35 year update

last modified: Monday, March 24, 2014 (4:07:17 PM CST)

I have been in lurk mode for the last few months as we had several real life problems crop up starting with the loss of a couple of family friends just after Christmas to having one outside cat “Midnight” go into heat so we had to get her fixed and that bringing a bunch of male cats into the yard one of which seriously injured Stan “Belles outside brother” so we had him at the ER vet then to our vet for treatment.

Besides that we had nicer things to take up our time.
Those who know us know we like to plan updates around things such as significant events like cats birthdays and such.

Today March 24th is a special day for us. 25 years ago our cat Snowball (3/24/89-5/24/09) was born under our bed on our 10th wedding anniversary so today we celebrate 35 years of being married. We got together with our families over the weekend and will go out for a nice dinner just the two of us.

As to our update we have added another Long Haired Akane to our Early Ranma ½ section. A new sketch from Mahorabo and a sketch from Spice & Wolf in our Misc section.
We also have a new section from Sister Princess which we have loved the detail that goes into each image but found it very hard to locate artwork from.

Stage 1 of rework is complete

last modified: Monday, August 12, 2013 (7:35:21 PM CST)

After the last open house on Beta I have followed up on a few suggestons to make my gallery more user friendly.
Now all the anime titles are listed first then the comic artwork instead of being mixed as was before. I have also added a synopsis or other info to each title so anyone who does not no the series or artist can get a feel for it.

25K hits update

last modified: Sunday, April 03, 2011 (3:22:38 PM CST)

Maria & I would like to thank to all who have come by to visit our little corner of Rubberslug as we have just recently passed the 25K hit mark. We are glad that some many have enjoyed exploring our collection.

To celebrate we have uploadrd most of what just arrived from Japan after the understandable delays caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

We have added to our Ranma ½,OVA , Ranma-Chan & Ranma-Kun sections.
We were able to find a nice “photograph” cel from the AMG movie in the OMG section.

Finally we got a couple of nice Hanken sketches from Sister Princess in the Hanken section. Thanks to Keropi for helping id the sisters for it is hard to determine some from a non colored sketch when you can not make out the hair colors.

Long Overdue Revamp

last modified: Monday, September 27, 2010 (6:38:15 PM CST)

Well it's been a while since I did any up keep on my gallery.

I have hidden a few sections and other artwork that was duplications or complete sequences for there was well over 1000 different images of display. Now none of these have deleted and can still be viewed via password. Feel free to email or PM me if you want the password.

One thing I have done is add a New Additions section in which I will post new stuff before I later place them in their proper sections. This I hope will make it a 1 stop shop to see the new stuff. There are a few items that I was glad to pickup from Goldknight from the AMG TV series there right now.
I also created a new Hanken section.
I am also in the process of attempting to place cels in broadcast order. So far I have done this with my Early Ranma 1/2 section and the OMG OVA section.

I hopoe you will bear with me as I continue this project.

AX update

last modified: Sunday, July 04, 2010 (6:30:52 PM CST)

Well Maria and I had a fun time at AX.

We had 24 at our Slugfest dinner and had a fun time catching up with friends as well as getting to meet some new ones. On Saturday we met up with Star Phoenix and Cutiebunny as well.

As to our update three little words "Curt is EVIL" lol.

Curt who owns Asylum Anime has always the best AMG stuff and manages to get a major chunk of my AX spending.

So as one can expect I have updated my Oh My Goddess section as well as Curt had a lithograph from Crest of the Stars Maria and I fell in love with.

I was able to get some nice Shikishi and created a new section for them.

Finally I got 2 cels from Nadesico in my Misc section. 1 from Curt and another movie cel I have watched on and off on YJ for 2 1/2 years till it finally dropped from 150K yen to a price I was willing to spend. Warning major spoilers in the description.

Post Sakura-con update

last modified: Monday, April 12, 2010 (11:07:06 AM CST)

Maria & I had a nice trip to Seattle.

Sections updated this time.
Oh my Goddess
Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi
The World of Narue

Superbowl Update

last modified: Sunday, February 07, 2010 (9:00:12 PM CST)

Well after replacing my computer (motherboard fried), Scanner (old one would not work with Win 7) , new internet (sattelite modem stopped working). I am finally able to make my 1st update of this year.

I have a few different things this time.

I added 2 new comic art portfolios.
The first is a set of lithographis plates of covers from the classic EC comic Vault of Horror of the artwork by Johnny Craig who did cover art in the early 50's.
The Second is from Jim Starlin in which he illustraits differnt form of insanty.

On cel and sketch front I have added some To Heart cels , a couple of Hanken's from the World of Narue , a Hanken genga from AMG and some cute from Shugo Chara in my Misc section.

I hope you enjoy them.

20k hits update

last modified: Sunday, September 06, 2009 (8:46:38 PM CST)

Wow,

20K in visits to Maria & My little corner of Rubberslug.

We would like to thank all who took the time to view our collection and hopefully enjoy our cels and comic artwork that makes up our gallery.

To help celibrate we have a small update.

Updated are the following series:

Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi
Card Captor Sakura
Early Ranma 1/2
Girls Bravo
To Heart
UFO Princess Valkryie

We hope you continue to enjoy our collection as it continues to grow over time.

Maria & Joe Ryan

Ax & Comic-con update

last modified: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 (9:30:06 PM CST)

Well now that the dust has settled from the last 2 con's I can update some of what I was able to pickup.

On the Anime side I have new cels in Oh My Goddess , Misc & Ranma 1/2.

In my Original Comic Art section I have updated new items from Stan Sakai as well as Mark McHaley who is a very talented artist who has been doing a lot of work for DC and Star Wars. He had a showing in Japan last year of Star Wars and Indiana Jones artwork used for trading card series. Mark also has his personal gallery Backward Paint here on RS and I encourage all to vist it http://bp.rubberslug.com/gallery/home.asp

New Cat named Moose

last modified: Sunday, July 19, 2009 (10:37:37 AM CST)

Well after our one cat passed away at the end of May we found a huge void in our lives.

It was way too damm quiet

The other 2 cats as well as Maria & I were in a major funk.

Enter Moose http://ryan.rubberslug.com/user/72b3f3ef417943ed855a43e1b1dfe91e/album/0f7a043a84c3.jpg

We found him through our local cat adoption agency.

He is 3 years old and is actually on the smaller size as far as cats go. We guess he got his name due to the size of his paws.

He has quite a mellow personallity and does like to get in trouble
http://ryan.rubberslug.com/user/72b3f3ef417943ed855a43e1b1dfe91e/album/2178f60626bb.jpg
http://ryan.rubberslug.com/user/72b3f3ef417943ed855a43e1b1dfe91e/album/be26e0360c3c.jpg

The other 2 cats are starting to get used to him and our house now has the sounds of cats chasing each other , growls and hisses. Music to our ears

Post Birthday update

last modified: Saturday, June 06, 2009 (6:29:55 PM CST)

First off Maria & I would like to thank all of those who took the time to express condolences for the loss of our cat Snowball who passed away on the morning of my birthday.
While her passing was very sad and we miss her daily, I am very thankfull she lasted till my birthday. For the last nine months of her life she had been fighting failing kidneys and each day she was with us was miracle in itself.

Well on our update.
I have 2 new Early Ranma 1/2 cels.
1 Ranma 1/2 movie cel.
In my Misc section is one of the best Infurita cels from the El Hazard Ova I have ever encountered.
A new World of Narue Rilezu and a couple of fun scenes from Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi.
I also added a new section of copy setti from Kanon 2006 in which I scanned over 60 of the best from the pile of 150 I picked up.

I hope those who would like to view my update enjoy it.

RIP Snowball 3/24/89 - 5/24/09

last modified: Sunday, May 24, 2009 (12:36:50 PM CST)

Our cat Snowball , our companion for the last 20 years passed away in Maria's arms this morning.

She lived a long an full life. WE will miss her.

Japanese Garden Showing

last modified: Monday, April 27, 2009 (11:19:57 PM CST)

Well we had a great time putting on a small display of some items from our collection at the Japanese Garden here in Burbank Ca.

A lot of what I brought was from Ai Yori Aoshi sonce that artwork seemed to fit best with the setting of the garden.

I also brought several cel books , manga and artbooks that people as they came by enjoyed looking through.

I had planned to give a couple of organized presentations but with so many things going on around the garden I never seemed to get an groups in one place around the the posted times I was to speak. So instead of a formal talk we instead gave many smaller talks to the groups who stopped by. I was able to talk to about 60 people during the day. Most had not really thought much about anime or only seem limited shows over the years. It was fun helping to elighten them as to what makes anime different form "saturday morning" cartoons as well as the process of cel production and now CG Animation.

We did get some time to walk around the Garden and I added some photos to the album http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/album.aspx?id=529
You have to click the image twice to get a viewable image.

So all in all it was a nice day and my little show was well recieved. We look forward to doing this again in the future.

An Interesting Honor

last modified: Friday, April 03, 2009 (9:39:42 PM CST)

Well as I posted a while ago Maria & I just celebrated our 30th Wedding Aniversary.
We had originally had planned to spend that time on a trip to Japan. Unfortunantly life intervened and my having to change jobs ahead of the car dealership I had worked at for the last 6 years closed folding back into the main location but resulting in a 40% layoff and those who survived all got pay cuts. So I got out before the glut hit the market.
I do have a good job but lost all vacation time so we had to cancel our trip.

Anyway being the "romantic" Goofball that I am , I decided to take Maria to a "piece" of Japan here in California in the form of a Japanese Garden that 99% of those who live in Los Angeles even know exists.
I myself must have driven past it at least 100 times over the years never giving it a second thought till now.

We were surprized to find out that it ranks in the top ten of the 200 such Japanese Gardens located in the USA. http://www.thejapanesegarden.com

In talking to our guide I found out that the Garden was going to celebrate their 25th anniversary at the end of this month and planned to have a large event there with the highlight being a Kimono show. During talking I mentioned that we collect anime Cels from Japan and mentioned our RS gallery. Next thing I know I'm contacted by the person in charge of the anniversay celebration who wants more info of our gallery and long story short after viewing my RS gallery I was asked to come and display some of our collection and give a 30 minute talks on the history of Anime , the animation process and our collection.

This will be the 1st ever time they have had such a talk there so I must say is that it is quite an honor to represent our community and hobby.

Snowball turns 20 , so we are married 30

last modified: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 (9:11:12 AM CST)

Well another year has passed and our elderly cat Snowball has made it to be 20 years old. This last year it was in doubt for she's felling her age and has lost so much weight. She though is not about to give up. She still jumps onto the coffee table then up onto the couch and Maria's lap so none of the other cats can sit there.

Well as I have written before she was born under our bed on our 10th wedding aniversary so that now makes 30 years of being together. I was so lucky to find the correct one early on and we have enjoyed our lives. Our kids have grown , been replaced with 3 cats. All is right with the world.

Well to celebrate I have a small update.
I have new series title Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi which was the second season of Ai Yori Aoshi. In that section you will now see Ao & Kaoru in Cat Ears (like I could resist that image LOL).
Also updated are:
Early Ranma 1/2
Girls Bravo
The World of Narue

A Happy Depression

last modified: Friday, February 06, 2009 (10:05:27 PM CST)

It's been 6 years since my best friend passed away from cancer.

The first couple of years were very hard but as they say Time Heals.

One of my friend's joys was cars and especially a 1969 Lotus Elan which he bought brand new in May of 1969. Since he bought it he drove it almost every day.

Right before he got sick , he was in the process of having a valve job done and we had removed the cly head and due to his illness we were never able to finish the work.

After he passed away many vultures attempted to get the car for cheap since it was apart. Through my connections being involved with putting on many charity car shows I met Jay Leno and put him in contact with my friends widow. Jay bought the car for a fair price and I was informed that he completed the rebuild of the car and now has it back on the road where it belongs.

Jay has a nice video history on the car and the work he put into it on his website. http://www.Jaylenosgarage.com. click on the video link for 1969 Lotus Elan.

All that knew my friend Randy are pleased to see the Lotus back on the road again , it's just sad that he's not behind the wheel. I'm sure that Randy is pleased though that a person who appreciates cars such as Jay is now enjoying it.

Seeing it does bring back mememories , bittersweet as they may be. I still miss him but have learned to go on with my life. Thank God for Scotch. LOL

End o Summer Update

last modified: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 (11:16:24 PM CST)

I have finished scanning and updating the last items that arrived from Japan and from friends.

I have added new items to the following sections:
Ai Yori Aoshi Genga
Early Ranma 1/2
To Heart
Misc.

The main Prize can be found in the misc section and is an End Credit cel from the Pia Carrot 2 DX ova that just took my breath away when I first started watching it on YJ waiting a year &1/2 for the price to come down from the $1.2k starting price to an amount I was willing to pay.

I also rescaned several of the Cels that had been in my coming soon section and the colors (especially the To Heart cels) really came out more viberant.

I hope you all enjoy them.

Joe

Post Comic-con update

last modified: Sunday, July 27, 2008 (6:56:24 PM CST)

We got back from San Diego Comic-con and had a lot of fun there. Met up with RS'ers Jenn B.(Jenn's cel gallery) and Mark McHaley (Backward Paint)and enjoyed being tour guide to Leah (aernath)Friday & Saturday.
Thanks to Dave (Nichibei Anime)Leah was able to get in line early and secure a "golden ticket" to the Kubo Tite signing Viz had.
Viz being the people they are you had to be one of the 1st 50 in line to buy an overpriced bleach item to get a ticket.

A lot of the artists I collect did not have much new stuff so my wallet got off a little easy.

I did get a Werewolf sketch from Bernie Wrightson , an original work form Susan Van Camp, a couple of nice prelim sketches form Mark McHaley (1 a gift), some I"s ova post production cels and a Glycee from Ralph Bakshi's Wizards that was limit to only 20 copies. I had to come back Saturday to see him and get it signed. I still have to take pic's of it and upload it to the gallery.

Post AX update

last modified: Monday, July 07, 2008 (3:12:24 PM CST)

Well Maria and I had a lot of fun at AX meeting and renewing friendships. We did not see much of the con itself for we were busy helping Curt at the Asylum Anime booth.

Slugfest #4 was great with over 30 people attending and sharing their collections and new purchases.

We ending up with quite a few nice additions to our gallery.
Updated sections are: Oh My Goddess , Oh My Goddess OVA , Misc , Ranma 1/2 , To Heart and Girls Bravo.

Mike Mignola Interview

last modified: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (8:55:27 PM CST)

A friend let me know he had found an interview Mike Mignola did in which he mentions the artwork page I bought from Mike at the comic-con in San Diego in 1999.
http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=106231

The interview was conducted by Shawn Ervin-Gore for Dark Horse comics.

SE-G: Reguarding the new mini-series are there new characters in there that Hellboy fans haven't seen before?

MM: In the actual mini-series, we've got Egor Bromhead , who is sort of an Aleister Crowley-type wizard. He's good, and...

SE-G: No, he's not good, he's bad.

MM: No, he's bad , he's bad ,and he gets what he deserves. But he's a good character.

SE-G: Yeah.

MM: Other than that I don't think there's any new characters... Well, actually there is. We do trot out one of the big, high muckity mucks from Hell for the very first time.

SE-G: The guy at the end of the book?

MM: Yeah.

SE-G: I had to go ask Scott(Scott Allie, Mignola's editor at Dark Horse)who he was because I did not remember him from any other story.

MM: Yeah, on one hand I've got s sketch book full of all the big players, all the big Hell guys. But the way Hellboy has gone. I've been very nervous to actually bring those guys out. At verious times I've talked about doing a story that takes place in Hell.

SE-G: And Hellboy has never been to Hell has he?

MM: Not other than I guess when he was born. But, I've got this whole thing worked out where he came from and all this, you know, and actually was going todo it for the Christmas book this year, but I didn't. I want to go through Hellboy's origin in a flashback story. It would be so much fun to do, but it would be so radically different than what I've been doing, I think it's better that I just drop little bits and pieces of it here and there.

SE-G: So it kind of fits in eventually somewhere along the way?

MM: Yeah, so bringing out that guy in the end of the book was really the first big cosmic moment in the Hellboy Saga or whatever.

SE-G: Yeah, what's his name?

MM: Astaroth