Todd Klein's Blog, page 341

Conward!

I'll be heading out to the Philly Comicon shortly, and will be at a table there this afternoon and Saturday. I'll report on it here when I can. See you there if you're going!

And Then I Read: BRIGHTEST DAY 20 & 21

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

While the rest of the world has moved on to the latest DC event, "Flashpoint," I'm still working my way, tortoise-like, through BRIGHTEST DAY.

Issue 20 features Aquaman once more losing his hand. I can't help wondering who thought the previous time Aquaman lost his hand made for stories that were compelling enough to do it again, but someone must have.  Black Manta, the character with the silliest headgear I can think of, is the chopper. Meanwhile, the threatened war between the mer-people and the land-people is deflected by Mera, who is conflicted all over the place, but still pretty powerful. Aquaman himself is pretty tough, shrugging off his injury and still having time for a little rekindling of romance with Mera.

Issue 21 takes us back to Mars, where the Martian Manhunter is still struggling with his evil female counterpart, trying to convince her he's not going to go for her particular ideas about romance and mind control. MM has the right idea about how to get rid of her, and when he does, suddenly he gets a "mission accomplished" pat on the back from the mysterious white ring power.

The art on this title has remained consistently good despite, or perhaps because of, the team effort creating it. Above you can see the credits listing three pencillers and four inkers, and I find the style seamless. That fact continues to impress me more than most of the storylines.

Mildly recommended.

A few more garden photos

Very close on the pink Milkweed.

Bumblebees enjoying the flowers. Love that wing action shot!

Garden spider which I think is a Golden Orb Weaver, but I'm not sure now, as pictures online are not conclusive. It's still quite small, so I may get a better shot in the future.

What I'm working on this week.

Image © Mike Carey and Peter Gross.

Often I spend an entire week slogging away on one project, or finishing one and starting another, but this week brought an unusual amount of variety. I started the week working on THE UNWRITTEN #27, clip above…

Image © King Features Syndicate, Inc.

…then spent an evening hand-lettering a Prince Valiant Sunday page for Gary Gianni. The syndicate letters the strip for print using a font based on creator Hal Foster's lettering, but when Gary sells a page of art, and the buyer wants the lettering on it, Gary hires me to do it. It's a nice change of pace, not something I'd want to do all the time, but fun once in a while.

Image © J.H. Williams III.

Then I lettered a two-page strip written and drawn by J.H. Williams III for the next LIBERTY COMICS ANNUAL, a fundraiser for The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a charity I support. This was a corker, JH put about four pages of story into one busy spread. 80 balloons! But it's cool stuff, of course, and I was happy to do it for him.

Image © Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.

Next I started a batch of 10 pages for the third and final book in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: CENTURY. As always, this one is moving very slowly, but I'm sure it will we worth the wait. Here's one panel from page 12.

Didn't get too far on it today, and now corrections for UNWRITTEN have arrived. I'll do those next, then start on something else that's hotter than LOEG. I have several to choose from!

And Then I Read: THE ROPE TRICK

© Estate of Lloyd Alexander, illustration © Greg Spalenka.

Lloyd Alexander's writing career of novels for children was a long one, and even his later books are full of charm and skillful storytelling. This one is no exception.

Lidi is a young girl with an unusual occupation. She's a traveling magician, carrying on a family tradition, with her formidable wagonmaster Jericho, and Daniella, a young orphan girl with apparent powers of prophecy. It's far from the glamorous life it appears, though, as the troupe is constantly facing trouble from townsmen, robbers and politicians who want what little they have. Lidi herself is on a quest to find the renowned magician Ferramondo, who she hopes will teach her his famous Rope Trick, one that no other magician has been able to duplicate. Lidi knows it would make her fortune, but everyone has stories about Ferramondo, and they can't all be true, so how to find him? Taking place in a sort of mediaeval fantasy Italy, this book is full of great characters and clever storylines that never stop for long, just as the troupe is always off to a new place and a new adventure. When they finally seem to be closing in on Ferramondo, Lili is caught by her worst enemy, and things are looking grim indeed. Will her magic be enough to save them?

The magic in this story is largely stage magic, but there is an element of subtle fantasy that weaves through it and comes on strong at the end, making for a fascinating if unusual ending. I had a fine time with this book, and it's highly recommended.

And Then I Read: THE SECRET OF THE HAUNTED MIRROR

Cover art by Jack Hearne.

An avid reader as a child, I got into series books for a while, with favorites being "The Hardy Boys" and "Tom Swift." In my early teens I gradually came to see how formulaic and repetitive they were, and mostly stopped reading them. I never tried this series, "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators," which began seeing print in 1964, right around the time I was losing interest in series books, but I've heard good things about them over the years, and at a book sale a few months ago picked this one up to try it.

I wasn't expecting a lot, and found it surprisingly entertaining. Yes, the characters are not given a lot of room, it's a plot-driven story, but the writing is good enough that I felt I got to know and like the three investigators, Jupiter, Pete and Bob, as well as their extended family and helpers. The mystery involves a woman who collects rare mirrors, including the one pictured, which is supposed to have an evil curse on it, and perhaps contain ghosts. Then there's the man who seems desperate to buy it from her at any cost, and another man who's trying to steal it. It's a good yarn, and a good mystery, with quite a few twists and turns and exciting moments, even though there is a cocoon of protective feeling around the boys; I never thought they'd come to serious harm.

The post-script, where the boys report to Alfred H. himself, is the only part that seems phony and tacked on, and I suspect that even as a kid I wouldn't have believed it. Otherwise, this was fun, and I might try more. No way to tell how formulaic the books are from one, so that remains to be seen.

Recommended.

Tigger and the grape stem

Now that he's an adult, our cat Tigger doesn't play with toys very often, unlike his brother Leo, who's still into that.

But there's something about grape stems that he finds fascinating. If we leave them in the compost bowl on the sink, somehow he knows, and will jump up there as soon as we're out of the room and retrieve them to play with. Just handing one to him isn't nearly as much fun.

But putting it on the table works fine, where he can bat at it until it falls to the floor.

Tigger is a southpaw, as they say, a lefty! Batting away…

…but sometimes the right hook does the trick!

Good, now I've got it on the floor and can toss it around and bat it all I want, thinks Tigger. A few minutes later, he's bored, and lies down for a nap, but he'll probably pick up the game again later. (This one's for you, Kelly!)

What I'm working on today.

UNWRITTEN 27, words by Mike Carey, art by Peter Gross. Great stuff!

Image © Mike Carey and Peter Gross.

A Rare Commission…

…because I rarely have time to do them! Marker and colored pencil, 8 by 10 inches. Words by Neil Gaiman, of course.

Now blooming in our pond…

A water lily. It will remain open for only a few days, but last year there was a second bloom.