NIGHT BUSINESS received a blog post over at the official Revival House Press blog, known as Fascination Street. Thanks to them. I really dig it when folks get what NIGHT BUSINESS is all about:... [NIGHT BUSINESS is] a throwback to the media produced in good 'ole 1980's pre-Guiliani NYC. I'm talking films like Lucio Fulci's "Night Ripper" or William Lustig's "Maniac." As pastiche, Benjamin Marra's "Night Business" is violent and fun, complimented by the antiseptic drawing that really reinforces its ties to the deluge of black and white independent comics of the era. Even minor details, like the cheap paper stock of the book are represented ...Check out the full post here, which also includes the trailer for Lucio Fulci's "The New York Ripper," which, I confess, I have not seen yet despite repeated recommendations from NIGHT BUSINESS readers.
Drawing a good figure doesn’t make you a good artist. I can name you ten men, right off the bat, who draw better than I do. But I don’t think their work gets as much response as mine. I can’t think of a better man to draw Dick Tracy than Chester Gould, who certainly is no match for Leonardo Da Vinci. But Chester Gould told the story of Dick Tracy. He told the story of Dick Tracy the way it should have been told. No other guy could have done it. It’s not in the draftsmanship, it’s in the man.
Like I say, a tool is dead. A brush is a dead object. It’s in the man.
If you want to do, you do it. If you think a man draws the type of hands that you want to draw, steal ‘em. Take those hands.
The only thing I can say is: Caniff was my teacher, Alex Raymond was my teacher, even the guy who drew Toonerville Trolley was my teacher. Whatever he had stimulated me in some way. And I think that’s all you need. You need that stimulation. Stimulation to make you an individual. And the draftsmanship, hang it. If you can decently: learn to control what you can, learn to control what you have, learn to refine what you have. Damn perfection. You don’t have to be perfect. You are never going to do a Sistine Chapel, unless someone ties you to a ceiling. Damn perfection.
All a man has in this field is pressure. And I think the pressure supplies a stimulation. You have your own stresses, that will supply your own stimulation. If you want to do it, you’ll do it. And you’ll do it anyway you can.
There's always a couple of comics that bubble up out of nowhere, comics that come bearing descriptions they seem incapable of living up to. Night Business & Gangsta Rap Posse--both the product of Benjamin Marra and his Traditional Comics publishing house--were those two. Could a Skinemax movie delivered in pure Paul Gulacy style really be that good? Did the comics landscape really need to see what would happen inside the wet dreams of an N.W.A. fan? That's what I was asking myself before I read them. Afterwards, all I wanted to know was why the hell these comics weren't being published on the sides of an army of blimps, all of which were hovering over every wi-fi capable coffeehouse in the country. This is how all contemporary fiction should read.Reading those words felt like a mug of hot chocolate being dumped right over my heart while wearing a pair of very supportive briefs. Thank you very much, Mr. Stone. By the by, you can check out more of Tucker Stone's (and friend's) reviews and ideas on many things at his blog The Factual Opinion right here. And the other entries of his column, This Ship is Totally Sinking, right here.
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