George vs. Joe Part 4

Hi, guys. Before I get to the questions I wanted to thank everyone for sending in the e-mails in support of George. You’ve made my day.

This week a pin-up I did for Comixpedia went up in celebration of their month long event “Movies in web comics�. I wanted to say thank you to them for asking me to participate. To be honest it’s mind blowing to even be on their radar. They are such a big site for comics and web comics specifically. It’s a daily stop for most folks that are in the industry, or are really big fans of the industry. So to have something I did pop up on their screens every morning for the month of May is a huge thrill.

In the last strip I gave this advice to “Some person�: “So if you hate vegetables, don’t do that comic about the adventure seeking Tomato and his gattling gun of destruction. Actually, do that. It sounds awesome.�

SP wrote me back thanking me for the advice and offering up this drawing of a potential new character… Awesome SP, you had me laughing out loud. Ok, on to today’s questions:

From: Sean Cunningham

Question: 1. Do we know the cat at the arcade machine in the background of the last two comics? I don't remember him from previous comics, but I can be dense that way. Normally I don't consider background characters, but you gave him lines in both of the last two comics. This speaks of significance to me.

2. Any chance you'll ever do a review/comic for some classic crappy movies? I'd love to see your take on something like Road House.

Answers: 1. Yep, that’s Phil Chan my long time best friend and co-creator of Digital Pimp online. We do a comic together called Matricualted that updates at Digital Pimp every Wednesday. He’s been in a few of the strips before (Aeon Flux, The Producers) but has been around more since George came to town (Scary Movie 4, Stay Alive). I think that Irv and George needed a third and Phil should be in the comic more so why the hell not?

2. Dude, everyone wants to see more content on Roadhouse. I’ve been thinking about doing classic movies in print form as a collection of Joe Loves Crappy DVDs. But I’ve also thought about doing my favorite movies of all time and updating them online for the 100th comic or big milestones like that. I’m not sure though. I’d love to do them but I don’t know the best way to present it. It’s safe to assume though that one day you’ll see comics and reviews for Road House, Point Break and movies as awesome as that. Thanks Sean!

From: Adam Heffelfinger

Question 1. Will we ever see the in-depth spoiler-filled V For Vendetta strip you hinted at before George came up?

2. What's your method for drawing? What tools/programs do you use?

3. If any, what webcomics do you yourself read or enjoy?

4. FOUR? This kid's asking FOUR questions? What artists have, or do, inspire you?

1. Answers: 1. You rat! Can’t believe you called me out on that. Just kidding. Back in the V for Vendetta Strip review I promised a more detailed, spoiler filled look at the film and it’s comparisons to the comic it’s based on. It’s a subject I’d like to go in depth on, but to be honest I just got wrapped up in the George story and in keeping the comic updating with current material. You can expect to see the promised comic around the time the V for Vendetta DVD comes out. I’ll use that as my opportunity to revisit the film and compare it to death.

2. Well, I pencil everything on either 140-pound watercolour paper or 100-pound Bristol board depending on the texture I’m going for. Everything is then inked with Micron pens ranging from 01-08 in size. I scan and colour it in Photoshop, then letter it in Illustrator. There’s been request for a detailed explanation but it’s kind of complicated to set up a tutorial like that. I did just get a nice camera though (An anniversary present for Yeo and I from each other) so I’ll try to put something together soon.

3. That’s a long list to be sure. Let’s see… All the Boxcar strips I read regularly. I would say that Theater Hopper really was the first strip to have a major impact on me. The first strip where I kept coming back and became part of the community. From there I found great stuff like Joe and monkey, Butternut Squash, Yirmumah,and Nothing Nice To Say. I still read all of those but have picked up a few others over the years. Check out the links page at Digital Pimp for the ones I love the mostest.

4. I’ve always been a hardcore print comic fan where people like Same Keith Chris Cross, Steven McNiven, and Eduardo Risso changed the way I thought about comic book art. But I did go to art school so I’ve received the training and education on the best artists every time period has had to offer. Loved Goya, Cézanne, Dali and a hundred other people in all different media all the way up to Rockwell, Shultz, and Kirby. There’s so much great art in our history. Thanks for the questions, Adam.

From: Alex Wolinez

Question: If someone ever came up to you to make a real life crappy movie based of Joe Loves Crappy Movies, who would you get to play your characters (or, essentially, you and your friends?) Who'd direct? Who'd write the script? Inquiring minds want to know!

Answer: That’s really hard. I’ve thought about it with my other strips, but never JLCM. Directing I would want somebody fun. Somebody that knows what they’re doing but isn’t too crazy. Jon Favreau just got signed to direct Iron Man that seems like a good fit. I’ll go with Jon. He’s not exactly a directors director but do you really think I’m going to say Spielberg or Fincher or Coppola. DePalma maybe, but only if I was making an erotic thriller.

Favreau is capable and talented. What more would I want? Ok, Spike Jonze maybe, but it would depend on the script.

The script… what would that even be about? I’ll admit that I don’t know many screenwriters’ names off hand. I enjoy the hell out of movies but my research is very spur of the moment. I’ll usually look up their names and history only when doing prep work for a specific review. So I’m not educated enough to pick a screenwriter. How about Orson Wells? We’ll go with the ghost of Orson Wells as Screenwriter.

Cast… Ok Irv is a given. Wesley Snipes. Just kidding, how about Sam Jones III? It’s a horrible fit but I can’t think of any young African American actors that I’m a big fan of right now. I think Yeo would be Keiko Agena who plays Lane on the Gilmore Girls. And of course Terry Crews as me. He’s all wrong for the part but he’s seriously one of the funniest people on the planet. Ok, seriously… someone like Patton Oswalt but a few years younger. What dumpy comic nerd movie stars are in their mid to late twenties?

The only pick I’m thrilled about id Keiko. Any suggestions? Alex I feel awful I couldn’t answer a great question with better poise. I promise I’ll give it more thought and take another stab at it soon. In the mean time I’m open to suggestions. OOO! I’ll take suggestions for a week then use the best to make up a mock movie poster!

From: Chris Brandon

Question: My question is how do you do so much comics work and still keep up a good relationship with Yeo? And in regards to that, do you have a day job as well? Because I think I would have a hard time balancing all that and still keep the wife happy.

Answer: Well we’re not married yet but we might as well be. The answer to the question is that Yeo is a very understanding woman. She knows this is important to me and that if I want to be successful I need to put in the time. There have been times where she’s asked me to slow down, and we had to start scheduling some down time. Usually for an hour a night I’ll cuddle and watch some lame wedding show or something about what clothes people should be wearing.

I wish I could say it has all worked perfectly but it hasn’t. We’re no model for a perfect relationship in the situation we’re in. But I love her to pieces so we’ll always figure out a way to make it work.

I do have a day job and it blows hard. Luckily it’s the type of job where I can leave early if I get my work done. It’s nice because I’ll get everything done before noon, hop on line for a while and I’m home by three. It lets me get a lot of comic work done before it gets too late. After midnight I’m running on fumes. I would love to make comics full time but I’m years off. I’ll keep trying though. Thanks Chris.

From: Lizzie Jimenez

Question: My friends and I were arguing the other day which was Brad Pitt's best role, either Mickey from Snatch or Jeffrey Goines from Twelve Monkeys. What's your opinion?

Answer: Lizzie and I actually had a couple e-mails bounced back and forth on this because I couldn’t resist answering right away. I’m a huge Brad Pitt fan and that all started with his performance in 12 Monkeys. He was one of the rarest combinations of insane and cool I’d ever seen on screen before as Jeffrey in 12 Monkeys. It completely blew my mind, so when I saw the subject line of Lizzie’s e-mail, I instantly went with Monkeys

in my nid there’s only one of his other roles that comes close and that’s as Tyler in Fight Club. He’s awesome in Snatch, no doubt about it, but the complexity of the characters and the level of ability he shows in Fight club and Monkeys can not be matched by an Irish accent and pants the lure of a British caper.

In our e-mails I learned that Lizzie was pulling for Snatch. She admitted to loving the accent and I said something to the effect of “Like Brad Pitt needs another reason for women to be attracted to him.� But it works both ways. Harry’s Asian girl friend in was hot enough before she even spoke, but when she breaks out with the Scottish accent!? That’s hot.

Thanks Lizzie, you rock.

And thanks to everyone that’s been writing in and letting me know how much they enjoy the strip. It means a lot. Thus ends the arc, and George is gone (for now) but he’ll be back eventually. Until then it’s back to business with comics and reviews. I’m actually looking forward to it. There’s a lot of good movies coming out but also a crop of things I’ve seen but just haven’t gotten to. One of them being Basic Instinct 2! I can’t wait to tare into that review.

In the meanwhile head over to Clickwheel and you can get a sneak peek at the comic for Stick It!

Vote Incentive

I need to get back on the Vote incentive train. Today’s image is a little add on to George’s story. He’s gone but life goes on. Thanks to everyone for the support. Remember to vote at Buzz commix and Top Web comics.

A quick shout out to a comic called Edd Egg. I’ve been trading e-mails with it’s creator, Edd and talking about how breaking the 4th wall in comics can be so much fun. Because JLCM is a comic about me I constantly reference the comic and my life in the real world, within the comic. I think it’s fun and I hope it never gets to odd. Joe is me. That’s all you need to know.

Edd’s having a lot of fun with the 4th wall in his comic. Really untraditional kinds of stuff where his characters will break panels. Literally. Check it out.

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