Talkin’ ’bout the sea and the sky, and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and I. The sea, the sky, for you and I and I know we’re all blues, all shades, all hues, all blues.” From All Blues, written by Miles Davis.
(Author’s note: I was going to write about this last week, but I got wrapped up writing about myself instead. As Miles said, we’re all blues.)
Graphic Samurai – The Art of Denys Cowan, by Michael Stradford, Gizmoe Press, 2025. $60.00, 314 pages, 233 pounds or so.
Denys Cowan likes to take on the public demeanor of a tough, slightly repressed fighter with a “don’t fuck with me” look that could melt aluminum on a winter night. Do not let that intimidate you. Denys actually is a very nice guy, very funny, a good conversationalist and, really, one pussycat of a martial arts expert.
Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, Denys’ dance card had some open slots. That’s scary for a freelancer; however, for a freelancer-hirerer such as myself, it was an opportunity. My cell-mate Denny O’Neil and I just hammered out the concept for a revival of Steve Ditko’s The Question. When developing something new, I often take on the role of expectant father, but this time I knew our newborn truly had very serious potential.
A number of artists came to mind. I first mentioned it to the great Ernie Colon, who liked the concept but didn’t grok the overall environment. The Question, was the “hero” to be sure, but the star was Hub City. The Question was about a corrupt, almost impossible city that was based upon East St. Louis. And by “based,” I mean Denny and I both knew about the real town and some real incidents might not be believable to our readers. Think about that. We do a lot of apocalyptic science fiction, and we stuff gorillas into stories whenever possible.
I had my eye on Denys’ work. Hard not to. I’m a fan; I don’t just play one on the Pop Culture Squadcast. And I loved his work. I gave serious thought to putting DC Comics’ money where my mouth was and mentioned it to Denny, who mentioned it to a couple mutual friends at Marvel. Within 24 hours I received three phone calls from friends saying Denys couldn’t hit a deadline if it had been a chaw ad painted on the side of a barn. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Pretty Pictures”
