After Surgery

My cancer surgery of last week went well. The surgeon, Mark Singer, is a preeminent, highly skilled guy who also is very good-humored and reassuring--not that common a combination, I'm told and I believe it.

It's a good thing this is basically happening between  semesters. I look scary now and my voice is shot. But the body, even the post-middle-age body, is an incredible thing.

I want to thank everybody who shook my hand or sent me an encouraging message through email or Facebook.  There's never any need to feel called upon to say something special in such a case; I can tell you every expression of good wishes is gratefully banked and adds to the strength I can bring to bear in the situation.

(But when a friend quoted a line from an old Simpsons episode to me, "Chicks dig scars," that was kind of extra bonus special. :)  )


JH

To Inspire... or Repulse

This is Rob Liefeld's work, the sample that got him his first job at a major publisher. Is it awful? Well it ain't great, but it's neatly drawn, highly inkable, and has a certain grand quality to its figures, and distinctive rendering style. The background, eh...not so convincing, but the strong use of diagonals adds a lot of energy to the composition. The hands and feet are bad.

What does this illustrate?

Maybe "right place, right time," but more than that: in comics, making work that's confident and professional on its own unique terms can be a powerful thing. Everybody says this guy is bad because everybody says he's bad, but how many of us could for sure do something that more people would respond to? Not that is the only measure. But it ain't nothing.

Good luck in your final push, you-all.

JH

Comics' Future.

An interesting article that raises some important question about the way that the Big Two might react to the increasing obsolescence of the printed monthly comic. Thanks to P. Hari of LinkedIn's comics group.
http://socialwizz.com/?p=4289
The surpassing sagacity and foresightedness of the comments that follow it are due their being written by me. :)
JH

By Request--Fisheye aids!

Here are those "globe grids" for five point and four point fisheye. Rememeber that four-point is the more complex of the two, as it involves what are essentially three partial globe grids staggered across each other.
These are from Creative Layout, by Joko et al. 

JH