BEEF-MASTER

Well, we see how this works. I finally hooked my scanner up to my laptop. Everything worked fine until I went into Photoshop. It seems the 'save for web' function doesn't on my laptop. I could've sworn I'd done it before, but I guess not.

So, I saved it as a Photoshop jpeg. The preview looks fine. Here's hoping.

This is the penciled 5th panel of page 8. Getting closer to being on schedule. Whoopee!



This whole thing started super dense, and it's getting denser as I work on it. Soon, it will be ultra dense. After that? OMEGA DENSE. Beware the OMEGA DENSITY, for it is coming. For YOU.

MoCCA is now only 7 weeks away, so I really need to pick up the paces, one time.
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I'm reading Nick Bertozzi's The Salon. Only about 20% through it, but I think it's the aces. I'd read a few issues of Rubber Necker ages ago, but I don't remember anything really grabbing me about them. I actually can't remember anything about them at all. And they're buried at the moment, so I can't even refresh my memory. However, I've kept his name in the back of my brain, probably in anticipation. I guess it clicked enough for me to be on the lookout for the next thing he did. And I was impressed enough by the visual element of his Houdini book (with Jason Lutes) that I wasn't deterred. Really, the cartooning and the drawing are the draws for that book (the story, not so much).

But The Salon is, so far, satisfying on every level. I'm so running around the towns, talking like Picasso: "Always my mother make piss before a fight."

Visually, it's scrumptious. Lively brush strokes, character designs full of... well, character, and wonderful depth to the compositions. It's pretty inspiring work, as well. His panels are just a bit wider than mine and about the same height, so it's nice to see someone pushing in that direction.

Maybe I'll write more when I'm done with it. Here's a good, short interview with Bertozzi.

I'm also plowing through the first Fantastic Four Omnibus. It took me a while to dig into it, partially because the book ends right before the title really exploded into awesomeness. Still, I'm glad I resolved to start reading it. The stories are pretty sparse and sometimes questionable, but it's a lot of fun watching Lee and Kirby discover the rules they were inventing on the spot. They clearly had no idea what they were doing from issue to issue. Sometimes it seems like they didn't know what they were doing from panel to panel. There's been a couple pages where some MacGuffin device of Doctor Doom's has been described as three completely different things. It's also obvious that Doctor Doom himself was more a work in progress than a fully formed idea. I do wish he used that shark-faced helicopter more often, though.

But some of the brilliant touches were in there right from the start, and just kept getting better. The interpersonal relationships and small character details that fill most of these stories are where all the fun is at. The Thing with the teacup is my favorite, so far. Just a perfect little image you know was done just because it made Kirby laugh to do so, but that spelled volumes about what it was they were on about. And the famous letters pages are some of the best examples of fan interaction I've ever seen.
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Okay, enough from me. It's time to crack some wine and finish watching a Bret Hart/Ted DiBiase match from 1989 before heading to bed. Man, I wish I had some more DiBiasse to watch. He was really good. I wonder if he'll ever get a dvd.