Tagged: Tarzan

PULP ARK 2013 GUESTS OF HONOR ANNOUNCED!

  • News
  • October 15, 2012

PRESS RELEASE- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND DISTRIBUTION

PULP ARK 2013 GUESTS OF HONOR REVEALED!
APRIL 26-28TH, 2013
10/15/12

Pulp Ark 2013, the Official New Pulp Creators’ Conference/Convention in its third year announced today its Three Guests of Honor for the Third year of the convention to be held in Springdale, AR.

“Pulp,” Tommy Hancock, Pulp Ark Organizer and Partner in Pro Se Productions, the company sponsoring Pulp Ark, “is a marvelous, massively diverse field…a style that has transcended its origins in the early 20th Century in cheaply printed magazines and found its way into every medium available to modern fans.  Classic characters and stories are finding new life with readers and enthusiasts today and new tales centered around original characters are exploding onto the scene as well.  This year, Pulp Ark 2013 will celebrate the variety that is Pulp in many ways.   Our Three Guests of Honor most definitely reflect both the differences and the common denominators in Pulp, both classic and new, both originals of today and inspirations of yesteryear.   I am extremely proud to announce that Joe Devito, Martin Powell, and Paul Bishop will be the Guests of Honor for Pulp Ark 2013 this year!”



Martin Powell has been a professional writer since 1986. He received early critical praise with the Eisner Award nominated Sherlock Holmes/Count Dracula graphic novel, Scarlet in Gaslight, which has remained in print for more than twenty-five years.


Powell has since written hundreds of stories in numerous genres, including mystery, science fiction, horror, and humor, and has been published by Disney, Marvel, DC, Moonstone, Wild Cat Books, and Sequential Pulp/Dark Horse Comics, among others, working with such popular characters as Superman, Batman, Tarzan, Lee Falk’s The Phantom, Frankenstein, The Spider, Kolchak the Night Stalker, The Avenger, and more.

He also a prolific author of many acclaimed children’s books, and is the creator of The Halloween Legion. His The Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan won the coveted Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for Best Graphic Novel of 2010.



Martin lives in Saint Paul, MN.


Joe DeVito was born on March 16, 1957 in New York City. He graduated with honors from Parsons School of Design in 1981 and studied at the Art Students League in New York City.


Over the years DeVito has painted many of the most recognizable Pop Culture and Pulp icons, including King Kong, Tarzan, Doc Savage, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, MAD magazine’s Alfred E. Newman and various characters in World of Warcraft, with a decided emphasis in his illustration on dinosaurs, Action Adventure, SF and Fantasy. He has illustrated hundreds of book and magazine covers, painted several notable posters and numerous trading cards for the major comic book and gaming houses, and created concept and character design for the film and television industries.


In 3D, DeVito sculpted the official 100th Anniversary statue of Tarzan of the Apes for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate, The Cooper Kong for the Merian C. Cooper Estate, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman for Chronicle Book’s Masterpiece Editions, several other notable Pop and Pulp characters. Additional sculpting work ranges from scientifically accurate dinosaurs, a multitude of collectibles for the Bradford Exchange in a variety of genres, to larger-than-life statues and the award trophy for the influential art annual SPECTRUM.


An avid writer, Joe is also the co-author (with Brad Strickland) of two novels, which he illustrated as well. The first, KONG: King of Skull Island (DH Press) was published in  2004. The second book, Merian C. Cooper’s KING KONG, was published by St. Martin’s Griffin, in 2005. He has also contributed many essays and articles to such collected works as Kong Unbound: The Cultural Impact, Pop Mythos, and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend and Do Androids Artists Paint In Oils When They Dream?in Pixel or Paint: The Digital Divide In Illustration Art.


2012 saw the release of Kindle and iBook versions of KONG: King of Skull Island that were accompanied by Part 1 of a cutting edge app version of the book. With the property in full development as a motion picture, other plans include the release of Part 2 of the interactive Kong book app, the beginning of a KONG: King of Skull Island YA series and Kong collectibles for the Cooper Estate.


Presently DeVito is painting covers for The All NewWild Adventures of Doc Savage (written by Will Murray), while also finishing the screenplay and developing imagery for his newest creation, a faction world of truly epic proportions tentatively titled The Primordials.


FB: Joe DeVito-DeVito Artworks


Paul Bishop is a thirty-five year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department whose career included a three year tour as an interrogator with his department’s Anti-Terrorist Division and over twenty-five years’ experience in the investigation of sex crimes. For the past eight years, his various Special Assaults Units have consistently produced the highest number of detective initiated arrests and highest crime clearance rate in the city. Twice honored as Detective of the Year, Paul also received the Quality and Productivity Commission Award from the City of Los Angeles.

As a nationally recognized interrogator, Paul co-starred with his professional partner, bestselling author and prosecutor, Mary Hanlon Stone, as the regular interrogators and driving force behind the ABC reality show Take The Money And Run from producer Jerry Bruckheimer.  Based on his expertise in the area of deception detection, Paul continues to work privately conducting interview and interrogation seminars for law enforcement agencies, military entities, and human resource organizations.

   
Paul has had twelve novels published, including Hot Pursuit, Deep Water, Penalty Shot, Suspicious Minds, the short story collection Running Wylde, and five novels in his L.A.P.D. Detective Fey Croaker series – Croaker: Kill Me Again, Croaker: Grave Sins, Croaker: Tequila Mockingbird, Croaker: Chalk Whispers, and Croaker: Pattern of Behavior.  All his novels have recently been released in e-book format. 

Paul has also written feature film scripts and numerous episodic scripts for television, including such shows as Diagnosis: Murder, LA Dragnet, The New Detectives, and Navy Seals: The Untold Stories. 

Paul is currently writing and editing the monthly Fight Card series, 25,000 word e-novels, designed to be read in one or two sittings, inspired by the fight pulps of the ’30s and ’40s – such as Fight Stories Magazine – and Robert E. Howard’s two-fisted boxing tales featuring Sailor Steve Costigan.  His latest entry, Fight Card: Swamp Walloper (written as Jack Tunney) will premiere at the 2013 Pulp Ark convention.   He can be found blogging at www.bishsbeat.blogspot.com  and followed via twitter@bishsbeat.  A full list of his novels  is available at http://tinyurl.com/7x8xo5k



“These three,” Hancock stated, “represent a huge variety within Pulp today, but they all also show the commonalities of what Pulp is.  And as far as mediums, everything from books to comics to television to sculpture to painting and more is represented by these fantastic Guests.   It’s a privilege for Pulp Ark to have them as its centerpiece in 2013.”

Pulp Ark is a Writer’s Conference/Convention focused on ‘Pulp’ fiction.  Although defined narrowly by many, Pulp Ark promotes Pulp Fiction as multi genre multi medium storytelling that typically involves action, adventure, larger than life heroes and villains, and a strong focus on both plot and characterization.  “Pulp,” Hancock said, “began as a medium in which many great writers told a lot of wonderful stories and readers could pick ’em up a 100 or more pages at a time for a dime.  Although it’s no longer that necessarily, the sensibilities of Pulp storytelling, the style, the methodology, all the stuff fans have remembered and enjoyed for over 80 years about those kinds of tales, all of that is still around and available from all sorts of authors, artists, performers and companies.  That is what Pulp Ark is all about.”

Pulp Ark 2013 will be held in Springdale, Arkansas April 26-28, 2013 at the Holiday Inn Springdale Hotel and Convention Center in Springdale, Arkansas, 1500 South 48th Street, phone number- 1-479-751-8300.  For a peek at the venue, click HERE!

SPECIAL PRICES UNTIL JANUARY 1ST, 2013!  Any and all who plan to attend Pulp Ark 2013 and want to get the Discounted Room Rate MUST reserve a room or rooms by January 1st, 2013 to take advantage of the Special Pulp Ark rate of $84.00 a night.  To reserver your room online, please click HERE!  


PULP ARK 2013-Springdale, Arkansas!  For further information, go to www.prosepulp.com or contact Hancock at 870-834-4022 and/or proseproductions@earthlink.net.  Expect more Pulp Ark Announcements VERY SOON!

TARZAN SWINGS ONTO THE BIG SCREEN IN 2013!

  • Uncategorized
  • October 13, 2012

Tarzan returns to the big screen in 2013 in a new motion capture movie starring Kellen Lutz from “Twilight” performing the motion capture of Tarzan. Spencer Locke from the “Resident Evil” movies plays Jane. A teaser trailer has been released showing the lord of the jungle in action.

PRESS RELEASE:

Tarzan Official Trailer #1 (2013) – Motion Capture Movie HD

Reinhard Klooss will direct. Robert Kulzer will produce with a script written by Klooss, Yoni Brenner and Jessica Postigo. According to THR, the story is being updated: “Tarzan’s parents, billionaire adventurers, are now killed in airplane crash rather than being marooned with their child. And the movie’s villain is the CEO of Greystoke Energies, a man who took over the company from Tarzan’s deceased parents. In the script, Jane is the daughter of an African guide and is committed to the conservation and preservation of the African jungle. She eventually works with Tarzan to defeat the mercenary army of Greystoke Energies.”

All Pulp will bring you more news as it becomes available.

DARK HORSE COMICS FOR JANUARY

  • News
  • October 12, 2012

Dark Horse Comics has released their pulpy offerings coming in January 2013. Comic book shops and bookstores are pre-ordering these titles now to be in store in January. If you want your local shop to carry these titles, please let them know now.

THE UNAUTHORIZED TARZAN HC & LTD. ED. HC
Joe Gill (W), Sam J. Glanzman (P/I), Bill Montes (P), and Ernie Bache (I)

A classic run of Tarzan comics, reprinted for the first time! In the 1960s, believing Tarzan to have fallen into the public domain, Charlton Comics enlisted Joe Gill (Flash Gordon, House of Mystery) and Sam Glanzman (Hercules, Our Army at War) to create a new comics version of the Lord of the Jungle. Only four issues were produced before Charlton was forced to end the series, and much of the original print runs were destroyed. Collects Chalton’s Jungle Tales of Tarzan #1–#4. Includes never-before-seen Tarzan comic strips by Glanzman and historical essays by Roger Broughton!

112 pages, $29.99 (limited edition, signed, $59.99), in stores on March 20.

THE BLACK BEETLE: NO WAY OUT #1
Francesco Francavilla (W/A/Cover)

Black Beetle’s investigation of two local mob bosses is interrupted when a mysterious explosion murders them and a pub full of gangsters–taking out most of Colt City’s organized crime in one fell swoop. Who could pull off such a coup, and what danger might that murderous bomber do to Colt City and Black Beetle?

32 pages, $3.99, in stores on Jan. 16.

THE CHRONICLES OF CONAN VOLUME 23: WELL OF SOULS TP
Jim Owsley (Christopher Priest) (W), John Buscema (P), Ernie Chan (P/I), Bob Camp (I), George Roussos (C), and Steven Mellor (C)

Conan and his companions pursue a grand treasure through lands beset by civil war, murderous cults, and demonic horrors. And while the mighty Cimmerian will–and does!–spit in the very face of death itself, he and his comrades discover that not all treasures are of gold and precious gems. Collects Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian #174–#181 and Conan the Barbarian Annual #10.

232 pages, $18.99, in stores on March 20.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #12
Brian Wood (W), Declan Shalvey (A), Dave Stewart (C), and Massimo Carnevale (Cover)

Unable to obtain a cure for the deadly illness afflicting Belit and the crew of the Tigress, Conan feels the fear of loss for the first time. With no hope and a broken heart, the Cimmerian is horrified at how appealing he finds Belit’s order to abandon the ship and his queen! The haunting conclusion of “The Death”!

32 pages, $3.50, in stores on Jan. 16.

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOLUME 4 HC
Dick Wood (W), Lev Gleason (W), Rudy Palais (A), Charles Biro (A), Bob Q. Siegel (A), Richard “Dick” Briefer (A), R. W. Hall (A), Art Gates (A), Art Mann (A), and Alan Mandel (A)

Crime Does Not Pay–the true-crime comic that enjoyed massive circulation throughout the forties and fifties–was a hit with readers. Issues #34-#37 of this visceral, provocative series are now collected into one fine, head-walloping hardcover.

264 pages, $49.99, in stores on March 13.

CRIMINAL MACABRE: FINAL NIGHT–THE 30 DAYS OF NIGHT CROSSOVER #2
Steve Niles (W), Christopher Mitten (A), Michelle Madsen (C), and Justin Erickson (Cover)

Cal has always wanted the Feds to focus on vampires, and now they are, one in particular–Eben Olemaun, now on a quest to bring mankind to its knees. But the FBI is up to more than tracking down Eben. Will Cal and Alice figure it out before it kills them both?

32 pages, $3.99, in stores on Jan. 30.

NUMBER 13 #2
Robert Love (W/A/Cover), David Walker (W), Dana Shukartsi (I), and Brennan Wagner (C)

Number 13 struggles to regain his memory and the purpose of his existence, while the manipulative Mother Goose seeks to control his power. She’s not prepared for the forces of the Professor, Number 13’s sinister creator. No one is safe in the battle to control Number 13–a battle that will determine the fate of a future world.

32 pages, $3.99, in stores on Jan. 23.

R.I.P.D.: CITY OF THE DAMNED #3
Peter Lenkov (W), Jeremy Barlow (W), Tony Parker (A), Michelle Madsen (C), and Dave Wilkins (Cover)

For newly recruited R.I.P.D. officer Roy Pulsipher and his senior Puritan partner Crispin Mather, the train that awaits them is their only hope of reaching the City and saving Creation, but climbing aboard means also aligning with a dark enemy and renouncing their very beliefs . . . forcing a choice that could doom their souls forever! Prequel to the upcoming feature film starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges!

32 pages, $3.50, in stores on Jan. 30.

R.I.P.D. VOLUME 1 2ND EDITION TP
Peter Lenkov (W), Lucas Marangon (P), Randy Emberlin (I), Dave Nestelle (C), and Dave Wilkins (Cover)

Welcome to the Rest In Peace Department–the devoted, yet dead, officers of divine law enforcement. Nick Cruz was gunned down in the line of duty at the height of his personal and professional life. Now he’s traded a hundred years of service to the R.I.P.D. in exchange for a shot at solving his own murder. Collects the original four-issue miniseries.

104 pages, $12.99, in stores on March 20.

For a full listing of Dark Horse’s January Releases, visit them at www.darkhorse.com.

Mike Gold: Icons

Not counting reprints of the newspaper strips, Tarzan of the Apes has been in the hands of no less than seven U.S. comic book publishers. That’s roughly one outfit per decade. Most enjoyed long and healthy runs by the standards of the time, legal quibbles notwithstanding.

Currently The Lone Ranger is in the hands of Dynamite Publishing. In those same 70 years, John, Tonto, Silver and Scout enjoyed lengthy runs at Western Publishing (Dell and Gold Key, which were two separate companies) and a shorter term at Topps.

The 1970s property Planet of the Apes has been kept alive by comics publishers, initially Marvel and now Boom! Studios.

The Shadow? Five comics publishers, extending the life of the original pulp and radio hero by more than a half-century… and counting.

The original Twilight Zone television show was cancelled in 1964; the Western Publishing comic book series ran until 1982.

The list goes on and on. What is it about the comic book medium that keeps iconic characters and concepts alive when their originating media cannot?

Math.

Television audiences are measured in units of one million, and very generally speaking you need at least ten of them to survive. Movie audiences are measured in units of ten million dollars and you need lots of those to survive. Mass-market paperbacks, radio drama, pulp magazines and newspaper continuity strips are virtually dead. In most cases, more than just “virtually.”

Comic book audiences are measured in units of one thousand, and these days you can achieve regular publishing with only five or ten such units, depending upon costs and foreign revenues. It’s a lot easier to grab five thousand readers than it is ten million viewers or one hundred million dollars at the box office. All you have to do is appeal to each property’s hardcore audience.

And this is why comics thrive. Appealing to the hardcore, to the most faithful, requires reaching and maintaining a higher standard of entertainment. Us fanboys and fangirls are damn picky. Unlike the movies we do not necessarily demand “name” talent, but we do demand that the writers and artists remain faithful to the source material while telling their stories in a contemporary manner – while being awe-inspiring at all times.

In comics, we’ve got a special effects budget that has no limit and our turn-around time is usually shorter than that of other media, e-books notwithstanding. We can stay on the cutting edge. We are limited only by our skill and our imagination.

Most important, we have fewer cigar-chomping asshole businesspeople mindlessly calling the shots. Well, certainly at those publishers that aren’t owned by major Hollywood studios.

I’d be impressed – very impressed – if I were to see a Zorro television series or a movie that is half as good as the storyline just completed by Matt Wagner and John K. Snyder III in Zorro Rides Again. But, trust me, I won’t be holding my breath.

When it comes to the icons of heroic fantasy, we do it better.

We do it best.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil

 

TARZAN NEWS!

  • News
  • September 24, 2012
Art: Joe Jusko

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan turns 100 this year, but don’t think celebrating his centennial has slowed down the Lord of the Jungle. Quite the opposite. Here are a few odds and ends from Tarzan’s world happening in 2012 and beyond.

Art: Tom Grindberg
Art: Tom Grindberg

 EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS COMIC SERVICE-
By signing up for the new Edgar Rice Burroughs Comic Service, you will be able to view New and Coming Tarzan comics as soon as they leave our artist’s desk!

Read the recent All Pulp interviews with Tarzan 2012 comic strip writer Roy Thomas and artist Tom Grindberg.

Art: Sterling Hundley

TARZAN ART TO APPEAR ON NEW USPS POSTAGE STAMP-
CHESTERFIELD, VA – Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author who created Tarzan and a host of other sci-fi heroes a century ago, didn’t get much respect for what was considered pulp fiction at the time. Now, the work of a Chesterfield artist commemorating the prolific author is taking a licking literally.

A brand-new postage stamp showing Burroughs and Tarzan is set to take off around the world. It’s the second U.S. Postal Service stamp drawn by Sterling Hundley, an artist, illustrator and Virginia Commonwealth University art professor. (His first was Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman to hold a presidential cabinet position.)

Learn more about Sterling Hundley and the new Tarzan stamp here.

OFFICIAL TARZAN STATUES NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER-
Details here.

Art: Joe Kubert

JOE KUBERT’S TARZAN OF THE APES: ARTIST’S EDITION COMING IN SEPTEMBER-

Art: Joe Kubert

Joe Kubert is one of the most lauded artists in the history of comics, a true living legend. He has been a vital creative force since the 1940s and remains so to this day. He has had defining runs on Hawkman, Enemy Ace, Tor, Sgt. Rock, and many others. Among his career highlights is Tarzan of the Apes, and Kubert’s rendition could arguably be called the definitive comic adaptation of the Ape-man.

“To have the Tarzan stories I drew commemorate the 100th anniversary of a strip I fell in love with as a kid is the thrill of a lifetime,” said Joe Kubert, writer and artist of all the stories in this Artist’s Edition.

This Artist’s Edition collects six complete Kubert Tarzan adventures, including the classic four-part origin story. Each page is vividly reproduced from the original art and presented as no comics readers have seen before. For fans of Kubert and Tarzan, this new entry in the Eisner-winning Artist’s Edition line must be seen to be believed!

2012 is the centennial year for Tarzan. Created by master storyteller Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan is instantly recognizable to countless fans around the globe. Other notable creations of Burroughs’ include John Carter of Mars, Korak, Carson of Venus, and At the Earth’s Core.

“I first read these comics when I was 10 years old, and they remain some of my favorite stories ever,” said Editor Scott Dunbier, “this is Joe Kubert at his absolute best.”

What is an Artist’s Edition? Artist’s Editions are printed the same size as the original art. While appearing to be in black & white, each page has been scanned in COLOR to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for example, you are able to clearly see paste-overs, blue pencils in the art, editorial notes, and art corrections. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board.

JOE KUBERT’S TARZAN OF THE APE: ARTIST’S EDITION ($100, hardcover, black and white, 156 pages, 12” x 17”) will be available in stores September 2012.
Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books. IDW can also be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/idwpublishing and http://tumblr.idwpublishing.com/ and on Twitter at @idwpublishing.

Art: Tim Burgard

SEQUENTIAL PULP/DARK HORSE COMICS PRESENT TARZAN AT THE EARTH’S CORE-
Coming 2013 – TARZAN AT THE EARTH’S CORE Adapted by Martin Powell and illustrated by Tim Burgard. Tarzan At The Earth’s Core © Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., Tarzan ® TM owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. and used by permission. Coming soon from Sequential Pulp/Dark Horse Comics.

Not bad for a guy turning 100, eh?

ROY THOMAS RETURNS FOR TARZAN’S NEXT BIG ADVENTURE!

  • Uncategorized
  • September 13, 2012

All Pulp sat down with Roy Thomas, writer of the upcoming Tarzan Sunday Strips about the project as well as his legendary comic book career.

AP: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp and comic book interests.

RT: Loved the comics medium since I discovered them at around age 4 1/2, starting with things like Superman and Batman, but nowadays don’t follow the field at all… I just collect comics from the Golden and Silver Ages, plus a few other things. At age 10 or so I read a few pulps like PLANET STORIES (have already read PLANET COMICS); only pulp I have now are a complete-but-for-one collection of the magazine appearances of Conan, plus the complete Adam Link stories of Eando Binder and a couple of others.

AP: How did you get your start as a comic book writer?

RT: Wrote to letters to comics editors, esp. Julius Schwartz–and one day in early 1965 Mort Weisinger, with whom I’d never exchanged more than one or two letters, offered me a job as editorial assistant on the Superman books. I threw over a foreign relations fellowship and went to work for DC… two weeks later, for Marvel.

AP: With Tarzan’s 100th anniversary in full swing, you’ve landed the writing duties on a new Tarzan Sunday web strip along with artist Tom Grindberg. What can we expect from this new strip?

RT: Beautiful artwork from Tom and our attempt to tell stories which will be true to the classic spirit of Tarzan.

AP: Will the Tarzan strip be an on-going project?

RT: We hope so. We have to be able to make a minimum of money from it after a little while, but mostly we’re doing it for the love of it.

AP: Anything you can tease about the new Tarzan strips?

RT: The story involves the disappearance of Jane, and Tarzan’s involvement with La, who’d like to take her place. Tom had drawn several of the La sequence strips before I came aboard, so I figured we’d find a way to make everything fit as a story. At this writing, we’ve done nine “weeks,” I guess… the equivalent of nine Sunday strips, if they were appearing in newspapers… which they ought to be.

AP: Do you, as a writer, approach doing a web comic such as Tarzan any differently than if you were doing it for a newspaper or comic book?

RT: Yes, you have to write in little bursts… a climax of sorts every few panels. But you quickly get into the rhythm, and I know that whatever I come up with, Tom will draw beautifully. He, as much as Tarzan, is the reason I’m doing this, even though we really hardly know each other. But I’ve always loved his work… and the fact that he isn’t too busy right now with comic book work to even consider such a project is as damning of the present-day field as anything I could think to say about it.

AP: There seem to be many different opinions about what can be defined as pulp. How do you define pulp and what do you look for in a pulp story as a writer and a reader? Do you consider Tarzan a pulp hero?

RT: Sure. Tarzan started in a pulp, albeit a higher-class one than some… and he and ERB almost definite pulp, at least at the high end.

AP: Tarzan is not your first time stepping into the world of pulp. How does working on Tarzan compare and contrast to working on Conan?

RT: We’ll have to see. They’re quite different characters… both men of action, but Tarzan is probably more introspective than Conan. When I did the TARZAN comics for Marvel, I tried too hard to keep ERB’s prose when I was adapting the novel TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE. You can’t do that as easily or as well as you can with REH and Conan, because ERB doesn’t write purple and/or poetic prose the way Howard does. ERB just tells the story… so I should’ve thrown away most of those captions I wrote for TARZAN, or severely shortened then. I don’t feel the same way about CONAN.

AP: Where do you see the comic book industry in the future?

RT: Online, probably. That’s another reason I’m less interested in it. I can get interested in writing an online strip… because it’s basically the same as writing a strip for newspapers, and I already do that by working with Stan, for over a dozen years now, on the SPIDER-MAN strip… and of course I wrote two years of a CONAN strip 30 years ago. But I’m personally less interested in READING an online strip, because I want to hold the paper in my hands, etc. I hope and trust many other readers nowadays do not feel the same, and we’ll do the best we can to deliver the kind of strip they’d like if they read it once a week in the Sunday papers, surrounded by “Dilbert” and “Classic Peanuts.”

AP: And how can we get the millions of fans that enjoy movies based on comic books to pick up the source material?

RT: If I knew that, I’d be rich. I’m not rich…but I’m comfortable.

AP: Is there a particular character out there you haven’t had the chance to work on that you would love to take a crack at writing?

RT: No characters I haven’t written that I can think of that I’m wild about writing… though I’d like to write AGAIN some of those I wrote before: Conan… the Invaders… All-Star Squadron… Infinity, Inc… Arak, Son of Thunder… Captain Carrot… Jonni Thunder… hey, even Starr the Slayer. Couldn’t do worse than THAT Marvel mini-series of a couple of years ago. It made my skin crawl. Or would have, if I’d bought it and taken it home with me instead of just skimming it at the store and putting it firmly back on the shelf. Still, somebody there was trying to be creative… I just wish they’d done it with (and TO) their own character, and not one I co-created.

AP: Where can readers find information on you and your work?

RT: In general, I can be Googled, like everybody else… but I eschew Facebook and the like, though Tom Grindberg will keep me apprised of what readers say to him on Facebook. They can reach me at roydann@ntinet.com or write me a letter at the address that’s in every issue of ALTER EGO, my heroic-comics-history magazine.

AP: What upcoming projects do you have coming up that you can tell us about at this time?

RT: No comics besides TARZAN and the ongoing SPIDER-MAN strip I work on with Stan Lee. I have a couple of comics projects, esp. One, that’s near to making a deal on…but it’s hard to find time for it, because I’ve signed a contract to write a biiiggg book about Stan’s life for Taschen, the German company that published that big DC book by Paul Levitz last year. Similar format and size… so it’ll be big and expensive, and is about to start taking up a huge percentage of my time. I’ll be lucky to keep everything else minimally afloat till I finish it, months from now!

AP: Do you have any shows, signings, or conventions coming up where your fans can meet you?

RT: Not till Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, next June. Well, actually, there’s another big con coming up late this winter… but they’ve asked me not to mention it till they announce it, so… like I said, I’m gonna be busy with this book and my previous commitments.

AP: And finally, what does Roy Thomas do when he’s not writing?

RT: I read (though hard to find time these days)… watch a lot of TV (Netflix and Canadian, mostly) with Dann… and spend time exercising (not rigorously) and playing with our eight dogs, feeding the capybaras, etc., etc. Always something to do when you’ve got a 40-acre spread and a couple of houses… I even have to help clean up the swimming pool, though that season is about over right now.

AP: Thanks, Roy. We’re looking forward to following the new adventures of Tarzan.

You can learn more about Tarzan and the Sunday Strips at www.edgarriceburroughs.com

Also, check out All Pulp’s interview with Tarzan Sunday Strip artist Tom Grindberg at http://allpulp.blogspot.com/2012/08/artist-tom-grindberg-takes-all-pulp-on.html

ARTIST TOM GRINDBERG TAKES ALL PULP ON A TOUR OF TARZAN’S AFRICA

  • Uncategorized
  • August 23, 2012

All Pulp sat down with Tom Grindberg, artist of the upcoming Tarzan Sunday Strips about the project as well as his comic book career and love of pulps.

AP: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp and comic book interests.

TG: Pulps in general were their from the beginning and deserve as much place if not more importance than that other medium called comics. My interests and appreciation for the Pulps was the blend of text enhanced with pictures. So many great illustrators of that era are just being discovered by today’s artists and fans and I for one am a huge fan too. I also would love to see more publishers repackage some key stories or even lessor known works to a new audience of fresh eyes. So much material could spawn and inspire this younger crop of creators coming into the business pervaded with only superheros. The pulps have so much variety and choices for any group out there looking for newer idea’s to entertain.

AP: How did you get your start as a comic book artist?

TG: I went to both Marvel and DC comics back in 1981 when I was still 19 years old and began my career in comics. I went to Marvel and met Jim Shooter who was the EIC at the time and he basically asked which rock did I crawl from under and gave me my first assignment. It was an inventory job to test me out on. That same day I went to DC’s offices and met Ernie Colon they’re art director at the time. He offered about the same thing but did mention something about illustrating Batman, which really was not as hot as the Marvel characters at the time and since I already had a commitment from Marvel I stayed put with my first offer. Never take your first offer! Sometimes it’s best to go with your gut instincts. nuff said!

AP: With Tarzan’s 100th anniversary in full swing, you’ve landed the art duties on a new Tarzan Sunday web strip along with writer Roy Thomas. What can we expect from this new strip?

TG: Well for one thing you can bank on all new plots and art! Both me and Roy have plotted roughly years worth of material. Most of that material will happen in Africa in the 1940’s before the second world war and thus allow us to bring that element if it crosses Tarzans path to be included. Tarzan, Jane as well as the Wazuri tribe are part of the cast along with La of Opar. We also want to explore as many places within the Tarzan universe that ERB created as possible. The possibilities are endless and I hope that we can entertain old as well as new readers to keep everyone interested in the strip.

AP: Will the Tarzan strip be an on-going project?

TG: Yes, we will be doing only Sundays at this moment for as long as it is feasible for us to continue a continuity strip. Essentially, its all up to you and the readers and how much of a need there is for this centennial character.

AP: Anything you can tease about the new Tarzan strips?

TG: Not to give too much away but I have been teasing the heck out of many on FaceBook lately and have stirred up enough peoples expectations and interest enough. They what to see more and more. I’ll keep posting newer images without spoiling too much of the storyline.

AP: Do you, as an artist, approach doing Tarzan as a web comic any differently than if you were doing it for a newspaper or comic book?

TG: Not really, only thing is that if it does go to print the dimensions of the book will be more rectangular, but other than that my I approach this with the same attitude as regular comics. Though with each Sunday your more focused on keeping the readers expectations high so that they want to see next weeks installment, I think in today’s comics your allowed a bit more room to roam and not too confined. In every Sunday I am trying to give the readers as much art as possible without it looking like a pile of mini panels unless it warrants it for something narrative or cinematic. I love to create a rich and lush environment but not to overkill the entire design of each Sunday with too much or too muddy it up.

AP: There seem to be many different opinions about what can be defined as pulp. How do you define pulp and what do you look for in a pulp story as an artist and a reader? Is Tarzan a pulp hero?

TG: Initially, Tarzan was just prose written by the author with perhaps a few illustrations…In its basic form that is how I imagined pulps were then and now. I would regard pulps as text and a few pictures.

AP: Tarzan is not your first time stepping into the world of these types of pulp characters. How does working on Tarzan compare and contrast to working on Conan?

TG: Different time periods for starters. Conan world is just as dangerous as Tarzan’s. Conan’s world is full of wizards monsters and epic battles with Conan managing to come out on top with but a few scratches while Tarzan’s world is more modern and probably more realistic even if you can imagine a boy being raised by gorillas and then learning to speak there language and communicating with about every beast in the jungle which is of course both characters are based in Fantasy which is more interesting to illustrate. Action, adventure and fantasy is core reason why I love both characters so much and respect Burroughs and Howard characters and all their creations.

AP: Where do you see the comic book industry in the future? And how can we get the millions of fans that enjoy movies based on comic books to pick up the source material?

TG: I think I see comics moving more on line and less standing in lines. I believe computers have been a very important tool for us to get information from and that its much cheaper to operate and get your message out to millions across the world. I think this is next evolution in the world of comics and self-publishing. If it sells well online then by all means produce it in trade paperback form. I still like holding the finish product in my hands. If Hollywood and comics could join forces in a project it might create a whole new genre. I imagine motion comics or animatics may be this new direction. Static pictures are not enough for this American audience who wishes to be amazed and not bored.

AP: Is there a particular character out there you haven’t had the chance to work on that you would love to take a crack at drawing?

TG: I would like to illustrate Raymond’s Flash Gordon or Foster’s Prince Valiant…So far, I have a real gem on my hands right now, that being TARZAN…I’m not complaining at all!

AP: Where can readers find information on you and your work?

TG: For right now, I am on FaceBook and would encourage anyone becoming friends with me and wanting to see more of what I do this is the one stop spot for the time being. Later on, I imagine I’ll be needing my own website but that’s down the road.
 

AP: What upcoming projects do you have coming up that you can tell us about at this time?

TG: I have been offered a shot at Bruce Jones return to his book Alien Worlds and hope to be collaborating with him very soon on a few short stories produced by RAW Publications. I always, loved his collaborations in the past as well as his own art and look forward to putting both feet into something more suited to what I really like to do best which is Science Fiction Fantasy. I have been doing a few covers a year for Moonstone’s licensed character Airboy but not nearly enough of anything with Dark Horse, Marvel or DC.

AP: Do you have any shows, signings, or conventions coming up where your fans can meet you?

TG: No, but I really need desperately to get out more often and seek out my readers and art lovers. Its a funny situation when you don’t produce enough material yearly to warrant going to shows to show off a few covers but, that will change once the Tarzan strip gets up and running. I live in the Brooklyn New York area and will try to be at the next Comic Con.

AP: And finally, what does Tom Grindberg do when he’s not drawing?

TG: I spend most of my time with my wife and our little daughter Katie who is now 18 months old. They are best things in my life right now and deserve so much attention for all the joy they give me.

AP: Thanks, Tom. We’re looking forward to the premiere of the Tarzan Sunday Strips.

You can learn more about Tarzan and the Sunday Strips at www.edgarriceburroughs.com
You can learn more about Tom Grindberg at www.facebook.com/tom.grindberg

Remembering Joe Kubert

  • News
  • August 13, 2012

Joe Kubert’s distinct art style was one of the earliest I recall being able to identify. It seemed such a perfect fit the DC war titles and I was always pleasantly surprised to see the occasional superhero cover during the 1960s. I didn’t really get a sense of his lengthy tenure in comics until he was spotlighted in an issue of DC Special.

Then came Tarzan. I knew of the character but had not then read Burroughs or the Gold Key comics so this was an eye-popping revelation. It was my first sustained exposure to the jungle lord and Kubert’s artwork seemed an ideal fit. Thanks to DC’s expanded reprint program through the 1970s, I was exposed to more and more of his work and recognized a true artist.

In the summer of 1980, I was briefly on staff at DC prior to beginning my career at Starlog Press and I wound up spending a lot of time in Ross Andru’s office. It was small and cramped, but he sat at his drawing board working up covers or layout covers for others. At the same, all cover art was passed under his nose and it was through his tutelage that I grasped how carefully Kubert constructed his covers and he drew for color, something I had never considered before. At first I would see the artwork and wonder where the blacks were to give the cover weight but then I would see the color guide and it suddenly made sense and worked wonderfully.

Joe and I became nodding acquaintances when I finally joined DC in 1984 and he contributed pages to Who’s Who but we never did more work together and remained friendly enough. At some point, Ðìçk Giordano asked me and Mike Gold to reread the five issues that Joe had completed of The Redeemer, a project DC ballyhooed in 1983 before yanking the project for various reasons. It was a rare treat to see stuff that no one else had. Unfortunately, the conclusion was that the time for such a work had passed and it was quietly canceled and the rights returned to Joe.

I admired and respected his work and the school, which by then was feeding the comics companies’ voracious need for talent. I then learned he was doing work for overseas publishers and I really wanted to see them. Thankfully, several, such as Abraham Stone made it over here and I distinctly recall one San Diego show, I actually waited on line for something like an hour or longer to buy a copy and have the blank first page graced with a Kubert sketch. I watched as Joe made small talk with the fan as he knocked off a flawless head shot of Sgt. Rock or one of his other characters. When it was my turn, he perfunctorily opened the book, said hi and asked what I wanted then looked up. Recognizing me, he broke into a big grin and was very pleased I had waited in line. The patience was rewarded with a wonderful full figure Tarzan.

We’d see one another at cons through the years, chatting ever so briefly since he was usually surrounded by fans, friends, and other professionals he had worked with through the years. As a result, I was delighted to hear we would both be at the Grenada Convention in 2010. For several days, we would share meals and conversation, with Joe talking to me about the early days of comics and chatted with Deb about the general world. He was good natured, usually sketching when he wasn’t eating, explaining he couldn’t help himself. Despite the language barrier, he expressed his appreciation and enthusiasm for the work of artists, shyly showing the master their portfolios.

We last saw one another, the usual handshake, smile and quick “how are you?” at Baltimore Comic-Con last fall. I was looking forward to seeing him again at the show next month. And then I received the word that he had shockingly, unexpectedly, passed away yesterday after a brief illness.

Joe broke in at the beginning of his teenage years. He worked his way up, improving his craft with every passing year. Long after he retired from editing at DC and then as the work from the majors dried up, he continued to write and draw graphic novels that essentially took over from where Will Eisner left off. Look at his output over the last 20 years and it’s an incredible achievement for any creator let alone the final chapter of one man’s career. Works like Yossel and Fax from Sarajevo are must read volumes. There’s still a bunch of work out there that needs to be translated and brought here so we can enjoy fresh Kubert for a little while longer.

He rarely had a cross word for anyone, always smiling and being as encouraging as possible. His legacy is certainly one of the broadest of any creator thanks to not only the generations of graduates but his own kids, Adam and Andy, who continue to push artistic boundaries.

The likes of Joe Kubert won’t be seen again and we’re all the poorer for it.

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Joe Kubert, 1926 – 2012

Joe Kubert, one of the greatest masters of the comics art form, died today after a short illness, three weeks short of his 86th birthday.

Best known as the artist of the long-running war feature Sgt. Rock, Joe was almost equally well-known for his work on both the golden age and silver age Hawkman and on such features as Enemy Ace, Tarzan, Firehair, Tor (which he created for St. John’s comics in the 1950s and owned and returned to throughout his life), the Tales of the Green Beret newspaper strip, and numerous other features and countless covers. In his later years he wrote and drew a great many graphic novels, both original creations (Jew Gangster, Fax from Sarajevo, Yossel) and based upon his well-established Tor and Sgt. Rock characters. DC is currently publishing his work as an inker on Before Watchman: Nite Owl, pencilled by his son Andy. He also served as an editor at DC Comics in the 1970s.

Over the years Joe received numerous awards, including the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. These honors are dwarfed by his legion of respecting collaborators, fans, students, and medium fellows.

Perhaps his greatest and most enduring contribution to the medium was his establishment in 1976 of The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover, New Jersey, which teaches the craft of comics and boasts such graduates as Timothy Truman, “Rags” Morales, Amanda Conner, Shane Davis, Tom Mandrake, Stephen Bissette, Jan Duursema, Rick Veitch, Matt Hollingsworth, Karl Kesel, Scott Kolins, Steve Lieber, Dave Dorman, Eric Shanower, Alex Maleev, and Bart Sears. His sons, Andy and Adam, received special live-long training from their gifted father.

Joe’s wife Muriel had served as a model — intentionally and, one strongly suspects, unintentionally — lending her image to many of Kubert’s female characters. Muriel passed away in 2008. Their marriage ran an incredible 57 years.

In addition to Andy and Adam, the Kubert family also consisted of sons David and Danny and daughter Lisa Zangara, as well as numerous grandchildren.

A man whose broad smile triggered an enormously infectious laugh, Joe Kubert was one of those artists who looked like he had drawn himself into creation. A fast artist, he often amazed convention-goers by producing a fully-formed intricate Hawkman image in ink within minutes after starting with a couple simple lines drawn on paper. Much of his original art reveals he often did not produce finished pencils, relying upon sketchy blue-lined (non-reproducing) layouts before going on to final inks.

Much can — and will — be said about this pillar of American comics history. For now, we report his passing and our most profound condolences to his family, friends, and students.

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