You know I like to keep things positive here at WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM.  Sure, the strip is in the middle of a murder mystery, but I try not to be too negative or overly critical in my blog posts.  WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM is supposed to be a celebration of a genre, a style, and a moment in time.

But sometimes bullshit has to be called by its name.  Thankfully, Valerie D’Orazio at Occasional Superheroine sums up my thoughts about the matter quite nicely.

As a writer and producer for the animated series, Justice League, which featured some of the best Justice League stories in any form, Mr. McDuffie obviously demonstrated his familiarity with the property.  One would presume that Mr. McDuffie was tasked to bring that same skill, care, and craft to the comic book itself when he was assigned to write Justice League of America by DC Comics.  Mr. McDuffie ran fast and hard with that mandate, but seemed creatively hobbled time and time again by capricious editorial fiat.  Now they act surprised that he said his foot hurt.

- JEP

Welcome to a new, semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM: Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Intenet landscape with another blog, I came up with Off-Topic Mondays, with all apologies to Gangstarr Girl’s Blaxploitation Friday.  The first entry in the series does kind of deal with the 1970s and genre fiction, but unless you want to have Billy Dee Williams in the captain’s seat, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with Blaxploitation.  Now give me one second to proudly unfurl my geek flag and here we go:

VS.

You’ve got three days to get across the galaxy.  Which would you rather travel in to reach your destination, the flagship of the Federation, the USS Enterprise (pick whichever model you want), or the Corellian freighter, the Millennium Falcon?

Personally, I’d buy a seat on the Millennium Falcon.  I figure it would smell like a curious blend of patchouli, motor oil, curry and wet fur, and I’d guess that your sleeping compartment would be separated from the others by a measly set of beaded curtains, but the trip would be pretty cool.   You probably wouldn’t even make it to your planned destination, but all the fun would be in the journey itself.  Han would tell awesome stories; I’m sure he’d know the best places to stop, eat, and drink along the way (I mean delicious, authentic, ethnic/alien food served at crappy hole-in-the-wall joints); and more than likely, he’d even let you fly the ship for a while.

With the Enterprise, you’d be guaranteed to reach your final port of call, and the crew would be polite and efficient, but the experience would be a little antiseptic.  I’m sure later models of the Enterprise could even replicate a tasty Applebee’s entree for you, if you so desired.  However, even if something interesting happened along the way, you wouldn’t know it, because some well-groomed crew member would hustle you off to your cabin at the first sign of danger, spout some techno-babble by way of explanation, and lock the door behind him on the way out.  Yawn!

Now let the nerd wankery begin!

- JEP

Frequent commenter and WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM regular, Ramon, pointed out last week that venerable Hong Kong actor, Shih Kien, died last week at the age of 96.  Kien had a long career in film, but I, and most other film buffs in the Western hemisphere, knew him best as the evil Han from the legendary 1973 Bruce Lee film, Enter The Dragon. 

 Although in a previous post, I stated only a passing familiarity with kung fu movies, Enter The Dragon is the exception.  I know the film quite well, because my older brother Philip,  my cousin Clarence, and I used to make it ritual to watch my uncle’s bootleg, taped-off-HBO-copy of the movie whenever we got together over a holiday break.  Jim Kelly’s comment to Han, once he discovers the evil mastermind’s villainous intentions, “Man, you come straight out of a comic book,” is the inspiration for the name of the ”comic book blog” link tag on this site.

 RIP Shih Kien.

- JEP

Welcome to the latest installment of a recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM: The Unsung Badmother******* Awards!

The Unsung Badmotherf****** Award recognizes Outstanding Achievements In The Field of Badassery Deserving Wider Recognition.  The Unsung Badmother****** is the guy who made a splash and kicked some ass, but remains largely forgotten by the masses.

The UBMF Award is named after the oft-quoted moment in the “Theme from Shaft” when Isaac Hayes is abruptly interrupted by his backup singers before he can fully extol the badass virtues of his man, Shaft.  If people remember nothing else about the movie “Shaft,” or Blaxploitation in general, they remember that line, and it immortalized Hayes and made John Shaft a cinematic icon.

This month, Brian Cronin of Comic Book Resources.com is running a feature entitled, “Month of Art Stars: Artist’s Choice, ” which celebrates artists who deserve special attention or wider recognition.  The series has a nice hook, wherein instead of offering his own selections, Mr. Cronin has solicited professional comic book artists to choose the artists.

Early entries in the series included lesser-known, but still tremendously gifted artists, but Dave Gibbons, the renowned artist of such works as Watchmen, Give Me Liberty and his own original graphic novel, The Originals, suggested a veteran artist.  The artist in question also happens to be one of my primary artistic inspirations: the one and only Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.    Of course, I felt compelled to weigh in on the comments section-several times-but then I realized, “Hey, I’ve got my own blog, why don’t I link to the article?“  Then I thought, “Hey, why don’t I do my own entry on Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez on said blog?”

But enough of my internal monologues, let’s get down to business!

With a special tip of the hat to Mr. Brian Cronin, WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM is proud to announce the latest recipient of The Unsung Badmother****** Award…Mr. Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez started his comics career in Argentina, but since his arrival in the United States, nearly all of his professional work has been with DC Comics.  In the early 1980s,  Garcia-Lopez was tapped by DC Comics to create their Style Guide, which established the definitive versions of their intellectual property.  The Style Guide was used by licensors and other DC artists to create a unified brand identity for the DC Universe’s vast array of comic book stars.  I seem to even recall hearing an anecdote that some artists would seek out work with DC just so they could get their hands on the Style Guide.

As I stated in the comments section of Brian Cronin’s post, even if you’re not familiar with Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’s name, you’ve already seen his work on everything from milk ads, collector’s glasses, bed linens, stationery, backpacks, toy packaging, t-shirts, or any other merchandise or advertisement featuring characters owned by DC Comics.  If you perform a Google image search on ”batman” and “t-shirt” or “wonder woman” and “t-shirt,” looking for apparel that actually features images of these characters, the first ones you come upon will more than likely include illustrations drawn by Mr. Garcia-Lopez.

Besides being the hidden hand behind the DC marketing machine, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez was, and remains, a gifted sequential artist.  By his own admission, he was a slow artist, so his output of comic book work is relatively low, despite his decades-long career.  His body of work is peppered with short runs on established series.  However, each page he drew is a remarkable demonstration of Garcia-Lopez’s storytelling mastery, boasting clean, open lines; innovative, but clear layouts; and a dynamic, but natural, approach to the human form.  Quite simply, the man can draw anything and draw it freakishly well.  Note all the different types of people in the crowd scene below and how the body language, clothing, builds, and faces are unique to each one.

Here, Garcia-Lopez creates a sophisticated and sexy Lois Lane and a casual, relaxed Superman who looks perfectly at home in tights among diners in evening wear:

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’s longest run on a series was the fan-favorite Atari Force, and he also worked his magic on the Eisner Award-nominated, three issue, sci-fi miniseries Twilight, which was written by comic legend, Howard Chaykin.  However, my favorite work of his was the 1988 four-issue mini-series Cinder & Ashe. I have literally read the covers off two sets of this series, and am quickly working my way through a third.

Cinder & Ashe, written by frequent Garcia-Lopez collaborator Gerry Conway,  is about two New Orleans-based freelance security specialists who take an assignment to rescue the kidnapped daughter of an Iowa farmer.  Jacob Ashe is a Vietnam veteran and ex-soldier of fortune, while Cinder DuBois, his female partner is a half-Asian, half-Black,  former street thief that Ashe saved from certain death during the Fall of Saigon.  Cinder & Ashe’s case involves a conspiracy that ultimately brings the duo into the orbit of a mysterious figure with dangerous connections to their own tragic pasts.  The story flashes back between their earlier lives and the then-present day of the late 1980s.  The theme of the series is about the destructive power of secrets, how they overwhelm us, haunt us, and how we must ultimately confront and overcome them. 

Garcia-Lopez draws the hell out of every inch of that book.  He takes you from the bayous of Louisiana, to the fields of Iowa, to a climactic battle at the recently commissioned Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.  Every detail feels authentic without being over-rendered or overly  photo-referenced and every panel bleeds emotion or thunders with visceral, cinematic action.  This series would be right at home on the stands today next to any of DC Comics’ Vertigo line, and I can’t think of any good reason good reason why they haven’t reissued it in a trade paperback edition.  Apparently, Planeta-DeAgostini, a Spanish publisher, has secured the rights for a Spanish-language hardcover collection, but I don’t think they have the rights to sell the trade directly into the United States.  (Believe me, I’ve tried.)

To date, despite his long, storied career with DC Comics, the comic book company has yet to publish a collection of his work, however independent book publisher, TwoMorrows Publishing , has stepped up to the plate by devoting an edition of their “Modern Masters” series to Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.  It provides a wonderful retrospective of his career and never-before published illustrations, sketches, character designs, and concept illustrations by the artist.  If you’re a comic book fan, you owe it to yourself to buy a copy.

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez most recently completed a three-issue run on Batman: Confidential #26-28, which was inked by Kevin Nowlan.  The pair will team up again on a Metal Men feature for the upcoming DC Comics series, Wednesday Comics.

Finally, I’d like to leave you with an image of an original, second-hand Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez convention sketch I picked up off eBay for a great price.  It’s my long-held desire to buy an original comic book page by the man, but until that time comes, this will have to do.

- JEP

(NOTE: There’s a great selection of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’s work at http://master-post.livejournal.com/.  Some of the images above were pulled from that site, so I wanted to give credit where credit is due. )

My friend, Jeremy Mullins, died on Saturday.  He was hiking in New York with his girlfriend, when he slipped off the path and fell 50 feet to his death.

This is the third one of these memoriams I’ve done in as many weeks, but this is the first time I’ve actually known the person I was memorializing.

Jeremy and I were both in the Sequential Art graduate program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) at the same time.  For a while, we were even roommates.  Among other common interests and experiences, we shared a mutual love for the Perez/Wolfman-era New Teen Titans and an unforgettable trip to Mardi Gras.  Jeremy Mullins had a big personality.  He knew how to have a good time, he had a raucous, raunchy sense of humor, and by his own admission, he could be an asshole at times.   However, he was an important figure in bringing my girlfriend and myself together, and I am thankful to him for his part in that.

In recent years, Jeremy and I had grown apart, as people are prone to do as time,  circumstances, and distance intervene, but through friends and via the occasional, incidental meeting, I managed to keep abreast of his activities.   Jeremy eventually became a professor at SCAD in Savannah, Georgia, where he taught Webcomics.  He was bringing Sequential Art to the generation that would carry it forward, in its new form, into the future.  By all accounts, he was having the time of his life doing so.  Too bad it was cut short.  He was thirty-two years old.

- JEP

06/15/09 – Update on the accident from The Daily Freeman.

I had planned to post the review of Booker T. Jones’ new album, Potato Hole, last month, on the week it debuted, but I never got around to finishing the write-up.  I apologize for the delay, but I figured that the damage was minimal, since a webcomic/blog that pays homage to a three-decade old film genre isn’t necessarily dedicated to the most timely observations of pop culture, anyway.

For those of you who may not know, Booker T. Jones gained his fame during the 1960s as part of the in-house rhythm section for Memphis, Tennessee-based soul music label Stax Records.  The rhythm section included Jones on the organ, Steve Cropper on guitar, Lewie Steinberg on bass, and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums.  Collectively, they became the original lineup of “Booker T. & The MGs.”  However, like their house band counterparts at Motown, The Funk Brothers, Booker T. & the MGs not only recorded with the R&B luminaries from their respective labels, but they defined the very sound of their label.  Stax recording artists, and future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers like Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Isaac Hayes and The Staple Singers all sweated in out in the studio with Booker T. & The MGs.*

Booker T. & the MGs’ also recorded their own songs, and as a group, they scored success with songs like “Time Is Tight,” and “Soul Limbo,” but their most famous hit was undoubtedly “Green Onions.”   Recorded in 1962, “Green Onions” is an evocative, jazzy, acoustic track that manages to be urbane and soulful at the same time.  In “Green Onions,” Booker T.’s cool organ riffs and Alan Jackson, Jr.’s steady, simple snare prowl through your speakers like a down-home version of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn Theme,” punctuated by twangy, bluesy yelps from Steve Cropper’s guitar.  ”Green Onions” was one of the first ringtones I downloaded, and when I gave my Mom her choice of song, she hand-picked “Green Onions” to be the ringtone I hear when she calls me.  (Hi, Mom!)

As a Booker T. fan, I was pleasantly surprised to discover several months ago that Jones would be releasing a new CD this year, but I was  intrigued to learn that contemporary Southern rockers, Drive-By Truckers**, would be backing up Jones and producing the new album, as well.  (Oh, some guy named Neil Young was also playing on the album.)  I’ve had the pleasure of seeing two live performances by the Drive-By Truckers and a solo performance by DBT founding member, Patterson Hood at Columbia, South Carolina’s New Brookland Tavern.  The collaboration seemed like an odd grouping, so I was curious to hear how the album would sound.

The entire album is instrumental, but that’s OK with me, since it’s my impression that Booker T. plays the organ with the inflections and sensibilities of a vocalist, anyway.  Booker T.’s organ music floats and weaves among the guitars and percussion, like an ethereal presence, sometimes high and brassy, sometimes gutteral and churchy, and often elegant.  The first song, “Pound It Out,” sets the tone of the album, and you know from the first notes that The Truckers are in the house, and they’ve come to play.  However, Booker T. is right behind them, and he’s brought his “A” game, too.  To me, this is the song on the album that came closest to feeling like “The Drive-By Truckers featuring Booker T.,” but I didn’t mind, because it’s the hardest rocking song on the album.  The most soulful tune on the album is “Warped Sister,” with Booker T.’s fingers sliding and slurring over the keys like a jukejoint singer just starting to feel his moonshine buzz.  The song rocks along at a nice clip with some fuzzy, snarly guitar work thrown in for good measure.  However, the next cut, “Get Behind The Mule,” is the sinister, bluesy counterpoint to “Warped Sister.”  It’s the same singer, later in the night, singing a dark, measured, conspiratorial tale of pain and loss for the last few patrons in the place, all to a shuffling, steady beat.  Although these were my two favorite songs, the most anticipated cut off the album for most people was Booker T.’s rendition of the 2003 Outkast hit, “Hey Ya!”  The only thing I can say about the head-boppin’ cover is that Booker T., DBT, and Young not only bring the energy, but they bring the only thing that was missing from the Grammy Award-winning crowd pleaser (and the only thing that could replace Andre 3000’s inimitable vocal delivery of lines like “Shake it like a Polaroid PIC-chah!”).  That missing element:  cowbell.  And you can never go wrong with cowbell.  Ever.  The final track “Space City” is a spare, simple tune that feels like it could have been improvised by Booker T.  In this selection, the organ is flat-out church.  It starts off soft and low, like a music director riffing on the organ while the collection plate is being passed around and the preacher delivers the offertory prayer.  Then the song builds in intensity with some beautiful musical flourishes from Booker T., just like that preacher trying to get a few more dollars into the plate, before he dials it back down in the final third, returning to the musical phrasing and themes that started the song. 

My verdict: Potato Hole is a little more laid-back Muscle Shoals than sweaty Memphis rhythm and blues.  If you’re a Drive-By Truckers’ fan, odds are good that you’ll enjoy this album, but if you dig the musical acumen of Booker T. you won’t be disappointed either.  It’s not a party album, but it does make nice driving music.

- JEP

*  The Stax Records 50th Anniversary compilation is a tremendous resource for the history of the label and would make a great addition to anyone’s record collection.

** Coincidentally, the Drive-By Truckers recorded a song called “A World Of Hurt.”  No relation.

As I mentioned on Monday’s post, this past weekend I attended HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Last year at HeroesCon 2008, one of my personal highlights was meeting artist Jim Rugg.  (Unfortunately, Rugg was not on the 2009 roster of attendees.)  Jim Rugg is a talented illustrator, gifted cartoonist, and all-around nice guy.  His main claim to fame is Street Angel, a comic series published by Slave Labor Graphics about a skateboarding, samurai sword-wielding, kung-fu fightin’ street urchin who dispenses justice to the odd assortment of meglomaniacal, rogue geologists; luchador mask-wearing Incan gods; basketball-playing ninjas; and time-displaced pirates who terrorize her city of Wilkesborough.  However, the series also introduced an ally for Street Angel whom Rugg and his writing collaborator, Brian Maruca, have subsequently spun off on his own:  Afrodisiac.

Set during the 1970s, the Afrodisiac stories feature Alan Diesler, aka Afrodisiac, a Black pimp who not only runs a stable of Wilkesborough’s finest prostitutes, but who also acts as the city’s last line of defense against some of its more bizarre menaces.  His nemeses include a softball-playing Count Dracula, who siphons the blood of Afrodisiac’s hookers in order to increase his rec league stats; a mind-controlling computer named Megapute; and the advance scout for an all-female army of Venusian invaders (an adventure which brings Afrodisiac into direct confrontation with his old tag-team wrestling partner, President Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon).

If this all sounds like some sort of pop culture fever dream, then welcome to the world of Afrodisiac!  Rugg and Maruca intentionally create a convoluted, and conflicting, backstory for Afrodisiac, and that, combined with the grab-bag of absurd scenarios, would appear to work against Afrodisiac’s favor to make the stories impenetrable and far too cute for their own good.  However, the short stories are dense, fun, action-packed reads that don’t require any prior knowledge of Afrodisiac’s exploits.

Also to their credit, Rugg and Maruca don’t mock the Blaxploitation genre.  Given Afrodisiac’s occupation as a pimp, his double-entendre name, massive ‘fro, and the bizarre, over-the-top situations Rugg and Maruca place him in, one might expect yet another jokey, one-note Blaxploitation parody.  While the creators do have fun with the concept, they always play the character and the events absolutely straight.  Afrodisiac is a man facing impossible situations with steely resolve and righteous fury.  The overall look and style of the Afrodisiac short stories successfully evoke the feel of a Blaxploitation film and the creators’ ear for authentic sounding dialogue is pitch perfect. If some mad scientist spliced together the brains of  Jack Hill and Jack Kirby, the result would be Afrodisiac.  When I spoke to Jim Rugg at HeroesCon in 2008, his depth of knowledge and genuine appreciation of Blaxploitation was immediately apparent.  He effortlessly riffed on the little-seen film, Candy-Tangerine Man, and hipped me to author Chester Himes, whose novel “Cotton Comes To Harlem” was adapted into the proto-Blaxploitation film of the same name in 1970.

To date,  Afrodisiac’s longest story was his debut in Street Angel, which showed the reader Afrodisiac’s ultimate fate in the present as a old man who still has a way with the ladies.  However, the longest story featuring the character in his prime was an 18-page, limited edition, black & white ashcan that Rugg sold (and sold out of) at HeroesCon 2008.  I was lucky enough to snag one of those editions from the artist himself.  I was impressed by the craft, wit and style that was present within those pages.  I was gobsmacked by the book’s fidelity to the genre and the wild, anything-goes adventure that seamlessly moved from smoky, backroom craps games to James Bondian, sci-fi death traps  It was a real inspiration to me, and helped me realize what I wanted WORLD OF HURT to be.  Besides those issues, Afrodisiac has only appeared in a handful of short, full-color stories , each between five to eight pages in length. (Cleverly, the full-color strips are colored like ’70s era comics.  And, yes, I will steal Rugg’s coloring style if I ever do WORLD OF HURT in color.)  Afrodisiac’s next appearance seems to be an homage to the giant monster movies of the 1950s.  Rugg also has a fairly extensive gallery of illustrations and mock covers featuring Afrodisiac which can be found on his website.  The Afrodisiac tales definitely need to be compiled into a single edition.  It would be essential reading for any fan of Blaxploitation or comic book storytelling, in general.

AFRODISIAC LINKS:

Jim Rugg’s Website

Afrodisiac Vs. Dracula

Afrodisiac Vs. The Venusian Invasion Vs. Richard M. Nixon

- JEP

Just a quick note.   You now keep track of my mad ramblings on Twitter.  Just look for username “World_Of_Hurt.”  Drop by and leave haikus, limericks, invectives, or anything else less than 140 characters.  I’ll try to post one of those handy widgets on the site in the future.

- JEP

I don’t have much of an update today, but I have two bang-up articles for next week in the queue, including a new Off-Topic Monday, that will be pretty geektastic.

However, I would like to leave you with an article published on July 4th in the The Star-Ledger that discusses the history and cultural impact of Blaxploitation, entitled, “Looking back at ‘blaxploitation’ films.”  I was impressed by author Stephen Whitty’s serious, and thoughtful discussion of the subject, and I dropped him a quick e-mail to tell him so.  I thought I’d share the article with my fine readers here at WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM.  (Incidentally, the photo they used of Shaft is the very image I use as my wallpaper.)

Thanks for coming by, and I’ll see you next week!

- JEP

Welcome to the latest installment of a semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM: Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Intenet landscape with another blog, I present to you Off-Topic Mondays.

Bruce Campbell is a geek icon.  He starred in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead film series, played the roguish title character of the short-lived FOX TV series, The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr., and can currently be seen on the USA Network’s critically-acclaimed series Burn Notice.  His quick wit, quirky sense of humor, movie star good looks, dedication to genre-related  projects, connection to a director beloved by sci-fi/comic book fans, and his massive chin have made Bruce Campbell a legend–LEGEND–in fanboy circles.   For years, whenever news leaked that a comic book property was being adapted to film, the first words uttered or typed by fanboys would be, “They should totally pick Bruce Campbell to play [insert famous fictional character]!”

Batman?  Yes.

Superman?  Absolutely.  He’s got Superman’s chin!

James Bond?  He can do a British accent.

Robin Hood?  See above.

Captain Marvel, SpongeBob Squarepants, Wonder Woman, the list goes on and on.  It didn’t matter who the character was, fans were certain that not only would Bruce Campbell be perfect for the role, he was the ONLY one who could play the part and do it justice.

Until now.

Now it seems like fandom has a new Golden Boy and his name is Nathan Fillion. Nathan Fillion, with his movie star good looks and powerful chin, came to the attention of fanboys by playing roguish space pilot, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds on the short-lived FOX TV series, Firefly, which was created by beloved genre director Joss Whedon (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer). Fillion demonstrated his own brand of quirky humor playing Captain Hammer in Joss Whedon’s webseries Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog. He also did a goofy turn as a hapless handyman in the Funny Or Die porn spoof, Nailing Your Wife.

Now, with a new slate of superhero movies in development, Nathan Fillion is the fanboys’ choice for the roles they used to clamor for Bruce Campbell to fill.  In a recent installment of Newsarama’s Cast Off, wherein readers select whom they would like to see playing a particular character, Fillion came in heavily favored to play Captain America.  Also, a very cleverly produced fan-made trailer for a Green Lantern movie featuring Nathan Fillion as the title character is circulating on the Internet.

Despite Bruce Campbell’s fan favorite status, to date, he has never been cast as the lead in a major comic book movie, and it looks like Nathan Fillion may be following down that path as well.  Variety recently confirmed that Ryan Reynolds has been selected to play Green Lantern in a movie scheduled to go into production next year.

Is Nathan Fillion the “New Bruce Campbell?”  I think all signs point to “Yes.”

What say you, faithful readers?

- JEP