"...an IRON CLAD HIT!"

Superheroe/Comic book movies are a dime a dozen they say, and some professionals in the biz would have you think that the genre has lived out it's effectiveness at the box office-a passing fad which has seen it's day come and go...to answer the skeptics and nere do wells out in "Hollyweird" ,I give you........."IRON MAN"!

The latest adaptation from Marvel comics long list of heroes is magically transformed into the official first blockbuster of 2008 by some great direction by Jon Favreau("Zathura" & "Elf") ,very keen writing by screenwriters; Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Markum, and Matt Holloway and despite the disturbing fact that this film needed four people to write it ,nevertheless perserveres as a very effective and ultimately ejoyable action flick.

What impressed me most about this film besides the stunning special effects which has all become a standard nowadays in such films ,were the fine performances turned in by a virtual "who's who" of academy award nominees including; Terence Howard/as James Rhodes("Hustle & Flow"), Jeff Bridges/as Obediah Stane("the Big Lebowski"), Gwyneth Paltrow/as Pepper Potts("Shakespeare in Love"), and of course Robert Downey Jr./as Tony Stark("Chaplin").

They have of course updated the Gold & Garnet Avenger's origins a bit to a more contemporary time .

Tony Stark is now depicted on film as a cocky/charismatic arms developer helping to supply our troops in wartorn Iraq/Afghanistan, while on a trip to the region to display and demonstrate his newest, and deadliest weapon; "the Jericho Missile", he and his military escort are attacked by terrorists and he is taken hostage-forced to develop an equally devastating weapon to be used against American forces-he instead uses his talents and genius to build a makeshift garage style juggernaut which he uses to escape his captors.

Through his traumatic experiences and witnessing first hand the terrible effects of his high tech weaponry Stark re-evaluates his pupose in life ...and a hero is born!

The film although a hardcore action flick does contain some lighter moments with some tongue in cheek humor which is brilliantly and naturally played out by Robert Downey Jr.

He makes this film both believable and thoroughly enjoyable.

I confess to not being the biggest of Iron Man/Robert Downey Jr. fans but this film has changed my mind. Not since the 1963 debut of this armored heroe within the pages of Marvel's "Tales of Suspense" has Iron Man flown so high or packed as much punch than in this fantastic film translation.

This film although a comic film does contain some intense scenes of violence and destruction that may be too much for the little ones.

Also if you plan on watching the film stay to the very end of the film credits for there is a special teaser scene for all those IRON MAN fans out there.

So if you like comic books or even if you don't but like high flying adventure, check out this man of stee-uh I mean Iron!!!

"After MangaCon...and more!"

Greetings Surfacedwellers!,

My first post after the trainwreck that was Manga-uh I mean MegaCon/2008.

I had one of my worst turnouts in recent memory, and this was by far my worst MegaCon to date..hopefully it will improve from this point onward.

My clever wordplay with MegaCon is no mere coincidence, over the years one of the southeast's largest con events has mutated from it's humble yet pure Comics friendly roots to the Ginormous media/manga/anime monster that it is today. The spacious floors of the Orange County Convention center were maliciously invaded by countless hordes of furry ear wearing,giant cardboard sword wielding, anime/manga worshipping Lemmings all geared up and ready to profess there undying love and borderline obsessive support for all things far eastern.

Despite the overpriced parking and con admissions the turnout was very good-unfortunately for me ,I had no wide variety of prints sporting giant eyed girls or funny animals and robots decorating my tabletop-just the usual ,highly detailed,classic style comic illustrations for which I had some admirers who leafed through my sample books and checked out some of my latest prints ,and graciously took a business card every now and again, but all in all, no fish were bitin!

The table was free, so my sorrow and dissapointment are temporary-can only hope that next year will be different...cause next year's MegaCon is a BIG one, for me personally and most importantly...professionally!

I started the layouts and pencils on the NEW issue of Mitch Hyman's "BUBBA; the Redneck Werewolf", the new issue is entitled "Rumble in Romania" and will be released this coming June by new publisher Scare Tactix Graphix. The story is by BUBBA creator Hyman, and colors by Frank Turner.

You can read more about BUBBA's next issue on my BUBBA page at the SURFACE ART STUDIOS.

I am also illustrating a short story titled "Pedator & Prey" written by Paul Monsky for his new adventure anthology series; "VAVAVAVOOM" ...more on that later, well have to get back to the ole drawing board, will update you more on everything going on here at the house of the dragon....stay tuned SurfaceDwellers!

"Crammin for the Con"!

Hi Kids!,

Just a few lines to let you in on the latest adventures from "SURFACEWORLD"!

Been workin hard & heavy to get some work prepared for the upcoming MegaCon/2008 event coming here in Orlando this March 7-9th at the Orange County Convention Center.

Was originally not going to attend due to workload and the usual "strapped for ca$h" reasons, but a friend/collaborator infomed me that he had arranged some last minute table space ,so I will be there "in the flesh".

Besides the usual doing convention sketches at a reasonably low price I will also have on hand some preview pages of the maxi series that I have been working on for over the past year; the upcoming sci-fi epic...."SUPER-7", written by Robert Wawrzyniak and inked by Scott Shoemaker.

I will also have available a variety of colored prints including some of my latest works.

Plus ,if time allows I'll also have a special limited edition MegaCon/2008 souvenir poster available for a low low price.

The subject matter for this years poster is writer Steve Gerber("Howard the Duck","Man-Thing","Thundarr the Barbarian"), who tragically lost his long battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis only just recently (February 12th) ,he was 60 years old.

I will also make available some sneek peeks at other projects in the works here at the SURFACE ART STUDIOS, so, if your able, look for me in "Artists Alley" at this years MegaCon/2008 and pay me a visit.

Now on a slightly different note I want to talk about and highly reccomend a graphic novel that I had just purchased at yon bookstore...you may have heard of it..."Pride of Baghdad"(DC/Vertigo).

I have been wanting to check this book out not only because of the positive reviews that it has recieved since its release in September/2007 ,but because the central characters of the story are in fact animals...a small pride of Lions to be exact.

My first creator owned project; "KUDU-MAN" also places animals in pivotal roles and I wanted to get a prime example of how the story was done using them as central characters...I was not dissapointed!

Author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Niko Henrichon have delivered a fantastic and intimate tale of survival in the early days of the Iraqi war as seen through the eyes of these beautiful creatures...the coloring is also done superbly by Henrichon the story in general was inspired by a true incident....so if you get the chance get it, but be warned it is graphic and does contain violent ,shocking moments.

-I highly reccomend it,

till next time Surface dwellers.......

peace,

Shawn Surface

SURFACE ART STUDIOS.