Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Giving Bru Head


Artist Mike Pascale and I have been trading quips for more than a dozen years but that’s only because I like the cut of his gib. And all this time that was without even knowing what a gib was. So I looked it up. The lower lip of a horse is called its gib, and so is the beak of a male salmon. Live and learn.

Pascale first came into my four cubits during a benefit auction we did for a fallen comrade and he’s never strayed too far. It would make it easier if he had breasts. He did get terribly angry with me once for something very silly, but I’ve forgiven him and he’s certainly made up for it a dozen times over. Most recently, his tribute came in the form of inking Dave Cockrum’s illustrations for my novella, “Wearing the Horns.” That story first appeared as a standalone chapbook from Aardwolf Publishing in 2003 and now returns with a thorough rewrite, along with about 1,000 additional words, in One Small Voice (IDW Publishing), which shipped last week. I’ll be signing copies next Thursday, February 21, at Midtown Comics in Manhattan from 5 to 7 pm. If you’re in town, please stop in. The next day’s my birthday so bring me something nice. Preferably in a bottle.

Back to Mike. I regret to report that, despite my best efforts and his own half-baked ones (if that), the old boy’s name is not yet as familiar as it should be to the majority of comic book readers. That, despite the fact that he's dynamite. Despite impressive work on Bru-Hed (Schism Comics) and numerous Aardwolf Publishing projects. But our Michigan-bred, California repatriated, Kubert School alum remains one of my go-to artists; he can knock out anything in a pinch, always on time, and he works smart.

I’d been hoping for three years that Marie Severin would eventually get around to finishing her mocked-up cover concept for my book-in-progress, Comicbook Babylon, but no such luck. Marie’s current situation doesn’t leave room for complex cover work. Up steps Pascale. "I'll do it," he said.

“It’s a complicated cover,” I told him. “Requires perspective. And real ink!”

You should see Pascale’s face when I say stuff like that. His gib gets all out of joint.

3 comments:

Mike P said...

That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my gib. Thanks!

But you didn't mention the best quote I've ever received, courtesy of your introduction to one of my books: "I'm in New Jersey, Mike's in Michigan, and I have no desire to see Michigan, unless it's through crosshairs."

It don't get no funnier than that. Thanks, pal!

--Mike

Daniel Best said...

I thought that the word 'Pascale' was banned on four continents? Oh well, another thing I've learnt today.

Matt Forbeck said...

That's "jib" not "gib," one of the forward, triangular sails on a ship (if it has one).

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jib

Sorry to make my first comment here a correction. I've been reading your blog since we met at the IDW party at Comic-Con, and you're doing some great things here. Keep it up!