Curvilinismo - Exposição de Pintura

É com muito prazer que anuncio que na próxima quinta-feira, dia 30 de Agosto, é inaugurada mais uma exposição de pintura do meu pai, Rodolfo Passaporte, no Edificio Central do Municipio da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, com o tema Curvilinismo. A exposição estará patente ao público até 12 de Setembro de 2007, nos dias úteis das 8h às 20h, no Centro de Documentação - 1º F, Campo Grande 25. Será composta por 19 quadros a óleo e 7 desenhos.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that next thurday, August 30th, my father, Rodolfo Passaporte, will open yet another painting exhibition, at Edificio Central do Municipio, in Lisbon, under the theme "Curvilinismo". The exhibition will be open to the public until September 12th 2007, on labor days from 8am to 8pm, at the Documentation Centre, 1º F, Campo Grande 25. It will have 19 oil paintings and 7 drawings.

Aqui fica um dos quadros que poderá ser visto nesta exposição e que, por razões óbvias, é um dos meus preferidos.

Here is one of the paintings that would be on the exhibition which, for obvious reasons, is one of my favourites.

Mais detalhes no site da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa.

More details can be found at Lisbon's City Hall site.

Mike Wieringo passed away

It's a sad day for comics fans everywhere as newsletters and sites from this media brought us the bad news that Mike Wieringo, artist known for his work on Flash, Spider-Man titles, Fantastic Four and Tellos, passed away last Sunday, after a sudden heart attack.

Born in Venice, Italy, Wieringo was 44 years old, a vegetarian, and according to his longtime friend and collaborator Todd Dezago, "one of the healthiest ones of us in the bunch". He worked every day, updating his blog and website MikeWieringo.com with sketches and news. His last sketch was posted on friday.

É um dia triste para os fãs de comics este em que newsletters e sites deste meio nos trouxeram a má noticia de que Mike Wieringo, artista conhecido pelo seu trabalho em Flash, vários titulos de Spider-Man, Fantastic Four e Tellos, faleceu no passado Domingo, vitima de um ataque cardíaco repentino.

Nascido em Veneza, Itália, Wieringo tinha 44 anos, era vegetariano e, segundo o seu amigo e colega de longa data Todd Dezago, "um dos mais saudáveis do nosso grupo". Ele trabalhava todos os dias, actualizando o seu blog e website MikeWieringo.com com sketches e novidades. O seu último skecth foi lá colocado na sexta-feira passada.

Samurai: Heaven and Earth - Céu e Terra

It's here! My first translation work has arrived at the stores.
Samurai: Céu e Terra is the name of one of the latest books published in Portugal by BDMania, and yours truly was responsible for translating this story to portuguese, with the help of BDMania's editor-in-chief Pedro Silva.

This book collects the five issues limited series published originally by Dark Horse called Samurai: Heaven and Earth, written by Ron Marz with spectacular art from Luke Ross, and colors from Eisner-nominated Jason Keith.

Beginning in 1704's feudal Japan, Samurai: Heaven and Earth follows a lone samurai warrior sworn to be reunited with the love of his life who has been spirited away by his enemies. His pursuit of her will carry him farther than he could have imagined - from his native Japan to the sprawling empire of China, across Europe, and finally to Paris itself. There, in the fabled halls of King Louis XIV's Versailles, he must cross blades with the greatest swordsmen ever known if he is to reclaim his love.

I had a real good time translating some of the issues of this series, and hope to repeat the experience in the near future.

Já saiu! O meu primeiro trabalho de tradução já chegou às lojas.

Samurai: Céu e Terra é o nome de uma das últimas publicações editadas em Portugal pela BDMania, e este vosso criado foi incumbido de traduzir esta história para português, com a ajuda do Pedro Silva, editor Chefe da BDMania.

Este livro compila a mini-série de cinco números Samurai: Heaven and Earth, publicada originalmente pela Dark Horse, escrita por Ron Marz com arte espectacular de Luke Ross, e cores de Jason Keith (nomeado para um Eisner).

Com inicio no Japão feudal de 1704, Samurai: Céu e Terra segue Shiro, um samurai solitário que jurou reunir-se com a sua amada, raptada por inimigos. A sua perseguição levá-lo-á mais longe do que poderia imaginar: do seu Japão nativo até ao extenso Império da China, e através da Ásia e da Europa até, finalmente, Paris. Aí, nos fabulosos salões do Palácio de Versalhes do Rei Luis XIV, terá de cruzar caminho e espadas com os melhores espadachins de que há memória se quiser reclamar o seu amor.

Foi muito divertido para mim traduzir uns quantos números desta série, e espero repetir a experiência num futuro próximo.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but lately I've been feeling kind of lost in most of the storylines I'm following in the several comics I read every month. There's just too much information to hold from one month to the other, and most of the times, the cliffhanger with supercharacter "A" gets mixed up with cliffhanger with superteam "X" of which supercharacter "A" is part of. Those of you who actually understood my ramblings - sometimes I even get myself confused with them - are probably thinking that I'm a continuity freak. And maybe I am. From my perspective, comics went from a time where editors were very strict, always using the axe on creators ideas for unbelievably silly reasons, to a time where editors just don't care about consistency and even force creators to create discrepancies, if that suits their agenda, which is to sell more copies of the title they're editing.

Anyway, there's enough debating out there on the internet about the benefits and the handicaps of recent editorial policies at the major publishers, so I won't jump into that issue. I only wanted to share what I decided to do in order to start enjoying more the stories I read. From now on, I'm starting to collect the comics I buy and won't read them until I have the last issue of a certain storyline. This will help me to start reading more consistent stories, without interruptions with other stories, even with other characters. Imagine how it would be if you go to a multiplex and see every movie they have at the same time. You're watching 20 movies at the same time, spending 15 minutes inside each room of the theatre. That's precisely how I feel now with the comics I read, so from now on I'll do my best to watch one movie at a time.

Of course this will be difficult to do with some titles. Whenever a new title appears from a creator team I like, it's obvious that I won't wait to read that first issue until the 6 issues story-arc is over. I'll probably read the first one, maybe the second issue, and then stop until I have the entire story to read altogether. Another tricky situation will happen with maxi-series like DC Comics 52. Well, maybe this will be a good incentive to stop buying those abnormally long storylines, that more often than not, end up being a waste of time and money, for they never deliver the same joy that shorter, meaningful, storylines do.

I guess that this decision will put me in a similar place to the editor that picks storylines to be published as trade paperbacks. Since I believe that editors are not doing a good job keeping their characters stories consistent month in month out, I will step up to do their job. I might never be an editor working for a major publisher - which come to think of it is kind of my dreamjob - but at least I'll be the editor of my reading habits. That has to count for something.

Is it time to come back?

It's becoming common to start my posts here with "it's been a while since I last wrote"... The thing is, I don't really know the purpose of this blog anymore. I used to thrill with the idea of leaving news here, previews of things to come, and a few comments and impressions of mine after reading that month's bag of comics. Whenever a new creator team arrived to one of my favorite titles, I'd write it here. Special events, stories that made an impression of my favourite characters, would deserve some attention at this place. So why did I stop writing?

The last few months have been nothing short of stuff to talk about. Come on, they killed Captain America and where was my comment or eulogy? DC Comics tricked lots of readers to buy and read 52, a weekly title that was supposed to fill the gap between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later (which it didn't) and you didn't read a bitter word about it from me. Except now, I guess...

For Christ sakes, there was a Civil War in the Marvel Universe! A Civil War! Hero vs Hero, Friend vs Friend! What, was I sleeping during that? Of course not, I followed it more or less passionately. But somehow, it didn't make me want to write about it. I don't know why.

Maybe the thing is, what I really love to do is to read comics. I'm more of a reader than a writer, I guess. You need to be creative to write, and I feel like several years ago my creativity falled down in the North Atlantic ocean, where it remains in suspended animation waiting for a team of greatest heroes to wake it up.

Authority #2

According to the Wildstorm website, Authority #2 will finally come out March 7th. This information was confirmed by artist Gene Ha, on his newsletter. This is, however, the good news, since Authority will be on hiatus for quite some time.

Gene is shifting over to Brad Meltzer's The Justice League of America #11, where he'll be experimenting with a new art and coloring style, and after that he'll be back to Authority, to finish his 4 issues run.

Each artist of Grant Morrison's Authority will do four issues.

Comics Hunter: Mission San Francisco

If you're going to San Francisco... be sure to go there when Wondercon is in town. :) It's not as big as San Diego's Comic-Con, but it's a lot more relaxed which makes it easier to enjoy all the pop culture, comics, sci-fi and whatnot. Special guests and creators are more friendly to talk to. You can see they are not as stressed out as in San Diego. Although there's lots of people there, it's not as crowded as the Comicon.

By the way, Wondercon 2007 is coming very soon. It's next weekend (March 2-4).

The convention's located at the Moscone Center, which is very near downtown San Francisco, right next to Yerba Buena Gardens. In the area, you'll find SFMOMA - San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art at one side of the gardens, and the Sony Metreon at the other side, an entertainment centre with great Restaurants, 16 movie theatres and a few stores, including a nice Comic Books one called Things From Another World.

Things From Another World

101 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Inside Metreon(at Howard St & Minna St)

http://www.tfaw.com

There's not much I can say about TFAW that you can't find visiting their website. If you arrive in town before the comics convention, you'll probably be able to buy your Wondercon tickets at this store, in advance.

A couple of blocks away from Yerba Buena's, at the emblematic Market Street, you'll find another comics store, this one also filled with action figures, toys and merchandising, properly called Jeffrey's Toys.

Jeffrey's Toys

685 Market Street (at 3rd St & Kearny St) San Francisco, CA 94105

A funny thing I remember about this store, is that they sell their comics already packed in a bag with backing board included, for a few cents more. Back at the shelves, you can still take a look at the comics, since the're not inside bags.

These stores are my kind of stores. Lots of mainstream comics, merchandise, action figures, games and stuff like that. If mainstream is not your cup of tea, you'll probably feel more confortable in the next store.

Comix Experience

305 Divisadero StreetSan Francisco, CA 94117

http://www.comixexperience.com/

This is more like the stereotypical comic book shop, dedicated to comics only. Like they say on their website: "Not toys, not games, not fucking-Pokemon-cards. Comics". There's a wide variety of comics here, both mainstream and independent ones. Multiple-time winner of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's "Best of the Bay" award, this store opened to the public in 1989, by 21 years old Brian Hibbs. And 18 years later, he's still going strong with his love for comics. The staff will definitely know more about the comics they're selling than the guys and girls from the previous stores. Just try not to be scared of the tall guy that works there, with long dark hair, strong voice like a singer of an hard metal band, and he'll help you find any comic you're looking for.

All the comic stores I mentioned here are open every day, including Sundays. And people wonder why I left my heart in San Francisco... Well, it wasn't just that, of course. The City by the Bay has plenty of places to visit and fall in love with. The Golden Gate park, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square and Chinatown, the Palace of Fine Arts, Pier 39, Yerba Buena and so many more.

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Pode ler este artigo em português, aqui.

New Universal

"The evening of March 2, 2006 started like any other. But at 06.59 UTC, the sky ignited, illuminated by the most startling celestial phenomenon ever witnessed by the human race: the White Event. And from the wake of the White Event, a handful of humans emerged as something more..."

This is the main plot for the new Marvel series written by Warren Ellis, with art from Salvador Larroca, which is nothing more than the re-imagining of the New Universe the then Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Jim Shooter, introduced 20 years ago, in 1986. The idea was to introduce new characters in a universe separated from the Marvel mainstream continuity, although I seem to recall some of them crossing over to the regular Marvel Universe.



So what's new here? Well, for starters, whereas the eighties New Universe story was told in 8 different books, Ellis New Universal is just one book. Warren Ellis said, "I don't think the original creators and editors realized until it was too late -- it was all a single story. It shouldn't have been eight books (or whatever) that were eventually consolidated into ensemble miniseries. It was a single story that should've spun new series and serials off of it". Having this in mind, Ellis wanted the first storyline in the new book to revolve around the four lead books in NewUniverse: Justice, Nightmask, Starbrand and Spitfire and the Troubleshooters.

Something else makes it different: the little things. I don't know if this will play a major role ahead in the series, but the universe Ellis introduces in this comic book is already different than the one we know, even before the White Event. For instance, John Lennon is alive and Paul McCartney was the Beatle who was shot, not in New York but in Liverpool.



And then there's Salvador Larroca's art. He's doing both pencils and inking here, with Jason Keith handling the colors. One can recognize Larroca's style in this series, but it's notorious that he tried to give it a more realistic feel. And maybe that's why he chose real people as models to the characters. I'm not sure if it wasn't Ellis idea. It's quite fun to try and recognize many known actors appearing in New Universal's pages. Every one knows that ultimate Nick Fury is based on Samuel L Jackson. But in New Universal, they went over the top with it.

Some people will think this is distracting, but to me it makes the series feel a lot more like a movie. The cast for this movie would be something like :

Bruce Willis as officer John Tensen (Justice)
Josh Holloway (Sawyer, from tv series Lost) as Kenneth Connell (Starbrand)
Gene Hackman as Jim Braddock
Angelina Jolie as Dr. Jennifer Swann
Zinedine Zidane as nurse Thomas Alexander Reid
Nicole Kidman as Dr. Hannah Ballad
James Cromwell (Six Feet Under) as Philip L. Voight
James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) as Sheriff Felix
...and Sopranos' wiseguys (Pussy, Paulie, Christopher and Silvio) as deputies.

There are some others that I couldn't recognize, although their faces look familiar. If you have names to add, feel free to do it in your comments. I'll add them to the casting.

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Este artigo está disponivel em português aqui.

Reading Comics in Portugal

It's been a while...

If you've been here before, you'll notice that the blog is different. New colors, new language... Many of you must be wondering why am I writing in english now, instead of portuguese. Why the new colors? Well, I believe that sometimes a little change is what you need to keep things interesting.

Let's face it: even if I was very busy at work the last year, and these past months, the main reason I didn't write for so long is because I kind of lost interest in doing it. If I didn't, I would have found a few minutes to write about all the things that happened and still are happening in comics, like Marvel's Civil War, DC's 52, new creator teams, and so on.

So, to renew the flame, I needed to do something different. Hence, the changes in this blog.

Visually, I'm trying a new color set with the same template, to make it more "Comics-like". Or newspaper-like. I wish I had the will to create a brand new template, more similar to a newspaper, but I don't. So I'll play with the tools I have.

And then there's the language. "You're in Portugal. You should be writing in portuguese". To hell with that. This blog knows no boundaries. It's set on the internet, and english is the most common language in the World Wide Web. Also, mostly I'm talking about stuff I read in american comic books. It's only natural to use the same language they're written in. And last, but definitely not least, I'll be able to get my word to my foreign friends around the world, foreign non-portuguese speakers that couldn't understand a word I'd write if their life depended on it.

But fear not, portuguese lovers. Along with this blog, I'll be writing myself silly and in portuguese in other sites, like BDesenhada.com, where I'll be posting a few articles as well.

Anyway, all this to say that I'm back.
I hope you enjoy my ramblings, cause I'll try to enjoy myself while writing them.

Seeya,
Passaporte