Razor Wire Shrine

While typing this entry, John texted to tell me to watch Tyra Banks’ talk show over at ETC, as the episode was about hate crimes. Tyra was talking to a guy whom I thought was drag queen RuPaul at first, but I found out soon enough that it was Kevin Aviance, the trannie who got beaten up by four men a few months back. After his interview segment, three openly homophobic women—an aging lawyer and her two young adult daughters—talked about their happiness (!) over the 9/11 attacks, the devastating tsunami and hurricane Katrina calamities, and why their family proudly carries “God Hates Fags” placards. One of the young women called the puzzled Tyra a “fag-enabler,” because the model-host openly sides with gay people and “the agenda.”

And the mother kind of wondered aloud why they have no friends. Jeez. It was frightening to actually see and hear people who are proud of their gay-hating ways.

“Language incites violence,” Tyra told the lady, who was adamant in the belief that God hates homosexuals and those who side with them, and is punishing them for their “evil.” There was an ex-racist guest after them, who very briefly talked about his discriminatory “hunts” when he was young, but his epiphany wasn’t elaborated on (unless they talked to him earlier, but it sounded like it was the first time he was introduced). He did say that the previously interviewed mother and her daughters aren’t evil people, per se; but what they’re preaching is, indeed, evil.

The Blue Sky to the Deepest Ocean

I haven’t been busy with real estate and pesticide-related work these past few weeks. Took a break from that for a while, but I’ve been preoccupied with other things. I was only able to catch up on sleep early today.

The past week or so, I was able to watch Talladega Nights, The Banquet, Barnyard, and World Trade Center. I’m now watching the third season of Queer As Folk (good god, I felt sorry for Brian in the first few eps, but that didn’t last because he later proves that he’s still a creep). I also saw the first episode of the new drama Heroes, about seemingly random humans who discover that they have super-powers. That looks really interesting. Was able to catch part of Harold and Kumar on cable (I really enjoyed the part where they stole some skater-boy bullies’ car, played a mix tape that, whoa!, contained a dance remake of “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Amy Grant’s “Baby Baby” and Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On.” Hehehe…).

Finally read the Secret Wars compilation, the ‘80s Marvel series, and was disappointed by several things (maybe I’ll talk about it later). Wrote stuff. Drew something (more on that below). Thought about the future. Ate like mad. Had orgasms. Typical busy week, yeah.

Hell Hath No Fury Like Alexandra Trese Thorned

Pencil and ink drawing. Budjette Tan asked me and a few others to do pinups of his magic crime-solving character, protagonist of his ongoing horror-adventure comic book Trese. Drew this early this week. She’s a promising character in a promising series, and I hope Budj and Ka-jo keep making it for a long time.

By the way, thanks for resizing this, Benedickie!

Visions Dancing

I’m fascinated by a number of visual artists, mostly by a couple of fantasy-inclined ones. This isn’t a complete list of my favorites at all, as I can’t name every talented illustrator that influenced or entertained me at one point or another. But here are a few awe-inspiring ones off the bat. Will name more in future blog posts. For now, in no particular order:

Bernie Wrightson- His popular Frankenstein book from three decades back remains a striking and indelible collection of finely illustrated fantastical pieces. I was in college when I first saw that, and after graduating, it was one of the books that I just had to own. His consistently strong linework and use of sharp light-and-shadow contrasts make the black and white drawings some of the more memorable images that I’ve ever seen.

Travis Charest- After ditching a Jim Lee-Art Adams hybrid look, Charest adapted a penciling style that’s fresher, that explored his own aesthetic capabilities. He’s not necessarily a great storyteller, but this later style, which possesses a more static mix of realism and stylized imagery, became a widely imitated one. Without him and his brief but influential comics runs, it’s possible that today’s mainstream comics stars like Steve McNiven and Jim Cheung wouldn’t have been as popular. The former Wildstorm artist is also an excellent painter with an eye for intricate detail and composition.

Nick Manabat- Late great Nick Manabat had some of the most solid, most viscerally attuned character designs that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing; his published work and conceptual sketches are mostly dark and dreary but still very enticing to look at. But he was also very capable of doing cute designs, like the Santa Claus head he sculpted and painted for his family’s business, among other things.

Carlos Pacheco- While I wasn’t a fan of his early Marvel work (circa 1994), he’s improved a lot in the Kurt Busiek-written Avengers Forever in the late ‘90s. His anatomical structures have become more fluid, his characters more dynamic in their movements, and his uncluttered layouts (well, those that don’t require massive lineups running around) are easy and enjoyable to look at.

Albrecht Durer- This German artist’s meticulous religious illustrations and portraits have an almost mystical quality to them. I discovered this 15^th century artist in the family’s old art history encyclopedia. It’s easy to see the hard work in his engravings and versatile use of different media.

Bill Sienkiewicz- His New Mutants work is still very impressive. He knows anatomy and clear storytelling, but he’s created an offbeat look that broke many rules and spawned a legion of imitators. He’s an exceptionally talented painter too, and has embraced digital artistry for some colored pieces in recent years.

George Perez- Crisis on Infinite Earths and JLA-Avengers. Good, good stuff.

Gene Ha- I like his consistently detailed, distinct art in Green Lantern, Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, Askanison, Top Ten, and Forty Niners. Looking forward to his Authority issues, with writer Grant Morrison.

David Mack- Now this guy can really tell a damn good story (and he can write them, too!). His Kabuki compilations show a deep understanding of the comics medium, his concepts and techniques coalescing into some of the more hard-hitting yet poetic tales that have their own cultural flavor. His transition and symbolism techniques--and his nice repetitive photocopying of his own work to advance his plots—display cinematic sensibilities, and a propensity to explore his work’s deeper sides.

Frank Frazetta- He’s one of the most imaginative fantasy artists ever. Frazetta’s exhibited mastery over different subjects and materials in his many paintings, pencil sketches and inked drawings throughout the decades. I got into his art, again, back in college, when I saw his trading card series. It documented his career, and compiled some of his most energetic and most sensual sword-and-sorcery imagery.