Deep cuts- rarities, outtakes & b-sides

Few weeks back, I shared the A-Sides, a collection of my "top five" works past & present (to inspire the future). Now, as promised (&/or threatened), here I throw down the flipsides to those trax: the lesser-known but sometimes funkier b-sides. 

Most of these cuts are vinyl only...

First up is a really deep cut, way back from my college daze when I did a different weekly strip in all three of the newspapers @ Rutgers. In the alternative paper, "The Medium", I drew my fave, "Fallin' Asleep", a collection of self-important navel-gazin' that one can only get away with in college. Some of 'em actually hold up tho', like this piece right here:

Next track is a funky one indeed. Done fer a comic book website contest I didn't win, I still dig it the most- a mash-up of Marvel & DC; a team-up in an alternate universe's Harlem, wherein two of the comix biggest contributions to the Blaxploitation era do their thang outside the Apollo with electrifyin' results indeed:

Here is a detail from a piece titled "Great Minds Think Alike", another work of charity to support a cause with which my lovely bride was involved: It was an animal rights group that was trying to stop the inhumane & even more sadly unnecessary deer culling in Princeton. The sexiest lawyer ever represented them pro-bono as legal counsel & I contributed this to raise money for their efforts. You can peep the full piece here, but here's that detail I promised lo so many words ago:

Here's la familia Seda-Schreiber hangin' on "Sesame Street" back in the day:

& then my quick sketch in tribute to Mr. Jim Henson upon his passing from felt to dirt:

My lovely bride asked me to include two mas:

First up, this seasonal missive from the year we found out she was with child (hopefully mine, but the blonde hair & blue eyes did indeed make it somewhat suspicious- callin' Maury Povich!). I've laid down holiday ink for the past 30 some odd years & this is not particularly a fave of mine honestly altho' I appreciate the sentiment & I think the drawing expresses it nicely. I do like the stork's Rudolph nose & oh-so-feathery-feathers but I don't think our as-of-then-yet-to-be-born son looks so safe being upside-down & all (& even moreso he looks kinda' larva-esque rather than simply bundled up...)

& my best girl really digs this piece, Moose & Goose (a romance), & the story goes a lil' somethin' like this:

So I am quite often asked, both virtually & corporeally, to draw something for someone. Usually I politely demur, citing my current penchant for donating my art to charity or supporting political causes, but the chef in my school's cafeteria came to me in such a sweet & earnest manner, I could not resist slinging some ink his way. He told me a tale of his first anniversary with his lovely bride & how they call each other "moose & goose" & this just tumbled outta' me...

& of course, no post is complete without a lil' Vonnegut...

nuff said.

Valentine's Day throwback for y'all...

Okay, kids, although I am now oh-so-happily married to an incredibly beautiful woman (hey, babygirl!), I was once a miserable lonely bastard who hated Valentine's Day with a passion. I still refuse to celebrate it as it is indeed a corporate maunfactured buncha' malarkey (still love u, crazygirl!), but now at least I'm not a grumpy assh*le all day. But for those of you who still are (& I support you wholeheartedly!), here's your very righteous justification, straight from my 20-some-odd-years-ago collegiate misanthropic self...

Enjoy~

click to embiggen...

I once was blind, but now...

Colorblindness is really a misnomer; it is more akin to color-confused. Whereas your spectrum is quite vast & includes a veritable plethora of color, those of us who are genetically-deficient have a much smaller range & therefore colors get smashed up together, confused with others, & many unseen at all. 

I am colorblind, one of the most severe degrees of such. It is bothersome at times, disappointing at others, but as with any handicap (& I even hesitate to use that word as comparatively it is a non-issue), one learns to adjust & compensate for such. I also like the fact that I “inherited” from my Poppy, my mom’s dad, who left much too early in my life & sharing this genetic trait is at least something by which I can feel closer to him.

But being colorblind does affect me every day- the loss of a beautiful sunset, inability to decipher a traffic lite, seeing lots of green skin on folks I know are not Martians… unsure if I’m wearin’ a pink shirt. Being an artist (albeit one who predominantly works in black & white), an art teacher & just a lover of looking & seeing & really absorbing this wonderfully vibrant world around us makes it even more distressing at times.

This wonderful company EnChroma has changed all that with their incredible &, I dare say, inspiring sunglasses that promise “color for the colorblind”, & y’know what, they actually deliver on said promise in a big way.

Just back from Méjico where I sported these EnChroma Commander CX-14 sunglasses that profess (& do indeed deliver on that promise!) to allow the colorblind to see color. 

These are amazing, wonderful, & truly awe-inspiring & you can see my reaction to wearing them in the video...

(Lo siento for wind noise- tried to fix to no avail. 

Keep watching, it does improve later in video.)

& as an extry bonus, here is some comix I doodled way-back in college about bein’ colorblind… 

Enjoy:

The Walking Dead Emaciation Proclamation

Zombies, undead & somewhat stinky tho' they may be, deserve the same rights as the rest of us...

If yer on Twitter, please reweet, favorite & do whatever Tweeting magic you want to this tweet by my lovely bride.

Do that for this lonely lil' blogger & I will love you lots.

Vote for my art (only if you think it worthy...)

Hey kids-
There is an online art competition of which I am a part.
It's on a very well-trafficked comix website called "Comic Book Resources" & the entry that gets the most votes gets a permanent slot in their weekly roundtable of artists (& hence some nice exposure for their work).
As much as I'd like the work to stand on its own merits (I think it's pretty good piece), there is a whole lot of social networking going on & folks are calling out their troops as it were.
So I'd like to ask you all to take a look at my drawing (at the first link) & if (& only if ) you feel it's one of the strongest of the bunch, please vote at the poll at the second link.

Thanks for your support...

Here's the piece~
   
& go here to see it @ the site itself:
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/12/08/the-line-it-is-drawn-try-out-week-2-group-5/

& then you vote here (my name is about two thirds the way down; please also consider voting for one or two other artists you may enjoy as well):
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/12/08/the-line-it-is-drawn-week-2-all-7-groups/

Thanks again good internet folks.

a bridge too far...

Forgive me for another moment of artistic pride...

A piece I did was selected for Robert Goodin's great site, Covered, which allows artists to recreate comic book covers in interesting & unusual ways. (Get it? "Cover versions"?) The site has been wildly successful in its little-over-a-year existence & many artists I respect a great deal have done work therein, so I am quite thrilled & more than a lil' proud to say that the following piece was accepted by Mr. Goodin to be in the company of such luminaries of the field & actually posted just a few minutes ago.
Please check it out & give it some love (in the form of a comment) if yer so inclined both here & there (& everywhere!)~

The original cover to compare & contrast~

& if you've come visiting from "Covered", please feel free to wander around & see what these here "very secret monster things" are all about...

people deserving of more respect, pt. j

Evan Dorkin

for the blogger who has everything...

Hey kids-

This angst funnyman's gonna' be 40 next week (egads!), so if you wanna' get yer favorite blogger a lil' somethin'-somethin' for all these years (okay- months) of entertaining you folks, you could simply fulfill my lifelong dream~

Seriously, how freakin' cool is this Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., "online purveyors of high quality crimefighting merchandise"?!

It is indeed a real store in Brooklyn that does indeed sell supplies to Superheroes (& yes, it does screen out any & all super-villians); It is also the brainchild of the uber-talented Dave Eggers & all proceeds from heroic goods go to support 826, the wonderful community writing center for youth.
I especially dig the Vapor Blaster just so's you know...

captain america (as represented by robt seda-schreiber) v. stephen colbert

This morning, Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report" & right-wing alter ego of Stephen Colbert, will be served with a legal document called a writ of replevin.
A writ of replevin is a prejudgment process ordering the seizure or attachment of alleged illegally taken or wrongfully withheld property to be held by a designated official, under order and supervision of the court. This type of writ is commonly used to take property from an individual wrongfully in possession of it and return it to its rightful owner.
In 2007, upon the supposed "death" of Captain America, his shield was given to Mr. Colbert by Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada.
As I am sure comes as no surprise to anyone, Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, has returned (“reborn” if you will) from his supposed death. More to the point, reports of his death were greatly exaggerated in the first place. It was under this false pretense that Mr. Colbert was “bequeathed” said shield, so it would follow that the good Captain’s shield be returned to him post-haste. I bring this legal action in his name, with the help of my brilliant & beautiful lawyer-wife.
Now being a poor schoolteacher myself, I am willing to negotiate with Mr. Colbert. I would think he would like to keep Captain America’s shield in his so-called “Eagle’s Nest” & I am willing to discuss terms by which he could do so.
I truly hope that we will be able to reach an amicable & fair agreement & we can settle this before it becomes an ugly & embarrassing courtroom spectacle.
I will let you, my dear readers, know of any & all progress as it occurs.
For now, here is a copy of the aforementioned writ of replevin for your perusal:

click to embiggen

friday funnies

it's okay if only five folks read this blog if one of 'em is this guy...

When I post (like when I draw), I do so in a vacuum, in my studio, alone~ surrounded by my toys, my drawing table & my spinner rack of comix. I never know what the response will be to any given piece of work I produce, if it will be successful, or indeed if anybody will see/read it at all.
This blog has been fun thus far, still finding my way, finding my voice as it were. Sometimes I despair at the seemingly low number of folks who visit this dark crevice of the inter-webs; not that I don't cherish those who do. All the comments & e-mails I've received have been truly wonderful & have kept me sane, focused & indeed inspired.
But the following deserves special recognition~

"Very cool stuff!
I like what you did with the wolves--the final version definitely works. I also like the self-portrait, with your (very well-drawn, btw) hands, projecting towards the reader.
But what I like MOST--is the way that you write!
You have a very direct, unpretentious, endearing--and ultimately, very cool--way of expressing yourself in words! Much FUN to read!
I'm only sorry that it took me this long to check out your blog, and find that out.
All the best to you--and thanks again, for the very nice compliments about my work. (But you're no chopped liver yourself, y'know!)
Take care-
Trevor"

That's Trevor Von Eeden.
Of whom I wrote here.
Whose craft, imagination & talent, both when I was growing up & to this day, imbues me with huge amounts of knowledge & pleasure ~ with his beautiful line-work, thought-provoking layouts, & totally original & utterly wonderful style.
Here's something I scanned from an old Batman annual I have on my spinner~
It's just Batman flicking on a light switch, but it shows that when Trevor Von Eeden drew anything, it wasn't ever just anything at all...

'nuff said.

finally apprehended

"Fallin' Asleep" week concludes, very appropriately~

syllabus

More navel-gazing & nakedness (maybe that's what I shoulda' called the strip instead of "Fallin' Asleep")~

big bad wolf

"Fallin' Asleep" week continues with one of my favorites~

touch the sky

& for my next trick, I draw myself nekkid~

the greenest hair

More "Fallin' Asleep" for y'all...
Remember: only dogs see in black & white; color-blindness is a misnomer, it should really be called "color-confused".
Enjoy~

fallin' asleep

Back to work, back to bloggin'...

Whilst in college (Rutgers '92), I really came into my own as an artist. I had transferred from School of Visual Arts in Manhattan & found a real home for my work on the pages of the three major college papers there. I first slung ink at the Rutgers Review with the cult hit "Skullboy" until they censored my work once too often (a story for another time, kids). Fortunately, Ian Jacobs & Heather Alevras (to both of whom I am eternally grateful) wooed me away to "The Medium", the ugly step-child of the school's papers, with the promise of a full page for my doodles &, more importantly, a lot more respect for my work. It was there I really found my proverbial niche. At the same time, due to my ever-increasing & even more inexplicable rising popularity, I was offered some space at the "Targum", the school's stalwart, staid & somewhat stilted paper of record, wherein I tested the boundaries of good taste with a strip called "Creative Juices" (this work I will share as well in the near future).

But it was at the aforementioned "Medium" that I gave my ink-stained heart & soul with the magnum opus called "Fallin' Asleep".

I was allowed full artistic freedom to create this work which allowed me to clear my head of all the insanity & inanity that kept me up all through the the night, at first revolving at around sexual proclivities (my own & others as well) & thankfully evolving into something a little more~ some political, social & environmental musings; some emotional & psychological explorations; some small answers to big questions; & lots & lots of drawings of me naked.

This week, I will share some of my favorites from the approximately 83 some-odd (& some were very odd indeed!) strips that encompassed "Fallin' Asleep" in all its inky glory some almost twenty years past.

This first piece is a good example of the navel-gazing in which I often indulged, one of the very things for which I believe college was created.

I was so much older then...

one more for the webhead

The other day when I posted some sticky tunes, I totally spaced on this dub-tastic ditty from Big Youth~

Spider-Man Meet The Hulk

sticky fingaz

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man does whatever a spider can..."

We all know the tune, not a day goes by wherein it doesn't swing through my head, & with Spidey revvin' up to make his big Broadway debut next year, I thought I'd post some sticky tracks, some good, some bad, all at least interesting to say the least. Uncle Ben certainly wasn't talking about these musicians when he imparted his better-than-your-average fortune cookie wisdom~ "With great power comes great responsibility".

First up we have the ubiquitous 60's cartoon theme, which swings almost as much as our web-headed friend his own self & then we turn it up to 11 to let The Ramones rock it out with their version.

Next Freddie McCoy vibes us out with his jazzy samba-riffic tune that had Spidey on the album cover but had seemingly little ease to do with the wall-crawler. But still a nice mellow tune nonetheless.

From across the pond comes an odd "mastermix" from MC Spy-D & "friends" which has some BBC Spider-Man cartoon dialogue interspersed with some pretty generic beats; Appropriate does basically the same with the 60's theme, mashing it up with some electronica- This track was featured in some video game or some such I believe.

Italian Spider-Man? Ridiculous, repulsive, offensive, you so don't want to laugh, but you will (& aren't those things the very foundations of the Internet itself) & the song will end up on your iPod, I guarantee it...

Finally because I couldn't find one song good/bad enough to feature, I leave you with a triumvirate from the mid-70's classic, "Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero".

Until we hear what Bono & The Edge are cookin' up, this is what the music world has offered up thus far in celebration of Peter Parker & his sticky alter-ego.

(& I do want to share this as well~ whilst doing the research for this post (read: Googling "Spider-Man"), I learned something I wish I could unlearn: There is a pretty perverse & very un-gallant sex act known as the "Spider-Man" & I beg you not to find out for yourselves. Don't do it! I beg of you!)

As one of the great literary figures of our times sez~

"'Nuff said, true believer!"

Spider-Man 60's cartoon theme

Spider-Man Ramones styley!

Spider-Jazz

Amazing Spider-Man BBC Mastermix

Spider-Man Appropriate Mix

Italian Spider-Man

Spider-Man theme: Rock Reflections of a Superhero

Peter Stays & Spidey Goes: Rock Reflections...

No One Has A Crush On Peter: Rock Reflections...

people deserving of more respect, pt. 9

Trevor Von Eeden