Sometimes i beat my chest like a mock King Kong to get a laugh out my wife, pulling my bottom lip over the top and casting my eyes down. then i hunch over slightly as i walk away, knees bent in slow stride to shuffle down the stairs into the kitchen to cook dinner...if we're getting on ok there might even be an 'ook, ook' tossed over shoulder towards giggling remonstrations...

why do i mention this? because when i first saw the above, james jean's title spread for 'jungle jane', i kept thinking of the peter jackson 'king kong' movie, which i had been watching on dvd that same week. in particular i thought of the timeless tender quality of eternal, platonic love between beauty and beast which i felt the jackson remake handled so well; the sort of calming love the nature of which allows mothers to bring to babies crying in the night quiet and peace. the wish of everything-is-alright, or could be…

I didn't like it at first, can't pinpoint what it was about it reminding me of kong that upset me but it was just that exactly, that it reminded me at all of anything. Kong probably had a lot less to do with it than my own preciousness regarding the project. Thankfully then, as things turned in my head and set-in, i saw it all more clearly, realized whole new movements that set my preconceived notions of the plot on end...there's been a new story to tell since then, and that has thrilled me in a rare way. in previous posts i've called james 'the great understander' or 'synthesizer'. with jane in anti-sillhouette, gently approaching her nemesis, the ape warlord, ogun, the laying on of hands, forgiveness, understanding...all branches we hoped to bend...

sorry, the word 'mock' drifted me into a dostoevesky moment...writers copying that guy are like comic artists copying kirby...you'll never have THAT power.

i'm excited about spx next week. i'm staying with farel dalrymple, stephen gilpin, and jasen lex. farel does 'pop gun war' and is currently working with jonathan lethem on marvel's upcoming 'omega the unknown' ten issue series.
for my money he's the best storyteller in comics.
gilpin has that rare sense of whimsy seuss or mcmanus or waterson have ,he does childrens books for folks like random house.
lex is just about the best guy you ever could meet. just typing about him makes me happy. check out his stuff by googling his name or 'gypsy lounge'.
he makes comics no one else is making.
Same can be said for jason rodriguez, whom I look forward to seeing and plan on spending at least one drunken evening with. jason is the producer/editor of the upcoming anthology 'postcards'. He also edits the book 'elk's run', a 7 time harvey-award nominee coming from random house I think in march. And I'll get to meet my 'postcards' collaborator, the artist gia bao tran, for the first time.
I hope to see leland purvis and elizabeth genco there, and to get a chance to meet becky cloonan and chris pitzer and to peruse many fine books along the way.
so, that i'm looking forward to.