The Falcon

This is a drawing of Captain America's 1970's era sidekick, the Falcon , as he appeared at the time. It was done by my friend, Arvell Jones . Arvell was at the time one of a group of comic book artists that came from Detroit. They were all friends of Rich Buckler (whom I have always been a great fan of, but have never actually met), and included other such notables as , Al Milgrom, Keith Pollard, Michael Netzer,Greg Theakston, and Jim Starlin.

I actually met Arvell, and his brother Desmond (a comics letterer) through my friendship with Michael Netzer who had not yet gone pro at the time. This drawing was published in my one issue fanzine attempt, Fantastic Fan Scene, of which I have the only known surviving copy. Unfortunately, it and several other pieces of artwork ( by Michael Netzer, Howard Chaykin, and my own considerable portfolio) were lost several years ago in a flood at my home ( I still get angry when I think of the inept dishwasher installers whose shoddy work destroyed years of memories).

It was a great time to be a comic book fan in Detroit. Many top artists hailed from Detroit and were more than happy to talk comics and art on the phone with this 13 year old fan ( The long distance charges back then! Detroit to New York). Imagine a film geek actually hanging out with the creators of the movie! That's what it was like for a comics fan back then.

Eventually, as all boys do, I grew older and my interest in comics waned, and I lost touch with these people as I graduated from high school and went into the Coast Guard. Although after awhile I found myself stationed in New York City (comics Mecca), my friends in the business had moved on to bigger and better things than the comics. Many moved to L.A. to work in films (storyboard artists and animators) and I was unable to reconnect with any of them in NYC. Still, I never forgot the pleasure those old comics gave me, and through the magic of the internet, Arvell and I have bumped into each other via Facebook.

Arvell is now back in Detroit and has taught at the Center for Creative Studies, a premier art college in Detroit. I am looking forward to having lunch with him someday soon and hopefully getting some artwork pointers, although my art career is now strictly for my own enjoyment.

Here you see the drawing as it appeared in Fantastic Fan Scene. The lettering at the bottom was originally diagonal on the left, but I have reoriented it.

This version I colorized using my WACOM Intuous IV tablet.

Merry Christmas

I received this excellent rendering from Michael Netzer in my Inbox this morning and thought I'd share...

New York

Well, it's been a while, but here are some picks from the Big Apple. I went there because an old friend from thirty years ago was going to be there from Israel. He is comics artist Michael Netzer.

This is a shot of Mike sketching Dr. Strange

Having visited with my old pal from back in the day, My son Derek and I then went about seeing some of the sights:

First on the list was Times Square

Here is a shot of the Hard Rock Cafe

The next day we went down to Battery Park and I got this shot of the Statue of Liberty

We then went past ground zero (yes, five years later and there is still a hole in the ground)

McSorley's Old ale house. This place has been here for 153 years. The first time I was in here was 27 years ago. Unfortunately, my son was not allowed in.

Then we stopped by the Empire State Building (no sign of King Kong)

Fire station on 31st Street near our hotel. The heroes of 9/11 relaxing after a call

Yes, all in all it was a great weekend. My son got to see one of my favorite places in the whole world, I got to see a friend that I have not seen since high school, and the best part is that the flight and hotel were paid for by using points accrued while traveling for work.

SPIDEY REWORK

My old friend, pro comics artist Michael Netzer has reworked my spidey drawing and I thought I'd give you all a look. Mike is living in Jerusalem now, but when we were very young we were friends and fellow comic book fans in Detroit, where he was born. Mike is a very interesting fellow. He is Lebanese and lived in Lebanon as a child and young man, escaping to Israel during the Lebanon civil war. He has drawn Batman for DC comics, and also worked for Marvel. He's got some radical ideas on a lot of things, but is so talented and creative that he just doesn't think the same as the average guy. It's people like him that push the envelope and push society forward. Anyway, thanks for the tips Mike, and keep them coming.

Time to open a can of WHUPASS!

W: "Cap and I were just having a discussion about the direction the country has been moving in since I took office 5 years ago, and he gave me a solid pat on the back(side)."

W was probably sporting wood...

Time to go at it again!

Well, finally got the resolution on the ticket thing. This burns my ass, but I made a deal (through my lawyer) for no points on my record if I plead guilty and pay the fine. Railroaded! The swine! Money grubbing bastards! Now that I've vented, I guess that is not so bad, but I did not deserve the ticket in the first place. I get hit by some schmuck and they give ME the ticket. $800 ($650 for lawyer, $150 for ticket) to keep my record clean. Just goes to show you that we have the best justice system that money can buy.
Took the family on vacation to the Upper Peninsula and hit all of the sights. Mystery spot (where gravity does really weird stuff), Taquaminon Falls (really dry this year, but still great to see), Marquette, Houghton, Gay (had to stop at the GAY BAR), Eagle River (got some thimbleberry jam at the JAMPOT, and Copper Harbor, which is the home of the Estivent Pines. These are the biggest pines in Michigan. Unfortunately, the biggest one (the Monarch of the Forrest) fell over a couple of years back. Eighteen years ago as newlyweds, my wife and I were just awed by the size of it. It was a real disappointment to not be able to show it to the kids. Overall, a fun vacation. It was striking how the area has slipped even further into decline except Marquette, which seemed to show quite a bit of growth. We also stopped in Munising and took the boat tour of the Pictured rocks, which are really pretty. Besides that, it's been a decent summer at home as well.

I'm on the road as I write this, and it has been a rough day. I'm sitting in the Hampton Inn in Wausau, WI. Got here at 9:45 AM, and had to wait until 1:00 PM for my tools to make it. I did my equipment installation, drove back to the airport and still no suitcase! Finally tracked it down. Somehow it was still in Detroit and will be delivered sometime after midnight. Needless to say, all I have is the clothes on my back. I'm either going to St. Cloud or Rochester, MN tomorrow to take care of some more customers, and am hoping to cut this trip short if I can arrange my schedule right, but of course that always depends on whether the equipment arrives and if the surgeries don't interfere with things. I've still got to hit the Cleveland area before the end of the month, and go to our annual service meeting in Denver as well. That actually could be fun because we are going white water rafting on the Colorado River. It is usually a booze fest for at least one night so it will be fun to see that since I have decided to quit drinking until I lose some pounds. Those vacation pics were just SCARY! So I said to myself "Tim, you are not having another beer until you lose that spare tire!" I'm also cutting out any dessert, pasta, etc. I've lost a few pounds in the first week. I've also been increasing the exercise, but I'm telling you, when you're over forty you won't lose any weight if you suck down 5 or 6 beers almost everyday. Not gonna happen!
As an outlet, I've started drawing again.

I have a good friend from the old days (I've known him since 1975) that I haven't seen in forever. He is a professional Comic Book artist and now lives in Israel. He is sort of a walking contradiction. He is Jewish, and Lebanese. I think he is the only Jewish person I have ever met who is also an Arab. After he moved to Israel, he changed his name from Michael Nasser to Michael Netzer. I've really enjoyed getting re-acquainted online and have participated in his blog and forum discussing comics and art. He is really a great guy and very talented. He is also quite off the wall. He has a lot of out there ideas about religion, politics and such. But you know what? He is very creative and I think that creative people push the envelope of convention and therefore move art and civilization forward. He is also quite fearless about what he says and doesn't care who thinks he's a nut, he'll say what he thinks without worrying if you agree.
Mike has also sort of inspired me to be a little more honest with myself and my feelings. I don't think I'm going to go off the deep end and join a kibbutz or anything, but I'm starting to realize that for the last 15 or so years I have been trying to act the way others expect me to be and not who I really am. I think that's why I've been unhappy to a certain degree for quite a while, because I'm suppressing my dreams and therefore suppressing who I am. Some of that fearlessness is rubbing off, for good or ill, I'm not going to try to stuff that genie back in. I'm starting to get my smile back, and Mike, I thank you for that.