Get Me To the Church On Time

We're getting closer and closer to the halfway mark on Love and Capes. It's taking longer than I thought, but I did just finish page nine. It's another Darkblade and Crusader hanging out in the city page, which has become a staple in the series. I wanted to do something a little different, though, so I designed a new building for this sequence, this time a cathedral, so that there was a different look to it.

Batman always looks cool walkiing around on the top of a church, so I thought I could pull it off with Darkblade.

I've tried to create a catalog of background elements so that I can keep the pace and style of the book. In that catalog is a file of buildings that I cut, paste, and mess around with so that I can create the cityscapes in the series. And I try to add a building or two to the library every issue, so that things don't get stale.

This particular page felt like one of those pages that I'd never finish, but I'm fairly happy with how it came out.

Pirate Law

Okay, would someone please explain this to me:

I just got back from seeing Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End… and liked it a lot. The first still is the best, but the third is close behind, and is, in fact, so good and pays off threads from the previous film that I now like the second movie better than I did a few hours ago.

But that's not my question, as you may have noticed from the obvious lack of a question mark in the preceeding paragraph. What I want to know is Why did almost everybody at the 8:00pm premiere leave during the credits?

You can be forgiven for not staying through the credits in the first film. You didn't know there'd be something after. But, when the second one came out, you probably saw the first film on TV or DVD or someething and knew there was a bit after the credits. So by the third film, you sure as shootin' better have figured out there's an ending coda.

Still, nearly everyone left.

Any other showing, I'd be far more forgiving. But, if you made time in your schedule to wait in line, and in many cases dress up in pirate gear (not my case, though, let's be clear) to go see the very first showing, you're probably a fan of the movies. And if you're a fan, how do you not know there's something coming at the end?

So, if you walked out, let me tell you what you missed: A scene so poignant and earth-shattering that my life and my soul are forever changed. A scene so brilliant and so well executed that even if you do eventually see that scene on DVD, or if someone tells you about it, you will still never know the pure bliss that came with seeing that scene, right there in that moment.

Or, it was just a really nice scene and I'm lying to you. Pirates do that.

Avast Me Hearties!

Tomorrow night is the premiere of Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Some friends of mine and I are going. We were planning on the midnight show, but then they announced the eight and, hey, we're not stupid.
The occasion of the third film isn't just an excuse to run a picture of the smokin' hot Keira Knightley though. I wanted to point out the unique ad campaign they're using to sell the previews: See it before the secrets get out.
Now, that's part of why I like to see things opening week. That and being with a crowd that really wants to see the film, and not just "something, and Shrek the Third was sold out." But it's the first time I've seen an early premiere sold this way, and I think it's clever, and really shows an understanding of the audience.
As for what the secrets are, I dunno. I've stayed off the parts of the interweb that might spoil anything. My prediction, though, is that Captain Jack, as captain of a vessel, will perform Will and Elizabeth's wedding ceremony.
In other news, I have the Love and Capes shirts prototypes. And they look shweeeeet.

And Now, Something For the Ladies

I just finished page eight, which means I'm one-third through the fifth issue. Yay, me!

Here we get to see Mark get up in the morning.

Obviously much of this is based on me, from the physique to the layout of the bathroom. The major difference is that my pajama bottoms of choice feature The Nightmare Before Christmas.

And don't worry, the scene gets much more interesting than just seeing Mark brush his teeth, as much as I might think that would be riveting drama.

This page came out pretty well, and I'm especially happy since I pencilled and inked it after a full day of outlet shopping in Pennsylvania. (Hey, I needed new Nikes and replacement for my old coffee maker.) A lot of times, that much driving and walking will make me want to collapse on the couch and watch 24 rather than block out and draw a page.

Special Appearance By...

Love and Capes is coming together, albeit slowly. Here's a panel from page seven, and I've got page eight already planned out. The book's starting to come together.

Sometimes I get bored and throw friends or actors into the strip. Gus and Shawn from Psych made it in last issue, and my friend Mike found someone with his name in the book, although he looked and dressed more like Johnny Smith from The Dead Zone. This page features my mailman, fellow Councilman, and friend Robin playing the part of, well, the mailman. To paraphrase Troy McClure, "It's the part he was born to play, baby!"

Corner Bookstore

I got an e-mail from my friend Charlotte Fullerton this morning. She's contributed to a Gilmore Girls book. Charlotte's a great writer and a better person, and Gilmore Girls is... okay, I've never watched it. Oddly, I've been on the set, but never watched it. I meant to get into it a couple of years ago, as a lot of people whose opinions I respect dig it, but again, big with the busy. But, if you had a little more free time or foresight than I did and watched the residents of Stars Hollow, I think you should check it out.

Heck, I'll probably by the book myself, even if I don't understand it. Writer solidarity.

As long as I'm hawking books, my friend and client Caridad Ferrer has another book coming out, It's Not About the Accent, from MTV Books. Accent and her previous Adios to my Old Life, are Latina young adult novels. Now, while I'm sure she didn't write the books with a thirtysomething cartoonist in mind, didn't mean I didn't like it. In fact, I loved the first book and am looking forward to the second. I highly recommend both of them.

And that concludes this installment of the Thom Zahler Book Club.

Map of the World… or at least Florida

It's been a while since I posted any actual artwork eye candy for y'all in a while. I've been busy with a lot of things, including Free Comic Book Day and, of course, my birthday, which I believe should be a national holiday. Hey, I just want you to get an extra day off. And if I get some cool stuff out of it (including a new George Foreman Grill, a spinning Spider-Man 3 webshooter, the complete run of the Battle Royale manga, a book on Viktor Schrekengost, and a lot of other neat things) so much the better.

But, one of my longer term projects has been a caricature map for some fine people in Florida. These are as much craft as art, as it's not just simple cartooning, but also getting the layout and scale and map elements right. There are legends and insets that my client will be providing, but my part should be finished, and I think it looks pretty good.

Fallen Soldiers

They’ve announced most of the fall schedule. here’s some decent looking stuff on it. I’m particularly looking forward to Bionic Woman. But, that being said, I think we need to take a moment to remember out fallen comrades, the ones that didn’t quite make it out.

First up on my list is Justice. I’ll be the first to admit it was a cotton candy show, not one to reinvent the medium, but a lot of fun. One of the things I thought was particularly cool was that the actual crime was revealed after the trial was over. Since the main characters never actually knew the truth, there was never that “Law and Order” acting. You know, the kind of acting where you know someone is lying because, well, they’re acting like they’re lying. In Justice, it could be played straight, and you wouldn’t know what really happened until later.

Next, The Nine. This was a wonderful character piece about nine people who survived a hostage situation. With Tim Daly, Chi McBride and John Billingsly among other actors, this was just a bang-up cast. Sadly, Tim Daly continues to be the kiss of death on Wednesday nights on ABC. Don’t get me started on Eyes, and I’m a little worried about Private Practice now, too.

It wasn’t completely unexpected, but I’ll miss Stargate-SG1. This series did the impossible, in that it rebooted itself with a new mission and a few new characters. It did the kind of allegorical stories that Star Trek used to do. Currently, the SG1 team are fighting an incredibly powerful group of religious zealots forcing people to convert or perish. Sound like anything? The show remained fun, too. The 200th episode was a hilarious love letter to the fans, and the characters were undeniably engaging. Sci-Fi has decided to cancel this but still allow it a couple of movies to wrap everything up. So it could have been worse.

I blame ER for the demise of The Black Donnellys. This was a Paul Haggis drama, in the same vein as his also-cancelled EZ Streets. Why I’d be attracted to the story of an artist named Tommy who had to keep his brothers out of trouble. It was supposed to replace ER on Thursdays mid-season, but the venerable doctor drama came on strong this year, and Donnellys was moved to the Monday Night of Death. I’ve got a theory that really smart dramas don’t work on Monday nights. People are too fried from their first day at work to watch something thinky. Both PrisonBreak and 24 have enough action to keep people going. Donnellys may have been a little too smart for the time period…like another show I’ll get to soon.

I thought Raines was spectacularly well-written. Its pilot had a surprise twist to it I didn’t see coming, and I watch enough TV that that’s hard to do. The mysteries were pretty good, Jeff Goldblum gave a great performance, and the art deco Raymond Chandler vibe was pretty slick. This delusional detective saw murder victims and imagined the way they’d look and sound. It could have been a really good show.

I feel like any description of Drive should end in the middle of a sentence, the was Fox yanked it so quickly. Four episodes over three nights is barely enough time for people to learn a show is on, let alone like it. It was an improbably plot about an illegal cross country road race, but it was addictive. And Fox canceled it in the middle of a two parter. Man, I hate those guys. Of course, I’ve still never forgiven them for canceling Profit.

The most painful one for me is, of course, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I am an unabashed Sorkin fan, and when you put Matthew Perry in the lead I was expecting gold. I think we got it… five episodes too late. The pilot and the premise in general were plot heavy: a great comedy writing-producing team are lured back to the sketch comedy show they were fired from to save it by the new network head. Why was that so bad? Because you have to establish the comedy team, the new network head, and the big stars who work the show.

It started off a little clunky. It became apparent that the show was about writing, which is a difficult sell. Still, seeing Matt Albie walk into his office in the middle of a successful first episode to see a countdown clock reminding him that he had only a week to do it again will always be with me. And once they did their Christmas episode, every episode afterwards was just fantastic.

I think this show needed a little more time, maybe a better time slot. Sadly, it got neither and it’s gone.

I accept that my tastes are rarified. There are probably a few shows that work just for me and few other people (Chicago Sons and Profit come to mind) but not enough to support renewal. But far too many of these shows are bounced after a couple of low-rated episodes and after the time and investment, aren’t given the time to find an audience. Or they’re pre-empted so they can’t build one.

Why networks invest so much money in a series and then kill it so speciously, I’ll never understand.

The Big Shirt Announcement!

You've been waiting for the announcement, I know. So click here and find out how to buy your cool Love and Capes t-shirt. (The image of the lovely ladies is a digital composite... I'm working on getting real samples on models soon!) I'm taking pre-orders now, and the shirts will be availablein sizes from Small to XXX-Large, and in time for San Diego.

You Say It's My Birthday...

Yup. Much like Superman, I've turned 29. Again.