Todd’s Blog

While the last few issues written by Geoff Johns impressed me by keeping the character development going amid the larger Blackest Night madness, this one does less well. It’s a plot-driven story, Johns needs to have a member of all the Lantern color groups work together in a rainbow coalition. and here we see him trying to justify including the orange and red Lanterns by playing up their back stories. Doesn’t work for me, it feels contrived. There are a few good dialogue moments (Uncle Scrooge mentions, for instance), but it feels like a puzzle piece being dropped into a larger picture that we don’t see yet. The art by Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy and Tom Nguyen is fine, the lettering by Rob Leigh and the coloring by Mayor and Eltreb is great. I’d trade it all for a story that moved me, though. Mildly recommended.

Friday we’d been hearing panicked reports of the blizzard bearing down on us, but saw no snow all day. When it finally began around 7 PM, it was almost a relief. When we went to bed, there was just about two inches of snow, but during the night the wind picked up, and we awoke Saturday to a full-fledged blizzard. The temperature was a few degrees above freezing all morning, making the snow very heavy and clingy. Many small trees, like these around the pond, were bowed to the ground.

I’d been hearing the noise of branches rubbing against the back of the house, and thought a tree must have fallen there, but when I walked around, I saw it was just more small trees. I shook them to unload some of the snow, and they sprang back up.

Leo, on feeder duty, watched this with interest.

There were plenty of branches down, and in the front yard the top half of a holly tree had broken off and flattened our lilac bush, but it may recover, they’re pretty resilient. This shot looks down the drive, where Ellen was shaking more snow off bowed trees. While out there, she heard a loud crack, and went to investigate.

A large pitch pine tree, seemingly perfectly healthy, had broken off from the weight of the snow I guess, and fallen from the edge of our property into the road.

As you can see, it wasn’t the only one, and by next morning the tree next to it, right where Ellen is standing in the photo above, had fallen, too.

The road was unplowed, and remained so all day Saturday. We started shoveling the driveway, doing several 20-minute shifts. This is only the third or fourth time we’ve needed to in the twenty years we’ve lived here, but with the height of snow expected, and the heaviness of it, there was no way we could just drive out through it as we usually can.

Sunday morning the storm was over, and the sun out, but it remained cold. Winter wonderland was in effect, that pretty globby snow everywhere.

Rows of icicles lined the eaves. Are we in the Black Forest, or Vermont? No, southern New Jersey, where this amount of snow is rare indeed.

I tried to find an average spot to measure it, and here it was about 13 inches, but other spots were deeper, so an average of 15 inches is probably about right. And by Sunday the snow had settled some, so it may well have been higher Saturday evening.

So, today it’s back to shoveling. The part we did on Saturday just needed tire paths, then new ground was shoveled at the end. As I write this, we’re about 20 feet from the road, needing one more go. Then I still have to do the area in front of the other garage door so I can get my car out.

Out in the road, things are in much better shape. A road crew must have come through and removed most of the fallen trees, leaving only a small mess for me to deal with later.

And the road, while still snowy, has been plowed and is starting to melt.

We should have no trouble getting Ellen’s car out tomorrow, and hopefully mine as well. Since I’ve also been busy (inside) processing and packing orders for my new print, that’s a good thing! They should all get to the post office Monday.

© Mark Buckingham and Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

I put this on sale much earlier today that planned because we’re in the middle of a blizzard here, and the power has already flickered off and on twice since I got up this morning. So, if our power does go out completely, at least you can place orders. To order just this print, you can go to the BUY EBATF page, to see and order my complete print line, go to my BUY STUFF page. My print partners and I thank you for your orders and support!

Tig here. Th’ Man was gonna say how bad I been other day, but I got here first. See, Leo, he got this thing about birds. He sit there for hours, waitin’, then they come, and he get all excited, talkin’ to himself.

I try ta tell him “Leo, you can’t get those birds, there’s some hard stuff in th’ way,” but he keeps tryin’. He jump up, birds fly, he fall down. Then he do it again.

We can see them birds, we can talk about ‘em, but we can’t catch ‘em. But Leo, he don’t get it, he keeps tryin’. Me, I get bored. I gotta do other stuff. I climb on th’ cabinets, and Th’ Man say, “NOOO!” real loud and clap, too. Don’t like it. Why he pickin’ on me?

So I go in th’ livin’ room ta play, and all of a sudden, a loud noise, THUMP!, scare me. Th’ Man come in, “NOOOO, Tigger! Bad boy!” All I hear anymore. Whatta grump. So I go upstairs.

I find this paper stuff, an’ I pull it. Real fun ta play with. Havin’ a great time, when, there’s Th’ Man again, with his “NOOOO, TIGGER!” Geez, always blamin’ everythin’ on me. I was just playin’. Leo, he just look smug, “I’m a GOOD boy,” he say. Well, sometimes Leo get yelled at, too. I know what I do, I pretend I’m real cute and smiley, then Leo get all th’ yellin’. Here, see what ya think:

Nobody gonna yell at me lookin’ like that, right? Leo gonna get all th’ grief, I tell ya. This gonna work. You’ll see.

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

If I were paying myself to review this book, I’d have to refuse the check. I don’t feel I’m getting much out of this series, it kind of blurs together in a whirl of brightly costumed good guys, black, decaying baddies, and now a rainbow of lanterns entering the fray. Lots of action, lots of color, but I’m finding little substance that stays with me. I read all the words about two weeks ago, and now, looking through it, can’t remember anything much of them. Yes, there’s a big reveal in the center of the book, but it’s been telegraphed for so long it wasn’t a surprise at all. The big baddie, Nekron, seems not much worse than the other Black Lanterns, just bigger. Guess this title has lost me, and I can’t recommend it, though I may read through to the end to see if the last three issues offer more to me than this one.

We’re certainly in the snow track this winter. A blizzard is approaching, and the weathermen are predicting 18-24 inches of snow here between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening. Above is the sun trying to penetrate incoming clouds, and looking more like the moon. As my Dad would have said, “Looks like snow.” I’ll no doubt have pictures this weekend. The storm could set a winter snowfall record here, I think.

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

I’m really enjoying this Flash revamp, returning Barry Allen to the title. It has an entire cast of super-speedsters, but what really stands out is the bitter conflict between Barry and his arch-enemy the Reverse Flash. Both are handled with great effect by writer Geoff Johns in this story, which delves into Allen’s past in a way I never expected, and the reveal at the end of this issue is shocking. Johns seems unable to resist having nearly all the DC speedsters together here, and some of that is a bit confusing and distracting, but most of it works. The art by Ethan Van Sciver is terrific, from that great homage cover (on the first appearance of the Golden Age and Silver Age Flashes together in the 1960s), through every page of this issue. I still find his figures a little stiff when they should be relaxed, but when they’re moving, as they usually are in this title, he gets it right. There’s really very little about this series I don’t like, and I recommend it highly. Looking forward to the final issue.

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

Mike Grell concludes the story arc that he not only wrote but pencilled and inked in these issues, and I have to say his art looks just as good as it did on the title’s original run in the 1970s. The cover, above, is colored with markers, and does not well represent the interiors, which are colored normally and expertly by David Curiel. Grell’s marker colors might look great on the original art, but they don’t seem to reproduce well, they’re muddy. On the interior line art, Grell shows he’s still got it, drawing action scenes and quiet moments equally well, with fluid lines, attractive layouts and figures, and deft inking.

The story? Well, it’s a mix of reminiscence and new plotlines, filling in more old history and characters while moving the present story forward. An old temple and its goddess brings on some of the recaps, and allows Travis Morgan to rediscover his focus, while new characters are exploring the odd combination of sorcery, science, dinosaurs, medieval weapons and heroic battles that is Skartaris. Nothing too deep or earth-shaking, but a good read, and especially fun for fans of the original series. Recommended.

Todd Klein and Mark Buckingham, San Diego Comicon 2009.

The idea for this print began at the San Diego Comicon in 2008. My first two prints, with partners Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, had been released, and during a dinner with some of the creative crew from the FABLES books I letter for DC Comics, questions came around as to what I might be doing for later prints, and with who. Mark Buckingham, sitting next to me, said he’d be delighted to work on one, and that gave me something to think about. That evening I came up with a print idea that I thought would be ideal for Mark, or “Bucky” as his friends call him. Bucky loves to draw animals, as any reader of FABLES can surely see, so my idea involved lots of them: a fabulous feast for a host of animals. I thought I’d try to go through the alphabet, getting one or more species for each letter in there, and the first thing that came to mind was, “Antelopes ate canteloupes.” That seemed familiar, so I googled it and soon found that lots of people have hit on that rhyme. It was in a children’s book, a song lyric, and several poems, none of which I’d ever heard of or seen. I felt it was okay to move on with that as a beginning, which I probably wouldn’t have done if the line was from one famous book or song that everyone might know.

I thought of a few more lines, and when I saw Bucky again the next day, I told him my idea, and he thought it was perfect for him, so we had a deal. His print title would begin with the letter E, and I still had to do prints for C and D first, so we knew it would be a while before we got to it.

In January of 2009 I wrote the entire poem, which now had an introduction setting up the scene, and and after-feast section to say what happened later. I emailed it to Bucky, and he replied:

“I think it’s simply wonderful! It’s definitely the perfect tone and subject matter for me My only immediate concern was the last couple of lines, as I’m not sure if they flow well. Ending with the word unafraid didn’t seem to sit well with the preceeding lines. Sorry!!  The rest of the poem has a lovely rhythm Do you have a layout in mind for the structure of the print?”

We discussed the end further, and I did change it a bit, but I convinced Bucky the rhyme structure, though a little different than the bulk of the poem, did work. (Either that, or he just agreed to humor me!) As for the layout, I saw it this way: a large title at the top, then the poem running down each side, and a picture with lots of animals between, with perhaps a few more around the title letters. In my head I was imagining a picnic table with the animals around it, but I wasn’t sure if that would work, and told Bucky to design it any way he’d like.

Things stood there for a while, as I was busy with other prints. At the San Diego Con in 2009 we talked about it again, and by then I’d released a C print with partner Alex Ross and a D print with partner J.H. Williams III, so Bucky was next. I asked if he’d like me to lay out the print and letter the poem first, then send it to him to do the art, and he was fine with that, so when I got back from the con I started working on it.

© Walt Kelly estate.

Stylistically, my inspiration was the work of Walt Kelly, particularly the illustrated poems and songs he often included in the Pogo paperback book collections published by Simon and Schuster, like this one from “The Pogo Peek-A-Book” of 1955. I wanted a similar feel to this for the poem lettering, and wanted the title to have a lot of energy and bounce like this one, too, although perhaps not this much bounce! I’ve been a great fan of Kelly and Pogo since my childhood, when I began collecting these Pogo books, and it took me many years to amass the complete set. Kelly’s lettering (with the help of his assistant Henry Shikuma, who did a lot of the actual lettering over Kelly’s blue-pencil layouts) was also an influence, though I don’t get to display it very often.

This and all following images © Mark Buckingham and Todd Klein.

Here’s the title and poem laid out in pencil on a sheet of 11 by 17-inch art paper. I left the initial E open for a hand-painted spot color, but planned to fill in the rest solid black. The credits ended up a little too close to the title, but I could lower them later. By chance, the lines of the poem on the left worked out longer in general than those on the right, but I thought it didn’t matter, as the art would fill in the center anyway. I emailed this scan to Bucky (back home in Spain, where he’s been living the last few years), and he thought it was fine, so next I began lettering the poem.

Using a Speedball C6 dip pen point, I did an upper and lower case italic style along the lines of the Walt Kelly example above, but with less of a serif look. The capital letters at the beginning of each line of the poem were thickened with a fine-point technical drawing pen. Since I was working at printed size, I might have worried about small errors and places where the letters run together, but I planned to touch up things like that later on the computer, where they seemed distracting or made the text hard to read. That’s my safety net, allowing me to just do the lettering without too much fuss. The title I left uninked in case Bucky decided to put any of his art in front of the letters. He chose not to, but I gave him the option.

When I was finished, I made a high-resolution scan, just in case, and mailed the piece to Bucky in the first week of August, and it got there safely. Meanwhile, Bucky was very busy working on FABLES and other projects, going to conventions, and so on, so it was quite a while before I heard or saw anything further from him. In mid October, Bucky emailed:

“I’m currently without Fables script…so I’m taking advantage of the break to get pencilling on our limited print. Would you prefer for me to include every single animal listed…or will a representative sample suffiice?”

I once again told him to do it any way he thought best, and added that it wasn’t necessary or probably even possible to get all the animals in. Bucky also wrote:

“I’m contemplating a more graphic approach to the art built around the animals’ shapes, rather than a scenic illustration…to help differentiate this from the last two prints that have had quite a delicate illustrative style. What do you think?”

I thought that sounded fine, and though I didn’t mention it to Bucky, I had always pictured this print in his usual open-line art style used for most of his FABLES work, which is what it sounded like he planned to do.

Then Bucky got busy again with FABLES, but on December 7th I received this by email:

As has been the case with each of my prints using art, the art that’s come in has been WAY better than anything I’d imagined, and this one was, too! Bucky used every bit of the space between the poem columns in a wonderful animal collage, with a few items of food in there, as well. And around the title were more animals and food. It was perfect! Bucky wrote:

“I focused on it over the weekend and think it turned out rather nice. Hope you like it, too! I enjoyed working bits of the art into every little nook and cranny around the lettering. I really miss that part of making comics since the world went digital. Please feel free to ask for any adjustments to the art. I want to be sure you are happy before I ink anything “

I was quick to assure him I loved it just as it was. My only note was to say he could have the animals actually standing on the title letters at the top instead of floating above them, and he agreed to do that. About a week later he sent a scan of the inks:

It was looking better all the time. Bucky mailed it off to me, and I got it back safely. (Always breath a sigh of relief when that happens!)

Next I inked the title, outlining the letters with a technical drawing pen, and filling in the blacks…

…then erased all remaining pencil marks, scanned the art, and did my adjustments and touch-ups on the computer. Note that I’ve lowered the credit line a bit here, probably the only adjustment you can see at this size.

Next I printed some samples on three paper stocks, all in the line of Wausau Exact Vellum Bristol I’d been using since the first print. I’d ordered some yellow stock, thinking it might go well with this light-hearted subject, but I wasn’t happy with the way it looked printed. The yellow color seemed to flatten out the art too much. I also tried the Cream color, and the Ivory, then filled the open E in each with an orange watercolor that I’d decided to use for spot color painting. I scanned each of these and sent them to Bucky. He agreed that the yellow didn’t work, but liked the other two. I decided to print the run on the Ivory stock (on the right), the same color I’d used for the Alex Ross print.

In addition to the E, I painted the contents of a jar of marmalade in the center, and a small dish at bottom right, to give the spot color some balance. For a while I was thinking of painting the Bengal tiger, too, but Bucky talked me out of it, saying:

“It doesn’t work well with the balance of the page, being to one side of the illustration. Also, by painting one of the main animals, rather than enhancing the piece I’m worried it makes it look unfinished. I think it also gives the Tiger a level of importance that isn’t reflected in the poem.”

I thanked him and bowed to his judgment, and I’m really glad I did, because, not only was he right, he saved me lots of painting time! Even so, it took me many hours to paint the entire run of 500, plus extras for Bucky and I and a small batch for comps.

On January 14th they were all painted and signed by me, and I packed them securely and shipped them off to Bucky for his signature. Bucky signed them in orange, to match the color theme, and sent them back, with all prints making both trips safely. It’s been a long road, but my fifth signed print is ready for release at last. I’m very happy with the way it turned out, hope you are too. On sale date and info can be found on THIS post.

© Mark Buckingham and Todd Klein.

I’m pleased to announce that my next signed print, with partner Mark Buckingham, is finished, and will be released at Noon, Eastern Standard Time, on Saturday, February 6th. The print is called “Each Beast At The Feast,” and is a light-hearted poem written by me about a fabulous animal picnic with wonderful art by Mark Buckingham, the main artist on the FABLES comic from Vertigo/DC. It’s printed on Ivory Exacta Bristol Vellum paper, the same paper used for my Alex Ross print. Each print has pale orange spot color added by me. It’s limited to 500 copies signed by both of us, and will sell for $20.

Mark Buckingham loves to draw animals, and he’s had the chance to get lots of them in this picture, which I think and hope will appeal to all ages. A detailed description of the creation of the print is HERE. “Each Beast At The Feast” is the fifth print in a series, previous prints in partnership with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Alex Ross and J.H. Williams III are still available, all for $20 each.

To order on Saturday, go to my BUY STUFF page, but be aware that the new print won’t appear there until it goes on sale. Mark and I look forward to hearing from you then!