Neal Adams!

Since I was about 9 years old, the name Neal Adams has always had mythic proportions. I started to get serious about my comic book collecting at about that age, and all I knew was the particular issues that he had drawn were all about $30 in value. I didnt even have the ability to SEE the art close up, much less own any.

 

For Christmas a few years later, my brother Joe had bought the full X-Men/ Adams issues for me (these would the first work he'd done for Marvel, and would go on to become very valuable). I'm not sure how my brother knew to get those particular issues, but, it was surprise to me!

Over the years, I would start to accumulate more of Neals work, and ended up with a nice little collection (as I said, most of his books were a bit too expensive for me, but I managed to find some in relatively good condition). Little did I know, Neal had also become a huge proponent of 'Creators Rights' among the comics industry, and was solely responsible for some of the aging creators to see profits from they're characters (that were now being made into multi-million dollar movies/ properties).

Fast forward almost 20 years, and I was heading up the 'Animation' section of the newly formed 'Digital Entertainment Network'. We were having meetings with random content creators, and they told me I was to have a meeting with "Neal Adams' who was there to pitch us content. I wasn't sure it was the same guy, but, sure enough, here I am having a meeting with the man himself. Once our 'business' was over, I had him sign a few things. I was starstruck, even though most people in the office had no idea who he was.

“Ça Ça Mirlaquerr” by Nacho Rodriquez

Mister Coo musicvideo: Ça Ça Mirlaquerr from nacho rodriguez.

Displays 2!

A couple more displays in the works.Was hoping to get these up and out before the holiday, but considering 1985 Vol. 4 is about a month away from completion, this will have to wait a bit.

Jeff Jank

Every picture has a story, and in this case, every album cover. I had a chance to sit down (ok, virtually sit down) with the art director of Stones Throw. The LA, via San Francisco, vanguard Hip Hop label. Home of artists the likes of Madlib (and his 5 personas), J Dilla, Mayer Hawthorne and a host of others.

We get together from time to time and talk album art, art, film, Herzog, GG Allin. This was one such conversation:

How long have you held design/direction duties at Stones Throw?
I joined Stones Throw as the first employee (just weeks before Egon, the second employee) in summer 2000. I had no duties to begin with, so I invented the job.

With ST moving it's music selling business online, how do you see the role of design/lp art changing, or continuing at all?
In the 70s I think that cover designers had to think about how the records looked when they were in record bins, and in the 90s they had to think about how the CD covers looked on the racks. Today I have to think about how it looks as a 100x100-pixel image on the web, plus those other things too since we still sell CDs and vinyl.

Proudest release you've designed to date?
My proudest release is J Dilla's Donuts, which is one of my worst covers. My proudest cover is Madvillain's Madvillainy because it's a classic album and has one of those classic headshots that every record label should have. Except the head has a mask on in this case.

You originally published a magazine called 'Jank'. Will there be any more issues planned for the future? Any on EBAY?
"Jank" was a one-page magazine/newsletter/flyer/newspaper before it was my name. It's only my name because I'm hiding my real name from the cops. The next issue of "Jank" has been only hold for 8 years while I try to secure my first-ever advertisement. I am charging $50,000 for a full page ad if
anyone is interested. "Jank" is only two pages.

Can you clear up the urban legend about your past residency in a laundromat?
This urban legend is fact. I lived in a laundromat in Oakland CA for one very interesting year with 4 hooligans. We had clean clothes all year, but everything else was a mess. On our last night at the laundromat we had a wild party. I fell through a plate glass window and suffered not even a scratch. I avoid laundromats now because I figure my luck has surely run out.

My Bloody Lad!

My Bloody Lad - Dead Walter - WIZZprod° from WIZZprod° on Vimeo.

The Adventures Of Herge'

 This is amazing, and I'm surprised I've hadn't heard about it yet! With all of the popularity and attention Tin Tin is getting now, a European artist has created an adventure about Herge himself. Herge had a pretty incredible history, especially surviving 2 world wars and keeping his character relevant throuought the years. Below aree some sample pages thanks to Slate.com:

Ampersands Are Sexy

Herb Lubalin's amazing ampersand.
Below are a few other images of his design work...