Category: Look Here

Documentaries · Heads Up! · Jeffrey "Jeff" Catherine Jones · Look Here

Heads Up: BETTER THINGS t-shirts, with art by Jeffrey Jones

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Don’t delay! The donation deadline is Thursday 28 February 11:59PM PT.

Well, folks, the deadline for donations to the Indiegogo fundraiser for Maria Paz Cabardo’s documentary film Better Things: The Life and Choices of Jeffrey Catherine Jones is fast approaching. So far, the donation level that includes the 64-page art book, film DVD, and postcard set has been the most popular with Jones fans, with the level that includes the DVD by itself running a close second, but now, with only five days to go, producer/director Maria Cabardo has unveiled a very tempting new perk at the $55.00 level ($65.00 international): a t-shirt with art by Jeffrey Jones. And you don’t have just one design from which to choose; there are several. Take a look:

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Now, the price may seem a bit high for a mere t-shirt, but keep mind that the main point here is to support a film about an artist whose work you love, not outfit the kids for school — although there are definitely kids (as well as adults) out there who would love one of those t-shirts! Rather, the t-shirts and other merchandise are merely Maria’s way of thanking you for your donation. And where else are you going to get a t-shirt with art by Jeffrey Jones on it, anyway? Nowhere, that’s where!

Colour and size options for the t-shirts are listed on the site, but if you don’t see a colour you like or the size you need, simply ask Maria about other options. Keep in mind, however, that Maria has recommended neutrally coloured fabrics (and white) because they work best for the full-colour artwork, which a commercial printing company will reproduce on the t-shirts by “ink transfer.” The images are not decals or iron-ons, which sit on the surface of the fabric and tend to flake away over time; rather, “the ink is transferred and is absorbed by the shirt and is completely washable and blends well after several washings.” Of course, the designs that feature Jones drawings in black ink — the “I’m Age” strip or the gorilla, for instance — would look great on a t-shirt of almost any colour. But, again, ask Maria about your options. You can contact her via the Indiegogo site or her twitter feed.

So visit the Better Things Indiegogo home page and donate today!

POSTSCRIPT:

Please note that the Better Things fundraiser is a “flexible funding campaign,” so all of the money raised goes to the film — and everyone who donates will receive their chosen perks/rewards — regardless of the total amount of money raised by the deadline.

And please ALSO note: the cost of delivering the various perks/rewards at the various donation levels is going to substantially reduce the amount of money that Maria actually receives from the fundraiser, so the more money raised, the better. SPREAD THE WORD!

Don’t delay! The donation deadline is Thursday 28 February 11:59PM PT.

Comics · Here, Read · Look Here · Ric Estrada

Look Here, Read: “Temptress and Trouble-maker,” with art by Ric Estrada

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From Teen-Age Romances #28 (December 1952), here’s “Temptress and Trouble-maker,” with pencils and inks both by Cuban-American cartoonist Ric Estrada (26 February 1928 – 01 May 2009); the earliest “signed” pencilling credit for Estrada at the Grand Comics Database is from 1952, so his work on “Temptress and Trouble-maker” is obviously from very early in his career, and yet, Estrada already displays a bold, confident style that is fully formed and extremely attractive:

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— VIA —

Estrada was only 24 years old when “Temptress and Trouble-maker” was published.

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Look Here

Happy Valentine’s Day 2013 from RCN!

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april-gold-by-grace-livingston-hill_ny-bantam-1971_s5789

There are a LOT of novels in this numbered series of paperbacks by Grace Livinston Hill — the above is number twenty seven! — and to the publisher’s credit, they all have illustrative covers. But sadly, the level of artistry on the covers is, for the most part, neither excellent nor odd enough to make the novels worth collecting. The illustration on the cover of April Gold, however, is not only a cut above ALL of the others that I’ve seen in the series but is quite lovely and, yes, romantic, in and of itself. Which is why I bought it to scan for display online today, 14 February 2013.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Look Here · Philip K. Dick · Richard Powers

Look Here: THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, with cover art by Richard Powers

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I can’t remember when I bought the sixth printing of the 1974 Berkley Medallion edition of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle for a long time — it was a long time ago — but I do remember being both happy to have the novel to read and unhappy with the cover. Specifically, I’ve always been irritated by the wide red banner that the folks at Berkley Books rudely slapped across the face of Richard Powers’ lovely cover art in order to have a spot to brag about their decision to re-print a much-admired novel and to inform/remind readers that Philip K. Dick’s book had won the Hugo Award for “the best S-F novel of the year” — in 1963! But I am irritated about that no longer, because today I found a copy of the novel with the same cover but without the red banner — Berkley Science Fiction, 1982, tenth printing — in lovely condition, and it only cost me ninety-nine cents and tax to add to my collection.

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Do you see now what was obscured by the red banner? Ironically, it is none other than a little silhouette of “the man” standing ramrod-straight in a void (or hole, or window, or empty eye socket) in Powers’ oddly sculptural, strangely forbidding “high castle.”

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Leo and Diane Dillon · Look Here

Look Here: DEATHBIRD STORIES, with cover art and design by Leo and Diane Dillon

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It’s not often that I see paperbacks by Harlan Ellison on the shelves in thrift stores these days — or used-book stores, period — but a couple of months ago, I came across what looks to me to be an unread copy of Deathbird Stories at Value Village — I took it off the shelf just before a local bookseller showed up, looking for underpriced books to stock his shelves, and when I showed him what I had found (I’ve purchased books from his store many times; his prices are reasonable), he told me that I was lucky that I had gotten there before him — and because the book also had the classic cover with both art and design by Leo and Diane Dillon, I bought it. Here’s a scan of the front and back covers along with a rough panorama of the wraparound:

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Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Look Here

Look Here: Two “Michael Shayne Murder Mystery” novels with cover art by Robert Stanley

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Actually, only A Taste for Violence includes the credit line “Cover painting by Robert Stanley,” but the stylistic and circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that Stanley produced the cover painting for The Corpse Came Calling as well. And yet, the style was common during the period, so maybe someone else deserves the credit:

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The diagrams on the backs of the novels are not something I personally tend to associate with mystery fiction — fantasy fiction, on the other hand, seems to me to be head-over-heels in love with maps and really ought to marry them — but I do wonder if readers at the time ever actually consulted the back covers as they were reading. The disappearance of the maps and floor plans from later editions of the novels may be a sign that they were not a big selling point, that punchy, suggestive copy did more to whet the reader’s appetite for the story within than a label-festooned diagram of an apartment or a neighbourhood ever could.

I’ve got many more “Michael Shayne Murder Mysteries” to scan and post, all with cover art by everybody’s favourite pulp cover artist, Robert McGinnis, but those will have to wait for another day…

Keywords: The Corpse Came Calling, A Taste for Violence, Michael Shayne.

Comics · Here, Read · Look Here

Look Here, Read: “New York City: The Future” by Paul Kirchner

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From Big Apple Comix (September 1975), here’s “New York City: The Future,” a prescient one-page story by Paul Kirchner, whose excellent surrealist comic strip, “The Bus,” was a regular feature in Heavy Metal, back in the day:

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I bought a hardcover collection of “The Bus” from PictureBox back in March 2012, and it appears that there are still copies available for sale. If you’re at all interested, be sure to order while you can! Apparently, only 150 copies of the collection were printed in English.

The Bus collection is widely available in French, however. For a slide show in French, click here.

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Look Here

Look Here: Four Pocket Books with cover art by Tossey, Binger, et al.

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Well, I’m back with sort of a grab bag of covers this time around. Not sure why I chose to scan these particular items this morning, though I do think that even when the cover art is lacking, the overall design of vintage pulp paperbacks from Pocket Books, front and back covers included, is often interesting, and sometimes even amusing — “WOULD YOU ANSWER THIS AD? Thousands of men did, including Perry Mason, and one of the answers was MURDER!” — so maybe that’s the theme here:

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Keywords: The Case of the Rolling Bones, The Case of the Lonely Heiress, Murder up My Sleeve, The Golden Goose.

Documentaries · Heads Up! · Illustration Art · Jeffrey "Jeff" Catherine Jones · Look Here

Heads Up: The BETTER THINGS Jones-tribute art book!

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Don’t delay! The donation deadline is Thursday 28 February 11:59PM PT.

If you visited the Indiegogo fundraiser for the independent documentary film, Better Things: The Life and Choices of Jeffrey Catherine Jones, the last time I linked to it, you may have noticed that the “perks” at the $100.00 level include the following:

  • a limited-edition art book showcasing works by artists inspired by the work and example of Jeffrey Catherine Jones,
  • a DVD of the film TO BE SHIPPED ONCE IT HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY RELEASED BY A DISTRIBUTOR, and
  • a set of 6-8 postcards featuring artwork randomly selected from the art book.

Since that time, producer/director/writer Maria Cabardo has added a $75.00 contribution tier with just the limited-edition art book as the perk.

And earlier today, 07 February 2013, Maria confirmed the roster of artists whose work will be reproduced in the book.

I’ve copied out the very diverse and impressive list of participating artists below and added links to various official and unofficial websites so you can check out their work; my apologies in advance if I’ve copied a name incorrectly or linked to the wrong website:

And last but definitely not least, the art book will feature reproductions of several pieces of art by JEFFREY JONES himself, including a watercolour sketch donated by collector Robert Weiner, president of Donald M. Grant Publisher, Inc., that will be featured on the cover.

Here’s the official description of the book, cut and pasted from the Better Things Indiegogo home page:

An amazing collection of artwork from artists in the comics, publishing, role-playing, and entertainment field. This book is dedicated to help fund BETTER THINGS and was only made possible by their generosity and willingness to help get Jones’ story and art to the world. It contains 48 pgs of color and black and white work.

Estimated delivery: July 2013

Help Better Things meet its fundraising goal by donating at the $75.00 or $100.00 levels (or higher!), and receive the art book as thanks from your favourite artists. Go to the Better Things home page at Indiegogo and reserve a copy now!

UPDATE (10 February 2013):

If you are reluctant to contribute to the Better Things Indiegogo fundraiser because you think that the campaign is unlikely to reach its fundraising goal of $30,000 dollars — if you think, well, I see a perk that I really like, but it’s never going to happen for Better Things, so why should I bother — here’s something you should know:

Yes, indeed, the Better Things Indiegogo fundraiser is a “flexible funding campaign,” and as such, the campaign owner receives any money raised but in return has agreed to fulfill the perks even if the stated goal is not met. For more information, see “Following Up and Sending Perks.”

UPDATE (12 February 2013):

Maria Cabardo has announced more contributors and an enlarged page count for the art book via Twitter and the Indiegogo campaign announcements page:

Therese Nielsen (http://tnielsen.com/) and Patrick Hill has been added to the list of artists contributing to the Jones Artbook. It is now a 64-page art extravaganza [upgraded from 48 pages], a tribute to Jones and a wonderful example of the artistic community’s generosity.

UPDATE (13 February 2013):

Earlier today, Maria Cabardo posted a new pledge video:

Don’t delay! The donation deadline is Thursday 28 February 11:59PM PT.