ROUGH WORKS: CONCEPT ART, DOODLES, AND SKETCHBOOK DRAWINGS BY FRANK FRAZETTA" edited by Arnie & Cathy Fenner

It’s been a long time since I’ve had time to sit down and really, really enjoy an art book. Being an artist myself—not to mention, modest—I usually gauge the quality of an art book on its inspirational value…

“Rough Works: Concept Art, Doodles, and Sketchbook Drawings by Frank Frazetta” is a different kind of art book, as you can tell by the title itself. If you’re a fan of fantasy art of any sort, chances are that you’re already very familiar with at least some of Frazetta’s incomparable paintings and illustrations. If you’re a true fanatic, then you’ve most likely read titles like “Frank Frazetta Icon” or “Frank Frazetta: Book I”, among others that comprehensively display Frazetta’s timeless work.

“Rough Works” shows you what happens between those major works.

As co-editor Arnie Fenner notes in the book’s introduction, Frank often did paintings and other works purely off of inspiration, but he also did sketches and comps to gather his ideas before putting a brush to the canvas.

And although Frank didn’t keep an organized file of those sketches, not all of them were mislaid… luckily for us. “Rough Works” shows us everything from mockups of now famous paintings to random sketches done on coffee-stained parchment. The book flows back through the years, exhibiting work done as far back as the early sixties. The content of the pictures is pure Frazetta. It’s all here, from the buxom beauties to the muscle toned barbarians, the tyrannosauruses to the great apes, and the vampires to the spaceships.

A ‘padded’ hardcover with extra heavy pages, “Rough Edges” is not only a feast for the eyes, but a small glimpse into the mind of a genius at work; it’s a brilliant collection that will inspire your mind to explore its darker corners and feed your imagination’s baser instincts.

At 127 pages, I only wish that it had been longer.


Rated: 5 out of 5

"THE TOTEM" by David Morrell

In the introduction to "The Totem," David Morrell talks about how when the novel was originally published in 1979, the publisher made him change the manuscript considerably before it was released. This version (seen at left), published in 1995, is the complete, original version of Morrell's original manuscript.

The story takes place in the Wyoming ranching town of Potter's Field. The sheriff of the town, Slaughter, is a transplant from Detroit. An alcoholic reporter, Dunlap, arrives in town to do a 'then and now' piece on events surrounding a hippie commune that happened decades earlier... and then things start to get "hairy". The discovery of mutilated cattle and other, stranger, things lead Slaughter and Dunlap on a chase to find out exactly what's residing in the mountains surrounding the normally peaceful valley.

I really enjoy Morrell's style of writing; there's a minimalist quality to it that moves the story along very quickly, and yet injects the maximum amount of plot into the fewest words. I was a bit stunned right at the beginning of the story, when we're introduced to a veterinarian, a rancher, and his son, but no names are mentioned through the first twenty-five odd pages of the book. What was more odd about it, was that I actually 'cared' about what was happening to these characters, despite a lack of names. This unique technique - if that's what you want to call it - was refreshing to read.

In addition to a first rate horror-thriller story, Morrell's characters are great, too. Sheriff Slaughter is a character that develops slowly over the course of the book. Just when you think you've got a comfortable 'read' on him, new information surfaces to make you see him as bit differently. Dunlap, the reporter, was a lot of fun to read as well. As a fish out of water in more ways than one, the way he personally 'views' what's going on contrasts Slaughter's views perfectly.

Morrell is a legendary writer, a moniker that's well-deserved. If you haven't checked him out, make a point of it. I highly recommend "The Totem."

Rated: 4.5 out of 5

"THE LOST TRACKS OF DANZIG" by Danzig

Around the time the first, self-entitled Danzig album was released in 1988, I was a sophomore in high-school. I'd been hanging out with a bunch of older guys that really gave me my introduction to the type of music that would help to shape my belief system and give me an iron streak of independence.

When I first listened to Danzig on that old cassette tape, I was a bit wary. Certainly, the sexy harmonics combined with the southern crunch drew me in, and I knew from minute one that Glen Danzig's voice was cooler than cool, but it was the subject matter that I was a little hung up on. Brought up on a steady diet of moderate, yet God Fearing Methodist Christianity, songs like "Twist of Cain" and "Possession" held me a bit at bay, and yet, the more I listened to it, the more I realized that the music wasn't as much about Satanism as it was about hypocrisy, inner strength, and power of a personal sort.

Soon, I'd attended a few Danzig shows at the legendary First Ave. in Minneapolis, and I was thoroughly hooked. Danzig became a staple of my music library, and it didn't stop there. Through Danzig, I discovered The Misfits, (yes, I heard one before the other, I'm a pup - leave it alone) and Samhain.

I continued listening to and loving Danzig through his orchestral release, "Black Aria" - it was after this release that Glen lost me a bit. To be fair, by that point I was on to other things in my life, and perhaps the Blacker than Black music didn't speak to me as much as it used to, but at some point Danzig switched to a Nine Inch Nails, industrial sort of thing that I wasn't ready for. I'm sure that Glen was trying to spread his vampyric wings, both to stay current and to stay fresh, but I couldn't stay with it.

Fast forward to the end of 2007, almost 18 years after the initial Danzig release...

"The Lost Tracks of Danzig" is a remastering of 26 tracks that didn't quite make it on earlier Danzig albums for a variety of reasons. Usually when an artist puts out something like this, it means that they've exhausted their creativity and are looking for an easy way to get something else on the shelves. Thankfully, that's not the case with this project. There are several tunes on this album that not only rival, but in some cases top the tracks from the albums they might have been on. There are songs here that hearken back to those laid back harmonics, driving drums, killer crunch, and baritone growls that made tunes like "Am I Demon", "Her Black Wings", and "Long Way Back From Hell" such classics.

Some of the highlights for me on this collection include:

"Pain is Like an Animal" opens the project, and all of a sudden I'm fifteen again, listening to why I was drawn to Danzig so hard in the first place.

Glen's ability to measure out multiple tempos through a single overarching melody really shines through on "You Should be Dying". Lots of great guitar work in this one.

The note progression of "Satan's Crucifiction" reminds me of a slowed-down Misfits mentality. The over the top lyrics and killer 'down punched' chorus rhythm make the tune.

"The Mandrake's Cry" is one of my favorites on the album. Just a great rhythm and awesome lyrics.

"Come to Silver" is a stripped down 'man and his guitar' tune originally written for Cash. Unfortunately, the original Man in Black never got a chance to record it, but Glen does a great job with it here.

One of the tracks that was probably written later in Danzig's development, assumed by the lighter layering of the guitar and the nu-metal distortion, and yet completely and totally saved by Glen's vocals is "I Know Your Lie" - love it.

"Caught in my Eye" is one of the cover tunes on the collection. Originally a Germs tune, this cover works great, with a rattling guitar hiss at the ends of each of the major lick.

"Cat People" is David Bowie meets Glen Danzig... and it's fantastic. The all-encompassing opening gives over to an uber-metal finish.

"Soul Eater" is hands down the best tune on the collection, and possibly my favorite Danzig tune to date. I need, need, need, need to see this song live.

The above tracks are the ones that have really spoken to me after only a few listens to "The Lost Tracks of Danzig", but the collection as a whole is real treat to any fan of Danzig or straight up heavy rock.

Rated: 4.5 out of 5

"FRAGILE THINGS" by Neil Gaiman

In the introduction to the story called "Sunbird", Neil writes about a R.A. Lafferty, describing Lafferty's stories as 'unclassifiable and odd and imitable'.

The same could - and should - be said about Neil Gaiman.

"Fragile Things" is Gaiman's second collection of short fiction. How do you describe these stories? Perhaps 'fantasy' would cover it all, but certainly not sufficiently. 'Speculative' is really the only label you can hang on each story and poem... and yet, each piece is so much more than just speculative. There's a heartbeat to Gaiman's work that for my money is unmatched in contemporary literature. There's an intimacy, especially with his short work, that seems to put the reader at ease even when the topic is unsettling. I believe I've written in the past about what I think of as Gaiman's 'conversational' prose - it sounds corny, but when you read stories like these, you honestly feel like he's right there next to you, making sure you hear every enunciation.

Some of the highlights of this collection for me, personally, were "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire" (which you don't have to be a writer to appreciate but it certainly helps), "Closing Time" (because I frequented taverns like that in my younger years and it was all very familiar), "The Problem of Susan" (because I've always wondered what became of her as well), "Instructions" (I wish very much that I had written that...), "How do you Think it Feels?" (this one... I don't know. I'm not sure I want to get too comfortable with why I liked it), "My Life" (reminds me of a Tom Waits song... something about dancing lessons.... maybe?), "Feeders and Eaters" (creeped me out), "The Day the Saucers Came" (all that's good and whimsical), "The Monarch of the Glen" (more Shadow, more Mr. Smith, more Mr. Alice - yay).

Just good, great stuff. The introductions to each piece give you some insight as to why, how, and where they were written. They let you ride shotgun with Neil's imagination, and that's a mighty fine place to be. As an aside, I put off reading each introduction until after I'd read the story they pertained to. I guess I'm a bit of a freakozoid about avoiding spoilers... to an extent.

A whiz-bang of a book. Absolutely wonderful.

Check out Neil Gaiman's website here.

Rated: 5 out of 5