200609220310Bob Fingerman’s new book Recess Pieces is gory horror fest about kid zombies, but Bob admits he’s squeamish about violence, and was even grossed out by Monty Python as a kid. “I remember being pretty freaked out by the “goreâ€? in that Monty Python “Salad Daysâ€? sketch (the one with all the ‘20s fops sitting around a piano outdoors, and Michael Palin getting hit on the nose with a tennis ball, which causes an eruption of blood and cartoonish gore),” he recently told CBR….meanwhile, director Kevin Smith is more afraid of tackling a sci-fi movie. “It’s on the way, but it’ll be a few years before I finally get up the balls to try it! Sci-fi’s more visual, and I’m not really known for that kind of thing.”

On the other hand, director Brett Ratner was more alarmed by fan demands while making X3. “If I start to listen to that stuff, it’ll just drive me nuts,” he says. But he did pay attention to the actual comics. “Every scene in this movie you could find in an existing comic book — a portion of it or the idea behind it. So I made Zak and Simon show me the comic book references. Every single scene I had on my wall in my office in comic book form.”

Drain01Too Much Coffee Man’s Shannon Wheeler confides that he’s on pins and needles for tonight’s opening of the opera based on his creation…Image Comics upcoming Drain has been getting a lot of buzz for the art by Japanese digital painter Sana Takeda, but writer C.B. Cebulski fuels his work with iced green tea lemonade from Starbucks. “I’m addicted,” he admits.

Landry Walker enjoys writing the TRON comic for Slave Labor but thinks he learned little from the experience. “There are probably all sorts of deep and insightful things I could have learned, if only I had been paying attention enough to absorb them.”

Director Guillermo del Toro held a special screening of his new film PAN’S LABYRINTH just for Neil Gaiman, who thinks the spectacular new fantasy film is “astonishing.” The film has been getting great reviews at film fests but doesn’t open in the US until December….and…Warren Ellis is off to Helsinki this weekend for the Comics Festival. So far, he’s impressed by the design of his hotel room, and found local energy drinks surprisingly affordable….meanwhile…Cartoonists Across America’s Phil Yeh is over in Berlin with Phil Ortiz (The Simpsons) and Mark Bode (Cheech Wizard) to paint a mural. Mark has just debuted a new line of Cheech Wizard clothing for Puma. Yeh says the Germans are a comics loving people, and he’s been enjoying a friendly reception.

815256789 LAs a young cartoonist, Carla Speed McNeill showed her work to Charles Vess for a critique. “He said I should open up my panels, set scenes, and establish atmosphere, and I’ve been struggling to follow his advice ever since,” she says. Carla’s supposed struggle doesn’t seem to have hurt her new FINDER collection, FIVE CRAZY WOMEN, which has been getting raves….plus…Abby Denson has to be one of the hardest working women in showbiz. When she’s not touring for her new book Tough Love: High School Confidential she’s fronting the popular band The Saturday Night Things, who just released a new single on MySpace, “Oh Helene.” “It’s live, so this is the raw stuff,” Abby reveals….Evan Dorkin recently inhaled too much bug spray while trying to nuke some ants in his kitchen. Luckily, it didn’t stop him from getting the new issue of Dork finished. The long awaited issue drops in a few weeks and contains 527 panels.

249030208 Bb17E09432Kitten’s Kittens: Jamie McKelvie of PHONOGRAM is known on the Engine by the nickname of “Kitten” because of his cuddly appearance, but now he’s living up to it in another way: he just adopted two four-month old kitties, named Inigo and Fezzik. …meanwhile, John Layman the scribe of Dynamite’s XENA among many other fnie comics, has discovered that his cat, Bumble Buzz, is afraid of ceiling fans, which had led her to start pooping in his bathtub.

Ed Brubaker has been feverishly writing a ton of books lately, including his new Icon title, CRIMINAL. In fact, even winning his first Harvey Award for Best Writer couldn’t take him off schedule. “Hurray for me, and now I’ve got to get back to work, because I’ve got deadlines, and editors could care less about a slab of glass,” he confessed on his blog.

200609220321Looking for a good slice of Red Velvet Cake in New York City? Manga Hamlet artist Tintin Pantojathinks she’s found one of the best at the Sugar Hill Coffee and Tea Lounge up in Harlem. Red Velvet cake is a mix of flavors, Tintin explains, with ingredients including cocoa, cream cheese and vinegar. “It’s supposed to be tangy and a bit sour. Sugar Hill Tea Lounge preserves the moist, buttery batter, but makes the frosting less viscous, more of a sugary glaze than a cream, and with a stronger hint of cream cheese.” Okay sign us up…we’re out of here to eat some cake!

[The above all taken for a few days worth of blogs, interviews and message board postings. A few verbs were added for color. Apologies to all.]

1 COMMENT

  1. Brubaker said the editors “could care less” line?? One of my favorite writers got that saying wrong?!!? I’m sure it MUST have been a typo. Surely his editors COULDN’T care less, right? That’s what I thought.