So, here we are. Another hurricane has torn through Houston. I was right in the middle of a massive power outage, but luckily I have family in the Austin area, so I fled out of town for a few days until things get back to normal.
I was able to pencil and ink a few pages before the lights cut out, so production is still rolling for The World Is a Funny Page. I’m doing a really fun sequence right now and can’t wait to wrap it up. Making comics is hard work, but it can be damn satisfying when the puzzle pieces fit together nicely.
Last weekend I went for a bike ride around our local trail. Needless to say it was a good ride, but it is July in Texas, so you know the deal… heat stroke imminent. I remembered the moment and made a quick sketchbook comic about it.
I also had a short getaway to the world’s greatest beach, Galveston. This statement is one million percent sarcasm. Galveston sucks, but it’s only an hour away from Houston, so it makes for a convenient trip to a place that has something that looks like water but might also be toxic sludge. While I was there, I did some quick watercolor sketches.
I was capturing something in the sand or the heat - it just felt right. I used a brand called Yupo non-absorbent paper. This paper dries in such an interesting way. It’s really fun to experiment with.
Things I’m Watching
I’m a sucker for good sports documentaries. From Hoop Dreams to Netflix’s Last Chance U, real life stories intertwined with will they/won’t they win plot lines always strikes a chord with me. Welcome to Wrexham is exactly that plus some, and I am completely engaged. The set up is: Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny buy a struggling Welsh football team (for the Americans, soccer) and attempt to bring it and the city back to prosperity. There are so many layers in this show, and I’m only 8 episodes into the first season. I’m really enjoying it so far. On Hulu!
Dark Matter is just great scf-fi, plain and simple. It’s a gripping multiverse story about a family’s decisions and the splinter effect of those decisions on various timelines. The concept has been done before, but Dark Matter presents it in a very unique way. It stars Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, who are incredible in their roles. Check this one out on Apple TV.
Things I’m Reading
Bear Pirate Viking Queen from Image contains some of the wildest art that you will ever see in a comic. Barravecchia uses ink and paint in an extremely abstract manner, but he still manages to inject hints of realism all throughout. This blend creates a high seas adventure unlike any thing that I’ve read in recent memory.
If it were the 90s, a book with this title would have four beef cakes on the cover running at each other with guns and pockets. Thankfully, we’re in an era where artists can have true artistic freedom and put all their emotions on the page. That’s what Bear Pirate Viking Queen feels like - a beautifully violent painting hanging inside a modern art museum. The story is well done, but man, the art alone is worth the price of admission.
I’ve had these Dexter’s Lab books around for a while but I recently pulled them off the book shelf to get a closer look at them. They aren't just kids comics. They are really good comics. Artistically, these books are very shape driven. They are simple and efficient - something that I'm trying to pay more attention to in my own work. And of course, the cartooning is fantastic, but that kind of goes without saying knowing that Genndy Tartakovsky himself wrote and drew some of the stories in Volume One. Stephen DeStafano does some of art as well, who remains one of Genndy's lead character designers. He's freaking amazing (see designs in Primal and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal). These books are hidden gems, and great study material for the makers out there. The books may be hard to find now, but check around for some used copies.
Before I go, my next show will be at Eastern Rim Funny Book & Vintage Con on August 24th and 25th in Baytown, TX. Jerry Shafer always puts on a wonderful show, and this year will be no exception. I will also be going to Baltimore Comic Con in September. It’s a big one. I can’t wait. More about that later.
I should have a really cool post coming here next week, so definitely keep an eye out. That’s a wrap for this week!
Thanks for your time,
Nico
Love your stuff buddy.