Swords of Cerebus Vol 4: The Palnu Trilogy

PAUL SLADE:

Published between 1981 and 1984, Dave's six Swords of Cerebus volumes were his first attempt to collect the book in a more permanent form. He gave each story included in these volumes a prose introduction, explaining where the book stood when he’d been working on that particular issue and how he was thinking of its prospects at the time. This is the second (and final) of Swords 4's two composite introductions, and it runs to a whopping five pages, covering The Palnu Triolgy (ie the Silverspoon strips from The Buyer's Guide and Cerebus #14-16). Dave's discussion of Hal Foster and Alex Raymond here is something he'd pick up again – and in much greater detail – in The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, of course. Also check out the full 'Swords Of Cerebus' Introductions Index.

"I’m not drawing a snake crawling out of his cage with the leader of the ‘Eye of the Pyramid’ juxtaposed in the foreground," says Dave. "Hell, no! I’m drawing the leader of the ‘Eye in the Pyramid’ flipping his giant schlong out at Cerebus, who’s going to cut it off."

Next week: Why secondary characters are easier to steal.

Meeting Gerhard & Shelley

MARGARET LISS:

I only remember the last date I saw Gerhard in person because it was the last time I had a drink of alcohol: October 1, 2005. It was at the Ye Bookes of Cerebus at St Bonaventure University in western New York. So when Menachem of Escape Pod Comics said he was going to be hosting Gerhard and Shelley in late April, I gave going to the signing serious thought. At just about a 4 hour trip for me, it was the closest Ger had been in awhile that I could remember.

So I took the time off and headed down on Thursday afternoon. Menachem was super helpful in reserving me a room at a local hotel, so my first order of business was to check in there and then get some eats before the signing. By the time I arrived after an hour on the non-express Long Island Expressway, it was around 4:30 pm, and I was hoping I wouldn't be too late as my schedule was thrown off a bit.

I checked in to the hotel and came back out to my car to get my bag and who do I see? Shelley. I've never met Shelley in the past, but thanks to Gerhard's blog, I'd seen pictures. Gerhard and Shelley had flown into Newark Airport, gotten a rental and drove through NYC to get to Long Island. We ended up taking my car to the store, where we went in the back entrance and surprised Menachem. After saying our hellos and dropping off some items for the signing, the three of us went out to get some dinner in Huntington. 

Since it was closer to 5:30 then 5pm by this time, we got appetizers at a Thai restaurant that was down the street. I wish I could remember the conversation the three of us had, but I think the excitement of having dinner with Ger and Shelley was a bit much for me. Or perhaps I was just tired from dealing with Long Island traffic. I do remember Shelley asked me as many questions, if not more, as I was asking of them. Pretty soon my 6pm alarm went off, so after paying the bill we quickly walked back to the store.

Menachem had Gerhard set up near the back of the store, right in front of the wall of Cerebus - where he hands all the different commissions he has gotten over the years (click on any of the pictures to enlarge):

Conrad, Menachem and Gerhard

With Gerhard in the comfy seat, he commenced drawing commissions. One was of corn. Seriously. I could watch Ger draw corn all day. He was sketching and staying within a box that I couldn't see. I had asked him if he used the ruler for the edges, and he stated he had. So faintly that I couldn't see them from a couple feet away. He then stopped and found a piece of slightly used sketch paper and showed me what he does with a page.

Draw an outline around the edges. Put an X on the page. Then draw two more lines. Then two more. Then use intersections for composition:

He then drew something quickly in the center of the page using his points of interest, and then drew another box around that so some bits of the sketch were outside the second box. 

I wish I could just stand there all night asking Ger questions about drawing and watch him sketch, but I didn't want to monopolize his time - there were other Cerebus fans there. Someone had come as far as Richmond, VA. Even Carla Speed McNeil had driven hours to show up and talk to Gerhard.

Gerhard looking at Finder while Carla shows him the original art

Nate had come with a few things for Ger to sign, and it was great to see him again as well:

Left to right: Shelley, Margaret, Nate and Gerhard

Ben Granoff dropped off his commission he did for Menachem. I should've gotten a picture of Ben with it, but I wanted my picture taken with it - how one could encapsulate the entire saga on one page just blew my mind:

Holding the 'Get on The 'Bus!' commission by Ben Granoff

Ben  and myself looked at all the original Cerebus pages which Gerhard had brought with them. 

Ben looking over a page of original art from Cerebus

I only wish I had enough cash money to pick up this one:

Cerebus #192 page 16 (Minds page 122)

Make sure you zoom in on the above picture - the page in the phone book looks okay, but the original art? Yeah, I stared at that for a long time. All the detail on it. The little Cerebus pasted up on it. The thickness to the flecks of white paint (white out?) on top of it. Gerhard started to tell a story about how the above was his second try at it. Dave had asked for an explosion in space, and Gerhard's first attempt was deemed too cartoony. We didn't get to hear how he came up with the specific piece above.

I brought some prints from Gerhard - as he had a nice selection to choose from and he graciously signed them all. He also pulled out an program booklet from the Indiana Comic Con:

Indiana Comic Con program booklet, front

He then flipped it over to show me the back. He stated the previous year he had done a sketch for one of the guys at the con, and they used it in this year's program booklet. He said he had brought me a copy since he knew I didn't have one of them:

Every time I saw Menachem he had a smile on his face and kind words for everyone:

The signing was only supposed to be from 6pm to 8pm, but Gerhard kept sketching until just a bit past 11:30 pm. Of course since I had driven Shelley and him there, I got to wait until the end to bring them back to the hotel. By the time we got back it was past midnight. It was one of the best signings I've been to - relaxed, laid back and listening to artists talk about their craft? Always a good time.

Gerhard's 2017 Convention & Signing Itinerary:

March 2-5: Emerald City Comicon, Seattle WA
March 17-19: Toronto Comicon, Canada
March 31-April 2: Fan Expo, Dallas
April 14-16: Indiana Comic Con, Indianapolis
April 27: Escape Pod Comics, Huntington NY
April 29-30: East Coast Comicon, Secaucus NJ
May 6: Retro Rocket Comics, Cambridge, Ontario
May 19-21: Motor City Comic Con, Novi MI
June 16-18: Heroes Convention, Charlotte NC
September 8-10: Wizard World, Nashville TN
September 22-24: Hal-Con, Halifax NS Canada

Keep up to date with Gerhard's latest news at Gerz Blog!

You Don't Know... Jack!

CARSON GRUBAUGH:
Right when I thought I was getting an extended vacation from the world of Dave Sim...

...we decide to go ahead and do You Don't Know Jack! as a mini-series. Dave is churning out the gags at a rate only Dave can and I am slinging ink to produce the extra images we need as fast as I can manage.

My hope for the tones of the series, as stated to Dave is, "Like the best of Plato's dialogues, where no side of the argument wins, but short and funny." I intervene any time a gag is too one sided. Jack has final say on everything. A fine line, but one I think is worth toeing.

Here is a bit of script that Dave added on to the end of a story that I felt needed better back and forth. The lead in is a discussion about having sex with women on their periods.

As with SDOAR I will post scans of all my art as it is finished over at Dave's Patreon page. A donation of as little as $1 a month will buy you access and help us keep going.

Help finance Dave Sim to complete 'The Strange Death Of Alex Raymond' 
by donating at Patreon.com.

Originally serialised within the pages of the self-published Glamourpuss #1-26 (2008 to 2012), The Strange Death Of Alex Raymond is an as yet uncompleted work-in-progress in which Dave Sim investigates the history of photorealism in comics and specifically focuses on the work of comic-strip artist Alex Raymond and the circumstances of his death on 6 September 1956 at the wheel of fellow artist Stan Drake's Corvette at the age of 46.

Weekly Update #180: Cerebus In Hell? #3 & More Colin Upton

This week featuring:

• Benjamin Hobbs' funny / obnoxious girlfriend!
• Colin Upton's mini-comics, which can be found at Colin Upton's Tumblr and on Facebook!

Dave Sim: "Breaking The Glass Ceiling"

Original ad for the first printing of High Society, 1985.

MARC SOBEL:
(from Brighter Than You Think, Ten Short Works By Alan Moore, Uncivilised Books, 2016)

...The dispute arose over Dave Sim's decision to sell the trade paperback edition of his Cerebus graphic novel, High Society, himself rather than through the comic book retail market, for which Diamond was the primary distributor.  When it was originally published as a single "phonebook" edition in 1985, High Society (which collected Cerebus #26-50) pioneered a radical new format for graphic novels. According to [Stephen] Bissette, "When Dave decided to make comics history by publishing the first collected editions of Cerebus that were larger in format and page count than any previous North American comics volume - Breaking the glass ceiling that would immediately and profoundly reshape the marketplace... he got a lot of resistance."

In order to sell High Society in comics shops, Sim would have had to sell the books to Diamond at a 65% off cover price. Because of the size and format, the book was priced at $25 (a bargain for nearly 500 pages) and, given Sim's background in self-publishing, he decided to try to maximise his profits by distributing it himself. This decision alarmed executives at Diamond, who feared that other creators might follow his example and attempt to by pass the traditional distribution channel. After some terse  communications back and forth, when Sim also refused to sell the second printing of High Society through the direct market, threats were made by Diamond employees to stop carrying and distributing The Puma Blues, an ongoing series by Stephen Murphy and Michael Zulli which Sim published separately under his company, Aardvark One International (the same company that was supposed to publish Taboo).

This unprecedented abuse of Diamond's inductry position served as a rallying call for creators and self-publishers in the late eighties, and many, including [Alan] Moore himself, contributed art and stories for The Puma Blues #20 (1988), a benefit issue to both help support the creators effected and make a statement against Diamond's unethical practices. Once the dispute was covered by the comics press, Diamond softened its position  and agreed to continue carrying The Puma Blues, but by that point, Sim had lost his appetite for publishing and dissolved Aardvark International One, leaving Taboo without a home...

Cerebus & Erika

Cerebus & Erika (Cerebus #161, August 1992)

Art by Martin Wagner, Dave Sim & Gerhard

Jam Print released at Capital City Trade Show 1992

Original art auctioned for Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Rick in a Can

MARGARET LISS:

A few years ago I scanned all of Dave Sim's notebooks. He had filled 36 notebooks during the years he created the monthly Cerebus series, covering issues #20 to 300, plus the other side items -- like the Epic stories, posters and prints, convention speeches etc. A total of 3,281 notebook pages detailing his creative process. I never really got the time to study the notebooks when I had them. Just did a quick look, scanned them in and sent them back to Dave as soon as possible. So this regular column is a chance for me to look through those scans and highlight some of the more interesting pages.

We've looked at Dave Sim's notebook #15, four times already.  The last time was in June of 2016 in Daughter of Palnu: Lessons. The notebook covers issues #118 to 122, the early issues of Jaka's Story. It has 108 pages, 98 of which I scanned, and 4 pages blank pages not scanned (pages 94, 95/96 and 97). But we still haven't seen the cover.

Surprise. Surprise. It is a Hilroy notebook.

Notebook #15, front cover

The difference between this Hilroy notebook and the other ones is this cover has a different texture then the others. While the other ones were flat this one appears to be embossed.

Since this entry has to be a quick one - the Bruins have game 6 at home today - a couple pages of sketches from the notebook. We'll start with the back of the page first, on which are three head sketches. Jaka, "Rick in a Can" and "Wee Donny Drrredd".

Notebook #15, page 68

Though behind those sketches, you can see some other sketches. Looks like Jaka a bit.

Notebook #15, page 67

It is Jaka. A sketch of one of her dancing costumes. The top looks like the same top from the cover to Cerebus #124, but the pants are a bit more see-through.

Cerebus #124, front cover

Though it is revealed that Jaka had forgotten the back of her costume, so perhaps it is the same outfit as above - but without the back and the leggings.

Meet Gerhard Tomorrow At Escape Pod Comics!

I know I should have reached out much sooner, but with all the madness about approach FCBD it slipped my mind. We’ll be hosting Gerhard this Thursday, from 6-closing (and possible running a long time after as well!) Margaret Liss is going to be there, as well as Carla Speed McNeill. More details here...  ~  Menachem Luchins

Where: Escape Pod Comics, 302 Main St, Huntington, New York 11743

When: 18:00-20:00 EDT, Thursday 27 April 2017

Stephen Bissette: Feeding The DC Machine

Brighter Than You Think: Ten Short Works By Alan Moore

with essays by Marc Sobel

(Uncivilised Books, 2016)

MARC SOBEL:
(from Brighter Than You Think, Ten Short Works By Alan Moore, Uncivilised Books, 2016)

...Taboo was a horror anthology series edited and published by Stephen Bissette. Like Moore's short story [Come On Down], its origin also dates back to 1985 when Moore, Bissette and John Totlebon were still working together on Swamp Thing for DC Comics. While the three creators were enjoying great success with DC, the winds in the industry were shifting and more and more creators were embracing the underground comix model of self-publishing. At the time, no one had achieved more success in the self-publishing arena than the Canadian cartoonist, Dave Sim, the visionary creator and publisher of Cerebus The Aardvark, a series that he had produced entirely on his own since 1977. Inspired by his own experience, Sim was a passionate and outspoken advocate for creator independence and, according to Bissette, in 1985 he, "began extending invitations to a small pool of creators he felt were ready (and needed) to make the plunge into the deep, wide waters of self-publishing. This was part of a creative community re-education process Dave was committed to..." In particular, Sim believed that the Swamp Thing creative team was wasting their talents "renovating, restructuring and making (DC's) defunct corporate property worth something... Dave wanted us to be self-publishers, not feeding the DC machine".

But Sim was not simply encouraging creators with no publishing experience to blindly cast out on their own; he was also committed to helping them do so by building upon his own success. As a result, in 1985, he created a new corporate entity, Aardvark One International, in order to publish work from these creators. In addition to Moore, Bissette and Totlebon, many other creators working for the mainstream publishers, including Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz, were also contacted by Sim.

Bissette and Totlebon were intrigued by Sim's offer. In particular, the two artists were excited about publishing a new kind of horror anthology which would fill a creative void they perceived existed in the industry at the time. Despite the presence of some new alternative horror series in the 1980s like Twisted Tales and Gore Shriek, Bissette felt that "horror comics were in a funk. John and I were finding no fertile ground for our own efforts in these 'new' anthologies, despite our attempts, and found it frustrating that the genuinely innovative horror comic stories were appearing sporadically in non-genre anthologies like RAW or self-published tiles like Chester Brown's Yummy Fur. There was no focal point for these creators and sensibilities to come together; no publisher willing to take the risks necessary to do a genuinely adult horror comic for the 1990s; no title with a point of view or understanding of the genre willing to explore, rather than exploit, its often dangerous potential." In short, Bissette felt that the "evolution of horror comics required something more radical and unfettered" and that he and Totlebon "were audacious enough to think it could be done and that (they) might be the ones to do it". Although Sim was reluctant at first to support an anthology, he eventually agreed and early in 1986, Bissette and Totlebon began contacting potential contributors.

However, just months before Taboo's first issue was scheduled to be printed, a protracted dispute between Sim and Diamond Comics, the largest comic book distributor in the United States, reached its tipping point, resulting in the dissolution of Aardvark One. With so many creators having already contributed to the series, the sudden loss of its publisher at the last second forced Bissette and his wife to scramble to form their own publishing business. Thus, SpiderBaby Grafix was born, hastily created to publish Taboo much the same way Moore had founded Mad Love to publish AARGH!...

Swords Of Cerebus Vol 4: Magiking & Cerebus #13

Swords Of Cerebus Vol 4 (1982)

Art by Dave Sim 

PAUL SLADE:

Published between 1981 and 1984, Dave's six Swords of Cerebus volumes were his first attempt to collect the book in a more permanent form. He gave each story included in these volumes a prose introduction, explaining where the book stood when he'd been working on that particular issue and how he was thinking of its prospects at the time. This is the first of the two composite introductions Dave included in Swords volume 4. Also check out the full 'Swords Of Cerebus' Introductions Index.

There was no guest strip in this volume, but it does have this delightful little Alex Toth sketch printed on the inside of its front cover:

"[Necros] led me to develop almost a completely different style in order to capture

 the kind of broad gestures and body movements of a real nutbar," says Dave.

Next week: The giant penis issue.

Diamond Preview Picks: April 2017

Travis Pelkie returns with his regular monthly selection for Cerebus fans of comics and books featured in the latest Diamond Previews catalog. Travis is co-founder of the Atomic Junk Shop, a site about comics and other fun pop culture. To see your comics featured here or at the Atomic Junk Shop feel free to send an email to Travis at: atomicjunkshoptravis [at] outlook [dot] com. 

Shang-Chi: Master Of Kung Fu Vol 4
by Doug Moench & Gene Day
Marvel, $125
In stores: 4 October 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR171135

The publisher says:

These iconic Marvel masterpieces have never been reprinted before, so don't miss your chance to experience the Master of Kung Fu! Collecting MASTER OF KUNG FU (1974) #102-125, MASTER OF KUNG FU: BLEEDING BLACK and material from MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (1988) #1-8.

Travis says:

The fourth volume of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu has the Gene Day run collected here (along with including him with the writers in the credits as well, that's cool).  Finally, you can see what the world lost with the death of Gene Day, and marvel (ahem) at the untimely loss of his talent.  And see that continuous background page that got colored all wacky even though Archie Goodwin said it read fine!

Dave Sim said:
(from Howard Eugene Day, Mentor, Cerebus #270, 2001)

...Meanwhile, on Master of Kung Fu, as the sudden sales spurt continued to attract editorial attentions, Gene ran afoul of many of Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter's Rules of Good Comic-Book Storytelling. "No continuous backgrounds" was a big one (that is, no pages where a single background ran across two or three panels: a cornerstone of Steranko's storytelling.) Loyalty isn't the only attribute of a Scot. There's also stubbornness. Gene was part of a hit -- or, at least, a book whose sales were going up, a book that was being talked about. He must have known that that success could only be attributed to his storytelling since that was the only thing that had changed (he could never say that, or course -- not even to himself -- his natural modesty, his self-effacing Eastern Ontario nature would forbid it). But, there was another way to make his point. He did a sequence that ran across four or five pages.

One. Continuous. Background.

That, of course, led to The Phone Calls: Knock off the continuous backgrounds, said Shooter. Get them coloured properly, replied Gene (Shooter had told the colourists to use different colours on the backgrounds in different panels, so a continuous wall changed from mauve to red to yellow. Unbeknownst to Gene, the colourist was Shooter's long-term girlfriend) (oops, as they say) It was an unhappy situation. Shooter called the shots. He was Editor-in-Chief. It was his job to call the shots. Gene was a freelancer. It was his job to do as he was told...

Spiderman: Webspinners
by various
Marvel, $39.99
In stores: 28 June 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR17116

The publisher says:

A host of comic-book talents spin yarns across the web of Spidey history! Dive deep inside the goldfish bowl for a look at the early motivations of Mysterio! Solve the decades-old mystery of why the Silver Surfer abandoned his plan to attack mankind! Head back to Midtown High's senior prom with ladies' man Peter Parker - but who invited the Sandman? Chameleon spirals out of control, Vulture plots the perfect crime and a black-suited Spider-Man joins Silver Sable on a mission of international intrigue! And there are no positives to a trip to the Negative Zone - particularly when Cletus Kasady is along for the ride and Blastaar the Living Bomb-Burst is the welcoming party! Plus: Two rarely seen black-and-white tales! Collecting WEBSPINNERS: TALES OF SPIDER-MAN #1-18 and material from SHADOWS & LIGHT (1998) #2-3.

Travis says:

Another Marvel book?  I know, right?  But this one features art by friend of the blog Michael Zulli, as the short-lived Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man (a la the Legends of the Dark Knight comic that DC did for Batman, with not-necessarily in-continuity tales featured) is collected in toto, along with a couple of good black and white stories, including one with fantastic Jill Thompson art (aping Ditko, and doing a not-too-shabby job of it, as I recall).

Captain Canuck Compendium
by Richard Comely & George Freeman
Chapterhouse, $34.95
In stores: 28 June 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR171504

The publisher says:

In celebration of Canada's 150th-anniversary, Captain Canuck is back in Chapterhouse Comics' hardcover Compendium line. This 366 page compendium features all of the issues from the 1975-81 series, including issue #15 in full-color. Never-seen before art and extras by Richard Comely, George Freeman, and Claude St. Aubin make this a collector's item a must have for fans of the Captain, new and old! Forward by Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely! 

Travis says:

It's a hardcover compilation of the original Captain Canuck comics, in which the Dave Sim's Beavers appeared. If you love Canadiania (that should be a word, dang it!), go for this. I also recommend other Chapterhouse comics, as they're pretty good from what I've seen.

Chew Smorgasbord Vol 3
by John Layman & Rob Guillory
Image, $100.00
In stores: 28 June 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR170766

The publisher says:

Presenting the third and final CHEW Smorgasbord, a massive, deluxe hardcover featuring the final 20 issues of the New York Times bestselling, Harvey and multiple Eisner Award-winning series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals, and clairvoyants. Enemies are confronted, mysteries are solved, and the body count rises so very, very high. Collects CHEW #41-60 in addition to the blockbuster one-shots featuring everybody's favorite homicidal rooster, WARRIOR CHICKEN POYO, DEMON CHICKEN POYO, and the dual crossover event, CHEW/REVIVAL and REVIVAL/CHEW. 

Travis says:

Chew, the fantastic series about a cop who can solve crimes by "reading" evidence that he eats, wrapped up its 60 issue run recently, and this is the third of 3 big collections of the story (the first 2 are also offered again).  Artist Rob Guillory is wonderfully cartoony, and writer John Layman does a great job with an odd premise.  John Layman is also a huge Dave Sim/Cerebus fan.  It's going to hurt my wallet, but I think I'm going for these!

John Layman said:
(from John Layman Takes A Bite Out Of Chew, MTV, 2010)
...When I was growing up, in the 80's, everyone wanted to do their Cerebus and not many people pulled it off. This is the closest thing to my Cerebus, which is a finite series, that if I'm not known for anything else ever, that's fine...

The Divided States Of Hysteria #1
by Howard Chaykin
Image, $3.99
In stores: 7 June 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR170684

The publisher says:

An America sundered. An America enraged. An America terrified. An America shattered by greed and racism, violence and fear, nihilism and tragedy... and that's when everything really goes to hell. 

Travis says:

Howard Chaykin returns with what will undoubtedly be a divisive comic with The Divided States of Hysteria 1 from Image. Chaykin's never one to do the politically correct thing, and this surely will be no different.

Dave Sim said:
(from the Cerebus Yahoo Group Q&A, August 2004)
...If Howard ever needed me for anything, he remains on a short list of people I would drop everything to help in any way that I could -- un-work related, I would assume. He’d be my first choice of someone to have dinner with in just about any comic-book context I could think of. And a big reason for that is that I would never have to wonder where I stood with Howard Chaykin. He would never say anything behind someone’s back that he wouldn’t say to that same person’s face. As was the case at the Aardvarks Over San Diego party. He had something to say and he said it. It cleared the air so that I didn’t hesitate for one second before approaching him the next time I saw him. Those are the sort of people I have always admired and whose company I have most enjoyed...

Savage Dragon #225
by Erik Larsen
Image, $9.99
In stores: 21 June 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR170688

The publisher says:

"THE MERGING OF MULTIPLE EARTHS," Conclusion. Giant-sized 25th anniversary special! Savage Dragon is restored to his former glory as he bulks up to take on Darklord in a final battle! Mr. Glum's devious plot to merge the multi-verse comes to its cataclysmic conclusion! Savage Dragon and Malcolm Dragon join forces to save Angel Murphy and the very earth itself! 

Travis says:

Savage Dragon gets closer to Cerebus territory with issue 225, the 25th anniversary issue (add in the debut mini and you're at 228, of course), which averages about 9 issues a year, putting Erik Larsen on track to match Dave and Ger in about 2025.  Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the original Dragon dies this issue. Just sayin'.

Spawn #275
by Todd McFarlane & Szymon Kudranski
Image, $2.99
In stores: 12 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR170699

The publisher says:
SAM AND TWITCH ARE BACK!!!

Travis says:

Todd McFarlane is closer with his numbering, but he's done less of the art and writing than Larsen or Dave and Ger, so even if he hits 300 in the next couple years, it's not quite the achievement of Cerebus. Still, kudos to Todd for *ahem* having the balls to keep doing what he does. 

Todd MacFarlane said:
(from Comic Book Resources, 7 June 2013)

...I've got to at least get to #301 so I can break Dave Sim's independent record! He's got the record for the longest running independent comic book with Cerebus the Aardvark. I've gotta beat him by at least one. It's just a little competition amongst fellow Canadians...

Reed Crandall: Illustrator Of The Comics
by Roger Hill
Twomorrows Publishing, $49.95
In stores: 26 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR172092

The publisher says:

From the 1940s to the '70s, Reed Crandall brought a unique and masterful style to American comic art. Using an illustrator's approach on everything he touched, Crandall gained a reputation as the "artist's artist" through his skillful interpretations of Golden Age super-heroes Doll Man, The Ray, and Blackhawk (his signature character); horror and sci-fi for the legendary EC Comics line; Warren Publishing's Creepy, Eerie, and Blazing Combat; the THUNDER Agents and Edgar Rice Burroughs characters; and even Flash Gordon for King Features. Comic art historian Roger Hill has compiled a complete and extensive history of Crandall's life and career, from his early years and major successes, through his tragic decline and passing in 1982. This hardcover includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and over eighty thousand words of insight into one of the true illustrators of the comics.

Travis says:

I learned a bit about Reed Crandall I didn't know just from the solicit text, so the book is bound to be quite good.  He worked for Warren and EC, as well as doing Flash Gordon, it seems.  TwoMorrows is very good, so this is undoubtedly going to be a good one.

Comics Revue: June 2017
edited by Rick Norwood
Manuscript Press: $19.95
In stores: 28 June 2017
Diamond Order Code: APR172361

The publisher says:

America's longest-running magazine of classic comics now has twice as many pages of strips as the earlier version, on better paper, includes 8 pages of full-color comic strips, and features Tarzan by Russ Manning, Rick O'Shay by Stan Lynde, Flash Gordon by Harry Harrison, Gasoline Alley by Dick Moores, Alley Oop by V.T. Hamlin, Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff, and Casey Ruggles by Warren Tufts, plus stories in black & white.

Travis says:
Here's Comics Revue again, publisher of good comic strips!


More Diamond Previews picks at Atomic Junk Shop's regular Flippin' Through Previews column.

Gerhard's Indiana "Gerebus" Sketches

Gerhard's 2017 Convention & Signing Itinerary:

March 2-5: Emerald City Comicon, Seattle WA
March 17-19: Toronto Comicon, Canada
March 31-April 2: Fan Expo, Dallas
April 14-16: Indiana Comic Con, Indianapolis
April 27: Escape Pod Comics, Huntington NY
April 29-30: East Coast Comicon, Secaucus NJ
May 19-21: Motor City Comic Con, Novi MI
June 16-18: Heroes Convention, Charlotte NC
September 8-10: Wizard World, Nashville TN
September 22-24: Hal-Con, Halifax NS Canada

Keep up to date with Gerhard's latest news at Gerz Blog!

SDOAR: Duh-Duhh-Duh-Duh-DONE

CARSON GRUBAUGH:

My contribution to SDOAR Vol.1 is now complete. I think.

After finishing the last page I gave Dave a call to talk about what we need to do next. Some topics we covered.

An open question is whether Karl Stevens is going to do the final two pages of the post issue #4 bridging sequences. I sure hope so. It makes a hell of a lot more sense for the story, and given what I have been seeing from him on social media I really want to see what he does with the pages. Also, next week ends my spring semester, summer semester is always more hectic, I need to make another move (in-town this time), etc., so the timing of being-done-now would be really nice.

The plan is to take advantage of the week off between semesters to drive from Modesto down to San Diego to physically bring the pages to Sean Robinson. The art should be scanned and ready to do stuff with in two weeks time.

Dave has tasked Sean and I with figuring out what would make a good Artist's Edition for a Kickstarter campaign. Supposedly this will be done with IDW involved.

After a lot of confusing back-and-forth of faxes, which left me worried that there will never be an actual SDOAR BOOK, Dave and I had a second conversation that as very fruitful and left me feeling much better about being a good representative of his agenda, as well as a negotiator for the agenda of pretty much all of the rest of us who really just want to read the damn book. The hope is that during the trip to San Diego Sean and I will also be able to met with Ted Adams to start firming up a long term release strategy that is acceptable to all parties involved.

Anyway, how about some art!

Here is the middle of three pages that are pretty much all the same image with Sim Sizzle (I dub it thus) going through various contortions depending on Jack's internal states.

The Sim Sizzle really caught my eye when I first read SDOAR so I was very happy try my hand at it. 

Tracing Dave's Raymond tracing, copies of copies of copies, and seeing it shrunk down makes me realize that I have been going WAY too small and placing my lines far too close together to recreate the glowing half-tone look of Raymond's hatching. Whoops. Dave said to go small; draw into the page!

UPDATE -- 23 APRIL:

More talking to Dave and some thinking on my part requires modifications to the above information.

SDOAR is going to be a series of, we don't know how many, Artist's Editions BEFORE it is a book. This is Dave's desire. Sean and I will work with IDW to figure out exactly how the material is going to be spread out over the editions.

This means Karl's pages are unnecessary for a while to come so we can just move forward. After looking at what I think makes a good Vol. 1 book as a whole I actually think those two pages would be better served as the first two pages of Vol. 2 anyway. So I can happily say that EVERYTHING about Vol 1. (as I think it is best constituted) is DONE!

We talked about turning You Don't Know...Jack? into a mini-series rather than web-strips. This would let us get some books on the market while the Editions come out and serve as a weird promotional device for SDOAR. I have tons of ideas for the book ready to send to Dave. Jack, bless her heart, is totally on board.

The next step is to scan the art and meet with IDW to firm up the details of the various releases.

Oh, and from here on out I am not going to re-draw images that can just be Photoshopped. Point proven. Trial of fire passed. Finishing things as quickly as possible is now the primary goal. Hoity-toity art pride be damned.