Proof stuff...
Several months ago I heard about this relatively new comic called Proof. The whole word-of-mouth thing worked, cuz I picked it up and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that I got the artist on the book, Riley Rossmo, to do a commission for me with the characters in a club band. I also picked up the original pencils to a pinup that I thought was particularly rad from issue 11 and sent copies of a few issues up to get signed. He sent me everything back and included an extra piece of art that's just pretty whacky, but also really cool... and I really want to color it in. I might... Maybe I'll do it in photoshop tho.
So I got all of that stuff and it was rad... and then the writer, Alex Grecian, offered a this sketchbook for sale that was created for CCI and not offered anywhere else. So I took him up on it and also sent the comics that Riley signed to Alex to sign as well. Just recently got that stuff back along with 3 mini-comics that Alex did (mostly) on his own. And below is all the crazy Proof stuff I've picked up recently.
"Snowfall," btw, is my favorite of the mini-comics I think. There's something about things that can make you remember what it was like to feel things as a child that are just impossible to feel now. There's a feeling of remorse at the loss of innocence and naivety, and then it's just kind of confusing b/c why would you want to be able to have feelings like that. But, really, it's the loss of wonder about the world around you that is sad. This comic is like 16 pages and it captures much of that very well.
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Labels: Comic Books, Original Art
Con Sketches...
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Erik Larsen did this on the backing board I'm using for Savage Dragon 2. It's "Hellrazor." When I asked him to do it, he was like, "I have no idea who that is." Which I anticipated. He was surprised to realize that it was his own character. Which was fun. And it, apparently, was the only time he'd been asked to draw Hellrazor. So. Yes, that was fun. :)
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And this was done by Peter Laird on the inside back page of the new (FINALLY!) issue of the current TMNT series.
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Labels: Comic Books, Original Art
Grendel & Sandman
When it rains, it pours?
Ask and ye shall receive?
I dunno, but I solved the Grendel problem and somehow ended up with two complete sets for... well... for a very very nice price. :)
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 Then there's this book. I originally had a copy of this (it's a limited edition "Platinum" copy, which is why it's "special") back in the early 90's. At the same time, however, comic book trading cards were kind of all the rage. And getting the chase card holograms was considered cool by the kids I hung out with. (I'm looking at you Junior Duncan) I was in the comic store in Hickory where they happened to have all of the holograms I was missing from my set. For whatever reason, I decided that the first time I would have ever traded a comic book to a store would be to trade my original copy of this book for those cards. God, I was stupid.
So the other day, I picked this up from someone at CGC as a 9.0/9.2. When it arrived, the mail wench had folded the freaking thing in half so she could shove it in the mailbox. Obviously it's no longer a NM book, which is extremely sad. But at least I've got it back. And signed in gold by Gaiman too.
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Labels: Comic Books
on the CGC boards, someone asked people to list their 25 most important comics... this is what I came up with...
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Seems to be a relatively popular choice, but I'll join the bandwagon. Beautiful cover, fantastic story, and the first appearance of one of the coolest and most original characters maybe ever. What's not to love?
Plus, this cover is so badass, I got ajaxfarrell to make me a clock with this as the background. It just showed up today, and it's awesome. :)
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The first ongoing from Fantagraphics. I wasn't around when this stuff started coming out. Although I'm only a recent fan, I still think it's fantastic, and even these early stories hold up really well. Whoever owned this before me must have really liked the rabbit too, cuz you can barely see where they had tried writing "Usagi Yojimbo" on another piece of paper that was laying on this book. Grade? What grade?
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Seems to be a pretty popular choice too... I was the right age for the cartoons and the video
games, but I never got into the toys, and I didn't start reading comics until far too late.
A few years ago, someone on the CBR boards got me into the current TMNT series, and I became
rather rabid about picking up the original series as well. I'm about halfway there, and I got
this (PLOD CGC 9.0 w/ slight amateur color touch) from a board member (via ebay). Plus purple's
my favorite color, so the label doesn't bother me in the slightest.
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One of the first two comics I can remember buying on my own. Went on a ski trip with my family
and, in the gas station on the way there, I picked this up. My infatuation with Daredevil began
here and hasn't stopped since. Really need to replace my #1 and #131 to re-complete my set.
This is the thing that started it. Have since upgraded, but I still have the original sitting
on my coffee table along with...
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I dont' think I planned to buy my first two comics featuring Daredevil. Most likely I was actually
buying for the Punisher b/c I wanted to appear edgy and cool. But this actually just made me
become further enamoured with Matt Murdock. I also really like the juxtiposition between the two
covers. (And I really really want a CGC 9.8 of this... if anyone ever does a pre-scan and has
some candidates...
(hm... turns out I don't have this scanned... will fix that tonight.
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My sister, my friend's sister, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend's sister all competed in ice-skating
competitions. This first "away" game to which I travelled occurred in Gatlinburg, TN, and I rode there
with all of the above mentioned people except my sister. While everyone else practiced, my friend (Gabe
Cade now of Survivor fame) and I walked around downtown and eventually wandered into a comic book store.
I was still really new to this whole comic book thing, and we were both young. We saw this series sitting
on the shelves and decided that, given its "Special Edition" status, we should have them. So I bought #2,
and he bought...
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The #1. Since Gabe was actually the one who led me into comics, it fell to him to be able to
purchase the #1 while I got the #2. I have no idea how many times we ended up reading this series
between the two of us, but it was... well... definitely more than once. At some point during
Social Studies class (most of our comic reading occurred in school), he decided that he should be
selling that book. Of course, I was the obvious choice, and I couldn't possibly let anyone else
get it. He managed to convince me that I should pay more than the cover price we initially paid
since "they would be worth more as a set." I think I gave him $5 for it or something, but I've
never looked back. :) I never was able to cultivate a love for The Avengers, and I've since lost my
excitement for big space epics, but this story is still one of my all-time favorites.
Needless to say, I was bummed when I found out these were reprints. *sigh*
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Speaking of big space epics... I fell into this one head-over-heels. I loved everything about it
from the word "Go," and I did everything I could to get every crossover, free bookmark, poster,
whatever... Unfortunately, we lived more than an hour away from the nearest comic store, and I was
not yet 16. So I just had to hope that I would end up near a comic store once a month to follow
this series. And I got #1... got #2... got #3... then... I was pretty sure #4 should be out by
now. But time kept moving, and I never saw it on the stands. Then, one day, there it was. The
new issue of The Infinity Gauntlet! But, wait. It's number 5! Somehow I missed issue 4. And,
damn, that is one kickass cover too! Devestation. It would be years before I finally located a
copy. Shortly after realizing I missed out, I also found out that the Quasar cross-overs where
Direct Market only, so my chances of finding those at the gas station were, well... zero. Although
I still followed the series, the fire was reduced to a cinder.
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Yet another blast from the past... I remember sitting around the newest issue of CBG (or whatever
that thing was called that was THE magazine to get before Wizard existed) and gawking at the
"next wave of hot comics" or something like that. Judge Dredd was sitting there on the cover with
that gorgeous Brian Bolland art. Even reproduced at a tiny scale, I thought it looked awesome.
Plus there were all of these rumors of a movie coming out, and the price was sure to shoot through
the roof! It was a holy grail. One day this guy that we kind of knew but who wasn't really known
to us as a collector shows up with a beat copy in his bookbag. I happily handed him the $10 for
the thing. Read it, loved it, but never really ended up following it as anything not published by
the big two was near impossible to get. Several years ago, I pulled down a full run off ebay.
I've still yet to read them all... or to see the entire movie... but I do love looking at those
Bolland covers!
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Actually kind of life-changing... I don't remember what prompted the sale, but the owner of
Super Giant Comics (R.I.P.) decided that he should try to sell me the complete run of Sandman
(1-50 at the time +50 Platinum) that he had just purchased. I didn't have enough to afford the
whole thing, but he let me buy half and put the other half up until I could come back and buy that
too. Which is exactly what I did. I had no idea that comics could be anything like this. It
completely changed my views on comics as a potential artform and a medium of ideas. Somehow or
another it also helped me make connections with people with whom I otherwise might not have had
them. Very strange. I still have all of the original issues that I passed around in high school
to the people I liked. So very cool at the time. I loved going to the store every month to pick
up the new issue of this. Of course the story was winding down by the time I got on board, but
The Kindly Ones and The Wake are still tops in my book. But, naturally, this is the one that
started it all.
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Kind of moving away from those formative years, but this is the comic that really made me start
collecting again. I wrote far more about this than I should have
back in 2004, but it definitely helped remove some of the corporate feel from comics that, for
some unknown reason, I had decided was required. Maybe it's not the most indy of indy and it
might not be the coolest book in town to a lot of people. But, to someone for whom the creation of
Image was such a huge deal, it was comforting to see this old friend still on the stands. And I
really think that white cover is completely badass. If the cover had been any less cool, I might
not have picked it up. And I wouldn't have started liking SD so much again. And I wouldn't have
gotten some great convention sketches from Erik at HeroesCon and... :)
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Definitely a grail for a long time... another one of those books that I never thought I could
afford. My first and, for many years, only encounter with Grendel was Dark Horse's Warchild.
Those covers were ridiculously cool, and I definitely wanted to become a big Grendel fan. With
all the Tales... and reprints and lack of Matt Wagner combined with the cost of the original books,
I kind of gave up on it for a while. Once I got back into comics and realized that my purchasing
power was slightly greater than it was when I was in high school (thanks, Visa!), this was one of
my earliest purchases. This came from Kochcom on ebay and is, if I understand it, part of a
warehouse find. Totally fine by me... I was stoked to get it, and soon followed it with...
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Another former grail... and one that, even after the purchase, seems well-worth it. Wagner's
early stories were so raw and seemed so vibrant dispite their dark nature. How could I not love
this stuff? The last thing that crossed my mind when reading these stories was that he was trying
to appease some suit upstairs. Or really even looking for perfection. Or any kind of competition
with anyone else at all. There was just this awesome story that this guy wanted to tell. He
thought that may he could do it, so he did. Put it all out there, and the result was this raw,
imaginative, and emotional story
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So, obviously, I'm still missing the #2, so....
Picked up the #3 at a little show in Charlotte just before the hardcover collection came out.
Not sure what else to say about this that I didn't say about the last two. Except that I really
really want to find my missing link!
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Well before Sandman, and well before I'd ever even heard of Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore or anyone
from England except the Beatles, I picked up a handful of the later Moore and Gaiman issues of
Miracleman out of a box on the floor of a coin store in Gastonia. They were a buck each, and I
had no idea what I was getting, but the Buckingham cover art was sweeeet. I just had bits and
pieces of a story that I knew was going to be amazing, but I ran into the "It's impossible to find
indy books where I live" problem again and soon let it go as yet another thing that sucked about
my shitty hometown. Once I started looking again, the prices on these things were certainly quite
a bit more than $1. And #15? My God, that cover was amazing and the idea of what happened inside
drove me crazy for a long time. Fueled, of course, by the prices it was commanding relative to the
amount I had to spend on lunch every day. Years later, I secured a copy and have completed the set.
I suppose this is still the stand-out issue. London sure got fucked up... stupid England.
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I didn't start getting into Bronze age stuff until 4 or 5 years ago, but I really liked the idea
of ToD the more I started reading about the era. This book was my first foray into Bronze and
started me on a tangent that included Marvel Spotlight, Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, Werewolf, etc, etc...
I remember buying some of the I... Vampire stories from a flea market many many years ago...
recalled liking them, and I thought that ToD would be fun return to that. It certainly was and
I ended up collecting the first half of the series but have since faltered. I managed to get those
sigs at various Heroes Conventions (Gene Colan, Marv Wolfman, and Roy Thomas so far), and I hope to
actually finish it up with the main creators some day. My infatuation with this title sent me to
the Wolfman / Colan panel at HeroesCon one year which, luckily, let me into an encounter with The
Dean himself. I was a terrible guide, but I got to spend a few minutes with him as I attempted to
help him find his way back to his artist's table on the main convention floor after the panel. I
wish I'd have been more clear-headed instead of being a fast-talking fast-walking geekoid. Alas...
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I jumped on the Valiant bandwagon just before Unity began. My first issues were Magnus 13 and 14.
Of course I missed #12. grrr... This was yet another case of me getting screwed by my shit towne
and the lack of access to independent comics. I was able to catch bits and pieces of Unity, but I
never got the whole story, the back issues were WAY out of reach, and... it just wasn't happening.
Partially b/c Wizard told me to but also partially b/c I wanted to, I did see that the Unity
storyline and the Valiant Universe as a whole were something different and special going on. Unity
Red became another one of those, "Wow, if I ever could afford one of those..." types of
things. But Valiant exploded, I got older, prices went down, I found
ValiantComics.com, and suddenly I had my Pre-Unity set all the way through Unity Red. Rock on!
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While I'm in the VU, I might as well stay for a bit. ValiantComics.com produced some awesome fan
projects back in the day that were created to mimic the Valiant Validated Signature Series books
that had been created by Valiant back in the day. While I was new, these were only legends to me,
but I was lucky enough to hang around long enough to actually get a few of these myself. I believe
my first one was actually the Ninjak #1... I have no good reason for not including it here except
that I don't have scans. Perhaps I shall do that later. But, for now, here's the issue of Rai #1
that was created for this fan project. It also included a fantastic sketch by Sean Chen (
Click Here) and a little certificate of authenticity. (
here). I liked these since they represented, in some way, being some small part of a community
PLUS I actually felt kind of good about buying them since the proceeds went to help find a cure for
Cystic Fibrosis...
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This book was actually part of the project I mentioned above, but I figured I should include it
separately. Plus, I was having a really hard time coming up with 25... The back cover of this
is at least as important as the front cover, and it also included a
Sean Chen sketch a
certificate for the Magnus and a
certificate for the Rai flip book. A lot of time and effort went into creating these things,
and I feel pretty lucky to have them.
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Last one of these, I promise. I'm including this one mostly b/c it's specially cool that
both Bob Layton and Jim Shooter signed these for the vc.com community. Also, of course,
came with a
certificate. Although I never really cared for this book and I don't think this went to CF,
this is still one of my favorite books to have.
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Finally start moving into some stuff from this decade. I had heard a rumour that the events in
this issue had transpired, but I still wasn't really ready for it when it actually happened.
Fantastic double-sized issue, look at the emotion on that cover, and poor Splinter! That's all
I can say about that.
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This one actually just barely made the list as my expectations for it were higher than they
should have been. Nevertheless, it turned out to be great fun. It's not that hard to please me
when you combine comics, weird history, and music. This does all of those things beautifully. The
art is incredibly off-beat and the story... God, the story is just freakin' weird. But I completely
dig it and think it's one of the coolest completely "new" things I've picked up in a long time.
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Although this story didn't end quite the way I thought it would, this issue is still pretty big.
At the time, I wasn't even sure Peter Bagge was still making comics, so it was pretty shocking (
in a very good way) when I heard this was coming out. The story itself was good, but the backup
stories about the Founding Fathers were just priceless. I got Peter to sign this for me, and I
also managed to procure the original art pages for the entire backup story in this issue. (I'm
still jealous that DetroitMike owns the cover to Hate #1...)
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I don't actually have the original issues to this series, and my copy of the TPB is completely
beat to hell. I've given away 2 copies previously, and now I have a torn up 4th print or something.
This is another one of those comics that really just changed the way I thought about comics in
general. It made me think that they could actually mean something again. Since I picked this up,
I've followed Brian Wood pretty much everywhere he goes. (and, dammit, will he EVER finish Local??)
I had just finished reading The Brothers Karamazov when I read this and Channel Zero hit me in
many of the same ways. Dostoevsky is, easily, one my all-time favorite authors ever; I can't think
of much higher praise. Although I'm enjoying DMZ and Northlanders is finding its stride... Demo
was amazing on a much different level, and the rest of his work has been enjoyable... nothing, for me,
has really compared to the work he did with Channel Zero.
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I always liked the pseudo-horror stuff... House of Secrets type of things... but I'd never really
read the stuff that came before. The pre-code stuff. I managed to actually pick up a few EC's
prior to this one, but this issue quickly became a grail. I bought the hardcovers and, although
the stories often get repetitive and predictable, the idea of these things being published in the
context in which they were published just amazed me. When I found out that Al Feldstein would be
at this year's HeroesCon, I really wanted to locate a copy of this book. Although it grades lower
than the grade it was given when I bought it, I'm still super-happy to actually own this book, and
I can't wait to get it signed and, hopefully, give it the Signature Series treatment (my first ever!)
this summer. The colors are so bright on this, I can completely ignore the ncbc on the front cover.
Well... maybe not completely. :)
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Labels: Comic Books
Captain America
On the CGC boards the other day, someone posted this:
"Last March, beloved superhero Captain America was assassinated and fans everywhere thought it was all over. They should have known better."
Really?! Please show me one fan that thought "it was all over", just one, go ahead, show me. They're just making this $hit up aren't they?
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In response to this:
Last March, beloved superhero Captain America was assassinated and fans everywhere thought it was all over. They should have known better. Marvel has worked out a new plot yet again and the Cap is back!
While Steve Rogers, Captain America’s alter-ego, is still resting peacefully at Arlington National Cemetery, his faithful 1940s sidekick, Bucky Barnes, has answered the call to serve as the next Captain America. As Rogers’ sidekick, Bucky’s was frozen by Russian enemies nearly 60 years ago, and he hasn’t aged a day! Luckily for fans, the world of comic books allows Bucky to remain in his late 20s, unlike the “real world,†where he would be almost 85 years old.
Bucky has appeared in Marvel Comics as the “Winter Soldier,†helping the other Marvel heroes with good deeds and thus redeeming himself for his actions at the control of his Russian keepers. "We were toying with the idea of someone new taking over the mantle of Captain America," Quesada said by phone from his New York office to Yahoo! News. "But we kept coming back to Bucky. Not only because he seemed such an obvious choice but especially because of the fact that when we brought him back as the Winter Soldier he was so incredibly popular."
Although Bucky does not have the same superpowers Rogers gained from the “Super Soldier Serum,†it sure looks like he’s been hitting the gym, and he has become a master of special operations. In addition, the new Captain America will be carrying a gun on his adventures. The idea of a gun-toting superhero has become an extremely controversial topic, so let us know what you think about the issue by emailing samanda@gemstonepub.com.
Don’t forget to include your feelings about the new Cap himself. Do you like Bucky taking on the role, or will the hero not be the same without Rogers? Quesada seems optimistic, as he mentioned that Captain America hasn’t been this popular since Bucky’s original days!
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to which I responded (to the email address provided):
Ed Brubaker’s current run on Captain America is, by most all accounts, the best Cap has seen in decades. He has managed to break a cardinal rule of comics by “bringing back Bucky,†and most of the fans, including myself, have been enthralled by the storyline. Your article, however, was nothing to write home about. From the opening sentence, the author comes off as an uninvolved 3rd party who neither knows nor cares about what is going on in the world of comics. If by “fans everywhere†you mean, “that one guy in Indiana who never read a comic before†perhaps it would make sense that said fans “thought it was all over.†Should we have known better? Is it surprising that “Marvel has worked out a new plot yet again?†Of course we knew better. Of course Marvel worked out a plot. That’s what they do. Or, more precisely, it’s what Ed Brubaker does. And does well. How can you attempt to write an article about Captain America’s recent past without mentioning Ed Brubaker’s name?
The statement that Bucky “hasn’t aged a day†is simply wrong. I understand the need for brevity and the desire to be concise in these types of articles, but hyperbole and exaggeration are tools better left to grade-schoolers. In what circles do you travel in which “the idea of a gun-toting superhero has become an extremely controversial topic?†Superheroes have been carrying guns since, basically, their inception. Even Captain America has used firearms in the past. This is nothing new. And Brubaker himself has stated that he doesn’t plan or desire for Bucky’s decision to carry a gun to become a major plot point in his stories. It’s disappointing to read such a review of such a well-constructed story in the oft-maligned field of comic books. This reads like marketing dreck aimed at children barely old enough to read and, really, simply serves to perpetuate the idea that comics stories are juvenile, corporate driven, and lack artistic merit.
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That is all...
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Labels: Comic Books
The Spectre
 I mentioned The Spectre the other day in passing. I guess in the mid to late 90's it was, hands down, one of my favorite books. I'm in the midst of re-reading the series; it's still really good, but maybe not quite as amazing as I remembered it being. Isn't that usually the case tho? Regardless, I finished scanning them all, and I thought it'd be neat to take a picture of the set. Not that it's worth anything or whatever, but I'd reckon there aren't that many people still holding on to their complete sets of this title. Plus, it's got to be one of the best sets for consistantly amazing covers. In, of course, my humble opinion. And none of them are by Dave McKean... Eh.
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Also, I got the new Helio Sequence vinyl today... more on that later. I'm going to listen to it for the first time now.
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Labels: Comic Books
free books...
I was reading ninjaturtles.com the other day and happened upon this post: (excerpt)
TMNT Volume Four issues #1-7 are now available for legal download at www.WOWIO.com!
WOWIO is currently only available for U.S. residents and to sign up for their free downloading service (limited to three books per day) you'll need a private e-mail address (i.e. you can't use major providers such as Google, Yahoo, G-Mail, etc.), a scan of a personal I.D. or a valid credit card. See their site for more details.
So I checked it out. The registration process was kind of annoying, but not too bad. It wasn't just a Log-in, Verify, You're done process. Had to wait a day, but that's cool. Just finished downloading Issues 1-3. I've got the comics, but this will be cool to have. Especially since I have to re-read everything to be ready for the forthcoming new issue. It's been well over a year... or at it feels that way... since the last TMNT came out.
Regardless... the pdf's look cool and volume 4 has, in my opinion, been really good stuff. Worth checking out for free at least.
You can also read the original series for free online... Issue 1, Page 1
Enjoy!
Or not...
But don't say I never gave you anything. Labels: Books, Comic Books
this just in...
 Al Feldstein is going to be at HeroesCon this year, and I wanted something Quality to get signed. I was sort of working on collecting this series anyway, and the new HC collections are really fantastic. Going to get him to personalize the HC's and get this one CGC'd Signature Series. yep. :)
There's a non-color-breaking crease on the front bottom right corner, which made it a million times more affordable b/c the rest of the book is gorgeous. And it presents very very nicely. Only 16 more issues to go...
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Labels: Comic Books
In Space...
There was a little comic book convention on my birthday. Which was nice. And I went. I had 4 potential goals in mind.  I needed to find TMNT #4, Grendel #2, Daredevil #131, or Daredevil #168. But only in VF/NM or better. I've been mildly cannibalizing my complete Daredevil run lately... pulling out the low grade mess and replacing them with prettier books, and that's mostly what I'm working on. No one ever has the Grendel or TMNT anyway. Lots of 131's, but nothing in grade. And lots of 168's too... many of them close, but all of them had that ugly printer's mark or whatever across the lightning bolt. Except for one. I passed on a slabbed 9.2 (with the mark) for the exact same price; I was afraid for a bit that I'd made a mistake, but I'm not a big fan of buying CGC except in rare cases, so to hell with that. I don't think it's the 9.4 the dealer claimed, but it's still a very pretty book for the exact price I had planned to pay. Very cool. :)
So now I'd like to find the Grendel prior to HeroesCon since Matt Wagner will be there, and then the only thing I'll be looking for is a DD1. I need to start saving. Right now it's looking pretty grim. Donations are accepted.
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Back in the early 90's when, unbeknownst to me, the comic book industry was shooting itself in the face, I was finding a new outlet for escape and imagination, and it all seemed amazing. In 1992, my imagination got a little push when Will and his dad took me to see Alien 3 in Asheville. Being a wide-eyed 14 year-old who had yet been exposed to the earlier Scott & Cameron masterpieces (screw you, Titanic!), I thought Alien 3 was the coolest damn thing I had ever seen. And, at the time, it likely was the coolest thing I had seen. Somehow I convinced my mom to give me the trilogy on VHS for Christmas, and I decided that the Alien would be one of my favorite things.
Now I knew that there had been some Alien comics published by some non-Marvel comic company called Dark Horse. But there was no way I was going to afford a comic that costs multiples of $5! So I waited... And then there were rumors of some crazy book about Aliens fighting the Predator creature. But, living in shitetown, we didn't actually have a comic store, so that book came and went, and the price soon put it out of my grasp as well. So it was with no small amount of elation that I (again with Will) walked in the now-defunct Super Giant Comics in Asheville and saw Aliens Vs. Predator #1 sitting on top of a stack of WildC.A.T.s for $5. I remember talking to the owner about how cool it was going to be and how, despite his protestations, I was "pulling for" the Aliens. So I snatched it up along with a copy of the super-shiny WildC.A.T.s #2 and headed home.
Honestly, I don't recall actually reading the thing, but I do remember feeling pretty let down once I finished the book. Much to my chagrin, #1 was, in fact, #1 OF FOUR. But, dammit, I read #1 10 or 15 times, passed it around school, and it even hung on the wall in my room for a short time. Before too terribly long, I managed to find a copy of #3, and I subjected it to the equal brutality of a teenager trying to be cool. Whatever that means. I read it a lot.
Quite some time later, I was at the creepy comic store in Boone called, I think, "The Dragon's Den." In the back, you could pull out long boxes full of comics stored in crappy bags with dirty tape on them as a statue of Vampirella or something made sure you didn't have sticky fingers. I couldn't believe it when I stumbled upon a vein of all Aliens comics...
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I remember finding the complete series for Aliens: Hive and Aliens: Genocide all while finding myself in awe at the sheer number of Aliens comics in existence. The last thing I picked up was a copy of Alien: Earth War #1. The John Bolton art on the cover is still gorgeous to me today. Not only did I find this amazing stash of new stuff, but I also picked up Aliens Vs. Predator #'s 0 (?!?!) and 2. That had to have been one of the coolest trips to a comic store I had ever made!
While the two new stories I picked up were a lot of fun in their own right, they still weren't Aliens Vs. Predator. And I STILL didn't know how the story ended. And then I just got sucked in by the Bolton art on the cover of Earth War. The interiors (by a (barely) post-Sandman Sam Kieth) actually left a little to be desired vis-Ã -vis the cover art, and the story was a little difficult to follow. But I didn't care; I wanted to like it so much I wrote a hundred different stories in my head to go along with the cover art. But I never did find the endings to these stories; my loose issues languished in my comic boxes for years...
Not long thereafter, the owner of Super Giant got me reading The Sandman and The Spectre (I can only assume it was b/c I dressed funny), and my torrid love affair with brain eating bugs from space slowly faded away. I always kept my eyes open tho. The last panel from issue #3 with the Predator stranded above the Alien horde below facing a certain doom has been burned into my brain for over a decade. This past weekend I finally finished the story. 15 years later, and I can stop worrying about that poor Predator being left to the wolves. And I can stop wondering what happens when the Aliens are unleashed on Earth. Really, Earth War wasn't that great, IMHO. Except, right... the covers. And occasionally, Kieth did some really great stuff with the pencil. But Aliens Vs. Predator was perfect. I put my 14 year-old brain back in, and all the pieces fit, and it was... well... 1994 again.
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It would be remiss of me to neglect to mention that I never would have even thought to look for these books this past weekend.  Brooke and Allison required that I buy comics with the unnecessary birthday present(s) they gave me. I found a really nice copy of TMNT #8 that I needed, but that didn't really take care of my budget, so I just kept digging through rows and rows of long boxes. I think I spent longer at this show than I ever have looking for things that I actually wanted instead of things that struck my fancy at the moment. I had nowhere to be and nothing else I had to do. It was strange. And quite rather nice. So I had the time and the motivation(????) to find and do what I wanted for a little while and not feel bad about it. Whatever that means. I think this was supposed to be about comics.
But thanks Allison, and thanks Brooke.
Then, after the show, we went to the Bobcats game, and they actually won. Gerald Wallace is such a badass. |
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Labels: Comic Books
Erik Larsen sketches
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Erik Larsen did this for me on the backer board of this SD #1 back in June at HeroesCon.
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And, just to keep them together... here's the piece from the year before...
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Labels: Comic Books, Original Art
Charlotte ComiCon
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Ok... I'm going to try this again... I guess. I hate computers.
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Right. Mini-report on the mini-convention. This was the first time I'd been to a comic book show as a "dealer" instead of a random guy walking around with no money. Which was good on so many levels. There was so much stuff there that looked really great. Comics Planet had a rack of beautiful EC's, which were WAY out of my price range. So I actually bought nothing. Which was strange for me in addition to good. But the whole thing was a lot of fun... Allison helped me all day, and Bryan stopped by to check it out and even paid the $3 to get in. His presence, of course, is what led to all the picture taking.
How freaking cute is this? If any significant portion of the comic book collecting population was female, I think I would have seen sales rise during this particular depicted period of the day.
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"Za-Zow! Buy some comics!"
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"For instance these moderately high-grade but totally not rare at all X-Men issues. Acts of Vengeance... what could be better?"
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"Or buy something totally different... or nothing at all... It's not like I care anyway."
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So... here's Allison and most of my backboard (or whatever it's called)... Comic collectors can definitely be single-minded in their task. How else can you explain the lack of purchases off of that board with her as the sales pitch?
I reckon you can see some of the stuff that's underneath in that other picture. I spent a lot of time putting things together in sets and marking them down, so I was glad that at least one person (the guy in blue) picked up a few complete runs of stuff.
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"Marvels are on your left, DC's are on your right; everything else is underneath."
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"Marvels are on your left, DC's are on your right; everything else is underneath."
If I say that one more time, Allison is going to go nuts.
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"Marvels are on your left, DC's are on your right; everything else is..."
oops... yep... there she goes...
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So... what sold? Iron Man. I went in with a near intact run of Iron Man from 64 up to the beginning of the current series and left with hardly any IM issues at all. Several people left with 1 or 2, but several more left with big chunks of the series. Which confuses me a bit...
Recently, on the best news show in Charlotte (as voted on by me), the sexiest woman in Charlotte (as voted on by readers of Creative Loafing) spoke with some old guy who dealt sports memorabilia. Apparently, once OJ started being a douche, the values of OJ collectibles quite rather plummeted. When Tony Stark decides to start being a douche, however, everyone wants his stuff. Not-a-douche = people who don't punch Captain America in the face. Perhaps that is art's big "fuck you" to life.
- "Hey Life. This whole sincerest form of flattery thing? It's over. It is done. Fuck you."
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Perhaps I should note that I, personally, am actually more of the life-imitates-art kind of guy. Art is where people dream, right? How many people dream of the status quo? If you think everything is great right now, you're just not looking hard enough. Go paint a picture.
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What else... Everyone was pretty interested in the Albedo 2, Primer 2, and TMNT 1, but I had them priced too high to sell. Which, honestly, was kind of the point. I just wanted people to come talk to me. And maybe buy some other stuff, but those are my best comics, so you only get them if you wanna pay me a LOT. :) I think that, maybe, one guy looked at the CGC Magnus 1, and no one looked through the Valiant boxes at all. I didn't really promote that they were available tho, so that's ok. Hopefully when the new Valiant stuff starts coming out, some of the old stuff will pick up again. But probably everyone is thinking that. I was also surprised that nobody picked through the fairly large number of Captain America issues I brought. Steve Rogers >>>>>> Tony Stark. And he's dead. You know, "comic book dead." But I still thought people would be interested. Especially when all that Iron Man stuff started going out the door...
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I wish that I had seen more kids tho. I got a few from the 10-ish year old demographic, and I was able to find something for all of them. I think/hope that I gave them a good deal and that they're happy with what they got. Finding a few issues of Transformers for a little guy and giving him one for free might have been the most fun sale.
And the freakiest thing was having someone ask if I had Fantastic Four #132, and I'm like, "Sorry, I think the oldest I have is #115 and then it jumps to 182 or something." My actual oldest issue? #115. The next actual oldest issue? #182. I don't even like FF that much.
But it was all fun. Even wheeling all those boxes back-and-forth. Allison was a huge help in bagging and unbagging and rebagging stuff before the show as well as with getting all the boxes alphabetized. I'm kind of OCD when it comes to the alphabet... And an OOOLLLLDDD friend from high school, Richie Ritter, showed up the night before for a concert in town and helped with the alphabet and helped a lot with putting all the boxes in the car. Very cool.
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Oh... and I just remembered... See how there are comics on the front of all those boxes in the pictures above? And how that one box on the far right has nothing? It used to house the current Jonah Hex #1, and I was asking $2 for it. The dealer setup on my left (I forgot his name, dammit...) bought it from me for $2 before the show started and put it out on his table for $3. *sigh* I guess that's smart business. I don't think he sold it tho... and I totally stole his idea for folding the table cloth up under the boxes on the table so that the ones under the table were more accessible, so it's all good.
Meeting people as a "dealer" just kind of felt different from meeting them as a potential buyer. I guess that should have been obvious. But it was a lot of fun to see things from the other side. I really liked meeting the guy to my right... his booth was as poor to moderately busy as mine was, so we got to talk a bit. I think I got invited to present at his ZombieCon show in Greensboro; if they get Rob, I'm so totally there. I think I also got asked to present in Greenville as well as at the next Charlotte show in December. I'm not sure I have enough stuff to make it worthwhile, but, if I do, I'll definitely go again.
And I almost forgot... a couple of guys that I sort of "met" on the CGC boards came over and said hi, which was really nice. I only remember Sal's name at the moment b/c I was trying to remember too much as it was, but it's kind of neat to see that it can be a "community" instead of just a bunch of random guys together.
And Shelton stopped by to say hi as well, which was super nice. AND Rick and Dave (the promoters) couldn't have been nicer, more helpful, or happier to have me there.
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Weird. Did I just post an entire entry without being a negative dipshit asshole?
I think I did.
(except for that art thing, maybe, but that hardly counts.)
I also just realized that there aren't any pictures taken from my POV behind the table. That's annoying. I should have thought of that...
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Very very very late update... this picture of Allison was just floating around... can't remember why it was where it was and was not on here. So here you go.
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Labels: Allison, Comic Books
I was looking at ebay b/c I was bored, and I came across this auction for stuff I don't even want. (by this seller)
I was so extremely impressed and shocked by the amazing grading descriptions that I sent him this:
hey... I'm not actually interested in these AF books, but I wanted to tell you how awesome your descriptions of the grades on these books are. It's rare to see anyone be that thorough with their descriptions. Badass.
So, errm... I guess if you need early issues of Alpha Flight, I think you should buy these. Labels: Comic Books
No fucking way.
Alan Moore on the Simpsons?
In an episode about comic book store wars??
Wow.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=8865
In a story published this week in Britain's NorthantsNews, comics writing legend Alan Moore announced a forthcoming appearance by him in a future episode of the top-rated American animated sit-com, "The Simpsons." Known to be long-time comics fans, and lovers of Moore's work in particular, "The Simpsons" producers first approached Moore's fiancé, Melinda Gebbie, while she was in America to promote their "Lost Girls" project."
"She said: 'Why don't you give him a ring, he's very approachable,'" Alan Moore explained. "I was happy to do it. I'm a big fan of 'The Simpsons.'"
Though it is presently unknown when the episode will air, Moore has already recorded his lines at Lodge Studios in Abington Square, Northhampton. Moore features in a sub-plot involving a newer and "cooler" comic store opening in Springfield, one so cool that it manages to get the "Watchmen" writer to make a rare personal appearence in the shop, threatening directly the dominance of the Android's Dungeon, the local comic store managed by the infamous Comic Book Guy. Labels: Comic Books
comics with toys
Even if you don't like comics, this still might be pretty funny... it takes forever to get a new comic, but there are plenty to look at right now...
Fanboy Prime
(I don't know this kid... just find these things funny.) Labels: Comic Books
I just now scanned this, which is a shame, but I got Erik Larsen to do a little sketch of that character The Shrew... the one that got eaten up by a pair of chainsaws... on the backer board for SD #1... perhaps of mild interest. Perhaps not.
Labels: Comic Books, Original Art
A few days ago, I bought someone a present. I also bought myself a present, b/c that's what I do. My present was the hardcover of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I'm trying to read Catch-22, but it's going slowly. It's funny and entertaining, but it's not really grabbing me. It's not really fair to pick up Dostoevsky in the middle of trying to read anything else b/c the "anything else" will definitely suffer. Poor Joseph. At least he was friends with Kurt Vonnegut... *sigh*...
So, anyway. That was, like, 2 days ago. Then yesterday, I picked up the hardcover of 1987's "Kraven's Last Hunt" by JM DeMatteis and Mike Zeck. First time I read this story was in 7th grade when doing one of those "spend-the-night-with-a-friend" things. One where we, mostly, just got to sit around all night and read piles of comics. That was fun. I remember really liking it. And I've since purchased the individual comics and reread it. It was still good... and the art... Man, Zeck was ON. I reckon maybe even non-comic readers might recognize the cover to Web of Spider-Man #31?
Or maybe not. I dunno, but it's awesome.
So far this has all been setup for the actual point of this "story."
I read DeMattheis's intro to the book and, while interesting, the basic idea is one that I've heard before in many different ways. What really caught me, however, was this:
But buried in this Marvel Universe entry was one intriguing fact: Kraven was Russian. (To this day I don't know if that was something that was established in continuity or if the writer of that particular entry tossed it in on a whim.)
Russian?
Russian!
Why should that excite me so? One word- Dostoyevsky. When I read Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov in high school, they seeped in through my brain, wormed their way into my nervous system....and ripped me into shreds. No other novelist has ever explored the staggering duality of existence, illuminated the mystical heights and the despicable depths of the human heart with the brilliance of Dostoyevsky. The Russian soul, as exposed in his novels, was really the Univeral Soul. It was my soul.
And Kraven was Russian.
In an instant, I understood Sergei Kravinoff. In an instant, the entire story changed focus.
(Thanks to Cyberman on the CBR forums for typing this for me as I forgot to bring my copy with me.)
It's that "One word-" There's something about seeing someone who has "made it" as it were refer to one of your own... heroes. Can I say that? "Heroes." It all kind of just fell into place. I haven't yet begun Crime and Punishment, but I read the intro. And even reading the intro it was like coming back to something comforting. And while reading the "Kraven" intro, I was just waiting for it. As soon as he said, "Russian" I got all tingly in anticipation of seeing "Dostoevsky" on the written page in front of me. Thereby bringing together two different but very similar interests. It was exciting and thrilling... and really really lame. I think it pretty much officially makes me a, howdoyousay, "loser" for being excited by seeing the name of a long dead author in a reference in the introduction to a hardcover collected edition of a comic book.
Regardless. It did make me happy. And allowed me to read the story in a whole new light. Kraven's character immediately became a thousand times deeper and more interesting. His motivations became so much clearer, and I felt like I could identify with him more as an actual person than a two-dimensional character. Simply by having the connection to Dostoevsky's characters and the amazingly lucid histories associated with them.
Did I ever get to an actual point?
Dostoevsky is still amazing.
Mike Zeck was a wonderful Spider-Man artist.
DeMatteis creates a great story.
All of my verbs are of the wrong tense.
Re-reading this story again through this new filter made it like I was reading it for the first time. Perhaps the best $20 I've dropped in a while.
And here are some pictures I took in Amsterdam.
They're all of the same thing, but I can't figure out which one I like the best. Timing is everything. Or something like that. Labels: Amsterdam, Books, Comic Books, Dostoevsky
Pater Bagge art!
Peter Bagge's current series "Apocalypse Nerd" is good.
Really it is. Often outshining the actual comic itself, however, is the backup story that's appeared in each book so far. The coolest one for me, so far, was the "Condensed Biography" of Thomas Paine. It's a hoot. :) And I loved the art that went along with it. I was recently lucky enough to actually pick up all 6 of the original art pages for that story from Peter himself. They just showed up today and here we go: (click the thumbnail for a full-sized image... as usual)
Some other Peter Bagge stuff:
www.peterbagge.com
Peter on myspace
Dark Horse solit for Apocalypse Nerd #1 (and a link to buy)
The Action Suits (Peter's band - he's the drummer)
And in totally unrelated other news... I finally got the new KMFDM album Hau Ruck yesterday. And holy shit. It's WAY better than I hoped for. Definitely a surprise contender for my best albums of 2006. :):) VERY glad Allison and I have tickets for the Friday the 13th show! Labels: Comic Books, Original Art
9/11 Comic Book
The 9/11 Report comic book on slate.com...
in its entirety.
HERE
It took me a long time to read it. But it was pretty interesting. Nothing shockingly new at all, but definitely some information I had forgotten and some things were clarified. I think it's great to have put this in comicbook form as it's much easier (I imagine) to read that pages and pages of text. Hopefully it will reach more people.
As for the report itself... as presented here... it seemed pretty unbiased to me. They didn't make george bush out to be the blundering fucking piece of shit that he is, nor did they really make him into this heroic god that he wishes he was. They didn't vilify Clinton either. Or make him into our lost savior.
btw... here's a nice quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower... you know... a GOOD Republican President.
" Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing."
and I just ran across this too... by another President who didn't totally suck.
" To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or
that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt Labels: Comic Books, george bush
Demo
I just finished Brian Wood's Demo during lunch.
Really really good stuff. I'm glad that it got away from the "adolescents with superpowers" thing and turned more into just "adolescents." The last issue was teary in its sappiness before it got to the end. The end which, I suppose, was meant to be even more sad just kind of tossed me out of the story tho as I just couldn't relate. Or I didn't get it. Or something. It was a nice poem tho. Labels: Comic Books
Jennie Zero
and on another somewhat related note... I finally got and read Channel Zero: Jennie One. It just took a few minutes over beers at Mad Dog, but I really really enjoyed it. At times I missed having Brian Wood's art, but Becky Cloonan's art worked very very well for the story. It was a great intro to the events that occurred in Channel Zero but I definitely think that it works better to read Channel Zero first and Jennie One second. Obviously I can't do both for any kind of empirical evidence, but I can't imagine Channel Zero having quite the same effect it did had I already read Jennie One.
I wish I wasn't so late on this bandwagon... I really want one of those Make Them Listen t-shirts from, like, 5 years ago... can't even ebay the bastards now.
Anything else? Probably not.
Nine Inch Nail tomorrow. 4th row center.
Cool.
Although I still think the new album is subpar. Labels: Comic Books
Brian...
Also...
It turns out that Brian Wood may have surpassed Neil Gaiman as my all-time favorite comic book writer. A meaningless title held by Neil for the past 13 years or so. I hadn't really read Wood until DMZ came out a few months ago. I liked the idea of the concept and wasn't too broke at the time to start reading new stuff, so I picked it up. 5 issues in, and after Brubaker's Daredevil and Captain America, DMZ is the most eagerly awaited book of the month. Dystopian futures might just be on the way to becoming a passe topic, but Wood handles the topic beautifully and unexpectedly. Despite being under DC's Vertigo banner and, therefore, "mainstream" the comic still exhibits elements of his underground background and subversive thought. And I'm still not to the good stuff yet.
On a bored Saturday after tax refund day, I wondered in the the shop looking for something new to read. Luckily, Phil, the shaggy headed trivia brained comic-book-dude recomended I pick up a relatively new book (up to issue 4 at the time and, lamentably so, still stalled at #4...) called Local. I think I wrote about this already somewhere in the past, but I don't remember... From the "Run Lola Run"-esque multi-possibility futures story in #1 through the creepy pseudo boyfriend and stories of band members post-band to the beginning of a story whose root is simply sibling rivalry, Local has been entertaining and thought provoking through every issue. If only #5 would ever see print...
I meant to pick up Brian's new series from IDW called Supermarket, but I forgot my list and forgot it came out... I might now wait for the trade... I did manage to get the new release of the Tourist TPB last week but have yet to delve into the world of ex-military-turned-drug-smuggler-in-Britain-intrigue.
What I did finish, however, was Channel Zero. I know I'm very behind the times in this, but hopefully you can forgive my tardiness. CZ is, at the time of this writing, the best complete story I've read this year. (as a minor disclaimer, I still haven't finished Brothers Karamazov... but I did read The Old Man and the Sea) Nothing else in the field of comics has touched it my recent reading - and this is being said in light of the fact that I recently reread V for Vendetta. I might be slightly jaded having just finished the book last night but the story resonated with me as I exist in my current place and time more than anything else has in recent memory. The government might be the visible enemy, but it's the masses who do nothing to stop it who are the real problem. I've got my own problems tho! I can't worry about the terrible decisions being made in my name by my government. Or, check this... someone on the sean hannity message boards actually told me this, "The election is over, it's stupid to keep discussing the issues." What a dumbshit. Maybe I deserved it... I WAS on the sean hannity message boards. But at least it was with the intent of stirring up trouble. Fucking stupid narrow minded piece of shit sean hannity. Free speech... breathe it... live it... we might not have it for much longer.
FREEDOM IS A VIRUS
personal expression is a small price to pay for peace and stability.
don't be part of the problem, be part of the future.
"No one responds to street art anymore. ... People tend to respond to things like loaded guns in their faces. That, and celebrity spokesmodels."
Oh yeah... from the FAQ on his personal website ( www.brianwood.com):
5. Who/What do you listen to?
Rival Schools, Ted Leo, American Analog Set, Monade, Stereolab, Minor Threat, Billy Bragg, Sonic Youth, Swingin Utters, Detroit Cobras, Gillian Welch, Walking Concert, Spoon, PJ Harvey, Preston School Of Industry, The Shins, Elliott Smith, The Wrens, Hidden Cameras, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pinback, Matt Pond PA, Keren Ann, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Notorious BIG, Prince Paul, Green Lantern, Cuban Link, Gang Starr, Bob Mould, Guided By Voices, many others.
I've got some listening to do now... but cool. Labels: Comic Books
It's been hit-and-miss now for a while... but mostly miss.
Aeon Flux was not good.
Bewitched was pretty terrible... (I should have known...)
Ice Harvest was bad.
Simpsons/Family Guy/etc were reruns.
The Snmnmnm concert should be cool but is probably too expensive. (yes it's only $15)
and... boo on Christmas.
I did end up reading The Stranger again. And it's a zillion times better now than it was in the dumbest high school in America. Many great quotables.
"I might not be sure of what does interest me, but I am sure of what does not interest me, and you do not interest me."
Or however it went. Very hilarious.
-"Marriage is serious."
-"No."
hah.
hah.
And what else is good? Harvey Pekar's most recent. The Quitter.
I never really got into American Splendor, but this book works really well. Being self contained is nice. And now I'm starting into Tropic of Cancer b/c Scott said to read it and shortly thereafter, I saw it in a drawing in The Quitter. It was a sign.
As much as I dislike "jam bands," I really want to be on this year's jam cruise. Les Claypool and Digable Planets... sweet. Then again, I'd just as soon be in San Francisco for NYE. I don't think Filboyd Studge will be making a repeat performance this year.
But Southern Culture is playing, and they were fun last time. Although I might get outvoted and end up with The Avett Brothers. Which would be fine, but probably not as much fun.
It's really cold in here. No snow tho. Of course. I want snow.
I got Hate #1 at the comic sale when I went back late on Sunday. Score. Labels: Books, Comic Books, Movies, music
Mildly interesting things... here's a crappy website that I started and never got around to finsihing... but hopefully will soon.
www.thetombofdracula.com
from there, you can get to a database of my personal collection... I have a LOT of scanning and data input to do...
Batman Begins was really good...
Fantastic Four was... ok
Willie Wonka was... fun
Star Wars was... better the 2nd time
Young Frankenstein was... hilarious
and Lawrence of Arabia is still one of my favorite movies ever.
The new Sleater-Kinney... I could have done without it.
The new(ish) Third Day... makes me happy.
Filboyd Studge... died, I guess.
Definitely going to Secret Machines/Kings of Leon on the 19th now.
and a wedding following. (not mine)
cockroaches piss me off.
Pearl Jam's not coming to see me this year.
I don't think we're getting a new album this year either.
The new 100 Bullets TPB is one of the best yet.
The new colored reissues of Bone in TPB are a great buy for anyone looking for light humor and entertainment. First two are out now. Get them.
Does anyone want to whitewash this fence? It's really fun. I'll let you do it if you'll give me an apple.
Still hate george bush. Labels: Comic Books, music
I'm excited to go home and listen to Muse's Absolution and read the new comics from yesterday.
Lucifer 64
Astonishing X-Men 11
Daredevil 75
House of M 4
Incredible Hulk 84
MK Spidey 16 (God, this book is SUCKING lately)
Secrets of the House of M
Spider-Man: House of M 2
Wolverine 30
AND the new 100 Bullets TPB!! :)
although that will have to wait... probably... Labels: Comic Books
This was kind of fun...
Got a few books in the mail today (Giant Size Chillers 1, The Shadow 1, The Eternals 1, and Secrets of Haunted House 1). Managed to read the last three during lunch... The Shadow (the O'Neil/Kaluta version) was really freakin' sweet. Definitely definitely definitely am going to try to pick up the rest of this series. The Eternals (which I got for $1!!) was also really great. Definitely want the rest of this series as well. Secrets of Haunted House, however... bland. I tried writing this review for www.comics-db.com but it's not submitting for some reason.
So I'm posting it here. So that I don't lose it.
The 4-part Secrets of Haunted House #1 sees the return of Destiny after his replacement, by Eve, in Weird Mystery Tales. Also hosting are Cain, Abel, and the Witch.
The initial surrounding story by Steve Skeates and Ricardo Vilamonte pits Cain and the Witch against Destiny in an attempt to rewrite a portion of his book as Abel hangs in a precarious position over a ledge about to break. In the struggle to remove the book from Destiny's grasp, Cain hits Abel with the freed book knocking him over the ledge onto the rocks below... this reminds the Witch of a similar story...
"Dead Heat" by Michael Pellowski, Robert Kanigher, and Ernie Chua opens with a stark description of "The Twist"... a road more reminiscent of the Jan & Dean "Dead Man's Curve" than the Hank Ballard tune to which the author draws a parallel...
Accidents are abundant along the dark and windy road and we open on Nick and Bud careening along the road in an ambulance bent on retrieving the newest crash victim from the clutches of death. The paramedics find the victim, and rush him back to the hospital - all along mentioning how much they don't want to lose a "point" were the patient to die. Nick and Bud make it to the hospital in time but are dismayed that the doctor cannot save the victim's life. Three more times, Nick and Bud traverse "The Twist" bringing crash victims back to the hospital. Their fourth victim survives, leaving their game tied - two victims saved, two victims dead. As the two paramedics await the next call, they banter back-and-forth about the importance of saving one more life. Three dead and they lose the game. Three saved and they win. At last, another call comes. Nick and Bud speed along "The Twist" one more time and happen upon a car recently uprighted by the young drivers. The crash, they believe, is not serious, so they plan to head back. Before they can turn back, however, their instructions are made more clear - there is an overturned vehicle in flames further up the street. The two hurry towards the crash hoping to make up one more point for the win in their game. When they arrive, they see two bodies... twisted and burning yet thrown clear of the crash. Callously hoping they are not dead for the sake of their game, the ambulance drivers approach the two bodies. Upon closer inspection, the bodies are revealed to be those of Nick and Bud themselves - the crashed vehicle their burning ambulance. The story fades... when in a race of life vs. death, you are always in a dead heat.
The second story, "Fish Story" by Jack Oleck and Alex Nino opens with Cain being told a story by Tom Leeds in the House of Mystery. Tom and his wife, Anne, found a mysterious creature on the banks of a lake during their honeymoon. Tom wishes to take the creature to the authorities but Anne convinces him to allow her to keep the reptile as a pet. (allegory anyone?) They return home and build an aquarium for the strange creature and watch it grow at an amazing rate. Whenever Tom is close to the creature, he experiences agonizing headaches but is afraid to report the new creature to the authorities. As the creature grows, the Leeds build larger and larger aquariums to suit its larger size yet still keep its existence a secret. While out shopping, however, a delivery man enters the house to leave a package. He sees the creature, which has now been named "Triton" by Anne, and runs in fear. As Anne and Tom return from town, they see the delivery man running from their house... with Triton not far behind. The creature quickly and mercilessly kills the delivery driver and forces (through hypnotism?) Anne and Tom back into the house. There, Triton reveals his powers (to shoot airplanes out of the sky, kill from a distance, and sink ships at sea) along with his predetermined plan to take over the world. Tom is set on contacting the authorities but is stricken with a painful headache as Triton reminds him that HE controls their thoughts and actions. Triton then demands to be taken to the sea where he will launch his attack on humans. "All life came from the sea, therefore a sea creature deserves to inherit the earth," he says. Unable to resist, Tom and Anne take Triton to the sea and set him free. Amidst Triton's laughter at his success, Tom also laughs. "Freedom?" he thinks... for he knows Triton's future is death. Triton was spawned in a freshwater lake... after being placed in the salty sea, the creature uncerimoniously passes away and sinks to the bottom.
We then return the Cain and the Witch as they chide Destiny for his role in Abel's death. Yet they hear his voice from across the ledge... they look over, and Abel is saved - hanging from a branch off the side of the cliff.
A backup one-pager by Sergio Aragones shows the Witch plotting to drive fear into everyone's hearts while standing over a smoking pot. The smoke spreads over the entire earth... But, in the last panel, her plan is undone as she is accosted by an army in gas masks...
ah... groo.
All-in-all, this issue was somewhat of a dissapointment. DC, with the exceptions of Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night, has almost always done horror better than Marvel. I was excited to read this issue, but both tales seemed rather lackluster and did not have the punch of other stories. (even anthalogies) The art was, overall, quite good. Very standard fare for DC horror works, and, frankly, the stories weren't that far away from other DC horror stories. This is no Swamp Thing or I...Vampire; the stories were mediocre, but the scripting is probably what bothered me the most. Especially in the Dead Heat story as I felt that had more promise... better luck next time. Labels: Comic Books
Heroes Con
It sucks to have a story to tell and even know how you're going to tell it but yet still be stuck, mentally, in a place where you just don't feel like putting the required time and effort into actually WRITING. That's happening to me now.
HeroesCon was awesome. Easily the best show I've ever been to despite the fact that I spent very little. Relatively. And not including parking. And admission. I could have bought some pretty sweet stuff for the $45 total I spent in parking and admission. Mostly, I could have bought a beautiful copy of Fantastic Four 55... nice purple cover... Silver Surfer shows up again for the first time since his first appearance in FF 48. (which I DO have. :)) And, damn, it was nice. $40 was a steal. But, alas. I decided I should eat the rest of the week.
I currently have five computers on my desk... all of them are on and working. Two of them are Compaqs tho. One of the two is going to get trashed. I hate Compaq.
Oh, and Dustin Edge is making some very very sweet music. I am not. I am reading comics. And attending conventions. So we're back to that again. Allison came with me on Saturday. I was excited to, not only have her along, but also to attend a seemingly amazing panel featuring Gene Colan and Marv Wolfman. At least those are the only two that I thought I really cared about. Roy Thomas, Nick Cardy, [I forgot!!], and Howard Chaykin were also all there, but I didn't think I cared. It turns out (and it should have been obvious) that Roy Thomas has some amazing stories. Being the EIC of Marvel Comics immediately after Stan Lee will do that to you. He was also very verbose... which was fine b/c it, to some extent kept Nick Cardy from going too far off on the tangent of super-heroes in tights needing to go to the bathroom while flying through space...
Gene Colan, who I thought I really wanted to see remained rather quiet through most of the panel although we did get some interesting points about style and mood in art as well as some background regarding HIS influences and the leniency he had while working with Stan's scripts on little things like, you know, Daredevil. Hearing and seeing Marv Wolfman talk was also extremely enlightening. I had no idea that THAT was Marv Wolfman? He's just this guy. This older (but not yet Old) guy. Who was very well spoken; who, unlike Gene, didn't even like horror movies, and who was as nice as could possibly be.
But the big surprise was Howard Chaykin. I'd been given his Blackhawk and The Shadow books back in, like, 8th grade by the guy at the comic store. But I didn't really get it. Howard left comics before I ever really got in, so I never really paid him much attention. (American Flagg TOTALLY passed me by) Howard was a huge fan of Nick Cardy when he was reading comics (as Marv was a huge Gene Colan fan), and it was really neat to see the back-and-forth between creator and fan/creator. But it turns out that Howard Chaykin is an extremely bright human being with much to say about... well... just about everything. Especially jazz and crime friction.
I wish I could tell you I took away more FACTS from this panel. Like how Roy Thomas got Frank Brunner to draw Dr. Strange. Or how Tom Strong, with Alan Moore writing, might have been the best comic published so far this century. Or how Gene Colan found most of his influence in early horror movies. But I can't really. It was just extremely fun watching and listening to people who do, professionally, something that I would love but couldn't do in a million years. After, I thanked each and Gene Colan asked me if I would take him down to his booth to do signings. Wait. GENE COLAN asked ME if I would take him down to his booth to do signings. And I totally screwed it up. I walked too fast and talked too fast and didn't exactly know where he was going, but we got close, and I let him go instead of taking him ALL THE WAY TO THE FREAKING BOOTH. God, I suck. I didn't even say anything. IDIOT. Gene freakin' Colan...
Blah. The rest of the day went by... bought a lot of $0.50 stuff and desperately tried to find American Flagg #1. To no avail. Went over and talked to Howard briefly anyway, and I really like what I perceive to be his outlook on... stuff. Just about all stuff. (I bought the AF Hardcover from Dynamic Forces as soon as I got home) Also managed to get my Tomb of Dracula #1 signed by Gene and Marv. I know, I know... No Marv until #7, but I couldn't find Roy Thomas, and, really, it was Marv's book. I'm happy to have his name on it.
A quick run to the Heroes store in search of AF #1 proved fruitless as well, but we grabbed dinner and headed back for the art auction. Where I paid for parking. Again. It was packed inside. And tons of comics creators just hanging out with nobodys like myself. It was rad, and there were some beautiful pieces there. Even though the mic initially didn't work and everyone was far too loud... we'll blame that on the alcohol. It was still very fun. And an Adam Hughes painting of Sue Storm went for over $4000. Wow. I went home empty handed. But satisfied.
That was Day 1.
Day 2... I'm alone. By choice. Which may or may not have been wise. But I picked up a few more $0.50 books before the day really started and then tried, unsuccessfully, to figure out what the hell happened to the Mike Ploog signing... I had my Marvel Spotlight #'s 2 and 5, and I really wanted his hand on them. Dammit. Time passed. I went upstairs to wait on what I had really wanted to see all along. Gene Colan and Marv Wolfman talking about Tomb of Dracula. Did I mention that I really like ToD? The doors, however, were locked fast, so my early arrival no longer guaranteed a front row seat. Gene and Marv showed... doors still locked... but their presence got the keys up there pretty quick-like. The question-answer session was really great with Marv delving into his what made him WANT to do ToD, the experience of working with Gene, his respect for Gene as an artist, and the way he felt he planned out the ToD stories. Gene put forth the antecdote about how he got the ToD assignment (which was promised to Bill Everette... he simply sent samples to Stan who called him the next day... that was that). We also got to hear more about the things that Gene took from movies. Mostly shadowplay and the effect of weather on style and mood. Gene seemed very focused on the mood of his art.
I should stop trying to recount so much in a step-by-step fashion. Needless to say, that panel was awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang around much after this one as there was a Howard Chaykin interview to attend immediately following. And this, despite my lack of love for crime fiction just cemented my opinion of what a cool and intelligent person Howard is. And I am now very much looking forward to his new book "Century." Even though it's being published in Italy first.
This sucks. I'm not finished. But I have to be. For now. Maybe I'll come back and edit all the crap out of here later. Labels: Comic Books
Right, so we didn't play in Raleigh. Sucks, but whatever.
Except for the lack of equipment that WORKS, I reckon we had a pretty fun time with our own beer and audience of two. And bananas flambe. Mm. And crappy North Carolina-legal fireworks. And a new grill. Which is cool.
I don't suppose we ever really finished one song... mostly b/c I was lazy. And couldn't remember the words I originally had. Because I was also lazy in the past. And didn't write them down. I still liked the way it sounded. Especially thanks to the cool bass intro. And me finally understanding what everyone else was saying about timing. You know. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + It starts on 3.
And I really like the other new song. Which was called Flavored Wine. Which had a neat vocal melody. And words. And idea. Not that you could tell by listening last night. I reckon that mostly started with a low end minimalistic power chord dumb ass progression, which eventually had more notes added and then another sweet bassline stuck underneath. Yeah. This (and the new-ish "Unbalance") was the main thing I wanted to play in front of other people.
mp3's soon... maybe... on the other site.
maybe.
HeroesCon is soon.
I couldn't sleep last night, so I got my list completed.
Would like to finish:
Silver Surfer vol. 3 (need TWO issues)
Wolverine vol. 1 (need FOUR issues... and, wtf, issue 146... damn)
And punch some holes in:
Supernatural Thrillers (mostly, I want a NM #2)
Swamp Thing vol. 1 (2-7, hopefully)
Tomb of Dracula (20-23)
Man-Thing vol.1 (2-4)
Iron Man vol. 1 (7-10, NM #55)
Werewolf by Night (a NM #1)
Nick Fury vol. 1 ( 2, 3)
wow. If I accomplish all of that, I will be extremely happy.
and broke.
Now isn't that exciting?
oh yeah. White Stripes on Tuesday. Foo Fighters 2 weeks thereafter. Cool. Labels: Comic Books, filboyd studge
So I was perusing the shelves at Heroes yesterday and saw this:
I read this comic back in 1991 or whatever when it first started... it was pretty cool, but I hadn't picked it up since the first issue of the ongoing series. But I bought a couple of issues yesterday, and it was really really cool. The story itself was good (SPOILER: The bad guy-turned good guy-turned bad guy, Mako had kidnapped this woman that he loved... Dragon was there to get her back... Mako got whacked somewhere, and the girl came over to help him. Mako stood up and, thinking she was Dragon, punched her in the face, and her head exploded. NICE).
I also liked the art. Larsen had an uphill battle to climb with me b/c McFarlane's art on the adjectiveless Spider-Man title was, imho, AWESOME. ("Why do I shoot so much webbing??") When Larsen came out, I was less than thrilled. But, he really is a good artist, and he's especially good on Dragon. It shows that he cares about his creation.
But enough of that... none of that is why I'm going to start buying this comic again. Not only was there a full-length Dragon story, but there was an 8-page backup story after that, AND a one-page humorous comic after that. I don't know if this is exactly what's going on, but, it seemed to me, that Erik is giving some lesser-known people some opportunities at the end of his books. So very cool. We get stories that, so far, have been pretty good, creators get a chance to show their stuff, and no one has to worry about a new book with a new creator bombing! perfect.
Even cooler tho... Dragon still has a letters page. Wait, sorry... TWO pages worth of letters. And it's always proceeded by a nice little Larsen blog about what's going on with him and the comic. It's nice, when you finish a comic, to get a word or two from the creator. Anything to make things a little more personal and to get some thoughts about the issue you just read. For example, in one of the ones I bought, Erik goes on about how he subconciously stole his page layouts from Jack Kirby's Tales of Suspense (I think) #95. Something I never would have picked up on but think is amazingly cool to know.
I doubt that anyone reading this has any idea what I'm talking about. All this is just me saying that Erik Larsen is the Man, and it's great to see that the ideas that Image started out promoting are still alive and well somewhere.
And, what kind of brought this on is that I mostly read Marvel stuff with some Vertigo thrown in. Marvel has long since abandoned the letters' pages to save money. Everything with them is so... industrial or something. Utilitarian. I still love the Marvel characters, but I really miss the feel of being part of what's going on. The best example I can think of at the moment is this:
I was reading this new series called "Hawkeye." (he's an Avenger, and he shoots arrows) So far, the series was reading like a pretty good mystery. Just so happened that the detective was a badass archer. Really enjoying it. Issue 8 came out yesterday and, apparently due to slow sales, issue 8 is the END. Ignoring the fact that 8 issues does not come close to giving a title a fair chance... especially when two of the issues were LATE... I got to the end expecting some kind of announcement or farewell or something. Nothing. The final frame had the word "End" in it, but that was it. No letters, no word from the creators, NOTHING to let me know that this series is over. If I didn't have access to the internet, I would have no way of knowing this was over. And that pisses me off. Marvel is just like, "here's the story, now good bye." If Erik Larsen can take the time to give his readers a paragraph every month, I think that Marvel should at least be able to devote a page to creator's thoughts or SOMETHING when a series is ending. I mean, damn.
Savage Dragon.comLabels: Comic Books
Lots and lots of things happening... relatively. But most importantly to most anyone reading this, the new CIF show is posted. The show was at The Handlebar in Greenville, SC on 04 September 2003. Lots of new stuff... the new songs are all great. Check it out.
Got to go to the Spread Your Wings Benefit this past weekend. CIF rocked... obviously... the rest of the bands were good for sure, but none of them "rocked". Weird scene but fun. Although I still hate the Neighborhood Theater for seeing bands, and I will stick by that until they take out the first 15 or 20 rows of seats, get a real bar, and allow smoking. Otherwise it's just... well... crap. I have no idea how they were voted best place to see live music in Charlotte. That is WRONG. But whatever. This was also coming off two nights at Tybee Island. Everyone there was EXTREMELY nice to the band and myself... plus it was on the beach. Nice. Other than the 19-year-old girl who paid about as much attention to me as she did to the music (that is to say: not at all), most of the crowd was either way younger or way older than me. Not that that's a bad thing by ANY means - just means that it's a strange crowd from my point-of-view. Very fun nonetheless. Even though I did lose my sweet sunglasses... And I suppose that's all the music news at the moment. I'll be heading to Raleigh and Flat Rock this weekend, then to Ziggy's and possibly Rocky Mount the following weekend. Although I think I have to work, so Rocky Mount might be a casualty in that battle...
Been reading a lot lately... comic books. I don't know ANYTHING about anything. I'm reading the recent series 100 Bullets, and it's really blowing my mind how cool it is. Premise is that someone gives you a briefcase with a gun and 100 totally untraceable bullets. Doesn't even matter if someone sees you pull the trigger - they're untraceable. Inside is also irrefutable proof that someone has directly and intentionally screwed you over in the past and caused your life to take a nose dive for some reason. What you do with the gun is up to you... there's a lot more to it, but that's the basic idea. Very very cool.
Also been rereading the entire Sandman series. Just finished Brief Lives the other day and the introduction (that actually appears at the end of the hardcover) by Peter Straub is absolutely brilliant. I used to think I understood these books, but I really never had a clue. There's a new Sandman book coming out today... if you get a chance pick it up and read it. Then read it again. Then read it again. I'm sure it will blow you away. Brief Lives was never one of my favorite Sandman arcs, but now that I am a lot closer to understanding what it's actually trying to say, I find it to be absolutely brilliant. Whenever you die, it's your time to die. Everyone gets the same thing - a lifetime. Is there a word for when you realize that you've forgotten the name of a former lover? Is there a word for when you're introducing two people and, all of a sudden, you realize that you don't remember either of their names? And what's it called... the thing that makes you realize that time is passing? Oh yeah, Change. "I was afraid of that." Change. Is it really that scary? I think the book is sort of trying to say that change doesn't have to be scary. It shouldn't be, and it's necessary to move forward. (Obviously) But people are almost always inherently afraid of change. Stick with the Status Quo and what not. If you do that, will you really be happy at the end of your time? (that's equal to everyone else's - a lifetime) "Brief Lives indeed" says Straub. The intro is just a few pages long - if you can locate it, read it. It will make sense even if you haven't read the book itself. It will, in fact, give much of the plot away, but the ideas it approaches are really really fantastic. Maybe more on that later... after I've re-read it again.
And Neverwhere finally came out on DVD in the US. Brian Eno does the music... didn't know that before... very neat stuff. There are definitely some problems with the show (as Neil points out in the commentary), but all-in-all, it's been quite enjoyable. I haven't watched Disc 2 yet, and it's been a while since I've read the novel, so I'm definitely looking forward to the end. I think I remember the big plot twist, but not the details. Don't spoil it for me.
That's about it for now. Nothing earth-shattering. Find the Sandman. Listen to CIF. Watch Family Guy. Suggestions from your friendly neighborhood blog. Later... Labels: Cast Iron Filter, Comic Books
Just posted another CIF show... May 30th. It's one that you can also get from the archive if you've got the bandwidth to deal with .shn. If not, get the mp3's here. Nice and easy.
And for the bigger news...
I FINALLY COMPLETED MY RUN OF DAREDEVIL!! That's the 1964 series, not the wimpy 40-ish issue new series. 380 issues. Been working on it since I was in 8th grade. Very exciting. Now I just need to read them all in a row again. :)
Wolverine is next... shouldn't take more than a month tho... maybe Silver Surfer will be the next old character I try to collect... or Iron Man... I dunno.
And I'm getting a new bed. Hurrah for me. I'm sure you care.
Anyway - the second disc of the CIF show is uploading now, so if you're trying to download right after I post this, you'll probably get File Not Found errors on the second disc. It'll be ready shortly. Enjoy. Labels: Comic Books
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