First five pages of Alice Faulkner REVISED

Upon some good technical advice, I fixed the dialogue to the first five pages. I made them smaller and brought the lines closer together:

The first five pages of Alice Faulkner

Here are the first five pages of Sherlock Holmes and the Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner. Looking at them, I'm actually considering redoing the lettering at a smaller size. Right now, I have them at around 9. But since I'm lettering on the 6x9 page format, so they might look better slightly smaller.

The Wrong Box

I love silly old movies. Especially silly movies with Peter Sellers in it. This is one of those films that is sadly not available on DVD but really should be. Thankfully I have a VHS copy of it still.

Two elderly brothers Masterman (John Mills) and Joseph Finsbury (Ralph Richardson) are the last surviving members of a tontine, an investment scheme set up many years before, in which the last surviving member stands to receive a fortune. Masterman is attended by his medical student grandson, Michael (Michael Caine), while his greedy cousins Morris (Peter Cook) and John (Dudley Moore) do their best to keep their annoying uncle Joseph alive. Masterman, who hasn't talked to his despised brother in many years, summons Joseph to his "deathbed", intending to kill him so that Michael can get the money.

On the train trip to London, Joseph escapes from his minders, entering a compartment and boring the sole occupant with a litany of trivial facts (something he does with everyone he encounters). The other man later turns out to be the "Bournemouth Strangler". Joseph later leaves to smoke a cigarette leaving his coat behind, which the strangler puts on. The train then crashes head-on into another one coming the other way. In the confusion, Morris and John find the strangler's mutilated body and mistakenly believe it is that of their uncle.

Morris decides to try to hide this long enough for Masterman to pass away. Morris and John put the body in a barrel and have it shipped to their London home, several doors down from Masterman's residence. However, it is delivered to the Masterman house. Joseph makes his way to London on his own and visits his brother; they quarrel.

Meanwhile, Michael meets and falls in love with Joseph's ward, Julia (Nanette Newman). Things become complicated when Michael discovers the contents of the barrel and, after learning of the dispute between Masterman and Joseph from family butler Peacock (Wilfrid Lawson), assumes that his grandfather has killed his brother. Various misunderstandings and antics result.

Peter Sellers has a bit role in the movie as the rather absent-minded (and completely medically inept) cat loving Dr. Pratt. And it's a lot of fun seeing him playing alongside Peter Cook in the scenes.

And for those of you young kids who liked Michael Caine as Alfred in The Dark Knight, it's really neat to see him as a young man in this movie.

Definitely a movie that's way overdue to be released on DVD. A very silly movie and a lot of fun to watch.

Bid on a signed copy of the Spaghetti Strand Murder!!

To celebrate the release of my latest graphic novel The Spaghetti Strand Murder, I have put a signed copy up for bidding on E-Bay. The winner of the auction will also receive a pen and ink sketch of the Detective Inspector himself with the book. Click on the image below to place your bid today:

Also available for bidding is a new Sherlock Holmes illustration inspired by one of the illustrations created by Sidney Paget for The Hound of the Baskervilles:

The Spaghetti Strand Murder is out!!

Purchase your copy today by clicking the image below:

And if you live in the Worcester MA area, you can also pick up a signed copy at That's Entertainment on Park Avenue.

Count Orlok

Based on Max Schreck's portrayal of Dracula (or Count Orlok as he is called in the film)from F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens. Click on the image below to bid on it:

Death of the Batman (came as no surprise)

Andy Fish has written an excellent blog on the recent death of Batman. It's really great and he makes a terrific point:

I agree with Andy. Batman's death is met with a shrug for me. I haven't bought an ongoing series since Strangers in Paradise back in 1999. And the last mainstream series I followed was The New Titans back in probably 1996/1997. I forget.

(Note: remember Boner from Growing Pains? Well, that's who's playing the Joker in the photo above from a fan film Batman: Dead End)

I've said it before but I feel graphic novels are the future of our business. If you look back, the best Batman stories that have been published, apart from the classic tales drawn by such luminaries as Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick (giggle) Sprang, Carmine Infantino or Neal Adams, have all been graphic novels. Either as a self-contained story or a short series.

But even in the case of the short series, did you buy Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil as a short series or did you buy it when it was published as a collection? I know I got mine in collected form. Because with a graphic novel you get all the DVD Extras like the artists blog posts about the project, sketches, excerpt from the working script and perhaps an art gallery at the end of the book.

Honestly, I don't care what happens to the characters anymore in an ongoing series. There has been so many continuity changes over the years with both DC and Marvel that the Batman you grew up reading isn't the same character.

Most artists like myself are more lured by the freedom which a graphic novel allows us. You're able to take the character like Batman in a different direction and do more as far as a story is concerned. You're not hampered down with continuity and "Oh you can't use Bruce Wayne as Batman in that story because he's dead, or Bane broke his back, or he's living in Argentina as a taxidermist and gave up being Batman" and so forth.

I feel as though that's been the direction the comic book industry has been moving since Will Eisner wrote A Contract with God in 1978 and it's only a matter of time before the ongoing series as we know it goes the way of the dodo and the graphic novel takes over.

But Batman lives on. You can watch him on the Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network or any of his cartoon incarnation on DVD, Cartoon Network or Boomerang. See Adam West doing the Batusi on the television series. And see him in The Dark Knight or any of the Batman films that are out. With the exception of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin because the suck. And read him in The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke and Son of the Demon to name a few.

Speaking of which, be sure to purchase Andy Fish's stellar graphic novel Batman: 1939 when it comes out. Bruce Wayne is alive and well in 1939 America. You can click on the pic below to check out Andy's blog. When it is released, THAT'S the place where you can find out where to purchase it:

Luna the Bat-Girl

Based on the character from the Lon Chaney film London After Midnight. Illustrated on 9x12 Canson bristol board with Deleter #3 Black Ink and black and red gouache. Click on the image below to bid today:

Two new illustrations on E-Bay

Click on the images below to bid today:

New prints and original art on the way

Click on the link below and keep your eyes peeled. New original art and signed prints are on the way:

Two new illustrations available on E-Bay!

The Winter Auction (much like PBS) continues with two new pieces A Very Spry Sherlock Holmes and Dorothy Meets the Tin Man. Click on the images below to bid today:

One day left on E-Bay Auction

Attention S-Mart shoppers!! There's still a day left to bid on certain items:

Still time left to bid on original artwork

Click on the image below to check out some of my E-Bay auctions:

Patrick W. Welch

I have mentioned it in countless blog entries but Patrick W. Welch's comic art has probably been the biggest influence on my own inking style. I thought I would share with you some of the work of Patrick's I have in my own collection that continues to inspire my own storytelling and inking style.

Batman: Brave and the Bold. Best Batman animated series in a while!!

If you haven't seen Batman: Brave and the Bold just yet, I highly recommend you check it out. It's definitely given me something good to watch while I wait for the Doctor Who Specials to be broadcasted in America.

When I first saw the ad's for the series, I wasn't sure how I was going to take it. But I really like it!!

Especially Diedrich Bader who does the voice for Batman. You might remember him as Drew Carey's goofy friend Oswald from the Drew Carey show or the neighbor with the mullet in Office Space.

His voice is really fits the more Dick Sprang/Sheldon Moldoff of the 1950's and 1960's comic books. He's and Jeremy Sisto (Justice League: New Frontiers) have been the best Batman voices I've heard in a while as far as an animated series is concerned. But I like how the series takes a lighter tone with Batman teaming him up with other superheroes from the DC Universe.

I really enjoyed the last episode which featured R. Lee Ermey (of Mail Call and Full Metal Jacket) as an aged superhero Wildcat. Wildcat became somewhat a precursor to Batman in the post-Crisis DC Universe. The lines R. Lee Ermey spoke as Wildcat had me in stitches. It's definitely my favorite episode in the series thus far apart from the episodes that feature Green Arrow. And the one with Aquaman as a pompous windbag is a hoot as well.

Definitely a series worth checking out if you have nothing to do on a Friday night.

Projects on the horizon

I started work on my next project as I continue to prepare Sherlock Holmes for publication. It's actually one I started a while back but had to put it on the shelf while I devoted my time to finishing up Sherlock Holmes.

The next one I've been planning with my friend, writer and editor of the Big Toe Review Joshua Michael Stewart. We had discussed the possibility of creating a graphic novel based on his poems. Even though the poems are all self contained stories, we had decided on loosely creating them into one ongoing narrative which all take place in this small town and the characters in these poems become the characters in this town.

We kind of had a trial run with the idea when I did a five page short story based on his poem O Come All Ye Faithful which ended up in both Detours for the Undercoverfish Group and my own book Confessions of a Peculiar Boy... And Other Stories. I was also experimenting with the ideas by seeing how my work would look with less line and grays. It wasn't that successful. Not Rori's fault who did a great job with the grays, but my own work seems to lose something with less details.

But I was satisfied with the way the poem adapted to a short story format. Josh's poems read like little stories anyways, so his words and my art seemed a very ideal union.

O Come All Ye Faithful will be a part of our book as well. It's one of my favorite poems of Josh's.

After I've completed that project, I'm toying with an idea of doing an 80 page graphic novel completely devoid of dialogue. Possibly a murder mystery mixed with a little factual history.

This project would be in honor of my friend and mentor Patrick W. Welch who did a series of post cards called the Hippogryph Files which had absolutely no words in it and you had to figure out the story from the pictures.

I had Patrick sign one of the cards for me from the series when I was still in college down in Savannah :-)

But I have to think a plotline through and write a script before I dive into this.

Upcoming WAM Classes

Have a child who loves art? Why not sign them up for an art class at the Worcester Art Museum either the Winter, Spring or if you would like to sample a taste of what the Museum has to offer, try a Feb Fun Week class. To check out my latest offering and enroll log onto:

https://educationreg.worcesterart.org/ShowSchedule.awp?&Search=INSTRUCTOR&Target=Njk2OTY=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&Title=Courses%20Taught%20by%20Bret%20Herholz

And here's a list of current classes:

Create Your Own Superhero 8 - 10 Years 01/08/2009 03/05/2009 Thursday from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM, 8 Sessions 10

Drawing Fun 8 - 10 Years 01/10/2009 03/07/2009 Saturday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 8 Sessions 5

Poster Power 8 - 10 02/18/2009 02/18/2009 Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 1 Session 16

Poster Power 5 - 7 02/19/2009 02/19/2009 Thursday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 1 Session 18

Poster Power! 14 - 16 02/19/2009 02/19/2009 Thursday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 1 Session 17

Poster Power 11- 13 02/20/2009 02/20/2009 Friday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 1 Session 18

Creative Cartooning 11 - 13 Years 03/19/2009 05/14/2009 Thursday from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM, 8 Sessions 16

Art of the Samuri 8 - 10 Years 03/21/2009 05/16/2009 Saturday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 8 Sessions 16

Comics on the Computer 14 - 17 Years 03/21/2009 05/16/2009 Saturday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 8 Sessions 14

Two new illustrations available

Two new illustrations are available for purchase on E-Bay. Click on the link below to check them out:



To check out more online auctions, cut and paste the link below:
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bretmherholz

New items on the way.

I should have a few new items available on E-Bay in the next couple of days, so get those Paypal accounts ready!! Click on the image below to see what's on sale:

And here are a couple other auctions by fellow artists whose work are MUST HAVE for any collection. Just click on the images below to check 'em out:

Original art on E-Bay

I have original art and prints available on E-Bay suitable for any living room or bedroom at a price that won't break the bank. Click on one of the images below and start bidding today!!

Darth Wuss

The only reason I'm bringing this up is because Spike TV was playing Revenge of the Sith three or four nights in a row. And like a sucker, I got sucked into watching it:

Honestly, if Darth Vader had said this instead of "NOOOO", this would have made the scene so much more watchable.

Instead, we have to live with one of the coolest baddies in the history of sci-fi films reduced to a snivelling wuss.

Matt Smith is the Doctor...

For all of you who know me, the one thing I live for when it comes to television is DOCTOR WHO!! My video collection got me through college and I've been hooked on the new series ever since Christopher Eccleston first said "RUN!" in 2005. David Tennant became one of my favorite Doctors. Definitely right up there with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker as far as I was concerned. For me he had the right mix of the Tom Baker's unpredictability, Peter Davison's chumminess, Colin Baker's anger and Sylvester McCoy's dark mysteriousness. Not to mention I really liked the combination of the suit, long jacket and trainers that really echoed his previous incarnations.

The funny thing is I started out a little skeptical of Tennant as the Doctor but he won me over and I don't think anyone else could have carried the series the way he did.

Which now I feel the same way about Matt Smith.

To be honest the choice kind of surprised me. Mostly because the way Steven Moffat was talking the next Doctor was going to be an actor over 40 and odd looking. Which I can understand. Many of the actors who had played Doctor Who like Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker or Sylvester McCoy were not pretty boys. Seeing that the Doctor started out as a Grandfather, Doctor Who had never gone historically for sex appeal when it came to their lead actor.

And I'm sure a lot of you, much like myself, are probably saying "Who the HELL is Matt Smith". But then again, there have been a couple of unknown actors like Tom Baker or Sylvester McCoy who were virtual unknowns and did an excellent job in the role. And Tom Baker is still considered to be one of the best Doctor in the shows history. Although, there have been people who feel David Tennant has eclipsed his popularity. And that's not a bad thing. It just means people like the show again. Nevertheless, Tom Baker casts a pretty long shadow.

I have to admit Matt Smith does have an interesting quality to his face. I suppose sort of a David Bowie/Jarvis Cocker appearance. That Ziggy Stardust/Thin White Duke definitely gives him potential to be good for the role.

But since I've never seen anything with him in it, I guess much like all the rest of you Whovians out there, I'll just have to look forward to seeing the Tenth Doctor regenerate into the Eleventh.

And now for something (somewhat) completely different...

For those of you who have known me since way back when, I use to draw cartoons all the time. I did cartoon characters all the way up till my last year of college in the school newspaper.

I usually don't do cartooning much nowadays except for in the classroom. I suppose it's like riding a bicycle for me. Even though I do work that is vastly different from the stuff I did in High School or even college, I can still dig into that little storage locker in my brain and dig it out.

Which is what I had decided to do when I saw this contest Narragansett Beer was holding for their upcoming Father's Day Tie. I had chickened out last year but I decided to take a brave stab at it this year in the only way I know how.

And spending the day watching Looney Tunes gave me all the inspiration I needed.

Since I connect Narragansett with 1950's and 1960's Americana, I really wanted to tap into that. No puns intended. So, I wanted to create this Dad in the image of people like Steve Allen, Phil "Sgt. Bilko" Silvers or Arnold "Top Cat" Stang.

I really drew heavily upon Hannah-Barbera, Rocky and Bullwinkle, UPA characters, Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. Especially some of Frelengs more stylized and sometimes simplified designs from the 1950's.

And I threw in a little John K. just for good measures. Although, I know it doesn't show up in the results, I've always loved John K's stylized characters and had that in mind when I was creating this.

Also, another rule of the contest was to use Narragansett imaging for the design. So, I incorporated a great number of the bottle designs into the character. The design of the tie was taken from one of the old designs from the Narragansett cans. The color of the hair was also taken from the same thing as the tie. The shirt was taken from the colors of Narragansett Lite and the trousers were from the color of the label on Narragansett Bock Beer.

The glass he is holding is from an image on one of the older labels.

I created a background image for the character which will use the design from the Narragansett Lager.

Alice Faulkner

Well, here it is!! A nine page sneek peek at my upcoming graphic novel Sherlock Holmes and the Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner. It's still only half done. I'm waiting to get the pages back in all it's monotone glory from Rori. You'll have to buy the book to see that.

The pages aren't necessarily in the order they will appear in the book. But I was thinking along the lines of a movie trailer when I picked which pages I wanted to use and how they might look good if I happened to be watching the coming attractions.