Local Celebrity, Haha

So, yours truly was recently interviewed by the Oak Cliff People newspaper about an art show I have a piece or two in at Boomstick Comics right now. Here is the story, written by Georgia Fisher.

Staff Photo: Christina Barany
Marcie Dodd created this gouache print of Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire as seen in the original Rocky

So if Rocky Balboa fought a zombie Elvis, who would win? And for that matter, which tough guy would get the girl?

“I tried to think of something really iconic that people would recognize,” says Beckley Club Estates artist Marcie Dodd, whose entry in a new show at Boomstick Comics catches Rocky’s Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire) with her head nuzzled against the boxer’s neck.

Dodd, 26, used black and white gouache for her ode to the 1976 flick, which will share the red carpet Saturday night with a zombie Elvis and a reel of other icons from cult movies such as Ghostbusters and Night of The Living Dead.

The exhibit, dubbed “They Won’t Stay Dead,” is primarily paintings and screen prints of “a lot of horror, sci-fi, and pop culture characters from movies and television,” said Jonathan Kimbrell, art director of the Soda Gallery, which shares space with Boomstick.

“They’re just campy, and most of the time those movies are so bad that they end up being good,” he said, later adding that “it’s mostly just an excuse for us to be geeks.”

Call it what you will; Boomstick owner Bryan Kluger says he’ll dress as cartoon character Darkwing Duck at Saturday’s opening reception, where attendees are encouraged to come costumed as their favorite film icons and take part in a raffle for vintage comic books. Dodd may make an appearance as Batwoman, she said — “probably the Wal-Mart version of Batwoman, anyway.”

Saturday’s event won’t be the first cult rendezvous for the site. Throngs of people turned out in August for a Star Wars-themed exhibit called “These Aren’t The Droids You’re Looking For.”

“People came from all over,” said Dodd, an art teacher at First Baptist Academy, whose husband, Drew, moonlights at Boomstick on weekends. “There was so much excitement, and that’s what got me interested.”

In addition to the Rocky still, she’ll also hang a monochromatic screen print of the McKenzie Brothers from Strange Brew at the upcoming show.

As for the kickoff, Dodd said, “they really know how to throw a party here.”