The Evolution Of Famous People

There's this insanely talented artist named Jeff Victor. He's currently a full-time designer for Nickelodeon Games and also runs a personal site called Wicked Crispy. His site is full of awesome pop-culture related works, but one of my favorite series is where he creates illustrations of famous actors and musicians and does a timeline, or evolution, of their careers. Here are three of my favorites:

Johnny Depp

Comics Review: The James Bond Omnibus Volume 003

Everyone has their favorite James Bond; most of us who grew up in the '70s and '80s are still divided over Sean Connery and Roger Moore.(Which is a ludicrous debate, of course: Connery, with his rough-and-tumble bare-knuckle brawling and Super Brow could wipe the floor with Moore.) The younger folk might remember Pierce Brosnan's respectable suavity in the '90s, and most seem to agree that Daniel Craig brought some fresh pathos and great abs to the role in the new century.

The consensus tends to be that our favorite Bond is the always one we saw first. As movie people, we sometimes forget that Bond started in, uh, books. But in addition to novels and films, Bond was also... a daily comic strip.

In fact, James Bond's comic strips debuted in 1957 in the UK newspaper The Daily Express, five years before the first Bond flick (Dr. No), and ran until early 1983.

Who knew?

In 1957, Ian Fleming gave his reportedly guarded blessing to The Daily Express, allowing them to transform his super spy into a daily comic. Who knows whether he was pleased with the result, but the strip ran for almost 30 years in England. Now, Bond fans on either side of the pond can read the long-running serial in three collected volumes, the latest of which just hit the shelves: The James Bond Omnibus: Volume 003.

I'm a fan of daily comics and I've always liked the constant cliffhangers of serial storytelling. Before newspapers went extinct, I remember following the long-running adventures of Spider-Man. (The musty soap operas Mary Worth and Rex Morgan, M.D.? Not so much.) So I cracked opened this collection, looking forward to reading the seven novel-ish stories included, with sensational titles like "River Of Death," "The Golden Ghost," and "Double Jeopardy." Fun stuff, yes? Each one a full cinematic tale, broken down and told in three-panel bites. And with everything collected omnibusily, I wouldn't have to wait a day between each strip.

Book Review: One Model Nation

When I started reading the graphic novel, One Model Nation (written by Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols, art by Jim Rugg (Street Angel), and produced by Mike Allred (Red Rocket 7)), I immediately realized that I did not know enough about post-World War II Germany. I mean, I knew a little; I had heard of the Baader-Meinhoff Gang and the band Kraftwerk, but most of my knowledge of that period of Germany was very vague. And that made me really think about the gaps in my history education. My education, even in college, basically stopped including global history after WWII. However, the period that this graphic novel covers, the mid '70s, was just as tumultuous and critical in Germany as it was anywhere else where political and civil liberties were being tested. While I do think as a story One Model Nation can stand on its own, it also really piqued my interest to learn more.

The premise of One Model Nation is that it is following a fictional art rock band in the '70s, but the authors have also included a "what if" scenario of violence breaking out at concerts, raids at parties, and the turmoil of political unrest. The band, One Model Nation, is getting held up by the media as so-called leaders of the extremist political movement when in actuality they are not part of it at all. They are simply musicians who are part of the same generation of youth that are attending their concerts, and some of that youth are joining the terrorist organization. Overlaying this scenario onto the music scene of the time lets the author explore the convergence of political and artistic tensions, the collective German guilt over the previous Nazi regime, and an unhappy youth who feel suppressed and anger towards the older generation. And most importantly, what happens to the artists who get caught in the middle.

One of my favorite aspects of the comic was the art done by Jim Rugg. The members of the band One Model Nation are pale, sketched in, almost unfinished looking throughout the novel, while other characters in the comic, such as Ulrike Meinhof the terrorist, and the brief appearance of David Bowie, are drawn in detail with more vivid coloring, almost popping off the page in comparison. The contrast between the two is a wonderful symbol of the band getting swept away by events outside of their control, as if they are already fading away. This is reiterated in the final scenes of the novel, that almost seem anti-climactic, but uphold the theme that in the tumult of the time the artists are the ones that are forgotten. It is a haunting, rather sad ending.

All in all, I really enjoyed this graphic novel even without knowing the background history. But I think I liked it more once I read up on the history. I also equally enjoyed the Foreword by Michael Allred and the story behind the story by Courtney Taylor-Taylor. I think collectively it built up to a really interesting graphic novel, and its power is in the way it stays with you later. I would recommend this to those especially interested in the way art and music emerge into their environment.

Seven Questions In Heaven With Esther Pearl Watson

You know around here we've got a soft spot for the '80s. Today we're talking with Esther Pearl Watson, author of the hilarious and poignant comic, Tammy Pierce is Unlovable, a sadly accurate look at the high school years for many of us.

Describe your comic, Tammy Pierce is Unlovable, for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Tammy Pierce is a 15 year old lovable loser growing up in a small town and trying to survive high school. It's based on a diary I found in a gas station bathroom, although now it's closer to my childhood. It started out as a 64-page mini-comic in which I tried to break all the rules of comics: no grid, broken sequence, speech balloons in wrong places, sloppy writing and mess-ups, inconsistency of character, etc. Bust Magazine saw the first mini and since 2004 I have been doing the back page comic for Bust. Fantagraphics published the complete sophomore year of Tammy's life in a two volume set.

Was the diary set in the '80s? How do you think that influences the comic's content?
Yes, the diary was set in the late '80s. The distance of time helps point out some of absurdity we go through in high school. Especially trying to pretend you can afford certain brands or being obsessed with music to prove you're OK. Tammy finds a Debbie Gibson tape but has to pretend she doesn't like it to impress Ken Edward Olsen who like The Smiths. It all looks silly years later. All those friends you impressed or didn't impress, where are they now?

Can you tell us a little about your other artwork as well?
I also make paintings in a 'grandma moses' style about growing up in Texas with an eccentric father who built flying saucers in the front yard.

It's The Great White, Charlie Brown

I found out something today. My love of Jaws is far greater than my hatred of Peanuts because this mashup by Charles Forsman brought a smile to my face:

[source]

Wondermark: Our Interview with David Malki !

Today we're talking with David Malki ! (yes, the exclamation point is included), who is an author, creator of the webcomic Wondermark, editor of the anthology Machine of Death, and at the head of so many projects, frankly, I have a hard time keeping track. What I can tell you is he is definitely doing some unique work which I hope you'll dig as much I do.

Hi David, how are you doing?
Good. Thanks!

You write an online comic using Victorian wood cuts. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how you got started?
Sure. Wondermark is a comic strip that's made using illustrations from books from the 1800s that are all scans from primary sources whenever possible and then cut apart in Photoshop. And the elements used is sort of puzzle pieces and ingredients to make comic strips. And it's something I've been doing now for eight years, and it started sort of as a lark, sort of an experiment like, "I wonder if you could make a comic strip this way." And the answer turned out to be yes. So I kept doing it.