TIRED WHORE

"Tired Whore" 18/24" Watercolor on Paper

SUPPORT THE TROOPS

"Support the Troops" 18/24" Watercolor and Ink

MIKE MIGNOLA

PIM & FRANCIE

I received this book(Pim & Francie-The Golden Bear Days) in the mail about 2 weeks ago. I first noticed this book at my friend Levi's house. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed while looking at this book at his house, was how disturbing some of the images were. Later that evening I found myself thinking about the book, and decided I would order it. When I opened my copy for the first time, my suspicion that there was more to this book than just shocking images, was confirmed. I have since been paging through this book daily. Although the images are very haunting, they are extremely beautiful. Pim & Francie is a pretty unique book.

Fantagraphics(the publisher) describes the book as follows:
This gorgeous grimoire is part alchemy, part art book, part storybook, part comic book, and part conceptual art from the pen of Al Columbia.
This is a comprehensive collection of Columbia’s Pim & Francie work, including paintings, comics, character designs, and much more, all woven into something greater than the sum of its parts, with Pim & Francie careening from danger to danger, threaded together through text and notes by the artist.

While looking through this book I was reminded of the Low Brow art movement, and started questioning how Columbia's work related to it. I have seen a lot of artists in Juxtapox and other places that have used similar ideas: shocking cartoonish images, and dark humor. I did read that many artists have been influenced by Columbia, and Columbia himself is clearly influenced by things that are older than most of us, but that isn't exactly what I am talking about. This book provided me with an entirely different experience. This book as a whole is actually quite creepy, haunting, scary, beautiful, and intoxicating. I seem to enjoy it more every time I look/read through it. With images on almost every single page, this book is worth a lot more than it's cover price.

SLEEPER

18/24" Watercolor on Paper

COMIC BOOK READING LIST

Criminal(Bad Night) by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is one of the finest stories the pair has ever told and illustrated. This four issue mini-series is about a cartoonist who gets wrapped up in an impossible situation. With a few interesting twists along the way, this story kept me thoroughly engrossed. When I was finished reading it, I was full of admiration for Brubaker and Phillips.

Prison Pit Volume 1 by Johnny Ryan could be the most exciting comic I read in July. I paged through this for a few minutes at the library, and decided to give it a shot. Later that evening my friends and I took turns reading it and reciting lines out loud and cracking up. Not in the way you would chuckle at a terrible movie, but the way you would laugh at a clever joke. Prison Pit is easily one of the funnest, most unique comics I have read in a long time. It's bizarre and unpredictable nature is that of an old video game, and reminds us that a comic book can achieve things that a movie or novel cannot. A few days after I read my library copy 3 or 4 times, I ordered my own copy and pre-ordered volume 2. I will say that at first glance this book heavily reminded me of Adult Swim's Superjail, but I think it stands on it's own. I would NOT recommend this to anyone who is easily offended.

The only two comics in the list that I did not care for were: Daredevil(Vision Quest), and Chew Volume 1. David Mack is a highly celebrated comic book artist. His combination of painting, drawing, and collage work is what sets him apart from most comic book artists. Unfortunately, it does not set him apart from all other comic book artists. His style, to me, is a combination of Kent Williams and Dave Mckean. It isn't because of this that I don't care for his work. It is because nothing seems to happen in his comics. The stories drift in and out without ever really going anywhere. Also, he appears to have little to no interest in the idea of sequential art. Without any coherent use of panels, it can be confusing to try to read what little story is there. There are no rules when it comes to art, but his stuff is not for me. In a gallery or an art book maybe I could get into it. He is a talented painter, but as a comic artist I think he completely misses the mark.
I don't have a lot to say about Chew Volume 1. I was curious because stores cannot seem to keep this one on the shelf, and the story sounded interesting. I made it about half way through this one before I had to put it down. I just thought the dialogue was so awful that it ruined any sliver of what is good about it. The predictable goofiness of the whole thing just turned me off. I would say this one is good for fans of Powers, but Powers is way better than this series. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

I read a lot of comics in July, and I think I lost track of some of them along the way, so here is what I remember.

Criminal(Coward) by: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Criminal(Lawless) by: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Daredevil(Devil Inside and Out Volume 1) by: Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark
Daredevil(Devil Inside and Out Volume 2) by: Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark
Spiderwoman #3,6,7 by: Alex Maleev and Brian Michael Bendis
Daredevil(Vision Quest) by: David Mack
Powers Volume 1 by: Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
Powers Volume 2 by: Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
Scarlet #1 by: Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
Plastic Man(On the Lam) by: Kyle Baker
I Killed Adolf Hitler by: Jason
Mad Night by: Richard Sala
The Grave Robber's Daughter by: Richard Sala
Magneto(Testament)
B.P.R.D.(Hollow Earth and Others) by: Mike Mignola and Others
Kafka by: Robert Crumb and David Zane Mairowitz
Chew Volume 1 by: John Layman and Rob Guillo
Hellboy(Strange Places) by: Mike Mignola
Luna Park

COMIC BOOK READING LIST

I think I first discovered comic books when I was in 4th Grade. There was a Meijer grocery store next to my dad's house, and I used to walk there, and buy copies of Batman and Superman with my $5/week allowance. I remember my Sunday school teacher giving me a dirty look when I told her I wanted to draw comic books when I grew up. By the time I reached middle school I was begging my mother to drive me to the comic book stores about once a month. This is when I discovered Frank Miller(Sin City, 300) and other writers and artists who were making non-superhero comic books. My interest continued through high school, but slowly faded until I was only reading a few stories here and there. It would go in bursts discovering a handful of books I liked, and then it would dissolve slowly. About a month and a half ago, I decided to stop watching television and start reading comic books again. I had missed it, and was pleased at how many new things I was discovering. I hope my interest will remain constant this time. I don't think a day has gone by since the middle of may that I haven't read something. This is a list of collections, and ongoing series I have read in the last two months or so.


Hellboy: Seed of Destruction(Script: John Byrne)
Hellboy: Wake the Devil
Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others
Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom
Hellboy: Conqueror Worm
As a teenager, being a fan of Dark Horse Comics, I always saw Hellboy on the shelves. At the time, being a foolish child, I thought the artwork was too blocky and assumed the story was probably silly like Spawn or most other mainstream comic book stories containing demons and devils. As I began to grow up I started to see the allure of Mike Mignola's art, but never got around to actually opening it up. On the strong recommendation of one of my close friends, I decided to give it a shot. What I discovered was one of the funnest comic books I have ever read. The stories are closer to the adventures of Indiana Jones than they are silly, and the artwork is tops. Mignola exhibits a deep understanding of composition, depth, and form withing the pages of Hellboy. Of course, a large amount of credit can also be given to his colorists(James Sinclair, and Dave Stewart)who have chosen the most exquisite palettes I have ever seen in a comic book.





Sleeper Volume 1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Sleeper Volume 2 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Sleeper is easily the most accessible mature-rated comic book that I have read in a long time. This story could be appreciated by non-comic book readers, moderate comic book readers, and regular comic book readers. What I liked about this book the most was the pace. The story slowly unfolds, appropriately revealing to you a little information at a time. Slowly could be a poor choice of words, because there is nothing slow or dull about the entire story. There are a lot of twists, but almost all of them feel relevant, and you don't feel the urge to try to predict them. This one is great, but not for people who are easily turned off by graphic violence, sex, and a lot of profanity. Point Blank is the prequel to Sleeper. You don't have to read it first, but it kind of sets up Sleeper.

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
Asterios Polyp was the most unique story that I read of everything listed here. Without spoiling anything I will just post the short description taken from wikipedia:

"The title character, Asterios Polyp, is a professor and architect of Greek descent who teaches at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. After a lightning strike burns down the building in which he lives, he leaves the city and takes up employment in a small town (chosen seemingly at random) as an auto mechanic. The novel is interspersed with scenes from his past, including his childhood and troubled marriage, as well as more fantastical scenes (including those narrated by his stillborn twin brother, Ignazio)."

There was nothing that I read this last month and a half that I did not enjoy. They all range from moderately good to amazing, but I don't feel the need to comment on all of them. In order, I enjoyed these four stories the most:
1. Akira
2. Hellboy
3. The Sword
4. Sleeper

Here's the ones I didn't comment on:

Collections

Point Blank by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
InCognito by: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Akira by: Katsuhiro Otomo
The Sword by: The Luna Brothers
Daredevil (Yellow) by: Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Superman (For all Seasons) by: Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Batman(Mad Love) byPaul Dini and Bruce Timm
Houdini(The Handcuff King) by: Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi
Speak of the Devil by: Gilbert Hernandez
AEIOU by: Jeffrey Brown
Unlikely by: Jeffrey Brown

Ongoing

Silver Surfer 1-8 by: Stan Lee and John Buscema
Ghost Rider 1-11 by: Various
Marvel Spotlight 5-12 by Various
Spider Woman 1,2,4,5 by Brian Michael Bendis
Walt Disney Comics 1,3,5,8-10
Love and Rockets 1,2 by Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez

MARLENE DUMAS

Marlene Dumas(Born.1953) was born in South Africa, and later re-located to the Netherlands to continue her career. While I spend a lot of time producing visual art, it is the most difficult art form for me to comment on. Much of art criticism is speculation in which the viewer is reacting to their own personal feelings, or using celebrated technique ideals to validate those feelings. Regardless, I find her work extremely beautiful, and powerful in a way that is very raw and vulnerable. She is amongst my favorite figure painters. The image below(Measuring Your Own Grave) is also the title of a book of collected works of her's. I received this book as gift for Christmas from my sister. Unlike many art books that are 75% text and 25% art, this particular collection has a lot of images in full color, and is affordable.

GHOST RIDER VS SATAN

After reading the first 12 issues of the original Ghost Rider, I feel like I have a pretty good idea of his original origin. Out of curiosity, last night, I decided to look at how it compared to the Ghost Rider film. Having only watched about 30 minutes of it on tv, I really didn't know that much about the movie except that it seemed like a total piece of garbage. In reading about the plot of the movie, which was far different than the original story, I discovered that it was Marvel that originally altered the story.
In the original story Johnny Blaze(Ghost Rider) sells his soul to Satan in exchange for curing his adopted father(Crash Simpson) from a terminal disease, and then watches him die doing a motorcycle stunt the following day. When Satan shows up to claim Blaze's soul, Roxy Simpson(Crash Simpson's daughter, and Blaze's love interest) saves Blaze's soul by reciting a chant that banishes Satan. Blaze remains on earth, but at night turns into the Ghost Rider. After that Crash Simpson strikes a deal with Satan where he must deliver Ghost Rider to the devil by getting between his daughter and Blaze, by attempting to murder and sacrifice his daughter to Satan. If you aren't a comic reader this may all seem pretty crazy to you, but read on because this post is about more than just comic books.
It turns out that at some point later in the Ghost Rider series the writers(not necessarily the originals one) decided that Blaze did not actually sell his soul to the devil, but an impostor of the devil named Mephisto(who is originally a Silver Surfer villian). Mephisto or Mephistopheles is a common figure in the history of literature. He is a demon who poses as the devil. It seemed to me that the story was a lot more powerful when Blaze did sell his soul to what we would think of as the biblical figure: Satan.

It made me wonder at what point would the writers feel the need to alter this story, and why? Was it because they were trying to reach an audience of younger people? Was it too dark or controversial for the readers? Did they feel uncomfortable writing stories including Satan? Or was it simply a storyline they felt compelled to write? So what is it about Satan that is so scary, and why are we afraid of him(or her or it) in a fictional sense? There are so many movies and books where a generic demon is used in place of Satan or a character that is symbolic of Satan is used, or even one or more of Satan's legions is used. This "replacing" Satan in media always implies Satan, and somehow still softens the blow for audiences.
There are so many little instances of kind of dodging the bullet from audiences who are afraid. Ex. From what I read about the movie plot Johnny Blaze kind of accidentally is tricked by Mephisto into trading his soul. This seems like a small difference, but again it kind of weakens the plot for me. If Johnny Blaze was at all conflicted about trading his soul, why would he be summoning the devil, and why would he learn how to do it. In these old comic books Johnny Blaze exchanges his soul without any hesitation, and he lives in a world where he's constantly hunted by Satan. In a world where almost anyone can be sacrificed to Satan, and used as his tool of evil. Is it maybe a little scary for us to even a imagine that we are all not out of the reach of the devil? It seems like Satan would be one of the best characters to use in a story. Isn't he the most evil super-villain in the history of story telling?

DONALD DUCK

I have been reading these old Walt Disney comics lately, and have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of playful violence, hilarious comedy, and bizarre story lines. Some of my favorite strips to read have been the Donald Duck strips in which he is acting like a total jerk pulling pranks on everyone around him. This particular strip was almost a little unsettling considering the wholesome nature of Disney.

BATMANNN

This is the first in a series that I will be selling in my store very soon. Each is a hand painted, one of a kind with a small signature on the lower side of the shirt. Unfortunately this was a test shirt and has a small hole in it, so I will not be selling this one, but the others will be posted soon.

MAYA ANGELOU

Maya Angelou is a celebrated author, poet, scholar, and professor. I have read many of her poems in the last year. I read this one the other day, and I thought it was a very strong and well executed poem.

Momma Welfare Roll
Her arms semaphore fat triangles,
Pudgy hands bunched on layered hips
Where bones idle under years of fatback
And lima beans.
Her jowls shiver in accusation
Of crimes clichéd by
Repetition. Her children, strangers
To childhood's toys, play
Best the games of darkened doorways,
Rooftop tag, and know the slick feel of
Other people's property.

Too fat to whore,
Too mad to work,
Searches her dreams for the
Lucky sign and walks bare-handed
Into a den of bereaucrats for
Her portion.
'They don't give me welfare.
I take it.'

Maya Angelou

AKIRA

The first time I saw Akira the animated movie(1988) I was around the age of 12 or 13. I remember one of my friend's let me borrow it on VHS.

This was right before or around the time(as far as I know) when manga and anime began to catch on in the US. For me, when I saw Akira, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. At the time I didn't realize this movie had already been out for 6 years when I saw it. I have watched it quite a few times since then, and continue to enjoy it every time I watch it. I am not a huge fan of manga or anime, but certain things seem to transcend the stereotypical characteristics of an anime movie or a manga comic. Akira is definitely amongst the best examples.

Recently I was fortunate to be able to read the entire comic series that Akira was based on. The comic book(1982-1990) is 38 issues long at about 60 pages per issue, so of course the movie is a compression of this story. I was shocked at how incredibly fine the comic book was. The story was very complex involving a lot of characters and themes, and some of the finest illustrations I have ever seen in a comic book this large. Katsuhiro Otomo's urban landscapes of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo are extemely detailed and stunning.

Hollywood has been trying to adapt this story into a live-action movie set in New York for quite a few years now, but thankfully it has been stuck in development hell. I think that the animated movie is wonderful, and I don't see any reason to stain the story's reputation by Americanizing it. One of the reasons that the anime is such a great adaptation of the comic book is because it is directed by the creator.
This is not only one of the greatest comic books/movies that I have read or watched, but it is one of the greatest epic science fiction stories of all time. I was lucky enough to be able to read this story in full-color, but it is also printed in black and white. Both versions are pricey, but well worth it. Akira is a masterpiece.

Ralph Bakshi

When I was about 14 years old, me and my friends somehow got a hold of a movie called Street Fight on VHS. Later I realized this movie was originally titled Coonskin, and changed because of it's racial controversy.

"Coonskin is a 1975 film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists and the Mafia. The film, which combines live-action with animation, stars Philip Michael Thomas, Charles Gordone, Barry White and Scatman Crothers, all of whom appear in both live-action and animated sequences. Coonskin utilizes a number of references to various elements from African American culture, ranging from African folk tales to the work of cartoonist George Herriman, and satirizes racist and other stereotypes, as well as the blaxploitation genre, Song of the South, and The Godfather.
Originally produced under the titles Harlem Nights and Coonskin No More..., Coonskin encountered extreme controversy before its original theatrical release when the Congress of Racial Equality strongly criticized the content as being racist, although none of the group's members had seen the film. When the film was finally released, Bryanston gave it limited distribution and initially received negative reviews. Later re-released under the titles Bustin' Out and Street Fight, Coonskin has since been reappraised, with many considering it to be one of Bakshi's finest works." -Wikipedia-(The most reliable source in the world)


I remember loving this movie when I was 14, but not understanding the importance of it until later. I think it was so shocking and exciting to see cartoon ultra violence, and sex, and it was so bizarre and funky, but the visual style wasn't all that different than the cartoons that I watched with my dad when I was a child. Which kind of makes sense because he started out working at Terrytoons and was involved in a ton of cartoons, before he even started doing his own feature films. Eventually I watched some of his other movies including Wizards, Heavy Traffic, American Pop, Cool World, Hey Good Lookin, and the 1978 animated version of Lord of the Rings. He also directed Fritz the Cat, which was the first x rated cartoon ever. I actually didn't see Fritz the Cat until about a year ago and it was my least favorite of all of his films. Many of his films are still trapped in VHS hell(you can't get them on DVD), but if you can get an avi file of them, I would definitely recommend CoonSkin. If you can only aquire dvds, then check out Heavy Traffic. This is probably my second favorite Bakshi film. I have been able to get my hands on almost every one of his feature films, but his resume is a mile long and he's worked on all sorts of projects. I would definitely consider him one of my largest influences as an artist, and I don't think there will ever be anything like his work ever again. If you don't know. You should. I actually saw a Kanye West music video the other day. The song was called Heartless. First of all, I think of Kanye West as kind of a joke. He seems like an okay producer, and an awful rapper. I don't know if Hype Williams and Kanye were paying Homage to Bakshi, or if he was just trying to bite his style, but if you've ever seen Bakshi's American Pop then you might think that Ralph Bakshi himself directed the video.

If you don't know about Ralph Bakshi. I think you should.

Jack Chick

"Jack Thomas Chick (born April 13, 1924) is an American publisher, writer and comic book artist, and has been called the most published comic book author in the world. His company, Chick Publications, claims to have sold over 750 million comic-style tracts,known as Chick tracts, comic books, videos, books, and posters designed to promote Protestant evangelism from a fundamentalist point of view. Many of these are seen as controversial, as they target beliefs and cultures in what many perceive as a negative manner."

Last night I watched a documentary called: "God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick". You may have found or seen Jack Chick's Tracts before. You will usually find them laying around in public places like in a public bathroom, on a park bench, in a restaraunt, or in a retail store. Growing up in west michigan, it is no surprise that I realized that I have found many of these. I just didn't know until now what I was looking at. A lady handed me one once when I was working at a Burger King drive through after I handed her a bag of burgers, fries, and chicken tenders. While I was working there I also found quite a few of them in the bathroom, and left on the tables.

" A tract is a literary work, and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the twenty-first century, these meant small pamphlets used for religious and political purposes, though far more often the former. They are often either left for someone to find or handed out."
Chick's Tracts are small, and are in a comic book style form, and if you're still not sure if you've seen one, they look like this:

Chick's evangelical message is obvious, but also his tracts can be very controversial, targeting and condeming other religions like catholicism, islam, judaism, hinduism, buddhism, and mormonism as well as warning about the dangers of drugs, sex, homosexuality, rock and roll, witchcraft, and even halloween. These stories told in the tracts can often be told in a very simple, powerful, and scary manner. Some people and groups have deemed them as hate literature, and they have also been banned in many countries not including america.

I have to kind of admire Jack Chick a little bit. He isn't sugar-coating anything, and it's clear that he really believes in what he's doing. It takes a lot of guts to write and publish that stuff. I think the actual messages, and the content of the tracts to be kind of ridiculus and sometimes humorous, but the whole idea of it is kind of alluring. Leaving a little comic book at a bus stop knowing someone else will find it, or finding a little comic book in a public bathroom. It appears that christian book distributors, churches, and activists order these tracts for $0.15/tract and then hand them to people, or leave them in public places for people to find. I guess as far as religous pamphlets go, I would rather have someone put a chick tract in my hand then other religous pamphlets that i've been handed. At least the chick tract has some fucking cool illustrations to look at.

The Documentary is highly interesting, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested. You can also check out jackchick.com to find out more about it.

Floyd Jones

I finally finished my first solo album.
You can download it for
free by following this link.
CLICK HERE

DS Woman

This is my second attempt at using the Home brew
application Colors for the Nintendo DS.

Super Heroes

Ink on Paper

New York at Night

I took this picture through the hotel room
window on the 29th Floor in Manhattan.

Urbania

Ink on Paper 2008