SiDEBAR - COMICS, ART & POP CULTURE

Podcast Episode 123: Superstar Comic Artist DENYS COWAN

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Denys Cowan is that dude. You know the one. That guy who's known for all the best stuff to be known for.

Talented. Ambitious. Professional. Charismatic. Well read. Genuine. Friends in all the right places.

And yet with all that on his side, he doesn't come off full of himself...he's a great guy.

Yeah, we hate him, too (kidding—JOKES!).

Actually, about a year ago he left his position at BET as Senior Vice President of Animation and returned full-time to his first calling. Comics. Now that, we can't hate on.

Here's what you need to know about Denys before you listen to the interview:

He started assisting professional comic artists at the age of 14. He interned with Neal Adams and a slew of other well known creators at Continuity Studios at the ages of 15 and 16. Started getting regular assignments from editors at 17. In his early 20's, he worked with renowned writer, Denny O'Neil, on The Question for DC Comics and was nominated for an Eisner award. In 1992, Denys along with Dwayne McDuffie, Derek Dingle and Michael Davis started Milestone Media, an independent imprint of DC. At some point, he began a career in animation that includes the original Static Shock TV show, a character he helped create during his Milestone days. He helped launch the animated version of Aaron McGruder's lampooning comic strip The Boondocks. He worked for years at BET under friend and then President of Entertainment, Reggie Hudlin, heading up their animation department. And now, almost ten years after the series was cancelled, he's back to his comic book roots doing The Question again.

Issue #37 is in stores now and it's a one-shot follow-up that has Denys once more collaborating with Denny O'Neil. Only this time you can add to the mix current Question writer, Greg Rucka, and art legend in his own right, Bill Sienkiewicz, on inks.

See, that's how you do it.

We cover the whole gamut in this mammoth interview with Cowan—and we mean all of it. Denys has done and seen much in his 35 year career, and doesn't mind talking about any of it. So be prepared.

Remember what we said earlier about what he was known for? Well, guess what?

Three decades into this thing, he's still talented. Ambitious. Professional. Charismatic. Well read. Genuine. And has even more friends in all the right places.

Okay, enough with the hate already. Ladies and gents—Denys Cowan.

Dewars Man          The Breccia Sketch

 

Podcast Ep. 121: GURNEY'S JOURNEY - SiDEBAR Interviews Fantastic Artist JAMES GURNEY

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We start off our conversation with the man by listing some of his many achievements and career highs—so we won't do it again here. Just know that he's been at this for a while now and he's rocked it all (Google or Bing him, but make a sandwich first).

Dwight and I have been following James Gurney's work since the Dinotopia series and his book covers first started appearing some years ago. Imagine our recent surprise when James sent us an email out of the blue saying how much he enjoyed our podcast. We almost lost our sh*t! It was as if the Great Wall of China or the Colossus of Rhodes had written us a note.

We wrote back, kept the gushing to a minimum and planned to have him on the show soon. Well, soon is today, lucky listeners.

In the discussion, we cover as much as we can with this modern day Renaissance Man: his background, his life now in upstate New York, some of those career highs we mentioned earlier and his newest book, Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist.

We also get into his daily blog and why he started it, his travels around the world and we end things by posing a question—to which James offers the most interesting answer (hey, he's James Gurney, what else would you expect).

Our thanks to him for coming on with us. It was an art nerd's dream come true.

And a big thanks to our friend Paolo Rivera for his help in bringing it all together.

**For this episode, we played a snippet of The Police's song Secret Journey. A great tone-setter for the interview, although Jim's amazing journey has been no secret.

Also, a reminder about the current Dinotopia exhibition going on in Wilmington, Delaware.

Podcast Ep. 120: 'Sam I Am' - An Interview with Illustrator SAM WEBER

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Today's episode is indeed a conversation with Sam Weber and I (Swain) am really geeked that we finally got a chance to speak with him. Sam and I have traded emails for over a year now and in that time I've connected with his work in a big way.

I, like Sam, Dwight and many others, started off loving comic art and eventually broadened my scope to include other areas of the visual arts. Fine art, illustration, animation, concept art, etc. Sam's work today reflects many of his influences, not least of which, his earnest love of comic books.

I'm sure I stumbled across one of his paintings on The Art Department blog (one of the best damn art resources on the planet) and pretty much fell right away. Later, I realized he was the same guy doing those covers for Vertigo's House of Mystery that I loved.

Sam is an illustrator by trade, but often times gets asked to lecture and share with students. He's spoken at his Alma Mater in Canada, The Alberta College of Art and Design, done a workshop here in Atlanta at SCAD, and was a part of the recent Art Out Loud 6 experience in NYC. Art Out Loud featured him and a few other folks you may know (all of this stuff is covered in our talk, by the way).

Visit Sam's site, ogle his images and prepare for amazement—the man's got something to show you. Oh, and enjoy the interview, too!

**Yes, that's a reference to the great Dr. Seuss in the title—one of my all time favorite writers.

Pic above by Irene Gallo.

Podcast Ep. 119: JAKE PARKER and Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher

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Jake Parker is a talented artist friend of ours with a new children's book out. It's called Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher, it's pubbed by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Books, and we dig it thoroughly. He kindly sent us a copy to preview before our interview with him and it's full of high adventure, sci-fi fun and life lessons.

And even though it's a kid's book, Jake doesn't skimp at all on things like cool tech and alien character designs. The look and feel of Missile's world is pretty funky.

We ran Parker down at his home in Connecticut and talked to him about The Star Crusher project, his background as an animator with Blue Sky Studios, his work on the film Horton Hears a Who and the whole thing. It was good stuff!

Check Jake out at his site and blog below.

Agent 44 Site

Agent 44 Blog

**For this episode, we played Ramblin' Man by Lemon Jelly, an excellent tune, folks.

And we make no apologies for the pic of Jake and his Spartan friend raging (ha).

Podcast Ep. 118: The P. CRAIG RUSSELL Interview

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It's a new year, so how 'bout a new episode—yeah?

Dwight and I have been fans of this man for forever and I don't care how much that statement dates all three of us. Craig's been brilliant from the word, "go".

Phillip Craig Russell is an Ohio native, studied art at the University of Cincinnati and has worked professionally in comic books since the mid '70s. He's known most for things like Killraven, Elric, his opera adaptations like Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung, and his collaborations with Neil Gaiman on projects like Coraline and the recent Sandman: The Dream Hunters.

Plus, as an inker, he's inked countless comics for Marvel and DC over the years. Russell was considered by many to be the inker for Mike Mignola long before Mignola became a fanboy fav (see: Gotham by Gaslight and many others).

We chatted with PCR from his home about his stellar career, art, his penchant for literature and adapting classics, and we had a great time doing it.

As for two late X-mas presents to yourself, you should pick up his 2007 'Art of' book from Desperado Publishing. It's an excellent retrospective of his work and Craig himself helped design it alongside publisher Joe Pruett.

Also, the collected Dream Hunters just came out in hardcover in November.

The official PCR website

  

 
 
 

Podcast Ep. 117: The HITCH Factory - SiDEBAR Talks to BRYAN HITCH

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Today's interview is with superstar artist and storyteller, Bryan Hitch. You know him from titles like The Authority, The Ultimates, Fantastic Four and Captain America: Reborn. We know him 'cause he gave us his phone number and said we could call (ha)!

Our chat with Hitch covers his early days, artistic influences, some process stuff and many of the projects mentioned above.

Also discussed are his design work for both the Doctor Who television show and the latest Star Trek movie directed by J. J. Abrams.

**Picture by FurryFam.

Podcast Ep. 116: WebComic Creator JAY POTTS and His 'World of Hurt'

Dwight and I met Jay Potts at this year's Heroes Con and knew we would one day chat with him. Well, one day is today, folks. Jay writes and draws a strip called World of Hurt and it's the Internet's #1 Blaxploitation WebComic.

For those who're either too young to remember or from outside the States, blaxploitation is a colloquialism that describes a certain period in American filmmaking during the '70s. It was the first time ever that black actors were cast as the leads in "mainstream" action, adventure, crime and horror movies.

Some were good and some were bad** like anything else, but overall, this era is celebrated for its spirit, dynamic characters and powerful realism.

We spoke to Jay from a secret location in Columbia, SC and talked about his background, his goals and intentions with World of Hurt, merging blaxploitation film sensibilities with a weekly comicstrip and we end things with some movie and TV talk.

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**The use of the word bad in this blog entry is not meant to denote bad meaning good, but bad meaning baaad (ha)!

Also, we played several snippets of music on this epsiode. In order, they are: Trouble Man by Marvin Gaye, Superfly by Curtis Mayfield, The theme from Shaft by Isaac Hayes, Freddie's Dead again by Curtis and The theme from The Equalizer composed by Stewart Copeland.

 

Ep. 115: Power to the People - Concept Artist DERMOT POWER Comes to the 'Nation

Dermot is referred to by some as a concept artist's artist. We're certain that's because not only do producers and directors who hire him love his work, but so do his peers.

(Here at the 'Bar, we just call him a beast—this dude is killin' it.)

As a matter of fact, his whole filmography is filled with ridiculous eye candy. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, three of the Harry Potter movies, Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, V for Vendetta and he just finished up on Alice in Wonderland with Tim Burton.

Dermot often gets hired to create characters, creatures and costumes, but don't sleep on his environments—they're the sh*t as well. Take a look at the images on his site for Gotham City and those castles from The Chamber of Secrets.

We chatted with this Irish born artist from his home in the U.K. and he gave us an ear full. Power confesses to being a bit of a talker (he is). We confess to suffering from the same thing (we do). But what he had to say, especially as it pertained to concept art, was definitely worth hearing.

In the interview, he describes what it's like working in the film industry, dealing with producers and directors, and how to handle George Lucas himself deciding the fate of your ideas.

Also covered are his eight years as a comic book artist, how he once lost his portfolio on a city bus and what's up with that new blog anyways.

Mad fun and interesting stuff with Mr. Dermot Power. He's a talented guy who stays in demand and we can see why.

Oh, and do check out his brand new blog featuring the panel-a-day webcomic thingy he's been running (a hint: read it from the very bottom, up).

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Ep. 114: Spinning the Chamber with STUDIO REVOLVER

"Man...who are these guys?" Glad you asked that question, 'Nation. We'll tell ya.

Studio Revolver is a diverse collective of artists and creative types who share studio space here in Atlanta. We've known most of them, some in passing, some more personally, for forever. They're all good people, very talented and very focused on combining their individual strengths to make the whole stronger.

Other than talent, one of the things that makes Revolver unique is how many members there are. They're nine deep, folks—nine. That's a baseball team! They can kick the asses of any other studio you know just based on numbers (kidding—JOKES).

Seriously, we were destined to chat with them at some point, and now seemed like as good a time as any for us to do it. Plus, they just moved into their spacious new spot about a year ago.

The studio roll call is as follows: Casey Edwards (artist and graphic designer), John Tyler Christopher (artist and graphic designer), Tariq Hassan (artist and graphic designer), Tom Feister (artist and inker), Kevin Stokes (artist and inker), Jason Pearson (writer and artist), Georges Jeanty (artist and illustrator), Dexter Vines (artist and inker) and Bernard "Shay" Shepard (graphic designer and inker).

In the interview, they all kinda give a brief mention as to what they do and what they've done that you might know.

**Note to listeners: Studio Revolver didn't start out as a complete Sausage Party. We know there's been at least one female member (we met her). However, this industry tends to be full of dudes, so whatareyagonnado?

We caught up with the fellas late one Friday night at their lair, which is located right in the heart of downtown Atlanta. And yes, hilarity did ensue.

Dwight and I have to thank 'em for letting us bring our new fangled set-up into their space. It was a lotta fun and we had a great time as always. Thanks, guys!

**For this episode, how could we not play snippets of Revolver by Rage Against the Machine? I mean, c'mon?

In the pic above are just a few of the guys. Left to right, top to bottom: Kevin, Dexter, Jason, Casey, Tom and Georges.

Go here for their personal websites: John Tyler Christopher, Casey Edwards, Tom Feister, Tariq Hassan, Georges Jeanty, Kevin Stokes and Dexter Vines.

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Ep. 113: STERLING HUNDLEY - The Illustrator and The Fine Artist

Youth, it is often said, is wasted on the young. In the case of today's guest, I gotta disagree. He's only 33 years old and as an illustrator, educator and now, fine artist, he has the accomplishments behind him of a man twice his age. Impressive.

I'm thinking we first became acquainted with the name Sterling Hundley while trolling the Richard Solomon website. You know how it goes—you see something that strikes you and say—"Okay, that person's style is pretty cool."

His name came up again when we spoke to George Pratt on the show and that's when we really started our research (I make it sound much more studious than it was—really, it was just more trolling).

I'm absolutely digging Sterling's work these days and I'll tell you why. As I get older, I become more a fanboy of artists who can bridge the chasm between the natural and the abstract. Those that can weave the two approaches together seamlessly. I'm sure it's not an easy feat since so few do it well (to me) and this guy rocks at it.

As mentioned above, Hundley not only kills as an illustrator, has been published by everybody, has awards out the wazoo and just launched his first solo art exhibition, Emergent—but he shapes young minds, too.

He's a professor in the Department of Communication Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University and he's one of the core teachers involved with Illustration Academy. At the Academy, he works alongside folks like Mark English, Anita Kunz, Gary Kelley and Chris Payne. Not bad company, huh?

I won't call Sterling Hundley a wunderkind, but at the "crotchety" old age of 33, he's damn near done it all. Or has he?

Sterling's site and blog

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Ep. 112: Does ANDROID JONES Dream of Electric Sheep?

With much respect to Phillip K. Dick, do prepare your limbic system for the art assault of Andrew Jones—if ya can!

My stalwart companion, Dwight, attended a ConceptArt workshop back in 2005 and let's just say, he came back changed. For the better, of course. It was a totally immersive and communal experience for him, and one that really opened him up creatively.

Names like Coro Kaufman, Jon Foster, J.P. Targete and Andrew Jones got brought up a lot afterwards and I gotta admit—I kinda got changed, too.

I was brand new to concept art as a field (like many, I suppose). And even though the term itself wasn't as en vogue then as it is now, there was already a proliferation of young artists rockin' it hard.

Plus, ConceptArt.org sounded like the coolest place on the planet! Twelve million people a year visiting and sharing images with each other, in one on-line community? Who could hate that?

Okay, I'm digressing—back to Mr. Jones.

Andrew (or Android) is one of the co-founders of ConceptArt.org and its entertainment business other side, Massive Black. In the early days of his career, he worked for ILM, Black Isle Studios and Nintendo, before eventually stepping out with Jason Manley and Coro to do their own thing. The art world has never fully recovered, by the way.

As we've mentioned before on this site, this guy does it all and well. And consistently. Concept art, illustration, fashion design, body art, teaching at workshops, live digital performances—everything.

His 1000 Portraits Project from '02 was just a motherf*cker to behold. As you followed the changes in the images, you started to see extreme changes in the artist, too—literally (it was nuts).

On Saturday, November 7th, Andrew's very first gallery show, Liminal Rez, will jump off. Push Studio in San Francisco is the place, 7PM is the time and it'll probably be bedlam. Jonsey is really popular and well, really good.

We're honored to have had this young art warrior come on and hang out with us. We've been big fans for like, five years now, so it was a long time coming.

And the devil's in the details on this one, folks, so don't sheep. Umm, sleep...sorry.

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Ep. 111: A Sketchy Interview featuring Artist PETER DE SÈVE

Okay, this time we really tried to color inside the lines, so to speak. We got the opportunity to interview a lauded and respected illustrator, Peter de Sève, and wanted to play it sorta serious.

I mean, this guy has been doing it for over 25 years, right? He's painted covers for The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report—you know, the big ones.

He illustrated one of Mark Twain's short stories called A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage back in 2002—that's serious stuff.

Now granted, he did work on all three of the Ice Age movies, but that was as a character designer. He wasn't writing gags or jokes.

Anyways, about a minute into our conversation with him, Peter had us cracking up big time. So much so, we had to join in (any old excuse will do, I suppose).

All kidding aside, de Sève is a major talent and it was a lotta fun speaking with him. We caught up with him at his home studio in Brooklyn, NY and chatted about the new Spectrum Exhibit that just opened there, digital prints vs. original paintings, working in animation and his two new projects.

Peter just released his first ever hardcover artbook, a monograph called A Sketchy Past - The Art of Peter de Sève. We blogged about it recently and with good reason. It's filled to the brim with resplendence and chronicles his art and career beautifully.

He also has a children's book coming out that he illustrated called The Duchess of Whimsy, written by his wife Randall de Sève. Randall's written two other kid's books, but this is the first time she and Peter have worked together.

We had a blast, as always, and outside of his having some fun with us too, Peter is a brilliant artist. A thinking man's artist, we like to say. And we need more of his kind out there doing it—that's for sure.

**Psst! He also has a tutorial DVD coming out through our friends at Massive Black—imagine that, gang!

Peter's Blog (that's right, blog)

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Ep. 110: 'Bravo for ALEX TOTH' - Celebrating the Life and Art of a Comics Legend (Part II)

Thanks for coming back for Part II of our tribute to Alex Toth. Alex was a giant in the comics and animation fields and deserves all the accolades we can give him.

This second half features more audio from creators who either knew Alex personally or just loved his work from afar. They all speak honestly and straight from the heart, and it's really great stuff.

Also in the mix today is Toth's eldest son, Eric Toth. I contacted Eric through the TothFans.com site and he kindly agreed to join us and chat about his Dad.

Speaking of joining us, the official Roll Call for this one goes a little somethin' like this: Jim Amash, George Pratt, Michael Oeming, Toby Cypress, Steve Rude, Darwyn Cooke, Mark Chiarello and again, Alex's son Eric.

Our many, many thanks to all of these guys for participating in this tribute. It was a labor of love for us to work on and we had the best time! 

**We played lots and lots of terrific music between Parts I and II. Here are the performers and song titles in order of appearance: Bob Dylan's Things Have Changed (Alex's Theme), Glenn Miller's In the Mood, The Theme from Space Ghost, Colin Hay's I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You, Neil Young's Old Man, Dave Mason's We Just Disagree and Norah Jones' Peace.

All of these, with the exception of the Space Ghost theme, are available for purchase on-line through Amazon and other music sites.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 109: 'Bravo for ALEX TOTH' - Celebrating the Life and Art of a Comics Legend

Hey everybody, it's me, Swain.

I'm pretty sure my first exposure to Alex Toth was during his Warren days. My father was a butcher for 35 years and worked for a grocery store chain in Chicago called Del Farms. I remember sitting in the isles at Del, on the floor, thumbing through Creepy and Eerie—and loving them. Maybe later, I picked up some Silver Age DC stuff by Alex.

One that I clearly recall is that Flash/Atom story from Action Comics where Flash gets tied down like Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (...wow). After that, it was Hot Wheels, a 'war' story called Dirty Job and by the time I saw Death Flies the Haunted Sky, I was all in—my conversion was complete!

His animation work for TV shows like Johnny Quest, Space Ghost and Super Friends, I didn't pick up on until a little later. Bravo for Adventure, Torpedo 1936 and his collected Zorro stuff, I didn't read until way later.

In my teens, I bought The Black Hood published by Red Circle because of their distinctive covers and guess who did them? Alex Toth. He also wrote and drew a back-up story in those books featuring this noirish character called The Fox—and it was EXCELLENT!

Keep in mind, folks, at that point in the '80s, Alex must have been close to 60 years old. Still kicking ass like nobody's business! Quoting my friend, Mark Chiarello, Alex actually got better as he got older. He and Will Eisner both had some odd wiring in their DNAs that made them even more awesome as they aged (I know that's poor grammar, but it feels accurate). We should all hope for the same, by the way.

When I proposed doing this tribute to Toth, Dwight and I didn't have a clue what it would turn into. Almost nobody we approached said no. Right away, it went from let's chat with a few creators—to let's do a two-parter. Apparently, I wasn't the only rude little kid sitting on the floor in the market reading comics and such. Thank God.

The Roll Call for Part I of our celebration of the life and art of Alex Toth is as follows: Klaus Janson, John Paul Leon, John Hitchcock, Howard Chaykin, Tim Sale, Paul Pope and Rubén Procopio. All of these guys are either friends, fans or peers of Toth's—and in some cases, all three. Either way, they were great for agreeing to take part in this. We thank them.

Look for Part II of 'Bravo for Alex Toth' soon and we thank you all as well—for listening.

**Lots of people to acknowledge here, so grab a sandwich.

Mark Chiarello (O Captain), your greatness is only exceeded by your tiredness (ha)—many thanks, brother! TothFans.com for being such a great resource. Alex's son Eric for chatting with two art nerds he's never met before (Eric will be featured on Part II). Rubén Procopio for his candor, his help and his answering machine message—thank you, my talented friend. Paul Gravett of The Guardian (I shamelessly pillaged and personalized his brilliant Toth obit from June of 2006)—my apologies, but thank you, sir. Adrian Johnson for his enthusiasm and encouragement. And last, but most of all, my man Dwight, for supporting me on this 'vanity project'. Thanks, sibling!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 108: Dragon*Con Panel - "That's Illustration!" featuring MATT BUSCH, JASON PALMER and RANDY MARTINEZ

Three guys, one moderator and a room full of blood thirsty fans—here's the tale of the tape!

Matt Busch, the 'Rock Star of Illustration', has created licensed art for Star Wars, done design work for TV shows like Nash Bridges and NY Undercover, and directed films, too. He also hangs out with real live rock stars like Kid Rock and System of a Down. Okay, I'm jealous, how 'bout you?!

Jason Palmer is an illustrator of epic proportions (hey, he does illustrations for a lot of epics). He's known for his work on properties like Indiana Jones, Superman, Star Wars and Firefly. Jason also has his own line of sweet licensed merch that he sells through his website (see below).

Randy Martinez is another cool guy and a great artist. He too rocks the Lucasfilm characters, but also keeps busy doing other stuff for Topps Trading Cards, Scholastic and Playroom Entertainment. Randy is a musician and songwriter, in addition to being an illustrator, and he does storyboards and sketchcards as well.

Dwight sat down with these fellas at a Dragon*Con panel and got 'em to talk about everything: drawing, the business of art, their personal stories, the whole nine. A good time was had by all and we thank them immensely for their openness and candor.

Hope you enjoy!

mattbusch.com   

jasonplamer.net

randymartinez.net

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 107: Dragon*Con Panel - Home Town Heroes featuring MARK BROOKS

To be honest, Atlanta has such a thriving community of comic creators, the theme for this panel could go on forever. That said, it was cool to kick it off right with the talented Mr.Brooks.

Mark Brooks gets mad fanboy love based on his dynamic charcaters and lush rendering style, kids. His resume is plastered with big selling titles (Dark Reign: Young Avengers, New X-men, Cable & Deadpool, Ultimate Spider-man). He's a comic artist and illustrator, but he also pokes his iron in a few other fires like sketchcards and the vinyl toy scene.

And just in time for EssDick (that's how you pronounce the acronym for San Diego Comic-Con), he and Brandstudio Press released a 48-page artbook of his stuff called Devilish. I think he and Alberto both had it available at the Con.

Mark is indeed a home town guy. He lives right here in Atlanta with his wife and son, and reps 'The A' very well. It was fun hearing him share some of his story.

Joining Brooks on the panel was another local creator, his friend, writer Paul Jenkins (Civil War: Front Line, Sentry, Mythos, Sidekick). He sat in with Mark and Dwight, and basically ended up interviewing Mark by himself. Good lookin' out, Paul.

Oh, and another thing. A raffle was held after the festivities ended by toy company, Sideshow Collectibles. The prize—a comiquette of Dagger from Cloak & Dagger that Mark himself designed exclusively for Sideshow. The winner—SOME DUDE WHO'S LAST NAME HAPPENED TO BE BROOKS.

**sniff, sniff** We smell a fix!

Anyways, big thanks to Mark, Paul, the panel attendees and Dragon*Con for the great time we had on this one.

Now, who should be next year's home town hero? Hmmm...

Mark's DeviantArt Page

**Picture by PosiTori.

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Ep. 106: Surrogates Creator ROBERT VENDITTI Comes to SiDEBAR

Once again, my man Dwight brings something cool to the show. Nothing new, right?

About six months back, he stumbled across a soon-to-be-released movie called Surrogates and got intrigued. It was an action-thriller set in the future that dealt with robots and murder, so it was an easy sell (we're both big sci-fi heads).

After snooping a bit, he found out the film was based on a limited series comic that Top Shelf had put out in 2006. He also found out the writer of the series, Robert Venditti, was living right here in Atlanta.

Dwight shot me a link to the trailer—I kinda dug it. We both scooped up the trade, LOVED IT, and that began the hunt for Robert.

After some bush beating and a helping hand (thanks, Barron), we eventually found him and carved out a date to chat.

Our interview with Rob covers how he broke into the business working in the mailroom at Top Shelf, writing the comic and linking up with artist Brett Weldele and the wily beast that is Hollywood.

We also discuss how the idea for the story developed, the new sequel Flesh & Bone and some upcoming projects he's got simmering on the stove.

As to the film, Surrogates opens nationwide on Friday, September 25th. It stars Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames and Rosamund Pike with direction by Jonathan Mostow.

We wish Venditti, the movie and everyone involved the best with this project. The Surrogates explores some pretty provocative ideas way beyond the science fiction elements on the surface. We can't wait to see what they do with 'em on the big screen.

Rob's blog

**For this episode, we went classic. We played a snippet of Styx's Mr. Roboto!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 105: The Art Nerds Catch Up with J.H. WILLIAMS III

I'm gonna refrain from referring to Jim "J.H." Williams III as J3reezy, although I did call him that once while talking to Dwight (oops). The man's artwork transcends such nonsense. Look at the design, look at the layout—look at the red! Lots of it!

But done for a reason, true believers. That's kind of Jim's thing—he's always trying to push the graphic nature in the art, while staying true to the story. Moving the narrative along, as he puts it.

We wanted to chat with him about more than just Detective Comics and Promethea, but alas, it didn't happen. Oh well, best laid plans of mice and men. Tons of process in there though and plenty on the new Absolute Promethea coming out this October.

Plus, Williams pulled back the curtain for us. Apparently, he's just as hard on himself as every other creator is (go figger).

All in all, we got some sweet audio for you to check out. Jim gave us a bunch of his time and we 'preciate it totally. We're fans now more than ever.

Hope you dig it!

The J3 site

**On this episode, we clear up a rumor about Jim that's been going around for a while now. Always happy to embarrass ourselves in the name of truth (ha)!

We also played a snippet of Elvis Costello & The Attractions' Watching the Detective.

Click here to download the show.

   

Ep. 104: 'Walk Your Path' - The Wisdom in the Words of Artist RUDY GUTIERREZ

“If art is therapy,
if art is to inspire,
if art is a weapon,
if it is medicine used to heal soul wounds,
or if it makes one not feel alone in his or her visions,
or if it serves as transportation to a higher self,
then that is where I aspire to live everyday.”

You can't deny that some people just seem to be destined to do what it is they do. Call it providence, call it serendipity—what have you. Rudy, with all of his training and self-determination, is very much one of those people.

I (Dwight) have been a fan of his work for a long time, having been made aware of his skills as a Illustrator by a mutual friend, Jim Hamilton. Jim and I worked together years ago and he would talk about his days as an Art Director in NYC working with his talented friend, Rudy Gutierrez. So much so, it seems completely fortuitous that I finally got to meet him through this podcast!

Rudy's career and body of work commands much respect. Book covers, album covers, CD art, illustrations for periodicals and children's books. His paintings have appeared in galleries and shows, nationally and abroad. He's done 'performance art' in front of live audiences, Art on a Grand Scale and received awards from The Society of Illustrators. He's spent time as a teacher at schools like Parsons and his own Alma Mater, Pratt.

As a matter of fact, in his own brand of fortuitousness (is that a word?), he was commissioned to paint the cover to Santana's platinum selling Shaman CD, back in 2002. While the disc is only seven years old, the path to Rudy getting the opportunity to collaborate with one of his musical idols, started in his childhood (listen to the interview, you'll love the story).

The Shaman image ended up being featured not only on the CD, but later, several stories high on a billboard in Times Square. It was also displayed on a huge backdrop behind Carlos Santana himself during his performance at the '02 Super Bowl. It's one of Rudy's most noted contributions, as a painter, to the pop culture landscape.

We had the best time chatting with this man about life, love, spirit and art.

In the interview, he talks about his early days growing up in The Bronx, his first experience with art on a sidewalk scale (snicker...sorry) and working on staff in a commercial art studio before going freelance.

He also discusses the backstory behind him getting the Santana gig, his relationship with his agent, Richard Solomon and why he stays true to himself...always.

**For this episode, we played snippets of Santana's Black Magic Woman and Sideways ft. Citizen Cope, plus John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. I know, right? We have excellent taste!

Also, go here and here to buy two children's books recently illustrated by Rudy and click here to see a gallery of his amazing paintings.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 103: 'Devil's End' - Daredevil Artist MICHAEL LARK Talks Past, Present and Future

You gotta give Michael Lark and Ed Brubaker credit where credit is due. They picked up their run on Dardevil right after Bendis and Maleev, and have done a stellar job over the last three years. Most creative teams don't stay on a book longer than six issues these days, let alone years. Kudos to these two gents and the Editors at Marvel for consistency and excellence. Daredevil's been in very capable hands...

Me (Swain), being the art hound that I am, I was aware of Michael long before he started appearing in the pages of DD (this is one of few times I can make that claim, so I'll revel in it). The guy has done some really great work, folks:

Scene of a Crime through Vertigo, his first effort with Brubaker.

A wonderful 'Elseworld' story called Batman Nine Lives written by Dean Motter.

The intense cop drama, Gotham Central—this one had Brubaker and Greg Rucka teaming up on the writing.

The Pulse over at Marvel with Brian Michael Bendis.

And let us not forget his awesome flashback sequences in Captain America (once again, with Ed).

As a penciler, this dude has impeccable storytelling chops and he creates some of the most accurate settings in comics. Go back and take a look at how authentic his WWII pages were in Cap. Or the grittiness of his Hell's Kitchen in Daredevil. It's all dead on!

With his run on DD sadly coming to an end, the interview covers what his plans are for the future, cool past projects, tools of the trade and more.

I've wanted to get Lark on SiDEBAR for a long time now, so this was very cool for me. Hope you dig!

**Picture by EnjoyTab!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 102: The Kids Gotta Have It - CHRIS BRUNNER & RICO RENZI of The Kickstand Kids

SiDEBAR has gotten to know both of these guys pretty well over the last year or so. Rico, the colorist half of the duo, wrote us a complimentary note about the podcast and he and I (Swain) have been emailing each other ever since. We finally met in person and became buds at the 2008 Heroes Con.

Chris, we later found out, is a SCAD grad and the penciler/inker of the two. The images start with him, for the most part, and Rico's the guy who comes in and swoosh—puts the icing on the cake (or hangs the fuzzy dice on the mirror of Brunner's tricked out whip, as he puts it).

If you aren't familiar with these fellas already, consider this an introduction. One you'll appreciate.

Renzi is the regular color guy on The Perhapanauts, a book by Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau, pubbed by Image. He also put it down on Killing Girl with Toby Cypress and did some hot stuff over Nathan Fox recently for WIRED magazine.

Chris drew a killerrr run on Legends of The Dark Knight that I'll swear by, right here. He also penciled an incredible short story in a one-shot issue of The Ride series called Language Barrier. If you haven't read it, go get it now.

Seriously, I'm not kidding—now! It's that good!

Ron Marz wrote it, Rico did the 'zip effects'—and it's the sh*t! So much so, that the Kids feel like they have to outdo it with their upcoming creator-owned project, Loose Ends.

Loose Ends is a crime fiction tale penned by their friend, writer and artist Jason Latour, and it takes place in none other than the Dirty South. From what I can tell, it's full of Southern slang, guns, drugs, Daisy dukes and red clay (and maybe a mullet or two).

I have an ashcan demo of the book I got from them and it looks really sweet. Ends will be out from 12 Gauge Comics some time next year.

We stole Chris and Rico away from their tables at this year's Heroes Con and chopped it up in one of the convention center rooms. It was a lotta fun, not to mention, way over due. They both have been really supportive of the show and we've been fans of their's from the gate.

Look for Loose Ends when it hits, grab anything else you can find by the 'Kids' and thank us later. We promise you will.

Their blog

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 101: GREG MANCHESS - Journey Man

 

We never know what our conversations on this show are gonna turn out like. Some people are talkative, some not so much. The one thing we seem to be getting here lately though is genuine—and we love it. Greg Manchess was as genuine as they come, folks.

If you're a fan of illustration, you already know his name and what his career consists of. Tons upon tons of high profile clients, book covers, posters, magazine illustrations, concept work for film, children's books, awards and a U.S. postage stamp.

He's been everywhere and done everything, yet when we talked to him, he was resolute that he's still learning. Still on his journey.

Hard work was also his mantra in the interview. Manchess isn't a big believer in gifts and 'God-given' talent. Put some blood, sweat and tears into it and then he says, you'll have something.

In the exchange, we found out a couple things about him that we didn't know.

One, he's essentially a ninja (our words, not his—and we're not kidding).

And two, he says he's just now starting to create the kind of work he always wanted to—after 30 years of doing it. That's astounding!

Dwight and I walked away from this one much fuller and richer than we were when we sat down. Greg was warm, honest and open—and kinda Zen at times, too (his words, not ours). In preparation for the interview, Dwight picked up on the Zen part and he was dead on—Greg doth wax poetic.

We had an amazing time with the man and thank him much for coming on with us. He's originally from Kentucky and listening to him talk was like enjoying some Kentucky Bourbon on a warm, summer night.

Hmm, maybe next time...

Greg's Site

**Big thanks to ConceptArt.org and Greg's agent, Richard Solomon. They, along with artist Bryan Beus, have been putting us together with some truly awesome talent. We appreciate it, guys.

Picture provided by Irene Gallo.

At the VERY end of this episode, we played a snippet of Norah Jones' Painter Song. We too think 'painting your reverie' is a worthy pursuit.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 100: GEORGE PRATT and the Mississippi Blues

'See You in Hell, George Pratt' was our other choice for a title, but we thought better of it!

This is Part II with the man and we start it off with some process stuff for Wolverine Netsuke and Batman Harvest Breed, then move right into his work with Illustration Academy at Ringling.

We were told by our friend, Francis Vallejo, to ask George about some of the practical jokes he's pulled at IA in the past—and we did (oh boy).

The end of this episode, however, is no joke. Pratt takes us on a wild ride with him through the Mississippi Delta as he regales us with stories from his documentary and book about the Blues. 'See You in Hell, Blind Boy - A Tale of the Blues' is not just an award-winning film. It started out as a book he was working on and folks...it's the real deal.

Hearing him describe his journey to find out about great Blues men like Jack Owens and Mississippi John Hurt will blow your mind. It really is a testament to how wonderful a storyteller he is. If Dwight and I sound a little shell-shocked at the end, it's 'cause we were. We had no idea that, we too, were going on a journey.

Our thanks to George for hanging out with us so long. D and I asked a lot of questions and he was very giving of his time. He was a real sweetheart.

**For this episode, we played snippets of the following songs: Robert Johnson's Crossroad Blues and Jack Owens' Good Morning Little School Girl.

Oh, and happy 100th episode to us!

George's Site

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 99: I Remember GEORGE PRATT

Hey all, Swain here. I met George Pratt many moon ago at a Dragon Con here in Atlanta. Probably '94 or '95.

I was a huge fan of the guy and he was in attendance at the show with several other awesome painters. It was him, Jeff Jones, Mike Kaluta, Kent Williams and I think, Jon J. Muth (I know, I know).

George was doing these cool b&w commissions with this marker pen back in those days (lots of Batman, as I recall). After he'd finish the basic idea, he would dab his finger on his tongue and smear the drawing in places to get that terrific effect he gets. It was all that!

I walked up to his table, babbled on for a minute or two about Impressionism and Expressionism (they're the same thing, right?), and he just politely smiled and listened. He was very kind to me.

(Oh, and it's not like it would go any better if I saw him at a convention today—I'm just 13 years older.)

As a younger man, seeing George's brilliant work on Enemy Ace: War Idyll and Wolverine Netsuke, made me wanna pick up a brush and paint . And I did. I never got very good at it, mind you, but he inspired me.

And I guess he's still inspiring others today. He's been teaching art, off and on, for the last 15 years at schools like The Pratt Institute (where he studied), The Kubert School, The School of Visual Arts, and now at Ringling in Sarasota (lucky kids those Floridians).

To have him come on SiDEBAR with Dwight and I is pretty special stuff. His art has always spoken to me beyond just my interest in comics. It provokes me. It illuminates me. It makes me think. That, to me, is art's purpose.

To be honest, his killer covers for Marvel Comics Presents and Detective Comics from years ago—all made me wanna find out more about fine art. From his work, I probably bumped into Gustav Klimt and Munch. Go figger.

This is only Part I with George, but it's full of goodness. The man is a storyteller. He tells us about his background growing up in Texas, about meeting and hanging out with one of his idols, Mike Kaluta, working on his first big graphic novel, Enemy Ace, and a bunch of other cool stuff.

He's a friend of a friend (thank you, Francis), and I have to say it brought me full circle to babble on with him again for this here podcast. I guess not much has changed in 13 years, huh?

George's Site

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 98: Shootin' the Sh*t with Atomika Creator SAL ABBINANTI

Just a couple a guys sittin' around talkin' about whatever—comics, Cons, people, porn, Tijuana...

We're kidding, we'll be serious now.

We had never heard of Sal Abbinanti before checking out one of his appearances on Comic Geek Speak a few years ago. We laughed our asses off thinking, who is this guy..?! Later we found out about Atomika, Mercury Comics, Buzz and everything else.

He told us in our talk with him that the first time he went on CGS, he didn't like how pretentious he sounded, so he came back and kept it real. You know, like guys do.

Well, it worked and the rest is podcast history. Sal's sense of humor is infamous! If you have sensitive ears, trust, this ain't the one for you.

All that aside, we do think he's a decent guy, and Atomika is a comic worthy of your attention. The concept is extremely interesting, the hero's design is iconic beyond words, and Sal gets the best of the best in this business to do covers for him. For this blog entry, we've featured the most recent ones by Travis Charest, Darwyn Cooke and Glenn Fabry!

Since indie creators do have to promote, promote, promote, we caught up with Abbinanti on the 'AtomikaisinPreviewsagainsoletsgetthewordout' Tour. He's been humpin'-to-please trying to let everybody know what and where the book is, and we ain't mad at him. We wish him well.

Not much serious talk inside, folks, but hey, it is what it is. Sal kept us in literal stitches, as he has many times before on CGS, so it's all good!

Atomika at Mercury Comics

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 97: JOSH MIDDLETON Shows Us the Sky Between Branches

Doing it all is a rare trait in American comics. Doing it all and doing it well is even rarer. And that's exactly how illustrator Josh Middleton has made a name for himself.

He started his career as a young artist back in the late '90s at CrossGen, the Tampa-based comic book publisher. He and a bunch of creators signed on for what looked like a bold new direction in the making of comics—and it was.

After relocating to Florida from Pennysylvania, Josh worked on their title Meridian and fans ate it up. But it wasn't long before things went South (pun intended), and he and others decided to part ways with the maverick company.

Post CrossGen, Josh pubbed a creator-owned project called Sky Between Branches with a European company, Com.X. The preview issue of the book got the attention of Joe Quesada at Marvel, and he asked Middleton to collaborate with him on a little something called NYX.

That series was, of course, a huge hit and from there Josh worked on Superman/Shazam First Thunder over at DC among other things. He's also done a ton of covers over the last few years for titles like New Mutants, American Virgin, Vixen and Supergirl.

As implied earlier, this guy is somewhat of a white tiger. He's one of few comic artists living here in the States who handles all the art chores himself. Every bit. You tend to see more of that sort of thing in places like Europe, so it makes him a rare breed on this soil.

In the interview, we cover some background, the 'dark days in Tampa' (HIGH-larious), many of the projects mentioned above, and just why he decided to take the reins and do it all himself.

Plus, Josh gives us the inside scoop on his recent book cover illustrations for Tor and Scholastic, and tells some funny stories about his recent experiences in Hollywood.

Middleton's Site

**Picture provided by Midus Unknown.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 96: BRAD HOLLAND on BRAD HOLLAND (and other things, too)

Once again, we here at SiDEBAR must confess to being late to the party. We really just became acquainted with Brad Holland's work in the last three years or so. Well...actually for me (Swain), that's not accurate.

You see, my father had a rather sizable Playboy collection and I used to sneak them out to ogle all the interesting artwork (never cared much for the articles). Anyway...

Brad's been a 'creator of images' (that's a nice safe title) for almost four decades now and he's still going strong. In our opinion, his career and contributions to the art community are marked in several ways.

One, by his work for the earlier referenced Playboy Magazine. A gig he got when he was in his 20's and his big break, some would say.

Two, his terrific pieces published on the Op-Ed page of the NY Times in the mid '70s. The page's editor was the late Harrison Salisbury, a noted author himself and Pulitzer Prize winner.

And three, by his tireless efforts in the area of preserving creative copyrights for intellectual properties. Brad's one of the founding members of the Illustrators Partnership of America, and he's been a vocal opponent of things like the Orphan Works Bill from day one. 

Prolific is a word often given to describe Holland's output of art over the years, but it's horribly understating. A rough tally of his body of illustrations falls somewhere in the, ohh...7000 range! That's a good 'guestimate' from the man himself and a staggering one, to say the least.

Our talk with him ended up being everything we strive for in a podcast—interesting, funny, informative, honest and insightful. If you hear Dwight and I being curiously silent during the conversation (it doesn't happen often, so cherish it), it's because we were listening.

And absorbing. And digesting.

You see, Brad's an extremely well read guy and we didn't wanna pretend we could hang. We decided to adopt a boxer's philosophy—we stayed on our toes, but stayed out of the way!

After all, it's not often that these two art nerds get to hear a fella like Brad Holland tell his story. We didn't wanna miss a thing.

His Site

Gallery I     Gallery II

**Our thanks to Brad for making some time to chat with us—it was surreal (he'll get that).

Also, many thanks to Jason Manley at ConceptArt.org, Richard Solomon and Bryan Beus for their help in facilitating Brad's appearance on the show. It was invaluable.

Picture provided by Jonathan Twingley.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 95: TOMM COKER'S Noir

Tomm is an awesome artist I discovered last year on a fill-in issue of Moon Knight. I dug his work, did some googling and found out he's been doing his thing off and on since the early '90s. Well, kill the off 'cause it's definitely on now. His art on Marvel's new Daredevil Noir mini-series will turn some heads—and with good reason.

Knowing a little about the guy's backstory makes his work all the more interesting. Tomm got into comics at the tender age of 17, worked for several major publishers, made great money, lost his way, then left the business to find it.

Along his journey, he did storyboards for commercials, animated TV shows, movies like The Mummy and The Watcher, and music videos like Aaron Carter's 'How I Beat Shaq' (sadly, we forgot to ask him about that one).

After some years away, he was lured back to his first love in 2003 by Vertigo, to work on a vampire mini-series called Blood & Water. Blood introduced comic fans to a brand new Coker. Tomm's drawing had matured and become much stronger. He was spotting blacks like crazy and his images were grittier and more realistically rendered.

He followed that series up with things like The Monolith for DC, an issue of The Ride for 12-Gauge (sweet), and covers for Exiles and Agents of Atlas over at Marvel. It was all good!

And you can put his current project, Daredevil Noir, up there as well. Written by Alexander Irvine, Noir is a DD story told 'Elseworld' style with a serious crime fiction overtone. Issue #1 is out now and I'm feelin' it big time. Go pick it up!

Now, the other thing about Tomm that I haven't mentioned is, he's a movie director. He made a feature film back in 2007 called Catacombs with his friend, screenwriter David Elliot. It stars the lovely Shannyn Sossamon and pop singer Pink, and it's a horror picture of sorts, set under the streets of Paris.

Tomm rocked it for his directorial debut and while the movie's completion had its hurdles, it's definitely worth checking out (look for the director's cut).

We cover all of the above and more in our very candid talk with this Renaissance Man. Plus, he shares lots of cool stories about comics, art, filmmaking and just...life in general. Hope you enjoy!

**A special shout of thanks to David Elliott for his unplanned appearance on this episode.

Click here to download the show.

   

Ep. 94: 'Keep Saying AH!' - More with Us and ADAM HUGHES

This is Part II of our interview with Adam and he's still crackin' us up! We were rolling! But in between the laughs, he still dropped lots of gold nuggets as far as art and illustration go.

For those who're unfamiliar with his work (all two of you), this is an excellent opportunity to hear from an artist's artist. A guy who's admirers include, not only comic fans and art collectors, but his peers as well.

We start this second half off discussing his killer line of comicquettes for Sideshow Collectibles, then ease into some Star Wars talk. Adam is a huge fan of the franchise and so is Dwight. I must confess to being slightly anemic on the subject, so I kept my mouth shut!

Anyway, those two mix it up like Luke and Vadar in Empire, only no one loses an arm (ha!).

After that, we get into topics like commissions and eBay flipping, Hughes' recent work for Playboy Magazine, and of course, the infamous 'All-Star' question.

Adam was the best and we thank him much for hanging out with us. He, like many of our other guests, was awesome to put up with me and Dwight's shenanigans!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 93: 'Just Say AH!' - SiDEBAR Interviews ADAM HUGHES

There are guys who can draw and then there are guys who can DRAW. And after those guys, there are these other guys who can DRAW women—damn well, I might add! That's Adam Hughes.

Adam falls in a long line of illustrators who create exceptionally beautiful images of the fairer sex—Gil Elvgren, George Petty, Vargas, Dave Stevens. And we put him right up there with all those folks! The grace and expression he's able to capture in the female form is masterful. Not many artists see it...the way he sees it.

Dwight and I have known Adam in passing pretty much since he moved to Atlanta from New Jersey. He was one of the early members of a local art collective, Gaijin Studios and I believe, that's where I first met him.

I was visiting Gaijin (The Honeycomb Hideout) with a buddy back in 1994 and wandered into his space as if invited in.

"Hey, who's that?"

"Umm, Power Girl."

"Wow, you draw pretty good, man!"

"Umm...thanks."

**curious look on his face**

Later, after my 'genius' moment, I went out and bought his runs on Maze Agency, JLA, Legionaires and a pant load of covers (sorry about the visual).

Dwight says his conversion took place upon seeing Hughes' short, but sweet stint on Dark Horse's Ghost series.

About ten years ago, Adam stopped doing sequentials and became a cover artist exclusively. This wasn't by choice. Many of his clients began to only comission him for cover work. We, like the rest of his fans, started feenin' for more gorgeous interiors, but happily made due with his many Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Tomb Raider pieces.

Now, one of the things that makes today's interview so special is, it's Part I of a II-Parter. We had a long, fruitful conversation with the man and lots of cool stuff came out of it, so we decided to break it in half.

The other thing is—he had us in stitches! Adam has a serious wit and he's quick with it, too! I'm sure many of his fans don't get to see that side of him, so brace yourselves. We had a blast hanging out with the guy and we hope you enjoy listening in!

Just Say AH!

**Many thanks to Ms. Allison Sohn for her help in facilitating Adam's appearance on SiDEBAR. It was invaluable.

And for this episode, we played snippets of The Tubes' She's a Beauty. Hey, the three of us are '80s kids—what did you expect?!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 92: 'The Graduate' - FRANCIS VALLEJO Makes His Debut

We've been fortunate to have a few firsts on SiDEBAR and today's episode is no exception. Francis Vallejo is still technically a student at Ringling, but shows such incredible promise, we invited him on for a chat.

He's a painter with a penchant for oils and he sights some pretty heavy weight influences: Norman Rockwell, Ilya Repin, Nicolai Fechin, Dean Cornwell, James Jean. We can't argue with his taste—at all!

Francis came to our attention like so many others do. People started singing his praises and his name began popping up everywhere. We visited his site and after snooping a bit, we too, joined the chorus! This young man has skill and vision beyond his years.

In our talk with him, he discusses his old stomping grounds in Detroit, his intense love of art and Hip Hop, a superstar teacher and mentor of his, George Pratt, and recent projects he's contributed to like Totoro and Microvisions.

Graduation is in May, but before he jumps right into the professional ranks, looks like Vallejo will be studying abroad for a while—in Saint-Petersburg, Russia at the Repin Academy (wow, do your thing, sir)!

We wish Francis the absolute best over in Saint-Pete and in all of his future endeavors. He's a cool kid who's star is certainly on the rise.

**For this episode, we played snippets of the following songs: Lupe Fiasco's Superstar, Dead Prez' Hip Hop, Eminem's Stan, Kanye West's Through the Wire, Beanie Siegel's Rock the Mic and Ch-Check It Out by The Beastie Boys.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 91: DUSTIN NGUYEN is Watching the Detective

Some days podcasting is so much fun, we'd almost do it for free.

(Hold up...we ARE doing it for free!) **stops to call his agent**

Well, I'm sure if food and shelter weren't such a looming factor, DC might be able to get Dustin Nguyen to draw Batman for free. Might! The guy has such a thing for that character and we ain't mad at him—he draws the hell out of some Batman!

He's been the regular artist on Detective Comics for a year now, alongside his faithful collaborators, writer Paul Dini and inker Derek Fridolfs. Those three have been putting it down on that book from day one and I for one, dig it!

I was a Dini fan from his awesome work in animation with Bruce Timm. And Derek and Dustin have been an art team going back to their early Jet days at Wildstorm.

A quick moment to gush, if I may. Nguyen's covers for Detective, especially the super-gorgeous watercolor ones he's been doing lately, are like whoa! We have a saying here down South that I must apply—"Dude put his foot in those damn covers!" Don't worry, it's a compliment.

In our chat with him, we discuss his beginnings in Georgia, before planting roots in California, the industrial design work he did prior to getting into comics, some fun times at Wildstorm Studios, and a few titles he's worked on like Wildcats 3.0 and Manifest Eternity.

Also covered is his new Batman series—Streets of Gotham, friends and mentors like Eric Canete, Sean Murphy and Jim Lee, and a couple of personal projects he's got cookin', too.

Never a dull moment hangin' with Mr. Dustin Nguyen. He's got energy for days and I for one, am jealous!

**And post-interview congrats to Dustin for Batman: Heart of Hush hitting #2 on the NY Times Best Sellers List for graphic novels.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 90: 'The Man Behind the Iron Mask' - An Interview with the One and Only BOB LAYTON

This one's sorta NSFW, kids, so don't play yourself at the Joe Job.

We talked to Bob about coming on the show when we ran into him at the NYCC and had no idea how uncensored it would get. Not that he's all about the filthy language or anything (notice I said all). But colorful adjectives aside, he was very candid and very, very open about his life and career. The guy laid it out there.

Backing things up a bit, our connection to the man, of course, goes back to his stellar runs on Iron Man in the '80s with writer David Michelinie. I read those books as a 17 year old kid and loved 'em! Iron Man had everything I wanted in a comic—over the top fight scenes, cool characters, fun stories, drama! It was just the best!

Later on, I ended up checking out his Hercules mini-series and a few of the titles he worked on over at Valiant Comics. And I must admit to being a little less familiar with the Valiant stuff, as my fascination with girls at the time began to emerge (boo-yow).

After Stan Lee, Layton's name is probably the next one that comes up if you're talking about Iron Man. He and David's contributions to the character are indelible, and their "Demon in a Bottle" storyline truly broke new ground during the Bronze Age.

We get into all that in the interview with him and thankfully, a few more goodies too! Like his early days in Indianapolis, being an apprentice to the late Wally Wood, how he and Michelinie got the job working on Iron Man, and his persona back then as a flashy dresser (dude, looked like a straight pimp!).

He also shares a few fond memories from his Valiant days, describes his departure and return to comics, and tells us about all the stuff he's got comin' up.

This one was a hoot and indeed uncensored, but in Bob's own words, "I've always tried desperately to keep one foot in the real world."

We agree—that's the way to do it!

Bob's Site

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Ep. 89: Makin' Moves with TOMMY LEE EDWARDS

An artist friend of ours once referred to Tommy Lee as 'Boss Player' and we have to agree. Even though the guy is way laid back and approachable, you can just tell he's got some cool stuff goin' on behind the scenes. And he does—trust! But more on that later...

I first got hip to Tommy back when he and Rick Veitch did that Question series for DC in 2005. His lines had all this crazy energy and charisma to 'em. I remember looking at those bold ass gestures and thinking, "Man, this guy has no fear!" Plus, he colored the book too, which also stood out to me.

We ended up meeting him and the rest of The BLVD Studio at a Heroes Con in Charlotte the next year. All super nice guys, by the way, and all major talents in their own rights.

After The Question, Edwards worked on Bullet Points, What If, covers for Daredevil, and 1985 with writer Mark Millar. All over at Marvel. As a matter of fact, most of his mainstream comic book work since '05 has been for Marvel. Hmm...

Beyond comics, his name is also a staple in the movie world. He's contributed to the style guides for a couple of films you may have heard of: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Men in Black II, Batman Begins and Superman Returns.

Not to mention, he's doing concept art for a Hughes Brothers picture that's in production right now. Here's a teaser for you—there's an Oscar-winner in the lead role who's a huge star. Now, that's what we call makin' moves!

We cover that project, his craft, Star Wars, conventions and comic shops, and everything else we could in the time we had with TLE. Hope you enjoy this special extended episode and we'll see ya next time!

TLE's Site

**For this one, we played snippets of the following: Will Smith's "Men In Black", Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California", Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It", "Duel of Fates" from Star Wars and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild".

Photo taken by Albert Hughes.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 88: 'Back to the Drawing Board' - A Conversation with THE BLVD's JOHN PAUL LEON

My first real connection with John Paul's art was at a Heroes Con back in 2006, I think. I had, of course, seen his epic work on Marvel's Earth X series, but up until then, was more a casual fan. That weekend, we met all the guys from The BLVD Studio and Dwight picked up their three sketchbooks (all of which are great, by the way).

Later that night, we attended the Art Auction which is always one of the high points of the convention. I'm standing in front of the original art display, floored by this one killer Wolverine piece, and I can tell this guy next to me is feelin' the same way (it was the hotness).

We go back and forth for a minute, then I look up and realize---the guy is Tony Harris! The artist from Ex-Machina! Tony is pretty amazing himself and apparently, a big Leon fan (later that year, JP ended up doing an Ex-Mach Halloween Special). You just never know...

The man's vitals are these: he was born in NYC, but makes his home in Miami. He started working professionally at the age of 16 doing stuff for TSR's Dungeons magazine. He graduated from SVA with a bachelors degree in fine art. He's a member of The BLVD Studio with four other exceptional artists---Sean Chen, Bernard Chang, Trevor Goring and Tommy Lee Edwards. He created licensing artwork for the mega-hit film Batman Begins and also contributed to the Superman Returns style guide.

And he rocks it on all of the following comic titles: Tom Strong, Wintermen, Midnighter, Scalped, both Ex-Machina Specials and those DMZ covers.

I've been a staunch JP fan ever since that time in Charlotte (isn't it obvious?). In my almost never humble opinion, you'd be hard pressed to find a bolder, more dramatic storyteller working in comics today. Leon's approach is near-cinematic, to quote a friend of mine, and I can't front---I'm lovin' every frame of it.

Oh, and he's famous on YouTube, too!

    

JP's Site

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 87: Introducing JOAO RUAS

We're stoked that we finally got to speak to Joao (pronounced "Joo-whoa"). He's been on our radar as someone to check for for a good minute. I know I've been visiting his site for at least eight months---long before the Fables announcement was made.

To be perfectly honest, when we talked to Jon Foster way back when, I remember Dwight and me asking him about Ruas. We were thumbing through Spectrum 14, right before Jon's interview, and got curious if he knew Joao. Jon said he didn't, but agreed that the man's work was impressive. More SiDEBAR serendipity (whoopee!).

And not to glaze over an important fact---yes, he is the new Fables cover artist. Yes, he's awesome. And yes, YES, we got the inside scoop on the road he traveled to get to this point.

We titled this one "introducing" for a reason. Even though Joao's done a few interviews in the last year, we feel especially proud to be his first podcast. We think an art literate show, such as ours, is the best place for fans to hear this hot new artist in his own words.

As to this blog entry---sorry folks, but we're not gonna reveal one single thing about him here. WE WANT YOU TO LISTEN IN! C'mon, now...

What we will give up is that he lives in Brazil, he's 28 years old, he's an excellent choice for the Vertigo gig---and that's all!

Oh yeah, and his English is about ten times better than our Portuguese. That part, I'm sure, is no surprise (ha).

Adeus!

**Two things: We wanna thank Pamela Mullin at DC Publicity for hooking us up with Joao---she really looked out!

Also, for this episode, we played "Hush" by Jellyfish and "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Jay-Z.

Joao's Site

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Ep. 86: Shining the Spotlight on Artist RYAN SOOK

It's always fun when you get to holler at a personal fav. A creator who, whether they're on a huge mainstream title or a smaller, lesser known one, you'd still buy their stuff anyway. 'Cause they're just that damn good!

Well, if you haven't had the pleasure, let me introduce you to one of my favs—Mr. Ryan Sook!

Ryan is an artist who's name comes up on all his peer's Top 5 lists. And they all say the same things about him. "He's a superb draftsman", "A beautiful renderer", "Ryan Sook has talent for sheezy". Okay, I added that last one, but I swear the others are quote, unquote!

I've been on Sook's trail ever since I discovered his Seven Soldiers: Zatanna run with Grant Morrison. From there, I hunted down X-Factor, The Spectre and Hawkman, plus his covers for Friday the 13th, Birds of Prey and Countdown.

While his most recent job is a short story in Final Crisis: Resist, most of Ryan's time is spent working in DC's Licensing Branch. He helps create the images that end up on a lot of their games and merch. As a matter of fact, he told us that over the last year of doing license work, he's had the good fortunate to ink the great Jose Luiz Garcia-Lopez—another DC licensing vet! How cool is that?!

In the interview, we get into how his career began, his past on titles like Zatanna and X-Factor, his approach to creating comic covers, and dealing with "moving deadlines".

We also chat him up about his Dad who's a graphic designer, his friendship with Mike Mignola and DC Art Director Mark Chiarello, and his brand new sketchbook Preliminati.

Ryan's Site

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Ep. 85: NYCC Panel - The Do's and Dont's of Being a Comics Professional

We'll try and keep this one short and sweet. This is our panel audio from the New York Comic Con last month and it was all about being a pro. Lots of great back and forth from the audience, much knowledge was imparted, and of course, a few laughs were had.

Our featured panelists were Paolo Rivera and Eric Canete, and you know both these dudes from Marvel's Mythos, Spiderman, The End League and Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin—so don't front! They were awesome to sit in and help D and I out, and we thank them profusely.

Speaking of profuse thanks, we need to direct some of that to a few other special people:

First up, Peter Tatara and Kim Mueller of the NYCC staff. Those two folks and everyone else at the show were extraordinarily nice to us and we thank 'em for having us.

Also, big ups to Madame Xanadu artist, Amy Reeder-Hadley and Haunted Tank writer, Frank Marraffino for stopping by and saying hello. Vertigo in the house!

And without a doubt, much love to Sarah Jane Sapang and Ron Salas, artists, friends and listeners of the podcast. They too were kind enough to come through and support us.

**Pic provided by comic writer and friend, Jon Tsuei—'preciate it, "Sway"! Snippet provided by Madonna.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 84: Weighing In on Watchmen (The Original Comic Series)

It was bound to happen. The film is mere days away and we decided to sit down and chop up Moore and Gibbons' landmark series in the best way we knew how—by bringin' in some help!

We took it back to Titan Games & Comics, since we had so much fun there the last time, and joining us in the 'round:

Adrian J. aka Inazuma Tiger, a friend and up-and-coming artist who frequently posts on our message board. He was with us the first time we hung out at Titans.

Christian Sager, a local comic writer we've gotten to know over the last year. Sager has two creator-owned properties he's currently launching: Border Crossings and Partial Invasive. You can take a look at the former here.

And finally, Titans Store Manager and passionate comics fan, Mike Loewnau. I've known Mike for several years and figured he'd bring up some awesome points about the series (he did). Plus, he kindly let us crash his place again, so many thanks to him!

Actually, we wanna thank all three of these fellas for jumpin' in the fray with us and offering up their opinions. They rocked it!

**For this special Watchmen episode, we played snippets of Smashing Pumpkins' The End is the Beginning is the End.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 83: From Book Covers to Video Games, JP TARGETE Has Many Styles

JP's name has been comin' up on this show since literally day one. He's an accomplished artist and illustrator who's resume includes companies like Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight Games, Bantam, Tor and Warner Books. Dwight got a chance to meet him at the ConceptArt Workshop in San Francisco, back in '05, and became an overnight fan. When he got back, D regaled me with tales of huge 3x5 foot canvases, live painting demos and lots of oohing and aahing!

Needless to say, it was only gonna be a matter of time before we reached out to JP and extended the offer of a podcast chat—and here we are.

While he has an extensive background in illustration, book covers to be precise, Targete's current title is Art Director at Ignition Florida. His job, he tells us, is to set the look and style of a video game, then guide the visuals through all the various stages to completion. Outside of his AD position at Ignition, JP says he still picks up freelance gigs, but laments that there's only so much time in the day to get it all done (we feel you, sir).

Also covered in our conversation is his relationship with his Dad, who's an architect, JP's days painting romance book covers (Fabio!), some stories about the life of an illustrator, and a description of the term he calls "Dark Fantasy".

Our thanks to the man for takin' a minute to hang out with us. We had an excellent time!

**Another thank you goes out to our buddy, Chuck Harper, for submitting some questions for JP through our message board. Go, Chuck!

JP's Site

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 82: Listener Call-In Show

A month or so ago, we took a page out of the CGS playbook and set up a call-in event for listeners and forum members. It turned out awesome and we got to hear from many of the "voices" on our msg board for the very first time.

Also, a few people who regularly check out the show that we've never heard from, hit us up as well. It was the coolest!

We're gonna try and do it at least twice a year, but for this first attempt, we wanna say thanks to everyone who gave us a shout—Mpol, lightbombmike, Jake Ekiss, MarkCalifornia, Chuck, Charlie, Steve E. Wonders, Inazuma Tiger, ChrisCandide and Musashi! 'Preciate you all much!

**For this episode, we played several snippets of music randomly and for your pleasure: "Request Line" by Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three, "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode, "Pick It Up" by Poison Clan and "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie.

Also, big apologies for being so late getting this out. Life reared its ugly head...

Click here to download the show.

If This Town Is Just an Apple

 

...then let me take a bite! That was MJ back in the day before his...umm...troubles.

The New York Comic Con was a sold out success (yeah, that's right, SOLD OUT) and Dwight and I, as your two resident art nerds, are happy to have been a part of it. We owe all of our participation to our friend, artist Paolo Rivera, and also to Peter Tatara and Kim Mueller of the NYCC staff. Everyone working for the show was super nice and helpful, and we had a blast!

We moderated a panel on Friday called The Do's and Dont's of Being a Comics Professional which, by the way, turned out beautifully. Very well attended, lots of good information imparted and we didn't come off like complete idiots (notice I said complete).

Our panelists were, of course, Paolo and also another friend, Eric Canete, who from now on shall be referred to as "Our Hero". Our Hero stepped in at the last minute, joined Paolo as a speaker, and they both rocked the house with their insight and honesty. The crowd asked a ton of questions and those two guys did their thing. We thank them much...

To hear a quickie audio recap of the weekend's events (a B-side, if you will), look below. To check out our flickr set from the Con, click here. Otherwise, we again wanna thank the NYCC for having us and we're lookin' forward to next year—and Chi-town (ya-yuhh)!

Click here to hear the recap.

Ep. 81: The Evolution of JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER

"Change in life is inevitable. My advice to you—embrace it and move on." - R. Hardy

Man, what a statement of truth that is. For some, probably a painful one. For artist, Jason Shawn Alexander, change has served him and his art, pretty damn well.

We first became acquainted with my man's work through rather odd and circuitous means. Dwight bought the Dark Horse mini-series, The Secret, just because he dug the covers. Me, well...I was a big Gotham Central fan, scooped up the two issues Jason did with Ed Brubaker, and thought, "Hmm, nice, but who's this dude?" Three months ago, a forum member named MarkCalifornia posted a link to Jason's blog on our board, raving about teaser images from his upcoming project, Dead Irons.

And most recently, I stumbled across his official website through a series of links, went nuts going through his gallery goodness, then realized he was the same guy from all of the above (we're so sharp here at the 'BAR...)

The fast-forwarded version of Alexander's bio goes something like this: born in Iowa, raised in Tennessee and self-pubbed after high school before doing Empty Zone at Sirius Entertainment. Moved to North Carolina, hung out with George Pratt and Kent Williams, took up traditional painting and he's been extra awesome ever since! Oh yeah, and he now lives in Los Angeles.

    

To be serious for a minute (not Sirius), we used the word evolution in the title because that's what truly transpired along Jason's journey. He's very much a different artist from what he was in his younger days and it was moving to hear him speak about his desire to grow.

Dwight and I chatted with him from his LA studio about all of the above and well, everything in between. It's a pretty full conversation and definitely gives you some insight into the mind of one Jason Shawn Alexander.

Be warned though, once inside—there's an awful lot of single malt Scotch (ha)!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 80: Clash At The Titan!

Forum member and friend, Inazuma Tiger (a.k.a. Adrian), is an Atlanta resident like us and Dwight and I hit him up to join us for a little roundtable chit-chat. He used to work for a local comic shop called The Comic Company and many of the geeks in our circle used to frequent that fine establishment. It was a fun place and Dick Schwartz, the man who owned and operated it, was a good guy. Dick has since retired, closed Comic Company, and somehow, someway we ran into Adrian several years later—on our msg board! How's that for serendipity!

So who knows? Maybe the whole comic shop connection explains why the three of us ended up meeting at Titan Games & Comics in Duluth, which is north of the city. I've been a Titan customer since I was sixteen, have a pretty good rapport with all the managers (Chuck and Mike especially) and gave 'em a call to see what the haps. Beth was there that day, said no problemo, as long as she could be out the door by 7PM. We said cool and it was on!

Our conversation took place right by the front door of the store, but surprisingly, it wasn't that noisy. Eric was there too helping Beth run things, and he and she both jump in from time to time.

We nerded out for about 90 minutes that night and had an awesome time doing it! Many thanks to Beth and Eric for graciously allowing us to hang out. Titan is great and if you're ever in their neck of the woods—spend lots of money!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 79: JOCK!

You know his work and you love it! All those covers for Rush City, Batman and Scalped. His interior pages for The Losers, Faker and Green Arrow: Year One. His early stuff on Judge Dredd and Lenny Zero. You love it all and if you say you don't—it's 'cause you haven't seen 'em yet (ha)!

Jock, like a lot of European artists working in mainstream American comics, is kicking much ass and taking names. His style is so gritty and edgey, his compositions so well staged—he can't help but stand out from the crowd. You won't find too many artists today making better use of negative space than he does.

My first exposure to his art was in the Green Arrow series mentioned above, a book he did with his frequent collaborator, Andy Diggle. I must admit, after one look, I was hooked and immediately went out and grabbed, ohh...EVERYTHING ELSE HE'S DONE! And I haven't looked back!

Dwight and I caught up with the Scottish-born artist at his studio in Totnes, England and tried to get him to spill the beans about everything. Turns out, there were no beans to spill! He's just a regular guy, who's the coolest of the cool, and he's got crazy skills behind the drawing board (works for us).

In our chat, we find out how he got the nickname Jock, how he ended up as the cover artist on Jason Aaron's Scalped and some inside scoop on the progress of The Losers movie, which is in production. He also tells us about his new Hellblazer graphic novel, his taste in movies (bad '70s horror flix) and we toss in a few famous names for good measure: actor and director, Peter Berg and talented pop singer, Christina Aguilera.

OK, so maybe there were a few beans.

**For this episode, we played a snippet of Beck's "Loser" in honor of Jock and Andy's project going to the big screen.

Jock's Site

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Ep. 78: PAT WILSHIRE of IlluXCon Breaks New Ground

We wrote about this event back in the fall of 2008 and word has it, it was a big success. In light of that news, we thought it would be cool to have one of the founders on, Pat Wilshire, to discuss the show's inaugural year and future plans. Pat and his wife Jeannie seem to have started something really special in their hometown of Altoona, PA, and we're super excited that he took some time out to talk with us.

As we mentioned in that other blog post, IlluXCon was designed to be more of an illustration "symposium", not a convention. The goal, as Pat describes it, was to create an intimate mingling between artists, students, collectors and anyone else with a desire to learn about and celebrate, art. Membership (yes, that's right) is limited to maximize the one on one time for not only the attendees, but also for the guests. This is the kinda show where an artist who wants to hear a lecture from a peer, can get up from their table—and go hear it! Kinda neat!

Last year's guest list, well—it was a doozie! Boris Valejo, Julie Bell, Patrick Jones, John Jude Palencar, Ian Miller, Bob Eggleston, Justin Sweet, Michael Whelan and Greg Hildebrandt were some of the stellar names that were on-site that November weekend. And from what we hear, most of 'em will be returning in 2009.

In the interview with Pat, he gives us the lowdown on his background as an art collector with The llustration Exchange, why he and Jeannie started IlluXCon, some of the challenges they had making it happen, and what lies ahead for this awesome event.

**For this first episode of the New Year, we played a snippet of U2's kick ass song.

IlluXCon Site

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Ep. 77: "Tick Tock, Ya Don't Stop!" - It's Illustrator FRANK STOCKTON

Let's see, what can we tell you about our friend, Frank?

He lives in NYC, although he was born in California. He's a pretty young guy, but already has a long list of high-profile clients. He's friends with the equally amazing James Jean and Jillian Tamaki. Oh yeah, and he was sick as a dog the night Obama won (you'll have to hear him tell that story).

I found Frank's site like I find many sites—trolling the Internet in the wee hours (kinda like I'm doing right now). He wrote an entry called "Growing Pains" that was linked on Drawn!, and it was all about inspiration and influences. Not just creative influences, but people who've influenced his perspective on the business of art as well (Charles Schultz, Walt Disney, Todd McFarlane). I immediately loved his work and found his words to be thoughtful and honest—so it was on! After a few polite back and forths, Frank kindly agreed to come on and chat with Dwight and I.

In the interview, he talks about growing up in Cali and attending Art Center in Passadena, comic books, his competitive nature, sex museums (yeah, you heard me), the election results and the eternal debate: art vs. commerce.

And just to set the record straight, to us, he's the one and only Frank Stockton. It seems he comes from a long line of Stocktons and one of them wrote the famous short story, "The Lady, or the Tiger?". Go figger!

**For this episode, we played snippets of Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" and "I Wanna Sex You Up" by the aptly named, Color Me Badd.

Frank's Site

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Ep. 76: Showing Our Xenozoic Age... More with Us and MARK SCHULTZ

Welcome back for Part II with writer and illustrator Mark Schultz—the man from PA!

This time Mark, Dwight and I are joined in the interview by our friend and forum member, Atomic 99...sort of. We posted a note on the SiDEBAR msg board about Mark's upcoming appearance, and 99 dropped a bunch of hot questions for him. So today, in spirit, he holds down the forth mic!

Topics covered in this second half are: black & white vs. color, writing prose for Flash: Stop Motion, rewriting scripts for Lucasfilm, art agents or the lack thereof, web presence (...or the lack thereof), "Hey guys, I can't hear you anymore!", Storms at Sea, Various Drawings #4 and small towns in rural Pennsylvania.

There's more than that in this here podcast, but you'll have to tune in to hear it!

Our sincerest thanks to Mark for chatting with us so long and being so gracious. Also, it would behoove you to pick up Storms and VD #4 when they come out—Mr. Schultz NEVER disappoints!

**For this episode, we played a snippet of Jamie Cullum's All at Sea, and for two reasons: in honor of Mark's new project and us still being all over the place!

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 75: SiDEBAR Talks to MARK SCHULTZ (and it's an exploration of subject matter not commonly "heard")

The tagline for this episode isn't just a bunch of innocent hyperbole. We started off with some very creator-appropriate questions for our interview with writer and artist Mark Schultz—and ended up throwing 'em out the window! Once we got on the phone with him, the three of us connected, the "Conversation Muse" took over, and let's just say we happily followed its lead!

Don't get us wrong, there's tons of insight in there about the man. His opinions on music, art, comics, storytelling, capitolism, life—they're all present. We just didn't take the road most traveled to get to them. Call it, the scenic route—how 'bout that?

In all seriousness, Mark does confirm much of what you've probably heard about him. He's a brilliant and astute creator, talented beyond belief, a gentleman, and a genuinely fun guy to chat with. We ended up keeping things very informal and down-to-earth, and that we think, makes it all the more revealing.

Two of Mr. Schultz's current projects did however get official coverage in the upcoming Part II. The first being his soon-to-be released illustrated novella, Storms at Sea. The second, another Various Drawings book. This one will be number four in the series (yes!) and both will be pubbed by his longtime publisher and friend, John Fleskes.

Below is an image from Storms and at a glance, it looks a little like Key Largo, with a healthy dose of sci-fi thrown in for good measure. Not sure if that's what it is, but either way, we wait impatently for it.

**As implied above, this is only Part I with Mark, so look for Part II in a few days.

Click here to download the show.

Ep. 74: Animator MARK BEHM on Day Jobs and Nightwork

I first started trading emails with Mark Behm (pronounced like "beam") after seeing his artbook, Nightwork, advertised on the Brandstudio Press website. The excerpts from it were amazing, so I started looking around for an official site on the artist. Lo and behold, there was one—and a blog!

I visited a few times and eventually sent a note, which is how Mark and I became Internet-acquainted. The funny thing was, he mentioned in one of our exchanges that he was already a listener to SiDEBAR, and really enjoyed the show. Needless to say, I was thrown—that doesn't happen often! Sitting in a basement, speaking into a microphone to somebody on the telephone...well. After a while, you start feeling like you're the only one who knows you're doing it!

Anyway, back to our guest. As I said earlier, he's an amazing artist and versatile as all get out. His blog is rife with gorgeous painted images, character designs, 3D stuff and some kick-ass life drawing studies. Mark told us during our talk that he thinks his interests are too diverse, but Dwight and I, of course, love the variety! You get to see something different every time you drop by his site.

Behm recently left his gig at Dreamworks and made the switch to Valve, a video game company out of Washington state. But if you're curious about his past filmwork, he was a part of the creative teams that brought you Madagascar 2, Shrek the Third, Robots and The Ant Bully. In the interview, he pulls back the curtain on Mad 2 and gives us a little peek into the challenges of working on a huge, animation project.

We also chat a good bit about his dad who was an artist as well, growing up loving Star Wars, DrawerGeeks! and how you've gotta make time to do your own stuff—even if it's at night.

Check Mark out at his sketchblog and pick up a copy of Nightwork too!

Click here to download the show.