Modern Mondays: A History of Violence (2005)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 28, 2009

Categories | Movie Reviews, Drama, Modern Mondays, Comic Books, Viggo Mortensen

It seems like everywhere I turn someone is talking or writing about the recent Comic Book Convention that is held in San Diego every year. It used to be an event only attended by comic book fans and various industry insiders, but it has exploded into some kind of massive media event attended by anyone and everyone. When did comic books become so acceptable? I suppose it was the onslaught of popular comic book films in recent years that has made the general public and every working film critic take notice. As someone who worked in a comic book shop throughout most of the 1990s for minimum wage, I find this sudden interest in the events at Comic-Con extremely amusing. It’s also great for the business, which has struggled to gain legitimacy for years. Comic books are now making a lot of people a lot of money. And money makes critics and cultural pundits take notice.

One of my favorite comic-to-film adaptations in the last 10 years is David Cronenberg’s 2005 film A History of Violence, which was based on a little known comic collection or “graphic novel” published by DC Comics under their Paradox Press banner. The comic book was written by John Wagner and illustrated by one of my favorite working comic book artists, Vince Locke (Deadworld, American Freak: A Tale of the Un-Men, etc). Although Cronenberg’s film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, few people seem aware of the fact that this critically acclaimed film was based on a comic book.

Since I’m still running on limited free time I decided to share a few choice quotes from one of my favorite reviews of A History of Violence that was written by one of my favorite authors, the late great J. G. Ballard. Ballard is a brilliant writer and he worked with David Cronenberg on the film adaptation of his own novel Crash (1996). In Ballard’s excellent review of the film he sums up exactly why A History of Violence is such a great film and one of my favorite movies of the last decade. What follows are a few choice excerpts from Ballard’s review.

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The Fine Art of Film

by Kimberly Lindbergs | December 12, 2008

Categories | News, Comic Books

I was surprised and happy to see that Criterion is now offering spectacular prints of select DVD art for sale. Some of them were created by talented comic book artists whose work I’ve enjoyed for 20 years such as Bill Sienkiewicz (Stray Toasters, Elektra and some of the best Batman stories you’re likely to read) and Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets). I’m not all that familiar with Darwyn Cooke’s wonderful work in comics, but his DVD designs for Criterion are also really impressive. Currently you can purchase fine art prints from the Criterion Shop where they’re selling for $100-125.00 and are limited to one hundred first editions.

Bill Sienkiewicz’s work based on Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Darwyn Cooke’s work based on First Man into Space (1959)

This seems like the perfect time to mention that a couple of my favorite artists currently also have fabulous film-themed fine art prints for sale. . .

The brilliant comic book artist Paul Pope (The Ballad of Doctor Richardson, THB, Heavy Liquid and also some of the best Batman stories you’re ever likely to read) has created an incredible piece of work called Harmonica Man based on Sergio Leone’s epic western Once Upon a Time in the West. Harmonica Man is currently available as a limited edition print from Fourth Estate. Only 50 of these beauties were made and they currently sell for $200.

Paul Pope’s Harmonica Man based on Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Pop art sensation Shag (aka Josh Argyle) has just released a new limited edition print based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As most film aficionados know, Shakespeare’s play has been the basis for many great movies including Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet and the musical West Side Story. I love how Shag reimagined the Romeo and Juliet setting and gave it a mod touch. If you’re looking for the perfect holiday gift to buy your sweetheart - or favorite film blogger - this is it! Only 200 copies of the print are available and you can purchase them at the Shagmart for $175.

Shag’s Romeo and Juliet

The following three artists don’t have fine art prints available of their work yet, but they should. Cartoonist Pete Emslie is a film fan and many of his eye-catching illustrations are based on his favorite movies and film stars. Here’s his latest piece based on Hitchcock’s Vertigo, but visit his blog to see more wonderful stuff.

Pete Emslie’s interpretation of Vertigo (1958)

I recently discovered that the talented cartoonist Scott Brothers had linked to my blog from his terrific site. While I was skimming through his blog archives I was thrilled to find some really cute pop art inspired illustrations there based on television characters and film stars, including this one of one my favorite actresses; the lovely Edwige Fenech.

Scott Brothers’ Edwige Fenech

Last but not least, check out this incredible illustration of actor Lee Van Cleef recently created by artist Vincent Altamore. You can find more illustrations of film stars at his blog.

Vincent Altamore’s Lee Van Cleef

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Scary-Art.com

by Kimberly Lindbergs | January 8, 2008

Categories | News, Comic Books

My good buddy Nicolas Caesar is an artist who works in many mediums, including illustrating various comic books. Besides being an artist, Nicolas has also been a horror movie host and he has a deep affection for cult films. Every week he publishes a free web comic on his site. These comics often reflect real-life experiences and he’s recently been writing some funny stuff that fellow movie buffs might enjoy as much as I do. I recently helped color and “remix” one of Nicolas’ comics called Church that I’m posting below for your enjoyment:

To see a larger version with interactive links please click on the image above!

If you'’d like to see more of his art work and comics please visit his website: Scary-Art.com

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Horror Roundtable @ The Horror Blog

by Kimberly Lindbergs | March 2, 2007

Categories | News, Comic Books

I just participated in my first Horror Roundtable which is hosted over at The Horror Blog. The Horror Blog is a great place to visit if you happen to love horror films as much as I do. It has lots of great tidbits about various horror related topics, including info about new films, etc.

This week participants of the Horror Roundtable were asked to name their favorite Horror Comic. This was no easy task for me since I worked in a comic shop during the 1990s and have lots of favorites, so I cheated a bit and mentioned four titles instead of one.

Visit The Horror Blog to read about my favorite horror comics and find out what other bloggers have been reading and enjoying. You’ll find lots of great reading suggestions there!

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