Back With Plugs

So after my first week away from lettering and at a “real job” for the first time in 4 years, I’m finally able to post.

First thing I wanna do is plug the aforementioned “Ballpoint Fiends” blog. It’s an art collective of some great artists I’ve been lucky enough to meet via Fanboy Radio. Jim Lujan (The Dog Hostage), Jeff Elden (Middle Child) and Justin Stewart (Popped Culture) are a bunch of guys who are out there making comix they want to make. I’m proud to be a part of it… the possibilities are endless and we’re like in the embryo stage at this point so stay tuned. In the meantime head on over and check out Jeff’s first “Fiendish Act” comic. We’ll all be doing one while we try to figure out what we’re really going to do on the site. While you’re there, check out the rest of the guy’s sites for some kick-ass web comix.

In other news, my new job is located right next to Jim Hanley’s Universe, probably the best comic shop in NYC. While on a lunch break I went down and picked up a few comics. First was Jacob Chabot’s “The Mighty Skullboy Army”. I mentioned it a few posts back and man this comic is awesome… Laugh-Out-Loud-Funny and just so well done. Please do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s only 10 bucks. I can’t recommend it enough.

I’ve seriously been considering dropping mainstream superhero comics, but my love of the genre keeps pulling me back in. Unfortunately my 2 purchases didn’t do much to rekindle my interest. I’ll start with the good first.

The Brave and the Bold #1 by Kurt Busiek and George Perez.
I’m a fan of Perez’s work; he’s old school and just really looks like he loves what he’s doing. Busiek’s work is also something I’ve enjoyed when I’ve read it, but nothing has really stuck with me. I picked this one up because it seemed like a DC book I could jump on board with and enjoy without having to understand every corner of the tangled mess that is DC continuity. It was a pleasant surprise when that turned out to be true. I also have always wanted to read some Green Lantern stories, but again, I have no idea where to start. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book, but I doubt I’ll pick-up the next issue. The story didn’t really grab me and Supergirl is the next team-up. I’m not a huge fan of female versions of preexisting male heroes, so I’ll skip it. If you’re into DC books pick it up, at least you’ll get some Perez artwork.

New Avengers #27 by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu.
I read and enjoyed the initial storyline of Bendis’ Avengers Disassembled followed by New Avengers. I think I stuck around for about 12 issues. I forget why I dropped it, but being that I wanted to read something and this was the first part of a new storyline, I picked it up. So, where do I start? You usually can’t go wrong with a Bendis book. The dialogue is always solid and the storyline is always well thought-out. Yu isn’t an artist whose work I seek-out, but I usually don’t mind it. Until this issue. It was so bad; it took me completely out of the story. Yu draws a pretty picture, but his storytelling really left something to be desired here. I should preface this by saying it could be in Bendis’ script, but this is stuff that should be done by the artist, regardless of the writer’s notes.

The fight choreography wasn’t choreographed. Characters changes positions in mid-flight from panel to panel, backgrounds didn’t match up, among others. At one point Elektra’s Sais just appeared in her hands in the last panel of a 6-panel page. Throw in some horrible ad placement completely screwing up a double-page spread reveal. Not to mention some really bad balloon placement that my fiancée said: “Looks like a pigeon pooped on the page.” I lettered comic for 7 years and I had no idea what order to read the balloons in. Placement I’m sure I would’ve been asked to fix, why it wasn’t in this case... who knows. It’s a shame because the book has potential to be a fun ride, but I just can’t get behind a book with elements that were so poorly done, especially with top-tier talent on a flagship title. Guess it’s back to the drawing board with my seemingly never-ending search for a superhero book I can look forward to picking up every month.

Thanks for reading folks and stay tuned, 5 pages of Randall Chapter 2 are inked and lettered.

--Randy

The Ballpoint Fiends

More to come...

http://ballpointfiends.blogspot.com/

Arrivederci

Every so often I drop “Big News” here at the LazyBlog… and most of the time the news is related to my webcomix. Hardly ever is the news related to my lettering work.

But today it is, and the reason being is that after this week, I’ll no longer be lettering.

After 7 years I’ve finally decided to move on. It’s been on my mind for a long time and after sniffing around for other opportunities for about a year, I’ve found one that feels right. I’ll be back in the rat race that is the New York City rush hour commute and I’m actually really excited about it. Sure I’ll miss being at home and working in sweatpants and slippers but in a weird way I was never comfortable with it.

There’s a bunch of factors that have gone into my reasons for leaving lettering, not all of which I’ll go into but one was that I’m just incredibly burned out and horribly jaded. And the longer I do this and the more jaded and cynical I become the more that poison seeps into my own work. And sure I don’t get paid for my own work but the comic work I am getting paid for doesn’t feel like my own work anyway. I need an injection of fun into my comics and the idea of 100% of my creative energy going into my own work just seems like the right thing to do. Plus I’m hoping that some time away from mainstream comics will make me actually care about them again.

So hey, thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out Randall over at Pixelstrips. The next chapter is ready to roll and I’m be coloring that bad boy today.

Thanks for reading.
Gent

Mighty Skullboy Army

Former Marvel Bullpen co-worker and friend Jacob Chabot releases one of the funniest comics you'll ever read.... The Mighty Skullboy Army.
It's so much fun to see how this strip evolved, I used to sleep in the cubicle next to Jacob's and I remember seeing the first version of Skullboy done in ballpoint pen on a piece of typewriter paper... it was just a germ of an idea then, but now it's evolved into an incredible comic that I can absolutely guarantee you'll love. It's one of those strips that is perfect for boy and girls of all-ages, comic readers and non-comic readers alike. Don't be surprised of you see more of Skullboy in the future.

So head on out to your LCS and pick it up... you won't be disappointed. (Or pick it up here at Amazon.com)

--Randy

LazyComix on The Goat!

Just a quick update to plug a few places that are kind enough to promote my work…

You probably already know about Pixelstrips and you might’ve heard of the new ComicSpace site…which is like MySpace only for comic artists. Only instead of digging around that mess for comic artists now they’re all in one handy spot. They just introduced comic hosting and since then the site has really blown up. The only problem I see is that the potential for your web comic to get lost there is really high.

Anyway my West-Coast Home boy Jim Lujan co-created a great site called The Velvet Goat with Justin Stewart. I met both of these cats via Fanboy Radio and was really happy when Jim asked me to be a part of The Goat. There’s an old NYComix up there now, but I’ve got a horror/sci-fi comic that I’m going to get up there eventually. So go check out The Goat, it’s full of great comics by some kick-ass artists.

Thanks for reading!
--Randy