Hypergeek: August 2008

Wednesday, August 27, 2021

Weekly Shipping list for Wed 27 August 2021

Tuesday, August 26, 2021

Apple Store Rejects Murderdrome

Well, I blogged about this great idea just the other day, but it seems that Apple will not allow the comic to be distributed through their iPhone store, stating

"Murderdrome cannot be posted to the App Store because it contains content that does not comply with Community Standards" and "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."

Quite frankly, this is ridiculous when you consider what you are allowed to purchase through the Apple store in other media. You are allowed to purchase violent movies from Apple to play on your iPod, or songs containing violent or sexual lyrics. 'Muderdrome' is drawn in a rather cartoony style, it's hard to think that anyone could be truly offended by the unrealistic violence within it's pages. Let's be honest, if someone is likely to be offended by the material contained within the comic, it is highly unlikely that they will be prone to download an application with a name such as 'Muderdrome' in the first place.

The question this really prompts is "Where does this censorship end?". If Marvel were to distribute X-Men, or Avengers or any number of other titles through the App store, would the violence contained within those pages pass Apple's censorship restrictions. Really, they need a board of moderators to judge ages restrictions on titles. Since one needs a credit card to download apps in the first place, does this not count as a marker of the downloader's age? Could Apple not put some sort of prompt before allowing the download, which asks the user to verify that they are over the age of 18.

I am also quite confused because Clickwheel is an available application on the App store, and Clickwheel allows you to read 2000 A.D. which is quite often bloody and violent itself. How come this is OK? Is it because the content is provided through a third party?

This is akin to the censorship that the comic book community encountered in the 1950s, with the implementation of the the Comic Code Authority. I really hope that Apple rescind their decision, and some agreement can be arranged.

The comic's creator's are asking that you head over to their website and leave a message saying what you think of Apple's decision (in a nice way). They intend to forward to comments to Apple. Visit Infurious Comics for more info

Sunday, August 24, 2021

Trawling the Internets - Skip Week

I simply do not have the time or energy for this week's column. We've been packing up all our belongings, in preparation for moving on Friday. Thanks for stopping by, but there's nothing to see here. Move along!

iComics - The Future of Comics Brought to You by PJ Holden and Al Ewing, With Their New Comic Murderdrome

Well, I guess I can talk about this now. Earlier this week, artist PJ Holden emailed me an Ashcan of his new comic, Murderdrome. I have mentioned this comic a couple of times on my weekly Trawling the Internets column, so I guess he thought I might be interested. When he sent it, he asked me not to reveal the plans until it was 100% finalized, but earlier this week it seems he couldn't take it anymore, and just had to tell everyone. Here is what he wrote:

Gah! This is killing me!

Okay, I give in...

Murderdrome will be a four issue miniseries built around the iPhone/iPod touch platform. I'll try and upload a video of how it works tonight, but, the gist is - you swipe left to right to read through the pages, you swipe down to move through layers of artwork - the top layer is colour, middle layer is inks the bottom layer is pencils (you'll also be able to hide/reveal the lettering). Once completed there'll be all sorts of 'backmatter' built right into the pages (youtube video of a particular page being drawn). Also, pet hate of mine, you won't need to zoom in to the read the stuff - it's built to fit exactly on the screen (and, at 163dpi, it's very, very readable...)

Issue 0 is the freebie - we've submitted it to the app store this week and expect to hear in the next week or two. Issue 1, following as soon as we're able, will be $1.99 - and be the equivalent of a 22 page comic, again, with backmatter. (and then issues 2,3 and 4)

If we sell 9k we're going to make a decent wage (about $80 per page for the writer, $400 per page for the art/colouring/lettering)

If we sell above that then we're laughing, since it's creator owned.

There are, presently, five comics on the App Store - two japanese manga (both free), one 'engrish' manga ($2.99) and clickwheel.

Clickwheel have, as far as I can tell, three content streams (and I stand to be corrected):

2000AD material (which has been reformatted and makes for an awkward reading experience cus you're constantly zooming to read and zooming out to see the art - but it's high quality stuff)
Original, iPod designed material, which doesn't - imho, match the quality of the 2000AD material
and... some animations, which aren't comics. No matter whether they have word balloons or not. As soon as something moves, it's not a comic.

In comparison, there are 150 or so books, all public domain (with a couple of exceptions) and priced around 99c

There are nearly 500 games. Ranging in price from 99c to $9.99 - so far some have predicted the App store to be a $1BILLION industry* next year. I suspect that's way too optimistic, but I will say this:

Apple are on track to sell 10 million iPhones for the end of the year. EVERY ONE capable of going online and buying something, with no more effort than downloading a track from iTunes.

One person I know who has a simple game (asteriods clone) selling for 99c has sold 300 copies PER DAY.

Every company that has put an app on there and revealed figures has been startled at just how much money and how quickly it's coming to them

I've spent plenty of money on stupid little apps because I just fancy them or like the look of them. I have NO qualms about throwing $1.99 away for a silly little 10 minute escape.

There is a drought of good, original reading material on the iPhone, but, I suspect, that's going to change VERY quickly...

-pj

Here is the video he was talking about:

As I mentioned, PJ also sent me the ashcan for the 8 page #0 issue of the book. I'm not going to upload the pages here, because I want you to all go to the Apple store and download the app from there, when it is released. I can assure you though that it is bloody great fun! The story is highly action oriented, and the artwork was top notch!

They look to have this just right for an iPod screen, as it it isn't overly heavy on the text, so it is easily readable, and they've gone nice and clean and bright on the art i.e. there isn't a tonne of background detail etc, which might make things look cluttered on the iPod screen.

Hopefully they won't have any distribution troubles with Apple. Apparently Apple recently removed an Application from the store that was a picture of knife - and made the psycho music when you shook it, citing 'offensive material' as justification. This is the cover of #0, hopefully they won't get arsey over this:

With iPod distribution I imagine they will potentially reach a much wider audience as well. I find that British comics generally tend to fare poorly overseas, ones distributed through Image aren't too bad usually, but when I started getting 2000ad/Extreme/JD Meg from Rebellion though my local comic shop here, it took three months for Diamond to start the order. I also have to promise the store that if I move town, I'll give them three months notice to cancel the titles, as Diamond will just keep shipping them. Their shipping is also erratic, as I can go for weeks without receiving an issue, then end up with a pile of 4 in one week. It's easy to see why so many British creators come across the Atlantic, the market is so much bigger, and the distribution is so much wider. Hopefully they will be able to avoid this barrier, and get this out to as many potential fans as possible.

Well, I love the art, love the story, and very much dig the concept. I'm always pleased to see people doing new things with comics. Any new format that will get new readers into the medium has got to be a good thing. I love the idea of being able to go down to the inks, then the pencils, what a cool idea! It really takes advantage of the format, something you definitely couldn't do with PDF distribution, or some other such.

Now the comic has been submitted to Apple we'll just have to wait and see if it is accepted. If it is, I'll update the blog to let people know about it.

-------

I don't own and iPhone yet, I have a 60gb video iPod, which I've had about 3 years now. For some reason Canadian iPhone users are ripped off with expensive three year contracts. Before I became a resident I was only able to have a pay-as-you-go phone contract, which sucks. Now I am a resident, my wife is insisting that we get a couples mobile phone plan, so she can know where I am at all times (she is a psycho). We went to the local Fido store today (iPhone is only on Rogers, and Fido) and we were told that because we were new customers, any phone we bought would have to have a three year contract. Then the guy told me that until next week they are doing a half price deal on the monthly data fees for the iPhone. Result! My wife agreed that it was a good idea, so I am ordering one this week. Yay!

------

About the Creators

If you are not a reader of British comics, you can be forgiven for not knowing much about PJ Holden and Al Ewing, as most of their work hasn't made it overseas. Let me get you up to date:

PJ Holden

Paul Jason Holden (born 28 December 2021) is a Northern Irish comic artist based in Belfast.

PJ's art first appeared in Holy Cross #3, written by Malachy Coney, and published in 1997 though Fantagraphics. He also provided art for Suicide Kings, with Mike Carey released by Caliber in 1997.

His art was not again professionally published until 2001, when he did the art for a Judge Dredd story called "Sino-Cit" in 2000 A.D. Since then he has provided art of a number of 2000 A.D. strips, including stints on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper. More recently PJ became the main artist on the Rogue Trooper spin-off title 86ers, with Gordon Rennie. In 2008, along with Al Ewing, he co-created the new ongoing strip Dead Signal. The first arc of which saw print in in 2000 A.D. #1581-1587.

Al Ewing

Al Ewing first entered the British comic scene in 2002, writing several Tharg's Terror Tales in 2000 A.D. After that he did a lot of work in the British small press comic scene, some work in 2000 A.D. fanzines, and provided a few Tharg's Future Shocks, and Tales from the Black Museum.

Recently he has returned to the pages of 2000 A.D. and Judge Dredd Megazine. This year he co-created, with Jon Davis-Hunt, the excellent Tempest strip, which appeared in Judge Dredd Megazine #266-271. He also co-created, along with PJ Holden, the new ongoing strip Dead Signal. The first arc of which saw print in in 2000 A.D. #1581-1587.

Al also has a couple of books in print through UK publishers Abadon books. These are Pax Britannia: El Sombra, and Tomes of the Dead: I, Zombie.

Al also created The Diary Of Ralph Dibny, and has been known to contribute to the gaming blog Re:Retro

What I'm Buying - Week of Wed 20-August-2008

OK kids, here is this weeks ticket to awesomeness. Simply print this list out, take it to your local comic pimp, hand over a couple of hundred dollars (yikes!) and you're on your way to becoming as cool as me:

Friday, August 22, 2021

What's Pissing Me Off Today? Crappy Watchmen Merchandising!

It's no secret, I'm a big fan of Alan Moore's work. I've managed to live through crappy Hollywood adaptations of several of his films, but as we all know, Watchmen is now set to be wrung through the Hollywood cash maker next year.

Alan Moore has made repeated statements that he doesn't believe that there should ever be a Watchmen movie, and I am inclined to agree with him. I've commented on this on the blog several times before, so I won't regurgitate the reasons for this here, as it just bores me :-P

Just making a movie is one thing though, but times are hard over at DC comics, they have falling sales on their monthly comics, and their trade collections. So, it looks like they are prepared to cheapen the most valuable property they own in the sake of a quick buck. That is, they are preparing to release so much Watchmen merchandise that it almost rivals the amount of toys etc. that accompanied the Transformers movie!

The worst part of this is that, you know how you haven't been able to get Watchmen merchandise for years? Well, there is a reason for that. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons wouldn't allow DC to do any merchandising. According to Wikipedia (I know it's not 100% reliable):

"DC Comics also released a limited edition badge set featuring characters and images from the series, including a replica of the blood-stained smiley face badge worn by The Comedian that was featured so prominently in the story. It is claimed that this badge set caused friction between Moore and DC Comics — DC claimed that they were a "promotional item" and not merchandising, and therefore the company did not have to pay Moore or Gibbons royalties on the sets.

In addition to the badge set, DC also produced a Watchmen "Smiley" logo watch. In 1988 DC Comics released the Watchmen Portfolio, a slip cased set of 24 high quality prints comprising six French covers, six promotional posters and the twelve original covers. Each print is 25 cm by 38 cm."

So, how come we are seeing merchandise now??? Simple, this merchandise is not based on Watchmen the Book, it is based on Watchmen THE MOVIE!

Stupid? Yep, but that is the joy of trademarks and copyrights etc.

Anyway, lets look at what they are making:

Action Figures

These are all pretty poor quality. Rorschach is OK though

Nit Owl Action Figure

Ozymandias Action Figure

Rorschach Action Figure

Silk Spectre Action Figure

Compare this to DC's Silk Spectre prototype figure based on the comic. What do you notice? Yes, she isn't dressed like a hooker in the comic!

classic Night Owl Action Figure

classic Silk Spectre Action Figure

Dr. Manhattan Action Figure

The Comedian Action Figure

$100 Deluxe Action Figures

Memorabilia

Here's where it gets really tacky kids

Owl Ship 1:24 Scale Replica

One word: Lame! $329!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rorschach Grappling Gun and Mask

Yes, I've always wanted a crappy cloth mask and fake looking grappling gun. How much? $295. What the Hell?!

The Comedian's Guns and Dog Tags Display Set

Wow! for $295 I think I would rather buy a real gun, and use it to shot whoever thought up this shit in the head!!

Busts

Watchmen XBox

$600 on ebay.

Yes, you have a Watchmen Xbox. That is exactly what Alan Moore had in mind when he wrote the story. Well done, Douche-bag!

If you see anyone buying any of this bollocks (particularly the Xbox), please send me their names and addresses, so I can go to their houses and smash this crap up!

Thursday, August 21, 2021

My Pull List

In an attempt to manage and keep a track of what comics I am buying, I've been putting together my comic book pull-list. I thought I may as well share it with you guys, and put it up on the top menu. I'll update it periodically, as it show what is currently on my list, and what has been solicited in the next two month's worth of Previews magazine.

P.S. Please send donations so I can afford all these titles :-)

Aardvark-Vanaheim

Glamourpuss

Cerberus Archives

Abstract

Echo

Avatar

Absolution

Anna Mercury

Crossed

Doktor Sleepless

Ignition City

Frankenstein's Womb

Gravel

Neonomicon

No Hero

Raw Bone

Wolfskin

Wormwood: Last Battle

Beserker

The Dead

Church of Hell

BOOM! Studios

Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?

Irredeemable

Potter's Field

The Unknown

Cartoon Books

Rasl

Dark Horse

Hellboy

BPRD

BPRD 1947

Citizen Rex

Creepy

Death Lok vs. The Goon

End League

Fear Agent

Gigantic

The Goon

Umbrella Academy: Dallas

Witchfinder: In the service of Angels

Devil's Due Publishing

The Zombies that Ate the World

DC

Action Comics

Azreal: Death's Dark Knight

All-Star Batman & Robin

Batman

Batman: Battle for the Cowl

Batman: Streets of Gotham

Batman & Robin

Batman in Barcelona

Blackest Night

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps

Detective Comics

Flash: Rebirth

Green Lantern

JSA vs. Kobra

Justice Society of America

The Last Days of Animal Man

Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion

Wednesday Comics

DC (Vertigo)

100 Bullets

Army@Love

Fables

Greek Street

Haunted Tank

Hellblazer

House of Mystery

Jack of Fables

The Literals

Madame Xanadu

Northlanders

Red Robin

Scalped

Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye

Unknown Soldier

The Unwritten

Young Liars

DC (Wildstorm)

Astro City: The Dark Ages Book III

Authority

Ex Machina

Top 10 Season Two

Do Gooder

PS238

Dynamite

Black Terror

The Boys

Complete Dracula

The Death Defying Devil

Doctor Who: The Time Machination

Herogasm

Garth Ennis' Battlefields: Tankies

Project Superpowers

Masquerade

Sherlock Holmes

Fantagraphics

Castle Waiting

The Comic Journal

IDW

American McGee's Grimm

Ben Templesmith's Dracula

Criminal Macabre: Prisoner Cell Block 666

Groom Lake

Legion of the Supernatural

Locke & Key: Head Games

Zombies vs. Robots Adventure

Image

Back to Broklyn

Elephant Men

Fell

Godland

The Great Unknown

Gutsville

Invincible

Jack Staff

Madman

Phonogram 2: Singles Club

Special Forces

Viking

Walking Dead

War Heroes

Young Blood

Radical Comics

Cholly & Flytrap

Hercules: The Knives of Kush

Hotwire

Shrapnel

Rebellion

2000 A.D.

Judge Dredd Megazine

Renegade

Channel Evil

Rude Dude

Nexus

Marvel

Astonishing X-Men

Avenger/Invaders

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter

Cable

Captain America

Captain Britain and MI13

Daredevil

Dark Tower

The Detroyer

Fantastic Four

Guardians of the Galaxy

Ghost Rider

Immortal Iron Fist

Invincible Iron Man

Immortal Weapons

Nova

New universal: Shockfront

Marvels: Eye of the Camera

Punisher

Punisher: Frank Castle MAX

Reborn

Thunderbolts

Uncanny X-Men

War of Kings

War of Kings: Ascension

Wolverine

Wolverine: Weapon X

X-Factor

X-Force

X-Men: Kingbreaker

X-Men Legacy

Marvel Ultimate

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk

Marvel (Icon)

Criminal

Kick-Ass

Incognito

Oni

Wasteland

SLG

Fat Chunk Volume 2: Zombies

Top Shelf

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century 1910

Wednesday, August 20, 2021

Weekly Shipping list for Wed 20 August 2021

Tuesday, August 19, 2021

The A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators: C is for Darwyn Cooke

In celebration of gaining my Canadian Permanent Residency, I am running down an A-Z of Canadian comic book creators.

For the index list of creators featured, please click here.

C is for Cooke, Darwyn Cooke!

Darwyn Cooke was born in Toronto in 1962. His first published comic book work was in 1985 when his artwork appeared in New Talent Showcase #19. However, Cooke soon found that due to economic reasons, he had to leave the comic book industry to find alternate work. For several years he worked a variety of jobs, including being a magazine art director, graphic designer, commercial production designer and editorial illustrator. When he hit age 30 he decided that he'd had enough of this lifestyle, because of "the stress of the job and the absolute moral bankruptcy of it... You're paid to lie."

Cooke then went on to found the award winning Brotherhood Animation Company. At some point he saw an advert in The Comics Journal saying that Warner Brothers were looking for artists to work on the Batman and Superman animated TV series. Replying to this ad lead to him working for Bruce Timm as a storyboard artist for Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, then in 1999 he animated the main title design for Batman Beyond. He then worked as a director for Sony Animation's Men in Black: The Series for a year.

During his time working in animation Darwyn developed a proposal for a project featuring Batman, which he wrote and drew, and submitted it to DC comics. A couple of years later, DC Comics approached him about the proposal, and it eventually saw print in 2000 as Batman: Ego.

A period of freelance work for both DC and Marvel followed, until in 2001 DC commissioned Cooke and Ed Brubaker to revamp their Catwoman character. This revamp started within the pages of Detective Comics, running as the four issue arc "Trail of the Catwoman", printed in issues #759-762. The story involved detective Sam Bradley investigating the death of Selina Kyle, the secret identity of Catwoman. The popularity of this arc led to the pair working on a new Catwoman title in late 2001. This series saw a complete revamp of the character, resulting in her return to popularity. Cooke only stayed on the title for four issues though, leaving to write a prequel OGN about the character.

In 2004 Cooke embarked upon the project for which he become best known to comic book fans. DC: The New Frontier was a six issue miniseries taking place in the 1950s, and depicting the Golden Age superheroes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman meeting the Silver Age superheroes The Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. The story sought to bridge the gap between the end of the Golden Age to the beginning of the Silver Age of comic books in the DC Universe. The story featured dozens of super-hero characters and drew inspiration from the comic books and movies of the 1950s as well as from Tom Wolfe's non-fiction account of the start of the US Space Program The Right Stuff. The major DC characters are introduced in The New Frontier in the same order that DC originally published them, even down to the correct month and year in the story's timeline. In 2005, Cooke won an Eisner Award for "Best Limited Series", and a Joe Shuster Award for "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist" for his work on the series.

More recent projects by Cooke include the first 13 issues of DCs relaunch of Will Eisner's The Spirit, in 2006. In June 2007, Cooke and J. Bone won a Joe Shuster Award for "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Artists" for their work on Batman/The Spirit, and Cooke won "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist" for his work on The Spirit.

Also in 2006 Cooke, along with Tim Sale launched DCs new title about the early years of Superman, Superman Confidential. The pair completed a six issue arc detailing Superman's first encounter with Kryptonite. In June 2007 Cooke was awarded the Joe Shuster Award for "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Writer" for Superman Confidential.

In 2008 Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics released a direct-to-DVD animated movie based on Cooke's DC: The New Frontier. Cooke co-wrote the film with Stan Berkowitz and also provided art direction. The movie was produced by Bruce Timm.

Cooke's artwork projects boundless energy, noir grittiness, and raw emotion akin to Joe Kubert's. Cooke uses more angled lines that are broader and rougher to allow for greater exaggerated expressiveness. Shadows are extensively used to project the attitude of the piece. Cooke also instills an intangible sense of wonder and imagination onto each piece that is completely his own.

At SDCC 2007 Cooke revealed that he had two graphic novels in productions. The first being an all ages fairy tale which he described as "a big sprawling story that takes place a little in the future with giant robots”. The second story he described as being more in the vein of his Catwoman work, about a man who's world is unraveling as he deals with modern life.

Bibliography

As penciller or writer/penciller

Batman: Ego (DC Comics, 2000). A 64-page prestige format Batman story. Writer & artist.

Catwoman #1-4 (DC Comics, November 2001 to February 2002). With writer Ed Brubaker.

Spider-Man: Tangled Web #11 (Marvel Comics, April 2002). Story "Open All Night!".

X-Force #124 (Marvel Comics, January 2002). With writer Peter Milligan.

9-11, Volume 2 (February 2002).

Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (DC Comics, Summer 2002). 96-page graphic novel featuring a Selina Kyle story that takes place before Catwoman #1.

Spider-Man's Tangled Web #21 (Marvel, February 2003). Story "T'was the Fight Before Xmas".

Wolverine/Doop #1-2 (Marvel, 2003). 2-issue miniseries written by Peter Milligan.

The New Frontier #1-6 (DC Comics). Writer and artist.

Green Lantern: Secret Files 2005 (DC Comics, 2005). Cooke pencilled the main story (22 pages), written by Geoff Johns.

Solo #5 (DC Comics, June 2005).

Batman / The Spirit (DC Comics, November 2006). One-shot crossover issue between Batman and The Spirit. Co-written by Cooke and Jeph Loeb, and penciled by Cooke.

The Spirit #1-6, 8-12 (DC Comics, December 2006 to January 2008). Writer and artist.

Jonah Hex #33 (DC Comics July 2008) Artist.

Short stories as penciller

Legion Worlds #2 (DC Comics, mid-2001). 8-page back-up story.

Detective Comics #759-762 (DC Comics, July to October 2001). 4-part "Trail of the Catwoman" back-up story (8 pages in each issue) with writer Ed Brubaker, featuring Sam Bradley, that leads to Catwoman #1.

Batman: Gotham Knights #23 (DC, November 2001). A "Batman Black & White" backup tale written by Paul Grist (Kane) and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke.

Just Imagine Stan Lee with Chris Bachalo creating Catwoman'(May 2002). Cooke drew a short back up story written by Michael Uslan and inked by Mike Allred.

X-Statix #1 (August 2002). Cooke drew a back-up short story featuring Doop, written by Peter Milligan.

Marvel Double Shot #3 (December 2002). Cooke drew the 11-page "Who Let the Dad Out?" with writer Sean McKeever.

JSA: All Stars #3 (DC Comics, 2003). Cooke drew a back-up story written by Steven Manale.

As writer only

Gotham Knights #33 (DC Comics, September 2002). Writer of the back-up story "The Monument", with artist Bill Wray.

Solo #1 (DC Comics, 2004). 11-page story "Date Knight", featuring Batman and Catwoman, with artist Tim Sale.

Superman Confidential #1-5, 11 (DC Comics, November 2006-07, 2008). "Kryptonite," Books 1-6 written by Cooke with art by Tim Sale.

Comic Book Cover Art

Batman Beyond #4, #23 and #24 (DC Comics)

Weird Western Tales #1 (DC/Vertigo, 2001)

Batman Gotham Adventures #45 and #50 (DC Comics, 2001)

Batman Gotham Knights #12 (DC Comics, 2002)

Justice League Adventures #7 (DC Comics, 2002)

Rawhide Kid #4 (Marvel, 2003)

Bad Girls #1-5 (DC Comics, 2003)

Toronto Comics Festival 2005 (Free Comic Book Day)

Elk's Run Bumper Edition (Speakeasy Comics, 2005). Collects Elk's Run #1-3.

Spellgame #1-3 (Speakeasy Comics, 2005)

Red Menace #1 (variant cover) (WildStorm Comics, 2007)

Toronto Comics Festival 2007 (Free Comic Book Day)

Season of the Witch #2 (Image Comics 2005)

Painkiller Jane #3 (Dynamite, 2007)

The Comics Journal 285 (2007)

The Spirit #1-13 (DC, 2007-2008)

Jonah Hex #33 (DC Comics, 2008)

Bollocks

General Crap:

What's Pissing Me Off Today?

What's Pissing Me Off Today? Crappy Watchmen Merchandising!

Cleaning Out the Gutters - Discussing LITG V. 2 #171 [UPDATE]

It's that time of the week when I direct everyone over to see the latest issue of Rich Johnston's Lying in the Gutters.

Now, this is Rich's column, so I won't repeat everything here, I will however talk about a couple of things I found interesting.

As Rich himself said on Twitter: "do you have a comics blog? Run out of material? Never fear, LITG is here"

- Hopefully he is not just referring to me :) What can I say Rich, you do get the best Gossip! You should be proud that your writing inspires others so.

DC Title Cancellations

I had noticed this myself recently too. It seems that DC keep canceling the titles which I enjoy. Or, as in the case of Checkmate, removing the high profile writer attached, and replacing him with a no-talent hack! Leading to the slow death of the title.

When I first got back into comics a few years ago, I was mostly attracted to DC titles, having been a bit of a Marvel Zombie in my late teens. I can definitely say that in the last 3 years I have seen an obvious decline in the quality of DC titles, as they weed out the low-selling, but critically acclaimed, titles, and put all their energies into moderate selling broad base titles.

If they cancel Simon Dark and Blue Beetle I will be incredibly angry. These are two of the best books they publish. JLA is one of their highest selling titles, and it is pitifully bad. We currently have an arc featuring Amazo in Red Tornado's body, which is exactly how Brad Meltzer opened the new series last year. I guess if it works once, it'll work twice right.

As for me, I have recently canceled the following DC titles off my pull-list: Trinity, Wonder-Woman, Superman, Nightwing, Green Lantern Corps, Raan-Thanagar: Holy War, and Tangent Superman's Reign. I am also considering dropping JLA, The Flash, and Detective Comics.

Well folks, that is all I am going to discuss today, head over to LITG and discuss stuff on Rich's board if you like.

[UPDATE]

BTW, the feuding former writing team is clearly Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, not DnA, or Grant/Wagner as others are guessing

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Sleeper Gets Optioned for Movie

Ed Bubaker just twittered this news. For the original article from The Hollywood Reporter please click here

By Borys Kit

Aug 19, 2008, 12:30 AM ET
As Tom Cruise goes about writing the next chapter in his career, he's developing an interest in comic book movies.

Together with Sam Raimi, he is setting up "Sleeper" at Warner Bros. Cruise is loosely attached to star in the adaptation of the DC Comics/Wildstorm comic that Raimi would produce with his Star Road Entertainment partner Josh Donen.

Written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, "Sleeper," which ran from 2003-05, centers on an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact. He is placed undercover in a villainous organization by an intelligence agency and falls for a member of the group, named Miss Misery.

Although he remains a co-owner of United Artists -- from which his longtime producing partner Paula Weinstein resigned last week -- he's not tied exclusively to that company. It now looks as if his next acting gig will be the Spyglass thriller "Tourist," as if to counter the more cerebral role he played in the UA boxoffice failure "Lions for Lambs" and the upcoming UA WWII period pic "Valkyrie," in which he plays the anti-Nazi Claus van Stauffenberg.

"Sleeper" is the third project that Cruise has become associated with over the past two weeks --all three separate from his commitments at UA. In addition to "Tourist," the actor has expressed interest in the Working Title-Universal comedy "Food Fight."

Also apart from UA, the actor picked up some good notices last week for his uncharacteristic turn as a bald film mogul in DreamWorks-Paramount's "Tropic Thunder."

Even if Cruise opts not to do "Sleeper," his interest in the project is propelling it forward, despite complicated rights issues that must be sorted out. Raimi and Donen have long been fans of the book, and the project could have found homes at Sony and Regency if those issues hadn't been so complex.

"Sleeper" is a spin-off book from Wildstorm flagship title "WildC.A.T.s" and features characters from another spin-off book, "Gen 13."

Both books had been set up at different places around town and some of those deals were made before DC bought the imprint in 1999.

Warners, now involved in a legal wrangle with Fox over the rights to "Watchmen," appears determined to cross all the t's and dot all the i's in its contracts for "Sleeper."

The project is being eyed not only as a starring vehicle for Cruise but also as a possible franchise for the studio.

Matt Reilly is overseeing the project for Warners while Russell Hollander shepherds for Star Road. Gregory Noveck oversees for DC. No writer is attached.

"Sleeper" sees Raimi and Donen continuing their company's superhero, which began when they recently set up the superhero story "The Transplants" at Disney.

Probably also a good time to mention hat Fox are suing WB for the rights to Watchmen. Check out the news at CBR.

All I have to say is, HAHA!

Monday, August 18, 2021

Comic Book Covers of the Week - Week of Wednesday 13 August 2021

First off, let me apologize for the erratic, and delayed updates at the moment. Life is rather hectic right now. We are packing up to move house on the 29th, and we have a lot of stuff to organize for the new house. Apart from that there are a few other personal things going on, which I won't bore you with.

Every week, I look through all the comics that have come out this week and pick out which ones have the nicest covers. It's a simple idea, but it could be fun.

If you want to see a list of comics released this week, with hover links showing all their covers, then click here.

The cover to Batman #679, by Alex Ross. I'm not sure how much it fits in with the story, but it doesn't tend to matter that much when Alex Ross is involved :)

The cover to Welcome to Hoxford #1, by Ben Templesmith. I hope it's an all-ages read!!!

The cover to Punisher Max #60, by Tim Bradstreet. I love this cover, but it is the last Ennis issue, which makes me sad!

The cover to B.P.R.D. The Warning #2, by Mike Mignola. It's by Mike Mignola, I don't think I have to validate why it is a favourite!

The cover to Hellboy: The Crooked Man #2, by Richard Corben. Corben started working on the Hellboy books, having previously worked on the Hellboy animated titles. I think we will be seeing a lot more of his work.

Sunday, August 17, 2021

What I'm Buying - Week of Wed 13-August-2008

There will be no big updates tonight, as I am far too busy today. Feel free to amuse yourself looking at all the older stuff on the site :)

Below is a list of all the comics I picked up this week. If you want to be as cool as me, just print this list out, and give it to the guy at your LCS. Congratulation, you just took your first step on the road to awesomeness.

In addition, there were a couple of collected editions out this week that you can't really get in Canada, so I'll order them off the internet at some point:

Saturday, August 16, 2021

Trawling the Internets - Issue #3

Issue #3????? Yes, this feature was previously called Odds & Ends. Basically I couldn't think of a name. But look, it's a pun now. Everyone loves a pun!!!!

The idea? Simple. I spend a lot of time online, browsing comic news, reading creator blogs, reading web comics, I follow a lot of creators on twitter, and am friends with quite a few creators on Facebook. Due to this I tend to come across lots of bits of news, rumours, art previews etc. etc.

I could blog about these things as I find them, but that would be a lot of work, and make for pretty dull reading. So, I stick them all together in one big chunk of awesomeness, so packed full of thrill-power it has the ability to make your eyes pop, and your brain implode.

Rumours:

Jasson Aaron said on Twitter: Can I really get away with the scene I'm about to write? Even if it is The Punisher? Time will tell.

- So, I guess he is set to write Punisher Max sometime in the near future. After Ennis is off the title they have three arcs from various crime novelists coming up, perhaps after that??

Friend plug:

Friend of the blog, Dwight L. MacPherson got interviewed over at CBR about his new series, M-Theory. It's a good interview, and I'm really looking forward to the comic.

Quotes of the Week:

Leah Moore: lol oh dear! just don't put it in the bathroom...you'll find it hard to go with that face looking at you....

- After telling her I just bought this Alan Moore Lithograph for my new apartment!

Ben McCool: That, officially, makes you a badass. So badass, in fact, that you lost your virginity before your dad.

- Addressed at Ben Templesmith. The reason doesn't matter, but that is funny as Hell!

Wil Wheaton: NBC's Olympic encore, which starts at 2:30 in the morning, is sponsored by Ambien. That's moderately funny

Drunk-Ass Comic creators

- This is a video of British writers Simon Spurrier, Kieron Gillen, and a third person I didn't recognize, frolicking in a kids ball pool while pissed off their skulls. Or as they like to say: DUNK! Are these the types of people you want writing your comics? Answer: emphatic yes!

Ben Templesmith is Asking for Trouble

Over on his blog Ben Templesmith is holding a competition. He recently received advance copies of Welcome to Hoxford #2 and is willing to give them away (signed) to the fan who send in the most creative pictures of themselves reading issue one of the series. Fun idea, but I can imagine his going to end up looking through some horrific pictures!! I had one in mind, but my wife says she will divorce me if I do it. Yes, it really was that bad!!

New Images from Phonogram 2

Jamie McKelvie has posted an image of Penny B, who is that lead character of Issue 1 of The Singles Club. Damn, she looks pretty!

Emma Vieceli's Violet in the DFC

The DFC is a new British kids comic, available by subscription only, click here to go to their site and order. Emma says on her blog:

Next week (issue 13), Violet finally hits the pages of the DFC! WOOOO! Her run starts with reprints of her Guardian strips, but in just a couple of weeks' time we'll be starting on the actual Violet storyline. I really hope you can join the revolution and go subscribe to this amazing weekly comic....make Violet happy ^_^

PJ Holden and Al Ewing's Murderdrome #0

Paul has said on his blog that issue #0 of the story has been submitted to the distributor. He hasn't yet said exactly what it is for, but I have strong suspicions. I'm not going to say here though, as I respect his wishes to keep it hush hush at the moment. Check out this amazing cover though:

Paul also let me know that he is currently drawing a 4 page Phonogram B-Side. It looks like the new Phonogram stuff just got even better

Join the Gutsville Group on Facebook

I have created a fan page for Gutsville, the excellent creator owned comic by Si Spurrier and Frazer Irving. If you are on Facebook please join up, chat about the book, whatever. I've put up all details of the concept of the project, and where to buy the first three issues if you don't yet have them. If you join the group, you will also be sent updates to tell you when the next issue of the book is set to ship, so you don't miss it.

Robert Kirkman's Mission Statement:

Please head over to the article at CBR to see the comments Kirkman gave with this. Robert Also gave an interview over at Word Balloon, where he says something very similar.

Fellow blogger Kevin Huxford analyzed this video in huge detail on his site, and also discussed matters brought up in the wordballoon interview.

I'm not going to go over it in huge detail here. I understand what Kirkman is saying, and I can understand Kevin's reservations.

Webcomics That Came Out This Week:

Freak Angels Episode #23 - Concluding book one of the series
Edgar Allen Poo episode #84 - The latest page of Dwight's Harvey nominated classic.
Street Code - Dean Haspiel's Zuda hosted Street comic - new pages added August 15th
Imaginary Boys - Cool new fantasy comic on Zuda. Created by Yamatai, and first appearing on August 15th
High Moon - by David Gallaher, Steve Ellis, and Scott O Brown. High moon is Western Period horror comic. Yes, that is just as cool as it sounds!!!! Season 2 began on August 16th
Melody - by Iilias Kyriazis. Updated August 14th
The Night Owls - Crazy, 1920s period, detective comedy by Peter Timony and Robert Timony. Updated August 14th
Bayou - A gorgeous dark fantasy/horro tale by Jeremy Love and Patrick Morgan. Updated August 13th
The Black Cherry Bombshells - Really odd tale about Ultra-violent girl gangs and zombies. By John Zito & Anthony Trovarello. Updated 13th August

Also remember to vote in Zuda's current competition. There is some great stuff in there.

Awesome Artwork We Bought:

My wife wanted some paintings for our new apartment. She came across Leah Moore's Etsy store, and long story short, we now own these three paintings:

- She still has 5 paintings up for sa1e. Make sure you snap them up quickly!

New Watchmen Movie Pictures

- Rorschach actually looks pretty cool, very little modification to the original design

- OK, the ship looks really good, but what the Hell is with the rejected outfit from Batman & Robin??? Discount sale on PVC??

- So the Silk Spectre is a skank in the movie?? I don't remember her being a whore in the comic. Also, she has some serious camel toe going on!

- You've been a bad little boy, and the Leather Daddy is going to teach you a lesson. Bring out the gimp!

That's it for this week folks!

Friday, August 15, 2021

The A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators: B is for John Byrne

In celebration of gaining my Canadian Permanent Residency, I am running down an A-Z of Canadian comic book creators.

For the index list of creators featured, please click here.

I'm sure you have all guessed who this is going to be

B is for ............... Byrne, John Byrne!

It's an obvious choice really, or is it?????

John Byrne was actually born in Walsall, just outside West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England on July 6, 1950. He lived in England until 1958, when at the age of 8, his family emigrated to Canada, settling in Edmonton, Alberta. He currently lives in Fairfield, Connecticut. Does this make him any less Canadian? Hell no!! Though it does mean, being a dual citizen, I could totally re-purpose this entry for a British A-Z list :-P

John Byrne was interested in comics from a very young age. His first exposure to the medium was when reading a British Hardcover Superman Annual, which was published around 1956. His first exposure to comics in the traditional format was Super Comics, which was an Australian reprint issue. The tales reprinted in the issue he read featured Superboy, Batman, and Johny Quick.

From 1970 to 1973, Byrne studied at the Alberta College of Art and Design, in Calgary, where he completed two and a half years of a four-year course in Fine Arts before he and his instructors came to the mutual conclusion there was little that they could offer to someone who wanted to be a "cartoonist". Although he did not graduate from his course, this was where he managed to get his first comic strip published. His first work was the superhero parody strip, Gay Guy, printed in the college newspaper. Gay Guy featured an early version of the Alpha Flight character Snowbird, and poked fun at the campus stereotype of homosexuality among art students. During this time he also self-published his first traditional format comic book, ACA Comix #1, which featured the "The Death’s Head Knight".

John Byrne's first, professional, free-lance, comic work was ROG-2000 for Charlton Comics, appearing as a backup feature in in E-Man. His first professional comic book sale was to Marvel Comics. Byrne sold them a short story called Dark Asylum, which was written by David Anthony Kraft. According to John the story "languished in a flat file somewhere until it was used as filler in Giant-Sized Dracula #5" (June 1975).

John Has this to say about how he ended up with his first Marvel gig:

Nic Cuti, then an editor at Charlton, was the first to give me regular work. He'd seen the ROG-2000 story I'd illustrated (script by Roger Stern) in CPL fanzine, and offered me a ROG backup (script by Nic) in E-Man. Out of this came Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, Doomsday+1 and finally Space: 1999. During this time Chris Claremont saw my work and began agitating for me to draw something he had written. When Pat Broderick missed a deadline on the Iron Fist series in Marvel Premiere, John Verpoorten fired him and offered the book to me. (Remember when missing a deadline got you fired, not turned into a Hero of the Republic?) I turned around the first script in time to meet the deadline, and so started getting more work from Marvel, until I was able to leave Charlton and focus entirely on the Marvel stuff.

John Byrne is undoubtedly most famous for his work on Marvel's X-Men title. John joined writer Chris Claremont on X-Men, beginning with issue #108 in December 1977. The duo soon became fan favourites, and the title quickly became one of the highest selling titles in the comics industry. John Byrne has often compared his working relationship with Chris Claremont to that of Gilbert and Sullivan, saying that they were "almost constantly at war over who the characters were". Due to this ongoing conflict, Byrne left the title after issue #143, published in March 1981.

From this he went on to write Captain America, The Avengers, and a five year run on Marvel's flagship title, Fantastic Four. His Fantastic Four run was considered by many fans to be a second Golden Age for the title. Byrne has described what he aimed to accomplish on the title was to "turn the clock back . . . get back and see fresh what it was that made the book great at its inception."

In 1986 John accepted an assignment from DC comics to revamping their flagship character, the first superhero character of them all, Superman. These efforts spawned the hugely successful Man of Steel miniseries in 1986. DC had just reset their comic Universe's continuity after the 1985 cross-over event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Man of Steel effectively gave Superman a new and improved origin story. Byrne has been quoted as saying that his aim was to "(take) Superman back to the basics ... It's basically Siegel and Shuster's Superman meets the Fleischer Superman in 1986.”

In 1990, John decided to try his hand at creator owned works, launching Next Men in 1991, followed Danger Unlimited in 1993, and by Babe in 1995.

He has since written and drawn such titles as Wonder Woman, Lab Rats, Doom Patrol, and Blood of the Demon. He is also famous for helping Mike Mignola launch his Hellboy series in 1994.

Byrne's next big project will be Star Trek: Assignment Earth, released through IDW. It was solicited for May 2008, but has been pushed back for an unspecified amount of time.

Byrne has often stated that his major influences are Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, and Jean Giraud, as well as British comics artists such as Frank Hampson, Frank Bellamy, and cartoonist Giles. He later described himself as “a Frank Miller sponge,” and told several interviewers of his desire to incorporate influences from Miller and Gene Colan into his style.

If you wish to see a complete John Byrne bibliography, please click here

Artist Carlos Meglia Dies at Age 50

I just found at that Carlos Meglia, the Argentinian born comic book artist and penciller, died today. Reports are saying that he was admitted to hospital due to some sort of problem with his aorta. The cause of his death is, as yet, unconfirmed. He was 50 years old when he passed away.

Carlos Meglia began his career in 1974 as the assistant of the illustrator Oswal.
One of his best-known creations was the 1991 series, Cybersix, done in partnership with Carlos Trillo.

During the 1990s, he relocated to Spain and started working for the US comic market. He worked on titles such as Star Wars: Underworld and Spyboy, for Dark Horse. His DC work included Superman/Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle, Crimson, Adventures of Superman and Monster World. He also did some art for Marvel on Elektra. In 2005, he created the series Canari with Crisse.

Thursday, August 14, 2021

Previewing October - New Stuff I'm Looking Forward to

The idea is, I look through Previews magazine and see what is new, and what I plan to get. I love reading and discovering new stuff, so I look forward to previews coming out each month. I've only listed new stuff that starts in October here. If there is a cool series that started in September and is on its second issue, it wont get a mention. Look at Last months entry: Previewing September. If you can think of any other good stuff coming out that you think that I might like, just let me know. I'm always open to good new titles.

Comics

Avatar

Crossed #1

Dark Horse

Hellboy: In The Chapel of Moloch

DC

Booster Gold #13

DC Universe: Halloween '08

Final Crisis: Rage of The Red Lanterns

Final Crisis: Resist

Final Crisis: Submit

Superman: New Krypton Special

Devil's Due

Zen: Intergalactic Ninja #0

Dynamite Entertainment

Black Terror #1 of 4

Garth Ennis's Battlefields: Night Witches #1 of 3

IDW

Grant Morrison's Doctor Who #1 of 2

G.I. Joe: A New Beginning #0

Legion of the Supernatural #1

Image

Savage #1 of 4

Marvel

Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes #1 of 2

Ender's Game: First Series #1 of 5

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch #1 of 5

Contract

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1 of 4

X-Men: Original Sin

Trades:

There are a number of trades out in October for stuff I don't yet own. I doubt I'll buy them all in October, but if I make a note of them here, I'll remember to get them at a later date :)

Desperado Publishing:

The Lonely Tombstone

Harper Collins:

Magic Trixie Sleeps Over

- It's a kids book by Jill Thompson. She is an amazing artist!

IDW

Richard Matheson’s Hell House

Steve Niles TPBs from IDW:

American Freakshow TPB

The Cryptics TPB

Freaks of the Heartland Scriptbook

Steve Niles Omnibus

Rick Remender / Keiron Dwyer TPBs from IDW:

Black Heart Billy TPB

Night Mary TP

Rebellion:

ABC Warriors: The Third Element

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 11

Th3rd world:

Space Doubles: "Set The Controls" Collection #1

- Got a good tale from John Reppion and Leah Moore in it.

Tundra

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Wednesday, August 13, 2021

The A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators: A is for Adrian Alphona

In celebration of gaining my Canadian Permanent Residency, I am running down an A-Z of Canadian comic book creators.

For the index list of creators featured, please click here.

My pick for 'A' is the Canadian comic book artist Adrian Alphona.

Adrian Alphona's first published comic work appeared in March 2003, in X-Men Unlimited #41. X-men Unlimited was an anthology title that printed stories by a variety of creative teams, designed to fit in between those told in the main X-Men titles. Adrian Alphona, along with David Newbold providing inks, and Brian Reber doing colours, provided a pinup of the characters Blink and Nocturne:

A couple of months later Alphona really exploded onto the comic scene when he co-created the title Runaways with super-star writer Brian K. Vaughan.

Initially part of the Tsunami line, Runaways proved to be the imprint's sole success. Runaways featured a group of teenagers who try to make up for the evil done by their super villain parents (the Pride) by becoming superheroes. In 2006, the series won the Harvey Award for best continuing/limited series and was nominated for a Shuster Award. Adrian Alphona decided to leave the series, along with co-creator Brian K. Vaughan, after issue #24 of the second volume of the title, having drawn nearly fifty issues, with only two delays and three guest spots from other artists.

Adrian Alphona is known for his intricate linework, incredible grasp of the human figure, as well as a good understanding of teen fashion. Many fans of Runawayshave commented that the characters actually look like people you could find in Los Angeles, the city which provides the primary setting for the title.

Other work from Alphona has been sparse, but has included:

2003 - Inhumans #7 (Cover)
2003 - Mystique #7 (Cover)
2006 - All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7
2006 - All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8
2007 - All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11
2007 - All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #12
2007 - Street Fighter II (2005) TPB Vol. 04 (Inks)

Alphona was set to pencil the second volume of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane with Terry Moore writing. However, due to a rumoured conflict, he was replaced on the title by Humberto Ramos. According to sources at Marvel, he has gone to find work outside the comics field, which is a real shame; however, he did provide an incentive cover for Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1:

The A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators: Index

As you may know, I am a British Citizen, who is now a Resident of Canada. I have lived here for about 4 years, and while I will always be British, I feel it is time to show some love for the country that has accepted me as one of its own, warts and all :)

I did have an article planned on the new influx of British writers into the US comic market, but I got to thinking, no-one ever really talks about all the talented creators who come out of Canada. Much like many Hollywood movie stars and writers, there are actually a large amount of Canadians working in the industry. People just don't realise, because they walk, talk and act the same as Americans. We are like a secret invasion force, spreading throughout the US and slowly taking it over, BWHAHAHAHAHA.... Dammit, I'm not supposed to talk about the master plan!

In honour of everything Canada has given me, and in thanks to the city of Victoria, which helped me rediscover comic books, I give you:

The A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators

Check back weekly, or... whenever I remember to do this :-P

Weekly Shipping list for Wed 13 August 2021

Tuesday, August 12, 2021

Cleaning Out the Gutters - Discussing LITG V. 2 #170

The Great British Comics Exhibition

My God, I'd almost consider flying back to the UK for this. Rich is a lucky bastard to get his hands on such a great opportunity. Well, less lucky that just good at his job. All the great comics of my youth *sigh*. They had an comic art exhibition up in Vancouver while I was there last month to see Iron Maiden. We didn't go in though because we only had an hour before the couch (coach back home I mean. A couch would be much cooler obviously) back home *sob*

Kick-Ass cross-over

That Mark Millar is one cheeky bastard! You have to love him though. Who else could make ludicrous claims like they reinvented the superhero genre and get away with it?? I think that'll be the extent of how Kick-Ass crosses with his other Marvel titles though. I doubt Marvel will want readers of his all-ages stuff going over and reading stuff like he had on the last page of Kick-Ass #3. It's pretty much a salutation in Scotland I hear :-)

Bryan Talbot is back

Reposted from CBR:

This is a page from Brian's new series Grandville. It looks awesome. Brian Talbot is such a wonderful artist, If you haven't read Alice in Sunderland, go and buy it now, it is amazing

That's about all that caught my attention..... bye!

On House Decorating and... Glycon?

OK, so everyone (everyone I know who likes comics anyway) has been telling me to get a copy of Alex Robinson's Too Cool to be Forgotten. In order to find out a little more about it I headed to the Top Shelf Website. While I was on the site I had a look at all the Alan Moore stuff they sell.

It may surprise some people to know, but there is some Alan Moore stuff I don't own. Actually, I only really got back into reading comics about 3 years ago. I used to read a lot until I went to University. At University I had to live on my student loan, with no money from my parents (I am the last child of 5, and they were in their 60s). After tuition fees, rent, and textbooks this left me precious little money for anything. In fact I used to live on £5 a week grocery money. I had to stop reading comics, buying CDs, and the only books I could afford were from charity shops. After I finished University, I worked for two years in a town where the nearest comic shop was in London (70 miles away). Then after my girlfriend's family moved to Canada I sold almost everything I owned, and blew all my money on a flight to Canada, and international student fees at a college here (about $15000). So followed another year of abject poverty, dosing down in her parent's house.

So, long story short, I missed out on comics from about 1999-2005. But, I am now back into comics, and live in Victoria B.C. which is a comic book mecca, we have 5 comic book shops in town!!!!

Anyway, I saw a few things I wanted on the Top Cow site, such as a couple of his spoken word CDs, signed items etc. Then I found the Perfect Item for decorating our new apartment when we move at the end of the month:

It is signed and numbered, and obviously I just had to have it. He is going to be framed and put in our office/second bedroom. So, if you ever come to stay at our house, rest assured, Alan Moore will be watching over you while you sleep!!!

My wife said she wanted me to get rid of my comic/band posters. She didn't say anything about Lithographs. She won't have an objection to this will she? Hmm....

Sunday, August 10, 2021

Number Crunching - Playing around with the June 2008 Diamond Sales Estimates

The June 2008 Sales charts came out about a week or so ago. If you want to check out the full top 300 comics and top 100 Trades/OGNs, then I'd recommend heading over to CBR, they have the best run down.

Something to remember with these figures is that they are just sales estimates. That is, they are the number of units ordered by comic shops, and shipped by Diamond Distribution. Therefore, your comic store could have ordered 20,000 copies of Secret Invasion #3, and have been left with 18,000 copies. This would not register on the charts, and your comic store now has a life time supply of bird cage liner. Also, note that these figures only include the direct market, and not news stands, bookstores, international market etc.

I find just looking at the top #300 can be a little boring, because comparing the sales of a creator owned comic like Jack of Fables #23, with an massive universe-changing sales monster like Secret Invasion #3 is a little unfair really. So, what I have done is broken up the top 10 selling releases (if 10 titles were released) for the top 10 selling companies. Then I have ranked the top 10 non-superhero comics, the top 10 selling comics I bought, the bottom ten selling comics I bought, and the the full charts for creator owned comics.

The fact that blogger does not like tables, and needs some crazy HTML has made this exercise very tricky, so if you spot and mistakes or typos, please let me know :-)

Top Ranking Titles for the Top 10 Selling Companies

#1 Marvel

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Secret Invasion #3	175,649
2	Ultimate Origins #1	136,351
3	New Avengers #42	108,442
4	Wolverine #66	97,978
5	Ultimates 3 #4	95,641
6	Mighty Avengers #15	93,968
7	Hulk #4	90,555
8	Avengers Invaders #2	82,972
9	Uncanny X Men #499	81,060
10	Captain America #39	79,348

#2 DC

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Final Crisis #2	126,020
2	Justice League of America #22	84,971
3	Justice Society of America #16	77,290
4	Trinity #1	70,400
5	Green Lantern #32	64,807
6	Trinity #2	63,565
7	Trinity #3	60,949
8	Trinity #4	58,729
9	Superman #677	54,607
10	Titans #3	54,485

#3 Dark Horse

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Buffy the Vampire Slayer#15	80,424
2	Star Wars Legacy #25	29,533
3	Star Wars Dark Times #12	23,876
4	Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #30	21,905
5	Star Wars Rebellion #14	18,566
6	BPRD War On Frogs #1	16,791
7	BPRD Ectoplasmic Man	16,057
8	Abe Sapien the Drowning #5	14,864
9	Grendel Behold the Devil #8	10,654
8	Goon #25	10,063

#4 IDW

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Angel After the Fall #8	47,864
2	Angel After the Fall #9	47,058
3	Transformers Movie Sequel Reign of Starscream #2	14,322
4	Transformers Movie Prequel Special	10,928
5	Transformers Spotlight Cyclonus	10,801
6	Transformers Spotlight Wheelie	10,405
7	Star Trek Assignment Earth #2	9,324
8	Locke and Key #5	9,192
9	Star Trek New Frontier #3	9,065
10	Doctor Who Classics #7	6,312

#5 Image

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Spawn #179	19,749
2	Magdalena Daredevil	17,172
3	Invincible #50	16,722
4	Witchblade #118	14,767
5	Darkness #4	14,336
6	First Born Aftermath	11,706
7	Amory Wars II #1	9,398
8	Madman Atomic Comics #9	8,474
9	Pilot Season Lady Pendragon #1	7,330
10	Red Mass for Mars #1	6,366

#6 Dynamite Entertainment

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Project Superpowers #4	33,107
2	Boys #19	27,563
3	Red Sonja #34	15,300
4	Zorro #4	12,351
5	Man With No Name #2	9,936
6	New Battlestar Galactica Season Zero #9	8,889
7	Darkness vs Eva #4	8,449
8	Battlestar Galactica Origins #6	8,029

#7 Avatar

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	No Hero #0	15,212
2	Anna Mercury #2	10,669
3	Doktor Sleepless #7	9,403
4	Streets of Glory #5	6,459
5	Narcopolis #3	4,097

#8 Devil's Due

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Hack Slash #12	6,132
2	Worlds of Dungeons and Dragons #2	6,107
3	Dragonlance Chronicles v3 #12	5,447
4	Drafted #8	2,572

#9 Zenoscope Entertainment

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Grimm Fairy Tales #27	9,662
2	Tales From Wonderland Mad Hatter #1	8,156

#10 Boom!

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Warhammer Condemned By Fire #2	3,760
2	Blood Bowl #1	3,560
3	Fall of Cthulhu #13	3,477
4	Cthulhu Tales #3	3,423
5	Scream Queen #1	3,012

Top 10 Non-Superhero Comics

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Buffy the Vampire Slayer #15	80,424
2	Dark Tower Long Road Home #4	79,231
3	Angel After the Fall #8	47,864
4	Angel After the Fall #9	47,058
5	Punisher #58	29,78
6	Star Wars Legacy #25	29,533
7	Boys #19	27,563
8	Star Wars Dark Times #12	23,876
9	World of Warcraft #8	23,299
10	Punisher Max Little Black Book	22,815

I've counted the Punisher Max titles as non-superhero because they are more war/crime related. Punsher War Journal would most likely count as superhero related though.

Highest selling 10 titles I read

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Final Crisis #2	126,020
3	Wolverine #66	97,978
3	Justice League of America #22	84,971
4	Avengers Invaders #2	82,972
5	Uncanny X Men #499	81,060
6	Captain America #39	79,348
7	Dark Tower Long Road Home #4	79,231
8	Justice Society of America #16	77,290
9	X Men Legacy #213	71,858
10	Trinity #1	70,400

Lowest selling 10 titles I read

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Streets of Glory #5	6,459
3	Doctor Who Classics #7	6,312
3	Fear Agent #22	5,271
4	Elephantmen #12	5,203
5	Local #12	4,978
6	Crossing Midnight #19	4,934
7	Dead Space #4	4,855
8	Narcopolis #3	4,450
9	X Men Legacy #213	4,097
10	Charlatan Ball #1	3,384

Creator Owned Charts

Rank	Title	Reported Units Shipped
1	Kick Ass #3	50,871
2	Project Superpowers #4	33,107
3	Boys #19	27,563
4	Spawn #179	19,749
5	BPRD War On Frogs #1	16,791
6	Jack of Fables #23	16,136
7	BPRD Ectoplasmic Man	16,057
8	Criminal v2 #3	15,833
9	No Hero #0	15,212
10	Ex Machina #37	14,913
11	Abe Sapien the Drowning #5	14,864
12	Rasl #2	14,048
13	War Is Hell First Flight Phantom Eagle #4	11,759
14	Tor #2	11,095
15	100 Bullets #92	10,791
16	Anna Mercury #2	10,669
17	Grendel Behold the Devil #8	10,654
18	Goon #25	10,063
19	DMZ #32	9,755
20	Doktor Sleepless #7	9,403
21	Locke and Key #5	9,192
22	Young Liars #4	8,586
23	Madman Atomic Comics #9	8,474
24	Scalped #18	7,017
25	Streets of Glory #5	6,459
26	American Splendor Season Two #3	5,726
27	Vinyl Underground #9	5,442
28	Programme #12	5,442
29	Fear Agent #22	5,271
30	Elephantmen #12	5,203
31	Fallen Angel #27	5,046
32	Fear Agent #21	4,978
33	Local #12	4,934
34	Crossing Midnight #19	4,855
35	Duo Stars #1	4,772
36	Casey Blue Beyond Tomorrow #2	4,723
37	Bomb Queen V #2	4,494
38	Brit #6	4,137
39	Narcopolis #3	4,097
40	Knights of the Dinner Table #140	4,073
41	Rex Mundi #12	3,452
42	FX #4	3,442
43	Charlatan Ball #1	3,384
44	Kill All Parents #1	3,330
45	Scream Queen #1	3,012
46	Fire and Brimstone #1	2,988
47	Sparks #1	2,953
48	Everybodys Dead #4	2,934
49	Voyages of Shebuccaneer #1	2,914
50	Proof #9	2,890
51	Gold Digger #97	2,714
52	Succubus #1	2,680
53	My Inner Bimbo #5	2,626
54	Gemini #2	2,582
53	Drafted #8	2,572
54	Vix #1	2,547

Maybe next month I'll do the Top 10 comics featuring Vampires, Top 10 comics featuring Bananas, Top 10 featuring protagonists called Dave. I'll take requests :-)

Trawling the Internets - Issue #2

News:

Leah Moore and John Reppion are having a sale at their online store. They have a heap of good stuff for sale, including full runs of The Darkness vs. Eva - Daughter of Dracula, Witchblade - Shades of Gray, as well as the Albion TPB, the Raise the Dead HC, and John's non-fiction work 800 years of Haunted Liverpool. They will sign everything sold, and they will dedicate it if you leave your name at the checkout. So, head over their for some great bargain, I bought the lot, except John's book, which I just ordered the week before, D'oh!

There is going to be a Zombie Walk in Vancouver on August 16th:

I originally spotted this on Warren Ellis' blog, but thought I would re-post it, as it is so close to where I live. If anyone wants to go up. I'll definitely come, I don't drive though, and the bus is WAY to much hassle for just one day. Plus, I'd rather not take the greyhound and end up getting decapitated :) With all the people in Zombie makeup no-one would even noticed I'd been killed!!!!!!

Ben Templesmith has put a page of original art for sale on eBay. The piece is page 12 from issue #5 of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (It Only Hurts When I Pee)

I planned to bid on it, but the price keeps flying up, and if I know eBay, the price will triple in the last minute of the auction. If any rich reader out there would like to show their appreciation for my unpaid efforts to keep them entertained, this would be a great token of gratitude :-D

Warren Ellis has told people on his blog that he "wrote a bunch of the groundwork, backstory and structure on the forthcoming EA videogame Dead Space". This game recently had a 5 part prequel comic written by Anthony Johnston, with artwork by Ben Templesmith. The comic was 100% awesome, I wonder if the game will be release on the Wii....

Quotes of the Week:

Matt Fraction: "Will there be a WATCHMEN movie novelization? Boy I sure hope so"

Ben Templesmith: "If there is such a thing as an omnipotent god, pretty sure 90% of his time is taken up by watching people wanking."

Dwight L. MacPherson: "I think Metallica were replaced by Skrulls after "And Justice For All."

Comic Creator FlickR pictures:

New Webcomic releases:

FreakAngels Episode #23

The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo installment #83

Dark Horse Present #13

The Night Owls

Road

Supertron

Melody

The Black Cherry Bombs

Pray for Death

Teaser art:

Cover to FreakAngels Signed HardCover

Crossed #2 Cover

Upcoming pages from Murderdrome by Al Ewing and P.J. Holden

If You have anything you want featuring here, please just send me an email. Promo art for a project you want pushing, funny links you found, webcomics you think should be featured, anything really. It means I don't have to hunt around the net as much :)

Saturday, August 9, 2021

Comic Book Review - Crossed #0

Up for review - Crossed #0

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Jacen Burrows

First off, let me make it clear that Crossed #0 is not a preview book. This does not contain concept art or teaser images, this is the first part of the story, consider it the first 10 minutes of a movie if you will. The #0 is something that Avatar Press have been trying out on a few series recently. The idea is that you get the first 11 pages of the story for only $1. These 11 pages will not appear in the #1 issue of the series.

If you have clicked the above link to read the blurb on the title you will have gleaned that this is a horror story, involving the end of civilization. It's a relatively common theme in horror, and is the basis for countless zombie movies. This is not a zombie tale though, this is something quite different.

The story opens with a narrator talking about the past, about the days before the big disaster. We are then introduced to our narrator, who is a drifter, with a mysterious past, who likes to keep to himself. He is sitting in a diner one Sunday night, when a man wanders in, and drops what seems to be someone's spine and ribcage onto the counter. The man is covered in blood, has an insane grin, and his face shows the first signs of the burned flesh facial markings we can see on the cover image. People don't take the man seriously, thinking he is in fancy dress, until he bites the diner owners nose off. Things then start to go down hill very rapidly, as more of these insane grinning people turn up and start causing chaos. The people that have been bitten also seem to become insane, and begin attacking more people. At the close of the prologue, we see a jumbo jet falling out of the sky as the pilots have gone insane with the 'Crossed' infection, and suddenly everything goes white, as the nearby Nuclear facility explodes. The narrator tells us that he later found out that the facility workers had become 'Crossed', and decided to pull out the control rods, beginning a Nuclear chain reaction. So begins the end of the world, and the start of our story. We are left with our narrator, and a small group of survivors, who we can assume are the protagonists of this story.

It is a real whirlwind of an issue. Garth Ennis has an excellent sense of pacing here, and manages to give you just enough in 11 pages to keep you hooked, but leaves out just enough to leave you wanting more. You might be assuming that this is a zombie series. Indeed, it has several of the hallmarks of the genre, with the post-apocalyptic setting, and the infection though biting. This is quite different though, the infected, or 'Crossed' are not your average stumbling drooling zombies you can just run around and avoid, they are very much alive. The 'Crossed', seem to have the same mental capacity as humans, but they are completely insane, with a taste for destruction, violence, and murder. With zombie movies it is always a temptation to compare back to George A. Romero's Dead movies. If I were to compare this story to any previous work, it would have to be the little known George A. Romero film, The Crazies. I'm not saying that Ennis has ripped him off here, but if you are currently trying to think of an original horror concept, don't bother, Romero has probably already done it :) In The Crazies, a town of people are infected by an experimental military gas (or insert dodgy reason here), and go on a rampage: burning down houses, murdering people, and there is even a violent incestuous rape scene (remember that this was in the 1970s).

The Crossed looks set to be a really great series. It seems that the only good horror stories are told in comics nowadays. All the new Hollywood horror movies are just shock filled slasher films, with little or no substance. This is the sort of story that you would see from George A. Romero or Dario Argento. Absolutely brilliant!

Enough about the story, what about the art? The art for the issue is supplied by Jacen Burrows. This is his third collaboration with Garth Ennis, with their previous titles being Chronicles of Wormwood, and 303. He has also worked extensively on titles with Warren Ellis and Alan Moore. His artwork here is absolutely perfect. He has the ability to do extreme gore, but at the same time seems to be a master at conveying human emotion. Which I think will be very important in this title. His art gives the faces of the Crossed a really creepy feeling, most likely imparted by the insane grins he draws on them. The artwork for the last page is a view over the small town where the tale opens. We see fires starting all over the town, cars stopped, people coming out of their homes, and in the background we can see a rising mushroom cloud from the town's Nuclear facility. The scene is amazing, the juxtaposition of this small peaceful town, and these acts of violence and destruction is very eerie. If you look very closely, right at the bottom edge of the image, you can see one of the infected having sex with a corpse - Yep, Garth Ennis is definitely writing this!!

So, if you haven't bought this yet you either don't like horror, don't like Garth Ennis, or you think that there is nothing to see in a #0 issue. I can't help you with the first two, but I can assure you there is a lot to see here. Warren Ellis has reported on his mailing list that many people did not pick up the #0 issue of his new Avatar series, No Hero, for this exact reason, and has told people that is essential to the story. I know that several smaller comic stores won't take the risk of stocking titles by smaller publishers like Avatar, Dynamite, IDW etc. But if your store is any good they will order this title in for you, because it doesn't cost them any extra money. If they still refuse to do this, tear the owner's nose of with your teeth, then come home and buy it online directly from Avatar's store. They have a really good online store, and you can even order single issues for series that came out from them a few years ago. Good stuff!

Grade: 10 out of 10

Best line: "But when Jim fit a stubby erection in the wound he'd widened with the butcher knife, I was no less useful than before."

Friday, August 8, 2021

Comic Book Covers of the Week - Week of Wednesday 06 August 2021

It's time for a new feature! The plan is, I look through all the comics that have come out this week and pick out which ones have the nicest covers. It's a simple idea, but it could be fun.

If you want to see a list of comics released this week, with hover links showing all their covers, then click here.

[ED note, this feature has actually appeared on the blog before. I wasn't really making a serious effort at blogging back then though, but I thought I would dredge this feature up and see if people liked it]

Favourite Covers:

This is the cover to House of Mystery #4, by Sam Weber. Sam Weber has been supplying some simply gorgeous covers to this series. This is possibly the best he has done so far. It takes elements from the story and arranges them into this beautifully painted montage. Outstanding.

This is the cover to Jack of Fables #24 by Brian Bolland. Brian Bolland is one of the greatest comic book artists of all time. You don't see him doing much nowadays, so it a real treat for me seeing these covers every month.

This menacing little cover is from Crossed #0, and is by Jacen Burrows. It's a great cover, because apart from being brilliantly drawn, it really stands out on the shelf. People are likely to see the face with the bloody cross on it, and want to see what it is all about, which is what a good cover should dot. I'll be reviewing this comic today, so look out for that later.

Other Great Covers This Week:

Twittering Away! 07-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

00:16 @idsharman Well Done mate! I'm glad we can get Wowio outside the states now. Though some content seems to have been removed. #

13:33 I've been to town too many times today. I'm sick of the Scum-Pussies and Jism-Monkeys. I have to venture out again, might take a gun! #

14:56 @templesmith that drives me mad too, what is with the fucked up Legal paper, it is really, really long. What is the point of it! #

15:33 @templesmith Sweet! #

15:43 @johnreppion haha! And I'm sure you informed him that Adam West was the one and only true Batman! Still haven't seen that, was it good? #

15:44 has to rush out again. why is this day off busier than an actual work day. Balls. #

19:55 @warrenellis RE: Children. Well said, and very true. #

20:10 @Avatarpress Got Crossed #0 today. Great stuff from Garth and Jacen. Gonna review it on my site tomorrow. Lots of cool stuff from u guys atm #

20:15 Does anyone else feel Nauseous when they hear Genesis P-Orridge's voice? He sounds so creepy, like he wants to sodomize me with a whisk. #

20:34 @khuxford Haha! #

20:35 @Remender That was a good link. My wife and I no longer use placcy bags, we use backpacks, or re-usable bags. Yeah... I rock ;-P #

20:43 @Remender My Lab does lots of work for the EPA, testing for toxins from plastics, pharmaceutics etc. It is frightening where they turn up. #

20:56 @Remender I've learn lots of stuff I could do without knowing. e.g. never eat microwave popcorn, the bag is lined with PFOA (carcinogen) #

21:01 @Remender We try not use ours much. They say something is safe, then 20 years later they tell you it might have given lots of people cancer. #

21:02 @khuxford Loads of stores up here will now give you 5c back for every bag you don't need, or reuse, it's a good idea. #

21:06 @khuxford Hah! Canada's pretty green. CC company emailed and said if I no longer get a paper statement, they will give $5 a month to charity #

21:08 My wife is out, and I can't be arsed to turn the lights on. Sitting here in pitch black, so lazy, and need tea! #

21:43 @tonymoore Maybe one could be you, and one your bowels. You could talk back and forth. There's a story in there somewhere... #

23:21 New blog post: Just give me a cup of coffee, and nobody needs to die today!! tinyurl.com/5wtch7 #

Thursday, August 7, 2021

Just give me a cup of coffee, and nobody needs to die today!!

This has bugger all to do with comics, but life isn't all comics right? Right???? Everyone loves a good rant, so here we go...

About a month ago I went into a rant on here about a stupid Anarchist bookshop in our neighbourhood. Well, the same people own the coffee shop next door called Cafe Fantastico. I mentioned in the previous post that they are really pretentious in there, all the furniture has been reclaimed from dumpsters (and looks like it too), and they heavily promote being environmentally friendly, like it is a cool thing to do, not for any real reason. In summary, they are fake hippies. They will tell you about their alternative lifestyle, them IM their buddies on their iPhone when you aren't looking.

I had to take a day off work today, because I just became a Permanent Resident of Canada and needed to get my Social Insurance number changed. In order to do this, I had to show them my PR card at their offices between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. which isn't terribly convenient if you work 30km away from the office. As I had the day off I decided to get a bunch of chores done in town. I had walked about 20km (I don't have a car, by choice) and had finally gotten home, when I realised I needed to go one more place. I headed out, feeling stressed and tired, and the temperature was about 100C (if felt like it anyway).

I really needed a coffee, and was passing Cafe Fantastico, so I thought fuck it! How can this go wrong?! I queued up for about 5 minutes, and gave my order for one large cup of coffee and a raspberry danish. All was going well. Then the guy asked me for payment, so I presented my debit card. "Gnarly! We totally don't take debit, bra!", he said down his nose at me, "we take cash, personal cheques, and credit cards". "But you have a debit machine right there", I responded, as I pointed at the counter. "Oh, we don't use it because it costs 25c every transaction", "I'll pay the extra money", "sorry duder, it's a policy". I didn't have anything else on me, so I told him to put it all back. He did not look happy!

Why don't they take debit? For a shop that openly promotes environmental activism, they have some pretty fucked up ideas. They will accept paper cheques, with non-biodegradable ink on them, and they serve drinks in paper cups, and food in paper bags. What a bunch of hypocrites! Also, they are tied in with the anarchist book shop and have this "fuck the Man" attitude, but they will accept credit cards!

Cafe Fantastico, I hope you get bought out by Starbucks. We really don't need any more Starbucks in this town, but that would probably be the biggest slap in the face you could get. I hope they also re-employ all of your fake hippies stoner dude employees. I would gladly choke down a crappy Starbucks latte just for the pleasure of seeing those obnoxious wankers dressed in the full barister getup.

What I'm Buying - Week of Wed 06-August-2008

Well, I had a day off work today to do a bunch of chores that could only be done during week days. Stupid government offices!

As I was downtown I thought what the Hell, may as well grab my comic order. Here's what I got:

Sorry about all the filler

Sorry it has just been auto scripts, shipping lists and stuff like that for the last couple of days. I took a day off work to do a whole bunch of chores today, I still have a load to do, but plan to post some proper stuff tonight, so check back later.

Ed

Twittering Away! 06-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

07:12 good morning world. The weather is going to be +30C today. Someone else want to cycle to work for me? groan! #

07:13 @phonogramcomic oh Gem, you are truly outrageous! #

09:23 estimated water losses at 40% - in need of Fremen Stillsuit to maintain bodily moisture in desert like climate... #

10:42 @rickiep00h What are you writing? #

12:38 @templesmith Happy Anniversary!!! #

12:42 @dlmacpherson Nice, didn't make it to LCS last week, so I've a DMTNT in my box too. It'll be a Dwight overload, or Mc attack if you prefer! #

12:56 @warrenellis Or a throne at least, check this link out: tinyurl.com/5oajgs #

13:06 @dlmacpherson Hah! Awesome! Sorry I had to put Mc, twitter needs a bigger word count. I hate when people write Kay, which they ALWAYS do! :) #

13:17 @Agent_M Scream for me Agent M, SCREAM FOR ME!!!!! #

13:59 Having a panic attack because you don't know what comics are in stores today? Don't worry, I've got you covered: tinyurl.com/54wrek #

16:58 @BenMcCool @templesmith Hah! Love it! 70% genitals eh? That sound like something I would like to see Ben draw! (did that sound gay?) #

17:24 @templesmith I think Richard Branson already owns one of those Islands. No surprise there. #

17:46 just did another 2h over-time. I need a new job, preferably one where people will pay me to write. Any takers?? #

21:07 ohhhhhh Purple Garden, your Chinese food is so tasty, yum yum! #

22:22 My wife is preparing Tea and Ice Cream, she is deserving of the highest praise #

22:37 @jasonaaron tempting :) #

22:38 My Carbon Footprint is 3 tonnes. Beat that! #

23:07 @mattfraction interesting idea! I just joined the group to support it. Thanks for the link. #

23:09 @khuxford Ha Ha...I wish we could get Cartoon Network up here, if only for Adult Swim, our cartoon channel blows #

23:19 dear iTunes, if this is a party shuffle, it would be the most fucked up Party of all time! #

Wednesday, August 6, 2021

Weekly Shipping list for Wed 06 August 2021

This is a general shipping list as sent out by Diamond Distribution to all stores in North America. Availability in your area may vary, so please check with your local comic store.

All data was provided courtesy of Chris Nolan and his Comic Books Beta Facebook application. Please hover over each title for information on the release:

This week I would like to give a big thank you to Bill down at Curious Comics in Victoria B.C. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up some issues of a couple of new/mini-series that I liked the look of. I asked Bill if he had the older issues in, so he got some in from the other Curious Comics stores, and what he couldn't source, he re-ordered from the supplier. Now that is service! If you are ever in Victoria or Nanaimo B.C. be sure to check them out. They are the best store I have ever used.

[Ed note: If you are viewing this by email or with a reader, you will may not be able to see the above list, because it is compiled by JavaScript. Please click the link to the original post to see the full shipping list]

Twittering Away! 05-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

08:23 Dear brain, why will you not kick in this morning. I think you might operate slower the hotter the temperature is. #

08:26 @sispurrier there was a free open-air Feist concert in my town last night, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of British Columbia #

08:30 @rickiep00h I must obey! #

09:04 @Spiraltwist Because all professors are sadistic, evil and twisted. They like to taunt you and drive you insane. #

09:47 @templesmith Agreed! Though I don't plan on getting porn downloads from twitter anyway ;-P #

09:52 @richjohnston I back you up 100% on the health care issue, how could people complaint? That is mind-boggling, I was chatting about this #

09:53 @richjohnston with templesmith last night. Many Americans take it as an insult when you complain about the healthcare system, they seem #

09:54 @richjohnston to think universal healthcare is the first step on the road to communism. Morons! #

09:59 @Christo70 sorry, I missed your reply there. Twitter is odd sometimes. I've not tried any of Landsdale's novels. I'll have to get one! #

10:19 now my blog has started to receive lots of traffic, do I have to be more interesting??? #

10:35 @Christo70 I'll be sure to get one. On a big novel binge ATM. Supposed to be cutting back, just bought a house, but screw the mortgage :) #

10:50 @Christo70 Thanks for the tip! #

10:54 @pauljholden ohhh, the weekly BK update. I look forward to it ;-P #

11:14 @ptimony @BenMcCool Profanisaurus? Is that that little swearword book that Viz put out years ago?? How do i remember that? #

11:29 @BenMcCool I haven't read Viz for about 10 years. My brother and I had the game on the Amiga. You had to do stuff like bounce around on.. #

11:29 @BenMcCool Buster gonads big bollocks. Great fun :) #

12:59 @leahmoore The guy downstairs from us used to Kylie Minogue, James and other crap till 4 am My wife called the police on him, problem gone! #

13:52 @rickiep00h It still sounds better than the crap fest that was St. Anger though #

14:00 Todays blog: If Alex Ross always uses real people as models. How did his obama shirt end up looking like goatse??? tinyurl.com/6brkz8 #

14:33 @rickiep00h Ahh, I don't have the Vinyl, the terrible drumming on st. Anger give me a headache. #

14:35 @richjohnston I've got your back tinyurl.com/6brkz8 It's all getting a little political this week. I had to have a rant :) #

14:49 @rickiep00h That could be fun. Have you heard the cover album where the drums are replaced by a metal chair. Hilarious! #

19:45 @templesmith RE: first cow milking www.testyfesty.com/ Just saw this on T.V. #

19:45 The HOTTEST event this summer: www.testyfesty.com/ #

20:11 @tonymoore I'm pretty such those bugs are just getting revenge on you :P #

22:38 @mattfraction Hahaha, don't breath the air dude!!! #

Tuesday, August 5, 2021

Cleaning Out the Gutters - Discussing LITG V. 2 #169

Sicko Socko

Apparently Rich got a lot of complaints about this post, but I have to say, I back him up all the way. I'm not saying it is bad to give money to comic creators in need, in fact I support, and donate money to the Hero Initiative, I have also been pimping out the upcoming Josh Mendez benefit book on this blog. I share his concern for regular US citizens who do not have a large fan base to appeal to for help. I have spoken with several US residents, who find it insulting when you ask them why they don't have a Universal Health care system (the ignorant ones anyway), they seem to think it is the first step down the road to communism, God forbid! I lived in England till I was 26, where we had the NHS. The NHS wasn't the greatest, but it was a shared expense, funded by National Insurance contributions. I now live in Canada. The system here is a little different: everyone who works has to pay about $50 a month for their medical coverage, which is a tiny bit more expensive than paying National Health contributions. Everyone gets medical care then, no matter whether they can afford to pay for it or not; it is sort of an honour system, as it is not deducted at source of pay like NI. It is essentially the same system, but the quality of service is infinitely better than that of the NHS. The system in the US is disgusting, it just increases the rich/poor divide, because the rich can afford good medical insurance, but the poor can't even receive medical treatment in most hospitals.

Matt fraction

Interesting news from Rich that Matt is going to become the sole writer of Uncanny. I suspected as much when he joined Brubaker on the title, but is nice to see it confirmed. Matt is a great writer, and it is awesome to see him doing so well. I just hope this doesn't mean he won't go back and do more Cassanova :)

P.S. Who is the evil genius who stuck Fraction and Remender together on Punisher War Journal? I salute your choice!

Joe Simon is a grumpy old get

Who'd have thought that Joe Simon would have such a mouth on him! He seems a bit of a curmudgeonly old bugger. I remember he came out and had a go at Ed Brubaker a while back for giving the new Cap a gun. You can get away with that sort of thing when you are comic book royalty, but surely there is a nicer way to conduct these things. Couldn't he have contacted Gerard and told him there were some discrepancies?? The poor guy, it must feel pretty crappy to have that said about you by such a legendary figure. I found Gerard's response was very measured and polite though. Well done to him!

The Dark Knight Review

I wasn't going to comment on this, because I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but Rich tells me that they received complaints about the review. Seriously???? How can you complain about someone else's opinion on a movie or comic? That is insanely stupid. If you ever find yourself emailing me about a bad review I have given to a comic or movie, do me a favour: go and stick your head in the oven first. How is one person's opinion any more valid than anyone else's? The world would be a very mundane place if we all liked the same things.

The Flash + LOSH

I was talking about this yesterday. These two things are definitely connected, trust me. Shooter will come off the Legion, and Geoff Johns will come on at some point. The appearance of the Legion in that recent Superman arc was probably the most interested people have been in them since DnA wrote them. Mark My words, next year, look out for Geoff Johns on The Flash and the Legion of Superheros!!!!!

Obama vs. Goatse

Rich pulled the link, for obvious reasons. Who hasn't seen Goatse before though. If you were stupid enough to click the link, then you shouldn't be allowed to use a computer in the first place :) My concern is this though: If Alex Ross always uses his friends and family as models, how did this end up looking like..... I'll leave it at that :-P

[Update]

I just read that someone suggested the Rich was being racist with his link. This is so fucking stupid it hurts! Assuming that people may find something racist, when it really isn't, is actually quite insulting to the person (or group of people) that you have made the assumption on behalf of. This is the sort of mentality you see on the US news stations a lot. I have heard people on the news say that they plan to vote for Barack Obama BECAUSE he is Black, and they want to show that they aren't racist. These people are just as racist as those people that are not going to vote for him for the same reason. Middle America: Just because you vote for the Black guy it doesn't mean you stop being a racist. You accomplish this through your every day actions. vote for Barack Obama because you like what he has to say, and because you believe his message. Any other reason is just a wasted vote.

Sorry about the rant, but that just got on my tits!

[/Update]

Twittering Away! 04-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

01:01 @rickiep00h No disassemble! #

01:06 @pauljholden I love Al Ewing. Dead Signal was great, and Tempest was hilarious! I just ordered El Sombra, the book he did on Abaddon #

01:07 @pauljholden I'm doing a big order of books and Dredd/Nemesis/SD collections from the UK. The distribution over here sucks :( #

01:09 says X-Files 2 played like a forgettable monster-of-the-week episode. It had no ending, just sputtered out like an old junker car. So sad :( #

03:18 @jasonaaron I just read Hellblazer #246, and I really enjoyed it. It was a good story, and you got the lingo down just right. Nice Work! #

13:53 @BrianLynch Being a diiiiiiirty little slut???? #

13:55 Morning to t'internet! I plan to spend the day completely naked. Please ask if you want my webcam turned on!!! #

14:01 @BenMcCool You mean HSM3 - It looks totally rad! Whatevs to all da haters!! #

14:02 @johnreppion do they still have the paperclip on Word? Time to give him the finger! #

14:09 @templesmith Art without suffering? Will your next book be a kids story? Teddy Bears, flowers, happy ponies? #

14:12 @mckelvie What a dick! You should insist on getting them re-adjusted for free #

14:14 is surprisingly not overwhelmed by naked webcam requests. I can do star jumps for your viewing enjoyment! #

14:20 @cascio most peoples are uneven. Just one of the beautiful imperfections of the human body :) #

14:23 @leahmoore hahahahahahah! Sorry about that! I'm in a strange mood today. It's a bank holiday, yay! #

14:46 @rickiep00h Listening to a little bit of Rush? Working man is a classic! #

15:08 @richjohnston so, many complaints about the Goatse link yet???? Hahah! #

15:09 @phonogramcomic Is Lauren Laverne still a public figure over there? #

15:46 @wilw My wife is trying t get me back into D&D. I think she might be planning to have an affair while I am off slaying orcs #

15:47 @templesmith Would you sign my body parts if I severed them and sent them to you?! #

16:06 says Happy Birthday to British Columbia. Enjoy you free Feist/Sarah McClaughlan concert downtown. #

16:12 @khuxford Nice job, what you off to see? #

16:31 @wilw @chrishanel Twitter D&D could actually work out really well. What a great idea! #

16:55 @swierczy I hope you mean the comic. I have a dirty mind :) #

17:11 Support the CBLDF and Hero Initiative, new article on my blog tiny.cc/TyWAk #

18:52 @dlmacpherson Sweet! Do you have pictures of your mullet??? #

19:14 @dlmacpherson Looking pretty cool my friend! There is a hint of party in the back :) #

19:16 @dlmacpherson This was my college days: tinyurl.com/5w4g4t #

19:16 @leahmoore I hope that doesn't mean you don't normally wash it :P #

19:17 I can hear the free Feaist concert in my living room, it is 2km away. Very annoying! #

19:21 It is so hot that my flesh just set on fire. I better go water the plants before the shrivel up and die... #

20:36 @rickiep00h you lost me on the cybernetic prosthetics. #

20:37 @mckelvie I agree, I didn't see that one coming a all #

20:38 @remender RE: new Avatar. You're looking very sharp there! #

21:01 shocked at what he just read in LITG, after writing this blog entry earlier (was going to post it a couple of days ago) tiny.cc/3qYHo #

21:12 @rickiep00h Ahhhhhhh, now I get it :) I'd love to turn up at work like that, a bit like Chad Vader #

21:12 @templesmith important question: did you give him any money though, or just ignore the holy sign and move on???? #

21:19 Watch as I spoil DC's next big resurrection tiny.cc/3qYHo Comic creators beware, I might figure out YOUR plot next!!! Bwahaha! #

21:25 @templesmith Very rational thinking :) Bwhaha! #

21:37 @Remender I don't even know what "ganking" is :) #

21:41 @templesmith ohhhhh, but a Universal health system would make you all commies like us Canadians #

21:58 @templesmith I've just never gotten the mentality. It just increases the rich/poor divide. The poor to get sick and.. don't get me started.. #

22:28 can hear Feist singing the 1234 song drifting up on the evening wind from downtown #

22:31 @templesmith what the heck are you sketching that you can get them down so fast? Commissions? #

22:50 @templesmith ahh right then. Did you read this news (thought you would be interested):tinyurl.com/6hdz4w #

Monday, August 4, 2021

The Rumour Mill: The Return of the Flash, But Not the One You Are Thinking [UPDATED]

A while ago, I called it that Rick Remender would be the new writer for Booster Gold. I put this together from a few scraps of information, and a tonne of gut feeling. Sadly Rick sent me a message to let me know that he is only one for one arc, so that made me sad :(

I'm going to try it again though. I am remarkably good at putting together little scraps of info, and figuring out upcoming plots. You never want to watch a murder mystery with me! Today's prediction is one that I have had on my mind for several months now, and have been meaning to post about here.

By now everybody knows that Barry Allen has returned from the "dead". I use inverted commas because it will most likely turn out that he never really died at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and some shaky explanation will be given to explain where he has been. Barry Allen returned at the end of Final Crisis #2, and Geoff Johns is going to be writing a new mini series about this incarnation of the Flash.

Wally West returned last year at the end of the JLA/JSA crossover The Lightning Saga. Several members of the Legion of Super-Heroes travel to the present to resurrect an ally via lightning rods. The locations the Legion travels to include the spots where Barry Allen and Wally West gained their powers as well as the last spots on Earth where Barry appeared before his death. Both Batman and Hal Jordan realized this fact and believed Barry's return is imminent. However, they instead retrieved Wally, Linda and his twin children, Iris and Jai, who appeared to have aged several years. Wally was immediately offered membership in the Justice League, which he accepted. Brainiac 5 implied West's return was a freak accident and that they still retrieved the correct person they wanted and he was encased in one of the lightning rods used in the resurrection ceremony.

The resurrection of Wally West happened at a time when most titles in the DC universe were supposed to be aligned with each other, through the weekly Countdown comic. At seemingly the same time as Wally west died, Bart Allen had been killed over in The Flash. Bart died due to a machine built by Inertia which drained the Speed Force from him, leaving him surrounded by the Rogues and leading to the appearance of the Black Flash. Bart fought the Rogues before chasing after Inertia. After catching and beating Inertia, Bart again fought the Rogues. Panicked, Captain Cold, Heatwave, and Weather Wizard strike him down fatally.

Want to know what I think:

Bart Allen's essence was absorbed into the legionnaires' lightening rod, which they took back to the future with them. This lightening rod later appeared in an issue of Superman written by Geoff Johns. Superman asked why they had the rod, what they were doing with it, but a battle broke out, and we didn't get the answer.

Geoff is writing Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. I think that Bart Allen's essence will return from the lightening rod, and he will save the day. Braniac 5 knew what was going to happen to Bart, that is why he sent the legionaire back to EXACTLY this time.

Expect to see FC:Lo3E followed up by a new ongoing title called The Flash and the Legion of Superheros.

You all owe me a beer if I am right

[Update]

In the weirdest and creepiest coincidence, I just read the latests LITG (which will be discussed tomorrow in this week's Comic Book Upskirt) and read this:

One San Diegoer tells me, "I was waiting at the Aspen booth at Comic-Con getting a sketch done by current Legion Artist Francis Manapul, when Geoff Johns came over and interrupted to talk to him for a second. Johns had a copy of the first trade from his first Teen Titans trade, and handed it to Manapul, which Manapul said, ‘I eventually did get my hands on a copy and read it last night.’ The two of them talked about Bart Allen for a couple of minutes, with Manapul being very complimentary of how he was written. Johns looked around, saw people were watching, and turned his back and the two of them continued to talk inaudibly for about 10 minutes about something before Johns left.

"Combine that with the vague question that Johns asked at one panel: ‘Does anyone miss Bart Allen?’ and there has to be something there."

I dunno. You can't spend ten minutes having a friendly chat without people reading something into it.

I would like to specify that I have honestly been thinking about posting this for a long time, and had not read the LITG article before at all.

That is just plain screwed up. Hey DC: give me a shout if you need some less predictable plots :-P

[/update]

[Update 2]

Kevin Huxford has reported over at his awesome Schwapp blog that this exchange was heard at DC's WW:Chicago Panel

Will they bring back Bart Allen? "You have read the first issue of 'Legion of Three Worlds,' right?" Didio asked, and Johns hid his head in his hands.
"I haven't read it," Wayne said. "It hasn't come out."
"No plans at this time," Didio came back. "How did I cover, Geoff?
Someone is going to owe me a beer!!![/Update 2]

Show Your Support For the CBLDF and the Hero Initiative

It you are a reader of comic books, then you will most likely be familiar with these two causes. If you are not, then let me explain what they do.

The Comic Book legal defense fund is a United States non-profit organization, created in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses. The CBLDF has several big name supporters in the industry, such as Neil Gaiman, Jeff smith, Frank Miller, and Peter David. Listen to why they give their support to this cause:

The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It's a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.

There are several ways that you can support these causes. You can donate to the CBLDF though their website, or buy exclusive, or singed books and other items from their online store. The CBLDF often have a booth at many popular conventions, where they sell exclusive items and accept donations. Recently, Image comics released a CBLDF benefit book called Liberty Comics, from which all proceeds went to the CBLDF. I can't recommend this comic highly enough, it is packed to the brim with great stories from some of today's top writers and artists. The Hero Initiative accept donations through their website, and they also hold several charity auctions on eBay

There is another way in which you can contribute to both of these causes though. You can show your support for these foundations through Facebook's Causes application. With this application you can join your selected cause and donate money, or you can just join to show your support. You are also able to take a pledge to recruit others to the cause, with the hope that they will join, and donated money, or will encourage others to join. I think this is a wonderful little idea to promote these great causes, and I urge everyone reading to join up. For the CBLDF click here, or for the Hero Initiative click here.

I donated to both of these causes recently. I wasn't able to donate a lot, because my wife and I just laid down about 75% of our saving on the deposit for our first house, so we are cutting back a bit at the moment. I donated $25 to the CBLDF, and $40 to the Hero Initiative. I was shocked to find out that this made me one of the top 5 donors to either of these causes. I'm not showing off, I actually want you to join, and push my donation lower on that list! Facebook will allow you to recruit a limit of 24 people each day to a cause. I only started inviting people to join the Hero Initiative last night. I invited 20 people, but no-one that I invited has joined yet. I have actually invited 254 people to join the CBLDF cause on Facebook. Out of those 254 invites, I have only managed to recruit 5 people. That is quite saddening, especially considering I am "friends" with many comic book creators on Facebook. Of these 5 people, I know that 3 of them do not even read comics! The other recruits were my friend Ian Murphy, who is the Managing Editor over at LiveWire World, and superstar artist (and all-round top bloke) John McCrea.

So, if I have sent you an invite to either of these causes on Facebook, please accept them. Even if you don't want to donate. Someone else could read the news on your page that you have joined, and that could inspire them to join. The more people who have joined the cause, the more chance there is that someone will donate some money.

P.S. If you want to add me on Facebook, feel free to click here. I'm always up for chatting about comics, book, the news, or any other subject. I also play a lot of Scrabulous, if you are up for a game. Actually, it is called Wordscraper now, due to legal reasons.

Twittering Away! 03-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

04:20 @bclaymoore X-Men retreat should be in Victoria B.C. next year (my town) - it is where the X-mansion is in the movies!! #

04:24 @wilw Nice Holy Grail reference, you silly english k-nig-ht!!! #

04:27 @khuxford Damn that was bad! I remember the green laser lipstick! You know Abrams and Lindlof bought the Dark Tower rights? Sweet! #

04:30 It seems clubs are still packed to the brim full of wankers! Glad I chose the geek lifestyle. Less half naked ladies though :( #

04:41 @BenMcCool I wish your bio said "I'm an Alien, I'm a legal Alien, I'm an Englishman in New York" - That would make me smile :) #

05:27 at the club I thought it was a great idea to have two cans of red bull instead of another beer. Still awake at 5:30a.m.=tragic mistake #

06:45 7 a.m.?????? Time to go to bed. Crap! #

18:10 @khuxford RE:langorliers, the laser lipstick was Tommyknockers, getting confused #

18:11 @khuxford RE: Shining, yeah, that was a good movie, he made his own film based on the central concepts. Kubrick was a genius though #

18:12 @khuxford RE: Dark Tower. They are huge fans though. King actually acted as a consultant for the last 3 seasons of Lost. If you look.. #

18:13 @khuxford ..there are several references to the Dark Tower mythos in lost. The numbers, Charlie is thought to be based on Eddie Dean #

18:14 @khuxford Noz-o-la cola appears in the episode where they find the ballon. Homefully they can do it justice. Also, King sold the rights for #

18:14 @khuxford the movie for $19. If you've read the books, you'll get the reference :) #

18:15 Off out for dinner and to see the X-Files 2. Watch Short Circuit earlier. Johnny 5 is alive!!!! #

Regular Features

A-Z Lists

The A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators

Comic Book Covers of the Week

Cleaning Out the Gutters

Previewing...

The Rumour Mill

Trawling the Internets

The Weekly Shipping List

What's Pissing Me Off Today?

What's Pissing Me Off Today? Crappy Watchmen Merchandising!

Reviews

Comic Book Reviews

Movie Reviews

Book Reviews

The Tales of Alvin Maker, Book II: Red Prophet

News

Sunday, August 3, 2021

Twittering Away! 02-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

00:20 @khuxford Nah, the beta has crashed on me a couple of times. I switched to FF because Paypal and online banking say Safari is unsecured #

01:09 Good morning my British friends. The fact that you are all waking up indicates that I should be winding down for sleep #

17:54 @johnreppion Tut tut! What you gonna watch? #

17:55 feels bad after spending the day vegging on the couch watching bad 80s comedy movies #

18:00 @pauljholden Thanks for the boil info :) yummy! #

18:03 @wilw @cascio When I was a teen. I heard a noise in bed, I turned the light on, and the cat was chewing the head off a large Pheasant. #

18:04 @wilw @cascio There was blood soaked grain pouring out of its gullet. It was twice as big as the damn cat! Crazy thing! #

18:06 @BrianLynch TempleSITH? Puns are definitely the way to go :) I thought the two circles + line was your self-portrait? #

18:26 @templesmith Paris Hilton reading an ashcan of Welcome to Hoxford #1 - "That's totally hot". Templesmith blows his brains out :) #

18:52 @warrenellis RE:Kim Kardashian - You're lucky you don't. Think Jordan with a big ass and valley accent #

18:54 @johnreppion Hah! The beauty of really crappy horror films is that they are still enjoyable. Just watching cheap gore and bad acting is fun #

19:05 @johnreppion not MST3K material then. I like watching ones that scared me as a kid, and realizing that they were actually really crappy #

19:19 @johnreppion Yeah, that was a terrible movie. I've seen a couple of the sequels on late-night TV, and they are just painful. It's a shame.. #

19:19 @johnreppion that so many good Stephen King short stories get turned into such crappy movies #

19:25 @johnreppion True. IT featuring Tim Curry is fucking brilliant. Tim Curry scared me off clowns for life #

19:25 Right, I'm off out to a Club. I haven't been clubbing for about 5 years. I'll be out-of-place looking guy, drinking alone in the corner. #

Articles

Sorry

If you are seeing loads of random crap, don't worry, I haven't gone mad. I'm installing a top menu to make the blog layout better. Annoyingly you have to crate a post for everything you want to link to. Can't moan really, it's better than doing a proper website!

About Me

I am a 30 year old British Citizen living in Victoria, B.C. Canada.

I have an honours degree in Biology, and work as a Microbiologist. I am also a professionally trained musician, with a diploma from the Academy of Contemporary Music.

At Hypergeek, I discuss comic book news, review comics, and give my opinions on the industry in general. I am an aspiring writer of fiction, non-fiction, and comics. I am trying to write some proper stories and articles at the moment. This is why I started the blog, it is good writing practice, and keeps me aware of what is going on in the comic industry. Well, that, and I just love to talk about comics. If I talk about them to my wife any more I think she will divorce me, so you guys will have to suffer.

I am also very interested in amateur/professional photography. I shoot all sorts of subject matter, including portraiture, event photography, landscape photography, nature photography, and artistic photography. I shoot with a Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR, and a variety of professional lenses and flashes, which you can see here.

You can also find me on:

Saturday, August 2, 2021

Terry Moore Interviewed at LiveWire World

My friend Ian Murphy is the managing editor over at LiveWire World. He recently had the opportunity to interview writer/artist Terry Moore over the telephone. Head over and read the interview here.

It is a really good interview. Terry discusses Strangers in Paradise, his new series Echo, and future Marvel projects such as Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, and Runaways

Terry talked about doing the interview over on his blog, and he says:

I spoke recently with Ian Murphy at LiveWire World and he asked the questions I love most… mainly creative questions. He picked my brain about creating SiP and Marvel books and I told him a number of things I’ve never said before, in public.

It's a really insightful look into the mind of a wonderful creator, definitely worth a read. They will soon have a Warren Ellis interview up, so look out for that.

Trawling the Internets - Issue #1

If it's to little for a full post, and too big for a Tweet, it'll end up in the Odds & Ends file.

Quotes of the week:

Jason Aaron: If you're a comic creator who complains about having to do cons, then you've forgotten how much it sucks to work a real job.

Ben Templesmith: Doctors transplant TWO arms onto an armless 54 yr old man. All I can wonder, is if successful, will he be able to have a wank finally?

Teasers:

These teasers will probably only interest you if you like the same comics as me. If you don't, then I suggest you click here

Ben Templesmith Previews

Ben's been pimping out a bunch of tasty images for his new series Welcome to Hoxford. This series looks absolutely wicked:

Welcome to Hoxford #1 Preview

Preview of Welcome to Hoxford #2 art

Welcome to Hoxford #3 Cover A B

Check out this great GI Joe #0 cover

Ben's also signing a stack of drop ins to go with the Art of Wormwood. I plan to book mine this weekend. I suggest you do too.

Rick Remender posted this lovely Tony Moore cover to Fear Agent #27. He also posted art for Canete's cover to The End League #8, along with his rough pencils for Pages 1, 2, and 3.

Rick also put up the cover to Legion of the Supernatural #3

Friend of the blog Dwight L. MacPherson has put up a 5 page preview from the second issue of his upcoming title M theory

Links

The Government of Canada does these really cheesy adverts for Heritage Canada. They feature soft-focus Hallmark channel style versions of events like the discovery of Canada, the inspiration of Winnie the Pooh. I saw this one for Joe Shuster creating Superman, the other day. Oh Yeah! Canada is where it is at!

Great Little Podcast/Audio interview with Neil Gaiman here

I stole this link from a list of links Neil Gaiman had on his site the other day. Alan Moore tells you everything you need to know about the craft of comics writing. One of the best Alan Moore interviews I have read.

If you have been after the Bone-verse stories Rose and Stupid, Stupid Rat-tails, you are in luck, as they just got reprinted, and are available exclusively through the Bone store

Ed Brubaker is Interviewed on chuckpalahniuk.net

Factoid

Marvel is holding their annual X-Men retreat at the moment. Cooking up events for the X-Titles for the next year. Known attendees are Ed Brubaker, C.B. Cebulski, Brian Michael Bendis, and Mike Carey. This explains why Mike hasn't made a move in our Scrabulous game in the past week :) Though now they are scrapping Scrabulous, we'll have to start playing it's replacement: Wordscraper

Randomness

I imagine you have heard about the beheading on the Canadian Greyhound bus by now. Well, I posted the story on the London Zoo section of Warren Ellis' Whitechapel forums, and Jacen Burrows replied to say that this really freaked him out after having just drawing this image:

That image comes from Crossed, the new book from him and Garth Ennis. I believe the #0 issue is scheduled to ship next week. Be sure to check it out.

Twittering Away! 01-August-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

07:38 needs to go back to bed. I should have left for work 45 minutes ago, whoops! #

09:33 @warrenellis Great episode of FreakAngels this week. It cheered up my dull morning. Thanks for that! #

09:37 anyone know anything about quantifying Telomer alcohols. I can't get the sensitivity on my Mass Spectrometer. I want to go home! #

10:06 @BrianReed $3.73? Try moving to Canada, or better still the UK. You will acquire a new found appreciation for US fuel prices :) #

10:20 @dlmacpherson Looking at Sarah Wilkinson's SDCC pics, and came across this. Thought you might like it (lucky man!) tiny.cc/AmVwn #

10:54 @templesmith @dlmacpherson Being in Canada, and not feeling the direct effects, I'm finding the media coverage of the elections amusing. #

11:15 @Remender That's not the future, THAT IS NOW! AGRHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH! Blam! (gunshot to head) #

11:16 @dlmacpherson I feel the same way about my wife. Which you know obviously, you are a member of the fan club and all :) #

11:51 @templesmith I saw that episode. Screwed up. neo cons=liberals. What now? #

13:05 @sispurrier Hah! Tequila, it make you happy... #

13:25 @ohiorenee Thanks for the cafepress info. I had no idea about that. It shouldn't surprise me, their merchandise is pretty shoddy anyway #

13:27 @muraii @templesmith Sad as it is, good politics doesn't equal=interesting politics now. We love the US freak show. Canadian politics=yawn #

13:43 @muraii thats very true. How long till the advent of viral politics??? Hah! #

13:45 @templesmith I'm guessing you HAVE seen Spaceballs: The Movie #

14:06 @andydiggle Red or Green. I prefer Red. So damn tasty! #

16:36 @mckelvie @wilw I love it when people do that to completely inappropriate music, like say... didio. Hilarious #

16:38 @templesmith Can.not.wait.for.that. If you feel left out, I CAN send you a death threat.... oh, I'll just send another to Geoff Johns :P #

16:39 @dlmacpherson Have fun #

16:47 @mckelvie I know you like Feist. I thought you might find this interesting. It is the 150th anniversary of British Columbia on Monday, so... #

16:49 @mckelvie in my town they are doing a free show on the grounds of the legislative building. Feist, and Sarah Mclachlan. I reckon it is... #

16:50 @mckelvie gonna be pretty damn busy. No idea how they booked her now she is a mega-star tiny.cc/PD6n8 #

16:54 @dlmacpherson I'm sure you'll be fine buddy. you noticing any benefits from the walking yet? I cycle to work now, and I've not lost a pound! #

18:20 Finds himself at work at 18:30 on a Friday night, facing a 30km bike ride home, but you know what, IT'S A LONG WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #

21:04 @dlmacpherson That is amazing man! A true accomplishment. I feel pretty ashamed now. Especially since I just ate Ice cream for desert #

21:05 @dlmacpherson I seem to be able to do the excersize, but the diet part, no so much. You should trademark the McPherson plan!! #

21:10 @templesmith Ben, you are the most amusing person on twitter. You always seem to bring a smile to my face with your randomness #

21:31 @dlmacpherson ahhh, now I know the secret! I am too weak. Day job blues :) Stone??? You cheeky son of a.... #

21:33 Just wrote 2 pages of a comic I felt he just HAD to write. This is good. I doubt I will sleep tonight. Most excited I have been in a while #

23:16 @davidbishop Can't it be both? #

23:19 @BrianLynch Haha, you should have taken one of your books, rubbed their faces in it, and said NOW THAT'S A VAMPIRE BOOK KIDDIES! #

23:20 @PAPPADEMAS That LAPD quote was possibly the funniest moment in comedic history #

23:21 has about 30 tabs open, too much net, too little time. This is my Friday night? That is just sad... #

23:36 @khuxford gulp! Especially considering this is the beta of 3.0 for the mac #

Friday, August 1, 2021

What I'm Buying - Week of Wed 30-July-2008

It's a pretty small week, thank God! Here, is what will be waiting in my box down at Curious Comics on Saturday morning.

All data was provided courtesy of Chris Nolan and his Comic Books Beta Facebook application. Please hover over each title for information on the release:

Week of Wednesday 30-July-08

The Steve Niles Incident - Updated With Direct Quote From Steve Himself

I just received a reply from Steve about the incident, here is what he had to say

"I can't say much, but I can say I was not the one who made it physical and fortunately it ended quickly. Please tell everybody thanks for the support and I wish I could say more but the attack was related to the troubles I had a few years ago so I'm being told to stay mum while its looked into."

So, it would seem that some of the speculation as to he cause of the conflict was correct. Let's just leave it at that. Steve and Sarah are both great people and deserve some privacy. To those people dredging up the past, particularly the answer machine messages. Please stop, there are more important things in life.

P.S. Steve also said that he and Bernie Wrightson are already planning their next series to follow up on Dead She Said. So, keep an eye out for that. If you aren't reading Dead She Said, then make sure you pick up the issues when you in your LCS this weekend. It is fantastic!

Twittering Away! 31-July-08

Keep up with my sad Twitter life:

09:13 @sispurrier Get a glass, put beer in it, cover the top with cling film, poke a tiny hole in film. Flies go in, but can't get out, genius! #

09:14 Morning Cycling Soundtrack: 'The Perfect Element, Part 1' by Pain of Salvation. Nice! #

09:23 @raymondconlon I think you might find that character exists: Captain America #

09:40 @warrenellis I'd be up for that, I'll have to slip evil horses into every response though :) #

09:47 Fuck me, check out this guy dissing Neil Gaiman on his blog, kudos to Neil for responding in a civil way: journal.neilgaiman.com/ #

09:59 @leahmoore Curry?? What radio show is he on? #

12:50 @BenMcCool Evil - now set the web on fire #

12:52 @sispurrier Hah, I'm not surprised, the prairies are so fucking dull it would inspire me to commit random acts of violence! #

13:37 @NewsaramaBlog Hahahahaha! Very Funny! #

13:42 @templesmith You look like the guy that says "Are you sure this is the store you meant to come into, Sir?" before showing you the exit #

13:58 the replacement scrabulous: apps.new.facebook.com/wordscraper/ #

15:35 @drhorrible I though cafepress were a reputable company, how did they end up doing dodgy merchandise?? #

15:36 @Agent_M 8:23 on Saturday #

17:14 @khuxford Hahaha. I wonder where the traveling Pants will go next. I can't wait to find out... #

17:18 I love skipping lunch, then staying 2 hours late to fix a Mass Spectrometer. I LOVE riding home 30km without having eaten since 11 a.m. !! #

17:43 @templesmith That the way we roll up here. You have to do something to keep entertained after hours of boring prairie driving :) #

17:45 @johnreppion Nice one! I'm still at work without speakers, so I can't listen. Let me know if you get a stream going of it or something. #

22:51 top story on the CBC new (apart from the bus beheading) - Scrabulous taken offline. #

23:01 @Agent_M If you want to catalog comics for free, my buddy runs this awesome Facebook app: apps.new.facebook.com/comicbooks/ #

23:07 guy offered me a lift home while cycling home. I declined, cycled the extra 15km in rain, safe option, all bodily orifices are un-penetrated #

23:26 @khuxford Hey, you could always read the books the films are based on. Might add a whole new dimension :) #

23:26 @khuxford Jeez, there are 4 books, hopefully not going to be 4 films tinyurl.com/32sana #

23:28 @davidbishop That might be the weirdest tweet ever. I'm not sure whether to laugh or feel sad... #

23:30 Wowio has gone global. It is safe to say I will never be bored at work again :) www.wowio.com/ #

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Wednesday, August 27, 2021

Tuesday, August 26, 2021

Sunday, August 24, 2021

About the Creators

PJ Holden

Al Ewing

Friday, August 22, 2021

Action Figures

$100 Deluxe Action Figures

Memorabilia

Busts

Watchmen XBox

If you see anyone buying any of this bollocks (particularly the Xbox), please send me their names and addresses, so I can go to their houses and smash this crap up!

Thursday, August 21, 2021

Aardvark-Vanaheim

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Beserker

BOOM! Studios

Cartoon Books

Dark Horse

Devil's Due Publishing

DC

DC (Vertigo)

DC (Wildstorm)

Do Gooder

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IDW

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Radical Comics

Rebellion

Renegade

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Marvel

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Oni

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Wednesday, August 20, 2021

Tuesday, August 19, 2021

C is for Cooke, Darwyn Cooke!

Bibliography

General Crap:

What's Pissing Me Off Today?

DC Title Cancellations

Monday, August 18, 2021

Sunday, August 17, 2021

Saturday, August 16, 2021

Rumours:

Friend plug:

Quotes of the Week:

Drunk-Ass Comic creators

Ben Templesmith is Asking for Trouble

New Images from Phonogram 2

Emma Vieceli's Violet in the DFC

PJ Holden and Al Ewing's Murderdrome #0

Join the Gutsville Group on Facebook

Robert Kirkman's Mission Statement:

Webcomics That Came Out This Week:

Awesome Artwork We Bought:

New Watchmen Movie Pictures

That's it for this week folks!

Friday, August 15, 2021

B is for ............... Byrne, John Byrne!

Thursday, August 14, 2021

Comics

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Dark Horse

DC

Devil's Due

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