Donovan Yaciuk v3.0

The Loxleys and the War of 1812

2012-01-19T12:50:00.000-06:00

The Loxleys and the War of 1812 (preview)
Story - Alan Grant
Art - Cladue St. Aubin
Color - Lovern Kindzerski
Letters - Todd Klein

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. I'm no historian, but I do love to read about this great country of ours. It's been a good 10 years since I've done any reading on Canada's war with the United States, so I was pretty excited to dive into a preview of the upcoming Renegade Press book, The Loxleys and the War of 1812.

Historical fiction always walks a tight rope between fact recitation and storytelling, and writer Alan Grant has done an amazing job setting up the story. This preview does an admirable job of setting up the reasons why the War of 1812 started in the first place (the British hindering the American efforts to expand west by supporting the Tecumseh's Indian tribes, impressment of U.S. naval vessels, and an appearance of British weakness due to a war against France). Somehow, Grant manages to get these points across, and still leave room to give the characters some personality and room to develop.

Claude St. Aubin does a spectacular job on the artwork. It's lighter tone will make this book accessible to a wide audience, yet it never sacrifices it's ability to communicate pain and anxiety during moments of tension. In particular, Eliza Loxley reading her husbands first letter home is well done. The art isn't melodromatic or over the top, it serves the story perfectly.

Nearly every panel has a well drawn and thought out background, helping to set the scene. The Loxley cabin is spacious and real, and the Siege of Detroit is rendered with such detail that you can imagine the weight of library books piled on St. Aubin's art table. He's convinced me as a reader that he has done his homework, yet no panel looks like it's a verbatim drawing from a photograph in a textbook. A sign of a true artist.

Lovern Kindzierski has applied his colouring genius to this story. I cut my teeth colouring at Lovern's Digital Chameleon studio over a decade ago, and every time I see his work, it is a reminder of how far I am from being a real colourist. His colour pallete separates planes nicely, and his modelling follows what St. Aubin has set up with the lineart. Most importantly, the pages are actually COLOURFUL! So many books published these days seem either be coloured in greyed out colours, or have hues so dark that some of the lineart is actually obscured. Lovern is a master, and proves it every time his name is attached to a book.

Here's a great panel example of how well Kindzierski separates fore, middle and background with his colour choices. This photo, taken with an iPhone, doesn't do it justice.

My only criticism is a single bit of dialogue uttered at the beginning of the preview - a gentleman walks into a community dance...

Laura: ...my good man here spends his time worrying about war with America!
James: Well, they have so many reasons, you see. For example, the way the British stop and search American vessels--

Wow, this guy must be the life of the party!

It's one of my main beefs about historical fiction. Characters that dispense historical facts that don't feel natural at all. It's a necessary evil in the genre, and it works to communicate the details of history, but it seems so out of place. Alan Grant only relies on this storytelling tactic once in the entire 22 page preview, so it doesn't spoil the great story. And for all I know, James' character may be a guy who is so hip to worldly affairs that he's always rambling on about them, whether his audience is looking for a lecture or a dance on a Saturday night.

For a slightly more extreme example of how silly this storytelling technique can get, check out this Heritage Minute commercial describing Vince Coleman warning a train approaching Halifax that the biggest man-made explosion the earth had seen up to that point was about to wipe out the entire city.

I seriously doubt that anyone focused on saving the lives of innocent people is going to waste time telling the person next to him some historically accurate yet context irrelevant facts, such as "the train is coming in towards Pier 6", and that "there are 700 people aboard it!".

Anyhow, I digress. Grant, St. Aubin and Kindzierski's talents shine telling this story, and I can safely say that this preview alone has me very excited for the full release this April.

The hardcover release of The Loxleys and the War of 1812 will also feature a 30 page essay on the war by Canadian war historian Mark Zuehlke. Zuehlke's previous writings on the Canadian experiences at Juno Beach, Ortona and the liberation of the Netherlands during the Second World War are fantastic, well researched books, and having his comments in this volume will be a real bonus.

I invite you to like The Loxleys and the War of 1812 on Facebook!

Also, check out The Loxleys and the War of 1812 on Renegade Arts Entertainment's official site.

Currently playing: Blue Rodeo - Outskirts
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

I'm no Bronie.

2012-01-05T11:20:00.001-06:00

The Care Bear painting I did for our friend's daughter's birthday last month was such a hit that we've decided to paint more cutouts for our daughter. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but she turns four this weekend.

The last week has been spent slaving over not one, not two, but FOUR paintings of her characters from her current favourite toy line, My Little Pony.

Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Applejack

Rainbow Dash

She's going to flip when she sees them!

I loved making these! My daughter is mostly interested in the toys, so I've never seen an entire episode of the show, thankfully.

I wouldn't want anyone to mistake me for a Bronie (a male My Little Pony fanatic).

That's just, well, weird.

Currently playing: Ginuwine - Pony
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

New Year's Revolution

2012-01-02T17:44:00.001-06:00

Cat asked me on New Year's Eve what my New Year's Resolutions were. I think I disappointed her when I boringly told her I had none.

I concoct so many plans, schemes, ideas and new directions throughout the year that singling out one day's plans doesn't seem fair to the ones concocted on any of the other 364.25 days on the calendar.

Having thought about it for a few days, I think I am resolved to do more blogging. It's lost some of it's luster since Facebook and Twitter hit the scene, but I'm still very fond of it! I've been doing this for over 6 years, why would I stop now?

Surely there is plenty of time in between raising my daughter, spending time with my wife, house renos, my day job, my night job, Winnipeg Jets games, self publishing, and everything else I've got going on!

I'll just have to make time. That's my new goal for the day, and since it happened on New Year's, I'll go with the flow and call it my resolution! More blogging!

In the meantime, can there be a better song to ring in the 12th year of the century than THIS?

Currently playing: Foreigner - Say You Will
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Pay it forward

2011-12-16T23:45:00.000-06:00

I was on the receiving end of some Christmas spirit this morning.

I went to pay for my Tim Horton's Extra large quintiple quintiple this morning, and was informed by the woman on the other side of the drive through window that the person in front of me had paid for my coffee!

I looked ahead, and watched the car in front of me drive away, and did not recognize the person at all. Absolutely floored, I accepted the coffee and drove off.

I immediately felt embarrassed. The proper response is to at least pass it on and pay for the person's order behind you! I was way to stunned to have come up with that simple kindness at the time.

So later, on the way home, I stopped in for my last coffee of the day and asked how much the order was behind me. I paid for it, and took off, happy that I could pass on the gift that was given to me earlier in the day.

If you are having trouble getting in to the Christmas spirit this year, I highly suggest buying the person behind you a coffee. It cost me a Toonie, but the return on that investment was worth far more than that.

Currently playing: Lee Aaron - Peace On Earth
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

The Mona Lisa of Care Bear paintings

2011-12-01T00:28:00.000-06:00

All great artists have patrons that commission work from them.

Michelangelo had the Medici family.

Leonardo Da Vinci had Francesco del Giocondo.

Raphael had Popes Julius II and Leo X.

And me? I've got a commission from my daughter's best friend's parents, for her 4th birthday party!

It's no Mona Lisa. It's no Sistine Chapel. But it's great to be able to help out good friends by putting my meager artistic abilities to work!

Currently playing: Streetheart - Just For You
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Support Zombie Plague #1!

2011-11-30T12:03:00.001-06:00

My friend Brian Roe is publishing a comic book based on a board game he created a decade ago. Yeah, seriously - a board game! That's so cool!

I'm not always the biggest fan of Zombie comics, but a single paragraph in Brian's description of the book immediately sold me: "As zombie stories became more ubiquitous in comics, I noticed that many of them seemed to focus wholly on the Romero formula of people caught in dire circumstances that eventually turn on each other. I wondered what would happen if a group of survivors stayed loyal to each other and how they could use this loyalty to survive."

Brian and crew are currently looking to fund this project using Kickstarter, an online pledge support system where people help finance a number of creative endeavours, such as indie films, music, and in this case, a comic book. Supporters are rewarded with some great limited edition extras, depending on the level of monetary support they pledge.

In this case, you can have the series artist, Phibbz Abando, draw your Zombified likeness in the book!

So join me in supporting this fun project! Visit the Zombie Plague #1 Kickstarter page now! Every dollar helps!

And if I can't convince you, perhaps you'll listen to Santo...

And if Santo can't convince you, maybe you just need to see some of Phibbz Abando's artwork for the series!

Currently playing: Iron Maiden - Wasted Years
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Winnipeg Jets vs. Ottawa Senators

2011-11-29T22:49:00.001-06:00

Just got back from my third Winnipeg Jets game this year, and watched my team take on the Ottawa Senators.

I was a Sens fan for the fifteen years that passed between Jets' franchises, so I guess you could say I saw my new, old favorite team take on my old favourite team.

Or is it my old favourite team take on my second favourite -- ah, I give up. You get the idea.

I sat in the stands with my Uncle Ernie. He was a Jets season ticket holder back in the WHA days, and it's his love for the team that helped make me a Jets fan as a kid.

When the Winnipeg Jets left in 1996, we thought that was it for the NHL in Winnipeg. Who would have thought we'd be together at a game again, fifteen years later. It was awesome to see the game with him. He's still rocking his 1990's era Numminen Jets jersey.

I have to say that I was shocked by the number of Senators jerseys in the crowd. For a decade and a half, I felt like I was the only fan in the province. Where did all these people come from?!?

Oh, and I got to meet Will Arnett, star of Arrested Development and Up All Night. He was in town to help promote a fantastic United Way initiative that gives Jets tickets to kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to go to games. After telling him how awesome that was (that was the least stupid thing I could think of to say) he shook my hand and left. I realized I should have taken a photo to prove my story, so I snapped this one as he walked away.

It may look like a frame from the Patterson Bigfoot film, but honest, that's him!

The game was a blast! The refs cost us the game with two bad calls in the second period, but the Jets had a great effort, and Evander Kane came this close to scoring the first hat trick in franchise history!

Currently playing: Ian Thomas - Painted Ladies
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

I THINK that's Suzanne... it's so hard to tell when you can't see her right cheek.

2011-11-02T20:48:00.000-05:00

You've at least got to give CTV News credit for ALMOST succeeding in concealing the identity of the person they were interviewing for a news story tonight.

Maybe her right cheek is the part of her face that contains all the really unique identifying features?

I didn't really catch what the story was about, but this woman obviously didn't want to appear on camera. Here's a screenshot taken a few seconds before the above one was taken. Looks like someone just forgot to adjust the blur effect when they switched to the new footage.

Whoops!

I'd probably want my face blurred too, if I was wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders shirt!

Currently playing: Saraya - Back to the Bullet
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Spacepig Hamadeus

2011-10-28T07:19:00.000-05:00

Back in December of 2009, I made hint in a blog post of a super secret project that I had in the works.

Two years later, and things are finally starting to move!

Tonight, I'll be sitting in the Artist's Alley at the 2011 Central Canada Comic Con to promote my self-published creation, Spacepig Hamadeus. Here's a preview of the first page!

This book, Spacepig Hamadeus and the Ambush at the Hourglass Sea serves as a prequel to next year’s full-length issue, Spacepig Hamadeus and the Captive Planet. Both of these issues are based on stories I covertly wrote in Mrs. Didyk's Grade 5 class, when I really should have been studying multiplication tables. Back then, Hammy was known simply as "George the Pig", and went on several outer space adventures before ending his 12 issue run with a (highly unauthorized) Secret Wars II crossover in 1986.

A quarter of a century later, and I’ve revived the character for publication. Hopefully the art and writing have improved over the books I made in the 80's!

If you're attending the 2011 Central Canada Comic Con, please stop by my table and get yourself a copy!

If you're not attending, I'll post info here in the coming days as to how you can buy a copy for yourself!

Please visit the book's website, like it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter!
Website: http://spacepighamadeus.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spacepig-Hamadeus/118345684865848
Twitter: twitter.com/spacepighammy

Currently playing: Queen - The Hero (October 1980... Revisited)
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Double win!

2011-10-22T22:54:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I went to my first Winnipeg Jets game since our city's triumphant return into the ranks of the NHL.

Both the Jets and Winnipeg Blue Bombers won today. In a strange bit of coincidence, my first game for each of the two iterations of the Winnipeg Jets has been on days where the Blue Bombers have also won.

The last time both teams won a game on the same day was October 19, 1991.

October 19, 1991 was the first Winnipeg Jets game I went to. The Jets beat the Leafs 4-2, and the Blue Bombers throttled the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 68-14.

October 22, 2011 was the first Winnipeg Jets game I'd been to since the Jets returned. The Jets beat the Hurricanes 4-1, and across town the Bombers beat the Montreal Alouettes 26-25.

It's a nice bit of personal trivia that I'll probably be telling people at parties for years to come whether they want to listen or not. I, Donovan Lee Yaciuk, had my first game for each Winnipeg Jets team occur on a day when the Blue Bombers also won.

It felt great to be able to shout "Go Jets Go" with an arena full of people. I hadn't done that in over a decade and a half. The NHL truly belongs in Winnipeg. I could barely hear myself talk, the screaming banshees were so loud!

GO JETS GO!

Currently playing: The Maclean Brothers ft. White Rhino - F*ck Ya! The Jets Are Back!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Winnipeg Zombie Walk

2011-10-14T23:27:00.002-05:00

I got held up in traffic downtown tonight for almost a half hour as the Winnipeg Zombie Walk shuffled past on their annual walk.

I was in a hurry to get somewhere, but traffic wasn't moving at all. Rather than get annoyed or pissed off, I just rolled with it. Luckily for me, I usually have an emergency kit in the back seat consisting of a pencil and sketch board. You never know when such an emergency will arise!

Sadly, the pencil was blunt, and I didn't have a sharpener, so I couldn't do much in the way of detail or the blood and gore that those Zombie fans seem to get off on. But it was fun, and a lot of people broke character as they stumbled by.

"Rrrrrruhhh.. rhhhhh... brains... zombi--HEY COOL! THAT GUY IS DRAWING IN HIS CAR!"

One zombie reached in and smeared some (hopefully fake) blood over the page as I drew. That's the big red streak!

Anyhow, I was aiming for a drawing of a zombie Wall Street employee, but with such a blunt pencil I wasn't able to get much in the way of tattered clothes. A briefcase would have been a good idea, but I ran out of lead about a minute before traffic started moving again...

Currently playing: The Misfits - Saturday Night
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

If it's good enough for an intelligent, left wing, anti-war icon and fellow musician like Neil Young, it's good enough for me.

2011-10-07T11:32:00.000-05:00

After fifteen years, the Winnipeg Jets are back, and the season opener is only a handful of hours away.

The Return of the Winnipeg Jets has been a triumphant moment for this great city of Winnipeg! The only bump in the runway came earlier this summer when the new logo was released. Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson embarrassed himself and the city by writing a ridiculous column for The Winnipeg Review titled "The New Jets Logo, a Boardroom, and a Bargain".

In it, Samson essentially accuses anyone of wearing the new Jets logo of supporting the War on Terror.

"...the new logo will imply that whoever wears it supports both the actions of the Canadian military and the politicians who deploy them. Where does that leave those hockey fans that feel varying degrees of otherwise?"

I wonder if Samson is willing to change his embarrassing stance on the new Jets logo after seeing the video below.
(The video will open in a new window.)

The same Neil Young who wrote Ohio, and recorded an entire anti-war album in 2006 titled Living with War which included a song called "Let's Impeach The President" seems quite able to separate politics and sports without any trouble whatsoever.

I respect Samson's politics and activism. We probably share many of the same views on war. But his worry about the new Jets logo being a "recruiting device for a specific branch of the Canadian military" is not based in reality. If sports logos were that influential, Los Angeles Kings fans would be flocking to Monarchist Societies en masse, Calgary Flames fans would routinely commit acts of arson, New Jersey Devils fans would worship Satan, and Washington Capitals fans would unequivocally support every move that the White House makes.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were named after the elite Maple Leaf regiment that fought in World War I (hence the name "Leafs" instead of "Leaves"). Samson should take a break from this self-made predicament and go bother Leafs fans for a while like the rest of Canada does!

While I personally love the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 logo, I can see where people are coming from when they accuse the Winnipeg Jets logo of being unimaginative and bland. But suggesting that by wearing it proudly I am going to suddenly want to see dead Iraqis and hope that my daughter grows up to see the world and kill people is ridiculous and paranoid.

I doubt John K. Samson will ever have the desire to backtrack and change his views on the new Jets logo, but really, if it's good enough for an intelligent, left wing, anti-war icon and fellow musician like Neil Young, it should be good enough for him.

Currently playing: Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

So bad, it's good #1: Anvil - Strength of Steel

2011-10-06T12:11:00.000-05:00

I love exceptionally bad music.

Music so terrible, that even if you'd TRIED to write something that bad, you couldn't come close.

In order for me to like a bad song, it has to contain a certain, unidentifiable piece of magic that makes it worse than the sum of it's parts. Like the dark matter that astrophysicists can't measure but are sure exists, these terrible songs contain some secret, evil energy that make them so perfectly awful that they end up being good.

Wesley Willis. Jan Terri. Even Rebecca Black's Friday. You could not write worse music if you'd spent a lifetime trying.

One song that has really been knocking it out of the park for me in this regard is Anvil's Strength of Steel.

You might remember Anvil. The Canadian heavy metal band's comeback attempt was the subject of an acclaimed rockumentary in 2008, titled Anvil! The Story of Anvil. I haven't seen it, but the trailer makes it look like a great film.

Strength of Steel is a song from their 1987 album of the same name. It's terrible. It's atrocious. It sounds like it was a poem written for a grade 7 language arts class by a guy in a Black Sabbath jean jacket who, had he not failed the fifth grade three years in a row would have been in grade 10 by now.

In other words, it is totally awesome.

Check out these lyrics. It's as if the school assignment was to come up with as many words that rhyme with "steel". Whoever got the most words got to leave school at 3:25 instead of 3:30. (My personal favourite line is "You've got to have a metallic meal". WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!?!)

With the strength of steel
I'll show you how I feel
All the weak will kneel
For the strength of steel

Your mind begins to reel
With the strength of steel
Makes your blood congeal
I have nothing, nothing to conceal
For the strength of steel
For the strength of steel

Only power to reveal
With the strength of steel
And a love that's real
For the strength of steel
A metallic meal

With the strength of steel
And with my approved seal
With the strength of steel
To you I make, make my appeal
For the strength of steel
You've got to have a metallic meal
Just for the love and
strength of steel
For the strength of steel

This is the only Anvil song I know. I really should try some other stuff. Judging from song titles from the same album, there may be some other transcendentally terrible music there. How can song titled "Flight of the Bumble Beast" be anything but awesome?

Currently playing: Anvil - Strength of Steel
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

I've done all of these things...

2011-10-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

I've built websites.

I've made a living colouring comic books.

I've sang and played guitar into a microphone.

I've created video games.

I've designed two logos for major radio stations.

I've walked out of the house listening to music without burning it to CD first.

I've watched movies on a transit bus.

I've used apps that keep grocery lists, identify constellations, and track gas mileage.

I've reconnected with people from my past.

I've done all these things in my life, and I've done them all on products that came from the mind of Steve Jobs.

Rest in Peace.

Currently playing: Electric Light Orchestra - Hold On Tight
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Once more unto the breach, dear friends...

2011-09-29T23:10:00.000-05:00

This has been a challenging year for me.

My wife has been off work for a year, with a doctor who doesn't seem to care about properly diagnosing her torn and herniated discs, despite the undisputable MRI evidence that proves its existence.

My wife's doctor would not even order an MRI for her until we begged him to, even though that should have been done months ago. The delay is only aggravating the nerves in her spine, and delaying treatment that can get her better and help her abandon her cane.

Her insurance company won't qualify her for long term disability, thanks to this doctor's incompete---, er, I mean, stalling.

In February, my father passed away.

I've nearly bankrupted my now single-income-family with legal fees, defending my father's estate from a miscreant, vulturous, greedy relative who had the nerve to attack my character.

I've spent all but three weekends this summer, flying back and forth from home to Alberta, leaving my injured wife at home alone while I fix up my father's house for sale.

I feel like I've spent the entire year getting punched in the face by life. I've been thrown one knockout blow after another. And every time I've been knocked to the floor, I've gotten back up, wiped the pain off of my jaw, and readied myself to meet the next challenge. I've held my head up high, found my strength, and kept fighting battles I truly believed I was right to fight.

And through it all, I kept a smile on my face.

Today, I received a small blow at the doctor's office that was big enough to break the camel's back. I caught a quick glimpse of the entirety of challenges I've faced in the last 9 months, and for the first time this year, I didn't get back up on my feet. I metaphorically lay on the ground, my smile gone.

My usual optimism was absent, replaced for the first time with a growing hint of helplessness and exhaustion.

Despite feeling the full weight of the battles I've been fighting, I started thinking off all the saving graces I've experienced during my struggles. I'm healthy. I'm employed. I have a beautiful, strong wife, and healthy, bright toddler. I have a roof over my head. I have come so far, and fought so hard, and I've been able to lean on so many family and friends who have dedicated time from their busy lives to help get me through this.

Taking stock of all that I'm thankful for, I am able to pick myself up off of the floor.

My eager smile is back in its rightful place.

I didn't start any of the fights I'm involved in at the moment, but I sure as hell am going to finish them.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends...

Currently playing: Joe Esposito - You're The Best
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

When did Fun Mountain stop being a family friendly establishment?

2011-08-19T16:03:00.000-05:00

Summer is almost at an end, and I'm really hoping to get a trip to Fun Mountain in before it starts getting cold.

I went to their website to check out their hours and am glad I did. I don't want to be taking my 3 year old daughter to XXX DAY at the waterslides!!!

What the heck is going ON at this park, anyway?!?!
Here's a link to the website where I found this graphic:
http://www.funmountain.ca/park-hours/

Currently playing: The Jamies - Summertime
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Blue Bombers license plates

2011-08-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

I think it's great that there's license plates being sold to allow people to show their support for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. As soon as the Winnipeg Jets license plates are available, I'll be in line to buy one.

That being said, who decided that blue text on a blue license plate would be a good idea? I'm actually surprised the Winnipeg Police Service hasn't stepped up and said that it's hard to read these plates!Maybe I'm just getting old, and everyone else can read these fine...

Currently playing: The Marcels - Blue Moon
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Colour Deconstruction - an in depth look at atmospheric perspective

2011-08-17T22:20:00.003-05:00

Last week, Dark Horse Comics released the book Chronicles of Conan Vol. 21: Blood of the Titan. I coloured issue #166, and think it was some of my finest work!

Here is the opening splash page, and I think it's possibly one of my favourite colouring jobs I've done in my career.

[Click the images for larger, more detailed scans!]

Comic book colourists get the short end of the stick sometimes. A lot of people think that what I do is pretty easy, that I just sit down, open a page, and unleash my inner 5 year old with a pack of Crayola crayons. I suppose in some ways this is true, but there's actually quite a bit of artistic knowledge and study needed before it becomes second nature. I'm going to deconstruct the colour choices I made while painting this page and give you a glimpse into the thought process and considerations involved!

The biggest thing I noticed as soon as I'd opened up this page, drawn by the late, great John Buscema, was the depth. From the close bearded man carrying the bag, to the far buildings in the distance, there was so much distance depicted in this drawing. I knew right away that I wanted to employ every colour trick in the book to separate the multiple fore, middle, and backgrounds, and really inject a sense of atmospheric perspective into this splash page.

Here's a shot of the page separated into 6 planes that I felt needed to be separated. The darker the silhouette, the closer it was to the viewer.

Old man carrying the bag
Conan, Fafnir and the horses
A gang next to a door with an overhang
Distant wall of a building
Even more distant buildings and spires
The sky and clouds.

I used four aspects of colour theory to acheive this.

1. Value
Darker colours tend to appear closer, while distant objects should seem lighter in colour. Next time you spot a bright flag on the horizon, notice how the reds (and blues if you're in the U.S.!) aren't as vibrant when you first see it. You'll notice I've made the old man with the bag in the bottom right as dark as possible, being that he's so close to the viewer, while the background buildings are lighter.

Another subtle manipulation of values occurs in the actual ink lines used to draw the buildings in the background. I've added a subtle glow of sunlight that has the effect of making the lines delineating the building's shape orange and brown. This helps set them apart from the full black used to draw the foreground. See the image to the right for a breakdown of this effect!

2. Saturation
The less saturated a colour it is, the more gray it seems. Where value is essentially changed by adding white (making it lighter), saturation is changed by equalizing the amounts cyan, magenta, and yellow in a colour. And the lighter and grayer it becomes, the farther away it seems.

3. Colour temperature
In short, colours like reds, magentas and oranges are said to be "warm", and blues, greens and purples are "cool". Warmer colours tend to jump out towards the viewer, and cooler colours recede into the distance. Here, I reversed this rule, by putting a cooler purple at the forefront in areas 1 and 3, while the background areas 4 and 5 consisted of warmer colours. So while the orange and yellows of the buildings in the backgrounds should theoretically be jumping forward according to their colour temperature, I've reduced their value and saturation. Because the cooler colours in the foreground are so intense and bright, they tend to advance ahead of the lighter, desaturated warm values.

4. Contrasting colours
Colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel tend to pop from each other. For example, Blue and Orange are opposites. On an orange background, a small blue square will 'pop' more to the human eye than a green or yellow one. To help separate the planes, I've chosen a yellow for the buildings in the background that is on the opposite side of the colour wheel of the purple used on the bearded man in front. I then lightened and desaturated that yellow/orange to further help accentuate the distance between the nearest foreground and the far background.

While I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the 1990's, pretty much everything I learned about colour I learned in high school. I was very privileged to have had a wise and patient master in Mr. Abbas Elias, who taught his students all of the concepts presented above. (Although I'm sure he could explain everything I just laid out with more convinction and elegance). I consider myself very lucky to have had experience to University level art instruction at such a young age.

After reading the above, I'll bet colouring funny books doesn't seem so simple now, does it? If you've read this far, I hope you found some of this interesting!

Here's a few more excerpts from the book. Some of the scans don't do the work justice.

Currently playing: Autograph - That's The Stuff
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Silver Bullet #8

2011-08-16T17:15:00.010-05:00

I've been privileged over the last few months, to have weaseled my way into position to be offered the colouring duties on Brett Wood's Silver Bullet comic book.

The Silver Bullet is a successful indie comic that is right up my alley. Reviewer Chad Nevett described the awesomeness of this series as follows:

"He’s a kind of dickish superhero that’s best friends with Big Foot, gets sent back in time by an alien, joins forces with a guy from the 1980s, saves a hot alien princess from some other aliens, gets sent back to the year 2000 where we learn he’s a werewolf and he bites his past self to turn himself into a werewolf before a Nazi werewolf gives his past self the Silver Bullet costume, he’s rescued by his superhero buddies from the present, and his past self hooks up with a former dinosaur that’s not a beautiful woman. I think. I might have gotten a detail or two wrong, but that’s the gist of these five issues. As I said, it’s batsh*t insane."

I love crazy roller coaster rides like this - there's not enough fun and crazy books being put out like this.

Silver Bullet #8 is going to be released later this year, both in print and for the iPad/iPhone via Comixology. It was the first issue of the series to feature colour, and I'm honoured to be the first person to put some hues to Wood's art!

The comic has a Silver Age feel to it, especially since it's written in the "Marvel Method", where Brett Wood's draws out a plot, and it's scripted afterwards (by Eric Rampson). With that in mind, I used my experience in doing colour reconstruction on the Marvel Masterworks line of hardcovers and used the same colour palette and style used in the books before computer colouring hit the scene.

My goal was to have this book look like it was published any time between the 1960's-1980's. In particular, I studied a lot of the convention shattering colouring work that Neal Adams did at Marvel during the Kree-Skrull War, and his stint on the X-Men. Obviously, I've not even come close to his brilliance, but in my own way, some panels and pages I did here are an homage to that aspect of his work.

Here's a few pages from the book. Watch this space - I'll update everyone when the book goes on sale!

Currently playing: Sports Radio 1290 - Hustler and Lawless
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Rick Rypien

2011-08-15T23:50:00.001-05:00

Got some sad news tonight that Winnipeg Jets forward Rick Rypien has passed away.

Rypien signed with the Jets in July, and fans here had grown to love Rypien's style of play and tenacity from the 116 games he played with the Manitoba Moose.

I was at a Moose game earlier this spring with my 3 year old daughter, and during the pre-game skate, Rypien gave her a smile and a little double tap on the glass with his stick, which she just loved. (Guillaume Desbiens made faces with her too, which was memorable).

I was looking forward to seeing you in a Jets jersey, Rypien. Thanks for making my daughter smile.

Currently playing: Doug and the Slugs - Day By Day
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Might as well go for Pakoras

2011-07-29T10:22:00.004-05:00

Cat's Uncle Walter introduced me to Indian Food on our trips to visit him when he lived in Surrey, British Columbia. I quickly fell in love with Pakoras, which sound classy and cultured, but are really just deep fried (and tasty!) vegetables.

I love them so much, that when I know I'll be having them I start singing Kim Mitchell's "Go For A Soda", only with my own slightly more relevant words.

Might as well go for pakoras
Nobody hurts, and nobody cries!

Might as well go for pakoras
It's better than slander!
It's better than lies!
Cat and I are going to get some Indian take out tonight - looking forward to getting my fix!

Oh, and here's Kim Mitchell's Go For A Soda!

Currently playing: Kim Mitchell - Go For A Soda
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

The Gin and Titonic...?! Really?!?!

2011-07-28T12:37:00.010-05:00

A few months ago, Cat and I went to see the Titanic Exhibition at the MTS Center Exhibition Hall. The exhibit closes this week, so if you're going to go and see it time is running out!

It's definitely worth the trip! As long as you don't go through the gift shop!

Now, it takes a lot to offend me, but exiting this exhibit really left a bad taste in my mouth.

The entire exhibit was fantastic. Upon entering, you are given a authentic looking 'boarding pass' with the name and biography of an actual passenger printed on the back. You're taken through room after room of somber possessions of the Titanic's passengers recovered from the ocean floor, reminded at every turn of the lives lost.

In the last room, the names of everyone who was on the ship are printed on a stark white wall, separated by those who lived and those who died in the accident. We looked up the names of the people on the backs of our boarding passes to see if they'd lived through the sinking. Both of ours survived!

After basking in awe at the magnitude of the exhibit, you're then led out through the gift shop. And what's the first thing I see for sale as I enter the gift shop?
What?!

An ice cube tray that makes Titanic and iceberg shaped ice cubes? Cleverly named the Gin and Titonic.

Really?

I'm not opposed to products like this, but placing them at the end of such a great tribute to the lives lost here seemed rather offensive. There will be a tendency from some to think I'm overreacting to an event that took place at the beginning of the last century. To put it into perspective with something tragic that is not so far removed in time from our generation, imagine going to a 9/11 museum in the year 2100 and getting served a Caesar/Bloody Mary in the bar outside with two sticks of celery instead of one. It's probably called something stupid like the World Trade Celery.

It just seems wrong.

There's some great stuff in the gift shop - maps, books, blueprints of the ship, etc. But the ice cube tray just seemed inappropriate for the occasion. It's something I would have expected to have seen at those booths in the malls that sells "humourous" shirts that say "Impotence: Nature's way of saying no hard feelings".

Pretty tacky...

Regardless, the exhibition is worth checking out, even for a guy like me who never had any interest in the Titanic before going. And you've got until the end of the weekend!

Just please don't buy the ice cube tray....

Visit the Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition website: http://www.titanicwinnipeg.com

Currently playing: U2 - Bad (live in Pittsburgh, July 26, 2011)
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Last year you didn't have an NHL team, so don't complain about the logo, you tiny ungrateful baby.

2011-07-27T11:33:00.011-05:00

So it turns out all I had to do to get the most hits this blog has ever seen was post a leak of the new Winnipeg Jets logo! Even after the official brand was released, this site got tremendous amounts of traffic through the weekend.

I love the logo more with each passing minute, and now that I've actually got some Jets merchandise it really starts hitting home for me. As was to be expected, a small segment of people didn't care too much for the logo.

Winnipeg has an NHL team.

Again.

They're called the Winnipeg Jets.

The team's primary colour is blue.

Remind me again what I'm supposed to be disappointed about, exactly?

I think the following image should help put things into perspective.
Even if you're just on the fence with the new logo, you've got to admit that it could have been worse...

A LOT worse!
Now all we need is a Winnipeg Jets jersey leak! Rumour has it those won't be ready for sale until the beginning of October. I've waited 15 years for the NHL to return to Winnipeg.

A few months wait for a jersey is going to be a cakewalk...

Currently playing: Hall & Oates - Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

PS - The "Complaining" image seen above was sent to me by my good friend, Big Marv. If you're not following him on Twitter, you should (http://twitter.com/#!/BigMarvShow), and if you're not listening to him on HOT 103, well, you ALSO should!

Possible leaked Winnipeg Jets logo

2011-07-22T12:58:00.011-05:00

Rumour has it this is a leak of the new logo for the Winnipeg Jets!

What do you think? Classy and timeless? Or a bit too reserved?

Too much like a shoulder patch?
I think once it's on a jersey, it's going to look real sharp whether it's on the shoulder or the front!

The photo isn't of the greatest quality, but to help visualize see the rumoured colour pallette that was leaked last week on jetsowner.com below. The jerseys and logo will primarily be blue and silver, with red trim in the colours and shades below.

And if this isn't legit, it's a pretty good forgery! The silver ring around the logo even has sparkles in it, so you know if it's a fan made mock up they've gone all out.

For full disclosure, I'm not the person who took the photo. I've compiled the above information from various message boards, including Jets Owner and Hockeys Future.

Currently playing: Kenny Loggins - Highway to the Danger Zone
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Looks like SOMEBODY has been working out!

2011-07-14T15:11:00.004-05:00

U2 has a great feature on their website - the U2 Fan Cam, a giant, 360 degree photo of the entire arena! There's one for each show! You can pan around the entire stadium and find yourself, assuming you weren't in line for overpriced beer when the photo was taken!

We had NO idea this was going on at the Winnipeg concert, so Cat and I look like slackjawed dullards. Disappointed by these results, we actually paid attention at the Toronto show we went to earlier this week, and hammed it up for the camera!

Looks like SOMEBODY has been working out!
You can see us, and everyone else who was at the concert (including Hugh Jackman and Donnie Osmond!) at the Toronto U2 Fan Cam link below!

http://www.u2.com/gigapixelfancam/110711/4355416-share-view

Currently playing: The Alarm - 45 RPM
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

How much did I pay for that Svenskastad Torpkivik Älg?

2011-07-10T23:01:00.005-05:00

Yeah, I'm that guy who watches the cash register for price errors during checkout.

Normally at the grocery store it's easy. Okay, $3.00 for milk. $.99 bread, etc. But looking at Ikea's checkout screens is a bit more confusing.

I don't remember putting any Klappar Storts in my cart!!! Is that a fair price for Frakta? What the hell did I just buy here?
I had to sit down and go through this line by line, while enjoying a nice Choklad Mörk. I hope that was Swedish for Chocolate Bar, because I ate it....
Currently playing: U2 - The Ground Beneath Her Feet (Acoustic)
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

So long, mullet-mobile!

2011-06-25T23:35:00.000-05:00

I said goodbye to an old friend today.

My 1995 Pontiac Firebird is gone. Sold.

The car was very special to me. My dad helped me out by getting it for me in 2001. Ten years later I sold it under similar circumstances - to a man who bought the car for HIS son. The circle is complete!

It was getting to the point where it was too expensive to repair things that didn't affect how it ran. New switch for the windows, air conditioning, stereo, etc. If you knew what you were doing under the hoods of cars (and I sure don't), it's relatively easy fixes. Most of the parts needed are cheap enough, but labour costs would have killed me. It's a perfect car for someone who is handy and knows what they're doing.

And that's exactly the type of guy who bought my old baby.

The car still ran great, but I have to admit, it was NOT fun putting my daughter into the car seat in the back of this beast.

Thank you for a great decade, Mullet-Mobile!

Currently playing: Ian Thomas - Levity
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Reducing Water Consumption and Saving Money With Homemade Rain Barrels!

2011-05-31T15:26:00.011-05:00

According to an article in the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg's water use was down 12% last summer. The drop in consumption is being attributed to a decrease in people watering their yards.

They just let the rain do it.

What a novel idea! Conserve water by letting nature do it's thing!

For almost half a decade now, I've been collecting rainwater and using that to water the vegetable garden and flower beds on our property. While I'd love to say I did it to be a knight in shining armor, rescuing mother nature from the excesses of resource consumption, I was really motivated by being cheap and wanting to save a few bucks. I'm not going to post how much I pay for my water bill, but trust me when I say it made a difference! Now, it just kills me to see people watering their plants with a hose or sprinkler!

In the last five years, I've only had to pull my hose out THREE TIMES.

(insert "That's what SHE said" joke here!)
Ahem...

Now, I know, this seems like collecting rain water is either going to be a lot of work, or really expensive. Well, it is if you want it to be! "Real" rain barrels at Home Depot will run you anywhere from $100 - $300!

Mine cost me around $20.

Wait, that's not true. $40 is more accurate. It was so cheap to build, I made two of them. You'll need:

Rubbermaid Garbage Can
Utility Knife
Screen Door mesh

All that's missing is some tin foil and a bit of chewed bubble gum, and there would be a rain barrel MacGyver would be proud of!

Garbage cans without wheels are best, but if yours does have wheels, I recommend facing the side of the can with the wheels with the house so that it has something to lean against.

Instructions
1. Cut a large square of screen mesh, approximately 3'x3'.
2. Lay it over the open garbage can. Placing this mesh layer not only filters garbage and leaves and keeps them from getting into your barrel, it should also help prevent mosquitoes from using your water supply as a nursery.
3. Cut a half moon shape out of the top lid of your plastic garbage can. The water from your eavestroughs will be directed through here!
4. Secure the lid and place your garbage can rain barrel under your downspout to collect water!It's just that simple! No more rolling up hoses every night, wasting tap water!

Give it a go! And if you've got any improvements on my MacGyver Rain Barrel, let me know!

Currently playing: The Shaggs - Who Are Parents
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 13!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Job Opportunity: U2 Proofreader

2011-05-29T23:36:00.000-05:00

I think I'm going to put my résumé in to become u2's Proofreader. Note the spelling of "Winipeg" that appeared on their incredible video screen at tonight's show!

Whoops!
Currently playing: U2 - Until the End of the World
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 13!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Bono kissed my wife!

2011-05-27T21:28:00.005-05:00

My wife, Cat, camped outside of the Burton Cummings Theatre today and got to meet U2 frontman and world famous rock legend, Bono.

He kissed her. No biggie!
One of the first things Cat and I did together when we met was watch a U2 concert. Our mutual love of the band was one of the things that connected us. As much as I love the band, Cat is a fanatic. By the end of 2011, she'll have seen them 5 times in 4 different cities.

It's long been her dream to be kissed by Bono. And it wasn't one of those fluff dreams like "I wish I had a million dollars", or "I wish I could fly". This was a serious dream, and let's be honest - it had little chance of coming true.

Still, she has long been determined to see it come to true. And today, she stood in the freezing rain in extreme physical discomfort, her cane in one hand, and hope in the other, and saw that dream come to fruition.

She met Bono.

He kissed her.

And hugged her. And probably did some other things that she's not telling me.

It's not every day that seemingly impossible dreams come true. I'm currently riding the wave of her excitement. I'm so happy for her!

As for me, I'm sick as a dog, and wasn't there! No kisses for this guy!

Currently playing: U2 - Bad
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 13!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Thanks for a great 15 years, Ottawa Senators!

2011-05-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

Well, this looks to be it.

Stephen Brunt, one of Canada's most respected sports journalists put out an article tonight announcing the return of the NHL to Winnipeg.

If it was the Dauphin Herald announcing it, I'd show a bit more caution. But the Globe and Mail is actually owned by David Thomson, one of the partners in True North Sports and Entertainment who are buying the team, so I think it's a pretty credible source.

I promptly got to work getting rid of all my Ottawa Senators gear. (Throwing them into a Senators garbage can of all things!)
When I had to pick a new team to cheer for after the Jets left, I had 2 criteria.

They had to be Canadian
I couldn't hate them.

Let's see, going through the list...

Vancouver - still bitter that the Canucks came back from a 3-1 series deficit in 1992 to win in 7 games
Calgary - better dead than red.
Edmonton - after the Oiler's dominance over the Jets in the 80's? Fat chance.
Toronto - are you kidding me? Never.
Montreal - still bitter that every time they visited Winnipeg, the arena was louder when the Habs scored.

That left the Ottawa Senators.

In the few years they co-existed, the Sens had only beaten the Jets once, so I didn't hate them.

Their sole victory occurred on the infamous "Free Peanut Butter Night" of November 5, 1993. I don't remember who sponsored the promotion, but everyone in attendance that night got a free jar of peanut butter. The Jets score 6 unanswered goals to lead the game 6-3, only to allow the Senators to tie it in the last 10 minutes of the game. Bob Kudelski completed a hat trick in overtime to win the game for the Sens.

After witnessing such a stunning collapse, you can guess what happened to the free peanut butter. Apparently many jars were thrown onto the ice in disgust.

I wasn't there, but I talked to some who were over the years, and it was apparently a night to remember.

Anyhow, while I won't really be putting my Senators gear in the trash, it will get packed up and put away.

And so it goes. A long 15 year fling is over, and I'm sorry to say I'm dumping you for an older love who also happens to be my first - a Winnipeg NHL team.

No matter what they end up being called.

Thanks for the great memories over the last 15 years, Senators!

Currently playing: Kenny Loggins - Highway to the Danger Zone
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 13!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Kevin Lamo

2011-04-26T18:10:00.003-05:00

Thanks to an endless stream of minority governments, we've got yet ANOTHER Federal election to look forward to next month.

Kevin Lamoureux is the Liberal Party candidate in my riding of Winnipeg North.

One of my neighbors is a supporter, and his sign got bent in the wind yesterday, shortening the candidates' name to "Kevin Lamo".
I'm told he's a great human being and a competent politician, which is too bad. I'd love to vote for him, but I just can't give any support to Michael Ignatieff. What is it with the Liberal Party and the inability to find inspiring, competent leadership?

Stéphane Dion, anyone?

If Kevin Lamoureux was leader, I might consider the Liberals. Until then, sorry, no way.

And no disrespect meant to Mr. Lamoureux. I just had a good chuckle at "Kevin Lam-o".

Currently playing: Max Webster - Let Go The Line
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

The Donovan Yaciuk Story, starring Ralph Macchio

2011-04-20T15:19:00.005-05:00

"We think of you every night when we watch the karate kid on dancing with the stars…"

I've gotten a few comments in emails from friends ever since the most recent season of Dancing With The Stars series hit the airwaves.

Ralph Macchio, probably best known for his roles in films like the Karate Kid, the Outsiders, and My Cousin Vinny, is currently a contestant on the show. And I guess if I were to pick someone to play me in "Handsome Devil, the Donovan Yaciuk story", Ralph Macchio would be a pretty good choice!

We're not twins, but I have to admit there is a resemblance there!

Anyway, it's flattering to be compared to a guy who once appeared on the cover of Teen Beat magazine! It's better than being told you look like Rick Moranis!

Anyway, forget the Dancing With The Stars stuff. Here`s the best thing Macchio has done this year!

Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio from Ralph Macchio

Currently playing: NHL Playoffs - Detroit Red Wings at Phoenix Coyotes
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

The Foo Fighters: Live @ Nick's Garage

2011-04-19T15:17:00.004-05:00

Dave Grohl is perhaps the coolest musician alive. I never saw the big deal behind Nirvana, but Grohl's career with the Foo Fighter's has always appealed to me. Unlike Cobain's output, Grohl has never been shy of good melodies and stage charisma. Their records always have just the right balance of pomp, energy, and musicianship.

Their latest album, Wasting Light, was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage. "There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage."

So rather than embark on a tour of arenas, the band came up with the brilliant idea of doing a tour of fan's garages.

Foo Fighter's fan Nick Perry sent a letter telling Grohl why his garage should be considered for a venue, and he won the contest for the Toronto leg of the tour. "It was like winning the rock and roll lottery."

So on April 14th, 2011, the Foo Fighters played a sold out show to 50 people Nick Perry's garage in Milton, Ontario, next to a fridge full of beer, in front of an ACDC poster.

That's one of the most awesome Rock N' Roll stories I've ever heard.

The experience was perfectly summed up by Perry's commentary before the song My Hero... "If there's a better rock 'n roll band in the world... f---, there isn't!"

Here's some video of the show!

Currently playing: Queen - It's Late
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Beating my addiction.

2011-04-14T13:16:00.006-05:00

Five years ago today, I had my last drink of cola.

You may laugh when you I call it an addiction. I don't mean to belittle real addictions that ruin people's lives, so perhaps "habit" is a better word for it. But at my peak I was drinking around 3 litres of pop per day, starting with breakfast.

Disgusting, I know.

I'd tried many times in the past to cut it out of my life, and I was only met with migraines, nausea, and moodiness.

I'll tell you what helped me beat it, and hopefully if there is something in your own life that you want to change, it can help you too!

My tradition was to have a 7-11 Double Gulp. Every day. Two litres of Coke. I'd get it first thing in the morning, and it would last me until lunch.

In April of 2006, my wife and I took a trip to Vancouver for almost a week to stay with relatives. There were no 7-11's within walking distance, and I wasn't going to make our gracious hosts drive me to one every morning. So, not wanting to be a glutton, I only snuck maybe a can a day out of their fridge. I was FORCED to limit my consumption.

I was in town to see my favourite band, Queen, performing with Paul Rodgers. So in addition to having reduced access to my drug of choice, I also had something big that I was really looking forward to that helped keep my mind from begging for it's fix.

In short, eliminate the supply of your habit, occupy your mind with something else you're really excited about, and hold yourself accountable to friends and family!

For me, accountability was posting the number of cola free days I'd experienced at the end of every blog post. I still keep that tradition as I enter my sixth cola free year, just scroll down to the bottom of this post! During the first year, if I was craving cola, I just remembered I'd have to reset the count on my blog and start from zero.

These tactics also worked for my wife when she quit smoking. Thanks to a terrible flu that ravaged her for over week, she had not smoked in 4 or 5 days. She couldn't get out of bed for a cigarette, let alone go buy any. Realizing this was one of her longest smoke-free streaks, she capitalized on this and rode it out. She's been riding that wave for almost 15 months now.

I'm incredibly proud of her, and her path was similar to mine. Forced elimination of supply, mind occupied with something else (in her case, getting rid of her flu!), and the support of friends and co-workers.

My advice? Quit trying to give up cold turkey just because it's Thursday. Find an event, a vacation, illness, or distracting life event that's happening soon, and piggy back your efforts to quit around this!

Currently playing: Queen - We Are The Champions
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!

Coyotes Done In Phoenix?

2011-04-13T16:35:00.002-05:00

The Phoenix Coyotes are set to take on the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and are trying to carry on the franchise tradition of the White-Out, which originated when they were the Jets here in Winnipeg. With the lack of fans coming to the games in Arizona, there's going to be a glut of Red Wings fans making the trip to snatch up the thousands of seats typically open at Jobing.com arena.

So much for a home team White-Out.

To make matters worse, AZCentral columnist Dan Bickley has completely embarrassed the team with today's opinion piece titled, "Detroit fans: If you can't stay away, please wear white".

In short, the piece is nothing but BEGGING Red Wings fans to wear white.

"If you must go to the games in Arizona, please wear white. We don't want outsiders thinking we can't sell out playoff games. After all we've been through - from bankruptcy hearings to relocation threats - the last thing we need is more national embarrassment."

"A sea of red at Jobing.com Arena would do just that."

That a piece like this needs to be written in the first place is pathetic.

Here in Winnipeg, we had no troubles with our White-Outs. And this is a city that felt like a Montreal home game when the Habs were in town! But we never needed to be begged to support this team and atmosphere in the playoffs.The rumours of a Coyotes relocation to Winnipeg for the 2010/2011 season are picking up steam. Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean of the Fan 590 are quoting sources saying the deal to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in the desert is essentially done. I know what it's like to lose a team, and I wouldn't wish that one anyone. Not even the fans in Phoenix who truly love the Coyotes.

That being said, there really isn't a lot of those fans to have to feel bad for, if they can't fill an arena with their own fans during a playoff run.

Bring them home.

Currently playing: David Lee Roth - Just Like Paradise
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

You're in my grandma....

2011-04-10T09:14:00.005-05:00

I came across this statue while window shopping the other day.

Would it have been so hard to make the heart stand out a little bit more so you actually include it in the sentence? When I walked past, I thought the statue read as "You're in my Grandma".

Seniors are more active than ever, so I guess there's occasions where a statue like this would come in handy, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the original intent!

Currently playing: Faith No More - Epic
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Kinsmen Jackpot Bingo

2011-04-09T18:35:00.004-05:00

Don't laugh. I've got fond memories of Kinsmen Jackpot Bingo!

My Baba and I used to play when I was just a wee lad. Hearing the familiar whir of the bingo balls getting thrown around can take me back to my youth!

Cat and I always try to get a couple of games in every year for fun. We played in today's game, and I came so very close to winning $2000!

Do you have any idea how frustrating the card below is for me?Anyhow, it was still a fun game!

In closing, I'd like to say that Kathy Kennedy has perhaps the greatest nails in the city of Winnipeg! If you want to see them, tune in to next week's Kinsmen Jackpot Bingo - they're on the screen for the whole half hour holding bingo balls!

Currently playing: Elton John - I'm Still Standin'
Currently colouring: Silver Bullet #8 by Lonely Robot Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks vol. 13

2011-03-10T19:13:00.004-06:00

Below is a page that I did colour restoration on from Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks vol. 13, on sale this week!

I handled the colouring on Amazing Spider-Man #130, which was ridiculously time consuming. Ross Andru's art looks simple enough, until you start working on it!

Click to enlarge image

That last panel, with all those darned flowers, took me two hours to complete! I think I recall that the precise moment where I suffered an exhausted breakdown was trying to whittle in all those tiny white flowers with green petals, in the top right corner.

When you are passionate about the work, you go the extra mile to focus on the details. And there were many minute details to focus on here!

Anyhow, this volume has the first appearances of the Punisher and the hilarious Spider-Mobile, the marriage of Aunt May to Doctor Octopus, and the DEATH OF GWEN STACY!!!

Order your copy now!

Currently playing: Doug and the Slugs - Makin' It Work
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Review: Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #5 - Dark Horse Comics

2011-02-24T22:31:00.008-06:00

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #5
Writer: Jim Shooter
Artist: Roger Robinson & Agustin Alessio
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Letterer: Blambot
Cover Artist: Michael Komark

Buy it now!
Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #5 at TFAW.com

Take a look at the stunningly gorgeous panel below, and give me one good reason why you aren't reading Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom!
The fifth issue came out yesterday, and is the start of the second story arc. Well, it's actually the start of TWO new story arcs, both written by Jim Shooter but drawn by different artists; Roger Robinson and Agustin Alessio. The two stories take place a few weeks apart, but intertwine perfectly. We're given just enough info in each that one doesn't spoil the other, or anything to come.

Similar to how Marvel's Doctor Strange, with it's trippy visuals and mysticism, became popular in the 1960's counter culture at universities, Doctor Solar could easily become mandatory reading for today's science undergrads. There's some weird, trippy stuff going on in this book, but it's all science based. No magic hocus pocus here!

And if you ever need to know what an Ergosphere is, put down that Astrophysics text book. Jim Shooter explains all you need to know in two succinct panels! The entire description of the purpose of the black hole is so beautifully and concisely explained that I think Mr. Shooter missed his calling as a science teacher.

The first four issues of this series were a great introduction, and were infused with a lot of humour as the newly incarnated Doctor Solar found his way in the world. The first story in this second arc takes a bit of a twist and seems to have a far more sinister tone, hitting it's peak when a corpse carries a miniature black hole down the street. We also get another glimpse into villain Tanek Nuro's deviant nature. He is one sick puppy! The preview images had some posters rolling their eyes over Nuro's use of an "avatar", connecting it to the recent film of the same name, but there is no sense that Shooter is capitalizing or copying the film in any way.

The second story is the first part of Solar's origin. Reduced to a single sentence, it can be describes as a tale about a black hole consuming 80kg of mass. Somehow, Shooter and artist Agustin Alessio make it the most captivating book I've read in a long time, and I'll be surprised if it doesn't end up as my Book of the Year at the end of December.

The narrative jumps back and forth between Dr. Philip Solar describing the project's goal of creating a black hole to power the world with it's energy, and the day after disaster where the black hold consumes the earth.
If this were a movie, no doubt the scenes featuring the matter consuming black hole would be accompanied by some spectacular sound effects designed to unnerve the audience in their seats. The amazing thing about Allesio's artwork is that it gives you the same, ugly, terrifying feeling of impending doom in the pit of your stomach on the printed page, WITHOUT sound, motion, or high definition 3-D movie screens! I really did feel uncomfortable watching Solar get accreted.

Don't know what accrete means? Don't worry. Like I said above, Shooter does an uncanny job of making the science of black holes understandable to the layman!

While Allessio's artwork helps send this book into the stratosphere, it is not without it's faults, the main one being that it does seem to rely a little too much on photo reference in places. Phillip Solar is seen from different angles describing his experiment, yet it's obvious the same photo was used for reference in each case. In another scene where Gail Saunders is introduced, the fellow scientists in the crowd stare forward, as if this were a class photo, none of them focussing their attention on the character speaking. Also, doesn't anyone need to open their mouths to talk?
As enjoyable as Jim Shooter's Dark Horse work has been to date, this issue is elevated to an entirely different level. The pacing is perfect. The dialogue is natural. The stakes are high. It's a great story told from two different directions - the first arc with Robinson's more traditional comic art deals with the present, and the second featuring Allesio's more photorealist style looks back at a few weeks prior to Solar's origin.

The two stories look poised to merge over the next 3 issues, coming together to form a cohesive story arc that, judging by the first shot fired, is going to be epic.

Currently playing: Samantha Fox - True Devotion
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

MySpace Tshirt

2011-02-20T21:29:00.005-06:00

Snapped a photo of this shirt on a recent trip with our daughter to the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. I get a feeling this shirt was a lot cooler 5 or 6 years ago, when MySpace was actually relevant!

And even then, lets face it, this shirt is not going to score you any looks from the opposite sex!

The back of this shirt might as well have an arrow pointing to your underpants, saying "Wedge me".

While snapping this photo, I quietly wondered what social network the museum's shirt department would focus on next... Spacebook? Twitearth?

Turns out someone was two steps ahead of me! Both are already established websites on the internet!
Currently playing: Charity Brown - You Beat Me to the Punch
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Review: Magnus, Robot Fighter #3 - Dark Horse Comics

2011-02-16T15:43:00.016-06:00

Magnus, Robot Fighter #3
Writer: Jim Shooter
Artist: Bill Reinhold & Mike Manley
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Letterer: Blambot
Cover Artist: Raymond Swanland

Buy it now! Magnus, Robot Fighter #3 at TFAW.com

A few months ago, I wrote a positive review of the first issue of Magnus, Robot Fighter from Dark Horse comics. It's taken half a year to get the third issue out, which has been a minor annoyance.

But when a book contains as much fun, excitement and adventure as this one does, it's easy to overlook the wait between issues!

The preview pages that Dark Horse released made it seem like this was going to be a 22 page UFC fight, which would have been the dullest comic ever produced, but thankfully only a handful of pages take place 'in the ring', and many other great story elements are introduced.

The Lovejoy Corporation (also seen in the pages of Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom!) is looking like it's going to have it's fingerprints all over this line of books, and are shaping up to be a good mysterious villain. Magnus' relations with the supporting cast start getting explored. There's some great dialog between Magnus' mentor, the robot 1-A, and a nice friendship is blooming with the homeless Goph named Little Eddie.

Bill Reinhold is joined by Mike Manley on the art chores, and the two blend well together. The thing I like most about Reinhold is the consideration he puts in to his backgrounds. I don't recall a single panel that didn't give a hint of where it was taking place. His renditions of the shadowy ground level that exists at the feet of the stretching forest of milespires really helps set the scenes that occur there. I also love the designs of the robots and vehicles, all of which seem to pay homage to concepts of the future that were envisioned in the 50's and 60's. They are retro, but not dated. It's a fine line, and the book walks it well.

I also caught a tattoo on a great character introduced this issue named Hippolyta that bears a striking resemblance to a starburst that Reinhold signs his art with. I guess we know who came up with her design!
Wes Dzioba's colours in the book are also fantastic. As with everything I've ever seen Wes colour, there's great attention given to separating foreground, middleground, and background. It's beautiful how the shadowed announcers closer to the viewer are set off from the rest of the panel by using a darker purple hue.
There's also a great scene that takes place in a Goph bar lit with florescent countertops that is really well done. The colours almost give the bar enough character to be real.

There are a few minor nitpicks about the book. Some of Magnus' dialog seems a little wooden and makes him out to be a bit of a dullard. Would it kill him to say something that requires an exclamation point? (He does, but I can count the number of times on one finger). Considering that Magnus was raised in isolation by a robot, I suppose it makes sense that he would come across as a little robotic himself, so it may just be his character.

I also felt that the story was wrapped up a little too quickly, but this may be because the entire book moves so fast and packs so many story points into it's 22 pages. In all this is a good thing. I'd rather have Shooter's quick pacing on this book than the same story stretched out over a 6 issue arc. The climactic fight scene at the end seemed a little uninspired and lifeless when compared to the previous two fights that occur in the book. The punches don't look like they are overly powerful or threatening.

And finally, we all know that Magnus and Leeja are destined to hook up, but I'm not really sensing the love there! It almost seems like every other female in the book would be a better partner for Magnus! This is only the third issue, so I'll give this budding romance some time to blossom.

I do highly recommend this book, along with all the other Dark Horse comics Jim Shooter is putting out right now. They've all be fun, satisfying (if intermittent) reads.

We're starting to see some evidence of the books all being connected, despite occurring in different eras. It's probably best if you get in now before the the stories get even hotter!

Currently playing: Alias - When I'm With You (Live)
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Tight Western Conference

2011-02-15T12:22:00.004-06:00

There's talk on JetsOwner.com, a local forum dedicated to the return of the Winnipeg Jets, that an NHL team in this city is almost a guarantee for the 2011-2012 season. Despite the circus that has surrounded the Phoenix Coyotes over the last 2-3 years, rumour has it that Atlanta is the prime candidate for relocation.

If that happens, apparently Atlanta/Winnipeg would move to the Western Conference, and Detroit would (finally) be in the East.

I've followed the Ottawa Senators for a few years now, and being a fan of an Eastern Conference team has been relatively relaxing. There's always a couple of points spread in the standings, and perennial bottom feeders make it easy to predict who is making the playoffs.

I don't think my heart could handle cheering for a Winnipeg team in the West! Look how tight these standings are! Between 3rd and 10th place, there is only 4 points spread in the standings!

You could be in third place, lose two games, and be out of the playoff race!
Contrast that with the current Eastern Conference standings, where the difference between the same spots is almost three times as great! 11 points!
Currently playing: The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Dinosaur drawing

2011-02-02T12:57:00.025-06:00

When I was 7, I got a phone call from my Uncle Larry. He was calling from his family's cabin out at Ochre Beach, telling me he had a surprise for me. I had no idea what it was, but I was left to ponder it on the 20 minute drive out there. It was excruciating.

Now, ask anyone who knew me in 1981 to describe me, and I guarantee you they'll respond with one of two answers: "He likes Mr. Men books", or "He likes Dinosaurs".

I was obsessed.

When I got there, I found out that my Uncle had made a dinosaur out of sand! It was an awesome surprise, and knowing my Uncle whipped this beast up himself meant that it was unique! No other kids on the beach had a Stegosaurus made out of sand!

It was one of those nice childhood memories that has stuck with me through the years.

I've got a young niece whose obsession and knowledge of Dinosaurs dwarfs mine. Remembering what my uncle did for me three decades ago, I've decided it's my turn to follow in my his footsteps and do something unique for her.

I've spent the last few days drawing an 11x17 portrait of her favourite dinosaur.

Halfway through the piece, I thought I should try documenting my progress along the way. Here's a shot of the finished linework. (Click on the pic below for a larger version).

To get to this point, I had to gather a lot of reference material from the best swipe file in the world - Google! I found some images of dinosaurs and backgrounds, and made a rough drawing with a blue line pencils. I just started using non-photo blue pencils recently, and found that it helped me tighten up my drawings. I could make all the mistakes I wanted in blue line, and then tighten it up and select which lines I was going to use with a 4H pencil.

Once that was done, I pulled out every inking tool I own; brushes, pens, markers and india ink. I'm really new to using a brush to finish off a pencil drawing. This was my first real inking job, and I really enjoyed it. Professionals can no doubt tell some of my line weights are a bit off, and there's some shakiness in the thinner brushstrokes, but overall I'm really proud to have actually finished an entire artboard with ink!

Encouraged by the results so far, I decided to add some colour! Using markers, watercolour paint, and whiteout, I gave her a colour scheme. I went out and bought some high end markers for the olive green and light beige underbelly.

The trick to being a good artist is knowing when to stop. In hindsight, I wish I would have stopped at this point. But like a 7 year old with a sand Stegosaur, I was too excited to quit! Unlike the high end markers I used on the dinosaur, I really only had an assortment of my 3 year old daughter's markers with which to work here. I'm not really that happy with the results - the coverage was pretty uneven, and the limited, bright colour palette prevented me from adding any atmospheric perspective in the image by using lighter, cooler colours for the background. But in the end, I figure my neice probably wouldn't care about whether or not the artwork adhered to the rules of colour theory, so I let it go! At some point, I will colour this drawing in Photoshop the way I'd envisioned it in my head - I'll post any results here when finished!)
So there you have it! Hopefully she'll like it enough to hang on her wall!

And hopefully she'll remember it the way I remember my Uncle Larry's sand sculpture!

Currently playing: Paul Carrack - Don't Shed A Tear For Me
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Hoarfrost

2011-01-27T21:07:00.000-06:00

We're in the midst of your typical Winnipeg January cold snap, but that doesn't mean that there's not some beauty to be found in the frozen landscape!

I woke up this morning to a world covered in hoarfrost! Hoar, of course, being an Olde English word meaning "grey or white with age".

That's different than "whore", like the Kardashians.

Anyhow, here's some photos! What a beautiful morning!
Currently playing: Mike Macharyas - Donovan
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Go Moose Go!

2011-01-23T23:31:00.005-06:00

I took my daughter to her second hockey game today*. It was an AHL tilt between the hometown Manitoba Moose and the Abbotsford Heat, farm teams of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, respectively!

The game was televised on CBC, and Madelyn and I were on television FOUR TIMES! (Four and a half if you count a shot of my forehead!).

The quality is a little crummy, as it's a photo of my television, but here's us at the end of the game. The Moose won, and the arena got loud. While my daughter had an absolute blast at the game, that didn't mean she wasn't going to protect her eardrums!
*The first hockey game my daughter attended was in Ottawa! We saw the Senators beat the Phoenix Coyotes 6-3. She LOVED that game too, even though she was only 10 months old! She fell asleep during the entire third period!

Currently playing: Keith Richards - Make No Mistake
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 11!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

The circle is now complete: an unexpected Christmas present

2010-12-25T23:21:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm a parent, I'm starting to live Christmas vicariously through the children around us, and see the wonder and anticipation in their eyes as they open their gifts.

I was a Star Wars nut as a child, and when I was six, I got one of my most favourite Christmas gifts ever. It was a Dewback, a toy that combined two of my favourite things from that era: Star Wars, and Dinosaurs. Sadly, almost three decades later, I actually had to google the name of the toy, as any encyclopedic knowledge of the Star Wars universe I may have posessed evaporated when I became a man. But I still recall with photographic detail the fun I had pulling the toy out of the box, getting bundled up to head outside, and making it crawl in the snow drifts off the side of the front steps of our Davidson Avenue house.

A few days ago, while scouring the toy aisles looking for last minute Christmas gifts for my daughter, I stumbled across this.
The toys themselves didn't really pique my interest, but the book packaged with these two action figures did! It's a copy of Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars Rebellion #3.

I helped colour that issue!

My good friend, Wil Glass, was the colourist for this series. And anyone who knows the workflow involved in producing a comic book will tell you that us colourists, being the last stage in the artistic process, frequently have to make up for the deadlines missed by the writers, pencilers and inkers that need to do their work before we get it. Most professional colourists today have someone assisting them during deadline pinches, and I was honoured to be asked by Wil to follow his lead and lend a hand.

Little did I imagine that almost a half decade after I worked on this comic, I'd be staring at the book's cover sitting behind two Star Wars action figures, packaged up and ready to be wrapped and opened on Christmas morning by some other 6 year old kid the same way I opened up my Dewback in 1981.

The circle is now complete.

I can imagine the smile I'd see on the face of the six-year-old Donovan if I could go back in time and tell him that one day he'd not only be getting paid to colour comic books, but that they would be packaged with Star Wars action figures and sold in toy stores across the continent.

It would probably be very similar to the smile that the thirty-five-year-old Donovan is wearing right now.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Currently playing: absolutely nothing...
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 21: Blood of the Titan and Other Stories
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Winnipeg Northern Lights/Ice Crystals - November 30, 2010

2010-11-30T23:16:00.007-06:00

I was shoveling the mountain of snow left by the plows out of my back lane tonight, and noticed a massive beam of light coming from the direction of McPhillips Street Casino.

I wondered what performer was appearing there that deserved such a massive light show. I turned around to resume my snow clearing attempts and found that the entire sky was filled with beams of what looked like cascading Northern Lights!

My cousin Scott has me thinking that these may have just been ice crystals reflecting the city lights, which makes sense as they shimmered vertically. Not the horizontal 'dancing' you might expect from Aurora Borealis... I sent an email in to CTV weather personalities Sylvia Kuzyk and Jordan Witzel. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, they can!

Got the camera out and snapped the following photos. Obviously, the pictures don't do the phenomenon justice!

Click the images for a larger photo!

The photos were also featured in the a Winnipeg Sun photo gallery titled "Winnipeg's winter wonders".

Currently playing: Helix - Running Wild In The 21st Century.
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 21: Blood of the Titan and Other Stories
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Kyle Buell has a dream!

2010-11-25T13:18:00.003-06:00

I was 16 years old when I went to my first Winnipeg Jets game.

On October 19, 1991, I made the journey to the city from Dauphin with my fellow Jets fanatic friend Andy Gillies, him in his blue #6 Housley jersey, and me in my #22 Mantha jersey. After sitting in the front row to watch the players go through their pre-game skate, we moved up to our seats in the terrifyingly steep upper deck at the now demolished Winnipeg Arena, and watched our team beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. After the game, we hung out around the dressing room and met a lot of players and legendary announcer Curt Kielback! I remember being tongue tied as Moe Mantha autographed my jersey, which hangs in my mother's home back in Sifton, Manitoba to this day.

Today I read a story in the Winnipeg Free Press today that brought back all the memories of that first game.

It's about a young man named Kyle Buell. Just like I was, he's a 16 year old, and wants to go to his first NHL game. His biggest dream "is to attend a couple of Calgary Flames games, see a practice, meet the players, and get (his) Kiprusoff jersey signed".

Before he was two years old, Kyle was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, apparently one of the most severest forms of the disorder. Over the last 5 years his condition has deteriorated to the point where he is bound to a wheelchair, essentially only able to move from the neck up. Two gentlemen who work with him at Grant Park High School, Rick Morris and Dorian Girardin, have decided to help Kyle fulfill his dream.

Seeing my first NHL game was easy. Andy and I just piled in to his family's GMC Jimmy and let them drive us down to Winnipeg.

For Kyle, it's a lot more complicated.

"I'm no longer able to travel by plane due to my Scoliosis back surgery but I am healthy enough to travel by wheelchair van, which could change at any time. I'm afraid of when I need a ventilator I will no longer be able to travel because of the care that I will need.

In order for my big dream to come true we would need to rent an electric hospital bed, Hoyer lift, wheelchair accessible van, and a wheelchair accessible hotel room for 5 nights, which comes at a huge cost of $8,000 and isn't affordable to my family or to the EAs that work with me at school."

This story really resonated with me. When I'm old and gray, I'll look back on the day I saw my first NHL game and met my hockey heroes as one of the best of my life.

I want Kyle to have those memories too.

You too can help Kyle out. Tax deductible donations may be sent to:

The Children's Heritage Fund
c/o Karen Knight, guidance department
Grant Park High Schoo
l450 Nathaniel St.
R3M 3E3

Photo: TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

I know there are plenty of deserving charities to donate money to, especially this time of year. This differs in that you actually know what your money is going to provide. There's a face attached, rather than just an organization. It's personal.

Currently playing: Guns n' Roses - Scraped.
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 21: Blood of the Titan and Other Stories
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Here's a preview of my colouring work on Dark Horse's Chronicles of Conan series

2010-11-19T13:07:00.011-06:00

Dark Horse Comics have posted preview images of my work on the next installment of their Chronicles of Conan series! I still get a kick out of seeing my name in the credits at the bottom of the first page up alongside such greats as Jim Shooter, Larry Hama and John Buscema!

Work on these books is done pretty far in advance, so by the time these previews are released I've usually completely forgotten what the story was about... I was working on this book in May and June of this year. Six months ago!

Here's a preview of the first three pages of this 200 page book, coloured by yours truly! Click the images for a larger version!
The Chronicles of Conan Volume 20: Night of the Wolf and Other Stories is set to be released on December 1, 2010. You can preorder your copy now!

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 20: Night of the Wolf and Other Stories TPB
Featuring art and story by: Michael Fleisher, John Buscema, Gary Kwapisz, Ernie Chan, Steve Leialoha, Bob Camp, Rudy Nebres
Colours by: Peter Dawes, Wil Glass and Donovan Yaciuk
Conan confronts some of his most difficult challenges yet when he faces down a werewolf who is being protected by the same tribe that it aims to destroy in "Night of the Wolf," and he finds a hidden Cimmerian valley filled with the vestiges of an ancient war in "Vale of Death." The wandering barbarian will also have to keep his wits about him if he is to keep from becoming a statue in a madwoman's collection in "The Cauldron of Doom!"
This volume collects Conan the Barbarian issues #151 -- #159, now with new colors, all of the original series covers, and a foreword by Ernie Chan complete with a brand new pinup!

Currently playing: The Arrows - Fallen Angel
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 21: Blood of the Titan and Other Stories
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

If a radio station falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

2010-11-09T23:23:00.004-06:00

There is absolutely no reason to listen to 92.9 Kick FM any more.

Kick FM is Red River College's campus radio station, and on Monday they cancelled Marty Gold's wildly popular The Great Canadian Talk Show program which ran daily from 4-6pm.

The reason? He's not a student at Red River College.

Strange, that never seemed to be an issue during the previous four years he was on the air.

Marty's talk show was a breath of fresh airwaves. As a host he is heated, aggressive, opinionated, and unafraid to call things as he sees them. The show was walked a fine line between being entertaining and informative. Was he biased? Sure! The CreComm instructors on Princess Street might disagree, but I don't think it's possible to be an unbiased journalist in the 21st century. Those that claim otherwise are being dishonest.

The following comment, left by Jeffery Doyle on the WinnipegCrime blog sums up Marty Gold and his show perfectly.
Marty at times is aggressive, proud, and even on occasion flat out wrong and misinformed. However, his opinion is an eye opener and the freshest thing to have been found in the media for years. When other outlets are “cutting and pasting their “news” directly and without editing from Press Releases, The Great Canadian Talk Show would dissect the info -research the reason behind the spin and try to shine a light on the truth. The only thing Marty Gold is guilty of is wanting to make a difference.

The champion of the Anti-Mainstream Media, Marty Gold's show played a huge role in informing the public on some big issues in the recent Winnipeg civic election. Graham Hnatiuk, on his blog Progressive Winnipeg wrote an absolutely fantastic post detailing the issues that The Great Canadian Talk Show has had a major effect on.

Two weeks after the civic election was over, The Great Canadian Talk Show was cancelled.

Politicians of all stripes were fighting over themselves to appear on Marty's show, tacitly acknowledging his program's reach, penetration and influence. According to Marty, pretty much every politician he contacted agreed to come on the show.

All of them but one. Installed Premier Greg Selinger.

Strange that we've got a major provincial election coming up the next calendar year. And Selinger, who was frequently found on the business end of Gold's finger pointing, looks to be in the fight of his life. The NDP endorsed civic election candidates (yes, Judy, YOU are to be included in this group!) were trounced in the October election, and those that did win certainly didn't by a landslide. The upcoming Winnipeg North Federal by-election looks to be exceedingly tight, and the Manitoba Conservatives are holding leads in the polls.

If I have to spell the conspiracy theory out for you, either Selinger and the NDP exerted some influence and had Marty's popular and influential program cancelled, or Red River College realized that they receive funding from the Provincial government and, in the interest of not rocking the cashbar, pulled the plug.

Do I have proof for this? Well, to be honest, no. I'm just playing connect the dots. But that conspiracy is far more plausible than a college radio station dropping their highest rated show because they wanted to make room for more amateur student programming, which is simply farcical. Is it not better to have a flagship show that promotes the fact that you HAVE a radio station? Without something like The Great Canadian Talk Show, what is there to tune in for?

If a radio station falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Currently playing: Spectre General - Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way
Currently colouring: An upcoming book for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

2010 Central Canada Comic Convention

2010-11-02T11:28:00.007-05:00

I had a great time at the 2010 Central Canada Comic Convention on the weekend!

Comic books are really just the art of telling a story by skillfully combining words and artwork. It’s a medium I’ve been in love with for a long time. Not only was it great to have a weekend to celebrate it with friends, it was nice to meet a few artists and see this art form get the respect it deserves!

Okay, so some respect for comics was lost when I passed by the following boxes of books for sale. Sigh...
Big Boob Girl Comics?

Really?

After experiencing this low point in comics, my opinion of humanity was lifted after I got to meet Scott Kolins! Besides being a fantastic professional artist, he is also an incredibly nice guy! Before I left my job doing colour separations at Digital Chameleon I got to do some work on his fantastic Flash run for DC comics. His work is full of tiny little details which made it both exciting and maddening to colour! I love his style!

In the last year I’ve begun commissioning artists to do sketches on the inside covers of books they’ve been a part of! It’s easier to store a work of art in a book on a shelf rather than trying to frame and hang them. Plus, there’s only so many drawings of superheroes a grown man should really have hanging on their walls! ;)

Here’s a great sketch Scott did of Captain America taking on Baron Zemo in my Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes hardcover – a pivotal scene in the book!

Scott Kolins also went all out in this drawing for my Beyond! Hardcover of all the main characters caught in The Stranger’s grasp!

All in all, a fun weekend! It also gave me a bit of a kick in the rear to keep the ball rolling on a book I'm hoping to self publish next year - Spacepig Hamadeus and the Captive Planet!

And hey, be sure to "Like" the Spacepig Hamadeus Facebook page!

Currently playing: The Payola$ - Here's The World
Currently colouring: An upcoming book for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

EMERGENCY! (Tent Sale!)

2010-11-01T19:27:00.000-05:00

Got this flyer in the mail the other day...Really?! An EMERGENCY tent sale?

Tightness in the chest, with pain radiating down your arms? Emergency.

Red River flooding? Yep, emergency.

90% off furniture and appliances at The Brick?

Okay, I'll humour them. It's an emergency. Whatever.

Let's recount the fateful minutes that occurred at The Brick minutes before this ad went to press...
Currently playing: Foreigner - Urgent
Currently colouring: An upcoming book for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Make your own Sad Keanu photo without transparency!

2010-10-28T22:55:00.009-05:00

Keanu Reeves was photographed by paparazzi eating a sandwhich in a pensive moment a few months back. Since then, people have been wackily placing him into all sorts famous photos and movie scenes and posting them to http://sadkeanu.tumblr.com/

To make a simple Sad Keanu photo without a transparent Keanu or pds file, simply:

download the plug in
Select Filter > Keanu > Sad!
Adjust sadness with slider.

Currently playing: The Office - Costume Contest
Currently colouring: An upcoming book for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Get ready for Christmas shopping!

2010-10-19T22:06:00.004-05:00

In the old days, I usually started my Christmas shopping on December 24th, and most of the time I shopped at the Co-op Gas Bar, filling up the car on the way back home!

Merry Christmas, Mom! Here's that Candy Bar and Air Freshener you wanted! Look, it's even shaped like a Christmas Tree!

Since becoming a husband and a father, I'm proud to say I now start my holiday shopping early! I actually started buying gifts for my loved ones last month, and a lot of those purchases have been online.

Any time I buy something over the internet, I'm always grumbling about the "Enter Your Promo Code" field. I can count on three fingers the number of times I've actually been in possession of a promotional code that could save some money.

It's frustrating, knowing that someone, somewhere, is cackling maniacally while entering their secret code and saving tens of dollars, while I pay full price for an item!

Well, my buddy Chris Shewel introduced me to Retail Me Not, a website that shares valid discount codes!

Just for fun, I tried a site I've ordered from a lot - nhl.com! I immediately found a code that could take a fifth off of my total price! How I wish I could have found this site years ago!With promo codes for Victoria's Secret and Sephora, I'm both excited and terrified of showing this to my wife!

So there you have it, folks! Before embarking upon another online shopping spree for Christmas gifts, make sure you check this site out and save yourselves some cash! (Or credit!).

Currently playing: Def Leppard - Armageddon It
Currently colouring: An upcoming book for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Winnipeg ambulance shortages

2010-10-16T06:37:00.010-05:00

I've been following the #wpgvotes twitter hashtag to get a pulse for what people are tweeting about for the upcoming election.

One twitter feed, medicshortage, has been set up to inform people that there is an ambulance shortage in our city.

First, should we not address the apparent shortage of commas and S's in the city?

I know twitter only lets you write 140 letter posts, but they still could have used proper grammar and spelling and had over 50 characters to go!

Not to put letters in their mouths, but I think they meant to say, "It's Friday, how many times will we run out of ambulances today?".

Here's the stance of each of the two main mayoral candidates on the issue!

Sam Katz: Winnipeg has the best response times in the country, and the problem lies in resources being tied up at hospitals. "The biggest problem we face right now is ambulances, paramedics and police officers having long waiting periods at the hospital".

Judy Wasylycia-Leis: "I think we have to look seriously at adding more ambulances ... We have a crisis on our hands that's been neglected by the city".

Currently playing: Queen City Kids - Down Again
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited Omnibus for Marvel Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Here's a cheap Son of a Pen for you....

2010-10-11T21:31:00.003-05:00

A lot of waiters would be pretty honoured to have the opportunity to serve a real life swan, should one walk into their restaurant.

Although if it was this swan, I wouldn't go over board serving him. He lets you know right away that gratuities aren't really his thing...

Currently playing: The Who - Baba O'Reilly
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited Omnibus for Marvel Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Luke Geissbuhler: 2010 Father of the Year

2010-10-10T22:35:00.005-05:00

Wow, Luke Geissbuhler wins the 2010 Father of the Year Award, 4,677,020 spots ahead of yours truly. How many dad's take the time out of their lives to devote this much time, energy, and intellect to their 7 year old sons?

Luke and his son Max attached an HD camera to a weather balloon, hit record, and let it float high enough into the atmosphere to make out the curvature of earth and see the blackness of space.

The results are breathtaking!

From the video:
In August 2010, we set out to send a camera to space.

The mission was to attach a HD video camera to a weather balloon and send it up into the upper stratosphere to film the blackness beyond our earth.

Eventually, the balloon will grow from lack of atmospheric pressure, burst, and begin to fall.

It would have to survive 100 mph winds, temperatures of 60 degrees below zero, speeds of over 150 mpg, and the high risk of a water landing.

To retrieve the craft, it would need to deploy a parachute, descend through the clouds and transmit a GPS coordinate to a cell phone tower.

Then we have to find it.

Unbelievable! The fact that they got their camera high enough to make out the curvature of the earth is jaw droppingly mind blowing.

I love space exploration, and will admit to multitudinous mental deficiencies in regards to landing crafts on different planets, but I don't understand why NASA can't mount a camera like this on a Mars Lander.

How cool would it be to hear the winds of Mars? To see the descent to the planet from space the way the Geissbuhler family's experiment did?

For more info on the project, visit the Brooklyn Space Program website.

Currently playing: Asia - Don't Cry
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited Omnibus for Marvel Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Thanks, Mom!

2010-10-07T22:44:00.001-05:00

In the same manner that some people get addicted to reality TV, I'm hooked on the 2010 Winnipeg Civic Election.

Things have really heated up in the last week, and perhaps the most talked about moment to date was an incident, at Monday's Red River College debate.

In summary, Sam Katz reacted to one of Judy's rambling interruptions and attacks with by saying, "Thanks, Mom".

It wasn't the most mature answer he could have come up with.

Judy Wasylycia-Leis has claimed that the comments are sexist, no doubt building on the momentum started by last week's Winnipeg Free Press article that set the women's movement back three decades by claiming that if she loses the election, it's because she's not a man. If I were a woman, I think I'd find that insulting. Imagine if the two professors making that statement were male?

Was the "Thanks, Mom" comment Rude? No question.

Disrespectful? Definitely.

Sexist?

No.

I watched the debate. Judy Wasylycia-Leis rambled, failed to answer questions, and settled in to her usual political role as a member of an opposition party, banking on winning the election by attacking every decision made over the last 6 years.

In other words, vote for me because I'm NOT Sam Katz.

I was frustrated just listening to her avoid answering questions, and I wasn't the only one. She lectured Sam Katz constantly, so I can see how frustration in 'debating' her could send Mr. Katz to stoop to snide remarks.

I would have gained some respect for Judy had she just let it slide and shown some grace. But to pull the sexist remark card is a weak reaction that makes her no better than the man who uttered the word in the first place.

It's a card she's played before. Back in 2006, she accused Liberal MP Scott Brison of sexism when he suggested that Judy couldn't balance her chequebook.

Judy Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As I was rising to ask for guidance in terms of calling a quorum, the member for Kings-Hants (Brison) yelled out that I needed economic guidance. Prior to that, he had said in the House that I could not balance my chequebook. I find these comments sexist, offensive and not acceptable in this House. I would ask for a complete withdrawal of such sexist language.

Scott Brison: Mr. Speaker, I have no idea how the member would construe my comment that I do not believe she could balance her chequebook as being a sexist comment. I can tell her that my 78-year-old mother has been balancing her chequebook for a long time — in fact, I believe my 78-year-old mother to be extremely economically competent. The fact that I do not believe the honourable member to be economically competent has nothing to do with her gender. It simply has to do with her capacity — I would urge her to reconsider her assertion that somehow that has something to do with her gender, because in fact I know a lot of very economically competent women who have great capacity. In fact, many of them are in the Liberal caucus.

I'm not opposed to left wing political candidates. I thought Glen Murray pulled some good stunts when he was Mayor, and I voted for him without hesitation.

If Judy would come up with a plan other than to raise property taxes by 10%, give gang members jobs, and assume that improving community centers is all we need to do to solve crime in this city, I'd have a tough time deciding who to vote for.

If Judy wouldn't vow to abolish studies in one sentence, and in the next breath state that as soon as she's elected she's going to study the soon-to-be launched police helicopter by (unbelievably) commissioning a study to examine it's effectiveness, I'd have a tough time deciding who to vote for.

If Judy didn't have her NDP and union entourage climbing on to the stage and whispering answers into her ear during debates, I'd have a tough time deciding who to vote for.

And if Judy was a male, well... that would make no difference at all. A bad candidate is a bad candidate.

We can't vote for her, simply because she's "Not Sam Katz". No matter what remarks come out of his mouth.

Currently playing: GT Polerson - Vote for Me
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited Omnibus for Marvel Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Spell check CAN make you hugenormousely smarter!

2010-10-07T07:13:00.004-05:00

Some people stuck in the last century criticize things like spell check, claiming that they are preventing us from learning how spelling works through hard work and practice.

You know, the way us thirtysomethings did back during the Cold War!

Well today, it actually made me smarter! For years, I thought "ginormous" was a made up word, amalgamating "gigantic" and "enormous". Turns out it's been in the dictionary since 2007, nearly 60 years after it arose as a slang word by British Troops in World War II.

How would I have known that without spell check!

Now that it's been legitimized, I'll need to find a new amalgamation of synonyms with which to amuse myself with in it's place.

I think I'll start using 'hugenormous', although 'enormonstrous', or 'heftuge' are pretty good too...

Currently playing: Peter Gabriel - Big Time
Currently colouring: An upcoming book for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Review: Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 - Dark Horse Comics

2010-08-22T12:43:00.022-05:00

Magnus, Robot Fighter #1
Writer: Jim Shooter
Artist: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Cover Artist: Raymond Swanland

Buy it now! Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 (Raymond Swanland cover) at TFAW.com

I just finished reading Magnus, Robot Fighter #1, released last month from Dark Horse Comics...

...for the fifth time.

I cannot recall the last time I read a comic more than once, but I assure you it's been years. It's that good!

This series is off to a great start, and I highly recommend it. Magnus, Robot Fighter was originally published by Gold Key in the 1960's, and Jim Shooter is revamping several of the characters for Dark Horse's new line of books. It's Shooter's second take on these characters, as he previously relaunched Magnus, Solar, and Turok at Valiant in the early 1990's.

In an era of comic books where very little happens in 22 pages, Shooter's Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 is a fantastic breath of fresh air. Shooter covers more plot, characters, personality, and action in this book than most other publishers do in a 6 issue story arc.

It's the trait of a writer who has an obvious love for the character, and a wealth of experience in the medium. Tight pacing, great dialogue, and a steady stream of action and plot developments that make you feel like you're on a flying car ride that you can't stop!

Bill Reinhold's pencils are straightforward and energetic, and his storytelling is tight. Save for one slightly awkward transition on page 14 between a scene where Magnus interrogates a man and then moves on to his next target, it's clear in every panel what is going on, and the visual storytelling moves smoothly. Every rendition of Magnus is expressive, and when the Robot Fighter fights robots, there is weight and power that is palpable in the poses.

My old colleague and friend Wes Dzioba handles the colours in this series. Being a colourist myself, I love seeing other colourist's work that surprises and excites me. I never would have thought to have chosen the colours he did, and they work fantastically. The milespires at night in the opening scene, rendered in greens and purples (see image at right) work beautifully, and throughout the book fore, middle and backgrounds all separate nicely. Wes employs colour holds skillfully to reinforce Reinhold's sense of depth and space.

I had an opportunity to see some of Jim Shooter's script posted online, and he puts so much effort and thought into writing his stories, providing the artists with character motivations, backgrounds, and considerations from the largest to the smallest things - even down to describing what type of glass is used in the buildings! I'd love to read more of it, so I hope Dark Horse considers some form of "Director's Cut" that prints all the scripts! I am sure they would make for fascinating reading. You can't say that of all comic scripts, I assure you! Some could probably be sold for use as an Ambien replacement!

Magnus, Robot Fighter is off to a great start! If you are interested, you can read the 10 page Magnus, Robot Fighter Free Comic Book Day issue online at Dark Horse's website, or you can download the prologue to this story for your iPhone/iPod Touch by clicking the image below!
Currently playing: Queen - Machines (Back to Humans)
Currently colouring: An as yet unsolicited Marvel Masterwork!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

I'm with the Skeptical Hippo on Judy Wasylycia-Leis

2010-08-16T21:46:00.002-05:00

I don't identify myself as being left or right wing. Congratulations to you if your opinions on the issues facing the world today all fit into one conveniently labeled basket, but it's not for me. Both political stripes have good ideas and bone headed ideas. It's a fact of life. So, for the record, I'm not bashing Winnipeg Mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis based on what federal and provincial party she is aligned with.

That being said, political parties have NO business endorsing civic candidates the way the NDP is backing Ms. Wasylycia-Leis, but this isn't the place for me to rant on that!

I just like laughing at poorly thought out ideas. And I'm laughing at this.

Today, Ms. Wasylycia-Leis announced two campaign pledges aimed at helping fight crime here in Winnipeg.

1. PowerLine
Powerline's premise is that a volunteer would be appointed in each neighbourhood to take calls about crimes, and then co-ordinate with police for some kind of response.

Really? So the current system is that a crime in progress would be reported to either 911, or if it's a non-emergency, 986.6222. Under Judy's system, I'd now have to phone someone in the neighbourhood to phone the police for me?

Get real. I don't see how this improves ANYTHING. I just now have a THIRD phone number to remember, and if that volunteer decides they don't want to be involved any more, I get a new phone number to memorize.

So unless I'm mistaken, Ms. Wasylycia-Leis' campaign promise is to reinvent Crime Stoppers, except staffed by volunteers.

Let's hope she doesn't start thinking of ways to improve the health care system!

To add a final nail to this coffin, she apparently said on record that volunteers would NOT undergo criminal background checks, and she's confident that PowerLine won't be infiltrated by organized crime.

I sense her next campaign announcement will be aimed at improving the quality of sand in the city. It would be slightly self serving, as her head seems to be stuck in it all day.

2. City Watch
I'll give her campaign credit for coming up with some fantastic catch phrases for useless ideas! The idea behind City Watch is that "city workers would aid police by reporting crimes"

...

Is this for real? Shouldn't city workers, or ANY Winnipeg citizen for that matter, be reporting crimes anyway?

We need to come up with a program for this?

Are there statistics that say that a majority of crimes happen near city workers? Are the workers penalized if a crime is committed near their work site and no calls were received?

There's one of two things happening here. Either the candidate needs to hire someone with common sense to bounce ideas off of before opening her mouth, or she needs to better communicate to the public what her ideas are.

Either way, with ideas like that, we don't need a Mayor like Judy Wasylycia-Leis. If you think the ideas presented above are as big of a waste of time as I do, I invite you to join me in voting for someone, heck, ANYONE else in this October's Winnipeg Civic Election.

I'm with Skeptical Hippo on this one...

Currently playing: Streetheart - What Kind of Love is This?
Currently colouring: An as yet unsolicited Marvel Masterwork!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Tying a Windsor Knot!

2010-06-17T21:59:00.004-05:00

Tonight, I'm putting every instructional pamphlet, book, and VHS tape I've acquired in my decades long quest to learn to tie a Windsor Knot.

As I type this, I'm wearing a freshly knotted, gray tie! I did it myself (finally!), and I owe all the credit to the video below!

So if you were in the same boat I was a half hour ago (in other words, googling "Clip-on tie"), watch the video and bookmark this post for future reference!

Currently playing: Billy Ocean - When The Going Gets Tough
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 20: Night of the Wolf!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Tens of boxes to put my order into, and they had to choose THIS one...

2010-05-30T13:06:00.008-05:00

Last week, I had my old friend Robin Kowal over to watch the season finale of LOST. To celebrate the occasion, we ordered Chinese food from what I consider to be the BEST Chinese Food restaurant in Winnipeg - Hong Hing Chinese Food Delivery on Ellice Avenue.

Not only do you get a lot of great tasting food for a great price, but it all comes packaged up in an inappropriately labelled box whose text you wish you'd never read!

Yeah, hi, Hong Hing? I'd like to order some Mushroom Fried Rice, Chicken Balls, and Stir Fried Veggies.

Oh, and hold the Bladder Control Pads, because.. uhh.. well, I can hold it.

Oh, and for the record? The LOST finale was AWESOME! I'm not sure what some people were expecting to see....

Currently playing: Men Without Hats - Living In China
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 20: Night of the Wolf!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

McDonald's Crispy Chicken Classic. Because I deserve the BEST!

2010-05-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I had a Crispy Chicken Classic from McDonalds.

Here's the marketing messaging from the side of the box it came in...

It reads:
EXPERIENCE CHICKEN BLISS
For those who appreciate the finer things in life, we humbly offer the Crispy Chicken Classic. Bon appetit.

Wow.

It was good. But it wasn't THAT good!!!

I think a little perspective is in order, Ronald!

I don't see how ANYTHING I receive while sitting in my 1995 Pontiac Firebird at a drive-thru window can be put in the "finer things in life"`category, no mater how "humbly" the uniformed, 16 year old, talking pimple offers it to me!

It`s quite the exaggeration. I`d be willing to bet that the writer of that description probably had a previous career embellishing people`s personal ads!

Currently playing: Harlequin - Sweet Things in Life
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 20: Night of the Wolf!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

One chapter ends, and another begins...

2010-05-14T21:13:00.013-05:00

Today, I said goodbye to an old friend.

For the last 9 years, I've been employed at a local software developer as a Multimedia Specialist. In addition to video and Flash projects, the bulk of my work was maintaining their websites and portals.

Today was my last day.

I start a new job on Monday.

I was able to see through an 8 month web revamp project, and posted the results last night. By 3 o'clock this afternoon, I'd done my last bit of tinkering. I posted the changes, and powered down my computer.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I really did feel like I said goodbye to an old friend. For 9 years I was responsible for every change done to that website.

My duties have been passed on to an extremely competent co-worker (sorry,ex-coworker now!), and at the end of the day it felt like I was essentially talking to her about the site as if it were a family pet.

You can post the entire folder. That way, the pages with no changes don't feel left out.
He gets cranky if you don't put all the images in the same folder.
Use underscores in the file names. He doesn't like it when you use spaces...

Sigh. Ridiculous, I know.

In reality, I was at this job for nearly a decade. I met my wife there, and together we've started a family.

I owe where I am today to that company.

My last day was rough, and I'm not ashamed to admit that my eyes did get teary while saying my goodbyes. It's the people I'll miss the most. When I first met them, I was a fully follicled, pleather pant wearing young pup who spent his weekends playing in a rock band.

Nearly a decade later, my weekend is going to consist of going to the zoo with my wife and two year old daughter, and maybe some gardening.

To say that they've seen me grow up is an understatement.

I know I'll keep in touch with many of them. I'm just going to miss that daily interaction, and being a part of a fantastic team environment with them.

So long, old website. So long, old job. Thanks for a great 9 years. And from the bottom of my heart, thanks for the great friends, and lovely soul mate.

Now, to start prepping for my next adventure at a new job! What an exciting time!

Currently playing: Harlequin - Superstitious Feeling
Currently colouring: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 20: Night of the Wolf!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

Winnipeg to find out soon if Coyotes are coming back to town

2010-05-07T14:30:00.005-05:00

The Doomsday Clock, established in 1947, symbolizes mankind's proximity to global disaster. Nuclear war. Climate change. Grey goo. You name it. The closer the minute hand is to midnight, the closer the end of the world.

Using that same analogy, the minute hand on the Jets Return Clock has got to be as far closer to midnight than it has ever been.

Just seeing the main story on this afternoon's TSN website sent chills down my spine...

Winnipeg to find out soon if Coyotes are coming back to town
Wow.

I never thought I would see the day where the realistic possibility of the Jets' return would be front page news. Sure, we've seen headlines and unsubstantiated rumours appear front and center, but this... the pieces just seem to be falling in to place to give Winnipeg it's best shot yet.

Fellow Winnipeggers, we can do this! We can have household name athletes like Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, the Sedin Twins, and (ugh) Cindy Crosby playing in front of us.

We can be the feel good story in sports! We can be the city that loaned a desert it's beloved hockey team for a decade and a half, and then brought them back home!

I'm sick and tired of the attitude of some in this great city who want to put down every idea of progress and forward momentum. No Jets. No new arena. No Ikea. Nothing, until all the potholes are fixed.

I realize that Winnipeg rumours may be being used as bargaining chips by the NHL to threaten those few trying to keep the team in Phoenix to get a deal done. So be it.

But if we don't set our sights high, we're never going to move forward.

Strangely enough, I'm reminded of a sign I saw someone holding during one of the final Winnipeg Jets games back in '96 that simply read "Phoenix, take care of our boys". Contrary to what the average red-blooded beer swilling Canadian will tell you, there are real hockey fans down there.

I know what it's like to lose a beloved hockey team, and Phoenix, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. If they Jets return, my heart will go out to you.

Currently playing: Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight
Currently colouring: a yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fifth Cola free year!

U Can't Touch This (Phone)!

2010-05-05T08:43:00.005-05:00

Some external circumstances have forced me to downgrade my cel phone. I'm now using a cameraless Motorola 120e, with a beautiful monochrome screen!

When I took it in to the MTS Store to get it set up, the woman helping me was giggling uncontrollably. I sheepishly admitted that I'd had the phone since around 2006, so it's pretty much an antique.

She raised an eyebrow in reply, and told me that she was laughing because this was the same model and her FIRST cel phone, which she got nearly a decade ago.

Great. So even when I THOUGHT I was hip and cool with my new cel phone in 2006, I was out of fashion!

Anyhow, the contacts in the phone's charger are a little loose, and getting it to charge is a bit of a hassle. Once charging, if you so much as tap the floor that the table with the charging phone sits on, it just stops charging.

Bummer.

To make sure that Cat didn't bump or move the phone when she got up the next morning, I enlisted the talents of everyone's favourite rapper, MC Hammer, to make sure she got the message.

The Motorola 120e was probably around when U Can't Touch This was first popular!

In hindsight, I think Hammer was still wearing Steve Urkel glasses at this point in his career, so I goofed a bit giving him sunglasses.

Currently playing: Jay Z - 99 Problems
Currently colouring: a yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Protesters "ignored" on parade route.

2010-01-07T09:51:00.008-06:00

This is an insult and an example of how little they think of our people.
Joe Daniels - Sagkeeng First Nation band councillor

Oh please. The following is from today's Winnipeg Free Press.

Protesters ignored on torch route
Two Manitoba First Nations communities organized a roadside protest this morning on the Olympic Torch route.
Joe Daniels, a councillor with the Sagkeeng First Nation band, considered it an insult that the torch procession passed by the protesters at the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 11 at about 10 a.m. without stopping to hear their message.
"They just drove right by," said Daniels. "This is an insult and an example of how little they think of our people. They just don't want to hear our message."

About 150 people from Sagkeeng and also Roseau River First Nation assembled to draw attention to the plight of murdered and missing aboriginal women. They say not enough action has been taken by politicians and lawmakers to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"The Olympic Games are a worldwide event, so we thought this would be a good way to make people aware of what is happening to First Nations people in Manitoba and Canada.

"I guess we'll have to follow them to Steinbach."

Alright, Mr. Daniels. The Olympic Torch procession slapped you in the face and showed their absolute and utter disdain for the First Nation troubles by failing to.... to... hmmmm...

What was it you were hoping they were going to do, anyways?!?!

It's an honest question! The Olympic Torch Bearers have absolutely NO power to help find missing Aboriginal women whatsoever.

Did you want them to wave at you? Stop and chat? How would THAT help find anyone?

What exactly were you hoping to achieve here?!

Ah, yes, some publicity.

I'm down with that. The Olympic Torch's journey is a big news event. It's smart to tie your protest into a public spectacle of this magnitude. You've managed to get this message out to a wider audience.

It's unfortunate that you then had to turn around and make yourself look like a complete fool by claiming that the Olympic participants have no respect for aboriginal people. This torch run is on a schedule, and has a purpose that is completely unrelated to your goals. Just because they stick to the time line they've set up for themselves does not give you the right to play the victim card.

How on earth am I supposed to take you seriously?

What response by the torch bearers were you expecting? What would have satisfied you?

Your cause took one step forward with this protest, and then two steps back by complaining about not reaching whatever outcome you'd thought this would accomplish.

Why not take all the energy and dedication of the 150 people who showed up in sub-zero temperatures to this protest, and put it to something that is going to make a difference in the lives of the friends and families who mourn the many missing and murdered Aboriginal women?

Currently playing: Eddie Schwartz - Special Girl
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Volume 5
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

PS. You've got to love the irony of the title of the Winnipeg Free Press column. How are protesters being ignored when they get front page coverage?!?!

My decade

2009-12-30T05:39:00.019-06:00

I stole this idea from my old friend, Darcy Toews, who is doing a year by year reflection on the 2000's on Facebook. It's a neat idea that really got me reflecting on how much has changed in my life over the past 10 years, all for the better!

Bonus points if you are aware of why the image to the right is relevant!!!

Without further adieu, here's the last ten years of my life! Because YOU demanded it!

2000
At the turn of the century, I was still colouring comic books on the midnight shift at Digital Chameleon, working all night, sleeping all day. Being up all night, I listened to a lot of Coast to Coast AM, and was convinced that Y2K was going to end the world. Whoops. I became single for the first time in a while, and by the years end I'd moved out of a shabby apartment on South Park Drive to an overpriced, but less shabby apartment on Chancellor Drive.

2001
In spring of that year, I left Digital Chameleon for the sweet, daytime hours of a local software company to be their webmaster. I'm still employed there today! Much of my time is spent playing drums in a glam rock band. We record and release our first album, and spend a lot of time playing the Horseshoe Tavern, the Pyramid, and the Zoo. By the end of the year, I had moved up from my Baba's 1984 Buick Skylark to a 1995 Pontiac Firebird, which still serves me well to this day.

2002
Playing in a band sounds like fun, and it is, but by the end of the year exhaustion sets in, both mental and physical. So much of my time is devoted to practicing and playing music that literally nothing else happened this year. Actually, that's not entirely true. I died my hair blond, and briefly grew a goatee. The other 364.25 days are a blur.

2003
The band records our second album in the coldest January I can remember, in a downtown studio owned by Chris Burke-Gaffney. (Yes. THE Chris Burke-Gaffney. And if Chris Burke-Gaffney says he wants more cowbell, we should probably give him more cowbell!) We win the Pyramid's battle of the bands and play a showcase at Canadian Music Week in Toronto to celebrate the release of the CD. After a few years of putting music at the center of my life, my heart isn't in it anymore, and we go our separate ways after coming back to Winnipeg. I meet Cat when she starts a 6 months term in my department at work. I fall in love with her the second I meet her, and within 6 months we're engaged! When you know, you know!

2004
I'm living downtown a block away from work. I get up at 8:55, and I'm there for 9:00. Pretty sweet. Cat and I make a good team planning a social and a wedding. We're married in September! We buy our first home on Magnus Avenue. The next morning, the alarm clock news tells us there's been a shooting on the street. Good thing it's a long street, it was far away from us. Still, welcome to the neighborhood. Cat and I have traveled to Montreal and Toronto by this point, and add Victoria and Vancouver to the list by the end of the year!

2005
Another trip to Vancouver sees Cat and I rocking out to U2. It's her third U2 concert, my second. I spend the early part of spring in tremendous pain due to a severe allergic reaction from some medication. I've jumped once again into the comic colouring business, this time freelancing with some old colleagues for Marvel and Dark Horse. My name appears in the credits as a colourist for the first time in the Chronicles of Conan volume 9. A proud day. And, oh yeah, I start blogging.

2006
I see go to my first Ottawa Senators game at the beginning of the year, and enjoy a good trouncing of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the spring, it's back to Vancouver. This time I get to see my favourite band, Queen, perform live with Paul Rodgers. One of the best concerts I've ever been to! I quit drinking pop in April of that year, and a drop of cola hasn't touched my lips in almost 4 years. That fall, a doctor determines that Cat has been carrying around a 36 pound cyst in her abdomen. Say what you will about socialized medicine, but it was removed within a matter of days. Thankfully, it was benign. I also make it to the final round of casting calls for Canada's Deal or No Deal, and fly to Calgary for an audition. Alas, despite making it to the final handful of potential contestants, it was not to be, but it was a fantastic experience and an honour to have made it down to the final few.

2007
Cat and I go out to supper at the Elephant & Castle, where we went on our first 'date', where she tells me that after months of trying, that she's pregnant! The rest of the year is spent nesting and cleaning, getting our home ready for a new addition! Our travel schedule is reduced significantly, and this blog goes on hiatus. I also reconnect with a long lost person from my youth who played a significant role in my life. It's a great, roller coaster ride of a year.

2008
Our beautiful daughter, Madelyn, is born on a bitterly cold January day! We bring her home to an icebox, as our furnace has died. We spend a cold first night as a family! All other life goes on hiatus as we care for our Maddy Roo! The first few months are sleepless, and I wander around in a daze learning to balance family life and work. It wasn't always fun at the time, but I now look back on those days fondly.

2009
Life begins to get back to normal as Madelyn grows to be a fun, happy toddler! My name makes it's first appearance in the credits of a Marvel comic, as I donated some of my art collection to be used in Marvel's Secret Wars II Omnibus. This blog makes a bit of a comeback! I've begun taking steps towards self publishing my own comic book, after being inspired by so many colleagues and friends who are on the same path. More on that in the coming weeks!

Happy new decade, everyone! I hope to be writing a very similar post in another 10 years, and God willing, my life will continue to be getting better and better with each pass around the sun!

Currently playing: Brian McFadden - Demons
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Volume 5
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Mr. Electric of Winnipeg, you make good helium baloons...

2009-12-30T04:07:00.004-06:00

Wow. A giant man in a light bulb mascot costume gave my daughter this balloon a few weeks ago, and it's STILL floating...
I've not had a chance to use the services of Mr. Electric, but given my previous track record being an electrician, I probably will at some point in the future.

If their electrical work is half as good as their helium balloons, I'll be in good hands.

Currently playing: Aldo Nova - Ball and Chain
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Volume 5
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

An odd trend in album covers

2009-12-17T07:17:00.003-06:00

I was walking through HMV last night while Christmas shopping, and noticed an odd trend with some of the top selling CDs on sale right now.

In every cover, the performers hands are either framing their face or touching it in some way.

Every album looks like it's paying homage to Phil Collins, whose album covers consistently featured his charming mug staring back at you.

Check these out!

Rihanna - Rated R

Michael Bublé - Crazy Love

Adam Lambert - For Your EntertainmentSusan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream

Strange, isn't it?

If I owned a record store, or whatever the kids are calling them these days, I'd strategically place all the unsold stock I had of the Home Alone soundtrack close to the CDs above to capitalize on this trend! An opportunity to sell 20 year old stock that's been collecting dust in the back room only comes along once every two decades or so!
Currently playing: Harry Connick Jr. - She Belongs To Me
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Bork bork bork.

2009-12-08T13:26:00.002-06:00

The Swedish Chef is probably one of my favourite muppets. Yeah, his Dalecarlian Bork-bork-borking is a one trick pony, i know, but it was funny as a kid, and it still entertains me today.

Little did I know how how prevalent the "bork" sound was in Sweden!

To set the scene, arrogant golfer Tiger Woods is married to a Swede, Elin Holmberg. They're in the midst of a family crisis, and Erin's mother, Barbro, came to the US to support her daughter. Turns out she's also the County Governor for Gävleborg. Barbro's spokeswoman's name is Eva Malmborg.

Got all that?

Now read the following sentence out loud, taken from the Yahoo News article, Tiger Woods' mother-in-law admitted to hospital for stomach pain after 911 call.

Note the bolded borgs. Er... I mean bits.

"Malmborg confirmed Holmberg had taken a week's leave from her job as Gavleborg county governor in central-east Sweden, but said she did not know where Holmberg had gone."

It's pretty hard to read that news article without picturing it being delivered by the Swedish Chef! I used to think that his "borks" were a rather extreme caricature, but now I'm not so sure!

Currently playing: Kim Mitchell - All We Are
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

When death is preferable to meetings...

2009-11-12T14:31:00.009-06:00

My desk at home is a pigsty, so I've spent the last couple of days just cleaning up, organizing, and throwing out stuff I don't need.

I came across some minutes from a 5 year old meeting from hell from some freelance work I was involved in. You know the ones, where some clown is using a laser pointer to point things out on screen that is well within his reach, trying to be display his mastery over red-pen-light technology. Or the big talking hotshot throwing around cliched buzzwords like "synergy", "value added", "Web 2.0", and "Cross-platform intelligence chain", whatever THAT might be.

The part of the meeting that was relevant to my work had long passed. The remainder of this meeting was so drawn out that I began amusing myself by drawing a stick figure who considered his own death might be preferable to spending another minute in this hell hole.

It grew from there.

I present to you, "Six Ways to End This Meeting".

Currently playing: Bricklin - She's Not My Girl
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #4 - I Survived C4 2009!

2009-11-01T22:28:00.023-06:00

Be sure to catch the first three installments in this series!
Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #1 - The man who offended... Marv Wolfman!
Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #2 - The Curious Case of the Stammering Man
Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #3 - I Shook the Hand of the Honky Tonk Man, and LIVED!

Well, this year's Central Canada Comic Con has come to a close. Where else can you find such creative uses for white cardboard boxes?
Despite the misadventures outlined in previous posts, I had a great time meeting some famous professionals and reconnecting with numerous industry colleagues who I'd not seen in a while. So many of them had tables at the convention to promote their upcoming projects, and I want to take some time to introduce you to some great, local talent and creations!

Los Luchadores Mysteriosos: Exclusive Preview
Story & Art: Evan Quiring
Colours: Victoria Free
Publisher: Black Swan Studios
Price: $3.00
I've only just met Evan at the con when he signed my book, but I've known Victoria for almost a decade now. Her colouring work graces Quiring's art and story in Los Luchadores Mysteriosos #1, by Black Swan Studios. That title sounds like it would be the craziest Dora the Explorer episode ever. If your definition of awesome is a book featuring [SPOILER ALERT!] masked Mexican Wrestlers, zombies, UFO's, and girls with large breasts who run around in undergarments because their shirts were torn off by zombie hordes who have taken over an abandoned prison town that was destroyed by mental patients[END SPOILERS], this book will be right up your alley! It looks to be like a wild ride, and the first full issue is expected in December!

Here's a pic of Victoria and Evan, displaying my autographed issue!

Yva: Blood and Sand
Words & Letters: Brian S. Roe
Art: Des Hanley
Colours: Ronda Pattison
Publisher: RSquared Studios
Price: $1.00
Yva: Blood and Sand is a remarkably well done, 6 page preview that does a great job of setting up the stories and characters that will be featured in future issues! Des Hanely's art combines with Ronda's colours to create a wonderful moody atmosphere that has me humming Ennio Morricone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly soundtrack. I think the most impressive thing about the art in this book is the attention paid to the background, in this case, a town called "Colton's Curse". The outpost almost seems to be a character itself, so much personality is put into it's rendering!

It's along the lines of a book I could see myself writing, IF I had the time and energy and determination to publish a book myself! I highly recommend it!

For the record, "Yva" rhymes with "Eva" and "diva".

Here's Brian and Ronda at their table from the weekend! You may recognize Brian as the man in the WANTED poster on page 3 panel 3!

Guitar Gun
Art: Ian Sokoliwski
Price: Approx $20.00 per print (available for purchase)
I truly hope that Ian has a good lawyer handy. He's going to need it to negotiate the potential deals that this idea can bring in.

Think about it. Girls with guns that are also guitars.

It applies itself to everything - comics, video games, album covers, the front skin of a bass drum, t-shirts, animation, role playing games.

It's brilliant, really!

Be warned that there are some nude buttocks in the Guitar Gun images, so don't buy any prints or shirts for your grandparents unless their eyesight is failing.

Currently playing: Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry (Alternate Lyrics)
Currently colouring: A yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!!!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #3 - I Shook the Hand of the Honky Tonk Man, and LIVED!

2009-11-01T21:13:00.006-06:00

Be sure to catch the first two installments in this series!
Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #1 - The man who offended... Marv Wolfman!
Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #2 - The Curious Case of the Stammering Man

I'm not proud of it, but for a few months when I was 12, I was into wrestling. Unfortunately, it's a rite of passage among teenage boys.

My brief stint following wresting was around 1987-88, when the Honky Tonk Man reigned supreme. When I found out that he was going to be at the Central Canada Comic Con, I knew I'd have to take my chances and get a photo of him.

I bumped into him at the $100-per-ticket Meet and Greet, held Friday evening. Thanks to my buddy, Big Marv, I got in for free!!!

None of the other encounters I'd had with the conventions' famous guests had gone smoothly, so I was determined to make this one work. I walked right up to the Honky Tonk Man, and grabbed his right hand, and shook it vigorously, as if to clearly indicate my excitement at meeting him!

The same right hand that only a few weeks ago nearly lost the Honky Tonk Man a finger in a freak guitar smashing incident.

Whoops. I guess I was supposed to know that.

And I'm not being funny or cute about this. Here's the video proof, courtesy of YouTube.

Honky Tonk Man yanked his hand from my vice-like grip, wincing in pain, angrily questioning why I would attack his weak spot, as so many opponents did in the squared circle before me. Had the guitar not been recently involved in nearly severing a finger from his hand, I'm certain he'd have been swinging one at my face!

I apologized profusely. Thankfully, Honky Tonk Man was far more forgiving in life than he was in the ring, and he accepted my sincere regrets. Instead of a handshake, he proposed the Howie Mandel fist bump.

I accepted.
I pretty much ran away after the photo was taking, feeling terrible for causing him discomfort. But for the brief moment I met him, he was a very friendly (and forgiving) guy!

I'll probably have one more post that wraps up my less embarrassing experiences at the Central Canada Comic Con over the next day or two!

Currently playing: The Fat Boys - Jailhouse Rap
Currently colouring: A yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!!!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #2 - The Curious Case of the Stammering Man

2009-10-31T13:47:00.021-05:00

Be sure to catch the first installment in this series! Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #1 - The man who offended... Marv Wolfman!

We now start the tale that can only be called, The Curious Case of the Stammering Man!

As some of you may know, I'm a huge fan of Marvel Comics' 1984 mini series, Secret Wars. I'm also a big fan of the Valiant Comics line that was started by Jim Shooter in the early 1990's. What do both of those series have in common? Each had creative input by Writer/Penciler/Inker/Editor/Creator Extraordinaire, Bob Layton.

Now, a quick perusal of his wikipedia page brings you up to speed on a few of Mr. Layton's numerous accomplishments in the comics field.

Layton co-wrote Iron Man's Demon in a Bottle storyline as a part of his run on the title that made it one of Marvel's top books
Penciled some issues of Marvel's Secret Wars title, one of my favourites
Wrote and drew Hercules: Prince of Power, the first ever limited series comic book
Was an integral part of the launch and creation of the Valiant Universe in the early 1990s, including the title X-O Manowar, another of my favs!

Keep those four points in mind. They come back to haunt me.

It may seem strange to some that at a convention boasting the attendance of such household names as Adam West, Julie Newmar, and Peter Mayhew (aka Batman, Catwoman, and CHEWBACCA, repsectively!), that none of them were even on my list of people to see! As soon as I entered those doors, it was straight to Bob Layton's table, three of my favourite books of his tucked under my arm.

That's when everything started to fall apart.

The following took place between 6:00pm, and 7:00pm, last night.

Donovan Yaciuk: (approaching table): Hi Bob Layton!
Bob Layton: Hello, there!
Donovan Yaciuk: Hi!
Bob Layton: ...
Donovan Yaciuk: I, uh, have these three books of yours that I love, and I was wondering if you'd sign them for me.
Bob Layton: I'd be happy to!
Donovan Yaciuk: I mean, uh...
Bob Layton: Yes?
Donovan Yaciuk: Do you, well... if you charge for signatures, you know, I'd totally...
Bob Layton: No, no. Lets see what you got there. (begins signing)
Donovan's brain: Whoah! Donovan! That's Bob Layton! What the--?! Why didn't you tell me we were here already! I told you to wake me before you got behind the wheel of the car! Okay, okay, it looks like he's signing things. You've done well without me so far. Now, don't say ANYTHING until I assess the situation!
Donovan Yaciuk: So, Bob, I like Iron Man!
Donovan's brain: What did I just tell you?!?!
Bob Layton: Sorry, how do you spell your name again? O-V-A-N?
Donovan's brain: Oooh! He's good! Tell him it's spelled just like the singer!
Donovan Yaciuk: Yep! Just like the singer!
Bob Layton: You're not even old enough to remember the singer!
Donovan Yaciuk: Yes I am! You haven't seen my hairline under this hat!
Donovan's brain: Hey, did you come up with that without my help?!?! That's pretty good!
Donovan Yaciuk: And, also, I like Secret Wars.
Bob Layton: Here's the first book! You're not going to want to touch that until the ink is dry. Give it at least a year.
Donovan Yaciuk: HAHAHAHA! A whole year!
Bob Layton: ...
Donovan's brain: ...
Donovan Yaciuk: And, also, I like X-O Manowar.
Bob Layton: Oh yeah, I see that's the book I'm signing right now.
Donovan Yaciuk: And, also, I like the Demon In A Bottle storyline you did with David.... Michuh, Mickey...
Bob Layton: David Michelinie. It rhymes with "Pickle-My-Knee".
Donovan Yaciuk: HAHAHA! I like pickles!
Donovan's brain: You IDIOT! Layton doesn't CARE that you like pickles or not! Now look, we've got to do better than this! We've been reading this guy's work for YEARS, and you're standing in front of him now, basically reciting his wikipedia page! What next?!? Are you going to tell him that his Hercules: Prince of Power books were the first comics mini-series in history?
Donovan Yaciuk: Oh, yeah! Bob, did you know that your Hercules: Prince of Power comics were the first mini-series in history?
Donovan's brain: Sigh. All right, Mr. Wikipedia. Why don't you just tell him he was born in 1952.
Donovan Yaciuk: Also, you were born in 1952.
Bob Layton: Pardon me?
Donovan's brain: Nothing.
Donovan Yaciuk: Nothing.
Silence: ....
Donovan's brain: Okay, getting quiet. Let's not panic here, Donovan. Keep your mouth shut, let him sign the books, and in no way shape or form should you mention to Bob Layton that you run a Secret Wars fan site.
Donovan Yaciuk: Bob, remember earlier, when I was talking about Secret Wars? I also run a Secret Wars web site. Do you think maybe one time, I mean, if you aren't busy, that one time maybe I could ask you a few Secret Wars related questions?
Bob Layton: Sure.
Donovan's brain: I quit.
Donovan Yaciuk: (shakes Bob Layton's hand) Well, thank you, Bob Layton, thank you... for being one of the greatest, uhmm, artists, I mean, the living legend, and uhmm, the legend, a legend of comic books.. err... just thanks for signing my books!

Honestly, it went that badly! Head up to the list of accomplishments I posted above from Bob Layton's wikipedia page. Yep, I embarrassingly shoe-horned every single one of them into the conversation.

Immediately afterwards, I was reminded of the following SNL skit, except in this case, Bob Layton was Paul McCartney, and I was Chris Farley!

Things got better though! Luckily for me, my pal Ian Sokoliwski knows Mr. Layton professionally, and arranged a proper, less nervous re-introduction an hour or two later, as evidenced by my ridiculously disproportionate smile in the photo below.
I'll tell you, I've met a few comic book professionals in my life, and since you are only familiar with them by their work on the printed page, you never know what to expect. Some of them can be downright anti-social. But Bob Layton was such an entertaining, gregarious, welcoming guy to be around, meeting him was an absolute pleasure.

Well, for me at least!

And I got three books autographed! How sharp does a signed hardcover of the Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle Premiere Hardcover look!
And just for bragging rights, I've also got a personalized Secret Wars HC as well! Now, I just need to study Mike Zeck's wikipedia page and get prepared for HIS autograph!

Stay tuned for the "Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #3 - I Shook the Hand of the Honky Tonk Man, and LIVED!".

Currently playing: The Guess Who - Undun
Currently colouring: A yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!!!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #1 - The man who offended... Marv Wolfman!

2009-10-30T23:20:00.007-05:00

Well, Winnipeg is hosting the Central Canada Comic Convention this weekend (known from this point on as C4!). I got my weekend pass and hit the place up tonight. And as you would expect from me, the whole evening was nothing but a bunch of tomfoolery, accidents, and unintended acts of stupidity on the part of yours truly.

So here starts the first issue of "Tales from the Central Canada Comic Convention #1"! Tonight's brief tale... The Man who offended... Marv Wolfman!

For the first time in a long time, I got the chance to hang out with my old pal and colouring colleague, Ian Sokoliwski. I've mentioned him numerous times in this blog over the years, and he's made numerous comments on these blog entries, so you may be familiar with him. One of his numerous gigs right now is colouring for comics legend Bob Layton - remember that name, there's a bit of foreshadowing for the NEXT story!

Well, Ian eventually gets busy co-ordinating a post-Con supper for the evening with the man across the table from him, who just happens to be Marv Wolfman.

Yeah, THE Marv Wolfman.

The man who had a lengthy run writing the Amazing Spider-Man.

The man who co-created the Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat.

Oh, and he wrote some story called "Crisis on Infinite Earths", which I've never heard of but should really try to read some day. ;)

Ian's big plan is to hit up the "Elephant and Castle", one of my favourite restaurants in downtown Winnipeg, and also the location of my very first date with my wife!

The food is great, but I'm told that one of the best things about the restaurant is it's selection of imported beers and alcohol. Marv and Ian are talking like two old pros who have known each other for a long time, and I figure it's my turn to jump in to this conversation.

Yes, the conversation between Ian, and THE Marv Wolfman.

So, sweating profusely, I offer up the fact that the Elephant and Castle is a great place to get imported beer!

In my head, I hear the abrupt sound of a needle being violently ripped off of a vinyl record. I hadn't noticed that there was any music playing before this point, but I sure as heck noticed it's absence now! Wolfman stops, looks in my direction, and proudly tells me that "That would be very interesting to me, were it not for the fact that I do not indulge in alcoholic beverages.".

As if I was supposed to know that.

He watched me panic for a few seconds before swiveling his head back to Ian to continue to make supper plans.

Well, that went swimmingly. The type of swim that precedes a drowning.

Mr. Wolfman did have a book for signing on his table called the Illustrated History of the State of Israel. I'm guessing you wouldn't write a book on that subject unless you are Jewish or practice Judaism. I'm not really familiar with the Jewish faith, but a quick check of the Google machine gives me hints that some Jews avoid alcohol unless it's wine used for religious purposes.

Boy, that's information that would have been useful to me yesterday.

I felt like I'd just offered to take him to a restaurant called "Mr. Porky's Deep Fried Scavenger Birds and Shellfish".

Anyhow, if Mr. Wolfman eventually stumbles onto this blog, I apologies for any offense I may have caused!!!!

It wasn't the first embarrassing moment of the night, which I'll detail in our next issue, "Tales from the Central Canada Comic Con #2 - The Curious Case of the Stammering Man"!

Currently playing: Dare - The Last Time
Currently colouring: A yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!!!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Not Applicable! Our home and native land!

2009-10-26T16:39:00.006-05:00

I have been a little absent from this blog for the last couple of weeks. I've been tied up colouring a project for Dark Horse comics - I'll post some preview pics when the book gets announced, but for now, it'll have to remain under wraps!

I've also been busy working towards getting certificates in Web Site Development and Digital A/V Production from Red River College. I've been involved in web design for over a decade now, but am completely self taught, so I figured it can't hurt to get some form of paperwork proving that I know my stuff! I just wrapped up Graphic Design, which was actually fairly challenging, and Flash Level 1, which I did with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back.

And just my luck, it looks like Red River might have an opening for a new Webmaster, after the person who made the following registration form on their website gets fired. While filling out my address on their site, I was given two choices for what country I lived in.

West St. Paul isn't even a country, its actually a Rural Municipality north of Winnipeg, so I had no choice but to choose "Not Applicable". I immediately went to the phone book to find their local embassy to apply for dual citizenship, so I could continue my education!

Currently playing: Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Currently colouring: A yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!!!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Attack of the Seven Foot Bear on Skates

2009-10-23T21:08:00.010-05:00

Some day, I'm going to die.

I've long been aware of how fragile life can be, how unexpectedly any of us can pass from this life. And I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't occasionally spend a moment or two wondering how I will meet my fate.

Disease? Ladder accident? Something in my sleep?

That being said, never in my wildest dreams could I ever have imagined going out as Dmitry Potapov did.

Popatov, a Russian circus hand, was mauled by a bear.

A bear who was wearing ice skates.

I feel bad about admitting this, but there is no way I can picture this event in my mind without it playing out like a scene from a comedy movie. With all due respect to Comrade Potapov, that's one hank of a way to leave this earth.

Some of the articles I've read of the incident mention that Russia "has a long-standing tradition of training bears to perform tricks such as riding motorcycles, ice skating, and playing hockey."

PLAYING HOCKEY? REALLY?!

No wonder this bear attacked! What would you do if a bunch of bears, known among their kind as "Human trainers", captured you and forced you to scratch your back by rubbing against a tree, or made you eat honey all day?!?! I'd probably go postal too!

I'm reminded of an old Simpson's episode, from back when that show was actually good, where a character was watching a talk show hosted by Gentle Ben, a giant grizzly with a microphone taped to his head. The only clip I could find of the show was in another language (see below), but it begs the same question - who the heck thought this would be a wise idea?!?!

Currently playing: Linkin Park - New Divide
Currently colouring: A yet-to-be-solicited project from Dark Horse Comics!!!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Sony Headphones: The missing manual

2009-08-27T14:54:00.007-05:00

I bought a new pair of Sony earphones (MDR-E818LP) last week.

Thankfully, the packaging came with some helpful instructions. While this was an exceedingly helpful diagram, I was disappointed that there was no documentation helping users to couple their new headphone purchase to their corresponding MP3 player/Walkman/Discman (sold separately).

As a public service to others who were dismayed by Sony's lack of commitment to their customers, I've created the following to help you complete the headphone installation process.
Additional help can be found in my upcoming book, Earphones: The Missing Manual by O'Reilly Media! You'll find these, and 2 other helpful diagrams for the reasonable price of $39.99!

All kidding aside, was there just some empty space on the packaging that Sony decided to commission the first illustration above?

Was their technical support department being inundated by calls from people who couldn't figure out that ear phones are supposed to go in their EARS?

Was there been a sharp increase in accidental asphyxiation due to inappropriate headphone use?

If you need that diagram to figure out how to use earphones, I can't imagine you'd be able to operate the MP3 player/Walkman/Discman that you are trying to use it with.

Currently playing: The Commodores - Easy
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four vol. 12!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Digital Photography: Taking great group shots!

2009-08-26T19:39:00.008-05:00

A few weeks ago, I attended the wedding of an old friend from my University days.

It was great to hang out with a few old friends from that time in my life again. As you can expect, at the end of the night we all lined up for the obligatory group photo. A lot of times, pics like this end up seeming a bit stilted and forced. So how, you may ask, did we end up with this gem of a photo with everyone smiling, happy, and energized?
I handed off my camera to a gentleman who volunteered to take the photo. My friends and I made the obligatory happy smile and waited for the flash to go off.

We barely had a moment to let our guard down after the photo was taken, when we were met with a second flash. Then an even more unexpected third flash hit us.

It was a little awkward, and created a momentary bit of confusion. A fourth flash flew from the camera's bulb. None of us knew what to think!

There was nothing else for us to do but laugh as this stranger kept flashing. Twelve photos in all were taken in a span of 20 seconds, and his refusal to give any hint that the stream of flashes was going to end sent everyone into hysterics.

It was nothing short of brilliant. Below is an animated gif of the twelve photos snapped. The first 4 capture the awkward moment where no one knew what was going on. The next four captures some great laughing faces. And by the last four, sheer chaos has taken over.So my advice? If you're looking to take some great, natural group shots, just keep shooting. Refuse to stop, or even acknowledge that taking 12 photos in rapid succession is in any way out of the ordinary.

I'll guarantee you, one of those shots will be a complete success.

Currently playing: Alessi Brothers - Savin' The Day
Currently colouring: Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four vol. 12!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Try getting out of the house once in a while.

2009-08-07T16:38:00.003-05:00

First off, let me state that I don't "get" social networking oddity Twitter.

Facebook I understand. I get to stay in touch with family and old friends, share photos, comments, and actually communicate with another person. It's like email on steroids.

In contrast, Twitter is one way communication, limited to 140 letters or less. For the life of me, I can't see the appeal.

Well yesterday, Twitter was hit with a massive Denial of Service attack, making it unavailable for the 44 million worldwide users of the site.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that when a site I visit is down or not working, I feel a small pang of disappointment. We're so used to the internet giving us what we want IMMEDIATELY, that it's only natural to be a bit surprised when something isn't working. Any time I've been faced with a website out of commission, I simply move on, usually to do something else in the real world.

That's why the following CNN news report made me roll my eyes:

Twitter blackout left users feeling 'jittery,' 'naked'

If you experience the same Twitter withdrawal symptoms that heroin junkies experience after coming down from a high, it's time to get off your rear and get a real life. Quotes like the ones below make me embarrassed to be a part of the same species as the person saying them.
iReporter* David Seaman says "Twitter needs a competitor so users don't panic when it goes down".

Panic? If you are panicking because you are unable to view MC Hammer's tweets for a couple of hours, adding a separate service that accomplishes the same thing is only going to enable your addiction. Don't be 2 Legit 2 Quit, bro. Forget about what MC Hammer is doing and get some real friends. NOW.
In a statmement that is painfully sensitive towards parapalegics, Christina Cimino "says she felt 'naked' without Twitter. She compared the experience to having a phantom limb".

Ms. Cimino, if this is indeed true, skip the psychiatrist and go straight for the Zoloft. You're going to need chemical help to connect you back to reality! A search for Christina Cimino on google reveals that she may be a "23 year old gender bending performer and lesbian almost famous celeb", so I'm going to guess she just picked an over the top analogy to get her on the front page of cnn.com and push her into the "nearly almost famous celeb" catagory.

Sorry to go off like Oprah on a baked ham on this issue, but seriously people. It's the internet. It's a great way to spend a few hours, keeping in touch with family and friends. But if you're getting the shakes when you aren't near a computer, PLEASE get some help for yourself.

Currently playing: Take It From Me - Platinum Blonde
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

*As an aside, I'd say that "iReporter" is the stupidest use of the "i" prefix I've seen, but when I think about it, almost EVERY word prefaced with an "i" to give it hipness is pretty laughable.

Running on empty

2009-08-05T19:32:00.003-05:00

Just my luck. My 1995 Pontiac Firebird ran out of gas this morning.

On the plus side, I'd just dropped our 19 month old daughter at day care, so I should consider myself lucky that she wasn't stuck in this predicament with me. My day would have been pretty challenging if I'd had to try to lug a toddler around with me trying to find gas.

The bad thing? Check out the below map, courtesy of Google Maps. (Which is the best! True that! Double true!)
My car died at the spot labelled "A".

The gas station? The one institution that could possibly help me in this crisis? Well, that's labelled "B".

One hundred and fourteen feet away. (Thanks Google Maps!)

Sigh. I had to get an attendant from the Petro Canada gas station to help me get it across the busy intersection during morning rush hour before the light changed. It wasn't a lot of fun, but in hindsight it could have been a lot worse. I could have died a few kilometres away instead!

It just seems like a kick in the teeth from an iron boot to be so close to a gas station and run out of gas.

Currently playing: Running on empty - Jackson Browne
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

The most fun I've ever had at Bomber Stadium.

2009-07-29T15:21:00.007-05:00

Some days, I surprise even myself.

Today on my lunch break, I stopped in at the office of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football club to drop something off for someone. I guess the Bombers were having a practice or something, as there was about 15-20 teenagers hanging out around the front doors, waiting to catch a glimpse of the players.

As my business concluded, I left the building to see a 6'18" TANK of a man finish signing a football. The teens who got their football signed turned and watched the human tank drive away in his Hummer, and swiveled back to the Bombers office entrance, JUST as I was exiting.

Now, at 5'10" tall, I'm barely physically qualified to be the team's water boy, so there was an awkward 1/1000th of a second where the kids sized me up, trying to figure out which Bomber I was.

Before anyone had a chance to think, their fat marker was in my hand. I cockily pulled the cap off with my teeth, and let it hang on my lips while I grabbed the football out of the kid's hand and signed my name to it in a confident, exaggerated motion.

Their excitement was palpable! Another (assumed) famous athlete was signing their ball!

Noticing that I was autographing stuff, another group of teens began to advance as I finished marking the first football with my name. Now, I'm not stupid. At some moment, a whole gang of gigantic, muscled football players who are fully aware that their teammates don't look like me were about to come out the same doors I did and sack me. Needing a quick exit, I raised my hands up to block them and quietly muttered, "Not today, boys".

And in a flash, I was gone.

With all due respect to the action on the field, that was probably the most fun I'd ever had at Bomber Stadium!
Currently playing: The Joker - The Steve Miller Band
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Battling another addiction

2009-07-07T21:33:00.005-05:00

If you've been reading this blog long enough, you'll be aware that I've been Cola free since April 2006.

I used to consume over 2 litres of pop a day!

Well, on December 5th, 2006 I went from out of the frying pan, and into... another frying pan. After attending an awesome Guns N' Roses concert that went on until 3AM, I started drinking coffee. I needed it to get through the work day!

Shortly afterwards, my wife Cat and I got pregnant, and I was up all hours of the night getting our nest ready for our new arrival, which meant even more coffee.

Pop quiz! After baby showed up, my coffee consumption:
a. increased
b. decreased

If you chose b, you obviously don't have children. Quit reading and go get all the sleep you can NOW!

Well, 4 weeks ago, I decided to make a few changes in my life and started eating healthy. And with the amount of cream I usually put in my coffee, I decided to pull a Dave Coulier and "Cut. It. OUT!".

At first, the caffeine withdrawal was terrible. I was pretty moody. But by day three, I'd felt better than I had in a long time!

I'm still not sure I'm going to keep up with this coffee boycott. I'm sure I'll need to rely on it's powers in the future. At some point, Cat and I hope to give our daughter a brother or sister. In a few months, our daughter is going to hit the terrible twos and start getting up in the middle of the night. Fifteen years from now, she's going to go on a date with a guy to go see Guns 'N Roses at McPhillips Street Station Casino until 3AM, and I'm going to be up waiting for him to bring her home.

On second thought, maybe I'm done with the coffee. Bring on the vodka!!!

Currently playing: Blue Rodeo - Time
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Old friends

2009-07-04T22:03:00.004-05:00

I got to spend the day with my two oldest friends today.

From left to right, Danny Steffler, Robin Kowal, and myself.
I've known these guys for nearly three decades, Danny since Kindergarten, and Robin since pre-school. It's great to be able to keep friends for that long!

The visit was also special as it was the first time some of our children were gathered in the same place! My darling daughter is on the far right!
Currently playing: Commuter Music - Young Hearts
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T09:50:00.009-05:00

I was at the corner of Sgt. Tommy Prince and Manitoba Avenue in Winnipeg when I heard the news.

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, had passed.

Moments later, my wife Cat and I headed into Polo Park, where a complete stranger stopped us and said, "Have you heard the news?". I awkwardly nodded yes, confused that an icon from my youth had passed, and bewildered that his death was affecting others as well. His music was on the speakers of some stores in the mall, and it was the topic of conversation of several bystanders.

Michael Jackson now shares a spot with JFK and 9/11 in the "Where were you when..." file.

News of his death broke the internet in half.

It's truly unfortunate. In the 1980's, Jackson ruled the music scene. Thriller. Motown 25. We Are The World. Bad. In my opinion, his eccentric personality and lack of output over the last 15 years has caused him to lose his crown, but he was set to reintroduce himself to the world with a 50 date tour this summer.

I would have loved to have seen Michael Jackson reign once again.

In a way, I find it horribly depressing that the same media that once capitalized on Michael Jackson troubles during his life is now praising him in his death.

Where was all this love when he was alive?

Well, to give the media some slack, I suppose it is tough to glorify accused child molesters, for fear that more accusations will pop up in the future.

It's not a popular opinion, but I've long believed that Michael Jackson was a victim of a witch hunt.

We have to take seriously any suggestions of child abuse. But conversely, the possibility that Michael Jackson was made a target because he had mountains of money to exploit, and an impossibly naive, bizarre, eccentric, and just plain weird personality has to be considered.

It's a recipe that people who thrive on litigious exploitation salivate over! All you need to do is say Michael Jackson did something inappropriate, and people will believe it!

I think Michael Jackson was innocent!

Currently playing: Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

A dream come true!

2009-05-13T16:54:00.001-05:00

Today is a day I'll remember for the rest of my life.

I've been colouring comic books for just over a decade now. It's a huge thrill for me to be able to work on books that come out in print and sell thousands of copies every year! (The last book I worked sold over 3,000 copies in the first month!).

Perhaps I set my sights too low, but I've been very blessed in life to have achieved most every goal I've really set my mind on. Convincing Cat to marry me. Learning a musical instrument. Playing in a band. Recording two full length CDs. And seeing my name in the credits of a comic book. Here's a scan from Chronicles of Conan vol 17, published by Dark Horse Comics!
I'm credited right next to Jim Shooter, nonetheless!

Anyone who knew me as a young boy knew I was a Marvel Zombie. So as awesome as Dark Horse's Conan series is, I've held a longstanding dream to see my name in print in a book from Marvel Comics. While I have worked on projects for Marvel for the last 5 years, my work is usually credited to the company name of the collective of talented colourists I work with - the way it should be!

Well, today, Marvel released a beautiful, 1168 page hardcover tome collecting Secret Wars II - a Limited Series that I became obsessed with as a 10 year old boy that sparked my love for comics. It holds a special place in my heart, and to this day I can pick up an issue of this series and I'm instantly back in the summer of 1985. I had some friends and colleagues go to bat for me to see if I could participate in the colour reconstruction, but alas it wasn't to be.

Thankfully, I had 'invested' in some original art from the series over the years, and Marvel found room to reproduce them in this collected edition. So guess what happens to appear on the credits page?

My name!

My most sincere thanks to Wil Glass, Cory Sedlmeier, and Mark Beazley for playing a role in making this happen!

Today is a day I'll remember for the rest of my life. My name, in a Marvel book. Scratch that... my name, in the DEFINITIVE hardcover collection of my FAVOURITE Marvel series!

The ten year old inside of me is giddy with delight!

Currently playing: Stan Bush - Dare
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Death Row Inmates Final Meals

2009-05-12T15:26:00.005-05:00

I recently came across this bizarre webpage outlining the final meal requests of death row inmates. The prisoner at the top of the page ate the following:

Two bacon double cheeseburgers
French fries
onion rings
ketchup
cole slaw
two diet Cokes
one quart of milk
one pint of rocky road ice cream
one pint of fried okra
salad dressing
tomato
onion

Why choose DIET cola when, a) you're already eating a fatty bacon double cheeseburger and french fries, and b) maintaining a calorie reduced diet really isn't going to matter to you in a few hours!?

Let's be honest - no one ENJOYS diet cola! Why not treat yourself if you've been behind bars for the last 2 decades of your life?

It's very strange choice, but I suppose I could understand. I haven't touched a drop of cola in over three years, and if I knew I was going to pass on tomorrow, I still don't think I could bring myself to let it touch my lips again.

Currently playing: Paul Brandt - Leavin'
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Mike Kowal

2009-05-04T21:19:00.013-05:00

Pop Goes The World.

Every time I hear that song by Men Without Hats, I think of a cold winter day in 1987. My best friend, Robin Kowal and I spent the afternoon running around the upstairs of his Brown Avenue home, being chased by his dog Odie. The dog had a serious case of ADHD, and we ended up getting the dog pretty excited.

Robin's brother, Mike, who was around 17 at the time, had no patience for the tomfoolery of 12 year old children, and came upstairs hollering at us for disturbing his peace. He took off after Robin, and I hid under a desk in another room. Pop Goes The World was on the radio, and listening to it took my mind off of the verbal thrashing Mike was dispensing on Robin.

Without warning, the door to the room that served as my hiding place flew open. Mike grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and threw me out the front door of their house, the sound of the slamming door coincided with my rear hitting the ground. A split second later, the door opened again, and I watched as Mike's hand threw my jacket at my giggling face.

Mike moved away to University the next year, so from that point on, I'd always felt like his little brother's annoying friend around him. He never made me feel that way, but after provoking his anger that afternoon, I was always a little afraid of seeing the full wrath of his fury.

About 7 or 8 years later, I too was in University, during a particularly tumultuous time in my life. I was watching a band called the See Monkeys at the University Center, and lo and behold, Mike Kowal was the band's guitarist!

Despite having never mended the fence after the Pop Goes The World incident, I walked up to him after the show, reintroduced myself, and told him how much I enjoyed the show. Fully expecting to be brushed off as if I was the same annoying 12 year old pest from 1987, I braced myself for the worst. I was instead shocked to find myself carrying on a conversation with my alleged adversary about music, his gear (I was learning the drums at that point in my life!) and life in a band. I guess he didn't hate me after all!

Although I'll admit, I did flinch at the end of the conversation, when Mike extended his hand to shake mine in farewell. The man I was once so afraid of turned out to be a really good guy to talk with!

Mike Kowal passed away last week, after a decade-and-a-half long battle with Cancer. He more than earned his rest after a long and courageous battle. Cancer picked a tenacious dance partner in Michael, and he rose to the challenge, putting up a tremendous fight. I know his endurance and steadfast refusal to back down will always be an inspiration to me.

I just wanted to pay tribute by sharing two of my favourite memories of Michael, my best friend's brother, who unknowingly played a huge influence in my musical tastes. He was quite a few years older than me, so we weren't great acquaintances or friends, but through him and his record collection in the basement that I wasn't allowed to touch but did anyway, I was introduced to a large number of bands and artists that continue to influence my musical tastes today.

And knowing Michael's musical integrity, I think he'd cringe at being mentioned in the same sentence as the Men Without Hats. I'm sorry, Michael, and I'll apologize in person when I reach the other side!

Currently playing: Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

1990-91 Upper Deck NHL Cards

2009-05-02T22:39:00.001-05:00

Like millions of other teenagers, I too got hooked on the hockey card craze of the early 1990s. Hearing news that the price of Wayne Gretzky rookie cards were skyrocketing, my fellow teens rushed in droves in hopes of striking it rich.

I knew of one father who treated the cards as an investment in his son's future, and spoke seriously of how they would pay for his son's way through University. The rest of us were slightly more grounded in reality, but were still overly protective of our tiny cards of paper, because you really never knew if a card was going to be "the one".

The truth is that there was no way in hell ANY of these cards were going to be worth a dime. In a simple case of supply and demand, the market was completely flooded with hockey cards. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that during this boom, there were enough hockey cards printed to supply every man, woman, child and pet in North America with 4 complete sets of each of the main card lines.

Hockey cards were as plentiful as grains of sand. In my home town of Dauphin alone, I can think of FOUR hockey card shops that sprung up overnight. For a town of only 9,000 there were more hockey card stores per capita than there were men's clothing stores, clinics, and arcades!

The bonus of having such a huge stock of cards is that almost a decade after they were released, unopened packs can still be found. This week I noticed Toys R Us had unopened packs of early '90s Score, ProSet, and Parkhurst cards for sale.

Even better, PharmaPlus was selling unopened packs of the very first series of Upper Deck NHL cards. Just holding the matte finish foil pack in my mitts again brought back a huge wave of nostalgia, and a slight sheen of sweat on my palms.

I opened it slowly, savouring the sound of tearing foil, curious as to which players of old would be contained in the pack. Lo and behold, the NHL logo peering out at me after being sealed away for 19 years, was that of my beloved Winnipeg Jets.
The pack contained not one, but TWO Jets players! Brent Ashton and Paul Fenton! How sweet was that!
Having studied every card in this set when it first came out, it was a real blast experience facts and details brought out of the closets of my memory by the sight of these photos. Once again, the knowledge that Toronto Maple Leaf Lou Franceschetti was actually BORN in Toronto! Bill Ranford won the Conn Smyth Trophy as Playoff MVP. Brad Shaw had played his entire career (to that point) for the Hartford Whalers. And Michal Pivonka had obviously made some enemies for the Upper Deck staff to choose such an unphotogenic mugshot for his card (see right).

The following cards were included in my pack:
#80 - Michal Pivonka, Washington Capitals
#90 - Brad Shaw - Hartford Whalers
#92 - Paul Fenton, Winnipeg Jets
#102 - Wendell Young, Pittsburgh Penguins
#200 - Checklist, #101-200
#201 - Conn Smythe Trophy, Bill Ranford
#220 - Brent Ashton, Winnipeg Jets
#242 - Steve Larmer, Chicago Blackhawks
#328 - Rich Sutter, St. Louis Blues
#347 - Rod Brind'amour, St. Louis Blues, All Rookie Team
#375 - Paul Ysebaert, New Jersey Devils
#396 - Lou Franceschetti, Toronto Maple Leafs

They're all for sale if you need any of them to complete your collection. Paul Fenton and Brent Ashton excluded, of course.

Currently playing: Colin James - Cadillac Baby
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Scientists spot oldest ever object in universe

2009-04-29T15:06:00.002-05:00

In reality, scientists spotted the aftermath of an dying star, which exploded 600 million years after the universe was formed.

That beat out the previous oldest object in the universe by 200 million years, which was probably Larry King.

Currently playing: Rolling Stones - Don't Stop
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Airforce One skims Downtown NYC near Ground Zero

2009-04-28T11:55:00.010-05:00

Hey, I've got an idea!

Over 100 children are abducted every year by strangers. I can only imagine how terrifying it must be for a child to have been abducted or kidnapped from their school or home by a complete stranger. Why not bring some joy back into their lives by putting on a carnival with a bunch of fair rides for them to go on! And to add to the element of surprise, let's send a bunch of strangers (claiming to be friends of their parents, of course) to sneak into their homes, or intercept them on the way home from school, or at shopping mall restrooms to grab them, and bring them to the event!

One can only imagine the excitement on those kids' faces when the burlap sack is pulled off their heads and they get to see the tilt-a-whirl, candy apples and ball tossing games!

Okay, I'm obviously being facetious here. Anyone with the capability to think would know right away that this is an idea so insensitive that it borders on ridiculous.

With that knowledge, one can assume that White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera is a complete idiot.

Caldera approved a flyover of Air Force One over lower Manhattan yesterday for the express purpose of having it photographed with the the Statue of Liberty in the background. Since announcing to the public that Air Force One would be flying so low over Manhattan at a certain time could invite radicals to attack the jet, this event was kept secret.

But let's think here - what happened the LAST time a giant airliner skimmed the Manhattan skyline? Caldera seems to have forgotten, but the people of New York City didn't!

The following YouTube video captures the frightened public's reaction.

How could one fail to think this through and realize this was as bad an idea as my hypothetical "kidnapping previously kidnapped children for a carnival" stunt? The last time a jet skimmed the Manhattan skyline followed by an F-16, 13.4 million square feet of real estate was destroyed and 3,000 people lost their lives.

Why would you do this to those poor people?

And all this for a photo shoot?

Hey, Caldera! Adobe Photoshop will run you $699. Stock photos of the Statue of Liberty and Air Force one are cheap! How much did it cost you to fly Air Force One and an F-16 over New York?
Currently playing: Lee Aaron - Only Human
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Chronicles of Conan

2009-04-16T13:39:00.005-05:00

I haven't had a chance to blog in the last little while, as April finds me in the thick of a May 1st colouring deadline!

A few months ago, I was working on Dark Horse's Chronicles of Conan volume 17: The Creation Quest, which came out last week. It's chock full of fantastic Gil Kane artwork, so click the link and buy a copy now!

Reaction to this series has been mixed, as the team of colourists I work with use a more modern colouring treatment rather than reproduce the colours as the would have originally appeared in the comics. That being said, I found a positive review online last week! Sure, our work is only referenced in one sentence ("And the colors look fantastic in this collection!"), but good press is better than none at all!

Also on the comics front, I had the opportunity a few months ago to make a very small contribution to a huge reprint project from Marvel that I hold very close to my heart. There's a chance that this contribution won't make the final print, so I'll hold off on announcing it until I can confirm with my own eyes that it made it in to the finished book, but needless to say, the ten year old inside of me is VERY excited about this!

Currently playing: Pete Townshend - Slit Skirts
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

The Museum of Bad Art

2009-04-01T17:49:00.000-05:00

I've recently become obsessed with the Museum of Bad Art. Located in Massachusetts, the museum was founded in 1994 by antique dealer Scott Wilson after finding the now treasured painting Lucy in the Field with Flowers in a trash bin.

The Museum's motto is "Art too bad to be ignored", and new additions to the collection have to meet some pretty strict requirements. Museum curator Michael Frank defines their inclusion philosophy as follows: "We collect things made in earnest, where people attempted to make art and something went wrong, either in the execution or in the original premise".

In other words, poor children's drawings, or deliberate attempts at kitsch or camp are ineligible.

I'd like to highlight a few of my favourite pieces in this fantastic collection!

Lucy In the Field With Flowers
Oil on canvas by Unknown
24" x 30"
Acquired from trash in Boston

The painting found in the trash that started it all! The Mona Lisa of the MOBA collection!

The subject's granddaughter, Susan Lawlor, revealed the painting's origin to the museum (from the MOBA website):

Anna Lally Keane lived with her daughter Eileen (Ms. Lawlor's aunt) for much of her adult life. Anna Keane died in her 70's sometime around 1968. A year or two later, Ms Lawlor's mother dug out two photos of Anna Lally Keane and sent them to an artist, and commisioned a painting. The painting was to be a present to her sister Eileen.

Ms. Lawlor told us of the day that the painting arrived wrapped in paper. Everyone gathered around to watch as the paper was torn off, the thirteen year old Susan bit her lip to keep from gasping.

It was a wonderfully accurate likeness of her grandmother's face in an oddly postured and formed body against a bizarre, surreal background.

A "gorgeous mistake... an elderly woman dancing in a lush spring field, sagging breasts flopping willy-nilly, as she inexplicably seems to hold a red chair to her behind with one hand and a clutch of daisies in the other".
Kate Swoger, The Montreal Gazette

"...the old woman with an armchair glued to her ass".
Cash Peters, Travel Writer

Sunday on the Pot with George
Acrylic on canvas by Unknown
22" x 37"
Donated by Jim Schulman

"Can the swirling steam melt away the huge weight of George's corporate responsibilities? This pointillist piece is curious for meticulous attention to fine detail, such as the stitching around the edge of the towel, in contrast to the almost careless disregard for the subject's feet".
Michael Frank and Louise Reilly Sacco - The Museum of Bad Art - Masterworks

Ronan the Pug
Acrylic on Canvas Board by Erin Rothgeb
18" x 24"

"The artist's affection for her dog far outstrips her artistic skill. Paint is slapped on the canvas with random brushstrokes, creating matted, impossible fur. Done in such a hurry that canine anatomy was not even considered, the artist still captures Ronan's playful sweetness".
Michael Frank and Louise Reilly Sacco - The Museum of Bad Art - Masterworks

See Battle
"We don't need binoculars to predict which dreadnought will be victorious in this nautical fray. The MOBA curatorial staff has determined that the object below the ship at right is, in fact, a ladybug on the window just in front of the binoculars".
Michael Frank and Louise Reilly Sacco - The Museum of Bad Art - Masterworks

Currently playing: Heart - Alone
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my third Cola free year!

Earth Hour

2009-03-28T12:32:00.006-05:00

Tonight will mark the second year in a row that I've participated in "Earth Hour" - an event where participants across the globe will turn off their lights and consume the least amount of electricity possible. All this is done to "cast a vote for the Earth", whatever that means.

I recycle. I reuse. I reduce. I outfitted our home with CFL bulbs. I compost. But to be honest, I'm not doing it to cast a vote, or to save the earth, or to prevent climate change. I just do it because using as little as possible seems like the right thing to do.

In other words, I'm under no illusion that turning the lights off for an hour is going to make a huge difference. It might, but how the heck am I going to know? I can't prove any of it. Even after watching Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, I can't really be convinced. Science proves that we're affecting the world's climate, but science has proven lots of things over time, including that the Earth was the Center of the Universe.

Even the Theory of Relativity can't be trusted anymore.

I'm not saying the science is wrong, but how am I to know that it's right other than blind faith and trust?

I jokingly suspect that Gore and David Suzuki just bought stock in energy efficient light bulbs and want their stocks to grow a bit before they retire.

Still, using less energy, not littering, reducing our waste, and re-energizing our soil with compost just seems like common sense. So I'm going to keep doing it, and I encourage you to join me!

At the very least, turning your lights off for an hour is going to save you some money! And trust me - the savings do add up!

Currently playing: The Box - Carry On
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my third Cola free year!