Michel Fiffe
Zegas #1 was listed as a notable in the Best American Comics 2012! The book series is edited by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden with a rotating slot for guest editor every year. This time around, Françoise Mouly did the honors. I’m in fine company, and it’s quite the honor.
That there’s the image for the new podcast in town, Travis Bickle on the Riviera, with hosts Tucker Stone and Sean Witzke. It’s about movies, cinema, film, actors, actresses, directors, Hollywood… you name it, it’s on there.
Check it out on iTunes or at The Factual Opinion.
It’s not uncommon to find me going through podcast after podcast these days. If it has a person with recording capabilities and they’ve pressed record, I’m your man. If you emit sounds and then you file those sounds under “opinions”, then go ahead and slap a clever title on it; I’m probably the right guy for you. Comics, music, comedy, whatever, I’ll take it. But there’s one that rules them all. The one to beat is Gelmania.
“You ain’t worth nothing but the money in your pocket and the articles written about you. That’s where it starts and that’s where it stops. Don’t think for a second that you are like me… [I’m an artist].” – Hustle, Brett Gelman
My main source for this stuff is Earwolf: How Did This Get Made?, Who Carted?, Improv4Humans, Comedy Bang Bang… they’ve all provided hundreds of hours of enjoyment.
You know who else makes with the podcasts? Tucker Stone*. He’s knee deep in it and loving it. I mentioned to Tucker how pathetic I felt when I recently read a couple of 70s horror comic books and immediately felt the need to post about it, a hunger to document and expose this totally quiet and tiny moment of genuine pleasure and make a– a thing about it. As if I had to validate my sense of place in the world by appropriating some crappy little images and pumping them into an empty, fleeting beat in time, simultaneously failing to absorb true value and reflecting cultural emptiness.
House of Mystery #245, September, 1976. There’s a story called A Talent For Murder in there. David V. Reed was hacking it out under the name Coram Nobis, but artist Leopoldo Duranona is the clear winner on this one. Wait, the art is better than the writing? In a comic book? WHAT… a fucking shocker.
There was another story in that issue that took two writers (one of them a lawyer), but it was drawn by Alex Niño, which automatically catapults it to greatness.
Haunted #31, January, 1977. I do indeed like the late Tom Sutton. So much so that I clipped an interesting bit of history from his TCJ interview. His Planet of the Apes spread is a classic, an unbelievable effort, and I loved his short story in a Daredevil annual. But I really like the slapped together experiments he used to write and draw for Charlton. Check this page out… it’s like a Trevor Von Eeden pages trying to do 70s Toth, except it’s between the two. I’m a fan of low budget risk taking in comics.
Oh, you, too? You also like the the more unique low budget attempts in comics? Well, I recently hosted Dennis Fujitake Week, where I wrote a few brief notes and scanned a whole lot of material featuring this amazing, underrated fanzine-artist-turned pro. Like I mention in one of the posts, I’m so taken by this late 70s era of comic book fandom (which Fujitake fully represents, I think), and I know it’s borderline obnoxious to dwell on the past in that fetishistic way, a past I was clearly not a part of, but I can’t help notice the visceral excitement on these smelly pieces of newsprint. That shit just looked more fun than anything.
Enough about comics. Here’s another obsession: Ferrante and Teicher’s Denizens of the Deep album, which is the only music on repeat around here. I thought it’d be easier to find any clips of this rare album online, so I’ve put up a couple of examples:
I did find this video which shows the duo masterfully playing and manipulating their pianos to achieve those specific sounds. Ferrante and Teicher are mostly known as schmaltzy lounge composers, but there was a brief period of groundbreaking brilliance that cannot be shared enough.
Ah, music. Music! I’ve been fantasizing about playing drums in a band again. I have a very specific sound that I want to help make, though, something out of a TJ Hooker scene change, dirty but full of chops. I want to make music that will make me wish I was back in 1980 NYC getting blown somewhere in Time Square. A mid-life crisis can wait, I want this now. Or at least until I finish writing and drawing some comic books.
–Fiffe
*Be sure to check out my upcoming podcast with Tucker called Truth Telling In Mark Making. Catch it!
… but I’ve been writing less and less about comics recently, a slightly deliberate position mostly due to time spent making them. I’m left with very little time to work on that massive Tim Gula or Chris Wozniak retrospective that I’d write in a heartbeat.
I still do like looking at things – I’m only human – and so I’ve been slowly cataloging art and artists via my Tumblr.
That was Tim Hamilton, Klaus Janson, Alberto Breccia and Alex Niño… a few of the favorite pieces I’ve posted, and the perfect excuses to get back to work.
More writings and drawings soon!
–Fiffe
Here’s a recent Doctor Strange drawing I made specifically for a brand spanking new blog: the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Reduxe Edition and it’s dedicated to the title of the same name. From the crew that brought us Relaunched, a diverse bunch of cartoonists aim to present their versions of the original profiles. Mark Gruenwald would be proud.
Doctor Stange was created and designed by Steve Ditko and the original drawing that mine was loosely based off of was pencilled by Paul Smith.
In other news, I was recently interviewed by Martyn Pedler over at Booklsut in regards to my bootleg/love letter/fan fic Suicide Squad comic [see previous post for details]. It’s a brief piece, underpinned by Pedler’s own frustrations with ethical negotiation when reading modern mainstream comics. Read it, it’s interesting.
Oh, yeah, and here’s a Squad related sketch I did for Zack Smith at this past Heroes Con.
–Fiffe
I brought forth my Deathzone! comic a few weeks ago, and the world responded:
First off, big thanks to Tucker Stone and his Factual Opinion for contributing to the actual comic in question, and for discussing it some on his Comics Are Burning In Hell (Episode 0.3) podcast, co-hosted with greats Joe McCulloch and Matt Seneca, entrusted comix allies all.
Another podcast that favorably mentioned us was War Rocket Ajax (Episode #115), hosted by Chris Sims and Matt Wilson. Chris, a huge fan of the Squad himself, also wrote a piece on Deathzone! over at Comics Alliance before seeing the final product, so I’m really glad he liked it. Oh, and the Mindless Ones had some really nice things to say about it upon my revealing the comic [and after receiving it as well!]; they always come through with support.
Reviews, too! The first one came in straight from Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery, a blog which has extensively covered the Squad throughout its exhaustive blogging schedule. I appreciate It’s a Dan’s World and Nowhere / No Formats for taking note of the comic, too. Further thanks to Comics Reporter and Spandexless for mentioning Deathzone! And big thanks to Zack Soto for dropping the name and the love all over the webs. A special shout out goes to Annie Koyama, who has helped and supported me in more ways than I can ever repay.
And of course, thank you ALL for checking out, inquiring about, and referencing Deathzone! … and for buying its accompanying print.
Having this comic out there has also connected me with other Suicide Squad fans, such as Brannon Costello, who remarked on John Ostrander’s work over at Pretty Fakes, as well as blogs such as Subject: The Suicide Squad (Task Force X) and Omega Agent 1’s Bronze Tiger.
In other news, I will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina this June 22-24!
I’m quite excited to be able to exhibit at Heroes Con; I’ve been wanting to simply attend for years. This will be a fun show, so drop by Indie Island and say hi!
–Fiffe
I interviewed Tony Salmons over at The Factual Opinion (in three segments). Salmons talks about his comic art development, breaking in and staying afloat, and a brutal behind-the-scenes overview which spans several eras in corporate comics.
What Salmons has to say will strike many chords with working cartoonists, and it will definitely rub a few the wrong way. He’s up front about the reputation that supposedly precedes him and about his relationship with editorial, perhaps burning bridges that were never really there.
Getting a chance to feature Salmons like this was an opportunity of a lifetime, being a long time fan of his work and all, but also because there was little to nothing out there about the artist himself. It took us a few tries over a stretched out period of time to cover his career in detail, and I thank Tony for being so patient in my conducting this expansive and revealing, almost purgative, interview.
Aside from the interview, I followed up with two of collaborators from the past: Mark Chiarello and Martha Thomases.
Martha Thomases and Tony Salmons worked on the sharp and short lived Marvel series, Dakota North.
Martha Thomases on Dakota North’s development: “First of all, let me point out that this was about 25 years ago, and my memory is not what it used to be. If my version contradicts anyone else’s, please believe them. I had done some writing for Marvel’s humor magazine, which was edited by Larry Hama. He and I would discuss gender roles in pop culture. He had the idea at the time, which I think is genius, that Wonder Woman should be written like Charlie’s Angels, and would then attract a huge audience. Through these conversations, we developed the idea for Dakota North. Larry brought Tony in. He was living in Connecticut at the time, and we’d meet occasionally in Larry’s office. Because I was new to script-writing, most of my collaboration was with Larry. I’d write something, he’d explain how it wasn’t useful for the artist, and I’d re-write. And re-write. And re-write. For someone who has read comics since I was five years old, I was extremely stupid about telling a story visually.”
On working with Salmons and further stories: “I based a few of the characters, visually, on friends of mine. Dakota was Norris Church Mailer. Another character was my friend David Freelander, a fashion designer who died from AIDS a few years later. Tony never met them, and yet his drawings looked remarkably like them. It was supposed to be an on-going series. That said, I have no idea where I planned to take it. However, I do have a draft proposal for a mini-series, so I guess the characters have stayed with me.”
On cancellation: “I remember sitting in Larry’s office when Jim Shooter poked his head in to casually announce the cancellation, just after the third issue came out. I think it was because of poor sales. I know the first issue sold more than 120,000 copies, but I guess subsequent issues tanked.”
Mark Chiarello has worked with Salmons as his colorist on Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice and as his editor on Batman: Black & White.
Mark Chiarello on coloring Tony’s unorthodox style: “Anytime you color artwork as inspired as Tony’s stuff is, you just get a little more jazzed than usual. You don’t do anything different per se, other than simply being a little more excited about the material you’re working on, which always makes for a better end product. I talked with the editor, Archie Goodwin, a bit about my approach but then just ran with it. As I recall, it wasn’t till after the series was printed that I called Tony to buy a few pages of the original art.”
On Salmons meeting deadlines: “Tony is pretty much the worst with deadlines, or at least he was on the few DC projects that we worked on together. The cause? Oh, I have my own theories, I’m sure it’s some deep seated fear of becoming too rich and too famous. Yup, [Vigilante] was that late. Bret [Blevins, fill in for the series] pretty much saved our asses on that one!”
On working with Tony as his editor: “Again, Tony lived up to his reputation as an astonishingly brilliant artist and a total flake. I’ve always thought of Tony’s work as a cross between a fine artist like Jeff Jones or Kent Williams and a totally dynamic, vibrant commercial artist like Jack Kirby. The pages were just a thing of beauty , but they were ridiculously late. [Batman: Black & White] was really the project that told me it’s probably better for me to be a fan of this guy’s work, rather than a business associate. Tony is an incredibly sweet guy, but sometimes it’s best to step back and just admire the talent from afar.”
– – – – – – –
Many thanks to Martha, Mark, and Tony for their time.
–Fiffe
My latest love letter, made up of historical and critical kisses, is One Artist Anthology Comics over at The Comics Journal. I trace the trend from Crumb to Ditko, and focus on the strongest of the contenders such as Clowes, Ware, and the Hernandez Bros. I also examine the glut in the mid 90s, the fallout from a beat up industry, the [not as thin as I thought] herd of modern examples and why cartoonists can greatly benefit from such a specific publishing pattern. Check out why the one-man anthology is the format of choice around here.
I told myself that it was a silly idea, that it was nothing but a distraction, a nostalgic impulse at best, and that I had more important things to do. Next thing I knew, I had written, drawn, and colored sixteen pages of my very own Suicide Squad comic. I called it DEATHZONE!
You know about the Suicide Squad already, right? I’ve gone on about it before, and always kept a close eye on those who did the same. It was one of my very first and favorite comics as a kid, and during the tail end of my previous project, I couldn’t get them out of my mind.
Recap: Suicide Squad was DC Comics’ version of the Dirty Dozen. John Ostrander wrote it, Luke McDonnell drew it, and John’s late wife, Kim Yale, joined in on the writing chores early on. Suicide Squad was a task force made up of C-list bad guys and obscure, throwaway characters used as fodder for dangerous government missions. Some of them didn’t always make it back. Turnover was pretty high as a result. Just look at the line up below… that’s only the first year’s roster. Also, they lived in a prison in the middle of a swamp.
One of my favorite issues is #10 (Feb. ’88), “Up Against The Wall”, where Batman pretends to be a prisoner in order to get some dirt on the Squad. He’s then outed, hunted, and taken to task… all neatly wrapped up in 22 pages. No issue better illustrates Amanda Waller’s verve as a leader, the Squad’s rag tag group dynamics, and the visual cool of their Belle Reve headquarters.
Oh, man, look at that last panel… arghk!… classic McDonnell. Anyway, I couldn’t articulate all that as a 9 year old, but I had to channel my excitement somehow back then. I took the weird relationship that Batman seemed to have with the Squad and made up my own ending to “Up Against The Wall”. In my version, Batman still gets away but has at least a few cuts and bruises.
Shown: stairs, rooftop, Batarang, home, bed, in that order. Shortly thereafter, I made another comic that featured an exhausted, pummeled Batman, this time against Shade the Changing Man (another Squad member). Shade, who is usually a good guy in the regular comics, stands as a redesigned, demonic villain under my direction. Shade’s mission was to take Batman and his Justice League teammates into a hellish dimension in order to torture them… slowly!
What you’ve witnessed here is the classic example of a cartoonist’s typical pattern: falling in love with this stuff at an early age, wanting to replicate that thrill, and then stubbornly trying to follow through on that desire as best one can. That’s the spirit of the industry right there.
That’s how I’ve ended up with DEATHZONE! A sixteen page, full color comic that’s been over 20 years in the making.
Here’s the line up…
… and here are some preview pages…
As if that wasn’t enough, Tucker Stone came through with a treatise on the last super hero comic that mattered, an essay which could only be titled:
So don’t delay any longer… get it now!
Finally, here’s the last page of my Shade vs Batman story.
–Michel Fiffe
Zegas #2 made its debut recently… and it’s been reviewed!
You can also get a copy of both issues at these fine comic shops:
Or you can always get it directly from me if you’d like.
We all had a great time at the Stumptown Comics Fest last week. It was too short a visit in Portland, but we hope to visit sooner than later. Here are a bunch of photos from the Fest via Comics Alliance (thx, Caleb!), and here are a couple more for good measure.
Oh, and Zegas is also available at the Multnomah County Library in Oregon! It’s cool to think of those comics being checked out… do so if you’re in the area!
