Raven Entertainment Studio

Sexy Tuesday 16

2012-02-14T04:50:00.006-08:00

Instead of posting some lame Valentine's Day inspired pictures, I am going to post a great article by my partner and friend Anthony Hary. It focuses on passion and why we do what we do. Enjoy!

I'm a Creator, a Storyteller. As much as I do hope you like my work, in truth I do what I do because I like it. If I didn't I wouldn't do it. I only work on projects I like. I don’t go out and take any project just for the pay check, and I know that choice limits my financial success as an artist. I view my work as a whole, and as a brand. Its important to me that when someone picks up a book with my name on it that they can have confidence in the consistency and quality of the product they will enjoy inside. Perhaps it’s the jaded child of 90’s comic books that did it to me. Regardless of the reason, there are certain ‘rules’ you could say, or ‘terms’ that I will do my best to always stick to in my creative career. These things are as important now as they will ever be, because now is the time I set my foundation, and its only on limited time. Something I hope to change.

I work 40+ hours a week at my day job; I put in easy 20+ hours into A.N.A Comics per week. I hope to reverse that by end of 2012. In August of 2011 I gave myself a 12 month goal to be at a point by August 2012 that working full time is not something I HAVE to do. Meaning I want to be making enough money from creative projects so that I could consider reducing my schedule down to a part time position or even now day job at all. It’s a goal, it may or may not happen. That reality has zero impact on the level of effort I am putting into reaching this goal.

My goals will be reached, not on the shoulders of others, but due to the hard work, sacrifice and sweat that I put in to it. I make this statement because of recent current events. Accusations of publishers stiffing their creators, or even other creators not sharing the wealth as it were with their fellow creators on a project. I won’t ever be that guy, not as a co-creator, or as the head of a company. It’s for that exact reason that I say so often that with me, and especially at A.N.A Comics, people don’t work FOR us, people work WITH us. I won’t carry someone to the finish line, but I will help them as much as I can, provided they put in all they have to at least meet me half way. I believe the farmers mentality works best. You put in the hard work, you reap the best crops.

A.N.A Comics is designed to foster opportunity, everyone has an equal shot at success, me, you, anyone. It is about who works for it. My effort is to make A.N.A Comics run and operate on as little funds as possible. Why? So that the profits that are made have a greater potential to be distributed back towards the creators who make the products we sell. Costs have to be covered. Printing books, and producing other products has to be paid for, and on a logistics side someone has to be paid to help make that happen, so those things are taken from profits first and 95% of whatever is remaining goes to the creator. The industry is always changing and growing, and as that happens A.N.A Comics will need to change and grow also. No matter how that plays out, the strongest effort will be maintained at keeping things designed to give creators who work with us the best benefit we can.

These aren't pretty words, & fluffy statements. You want success, you earn success. No one is funding my work. I do it. Since 2004 I have brought new work & new products to every show I do, WHY? Because the fans deserve it, & I deserve it. A.N.A Comics only started in 2009, and even since co-founding the company, it hasn’t paid for my projects. In fact the money I make at shows or from direct sales is what pays for A.N.A Comics. That is how the website is paid for, the charity books, and other efforts we have done. For myself, Adrian, Nicholas, and Rod, A.N.A Comics hasn’t paid for our projects, but we invest in A.N.A Comics to keep it going and make it grow because we believe in what we’re doing!

Even more than that, over the last 10 years, I've helped PROFESSIONALS to print sketchbooks, & maximize their Con experience. These are guys who make a living doing what I hope to make a living doing. I helped them out, shared my knowledge and time FOR FREE. I didn’t ask for compensation, credit, or special consideration. Heck, I have helped guys who after I help them, they have gone on to do other things and we lost touch with each other. So it wasn’t even done for some lasting friendship. I do it because I love this business.

I've watched people more talented than me make excuses & get burned out on this business. Why? Stick together, stay united. There is so much competition, when really we could have greater success if we joined together and worked together. It would not be an easy thing to do. Not all creators can wear multiple hats. Some cannot think from a business stand point, others can’t stand to not be in full control of their project every step of the way. For those who can work as a team, work together, embrace that, and foster it so that we can build the industry of comic books and graphic novels to a level never before enjoyed.

What I say isn't designed to sound nice, its what I believe. I believe in independent creator owned comics, I believe in stories first. I believe story comes before art, before writing, before coloring or lettering. Story is the full concept, the scope, it is what makes us love the property. From there you match up the best writing style, art style, color style and lettering. Story always comes first, and if we make a choice that is not in service to the story, then it is by definition a disservice to the story and to ourselves as creators and our fans.

If you are an Indy Creator & can’t grasp the concept of people having to like YOU as much as your product, learn it. Be genuine & kind. This really shouldn’t need any greater explanation but here it goes. When it comes to opinions, I have a lot of them, all at the ready to share with you. I’m opinionated, and from experience I have learned that, especially in this world of typed and text based conversations, opinions can more often than not cause harm and upset others. So I had to learn the hard way to govern the sharing of those opinions and to keep my statements productive, and positive. But why? Because as an independent creator, my name is synonymous with my work, and as much as I can avoid it I would like both to have a positive opinion connected to it. After all the hours we put into our projects it would suck of people didn’t’ even give it a chance because of something I said. If people think of me as “That angry prick who complains and insults people all the time”, why would they support my projects? They would have no reason to. Even more than that, it only takes ONE incident to create that reputation, and it could be completely false. But it won’t matter. So keep your head up, your mouth in check and focus on the work. By all means have opinions, I do, but think a bit before saying them to others or publically like this on the internet… oh boy.

If your goal is to just get paid, submit to DC/Marvel. If your goal is to create & be rewarded for your hard work, please stay Independent. – Why do I say that? Let’s use Image comics as an example. When you make a book for Image comics, THEY DON’T PAY YOU TO DO THE WORK. You will however get paid based on the success of your book. It’s a great set up that has been working good for them for 20 years now. Most people don’t like it. They think “Hey, I put in 8+ hours on this page, I should be paid for it NOW.” And that is great, but if you want to be paid for your work and not on whether your book sells, you need to be hired by a corporation, a publisher. Don’t get me wrong on this one. Go get hired by DC, Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, Aspen, Top Cow, whoever because it would be awesome. I would like to do some work for those guys down the line. Absolutely! My point is there are two primary sides to making comic books. Know which one you are on, and put in your 100% while you’re there. If you don’t really want to be there, be honest about that. Reassess your position and don’t screw it up for those who are happy where they are.

Maybe it’s just pointless to say this stuff. Facts are facts. I want to succeed. I want you to succeed. We can do it together. I'm a Creator, a Storyteller, I don’t settle for anything less than my best work. I push myself, believe in myself, I will succeed. I post what I do, my thoughts, what I have learned in this industry for one simple reason; I want you to succeed also. And if what I know can help you get what you want faster, do it!

MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

http://anmph.blogspot.com/2012/02/thoughts-for-monday.html

Sexy Tuesday #15 and Magic Talk!

2012-02-07T05:47:00.008-08:00

Quite a week for comicbook news. Somewhere Marvel is crying, Shazam is digging his own name and Alan Moore is raging like Poseidon. Or also crying, depending on your point of view.

One of the things I've learned over the years is how to look at the bigger picture. If you believe Alan Moore is a magician, that Grant Morrison is a shaman, then the best way to think of my abilities is that I am sort of nega-psychic. I'm basically living signal jammer for the energy that connects and binds us to each other. I do not believe in the supernatural or psychic abilities, but I do believe in manipulating energy, time and circumstance to certain ends. Life is chaotic and unpredictable but sometimes a person can manipulate those around them and the patterns of chaos that emanate from them in a certain direction. I've got an uncanny ability to ignore the media mind control, the influence of crowd mentality, the senseless response of allowing someone else to direct your actions. It's made me a bit of a grumpy outcast to be sure, I sometimes wish that I could just go with the flow and sit back and enjoy things sometimes. I'm not a shaman in the way Grant Morrison is, a man who uses stories of the world to change the world in the eyes of those who hear them. I'm just a regular old writer.

I wrote quite a bit about Watchmen already, both here and on Facebook. So I'll make this quick today. The energy, the magic, that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons put out into the world was very powerful. The book was a major hit and one of the most critically acclaimed graphic novels ever produced. Something like that begins to have a life of it's own. What DC is doing is not just exploitative of the work but an alteration of the spell that Alan Moore cast. Messing with these things almost never turns out well.

You see the more success the original product, the more powerful it's influence, the bigger backlash against it. I'm not talking about success or profit because anything in our "lazy taste" society can make money or be considered "successful". What I am talking about is the long term results of BEFORE WATCHMEN. What I predict will happen is this:

Over the years, Before Watchmen will become a symbol of exploitation and poorly executed tie-in material. Much the way MC Hammer represents one hit wonders or Jar-Jar Binks represents bad Lucas ideas and annoying sidekick characters. TV shows will make jokes about it, comic geeks will use it as a humorous and ridiculous anecdote and the creators working on these books will always be grilled like Paul Blake. Next time you meet him ask him about how "Greedo shooting first" has changed his life. I have, let me tell you, the guy is tormented by that crap.

Eventually the Watchmen characters will join the DCU, which will mainstream them and dilute them. I mean, sure I'd love to write a Batman/Rorschach meeting, in which Batman takes him home, gives him a can of beans, a shower and some spare change and sends him on his way. (Or as my buddy Andrew said, maybe just like that crazy bastard up in Arkham.) But here's the thing, I can work with the magic Alan Moore created. I don't think JMS can. I think JMS has the arrogance to BELIEVE he can, but I don't think JMS realizes he's always been unimpressive to fans with a certain level of taste. Babylon 5 was never as good as Star Trek. Any Star Trek. You can wear Alan Moore's shoes, but that doesn't make you equal. It certainly doesn't give you his voice. The best thing to do would have been to create alternate universe versions of the characters with different, modernized origins that would allow you to weave similar magic but avoid taking on the old book directly. In their greed to replicate the original, they will almost certainly cause a subtle rebound effect.

Or if you find the idea of magic ridiculous, look at it this way:

The Uncertainty Principle prohibits accuracy. Therefore, the initial situation of a complex system can not be accurately determined, and the evolution of a complex system can therefore not be accurately predicted.

I can't predict what the end result of Before Watchmen will be. I know DC is only concerned with moving units and making money. But complex systems do repeat a standard type of pattern, even though that pattern is rarely repeated or duplicated. Now I think racism in Hollywood played a big part in George Lucas quitting, but you can't ignore the karmic disharmony he created himself. In George's case though, he remains pretty successful even after the backlash he took for the new trilogies. This was a man who harnessed his ability to create Star Wars, the negativity he experiences is not from backlash but from attempting to alter a pure source of energy he created years ago. He didn't just return to the well, he tried to upgrade it, which is something he has to live with himself. The reason I am comparing the two is because I want to highlight the enormous amount bad energy DC is going to bring on itself over the next two decades. Star Wars was Lucas' baby. DC might OWN the rights, but they didn't have any control over the magic of the book. Lucas tried to make an old dog do new tricks, DC is trying to grab a dragon by the tail.

DC is building a Jurassic Park and they legitimately have no clue what forces they are dealing with. Now that I am over my initial revulsion, I am mildly intrigued by what the future holds for those involved.

"If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, expands to new territories, and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, ah, well, there it is." - Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park.

Compiled From Facebook

2012-02-06T05:49:00.002-08:00

2007

ON BAILOUTS:

In Canada, we are considering a 450 million dollar bailout for the automotive industry. I know that job loss hurts our economy and a lot of people will be out of work, but I can't see why we would bail out an industry that wasn't prepared for the future and didn't keep up with changing technologies. I've said in the past the automotive industry hasn't changed in 50 years, now they are on the verge of collapse and I don't believe they are entitled to money any more McDonalds would be if people just stopped eating there. We obviously don't need any more cars.

Rather than give that money to a bunch of Auto Barons who have already proven they have no idea how to run a business and have lost billions of dollars, why not give that money to the children of Canada?

There are roughly 2 million children in Canada. My numbers may be wrong here, but the idea is a good one, so stick with me. We take 150 million and use it to retrain the laid off workers from the auto sector to work in Green technologies, something they should have been doing when they realized gas wasn't going to last forever. Another 100 million dollars is used to build to a state of the art University of Canada with the best staff, the best teachers our country has to offer. This leaves us with 200 million dollars, enough money to give every child in Canada right now 10 million dollars for education.

What we'd be doing is setting up a generation of smarter, healthier and better educated children. We'd be creating the future by giving them what they need to build it. You see North Americans have become so selfish that I think some part of our generation; the boomers and the Gen-X'ers, we secretly don't want our children to do better than we did, we don't want to pass on everything we've worked for to a new generation. We have no problem leaving them a ruined environment and a shaky economy, we can change this right now.

Our government wants to give money to old men who have wasted their lives in the pursuit of greed through business. Now that their businesses are failing, why bail them out? Like a sick animal, let them die and focus on giving the younger generation the tools they need to be better than us, to fix what we cannot fix.

Think about it. Your child could be part of the future we've been promised since the 20th century began. Or you can get a 2010 Ford Escort Truck. What is important to us as Canadians?

ON GREG LAND:

People wonder why I go off at Marvel so much. It isn't the stories, its the stupidity, like supporting Greg Land even when it is made clear that he is tracing everything, and not even trying to hide it! It spits in the face of all the artists who work har

Bee Dee ·
Whether Greg Land traces or eats babies, I love his work. His art draws me in and captivates me. I will buy anything Land does. I have reread my copy of Endsong a million times and I am STILL in love with every panel.

Richard Evans He is using the likenesses of models like yourself and drawing over them and not paying them or the photographer for their work.
And stuff like this:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/images/litg/2009/0420/UNCX509003_col.jpg
http://images.comicbookresources.com/litg/2009/0420/sm/24565.jpg

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
I don't really have an argument for that one. You're right, his ethics are questionable. But I'll still buy his stuff, because I am so in love with his work, bogus business practices or not.

Richard Evans If the guy was doing indy work, I'd say whatever because people who don't like it won't buy it.

But Joe Quesada, an artist, comes out and supports this type of stuff and they put him on X-Men. There are way too many guys out there who would love that gig and would genuinely deserve it.

Michael Avolio I agree, Rick, but, with all due respect to your friend Brandy Dawley here, it's people's decisions like this ("his ethics are questionable but I'll still buy his stuff") that keep Land popular. And if he's popular, the correct business decision is to support him. Quesada the artist knows better, but he's Quesada the businessman these days. So don't blame Quesada, blame Dawley. ;)

Richard Evans I've seen both in person, Brandy can take me, Quesada, probably not. :)

Michael Avolio I'm just saying, as long as there are people who'll say, "Whether Greg Land traces or eats babies... I will buy anything Land does," you can't really blame a businessman for supporting Land in order to keep him working and making money for the company.

Richard Evans It's that kind of thinking that sunk our economy, mister!
:)
Really, the boss of the company is responsible for setting the business standards and ethics of that company.

Michael Avolio He's not the CEO of Marvel, he's just Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics. I always fault the consumer who buys trash more than the person who meets the demand. If people didn't buy it, they wouldn't sell it. This also goes for Britney Spears, John Grisham, etc.

Richard Evans That is true. Even if you book the dealer, the junkie will find some other drug to abuse himself with. . .

Michael Avolio Exactly. So I blame the junkie. The dealer is just giving the people what they want.

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
Can't a girl just enjoy comic books without getting into the politics of the whole thing? I buy what I like. I'm not going to pass up purchasing something I enjoy because a bunch of people look down on him for this method of capturing his art. And the 'eats babies' thing was supposed to be a joke.

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
Comics snobbery, music snobbery, literary snobbery...it's all the same. And it's all holier-than-thou crap. No matter what medium it is, and no matter what you may think of the product or the creator, if it causes enjoyment, there is validity in it.

Michael Avolio I know you were exaggerating about the "eating babies." When people use the term "snobbery" in this context it's just a dismissive way of saying "having taste."

"if it causes enjoyment, there is validity in it" - this is obviously not the case; I'm sure you don't think child pornography has validity. So it's just a matter of where you draw the line, but the line is certainly drawn somewhere. You think Land's artistic merits, whatever they might be, outweigh the fact that he steals. Call it what it is.

As long as people buy x, x will be sold, standards be damned.

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
Taste is subjective. And let me alter my words to saying 'if it causes enjoyment and it does not cause deep emotional scarring'.

Michael Avolio Britney Spears and boy bands can cause deep emotional scarring. ;)

Michael Avolio Oh! And Kenny G.

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
My mom bought me a Michael Bolton tape when I was eight years old and I'm still okay.

...Though sometimes, I have dreams about mullets running after me screaming the lyrics to 'Time, Love, and Tenderness'. But that can't have anything to do with that, right?

Michael Avolio There was a famous Michael Bolton concert review with the title "Five Million People Can Be Wrong."

Besides, it's not just a question of taste - the guy is stealing. Even if he's making masterpieces, he's doing it by stealing someone else's work.

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
He's using heavy photo reference for part of his drawing and compositing it into a larger image. I wouldn't call that outright stealing.

Michael Avolio He's stealing someone else's work and drawing more stuff around it. This is an ongoing problem in the comics industry, where an artist will trace over someone else's work and claim it as their own. It's not just Greg Land who's doing it, although he may be the most prominent artist so far (except I guess Rob Liefeld, back in the day).

Michael Avolio Here's a couple pages with multiple examples of Land's thefts. I see it as lazy hackwork - dishonest and wrong.

http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-greg-land-ripoffs.html and http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-greg-land-tracing.html

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
Okay, I got nothin'. I throw in the towel. You win this one, Avolio.

Michael Avolio Does that mean no more Greg Land comics for Brandy Dawley? ;)

Bee Dee · Friends with Marvin Law and 5 others
No, I'll still buy them. I'll just do it in secret, in the alleyway behind the Silver Snail, in disguise...and I'll hide them when company comes over. Thanks to you, Greg land is now my secret shame.

Michael Avolio Haha. Well, at least you're ashamed... that's something, I guess.

Richard Evans The funny thing is Kel and I both had a guy working for us who used this kind of method and we blasted him. I wasn't paying for tracing, even though he was better at it than Land, he used references that weren't traceable at least.

Michael Avolio Right. I mean, YOU can trace stuff yourself, right? ;)

Richard Evans I did when I was a kid. I used to trace outlines from Marvel Handbooks and design my own costumes.

WATCHMEN Prequels: A Knockbuster 25 Years In The Making

2012-02-01T06:17:00.002-08:00

I want to clarify my stance on why I do not think the Watchmen books are going to make any sort of impact in the industry. I like a lot of the creative teams on these books but that is irrelevant to what DC is attempting to do with this project.

The Watchmen Prequels are not intended to be a natural follow-up to the original in the way that a creator like Scott Snyder follows up a creator like Grant Morrison with his own ideas and his own take on the character's mythology.

The Watchmen prequels are intended to be Knockbusters. In the movie business, a kockbuster is a film created with the apparent intention of piggy-backing on the publicity of a major film with a similar title or theme and are often made with a low budget. Often these films are created to be released direct-to-video at the same time as the mainstream film reaches theaters or video outlets.

This isn't about honoring the original work, or claiming it is taboo to touch it. There are some projects that actually benefit from a remake, Battlestar Galactica for example. There are even a few prequels that don't completely suck, although I can't think of any off hand. My opposition to these works is the stink of desperation for success that permeates even the preview ads for these new Watchmen books.

Imagine your mother and father were married for many years. Then your father left and your mother had to raise you alone. She did a good job, worked hard and raised you right. Now that you've grown up, she wants to get back out there and start dating again. This is what DC is trying to do here, get back out there and draw in the readers they have lost over the years. But seeing these books is like watching your mom struggle to fit into her old jeans or wearing a t-shirt that isn't as flattering as it was 25 years ago.

Even worse, I believe they are intentionally trying to intentionally deceive customers into buying the inferior, knock-off product. Now on the shelves next to Watchmen are going to be at least six other little trades and a pirate book. Like the Transmorphers movie they simply create new, similar product and hope for enough add-on or mistaken purchases to sustain the production cost. Nobody who made Transmorphers did it for the right reasons. Nobody, other than the catering company (if they could afford one) had any intention of making a groundbreaking piece of cinema history. Just because the same company that owns Watchmen is doing the Watchmen spin-off material doesn't make it any less cheesy.

Now people will say "this is meant to bring in new readers" but we both know that's a load of shit. It's an attempt to cash in on the publicity and success of Watchmen. If they wanted to bring in new readers, they could have just brought the Watchmen characters into the DCU, Batman VS Rorschach style. How does a Silk Spectre comic bring in new readers? Did someone read Watchmen and decide they wanted to know more about the trampy, messed-up women who bear the Silk Spectre alias? How long until Rorschach meets his long lost father? Or that a mystery for next month, dear readers?

You want to know when a comic publisher is releasing something simply for the money? They hide behind the classic line "It's an attempt to bring in new readers", which is the same thing as saying "our hardcore readers don't really want this, but it's not for them, it's for their imaginary friends". Another way to say it would be to say "we just want to take up more shelf space in the stores and retailers will certainly order it!"

Now some people actually like Knockbusters, in the 80's the Gremlins knock-off HOBGOBLINS did very well. David Hasselhoff starred in an Evil Dead rip-off and C. Thomas Howell has made quite a career on these types of movies, so I guess you can say even a knockbuster can attract pretty decent talent. But I've never watched one in my life.

I just don't have any interest in it. I don't rent, buy or even bootleg knockbuster movies. I don't like B-movies in general. That's not to say they are all bad, that you should not watch them or anything like that. They just aren't for me. I saw THOR, I liked THOR, I don't need to see way the B movie industry has to say on the same character or mythology. I don't need to see what the NEW 52 DC has to say on Watchmen.

This is why I am posting this on my blog, because I am not going to engage in debate about the new Watchmen books by DC. You can argue the artistic merits of Jaws 5 until you're red in the face, it's not going to change my mind.

We've crossed a line here as an industry. This isn't about respecting Alan Moore and tarnishing his work, it's about what we put out there for the world to see as comic creators. We're no longer giving them the song and dance show to get them to read our books; Watchmen prequels is us as an industry putting our faces down and our asses up for money. It changes the comic industry, destroying the burlesque show we were putting on and revealing to the world what a crack whore the industry really is. Why bother with new ideas and building an audience when you can simply offer to suck the audiences dick for money, right? I mean you've loved Watchmen for long time, you must want sucky-sucky, right comicboy? It's a desperate grab for cash and non-readers outside the audience will smell it a mile a way.

When this fails to create more than a short term rise in sales, what then? What does DC do next? When you've hit rock bottom and don't realize it, how much lower can you really go? The long anticipated Batman/Superman kiss?

For decades the comic industry has been losing readers, zombie-like, bite by bite, to other forms of entertainment. Now DC has decided the way to stop that is by cannibalizing themselves.
Maybe I am wrong, who knows. Maybe Snakes On A Train was a great film. I'll never know. Even Twilight knock-offs are making money and getting film options. (http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/51667718.html)

Maybe I'm just a finicky old man who is looking for some meaning in the stories that I read, maybe my expectations are too high. Maybe I shouldn't expect better than an Adam Hughes/JMS book about the inappropriate relationship between a big blue naked guy and an underage teenager.

Whatever.

SEXY TUESDAY #14!

2012-01-31T06:22:00.008-08:00

This week I am going to show off the artwork of artists I am working with, so you can see some of the stuff I've got coming.

This is the work of Rob Doria, a fellow Canadian.

Another Canadian, GMB Chomichuk.

This is The White Rose, the first superhero I think I worked on extensively, only to fall apart after years of work. Great girl to work on though!

I also want to take this opportunity to talk about my attitude toward Image. Image isn't a bad company and they aren't run by bad people, not in the way Marvel or DC is. Even saying that is a stretch because the people are not necessarily bad, they just take their job very seriously; leaving old men hungry and destitute isn't part of their daily agenda, it's just something that happens to people who work for them.

My disappointment with Image is based on my own belief, perhaps wrongly, that they were the entry level company for new and interesting creators. If only a small number of new creators are accepted and the majority of their creator-owned books are paid for with Work For Hire paychecks, then it is not an independent company at all, but a farm league for the big boys. I don't Image was ever intended to be a place where creators dabble, it was supposed to be a road to creative freedom. It appears right now to be a vacation home for WFH talent, who allow a certain number of "Rookies" into their party, sort of like charity cases.

There are three major issues I have with Image as a company:

Sustainability: In providing for creators who sell their work through Image they have failed terribly. Few people make money, only a handful have made enough to live off of and most of the creators are now just Indy hobbyists from The Two Towers. If the chances are slim that you can even pay the rent off your book through Image, why bother? Other than bragging rights or as a stepping stone to Marvel/DC, there really doesn't seem to be any reason to join them. It's like joining a gang; there is no future in it, but it's better than roaming the streets alone.

Work For Hire: This one I go back and forth on. On one hand it's great that they are creating jobs, but on the other hand how the hell is a creator-owned company able to hire people to work on books? Here's what I mean: Take Prophet for example. Everyone involved in that book is smart enough to handle their business properly. But how exactly are they being paid? Rob Liefeld is NOT an Image founder, he has no position or privileges there, they were apparently revoked years ago. So we have to assume that he is not making anything off these books. So why would Stephenson pursue them? Why not find more great creator-owned books? And in the end, as Stephenson doesn't create anything himself, he's basically spending the money other creator's are paying Image as a fee to publish his own vanity projects. Personally I'd rather see new work but new creator's not a relaunch of the Rob Liefeld Image universe.

The third issue I have is transparency. Why all the damn secrecy about numbers and sales and costs when it's a creator owned work? Honest people they say, have nothing to hide. Saying it's none of my business a cop-out because as a creator, you should WANT my business by making it my business, no?

Sexy Tuesday #13

2012-01-24T06:21:00.006-08:00

LONDON UNDEAD is going to be turned into a novel. Right now I am editing the screenplay, getting some feedback from other friends and writers and just tightening up the script a bit. If you like zombies, vampire and werewolves and want to read a decent story featuring all three, not a hacked together B-level attempt, be sure to check out LONDON UNDEAD.

I was reminded this morning of my other blog which you should definitely check out here:
indycomics.blogspot.com

Take a look at some of the better comics out there right now, outside of Marvel and DC.

Here's issue #1 if you missed it!

Legion Unleashed issue #2 is now available!
http://graphicly.com/raven-entertainment-studio/legion-unleashed/2

This issue features more bonus material than the last, with biographies of a few heroes on the team.

Sexy Tuesday #12

2012-01-17T06:24:00.008-08:00

Made the comic site news today. . .
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/16/rob-liefeld-get-two-cowriters-on-books/
Of course it's not about my books though. . .

The second issue of Legion Unleashed #2 is out, in case you missed it last week.
http://graphicly.com/raven-entertainment-studio/legion-unleashed/2

London Undead is done and the proofs for Rage of the Tiger, A Christmas Carol and System of a Soul are on their way today. It was a pain in the ass using a pre-paid credit card, but I think today is the day it works!

Ten years ago when I started NONE of this online book printing, print on demand, digital printing or digital comic sites were available. It's amazing to see all these industries pop up that basically give authors the power over their own work.

I've used TWO online companies for printing comics in the last year, when I started there wasn't even ONE that could do this, you'd have to outsource the work to a printer in China or India.

Last piece of news for this week: I've decided to write a non-fiction book. I've been reading a lot about future technologies and given my pessimistic view of the world, I thought I'd compile this information into a book of worst case future science scenarios. It should be fun. It's called THE DARK SIDE OF THE FUTURE. So far, if a better title comes along, I'll take it!

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions about what you'd like to see every sexy Tuesday!

Sexy Tuesday #11!

2012-01-10T07:49:00.006-08:00

What makes the future of comics so interesting is that the internet has leveled the playing field. You have just as much chance of attracting readers to your site as Marvel and DC do and if they are all using the same distributor online (like the amazing Graphicly), they won't really have any advantage over your own title.

Digital comics are the future.

The theme of this week's Sexy Tuesday is gender. Why are we so stuck on it? Whether you like one or the other, I think we're far to obsessed with defining people by their sexual preference. Obviously genderless people are not what we should be aspiring to be, because that takes all the fun out of it. But what is wrong with switching back and forth? Imagine how much fun it would be if people simply experimented with different gender roles?

Remember to check out LEGION UNLEASHED #1 & #2 on Graphicly.com today!!

Sexy Tuesday #10

2012-01-03T05:28:00.010-08:00

Here I am, floating in a tin can. I've got too much mainstream in my blood to be part of the vibrantly weird underground comix scene, but on the other hand, I absolutely despise almost every part of the comic industry. Yes, part of the problem is my failure to accomplish anything myself, I realize part of my anger and attitude is my own failings. But when my books can't get ANY attention while something like Hawk & Dove continues to make money, how can I NOT be pissed off? I mean I understand people want to be able to enjoy what they want to without some asshole breathing over their neck to make them feel guilty; like fur, big Mac's and Jason Aaron comics. But at some point somebody needs to step in and help them because their addictions are working against their own best interests. I tried to step in, I tried to start a comicbook intervention. It failed.

The reason it fails, the reason the comic industry was never and will never be able to change is because the audience, the hardcore shrinking audience and retailers are junkies. They don't want to change, they don't want something healthier. Now people will point to Image and say "well there is a moment when things changed". But all that really was was a bunch of guys figuring out they could make crack-cocaine.

So I'm going to do my best to ignore the comic industry and pretend it doesn't exist so that I can actually make comic books. It is the format, the medium, which I love. Everything else can kiss my ass.

The first Sexy Tuesday of the year and my resolution is to just WRITE and let the rest sort itself out. And enjoy the good stuff, like Sexy Tuesday!

Sexy Tuesday #9! #9! #9!

2011-12-27T06:07:00.004-08:00

It might still be free! Hurry and see!
Legion Unleashed #1 http://graphicly.com/raven-entertainment-studio/legion-unleashed/1?fb_ref=homepage

The questions is not whether or not you go "gay" looking at pictures of men, cause ya don't. The question is, at what point do you find yourself objectifying men in the way we ALWAYS seem to do to women?

I am sure I have some previews of the next issue of Legion Unleashed #3 in here somewhere. . .

2011-12-24T06:35:00.002-08:00

Hey, look at that. There was a Santa hanging around here too. . . .

Sexy Saturday Surprise! #8

2011-12-24T06:22:00.007-08:00

I decided to give you guys a very special Sexy Saturday as it is Christmas and most of you won't be able to look at this stuff again until after the holidays!

I apologize for the lack of more men this week ladies, this stuff is pre-determined and it just so happened this was Harry Potter week!

Just remember when New Years comes around, being sexy isn't about looking like anyone else, it's about being comfortable in your own skin. Don't make resolutions you have no intention and no NEED to keep!

Be who you want to be. Look how you want to look. Be original. Be unique.

We are not manufactured products, we are people!

Sexy Tuesday #7!

2011-12-20T05:44:00.008-08:00

So I recently discovered you can publish screenplays. I didn't even think of doing that. I find writing them is a lot like writing comics and it gives me a new avenue to explore where I can get ideas out there to the public. I am hoping to tap into the generation raised on digital content, teens and young adults who don't want to grind through a five hundred page books. Screenplays are short, quick and easy to understand for a television educated audience. At least, that's the horse I'm betting on.

What happens when vampires, werewolves and zombies all arrive in 19th century London? What happens when you add Dr. Jekyll and The Phantom of the Opera to the mix?
You get LONDON UNDEAD.

Sexy Tuesday #6!

2011-12-13T05:46:00.008-08:00

Ready for another Sexy Tuesday??

This is a page from a short story featuring the Canadian Legion. We had to redo it because we never got a high-res version of the page the first time, all those years ago. You can read the story in Legion Unleashed #1. Inking and coloring done by Anthony Hary and crew.
Did you guys know I have another blog? It features biographical information on the world of the Canadian Legion and serves as supplemental material to LEGION UNLEASHED.
http://legionunleashed.blogspot.com/

Legion Unleashed #1 is available through Graphicly.
http://graphicly.com/raven-entertainment-studio/legion-unleashed/1?fb_ref=homepage

Meet the new Catwoman.

Men should not attempt to cook, or climb, with their dangling parts all exposed. .

I have to admit, it's been eye opening looking for pictures of men for these Sexy Tuesday posts. Just the volume of hot women out there in photographs to hot men. Also, you really realize the difference between artful photography and slutty sexual photos when you are not sexually interested in the subject matter. In other words, the man-whores are much easier to spot. I try to avoid those types of photos, but sometimes with a hot girl it might slip through. :)

LEGION UNLEASHED #1

2011-12-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

NOW AVAILABLE FROM GRAPHICLY.COM!

http://graphicly.com/raven-entertainment-studio/legion-unleashed/1?fb_ref=homepage

Sexy Tuesday #5!

2011-12-06T06:23:00.004-08:00

There is more information below the pretty pictures on the publishing venture we've begun. Just in case some people are not ready for the nudity, you can also link them to the other blog, legionunleashed.blogspot.com...

One Port In A Storm . . .

2011-12-06T05:28:00.002-08:00

I've been sending invites out to writers inviting them to join a publishing venture similar to what Image did many years ago, a single label for writers get work under.

Like Image, everything will be creator owned and the rights split between the creative teams. The publisher will only be compensated for the cost of printing, everything else is for the creators. Right now, writers have to shop books to different publishers. As an example of what I want to avoid, let's use Warren Ellis, one of the best writers in the business. He currently has books out from SEVEN different publishers. Ignoring the corporate work for hire, this is way too many. Imagine if you could have gotten all his books directly from him under one imprint?

We won't be making anything off the writer's work, nor we will be paying anyone. Everything will be a back-end split between the creative team. If we get big enough to be spending our days on books we might have to charge a small fee, but we're not looking to make money. Where is the profit in going with a publisher who charges a fee that takes up most of your profit?

Here's how it will work:

- We'll invite or take on a writer. The bigger the name of the writer, the easier it is to find an art team. We'll put a team together.
I know what you artists are thinking, no page rate? There are very, very, few companies paying a page rate today and even a few who say they'll pay but never do. If you are going to put in the time and invest in a book you may or may not see any money from, wouldn't you feel safer working with a well known writer whose work you like?

- The books for the first couple years should be single issue one-shots. We all know fans are reluctant to make long term commitments to new books but everybody loves an exciting new idea. The creators keep all the rights based on what they agree on between each other.

What a better way to show diversity of the medium than by creating diverse comics?

- The books will be released digitally through Graphicly. We're looking into signing up with some of the other digital content providers now, but this takes time. We're making arrangements with Liber and a smaller distributor in the U.S. about getting the books out. We'll be doing mostly print on demand. If I have to, I'll call all the comic stores myself and sell them the books the old fashioned way, with hustle and style.

What writers need to keep in mind is they are in charge of this industry. The pencillers build it, but the writers make the blueprints from which two major licensing corporations build their empire. Smaller publishers desperately need you, while acting like they don't. It's time to stop going door to door with our stories and open a store front where people always know where to find them.

Once we have enough writers on board, we can discuss how to tackle the DIAMOND issue. But they no longer need to be a primary concern, there are thousands of other venues opening up. Let's make it happen.

Anyone with questions can contact me or the EIC Anthony Hary. Anthony is the nicest guy in comics. I know some people have taken issue with my outspoken views and politics in the past so if you find me disagreeable, don't ignore the opportunity because of it, Anthony will be more than happy to discuss things with you as well.

Sexy Tuesday #4

2011-11-29T06:17:00.006-08:00

You know I am a little disappointed in the lack of enthusiasm I find in other creators. Not just with the current publishing venture that I am involved in but with everything in general. Maybe that is what it is like trying to overthrow a government or plan a protest; how do you overcome the massive weight of apathy people seem to carry around??

Now I can understand an artist being reluctant to draw all those pages for a month and not have a guaranteed return on their investment. But if I am going to find you an artist to do the hard work, how difficult can it be to write a twenty-odd page one-shot?
I mean I'd like to stay positive and focused but at the same time I think a lot of creators talk about change but have no interest in actually pursuing it. It's just a word that gets them a bit of buzz and sells a few more issues for them. Let's hope that isn't true.

Anyway, this is what you came here for today, right?

Sexy Tuesday 03!

2011-11-22T05:28:00.006-08:00

So I was going to post another bit of personal thought on the matter of starting a creator-owned publishing imprint but I've decided to take another week, let the idea float out there and see what happens. Sometimes it's not good to hammer too hard a point all at once. . .
So on to the stuff you all came to see:

Sexy Tueday 02

2011-11-15T05:15:00.004-08:00

A creator owned publishing venture? But why? IMAGE already exists and they do a good job, don't they?
Well sure, but why are they the only ones? I mean there is nothing wrong with competition, is there? Marvel and DC have always had each other, comrades in arms yet opponents just the same.
In the years I've been trying to make comics, I've learned a few things about what goes on behind the scenes. I can't speak for anyone else that may be joining me on this venture, but here were some of my concerns:

How can I trust the intentions of people who make money even if my book fails to sell? Between what Diamond takes and Image's "cut off the top", there is very little to actually support the creators involved! Other so called creator owned companies have even WORSE deals.

Secondly, I'm an arrogant sonofabitch. I just can't accept waiting six months to have my book rejected by a guy who has never made comics. This isn't just Image, there are tons of publishers out there run by guys who LOVE comics but really have no clue how to make them. Even some of the big name creators don't seem to know how to tell stories that actually have some kind of resonance with readers. At the very least I make comics day in and day out, as do the people I've invited to be a part of this.

Now it may be some time before we get the kinks worked out, the details drawn up and it could be years before I can take submissions from others. I hope not, I have a great plan in place right now but sometimes things aren't that easy.

It's impossible to challenge IMAGE directly, they were formed by top talent making top rates at the peak of the comic industry, so they had a ton of money to dump into building what they have back when it was easier to do so and they did it first. But I've learned from IDW that it IS possible to make a difference in the industry, we might not have the financial backing that IDW has but I am sure I can find people committed to making good comics and maybe one day we'll reach the level IDW is at.

There is a new digital era of comics coming and that is one big fat whale to someone like me. It's time for the other sharks to join in and tear this thing apart. No more sheep, it's time for teeth gnashing, the blood is in the water and I call on the other creators to come on over and enjoy it.

More importantly, it's time for a publisher that doesn't disappoint. No crossover nonsense, reboots, relaunches, old tired creators dragged out and dusted off, no late books, no over-hyping mediocrity, no more bullshit. Let's make comics.

Sexy Tuesday 01!

2011-11-08T04:46:00.010-08:00

Jimmy Palmiotti's ran a blog for a long time now, featuring "Sexy Mondays", where he posts his new projects and promos alongside beautiful women. So I am going to do a Sexy Tuesday, why can't the sexy days continue?
BUT, I want women to read this too. So there will be some men mixed in here somewhere.
All's fair . . .

From my book LEGION UNLEASHED:

Check out these designs for Inspector Melissa Maple of the Canadian Legion, artwork by Justice Wong.

Melissa was always modeled after Jessica Simpson, but you know, with a sharp mind for detective work and police sciences.

Check out: http://anacomics.com/ and support the summer swimsuit special, proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research.

When is True Blood back?

2011-10-31T13:01:00.001-07:00

So I haven't touched this blog in a year, but it'll be back, wait and see!

Shocker (1989)

2010-10-31T05:13:00.002-07:00

Shocker is another Wes Craven classic. The X-Files actor who played Skinner plays a serial killer who finally gets what he deserves. Only for some reason he doesn't die, but like a comic book super villain, comes back from the dead as an electrical being. The soundtrack features both Alice Cooper and Megadeth, Iggy Pop and a ton of other rock and metal artists. Much like Freddie Krueger, and this was Craven's attempt to set up another franchise, Pinker the killer can inhabit host bodies and control them. If they can keep him in a body when it dies, they can stop him forever. . .

Silver Bullet (1985)

2010-10-29T06:19:00.002-07:00

Gary Busey and Corey Haim star in this classic werewolf film based on a short story by Stephen King. Like all King's stories, this one takes place in a small town, with a small church and a creepy priest. Corey Haim is a boy in a wheelchair which actually keeps him alive longer than you'd expect against a werewolf. His chair is named "The Silver Bullet". Cause it goes real fast. But this is a scary film, certainly one of the better werewolf films out there.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

2010-10-29T06:09:00.002-07:00

The best werewolf film ever made. A group of rookie soldiers are sent to the Scottish Highlands for training. What they don't know is that they are actually bait for a werewolf. When the wolf comes for them, the highly trained assassination squad will exterminate the werewolf. Except the werewolf kills the assassins, leaving the rookies to fend for themselves. After an exciting gunfight in the forest the soldiers eventually lock themselves in a house in the woods, waiting for the wolves to come back for one final battle.

Predator (1987)

2010-10-27T09:25:00.003-07:00

The movie that started it all, Predator turned a crab-faced killer into a household name bigger than Arnold himself. Long before the Predators were hunting Adrien Brody, one of them stood alone against the Terminator, Apollo Creed, Jesse the Body and a couple other scary dudes. In the end it comes down to Arnold and the Predator, who has the last laugh. Literally. Guns, blood and the heat of the jungle. Not even Danny Glover's overweight sequel can spoil this classic film.

The Fly (1986)

2010-10-27T05:43:00.007-07:00

What is scarier than Jeff Goldblum? A mutating, twitching, disgusting Jeff Goldblum as the Fly. Something inside me finds it very difficult to choose this version over the original starring Vincent Price, but I think the special effects is the reason I recommend this remake. What is interesting about this movie is the entire thing boils down to one little mistake, one little "fly in the ointment" quite literally. Cronenberg actually turned this movie down to work on Total Recall, but when his involvement in that film was done, he went back to this project. It was Cronenberg who put together Goldblum and Geena Davis. This movie gave us the classic tag-line "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid".I highly recommend the latest DVD edition just to see the deleted scenes. Even if you've seen it before, there might be an interesting alternate ending.

The Frighteners (1996)

2010-10-26T05:59:00.004-07:00

I had to add this movie to the list because although it really isn't all that frightening, it is nice to Michael J. Fox in one of his last major roles. It also fits into the category: Peter Jackson in New Zealand, as this is one of his early big budget films, although it doesn't have much in common with Dead Alive. It's billed as a horror/comedy because for the first half of the film, it IS a comedy. However there is something very sinister about the Ring Wraith, sorry The Ghost in that Jackson would copy later in his little LOTR thing.

Thirteen Ghosts (2001)

2010-10-26T05:47:00.004-07:00

I've seen a lot of ghost stories over the years but for some reason this one really stuck with me. Perhaps it was the bizarre casting, Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Lilliard, Raw Digga (that cute black lady), Shannon Elizabeth and F. Murray Abraham?

But there were so many things that did work in the movie. The shifting, haunted glass house and the ghosts trapped within, like a video game each ghost would have a go at the people trapped within. I think this movie works for me because the ghosts are scary. Poltergeist might be the classic haunted house, but a big tree doesn't get to me the way a big screaming ghost with nails in his head does.

Deadly Friend (1986)

2010-10-25T06:32:00.002-07:00

I think Wes Craven did every horror movie I ever liked. I think because Craven understands the "hook", that part of the story that makes it more than just a slasher film. In "Deadly Friend" a young Kristy Swanson almost dies when her father abuses her to the point of death. The nerd next door refuses to waste such a beautiful creature and so he implants a microchip into her head that keeps her alive. Of course the chip came from a robot named BB and soon no one is sure whether this is Kristy's character or the robot and people get killed along the way. An interesting take on the Frankenstein myth.

Frankenstein Unbound (1990)

2010-10-25T06:22:00.003-07:00

A Roger Corman film based on a novel by Brian Aldriss, this movie was a big inspiration to me, it really made me consider a career as a writer when I realized that ANYTHING is possible in stories and film.

Starring Raul Julia and John Hurt, Frankenstein Unbound pits a time travelling scientist from the future against the distraught and eventually insane Dr. Frankenstein (Julia). There is also an appearance by Mary Shelley played by Bridget Fonda, Jason Patric as Lord Byron and an interesting guest appearance by the deceased lead singer of INXS as Percy Shelley. Inevitably Frankenstein is introduced to Hurt's monster, a phenomenon that has ripped open time and space. So technically this movie is a science fiction film, but the "Frankenstein" genre opened the door to both genres and this one takes us through both at once.

Last Man On Earth (1964)

2010-10-24T07:14:00.005-07:00

The Last Man On Earth is still better than the remake, I Am Legend. The difference being that the creatures in Legend could have easily been replaced with any monster and you'd have the same movie, hell they could have been dinosaurs and it would have still been the same. The creatures that come night after night for Vincent Price were people once and they don't forget who you are. Imagine your loved ones and neighbors outside your door calling you by name, night after night. Romero basically admitted he ripped off the idea for this movie for his zombie classic. A must see, if only for Vincent Price.

Near Dark (1987)

2010-10-24T07:00:00.003-07:00

Yes, everyone is sick of vampires. Yet, if you can't stomach any more fairy Twilight vampires, this dirty, dusty, bloody vampire romp is exactly what you need this Halloween. How can you not love Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen, two veterans of Aliens, as western vampires? It also has the butch lady from Aliens too!
Had they made this movie ten years later, these guys would be the good guys.

It's a boy meets girl, gets bitten by a vampire and taken away by her vampy friends type of movie. Except the vampires drive a motor home and kill everyone they encounter. AND if you trick your friends by renting the newest release version of the DVD, you can even trick them into thinking its a Twilight movie!

Motel Hell

2010-10-23T06:10:00.004-07:00

I first saw this movie a couple years ago. One of my buddies, knowing how I can find mostly anything on the internet, requested this film. So I ended up getting it and watching it and all I can say is, it's a trip, man. It's listed as a horror comedy, or a parody of other horror films at the time, but it certainly doesn't feel like a parody.

Two rednecks own a farm with a Motel attached called Motel Hello. Vincent, the older brother, loves to grab people off the road and drag them home to turn into Smoked Meats. Vincent also has a garden that has to be seen to be truly appreciated. In the end Vincent doesn't feel remorse for all the people they have killed, but he does admit his greatest shame; he used preservatives in his meats.

The Devil's Rejects (2005)

2010-10-23T05:58:00.002-07:00

If you've seen House of 1000 Corpses and decided that you wouldn't bother to see the sequel, you've done yourself a great disservice. The Devil's Rejects is the Empire Strikes Back of Rob Zombie horror movies. Where "House" tried to emulate other maniac movies like Chainsaw Massacre but with a twist, The Devil's Rejects is like the taller, cooler, more badass brother. Rob Zombie takes the cliches of horror that he tried to imitate in the first film and completely flips them upside down.

Captain Spaulding becomes part of the family and ends up on the run with the others. Most of the more bizarre cast members are left behind in the first film, leaving only Baby, Otis and a brief appearance by Mom and Tiny. This movie is like eating a handful of desert sand and blood and is slipperier than a snake. Just when you think you've got a handle on it, it slithers into a different skin. The first film was a freak-show, this one is a road trip through hell.

FIDO

2010-10-22T12:11:00.002-07:00

How do you explain what FIDO is? It's like "MAD MEN", with zombies. Everybody is stuck in their simple American lives and when the dead start coming back, they simply domesticate and train them.

Everybody can sleep soundly due to the corporation that sprang up to deal with the new zombie menace ZOMCON. There are weird overtones of slavery and class systems, a developing love story and a coming of age adventure stuffed inside this movie like a great Thanksgiving turkey. I liked it more than I expected, the best part is the zombies are usually more emotional and attached to things than the people of the 50's.

Doghouse (2009)

2010-10-22T05:00:00.003-07:00

A group of British chaps, all with problems in their relationships, decide to take a trip out of town to a small village known for its large number of women and pubs. But when they arrive they find the town has become a nest for Zombirds; angry, man-hating female zombies.

One of the interesting things about this film is that one of the boys in the main cast is gay and is on the outs with his boyfriend. With the concept being men in the "doghouse" I thought it was very cool one of the boys wasn't into women at all. Of course there is also the "Player" and the "Nerd" but the quirky British actors make the cliches work. The "Badboy" of the group is trying to rehabilitate himself through meditative Mp3's on relaxation and soon finds himself bitten, hiding up an advertising sign, listening to the calm voice of relaxation as an angry Zombird chops down the post holding the sign up. And for fans of the Dead Rising video game, there is a toy shop in the little town that they boys eventually hide out in.

An interesting zombie film that would go great on a zombie film night with the king of comedy zombie films "Shawn of the Dead".

28 Days Later

2010-10-22T04:33:00.004-07:00

Alex Garland (The Beach) did a great job on the screenplay here. What made this movie remarkable is that you don't know right away that it is a zombie movie. When it opens with a rabid monkey and a bunch of protesters, you wonder if maybe your watching one of those biological outbreak movies. Which is also is.

As Cillian Murphy wanders through an abandoned London, there is a sense of loneliness that never goes away throughout the film. When Cillian's character Jim finally meets people and begins to care for them, they are taken away from him by soldiers looking to repopulate the human race. The most frightening outcome of the story is not a world populated by zombies, but a world where women are used as breeding stock and raped for the pleasure and amusement of those who survived. This leads to one of the most debated and interesting twists in the movie.

Jim, in an effort to free the women he has met and protected thus far, becomes a zombie himself. His "Rage" overtakes him and he will stop at nothing to free them and you have to wonder if he has turned or simply lost his mind. If he has lost his mind, then what does that say about the rest of the "zombies".

Also, since these zombies are infected with "Rage", they don't shamble. They run and they run fast. There were not Romero's zombies, these were the undead on an adrenaline rush. There is no humor in zombies who can outrun you.

Still one of the best zombie movies ever made and the only one that ever made me jump out of my seat; something about that quiet church full of the undead and the shambling, twitching priest stuck with me even after watching two dozen other zombies films.

A definite classic.

2009-04-12T08:12:00.003-07:00

The Real Price of Comics

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090410-the-price-is-right.html

I couldn’t believe the excuses I was reading on Newsarama about the price of comics. I am going to address these excuses in as pleasant a manner as I can muster.

RE: Vince Hernandez, Editor-in-Chief of Aspen Comics.

"Any time there's a recession, people are going to be spending less, but publishers still have to pay the talent and they still have to print the books.”

Okay so your logic at Aspen Comics is, since people aren’t buying as many books, we’ll continue to print a large number of them and simply increase the price per issue to cover the ones that aren’t selling. Is that what you are saying?

"Costs are going up because printing companies need to make their profit and everybody's tightening their belt and reacting to the economy."

Ah, the generic “blame it on the economy” excuse. Did they raise the price of comics during the last recession during the 80’s? Seriously, raising the prices because people are buying less didn’t work for the car manufacturers, why would it work for a company that rarely puts out any books?

RE: Michael DeVito, publisher at Th3rd World Comics

First off, I’ve never even heard of this company and I spend a hell of a lot of time online.

“Despite making the top 300 in sales, we lost money on the book and ultimately the series. Raising the price would have made much better financial sense and probably would have had very limited impact on sales."

Or to put it in regular English, their book sold well enough but they didn’t make any money. Raising the price a dollar would have given them more cash in their hand. But what you are saying is that you wish you had of milked the people who bought the book for a little more cash, because it wouldn’t have affected the sales numbers all that much. Classy. Th3rd World has two Co-Publishers an Editor In Chief and a Business Director. That is where the money goes, boys and girls.

To say the rising cost of creators is partly responsible for the price increases is silly. Creators can only be paid what they are worth, if their books don’t generate the kind of numbers that are profitable, then they aren’t worth the money. There are many, many affordable creators out there that I’ll support in a $2.99 book. There are very, very few creators that can make me buy a four dollar comic.

Good old Joe Quesada, always good for a bit of corporate bullshit. He’s really like Stan Lee now, isn’t he? But without the creativity and charm.

“What I’m saying is that we do work very hard to keep the prices where they are and to keep the top talent here at Marvel and in comics. We could just let these people move to other industries but then where would we all be... Some of these guys could easily be making two or three times what they make in comics by working elsewhere."

Okay, so the Nu-Marvel logic behind the price increases works this way:
Marvel hires Damon Lindelof for Hulk/Wolverine comic that isn’t very good. The book takes forever to come out. However, because Mr. Lindelof works on such shows as LOST, you have to charge more for the books he works on? We’re paying more because Marvel wants to hire outside the comic industry, forcing the price of comics to rise? The industry did quite well without celebrity TV writers and I am sure he wouldn’t be missed. Of course good business sense would suggest that a name writer with mainstream success should be able to sell more issues based on name alone, those extra sales would great more profit and actually let you sell the issues at a cheaper price. But this is Marvel, it doesn’t have to make sense, its MAGIC!

Does this mean since Jeph Loeb was fired from HEROES, the cost of his books will go down now?

2009-04-03T05:59:00.003-07:00

What does this image mean??

Well it probably means exactly what it looks like. Steve Rogers won't return. Not yet, they haven't even hinted at it and Brubaker is too good a writer to rush into this.

No, this black star means the return of "The Captain". Whether that is Bucky or The Grand Director, my money is the Director.

Or maybe Battlestar is back as Dark Star! :/

2009-03-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

The original page.

2009-03-28T18:41:00.001-07:00

2009-03-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

2009-02-20T15:29:00.002-08:00

Dr. Manhattan!

Cool Shots #3

2009-02-20T05:28:00.001-08:00

Captain Carrot! Side by side with Superman and the Last Monitor.

2009-02-16T06:48:00.001-08:00

I've spent ten years trying to break into comics. I read every news site every day and have for years. I was a member of the Event Comics forum when Joe Q. started Marvel Knights and I've had discussions with some of the industries most talented individuals. You know what I've learned? It's not Diamond's fault.

Let's not blame Diamond. I used to, but really, they aren't in charge. They have the power, but they aren't in charge.

Retailers are in charge. Retailers are the ones who are buying all the mega-crossover issues. Retailers are quarterbacks of the industry and most of them act more like cheerleaders.

See, the retailers are the elephants in the room. Fans complain about 'Event Fatigue" but retailers continue to order event books. Almost every comic fan wants to see more diverse books on the shelves, but the majority of retailers continue to buy only Marvel and DC.

Prices don't have to be that high. If retailers refused to order books with such a high price, prices wouldn't be so high. Comic retailers have to be the only guys in retail who have absolutely no control over the price of their product.

All the complaints you hear online from fans SHOULD be addressed by the retailers, not Diamond, not Marvel, not Dan Didio. Everyone likes to point out how the books Marvel and DC put out in the 90's crashed the industry. But I don't remember Marvel trying to convince me a $10 third printing of Spider-Man #1 was a good investment. We seem to always point out the bad marketing ideas of Marvel and DC but we never seem to question the guy trying to sell us this shit at his store.

A unified retailers group would have more power than Diamond because they are Diamonds customers, not us. The sales numbers don't reflect what the public is buying, only what the stores have stocked on their shelves.

Creators might speak out on issues, but none of them want to take a shot at the guys paying their rent, for the first time even I was reluctant to talk about this because I have a book coming out soon. The great industry crash of the 90's happened because comic fans simply got tired of their local stores trying to sell them shit they weren't interested in. The retailers then shifted to a more story focused mentality and fans came back. That is why the mentality of "fans speak with their wallets" is so dangerous, because sales in comics don't drop slowly, they drop all at once.

It is time for retailers to stop acting like fans in any capacity and start doing what it is their customers want them to do; provide better products, cheaper products, more diversity, more books that speak to minority groups and less focus on which books THEY like.

There are some good retailers out there but this industry will never grow without a drastic change in the mentality of the guys selling the comics.

Consider this an intervention for retailers. Diamond is nothing more than a catalog and a delivery company. At the end of the day, they are our front line troops and it is up to them to fight for their customers. It would seem like a risky venture, for retailers to experiment with new books, or working together with each other to dictate better terms, I know it wouldn't be easy.

But wouldn't it be great if retailers managed to band together and not only control what Diamond sells, but they could even dictate terms to the publishers!

I know there are retailers out there that are trying to change things, to provide better books for their customers and genuinely want to see the industry change, I know you guys are there. Let's here from you, because if there are enough retailers willing to say "THIS IS MY FUCKING STORE AND I WON'T SELL THAT SHIT" we'll finally get the changes we've been complaining about for the last 20 years. Because nothing has changed since 1999, except that the movies have done very well. But the industry is still the same, in fact it is even smaller than it was. That shouldn't happen.

Cool Shots #2

2009-02-07T05:02:00.006-08:00

Black Wonder Woman does a microphone check. One two, one two.

Superman never made any money, singing songs about Solomon Grundy. And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man, like him.

Don't push him cause he's close to the. . .edge!
He's tryin' not to lose his head!

COOL SHOTS #1

2009-01-26T07:33:00.002-08:00

I am going to attempt a weekly blog that shows off the coolest moments in comics for that week. The first one is a shot from Secret Six #5.

The loser villain Bane has been captured by a bunch of freaks looking for revenge against the six. Bane is the guy who broke Batman's back, allowing that idiot Azrael to wear the mask for a while.

To torture him, the creep in the hood has a stack of bricks he is throwing, one at a time, at Bane. At this point, Bane is ready to break.

This issue had a pretty disgusting twist, when you find out the identity of the hooded freak, you WILL want to throw up!

R.

2008-10-27T13:52:00.001-07:00

Some Cool Art

2008-10-19T07:13:00.004-07:00

This is something I haven't done in a while, post some cool art by other comic creators and publishers.

Some of my recent favorites.

Bob Kane Was A Douchebag

2008-09-20T07:19:00.004-07:00

After reading this website: http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/391/
I've decided the creator of Batman, Bob Kane, was a real jerk. From forging dates on drawings to tracing other peoples art and using it in Batman, this guy was something else.

"Kane never mentioned what MUST be called his most IMPORTANT source of inspiration. As we covered last issue, Anthony Tollin and Will Murray recently discovered that the Shadow pulp story “Partners Of Peril” provided the plot for the first Batman story, and also pointed out that “Partners Of Peril” mentions the terms ‘bat-like’ and ‘bats’ on SEVEN different occasions. If this is a mere coincidence, it has to rank as the comic world’s most...BATTY.

So, what to believe? Did the name “Batman” come from Kane’s three spurious and problematic sources of inspiration, or did Kane and/or Bill Finger change the hero’s name because of a SHADOW story? One version sounds glamorous, original, and complex; the other sounds unglamorous, derivative and simple. Which is TRUE? Paraphrasing Occam’s Razor, "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one."

Quoted from the site.

2008-09-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

2008-09-16T09:37:00.001-07:00

2008-09-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

2008-09-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

I came across this while doing research.
Can't help but wonder if it actually is a children's book or not. . .

2008-08-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

What Happens When Ego Outstrips Talent?

2008-08-12T06:13:00.001-07:00

You begin promoting one of your books in another one of your books, just to show how cool you are. . .

Boy that Mark Millar, if I was fifteen I'd be soooo impressed!
:(

My Son's First Comic. . .

2008-08-08T19:03:00.001-07:00

Why Heath Ledger Rocked

2008-07-28T15:26:00.001-07:00

2008-07-21T06:34:00.002-07:00

DJ Coffman had a "Draw Anything for $2" thing going on at his site. I couldn't resist. . .

http://yirmumah.com/

2008-07-01T05:08:00.001-07:00

more cat pictures

2008-07-01T05:07:00.000-07:00

more cat pictures

Superhero Research. .

2008-05-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

“History includes too much chaos, or extremely sensitive dependence on minute and unmeasurable differences in initial conditions, leading to massively divergent outcomes based on tiny and unknowable disparities in starting points. And history includes too much contingency, or shaping of present results by long chains of unpredictable antecedent states, rather than immediate determination by timeless laws of nature. Homo sapiens did not appear on the earth, just a geologic second ago, because evolutionary theory predicts such an outcome based on themes of progress and increasing neural complexity. Humans arose, rather, as a fortuitous and contingent outcome of thousands of linked events, any one of which could have occurred differently and sent history on an alternative pathway that would not have led to consciousness.”
— Stephen J. Gould "The Evolution of Life On Earth," Scientific American 271 (October 1994): 85-86.

Front Page Sample

2008-04-27T08:56:00.002-07:00

Something I Found. . .

2008-03-08T06:17:00.003-08:00

Angeline 43 belongs to Kel Nuttall of Morpheus Forge Entertainment. I did this cover years ago when I used to try to do artistic things.

One of the coolest characters around and if she doesn't appear in her own book soon, I'm going to have to have her guest appear in my book!

R.

2008-02-26T05:30:00.001-08:00

I Know This Guy

2008-02-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

So buy the album in March:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p4kieQ3Tz4

SELF PROMOTION

2008-01-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

Hey, if anyone is reading this, go out and support my pitch on Zeroes to Heroes.
http://www.zeros2heroes.com/pitch/18

It's called ALICE AND FRANKENSTEIN. Weird Horror and Insane Characters.

Thanks!

A Fan Who Wanted Spidey to be Single

2008-01-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

From Amazing Spider-Man #12.

1964.

Which is only seven years before current continuity begins.

I wonder if Jodene is going to pick up the latest issue of Amazing?

About Spider-Man Part 2

2008-01-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

I didn't get a chance to finish my last post, so here goes.

The reason that ONE MORE DAY happened, the reason the marriage was dissolved between Peter and MJ, was because Joe Quesada did not believe you could tell as many stories with Peter married as you could with him single. That somehow there is less drama and action in a married man's life. So far, every situation at Marvel that they felt needed to be resolved has been done so with little explanation and the wave of a magic wand. Mephisto fixes Peter's marriage and Aunt May. Mutant powers remove all the mutants. A temporal rift brings Captain Marvel back. . .

A great writer can tell a story with Spider-Man being married and make it just as dramatic and interesting as the stories that took place before the marriage. By saying the stories can't be as good, is saying JMS wrote crap, because according to Joe, now that Peter is free, they can tell the kind of stories they want to tell with all the tension and drama that they believe should be in a Spider-Man comic. Well Kraven's Last Hunt managed to do a damn good job of telling a married Spidey story. So what pisses me off about is not the fact that they made the changes. It is the fact that they believe that they can tell better stories without the marriage. But if their writers were willing to try a little harder, they could easily tell stories with the marriage, or without it. This is comics, the stories don't have to be every new day in the life of a character. What about a limited series about Peter when he was single?

The fact is, Joe Quesada just didn't have the imagination to picture Spider-Man as a married man. Continuity and story issues like this are just obstacles to overcome, great writers can do that. What Joe is doing is simply removing all obstacles to make it as easy as possible for the writers, to let them be lazy and not worry about all the hard work other writers put into building the character up in the first place.

To use a baseball analogy, Joe just couldn't hit a home run with his guys and Spider-Man, so instead of trying harder, they simply removed the second base. If fans had demanded this, I wouldn't be so bothered by it, but this was all Joe Quesada, this is one man deciding to change things to the way he wants them to be because he is the big boss and can do so. And people will still buy it, regardless, so they can never really lose.

Oh well. . .

About Spider-Man

2008-01-04T04:34:00.000-08:00

As I've often ranted about Marvel before, I am guessing there are a few people that are expecting me to post SOMETHING about this awful storyline that ended Peter and MJ's marriage.

My problem wasn't with them changing the past or altering the characters. My problem is that Joe Quesada can't seem to find the line between what he wants and what is best for the characters. Both are not the same thing. And this statement from him pretty much sums it up:
--
Joe Q:

Let me try to put this as plainly as I can, and let’s be really honest here, let’s really look at marriage for a second. I'll get personal, for a moment. I have an incredible marriage and a fantastic kid, but there is no question that my life was much more story-worthy when I was single. Was I happier? Absolutely not. Was my life a better story from a drama sense? Ummmm, yeah. It had many more twists and turns and theater and was a bit of a mess. Now let me say, not everyone, but for most: When people get married, they tend to settle down -- life slows down and you gain different responsibilities, grown-up responsibilities, boring responsibilities. You go out to dinner less, see fewer movies, your social life is curtailed and revolves, as it should, around your significant other. In short, life hands you a mini van. While marriage makes for an okay story, there is less drama in a (healthy) marriage than in a single relationship. That’s one of the many reason we get married -- we want stability, we want comfort, we want kids, etc., etc. No one gets married because they want more drama in their life. What’s good for one’s life doesn’t always make for great stories when the heart of your character’s universe is drama. From a writer and artist’s point of view, the people who are creating the stories, it’s like giving Daredevil his eyesight back. It works for a short time and eventually erodes at the foundation of the character and what makes them unique. We all want Peter to catch a break and to settle down and have happiness in his life, but that isn’t really what we want. If that actually happened, people would stop caring about Spider-Man.

---

You see, that is EXACTLY what is wrong with comics today. Joe, I am sorry that your life now is boring. The thing is, for most of us, marriage isn't boring. It doesn't make your life less interesting, less dramatic. If Joe's life seems less dramatic now, well that sucks for him, but he is painting a lot of men with a really wide brush here.

You see, the whole premise of Spider-Man is that with great power comes great responsibility. Now a guy in his early twenties, a down on his luck nerd with girl troubles, might seem to be interesting and dramatic, but what does that person really know about responsibility? The reason that MJ was a vital piece of Peter's life is because she gave Peter Parker a reason to come home at night and that is by far a greater challenge than sitting on the rooftops complaining about how you never get laid.

These changes really reflect what kind of man Joe Quesada is, it really has very little to do with Spider-Man at all. They have the Ultimate Spider-Man already, who is unmarried and young and able to do all the cool things that Joe fantasizing about doing if he didn't have a family to take care of. You simply cannot change 20 years of history to satisfy the needs of one single Editor in Chief. Raising a family and keeping them safe is the greatest challenge of all but the truth is, most of the writers they have put on the book can't grasp that concept. It's easy to be carefree, single and irresponsible. It's hard to grow up. That was why Spider-Man was great, because even when he didn't want to, he was forced to grow up. Are we to believe that married men would sell their souls to be free again?

Interesting Piece of Coincedence

2007-12-26T07:37:00.000-08:00

So my friend over at http://canuck-blog.blogspot.com/ posted an interesting bit of history on Captain Canuck. While reading his take on the classic comic series, I saw an interesting image he had scanned in:

What is interesting about this image is it sort of reminded me of a page from the upcoming Canadian Legion comic.

I'd never seen that panel before, nor had Jake, he couldn't have, I doubt any copies of Captain Canuck have made it to the Philippines.

Weird, eh?

Adam Warren's New Comic. . .

2007-12-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

Adam Warren's EMPOWERED by Dark Horse Comics.
Most fun comic of the year.

2007-11-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

A Christmas Carol

2007-11-20T08:28:00.001-08:00

Muslims and Martial Arts

2007-11-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah that is right, I am calling an 11 year old girl ignorant.

Here's why:

----

Judo Manitoba refused to allow Muslim girl to compete for wearing hijab

By The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG - A Judo Manitoba official reduced an 11-year-old girl to tears Saturday when he refused to allow her to compete in a tournament wearing a hijab, or Muslim head scarf.
While other children squared off in the match at a Winnipeg gym, Hagar Outbih could only watch from the sidelines and wonder why she was singled out.
"He said that I can't fight. If I want to fight I have to take it off or I have to leave," Outbih said as tears rolled down her face.
Hagar's mother, Khadaja, tried to console her daughter.
"As a mom I feel so bad that my daughter would go through this." she said.
Judo Manitoba president Dave Minuk made the ruling.
He said it was based on International Judo Federation guidelines.
"It has nothing to do with religion, it is a safety issue," Minuk said. "It (the hijab) could be used to strangle somebody. It could fall over her face."
The Judo Manitoba ruling is the latest controversy in Canada over the wearing of hijabs by Muslim girls in sports.
In April an international referee said a Tae Kwon Do team of mainly Muslim girls was kicked out of a tournament near Montreal because the sport's rules don't allow hijabs.
The team, made up of girls between eight and 12 years old, is affiliated with a Muslim community centre in Montreal and five of its six girls wear the head scarf.
Last February an 11-year-old Ottawa girl was thrown out of an indoor soccer tournament for refusing to remove her hijab.
A federal Conservative MP as well as the Liberals and the NDP have defended the right of girl's to wear religious head-scarfs.
Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, who is Muslim, has said that kicking kids out of sporting events is not the way to help communities live together in harmony.
Hagar Outbih agrees.
"I think they should change the rules because there are lots of people in the world," she said as she hugged her mom.
"There is not just Christians, there are other religions. They should be fair to everybody."
Outbih plans to write a letter of complaint to Sport Manitoba, an amateur sports organization whose chairman is appointed by the Manitoba government.
In a bid to mollify the girl organizers of the Judo match offered Outbih a participation medal, which she politely refused.
"Because I didn't deserve it. If I keep it it would just be bad memories."

----

Now, you can talk all you want about religious rights and accepting others, but that isn't what this is about. This is about martial arts and following the rules. There are very strict rules about you can and cannot wear in a martial arts fight, these rules were made centuries ago by masters of the fighting arts. That is why they have their own uniform, the karate uniform, because it allows maximum mobility and safety. To attempt to wear clothing that is considered harmful by the founders of the tournament is ignorant because it shows a complete lack of respect for the safety and well being of your opponent. At some point, for the safety of others, you have to leave your religion at home. Not allowing head scarfs at a soccer match is fine, if they want to lose the ability to use that part of their body in the sport that is their choice and will hinder their ability to play. But in the fighting arts, the entire foundation is built on respecting your opponent. We already allow changes to the RCMP uniform to allow turbans, we allow motorcycling Sikh's to wear turbans, we allow women to vote without showing their faces, because these are choices that only impact the individual and not anyone else (it's your head if you don't want to wear a helmet). But if you want to get into competitive sports against NON-Muslims, respect their right to safety and well being and wear the proper gear. If you can't do that, you don't deserve to compete.

World War Hulk Finale

2007-11-17T06:56:00.001-08:00

"Oh, sorry. I did it."

Dissecting Comics #6

2007-11-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

Dissecting Comics
By Richard Evans
The KAISER SOZE of Comics

Patient #6

Doktor Sleepless #1
By Warren Ellis and Ivan Rodriguez
By Avatar Press

First Analysis:

Warren Ellis certainly knows how to hook a reader from the starting gate. The six panel opening page really sets the tone for the book and gives you an instant impression of who Doktor Sleepless is. Unfortunately what follows is a little confusing. It wasn’t until the end of the book that I figured out what the hell happened in the club. A woman with a fetus necklace and then a guy slashing his own throat, that was pretty much what I made of that scene. I don’t know if it is important to the story at all, if not, I feel it was a real waste of panel space.

It is really hard to think of anything good to say about this patient. The issue was good enough, the art was better than some of Warren’s other projects and the nasty science was sort of intriguing. But to anyone who read Transmetropolitan, it’ll seem like more of the same. Dress Spider Jerusalem up as a costumed hero and you’d get the Doktor. But I hate making assumptions like that, both Warren and Avatar must have known that it would seem similar and I am sure that, given time, the book will prove to be something completely different than what Transmetropolitan was. Almost every page is done in the same six panel arrangement, making it seem a little sterile. I don’t see any groundbreaking writing from Mr. Ellis coming out of this series, but it seems like a fun place to see him explore some of his more insane ideas about progress, society and human body modification.

Prognosis:

Andrew Dalhouse, the colorist for this issue, has done a superb job. I found his work to be a step up from what I usually see out of Avatar. Other than that, this book is really for the hardcore Warren Ellis fans, the ones who ‘get’ what he does and buy everything he writes. Is this series healthy and strong, or is it an unhealthy clone of Warren’s previous work? My advice? Take two issues of Doktor Sleepless and call me in a couple months and I’ll let you know.

Clive Barker on Video Games

2007-11-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Keynote Speaker - Hollywood And Games Summit
In conversation with Gina McIntyre, Hollywood And Games Summit, 26 June 2007 (reported at Gamasutra by Brandon Sheffield, 26 June 2007 - note: online at www.gamasutra.com)

“I think that Roger Ebert’s problem [with games] is that he thinks you can’t have art if there is that amount of malleability in the narrative. Shakespeare couldn’t have written Romeo and Juliet as a game, because it could’ve had a happy ending. If only she hadn’t taken the damn poison! And I think Ebert’s problem is, if something is so malleable, so full of possibilities that aren’t under the artist’s control, then it can’t be art."And that’s where he’s wrong. Because the artists have put all those options in. Shakespeare might very well have written Romeo and Juliet, and maybe Romeo is gay, runs off to Venice, has a nice civil wedding… anything’s possible! I’m saying we should be looking at stretching the imaginations of our players, but also ourselves, and saying ‘let’s try to make everything possible'..."Let’s invent a world where the player gets to go through every emotional churning feeling available. That is art! Offering that to people is art, I think. And I’m excited about the fact that in the next few years, we’re going to see a lot of people playing together. And it’s going to become huge..."We’ve lost our imaginations and given them over to people who put plastic toys in with the hamburgers. Fuck them! Let’s take our imaginations away from the people who want the lowest common denominator, and give it to all the people that were shot down in flames at the age of 5 or 6, who were shot down by their art teacher, who said they couldn’t draw a straight line."

The Grinch Who Stole Halloween

2007-10-31T06:03:00.000-07:00

Every Who Down in Who-ville

Liked Halloween a lot...

But the Grinch,Who lived just North of Who-ville,Did NOT! The Grinch hated Halloween!

The whole Pumpkin season!

Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were to tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all

May have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But,Whatever the reason,His heart or his shoes,He stood there on Hallow's Eve, hating the Whos,

Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown At the warm lighted windows below in their town.For he knew every Who down in Who-ville beneath

Was busy now, hanging bumblebat teeth.

"And they're carving their pumpkins!" he snarled with a sneer."Tomorrow is Halloween! It's practically here!"Then he growled, with his grinch fingers nervously drumming,"I MUST find a way to keep Halloween from coming!

"For, tomorrow, he knew... ...All the Who girls and boysWould go out in the night, They'd dress for a fright!

And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!That's one thing he hated! The NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down with their treats.And they'd feast! And they'd feast!

And they'd FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!

They would start on Who-chippies, and rare Who-roast-treats

Which was something the Grinch couldn't stand in the least! And THEN

They'd do something he liked least of all!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,Would stand close together, with funeral bells ringing.They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the Whos would start singing!

They'd sing! And they'd sing!AND they'd SING! SING! SING! SING!

And the more the Grinch thought of the Halloween-Sing

The more the Grinch thought, "I must stop this whole thing!"

Why for fifty-three years I've put up with it now!I MUST stop Halloween from coming!...But HOW?"

Then he got an idea!An awful idea!

THE GRINCH GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA! "I know just what to do!" The Grinch Laughed in his throat. And he made a quick Witchy hat and a coat. And he chuckled, and clucked, "What a great Grinchy ploy!"With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like Witch Boy!"

"All I need is a goat..."The Grinch looked around.But since goats are scarce, there was none to be found.Did that stop the old Grinch...?No! The Grinch simply said,"If I can't find a goat, I'll make one instead!"So he called his cat Max. Then he took some red thread

And he tied a big horn on top of his head.

THEN he loaded some bags

And some old empty sacks

On a ramshakle sleigh

And he hitched up old Max. Then the Grinch said, "Giddyap!"And the sleigh started down

Toward the homes where the Whos were out of their town. All their windows were dark.

leaves filled the air.

All the Whos were out pumpkin hunting without care

When he came to the first house in the square."This is stop number one," The old Grinchy Witch hissed

And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.

Then he slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch.But if Witch Boy could do it, then so could the Grinch.He got stuck only once, for a moment or two.Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flueWhere the little Who ghosties all hung in a row.

"These ghosties," he grinned, "are the first things to go!" Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most randy,

Around the whole room, and he took every candy!Pop tarts! And popsicles! Fruit rollups! Gums!Cheesesticks! Candy corn! Popcorn! And plums!And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly,Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney!

Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos' feast!He took the Who-pudding! He took the roast beast!He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash.Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-mash! Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee."And NOW!" grinned the Grinch, "I will stuff up the tree!" And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to tearWhen he heard a sound like the roar of a bear.He turned around fast, and he saw a small Who!Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than twenty two.

Grinch had been caught by this little Who dear

Who'd got out of bed for a cup of cold beer.

She stared at the Grinch and said, "Witch Boy, why,"Why are you tearing our pumpkin tree? WHY?" But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slickHe thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!"Why, my sweet little tot," the fake Witch Boy lied,"There's a light on this tree that won't light on one side."So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear."I'll fix it up there. Then I'll bring it back here."

And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her headAnd he got her a drink and he sent he to bed.And when Cindy-Lou Who went to bed with her cup,HE went back to the tree and tore the tree up! Then the last thing he tookWas the log for their fire.Then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar.On their walls he left nothing but hooks, and some wire.

And the one speck of foodThe he left in the houseWas a caramel too old, even for a mouse.ThenHe did the same thingTo the other Whos' houses Leaving caramelsMuch too oldFor the other Whos' mouses! It was quarter to dark...

All the Whos, still a-farmin

All the Whos, still a-boozin

When he packed up his sled,Packed it up with their bats! The bones! The mummies!The vampires! And the werewolf! The trimmings! The trappings!

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mount Crumpit,He rode to the tiptop to dump it!"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming."They're finding out now that no Halloween is coming!"They're just getting home! I know just what they'll do!"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two"Then all the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!" "That's a noise," grinned the Grinch,"That I simply must hear!"So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.And he did hear a sound rising over the woods

It started in low. Then it started to grow...

But the sound wasn't sad!Why, this sound sounded scary!It couldn't be so!

But it WAS scary! VERY!

He stared down at Who-ville!The Grinch popped his eyes!Then he shook!What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,Was singing! Without any costumes at all!He HADN'T stopped Halloween from coming!IT CAME!Somehow or other, it came just the same! And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet tapping so slow,Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?

It came without pumpkins! It came without treats!"

It came without tricks, boxes or meats!"And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Halloween," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Halloween...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

And what happened then...?

Well...in Who-ville they sayThat the Grinch's small heart

Shrunk three sizes that day!And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,He whizzed with his load through the dark of the night

And he killed every Who in a big bloody feast

And he... ...HE HIMSELF...!

The Grinch ate the Who-meats!

2007-10-29T05:23:00.001-07:00

2007-10-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

2007-10-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

2007-10-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Dissecting Comics
By Richard Evans
The MODOK of Comics

Patient #5

Justice League of America #11
By Brad Metzler and Gene Ha
By DC Comics

First Analysis:

This has to be the most bizarre spandex comic I’ve come across in a long time. Asphyxiating is the best way to describe it. Red Arrow and Vixen end up trapped in a building that has collapsed into the water. We discover that Vixen doesn’t have any animal powers left and so the two weakest members of the Justice League are powerless to escape. So for the entire issue the two heroes are slowly crushed beneath the weight of rubble while the water slowly seeps in from the outside.

At first the artwork looked very sketchy and rough, as if it was done by a bad artist. What makes it remarkable is that this is done on purpose, the mess is supposed to be hard to see through, so you really feel as if they characters are buried in debris. The artwork is used to help emphasize the story in a way that I have not seen done before. Even the shape and size of the panels are done in such a way that they make the reader feel tight and constricted. It is so well done I don’t even want to spoil the ending, but I will tell you that Superman does not save the day. The splash pages are used to great effect, to show you what Red Arrow is enduring at the beginning and their first chance at escape at the end.

Prognosis:

I am not particularly into Metzler’s work one way or the either. Sometimes I find it very interesting, sometimes I find his work bland and boring. I also believe because of his writing credentials that DC isn’t editing him as much as they should be; that he is being given special treatment when it comes to what he can and can’t do in his books. I felt the same way about Identity Crisis. So although I’ve been reading his Justice League series, I’ve never really felt strongly about it one way or another until this issue. This issue has been written and drawn beautifully. It is one of those rare examples of two creators using the comicbook medium to its full potential. I don’t know if I like Metzler’s work yet, but at least I respect his understanding of the medium and I respect the fact that out of all of the comics out the same week, Brad was the only one actually making a comic and not just making a paycheck. As long as there is no remission to Identity Crisis storytelling, I’d recommend this book to fans of DC comics.

PATIENT FEEDBACK:Brad’s given me permission to post some information on the making of this series from his blog at http://www.bradmeltzer.com/

People have been asking about Gene Ha's stunning art and what he did that's different from his other work. I can't explain it. So I asked him. And so...from Gene:
The short answer is gray Copic markers and Photoshop.
The first stage is tight thumbnails. I scan this into my computer and print it as a blueline onto good /inkjet/ paper or Copic marker paper.
I then go to work with graphite pencil, gray Copic markers, white charcoal pencil and white paint. I mostly used Copic paper on this issue for the grainy, dusty effect. I prefer good quality inkjet paper because it absorbs the marker better without bleeding.

I use the pencils for fine details (like outlines and facial details) and the markers for most everything else. The white media lets me to create clean highlights.
After that Art puts it into Photoshop and tints the gray originals (The finished artwork couldn't have been done without a fine colorist like Art Lyon.).
There are two main techniques. Our classic technique is to select an area and Ctrl-B it. The other technique is to create another layer that makes the area darker, lighter, glow, etc. You'll have to ask him for more details!
And from super-colorist Art Lyon:
Let me elaborate on Gene's description of the coloring, if I may. Maybe no one cares and I will cry.
This issue had more than the usual number of insertions, meaning stuff Gene drew separately from the full page of art which I then inserted into the art. These are usually backgrounds, but are often common in situations where we have similar looking panels with limited but significant differences: an arm has moved, something has come into frame, etc. I've learned that in most cases it's best to insert these into the art and then flatten it and color it all as one thing.
So, yeah, Control+B calls up the Color Balance tool in Photoshop. I saved Color Balance settings for all the colors I knew would be cropping up a lot: character costumes and skin tones and hair color, rebar, cement, blood, etc. I spent a lot of time consulting with my oil painter wife Ellen, and with Gene, to get these colors just so. I knew we were going to be seeing A LOT of these colors, so I wanted to get them just right. I sampled colors from recent JLA issues, pictures of Halle Berry and Eric Johnson, and 9/11 and World Trade Center (the movie) images.
First I go through and do the Color Balance thing, which also occasionally involves the Hue & Saturation tool, too. This colors the grays in the original art layer. There are other ways to do this, but actually playing with the original art (rather than just layering in see-through colors on top of the art) will emphasize the texture of the original art, so I went with that.
I had a Shadows layer and a Highlights layer on top of the colored art. It's in these two layers that I do all my detailed coloring work, the stuff that hopefully "sells it". I lightly brush in all the niggly skin tones. I have a nice, fairly light rosey color, a pale green, and a purplish gray. Then reflected colors on an object are sampled from surrounding objects, and lightly brushed in to tint different areas. The advantage of these layers is that I can adjust their opacity, darkness, hue, and the like, and I can erase any area large or small partially or completely.
The Shadows layer is where I did all the blood effects, as well as some dust effects, the secondary light source colors, and dark reflected colors. The Highlights layer is where I did most of the dust effects and lighter reflected color.
Vibration effects are copies of this finished, colored art that have been made less opaque and less saturated. I erased different areas to let the base colored image peak through enough to keep it clear what we're looking at, despite the shaking.
Part of the trick was figuring out how dark to make it down there, and how much to make the characters costumes stand out. I darkened things a lot, and despite the need for grit and dirt and the like, I wanted to make the costumes still colorful enough to make the characters pop and to make the fans happy. Realism and flashiness was a big struggle here, color-wise.

So, that's basically it.
------------------------

To Rob Liefeld

2007-10-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've had enough of this guy. As someone trying to break into the industry for the last six years, I've read everything this guy has to say and NONE of it has any merit.
This shot at Alan Moore was the final straw.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/ill-lyteracy/rob-liefeld-shoots-on-alan-moo/

I don't care how many people defend him or what he has contributed to the comic industry and Image back in the day, the fact is, Rob Liefeld is that loud mouth, obnoxious spoiled brat that no one likes but keeps talking to because he is popular and has money. And there is nothing I like more than taking those types of people down a notch.

He's a grown man running around thinking he's still 18 and this is still 1995. I don't usually ever post personal stuff about my life, but let me tell you about 1995. While Rob was being watched by his Image partners because he might be stealing money and hanging around with celebrities, I was on the streets, selling dope and fighting anyone who wanted to throw down. And I'm willing to take it back to the 90's and do Rob old school, because frankly this guy has had an ass-kicking coming for a long time.

Oh I am sure some delusional fans will call me jealous because I've never had the success Rob has had. I didn't need to marry a second rate actress to feel like a big shot, I don't need to have a history of bad books behind me to prove how important I am, I've got my whole career ahead of me while Rob is a 40 year old man who has survived as a leech and parasite on an industry I love. Everyone is so damn scared to speak out about other creators in case they lose their next meal ticket, well not me. If people are going to take sides, let them draw a line in the sand because I frankly don't want to work with anyone who thinks Rob has anything left to contribute to this industry. Alan Moore is an writer of exceptional talent, Rob is an artist who can't draw all that well. At one point I considered contacting Rob about a project because I thought maybe he was just being misunderstood and needed a little help. Rob doesn't need help, he needs to have his mouth shut for him, he needs to have some sense beat into him.

Unlike Erik Larsen and Joe Quesada, I won't sell out my past in order to make a few bucks in the future. Both of those guys should be ashamed of themselves for letting Rob back in after all the damage he caused. Erik is a great guy, it took a lot of hard work to get fix Image's image, to let Rob back in after that is completely ridiculous. And Joe, well Joe was a guy who didn't reach the success any of the Image founders did, his projects never really reached the level of his contemporaries, he lived in the shadow of Image. He should know better than anyone what Rob did to the industry, the damage he caused and the people he hurt and more importantly, the trust he destroyed between fans, retailers and publishers.

The comic industry refuses to blacklist this jackass because the comic industry is desperate and people refuse to stand for anything in case their next employer doesn't like where they are standing. And maybe I am just a guy who likes to start fights but you know what? In comics there are two types of people; good guys and bad guys. Rob is Dr. Light, he's a joke who managed to rape this industry more than once. It's time for the good guys to put this sad dog down.

This isn't a threat, I'll be fair and give Rob every chance to defend himself. I'm 5'10 and 125 lbs, I'm not some bully trying to throw his weight around. But I am telling you directly Rob, don't come to Canada. Stay safe and warm in sunny Los Angeles and keep pretending you matter. Because if I see your name on a convention list here, we're going to have a little talk about Alan Moore and all the other people you've decided to put down and take shots at every time your wife lets you use the internet.

Or be a man, put on the gloves and we'll throw down like it's still 1995.

2007-10-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

How, with comics in their current state and with the growing trade paperback market, can publishers justify multi-title spanning crossovers??
Stand alone stories are appealing to casual readers and make more easily accessible trades for new fans, the only real benefit to publishers to do massive crossovers is the short term gain of selling more single issues that participate in the 'event'.

A quick search of Amazon.ca found 14 titles that were part of Civil War. The average price was $13.

There were 10 titles connected to Infinite Crisis, average price $17.

That means, if an average reader walked into an Amazon book store and wanted to buy something, perhaps a complete, long epic story, they would have to shell out average $140 dollars to buy the Civil War trades, or $170 for the Infinite Crisis books (including 52).

Compare that to the complete boxed set of beautifully bound Harry Potter books selling for $140 and you have to wonder what the hell is wrong with Marvel and DC.

2007-10-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Dissecting Comics
By Richard Evans
The TOM RIDDLE of Comics

Patient #4

Black Canary #2
By Tony Bedard and Paulo Siqueira
By DC Comics

First Analysis:

Interesting intro with a nice credits splash page. The opening fight between Green Arrow and Kobra was expertly done.

However, I have to say this book does suffer from New Reader Accessibility Syndrome. I cannot see any way that a new reader could pick up this book and understand what is going on. Even with my previous Green Arrow/Black Canary experience, I’d be hard pressed to figured out where the kid and sidekick came from if I hadn’t read at least some previous issues of Birds Of Prey and Green Arrow.

This appears to be a good, healthy series done in the way comics are meant to be done. It may not be a big, crossover, groundbreaking series, but it is a well told, well illustrated, nicely colored piece of work that would make a terrific trade paperback for Green Arrow/ Black Canary fans. Another sign of how great Paulo is as an artist is the fights scene with the child, Sin. It is not easy to illustrate someone so small acting in such a violent manner and still have it come off as realistic. I’ve seen a lot of cops die in comics but few are killed in such a way that it actually makes you feel like you are in the moment.

Prognosis:

This appears to be a healthy, well made series. It may not be as “trendy” as some of the other comics on the shelf, it may even seem “retro” to some readers because of its old school simplicity. But there is something good going on with this series and it is highly recommended. The coloring is beautiful in its simplicity, no painted pages in this book, just old school colors that stand out and get your attention.

It’s nice to see a group of heroes face off against a villain instead of each other, especially when those heroes have a healthy, positive relationship that still manages to surprise us with new twists and turns. Weddings that are natural and not simply gimmicks are few and far between in comics. So I recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in how Ollie and Dinah came to be a couple in the first place. Another nod should go to ILL who did the colors for this book.

I enjoyed this book, it even made me feel something for a throwaway teacher character. I must be having a good day. Suture this series together and I’d recommend the trade.

2007-10-13T03:54:00.000-07:00

2007-10-13T03:52:00.001-07:00

A Good Cause

2007-10-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

http://operationcomixrelief.org/

From the site:

"Hi! My name is Chris Tarbassian and back in March 2003, I started a small home-based "project" which I called Operation Comix Relief. My goal...to get some comic books to my friend Major (then Capt.) Tom Chafe (an Air Force Flight Nurse), so that he could pass them out to the ill and/or wounded soldiers, to provide them with some diversional activities (as well as for him to read) during Operation Iraqi Freedom.Well, it's still home-based, but my idea has evolved into a much larger operation, and as a result of which, I am now able and willing to send comics to any front line soldier.If you would like to donate to us, or know of a soldier who you think might like to receive one of our package, please write us at the address provided."

So go and give comics.

Baby Pictures

2007-10-12T03:05:00.000-07:00

"A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing."
"The man who has no imagination has no wings."
I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.

I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.

2007-10-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

Dissecting Comics
By Richard Evans
The DR. COX of Comics

Patient #3

Ultimate X-Men #83
By Robert Kirkman and Pascal Alixe
By Marvel Comics

First Analysis:

Is this another Marvel Zombies book? Because on that first credits page, the X-Men certainly LOOK like they are half dead. The team is made up of Jean, Scott, Iceman and Rogue. All of whom look exactly the same as their regular Marvel universe versions, except Iceman seems to wear stupid hats in the Ultimate universe. For those who aren’t aware of the difference, Marvel has two universes; their old school Stan Lee created universe and a newer, supposedly more marketable Ultimate universe. It’s a hip, modern, version, or so we’re told. The old Marvel universe had too much baggage, for example, Rogue was able to fly and had super strength because she took it from Miss Marvel. This new Rogue, who doesn’t do any of that stuff, is just like the movie Rogue. Except she TOO was a former member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and looks exactly the same as the regular Marvel Universe Rogue. So basically, the Ultimate versions never did any of the stuff in stories you’ve probably never read anyway. Oh and they sometimes use modern vernacular which means we are subjected to Iceman constantly talking about his need to play video games.

The only real dialogue of any interest was the scene between Colossus and Bishop. In order to be hip and modern, Ultimate Colossus is gay. He has to remind us of this all the time, now that it has been accepted by the public (by accepted, I mean no one cares.)

I just don’t see the point of any of it. I’ve already read about the X-Men and the Morlocks over twenty years ago. In the original Marvel U, Storm took over the Morlocks Although Nightcrawler wanted to, he didn’t have what it took to beat their ruthless leader. Now it seems like I am just reading one of those really bad issues of What If?, as the story ends with Nightcrawler being offered the role as leader of the Morlocks. It is these kinds of comics that suffocate the the shelves, leaving little breathing room for the good stuff.

Prognosis:

I thought the Ultimate line was supposed to be the bench mark, that all other comics would look to the Ultimate line as the best in the business. The artwork just doesn’t cut it in the current market. It looks like early 90’s fill-in issue art. Jean sees demon ghosts in the mirror and I was more horrified than anything, fearing I’d be subjected to an Ultimate Goblin Queen next. There were no particularly good panels, or interesting dialogue, or splash pages, or anything that sets this book apart from all the other X-Men related comics that have been buried in the Mutant Gulag out back. This kind of art and story is an ulcer on the Ultimate line of books.

Send this book to the autopsy room, it’s the Walking Dead.

2007-09-28T06:34:00.001-07:00

Dissecting Comics
By Richard Evans
The DARTH VADER of Comics

Patient #2

Thor #1
By J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel
By Marvel Comics

Thor returns. Whether or not this is an “event” depends on who you are asking. Although Thor as a character has existed since men were able to kneel and pray, this is not the Norse God from real mythology, this is the Norse God from Marvel mythology. This is the guy that looks like Fabio.

First Analysis:

Normally I avoid JMS comics like Tuberculosis on a plane. Add to that the fact I find most Marvel comics today to be incredibly boring and brain dead, I was really expecting this book to be DOA. I’m reluctant to admit it, but this series does have a pulse. The story opens with a full page dream sequence. One of the nice things about working at Marvel must be writing full page spreads with no dialogue and getting paid for it. I hear a lot of talk about the decompression method of storytelling, which sounds to me a lot like writers milking their page rates for all they can. As much as I like Coipel’s artwork I can’t help but feel that this issue was dragged out on purpose. I’m starting to wonder if Marvel is purposely putting out issues where nothing really happens simply to keep the money coming in month after month. Like heroin for comic junkies, cut with so much nice artistic fluff that there is almost no buzz left in it. That being said though, Coipel put together some beautiful splash pages that are used to great effect throughout the story. It’s not to often you get a full page opening and closing. And did we really need a full page spread of slack jawed yokels staring at an explosion on page 7, in a scene we’ve already seen before?

Prognosis:

JMS does seem to understand the fundamentals of pacing and structure which is great. Just finding books to dissect has been difficult because so many of the mainstream comics simply have an average spandex story told in four panel layouts with almost no thought put into anything. This story starts off slow, but could pick up. The layouts of the panels and the structure show a care and consideration for the work that could mean a healthy, strong trade paperback down the line. It was good to see Thor back, it was a waste to not have him do anything.
Had this been my book, the story would have started with more thunder. Leave the dream sequences and death realm scenes for a future flashback. We want to see someone get Mjolnir’ed up side the head. This series should have came on like a concussion, instead it seemed as if it was just waking up from a coma.

2007-09-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Dissecting Comics
By Richard Evans
The DR. HOUSE of Comics

Patient #1

Black Summer #0
By Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp
From Avatar Press:
This summer, the world goes black as Warren Ellis unveils his all-new super-powered heroes and villains epic that promises to be the biggest event of 2007! With art by the genius Juan Jose Ryp, no fan of The Authority or Wanted will want to miss this bleeding-edge eight issue masterpiece. The #0 features an original story that leads directly into the full-size monthly series that starts in August priced at just $2.99 per issue! When the political situation in the USA becomes more than Horus can stand, he moves to take matters into his own hands. But since not all his other team-mates aren’t so eager to throw the world into chaos, an epic conflict starts to form. And no one will be safe as the bodies start to fall.
First Analysis:
It is nice to see Mr. Ellis taking the superhero concept to a new level. In a spandex saturated industry, this book stands out; with a great cover, a great premise and a nicely priced introductory issue.
[insert image: http://www.avatarpress.net/d/786-1/blacksum0pg4.jpg]
Gratuitous butt and stump shot aside, Juan’s artwork is consistent and just graphic enough to remind you that this is a small press book. If you hate Frank Quitely, you might find his work similar, but Juan is more subdued and has a better sense of anatomy; his backgrounds are very detailed and he has a way of making the grunge look really grungy.
John Horus, who is either the primary or secondary character of the book, was more realistic and understandable than any ten Civil War characters written by Mark Millar. This is truly what a hero might have done, perhaps even SHOULD have done, in the real world.
Warren Ellis has a very unique style of storytelling, one that is always noticeable on the dissection table. Mr. Ellis is one of the few writers who understand the concept of C-Time and how it applies to his stories and the people reading them. We are given three pages of grid paneling, 9 panels a page. These pages get us up to date and into the story quickly. We learn who Tom and John are, how they became heroes and what their lives have become. Then like a low blow out of nowhere, Warren and Juan drop a splash page on us that is both well executed and incredibly memorable.
“Good morning. I’m John Horus. Ten minutes ago, I executed the President of The United States.”
After that moment, Warren and Juan slow the pace down again, to let John speak and to inform us of how everyone else in the world is reacting. If anyone thinks it might mean something, Warren writes the final pages with this page count: 6-9-6-9, with six panels followed by the nine panel grid.
Prognosis:
For a short introductory issue, the story didn’t seem as short as it was. This could be a very interesting storyline, depending on the execution. Expecting a healthy, successful series. By the preview, I’d say Black Summer deserves to outsell Planet Hulk, it really does.

2007-09-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Melissa Maple
At 15, Melissa discovered she was gifted with the ability to sing. Ten years ago there were no 'idol' shows but that didn't stop her from becoming an overnight sensation. Britney, Christina, and Jessica were just making their appearance, Melissa was going to be the first, the biggest, the most popular pop singer to ever come out of Canada. She performed live on MuchMusic and TRL, with crowds so massive the downtown areas were shut down. The day before her 18th birthday, Melissa started her multi-million dollar world tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The crowd was half a million people strong and the heat was making them rebellious. As Melissa took the stage they surged foward, crushing the front row against the stage. Two songs in and people were beginning to riot. Melissa watched as fights broke out in the crowd and by the fourth song they had burned down a number of kiosks set up around the stadium. A bottle struck the drummer, forcing the band to stop performing. Melissa felt as if her brain was on fire. As she started performing her hit song Rock Candy Princess, the crowd went berserk. Her agents rushed to pull her off the stage but she was petrified. The fire in her brain was almost audible in her ears. A girl in the front row dressed just like her was being sexually assaulted by three boys, people were fighting all over, throwing things at the stage and destroying everything. She couldn't take it. Grabbing the microphone she screamed to the crowd to stop it. Stop it. Three times she said it and 500,000 plus people suddenly stopped in their tracks, unable to resist the power in her voice. When she spoke, everyone who heard her was forced to obey.
The very next morning on her 18th birthday Melissa joined the Canadian Armed Forces. On completing her basic training she was asked to join the CSIS. Now as one of their top ranking agents, Melissa has been chosen to lead the government sponsored Alpha team known as the Legion. Who better to manage the world's first superheroes than a woman whose commands cannot be ignored?

The Skrull Invasion

2007-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

this storyline Marvel has coming with the Skrulls is just a bad idea.
I am not going to go into details and argue about it on the messageboards. All I have to say is, no matter how many classic stars there are involved, no matter how good you think Bendis and Quesada are, this is their Shockmaster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvgHCtjXbAI

Remember, when everybody starts saying "He pulled a Shockmaster", you'll know who started it. It's the new "Jump the Shark".

2007-09-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

Kaidyn Evans

2007-08-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

War of the Independents Tie-In Book Page 5 & 6

2007-08-31T08:25:00.001-07:00

Canadian Legion #1 Pages 1 & 2

2007-08-30T10:38:00.000-07:00