Oh Captain, My Captain!

I was a bit under the weather today, so I decided to pull out an old DVD and lay back on the couch and chill. What I ended up watching was the Hammer classic, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter.

Aside from starring the always beautiful Caroline Munro (from that so bad it has to be seen Star Wars knockoff Starcrash), Kronos was really ahead of its time. Featuring the exploits of a vampire hunter who uses swords and science to fight a vampire menace which is sucking the youth out of local women, Kronos is one crazy, fun movie. I mean, you don't get too many films with hunchback henchmen anymore... a reason to rent it all by itself! I could go into all the details of the plot and hit you with the blah, blah, blah... but you alroady know it's got vampire swordfights, hunchbacks and Caroline Munro. If you need more than that, you are better off watching this.

Anyway- check it out if you get a chance.

Timing is Everything

There is a Proverb that goes, "A word spoken at the right moment--how good it is!"

When I got up today, I found my there was some new voicemail on my cell. Fearing the worst, I listened anyway...

Needless to say, it wasn't someone looking for a fight of some kind or anything below the belt, but I got some actual good news.

I can't go into details just yet, but Daniel and I should know very soon who will be picking up KING! and how all things concerning that should go.

Needless to say, we're vey happy about the news. Not only should we be announcing a publisher very soon, but there should be some very exciting news down the road for the big guy as well...

Couldn't happen at a better time.

Bad Moon Rising

Something has been going on with more than one of the people I know, because there has been a rash of weird behavior lately. I don’t know whether or not I buy into the idea that, at least psychologically, things like the moon have an effect on people’s personalities. I’m more inclined to believe that some people are just plain out bug-nuts, rather than giving them an out like “the moon made me do it…”

On the other hand, I think that there are definitely different types of weird behavior. Some are just eccentric- they do odd stuff, but it’s more along the lines of “collecting bootlegs of the TV show Quark” weird and not “hiding the babysitter in a crawlspace” weird.

Some people are just insane in the membrane, and should be locked up.

Others need a little discipline- either from within or (if they are weak minded) from some outside source. Those people, IF they get back on track, are usually the ones who end up with the best prognosis for a good life from there on…

Then there are those people who can pass for sane, but who have a side they hide from most people.

Those might be the more dangerous of the options, because anyone who can hide aberrant behavior REALLY well is usually capable of some off the chain forms of negative stuff…

The key is- figuring out which is which before you end up in the crawlspace.

Things Fall Apart

As far back as I remember, I’ve always enjoyed working with people for the interaction, rather than some end result. Many people that I know are very goal oriented, and that’s fine for them. Personally, I like to succeed more when I am part of a group because it benefits the people I’m around and whom I have grown to care about. When it comes to personal success, I’m not so psyched. It’s good and all for people to dig what I do, but on some level I am happier with the process of working with other people than any end result that may occur.

For that reason, it really disturbs me when I have a falling out with a long time friend. Not that I have a lot of close friends, mind you; I know a great many people, but I take friendship very seriously and I have few of them as a result. The people who do become my friends, however, tend to be people I work very closely with and whom I look to do as much with as I can…

Tonight, I had someone I’ve known for a very long time tell me they have no love for me anymore. Funny thing is- it was caused because I attempted to point something out to that person which only a true friend would… It not only severed a friendship, but a working relationship as well. And before you ask- no, it’s not Daniel. He and I are working hard together on everything and anything and we get along great. Other than that, I can’t say anything more about it. Believe it or not, however, it started with a discussion about The Transformers that was hijacked by someone with a strange personal agenda. I know it sounds childish and stupid, and I wish I was joking... but that's how life goes sometimes. The most minor thing becomes huge in the blink of an eye.

Anyway- I rarely get overtly personal here, and it’s not my strong suit to do so. Usually, I keep all of my private stuff private… since this happened in a very public forum, however, I figured I needed to get it out a bit.

It sucks when things fall apart.

I’m not sure if it’s a permanent thing or not at this point. Time will tell.

Either way, life must go on.

Sister Christian

My sister Ann is a highly gifted artist- I know I've bragged about her before, but nepotism makes the world go round. Being this is MY blog and all, I figured I'd rep the fam a bit more.

Right now she's in China, and I hope she's having a great time too. Last "trip" I took was to Queens- go figure! Anyway, while she's on the other side of the world having the time of her life, I thought I'd show you a picture of Nadia Green, our female protagonist from Enlightenment: the Devil you know... Sweet, ain't it?

Hopefully Daniel and I will be able to coax her into doing an Enlightenment one shot sometime in the not so distant future.

Until then, Enjoy.

Davy And Goliath

Tonight, I worked on a story based on the account of David killing Goliath; I had a great time co-writing it with a long time friend, and it was awesome to look at stuff like that with an eye toward adapting it to a comic. It's really cool digging into a source like that- seeing how real and fleshed out the characters are, and picking out some great details...

My personal favorite? We didn't include it in our version, but in the Bible, When King Saul goes to David to congratulate him on slaying the giant, David walks over and is still carrying around Goliath's head quite a while after the event... Gruesome, but cool.

I can't wait to elaborate more on the project, but it's not at the stage where we can dish yet.

Stay Tuned... I promise it will be worth the wait.

Who I Want To Be When I Grow Up

Take a look at THAT for a minute. I don't know about you, but it freaks me out to see someone with that kind of artistic tallent... What freaks me out even more is- he's a friend of mine.

Jeff Slemmons did that piece, which even now is still kicking my buttox like some kind of freakin Rube Goldberg device from hell... I'm involved with a few projects (soon to be announced) where Jeff's amazing art will serve as the cover to something I'm going to co-write. Our goal is to do Jeff's covers proud.

Jeeze- maybe I'm in over my head...

Daniel in the Devil's Den

Last night, I saw one of the saddest and most disturbing documentaries I have ever watched; It was called The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and it detailed the tragic life and musical career of a tallented and troubled musician. Before watching the documentary, my only exposure to Daniel's music was knowing that Kurt Cobain loved his songs, and that he sounded like a Bowery version of Tiny Tim. I had also heard he espoused some odd form of Christianity, amd that he was farily troubled. All that and more was reaffirmed in The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

Watching the documentary, I saw a few things that really bothered me. First of all, while Daniel Johnston was (and still is) terribly gifted at writing music, his creativity was as much the cause of his troubles as it was his help. Much of his days were spent obsessing over the strangest things, and he channeled his obsessions into his music in very unhealthy ways. After watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston, I have severe doubts about the helpfulness of Art therapy, seeing how Daniel's symptoms were magnified by giving his "visions" a tangable form...

Another thing I saw, what how exploitive and self serving most of Daniel's "friends" were. While his parents and (as they could) his family members tried to help Daniel by giving him some stability and getting him help, everyone else in his life were just there for what they could recieve from Daniel- at the expense of his remaning sanity. Knowing Daniel had severe mental problems, his "friends" gave him pot and acid, promoted him on tours which dragged him away from any form of a stable life, and didn't think it was bad (at the time, anyway) that Daniel wasn't taking his needed medicine because it ""made him crazy, which was good for the show..."

Along with all the sad, horrifying stuff, was Daniel and his music. If you want to, check out Devinare, I had lost my mind or Grevances on youtube. You can also go to the website his parents run for him here.

If there was one idea I drew from the whole thing it's this- Creativity and Madness are close cousins...

If you get a chance, check out the film. I can't say you'll be glad you did, but I think you'll have to lack all sense of Humanity for it not to well up in you a strong response.

Today's picture was by another artist with mental problems... Me.

More Than Meets The Eye

I saw The Transformers movie this past week & I was totally blown away. It's a good movie in the Star Wars sense- not so much in the Gone with the Wind sense... Although I'd honestly like GwtW better if it had been a 3 hour ode to flatulance than the boring movie about the whiny, white South... Or if it was filled with Camper Von Beethoven songs. Either way- it needs an upgrade.

Anyway- I can honestly say I liked The Transformers better than the latest X-Men movie, Thumbwars and the McNuggets freestyle commerical combined. High praise from me, if you knew me well at all...

Oh...and today's art is by my good friend Kneon. I know he's a big fan of the Transformer comics & toys, and he wasn't so excited about the pre-release stuff from the new movie...

But it really was good, so pthbbbbbbbttt.