Ideas and Monsters

Over at Amazon, I've just finished reviewing the latest good read from Apex Publishing, R. Thomnas Riley's "The Monster Within Idea". I won't repeat it all here, but here's a quick taste:

"This is an excellent exploration of the short story form. Riley is very adept at creating an engaging setting or situation in as few words as possible, then playing out tense, gripping scenes within those worlds. In this fine collection of stories, ranging in length from 2 to 30 pages, he crafts bold, and often bloody, dramas in which the players are driven as much by the demons that live inside as much as by those that lurk outside. The results are variously entertaining, thought provoking, and chilling. "

If you'd like to know more, go on over to the book's Amazon page and check it out. If you like it, you can order the book there, or directly from the Apex store, or in ebook format at Fictionwise.

100 Artists 100!

It looks like I'm going to be in on the sketchbook phase of the 100 Artist Project after all, which is good news to me. I've already sent in my submission for the mailer portion of the project, and I'm looking forward to contributing to the second phase.
For anyone who's not familiar with it, the 100 Artist Project is "a charity endeavor created to help raise money for artistic and creative organizations." Original pieces of art are created to compile a books that are sold to benefit charity foundations such as The Hero Initiative and Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. I'm pleased to have been a part of the first book, which is now available for sale at IndyPlanet, and I've just gotten word that I'll be included on the mailing list for the sketchbook for the second volume.
The project is still looking for people, so if you're an artist interested in supporting their cause, or would just like a little bit of good exposure, why not go over to their site and sign up? Or, if you're a webmaster or blogger, how about grabbing one of their banners (like the nifty one above) and flying it on your site? I'm sure they'll appreciate any help they can get.

Fresh Fish!

Just a little something done to have a go at scanning and coloring pencil work. Any comments on quality, or suggestions for improvement are welcomed.


Also, done because I really felt like drawing a guy with a goldfish bowl for a head. Some days, you gotta go where the muse takes you, ya know?

Who'll Be Watching the Watchmen?

Like most sentient beings on this side of the world, I'm looking forward to seeing "The Watchmen" this weekend. This is sort of a holy grail of comic book movies, so regardless of Alan Moore's opinion of adapting his works, there's no way I can miss this.
In preparation for seeing the movie, I'm rereading the graphic novel (and if you haven't done so, you absolutely owe it to yourself to do so as well, even if you're not a comic book geek like me).
Being a little older than the typical comic geek (somewhere more than a decade and less than an epoch), I remember reading the adventures of the original Charlton heroes on which the Watchmen were based. The Peacemaker, Thunderbolt, Blue Beetle, The Question (not so much Phantom Lady; she didn't get much play at Charlton), and their missing contemporaries Dr. Graves and E-Man, were part of my earliest comic reading experience.
So when I read Watchmen, I can't help but wonder how different the book might have been had it been done using those Charlton heroes as Alan Moore originally intended. That, of course, leads me to ponder an alternate reality in which it is those characters, instead of their revamped versions, that made it to the big screen.
So here is the result of several wasted lunch hours pondering the question, "What if the Charlton heroes were used in the movie version of the Watchmen?"


I recommend clicking to get the full view on this one, BTW.