Long John

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

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)

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:

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.