By Jack Kirby and Tim Fish

When I was last at Angouleme, a representative from the Kirby Museum asked me to ink this pencil drawing by Jack "King" Kirby.

Ok, ok, they asked everyone who attended the exhibit. But it was still fun. Kirby's pencils are so tight, there's not much room for creative license. But there's a little Tim Fish in there.

Lady AVENGERS Week: Ms. Marvel

Oh, poor Ms. Marvel!

The face of feminism (Ms. in 1977!), Air Force Major Carol Danvers was hybrided with alien DNA and took the she-name of her boyfriend, Captain Marvel.

Later raped and impregnated, then her powers and memory "permanently" absorbed by the X-Men's Rogue (pro—made Rogue pretty awesome; con—everyone wanted Ms. Marvel back anyway). Along the way, powers and name changes from Binary to Warbird back to Ms. Marvel and eventually emerging as the most powerful woman in the Marvel U., she changed her name to Captain Marvel.

WHAAAT?!?

Captain of what? Whatever her ex-BF was captain of (the Kree intergalactic army?), she isn't. But it's in honor of all that he meant? Weak.

Ms. Perfect or Ms. Plays Her Music Too Loud would be titles of a kind meant to amplify the quality the bestower intends call out (usually for negative reasons). If there was a heroine "Ms. DC," one would assume she is the embodiment of the DC universe or the line of comics. So, Ms. Marvel (regardless of her ex BF) name suggests she's also the embodiment or flagship heroine of the Marvel universe. Certainly, that's how she seems to be positioned lately.

So, why would a determined and strong woman, who had earned the rank of major, and held the name that embodied the comics line she represented, take a lower rank on all levels, of captain? To me, she'll always be Ms. Marvel, midriff exposed with a giant scarf.

Lady AVENGERS Week: the Scarlet Witch

I told you yesterday that it should have been Scarlet Witch who should have been in the Avengers film if there could only be one she-venger, now I shall tell you why.

Power 

Wanda was born with a mutant ability, the power to alter probabilities. This was usually called her "hex." I guess this was sometimes tough for writers to explain or use, so she embarked on the study of witchcraft with Agatha Harkness. Pretty awesome, huh?

Unlike, say, Wasp, who wanted super-powers to be with her boyfriend more, so he gave them to her. He designed her stingers, he upgraded her powers to her internally manifested "bio sting." Hank Pym this, Hank Pym that. She even took advantage of him while he had amnesia to tie the knot! Eesh, take a hint already.

Male-fluenced

I read an article that claimed that Wanda was too defined by the males in her life. Seriously? In the face of She-Hulk (cousin of Hulk), Ms. Marvel (girlfriend of Captain Marvel), Spider-Woman (linked to the popular world of '70s Spidey by a marketing department), She-Thing (looks just like the Thing), seriously? And didn't I just explain Wasp?

So her brother is "Quicksilver." Big deal! They're related but he didn't give her her mutant powers. Her father, Magneto, did, I guess, by banging her mother, but what about the learned witchcraft? All Wanda. She didn't learn Magneto was her father until decades after her first appearance, so he didn't define her character until much, much later in her history. And, it's not like she started out She-Quicksilver and later changed her name to Magneta.

Sure, Hawkeye longed for her passionately. Sure, Wonder-Man longed for her passionately. But it was the android the Vision that won her heart. Yes, she married a robot. Then she used her mutant powers to get preggo by the robot sperm. And yet she's defined by her father and brother? Did we read the same comics at all?

Public consciousness

Marvel women didn't really seep their way into public consciousness like DC's heroines did. In the '60s and '70s there was an animated Invisible Girl, and she was the only she-Marvelite to be a Mego action figure. Invisible Girl, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch made it onto the 1977 "Marvel Super-Heroes" lunchbox, followed by Invisible Girl and Scarlet Witch featured in 1978's "Marvel Super-Hero Card Game." Not until the Spider-Woman cartoon was there as much public awareness as there was for Scarlet Witch.

Yeah, I get it, I'm basing this entire line of argument on everything pre-1980. But you can say what you want on your blog.

Tomorrow: Captain Marvel is a rank demotion for Ms. Marvel 

Lady AVENGERS Week: the Black Widow

I'll start with my thoughts on the most prominent lady Avenger in the public's consciousness (thanks the 2012 film), Black Widow.

First, I admit I like the character.

Next, I admit I like Scarlett Johansen.

But, I do not like Scarlett as the Black Widow, and I think the Black Widow an odd and sad choice for the film.

I get that she was in Ultimate Avengers and all, but in terms of classic Avengers comics, she made very few appearances. Ignoring mainstay and founding member Wasp and awesome early addition Scarlet Witch, still Black Widow made very few appearances. 

Even heavy hitters like "Moondragon," "Mantis," and "Jocanda" made more appearances. In fact, according to issue 300, only one she-Avenger at that time—Hellcat—had made fewer appearances than the Black Widow.

In the world of the super-hero team, there are heroes with high, medium, low, and no powers. In the Avengers film, there are 3 high powered males (Hulk, Thor, Iron Man), one medium male (Captain America...maybe low), and 1 no powered male (Hawkeye). Given Disney's plans to bring Ant-Man into film, it's odd they would drop him (a founding Avenger in the comics) and his girlfriend Wasp (two medium-low powered heroes) in lieu of Hawkeye and the Black Widow. Sure, I get the connection to S.H.I.E.L.D. and that writers not wanting to overwhelm the film with a mega-cast...but seriously, with all that man-power in the film, to not go with a medium or low powered lady feels a bit unfair and sexist.

I recently read a journal post and the reviewer claimed that Scarlett's portrayal of the Black Widow was the best portrayal of a female hero in live-action.

WHAAAAT?!?

I freaked out at that. Sure, there's not a lot to go on...Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman had to put on glasses to sound smart...Halle Berry as Storm was bad and as Catwoman worse. I liked Anna Paquin as Rogue, but the film version is such a departure from the comics version, it's tough to even say it's the same character. But goodness, based on casting, costuming, acting, believability, and more, I still rank Yvonne Craig as Batgirl as a close second only to Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. Despite the camp and the era-appropriate effects, those two totally knocked it out of the park. Eesh. 

Tomorrow, I'll reveal my choice for who should have been in the film. Hint: it's Scarlet Witch. 

Lady AVENGERS Week: vintage customego box art

In the past week, I've been reading a lot online about the next Marvel's The Avengers film, and about lady super-heroes. I've been stewing but I can't hold back my opinions any longer!

In other words, welcome to lady Avengers week!

We'll start off with some vintage art, from my customego boxes: as you may recall, I used to customize Mego action figures...hundreds over the years! Among them, fewer Marvel, and fewer Avengers, and fewer still, lady Avengers. 

But I did do a few versions of the Scarlet Witch (earlier drafts sold, final draft is still in my collection). I always liked the Scarlet Witch and my custom was pretty much an early triumph of mine, turning a corner from "ugh" to "wow."

I also customized an impressive Tigra. I LOVE Tigra...not because she's a sexually charged anthropomorphic diva, but because her tagline was "...the were-woman!" So if a werewolf is a man who turns into a man-wolf, is a were-woman a man who turns into a man-woman? Anyway, I sold the custom in my big custom purge.

Let's not forget She-Hulk...but I customized her in her Fantastic Four uniform, so let's forget her for this entry.

Lastly, I customized a Ms. Marvel. Primarily because I stumbled upon a minty Mego Health Spa Dinah-Mite for $5, where on eBay the very rare figures fetched over $50 at the time. To not put the figure to waste, presto, Ms. Marvel. The custom turned out horribly, but, the figure is rare, so I won't give it up.

By 2001, I was also drawing comics a lot as well, having decided to give it my all. The more serious I became about comics, the less time I had for customizing for fun. I had several customs mid-finished, but then sold off most of the parts. Among the abandoned projects were the Black Widow and the winsome Wasp.

I'm kind of in the mood to remake Ms. Marvel circa 1977, which would be more Mego-appropriate...love the giant scarf and exposed midriff. But I don't think I have any material left and I doubt I could even operate the customizing machine any longer!

As far as box art goes, it's pretty weak. I was struggling with photoshop coloring mixed with apathy...driven by some force to complete the customs, as if anyone cared.

So, Tigra, Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, and Wasp all have not-great drawings for me at the time, with lousy coloring. I can tell by looking back at these drafts my heart wasn't in it any longer. The She-Hulk (which I think I also sold) and the Scarlet Witch each had a better showing from me...good for me at the time figure drawing, with much improved digital coloring.

In case you're wondering about the man Avengers, I also customized a Hawkeye (sold), Vision (sold), Black Panther (sold). In fact, the only Avenger I officially have left in my collection is Scarlet Witch, whom I deemed an "essential" Avenger for reasons I'll explain later in the week. True, I still have the Ms. Marvel, but only because I won't yet part with the rare figure.

My goodness, you're not still reading, are you?

Vintage art: customego New Mutants box art

Canonball

Magma

Dani Moonstar

Sunspot

Ilyana

I didn't customize again until after I finished Trust/Truth and wanted a creative break, my 2009 xmas break if you will. At that time, I remade the artwork and boxes for my Teen Titans customs and significantly improved the actual custom jobs of Green Lantern, Black Canary, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Speedy, and Wondergirl.

Several months later, I customized several New Mutants for a fan of mine. I'd never read the series until preparing for these customs. I loved the demon bear saga, and the art of Bill Sienkiewicz. I knew the custom of Ilyana would be most beloved, followed by my beloved Dani Moonstar. I followed up with Canonball (a natural choice, given he was the subject of my first Marvel gig), Sunspot, and Magma. 

While my drawing, coloring, and technical skills had improved significantly in the past decade, my customizing skills had most definitely deteriorated, so after over 200 customs, enough's enough.

I only have about 25 of them. Most have been sold off or given away... I wonder if anyone will ever have me sign a box or ask for a "certificate of authenticity." Ha. 

A gay year for comics: Northstar

Not a dream! Not a hoax! Northstar got married! On the cover even!

And, in the TPB version, my N'star story was reprinted for the 3rd time, yay. 

Ok, now I start getting a little cranky. All three of 2012's major gay comic stars are white. All three have BFs of color. At least two refer to their BFs with the pet name "love."

I understand from Adam that according to "the census" gay couples are more likely to be biracial than straight couples. Ok, that's cool. But when 100% of the slim representation of gay male characters are trying to be "not stereotypical" they just come off collectively as trying too hard.

I also take umbridge with this over-use of the pet name "love." Adam again goes out of his way to prove that he calls Lance "love." I point out to him that he most often calls Lance "babe." 

I've noticed the over-use of "love" since I was reading early Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and Shadow Lass called Mon-El "love."  I have zero statistical data to support this, but in all my life, I've never heard anyone call their partner "love." I've heard "honey," "dear," "dearest," "my lovely," "darling," and many, many variations of someone's name, be it a formalization or casualization of it. Lest we forget the most common one I hear utilized in my gay travels, "sweetie." I myself veer toward specialty pet names like "puddin' pop," "mutton chop," and "fang face."

I am sure there might be others like Adam out there...but, again, when there are basically 2 out male heroes, how can they both call their BFs "love" and not "hotstuff" or "stud." 

More soon.

Call for art!

While traveling with Xavier, he reminded me about the site comicartfans.com. I knew about the site, but I had no idea people had actually posted art by me there! It was fun to see a few convention pieces that I forgot I did...including a pencil sketch of Kitty Pryde I did in 2006. Apparently, on my old blog I was going on about how I liked Kitty.

That got me thinking about all the other con pieces I've done that I didn't scan or take pics of. Sometimes fans send me scans, sometimes they don't.

Special request time: If you have a piece by me, and don't mind sending me a scan of if, please do! Or even a camera pic of it. the list on the sketch is very, very incomplete.

Soooo if you do this for me, I'll be your best friend. I promise. :-)

America vs. evil empires, or "USA! USA! USA!"

Like millions of Americans, I was asleep by the time the news of Osama bin Laden's death was announced; I read about it the next morning.

I was surprisingly moved. My first reaction was to be transported to that morning, remember where I was, what I was doing, how I felt. How I felt the rest of that day. I thought of my friends and loved ones and where they were, what they were feeling and experiencing. Images of the people jumping off the towers flashed through my mind...I imagined what it must have been like to have been in one of the planes, realizing you were about to die. It was a somber moment.

Next, I was disgusted by the revelry in Times Square, the chanting at the Mets/Phillies game, and such. Shirtless, presumably drunk, college boys running around with American flags as capes. It looked like a cross between 4th of July and St Patrick's Day.

Shame on you.

Celebration is for the end of war, the end of violence. This is not over. Decades of Western oppression have created some really bad blood, to say the least. What attacks are next? What terrorist organization and leader will emerge now? What will the US's relationship with Pakistan look like? To say nothing of how ape-ish, war-mongering, hateful, the Times Square photos look to the rest of the Western world, as well as those who despise this country.

A sense of closure? I hope so. A sense of peace, or inner peace? I really hope so, for the people who experienced that awful day. Partying? Jubilation? I'm sorry, you made me sad.

Click forward a few days and I drew this lovely rendition of the villainous Nazi, the Red Skull, pursued by the Falcon and Captain America on a meeting agenda. I had my Stradlaeter brush pen with me, so I was able to ink about half of it during the meeting, and I finished the rest (and eliminated much of the agenda with white out and p-shop) later. Definitely feel like I am channeling my inner Andy Soriano.

STAPLE! 2011 Report

Dear Monica was hyping Austin's indie comic show STAPLE! for the past several years. Her rec plus my free crash pad @ Scott's, plus the enjoyable company of them both was the inducement to go. Not to mention Austin itself—I love it there and hadn't been for 2 years.

The con itself was about half the size of SPX and had a very regional feel to it. Aside from Monica, I didn't recognize any exhibitors from SPX, MOCCA, or APE (though that may be unfair, I stopped going to APE several years ago).

Sales were low...Austin may be more of a hipster scene than a gay one...but I did have a few nice conversations with some fans of mine, who were surprised to see me in attendance.

One fan also creates comics, and I love her style. I suggested we do a sketchbook swap: I'd draw something in hers if she drew a hot guy in mine. She has started a "Sub-Mariner and Aquaman" sketch book for other people to draw in, so I happily complied.

Here is the result.

I'd never drawn Sub-Mariner before, but, um, he's kinda fun to draw! Just a built guy wearing some Aussiebums. Nice.

We must bury him

Jeff is obsessed with Psylocke, and he and Xavier have an adversarial relationship when it come to Psylocke vs. Spider-Woman. It's fun to hear them go at it.

On the walk home Saturday night, I noticed a dead cat on the sidewalk. It was pretty sad, but we had to move on. Though Xavier was very upset and wanted to try to bury it.

The next morning, Diogo saw me and Abby off at the train station. We made our way to Jeff's place and walked around Paris a bit.

Throughout the weekend, we had been talking about men's and women's outlook on sex. So, when Abby commented on my gallantry, I reminded her that I expected certain things in return, in general. Though she was quite safe with me.

Last Call 2010: Leftie

Was working on some custom projects and one of my drafts of Ilyana box art...while I kinda liked it, (1) it didn't look enough like my custom and (2) she, um, has 2 left hands.

Things I Drew For Other People Week: Excalibur

Here's a long-time coming ditty. Was tough to get my hands around...I've drawn Nightcrawler plenty, and some Kitty, but otherwise pretty unfamiliar with the UK super-team Excalibur.

They're pretty funny...Kitty wearing that super-baggy jacket and boots; another version of Phoenix whose dykes-on-bikes mullet transforms into a flaming mohawk when she dons her S&M/dominatrix gear; Captain Britain, whose costume I admit was a challenge for me to draw; the captain's lover Megan, with her bare feet; plus Nightcrawler. Add in Lockheed the dragon, and there you go.

I only thumbed through some of the old comics to study up on their enemies, the Warwolves, which were the villains in my Northstar story earlier this year. Alan Davis' art is yummy, for sure.

I drew this during the summer, one of the first things drawn on my new (used) drafting table. Love the line weights. Just finished coloring on Painter.

If you love the Teen Titans...

...you may or may not like The New Mutants, depending on whether or not you are a DC or Marvel fan, whether you like the X-Men lineup, etc. etc. etc.

Here's a study of some of the characters from my sketchbook. I know a "commission" I had done some time ago, which I posted here, and was passed around the internet freely, probably has more musings on them.

Lately, I turned to them to add to my standard repetoire in my sketchbook. Yes, I typically prefer DC fare, and the Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, the Batman Family, etc. are my staples.

But don't forget—my Marvel "breakthrough" was a Cannonball story, and I did insist on including the original line-up of the New Mutants in a panel of my Northstar story.

I have a few more in my sketchbook, and love Indian-ing up Dani Moonstar. I guess I have the bear story stuck in my head. Since my last New Mutants post, I read many issues of the original series. The stories were ok, the art, amazing. Overall, a great read.

NATION X #2 1/13/10

You've read my posts hyping upcoming Marvel gigs, and I am finally ready to admit that, yes, my story in NATION X #2 is the Northstar story!

Long story short, the X-Men now live on an island off the coast of California. One of their members, Northstar, is Canadian. Northstar of course if Marvel's first out super-hero (having come out in 1992) but never had a BF until a few months ago (though I understand for some time he had a roommate that some assumed to be his lover). So the story I was asked to do is about how living on the island is impacting his relationship.

The story was lots of fun to write and draw! I was able to draw some action scenes, and cameos from many X-Men: Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Psylocke, some New Mutants...and even Dazzler in rollerskates! :-) I'm told the art is my best work to date (yay!).

So please do pick up NATION X #2 on sale January 13!

PS Yes, I have an upcoming Iron Man story, too... just wrote that one though.

"The most frightful villain ever—!"

So claimed the cover to POWERMAN #29 (1975).

It's always a treat hanging out with Xavier at his place. Any random topic of comics, and Xavier disappears for 60 seconds and hauls out a stack of comics relevant to the conversation. One such conversation was in regard to Luke Cage, the powerful Powerman of Marvel Comics...and his battle with the frightful Mr. Fish.

On the cover, Mr. Fish looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon or something. On the interior, Mr. Fish was racist depiction of a fish-man. The story was hilarious—it read like one of my old Arche-Lady comics. The easiest solution to avoid plausible details? That's right, have the hero not care about learning them. Like Arche-Lady, when Powerman is posed with questions, "don't you want to hear my origin? Don't you want to know how my blaster knocked you out?" Luke's reply is "no, I don't!"

Mr. Fish had a band of racist sidekicks, including the little guy pictured here from the comic who seems right off the plantation. This issue makes one think "and I can't get work in comics?!?" Golly, even I was writing better stories in 1975 (I was 5)! This villain has only ever appeared once, and not even in the OFFICIAL HANBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE.

It took me some time to add my classic explosion (which I painstakingly created in 1997 using Microsoft Word—you read that right...I had time to kill at my day job one day—and employed often in Arche-Lady comics), and color. Thanks to Miriam's hangover and breakfast plans cancellation, you finally get to see my take on Powerman and Mr. Fish.

I still think it would be fun/funny to do an intentionally camp story with these two.

New Mutants commission

Not too much to say about this one...just a little 3"x6" commission I decided to color for fun. I have so much free time on my hands since I finished my book! Just kidding—between my class, and two short stories with Marvel due by Thanksgiving, I shouldn't be playing with Painter now. Anyway, this was an on-the-spot sketch, and since I'd only ever read one issue of New Mutants (in preparation for my Cannonball story for Marvel a few years back), this is what you get.

Psylocke commission

I drew this commission some time ago, but with the work on "Trust/Truth" complete, I have some artistic free time and felt in a color-y mood.

I was a DC kid growing up; you can probably tell this because there are so many more "DC" entries here than "Marvel" ones. So it took me a while to get my hands around "Psylocke" but here we go. It was made clear to me that she should be a long-legged, small-breasted kick-ass bitch.

The only story I'd ever read with the character was before she was Asian. Yes, that's right, she started off as a English lady with purple hair and her power manisfested itself as a glowing butterfly.

The original line art has a lot of zip-a-tone directly on the 11x17 Bristol board, which doesn't show up so well scanned, colored, and shown here @ 3x5. But take my word for it, the line art looks pretty alright.

Before I delve into the long-awaited completion of my GN "Baby Makes Three" I have to produce some pitche art. No rest for the weary :-D

Psylocke part 1

I am way overdue to make a Psylocke commission. I was however, inspired to make this postcard as an apology for how horribly long I am taking (the commission was paid for in January!). I don't know if I will make the butterfly thing in the actual drawing... we'll see. For a B&W drawing, I am more apt to make it out of a zip-a-tone pattern of something. Anyway, I did this postcard with prismacolor markers (which I am very bad at using) and a brush pen.

Northstar vs. Sentinel

Once, I was asked by Marvel to do a Northstar story. These are some of the sketches practicing Northstar. I've not been asked to complete any story, especially not a vs. Sentinel story. I'm sorry, it's not much of a story... certainly not worth all the anticipation built by my lack of notes.