perfect body that fights back.
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RETURN OF THE MONSTERS: PHANTOM DETECTIVE vs Frankenstein
Story: Aaron Shaps
Art: Andrew Froedge
Cover: Dan Brereton
40pgs, grayscale, $3.99
A Return of the Originals event!
“THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE: THE BLOOD OF FRANKENSTEIN”
One of the greatest crimefighters in pulp history crosses paths with the most iconic monster in all of pop culture! Frankenstein’s monster is on a rampage in New York, leaving a trail of destruction—and dead bodies—in his wake, but before the Phantom Detective can stop him, the World’s Greatest Sleuth must contend with the insidious, occult Nazi brotherhood known as the Order of the Black Sun!
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Justice Machine #2
Writer: Mark Ellis
Art: David Enebral/Mar Degano
Cover: Jeff Slemons
32 Pages, color, $3.99
The Justice Machine: Object of Power #2 (of 3)
DARKFORCE RISING!
As The Justice Machine battles to survive in a shocking new reality, they are torn by personal horrors and tragedies…but the countdown to enslave all of humanity has begun and the Machine must face their most implacable foe—Darkforce! Their demonic arch-enemy has returned for a deadly confrontation that will remake the Earth or ensure its final destruction!
The saga of the legendary super-team continues!
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Airboy presents the Airfighters
Story: Jeff Limke
Art: Giovanni Timpano
Cover: Tom Grindberg
40pgs, grayscale, $3.99
Air Fighters: Insurrection.
Starring Airboy, Sky Wolf, Flying Dutchman, Black Angel, and Flying Fool!
A botched mission forces the Air Fighters into a standoff against
Vichy soldiers, leaving the fate of concentration camp prisoners
teetering in the balance.
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ZOMBIES vs CHEERLEADERS #5
(W) Steven L Frank and Pals (A) Various
32pgs, color, $3.99
Each issue features killer stories by some of the top indie writers and artists out there. This anthology, and the awesome covers that showcase it, is a read not to be missed if you enjoy horror or humor, or both (humror?)! See what all the buzz is about in the pages of ZvC!
Bill McKay (50%) Ryan Kincaid/Jason Worthington (20%) Pasquale Qualano (20%) Ben Hansen (10%)
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Vampire, PA: Pittsburgh Noir Limited HC
J.C. Vaughn, Brendon Fraim, Brian Fraim
Full Color / 104 Pages / Hardcover, $34.95
ISBN: 978-1-936814-13-8
Vampires in suburbia? Dean Marklin didn’t believe in vampires until a beautiful one tried to kill him! Now he’s a vampire hunter trying to hold onto what’s left of normal life. How do you think that’s working out for him? This new limited edition hardcover collects Moonstone’s three-issue Vampire, PA mini-series, bonus story pages, and the prose short story that inspired it, from the writer of Zombie-Proof and Bedtime Stories for Impressionable Children. Visit Western Pennsylvania’s oddly vampire-rich environment! Cover by Mark Wheatley.
*Note: All copies ordered on initial orders come with a signed bookplate.
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CAPTAIN ACTION: Season 2 HC
Story: Steven Grant
Art: Reno Maniquis, Manual Martin
Cover: Art Thibert
120pgs, Color, 7” x 10”, HC, $36.95
978-1-936814-12-1
The new adventures of the original super-hero action figure continue as the original Captain Action, and his son Cole, the new Captain Action, face the insidious challenges of the Red Crawl. And along the way they encounter Lady Action, Patriot Power, Crescent and…Dr. Eville! The full story arc from “Season 2” including the epilogue is collected here.
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OMEGA PARADOX #1
(story) Ian Ng
(Art) Mark Sparacio
(Colors) Abe Melendez
32pgs, color, $2.99

Julian and Solarra face off against mercenaries to rescue a man from their grasp, leading to a tenuous partnership. The enigmatic man leads them into the bowels of antiquity in search of a fearful artifact.
Moonstone introduces a creator-owned effort from Mark
Sparacio (Captain Action, Jonah Hex) and newcomer Ian Ng, in full color.
Two Covers (75/25 split)

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Moonstone’s Modern Myths – The Blackest Terror #1
(W) Eric M Esquivel (A) Ander Sarabia
32pgs, B&W, $2.99
The Blackest Terror is a pioneer in what sociologists have dubbed “the super hero subculture”, a collection of racial and social minorities who feel underserved by the mainstream legal system and have decided to take matters into their own costumed hands.
How will the world react to these benevolent outlaws? Will they become celebrated symbols of humankind’s capacity for good or hated catalysts of a bloody revolution? This is a new breakout series not to be missed.

INTERVIEW WITH WRITER MARTIN POWELL ABOUT MONSTERS!!

AP:  Martin, thanks for joining ALL PULP once again for an interview.  Can you catch us up to speed on some of the things you’ve been doing since your last visit?
POWELL:  Thanks for asking me back.  It’s been a crazily busy time since we last spoke.  I’m writing several new comics, graphic novels, and co-writing a screenplay, as well as a top secret new pulp prose novel featuring a very famous classic character.  Also, I have a new novella for teens about to be published.  There’s a lot going on here.  I’m not sure where to begin.
AP:  You are involved in a very special project, one that means a lot to you both professionally and personally.  Talk a bit, if you would, about the professional aspects of FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN, how you became involved, the process of getting the project going, etc.?
POWELL:  I’ve written a vintage-style “filmbook” treatment of the classic Universal movie FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN for the newly resurrected Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine.  Fans of the magazine will know exactly what I mean, but to clarify, this will be a pulpy prose version of the story as adapted from Curt Siodmak’s original screenplay, profusely illustrated with photos from the film.  This is one of the secret projects I’ve been teasing about on Facebook for the past few months.  I pitched the proposal around last Halloween to editor Jessie Lilley, and she was wild about it.  Next, we approached Joe Jusko for the cover.  There was no other artist better suited and we were absolutely thrilled when he enthusiastically agreed.  Joe loves this stuff as much as we do, and he created a magnificently monstrous cover painting.
AP:  One question is why?  Why does a classic monster movie need the sort of adaptation you’re giving it decades after it was released?
POWELL:  Because this version of the movie has never been seen before, containing several scenes that were cut from the released film.  In my filmbook, Bela Lugosi’s Frankenstein Monster is blind, and will speak, as Siodmak originally intended. Think of it as a sort of “Director’s Cut” of a long-cherished classic monster movie.  Today, there are almost always novelized paperbacks of current hit movies, and FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN was a ground-breaking blockbuster at the box office, and deserves the very same attention today.
AP:  How do you as a writer take this entire concept, including the very classic, but also in some views very stereotypical portrayals of these monsters and make it appeal to a modern audience?
POWELL:  In no way do I consider these characters “stereotypical.”  Someone might as well say Superman, Sherlock Holmes, or Tarzan are stereotypes.  The Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man are legendary archetypes of the cinema, and will far outlive the soulless slashers and the zombie-glut of today.  I doubt there are very many kids over the age of six, anywhere in this country, who can’t name the classic monsters by sight, even if they’ve never seen one of the old movies.
AP:  What does this being a feature in a magazine add to the concept, if anything?  Why this particular medium?
 POWELL:  It’s not just any magazine—this is Famous Monsters of Filmland!  As co-created by the late, great Forrest J Ackerman, it’s been the single most influential publication of my life.  This is a national magazine with a tremendous readership, and there’s no greater home for this project.  I can hardly express how exciting it is to be the writer of a cover feature in this iconic magazine!
AP:  All right, now let’s talk about your personal affection for these characters.  Why do these monsters mean so much to you?
POWELL:  That’s tough to describe, but I’ll try.  I was sick a lot as a little kid and Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine served as a sort of security blanket for me every dreaded time I went to the doctor’s office. FM never, ever failed to make me feel better.  I was a monster movie fanatic, and my older brothers have told me that Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were the first movie stars I recognized on TV.  FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN was only the second Frankenstein film I ever saw—and also was my first encounter with the Wolf Man—when I was six years old, and I was utterly fascinated.  When I first read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel at the age of eleven, it was a life-defining moment.  That book, and especially the Boris Karloff films, changed me forever and I’ve never been the same since.
AP:  Horror in recent years has moved away from Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Dracula, etc., and more to the visceral slasher type killers and the torture types.  Why do you think this has occurred?  And can the classic monsters and the stories those movies told be made viable again?
 POWELL:  Personally, I feel these slasher/torture movies represent lazy storytelling.  Somewhere, somehow, the horror film became the gross-out film, with visceral effects replacing story and performance.  To each his own, but I don’t find that sort of thing very entertaining.  The classic monster movies have their peaks and valleys, but they’ve always returned to the screen and to new popularity.  It’s happening again already.  I recently read in Variety that no less than a half-dozen new Frankenstein films are currently in production in Hollywood.  Plus, there’s The National Theatre’s brilliant new Frankenstein stage play by Danny Boyle and Nick Dear, where actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature.  The play was a huge critical success and a phenomenal sell-out hit.  Audiences are always ready for something done exceptionally well.
AP:  This is a Pulp news site.  Some would, and actually have, argued that things such as movie adaptations of classic monster tales and other such things don’t qualify as Pulp.  How would you respond to that?
 POWELL:  ‘Pulp’, at least as I understand it, is difficult to contain with such a narrow view, and by its nature has a very broad definition.
AP:  You’ve also got a ton of other projects going.  Care to share any information on what you can talk about?
 POWELL:  Well, I’m the writer for the continuing comic book series of THE SPIDER, for Moonstone, including a Halloween Special issue with artist Jay Piscopo, whom I’m very excited to be working with again.  And speaking of my favorite holiday, my teen-readers mystery novella THE HALLOWEEN LEGION will be published later in the summer, and is probably the most personal project I’ve ever written.  Also, I’ve just been contracted for a number of graphic novels coming from Sequential Pulp Comics, an imprint of Dark Horse Comics, including an exciting collaboration with my favorite author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, which will be happily teaming me again with my good friend, and Golden Lion Award Winner, illustrator Tom Floyd.  Very shortly, I’ll be co-writing the screenplay for a new murder mystery set in the 1920s, but there’s not much more I can say about that right now.  Most importantly, I’m surrounded by the things I love, which is the luckiest place for any writer to be.
AP: Martin, it’s been absolutely great to have you back on ALL PULP!
POWELL:  Thank you very much.  I always appreciate your interest in what I’m doing.

ALL PULP INTERVIEWS PULP ARTIST JOE JUSKO!

AP:  Joe, Welcome to ALL PULP.  First, tell us a little about yourself please, sir!
JJ: Thanks! I’ve been a professional illustrator since 1978 when I sold my first cover to Heavy Metal magazine at the age of 18. Since then I’ve worked for just about every major comic company producing everything from covers to posters, trading cards, and fully painted sequential stories.
AP:  You are involved in the FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN project coming up in FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine.  How did you get to be a part of this adaptation?
JJ: Facebook is a wonderful thing! Martin Powell and I follow each other’s pages and realized we both had a love all things monster in common, particularly the old Universal Monsters films and Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Martin contacted me to inquire as to my interest in painting the cover to his filmbook adaptation for FM and I jumped at the opportunity! I have wanted to see that Famous Monsters masthead over a piece of my art since childhood. I can’t believe after all these years it’s actually happened! Cross one more thing off of my bucket list!
AP:  The cover you’ve done for the magazine the adaptation will appear in looks fantastic.  Was there any particular scene or maybe even other influence you drew inspiration from for that cover?
JJ: Well, when you think of that film the (much too brief) climactic fight is invariably the first thing that comes to mind. If you were going to paint one image to represent the movie that would have to be it! I had seen it painted before but without the surging water from the exploded dam. That is such a dramatic element I knew from the very start I’d be including it in the painting. I had thoughts about showing the dam blowing up through a window but decided against it for compositional and narrative reasons. If you know he film you know where the water is coming from and if you don’t maybe you’ll want to find out.
AP:  As an artist, can you outline your process of creating a painting or drawing for a project?  Are there any steps you go through, any particular techniques you use each time?
JJ: Geez, that is such an involved answer. Actual steps vary from piece to piece but in general I first try to determine what scene will make the most effective and eye catching image for the cover. It’s my job to get the potential reader to pick up the magazine in the first place. Once I decide on a scene I’ll work up a quick layout or two to see if my idea will work. I very seldom do more that one or two because my instincts are pretty well honed by now and I pretty much feel my first idea is always my best. Ninety percent of the time, at least.  I’ll then send the sketch the editor/AD for approval and then proceed to the final art. I either photograph or gather the reference I’ll need for a particular job (in this case I scoured the internet and shot screen grabs from a DVD) and refine the initial idea before proceeding to paint. I work exclusively in quick drying acrylics which I find suits my temperament as I’m a very impatient painter and dislike waiting for stages to dry. I then scan the final art, clean it up in Photoshop and send it off to the client.
AP:  What appeals to you as an artist about the monsters like Frankenstein and the Wolfman?
JJ: For me it’s the nostalgia and visual interest of the films. I think the Universal Monster series had some of the most imaginative set design and atmospheric cinematography that gave them a very unique look and feel. Many have tried to emulate them but never really seem to come close. Jack Pierce’s make up also set the standard for how those creatures should look. When you think of Frankenstein you think of Boris Karloff, not Kiwi Kingston.
AP:  One question some might ask about this project is relevance.  Is this a project aimed at old fans of classic monster movies or is it a project that hopes to bring in new fans?  What role do you feel art plays in that?
JJ: Let’s face it, Famous Monsters has a fairly classic, older fan base. While I truly hope the revised magazine and the art will generate new interest among a younger demographic, based on how little interest my fiancee’s 18 year old son has in reading magazines of any kind, B&W movies or anything not digitally enhanced I’m not sure. I know that many of my friends who are painting covers for FM’s current incarnation are doing it for the coolness factor and some very fond childhood memories. We are just beside ourselves to be on the cover!
AP: Art plays a major role in Pulp Fiction, both historically and even in New Pulp work.  Do you consider yourself a pulp artist and if so, why?
JJ: In many ways I do, and I often lament the fact that I was not working in the 60’s when pulp art was so prevalent in paperbacks. I am the biggest fan of artists like Robert McGinnis, Bob Abbett, Robert Maquire and Mitchell Hooks (among many others). I would be content painting pulp and genre covers all the time. I’ve done a lot of superhero work over the years but my real love is pulpy, noirish material. All the Conan covers I’ve done as well as the Edgar Rice Burroughs work definitely falls into that category to be sure.
AP:  What other projects do you have in the works that might be of interest to our Pulpy audience?
 JJ: Harkening back to the previous question I’m actually producing a series of faux 60’s style paperback images for a proposed calendar, and Im having a blast! I’m also currently painting the monthly covers for Dynamite Entertainment’s adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series. You can’t get much pulpier than that! I also may be illustrating the first two Tarzan novels for the 100th anniversary but that is still uncertain as of this time.
AP:  Joe, thanks for your time!
JJ: My pleasure!
A ‘Fright Night’ Clip Surfaces

A ‘Fright Night’ Clip Surfaces

About the only reason we’re interested in the remake of Fright Night is because it features the current incarnation of Pavel Chekov and the previous version of The Doctor. The film, opening August 19, the same day as Spy Kids 4,  will hopefully be entertaining. We have a newly released clip for you to check out:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4ERSzCLQkc[/youtube]

The DreamWorks release stars Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Tennant, Imogen Poots and Toni Collette and was directed by Craig Gillespie from a script by Marti Noxon (another reason we’re interested).

Senior Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) finally has it all—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the hottest girl in high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But trouble arrives when an intriguing stranger Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right—and everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Toni Collette), doesn’t notice. After witnessing some very unusual activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on his neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone that he’s telling the truth, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself in this Craig Gillespie-helmed revamp of the comedy-horror classic.

INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST MD JACKSON! BY JOSHUA REYNOLDS!

ALL PULP INTERVIEW –MD JACKSON, ARTIST
BY GUEST COLUMNIST JOSHUA REYNOLDS
AP: Let’s start off with an easy one…who IS MD Jackson? Is he man? Mystery? Monster? None of the above?
MDJ: Well, that depends on who you ask. If you ask my wife she would probably agree with ‘monster’, although ‘bear’ would probably fit better — you know — big and furry, sometimes cuddly and sometimes grumpy, particularly when he’s hungry (although I have heard the words ‘sexy man’ come out of her mouth and George Clooney was nowhere to be seen so…). I am a human (well, humanoid at any rate) and I fall quite definitely into the male camp as far as gender goes, so, yes I am a man. Logically I am a mystery to people who do not know me, but perhaps not one that anyone cares about. Not like the real mysteries of life like; where does the time go? or Why does only one sock come out of the dryer when you know you put two in?
AP: Your work has a real pulp-tastic vibe to it…was that intentional? Is it a conscious style choice, or is your style more organic?
MDJ:The pulp influence in my work is very intentional. One of the things I love most in the world are old pulp magazines. I love everything about the pulps but particularly the cover art. Those covers virtually had to scream from the newsstand PICK ME! PICK ME! That is the kind of visceral impact I can get behind. I figure, why be subtle? Hit people where it hurts. Make them notice you. I know a lot of people get turned off by that, but I’m not Thomas Kinkade. You want pretty cottages then you might want to avoid my website.
AP:Is it true you’re Canadian? If so, how exactly is British Columbia ‘British’? Who’s your favorite Prime Minister?
MDJ:Yes, I was fortunate enough to be born within Canada’s borders. There are parts of Britisch Columbia that are very British, more British than British — Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island for one — but then there’s other parts that are very German. Some places are very Swiss or Ukranian and there’s even some parts that are Hungarian. On the whole the province is very Old World-y and European-y, except where it is Native Land, then it’s not European at all.
My favorite Prime Minister was John A. MacDonald. He was a drunken old Scots reprobate and was a lot of fun. This one time we went on a bender together. It lasted so long the Toronto Star actually wrote a story that he’d died. We laughed our asses off about that one, I can tell you.
AP: What about influences? What artists (if any) do you (did you) take inspiration from?
MDJ:I’m easily influenced. I cave to peer pressure like a house of cards. Artistically, though my biggest influence is Frank Frazetta. Mind you, all fantasy artists are influenced by Frazetta whether they admit it or not (and if they deny it then they’re big old liars).  Boris Vallejo, obviously and James Bama. Remember those old Doc Savage Paperback covers? Love that stuff! All of them were influenced (as am I) by pulp artists like Walter Baumhoffer, Rafael DeSoto, Norman Saunders and Alan Anderson to name but a few.
AP:Still on the subject of inspiration, what other wells do you draw creative waters from?
MDJ: Actually we don’t use a well. Our water comes from a tap. Just because I’m a Canadian doesn’t mean I’m not a modern guy!
I am also inspired by the architecture of antiquity, ancient ruins, ancient armour, castles, period clothes — these things inspire me. Photography does as well, particularly for lighting and mood. And, of course, hollywood movies with their ubiquitous CGI and 3d spectacle. I used to take inspiration from comic books as well, but not so much anymore.
Really detailed pen-and-ink work is inspiring. I could stare at the work of such artists as Windsor McCay, Willy Pogany, Franklin Booth, or Joseph Clement Coll for hours.
AP: You’re Canadian so you should know this…is the Wendigo real?
MDJ: You’re darn tootin’ she’s real! She was my sister-in-law! (did I say that out loud?)
AP: Are you a life-studies man, or do you free-style it?
MDJ: I go back and forth. I can’t afford models per-se and it is hard convincing people to pose for you (but it can be fun if it’s the wife and there’s lots of costumes and props involved) but the final product is always better (I think, anyway) if there are some solid references, particularly for period clothing and genre specific items like weapons and such.
AP: That’s a suspicious answer if I’ve ever heard one. Are you a wendigo?
MDJ: I said Sister-in-law… not sister, sister IN-LAW…!
AP: Describe the ‘MD Jackson Process’ for us…how do you approach a given project?
MDJ: Once I’ve accepted a commission the first stage is usually PANIC! “How am I supposed to do this? Am I insane? I’m not talented enough to do this! What was I thinking?” that sort of thing.
Once I calm down I usually sit down in a big comfy chair with a cup of hot tea and my low-tech equipment: A 9″ X 12″ sketchpad and and H or H2 pencil. I will just turn of my brain and let my had do all the work. I start with thumbnails for composition and I will do anywhere up to a dozen or so little sketches until I get two or three that I think will work. If I’m working for someone else I will work these thumbnails up into more detailed sketches and let the client see and decide. If it’s just for me I’ll usually just pick the one I like best and go with it.
After the client chooses one layout then I’ll start collecting references, shoot some photos if I have to, and start narrowing down a colour scheme. After that I start working. I paint digitally using Corel Painter X. I usually work background to foreground and work on each figure individually, blocking in basic shapes and colours and then working each figure with finer and finer detail until it is done. Then I sign it and ship it off.
Easy, right?
AP:  Are you certain you’re not a wendigo? That sounded like a wendigo answer. I’ve heard they’re tricky…
MDJ: Okay, I’m sorry I called my sister-in-law (my EX sister-in-law) a wendigo. She’s not really a Wendigo. A Wendigo eats people. My sister-in-law only ate Snickers bars.
AP:  Black and white or full color? What’s your preference in regards to your own work?
MDJ: I love working in colour. I started with a somewhat limited colour palette but I have recently opened up and begun producing more colourful images. Just right now I’m working in black-and-white which can sometimes be unforgiving. It certainly makes you appreciate the colour when you are forced to work without it.
AP: How’d you get your start? What’s your origin story? Bitten by an artistically inclined spider? Bathed in the fumes of a paint factory? Are you a mutant? Possibly a mutant wendigo?
MDJ: I might be a mutant. I do have freakishly abundant body hair. I’m not a Wendigo. I don’t eat people. I prefer cookies.
I have been drawing for as long as I have been able to hold a pencil. My mother was a landscape painter. I preferred pencils and pen-and-ink for the longest time. I dabbled with oils and water colours but couldn’t find a way to make them medium really sing until I discovered digital painting. My mind was blown and there was no going back. Digitally I could do all the things I wanted to do with brushes but just couldn’t.
Aside from that there is no magic or mutant powers — I just do it as best I can and then try to do it better next time.
AP: Which piece of work of yours has been your favorite? Least favorite?
MDJ: Like most artists my favourite piece is usually “the next one”, but I do have a few pieces that I have a vertain fondness for. IN THE SWAMP is one of my favorites. I like the look in the swamp monster’s eyes. I also love a piece called MARRIED TO THE WIND because I did that for my wife. I have a piece I called GENERIC WESTERN COVER in which I tried to emulate James Bama’s style, which I think I sort of captured. I also have a piece simply called SPACE which encompasses a lot of what I love about classic space opera illustration. Oh yeah, I also did the cover art for a book called DRACULA LIVES! That one turned out alright.
I would prefer not to talk about my least favourite works. If I hadn’t had the temerity to accept money for them and if they weren’t despoiling the covers of some otherwise fine books and magazines, they would have been dumped down the bit-bin never to be seen again.
AP: I understand you also do a bit of writing on the side…give us the lowdown.
MDJ: I don’t write all that much. Jack Mackenzie, on the other hand, he writes a lot of pulpy, fast-paced, action-y stories and he’s been published in Encounters Magazine, Neo-Opsis Magazine, Dark Worlds Magazine and in the anthologies SWORDS OF FIRE and SAILS AND SORCERY among others. Mind you, he’s a fairly unpleasant character. He is boorish and insulting and he smells. He says he is bad tempered because he’s written four novels and none of them have been published yet.
I think it’s just because he’s a bastard.
AP: Where can we find you on the wide, wild interwebs?
MDJ: I have three main online galleries:
Visit them at your peril!
AP: Consider this last bit your designated shilling space. Snake-oil it up and tell us where we can give you money…
MDJ:If you give me money I will make you a nice picture. I’ll do a neato cover for your book or magazine or website, I’ll do a portrait of your favourite child/parent/great aunt/kitty cat — I’ll do anything except for a Velvet Elvis or dogs playing cards. There’s already too many of those in the world.
Contact me at one of my galleries and we can negotiate.
‘Watchmen’ Loses Taste for Squid?

‘Watchmen’ Loses Taste for Squid?

According to /Film, a screening for Watchmen occurred last week for a test audience without preexisting ties to the graphic novel. Despite rave reviews of the film, there are reports that Zack Snyder has significantly altered the story’s ending. How, you ask? Well, it’s spoiler-heavy, so click below to find out…

BE WARNED! SPOILERS AHEAD!

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Manga Friday: Here We Go Again

Manga Friday: Here We Go Again

 

This time around I have a volume two, a volume three, and a volume four – all in series that I’ve read at least some of the earlier books. Let’s see if I can still remember what went before – since manga often don’t have “who the heck are these people and what are they doing” pages – and whether they’re getting more or less interesting.

Kaze No Hana, Vol. 2
By Ushio Mizta and Akiyoshi Ohta
Yen Press, August 2008, $10.99

This is the series about an amnesiac teenage girl, Momoka, who is part of a family that wields magical swords to drive monsters away and protect their city. I reviewed the first volume in April, and had to admit then that there were too many characters with too few faces for me to keep them all straight.

Well, this time, we get even more characters, including another sword-wielding family that likes the monsters and wants to see them take over the earth or rampage through Tokyo or do whatever it is these particular monsters would do. Their leader is the cute girl Kurohime – and the only thing more dangerous than an old man in a Hong Kong movie is a cute girl in manga – and they have “sacred swords,” which are utterly different from the heroes’ “spiritual swords” in ways that perhaps don’t entirely translate well.

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Paul Pope Shows Off ‘Battling Boy’ Pages

Paul Pope is in the midst of making a new comic about a kid who has to fight his way through "Monstropolis," and he’s been kind enough to post a quick preview on the blog of publisher First Second, which is putting out the book.

There are two black and white preview pages — one is seen at right — that detail a small moment in the book, as the main character, Battling Boy, fights "Humbaba, the toughest monster (or maybe at least the oldest — Humbaba can be traced back to Gilgamesh; he is the guardian of the edge of a city, or the place where a forest meets the edge of a city, as you prefer)."

While Pope has often ventured into somewhat harsh territory, there’s an almost Bone-ian vibe of innocent wonder coming from these pages, but it’s far too little to judge. Here’s some of what Pope had to say about the book:

Battling Boy is the son of a god or a super hero—it is left unspecified—who comes down from the top of a mountain (or rather, from inside a cloud/UFO contraption/contrivance from above a mountain top) at this father’s behest, in order to rid a giant city from it’s plague of monsters. Hercules had his labors, Batman has his Gotham, Battling Boy has his Monstropolis.

Monstropolis is a city the size of an entire continent—and it is absolutely overrun with monsters. These are horrible, Grimm’s fairytale, Beowulf-ish monsters, awful things. Child-stealers. Plus some of the vampires and mummies and wolfmen we remember from the old black and white Hollywood horror films. Which—if you remember—aren’t very funny. And they don’t all like each other, either. Even a monster can’t stand another monster, this has been proven time and time again.

(via The Beat)

‘The Incredible Hulk’ Smashes Other Movie Standees

‘The Incredible Hulk’ Smashes Other Movie Standees

Theater lobbies littered with cardboard standees promoting Indiana Jones, Dark Knight, Hellboy II and other movies may be a familiar sight these days, but to paraphrase the Hulk, they’re just "puny banners!"

Selected theaters across the country recently received life-size maquettes to promote the release of The Incredible Hulk on June 13. And when we say "life-size," we mean it! 

Measuring over 8-feet tall and as wide as a truck, simply standing next to one of the maquettes is enough to understand why that anonymous soldier in the classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby origin issue called him a "hulking monster."

You have to wonder which movie theater employee gets to take this home.