Sharing My Story

(From Don Ensign’s Journal entry)

January 26, 2008

Got up around 6:15 AM and left the house around 7:15 AM and
got to James Babcock’s place around 8 AM. We went up Ina Avenue
and stopped at a fast food place and got a short breakfast (James did).
Then we got on the Freeway (10 to Phoenix.) Got into Phoenix around
10:30 AM. Went to the Mesa Convention Center and got our Con badges.
Then we walked around the Con Dealers Room and saw Lou Ferrigno,
Noel Neill, Steve Rude and others. We then visited the Small Press
area and found the Indie Only Comics table where Paul Fini was
hanging out. Had a nice chat with him (the publisher of Sequentially Tucson)
and will be putting out a third issue in, hopefully, the near future
with the Golden Protector/Scout story printed last issue. Then we
visited around the Small Press area and met Tom Hall and Daniel
Bradford. Had a good chat with them and found out that Tom is Joey
Endres brother-in-law.



Then we found the Artist Alley table with some of the guys from the
Tucson group. James and I went to the Star Trek: Of Gods & Men
presentation with Walter Koenig and Tim Russ. They showed some
of the film--the First Episode (apparently a rough cut-it was unclear
whether this was a potential TV series or feature film material). It is
an interesting project (not a mega budget ) that includes actors from
all of the various Star Trek TV series. It was somewhat similar in
concept to the Wrath of Khan ST movie. Paramount and CBS are now
dividing the ST franchise. At that point James and I checked into a
nearby Travelodge and went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant
that was a former Mormon church building.

We then returned to the Convention Center and watched
some science fiction shorts part of a Lara Croft
Tomb Raider flick (Valerie Perez). It was violent, with
experimental techniques but with so-so acting. Then we went back to
the small press section and I talked with a Phoenix area graphic novel
discussion group. James was able to show some of his work to some
potential publishers. We then went to a panel with Michael Golden
and Patrick Scherberger. Michael had interesting things to say
about modern comics storytelling. He had high praise for the
storytelling abilities of John Bryne, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino,
and Joe Kubert. He said there is no one that can draw like Neal Adams
but he didn’t think Adams (which he has told to Adams personally)
was a great story teller. James and I had a chance for a hort chat
with Golden and complimented him on his work. At that we called
it a day and headed back to the motel. I had warned James that
I tried to suck everything out of a Con that I could.

My high school years weren't all that typical.
Since I didn't get my driver's licence until I was
18 things like school extracircular activities
(clubs or athletic events) were rare occurences.
The comics hobby and my weight training
(starting just before my senior year) defined
my interests fairly well at this point. Before
leaving this period I'd also like to mention two
of my senior high instructors who stand out.

One was Mr. Michael Pooleon. Mr. Pooleon was
a history teacher. He had the ability to make
world history come alive with his erudite yet
understandable lectures and helped me develop
an appreciation for all types of history. He turned
an otherwise dry and dull subject into something
important and relevant to the world in which we live.

The other teacher was the previously mentioned
Miss Nina Jones. She also had the ability to make
classic literature a fascinating journey into the past.
She guided us through the intricaries of the
Elizabethian English of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
and our class even attended a professional performance
of the play in a theatre in Vancouver, BC. She provided
her students with a template for good storytelling.

She and Mr. Pooleon were teachers in the best sense of
the word. They both exhibited the ability to not just help
their students understand the subject but to impart
more than a small part of their own passions for
these areas of learning.

Thieves (November 2007), Community Comics, Ben Avery (writer), Pauolo Libunao), B & W, (free download from www.wowio.com)

Barabbas was the name of 1962 Biblical epic movie starring Anthony Quinn and Ernest Borginine. The story followed the fate of a First century insurrectionist/murderer who intersected the life of Christ (Matthew 23:18-19) after His trial. The movie is powerful portrayal what might have happened to Barabbas after the frenzied mob demanded his release and the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazereth. Thieves takes a similar tack in telling the story of what might have happened before in the lives of the two thieves who were crucified with Christ (Matthew 23:32-42 ).

This is arguably the best script the profilic Christian comics writer Ben Avery has produced so far. It is full of drama, strong characterization, taut emotions, sympathetic and conflicting motivations and a unexpected twist ending. This is a story that can stand toe to toe with anything the secular comics media can present and top it. Avery crafts believable sub stories that present the "why" these thieves ended up being nailed to crosses beside Jesus. There is Zev, the hot headed strong man whose only thought apparently concerns his next victim. Then there is Arion who has fallen into a life of crime to provide for his wife and two young sons. And lastly is the weak Lemuel who does not make it to the cross. Avery does a superb job in weaving the lives of these despited individuals into a dynamic, fast paced and exciting tale showing how historical fiction can make truly compelling comics.

The artist Pauolo Libunao turns in an excellent penciled drawings with varied layouts and cinematic pacing that fits Avery's script perfectly. Emotive close ups, dramatic pan shots, superbly timed action sequences, well researched backgrounds are some of the visual magic Libunao injects into this story. Even without inking and color this is a very impressive body of work.

With Thieves Ben Avery and Pauolo Libunao have raised the bar high—very high. This is what Christian comics can be when an excellent story concept, script, and art come together. Stories like Thieves show that Christian comics can be trendsetters not just followers. Highly recommended.

www.wowio.com

Over the past several weeks I reprinted some thoughts on weight training
and bodybuilding I had written in 1989. Perhaps a few words need to be
said as a short update. During my senior year in high school as I got my
first set of weights and trained in the back porch of my parents home
I gained around 15 to 20 pounds. I had friends on the high school football
team who noticed. No, I didn't go out for football but their attention
was gratifying. Also at that time I took an interest in Karate and
purchased books on it and tried to educate myself and even learned
how to break boards with the side of my hands.

However the interest in weight training prevailed in the long run.
After the initial magazine with Dave Draper on the cover I started
collecting these magazines which were filled with training routines
and nutritional information. From the start I never had a desire to
become involved in competitive weight lifting or bodybuilding.
However I did persevere with frequent and hard workouts to see
how much I could lift and the amount of muscle I could gain. As I
read and studied weight training/bodybuilding it became apparent
to me that there were naturally athletic body types that could
because stronger and bigger quicker and easier (relatively speaking).
After a lot of training I realized that I was not providentially or
genetically blessed with that type of body. This is not to say that
with determined and consistent training anyone (whose overall
health will permit) can significantly improve their strength and
overall body appearance but some are more naturally gifted to
make greater and faster gains.

After I graduated High School I continued training at home and
also at the weight room at Western Washington State College.
After I left Washington in 1971 I worked out at the San Bernardino
YMCA and numerous private health clubs and gyms in the years
since. However that is getting ahead of my story.

Another note: I recently came across a Midwest Christian
Bodybuilding Association website that had interviews with
various Christian bodybuilders. Dave Draper (my original
inspiration for starting weight training) has an interesting
interview where he openly shares his Christian faith.

Nobody Likes Tony Pony, 2007, self-published, Jamie Cosley (writer, artist),
black-and-white, full-sized comic book, 24 pages, $2.50.

I keep wanting to equate these 4-panel comic strips with Scott Adams' Dilbert,
but it's difficult. Office politics and cynicism are both on display here, but
Tony isn't defined by his occupation like Dilbert is, and his innocence is refreshing,
while Dilbert's detached resignation from sanity, although still pretty funny,
seems a bit stale after all these years. But the incorrectly named strip, collected
here in large form (these aren't the microscopic panels crammed into a few pages
between the personals and the car dealer advertisements, these are full-page strips,
two panels on top of two panels for the most part), shows Jamie Cosley's solid
grasp of the medium. It takes about half the book until he devolves into mildly
scatological humor (his final strip is especially prescient), and even then
the collection doesn't spiral downward so much as dip at points. Cosley
truly does know how to deliver the goods, with the only "dead space" being
the cover, and even that is awful purty (the uncredited design talents of
trusty sidekick, I mean, 'frequent collaborator', Josh Alves on display).
Cosley gives inside-front-cover and inside-back-cover one-panels both with
good gags and a back cover color strip. Nothing but comedy.

All that having been said (or written), this is not an evangelistic attempt
by any stretch of the imagination. The main body of the book touches on
biblical themes a few times but never to get a message through to any
supposed audience, just to add a spiritual dimension to our equine
protagonist. The one-panels brush the subject once again each, but Jack
Chick this ain't. Cosley sticks to what he knows best, which is 'funny with
a touch of the pre-adolescent', but the strip works best when he sticks to
defining the cast's quirks, and the visuals for each character work very
well, keeping within his well-established forte. Those enjoying the
art-style but wanting a more serious and/or overtly Christian story need
look no further than Cosley's own More Than Sparrows, which personally
comes with a high recommend. But suffice it to say that somebody must like
Tony Pony, or else Nobody Likes Tony Pony would never have seen the
light of day.

Review by Steve MacDonald

jamiecosley.blogspot.com

The Bellingham School district in the 1950s and 1960s
had elementary schools with grades 1-6, junior highs
with grades 7-9 and the high school (Bellingham High
was for many years the only High School in the town)
consisted of grades 10-12. So by the time you hit high
school you were sophmore. I began my tenth grade year
in the Fall of 1963. Of course this was the time when
President John Kennedy was assasinated. I have already
covered this earlier but you can see this as a potent of
things to come. Namely these things were the increased
American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia and
the rise of the hippie/counterculture.

Perhaps the most important classes I took in high school
were the art classes. Art was taught by Miss Pearl Bartruff
who retired the year I graduated from High School. While
Miss Bartruff had lesson plans and required certain projects
from her pupils she also made allowances for students who
had a special desire to concentrate in a specific area of art.
She allowed me to draw some of my very overrendered
(a common problem with beginning cartoonists) lack of
concrete design and perspective, comic strip super heroes
in class. This was my Protector character battling the Viet
Cong in the then currently raging war in Southeast Asia.
Several of the pages (now lost) were even displayed in the
hall art glass showcase. There was my stuff for all the
world to see. That was a big deal as I had spend hours at
home and in class working over these labors of love. I
rememeber getting good comments on these comic strip pages.

While High School was probably as regimented as Junior
High it seemed at the time to be somewhat less regulated.
I continued my comics involvement in those years both
as a reader and collector and as a contributors to the early
comics fandom scene (again covered elsewhere). I was not
your normal kid who waited impatiently for the school
football or basketball games on Friday night. However,
by my junior year I sensed a needed to become more
physically fit. Up to that time I was content to be a bookish nerd.