Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising 4

Comic Book Reviews: Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising 4

posted on March 30th, 2009 in Reviews

Comic Book Reviews: Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising #4 of 5
Created by Mark Long & Nick Sagan
Written by M. Zachary Sherman
Illustrated by Bagus Hutomo & Leos “Okita” Ng
Published by Radical Publishing
Reviewed by Richard Caldwell

As this Shrapnel series draws nearer to the conclusion, the sci-fi action definitely heats up. Ex-Marine Samantha Vijaya finds herself in the leadership role over the now-hardened Venusian colonists in a final suicidal effort against the awesome might of the imposing Earth Alliance.
Plans are enacted and lives are lost, until allies from the Martian settlements jump in with their own agendas. Then things really get interesting.

The full scope and potential of this story is coming into play here, with allusions to what is going on in other parts of the galaxy, and additional hints at earlier struggles in the seemingly never-ending war for freedom. The fast paced violence and realistically grim dialogue present an excellent view of the harshness of survival, of the ever-looming death that is reaping a mother of a harvest amidst the mechanized battlesuit warfare and exploding orbital spaceships. As I said in a review for a previous issue, this is what a future war SHOULD look like, what it should FEEL like. The claustrophobia of impossible odds, well portrayed.

The art, digitally painted as such, has grown as the series progresses. The storytelling is better defined, the POV more clear and resolute. Some of these pages are just plain beautiful. There is a wonderful pedigree of imagination and vision employed here.

Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising may be concluding soon enough, but Vijaya’s war is just beginning, and I honestly look forward to further tales of this bleak but hopeful futuristic narrative. Radical is getting it right.

UNION

I am working on a four part weekly article series for comicnews.info, and I am uber-hyped about the subject matter. It should run through the course of next month.
This will be an absolute exclusive for us.
In addition, I am halfway through an interview with someone returning to comics after directing a ton of movies, and then three more interviews to research and execute over the next two or three weeks- with two phenomenal artists, and a Chief Editor of a new comics line.


May not have much time for my own writing endeavors til I get over the mountain, but I can live with that.

confessions of saint fall

This posting is dedicated to the wonderful cast of characters from way over at the Kris' Korner forum. Burn in HECK Sir Shady, for starting this train of thought.
And yea- I mean that in a nice way. Me isz goofy.

Late Fall of 1999, I was employed at a pizzeria here in Louisville, actually the second time I lived in this city. I was 21, and completely full of myself. At least somewhat moreso than now.

In those days, I was all about the hard work, the life experience. As such, I was the known "go-to guy" insofar as willingness to work insane scheduling. Typically during the work week, I did not work mere doubles- I worked triples, or even quadruples. I would pop in around seven AM to start up the prep cooking for the day, and work on through lunchtime hours of nine til three. I was then relieved for an hour or so, via time spent sitting in the affiliated pub chain smoking and reading (I was on a mother of a Tom Robbins kick at that time). I would clock back on and work through dinner/supper until the dining room closed at eleven, at which point the kitchen would stay up with one employee (almost always me) so as to provide service to said bar. Sometimes, when finally locking up at four AM, I would go upstairs where the day manager had an apartment and crash on his couch to be ready for the next day's open. In those days mind you, I only made it home two or three times a week. Great times.
This was one of those darned quadruples.
I was relieved late in the evening, after having been on the general property for around forty hours straight, and it was a payday, and a Friday to boot! So of course, I head directly to the bar. Fast forward a couple of hours and about a hundred and thirty bucks later, and I am in a warm place.
Except for the trio of fratboys sitting a bit further down at the bar. They from the get-go just thought blue collar and still in uniform me to be the funniest thing ever, whereas they had clearly spent mucho amount of time primping before their dormroom mirriors so as to better their chances of laying skanky pipe for the night, like good bible belt christian republican offspring are prone to do. The giggles evolved, as the drinks mutually consumed progressed, into chortles and outright spitballs. These fine young americans could not leave well enough alone.

In retrospect, maybe they were threatened by me. My sweat-stained workshirt and clear need to drown my exhaustion into the magical bottle of oblivion was a party pooper to their attempts at pinching mini-skirted bottoms of the equally drunk co-eds present that night. A taste of reality, bitter and unasked for.

Whatever the case, I exploded, and proceeded to beat the religion out of each of the three. It was one of those truly bizarre moments in life- the coverband had ceased playing, there was suddenly a circle of patrons around us. In less than a minute all was over and done. I was standing, they were all on the ground. My then friend Joe (who had just been relieved from the kitchen) was suddenly at my side, asking me if I was okay.
I turned to the bartender, a leathery skinned woman in her early forties, made eye contact- and proceeded to vomit a full two or three gallons of puke all over the bar. And just behind the point of impact at the bar- the neatly stacked lines of clean glasses for the night, all immediately drenched in the contents of the barely digested booze from my stomache. I did not blow chunks, it was all liquidy goodness.
Time froze.

Joe was halfway carrying me outside, while the bouncers were closing in for the kill. Suddenly, I was at a payphone across the street, calling for the big sister to come pick me up.
Because of my otherwise undeniable job performance- I was not let go. Moreso, due to the fact that the pizzeria and bar shared ownership, the remainder months of my employ thereabouts were kinda funny. I remain banned for life from the pub- I put it to the test a few years ago, and a pic of me is proudly kept on file. While I continued to work there, especially during the late night hours, the bartenders had to come and meet me halfway to pick up their orders, as I could no longer physically enter their half of the building.

Even better (and this should say something for the type of people I share this city with)- I am still recognized for that night from ten years ago, for being the kung fu movie that turned into upchuck and bile.
King of the world, madre. And take that, Chinsang.

the Lottery Party XVII

the Lottery Party: the Fill-In Issue

posted on March 25th, 2009 in Columns
by Richard Caldwell, Managing Hackster

The blessed fill-in issue.
Originally an editorial tool to buy the regular creative team of a book some deadline time, I actually made a point of collecting fill-ins over the years. They can be an art unto themselves, self-contained stories that when properly utilized can either tie up loose ends or lay groundwork for things altogether new. They can be glimpses, like the calm betwixt the storm, allowing readers to see their beloved heroes stop and catch collective breaths. Ace writers from the much missed Bill Mantlo on to superstar Scott Lobdell got their big breaks writing fill-ins.
Nowadays, it seems fill-ins have lost any potential weight due to overusage. Extended creative runs on titles are becoming a rare thing I think, with creative teams hanging around for more than a few issues standing out like modern oddities. Sure, sales play a big role in this, but I think passion (or the lack thereof) is equally at fault. Was it so long ago, when an individual creative force could not only write and draw a mainstream monthly, but do so for years? That is where epics come from. Miller’s Daredevil. Simonson’s Thor. Grell’s Sable. But I digress.
This will be my fill-in. I have been reading over past columns of mine, and feel the need for some catching up on subjects previously hit upon.
When I began the Lottery Party, I was then under contract by a new publisher as artist for a perspective horror series. Promises were broken, the powers that be proved embarassingly incompetent, and numerous people were left hanging- without a single issue of any book ever going to print. I was fortunate in exiting stage left before they lost their funding, their website, their credibility. I mention this here because said persons are apparently at it again. I trust this time they are able to pay their creative people for any and all works rendered. Returning phone calls would be nice as well.

Nathan Thomas Milliner, one of my earlier interviews for the site, has made a truckload of progress on turning his OGN- Girl #3 into an indie film. Nate did the cover/poster art for another movie, Travis Miller’s Bloodstained Romance, which I reviewed before and is now at last available for sale online.

I hear word that Jimmy McCranie and son Brian McCranie are at work on new projects, both together and separately. There is a world of talent in that bloodline.

10th Muse 800 is still on the stands. I have interviewed before both the writer, Adam David Gragg and the penciler, Roman Morales III (who can bench press Galactus). Non-threatening futuristic Greek Mythology is always alot of fun, so buy this comic.

Dave Olbrich’s blog is going strong, and garners my highest recommendation. Dave is a comics historian, and even a brief perusal of his articles and stories will learn you something: http://funnybookfanatic.wordpress.com

I just bought a page of art from Matthew Clark. To see his originals is to see the sweet graphite love he makes to his work. He is hard at work on DC’s new Doom Patrol series. You should add it to your own watchlist. Or I will kill you.

And finally, one of the best examples of a group stepping up to bat against the Diamond Comics Distributors monopoly status quo can be found via this site well worth bookmarking: http://www.comicsmonkey.com

I am a firm believer that every era is an era of change, but now more than ever, it seems like our industry is redefining itself in so many ways. As such, don’t forget to stop and catch your breath on occassion.
Like Tom Waits said, “Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends”.

richardcaldwell@comicnews.info

infestations ad verbatim

Louisville, sweet Louisville- how I scorn thee!

The worst part of these surroundings, aside from local politics, inane sports obsessions and religious ideologies is most certainly at the personal level. The drama circles.
In spite of being the inbred capital of the world, Kentucky is actually a truly beautiful state. Unfortunately, the citizens of Louisville for the most part never traverse beyond the county limits to see for themselves. For an outsider to spend time here, they are eventually amassed with the impression of living on a sort of island, cut off from the real world. Since the merger of city and county governments a few years ago, Louisville is purportedly in the ranking of thirty largest cities in the US of A, though there is a rather large dropoff point ahead of us. Most tourists spend days here during Derby week, at which time the city gives itself a temporary facelift so as to better steal as many tourist dollars as legally allowable. Wash off all of the cheap whore makeup and you find an ashamedly different city the rest of the year.
As far as Louisvillians are concerned, their city is the center of the universe. Any attempt at pointing out otherwise is shot down and stomped down out back of the pub. In truth- there is no art scene here. The local music fare is substandard, at best. There really is nothing original or unique about the atmosphere here, other than the insistence at absorbing and trapping outsiders so as to claim their accomplishments as its own. They do purport a pseudo-worldliness. It is common to meet someone who once spent something like half a year away from the city many many years ago, and for them to say with pride that they are from said far off place.
Rubbish.
The trendy neighborhood is filled with girls sporting bad Bettie Page haircuts and boys wearing girl pants. Everyone exchanging bedmates and STD's right along with their sad dreams and ambitions. They listen to their affiliate NPR and take great pride in calling themselves music snobs. They dress absurdly, thinking it signifies individuality.
I have never lived anywhere in this country where I was surrounded so constantly by so many inferiority complexes. To exhibit creativity, to exhibit intelligence or imagination, is to receive the modern equivalent of the scarlet letter, or the M on the sholder.

Apparently I have a large number of "enemies" here. Have I been banned from certain bars for fighting? Yes. To my credit I have never started a fight in my life.
Have I old friends and lovers who will not think twice about backstabbing if it warrants acceptibility by the coffeeshop crowd for an evening? Yes. Women despise when I cut them off. Did I slash tires and kick in doors before, trying in my own way to combat the local drug problems? Yes. And it led to my apartment being broken into in the late summer of 2007.

I have always lived my life by my own standards, so to exist somewhere where everyone is so quick to judge anything different, so quick to defame anything deemed threatening to their King Rat status quo...makes me laugh.
So, nowadays I keep to myself. I would rather leave the robotmonkeyzombies of Louisville to their own simplified worldviews.

They have so little, poor bastards.

nailing gods to trees for fun and profit

Effective immediately, I am hereby discontinuing my monthly side column- Gaslights Web'd.

Web-comix are drivel.

Yea!

Big victory for me yesterday.


Back around the end of January, my laptop died a sad, vicious death of natural causes, namely old age. Zarathustra's initials were carved on that baby. So, I roughed it the past few weeks, stealing time on the office computer while sadly allowing some of my obligations to float away from me. I had to streamline my efforts.
Enter my friends, the Leistens. A few years ago I was the employee at Trish's comic book store- Secret Identity. Even after the demise of the shoppe, we all grew to be friends. Honestly, I love those people. Upon hearing of my internet woes, they very kindly passed on their old store computer. Granted, the system had a bug, but it was still by far greater than the one I had just layed to rest. I did my research and found the right local techie to do the repair work, and he obliged to Nth degrees of complacency. He recovered just about every relevant file, as well as downloading software for playing and burning cd's and dvd's.

I not only restored my laptop, but it is now the best operating system I have ever been graced with. And with both a printer and scanner to play with, I cannot wait to reclaim my love of producing mini-comix.

In light of the writing gigs I have been stockpiling recently, offline and generally outside of comix, these programs are like manna.
I feel like I can see for the very first time.

I named this one mjolnir.

metaphor and throwing rocks

thinking me an insect, she reaches out with both hands, wishing to tear away my wings.
I give her a name.
smoke.

I breathe her in to me, only to cough her back out like some venomous memories. I spit her harshness onto the ground. I call her many names.
harlot.
imbecile.
wench.
becoming a serpent, her body eases tail first slowly around me, trapping my limbs, trapping my shadow. she is cold and naked.
smoothe against my hindsight, her opaque virtues press through me. I am but a statue in her grasp. I despise how proper it feels.
she wishes to erupt the past from me.
I bite out a mouthful of her neck, feeling her scales slide away from me. she looks to me with hurt in her eyes. my knees weaken. we collapse, like stars ever unseen.
catching her blood droplets in mid fall, I pin them to the air, giving them new form. I spell out her future.

she never likes what she sees, so I remove her eyes.

now we can be happy.

grandfather clock

this is one of those nights where it feels as though everyone around me, everyone I see, is a ghost.

they should be so lucky.

the Adventures of Polly and Handgraves

Comic Book Reviews: the Adventures of Polly and Handgraves

posted on March 19th, 2009 in Reviews

The Adventures of Polly and Handgraves: A Sinister Aura
Written & Illustrated by Bret M. Herholz
Story Assists and Gray Tones by Rori Shapiro
Lettering and Editing by Peter Simeti
Published by Alterna Comics
Reviewed by Richard Caldwell

The latest from Herholz and friends, this is the story of young mystery writer Polly Plum and her Brit valet Handgraves, and the dastardly murder they stumble upon while stopping mid-travels on their return to Worcester. Loosely based on an actual murder from the 1890’s, a young (and otherwise well-to-do) groom has been found murdered on the night before his intended wedding.

Missing the highbrow vernacular jousting of Herholz’s The Spaghetti Strand Murder, the Oscar Wilde-ian comedy here being replaced quite aptly by a calmer and yet insidious tangle of good intentions gone horrifically wrong, and the showcasing of lengths some people will go to hide their secrets, their mistakes. Strong shades of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the characters sneak their way through the early 20th century Massachusetts town’s forlorn atmosphere with both intelligence and vigor. Great conception, great themes, and great follow through, all around.

By far the most mature art from Herholz yet, the scenes flow with more of a cinematic finesse, the page designs taking on a more focused and structured appeal. The gray tones from Shapiro fully complete the work, giving many of the pages a very haunted feel that only further stirs up the eeriness already required of any tale credibly exploring the mystery genre. Overall, confident and complete.

My only possible complaint is with the publisher’s labeling this OGN as a story for “young adults”. Such a heading calls to mind materials other than some of the matters touched upon in the course of this story’s events, in particular the culmination and resolution. Simply put (and spoiler free), you are giving today’s children (and their parents) a bit too much credit.
However, I really do believe this to be a remarkably well-versed and crafted story, I would even say it is one of the finest graphic novels of the year.
So much for my cynic credentials. Regardless, I would like to see more of young Ms. Polly and the good Mr. Handgraves.
After reading this comic- you will too, or this reviewer just doesn’t care all that much for you anymore.

billfold

the Spaghetti Strand Murder

Comic Book Reviews: the Spaghetti Strand Murder

posted on March 18th, 2009 in Reviews

The Spaghetti Strand Murder OGN
Written & Illustrated by Bret M. Herholz
Edited by Peter Simeti & Erin Kohut
Published by Alterna Comics
Reviewed by Richard Caldwell

This wonderful graphic album by New Englander Bret Herholz humorously deals with the aftermath of a murder (most foul) of the good Lord Algernon Sloughshire. The dim but well-meaning Detective Inspector has been called to the scene at Sloughshire Manor to find the guilty party from among the assortment of family and friends present. Can a story be both intelligent and fun? Dead bodies, rapid-fire quips and sexual metaphors seem like steps in the right direction.

The story flows exceedingly well, bits and pieces having apparently flirted previously with a life intended for the theatrical stage. The comedic one-liners and rapport of the characters are the real gem here, as sharp-witted as any good British comedy- from which the author clearly finds more than a little inspiration. In fact, Herholz truly has a great ear for energetic, irreverent satire. No worries though, as this is not quite smarmy enough as to be insulting to anybody.

Couple this with the unique art and you get something in a class all its own. Giving a strong nod to the likes of Edward Gorey, Herholz exhibits more of a traditionally illustrative approach to graphic storytelling than one will find most elsewhere on the comic stands today. Black and white characters of elongated forms, elongated expressions give the story a gothic touch where nuance is the subject of each frame. This is, to be sure, quite easily proof positive that drawing with a brush must not always result in anything mundanely cartoon in presentation. Rather, this is a kind of visual garishness at once both appropriate and necessary for telling such tales of black comedy.

Part Agatha Christie, part Sherlock Holmes, and certainly a trifle more Jeeves and Wooster, the Spaghetti Strand Murder is a solid and complete story well worth the read. Included in the volume is a back-up feature as well, a brief account expanding in its way on the notions of murderously kooky Edwardian families.

Actual diversity in comic books is a tremendously dire thing indeed. Though not his first foray into comics, let this book serve as an excellent introduction to the work of one creator who is doing well to bring something a little different to the at times tawdry medium of funny books.
Swell stuff.

the Lottery Party XVI

the Lottery Party: To Be Continued 2

posted on March 12th, 2009 in Columns
by Richard Caldwell, hack but managing

A writer writes, and he/she should begin by writing about what they know. How does this translate into comic book journalism? This will be a sort of glimpse behind the curtain, if you will, into my own take and experiences.
To begin with, let us shoot down the myth that anyone can write about comics. Some of the submissions we receive here at comicnews HQ are laugh out loud funny, in a sort of CTHULHU-esque screaming from within at the abomination oh my gods I need to claw out my eyes kinda way. Other than some degrees of comprehension into the mechanics involved in usage of the English language, there really must be a passion for the material itself. To be dry, you really need to be a fanboy at heart.
Organization, and you have to know how to talk to people.
Personally, this took me a long time to make the progression from adolescent geek to the more adult geek you read here, the guy who throws around the term “tradescriber” like he owns it.
Some standout memories?
When Larry Stroman was making in-store appearances to promote his Image book- Tribe, I was third in line at the Louisville store called the Great Escape. It could be argued that every artist in comics is influenced by the work of Kirby, but I felt then (and still do) that Stroman had his own very unique and organic evolution of Kirby’s style; and so I have been a long time fan. On that day back when I was fourteen or so, I was starstruck and tongue-tied, and could not even bring myself to say ‘hello’. The persons behind me laughed at my obvious awkwardness, and after signing my copy of his first X-Factor comic I ran out of the store, completely embarrassed.
Then soon after there was the time that I was briefly corresponding with Sarah Dyer regarding her zine, Mad Planet. I had asked if she could arrange for her guy Evan Dorkin to autograph my copy of Fight-Man via snail mail. They kindly agreed, and so I mailed out the comic, forgetting to include return postage (I was also ordering additional copies of the zine to pass on to others). She responded with a postcard some weeks later, at which point I was in the process of moving across the country (as I often do), and was in no position to follow through. It dragged on for so long, I ashamedly let it go.

Sad and painfully self-deprecating, the past is the greatest tool for learning. I do not give up, and nobody stops learning until they are dead.

Fast forward a few years, and I am regularly corresponding with a large number of persons. I subscribe to over a hundred blogs alone, just to help stay informed. The best interviews, the quickest reviews, they all come from communication. In part to lower the guards of others, as many a tortured and starving artist is prone to such privacy guards, but moreso by allowing others to see who I am, what I do and what I can do. Online networking does make this easier nowadays, but all the same it is fun to trade the random late night phone call or surprise snail mail letter or package.

Adversely, this thing called communication is most certainly a two-way street. It really frustrates me when someone hounds me for an interview, or to review their new book, and I work it into my schedule in time for them to disappear off the face of the Earth. If I were dealing with starstruck teens, then I would be more understanding, but I am not. In the adult world, failure to respond to or even acknowledge messages is also every bit as rude as it is unprofessional. I won’t name names, but shame shame, ya daft flakey flakes.

On a final and unrelated note, some of you may notice that this is the first time this column has ever appeared late (albeit but a day). I would like to blame the preparations regarding my pending Ides of March birthday, but in truth the balance between my day job (I beat people up for a living) and upgrading my computer system has proved to be a dance for the ages. And I cannot dance to save my life. My thanks to Gary for his tireless patience in the matter.

please send death threats, chain letters, and love notes here-
richardcaldwell@comicnews.info

the Keeper

Back in December of 2003 I was hired on as a barback with a new club in town. For some years prior I had been working as a souz chef, and was burned out enough to have warranted a month in the hospital.
The club was an interesting place- three stories, with a full restaurant on the first, a dance floor and wraparound fishtank bar on the second, and a VIP area on the third. A lot of money went into the design and layout. Very highbrow.
My work was a cross between bartending, bouncing and janitorial. I spent that Christmas morning mopping up the bar floor, feeling at last like I was living out a long lost Tom Waits song. Everybody drank on the job- especially in the early weeks while waiting for business to blossom. Mine was bourbon and coffee. The devil's piss. The staff were of a range of backgrounds, and we all got to know each other pretty well. As the club was located downtown, it became common practice for the female employees to be walked out to their vehicles upon shift's end. There was a core circle that honestly looked out for each other. On one occassion, a surprise rush led to two groups of fratboys beating the religion out of each other in the lobby and spilling over to the sidewalk out front, and I found myself fighting back to back with the bar manager trying to maintain a forced peace until the authorities arrived.
After a couple of months, the janitor, who plied his trade after hours, was caught smoking crack on the job, and was let go. I volunteered to take on his duties while keeping my own, until a replacement for him was found. Since I was performing both jobs exceedingly well, a replacement was never arranged, and so I was set into working 90 hour weeks there, half of which were after hours. In such times, I saw some things. The owners and their friends had fun with the property in the off hours, the manner of fun that involved lots of cocaine and girls quite possibly not of the age of consent. Kinky shit, too. Anyone who has heard of the Paradox Group may understand. The first time I tried to be ethical about it, I was asked to no longer clean the VIP area, to stay clear completely while I performed my nightly cleaning.
I kept a growing list of notes though. Local business owners, local politicans, they all had their fun at the VIP, all while I tried to mind my own damn business. Business swelled in the early months of 2004, the clientele shifting more in the direction of Barbie dolls and players. We were busy, myself especially. I had a growing suspicion that the owners of the club were bringing a lot of cocaine to the city, which corresponded with assorted police busts of the time. Then I was blindsided. A friend of mine who worked as a cocktail server was fired, less than a week after she was given a raise. I asked her about the circumstances and was informed that Scott- one of the co-owners, had raped her. Scott was a millionaire, literally. She was as blue-collar as me, and had not the means to pursue litigation. After he had his fun, she was let go. In the following days I tried to figure out what I could do, what should I do, to resolve this. Then it happened again, to a girl who I had casually dated before, another bartender. The decision to act was made for me.
The next day I walked into the office, which was located in the basement, and cursed out Scott, millions of dollars or no, I let him know exactly what I thought of him and his practices. He tried to follow me up the stairs as I stormed out, and I threw a garbage can at him, knocking him down the steps. The police were called, but nobody had seen a thing.
Everyone knew, but nobody had the balls to do what I had by then deemed necessary.
This was neither the first or last time I put my morality on the line. As such, people here in this city do not like me all that much. Fuck them and their plastic, miserable little teevee-driven lives.
Over the rest of ought-four I found assorted ways, primarily widescale pranks, of nixing his business the best I could. A personal favorite was when the new management made it through an entire Friday dinner rush before realizing the 3x3 foot sign I had hung on the front entrance reading "whites only", letters big enough to be read from across the street. Eventually, in '05 or '06 (while I had gone back to New England for a bit), there was apparently a drug-related shooting at the club, and for whatever reasons Scott felt the need to move back to Florida immediately thereafter. His club has since been raided by the police on a number of occassions.

All of these memories flood back to me today, as I have just learned that Tracy, one of his victims, died late last year in a car accident. I don't know if she ever found her own justice.


I really hate Louisville.

torquemada esquire

Talking with Roman Morales III

posted on March 4th, 2009 in Interviews

Artist Roman Morales III first raised eyebrows in the 90's with his work at Chaos Comics, before leaving the industry to be a real life crimefighter. Exploding back on the scene with BlueWater's 10th Muse 800, Roman took a break between stomping (and drawing) skulls to speak with ComicNews.Info.

Q- Hola Roman. You are currently returning to the world of funny books with the Bluewater title- 10th Muse 800, which fans can find now at their local comic book shoppe. How did you begin your initial run in comics?
What is your origin story?

R- Well I always fancied myself as an artist growing up, thought I was the stuff like a lot of other young artists, but upon my discharge from the United States Marines in 1991, I was told by my then friend (now wife) of a Comic convention in San Diego that was coming up. Being the cocky/arrogant young stud Marine (in my mind) I said "Hey sure I could get a job working for Marvel". Was I mistaken big time!I went with a makeshift portfolio, and a strut in my walk thinking "Here I am!.....HIRE ME!" and lets just say this much, I was overtaken by many things that day, by the sheer volume of other artists (in the flesh it was a humbling interaction), and the criticism of all those editors and publishers, I felt so (did you ever see an episode of the Flinstones where Fred was trying to make an argument with Wilma and she let him have it to the point where he began to shrink as he was being hammered by her words?".....that was me after that day.
So, I learned pinups are cool, drawing is cool, but putting things to a story, script and in panels was another thing.
I licked my wounds, was given a bunch of support from Karen (my wife) to keep on going and low and behold I got a little ray of hope from the small press publisher "Greater Mercury Comics" to do Grips Special #1 and Assassin Force Special #1, and finish pages to I Come In Peace #2.....(believe it or not Ron Lim, Tim Vigil and Rob Liefeld were just finishing up their tour of duty so to speak with Greater Mercury/Silver Wolf).
After a bad incident with the publisher, I moved on and had met Brian Pulido who was just forming Chaos Comics at the time. He had put together a team of artists headed off by Steven Hughes (Lady Death/Evil Ernie), Leonardo Jimenez (Rack and Pain), and myself (Lynch Mob).
I worked as a penciler for Chaos for 4 issues of the Mob, then did various trading cards and pinups of Lady Death and Evil Ernie.
And as lots of people know (if they don't- SURPRISE!), I became a Police Officer and moved on from comics.
During my sabbatical, I did a few things here and there, pinups for Chaos, a book for Marvel Comics Special Projects Division called, TIME GLIDERS Issue #4 under Glenn Herdling.
Then there was a book for Comico Comics- that was a fiasco and a half like much in the industry. It was a learning experience if anything. I did a 24 page book (Elementals Swimsuit Special), never saw the end product, and never saw the 24 pieces of those Elementals babes and all in swimsuits (if anyone has, let me know- I'd like to be reminded of what they looked like, Thanks).
And then there was a project I worked on of character concepts and panels for Maelstrom Entertainment's DINO FORCE, that never panned out (got my artwork back though).
I've done a book and pinup for Bishop Press's "Rose and Gunn". They where cool to work for. Also, pinups for Johnny Saturn, Atland, and a Tim Vigil tribute book- one of his characters called Synbuck.
All the time fighting crime and making the world a safer place to live in.
Now I'm back in the saddle of ART, I'm going to be retiring from Law Enforcement and hit the pad. I am going to be also learning the art of tattooing from a long time friend who is amazing with the Ink (John Montgomery of Tattoo Syndicate).
And that leads me here where I'm at now, working with an incredible Team of artists (Adam Gragg, Greg Harms) on the 10th Muse for Blue Water Productions. and the rest is history...or is it?

Q- Considering the range of genres you have worked in, what exactly influences you? What are your interests? And who are your heroes?

R- I've done simply pencils, inking, a little bit of coloring (for the Industry), and have sculpted and hope to get sailing with that on many projects. I've also done character design (concept drawings for a Toy company "MAISTO"), and ball point pen illustrations.

Anyhow, where were we? Oh yeah, back to what influences me- well, my involvement in life, incidents, moments that put me in a time of "Oh crap", life and death to readers who can digest it.
I've had the best and worst of both worlds, mostly Chaotic ugly and deadly. I've learned to put it all to music (no not like the Sound of Music), but I listen to music that fits my thoughts, my emotions and where I want to go.
For example- working in as a Surface Miner, operating a truck or loader that weighted in over 55 tons (CAT 988 front loader) or 70 tons of vehicle (CAT 979? dump truck)...working around thousands of tons of materials- boulders and machines, in a pit 365 feet deep at night was an experience that was only the tip of that mining time in my life; but I listened to heavy metal while operating the vehicles...it fit...and I also kept a sketch book with me, while waiting for loads, I drew what I thought, felt and saw.
And working as a cop- well, patrolling, coming in contact with the crappiest of people- gangsters. I loved listening to Gangster Rap (especially working as a Gang Officer), it reminds me of a lot of things, for one, how close I've come to being killed.
I was on this pursuit once on a stolen vehicle occupied 3 times by gang members who gave chase on the 101 fwy going into Hollywood, the vehicle crashed and the suspects got away. They crashed the car into a house. Later, while reviewing the dispatch tapes, you could hear KORN's Freak on a Leash (mix) playing in the background. It was incredible, I had my own soundtrack......(laughing).
I love movies and all that is brought to life by other artists. The mind is limitless and the ideas and dreams that come to life are so endless, I'm happy to be part of the creative family of artsy fartsy (smiling).
I love all sorts of music now, with few exceptions to country. I have music to put me in that place of the character, the story. I seldom listen to the words, I know lots of people are into that but I just get that beat, tempo going and its all I need.
Interests? Hmmmm? "GOD", my wife (smiling and winking), my kids, and drawing. My friends, working out, guns, rifles, pistols, shotguns, explosives, movies, driving, food (nachos!), music, sleep, and lots more I guess, whatever life give me. EXCEPT DUMBASS/IGNORANT PEOPLE (you know who you are).
Sometimes people get what they deserve! I have learned in 15 years as a cop, people are my interest. I love to psycho-analyze and pick into who they are. It's annoying at times (hey, I AM a cop!).
As for my heroes, I'd say my wife, my Father and my Mother, my partners whom I would take a round for and anyone who bears the title of United States Marine!

Q- Roman, thanks for opening so much about the things that make you tick. Before Miller time kicks off, are there any other projects, dream or otherwise, that you would like to plug for our readers?
And will there be a sequel to the 10th Muse?

R- Well as for plugs, hmmm? Projects that Greg Harms and Adam Gragg and I are working on will be announced soon- cool stuff, with the Lynch Mob, MidKnights, and much more....the fans will enjoy all that is coming. I would like to say that soon I will be retired from Law Enforcement and devoting all my time to Drawing, Tattooing (See www. myspace. com/tattoosyndicate for the Shop where I'll be learning from John Montgomery, one of the best in the industry and one of my best friends).
As for the 10th Muse, it's up to Darren G. Davis on that one, I'd like to do some of the Harryhausen monster books...
Let see what is in store for tomorrow, let the fans enjoy and continue to give us energy and reason, THANKS TO ALL THE FANS OLD AND NEW.

http://www.myspace.com/thirdempirestudios

Gaslights Web'd 1.3

Gaslights Web'd 1.3

posted on March 2nd, 2009 in Columns

by Richard Caldwell, Managing Ed.

For those of you who are not schizophrenic ex-ladyfriends, this side column is my monthly attempt at showing which among the clusterfuck of webcomics out there are honestly worth your precious time. Yes, I do remain critical of digital comics, which means the folks who you read of here are extra special in what they are doing- even if they refuse to accept that the Earth really is flat.

Last month, I called your attention to Calan Ree’s GingerDead & Friends. March of ought-nine is one hundred percent Richard Serrao and his Memento Mori strip.

How was Serrao inducted into the web-comic medium?

“I guess it sort of happened by accident as my best friend (Jason Thibault) and I always wanted to write and draw our own stories. We were constantly trying to improve to the point of being published but we could never quite see ourselves doing most of the mainstream books out there. We decided to create our own stories and characters and eventually Jason decided to start up a small boutique-like company to publish our own stories. Since he was reading a lot about using the internet and webcomics as a way to try and promote new ideas, and build an audience for our books, he convinced me it would be a good idea to go this route even though I had my doubts about giving our stories and artwork for free. We started our company Optimum Wound by turning my graphic novel Memento Mori into a webcomic, followed by Jay’s own comic Battles Without Living Witnesses- and that was a bit over 3 years ago. Since then we’ve added REX by Danijel Zezelj (which we published in English for the first time in North America last year), and we’ve added my second GN- Silent Scream (which still needs a bit of work to do before it’s ready), Jimmy Whatshisfuck by Jay and Sean Fidler (which we eventually pulled down off the web simply because there was only a few pages finished and Jay was just too bogged down with so many aspects of running the company to even consider working on it in the near future).”

Where does Memento Mori come from? All of the Optimum Wound stories are cinematic and violent, but MM is more dark fantasy, like industrial cyberpunk and with themes from the horror side of science fiction. Was it always a concrete vision, or did the story evolve in step with the art?

“Thank you very much for saying that. Memento Mori started when I realized in 93-94 that I really wanted to do a zombie comic, and seeing as how no one at the time was going to pay me to do it I figured it would be an awesome learning experience. As I kept on working on it, more and more of the things I love in comics and film began filtering through to the story. At the times zombie comics and films were few and far between (at least the good ones were) horror fans always had Romero, and with games like Resident Evil going strong it felt like there would be a coming resurgence of good horror films and comics.

Little did I know at the time how much the face of comics and movies would change since then. I was reading a lot of novels by some of the best horror writers in the biz and was blown away by what everyone of them was doing. The more I drew what I had in my head the more the story grew, almost organically. It began to have a voice of its own and I just tried to let it follow it’s natural course. Sometimes I tried to be too cute with some of the dialogue but I think I’ve gotten better as a writer since then. At least I hope, god I hope. Right around this time I was being rejected form Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image. So a lot of that dark despair I had began coming through in the book. I was using the book as some sort of therapy to get rid of a lot of negative feelings and emotions. Everything just sort of spilled onto the page.”

Personally, what has been the biggest challenge thus far conquered with bringing Mori to life?

“Wow, that’s a tough question. I guess the biggest challenge was just trying to tell the story the way I wanted. When the book goes to print it’ll be more how I originally envisioned it. Let me explain….I had no idea how much work it would be to learn how to tell the story with sequential images while working a day job. Those first few years I experimented with countless techniques that encompassed laying out my pages and trying to get the angles just right, learning how to ink my pencil work, how the shadows fell on everything. I look back on some of the early pages (1-48 and 78-80), and while I see how much work I’d put into the book, I also see many of the mistakes I’ve made. Some of the later pages (49-77 ) came out really well but by this point my style had also evolved considerably, and that’s why there is a bit of an inconsistency with my artwork for the book. When it goes to print it will be called Memento Mori: Killing Machines and will consist of pages 49-75, which will be re-numbered as 1-27 and will have another 21 pages added in to make in an even 48 pages. This version will be more consistent and will add to the story of the first Memento Mori. I will gradually lead to the zombie apocalypse I showed in the first story. Eventually, if enough people want to see the early version in print, they’ll have to make their voices heard and let us know that YOU want it in print for it to happen.”

As it becomes a more common practice for webcomics to eventually be collected into trade form, and considering a traditional graphic novel presentation was the original intent for Memento Mori, how has the journey to print been for Serrao? Specifically, as much attention as has been received from the web, does it make things easier for a small publisher like Optimum Wound to make that transition?

“Well so much has happened over the last few years concerning Memento Mori that a lot of fans have asked me what happened to the print version. Last year MM was being prepped fpr publication during the summer for a late fall release. The package had already been sent off to Diamond, and we were just waiting on an aswer. The answer I got was like getting hit in the nuts with a hammer. Y’see because Optimum Wound is an independent publisher we have someone at Diamond (called a Brand Manager) that tries to help us better our product by making suggestions to bring in higher sales. It seems because of the different styles I used to set apart the different timelines in MM it didn’t go over very well with them. They loved my newer stuff but said outright that if OpWound would have submitted MM first before REX they would have passed on it. They suggested I take all of my newer artwork out and build a revised version of MM, and they would push it really hard if I followed their suggestions. I was devastated. After all of the work that OpWound and I had done to promote MM, the only thing I could do to try and save the book was separate the stories like they wanted. A lot of people all over really got behind me and took everything in a positive light. It took me a good 3 -4 months before the sting went away and even now it still gets me upset.

Right now I’m just looking on the positive side of things as I’ve finished the newer version of MM called Memento Mori: Killing Machines that just concentrates on the Black Ops team and some of their members. I will do more stories for MM and it’ll all lead to a zombie infested bloodbath in Montreal during the quarantine.No it really hasn’t seemed to make a difference at this point. I’ll only really know for sure when the book is solicited as part of an anthology from OpWound coming this summer called Optimum Wound Volume 1, and then we see how the book will sell.”

With regards to Silent Scream, was this a deliberate attempt on Serrao’s part to bring his scale back down to Earth, insofar as exploring more realistic scenarios? From his experience, does it make it easier for finding an audience doing these types of ultraviolent stories as webcomics, since we do not see many similar examples in the product from the larger print publishers out there?

Would he mind if I started an internet rumor that he once took a stripper on a vengeful shooting spree?

“Ha-ha-ha, by all means do. I’m sure my wife would have a good laugh about it. Actually, the early part of Silent Scream was a short Punisher story I had submitted to Marvel a few years ago right around the time Garth Ennis had left- way, way before the MAX Punisher was created. It was rejected of course- they thought it was too violent, dark, nihilistic and just plain sick to be a Punisher story.

So since I had already started Silent Scream and it was set in the near future, I decided that unused Punisher story would be a cool flashback sequence explaining a bit of the back story to the main character. No, I just wanted to make it more of a crime story but as I continued to draw it horror elements began creeping into the story, which you’ll see later on as a separate story yet untitled. Silent Scream is my love letter to all of the Grindhouse and crime genre films growing up. Y’know- I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, Get Carter (1971 version), Mad Max and of course all of the films from the 80’s and 90’s that have seeped into my subconscious. I really wanted to make SS one killer of a crime comic (pun intended) and at the same time I also wanted to make it so over the top with levels of violence that people would either really love it or hate it- no middle ground.

The last thing I ever want to do is bore anyone or waste their time. I want to entertain them. Kind of like some of my favorite authors- Poppy Z. Brite, David Schow, Rex Miller, Andrew Vachss, well I think you get the point. Granted I’m nowhere in the same league as some of these awesome writers but I do believe the buying public out there wants something different- more adult, darker, no holding back. I’m not afraid to offend people, I’m not politically correct and I more often than not put my foot in my mouth. I just want to have my own voice in the comics world.

MM has always had a bigger audience as far as being a webcomic goes, I think that has more to do with the fact you have so many awesome comic writers doing crime comics now like Ed Brubaker’s Criminal and Incognito, which kick ass. Hopefully more people will get turned on to Silent Scream as I finish it up later on in the year before going back to Memento Mori. Maybe it’s a sign that I should do more horror comics? What do you think?”

What does such a writer/artist of gritty violence WISH to accomplish, down the road aways?

“I would love to be able to quit my day job and do this full time AND make a very comfortable living doing it. Right now I do it because I love writing and drawing for myself, and hopefully the fans enjoy what I do too. Building a company from the ground up is never easy and lots of sacrifices have to be made. I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into what I do. I still work a day job while doing all of my graphic novels and it’s never been easy, but hopefully in the future when people see my name they’ll be able to pick up my GN’s knowing I’ll be doing my best to entertain them- no matter what.”

Richard Serrao- creator, writer and artist for Memento Mori and Silent Scream, promises much more from Optimum Wound. Unfortunately he was last seen on a violent shooting rampage involving a stripper and a carload of explosives, somewhere along the Canucklehead border. Do the little devil on your shoulder a favor and read these comix.