Inktober 2018 - The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

INKTOBER 2018:

The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

Well, well, well... It's time again for Inktober--that time of year when we are challenged to dust off our ink bottles and brushes and put 'em to use.  In my case, I generally like to mash-up Inktober and the swiftly approaching Halloween and do up pen-and-ink drawing of various monsters throughout the month.  Usually--but not exclusively--of the B-Movie variety.  And this year will be no exception!  Of course, I also scan 'em in and usually colorize them to a limited extent, which is sort of against the idea of Inktober, but that's never stopped me before.

This time around, it is semi-humorous take on "The Brain from Planet Arous" (1957), featuring staple of B-Movie monster fare, John Agar.  He becomes possessed by Gor, a... well, a brain from the planet Arous.  There is another brain from planet Arous which is hunting Gor and... oh, why go on?  It really is a terrible movie, but one from my childhood which I remember with vague, morbid horror.  Mostly because I found anything brain-related to be existentially terrifying.  And there is a LOT of boring stuff to wade through, just to get to the few minutes of monsters.

There is a scene in which the possessed John Agar character blows up an airplane with his mind.  While it was obviously a model on a string, I did appreciate getting to see a couple of the exploded pieces of the plane swing back into frame--still on the string which held it up.  Although, the brain monster special effects were pretty spooky to a young, six-year-old John Douglas.  But, then again, most things were, I suppose.

Did I mention that The Brain from Planet Arous seemed to have a somewhat pervy interest in John Agar's wife and all things carnal?  The less said, the better.  But, while comically inept, there is still a charm to the monster B-Movies of my youth which remind me of a simple time for a simpleton, like myself.

Future Inktober B-Movie monsters will probably not be quite as cartoony as "The Brain from Planet Arous", for it is difficult to take a floating brain with googly-eyes seriously... even for me!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quickly scribbled pencils, done on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  This is the inked page, done mostly with a G-Pen crow quill and #10 brush with Speedball Super Black ink.  There were also some lines thrown in with a .5mm black gel pen.

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STEP THREE:  After it was scanned into Photoshop, color and lettering were added over top on a Multiply layer.

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Done with Pen-and-Ink on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock / Digitally colored.

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