Ye Olde Comique Booke Airte Struggle

In the early 90s I got my hands on Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art. I never read it. Not really. I flipped through it a lot, and took notes from some of the examples. I might have read a few pages. But reading dry texts like that was not my strong suit. I'm sure I missed a lot of valuable lessons from Will.

Which makes me think about comics as an art form and how that a lot of folks talk about it, ponder it, and theorize about it. I love that they do that, but it's not my bag. Just like with tabletop roleplaying games, I love making them and playing them but I am not sure I have much to say about the philosophical side of it or the theory side of it. Why does it work if I put three dots after a word to convey a pause or some unspoken thing? It just does. I'm sure there are good psychological reasons and I know it's rooted deeply in the actual material history of language and writing. But all I know is I put three dots when I want to suggest that sort of thing. It's all feels.

It's ALL FEELS.

And I might not even be good at it. I don't know. I know that people always enjoy my comics, but is it because they like how I draw or because they enjoy reading my stories? I don't really know. But I suspect, honestly, it's because they like how I draw. I know that's why I pick up books from Philippe Druillet, Vaughn Bodé, or Richard Corben. It is not for the stories. Those are fine, and sometimes good, but it's all about the visuals. I love the styles, the colors, the lines. I love the mark making. And how those marks come together to convey movement, meaning, narrative. Even when the story being told is, let's be honest, forgettable as hell. Or disgusting. Or ham fisted. If it looks cool to my eyes, I'm still gonna love that shit.

For example, I just read Druillet's Vuzz for the first time and holy motherfucker what a nakedly savage and nihilistic read. Vuzz is a psycho and a killer and a rapist. He JOYFULLY rapes and murders. Yet Druillet's exquisite lines and pacing and figures are so compelling you have to love the god damn book.

I kept all this shit in mind while working on Hellion Cross. This is the first full comic book I've created in a long time. I look at the finished pages and I ask myself "are these good enough?". Dangerous question to ask yourself. I could scrap them and start over and improve them, maybe. But why the fuck would you do that? I'm not a perfectionist. The next iteration would also have flaws and I would have exactly the same thoughts.

But I worry about stupid things. For example, I kept the 4 fingers style. In the original Pan-Gea comic, all the characters have 4 fingers like in old cartoons. So I thought... well, this is a successor to Pan-Gea, I might as well be consistent. And that's cool. I like it. But there's a devil on my shoulder going "Do you really wanna do that? Some guy will pick it up and say those hands look dumb."

But I can't help that. When I did the original Pan-Gea comics I had a few comments that the hands were weird or that the chicks were too fat. I can't be bothered with any of that. What am I trying to do here, make art for the masses? This is my shit, and folks who like my shit will like this comic. That's really all I can do.

Perhaps the story is lame, perhaps the hands are dumb. I don't know. It's not for me to say, is it? I make the art, the world judges it. That's just how it is.

End of the Year Message

Looks like 2024 is just about over. Every year we say the same things at this time, don't we? I can't believe the year is over. I can't believe it's almost [insert new year]. Etc.

I'm 54 years old. It's very strange when I think about it. I'm a grown ass man with a wife and two kids. I've been married since 1991. My kids are late teens. I've held down the same job for longer than I care to say. I'm incredibly stable. But inside my brain is a bit of a wandering storm, sort of like that monster on Jupiter that scares the shit out of me.

Eh, I won't get into that too much here. It's just me whining about what I've done with my life and what I haven't. But look... we do what we do and we can't change anything we've done. I'm happy with and proud of my life. My mom was proud of me, and that makes me feel great comfort. She often visits me in my dreams. Which is weird, but true.

For example, just the other night I dreamed I was in my front yard naked in the snow at night. I don't remember why. But I could feel my phone vibrating, even though I was naked. I looked around and saw the dim light under the snow. I dug it up and answered. I didn't read the screen because in dreams I can't read or maybe the text isn't legible. But it was my mom. She said, very clearly, "Are you ok?".

Then I woke up. And it was incredibly comforting. I don't believe in supernatural stuff or souls, but I take joy and comfort in memory. I can still remember my mom's face, her voice, the way she walked, everything. And I treasure it when she appears in my dreams.

This has been a mostly good year. Nothing crazy or exceptional, personally. I've been creative, I've been ok. Sure, the planet itself is in a bad way. We elected a fascist again. I don't know what the future looks like. But I'm hopeful. You have to cling to hope and stay positive. It's not to say things aren't bad... but giving up is just not on the menu for me.

Here's some art I did this year. I selected ten drawings I really like. I love you all and I hope you are doing well.

JVW Tropes

Here are some elements of my RPGs and comics and general art that keep recurring. I felt like making a list of them because sometimes you have to reflect to understand.

• Sexy plump women. I cannot lie. This is a theme I adore and I'll probably be doodling boobs on the day I die, possibly smiling. I mean you no harm.

• Wyverns. I just like drawing them. Serpents in general, but wyverns in particular keep popping up as common monsters in my RPGs stuff. I like the idea of the mountains being thick with all kinds of wyverns. But, oddly, I rarely talk about dragons. Both Yria (Black Pudding) and GOZR are thick with the things.

• Serpents. See above, but also snakes and huge long serpent monsters. Especially in conflict with naked barbarians. Classic.

• Petrified eyeballs. I've mentioned them in many random roll tables and in monster and class descriptions.

• Skulls.

• Witches. I tend to draw a lot of magic women.

• Robots. Even in a fantasy piece, I often stick in a robot. I like genre-bending. Yria has the botten, which are machine people.

• Spattered and colorful space scenes. Lots of wild clouds and nebulae and shit like that. Maybe some Kirby Krackle too.

• Liquids on people. Blood, mostly.

• Ruins. Crumbling ruins.

Scantily Clad

I grew up on Savage Sword of Conan, my aesthetic for "barbarians" and sword and sorcery involves not wearing a lot of practical clothing or armor. Everything is there to look awesome.

In my head canon, this is because the world in which such characters dwell is just that way. They like to wear rings in weird places, chain belts, pieces of armor... but show a lot of skin. This is bravery, fashion, boldness.

Of course it isn't realistic. If the setting has steel blades, you bet your ass they have armor and they would, in reality, wear that shit. But this is not reality, is it? This is fantasy. The internal logic of such a fantasy world stands: Barbarians can't be bothered with heavy armor and they like to be comfortable and they don't want to look like cowards.

Now, if we're talking sci-fi type fantasy, like planetary romance, it's actually a very easy thing to explain. Why is the space chick wearing a bikini and a hair helmet? Because they use laser pistols and they have energy screen shields. Nobody wears armor, you kidding me?

Ultimately... it's a style thing. I'm not saying I must have scantily clad characters in my comics or other arts... but I am saying I enjoy the fuck out of it when it happens.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Featured art: Savage Sword of Conan issue 50. Cover art by Nestor Redondo.

Mike Hoffman space girl art.

Artists I Like: Joe Vaux

This artist is apparently a director on Family Guy. That's fine. I don't care about that. I just love his paintings. And looks like I started loving them in 2020.

I mean... I LOVE his paintings. They are weird as hell, wild as the cosmos. Every single painting is inspirational to me. Every one could be a complete RPG adventure (Into the Odd and DCC in particular, I think).

Not much more to say. Joe Vaux art kicks much ass.

 

Artists I Like: Terry Flippo

This week we're taking a peek at the work of an artist I have known for... oh my... probably 30+ years? Terry Flippo and I used to be in a small press comics co-op called the United Fanzine Organization (UFO). I joined the UFO in the mid-90s and was a member until probably the early 2000s. Terry was in there as well but I cannot remember if he was already there or joined after me. It doesn't matter. Terry is awesome.

His most well-known venture is a comic called Axel n Alex, a comic about a kid (Alex) and his big robot friend (Axel) and their adventures together. He's been doing AnA stuff since the 90s, off and on. I have one of his softcover collections on my shelf somewhere, but primarily I remember his small press digest zines.

One of his current projects is a series of single panel comics called "The Marbels", which are kind of spoofs of Marvel Comics characters. Very fun stuff.

Terry's work is wholesome. He does good work that is good-natured. The world needs what he does. His style is cartoony and precise, leaning into pens more than brushes. He can produce the simplest of pieces or very detailed and complex works as well.

Hellion Cross Center Pages

When I drew Hellion Cross issue 1, I decided to have a centerfold type of piece. A two page spread. I usually shy away from doing them because of printing concerns but I went for it. And it looks pretty good, I think.

Except it has a glaring error. I must have been half asleep when I was laying that page out in Photoshop for printing because I repeated a caption twice.

Here's the thing. I drew it without fully considering how the captions would fall within the safe margins. So I had to scoot one caption over to the left quite a bit. The problem is instead of scooting the correct one, I just copied the other one and placed it. Didn't even notice until a friend pointed it out in the actual printed book. Egg on face.

Anyway, that means the first printing of this book (currently the only printing) has an error and will be worth at least $10,000 more. You know it's true.

For the record, here's the corrected page and spread. Sorry about that.

Artists I Like: David Genchi

A new discovery for me, artist David Genchi hit me right between the nose with his underground comix vibes. Now... this is basically a horror artist. Body horror, specifically, from what I can tell. Not my usual cup of tea. But I can dig it.

I discovered his work when I saw a link to a book called Analwizards. Yes, you read that correctly. It featured a wizard guy in a yellow jumpsuit and pointy hat. I thought... that art reminds of Wizard of Barge (another artist I need to feature on here). But also reminds me of a lot of Japanese horror art I've seen. Probably thinking of Junji Ito since he's kind of the poster child for that genre.

David Genchi's work is published by Hollow Press, who seem to have a lot of interesting stuff.

So today I'm just posting some of his work and pointing you to him because it is very evocative. But be warned... NOT FOR KIDS! I selected some pieces I could put here that aren't too extreme. If you seek more, you will be find more extreme body horror. If that ain't your vibe, skip it.

Overton

Random comic I was compelled to draw this morning. I like firing off a simple 4 panel strip if an idea is burning a hole in my psyche.

As to the content... hope it's obvious. That Overton Window is a fucking bitch. You pride yourself on riding the  middle ground but that middle ground just keeps slip slip slidin' into destruction, buddy. Might want to correct your course because whoever is painting that line is on some bad drugs.

 

Artists I Like: Volpini

A bit of an unusual post this week because here's an artist I found on Bluesky and never heard of. The art was so fun and compelling I assumed they were a well known professional. But I can't seem to find much other than their Bluesky page and an ArtStation page.

This stuff is great. It's got that impromptu cartooning style that reminds me of 60s and 70s cartoons. I can see this being animated for a 1978 special feature. Volpini's profile says they are a "character designer for animation" and it shows. Love it.