Platypus of Truth

In preparation for this summer's Alien Covenant , I went back and did something I should have done a while ago, watched Ridley Scott's Prometheus . The film marked Scott's return to the franchise after being there at its creation in 1979 when he directed Alien . The Alien  franchise is a bit of a mish-mash, which each film in the series having its own unique director who exercised considerable freedom. Scott's  Alien  is a simple yet elegant "monster in the house" horror film. James Cameron's Aliens blends "monster in the house" with Ellen Ripley as the "dude with a problem" who must willingly confront and destroy the monstrosity from which she originally fled. As opposed to the original movies limited cast and claustrophobic feel, Cameron gives us an action flick with plenty of "red shirts", a "boss bad guy" complete with an evil lair, varied locations, and cool sci-fi gadgets galore. David Fincher's Alien 3  

As part of my Save the Cat  homework, I'm working my way through the Alien  series. It also has the added benefit of getting me ready for a viewing of Alien Covenant , whenever that happens. In addition to all the Alien  material, I've also been taking a closer look at some of my favorite comic book artists. Mike Mignola and his team have been right at the forefront with Helllboy: Into the Silent Sea and Hellboy: The Midnight Circus  along with Witchfinder  volumes I-IV. On a very different end of the spectrum, I've also been looking back through Doug TenNapel's old black and whites. My eye is specifically on the use of shadow and highlights and last weeks Alien -inspired mini-comic reflects that. This week again merges my two fields of study into my ongoing quest to become a better artist. The above picture is a refinement of my first Alien  homage refined with Prismacolor markers and colored pencils (no computer editing). The second is a new piece composed entire

This summer, I'm spending some dedicated time with my art markers and copy of Clip Art Studio. As part of this artistic endeavor, I've put together a rudimentary comic inspired by Ridley Scott's Prometheus  and Alien Covenant . My goal was to try illustrating in simple black and white under the influence of Doug TenNapel's early work and Mike Mignola's Hellboy . So here we go...

Ok, so one more before I close up shop for the night. Incidentally, have you noticed that the focal character in each Alien  movie is a woman? That makes it rather unique in a male dominated genre. When I was in college, the one unforgivable sin was not inviting the our female friends over for an Alien  marathon. So, Ripley, Shaw, Daniels... Why is it always a woman? Is it a matter of "give me the same thing... but different"? Is it that images of motherhood and birth dominate the dark language of the films? Does one necessitate the other? Given Alien's  roots in H.P. Lovecraft's fiction, the choice to consistently move away from an academic, male, hero is a decisive one. It's given us some great characters and a great string of movies (I leave the exceptions up to you).

Here are two more entries in what's shaping up to be my Alien -inspired oeuvre. These aren't taken from any movie in particular, but rather involve images from across films, comics, and concept art surrounding the series. After looking the material en masse, it underlines the Save the Cat  principle of "give me the same thing... bu different!" That's what these movies are: giving us the same thing by different. We, the audience, are paying for story, but fundamentally we're paying for the " Alien  Experience" one more time.

Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea S.T. Coleridge: U bless Snek Mike Mignola: Bless Snek? U crazy? S.T. Coleridge: Y U noe bless Snek? U bless Snek Mike Mignola: U bless Snek, Snek et U: CHOMP! That's about the shape of it, and well taken it is. Of course, there's also the nods to the styles of Prince Valiant, Gustave Dore, and Arthur Rackham, not to mention the allusions to Moby Dick , Diogenes, Robert E. Howard, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner . If you're a Lit Geek and a Pop Culture Geek, then it's still pretty hard to get cooler than Mike Mignola. Oh, did I mention that he critiqued the entire 19th century scientific project in the same terms as The Abolition of Man ? Yeah, cool stuff.