Jay Piscopo interviewed on WCSH6

PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Metropolis has Superman, Gotham City has Batman, and now Maine has its own superpowered protector.

Sea Ghost is the creation of Portland-based comic book artist Jay Piscopo. After years as a supporting player, the character is taking center stage as the star of his own title.

Piscopo recently shared his plans for Sea Ghost with NEWS CENTER's Lee Nelson.

Piscopo said Sea Ghost first appeared in "The Undersea Adventures of Cap'n Eli" series of graphic novels. The series began as a promotion for Cap'n Eli soft drinks, but took on a life of its own.

In his solo comic, Sea Ghost is transported to an alien world that is being ravaged by war between two races. One side is based underwater while the other lives in the jungle. Sea Ghost takes it upon himself to uncover the secret instigator behind all of the turmoil and bring peace to the planet.

Sea Ghost brings some formidable powers to his crusade. He is super strong, able to breathe underwater and shoots bolts of lightning like an electric eel.

Piscopo said he created Sea Ghost as an homage to the heroes of his youth. He said he was heavily influenced by the animation work of Alex Toth, who created such characters as Space Ghost for the Hanna-Barbera studio.

Piscopo named comic book artist Ramona Fradon as another major influence. She is best known for illustrating the adventures of Aquaman. Piscopo said he was honored to have her contribute a drawing of Sea Ghost for the inaugural issue.

Piscopo said he was pleased by the warm critical reception "Sea Ghost No. 1" was given by the comic book community. The popular industry website Comic Book Resources ranked the title character among its top six aquatic heroes of the year.

"Sea Ghost No. 1" is on sale at Casablanca Comics shops in Portland and Windham. You can also follow the character online by clicking here for a link to his website.

WIRED GeekDad Reviews Jay Piscopo's new Sea Ghost comic book

"Reading Jay Piscopo’s new all-ages comic book Sea Ghost #1: The Sea Ghost in the Machine invoked those familiar Saturday morning feelings of fun and excitement....I really liked Sea Ghost for its old school feel, classic character design and clean illustration. I was warmed by the fact that Sea Ghost was a father as well as an adventurer. My daughter liked Sea Ghost’s children, Coral and Triton. She thought it would be pretty cool to live under the ocean and have a superhero dad. I gave a copy of Sea Ghost to my wife’s second grade class and they all loved it too....

I’m giving Jay Piscopo high marks for Sea Ghost.

You can find out more about Sea Ghost and how to get your hands on a copy over at the Sea Ghost website."

~ Tom Stillwell, WIRED GeekDad

Read full review at this link.

Michael Netzer reviews the art of Jay Piscopo

I first met Jay Piscopo online soon after I registered at Facebook, early 2009, and began talking about forming an ongoing comics community event that later became Facebook Comic Con. Jay was one of the first enthusiasts for the idea and immediately volunteered to help put it together. In the few months that followed, he not only became an invaluable aide towards its success, but also reached out to young artists and writers seeking professional advice on their work. Jay became a cornerstone of what Facebook Comic Con set out to achieve, mainly to inspire an involvement and community spirit for the growing number of comics fans and professionals registered at the social network.

It all makes perfect sense when considering the colorful career that Jay is advancing in the comics industry and its periphery. Click HERE to continue reading.

"We live in times where popular entertainment has become so gritty and edgy that it raises serious questions about the sustainability of this direction for the comics industry that’s following in step, or perhaps even leading the trend. Jay Piscopo delivers The adventures of Capt’n in complete contrast to this trend. But the stories are not campy or silly in the way much of their inspirations are viewed today.

Jay Piscopo has taken the best of the Silver Age era and endowed it with a maturity that brings it into the 21st century – and earns a worthy place amongst the best of what the comics industry is offering today. The stories and language are simple enough for the young readers, yet pack a treasure of metaphoric allusions to our real world that make a poignant statement about our times and the human condition. There is something in the simplified complexity of the plot and dialogue that leaves a lasting taste of the adventures in the reader’s mind long after they’ve laid the books down. It is not a small achievement at all to have taken such a specific path with the story and transformed it into new mainstream potential." ~ Michael Netzer

GeekMom Dives into Capt'n Eli and The Sea Ghost

Check out what Jenny Williams has to say on GeekMom about Jay Piscopo's "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" graphic novel series and his new Sea Ghost comic book. Read review HERE.

March 28, 2011
Jenny Williams

The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli and The Sea Ghost

On my exciting new journey to becoming a comic book person, I’ve gotten to read the beginnings of a series that is great for both kids and adults. Called The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli and done by Jay Piscopo, this series has origins in the world of root beer, yet has nothing to do with fizzy beverages. It’s about a boy with a mysterious past who is drawn to the sea. He joins others to help keep peace and keep people safe in the sea, and he finds other mysterious beings as well as whole cultures that are hidden from the surface.

The artwork in Capt’n Eli is a cross between old school styles and computer animated images. It contains both at the same time, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. But the drawings are simple and uncluttered. They instantly made me think of Jonny Quest.

I was sent the first two issues of Capt’n Eli to review. They started out with uncomplicated story lines that would be easy for kids to follow and get excited about. Not having a comic book reading background, I have little comic comparisons to make here, but the story beginnings remind me of shows like Scooby Doo and others from my childhood. As an adult, you see the obvious solutions to the problems that come up, but as a kid, you’re just along for the ride.

The series starts off with “The Mystery of Me,” which explains where Capt’n Eli came from and his back story. The series then continues with “The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea,” which takes everyone into the Bermuda Triangle area. Havoc ensues. Time travel figures prominently in the story lines, along with plenty of mystery, adventure, intrigue, and history, all surrounding the sea and its environs.

To learn more about the history of the characters, the story lines also contain plenty of back story, often well-integrated into the story lines. Also, each issue ends with a bit of a cliff hanger, getting you to buy the next issue to see what happens next.

In the second issue, “The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea” continues. The story really develops here with plenty of sub plots, twists, parallel story lines, and quite a bit more complexity. Perfectly wonderful for kids, but also interesting enough for adults to read, you learn about life under the sea and see more of a glimpse into other characters’ lives. One of the major characters in the series, Commander X, is, to me, the most intriguing character. He, too, has a mysterious past, but is a responsible adult who tends to take matters into his own hands. The back of the first comic has comic book covers from Commander X’s days in the golden age of comics, in a more classic style. They tell his past like it is history, but is in the form of a comic book. It seems that in this universe, history is chronicled in comic books, which is pretty awesome.

The black page borders throughout much of the books make it feel a bit like you’re under water, which is where much of the series takes place. Little jokes are inserted for those who will get them, such as a transmitter called the Anti-M. A parrot is the plucky sidekick who tosses out sort-of-funny lines from time to time.

The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli was also reviewed over at GeekDad in 2008. Check out Brad Moon’s review there. He liked the series, too!

In response to the reception of the Capt’n Eli books, Jay Piscopo built on one of the characters in the series, doing a stand-alone comic on The Sea Ghost. The Sea Ghost artwork reminds me of the 1970s/1980s Super Friends! It’s a thin paper comic issue, instead of the longer graphic novel format with thicker paper that is the Capt’n Eli books. The plot is as simplistic as some of the beloved 70s shows, and some of the creatures look like they’re from Planet of the Apes. There isn’t a lot of character development and some of the dialogue is a bit corny, but it’s short and fun, and a good read for kids. Plus Sea Ghost’s uniform is awesome: black and white with a seahorse on his chest!

The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli graphic novels retail for $9.99. I recommend them to anyone, the young or the young at heart. Become a fan of the series along with your kids, and you’ll have one more thing in common to talk about. The stories are interesting, complex, and well done.

The Sea Ghost retails for $3.99. It is an interesting side story in the Capt’n Eli universe, but this one is better for kids than it is for adults. The comic isn’t necessary to the main story lines, but adds more background to one of the characters.

In addition to the comic books, there is a Capt’n Eli collectible card game and a coloring book. The Capt’n Eli website also has fantastic lesson plans for geography, history, and art subjects, using the comic books as reference, but expanding on them. For additional information on any of these, check out the Capt’n Eli website.

Note: I received copies of these comics for review purposes.

Dive into the Sea Ghost on the Aquaman Shrine

March 25, 2011 - The Aquaman Shrine's Rob Kelly dives into Jay Piscopo's new comic book "The Sea Ghost #1." Read it HERE.








It's been almost two years since the Shrine ran its last Undersea Heroes segment; I always intended to bring it back every so often but other things kept getting in the way.

But no more! We have a new hero to add to the pantheon of underwater heroes, and his name is The Sea Ghost!

The Sea Ghost is the creation of Jay Piscopo, a friend of the Shrine whose work has appeared here before--he's done three(!) different pin-ups featuring Aquaman and The Sea Ghost, an Aquaman costume re-design, and a sketch from my Aqua-Sketchbook.

The man is a fountain of creativity--I've lost count of how many characters he's created, and he's always posting something new on his Facebook page. Many people have remarked how prolific I am; Jay makes me look like Fran Lebowitz.

Anyway, last week Jay's undersea character The Sea Ghost got his own title, so I thought this was a perfect time to bring back the Undersea Heroes feature. CLICK HERE to continue reading the article.

"...the ideas and concepts are flying at the reader at a breakneck pace, and there's no winking at the camera--this is no post-modern ironic superhero: The Sea Ghost would have fit in perfectly in the back of DC comic from the 1950s, albeit with more eye-popping color." ~ Rob Kelly, The Aquaman Shrine

The Sea Ghost: 5 out of 5 stars

Invest Comics check's out Jay Piscopo's new comic book: THE SEA GHOST #1

Follow this link to read the review.

NEMO PUBLISHING GROUP
Art & Story: Jay Piscopo
Pin-ups: Ramona Fradon, Danny Kelly, & Robert Caine Jeffcoat
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
March 20, 2011

This is one of those special comics. The kind you find out about through various facebook posts, and it just looks so cool, that when you see it PREVIEWS, you check it off with your special orders. I’ve been excited about this character since before I knew there’d be a book. And to make things even better, it LIVED UP to each and every one of my pedestal-placed expectations!

This book reads like the best of the old Aquaman and SpaceGhost cartoons. You can actually hear the voice overs and sound effects in your head as you read! Heck, even the caption bubbles ring with that old-school narrator voice.

No over rendered art, or decompressed story-telling. This book harkens back to when comics and superheroes were fun. It isn’t silly or campy. It’s just a good, fun, romp. And getting a pin-up by legendary Aqua-artist, Ramona Fradon just makes it perfect.

In fact, it was so good that I’ve got to tell my LCS to go ahead and order me the two volumes of THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPT'N ELI, in which Sea Ghost first appears.

THE SEA GHOST is one of the best books I’ve read in some time.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Sea Ghost #1 -- Good Comics for Kids

Brigid Alverson previews Jay Piscopo's new comic book "The Sea Ghost #1" on School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids.





Preview: The Sea Ghost #1
March 13th, 2011

Here’s something a little different: Jay Piscopo, who writes and draws The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli graphic novels, has spun off a comic featuring one of the characters from that series, The Sea Ghost.

I like Jay’s penciling, and he has a knack for classic characters. Check out the preview...and then check out the comic — it’s supposed to be in comics shops on March 30, but we hear it has been reaching the shelves a little early.