I’ve just finished reading Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ for the first time ever.  I’m a huge King fan from my teen years (right about when this book was published!)  I’ve never liked vampires or vampire stories. Maybe there’s a little too much terrifying truth in them? The evil of vampires has always struck me as evil that gets right to the point.  The vampire says, ‘I want MORE than my fair share out of existence, and I will take everything you have and callously murder you to enjoy it, and by the way, the more that hurts you, the more I will get off on it.’   When you boil it down to it’s most basic truth,  this is what every human evil is all about.

From the standpoint of the vampire story, ‘Salem’ being a 42-year-old paperback, there’s nothing here that I haven’t seen built on in some other story written since.  I’ve seen many houses built on the stinking cellar that King created here.  A cellar he masterfully built with rocks hauled over from the ‘old country’.  What did happen as I read about Hubie Marsten, Richard Straker, Kurt Barlow and their encounters with the people of Jerusalem’s Lot, was that I listened for the creaking sounds in my personal attic, and started sniffing for that rotten smell from the basement of my own psyche.  I started to consider what these stories say about people.  What about us, gave birth to them?

It occurred to me that the ‘disease of vampirism’ is a lot like any addiction or obsession.  In particular, I considered the vampire’s trait of being invisible in mirrors.   Why can’t vampires cast a reflection in a mirror? The fact that they do not, was one of those things that I’ve accepted at face value as part of the lore, but why that particular trait?  (Forgive me if this has been answered in one of the ‘Twilight’ stories or other vampire lore I haven’t read!)  Having been throughout my life, someone who is prone to addictions and obsessions, and having spent countless hours amongst folks with similar issues, this starts to make a little sense.  

Obsessions and addictions take piece after piece of one’s soul as payment (for what?) until the original person is no longer there, and what is left in that person’s place, is nothing.  Still alive, but for all intents and purposes, dead.  The ‘what‘ can range from momentary distractions and simple pain avoidance, to seeking of greater and greater pleasures, fleeing the sense that we are nothing more than ordinary, to ultimately trying to flee our own mortality.  The payoff is always the same, the promise of escape always proves to be empty.  

The weapons used to overcome the call of evil are always the same.  They’re the symbols of holiness.  Symbols of self-sacrifice, Symbols of turning away from selfish pursuits and losing oneself amongst relationship with the rest of humanity.  Leaning into that mortality and that which we share with everyone else, always causes the evil corruption to flee, or whither in the light and warmth of real connection. 

In my art is one place where I feel that perhaps the two can exist together.   The relentless obsession is there.  My own flight from being ordinary. Albeit without costing somebody else their life!  Along with that relentless pursuit though comes a humble giving of something back.  I sometimes wonder what I am really adding to the world if I consume my hours in creating the most excellent artwork?  What is in that besides Accolades for myself?  My own sense of accomplishment?  Affirmation, that the countless hours spent scribbling meant something to somebody? 

Then I think of the flowers sprouting out of the ground this spring morning, the beautiful landscapes in places as lush as Wisconsin, and as arid yet equally beautiful as the rocks of the southwest.  I think of the squirrel that I watched go bounding across the lawn that is mine for now…and I think maybe just living, doing what I do, amongst it all as part of it all is enough.  Each part provides a little beauty and a little joy to the whole thing.  I humbly hope that my work results in adding a little bit to that magic too!

I’ve linked to a piece I created this week.  (In my own relentless pursuit of improvement!) I’m working at capturing some emotion in facial expressions, and better modeling of the anatomy of heads, faces, figures, etc.  Please take a look and leave a comment! 

Negan is far and away my favorite character on ‘The Walking Dead’.  My daughter and I watched the latest episode “This is Negan” last night after looking forward to this one for months.  I'm sorry, I can't buy this interpretation of Negan's backstory. Where is the animal magnetism and alpha male charisma? Where is the demonstrated moral flexibility to get what he wants? Where is Negan’s built in need to control people at any cost? Maybe Negan did coach baseball, but couldn’t that be an after-work hobby? Maybe he could have had a roofing company or been a contractor or been a leader in some other evil enterprise like that, that involves a lot of conniving and ruthlessness.

Maybe Negan would hire illegal immigrants, then not pay them what he promised and threaten to have them deported if they complain.  He’d then laugh about it with his buddies that work for him, (Negan is also pitting these hand picked nasty but weak willed guys against each other so that they don’t get together and challenge his authority.) Negan buys the beer, he owns the company, he owns the truck and he makes one of the lackies drive, etc.

I’m thinking that the writers of these shows likely face other considerations and challenges that we in the audience know nothing about.  No fault to them!  That doesn’t stop fans like us from coming up with ideas that seem right to us!  I think to myself, "Ok smart guy, you don't like that story, what kind of story would you like?"

Here’s an idea for an expository scene that came to me as I thought of what kind of backstory a character like Negan might have:

Negan is just getting done demoralizing one of his illegal employees at a job site.  The man goes back to work mixing concrete with his blistered hands as Negan looks on and grins as though he had given the poor man a raise.  Negan's buddies sit in the cab of the company truck snickering and drinking beer while the profusely sweating immigrants toil in the hot summer sun building a garage.  That’s when a couple of 10-year old boys who live in the neighborhood wearing baseball caps walk over and ask the clearly in charge Negan if his company would sponsor a little league team.  One of Negan’s men, feeling the effects of drinking Negan’s cheap beer barks a drunken ‘Get lost!” .  Negan stops, turns to the truck,  points the sledgehammer that he’s leaning on at the heckler in the truck and says grinning,  ‘I’ll be with you in a minute...  Don’t you go anywhere.”.  Negan then turns back to the 2 boys, and with magnanimous flourish tells them that he’d be delighted to sponsor their team.  He finds out where they practice and promises to be there to watch.  He says he wants to know if these two are the sluggers they look like.  He's sure he will be backing a winner. The boys leave on cloud 9, giddy with excitement while the homeowner’s smoking hot wife has been watching this entire scene unfold.  She smiles at Negan who gives her one of those 'I'll be seeing you later..." Negan grins.   Then he turns his attention back to the truck.  Now that the boys are out of earshot, Negan humiliates the loud-mouthed crony with one of his patented bizarre speeches.  The kind that might make sense coming from a decent person, but are pretty awesomely confusing coming from this monster. Negan finishes by telling him that he needs to get the hell out of his company truck which is for "Homeowners' Saviors" employees only, and to go walk his jobless, broke ass home. 

I’m starting to explore creative writing via a group called ‘shut up and write’ through Meetup.com.  You hang around on a zoom call with a group of other writers and you just write for an hour in each others' silent company.  There are groups from all over, usually about 4-12 people attend a group.  These happen all different times and days of the week.  One of the groups I attend has a highly dedicated group leader who takes the time to prepare really interesting prompts, and timed exercises that build skill!  This one has breaks during which we share out writing with each other and offer encouragement.  It’s another great creative exercise. These meetups have proven to be a great way for me to explore another creative outlets during the pandemic.  I’m hoping the groups remain as strong beyond. 

I started to explore creative writing as a means of making my art more interesting.  Fan art is fun, but for me, I think I could find real joy in drawing characters from my own stories and maybe even find an audience for that work!   I’d love to hear about what some of you are doing to get outside of your own well-trodden ground of drawing, painting, pixel pushing, what have you!  Do you have some other passions that you indulge in order to keep it fresh?  Leave a comment!  All the best to you on your creative journey!

The other day I was thinking about subject matter for another illustration.

Like a lot of kids my age, I got my start scratching the art itch by trying to emulate the drawings I saw in Comic books. (I sometimes call them graphic novels today, because it maybe maintains just a little bit of the illusion that I'm a well adjusted middle aged guy, rather than a boy who has refused to grow up entirely!)

Enter ROM. Back in the summer of 1980, I could be found at 'Tosa Pharmacy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, annoying the store clerk by rifling through all of the comics on the spinning wire rack. You had to do that, because unlike the comic stores I frequent today, there just wasn't the real estate on that rack at 25 cents per, to give each title it's own basket. So, sometimes the latest issue of John Byrnes' masterful Fantastic Four , might be hidden behind (egad!) some Archie comic or other. During one of these treasure hunts I came across a cover that immediately caught my interest. It was 'ROM the Space-knight' Issue #3. I had heard of ROM, but through a toy ad in another comic. At that time, there was some marketing experimentation with creating a toy, and then creating a comic to support the product, rather than the other way around ala 'Star Wars'.

ROM was one of two titles like this that Marvel was putting out. The other was “Micronauts”- based on a REALLY popular toy in the late 70's. The actual ROM toy was neat because it had flashing red LED eyes and made some cool electronic sounds. He had a few attachments that you plugged into him , and then those would light up and make their own cool sounds. The three attachments were the Neutralizer, the Energy Analyzer, and the Translator. Apart from the lights and the sounds, ROM was a really lousy action figure. His head was comically out of proportion with the rest of his body. He had maybe 4 points of articulation, he was one color. One. This ugly metallic gray. I don't believe ROM was a huge seller, but I get the sense that Parker Brothers had a significant initial investment in the toy and were pretty motivated to make it a success, thus the Marvel comic.

Marvel took Rom seriously. The cover of ROM issue #3 was drawn by Frank Miller. It portrayed a ROM that had a family resemblance to the toy, but  was clearly re-imagined by somebody who understood what made a cool looking hero. In a dynamic pose, full of movement, ROM was using his  ‘Neutralizer' on a DIre Wraith. The Neutralizer appeared to a bystander, to shred its target and turn the wraith to ash, but it was in fact opening up a portal to another dimension called Limbo. Limbo is a construct similar to the Phantom Zone in Superman comics. It's a prison that holds the wraiths forever without forcing the Space-knight to commit murder in order to rid the galaxy of these treacherous beings.

ROM had me from the first read.  Apparently ROM is from a planet called Galador.  Galador was home to a highly advanced culture that valued science, art and music and peace above all.  However they were not to be F-d with.  At some point they were infiltrated by a race of beings who could change their shape at will.  They used this ability to infiltrate and enslave cultures throughout the galaxy, until the day they tried it on Galador.  The Galadorians got wise almost immediately and -starting with ROM, the first to volunteer- began enlisting their young men and women to fight for their home.  Galadorian science had discovered how to physically graft someone to indestructible cybernetic armor, making them into fighting machines that the Dire Wraiths were no match for.  Each Spac-knight had his/her own individual customized armor and weapons.  ROM’s armor has the appearance of polished chrome.  He doesn’t have to carry anything because his armor can- in an instant- summon his equipment from hyperspace!

Amongst Rom’s tools are his Neutralizer which I’ve already described,  His Energy Analyzer, that he summons when he has a hunch that some Wraiths are masquerading as people and needs to be sure,  and finally his ‘Translator’.  I think I saw him use the translator once or twice as he hunted Wraiths on different continents and worlds.

ROM could see things that others couldn’t see.  Ahhh the paranoia.  He could see these creatures for what they actually were ( evil deceitful creatures bent on domination and enslavement)  beyond what they appeared to be (a watchful drugstore clerk or a teacher handing out detentions maybe).   It explained so much!  Ha!

Thinking back on it, part of the tragedy of becoming a space-knight is that you get this cool armor, but you also forfeit your humanity.  Unfortunately, the Wraiths managed to kill all of Galador’s scientists at some point while the Space-knights were away and now those young men and women found themselves stuck inside of this armor.   I thought this was a really poignant allegory, as America was beginning to grapple with the way veterans of America’s Vietnam war were left.  After answering the call to fight for a world they were told was slipping away, they too were left scarred by a reality they couldn’t un-see.  They too were misunderstood by American culture and found themselves mostly alone. 

That’s a pretty astounding accomplishment for a comic that existed purely to promote a toy.  Of all the comics I’ve ever collected I only have the entire series of one.  ROM made a run of 75 issues.  As a tribute to the creative spirit of creators Sal Buscema, and Bill Mantlo  I offer today’s Illustration…

ArtStation - ROM-Spaceknight of Galador, Ryan Paul