The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories

Article originally published 04/30/2008 at popculturezoo.com

by Wes Cowan

While I like the accessibility of web comics, there is just something delightfully visceral about print. The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories is a collection of comic strips from The Perry Bible Fellowship is a wonder to behold, bright and colorful with a red ribbon bound to the spine. While the cover is reminiscent of the children’s board game Candy Land, the scene of a candy character about to be burned at the stake by a candy mob is a dead give away that something is not quite right.

It has been said that the line between madness and genius is narrow. Nicholas Gurewitch is erasing that line with The Perry Bible Fellowship. An important question remains… can this delicate balance of two minds produce something that is actually funny? After reading The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, I must admit that I am the type of person who ‘laughs on the inside’. Thankfully, The Perry Bible Fellowship makes me giggle like a school boy peeking at naughty pictures.

Artistically both adept and dynamic, Gurewitch is sheer genius. His parodies of other famous comics are stylistically precise, delivering punchlines that on many levels are hauntingly familiar. You always knew you wanted to see in these types of jokes in some of the more mainstream comic strips that have gotten tired and boring over the years. Ironically, Gurewitch’s own signature style usually involves wonderfully expressive ‘blank’ humanoid characters. The beauty (and once again, madness) is in the simplicity of these characters. They are not important… but the ideas and thoughts that they represent ring through loud and clear. These are not your father’s funny pages.

A bonus for those who buy the book is a section at the back called ‘Lost Strips’, including commentary by the author. Run, do not walk, and get this very funny and irreverent collection!

The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories: A Collection of the Comic Strips of the Perry Bible Fellowship is available via the PBF website.

ECCC ‘08 - Interview With Rick Remender

Article originally published 05/25/2008 at popculturezoo.com

co-written with Ian Southworth

An alcoholic Texas spaceman. The last of the superheroes in a world in which the supervillains have prevailed. Zombie porn. These are but a few of the concepts that have been born from the fertile mind of writer/artist Rick Remender. At this year’s Emerald City ComiCon we sat down with this innovative creative and had a little chat.

PCZ: How has the convention season been going for you?

RR: Great! This is a really great show. Its my third year doing Seattle (ECCC) and I wouldn’t miss it. Its a great event.

PCZ: You announced at the Dark Horse panel yesterday that there are some new changes with End League.

RR: Yeah, Eric Canete and Naomi Baker are taking over as the art team and I couldn’t be more excited about it. They’ll start with issue five and we’ll be going monthly from that point. Eric is leaving his job as art director for Ben 10 to do the book, so we’ve got one of the most talented guys in the world coming on. We’re looking to move forward with the book on a regular basis.

PCZ: Fear Agent also looks to be changing with the addition of Tony Moore.

RR: Right. Tony’s first issue is about done and its great. We’re doing sort of a sci-fi western thing with it. We’re trying to incorporate some of the things we love about Sergio Leone, the spaghetti western, things like that. That will start I believe in June, which is Fear Agent month at Dark Horse. So, we’ve got a lot of promotional things going on at the same time. There’s a sketch variant cover. The Tales of the Fear Agent trade just came out, which is a collection of shorts and one-shots, with a brand new cover by Eric Powell.. we’re pretty proud of that.

PCZ: How has the move been to Dark Horse? You spent a bit of time working with Image previously.

RR: It’s been great. It was a smooth transition and everyone has been great.

PCZ: What was the reason for the move over to Dark Horse?

RR: It was a number of things. Mostly, it came down to after market and secondary media stuff that Mike (Righardson) was going to be involved with. It was simpler just to have him control the property.

PCZ: You are still working with Image on Crawl Space though. What is up next with that?

RR: We’re doing Army of Frankenstein next. It is basically the first ten minutes of the Terminator film, but instead of robots its of Frankenstein monsters. Its World War I trench-warfare with armies of Frankensteins. As the humans are wiped out, Igor robots burrow up from underground, collect the body parts and go back to the lair of Frankenstein to create more soldiers.

PCZ: That’s gotta be demoralizing.

RR: (laughs) Yeah, it is. As humanity is eroded away there are more and more Frankensteins and they are taking over the earth.

PCZ: Your work is so high-concept. Where are these ideas coming from?

RR: I don’t know, it’s mostly stuff from a visual place. As an artist I think about what I would like to see. Comic books are such a visual art form. I feel that if you don’t have something that’s visually enticing to people, something captivating and interesting or something that they recognize but maybe haven’t seen before… if you don’t tap into that then you get lost. Its the same in film, its the same in entertainment in general. I think that it starts with iconic visuals and sort of from there it develops. I wanted to do an army of Frankenstein monsters and so Keiron and I sat down and started batting around ideas and decided “Wow! That would work!” Usually with Fear Agent, it starts from a stance of… this is an aesthetic that I want to work in, here’s the style of character, what would be the best way to handle it?

PCZ: You have a history in animation. Have you ever wanted to return to doing artwork?

RR: The last thing I did was the Last Christmas with Gerry (Duggan) and Brian (Posehn) which came out a couple years back. I pencilled that and Hillary (Barta) inked it. Its currently being developed for a film, they’ve written the screenplay. That was the last thing I drew and then the writing just took off at such a pace that I derailed myself. You never know what’s going to happen. I was in a situation where I was writing stuff and storyboarding at EA and writing a game at EA… the comic book stuff exploded. On the writing end, I just haven’t had time to draw. My stuff is fairly Wally Wood and Will Elder inspired cartooning anyway, so its not necessarily in vogue with the what the majority of comic fans want. There’s the cult group that really enjoy the oldies and stuff… so I do it for myself now more than anything else. Most of my time is spent making other bastards draw my silly ideas.

PCZ: Now that your working with Dark Horse, have you thought about trying to work with another of their properties? Something that already exists, like Hellboy for example…

RR: Yeah. Eric Powell and I have put together a treatment for a Fear Agent/Goon crossover that we’ll get to at some point. We’ve got a Fear Agent/Aliens thing that we’ve been talking about forever and just need to put together. At this point my career is perfect, you know? I’ve got three or four creator-owned things between Image, Dark Horse and IDW. And then I’ve got a book with Marvel and DC. Everybody has been great. Its like that Simpsons episode where, before Maggie was born, Homer is walking around praying to God and saying “Don’t change a thing!” Its nice in that I’ve finally got all my ducks in a row and I get to work on plenty of creator-owned (projects) while also working in the sandboxes of the characters I grew up with as a kid. The stuff that comes up at this point… I can’t really do anything else. I’m just sort of… whole.

PCZ: It must be cool to be in that position, where you’re content with everything you are working on.

RR: Yeah, and overbooked! I’m really grateful for it.

PCZ: Will you be attending other con’s this season?

RR: I’m doing San Diego but I won’t be setting up. I’ll just be doing signings with Image and Dark Horse, maybe Marvel and DC as well since I’ll have a number of books out. It makes more sense with a show like that, which has become more of a media-centric star-fuckfest, where people want to get a Nick Cage signature. Its not a comic show. Its better just to go there and do some signings and hang out with friends, treat it as a bit of a vacation. I did New York, which is a great show. I did Wonder-Con, which is always a great show. I think that the medium shows are now the ones to do for comics. I hit Heroes Con the last couple of years but I’m not sure if I’m making that this year. I think Heroes, New York, Seattle, San Fransisco… those are the four that I’ll always try and make room for. And then San Diego and Chicago on the side, if its possible.

Thanks to Mr. Remender for taking the time out of his busy convention schedule to chat with us! You can learn more about his projects, both past and present, at RickRemender.com!

'High School Musical 3 - Senior Year' Film Review

Article originally published 10/24/2008 at popculturezoo.com

by Sonia Clark

For the past couple years, Disney’s High School Musical films have become an institution among the young and impressionable ‘Hannah Montana’ crowd. For better or worse, the kids of East High have become this generation’s Burger Palace Boys and Pink Ladies. As the mother of an enthusiastic and rambunctious 9-year-old, I know just about everything having to do with High School Musical. I know all of the characters names, I can recognize all the songs and I even know who is dating who in real life. Therefore, I was deemed the most qualified person to take the little lady to see High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

You have to hand it to Disney, they certainly understand their target audience. The third installment in this series (and the first film to get a theatrical release) plays out pretty much like you would expect. It’s senior year for our favorite Wildcats and it becomes apparent that we all have a lot of growing up to do in the next two hours. There is a championship to win and a prom to plan. These are coupled with the sobering reality that the paths of Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and the rest of the gang are about to head in very different directions.

Also, let’s not forget about the annual East High spring musical. The crew gets pulled into planning for the event thanks to Kelsi, who takes the liberty of signing everyone up for it. This does not go over to well with the gang, who clearly want to relax and enjoy their senior year. Though, in true HSM fashion, a heart-wrenching speech is given about this being the group’s last year together and the need to “go out with a bang.” Go Team!!

Overall, High School Musical 3 has a beautiful cast, a well put together wardrobe and (what seemed to me) a larger collection of well-choreographed song numbers. I found the song and dance sections of the film to be quite a bit different in the third movie than in the previous ones. This time, there was more emphasis on the props and coordinated sequences, much like a traditional Broadway production… or even a Frank Sinatra movie! Beyond this, the film played out much the way I expected, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The most important thing was that the 9-year-old loved it. Target demographic reached. Mission accomplished Disney.