the many Captains...

Things have kind of been crazy lately, but here is some progress made on another page of Captain Spectre's 'Solo Flight'.  I have changed the layout for this page several times, in an effort to try and get as much story as I can in these pages. So there are some fast scene changes, and some compressed story telling, which is sore point in new comics to me, is the decompression to the fact sometimes in an issue of a new comic.... nothing happens!. Anyway hope you enjoy, since it has been a bit tough. My pain problems have been an issue the last week or so. 

Here is some great progress made on the secret Captain Spectre six inch action figure!....Wow is about the only word I can get out of my mouth as I look at each new picture of the work of Jonathan at PackRat Studios. He is doing some great stuff, and even casting the head. Man this is gonna be cool. Once finished it will have a great display base and in one of those glass domes for display at the con table when I start returning to those. Hopefully next year he and me will be making the rounds. Of course when not at a show, I will be playing with the figure......hey, we here at the Lightning Legion test all our products....that is the fun of it all. 

So get over to Jonathan's site and check out the progress shots of Captain Spectre, and all the other cool stuff he does....amazing. 

Ok, you win, I am officially eating my hat....as I said I would. I actually liked the Captain America movie. Oh sure there were parts I didn't like....but I thought the spirit of the character made it into the movie. The origin was the best parts of the movie. And Chris Evans pulled off the character nicely. It was sure nice to see a hero on the screen that wasn't wallowing in his own self pity. 

During the war I admit Steve Rogers didn't have too many demons he wore on his sleeve. And many people gripe that Rogers is a flat character. I on the other hand don't think he is. He can be written as a good character without having demons hanging on his shoulder all the time, which is what people want it seems. But in the end Cap has one of the largest demons of any hero .....EVER (Superman has the same problems). He wakes up to find his whole world gone....not just his parents, or something. He has lost a world, a way of life and all he ever knew. And Chris Evans nails the last line of the movie showing this. 

Going into the movie I hated the way Bucky and Steve's relationship was changed. But actually in the movie not much of that comes thru. And actually to me the Bucky character wasn't much at all. I just pretended he was a regular friend and member of the team, and it didn't phase me much at all. Even his death was toned down. The Bucky I know and like is the one from the rebirth stories in Tales of Suspense and the early Avengers. Bucky on the buzz bomb yelling to Cap that he sees the fuse and can stop the bomb, as Steve falls down into the water. The bomb blows up as Bucky is trying to save people's lives. Over the years writers have changed this alot. Hell even when they show it on the new Avengers cartoon show they change it too Bucky telling Cap to dive off the buzz bomb as Bucky's foot is stuck on the bomb. Not that he is trying to save people, just that he is stuck and can't get off so decides Steve is more important and needs to leave him behind.   Sometimes Hollywood or modern writers forget what a hero is. 

Then of course is the costume. I still don't like it, but I guess by the end of the movie it was growing on me. Actually it changes so much thru the film and even into the Avengers movie that it is kind of interesting to watch it's evolution. 

Also just like an old comic, we figure Red Skull is in Asgard or one of the nine realms, and of course we didn't see Bucky go splat, so both can come back at a later date. I hope not, but they may. 

Anyway it was an enjoyable movie, sure it had it's problems, like the lack of any story other than the origin. It also had it's good parts, and again the origin is the best part, that is who Steve Rogers is. 

Still chewing on my hat, as I will buy the DVD....kind of wish I had seen Thor now. But will get the DVD's of them all. Actually looking forward to having a Tales of Suspense movie night.....Iron Man, then Captain America viewings in one night. 

Fathers Day...

I had an idea for a WW2 era Captain America and Bucky drawing. I loved those Kirby issues where the acrobatics were part of their character. They worked as a team facing all obstructions. I also tried my hand at inking in solid bold strokes kind of like Chic Stone. His inking was so solid that Jacks figures just leapt off the page. I did this drawing on spec. Maybe someone will buy it, as I still have until the end of the month to hand over the money to my friend in need. Anyway it is inked, on 11x17 plate finish strathmore board. 

This is a version of the above colored with the limited palette of the old comics industry. I have been playing with different ways to color my images in prep for deciding which way I want to color 'Solo Flight' when I get it all done. 

I did this Creature on spec to start off the commissions, and it sold....thanks David....I had never drawn a creature before, except when I was a kid I tried it a few times after seeing the movies. My favorite Universal monster as when I was a kid I was a big fan of scuba diving. Loved all the shows like Sea Hunt, Aquanauts, and the movies like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I ended up getting my aqua lung license and doing some diving in some off time in the service. Last real dive I made was in the East China Sea many years ago. Couldn't do any of it now a days, but I do fondly remember it. Deep sea adventures and space stuff were high on my list of kid dreams.

This was a commission I knocked out this past week also, from a friend who used to game with a small group I was part of a few years ago. He was rereading the first Burroughs' Mars books and wanted a shot of John Carter. When I was a kid I was always a bigger fan of the Tarzan stuff than the Mars stuff. And that has kind of carried over. I tend to not draw John Carter but this was one of the first I had ever done, and finished to this stage. I guess access as a kid is a big thing...there were the great Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller, comic books, and the novels. I always enjoyed the mars books, just preferred the jungle adventures. I would think in todays world, off world adventures is the next frontier. When I was a kid Africa was still mysterious, not that it still isn't...just we have taken some of it away. 

So on this father's day I would like to salute my dad. We had our differences for sure. But I never really got to know him. He died when I was young. But that made him more of a legend in my eyes than ever. He was a mystery to me, but he was my dad. I spent a good deal of my life as a diesel mechanic because of his ghost. I wanted to be as good a mechanic as him. Hell I wanted to be able to anything as good as he could. But I never made it. I was a good mechanic, but I was never a builder like him. I felt he could do anything. He built a swing set for me and my brother when we were kids, and that swing set still stands today. I imagine that when the world is finally blown apart in some horrific event that a chunk of earth will float off into the cosmos with that damned swing set still intact. So happy Father's Day to you dad...and happy father's day to my sons who are fathers and doing a better job at it than I ever did. 

Letting off a little steam....or the new Captain America movie is not for me.

Forgive me a bit while I let off some steam.

Ever since I heard about the new Captain America movie I have been going up and down about even setting foot in the theater, or just watching it for that matter since I don't go to the movies anymore.

The casting rumors when they first started worried me. Also I should mention in this rant there will be good things and bad things I think, or thought they are doing. But when Chris Evans was picked to play Cap/Steve I was thinking well that is a good thing. I liked Evans as the Torch, yes I finally saw those FF movies. Yikes I thought but one of the only things I liked about those was Evans as the Torch. So to me Evans is a good choice for Steve.

Also I understand why they do the Hydra during WW2 thing. Because you can't have Nazis in a movie showing overseas in some places. It still amazes me on this point, it is like comics with Nazi bad guys in them aren't sold in Germany. It is one of those things like on the Avengers animated series that just started up, WW2 was fought between the Allies and Hydra....I don't know if Hydra invaded Poland but I guess they did to help fuel WW2's beginnings. Of course when you think about it why would Hydra want Poland?

So I assume that the mention of Germany and Nazis will be at an all time low in the new Captain America movie.

I guess I could live with that, knowing that they want the movie to play overseas, I am just sad we can't admit to our past and get over it. It's just a movie after all.

The costume is my next rant....I HATE IT. I have read many many forums and boards lately on or about the movie and I am totally sick of people saying it looks cool and like it is more WW2 looking than Jack Kirby's original design. That costume looks like NOTHING that ever came out of the 40's. I know it is based on the Ultimate universe Cap costume. I have actually never read any of the Ultimate universe stories. And once again I am going to say that for a fighter like Steve/Cap is all those pouches....and ammo pouches at that hanging all over a costume would make it harder to fight. Cap is a acrobatic style fighter and a metal helmet, belts, buckles, and pouches flopping all around doesn't seem like reality to me. Reality is the reason most of these things were added as I understand it in the Ultimate comics stories.

I like that they set the first movie in the time period of the World War 2. I think that was maybe one way to get me to see it. But all these other things are going to keep me away.

Believe me I could go on and on about all this....but I just read the clincher for me.

In an interview with the guy playing Bucky he stated that Bucky and Steve are both orphans so they have that bond.

Well that did it for me. One of the strong points of Steve's character in my mind is his parents. Or a family of some kind. I think it takes a piss poor writer to have to change a character like that just to make a bond between two people. I know it is probably a minor thing to most people, but it is kind of like getting divorced...people state problems like not putting the top back on the toothpaste as a reason when there are deeper problems they don't realize, like being feed up. Well this was the top on the toothpaste for me with this movie.

I was hoping that this movie would at least capture the flavor of the strip, but I just don't know anymore. I thought the Iron Man movie did a good job of capturing what I thought Iron Man was about. Hell I even thought the Xmen movie did a decent job of that. I am not really a X fan I quit buying that book with X men number 10 in the sixties when Jack Kirby quit drawing it.

I just wish they could have done a bit better with some of the character details on the Cap movie. I have been a Captain America fan all my life, well since I bought a copy of Avengers #4 and was totally hooked when Sgt Fury 13 hit the stands. I quit when they recently killed Steve off, I figured it was a good time too. I wasn't enjoying the book except for the art. Hell really that book hasn't been good since they split Tales of Suspense up. But I was a fan and have every issue of Cap, except those Liefield pieces of dung.

Sorry for the rants, and I don't expect anyone to read it all or agree with me. It is just my two cents, and the fact I am feed up with it all. At least they didn't make the Red Skull italian like they did the last one....ha.

Veteran's Day....

Odd thing, when I started this piece for the auction at the Iowa Comic con that I was planning on attending, I didn't really think about Veteran's Day. If you know me, as a kid all I ever wanted out of life was to grow up and draw the Captain America strip. Well I know that will never happen. And to be frank with all the changes in the strip and character I don't know if I would want too. Unless they would let me do an old school WW2 adventure.

Anyway I am not going to get to make it to the Iowa con. But I did finish inking this piece for them. I will mail it over there when I get the chance.

I hope everyone has a great time. I was really wanting to go. Just can't. Deadlines and other factors.

Anyway, Good Veteran's day to all the vets, service men and women serving, and the past vets - we are all brothers in arms.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Today as hundreds of blogs across the internet proclaim is Jack 'the King' Kirby's birthday. It was truly a sad day in my life when Jack passed on. I really only got to meet him twice. Like so many other people I know, when I got to shake hands and meet him the first time - I froze. I had never been struck with awe and wonder so much in my life. When I was a kid I got to shake hands with Roy Rogers and I didn't freeze as much as I did with Jack. All I could muster was a weak stammer then a 'thanks, jack for all the great stuff'. Sheesh what a moron I was at the time. Ha.
I have seen alot of tributes today, so why add mine to the mix, you ask. Well I don't know. Just seems it hit me harder today than in past years. You see when I was a kid, my brother was buying comics before me - him being the elder by five years. I remember having a couple of kid type comics of some kind, but my brother was discovering the better ones. And I wanted them. I wanted the adventure, the excitment, and the great art. I used to thumb through his books and look just for the Jack Kirby ones. I didn't know who the guy was but even at the age of looking and not really being able to read, I noticed Jacks work. I had never seen anything like it before or since.
Then suddenly I found a copy of Showcase with a new feature. It was like a spark on a gasoline soaked keg of dynamite. The Challengers of the Unknown hit a chord with me. Non-superpowered guys in a fast growing world of superheroes fighting to bridge the gap between man and superman. Til this day that is my favorite type of hero. These guys were 'living on borrowed time' and lucky to come out alive at the end of each exciting story. Of course Jack, with inks by Wally Wood on the first stories, got me hooked. As Jack left the book, I keep buying it. Always looked forward to the adventures of the Challengers. Jack seemed to jump around where he was needed. He was like a superhero himself it seemed to me. A cover here, a story there. Sometimes hard to find with my living locations as a kid.

Then Jack made the jump to Marvel full blast. Marvel launched it's superheroes and Jack seemed to draw them all. Which was fine with me. I followed each book as much as I could. With limited funds my brother and I would each buy certain books. Then a second explosion hit. And his name was Captain America!

The hook was deep into me now. I couldn't get enough of this character. I cherished every panel he was in. Avengers #4 was a landmark issue to me. I still have my beat up old copy. I resides in my collection with my collection of Avengers and Captain America comics showing it's age proudly. I lost count of the times I read that book. I felt I was a lucky kid because Cap began

to show up in alot of issues. Even before Avengers 4 a fake Captain America showed up to battle the Human Torch in an issue of Strange Tales, but after finding out the fake was the Acrobat it didn't really seem to matter to me. I wanted to know more about Captain America. And Avengers 4 gave that chance to me.

To my amazement Cap was given his own half book in Tales of Suspense. Jack brought out the big guns as far as I was concerned. He was close to the top of his game on these stories and I couldn't get enough. The pairings were great. The stories were just the action and excitement I wanted at the time. Soon came one of the greatest pairings of the silver age, in my opinion.

Among one of the most cherished issues I ever read. World War 2 action with the great Captain America and Bucky paired with the Howlers. I have never seen a scan or the original art for this cover. I truly envy the person who owes this. I am sure it is out there somewhere in a place of honor. I was never much for having riches, but I wish I had the money to own this piece of art.

My heroes have since been Jack's type of heroes. I miss them, I miss Jack..... Happy Birthday Jack and thanks for the adventures.

Omaha Osfest Sci Fi con sketches

Here is four quick sketches I finished off at the Omaha Sci fi con on sunday. Had a good time sketching and talking with a couple of people. Of course I always have fun sketching. And of course didn't sell a thing, as I hardly ever do. Must be my introverted body language. Hell, I just want to draw most of the time and seem to ignore alot around me sometimes. Oh well I had fun and that is what counts in my life. I really enjoyed trying to do more of a cross of reality and my vision of Flash Gordon and Dale. I think it turned out ok.