Mike Wieringo, 1963-2007

I cannot believe what I've just read.
This is absolutely horrible news.
Mike Wieringo was and will always be one of my absolute favorite artists and his personality and kind-hearted spirit made him an even greater asset to the comics community.
I'll never forget how great it made me feel when he complimented a drawing of Ghost Rider I had posted on the Drawing Board forums a few years ago.
I didn't know the man personally, and had only talked to him over the years via e-mail or on various message boards, but I really feel like we've all lost someone special.
As I was walking down to my car this morning to go to work I said to myself, this feels like one of those days where I'm going to be saying I wish I'd just stayed in bed. I had no idea how true that was going to turn out to be.
I only got a few hours sleep last night, and then on the way to work I hit a big dog full-on.
Then to get to work and hear about this.. this has been a really awful day.
After trying all damn morning to find the cover to Flash #0 (one of my favorite single issues ever) somewhere online and not having any luck, I decided to just post some of my favorite sketches from his site. It's not much a tribute, but it's the best I can do.










UPDATE:

My thanks to Curt for finding this picture for me.
Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Mike Wieringo.
This is one of the finest comics I've ever read.
It's one of those rare gems that showcases how magical and amazing comics can be.

Comic-Con Cuteness!

Today's photos center around things I saw at Comic-Con that were cute.

Kittens and puppies cute, not cute girl cute.


Super-Buddies!


These people had a whole big booth centered around this and other similar "pea" themes.


You might have to click on this one to really get the idea, but this was equally cute and incredibly creepy.
On the one hand, you've got a little kid all tuckered out at Comic-Con with his big bag and character mask on.
On the other hand, you've got that creepy V face on a tiny body slumped over in a corner.

Comic-Con Continued!

I met George Romero.
He was 20 feet tall.
I'm standing on a series of boxes in this picture.


By now everyone has already heard about this girl, but I mean, I got my picture with her too. She's resting her butt on my shoulder.


Heavy-set Blade looked mean.


Then I met Superman.
Just let me have this one.


I'm a really big fan of your work.


Shin Chan!

And so it goes..

The Ten Best Bands That Never Existed.

It's on film.

Comics are awesome.

Where could he be?

Do you know what this is?

Gone and on our way.

For those of you who are interested in such things, after quite a drought, tomorrow is a really big DVD day.
The Simpsons Season 10
The Muppet Show Season 2
The Film Crew : Killers From Space
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show - The Complete Series
Darkwing Duck Season 2
The Tick Vs. Season 2
TMNT (2007 CGI flick)
Disturbia (which Corey assures me was good)
and saving the best for last...
FLASH GORDON (Saviour of the Universe Edition)!

I think there may well be.

Don't you hate it when you see something that has been made by (what you would assume are) professionals that looks absolutely awful.
I'm looking at a calendar I bought at a store.
This calendar was mass produced, which means it had to go through any number of people for approval before it was released, and yet here it is.
Staring at me.
Ugly as the devil's face.
I see things like this and it makes me wish the people in charge of "things" would call me up before they send whatever it is they make out to an unsuspecting populace.
While it's true that I'm currently employed as a professional graphic designer, I don't have any better design sense now than I did when I was working in retail.
I guess my point (and I'm not sure if I have one) is that the world of mass produced crap would look a lot more pleasing to the eye if I were consulted more often.

What do you think?

Curt has a whole mess of pictures up from our trip to San Diego.
He also has insightful, running commentary.
He also has some strange ideas about Super Mario ... but those aren't on his site, those are in his brain.

You hurt me!

Guess what day it is?
It's Comic-Con Photo Parade Batday!


I got to see the newly refurbished Batmobile.
Curt and I were working on a plan to steal it that never panned out.


Then I met Batman!
I cropped out the creepy Robin he had with him.
Trust me, things are better this way.


Then I met this Robin who wasn't particularly creepy at all.
He was more friendly than creepy.
Great costume too.


Then April met Catwoman!
This was about as close to seeing Catwoman walk out of the comic as I think was possible. She had the costume, the look, and the attitude all down perfectly.
This was definitely the hottest picture I took at the show.
April was a little flustered after this.
Here's another picture of that Catwoman I found elsewhere.

Yowza!

This could be your lucky day.

No, you aren't hallucinating, I'm posting this picture again.
Why am I doing this? What's it to you, pal?! It's my blog, I can do whatever I damn well feel like doing.

I'm sorry. I'm a little tired.
So, I'm re-posting this picture, because I've added a veritable plethora of notes to the photo.


I met Beastmaster.
This picture is also covered in notes if you click upon it.


Curt : Get my picture with this furry!
This was the creepiest picture I took at the con.

A bag of Oreos.

One of the cutest things I saw at the con.
It's a little kid dressed as Capt. Kirk.
He and his folks were with another family who's little boy was dressed as Spock.
Adorable.

The Return.

I may never be this happy again.

Go ahead, take a peek.

Another of my many powers.

So, Curt and April and I leave for San Diego tomorrow.
For Comic Con.
I'm very excited and also very nervous.
I don't care for flying.
I also have no idea what to expect at the Con.
I have high hopes.
Anyway, I doubt I'll be doing any updating between now and next week so here's a mess o' stuff until then.

Cyclops wants kisses.


Spidey 2099 as drawn by Cory Walker and colored by me.


This is a Superman I drew and colored using a color scheme I borrowed from a Jon Morris picture of Superboy.

You may never sleep again!

Tattoos drawn by me : If you' d like to see the robot of mine that Kat got a tattoo of, feel free to click.

Dethklok/Metalocalypse Update : The new season starts Sunday, Sept. 16. The 1st Season DVD is released Tuesday, Sept. 18. The Dethalbum will then be released Tuesday, Sept. 25. Also, I will be purchasing these next week, as they're being sold exclusively at SDCC.


LOLKIDS : Why not?

It's so dark.

So here's one of the Flashes Jason Latour drew for me that I have now colored.
Below are 3 alternate versions of the same coloring job.. the backgrounds are different.

Feel free to tell me which of the 4 you prefer.

I don't mind.

My friend, Kat, got another tattoo of artwork I've sent her over the years. (She also has a chrishaley robot tattoo.)
This one is of a zombie, and the tattoo artist really made it look exactly like the way I drew it.
Crazy.

I never wanted it to end.

You can't tell me this is anything other than the greatest thing you've ever seen.
No exaggeration, I will probably buy a case of these.
I'll have a set for work, a set for the car, a set for the living room, and a set for the bathtub.
I'm already imagining the second wave which, in my perfect world, would be made up of :
Big Barda (Full Armor), Kalibak, Highfather, Mantis, and a Parademon.
This of course leads to the third wave :
Big Barda (let's call it her alternate costume), Metron, Forager, Desaad, and Steppenwolf.
Anyone agree or disagree with my character choices?
Ok, DC Direct, let's get started.

You don't need to see my credentials.

Man, forget DC bringing back (and subsequently screwing up) the multiverse, this guy is trying to prove that it really exists!

From a CNN.com story on Geniuses Who Will Change Your Life :
Nima Arkani-Hamed thinks big. He has a theory that our universe is one of an infinite number of universes -- meaning the largest thing we can wrap our minds around is actually pretty tiny
He didn't pull the "multiverse" out of thin air, though. After becoming a Harvard professor at age 30, Arkani-Hamed first made a name for himself by suggesting that our universe is five-dimensional. Then he moved on to the multiverse, theorizing that our own universe has a hidden feature called "split supersymmetry," which means that half of all particles have partner particles.

The theory will be tested soon in Switzerland's brand-new Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and if the LHC finds Arkani-Hamed's partner particles, it could prove that the multiverse is real -- and that our place in it is that much smaller.

Are you fucking kidding me?!
This has got to be one of the most exciting scientific news things I've ever heard.
Of course, that means it also has the potential to be the most terrifying.

For no reason other than the tenuous DC/multiverse connection, here is a picture of a young Superman (we can't call him that other name any more) I did a while back and never got around to putting up here.
It's different. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Climbing the walls.

This just in, Nintendo > Sony.
Noted commentator Chris Haley was quoted as telling Sony to, "Suck it."

Superman Doomsday Trailer

It's not a Rubik's cube.

Just so you know, today is Harrison Ford's birthday.


Happy birthday to the only guy (I can think of) that was cool enough to play not one, but two of the greatest fictional characters of all time.

Repulsor rays!

Here's a sketch of Iron Man by Eric Canete that I threw some quick colors on just to take a break from what I'm usually doing at work.
I'm really looking forward to his upcoming Iron Man book with Joe Casey.

That was like a wave.

It's the Guitar Hero 3 "Wii-tar"!
Exciting!
It seems to be modeled after a Gibson Les Paul, which makes sense since Activision's got that deal going with Gibson.
Also, don't forget that Guitar Hero Encore : Rocks the 80s is due out at the end of the month, so if anyone has the necessary space and giant screen tee-vee and is interested in hosting a party the first weekend in August get in touch with me.

Life is way harder than that.

So, no internet at home plus lots to do at work equals a lack of updates to the old blog.
Well, that plus the fact that I haven't really had much to add as of late.
Nothing in the world of comics has outraged or over-delighted me.
I've got some things on the burner though which should be ready sooner than later.

The majority of my artistic energy (as it is) lately have been going towards a new comic Curt wrote.
I'll go ahead and tell you it's absolutely hilarious.
We're hoping to have it done in time to take with us to SDCC.

You're runnin' away!

Speaking of The Flash, as I was two posts back, Tom Foss has got a great write up on Bart Allen's death as well as a great way to bring him back.
Nice job, Tom.

Put the entire squad on red alert!

From this week's All Star Superman #8..

Is it wrong that I wish my hair looked exactly like that?

Is it because I'm very young?

So, how'd you like to hear about something that's made me really mad at myself?
Good, because I'm in a mood to talk about it.
Check out these two pictures of The Flash by Jason Latour..




Awesome, right?
Well, here's the deal, Jason did both of those for me. This was 2-4 years ago. He mailed them to me along with a great mini-comic he'd done. You can imagine how excited I was to have these.
Somehow I've managed to have no idea where they are.
I mean, I know they have to be in the house somewhere, but I can't find them for the life of me.
This makes me literally angry with rage.

In the news...

Does this make anyone else crazy?
I mean, is it just me?
I'm not saying that what this guy did necessarily did or didn't deserve a lengthy penetentiary vacation, I'm just saying can't someone call fucking "shenanigans" on the Dubya yet?
I mean, come on.

Sorry, I'll try to get back to talking about comics shortly.

UPDATE
Jon Morris has a great post about it up as well.

What kind of one way street is that?

So Marvel's burying Captain America in Arlington in tomorrow's issue of Fallen Son : The Death of Captain America, and for some reason all of the news outlets are covering it like it's real news.
I got them covering him being killed, but isn't a burial in a cemetary pretty much what happens next?
I dunno.
All of this to post this quote from the good Captain..

"This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences.When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—No. You move.”

Pretty powerful, huh?

Let me just yank that sword out of me..

An avalanche of absolute awesomery!
The Kirby DC Kover Kollection!

The first images from the upcoming Superman Doomsday DVD have been released.
Look for this to be hitting stores on September 18 (a scant day after my birthday), though I hope to get to see the sneak preview premiere in San Diego.

Roll out!

Click here for the official NEW Transformers theme from the flick, by Mute Math. (Wait for the page to fully download and then there'll be a little link that says "Download File")
I dig it. I mean, it's not the Lion version from Transformers : The Movie, but it's not bad.
If you're still hungry for more Transformers, Animated Toast! has 7 different versions of the theme, including the previously mentioned Lion version.

Nicole Kidman's Nintendo DS Ad.

Something evil's watching over you...

So, I saw a sneak preview of TRANSFORMERS last night.
I'm not sure if I want to write any kind of review, but I wanted to at least mention that I've seen it.
And I have opinions.

UPDATE
Speaking of movies, Robert of Ye Olde Comic Blogge has a great new post up about comics and movies and the state of both.
You should read it.