By now everyone knows Amazon is the one-stop cyber-shop for all your rabid consumerist needs, but did you know that they’ve also launched their own movie studio? Yup, in addition to their Kindle and media streaming business, Amazon Studios is sponsoring contests open to all would-be Hollywood hopefuls to make it in the big time. They’re partnered up with Time-Warner among others so there’s some significant muscle behind the operation, not to mention big bucks as they’re giving away prize money in the six figures every month!

Last month I entered the rewrite contest for a screenplay that is currently a frontrunner for production: Zombies Vs. Gladiators. I dusted off my rusty screenwriting skills and was surprised when my script was picked as a semi-finalist out of hundreds of competitors. Unfortunately my script was not picked as a finalist but I still felt good about making it that far. Now this month Amazon is hosting a poster contest over at Talenthouse for honor and glory and of course a cash prize as well.

I decided to do something inspired by the old school fantasy painters such as Frank Frazetta and figured I might as well do one of these process pages showing how I went from sketch to finished painting:

Below is the finished painting complete with Roman-style movie text:

Finally got around to posting these new Batman sample comic pages that I created for NYCC. I decided to use the character designs for Arkham City because 1. I loved playing Arkham Asylum and 2. Just to do something a little different. Although, looking back on it, my colors drifted back closer to the classic comic designs than the new ones, but oh well. Catwoman was fun to draw… She was always one of my favorite characters, especially after seeing Michelle Pfeiffer play her in Batman Returns. Not too sure about the new Anne Hathaway Catwoman, it looks like they took all the fun and sex out of the character, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see the movie.

Here’s page two out of the three page submission, head over to my new spiffy Gallery for the rest of the pages:

So I haven’t talked much lately about some comics other than my own art and that is both making me feel like a dirty self-promoter and making this blog kind of boring, so I decided to write a bit about a new book I picked up: Naoki Urasawa’s new manga series “Billy Bat”.

Honestly, I was so overloaded with a luggage full of comics and artbooks that when I saw the first volume of Billy Bat on sale for $2.50 at NYC’s BookOff, I almost didn’t buy it. But, as I was urged out of the store by my very-understanding wife, I grabbed it nevertheless, and I was glad I did. Reading it on the flight back using my rudimentary Japanese, I feel like I got most of the story as Urasawa is simply a master storyteller, so most of the panels needed no words to understand them.

With the help of co-author Takashi Nagasaki, Urasawa has once again created a manga masterpiece on par with Pluto and 20th Century Boys. You can read all sorts of plot summaries online so I’ll be brief here: Billy Bat is a strange amalgam of Batman, Dick Tracy, and Mickey Mouse… The brainchild of Japanese-American cartoonist Kevin Yamagata. The character is a hit in America, but Kevin soon journeys to his homeland to unravel the mysteries of a strange bat-like symbol and unearth the pains buried during World War II.

Billy Bat is, simply put, meta-fiction at its best. I was already lamenting earlier this year that there’s far too few great comics about comics, since it is the nature of a medium to examine its own history and often that can produce amazing results. You see this in films and novels on a frequent basis, some successful and some not, but comics seems to be a medium that does not want to address its own history much other than the occasional indy work by Dan Clowes and the like. What I find interesting is that Billy Bat takes on the big boys… We’re talking Walt Disney and DC, not to mention the cultural ramifications of World War II upon the Japanese psyche. This is heady stuff to be tackled by an anthropomorphic bat detective, but Urasawa pulls it off as if he was taking a walk in the park.

Needless to say this series has my highest recommendation. Its no coincidence that that Urasawa was approved by Osamu Tezuka’s estate to do a re-imagining of one of Tetsuwan Atom’s most beloved tales, and Pluto has already proven Urasawa to be a fitting torchbearer of Tezuka’s legacy. Now, with Billy Bat, he may even surpass the God of manga to create something unique, post-modern, and completely mind-blowing.

Hey guys, back from our amazing trip to Gotham for NYCC. I’ve been to New York many times but its been a while since we had the kids. It was great to be part of that unique city atmosphere again, and the con itself was great – Somewhat smaller than SDCC but no less crowded and energetic. Ate and shopped in Manhattan during the day, partied with our friends in Brooklyn at night, it was a great time.

Noteworthy purchases at the con: The new re-released Andrew Loomis “Drawing the Head and Hands”, just as great as everyone says and worthy every penny. “Steve Rude: Artist in Motion”, a great coffee table artbook covering all aspects of the incredible Dude. Found at the Strand (NYC’s premier used bookstore): Both Frank Frazetta artbooks “Icon” and “Legacy”… Been looking for these as they are out of print and did not want to pay exorbitant prices for them, once again the Strand delivers! The biggest purchase of the trip: Hokusai’s “Complete Manga Sketchbooks” at Kinokuniya – It was pricey but I just could not pass it up. All of the master’s manga sketches in one comprehensive volume, leatherbound with a gorgeous slipcase.

Below is a detail from the new Batman submission pages I finished for DC. I added the film poster-like type just for fun. I’ll be posting the comic pages up soon.