Mike Mignola "The Quarantine Sketchbook"

 

Artist Mike Mignola has been a mainstay and luminary in the world of story illustration particularly comic books and graphic novels for a multitude of years. He is unique in style, popularity and “rock solid.” With the rest of the nation and world he has experienced the Covid 19 lock downs and quarantines with a true resilience. His personal story within our shared (2020) isolation dilemma has become one of dedication to creativity, craft and what appears to have been also fun and a discovery of sorts.

Mignola spent much of his time and efforts during quarantine doing what began in childhood for the many and certainly for the most accomplished artists; sketching. The drawings from the many months were done for his own amusement and later he started sharing on line with his fans and followers. This led to their submissions of ideas for more sketches and experimentation. Going beyond what might have been a light-hearted frolic to the said drawings becoming donations for many charitable causes resulting in auctions.

 

The resulting images from those multitudes of hours is available now in book form (released last year) “The Quarantine Sketch Book.”   It is a delightfully misanthropic collection of monsters, absurdities and abundant curiosities. Each drawing bathed in a perfection of light and shadow enhancing a remarkable mastery of form.

Continuing here are more sketches from the volume and other drawings from Mignola for this blogs viewers. As reflecting with Mile’s original intention “Have Fun” with this page!

 

               

For additional information and a more detailed look at the career of “The Magnificent” Mike Mignola follow this link:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mignola

Ridley Scott's Original "BLADE RUNNER"

Elegant within it’s cyber punk, dystopian madness “Blade Runner” stands momentously as a cinematic mild stone, a classic that continues to delight, bewilder, beguile and intrigue. You’re right; I am a fan. Former art director Ridley Scott set out to create something marvelous. He achieved just that as he eclipsed his himself and his magnificent crew’s original daring visions. Together they discovered (created) that rare wonder; a masterpiece of cinema and in that including of all of art and creativity.

The film as a whole is purely a visual splendor. Every performance to note from Harrison Ford to Sean Young to Rutger Hauer to Edward James Olmos to Daryl Hannah and M. Emmet Walsh is pitch perfect, nuanced and individually unique. The score is rich, enchanting, futuristic and reflective of an earlier form; the film noir. This atmospheric, dark, foggy acid rain refracting look is hypnotic and equally contributing to the film’s narrative. Former Police Officer/Blade Runner Rick Deckard must hunt down and “retire a group of super sophisticated, self-aware renegade androids (Replicants) and “retire” them.

The inspiration and basis of the film is the Phillip K. Dick Sci-Fi novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” It is a well-executed and provocative work that bears almost no resemblance to Scott’s film. I am guessing that it was Scott’s intention to do so.   

The film was not originally a huge hit. It was far too radical, distinctive and for all general purposes dark for that. How many times does the general public adapt and gravitate to the new and daring? It is an even rarer thing and in many ways a compliment to go unnoticed and unheralded at first encounter. I saw it at least four times in 1982 the summer of it’s release. Imagine too; that the lead, Harrison Ford was not a star in his own right at the time. He had appeared in “Star Wars” in 1977 a few years before but it was “Blade Runner” that established his remarkable and unique super stardom along with years of long and continuing acting successes.  

The iconic Poster (Left) features Deckard and Rachel above the aerial view of the fabled acid rain drenched city of the then future (2019) Los Angelos. Original versions of the poster retail for as much as $2,000.

Much of the visuals and themes of “Blade Runner” are influenced by the look of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.” It is a fitting homage of sorts to Lang’s film. It is also truly in the same vein of the H.G. Wells book “The Shape of Things to Come.” 

The film has gone through a number of rereleases and subsequent director’s cuts. It is the original 1982 release with the matter of fact and often nuanced voice over by Deckard (Harrison Ford) that was the most striking and entertaining incarnation that I most completely enjoyed. The eloquent and somewhat world weary voice added the right touch with the “film noir” over tones and feel of the production.

 As of date the seminal “Blade Runner” is without equal or legitimate successor. The film does create many questions in plot and purpose. One major question concerns who and what Deccard himself might actually be. The original cut of the movie alluded to in several instances and tone to the possibility of the Deckard character being himself a replicant. The final director’s cut of the film (2007) attempts to clear up the discrepancies. A dream sequence featuring a startled and running unicorn is held by Deckard in his sleep. The dream along with a strategically placed origami unicorn by the Gaff character late in the film serves as an explanation of sorts. The inference is that Gaff is privy to Deckard’s programmed and implanted dreams. This can be interpreted as a true explanation or the subject for more confusion; the debate continues.The mostly unsuccessful and lackluster sequel “Blade Runner 2049” attempts to expand, to enhance and explain other elements of the original film; the attempt was futile. In my imagination there was no need for a sequel or expansion and it falls far short of the original. Many, many films need no sequel and the attempt to extend their narratives are hackneyed, lackluster attempts at best but well the subjects for further debate. 

VIDEO

 Animation Depicting Events Between Original Film and "Blade Runner 2049"

Another superb outing for director Scott was the “1984” titled commercial for the Apple PC that aired during the 1984 Super bowl. The commercial is a response to the George Orwell novel. It is considered by many aficionados and experts to be one of the greatest commercials of stated history.  See it here as originally and nationally viewed in January of said year.  

Until and if ever eclipsed Scott remains the pre-eminent and unchallenged champion of the cyber punk, the fantastic world of film experimentation and it’s successful execution!

Mayan God Camazotz: The First Batman

There is a link between religion, faith and the fantastic; the heroic. Among my first bedtime stories both read and told to me were the mythologies of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.  These were no less equal to the biblical tales and exploits of Samson, David and Noah among others I was introduced to early on. Each in their own way amazing and all miraculous. Would Jesus be as effective had he not walked on water, cured and fed multitudes and eventually raised from the grave himself? Questions…                                 

 There are abundant similarities in ancient mythologies, texts and carvings and associations with our modern mass communications.  One deity and theme that seems to be timeless and multi-cultural is the man-bat or in our popular culture “Batman.” The Mayan’s worshiped what seemed the first bat demi-god in their own Camazotz.  He was half man, half bat, full of mystery and vengeance. He dates back culturally as far as 200 yrs. B. C. and he is still being researched today. The Mesoamericans viewed their bat deity as terrifying and like ever good bat lusting for blood. There were thousands of sacrifices made to him. He would; as to legend emerge from his bat cave nightly and was even connected to the creation of mankind. His visage, persona and legend were equally terrifying. His totems were used for protection and to ward off evils.  This principle element was again not unlike our own, much beloved and lauded Batman.

              

The Mayan Man-Bat creature aroused from his cave in a chronicled tale of a once vengeful murder of the Mayan hero Hunahpu. The blood lust associated with Camazotz was tremendous and legend says he killed his victim by decapitation. The similarities here are much closer to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Camazotz is linked to both nocturnal characters (Batman and Dracula.) This attests to the richness of the ancient culture’s imagination in multiplicitous forms including writings, stone and stories.

There is no shortage of interpretations; but the idea of the “Batman” abounds, especially for our southern Mesoamerican neighbors and ourselves.  In the end it is all about the idea. The myths live on across space and time, across cultures. They are as envisioned in and through “The Batman” whether intended or unintended and in their magnificence; eternal.

“I shall become a Bat!”

“…and thus is born this weird figure of the dark…this avenger of evil...The BATMAN”

 

                              

The art featured on this page range from the minds and hands of Bob Kane, Neal Adams and original Mayan drawings to the spectacular “Camazotz Armour”

 from the phenomenal designer Kimbal.

Who's Watching???

A young child sits in a darkened movie theater enthralled; viewing a black and white silent film. This; as a young woman plays the music score on piano, apparently agonized and anguished for some as yet unknown reason. The film is of a masked heroic figure pursuing an apparent villain, both on horseback, in some epic of the American Old West. The scene is reminiscent of the sepia toned opening of the classic “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.” Both woman and child are African-American. The scenario is about to drastically change as gunfire, aerial bombs and shouts of horror, pain and insults engulf innocents on the streets outside of a once peaceful, almost idyllic town.  This jarring opening is based on the real life “Black Wall St. Massacre” in Tulsa Oklahoma’s Greenwood District in 1921. 

We fast forward to modern times and almost everybody is masked. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Who and what was the cause of the aforementioned carnage? Why is shrimp/sushi raining from the sky? These are the overriding questions of the premier episode of “Watchmen?” Questions that essentially remain unanswered well into viewing subsequent episodes of the new HBO television series and sequel to the brilliant graphic novel “Watchmen.” 

Originally published in standard monthly comic book installments “Watchmen” was later collected in its entirety and released for readers in the nineteen eighties. It was created by artist Dave Gibbons and writer Alan Moore. It has been much lauded and revered over the years; even chosen by Time Magazine for the top 100 novels released within the years of the magazines conception. “Watchmen” exists in an alternative universe and like every good comic book world there are visions of the fantastic, the futuristic and humor along with ample doses of hysteria and dystopia. 

This satisfying T.V. series by design is complete as a story unit and by decision of creator Damon Lindelof feels like there is no necessity for any further episodes; although someone in the future might have ideas for additional stories. Damon Lindelof has done a brilliant job of production, narrative, and received phenomenal performances from a cast of extremely gifted actors of passionate professional skills and inspiration. Regina King, Don Johnson, Lou Gossett Jr., Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Jeremy Irons, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Hong Chau all starring and feature in illuminating ways.   

“Watchmen” is provocative, disturbing, eye-popping and triumphant television. Watch the compelling first of nine episodes and you will quite likely be committed to seeing it through to a conclusion both jarring and elusive.