Upgrading Four Color Commentary

It was inevitable.  And BELIEVE me, I fought it.  But, I finally realized upgrading my Blogger template was a must.  The old format just looks a bit "cluttered", and I have a feeling that the bells and whistles I want will be easier to add with new Blogger.  Plus, interfacing with Facebook is a breeze.  Blogger also keeps my old template for me to access, so the Oklahoma Cartoonists Collection info and links will all eventually be added.  Hang in there, and all will be settled soon.

And, thanks for reading.

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Amazing Spider-Man - A Video Review

A Suspended Animation video review. Produced by Mark Allen, of http://www.fourcolorcommentary.com . Music: Kevin MacLeod, http://www.incompetech.com . Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0" http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Artist Eric York Talks about Michael Vance's Weird Horror Tales

Michael Vance’s novel, Weird Horror Tales:Light’s End, is “an amazing, page turning suspense thriller”. Artist Eric York turns some ghoulish pages as well.

 

York is the interior illustrator of Vance’s latest novel. Vance was first attracted by York’s outré, very design oriented, and weirdly beautiful interpretations of the work of world-famous horror writer, H. P. Lovecraft.

 

“Eric is that rarest of gems,” said Vance, “an original. Since we share a love for Lovecraft’s prose, York’s style seemed a perfect choice for the last novel in my Weird Horror Tales trilogy that was also influenced by Lovecraft’s genius. I was overjoyed by his “deviant” art for my novel!”

 

York’s distinctive art has also appeared in books, fanzines, and comics including The Fantastical Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Over Santa Susana, Malafact, Besmirched, Terminal Brain Rot and many others.

 

“I drew the cover for another of Michael's books a few years ago [that was published in England],” wrote the artist. “I enjoy his subdued style of horror as well as his creepy locale of Light's End. I've always been into stories using the common setting of sinister old, small towns, and thought this would be a nice change to collaborate with Michael again. Plus I wanted to draw his morbid old degenerate, Jake Horne.”

 

York also self-publishes under his Maggot Global Publishing imprint and has published Hungry Maggot, Vermis Rex, Tillinghasts’ Moribund Fairy-Tales, Eldritch Pulp Adventure, the Erebus Tarot, as well as the upcoming Zygote’s Fables, and his 100 plus page graphic novel adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s collection of poems, Fungi From Yuggoth. More than 500 examples of his artwork are available at tillinghast23.deviantart.com.

 

With the help of several additional artists, Vance unleashes his dark imagination in each of the three books of his Weird Horror Tales trilogy.  Often compared to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury, Vance’s work is not for the faint of heart. Weird Horror Tales: Light’s End features a cover by famed painter, Keith Birdsong.

 

The publisher of the Weird Horror Tales trilogy, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. All three Weird Horror novels are available on-line, at book stores, from Cornerstone, and as E-books. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

 

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In addition to Vance’s Weird Horror Tales, Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting, and Weird Horror Tales: Light’s End, Airship 27 has released Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in The Green Lama and Secret Agent X.  For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

 

ISBN:  1-613420-14-5   ISBN-13 978-1-613420-14-0

Digital copy available

Weird Horror Tales: Light's End Released By Airship 27

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers are thrilled to announce the release of the third and final book in Michael Vance’s Weird Horror Tales trilogy. Weird Horror Tales – Light’s End, is an amazing, page turning suspense thriller that is one of this author’s finest works to date and a fantastic culmination to this masterful terror filled series.

 

Welcome to Light’s End, a small, quaint little town on the rugged coast of Maine.  It’s a quiet place much like many other such communities throughout New England.  And yet there is a presence of evil about the streets and byways of this harmless appearing hamlet. For here, amidst the age old Yankee traditions of its citizens lurks a dark secret, a brooding, religious philosophy which infects every aspect of daily life.

 

Dare you enter Light’s End and uncover what lies beneath its pleasant, homey façade?  Dare you challenge your sanity and confront the sublime horrors that await you here, in this cursed nexus of dementia?

 

Award winning author, Michael Vance unleashes his dark imagination in this tense, gripping novel of sheer terror that readers will never forget.  Often compared to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Vance’s work is not for the faint of heart, featuring a cover by famed painter Keith Birdsong and ten interior illustrations by extraordinary artist Eric York.  Bolt the door, lock the shutters and keep the candle lit, the end is near, Light’s End.

 

Vance has written for national and international magazines, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, “Forbidden Adventures”, has been called a "benchmark in comics history”. He briefly ghosted an internationally syndicated comic strip, wrote his own strip and several comic books. He is listed in the Who's Who of American Comic Books and Comic Book Superstars.

 

The publisher of the Weird Horror Tales trilogy, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. All three Weird Horror novels are available on-line, at book stores, from Cornerstone, and as E-books. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

 

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In the past, Airship 27 has released “Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “The Green Lama” and “Secret Agent X”.  For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

PRESS RELEASE - Damballa: Making Pulp History!

 

From the heart of Africa to the streets of Harlem, a new hero is born sworn to support and protect Americans of all races and creeds; he is Damballa and he strikes from the shadows.   

When the reigning black heavy weight boxing champion of the world agrees to defend his crown against a German fighter representing Hitler’s Nazis regime, the ring becomes the stage for a greater political contest.  The Nazis’ agenda is to humble the American champion and prove the superiority of their pure-blood Aryan heritage.  To achieve this end, they employ an unscrupulous scientist capable of transforming their warrior into a superhuman killing machine.

 

Can the mysterious Damballa unravel their insidious plot before it is too late to save a brave and noble man?  Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers are proud to introduce pulpdom’s first ever 1930s African-American pulp hero as created by the acclaimed author, Charles Saunders.

 

“Racism and sexism were a few of the ugly aspects of the pulps we’d all like to forget,” Editor Ron Fortier comments.  “Minority groups based on race, sex and religion were ostracized and either ignored completely or denigrated in their outlandish portrayals.  Since its creation, Airship 27 Productions has made it a goal to address these wrongs and help correct them within the context of providing top-notch action fiction to our readers.  DAMBALLA is a major step in that direction and we are truly excited about its release.” 

 

Praise for DAMBALLA and writer Charles Saunders has already begun.  “Having revolutionized the genre of epic fantasy with the creation of Imaro, a black warrior easily equal to such classic characters as Tarzan and Conan, Charles Saunders has done it again.  This time he has created DAMBALLA, a true hero in every sense of the word. Battling racism and evil in the 1930’s, DAMBALLA is no pale imitation of The Shadow or The Avenger.  In fact, after reading this excellent book, I think that they would be proud to consider him a brother in the ceaseless war against crime and injustice.”   Derrick Ferguson – “Dillon and the Voice of Odin”

 

DAMBALLA by Charles Saunders features a cover by Charles Fetherolf and interior illustrations by Clayton Hinkle, with book design by award-winning artist Rob Davis.

 

The publisher of “The Feasting” and “Weird Horror Tales”, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. The braided novel, “Weird Horror Tales, is available on-line, at book stores, and from Cornerstone. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

 

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In the past, Airship 27 has released “Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “The Green Lama” and “Secret Agent X”.  For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

 

 

ISBN:  1-613420-12-9; ISBN 13:  978-1-613420-12-6

 

On-Line Shop (http://www.gopulp.info/)

$3 Digital copy (http://homepage.mac.com/robmdavis/Airship27Hangar/index.html)

Un-Colored Kirby Is Where It's At

If you don't believe me, take a look at this panel from Fantastic Four number 85:

Then, lay your peepers on this:

Now, I know what some will say. "It's drab!" "It's boring!" "Where's the vibrancy? The flash? The pop??" To this I say, "Try to look past it, I beg of you!" The black and white art make Kirby's spectacular line-work stand out to such a degree that (to me) it could be said that it's the color itself which "mutes" the artist's work.  Without it, one could claim to see the TRUE depth of what was the awesome team of Kirby and inker, Joe Sinnot.  I call this, comics in it's purest form.

This is why I've grown to thoroughly enjoy Marvel's Essential black-and-white reprints. Not right away, mind you, but over time....

Interview With Bob McLeod, Circa 2003

This interview first appeared at Starland, under the Suspended Animation banner, in 2003.

Bob McLeod is probably one of the nicest guys in comics. He's also one who's work, unfortunately, is not that visible in American comics today. He hasn't left comics, but has been busy plying his trade in other venues the last few years.

Read on, to find out what he's been up to.

      For those who haven't kept up, why don't you tell us what you're working at, these days? 

I'm currently pencilling an inking a 31 page Phantom comic book for the Swedish publisher Egmont. I don't think it will be distributed in the United States, unfortunately. I hope to be doing a couple issues a year for them. I also just finished about 40 black and white drawings of cartoon animals in business suits for a business psychology booklet. I'm also working on a proposal for a new series I hope to sell to an American publisher. I'm working with a new writer, and all I can say at this time is that it's about a group of superheroes.

Are there any great differences in working for foreign comic publishing companies, and working for those in the U.S.?

This is my first job for a foreign publisher, and they're probably as diverse as American publishers, but so far my experience has been very pleasant, which is far from how I would describe working for American publishers. The Editor is intelligent and polite and helpful and extremely competent. The script is fun and readable by a wide age range, and I've been given plenty of time to do pencils and inks myself instead of splitting up the art. The pay is a little less than my Marvel rate, but well worth the effort and overall Im really enjoying the experience. I'm emailing the pages to Sweden, so I'm keeping the original art here.

What other art-related experience have you had, besides comics?

Well, I did some storyboards years ago, and some cartoon spiders for a traveling exhibit for the Smithsonian, as well as various other cartoon illustration jobs. You can see examples of practically everything I've done on my web site, www.bobmcleod.com . I've also done cartooning seminars at several schools, and taught some drawing and cartooning classes locally. I also worked freelance for a couple ad agencies in the 70's doing "comp" illustrations. Last year, I briefly had a full-time office job drawing designs and illustrations for t-shirts.

Give us your 'origin story;' how did you break in to comics?

For the full story, go to this link: www.bobmcleod.com/start.html . To make a long story short, I went to NYC in 1973 and met Pat Broderick at a comics convention. He was actually in my high school art class in Tampa, Florida, but we never met in class! I recognized him, tho, and introduced myself. We became roommates and he introduced me to Neal Adams, whom he met by getting into the DC apprenticeship program. With a phone call, Neal got me a job at Marvel in the production dept., doing lettering corrections and art corrections, and about a year later (after studying the original art in production and drawing several practice sample pages) I finally started getting some freelance work pencilling and inking.

Do you have a particular favorite work from your comic career?

I really enjoyed drawing Superman, and Star Wars, but my favorite comics work was drawing and inking Teen Hulk and other jobs for Marvel's Crazy Magazine. I did several movie satires and some other stuff. My original goal when I moved to NYC was to work for Mad magazine. Everyone would probably expect me to say the New Mutants was a highlight, but that was really a very frustrating experience, because we started off behind schedule and I could never really catch up. I also wasn't in sync with Chris Claremont, and didn't like the inking I got on the book. Ink-wise, I enjoyed doing Conan over John Buscema and Dracula over Gene Colan.

What positive and/or negative changes have you seen in comics in the last generation?

I haven't kept up with comics too much in the last five-seven years, but on the positive side, the coloring is so much better than I used to get. I wish all my old jobs could be reprinted with good coloring. On the negative side, comic book prices are too high, too many comics are aimed at adults, and comics aren't as much fun to read or work on because they're taken way too seriously. The possibility of huge profits from movies and television, along with the low sales on most titles, have made the publishers afraid to take risks. They just keep redoing the same things and catering to an ever shrinking fan base.

What, if anything, are you reading, today? If nothing new, do you seek out the work of any particular creators?

I don't read comics, because my reading time is so limited I'd rather devote it to reading books and magazines. I like many of the current artists, but don't have the time or money to seek out their work.

What would it take to get you back into comics on a full-time basis?

I'm basically in comics full-time now, I just don't have a regular book and often have to go outside comics to pay the bills. I'm ready and willing if anyone would like to work with me.

Is there a "dream project" in comics you would like to do, or maybe something you have yet to accomplish? 

My idea of a dream project now is very different from what it might've been a few years ago. I would really like to do some more humor comics, like the work I did for Crazy. I suppose I should finally approach Mad magazine. And I'd love to do some full color dramatic comics where I could do all the art myself; pencilling, lettering, inking and color. I'm hoping to do some book illustration next year. I 'd like to do black & white interior art and painted covers for young readers, and some painted paperback covers.

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Thank you for asking.

Interview by Mark Allen

Jeffrey Catherine Jones: January 10, 1944 – May 19, 2011

Jeffrey Catherine Jones

January 10, 1944 – May 19, 2011