Geekenweizen Comics and Beer

Congratulations Big Daddy Schirano!!

2007-08-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not getting this up sooner. But as you can see by the subject, our own Mr. Schirano is now a dad!! Times 3 even!

John and Rachael had triplets on July 8th. 2 girls and a boy. Elizabeth Garrett, Cameron Grace and James Andrew.

To see pics and read all about the long road the Schirano family has been on, head over to their blog.

Congrats, Big Daddy!

-C

Hunter Killer

2007-02-23T10:44:00.000-06:00

Here are a few Hunter Killer pages that I did for Top Cow. On this one I had the extreme pleasure to help the great Steve Firchow out of a pinch (Thanks again for the brushes, Steve!). And working on Marc Silvestri's lines isn't too shabby either!

I was really happy with the way these pages turned out. Working so dark and evil on this Bisley project is a lot of fun but every once in a while you have to bust out the shiny happy comic colors. (My, what yellow lemonade you have!)

Hope you guys out there dig these. And hopefully I'll be able to start previewing this Bisley project pretty soon. I think it's going to blow a lot of people away.

Thanks for checking back!

-C

Witchblade

2007-01-19T09:56:00.000-06:00

Here are a few Witchblade pages that I colored. Issue 88, I think.

These were a lot of fun because...well first and foremost, because I got to work with Michael Choi, whom I've never colored before. I really love his style and tho I don't make him look any where close to as good as Sonia Oback does, it was nice to have the opportunity.

The other thing that made them fun was the different challenges they offered. For some reason it's always easier for me to color a big superhero-spandex-laser-shooting-fight scene then something more pedestrian. And it's hard to get more pedestrian than a rainy day in NYC. So it was cool to play around with reflections, lighting, and just how does mustard on a pretzel look in the rain?

The interior of the warehouse was fun as well because it gave me a chance to dirty up the art and try to set up a suspenseful mood with lighting and set dressing. Hopefully it worked.

-C

Comic Review: 52

2007-01-18T09:02:00.000-06:00

As I work on getting my Bulleteer picture polished up I thought I would take some time to throw in a comic review for my pick of the week: 52 #37

For those of you who haven't been following, following Identity Crisis (a discussion for another time), the DC Universe, along with all of its titles, jumped ahead one year. 52 is the story of what happened within this year, a year without "The Big Three," focusing on lesser known characters, mainly Booster Gold, The Question, Steel, Renee Montoya, Black Adam, Animal Man, and Ralph Dibny (the former Elongated Man). To get into everything that has happened in the first 37 issues would take a while, but to keep it simple, here is a breakdown of the main story lines:

-The Question trains Renee Montoya as he prepares for his eminent death from cancer (don't smoke kids), meeting the new Batwoman along the way

-Supernova and Rip Hunter attempt to fix Time as they are hunted by Skeets

Ralph Dibny and the Helmet of Fate search for a way to resurrect Sue Dibny

-As Luthor empowers (and then de-powers) normal citizens, Steel searches for a way to bring him down

-Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange try to return from deep space

But "what about Booster" you ask? Look no further than issue # 37. I will keep the reveals a secret, but in short, Skeets attacks Rip and Supernova, who have been collecting weapons to destroy him within the City of Kandor. Meanwhile, Ollie Queen begins his political campaign and Animal Man is laid to rest. I quick mention of 52 and a origin for Firestorm round out the issue.

This issue answers some of the long lingering questions and at the same time, explains why such an important of the last moment was treated so insignificantly. Though the exposition in the beginning has been criticized, from a story point (it is a delay tactic) it makes sense. I have found that the majority of the issues in 52 are either hit or miss as far as important plot points, this one is definitely important and should not be missed.

52 is one of the more ambitious efforts of any comic company in recent memory. It is a weekly book, crafted by four of the industry's top writers (Waid, Rucka, Johns, and St. Morrison) with all layouts drafted by Keith Giffen. So I applaud DC for this effort alone. But the writers and artists have managed to slip in subtle hints along the way that will eventually reveal the mysteries revolving around the broken time, World War III, the mystery of Supernova, etc. I have been unable to notice many of the hints but look forward to going back through once I know the answer (you call it cheating, I call it... ). This brings an added dimension to the book, which to me is the sign of true genius. Though I still feel in the dark about a lot of the book, I look forward to reading it every week and will sad to see it go. It is a bit late to pick up all the issues if you haven't started, but conventional wisdom suggests there may be a trade on the horizon.

Lastly, the letter page contains a paragraph that, when decoded, reveals the secret of 52. If anyone figures out the code, leave a comment. Thanks for reading. Viva Comictoberfest!

Our Attempt at Cross Marketing...

2007-01-11T09:24:00.000-06:00

Chad and I get together about once a month to visit. At one such meeting, we came up with an interesting idea for the blog. Over the course of SEVERAL drinks, conversation veered from boring topics such as politics and ethics to more important matters, namely:

If comic characters were to select the beer of their choice, what would they choose?

Naturally, a raging debate ensued (I felt Wolverine was more of a Labatt man while Chad was adamant he would chosen Molson) but what we could agree on was that this would be a great way to combine our two loves. So from time to time, we will be bringing you pictures of characters with a libation of their choice. For this particular one, I have decided to leave the brand a mystery for a future post. What would the Bulleteer drink? We think we know the answer. How about you?

Dump!

2007-01-07T21:19:00.000-06:00

One of my resolutions is being more disciplined about backing up my files. So while I'm exiling pages to DVD's I thought I might post up a bunch.

Here are a couple of pages from Territory 51 that (hopefully) illustrate just what a colorist brings to the table. Make with the clicky!

Also, welcome to all of our ComicSpace readers! Please drop us some comments...let us know you're out there.

-C

Ahoy, matey!!

2007-01-06T21:39:00.000-06:00

Clipper City Brewery's Heavy Seas
Below Wine Style Ale
11%

Presentation: 12oz bottle

This brew was originally given to me as a gift from John. I didn't review it then, just enjoyed it. So the 06's just came out so I thought I'd give it another try and a review.

Appearance: 4 (out of 5) Pours a dark copper. Thin off white head dissipates quickly and leaves a small ring and slight lacing in the brandy snifter.

Smell: 4 (out of 5) Fruit notes...Cherries mostly, plums. Nice caramel malt and slight hay-like hop aroma.

Flavor:4 (out of 5) A mildly complex flavor. Malty sweetness, the cherry flavor comes forward on the middle and sides of the tongue and gives way to a nice hop bitterness. There's definite alcohol warming after the swallow which is nice on these cold winter nights.

Mouthfeel: 3.5 (out of 5) The mouthfeel is light given the style and high abv but isn't disappointing. Low carbonation.

Drinkability: 4 (out of 5) Actually pretty high given the abv and the style but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I think I'll hang on to one of the bottles for a few months and see if the bitterness mellows out or how the taste changes.

Thanks, Schiranimo!

-C

Return of the Kings

2006-12-13T07:43:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, there is only one "Return" and that's Return of the Jedi...

Chad and I have returned after a long hiatus. Where were we? Well, for the past 6 months, Chad and I have been busy at work developing new beers for the fledgling brewer Geekenweizen (hence the name). We were approached a while back through our expertise and, frankly, the offer was a bit more than we were expecting and was very hard to turn down. Nevertheless, with that behind us, we are prepared to return to the world of blogging once more and bring you all we know about comics and beer (not necessarily in that order).

So what has happened? Well a couple of days ago, Comicspace BURST onto the comic scene. Thousands have rushed to the site and set up pages of their own, and not to be left out, we too have set up personal pages. Chad's carries a bit more clout than mine but that will soon change damn you! Chances are you happened upon us through them so we welcome you and hope you check us out often. As for the Comicspace pages, we have added them to the link section. If you would like to be our friends, simply request. All we ask is for you to drop a comment so we look popular. Hopefully, within time, we will be hosting our own comics on there (DLG and more about mine in future posts).

Finally, as seen here at Geekenweizen, my Green Goblin picture won the Wizard Magazine Drawing Board competition for the week of 10/19/06. You can check that out here, including a critique from Andy Kubert. I don't know what he is talking about though... that pic is the bomb...

Off to drink some beer. More updates on the way...

Flight of the Falcon Issue #3

2006-06-21T09:08:00.000-05:00

Geez...pretty quiet around here.

Here's the cover to AV Flight of the Falcon #3.

I tried to keep it simple this time. And, something that I haven't done in a looooong time, there are no textures!

Also, special thanks to John for flatting these covers for me.

As always I'm open to questions, comments or criticism, so let's hear it!

-C

666

2006-06-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

I'm celebrating this, the sixth day of the sixth month in the year 06 with juxtaposition.
Avery's Karma and in the true spirit of the occasion, Mephistopheles' Stout.

Thanks to John, I was lucky enough to try the Meph at Stoutfest '06 and he even sent me home with a bottle. A bottle that I've been saving for a night just like tonight.

Karma is great beer, especially for this unseasonably hot spring.
Belgian Pale Ale
5.2% ABV

Presentation: 12oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

Appearance: 4.5 It pours a reddish copper with a nice white head, maybe 3 fingers. Very good head retention and beautiful lacing.

Scent: 4 Fruity scent of plums and perhaps a slight hint of citrus. That gives way to a biscuity nutty aroma.

Taste: 4 Based on the nose I expected a lot of fruit but the caramel nuttiness hits first and leads to a nice yeast fruit. There's a light hop flavor that hits the sides of the tongue but it doesn't get in the way of the malt sweetness. A nice balance.

Mouthfeel: 3.5 Medium body. Very clean finish. Maybe a little too clean. It touches on a bit watery at the very end but there is a slight alcohol warming.

Drinkability: 4 This is a very drinkable beer. I purchased it along with Bell's Oberon for this hot spring days and it fits perfectly.

And now on to the reason we're here tonight...Meph.

Mephistopheles' Stout
American Double Stout
15.10% ABV

Presentation: 12oz brown bottle with a red foiled top.

Appearance: 5 Pours a sinister opaque black with a beautiful dark brown head that dissipates to a nice ring around the snifter.

Scent: 5 Delicious. Lots of coffee, bitter chocolate and burnt malt. Heavy. Slight hint of alcohol, not as much as one would expect and of dark berry.

Taste: 5 The name befits the brew. Insane amount of malt and coffee. The black fruit sweetness hits you on the sides of the tongue and assaults the palate. And then like the fires of hell, the alcohol comes back up to warm your soul (or lack thereof). A huge beer. A great beer.

Mouthfeel: 5 Very little carbonation. Syrupy, heavy but expected in such a deliciously evil brew.

Drinkability: 3.5 While it's definitely a delicious beer, it's not something that you could enjoy everyday but should be saved for a night just like tonight.

So here's to you, darkness.
Here's to you, unknown.

Cheers.

-C

"It's you who's out, Gobbie. Out of your mind."

2006-06-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of the Green Goblin I posted on Digital Webbing a while back. Originally, it was just pencils, so I added colors and a background and think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself... My Batman background (seen here) wasn't a hit over there so I hope this one pleases more people. One thing I am pretty proud of is the secondary lighting that I added, though it makes things a lot easier when you have a professional artist as a blog partner. Thanks Chad.

Hope you all enjoy the piece. Thanks for checking it out and leave a comment. Off to grab my sample for the Friday Beer Review. My work is never done...

Chad Smash!

2006-05-31T14:50:00.000-05:00

Here is a Hulk that I whipped up for my nephew for his birthday present. It's pretty rushed but I thought it turned out pretty good. The pencils and inks took me a couple of hours and the coloring took me about an hour and a half.

In the final piece he's crushing my nephew's name spelled out in rock. Hope you guys dig it. Drop a comment, let me know what you think

-Chad

Beer Review: Dogfishhead's Golden Shower

2006-05-29T23:02:00.000-05:00

Dogfish Head's Golden Shower
Imperial Pilsner
9% ABV

Presentation: Wine-like bomber

This toungue-in-cheekly named brew is the first Imperial Pilsner was purchased on my birthday trip to Madison WI from Barriques...a great bottle shop just down the way from our hotel.

Appearance: 4 (out of 5) Pours a crisp golden yellow, very pale white head...looking beautiful on this unseasonably hot Memorial Day in my Jeckyll and Hyde club pilsner glass

Smell: 4.5 (out of 5) Very powerful hop aroma. Floral and unexpected but a real treat. Citrus is there...grass but with a good malt backbone. A little bread to balance out the fruit

Flavor:4 (out of 5) Much hoppier than what I expected from a beer this style. But I must keep in mind that it is an American Imperial version. The hops provide a good bitterness but the sweetness wins out. The most noticeable things upon the initial taste are the citrus, orange, grapefruit, perhaps a hint of lemon. Nice slight alcohol taste and warmth. Tingling carbonation that gives way to juicy sweetness. Very impressive.

Mouthfeel: 4.5 (out of 5) Very full for the Pilsner style. The malt and hops combine for a sticky coating bitterness and the full sweetness stays on the palate long after the beer is gone.

Drinkability: 4 (out of 5) Very good. Tho it's up there in the ABV department, I could see enjoying a couple of bombers on a warm summer evening but I think it's best shared with friends.

As far as a comic pairing... something that you don't think you'll like but end up loving it by the end. Ex Machina by Brian K Vaughan and Tony Harris, perhaps.

-C

Beer Review Friday - Two Brothers Monarch White Beer

2006-05-26T23:39:00.000-05:00

Picked this guy up on Thursday. Looked good to me. I enjoy the Sam Adams White Ale so maybe Two Brothers came up with something similar. $6.99 a six pack? Not too shabby... Things seem to be in order here so I thought I would give it a try. Sometimes, despite all the efforts to the contrary, your courage does not pay off. This was one of those times...

Well, the smell right off the bat: coriander. I like coriander. I like it a lot. I put it on fajitas. I put it on roasts. But with beer? Ehhhhh... can't say it was my favorite. That is the first thing that hits you, even more than the citrus flavors the beer promises, and though this was an immediate turn off, nevertheless, I persevered. For the good of Geekenweizen. As to the flavor, it was lighter than I thought it would be. Very clean. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of clean and much prefer smooth but this beer didn't get that far. Very simple. I look for a depth of flavor in beer, much like I do in wine. A first, second, and in the rare case, third tier. This didn't have that. The little to no carbonation is also not something I am a fan off. It is a decent beer, but there are better out there and it just wasn't my cup of tea. Approriate for summer weather, but I would hardly say great.

I would NEVER turn down a beer, but I wouldn't recommend this one for purchasing. It was good but not worth the price. You are better off picking up a good trade with the money you would save off of it. I would suggest House of M. Whether you like the story or not, the art is fantastic.

For more on the beer, check out the link to the Beer Advocate. Thanks for stopping by. You stay classy... PLANET EARTH...

Walk with me... Part 3

2006-05-26T13:14:00.000-05:00

Behold! the finished product!

Gonna have to take a vacation from the smudge tool after this one. So, the coloring stage. Well, I started off "flatting" it. I use the quotation marks because, though it is done in a similar fashion, I wouldn't necessarily call it flatting. I created a new layer and lassoed in sections and colored them but I DID NOT seperate the line art. Instead, I set the layer to "color." This colors the line work, and not the white parts. Instant gradients! I then duplicated this layer, set the new layer to "multiply" at a 50% opacity. A little dodge here, a generic background there and viola, instant Batman!

Naturally I can't give away ALL of my secrets but I hope you found this interesting, or at the very least, enjoyed the art. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Also, look out for this week's beer review tonight. Thanks for checking this out!

Birthday and Brewery Tours Part 1

2006-05-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

Well, for better or worse my birthday was last Saturday. I'm not really big on birthdays. Getting old is one of the few things that genuinely scares me. But my wife and my daughter always make my "special day" great and this year was no exception.

Last year, for my big 3 0 my wife planned a surprise party for me at the Sprecher Brewery in Milwaukee Wisconsin and it was a blast. Good friends, good food and lots of great beer. As John will recall, I had a little too much fun. But that was when my love of craft beer really sank in.

I've always been a fan of non-mainstream beer but I never really examined why and I never really investigated the industry. But after that tour it really hit home that was just what I wanted to do. And that's when I started down the road to hardcore beer geekdom.

I also decided that I was going to make that a birthday tradition, visit a different craft brewery or brew pub every year. Last year Sprecher, this year New Glarus, the Grumpy Troll, Capitol and The Great Dane.

We got started on Friday later than we'd planned, so that made the trip up feel a little rushed. Combine that with the fact that the main road into New Glarus was closed for construction. So we had to take this 20 mile detour to get to the brewery. But, we finally made it, and when we did there was a tour bus full of seniors piled into the 'tasting room'. It made what was an already small tasting room even smaller. Awful and they were more than rude (the old people, not the brewery employees).

Since there wasn't much room, we pretty much just glanced around the brewery, grabbed a pick-a-six of stuff that I haven't tried (Fat Squirrel, Spotted Cow, Totally Naked, then 2 bottles of Road Slush and an Uff-da, which I had the opportunity to try the week before and really enjoyed) and a bottle of the Belgian Red and got the hell out of there. Which bummed me out but there were just too many people and we didn't have time to go bum around somewhere else until they left.

We made our way out of there and up to Mt. Horeb. And just as we were approaching the off ramp what do we see? It was closed!!! No kidding. I was beginning to think this was a sign. But we went to the next exit and found our way there. The Grumpy Troll.

-C

Walk with me... Part 2

2006-05-24T17:32:00.000-05:00

I come to you with Mackeson in hand. You might remember Mackeson from such beer reviews as last weeks. Well here is the next step in my drawing of Batman.

As you can see, this has a bit more of a finished feel to it. I used a lot of the smudge tool and gaussian blur (as mentioned last time) to achieve this effect. Finished off the rest of the pic with my Wacom tablet, a great investment for any aspiring artist.

Come back Friday to see the finished product. Hope you enjoy it thus far. Feel free to leave a comment. Now, back to the beer...

Flight of the Falcon

2006-05-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

Here are 2 recently finished pieces. The covers for Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon issues #1 and #2.

I wanted the cover to issue one to be reminiscent of a Drew Struzan movie poster. Steve Bryant (the artist) likes to do this sort of montage a lot, and each one creates it's own opportunity to try new things but they each have their own challenges.

With this one, I knew the map was going to be featured, and keeping in mind that I want all 4 covers to stand out on the shelves and from each other, I went with the tan/golden color scheme.

Usually, I'm inclined to have the bright rim-lighting just hit the main figure (in this case Athena's figure) but with this one I thought I would do the opposite. I hit all of the background elements with the light from that sun and left her in her normal colors. Hoping that will make her stand out. Still not sure if the approached worked or not but I'm pleased with the final image.

The only thing I knew going into the cover to #2 was that I wanted it to be predominately green. And there you have it.

Be sure to drop John and I comments, let us know what you think.

-chad

Walk with me... Part 1

2006-05-22T08:39:00.000-05:00

Recently I think I came across an epiphany of sorts with my art style. While I will always be a big fan of the traditional ink and colors, I was never able to figure out how to do it myself. So I asked myself, "Self, what CAN you do?" I knew that I was good at black and white pencil drawings, so why not make that work for me? I looked into some artists, Adi Granov in particular, and learned how he produces work in a similar fashion. So walk with me as I take this picture from sketch to finished work, ALL through the magic of Photoshop.

I did this sketch of Batman yesterday inbetween extensive yardwork and beer drinking. After scanning it in, I've added a black border ala Adam Hughes. Though, realistically, that line shouldn't be there, I think it gives it a good comic feel and makes the character pop more. I have also started to smooth out my sketch lines in the neck and torso via the smudge tool in addition to darkening some shadow areas. Once they are smooth, I like to do a gaussian blur just to make them REALLY smooth. The reason for this will become apparent when I start adding color.

More to come... So STAY TUNED!

Beer Review Friday - Mackeson XXX Milk Stout

2006-05-19T08:48:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh.... Mackeson... what a beer.

I thought that I would start off this blog feature with a staple of my beer fridge. When you think stout, naturally, the first thought is Guinness, the smooth, creamy beer with the fantastic ad campaign. Now, don't get me wrong, Guinness is a great beer. I especially enjoy it in a relaxing atmosphere. But if you speak to ANY beer enthusiast, they will tell you that Guinness is only TRULY acceptable from the tap. It doesn't cater to the at home with a drawing pad crowd as much.

Enter Mackeson.

Now, the first, distinct difference between the two is that Mackeson is a Milk Stout, while Guinness is an Irish Dry Stout. Milk stouts have more unfermented sugars in them, most of the time lactose is added, and thereby, have a much sweeter taste. It pours a bit thicker than most stouts and its head has almost a reddish hue to it. Its got the usual chocolates and coffees in it, but what is the kicker for me is the solid flavor you get from it. No water here. Furthermore, Mackeson is far less expensive than most stouts. I get mine for $9.99 a twelve pack.

As far as pairings, I recommend Mackeson with a fine issue of Runaways, or possibly Young Avengers. Anything that you are getting more than your money's worth. My thanks go out to Chad for introducing me to this beer.

For more information on this, or any beer, check out the link to the Beer Advocate Website.

In which Chad rambles on about sketches...

2006-05-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

Let's start this thing. My name is Chad Fidler, I've been a computer colorist for comics for the last 8 years and an aspiring artist all my life. Recently, at the insistence of John, my partner in crime here and my wife, I'm trying to pick the pencil/paintbrush back up again and start creating for myself.

So here are a couple of pages out of my sketchbook. It's all pretty random. The bear and the guy with the patch on the first page were inspired by Carnivalé... the kid staring at the deep sea fish was actually inspired by a kid sitting next to us at a restaurant that couldn't stop playing his gameboy, even for dinner. And it had this creepy light on it, so it looked like he was staring at one of those Angler fish.

Anyway, have a look and drop some comments to tell me how much I suck and should stick to coloring other people's art.

-C

It Begins....

2006-05-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Geekenweizen!

Welcome to what we believe to be a first of its kind.

We know you're out there. We've seen you at the cons. Drinking in Knuckles with Erik Larsen or chugging beers in the Marvel Suite. For every continuity tight assed, unable to suspend disbelief, fanboy out there, there are the regular Joes like us that read comics for the fun of it. And what do regular Joes like more than anything? That's right. Beer.

We aren't talking crap beer either. If you are looking for a celebration of PBR or Red Dog, you have come to the wrong site. Though we acknowledge the importance of watery beer in the sport of binge drinking, we choose to celebrate the art of fine brewing.

But can beer and comics truly co-exist? Hell yeah they can! We even created a holiday to celebrate our love for both: Comictoberfest! Our goal is to create awareness for Comictoberfest through the celebration of great beer and good comics. This blog is just the beginning...

Check back regularly for our weekly reviews of the latest craft beers, comic issues, and we will even be sharing our own artwork. This is only the beginning...

Viva Comictoberfest!