Famous Moments in P.I.C. History: Miguel meets Luke Skywalker…

Above photo: Miguel and Mark Hamill meet during the Los Angeles movie premiere of BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA in December 1996. To check out Miguel’s artwork and animation, stop by www.atomicshelter.com.

"Steve Rude Arrest Update" Update…

Above: Nexus meets Madman sketch by Steve Rude. NEXUS TM and © 2011 Mike Baron and Steve Rude. MADMAN TM and © 2011 Mike Allred. Again, To check out, and purchase, Steve Rude’s artwork, visit www.steverudeart.com.

After my previous post, "Steve Rude Arrest Update", I received the following e-mail letter from Steve Rude’s wife, Jaynelle. She wanted to clarify things a bit more:

Al,

Just read your blog. Just to clarify, he tossed rocks at our side wall (we don't have wood fences here in AZ, everything is bricks or rocks). He has noticed in the past that when he opens and closes his studio window (which faces their yard) the dogs will stop barking for a minute or two). The dogs were in the backyard.

Steve loves dogs and I would hate for anyone to think he was throwing rocks at the dogs! Barking dogs is a problem with the owners, not the dogs.

Thanks for sending me the link to the update. We haven't been following the news (been overwhelmed and overworked). Please let everyone know that Steve would NEVER harm an animal of any kind. He wanted to cry last year when the neighbors had a bee problem and the guy came out and killed instead of relocated all of them.

The incident is bizarre.

Jaynelle

"Steve Rude Arrest Update"

Above: Steve Rude’s Nexus. NEXUS TM and © 2011 Mike Baron and Steve Rude.

Some weeks ago, on Halloween, NEXUS co-creator and comic book artist, Steve Rude, threw rocks towards a neighbor’s dogs. Rude was then arrested for assaulting his neighbor.

Tom Spurgeon gave added details at the Comics Reporter website:

* the incident in question from Monday night concerns the aforementioned barking dogs, which were out again where Rude could hear them as he handed out Halloween candy in costume. Rude responded to the barking dogs by throwing rocks at the fence behind which the dogs were barking in an attempt to silence them.

* one of the dog-owning neighbors confronted Rude verbally, followed by the other when the first one retreated inside. Rude says this quickly became verbally abusive, and included an invite for Steve to come over to where the second neighbor a male, was standing. This ends with Rude ripping the neighbor's shirt and shoving him backwards, causing the second neighbor to also go indoors. This would be the basis of the assault charge.

* Rude returned to handing out Halloween candy. The cops -- Rude says in four police cars -- found him at his candy-dispensing station and asked after a concealed weapon. When the cop to whom he was speaking asked him to turn around and put his hands behind his back, Rude at first tried to ascertain if he was being arrested and then complied.

* Rude suffered some physical abuse during the arrest and later at the jail, the latter of which will be looked at by a doctor.



After the arrest, a call was put out to purchase Steve Rude artwork to create funds for any of Rude’s legal costs. Some folks in the comics community rallied behind Rude’s defense. Some did not. Some thought that throwing rocks towards/at someone else’s pets was a bad thing to do.

Today, I received the following e-mail from steverudeart.com:

STEVE RUDE ARREST UPDATE

Steve has been requested by his lawyer not to make any public statements at this time. He does want me to pass along his deepest gratitude. He really loves reading any mail that comes his way and words of encouragement to be strong.

Wise council, I believe.

I’ve meet Steve Rude and his wife, Jaynelle, at the New York Comic Con. They were very kind people. I really do love the Dude’s artwork. I am a huge NEXUS fan. And I even enjoy reading Rude’s outspokenness in regards to the comic book community and ethics. But, this whole arrest situation seems so odd to me.

To check out, and purchase, Steve Rude’s artwork, visit www.steverudeart.com.

This week in comics...

I love drawing comics. I love writing about comics. I love teaching how to create comics. And I love reading comics. Here’s what I picked up this week. But, be warned, there be SPOILERS ahead!



Above: Chris Bachalo’s cover artwork for WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2. Inks by Tim Townsend.

It doesn’t seem to make sense that a claw-waving berserker like Wolverine would make a good headmaster at any school. Is this because the character is more popular than (the obvious choice of) Cyclops?



Above: In WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2, Bobby Drake makes smoochies with Kitty Pride… I think.

Chris Bachelo’s storytelling in WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 seems confusing at times. Maybe he should stick with THE AVENGERS.

The main problem with WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 is that even though this is only issue two, I don’t know who half of these characters are. Marvel editorial needs to do a better job with getting new readers up to date with their books.

I give WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 two out of five NM’s:




Above: Cory Walker’s cover to INVINCIBLE #85.

INVINCIBLE co-creator and original artist, Cory Walker, returns (for a little while, anyway) with INVINCIBLE #85.



Above: In INVINCIBLE #85, Omni-Man and the Mrs. arrive at Talescria, the capital of the Coalition of Planets. Will Allen the Alien use the Scourge Virus to eradicate the remaining Viltrumites living on Earth? And if so, how will the virus affect humans?

I give INVINCIBLE #85 three out of five NM’s:




Above: THE ROCKETEER JETPACK TREASURY EDITION by Dave Stevens.

You remember the Rocketeer? "The Rock-a-who?", you may ask. You know, the late Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer.

THE ROCKETEER JETPACK TREASURY EDITION looks absolutely beautiful. This book collects Dave Stevens’ original serialized Rocketeer story. The artwork is a bit racy for younger readers, though.



Above: Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer flies into action.

I give THE ROCKETEER JETPACK TREASURY EDITION four out of five NM’s:

Happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of Thanksgiving: The Mayflower Compact...

In November of 1620, the Pilgrims arrived at (modern day) Massachusetts. They made their historical landing at Plymouth Rock in December 1620. The Pilgrims had left England for religious freedom from that of the Church of England. They were Puritans who wished to worship God in the way that they saw fit.

Before leaving the Mayflower, the Pilgrims wrote (and signed) the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower Compact provided the Pilgrims with a simple constitution. It declared the establishment of law, the idea that everyone was created equal, and the right to gather and vote. The Mayflower Compact is an inspiring piece of work that some see as a precursor to the United States Constitution.

Take a read…

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

VLA at SVA...

Above photo: Outside the School of Visual Arts.

The School of Visual Arts (located at 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY) is hosting a guest speaker from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA).

Press release from the School of Visual of Arts:

Business and Legal Issues for Visual Artists

Tuesday, November 29, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Amphitheater, 209 E. 23 Street, 3rd floor

This presentation will provide an introduction to some of the more pressing legal concerns for artists today, such as copyright and trademarks; contractual agreements; the use of appropriated material; websites and the internet; and employment issues such as work-for-hire.

Guest Speaker, Sergio Munoz Sarmiento, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

RSVP by logging into www.collegecentral.com/sva and viewing "Upcoming Events Programs."

I constantly tell my students that professional artists have to be businesspeople as well as artists. We spend a good deal of time discussing the business side of the comics industry. We go over how contracts work, the differences between a copyright and trademark, and other work-for-hire issues. So, the above-mentioned event would be worthwhile for anyone not-in-the-know who would want to work as a professional creative person.

What’s occupying Frank Miller’s mind?

Above photo: Comics creator Frank Miller (DAREDEVIL, SIN CITY, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, and HOLY TERROR).

Frank Miller shares his thoughts on the "Occupy" movement which started (at least here in the United States) in New York City's Zuccotti Park.

From Miller’s blog, Frank Miller Ink:

The "Occupy" movement, whether displaying itself on Wall Street or in the streets of Oakland (which has, with unspeakable cowardice, embraced it) is anything but an exercise of our blessed First Amendment. "Occupy" is nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.



Above artwork: Over the many years, Frank Miller has been very vocal concerning hot topics like Creator’s Rights, Censorship, Hollywood, and terrorism.



Above: Artwork from Frank Miller’s recently-published graphic novel, HOLY TERROR.

It’s refreshing to see an opinion from our industry, the comics industry, that is not so (typically) Liberal. The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is made up of Socialists and Anarchists whose views are not the same as those of America’s Founding Fathers. You can’t just move into a privately-owned park, smoke dope, assault police officers, and commit rape (news that I have not seen reported by the media).



Above: Cover artwork to Frank Miller’s DAREDEVIL #188.

COMIX history...

Above: The cover to Les Daniels’ COMIX: A HISTORY OF COMIC BOOKS IN AMERICA.

Author and comics historian, Les Daniels, was born in 1943, and has apparently died from a heart attack.

Several years ago, my buddy, Martin, suggested I find a copy of COMIX: A HISTORY OF COMIC BOOKS IN AMERICA. The book was first published in 1971, and became out of print, but I was able to purchase a copy at Amazon.com.

COMIX: A HISTORY OF COMIC BOOKS IN AMERICA is an excellent book concerning comics’ history. It includes comic book stories by Jack Cole, Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Al Williamson, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko among many others.

I regard COMIX: A HISTORY OF COMIC BOOKS IN AMERICA as highly as I do Jules Feiffer's THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES and Hubert H. Crawford's CRAWFORD'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMIC BOOKS.

The Comics Reporter has a nice article on Les Daniels.