Russ Meyer's 1973 AVENGERS Film

The other day on Facebook I stated that Russ Meyer's movie, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, is my favorite film, to which Howard Chaykin commented, "And apropos of next to nothing, I felt that Russ Meyer would have done an absolutely fucking great job on a superhero movie." So I thought about it--way harder and longer than I should have--but here's the cast of his 1973 Avengers film.

Masters of the Universe

 

Twin Peaks: (Playful Little) Audrey Horne

 

Twin Peaks: Laura Palmer

 

Bob Peak Copy for a Wedding

The client for this image is getting married, and he wanted a "movie poster" to display at the reception. He asked that I copy the Camelot poster by the illustrious Bob Peak, so I can't take credit for the main images in the center, as I slavishly copied Mr. Peak's original work to the best of my ability.

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN: THE TOMB OF VENDHYA

The latest commission, this one for Mr. Charlie Sullivan my longest-running client (over 20 years now). The woman is Debra Paget, star of Fritz Lang's THE INDIAN TOMB (and Elvis Presley's first female co-star). In Conan mythology, the region that eventually became India is called Vendhya. The top left image of Conan is from an unpublished sketch of Conan by Barry Windsor Smith, which I inked after flipping the head to face the opposite direction. My idea was to make this an alternate universe cover where in 1974 Savage Sword of Conan was not the second Conan comic book, but Conan the Cimmerian was.

DEADSTONE TALES

This commission was created for Jeff LaGreca to illustrate characters in his teleplay, Deadstone Tales. All the character names are copyright 2019 Jeff LaGreca.

Svengoolie and the Gang

Another commission for my longest-running client, Mr. Sullivan.

Svengoolie and the Gang

February, 2019

Ink, marker, watercolor, colored pencil on watercolor paper

12" x 18"

Ah-oooo! Werewolf of London!

Since the mid-nineties, back when I worked at Time Warp Comics in Boulder, Colorado, I've periodically created black-and-white drawings of classic horror-movie characters for one particular client, Mr. Sullivan. I consider him my first client, so it's a pleasure to still be doing new entries in the series decades later.

Depicted here is Henry Hull as the Werewolf of London, from the film of the same title. Werewolf of London is the earliest extant werewolf film (the first werewolf film was 1913's silent The Werewolves, but all known prints have been destroyed). 

Werewolf of London 
February, 2019
White colored-pencil on black paper
8.5" x 11"

MAKE AMERICA GROVEL AGAIN

A schoolteacher commissioned me to draw this. Yyyyyep.

Titania vs. The Thing

My most recent commission depicts Ms.Mary MacPherran of Denver, Colorado vs. Mr. Benjamin J. Grimm of New York City. The quote comes from Titania's first appearance in Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars #3, written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Mike Zeck.

Fin Fang Foom and Cosmic Jack

I was privileged to be asked to be in Kirby & Me, a brand new French coffee table book released this month that honors the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jack Kirby, co-creator of The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, The Mighty Thor, The X-Men, Iron Man, and Captain America, among many others. The two images above were included in the book. The portrait of Jack, done in his own style, is what got me into the book. Since I knew that many artists might also be trying to emulate Kirby's style, I wanted to do something else completely different. So I created a Godzilla-style faux movie poster for a hypothetical Fin Fang Foom movie, deliberately trying to design the monsters so that they resembled rubber suits that could fit a person within. If you look closely, you can see a couple of eyeholes on Fin Fang Foom's neck. Some of the other luminaries in the book are Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra Assassin, The New Mutants, Moon Knight), Mike Deodato, Jr. (The Avengers), Stefano Gaudiano (Daredevil), Jeff Lemire (a million DC Comics currently being published), Brendan McCarthy (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Mike Allred (I, Zombie, Madman); I feel honored myself being in the same book as them. For more information about the book, visit https://www.ulule.com/kirby-me/

Red Sonja

A new commission for a friend wanting some inspiration for her weight room.

Shade the Changing Man vs. Weird Al Yankovic

Behold! Erica Stickler MacIntosh, the Assistant to the Director of Programming for Denver Comic Con, commissions a drawing from me every year for her husband, Bruce MacIntosh, the Director of Programming. Usually she tells me what characters she wants, but this year she gave me carte blanche, saying she just wanted the drawing to have something to do with Denver Comic Con. Since Weird Al Yankovic was going to be at the con, I thought it'd be funny to make him the antagonist to some comic book character for whom 2017 is an anniversary year of their first appearance. Since 2017 is the 40th anniversary of Steve Ditko's very weird Shade the Changing Man, I decided on him. The original Shade the Changing Man series was cancelled after eight issues back in 1978, so the idea here was that in another universe than our own, publication of Shade resumed just as Weird Al burst upon the scene, perhaps as some cross-promotion synergy.

Weird Al signed the white UPC box which I left blank, and I will post his signature in the box when I get a photo of it.

Ink and watercolor
11"x17"

A Mother and Her Daughter

A neighbor and friend commissioned me to draw her and her daughter, who very enthusiastically provided the color and design specifications for her own personal Sailor Moon character, as well as the Japanese characters, which apparently reads, "Kitsune Kuraitsukino /'Fox of the Dark Moon'."

More Bar Car portraits

Two more portraits of employees of my neighborhood bar.

Dune

Another recent commission for a fan of Frank Herbert's DUNE.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Redux

For a retirement gift to himself, a client commissioned me to create a new version of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover by The Beatles. With a couple of exceptions, he chose the personages.

Pictured are:

1. Godzilla 2. Beany 3. Cecil 4. Jean Shepherd 5. Charles Dickens 6. Thomas Jefferson 7. Barack Obama 8. Franklin Roosevelt 9. Abraham Lincoln 10. Langston Hughes 11. Toni Morrison 12. Emily Dickinson 13. Robby the Robot 14. Mars Attacks! 15. Invasion of the Saucer Men 16. Robert Oppenheimer 17. Don Bosco 18. Dracula 19. Batman 20. Frankenstein's Monster 21. Zacherley 22.  Tim O' Brien 23. Dorothy Day 24. Mark Twain 25. Edgar Allan Poe 26. Steve Ditko 27. Spider-Man 28. Jack Kirby 29.Captain America 30. Human Torch 31. Frederic Wertham 32. Pope Francis 33. Jesus Christ 34. Santa Claus 35. M.C. Gaines 36. John Lennon 37. Ringo Starr 38. Paul McCartney 39. George Harrison 40. Truman Capote. 41. Green Lantern 42. Ringo Starr 43. John Lennon 44. George Harrison 45. Paul McCartney 46. Walt Disney 47. Mickey Mouse 48. Freddy Krueger 49. Bob Dylan 50. Wonder Woman

The original art is 21" x 21", watercolor and ink.

Note: The original album cover has Sgt. Pepper's spelled without an apostrophe.

Colorful History: Eisenhower

To celebrate Memorial Day, Pop Culture Classroom (the nonprofit that organizes Denver Comic Con), hired me to write, color, and letter a four-page comics story about President Dwight Eisenhower. The pencils are by Billy Tucci, who is best known for Shi, the nineties-era "bad girl" comic, and Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion for DC Comics. This is the first time I've ever written a comic book for someone other than myself, so it was most interesting to see how my script was interpreted. To download a PDF of this story, the original script and layouts, or a teacher's guide, please visit:

http://popcultureclassroom.org/education/colorful-history-dwight-eisenhower-17/

The Bar Car Mural

Here on top is my original drawing that the owner of The Bar Car commissioned me to draw as the basis for a new mural on the side of the building...and beneath it the muralist's interpretation of it.