Five days a week, Jonathan Case comes into Periscope, pulls out a gigantic sheet of 300 series bristol, puts his head down and gets to work drawing a comic you’ve never heard of. A lucky few have acquired the very limited editions he’s self-published of the three chapters, but for the most part, he’s been laboring in total obscurity.

I think it’s time for this obscurity to end. Go and read the first chapter of Sea Freak, “the tale of an atomic sea mutant in 1962 with a hunger for poetry and a taste for human flesh.” The story is creepy and funny and compelling, and the art is drop-dead gorgeous. See if you don’t find yourself wondering, as we all have here at Periscope, how the hell can a guy’s very first work be this insanely good?

Click the link. The time has come for this artist, like his creation, to emerge from the shadowy depths into the light of recognition.

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My nude life study of ROM:http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifSpaceknight is up for auction on eBay. ANd so are dozens of other wonderful pieces, including Jonathan Case’s awesome framed watercolor. And all the money goes to benefit Bill Mantlo. Go bid!

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After 2+ years of working in black and white, it feels fab to get back to some color.

This is one of the pieces that will represent Periscope at Floating World’s benefit for Bill Mantlo, writer for Marvel’s old ROM Space Knight series. The show opens December 6th… Mark those calendars. It’s a worthy cause, and I hear there will be prints available from many comics artists, local and otherwise, and maybe some originals for sale as well.

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CBG: For those not in the know, please explain the basic concept of Sea Freak.

JC: Sea Freak is the story of an atomic sea mutant in the 1960′s whose poet soul is at odds with his need to eat teeny boppers. And that’s not his only worry. He also has a chorus of three little crabs living on his body, and they want nothing to do with a change of diet. Still, he’s adopted a human sense of justice from reading old Shakespeare plays, bottled and tossed into the sea by an unknown party. He decides to follow the bottles’ trail, hoping to find a kindred spirit at the other end, and to at last be free of his monstery ways… It’s only when he finds the trail’s end that he realizes how far he has to go.

Jonathan Case interviewed at the Comic Book Gazette.

Sara Ryan and Ron Chan’s Flytrap, Sara and Dylan Meconis’ Click and Short Notice by Susan Tardif, reviewed at The Wright Opinion. Also, Paul Guinan’s Boilerplate got a shout-out in Publisher’s Weekly’s Stumptown coverage.

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Sorry, I don’t have part two of the con report yet.

From the calendar at Powell’s Books:
The first serious, readable, provocative, canon-smashing book of comics criticism by the leading critic in the field, Douglas Wolk’s Reading Comics (Da Capo Press) illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics — from Alan Moore and Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim and Chris Ware — and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. This event includes a panel discussion on graphic novels, featuring Wolk, Whiteout artist Steve Lieber, and a late addition to the line-up: Agents of Atlas author Jeff Parker!

Karl Kesel sends along one of his con sketches:

And we asked Jonathan Case about his con experience and in his radio-trained voice, he replied:”It was a big opportunity for me to meet people on both the publishing and creative side of the business, folks like Jeff Smith and Brett Warnock. It was great to get such a positive response to my work!” He’s only got a few of his excellent Seafreak preview booklets left, but if you blog about comics and would like one, email us your address at periscope.studio(at)gmail.com and we’ll send one out.

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Extra TV made a visit to the Whiteout set and shot this interview with Kate Beckinsale. Turn down the sound on your computer so you don’t have to hear the creepy-ass voice-over guy. This was actually filmed one of the days I was there. And hey, as long as Warner Bros is showing a bit of the look of the film, I guess I might as well put up a few of my sketchbook doodles from the set:

Kate Beckinsale and Gabriel Macht, in character.

Executive Producer Don Carmody

A tech waitiing for instructions.

Director of Photography Chris Soos

Director Dominic Sena. When his focus got intense, he’d sort of “conduct” along with the action, moving his hands like there was an orchestra in front of him.

Our daily list of Jeff Parker raves: Scans Daily | Face rockery | London Loves Comics | Johanna Draper’s Comics Worth Reading | Wednesday’s Haul | Newsarama

Those Newsarama and Scans Daily links also have comics in them for you to read.

Here’s a sharp review of a favorite webcomic of mine- Planet Saturday, by Pittsburgh-based illustrator Monty Kane.

Douglas Wolk writes us:

Hi, my dear Portland friends–

As most of you know, I’ve got a book that comes out this week:
“Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean.” There’s
going to be a release party for it, too: a First Thursday event this
Thursday evening, July 5, from 6 to 10 PM. It’s at Floating World
Comics, an awesome little comics-and-art-book store at 20 NW Fifth
Ave. #101, between Burnside and Couch; their number is 503.241.0227.
The “Reading Comics” release party doubles as an art opening and book
release party for Jeremy Tinder’s book “Black Ghost Apple Factory.”
It should be a good time.

Jeremy also made a poster for the party, which you can see here.

Here’s a sketch from Jonathan Case of a character from his GN in progress, Sea Freak.

-Steve Lieber, posting for Periscope.

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