A Chronicle of Doom....

Great visit to Ice Station Zebra yesterday, kicking back with Agent Miller, swilling the afternoon away in a leisurely fashion, delighting in the lack of 'processions'. Now recovered from his 'bronchial influenza' (self-diagnosed, naturally) our man in Pester Whailes has returned to his comic drawing and letter writing with gusto - the new Sandie Shaw page is pencilled in its entirety, with 5 panels inked in. Further to that it seems as if Agent of S.M.E.R.S.H. is now concluded, the 2 pages that I saw, subtitled Manderston Street Madmen (and, yes, we're once again advised to 'dodge this page!'), were, as I gather it, the end. The Tales of Unearthly Science Fiction collection was mooted yet again, and the dummy of all 36 complete pages of ASJ#2: Evil Hollywood Over Subterrania was handed over 'fer approval'. A complimentary copy of Jupiter's Legacy #1 was duly passed over in exchange for the recent 'Fast Gun' Commando comic - one Agent X27 remembers readin' way back in 1963!

Sounds: Workingman's Dead and American Beauty by Grateful Dead, Crown of Creation by Jefferson Airplane, Hang 'em High, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Dominic Frontiere, Superstition by Siouxsie and The Banshees, Johnny by Sheena Easton (lined up as the grand finale just upon leaving....)

Jefferson Airplane - Triad

1967 Kevolutions per minute....

Here we go, a little further down the line in the recreation of Kounter Kultyur Kevn, his head and neck taking on a 'fully posable' shape, cheekbones finally established and the jawline firmly rounded. With a bit of hefty spin, Production "Brawbot" Rob Miller assures us he's about 1/3 of the way through the pencils of this epic....

Say you want a Kevolution....

Kounter Kultyer Kevn was always one of the more minimal strips in Khaki Shorts, rarely budging from his chair, the panels themselves mostly scaled traces of a few originals (Rob Miller's thinking being he wasn't spending any more time than absolutely necessary illustrating the adventures of a stoned bum)....

However, Kevn had his fans and the much mooted epic strip - as initially promoted in our post here - is finally being realised. Part of the challenge (and hold up!) was trying to find a look for Kevn that really allowed him to "move around" in a way the earlier strips never did, what with his chunky neck and the resulting unwieldy head. Below are a few sketches attempting to establish a workable appearance that'd make this possible. We'll pop up the first finished results in the next few weeks....

A Chronicle of Doom....

Finally made it through to Ice Station Zebra on Thursday, skiting across the lunar landscape to Pester Whailes railway station and heading on back to the valley with the bullshit detector. In spite of the sudden temperature drop Agent Johnny was on fine - if initially slightly subdued due to a cold - form. However, after an hour in ze smoking room, half 12 come and gone, a jolly swill was duly underway. He recounted tales of his week's exploits, numerous visits to BackBeat Records, Forbidden Planet and Deadhead Comics, showing off his 2 new Cure lps later in the day. With Adam J. Smith putting the finishing touches to his Chapter of Evil Hollywood it was agreed that a meeting at The Mono should be arranged to discuss the story's conclusion, thereby putting this title to bed in time for the anticipated summer release. A 2nd page of Sandie Shaw was also underway, the pencilled title in place awaiting the script to be 'thinked up'. Whilst leafing through a few old  White Bufflo Gazettes, Agent (Rob) Miller discovered that there were two Secret Agent novels completed at the turn of the century, novels that were supposedly being 'transferred to disc' at that time for submitting to publishers. As things stand Johnny is on the hunt for the manuscripts in the Archives of Doom, Rob keen for these works to finally see the light of day.

Sounds: The Black Hole, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, by John  Barry: Blows Against The Empire by Paul Kantner, Grace Slick et al: Zabriskie Point, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (various artists): Ace by Bob Weir: See Those Eyes and I Could Be Happy by Altered Images: Sometimes 7" by Erasure: The Lebanon by The Human League: Israel 12" by Siouxsie and the Banshees....

John Barry - Black Hole Theme

It's just yet another Electric Manday....

As well as asking Rob to restore a plethora of long-thought-lost Electric Man covers, the team behind the film were then fortunate enough to unearth the first 3 volumes of the Electric Manga series (which are very rare indeed), by the highly creative team of Daiki Barash and Shiro Makamoto. Printed by SOHO Entertainment these are thought to date back to the early 70's....

Electric Man - When Sparks Flew

It's just another Electric Manday....

Not so long ago (2011), in a galaxy not so far away (Edinburgh), Production Brawbot Rob Miller helped out on the self-funded Electric Man movie. The team behind the film passed on a selection of rare issues from the comic's lengthy run across the decades, asking Rob if he'd apply some digital-pokery, archiving and restoring these comics to near as possible their original glory....

Electric Man - Trailer 2

Now that the film's available on DVD everyone can enjoy this "wonderfully twisty-turny comic caper, made and played with warmth, wit and genuine affection" (c/o Frank Quitely) at home, the eagle-eyed amongst you perhaps wanting to look out for (artistic) cameos by Curt Sibling, Graham Manley, Alex Ronald, Team Girl Comic, our very own John Miller and more.... Only a tiny handful of the restored covers were glimpsed in the film (much like the restorer himself, but that's understandable as he's camera shy and the bulk of them were worked on during and after production), so treat this as something of an exclusive premiere, several of these scarce issues thought lost forever....

A Chronicle of Doom....

Finally made a much delayed visit to Ice Station Zebra yesterday to find Agent Johnny on fine form, basking in the knowledge that the 'Art Deco' kitchen and Shunky installations are finally complete after nearly a month's work. So, having heaved all the boxes of comics and books back in from storage there was nothing to do but bid Ghostman farewell (he's an awfy boy) and settle down to a view to a swill, chuntering away, chewing over such topics as the past weekend's screening of The Omega Man (missed by this Agent), commenting on the soundtrack, the conclusion to Evil Hollywood over Subterrania, drawing another Sandie Shaw page (fer the back page of Braw! #2) and more letter writing.

Sounds: A Fistful of Dollars, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Ennio Morricone: Hang 'em High, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Dominic Frontiere: For a Few Dollars More, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Ennio Morricone: Superstition by Siouxsie and The Banshees....

Ennio Morricone - For A Few Dollars More Theme