Ranson Notes: The Astonishing Artwork of 2000 AD’s Arthur Ranson

It’s said that a movie is made three times: once through a script, once on set, and finally in the…
John Schlesinger’s 1969 classic Midnight Cowboy is one of those films that linger around our minds, that we get a sentimental…
Workprints, rough versions of films before the editing process kicks in and trims out all…
Tony Curtis had to fight really hard to get the role of Falco in Alexander Mackendrick's 'Sweet Smell of Success' …
Carol Reed’s 'The Third Man' might just be as visually stimulating as classic films get….
He paints with people, Jake Gyllenhaal said of David Fincher after the two had worked together on Zodiac. “It’s tough…
Confidently riding the waves generated by his highly successful satirical black comedy M*A*S*H, Robert Altman easily secured a directing job…
It’s difficult to think of a horror film that caused so much controversy and polarized the audience to this degree…
People often exaggerate when they talk about films. They get carried away, leaving the cinema emotionally stirred and too impressed to ...
The Coen brothers’ critically acclaimed Miller’s Crossing can be easily studied in two distinct ways. Firstly, it’s one hell of…
Ho Che Anderson's powerful essay on the murder of George Floyd. "Wer're tired. Tired of the fear. Tired of the anger. Tired of dying..."
Writer and critic Tiffany Babb explores the duality of comic creator Gene Luen Yang's style of storytelling
Writer and critic Tiffany Babb discusses class disruption and uncommon themes of police procedurals in the 1970s hit show 'Columbo'
An exploration of the independent mavericks, HandMade Films, that gave us some of the most iconic British crime films of the 1970s and 1980s.
The night of November 2nd, 1998. The El Cadiz Apartments, Los Angeles. Thief-turned-writer Eddie Little is worried sick; he’s convinced he can hear a ...
"You could say Mike Sager stumbled into journalism as a way to save his ass."—Alex Belth introduces the bestselling author and award-winning journalist.
"It's a port city." It's not an opening as famous as, "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel," but it's an equally
What would YOU do on a desert island?...
"Wake up and smell the burning corpses of your dreams, pal."
Howard Chaykin digs into the deep-seeded influences that fuel Scott Phillips' suburban noir stories.
Howard Chaykin pries into the secrets behind the legendary art of Neal Adams
UN UOMO UN’AVVENTURA loosely translates as A MAN AN ADVENTURE. If we wanted to move past the literal, we might change...
An essay celebration of renowned sci-fi artist Richard Powers and the surrealist wonder of the fFlar universe.
Anyone who has had an interest in heroic fantasy in the 1970s -1980s would surely recognize the name of Stephen Fabian ...
When James Cameron made The Terminator in 1984, he included as a sort of nod to his own reference points in making the film a nightclub named ‘Tech Noir.’
“Believe Everything Except Your Eyes.” This arguably meaningless phrase was one of five similarly-themed taglines concocted to promote Brian De Palma’s ...
In 1985, famed screenwriter and novelist William Goldman released his novel 'Heat', introducing the world to Nick Escalante, Nevada’s only freelance...
In 1942, horror movie audiences were treated to what with some historical hindsight now seems clear as one of the greatest horror movies ever made...
Burt Lancaster is one of the greatest actors to ever appear in films, but he didn’t hold all his work in high esteem. He is said to have looked down...
What does it take for an audience to identify with an action movie hero? There are some generally accepted tricks of the trade that probably go back...
In 1978, an actor named Harrison Ford was getting his first real taste of movie stardom. He had just portrayed intergalactic smuggler Han Solo in George...
It was never going to last that long. Golden ages rarely do. But for a while there in the 1970s that’s what we had.
Here’s an elevator pitch. You’re you, right? You are who you are, doing the stuff you do. But let’s say there’s another you out there, an exact double...
When you’re a teenager, there’s nothing like discovering a new writer or a new movie director – new to you, that is.
Cinematographer Karim Hussain csc's appreciation of the Louma Crane
Avery Kaplan explores seven female genre fiction authors and their varying motivations for adopting a male pseudonym.
From Aleister Crowley to the Gorillaz, writer Avery Kaplan explores the ways that numerology has influenced culture across the centuries.
Writer and comic creator Adam Knave discusses the evolution and importance of familial bonds in the Bill and Ted movie franchise.
Photographer and director Neil Krug takes a personal look at the work of Academy award-winning director Elio Petri
Acclaimed cartoonist Benjamin Marra introduces a gallery of Bill Sienkiewicz's Conan illustrations.
I remember distinctly when I first saw Bisley's work. It was the cover of the first issue of the Lobo...
When I think of Will Eisner the first thing that comes to mind is not watercolor paintings. The first thing is heavy black-and-white drawings, deep dark...
A Bill Sienkiewicz portfolio: The Shadow, introduced by Benjamin Marra. "I'm not sure what the exact sequencing of these images is, or what order...
From Men's Magazines to Marvel, the Curtis Magazine covers of Earl Norem
There's a lot of artwork for Dune out there that's been done since the book was published. A lot...
I had the Transformers Big Looker Storybook "The Battle for Cybertron" when I was a kid. Norem's paintings...
I'm not sure if these Swamp Thing images by Gulacy work if I don't know it's Gulacy who did them...
Every time I look at images of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents I wonder why they weren't a bigger...
I'm not familiar with John Pound's work. It is staggeringly good though. It's got the right level of...
Before Black Widow was humanized on screen in the MCU Gulacy did it here with this portfolio. She's not a...
I had an illustration professor who said book publishers back in the day believed they could...
I didn't know that Ken Kelly was Frank Frazetta's nephew until I started researching his work in earnest a...
Fabian's forms are lyrical in their own sense. The curves are like the language...
Like a lot of fans, I often lament Steranko's truncated comics career. It's clear he had bigger ambitions than...
When I first saw Paul Gulacy's work I hated it. I think it was the Terminator: Secondary Objectives series he penciled...
Pulp art doesn’t get much better than Ken Barr’s work. Though his rendering of form is very much in the vein of naturalism, his color palette...
These covers by Bill Sienkiewicz are a good chronology of his artistic development through the 80s and 90s...
The history of comics pivots on the career of Neal Adams. He ushered an era of naturalism illustration to comic books. It had...
The thing that I love the most about Joe Kubert’s art is the speed with which it looks like it was made. Each mark embodies...
Horror was an Italian comics magazine that was a contemporary of the Warren publications in the U.S. These covers are decidedly Italian feel to me.
When I look at Kaluta's artwork for comic book covers the thing that always strikes me is that the work doesn't...
Chloe Maveal provides a comparative look into Judge Dredd as a predictor of unchecked contemporary police brutality.
Chloe Maveal sits down with artist Jim Mahfood for an interview about his career, cultural influences, and 'Sorcerers'.
A retrospective interview with award-winning science fiction author David Gerrold
An explanation behind the delightfully unlikely origins of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Saga
An analysis of the themes surrounding gender, sexuality, nature, and enlightenment in Alejandro Jodorowsky's seminal 1973 film, The Holy Mountain.
A gallery and brief overview of Joe Kubert’s seminal message “Make War No More” found in DC’s War Comics of the 1960’s and 70’s.
Artist and writer Nick Abadzis sits down to rehash the beginnings of both his career and his highly under-recognized British comic strip, Hugo Tate.
With today marking 30 amazing years of the Judge Dredd Megazine, it's time to look back and appreciate the never-were publications that made that possible.
With an artistic experience spanning the spa between cartoons and comics and everywhere in between, Alex Toth's career is certainly nothing to scoff at!
An interview and career retrospective with acclaimed storyteller and artist Dave McKean.
An appreciation for Rebellion Publishing's mistress of horror comics: Shirley Bellwood.
With Italian horror having slipped through the cracks for many comic fans, it's time to get introduced to the absurd and ghoulishly fantastic Dylan Dog.
A look into the history behind lesbian and bisexual themes in mid-century pulp fiction paperbacks.
With Halloween just around the corner, there is no better time to pay homage to the master of horror manga: Junji Ito
An essay exploring the ways in which the Alien movie franchise exposes the horrors of the working class.
Remarkably proper and even more horrifying, the comics of creator Emily Carroll are here to deliver only the most stylized of Halloween scares.
With Halloween just around the corner, NeoText explores the versatility, humor, and perfectly grotesque visuals of British horror comics.
Exploring the ever-green and ever-perky sexploitative pulp art of Italian comics artist Emanuele Taglietti.
When it comes to the best "Walking Dead" title, there's no doubt that Lester Fenton and the Walking Dead by Kyle Baker takes the cake!
A boldly satisfying combination of chaotic line work and velvety paints, artist Simon Bisley has been reinventing comic art for decades.
In honor of Veteran's Day, NeoText takes a look back at the influence and evolution of American war comics throughout the century.
For an entire generation of comic readers, few things are as weird, touching, and satisfying as the art and storytelling of Sam Kieth.
With his new novel XX on the shelves now, NeoText sits down to appreciate the eclectic career of designer and novelist Rian Hughes.
An appreciation of the late Judge Dredd co-creator and all-around art legend Carlos Ezquerra.
Sonny and Biddy, the incredible designers behind the team of We Buy Your Kids, sit down with NeoText.
Kent Williams is a name that has become synonymous with 'Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown', but for many readers there's a whole new world of art to explore..
NeoText discusses the impact and legacy of the late Heavy Metal artist and legendary creator Richard Corben
You can keep your White Christmas and Holiday Inn!
From 'The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl' to 'Dracula, MotherF**ker!', comic artist Erica Henderson is certainly a force to be celebrated.
A reflection of Hugo Pratt's cartooning career on the 75th anniversary of his first comics, Asso di Picche
With pin up models donning the shortest version of the jolly red suit for over 100 years, it's time to ask some questions and offer a hearty thank you
With 2020 coming to a close, it's time to take a look back on this year and pay homage to the incredible creators we've lost along the way.
A retrospective on the laid back and exceptionally classic art of Darwyn Cooke.
Honoring the memory of artist Steve Lightle, who's art defined superheroes for an entire generation.
Exploring the links between Tove Jansson's life and as queer woman and the themes of her comic, The Moomins.
Despite a reputation of emotionally intense titles, Watchmen creator Alan Moore's career is far funnier than audiences give him credit for
With comic book movies in high demand by audiences, perhaps the best one to date isn't a comic book at all, but instead, Mad Max: Fury Road.
An interview with the incomparable comics creator Eddie Campbell.
Part two of NeoText's interview with the incomparable comics creator Eddie Campbell.
An appreciation of the extensive and incredibly beautiful career of artist Denys Cowan.
With many children's comics available across the market, few tap into the joyful mind of a child like Kiyohiko Azuma's Yotsuba&!
Before his iconic work with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, John Romita Sr. was breaking hearts in romance comics!
While the genre officially died in the 1970s, romance comics are back and have evolved to be stronger than ever.
The early years of Marvel Comics saw some of the best lettering comics has ever seen. It's time to give credit to the men behind the sound effects.
Writer, inker, colorist, and penciller Colleen Doran has set the comics world on fire for decades..and it's time more people knew her name.
A glimpse into the story behind history's dirtiest comic books
Before Warner Bros. decided to take a chance and hire him to make The Wild Bunch, the classic revisionist western that would completely revitalize his ...
Having heard his friend complain about her boyfriend for what seemed to be a hundredth time,…
Sven Mikulec When it comes to filmmakers who are, among other things, distinguished for their strong and passionate connection…
In 1984, one film confidently rode through Cannes, sweeping prizes from all three juries at the most respected film festival in the world. Wim Wenders’ ...
The most personal of all films in Francis Ford Coppola’s repertoire was born between two big projects that helped Coppola gain the reputation he enjoys ...
What excited the general public and outraged horrified television moguls as a razor-sharp satire in 1976, a film promoted as outrageous, hasn’t lost its...
In 1997, an ambitious 26-year-old called Paul Thomas Anderson made Boogie Nights, his sophomore directing effort…
If you were to compile a list of the most impressive and exhilarating car chases in the history of the motion pictures, it’s more than likely that one ...
Published in January 1973, George V. Higgins’ crime novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle was well received by critics and the public, featuring a story ...
After a string of successes on television, having made a name for himself on projects such as Starsky and Hutch> and Police Story, Michael Mann ...
Trying to catch a break from all the Star Wars hype, in the spring of 1977, George Lucas was resting on a Hawaiian beach, building sand castles with ...
Jean-Pierre Melville: Life and Work of a Groundbreaking Filmmaking Poet by Sven Mikulec
The beginning of Minority Report, Steven Spielberg’s thrilling sci-fi noir from 2002, is closely connected to another science fiction classic...
As the final shot of Chris Marker’s iconic 'La Jetée' faded to black, screenwriter Janet Peoples turned to her husband and writing partner David ...
Sven Mikulec looks at the history and legacy of Alan Parker's 'Angel Heart'
That is no country for old men. The young In one another’s arms, birds in the trees...
Having experienced his screenwriting debut with Hickey & Boggs in 1972, Walter Hill went on to pen several...
At the beginning of the seventies, American filmmaker William Friedkin made two everlasting...
A contemporary American renaissance man, David Mamet has had an incredibly rich and fulfilling career spanning...
The story of filmmaker Phil Joanou’s breakthrough in the movie business is basically a pitch-perfect...
Following his great artistic and financial triumph, 'A Woman Under the Influence', the iconic American independent filmmaker John Cassavetes...
The interaction between and among human beings is the only story worth telling.
Writer and scholar Annabel Paulsen explores the inherently queer themes of honky tonk music in the 1985 lesbian classic film Desert Hearts.
This story has to be on a big canvas. There’s no sense in my getting Bob De Niro and Joe Pesci and making a 90-minute picture about only one aspect ...
"I came to it because of Ellroy. When I read ‘L.A. Confidential,’ I just got hooked on the characters, got caught up emotionally in their individual...
Brazil is the demented, surreal flip-side of George Orwell’s dystopian warning—"1984 1/2" was director Terry Gilliam’s originally…
As far back as I can remember, director Martin Scorsese has been synonymous with wiseguys, mooks, goombahs, and spin-on-a-dime funny-how guys delivering...
Forty-five years after its powerful debut, and with all the attendant publicity, analysis and second-hand knowledge, from satire to theological debate,…
Twenty-one years on, David Fincher’s The Game (1997) has come to be seen as a prescient, schadenfreude look at the gulf between us and the “one ...
You think I’m crazy? You call me crazy, you think I’m crazy? You wanna see crazy?…
After the success of 'Raising Arizona', Joel and Ethan Coen were given the chance to do something a little more ambitious, with a budget of somewhere...
Asked by Debbie Lynn Elias of Behind The Lens Online on what compels the director Peter Weir to film such varied stories ...
Few films permeate the gestalt consciousness like Star Wars (“I am your father”, “Use the Force”…
Meanwhile, the mystique of ‘Apocalypse Now’ lives on. The Marine Corps invited me to Camp Pendleton to watch a demonstration of an aerial ...
Tim Pelan examines Mike Hodges's classic 1972 British crime movie, 'Get Carter'
After the success of *The Exorcist,* director William Friedkin teamed up with *The Wild Bunch* screenwriter Walon Green for the groundbreaking *Sorcerer*
Screenwriter David Mamet came up with a Stanislavski quote to describe The Untouchables: “Tragedy is just heightened melodrama.” Brian De Palma, director..
In 1986, Michael Mann’s 'Manhunter' elevated schlock-horror to a thoughtful, stylised, forensically psychological level, introducing the concept of a ...
Michael Mann’s 2006 big screen revamp of 1980s groundbreaking TV show Miami Vice (Brandon Tartikoff, NBC’s entertainment president scribbled “MTV cops” ...
Fractured narrative, skewed perception, compressed timelines—director/writer Christopher Nolan won’t lead his audience in a straight line…
Raging Bull is not your dad’s boxing movie. It’s certainly not a story of conventional redemption or hope overcoming the odds...
Only the amazing reaction that that picture has gotten, because at the time I was dreadfully unhappy with the fact that I was going to be doing another ...
George Lucas’ Star Wars in 1977 led to a boom of hasty space opera knock-offs, but there had always been a dogged...
By the tail end of the 1960s, the Hollywood studio system was in the doldrums. The British film industry...
Multiple award-winning science fiction author and genre scholar Adam Roberts breaks down his ultimate definition of "Science Fiction."
A New Take on a Much Maligned Historical Figure
Writer and critic Gregory Paul Silber explores the Jewish-American influence on the comics industry and ironic lack of Chanukah comics during the holidays
Gregory Paul Silber discusses the deeper themes beyond the Holocaust in Art Spiegelman's seminal comic, 'Maus'.
The legendary director Robert Altman was given an Academy Honorary Award in 2006, “in recognition of a career that has repeatedly reinvented...
Filmmaker Carol Reed, hailed as one of the greatest U.K. directors, became famous in the late 1930s and 1940s with motion pictures such as Night Train ...
Robert Graysmith knew he was a guy on the sidelines of this story. He wanted to be a part of it and he made himself a part of it. He was doing it on his...
The idea originated in a conversation between me and Irving Kirshner. We were talking about espionage, and he said that most people thought the safest ...
A friend of mine, an American painter living in London, had read the book and suggested that I look at it. I read it and thought ‘If I’m going to make a...
Don Siegal's follow up to *Dirty Harry*, an adaptation of John C. Reese's *The Looters,* and a masterclass in character-driven storytelling
Once it opened, everybody kept saying, ‘Oh, what a brilliant satire.’ But Paddy and I always said, ‘This isn’t satire, it’s sheer reportage.’
There’s an old rule among directors that you see a film in its totality about four times. The first is when you really decide you love the story and you...
“I think I was always controversial, provocative. But I can’t help it. I have to go there. It’s my nature. It’s my father’s nature, too..."
“Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."
The stories behind director John Boorman and screenwriter Alexander Jacobs brilliant retelling of Donald Westlake's THE HUNTER
American director and screenwriter Brian de Palma, a leading member of the New Hollywood movement that lasted...
December 5th, 2020 will mark the 40th anniversary of a lavish space opera hitting US theaters and subsequently...
American filmmaker Walter Hill is famous and revered for both his action movies and the fact that he revived the...
Many a movie has been based on prolific writer Stephen King's works of fiction. And while quite a few of...
English director, screenwriter and composer Mike Figgis made his directorial debut in 1988 with Stormy...
The 1980s were an intense decade for Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan. He had made his directorial debut in 1982...
American director and screenwriter Paul Schrader grew up in a strict Calvinist family in Grand Rapids, Michigan...
The year 1990 saw the publication of a non-fiction book entitled Deep Cover: The Inside Story of How DEA Infighting...
During his film career that lasted from 1964 to 1985, Italian filmmaker Fernando Di Leo worked as a director...
The late American director John Frankenheimer began his career when the Cold War was at its peak...
Long-time independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara was never one to pander to the expectations of either critics...
While he was teaching screenwriting at the UCLA Film School, American director and screenwriter Paul Schrader got a character idea during one of his...
A deeper look into the mad genius of the Hong Kong filmmaker, Stephen Chow.
"Writing a novel is, as you know, a demanding job. I guess everyone does the best they can. Maybe. It makes me uncomfortable...."
Rajinikanth is a paunchy and balding 69-year-old man who also happens to be one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He has been making blockbusters...
The rise of the VHS supergiants, PM Entertainment, and their everlasting stamp on the genre of action films
A selection of hip hop album covers done by comic book artists featuring: Wu-Tang, EPMD, Jay-Z, De La Soul, T.I., Kid Cudi, Public Enemy, Pete Rock...
A look into the subversive use of superhero imagery that infiltrates Jean-Michel Basquiat's art.
A deep dive conversation between author Michael Tisserand and Howard Chaykin, whose life and career offer an oral history of American comics.
It might have been the insomnia that sparked it all. Legendary Belgian cartoonist and illustrator François Schuiten recalls that he couldn’t sleep when...
A gallery showcasing the work of Luigi Corteggi, cover artist for a rogue's gallery of Italian comics from the early '60s to the modern era.
In 1976, famed comic and genre paperback artist Roy Krenkel turned his talents toward the myths and monuments of antiquity.
A series of indelibly intricate and eerie paintings by Berni Wrightson, each inspired by the text of a classic Edgar Allan Poe tale
In 1972 a neophyte Spanish media company created a rare platform for artists to explore classic genre imagery with a sophisticated cinematic sensibility.
An Historic Intersection of Pro Art and Fandom in a famed Five-piece Portfolio by Jack Gaughan.
With today marking 40 years of Cronenberg's iconic "Scanners", essayist Kim Winters takes a look at how it has aged in a contemporary digital atmosphere.
Writer and film critic Sean Witzke introduces readers to the glamorously unsettling world of the fashion horror genre.
Writer and critic Sean Witzke discusses the themes of fascism, sexuality, and desire in Bernardo Bertolucci’s iconic 1970 film *The Conformist*
Writer Sean Witzke explores the shared themes of a barren future with Villeneuve's 2017 film 'Blade Runner 2049' and Naoki Urasawa's manga 'Pluto'
TELEPOD 1: STATHIS He watches Her, trembling and nerve-twitched, eyes darting, lips pulled back over protruding…