"Leap of Faith" ("Poseidon")
Pencil Marks: Much to the dismay of Jake, the original "Poseidon Adventure" has always been one of my guilty pleasures. If the flick came on some Sunday afternoon, I would put whatever I was doing down to sit and enjoy the disaster. Heck, I even dragged Jake out and about town on some sort of mythical scavenger quest years back when Fox Home Video released a Widescreen version of the film on VHS. Yes, that long ago. I don't know what it is about the flick; I just enjoy the heck out of it.
Naturally when a remake of Poseidon was announced, Jake looked to me and said: "So, you're drawing that one, huh?"
Jake and I have this sort of running joke about C-list actors we admire appearing in films. Whether its Joe Don Baker, Wilford Brimley, or Ned Beatty, if for some reason these character actors appear in a flick, the film relegates to Cheese Factor 11 and earn an automatic pass from us. And the original Poseidon features one of the biggest C-List celebs of all time: Ernest Borgnine. To us, Mr. Borgnine is a true thespian actor in a category all his own, so naturally he would have to appear in our pic. Pay homage to the original I said. Screw the new.
On a side note, there is this phenomenon in films called "gaffes". Gaffes are errors which slip by the filmmakers and wind up on the finished product; much to the delight of film geeks and buffs who pour over each scene for such mistakes. And since many gaffes can be found in disaster films, we felt it was only necessary to add one ourselves. Can you spot it? - Tony
Ink Smudges: I don't think we could have done this picture without acknowledging in some way the classic film which can be seen at least once a day on some cable station (I kid you not!) We had to give it tribute! Fortunately, Tony's illustration got me to homage one of my favorite scenes: Gene Hackman as a ticked-off preacher falling to his death and cursing the heavens above as Ernest Borgnine watches. To me, that's one of Hackman's finest moments as an actor. You could just feel the raw hatred he had for his God. And hey, any movie which allows Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons shine is alright with me. - Jake