A little conversation with Clayton Crain (Marvel Comics graphic artist).

Well folks, just last weekend I ran into Clayton Crain, illustrator of Marvel Comics' hit title X-Force and some Ghost Rider soon-to-be classics like Road to Damnation and Trail of Tears. Had a wee bit of conversation and it's transcribed right here for your fanboy pleasure ^^

Spike: Hey man, having a nice weekend?

Clayton: Yeah, just ran 8 miles and I'm feeling good.

Spike: Cool!

Clayton: How are the new books looking?

Spike: I just bought my Necrosha poster. Well, I haven't gotten everything yet, I live in Mexico City, I have up to Necrosha One-Shot and New Mutants.

Clayton: Well, thanks for paying my bills.

Spike: I´ve been very into your stuff since I read your Ghost Rider work.
Hahah no problem dude, just keep 'em coming, man!
How long does it take you to finish a 24 page issue?

Clayton: I've finished an issue in three weeks. My average is 5 weeks.

Spike: Damn, that´s not bad at all, specially for the high detail of your stuff.

Clayton: If I get a script all at once, I can take a week to get through all the pages. Then two weeks to render what is necessary. I know a Mexican artist, Humberto Ramos, I met him in Calgary. He seems like a real decent guy.

Spike: Cool! Ever found yourself with a very confusing script (I am a scriptwriter myself, and I've seen some weird ones :P)

Clayton: When there are more than 10 characters, it gets harder.

Spike: The JLA syndrome I like to call it.

Clayton: When I started X-Force, I had to go back and change so many people.

Spike: Really? And where did the black costume idea came from?

Clayton: Too many bad guys. Marvel and the writers wanted black-ops costume.

Spike: Oh, specially that issue where every bad guy comes back to life :P That was an impressive spread page!

Clayton: I liked GR, one bad guy vs one even more bad Guy.

Spike: I remember when I bought the Trail of Tears hardcover, my cousin wanted to get a tat of that old school GR on the horse. That panel alone must have taken quite some time

Clayton: Not much on that issue, took over 8 hours

Spike: Really? It has so much detail I thought otherwise!
Which has been your favorite title (that you have worked in of course)?

Clayton: Ghost Rider for being the most detailed, and X-Force now and then is enjoyable.

Spike: It has been a good X-Force run, let me say, and your art I think has defined much of the essence of the new approach to these mutants, in my opinion. And that rainbow cover, hilarious! :P

Clayton: The first 6 or so pages took some time on GR; Trail of Tears.

Spike: ToT was an interesting read, like, when you first open it and see the civil war, I  was like 'what the...' but it all wraps up very nicely. I really enjoyed it, it's very emotional for a GR comic book.
Ok man, have a nice day and keep up the good work!

"Yeah I'm good, feels like my skull´s on fire, but I'm good." -Johny Blaze/Ghost Rider-

2012

-El 21 de diciembre del 2012, astrónomos de la NASA y otras agencias independientes descubrieron Némesis, una estrella fallida, enana marrón, que lentamente orbita con el sol, durante el alineamiento que este tuvo con el centro de la galaxia... -Apaga eso- dice Santiago Gracia Vega a su hija. Hasta ayer, el era un padre de familia, campista y publicista; ahora, es un Robinson Crusoe del siglo XXI que escapa al bosque desde el anuncio de que el asteroide Apophis colisionara con la tierra en 6 meses, esto causo una revuelta a nivel global.
-Niños ¿recuerdan que les enseñe cuando salimos de campamento? -Como olvidarlo... te la pasabas gritoteando. Contesto Dany, el hijo mayor. Santiago siempre supo que el hombre retomaría esa inteligencia instintiva, totalmente opuesta a lo que ahora se considera estilo de vida.
-Lo niños ya están en su sleeping. -Dijo Laura. -Bueno, por lo menos hemos encontrado un poco de paz, y espero en Dios que esta situación mejore pronto.
-¿Paz? Esto no es paz, esto es un intento de... oye ¿que es eso? -Se interrumpe a si mismo Santiago, cuando sus ojos ven una nave extraña estacionada. De ella salen 2 seres grandes, llevan una armadura con algunos grabados parecidos a las artesanías mayas. Laura y Santiago están catatónicos.
-Administrando una corriente en las criaturas humanas, 75 voltios, 1 miliamperio… Completado, signos vitales regularizándose. -Informa la criatura. Santiago se recupera, mientras Laura cae desvanecida. El se hinca para ayudarla. La rabia asciende a sus pensamientos.
-¡No se si me entienden, pero les advierto que si algo le pasa mi familia, no solo averiguare como destruirlos, sino que haré que dure hasta el fin del mundo. Se que les parezco poca cosa, con sus armaduras o lo que sea, pero, si hay algo que sabemos los humanos… –interrumpe la criatura -Conocemos esa faceta humana, y no se preocupe, nosotros solo hemos venido a presenciar de primera cuenta el ballet cósmico que se llevo acabo anoche.
Laura se incorpora, y va a checar que los niños estén bien. -Así que la muerte de billones es para ustedes solo como un show, son tan superiores y no harán nada por evitar esta devastación. Seguro con solo las armas de sus trajes podrían evitar esto... espera un minuto ¿como es que puedo entenderlos?
-Conocemos los idiomas de la Tierra, aunque llamamos a su mundo Xipinuhuexel. Nuestros trajes han sido implantados biomecánicamente en nuestro organismo. Estos están conectados en tiempo real a una matriz warp de datos con cobertura en 4 galaxias, desde su Ofiuco. Y para concluir, nuestros trajes no poseen herramientas bélicas.
-¿Que es Ofiuco mamá? -No lo se Ingrid. –Respondió Laura. -Ofiuco es como llaman al conjunto de estrellas que consideran zodiacales, que se encuentra entre su Escorpión y Sagitario, humana pequeña.
-Solo hay doce signos del zodiaco, cosa, y Fiucio no es de ellos- Respondió Daniel, el sabelotodo.
-Curioso que una especie regida por arbitrariedades hechas basándose en lo que ven en su firmamento, no este bien informada de ello, pero ha llegado nuestra hora de partir.
-¡Esperen! ¿Tienen algún nombre? Pregunto Santiago, a lo que le contestaron -Si, pero tu sistema de 24 dígitos no puede pronunciarlo, llámame Tom y a mi compañero Jerry. Una vez llego su señal a un viejo transistor que tengo en la nave y lo observe. Impresionante desempeño surrealista.
-Ok, Tom, oye ¿podrían ayudarnos a salir de esto? solo somos 4 pasajeros, o mejor aun, podrían hacer algo sobre el asteroide… -No. Sostuvimos relación con los Mayas, en Chichén Itza. Lo que nos mostraron fue la capacidad bélica del hombre, que los llevo a desaparecer. -Explico Jerry a los humanos, de manera gentil.
-No somos superiores, sino diferentes. Entendemos que el progreso y la supervivencia deben ser encaminadas a la armonía entre todo. Heron de Alejandría invento el motor de vapor, llamado "eolípila", hace un par de milenios humanos. Pudo haber iniciado su revolución industrial. Se vio truncado por el principio de que es mas barata la esclavitud de su misma especie, que hacer un progreso para todos. A diferencia de la nuestra, su tecnología no existe por necesidad o progreso, sino por codicia.
Dany comprendió la situación, y desesperado busco la vieja Colt 45 de papà para el cuidado de la familia, si titubeos, el pequeño jala el gatillo.
-¡Ayúdennos he dicho! -grito a todo pulmón, a lo que contesto Jerry -El metal fundido de tu arma no me hará ningún daño, humano. Veo como funciona su mente, buscan destruir en vez de buscar soluciones constructivas para el beneficio de todos. Como los acontecimientos actuales de su planeta. Hay un par de cosas que destruirán su especie; una catástrofe cósmica o ustedes mismos. La pregunta real es ¿que lo hará primero?

FIN DE LA HUMANIDAD

GREETINGS FROM MURDERVILLE

Hello beautiful people, how do you do? Well, this is a first one here, this is going to be an actual "Dear diary..." post, and I'm going to keep it like that from now on, let's be honest, who wants to hear me complain, more than the usual. If you want my opinion about something, you can always ask for it ^^

As many of you know I'm very into comic books and for the last couple of years I have been wanting to break through the biz. Been working with Benjamin Estrada since November of last year in Greetings from Murderville, a sci-fi tale about vampiric politics and human revolution. I also have been writing "Sin Comentarios" (haven't decided the title in English yet) which is a comedy inspired in sitcoms and the life my cousin Chachi and I had back when we worked in a convenience store a couple of years ago (and yes, it is quite different from Clerks), filled with rather bizarre, funny and somewhat interesting experiences and reflections. Sadly, as much as I love this little enterprise, it hasn't found a conceptual certainty, home or visual artist. Plus I myself have been having trouble on defining the style, in an ideal world, this is meant to reflect alternative scenes as they work in Mexico City, but since well, there is an intimate relationship on my behalf to America and well, Mexico draws a lot from it as well.
It's been a hell for me deciding what could work or not in context, or for the audience; other thing that worries me, most people here, don't give a fuck about comics, hence why it must also be made available for the English speaking community in the Internet, but I am afraid they will have a hard time identifying with the comic. Any comments regarding anything are always welcome.

I have no idea when the Golden Age was, but as far as I'm concerned, wherever I am is the Golden Age! -Stan Lee-

Badabing/Mkopke/Benji presentan:

Köpke y Benji (buenos amigos y dibujantes, con los que estoy trabajando en Sin Comentarios y Greetings from Murderville, respectivamente) pintaran "en vivo" un mural el la bohemia tienda de comics Badabing (del buen Giacomo), en la Zona Rosa.

Entrada libre, estara rocker, yo ya vi el diseño y ROCKEA BRUTAL (Wells style!). Deberian ir a ver que onda y pasarla brutal antes de salir a fiestear el sabado!

SHE (a little something I am working on).

She, always hiding behind trees, like butterflies in August, delicate and colorful, and I can see through - the net of course.
I get some smiles and she flies back in flirty irony, always to close but never close enough. As always I could feel your breath but never your sweat. Because to tell the truth, there are all these rules written between the lines, and hide and seek we must analyze, find the patterns an summarize the numbers in eloquence. trying to find the answer of why?
Always a nice time but never a significant one, looking for catharsis in mischievous smiles.
As quick as a bat - they all fly, ideas, emotions, delusions and deals made to the femenine side of the succubi kind, walkyries if you like. Barehanded they can all rip a heart aside from the torax, and never keeping in mind that the wound is mortal, they smile. She, sneaks in silence, and though I know she is behind me I never can quite see her smile.

Who reviews the reviews?

Welcome again to another review made by Spike Valentine (made famous by the time his dog bit him while jumping a fence), but, this time, in post-Watchmen movie period of history (which actually didn't do as good as it projected to be, box-office-wise, and there are many reasons for that), where everyone is a self-important, pseudo-intellectual that thanks to the internet, has an opinion. I will make my idiocy be heard by reviewing the reviews!

First of all, the one made by the guys of Comic Book Club (follow the link to see the review, dumbass...). Like Pete, I wasn't fond of the new ending, but, ok, I think that will work for new audiences. This one I think is a very good, objective, and unpretencious way to see the ups and downs of the picture with the eyes of people that actually reads comics, not just read Watchmen because of the film. You can catch their review of the comic-book right here as well ;)

Next, from NEXTNEWNETWORKS (former house of "the Stack" which was the show now known as Comic Book Club) we have the reviews from Beyond The Trailer and Movie Math.
These ones have more of a mainstream point of view to it, looking at it as mostly a movie and giving us the opinions of attendants (fans of the comic-book and civilians), the numbers behind the movie, and the opinion of the hot hosts. The only point I want to make here is, that, well, the yuppie girl in Beyond The Trailer said a movie should stand by itself, and I say it depends, for instance, The Dark Knight is not based on any specific comic-book arc or issue, in that case I think it's ok to think this way. BUT Watchmen is the adaptation of an specific, twelve-issue series and in this case, I think it should stay as faithful to the source material as possible. Grace Randolph, I think, is hot, but, didn't get Watchmen and it seems to be the only "graphic novel" she has touched, her personal review is mostly dumb and it shows that maybe she hasn't read Watchmen after all. I don't mind people that have not read it, just, say you haven't, don't try to be all "down" with culture you don't get.

Now, this blogger Blunty (alleged geek), he does have access to interesting sources (Zack Snyder, Malin Ackerman, Jeffery Dean Morgan) and saw the movie almost before everyone on earth. But, there must be a reason for it, and I didn´t realize it until I saw the film, this one mostly looks like propaganda. The guy is well informed, but if you see his review, for instances, claims there is almost no slo-mo, that is an actual lie. And what he says about the ending, is quite over the top, casting is either very good or very bad (Silk Spectre II), there´s Warner money behind this guy, which isn't bad, just don´t invest a lot in this guy's blog.

Now this idiot Cumonass, one of those morons that says the movie sucks to seem "cool" or "intelligent" (which he is not). He mostly reads some reviews and calls it a review on the film (as opposed to the review of the review). Doesn't add anything to the subject, don't waste your time, and now, for a real review...

Hollywood Elsewhere impresses the eye with this article on Watchmen named "A Staggering Failure". This review has some points other not-so-negative reviews have made about Malin's casting; Carla Gugino, for me, did quite a job with her watered-down role, Nite Owl II works very, very well as well. It also says storytelling is all over the place, which is not, I have seen it twice, once with comic-book devotees and once with civilians, in both cases, me and the rest of the people I watched it with liked it and understood the plot very well. Here we se the suspicion of WB paying for good reviews, well, dude, that happens all the time with most of the movies! Plus this review seems to be there with "I don't like it, so I must be cool", I would say this is biased by pretention.

Te common man review, the one's I've heard mostly agree on distracting music, the hideous casting of Malin Ackerman (there are so many way hot girls that also act way better), (most comic-book fans and I) weren't impressed with the new ending, and me and one friend agree on Rorschach's character was not a good adaptation (though this doesn't affect the movie, as a hardcore fan of Rorschach, I would have rather seen the monotonous one, though I realize that wouldn't have worked with new audiences, which is the main target).

"To hold a pen is to be at war."
-Voltaire-

Who watched the watchmen?

Yesterday I went to the long awaited premiere (mostly by comic-book enthusiasts) movie of Watchmen, based on the limited series comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. This adaptation was exceptionally directed by Zack Snyder with an amazing cast and photography that almost made me cry (in a very, very happy way :), that takes us into an incredible journey into one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century (according to Times Magazine).

First, reviewing this as a movie by itself, ignoring the history of the franchise; It is an AWESOME film, easily one of my favorites in the genre and all time quite possibly. It's so beautiful, only complain in graphics is Dr. Manhattan, it does look "plastic", but it doesn't spoil it. Great action sequences, a ton of compelling dialogues including voice-overs. The mock footage of historical events is so greatly conceived it's like history rewritten. Plus, the Minutemen and the Comedian, a real HOME RUN! The OST was a little distracting though, and Silk Spectre's II acting was not matching the film requirements. It's a long movie, but in the good way, you won' t feel uninterested in the plot or characters one bit, and you get a great, deep and long flick for an average ticket price so, go Watch'em :D

Now, the geek side takes over and accompanied with spoilers!!! I think Zack Snyder's conception of Rorschach had little to do with the comic-book character, hated that, specially the scene where he describes the kidnap investigation he leaded. The traits of character are made so clear in the comic, and he seemed not to get them at all. Dr. Manhattan also fails to deliver his inhumanity, he seems more like, frightened or shy all the time. I also wished there was more of the Minutemen (I really almost cried of happiness when I saw the title & credits), the New Frontiersman/New York Gazette bits, technology, symbolisms, and also, the commercial need to rename the team CRIMEBUSTERS to Watchmen, I think was unnecessary. Not a big fan of the new ending really, it seems that people forget it's kind of like a personal tribute Moore made in honor of H G Wells that worked marvelously, it was lost to a not-so-good-but-not-so-bad one where Manhattan is the key to the conspiracy.

In general terms, this is a movie worth your while, brutal realization, it promises to become a classic, and possibly inspire a lot of people, I am very pleased with it. Zack Snyder, in my opinion, is the most talented director for this kind of films, and you can tell his love for Watchmen is absolute, like the love of the comic geek community (at your service). But, it's obvious it just can't be as good as the comic-book, it's impossible.
I suggest you do both, read the paperback and see the flick, the world of Watchmen is always a good, interesting take on this joke we call life.

On a little sidenote, even though Paramount pictures acted like jerks with the internet sites interested in covering Watchmen (which, seriously, you guys should reconsider your position). And weirdly enough, there was some advertisement of the movie with Moore's name on it (I will post it when Mkopke scans it). They did go all the way with the premiere invitations and a cellphone/iPod baggy, which you can se posted down here, courtesy of Manuel "Mkopke" Garcia (producer of Spicy Chilli Candy, creator of Katmandu and co-creator of Rock N' Roadies, along with yours truly) and my crappy webcam.

Doctor Manhattan: You sound bitter. You're a strange man, Blake. You have strange attitudes to life and war.

The Comedian: Strange? Listen... once you figure out what a joke everything is, being the Comedian's the only thing that makes sense.

Doctor Manhattan: The charred villages, the boys with necklaces of human ears... these are part of the joke?

The Comedian: Hey... I never said it was a good joke! I'm just playing along with the gag...

-Alan Moore, Watchmen-

Angel; Aftermath: Beautifuly bringing back the status quo.

Just finished reading this issue, after After The Fall, everything seems to be back to normal but, everything seems to be so different at the same time.
It's an interesting way to set-up the new arc. It does have a "new season" feel to it. A well-known character is back being suspiciously nice, and maybe W&H is not so-long-gone after all.
Though we don't see much of good ol' Spike, Lorne, and Gunn, it looks so very interesting, and I am sure we'll see these guys around.
Kelley Armstrong is doing a nice job plot & script-wise, even though it will only last 6 issues, I can safely say the story won't go stale due to a change in the writer side. And art-wise, Dave Ross did a very nice job, and I enjoyed it so much, it's what this title needed, someone other than Franco Urru, which personally, almost ruined After The Fall for me, and Ross did nicely.
I wish the guys from Comic Book Club tackled this issue, specially since Alex is a huge fan as well.
By the way, Dollhouse rocks and Whedon still proves to be quite an entertainment genius! Though in my opinion, Season 8 is getting a bit out of control ever since that issue written by Jane Espenson, no wonder that Point Pleasant show did poorly.

"Very occasionally, if you really pay attention, life doesn’t suck." -Joss Whedon-

Facebook + Spare time...

I posted this earlier in Facebook, in reply of a tag by Regina (Madame deLinsky http://madamedelinsky.blogspot.com) it's fun stuff, I got to explore... the dumbness in me, yes, yet one more time huh!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose some people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1.- Friends are first.

2.- Law studies are pretty much like playing Magic; The Gathering.

3.- I got today X-Men #19 and Amazing X-Men #2 for 1 buck.

4.- I am not really fund of beaches & the sun.

5.- I may not look like it, but I'm SO geek!

6.- I think this decade sucks.

7.- Some of the most talented artists I know are unpublished and that sucks too.

8.- I saw Coraline today, as usual Gaiman rules.

9.- I like to sing George Michael/Wham! song in karaoke bars.

10.- Miss Remy Vicious, Melissa Auf der Maur, Mia Kirsher = Muses.

11.- Math is the instrument of the devil.

12.- I should listen to more rap and hip-hop, just to see if what they say is true.

13.- No, I am not Kevin Smith.

14.- My dog, Hades, owns!

15.- I've had quite a few "near death" experiences.

16.- Remember your heroes but kill your idols.

17.- I probably already knew what you are talking about.

18.- I wish I could fight myself, just to stir things up.

19.- I miss those Crunch Tators potatoe chips.

20.- I pity the fool that reads this.

21.- I have a thing for girls that wear glasses.

22.- Psylocke beats-up Wolverine any day of the week.

23.- I like thursday (the day) a lot for some reason.

24.- I once scared the hell out of Jules Asner back in NYC.

25.- You, like me, have too much spare time!

"Look out everyone! He's visually impaired!" -Heffer Wolffe-

SONNET TO THE YEAR GONE.

I was a cold breeze in December, blowing
Time flew away like pieces of an old newspaper
Littering the streets, a freezing winter sings
For three hundred and sixty five days escape

An hour to kill, or a decade to sacrifice
It only takes a second to put them in the past
All we are left with is a silly smile we put with pain
Because our flirting with immortality is vain

Let us make a toast for the moments of lies unveiled
Let us make a toast for the friends we depress
Let us make a toast for the will to prosper

Another year goes by, it goes down with wine
And we all know two wrongs don't make one right
For the epoch to come, let us make a toast for our goals