In the late eighties comics evolved from pen and ink drawing to full blown painted illustration blowing the mind of impressionable readers. One of the greats at this effort was British artist Simon Bisley who transformed: the ABC Warriors; Slaine with his Hornéd God series; Dredd & Batman graphic novel; Lobo; and this one from 1992’s Dredd Megazine. a combination of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta; secessionists Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele; and Marvel Comic artist Bill Sienkiewicz.
Best boot forward on this long legged cycle as it hoofs along a green verged highway under blue skies. Enjoy your weekend folks!
Brains and Beauty: that could only be actress, inventor and film producer Hedy Lamarr. Here’s a publicity shot for Samson & Delilah with a photoshopped Triumph chopper. Somehow it actually looks the part. Now let’s discuss her paper on Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum and its use to prevent jamming of guided torpedoes…
– The penmanship of Mort Drucker who died yesterday aged 91 filled the magazine MAD with his satirical caricatures. He covered a plethora of icons both real and fictional for five decades. Here is his turn of Easy Rider.
– We just finished watching season nine of The Walking Dead. The bad guy you love to hate, Negan, played with a constant Cheshire Cat grin by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is here seen sitting on Daryl’s first Triumph engined chopper from the show.
“Right Turn Clyde” – a lazy Saturday afternoon film from the late seventies: Any which way but loose. A Clint Eastwood adventure about as deep as a dried up creek. The Black Widows biker gang haul around on a variety of choppers including a long legged Triumph ridden by horned Dallas.
The Doctor | Jodie Whittaker returns as the Time Lord from Gallifrey in the latest season of chronological shenanigans. The trailer sees her racing through a vineyard on a large bike. A far cry from the temperamental Tardis.
“A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.” – The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) The Time Warrior (1973)
Cover Art | nice illustration of one of the main characters from The Walking Dead. Occasional blank front pages of the graphic periodical inspire readers to add their own comic art. A good representation of Daryl Dixon’s Triumph chopper.
Ride: I brush my teeth, I dry my hair
I put on skimpy underwear
And I ride
To hell and back
Yeah I ride
Carving up the nation..
Comic song by the late and everso great Kirsty MacColl for a comic piece on French & Saunders. In the video Dawn & Jen are riding choppers through a dreary English countryside- well they’re actually on the bikes which are strapped on a trailer. Kirsty would have been 60 today.
Chopper Ink | long legged forks with fiery exhaust fan and overhead ape hangers. This gnarly bearded biker dude is ripping through the graveyard of American twins.
Motoblot | The annual pilgrimage to Chicago’s main open air motorcycle gathering was had today. Weather cooperated after stormy forecasts. Plenty to look at amongst the offering. The KZ900 in sparkly brown and oranges was a notable example; as was a display of the Danish in-line 4 workpony’s Nimbus.
‘Zines | Whatever your interest there is a magazine for it. And, in the specialist topic of motorcycling, there are sub genres covering everything from custom, classic/vintage, off road, on road, Day-to-day riding, travel & adventure. We have a great magazine store in Evanston with a great selection.
Kustom Kat |For over five decades the custom motorcycle scene has been dominated by one name Arlen Ness. He passed away over the weekend leaving a void in the genre. Taking the laid-back Californian attitude and rebuilding bikes into crazy vestiges of their former self he would use mostly Harley Davidson’s to create multitudes of choppers, bobbers, and, like this Triumph, diggers. This latter style was a needle thin profile with stretched out forks – highly impractical but look beautiful. Arlen Ness 1938-20019 RIP
Rat Bike | a bag of odds ‘n’ ends combined into a particular taste in machinery. An oily rag special which just needs the long straight highways of the SW States to draw out its nuanced style.
“The river flows, it flows to the sea
Wherever that river goes that’s where I want to be
Flow river flow, let your waters wash down
Take me from this road to some other town”
Roger McGuinn (w/ Bob Dylan)
Bill’s new project – forlorn in the corner of some prefab garage sits a worse for wear Triumph chopper. Plenty of mid seventies elbow grease to revive its mechanical working from storage decrepitude… Mr Ferry, ready for a money pit?
