2010 - the year in comics

As a way of saying goodbye to the old year I decided to to take a stock of the comic books I got hold of since January. Some of them are not brand new and there aren't so many of them altogether, but here they are one by one:

After spanning the storyline of Bone - my all time favourite comic book - for 15 years, Jeff Smith explored new territories with Rasl, the dimension-hopping art thief. More adult-oriented topic and film noir storytelling this time around.

Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra starts its plot with a rather haunting idea. In the summer of 2002 a mysterious plague wipes out all the male mammals of Earth expect for a young American guy and his capuchin monkey. According to this series an all-female world is not necessarily a better and more peaceful place than the one we know.

1566 - The Siege of Szigetvár was made by Endre Sarlós, one of the old masters of Hungarian comics. It commemorates how a small garrison of Hungarian and Croatian soldiers faced the vast army of Ottoman Turkey and fought to the last man. So here is the Hungarian 300 if you like...

Now, a perfectly fresh one. Pinkhell is the occasionally published magazine of a group of artists called the Hungarian Academy of Comics (a somewhat ironic name in response to the old cliché claiming that comics is art for the dumb). The new issue was published for Hungarocomix, the big end-of-year comic event in Budapest, and contains some seriously smashing stuff. Some pages can be previewed here: http://neroblanco.blog.hu/2010/12/16/hc_ajanlo_pinkhell_7#more2518798




Last, but not at all least, The Art of Bone, aka the perfect Christmas present for a die-hard Bone fan like myself. In 2007 Jeff Smith generously let the editors of Dark Horse Comics look through his archives and comply an amazing album of sketches, drafts, cover illusrations, let alone Smith's childhood drawings and the comic strips he published at college. An utterly amazing compilation for fans and aspiring artists :o)

So, happy new year evryone, and I'll try my best to get some Corvin updates - that is, new pages - up here quite soon. Fingers crossed.

The Merkin Project

Hi everyone. You may have noticed that the new Corvin pages failed to materialize here lately. The reason is for this is - apart from really taking the time to plan the madly exciting action sequence of the next few pages - can be seen below. Perhaps I need to explain how it came into being.

Quite a while ago at an evening out with friends somebody remarked how cool it is that the British have a word for 'artificial pubic hair'. The next day I did some internet research about this thing called merkin and thought it would be a good excuse for a comic in the light of what I found. For those with a further interest in merkins http://www.merkinworld.com/ provides extensive background information.
And now behold the comic itself (I also plan to colour it soon, but was too eager to show something for my dear audience):

Text for non-Hungarian speakers:
Page 1
panel 2: HiYa, Sue!
p 3: Fiii darling! Long time no see!
p 4 Sue: What can I do for you?
Fiona: I hear that older blokes are mad about merkins these days. You have any?
p5 Sue: Course we do! The coolest merkins of London are right there.
p6 Fiona: Oh dear, you need to put these there? ...Right, I'll try on one or two.
Page 2
p1 Sue: How does it fit?
Fiona: I'm not sure... Will you have a look?
p2 Sue: Oh it's a fab piece! Fits you perfectly.
Fiona: Reallyy? I'll buy it then!
p3: Sue: That'll be twenty pounds, please. Who's the lucky guy by the way?
Fiona: I've been seeing Lord Cleveland lately. Hope this thingie will make him even more eager....
p4 Sue: Lord Cleveland... OHMYGOSH! ...I mean, I heard he's quite into it.
p5: Fiona: Then I'll surely let him see it. Bye and thanks a million, sweetie!
Sue: Bye darling! I'm rooting for you soo much!
p6: Sue: Just you wait sweetie! Actually Lord Cleveland is crazy for this kind of merkin. It's time I give him a buzzer and get him to date me!