Sidebar Comics Art Pop Culture Podcasts on Publish Now

Ep. 72: The Incredible Shrinking Medium

Tue November 04 2008

Ep. 71: Comics, Craft and Keeping It Real with Smallville Actor PHIL MORRIS

Mon October 20 2008

Ep. 70: NEVILLE PAGE Breaks Down Cloverfield, Avatar and Watchmen (not really, but hey...we tried)

Sat October 11 2008

OK, don't let this guy fool you. Yes, he's talented. Yes, he's a kick-ass concept artist. And yes, he's quite humble about all of those things. But he... read more

OK, don't let this guy fool you. Yes, he's talented. Yes, he's a kick-ass concept artist. And yes, he's quite humble about all of those things. But he's tellin' tales out of school when he says he's not funnyâthat's a lie! In his bio, he confesses to having done stand-up before and we're not surprised. He was a hoot and we had the best time with him! Alright, on to more serious matters... Cloverfield and the upcoming Avatar, Watchmen, Star Trek, Tron and Piranha 3-D all have one thing in commonâconcept designer and artist, Neville Page. Neville is another in a long line of talented folks my bud Dwight keeps finding and bringing to the SiDEBAR mics. And I'm not mad at him for doing so! Most people don't know who the designers are on films (or anything else for that matter) because designers almost never get the spotlight. Almost. Today, that's gonna change, especially for one Mr. Page. I won't spoil much here about his background 'cause frankly, it's too interesting. You definitely need to listen to the show though to get the fullness therein (trust!). Let's just say his life as a regular guyâwas hardly regular! He was born in Great Britain, grew up in Chicago, moved to California as a teen, and spent a few years pursuing a whole other career in the entertainment biz (OK, I can't hold back...go here). After a few years of waiting tables, Neville realized this other career pursuit wasn't working out and enrolled at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. It was there he met his best friend and future business partner, Scott Robertson. They struck a bond and after graduation, started a consultancy firm together. They also started teaching at Art Center and both still do to this day. Our interview with this guy is full of laughs and mad cool stories. I mean, stuff like being in the Swiss Riviera and discovering a school for girls right down the road. Getting off the phone with James Cameron while driving to a meeting in Hollywood about Cloverfield. Names like J. J. Abrams, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana and Ralph McQuarrie popping up everywhere. And let's not forget the lovely Zoe Saldana (...sorry, I couldn't resist). We wanna thank Neville for bringing not only his perspective and insights to the show, but also his good humor. He was awesome! **The title of this interview is a reference to all those pesky Non-Disclosure Agreements (bah!). And in honor of Neville's R&B past, we played some of DeBarge's "I Like It". read less

Ep. 69: Labor of Love - CATHY & ARNIE FENNER on Spectrum, 15 and the Making of a Fantastic Art Series

Sun October 05 2008

Love is a great word to apply to our conversation with Cathy and Arnie Fenner, the dynamic duo that brings you Spectrum. Here's why. We love Spectrum.... read more

Love is a great word to apply to our conversation with Cathy and Arnie Fenner, the dynamic duo that brings you Spectrum. Here's why. We love Spectrum. Cathy and Arnie love doing the series. We loved talking to them about doing it. They, we're quite sure, love each other! We could go on and on with this brilliance, but the real point to be made isâthey love art. A lot. And their passion and commitment to it will once again be shared with all in the latest installment of Spectrumâ15! When the Fenners first got the idea to do the book back in the early '90s, there wasn't a very high esteem for fantastic art and illustration. One might even say a fantasy artist was the bastard child of the art family. And that's a real shame. Think about how much great art in the past was never given its due because some snooty art director or editor didn't like fairies and magic. Oh well, it's clear lots of people like 'em now (see: Harry Potter, see: Lord of the Rings, see: Pirates of the Caribbean, see...). Over the years, the Spectrum books have gotten bigger, the categories more varied and the content more spectacular! I think it's fair to say Spectrum is "the" place to showcase your work if you wanna be amongst the best. And the cool part about that is, anyone can get in. Well...provided the jury selects you. But the goal of the series is to feature the work first, not your resume. Be ye novice or seasoned pro, everyone can submit. Of course, the cream will always rise to the top, as they say. In our conversation with 'em, we also touch on the Fenners background and some of their other ventures. They've put together books on some of the greatest artists of our timeâFrank Frazetta, Robert McGinnis, Jeff Jones, Jon Foster. The work in progress we're waiting impatiently for is Brush with Passion, a tome dedicated to the life and work of the late Dave Stevens. I believe this one was started before Dave died and I'm sure it'll be a poignant punctuation on his stellar career. What an awesome artist... To quote a good friend of ours, "Cathy and Arnie are some of my favorite peeps". Dwight and I couldn't agree more. They were warm, friendly, informative, funny and excited. Excited about art and illustration and all of the wonder there in. We count ourselves fortunate to have had them on the show, and also, to have them as new friends. Thanks, folksâhere's to next year and 16! http://www.spectrumfantasticart.com/ read less

Ep. 68: Back for the First Time...RAGNAR!

Sun September 28 2008

The title of this interview is a reference to the man's first appearance on the show last yearâan episode we lost! The audio crashed, the back-u... read more

The title of this interview is a reference to the man's first appearance on the show last yearâan episode we lost! The audio crashed, the back-up was never found, it was ugly... But hey, today we've been given a second chance at greatness and greatness we deliver! Ragnar is not only one of our favorite creators, he's also one of our favorite people. A wonderfully knowledgeable guy, a student of his craft, a committed family man and often seen wearing...what? The colors in his palette! Do tell! Plus, he's just a super nice guy. His response to the aforementioned lost episode was, "No worries, I understand completely" (and just so you know, we were worried as hell). To us, as long as Steranko and Prince aren't in the room, he's the coolest guy around with one name. We met him in person for the first time at this year's ACE and for the convention, he brought with him a mucho smaller version of his Comic-Con set-up. It was all really quite neat. Books, prints, mugs, chimps, skate decksâagain, just neat stuff. He sat in on about three panels that weekend and we thoroughly enjoyed his presence as a guest. Now, the work. Ragnar's done tons of work in animation, but will tell you himself that a good bit of it, you may never see. His clients over the years have included companies like Warner Bros, Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. However, with the nature of animation and the film business in general, projects often start off one way and end up somewhere else by the time they finally come out. And that's especially true for Development, which is the area he's contributed to the most. What you can see though and plenty of it, are his own creations! Books like Chromaphile, Vernaculis, Kings of the Road and the newly released Symptomatica! All of them fantastic and all get the high SiDEBAR Seal-of-Approval (which means dick, but go buy 'em anyway, they're hot)! Our conversation stays pretty loose with Ragnar since we all sorta know each other, but we do get to some key items. Big City being one, Symptomatica being another, and the latters being his upcoming all-ages book and where he got his name. Beyond that, the rest is just fillerâbut it's some damn good filler (ha)! **For this episode, we played a snippet of Dead Kennedys "California Uber Alles" in honor of Dwight's timely reference. http://www.littlecartoons.com/ http://symptomatica.blogspot.com/ read less