THE INTELLIGENT MONSTER

Help us spread the gruesome gospel of The Holy Terror

2011-06-17T20:19:00.001-07:00

Let's start out by thanking everyone that has supported The Holy Terror since its release; to everyone who has bought the 1st issue, much thanks. We especially appreciate the boys at http://www.cupokryptonite.com/ for all their support and for carrying the book (if you're in the Des Moines area stop by for an awesome cup of joe and browse their awesome selection of comics!) A heart-felt shout-out as well to the swell guys at the http://www.burntweiners.com/ and http://talesfromtheparentsbasement.com/ podcasts for the great things they've said about the book.
As the release of The Holy Terror #2 fast approaches we need your help getting the word out; recommend the book to your friends, talk it up the next time you go to the comic shop and bug your retailer to carry it. Gives us a shout-out the next time you log into a comics/wrestling/horror message board. E-mail your favorite podcasts and tell them to get in touch with us. Anything you can do to help spread the word about The Holy Terror would be greatly appreciated!

Tales from the Parent's Basement reviews The Holy Terror

2011-05-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Tune in this week to the Tales from the Parents' Basement podcast, where the boys review the first issue of The Holy Terror! Tales is one of the finest comics podcasts going, featuring insightful reviews and compelling interviews with some of the most exciting creators in comics today, including Ben Templesmith, Skottie Young, Guy Davis, Jamie S. Rich, and even Holy Terror co-creator Phil Hester!

The new episode where The Holy Terror is discussed should be available by the end of the week, but until then go check out past episodes of the show HERE!

Unearthed treasures from the discount bins

2011-04-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend me and my buddy Nate drove out to a small local comic book show to browse through the cheap bins to see what we could find.In these days where new stuff runs $4.00 a pop its fun to be able to spend 10 bucks and come away with a sack of old comics.

I don't come to these things with a check-list and a burning desire to complete a full-run on a particular title. I'm probably similar to a casual reader back in the day; I'll pick something up if the cover or subject matter appeals to me, but I'm not going to lose any sleep if I miss an issue or two or if its in less than perfect condition. All I'm looking for is to be entertained with a good story ("good" being a subjective term here) so as long as its cheap and appeals to my weird sensibilities I'm in!

Here are some of the crown jewels of my haul this weekend;

I've been picking up issues of Master of Kung Fu for a while now and found a ton of them at the show. Like Marvel's horror-comics of the 1970's it was one of those books that crossed over with the rest of the Marvel Universe from time to time but mostly just stayed in the corner and did its own thing. Lots of cool art in these by Paul Gulacy, Gene Day and Mick Zeck. Even if it was part of some multi-part saga every issue of MOKF was a complete read on its own; too bad modern Marvels couldn't be like that more often.

I barely remember The Man from Atlantis TV show. I was 7 or 8 when it was on so I'm sure I would have been all over it but it wasn't around long enough to make much of an impression and was one of the licenses Marvel bought the rights to that didn't pan out. The comic only ran for 7 issues and I got 4 of them at the show. They've got some nice Frank Robbins art in them so if I like it I might pick up the other 3 if I run across them.

This was probably the "newest" comic I bought and its almost 20 years old! I remember kinda liking this mini-line of horror comics Marvel put out in the 1990s but not enough to be a regular reader.

I can't come away from a quarter-box without at least a couple of Charlton Horror comics. There is usually at least one story drawn by Steve Ditko, Pat Boyette, or Don Newton in them so I know I can't lose.

I haven't read this yet so I have absolutely no idea what its about or if its any good. All I know if I've seen this cover about 1000 times so I had to pick it up.

I was a big DC war-comics fan growing up, but I never remember ever seeing a Sgt Fury on the stands. I've been picking them up lately and kinda dig them. They have the same vibe as 60's WW2 action movies like The Great Escape and The Dirty Dozen had so they are always worth a look. Its probably comicbook blasphemy for me to say this, but Sgt Fury was one of the Marvel books of the era that got BETTER once Stan and Jack were off of it.

Of everything I got this weekend these 2 were probably the biggest "finds", since I am on a quest to get everything Atlas published during its short life-span in the 70s. I don't think any of their books went past 3 issues and for the era they remain fairly cheap to pick up. Its kinda too bad they couldn't have made it since a lot of the stuff they came up with was pretty cool. I'd love it if someone could put out a Marvel Essentials-style collection of all of them!

Weird Bio Comics

2011-02-22T04:31:00.000-08:00

It seems bio comic books are big business; name any celebrity these days and chances are there is "tell-all" comic about them (I'm looking at you Bluewater) but this isn't a new thing:

So don't lose faith, kids! I'm sure Ted (golden-throated homeless guy) John & Kate Goesslin, and that guy who turned blue eating silver will be showing up at the funny-book store wedged in between Dark Secret Crisis War Identity Reign and Rise of Civil Invasion sooner or later.

Go check out the new Holy Terror blog!

2011-01-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

    I started a sister blog to The Intelligent Monster to promote the release of The Holy Terror, the cult classic horror-wrestling comic book written by me and artist Phil Hester, published by Comicfix! You can check it out over here
    I still be posting here though, so please stop back by!

   Jason

More kick-ass covers

2010-12-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

Remember the Jimmy Olsen cover from my last post? This time around its Jimmy's chance to turn the tables on the Man of Steel. What would have been the WORST thing middle-aged editor Mort Weisinger could imagine Jimmy turning into? A damn, dirty hippy, of course!

This cover blew my mind when I first saw it as a kid and inspired approximately 2,567 shitty drawings on notebook paper when I was in the 5th grade.

I hated, hated, HATED Harley Race as a kid! He was the meanest, dirtiest wrestler and always seemed to get the upper hand against his opponents. When I rediscovered professional wrestling years later I came to appreciate how great a heel he was and now he's among one of my all-time favorite 'rasslers. Legend has it behind the scenes Harley was the toughest guy around and a real bad-ass. My favorite story about Harley is about the time in the late-70's he was wrestling a luchadore in Mexico who was cashing in on the Star Wars craze by working a C-P30 gimmick. The guy was no-selling Harley's blows left and right. After a few stiff shots from the guy Harley had had enough and of course beat the living shit out of the guy. When he returned to the dressing room Harley found himself the only gringo in the place. All eyes were on him as he began to change into his street clothes. As he was getting dressed Harley grabbed a beer bottle, smacked it against the bench he was sitting on, and kept the jagged neck bottle next to him as he calmly tied his shoes. No one messed with him.

EDITOR; "I'm not sure that having The Blackhawks fighting a caveman is such a good idea for this issue." WRITER; "How about having the caveman wear skis?" E; "Hmm, I'm not so sure.." W; "and the skis have rockets that make the caveman fly!" E; "SOLD!"


Women in peril were a staple of men's adventure magazine covers in the 50's and 60's, especially with Nazis as the tormentors. Kudos to whoever gave the scene a real twist by adding the baboons, the Nazis of the animal kingdom.

Covers that Kick Ass and Chew Bubble Gum; 1st in a series

2010-12-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for a great cover.


In my opinion Joe Kubert was the greatest comic book cover artist ever. His covers were always full of drama. As a kid there was many a time I came away with a comic book because Kubert's cover hooked me in. It was Kubert's covers on the DC war books that hooked me on them as a kid. Its amazing that he's in his 80's now yet is still better than most artists in comics today.

In some circles Marvel Comics were considered superior to DC Comics during the 1960's. It's a compelling argument, but there is no denying that back in the 1960's DC Comics knew how to come up with a cover that would prompt readers to at the very least take a look. Legend has it editor Mort Weisinger would often commission a writer for a script only after he'd conceived some crazy situation to put on the cover of one of the Superman family of titles that he was in charge of, and the comic book Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen was no exception. It always seemed to me that the entire purpose for Jimmy Olsen to star in his own title was to tell stories where Jimmy and Superman took turns messing with one another. This is one of my all-time favorites.


When I was a kid Gold Key Comics published mostly books based off of popular cartoon characters, movies, TV shows, and other licensed properties. The stories and art were always solid but not always as exciting the comics put out by other publishers. M.A.R.S. Patrol was an exception; what kid could resist a comic about an elite paramilitary unit fighting a war on US soil against and a mysterious invading army? Besides the incredible Wally Wood art inside the painted covers ( staple of Gold Key's action and sci fi comics) must have always stood out on the stands. Even somewhat banal titles like The Phantom would sport excellent painted covers. Often Gold Key would strip the text from the covers and reuse the art as the back cover. I wonder how many kids ruined their comics by tearing the back cover off and tacked the back cover on their bedroom walls?


In the late 60's early 70's Eerie Publications (not to be confused with Warren's Eerie magazine) published a line of low-rent black and white magazine-sized horror comics that were regarded as inferior knock-offs of Warren Magazine's Creepy and Eerie, reprinting old 1950's horror stories regarded as inferior EC knock-offs. While Creepy and Eerie would often feature brilliant Frank Frazzetta paintings for the cover Eerie publications would use insane art like in the cover above. Still, there are three things you could count on when it comes to a Eerie Publications cover; the garish palette of colors, the wild imagery (a Frankenstein-Dracula about to be attacked from behind by a werewolf? SOLD), and they would be the sort of trash your mom would never approve of.


It wasn't just comic book covers that separated me from my money as a kid. I loved professional wrestling as a kid (and still do, at least from that 1970's-80's period) so I was often as likely to come home with a wrestling mag as I was a comic book. They were always bombastic and often bloody like the cover above; its a popular notion in wrestling that "red equals green", that the bloodier the cover was the higher it sold.

I remember as a kid discovering some "post-war pulps" like the one above in an old box full of junk left behind after an auction. None of the stories were anything less than lurid exploitation...so of course I think they are awesome. There are a couple of books about the genre I highly recommend. You can check them out here and here .

So I'm reading this book....

2010-12-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

      I've been reading a pretty fascinating book titled The Writer's Tale; The Final Chapter, written by Russel T. Davies and Benjamin Cook. Davies was the writer/producer who a few years ago revived the classic British Science Fiction television series Dr. Who. Not "written" in a traditional sense, The Writer's Tale is an immense collection of text/emails between Davies and Cook, who contacted Davies in hopes of writing an article for the Dr. Who magazine about what went into writing an episode of the show. After agreeing that they would exchange e-mails where Davies would explain to Cook how the writing progressed as he wrote an episode, the correspondence grew over the course of several months, covering not on the writing of several episodes, but what the day to day life for the steward of a beloved cultural icon is like. In the book we are able to follow Davies through many trials and tribulations, ranging from the challenges of overseeing every aspect of the creation of a show to his struggles (and failures) to balance his professional and personal lives, all the way to the end of Davies' tenure as "show-runner", where he laments about his bittersweet feelings about leaving Dr. Who and the impact it has had on his life.

     As an aspiring writer I've thumbed through a number of book on writing over the years but very few have really been that helpful or inspiring to me. Too often they talk about writing in lofty, almost quasi-mystical terms, but don't really get into what its really to BE a writer; the challenges almost any writer faces when it comes to approaching their craft. Personally I've found it reassuring that even as immensely talented a writer as Davies is he struggles with many of the same things I do as a writer; coming up with ideas, finding motivation, battles against self doubt and a lack of personal confidence, the deadly cycle of procrastination and guilt that often come with it, and the euphoric feeling when a piece a completed.

   The Writer's Tale is a BIG book, clocking in at over 700 pages. The text is broken up periodically by behind the scenes photos and small cartoons drawn by Davies. Despite its length I've been tearing through the book at a pretty brisk pace, staying up late and spending my lunch breaks sitting in my car reading. I'm certain that after I'm finished I'll be coming back to The Writer's Tale again for inspiration as I keep plugging away on my own writing. This past November I wasn't able to finish The National Novel Writing Month challenge like I did last year, but at least my guilt was alleviated slightly by what I've learned from this book.

   The Writer's Tale; The Final Chapter retails for $24.95, but you can pick it up from Amazon for $16.47. It doesn't include the scripts in the first edition, but you can download PDF files of them off of them here . I've found it pretty insightful to read them and see the end result of all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into them. Even if you aren't a fan of Dr. Who like me if you want to be a writer or just want to see what goes into creating a television drama I wholeheartedly recommend the book.

Comics I dig; Superman vs. Muhammad Ali

2010-11-17T04:13:00.000-08:00

I remember having the original Treasury Edition of SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI as a kid and re-reading it so many times that eventually it just apart, so this re-release has me really excited. By the late '70s Ali had become larger than life, and the closest we had to a real-life Superman, so it was only natural for the two biggest superheroes in the world to square off in a titanic battle for the ages.
Written and drawn by Denny O'Neil and Neil Adams, Superman vs Muhammad Ali involves an alien race threatening to destroy the world unless Earth's champion can defeat the aliens' mightiest warrior. Superman of course steps up to the challenge, but before he can he enlists the help of Ali to train him. What follows is an exciting, action-packed story of epic proportions.

The original comic was 80 pages long, printed as a large treasury edition, the story so big that it couldn't be contained in a regular comic book. Its wraparound cover was one of the most iconic ever created with Superman and Ali squaring of in the ring, with a panoramic shot of an audience made up of various DC comic book characters and the biggest real-world celebrities of the day; Sonny and Cher, Andy Warhol, and current President Jimmy Carter were just a few of them.

If I have one (minor) complaint about the reissue its DC's decision to release it in two different formats.The deluxe hardcover edition is presented at the same size as the original, while the other is printed (with additional material)in the same smaller format of DC's other hardcover releases. Why not just do one big release in hardcover, followed by a paperback edition of the book later down the line?

Despite these gripes I have to give each edition an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Superman vs. Muhammad Ali truly is one of the best Superman stories of all time!

You can order Superman vs. Muhammad Ali from Amazon here

The great comic-book price-drop rip-off of 2010?

2010-10-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

           So both DC and Marvel Comics recently announced a price drop for many of their titles. On the surface this all sounds great, but like most every announcement regarding the price of comics this news isn't without controversy for either publisher.

     DC will indeed reduce the price of their $3.99 books to bring them in line with the $2.99 price point of the rest of their monthly titles, but they also will reduce the page counts on all of their comics from 22 pages of story down to 20. DC's $3.99 books have featured back-up strips of varying quality, and the fate of some of these stories remains in question.

Marvel has pledged that all upcoming new titles will be priced at $2.99, but hasn't said much towards dropping the price on their current $3.99 books (which coincidentally includes pretty much all of their most popular titles). They've also pledged a reduction in the number of "redundant" titles (sorry, Thor fans, but you might have to live without 4-5 spin-offs/tie-ins every month)

   I'm at mixed emotions about all of this. At DC the reduction in story pages does create an increase in the price-per-page for the reader; multiplying those 2 pages per month by 12 and you lose the equivalent of one entire issue at the previous page count. Besides the fact that Marvel has given no indication that the current $4 books will see a decrease (but in all defense I have to say the back-ups Marvel has put into those books have on average been better than most of those DC has been running in their comics), its also not clear if it will only be new ongoing titles that will be held to the $2.99 pledge or if any new mini-series would also fall under that edict.

   Another thing no one has mentioned; the reduction of story pages also would equal what amounts to a pay-cut for the creators. At the end of the day 2 pages might not seem like a big deal, but if you are getting paid a page rate of say $225 those two pages WOULD seem like a big deal. Sure, there are big-name creators in the industry who might not feel it so much but at the end of the day most of the people making their living in comics aren't making all that much more than the average middle to upper-middle class American family. I don't know about you, but cut my pay by $450 a month and it would certainly hurt me.

There are a couple things I do find interesting about the whole page count thing, though. I went back and looked at some X-Men from the Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne era, as well as the first year or so of Miller's Daredevil. Those fondly remembered books that packed so much excitement and story every issue? They averaged 17-18 pages of story every issue. Jack Kirby averaged around 20 pages an issue on most everything he did after 1960. Will Eisner showed us how to do it right in the Spirit at 8 pages at a time.
Also, has anyone every noticed that Robert Kirkman's books average about 20 pages an issue, and have for years? I certainly didn't until a friend pointed it out. I simply read his comics and enjoy them for their entertainment value. Maybe that's something DC and Marvel should think about when they plot out the next 6-issue "arc"; do we really need 3 pages of the same panel repeated over and over with Spider-man saying "What?". Maybe not EVERY comic needs to have "decompressed" storytelling. They don't have try to be a TV show, a movie, or a Mamet play. They are COMICS, and they can be pretty wonderful on their own.

Comics I dig, ; Modesty Blaise

2010-10-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

What's up guys? I'm back for another round of getting my nerd-on and yakking about another one of my funnybook favorites. As this series of posts continue let me know if I've persuaded you to check some of this stuff out and if so, what you think. This time around let's talk about.....

Modesty Blaise

Modesty Blaise was a long-running British comic strip created by Peter O'Donnell that followed the title character and her right-hand man Willie Garvin, former criminals turned globe-trotting adventurers. The story opens with Sir Gerald Tarrant, a high-ranking official of the British secret service approaching Modesty with a request that she and Willie assist him with various missions ( or"capers" as Modesty calls them) in an unofficial capacity. Both Modesty and Willie have grown with their new lives among the idle rich and quickly accept Tarrant's request, setting on a series of classic action-adventure stories.

Modesty Blaise was one of those rare creatures that was both of its time and yet remains timeless to this day. In particular the relationship between Modesty and Willie is one of the most unique aspects of the strip. While there was an unbreakable bond and obvious attraction between the two we never see any real evidence of a romantic connection between the pair beyond the affectionate nick-name "Princess" Willie uses to address Modesty.

Willie Garvin and his "Princess"

Creator O'Donnell (along with a string of artists beginning with Jim Holdaway) chronicled the adventures of Modesty for 39 years in both the comic strip and in a series of spin-off novels (the first of which was the book John Travolta was reading on the toilet in Pulp Fiction, right before Bruce Willis blows him away).

Besides the strip and the novels (which are pretty swell) there have been a couple of movies and a TV pilot made based on the character. Its been long rumored that Quentin Tarantino, a fan of the novels wanted to make a Modesty-Blaise movie. In 2004 he executive produced My Name is Modesty, a direct-to-DVD "prequel" of sorts. The movie is fairly good for a direct-to-video release but the real treat is the extras included on the disc, including an interview with creator Peter O'Donnell.

British book publisher Titan has been reprinting the strips in chronological order for a few years now in a series of graphic novels that are probably easily available via Amazon; you can check out them out here.

More info on Modesty in general can be found here

Comics I dig; Kyle Baker's Dick Tracy

2010-09-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

   The year was 1990. With the success of Warner Brothers' Batman almost every other Hollywood began to look at comics as a new source of properties to bring to the silver screen, including Disney subsidiary Touchstone Pictures, who released Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty and based on the long-running newspaper strip.
      Now personally, I have never seen it; the day I planned to go see Dick Tracy with my pal Phil I instead was in a near fatal car accident that left me bedridden for several months so by the time I was up and around it was long gone from theaters. I've had several opportunities to watch it, but for some silly reason I can't bring myself to see it; maybe subconsciously I think of Dick Tracy as my own Portrait of Dorian Gray.
   I did though enjoy the 3 prestige-format comic books Disney published as tie-ins to the movie. Each issue reads as a complete story all its own, but together they form a trilogy, the first two serving as prequels and the final issue an adaptation of the movie. Written by John Moore & Len Wein and drawn by Kyle Baker, Disney's Dick Tracy comic is a fun, thrilling romp, capturing the pulpy feel of the classic stories of Dick Tracy's creator Chester Gould.
        Kyle Baker's drawing is great, suggesting the look and feel of Gould's work and at the same time maintaining the artist's personal style. Baker really plays up the bizarre nature of Tracy's rogues gallery and the natural charm of the supporting cast. The only drawback to the whole thing is the fact Disney wouldn't let him give Tracy his classic hawk-nose and square jaw; instead Baker had to base the character's look on the movie's star Warren Beatty.
      Moore, Wein, & Baker's Dick Tracy remains one of the best comics of the era, and a series I dig up to reread from time to time. Despite the fact these comics are 20 years old now you still run into copies at them at comic cons, usually somewhere in a 50-cent bin. They were also collected in a trade paperback than is available via Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Dick-Tracy-Complete-Hearts-Trilogy/dp/1561150045

The Dick Tracy comic strip is still going and runs in various newspapers around the country. At one time Brian Micheal Bendis and Mike Oeming (the creators behind POWERS) were slated to do a Dick Tracy comic book but the rights are tied up in an ongoing lawsuit between Disney and star Warren Beatty.

One of my dream comic book projects

2010-09-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

Most aspiring comic book writers and artists have a short list of characters they've loved since childhood for DC or Marvel that would be dream assignments.I have some myself, but if I had to choose I'd rather be writing comic books based on my own creations. Some of my ideas would maybe have a (slim) chance of making it in today's current comics market. I'll probably start sharing some of them in a series of "works in progress" blog posts, but there are ideas that I'm sure will never happen but I love too much not to share. This is one of those ideas.

Period pieces tend to be a hard sell, and fictional stories involving real people are at least just as tough to do. Despite those impossible odds, I'd absolutely LOVE to write a comic involving the most bad-ass real-life super-heroes on the '70's coming together to form the greatest team of all time, The Ass-Kickers!

Church of Satan founder Anton LeVey comes up with a scheme to unleash evil forces and take over the world.

To stop LeVey and his evil followers the US government asks reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes to form a secret task-force to bring him down.

Hughes' first recruit is daredevil stuntman Evel Knivel, the most fearless man alive. Upon Evel's recommendation Hughes next recruit is one of his most respected rivals, The Human Fly.

Now that Hughes has the two greatest daredevils in history he approaches the world's greatest private investigator, J.J. Armes.

This team is going to need some muscle, so next Hughe's recruits the greatest martial artist since Bruce Lee. He recruits the legendary Count Dante

Even the greatest masters of unarmed combat can be outnumbered, so Hughes brings in "The Greatest" man who could compliment Dante's fighting skills. Welcome Muhammad Ali

Hughes knows this group needs a dash of beauty to compliment all of this brawn so his next recruit is the gorgeous Pam Grier, who is as dangerous as the roles she plays.

Since this is a total "too awesome to exist" comic book, I might as well bring in the most qualified artists of the day to bring it to life. Neal Adams is going to paint the cover.

Interiors will be drawn by one of the greatest (and sadly almost forgotten) artists of the day, Don Newton.

Well, there it is. Next time (and there WILL be a next time, sooner than later) I'll share some ideas that maybe exist in comic book form. Until then, stay golden, Pony-Boys!

Yeah, I'm gonna update soon...

2010-07-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Been busy with real world stuff, but I'll be back with a new (real) post this week. Wanting to get the rest of Holy Terror #2 thrown up here, yak some more about stuff I dig, and talk about some new comics stuff I'm working on to try and pitch to artists/publishers.

Thanks guys!

Blast from the past

2010-06-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I made contact with Kiim Larsen, an incredibly talented artist from Denmark, and he had me write a short comics story for his Art-Jam project, where a different artist would draw each page.It was called TREASURE HUNT, and in it I tried to come up with a story that allowed for the artists to bring something unique to them on their individual page but still carried on a strong narrative line throughout. Here's a link to that;

http://www.comicspace.com/globalcomicjam/comics.php?action=gallery&comic_id=16707

Holy Terror; all together now..

2010-06-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

After taking up space on various friends' hard-drives, I've been able to round up all of the art for The Holy Terror into a single file on my computer (with back-ups created just in case). Going to make it MUCH easier to shop it around now. Big thanks to all of my friends who've helped and supported this comic book for a long time now, especially my homies in Shocktrauma Studios; Phil Hester, Jim Woodyard, Aaron Gillespie, Max Riffner, John Warren, Fredd Gorham, Mike Worley, Andrew Walls, and the rest of the of the guys, all my bruthas from other muthas!

Nothing to announce yet in regards to when it will be out; weighing my options, which include just biting the bullet and self publishing. It WILL be sooner rather than later, I can assure you.

I'll keep you posted, and finish sharing the rest of #2 in the next few weeks, with a taste of what-would-have-been #3 (I don't want to give the WHOLE thing away for free; I still want you to buy it!)

Stuff I'm reading pt. 1

2010-06-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

I got a nice e-mail the other day from my buddy Chris Spicer letting me know he was enjoying my blog (thanks Chris!) and asking me what comics I'm reading and enjoying right now, so here's a quick rundown of what I look forward to each month;
Pretty much any and all Phil Hester comics; Now I'll be up front and say that writer Phil Hester is one of best friends in the world, so I might be a bit prejudice but I'm not going to recommend his books just because of that. The comics he's writing now are titles that I highly recommend and always find their way at the top of my "must read" pile. Phil's writing a ton of stuff these days, and while as a writer has really found his "voice" and his work all has that "Phil Hester feeling" (to paraphrase Barton Fink) the wide range of stuff guarantees there is something for just about everybody.
Phil's been writing The Darkness for Top Cow for a couple of years now and its been a great mix of action,crime, and horror. When they relaunched The Darkness Top Cow made the smart choice to just let Phil run with it and do something new and fresh with the book, striking a balance between giving the hardcore Darkness fans what they want but with a fresh perspective that appeals to readers who might have never been into the Top Cow universe stuff before. The first trade of Phil's run collects the inital 6 issue arc that establishes the new status quo, and with a price of only $4.99 is the perfect place to start.

For Dynamite he's been writing The Black Terror, a golden aged character recently revived by Alex Ross in Project; Superpowers. Of all of Phil's stuff Black Terror is one that would appeal to die-hard super-hero fans. Besides Black Terror Phil is also laying out and adapting Kevin Smith's Green Hornet for Dynamite and its a lot of fun, too.

As far as my "best of the best" concerning Phil's comics, I have a soft spot for his creator-owned work. Sadly in the current comics market creator-owned books can be a hard sell but all of this stuff is in trades.
First up is Firebreather for Image. co-created and drawn by the awesome Andy Kuhn, Firebreather is a great mix of teenaged angst, drama and big monster combat. Duncan Rosenblatt is a high schooler living with his mom in a small town in Utah. He's also half monster, as his dad is a huge intelligent red dragon who Duncan goes to see on the weekends. Cartoon Network just recently announced that a Firebreather made for TV movie is in the works, directed by Peter Cheung of MTV's Aeon Flux fame. New issues of Firebreather are coming soon, but in the meantime the first two mini-series have been collected into trades by Image Comics.
Also from Image is Golly, drawn by Brook Turner, another one of my pals. Golly is a horror-humor book with a southern-fried vibe. Think My Name is Earl meets Hellblazer. Five issues have been published, also soon to be collected by Image.
His final recent creator owned work (though I'm sure he's got a few things brewing I haven't heard about) is The Anchor from Boom! Studios. Its about an ancient monk whose body and soul have been split in two; while his body is on earth fighting monsters his souls resides in the afterlife squaring off against the minions of Hell. The Anchor is a gentle soul capable of great violence to protect the innocent. I think Phil best describes him as The soul of Ghandi trapped in the body of The Hulk. The series just wrapped up with #8, but the 1st five are in trade now with the remaining issues to be collected soon.
Okay, enough Hester-love and on to Paul Tobin, another one of my pals. For the last few years Paul has had the reins on the Marvel Adventures line for Marvel Comics. The MA books are for all-ages, but don't let that scare you away as all-ages means "all-ages", and not "just for kids". Paul writes stories that work on all levels with plenty of action for younger readers with funny and unique stories that appeal to adults. They are also a refreshing alternative to the dark-toned and seemingly never-ending events running through Marvel's "regular" comics in the last few years (though the Heroic Age stuff has been a refreshing change as of late). Paul's MA work has previously appeared in Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Marvel Super-Heroes, and The Avengers and currently can be found in the relaunched Spider-Man and Super-Heroes titles. His Spidey takes us back to Spidey's high school days with totally new characters and a unique continuity that's not beholden to the 45 year history of the character. Paul's Spidey stories are full of teenagers who think, talk, and act like teenagers, and are full of plenty of action.
Super-Heroes focuses on The Avengers and really has a great "old school" feel to it. Paul's come up with a roster that mixes Avengers stalwarts like Captain America and Iron Man with new additions such as Nova and The FF's Invisible Woman. I especially enjoy the MA-version of Ms. Storm, as she is a smart, strong leader who isn't just there to be captured or defer to the male members of the team. An ongoing subplot of Sue and Cap slowly developing an attraction to one another totally derails assumptions about where the characters are going.
Besides his Marvel work Paul's also got some Predator stuff coming this summer from Dark Horse and an OGN from Top Shelf called Gingerbread Girl, drawn by his wife cartoonist Colleen Coover. Its going to be something totally different for Paul and Colleen's Marvel stuff and I am totally looking forward to it.
Wow, this has turned out a bit longer than I thought, and I didn't get to comics I read that AREN'T written and drawn by people I know personally! I'll be back soon for some other recommendations.

Just because, that's why

2010-05-31T19:14:00.001-07:00

Holy Terror #2, part one

2010-05-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've been lax on putting up the comics, so I'm going to try and catch up. Part one of The Holy Terror #2

Always Classy

2010-05-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I'd go with my mom on grocery day once a week and walk down the drugstore to check out the comic books while she shopped, and come Sunday morning I'd be glued in front of the TV for All-Star Wrestling out of Kansas City. If you would have asked me at age 12 which I loved more I would have been hard pressed to choose; if it'd been a good comics week and a new Sgt. Rock was out I'd have gone for comics, but man, if Dusty Rhodes or Ric Flair were touring the Central States territory....
Eventually comics won out. I'd dip my toe into wrestling from time to time ( I have a found memory of attending a WCW Clash of the Champions card with Phil in the early 1990's) but I didn't come back to being a full-blown fan again until the WWF/WCW Monday Night Wars made wrestling exciting again: byy then I was in my mid-late twenties and had (sorta) grown up. I still appreciated the entertainment value of the characters and story-lines (cheesy as they were), but after reading Mick Foley's autobiography HAVE A NICE DAY,e I'd really become more a fan of the business side of the "sport". I still appreciated a good match or well done interview, but hearing about the back stage politics and stories from the road was where it was REALLY at for me.
Have a Nice Day was a huge hit and started a trend for wrestlers to "write" their autobiographies (most wrestler's books are at least partially ghost-written) with mixed results; I've loved some and was disappointed in others. In my opinion though, one of the all time great wrestling autobiographies has to be "Classy" Freddie Blassie's LISTEN, YOU PENCIL NECK GEEKS.
Blassie's wrestling career spanned 5 decades, from his start in the 1940's up until his final run as a manager in the WWF during the 70's-80's. Along with legends like Gorgeous George and Killer Kowalski, Blassie was one of the early heels whose bombastic persona transended wrestling. He was one of the first American wrestlers to become a sensation in post-war Japan with his long, brutal feud with Japanese wrestling-god Rikidozan; he made appearances on game shows, the Dick Van Dyke Show, and was a talk-show mainstay for decades; one memorable appearance on the Tonight Show with Muhammad Ali remains a highlight in the history of the program. Blassie understood what he did and said outside of the ring could be just as important as what he did inside it. During his matches Blassie took cheap shots, kicked, spit, and even bit opponents. If that wasn't enough to earn Freddie boos from the fans, his interviews surely pushed him over the edge. His promos were full of barbs; he'd put down other wrestlers, insult the announcers, make fun of the way the women in the audience dressed, and coined a phrase to describe the fans that became part of the American Lexicon; Pencil Neck Geek.
After wrestling for over 30 years Blassie became a manager but his sharp tongue and disdain for the fans cut just as deep as before. He continued to make waves outside of the ring; his recorded a novelty record "Pencil Neck Geek" that became a mainstay of the Dr. Demento show and his appearance with comedian Andy Kaufman in the movie My dinner with Blassie, a send up of My dinner with Andre remains a cult hit.
All of the stories and dozens more are recounted in Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks in a frank and funny style. From his early life of poverty in St. Louis to the recounting of the courtship to the love of his life Miyako Blassie is brutally honest about the highs and lows of his life. Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks is a shocking, funny, and touching read.
FreddyBlassie sadly passed away shortly after the book was published in 2004 (I can only imagine what an audio-book version read by Blassie would have been like), and is still available on Amazon. Even if you aren't a wrestling fan, you'll surely become a Freddie Blassie fan after reading this book.

They Call Her One Eye

2010-05-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

They Call Her One Eye (also known by its original Swedish title Thriller; A Cruel Picture) is a 1973 exploitation/grindhouse movie in the rape-revenge sub-genre. Its the story of a woman named Frigga that was sexually assaulted as a young child. When the movie opens Frigga is a young woman living a simple life with her parents on their family farm. One day on a walk into town she accepts a ride from a charismatic man named Tony.
Tony pours on the charm, taking the shy beauty on a date to an expensive restaurant where he slips her a sedative and takes her to his apartment. He continues to keep Frigga in a stupor by shooting her up with heroin. Frigga she tries to escape, prompting Tony to shoot her up again for a few days more. Once she awakens Tony tells Frigga she's now hooked and must work as a prostitute if she wants her fix. He then show her a letter he's written to her parents telling them Frigga hates them and is never going to return. Tony forces her to sign it and then proceeds to set her up with her first John. The "date" turns disastrous when Frigga claws the man's face.
Enraged, Tony assaults Frigga, holding her down and cuts her eye out with a scalpel.. Next we see Frigga sporting an eyepatch. Tony, sure that she's finally broken giver Frigga her fix, telling her she'll be able to have one day off a week, giving her a double fix to get her through until her next appointment. Once free Frigga goes directly back home, only to discover her parents have committed suicide after getting "her" letter. She returns to Tony and seems to accept her fate. We then begin a montage where we see Frigga with a succession of her clients (Word of Warning; the Thriller directors cut of this film is unrated and shows hardcore sex scenes spliced in from another movie, so you might want to see out the version of the film that has the "One-eye" title).
While in the brothel Frigga befriends another prostitute who confesses a plan to escape the country and go to a rehab clinic once she has socked away enough money. Frigga takes a cue from the woman and hatches a plan of her own. She starts saving what stipend Tony gives her and begins taking training in firearms, defensive driving and the martial arts. She continues to endure the humiliation of her life as a whore, biding her time until she is ready to make a run for it. Eventually Tony discovers the other woman's plan to escape and murders her, forcing Frigga to put her plan into action.
They Call Her One Eye is one of those movies with a lot of "Oh, Shit!" moments that unfolds with a frank, cold pace. Quentin Taratino sites it as one of his all-time favorite movies, basing the Elle Driver character in Kill Bill on Frigga.
Both versions of the movie are available on Netflix and Amazon. I have the graphic unrated version but eventually plan to get the other, as They Call Her One Eye is one of those movies that I'd love to shove into a buddy's hands as a "You Gotta See This!" gems you just have to share.
Not sure what the next post is going to be; either some more Holy Terror or another one of my blasts from the past. See ya then!
J.

Manhunter

2010-05-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

I'll start posting more comic books I've written soon, but today's gonna be another of those "stuff I dig and you might too" posts.

DC comics has used the name "Manhunter" for a variety of characters through the years; the Simon & Kirby golden-age hero, Kirby's 70's update, the evil robot Manhunters from Green Lantern, The revamp of Kirby's Manhunter that spun out the Millenium cross-over in the 80s', the 21st century female Manhunter. Each version of the character has had its own unique appeal, but in my opinion the finest incarnation first appeared in 1973 in the pages of Detective Comics where it ran in issues 437 through 441. Not only does it stand as the best of all of the Manhunters, but as one of the best genre comics ever.

Legendary writer/editor Archie Goodwin and then-upcoming artist Walt Simonson, had been charged to come up with a back-up feature for Detective Comics. At the time many of DCs books were 100 pages of mostly golden aged reprints with a new lead feature. Batman was the flagship of the book and the opportunity to test-drive a new character in an effort to boost sales was the initial motivation of the two creators, but Manhunter evolved into something much more.

This Manhunter was Paul Kirk, formerly the Simon/Kirby character from 30 years past and now a soldier of fortune and big-game hunter. After being mortally wounded by a charging Elephant in the wilds of Africa Kirk's broken body was cryogenically preserved and eventually resurrected by a secret cabal called the Council. The Council revived Kirk, giving him a super human healing factor via genetic manipulation. They then trained him in a variety of deadly martial arts with the intention that he become an assassin and leader of a paramilitary force made up of clones of Kirk. When Kirk refused to go along with their plans the Council dispatched his clones to kill him lest he become a threat to their plans, causing Kirk to declare war on the evil organization that had revived him. The strip took readers around the globe, offering a perfect mix of genres; action-adventure, super hero, martial arts, and science fiction were blended together to make one totally unique and awesome comic book, ending with the unheard at the time resolution of the hero meeting his end with the distinction of being one of the few comic book characters to never being brought back from the great beyond. Clones of Kirk have popped up here and their through the years, but in a genre where death is treated as not much more than a brief time-out Paul Kirk has been afforded the luxury of resting in peace.

Over the course of only six 8 page installments and a final 20 page chapter readers were treated to a tour de force of comic book storytelling. Goodwin and Simonson were able to give readers more story in eight pages than most comics could give you in 22, masterfully paced to not feel cramped, each chapter interconnecting into a larger whole yet retaining of individuality rather than a disjointed link in a chain. Goodwin and Simonson were able to accomplish more in 68 pages than many comics can in anything less than six issues.Comic book creators today could take a good hard look at Manhunter today and learn some lessons on story telling.

The original issues of Detective where Manhunter appeared can be a bit pricey in the back issue market, but DC has twice collected the entire saga into a complete package that I would consider one of the earliest examples of an actual "graphic novel". The first collection they published (and the one that I first discovered the strip) was part of a series of reprint line of notable works DC was putting out at the time on "Baxter Paper" Comic books printed on Baxter Paper was more costly but their pages featured superior printing to the standard newsprint of the day.
In the 1990's DC collected Manhunter again in an edition that was to feature an all-new chapter by Goodwin and Simonson. Sadly Goodwin was to succumb to cancer before he could finish scripting the story, prompting Simonson to use Goodwin's original plot outline to create a silent story as a tribute to his collaborator and friend.
Both collections are reasonably easy to find in the back issue market; a quick check on ebay yielded several for sale in a range of five to ten bucks. Further information on Manhunter (that is if you aren't sick of hearing me babble about how great it is) can be found on Walt Simonson's Facebook page where he's got a gallery there chock full of Manhunter artwork, much of it never published before. You might also visiting www.wordballoon.com , where comics podcaster Jon Suintres has an archived MP3 of an interview with Simonson where they devote part of the conversation to Manhunter.

Not sure what my next posting will be about. I do know I want it to be fairly soon, but I promise it would be nearly as long!

Thanks gang!

I've been a bad blogger

2010-05-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life's been busy the last few weeks. I still intend to start posting pages from Holy Terror and other stuff I've written soon. There are two pages from HT #2 I don't have copies of that I need to take to my buddy Brook so he can copy them on his large scanner for me. As soon as I have scans of all the pages from issue two I'll resume sharing Holy Terror stuff, and I'm also gotten permission from my various collaborators to share some of stuff from The Wretch, Shocktrauma Comics, and a strip I wrote for the Comic Buyer's Guide.

In the meantime, I'd like to start sharing other stuff I dig that you might want to check out. It'll be a mixed bag of comic books, movies, music, old-school wrestling stuff.. I have a wide variety of weird pop culture that I'm into.

Today I'd like to recommend a couple of books tied into the inspiration for the name of my blog. Back in the 1980's one of my favorite 'rasslers' was Frank Goodish, known to fans as Bruiser Brody. Back when almost all wrestlers fell into either the "babyface" (good guy) or "heel" (bad guy) categories, Brody was unique. He was a giant, brawling wild-man who never altered his style or personality and yet could play it either way with ease. When he entered a territory he took on all comers. While he was popular in the states (and remains a cult figure 20-plus years after his death) his greatest success came in Japan, where he remains a wrestling good. Despite his terrifying persona in the ring outside of it he was one of the best talkers in the business, cutting some of the best promos ever. The Japanese referred to him as "The Intelligent Monster" which inspired the name of this blog.

In the past few years a couple of books have been written about Brody that I've enjoyed that you might want to check out. The first is simply titled Bruiser Brody by Emerson Murray. Murray's original plan was to make a documentary about Brody, conducting interviews with people who had known him in his pre-wrestling days and with individuals he'd encountered in the wrestling business. Ultimately Murray had to suspend his plans for the film and chose to do the project as a book instead. Murray's book took a more conversational approach than most biographies, sharing various perspectives, not all of them flattering. The book is richly illustrated by numerous photos and even some examples of Japanese manga devoted to Brody.
The second book, Brody; The triumph and tragedy of wrestling's rebel is the collaborative effort of Brody's widow Barbara Goodish and Larry Matysik, a wrestling promoter who went on to become Brody's business partner and close friend. Their book offers a more traditionally styled biography, told from two unique perspectives. Goodish and Matysik trade off chapters, giving us a well-rounded account of who Brody was inside and outside of the ring. Brody was a shrewd (and at times ruthless) business man who wasn't afraid to get rough but was also a caring and loving husband and father.
In my opinion Goodish and Matysik's book is the better of the two, but Murray's is still great and really helps compliments their book in giving a more rounded view of Brody was a person.
The Goodish/Matysik book is available on Amazon, but the other one might take a little effort on line to find at an affordable price. Both are excellent reads and well worth the effort to track down.
Next time (and there won't be as large of gaps between "next times") I'll probably share some more of work and also take a look at one of my favorite comic books of all-time; Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson's Manhunter!

Holy Terror #1 pg. 22

2010-04-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the last page of The Holy Terror #1. Look for #2 to start appearing this weekend!

2010-04-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hey! Sorry I haven't posted the latest installment until now. I've been away house/dog-sitting this week. Between that, work (writing and day-job) I wasn't able to get on here until now.

I think by the end its apparent this week's installment turns out to be a dream sequence (or at least I hope so!) The original comic book was colored in a style that gave these pages a different feel from the rest of the issue, but the power of Phil's storytelling really makes it apparent, even in black and white.

I promise to be a bit more frequent about getting pages up here!

Holy Terro 16-18

2010-03-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been a little lax about get installments of The Holy Terror posted. Promise to be more diligent in the future!

Holy Terror 13-15

2010-03-24T04:10:00.000-07:00

A few notes about today's installment;

1. Wrestlers LOVE tattoos, so I decided to make that part of the gimmick for "The Masterpiece" (who I thought up years before WWE wrestler Chris Masters used that moniker BTW).
My thought was that after he beat a guy The Masterpiece would have their image inked onto his body and transform his body into a work of art that represents how much of a bad ass he is. Originally I envisioned he would be a huge musclebound guy covered in tattoos, but Phil had other plans and instead used our pal Fredd Gorham as the basis for the character's look. Fredd is a big dude who with his long dark hair looked like he could be a "rassler". Soon after Fredd totally changed his look by shaving his head bald and growing a long dark beard; he still looked like a "rassler" though.
2. The ring announcer "Chuck Shockley" is my cousin, a peach of a guy whose had a long career as a radio personality, play-by-play man for various sports, and an in-ring announcer for many independent pro wrestling cards. I think he got a kick out of being able to add "comic book character" to his resume!
3. I probably should have noted this in a previous post, but the character "Boneshaker" was originally created a few years previously by Phil for an eponymously- titled graphic novel serialized in Negative Burn.

A quick note...

2010-03-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

No new pages tonight (maybe in the morning?), but I did want to mention that Lost begins in about 15 minutes, and I'm hoping some shit goes down.
Thanks!

More Holy Terror

2010-03-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

Pages 10-12. More later!

Holy Terror part-three

2010-03-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Off to bed, but before that here's pages 7-9 from The Holy Terror #1.

Holy Terror part-two

2010-03-21T04:23:00.000-07:00

I'm putting a few more pages from The Holy Terror #1 up for your reading pleasure. Hopefully by the time I'm done posting the first two issues I'll be in the clear to announce how you can get your hands on the Holy Terror graphic novel and see how the whole thing ends!

The Holy Terror

2010-03-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

Back in the early 2000's Image Comics published two issues of The Holy Terror, a mini series that I wrote and co-created with Phil Hester, who penciled the book with Jim Woodyard on inks. HT was about an up and coming professional wrestler who gets his big break when he puts on a wrestling mask and takes on the in-ring persona of The Holy Terror. Unbeknown to him however the mask he wears is cursed with an evil spirit that begins to take over and attempt to possess his soul.
Originally the series was going to run for 3 issues, but when sales weren't quite what we liked and other (paying) gigs came on the horizon the creative team decided to suspend the series for the time being. After what-would-have-been the third issue was completed (with the addition of co-penciler Aaron Gillespie to the creative team) we decided to publish the entire series as a graphic novel.
Until then though I've decided to start posting those first two issues a few pages at a time here on my blog. I hope you enjoy it and I welcome your feedback. Rest assured, you'll be the first to know when the graphic novel is scheduled to come out!

Steel Angel

2010-03-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

Years ago I wrote a story for Excel Graphic that appeared in the anthology Tales from Ground Zero that featured my buddy Fredd Gorham's character Steel Angel. Steel Angel was a strip set in the near future that starred a fashion model who wore a skintight suit of armor made of a sort of living metal (imagine Cindy Crawford crossed with The Silver Surfer and you get the idea).
The story was drawn by my buddy Brook Turner, who currently pencils Golly, written by Phil Hester and published by Image Comics.
Originally the first draft of the story had a bunch of voice-over captions but I (wisely) decided to omit them and let Brook's art do all the talking for me (despite the super-crude layouts I gave him)

Welcome to my new blog

2010-03-13T05:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks for stopping by and welcome to The Intelligent Monster!

My name is Jason Caskey. I'm a sometimes-comic book writer from Iowa probably best known as the writer and co-creator (with Phil Hester), of The Holy Terror, a mini series that was published awhile back by Image Comics. I've also written stories for such publishers as Caliber, Dark Horse, Desperado, The Comic Buyer's Guide, Excel Graphics, and Shocktrauma Comics.

In the coming weeks and months I'll be using this blog as a forum to yak about various weird and wonderful things; comic books, cult movies and TV, old school professional wrestling, pretty much whatever strikes my fancy. From time to time I'll also be sharing some of the comics I've written over the years: sometimes it'll be sneak peaks of things I have coming up, sometimes it'll be stories from my archives I'm especially proud of.

For today's show-n-tell I'm giving you a sneak peak at a story I co-wrote with Phil Hester for Desperado's excellent anthology Negative Burn featuring Phil's character The Big Q. Its drawn by the uber-talented Kyle Strahm http://www.kylestrahm.com/ . Kyle's currently is drawing We Will Bury You for IDW and has a pin-up in Proof #25, published by Image Comics.

Again, thanks for stopping by. I'll shut up now and let you feast your eyes on a couple of Kyle's gorgeous pages from The Big Q.

Jason

Negative Burn, Vol. 1