Whoopy de whoop whoop y'all!
My first ever interview is up over at Publishing Comics which is a fairly new site http://www.publishingcomics.com/interview/interview-with-john-paul-bove/
In it I discuss taking feedback, getting better, being realistic and the secrets of the universe hidden in pine cones... OK that last bit is a fib... It's my first real interview after helping to write the answers to the Newsarama War Journal interview well over a year ago.
In addition the adventure to the big smoke last month has been blogged about here: http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/blog/viewpost/1273
And last but not least but a piece of mine has been featured on a blog under the title "Best Artwork of Superheroes from the Most Talented Comic Artists" which is a hell of a thing. However, the piece featured was a peice I coloured of Mike Weiringo, so I think I just got lucky on being featured somehow. The link is here: http://thedesigninspiration.com/articles/best-artwork-of-superheroes-from-the-most-talented-comic-artists/
Monday 10 August 2009
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Transformers 2 Movie Review - SPOILERS ABOUND
Well the film is currently getting slated left right and, of course, centre. The film is brash, unsubtle and occassionally breath-takingly dumb... but is pant wettingly enjoyable at the same time.
I had very low expectations for the first film, I knew it wouldn't be following the lines of the well told stories of my youth but I was steeled for a good action film with robots beating the shit out of each other. As it turned out that was what I got and it was also quite funny. TF2 is basically the same film but writ even larger. The plot is pretty much the same: Object is powerful, don't let bad man have object. The humour is present here and massively expanded on (occassionally to its detriment) and the action scenes are nothing short of spectacular. What also got enlarged from the first film was the lack of real plot which seems even more noticable this time 'round. All the failings of the first film are on full and obvious display in TF2, but the aspects that TF1 did well are also enlarged.
So in some ways the film is complete crap. But in a great many important ways its absolutely brilliant.
I had very low expectations for the first film, I knew it wouldn't be following the lines of the well told stories of my youth but I was steeled for a good action film with robots beating the shit out of each other. As it turned out that was what I got and it was also quite funny. TF2 is basically the same film but writ even larger. The plot is pretty much the same: Object is powerful, don't let bad man have object. The humour is present here and massively expanded on (occassionally to its detriment) and the action scenes are nothing short of spectacular. What also got enlarged from the first film was the lack of real plot which seems even more noticable this time 'round. All the failings of the first film are on full and obvious display in TF2, but the aspects that TF1 did well are also enlarged.
So in some ways the film is complete crap. But in a great many important ways its absolutely brilliant.
Saturday 30 May 2009
Quick Update
Alreet?
Just a super swift update to let y'all know what's goin' on in the world of work. I'm presently colouring a 4 issue miniseries for Bluewater who have so far been great with me and given me a tremendous amount of freedom on this book. I can't say what it is yet. You'll have to wait and see!
And in an altogether unexpected moment I bumped into a director in Borders today and after a quick chat about screenwriting he handed me his card and said he could maybe help me make some connections. Such a very odd and random moment which hopefully may reap dividends in the future. A shame I've been so busy colouring comics and writing them that I don't have much to show in the screenplay department at the moment. Still, it's something I intended to work on anyway as soon as I could free up some time so this just gives me another kick u the behind to do just that!
j-p
Just a super swift update to let y'all know what's goin' on in the world of work. I'm presently colouring a 4 issue miniseries for Bluewater who have so far been great with me and given me a tremendous amount of freedom on this book. I can't say what it is yet. You'll have to wait and see!
And in an altogether unexpected moment I bumped into a director in Borders today and after a quick chat about screenwriting he handed me his card and said he could maybe help me make some connections. Such a very odd and random moment which hopefully may reap dividends in the future. A shame I've been so busy colouring comics and writing them that I don't have much to show in the screenplay department at the moment. Still, it's something I intended to work on anyway as soon as I could free up some time so this just gives me another kick u the behind to do just that!
j-p
Thursday 21 May 2009
Recent Colourings
The Bristol Con has been and gone and I was fortunate to meet Mike McKone and Gary Frank again and was even more fortunate in getting some artwork from them to colour. What follows is NOT that but at some point you'll see some of their work up here coloured. Until then enjoy the epicness of Chris Stevens' Hulk V Cap pic with colours by me. Make sure you check out his DeviantART page here: http://chriss2d.deviantart.com/ and mine by clicking the link on the right.
Sunday 10 May 2009
My STAR TREK review - SPOILERS ABOUND
And I can say hand on heart that it was "good". Not great, but definitely "good". The film follows the very early days of a young James T. as he comes into his own following the death of his father following the incursion of a timeline changing Romulan baddy played by Eric Bana. All of the main cast do a functional job although the real surprise is Chris Pine as Kirk who was much better than I would have expected. He managed to keep the cockiness and bravado of Kirk, and occasionally you could imagine The Shat if you just squinted a bit. In the timeline rearrange plotline the key focus of this is a branching timeline where Kirk grows up without a father, and comes late into the Starfleet game. In this Star Trek world the rules are out the window and anything can happen, even the destruction of whole worlds. Sometimes even very important worlds... It's clear that a bucketload of money has been spent on this, the screen is routinely filled with dizzying action scenes which are, at times, literally dizzying and you're a bit lost as to what is going on.
The downside of this film is that it is incredibly episodic and linear and it lacks any real depth. Kirk is in a barfight and then is found by Pike who tells him to enlist so he does and then they go off on a mission and then this happens then that happens then Kirk gets booted off the ship where he just so happens to meet Spock who gives all the exposition, then they go to the base on that world that miraculously Scotty is in etc etc. It chugs along but it is fueled by convenience. Even the creation of transporters that can beam you light years away (which would completely defeat the object of ships at all wouldn't it?) comes in as a TECH fix to the marooned Kirk very easily which sort of defeats the object of putting him there in the first place (haven't we learned anything from Voyager here people?). Spock may as well have written him a letter and sellotaped it to his bunk for all the difference it made. I wasn't enamoured with the set design, the iPod bridge was a bit over the top and for some reasons JJ Abrams seemed to film it like there was a floodlight just off camera that kept obscuring the image in almost every scene on the bridge. It was like the sun was rising on the bridge and it was quite distracting. The transporter effect too just looked stupid, although I liked that they brought in a sense of limitations to the transporter which added a bit of drama at the right moment. Unfortunately though everyones favourite "beamer upper" Simon Pegg was just distracting as the obvious comic relief Scotty, who might as well have looked into camera and waved his hands around shouting "laugh now" every time he appeared.
One aspect about the film that should be acknowledged is that it is actually incredibly respectful to the fans of what has gone before. It isn't erasing the old show but it is running along side it (so hopefully there'll be a DS9 at some point with a $150 million budget too). References abound from the little critters from Wrath of Khan that make you do what you don't want to do, to Tribbles, to the Kobyashi Maru.
Still, it was a very accessible film and I think of it as the "Superman Returns" of Star Trek, a flawed but accessible film that kind of says "The sequel to this is going to be really good". We'll never know with SR but hopefully we will with ST.
The downside of this film is that it is incredibly episodic and linear and it lacks any real depth. Kirk is in a barfight and then is found by Pike who tells him to enlist so he does and then they go off on a mission and then this happens then that happens then Kirk gets booted off the ship where he just so happens to meet Spock who gives all the exposition, then they go to the base on that world that miraculously Scotty is in etc etc. It chugs along but it is fueled by convenience. Even the creation of transporters that can beam you light years away (which would completely defeat the object of ships at all wouldn't it?) comes in as a TECH fix to the marooned Kirk very easily which sort of defeats the object of putting him there in the first place (haven't we learned anything from Voyager here people?). Spock may as well have written him a letter and sellotaped it to his bunk for all the difference it made. I wasn't enamoured with the set design, the iPod bridge was a bit over the top and for some reasons JJ Abrams seemed to film it like there was a floodlight just off camera that kept obscuring the image in almost every scene on the bridge. It was like the sun was rising on the bridge and it was quite distracting. The transporter effect too just looked stupid, although I liked that they brought in a sense of limitations to the transporter which added a bit of drama at the right moment. Unfortunately though everyones favourite "beamer upper" Simon Pegg was just distracting as the obvious comic relief Scotty, who might as well have looked into camera and waved his hands around shouting "laugh now" every time he appeared.
One aspect about the film that should be acknowledged is that it is actually incredibly respectful to the fans of what has gone before. It isn't erasing the old show but it is running along side it (so hopefully there'll be a DS9 at some point with a $150 million budget too). References abound from the little critters from Wrath of Khan that make you do what you don't want to do, to Tribbles, to the Kobyashi Maru.
Still, it was a very accessible film and I think of it as the "Superman Returns" of Star Trek, a flawed but accessible film that kind of says "The sequel to this is going to be really good". We'll never know with SR but hopefully we will with ST.
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Off to the con we go!
This weekend marks the Bristol Comic Con and despite the tickets being sold out myself and Jess will be there to hawk our wares. Well, mainly her (check out her gallery and shop, or just say hello on Saturday). I'll be selling some A1 TF posters (as penned by TF legend Casey Coller) a bit like this:
And some postcards that look a bit like this:
In order to get ready for it (and this was a VERY last minute decision) I've been panic colouring like a good 'un. My latest colouring was over the artwork of the incredibly talented Chris Stevens and was of his marker-rendered Iron Man. I love the energy of his piece although I struggled a bit to translate it into colour at first, all the things that made his work awesome seemed dimmed by the addition of colour. After much fiddling I managed to get something I'm pleased with. I look forward to working with him more!
And some postcards that look a bit like this:
In order to get ready for it (and this was a VERY last minute decision) I've been panic colouring like a good 'un. My latest colouring was over the artwork of the incredibly talented Chris Stevens and was of his marker-rendered Iron Man. I love the energy of his piece although I struggled a bit to translate it into colour at first, all the things that made his work awesome seemed dimmed by the addition of colour. After much fiddling I managed to get something I'm pleased with. I look forward to working with him more!
Sunday 3 May 2009
Introductions All Round...
Right ho, for now this is just a very quick hello and a welcome to my new blog. I'm a comic book writer and colourist with a leaning towards screenplays and at some point novels too. From here on in I'll be posting news, artwork and all sorts of other excitement here.
Come on in, it's going to be fun!
Come on in, it's going to be fun!
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