JAMES STOKOE’S ORC STAIN WANTS TO TEACH YOU ABOUT ORC PENIS ANATOMY AND WHY IT MAKES GREAT CURRENCY. (ALSO PAUL ROBERTSON IS COOL, AND SO IS BRIAN LEE O’MALLEY.)
What’s more metal than that?!
Are you guys and gals into comics at all here? If not let me tell you a bit about why you should reconsider the wonderful art form.
I actually grew up taking this saturday morning cartooning class in Dover, NJ at The Kubert School from the time I was 10 until I was probably 17. In my time there I learned some sweet drawing tips and tricks from Archie Comic’s Fernando Ruiz, and my close friend Ben Dale. Everyone at the school was really into comic books all the time and I never really understood why. All the super hero’s and stories didn’t really seem that gripping or interesting to me. Buying a twelve page comic for four dollars every week so that I could finish reading the whole thing in the car ride home seemed hardly interesting. And they always seemed to be full of these cliches and boring characters, that just weren’t doing it for me.
I never fancied myself a comic guy since those years and so I went to school for a degree in animation instead. Wanting to utilize a medium that incorporates all the things I love: Storytelling, music, drawing, acting, and more. I did eventually find myself in this History of Comics class however (taught by the wonderful Professor Claudia Goldstein). We read this book, “Understanding Comics” by Scott McCloud and damn did it change my opinion on things. This book single handedly sums up what and why there are so many different forms of art and why certain ones succeed and what makes them better. It explains the science of ALL art! Not just comics!
Anyways I digress (as usual)…
The reason we are here is to talk about how awesome James Stokoe’s brutal comic Orc Stain is. Once I found out there were comics other than the superhero stuff I got pretty dang excited to check it out. Without going into too much detail it delves into a universe where Orc’s have been ruling for some serious amount of time, and the culture has evolved into something grotesque and at times zany. (The currency orcs use is their own “Gronch,” or genitalia.)
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The story is engaging and the characters are memorable, but what originally drew me in is Stokoe’s overcharged artwork. It’s just plain fun to look at. There are little details everywhere, the colors are vibrant and many in number, and the design of the whole world is so unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. The books got Nymph boobies, phallic fortresses, weird alien bear safes, and in the department of violence there are some wacky deaths and injuries ranging from puss filled explosions to being eaten and killed by the insides of a mountain sized beast.
James if you’re reading this hit me up man! I’m looking for work! I can do flats!
And for those keeping track Stokoe was just part of this kickstarter campaign to put out the equally brutal and supercharged comic book Sullivans Sluggers.
But of course there are just so many wonderful comics out there for everyone of all tastes to enjoy. If cut up Orc penis isn’t your thing may I refer you to something more sweet and closer to home in the comic series Scott Pilgrim? It’s pretty much the best biopic of my generation I’ve ever read so its good if you’re in your between ages 18-35 right now. For both ladies and gents.
It’s probably too cute for a lot of you but hey who knows. I’m a guy that listens to Dying Fetus in the car and gets home to read Scott Pilgrim so maybe I’m just weird. The comic has a really great movie and video game to boot, if you wanna check those out as well. The comic was a real eye opener for me into the medium as well though so don’t overlook it!
I want to reiterate from before that I was never a superhero guy growing up, but that’s not to say that there isn’t good stuff. There is AMAZING stuff. Obviously Watchmen is ridiculously powerful and awesomely done. And there’s artists on the scene nowadays as well that are tearin’ it up in that world.
Changing pace a bit but staying relevant; much of the animation work in the Scott Pilgrim video game was done by a pixel animator by the name of Paul Robertson. He is also currently involved in a kickstarter although its donation date has run out as well. Regardless if you guys are into some really classy animations (and I mean great key frames and follow throughs in a 2-D style) then check him out.
Although it’s definitely NSFW so beware. The guy is a friggen genius though, if you like what you see on his blog check out the film that started it all here.
My point with this whole post is just to give you guys a little taste of some of the stuff that’s out there. I’d love to hear more suggestions and more about what everyone’s reading nowadays in the comments section.
-Anthony Gobeille
