Searchin’ to destroy

BODHISATTVA re-offered

2011-03-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

In 2004 I published my first graphic novel BODHISATTVA. My next big project THE DRUDE will start appearing later this year. In the meantime, I have created a new Slip-Cover for BODHISATTVA. I always felt my original cover didn't serve the book well so 7 years later I am making it available with the cover I wish I had published with to begin with!

The Story:

BODHISATTVA: One who willfully turns back from the very gates of Nirvana and returns to help all sentient beings reach enlightenment.

In San Francisco, there is a madman who sees into other dimensions, a hospital orderly whose karmic corruption makes him prey to dark powers, a middle-aged man from India unraveling under the guilt of having murdered his wife in a "cooking fire." What is it that links these men? Who is the mysterious Many-Eyed Man who appears to them to steer their lives on their appropriate karmic course?

More than three thousand years ago, in the Katmandu Valley, a group of religious mendicants is visited by the gods they worship: Brahma of the four faces; Kali, with her belt of human skulls; Hanuman, king of monkeys; and Ganesha, the elephant-headed Lord of Hosts. The young monks are taken in strange, colossal serpents of steel to the ruins of the ancient civilization of Harapa; and there they are transformed by the technology of the gods into beings more than merely human. But even the gods themselves have human liabilities, and Kali, goddess of destruction, plants a vile murderer among the mendicants. It is the legacy of this betrayal by Kali and her servant, Rahula, which plays out over the centuries and finally comes to a climax in modern day San Francisco.

The forces of good and evil, represented by Bodhi and Rahula, converge to battle in the present. Vengeance, disillusionment, karmic retribution, and trickery--these are the themes that play out in Bodhisattva.

Created, written and illustrated by Omaha Perez. Co-scripted by Richard Raleigh.

A bit of praise:

"Unique and boldly imaginative, BODHISATTVA is infinitely more enlightened

--and enlightening-- than the average fantasy graphic novel."

- Midwest Book Review

"Great fun...and a wonderful fusion of classic

Indian mythology and Kirbyesque cosmicness."

-J.M. DeMatteis

CBR/Robot 6

2011-01-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

I'm about 3/4 of the way down: http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/01/looking-forward-looking-back-creators-weigh-in-on-comics-in-2010-and-2011/

My favorite albums of 2010

2011-01-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Hawk

This pairing sounds like it should be a repertoire of duets. In fact Isobel Campbell writes nearly all the songs and produces the whole album then for most of the record takes a back seat and sings back up to Lanegan’s powerful lead vocal. A selfless act? Great tunes, great record.

Esperanza Spalding – Chamber Music Society

Her debut album, 2008’s “Esperanza”, was simply outstanding. Her music is more traditionally rooted in jazz than my usual preference but there is just no denying her talent. From her singing, to her songwriting, to her bass playing (she was considered a prodigy within months of picking up the double bass at age 15) – she is incredible. This album while not as instantly likable as her previous collection (it is a bold move not trying to recreate past success) is equally as impressive.

Foals – Total Life Forever

I only recently picked this one up so really, I’m still absorbing it. So far “Blue Blood”, “Total Life Forever” and “After Glow” are my favorite tracks. The sound is dense and dream-like.

Eels – Tomorrow Morning

I’ll probably always compare E’s records to my favorite Eels record, 2009’s Hombre Lobo. He actually released 2 Eels records in 2010, this one and End Times earlier in the year. Both are fine albums (though neither as good as Hombre Lobo!) but while End Times was a bit of a downer Tomorrow Morning is more optimistic and altogether a happier record. Favorite songs on this one are “The Man” and “Baby Loves Me”.

Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky

Another recent acquisition, I am just beginning to soak this one in but I like it! Known as one of the pioneering noise-rock groups, this finds Michael Gira not so much “noisy” as heavy and atmospheric. Surprisingly, this album occasionally reminds one of Nick Cave – another plus in my book.

BRMC – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo

This album has been seen as a kind of return to form… really I think it’s kind of compromise between the more acoustic sound of their (best) album Howl (2005) and their more Jesus & Mary Chain rock sound. Both of these sides of the band are well represented on the album. Favorite songs include the title track, “Bad Blood” and “Sweet Feeling”. Great record, their best since Howl.

Hotrats – Turn Ons

More than a simple covers album, Turn Ons finds the singer/guitarist and the drummer from Supergrass (occasionally joined by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on fuzz bass) interpreting a dozen of some of my favorite songs. Velvet Underground (they give a hooky groove to “I Can’t Stand It”), The Kinks (a fantastic “Big Sky”), The Doors, Beastie Boys, Gang Of Four, Roxy Music, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, The Cure, Bowie (a rocking “Queen Bitch”), Sex Pistols (“E.M.I.”, an acoustic take that improves on the original!), and Squeeze (“Up the Junction”, my favorite Squeeze song slowed down for full lyrical effect). Now that Supergrass is sadly no more I’m hoping Hotrats will continue – with original material next time!

Darker My Love – Alive As You Are (Pretty Things-like)

This album has entirely abandoned their previous debt to the Jesus and Mary Chain and instead sounds like a San Francisco band circa 1970. There is often a similar vibe as the Dead’s American Beauty and Working Man’s Dead yet they simultaneously remind me of my favorite should-have-been-huge 60s UK band The Pretty Things. I loved their previous JMC sound and while this is a quieter album, it is just as good. Favorite tracks include “Backseat”, “Rain Party”, and “Trail the Line”.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The third great album by The Arcade Fire. When they first came out a few years ago, I held them with a certain amount of suspicion because of what I initially perceived as hype. Once I gave them a chance I realized that I genuinely like their material. I think they owe a huge debt to Echo & The Bunnymen, but then I love the Bunnymen! Anyway, great record! Favorites include “The Suburbs”, “Rococo”, “Modern Man”, “Suburban War” and the highlight “We Used To Wait”.

Grinderman - Grinderman 2

Grinderman kicks ass! (Have I complained recently that not enough modern groups ROCK?!?) Great material played to the hilt. My favorites include, “Mickey Mouse and The Goodbye Man”, “Worm Tamer”, “Heathen Child”, “Kitchenette” and “Bellringer Blues”. I was lucky enough to see them live a few weeks ago and it was easily the best show of the year for me. At this point, Nick Cave is second only to Iggy Pop as far as raw and mesmerizing live performance.

PITCHES 2010 - get it now, only 75 copies exist!

2010-10-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

I am back from APE and ready to sell off my remaining copies of PITCHES 2010. PITCHES features my character designs and teaser art for a project with legendary comic writer JM DeMatteis, a scene from a sci-fi project with writer Richard Raleigh, plus scenes from HOLMES VS. HOLMES (yes, a sequel!) and my latest project, THE DRUDE. This is a 32 page comic with color and black & white pages.

The $6 cover price may seem steep but only 75 copies exist and even at that cover price I will not be turning a profit. You can order your postpaid copy (US only) for $10 here.

Appearing at APE - San Francisco October 16th - 17th

2010-10-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody,

I will have space at Table 304 at my favorite comic book convention, San Francisco's Alternative Press Expo, on Saturday October 16th and Sunday October 17th. The show is at The Concourse, 635 8th Street, San Francisco. More info here: http://www.comic-con.org/ape/.

I will have a small selection of original art for sale as well as books and comics, including this little comic which will only be available directly from me. PITCHES features my character designs and teaser art for a project with legendary comic writer JM DeMatteis, a scene from a sci-fi project with writer Richard Raleigh, plus scenes from HOLMES VS. HOLMES (yes, a sequel!) and my latest project, THE DRUDE. Please swing by and pick one up!

new stuff

2010-10-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

I guess I really dropped the ball on keeping this blog active through most of 2010. Here is a recently completed page for an anthology that will be out next year. I'll post more when I have the release details. I will be posting again before APE next week... Enjoy!

Introducing Drude Studios

2010-02-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

Many of you know me for me for my occasional Illustration or Comic Book work. For many years now I’ve offered all sorts of Art and Design services most of which I haven’t actively promoted until now. Last year I formed Drude Studios to encompass a wider range of work than what I am generally known for.

Drude Studios is me plus a host of talented Artists, Animators, Designers and Programmer friends – brought in on an as needed basis. Between us this talented crew has years of experience in the Advertising, Animation, Design, Comic Book, Technology, Video Game, and Web industries.

Services available include After Effects Animation, Character Design, eBlast Design and Coding, Flash Animation, Game Art and Production, Illustration (Digital and Traditional), Graphic Design, 3d Graphics and Animation, Vector Art, Web Banner Ads, and Websites (Design, Programming and Maintenance).

Please visit http://www.drudestudios.com to view a large sampling of Projects. Please pass the link along to anyone who may need our services.

Thank you,
Omaha

My Favorite Albums of 2009

2010-01-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

An annual tradition...

Honorable Mention:

Ian Brown – My Way
Lead track “Stellify” (supposedly written for Rihanna to perform?) is a great start. Other highlights for me include “Always Remember Me”, “Just Like You” and “So High”. I’ve seen a number of reviews calling this Ian’s best solo album and while I wouldn’t go that far - this is another great album from my favorite Stoned Rose. My only reservation is the album is too synth heavy for my taste. On his previous album The World Is Yours the highlights were the two tracks he recorded with Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook with Happy Mondays’ Paul Ryder on bass – if only Ian would record a whole album with that line up!

10. Elvis Costello – Secret, Profane & Sugarcane
This was a great kind of acoustic country swing album. The style works great but is almost irrelevant – the important thing being that this is a superb collection of songs. My favorites include “My All Time Doll”, “Hidden Shame”, “I Dreamed Of My Old Lover”, and “Sulphur To Sugarcane”. I just wish he had included his excellent version of “Friend Of The Devil”.

9. St. Vincent – Actor
I had never heard of her before I caught her on Letterman one night early in ‘09, but I was very taken with her song “Marrow” – very angular, multi-layered, unusual (I love the horn chart!) – just my cup of tea! I downloaded the album off eMusic and was very happy to find the whole album to be excellent. I expect many more great albums from her.

8. Band Of Skulls – Baby Darling Dollface Honey
The debut from this English trio finds this group occasionally sounding like the White Stripes (“Death By Diamonds And Pearls” and “I Know What I Am”, both great) but most of the album defies comparisons. My favorite track, the album closer “Cold Fame” is just outstanding and possibly my favorite song of the year.

7. Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
Another act I caught on Letterman, I was immediately impressed with their live performance. The single “Aint No Rest For The Wicked” is a great aggressive rock song and I really like the album. I’m still trying to remember which Iggy song “Soil To The Sun” sounds like… Another band to watch.

6. The Church – Untitled #23
Is it laziness when the press resorts to calling a veteran band’s latest album a “return to form”? That’s the reception this album received, when in fact this is just YET ANOTHER great album from The Church – they’ve never stopped producing great work. I seem to catch them live about once a decade. I was fortunate enough to make it for this tour and they were just stunning – really better than ever! Favorites on this album include “Space Saviour”, “Happenstance”, “Anchorage”, and “Sunken Sun”.

5. Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
There’s many more reasons to love Jarvis than for being that guy who drunkenly crashed – and mocked – Michael Jackson’s Brit Awards debacle in the ‘90s… the best being his band Pulp was one of the greatest of the ‘90s. With his solo records he continues to show that he’s right up there with Ray Davies and Morrissey for his ability to write incredibly witty/funny/clever lyrics set to catchy tunes… Standouts on this album include “Leftovers”, “I Never Said I Was Deep”, “Slush”, and “Hold Still”.

4. The Von Bondies – Love, Hate And Then There’s You
Sadly, I think I knew this band best because the singer Jason Stollsteimer is the guy who famously got his ass kicked by Jack White (that photo of him with his eye swollen shut was all over the place at the time.) To be fair, I did really like their “Come On, Come On” single a few years ago (Rescue Me uses it as the theme song). Anyway, I heard the single “Earthquake” off this album and was immediately intrigued. It’s just the kind of propulsive (great drummer!) off-kilter rock I’m a sucker for. This is an album I kept coming back to all year. Other favorites include “Pale Bride”, “This Is Our Perfect Crime”, “Shut Your Mouth”, “I Don’t Wanna”… great album!

3. Cursive – Mama, I’m Swollen
Yet another act I discovered watching Letterman! The single “From the Hips” is blistering and the whole album - combining aggressive tunes, dark lyrics, and spacey instrumentation - is excellent. Other favorite tracks include “In the Now”, “Donkeys”, and “Mama, I’m Swollen”. I guess a lot of Cursive fans felt this album marked an unwelcome change in direction, I love it.

2. Eels – Hombre Lobo
This album really took me by surprise. I’ve liked E and his Eels in the past so I was interested to hear the new album. Initially I may have dismissed it as a mellow collection of tunes but boy did those tunes sneak up on me! “In My Dreams”, “My Timing Is Off”, “That Look You Give That Guy”, “What’s A Fella Gotta Do” – this is classic stuff! I’ll be coming back to this album for years and years.

1. Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers
Original Manics lyricist James Richey disappeared, presumed dead, in 1995. The band soldiered on, becoming massive everywhere but here in the States! 14 years later the band released this album the first since 95’s excellent The Holy Bible to feature Richey lyrics. The material certainly inspired them. This is the finest Manics album in many a year, easily standing up as one of their best. My favorite tracks include “Jackie Collins Existential Question Time”, “Peeled Apples”, “Me And Stephen Hawking”, “Facing Page: Top Left”… lyrically I have no idea what most of these songs are about. Singer James Dean Bradfield has admitted to not understanding all of Richey’s lyrics and he’s got to sing them! Whatever he was on about, this is an outstanding album!

HOLMES cover in Three By Three Illustration Annual #6

2010-01-04T23:16:00.000-08:00

A year and a half after publication and I continue to get mileage out of my scratch-board cover from the Ait/Planet Lar edition of HOLMES! I received my copy of the 3 X 3 Illustration Annual the day of New Year's Eve and didn't really know what to expect.

I’m very pleased to have my work included in this book – and thrilled that they spotlighted my piece with a full page. It is really an outstanding collection of contemporary illustration and I’m very proud to be included. Their site is www.3x3mag.com.

Edgar & Ellen

2009-12-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

These characters appear in a cartoon of the same name on NickToons. Last year I was invited to do a pin-up for their first graphic novel collection. I believe the book came out earlier this year, and at any rate it seems the company who hired me has gone out of business, so I'm assuming it's ok to post this... Anyone know who to contact to get my comp copy?

Beatles Top 20

2009-09-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

I blame you JM, for getting me started on this one!

In light of the newly re-mixed Beatles box sets, here are my Top 20 Favorite Beatles songs (at the moment). I had to really force myself to limit the Lennon songs to 15 so I could include a few Harrison and McCartney classics. I’m leaving out such Lennon gems as “I’m So Tired”, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Julia”, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, and the great “Hey Bulldog!” which was shamefully hidden away on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. While I love McCartney’s Beatles contributions – his songs are so conventional next to Lennon’s that, for me, it is Lennon all the way. (For those of you not obsessive about this stuff – though all their songs are credited as Lennon/McCartney, with a few exceptions, only the very early songs were written together. Generally, if John is singing he wrote it…if Paul’s singing he wrote it.)

20. Here Comes The Sun
19. Taxman
18. Something
17. Eleanor Rigby
16. Blackbird
15. Sexy Sadie
14. Dear Prudence
13. I’m Only Sleeping
12. In My Life
11. A Day In The Life
10. Help!
9. Don’t Let Me Down
8. Girl
7. Rain
6. Tomorrow Never Knows
5. Norwegian Wood
4. And Your Bird Can Sing
3. Strawberry Fields Forever
2. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
1. I Am The Walrus

dead on the vine...

2009-07-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

Occasionally a cool job will come through that for one reason or another never makes it all the way. A few months ago the fine people of Division 13/T.A.Z. contacted me about doing a poster for the Star Trek movie, which I was pretty thrilled about. I did my comps and then we waited for studio response... and waited... and waited... As far as I know this version wasn't submitted, but this was my favorite of the comps. I don't consider this quite finished but I was given the go-ahead to show it, so here you go.

HOLMES on iPhone

2009-04-27T08:57:00.001-07:00

So a (slightly censored) version of HOLMES is now available at the iTunes store. It's available as the full graphic novel and as individual issues. The issue one download is free - and if you're offended by that first issue you won't like the rest! Here's the main page where HOLMES can be found on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=295120007

Now if you like HOLMES please do me a favor and post a User Rating. I'm used to the love it or hate it reviews with this book, but now people's complaints about the iPhone reader are dragging my scores down...

Limited number of signed FLASH GORDON HC & HOLMES TPB

2009-04-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

I have about a dozen each of the FLASH GORDON 75th Anniversary Hardcover Anthology (ARDDEN) and the HOLMES trade paperback (AiT/Planet Lar) available. I am selling signed copies of the Flash book for $20 and Holmes for $15, shipping included within the U.S. Please order here.

WonderCon, Feb. 27th - Mar. 1st

2009-02-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

I will be appearing this weekend at WonderCon in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. I’ll be sharing table space with my old friend writer/artist Ted Naifeh at table number AA098. I will have the usual assortment of my comics and graphic novels as well as exclusive copies of the hardcover edition of the Flash Gordon 75th Anniversary anthology, to which I contributed. This is not yet available in stores. I will also be selling original art. So if you’re in the Bay Area try to come by and say hello!

Flash Gordon preview, part 4

2009-02-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Here's another page from my piece in the 75th Anniversary Flash Gordon Anthology. I will have a limited number of the hardcover edition (unavailable in stores!) at next weekend's WonderCon in San Francisco.

Flash Gordon and related characters copyright 2009 King Features

Flash Gordon preview, part 3

2009-02-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

Another page...

Flash Gordon and related characters copyright 2009 King Features

Flash Gordon preview, part 2

2009-02-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Another page from my Flash Gordon piece...

Flash Gordon and related characters copyright 2009 King Features

Flash Gordon preview, part 1

2009-02-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

In December I finished illustrating a 10 page Vultan story written by Joe Casey for the 75th Anniversary Flash Gordon Anthology. It's a big fun action piece. Publisher Ardden Entertainment is premiering the hardcover edition at this weekend's New York Comic Con. I won't be there but I will have copies to sell at the end of the month at San Francisco's WonderCon. I'll post a page a week all month long. Here's a double page spread...

Flash Gordon and related characters copyright 2009 King Features

HOLMES private commission

2009-01-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

A Sherlock Holmes fan recently contacted me about doing a private commission. I hate doing convention sketches but this, done in the privacy of my studio, was a lot of fun. Here it is...

ZEN comic book cover

2009-01-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

I did this incentive cover for an issue of ZEN: INTERGALACTIC NINJA from Devil's Due Publishing a couple months ago. I have no idea when this will be arriving in stores but I was given clearance to show the image, so here you go!

(ZEN: INTERGALACTIC NINJA copyright ZEN COMICS LLC)

Blomicon 2008

2008-12-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I did this rush job for Comedy Central's David Alan Grier show, Chocolate News. They needed posters for a Black ComicCon sketch. I picked two of the characters, Blood Diamond and Meltdown, and got to work.

For those that are interested in this sort of thing I'm posting the pencil drawings and then my final color pieces. Blood Diamond went through more revisions than Meltdown. The first rendition will probably end up as the basis for a new Bodhisattva cover one of these days...

The episode aired in mid-December and they actually featured the posters quite nicely. The clip is archived here: http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=213671&title=blomicon-2008.

Imposing my taste in music on you

2008-12-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

2008 albums

These are my favorite albums of 2008. Though it’s very possible that I’ve missed one or two – last year I failed to mention one of my top 3 albums of the year, “Jarvis” by Jarvis Cocker.

13. The Verve – Forth
I am recommending this despite being a bit disappointed. It smells a bit too much like a solo Richard Ashcroft album. Even Nick McCabe’s genius guitar playing doesn’t quite knock this material over the top. Still, The Verve need to be encouraged to stay together! The world doesn’t need anymore solo Ashcroft – it does however need to witness the one man wall of sound that is Nick McCabe performing live with The Verve. Is that too half-hearted a recommendation? Then go get my favorite Verve album – A Northern Soul – it’s brilliant!

12. The Kills – Midnight Boom
I normally recoil from bands that get a lot of radio play even if it is the awesome Indie 103.1 out of LA. This band really got me with this album, though. Catchy, raw, primitive… sounds vaguely like The White Stripes if Meg could sing and shared vocal duties… Great stuff.

11. Darker My Love - 2
I’m a sucker for these bands that wave the Jesus and Mary Chain flag, but this is really a good album. Plus they’re obviously into one of my favorite now-obscure 60s bands, The Pretty Things, so that must be rewarded. Check them out.

10. The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
The Raconteurs of course are led by Jack White and Brendan Benson, and while this band isn’t as good as either The White Stripes or Benson’s solo career, I’m still a big fan.
This their 2nd lp lacks the catchy single the first album had but to make up for that, it’s a much stronger complete work. The playing feels more natural, the songs, and the interaction between the two front-men seems more natural. I’ve really enjoyed this one.

9. Paul Weller – 22 Dreams
I’m reading the memoir of Richard Strange, Punks and Drunks and Flicks and Kicks. In it Strange rips into Weller branding him a copyist. That’s a point that’s hard to argue with, Weller has blatantly borrowed from The Who, The Kinks, Lennon, Curtis Mayfield, etc. But comparing him to Noel Gallagher is just a low blow! Of course, despite the debt Weller owes (and he really wears his influences like a badge), in making his point Richard Strange left out the little detail that Weller has written some truly great songs. So while there’s nothing really “new” here, the music feels very familiar, this is a really beautiful collection of songs and stands up with the best of Weller’s solo outings.

8. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Dig Lazarus Dig
For years I had a couple of Nick Cave cds but was never a huge fan. That changed last year with his side project GRINDERMAN which released my favorite album of ‘07. So when The Bad Seeds released this album I was keenly interested. I’ve since back-tracked and got more Bad Seeds and Birthday Party cds and this new album is a fine addition to Cave’s catalog. I caught them on tour this time, playing the Hollywood Bowl with Spiritualized opening. Great bill, awesome show! And I’ve heard there’s a new Grinderman album coming!

7. The Damned – So, Who’s Paranoid?
This one really took me by surprise. I’ve always loved The Damned. They are without a doubt my favorite of the original wave of British punk bands (I prefer the first wave New York “punks”, Richard Hell & the Voidoids/Television/Heartbreakers, etc.) The Damned has never left regular rotation in my music library but while I knew they were still performing, I honestly didn’t know they were still recording new material, much less material that stands up with their best! After reading stellar reviews I found both this one and their previous album, 2001’s Grave Disorder, on eMusic. Highly recommended.

6. Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha
If you ask me a new Supergrass album is always cause for celebration. This one’s kind of a return to the cheerful up-tempo Supergrass everyone knows and loves following their darker (yet equally excellent!) album Road to Rouen. Another fine album!

5. Spiritualized – Songs in A & E
After a long break, Spiritualized returned this year with their finest album since ‘97s awesome Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. Here they continue to perfect their own brand of hypnotic and moving space/noise/symphonic/gospel-rock to great success.

4. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
In which Alex Turner, singer/songwriter from the Arctic Monkeys, and another singer/songwriter Miles Kane create an album of orchestral pop reminiscent of Scott Walker and early David Bowie. And as it turns out, this is excellent.

3. James – Hey Ma
After a seven year absence, James pick up where they left off. The band and singer Tim Booth have never sounded better and the new songs are excellent, standing up with their best. They’re also fantastic live. Here’s hoping they stay together to make more albums!

2. Primal Scream – Beautiful Future
Primal Scream has been one of my favorite bands since the late 90s albums Vanishing Point and XTRMNTR. After a detour into acoustic heavy, Stones-y rock on their last album the fine Riot City Blues, our boys are back to doing what they do best – kicking ass! The most rocking album since XTRMNTR. Great stuff.

1. Julian Cope – Black Sheep
Sometimes I feel like the only American to appreciate the Arch-Drude Julian Cope. (Listen to the albums Peggy Suicide and Jehovahkill if you doubt his genius!) Cope has been through many, many styles and manifestations over his career from leading the 80s post-punk group The Teardrop Explodes, on through the pop of his 80s hit “World Shut Your Mouth”, through the forward-thinking music of Peggy Suicide and Jehovahkill, the proto-glam-metal of his side project Brain Donor… it’s enough to make your head spin. Well, he’s on to something different again with this one. This could perhaps be described as a HEAVY acoustic rock album, I dunno. The important thing is these are his finest songs in years (and that’s saying a lot!)

And who else could string together the words, “All the blow-themselves-up-mother-fuckers-are-going-to-realize-as-soon-as-they-die-that-they-were-suckers” into a truly catchy melodic chorus that will not get out of your head? Nobody but Cope!

Jeremy Kay cd cover

2008-11-30T22:54:00.000-08:00

A month or two ago I did the cover for an ep entitled ENERGY. It's from my friend and former neighbor, singer/songwriter Jeremy Kay. I did the piece in my T.A.Z. style (thus the logo). Anyway, Jeremy's new ep is now available on Amazon, eMusic, GroupieTunes, Lala, Napster, Rhapsody and Shockhound. Presumably the physical cds will soon be available to order from his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jeremykaymusic. Check it out!

SAW V poster

2008-10-28T13:52:00.001-07:00

Here's another image I created as a member of the art collective T.A.Z. Jim Evans art directed. There are 2 slightly different variations, one with a red background, one with yellow. I hear these will be used for posters and t-shirts. Please drop me a line if you see one.

Copyright LIONSGATE FILMS.

APE appearance, Nov. 1st and 2nd.

2008-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

It's time once again for my favorite convention, A.P.E., the Alternative Press Expo. I can unreservedly recommend this one to everyone, comics fan or not. The focus at this convention is on independent press. Virtually every subject matter you can think of is covered here. Super hero comics are almost non-existent and no matter what your interest, you're likely to find some comics you'll enjoy. Every year I'm blown away by how much great stuff is there.

I will be promoting HOLMES at the Ait/Planet Lar, tables 434 & 435. I plan on being there Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd for the core hours of 12 - 5 both days. If you don't see me at the table, please ask for me.

Also, for the first time I will be bringing some BODHISATTVA and HOLMES original pages to sell, including a few scratchboard pieces.

Hope to see you there!

Omaha

sneak peek at my HOLMES sequel

2008-09-24T15:45:00.001-07:00

This is very, very early but... I've had some fan inquiries and I don't think it will hurt to preview a page here. As you can see, I'm going for something a little different with the interiors.

sneak peek at my HALLOWEEN comic cover

2008-09-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Take a peek over at the Halloween Comics website for an exclusive look at the cover I illustrated for Halloween: The Death of Laurie Strode Issue #3. This is a "retailer incentive cover" and apparently will be pretty rare. Order information is on the site: http://www.halloweencomics.com/news/Sep08/7.htm.

Amy Smart with her MIRRORS poster

2008-08-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Art Director extraordinaire Jim Evans supplied me with this photo of actress Amy Smart in front of the poster of her character tearing her face apart. Jim assures me she really loved the poster...

CBR article on Comic Book Tattoo

2008-08-05T13:01:00.001-07:00

Complete with unflattering photos of myself! Find it here.

Mirrors movie posters!

2008-08-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

TM and ©2008 FOX.

I feel a little strange about showing these since they were so heavily art-directed (well, the first one at least - the girl with the white and yellow background) that they may as well have been executed by the Art Director, poster maestro Jim Evans. On the other hand, Allee Willis once told me in this town you should show everything! And I am proud of these, so here they are. These are all vector, created in Flash and Illustrator.

Here's a little Comic-Con coverage of the posters.

Kako and I

2008-08-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

My friend, the great Brazilian artist Kako, and myself signing Comic Book Tattoo at Comic-Con 08.

Comic Book Tattoo signing Friday the 1st, 6pm

2008-07-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hello,

There will be a Meet & Greet and signing for Tori Amos' massive COMIC BOOK TATTOO anthology at Golden Apple on Friday August 1st at 6pm. I saw the book for the first time at this past weekend's San Diego Comic-Con and it is a truly impressive collection. I am truly proud to be a contributor. It was a hot seller at Comic-Con - all stock was wiped out by 1pm on Saturday. I highly recommend you come down and pick up a signed copy. More details about the book can be found at http://toriamos.com/main_comic.html.

In addition to my self, creators at Friday's signing include David Mack, Ted McKeever, Mark Sable, Dame Darcy, Andy MacDonald, Eric Canete, Jonathan Tsuei, Matthew Humphreys, Rantz Hoseley and more. Golden Apple is at 7018 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 658-6047.

Comic-Con July 24th - 26th

2008-07-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

I will be signing at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday July 24th - Saturday July 26th, promoting both my HOLMES graphic novel and Tori Amos' massive COMIC BOOK TATTOO anthology which debuts at Comic-Con. I created a 9-page painted story about my late father inspired by her song "Father Lucifer". Here's my signing schedule:

-Thursday the 24th, 11am to noon signing COMIC BOOK TATTOO at Image (booth #2729)
-Thursday, 2pm to 3pm signing HOLMES at the Ait/Planet Lar booth (#2001)

-Friday the 25th, 11am to noon signing COMIC BOOK TATTOO at Image (booth #2729)
-Friday, 1pm to 2pm signing HOLMES at the Ait/Planet Lar booth (#2001)
-Friday, 3pm to 4pm signing HOLMES and BODHISATTVA at Khepri (booth #936)

-Saturday the 26th, 2pm to 3pm signing HOLMES at the Ait/Planet Lar booth (#2001)

If you will be there, look me up! I will likely be loitering at the Ait/Planet Lar booth quite a lot, so feel free to ask for me even if it's not my official signing time.

Cheers!
Omaha

HOLMES signings (plural), Wednesday May 7th.

2008-05-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

I will be signing copies of the HOLMES trade at two LA area stores on Wednesday, May 7th.

From 11am to 2pm I will be at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood:

Meltdown
7522 Sunset Blvd
LA CA 90046
323-851-7223
www.meltcomics.com

From 5pm to 8pm I will be at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach:

Comic Bug
1807 1/2 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Manhattan Beach CA 90266
310-372-6704
www.thecomicbug.com

Please try to come out and say hi!

sketch cards, pt. 2

2008-05-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

I did a few series of sketch cards last summer for this English company Strictly Ink. They've recently announced most of the series, so I'm going to resume posting cards. Here are some of the CSI:New York cards I did. For whatever reason, as with CSI: Miami the supporting actors were easier to caricature. I tried to do each card in about 15 minutes...

HOLMES GN in stores tomorrow, April 2nd!

2008-04-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I’m very pleased to announce that my HOLMES graphic novel published by Ait/Planet Lar will be in finer comic shops tomorrow, April 2^nd. It’s very exciting to me to finally have the full storyline collected into a single paperback volume. I hope you’ll all go and check it out. If it sells well enough I’ll be forced to start drawing the sequel!

For those in the LA area, I will have signed copies on hand this Sunday from 11am to 5pm at the first San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Festival at The Cuban Club of San Gabriel Valley, 10960 Lower Azusa Rd. El Monte, California, corner of Santa Anita and Lower Azusa, 11AM-5PM. Admission is free to the public (http://www.prlog.org/10060622-san-gabriel-valley-comic-book-festival.html). Also, I expect to do a couple of in-store signings in late April, details to be announced soon.

Some of you I know may never enter a comic book shop or a comic book convention despite your interest in my work. So here are a couple of places to purchase HOLMES at a discount online: http://khepri.com/08.html#holmes and http://www.amazon.com/Holmes-Omaha-Perez/dp/1932051511/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207071573&sr=8-1.

Thanks for your interest!

WonderCon appearance, FEBRUARY 22nd - 24th

2008-02-19T10:54:00.001-08:00

To promote the upcoming HOLMES trade paperback, I will be appearing at WonderCon in San Francisco this coming weekend. The show is at Moscone Center South in downtown San Francisco.

It’s unlikely that I will have any copies of the paperback in time for the show but swing by to pick up the promo card and say hi. I will have copies of the signed limited edition (floppy version) HOLMES mini-series as well as my BODHISATTVA graphic novel. I will be sharing space with my friend Ted Naifeh in Artist’s Alley, AA89. I hope to see you there!

HOLMES gn coming from Ait/Planet Lar in March

2008-01-09T13:45:00.001-08:00

I’m very pleased to announce that graphic novel publisher Ait/Planet Lar will be releasing a collected edition of my HOLMES series in March of this year. I’ve retouched dozens of pages and redrawn pieces I wasn’t satisfied with making this the definitive HOLMES edition.

HOLMES is featured in this months Previews catalog as a Spotlight item, a Staff Pick and an ad next to the Ait/Planet Lar listings. Thank you Larry and Mimi for getting HOLMES such great coverage! Here is the listing copy:

Omaha Perez' vicious skewering of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic literary creations is finally collected! This version of the Sherlock Holmes mythos expands on Dr. Watson's revelation that Holmes was a narcotics addict. The World's Greatest Detective is a maniac completely out of his head on drugs at all times and DR. Watson, his own personal 'Dr. Feelgood,' isn't much better off! Appearance meets reality as the duo must cope with their handicaps while recovering composer Joseph Haydn's missing skull. SC, 6x9, 104pgs, B&W $12.95 Diamond Code: JAN083322

My good friend at Khepri Comics is offering a pre-order price of $8.42 (as opposed to $12.95) here: http://www.khepri.com/08.html#holmes. If you intend to purchase the book, please try to pre-order it somewhere.

Editorial Cartoons, pt. 2

2008-01-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

I did this for the Easy Reader a few weeks ago. It's about the quagmire the situation with Redondo Beach's Seaside Lagoon has become.

My favorite albums of 2007

2007-12-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

10. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I only rediscovered Spoon a few years ago. When a friend first loaned me a cd 10 or 11 years ago I apparently dismissed them as a Pixies knock-off. While their first album does owe a heavy debt to The Pixies, revisiting their catalog years later made me realize I’d been missing out on great music all that time. Spoon very quickly forged its own sound and has been busy making great album after great album. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga continues that tradition.

9. Feist – The Reminder
While I contend that Feist’s previous album Let It Die is even better than The Reminder this album “reminds” us that Feist is a major talent and a force to be reckoned with. (This seems to happen frequently – an artist’s “breakthrough” success often follows a superior album.)

We first saw Feist perform at KCRW’s Sounds Eclectic show in 2006 and what surprised me most was that she really kicked ass on her guitar. I said to my wife, “I’d like to see her do a Stooges song!” On that night at least, she performed her songs much more aggressively than on album. It was exciting. I was looking forward to The Reminder having some of that energy so I admit I was disappointed when the album turned out mellower than its predecessor. That said the album is still packed with great songs. I’ll just hope her next album is heavier!

8. The Stooges – The Weirdness
One of my all-time favorite bands records a brand new album 30 years after their last effort?!? Are expectations high or low in this case? I don’t think anyone could expect this album to hold up to the impossibly high standards set by The Stooges debut, Fun House, or Raw Power. The Weirdness doesn’t stand up to those classics but it does rock and it’s certainly the best thing Iggy’s released in years.

Really though, the best part of this album was that it meant The Stooges would be touring to support it. I still can’t believe I’ve seen The Stooges live, much less twice! They put on an unbelievable show, one that’s not to be missed.

7. Radiohead – In Rainbows
My interest in Radiohead peaked with OK Computer and Kid A, but I never stopped buying and enjoying their records. In Rainbows has probably received more press over the fact that Radiohead opted to self-distribute the album as a digital download than the actual music it contains. What the press is glossing over, of course, is that this is another great album.

6. Manic Street Preachers – Send Away the Tigers
I was really into the Manics in the late 90s and for whatever reason kind of lost interest for a few years. This new album coincided with my reawakened interest in the group. This like their earlier albums is a great rock album. I complain a lot about modern groups not “rocking”. Well, the Manics definitely rock.

5. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once soundtrack
I don’t know what else to say about this movie and album that hasn’t already been said elsewhere. The movie is great mostly because these songs are so good, and they’re performed so beautifully. I will be shocked if they don’t get an Oscar nomination for Best Song.

We saw them perform at The Wiltern a couple of months ago, and it was no surprise that they would be good live. What did surprise was just how funny Glen Hansard was. The stories between the songs were at least as entertaining as the songs themselves, and that’s saying a lot.

4. The White Stripes – Icky Thump
When this album came I out I was annoyed with the suggestion that this record was some kind of return to form. I don’t think Jack and Meg have made a bad album, and in fact I prefer the previous album Get Behind Me Satan. Still, this is yet another great White Stripes album.

3. Julian Cope – You Gotta Problem With Me
You Gotta Problem With Me (a statement, not a question!) continues Cope’s tradition of the cleverest album titles ever. (Other examples include “Droolian”, “An Audience With the Cope”, “Citizen Cain’d”, and with his side project Brain Donor: “Love, Peace & Fuck”, “Too Freud to Rock n’ Roll, Too Jung to Die”, and “Drain’d Boner”.)

This one was a grower for me. On the first couple of listens I thought this was another of Cope’s recent albums that didn’t quite connect with me. Once again, the iShuffle came to the rescue. I didn’t think I liked the album, yet every time one of the songs came up I liked the song. Now I really like the whole album. This definitely isn’t the album someone new to Cope would want to start with (try Peggy Suicide or my personal favorite, Jehovahkill), but this is my favorite since 2003’s Rome Wasn’t Buried In A Day.

2. Ian Brown – The World Is Yours
I have always been and will always be a massive Stone Roses fan. When the Roses broke up, I didn’t think singer Ian Brown would have much of a career without his songwriting partner John Squire. To be fair, I thought the same thing of Morrissey when The Smiths broke up. 5 great solo albums later (3 more than the Roses made), I’m happy to say that Brown, like Morrissey before him, has proven me wrong.

The World Is Yours, while no real departure from Brown’s previous album is another really solid piece of work. Stand out tracks include the duet with Sinead O’Connor “Illegal Attacks”, “On Track”, “Me and You Forever”, and “Sister Rose”. These last two feature Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook along with Happy Monday’s bassist Paul Ryder as the backing band, and they are amazing. Brown needs to do a whole album with this band!

1. Grinderman – Grinderman
This album was easily the biggest surprise of the year for me. I downloaded it off of eMusic based on all the stellar reviews, despite the fact that I have never been a big Nick Cave fan. Still, it sounded interesting so I gave it a shot. I had honestly forgotten about it until I came across one of the tunes in my iShuffle on my morning run a couple months ago. This awesome song came on but I had no idea who it was. Now I like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but this sounded like the BRMC with more balls, or like some lost classic-era Stranglers. In other words, it’s right down my alley! My favorite songs are “Get It On”, “No Pussy Blues”, “Go Tell the Women”, and “Love Bomb”. The entire album is just fucking great. GO BUY IT.

Honorable Mention: Sea Wolf – Leaves In The River
I first became aware of Sea Wolf early this year due to Indie 103.1’s incessant playing of this simple haunting tune called, “You’re A Wolf”. My wife bought the 5 song EP and I was really impressed. The single and the 4 extra tracks are excellent so we both expected to really like the full-length album. I do… only slightly less than the EP. The album retains “You’re A Wolf” but doesn’t include any of the EP’s other 4 tracks. If this album had all or even just a couple of those songs I would have placed it in my Top 10. Still, good stuff!

Editorial cartoons, pt. 1

2007-12-13T09:09:00.001-08:00

I've just started doing regular editorial cartoons for the South Bay's free weekly paper the Easy Reader. These will mostly be on local South Bay issues with probably the occasional state-wide topic. This first one ran last week. It's about the Redondo Beach Fire Chief assuming control of the Hermosa Beach Fire Department as well - and the inevitable consolidation of all 3 Beach Cities Fire Departments.

Sketch Cards, part one

2007-12-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

At the end of summer I took on a few sketch card jobs, mainly out of curiosity. Sketch cards are a new phenomenon to me. The idea is that mixed in with your standard photo trading card packs there are a small number of original drawings by a variety of artists. So these things are highly collectible and there seems to be a devoted fan following.

This company out of London, Strictly Ink, lured me in with a fun bunch of series including Hammer Films, the Ray Harryhausen Collection, and 2000a.d. (a British comic anthology - best known as the home of Judge Dredd). However they had an immediate need for CSI:Miami and CSI:New York cards, so that's what I started with. Unfortunately, I wasn't provided with reference and only had some poor publicity stills to go from, so I did a lot of repeats.

I did 50 of the Miami set. I could only afford to spend 15 minutes on each card. I tried to move the portraits into caricature as often as I could which never seemed to work out with Caruso. For whatever reason the supporting actors likenesses seemed easier to nail down and caricature. These would have been a lot better if I had some stills to work from, but what are you going to do?

Last summer's big project

2007-11-13T13:34:00.000-08:00

No, I wasn't working on the HOLMES sequel. My major project over this past summer was completely remodeling one of our two bathrooms. The Before pictures I will post below don't do it justice - this tiny bathroom was incredibly ugly. Wood paneling(!?!), mirrored panels on the ceiling, a lowered ceiling(!?!), ugly dated linoleum back splash, walls that had been repainted countless times. I did the remodel all on my own, with the exception of a helper to hang the fresh drywall and a plumber... I did all the demo, all the stone cutting and setting, painting, etc.

When I first pulled a couple of the wood panels off the ceiling I found a nice bit of duct tape covering a fist size hole. The project quickly became a full on demo. I had the plumber pull out the old fixtures - this is the original bathroom from the 50 year old (front) portion of the house. He immediately found the toilet seal was completely dissolving and recommended I destroy the cast iron tub (which I had intended to keep and have refinished) so we could see how the trap underneath was holding up.

So I had a little fun destroying the tub with a sledgehammer and sure enough, the trap under the tub was disintegrating. A little further investigation showed this bathroom, unlike the newer bathroom in the back, was still running on the original iron pipes. I wasn't surprised as we'd had water flow issues the entire five years we'd been in the house. This of course necessitated some repiping. The plumber was able to delete the old line and run new copper up through the attic. An expensive detour but now the house is truly all copper and no more water flow problems!

There were all sorts of delays along the way... sick kids, my credit card being frozen because of the large number of purchases at Home Depot, defective products, etc.... Anyway, I did the back splash and the floor in Travertine stone, and painted the walls in a kind of sea foam color.

I'm proud to say, when the plumber came back he told me it was the best DIY job he'd ever seen and offered to bring me in on some remodel jobs. We'll see if he ever calls (I definitely prefer cutting stone to cg work!), but it sure was nice to hear. Here are the "Before" and mid-demo photos.

Before:

HOLMES at Khepri plus more press

2007-05-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Online retailer Khepri is now taking orders for HOLMES. Other than my own website this is the only place to order my HOLMES series. http://khepri.com/08.html#holmes-04

Recent press coverage:

-Comic Book Resources interview with me regarding HOLMES: http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=10617

-Philip Clark’s video interview of me regarding my comics career: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcuDV95MZaE

-Easy Reader weekly newspaper coverage of HOLMES: http://easyreader.hermosawave.net/archives/storypage.php?StoryID=20031270&searchfor=omaha%20perez&ActualDate=2007-04-05

the kids

2007-05-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Friends and family are always asking for more photos and I'm always slow about posting, but here are a couple... Lennon and myself at his first comic book convention and Ileana sporting new teeth at 10 1/2 months.

The Stooges on Iggy's birthday, 4/21/07

2007-04-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: R. Galbraith/Reuters

So I know this is a little late, but I was lucky enough to catch The Stooges at The Warfield in San Francisco last Saturday, the 21st - Iggy's 60th birthday no less! I had last seen them in November of 2003 headlining the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, they blew me away that first time and did it again this time.

As with the 'o3 show Iggy and the Asheton brothers were joined by Mike Watt on bass and the original sax player from Fun House Steve Mackay. I found this set list online and I think this is accurate:
1.loose 2.down on the street 3.I wanna be your dog 4.tv eye 5.my idea of fun 6.dirt 7.real cool time 8.no fun 9.1970 10.mindroom 11.fun house 12.l.a. blues 13.skull ring 14.trollin' 15.1969 16.she took my money 17.not right 18.I'm fried 19.little electric chair

I felt bad for Iggy's roadie/personal security during "No Fun" - Iggy invited the crowd on stage and so there was literally a stage full of rowdy Stooges fans dancing and singing along. The poor roadie was doing his best to keep himself between Iggy and this unruly lot - most of them just wanted to give Iggy a hug but you never know I guess. Iggy kept having the lights turned on the audience so he could see the crowd and wave. He's really appreciative of his audience. He seemed genuinely touched when the audience sang, "Happy Birthday."

As always Iggy never stopped moving the entire 90 minute set. I don't exactly know why he's so entertaining to watch but you really can't take your eyes off of him. Maybe part of it is you never really know what he's going to do from one moment to the next. After the show, I saw a friend who said, "Only 90 minutes? Ah, that's where he's showing his age." To which I had to respond, "Neither you nor I could do what he just did for 90 minutes straight."

The band for lack of a better phrase, kicked ass! I could feel Mike Watt's bass rumbling through my feet and Scott Asheton and Ron Asheton were playing at their primal best. The tracks Steve Mackay played on reminded me how unique an album Fun House is. Primal hard rock meets free jazz... mindblowing! Let me just conclude by saying if you get the chance to see The Stooges, do not miss it!

HOLMES at APE

2007-04-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

I will be exhibiting at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco this coming Saturday April 21st and Sunday April 22nd. I will be there with a fresh stock of HOLMES sets.

I will be at the O-P-P table, table 107. When you walk in the front doors, if you turn left my table is in the section near the bar. I will be leaving the show around 3pm on Sunday to catch a plane, so be sure to come by early.

Again, Holmes #s 2, 3, and 4 are Signed and Numbered, limited to just 300 copies an issue. They've been moving fast, so be sure to get your set while you can.

Hope to see you at APE!

HOLMES press and an in store appearance

2007-04-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ambush Bug from Aint-It-Cool-News posted a great review of my HOLMES series. Here's one of my favorite lines:

"Though purists may scoff at a Sherlock Holmes more like Iggy Pop than the classic sleuth, I found myself laughing out loud at the mentally skewed adventures depicted in HOLMES."

The full review can be found here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32194

For those of you in the LA area, I will be appearing with an extremely limited supply of HOLMES sets at The Comic Bug on Wednesday, April 11th. It's an Indie Comics event - also appearing: Joshua Hale Fialkov (Elks Run), Christian Berenek (Se7en: Lust), Philip Clark (Quantum: Rock of Ages), Tony Fleecs (In My Lifetime), and Stormcrow Hayes (Afterlife). http://thecomicbug.com/. Apparently they will also have a live band at the after-party. Come on down.

The Comic Bug
1015 Aviation Blvd.
Manhattan Beach CA

There are also new reviews of HOLMES at SequentialTart.com. The Easy Reader, a free weekly paper here in the South Bay of LA, did an article about HOLMES and myself this week. The reporter took this shot for the article but ended up running artwork only. Well at least I have a new press photo... Thanks to Robb Fulcher.

Holmes #4 cover

2007-03-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

Here's the cover to issue 4. All 4 issues can now be purchased here.

Holmes #3 cover

2007-03-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the cover to issue 3. All 4 issues can now be purchased here.

Holmes #2 cover

2007-03-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

I'm making Holmes #s 2, 3 and 4 available as signed and numbered limited editions (limited to 300 copies per issue). My first batch just came in today. Here's the cover to #2.

Police humor from a 3 year-old

2007-02-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

"So Lonely" is playing on the iPod and Lennon says, "This isn't The Police." "Yes," I reply, " this isThe Police." "No it's not," he insists, "it's the fireduhpahtmahnt." "What was that?" I ask. "This isn't The Police. It's the Fire Department!" He needed a rim shot. Pretty clever for three!

(If you're wondering, the policeman uniform was a birthday gift from one of Lennon's classmates. I wouldn't dress my boy up like a cop just because I happen to be a Police fan.)

I've finally seen The Police!

2007-02-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

Thank you Giovanni for hooking me up with the rehearsal ticket, you are my new hero! And thank you Stewart, you’ve been my hero for 24 years now!

I was 12 when the Synchronicity tour came around and unsuccessful in convincing my mother that I needed to be there. Mom may have inadvertently created a monster; for the next 5 years The Police was practically all I talked about.

I was so excited in 1986 when I went to the first stop of the Amnesty International tour in San Francisco. The Police were heavily rumored to be appearing. My heart sank when Sting came out with his Blue Turtles band - and I liked them! I couldn’t believe my lousy luck when a few nights later The Police joined the tour. I was thrilled that the final stop was televised but that was extremely bittersweet, to say the least. At 15 the symbolism of The Police passing their instruments to the members of U2 was not lost on me.

So 21 years later, wow! I had completely given up on The Police ever reforming.

Until today I had seen all of the guys perform solo on numerous occasions but never together as The Police. I was stunned last week when I found out I had been selected to see them at The Whisky. I told my 3 year-old son Lennon, “Hey, I’m going to see The Police on Monday!” He said, “I want to go!” I replied, “Sorry buddy, I’ve only got one ticket.” “That’s ok,” he said, “I’ll ride on your shoulders!” Awesome kid! Friday my uncle called and I told him I was seeing The Police and Lennon was in the background shouting, “Me, too!”

Lennon stayed up a little to watch The Police with me on the Grammy telecast last night. “Ladies and gentleman, we are The Police and we’re back!” I never thought I’d hear those words out of Sting’s mouth. That got me pumped up and then of course our boys killed on the telecast. Just fantastic! Lennon was dancing around clapping his hands along with me. I was just giddy after seeing that and knowing I would be seeing them in the tiny Whisky A Go Go the next morning. A little too giddy as it turned out…

I had been doing well all weekend, not getting over-excited, but last night I barely got any sleep. I had told myself I was going to go to sleep early and get my rest, be fresh for the morning’s event. Well, that was out the window; I was just too excited. When I finally did begin to drift off, hours after my first attempt at getting to sleep I found myself worrying that I was going to wake up in an alternate reality, a more realistic reality in which no, of course you’re not going to see The Police at The Whisky and no, of course The Police aren’t reuniting for a massive tour! What, are you crazy?

Many of you have probably viewed the live web cast already so you know The Police opened with “Message In A Bottle” then on to “When The World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”, did the announcement and Q & A, then on to “Can’t Stand Losing You” and closed with “Roxanne”. I haven’t watched the playback yet but seeing them together in such a tiny venue was all that I could have hoped it would be (well, other than a longer set!).

I was dead center in the middle of the tiny Whisky standing room area. Drummer Qwest Love with his giant afro was two people in front of me, but I had a clear view of all three of the guys and only occasionally had to bob my head to one side to see. The camaraderie was completely genuine and the playing was unbelievable. Stewart was a force of nature behind those drums, Sting was in great voice and Andy killed! (Stewart’s drumming is so exciting, it occurred to me Sting must have hated that in the old days – drawing attention away from him.) Andy’s solo on “When the World Is Running Down” was spectacular. It’s great to see that all these years later, they’ve finally relaxed their old rule about extended solos. I hope to see a lot of extended jams when they tour this summer, and I hope they switch up their set list from night to night. I am going to see them as many times as possible, I’ll see you there.

2007-01-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

Holmes is done!

2006-08-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

I will announce publishing information when I have it. In the meantime, here are some more inked pages. Thanks to Kevin and Alex for asking...

the kids...

2006-08-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

More...

2006-06-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

Some Ileana pics

2006-06-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

And her name is...

2006-06-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

ILEANA JOSEPHINE PEREZ was born on Tuesday, June 20th at 2:53pm. She came in at a whopping 9 lbs. 2 oz and 21 inches long. I'm happy to say that both Ileana and mom Lisa are doing great and recovering rapidly. Big brother Lennon is thrilled and I of course am as proud as can be.

We are pronouncing Ileana as Ee-Lay-Aw-Naw or Ee-Lee-Aw-Naw. I personally prefer the first. We chose the name before knowing of the meanings... some of which include "from Troy" and "shining light". No USC jokes! I will be thinking of my little girl as my shining light. More can be found here.

Old pieces

2006-05-31T23:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my old pieces which I've framed and will be selling at the Weekend of Horrors show.

Weekend of Horrors

2006-05-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Insert joke here.

My sole convention appearance of the year will be this coming Friday through Sunday, June 2nd - 4th in Burbank at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention. In addition to my usual supply of comics and graphic novels for sale, I will be trotting out originals of my old horror paintings which I hope to sell.

The show is at:
Burbank Airport Hilton and Towers
2500 Hollywood Way
Burbank CA 91505

Check the impressive line-up of horror luminaries attending: http://www.creationent.com/cal/dod.htm#events.

I haven't been told what my table location is but you can look out for this rather large "puzzle" painting of mine which will be sitting on an easel behind me. I'll try to post some more of the paintings I'll be bringing tomorrow. Hope to see you there!

Sacred Cows

2006-04-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

My favorite music magazine is a British mag called Uncut. They used to have a feature called Sacred Cows in which the columnist would rip into films that he felt were undeservedly considered classics. I am not about to write essays ripping in to these guys, but here is my list, with short explanations, of my personal picks for Sacred Cows from the rock world.

5. My Bloody Valentine – MBV’s Loveless album seems to have been universally hailed as a hugely influential masterpiece. I have it. It’s one of the albums I listen to about once a year just to see if I can figure out what the big deal was. It’s ok, kind of boring. Give me the Jesus & Mary Chain.

4. Captain Beefheart – Hugely influential, Beefheart is highly respected by many of my favorite musicians. His album Trout Mask Replica is supposedly a classic. I try to listen to it every couple of years. I think it’s the only album I own that makes me ANGRY while I’m listening to it, angry at the musicians, angry at Beefheart, angry at all the people who say he’s so great. I can count how many times I’ve been able to make it through the whole album on one hand.

3. Flaming Lips – I think the last three Flaming Lips albums have been hailed as masterpieces. I own two of them. Now I don’t hate these guys, I actually think the music is pretty good… the vocals however make it impossible for me to listen to them (or consider buying the new album).

2. Todd Rundgren – I don’t get it.

1. Beach Boys – The only Beach Boys album I own is Pet Sounds which, again, I listen to annually. Now I grew up in California so I heard the Beach Boys all the time, my whole life. Even as a kid I found them to be hokey and unsubstantial. By the time I was a teenager I thought of them as a kind of joke. That opinion hasn’t softened much. The lyrical content of the majority of their songs just doesn’t cut it for me. My wife thinks I don’t like them because I’m from Northern California as opposed to Southern California. I realized a couple of years ago that my biggest problem with them is I hate falsetto (see Flaming Lips). I’ve heard other artists cover songs off Pet Sounds; I much preferred those to the originals. After 35 years of hearing, and not liking, the Beach Boys I think it’s safe to say I never will.

Happy guy

2006-04-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

more...

2006-04-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

more Holmes

2006-03-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

Here's my favorite recently penciled page...

Top Sixteen Hit Singles (that were never Hits)

2006-03-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

So the premise of this bit of nonsense is that I'm presenting to you my top 16 picks for songs that should have been smash hits but never got the attention they deserved. (Why 16? I couldn’t pare it down to just 10, or even 15.) Some of these tunes were never released as singles while others inexplicably had no chart life.

Number 16: "Caroline Goodbye" by Colin Blunstone (1971, One Year) This is a really beautiful record, a lot of acoustic guitar and strings; makes me think of Nick Drake a bit. His first solo album post-Zombies, his great vocals were no surprise but the excellent Blunstone originals make me sorry he didn’t write more.

Number 15: "She's A Lover" by The Pretty Things (1970, Parachute) While the general consensus seems to be that the previous album S.F. Sorrow was their best, this is my personal favorite. The Pretty Things are one of the most under-appreciated bands of all time.

Number 14: “Babies” by Pulp (1994, His & Hers) A year before deservedly landing an international hit with “Common People”, Pulp released this excellent album with this fantastic song. One of a number of Pulp songs that really showcase the sleazy persona Jarvis Cocker has created, “Babies” finds Jarvis proclaiming that he only slept with his girlfriend's sister, “’cos she looks like you. My god!” In a really tuneful and heartbreaking manner of course!

Number 13: "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)" by Brendan Benson (2005, The Alternative To Love) This guy is sure to find fame and fortune as Jack White’s co-singer/songwriter in The Raconteurs but he certainly deserves it on his own. A great album filled with catchy songs.

Number 12: "Daddy I'm Fine" by Sinead O'Connor (2000, Faith and Courage) Sinead to me is one of the great singer/songwriters of all time. Plus, I must admit I’ve always found her to be really sexy and she goes a bit Liz Phair on this track, you’ve got to love it.

Number 11: "I'm Straight" by The Modern Lovers (1976, self-titled) “I saw you today, you know, walk by with hippie Johnny. Look, I had to call up and say, I want to take his place. See he's stoned, hippie Johnny. Now get this, I'm straight and I want to take his place. Now look, I like him too, I like hippie Johnny. But I'm straight and I want to take his place”. A hilarious Jonathan Richman song (redundant isn’t that?), my favorite tune off one of my all-time favorite albums.

Number 10: "New Pleasure" by Richard Hell & The Voidoids (1977, Blank Generation) I suppose “Blank Generation” or “Love Comes In Spurts” would be more obvious “single” choices, but I’ve always really loved this track in particular. This is another of my all-time favorite albums, and though released almost 30 years ago, it still sounds as fresh as ever. In fact, it still sounds like nothing else. It’s like some kind of fantastic alien music transported from another dimension. (You like that?)

Number 9: “I’d Like That” by XTC (1999, Apple Venus Pt. 1) Another beautiful XTC song, on this their excellent “comeback” album. This album is every bit as good as Skylarking.

Number 8: "20th Century Man" by The Kinks (1971, Muswell Hillbillies) "I'm a 20th century man, but I don't want to be here." A theme echoed in many of Ray Davies’s songs. I’m such a Kinks geek, and this is my favorite album of theirs. The Kinks of course had several under-appreciated albums; at least their place in history is secure.

Number 7: "Alone Again Or" by Love (1967, Forever Changes) This is one of the more obvious ones on the list. I’ve read that one of the big reasons this album had no chart life was that Arthur Lee refused to tour the band out of LA. Whatever the reasons, chart life or not, this is a classic.

Number 6: "Greatness and Perfection" by Julian Cope (1984, World Shut Your Mouth) Cope has written so many impossibly catchy pop songs that should have been huge hits… this track, “Elegant Chaos”, “Bill Drummond Said”, “Sunspots”, “Beautiful Love”… this guy is one of a kind. Forward thinking mo-fo, indeed.

Number 5: “She” by The Jesus & Mary Chain (1994, Stoned and Dethroned) This is another band I got really into after they broke up. D’oh! They’re best known for placing catchy melodies over a wall of feedback (a la Psychocandy) but my favorites, Stoned and Dethroned, and Darklands, find them leaving the feedback at the door.

Number 4: "I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon (2005, Gimme Fiction) The catchiest song I’ve heard in years. I recently heard it backing a tv commercial which is kind of sad, this should have been HUGE. Do what you’ve got to do, guys.

Number 3: "Tell Me A Story" by Iggy Pop (1979, New Values) My favorite Iggy album, yes I even prefer it to Lust For Life. Produced by Raw Power-era Stooges guitarist James Williamson, the album rocks and is packed full of great (and catchy) Iggy songs. My other favorites on the album include “Five Foot One”, “I’m Bored”, “Girls”… Great stuff, and extremely funny.

Number 2: "Bull-Rush" by Paul Weller (1992, self-titled) After the dissolution of his post Jam group The Style Council, Weller had seemingly been written off. With his solo debut he came back with one of the best albums of his career (and my favorite of his solo efforts). Abandoning the pseudo-jazz of the Style Council and miles away from the aggressive sound of The Jam, this R&B tinged album was an instant classic full of amazing songs. I contend that any one of the first 6 or 7 songs could have/should have been massive hits. ("Uh Huh Oh Yeh" and "Into Tomorrow" were Top 40 hits in the UK while the latter was at least briefly a staple on MTV.)

Number 1: "Don't Look Back" by The Remains (1966, self-titled). One of those songs that I am compelled to replay over and over. When I first heard this off the excellent Nuggets box set, it was just shocking to me that this wasn't a radio staple. It's amazing. It sounds like a lost Stones classic, for lack of a better description. I suspect this song could be the model for Supergrass's entire career. Great rock song, great playing, great singing, catchy... timeless.

"Daddy, there's a snake in my boot!"

2006-03-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

This weekend we bought Lennon a (Toy Story) Woody doll complete with the pull string sound chip. As he was about to fall asleep in the stroller Saturday he was pulling Woody's string and repeating Woody's lines. He got quiet for a couple minutes, I thought he might be drifting off, then he said, "Daddy.., there's a snake in my boot!"

This morning (Tuesday) I was taking Lennon in to see the pediatrician (nothing more serious than a painful canker sore - but man, is he letting us know he's uncomfortable!). I was getting the diaper bag ready and I asked him to bring me two pull-ups from the cabinet. He came back in the room with 5. I said, oh, ok. Then I asked him to get his sippy cup from his room, this time he came back with a big stack of about 15 night-time pull-ups. I said, "I asked for your sippy cup, what's this?" So naturally he threw the pull-ups all over the living room. I told him to pick them up and bring them back to the cabinet, which he did (so I thought) in about 5 trips. When we got home from the doctors, this is what I found. That's my boy!

Society Of Illustrators

2006-03-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

I'm very pleased to have a piece in the 48th Annual Society of Illustrators Exhibition. My cover to HOLMES #1 was selected in the Book Category. This is the first time in 7 years that I've got a piece in. (Here's the last one that made it.)

The Exhibition begins Friday, March 3rd at the Society of Illustrators in New York. I imagine it will take about a year for that hefty Annual Publication to make it into stores.

Mechmuse

2006-02-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

This mock cover I did for "Richard Raleigh"'s Primary Colors story is now being used to illustrate the audio book of said story. You can find it in the first issue, available next week I believe... www.mechmuse.com .

Chipping away.

2006-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Girl v. Boy

2006-01-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

We've lucked out and are expecting a little girl to join our rowdy little (well, not so little) boy. Here's the latest ultrasound photo. If you turn your head to the left you should be able to make out the nose, lips and chin pretty clearly. And for your added entertainment here's a photo of an unsuspecting Lennon from his birthday last month.

30 pages to go...

2006-01-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years everyone. So nice to see that my Blog is still so buggy. I checked my replacement blog and that one's messed up too. I may have to migrate this away from Blogger...

As CG work takes up most of my work-time it's been really nice to hear people actually care about my comics. A couple of recent incidents reinforce this. Last week the manager of my local comic shop (The Comic Bug, Manhattan Beach, CA) called and said, "Omaha, I have an irate Holmes fan here..." And put me on the phone with a woman saying, "Hello, when's the next issue of HOLMES coming out?!?" The second incident was an email from a reporter from the local community paper, The Easy Reader, saying that his boss liked HOLMES so much he'd serialize it in the paper if I wanted to.

So, as I told this fan, there will be no HOLMES #2. There will be, however, a 96 page HOLMES trade paperback collecting the first issue (complete with art fixes) and what would have been issues 2 - 4. "Issue 2" is done, I'm half-way through what would have been #3. I've got a total of 30 pages left to pencil and ink. Also, most likely the book will be published by a different publisher. The realities of the Direct Market make self-publishing too difficult to continue. And I don't expect to serialize HOLMES in the Easy Reader. I'm sure there's far too much "objectionable" content for it to be published by a community paper.

Here's a recently inked page... More soon.

Omaha

Big in France

2005-10-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

(From 10/18/05)

Well, getting coverage at least... French comics site superpouvoir.com is featuring an interview with yours truly. Who knew my French was so good?!? Ha ha!

A new HOLMES page

2005-10-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

(From 10/12/05)

Here's a recently completed page from my now 1/2 complete HOLMES graphic novel. Fun with scratchboard!

Let's try this again.

2005-10-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at a blog, A Forward Thinking MoFo, kept having problems. So, I'm going to re-post my first three (and only) posts to that blog. Here's the first post:

10/08/05

It's late so I'm going to begin my blog by quoting one of my heroes, Ray Davies:

I think I’m sophisticated
’cos I’m living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me everybody’s multiplying
Till they’re walking round like flies man
So I’m no better than the animals sitting in their cages
In the zoo man
’cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an ape man
I think I’m so educated and I’m so civilized
’cos I’m a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don’t feel safe in this world no more
I don’t want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an ape man
I’m an ape man, I’m an ape ape man
I’m an ape man I’m a king kong man I’m ape ape man
I’m an ape man
’cos compared to the sun that sits in the sky
Compared to the clouds as they roll by
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies
I am an ape man
In man’s evolution he has created the cities and
The motor traffic rumble, but give me half a chance
And I’d be taking off my clothes and living in the jungle
’cos the only time that I feel at ease
Is swinging up and down in a coconut tree
Oh what a life of luxury to be like an ape man
I’m an ape, I’m an ape ape man, I’m an ape man
I’m a king kong man, I’m a voo-doo man
I’m an ape man
I look out my window, but I can’t see the sky
’cos the air pollution is fogging up my eyes
I want to get out of this city alive
And make like an ape man
Come and love me, be my ape man girl
And we will be so happy in my ape man world
I’m an ape man, I’m an ape ape man, I’m an ape man
I’m a king kong man, I’m a voo-doo man
I’m an ape man
I’ll be your tarzan, you’ll be my jane
I’ll keep you warm and you’ll keep me sane
And we’ll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day
Just like an ape man
I’m an ape man, I’m an ape ape man, I’m an ape man
I’m a king kong man, I’m a voo-doo man
I’m an ape man.
I don’t feel safe in this world no more
I don’t want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an ape man.

-Ray Davies (The Kinks, 1970)