Pixelstrips and Reviews

Yesterday marked Randall’s debut on Pixelstrips. Back when I was doing NYComix on there I had to upload each page individually every Wednesday. But now the uploading process has been improved allowing you to upload as many pages as you want and to assign the corresponding date in which the new page replaces the old. It’s a neat feature that takes a bit of the stress out of hitting that weekly deadline. Fortunately I’m just reposting the pages from Randall Month, so I’ve got a real nice cushion as I work on the next chapter. Although I am inserting a new page in previously published stuff, just to give it a better flow. There’s a bunch of stuff I’d love to tweak but I’m afraid that if I go down that road I might wind up redrawing panels, etc. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m really feeling the need to finish this story. I’ve got to get it out of my system so I can move onto new things. When the time is right, I’ll go back to it… but it won’t be for a while.

I’ve got 3 pages of the next sequence penciled and it’s shaping up. The story continues to evolve and go places I didn’t expect but I’ve more comfortable with the outcome now than I was during Randall Month. When I usually work I write a full-script and then thumbnail the pages, etc. This time around I’m jotting down what happens in each sequence and thumb nailing it out that way. The dialogue is coming last. Kinda like the Stan Lee “Marvel Method” but only with one artist.

So feel free to check out the pages over at Pixelstrips… Let's see if we can't bump our pal Randall into the Top Five...

In other news I made it out to the comic shop last night and walked out with one monthly and a looooooong awaited trade paperback.

So here are some quick reviews.

All Star Superman #6 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
I can’t believe I’m still reading this book 6 issues in. I find Morrison’s writing always hooks me early on and then by the end I’ve completely lost interest as the story just turns into an esoteric train wreck. It happened with New X-Men as the end of that turned into something that to this day I still can’t even begin to figure out. I’ve read message board threads full of hardcore X-Fans who still can’t decipher what happened with that storyline years later.

Superman hasn’t done that yet and I really hope it never does. Issue 6 even had Krypto in it and I still liked it. I don’t know the back-story of what is essentially a dog-version of Superman but I always giggled at the presence of a super powered canine, but hey, it worked here. Quietly’s art is always solid and the Digital Inks and Colors by Jamie Grant are beautiful. They complement the pencils as opposed to overpowering them, like a lot of colors are doing these days. So I’m still on board with this book… let’s hope it stays that way.

Batman Year 100 by Paul Pope
I picked up the first issue of this back when it was originally released and loved it so much I decided to wait for the trade so I could get the whole story in one shebang. One thing I can’t figure out is why DC waits so long to release trades. Why not get the things out right after the monthlies wrap up and the book is still fresh on people’s minds? Waiting for months and months only allows people to forget about it and move on to something else.

Anyway Paul Pope’s art and writing is just fantastic in this book. His art particularly stands out as just flat-out gorgeous. The more I look at it the more I think that his version of Batman is my favorite and that includes Frank Miller. There’s a real neat little sketch extra in the back with Pope’s thoughts on why he designed Bats the way he did. Big clunky combat boots with laces. Sleeves that don’t quite reach his gloves and a mask that is a cross between an old-fashioned football helmet and a Mexican wresting mask. His inks are beautiful and his use of blacks while allowing a brush stroke to look like a brush stoke is a breath of fresh air in a time when light-boxed, magazine referenced and over rendered art is slowly taking over.

I can’t recommend this book enough and I can’t wait to get my hands on some more Paul Pope comics. Check out his blog for more cool stuff.

So that’s it, folks! I’m off to lettering…

Thanks for reading!
--Randy