MARVELOUS MERGER!

Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment recently -- which has led to many Disney-Marvel "mash-ups" on the internet... took me awhile but here's mine:

More to post soon!
-C!

Green Lantern's Light Shines Bright...

Picked up a copy of "Green Lantern: First Flight" last week (with the free mini-action figure!) and watched it.

I liked mostly everything about this movie. All the character designs, the backgrounds, the whole look of the film was great!! The writing and dialogue was sharp and intense, and the animation was very, very nice. As someone who was a GL fan as a kid, but lost interest over the years due to the general mishandling of the character, this was just pure joy to watch.

I got a little bit of a Star Wars feeling from this movie. With the Lanterns acting as Jedi, and the guardians behaving the way the Jedi Council did. Solid characterization, especially evil Sinestro. Hal Jordan is a distinctly unique hero, never once sounding like a typical super hero.

Green Lantern: First Flight was a more-than-worthy addition to the growing ranks of DC animated films. i'm all for more films starring characters other than Superman & Batman (although the upcoming "Public Enemies" sounds pretty good and has a lot of great guest stars!).

-C!

HEROES OF EMPIRE CITY...

Mostly everyone knows Bob Kane co-created Batman and Robin (with Bill Finger) -- but did you know Bob Kane also created Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, an animated, “funny-animal” version of the Dynamic Duo? 130 five-minute episodes were produced by Sam Singer and originally aired in 1960.

Courageous and Minute were based in Empire City, had a secret headquarters called the "Catcave," and traveled in either a Catplane or Catmobile, a cat-grilled version of the early Batmobile. I've done some pieces of art featuring a revamped Courageous Cat but until now never did him with his sidekick Minute Mouse.

Trying to get this blog back on track!!!
-C!

Tribute to Pin Up Queen...

UPDATED - Well, here's the finished piece... my tribute to the legendary 1950s pin-up queen with the killer curves and trademark coal-black bangs. "I don't want to be photographed in my old age," she told an interviewer in 1998. "I feel the same way with old movie stars. ... It makes me sad. We want to remember them when they were young."


... Bettie Page, who passed away last month at 85 years old. Her underground popularity has continued to soar despite the fact that the reclusive Page disappeared almost a half century ago, leading many to believe that one of the most photographed individuals of the 20th century was already dead. One example of how Bettie Page has been re-introduced to new generations of eager young fans: Artist Dave Stevens created a comic book hero called “The Rocketeer,” with a love interest clearly inspired by Bettie Page; Disney adapted it as a big budget, same-named motion picture vehicle for Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly. Stevens, recently deceased, became one of Page’s most devoted friends, one of the few she could trust. It was Stevens who escorted Bettie Page to the Playboy Mansion for a private 35mm screening of THE ROCKETEER in 1994. She had never seen the film before. She loved it.

At the request of my fellow bloggin' buddies, we decided to pay tribute to Page this month on our blogs. Here's a sketch i did that i plan to vectorize and color up as soon
as i can.

Stay tuned,
C!

Good-Bye 2008...

... Happy New Year to all who check in to my most humble blog!!! It's been a pretty hectic 2008 and i'm blessed to have my family and friends in good health - to them i wish the best in the coming year!!!!



Back in the new year!
-C!