Before I bore my three readers with my progress on HAND ME DOWN HORROR, I thought I'd post some cool sketches Mike did for one of his fans. I'm not sure when they were done but I was glad to see them. When I was in Baltimore this past August, I was given copies of the above sketches by that fan. (Thanks again, John!) Mike did tons of headshots for folks (just check out eBay if you don't believe me) and the Thor/Orion sketch seemed like something you could easily see someone asking for. The son of Darkseid and the son of Odin. Cool but standard. Then I saw the second sketch and laughed out loud. What an awesome request. You really don't see that every day. Space Ghost and A.L.F.
A couple of weeks ago, a high school buddy of mine told me about his love for the' 80s sitcom A.L.F. That reminded me of these sketches and I brought them into work to scan them. Mike really nailed both characters, don't you think? (Though I'm surprised he agreed to draw A.L.F., considering Mike's love of cats. A.L.F. had a taste for them, you see.)
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Okay, here it is. I've actually finished the first draft of all 8 scripts for HAND ME DOWN HORROR. With my work schedule ballooning out of control (I'm typing this at work on a Sunday, actually) I'm frankly shocked I managed it. It has a lot to do with Jason Aaron's dialogue-first approach. But mostly it was panic. I saw my free time dwindling to nothing and figured it was now or never. Issue 8 is with Todd, Christian and Suzanne and I'll take their comments into the rewriting stage. Again, I hope to be done with that part by the end of the year and start page layouts in January. We'll see.
This morning, I decided to read issue three of COMPANY OF MONSTERS, Kurt Busiek's Dracula comic. I'd been putting it off for "plausible deniability" but now that I'm finished with HMDH, I took a chance. Sorry I did. There were so many similarities (right down to lines of dialogue) that I almost threw the book across the room. But I'm not changing anything. I'll risk the cries of plagiarism. I know better as do my three "editors". I think what it boils down to is that Busiek and I read all the same history books. At the same time. And he's a faster (and published) writer. So, eff it. I'll worry about that shit when it hits the fan...assuming I manage to get my book published at all. In the meantime, I'm done reading that book. With my workload, I don't need the added stress.
My story is more or less finished and that feels pretty good. For now, I'm going to enjoy it. Until I have to start drawing it...
Later.
6 comments:
hey matt!
nice stuff from mike. the space ghost/alf piece had to have been one of those, 'wait you want what?' moments. but he did a great job with it.
glad to hear you're another step finished with HMDH. and eff busiek in the ear with his comic. we here know who's idea has been around longer.
Thanks for sharing those pieces. Here is a scan of a Thor head sketch Mike did for me @ Heroescon 2007.
Thor Head Sketch
Also, good luck with your Project, looking forward to seeing the finished product!
-Sam
Hey, that's really cool, Sam! Thanks! I know Mike was a big fan of the Oliver Copiel redesign. Though I prefer Kirby's original, I have to admit Copiel's looks pretty sweet. Thanks again for the link!
Heywood, thanks, dude. But all that matters is who got there first. Busiek beat me to it. No getting around that.
I felt the version he did for me was heavily inspired by Coipel, but he was fresh off of the sketch he did of the redesign for his blog.
I really love seeing Thor and Orion together though, and aside from Kirby or Simonson, Mike would have been my only other choice to deliver a Thor/New Gods mash up =).
Hey Matt, congrats on finishing the scripts. I've never managed to do that with any of my "projects." That must be an awesome feeling.
I like that Space Ghost/ALF, sketch. That's a crossover begging to published. ;). It's fun seeing unusual choices like that, that fit the artist's style.
I liked the way Mike drew Thor. He captured the power of the character without making him look like a reject from early-Image comics. I grabbed a head sketch off of EBay awhile ago.
Congrats, Matt.
Getting the story out of your head and on to the page is the heavy lifting.
Also, thanks for sharing the head shots, that Space Ghost and A.L.F. is a riot. I know A.L.F. talked a lot about eating cats, but like Wiley E. Coyote, I don't think he ever actually caught got one on the show.
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