Renfield Returns

Hokay, folks. Honesty time. I'm checked into a Mental Hospital for awhile, so blog posts will be sporadic at best, and likely without nifty visuals. Gotta get myself off the old meds and onto new meds, and supervision is best for that kind of tightrope act. Wish me luck.

Three For Thrills

Here are three things that I'm dying to get my mitts on this fall...Drawn & Quarterly's Complete Melvin Monster, part of their exhaustive John Stanley reprint effort (thanks to all those who wrote in about this one). Even though I have all of these comics, I'm looking forward to a well-designed, one-stop collection of the best kid monster comic ever created. Are you experienced? If not, Pappy's got what you need. My favourite Tezuka creation returns in English via Vertical's complete Blackjack collection. This genre-defying manga features a scarred gothic surgeon in eerily bizarre tales of adventures in extreme surgery. Weird and wonderful! And, lo and behold, Disney is finally releasing a definitive DVD of Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow! If you're unfamiliar with these spooky adventures in Romney Marsh, this is a great chance to blow your mind. To be fair, though, Hammer Films version of the same tale, Night Creatures, is just as awesome.

Cryptids Are Real!

This new site is a must-see, focusing on that most beloved of subjects-- cryptozoology-- the inspiration of the Secret Saturdays.

Spooky Encounters

I finally got my eyes on the film that revolutionized the Hong Kong horror genre. Spooky Encounters, or, Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind, deals with Taoist magic, ghosts, and vampires from Chinese superstition in a tale about a cuckolded husband, stuck in a series of terrifying situations when his wife's wealthy lover tries to do away with him with the help of a Taoist monk's black magic. Sammo Hung, the director/star, blends fantastic kung fu action, comedy, and mild horror in one of Monsterama's new favourite films! It's a clear inspiration for my beloved Mr. Vampire series. The final duel in Spooky Encounters is considered to be the great Samo Hung's second best fight scene ever, next to his historically famous encounter with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.

Zoinks!

Canada's Wonderland sure has changed since I was last there around, oh, 20 years ago. It's mostly grown, but good ol' Hanna-Barberra Land has shrunk. No more Bedrock. The good news is that the H-B Merry Go Round is still there, complete with Yogi, Dino, and JabberJaw to ride on. And Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion is actually much improved, and a real fun Dark Ride. Check out a (somewhat over-lit) video of the ride here.

The Hand That Signs

***UPDATE***
Due to an unexpected sojourn to the mental hospital, I will no longer be attending the San Diego ComicCon. Apologies to all---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Looks like I'll be dragging my carcass down the the San Diego ComicCon later this month to kick off some promotion for the new cartoon. Catch me for a sneak peek at the Secret Saturdays at the end of the Ben 10 panel, or at the Cartoon Network booth where I'll be signing these awesome Saturdays magnets (above)!

Saturdays In Print

The first Secret Saturdays comic book story has been out for a few weeks, now, in CN Action Pack #26 (DC Comics), and the cryptid-savvy gang will be appearing in every other issue until their TV debut in the fall. Check out these carefully crafted 'prequel' tales for the first official glimpse of these characters.

113 Queen

Blogging fell silent during our family move into the big, old, 6 bedroom Victorian house at 113 Queen Street, complete with secret room. No, really. Naturally, I fell behind on work which, naturally, led to a totally old-school Nervous Breakdown. I think I'm back up to blogging again now... we'll see how it goes.

Yes Yes!

I've always been fascinated by the typographically alluring and spiritually dubious Ouija Board that first entered pop culture in the midst of the Victorian Spiritualism craze, but is still alive and kicking today. Despite some very disturbing and hair-raising personal family legends surrounding this mysterious device (no, seriously. Ghosts can be such jerks), I have a small collection of old boards and even once created a spectral supervillain (Doc Phantom) who was basically a ouija board with a head. If, like me, you're interested in both the history of the witchboard as well as the various graphic and creative forms it has taken over the century, you will really dig the Museum of Talking Boards... a one-stop ouijapalooza.

Ha Ha Huh?

I have an old magazine called 'For Laughing Out Loud' published by Dell. No date. The issue I have is called the 'Monster issue', which is somewhat misleading as half the gags published within are pure, unspooky cheescake. Here are a couple of samples of the 'scary' stuff (more to follow)...

Nightmare Playgrounds

Dark Roasted Blend has some disturbingly surreal photos of creepy playground equipment for your viewing displeasure. "Not only kids, but some more impressionable adults are in danger to become psychologically scarred from thinking too much about these monsters and letting them into their dreams."

Good Phibes

This is me lovingly inking and coloring a 1970's Jack Kirby pencil drawing of Vincent Price as Dr. Phibes. My god if this had ever been made it would've very likely been my favorite comic book ever. The Phantom of the Opera meets Yellow Submarine as drawn by the King of comics... the mind boggles! I recently re-watched both 1971's The Abominable Dr. Phibes and the 1972 sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, and they totally held up to my warped childhood memories. Really bizarre, beautiful stuff. England in the '30's, a lovable fiend with a monstrous deformity, blackly comedic murders, a Clockwork Jazz Band, Art Deco stylings, a silent and mysterious girl assistant named Vulnavia, and Vincent Price at his best singing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' through a microphone in his neck. Ahhh...
I wish I had more background on Jack Kirby's wonderful Phibes art (below). Was he involved in the pre-production of the film in some way (as the loverly and talented Clay Croker suggests in the above link), or was some comic book publisher seriously considering an adaptation or series? Anyone out there with the scoop? And now for a bonus... here's a gorgeously gruesome piece of Dr. Phibes art by another great J. Kirby... English illustrator Josh Kirby, best known for his Discworld art, to be precise. Currently up on Ebay for a couple of grand.

Updates

Go now to my official website for news of an award nomination and more definite news regarding the launch of The Secret Saturdays on the Cartoon Network...

Stumble and Flail

I've fallen a bite behind scanning and posting my own cool, creepy, crap these days, so here's an Unholy Trio to keep you idling.Frankensteinia compiles (you guessed it) all things Frankenstein, from foreign film posters to pet costumes. Me like! Me also like Monsterbrains, so go there for awhile. Monsterama commands you! And if you've got a hankering for a daily (!) dose of pre-code horror comics, please drop by the dead-lightful blog known only as The Horrors Of It All...

Meow!

A massive two-volume English translation of Kazuo Umezu's Cat Eyed Boy (Nekome Kozo) is coming in June from Viz! From their Press Release: "...for those who relish the spine chilling, we are extremely pleased to announce the North American debut of CAT EYED BOY from Kazuo Umezu, who is considered the master of the horror manga genre that has recently captivated legions of domestic readers. Cat Eyed Boy is a half-human, half-monster child whose mostly human appearance bans him from the demon world. He lives hidden in the shadows of the human world, hated by humans and demons alike. Wherever he goes, awful events occur as the humans and demons interact. In 11 stories of revenge and retribution full of disturbing images, Cat Eyed Boy acts as a trickster, saving the innocent and helping the wicked receive the punishment that fate metes out. The first volume contains four stories and the first part of a fifth and longer story. Cat Eyed Boy offers up a concoction of dark vignettes dripping with the macabre and the absurd. In other words, it's like a darker version of Shigeru Mizuki's manga universe, where the half-human, half-yokai Kitaro has freinds in both worlds, including some cute monsters. Poor Cat Eyed Boy is alone in a much more frightening place.(interesting review/cultural comparison by Christopher Butcher)

Microscopic Monsters

Very cool post about tiny, mythical, 16th Century creatures living in our bodies over at Pink Tentacle. From the site: "Long ago in Japan, human illness was commonly believed to be the work of tiny malevolent creatures inside the body. Harikikigaki, a book of medical knowledge written in 1568 by a now-unknown resident of Osaka, introduces 63 of these creepy-crawlies and describes how to fight them with acupuncture and herbal remedies."

Duck And Cover!

Oh, dear. I find myself in the unusual position of being very excited about an upcoming Dreamworks CGI animated feature. But what can I do? It's called Monsters Vs. Aliens... and there's a 50-ft. woman in it.

Secret Comics

The Secret Saturdays will be joining the lineup of Cartoon Network all-stars in the DC Comics anthology title CN Action Pack beginning in June (#26). The first story and cover (pictured above) is be me, and I will continue to be as involved as time allows in all the Saturdays comic book appearances.

The Claws Come Out

You should definately check out Pat Lewis' new book The Claws Come Out. Here's what I say on the back cover quote, "Pat Lewis' stories in THE CLAWS COME OUT ooze originality and charm, ranging from delightfully shocking pantomime to sitcom-ready characterization doused in a fresh coat of blood. Not since the likes of 'Topper' or 'Bell, Book, and Candle' has there been an occult romantic comedy that so successfully balances witty, slice-of-life dialogue against blackly comic thrills.", and I mean every word I say. Really fun stuff.

Best Cast Ever!

Clockwise from left: Diedrich Bader (Fiskerton, in hat), Me (in other hat), Fred Schaeffer (Producer), Sam Lerner (Zak Saturday), Nicole Sullivan (Drew Saturday), Scott Jeralds (Director/Producer, kneeling), Brandon Sawyer (Story Editor, kneeling lower), Phil Morris (Doc Saturday), Corey Burton (Argost, Van Rook), Will Friedle (Doyle), and Lisa Schaeffer (Casting/Voice Director, no relation to Fred). We wrapped our last episode last wednesday at Salami Studios, and it was, as always, a blast. Not all casts are this fun to work with! Thanks a million, guys.