LETS GO YANKEES!

Rants and Plugs...

Not a heck of a lot to report…. So instead of leaving the blog with an old entry, I figured I’d write about a couple of things that I’ve seen and/or heard since my last entry.

I usually check out a lot of movie trailers online…. One of the trailers I watched was No Direction Home: Bob Dylan…. Now I’m not a big Dylan fan or anything, I dig his music and I’d love to listen to more, but what drew me to the flick was that it’s a documentary and I can’t get enough documentaries….(I just got done watching Ken Burns: Civil War… which was like 6 discs and I was bummed it was over, if you’re into History check it out.) and it’s also a documentary by Martin Scorsese…. Who started out editing documentaries before he went on to become one of the greatest directors ever… anyway, as I’m watching the trailer the narrator says: “From the Academy Award Nominated Director Martin Scorsese….” Every single time I hear that my head explodes… how has this guy not won that award yet? Honestly? He lost for Goodfellas to friggin’ Kevin Costner. Costner has a Best Director Oscar as well as Mel Gibson… another guy who makes crappy movies…. But Scorsese… a guy who made Goodfellas and Raging Bull…. (not to mention Taxi Driver, etc.) hasn't.....

Now Raging Bull isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it’s a tough movie to watch, but technically it’s amazing and DeNiro’s acting is just insane…. But Goodfellas is on another level. From the Script to the acting, to the camera work to the editing to the music.. It’s darn near perfect… it’s a movie film students will be watching forever… and it lost to Costner and Dances with Wolves… Ugh…

All right, rant over… go rent some Scorsese flicks… and if Costner or Mel Gibson wins another Best Director award before Scorsese someone hand me a barf bag.

CD Plug…. Soulive: Break Out…. If you dig jazz, funk, R&B, Blues… check it out…. You can listen to some of their new album at their site… Soulive.com.

Comic Plug…. Opposable Thumbs by Dean Haspiel.. great semi-autobiographical comic…. Check it out... here’s his site.

And here’s funny pic of a bad-ass cat Ereisa sent me….

The Best Darn Comic Out There...

Just got back from the comic shop and felt like talking about a great comic that I think more folks should be reading…. The Goon, by Eric Powell, from Dark Horse Comics… I have no idea where this book lands on the sales chart, but a quick check of Wizards Top 25 (it used to be top 100, why its not anymore I have no idea) and it’s nowhere near there… and it really should. More people should be reading this book…. It won 2 Eisner’s for Best Humor Publication as well as Best Ongoing Series…. Not to mentions the awards it won last year.

And I’m not pointing this out to say that the fancy pants folks that vote for the Eisner’s said it’s the best, so you should too, I’m just trying to back up my claims with something more substantial than me saying: “This books is awesome!”

But if you’re looking for a comic that is both well written and well drawn, The Goon is well worth the money. You can pick it up at anytime and you don’t have to worry about it being part 3 of a 7 issue arc… each issue is self contained but is still woven nicely into a very interesting overall storyline.

So, if you’re a comic fan and you’re looking for a new book to add to your pull list… or if you’ve just dropped the latest “Big Event” comic from the Big Two… Check out the Goon. It gets *The Gents Money Back Guarantee.

*not and actual guarantee

And we're baaaaack!

You may have tried unsuccessfully to visit my website last week... if you did, I’m sorry…. Blame web.com…. actually, go ahead and send them a complaint email telling them that you were going crazy because you couldn’t get your LazyComix fix…. Apparently they were “migrating” to a new server over there, and for some reason, my website took 5 days to “migrate”…. After about 10 or so phone calls, I was about to give up and just get a new provider…. But they finally got me back up and running again late Saturday.

In the meantime, here’s a sketch I did of good ol’ J. Jonah Jameson.

Also, Pixelstrips.com is up and running. Go check it out. You can get exclusive NYComix over there as well as some other cool webcomics.

--Randy

Graffiti Art...

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through Williamsburg with my buddy, Julio. We were on our way to a bar where were going to meet Ereisa and his wife, Ada… I’m not very familiar with Williamsburg, but it’s a neat neighborhood… a little rough around the edges compared to Bay Ridge and Park Slope, but it’s definably got a great art vibe. On our way to the bar, I notice this great piece of graffiti art on a pulled-down storefront gate. As I get closer I realize that it’s a piece by one of my favorite comic artists: Jim Mahfood. If you’re not familiar with his work, go check his site www.40ozcomics.com…. He’s doing some of the best and most original comic art today, and is probably the most influential underground artists out there. I’ve heard people call him this generation’s R. Crumb….

I usually carry my digital camera with me whenever I leave the house, but of course, I didn’t the day I saw Mahfood’s mural… I’ll diffidently get back there and take a pic of it and post it here….

Anyway, the mural reminded me how much I love graffiti art. Aside from a few crappy fat marker “tags” in high school, I’ve never dabbled in graffiti art… and I don’t know if I could, as I’m a big wimp. I mean these guys dress up like bank robbers when to go do their art… it’s crazy, but I’m sure the rush of getting caught is a big part of the process.

NYC is one of, if not the capital of Graffiti art, so I went online and looked for some graffiti blogs…. Turns out there’s a ton of them…. Here’s a few links…

www.woostercollective.com
cityrag.blogs.com/main/ny_graffiti_steert_art/index.html

The work is amazing.... it’s unfortunate that for every great Graffiti artist, there are 10 guys who look like they’re using their foot to paint….

Anyway, I found these sites inspiring… there’s some awesome work out there…

Stream of Conscious Comic #1

Been a while since I posted…. So I’m back today in a big-way with the weirdest comic I’ve ever done…

I took a trip into Manhattan yesterday to meet Ereisa. I usually just sketch people sitting nearby or read a comic… I didn’t feel like reading a comic or sketching people, so I decided to do a comic right in my sketchbook documenting my trip. Being that 99% of your rides on the subway are pretty boring, there was a good chance this comic would be pretty boring. So I started drawing and writing… I put down whatever came to mind… the drawings aren’t very good, but I was drawing fast and as you’ll find out when and if you read it, my pen sucked.

In the end, it was a pretty fun little experiment and I’ll definitely try it again… but with a fat marker…. (you’ll see what I mean)

Check my site in a few days for a sketchbook update too.

Runaways on EW's Must List

I letter a bunch of books for Marvel, but one of the best darn books I work on is Runaways, by Brian K. Vaughan.... if you aren't reading it, you should be.... The hardcover recently hit the shelves and it even made Entertainment Weekly's Must List.....

If you're looking for a good mainstream comic read, check it out.

I also picked up the Sin City DVD..... I loved it when I saw it in theaters and I love it even more now..... great flick and great comic....