DOOMED WIZARD DIARIES

Things aren't lookin' too good for our heroes. Black Samson & Iron (Fisto) Gauntlet were hired by the mayor of Central City to find the whereabouts of their local crime buster, the Protector (a pragmatic if not unimaginative name), and clean up the crime wave left in the wake of his mysterious absence. Well, in our usual ass-backwards manor, we rolled into town, beat up some gang bangers, dined at some of the city's better restaurants and took in some of the local sites. While attempting to thwart the theft of a rare snake on display at the zoo, we got our asses handed to us by a pair of snake-themed super baddies, who managed to make off with the snake in spite of our best efforts. But as our luck would have it, while we were at the Dollar General Hospital, Black Samson accidentally found the Protector as a "John Doe" lying beaten and comatose. Iron Gauntlet, deciding we were in over our heads, posted a message on a super hero recruiting message board on...

Today has the distinction of being the birthday of three of my favorite people, people who have, one way or another, influenced my life greatly. The Jaded Minstrel, himself, sadly taken from us only a few years ago, Warren Zevon. Mister Bad Example also shares a birthday with one of the hardest working, yet greatly under appreciated actors of our or any time, Ernest "Give 'em Hell, Pike!" Borgnine. Then there's Jeep, born nine years ago today. Where has the time gone?

Last Saturday, while watching "Creatures the World Forgot" on Svengoolie , I got the idea for this pin-up upon realizing that, aside from a snake and a warthog, there were no "creatures" in the movie at all. But in true Hammer fashion, there were a couple cave hotties, including Miss Julie Ege . Anyway, it didn't stop me from watching it and inspired the image below, so it wasn't all bad.

Last year at S.P.A.C.E. I asked Tom Scioli, whose personal mission it seems is to keep Jack Kirby alive and preserve the pure spirit of comic books, to draw Black Bolt of the Inhumans for me. He said something like, "I was looking for an excuse to draw Black Bolt." My intent was to ink it when I found the time, but it was almost a year before that happened and by then, I'd misplaced it in the Big Move. Well, I found it at the very bottom of a box marked "art" over this Christmas break, one of the few times of the year when I don't even attempt any "serious" art. Between my kids being home and the Holidays, there's almost no time for that, but I gotta do something just to keep in practice. And here it is inked by yours truly. I added the background and sparkles coming from that wacked-out tuning fork on his forehead. Keep it here, boppers.

First off, Happy New Year! All things considered, 2008 was a pretty good year for my family and me. We had a new baby, now ten months old, and moved into a nicer place over the summer. The kids are in a new school, but their old friends are not too far away. The Serial Squad! Thrill-O-Rama rolled off the printing press and the response to it far exceeded any of my expectations. So, all things considered, 2009 looks like it's gonna be a good year. With the kids being on Christmas vacation, I haven't done too much "serious" artwork, mostly just sketch cards, images on 4"x6" card stock, which I'll post soon. Below is a concept drawing to the Chimera's vehicle, circa 1978, when the Chimera is actually the daughter of Richmond Kane, Kane being my version of Mike Indovina's brainchild. Confused? Somewhere down the road, I plan on doing something with the 1970s second generation of Squad! members. Richmond Kane (aka The Chimera) and Kay Campbel...