Movin' On To New Projects!

So Randall is done. Well, not done in a finite way but it’s done enough for me to leave the story alone for a while as it goes through weekly updates over at Pixestrips again. Thank god for the Comic Geek Speak Episode 300 show for giving me a hard solid deadline. Otherwise I’d still be sitting on the darn thing.

Oh, and if anyone from the show is stopping by the ol’ LazyBlog be sure to drop me a line. The show itself was fantastic. A nice small show but with a very diverse group of artists… artists of webcomics, minicomics, animators, writers, inkers, colorists you name it, independent guys and mainstream guys. I sold a bunch of comics and did some sketching as well. I think it’s safe to say a great time was had by all.

Anyway so now I’m in that weird place where I wonder what I’m going to do next. There’s that graphic novel that has been written and rewritten over and over again for over a year now. It’s something I really want to get started on but it’s such a daunting task. As it stands it like a 70-plus page story written in screenplay format so I have no idea how the page and panel breakdown will work. I’d love to do it as a 96 pager, that way I can break it down to three 32-page chunks. Then I kinda fool myself into thinking it’s not one 96-page behemoth. Nevertheless there’s a ton of reference I still need to do before I seriously get started but it’s gone from a project in the back of my mind to one that I’m just about ready to tackle.

One thing I am going to start right away is some new NYComix. It’s been so long since I’ve done them and the feedback at CGS 300 as well as follow-up emails after the show from folks asking to see more makes me realize that I need to get new stuff out there. I’ve wanted to take NYComix a bit further than what they are now, more complex longer stories that combine the things I’ve learned from the earlier strips. And I’m working a new angle in them that I’m really excited about.

Again, getting back to how a deadline really makes me get things done I applied for a table at the 2008 New York City Comic Con… so if I get a table I’ll have another deadline in April to work towards. I have no clue if I’ll get a table but we’ll see. I dunno if they’re reviewing my work before they grant me a table or what. With my luck I won’t get a table and I’ll walk by an empty table where Rob Liefeld was supposed to be sitting. But I digress…

So in the meantime hit up Pixelstrips every Wednesday for new Randall pages. It’ll take ya right to the end of the first issue.

Oh, and watch out for the long ago announced LazyComix Conversations… I swear, it’s coming. Only in live action video! All YouTube style like the kids do.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
--Randy

All Star Superman

When All Star Superman came out, I had my doubts. Morrison is one of those writers that is just hit or miss with me. He starts off strong and just fades away before the finish line. So going into All Star there was some trepidation mixed with hope. Hope that there would be a Superman comic that I would actually love to read. With the release of the 7 issue I’m forced to gush over this book. Maybe it’s because my beloved “The Goon” (Eric Powell) is on a hiatus but I actually read All Star 2 times in a row in one sitting. Issue 7 is a 2-Part Bizzarro storyline with an amazing cliffhanger backing up a fun, action packed storyline that made me laugh-out-loud and just enjoy a good old-fashioned superhero story starring the original superhero. It’s worth mentioning that this 2-part storyline is as long a “storyline” as you’ll find in this series. If memory serves me right, this is the first multiple part storyline of the book. Check out Morrison’s 1 page, 4-panel, 8-word retelling of Supes origin. There’s no “Decompressed” storytelling going on here.


I can’t recommend this book enough. Even if you’re one of those readers who isn’t a huge fan of Grant Morrison the incredible art by Frank Quitely is worth the cover price. (The colors by Jamie Grant are amazing by the way.) The hardcover of the first 6 issues just came out so you can grab the whole run in one trip to the shop.

So I hope you enjoyed my gushing.

Gent signing off.

--Randy

p.s. Go read Randall over at Pixelstrips.

Randall Reminder

We're weekly again! The adventures continue every Wednesday at Pixelstrips.

If you want to brush up on what has already went down here.

Thanks for looking and feel free to write me at Randy@LazyComix.com

Randall Is Back!

Next week kicks off All-New Randall pages going live every Wednesday over at Pixelstrips. Check out a preview here and I'll be sure to remind ya'll come next Wednesday...

-R

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