Monday, August 25, 2008

UMEZU & GO NAGAI FAN ART!

Since our last post of Umezu fan art, I've come across two new pieces of horror manga fan art to drool over... These are both recent illustrations by two good friends of Same Hat, and are basically too weird/rad to pass up.

1) Kazuo Umezu's Cat Eyed Boy by illustrator/RISD student (and winner of the 1st annual SH 4-koman contest) Sophia:


2) Go Nagai's Devilman by cartoonist and screen-printing wizard Michaela Colette (that's Mickey to you, buster!):


I'M B-A-C-K, BACK!

My dearest Same Hat,

I want to apologize for abandoning you, and for leaving you to fend for yourself during these tumultuous past few Summer weeks. I didn't mean to not post on you all month, but you see, it's just that I've had to fly to weddings and family obligations and gosh, work sure has been busy lately. You understand, right?

I just got back from a week in the midwest, getting my GF set up in her new place, about to start an MFA in Creative Writing. While she's over there working on genre-smashing short fiction and outlining her YA novel, I gotta keep myself busy somehow. And Same Hat, that means I'm coming crawling back to you! (Oh, and starting work on the next book project... Hey! Don't get angry, Same Hat-- there's plenty of me to go around!)

Gosh, you've always been my favorite blog-- and I promise to never leave you again. In fact, I'll put up a new post right now, just to prove to you that I mean business. I'm gonna change this time for real--- here's to 4 posts a week until Thanksgiving!

Love, Ryan

Monday, August 04, 2008

COMICS REPORTER REVIEW OF TOKYO ZOMBIE

Quick update, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has posted a great review of Tokyo Zombie. In brief, he says (among other things),

Hankuma's art is crude and evocative and funny in and of itself, something you might see from an artist angry that his well-rendered work didn't sell and so he's set out to create an entire comic for his own benefit while sitting in the garage high on rubber cement. I could have 200 more pages.

In other news, here's a picture of disheveled Evan and tired-ass, bleary-eyed me at San Diego! (thanks, pegs!)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

DANCE! KREMLIN PALACE! by SHINTARO KAGO (CHAPTER 5)

After a short but needed hiatus, our friend Rizzah over at Wanted: Cheap Manga has just posted the latest chapter of Dance! Kremlin Palace! by Shintaro Kago.



This time around it's SPREADS, SPREADS, SPREADS. This chaper focuses on grisly and fanciful visions of the fall of the USSR, and features seven amazing (but gnarly) two-page spreads to tell the tale. I don't think it's just because I often have him on the brain, but I definitely feel a heavy homage here to Suehiro Maruo's infamous Planet of the Jap, especially in the final page.

As Rizzah describes this chapter,
The newest chapter of DKP is an apocalyptic future prediction for Kago’s surreal USSR. As usual, he takes stereotypes to the extreme, causing the utter collapse of the country. Some pretty brutal images (see above), so don’t read this at work (save it ’till your mom walks in the room!).

Click to download Chapter 5 from Wanted: Cheap Manga!


ENJOY!

CAT EYED BOY FAN ART by MICKEY




This badass fan art was done by Providence artist and cartoonist Michaela Colette (AKA Mickey)! She attended RISD and knows our buddy Monika from Tokyo-- I wasn't smart enough to get her in to Elecric Ant #1, but hope to trick her into the second issue in some capacity.

In addition to seeing this Umezu homage online, I recently ordered some of her stuff and recommend you check out her comics (for starters). You have to try to score her book "Bullshit Frank & Gorilla Joe" which is frentic and wild, and thoroughly enjoyable (Only 3 copies left according to the site).



I also got a shirt she designed, which you can check out and buy via her site (if you want to like totally copy my "style" ahem ahem):

DISNEYLAND AUTOGRAPH BOOK (SDCC)

On the trip to San Diego Comic Con, I managed to take only a mere 15 pictures the entire time. Ridiculous, I know. This always seems to happen when Evan and I travel, as he's the one with the 12x zoom handheld and the massive SLR. I rely (happily) on homeboy to capture everything. On account of that, I don't yet have my San Diego post ready, but will work on it tonight. In brief, it was: Exhausting! Great to see a bunch of our buddies and so many kings and queens of indie comicsdom! Extremely satisfying to see folks buying copies of Tokyo Zombie! Also, did I mention exhausting?!

A better summary post (with pics of folks we meet, a comic debut by friends, and new goodies from the con and Book Off) soon. In the meantime, I'm happy to report that the "Official" Disneyland Autograph Book was in full force at SDCC. Here are the newest additions to the batch from MoCCA earlier this year:


Gary Baseman. He signed at the Last Gasp book to promote his newest book.


Adrian Tomine. I've met him a few times through friends-of-friends, and finally got him to put down a sketch for me!


Edgar Wright! Director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and one of the greatest TV shows of all time (HOLY CRAP). I sadly missed the Spaced panel (more on that in the trip report post) but ran into him on the floor. I tried to give him a copy of Tokyo Zombie but he claimed to already have it (I think he meant the original Japanese edition!?) and was familiar with Hanakuma's comics :)


Jim Woodring. I was retardo dumbstruck to have him sign my book. Seriously. (Also, Pupshaw looks adorable, no?)


Dame Darcy. The Dame signed at Fantagraphics, and was promoting her upcoming post-apocalyptic graphic novel, Gasoline.


Dash Shaw. Indie cartooning prince and author of the impressive Bottomless Belly Button. Dash shocked me by revealing he reads Same Hat and is heavily into manga. He sketched a scene of Tatsumigaoka (where he spent a year abroad in high school) and a Hanakuma homage.


Johnny Ryan. Our American patron saint, Johnny signed at both Fantagraphics and Buenaventura, and debuted Loady and Sinus figurines at the con. He's also working on editing the upcoming Comics issue of Vice, which may include some international materials right up Same Hat's alley.


Esther Pearl Watson. Like Gary Panter and Tom Neely, she stuck with the Disneyland theme. I try to buy any and everything she and partner Mark Todd put out, and managed to grab 4 issues of HERO LAND and her new Romeo & Juliet comic.


THE DISNEYLAND AUTOGRAPH BOOKS MAY BE COMING TO A CON NEAR YOU: SPX in October, APE in November!