When you’ve spent an entire life paving your own path there’s no reason to change the approach all that much at this point. It’s a lesson John Jackman has lived by over the past several years while following his instincts and bringing comic book characters to life through his own imagination.

His current recreations of the past will surface in boxes of Spider-Man Archives Trading Cards, due out on Oct. 28. Sketch cards featuring actual artwork from over 80 other artists, including some of the most well known names in the game, will be sporadically placed in random cases of printed cards for collectors. The set features characters that appeared in the first 100 issues of the classic Marvel comic, The Amazing Spider-Man.

(Above and bottom): John "Jax" Jackman fine-tunes some of the original hand-drawn sketch cards that will be inserted into the Spider-Man Archives Trading Card set due out in October. (Below): Randomly selected pieces of artwork Jackman has produced.

As busy as Jackman, a.k.a. JAX, has been with this current project, the self-taught artists says it all started with the simplest of maneuvers – getting more involved in the industry as a whole.

“In this industry it’s all about who you know and whose artwork is good,” said Jackman. Apparently his efforts and enthusiasm have not gone unnoticed.

He’s since made plenty of contacts throughout the comic art community over the years and credits a chance encounter with members of the Vicious Circle Project, as well as many others he’s met at conventions such as MegaCon and FX, for kickstarting his foray into the professional scene. Those relationships helped lead Jackman into a number of random projects such as a 24-hour comic book collective drawing session in Tampa, his first comic book contribution, and a chance to take part in his first illustrated card set a few years back.

“It’s all because I stuck my foot in the door and said ‘hey, I’m here’,” he said. “It was time to get off the coach and get out and do something.”

The first big project for Jackman came in 2006 when he produced 240 cards for The Complete Avengers (1963-Present) card set released by Rittenhouse Archives. As impressive as those turned out to be, despite the rush job he was up against (a production deadline of less than three weeks), the 150 Spider-Man Archives sketch cards currently being finished up proves he’s taking his craft to a whole new level. The world will soon agree.

In a community of grass roots, do-it-yourself artists, there are many places to turn and give thanks when it comes to recognizing how people help people land these types of opportunities.

Among the names that come to mind, when Jackman thinks of lasting relationships, influences and respect he has for other artists, are those of Jason Sobol, James Bukauskas, Adam Hughes, Phil Noto, Joe Pekar and Rhiannon Owens, among countless others. They are all individuals who have a particular style and go about things in their own unconventional ways.

“When you’re doing stuff that nobody’s done before it makes it unique,” said Jackman of continuing to learn and fine-tune his style. “I’ve learned a lot of things, not classically, but I get to try them out and experiment and I think that’s the benefit of never having been told ‘this is how you’re supposed to do it’ because then you end up making stuff that looks like everyone else.”

If nothing else it’s helped make putting his own twist of the villains, bit characters, and guest appearances in the upcoming Spider-Man card set that much funnier to create.

– “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer 2″

• Feel Good Hit Of The Summer 2

– “C’mon”

• C’mon

– “White Noise”

• White Noise

– “Millie Fell Off The Fire Escape”

• Millie Fell Off The Fire Escape

– “Mother’s Day”

• Mother’s Day

– “They Always Know”

• They Always Know

Didn’t know what to expect upon taking in my very first live “country music” show over the weekend. Especially once the Hispanic bouncer at the door asked if I was packing any knives as he patted me down.

But even that wasn’t as shocking as the mosh pit that broke out down front. Or that the show was so kick ass that it won’t soon be forgotten. You see, it wasn’t all that much of a “country music” show after all. Crazy drunks were jumping on stage, crowd surfing, getting thrown out after getting their asses kicked by bouncers, all in the name of a little southern-style hell raising.

Sure, Hank Williams III sounds a bit like granddaddy Hank Sr., but he’s nothing at all like father Hank Jr. This guy has a style all to his own. That showed through in the performances he put on for such a rowdy-ass crowd. There were plenty of tattoos, titties and crazy white dudes of all walks of life, which was pointed out by Hank III himself when he said something along the lines of “who else can get country folk, hillbillies, metal heads and your everyday-average-Joe all under the same roof?”

And he played a little something for everyone too this past Saturday night at Club Firestone in Orlando, where the bar ran out of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Hank III performed with all three of his bands for nearly three hours in all. There was Hank the country band (with banjo, stand-up bass, drums, fiddle, steel guitar and acoustic), then Hank the punk rock band (Hellbilly) and finally Hank’s most recent project, his death-metal band known as Assjack. The night was insane, to say the least.

Didn’t take long to realize there’s no sense in judging this book by its cover. I didn’t need another similar experience to compare it to. Truthfully, this guy hardly fits into a particular musical genre. He’s as Goddamn independent as they come in the music industry, I mean how many other “country music” albums have ever carried a warning label on them?

Got to respect the fact that he uses his life’s experiences to deliver the wild and edgy songs about booze, drugs, whores and more in tracks such as “Six Pack of Beer”, “Punch. Fight. Fuck.”, “Straight to Hell”, “Thrown Out The Bar” and “Smoke & Wine”, without turning a blind eye to the past. Let’s face it, he had to start somewhere.

That he’s a damn near spitting image of his grandfather, in appearance and tone, is an interesting back-story as even Hank Sr. had a bit of a wild streak in him before passing on at age 29. Over the weekend he was paid tribute to along with the likes of Cash, Waylon and Johnny Paycheck (who’s son happened to be in attendance that particular night.) Yet Hank III doesn’t offer much in the way of honoring his old man, thankfully from my point of view (and likely anybody else’s in attendance, for that matter.)

It was all about raising a great big middle finger to the establishment on this particular night, and I happen to be all for those types of gatherings. I have to say though, never been a part of anything like this and I can’t wait to do it again. Grandpa Hank would have been proud.

– By Craig Mazer

I grew up getting presents and, until years later, never really thought much about how fucked up it is that gift expectations are instilled at such an early age. At some point I made a switch, a connection.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love the feeling of giving someone something that they really appreciate; there’s an amazing excitement that I find when you know someone is surprised and thrilled by something you did.

But how can that joy come from events based on and damn near requiring the giving (and expectation) of gifts?! I say, it can’t.

 – Image by Adbusters –

Sure, people will still love getting stuff and some people will still love giving (because there are some people that get excessive joy out of giving stuff to their loved ones, e.g., my mom). But for a large majority — and I’m making an assumption as  I don’t care to research whether this is, in fact, true or just a self-confident leap – shopping for gifts when “told” to (i.e. birthday, Mother’s Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, baby shower, engagement, wedding, anniversary, birth, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, graduation, etc.) ends up being a real pain in the ass.

(Note: There are some events where maybe a gift is in order, such as graduation, a true accomplishment, but not just for saying “yes” to a question you weren’t expecting or didn’t really want to answer but did, and now relishing in the excitement of having registered at four different kitchenware stores. And not for birthdays.)

Maybe I’m just resentful, as a non-gift-giver and, mostly a non-receiver of gifts (my parents are unrelenting), but I find frustration in the expectation of receiving gifts, especially when the expectant receiver has provided a checklist of potential gifts for the resentful giver to choose from. Okay, maybe that’s too harsh. Maybe not.

My niece recently celebrated her first birthday and she was enveloped in a mudslide of colored plastic toys and clothes of all types with nary a clue what was happening. Sure, there was the “I’ll chew on this” and “I’ll give ‘em a smile for that” responses, but for the most part I could have dangled my keys in front of her and gotten the same result. I’m sure many of the givers were totally excited to see little Zoe’s reaction to the avalanche of made-in-China items, but it just seems like it’s a bad precedent to set with an impressionable child.

I was listening to NPR the other day and a famous chef now working in Orlando was talking about how his wife always makes sure to have an extra gift around the house during the Christmas season just in case someone shows up unexpectedly. Man, that got me steamed. It’s really the impetus for this column, though consumerism has always been something I’ve had strong feelings about.

So what’s my point? During these tough economic times, more than ever, I’ve been aware of the desperation for producers to sell and consumers to consume. It seems to me that if people learned to live with less and, instead, push concepts that foster the idea of giving to “those who need” and not just because, this country, at least, would be turning an evolutionary corner. Maybe it’s not the “get out and spend” attitude our most recent administration has pushed, but it seems to make a lot more sense – and it’ll help you save dollars, too.

The Vitals: Redneck reindeers? Christmas in jail? Would somebody actually have the balls to pop a cap in Santa’s ass? Those are just some of the twists and turns on the 2008 version of Happy Muthaf—in’ 2008 Holiday Season. Somewhere between the satire and sincerity there’s some good music amongst the mayhem, which has been included to help fight off the holiday anxieties while preparing to celebrate.

Copies of this comic escapade were shipped out to seven states, to 18 towns in all. Some showed up by surprise and others as expected. The music found its way out of Florida to California, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. To cities with names as familiar to some as Orlando, Chicago, Canton, Orrville, Wooster, Canal Fulton, Wadsworth and Sanford to those with obscure titles such as Alexandria, Pacifica, West Mifflin, Cross Lanes, Cicero, Nelsonville, Delaware, Magnolia, Urbana and Lodi.

By my estimation that’s a list which includes dirty politicians, the title of a Creedence Clearwater Revival song, the name of a state, some tasty butter popcorn, and the place Mickey Mouse takes a dump on minimum-wage workers each night.

But about the music. Read on to learn more about this special collection of holiday cheer…

Things Come Together: The idea stemmed from a creative night inside the shed behind my house. It was early summer 2007 and my brother and I had been recording and rerecording a few songs on an analog four-track. The later the night got, and the more inspiration we sucked down, I began rambling on about mailing copies of the recording to everyone we knew. I’d dub it our “Thanksgiving single” in honor of the holiday, at least so I reasoned at the time.

Rambling, rambling, rambling. That’s what I continued to do. Get a good buzz going and you’d be surprised at how clever you think are. I likened the idea to that of the vinyl singles Pearl Jam fan club members have received over the holiday season for more than a decade now. So as you may figure, the Thanksgiving song never saw the light of day once I awoke the next morning, or more accurately, early afternoon. Still, something even greater emerged from that session.

Months later I dug through the mounds of CD’s and music files I’ve hoarded over the years and compiled quit an interesting mix of alternative holiday songs. As it turns out, to little surprise, they happened to stray from the typical tunes that get played out each and every season. None of the selections were sought out for inclusion purposely. They just happened to be around when the set list was getting put together.

The Roots of the Release: The backbone to this year’s release, as opposed to what made up Volume I in ’07, is a country-music collection I bought for a buck or two at the Sanford Flea Market. I still remember the look on the black dude’s face as I paid for the Time Life exclusive Redneck Christmas earlier this year, with a beer in one hand and a backwards ball cap atop my head. That was the moment I knew a second volume of holiday goodies had to be served up.

There are 19 tracks in all on the newest version of Holiday Season with five songs coming from that one album alone, including “Leroy the Red Neck Reindeer”, “Xmas in Jail”, “Santa’s Big Parade”, “Truckin’ Trees For Christmas” and “You Can Call Me Nick”.

Five others join this year’s set list as carryovers from ’07. The few that did get their hands on the original will be pleased to discover that “Merry Muthaf—in’ Xmas” (Eazy-E), “Ain’t No Santa” (Trick Daddy), “Christmas in Hollis” (Run-DMC), ”Happy Holidays, Pt. 1″ (The Ohio Players) and “Santa Sucks” (Bigger Than Plastic) all made the cut.

I remember watching the video to that Run-DMC song over and over again as a kid in the late 1980′s. Eazy-Z obviously took the holiday concept to a different level several years later, and I got to hear all about it each time the cassette deck make its rounds. But if ”Christmas in Hollis” was the view from elementary school and ”Merry Muthaf—in’ Xmas” that of a rowdy teen, than Trick Daddy’s “Ain’t No Santa” is the grown folks way of appreciating what we’ve got during these unpredictable times.

Rounding out the bulk of the album are four songs from the Capital Records Christmas with the Rat Pack collection, featuring Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The sound of these habitual boozers and late night scenesters crooning holiday ditties fills me with great amusement as I top off another drink before bedtime.

(With the root of this tree firmly planted somewhere in irony, a dog stops by to paint snow a yellow shade beside you…)

In the Music: Take a good look at the cover art sometime of the self titled two-song E.P. from Bigger Than Plastic and tell me the image of a guy with a shotgun standing overtop Mr. Claus isn’t outrageous, in a humorous sort of way, of course. And that’s without mentioning the dead reindeer lying in the snow behind him. The first track is the menacing and somehow refreshing “Santa Sucks” followed by a pretty good cover of “Hello I Love You” by The Doors. I came across this by way of writing music reviews for a now-defunct national magazine once known as IMPACT Press (R.I.P.). IMPACT is also where I came across the included selection by Richard Youngs and where I had the pleasure to sample many of the early projects from Atmosphere.

The more random the songs or bands began to get as the list of options grew seemed to only propel this idea in the early goings. Including The Ohio Players was more than a sign of loyalty to the state from which I hail, just as the inclusion of Weezer had little to do with what I might have inhaled while I was there (ya know, all that factory smog and all). I mean, a song had to be at least mildly decent compared to the others to make the cut, which doesn’t say a lot for those left behind. A song title such as that from The Heliocentrics helped provide a nice break in the action while BT’s finale from atop a comedy stage seemed to bring things full circle, if in the most subtle of ways. I once saw BT perform live at the Orlando Improv, back when the place still existed.

That’s been gone a while now. Just as the many memorable and horrifically forgettable moments of our holiday past. All the more reason to make some new ones, no matter how screwed up they might get in the process.

Happy Muthaf—in’ 2008 Holiday Season (Volume II): “Leroy the Red Neck Reindeer” – [Joe Diffie]; “Merry Muthaf—in’ Xmas” * – [Eazy-E, Atbann Klann, Buckwheat, Menajahtwa]; “Christmas Time All Over the World” – [Sammy Davis Jr.]; “Xmas in Jail” – [Asleep at the Wheel]; “Santa Sucks” * – [Bigger Than Plastic]; “Holiday” – [Weezer]; “Santa’s Big Parade” – [The Louvin Brothers]; “Ain’t No Santa” * – [Trick Daddy]; “I Believe” – [Frank Sinatra]; “If I Was Santa Claus” – [Atmosphere]; “Christmas In Hollis” * – [Run-DMC]; “Nico Winter Song (remix)” – [The Heliocentrics]; “Truckin’ Trees For Christmas” – [Red Simpson]; “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – [Dean Martin]; “Happy Holidays, Pt. 1″ * – [The Ohio Players]; “Once It Was Autumn” – [Richard Youngs]; “You Can Call Me Nick” – [Dale Watson]; “I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)” – [Frank Sinatra]; “Holidays” – [BT]; ( * = appeared on volume one in 2007)