These Are The Times...

Pantheon Pitch

2011-08-10T04:06:00.000-07:00

All ideas represented in this post are the intellectual property of Josh Deitch and Scott Bruno.

New Coloring Sample

2010-04-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

Pencils and inks by Chris Samnee...I felt like playing with some design elements for the background

Secret Files Coloring Sample

2010-04-11T09:12:00.001-07:00

Pencils and inks by Francis Manapul...This guy's so good...I saw this online and had to color it...

Batman and Robin Coloring Sample

2010-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

It's been so long, I forgot who did the original pencils...just not me

Joker coloring sample

2009-12-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

Pencils and inks by Slyaguilar on the penciljack forum

Batman Coloring Sample

2009-12-12T08:17:00.001-08:00

Pencils by Ryan Cody from the Pencil Jack Forum

Spider-Man Coloring sample

2009-08-22T06:32:00.001-07:00

The pencils and inks for this coloring sample were done by Angel Tread on the PencilJack forum.

http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96328

Flash Colors

2009-08-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

More color samples...pencils by "James Q" on the Pencil Jack forum
http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95803

Superman Coloring Sample

2009-08-06T10:53:00.001-07:00

Another coloring sample because I had the time on my hand. The original was done by "Heist" on the Pencil Jack forums...
http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95892

Green Lantern coloring sample

2009-02-18T04:15:00.000-08:00

Pencils by Luke Ross

Mad Love Color

2009-02-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

This coloring sample comes from Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's Batman: Mad Love

Coloring Samples

2009-02-01T19:56:00.001-08:00

I'm going to be posting coloring samples over the next few weeks.
This is from Justice League: A New Beginning...pencils by Kevin Maguire and inks by Terry Austin and Al Gordon

More coloring samples

2009-01-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

Coloring samples

2009-01-30T16:11:00.001-08:00

More sketches

2008-08-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

A sketch I played with on Photoshop

Baseball's "Opening Day"

2008-03-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Major League Baseball began its 2008 season this morning in an extra-inning 6-5 victory for the Boston Red-Sox over the Oakland A's...in Japan. While the rest of the league still has a few more meaningless days of Spring Training to round into shape and fill those 25th roster spots, the season started earlier than it ever has in relative anonymity. For myself and many others, the start of the baseball season carries with it some deeper significance than just the first of 162 games. It signifies that winter is coming to a close, that for much of the year, when nothing else is on TV or the radio, there will be baseball somewhere. It's impossible to explain but there are very few sweeter phrases in the English language than "opening day." Now, I know I am treading on dangerous ground here, but I figure no one reads this anyway, so why not write? Before I go on and sound odd, shortsighted, and jingoistic, I want to try to explain where I am coming from. For most of the twentieth century, baseball held a central role in the heart of American culture, and with every season opener we experienced a sense of rebirth and hope that has a tendency to dwindle in the cold gray months of winter. No other sport's season opener carried with it the sublime grandeur and beauty that is the baseball opening day (football, for all its energy and popularity is a gross spectacle, often carrying on for hours before kick off, celebrating artists with too much money and hawking their latest album).
I still remember going to a home opener at old Busch Stadium for the Cardinals with my father, when I went to school in St. Louis. At one point, just before entering the stadium, I looked out across the streets of the city. I was struck by the sight of a sea of red pouring towards the stadium. Business men had called in sick, children had played hooky, all to witness the start of something bigger than themselves. This wasn't the forties, it was only a few short years ago. And yet, you could feel that connection to the families that had done the same thing decades before. Baseball's season opener, more than any other sport, exists at once as a window to the past, a celebration of the present, and hope for the future.
As for "Opening Day," I'm starting to have an issue with this Japan thing. First of all, I didn't get to enjoy the Yankees and Rays kick off the season last year, and now opening day baseball happens at 6 am on the east coast? I'm all for integration and globalization of baseball, but ESPN Sunday night baseball opener (normally the Yanks or Sox) used to be a big night for me. Just hearing the soothing baritones of Jon Miller and the slight nasal basses of Joe Morgan signified that baseball had returned to make everything right with the world again. Now the opener is played at an ungodly time in the morning (here) because Bud Selig desperately wants everyone to forget about steroids. At heart, Bud is a used car salesman, his primary concern is always going to be how to get the biggest billboard on I-95 or the cheapest radio commercial on 1010 WINS (take the debacle of the team staffs not initially being compensated for a trip around the world for three baseball games). There is no other sport that has made opening day so culturally meaningful over the past century, and (I know I am going to sound xenophobic here) now more than ever it should remain a central part of our culture, not auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Artwork

2008-03-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

legal mumbo jumbo

2008-03-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

All the ideas and original images presented on this website are the intellectual property of Joshua Deitch.

Dane Cook makes me vomit

2007-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

I think the title of this post is quite self-explanatory. Nevertheless, you might ask, "why after months of images and not much else, would you choose to write on a stand-up comedian, who seems to be at the last thirty seconds of his fifteen minutes?" Well, it's pretty simple...because of the geniuses at the Fox network, October baseball, only the best time of year, has now become synonymous with the obnoxiousness that is Dane Cook.

In a few weeks, instead of kicking back every night with a nice cold beverage, turning on the TV, and gorging myself on eminently watchable and entertaining baseball, I am going to have to grit my teeth and accept the fact that this preening jerk, who's funniest bits occurred on a Comedy Central half hour ten years ago, will be jawing at me during every commercial break. What the hell were these people thinking? The NFL had Don Cheadle revisiting fantastic playoff moments. Baseball had the enjoyable "I live for this" campaigns. Now they follow it up with the star of such radiant box office successes as "Employee of the Month" and "Good Luck Chuck." Let's also not forget the fact that Cook also co-starred with Dennis Rodman. I can feel the bile rising in my throat right now.

Just to give us baseball fans a taste of what might be coming down the line, Fox let Cook into the booth at Fenway during the Yankees-Red Sox game yesterday. A pitcher's duel immediately became unwatchable. The Yankees immediately gave up a bunch of runs, as if they could feel the disruption in the universe. Maybe I'm being unkind. Maybe Dane Cook doesn't suck that much (despite Tourgasm being evidence to the contrary). But personally, I am going to be listening to the postseason on radio and muting the TV as much as possible. So well done, Fox, you have alienated one of baseball's most avid fans. I can only hope you hire Gilbert Godfried and Britney Spears to pimp the NFL playoffs. My fingers are already crossed.

Welcome Back

2007-07-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry everybody, things were very busy and I found myself too engrossed in other pursuits to keep up with the blog. However, as George Costanza might say, "I'm back baby!!" Here are some more pages from the comic for your viewing pleasure...including some previews for future pages. See you soon (maybe).

Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

I hope everybody reading this has a very happy holiday, and I will return when I have the time to debunk the entire myth of Thanksgiving.

Enjoy your morale boosting holiday

(made official by Lincoln during the Civil War: think about what that means)

Homework: During this season, just take an extra few minutes to look around at the dinner table and appreciate things you don't always think about. Not to sound too religious or anything, but count your blessings, and know that you have a solid support system of friends, family, or animals. Take advantage of them. I love all of you. Happy holidays.

By the way, Santa looked like he was on crack this morning at the Parade. I think he got into Rudolph's stash (why else would a reindeer's nose be red).

Enjoy the day.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Love at First Sight: The One That Started All This

2006-11-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

It’s about a quarter to ten on a Thursday night in November. We’ve just experienced daylight savings. You know: fall behind. It’s getting darker a lot earlier these days. So, there’s a lot more time to sit on the couch, beer in hand, and ponder the general philosophies portrayed on today’s ever-expanding cable lineup. Well, tonight, I was watching another exciting installment of West Virginia versus Louisville college football. It’s an exciting affair. There have been thirty points scored in the first half, and the teams are separated by only two points as we break for the half. As I write this, there has been an absurd sequence of events leading to something like three turnovers in three minutes, a completely unforeseen electrical shortage, and ultimately, a Louisville touchdown (which was just upheld by video review). But that’s beside the point. The point is, just as the half hit, not wanting to see Kirk Herbstreit, I scanned some ancillary channels for something to hold my attention for twenty-odd minutes.
There it was. The degenerate’s ultimate time-waster. The fond memory for anyone who drank liberally in college and owned a DVD player or even a VCR. Just about the most amazingly violent final scene in cinematic history, and, if viewed in the right mindset, pure viewing pleasure. Scarface is on AMC. I happen to flip channels under the most serendipitous of circumstances. Brooklyn Lager in hand, I switch from athletes willingly barreling into each other to actors playing characters frivolously barreling to their ultimate undoing. And there it is, Al Pacino professing his undying cokehead love to Michelle Pfeifer. As a total aside, when you see Pacino in a movie these days, do you even recognize Michael Corleone? HBO insists on playing Two for the Money throughout the week, and every time I see that movie title I cringe. For me, that movie was the triple threat of horrific movie consequences: it solidified Renee Russo as a scary looking victim of unnecessary Botox, effectively ending the infatuation I had with her since the “Queequeg’s coffin” line in Major League; fundamentally raised Matthew McConaughey to marquee box office status (I know!!!!); and signaled the death knell of Pacino’s reign as a guy I would pay money to see no matter the quality of movie (a title now entirely held by Christopher Walken. If you haven’t, please find a way to view his tooth fairy speech in The Rundown).
Anyway, back to our man Tony Montana and painfully skinny Michelle Pfeifer. In this scene, Tony says “I like you. Ever since the first moment I seen you, I liked you.” I did a double take. Even the ultimate degenerate, Mr. Hooray for the Bad Guy himself, believed in the romantic notion of “love at first sight.” Maybe it’s because of experience. Maybe it’s because I spend my days watching middle-schoolers trade romantic partners on a daily basis. Maybe it’s just because I read too much. But I started thinking: Is there any more antiquated notion in American culture than “love at first sight?”
Think about it, what’s the modern, feministic, empowered take on love at first sight? “Baby, I knew the moment I saw you, you should be mine.” There are so many problems with that statement it boggles the mind. Number one: how? She was wearing that bra that pushed the twins up a little higher? She had those jeans on that fit just right? Her gold tooth shone just right in the glint of the disco light? Your attraction is purely physical. There’s no personality involved. How in God’s name do you know if you want to spend the next ten minutes with this person let alone the next forty-odd years? Hell, most of my first impressions are spent figuring out whether to duck and move or offer a hearty handshake.
Number two: she doesn’t get a say? Now this might sound crazy, but women are people too. They experience emotions and thoughts the same as you. Well, maybe not exactly the same. You never tried to destroy a friend with months of the silent treatment, backstabbing, and rocky road ice cream. Just because you felt an instant swelling in your nether regions does not mean she did not see that boiling cyst above your eyelid. Women have the same proclivities, foibles, and standards as you (if not more so). Therefore, why should you expect them to melt when you admit an undying love that has existed since the moment you met them? Michelle Pfeifer ended up with Tony. But what were her choices: an older more obsolete boss? Cocaine? She chose Tony and then cocaine: a modern-day (1970s), happily-ever-after romance that is not. Hell, Tony’s boy, the poster-boy of love at first sight, marries his true love and promptly takes two in the gut from the gun of Tony himself.
Think about all the movies, TV shows, books, and whatever else you’ve seen. Did a woman who was told she was loved from the moment someone met her ever ask about her suitor’s 401(k) or how he planned to support her and her paraplegic, Turrets-riddled Aunt Erma? In the Iliad, Paris believed in love at first sight, and his father’s city was destroyed by angry Greeks in a wooden horse. In the Aeneid, Dido falls victim to love at first sight. Aeneas leaves, she burns herself alive, and condemns her people to an unending feud with the most powerful empire of the Ancient World. Even the love affair between Buttercup and Wesley (The Princess Bride) was cultivated over long days in the fields.
Our culture doesn’t allow for love at first sight. It works in the books with Fabio’s nipples on the cover because it makes life simple. People looking for easy solutions to difficult problems turn to their dime-store novels and their Dr. Phils. Life isn’t simple. Finding love isn’t simple. You have to know who you are, and what you want. And something like that takes time. How can you know what you want at eighteen? At twenty-two? At forty-four? It’s all in how far you are willing to explore yourself. And that’s our society’s problem: we never look at ourselves. We’ve created a me-first and it’s your fault society.
We haven’t come across the right woman. We haven’t found the right job. We haven’t raised the right emu. Not once have I ever heard a starring character in a romantic movie say, “Hey, I kind of don’t know who I am or why I think everyone sucks, but dammit, that girl right there, I’ve never seen her before. I have to spend the rest of my life with her!”
I’m twenty-three (and I know that number means very little and can seem insignificant to some) and I haven’t even scratched the surface as to who I think I can be. But now, I’m sitting here, and the game has turned to a blowout in the favor of Louisville. I know that I am not interested in going through life looking for the easy, dime-store novel, Dr. Phil way to “happiness.” Right now, I get up every day. I look forward to what awaits me in the classroom. As much as I might hem and haw, I look forward to hearing from my girlfriend every day. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, to get to a place where I can wake up every day and feel good about myself and what might be coming. In today’s world, where we’re led closer to destruction each day by a man who seems to be looking for love at first sight around every corner of the Republican party, isn’t it time we stopped trying to indoctrinate our youth with “love at first sight?” The best things we can give our coming generations, and our nation in general, have to be incite, a willingness to self-evaluate, and a work-ethic. Own your ideas. Take responsibility for your actions. Always be willing to stand up and work for what you believe in. And when the days get dark and things start to swirl around you a little to fast, turn on some college football, drink a beer, and vent to complete strangers. We’ll all thank you in the end.

Welcome...

2006-11-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

Good morning, afternoon, or evening (I do try to be inclusive).

First and foremost, an exercise in interaction: two points to anyone who can name the historical document I took my title ("These are the times") from. First person to do so wins a much coveted No-Prize. And now, onward with the welcome.

This right here is my blog. I really have no idea where this journey is going to take me. I've never really known what blogs were about, never paid too much attention to them. Recently, friends of mine have suggested I start one. My initial reaction was "why would anyone want to read minute-by-minute accounts of my thoughts?" Especially when I knew my typical thoughts include but are not limited to, "Coffee, thank God," "I have nothing to say," "Surprisingly, I like asparagus," and my personal favorite, "..."

Well, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I have things that I'd like to share. General musings, random late-night essays, artwork, they all are taking up space on my hard drive. So, why not put them somewhere people could check on them and comment if they wanted?

So, now you may ask, "My good man, distributor of digitized telecommunicated information, what, praytell, may I find on this so-called 'blog' of yours?" To which I most delightfully reply, "Well my curious connoisseur of non-commercialized communications, should you take the time to peruse my blog, you will find yourself enveloped and ensconced in information I find important: various musings, essays, comic pages, links to other sites and whatever else may strike my fancy.

My first post will include the essay I wrote that ignited this madness in the first place. We'll move on from there. I'll do my best to post in a timely manner, although I do have a decently comprehensive and engaging day job. As always, I open myself to any criticism you, as an audience, may have. The only way I can get better is if you rip me a new one every once and awhile. So, without further ado, let's get on with the show. I do hope you enjoy.