The entire story that this is associated with still needs some polishing, but I thought this would give people and idea of what I've been working on. I shared it with the Comic Book group members yesterday and got some excellent feedback and suggestions. I hope to come back from vacation after next week and look at the thing with fresh eyes.
Tom's being too humble here.
ReplyDeleteHis "Little Side Art Project" is just lovely. He made four issues of Cosmic Theatre" in a very limited run (I think 4-5 copies each) as an inital experiment in the process of publishing and to elicit critiques.
Then he seemed to go away from it for a while and we were bummed.
Then he came back with 12 pages that far outshone his early efforts and there was much rejoicing!
I wish he'd post one the interior pages - IMHO they're better than the cover (sorry Tom - remember it's all free advice that's worth every penny). The story is, I guess "whimsical", but also has a funny edge to it.
Rick has seen them and can tell you more.
Tom, I think you need to open a website with restricted access to certain friends so they can enjoy it.
"Cosmic Theatre" is now my favorite comic book in the whole wide world.
I tell you Tom, the main feedback I can give you is , I'd buy that comic Book. It's like Basil Wolverton and Rick Geary cool. Dig the lightning bolt / star insignia.
ReplyDeleteVery cool, Tom. The layout is great, the characters look very synch'ed to the style. It definitely looks like something worth reading--I like the old-timey layout, reminds me a little of Chris Ware or Gary Gianni in the sensibility, not the style. And the real reduced chroma is great, I like the way the colors work, (and I admire the courage it requires to go all cool on a cover--though I can't help but wonder how it would look filling the title text with a warm color, like an Cad Red Light, or something orange-y).
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me--am I the only one who thought the ersatz "Hellboy" comic book cover done in a wonderfully exact imitation of Jack Kirby's style was about the only thing worth seeing in that damn Hellboy Movie? (I told Mignola as much at the Con)
One little note: I am fascinated by the semi-organic, 19th Century industrial fantasy looking structure behind the Cossack talkin' Cosmonaut. The honest intrigue this design elicits cannot but bode well for the book's interior. I want more.
(Don't be held back by story--story is always impossible--give us more florid iron tentacles! Story will "solve itself".)
And have a good vacation, Tommy! Word to Patty!
ReplyDeleteOne last comment, and this is as much for Mr Goodson as Mr. Moon: Cosmic Theatre (France thanks you for the spelling) reminds me, in ways too intangible to define, of that long ago opus, The Bounty of Zone-Z. I doubt any other human would see that. But for me, it gives an extra little glow of pleasure.
ReplyDeleteWhat was it, something in the free sodas at BlueSky?
Thanks Dok,
ReplyDeleteWhich interior piece do you think best represents the work as a whole? That will be the first one I'll put up!
Marty,
I too was disappointed by the Hellboy movie, especially at the end where he got the girl. If there's ever a character that needed to stay tragic, it's a guy born in hell.
What did Mignola say when you expressed your disappointment?
And I'm so happy you mentioned Chris Ware. He's one of my heroes. Did you ever hear his piece on this American Life? For that matter, have you ever read any David Sedaris, an author that makes frequent appearances on This American Life? His book "Me Talk Pretty One Day" has a lot of very funny stories about living in France. He says he likes living abroad in part because he always feels like an outsider.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite pages are 3 and 4. Maybe 4 is more evocative of the story as a whole, but 3 is really charming to me.
Heh,
ReplyDeleteI've confused myself with my own numbering system. Pages 3 and 4 not counting the first two cover drawings? The one with the tail sticking out of the cave and the one with the scent trail?
no no no. The one with Poppa Zorn walking to the right against a rock wall and the one with him and IT in the woods. 3 and 4 as you numbered the files.
ReplyDeleteYou're torturing me with talk of seeing pages when I don't see a dadburn one!!! Where are these phantom pages?? Speak man speak!
ReplyDeleteOh cool cover too! I also like the insignia. Retrotastic!
Ha ha, Okay, I'll see if I can make some simple tweaks tonight and put up a couple more pages. I didn't think I should put them all up at once though. I'd push every other post off the page.
ReplyDelete...but try and forget about Dok's too-generous buildup and keep those expectations nice and low!
ReplyDeleteYeah I was just kidding. Cosmic Theatre blows chunks something awful.
ReplyDeleteI was on a bad combination of metamucil and twisty sticks that day and washed 'em all down with a red bull haggis smoothie which probably didn't help.
Now that I look at them today - I blew it all way out of proportion. I mean they're not exactly BAD, if you know what I mean.
Heh heh, that's the spirit!
ReplyDelete