LOOKIT MY NEW COMIC!!!

Check it out comicfans !!! I have penciled the cover for my new "coffeebreak comics " project called SUPER GROOVY MAN. I think I am going to do this years comic a little different in that I am going to do all the inking in the studio on the day's when I am not working in the mill. Last year I did the inking on the fly, and even though that comic MONSTER DISCO was a real fun blast to read, nobody ever really bought into it at conventions, because it was so rough looking. ( lesson learned ).

Anyways...another thing about last years comic was that I posted each finished page, and alot of folks said, " Yeah I've already read that on your blog. " ....POOF! no sale. Well this time I am only going to post the pencil pages, and I am going to skip a few here and there so you sneaky little wise guys won't know what your missing untill you fork over some dough and buy a copy. Ha-ha ( another lesson learned )

I am also am thinking about taking my mentor Ron Fortier's advice and really bitting down hard on the bullet to get this one proffesionally printed, and stop jerking around with the copy store print runs. Yeah it's cheap to do my comics that way, but nobody pays much respect to cheap desk top wanna be comics, sure it's got me this far, and thats great, but I am ready for the next step so look out ( third lesson learned )

This concludes our lessons in comicbook self awareness for today...stay tuned for further words of wisdom from me and SUPER GROOVY MAN.

SUPERMAN WEEPS

I went to a comicbook convention not too long ago where I chanced among my many purchases to snag a copy of SUPERMAN # 298 from April of 1976. As many of you know I collect mostly low-grade reading copies of 1970's comics, so this was just another rag on the pile ya might say.

When I finally got around to reading this issue I was utterly amazed to see the panel at the bottom of page 14, by Superman master artist Curt Swan. Superman is crying!!

It turns out the story behind it all is equally striking... Superman, under the influence of an alien power, decides to live his life for awhile entirely as his alter-ego Clark Kent. Living as Clark, Superman is no longer troubled by the responsibilities, and demands once made of him as Superman. If a ship is sinking...oh well, ho-hum, I can't take care of it, Clark has a date with Lois tonight. ( Yaknow...that kind of thing )

Anyways....as you can imagine a good deal of suffering occurs because Superman is not around to help. Eventually Clark begins to realize what he has done, and riddled with guilt, decides his only course of action is to correct the matter by living exclusively as Superman for awhile.

At first Superman is happy to be back, but soon he realizes that the world has a never ending supply of woes, and cares to serve him 24-7. The burden filled Kal-El begins to crack under the strain of living an unbalanced life, and finally in panel 14...he weeps.

I thought the panel was very striking in it's simplicity, yet enormously powerful in it's execution. Curt Swan proves once again why he was the supreme Superman artist. I was reminded when seeing this of the shortest verse in the Bible, which simply reads: " Jesus wept". We ought not ...any of us, take for granted, or place too many expectations on those we think to have seemingly limitless power. We would do well to remember they have a human side to their nature as well. I hope all of you enjoy my feeble attempt at copying one of the great comic masters, Curt Swan.