JOE JUSKO WARLORD of MARS!

Joe Jusko has been doing superb work with his covers for the John Carter comic books. Each and every cover a serious masterpiece. The particular thrill to seeing Joe doing John Carter comes not only from the fact that he's busting them out so quickly but he's not losing a step in quality in any way shape or form. Like Frazetta , Jones , Boris or any of his other contemporaries or any other fantasy artist Jusko's skill and style are legendary. He already has about 2 dozen John Carter , Dejah Thoris covers in print and on shelves and in collections! I cannot wait for one whole collection of Joes work ( All these covers in one book ) I used to think you can't get any better than those Joe Jusko savage sword covers...each one a stand alone masterpiece...then he goes and blows all our minds with these genius pieces of work. Keep making us HAPPY JOE! We will always be here to enjoy your work! Continue to continuously blow our minds with your skill.

More to come...I want to see if I can cram all his covers on the blog in the days to come!

John Carter WARLORD of MARS

DO YOU REMEMBER MY HAVING TOLD YOU OF THE MANY TIMES I SPENT IN THE HOSPITAL AS A CHILD DUE TO A SERIOUS KIDNEY DISEASE? Well I may not have explained to you why I was in the hospital but I did say I was there. I told you in several posts that my Mom and Dad used to come and visit me and bring me a stack of comics...sometimes just 1. In this case my Dad picked out the comic book because Tarzan was mentioned on the cover and he knew how much I loved me some Tarzan! Well...as everyone knows John Carter WARLORD of MARS and TARZAN are brothers of a sort...in that their creator EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS was also in essence their Dad.

My Dad probably did not know how much of a thrill giving me JCWOM # 1 was to me...first of all it was a first issue , then the cover was drawn by Gil Kane who I recognized Johnny on the spot from his CONAN contributions. I knew of John Carter from the Tarzan family comics by DC comics a couple of years prior and to see him with Marvel comics drawn by a CONAN artist I was in heaven. I mmediately got lost in the story and eagerly awaited the following issue. I made sure I was down at the candy store every week with my allowance looking for each issue as it came out. I am happy to say that I saw the trailer for the upcoming JOHN CARTER movie and cannot wait. One of the greatest adventure characters of all time is getting the attention he deserves.

B'wana Beast!

As a kid one of the coolest characters I ever came across was this guy. He had a cool helmet and ran around the jungle like Tarzan and had a Gorilla sidekick...everyone else had a dog or cat or horse of tiger or lion but not almighty B'wana! He had a cool power too. He could meld two animals together and make one big giant super beast. Of course he can communicate with wild animals and all that good stuff. Something about this cool Mike Sekowsky/Joe Giella cover mesmerised me. I always loved the way Mike drew super heroes...he really had a knack for it.
One of the coolest things about this issue was the CAPTAIN ACTION ad ...It looks like Curt Swan's art in the ad...I always wondered just who did draw that. I'd appreciate any input anyone could give me. In the coming weeks I'll see if I can post that ad.

Planet of the apes ( Marvel magazines )

Planet of the apes!!! I have the entire Marvel magazine run and I love every single issue and cover. Just to prove my point....I once traded Detective comics # 92 for the entire series in one shot. Over the next week or so I will show you some of my favorite Planet of the apes covers...

Like this one here by Bob Larkin I believe. More on that trade in the near future

DRACULA - Gene Colan

Nobody but nobody did a better Drac than Colan...the guy was a phenom. In that he never ever stuck to the prescribed house style of Marvel comics. Instead , using his God given talent to bring figures forth from shadow Gene created the most eerie atmpospheric images and was perfect for this comic book. He is a legend...Like Kirby and Buscema. He will be missed.

The PHANTOM ZONE

The Phantom zone mini- series by Steve Gerber , Gene Colan and Tony Dezuniga…
Shortly after Superman 2 came out and introduced the world to Zod and his Criminal comrades DC comics brought us the Phantom Zone Mini- series. Penciled by Gene Colan and written by Steve Gerber . I was on y way to Florida to visit my Grand- parents…the wait at the airport was horrible for an antsy 14 year old. I found a newsstand and begged my Father to buy me a couple of comic books….One was a Warlord comic book by Mike Grell and the other..PHANTOM ZONE number one. I read both comics and bought the follow up issues as they came out. All I can say is Genes style was different than I’d seen anyone ever on Superman before. I liked it and thought he did a damned good Supes.
There is something eye catching about the way an artist works out his figures and compositions. Cartooning is in and of itself another art form altogether. Sure portrait artists and illustrators get a photo realistic quality and attention to detail down to perfection….but a cartoonist? A few black and white lines on paper and some well placed spotted black ink blobs and you got a comic book. I’m always going to remember this comic book series and what it meant to me during that period of my life.

JAWS 2 - ( with Bob Larkin cover ) Gene Colan art

I remember my Mom taking me to see JAWS 2 ..I had no idea it was out. My Dad worked nights as a truck driver and I guess Mom needed to get out so she said c'mon we're going to a Movie....I have to say..Roy Scheider is the man...I met him at an airport about 6 years ago. He was dressed exactly like Chief Brody..."I said Hello Sir..Don't mean to bother you , but I am a big fan and I just want to say Hi! " He looked at me a little puzzled and said " Hi " I said " Have a nice day " and was on my way...at the baggage carousel I minded my own business and so did he. I hope it was not too unpleasant an experience.

The interiors of this comic book were by Gene Colon and Tom Palmer...it is actually refreshingly breathtaking artwork. If you skip on over to DIVERSIONS OF THE GROOVY KIND you can read the entire book. I guess this post is an Homage to the Memory of Mom taking me to a Movie and to Roy...and Gene.

Hopefully if I get to Florida me and Mom will take in another movie. That'll be cool.

Iron Man / Sub-Mariner one shot!

Sparodically during this week I will put up different covers drawn by Gene Colan who recently left this world and went off to the great big Bullpen in the sky. This cover particularly is my favorite Gene cover...it's very dynamic and has two of my favorite super heroes on one titanic cover. Right after this comic book came out Subby and Iron man were given their very own monthly titles. Of which Gene drew the cover of Iron Man number one....I got this comic book at a convention in NYC for 10 bucks....a great deal in my eyes being as I believe it to be in VG condition. Legendary stuff.

More about ME!

I don't think I've gone on about myself enough yet so I'm going to show you a couple of things that practically saved my life. I wrote that story I showed you the rough breakdowns to in the previous post right? Well here are a couple of inked color studies I did as cover ideas for the story. I think I should mention that working on these two pieces saved my life. I was suicidal at the time and it brought me back to reality and woke my ass up. A long time ago the girl of my dreams , love of my life broke my heart. It sent me into a debilitating catatonic depression for almost 3 years...( 2 years 7 months ) This contributed to my never attending the third year at the KUBERT school...That and Debbie Kubert misplaced my loan applications and they never got submitted to the bank on time. ( Bitch )...But yeah...One day after reading Stephen Kings PET SEMATARY ...I promptly started to draw out that CONAN story and then work on the covers...when I was done , I was back among the living. Hope you enjoyed my little tale and my drawings. These are two of MY OWN favorite covers.

A brief history of a comic artist wannabe...

This one I drew yesterday...it's a mock up of an imaginary CONAN comic drawn by me.

This one is from today actually 6/22/11...just noodling around with a sharpie....

This I believe is from 1990...from an entire 32 page story I wrote and drew...it's pencil roughs. Conan breaks out of his cell and has to slay a dozen guards.

THIS...I believe is from when I was 15 years old...a little montage of CONAN BADASSEDNESS!!!

This I do believe is a splash page from that story I wrote...The first guy he kills after he breaks out of his cell....

It started when I was maybe 5. I'd take some loose leaf paper and fold it in half and make home made mini comics. By the time I was 15 I thought I was something else and by the time I was 20 I thought I was a superstar...I imagined myself another FRAZETTA ( I share a Birthday with Frazetta , Feb 9th ) , John Buscema or Joe Kubert....I was far away from those Masters...but I did have some..some talent I say. It was there.

I went to the Kubert school and wasted my life and time and savings in my first two years. I was not serious at all. ( I thought I was the shit. ) I was going to be a Superstar...they were going to hear the name "DeStasio" and think...CONAN...I had CONAN on the brain and my class mates all used to mock me and make fun but I was unscathed by their ignorant witty barbs.

( Can you imagine if I'd paid attention in class and did my assignments ) Me neither lol.

Here are some samplings of my work from the time I was 15...to just as recently as yesterday.

I had the time of my life at the Kubert school and mey some of the greatest pro's and had the honor of being taught by modern comic book masters of the time. I met some of the greatest dudes there too....would not change a thing ( Except my ambition ) But I'm not done.

I don't work in comics but I do follow them these days. I like what I see and I love what DARK HORSE is doing with CONAN...I can't wait for CONAN the movie to come out....This is my blog and it's all about me. So...here are a few of my personal favorites

SUPERMAN / CONAN Team UP!!!

With the ground?....

Or without?....You tell me. Feedback anyone?

Here is an unlikely pairing. I was browsing the web looking for images of SUPERMAN because I have in mind to get a new Tattoo. SUPERMAN.... ( along with a RED SONJA and an AC/DC tattoo. ) I came across this image of Supes by the great and legendary Neal Adams. While looking at it an idea popped into my head. Using the image of CONAN by John Buscema that I have as a tattoo on my right arm...I threw together this little mash up..TEAM UP. "Voila" instant favorite cover. "lol" Now I wish it were in color.

HULK reinterpretations

While we are on the subject of classic reinterpretations take a look here at cool Wonder Woman piece by Phil Winslade...then onto a NEW rendition of an old ICONIC image by JIM STERANKO. I just love when guys redo covers. When I see obvious nods to classic covers I love it. Especially when it's a reinterpretation of one of my absolute favorite covers of all time.

Check out the original then take a gander at the reinterpretations. I love comic books and comic art and Jim Steranko drew one of My Favorite covers...of all time!!!