Thursday, December 31, 2009

Master of His Universe


















The third, and main piece I created for "Under the Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" show at Gallery 1988 was this one, titled "Master of His Universe" featuring Battlecat/Cringer.

The piece is larger and is a 3-D paper construction/collage consisting of four layers plus the character and flower elements.

Buzz-Off




















The first of three pieces I did for the "Under the Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" show at Gallery 1988, is this one called "Buzz-Off: Loose, Complete." There's a companion piece, "Evil Lyn: Loose, Complete" as well. Both pieces were done as cut paper/collage.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
















I'm pleased to announce that I'm taking part in the "Under the Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. The show runs from January 8th, 2010 - January 29, 2010. If you're in the area go check it out.

Tomorrow I'll post previews of two of the pieces I did for the show.

You can read more about the show at Gallery 1988's blog , i09 , Super Punch , Cartoon Brew and Geek Tyrant .

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

In Comic Book Stores Today




















THE WEB #4 hits comic book stores today. In the back-up feature THE HANGMAN, the Hangman continues to take on human trafficking and the yokai, Umi-bozu. This story was written by me with stunning art by Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

SUPER HERO SQUAD - "Night In The Sanctorum" Airs Again














If you, or your child, still have not seen it, my first episode of SUPER HERO SQUAD, "Night in the Sanctorum" airs tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM (EST) on Cartoon Network. It features the Punisher, Dr. Strange, Baron Mordo and the Enchantress among its many guest characters.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Ten Years of Mad Scientist














My congratulations to Martin Arlt on ten years of producing the outstanding magazine MAD SCIENTIST. The anniversary issue (number 20) is available now and has a fantastic wrap around cover by Pete Von Sholly and an interior collage by me.

You can order a copy, as well as back issues, here .

You can also see the awe inspiring complete mural of monsters by Pete Von Sholly that the cover is taken from by visiting here.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

More Fun With Scissors Uploads


















Here's another batch of "Fun With Scissors" posts that have had their images replaced. The following cartoon character cut paper collage portraits can now be viewed by clicking on them.

Riff Raff

Conjunction Junction

Droop-a-long Coyote

Rope Man

Mr. Limpet

Egghead Jr.

Jonny Quest

Rudy

Alfy Gator

Barney Rubble

Huckleberry Hound

Ranger Smith

Secret Squirrel

Breezly and Sneezly

Thursday, December 10, 2009

This Saturday on Cartoon Network















This Saturday, December 12, at 7:30 PM (EST), Cartoon Network will be broadcasting my second episode of SUPER HERO SQUAD. This episode, "Stranger From a Savage Land!," guest stars Kevin Sorbo as Ka-Zar who journeys to Super Hero City in search of his missing sabertooth tiger, Zabu. Don't miss it.

Still More Fun With Scissors reposts


















Images of the following characters have all been replaced now as well:


I.Q. High

Meteor Man

Milton the Monster

Fred Flintstone

Daphne Blake

Jabberjaw

Slowpoke Rodriguez

Floral Rugg

Jace

Elmer Fudd

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

In Comic Book Stores Today


















A journalist tags along with the Mystery Inc. gang as they investigate a bizarre painting which seems to be coming to life and stealing valuable items from the stores around the gallery where it is displayed in SCOOBY-DOO #151, written by me with art by Fabio Laguna, Heroic Age, and John J. Hill. SCOOBY-DOO #151 can be found at a comic book store near you starting today.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

More Fun With Scissors reposts




















The slow, tedious, and sporadic reposting of images of cut paper collage portraits of cartoon characters that I created on a daily basis for my "Fun With Scissors" series continues with just a handful more for today. The following images have all been reposted.


Squiddly Diddly

Mr. Magoo

Choo Choo

Spook

Bullwinkle

Crazylegs

Muttley

Penelope Pitstop

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Happy Birthday Walt Disney




















Today is Walt Disney's birthday. The internet and blogosphere will no doubt be filled with posts to commemorate the occasion, most of which will be far more informative than anything I'm prepared to offer.

I'm a big Disney nerd, and have been for as long as I can remember. Through the various stages of my life I've admired various aspects of Walt's work and character for different reasons, but the thing I most admire about the man beyond all of the groundbreaking innovations he's contributed to art, entertainment and popular culture, are three things.

1. He never gave up on what he wanted to accomplish. Setting out repeatedly into uncharted territory that no once else believed would be anything other than a disaster, he stuck with it, proved everyone wrong, and then found a new frontier to explore. The fact that his company was on the verge of bankruptcy throughout his entire life never deterred him either. He never gave up and took a job at a bank instead. He simply forged ahead.

2. His notion that nothing he had a hand in could simply be good enough. It had to be the best possible product they could produce, and until it was released to the public, it could always be improved.

3. His sense of storytelling, even in the parks. The notion that everything that appears in a story has to have a reason for being there, that every item has its own story, and that it's about characters over laughs. This plus the way the audience is guided through a story in the same manner that the layout of the parks guides you towards the next thrill is something that over time has been completely ingrained in me and is often something I fall back on when solving problems in my own stories.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

The Hearse at Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion













In the 1990s a horse drawn hearse was purchased from an antiques dealer for use in a proposed Young Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show to be staged at Disneyland. When plans for the show were scrapped, Imagineer, Bob Baranick suggested the hearse be placed outside the Haunted Mansion. Following the philosophy of storytelling through the attractions, Imagineer Tony Baxter, inspired by the invisible dogs on a lease novelty items sold at the merchandise carts outside the haunted Mansion came up with the idea of having the hearse hitched up to an invisible horse. The hearse and phantom horse made its debut in September 1995 and proved popular enough to warrant adding this feature to the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.




















While untrue, the urban myth that this is the very same hearse that transported Brigham Young to his grave persist. Much has been made about this false, if more interesting origin of Disnaeyland's white hearse, while I've seen very little about the, also interesting, and factual, history of the black hearse residing at the Magic Kingdom.



















The black hearse at Walt Disney World appeared in the 1965 film "The Sons of Katie Elder" which starred John Wayne and Dean Martin as two of the four sons who return to Clearwater, Texas to attend their mother's funeral. When they arrive, they find that their mother is revered with almost saintly status among the town's population. They also find a darker story about their father's murder and how their mother was swindled out of her property. The sons are determined to set things right, meeting opposition at every turn.

This is a well made, more or less by the numbers, western, direct by Henry Hathaway from a screenplay by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex from a story by Talbot Jennings. It has a very good cast, believable in their roles, plenty of action, nice cinematography and a score by Elmer Bernstein. The real star of the movie is not John Wayne, or Dean Martin, but Katie Elder, who never appears in the movie. It is the black hearse from the magic Kingdom which conveyed Katie Elder to her final resting place.










The hearse makes it's first appearance at the 6 minute and 56 second mark in the movie, sitting on the street, hitched to a pair of very live horses as it prepares to drive to the cemetery with Katie Elder's body.

















It can be seen again, very briefly, about 2 minutes later parked outside the cemetery.










The hearse gets a lot more screen time beginning at 30 minutes and 51 seconds, when we see it's wheels being cleaned by veteran character actor, John Doucette as Hyselman. John Wayne appears to pay for his mother's funeral, only to find out it's been taken care of. We find out that he and Hyselman have known each other for some time, but that Hyselman can't, or won't help him, with details about his father's murder.


























Shortly after, the swindler's hired muscle, Curley, played by a menacing George Kennedy, goes to learn what John Wayne wanted with Hyselman. Curley's manner is not so polite, and fortunately, Wayne returns to rescue Hyselman.


































The hearse does not appear again.

We can see some details about the hearse as it appears in "The Sons of Katie Elder" which have been changed for it's appearance outside the Haunted Mansion. The most obvious is that the black curtains with the gold tassled edging in the windows ofthe hearse have been replaced with black curtains with purple tassled edging for its' role at Disney World, while retaining the same design. Also the wheels have been replaced. In the movie all four wheels are the same size, while outside the Haunted Mansion, the front wheels are much smaller. The wheel rims themselves also appear a bit thicker on the current incarnation. The four decorative elements on the corners of the hearse's roof have also been removed, as has the railing behind the driver's seat, replaced by two lamps.

Interestingly the tack worn by the phantom horse appears to be close to, if not identical, to the tack worn by the horses in the movie, making me wonder if this was not also original to the movie and purchased along with the hearse.



Disneyland hearse image source

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Available Today



















CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #44 is available in comic book stores today. The Secret Saturdays return in part 1 of "The Lost King of Africa" written by me with art by Scott Jeralds and this great cover bt Jay Stephens.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Paul Naschy (1934-2009)













Paul Naschy , the Spanish actor, director, and writer, best known for his werewolf character, Waldemar Daninsky, whom he played in 12 films, died yesterday in Madrid at the age of 75, losing his battle with pancreatic cancer.

Naschy, born Jacinto Molina Alvarez, was something of a one-man Universal studios, creating movies which featured most of the classic monsters in a more garish manner. Not only did he write and direct many of these movies, but he also starred in them. Besides his famous role as Daninsky in the "El Hombre Lobo" series, Naschy also played monsters such as Dracula and the Mummy, and was often labeled as "the Spanish Lon Chaney."

His films are great fun, and he will be missed.