For twelve years Tony and I worked on the Summer Blockbuster Gallery. While our ambition to create a comic book was serious, the gallery was nothing more than the two of us (along with the occasional guest artist) having fun and mocking the major films coming out that season. We'd spend hours brainstorming on possible homages; each idea more ridiculous than the next. Most of the time we collaborated on the illustrations together rather than handling them individually. And when we finished a drawing, we'd find ourselves so energized we couldn't wait to move on to the next one. It was a project that covered 132 films and wound up being arguably the best part of this website. But more so, it became a fun way for us to voice our geeky opinions on a wide variety of genre issues.
When Tony passed away I tried to continue the gallery, but it wasn't the same. Drawing wasn't bringing me a lot of happiness and it felt like I should be doing something more important with my time. So I decided to end it. Like I said, twelve years was an impressive run; something he and I could take great pride in. And although I eventually regained my enthusiasm to illustrate, I didn't have it in me to tackle any more film parodies. Not without Tony at least.
Then last February something cool happened.
I was burrowing through some old folders in my apartment when I came across two drawings by my friend. One was an unused homage to "The Amazing Spider-Man"; the other a penciled outline based on "The Expendables 2". At first I thought it would be cool to finish them up and post them as "deleted scenes". But then I suddenly realized something serendipitous which gave me the chills.
This year the summer movie season officially begins with "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and wraps up in August with "The Expendables 3".
So I'm dusting off the cobwebs (no pun intended) and bringing the gallery out of retirement for one more lap. To have Tony's work perfectly bookend all the films coming out in the next few months is an opportunity I'd be an absolute fool to pass up. I might not be able to complete an illustration every week, and allow me to take this moment to send an open invitation to any artist who would love to contribute, but I'm determined to finish the gallery with a bang. Because I miss the fun, but more so, I just miss Tony. - Jake

Hey everyone! Sorry it's taking so long to update the pages but it's been one hell of a nightmare going in and revising code, fixing broken links and all the other behind-the-scene tasks to get this website back up to date. Between doing that, working during the day at the hospital, and trying to maintain a weekly output of illustrations, I'm sloooooooooooowly getting around to writing out ramblings for the pictures I've debuted these last few weeks. Serves me right for leaving this place untouched for over a year. Anyhow, if you could bear with me for one more week, I'm sure we'll be at 100% by next weekend.
In the meantime we have our homages to "Neighbors" and "Godzilla" already posted in the Summer Blockbuster Gallery. Our take on "X-Men: Days of Future Past" should be ready in the next few days and after that we should be good shape to post our next entry when "Maleficent" right about comes out.
Before I wrap this up, I got to admit it feels good doing this again. Even though I'm hearing mixed reactions (and some are just downright brutal), I'm not feeling like I'm wasting my time. I'm regaining some of my artistic skill, honoring my buddy's memory, and keeping my mind off of things that would otherwise be dragging me down. I said earlier I'll probably miss a week or two this season but now I'm starting to hope that doesn't happen. How cool would that be? A summer without a skip week. That would be a first! - Jake

Hey ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry for the short rambling here but this week has been incredibly busy and I don't have much time to sit and chat. I wish I did but I'm suppose to be at work in about 20 minutes and the boss doesn't take kindly to people being tardy. Plus it lowers the amount of overtime I've been building up. So if I may cut to the chase, today I'm pleased to unveil the homages to "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Maleficent". Hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as I did drawing them (well, I had trouble with one of the two which I go into more detail, but it was still enjoyable.) Next time we'll be tackling the guarantee Tom Cruise bomb "Edge of Tomorrow". So until then, keep cool! -Jake

Six months. It's taken me six months to come back.
I could explain life has been very rough lately. My employer at the hospital cut the staffing down to a fifth from what it was at the beginning of the year. I could be honest and say I've been suffering from severe bouts of depression and there were times lifting a pencil took an incredible amount of willpower. I could say I've work on other various projects in the meantime; even wrote a story for an anthology.
All those things are true, but I won't use them as defense. There is no excuse for not updating this website since May. I apologize and assure you I'm going to start trying to get back to updating on a semi-regular basis again.
What makes the six-month hiatus worse is I'm still covering last summer's movies which are now being released on home video. Such is the case for our latest homage, "Edge of Tomorrow" (or what the studio is now calling "Live, Die, Repeat" for some stupid reason.) The DVD and Blu-Ray came out last month; people were able to stream it digital even before then. And if you ask anyone about the film, I'm sure the majority of folks have already forgotten about it by now. Regardless Tom Cruise's sci-fi film (and I'm using that term nicely) is our next entry in the Summer Blockbuster Gallery.
Putting aside all the negativity, I actually like how the picture came out. I wish I hadn't spent as much time fooling around with it, but the final results please me.
However, that is not the best thing I'm debuting today. No, today it's my honor to unveil an illustration done a new guest artist, Jill Davis LeBlanc. Jill and her husband have been online friends with me for years and when she offered to do a illustration for me, I immediately jumped at the chance. Her body of work is nothing short than incredible and I wish I had a fraction of the talent she has. So please do yourself a favor and check it out. You won't be disappointed.
That's all for now but I promise my next update won't take another six months. Let's try for next Saturday. Until then! -Jake

Howdy folks! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday and was able to celebrate it with loved ones. And for those of you who risked hitting the retail stores yesterday on “Black Friday” I hope the only damage you suffered in the end was from your bank accounts. It’s been years since I worked in retail (management no less) but some scars never fully heal. I doubt they ever will.
But I’m not here to share horror stories; I’m here to share art! Today we continue playing catch-up on the “Blockbuster Gallery” with a new piece based on Dreamworks’ latest animated venture: ”How to Train Your Dragon 2”. While I’ve heard many good things about it, I’ve been so far behind that I didn’t see the first movie until just last month. My opinion on that film? I felt it was pretty decent. Of course it wasn’t Pixar-quality but I wasn’t bored watching it and the characters were actually pretty endearing. But like I said, that’s only my opinion. And if you would like to critique something (for example my homage to the sequel) just click on the link and let me know what you thought.
Next week we’re going to go off the rails a little and homage a movie that A) did not have a very large theatrical release this summer, B) first debuted in several international film festivals nearly a year ago, and C) is perhaps the first movie in the gallery that could be categorized as an “independent art house” flick. What is it? Tune in next week! - Jake

Like an old Irish cop might say “Saints be praised! I wouldn’t believe there as be another update so quickly if I didn’t see ‘em with me own eyes! And a mere seven days after the last seven days at that!”
Okay, maybe an Irish cop wouldn’t say that, let alone ‘pay heed’ to this website. In fact, he might not even know how to use the internet in the first place. You know what – forget I even brought up the whole stupid scenario. My head is obviously not in the right place tonight. You see, a co-worker of mine suggested I try mixing Mike’s Hard Lemonade with vodka and I think it might be having an effect on me.
Anyhow… we have another motion picture homage to debut today; one that is arguably teetering ‘off the rails’ of not being considered a Summer Blockbuster. It originally debuted in limited release last November, it’s only playing on 300 screens at the moment, and the budget to make it only cost $500 thousand. And yet, I felt it was such a great film that to ignore it would be a shame. The film I’m speaking about is ”Snowpiercer” and I explain more of my reason why I’m adding it to the gallery in the rambling. So click on the link and I hope you enjoy.
Next week we return with Michael Bay’s fourth attempt at assaulting my childhood when we take a painful look at “Transformers: Age of Extinction”. Until then, stay safe and warm! -Jake