When I was asked to write a weekly column for Suicide Girls, my immediate questions was, “About what?” Because, truly, I didn’t know what the fuck anyone reading this would want to hear from me.
“Anything,” they said.
Well, alright. But I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean How to Make and/or Buy Weapons Grade Narcotics: A Guide In Multiple Parts, which is what I wanted to write about. But court sucks, and you know it. So instead, I’m calling this “Things I Like That You Might Like Too.” It’s exactly what it says it is.
“If you never try something how do you know your not good at it?”
-Camilla d’Errico
Camilla d’Errico burst onto the comics scene earlier this decade and doesn’t seem to have slept since. It’s not just that she worked on comics like Burn, Make 5 Wishes, Mightmares and Fairy Tales, The Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, and her own Tanpopo, though that’s certainly a full time career in itself. d’Errico has been an artistic dynamo, moving from one form and one media and one genre to another. Besides comics there’s illustration for a variety of sources, a print done in collaboration with Neil Gaiman, toys, a series of Ride Snowboards, clothing from Hot Topic, not to mention gallery shows around the world.
Artist Cameron Stewart just posted this cool time-lapse video via his Twitter. It shows him working on Porter, the tech geek girl, who is one of the characters from the upcoming IDW four-issue SUICIDEGIRLS comic series. The clip, which is 2.5 X faster than real time, shows Cameron inking over pencil layouts done by David Hahn using a Wacom Cintiq 12WX and Manga Studio 4 EX.
SUICIDEGIRLS pits an awesome gang of beautiful, tattooed ladies against the deranged leader of a techno-religious cult, with lots of butt-kicking and witty banter. Issue #1 will hit stores in March.
“The thing you loved as a kid is the thing you should do when you grow up.”
– Paul Pope
Paul Pope has built a reputation as a visionary artist and writer on the strength of some of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the past decade, including Heavy Liquid and 100%. His multiple-Eisner-winning story, Batman: Year 100, immersed the dark knight in the same kind of near-future dystopia that makes his creator-owned work so thrilling. If you saw The Dark Knight this summer, you saw a motorcycle that looks remarkably similar to the one Paul designed for Year 100.
Technology is advancing all around us, and it’s not always easy to be for it when it continually changes so many facets of everyday life. I recently purchased a Kindle, after several days of convincing myself that it was ok. You see, I have complained about them for years, never intending to buy one. The concept of getting rid of my paper books was more than appalling, and the English major inside me died a little every time I saw someone with one.
Then things began to happen that made me reevaluate the idea of a handheld reader. Kindle announced its 3G Wireless model with access to Wikipedia from anywhere (little did I know it was actually full internet access). Soon after this announcement, I moved into my current apartment. It didn’t take me long to realize that I have too much stuff. My book collection takes up its own case as well as three other shelves. As I tried to shove all of my books into the tiny living space, I found myself considering the advantages of a handheld reader for the first time.
Super heroes are in right now. While their popularity has been steadily growing for years, each blockbuster movie released only fuels the fanboy frenzy. Video games, movies, television, and merchandise have never been more adorned with super hero icons. The question though is: Who’s super heroes are they?
Actor, writer, director and comic book buff Kevin Smith, whose breakthrough film was 1994’s Clerks, is at his best when he’s just talking. He even figured that out, so in between actual movies, he films his college Q&A tours to release An Evening With Kevin Smith DVDs, the third of which is now in stores. Smith’s movies force him to take break from his raw wit for things like plot and character development. But at least when he makes them, we get to hear some unedited Smith-isms when we interview him.
