06 March, 2013

What I Watched Last Month…

What I watched last… 
September 2012

The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy (On DVD)
I thought these were enjoyable to some extent, but I wasn't as blown away by them as I thought I'd be from all I'd heard about them. 
By the time I was watching Bourne 2 the handheld camera was getting to be too much. Much too much. That and all the fidgety little zooms. Why do I need to feel like I'm watching a documentary? Why draw attention to the fact this is captured n film? It's definitely not like there actually is somebody surreptitiously capturing all this action to deliver as documentary footage, and yet that's how the entire story is presented to me. I don't get it. 
And by Bourne 2 the whole cut cut cut style of editing was too much too. 
There's a parallel to this visual style in the dialogue of some scenes as well. It's full of what I call fluffy, hyper-frantic panicky jibba-jibba-jabba-jabba. 
All that being said, the strength of these two movies is obviously the character of Jason Bourne himself, and his unstoppable nature. Watching his indefatigable journey through these movies is half the thrill at least. 
In the end though, the bottom line is I don't think I'll be watching these movies again. 

Taken (On DVD)
Having a break from the Bourne films I snuck this one in and enjoyed it so much more. 
I like the solitary nature of Liam's journey through the movie with the singular purpose of his mission. I like his minimum reliance on high-tech gimmickry, instead using detective and physical skills, wits and total disregard for everything and everybody around him. Sure, a lot of Liam's breakthroughs and progression during his search were pretty convenient, but I was able to dismiss most of that as shorthand to be efficient in getting through lots of plot quickly. 
Taken's not a masterpiece or a stroke of genius, but it knew what it was and did its job very well. It was a good, tense, no-nonsense thriller, and I really enjoyed it. 


The Bourne Ultimatum (On DVD)
At best I was non-plussed by this conclusion to the trilogy. At worst I was again annoyed by all the things that annoyed me in the first two. 
Is this 'naturalistic' camera style supposed to counteract the 'on the nose', affected, over the top acting and frenetic cutting. It doesn't feel like I'm watching a movie but a news report documentary reenactment instead.  
Unfortunately the actual character of Jason Bourne becomes less and less likeable throughout the three films, as well as less compelling as he finds out most of what his back story is. The mystery of his past was his most interesting aspect, now mostly gone. As such I cared less and less to keep following him and his story. The plot this time was not terribly complex or hard to see through either. 
So what do we have left? We have the action and spectacle to keep us watching. With the hyper frenetic cutting, pseudo doco handheld camera, amateur looking mini punch zooms, it became an unwelcome chore to have to struggle through watching the action and spectacle. That doesn't leave much reason to watch. At this point this movie runs mostly runs on "Oooh, he's so amazing!" and that's not enough for me. 
Finally, it stupidly left a number of plot threads open. Why'd he join up in the first place? What didn't he actually remember about the girl? That first question is probably the most needing of an answer. Yet nothing. 

02 March, 2013

Current work: Liedekijn

I'm working on two non-Greener Pastures comics projects right now, one of which is a group gallery exhibition opening soon in Canberra. The interesting thing about the exhibition is that each piece of art involved is a single page in a narrative that makes up a complete story, The Song of Heer Halewijn

The show is called Liedekijn and it has been organised by the seemingly indefatigable Emma-Jean Stewart. The story is a medieval Dutch/Flemish fairytale originally written in a poem. The translated poem was split into 23 plot points and those points were handed to the artists to illustrate. Some pages, like mine, are in the traditional comic book format of sequential panels, while others are single illustrations. Each page progresses the tale though, the tale of Machteld and Halewijn, a tale of seduction and murder. 

There's a full colour art book to go along with the exhibition so that the story can be read once the show is over. 

It's a very interesting project to be a part of and I'm really excited to be going to the opening night. Feel free to join us there on Thursday the 28th of March. Many of the artists will be in attendance. Details below. 

By way of cajoling you into either viewing the exhibition or ordering the book, I present the pencils for my page below. My page appears about halfway through the story as Machteld and Halewijn meet for the first time. To see my finished inks, and to find out what happens next, you'll have to get the book. With a pre-order price of only $12 it's a steal!

Here are the details: 
Venue: The Front Gallery. Shop 3, 1 Wattle Place, Lyneham, ACT.
Dates: 26th March - 8th April, 2013. Opening night: 7:30pm, 28th March 2013.
Exhibition website: liedekijn.com
Gallery website: www.frontgallerycafe.com
Opening night Facebook event page: www.facebook.com/events/389157271170276
Order the book: emmajeans.bigcartel.com/product/liedekijn-artbook-preorder


24 February, 2013

What I Read Last Month…

What I read in… 
September 2012
This Is Not Your Mini Comic…
by Pat Grant.
A heartfelt start to the latest iteration of The Mini Comic of the Month Club


Superman: Earth One. Volume 1
by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis, et al. 
Despite the sweeping brief of retelling and somewhat updating and modernising Superman's origin story I found this quite bland, both in the plot and the art. 


Mad Bonaz 4 Lyfe, Good and Beach Balloon
by Andrew Fulton. 
Another batch of Fulton comics that didn't disappoint and certainly did delight. Full reviews over on the Australian Comics Journal site here, here and here


I Will Beat You at Mario Cart and You Will Cry
by Ive Sorocuk, Andrew Fulton, and numerous other brilliant Aussies. 
A fabulously fun little mini that grew out of an equally fun little rivalry between Ive Sorocuk and Andrew Fulton about who was the better player of Mario Kart. Numerous fabulous Australian cartoonists added their voice to choruses of #teamive and #teamandrew, but the winner here is surely #teamcomics. Great fun! 

21 February, 2013

Behind the scenes at Cheez TV

In the latest episode of GPTV I uploaded a video of the first time Michael and I brought Greener Pastures to Channel 10's morning cartoon show Cheez TV. Here's some behind the scenes photos from that fun shoot… 

Michael and Tim getting the star treatment in the make-up chairs. 
"What do you mean my forehead is shiny!" 

Most of the crew in on planning what and how we're going to shoot. As you can tell from the video, the whole thing is pretty much ad libbed. 
"Just draw a damn picture McEwen!"

Here we are getting to know Ryan and Jade while waiting to start taping. A couple of top blokes honestly excited to have us there. 

Setting up the time lapse drawing shot. 

Jade, absolutely enthralled by what Tim has to say. 
"Comics! I draw comics GOOD!" 

Team photo! We had an awesome time that fine day in 1996 shooting Cheez TV, and it shows on all our faces. 

18 February, 2013

What I Watched Last Month…

What I watched in… 
August 2012


Paul (on DVD) 
I have a feeling this is not really my kind of humour. I found it disappointing really. It had some elements The Big Bang Theory, but on steroids, and while I don't mind that TV show, a film needs to do something more than what we see on TBBT. All in all there wasn't anything innovative in this. A little too predictable and silly for me too. A comedy has to really work harder to keep me enjoying it. 


The Descendants (on DVD) 
This was nice and reasonably enjoyable with good performances all around but I didn't find the story interesting enough, or compellingly enough told. 


The Amazing Spider-Man (at the movies) 
Because I had free tickets that I didn't want to see go to waste (and because my initial viewing was interrupted) I watched this a second time and I found it very hard going, only being saved by the performances of Garfield and Stone (as Parker and Stacey) and the action sequences. I certainly wasn't blown away the first time I watched it, but with this viewing the first half was really boring and tedious. I was also less impressed with the computer animation and effects seeing their failings a lot more clearly. My only hope is that now that they've got the obligatory origin story out of the way they might actually make an interesting and exciting movie for the inevitable sequel. 

13 February, 2013

Review: The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract


The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract 
(Reprinting: The New Teen Titans (volume 1) #39 and #40, and Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44 and Annual #3. 1983.) 
By Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, et al. 
Published by DC Comics.  
www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/the-new-teen-titans-the-judas-contract

I read this trade paperback in preparation for the visit to Supanova once of the Wolfman/Pérez superhero comic book dream team and wrote this review at the time. The book is quite an interesting read.

I say that it's an interesting read for a number of reasons, and not the least of which is the over-arcing plot of a spy in the Titans' midst, which begins as a subplot and eventually takes centre stage. Wolfman goes to some lengths in the introduction to this reprint of DC Comic' The New Teen Titans from 1983 and '84 to make sure that the difference between "spy" and "traitor" is clear. The character in question is Terra – she's a recent recruit to the team but is actually embedded as a spy from the very beginning. She is not someone who at some point turns bad and betrays her friends; no, she was never a good guy, her plan was always, in league with a longtime Titans villain Deathstroke the Terminator, to kill the Titans. Interestingly, the reader is never in doubt of that — it's never kept as a secret from us, as we are witness to all the behind the scenes machinations of this plot. That being said, there were numerous times throughout where I wondered if Terra would betray her partner Deathstroke. She's very nicely and subtly written in that regard, but it also plays on this reader's assumption/hope that everything might turn out OK in the end and that she'd see the error of her ways.

The other point of note regarding the character of Terra is that she's only 15 years old. That's not such a big surprise for a book called The New Teen Titans, except for the fact that she's very much portrayed as overtly sexual — an upping of the ante for her character that was always played as somewhat streetwise and canny. In one scene she wears a mostly open nightgown with nothing underneath, with the inference being that she has just had sex with Deathstroke (who must be in his 40s or 50s, maybe older). The inference is later confirmed as she refers to the two of them as lovers. Statutory rape anyone? Perhaps this is a tad blasé in 2013, but in 1983 this was pretty hardcore. As far as Deathstroke is concerned, there are times when it seems that he is being presented in a somewhat sympathetic light, a villain with a sense of honour, but his relationship with Terra blows that away completely. Additionally, Terra smokes and drinks openly on page. Also not such a big deal now I suppose, but pretty surprising in the mid 80s I would assume, especially in what I think was a Comics Code Authority approved book. She's a surprising character and I don't think Wolfman and Pérez at any point try to make her sympathetic. They went hard with her and it really pays off dramatically in this story.

This arc was originally published during the period when the title The New Teen Titans was transitioning to a higher quality publishing format and beginning with a new #1. The original series was retitled Tales of The Teen Titans and for a year there were two monthly books starring the same characters in separate stories. The reason I bring this up is because I wonder if that's the reason for the unusual pacing, chapter to chapter, that I found throughout. It really seems like Wolfman and Pérez took the opportunity to let their story-telling breathe much more than usual through the middle section. There are two chapters (originally individual monthly issues) with very little in the way of superhero action and slugfests, or even characters in costume for that matter. Instead we're treated to civilian Dick Grayson tracking down missing Titans, and then an extended account of the origin of Deathstroke, which takes up nearly an entire chapter on its own. None of which I complain about as most Wolfman/Pérez Teen Titans stories have a fair share of action and mayhem, so over the course of the whole volume there's certainly enough of that to satisfy. This slower section of the story also culminates with one of the major outcomes of the book: Dick Grayson, who has retired from the role of Robin (as Batman's first kid sidekick) in the first chapter of the book, takes on the new name and costume of Nightwing by the end of this chapter.

It's funny though, by the end of the story, there are so many people who know The Teen Titans' secret identities, from major villains and supporting cast to hoards of lackeys and goons, that Bruce Wayne's life would surely be a nightmare! Conveniently ignored I guess. The Teen Titans' world is treated like a closed system/universe a lot of the time I think – ignoring the rest of the DCU – and it's for the best. It not only makes things easier to write and to tell the story, it also removes one of the superhero genre's sillier tropes while making the story so much more interesting and engaging because of it.

Wolfman's dialogue and characterisation are very enjoyable to read, as he gives each of them unique traits and speech patterns, so that most of them are recognisable from dialogue alone. As far as superhero stories go he really made this feel like these were real people's personalities, real people who have amazing lives to lead. At no point are you lost or confused due to the high number of characters, and with 12 prominent characters in the course of this story, plus numerous supporting cast, it's no mean feat that Wolfman has pulled off.

Lastly, and again in a very unobtrusive manner, Wolfman easily avoids constant re-tellings of previous chapters' (or issues') events, which is often a problem with trade paperbacks that reprint stories originally presented as monthly issues. Exposition is deftly mixed into the telling of the tale here or smartly kept to a discreet minimum.

George Pérez is one of my all-time favourite comics artists, so I'll say that up front. As always, I enjoyed his art greatly; no one is as dynamic in page design, layout in-panel, figure posing, over the top action and general superhero shenanigans. His time on The New Teen Titans was where Pérez began to truly finesse his style though, particularly in his efforts to portray the individual look and personality of each character, and it's evident here in spades. There's subtle differences in every aspect of each hero: facial features, bone structure, body language, body shape, etc. — no cookie-cutter stock superhero drawings here. Sometimes he may seem to cram too much detail, too many panels, onto a page, but in almost all cases he is able to not only keep it readable but also appealing and exciting. Amazing how he's able to lay so many panels onto a page and still not make it look crowded.  

That being said, beyond the finessing of his character work, there's not much that's groundbreaking in Pérez's work here. The closest thing is the opening chapter, which he inks himself, and due to that self-inking it's very finely rendered. I'm sure most of the detail must have been a smudgy mess when originally printed on newsprint, but here it looks marvellous.

I couldn't write about this collection without bringing up Pérez's "distinct" sense of costume design. Here we are presented with quite a number of characters whose looks were designed by Pérez, the Brother Blood and Deathstroke villains among them, but the introduction of Jericho's (a new character) and Nightwing's new costumes in one page is one heck of a page! Nightwing's original costume as presented here can really only be drawn with a straight face by Pérez himself, and it's been toned down and simplified through a number of iterations since it's debut and probably rightly so. Jericho's costume though turns that up to 11, with puffy sleeves, scale mail vest, blonde-fro hair and muttonchops! Jericho's an interesting character, introduced here as part of the Deathstroke origin. He's an attempt to put a quiet personality and less overtly physical superpower into the superhero melée, so I can see the thinking behind some of the design decisions. They're both incredibly Pérez though, no doubt about it.

Another thing I found interesting in this collection is that there's four different inkers, including Pérez himself. As a process junkie, the assembly line method of most mainstream superhero comics holds quite a fascination for me, so to see various inkers over Pérez' pencils in a single volume interests me a great deal. Romeo Tanghal does a couple of chapters, which is no big deal since he had been the regular inker on the title since the first issue, and to be honest, I think quite a miss-match to Pérez's style. Mike DeCarlo also did a chapter, and I've never really been a fan of his kind of scratchy style, but I think he did quite well here, being able to handle Pérez's detailed pencils pretty well. The most enjoyable though was to see veteran Dick Giordano work over Pérez. Giordano has a mostly brushy, quite polished style of inking and he's an accomplished penciller in his own right as well, so he really knows what he's doing. He meshed very well with Pérez's pencils, softening them in an appealing way while not losing the distinctive Pérez style, acting or detail. In my opinion I would say that Giordano was probably working from layouts rather than finishes pencils for a lot of the Deathstroke origin chapter. I think it's the only time I've seen this combination of people and I very much appreciated it.

One of the most memorable things about the Wolfman/Pérez era of The New Teen Titans, and a long illustrious era it is, is that it's filled with human personalities and relationships, real heart and great emotional content. The Judas Contract may be the highest point of that and it's a brilliant read because of it. As slightly old-school superhero action, this is greatly enjoyable too. High on emotion, solid in storytelling, this collection is well worth reading.

24 January, 2013

What I read last Month…

What I read in… 
August 2012


The Sexy Virus, The Sticky Goat Affair and The Convoluted Killbots
www.gloriousbounty.com
This trio of madcap space tales by Luke Milton and Edward J. Grug III are fab fun. 
A complete review will follow eventually. 

21 January, 2013

Supanova Brisbane 2012

I know it takes me forever to get around to posting these – what I loosely term photo essays – but better late than never, right? With my work for the next Supanova tour already beginning, it seems like the right time to finally post the first of the two cities we hit late last year during what I like to refer to as Supanovember… Brisbane!

Full disclosure: I'm one of the founders of Supanova, art direct it, and have a financial stake in the business. 


For me the weekend started with an awesome ComicBook MasterClass presented by the amazing veteran comics writer and artist Howard Chaykin. There's no doubt that all present were blown away as one comic making gem of information after the other was dropped by Mr. Chaykin. Let me tell you though, what a joy he was to photograph, even by an amateur like me. So! There's going to be lots of shots of Mr. Chaykin gesticulating and pulling the most amazing faces as he rammed home one point after the other with no bullshit but plenty of profanity. A really great experience. 











Artists' Alley was chokkas with interested punters! 


Along this line of fabulous talent is Samantha Calcraft, Mel Stringer, Benjamin Constantine, Glenn Manders, Cam-El manning the Phatsville tables, and way in the back Cameron Davis

From closest to camera here we have international guest Michelle Delecki, the always sexy Paul Abstruse, Jeffrey 'Chamba' Cruz, Leonard Bermingham, and the thorn between two roses at the end is Paul Mason, with Sarah Ellen on his right. 


Speaking of Paul (The Soldier Legacy) Mason, here's a panel he was on with the amazing James (The Deep) Brouwer, as hosted by David (Q-Dog) Quinn

Paul knows the score, and he's telling you what it is! 





Here's some more Chaykin goodness, and in this instalment he's giving David Yardin what-for! Looks like David's holding his own though. Not an easy thing to do. Further along the table is Tristan Jones and in the background (back to us), James Brouwer. 




While we're on the subject of Yardin and Jones, here's a regular occurrence at Supanova: The Artists' Draw-Off, this time featuring Yardin, Jones and Shane (Superman: Earth 1) Davis, hosted by Q-Dog and videoed by Supanova's Technical Director Bruce Moyle



A couple of shots from the exhibitor floor…


John Di Maggio and Billy West were a huge hit. John's known for Futurama, Adventure Time, Kim Possible and Batman: Brave & the Bold, While Billy's known for The Ren & Stimpy Show and Futurama as well. They packed out the auditorium to standing room only two days in a row! 


Most importantly from this trip: quite the hefty haul! Now if only I had time to read them all before the next set of Supanovas!