Insider Info

Aaron H. Bynum wrote the new series up for the Animation Insider... our first official review! It's a pretty positive overview of the pilot, so, thanks, but I do have a couple of quick rebuttals. Firstly, any stiffness or awkwardness can be put down to this being the first time out of the gate, so don't judge us too harshly on that front. And I must protest the criticism aimed at Argost... I think it's awesome and original that he has his own TV show! I'm not sure how that fact is supposed to 'soften' the guy. I mean, how many celebrities or TV personalities are pure forces of good, really? TV is full of corrupting, negative, unhealthy messages, and it's good for kids to question all that. I don't pretend to understand why the public love to follow the exploits of sick, twisted personalities like Britney Spears, but they certainly do! Besides, Argost is a Megalomaniac. A type of personality that would quite naturally crave the limelight and bend it to his own purposes. Frankly, I'm surprised Dr. Doom never thought of it (Though I do remember Lex Luthor running for president). As a creepy celebrity Argost embodies the opposite of 'secret'... he is the public figure with the masses on his side. Trust me, it works.

Me And The Saturdays

I did a little interview over here for Racattack Force. You know, in case you're interested.

Secret Saturdays Is Coming! Soon!

Man O man, am I one proud Papa! The Cartoon Network has finally unveiled my new show, The Secret Saturdays, on their website! Coolest thing? The new game, Code Of The Cryptids. And as Vanhoozer mentions on his blog, this is just the tip of the iceberg...

Aw, Shucks

Josh at Creative Loafing has some nice things to say about comics I did over a decade ago. To be put in the same category as the likes of Evan Dorkin, Ivan Brunetti, Chris Ware, and the criminally underrated Doug Allen... some of my favourite living cartoonists, is almost enough to cure my depression. Thanks, man.

And You Thought I Made It All Up

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you V.V. Argost's Weirdworld!

Shock Treatment

Thank you all from the bottom of my black ol' heart for the emails and postings of support and well-wishes in this difficult time. I'm still in the sanitarium, getting better day by day, and I hope to be back drawing, creating, and blogging sometime soon. I'm very pleased to see that my honesty about the illness has encouraged and comforted others in similar situations. Mental illness, invisible and mysterious, is really the last social taboo, and we all need to work on overcoming that stigma. Nobody goes through life without falling ill physically at least once or twice. The same is true mentally. Don't be too afraid or embarrassed to seek help if you need it.

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...