If you only ever watch one Anime feature, it should be The Place Promised in Our Early Days, a science fiction romance by Makoto Shinkai. This is a superb piece of work, and at the moment there is a perfect 720p copy on YouTube. Play it full screen in HD, click the captions button for English subtitles, and see what American animators can’t do.
Category: Cartooning
Joltin’ Joe on the mend
That’s Joe Sinnott, a Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame inductee, with Tommy John. Yes, Tommy John the former Major League pitcher, famous for a particular type of elbow surgery. On Thursday Joe had some orthopedic surgery himself, but it wasn’t on his elbow. He had a shoulder replacement done and, yes, it’s his pitching arm — I mean his drawing arm! So Joe needs a lot of “GET WELL SOON” wishes while he heals and goes through physical therapy. Joe’s not an online guy, and he can be reached at this address:
Joe Sinnott
PO Box 406
Saugerties, NY 12477
I have something very unique and special. It’s a Sinnott-Sinnott Mighty Marvel Team-Up. A tapestry made by Joe’s daughter-in-law, Belinda, based on a drawing by Joe.
Belinda is a whiz at making hooked rugs, and she’s been at it for a long time. When I saw her work for the first time, my immediate, spontaneous reaction was, “do one with Lockjaw!” Lockjaw is one of my favorite Fantastic Four supporting characters, created by Jack Kirby. He’s a giant 4th dimensional bulldog that can transport himself, and others, through space. But you knew that. 😉
At first Belinda thought I was kidding, but I persisted and convinced her that I was serious about commissioning her to do a Lockjaw tapestry. Belinda is quite creative on her own, and she suggested that Lockjaw by himself may not be enough for visual interest, and she asked if I had another character in mind. Well, that was easy. Dragon Man, of course! And so, the team of Sinnott and Sinnott started working.
Here are Joe and Belinda with the completed preliminary drawing. That’s probably the last photo taken of Joe holding his right arm up so high, before his shoulder gave out for good.
And here’s the finished masterpiece. Joe said, “Belinda put blood, sweat, and tears into this one, Doug!” And I don’t doubt it! Click to enlarge and see all of the detail and texture that Belinda put into this one-of-a-kind Marvel Masterwork.
P.S. By the way, this was posted on the 7th anniversary of the blog.
Labor pains
Labor Day in America and the world economy.
This is no cartoon! This is a… PANIC!
From French Belgium (the Walloon side) is the surreal and hilarious stop-motion feature, A Town Called Panic. My sister Marianne recommended it to me, and now I’m recommending it.
(The title of this post is a reference that only old comic book fans will get.)
Did he say he’s from Ass Guard?
I wish I’d been born and raised in my ancestral land of England, so I could speak like this…
DrawRat
SamJay mentioned that he liked the cartoons of mine that I’d posted in the past. So here’s another one I did, from a failed comic strip submission.
This particular strip I remember being one of many exercises in teaching myself how to draw everyday objects, like the chair and lamp. It would take 1-2 hours to draw something like this in pencil, then ink it. Getting ideas was much tougher than drawing, which gets easier the more you do it. In terms of drawing ability I really admire the work of Chuck Ayers.