One dense post, hope you find something interesting.

Another delayed post, started this post in mid-February. The only reason I'm mentioning this is I wish I got it out sooner, over at Ain't It Cool News, they had a clip of the Where the Wild Things Are movie. It's been yanked, no matter, apparently they are making major changes to the movie so much of the project is being redone and I think it's been pushed back a year.

Fables. Jeez, I can't believe I waited until now to get into the series. And to think I only started reading it because of James Jeans' covers. You can download the first issue at DC's Vertigo website. It starts out slow but give it a shot. The last story arc was amazing (issues... late 30s, early 40s). If you are in a hurry, there's a torrent of the majority of the issues out, including the spinoffs. But remember, show them some love and buy the graphic novels or the back issues. I'm waiting for the entire set to pop up on eBay so I can snag it all in one go.

Freak Angels, a free, weekly, ongoing comic written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield. Not only is it free, I'm totally digging the art. And Warren Ellis has given us Global Frequency, The Authority, and Transmetropolitan, need I go on? The plot is still relatively thin (don't have that much to go by), but the setting seems to have been done to death... still for a free comic, I'm a fan.

I forget who sent this Youtube video to me originally, it's a Batman: Gotham Knight preview. Haven't heard of it? Well this description was posted on IMDB. "Anime-inspired direct-to-DVD anthology film. Comprised of six short stories, from diverse creators, including Academy Award-nominated Josh Olsen (A History of Violence), Batman Begins writer David S. Goyer, and comics scribe Brian Azzarello. It's planned for a release window of two to four weeks prior to the release of The Dark Knight, and would bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight."

This article gives me hope for my architecture degree. Care to know who designed the majority of the Air Jordans (including the very first one) in Nike's lineup? An architect named Tinker Hatfield. Found that out while I was watching the CNBC special, SWOOSH Inside Nike.

Firefly will never die, or hopefully it'll get revived on the small screen. I've already professed my love for the short-lived series on this blog. Now an established author has one upped me by writing a Firefly novel. And guess what? It's totally free!

Daily Monster. There have been similar projects in the past, but not many of them includes a video of every single monster! Great stuff.

Saw a photo of this Target promotion in this month's Fast Company. Thanks to Cathy for the article. Too bad I missed it, what the hell was I doing at the time? I was working a block away...

I really should get started on the knitting. This R2D2 knit beanie is FREAKING AWESOME.

Resources:

How to Speak, a lecture given by MIT professor, Patrick Winston. I think MIT pulled the video from Youtube, but check the comments. There's a link to a video hosted at Harvard. Going to be honest here, haven't sat through this one yet... And Chip Kidd presents The Learners. Haven't sat through this video either. Subject matter sounds like fun though.

Wokai.org. I guess it's similar to Kiva.org, but this microfinance site is concentrated on China. My little cousin is heading over to Beijing this summer to intern for them. Very exciting! I don't know when I'll be over there for a few months of study, but I'd love to get involved when I'm there.

Core77 has a link to three great rendering tutorials. I swear I'll sit myself down one day and go through them. I really need a studio I can go to.

For a time I was hooked on pudding tea. More recently I started going back to Whatever, a dessert joint in Chinatown my brother introduced to me a few years ago. Check them out for fresh fruit drinks, and they aren't that expensive! Prices are similar to pudding / boba tea.

Quick hits: Wanted, Whale Hunt, Designers Accord

Wanted, read about this movie a few months back in an issue of Wizard. At the time all the hoopla was about the Iron Man movie (aftermath from the fan trailer that was released at the Comic Con). I was amazed that even with a pretty star-studded cast, the Wanted movie still slipped under my radar. It was one of my favorite mini-series during college and as with most popular comics since the 90s, the series took forever to finish. I think the last issue of Wanted came out a full year after issue #5. Though the Fox character was based on Halle Barry (Catwoman), looks like she didn't get the call. Instead Angelina Jolie filled in beautifully, so badass. I was a bit peeved that the story line was modified, but after checking up on the movie's synopsis, looks like most of the original elements are still there, just not in your face. Excellent rework! Check out the trailer. (credit: Mass)

The Whale Hunt, a photography journal by Jonathan Harris. Beautiful photos and several amazing GUIs to view them with. The GUIs are so well thought out, they fade into the background focusing your attention on what Jonathan saw and felt during the nine days he spent with a family of Inupiat Eskimos in Alaska. Every five minutes, one photograph, or sometimes up to 37 were taken depending on Jonathan's heart rate. Incredible story telling... there's more to Alaska than just the stuff we saw in First Descent. Oh, Jonathan did in fact read Moby Dick (check his FAQs section). THIS IS A MUST SEE!

Designers go green... right that's old news. What's new is The Designers Accord. Looks like the designer's version of LEED accreditation but for firms rather than individual projects and without any accreditation. Okay, guess it's not like LEED at all =T.

An update on the squential art industry.

Jim Lee doesn't post as much as I would like on his studio's blog, gelatometti (that should remain the case since he's so late with his books), but when he does log an entry, it's golden. The following post has a number of videos following Jim around the Wildstorm studios recorded by Gametap. Showing some scruff there Jim.

Touched on the comic industry a few posts ago when I spoke with Whilce Portacio at Harvard. If you read that post, then you'll know the industry isn't doing that well. There are just too many other mediums competing for our attention and even with great storytelling and art (collectively at a much higher quality compared with the 90s) the industry is just holding onto a small share in a crowded space.

With that in mind, I was under the impression Marvel was just using its IP to generate revenue through licensing (and more recently in house movies via Marvel Studios). Comics were a loss-leader. Guess that won't be the case anymore, Marvel is finally moving into the digital age. Years after Stan Lee failed with Stan Lee Media and long after the colorists and letters have jumped into the digital realm, the publishers are finally moving their product online starting with Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited. All the insightful comments have been stated by those in the industry so I have nothing new to add. It sounds like a great deal, they just have to make it engaging enough for me to read an issue here and there, enough to warrant a one year subscription. The fact that I can't read it on the go sucks though... we really need those e-readers to go full color.

This won't replace DCP (Digital Comics Preservation) anytime soon. I guess this is the part where I give my thanks to DCP. I hardly buy comics anymore, midway through high school I would buy my weekly Wednesday stack and they would just sit there, it would take me almost six months just to get to them. By college I didn't have any time to collect them so I canceled my subscriptions. It wasn't until Jim Lee started drawing again in 2003 (Batman Hush #608) that I started up. Actually I didn't hear about it until the 4th or 5th issue in the series so when I went to the local shop on Craig Street in Oakland, Pittsburgh I had to retroactively purchase the prior issues. Even now, I stopped downloading the new releases because I haven't had the time to sit down and read all the books I've downloaded. So much to do, so little time.

HeavyInk might be the thing to get me to buy comics again, it's so simple, every month the issues I request gets mailed to me at a 20% discount and with free shipping. HeavyInk is also trying to be more than an online retailer, they are going to take full advantage of what the web has to offer and really build an online community around the store. Not that big of a deal but something to really set this store apart from all the other online comic retailers.

Elsewhere in the industry, Frank Miller is directing The Spirit movie! EGADS Brain! Don't know if there is anything to say except that it's going to be AWESOME. This might baffle the Will Eisner fans, but I'm more excited about this project because of Miller's involvement than the subject matter itself. I understand Eisner's contributions to the industry but The Spirit was before my time so I never really got into it or grew up with it. Take a look at the cast, quality written all over!

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Not knocking on Alba or the other actors in the movie, but it's pretty sad when a CGI character can out perform the human actors. For action sequences that's nothing new, but take a look at the anguish the Silver Surfer is portraying above. Doesn't that just look gut wrenching? Okay maybe not for those of you who don't know about his sacrifice... so sit still for a second.

The Silver Surfer, know as Norrin Radd lived on an Earth-like world. When Galactus swung on by to dine on his planet he begged Galactus to spare his planet, Zenn-La and especially his love, Shalla-Bal. In return, Galactus imbued him with some of the power cosmic and he became Galactus' hearld seeking out worlds for his master to consume. You want sacrifice? That's a big sacrifice, exiled from your loved ones. You can read more about this complex character over at his Wiki. I'm a nerd and even I learned quite a bit from the Wiki-entry. In my defense I never really got into the whole cosmic stories. I preferred my superheroes Earthbound.

Back to the movie, it took me about three days to finish it because I couldn't really stand the movie until Silver Surfer showed up in full force. From then on it was full speed ahead. Most comic movies fail from the start because they are hopeless. How can a director and his/her special effects minions hope to transition what you see on the comic book page and your mind onto the silver screen? What an artist can do on paper is almost limitless, with no need for a special effects budget. What a reader can picture in his/her mind is even more far-reaching (and cheaper, no salary or royalty to the creative team, paper, printing, distribution costs, you get the idea). But the director and special effects crew did an amazing job here. Not only did they successfully transition the character onto the screen, they added to his persona. Some of the moves he pulled off in the movie had me smacking my forehead and thinking, wow, I can't believe the artists never did that. He was also interesting during the slow parts of the movie too... beautifully done.

To be honest, the Fantastic Four were a drag on him. They should spin him off and just let him fly... or surf. I'd pay money to see a solo movie on the Surfer.

Across the board (well not totally), less is more

A piece by Cai Guo-Qiang, my favorite Chinese artist. Read the last paragraph of this entry for additional information.

Back in middle school I relished the rainy days where I sat by the window and devoured a book before night fall. There was comfort in knowing that everyone else was doing something similar, playing console games or just on the computer and that you weren't missing much.

Nowadays I can't sit still for more than five minutes before wondering what others are up to, if there was a new reply in a forum discussion I was engaged in or if there was a new post on one of the many blogs I peruse.

Design Commentary: So with that in mind, I'm glad something like A Brief Message is around. I find that I actually slow down and pay more attention whenever I read this site because I know that it will not only be short, but that the author has taken care in fleshing out the topic so every single one of the 200 words contributes to the topic at hand. A Brief Message, start your day with it. Accompanying sketch included! If you are in the mood for lengthier and sometimes more dense reading, check out Design Observer.

Haiku: Does your ADD / ADHD prevent you from sitting through 200 words? How about 17 syllables then? Most of you know I enjoy haikus, even whipped up three verses for Mike's wedding this past weekend (though I didn't save them). They are simple to create and make you sound like a genius (sometimes). My all time favorites are the first few concocted when I hit a stumbling block making websites cross-browser compatible. Like A Brief Message, the haikus at Haiku for You each come with a visual partner.

Presentations: Think Steve Jobs' presentations are great? There may be better PowerPoint or Keynote presentations out there. Pecha Kucha is the art of delivering your message within the confines of 20 slides at 20 seconds each. First read about it in Wired two issues ago. Looking back at my time at Carnegie Mellon I approached it all wrong when it came time for the final studio. Sure the idea is important, but how you communicate it may matter more. I was so focused on building the perfect model or drafting the perfect drawing but I didn't think about what those pieces were communicating. I'm not saying a PowerPoint presentation would have helped, but it would have me think about the presentation more, rather than it being an after thought.

Illustration: I've always argued that comic strips can sometimes (or a lot of times) take more insight to produce than a detailed painting. In what other media can you communicate so much with so few lines / panels? The drawings in this Jcb music video may seem rudimentary, but it's really produced well and worth a view. Same goes for this Human Flip Book. And since I brought flip books up, reminds me of the Conan String Dance one, since it appears to be down, you can entertain yourself with this other Conan clip (Conan as a comic book vs. Hulk).

This may be the only time where more is more. I had this Roy Doty Holiday piece pinned up on my cubicle wall for a while. Turns out it was his birthday in September, so a happy belated birthday goes out to one of the most patient illustrators out there. I would go insane drawing a crowd.

Another illustrator worth a mention and someone you probably never heard of before, Vania Zouravliov. With pencils like his who needs color? I especially like this Autumn Rot piece. Discovered him via another illustrator Audrey Kawasaki who also produces some amazing work.

Don't remember how I came across Gaping Void. Hugh MacLeod has successfully done what I've been meaning to do (oh you've heard that before haven't you). His claim to fame are the illustrations he whips up on the back of his business cards. I guess I could do that with my old business cards... just cross out the outdated information and slap on my current info. Or I could order a bunch of new business cards but then I'd have to pay for them and I would be killing trees. Reduce, reuse, recycle right? They would have to be personal cards to since I absolute HATE the business card designs of my current employer. Two posts to read up on, How to be Creative, and his personal favorites.

Went to my old boss' house on a Sunday before my trip down south to borrow his backpack and saw a painting by Fabio Napoleoni sitting on the ground. Loved it, so I went home and found more pieces being sold on eBay by him. I'm glad I didn't jump the gun, though I like his work, I don't think I can leave one of his pieces hanging for long...

T-Shirts: My black adidas hoodie isn't exactly a t-shirt but earlier in the year I was carrying some groceries from the car to the condo. Naturally I tried to do everything in one shot which resulted in me dropping a bottle of liquid bleach. The cap busted but I wasn't paying attention so I just placed it under my armpit. By the time I got upstairs parts of my hoodie turned orange. It looked great and people think it's part of the design. I actually thought about grabbing a brush and applying some more bleach spots to make it more interesting. Leave it to Stencil Revolution to show you how it's really done when it comes to bleach on fabric! Never thought about using a sharpie to color in the black back in!

Tomo hooked me up with the following links to two Transformers t-shirts. Not too fond of Prime, but Soundwave I'm digging (why isn't there an insignia on the sleeve?)! I have too many t-shirts though... must resist!

Architecture: While searching for this Calatrava film in the torrentverse I came across a 23 (or 24) episode series on architecture titled Baukunst. If anyone is interested all the torrents are listed here along with a discussion (registration required). If you don't want to register, here's the first episode torrent off of a public tracker and just for kicks, the 9th episode covering Calatrava. You can find the rest of the episodes by conducting a search or registering at the MVGroup forum.

Periodicals: There are a few magazines produced to match my attention span and interests that I subscribe to. Wired, Fast Company, Business 2.0 and some sports magazines. Terry also got me a subscription to Metropolis which I love, I usually avoid subscribing to design magazines because 1) expensive as hell, 2) I'm tempted to rip them apart to build idea boards. Unfortunately Business 2.0 is being shuttered and though many of the writers are jumping over to Fortune I'm not sure how much content will come through unfiltered by the editors there. Good going Time Inc. RIP. As a consolation they are issuing subscriptions to Money magazine. What?

China: This is a great article on China's Creative Class from an old issue of Fast Company. Though it mentions a sour topic, the environmental disaster that is the Three Gorges Dam, there's plenty to look forward to coming from the Mother Land. Makes me almost want to live there (if my social circle included everyone mentioned in the article). If you made it all the way down here, I know you are tired, but the article is worth a read, file it away to read later if you must! Cai Guo-Qiang is mentioned, didn't know he was on Beijing's Olympic Committee! Some more information on his work and process can be found here.

Ignore this, just claiming this blog under my Technorati profile.

Gene Yang, Larry Hama and Jae Lee!

I enjoy attending lectures, panel discussions and presentations; unfortunately they are hit or miss, with the majority of them being duds. We all suffered through it in high school and in college, fulfilling our academic requirements. Why subject ourselves to it now when it isn't necessary? Because you never know. It's hard to find people that can engage and have substance behind what they say. But when you do find yourself in the presence of these type of speakers, everyone around you transcends into the 'zone' collectively hanging onto the panelists' every word.

Saturday night was one of those rare moments where I had a great time sitting in the audience for a panel discussion, Thinking Inside the Box: Asian Americans in the Comic Book and Graphic Novel World. Elmo forwarded information about the panel earlier in the week and I immediately registered not because of the topic but because of the people on the panel. Three stood out immediately, Gene Yang, artist and writer of American Born Chinese, Larry Hama, the man behind G.I. Joe, and Jae Lee, the master of shadows and artist of Transformers / G.I. Joe (one of my favorite renditions of the mighty robots) and creator of Hellshock.

The panel was held at the MoCA, not the Museum of Contemprorary Art, but the Museum of Chinese in the Americas. Located on the corner of Bayard and Mulberry Street, I've walked by the building thousands of times on my way to the Canal Street station but have only step foot in it a handful of times. Walking up the old decrepit stairs guided by the dim lights overhead I wondered how the panelists felt on those very same stairs earlier that night. A far cry from the glitzy convention centers or hotels most comic artists are used to when attending various comic cons or shows.

Compared to a panel I attended earlier in the year at the Asia Society, this panel was much more intimate. Constrained by the small spaces regularly found in Chinatown, the rows of metal folding chairs were lined right up to the front where the panelists sat. They could not hide behind a table nor did they have the luxury of sipping on beverages provided by the host. I wish I had known about the conditions they were to have the discussion in, I would have picked up a few bottles of Gatorade on the way there. Anyway, as with most Asian-related events, a panelist was late to the discussion so it didn't start on time. Twenty minutes past seven it began with the panel host, Vertigo editor Pornsak Pichetshote, introducing himself followed by introductions from the others. While there were six panelists, I was only familiar with three of them.

Gene Yang, most of you probably never heard of him. His graphic novel, American Born Chinese was a 2006 finalist for the National Book Award. Heard of the book when it was first released, think once again, Elmo was the one who tipped me off to it. He works at a high school as a database administrator and computer science teacher during the day, breaking out the pencils and pens in the evenings. If you haven't check out his book, buy a copy! I thoroughly enjoyed it and if you don't want to plunk down the cash, feel free to borrow my signed hard copy (but don't mess it up). Guess I look like someone on the West Coast because when I went up to him to get his autograph he asked me if we had met before in the Bay area.

Larry Hama was the most experienced individual on the panel. Remember when you bought all those G.I. Joe toys and read their background story on the back of the box? That was all him, he basically created the GI Joe universe! His GI Joe series believe it or not had a high female readership because it depicted strong female characters along side the 'Joes'. Had no idea! I could have picked up the girls with my G.I. Joe comics.

He also had a great story about working at Continuity Studios with the legendary Neal Adams. Neal, as with many perfectionists out there could not tolerate those who did not give their best. Many people can see a great image in their mind but are never able to commit it to paper because they 'settle'. Naturally the table across from his drafting table remained empty for a long time until Larry got there. Though he didn't escape Neal's wrath, he did learn a lot from him (all you had to do was ask apparently, and Neal would spend the time to teach you). During one encounter, Neal stood behind Larry munching on a donut for a good ten minutes watching him draw. Finally he said something along the lines of, "I guess you don't know about the 36 planes that make up a person's nose."

Amateurs would bring their portfolios to Neal for critiques constantly and Neal would reduce them to a pool of tears. However one individual kept coming back, and he did this for a good two years until eventually, one day after looking over this individual's work, Neal called an editor at Marvel and told him he would be an idiot not to give the guy a gig. That person was Frank Miller who coincidentally had as much of an impact on Batman as Neal Adams.

An interesting note on how Larry works, he doesn't fully script out his stories beforehand. He just writes or draws and lets the story develop on its own. Interesting approach and given his track record, I'm not complaining. I loved the comics when I was younger, especially the whole interplay between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

Jae Lee was the main reason I attended the panel but unfortunately he didn't get as much speaking time as the others. If you haven't checked out his Transformers / G.I. Joe series please do! I've been looking at some of his original work for sale, though most of the good pieces have already been sold, I might pick up this Grimlock page. Only thing holding me back is the fact that all my comic book related items are still in storage. Unsure of putting them up... Anyway, after high school, he spent two months studying commercial design before quitting. He showed his work at some conventions and immediately got hired by Marvel.

Anyway, I really loved the panel, you could hear the passion in their voices when they talked about the industry and their work. It's really hard to communicate it here but after walking out of there I wanted to get to my drafting desk ASAP and finish up Elmo's comic right away. Of course that feeling has subsided, guess my condo isn't really a creative environment. I need a studio to work in, with inspirational people working alongside me.

On another note, I sat in on some Columbia MBA classes, Michael Dell's brother, Adam teaches there and he was also a passionate speaker. Made me want to become a VC after walking out of his class, Business Technology and Innovation. Maria Shim, head of investor relations at Google was a guest speaker and she too was a passionate speaker. Guess it's not too hard to drink the Kool-Aid from a company like Google.