The Pee-Wee Herman Tribute Show Opens Tonight

For anyone in the Venice, CA/Los Angeles area, "I Know You Art, But What Am I" the Pee-Wee Herman themed show at Gallery 1988 Venice opens tonight. There will be a lot of great art on display. I have several pieces in the show, including this one. Details can be found at the Gallery 1988 website.


   

XOMBI #5 On Sale Today

Featuring my favorite cover of the series, Xombi #5 goes on sale today.

Here's the solicitation information:

Written by JOHN ROZUM; Art and cover by FRAZER IRVING


With the aid of new allies, David Kim and his companions prepare to infiltrate the Ninth Stronghold and attempt to wrest its control from Roland Finch. But Finch has other ideas, and he'll be more than prepared when they arrive!

• DC Comics
 
• 32pg.
 
• Color
 
• $2.99 US

This issue has new revelations, new monsters, and so much more.

You can read the first three pages by going here.


   

This Week at Gallery 1988

Opening Friday at Gallery 1988 Venice this Friday, July 29 and running through August 19, 2011 is "I Know You Art, But What Am I" the Pee-Wee Herman Tribute show. I have several pieces in the show, and am very excited to be a part of it. I only wish I could attend it in person.

If you follow Pee-Wee Herman on Twitter or Facebook then you may have already seen one of my contributions to the show which is already one of my most visited posts on this blog with thousands of viewers over just a couple of days. Thank you, Pee-Wee for the plug! The other pieces will be available for viewing on the Gallery 1988 website within a day or so of the show's opening.

At Gallery 1988 Melrose the current show "Crazy 4 Cult 5" will be closing this coming Saturday, July 30. I have one piece of art in the show based on George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." This piece has sold. You can view all of the original art or prints from this show at the Gallery 1988 website.

"Crazy 4 Cult" is an annual event at Gallery 1988 and is incredibly popular. A book was also recently published which contains art from the first four shows.



       

Who's Reading Xombi?

 

Smart, Cool, Pretty women read Xombi as evidenced by the photo above (okay the photo only proves she's pretty, but I happen to know she's smart, cool, and has a wicked sense of humor too), and comments left in other posts, as do smart, handsome guys, discerning readers and writers such as Jeff Lemire whose excellent Vertigo comic Sweet Tooth is a series I recommend.

Who else?

In this Newsarama interview with Grant Morrison regarding his new book, Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human and comics in general, he singles out Xombi as one of the titles he's enjoying right now.

So impress a girl, a guy, or a writer and pick up a copy of Xombi today. Issue #5 will be available at a comic book retailer near you THIS Wednesday.


    

In Next Month's RUE MORGUE...

Rue Morgue issue #114, available in August and sporting a cover featuring poster art from the original version of Fright Night, also contains an article by Rue Morgue's "Blood in Four Colors" comic book reviewer, Pedro Cabezuelo on my current series, the critically acclaimed, Xombi.

Rue Morgue is an excellent magazine covering a wide range of horror subject matter from movies both contemporary and classic (to those not so classic), to books, comics, art, music, video games, toys and even places to visit for fans of the genre.

Static Shock #2

Here's the cover (I believe the final image will have different coloring) and solicitation information for Static Shock #2, published by DC Comics,  which goes on sale the first week in October.

Written by SCOTT McDANIEL and JOHN ROZUM; Art by SCOTT McDANIEL and ANDY OWENS; Cover by CHRIS BRUNNER

Static finds himself the target of dark forces as Virule and the Slate Gang unleash their deadly trap! Will Static's debut end before it has even started?

• DC Universe
 
• 32pg.
 
• Color
 
• $2.99 US

On Sale October 5, 2011

Xombi #5 - First Look

Xombi #5 doesn't go on sale until July 27, but kind soul that I am I thought I'd share with you the first page minus any text because it's such a beautiful piece of art by Frazer Irving and because it won't spoil anything for you when you have the whole issue in your hands. Feel free to speculate to your heart's content as to what might be going on here, but I suggest you simply take in how gorgeous the image is. You can click on it to make it bigger and save yourself from eye strain in the process.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse

I was an adult when Pee-Wee's Playhouse aired but it had an enormous influence over me, and actually got me out of bed early on Saturday mornings (or maybe it was also because I had to get ready for work). It remains one of my all time favorite shows, and I'm a huge fan of Pee-Wee Herman, so I was overjoyed to be invited to participate in the "I Know You Art, But What Am I?" Pee-Wee Herman tribute show at Gallery 1988, Venice which opens at the end of the month.

Above is my main piece for the show, a 3-D cut paper collage titled "Why. Ms. Yvonne, I Do Declare That You Have Got the Biggest Hair." Honestly I could have done 100s of pieces for this show, but it's a group show and the Gallery might have banned me from future shows despite my enthusiasm.

I'd planned to be there for opening night, but other events have conspired to keep me away, so should Pee-Wee, or any other cast members appear, I won't be there to show photograph them with me and my art. I really wanted to meet Pterri, too.

Haunted Mansion Tribute Show Virtual Tour

As anyone who has been following this blog in recent weeks is probably aware, last month I took part in the 2nd Annual Haunted Mansion Tribute show, which ran from June 4th through July 3rd, 2011, at the Parlour Gallery at Halloween Town in Burbank, California.

I was unable to attend, but my friend, the talented Dave Lowe did and took a bunch of photos on my behalf, which I now share with you. Not only did it reveal to me that there was some great work in that show, but that Halloween Town has some great atmosphere as can be seen in the photo above which shows the Parlour Gallery leading into the exhibit space proper. It also led to another mystery which remains unsolved.

Above: Another view of the Parlour Gallery with the Haunted Mansion show seen in the gallery in the next room.

Above: Two views of the Haunted Mansion tribute show. It is very nicely presented. My piece can be seen on the back wall in the second photo.

Above: Two pieces by Zombienose, a piece by Matthew Hideousboi, and my piece.

Above: Matthew Hideousboi's fantastic Caretaker bust with my collage of the singing busts above it.

Above: "The Singing Busts" that I made with cut paper. I had also submitted a dyptich to the show, but because of space limitations, was not included. It's now on display, and for sale, at Halloween Town.

Above: Another look at Matthew Hideousboi's "The Caretaker" sculpt

Above: Three views of Zombienose's two sculptures, "The Quartet" and "Liberoachi". These were my favorite pieces in the show. I was honored to share a wall with such great work.

Above: "Death of Animation" by The Creep

Above: "A Swinging Waltz" by Dan Szczepanski

Above: Three by Eric Pigors

Above: "As Long As We Both Shall Live" by Queenie

Above: "The Gorgon" and Mr. Grins by William Basso

Above: "Hatbox" by Darren Frydendall, 2 creations by Curioddities and "The Real Hitchhikers of Annaheim" by Frank Dietz

Above: "Hitchhiking Ghost" by Dienzo

Above: A pair of paintings by Bob Lizarraga

Above: Two by Abigail Larson

Above: Three by Noah K

Above: "Supernatural Structures & Erie Engineering" by Richard Terpstra

Above: "From Regions Beyond" by Dan Szczepanski

A video as well as a virtual gallery of all the works that here included at the show can be seen at the Parlour Gallery Website.

Thank you, Dave Lowe!

Crazy 4 Cult 5 Art Available For Viewing

Scott Campbell's  Easy Rider inspired piece, "The Road" is one of my favorite pieces from the current "Crazy 4 Cult 5" show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles.  Gallery 1988 has posted all of the art from the Crazy 4 Cult 5 show now available for viewing and purchase, so go take a look.

always first quality

Here's the piece I did for the Crazy 4 Cult 5 show which opens tonight at Gallery 1988 on Melrose in Los Angeles. The piece is called "always first quality" and is based on Dawn of the Dead (1978). It is a cut paper collage.

If any one attends the opening and takes pictures, please pass them along to me, since I can't be there.



   

Crazy 4 Cult 5 Opens Tonight

The Crazy 4 Cult 5 show at Gallery 1988 opens tonight from 7-11pm  at Gallery 1988 on Melrose Avenue (right next to Golden Apple Comics). It's a huge show themed around cult movies with 100 artists represented. Among them is myself and my cut paper collage piece based on Dawn of the Dead (1978). The show runs through July 30, 2011. If you can't make it in person check the Gallery 1988 website in a couple of days to view the artwork. There will also be a book signing on Sunday by many of the artists for the Crazy 4 Cult book which features art from previous incarnations of this annual show.

From the Archives 12

Here's something from the dawn of time, or at least April 1996. This is the one issue of Daredevil I wrote where my instructions were to make Matt Murdock/Daredevil lighter in tone, which made him essentially Spider-Man. I don't know if that lighter condition of his lasted longer. At the time I wasn't reading a lot of comics. Marvel editor, James Felder invited me in to do this. I don't recall the circumstances, but at the time I wrote a number of fill-in issues for Marvel because I was known as someone who could come in at the last minute and deliver a decent story fast. Because of this my memory regarding these issues is pretty lacking (as evidenced in this 2001 interview with me for Man Without Fear). Shawn McManus provided the lovely art.

It was one of the last things I wrote for Marvel. I ended up leaving because this was during the time that Marvel was going through a lot of turmoil with bankruptcy and changing ownership, including a time where Toy-Biz was dictating what characters could be used in stories based on which action figures they had scheduled to produce. This was what got me to leave them. No list was made available of which characters could be used. You simply had to pitch a story, which was then run by them for approval. it was too much work with almost no return.

Ask Me Anything #11

Even though the first Monday of July falls on a holiday, I'm still fielding questions to be answered throughout the month. Whether you want to know something about Xombi, Static Shock, or some entirely different project I've worked on, what I think about a particular book, movie, person or type of food, or anything else that crosses your mind, here is your opportunity.

Head down to the comment section and post your question. I'll either post my answer in the comment section as well, or answer it in a special post all its own sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9 and #10.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.

Now ask away.

Happy 4th of July

I hope that all of my fellow Americans have a safe and fun holiday celebrating Independence Day.

Final day of the Haunted Mansion tribute show

Today is the final day to see the Haunted Mansion Tribute Show at the Parlour Gallery at Halloween Town in Burbank, CA.

Thanks to Dave Lowe for taking a whole bunch of photos of the show (including the one above) which I will post here in a few days. While two pieces of mine were supposed to be part of the show, the only one on display is "The Singing Busts" which can be seen in the corner above the sculpted bust of the caretaker in the above photo.  My inquiries as to what happened to my second piece and why it wasn't included have gone unanswered by the curators of the show.

Scott McDaniel and I Talk about Static Shock

There wasn't a lot we could reveal at this point, but Scott McDaniel, my storytelling partner, and I discuss our work on Static Shock with Josie Campbell at CBR which you can read here