Farewell to a Master

I've just heard the sad news that Gene Colan has passed away. I was a great admirer of his consistently wonderful artwork, from Daredevil to Tomb of Dracula to Howard the Duck. His work was striking, dynamic, bold...I could easily run out of superlatives to praise him.

One element of his work that always impressed me was that he was a master of faces. Consider Tomb of Dracula...a book that amassed an enormous cast of characters over its run, mainly because most of them were killed off almost as soon as they were introduced. But Colan never drew "stock characters"...he devoted as much care to making Dracula's "victim-of-the-month" a distinctive individual as he did to dilineating the series' regular cast.

Rest in peace, Gene Colan. Now, I'm going to reread some old Daredevils...

I Am Sad

He has been praised more eloquently on several other blogs, but I just needed to say how saddened I am by the untimely passing of Dwayne McDuffie. I enjoyed his work immensely, from Damage Control to Static to his underrated run on Fantastic Four. He was a great talent, and I'll miss reading his skillful characterizations.

Lost Splendor

RIP Harvey Pekar. America is less splendid without his unique voice.

Rest in Pies

RIP Soupy Sales.
Me with Soupy, picture taken at Dragon*Con 2004.

RIP Paper Chase Guy

In memory of Robert Ginty, I'd like to quote from one of my previous VHS Vednesday reviews:

"Robert Ginty, a capable actor with several noteworthy performances under his belt (most notably his supporting role in Hal Ashby's Coming Home and his star-making turn as the title character in the brutally violent Exterminator movies), has had the misfortune of having his worst role immortalized on MST3K (Warrior of the Lost World)."

And now, the aforementioned immortal role:

What I Sang 9/18

A little tribute...

"Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers.
"She's Like the Wind" by Patrick Swayze.

A Dream

Last night, I dreamed of an action movie where Patrick Swayze was on a motorcycle, chasing a bad guy in a stolen police car. They wound up going into a lake, and an elaborate underwater fight scene ensued, complete with Swayze delivering a Chris Sims-style kick to the head. And as I watched, I was cheering "Go, Patrick Swayze, go!"

Go, Patrick Swayze, go!

What I Sang 8/12

My tribute to John Hughes...



"Pretty in Pink" by The Psychedelic Furs.

"Sixteen Candles" by The Crests.

"Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo.

VHS Vednesday (Sort Of): Hot Stuff

No real review this time, unfortunately...a busy week at work has left me with no time to watch any movies (as well as leaving me too frazzled to write reviews). However, I felt I had to pay tribute (if only in my own half-assed way) to a great comic actor in one of his less-familiar films (and his only directorial effort):



HOT STUFF (1979). Directed by Dom DeLuise. Starring Dom DeLuise, Suzanne Pleshette, and Jerry Reed.

Rest in peace, Captain Chaos.

What I Sang 2-06

Last night at Midtown Tavern, I did my tribute to Lux Interior. There weren't any actual Cramps songs in the karaoke catalog (not that surprising, really), but they did have one song that the Cramps did a rockin' cover of:

"Green Door" by Jim Lowe.

Rest in peace, Lux...and stay sick!

Bettie

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A Bad Motor Scooter and a Human Tornado

RIP Rudy Ray Moore.



The trailer speaks for itself.

What I Sang 9-3

"East Bound and Down" in memory of Jerry Reed.

RIP George Carlin

May you find a place for your stuff:

What I Sang 6-4

Tonight's offerings:

"Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley (RIP).
"Yellow" by Coldplay.
"Along Came Jones" by The Coasters.

Adieu, Gazoo

RIP Harvey Korman.

Say Goodnight, Dick

RIP Dick Martin.

An Angel Has No Memory

RIP John Phillip Law.

What I Sang 5-14

It was a very slow night tonight, which meant that I managed to fit in a LOT of songs...

"Streets of Laredo" by Eddy Arnold. (Rest in peace, big guy!) (YouTube doesn't have Eddy Arnold's version, but here's Marty Robbins singing it.)
"Play the Game" by Queen.
"Blockbuster" by The Sweet.
"Never Say Never" by Romeo Void.
"Sex & Candy" by Marcy Playground.
"AIEOU Sometimes Y" by Ebn Ozn.
"Walking in My Blue Jeans" by Sophie B. Hawkins. (Surprisingly, this song doesn't appear to be on YouTube, so no link.)
"Land of Confusion" by Genesis.

Why Didn't I Know This Sooner?

Sometimes, it really hits me hard to find out just how far out of the loop I've been. Last night, I picked up this week's comics...and there, on the back page of the DC titles, was a memorial notice for Jim Mooney. This was the first I had heard about his passing. I'm sure it's been noted on several blogs, but somehow I missed the news until now.

Jim Mooney has long been one of my favorite artists. There was a great, wholesome charm to his art...apart from his definitive Supergirl stories, I've always been especially fond of his 1970s collaborations with Steve Gerber (both Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown). You wouldn't think that Mooney's "old-fashioned" feel would mesh with Gerber's out-there madness, but it worked beautifully.

One of the prizes of my original art collection (back when I could afford to buy them) is a Jim Mooney Omega page, which I purchased through one of his own eBay auctions. It's a beautiful page, and he was a pleasure to deal with.

Rest in peace, Mr. Mooney.