The Week – 26 July 2019

Jul26
by on 26 July 2019

There is a lot going on this week, too much to post another inking video and/or a Sketch Friday. So, I figured it was time to dust off another dormant feature and talk about things that grabbed my attention this week.

WATCHING:

  • Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-Man: Far From Home Image Source: Sony/Marvel

I know little to nothing about Spider-Man’s history aside from what I’ve gleaned off of comics history books and the Spider-Man movies themselves.

However, I was utterly charmed by Tom Holland’s Peter Parker when I, rather begrudgingly, got around to seeing Spider-Man: Homecoming back in 2017 (I mean, he was charming in Captain America: Civil War, but his character only got center stage with Homecoming). I remember thinking as I waited for the trailers to start, “I could just go. I’m not really invested in the character or the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).” But I stuck it out and within ten minutes I was enthralled.

Going into Far From Home, then, I had somewhat higher expectations, even if those expectations were only, “I hope this is fun and charming.”

To that end, Far From Home is a very fun movie and are probably the MCU films (even if the Spider-Man films are technically MCU-adjacent) I look forward to most, at this point.

READING:

  • Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe (published by Harper Perennial)
Image Source: Harper Perennial

I was a little hesitant stepping into this book because I have found history books about popular culture can be hit and miss.

In truth, I base this bias on my previous experience with one book, Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. While it’s clear Console Wars was a thoroughly researched and well-written book, I found its presentation too much of a leap of faith to be as credible as I wanted it to be. Harris presented the story of the rise and fall of Sega’s video game hardware division narratively, as if one were reading a novel rather than a non-fiction history. I couldn’t help but question every long conversation that the book presented––how did Harris get this? One person’s memory? Was the conversation recorded? How much of this is creative license? That, combined with no index or bibliography, I found that the reader of Console Wars had to take the information on faith, and that’s not what I wanted about that story.

Thankfully, Howe’s book is much more traditional, albeit very well-written. The text is full of footnotes with a comprehensive index and it’s clear where he’s getting information from. That aside, Howe’s narrative voice is clever, clear, and engaging. I had no intention of finishing the book this summer––like Console Wars, I expected it to be my occasional read over the next few years––I, instead, am riveted to this book and how Marvel Comics became the juggernaut it is despite always actually teetering on the edge of collapse every step of the way.

LONG JOHN, CHAPTER 4 PROGRESS REPORT:

A panel from the upcoming Long John, Chapter 4.

This summer has been very busy, artistically speaking. I have a few announcements to make over the next few months, but in addition to all of that, I have been making very good progress on Chapter 4.

Not only that, but the leaps and bounds I made artistically in Chapter 3 have been leaped and bounded over with my work in Chapter 4. The settings, especially, have really demanded a lot more technical attention than previous chapters and while they were a struggle and frustrating at first…they are still a struggle and are frustrating now, but less so.

Sadly, I am not ready to put a release date on Chapter 4 since there’s still quite a ways to go, but know that it is not only getting done but getting done eagerly.

Until further updates, check out other art from Chapter 4 with the “D. Bethel Draws…” videos I have uploaded over the last few months. More of those will be made and released, as well.

 Comment 

Long John at the Crocker Art Museum

Jul19
by on 19 July 2019

Aside from the expected promotions and, perhaps, professional development workshops, there aren’t many major milestones on a person’s resume that genuinely stands one out from the pool.

My resume isn’t that impressive. My academic resume––called in the industry a Curriculum Vitae––shows the classes I’ve taught over the years as well as work done directly with the English department. My artistic resume is, arguably, less impressive. Sure, over the years––and stretched between two series––I’ve published ten books, appeared at a smattering of conventions (I was even a guest at a few), hosted a few panels and workshops, but nothing that really makes me stand out from the shadows of the many other ambitious, socially and artistically talented, and business savvy local creators on the scene.

To my surprise, a few recent developments have occurred that make me proud to add a new line to my creative resume, and it’s one that I never intended nor expected to add.

Both buildings are the Crocker Art Museum. Yes, they are attached. Image Source: City of Sacramento

Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum is one of the premier art galleries in California if not only for being the longest continually-operating art gallery since it opened in 1885, then for being home to a collection of a wide variety of cultural and creative expressions from across the world. In the last few years, they have played host to traveling exhibitions from the prints of Toulouse-Lautrec to the modern esoteric art of Hi-Fructose.

Since 2013, the museum has hosted its own unique brand of comic book convention, called Crocker-Con, that is mostly a pop culture celebration that focuses on local talent and art. It’s one of my favorite shows and I have been lucky enough to exhibit at most of them.

For the first time this year, the Crocker has opened up its walls to local comic art, and I am lucky enough to be included.

Located in the Community/Studio section of the museum, the halls have been lined with framed comic book art by people like Jon Williams (Space Oddities, B-Squad), Justin Greenwood (The Last Siege), Lauren Gramprey (Nickelodeon storyboard artist, The Slightly Askew Adventures of Inspector Ham and Eggs, B-Squad), Michael Calero (B-Squad), Sean Sutter (Relic Blade, B-Squad), and many others. More than that, local comic shop, A-1 Comics, brought in a stack of comics from the medium’s history to highlight major moments and developments of the art form (I took pictures of the X-Men books, of course).

The first page of Long John hangs at the Crocker-Con exhibit in the Crocker Art Museum.

The show runs through Crocker-Con at the end of September, with a reception event for the gallery on September 7.

I never had any expectation or goal to have my work hanging in an art museum, much less in a frame on somebody’s wall. And, sure, it’s not like I’m not a new, permanent addition to the Crocker’s collection, hanging next to the likes of Raymond Dabb Yelland’s sublime Yosemite Valley or Evelyn McCormick’s astounding Arizona Gardens (two of my favorite paintings in the museum), it’s still amazing to realize I’m in the building if even for a short while because I doubt there will be very few things that will continue to make me chuckle to myself in disbelief in the future than saying, “D. Bethel had work hanging in the Crocker.”

 Comment 

Long John by Giannis Milonogiannis

Jul12
by on 12 July 2019
Long John commission by Giannis Milonogiannis (colors by D. Bethel)

Adaptation is literally the key to evolution and survival.

However, adaptation isn’t only about moving forward; it’s about absorbing and interpreting what has come before, taking what you need, and making something new from the pieces.

It’s no secret how important the Prophet reboot from Image comics was for my development as an independent creator. It was––through its creative thesis––everything I wanted to be as a creator: bucking the writer/artist paradigm, blending prose and art as a creative process, and telling a story that challenged the tropes of a genre.

But that came later, once the trade paperback collections started releasing. What actually got me on board was the talent attached; first with Simon Roy and then securing me with the addition of Giannis Milonogiannis––two creators I’d found and who had blown my mind with their pre-Prophet work. Roy’s Jan’s Atomic Heart became one of those books I passed around incessantly, asking, “did you know comics could do this?!” Milonogiannis’ work with Old City Blues was much quieter but no less impactful. His work was a strange blend of manga and European-styled grit that actually pulled me away from an animation style into a world of creator-owned expression as I eventually discovered the works of Enki Bilal, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and François Boucq. But that trend started with Milonogiannis and his cyberpunk police comic, Old City Blues.

Representing old school Milonogiannis. #webcomiclife

Earlier this year, I saw through social media that Giannis opened up commissions and I jumped at the chance. A part of me wants to secure physical artifacts of those who inspired me as I head further into creator-owned independence: I have a book signed by Brandon Graham, I have a Prophet page by Simon Roy, and I had a giclée print from Giannis Milonogiannis, fully expecting that was as close as I’d get to having his work in my world outside of the books themselves.

To my surprise, he was willing to do commissions of original characters and, after a brief exchange with reference material and a link to the comic, he hammered out this wonderful Long John drawing in his own inimitable style.

Giannis’ “Old Man Prophet” print sits above my drawing table, alongside a throng of other art that constantly inspires.

What I received was a glimpse into the world of my characters but through the lens of a creator I respect and admire. It’s not the same as my own, but the differences make it better––not a look at what Long John should be, but what it looks like translated through another person’s hand. It proved (to me) that Long John is a transferable idea, one that can cross oceans and talents, and I love––more than anything––how Giannis captured the otherworldliness (and plain otherness) that the story embodies through its characters and setting. But hunting through the piece and seeing finding what choices he made––what pieces of the premise he absorbed and interpreted––is as fun as simply having the piece in front of me. It’s like hearing someone sing a cover of a song I wrote––it’s simultaneously instructive and validating.

What I received is an adaptation in the purest sense. It’s still clearly Long John and Hellrider Jackie, but in a style that is obviously not my own. In fact, it’s a style far from my own. This is Giannis’ version of these characters, hinting at the viability and applicability of, at the very least, the designs, giving them life in a manner of which I could ever give them––a different manner––and his work continues to inspire and push me forward, to break down even my own work, to reinterpret and reapply it to make something different and better with each step forward.

Giannis Milonogianni’s lineart for the Long John commission.

Giannis is currently drawing Ronin Island for Boom! Studios with writer Greg Pak. Be sure to also check out his webcomic, Old City Blues, with volumes 1 & 2 available for purchase through Archaia Entertainment/Boom! Studios. Old City Blues is also currently in a development deal with Hulu, with Kerry Washington set to star and Gore Verbinski attached to direct.

 Comment