Purveyor of sheer awesomeness.
Joshua Hale Fialkov is the Harvey, Eisner, and Emmy Award nominated writer of graphic novels, animation, video games, film, and television, including:
THE LIFE AFTER, THE BUNKER, PUNKS, ELK'S RUN, TUMOR, ECHOES, KING, PACIFIC RIM, THE ULTIMATES, I, VAMPIRE, and JEFF STEINBERG CHAMPION OF EARTH. He's also written television including MAX’s YOUNG JUSTICE, NBC's CHICAGO MED and NETFLIX’s AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.
Spent the afternoon at the urologists. With his hand up my ass. My prostate is swollen, and infected, plus the stones are still holding steady. This whole thing is costing me an arm and a leg (and not just the one that was up my ass.) Grumble.
AICN Comics: ELK’S RUN #3Joshua Hale Fialkov: Writer Noel Tuazon: Artist Hoarse and Buggy Productions : Publisher Vroom Socko: Just here to ask a few questions
Let’s get one thing straight right away. In a week where I picked up comics by Gail Simone, Geoff Johns, Brian Michael Bendis, and Matt Wagner, (to say nothing of the latest kickass issue of FABLES,) this issue was hands down the best book of the week.
I suppose a bit of background is in order. This story is about a kid named John who lives in an isolated community in West Virginia. John didn’t know just how isolated they were, or even that there was a purpose behind it, until one of his friends was killed by a drunk driver. The driver, John’s next door neighbor, was sentenced by a town vote to be dragged from his home in the middle of the night and have the rear tires of a Buick parked on his chest, after which the townspeople would do their best impression of Rubens Barichello. John, of course, sees all of this.
AAll of that was in the first issue, as seen from John’s point of view. Issue #2 was the same event, along with some backstory, as seen by his father, John Sr. Both of those issues were brutal, hard, and a hell of a lot of fun to read. In part three, we see the continuation from the point of view of Sara, the mother of this charming little family. And with that, we also see the story move from being a fun, creepy horror book to potentially cracking into my list of the 25 greatest comics stories of all time.
It’s been two days since the drunk was executed, and the latest shipment of supplies is on its way. Unfortunately, the truck is late. Also unfortunately, a pair of state troopers has just shown up on Main Street. It seems the out of town relatives of the drunk have declared him missing. So Sara takes it upon herself to show the two cops the town, while her husband figures out just what to do with them.
What makes this issue work is its minimalism. There’s no captions, no internal narration, just Noel Tuazon’s art telling the story. The tension just builds with each page, until the final two pages hit, with the nastiest moment to date. What I especially enjoyed was seeing how Sara reacts to her situation. Her facial expressions, her body language, all of it tell her story better than any narration could have.
If you can manage to get your hands on all three issues of this book, I say do it now. If, like most locations at this point, this series is sold out, then you’re in luck. Speakeasy, the book’s new publisher, has a solicitation this month for an omnibus edition of everything published so far, with a sweet looking Darwyn Cooke cover. This is one series you shouldn’t miss.
Another sleepless night, and I've got a doctor's appointment for today... seeing a specialist. Which I can't afford. Now would be an opportune time to remind people that i have books for sale on my website, me thinks. www.hoarseandbuggy.com
Stumbled on the cd. Really good mix of The Rentals and Polyphonic Spree. Recommended. Dig it.
I have kidney stones, apparently. been up all night peeing, and wound up at the ER in the middle of the night. god. damn. it.
ELK'S RUN #3 by Joshua Hale Fialkov & Noel Tuazon (Hoarse & Buggy Productions)Elk's Run #3 Cover by Datsun Tran
And with the third issue, it all clicks. While the story of an isolated militia town was intriguing, the first two issues of Elk's Run seemed a little slow-paced, but I now see that Fialkov was building a foundation and using the slow pace for tension. In this third issue, when events from the first two begin to snowball and more cracks appear in the "perfect town" of Elk's Run, it becomes clear that establishing the mood and foundation was important. With that understood, the artwork of Noel Tuazon and colorist Scott Keating clicks with me more as well, and though I still find some of the specific storytelling a little fuzzy, the dull browns and yellows of the palettes and the somewhat oppressive mood in the art throughout begins to make more sense. Tuazon and Keating are showing the reader the illusion of the dull community, and it makes for an effective contrast with the sinister events that unfold in this issue.
The shifting point of view also becomes clearer now that we're three issues in, and this issue's look at how the "mother hen" of the community views the events going on is a fascinating look at maternal instinct as it applies in a community where isolation and the ever-present threat of violence are part of life. The most interesting moment, however, comes fairly late in the issue, as one of the community members makes a decision that puts the hidden community in a direct path with the society outside, and promises to speed the pace up considerably. Elk's Run has been all about mood up to this point, but with the mood now firmly established, the actual story has gotten underway in a big way with this issue, and in so doing, hooked me much more into the story. Those seeking a moody suspense piece should give the Elk's Run Collected Edition from Speakeasy a look when it hits.
Click Here to View the Rest
Starting work on a new project, focusing on a Ghost Town, so, I climbed in the old Subaru, picked up Greg Matiasevich, and headed up to Central California's Ghost Town capital, Calico.
It's a bit touristy, but we had lots of fun just the same. Enjoy the massive number of photos.
TheFourthRail.com - Snap Judgments:
WESTERN TALES OF TERROR #5 by various (Hoarse and Buggy Productions) Cover by Kieron DwyerWestern Tales of Terror goes out with a bang, and while I'm sorry that the series ends with issue five, I can't say that I'm disappointed with the notion of going out on a high note. It's almost forty pages long, and it features contributions from Tom Mandrake, Steve Niles, Tony Moore, Scott Mills, Jason Rand, Juan Ferreyra and of course editor in chief Joshua Hale Fialkov. Mandrake's 'The Devil's Gate' is a great tale of post-Civil War witchcraft and insanity with the usual evocative artwork you expect from him. Rand and Ferreyra, creators of Small Gods, turn in 'The Tale of Chili Pete,' a fascinating story of a search for a magic chili recipe that is essentially a long setup for a weirdly off-kilter punchline, but while the ending left me a little cold, the rest of the story is the perfect weird old west tale. There was a similar disconnect for me in Niles and Mills' work on 'Gold Miners' Slaughter,' a zombie tale that was an odd fit for Mills' geometric shape-based style, but I liked the tale, even if I think that Mills would have been served better on another story and the story with another artist. 'Know When to Hold 'Em' by Matty Field, Tony Moore, Nate Bellegarde and Jacob Baakeis, like "Chili Pete," a long story setup for a punchline, but it's got gorgeous art and a nice tense poker sequence. "Six Shots" by Jason Rodriguez and Marco Magallanes and "The Wind" by Joseph Gauthier & R.H. Aidley are both quick and dirty horror pieces that get their point and get out, and while they may not have the punch of a longer story, they're a good example of how to tell good stories in short form. On the flipside of the coin, Fialkov finishes up another multi-part story with a miner facing down a dragon and it's as enjoyable as his previous tale of Indian zombies. Like all anthologies, Western Tales of Terror has featured some hit and miss storytelling, but there was at least one gem in every issue, and there were rarely any stories that out and out disappointed. Happy trails to you, Western Tales, and hopefully we'll see you again someday.
Just spent about two hours watching Al Gore's "Current" channel. Hurm.
It's pretty interesting in concept, not so much in execution. The general idea, for those who don't know, is to do sort of a 24 Hour News Magazine for twenty and thirty-somethings. The channel's divided up into programming 'pods' roughly equivalent to how Headline News is set up, with little 3-4 minute segments on one topic. The biggest disappointment is there's no actual... well.. news. It's mostly human interest, some of it quite interesting, but it, like it's creator, refuses to take any sort of stand.
Objective journalism is great, and should be the norm. The problem is that in doing preachy human interest stories, objectivity ends up making the thing feel... flat. For example, there's a segment about the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" guy. Interesting cat, who single-handedly built a counter-culture empire, simply to prove to his sociology teacher that he could. Instead of delving into the intersting social commentary side, or even the way he transitioned from doing super-cheap under the radar sticker attacks into a profitable design and marketing firm, we're treated to him slapping stickers on things and talking about the one time he was arrested for it.
It just... misses the point. It's like it's trying to be objective news, but with subjects that have no real inherent interest unless the reporter does take an interest.
I think once they get the home-submission stuff up and rolling, it'll improve greatly, as what they're running now feels much too stagey and preachy. Once you have assholes like me submitting, I think they'll hopefully lose some of the faux-political correct-stanceless-weak-kneed posturing.
Oh, and for christ sake, get those fucking hosts up off the floor... it's not a goddamn love in.
Although the oft-repeated segment with Deepak Chopra might disagree.
Find out more about the network here: http://www.current.tv.
http://cwn.comicraft.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?column=reviews&page=229
Elk�s Run #2 Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jason Rodriguez, and Chris Fabulous; Illustrated by Noel Tuazon and Paul Maybury I�m enjoying Tuazon�s art much more this issue and the story, told from a different character�s point of view, makes the first issue make a lot more sense. Fialkov�s got a gift for dialogue too. I feel like I know these people after spending this little time with them and even though the main guy is a prick, I even feel like I understand him a little. But I didn�t at all understand Jason Rodriguez, Chris Fabulous, and Paul Maybury�s back-up feature about a guy who sucks on subway seats and preaches to a little kid about bad choices, free will, and spankings.
Nashville City Paper's Comic-Con Report has this to say about Elk's Run.
Elk's Run No. 1-3 By Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon & Scott A. Keating (Horse and Buggy Productions) www.elksrun-thecomic.comElk's Run, a very sharp and entertaining thriller, snuck up out of the indie comics world this past spring and keeps gaining momentum. It's about a town called Elk's Run that is run by a bunch of Viet Nam vets who decided they didn't want anything to do with the world and formed their own town in an old mining community. No strangers may enter, no townspeople may leave.
Each issue so far has focused on a different viewpoint - the first issue featured John, a teenager trapped in the town by his stern father. When a friend of John's accidentally gets killed, that sets off a trigger of events that look to bring a whole lot of trouble to Elk's Run. The next two issues focus on John's father and mother, respectively, and each is creepier than the last.
Fialkov and crew have an original book here with a strong sense of mood and style. There are some rough edges, sure, but there's also an energy in the pages that wouldn't survive in a more polished package. Tuazon's art is simple, cartoony at times even, but his rough linework and clear storytelling add to the book's charm.
An eight-part story, Elk's Run is just heating up and Fialkov seems intent on keeping things interesting. Hot new indie publisher Speakeasy Comics will be releasing Elk's Run from issue No. 4 up, and a compilation of these first three issues under a new Darwyn Cooke cover is going to be put out in October, so keep an eye out for it.
Click the icon above to download the very first Elk's Run Audio Commentary!
Or... subscribe to the Podcast! SPOILERS FOR ELK'S RUN #1, SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR ELK'S RUN #2
We want feedback so we can make the rest of them better, so please, post your comments below, and enjoy!
Find out why here.
No Time For ThatJoshua Hale Fialkov - Guitar, Vocals Jake Williams III - Bass Aimee Tubbs - Drums
Got lots of requests for more music. Haven't touched this one up yet, but it's pretty tight as is. This is from a studio EP I recorded in/around 2000. One of the catchier songs I've written, I think.
SpringPerformed by BoSoZoKu Joshua Hale Fialkov - Guitar Clint VanGemmert - Bass Jeremy Papay - Drums
I've discovered the joy of Audacity and started pouring through some of my old recordings of my band. This is by far the best piece of music we ever made... or maybe just my favorite. I trimmed out some crowd banter, and Normalized the whole thing...I think it sounds better... I could just be imagining. Anyways, enjoy.
November sees Steve bringing back one of his most enduring creations, Fused, and pulling in some great collaborators. First up, the colorist of Giant Monster, Jay Fotos, delivers the fully painted cover. It's incredibly gorgeous. Second, Steve teams up with two of the hottest writers in the business right now – Christopher Long, who wrote IDW's series The Easy Way. Christopher is a massive talent, and really has a handle on how to make things smart and filmic. Steve's also teaming up with Joshua Hale Fialkov, the creator and writer behind Elk's Run, an independent book that's gotten praise from Entertainment Weekly. C'mon, do I have to sell him with anything else?
The beloved Blovel by H&B Managing Editor Jason "J-Rod" Rodriguez. Here's the intro, and you can read the rest at the link below.
My brother is a lot older than me. 9 years older. So, when I was a little kid, he was a teenager. He had this friend, one of his oldest and best friends, a guy named Mike. Mike, as far as the 6 year old version of me was concerned, with just about the coolest guy ever. He introduced me to heavy metal, comics, gaming, and really shaped who I was as a kid, mostly due to his being the polar opposite of my brother. He was a smart guy who was laid back, fun, and generally just a cool cat to be around, who, coincidentally, was a remarkably talented guitarist. For some reason, my clearest memory of him is having him chase me around our family room, and then sit on my head and fart. I hated it, but thought it was hilarious. Hell, I thought it was hilarious to the point of doing it to my friends. The guy was cool. In that 80’s suburbs of Pittsburgh dork-chic kind of way. Hell, to this day when I hear Iron Maiden or Motorhead he’s what pops into my head.
Click Here For Full Size