ONE MORE DAY To IMAGINE

Because dabblers demanded it:  abbracadabbling is giving you the chance to imagine all day for One More Day! Our visual overview of comic books and pop culture is a hit; now we we know how James Cameron feels! Thanks to everyone for sending in the great comments, and sharing your Back Issues with the Springfield Home Office. We'll be reading 'em all before this ride's over.  And really, the fun has just begun -- but wait 'til you see what's coming next! Don't think about that, though; please forget we mentioned it! Yeah, it's gonna be awesome - but what isn't when it comes to your favorite comicsblog? Live in the Present, damn you!! Live. In. The. Preeessseennnttt!!!

YGI: The LITTLE MERMAID Incident and 22 Comic Covers Fred Wertham Would Love To Hate

Gutters can be dirty places, but every once in a while. all of our minds occasionally tend to drift into them.  Because no matter how filthy they are, our inner kid delights in making messes our outer-adults have to clean up. Even the most restrained parent can't suppress a chuckle when their five-year-old's latest word happens to be the four-letter one they don't understand yet nevertheless chose to scream during the middle of Sunday Mass. 

There's a kid-like thrill adults get when they're being a bit naughty, so for some of that naughtiness to pop up in kid's material made by adults almost seems like a given. It makes sense, and most folks probably deplore the possibility in public while secretly applauding the subversion in private. Disney animation and theme park artists have spawned numerous urban rumors of hiding subliminal sexual images in their work; the most notorious of them all being The Little Mermaid's secret stash of phallic spires.

Surely you've heard the tale: people of all ages began seeing a penis featured prominently in a piece of promotional artwork (above) used for the animated movie, said to be the handiwork of a disgruntled Disney employee. (From his year and a half working for the Mouse,  our  own dear Dabbler will attest there's no short supply of disgruntled Disney employees.)  Apparently, the truth of the story is that the artist - commissioned and not employed by Disney (yeah, right) - completed his masterpiece late at night (makes perfect sense) and didn't even notice his unintentional phallic protrusion until Disney called him on it. After which, of course, the artwork on countless Mermaid VHS covers and promo posters was promptly replaced.

The Little Mermaid incident proves that subliminal perversion does happen. And if it goes down at Disney, it can just as easily happen at DC, Marvel, Archie, or any comics publisher.  Maxim online pulled together an awesomely hilarious collection of 22 comic book covers that can't help but catapult any adult reader's thoughts straight to the nasty.  Probably not too tough a job, but the one they did is pretty bang up.  It definitely made us wonder: are these 4-color snafus the creation of unintentional innocence gone wrong, or are they instead the work of mischievous pranksters?

Wonder Woman #68  (DC Comics)

World's Finest Comics #14  (DC Comics)

Betty & Me #16  (Archie Comics)

Dr. Fred Wertham, the distinguished psychologist who thought comic books, with their hidden social and sexual messages, were bad for kids and who lead the public movement for censorship of comics industry in the late 1940's, would likely mouth an 'I Told You So' if he  had chanced to see the seven covers on the comicsblog today. As luck might have it, only one  -- the soon-to-be skinny dipping Dynamic Duo on the cover of World's Finest #14 published in 1944 - was on the racks during Wertham's reign of terror.   The other covers range from Wonder Woman #68 (1954) to Alf #48 (1992), which coincidentally Marvel canceled just two months later.

Don't get us wrong: if Superman and Batman plan to jump naked into lake full of bare-ass teenage boys, we've got no problem with that - for what else could it be but a portrayal of a simpler, kinder bygone era?  But is Archie Comics Betty & Me #16, published after pop culture met sex, drugs, and rock and roll in 1968, just as simple and innocent? It certainly makes sense that "Beat off," a verb with origins dating back to 1697 and meaning "to drive something away," is something Archie could say to describe his warding off of Betty's other (likely aroused and amorous) suitors. But "beat off" of the masturbation inclination is what we first thought of - and we know you did, too; coincidentally, the two-word term picked up its more vernacular meaning in the mid 1960's.

Double entendre, you say? Never let it be said we comics folk aren't clever little fucks. 

 

Be sure to satiate your graphic imagination by checking out rest of Maxim's naughty but oh-so-funny collection of inappropriate comic book covers [here]! 

YGI Meets The Artisan: Superheroes Done Art Deco

To sate Your Graphic Imagination and its voracious appetite, we're serving up some delicious Art Deco tonight - and it's superhero style, just the way you like it.  Art Deco was big in the United States between 1925 and 1940, making the very popular movement a contemporary of comic books and superheroes, both of which grew up during the same period. Interestingly, Art Deco later became a major influence on the works of Andy Warhol and his fellow Pop Artists, many of whom also drew inspiration from the conventions of comic art and comic book storytelling.

Twenty-four year old Rodolforever is a Mexico-based illustrator and graphic designer who says he's got a passion for comic books. His latest designs - this Art Deco set of superhero movie posters - really capture the look of the Deco movement while portraying their heroes with a modern sensibility. We can't imagine that anyone wouldn't want one of these pieces on their tallest wall; Art Deco Superheroes - or, superheroes for decoration - is aesthetic common sense, plain and simple.  

Find the time to visit Rodolforever on deviant art HERE, where you'll be able to view the rest of his awesome Art Deco series. Among the other designs, the balance of the Batman feature films plus a new one for Iron Man 2. Take a look: your graphic imagination will be pleased!

Undead During Wartime - It's The Pitts

 

Graphic artist Travis Pitts' Skilled Men, from his series of WWII inspired zombie wartime safety posters, 'Zombiganda.' [via]

Tim Biskup Makes Light of Darth Vader

Hey! A new logo! I've been getting a bit tired of the old ones, to tell you the truth. I think it sets an entirely different tone for this blog, and everyone at the Springfield Home Office has been giving it props. And as ever, I'd also love to hear your Back Issues about our baby new icon. You know why, don't you? ---------- It's simple. I Hate Everyone But You.

No, really! What better reason to unveil abbracadabbling's newest blogspot logo than to coincide with the opening of I Hate Everyone But You, painter and sculptor Tim Biskup's new show at Los Angeles' own De La Barracuda?

I thought you'd be speechless. So was I when I first came across Biskup's work a few years back. Words are still failing me now that I've had a peek at his latest paintings, too. Check out his psychedelic rendering of pop culture's most notorious Sith Lord, Darth Vader. It's popping eye-candy for your graphic imagination, that's what it is.

Lately, I've developed a fascination with the many different pop cultural readings of Star Wars that exist, but particularly Darth Vader's. He's arguably George Lucas' greatest character, not to mention one of the most significant villains of American cinema. But Vader's predominance in popular culture is owed to much more than SciFi fandom and the growing Cos Play phenomenon. As a true archetype, Darth Vader is inherently open to creative and meta-textual interpretation, and lately amateur and artist representations of him seem to be on the upswing. The variety of Vaders I've found the last week alone have run the gamut from the commercial to the surreal, and from the playfully anachronistic to the darkly absurd.

Here, Biskup's colorful angularity with Vader adds serious lightness to the classically dark icon. Since I tend to prefer darker hues over pastels, the use of color in Astro Boy [below] is just my style. But Vader is certainly the more eye-catching, and it's hard not to get lost in it. I also can't help but see The Force surrounding Vader's helmet while energetically penetrating its opaque surface. Any blackness in the painting is lost in the background.

If I had to assign Biskup's Vader to any of the original trilogy, my pick would be the first Star Wars movie. Just by looking at it, I can't get A New Hope out of my head.

Darth Vader, you'll be just fine.

I Hate Everyone But You, featuring the painting and sculpture art of Tim Biskup and print design by Matt Goldman opened November 13th at De La Barracuda in Los Angeles. The show runs until December 3rd.

Vader

[Via Boing Boing]

Astro Boy

[Via Boing Boing]

De La Barracuda

7769 Melrose Avenue

Los Angeles USA

YGI: Cameron Stewart's Road to BATMAN and ROBIN

After Monday's advance Batman and Robin preview, the Springfield home office haven't been able to keep its collective mind off what Grant Morrison has planned for Issue #6. We'll find out when the comic arrives at the LCS (that's comicspeak for Local Comics Shop) today, but the wait's killing us. Raley's already gone through half a bottle of Tums.

If you're unfamiliar with Cameron Stewart's artwork, some of the other comics blogs might ask exactly which rock you've been living under. If not directly, they'd cleverly imply it, mark our words.

But not us, dabblers. Instead, we searched far and wide for a few key pictures that speak to Stewart's amazing skills to whet your appetite for his bold and beautiful Batman and Robin debut next January.

While he doesn't have stacks of superhero comics beneath his utility belt, Stewart's insanely gifted -- he must be, having already collaborated with Grant Morrison on three - that's right, three - of his past projects. That's more than most artists can claim, and in our book, puts him just below Frank Quietly as the right co-pilot for Morrison's Batmobile.

Stewart's first collaboration with my favorite writer was on one of Morrison's creator-owned projects, the three-issue Seaguy series published by Vertigo Comics in 2004. Morrison has called Seaguy his 'Watchmen,' a series where he can talk about superheroes in a manner that seems visually light but which grows increasingly less real and more tragic with each issue.

Considering Seaguy's best bud is Chubby da Chuna, a bloated tuna fish that floats and smokes cigars, and that the villainous landscape of the story is an amusement run by the omniscient and enslaving Mickey Eye - a direct slam on Disney's Mickey Mouse turned corporate icon -- you should see why I love this book.

Morrison and Stewart had planned a trilogy, yet while the entire creative team was behind the project, Seaguy's sales didn't convince Vertigo to see the project through at the time. Stewart's response to over-anxious fans who got ahead of themselves calling for a second Seaguy in a Barbelith.com thread offers a glimpse at what a cool, sincere dude he must be. Find it here.

Stewart was working with Morrison again the following year, co-creating The Manhattan Guardian -- one of seven bi-monthly series that comprised the two-year expanse of DC's epic Seven Soldiers. Matt Brady at Newsarama has a great article to fill you in on the project here.

Seven Soldiers is one of my favorite Morrison works, and his first major DC series following his three-year run on Marvel's New X-Men.

Needless to say, Grant Morrison's reputation and his stature at DC Comics / Vertigo has grown exponentially since the days of the first Sea Guy. And so Stewart returned for the next installment, the long-awaited, finally approved, and ever more brilliant Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye, earlier this year. If you've ever worked at Walt Disney World or Disneyland like The Dabbler has, you'll find a warm place in your heart for this one.

Slaves of Mickey Eye is also Stewart's last project before Batman and Robin, and it's very likely your LCS still has a few copies for sale if you'd like to take a look. Our Comics PageTurner folks concur Mickey Eye is one recommended read.

But should you be wondering what Mr. Stewart will bring to his renderings of the Dynamic Duo, we've found a few pictures that should make you a very happy camper. The image below comes from Stewart's cover to January's Batman and Robin #7 . Seems like the Squire's taking the Batcycle for a rainy day spin on London Bridge. Oh, the suspense!

Our second treat is really the best of the bunch, and we were lucky to find it posted on Cameron Stewart's own blog here. It's a character study Stewart created for his own use that he posted after having to remove a page of interior artwork from next January's issue. DC didn't care much for Cameron's little sneak peek, and I'm sure Stewart must have felt pretty bad for the unintentional slip. But his replacement [below] is something I'd love to have hanging on my bedroom wall. Stewart's palette is intense and vibrant, and I can't get enough of this pic, the first Batman I've seen from him. If only my mistakes looked this good.

Before we bring our blogging day to a close, we thought you'd like to have a good long stare at Cameron Stewart's Catwoman. Looking this good, we're convinced Grant Morrison'll have no choice but to bring Selina Kyle to the pages of Batman and Robin before long.

The chance for any of us to watch a skilled comics artist of Stewart 's caliber do their thing rarely comes along, but he's recently posted an instructional You Tube video that will allow all of us to do just that. While created with the artist in mind, the short tutorial offers a fantastic lesson in digital drawing from which each of us can learn. The Catwoman you see above is Stewart's end result of the process he explains. Whether you're an artist or have just heard of one, it's worth a few minutes of your time to check Stewart's video out here.

Any dabblers that do can send abbracadabbling an emailed scan of their completed Catwoman to become eligible to win a Near Mint Variant cover copy of Batman and Robin Issue #7, shipping from our offices to your front door on February 1st 2009. You can get our email address plus all the information on this giveaway by first dropping us a note by way of our Back Issues department at the bottom of the blog.

We hope your graphic imagination enjoyed our colorful look at Cameron Stewart, and we'll see you around the comicsblog.

YGI: Damaggio Will Power 'GREEN LANTERN'

Green Lantern has remained one of my favorite superheroes ever since my life in single digits, and not much has changed for the last thirty years. While the drama and intrigue of his stories has never been as visceral - and thus not as enjoyable -- as my other favorite hero's, Batman -- Green Lantern's hook in me was never his character's resolve, nor the spectacle of his space-faring adventures, nor even his emerald costume always awash in that green cosmic glow.

It's the Power Ring of the Green Lanterns that I've always desired, and what as a little boy became the catalyst of wonderful and soaring dreams. The ring is Green Lantern's weapon, but it's also much more. Unlike the Batman's batarangs or grappling hooks, which are tools and movie props, the whole of the Green Lantern concept, the heart of the superhero, and indeed Green Lantern's very source of his luminescent powers are all embodied in his green ring.

The power ring functions on all levels of story for Green Lantern - plot, narrative, character, decision, thought, thematic elements, and spectacle. The best Green Lantern stories are those by writers who have this comprehensive understanding. Geoff Johns has captured these principles in the current DC Comics Green Lantern series, and has even extended it (perhaps as far as possible without it unraveling) through the current Blackest Night with success. It works because despite all the action, science fiction, and character development -- all essential and great things -- he didn't loose the core of the story in the process. Concept permeates the work, and gives it meaning.

In comics and movies both, a story's concept can be difficult to execute, but a good artist can capture it, conveying idea, mood and design through their work. A great concept artist accomplishes the same, yet more. The difference is something ineffable, a spirit or imaginative quality, that gives form and presence to a story on the page and off. Like in Green Lantern comics, conviction and willpower make the imagined, real.

Rodolfo Damaggio has been called by his peers to be among the best concept artists working today. Before moving into concept art and storyboard creation, Damaggio began his artistic career as a penciler and inker for DC Comics. Damaggio notes this bit of advice on his website: 'if you want to learn to draw, draw comics.'

It's extremely clear that he's learned to do just that, with cinematic grandeur. And to say that I'm absolutely stoked that Rodolfo Damaggio's current gig just happens to be Warner Bros' upcoming Green Lantern movie would be an understatement.

Damaggio's talent and skill is reflected by his extensive resume that includes films like Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. He's worked with director Joe Johnston on both Jurassic Park III and most recently Universal's The Wolf Man -- which you know all about from our weekend blog.

Science fiction aside, Damaggio's experience in film hasn't strayed too far from his comic book beginnings. He's worked as a concept and storyboard artist on Ang Lee's Hulk, Marvel's first Iron Man movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Mission Impossible III.

It's likely to be some time before any of his concept art of Ryan Reynolds or Green Lantern surfaces, but once you see Damaggio's work, it's impossible to think that Green Lantern's concepts are in anything but the best and most capable of hands.

For your graphic imagination, abbracadabbling presents just a sample of Rodolfo Damaggio's portfolio below. If you'd like to see more, you can find his many portfolios and samples of his comics work on his website here.

Mission Impossible 3 concept art

Mission Impossible 3 concept art

Sketch art for Indiana Jones 4

Batman pencils and inks for DC Comics

Storyboard element from Hulk

Storyboard page from Act I

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

New 'Star Wars' Photo Exposes Leia's Dark Side

Awesome photo find making the rounds on Twitter thanks to Jason Kottke. This proves what I've been saying since 1985: They did make a Stunt-Double Princess Leia Slave Girl action figure!

Carrie Fisher took her captive Princess - and thousands of teenage boys - to new heights by (barely) wearing one of science fiction's skimpiest outfits. The Dark Side was tempting, but it couldn't hold a lightsaber to the power of Leia's Back Side. Ho!

For your graphic imagination, the slavishly sexy Fisher steals sunshine beside her stunt-double on Jabba's sand-barge while filming George Lucas' Return of The Jedi (1983).