TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN

Monday, December 08, 2008

Geierheim update

Okay, I messed this one up. I was so happy to have somebody who accepted the link exchange ( even if I´m still waiting on the link to my blog ) that I totally forgot to check for the homepage.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. But I have to add that there was no link to the homepage on the blog. There is a picture with the name but it links to the blog. The whole thing is a bit embarassing because the homepage has almost the same name as the blog. So here is the link for the homepage where you can find art, a complete checklist of all things Geier and a few tips about drawing. There´s not much actual stuff on it but that´s what the blog is for.

geierheim homepage

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

comic movies - BD special

Comic movies are all over the bloggosphere because they are a popular topic. And you can get much more readers by talking about the worst of low budget comic movies than writing about the best comic ever made.

That´s a fact. People are much more interested in movies than in comics and if you are making movies you are far higher on the social ladder than if you make comics. I remember a guy who wrote on a german comic message board about his experiences. The case was that he was making comics for years without getting much notice from his friends or relatives. But the second he began making a movie project he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of relatives, friends or people he had never seen in his life that suddenly turned up offering advice or just wanting to be a part of it.

So don´t let anybody tell you making comics is like making movies. If you make a movie you have it easy. Making a comic - that´s hard work. Anyway, the reason I wanted to do this quick post is that I recently stumbled upon two comic movies that are a bit old and that I was not aware of. Usually I hear about most movie projects like the CORTO MALTESE animated movie or the new CAPITAN TRUENO movie but somehow these two managed to slip under my radar.

The first one is IZNOGOUD and was apparently released on DVD in August 2005 ! IZNOGOUD - for those who don´t know the comic - was written by Rene Goscinny and drawn by Jean Tabary who carried on alone after the death of Goscinny. The stories revolve around Iznogoud ( pronounced "is no good" with a French accent ) who is the Grand Vizier to the Caliph Haroun El Poussah. But that´s not enough for Iznogoud who always tries to become " Caliph instead of the Caliph ".

To achieve this goal he uses every possibility which in the comic are always entertaining things like a calendar that allows it´s bearer to travel through time by ripping off the sheets or putting them back with glue, a puzzle that turns the person you think of when completing it into this puzzle, a road that leads to nowhere or other magics that allow him to switch bodies with the Caliph.

Of course the Caliph is totally unaware of this and believes Iznogoud to be his best friend who in turn never succeeds.

In fact in most of the cases he has to suffer the fate he intended for the Caliph and even if he manages to become Caliph instead of the Caliph it ends in total disaster for him. The publisher Cinebook Ltd is currently publishing English language translations of the books in the Iznogoud series. The first book in the series, "The Wicked Wiles of Iznogoud", was published in March 2008 with the second, "The Caliph's Vacation", following in August 2008. A third volume, "Iznogoud and the Day of Misrule" is scheduled for March 2009.

Like I said I haven´t seen the movie yet so I have no idea if it´s actually good.

The second movie is SKY FIGHTERS and is an adaption of Mick Tanguy or Les aventures de Tanguy and Laverdure like it is called in the original french version.

Like Iznogoud it is one of the classic franco belgican comic series that was started by Jean Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo who was later on replaced by Jije and others. The stories tell the adventures of Mick Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure, two inseparable friends from the flying school and future commendants who are opposite characters.

While the latter is serious, honest and obedient, the latest is eccentric, blundering and awkward. However, Laverdure is a strong team mate for Tanguy in difficult situations. Indeed, dangerous missions and spying are everyday tasks for the two pilots, who are flying aces and always efficient defenders of their homeland.

There apparently was a tv series titled LES CHEVALIERS DU CIEL ( SKY KNIGHTS ) that ran from 1967 to 1969. It ran for three seasons with each season having 13 episodes.

Like with Iznogoud I haven´t seen the movie but the trailer looks promising.

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Say, I´ve seen pictures of that place !

That´s right ! A Mr. Schickelgruber lives there !

new link : Geierheim

Some of you may have noticed that there´s a new link on the link section. Like always I like to write about the new links I put up on my blog.

Whenever I write about comic stuff I also include links and I always extend the offer for a link exchange. On one side I want to give other comic fans more exposure ( this is a community after all ) but I´m also always pimpin my own blog. So I´m trying to get links on as many other websites as possible.

Most websites don´t take me up on that offer. Apparently there is a certain time when all the link exchanges are done and - it´s past. Whenever the call went out to change links for blogs I certainly missed it. Or you have to be already famous to be put in the link section. Which means that it only happens when you can´t benefit from it. Weird system. Anyway, I thought I should write something about the new links because I don´t know for how long it will stay in the link section.

You see, the thing about a link exchamge is that it is supposed to be mutual. And while I have put the link for Geierheim in my permanent link section I haven´t found a link to my blog on Geierheim. It may be that someone as busy as Geier has just forgot to put it up. So I´m keeping the link till the end of this month which means that next year it won´t be there. Well, you can still go to the website from here.

Okay, what is Geierheim ? It´s the new blog of Geier a.k.a. Jürgen Speh one of the few german comic stars.

Geier is one the creme de la creme of german comic artists which for me means one of the best. He is often said to be a bit difficult but I have to say that I never got this impression. In fact whenever we meet he treats me like " one of the boys " although my adventures a s a comic professional were rather short. We pretty much crashed and burned with POWER FREAKS and although my days of a comic creator may well be over we still have a connection like we´re in the same club.

Not like we´re in the same league. More like he´s in Major League and I´m in Little League but still in the same club. Not that I think I could ever be in the same league because quite frankly he´s a league of his own.

The facts of his bio are contradictory. On one website it says that Geier was born in Glarus, Switzerland to German parents in 1965. Soon, they moved back to Germany and settled in Stuttgart, where Geier studied Graphic Design and became a comic artist. On another site it is said that he´s the son of an anonymous ambassador and a native shaman from Mongolia which may not be true but would explain a lot of things.

The first comics of him I read were the LENA WOMBAT comics in the german cult comic magazine MENSCHENBLUT which began a relationship with the independent german comic publisher SCHWARZER TURM.

I have mentioned them a few times on this blog. While Lena Wombat was clearly influenced by Jamie Hewlett´s TANK GIRL it was more than a carbon copy with a charme of his own. And while you could already see his crafty artsmanship in theses stories he really showed what he was capable of in DER RING DES MEISTERS ( The master´s ring ) a story that was published in MENSCHENBLUT and won the ICOM Independent Award in 2000.

While Lena Wombat was written by himself DER RING DES MEISTERS was written by Robi ( like most of the stuff in Menschenblut ) which was the start of a long relationship. After doing KRIEGSFUNNIES ( WAR FUNNIES ) for GRINGO COMICS, which is a oneshot that features funny animal characters in a grim and gritty war story, he started HORST one of Germany´s most successful independent series for SCHWARZER TURM.

HORST is of course written once again by Robi with beautiful covers by Toni Greis in the beginning. Since he´s working on LUNA now the last covers have been done by Geier himself but that´s alright since it´s almost the same as replacing Adam Hughes with Frank Cho. Both of them are top notch artists.

Horst is a funny animal comic and I doubt that the series would work in another format. The stories are slice of life stories that are highly autobiographical which is part of the charm. The main character Horst is a rabbit who´s kind of a sex addict and the comic has been accused of being sexist and degrading women. Which is not true. It´s right that a lot of the stories take place in certain etablissements and there are many prostitutes in the cast. But it´s always told in a realistic way and not just as a masturbation aid.

In fact many of the stories are such downers that I doubt anyone could get an erection out of it. The truth is that Horst is a sad little rabbit always looking for love but always ending up alone. Even when he can find happiness for a few fleeting moments it doesn´t last long. And he always has to pay for it - most times in hard cash. The reason why you keep reading is that Horst is honest. You can see that someone is sharing things he really experienced and thought a few things may have been changed here and there truth is always stranger than fiction.

And of course the really interesting stuff is when we can witness his adventures of Horst Brack, Der Bestrafer, one of the presenters of Germany´s best wrestling tv show ever CATCH UP.

Another Robi / Geier collaboration from SCHWARZER TURM is ARSINOE an erotic comic that has taken up the legacy of the smash hit ALRAUNE. The story involves archeology, mystical artefacts, time travel and of course lot of naked people doing naughty stuff.

So what can I find on Geierheim ? Of course art by Geier but also posts about other art stuff, comments about movies and comics like SQUEAK THE MOUSE or potato chips. You can check out the link in the link section or right here :

Geierheim

Of course it´s all in german. What do you expect ? Most people in Germany write their blogs in german.

the usual link section

interview with geier on geisterspiegel.de

homepage schwarzer turm

comic list schwarzer turm

arsinoe at schwarzer turm

horst at schwarzer turm

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A blogger´s gotta do what a blogger´s gotta do

So you may have noticed that there has been no new posts since I came back to Germany. At least on this blog.

I´ve done two on my other blog but it took three times as long as on the laptop. Working with this computer again is like going from driving a car to......well, not driving anything.

Aside from that I had a lot of other things to do which is only natural if you come home from another country after nine months. Yesterday for example I spent most of the day cleaning up my desk. That doesn´t mean that I spent like all day on it. It just means I did not much else. Since I´m back in our so called " office room " - which used to be simply my room before my brother decided we need a room for drawing which is to say that he needs a room for drawing - I have been waiting to have ten minutes alone to write a quick post.

But the fact is that my brother spends almost 24 hours a day in front of his computer which - another brilliant idea of his - is just behind my computer. So if I am sitting on my computer he´s sitting right behind my back which means that none of us has much room and we have to squeeze into what little space there is. Meaning that mostly I do the squeezing. My brother doesn´t buy into this whole " try to co - exist with other people " concept. He´s only looking out for number one.

He does leave the house on occasions but mostly when I´m doing other things like eating or watching tv with my mother or sleeping - because I got tired of waiting. Aside from that he´s always sitting in front of the laptop and watching muscle porn or movies on YouTube or movie trailers. Which of course can´t be done with headphones. For someone who can´t work if there is the slightest noise he sure doesn´t have much consideration for others. Like I said : looking out for number one.

He´s also the one who always tells me to stop writing this blog because I should do a website and earn lots of money with it. The idea of doing something without getting some immediate revenue is totally alien to him. That´s why I´m always suspicious when he comes with another of his great ideas. You see no matter how great they sound you can be sure of two things :

1. - the one who does the work is going to be me.

2. - the one who reaps the benefits is going to be him.

So I´m usually not very excited to participate in his plans to make a name for ourselves in the german comic scene. With all the stuff we have already done before and behind the scenes if the german comic scene WANTED to give us some kind of recognition they would have already done so.

I mean we are the ones responsible that independent comics in Germany are now in color. We laid the groundwork for that and did all the work necessary - which took us one whole year.

Never got any thanks or any kind of recognition. And I´m not writing this because I´m bitter ( which I kind of am ). I´m writing this to show you how the german comic scene works. You think as a comic fan that all the things that happen in schools with the jocks and the geeks are behind you when you enter the comic fan world. But the truth is there are the popular comic guys and then there is the rest. And if you are a popular comic guy in Germany you can write a column that´s just full of nonsense but as long as it´s you and the right three guys like it it gets published and you become famous.

But that´s not what today´s post is all about. There are some things I wanted to write the last few days and now it´s time to catch up. True to form I will have to write the stuff first and add some pictures later because my family starts harassing me with stuff I " have to do " now that I have gotten up. Which of course is just a cheap plot by my brother to get me out of this room so he can do his stuff on the computer.

He always tells me that I have to write more important stuff on my blog to impress the german comic people......which on the other hand is very difficult to do since he´s always sabotaging me and preventing from doing more posts in the first place.

I know, I´m whining a lot today. But who cares ? It´s not that I have much readers to begin with or that my brothers are even reading my blog. Just recently I discovered that my younger brother never read anything I wrote in my blog. But that´s understandable since I´ve only been doing it for more than TWO YEARS. That´s longer than most blogs are around. Two years of fighting against windmills, the elements and even the gods themselves. Well, if I can be something that´s stubborn.

So time to wrap up Today´s first post. That´s right. Instead of doing another odds and ends post where I cram all the different stuff in one tiny box I´m doing a few shorter ( well, short for me as you can already see by this one ) posts because.....well, the stuff I´m going to write about deserve their own posts. And I´m not going to compromise this blog just because I have to catch up on a few things. That is after all business as usual on this blog. So enjoy today´s megapostblogging. Who knows ? If things don´t change this will be a regular thing. The BIG SUNDAY MEGAPOST or something.

My computer has just erased the last paragraph I wrote and is slowly going mad, replacing the letter y with the letter z and other stuff. So I am ending this before he completely selfdestructs.

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