What I couldn't say... In memory of Lorenzo Patrick Jr.

February 8th 2014 Lorenzo Guy Patrick Jr. aka Kwabena Shango left his suffering and spread his  light across the universe.

My big brother died.

After half a decade he succumbed to ALS.

At his funeral I wanted to speak but I could not.  Even now I know I have not resolved the loss.  I had time and preparation but no realization of what this would feel like. I told myself I would post a blog to his memory and say the things i wanted needed desired to say but was unable.  And show how he was an inspiration in my life and in my art.

His spirit struck me this week as I was going through life shit and he said,

"Stop Bitchin' and just do it!"

I heard his voice clearly.  The advice related to something else but also it was always his general response to my self-doubt and procrastination.

Thank you Lo.  This is what you meant to me....

Sooooooo.......

  I wrote this over a year ago and never published it.  Been through a gang of of ish since then but I'm trying to get back to me so I'll begin my revisiting ti this blog with this old entry.  Also I must add I lost my father this year as well as getting remarried.   So alot.  I want to get lost in creating and writing and my family. Wish me luck and look for content soon.  Because life in my forties is something else...



     Reading List:  Antiquity- LA Crime Novel by Darrin Hackett.  A first novel from an old and very creative friend.
     Music List:   nothing right now... music has just been background noise lately....
     Movie/Television List:   Thomas and Friends, Word girl, Daniel Tigers Neighborhood... my toddler son controls a lot of my TV watching these days.

  

Adventures In and Out of Boxes: HOD. Page Nine

LOGOS

On a personal level this is the process of individuation. But what shall we make of our collective efforts at differentiation? What are the consequences of our collective struggle? Carl Jung says:

“The paternal principle, the Logos,… eternally struggles to extricate itself from the primal warmth and primal darkness of the maternal womb; in a word, from unconsciousness.” (ibid)

Jung associates the paternal principle with Logos, and Logos with ‘divine curiosity.’ This divine curiosity seeks the evolution of consciousness, bringing forth the potential and possibility of human awareness. Jung says,

“Divine curiosity yearns to be born and does not shrink from conflict, suffering, or sin.” (ibid)

from:
http://pathofsoul.org/2013/05/21/our-battle-with-sacred-mother/

 

 

 

I am not trying to turn this into a pretentious artist's guide to simplified Jungian ideology.  What is happening is discovery of meaning in response to experienced phenomena.  (Okay maybe a little pretentious...) In all honesty I have intentions when these images are drawn but deeper understanding occurs in reflection.  My desire for a healthy anima demanded a strong sense of self.  During the time of my separation and divorce I crawled into a cave(as I am want to do) and addressed the basic necessities to maintain or reconstruct my sanity. 

 

What shall we use
To fill the empty spaces
Where we used to talk?
How shall I fill the final places?
How should I complete the wall
-EmptySpaces

by Pink Floyd

*with thanks to my college roommate Bill and his love for Pink Floyd that he passed on to me.

 

I got this icebox where my heart used to be (but I got this)
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (said I got this)
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold
-Ice Box

by Omarion

*with apologies cause I love some pop songs without reason.

 

 

I put down some things and some people that weren't moving me forward looked at how much stock I put in others evaluations of me.  I accidently realized I got FREE.  I found out what FREE meant and how much responsibility it is.  Still working on that.  So once again I end in meditation and work towards another realization.   

 

 

 

 

Reading List:            Anything drawn by Stuart Immonen, Olivier Coipel & Carlos Pacheco.  

                                 Trying to learn how to draw some dynamic superhero shit.

                                  

 

 

Listening List:         WordBallon Podcast: Most recent Bendis tapes. 1/14/2014.

                                On Being Podcast: Patrick Bellegarde-Smith on Living Voudou.    1/9/2014.

                                Paper Wings Podcast: Interview with Marvel studios storyboard artist

                                 Justin Copeland.  PWP#23, 11/13/2012.

                                 5'o'clock. T-pain.

 

Watching List:        House of Cards Trilogy(UK): Part 3: The Final Cut. WOW. Please check it out

                                on Netflix.

                                Army Wives: Season 5&6.  Guilty pleasure.

                                Firefly. Season One.  Studying Whedon...And no Sigler I am not watching Buffy

                                or Angel... I just ain't doing it yet.

                                Tudors. Season One.  Nice and Ribald! Weird seeing the Man of Steel getting

                                 freaky!

                           



Adventures In and Out of Boxes: HOD. Page Eight.

 

INDIVIDUATION

Individuation is a process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious are brought into consciousness (e.g., by means of dreams, active imagination, or free association) to be assimilated into the whole personality. It is a completely natural process necessary for the integration of the psyche. Individuation has a holistic healing effect on the person, both mentally and physically

-from: Jung, C.G. (1962). Symbols of Transformation: An Analysis of the Prelude to a Case of Schizophrenia (vol. 2). New York: Harper & Brothers.

 

 

How the harmonizing of conscious and unconscious data is to be undertaken cannot be indicated in the form of a recipe.

 

-from: Jung, C.G. (1959) The Archetypes and the Collective Unconsciousness. Chapter VI: Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation.  Princeton University Press.

 

 

      I found Jung through storytelling and mythology.  My psychology leanings are apparent as well.  But his work was about getting healthy.  Getting over it.  After reading Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker he became even more important to my journey.  Symbols become bookmarks from larger more important ideas.  A way to represent them without making there mysteries too concrete or literal.  That is why I make sequential art.  To get healthy and maintain the mystery. 

   These pages for Hod came almost straight from the sketchbook.  Copied then inked so they are a more organic and fluid than the Who am I? pages. 


Reading List:       The Archetypes and the Collective Consciousness.  C.G. Jung
                             Valis. Phillip K. Dick.
                             The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader. Amiri Baraka. edited by William
                             J. Harris.
                            

Listening List:     Studio 360 Podcast: Leonardo DiCaprio & Ben Stiller.
                            

Watching List:     Army Wives.  Season Four.
                             Battle Beyond the Planets.
                             DeathRace 2000.
                             12 Monkeys. 
        

In and Out of Boxes: HOD. Page Seven.

 

     I wanted to destroy my EGO.  In all my pseudo-intellectual philosophizing, I did not know how much it hurt.  I did not know how attached I had become to my life as it was...

I did not know until I watched it unravel with an audience of my family, friends and associates.  I was so consumed by embarrassment I did not realize what was happening:

CHANGE.

NECESSARY CHANGE.

 When you build something its hard to accept its flaws.  Investing your success and worth with the success of this "THING", well its disintegration becomes confusing.  I thought the death of my "CREATION" was the death of me.  But in the wake of this Apocalypse I opened my eyes to the wasteland and found that

LIFE

GOES

ON.

So slowly, surely I continued living.

Like John Carter said, " I still live."

So I decided to LIVE.

 

  

Reading List:             Unity (the original by Valiant comics) Collected trades I II &IV.(can't 

                                   find book III...somewhere in my boxes.)

                                   V for Vendetta.  Moore and Lloyd.  Time and maturity have improved my

                                    understanding and enjoyment of it.

                                   Lamentations. Old Testament

Listening List:           Podcast On Being Unedited - Walter Brueggemann with Krista Tippett

                                  Kind of Blue. Miles Davis.

                                  Time will tell. Bob Marley.

                                  Forest. George Winston

                                  Royal. Lorde

                                   

Watching List:         Star Trek Enterprise. Season Three.

                                 Anna Lucasta.

                                 Speed Racer.

                                 Ken Burns JAZZ. Episode 8 Risk.



Adventures In & Out of Boxes: HOD. Page Six.

from: http://www.inner.org/sefirot/sefhod.htm

 

Hod is the eighth of the ten sefirot, and the fifth of the emotive attributes within Creation.

 

Hod is associated in the soul with the power to continually advance, with the determination and perseverance born of deep inner commitment, toward the realization of one's life goals. The acknowledgment of a supreme purpose in life, and the total submission of self which it inspires, serve to endow the source of one's inspiration with an aura of splendor and majesty. Hence the word hod connotes both "acknowledgment" (hoda'ah) and "splendor," in the sense of an aura-like "reverberation" (hed) of light.

 

 

 

        This part is about recovery.  What 2011-2012 was all about. The act of waking up by day.

The acceptance of what is outside of you affects but does not define what is inside of you.  The rediscovery of Self and what is important:

 

TELLIN' STORIES!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR.  MAKE EACH DAY YOURS!

 

 

 Reading List:          The Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi Library.

                                 Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitley.

                        

 

Music List:               Bob Marley

                                 James Taylor

                                 Allure by Jay-Z.

 

TV& Movie List:     Star Trek Enterprise. Season Three.

                                 Coffy.

                                 Truck Turner

                                     

Adventures In & Out of Boxes: TRANSITION.

You let me violate you
You let me desecrate you
You let me penetrate you
You let me complicate you
Help me
I broke apart my insides
Help me
I've got no soul to sell
Help me
The only thing that works for me
Help me get away from myself...

 

You bring me closer to God- Nine Inch Nails

 

 

Reflecting on Pain, Regret, and Escape.

Looking for an exit from Chaos and Disrespect.

There is none.

There is no Escape-

only Completion.

 

 

      I tried to complete this story to separate and lay to rest what is Past.  To take advantage of NOW.  I embraced and exhausted the Physical, until all that was not Divine would fall away.

      Striding through a world of panels; jumping in and out of boxes, on the carnal Altar I discovered the power within.  When there is nothing else to fill you appetites you find the vast potential of NO-thing.  Past drunken Bacchanalia and misty smoke outs there occurred an awakening.  There is joy in the Party and pleasure in the afterParty but the awakening is transformative and redemptive. 

 

 

 



Down here on the ground

ain't no place for living

Down here on the ground

Watching the sparrows fly

I watch the birds

As they make their wings

Flying solid free

How I wish it were me

But I'm down here on the ground

And I'm wanting something better

I'm down here on the ground

Wanting something more

One morning soon

You will find

Some wings on my mind

To take me high

So if you hear a sound

From down here on the ground

Don't you know?

It's only me trying to fly- George Benson

 

 

      Down here on the ground there is nowhere to go but up.  The fair forms that offer distraction and release fall away leading to a higher Adoration.  But first the right Companion must be found.  It takes stumbles and hard lessons to realize: to learn from being wrong you have to accept Responsibility for the Wrong...

 

 

Reading List:  AvsX.  Bendis-Brewbaker-Fraction & various artist.

                       Avengers Forever.  Busiek-Pacheco-Merino

                       Bridgeman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life. George B. Bridgeman

 

Music List:  Bob Marley Radio on Pandora.com

                     Drops of Jupiter- Train

                     

 

Movie/Television List:  Thor: the Dark World

                                       The Directors: Spike Lee

                                       The Seven Samurai- Kurosawa

                                        Star Trek Voyager. Season One  

Adventures In & Out of Boxes: Who Am I? Page Five.

There is magic in the carnal world.

 

The freeing of pent up physical energies can open the doors of perception. 

Or maybe that's my liberal arts education talking. 

To quote an old pimp the only thing better than old ----- is new -----. 

Fill that in with whatever you want.

 

 

 

 

This story was always intended to have a soundtrack. 

This page is inspired by

Gut Bucket Blues,

 Southern Hood hip-hop,

Violin Adagios,

 Pink Floyd Animals

 and

Vintage Al Green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventures In & Out of Boxes: Who am I? Page Four.

    Art is doing. 

Looking. Thinking. Planning. Doing.

 

Being a professor forced me to constantly reflect on basic skills, structure, and observation.  Every artist needs a PROCESS.  Every artist has to trust the discovery and application of a Process.  Every artist must be prepared, once a process is not enough, to ChANGe.  And start all over again. 

 

  Reading List:  New Teen Titans Vol. 2 Issue 10-16, & Annual #1  Marv Wolfman & George Perez. 

                               Titans of myth, Doom Patrol, Omega Men.  The stuff that made me check who

                                the creative team was for the first time in comics. 

                           Legion of Superheroes Annual  #1. Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen.

                               The story that introduced Invisible Kid II, holographic D&D, and the prelude to

                                the Great Darkness saga. 

Music List:   My Being Petty playlist on iTunes.  Created for my ex-wife...

                                 Songs like:  Funny How time Slips Away- Al Green.

                                                     Hello Like Before- Bill Withers

                                                     Say Hello Wave Goodbye- David Gray

                                                     Blame Game- Kanye West

                                                     All in love is Fair- Stevie Wonder

                                                     Anna's Song- Marvin Gaye

                                                     Theme from Mahogany- Diana Ross

                                                      Papers- Usher

Movie/TV List:  Star Trek Enterprise Season 2.

                           The Hobbit.

                            The Dunwich Horror.

 

 

 

Adventures In and Out of Boxes: Who am I. Page Three.

      Out of the Abyss.  This page creating it, reflecting on it,  and the time it represents was an exercise in ego destruction.   Every acceptance of change in life is about destroying who you were to accept who you are as circumstances and intention demands.  Rough collage is represented by the badly photographed and copied paintings down the center tier of the page.  Large paintings (4'x2') I made while in the relationship relating to the object of my love, the maturation of passion from lust to love, and the acceptance of death/change. 

 

http://irfuel.blogspot.com/2006/06/sorceror-series-long-walk-cross-my.html  

 

http://irfuel.blogspot.com/2006/05/sorceror-series-slowly-surely.html

 

  

 

 

 http://irfuel.blogspot.com/2006/05/sorceror-series-with-death-on-your.html

 

 

 The Links above connect to an old blog I had with a group of friends: Intellectual Rocket Fuel we used to inspire each other to create. 

 

 

 

Reading List: Bhagavad-Gita translated by Barbara Stoler Miller.
                      

Music List:  Next Lifetime, Didn't Cha Know. Erykah Badu
                    
Movie/TV list:  Miami Vice Season One.
                          Parks and Recreation.
                          Star Trek: Enterprise Season One.

Shit I dig! ComicsI read this week 11/20/2013

 

 

I came to Sandman late.  Picked up the final arc Kindly Ones because Marc Hempel was drawing it.  Hempel caught my eye in college when My roommate Bill collected a coulpe of graphic novels about a simple man in an asylum named Gregory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hilarious and touching stuff.  I had no interest in Neil Gaiman though I quickly became a fan. Luckily a gaming buddy of mine Eric, had all the trades in his collection and I caught up.  Now my Vertigo title was the Invisibles and I was deep into that journey, but Sandman mixed all the magical story sources I enjoyed.  I was in. I was affected by its ending and never found another Gaiman joint that held my attention like he did on Sandman.  Imagine my excitement when it was announced that Gaiman was returning to Dream and the art was being helmed by one of my favorite current comic artists, J H Williams III.  I missed the first issue when it came out two weeks ago.  So I held my reviews until I read it.  I am also finishing up a big move, so time has been a tight commodity.  Anyway I finally got it so let the show go on...

Adventures In and Out of Boxs: Who am I. Page Two.

    Busy week.  Moving to be with my lady. Anyway here is page two.  I call it heartbreak in the Gump. 

Adventures In and Out of Boxes:Who Am I. Page One.

This is how CHANGE occurs. 

 

Through ACTION purpose is met.  I am leaving the Bunker.  The Studio.  Continuing forward on this Sorceror’s journey.  I am  actualizing the Turtle Triumphant.

                This is how the story begins.  This is how I enter a new state of being.

 

Being a Father. 

            It begins with a packing box of my favorite books from my special bookcase.

 

Shit I dig! Comics i read this week 10/28/2013

 

The New52 catches my attention....

 

 

         Not a bad comic week and a little different.  Only one Avengers book and no X-books.  And more DC books then Marvel. 

 

 

 

Shit i dig! Comics I read this week 10/25/2013

 

7.  Fantomax MAX #1

What!? Me name drop?!

 

            Okay so I know the artist that drew this comic.  Shawn Crystal was in the Sequential Art MFA program at SCAD Savannah with me, and is currently a Professor of SA at SCAD ATL. Good memories.  Good artist.  That said I have to admit Fantomex is one of my least favorite Grant Morrison creations.  I also have not followed his activities in the Marvel world up until his current antics in Uncanny X-Force, I like the movement of his characters in this but the use of zip tones distracts from the art.  And the women are drawn very gratuitously… but it is a MAX book.  The story didn’t hold me.  Lot of unnecessary cursing and EVA is out of control.  I’m lost with what is going on as there is really no setup for the violence that occurs by Agent Fleming’s fellow agents.  I’ll check out issue two at BAM but, it is nice to see folks from SCAD making good. 

 

Of Mythic Proportions: Extinction. Character Sketches

 

 

         It took me years to begin to appreciate how useful sketchbooks are.  Here are four characters of OMP: Extinction. 

 

 

 

Lord Lizard

 

Lord Lyonmane

 

 

Lord Tapestry with his whips

 

 

Escora of the Northern

Oh How Brechtian. Of Mythic Proportions:Extinction. Book One. Part One. Page Ten.

"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are."

 

Bertolt Brecht

 One of the greatest and most difficult lessons I took from SCAD and storytelling was to start small.  Often new sequential artist want their first story to be an epic saga.  When the daunting task of drawing one good comic page is really before you, you learn.  I realize I have the attention span to work on five to ten page stories.  This is the end of part one of the story. 

            For a week or so I’m gonna drop some sketches and drawings connected to OMP but I have another story I’ll be presenting here in two weeks.  I’m working on the next ten pages of OMP now… we’ll see when I finish. And as soon as I do it’ll be here. 

Reading List: The Book of Daniel: A Novel.

Music List: E.S.P. Miles Davis
                    Ne me Quitte Pas. Nina Simone

Movie/TV List: Fringe Season Five
                          Breaking Bad Season Two.

Shit I Dig! Comics I read this week 10/09/2013.

            ITS AN AVENGER WORLD!!

 

 

 

 

 

Shit I dig! Comics I read this week 10/8/2013

It’s like they let loose a Virus.  Like a strain of that virus that first ran through the X-men around the mid-nineties, spreading the concept beyond the limitations of one or two monthly titles.  The Avengers have really caught on!  I blame Brian Bendis, or maybe the editor, Tom Brevoort is the culprit.  Since Bendis’ departure from the Avengers, the brand has exploded.

            So I ended up with almost all Marvel books and an Image title and a final issue of a DC title... for me (that’s been happening a lot lately).

 

 

 

The Walking Man Walks.Of Mythic Proportions: Extinction. Book One. Part One. Page Nine.

 

 

 

     So a story can be incredibly personal without giving the real names of anyone involved.  You can take jabs at a person from your past who broke your heart are secretly thank an old flame for changing your life for the better without ever leaving yourself vulnerable.  That's what made me appreciate story.  Lyonmane is the unrestrained libido.  His passion is his greatest distraction.  He is the Hunter.


Reading List:  The Bible- Old Testament
                        Mask of God vol. 1: Primitive Mythology.


Music List:   Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell radio on Pandora.com.

Movie/TV  List:  Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
                             Bob's Burgers   

Shit I dig! Comics I read this week 9/23/2013.

MARVEL Wins!

 

 

 

 

Shit I dig! Comics I read this week 9/23/2013.

 

      My Beloved DC.  What is wrong with us.  Out of the seven books I read only two came from DC.  One of those being a Vertigo imprint title that got grandfathered in under Wildstorm... so I don't completely count that.  More nostalgia than any sense of loyalty, I have been a consumer of the DC Universe perhaps a moment before I discovered Marvel.  Like I discovered the Justice League of America before the Avengers.  The New Teen Titans was my team before I even cared about an Xmen.  The only oddity is Byrne's Fantastic Four.  It stands in a place all its own.  Point being I know more about and care more about DC lore than almost any other pop culture... "thing!"  So I wanna kinda sorta be down with this 52 thing.  I have even found a gem or two as I've stated before, but my hold box and take home tell the tale. 

    Me and Mrs. Marvel got a thang going on. 

 

 Two sets of event tie-ins, Cap impulse buy, Astro via Vertigo, and a LSH book picked because of the artist & yeah, nostalgia. 

 

7.  Avengers #19. Infinity tie-in

       Still not feelin' it.



    I never want to be that cat that continuously hates on a book.  Still I realize more than the Event I do not enjoy this title.  Yu's art is not my favorite.  Lot of beautiful poses but no acting.  Understanding the storyline better but it seems to add cosmic problem to cosmic problem.  And it grows at that Hickman pace that loses me right around now....  I do know I have missed stuff in this story arc by not paying close attention to the plot but it seems like everything that happened before this in the story was a device to get us to this story.  I like the New Universe stuff but... am... nodding.... offffffzzzzzzzz.   I do feel like I would gain some info by reading Guardians of the Galaxy.Hmmmm.

 

6.  Captain America #11

Artist Stalking, part one.







    Carlos Pacheco.  I been digging his work since he was doing a Marvel UK gig around the same time Bryan Hitch was coming out the box.  Both reminded me of Alan Davis with a different dynamism to them.  After Avengers Forever and  The JLA/JSA Virtue & Vice Hardcover I was hooked. He has moved from his old inker Jesus Merino and lost some texture and detail but his layouts are strong and his anatomy is always interesting.  I liked his Schism work and pick him up when I can.  Wasn't real interested in Cap's current adventures but, you know, the trades say great jumpin' on point so...

   Enjoyed it.  I like how Rick Remender writes and think I may follow this story arc.  Pacheco is inked by a legend, Klaus Janson, who is great at giving emotion to figure.  For me he made the old Frank Miller Daredevil stuff, not to mention the Dark Knight Returns. Can't believe Cap burned all his stuff, but a nice statement.

 

5.  Astro City #4

   Its all about perspective.





  I am a fan.  I mean quiet as its kept probably even a fanboy for certain comics.  Astro City is one of them.  I'mm glad its back and find Kurt Busiek an insightful writer.  This take on the multiverse of comics is always layered and thoughtful.  Brent Andersons pencils seem to have gotten looser and his inks have gotten darker and harsher.  His emotion and storytelling is still spot on.  A story told from the point of view of those with power who choose not to wear gaudy costumes and patrol the streets.  These Powers use their powers in their everyday life.  And they look out for each other.  Always great to see the fall of a villain destined for small things.  Another tour through Astro City is worth the trip. 

 

4.  Legion of Super-heroes #23

This is the END beautiful friend or Artist stalker, part two.

  I like Paul Levitz on Legion.  I jumped in and out of this cause it seemed to lack cohesion.  Something the LSH has been cursed with since Crisis on Infinite Earth.  Repeated approaches and iterations of the Legion have plagued the last twenty or so years of its contemporary existence.  Some great creators some great stories.  Seems once again DC throws in the towel and puts the title back on ice.     

  So I got it for that and I got it for Kevin Maguire on pencils.  Love his work and was excitedly looking forward to JLA 3000.  Then DC flipped again and fired him.  I read this was one of the gigs he was doing at the end.  Visually this book is a beautiful farewell.  Not knowing the plot points I was just excited to see old friends say goodbye...again.  Pure nostalgia.  Though it makes it harder to get a series when all you have is memories of great things.  Long Live the Legion!

 

3.  New Avengers #10.  Infinity tie-in.

  Another pause in the rising action...







 

  I will say it again New Avengers is follows the Made men of Marvel.  Another layer to this Infinity event Thanos is coming for his son...his SON!  And we got the builders coming, oh yeah and another Earth is hurtling towards our dimensional space...again.  Deodato art carries the story and I love the tension and distraction.  Don't like how Hank looks and feel like Dr. Strange is being treated like a Mitch but in the end we get back to the "Crisis" at the center of this story.  Still like the pacing. Like a slowly bowling unattended kettle.  Look forward to when it blows its top.  Just hope Hickman doesn't lose me.

 

2.  Uncanny X-men #12.  Battle of the Atom tie-in.

   Bendis & Bachalo

 

  I followed him over from the Avengers universe.  I even keep getting Avengers mostly because of him.  Now I have to say I am again an X-men fan because of Brian Bendis.  I have enjoyed this book and the cast of new characters.  Bendis teases us with a reminder of the scene that began this event and gives a nice character study of Scott Summers on the sneak.  Emma has become Summers best psychoanalyst.  A telepath, go figure.  Love Bachalo's designs in this issue.  A lot of talking turns into a nice education in using figure to great depth of space.  Not as crazy about the coloring but for a book filled with talking it moved visually.   Magneto makes a speech echoing Storm in X-men #5, while I am still waiting for the reveal that will turn this story on its side(keep following Illyana I'd guess) and move into high gear.  Looking forward to the upcoming conflict from Scott's exes.   

 

 

1.  X-men #5.  Battle of the Atom tie-in

I try to get out but you pull me right back in!





   I have to admit I only started collecting this series because Olivier Coipel (Artist Stalkin' part three) was the artist on the first story arc.  Enjoyed it but my pockets forced me to make a  choice on these X-family books and this book was a casualty.   Because of the Event I picked up this book and got a treat!  Woods take on this team's principle personae shined in spite of the guests of the event.  I realized how much I missed Rachel as a character and the importance of these characters very different and long relationships with each other.  I even enjoy Storm's organic community approach to leading.  She sets parameters but doesn't lose it when others think and decide for themselves. I like Lopez's art too.  The final page as young Scott and Jean pull up to Utopia to see grown Scott's X-men is poster worthy.  An visual moment in this time lost teams journey.  My favorite colorist is no slouch either.  Laura Martin uses coloring and subtle shading to add to the mood of the book.  I might have to keep getting this book after the Event is over. 

 

     So yeah Marvel is getting my money though I feel like I'm sleep-walking through Infinity.  And no Sigler I'm not hatin', I just realized after rereading the first two issues and the tie-ins that I'm not invested in the stakes 'cause they are a little nebulous and all about revelation for revelations sake.  But the drive is somewhere off in the distance to be explained if you endure all this other stuff.  I never finished Hickman's run on FF but I really liked how it started.  Because of that I feel like I'm missing something here.  We'll see.  

 

 

 

 







The Primal Reptile Brain. Of Mythic Proprotion: Extinction. Book One. Part One. Page Eight.

         One of the other inspirations for this story are backyard lizards.  I spent afternoons and evenings meditating on my parents back porch.  I would watch ants, birds, lizards, and all type of natural phenomena, while contemplating storytelling.  One day I watched a small lizard wreak havoc on the small insects skittering across the cement porch.  Stalking and gulping done all kinds of little insects.  Oddly enough it reminded me of a comic book run.  Silver Surfer Vol.3 as drawn by Ron Lim and written by Steve Engelhardt.  I remember part of the story arc involved Silver Surfer traveling with a vicious reptilian alien.  If memory serves the subtext of the story talked about the oldest part of the brain, the reptilian brain.  I gotta find those issues. 
The Reptile brain deals with necessity. Survival.

Lord Lizard is all about survival. 

Reading List: Comic Book Events: Trinity War, Infinity, Forever Evil, and Battle of the Atom. 


Music List: Nina Simone Ne Me Quitte Pas & Don't let me be misunderstood

Movie List: Life of Pi.  What a revelation.  Ang Lee gets me again.