May17

Zack Attack!

by Karl on May 17, 2012 at 12:01 am

In my very first blog post I said the prime motivation for starting this site was that my wife Myrna and I were looking to adopt, and the comics I posted here would become a legacy I could leave to that some-day child.

Well, some-day is here!

Isaac “Zack” Aiden Kesel was born on May 10, 2012. We were and are still very honored and thrilled that his birth parents, Isabel and Matthew, chose us as his adoptive parents. Isabel is half Native American, naturally beautiful, and sharp as a whip, while Matthew is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Given all that, we’re sure Zack will be a force to be reckoned with. We adopted through Open Adoption & Family Services— an organization I can not say enough good things about— so Zack will have continued contact with his birth parents and always know where he (and his wrinkled ears) came from.

Due to some medical issues, Zack will be a hospital guest for a few weeks. It’s a rough start, but Zack’s a determined fella (something I’m betting he gets from Isabel) and we have every reason to believe that on the other side of this he’ll be happily healthy, and we’ll be happily harried.

The other night Zack needed quite a bit of soothing to calm down from a tantrum. Isabel and Matthew were there at the time, and when I finally quieted Zack, Matthew told me with his typical kindness and compassion “You’ll be a great dad.”

To which I replied “Well… let’s see if Zack agrees with that in about 16 years.”

Time to rediscover the world all over again. With Zack as our guide.

Karl Kesel

 

 

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Apr19

And Lo! There Shall Be New Section Zero Art & Story!

by Karl on April 19, 2012 at 12:01 am

It’s been a while since I wrote a new blog post, but I’ve got the best excuse in the world: Tom Grummett and I have been working like mad dogs on New Section Zero Stuff! And you lucky, lucky people get to enjoy the results starting today!

When Tom and I brought back Section Zero, our first goal was to finish the story we’d begun all those years ago. And while that basic story remained the same, the way we needed to tell it had changed drastically. Section Zero started as an ongoing series, where storylines and sub-plots would have played out in certain ways. But now we were looking at Section Zero as more self-contained— more like a movie than a TV series— and that meant the pieces had to fit together in different ways. Better ways, I’d say. Much better.

One thing I realized very quickly was that we needed to show Tina and Sam together in their pre-Zero days. We’d already done that in a flashback near the end of issue 2, but that scene didn’t touch on some points that were now very important to establish. So Tom and I decided to jettison that flashback and insert an entirely new one.

The original flashback was only one page. The new one turned out to be six pages. But that’s not a problem with web comics, is it? One of the things I deeply love about this format…

Gotta say, it’s great to be working with Tom again. This scene has some of the best art I’ve seen from him ever, anywhere. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s some of the best work the two of us have done together, period. After this flashback is over we’ll return to posting the original Section Zero story, but what you’ll see over the next few weeks is a glimpse of What’s To Come— a hint at What We Have Planned and Where We’re Taking Things. I’m betting you’ll like what you see.

Lastly: a big shout-out to Grace Allison, who generously and beautifully colored our new flashback sequence. Grace is the only person I’d trust to color these characters other than Big Ben Dimagmaliw himself. Grace colored the Johnny Zombie Christmas story I did with David Hahn, and is currently coloring IDW’s wonderful Memorial comic, written by Chris Roberson and drawn by Rich Ellis. She’s also a damn talented artist in her own right, and will soon be far too famous and in-demand to help out on the odd (some would say very odd) Mad Genius project. But I am eternally grateful whenever she has time to lend a hand, because she always makes everyone she works with look good.

Karl kesel

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Feb27

Run For Your Lives!!!

by Karl on February 27, 2012 at 12:01 am

I know the exact date I’m going to die: August 4, 2012. And if you’re near Centralia, Washington on that day, you can watch.

Run For Your Lives is an organization that stages races all across the country. These are 5K obstacle course races— about 3 miles of running, broken up by climbing over nets or crawling though tubes or wading through hip-deep water. There are a number of groups that put on events like this, but here’s what makes Run For Your Lives different:

Run For Your Lives!You’re also chased by Zombies!

The way it works is you have flag-football flags hanging from your waist. As you run and climb and crawl and run and slog, zombies lurch after you trying to tear off your flags. You lose all your flags, you’re dead. That means you can’t win any prizes— but it also means once you finish the course and the “infection” sets in, you can be a zombie in subsequent rounds of the race.

I’m not in bad shape, but I’m not in great shape, either. The way I look at it is: you’re not running full-out for three miles, you have to slow down for the obstacles and general zombie-avoidance. So I think this is something I can handle, especially with a little training. And I’ve got time to train. I’m not going to win any prizes, but I’m not doing it for that. I’m doing it for the experience. Man vs. Zombie!

The Dreaded Clown Zombie!And I’m not doing it alone. My nephew, Temor, already loves running obstacle course races, and does pretty damn well in them from what I hear. He graduates college this year, and I offered him the chance to run this race as a graduation present. I don’t think there’s a word to describe how thrilled he was. He’d heard about these races and deeply, desperately wanted to run one— Man vs. Zombie! (We are related, after all.)

To see what the race is like, there’s a great video at Run For Your Lives. Runner’s fee is $77 per until June 14th, and $87 until July 13th, after which registration closes. Anyone wants to join us— Temor and I are running in the 11 AM race— please do! After all— safety in numbers.

My lovely wife, Myrna, will be cheering us on from the sidelines.

One last thing: after the deal was done and there was no going back, I read the Run For Your Lives rules a little more closely. Turns out there are two kinds of zombies: Stumblers… and Chasers.

I am so dead.

Well: Undead.

Karl Kesel

 

 

 

Proud owner of a Subaru— “The Official Escape Vehicle of the Zombie Apocalypse.”

 

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Feb13

Guilty Pleasures #2: Marvel Comics’ Godzilla

by Karl on February 13, 2012 at 12:01 am

Godzilla #18 CoverOnly twice in my life did I ever buy multiple copies of a comic-book to show my support— to vote with my dollars: Miller’s Daredevil…

…And Moench & Trimpe’s Godzilla.

I’m not a Godzilla fan. When the Marvel comic came out, all I knew about Godzilla was Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster— a movie so bad I could never watch it all. It wasn’t until many years later that I saw the original version of Godzilla and realized there was more to Godzilla than a man in a rubber suit.

The comic, however, grabbed me from the very beginning. This probably had a lot to do with the mixing of Godzilla and the Marvel Universe, making it in some ways a monthly “cross-over” comic. And I did (and still do) love Dum Dum Dugan, so it was great to see him lead the SHIELD unit hunting ‘Zilla. But it was more than that. There was an “Anything Goes” attitude to the book that was unlike any other comic I read. Like when Godzilla got mixed up with cowboys and a cattle-rustling scheme! Godzilla and cowboys?!? The high-point came in #18 when, after being shrunk to doll-size, Godzilla fought a sewer rat! I can not describe how much I loved that issue! Coming in a close second: the very next issue when Godzilla grew to man-size and actually slugged it out with Dum Dum in a dockside brawl! This was inspired lunacy, and I loved every single panel of it.

Doug Moench has written better comics— his classic Master of Kung Fu run, for instance— but I’d argue he’s never written anything more entertaining than Godzilla. In many ways the “kitchen sink” approach, the “lets have fun, but not make fun” attitude of the series, reminds me of Grant Morrison’s work on titles like Batman Incorporated.

And then there’s Herb Trimpe— far better known for drawing another Green Goliath (The Hulk), but absolutely perfect on the King of Monsters. I finally met him in the mid-90s at a Seattle con, and at an unforgettable dinner he told wonderful stories about the old days at Marvel. (“All the things Stan wrote in his Bullpen Bulletins about how much fun we were having? It was better than that!”) It wasn’t until Christmas that I learned my then-wife, Barbara, commissioned Herb to draw Godzilla fighting a rat for me! It was supposed to be normal comic-art size, but Herb got so into it, it became a double-page spread with Godzilla fighting a Giant Rat in front of a collapsing Seattle Space Needle, with tanks and planes attacking and panicked bystanders running away. It hangs on the wall in front of my computer as I write this. It’s epic. It’s exciting. And on some level it almost doesn’t make sense.

It’s everything comics should be.

Karl kesel

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Feb06

Spider-Man Season One

by Karl on February 6, 2012 at 9:57 am

Splash Page from SPIDER-MAN SEASON ONEOne of the reasons I haven’t had many blog-postings lately is because I was finished inking a Spider-Man project. Now it’s done, and now I’ll share. For a better view of the art and more info, click HERE.

Karl Kesel

Jan19

Cast of Characters: Doc Challenger & Sam Wildman

by Karl on January 19, 2012 at 12:01 am

This is the first in a series of quick character studies to give new readers a better sense of who’s who, and older fans a few new facts about their friends (and foes). More to come, as characters are introduced…

DOCTOR TITANIA CHALLENGER is a scientific Jane-of-all-trades, and comes from a family of world-reknown adventurers. Internet rumors speculate she is the great-granddaughter of Professor George Edward Challenger, from Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World— rumors I have been unable to confirm or deny. It’s true Tina has the same sharp intelligence and fierce determination as the Professor, although, thankfully, not his abnormally large head. As a character, she’s cut from the same cloth as Doc Savage— one of those people who is very smart, and very good at just about everything they do.

SAM WILDMAN has learned everything the hard way. Nothing happens easily for him. He usually finds himself outnumbered, outgunned, or in over his head. The only reason he ever has a chance of coming out alive is that he is quick-thinking, resourceful and never, ever gives up. Plus, he has a flaming sword. In the ’80s Sam fronted the punk band “Fort Charles”— named for Charles Fort, the first chronicler of the odd and unexplained— and played CBGBs a number of times, always with thrillingly disastrous results.  His fellow fictional soldiers-of-fortune include Indiana Jones and Captain Easy— the “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” type of heroes.

I couldn’t pass up the chance to pair a “Superman” archetype with an “Everyman” archetype— they compliment and contrast each other so perfectly. Giving Tina and Sam a… complicated personal history only made it that much more interesting. And as different as they are, they share one character-defining passion: a fascination with the unknown and unexplainable. It’s what attracted them to each other in the first place.

Karl kesel

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Jan09

Section Zero Sketchbook!

by Karl on January 9, 2012 at 12:01 am

Straight from Tom Grummett’s Vast Vault of Unpublished Art come the SECTION ZERO SKETCHBOOK— accessible through the menubar above (under “Sketchbooks”, not surprisingly) or right here by clicking on SECTION ZERO SKETCHBOOK. In addition to the art— which isn’t just cool, but a great window into the creative process— Tom and I post any memories or thoughts each piece brings to our minds. Have to admit— I’d almost forgotten how Alan Moore helped shape the book until I saw one of the sketches. Then it all came back to me…

As time goes by and Tom uncovers more treasures, we’ll add them to the Sketchbook. Stay tuned.

ALSO: Imagine my surprise this past weekend when I checked my email and found a wonderful Johnny Zombie drawing waiting for me!  Heartfelt thanks to Grace Allison who colored Johnny Zombie Christmas and is— as I’ve always said and you can certainly see for yourself— So Much More that just a great colorist!

Johnny Zombie by Grace Allison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karl kesel

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Jan05

Saint Starkings

by Karl on January 5, 2012 at 12:01 am

When Tom and I decided to re-start Section Zero, the good news was: I still had all the original art. The bad news was: in my various moves, I had no idea where the coloring and lettering files had gone. With limited finances, I resigned myself to re-lettering the entire story— I thought I could do a serviceable job— but neither Tom nor I had the ability or time to recolor the books. And the thought of losing all the wonderful work Ben Dimagmaliw had done just killed me. So I crossed my fingers and hoped we could track down copies of the files.

Comicraft had lettered the book and composited together the pages for printing. They had complete files— twelve years ago! Did they still have them? I sent an email to Richard Starkings… and heard nothing. If he had good news, I was sure he would have gotten right back to me. So I assumed the worst.

Second email went to Ben Dimagmaliw. No lettering files, of course, but did he have color files? He did! He kept copies of everything! Except… they were in the United States and Ben was in Japan, with no way of knowing exactly where they were unless he returned stateside to look himself. Which wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

So I prepared to re-letter the book myself, and find someone to recolor it…

…Just as I got an email from Richard Starkings! He had been in England and unable to reply until he returned. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any of the files either, but felt an obligation to finish what Comicraft started, so offered to re-letter the entire book and asked me to phone him so we could work out the details. When we talked, I told him how truly, deeply touched I was by his kindness. He shrugged it off, paused, then mused “Come to think of it, those files might be out in the garage. Let me check and get back to you.” Not three hours later I received this photo:

Coloring Files. Lettering Files. Ads. Previews. Covers. Everything! But that wasn’t enough. After looking at the pages, Richard insisted on “freshening” the lettering, giving the book a new look… and himself a lot of extra work. Didn’t seem to phase him.

There are a lot of good guys in this business, and a lot of unsung heroes. You ask me, Richard Starkings is at the top of both lists.

Karl kesel

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Jan02

Back to ZERO!

by Karl on January 2, 2012 at 9:55 am

I could not be happier. SECTION ZERO is back.

SECTION ZERO ia a comic Tom Grummett and I co-created in 2000 as part of Image’s Gorilla Comics imprint, along with some other titles by people you may have heard of: Busiek and Immonen’s Shockrockets, Waid and Kitson’s Empire, Perez’s Crimson Plague, and Dezago and Wieringo’s Tellos. It was my first creator-owned comic and, I gotta tell you, I had the time of my life. But then life took an unexpected turn (I got divorced) and in the middle of its first six-issue arc, SECTION ZERO went on indefinite hiatus.

Tom and I always wanted to get back to Zero and finish what we started but first, as Tom has said, “the stars had to come into the proper alignment.” Cut to late 2011. I’ve started this site, and wonder what I’ll do after the first Johnny Zombie story ends. Guess which two words I think of instantly.

Of course, There Is No Section Zero… without me and Tom. Got to admit, I was worried. A lot of time had passed. We hadn’t spoken in a while. Tom was busy drawing Avengers Academy and Hulk and comics with “X” in the title. Maybe he didn’t have the time or interest any more.

A waste of good worrying. You know the friends you may not see for years at a stretch, but the minute you’re back together it’s as if no time has passed? That’s how it is with Tom. He didn’t say “yes”— he said “Hell yes!” (Except more Canadian.)

So here’s what we’re gonna do: Tom and I are working on new SECTION ZERO material now, squeezing it in around our day jobs. At the same time we’ll be posting all the previously published storyline— starting with today’s 5-Page Prologue, followed by 3 pages every Thursday. By the time all that’s posted, we’ll have a ton of new stuff ready. If you haven’t read these comics before, this is your chance. If you’ve already read them you’ll still want to check in because A) Richard Starkings, First Tiger at Comicraft, has insanely and wonderfully insisted on “freshening” the lettering for the book, so the pages have a slightly different look to them, and B) since re-lettering was being done anyway, I’m tweaking the script here and there. The changes aren’t major, just important. For instance: the Prologue originally ended with Kyoti musing about the upcoming 2000 US Presidential election. Considering how that election played out, I really wanted to make his comment a bit more pointed. Things like that.

There’s a lot more to say about SECTION ZERO— both how we got here (over a few mountainous speed bumps) and where we’re going— and we’ll get into all that right here, starting Thursday.

Karl kesel

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Dec29

Today’s Post

by Karl on December 29, 2011 at 12:01 am

FOR TODAY’S POST, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

 

Dec26

Out With The Old…

by Karl on December 26, 2011 at 12:01 am

First: A huge Thanks to Stephen Green, who pencilled the Johnny Zombie Trading Card above. I met Stevo at Dragon Con 2011, where he quietly asked me if I could look at his sketchbook. I’ll be honest— it was a tiny book, and my first thought was “this guy’s working too small— he clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Was I ever wrong! The book was filled with wonderful character studies and sketches from life. Absolutely beautiful stuff. I knew this guy was someone to keep an eye on, and asked if I could have his email address. Very soon after getting back home I contacted Stevo about drawing a Johnny Zombie pin-up. He was very interested— but he was also very busy since he was in the middle of winning the MTV Geek Contest to draw a comic created by Stan Lee! As he said in an email “The last couple weeks have been really, really crazy for me.” No doubt! But he still found time to draw an absolutely amazing Johnny Zombie pin-up. Congratulations, Stevo— the future’s got big things in store for you, I’m sure, and I’m proud to be able to say “I knew you when!”

And speaking of the future— specifically Johnny Zombie’s future…

I’ve got tons of Johnny Zombie stories to tell– one that’s pretty epic and includes Johnny’s origin, for instance, and another that would co-star a very cool character— but nothing’s ready to see “print” just yet. There will be new Johnny Zombie comics in 2012, but while I’m pulling those stories together I’ll be starting the new year with a new web comic.

What kind of comic? All I can say right now is that I’m very, very excited about it.

Check back Thursday for details. You won’t be disappointed.

Karl Kesel

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Dec24

JOHNNY ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS: The Total Package

by Karl on December 24, 2011 at 12:01 am

A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM ME TO YOU: The entire Johnny Zombie Christmas storyline, in one place for your viewing and Holiday pleasure. Read it out loud with the whole family— The start of an enduring Holiday tradition that’s sure to put you in the perfect Christmas/zombie mood! Simply gather by a crackling yule log in the fireplace (or on TV) with cookies and mulled cider. And plenty of sturdy weapons nearby. Just, y’know, in case.

Merry Christmas, everyone— or whatever holiday you celebrate. Hope Johnny Zombie helped make it just a little bit better.

Karl Kesel

 

 

 

Oh— and check back Monday to see what’s next for Johnny Zombie.

 

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Dec22

And To All a Good Night…

by Karl on December 22, 2011 at 12:01 am

Thank you, everyone reading this— no matter if this is your first visit, or you’ve been here from the beginning. It has been my deep pleasure to be able to present to you what will undoubtably become a time-honored Yuletide tradition passed from generation to generation— Johnny Zombie Christmas.

Thanks especially to David Hahn and Grace Allison— this wouldn’t have happened and never have looked this fantastic without your A-list abilities making my little story look better than it had any right to.

And thanks most of all to my amazing wife, Myrna. I can’t imagine life without you. With you: anything is possible.

ONE LAST GIFT FROM ME TO ALL OF YOU: Please come back here Christmas Eve Day when the entire Johnny Zombie Christmas story will be available as one easy-to-read post— a much more pleasant experience than navigating through the Archives. No need to thank me. It’s Christmas, after all.

Karl Kesel

 

 

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Dec12

Undead, Flesh-Eating Zombies are REAL!

by Karl on December 12, 2011 at 12:01 am

New York Times Best Sellers: Nonfiction

Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story (sadly)— as reported in yesterday’s New York Times zombies are non-fiction! Since, according to my dictionary, fiction is “literature whose content is produced by imagination”, then this book must not be imagined, and therefore undead flesh-eating zombies truly exist and could come for us at any time!!!

Even better: this isn’t the first time they’ve listed The Zombie Survival Guide as non-fiction— it’s been on their list for 36 weeks!

C’mon, people— is there anyone who works for The New York Times— The New York Times for Christ’s sake!— who actually thinks a book about surviving a zombie attack is non-fiction?! In that case, I assume it would be non-fiction if Mark Waid wrote A Travel Guide to Krypton (something I’m sure he could do easily and frighteningly well). I really don’t think I need to tell The New York Times that writing in a pseudo-scientific or documentary style does not always and automatically make the finished work non-fiction.

Then again, author Max Brooks is described as a “comedy writer,” clearly confused with his father Mel Brooks, so maybe that says it all right there. Or maybe a bored staffer is waiting to see how long before anyone notices. Or maybe it’s part of some extremely subtle and sophisticated marketing stunt that goes way over my head. Or maybe…

Maybe they know something we don’t! In which case— why is the book only at Number 5?!

We don’t stand a chance…

Karl Kesel

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Dec08

Stephen King’s 11 / 22 / 63

by Karl on December 8, 2011 at 12:01 am

11/22/63 by Stephen KingI almost always like the idea behind a Stephen King novel better than the novel itself. You’d think I’d know better by now.

Case in point: 11/22/63. The concept— traveling back in time to try to stop Kennedy’s assassination— has a primal power that taps straight into American Myth and makes you want to read it (or listen to it in my case, since I do most of my “reading” with audiobooks while I draw). I went into it with an open mind. I liked the time-travel rules that King established— simple, understandable, with an interesting twist or two— and the “is-he-crazy-or-does-he-know-something?” Yellow Card Man— the sort of character I’m generally not fond of— but I quickly grew tired of Our Hero being amazed at how cheap everything was in the past (got it! move on!) and know the exact moment where King began to lose me as a reader: when the main character bought a car. He was amazed at the low price (of course), and thrilled to zip around in it— but he never noticed something that would stand out to anyone from 2011: no seat belts! And even if there were seat belts in that particular car (I have no idea) there certainly were no shoulder-straps. Get in a car and not get strapped in? You’d feel naked! Yet King never mentioned it. That was the crack in my suspension of disbelief that only got bigger.

Look, King’s not a bad wordsmith. I enjoy a lot of his turns-of-phrase. And his concepts often have an inspired simplicity that I deeply admire. On the other hand… maybe if I was from Maine I’d recognize the sort of people he writes about, but to me his characters are generally stereotypical, sometimes verging on insultingly so. Also, he tends to re-state plot points a little too often and heavy-handedly, and draws out scenes a bit too long— this book could have easily been a few hours shorter, tighter and better with some judicious editing. Even the last scene— which was (to me) the most touching, satisfying, and unexpected part of the book— should have ended much earlier than it did.

And don’t get me started on a major supporting character who inexplicably vanished toward the end of the book, or the completely unnecessary explanation of the Yellow Card Man— who was much more interesting as a question mark, and learning about added absolutely nothing to the story!

Not that Stephen King is going to lose any sleep over what I think. He has millions of readers and this book has gotten rave reviews. So: What am I missing? What don’t I get?

Karl Kesel

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