THAT COMIC SMELL 46: Film & TV Tie-Ins/Adaptations

The new episode of the podcast is online now here.

From the web:

"The Book Is Better!”
We have all seen the films based on comic books. I mean hell, Marvel is more films than comics these days. What about the comics that are based, tied in with, continuing on, adapted from films and Television Shows. Well we grab every available one that we own and pass them round like there’s no tomorrow. There are some absolute crackers here and some tasty rarities to wrap your ears around. From cartoons and adventure heroes. To space age horror and life stories. You won’t want to miss the picks this time around.

This and all the usual comics chat on the only podcast to come on both Betamax AND laser disc...

That Comic Smell!

(Some of the titles discussed)
Wolf's Rain (Bones, Keiko Nobumoto, Toshitsugu Lida)
Scooby Apocalypse (Keith Giffen, J.M.Dematteis, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi)
Green Lantern/Space Ghost (Tynion IV, Sebela, Olivetti)
Suicide Squad/Banana Splits (Bedard, Caldwell, Morales)
The Flintstones (Russel, Pugh, Chuckry)
Wacky Raceland (Pontac, Manco, Sanzone)
The Tick (Marc Silvia, Mychailo Kazybrid)
The Simpsons (Various)
Jurassic Park (Walt Simonson, Gil Kane, George Perez)
X-Men 2 (Brian K Vaughan, Tom Mandrake)
Star Wars (Cassiday, Aaron)
Looney Tunes (Various)
Spider-Man Adventures (Nelyomtov, Alex Saviuk)
Rick&Morty (Various)
Ren & Stimpy (Dan Slott, Mike Kazaleh)
Star Trek TNG (Michael Jan Friedman, Kevin Ryan, Chuck Frazier)
Batman (Dennis O'Neil, Jerry Ordway)
Batman Returns (Dennis O'Neil, Steve Erwin)
Batman Adventures (Kelley Aukett, Martin Pasko, Brad Rader, Ty Templeton)
The Man With No Name (Christos Gage, Wellington Dias)
Red Dwarf (Various)
Aliens (Various)
Godzilla age of Monsters (Various)
Adventure Time (Various)
Batman 66 (Jeff Parker, Jonathan Case, Ty Templeton)
Inu Yasha (Rumiko Takahashi)
Transformers/Visionaries (Magdalene Visaggio, Fico Ossio)
The A-Team (Jim Salicrup, Marie Sevrin)
Freaks (Jim Woodring, Francisco Solano Lopez)
Star Trek Enterprise Logs (Various)
American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Various)
Metropolis (Christophe Girard)
2001 A Space Odyssey (Jack Kirby)
Futurama (Various)
Futurama/Simpsons (Various)
Star Trek: Countdown (Various)
Steven Universe (Jeremy Sorese, Coleman Engle)
Future Quest (Jeff Parker, Evan "Doc" Shaner, Steve Rude)
Star Wars Classic (Various)
Alien (Archie Goodwin, Walt Simonson)
Indiana Jones (John Byrne, Terry Ouston)"

THAT COMIC SMELL 45: Slice of Life

The new episode of the podcast is online now here.

From the web:

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get”
It’s time for That Comic Smell to take a massive Slice of Life. Indeed, it is time for us to take a look at diary comics, a moment cut out of time, fiction that very much mimics life stories and so much more. We go from absolute belly laughs to comics that leave you heartbroken. All with an added deviation, where the folks here get into the real “Geek” of it all and talk shelf organisation. GET IN!
This and all the usual comics chat on the only comics podcast that can be stacked on a physical shelf…
That Comic Smell!
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Thanks again for listening and supporting the podcast
Close to the Heart (Megan Sinclair + Various)
Follow me in (Katriona Chapman)
Modern Slorance (Neil Slorance)
Asleep in the Back (Time Bird)
Bi the Way (MJ Wallace)
Various Hourly Comics (Alex Assan, Ell J Walker, Sammy Borras & mnay more)
Trashed (Derf)
Face down in the Mud (David B Cooper)
Scenes from an Impending Marriage (Adrian Tomine)
Strangers in Paradise (Terry Moore)
Kids are Weird (Jeffery Brown)
Our Super Adventure & American Adventure (Sarah Graley)
Momorias de un Hombre Pijama (Paco Roca)
Un Hombre en Pijama (Pacoa Roca)
Little Nothings (Lewis Trondhiem)
Astronauts of the Future (Lewis Trondhiem)
A Quiet Disaster (Alex Potts)
Peep Show (Joe Matt)
Spent (Joe Matt)
Graffiti Kitchen (Eddie Campbell)
American Splendor (Harvey Pekar)
The Black Hole (Whitman Comics)
Jimmy Corrigan (Chris Ware)
Dilbert (Scott Adams)
Hate! (Peter Bagge)
Monsieur Jean (Dupuy, Berberian)
Fungus the Bogeyman (Raymond Briggs)
Laptop Guy (Sha Nazir, Jack Lothian)
Superhero Therapy (Janina Scarlet, Wellinton Alves)"

SCOTLAND IN COMICS 15: AMERICAN SPLENDOR

In 2003, a movie based on Harvey Pekar's American Splendor was released. Pekar visited the UK in order to publicise the film.

A year later, the DVD contained an American Splendor mini-comic with a story of his travels.

Here then, is Harvey Pekar in Scotland:

DEAN HASPIEL - FREAK MAGNET

Dean Haspiel is a talented cartoonist operating out of New York. He grew up reading Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four, later discovering autobiographical comics by the likes of Harvey Pekar. His work now displays elements of the fantastic and the personal, mixed through with a romantic philosophy on love and life. I like where he's coming from. He draws like a demon too...

David Robertson: Tell me about Billy Dogma's character and his publishing history including the new book Fear, My Dear.

Dean Haspiel: Billy Dogma and Jane Legit are a spaghetti western-inspired, modern day Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn romance. Two love titans whose hearts crave each other, so much so, their rock 'em sock 'em passion betrays a spark of hope that love can save the world.

I created Billy Dogma in 1995 and it was first published as a black & white comix strip in The NY Hangover, an east-village newspaper. Soon after, Billy Dogma appeared in Keyhole, a 2-man comix anthology I did with Josh Neufeld, and a 3-issue Billy Dogma series, published by Millennium cum Modern Comics. Later, Billy Dogma stories appeared in Daydream Lullabies, Boy In My Pocket, and Aim To Dazzle, published by Top Shelf & Alternative Comics. 

Then, in 2006 & 2007, I published a couple of epic Billy Dogma stories called "Immortal" and "Fear, My Dear," for the webcomix collective, ActivateComix.com, that I recently remastered for the Fear, My Dear graphic novel published by Z2 Comics, coming out this April. Fear, My Dear is my love letter to the insanity of love. I intend to self-publish another Billy Dogma collection (via Hang Dai Editions), featuring comix I did in other anthologies and at TripCity.net, plus new material.

DR: How was working with Harvey Pekar on American Splendor? What did you learn drawing his stories?

DH: Collaborating with Harvey Pekar was a unique experience. Limiting in one way as there was never room to alter the pace of his carved-in-stone words but quite challenging in another way wherein I had to excavate the narrative gold from his dialogue. There's only so much inspiration you can derive from a talking stick figure so the artist truly becomes the co-author in comix terms. Not only did I become a better visual storyteller but I also learned to listen. A lot of what Pekar wrote came from his ability to listen to the people around him so that we could "hear" them, too, in his comix. I miss Harvey very much.

DR: I’m interested in the work you’ve done with regards to fostering a sense of community between cartoonists. Can you talk a bit about the studio you work in, and the online and/or any other real world projects you’ve been involved with?

DH: I've had the desire to be part of a comix community ever since I first learned of the Hollywood "Rat Pack" and read about the legendary "Marvel Bullpen" in Stan Lee's Soapbox columns (which turned out to be more a fantasy than fact, for shame), coupled with the year (1985) I spent working as an assistant at Upstart Studios in the garment district of Manhattan to cartoonists Howard Chaykin, Walter Simonson, and Bill Sienkiewicz. I remember fondly my subscription to The Comics Buyers Guide and the days of getting new comic books once-a-week at my local comix shops: West Side Comics, Funny Business, Forbidden Planet, Rocketship and, nowadays, I still make the occasional trek to JHU Comics. When I finally decided to take a leap of faith and work full-time freelance as a cartoonist it was a lonely time, drawing in my Brooklyn apartment. Luckily the internet invented blogging platforms and I took advantage of that to create ACT-I-VATE, a webcomix collective on Live Journal, which became a virtual studio until some of us decided to rent brick-and-mortar space in Brooklyn and form DEEP6 Studios for 3-years. Later, I formed Hang Dai Studios and experimented with an online salon called TripCity.net. Hang Dai is where I currently make my comix among a good mix of artists and writers and I don't know that I'd ever want to work alone again. The different energies of various artists engenders new ideas, sparks spirited dialogue, and fuels the will to create in the face of crippling economics and ornery business practices. We share information, uplift our fellow cartoonists, and fight the good fight, together.

DR: I want to take you back to those early days in the 1980s. Please indulge me; at the time I was an avid reader of the Keith Giffen/J.M DeMatteis Justice League comics, and the first time I saw your work was when you drew a “bonus book” for that series. What do you remember about how that job came about?

DH: I cherish those classic J.M. DeMatteis/Keith Giffen/Kevin Maguire Justice League comics and I just had the honor of collaborating with JMD on The Fox #5! Otherwise, I can't stand what I did on that "Maxwell Lord" Bonus Book featuring Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. In fact, I have a hard time with most comix I do within a year of their publication but I can't let the perfect get in the way of the good. Anyway, I was discovered by DC Comics editor, Joe Orlando (formerly of EC Comics/Mad Magazine/Creepy fame) and he liked what I did on The Verdict mini-series that I drew and co-created with writer Martin Powell for Eternity Comics. Joe recruited and hired me to pencil a Bonus Book for Detective Comics. He was a great cartoonist in his own right, as well as a kind editor, but what I drew didn't come out very good. I knew then that I wasn't ready for prime time. Hell, I'm still not ready for prime time. Anyway, I figured I blew my one chance and DC would never call me back and I started drinking a lot of 40 oz. bottles of Olde English 800 while drawing my Tommy Rocket comix strip for The Load, the college newspaper at SUNY Purchase I was attending at the time. Somehow, Joe took a liking to me and I got a second shot at drawing another Bonus Book only it was for Justice League International and I was asked to pencil AND ink the story. I felt I could redeem myself and I penciled the story as best as I could and then I fell off the college library, a three-story building, breaking both my legs (my left ankle/heel and right knee), tore the ligaments in my right drawing hand and bent the bottom of my spine. DC Comics gave me a little grace period to start my slow recovery process but, deadlines are deadlines, and I wound up inking that comic with a broken hand while sitting in a wheelchair. I didn't work for DC Comics again until editor Dan Raspler hired me to draw a Dr. Fate pin-up.

DR: Wow, I had no idea. You mentioned The Fox. Tell me about that series and any other projects you have in the pipeline.

DH: I just finished a 5-issue The Fox mini-series called "Freak Magnet" for Archie/Red Circle Comics. It was co-written by Mark Waid and J.M. DeMatteis and colored by Allen Passalaqua and lettered by John Workman with a Shield back-up feature drawn by Mike Cavallaro. My favorite superhero collaboration to date. I'm currently drawing a Batman '66 story written by my pal Gabe Soria for DC Comics while developing the story for the next Fox mini-series that I'll probably start drawing in mid-April. I'm also drawing a Little Nemo comic for Locust Moon Comics and preparing to self-publish some new comix via Hang Dai Editions while hyping Fear, My Dear: A Billy Dogma Experience.

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Mars Attacks Christmas

Click for larger images...

Those familiar with Mars Attacks may have an idea where this story is going. This is by Dean Haspiel – a really good cartoonist who has done loads of great work, including Billy Dogma who is a Jack Kirby inspired romantic hero, and The Quitter with Harvey Pekar.

This story is from Mars Attacks the Holidays, with stories set during Halloween, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving as well as Christmas. The other stories by Fred Hembeck, Bill Morrison/Tone Rodriguez, and Ian Boothby/Alan Robinson, are worth reading too. This one is brand new, so should still be on sale “at better comics shops”.

HARVEY PEKAR

I didn't see this coming at all. Harvey Pekar - author of American Splendor - has died. It was a unique comic which deliberately chronicled the mundane aspects of life.

He reached a wider audience through the American Splendor movie in 2003. In June this year, Dougie Anderson wrote an article showing how a non-comics reader came to appreciate Pekar's work. Have a read here.

To get an idea of where Pekar was coming from, here is an interview from April 2010.

His influence on comics is profound, if subtle. Pekar was never shouting, and he could all too easily be overlooked, or disregarded after one reading. The effect of his stories has been cumulative - his tenacity meant that he amassed a sizeable body of work that did shape what succeeding generations of cartoonists thought was possible.

The world of comics is a poorer place now he's gone.