Todd Klein's Blog, page 145

And Then I Read: BUG! #6

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by Lee Allred, art by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred, letters by Nake Piekos.

The final issue of this series is, like the rest, trippy fun with lots of Jack Kirby overtones and characters. Bug has reached New Genesis to find it has been converted into a board game, with the New Gods as cardboard place markers. His nemesis, Chagra, the cause of trouble on the many worlds Forager has visited is revealed as someone a little different, and the unleashing of The Black Racer seems to mean certain death for the title character. Meanwhile, two Source Walls and the connections between them are explored, the conflicts are resolved and final mysteries revealed amid philosophizing and reunions.

I enjoyed this series particularly for the great art, and the fun everyone is having with the Kirby concepts and characters (much less grim than many recent versions). Recommended.

And Then I Read: BUG! #5

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by Lee Allred, art by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred, letters by Nate Piekos.

The software glitch that happened a few months ago kept me from reading the last two issues of this miniseries, but I’m getting to them now. I found that I didn’t remember many details of the plot, but it really didn’t matter in this case, as my enjoyment of the series is based on other things. The art is terrific, the colors are excellent, the lettering is tops, and the writing is fun in a sort of free-flowing, trippy way, as if Lee was simply looking at each page and making cool things up for it as he went along. Could be so, I don’t know.

Essentially this is a romp through and within the worlds of some lesser Jack Kirby creations: Bug, the main character, and in this issue, OMAC, as well as other new characters, villains and oddities that Jack might have thought of but didn’t. Elements of the story are magnificently fantastic, such as the villain stealing entire oceans and the answer to Kirby’s Mother Box, a Brother Box. Mike Allred clearly loves Kirby, and though his art sticks to his own unique style, he does a fine job with Kirby homages and styling.

One issue to go, which I will get to soon. Recommended.

And Then I Read: ELECTRIC EDEN by Rob Young

I don’t read much non-fiction, but this one is right up my alley. It was recommended by Charles Vess and Michael Kaluta, and it’s an in-depth study of the many threads of British music that draw on traditional folk tunes and songs for inspiration. I well remember the folk revival of the 1960s, which brought British artists like Donovan, John Renbourn and Bert Jansch to my ears alongside many US acts, but a few years later I was also discovering an earlier British folk revival in the works of classical composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. This book covers both, connects the two, and fills the years between and after with an entire evolution of folk influences that began with the late 19th century song-collectors like Vaughan Williams, and continued through all kinds of musical interpretations well into the 21st Century.

Some of the names and songs were known to me, many were not, and a discography at the back gave me a chance to find music by those I didn’t know on YouTube to sample. It prompted purchases of some, like John Martyn’s first album, Nick Drake’s third and Van Morrison’s second, and the enjoyment of many other artists I didn’t know. The stories are well told, though sometimes tragic as artists took paths leading to poverty or self-destruction, or had unexpected tragedy thrust upon them, and the interweaving of the many careers and personalities across the face of Britain, Wales and Scotland is well done by author Rob Young. At times his style is a bit show-offish, as in the first chapter, but it’s also colorful and very well researched, including his finding of some artists who had disappeared from public knowledge.

While the sixties are at the center of the story, there’s plenty of artists and stories from later decades as well, with the discography running up to 2009. In some cases, I liked the stories better than the music, but it was all interesting and fun to explore. If you like groups like Pentangle, Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, Steeleye Span, and artists like Maddy Prior, Nick Drake, and Sandy Denny, their stories are here, and many more you may not have heard of, but might like. I’m still exploring the discography myself.

Highly recommended.

Pulled From My Files #86: SHAME logo

Images © Lovern Kindzierski, John Bolton and Renegade Arts.

In 2010 I agreed to letter a painted allegorical miniseries for Alexander Finbow of Renegade Arts in Canada, written by Lovern Kindzierski, painted art by John Bolton. Part of the job was to design the cover logo. I believe I started with some rough ideas from John, which I no longer have, but it gave me the approach he wanted, and it was one I liked: thin overlapping letters with graceful shapes offset by a scratchy rendering approach. This first marker sketch is going in the right direction, but is too hard to read.

Version 2 is more readable, and the “fish-hookl” points on the S were a good idea.

Version 3 turns the curves into small straight segments for the most part. The A is a bit hard to read on this one.

Version 4 spreads the E out in a way I like, but it makes the S seem to narrow.

After consultation with the publisher, writer and artist, I did one more version combining the S from version 2 with the rest from version 4. This was approved.

Rather than my usual process of inking over the marker sketch, on this logo I wanted to preserve all the uneven textures and openings, so I simply did a high resolution scan of the marker sketch, made adjustments in Adobe Photoshop, then auto-traced it in Adobe Illustrator, making more adjustments to get the sharp points sharper and the overall texture and thickness as I wanted it.

Here’s the logo on the second issue, for which I also did the cover assembly. I made the logo dark red and added a thin black drop shadow. It’s a bit small here, but I think still works fine. I enjoyed this project, and I’m happy with the way it came out in every way.

More of these when I have time.

And Then I Read: DC/YOUNG ANIMAL MILK WARS

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by Steve Orlando, Gerard Way, Jody Houser, Ccil Castellucci, Jon Rivera, Magdalene Visaggio. Art by Aco, Ty Templeton, Mirka Andolfo, Langdon Foss, Dale Eaglesham, Nick Derrington, Sonny Liew. Colors by Tamra Bonvillain, Marissa Louise, Keiren Smith, Nick FIlardy. Letters by Clem Robins, John Workman, Saida Temofonte, Todd Klein. Cover by Frank Quitely.

First, let me tell you about my small involvement in this project: four two-pagers introducing the new character and series ETERNITY GIRL that ran in the back of the individual issues of this crossover. I wasn’t involved in the rest, and hadn’t seen it until now.

So, crossover events are meant to bring characters from different series together in hopes of introducing new readers to ones they don’t know and sparking sales. They are inevitably highly plot-driven with too many characters to get to know well. This one is no different. Crossing the Young Animal characters with each other might have been an easier task, adding the Justice League makes it harder, even assuming readers will know at least the main ones: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Their appearances here are in some ways welcome way-stations of familiarity, but in others weird versions of the characters that don’t act or seem much like they usually do.

I’m lettering one of the Young Animals series, DOOM PATROL, and read SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL and CAVE CARSON, and while I found concepts from those here that were familiar, at times I was still confused, and even more so about the characters from the other Young Animal books I don’t read. The reader is thrown into the deep end, on a version of Earth where a horrific version of Superman called Milkman Man is distributing a kind of milk meant to homogenize the entire population of the planet, and forcing them to drink it, or killing them, he doesn’t seem to much care which. Cave Carson is gathering the Young Animal characters and the Justice League to oppose him, with much of the book telling of that gathering. Finally, the big battle and confrontation with Milkman Man and his masters, with a reveal about the anti-hero I found very weird indeed.

There’s some nice art here, some moments of interesting writing, but overall I found this story confusing and not very fun to read. I can’t really recommend it. Perhaps I’m too old for it, and it requires a younger animal.

Watching SOLO, A Star Wars Story

Image © Lucasfilm Ltd.

Don’t have a lot to say about this except that I enjoyed it and liked it a lot. I had no problem with two of the main characters, young versions of ones in the original film trilogy, being played by younger actors, Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover. Both did a fine job. That was not even an issue for Chewbacca! Woody Harrelson was great in his role as a world-weary thief/pirate that young Han takes as a role model. Han’s love interest played by Emilia Clarke did fine too, keeping us guessing as to her real plans and motives, and keeping the English accents in the series going. I can’t say I loved it as much as the first three, but it’s well worth seeing.

Recommended.

Rereading: SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR & FARMER GILES OF HAM by J.R.R. Tolkien

Cover art by Pauline Baynes.

I bought this paperback collecting two short stories by Tolkien wonderfully illustrated by Pauline Baynes in 1973, when it was already on an eighth printing. Both had been issued separately as hardcovers.

“Farmer Giles” was written in 1937 when Tolkien was 45, after he’d already completed “The Hobbit,” which was published that year, though “Farmer Giles” was not published until 1949. It has no direct connection to Tolkien’s other works, though it certainly draws on the English history, people and countryside he knew well, and also the mediaeval works of literature he studied and taught. Farmer Giles is a simple country man, a farmer of modest means who, almost by accident, repels a giant who wandered down to his farm from northern mountains. Giles has a dog, who warns him of the giant’s approach, and he goes out with his only weapon, a very primitive gun, to try to scare off the threat to his crops and livestock. The gun goes off and happens to hit the giant, who takes it as a vicious insect bite, but that’s enough to turn him back toward home.

Word of this spreads, until even the king of the area of England that Ham is part of hears of it, and he sends Giles an old but beautiful sword from his armory as a thank you gift. A few years later, a large and fiercesome dragon comes to the area, after hearing the giant’s tales of how food-rich and peaceful it is. Farmer Giles soon finds himself being promoted as the person to repel the dragon, a task he does not want. I will leave the rest to you to read.

“Smith of Wootton Major” was written much later, and published in 1967, after Tolkien’s fame was massive and his place in literature well established. It’s a very different kind of story, wise and insightful, but somewhat melancholy, definitely the work of an older man.

In another small English village, a Great Cake is baked every 24 years by the town’s Master Cook. The one baked as the story opens has a special prize in it, a magical star from the kingdom of Faery. A boy named Smith, whose father was the village smith, as he would be, accidentally eats the magic star, and later wears it on his forehead, where it is mostly invisible to others, but somehow imbues the boy with magic charm. Later, Smith finds it can bring him into the land of Faery, and when he has time away from his job, he travels widely in that mysterious and magical country. Eventually he learns many things about himself and the origin of the star.

Both these stories are charming, the many illustrations are excellent, adding a great deal to the reading experience, and though this is minor work compared to the author’s major opus, “The Lord of the Rings,” it’s still well worth reading.

Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: THE FLASH #46

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by Joshua Williamson, art by Scott Kolins, colors by Guerrero, letters by Steve Wands, cover by Dan Panosian.

Here comes another big battle epic, apparently between Barry Allen and Wally West this time. The earlier Wally West, the one who’s apparently been in TEEN TITANS and other books, but not this one much. The rest of the DCU is involved in this prelude, not sure if it will actually cross into other books, but I wouldn’t be surprised. The instigator here is Hunter Zolomon, a character I don’t think I’ve seen before, once the crime-fighter Zoom, now a wheelchair-bound  criminal brooding over his mistakes, and the failures of himself and others, especially Wally. He teams with Eobard Thawne, Reverse Flash, to get things rolling. Meanwhile, Wally is undergoing some kind of mental and memory crisis brought on by his powers.

This is the kind of story that usually doesn’t interest me much, but I will read the next issue to see where it’s going.

Mildly recommended.

Pulled From My Files #85: S.T.A.R. CORPS & R.E.B.E.L.S. ’94 Logos

This and all images © DC Entertainment.

In 1993 I was asked by Curtis King at DC to design a logo for S.T.A.R. CORPS, spinning out of SUPERMAN. Acronyms (words that are abbreviations with each letter standing for another word) are always a pain to design. It’s hard to get the spacing right with a period after each letter. In this case, though, it worked out okay as periods could shelter under the arms of the T and then I just had to extend the R to shelter another one. Block letters with an inline of white and then a starry fill seemed a good way to go. My larger stars are stolen from science fiction artist Kelly Freas, who stole them from fantasy artist Virgil Finlay, by the way.

I don’t have marker sketch 2, but sketch 3 puts the word on one line by making the letters tall and narrow, and adds telescoping.

Sketch 4 has wider letters with the center opening of the A and O dropped out, and the periods floating, not a great solution there.

I’m missing sketch 5. Sketch 6 was done in reaction to suggestions from Curtis, as discussed in my note. This is the S.T.A.R. from version 1, which Curtis must have preferred, and a new take on CORPS, plus telescoping.

The final logo on plastic vellum is close to sketch 6, but S.T.A.R. is taller and thicker,and the periods are tucked into the letters more to get them closer together. CORPS is a little larger, but otherwise as in the sketch.

Here’s how it looked on issue #1. The open letters of CORPS have been filled black, which makes it read better, a good idea. For an acronym logo, I think it worked pretty well.

Another acronym logo was requested by Curtis in 1994. This was a spinoff from the acronym logo L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89, which I had designed previously:

The first marker sketch used that logo as a guide with only the ’94 having a rough, scratchy “rebellious” nature.

Curtis may have suggested that idea was TOO close to L.E.G.I.O.N. and that I should try some rougher versions of R.E.B.E.L.S. The periods are definitely fighting good design on this one.

Sketch 3A (revised from 3, which I don’t have) reversed the use of the scratchy look from the numbers in sketch 1, using it on R.E.B.E.L.S. with only the numbers in a more standard block style. The periods fit in better here because the lower legs of the E’s and L are shortened, and the S shape follows a lightning-bolt design.

This was approved, and inked on plastic vellum with only the S reworked in a different shape. The ’94 was kept separate to be placed over the rest as wanted, and also in case the book moved into later years, as happened with L.E.G.I.O.N., where I just redid the year number.

Here’s how it looked on the first issue. the ’94 covers part of R.E.B.E.L.S., but I think it still reads okay. The blue fill is an unusual choice, but works here, I think.

More of these when I have time.

And Then I Read: SHADE THE CHANGING WOMAN #3

Image © DC Entertainment. Written by Cecil Castellucci, art by Marley Zarcone and Ande Parks, colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick, letters by Saida Temofonte.

I missed the first two issues of this “second season” of SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL (12 issues) due to my digital download problems, as well as the MILK WARS crossover between Young Animal characters and DC Universe ones. I thought I’d jump in here to see what’s going on. A lot of things I don’t quite get, is what I found.

The issue opens with Shade removing her own heart, physically, but in a symbolic landscape that suggests it’s more an effort to distance herself from emotions of all kinds. The character already seemed distant from human emotions to me. She reports on her success to Rac Shade (I think), who congratulates her.

Some TV reporters are covering a fire at the home of illegal drug-makers, and the one on the scene seems to be having a madness spell herself.

Some of Megan’s high school friends are in a place where alien creatures are being held prisoner and experimented on, apparently. Where isn’t clear to me. One of them is offered the madness as a drug by a character from Meta.

Shade books and magazines are being read everywhere, and the madness seems to be spreading through them.

These are some of the events in the first half of the book, and from there it gets increasingly mad and trippy, with the madness symbols showing up everywhere, and the story getting ever harder to follow. Dramatic violence at the end suggests all is not fun in this fictional world.

I can’t recommend this, and I probably won’t read more of it, but it probably makes more sense if you start from the first issue.