Sunday, April 22, 2018

Contemporary Arts

This weekend is the end of the COMIX OK exhibit at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center and they are celebrating with their very own comic convention.  ContempCon features the artists behind the comic book work that his been on display at the studio for the last two weeks.
Artist Johnnie Diacon speaking with a fan

I was able to attend yesterday to meet some of the artist, shoot some video and get some interviews for an upcoming project. Both the exhibit and the con highlighted the diverse types of art and artists that call the Sooner State home and featured how the comic book medium can include many different types of content.
 Interviewing Tulsa artist Melanie Gillman

The event included panels, demos, workshops, vendors, a cosplay fashion show and just about anything you could want from a comic convention but with a local focus.  Oklahoma has had (and continues to have) a large amount of comic book creators and cartoonists and it's about time they get their due.
Green Lantern from Tulsa's DC Marvel League cosplay group

The exhibit and the con are over this weekend but there will be plenty of chances to check out Oklahoma comic creators throughout the year.  I'm going to try to hit as many of those types of events as I can so stay tuned...


Monday, March 12, 2018

Got Time For a Quik Story?

 Previously:

About a Boy  - -  Bad Breath  - -  Fish Story  - -  Flash Fried  - -  Next Fry Day

 Some team-ups are inevitable.   They just seem like a perfectly natural pairing that the universe itself could not slow down the natural synergy between a like minded pair.  But some team-ups...are a little more head scratchingly arbitrary.  They may not seem like a natural fit and yet great things are accomplished.  This brings us to the 1987 comic book "Superman Meets the Quik Bunny"!

The story begins with a quick tease of Superman running afoul of a member of the Flash's rogue's gallery.  The Weather Wizard is using his magic weather wand to make things go straight up bonkers in Metropolis.

Meanwhile, we get a "quik" introduction to the members of the "Quik Qlub" as they finish building their tree house while the Quik Bunny supervises.

Of course they celebrate with a round of chocolate milks and in the process we get a good look inside the tree house they built.  It seems to have a surprising amount of sophisticated computer equipment.  But before we can wonder how or why, we get a quik expedited introduction of each of the Qlub members and their specialties:

Seems like some or all of this information might become relevant at some point.  You may notice in the back of that panel that Superman is on the news on their high tech homemade tree house entertainment system.

Well, the gang sees the trouble going on in Metropolis and decided that four kids and a chocolate craving rabbit were exactly what the situation needed.  So they unleashed the first of many of the secrets they built into their tree house:

Yes, the tree house these kids just built is also a helicopter.  It's almost enough to make you forget about the talking bunny...and possibly Superman.  But the Man of Steel, the Quik Bunny and the Quik Qlub kids finally all converge in Metropolis in time for the kids to assume they saved Superman and for Superman to tell them that they didn't.

One of the aspects of the comic is puzzles and brain teasers that pop up every couple of pages.  They're a part of the story and are meant for the reader as well as the Qlub kids to solve.  The answers are typically the location for where the Weather Wizard has gone.  That's why one of the kids is so cocky to Supes in the last panel.

Each puzzle plays into one of the aforementioned strengths/interests of the club members so even if the reader isn't able (or willing) to decipher the clues, the Chocolate Milk Brigade will take care of it.  And that's how they found out the Weather Wizard next target was...

This comic is surprisingly long with multiple altercations in multiple locations.  To save time let's just say they face both puzzles and the Weather Wizard in Washington D.C. and at the pyramids of Egypt before having a final confrontation at the Great Wall of China.  (Also the Qlub House turned into a blimp and boat and all kinds of other stuff.)

In addition to being able to change into various vehicles and containing state of the art computer equipment, the Quik Qlub tree house also has the ability to manufacture a facsimile of the Quik Bunny to use as a decoy to trick weather controlling villains.

And it's just that easy.  After the clean up and dropping off the Weather Wizard at the local loony bin, the only thing left to do is enjoy some of that sweet, sweet Nestle Quik flavored chocolate milk.


 

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Easter Egg Basket #4 - Gremlins Reading Material

Previously:


I don't have a whole lot of free time to indulge in nostalgic re-viewings of the classics but luckily I found some time over the holidays.  Since I was choking on Christmas cheer, I decided to keep that vibe going by tuning into a true holiday classic: Gremlins!

I don't think I had seen the movie for decades and I had all but forgotten about the Christmas theme but once I started it, it was undeniable.  Everyone talks about Die Hard and Batman Returns as their go-to holiday escapism but Gremlins should be at the top of that list.

Christmas cheer notwithstanding, what really grabbed my attention were a few quick cameos of some classic comic book issues.  Which brings me to our topic today.  Just for funsies, let's see what the actual issues were that made an appearance.

The comics show up in the scene where that nitwit Corey Feldman spills water on Gizmo and the 'multiplying" begins.  As the fur balls start to pop, they land on Billy's comics and the Conan issue was the first to catch my eye.  Here it is in all its glory:

From Marvel, Conan the Barbarian Vol 1 #150 tells the story of the "Tower of Flame" which involves Conan protecting a strange woman who then goes through a bizarre transformation to reveal her true self.  I'd like to think they picked this issue for that theme...but who knows?

Apparently Billy doesn't play favorites with the "Big Two" because the next issue is from DC.  House of Mystery Vol 1 #320 is also in mix while Gizmo screams in pain.

I can't find too many details on the story "Death, Come Rescue Me" featured in the issue but according to the DC Wiki the main character ends up "as a slave on a Chinese junk [sic] where no one ever dies".  A Chinese junk what?  Well, Gremlins starts with a scene in a Chinese "junk" store (kind of) so maybe that's why this one got picked for the set.

Gizmo's mot done with his infarction but before the town gets overrun with murderous monsters we've got one more comic to check out: All-Star Squadron Vol 1 #16.

Don't ask me why this one made the cut. "The Magnetic Marauder!" is essentially a team-up between the Squadron and Wonder Woman against Percival Plazchek a.k.a. Nuclear, the Magnetic Marauder.  So maybe they did just grab an arbitrary stack of comics for the scene.    

But regardless of any intentional or accidental themes, it's always great to see old school comics show up in old school movies.  Keep your eyes open, you never know what you're gonna see next.