A Very Harryhausen Halloween: Part 5

This is Trog, the troglodyte who befriends Sinbad in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Trog dies heroically at the fangs of a saber tooth tiger – which goes to show palling around with Sinbad is always a bad idea.

A Very Harryhausen Halloween: Part 1

Ray Harryhausen was the master of stop-motion animation. As a kid, I was enthralled by his creatures in movies such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Clash of the Titans. This week, leading up to All Hallow's Eve, I'm channeling my inner child and revisiting my favorite Harryhausen creations.

First up is the iconic Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

She's Creepy and She's Kookey

Back in October it seemed every theater in New England was staging The Addams Family musical. My wife and I saw 2 different productions in 2 weeks (it's a long story). Jennifer Fogarty, the actress that played Wednesday Addams at the Ogunquit Playhouse, was especially kookey and her stare was downright ookey.


AMAWIO! Week Four: Bygone Zygons

I was into Doctor Who way before it was cool to be into Doctor Who.

When I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than a robot dog and stupidly long scarf.

I discovered Doctor Who when Tom Baker was playing the time-traveling Time Lord. Baker was goofy cool in the role. He was witty, brilliant and sardonic – and the bulging eyes and wild curls (not to mention the ridiculous scarf) made him a charming clown of a hero.

But of course there's no Doctor Who without aliens and monsters. Cybermen, Daleks, Ice Warriors, Sontarans, Silurians, Sea Devils – the universe of Doctor Who was endlessly fascinating for me as a kid. Though I haven't really kept up with the Doctor Who series revival, I'm happy to see it's back and more popular than ever.

For A Monster a Week in October (AMAWIO) I've drawn two of my favorite characters first introduced in the Tom Baker years: Broton the Zygon and Davros the creator of the Daleks. When I set out on AMAWIO, I hoped to recapture some of my youthful enthusiasm for drawing. I've enjoyed all the monsters I've drawn this month but working on these two was deeply gratifying!

AMAWIO! Week Three – Missing: Wynter

A Monster a Week in October continues with this illustration inspired by Missing: Wynter, a new musical that premiered here in Portsmouth at The Player's Ring.

The show is a musical allegory about a young girl who disappears without a trace, never to be seen again and her father’s struggle to find her, and ultimately, himself.

Billy Butler wrote the music and lyrics; he's an actor, director, and writer originally from Portsmouth. He wrote music and lyrics for Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which was a top selection in the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival.