Welcome To Cobra Island (and Pasketti Western, For That Matter)

So here we go again. Believe me, I'm all too aware that I leave a trail of dead blogs in my wake as though I were some sort of blood-crazed barbarian and the blogs were the savaged corpses of helpless peasants unlucky enough to cross my path. Years ago it was my comics blog All This And Earth-2, then I contributed regularly to my pal Rachelle Goguen's Living Between Wednesdays, with a side helping of my horror blog, House Of Haunts...along the way I contributed to the website NerdSpan, and even tried to start a podcast on this very spot, getting as far as recording four episodes (which seem to have somehow disappeared into the internet ether) before getting distracted by other business. So it goes. The idea now, in resurrecting this as a straight-up blog, is that I can hopefully fold all of my interests--comics, movies (scary ones and otherwise), books, TV shows, art, and general foolishness--into one occasionally updated (let's face it, in all likelihood, very occasionally) pop culture blog. See, I agreed to participate in my local (Halifax, Nova Scotia, that is) Downtown Business Commission's "Big Day Downtown" event, as I did a few years back, and I realized I should probably have some kind of blog type thing if I did plan to actually, y'know, blog about it. Not to mention, one of my favourite stretches of marathon blogging is just around the corner--every year I watch 31 horror movies (at least 16 of which, by some cockamamie rule, must be new to me), and blog about it. I did this in 2010 (for my friend Carsten Knox's movie blog, Flaw In The Iris--see? Another one!), then again for my House Of Haunts blog in 2011, and then again in 2012. This newly-relaunched blog might be a good venue for that. Also, every once in awhile I like to ramble at the internets, in more detail than 140 characters or a Facebook status update might allow. Hence this. Case in point: my buddy Sean Jordan is a bona fide recording artist, performing under the nom du rap Wordburglar. His latest album, Welcome To Cobra Island, is a concept album about G.I. Joe. Not either of the recent live-action motion pictures, nor the 12-inch action figures with realistic facial hair, but the 1980s, 3.75 inch toy line/cartoon/Marvel comic about America's Daring, Highly Trained Special Missions Force and their ongoing struggle against Cobra, A Ruthless Terrorist Organization Determined To Rule The World. You know the one. Anyway, after having worked with SJ at Strange Adventures Comix & Curiosities for several years, and continuing to be friends with him for several more after he moved to Toronto, I can safely say that there is no one on this planet who is more obsessed with Snake Eyes, Duke, The Baroness, Destro, Scarlett, Storm Shadow, Zartan, and friends than this guy. He eats, sleeps, and breathes this stuff. And now he's created an entire hip-hop album devoted to it, and it's outstanding.

Every track on Welcome To Cobra Island is told from the point of view of a G.I. Joe character. "Venomous Ideology" outlines the origin and philosophy of Cobra Commander, "Call Destro" is an introduction to the steel-headed arms dealer, "Chuckles (The Last Laugh)" is delivered by the Joe Team's Hawaiian-shirt-wearing undercover agent, and the most popular Joe member, Snake Eyes, gets three whole tracks to himself--"Letter From Snake Eyes" parts 1, 2, and 3--in which he details his transformation from Vietnam veteran to ninja master to silent commando. If you're of a certain age and well-versed enough in Joe lore, you'll be endlessly delighted by Destro claiming to have "invented puttin' snakes on a plane" and being "the only man to have Zarana AND the Baroness", or Snake-Eyes pleading to have the lips kept off his balaclava (in reference to the bizarro costume design featured in G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra). "I Don't Want To Go To Cobra-La" is a tour de force ode to the mythical reptile homeland featured prominently in the animated G.I. Joe: The Movie from 1986. Even if you didn't "once get busy in the back of a Buzz-Boar" (as the title character of "Rap Viper" claims to have), you'll still be amused and amazed at the scope of Welcome To Cobra Island's sense of goofy fun. You can get a taste of three tracks on a pay-what-you-want basis here, and the full, limited-edition album is available in limited release at select outlets, like the aforementioned Strange Adventures. Now you know, and knowing is...ah, you know the rest. And if you need further convincing of SJ's skills--and his geek cred--check out the video for his loving tribute to comic books, "Drawings With Words", shot at the 2012 Fan Expo convention in Toronto. You will not regret it.

Pasketti Western #4: Watching BEFORE WATCHMEN With Ben Jeddrie!

In the wake of last week's bombshell announcement that DC Comics would be publishing a series of WATCHMEN prequel miniseries this summer (without the involvement of either Alan Moore or Dave Gibbons), local favourite Ben Jeddrie and I discuss the ethics of the project, the array of creators involved, and the changes in creators' rights between now and WATCHMEN's original publication date. Ben also provided the nifty title card seen above. Check out more of his work here and here, and listen to the new episode by clicking HERE!

Podcast #3 With Kate Leth!

This week's guest is cartoonist (and my Strange Adventures co-worker Kate Leth, whose work can be found here, as well as in this week's issues of LOCKE & KEY and THE STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE. Thrill as we discuss the perils of commissioned sketches, comics retail, internet haters, and, of course, the Oscar nominations. Click HERE to listen!

Podcast #2 With Mike Holmes!

Click here to listen to the second PASKETTI WESTERN interview, this time with the lovely and talented Mike Holmes! You can find Mike's work (including his incredible MIKENESSES self-portrait series, like the bang-on Chris Ware tribute above) at mikeholmesdraws.com. This interview is a bit sloppy and unfocused, which is entirely my fault--I probably could have prepared a bit better, so that's on me. However, I think we still cover some cool topics, like dueling (and very different) espionage movies at the box office, superhero movies, how to break into the comics biz, and why audiences should demand to be challenged by their entertainment.

Podcast #1 With James White

Welcome to Pasketti Western, a comics podcast with generous pop-culture spillover. My first guest is superstar graphic designer/visual artist James White of Signalnoise Studios (creator of the killer DRIVE movie poster seen above). Listen in as we jabber back and forth about the new DC Comics logo, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, our favourite movie poster artists, and the dangers of nostalgia. I also go on at some length about the new SHADOW series from Garth Ennis and Dynamite Publishing, the terrific new Image titles FATALE and THE STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE, and reveal how I narrowly avoided sharing the name of my podcast with an upcoming Marvel crossover. Listen to Pasketti Western #1 by clicking here! There's also going to be a launch for the above DRIVE poster at the Strange Adventures Halifax store this Wednesday evening at 6 PM. Drop by to meet James and buy some slick artwork! More details can be found here. Oh yeah, and you may wanna check out the websites devoted to Drew Struzan, Bob Peak, John Alvin, John Berkey, and Richard Amsel. We talk about these dudes and their amazing movie poster artwork in this recording. Even if you don't know their names, trust me--you know their work.