Dr. Gangrene drawings

Thought I'd share a couple of great drawings of Doc Gangrene done by artist extradinaire Brian Maze. Brian is the artist behind the 13 Hosts horror host comic. He has done a series of fantastic drawings of horror hosts, and you can find him on facebook or at his website here:

http://www.monkeygoatboy.com/

and be sure to read my interview with brian here:

http://drgangrene.blogspot.com/2010/08/interview-with-comic-artist-brian-maze.html

Interview with Comic artist Brian Maze

Greeting Fright Fans –I’m pleased to welcome special guest Brian Maze in the lab tonight. Brian is a comic book artist and creator and publisher of the comic book The 13 Hosts.


Dr. G – Howdy Brian, glad to see you found you way to the lab here. Hope the trip to Shackle Island wasn’t too treacherous.

uhhhh, the captain of the boat looked an awful lot like the Grim reaper, but other than that it was only mildly treacherous. Do you always interview your guests in Electric Chairs?

Dr. G – Only the lucky ones... I have to say I’m a big fan your work, Brian. You have a great style – clean, cartoony yet super expressive. You really capture the likeness of your subjects. Tell me about your artistic influences, if you would, and what got you started in the world of comic book art.

A very pretty art teacher, nothing makes you want to draw more than a pretty teacher.

Dr. G – Looking at your artwork it’s obvious you’re a fan of horror movies. Were you always a fan of this stuff growing up or did you come by it later in life?

Weekend TV heavily influenced my interests growing up, Saturday mornings were Scooby Doo & Yogi Bear, while Sunday was Abbott & Costello, Kung Fu Theater, followed by old Vincent Price & Doug McClure films.

I like old horror films & Sci-fi films but mostly the ones that were over the top films like The land that time forgot, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, or Abbott & Costello meet Frankenstein

Dr. G – You are a big supporter of horror hosts in your work - Did you have a horror host in your area, and if so who was it?

I grew up in North Central West Virginia, all of our channels were from the Pittsburgh feed. I used to wake up after the folks went to bed and watch Star Trek, and Chiller Theater with Chilly Billy Cardille came on afterwards. I would stay up and watch films like "The Mole People" with Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver).

Model: Vixxa Violet

Dr. G – You published a terrific comic book called The Thirteen Hosts. Tell my viewers about that comic, if you would.

13 Hosts is a sort of Who's Who's of Horror Hosts across the country. The book spotlights 13 different hosts and provides a bio and show information. Plus the book also contains artwork & comics with a sci-fi/horror theme.

Dr. G – The 13 hosts was a great idea and I was honored to be included in it. Are there any plans to put out a second 13 Hosts book, and if so, any idea which hosts you might spotlight this time around?

There is plans right now to do a second book, I have some hosts in mind but no definite as to who will be in it.


Dr. G – Your website is called Monkey goat boy – awesome. Tell me about that character.

Steve the Monkeygoatboy is one of two main character from my comic book series "Freak Central". Freak Central centers on the staff of Supermarket Tabloid that investigates the Supernatural. Steve is the photographer for the paper. He is also the mascot for all of art endeavors.




Dr. G – Any other future projects we can look forward to?

Freak Central #3 is currently in production & 13 Hosts #2

Dr. G – Thanks for spending some time here in the lab with me, Brian. Best of luck with future endeavors and watch out for the werewolves on your way out. They’re kinda’ snippy this time of year.

To find out more about Brian Maze, his artwork, The 13 Hosts or to commission Brian to do artwork, contact him at his facebook page:

or on his blog:
http://monkeygoatboy.blogspot.com/

13 Hosts - Horror Host Guidebook

I opened my scaremail this morning to find a creepy little package containing something I've been looking forward to for some time. It was a comic book called 13 HOSTS -  HORROR HOST GUIDEBOOK.

I was first approached by a guy named Brian Maze last year about this project. Brian is the brains behind this project, and it was his idea to do a comic book spotlighting various horror hosts. The title is obviously a play on words off the William Castle movie 13 GHOSTS. Brian wanted to know if I'd be interested in being one of the hosts spotlighted in the first issue, and I told him I'd be honored.

Brian is an amazingly talented artist - I LOVE his art. He has a cartoony style reminiscent of Bruce Timm that is clean and expressive. All the hosts' likenesses are captured perfectly, and the art is definitely the strong point of this project. In fact, the the full-length Dr. Gangrene caricature in the menu to the right of this blog is the drawing from my entry in this book.

The book itself is exactly what the title suggests, a guidebook to 13 individual horror hosts. Each host has one page dedicated to them, with a brief description of who they are and what their show is about. There are also several fake movie posters scattered throughout the book, along with two short one page comic strips and wrap around bookend pieces hosting the hosts, so to speak.

The cover features a woman in a tight red costume with dark hair holding a skull. I think this is a fictional horror host that Brian Maze created... but there is no mention in the book of who she is. Stranger still, she doesn't host the wrap around segments, which I found really odd. It would have made more sense to have the host on the cover host these segments too.

Each host has a number at the top of the page, starting with Penny Dreadful at #1 and ending with Count Gore DeVol at #13. My host page is featured on # 9, which actually suits me perfectly. I'm not really the superstitious type, but 9 has always been my lucky number - I was born September 9th (9-9) and that number just sort of seems to generally fall into place around me quite often. Kinda spooooky.

The final wrap up host bit is a two page instructional guide to how to be a horror host. It basically states that anyone can be a horror host and horror hosts have become the spooky equivalent of karaoke. Slap on a little makeup, pick a silly name and you too can be a horror host. I really couldn't disagree more. There is a lot more to horror hosting than singing along to other people's music. By making this comparison it basically cheapens all the hard work and hours and hours of writing, acting, editing, and producing a show that so many dedicated hosts put out there. .  I think this was intended as an inspirational pep talk for aspiring hosts, but they really missed the mark here. Totally discounts the part about talent, drive, dedication, and hard work and comes off kind of insulting, honestly.

This book is slightly smaller than a comic book and printed with a nice glossy cover. It has black and white interior art and a color cover, and overall turned out very nicely. It is definitely worth picking up for Brian Maze's art alone, and is the sort of unique project fans of horror hosts will really enjoy. There is possibly a second issue in the works, and it will be interesting to see which hosts it spotlights.

If you would like to order a copy go to:
www.monkeygoatboy.com