Comic Art and Death Metal

About a month ago I was randomly browsing the comic art on eBay, which is something I almost never do (normally I just go with keyword searches like, um, "firestorm" heh). Very lucky that I did, as an hour or so earlier artist Vincent Locke (Sandman, among many many others) had listed one of his works. The "buy now" was $50 more than the reserve price, but I pounced as soon as I saw it.

The artwork in question is the final preliminary cover sketch to the album "Live Cannibalism" by Cannibal Corpse (The cover itself was ultimately done in watercolour paints). A bit of history for the uninitiated to come, but first of all the art in question:

Final version:

So you're probably thinking "geez, that's a bit gory". Well, yes. Cannibal Corpse have always delt with rather horrific subject matter (it's called "Brutal Death Metal" for a reason you know). Vince Locke has provided album art for the band since the beginning. Several of the albums have been very controversial, both in part to the lyrics, and the album covers. This has attracted attention from US politicians, church groups etc (all the typical groups that you would expect to get offended really). Even here in New Zealand the early albums were apparently banned for a while, although the two independant record stores in my city had their albums readily available so it wasn't much of a ban to be honest. By Cannibal Corpse standards the cover is rather restrained I think- certainly it's not as blatantly in-your-face as the likes of Tomb Of The Mutilated (do NOT google that cover if you are easily offended. And yes, I realise just by me saying that your curiosity pretty much leaves you with no choice but to have a look :p).

As for the actual significance of this to me- I've always been in to heavy metal, but it was primarily the more mainstream acts like Def Leppard, Living Colour, Skid Row etc in the late 80's/ early 90's. After finishing high school I went to university to study classical music. One of the guys there started introducing me to the underground metal scene. His favourite band was Cannibal Corpse, so they naturally wound up being one of the first Death Metal groups I heard (this was around about 1994). I've been hooked on extreme metal ever since, and Corpse have remained a favourite to this day. So it's pretty cool to pick up artwork from a band that I like and that helped me start down the musical path I'm on. Plus, y'know, Vincent Locke isn't half bad either ;)

Old Random Casting Stuff

This is pretty much a nothing post, purely for my benefit. I was trying to explain to someone today about using hot glue (or Thermo Plastic if you want to sound all fancy) to cast costuming pieces. I jumped on here to pull up a few references, and discovered that I never actually finished off where I was going (nothing unusual there in regards to my blogging habits). So for my own future reference, here's a bunch of pics that round off what I started with this, only with the middle part missing (y'know, the actual clay sculpting and mold-making. I remember taking pictures, but as to where they are now...).






Hey, you can actually see the sculpted leg in the background here! That would be awesome if I'd actually planned the shot like that ha!

Binding- That Other Method

So far I've completed 12 volumes in my ongoing quest to bind my comic book collection. I figured it was time for an update, both because I have a bit more of an idea what I'm doing now, and because my current mission has required a change in approach.

As you may recall, I was sewing each individual issue on to tapes to form the book block. I'm very happy with the results I've been getting and will be using this wherever possible. I'm currently binding my Spawn collection (120 issues, plus the relevant minis and crossovers), which created one major problem. Unlike DC and Marvel, Image group all their ads at the back of the book. This means that in order to cut out all the ads, you're left with half the issue being loose pages. While I've been able to work around the occassional loose page in the past, trying to do that with 50%+ of the pages would require a ton of time and effort, and probably wouldn't look that good in the end. Which brings us to the other method of sewing your book together.

Instead of sewing each issue through the middle, the whole lot get sewn down the side, like so:

It's a very common method, and if you send books to a pro it's probably what they'll do. It's much faster (I can prep and sew 30 issues in an afternoon), and can be done by machine (not that I have one) so it's not as labour intensive as the other method. There's one immediately obvious flaw to it- by sewing through the margin you are losing part of the page. Not an issue for older comics that printed with margins on the page, but with comics these days you can count on missing things, particularly with double page spreads. Also unlike the other method, this one is essentially irreversable. Rebinding it would mean even more page loss. Still, it's the best/only method for sewing loose leaves together.

This is a little workstation I threw together for binding. The bit on the right is for opening out comics and piercing the spines.

On the left side, I've drilled holes so that I can pierce the margin of a comic, but still have it all supported.

The holes are an inch apart. I've actually found less info on this method online, so as always the way I'm doing things is a combination of info from various sources, and guesswork.


I have a little guide on the base to line up where the holes will go, as well as a top sheet to guide the spacing. Then it's time to get mutilating.

I find it hard to gauge how far in to make the holes- too little space and it will be prone to pages ripping out, but there's the gutter loss issue, so...

With that done, it's time to remove the staples. I figure it's smarter to remove the staples last, since they hold the book together while I punch the holes ;)

That leaves the comic in two parts- the pages with ads on one half, and the pages without.

I leave as much of the book intact as possible- no point in cutting pages in half if you're not removing content, and plus it seems logical (to me anyway) that the uncut pages will be stronger/less likely to fall out since they're essentially getting bound in two places. But then, like everything I'm doing here, it's just a guess ;) Time to remove those pesky ads!

I'm actually keeping the parts I remove, and I plan on binding the letter collumns into their own volume, since Todd ran a pretty entertaining show.

As I prep the issues, they get put on a couple of hat pins, so that there aren't loose pages all over the place

With all that done, it's time to sew. Remember to follow the same direction that the holes were made, as going the opposite way is next to impossible. I'm just looping from one hole to the next here- there may be a better/stronger way but I haven't found it yet.

Even following the direction of the holes, you're gonna need tools to help. I have no idea how many issues should be getting bound together- in this case they're getting broken up into 15-issue groups.

It shouldn't require a huge amount of force, but it's much easier on the fingers.

Just like that, we have a finished book block:

Note: don't borrow your mother's needles to do this, because they will get beat up

With two blocks done, the next step it to put them together. A bit of glue just to secure things...

...and then a vice to secure them

Obviously glue on it's own isn't going to be enough, so the two parts need to be sewn together.

Also, a bit of extra glue never hurt anybody ;)

That's that. From there, it's entirely the same process as before to make the cover etc. The only difference being the lack of tapes, so it's up to the cloth to hold everything together (which sofar hasn't been a problem).

Next update I'll show a little trick I learned with making the covers. Until then, try not to stab yourself in the finger (trust me, it hurts).

Random Thoughts And Discoveries

JSA All-Stars:

I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how long she's existed, but I'm very happy to see Anna Fortune continue on with the JSA. Maybe it's the art of Freddie Williams, but she looks damn cool. Having a gun that fires magic bullets doesn't hurt either.

Brightest Day:
So far I'm not that in to the series, although atleast now it seems to be heading somewhere. What caught my eye last issue though, is (predictably, I know) the White Lantern redesign of Firestorm.

That is AWESOME. I would kill to get hold of the original art for that (hell, even just a scan would make me happy), and it's not often I can say that (outside of covers and the like, which we all know you need a ton of money for).

Hercules- Twilight Of A God:
This jumped out at me unexpectedly while browsing the shelves.

Holy crap, is that the Silver Surfer? WTF? That's one hell of a reinvention, and while it's probably someone pretending to be him, it still looks intruiging. I'm being strong willed and holding off reading it until the final issue (#4) is out next month.

Just as an aside, does anyone else recognise this scene from a certain movie?

Yeah, I'm strong willed enough not to read it, but not strong enough to avoid flicking through it.

Iron Man:
These have probably been out for months, but I only just noticed them (it's not like Dr Pepper has a high profile in New Zealand):

In the last week I've managed to track down #s 1, 3, 8, & 9. I have no lofty ambition to collect them all, but they're kinda cool.

Voltron:
My local comic shop never got back to me about getting a copy of the Voltron miniatures game when it appeared in Previews, but the wargaming shop got them in anyway. Score!

Apart from the figures being in need of a repaint (which was expected), the only thing I don't like about this set is the big V's Blazing Sword.

Seems a little more bent than I remember ;) It's fixable, but annoying that I should have to.

How Did This Thing Even Look Good On Paper?

There's a new line of Star Wars figures that came out recently (they were embargoed here until August 6th, don't know about the rest of the world). Apart from being some of the best looking Star Wars figures yet, they come with the added feature of being playable in a game. Potentially interesting, lets have a closer look.

I bought Bossk. He's the best bounty hunter, and I will hear no arguments against him :p

I haven't bought a SW figure in years, but yay for including a stand. Anyway, the game: each figure comes with their own card with a bunch of stats on it.

Also included is this die.

Both players pick figures, then player 1 rolls the die. You take the point value for the corresponding icon rolled, with the highest value winning. The losing figure is discarded.

That's right, the figure you just paid $20NZ for got discarded on the back of a single die roll. If you're player 2, chances are you could lose without even rolling anything for your shiny new toy. Of course, the marketing gurus that came up with this expect you all to have a bunch of figures so you keep playing until last man standing, but any way you look at it this is totally lame.

Spawns Of Future Past

So recently you may've heard about the whole McFarlane/Gaiman Spawn legal carryon. There's been excellent coverage on a blog here. The purpose of this post is to refute a couple of points made by others in the comment section, since I can't post pictures over there. So to begin...

Lambtoons: "The only artwork for Dark Ages Spawn that looked remotely like Medieval Spawn was McFarlane's variant cover to #1 which only showed an extreme close up of the face"

I respectfully disagree, and I'll show you why. Below left, Medieval Spawn as originally presented. On the right a revision of the original design, making it a bit edgier. In the middle, the cover to Dark Ages #1 (regular edition), featuring what is supposed to be a different character.

I've circled some common elements. Now I'll grant you, spiky legs/shoulders/forearms are a feature of your standard Spawn costume. There are two major reasons why I think they are similar enough for one to be derrivative of the other:

1) The face plate. Yes, it's the standard Spawn-type face, but that presented as a metal faceplate to me indicates a connection (no not just on it's own, I mean as a sum of the costume). Are they a bit different? Sure they are. However, to my mind this was merely an evolution in the design, due in large part to a desire to make Dark Ages edgy and, well, dark. If you look at the changes in the way Al Simmons Spawn has been presented over the years, his design underwent many changes, as did the mood of the comic. With the evolution of various titles like "Hellspawn", "Curse of the Spawn", "Spawn the undead" etc which significantly increased the dark atmosphere of the original concept, I do not believe it is a big stretch to look at the middle picture and think something along the lines of "damn, they just made Medieval Spawn look a whole lot tougher".

2) The chest design. This is the standard design for spawns also. However, where I see the similarity is this- the blue armour, white edging, and red centre. 99% of other spawns we've seen have black clothing. In this case, we have two characters. Both presented as knights. Both from seemingly similar time periods (semantics aside). Both in BLUE armour, with white and red markings.

It's my contention that the above two elements, when combined with each other, and when taken in the larger context of the overall presentation of the suit, are similar. Which is where the problem lies. As someone who collected Spawn for over 10 years or so (including a ton of cards and toys), Dark Ages at the time, and still now, looks to me like merely a grittier update of the Medieval Spawn armour.

Also worth noting, the Dark Ages Spawn costume evolved quite rapidly in the course of the comic, to where, if memory serves, it looked quite different. However, the above costume from issue #1 was also used on the cover of issue #2. Whatever evolution took place, I believe it's initial presentation was close to that of Medieval Spawn. Which is what the court case was about- is DAspawn derivative of Mspawn. In his first few appearances (atleast visually, I'm not inclined to re-read the series, if I even still have it), the answer has to be yes, in my opinion. A character will develop his own feel over time, but in his initial presentation, I see Medieval Spawn, not a distinctly different character.

Lambtoons: "No one who collected the series and read it was given the wrong impression that they were selling Medieval Spawn repackaged"

I'd actually argue that's exactly what they were doing, atleast at the start. It makes commercial sense- package something in a way that's recognisable. Medieval Spawn was a popular character despite (or perhaps thanks to) only appearing in 3 (?) issues. To make a new product instantly entice readers, having him look similar makes total sense. Once people step through the door, then you can turn the tables on them and present your ideas. Certainly all the publicity leading up to the first issue, as I remember it, did little to dispell the idea that it was Medieval Spawn. Now, once the series got going, maybe it quickly became apparent it was a different character (I don't remember). But in the initial stages, I stand by my assertion.

Just in closing, I'd like to make clear this is not a pro-Gaiman/anti-McFarlane thing on my part, I just happen to agree with the Judge's ruling. I've read maybe a half dozen comics by Gaiman post-Sandman. I still have a strong affection for Al Simmons, despite having walked away from Spawn several years ago (I'm about to start binding my Spawn collection, and considering picking up all the missing issues just to complete the Al Simmons story). Just thought I'd throw that out there, since experience teaches these things can easily become about which side you're on. I'm on the side of good comics.

Jason Rusch, Stick In The Mud

Someone's falling to their death! Quick, ideas!

Hmmmm, Air Bag.

Better? Yes.

Fun? Not so much.