BACK TO THE START

NEW IN THEATRES...

* Source Code, Jake Gyllenhaal goes back in time eight minutes to stop a bomb plot--over and over until he gets it right--in the new film from Moon's Duncan Jones.

I saw the above special edition poster by Olly Moss on Rotten Tomatoes yesterday morning, loved it, and saved it to use for this blog post, and then coincidentally got sent a link to his awesome Thor movie poster, too. Check out the Thor and then look around the rest of his site. His Moon is pretty great, too.

THIS WEEK IN DVD/BD REVIEWS...

* How Do You Know, the romantic comedy in which the mighty James L. Brooks falls on his face and tries to throw Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon down first just to soften the landing. And to think they trusted you, James!

* Mad Men: Season Four: Like you need me to tell you it's any good.

Good time to re-post my drawing of Mad Men's Joan Hollaway, rendered by Joëlle Jones:

Current Soundtrack: Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators, Keep Reachin' Up



e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2011 Jamie S. Rich

HE BLINDED ME WITH STRANGE SCIENCE FANTASY

Sorry I haven't plugged any great creator-owned comics in the last couple of weeks. It's been a fault of my reading habits, not a lack of enthusiasm or...well, it is kind of dedication, but come on, I try.

Besides, I'm back, I am happy to hip you to a book coming out right now that I read in issue form, and that was so good I am buying the collected version, as well.

No secret that I'm a big fan of my old pal Scott Morse and will read anything he puts out, but Strange Science Fantasy is a game changer of creativity for the artist. Serialized by IDW as a six-issue mini last year, Strange Science Fantasy was an imaginative, unhinged run through various one-off ideas Scott had. Racing automobile gangs, high-tech samurais, a dude with a motion picture camera for a head--these were just half of the jumping-off points Scott came up with, and just the beginning of what each installment had to offer. Each issue stands alone as its own cool comic, a throwback to the freaky Jack Kirby monster comics the King did for Marvel in the 1960s, and Scott explores every corner of the individual ideaa, mapping out new worlds in clever, playful ways.

Even better, when you get to the end, you will discover there is a grand design running through the whole thing, it's not just a random collection of one-offs. Scott is batting around the storytelling impulse, questioning and exploring why humans are drawn to mythologize. The last issue works as a heady finish, like a comic book big bang reverberating out into a universe of possibilities.

The stories that Scott tells are not all that is interesting about Strange Science Fantasy, though, it's also how he tells his tales. Scott doesn't employ a traditional comics style, but something more like what Kyle Baker does, a blend of regular sequential page creation and storyboarding. The images and the words are arranged more as pictures and captions, like a picture book, and there aren't really word balloons. It gives Strange Science Fantasy a leaner, more facile appearance. These tales move at a snappy pace, and Scott's colorful tones and energetic lines hum with the potency of primitive cave paintings, as if his legends were equal to those etched on cave walls at the dawn of man.

Added bonus: each story has a one-page summation by the great Paul Pope. That's six pages of the Comics Destroyer. Worth the price alone!

Amazon has the book as available in mid-April, but comic book stores will have it tomorrow.

Current Soundtrack: tonight's The Colbert Report

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2011 Jamie S. Rich

SHE LOVED LIKE DIAMOND: Audrey Hepburn by Nicolas Hitori de

Nico has drawn a lovely color Audrey Hepburn and posted it online.

This is the second Audrey drawing he's done. You can see his first here.

Current Soundtrack: Spandau Ballet, Diamond: Deluxe Edition Disc 2

TWO GIRLS FOR EVERY BOY

NEW IN THEATRES...

* Jane Eyre, yeah, yeah, Jane and Rochester really love each other. I get it. Wake me when it's over...

* Monogamy, an intriguing movie about love, relationships, obsession, growing up. You know, same old thing. Starring Chris Messina and Rashida Jones.

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* The Mikado, a 1939 Technicolor adaptation of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.

THIS WEEK IN DVD/BD REVIEWS...

* Around a Small Mountain, a self-important dud from Jacques Rivette, starring Jane Birkin and some Italian guy.

* I Clowns, Federico Fellini's playful early '70s documentary about...well, clowns!

* A Film Unfinished, a haunting documentary piecing together a lost Nazi propaganda film shot in the Polish ghetto.

* Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, a wonderful documentary introduction to the fascinating pianist.

* Our Hospitality: Ultimate Edition, a spiffy new release of the old Buster Keaton classic.

* William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, another excellent documentary, this time about the oddball author of Naked Lunch.

Current Soundtrack: David Bowie, Toy (unreleased album)

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2011 Jamie S. Rich

TALK ABOUT THE PASSION II

Joëlle Jones and I talking to Stumptown Trade Review:

Topics include current projects by both of us, including Spell Checkers, Joëlle's books with other writers, my new Oni books, the sequel to You Have Killed Me, Madman projects, and Nico's bad language comprehension.

Current Soundtrack: The Colbert Report

TALK ABOUT THE PASSION

* Deconstructing Comics has put together a podcast compiling their interviews from Emerald City Comic Con. You can visit the link here and listen to or download the whole thing. Jöelle and I are around the 48 minute mark, and our pal Natalie Nourigat comes in about ten minutes later to close the whole thing out.

* Sean Kleefeld has the first review of Yo Gabba Gabba Comic Book Time, and he has an interesting take on things. I was a little worried when I saw Mike and I were put in pole position, so this piece just fortifies my anxiety, but I do like that Sean noted that our story "really took masterful advantage of the comic book medium." I definitely wanted to play with how the Gabba world might translate "physically" and spatially to a different medium.

Current Soundtrack: Scott Walker station on Pandora

LOVING THE ALIEN

NEW IN THEATRES...

* The Other Woman, in which Natalie Portman gets really, really sad. Really.

* Paul, the new Simon Pegg/Nick Frost comedy takes on sci-fi as the genre of choice, and though it's funny, you will miss Edgar Wright.

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* The Double Life of Veronique, revisiting Krzysztof Kieślowski's masterful film on Blu-Ray.

* Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh's impressive dramatization of Gilbert & Sullivan writing The Mikado. (Also at DVD Talk.)

THIS WEEK IN DVD/BD REVIEWS...

* Heartbreaker, a rom-com that reminds us that the French make crappy movies, too.

* Sunday in New York, a flaccid 1960s romantic comedy with a very non-flaccid, sexy Jane Fonda.

* Teen A Go Go, a DIY documentary on 1960s Texas garage bands.

* Two in the Wave, a documentary about Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard that mostly preaches to the choir, but is still entertaining.

Current Soundtrack: The Office, Valentine's 2011 episode

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2011 Jamie S. Rich

I'LL TUMBLR 4 YA

I joined the legion of Tumblr. I resisted as I had no idea why the hell I needed it, but then I was inspired by my friends Christopher and Cameron and their blogs over there.

Midi-Confessions123 is a smaller companion to this blog, set up to act as a catalogue of things I am reading, watching, and listening to, with the occasional random thought or photo thrown in. Visit Midi-Confessions123 and check it out.



Current Soundtrack: Claudine Longet, Claudine

NEW COMICS WEDNESDAY: YO GABBA ZOMBIE!

Oni Press releases the much-anticipated anthology Yo Gabba Gabba Comic Book Time on Wednesday. Based on the popular children's show, the hardcover comic features a bunch of short stories by many great people, including one by myself and Mike Allred. I got a chance to see the final product before Emerald City and it's a gorgeous book. You won't need any knowledge of the show going in, the art is so pretty, it stands alone as a cool collection of great indie creators having a silly good time.

Below is the cover and a sneak peak at the first page by Mike and myself.

Oni Press and W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, the award-winning entertainment company and producers of Yo Gabbba Gabba!, have teamed to bring DJ Lance Rock, the residents of his magic boombox, Brobee, Muno, Toodee, Foofa and Plex, along with their Story Time pals from their hit series and live stage show, to the wild world of comics books with the first Yo Gabba Gabba! comics project--Yo Gabba Gabba! Comic Book Time Vol. 1. Featuring an all-new cover from Gabba Animation Art Director Parker Jacobs and new stories from YGG animators, comic book superstars like Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Mike Allred, J. Torres, J. Bone, Jamie S. Rich, and many more, this book promises to be a party for the eyeballs of readers young and old!

Format: Original Graphic Novel, Oversized Hardcover
Content Rating: A (All Ages)
Street Date: Mar 9, 2011

Diamond™ Order Code: AUG101105
ISBN: 978-1-934964-49-1

Allred fans should also pick up the first trade paperback collection of his Vertigo series with Chris Roberson. iZombie, vol. 1: Dead to the World collects the first six issues of the comic. Fangoria gave the book an amazing review, in case you're not familiar.



You can also read an really good interview with Mike at CBR, in which he talks about the future of iZombie, Madman, and other things.

And while you're at it, go vote for Laura Allred as the best colorist in the Eagle Awards!

And get ready for Mike's gallery show/karaoke party at Floating World on April 7!

Current Soundtrack: Carl Barat, s/t

NEAT LITTLE ROWS

First draft of Spell Checkers 3 is with my editor.

This is a map I drew for the main location in the book.



I said, "Good day, sir!"

Current Soundrack: Elbow, Build a Rocket Boys!

PAINT IT EMERALD GREEN

Okay, we're on our way. Come to Emerald City Comic Con this weekend and visit myself and Joëlle Jones at Artist Alley table M-29. We will have all of our books, and Joëlle is bringing her daily doodles and other art for sale. Stuff like this. You can even get a commission from her if you like, or have us sign copies of our publications that you already own. We're agreeable people!

Current Soundtrack: Booker T & the MG's, McLemore Avenue

MEN WITH HATS



NEW IN THEATRES...

* The Adjustment Bureau, in which Matt Damon and Emily Blunt get entangled in a mind-warped romance. My original headline was "Like The Notebook for boys...or maybe Inception for girls?" but, you know, girls like Inception. (Also in the print edition of The Portland Mercury.)

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* Yi Yi, Taiwanese writer/director Edward Yang's epic-length examination of a family in flux. New on Blu-Ray. (Also at DVD Talk.)

THIS WEEK IN DVD/BD REVIEWS...

* Bambi: Diamond Edition, a fantastic release of one of Disney's most impressive movies, bringing this animated classic into the technology of the 21st century brilliantly.

* Jackass 3: Unrated, this time, the winner takes all the smuggled plums.

* Mesrine: Killer Instinct, the first part of last year's great French gangster epic.



Current Soundtrack: Love's Alchemy, "I Never Said Forever/Ophelia" (download); the Beatles, Abbey Road



e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2011 Jamie S. Rich