Ray Bradbury dead at 91

One of the greatest short story writers the world has ever known, Ray Bradbury, has passed away at the age of 91. He was one of my favorite writers from the time I was 10 years old, and he remains one of my favorite writers to this day.

Bradbury wrote over 600 short stories and 27 novels over the course of his career. Meeting him in 1980 was a thrill for me... such a thrill that I stupidly forgot to ask for his autograph. His writings were a major part of my wanting to become a writer, and I still re-read "Something Wicked This Way Comes" every year in October.

I also love the fact that I had an article in the same issue of "Amazing Stories" as one of Ray Bradbury's short stories (issue #601).

My respect for him as a writer never wavered, and my respect for him as a man grew ten-fold when it became apparent to me that he was dismissive of the politically correct crap that has crept into every aspect of life... and that he wasn't afraid to stand up and call bullshit on hacks like Michael Moore and other phony champions of "little people."

Another one of the greats has left us... but his stories are still there for all of us to read and enjoy. If you haven't already, I encourage you to get to know the works of Ray Bradbury.

Ernie Chan (aka Ernie Chua) dead at 71

This is the second favorite artist of mine to pass away this month. May is starting to suck.

Ernie Chan is best know to comic book readers as a frequent inker of John Buscema on Marvel's Conan. In fact, Chan's style so meshed with Buscema's that when he drew Conan solo, it was hard to tell that Busceme wasn't there in the background.

Chan (drawing as "Ernie Chua") also produced many, many images that readers of DC Comics in the mid-70s probably remember. Between the years of 1975 and 1977, Chua was DC's main cover artist and he drew hundreds of covers, each one as eye-catching and graphically pleasing as the one before.

Chan retired from comics in 2002, but here is a recent painting he did:

Chan passed away on May 16, 2012.

Jean Giraud dead at 73

Artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud has succumbed to illness at the age of 73.

Giraud was perhaps most famous for drawing sci-fi series like "The Inkal" and "The Airtight Garage", but I was most fond of his work on the "Blueberry" graphic novels. They remain some of the greatest western comics to ever be published.

Even people who don't know who he was have probably had their lives influenced by his artwork, as he also worked as a concept artist on many widely known sci-fi and fantasy movies, including "Willow", "Alien", and "Tron".

Bad news, good news....

The day started out with the sad news that one of the true modern-day champions of free speech, website operator and author Andrew Breitbart, collapsed last night and passed away early Monday morning of an as-of-this-writing unknown cause. Love his work or hate it--me, I'm a big fan of Breitbart.com employee and Big Hollywood editor John Nolte, and an admirer of what Breitbart accomplished over all. His death is a great loss for those of us who despise speech codes, political correctness, and the media serving the bidding of the White House and other government institutions instead of fulfilling its role as watchdog. (That's not to say Breitbart is perfect... but his outlets didn't pretend to be hard news, unlike what you get from ABC. ABC who wants us to believe they do unbiased reporting with a group of random Americans in a townhall broadcast from the White House.)

The GOOD NEWS is that televison, the opiate of the masses with ease our pain and loss. PSYCH returns to the USA Network tonight, March 1, with new episodes!