comics

The artist who had a table behind me at Festival of Fear was the person behind the strange creatures on The Bird Behind the Mask.

Sarah Legault has the most delightfully surreal little minions milling about in her mind, and lucky for us she captures a few of them on paper.

Characters like Twig Boy (pictured right), or Vincent P. Usher (pictured below), an eccentric with a bird for a best friend (despite his phobia of birds).

Although you'll find her in London, Ontario, you don't have to live in the area to purchase her work. You can choose from one of her prints that are all affordable - a down right steal - at $5 a piece.

I was a fool not to pick up the beautiful red t-shirt of the Vincent P. Usher character she had on her table. I hope to rectify that mistake in the future.

I had some free time in a sleepy little town outside Toronto on Saturday. It was a sunny day and I headed straight for a patio with the newest edition of Vermillion, episode II tucked under my arm.

I'd waited months to learn what happened after the dark cliffhanger in the first episode.

As I slid it free from the protective plastic cover, the rays of sun started disappearing. How appropriate a collection of dark clouds should move across the sky, as if they knew I needed different lighting to set the mood. Even the waitress looked up and commented on the odd sudden onset of gloominess, lamenting the idea of another afternoon of rain.

A lot of answers are given to take the place of question marks left from the previous episode. Readers are properly introduced to the Vermillion and are provided insight into how the whole story got started.

I have to commend the creators on their ability to balance the pace of the story: the calm of necessary plot-point revelations are juxtaposed against fast moving action and excitement.

Billy Tackett may live in Ohio now, but it was during his youthful days in Kentucky when his love for darker things began to flourish (including an appreciaton for Famous Monsters of Filmland).

I think I first saw his work on Hauntspace, but I can't be sure. What I do recall clearly is seeing this ghoulified rendition of Elvis and I was smitten.

While his colourful illustrations are nice, there's something about his black and white collection that appeals to me. Definitely worth taking a look (in particular, his portrait of Frankenstein's Monster).

After publishing over 200 book cover and illustrations he created his signature piece, Zombie Sam, giving birth to his Dead White & Blue series. Those paintings then became the inspiration for the Dead White & Blue Comics graphic novel, scheduled for release early 2009 from Abyss Walker Comics.

I can't resist a comic that stars a gingerbread boy and a skeletal girlfriend.

Gingerdead is an online comic posted weekly. It's also an interesting blog where readers are encouraged to respond in the comments area in haiku (I failed to do this when I posted there). Why? Well the comic itself is often written in haiku-style (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables).

When you have a sister who wants to kill you (as GingerDead does), perhaps it's easier to take when the plotting is so lyrical.

It's been almost two years since the last instalment of The Happy Undertaker was published to his blog, but I still wanted to draw your attention to these illustrations by Drazen Kojan.

The layout is reminiscent of Sunday paper comic strip cartoons; each issue an episode, each episode with it's own plot surrounding the same whistling Undertaker.

For me, the Happy Undertaker is a bit of a surrealistic melting pot of anything that might pop into my head and onto the page and does not necessarily need to be explained. I try to keep this sense of adventure, surprise and a good (if mysterious) story, with the best drawings I can muster in all my work from children's book illustration to single image illustration and paintings. It's always wonderful to watch an idea grow.

Drazen, originally from Croatia, has called Canada his home for many years. In 2005 he began illustrating children's books and continues to do so. You can see his recent work on his active blog Hypnotik Eye.

But first, do yourself a favour and spend some time going through the Happy Undertaker issues.

This is the image that caught my eye several months ago on Haunt Space while clicking through the community gallery. According to the owner's profile, there was a website that housed her work but it was currently under construction.

Just last month, www.thezombified.com was brought back to life. Finally, I'd have a chance to explore.

There are four main Horror Girls characters: the Zombie (pictured right), the Mummy, the Vampire and the Bride. All of them are drawn in black and white and have that classic cute cartoon style - the kind I associate with stories and comic books of my youth.

As it turns out, the artist Krystal Fancey Beck (aka the elusive Zombie) does create a comic called Hallowhaus. At this time, there are two issues printed and ready for purchase. Krystal was kind enough to send me copies of each, so let me tell you a bit about them.

If you look up the definition of Vermillion, most dictionaries offer "the edge of the red pigment around the lips". Intriguing.

I recently made time to snuggle up with a new comic book from Waheela Comics. Not to be confused with DC's dystopian comic (cancelled after a short run), Vermillion comes from an independent publishing company out of Detroit.

I often find indie comics have more grit, and a bit more soul than those created by larger corporations. Such was my findings with this new publication.

While I appreciated the artwork of Alan Brooks (who has illustrated for the Bluewater Productions Ray Harryhausen title "Flying Saucers vs the Earth") displayed on the cover, I wasn't fully invested. Then I looked inside.

The black and white illustrations immediately gave this comic credibility with me. It's dark and almost grainy, with a distinct sense of movement about it. Kind of like watching a colourless dream (or nightmare). It's hard to see what's lurking in the black corners of the pictures, as if you're waiting for your eyes to adjust in the darkness (as the characters themselves are experiencing). The unique appearance could be due to the fact that the comic is printed on an antique press (that combined with the sketch-quality of the illustrator, Clay McCormack, whose work includes "A Tale From a World of Dead Meat", among others).

As an artist, I always feel like I've breathed life into something when I create it. If this is true of all artists, then Dave O'Neill has some wonderfully dark children.

Dave is a young man in his twenties from Burlington Ontario whom I met at, yes, the Festival of Fear (by the way, I only have one or two more posts left regarding my adventure there). I was most interested in his zombie comic book art (or was it a graphic novel? I need to remember to bring a pen with me next time) called Horror Hills.

As it turns out, Dave is also a musician, actor, singer and writer:

I prefer writing on a typewriter; I find the clicking of it to be quite soothing and inspirational. I watch the stars. I dread the deep. I like robots, aliens, dinosaurs, zombies, vampires, monsters and anything else that nestles quietly within my brain, waiting to be put to paper.

When Zombies take over the earth (as they inevitably will), our first reaction might be to wall off cities, carpet bomb areas, or go underground. Apparently in New York, the plan is to put on a Broadway show.

David Stewart of Eurythmics fame released a graphic novel in March (2008) entitled Zombie Broadway.

That's right. You read that correctly.

The basic premise is that before the President of the United States bombs the city, the acting Mayor of New York convinces him there is another way. Apparently, Zombies have a taste for human brains, feet, livers and jazz hands.

Seems like zombies aren't so different from other New Yorkers. After all, they appreciate the theatre. In fact, music seems to be one of the few things that can tame the flesh-eating undead beings. And what better place than New York City to put on the show of a lifetime? Just keep your fingers crossed that the audience isn't eaten during the performance...

Hello ghastly ghoulies,

I needed a break from typing up activities to post on the site, so I decided to slither through the internet and find something to entertain my grey matter while my bony fingers rested. I found three things worthy of my short attention span.