1969... Blind Faith

What began as the most anticipated 'super-group' of all time fizzled to an end quickly. Clapton, Winwood, Baker and Gretsch just couldn't pull it all together. They made a lackluster LP and played some concerts, but in-fighting and ego's tore them apart within a year. More was less.
This one is more of an abstract cartoon than the rest of the '69 sketches, which is probably a reflection of my feelings about this group. Plus the fact that the likenesses were drawn from memory. I've heard Clapton perform "Presence of the Lord" a few times and prefer his vocal on it over the wailing Steve Winwood original recording.
I hope to get one more piece done for this series.

(click on '1969' in the labels tab below to see the whole series)

Nose all--sneeze all...

more stupidity...

Admittedly this is the weakest strip so far, but I didn't want to break my stride on this project and posted it anyway... warts and all.

Face Front!

I'm still of two minds about Facebook. It's a nice way to keep in touch with people, but I think it is an intrusion on our private lives.

What do you think?




This one is for Rebecca

yet another strip... about paint stripping!

What can I tell you, I feel like telling stories, okay?

This one's for Ryan

another strip...

Drawn from life. Or at least the one I'm living...


This one's for Schroeder

Oh, boy...

After saying how I probably wouldn't post anything new for a while, here it is... a post created especially for the blog.

When I was in my late teens and early twenties I'd create comic strips and stories that would reflect what was going on in my life. Both the realistic and the exaggerated. Usually on a daily basis.
For the first time in a long, long time I felt the need to re-visit that approach. I hope you enjoy it. At the time I first started exploring this type of storytelling I was very much influenced by Robert Crumb. I still am.

Classic "Iron Man"!

Here's the final, finally done...
Nothing precious here, just straight away sketching like in the old days when I'd fill up notebooks originally meant for schoolwork.


Here it is in various stages, from the bottom up. I've always loved Jack Kirby's original design. So nice and clunky!

Holiday Gift Guide...

Well, the Holidays are breathing down our necks again. So I thought I'd perform a Public Service and make a few gift suggestions of the graphic narrative kind. These books will be gladly accepted by anyone interested in comic books and graphic novels and good, clear stotytelling.

First up is "Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1" edited by Blake Bell and designed by Adam Grano. It is in my opinion one of the most beautiful reprint books I've ever read. This first volume starts off with Mr. Ditko's very first comic book stories, with crisp clear reproductions on every page of every story.

Next up is David Mazzuchelli's graphic novel "Asterios Polyp". Every visual aspect in this book is as abstract as I've ever seen in a graphic novel, quite different from any previous work I've ever seen by Mr. Mazzuchelli as well. But it reads in a beautifully flowing way. Graphic language is tailored to each individual character's motivations and morphs along to compliment the content and setting of every scene.

My next suggestion is Darwyn Cooke's "Parker" pot-boiler. A gritty crime story that is served up in elegant illustrations and biting prose. This is an adaptation of novelist Richard Stark's early '60s novel "The Hunter". If you're familiar with Mr. Cooke's comic book and graphic novel work you already have an idea of what you're in for. If you've never seen his work before this is a perfect book to be initiated with.

We end with what I think is the greatest collection of comic book stories aimed at children that you'll ever find in one place. "The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics" compiled by Art Spiegelman & Francoise Mouly is an amazing collection of stories. It's an all-ages assortment that entertains on many levels. Don't miss it.

The joy of childhood...

Here's a shot of my granddaughter Ashley joining the Circus!

Happy Hallowe'en!

emerging artists---

Here are sketches of Coney Island my granddaughters Kayla & Ashley made after visiting the amusement area last July. I've also included Kay's letter from the back of her drawing. Ashley chose to let her work speak for itself. I always love the freedom and simplicity of their drawings and try to bring that energy to my work.

"Long Beach Comic Con" photos...

Here are some photo's that I managed to take during our appearance at the show.







For more info on SILVER Comics' appearance at Long Beach use the Silver Comics link, and get news and announcements directly from our publisher, Johnny Ortiz. A big thanks again to all of our friends who showed up to support us! Excelsior!

"SILVER Special" Promo Art... in COLOR!

As Stan Lee used to say:
"'Nuff said!"

Promotional Art-- Inked!

Here's the Promo Poster in all of it's black and white, inked glory! I wanted it to have a sketchy,down and dirty feel to it.

I hope to see you at The Long Beach Comic Con next weekend!!

"SILVER Comics" is coming your way!

The Silver Comics crew will be at The very first Long Beach Comic Con at the Long Beach Convention Center, from October 2-4 at Booth #252 in the Exhibitor's Section.

'Nuff said!

"Stir It Up"--

Another video shot by singer, Dan Beltran of the Grand Central Sessions.

Summer's gone...

Here's a farewell sketch to the season. This is the last time I ever did a finished inking of The Honeymooners characters. It was made for the Summer '91 Swimsuit Issue of Fantagraphics' "Amazing Heroes" magazine. At the time The Honeymooners comic had just ceased publication after a four year run.

Bad Moon Rising

Tonight's Moon over LA... served in a barbecue sauce sky.

the Grand Central Sessions @ Disney...

Here's a little ditty from one of our jam sessions at Disney. Paul Spiegel/guitar & vocals, Joe Arena/bass, John T Quinn/ slide guitar and I'm on drums.

Film by Dan Beltran.

digital sketch...

old souls...

for Brian...

This one's for my good friend, Brian Postman.

I met Brian during the GEM Studio days and liked him instantly. Happily, Brian and I have stayed friends, despite the years and distances that have presented themselves. Long-time friendships take work. And collaboration. Some of the happiest days of my life were when Brian and I feverishly knocked out a few pages of the "Honeymooners Christmas Special" comic book in my Brooklyn studio, along with the help of Win Mortimer's layout pencils, and Susan Sykes and Ted Camut's rendering. We were filling the holes on a 48 page issue, penciling, inking and coloring a carload of pages before sending them out the door.
We made the deadline. Weeks ahead, if I remember correctly.

And it's funny because the first time I became aware of Brian and his artwork was a few years earlier, during his run on "Spider-Woman." Especially the "Daddy Longlegs" issue.
I thought he was British.

Imagine my surprise when he showed up at GEM with a New York accent?

More importantly, I thought that he was a good storyteller.
Plenty of others have agreed, he's been an in-demand story board artist for two decades.

rfk---

(A few days after this post Ted Kennedy passed away. After seeing footage of Robert Kennedy I noticed that I parted his hair on the wrong side. But he did push his hair out of his eyes with his right hand.}

marginal sketching--

Even though I don't consider myself a caricaturist, I have done enough of them to become somewhat familiar with the form. So I tried my hand at a few of Judd Apatow's most recent cast members. Hit and miss, I know. But it sure beats just 'reading' the latest issue of TIME magazine.





(BIC ballpoint)

saturday night 'strip' club--

The Blues in red and black--

I know I said that I was going to take a break from blogging, but I lied. I worked on my comic book project last night- but got home late tonight and decided to do a few exploratory inks.
It's all relative, right? I hope so. Anyway, the thought of imaginary blues men came into to my dome, so here are the sketches it inspired.

(Philly "Fatback" LoPrete, Paris, France, 1965)

("Jazzy Jackie" Geritano, Monterey,Ca., 1963)

("Blind Willie" Henderson, New Orleans, 1956)

(Rollo King & The King's Men, Alabama, 1951)
brush, pen, ink & prismacolor pencil