Peter's Comic Book Ramblings

GO HERE...

2011-01-01T17:38:00.002-05:00

http://peterjohnrios.tumblr.com/

I'M ON MY KNEES!!!

2010-01-11T09:47:00.003-05:00

Katchoo meet Yvonne Strahovski. Please. Someone make this happen. Now.

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2009-12-14T10:56:00.003-05:00

...novelist, TV and comics writer Paul Cornell:

"Your job as a writer is to seek out, actively, harsh criticism of your work and change because of it... when you get notes back, not to regard them as an imposition, but to regard them as fuel as a way to make this better."

- Geek Syndicate Episode 72

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2009-12-07T14:32:00.002-05:00

...Joe Quesada:

"...as an editor and creator, I’ve stated publicly on many occasions that I’ve never seen the benefits of original graphic novels..."

Well. Someone does.

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

2009-12-06T17:11:00.004-05:00

Ah the internet. You never know what you're going to find. Let's hope no one goes through my history, 'kay? Anyway...

Pictured above is another cover homage to Kevin Maguire's original Justice League #1 cover that I wrote about way back in October 2008. This one comes courtesy of Tom Raney and marks the beginning of Warren Ellis' run on the Image series Stormwatch that would eventually morph into the ground-breaking Authority run. The issue is #37 cover dated July'96.

Weatherman, who is the farthest downstage in the group shot, doesn't have his arms crossed like Guy Gardner does in the original 1987 cover, but there's no denying the overall positioning of the ensemble and the way they just stare... right... at... you. Ha.

So, it's a little less than an exact homage and a whole lot more than just a nod. So I'm including it in the mix.

UNBE-F*CKIN-LIEVABLE!

2009-10-16T17:42:00.004-04:00

Just read this headline over on the Beat:

Breaking: Big Apple to go head to head with New York Comic-Con next year

And people said Wizard's scheduling of the Anaheim Comic Con on the same weekend as Reed's C2E2 next April was just coincidence. Ha! Suckers.

For shame, Shame-us. For shame.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER RETURNS?

2009-10-08T20:10:00.006-04:00

No, not me. Matt Fraction's CASANOVA!

From a recent Fraction message on Twitter:

"CASANOVA people: two days ago you got all happy and didn't even know"

If it's the return of Casanova - a short-lived series by Fraction over at Image full of more creativity and imagination and fun than any of his mainstream work - then I will be a happy man!

E.M.P.I.R.E.! W.A.S.T.E.! Zephyr! Xeno! Ba! Moon! Pleeeeasssseeee!!!

It would be like an early birthday present to see this book back on the shelf, even if for only a one-shot or so.

Here's hoping...

ANYONE REMEMBER THIS?

2009-09-21T23:01:00.000-04:00

THANK YOU, 500 DAYS...

2009-08-21T12:46:00.007-04:00

...for closing the book on my own Jenny Beckman.

MY YOUTH

2009-08-11T15:09:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Super Ugly for the heads up...

THE TOWER PODCAST - AN INTRODUCTION

2009-07-29T13:43:00.003-04:00

Wanna hear me wax poetic on all things New Teen Titans? Then check out my new CGS Presents spin-off podcast, the Tower. The introductory episode can be found as a website exclusive on the Comic Geek Speak homepage.

Letting me be behind the mic solo is just asking for trouble...

PS/Image above was created by Drew M

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON... 2008?

2009-07-25T00:06:00.004-04:00

Okay. I didn't go to San Diego this year for the big Comic-Con International. So I'll just reflect on the big news from last year, which was the big explosion of geekdom fever over the Watchmen movie. Anyone remember that? Watchmen bags, Watchmen shirts, Watchmen trades... even Archie the Owlship.

So in honor of last year's frenzy, I give you two silly parodies. The first one I've seen before (the brilliant concept of creating Watchmen for the Saturday Morning Cartoon crowd). The other I haven't seen before (but who am I to let a dick joke go by). It's dong-tacular!

Enjoy!

PS/ Big thanks to Weston D for reminding me about the first and bringing the second to my attention.

RANDOM THOUGHTS PART TROIS

2009-03-19T17:04:00.001-04:00

- I'm enjoying being in my apartment, listening to show tunes and just catching up with the world.

- I just ate a box of Captain Crunch cereal in less than 24 hours.

- I'm currently choreographing my 8th or 9th production at St. Joe's Prep here in Philadelphia. The show is Urinetown and the students of Cape and Sword Drama continue to live up to the theatre dept's legacy. They work hard, they play hard and they do it for the joy of the stage. Not many high schools can say the same.

- My next gig starts in April when I'll be in the ensemble of Media Theatre's Thoroughly Modern Millie. I've wanted to do this show for awhile now so I'm looking forward to the run. Show starts in May and ends in early June.

- I just had a good audition for a 42nd Street Production that would tour 3 cities in two months. I need to audition for any and every tap-related project that comes across the audition notices. Because, although there are tons of male dancers who go to these auditions, many of them just aren't that good. Sure they have that typical chorus boy all-american metrosexual look, but when it comes to actually hitting the boards, they suck. Just sayin'.

- If the rest of the year goes as planned concerning my career, I may just be making some major decisions by 2010.

- I need to start reading some good comics again.

- I really want Spring to get here. And I want Spring. Not two weeks of good weather and then suddenly it's Summer. I want that change of season where everyone starts to thaw from the winter, clothing gets shorter and tighter, the city gets kinda crazy and I can feel the sun on my face every day.

SYNERGY ASKED, I ANSWERED!

2009-01-21T11:13:00.003-05:00

Jay Tomio, of Book Spot Central, pitched me to contribute to his website for a feature called Synergy. A question is thrown out to multiple contributors in an attempt to get as many views as possible on a particular subject. Here was my question:

Can you share something interesting about how you read fiction, the elements of story that you focus on that you’ve noticed others may not — ideally providing a few examples — and why you do so (if you know)?

You can read my response in the Synergy column here.

GIVE MY REGARDS... PHILLY INQUIRER REVIEW

2009-01-15T15:55:00.001-05:00

...Peter John Rios' engaging tap choreography greatly enhances it; the show bursts with tap solidly delivered by all six performers. One number, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," is downright inspired, and the rest... is best when those taps are clicking.

You can read the full review here:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/weekend/theater/20090115_A_modest_Kimmel_space_hosts_a_modest_revue.html

A SALE IS A SALE, YES?

2009-01-02T08:45:00.002-05:00

File this under the "Why am I the last one to find out about these things" category: Robin's Bookstore, the oldest Independent Book Store in Philadelphia, is closing after 73 years. I've been an on-again/off-again customer there since 1992 - when I came to Philly to attend my first year at University of the Arts. Robin's had a great selection of plays, scripts, magazines and, of course, comics at college budget prices. Now, they are discounting everything in the store to move product. After January 5th, everything will be 50% off. Including a diminishing selection of trades ranging from Preacher to Nova to Strangers in Paradise to American Splendor. If you're in the Philadelphia area, give it a look see. I know I'll be spending some X-Mas money there.

SIGH

2008-12-31T02:42:00.008-05:00

I read/check Heidi MacDonald's the Beat everyday. I check it first over any other comic news site for the reasons that it's informative, it's (usually) not just a bunch of links to other blogs and it brings back fun times reading Amazing Heroes articles by "Ace" MacDonald.

For example.

In response to her women in the industry post, it was brought up that Fae Desmond, Executive Director of the San Diego Comic-Con, rarely if ever gets mentioned in any kind of lists spotlighting women in comics. And, like Heidi, it definitely gave me an "Of course!" kind of moment. See? Informative.

In a response to the recent the Spirit film release, Heidi wrote open and honestly about how she knows Frank Miller and wasn't going to play the reindeer game of jumping on him for the movie's overall performance, no matter what people may think of that kind of stance. See? Original thought.

So next came the chance to see what she had to say about the ongoing Fox vs WB studio cage-match over the Watchmen movie.

And then I came across the line (emphasis mine): Finally, while fans may be fretting over seeing Carla Gugino in a perky superhero outfit, Paul O’Brien has a useful observation in the comments.

Huh? What? Why is that... who said anything about... isn't that the same as... did she really just write that... ?

Look - I get it. It probably was a low-key, off the cuff comment to make the posting spicy and loose. And who am I to judge? No problem. But not gonna lie; it made me sigh, shake my head, and close the tag.

Whatcha gonna do, right?

VOICES IN MY HEAD!

2008-12-25T23:57:00.005-05:00

Chris Crank, DC artist Mike Norton and special guest Kevin Mellon (artist on Thirteen Steps, Gearhead) engage in a great "behind the scenes" type discussion on the latest Crank Cast episode. It's an honest, open discussion about what it's like to be a freelance artist in the comic business. They touch on everything from the difficulties in balancing work and a life, payment and pay scales, publisher shenanigans, realities of freelance and creator owned work and more.

It's an interesting off-the-cuff chat that really points out the difference between "those in the know" and "those that assume they're in the know" - myself included. It could go a long way to inform message board discussions, blogs and other podcasts when they start to try and speak from an uninformed sense of authority, especially in terms of sales numbers, creator motivations/decisions and a very base position of working in a field that seems to want to be both secretive and out in the open at the same time.

Give Crank Cast Episode 167 a listen. You wont be disappointed.

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2008-12-14T16:25:00.002-05:00

...Dave Gibbons:

Sequential Tart: You spent some time pencilling Green Lantern. Who do you prefer--Hal or Kyle? Why?

Dave Gibbons: Hal, of course! The other guy isn't really Green Lantern, is he?

- Under the Hood, Sequential Tart volume II issue 7, July 1999

RANDOM THOUGHTS PART DEUX

2008-12-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

- In the past 24 hours, I've been in Philly, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

- I ate 18 individual Now and Later candies on the bus home from NY tonite.

- On Monday the 15th I start my next theatre gig: choreographing a show called Give My Regards to Broadway, which will become a tap dance revue built around popular standards as well as a general overview on the history of the tap. It's a new production - wow, a world premiere! - and is more or less my first fully professional choreography work even though I've been choreographing for community theatre, high schools, summer programs and corporate events since I was sixteen. It'll be up at the Kimmel Center in Phila starting Jan.8. http://www.kimmelcenter.org/news/item.php?item=2008-12-08

- Will I make any New Year's resolutions this year? Have I ever really kept my old ones?

- Elizabeth Banks is my new 'It Girl'.

- After GMRTB, I'll be doing my 7th corporate event with Commerce Bank - now called TD Bank - and Zakarak Productions. I'll be teaching again up in Manhattan and I'm looking forward to it since this year the style seems like it'll be a mix of swing and jazz. Very awesome. And it might be even bigger for me this year than in previous years. More to come.

- I'm harboring a crush on someone. Haha.

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

2008-11-27T11:03:00.008-05:00

Scott Cederlund of Wednesday's Haul points out that Maguire was playing with his classic cover camera angle with the Who's Who Update '87 (cover date Oct'87) entry on the Justice League. The shot includes members from several eras: original, satellite, Detroit and, at that time, current. Can you tell who's missing in this post-Crisis revised history?

RANDOM THOUGHTS

2008-11-24T06:01:00.000-05:00

- Thanksgiving is coming up. And at my parents' home, it's a mix of traditional (turkey, stuffing), Puerto Rican (rice) and Pennsylvania Dutch (oyster filling, copes corn). Last year, I gained about 15 pounds during the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's, which prompted me to go on the Master Cleanse Lemon Diet to lose it all. Let's not make a repeat of that shall we?

- In December and January I'll be choreographing a mostly tap dance revue show at the Kimmel Center.

- I saw an adolescent cat roaming around the underground Subway tracks while waiting for my ride. He was poking around looking for the vermin that run around between trains. It was the first time I saw a cat on the subway lines. I fully expected him to get zapped by that mythical "third rail". Kitty was cute though.

- In 4 years I'll be 40 (but hopefully still act like I'm 20)

- Saw closing night of the play "Scapin" put on by the high school drama club that I've worked with on and off for the last eight years. They are a great group of students led by a talented and committed adult staff. One of the students was an intern in North Philly for the Obama campaign and her energy and spirit talking about the experience was wonderful and infectious.

- I need to get back on the dating train.

- My youngest sister's dance concert at West Chester was this past weekend and she did wonderful. I'm probably most proud of her when I hear others talk about her and tell me how fun she is to work with and how her spirit keeps everyone jumping. She's my kind of performer.

- Although my birthday was uneventful, not to mention I was a bit sick, I love all the messages I've received on Myspace and Facebook. It was a good day. And my roommate made me cake. Yum.

- I'm gonna miss my Uncle this holiday season.

- I keep seeing and thinking about people I haven't seen in years. It's like the ripple effect of my life is going back to the center again.

- I get happy when I buy candy.

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

2008-11-20T01:29:00.003-05:00

Derek Coward, of the Comic Book Noise podcast, has informed me of yet another Justice League #1 cover homage - this time from Trinity Angels #3 (Sep'97) published by Acclaim. Who was the cover artist? Hell, who was the cover artist, artist and writer? You guessed it - Kevin Maguire himself. This one would fall between the Titans Sell-Out Special of '92 and Fanboy 3 of '99. Have a look:

MARVEL'S GOT SOME GIANT BALLS DON'T THEY?

2008-11-18T14:03:00.003-05:00

According to the newest Marvel solicits for books shipping in February 2009, Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk issues #1 and 2 will be given an all-new printing in anticipation of the continuation and (I assume) completion of that series.

In other words, they want buyers to double dip and repurchase two issues of a series that should have wrapped up in 2006.

Marvel - you got some balls.

It falls under collusion, but retailers should send Marvel a wake up call and place not one single order for the new printings of issues 1 and 2. Nada! You want to stop being treated like low-man on the totem pole in this ongoing game of late-shipping books, classified solicitations and delays? Stand up and make yourselves be heard and so 'Thanks, but no thanks' to that Bridge to Nowhere. Obviously, no one was worried about making money on the series back when it fell of the boat, especially since Lindelof is swimming in Lost money, and surely Marvel is treating Yu to a nice chunk of their Secret Invasion profits. So why give Marvel anymore money for a series that is working its way to being almost three years late? They didn't want it back in 2006, why give it to them now?

And if someone actually did buy the original issues back in 2006, you should bring in those original issues to a local comic shop that is selling the new printings and ask if you can swap yours for the new ones.

In fact, Marvel should put out a press release stating exactly that: 'True Believers! Anyone who already has the older issues should be able to swap it out for the new ones. Excelsior!' Because you know Marvel is going to give it a new cover or new design dress just to make it more appealing.

I don't know what could be anymore smug than this move. The only other thing I can think of is delaying an issue of a major series while also delaying over fifteen other titles connected to that event and only telling retailers a day before said issue was supposed to ship. Surely Marvel is much more civil than that and would never want to start a war with their retailers.

Oh wait...

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

2008-11-18T01:02:00.003-05:00

My buddy Matt clued me in to yet another homage to Kevin Maguire's classic Justice League #1 cover. This is from the current Angel: After the Fall series from IDW and was done by Frank Urru and Paolo Maddaleni. Angel is in the prime Guy Gardner position front and center. Lorn, the green-skinned other-dimensional being, is in the green-skinned Martian Manhunter position. Obviously. Fun stuff.

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2008-11-15T20:27:00.003-05:00

...Mike Carey on the next big X-Men event potentially arriving in 2010:

"If you see Messiah Complex as being like the story that was made inevitable by House of M - if you see House of M and Messiah Complex to some extent as bookends - this is the story that Messiah Complex makes inevitable. It's a direct sequel to Messiah Complex. With some, I think, amazing character stuff, character development. A very very powerful payoff. And I think it's going to be as good as Messiah Complex if not slightly better."

- Uncanny X-Cast Episode 51 (timestamp: 1:32:28)

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2008-10-24T20:27:00.002-04:00

...B. Clay Moore:

"What is so hard to figure out about Final Crisis again? I wonder what readers would say to Animal Man or Swamp Thing if they debuted today."

WASSUP 2008!

2008-10-24T20:16:00.003-04:00

This is too funny not to share. Reconnecting with an old friend, a little gathering of high-school friends tomorrow, and now this video - it's like nostalgia weekend over here.

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T!

2008-10-16T19:59:00.004-04:00

Phillip Duncan, Editor of Superheroes-R-Us, sends along an addition for the Justice League #1 cover homage post. Here's the image by Parr & Kevin for a comic called either Halloween Man or Dig Those Cats...:

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2008-10-15T13:33:00.004-04:00

Mark Millar. On his Fantastic Four run with artist Bryan Hitch:

IGN Comics: How long are you and Bryan looking to work on Fantastic Four? Could you see yourself staying on board if Bryan shifts to other projects? Also, when is this arc expected to begin?

Millar: It kicks off in January and we're on until December. This book is out every month and we've been stockpiling all year to make sure there are no problems. We'd have a fill in before we'd have a delay. I am ****ing sick of late comics. Seriously, I stipulated this and everyone was in agreement. It's a monthly book.

Is it?

FF #554 (shipped 2/13/08) on time
FF #555 (shipped 3/12/08) on time
FF #556 (shipped 4/09/08) on time
FF #557 (shipped 5/21/08) 1 week late
FF #558 (shipped 6/25/08) 2 weeks late
FF #559 (shipped 8/13/08) 5 weeks late
FF #560 (shipped 9/24/08) 6 weeks late
FF #561 (scheduled to ship 9/10/08) 5 weeks late so far

'Sick of late comics' hmmmm?

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2008-10-10T13:48:00.001-04:00

...Keith Giffen:

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not railing against the use of rough language. Some of my favorite films, books, etc. traffic pretty extensively in it, but in a Batman, or, for that matter, any mainstream superhero comic? What were they thinking!?

Unbelievable.

Again. Find those responsible and show them the door.

- Unfortunate Confluence of Words, Oct. 10, 2008

IT CONTINUES...

2008-10-08T16:02:00.004-04:00

Devil's Due CEO J.P. Bickett confirmed for CBR News that his company is not purchasing "Mouse Guard" publisher Archaia Studios Press -- but someone else is, and ASP's creator contract is changing as well.

This is from a recent article on Comic Book Resources. But from what I can see, it omits the information that Kunoichi, Inc., a company formed by DDP’s Josh Blaylock, is also owned by DDP CEO PJ Bickett.

Also, in a recent Beat post, ASP writer A. David Lewis is asked:

Q. But is it fair to say that you are negotiating? In other words you don’t have to go to the new DDP/ASP?

To which he replies:

A: Yes, that is ENTIRELY fair to say. And that’s what I wanted to stress: Mark/ASP/DDP has said plainly that we are welcome to take our properties elsewhere and without debate.

If DDP isn't part of the equation, if there is a separation of "church and state", why is it confusing for everyone to tell the difference? And I find it hard to believe that Lewis is privy to what Mark and company have said to all the other ASP creators who are in the middle of renegotiating.

I'd love to see wording on an actual contract myself.

MORE ON DDP/ASP.

2008-10-08T14:23:00.008-04:00

From Blog@Newsarama:

Despite reports circulating yesterday, Archaia Studios Press is being acquired by Chicago-based Kunoichi Inc., and not Devil’s Due Publishing.

More here.

From Mark Smylie in the link above:
… we are indeed shifting from a more traditional publishing contract to something that can be better described as a media rights contract; this is in part a reflection both of the overall direction of the comics industry, for better or for worse — every company or individual investor that had talked to us about an acquisition expressed the same sentiment, that our IP approach would have to change to match our competitors — and Archaia’s interest in working with its creators on broader and more long term IP development. Despite the changes, we have tried to put in place as many guarantees of creator control and protection as we can; at root, we’re still all about trying to find creators who have a specific vision they want to pursue and letting them do that in a way which hopefully profits both them and the company. I’m signing Artesia to the company under the same contract as everyone else and am remaining on board as the managing editor, so I wanted to make sure that creators had as much final say over their properties as possible. We’re still in the process of finalizing a few individual creator contracts, but it’s looking like most of our previously published titles will be moving forward as part of Archaia’s new publishing schedule. We strongly believe that the new contract is competitive with industry standards and has a high degree of creator control that can these days only be beat by self-publishing.

While the debate on taking or leaving projects as they wish continues, it's the contract changing - the very thing that brought many creators to ASP in the first place - that's at the core of this. I have more than a few creators who have said they will not be signing the new contract. And three are having troubles with negotiations. Definitely there's been a fundamental change of ASP's mission statement which I assume is better from a company view. It remains to be seen what it means from a creator's view.

By the way, this comment was left in the comments section of my previous post:

Normally, Devil’s Due Publishing would not comment on unattributed rumors. But, due to the amount of queries we have received about this, we want to set the record straight.

While DDP and Archaia Studios Press had some initial exploratory conversations, DDP is not acquiring ASP. We are continuing to have conversations with Archaia about the possibilities of working together in some capacity, as we are with many other publishers both big and small.

It starts with "This is Brian Warmoth, Marketing Manager of DDP." That same comment showed up in the Beat's recent post on the situation but this time attributed to DDP CEO P.J. Bickett who owns Kunoichi, Inc. the company formed by DDP's Josh Blaylock.

Isn't this sort of like saying "DC isn't buying Marvel. Warner Brothers is buying Marvel"?

To be continued for sure...

DEVIL'S DUE VS ARCHAIA STUDIO PRESS CREATORS UPDATED

2008-10-08T02:07:00.006-04:00

While there's debate on whether or not creators are able to keep their properties under the proposed DDP/ASP deal (thanks to Heidi MacDonald's the Beat where the discussion is occurring), I have yet to see specifics being talked about and I have yet to see any talk about the rights for properties. Until now. I followed-up with the person who provided this comment:

" This part of your first quote in my own personal experience does not seem to be true: 'refusal to allow creators to take their books elsewhere'. At no point have I been led to believe that I can't take the book somewhere else if I do not wish to sign up with DDP. My negotiations with Archaia have been friendly."

... and asked if they wanted to comment on if there was any change to the rights of their project. This is what I received:

At this point in time the contract calls for a full transfer of rights in exchange for a percentage split. There is a term limit in the current contract. If the company fails to take advantage of the rights they do revert back to the creator.

It is a big difference from the original contract to be sure.

From what I understand, that term limit isn't counted in weeks or months but rather in years. The above comment concludes with:

...but as far as I know no one is being forced to sign on. I believe that the idea that Archaia would not let someone dissolve their initial contract comes from a miscommunication between Archaia and the creator who suggested the idea.

This notion is echoed by long-time ASP writer A. David Lewis - the only ASP contributor so far to use their actual name - over in the comments section of the Beat. But I've since received a comment from yet another creator that has been affected by all this, that goes against what Lewis and others are stating:

Amongst the Archaia talent there has been a lot of talk about DDP’s purchase of the company, and the contract they want all of us to sign. The bit about the grant of rights is indeed true, although DDP seems to have a list of titles they want, and a list of titles they can take or leave. As of yet, no one in the take-or-leave category that I’ve talked to have expressed much in the way of feeling strong-armed or bullied by Archaia’s new owners. On the other hand, those of us who are in the “want” category have had an entirely different experience. When I suggested possibly taking my title elsewhere, Archaia did mention possibly holding our book hostage by way of technicalities in the old contract they no longer want to honor. I also know for a fact that I am not the only creator to have been told this.

Really, what depresses me the most about the whole situation is that Archaia *was* a great company, and under the reign of Mark Smylie, a wonderful venture to be a part of. I still have a great deal of respect for Mark as an artist and a person, but the publishing house he built appear to have been swallowed up by the very forces it was meant to counter.

Still no word from ASP or DDP.

DEVIL'S DUE VS ARCHAIA STUDIO PRESS CREATORS? UPDATED

2008-10-07T06:14:00.014-04:00

Did anyone know that there have been talks going on concerning Devil's Due Publishing buying out Archaia Studio Press?

Me either.

Devil's Due Publishing made a name for itself over the years mostly due to its licensed properties such as GI Joe, Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms. A wikipedia entry claims it's one of the ten largest comic publishers in the US. What it seemed to lack for the most part was the creator-owned/original property side of things. There have been standouts such as Hack/Slash and Drafted (which is even billed as a DDP Original Series) but I can't say there's been much buzz on a reader level for much else. And one of the criticisms of the company that have been expressed is that they should be developing more original properties to balance the licensed side of things.

So to acquire a publisher like Archaia Studio Press (ASP) would go a long way to covering that angle of creator-owned/original properties.

Except that doesn't seem to be the case. Read on:

The purchase has hit a serious snag. A large number of the ASP creative roster are upset that Devil's Due is refusing to honor their old ASP contracts. Under threat of non-publication, creators are being pressured to sign a new agreement which grants Devil's Due each and every worldwide right, trademark and copyright, of every nature. Since most of Archaia's talent signed to the company precisely to retain control of their books, this has been a major stumbling block. With DDP's unwillingness to honor the spirit of the old contract and refusal to allow creators to take their books elsewhere severe friction has developed between publisher and talent.

If this nugget of information turns out to be the case, I find it hard to imagine that Devil's Due would be dicking around someone like David Petersen and his successful Mouse Guard property. Or maybe that's the reason why DDP is being so aggressive. Or what about Artesia or Killing Pickman? Certainly these aren't as high-profile as Mouse Guard, but they have strong critical following. Is this the reason why there's been a drop-off of projects and severely late shipping books coming out of ASP lately (if they come out at all)?

One of the reasons why I pay attention to ASP is because of their support for creator-owned properties and for their willingness to take chances. I've talked to many, many creators over the years that have had projects with ASP and they speak incredibly well of the company. If you see ASP at a convention, you see a company that puts their creators out there, accessible to the fans and to the comics press in a way that's more about promoting the work than the company. So I can't imagine that the creators are going to be silent for much longer if there is dispute over their work and their rights to their work.

And Devil's Due will receive some major backlash. Especially ironic considering Devil's Due themselves are in a feud right now over Hack/Slash and a licensing dispute over Re-Animator, going so far as to publish three of their issues outside of Diamond and issuing a press release on the matter to spread the word and drum up support.

Let's see what develops.

UPDATED:
Requests for comments/confirmations have been sent to all parties. I've received the following so far, both wishing to remain anonymous for obvious reasons:

"I'm not sure what all the other ASP creators are thinking and/or what deals are being made or have been made. It's still touch and go for me with contract negotiations. Don't really want to comment any further than that at this time. Lets wait and see what happens though."

and a revised quote:

"What I can tell you is that your original information is mostly accurate and, going forward, I don't have any intention of signing on under the new DDP/ASP. Truthfully, if there isn't another publisher currently willing to pick up the book right now I'll simply move on to other projects and give this one a whirl again later. However, I don't think everything is as sinister as your initial informant made it out to be, at least not to my knowledge. Not being published isn't a "punishment" of not signing on, nor is it a strong-arm tactic. I haven't heard of anybody who has been kept from breaking their original contract as your initial informant indicates and, in fact, know of two creators actively considering it besides myself, both of whom are known to ASP which has offered them no resistance to date, and two others who have successfully broken contract, one of whom having already signed on elsewhere. ASP/DDP not publishing certain titles and releasing them from contract is simply the result of creators not coming on board with a new regime and deciding to take the book elsewhere. If that is indeed the situation the creator is facing, being kept from release of their original contract, I hope he or she will reach out to everybody else.

The worst part about all this is that a company formed by an independent creator FOR independent creators has pulled a 180 on it's stance regarding a creator's rights to his or her property, as these new contracts would indicate. Comics are a difficult market for a publisher like ASP to stay afloat in however, and I respect the fact that certain decisions have to be made when running a business. Unfortunately, these choices and the new direction for the company under the proposed DDP deal don't jive with a lot of creators, myself included, and that brings us to where we are now."

and

" This part of your first quote in my own personal experience does not seem to be true.

'refusal to allow creators to take their books elsewhere'

At no point have I been led to believe that I can't take the book somewhere else if I do not wish to sign up with DDP. My negotiations with Archaia have been friendly."

WHO'S ON WHO'S WHO?

2008-10-05T20:34:00.005-04:00

Have you ever looked through DC's first Who's Who series from 1984-1986? I mean really looked through to see how many great and surprising artists contributed to the encyclopedic entries?

How about Steve Rude on Blue Beetle, Hawgirl and Poison Ivy? Or Art Adams on Cat-man, Invisible Kid II, Punch & Jewelee, and Scarecrow? Matt Wagner on Dr. Mid-nite? Colleen Doran on Element Lad and Krypto? Kyle Baker on Killer Shark and League of Assassins? Charles Vess on Nightmaster? Dave Stevens on Dolphin and Phantom Lady? Jaime Hernandez on Phantom Girl and Shrinking Violet? Eric Shanower on Speedy? Mike Mignola on Wotan? Steve Dillon on Queen Bee? Wendy Pini on Shaggy Man?

And perhaps my favorite, Peter Laird on Turtle Man?

I don't have time to upload these images at the moment. But if you have the Who's Who series do yourself a favor and look through it again. There are some fantastic images in there from many of DC's stable of artists at the time as well as the surprises listed above and more.

'NUFF SAID.

2008-10-02T11:45:00.003-04:00

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE

2008-10-01T12:30:00.042-04:00

Cover Homages! You know 'em, you love 'em. I certainly do. So let's start with an often repeated cover image that is near and dear.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 1 (May'87)
It's the cover that started it all from wunderkind Kevin Maguire. Not sure why this cover took everyone by storm but it definitely stood out on the racks back in '87 and seemed to suggest a whole new feel to the team in general. And Guy Gardner of all people is taking center stage fresh off his resurgence in Crisis, Green Lantern, Legends, etc. He was the disputed star of the book and little did we know what we were in for behind this cover. This group image would quickly become iconic in itself, referencing back to not only the team book, but to the creative team as well.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL 24 (Feb'89)
The team blew up its ranks, spread worldwide and created Justice League Europe. This cover is a mock up of the first one but with the addition of the JLE members. Keeping Guy in the front gives it an added storytelling bit. From the cover alone, there are many characters that could go under the "Who?" file such as Fire and Ice and even Animal Man. But who knew that lightning would soon strike twice. By Kevin Maguire again.

JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE 1 (Apr'89)
It's Bart Sears' turn at the iconic cover and he uses it to spoof the original by having Metamorpho hold JL 1 in his hands. Deja Vu indeed. This series, if at all possible, was even more irreverent than JLI but just as funny and just as clever. Oh - see Wonder Woman on that cover? Don't get used to her. She doesn't stay with the series too long.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA ANNUAL 4 (1990)
Kevin Maguire returns with a sppof on a spoof. You remember the Great Lake Avengers? They ripped off JL Antarctica. And just to show how crazy this team and issue are, Maguire has them posing backwards with Green Lantern G'Nort being the only one who possibly has a clue with the recurring single word balloon. Brilliant.

JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY 1 (Winter'90)
It was only a matter of time before yet another Justice League title would hit the stands to capitalize on the success - and you can't launch a JL title in this era without its trademark cover image. Again, Guy Gardner is in the main spot but this time he and his teammates are being pushed aside, stepped in front of or pushed out of frame altogether (although I could never tell if Flash was sleeping or checking out that woman's butt). The best is seeing Batman's face completely hidden by the title logo. Cover art this time goes to Adam Hughes and Chris Sprouse.

JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE 26 (May'91)
Bart Sears homages his first issue cover homage, adding Starro probes to the faces of his team. Notice the issue of JL 1 falling from Metamorpho's hands. And the single word balloon continues but this time with just ellipses.

JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE ANNUAL 2 (1991)
Kevin Maguire returns in this Armageddon 2001 tie-in featuring a whole slew of mix-match characters to help spoof the summer event. In the place of Guy Gardner in the main spot is the Demon but for the first time, no word balloon.

JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY 3 (Summer'91)
Mike McKone takes a stab at the familiar group image but puts a spin on it for the inside story. Gardner is back with a one word balloon statement of "What are you looking at?". The familiar cast of characters are featured as well.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA 57 (Dec'91)
This might be stretching it a bit, but Chris Sprouse presents the Extremists - a group of Marvel villain homages - in the classic group pose. I can't tell, but it looks like Maxwell Lord is putting his arms around the two villains on either side of him which hasn't been a recurring "theme" for the cover. But why nitpick?

JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE 36 (Mar'92)
This is like the moment after the group photo has been taken. Although Maxwell Lord doesn't know it. The group walks out of camera signaling the end of the team, end of the ongoing silliness and end of an era. Kevin Maguire returns to close the book on a great concept.

TITANS SELL-OUT SPECIAL (Nov'92)
He's back! Maguire puts the Titans and Team Titans into the classic pose at a time when the Titans were going through some major controversial changes. Maguire would draw a few issues of Team Titans so it only makes sense to put his magic on the covers as well.

FANBOY 3 (May'99)
Kevin Maguire is joined by Sergio Aragones on this comic that shares the love of comic fandom with its readers. The single word balloon returns with Fanboy reciting Guy Gardner's original question. Only Batman and Martian Manhunter are from the original JL 1 cover. The tone is a bit more serious than normal but that just adds to the humor.

FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE 1 (Sep'03)
Fresh off their JLA Classified storyarc, the creative team of Justice League returns and they haven't lost their touch at all. Maguire bangs out the classic group photo once more with Blue Beetle's comment of "Here we go again". It instantly brings us back to the original series and there's no doubt that the book brings the funny.

HERO SQUARED X-TRA SIZED SPECIAL (Jan'05)
Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis take their particular brand of team dynamics over to a different company (Boom!) with all new characters to do whatever the hell they want! This X-Tra Sized Special had a few covers and this one is by Giffen himself spoofing the original cover that made these writers so popular in the first place.

PLANETARY BRIGADE 1 (Jan'06)
Matt Haley takes a stab at the classic group photo image. It's not quite as dynamic as some of the others (the white background goes a long way on the other shots) but it's definitely an homage with Giffen and DeMatteis once again as writers. I have this in my collection but I have yet to read it. The main character in the "Guy Gardner" spot is the star of the Hero Squared comic. But I forget his name. Captain Valor? Hmmm....

MODERN MASTERS VOL.10: KEVIN MAGUIRE (2006)
You know you've said all you can say with an image when you put yourself in it. Kevin Maguire is front and center surrounded by those characters that made him popular, those character that he loves and a group photo image that put his mark on comics. Perhaps the finest touch to this image is ... of course... Guy Gardner - who looks ultra-miffed for not being in "his" spot. Bravo.

Hope you enjoyed this little visual trip. If you see other comics with this same group photo set-up as an homage, let me know!

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2009

2008-10-01T10:59:00.007-04:00

Like I need another reason to love TwoMorrows Publishing. Wonder Woman expert Andy Mangels just made my day. This is scheduled for mid-2009.

I'M LOST!

2008-09-27T23:00:00.005-04:00

That's right, I just finished watching the last two eps in Season 1 of LOST. Yes, it took me this long. Sue me.

So I'm going to jot down my notes so I have them for later. Some of my questions have been answered in the last few eps, so I'm not including those, but there are many many more that remain. (Obviously. Four seasons? Really? Four seasons of this? I'm going to go mad).

NO - I DO NOT WANT ANSWERS OR PEOPLE SPOILING IT FOR ME! I already know too much from casual conversations or listening to other podcasts. But I'm going to do my best to keep clear from now on. (For those wondering, I'm watching the eps on ABC.com).

So here are my notes for Season 1. No laughing.

CHARACTER NOTES
- what do Jack's tattoos mean?
- a polar bear? really?
- "the monster"
- the rain seems to start/stop instantly
- Kate mentioned she knew Charlie. From just beyond his band?
- the woman said her husband was in the tail section. And still alive.
- Locke is playing Backgammon
- Clair ate the fish from Jin and her baby kicked instantly. The island rejuvenates?
- Where did Jack's father's body go? Was it ever put on the plane with the coffin?
- Jack/Kate/Charlie/Locke were all stung by the bees
- the dead bodies in the cave also had light/dark stones like the Backgammon game
- Charlie's tattoo says "Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed"
- Locke said Charlie would get his guitar back; intuition?
- in the background of the airport, there was a man in black nodding to a pilot; coming later?
- Locke is the only one to see the "monster"; why do I think the island is all controllable, that can allow trees to be uprooted, moved aside, etc.

EPISODE 5:
- Sawyer's reading Watership Down. My favorite book. And one that deals with different "societies". Foreshadowing?

EPISODE 7:
- Rousseau says that "they" control the repeated message now; she also says "they were the carriers"
- Rousseau: "there's no such things as monsters"
- Sayid now hears the voices

EPISODE 8:
- in Claire's dream, Locke has light/dark stones for eyes
- the psychic says that the baby needs Claire's protection and should not be raised by anyone else; power? Messiah? Damian?

EPISODE 9:
- Charlie says "all "they" wanted was Claire"
- a hatch is found

EPISODE 11:
- Locke predicts the weather; how does he know all this?

EPISODE 12:
- Walt is "different"
- Claire's dream mentions the Black Rock in her diary

EPISODE 13:
- is there something between Lin and Sun concerning a baby?
- have Claire and Locke been replaced?

EPISODE 14:
- Sawyer now hears the voices
- is Hibbs missing a finger?
- "It'll come back around"

EPISODE 15:
- Hurley is on the TV in the home Jin goes to
- Jin lied about his dad being dead; lots of father/son issues in this: Michael/Walt, Locke and his dad; Jack and his dad; Jin and his dad and Sun's dad; Sawyer and his dad.

EPISODE 16:
- 4 8 15 16 23 42
- Hurley is a major shareholder of a box company; Locke worked at a box company
- Hurley spent time in a psyche ward where he met Lenny; "you've opened the box"
- Lenny Simms and Sam Toome were in the Navy together and 16 years ago they heard the same transmission that made Rousseau and her people crash; the transmission was the numbers and then replaced by Rousseau's message
- there's a radio tower on the island

EPISODE 17:
- Locke's mother says he's special; like Walt?
- Locke's father is Anthony Cooper
- "We're the survivors of Oceanic 815." "We're the survivors of Oceanic 815."
- a light goes off in the hatch!

EPISODE 18:
- Jack was married!! Why the split?

EPISODE 20:
- Kate's name is Kate Austin
- so why is Kate always running like she says on the casette recording
- Walt tells Locke not to open the hatch

EPISODE 21a:
- Walt did not want to get on the plane; but he does want to go on the boat
- Jack meets Ana Lucia - she's in the tail section; to return later?
- What an awesome ending with the raft casting off. Some great emotional moments.

EPISODE 21b:
- Locke gets caught by the monster who continues to sound mechanical; gears, clunks, etc. But WTF is that black flying smoke?
- Kate's reward was $23,000 - have more number been appearing?
- Rousseau says they were "coming for the boy"; not Aaron - they were coming for Walt!

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM...

2008-09-24T00:26:00.004-04:00

For those that don't know, for most of my life I had on-again/off-again bouts with asthma. I don't remember how early it started, but I can remember being younger than 10 and having breathing problems. I was put on pills for the longest time - not that I would take them as prescribed - until I started to use albuteral inhalers. Again, I would never use them as prescribed. Most of the times they would say take two puffs every ___ hours, wash, rinse, repeat. I would only really use my inhaler if I needed it, which meant, if my breathing was getting bad. I've used inhalers all the way through to my thirties with pitstops along the way to use something called Seravant (Seravent?) as well as Advair. You know, that purple circular disc pump thingy. I could dance in a tap concert for two hours and be totally fine. But then I would walk to my car, sneeze, and my asthma would kick in. I never really knew if it was seasonal based, exercise based or allergy based. It would trigger for any number of reasons. And on a handful of occasions it would be bad enough to wind me up in the emergency room.

So why am I writing all this? Because I just read the following news story:

Inhalers prescribed for serious lung disease may increase the risk of deadly heart problems, say researchers. Trials on more than 15,000 patients found inhaled anticholinergic drugs increased the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death by 58%.

You can read the rest here.

Now. I get that this story is talking about a different kind of inhaler. I suppose. But I want to relate a story for anyone using inhalers for asthma.

Earlier this year, I did the Master Cleanse/Lemon drink diet. I am not a vegetarian. I am not a vegan. I am not into any holistic way of life at all. But for ten days, I did the Master Cleanse (except for the saline flush part. ew) and not only did I lose 15 pounds, but my addiction - yes that's the word I want to use - to inhalers went away. My asthma moved to a point that my body is now able to heal itself. Let me say that again:

My asthma is almost all but gone.

For weeks after the Cleanse, I didn't even realize that I hadn't used my inhaler. And when I did realize it, it dawned on me that the inhaler was probably keeping my body from healing itself. Do I still get "wheezy"? Sometimes. Do I feel short of breath at times? Sure. But I no longer rush to the inhaler to fix it. I let my body do it's own work.

If you don't have asthma, you haven't experienced the fear you can sometimes have when an attack sets in. The shortness of breath, the gasping of air. It's not fun. But another side effect to doing the Cleanse, and of not having to rely on my inhaler, is that I realize now that asthma can also be very mental. You can completely work yourself up more than is actually happening.

It's been about 5 months or more since I've done the Cleanse. I haven't done it since. I don't exercise any more or less than I did back then. I still weigh the same. I do eat better (cutting out milk, excessive junk food, candies, artificial juices etc really helps). But I still have the same habits as before.

And yet my asthma is now controllable. After close to thirty years, I no longer carry my inhaler with me.

I'm not offering up a solution or course of action. I'm just giving food for thought for those willing to read.

FISHTOWN. ONLY A FEW MILES AWAY.

2008-09-18T13:27:00.002-04:00

Inspired by real events, Kevin Colden's story explores what led the teens to commit such a heinous crime. Fishtown is an absorbing read that compels the reader to explore a world they hope to never experience.

I'm a sucker for anything to do with Philly. You can find more here and here.

JUST 'CAUSE...

2008-09-14T23:31:00.005-04:00

J.G. Jones.
Alex Sinclair.
Justice League of America 4 (Jan'07).
Vixen.

Just 'cause.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO

2008-08-30T23:53:00.001-04:00

I don't know why. But I can't stop laughing at this: espcially the mailbox slot and the ATM machine. Everything poops.

Everything Poops

ALL STAR SUPERMAN IN ELEVEN PANELS!

2008-08-28T11:22:00.001-04:00

Read it here. Very cool.

100 THINGS I LIKE ABOUT DC COMICS!

2008-08-24T12:28:00.003-04:00

I found three pages of notes with the title "100 Things DC".

Most likely, it was a follow-up to the 100 Things I Like About Comics meme I participated in that was kicked off by Fred Hembeck's 1983 strip. Unfortunately, I lost the general 1oo Things I Like About Comics list so I'm slowly trying to recreate it.

But this secondary follow-up list, for all things DC, is intact. I'm not sure when this was compiled, maybe 2007? Anyway, I present it here as it appears in my notes, with no explanations or commentary. I'll try to revisit the list to sharpen my ideas later, but for now, here it is in its rawest form:

1. Challenge of the Super-Friends
2. Superman Movie @ drive-in
3. Lynda Carter's WW
4. Superman II
5. Batman TV show
6. CptCarrot/JLA 210/NTT 28
7. Superboy TV show
8. Lois & Clark
9. Flash TV show
10. Amethyst
11. Jemm
12. 16 page previews
13. corner/border headshots (JLA/JSA)
14. Forgotten Heroes in Action
15. Jerry Ordway (A.S.Squadron / Inf.Inc)
16. Blue Devil
17. Perez
18. LSH/NTT/Oustiders Baxter
19. Detroit JLA
20. Annuals & Specials
21. Direct Currents
22. Ask the Answer Man
23. Fred Hembeck
24. the Flash trial
25. Who's Who
26. Ambush Bug/Giffen
27. Crisis
28. DCCPresents
29. a new Robin (Jason Todd)
30. Supergirl's new costume
31. Aquaman's new costume
32. BATO
33. Gil Kane
34. Atari Force
35. Wein/Gibbons GL
36. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
37. 'Mazing Man
38. Blue n Gold
39. Whatever Happened to the Man of T.
40. 1986 (Watchmen, Supes revamp, DKR, Bats YR 1, History of the DCU, Perez WW, Question)
41. JLI
42. Superboy dies
43. Batman movie
44. Millennium
45. Longbow Hunters/Hawkworld/Fall of Adam Strange/Blackhawk/Black Orchid/Emerald Dawn/Books of Magic
46. another new Robin
47. 5 Years Later Legion
48. summer events (A:2001, Eclipso, Bloodties, w/bookends)
49. Silver Age curse
50. Zero Hour
51. Starman
52. Vertigo
53. GNs
54. Animal Man
55. Preacher
56. Invisibles
57. Waid's Flash
58. Morrison's JLA
59. Wildstorm moves to DC
60. Kingdom Come
61. Phil Jimenez
62. Twilight
63. Batman Animated
64. PAD's Aquaman (& Atlantis Chronicles)
65. Birds of Prey
66. Suicide Squad/Ostrander
67. Grummett on Titans
68. Golden Age
69. DC 1 Million
70. Jack Kirby dies/discovering Kirby
71. Kitson's LEGION
72. Transmet
73. HCs (Earth 2, V & Vice, Life of Flash, etc.)
74. Dixon/McDaniel's Nightwing
75. JLA/Avengers
76. Smallville
77. Quiver
78. Alan Davis' the Nail
79. Secret Files & Origins
80. Young Heroes in Love
81. Our Worlds at War
82. Loeb's Superman
83. sidekicks grow up
84. Geoff Johns
85. the Trinity
86. JSA returns to greatness
87. a new Hawkgirl
88. Didio's DC
89. JLA/Titans
90. McGuiness on Superman/Batman
91. Rags on Hawkman
92. New Frontier
93. new DC Bullet
94. Identity Crisis
95. road to Infinite Crisis
96. Adam Strange
97. Hal Jordan returns
98. Gail Simone / VUnited
99. 52
100. Batman Begins

and one for good luck:
101: DK's DC Encyclopedia

A LITTLE HISTORY ON WATCHMEN?

2008-08-19T10:36:00.003-04:00

You know how Watchmen 1-12 is selling like gangbusters on Ebay right now? Everyone screaming: Near Mint! Rare! First printings!

Okay folks - come on. They're not that rare. Before the trailer hit you could sell your run for $12 if you were lucky. And I could be wrong on this, but other than the first issue, there have never been second prints of any of the issues. Technically, there wasn't a reprint of the first issue either - just one of those DC Millennium editions from 2000 or so when they were reprinting classic issues in their line. So putting in bold FIRST PRINT is stupid and misleading. Because that's all there ever was!

So if you didn't know that, and that's important to you, just know that first printing is all you can actually get anyway.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

(And nothing irks me more than an auction going for over $300 plus and the seller, apparently a comic store that is selling multiple runs, listing in the description: Alan Moore writer and art by Steve Dillon! Way to go moron.)

JIMSMASH DOES THE WORK...

2008-08-15T12:21:00.004-04:00

...so you don't have to.

It's your WTF? moment of the week.

(And yes, I do see the irony of me copying and pasting someone else's work in order to spotlight a blogger who is copying and pasting someone else's work to showcase someone in the industry who is copying and pasting someone else's work. ha!)

JAMIE MCKELVIE'S WONDER WOMAN!

2008-08-09T12:02:00.005-04:00

Derek Coward brought this to attention via Twitter.

Wonder Woman as visualized by Jamie McKelvie.

Beautiful.

COMING FEB'09: HYPERSONIC!

2008-08-05T22:35:00.003-04:00

Just came across this cool looking new project on Myspace:

For more info, check out their Myspace page.

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

2008-08-05T16:03:00.004-04:00

PressRelease@rama has preview images for Final Crisis #3 and already it's starting a shitstorm concerning JG Jones' artwork.

"It looks rushed! I knew he couldn't do a monthly comic! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha"

"It's clearly not even JG at all, it's obviously Carlos Pacheco!"

"Marvel wins again! Even though Civil War #7 and World War Hulk #5 were sloppy messes, at least it was the same artist!"

Sheesh.

It makes me really happy that this kind of hawk-watching wasn't around during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. What am I talking about?

Let's have a look.

Crisis 1 & 2:
Penciller: Perez
Inker: Giordano
Colorist: Tollin

Crisis 3:
Inkers: Giordano and DeCarlo

Crisis 4:
Layouts: Perez
Finishes and inks: Decarlo

Crisis 5:
Pencils: Perez
Inks: Ordway

Crisis 6:
Colorist: Ziuko

Crisis 7:
Inks: Ordway and Giordano

Crisis 8:
Inks: Ordway
Colors: Tollin

Crisis 11:
Colors: Gafford

Crisis 12:
Colors: Ziuko

Can you imagine 12 months of that kind of backlash because of that amount of creator shuffle? Because let's be honest, Crisis didn't hit its stride artistically until Ordway came on to the team. Perez would've had his nervous breakdown even earlier than he did in his career had these kinds of comments been tossed around so authoritatively.

You know why we didn't care? Because the story and the concept and the execution and the EXCITEMENT was overflowing.

Get a grip, people! Get out of the nitpicking, stop echoing talking points presented by competing editors and publishers, read it yourselves and enjoy it or don't enjoy it.

If you're going to base a comic on 4 preview pages on a computer screen you're in this for the wrong reasons.

SAN DIEGO PODCASTING PANEL!

2008-07-19T10:53:00.003-04:00

On Thursday July 24th:
5:00-6:00 The Third Annual Comics Podcasting Panel— The best of the best in comics podcasting returns to San Diego for the third annual discussion of comics podcasting and how it's affected the comics media. A no-holds-barred discussion with comics podcasters Bryan Deemer and Peter Rios (Comic Geek Speak), Charlito and Mr. Phil (Indie Spinner Rack), Joe Gonzalez and Jimmy Aquino (Comic News Insider), Josh Flanagan and Conor Kilpatrick (iFanboy), and John Mayo and Bob Bretall (Comic Book Page). Room 32AB

From what I understand, now to be moderated by Fred Van Lente instead of Rick Remender. Only five podcasts represented? I thought for sure there'd be more.

Anyway - stop by, wear your CGS shirt and come with good questions. Frankly, you hear us talk all the time - what more could we possibly say? I want to hear from YOU! We may also use this night as a good time to gather everyone for an impromptu listener meetup/dinner.

See you there!

MY CHILDHOOD ON MYSPACE!

2008-07-12T13:27:00.001-04:00

Why isn't anyone talking about this:

The World of Sid & Marty Krofft on Myspace!

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

2008-07-11T02:53:00.005-04:00

Chuck Dixon:

"...because it's a given that DC has the best heroes, and Marvel has the best villains. The bench on villains at DC is very thin..."

- pg.129, the Titans Companion vol. 2 by Glen Cadigan, TwoMorrows Publishing.

GRANT MORRISON'S BODY OF WORK!

2008-07-08T13:25:00.003-04:00

Is currently being ranked over on thecomicforums.com.

It's making me want to reread everything he's done since Animal Man and Arkham Asylum.

I need to get back to building my Morrison library.

QUESTION...

2008-07-06T10:07:00.003-04:00

..for the 10 readers or so of this "blog" (ha):

I'm looking to start chronicling my comic collection starting from the earliest comics I own in an attempt to lay out just how my understanding of this super-mythology developed. Remember that scene in High Fidelity where Rob is organizing his collection into the order he purchased them? It's like that.

So my question is: Do I write it down here on this blog as an ongoing project or do I use the method that I've come to love and do well at: podcasting. If I podcast, it would be a mix of the Uncanny X-Cast's Retro Reviews with a splash of Derek Coward's Reader Feed covered in a whole lot of CGS Footnotes.

So which do I do?

THIS JUST MADE MY WEEK

2008-07-02T01:18:00.001-04:00

VOICES IN MY HEAD!

2008-06-27T08:12:00.004-04:00

Podcasts I've listened to this week:
Uncanny X-Cast 40. 11 oClock Comics 3 & 4. Pipeline 174. Q!PAW 44. Birds of Geek 36. Poptopia 120 & 121. Comic Book Noise 121. Phantom Power Comics Podcast 10. Burning Trash 4.

Podcasts I need to catch up on:
Indie Spinner Rack. CNI. Around Comics. Four Color Heroines. Half Hour Wasted. I Read Comics. Look at His Butt.

Podcasts I'm dreadfully behind on:
Crankcast. Geek Syndicate. Comic Book Queers. Raging Bullets. Marvel Noise. KomicsKast. Amazing Spider-Cast. Geek Savants. N3rdCast.

Podcasts I want to listen to:
Only the Valiant. Eye of the Storm. KryptonCast. Comic Tube.

Podcasts I want to find:
Something on Philly. Something on Theatre. Something covering News.

TWITTER THIS!

2008-06-25T05:50:00.003-04:00

Yea - I've succumbed to peer pressure.

I'm twittering.

Bite it.

I'M IN LOVE...

2008-06-16T14:48:00.001-04:00

...with Marina from www.hotforwords.com.

-sigh-

AAM MARKOSIA IS LOOKING FOR ARTISTS!

2008-06-16T07:42:00.001-04:00

from ComicSpace:

Hi all,

As Group Editor of AAM/Markosia, I'm often asked to review portfolios at comics shows here in the UK - but these shows are few and far between, and we have a number of projects with writers attached, looking for artists.

Let me tell you a little of what we've got on offer - there are four projects in varying stages of writing, which we're looking to put out in 2009, first as full colour monthlies, then as the collected edition. Some of these have the potential to go onto multiple series, but here's what's on offer initially:-

one is a modern day zombie tale set predominantly in London

one is a post-apocalyptic tale focusing on a robotic survivor

one is a cross between "Days of Future Past" and Gattaca

one is modern day tale featuring DNA tweaks to enhance brain power having unusual side effects

From these rather short descriptions, get in touch with me craigjohnsonesq at aol dot com and we can talk.

Best, Craig.

MARVEL USING TONY STARK TO SELL INC. HULK!

2008-06-13T00:57:00.002-04:00

I just saw the Incredible Hulk trailer today that starts off with General Thunderbolt Ross talking with Tony Stark. My first reaction: damn - now that's smart promotion. Use the movie that took everyone by surprise to sell the movie that has a tough act to follow.

It's a shame Marvel Studios will lose this momentum in 2009 because of the writer's strike.

Warner Bros.! Wake up!

I'VE BEEN BUSY...

2008-06-06T02:08:00.002-04:00

...working in a production called Jamaica at the Prince Music Theatre here in Philadelphia. We open Saturday June 7th. And once we do, I'll finally have a few more hours in the day to myself. These 10 to 12 hour days are killin' me. Heh.

For more info you can go here.

IT'S MY UN-BIRTHDAY!

2008-05-20T19:59:00.000-04:00

May 20th is 6 months to my actual birthday. So I'm celebrating. Weeeeeee!

An update:

- I'm working at the Prince in a production called Jamaica. It's been ... interesting so far.
- I'll be missing both MOCCA and Heroes Con this year. Which is a bummer. But I'm on track to head out to San Diego Comic Con for a week. Yikes!
- CGS is getting bigger and bigger and things are in the works to make it really big.
- Fulton is doing 42nd Street in Lancaster. Yay! Must audition.
- Secret Project 1 is in the works.
- Secret Project 2 is in my head.
- I still haven't seen Iron Man. Indiana Jones is this week.
- I need a girlfriend. haha.

JAMAICA!

2008-05-10T21:44:00.000-04:00

I was cast in Jamaica at the Prince Theatre here in Philly. Our first week of rehearsal is over and we open with previews May 31.

Jamaica has a pretty interesting origin story. It's by the composers of Wizard of Oz, it's borne out of the Red Scare, it started as a full musical and ended up as a more-or-less cabaret vehicle for Lena Horne, etc. etc. etc. It opened in '57 and ran for two years with very few subsequent revivals. The Prince has been given permission to rework the piece entirely.

We're doing a slow crawl through of a rough staging at the moment - incorporating songs we've learned, loose blocking, etc. Songs are added and/or taken away, new script pages are thrown in - very much like working a new premiere.

I'm loving the trek into Center City each day and I should be getting used to the 10:00am call sometime next week. heh. Rachel Passmore is on staff - worked with her on 42nd Street at the Walnut so it's great to have a familiar face in the crowd.

Prince is home to AMTf (American Music Theatre Festival). I worked with AMTf my freshman year at UArts for a production called Bobos. Yup - it was about sneakers. And gangs.

All in all it's a fun cast so far - 13 in all. And working with Director Ozzie Jones is a fuckin' riot.

More to come...

TALKING WITH THE CREATORS OF THE UNIQUES

2008-04-23T23:29:00.013-04:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Adam Withers and Comfort Love at this year's Mega Con in Orlando, Florida. I was introduced to them by Rich Bernatovich, creator of the Sentinels - a self-published super-hero book that I've been a reader of since MOCCA Art Fest'06. Rich suggested that I would enjoy the Uniques, the comic created by Adam and Comfort. And he was correct. Adam and Comfort have melded their senses of art and storytelling into a fine debut comic that has me excited for more. Presented here is an in-depth interview that we conducted via emails in an attempt to learn a little more about these up-and-comers and the comic world they are building. Enjoy.

PART 1: CARTOONS, COMICS AND THE JOYS OF YOUTH

PETER JOHN RIOS: Heroclix. Battlestar Galactica. He-Man references. Cats named Obi-Wan and Annie-Kin. And parents named "Jim" & "Lee". From reading your bios on your website, I imagine you both were destined to be comic book creators wouldn't you say?

ADAM: First, may I applaud your pun-aptitude sir. Bravo. I'll never look at my parents the same way. But yeah, I think saying we were born to make comics would be fair. I was six years old when I made up my mind that I would be a comic artist, and I was an uncommonly committed little kid. Prior to that I was determined to be a paleontologist, but when I realized I'd never see an actual, living dinosaur I made the switch.

COMFORT: Well, for me I was not as young as Adam was when I said to myself, "I want to do comics." I had wanted to be an artist since I was very young, and I loved all the action/adventure shows like He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, and of course, Ninja Turtles. But it was my devotion to the X-Men cartoon in the 90's that brought me into the world of comics.

ADAM: Yeah, it might be better to just say we're life-long nerds who happen to also be storytellers. What better way for nerds like us to tell stories than comics?

COMFORT: Our stories, anyway.

PJR: Adam, six years old and you already knew? What were you reading at that time that fired your imagination? I don't remember when I started reading comics, but even at six it was still only the Richie Rich books for me.

ADAM: I can remember the first comic I read in vivid detail. It was a Daredevil issue that was given to me when my family went with friends on a boat outing. He was fighting a villain called Turbo. It was a fight issue, but at the end you saw a shadowy guy in one of those tall-backed leather chairs watching the whole thing on video and plotting against Daredevil in secret. I read that thing so much that the cover fell off.

But the first book I actually collected, starting almost immediately after that, was Green Lantern. I dug into the half-off back issue bins at my local shop and bought all the old Green Lantern Corps issues, from when there were only like seven GL's and they were all on Earth. Daredevil got me excited about comics, but Green Lantern got me hooked.

PJR: It seems the X-Men cartoon - which even to this day is a guilty pleasure of mine - brought many girls into comics. Comfort, I know of other girls who took the same path. What was it about that particular cartoon that captured your attention?

COMFORT: What got me into the X-Men cartoon were the characters, the human relationships they shared, and the fact that the girls on that show got to kick a lot of ass! Back in the 80's and the early 90's it was still rare to have female characters that could actually fight and not just get captured every episode.

ADAM: That's really true. Boys could find a lot of characters to relate to in any cartoon you chose, but most girls all the way up into the 90's were primarily there to be rescued.

COMFORT: Exactly! But not the X-girls! I was amazed by how strong, powerful, and sassy Rogue was - all juxtaposed with the tragedy, and the sadness she carried with her from her past, and the isolation of never being able to touch someone without causing them great pain.

ADAM: Rogue was tougher and more capable than Gambit was. And I can't remember a time she ever needed saving. It's what drew me to her character, too - that strength and depth she had.

COMFORT: I cried along with Cyclops when Jean died after the Phoenix Saga. I had never heard of the comics, and had no idea how that story would turn out - I was just heartbroken that she had died! There was even a story showing ordinary construction workers being angry with Mutants in part because people like Colossus took away their jobs, which hit home for me, growing up in Michigan. What other kids show dealt with stuff like that?

It didn't hurt that the action on the show was so intense. But that intensity came from what felt (at least to my 13-year-old mind) like drama that established a reason to care about the outcome of a fight. Action for the sake of action, that was okay. But action spurred on by a real story? Now that was engrossing.

PART 2: COLLEGE, A CHANCE MEETING AND AN IDEA FORMS

PJR: It's clear the comic bug bit you both early and strongly enough for you both to want to further your passions later in life through college and self-publishing. But did you go into college thinking "I want to create comics" or, as I imagine some people do, did you go into college thinking "I'll go to learn more about art so I can eventually fulfill my secret desire of creating comics!". Were comics an acceptable form of "honest work" from those around you: friends and family - were they supportive?

COMFORT: After I picked up my first comic - X-Men #56 with Rogue on the cover - and even though I didn't have much of any idea what was going on (it was the Onslaught crossover at the time) I loved it and I knew this was what I wanted to do… but most of the other people in my life didn't quite feel the same way.

My parents at one time told me that they actually feared for my well-being if I went into comics. They thought that the fans were 'strange' and that I might be stalked or kidnapped or who knows what - although, their attitude has done a 180 and they're a couple of our biggest supporters.

As for friends, I didn't really have any who read comics. It was always me alone riding my bike down to the local comic store and searching for hours through the back issues to find stuff I liked.

ADAM: Man, being into comics is a lot harder for girls. All of my friends dug comics - or at least were cool with the idea of them, you know?

COMFORT: Yeah, well there was no such thing as 'fan girls' when I was growing up. And boys thought I was weird and didn't know how to react to me. By the time I got to college I had decided that I was going to do comics - but I was going to try and take a different approach. I was highly influenced by David Mack at the time and I was disillusioned by a big changeup in the X-Men creative team. It was sort of the first 'reboot' that I experienced, where suddenly the whole team (right down to character personalities) changed and all but invalidated much of what I'd been reading up to then. And frankly, it just got bad and boring.

So when I got to college I went about learning, in as much detail as I could, every other medium under the sun. I almost had two full minors (Graphic Design I had and Fine Arts I almost had) along with my major in Illustration when I graduated. Something that I'm glad of since it was those other skills that helped keep us afloat during the beginning of our freelance career. But in doing so I drifted away from my traditional drawing roots. I was too easily influenced by other people (until Adam came along) telling me that comics weren't a viable option, or that they weren't 'real art.' I've had to do a lot of catching up with my pure drawing skills since collage to make up for that.

ADAM: Yeah, Art Schools are rarely encouraging of comic art. That's changing a little bit, now, but you've still got Illustration departments run by older professors who want that illusion of that 'Fine Arts' prestige and look down their noses at comics. But that's what it's like all through the art field; everybody wants to look down on every other style of art because they know what's good and those other so-called artists are just posers. I see it in comics, too, as Western Style artists scoff at Manga and Eastern Style artists ridicule American comics, and it drives me crazy.

I think we're both really glad we went to art school, because we learned a lot of skills that have been invaluable in our work now - but most everything we know about making comics we had to learn on our own.

But I got luckier, in that my parents were both really supportive of me. I grew up in Flint, Michigan, and my Dad worked for GM my whole life. It was a miserable job, and really hard on him both in terms of the work he did and all the periods of lay-offs as the industry struggled. He always encouraged my sister and me to find something we loved to do and make that our career, rather than just taking some job we hated in order to make money. That was always taught to me by both my parents - better to be happy and rich in family and friends than miserable and rich in stuff and things.

So, as opposed to Comfort, I went into college knowing comics were my goal. I directed every project I could toward learning things that would help me become a better comic artist, taking a lot of independent studies and minoring in Graphic Design to learn digital color and pre-press. It took a bit to get going, but ultimately I was working harder than most of the people in my classes, so the professors were a little more willing to let me do my own thing.

PJR: To this day I bet some of my family still think of my comic reading as a "phase". And while I had a group of comic reading friends as a kid, I still had moments like Comfort - of walking miles to a comic store to pick out my favorites and then stuffing them in my shirt when I got home so my mom couldn't see them. They became a very private thing for a long time. Maybe in a way having the internet nowadays is actually a blessing for younger comic readers: they learn at an earlier age that it's okay to read whatever you're reading and that there are others out there like you.

And beyond all that, it sounds like all of this; your inspirations, your "history", etc., was what made coming together as friends, a couple and then husband and wife almost inevitable? While we all may relate to the comics you read or the path you both took to further your art, not many of us can say we have a partner that completely understands our passion for comics; reading, creating or otherwise. I gotta say that's pretty damn cool!

ADAM: I'd have to agree with you. I wouldn't trade this for anything. And maybe it was inevitable, but I'm not so sure about that. There are a lot of pairs of close friends out there who would never think of each other as viable romantic partners. What we have is rare and special, and that's unfortunate because I wish more people could experience it.

COMFORT: Yeah, we spend just about every waking moment together, either hanging out or working.

ADAM: Mostly working.

COMFORT: Mostly. But we're best friends, and that's fine with us. We've been together for eight years this October, and our 5th wedding anniversary is in June, but it still feels fun and fresh and new.

ADAM: We first met at college, and we were both at a big table where mutual friends were hanging out during a break between classes. I saw this illustration somebody had done of the Endless characters from Sandman on the table. Now, I had only just discovered Sandman at the time, so I was really excited to share my new passion for this great series with whoever had made the illustration. When I found out a girl had done it, I couldn't believe it. It's so rare to meet girls who like comics, and I was deeply intrigued.

COMFORT: At that time I was almost 20 years old and had been reading comics since I was 15 and had yet to find anybody who shared my passion for comics and that I could connect with on such a deep and mutual level. I had recently decided that I was going to get a boyfriend.

ADAM: Note her wording. Comf is like that - she thought it out and decided 'I think it's time I had a boyfriend.' But it isn't like those snobby girls, it's just that she's really that adorable.

COMFORT: I had several candidates picked out, but when I met Adam I knew he was the one I wanted to be with most. I just hoped that he would like me too. And as luck would have it he did.

ADAM: I really did. We started dating just a few weeks after we first met.

COMFORT: And it was awesome. Not only did we play kissy-face like other young couples do, but we also spent hours and hours talking about any number of subjects. It's our ability to talk and hang out together that makes our relationship as strong as it is today.

ADAM: We just had so much in common. We liked the same movies and music, we were both inspired by the same artists, and more than that - we liked what we did for many of the same reasons. People always comment that our art styles are so similar that it's sometimes hard to tell us apart, and that's in part because we were emulating the same people long before we met each other, and were trying to become the same kinds of artists.

COMFORT: Yeah, I focused a lot more on painting and Adam was a strict penciller, but we were both most interested in characters, emotions, and getting expression and feeling into the people we created on the page.

PJR: You know, from your responses so far, would I be wrong in saying that Adam is more the "emotional" part of the team and Comfort the "rational" part? Is that too easy of a label?

ADAM: It's a little broad, but I don't think labeling me as the emotional one and her the rational one would be too far off-base.

COMFORT: Yeah, that's pretty much the dynamic. I am an intense pragmatist, and Adam is very passionate and emotional. Not that we don't both switch roles from time to time - but that's generally how it goes.

PJR: Since you brought it up, and I promise we'll get to Uniques soon, your art styles ARE very similar. Actually, it reminds me of the distinctions my mind makes when I look at the Kubert Brothers side by side. You know they come from the same background and you can see incredible similarities, but it's all the subtle stuff that makes them different and wonderful. Can you both quick list your art inspirations - comics or otherwise?

COMFORT: You can pretty easily boil it down to these guys: Chris Bachallo, J. Scott Campbell, and Adam Hughes. Generation X and Gen 13 were huge books for us, like they were for probably a lot of people around our age reading comics in the 90's, and those two styles seemed so fresh and new and interesting. Adam Hughes was a big one for Adam in a drawing sense, but I look to him more for inspiration in color. His naturalist style is so beautiful.

ADAM: Absolutely. For myself, I'd add Kevin Maguire to the list. Justice League International was one of the first books I read, and Maguire and Hughes' ability to draw expressive, emotional characters was something I tried to emulate even as a little kid - before I knew what it was I was emulating or why!

COMFORT: And I was drawn to the painters more, first with Alex Ross but much more strongly with David Mack. The first time I met him in person, it took two tries to go up to his booth and shake his hand. He was just so cool - and I'll admit it, I cried just a little after I met him.

ADAM: She was like those teenaged girls when the Beatles were performing. It was one of the most endearing things I'd ever seen.

COMFORT: Yeah, but I wasn't nearly as crazy frantic. It was a one of those 'I don't mean to cry, but I am' things. Anyhoo, I think our other source of artistic inspiration is animation. From Disney movies like Aladdin to Mulan, and the surge of Anime that took place in the 90's. The movement and emotive abilities that strong animation can achieve is something that gets us going even to this day. We tried to bring that animated flow to our style and our comic.

ADAM: Not only that, but good television also. Series like Rome, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Battlestar Galactica, Journeyman-- these aren't so much art inspiration, but storytelling. And when you get right down to it, we approach art through story rather than the other way around.

PJR: Putting all of those things together (the similar art styles, your goals as creators, who plays what role in the creative process at any given time, the comic connections and the endless hours of discussion), what's the secret origin of the idea that would become known as the Uniques! (See? Told you we would get there!).

COMFORT: The Uniques was a story I had in my head as a young girl even before I started reading comics. It grew and changed as I got older, until one fateful night in a hot tub--

ADAM: Bow-chica-wow-wow…

COMFORT: Oh, honey, I love you. *ahem* Not like that. Adam and I were up late telling each other our different ideas for comic stories, and really talking about them for the first time. I was talking about Uniques and how some of the adult characters would reflect back to a time when they were part of a team of teen heroes. I only meant it to be seen in brief flashbacks, but Adam said that it was too important for that.

ADAM: Well, yeah - she was talking about all these trials and tribulations these people went through to get where they are, and I knew that that was a story we needed to see in order to really understand that growth. I started asking about who those other teen heroes were, what the team went through, how they came together, all that kind of stuff.

COMFORT: And I had never even really thought about it, but I was so excited and inspired by the ideas we started batting back and forth that by the next morning I had the seeds of this whole new set of stories in my head. We both had this plan to start our comics in college as school projects, using the excuse to buy us time to work on them. I wrote a first issue and started doing pages, and even published a few little vignettes in a school publication for the club Adam and I founded; The League of Sequential Storytellers.

ADAM: But we both decided we were too far below the skill level we wanted to tell our stories. We needed more experience, so we put our comics on the shelf and went freelance for a while. We were freelancing before we even graduated, trying to get as much real experience as we could so that when we did come back to our original ideas, they could be as strong as we wanted them to be.

COMFORT: So a few years ago, after a long, long period of showing our portfolios around and getting great reviews, but no jobs, we started to get the feeling that we would have to create a comic of our own before any publisher would ever take us seriously.

ADAM: Until you've been published, you can't get published, you know?

COMFORT: Not that we haven't been published, but just not in the right places. That and we were getting a little tired of working on pitch-books for series' that went nowhere. We did a bunch of issues of comics that never materialized, trying to find a way to break in. Eventually, we just decided that if we were going to go through all this work and all this trouble, we might as well do it on our own story.

ADAM: And by now we had worked out our style of collaborative comic art. It mostly grew from the necessity of having to juggle a gadzillion freelance projects at once just to pay rent and keep fed, but we found we really liked it and wanted to bring that fusion to a comic of our own. So we sat down and looked at my comic idea and her Uniques, and decided (based on a lot of factors) that hers was the strongest story to start with.

COMFORT: We started plotting the story for real in 2006, started writing scripts later that year. And finally, in November of 2007 we took a chance, putting most of our other freelance work aside, and started drawing the first issue.

PART 3: UNIQUES THE COMIC

PJR: J.Scott Campbell, GEN13, Disney, anime, Six Feet Under and hot tubs. Six degrees of the Uniques. And yet all very telling once you look at the final product. It's a handsome final product for a first issue from "newcomers". It has a great first issue hook, introduces a huge interesting world and yet still delivers a smaller personal story for a reader to follow. So the time and patience you allowed yourselves - to ensure you felt capable enough to deliver the story that deserved to be told - pays off.

With all the attention to detail both in the first issue and in the various character pages on your website, the sense of worldbuilding is very strong. It's not just Uniques the Comic, it's almost Uniques the Experience. Which is an especially smart move: provide more content, for free, for those interested enough in seeking it out to fill gaps, expand the universe, etc. Not to mention it gives you a little breathing room in-between creating new issues. When you put the first issue and the online content together, we have characters that have been around for decades, legacy characters, a timeline of events in how the Uniques changed the world around them, struggles between Uniques and Typics and much more.

The character that intrigues me the most when putting all this info together is Virtue. You mention on your Director's Commentary podcast the backstory of Virtue's creation. What could easily be seen as a Superman-archtype becomes something more when filtered through where you grew up and your parents' experiences. Can you elaborate on that more?

ADAM: Virtue is an interesting character because he comes from a concept that both of us had batted around for a long time, once again back to our youth. The name comes from a character I had created, and when Comfort was describing the idea of her Superman-ish character for The Uniques world, I suggested that Virtue could be a nice fit.

COMFORT: We went into this knowing that we wanted to build a whole world, with history and legacy. It’s one of the things we most love about some of the big comics, and the reason I called the book ‘The Uniques’ instead of ‘Telepath’ or the name of the team. It’s about more than just these people. But while our central characters will get a lot of face-time and be able to break all kinds of expectations, the supporting cast used archetypes a lot more heavily, just so the reader could more immediately get a grasp on the role some characters would take.

Virtue was one of those. You can look at him and see the similarities to Superman or Sentry or any of those iconic Men of Steel types, and you get him right away. Now, as we go, you start to find out how different and individual he is, both through his dialogue and his past, but we didn’t have time to spend explaining all that right away.

ADAM: We grew up in Michigan, as we’ve said, and I lived in Flint until I went to college. Growing up with a father in the auto industry, working in a factory, I saw something in the man he was, the town we lived in, and the struggles we had that was never reflected in comics. Many times, comics idealize rural America and the Big City as the only two options for heroes. Gritty, ‘real’ characters come from The City, while wholesome, earnest ones always grew up on farms. Nowhere was the shop-town, Blue Collar experience used as a motivating factor for these characters.

COMFORT: You could boil Virtue’s character down to the question of what would happen if Superman had been raised in a shop-town instead of on the farm, though there’s a lot more to him than that. He first became ‘Virtue’ in 1939, and would have been born in 1918. His father was part of the first sit-down strike, his mother was one of the ‘Rosie the Riveter’ type women during World War II. So he comes from a very different place, and has more of an Everyman touch.

ADAM: By now he also has an exhaustion to him. He just feels tired. He’s long since realized that he’s stopped getting older, and he’s had to watch so many people he loved die. Now he’s watching the children of people he knew when they were only children try to take on this same job. It’s that weariness and steely determination that draw us to him. His age, and his normalness.

COMFORT: He’s Bruce Willis with powers. Die Hard 1 Bruce Willis, not crazy-action-ü ber-hero Die Hard 4 Bruce Willis. He’s the kind of guy just about every blue collar man dreams of being and connects to on so many levels.

PJR: He became the other POV character for me as I was reading. Obviously, there's Telepath - as she fills in the gap of her missing two years (you gotta read it to find out why folks!), we're learning with her. Learning about what has happened in the past two years, how people are picking up the pieces of their lives, how the Uniques are handling their "new" status. And yet there's Virtue as well - the outsider, the keen observer. And I found I wanted to know his perspective as well. Because he has the info that Telepath wants and certainly the info the readers would want. And then there's a third player along those lines: Motherboard. She's the Typic - the normal human in all this - that is right smack in the middle of it all with a unique perspective for all sides. It's an interesting triangle.

ADAM: It is. And I always liked that Virtue is one of the most normal guys in the book, even though he's arguably the most powerful and certainly the one who's been around the longest. He's got a perspective that nobody else could have. But Motherboard - she's the most down-to-earth person we have. The other kids in the team, as teenagers often do, get their heads filled with so much idealism and hopes and wishes, and they want this team to become such a grand, romantic thing… and then there's Motherboard to keep things practical and grounded. She's the living embodiment of one of our design goals for the whole series - finding the normal within the fantastic.

COMFORT: It's really one of the things I most love about the book - different people's perspectives on similar events. The most boring comics, or any stories for that matter, are the ones where everyone ends up having the same voice, as if one person is just talking through everybody. Experience, genetics (even just regular human ones), upbringing, and culture all have a part to play in how you interpret and react to the world around you. Having a chance to see and read about the variety of people, hopefully will allow our audience to get a deeper and richer idea of the world we've created.

PJR: Since the Uniques is story driven, what kind of stories do you have in mind? Will it always be super-hero-centric, can we expect smaller personal stories, multi-chapter epics, one-offs, etc? How far reaching are your plans for the series?

COMFORT: You could compare the story structure to something like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, where you're following one central story, but there is a lot of room for diversions and side-tracks that may seem like one-offs or short stories, but that all deeply contribute to the ultimate ending we have coming. We have a lot of one-shots planned that explore the history of characters like Virtue, Speed and Ghost (who you'll meet in Issue #2), and more characters coming than you can shake a stick at.

ADAM: But they're all personal stories. We start with this group of seven teenagers, and will follow them into adulthood and, eventually, up into their 40's. We'll see this generation grow and see the next one coming up behind them. While it will be super-hero centric in that the book tends to follow people with powers, our real focus is always on people not costumes.

COMFORT: In the short-term, we're going to see these kids acting their age. That means there will be a lot of mistakes and a lot of possibly uncomfortable situations - but let me also say that it means a lot of fun too. And even though these are kids, anybody who knows a teenager or remembers being one is aware the kinds of things you can get into, or how quickly the world can expect you to grow up.

ADAM: Yeah, there is an irony to the fact that, in writing a book that depicts teenagers realistically, we're creating a comic that kids the same age as these characters might not be able to read. We put a Mature Readers warning on our website, and it's because we are not going to shy away from any situation. We're going to hit all the big taboos - religion, politics and sex - and handle them in a mature fashion. One tricky spot is the swearing. People use bad language. It happens. And nobody curses more frequently or more creatively than teenagers. More than that, there are people who - although nice enough people - say some really offensive things sometimes. Creating a world that feels real means not adhering to some Politically Correct playbook, even if a vocal percentage of people would balk at super heroes acting or talking in such a way.

COMFORT: Now, let us be clear, when we say we want our world to feel 'real,' we don't mean that the way some companies do, where being 'realistic' means that nobody can have a good day, and it's just one horrible tragedy after another. Good things happen to our characters, and they have great successes. They also have horrible failures, but there's a balance, just like in life. And just like in life, they will cross lines and do things that can't be taken back.

ADAM: I'll take that one further and say that there will be no resurrections in our book. Dead means dead. And there will be no whitewashes or reboots or retcons. We are committed to everything that happens in the story, and everything that happens (good and bad) will have repercussions that they will deal with even to the very end of the book.

COMFORT: We do have a definite ending planned. The best comics have a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you try and stretch out a story forever, you run into a lot of problems. And we're setting up that ending from the very first issue, too. You'll be able to look back and see the seeds we were planting way back when.

ADAM: Long story short (too late), we are going to have all kinds of stories in The Uniques. The whole series is one giant, multi-generational epic, but is comprised of smaller epics, one-shots, interludes, and character studies, all with an emphasis on personal growth and emotion. Though most of the characters are 'Super Heroes,' we aren't approaching any of the stories from a traditionally Super Heroey perspective.

COMFORT: Just to clarify, though - this isn't just another comic that deconstructs super heroes. There are a ton of those, and they're fine, but we're more interested in just looking at people and what makes them tick. We aren't trying to put skeletons in everybody's closet, or to show that all heroes are secretly jerks in capes. We just want to be emotionally honest, which too few comics do.

PART 4: THE WRAP-UP

PJR: I know your next convention appearance will be the Pittsburgh Comic Con. Where else will you be attending? And any last words or shout outs to anyone involved with or surrounding Uniques and/or the comics community?

ADAM: After Pittsburgh, we're going to be at the Motor City Con in May, and Heroes and Wizard World Chicago in June. We've done the Mid-Ohio Con the last couple years, and expect to be at that show again this fall.

COMFORT: We did Gen-Con Indy last year, and hope to go back again this year. And finally, we're looking at Wizard World Philadelphia, to further our East-Coast credentials.

ADAM: To close, we'd like to say that the book couldn't have happened if not for the people who backed us up and helped us out along the way; our letterer and friend Jeff Brzozowski, our Fightin' Flatsmen who made the color possible with their tireless color separation work, and Chris Karath who helped get our website up and running and looking as slick as it does.

COMFORT: We want people to understand is the best work is made not just by one individual - but with and by the community that person builds up around them. This book is our baby, and our idea - and yes, we write, draw and color it. But it wouldn't be what it is without the input and help of the people who have helped and supported us through the process.

ADAM: We'd also like to say that, since we're working out of our savings right now and producing the book out-of-pocket, the future of The Uniques lives or dies by our readership. If people buy the book and support it, we can keep going. If they don't… we can't.

COMFORT: And we work hard to keep it as affordable as possible. You can order the first issue is 36 pages for $5 through our website, but we are also trying something very few comic creators do, and that's offering a full digital download in PDF or CBZ formats for .99 cents! That's a whole comic for the price of a song on iTunes. We've made this as easy for people to get as possible, because more than anything we just want to share what we're doing, and the story we're telling, with anybody who wants to be a part of it.

ADAM: We're working on issue 2 right now, and hope to have it ready for the Pittsburgh show - we'll make an announcement about that on our website in the next couple weeks.

COMFORT: And if you like the book, tell your friends, blog about it, and put it out there on forums. We don't have a big publisher to support us or promote us, so we need all the help we can get. It is the support of the readers that will allow us to continue and finish what we hope will be a grand, epic story that's as fulfilling for the people who read it as it is for us to dream up and create.

For more on the Uniques, the various cast of characters, creators, galleries and more - check out UniquesComic.com. You can see more art from the creators on Adam's and Comfort's DeviantArt pages. For a sneak peak at issues 1 and 2, visit thecomicforums.com. And you can order Issues 1 and 2 off the main website or at this weekend's Pittsburgh Comic Con.

DC NOISE RETURNS! EPISODE 3!

2008-04-04T09:09:00.003-04:00

I'm back. DC Noise Episode 3. Get it.

OFF TO GOD'S WAITING ROOM

2008-03-05T18:25:00.000-05:00

So I'm off to Florida for my first stop on the 2008 Convention Tour for CGS (Comic Geek Speak - the podcast I do with my friends). We'll be in MegaCon, Orlando, FL. until Monday. I can't wait. We haven't been there before so I'm looking forward to seeing old and new friends, meeting new listeners and just having a blast. And one of my friends from Philly will actually be there as well. So that makes it all the better.

When I return, I'll be starting choreography for my next gig: Mystery of Edwin Drood. Great whodunnit type musical. I'm also anticipating Spring. It was beautiful in Philly on Monday and Tuesday - people in Philly come out like roaches when the weather gets nice. I love it. Nothing like sitting in Rittenhouse and watching the shorts and tank tops come out. I'm such a perverted old man.

Also, the other venture I help out with, Comics Now! Magazine, will be shipping its second issue in a few weeks. It gets better and better.

Send good thoughts for the plane ride. And, for post-show festivities, send good thoughts for my liver.

That is all.

JUNE IS BUSTIN' OUT ALL OVER!

2008-03-04T04:01:00.001-05:00

Please. Just watch this. I cried when I watched it. It's that funny.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=6226225

ONE WEEK LATER

2008-02-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

Okay I lied. It's been 10 days since I've been off the Cleanse. I weighed myself today - something I haven't been doing a lot - and I weigh 157. That means for 10 days I've managed to keep myself at the same weight that I finished at when I went off the Cleanse. And believe me, I've been eating. But I've stayed away from the sweets. I haven't had red meat since then. I've stayed away from major dairy. I portion my meals. And I find that I'm not as "hungry" as I used to be. In other words, I don't feel the need to eat out of boredom or habit. I certainly need more fruits and vegetables. I'm stretching/doing exercise at home. Walking whenever I have to go somewhere. So it seems to be working.

Yay me.

And if you haven't already, check out my pictures. I've split them up into different albums. The "Me" one is quite hilarious.

THE END

2008-02-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

So today, after 4 days last week and 4 days this week, I'm going off the cleanse. The correct way this time. Meaning orange juice and vegetable soup in progression to build my system back up. I weighed myself this morning: 158lbs. Wow. I went from around 168-69 before the Cleanse to 158 after. After New Year's I was even around 174! All without feeling weak or hungry and just one hiccup along the way. I didn't have any major discomfort either during the process. Now I just have to be mindful of what I eat, how I eat and keep active. But it's good to know I can bounce back somewhat easily and, most important, in a healthy way.

Yay me.

CLEANSE TAKE TWO

2008-02-08T00:39:00.000-05:00

So I came home this Tuesday and my ninja roommate swung down from the ceiling, swung a tornado kick my way and said "You cheated!". Or something like that. Yea. I cheated. BUT! I went back on the cleanse this Tuesday. A little out of guilt, for sure. But honestly? A lot of the reason why I went back was because I wanted to. My body almost wanted to. I felt like I needed to "detox" the weekend away. So since Tuesday, I've been back on the cleanse. I got a little punch drunk Tuesday night - probably because I had tasted food and was craving more (or maybe because I hadn't slept at all the night before). But as soon as I got back on the juice and tea, I was fine. Mind over matter I suppose.

Wednesday was fine. And today, Thursday, as well. I weighed myself. I'm 159lbs. That means I've lost 4 more pounds. Wow. My asthma is better. My medium shirts actually fit. I walked to the Kimmel Center tonite (Fantasticks is running 3 more weekends) and felt energized. Someone even asked if I lost weight. So obviously, it's making a difference.

I'm going to go another day or two and then start to ease myself off - the correct way this time, I promise! The correct way meaning orange juice. Followed by vegetable soup. And then on to healthy eating. I gotta start cooking again, cut back on eating out and definitely go easy on my sweet tooth.

I'm also looking forward to going back on the cleanse - for maybe shorter periods before and/or after a trip - because sometimes I wreck my system whenever I go to conventions: crappy food, lots of drinking, etc.

So see? It can be done without much fuss. It's not for everyone but I'm glad I'm doing it.

DAY 4,5, AND 6

2008-02-05T00:02:00.000-05:00

DAY FOUR
Ugh. That's the best way to describe how my Saturday went. It wasn't so much that I was feeling bad or was hungry. I had a few more trips to the bathroom which was to be expected by this point I assume. My stomach at times felt knotted, again which was expected. Nothing painful, just a feeling. I drank the lemon mix and it was the first day where I was thinking about how boring the drink was becoming. The same thing again and again. About mid-evening I was getting a little punchy, laughing about something silly I saw online - and then laughing at how much I was laughing. It was a surreal 10-15 minutes. Haha. Probably the worst day so far but not by much.

DAY FIVE
I knew I would be traveling today so I didn't drink the tea. I didn't want to have to make any emergency stops while going to Reading. I drank my lemon drink before I left and took most of the ingredients home with me to make a batch there. It was tough being at home on Superbowl Sunday. And, sad to say, I broke. Sorry Kelley! I ate a slice of pizza, some chicken wings and a piece of cake for my dad's birthday. And boy did I regret it a few hours later. My body quickly got rid of it. I wasn't in pain, but I definitely felt discomfort. This wasn't the best way to introduce food back into my system. My mom did comment that I looked thinner. And I certainly feel thinner. Even though I ate, I didn't really want to eat a lot. I didn't just gorge like I usually do.

DAY SIX
I ate very little today. Cake, some wings. Some salami pieces. Again, very little. I just didn't feel like eating. Unlike yesterday, I didn't have discomfort but my body still got rid of it all eventually in the night. I tried some clothing on today from a friend - and they fit incredibly well. The last time I tried on some of his stuff, it fit a little too snug. But because I lost weight all around my waist, stomach and back, it was snug at all. It felt good. That's incentive to keep going and keep exercising. I feel like myself again - or the me I was a year or so ago. I'm looking forward to going back on the drink and maybe I'll spend the rest of the week back on the Cleanse to finish it out.

So I went 4.75 days before I gave in. But I can honestly say that I want to go back on and go for another 5 days to see what happens.

PHILA. WEEKLY TALKS BLUE PILLS

2008-02-02T09:21:00.001-05:00

"Ease of expression and charm in storytelling are hampered either by poor word choice, incorrect spelling or awkward phrasing. Such problems distract from the book, but it still reads as a funny and engaging reflection on mortality and—dare I say it—the importance of living in the here and now."

Liz Spikol, one of my favorite columnists in the Philadelphia Weekly, talks a bit about Blue Pills by Frederick Peeters. You can read it here.

DAY TWO AND THREE

2008-02-02T00:28:00.000-05:00

DAY TWO OF THE MASTER CLEANSE
I probably don't drink enough of the lemon drink but I don't feel the need. I'm not really hungry and I almost even feel full. Nothing major happening out the other end either. My stomach did rumble a bit. Almost as if it was ... wait for it ... cleansing itself! Seriously. It really felt like that.

I walked around Philly today. Kelley and I took her dogs to the dog walk and then I walked to the bank and then to Center City. Went to the comic shop to promote Comics Now and then walked again from 2nd Street up to Broad where I caught a bus home. I noticed that my breathing was easy, I didn't feel like I was straining against my stomach. I also didn't feel that tired or worn out. I figured without food I'd be exhausted. But I did fine.

DAY THREE OF THE MASTER CLEANSE
Woke up today with a filmy mouth. Ick. Luckily it went away after I brushed my teeth. I did "evacuate" three times today. But nothing appeared ummm... out of the ordinary. So all good there. Surprisingly, I thought I would be a lot hungrier than I am. But I'm not. Something in the Lemon drink mix must also curb the appetite.

I looked in the mirror and oddly enough, my face looked... less full? Especially around my nose and cheeks. And my stomach is getting less poofy. I also weighed myself and I lost three pounds so far in just 2+ days. Water/waste weight for sure. I'm back down to around 165. Around the holidays I was up to around 170-172. I'm stretching, doing crunches, doing pushups. Anything to just keep the body active without overdoing it.

I can only imagine what the weekend is going to be like. It's a good thing there's nothing in the house foodwise. Since I don't see it, I don't want it. I did smell food when my roommate cooked yesterday. Or when she had peanut butter and I could really smell it. But I'm not hungry which is good. If I've come this far, I might as well keep going.

I'M DOIN' THE CLEANSE

2008-01-30T23:06:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's right. My fabu roommate has convinced me to do a Cleanse since I, basically, have nothing going on right now. Lemon drinks replace food and she's coaching me through the process. I surely could stand to lose a few pounds (or eight) and it'll be nice to kinda get my eating back on track eventually.

So this is Day 1. It's been a piece of ca... I mean, a breeze so far. The next few days should be interesting however.

Going to Florida in March. Gotta look good right? Okay, okay, I should have better reasons for doing this - but come on. It's always about looking good right? Just being honest. I'm determined to keep my 32" size in jeans that I've been since college. And honestly, my asthma gets worse even when I'm 4-6 pounds over my ideal weight. So there - that's a good reason to get healthier. Only wish it was a little warmer so I could walk more.

Anyway, just wanted to write this down so I could look back on it a few days from now and either laugh, cry or beat myself.

We'll see...

PS/ Given my track record, I fully expect some new stories concerning my butt. If you have to ask, you just don't know me as well as you should. haha.

IN MEMORY OF LAVAUGHAN

2008-01-29T23:18:00.000-05:00

Today I attended the viewing service of one the many great Tap Dancers I've had the honor of learning from over the years.

LaVaughan Robinson passed last week just two weeks shy of his 81st birthday. Today was a mixture of sadness, pride, encouragement and many other emotions and I was reminded just how influential he was to me as a performer, a dancer and as a teacher.

The morning turned into a little University of the Arts reunion of sorts - which is where I met LaVaughan back in 1992. I was a Musical Theatre major but the Dance Dept. held classes in the old 313 building (now torn down). I'm fairly certain I was introduced to LaVaughan's class of hoofin' tap for dance majors from a classmate and I would attend even though I wasn't a dance major. It was a whole new world of tap for me - his style, his approach, his attitude - all of it. I was probably the only guy in the class at times and I could tell he was happy that I took the class. In fact, I can remember him asking me where I was when I would miss a class or two. It probably wasn't easy for him to teach ballerinas and modern dancers how to tap - without using vocabulary or even counts. He was about the sounds and listening and that's not always easy to pick up. But it certainly trained me to become a better dancer.

LaVaughan was one of two great tap teachers I had at UArts. The other being Michael Lanning. Michael , a silver haired Italian man, was more of a classic tap dancer, in the style of Astaire and Gene Kelly. LaVaughan grew up dancing on the streets of Philly and his style was rhythmic and down to the ground. There were many days when the two of them, opposites in so many ways, would argue about sports or politicians, usually with Lou the guard or Ralph the maintenance man. I have to assume they respected each other's talents though and each taught me so much.

At the service today, I saw classmates, teachers, an old roommate, castmates, people I knew but never took class with, people I knew from the lounge or the hallways. When LaVaughan's family came in, it hit me that I don't think I ever heard LaVaughan talk about his wife, kids, family - ever. And yet there they were. And they were so happy to see the crowd of people who attended because of LaVaughan's legacy. Savion Glover's mom was in attendance and before she sang a moving song of memory, she asked the Philadelphia Tap Community to stand. And I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. Here were teachers and students. Students who are now teachers. And teachers who are now peers. People who will continue to pass on what we've learned. In fact, I did a gig about two weekends back where I had to dance two numbers. And sure enough, LaVaughan's steps were in the mix.

I would continue to see LaVaughan after college mostly at tap functions in Philly or when he was a special guest artist at a concert held by the Allentown tap company I was part of for years. I would always take his class, even if the routine was the same, because you never really learned it fully. Each time you picked up something new. And that was so worth it.

You know, in all those years, I'm not quite sure he remembered or knew my name. But he knew my feet. And in that, I hope I can pass on to others what I've learned from a true artist.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

2008-01-26T23:57:00.000-05:00

Good News: All the various gigs that I've had the past few weeks are finished. They all went over well and I made great connections in the process.

Bad News: All the various gigs that I've had the past few weeks are finished. I'm between jobs until I start choreographing Mystery of Edwin Drood in March. "Between jobs" is the fancy way of saying I'm unemployed.

-------------------------------------------------------

Good News: I'm fairly close to possibly teaching tap in the area at a great location. Yay tap!

Bad News: One of my college tap mentors passed away a few days ago. LaVaughan Robinson was the first person to introduce me to "hoofin'" and rhythm tap. He grew up in Philly and was a true master. I'll miss him greatly.

-------------------------------------------------------

Good News: Comics Now Magazine 1 hit comic shops across the country on Wed. Jan. 23. The feedback has been great and there's been some excitement created. Which means good things for the podcast.

Bad News: Hmmmm... I guess in this instance, everything's good news (so far).

THE INTERVENTION DRINKING GAME

2008-01-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

On New Year's Eve, my roommate and I created a drinking game for the A&E reality/documentary show Intervention. Well, last night we put it to the test.

And I got snookered!

Here are the rules (the ones I can remember):
1.If the main focus of the episode does their addiction of choice, take a sip.

2.If a man cries, do a shot. If the same man cries more than once, you can change this into mini-shots.

3.If anyone says "I want the old ______ back" take a shot.

4.If the main subject, after realizing they're at an actual Intervention, leaves the room, take a shot. Keep doing a shot if they continue to enter and leave.

5.If main interventionist Jeff says "Love you like crazy" take a shot.

6.Anytime main interventionist Candy compares the main subject to her own past addiction take a shot and do a dance.

7.If the main interventionist is sweaty Ken or the other chic, drink water.

8.Keep taking sips from the time someone asks during the Intervention "Will you go get treatment?" until the main subject gives their answer. Your mileage may vary on this one.

9.If it's revealed on the Black Screen of Judgment that the main subject falls off the wagon after their rehab, take a shot.

10.In the rare instance there are two interventions in one family, take two shots.

11.If the main subject of the episode dies, do an irish car bomb.

Feel free to substitute drinking with the addiction of the episode (food, gambling, bulemia, etc. Although I wouldn't recommend it.)

Coming next episode: a food addict. Twinkies anyone?

Who says Monday nights aren't fun anymore???

COMICS NOW!

2008-01-15T02:23:00.001-05:00

So many of you probably don't know about my "side-project" as co-host/producer of the popular Comic Geek Speak podcast. What's a podcast? Think "online radio" but it gets downloaded directly to your ipod for free as we update with each episode so you can listen to each episode whenever/wherever you want.

We're coming up on our third year anniversary and if doing 3-4 episodes a week isn't enough, we finally put together our new comics magazine, Comics Now!. It ships next week to comic stores and into the hands of many many waiting listeners. My Co-Host Bryan is the mastermind behind it all and I know he's proud as hell. Instead of bitching about what we want in a magazine about comics, we put one out ourselves.

It's pretty exciting. It's fairly crazy. But hey - it's out there.

Check it out.
www.iwantmycomicsnow.com

3-2-1...

2008-01-01T05:59:00.000-05:00

Is it wrong that my roomie and I pre-gamed the night with a drinking game for the Intervention marathon on A&E?

Quite possibly.

...Happy New Year!

AT THIS TIME OF YEAR...

2007-12-25T01:31:00.000-05:00

...I love Wawa and Sunoco.

For without them, there would be no Christmas breakfast.

yum.

DC Noise Episode 2

2007-12-11T16:27:00.001-05:00

...is up.

Enjoy.

STANDIN' ON THE CORNER...

2007-12-09T02:27:00.000-05:00

...anyone recognize that song those three words kick off?

So I've been in Philly for a month a week and I'm so loving it. The South Philly neighborhood I'm in, now starting to put up every lovely Woolworth Christmas doodah that I thought only existed in my mom's house during the 70s and 80s, is quiet and cute. I live superclose to the subway and to the famous Melrose Diner (been there every 2-3 days. I got a crush on a waitress there. I'm like Frankie and Johnny). If need be I can even walk to Center City - which I did the other day when it was nice out. My roommate is ultra-cool, laid back and fun and has been great about having a boy live with her. I haven't left the toilet seat up yet. Yay me. She has two dogs, Walter and Blanche - boxers just like Rosco back home - that are hysterical. It's been a sweet deal all around.

I start choreographing the Fantasticks next weekend. Tony Braithwaite - the funniest actor in Philly - is directing. It's performing at the Kimmel Center in their black box theatre. I performed there in 2002 with the "world premiere" of I'll be Seein' Ya. I'm fairly certain we were the first show to be put up in that space back then. I love the music in the Fantasticks but it's a tricky book. I'm curious to see what Tony will do with it.

Since I've been in Philly, I managed to see a couple theatre productions. Into the Woods at Temple, a new show at the Prince (it was like a melding of Fiddler on the Roof, Light in the Piazza and Faust. I kid you not) and also Being Alive at the new space for the Phila. Teatre Co. That show was amazing. Created by Billy Porter, it's a revue of Sondheim pieces but mixed with Shakespeare dialogue featuring an all black cast. It was incredibly powerful - both emotionally and theatrically - and weaved 3-4 loose stories through different stages of "man" from youth to death. And the band kicked ass. We were seated in one of the upper boxes to the side so I had a good overview of the audience during the show. Oh by the way - Sondheim himself was there taking notes. Yes he was. I was invited to go by a friend who got us in for free. How cool is that.

Anyway, the audience was made up of mostly older people and they were so boring! They hardly emoted or responded during numbers, waiting instead for them to end. The show and performers (and direction) practially screams out "Live! Laugh! Love!". It's in one of the songs. It's a piece that's meant to be interactive. And the audience sat there like lumps. I read a review of the show where the critic, commenting on the humor of the show, said something like "the audience didn't really laugh". That's because they probably didn't get it. I get so tired of lazy audiences that turn their brains off the minute they sit their asses in a seat. When we met the cast afterwards, they were so thankful for our responses during the show and during the curtain call. It's called energy, people. An audience can make or break even the best of shows. Don't be afraid to respond when warranted. The person on stage will love you for it.

Anyway, I've been going back and forth to Reading to record episodes of CGS. And I just started a new podcast, DC Noise, discussing all things DC Comics (that's Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. for those not in the know). As if I needed a new project right? But I'm excited about possibilities for upcoming shows. I've come to really enjoy and respect the podcasting medium - and if I was set up properly, I'm sure I would create a third podcast to talk about all the things I don't talk about on my other shows. We'll see.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with my friends in the area - from college or from other shows. They make me laugh, they make me drink and are just good fun people.

Yea. I love living in Philly.

(Oh. The title of this post is in reference to the fact that my apartment is on a corner. So ummmm... yea).

WTF?

2007-12-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

Does Wizard really need to do another special movie spectacular issue for the year? The content in the regular issues is already mostly about movies more and more each month. Maybe they should do a special Comic Book spectacular instead.

Yeesh.

Yet Another Project

2007-11-23T15:48:00.000-05:00

DC Noise Episode One.

It begins.

BYE BYE READING!

2007-10-30T21:26:00.000-04:00

Well, at least temporarily. The move to Philly begins tomorrow. I finally get to see my room. That'll help me determine what's going with me, what's going in storage and what's being tossed away. So I'll be back and forth between Reading/Philly a few times before I'm fully moved in.

I'm also going to try and see some shows while I'm there for a few days. Friends of mine are doing Assassins. The new Phila. Theatre Co. is doing Being Alive. And other friends are doing Into the Woods at Temple. So it could be a busy week of theatre-going. Which is okay in my book.

So if you want to get ahold of me while in town, give me a ring/text/message.

THE PURGE BEGINS!

2007-10-23T09:34:00.000-04:00

I'm moving back to Philly in a week or so, and the best thing about it is: the Purge!

As I go through my clothes and books and papers and, as George Carlin calls it, my STUFF, I get to throw those things away that I just can't keep carrying with me anymore. I even have boxes of stuff that I haven't opened since I moved out of NY three years ago. Come on! Do I really need that stuff???

So the great Purge begins again - this is the third time I've done this - and I always feel lighter afterwards. If you haven't ever purged, you seriously need to. It sheds off the unwanted echoes of the past and gives more space for the future.

Look at that. I just got all Jedi.

I LOVE MY JOB

2007-10-07T23:16:00.000-04:00

So I just finished up a fun week in New York while I finished the first leg of my current corporate event. I managed to spend some time in NY hangin with friends, I saw the Late Show with David Letterman for the first time (I'm such a tourist), I did a little shopping, etc. etc. etc. The east coast decided to have a mini-heat wave which sucked but it was fun anyway. The event was at the Nokia Theatre on Broadway. So in some strange way, I can say I performed on B'way. haha. I had a fantastic dinner at the Blue Fin on Times Square, had my first taste of caviar and really wished I had someone to dance the night away after that. Something about NY makes me want to stay up all night.

In any eveny, a great time was had and I have a week before the last leg of this gig starts up in Philly.

I also was offered two jobs from people who found out I was moving back to Philly. Nothing major, but it's nice to know I'll be working through March or May. yippee.

SOMEDAYS...

2007-09-28T20:33:00.000-04:00

...I'm really thankful I'm single and make my own hours. No one to check in with, no one to coordinate plans with, just me and my own time.

This wasn't one of those days.

:shrugs:

Nothing a drink can't fix right? haha.

WOW

2007-09-26T04:40:00.000-04:00

The weekend is over and our Episode 300 was a success. It's crazy to think that over 150 people traveled to Reading Pa. from all over the country (and one guy from the UK) to come and celebrate comics with our podcast. It's an amazing community of people that I consider friends. Surprisingly, the weekend wasn't too quick and it didn't drag. It moved along at a great pace while we set up, signed people in, made the creators feel comfortable, talked, laughed, etc. Everyone seemed to be incredibly excited and happy and the money was flowing which was great for Lem at Golden Eagle Comics. I met new people, saw old friends, finally talked with people I only talk with through our forums. My co-host Bryan busted his ass to make this a worthwhile event and it happened.

During the actual Episode 300 recording, I think I teared up at least five times. It's not just about people hanging out. It's about people wanting to share their joy and their excitement and their passion for a similar interest. That's no different than coming together for a sporting event, a business, music - whatever. I have no regrets about the weekend and hell - I walked out of there with an iPod Nano from Bryan. How awesome is that.

We're already making plans for next year - bigger and better - so I hope to see even more new people attend.

If anyone would've told me in March'05 that by Sept'07 we'd be running our own convention, I would've scoffed. But here we are.

Bravo.

A Message to Warren Ellis

2007-09-24T18:09:00.000-04:00

On Sept.17, Warren Ellis put out this Bad Signal message:

“I’ve got to admit, I’d rather eat broken glass than listen to a podcast about comics. I mean, the only comics-related websites I look at anymore are Journalista and The Comics Reporter.

“Oh, and to answer a few comments: no, I’m not looking for high production values in podcasts. But I’m also not looking for a gaggle of hillbillies yakking away about nothing in their fucking meth lab. The podcast guides are full of this shit. “Skeeter and Mothra are cousins, brother and sister and husband and wife, and every morning on trailer-radio they shriek in an unknown language about the price of Sudafed while their eighteen children rape dogs in the parking lot outside.” Fuck the democratisation of radio. That’s nothing but retarded people trying to emulate what they already hear on American radio.”

Well Mr. Moore... I mean Mr. Ennis... I mean Mr. Ellis, you obviously know nothing about comics podcasting.

It's about reaching thousands of people using a free distribution method to keep them informed and entertained (Bad Signal anyone?).

It's about introducing readers to new genres, creators, publishers and comics. You know - comics such as Authority, Planetary, Transmet, Black Summer, etc.

It's about 3 creators at a comics podcasting event stating they've made more money in 7 hours from 150 attendees than in two days at a major convention boasting over 20,000 thousand.

It's about being excited about this art form in a way that is growing the community, not dividing or ridiculing it.

It's about this, this, and this.

So by all means, Mr. Ellis, do the comics podcasting community a favor and chew away.

YOU HAVE REACHED...

2007-09-19T20:17:00.000-04:00

...Most likely I will be away from my computer for a good solid three days - Friday thru Sunday - as I romp around with my comic geek friends at our annual celebration. We've hit 300 Episodes for our podcast and we're doing it up big time at our local comic shop here in Reading, Pa. We have 130 people coming from all over the country to shop, meet, talk, laugh, drink, etc. Also, we've invited 25+ creators to help make the weekend special. All in all, we're looking at close to 175 people just because of a podcast. How cool is that?

So if you're near Reading, come to the Episode 300 bash at Golden Eagle Comics at the Fairgrounds Square Mall, Saturday Sept. 22 from 9 to 6:00.

Rock on.

TIMELINE: SEPTEMBER

2007-09-07T12:02:00.000-04:00

Birthdays, anniversaries, etc for the month of September. Additions, corrections and comments most welcome!

BIRTHDAYS
(Listed below are the birthdates of various figures in and around the industry. Yes - that even includes Janeane Garofalo since she was in the Mystery Men movie. So there.)

SEP. 08: Avi Arad (1947)
SEP. 09: Michael Keaton (1951)
SEP. 15: Maurice Coyne (1901) Publisher/Co-Founder of Archie Comics.
He's the "M" of M.L.J. (1901)
SEP. 16: Mike Mignola and Kurt Busiek (1960)
SEP. 17: Bryan Singer (1965)
SEP. 19: Adam West (1929)
SEP. 20: John Dell (1965)
SEP. 21: Chuck Jones (1912)
SEP. 21: Stephen King (1947)
SEP. 24: Jim Henson (1936)
SEP. 25: Christopher Reeve (1952)
SEP. 28: Janeane Garofalo (1964)
SEP. 29: Russ Heath (1926) co-creator of Haunted Tank, Marvel Boy
and the Sea Devils.

ANNIVERSARIES
FIVE YEARS AGO (2002)
SEP. 10: Denny O'Neil suffers a massive heart attack in a restaurant. He is revived by the owner of the restaurant who happened to be a fireman and had a defibrillator machine on the location. He tells this story in the Comic Geek Speak interview found here.

TEN YEARS AGO (1997)
SEP. 08: the New Batman/Superman Adventures cartoon series begins
SEP. 09: Burgess Meredith dies at age of 89
SEP. 16: Marvel and its lenders reach a tentative agreement to settle Marvel's bankruptcy debt.
SEP. 22: Incredible Hulk animated series begins on UPN

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO (1992)
SEP. 05: Batman the Animated Series airs for the first time on Fox

FIRST APPEARANCES
SEP. 01, 1974: SHAZAM! TV series premieres on CBS
SEP. 04, 1978: Conan newspaper strip runs until February 10, 1985
SEP. 06, 1996: Superman the Animated Series debuts on the WB
SEP. 06, 2000: Ultimate Spider-Man 1 hits the stands
SEP. 07, 1998: Pokemon cartoon airs on American TV for the first time
SEP. 08, 1930: Blondie comic strip first appears
SEP. 08, 1973: Super Friends cartoon show debuts on ABC
SEP. 10, 1966: Bob Kane's Cool McCool animated show debuts on NBC and the New Adventures of Superman cartoon series debuts on CBS
SEP. 10, 1998: Daredevil 1 (coverdate Nov'98) by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada debuts the Marvel Knights line
SEP. 12, 1993: Lois and Clark the New Adventures of Superman live action TV pilot debuts on ABC
SEP. 14, 1968: the Batman/Superman Hour airs on CBS (the first ever Batman animated series)
SEP. 17, 1988: Superman cartoons debuts on CBS Saturday mornings produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises (and lasts for one season)
SEP. 23, 1998: Buffy 1. BTVS comes to comics in her own title
SEP. 26, 1941: Max Fleischer's and Paramount Pictures' Superman cartoons begin with "the Mad Scientist" (costing $50,000)
SEP. 30, 1946: Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Publications merge to form National Periodical Publications (known today as DC Comics). The two companies were closely partnered before (the DC logo appeared on All-American comics for several years) but this marks the official consolidation.

FINAL APPEARANCES
SEP. 01, 2004: Acclaim files for bankruptcy

IMPORTANT COVER DATES
(These comics didn't ship in September - usually cover dates feature a date that is two months after initial release - but for my purposes, it keeps with the theme.)

SEP'36: Wow! What a Magazine 3: Bob Kane's first work
SEP'38: Jumbo Comics 1: Jack Kirby's first work
SEP/OCT'47: Young Romance 1 by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
SEP'53: Daring Love 1 from Gilmore Productions: Steve Ditko's first published comic work (pencils & inks). Also, Mighty Mouse in 3-D: brainchild of artist Joe Kubert and St. John Publishing, which would kick off a year long fad.
SEP/OCT'56: Showcase 4: first appearance of Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash and the start of the Silver Age
SEP'61: Flash 123: the Silver Age Flash meets the Golden Age Flash
SEP'63: Avengers 1 and X-Men 1
SEP'66: Spyman 1: Jim Steranko's first work
SEP'69: Justice League of America 74: Black Canary joins the JLA
SEP'74: Batman 258: first appearance of Arkham Asylum created by Denny O'Neil based on the book by Jack C. Harris and HP Lovecraft
SEP'83: Sword of the Atom 1
SEP'85: Longshot 1: first appearance of Longshot. The art by Art Adams starts a craze among young artists.
SEP'86: Superman 423: Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" part I. Also, Watchmen 1: first issue of the groundbreaking maxiseries by Moore and Dave Gibbons.
SEP'87: Legion of Super-Heroes 38 (baxter run): death of the Pre-Crisis Superboy.
SEP'88: Animal Man 1: Grant Morrison's first American comic work
SEP'91: Wizard the Comics Magazine 1 premieres
SEP'95: Nightwing 1: the first sidekick finally gets his own series.
Also, Skull Kill Krew 1: Grant Morrison comes to Marvel
SEP'00: Sentry 1: Marvel's hoax premieres

OTHER
SEP. 15-16, 1988: the two days fans had to vote on the death of Robin that would be presented in Batman 428 (Dec'88/Jan'89). 5343 for death, 5271 for life.

SHIPPING THIS WEEK SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

2007-09-06T12:30:00.000-04:00

ACTION PHILOSOPHERS 9 THE LIGHTING ROUND (Evil Twin Comics)
These stories have been a blast to read and are highly entertaining, original and educational to boot. Originally scheduled to ship in July, this is the final issue of the run (two trades are out so far) and I'm looking forward to the next topic: Comic Book History!

ALL NEW ATOM 15 (DC)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 544 (Marvel)
One More Day begins. This is the last leg of the roller coaster ride that's been the Straczynski run. My prediction: Skrulls, clones or the return of the real Peter Parker. Wouldn't that cause a shitstorm?

ANNIHILATION CONQUEST WRAITH 3 (Marvel)

BLACK CANARY WEDDING PLANNER (DC)
My sister owns a successful flower shop. I've helped to set up hundreds of weddings over the 20 years of working with her. So I have firsthand knowledge of the ins and outs of planning for a wedding. I'll be studying this issue with a keen eye. (I'm kidding... mostly.)

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 6 (Dark Horse)
Brian K. Vaughan takes over. -crosses fingers-

COUNTDOWN 34 (DC)

DETECTIVE COMICS 836 (DC)

HOPE NEW ORLEANS VOL 1 GN (Ronin Studios)
Hadn't heard much about this until this week. More info can be found here.

INFINITY INC 1 (DC)
The original Infinity Inc., with its generational premise and connection between the JSA and their children, has a place in my heart for the Ordway art, the slick Baxter paper and the introduction of some of the coolest looking characters of the time. They've managed to survive somewhat gracefully over the years but the title never resurfaced. It's back now though - this time with a new premise ripped from the pages of the brilliant 52. Will it survive?

JACK KIRBYS FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL 2 HC (DC)
Two weeks late.

MPD PSYCHO VOL 2 TP (Dark Horse)

NEGATIVE BURN 12 (Desperado)
I have a few of these anthologies and they never seem to disappoint. Check 'em out if you got some extra cash.

NIGHTWING 136 (DC)

OUTSIDERS 50 (DC)
Final issue.

SOLLITARIA 2 (Praxis)
Originally scheduled to ship in June. Interesting story.

SORROW 1 (OF 4) (Image)
Buying this for Francesco Francavilla's artwork alone. You know him from Ape Entertainment's Black Coat. (Or you should). It's five weeks late though, so hopefully it doesn't take too long to finish. I've recently stopped ordering a bunch of Boom Studios! books because of inconsistent shipping (or not at all). It makes it tempting to not order and just pick up at conventions for cheap.

SUPERGIRL 21 (DC)

SWORD OF THE ATOM TP (DC)
At $19.99, this is pricier than it should be for four issues and three specials. But I love this story. It was this mini-series (and Action Comics) that introduced me to Gil Kane the artist and I've been a fan since. It also gave Ray Palmer/Atom more personality than any of the JLA issues I read at the time. Considering what DC is doing with Atom at the moment, this could be important on some level.

SHIPPING THIS WEEK AUGUST 29, 2007

2007-08-31T13:41:00.000-04:00

52 AFTERMATH: THE 4 HORSEMEN 1 of 6 (DC)
What was originally solicited as a one-shot is now a six-issue mini-series. The Horsemen were a damn scary creation in the pages of 52 and, with Giffen and artists Pat Olliffe and Drew Geraci on board, I'm sure the overall concept will ring true. However, I wonder if saving the idea for a later, non-event time or for the course of an actual storyarc, if that might have been more effective. Right now it seems lost in the Countdown shuffle.

ACTION COMICS 855 (DC)

AMAZONS ATTACKS 6 (DC)

ASTHMA GN (Sparkplug Comics)
By John Hankieweicz. I know very little about this, except for the title. I'm an asthmatic. So I'm curious why the title choice. Here's a few links to help.

BATMAN ANNUAL 26: HEAD OF THE DEMON (DC)
Like the Sinestro Corps War, the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul is growing out of an actual story and looks to be a great read. I also like that this isn't a one-shot or some kind of extra mini-series. That they are using Annuals again for important or special stories is a plus.

BOMB QUEEN IV 1 OF 4 (Image)
More fun than anyone should have reading a comic. Don't take it too seriously, just enjoy.

COUNTDOWN 35 (DC)

COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE 1 of 8 (DC)
I don't know what to expect with this mini-series. With Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire, DC is playing off a lot of faith from 52. But if this turns out to be a similar plotline to what Jason Todd/Donna Troy/the Monitor are doing - discovering new worlds - I'll be disappointed. I want an actual space-faring story with these characters. Another series riding off the good-will of 52.

INCREDIBLE CHANGEBOTS (Top Shelf)
Fun, nostalgic and silly. A little pricey ($15) considering the smaller size format, but still enjoyable.

LOOKING GLASS WARS HATTER M HC (Desperado)
With the second part of the novel trilogy out, Seeing Redd, this makes for a good extra story. Ben Templesmith's art doesn't hurt either.

MICE TEMPLAR 1 (Image)
Mice are the new zombies. And that's okay.

NOTHING BETTER TPB Vol.1
Another comic I first came across at MOCCA Fest 2007. By Tyler Page, the issue I read felt like a close cousin to Strangers in Paradise in a college setting. Good stuff so far.

OUTSIDERS FIVE OF A KIND: GRACE/WONDER WOMAN (DC)

PREVIEWS
Page 385. Comics NOW! Order it.

PUNKS GN (Digital Webbing Presents)
I can't wait to read this. It just looks so cool.

SUPER SPY GN (Top Shelf)
The hardcover version was a hit at this year's MOCCA Fest. Now you can pick up the softcover of 52 (52!) spy thriller stories.

TEEN TITANS 50 (DC)

TEEN TITANS GO! 46 (DC)

WIZARD 192

WONDER WOMAN 12 (DC)

BACK FROM NYC... ALIVE AND WELL

2007-08-31T08:29:00.001-04:00

Just got back from NY (and boy are my gams tired) after finishing up the first three rehearsals for my Commerce Bank gig. I got another great bunch of people to work with - they are fun, they are energetic, they are New York. I'll have three more rehearsals with them before the tech/performance. Great group.

While in NY, I managed to see my college chum Jen; a friend from a previous CBank gig, Kat; hung out with the CGS: New York crew (Raph, Ian, Jeff, Mitch, Penelope, Mike, Dave Ryan and Joe from CNI); artist Fred Chao and his girl Dylan (Dillon?); animator Todd Wahnish; fellow theatre friend David D.; and of course the other CNI podcast host Jimmy - he-who-knows-the-best-bars-in-NY. Our night out at Don't Tell Mama's was hilarious.

The hotel I stayed in, on the night that I was out until 4:30am, decided to play a practical joke on me. The shower head fell off, hit the on lever and spat water flooding my bathroom, the hallway to the door and part of the room itself. I was moved to another room the next morning but damn if that wasn't weird hearing the shower running as I was walking into the place. It was like a Penthouse Forum letter that didn't actually come true. Boo.

I managed to walk around the Times Square although I didn't see a show - I was rehearsing 6:00 to 10:00. I was hoping to maybe catch a matinee sometime, especially of an off-broadway show. I just want to see something "different". And, other than food and drinks, I managed to not spend too much money shopping. Good for Rios.

Now I'm back in Reading for the weekend. I might be going to Philly on Saturday for the Barrymore Awards. 42nd Street was nominated for a few awards including Best Ensemble. That's me!

Really looking forward to when this gig kicks into high gear. The bankers are great, my fellow dancers are always a blast, I can't wait to start creating the opening tap number, and it all brings me that much closer to moving back to Philly.

huzzah.

SHIPPING THIS WEEK AUGUST 22, 2007

2007-08-22T05:44:00.000-04:00

ANNIHILATION CONQUEST STAR LORD 2 (Marvel)

BATMAN 668 (DC)

BIRDS OF PREY 109 (DC)

BLUE BEETLE 18 (DC)

BOMB QUEEN III 4 (Image)
The cover to this issue is in homage to Nick Cardy's Teen Titans #23 featuring Wonder Girl's new costume change from ponytail to jumpsuit. Hilarious.

BUSHI TALES 1 (Pencil Neck Studios)
From our good friends over at Pencil Neck Studios, they've gone from self-publishing to a wider distribution. Congrats!

COUNTDOWN 36 (DC)

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE REDUX GN (Top Shelf)
This collection includes the Xeric-grant awarded origin tale of Agent Swete, a never-before published Death By Chocolate tale, and an essay by Yurkovich on the creation of the series.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS 15 (DC)

IMMORTAL IRON FIST 8 (Marvel)

JOHNNY DELGADO IS DEAD 1 of 2 (Image)
Featuring artwork by Chris Moreno.

LIBERTY GIRL VOL 1 THE RETURN TP (Heroic Publishing)
I don't know much about this comic but I figured it might be worth a try.

MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 1 (OF 6) (Archaia Studio Press)
A few weeks late but worth the wait.

MYSTIC ARCANA SCARLET WITCH (Marvel)

THE ORDER 2 (Marvel)
The first issue was a bit of a letdown, so we'll see how it continues.

OUTSIDERS FIVE OF A KIND WEEK 4 METAMORPHO AQUAMAN (DC)

PLANETARY BRIGADE VOL 1 TP (Boom!)
Giffen and DeMatteis unleashed. Comics are fun again.

RETURN OF THE SUPER PIMPS 3 (Dial C for Comics)
So Bad! it's good.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS WONDER WOMAN VOL 1 (DC)
I'm really anxious to read the Silver Age exploits of the Trinity: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. I've been collecting back issues of WW when I have the chance but this collection will probably wind up on my shelf.

SUBCULTURE 2 (Ape)

SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 33 (DC)

SUPERMAN 666 (DC)

TANK GIRL THE GIFTING 3 (IDW)
If it's Ashley Wood I'm so there.

TELLOS COLOSSAL HC (Image)
An unexpected tribute to the life and loss of Mike Wieringo. Info here.

WHITE PICKET FENCES 3 (Ape)

WORLD WAR HULK GAMMA FILES (Marvel)
Just in case you need yet another explanation of Planet Hulk.

SHIPPING THIS WEEK AUGUST 15, 2007

2007-08-15T02:32:00.000-04:00

ACTION COMICS 854 (DC)
More Countdown Tie-Ins I'm not reading.

AMAZONS ATTACK 5 (DC)
Oh yea. Almost forgot this is still going on.

ANNIHILATION CONQUEST QUASAR 2 (Marvel)

ARCHAIC 8 (Fenickx)
Hyper-violent elves. Homicidal maniacs. Sinister Kings. Technology-obsessed religious zealots. What's not to love? Seriously, I'm surprised by this book and I continue to enjoy each issue. There are two trades that will catch you up to date. Seek them out.

BIZARRE NEW WORLD 3 (Ape)
Meant to ship in July, this issue wraps up this fun little mini. And it's not the ending you would expect from a comic about an average guy who learns he can fly. Good stuff.

BLACK CANARY 4 (DC)

BOOSTER GOLD 1 (DC)
Back in the mid-80s, there were the Cola-Wars: Coke vs Pepsi. A lesser known war, between my comic book reading friends at the time, was Booster Gold vs. Blue Beetle. We would try and convince each other that one comic was better than the other. Looking back, both were great silly fun. Blue Beetle had the better art (Paris Cullins rocked and was a nice successor to Ditko's manic energy) but Booster Gold had the character you loved to hate. So here we are twenty years later with another series and I'm stoked. And I'm glad Dan Jurgens is back to help with his creation. Booster Gold is arguably the first new character created post-Crisis, so he's pretty important. Looking forward to this new series and new direction.

BRAVE AND THE BOLD 6 (DC)

CATWOMAN 70 (DC)

CHECKMATE 17 (DC)

COUNTDOWN 37 (DC)

FLASH 231 (DC)
Mark Waid returns to write Wally West as the Flash, this time with artist Daniel Arcuna. Arcuna's work on Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters is outstanding. But can Waid recapture the magic of his first Flash run? We'll see.

GEARHEAD 4 (Arcana)
Dennis Hopeless and Kevin Mellon are just fantastic guys. And GearHead is riproaring fun about a girl with a large wrench. Come on. You gotta buy it.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 12 (DC)
Meltzer's oft-criticized run comes to an end.

KILLING GIRL 1 OF 5 (Image)
If you're a fan of Frank Espinosa and Rocketo, then you should be picking up this comic that asks the question: "What if the Mafia had their own secret service?". Check it out.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY 5 (DC)

NARCOLEPTIC SUNDAY GN (Oni)
By Jeremy Haun and Brian Koschak. An interesting premise about a narcoleptic who wakes up to find his one night stand murdered. Oni rarely fails to deliver. Worth a read.

OUTSIDERS FIVE OF A KIND THUNDER/MARTIAN MANHUNTER (DC)

REX MUNDI 7 (Dark Horse)

RIPCLAW PILOT SEASON 1 (Top Cow)
Top Cow is putting their lineup in your hands.

ROBIN 165 (DC)

SHADOWPACT 16 (DC)

SUPERMAN/BATMAN 39 (DC)
Sigh. I don't want to get this but Dustin Nguyen is on art. DC, you sneaky bastards.

X ISLE VOL 1 tpb (Boom!)
Boom Studios calls this Alien meet the Descent. With a splash of Lost no doubt. Art by Greg Scott makes it completely worth it. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this mini.

PRE-ORDER THIS TODAY!

2007-08-09T05:55:00.000-04:00

(If you're a customer of DCBService.com, you can preorder the Awesome! Anthology at a 45% discount!)

THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!
Awesome: The Indie Spinner-Rack Anthology premieres in October to benefit Center for Cartoon Studies

BROOKLYN, NY, July 23, 2007 — Evil Twin Comics, publishers of the ALA and Xeric award-winning Action Philosophers, announced that its benefit book of new comics co-edited by ETC founder Ryan Dunlavey and Charlito & Mr. Phil, hosts of the popular Indie Spinner Rack podcast, will be named after one of ISR's favorite words: AWESOME!

Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology features new work from some of indy comics' brightest established stars and hot young up-and-comers including students of Vermont's Center for Cartoon Studios. The complete line-up of artists reads like so:

Al Columbia, Alec Longstreth, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Andy Runton, Ben Towle, Bernie Mireault, Blair Kitchen, Cameron Chesney, Charly "Charlito" La Greca, Chris Duffy, Chris Schweizer, Chuck McBuck, Dave Roman, Dev Madan, Dylan Babb, Frank "The Phranque" Romera, Fred Chao, Fred Van Lente, GB Tran, Georges La Vigne, J Chris Campbell, Jamie Burton, Jamie Tanner, Jason Heller, Jason Zayas, Javier Pineda, Jesse Post, Jon Adams, Joseph Lambert, Josh Cotter, Josh Finney, JP Coovert, Kat Rocha, Kazimir Strzepek, Keith Champagne, Lawrence Etherington, Liz Baillie, Liz Prince, Matt Kindt, Matthew Bernier, Nakiesha Koss, Neil Swaab, Nick Bertozzi, Phil "Mr. Phil" Jackson, Raina Telgemeier, Renee French, Rich Miller, Rich Tingley, Robert Goodin, Robin Etherington, Roger Langridge, Ryan Dunlavey, Sam Hiti, Sarah Oleksyk, Steve Hamaker.

In addition to scores of never-before-published stories, AWESOME features the world premiere of Evil Twin's follow-up to Action Philosophers: Comic Book Comics, the definitive (and irreverent) history of the American comics industry in the inimitable ActPhilo style of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey.

A free preview of the anthology is available at the official AWESOME web site: http://www.eviltwincomics.com/awesome/index.html

Half the net profits from AWESOME will go to defray the expenses of producing the Indie Spinner Rack show; the other half will be given to the Center for Cartoon Studies, the school for comics artists co-founded and directed by cartoonist James Sturm in White River Junction, Vermont.

"Indie Spinner Rack, like the Center for Cartoon Studies, is committed to nurturing and supporting independent voices in cartooning. I'm honored and grateful that Evil Twin has chosen to support CCS and its students," said James Sturm, director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, earlier in the year.

AWESOME: THE INDIE SPINNER RACK ANTHOLOGY is 205 Black and White pages, retailing for $14.95 (Diamond Order Code: AUG07 3629). It hits stores in October, having its world debut at this year's Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD.

Peter's Comic Book Ramblings

GO HERE...

I'M ON MY KNEES!!!

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

UNBE-F*CKIN-LIEVABLE!

THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER RETURNS?

ANYONE REMEMBER THIS?

THANK YOU, 500 DAYS...

MY YOUTH

THE TOWER PODCAST - AN INTRODUCTION

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON... 2008?

RANDOM THOUGHTS PART TROIS

SYNERGY ASKED, I ANSWERED!

GIVE MY REGARDS... PHILLY INQUIRER REVIEW

A SALE IS A SALE, YES?

*SIGH*

VOICES IN MY HEAD!

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

RANDOM THOUGHTS PART DEUX

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

RANDOM THOUGHTS

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

MARVEL'S GOT SOME GIANT BALLS DON'T THEY?

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

WASSUP 2008!

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE - CON'T!

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

IT CONTINUES...

MORE ON DDP/ASP.

DEVIL'S DUE VS ARCHAIA STUDIO PRESS CREATORS UPDATED

DEVIL'S DUE VS ARCHAIA STUDIO PRESS CREATORS? UPDATED

WHO'S ON WHO'S WHO?

'NUFF SAID.

COVER HOMAGE: KEVIN MAGUIRE

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2009

I'M LOST!

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM...

FISHTOWN. ONLY A FEW MILES AWAY.

JUST 'CAUSE...

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO

ALL STAR SUPERMAN IN ELEVEN PANELS!

100 THINGS I LIKE ABOUT DC COMICS!

A LITTLE HISTORY ON WATCHMEN?

JIMSMASH DOES THE WORK...

JAMIE MCKELVIE'S WONDER WOMAN!

COMING FEB'09: HYPERSONIC!

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

SAN DIEGO PODCASTING PANEL!

MY CHILDHOOD ON MYSPACE!

FROM THE MOUTH OF...

GRANT MORRISON'S BODY OF WORK!

QUESTION...

THIS JUST MADE MY WEEK

VOICES IN MY HEAD!

TWITTER THIS!

I'M IN LOVE...

AAM MARKOSIA IS LOOKING FOR ARTISTS!

MARVEL USING TONY STARK TO SELL INC. HULK!

I'VE BEEN BUSY...

IT'S MY UN-BIRTHDAY!

JAMAICA!

TALKING WITH THE CREATORS OF THE UNIQUES

DC NOISE RETURNS! EPISODE 3!

OFF TO GOD'S WAITING ROOM

JUNE IS BUSTIN' OUT ALL OVER!

ONE WEEK LATER

THE END

CLEANSE TAKE TWO

DAY 4,5, AND 6

PHILA. WEEKLY TALKS BLUE PILLS

DAY TWO AND THREE

I'M DOIN' THE CLEANSE

IN MEMORY OF LAVAUGHAN

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

THE INTERVENTION DRINKING GAME

SIGH