Ouija
In the fourteenth hour, my arms ached so much I couldn’t stop crying. In the twenty-first, I’m too dehydrated to make tears. The little plastic triangle, the planchette, swirls around the ouija board on its trio of stubby legs. Our [...]
Read MoreBatman (Hearts) Gargoyles
Since Adam is occupied this weekend—Jeni pulled off nature’s greatest trick, and they’re welcoming an amazing treat—I’ve dug suitable Halloween art from his archive. Who better than the dark knight, striking terror in the hearts of a superstitious, cowardly lot? [...]
Read MoreOuija
In the fourteenth hour, my arms ached so much I couldn’t stop crying. In the twenty-first, I’m too dehydrated to [...]
Batman (Hearts) Gargoyles
Since Adam is occupied this weekend—Jeni pulled off nature’s greatest trick, and they’re welcoming an amazing treat—I’ve dug suitable Halloween [...]
Heroine Addict 04: Intro to Modesty
Inauguration of an obsession: A first look at British adventure character Modesty Blaise, an undersung treasure of the thriller genre, [...]
Heroine Addict 03: Tara Chace’s Last Run
Greg Rucka’s latest, and probably final, Tara Chase story is a great read—a tense, taut bit of plotting and pacing. [...]
Q & A & A
Questions, answers and art. Brian decided it’d be more fun to post Adam’s art with forced commentary from the artist. [...]
I-Con Sketches (part two)
And finally, here’s part two of Adam’s adventures at I-Con, sketching for charity. And for people. People who fund charity. [...]
Heroine Addict 02: A Moodier Mystery
After Steig Larsson’s deliberate thrillers, the more organic and emotional writing of fellow Swede Henning Mankell is a marked contrast. [...]
An Early Halloween Treat
With Halloween nigh, here’s a supernatural image resulting from an effort to use a charity to get sketches from Adam. [...]
Dislocated
My girlfriend recently observed that nearly all my stories take place in bars. Maybe I have a fictional drinking problem. [...]
Heroine Addict 01: Details, Details …
Themed Book Reviews! Starting an autumn series about female-centric thrillers! First, the obvious: Steig Larsson’s Girl Who Did Stuff trilogy [...]
Different Drum, Different Context
More thoughts about songs and writing. A peculiar mistake that nearly derails my point, but I’m saved by a Monkee. [...]
Ninja Falcon: A 24-Hour(ish) Comic
Ninja Falcon: Five randomly selected words combined with sleep deprivation to create Adam’s experiment in 24-hour(ish) comics. A pulse-pounding debut! [...]
Smokey Robinson, Storyteller
One of my favorite writers is Smokey Robinson. He doesn’t write novels or screenplays. But for a great short story [...]
A Taste of Autumn
Autumn is here. For Brian, that means the warm, sunny season finally begins in the gloomy Bay Area. In Iowa, [...]
I-Con 2011 Sketches (part one)
On Saturday, I brought paper, pencils, ink, brushes, a light table, a portable dvd player and a bowl for donations. [...]
Sketching Before I-Con: The New JLA
Adam has been emailing me tons of cool sketches as he warms up for I-Con. Recurring theme? The Justice League. [...]
Contagion: Battling the Invisible Villain
I’m remiss in my movie reviewing (new job’s kicking my ass), but two recent films have interested me as challenges [...]
Sketching at I-Con
A comic convention …. a fast (and friendly!) professional artist doing inexpensive sketches … and donating the money to charity. [...]
Funny Vader
So this is how my night went… 6:18 I get a text from Brian that says, ”You should draw Vader screaming [...]
Long Walk to the Big City
Brian: Here’s a monologue I did while working out larger ideas. It came out indebted to a Neil Gaiman comic, [...]
Sketchbook: Improvising Aquagirl
Adam: This was for my cousin Jill. Because she’d just learned to scuba, she requested “Aquagirl.” I’d drawn Aquagirl for [...]
On Writing: Just Do It … But Smartly
Brian: More thoughts on the challenge of writing, and Adam motivating himself to draw outside the scope of paying work. [...]
Witch Aces
Adam: I was looking at the nose art on WW2 airplanes and starting to imagine the art coming to life [...]
Anonymous is on the Global Frequency
I sat in an uncomfortable seat on a packed AC Transit bus in downtown San Francisco, the collective aromas of [...]
Designs for a Superhero Summer
Here’s Adam’s final Summer Superhero poster design. I think he nails why Captain America was the summer’s best superhero movie. [...]
Summer Heroes: Lunch With the CGI Guys
Working on a superhero movie. What could be more fun for the special-effects guys, right? Right? (Look inside for more [...]
Thresholds
“Thresholds” is a five-part writing exercise in which I took a word and crafted five vignettes, roughly 500 words each. [...]
Movie Reviews: Cowboys & Muggles & Geeks
Apart from the superhero flicks this summer, I’ve reviewed a few other blockbuster-flavored movies at Badmouth.net. Super 8 uber alles! [...]
Man of Steel Goes Gray
The world has seen the new costume for Henry Cavill’s turn as Superman. Adam offers his take on the duds. [...]
Summer Superhero Scorecard
Adam and Brian take on the Summer 2011 superhero movies. Artist vs. Writer! Good-hearted joe vs. wise-ass cynic! Spoiler alert: [...]
Suck, Daily.
Here’s some writing advice I took to heart (but have executed inconsistently). It’s a quote from comics writer Matt Fraction. [...]
Devil in the Details
Back in 2008, Adam was doing some sketches for charity. I got this sweet Hellboy/Madame Xanadu piece out of it. [...]
Secret Origin
Hey there. This is the introductory post to Literary Sketches. I’m Brian. Adam is the one who draws awesome stuff. [...]

