My Art: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

The art is a bit too large for the scanner, so a tiny bit of the bottom and the "r" all the way on the right got cut off. For the embiggened version, click here.

The Eerie Beauty of Blackreach

Blackreach is a vast underground area in Skyrim, riddled with caves and ancient ruins. Populated by various creatures, home to bioluminescent plantlife, and host to much loot, the area is far larger than even the biggest city in the game. The main story in Skyrim takes you there briefly, but I always intended to set aside a few hours and explore it more fully when I had the chance.

To keep my exploration from being 100% random, I decided to collect as many examples of crimson nirnroot as I could, therefore unlocking the "return to your roots" quest. The quest requires you to have 30; I got a few extras in my time in Blackreach.

I was surprised to find a fucking giant strolling aimlessly down here. As usual, he turned hostile once I got somewhat close to him, and I had to put him down.

Here is a Dwemer Centurion Master who had the misfortune of being spotted by me; I killed it before it could even rise from its metal rack container-thingy.

After dispatching a few Falmer near this orb...

A goddamn dragon appeared!

I have no idea how a dragon came to be trapped down here, as dragons are not normally found in caves in Skyrim.

Fortunately, he was no tougher to kill than any other dragon, and he was soon munching dirt.

I spent about three hours altogether in Blackreach this time, and I still haven't been everywhere. The place is vast. I'll have to make a return trip when time allows.
For larger versions of any of these photos, you can view the album here.

My art: DC Dead- Superman vs. Wonder Woman

All of you who kept bugging the hell outta me asking "How can Superman be a zombie?" Here's how. Click here for an embiggened version.

My art: Orlok on the Prowl!

This is my first painting. Couldn't exactly scan it, so Cindy was kind enough to photograph it for me. For an embiggened version, click here.

Rant Review: Batman Inc. #1

It's been a few months since I did a comic review, but I just couldn't resist this one. One of my all-time favorite series returns, and it's every bit as amazing as expected. Writer Grant Morrison and artist Chris Burnham deliver a riveting issue, working in all the necessary backstory to accommodate new readers. Burnham's art has improved since his last stint on the previous volume of this series, and it was quite good even then. His creative layouts are a visual feast, and he nails the appropriate facial expression for each character 100% of the time. As always Morrison delivers a story that rewards those who pay close attention, and includes some references to stories past-- including his own JLA #1 from fifteen years ago-- but he forgoes some of the more experimental storytelling techniques that sometimes leave some readers' heads spinning. It's one of the most straightforward issues Morrison has written in recent years, which makes it all the easier for a new reader to dive in. The final page makes for a loooooooong wait for next month's issue. Batman fans are likely already getting this issue, but I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys action stories and/or superheroes in general.
My score:

So, I started a Tumblr...

Since I've been making an effort to return to drawing often, as i used to, I decided a Tumblr would be a good idea, so I can have all my art easily accessible in one place, rather than having to search here on the blog. The Art of Waylon Piercy Tumblr will be the place to go if you want to view my recent art, although I'll still post it here, as well.

My art: The Scarecrow

Here's a piece I whipped up last night, featuring none other than one of my favorite Batman villains: the sinister Scarecrow! For a larger version, click here.

I hope I'm not giving Hollywood any ideas...

Okay, we all know how boring it can be to hear about other people's dreams. But this is one for the record books.
I just dreamed that I was in a movie called Batman & the Three Stooges Meet King Kong. We were on a giant wooden flying machine-- evidently, I was playing the part of Batman-- and Kong was stomping around trying to catch up to us. I won his trust by pulling a large poisoned needle out of his hand, just in time for the flying machine to start crashing into a city. As everyone panicked, I remarked, "Bitches, I GOT this." In true Batman fashion, I saved us and kept the machine aloft in some extraordinary way, the explanation of which I can't begin to recall. (It was pretty damn awesome though, I can tell ya that.) Then, since the Three Stooges were those horrible faux-Stooges from that recent cinematic abortion, Kong and I teamed up to expel them from the flying craft. As I tossed faux-Moe overboard, I yelled, "We should've dropped you in Berlin!" (And no, I have no idea what in the blue hell that means, either.)

At this point, my mind was so baffled that I woke myself up. I can't decide if this would be a truly horrible movie, or the greatest thing ever.

Free Comic Book Day 2012

As many of you know, yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, which is always the first Saturday in May. Cindy and I made a day of it, as usual. My nephew Braxton stayed over the night before, and we all set out Saturday morning for Southern Fried Comics. We had a ball, then had lunch, hit some thrift stores, and capped it all off by going to see The Avengers. (I'm not gonna bother reviewing the movie, but seriously, go see it. It's a fun superhero comic come to life! If you've liked any of the Marvel movies, you will love it!)

Unlike many comic shops, SFC does not limit you to only two or three of the FCBD offerings, nor do they require you to purchase anything to get any of the free comics. I missed out on the Donald Duck, Image 20th Anniversary, and Smurfs comics I wanted, but I did get everything else I was interested in.

(Braxton really liked that one!)

I've never read a Mouse Guard comic before, but the book is actually hardcover, and it is just adorable. It even has a nameplate on the inside cover!

Also got the Thor figurine, and the comics in my pull box. (If you care, those were the last two issues of Simpsons Comics, the last issue of Spongebob Comics, and the latest issue of Simpsons One-Shot Wonders, featuring Milhouse.)
Free Comic Book Day is a  great event, and the people at Southern Fried Comics go above and beyond each year to make it fun. With a second event centered on Halloween beginning this year, I'm really looking forward to the next one!

DC Dead #1: Superman

This is the first piece in a new series that's been gestating for quite a while. Sure, zombie mash-ups are nothing new, but who cares? They're fun to draw, and fun to look at.

The scanner picked up some stuff on the other side of the paper, such as all the red streaks from where I was dabbing off most of the red paint on the tiny brush to get the fine splatter on Superman's S-shield just right. The stuff on the other side is not visible to the naked eye when looking at the art. 

GO SEE JOHN CARTER AT THE THEATER

John Carter is doing well in the international market, but it seems to be tanking domestically. People, go and see this movie. It's the kind of epic for which theaters exist. My girlfriend knew absolutely nothing about any of the characters or concept, and she liked it quite a bit. Same with my 13-year-old nephew. It really is a big, epic, fun movie for the entire age spectrum. It's disheartening that the latest rape of a Dr. Seuss classic-- "The Lorax," which is being used to sell SUVs, for crhissake-- is doing much better. We don't get big action movies with a brain very often.
 And for anyone who thinks some aspects of John Carter look derivative: Edgar Rice Burroughs INVENTED this stuff with his John Carter of Mars work. Without John Carter, there would be no Buck Rogers, no Flash Gordon, and certainly no Star Wars. (And that's exactly how SW family tree looks: John Carter --> Buck Rogers --> Star Wars.)
 If you like movies that take you on a grand adventure without insulting your intelligence, GO AND SEE JOHN CARTER. When garbage like Michael Bay's Transformers abominations rake in countless hundreds of millions of dollars and we let quality films like John Carter wither and die on the vine, we have no one but ourselves to blame when we just keep getting more of the same crap.

Rant Review: Showcase Presents Batman, Volume 1

Five and a half short years after its publication, here are my thoughts on the first volume dedicated to Batman in DC's phone book-sized Showcase Presents reprint series. This is an expanded version of the review I posted on Goodreads.

This collection shows a Batman who is in a transitionary phase, slowly leaving behind the goofier elements common to superhero comics of the 1930s-50s. Beginning with the debut of the "new look" Batman in Detective Comics #327, this volume slows a slightly more down-to-earth Batman; gone are the strange transformations and travels to alien worlds. There is still plenty of lovable Silver Age goofiness though, and there is rarely a dull moment. Stories from this era provide a nice balance to the dark, "gritty" Batman that has been common the past few decades. I prefer the darker interpretation myself, but I also enjoy these more light-hearted tales quite a bit.

What is the "new look" Batman, you ask? When DC editorial decided to get rid of the over-the-top fantasy and sci-fi elements and bring the Batman books back to a more grounded level, the shift was personified in a costume tweak for the Caped Crusader; this was the debut of the yellow oval bat symbol we're all familiar with. The art style also changed; instead of a legion of ghost artists delivering art in the house style for Bob Kane to pretend he had drawn, Carmine Infantino started illustrating some of the Batman adventures, beginning with issue #327 of Detective Comics. Longtime Kane ghost artist Sheldon Moldoff (who tragically passed away a week ago) altered his art style to better fit the more realistic stories, and the overall look of the books improved a great deal, in my not-so-humble opinion.(It shows just how versatile Moldoff was that he shifted his art to such a large degree practically overnight, without missing a beat!)

To be sure, these stories still contain quite a bit of goofiness and ham-fisted narration and dialogue, but it was a drastic change from what had gone before, and a big step in the right direction. There was even a long-running story featuring the mysterious Outsider that unfolded over the course of a couple of years, which was highly unusual for the time. Things were going quite well in the Batman books, and then a certain TV show debuted... but that's something to discuss another time.

Bottom line: if you enjoy the inspired goofiness that pops up frequently in Silver Age comics, you'll enjoy this book. If you're a fan of the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold TV series, this book is right up your alley.
My score:
Check this book out, fool!