Not Brand Echh Part 2

Here is the Origin of Stuporman also from Not Brand Echh # 7. Another great piece. Again, Marie Severin penciled and inked this piece. Click images for larger versions.

Not Brand Echh

This was my favorite regular comic book when I was a kid, Marvel's Not Brand Echh. It came out in 1967 and was a parody of all things Marvel, drawn by the same artists who broght you Fantastic Four, Superman, and the rest of the Marvel gang. I have the complete original run of 13 comics. I wasn't a huge Marvel comic fan really, as the regular superheros were not my thing, but anything that made fun of something definitely was. At the time, my favorite regular comic was Spiderman. Mostly I bought a lot of Mads which unfortunately I don't have anymore. I'm sure lots of them got thrown out or lost when we moved.

But here's Issue 7 of Not Brand Echh, which I think is great starting with the origins of the Fantastical Four & Stuporman. According to the Grand Comics Database - the super talented Marie Severin did the cover, and on this story I think Jack Kirby did layouts and Marie did the pencils and Tom Sutton did the inking. I don't claim to be by any means an expert on who did what comics, so if there's any artist mistakes let me know.

I just loved the way these look and they were fun for any 12 year old. I will put up the second story soon, on the origin of Stuporman. Enjoy.

Beatley Christmas

Now I don't know how many out there are Beatle fans, but I got the new re-release of the fabs second movie Help! for Christmas. I'm so happy it finally came out. It's a great two disc set that has been restored much like the Hard Days Night version, although the boxing isn't quite as elaborate. The first disc is the movie and it looks and sounds great! Crisp and clear and the color is beautiful. The 2nd disc has a 30 minute documentary on the making of the movie, which unfortunately doesn't have any present interviews with any of the Beatles but none the less has interviews with Richard Lester the director and actress Elenor Bron and others. There's a good in-depth look at the restoration process as well on there. This puts the previous vhs release to shame.

I like this film for a number of reasons. One, I like the Beatles. I'm a big big fan. They were a big influence on my musical tastes growing up, along with other groups of the 60's. Two, this was the first or one of the first movies I went to with my friend, by ourselves in 1965. I was only 10 years old and my mom dropped my friend and I off at the local Lancaster Theater in Lancaster, NY back when you could drop your 10 year olds off by themselves and not have to worry. I just remember going to the show and watching it and loving it. It was just so exciting for a young kid to see something like this. I also remember even more vividly seeing Yellow Submarine only 3 years later, when I was 13 which may or may not have had an influence on my interest in animation, I'm not really sure. But that's a post for another day.

But seeing it again brings me back in a good way, to that time in my life. Love the music and the fun of it all. If you're a Beatle fan, check it out. It's well worth it.

Eating Pizza!

Saw this dude eating pizza at Dino's Pizza in Burbank, so I quickly sketched him on the menu and scanned it and colored it quickly in Photoshop. I know there's some things wrong , but I don't care, it's an impression I was going for. That and I don't like to finish drawings or clean them up, they always get too tight and stiff on me, so I don't bother.

I really don't think this guy needed any more pizza to tell you the truth, but it looked like he ate there a lot!