The Comic Critic Review Doctor Zhivago

I was still in diapers when Doctor Zhivago was released, which allowed me to be caught up in the cultural wake it had on pop culture. I saw it many times growing up. Of course time moves on and the film, as wonderful as it is, went into viewing circulation less and less. I’d not thought of the movie for years when I was blindsided at my aunt’s funeral. She and her husband had had a special song they considered theirs and requested that it be played there. I loved my aunt dearly. She was an infectious hugger, full of laughter and joy. I realized at the first few notes of “Lara’s Theme” that we’d never seen a movie together. A song from Doctor Zhivago was the only clue I ever had that we’d seen and enjoyed the same film—and that the film held a special significance for her that I would never fully know. Both the sudden irony and my grief caused a mental short-circuit and left me vulnerable to one of the most embarrassing situations to befall anyone at a funeral—I got the giggles. I’m proud to say I caught myself and the only audible noise I made was an odd snort. If anyone looked, they would have seen tears streaming down my face. I hope they were viewed as a sign of grief, not the mortifying, painful strain of holding back the onslaught of giggles which threatened to ruin my sweet aunt’s funeral. Because I think she would have found that hilarious, I chuckle every time I hear “Lara’s Theme.”

The Return of Stickman #1414

This is just one of the many Zombie stories that popped up last month. There should be enough hints in the cartoon for you to search out the right one.

The Return of Stickman #1413

It won't take much of an Internet search to find several articles relating to the news story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman #1412

The story that inspired this story is easy enough to find on Snopes.

The Comic Critic Reviews Prometheus

My friend John Draper (who is not a member of the CLAW) and I went to see Prometheus together. He’d seen it already and wanted my take on it. The debate held during the monthly cartooning session of the CLAW was extremely entertaining. In fact, I’m sure Stowe would say that the debate was far more entertaining than the movie. I used it to showcase this review because there’s a very large portion of the movie audience out there that’s highly frustrated. It was also a struggle for me to avoid hearing or reading any discussions before I got a chance to see the movie—and I wanted to capture that in the strip as well. Of course, the amount of the debate relayed in this strip is miniscule in comparison to the time we spent hashing over Ripley’s Scott’s latest effort. You can find plenty of the controversy on the Internet if you’re interested. Warning: They’re full of spoilers.

The Return of Stickman #1411

I'm going to let you search the internet for this news story.

The Return of Stickman #1410

Here is the news story that inspired this strip. If you're wondering why I didn't post any strips last week it is because I was on vacation celebrating my 25th Wedding Anniversary with my wife. Not that our trip has anything to do with this strip.

The Making of a Poster

When my friends Michael and Chy Shaudis told me they were going to start a Zombie Festival called Tacoma Zombpocalypse, I was thrilled. And I immediately signed up to have a table at the event. I first met Michael and Chy when Michael became a member of The CLAW. It was only natural then that Michael would call upon some of the talent at hand to do a series of posters for the event. Mark Brill did the first poster.

 

I first saw his poster at Crypticon where Mark Brill and I were sharing a table. The Shaudis's were also there sharing a bit of table space with Poison Apple. Now it was my turn to create a poster. Mark Brill already used the Tacoma Dome as a landmark and I didn't want to repeat that. I did want to play off the "Zombie Hunter" character he created. The next landmark that came to mind was the neglected Old City Hall Clock Tower. I remembered that James Stowe, another member of The CLAW, submitted a poster design to the Grand Theater back in 2008.

 

I always thought it should've been the winning entry. I was bummed when it wasn't used. Stowe is a great guy. A couple of months ago at a CLAW drawing session we all pulled sounds out of a hat and had to draw a picture which used that sound. The sound I drew was "Tchakka!" I drew Stowe cocking a shotgun.

Stowe thought it was great. So I decided to pay an homage to both Stowe's art and the man himself but using both of these elements in my final poster design.

And that my dear friends is the story of the making of this poster. Limited signed editions of this poster without the copy will be available in the near future. I will let you know when they come off the presses.

The Comic Critic Reviews Titanic

Titanic is one of the best date movies ever. It has a strong appeal to both sexes. The heroine undergoes a rollercoaster of emotion, a rising dread of a fearful plummet ahead, followed by the thrill of living, the rise of love, the rapid twists and turns as that love is tested—only to go through another rise of dread for yet another plummet. In short, she’s all over the map emotionally. The hero is a rogue on an adventure. He charms, seduces, revels and then fights for the life of the one he loves. Here you have a chick flick and an action flick in one. And on top of that, you have it all under the guise of an historical disaster movie. It’s really not a surprise to me that Titanic went on to become one of the largest international blockbusters of all time.