Jo Chen Gives Life to Vampires

Jo Chen's covers for the Buffy Season 8 comics have been some of the best in the series. They are warm, rich, detailed and textured. She uses light extremely well, and it is always appropriate for every subject and subject matter. The characters she paints have weight, body, movement and life. One of my favorite paintings she has done for Buffy was the one on the third issue of the series seen here.


Her work is just shy of photo-realistic, stylized enough to be suitable for a comic book cover, but worthy of framing as art in its own right-of course, there is a plethora of fantastic comic book art out there that I would and have put on my wall. Chen's latest piece is not for Buffy Season 8 but for an upcoming Tales of the Vampire one-shot, written by Becky Cloonan and Vasilis Lolos. Five years ago, there was a 12-issue Tales of the Vampires series written by Whedon himself and several other Buffy scribes including Jane Espenson and Drew Goddard. Amber Benson wrote a story for another Buffyverse collection, Tales of the Slayers. Each series, now collected in trade paperbacks, takes a vampire or slayer from the 'verse timeline and centers a story around that given character while connecting it to a larger narrative.

Jo Chen's stunning cover for the new Tales of the Vampire story followed by a brief plot description from Dark Horse's press release:

In a small town in Massachusetts, a young man named Jacob goes about his day as usual-wakes early, eats breakfast with his mom, and heads to school. He's a hard worker and a reliable friend to Alexia, an athletic and headstrong young woman. But at night Jacob likes to cut loose at the local arcade, where he's befriended a reckless gang of vampires who enjoy drinking his blood. Jacob craves the high and the easy escape from the monotony of his life that this "bloodletting" provides. Enter the mysterious and sultry May, who can help Jacob leave those high-school days behind-that is, if Alexia doesn't stop her first.

Blood and pomegranates. Always a good combination in my book. Tales of the Vampire comes out on June 3rd.

Welcome to my Blogroll

After reading his review of Watchmen, noting the presence of a C.S. Lewis quote in the sidebar and coming across a post entitled "Ewoks: A Hunter's Guide", I immediately included a link to Electronic Cerebrectomy: Notes on Pop Culture at the End of Western Civilization in my list of favorite blogs. Check it out if for nothing else other than some witty-sometimes odd-pop culture commentary and the aforementioned list chronicling the blogger's greatest Ewok slayings which include our friendly but "rather rash" Wicket below. A fair warning, some images on his blog as a whole are unfortunately not safe for work-but the links included here are clean.


Wicket Wystri Warrick (aka Buckskin Jack, aca Chupacabra)
He may look cute, but don't let the looks deceive you. Too many have. He played an integral role in the death of Cindel Towani, a little girl who lost her family in the woods and was taken in by Wicket and his family of human-eating sickos. Inspired by the Ed Gein murders, the Warrick family liked to make clothing from the skin of their victims. Wicket was the first of many ewoks I've been forced to slay in the name of safety and in conjunction with the US Parks Department.

This is ATilla...

...someone's new family pet. See more here.

Of Dexter

When I came back from New Mexico and my short but remarkable trip to New York City, I had the first disc of the first season of Dexter waiting for me in my mail-(I am caught up on Weeds on DVD which has been fantastic and exactly what I wanted it to be).

I had read some time prior that Dexter is considered a sympathetic serial killer, but I don't think I've gotten to that emotional crux on my part. A few episodes in, I feel more numb than anything else and that could be exactly what the show is trying to do at the beginning, numb you, then slowly prick you until you start to regain feeling-albeit in a different manner. If there is one character I am most sympathetic for at this point, it is Julie Benz as Dexter's girlfriend-if you can call her that-of whom, in the pilot episode, Dexter says is

"the right woman for me. Deb saved her life on a domestic dispute call, introduced us and we've been dating for six months now. It's perfect because Rita, is, in her own way, as damaged as me."

Synder's Golden Rules

In honor of the premiere of Watchmen, today (or last night depending if you went to a midnight screening)-I have my tickets for 8:00PM this evening!-I thought I'd post Director Zack Snyder's "Golden Rules" of filmmaking that he recently gave in an online article earlier this week.

1. There are No Rules.
Every job, every story, every shot is different. And each time you do it, it’s like doing it for the first time

2. The Will to Suffer.
This is a phrase I got from my friend Marc Twight. He used it in reference to mountain climbing, saying that the person who can endure the most pain will be the one who succeeds in the end. That applies to moviemaking as well.

3. Your Point of View.
It’s the thing that is not right, not wrong. It’s the thing that can’t be put into a technical box. It’s the tone and texture of a story. It’s the individual way of looking at things that makes us different. It’s why we go to the movies.

4. Storyboard.
Storyboards are not for everyone. As a matter of fact, I think some movies would be seriously damaged by the storyboarding process. But for me, it is how I make a movie; it is how I structure a scene. It’s not a shot list, it is an edited sequence. And although it can all change later, it is a good place to start.

5. Movies are Pictures.
For me, visual style has the same importance as story, as character and as the environment. In the end, a movie is a series of pictures and I try to be aware of that at all times.

6. Respect.
Respect the material, respect the process, respect the audience and, most of all, respect the countless incredible people who work their asses off helping you to bring your vision to the screen. Everyone has immeasurable value when it comes to making a movie, so never take it for granted.

7. Throw things.
Not at people, just for fun. On the set this means: Football, tennis ball, rock, ball of tape—basically any object, it doesn’t matter. Then throw: To a person, at an orange cone, into a distant trash can… again, doesn’t matter. At least for me, any version of throwing shit makes even the shortest break relaxing.

8. I Still Shoot Film.
I always shoot film, then move into the digital pipeline. I’ll be the first to admit that the future of moviemaking will be led by advances in digital technology. But the reality is there is just something about film that digital cameras still can’t replicate. Call me a purist, but it’s just how I feel.

9. Passion.
It is almost impossible to duplicate your original passion for a project late in the process. But if you can recall the feeling of that original spark of excitement, you’ll be able to keep your creative ferocity throughout the long haul.

10. Shoot Every Shot.
It goes back to what I was saying about point of view. This is not to say that a second unit director wouldn’t shoot it better, but doing it yourself keeps the tone consistent.

Via MovieMaker.

And if you missed it, check out my previous post on Writing with Whedon 101.

Go see Watchmen this weekend, then pick up the book, then watch it again next week and then watch the 3 hour 20 minute Director's Cut in July!

Redesigns

I am always interested in the repurposing and reimagining of cultural artifacts, so I was thrilled to see the following graphic designs for the covers of all seven Harry Potter novels done in the style of Penguin Classics. I like the way these pieces and those after the link from another artist remain literal, yet are somehow more evocative and poignant than the original drawings and designs made for each artistic work. These images generate a greater sense of intrigue about the material contained in the media they represent.



The rest of M.S. Corley's redesigns for the Harry Potter books, those for His Dark Materials trilogy, The Spiderwick Chronicles and yes, Pac-Man, can be found on his blog.

Also, check out another retro-infused project that I came across a few months ago by Olly Moss,Eight Films in Black and Red. I am quite fond of the mock poster for The Last Crusade and The Dark Knight, which recalls the excellent animated series during the 90s.

SWTX PCA/ACA Panels

4 days from Wednesday through Saturday, 100s of people, a handful of concurrent panel sessions from 8:00am-7:00pm every day, new ideas, countless conversations and good company. A bunch of scholars, teachers, professors and general academics sharing their work and investment in popular culture, gathered together under one roof in the middle of the desert. It was an amazing experience-one that is a little hard to believe actually happened!

Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Culture I
Across the Harry Potter Universe

Science Fiction and Fantasy III
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and the Whedonverse

Science Fiction and Fantasy IV
“Feel Good Imperialism:” Gender, Race, and Colonialism in Star Trek

Experimental Writing and Aesthetics I
Extratextual: The Alchemy of Interdisciplinary Writings

Science Fiction and Fantasy V*
Philosophy and Religion in the Whedonverse

*This panel included our own presentation entitled: “Not Very Christian of Me”: The Escapist Faith of a Lost Shepherd in Joss Whedon’s Firefly

Religion I
Crossing Boundaries
Evangelicals and the Mass Media, The Genesis of Religion in Speculative Fiction, Jack Miles and Futurama, The Gospel According to Monty Python

Chick Lit. I
Chick Lit. I
Rowling vs. Meyer: Taking a Bite (or Two) Out of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series
Gender and Consumerism in Indian Chick Lit

Science Fiction and Fantasy IX
Metaphorical Mythology in the Whedonverse

Film Adaptation V
A Novelist’s Perspective on Literature-to-Film Adaptations

Science Fiction and Fantasy X
Film
Christian Metaphors and Superman, Terminators and Time Machines, Passing Anxieties in 1950s Science Fiction

Myth and Fairy Tale VII
Subversions of Juvenile Narrative, Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth in Alice and Coraline, Neo-Metaphysics, Role Reversal in Greek and Christian Mythology

Science Fiction and Fantasy
Double Feature: Once More with Feeling and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Graphic Novels, Comics and Popular Culture VI
Power of Names in Superhero Comics, A Taxonomy of Graphic Sex, Grand Narrative and Narratives in Watchmen

Myth and Fairy Tale VIII
Intergenic Translation in Disney’s Animated Classics, Rebel Traditions in Pan’s Labyrinth, Sexual (R)evolution of “Little Red Riding Hood” in Film

Science Fiction and Fantasy XIII
Maturity and Sexuality in the Whedonverse