Works in Progress and Random Thoughts

“After a half century of devastating super powered conflicts ravaged the Earth causing a wake of severe collateral damage, the super powers establish a truce effectively ending the hostilities. The truce marked the beginning of a super powered cold war. That was the summer of 1986.More than two decades later the cold war is about to heat up, when a rebellious young group of super-villains inadvertently spark a disastrous chain of events forcing them to ultimately face a destiny they always hoped to evade, and possibly destroy a legacy.”

The above highlights the premise for a graphic novel, titled LEGACY, I am currently in the process of writing.

Aside from the above mentioned graphic novel I am working on, I have also revamped a script for the first issue of my most ambitious writing project yet. The first issue is to an epic sci-fi adventure titled TOMORROW NOW. The first arc of TOMORROW NOW is slated to run six issues but could be extended beyond that point as there are some exciting directions I can take the ensemble cast.

Two other titles, IN DER NACHT, and DEADLY UNION are

also in the works. Both are also planned to run six issues each. All three titles are radically different in that TOMORROW NOW is (as mentioned) a sci-fi epic, IN DER NACHT is straight up horror, and DEADLY UNION is a historical war story set during the Civil War. Despite being three separate titles they will all be tied together by a specific event (or series of events)

All three titles will work as stand alone stories, but of course can be read together in any order.

Some Quick Hits:

If you want someone to come to your wedding be sure you send them an invite. Otherwise don’t be surprised when they are not there.

Disney to Buy Marvel Comics: Maybe now

we can get that comic where the Punisher hunts down the cast of Mickey Mouse’s Club House.

Young Liars: Last issue hits stands today. Up is down, black is white, and you don’t know what or who to believe in this delightfully twisted tale driven by amazingly complex characters and a killer soundtrack.

Moon Knight will be back on September 16th with a vengeance, and I can’t wait! I must get that Finch variant cover!

People looking to make good Motion Comics should check out the MAXX series featured on MTV’s Oddities. Over a decade old and still better than a lot of the newer stuff I have seen.

I joined my first Fantasy football league with some of the good folks over at Standardattrition.com. My team name is Sunday Best…you’ll get the irony when I finish dead last. Special thanks to Luke Wigand for the guidance.

Am I the only one that still thinks Ben Reilly’s costume is cool?

Cup of Kryptonite is helping me fill in the gaps on some of my collections with their new “warehouse” feature. Maybe they c

an help you to, so check it out.

Men that are not excited for Football season are not actually men, they are women with penises. I can say the same about men that do not like wings or beer.

comics and Stuff

It’s been a while since I had a chance to post anything, which has been mostly due to the arrival of my son born back on June 10^th. There seems to be quite a lot going on in the comic book world these days, and wanted to share a couple of quick thoughts.

600 issues of the Amazing Spider-Man: With story and art by a who’s who of Marvel Superstar talent, the 600^th issue of Amazing Spider-Man proves to be a great read. This comic comes with a five dollar price tag, but I fell you definitely get your monies worth. The achievement of a comic book reaching its 600^th issue is not something that should be taken lightly, and Marvel celebrates this milestone with both style and substance. All of that being said; I feel that several other titles renumbered at the 600 mark before this one steal a little bit of its thunder. Thor, Captain America and Dare Devil have all already been renumbered, which appeared more as marketing gimmicks than anything else. Let me note that as someone currently working in Marketing, I do not necessarily take issue with what Marvel had done, and as a fan the change in numbering doesn’t really bother me. Unlike those aforementioned titles, this actually feels like a special milestone. I hope that it receives the attention it deserves.

Punisher Reloaded: It was announced last week that Marvel will be re-launching its Punisher Max series with a new number one and critically acclaimed writer Jason Aaron. Joining Jason will be Fan favorite artist Steve Dillon, who helped Garth Ennis bring the titular vigilante back into the spotlight under the Marvel Knights imprint.

Garth Ennis, another favorite writer of mine, had a 60 issue run on a Punisher series under Marvels adult oriented MAX imprint. The series established Frank Castle in the real world without the absurdity of costumed crime fighters, and super heroes. The series remains one of my favorites about one of my favorite characters. After Ennis left the series it was retiled Frank Castle: Punisher and the creative chores were passed back and forth between various creative teams.

Now it seems that title is being cancelled and reloaded by Aaron and Dillon. Once again called Punisher Max, Jason Aaron doesn’t just set his sights on the Punisher, but on two of his biggest foes as well. The first story arc will pit the Punisher against the Kingpin and Bullseye. This introduction of established Marvel characters is new to the Punisher Max Universe with but a few exceptions.

I’m totally stoked for this series, but have to admit the announcement did not come as much of a surprise to me. In fact; I not only guessed that Jason Aaron would be taking over Punisher Max after Ennis’ run, but also stated publically that I’d love to see Aaron have the Punisher face off against a villain like the Kingpin. Either I’m psychic, or dreams really do come true.

As an aside, the Punisher has always been one of my favorite characters, and I have even plotted out some MAX stories of my own that I would one day love to tell. The stories have been outlined, and I was working on the pitches, which can be a chore. I’ll keep the details close to my chest at this time, but keep your eyes open in the future for a stint on a Punisher Max series written by yours truly!

Captain Britain: The End: I came into this series late. In fact I didn’t read any of it until after its cancellation had been announced. Matt, my friend and neighbor who owns Cup of Kryptonite loaned the first dozen issues to me to read. As a comic fan, I feel I have perpetrated a great injustice because this series was really good, and unfortunately its sales were not reflective of how good it was.

There are those that feel super hero books have become nothing more than story boards for future Hollywood movies, and that was not the case here. For example, this latest story arc pits our heroes against Dracula and his invasion of Britain by space vampires…Classic!

This was the type of superhero book I would want to write, and is the type of superhero book I should have been reading. The diverse cast of heroes may not be as well known as your Avengers, or X-men, but writer Paul Cornell has done a superb job getting the reader to know and care about them. This is primarily done through their relationships with one another and their personalities more so than their super powers.

In retrospect this run has been a solidly entertaining ride, and I am regretful I hadn’t gotten on board with this book sooner. I can’t wait for Marvel to release this title as an omnibus, or at least in a couple of trade paperbacks. Maybe the sales of the collected editions will lead to the chance for another ongoing. If that becomes the case I will be sure not to make the same mistake twice.

Epic Sci-Fi: I like Sci-Fi, and I like Super heroes, but it hasn’t been until the last few years that I have enjoyed those cosmic based, sci-fi superhero comics. DC has been hitting homeruns with its Green Lantern series, which is a character I used to detest until discovering his potential under Geoff Johns direction. Green Lantern has become one of my favorite characters, and last summers Sinestro Corps War was a true blockbuster event.

We are now kicking off this summer blockbuster event, Blackest Night. And while the premise behind the color spectrum of the rings, and the various factions involved in a “war of light” may seem silly to the uninitiated, the execution has been wonderfully exciting, and new pitch perfect.

The same can be said over at Marvels House of Ideas starting with its Annihilation event from a few years ago. Annihilation introduced me to a whole new Marvel world that I never knew existed filled with exciting characters I had never heard of or completely forgotten about like Star Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and of course Nova.

I first read Nova in the pages of Spider-Man, or possibly New Warriors, but he was a character I never had much affinity for. Then the Annihilation wave changed all of that, it changed him, it changed me.

Now Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy is a couple of my favorite Marvel series. I hope the creative teams can do with Dark Hawk what they had done with Nova, and in Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s (affectionately referred to online as DnA) capable hands I am more than confident. Nova is one of those series that more people should be buying, and I fear it may soon share the same fate as the aforementioned Captain Britain series, if its sales do not pick up soon.

Novas #27 is in stores today and I recommend you all go buy a copy and become just as hooked as I am.

Speaking of Sci-Fi: It was announced last week that Moon Knight writer Charlie Huston has written a seven issue Deathlok mini series under the Marvel Knights imprint; I’ve always had an affinity with Deathlok and enjoy Huston’s comic work and prose so far. I am totally stoked for this, though I wish it were an ongoing instead of a mini-series. Hopefully the sales will demand a Deathlok ongoing, but it’s too early to tell.

New New Warriors?: After reading the latest issue of Avengers: The Initiative (#26), I have come to the conclusion that Chris Gage needs to write a new New Warriors ongoing. The ragtag team of outlaws he has put together is great including Justice (Former New Warrior Marvel Boy), Slapstick, Gauntlet, and Night Thrasher.

I don’t know how much life The Initiative has left in it since it was an offshoot of the Civil War, which seemed like ages ago. Regardless the rest of the run will be fun under Gage’s expert abilities, and I would love to see him take this book to it’s next logical step of evolution, which is a new New Warriors ongoing.

San Diego: This last week Comic Con International was held in sunny San Diego. I have never been, so I do not know what I’m missing. I know several people who were going, and wish I were able to join them in the festivities. I am hopefully going to be able to attend next year, but may do so as a guest as opposed to a vendor/artist alley inhabitant. I have heard that a show of that size and caliber would swallow my miniscule publishing venture anyway, and no-one would even realize I was there. I find that we fare better financially at smaller shows like KC’s Planet ComicCon, and MN’s Fallcon.

Hopefully next year it will be more fiscally viable to attend in the capacity as a retailer/artist, and maybe someday we could compete with the bog dogs, or maybe even attend in the capacity of working for the big dogs. Either way, I look forward to checking it out someday, and in the meantime will follow the news sites, and message boards for all the gory details.

A "non-review" of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Since I feel I lack the objectivity of being able to review this movie, this is less of a review of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie and more of some random thoughts on what I like and didn't like.

Some Spoilers Below, so consider yourself warned!!

Anyone who goes into Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen expecting it to be the next Citizen Kane is going to be sorely disappointed. However, if you are looking for big alien robots and even bigger action I’ve got your ticket right here. Despite scathing critical reviews the film has gone on to gross $201.2 million dollars in a mere five days, which should definitely ensure a sequel. I usually don’t agree with the up-tight, pretentious film critics anyway, and based on those stunning box office figures it appears the majority of film goers agree. Transformers: ROTF is the epitome of summer popcorn flick filled with two and half hours of in-your-face action, provocative eye-candy, and mind blowing special effects. I loved almost every minute…almost!

You may recall last time I posted a note that I was anxiously anticipating the films released and may have overhyped the film in my head, fearing it would not live up to my expectations. Well I am glad to inform you that it did in fact live up to those expectations, and in some ways exceeded them as well. There are just a few facets of the film I want to mention that are worthy of criticism.

The first is the inclusion of some superfluous scenes and characters. I hold the same criticism of the first film regarding Anthony Anderson’s character and the hot Australian chick whose name is not important. Those characters and their scenes seemed entirely unnecessary, and should have been left on the editing room floor. The same could be said in this installment of Sam’s (played by Shia Laboufe) college roommate. The character was totally unnecessary and though he may have been intended to serve as some type of comic relief he was nothing more than an annoyance. Ever since his introduction I was holding my breath for a Decepticon to step on his head.

I enjoyed the addition of Jet Fire who has always been one of my favorite characters. The take on him in this film is not what I expected, or would have preferred, but in the end he served his purpose. There was one expository filled scene however involving Jet Fire that could have easily been cut in half. A little time would have been saved, and the same points could have been made. The scene did serve as a break in the action, but actually pulled me out of the film a little bit.

People not intimately familiar with Transformers continuity may assume that the Fallen refers to Megatron (which it sort of does), as opposed to an actual character known as the Fallen. I would have much rather seen Megatron as the main villain this time around to; though the film does a good job building on Megatron and Starscream as individual characters as well as their relationship it could have gone further, and I hope to see that continue in the third installment. That being said it does not mean that the Fallen does not work as a villain because he certainly does. He also helps expand the legacy of the Transformers by building its history.

A welcome addition to the Decepticon Ranks was another of my childhood favorites, Soundwave. I am looking forward to seeing this character again in the next installment, and hopefully he will take on a more prominent role. We were also treated to an awesome Ravage, and Devastator who totally lives up to his name.

The Decepticon’s were not the only ones with some great additions to their ranks. The Autobots were joined by Sideswipe, and Arcee; both of whom I hope to see more of in the future.

Other than some unnecessary scenes, my one other criticism isn’t of the movie itself but rather in its marketing, which is no fault of the Director, or the cast, but of the studio. The movie is rated PG-13, and it earns its rating with intense action, over the top sexuality, coarse humor and foul language. All of these items are the typical ingredients in a movie I would love, but are not appropriate for a child still watching Sponge Bob Square Pants. This movie has been promoted heavily on channels like Nickelodeon, but it’s not a kid’s movie. Many will argue that it should be a kid’s movie because it’s based on a kid’s toy, but Transformers are not necessarily kid’s toys. I can prove this by giving any child a transformer toy and watching them dismember it while attempting to transform it. I did not feel that advertising it every commercial break on Nickelodeon was not appropriate, and in poor taste by the ad guys at the studio.

All in all I loved this movie for exactly what it was, and that it embraced what it was as opposed to masquerading as something it wasn't (does that sentence make sense?), and will definitely be seeing it again before it leaves theaters. It is long in some parts, and not appropriate for younger audiences, but it has none-the-less lived up to my own hype!

Transformers Hype

I’ve been anxiously anticipating the release of the Transformers sequel since the end credits rolled at the first one.  I became even more excited when the initial trailer aired during this year’s Super Bowl, and then again when additional trailers surfaced.  I almost couldn’t contain myself when the first wave of toys hit shelves and purchased nearly all of them in the first week.  Well, the six months of excitement have built to this moment as the movie hits theatres on Wednesday (June 24^th).  That afternoon, I will be there with my bucket of popcorn in one hand, a large ice cold Coke in the other, and a massive erection in my shorts. 

But alas, I now fear that I’ve mentally overhyped this film and my expectations may fall short.  Will I leave the theater disappointed?   If I recall correctly, there are very few times I have been this excited for a major motion picture.  Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man, X-Men and X-Men 2, the first Transformers film and the most recent Stark Trek are a few that immediately come to mind.  And none of those movies were a disappointment, all living up to my expectations, or at least within a reasonable proximity. 

Now I am not expecting much in ways of plot; after all the plot of the first film was practically non-existent, or at least completely transparent.  What I am looking forward to is giant robot on robot action (not that kind of action, perverts), and according to interviews I’ve read and trailers I’ve seen the movie will dish that out in spades.  I am looking for intense action sequences and mind blowing special effects! 

Say what you will about Michael Bay movies – I know there are plenty of haters out there – but I enjoy his kinetic, in your face cinematography.  His style does a superb job of making you feel like you are in the movie, as opposed to a panoramic view of the action that leaves you feeling like a spectator.  The first Transformers is awesome, The Rock is a rollicking good time, Armageddon is watchable, and Bad Boys 2 is one of my favorite action movies of all time, so Bay has a proven track record that instills my confidence.  I have faith in Michael Bay to provide me with two hours of solid entertainment; I just hope the movie can live up to its hype as it has played out in my head over and over again.

So this Wednesday I will have a bucket of popcorn in one hand, a large ice cold Coke in the other, a massive erection in my shorts, and my fingers crossed.  That’s what you call multitasking!

A brief review of the film will be posted next week.

First Look: the Princess and the Ladybugs

Well I have certainly been slacking in the “Updating my blog on a regular basis” department.  Well, I had some time this week to pound out some thoughts on the keyboard and post here for your reading pleasure.  

A unique children’s book written by an actual child!

Several months ago while sitting at my keyboard spewing senseless drivel onto the page until it started to make some sort of logical sense I was interrupted by my beautiful, inquisitive daughter.  She asked what I was doing and I explained to her that I was attempting to tell a story.  Her eyes lit up, “I want to tell a story!”  I pulled her up onto my lap and told her that she could tell me the story and I would type it up for her.  Immediately she spoke of a magical world where a beautiful young princess spent her days watching movies, and frolicking in the garden.  One day the beautiful princess wanted to ride a rollercoaster, and began walking toward the amusement park.  Along the way she met a group of ladybugs that also wanted to ride the rollercoaster with the princess, so they joined her on her walk.  When they reached the rollercoaster they found that it could only seat two at a time, and each of the ladybugs wanted to sit next to the princess…Well, I would hate to spoil the Climax and I know everyone is itching to read it.  

The book is 100% dictated by my four year old daughter; I simply typed the words up, and removed some redundancies such as, “She wore a beautiful dress that sparkled and it was beautiful.”  I also helped her sort out the beginning middle and end by asking questions such as, “What happens next?”

As with any great children’s story there is a lesson to be learned by the last page, and it was a lesson my daughter had in fact learned on her trip to the amusement park last summer.  In fact I bet if we were to ask her the name of the princess in the story it would be Zoe!  The book also ends on a sort of cliffhanger, which leaves room for possible sequels!

As of now the pages are in the hands of Jessica Scott, a lovely and talented local artist that was so kind as to offer her time and skills in illustrating the story.  Once the story has been illustrated we will shop it around for a publisher or simply publish the book ourselves.  Ninety percent of the proceeds will go towards Zoe’s college fund, and the remaining ten percent will be donated to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.  There will be more details as they become available.

As we get further into the convention season I will share some highlights on past conventions and expectations for this years conventions.  To begin I want to look at my top three Fanboy Arguments:  The following are actual arguments I have engaged in with passionate Fanboy’s.  Though there are many, these are among my favorites.

Superman vs. Dr. Doom:  One Fanboy asked a nearby artist for sketch of Dr. Doom and Superman sitting at a table playing chess, and Dr. Doom would be losing.  I could not help but pipe up informing him that Dr. Doom would certainly not lose a game of chess to Superman.  I spent the following five minutes  elucidating the awkward young man that it had nothing to do with Dr. Doom being smarter than Superman, but rather Dr. Doom always planned several steps ahead, and was not afraid to sacrifice his pawns; two key elements in winning a game of chess.  I crushed the young mans dreams with the realization that good does not always win.

Vampire Hunter D (D as in done it before):  A wide eyed young lady stopped by our table pitching her dream story to anyone that would listen.  In her story a half-human, half-vampire woman has dedicated her life to hunting evil vampires.  Her story seemed oddly familiar, and I mentioned that to her.  She valiantly defended her coveted creation, even referring to it as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Watchmen – What!?!  This was obviously a lose-lose argument for both parties involved, and I did not need a Fanboy (Fangirl in this case) suicide on my conscience, so I politely (as politely as my snarky-ass knows how to anyway) backed away, and wished her good luck.

Chaykin’s biggest fan:  Ant and I had the pleasure of meeting Howard Cahykin’s biggest fan at MN’s Fall Con one year.  This young man stood in front of our table for a good forty-five minutes reminiscing about his favorite Howard Chaykin stories, and how Howard Chaykin has inspired him artistically.  Ant, as usual, has no idea who Howard Chaykin is and simply nodded his head and smiled as if he was following the young man’s train of thought.  I did agree with many of the young man’s points especially since I like much of Howard’s early writing, but our harmony turned bitter when I mentioned that I did not care for Howard’s art, even citing it as my reason for dropping Marvel’s Blade, and Punisher War Journal series.  The man shot me a look as if I had just eaten his baby; his demeanor shifted from flamboyantly giddy to judgmental, but still flamboyant.  The man defended Chaykin’s art as if it was his own, and I had clearly insulted him.  In my own style of concession I implied that art is always an issue of individual preference.  He left the table with victory in one hand and signed copy of Bloods Own in the other!

Free Comic Book Day 2009

FCBD IN RETROSPECT

Free Comic Book Day was this past weekend, and I want to thank everyone that stopped out at Jay’s CD and Hobby to visit with us, and pick up some cool free shit.  I also want to condemn those that did not.  I was trying to decide whether or not FCBD was a success, and by success I mean for the industry as a whole.  It was certainly successful for Jay who had one of his best sales days ever.  It was a success for us as a comic book company because we sold a few books (not as many as I would have liked, but Oh well), and sold some t-shirts as well.   I have been scrounging around the internet trying to pool as much information as possible regarding carious retailers and creators FCBD experience in gauging whether or not the concept behind FCBD was a success, which is to introduce the medium to new readers as well as reintroduce it to old ones.  Besides it gives me great joy in the fact that we geeks have at least one day a year to share our passion with the world. 

My own personal experience that day along with the general consensus across the World Wide Web has been yes; it was a success.  Since I do not want to speak for anyone else here, I will highlight my own personal experiences.  

Our table was in a room of the store next to the free comics, which allowed for some great traffic.  We also had some copies of bloods Own #1 on hand, which we were giving away for free.  There was quite a bit of down time that allowed me to browse the large selection of trade paperbacks all of which were discounted by 40%.  I met a young man who was searching for something any trade paperbacks featuring his new favorite character Dead Pool, and helped him find some books.  While scanning the rows of books we chatted about comics, I asked what type of books he enjoyed reading, and what some of his other favorite characters are.  He was not an avid comic book reader, and enjoyed less mainstream titles, so I directed him towards a number of great independent books such as Proof, Scalped, DMZ, Lock and Key, and Walking Dead (though that may be considered mainstream by now).  I also pointed out some great Marvel titles such as Ghost Rider, and Invincible Iron Man.  He seemed interested in the Black Panther, so I recommended Christopher Priest’s Black Panther run under the Marvel Knights imprint.  He bought a couple of books, and expressed a sincere interest in returning again to check out the other books I recommended.  

I know this seems like a very small gesture, and that you may think it’s only one person, but that one person can certainly has friends and family, and hopefully they can pay the experience forward.  Plus, if every fan, retailer, creator were to share a similar experience with just one person the number of comic book readers would certainly double.  So as small a gesture as it may be it has the potential to speak volumes.  

A second experience comes from the enjoyment I receive when I see the face of a young avid comic fans face light up.  That face happened to be Austin, my brother’s fiancés son (still following me?).  Austin reminds me quite a bit of myself when I was his age; he loves video games, transformers, and comic books.  He was not able to make it out to FCBD, so I brought the free comics to him.  It’s not stealing if they’re free, right? 

Anyway, my wife, daughter and I headed out to my brothers house after FCBD to celebrate the birthday of another of his girlfriend’s children.  I brought a sack of free comics and upon entering the door he instinctively seemed to know that I had something for him.  This isn’t the first time I had given him a stack of comics or toys, so maybe it was wishful thinking on his part.  As soon as I handed him the sack his eyes immediately lit up, and a huge smile crossed his face.  “WOW, comics!” he exclaimed.  He quickly tore the sack apart pulling out each one and commenting how cool they were.  Austin has not yet perfected the “reading” part, but is working on it, and I think that the comics will certainly help.  He at least has the will to read, which a great start is.  

I am grateful to be able to share my passion with someone as great as Austin, and am really looking forward to sharing that passion with my own son in the future.  

Another thing worth mentioning and something I learned at FCBD is to never leave your camera left unattended.  When I left Jay’s Saturday afternoon I mistakenly left my camera behind.  When it was returned to me the following day it was chock full of photos of various movie and album covers, crotch shots of toys and comic art, and even crotch shots of my respective artist/partner.  Let me just warn those responsible, that payback is a btich. 

Countdown to FCBD

The countdown has begun.  Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday May 2^nd, which is fast approaching, and I am totally stoked for it!  Why am I so excited you may ask?  Well, first it’s on a Saturday, which is the best day of the week.  And secondly; it is a day devoted to comics.  Everyone else has their holidays; the Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Taoists, and now the Geeks!

FCBD began as a marketing ploy to try and attract new readers to a dwindling market, and that is something I wholeheartedly support due to my own selfish agenda of trying to sell comics.  It provides antidote comics with an opportunity for exposure, which is very important to a small press publisher such as Antidote.  The more people I can get in front of means the more books we have the potential to sell, which means the more books we can create in the near future.  

It’s not just about monetary gain, however:  I love the medium of comics I love sharing them with everyone I know.  Just ask my wife who puts up with my incessant babbling over the newest issue of Nova, or Proof trade paperback I picked up at this year’s Planet Comicon.  Or you can ask my neighbor Matt who owns a comic shop, and can’t seem to get any gardening done without me pestering him about Marvel’s releasing Wolverine’s title out of numerical order, or Peter Parker revealing his identity as Spider-Man in not one, but two books this last month.  I wish more of my family and friends read comics, and I suppose they do if you count mine, but I digress.  

FCBD has not been around too terribly long, and I aim to help it grow and flourish.  I will be doing that this year by hanging out at Jay’s CD and Hobby on SE 14^th Street in Des Moines IA behind Culvers, and across the street from Menards.  We will have a table and will be selling books and T-shirts from noon to about five or six.  Bring the whole family for comics, games, movies, CD’s and toys.  There will be folks in costumes allowing great photo opportunities for the kids, and food and drink as well.  

I hope to see you out there!  

What else is going on?

X-men Origins: Wolverine is released in theatres this Friday.  I plan on checking it out despite the unfinished copy leaked to the internet several weeks ago and the poor response it seemed to receive from those the viewed it.  

In anticipation of the films release Marvel has been mass-marketing Wolverine comics for the month of May.  This includes a little switcheroo in the numbering sequence of the ongoing monthly titles.  Issue #73 will be released on May 13^th, while issue #72 will hit the stands on May 20^th.  Wolverine #73 will be written by Jason Aaron and Daniel Way, and their story wraps up in Issue #74, which is due to his shelves on May 27^th.  Is everyone following me so far?  Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s “Old Man Logan” arc which has currently been running through the title will be wrapped up in a spin off Giant Size Old Man Logan.  The out of synch release of the titles does not bother me really especially since I am confident that the stories will be good.  

I am a little bothered with the “Old Man Logan” story arc being concluded in a one shot title.  One of my biggest gripes with Marvel these days is the sheer number of mini-series and one-shots.  Mostly because of my very limited funds I am in the process of weeding out some titles as it is, so when I have to purchase Dead Pool and the Dead Pool mini-series it stretches my funds even thinner.  I wish that more story arcs would be worked into the main title, but I also understand that Marvel makes money off of suckers like me when they do release the one-shots and mini-series!  

I should also note that Wolverine changes its name to Dark Wolverine with issue #75 where Wolverine’s son, Daken appears to take the lead.  The name change along with shift in focus from Wolverine to his son means that I will save an extra $4.00 a month since I plan on dropping it from that point on.  I hate the idea of having to drop a book that I follow and have enjoyed, but up to this point I have not enjoyed the portrayal of wolverine’s son.  I have nothing against the idea of Wolverine having a son; it’s just the way he has been written to this point seems redundant.  The money saved will gladly be allocated to Jason Aaron’s new Wolverine: Weapon X series that I touted last time.  

And speaking of movies, I saw 17 Again on Saturday.  I was only going because I was forced to by my wife; we also took our daughter and my sister.  The movie was surprisingly better than I expected, and very funny!  How can you not love a character that is fluent in Elvish, sleeps in a Land Speeder bed, and seeks answers to life’s problems in an extensive collection of comics, and sci-fi literature?  Much of the humor was fairly adult oriented as well; during the movie my curious daughter asked me what a douche and bastard were.  All in all I thought it was very funny, and even very touching!

That’s enough rambling for this week.  Before I go I do want to mention that you can follow me via Facebook, and  twitter as well.  I am much better at updating Facebook than I am at twittering, but both are good tools to keep in touch!

The Price is Right?

This impromptu entry is based on an interesting article I read here.  The article provides some insight to the rising cost of comic books from various comic book publishers.  The article was primarily spurred by Marvel Comics increasing more and more monthly books a $3.99 price tag.  This is compared to the typical $2.99 that fans have been accustomed to paying the past several years.  As opposed to spewing everything the article references, I will let you read it for yourself.  

However, I did want to provide my own thoughts as well as some explanations regarding our own price points at Antidote Comics.  

Since we are not paying any freelance or contracted talent at this time, the price of our books is based simply on printing.  The rate we are able to print a book for will be the deciding factor in what we charge.  There is a learning curve to this whole self publishing thing and we are slowly climbing it.  For example:  When we first printed Bloods Own Issue 1 we assumed we would be able to move huge volumes of books at local retailers, to friends and family, and on the convention circuit.  We printed four thousand copies!  Yes, that was FOUR THOUSAND copies.  Aside from our confidence that the book would sell like hot cakes, we also received each copy for a sensational low cost of about a dollar an issue.  The general cover price on the book is $2.99, which is in line with the majority of the monthly books offered by today's larger publishers.  It is also $1.00 to $2.00 cheaper than most other independent publishers of equal or greater production value.  

Unfortunately we have not yet sold out of the book and it's creator, Anthony Lucia has about three thousand of them sitting in his basement.  I am actually okay with this since we can continue to sell them at future shows without having to go back to the presses.  

With our second book, Black Jack we initially ran a small print run of about 150 books to test the waters and see if there was a market in the for it.   Due to the very small print run the books cost to us was about $5.25.  I knew we would not be able to sell the books at conventions for that cost, especially with the economic recession looming overhead.  I did feel that $4.99 would be an acceptable price tag, and I was right:  Within a few months of the initial release we sold out.

A local retailer had purchased some copies as well and was selling them off the shelf for over $7.00 an issue.   

At Minnesota's Fallcon last year, there were people that would stop by the table and check out the book.  Often they would hesitate at the $5.00 price point, but once they learned we were taking a loss in order to pass the deal on the consumer they were immediately at ease and purchased a copy.  That is a technique I learned in sales called framing.  You "frame" the sale so that it makes sense to the buyer.  

With the initial run of Black Jack selling out, it was back to the presses this spring with 1,000 more copies.  Some edits were made to correct some copy errors, and a blurb from creator Phil Hester was added to the cover.   Printing more copies inherently came with a larger print bill, but the cost per issue was significantly less.  We are now able to sell the issues at $3.99 an issue, which is very much in the same range as both large and small press publishers these days.

To me, it isn't a matter of the cost of the book, but more a matter of the quality of it's contents.  I am comfortable paying $3.99 or even $4.99 for a book as long as I feel I am getting my moneys worth out of that book.  You hear on message boards and internet sites all across fandom that people intend on reducing the number of monthly books they purchase in favor of trade paperbacks, others feel that the price increase is the first step of Publishers eradicating the printed comic all together in favors of both trades and web-based comics.  As a traditionalist, I hope this isn't the case.  I love being able to hold the pages in my hand, I love the feel, the smell.   I love being able to read them anywhere; the car, the office, the toilet ( I don't love the smell as much in those cases).

The out cry of the recent price increases across fandom can be understandable for someone on a fixed budget or with limited funds.  If people actually decide to show their dismay by voting with their wallet as they so loudly proclaim then we may see the eventual demise of the printed monthly comic in favor of online digital comics and trade paperbacks.  

As someone who has a fairly decent take on the inner-workings of publishing I can understand that the cover price of the book is going to increase as the cost to actually publish the book increases.  Print cost, distribution, company expenses including salaries to home office people and wages to freelancers are all variables that may fluctuate.  

Those "monetary conscious" fan out there who denounce Marvel, DC and other companies for the increase in price will be the same fans ones to thank when the printed comic becomes utterly extinct. And when that happens it will be those same "fans" who sprint to the message boards and comic forums bitching and moaning about it as well.  

Sometimes you can't win, hopefully you can at least break even.

Life and Comics, what else is there?

What’s up world? 

I meant to post part of this entry last week, but have been busy at work and with the writing. I have been really good about sticking to my goal of writing four pages a day, and the result is amazing. I reworked parts of Black Jack issue five, and am nearly complete with the first full issue of Freedom Guard.
Some of you may remember Freedom Guard from a blurb in the first issue of Bloods Own or through the prints we sell at cons. This book has been through more rewrites and revamps than anything else I have ever done. I at one time had seven different word docs saved on my computer all with a different version of the first issue. One showcased only the villain while another took place fifty years ago and spotlighted a completely different team roster. The concept began simply enough as a homage to some of the classic characters from old stories like Weird War Tales with classic characters like GI Robot and the Creature Commandoes. Over the past few years it has slowly evolved and taken on a life of its own. I feel I finally have a good grasp of who these characters are, and why they are a part of this book. Along with rewriting the first issue for the last time (I swear) I have been busy plotting future issues. I have a multiple page outline consisting of about sixty issues. That’s five years worth of stories, and I haven’t even reached the end yet!
One unique aspect of Freedom Guard that I am striving for is to bring back the try monthly serial. To echo the sentiments of Grant Morrison, most comics these days have become a story board for movies. The comic book medium is completely unique and I feel a part of is becoming lost. Why make Kick Ass a comic first, when it was obviously intended to be a movie? At the rate Kick Ass hits the stands the movie will be on DVD before the first story arc is even completed. I am not trying to knock Kick Ass as a story because I am enjoying the shit out of it. I am simply trying to state that you will probably never see a Freedom Guard movie, and that is entirely the point.
For the most part Freedom Guard is good to go; all I need is an artist willing to draw that many pages. Anyone out there want to draw 1,320 pages for free?


A new JLA creative team? I read a rumor about the possibilities of a new creative team for what should be DC’s flagship title on Rich Johnston’s column, “Lying in The Gutters” at comicbookresources.com. According to Rich, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee will be an upcoming creative team on the book. This has the potential to be awesome! Geoff Johns is one of the best Super Hero writers in comics today, and Jim Lee was a major player in revolutionizing the comics industry back in the early nineties with the launch of Image Comics.
Remember Jim Lee and Chris Claremont’s X-men #1 from back in 1990. It still remains the best selling single issue of all time by selling about five million copies.
A high profile comic these days will sell about hundred-thousand copies. Last years the big seller was Marvels secret Invasion #1, which sold about two-hundred and fifty thousand copies. Of course cover prices are very different as well X-men #1 came with a cover price of $1.50 where as Secret Invasion #1 had a $3.99 cover price. Besides the variance in cover price, comics seemed to be a different beast back; it was not uncommon for hot first issue to sell a million plus copies. That bubble burst back in the mid nineties for better or worse (that’s a topic for a different day).
Do I think A JLA relaunch with Jim Lee and Geoff Johns will sell five million copies? God do, but I do think it will kick major ass. I think it will give the JLA the juice it needs to be the company’s flagship title it should be. I know I’d be in line to purchase my copy.


Look for a copy of Black Jack at a retailer near you very soon. We just reprinted about a thousand copies and are in the process of getting them into stores around the Des Moines area. I am even branching out to other retailers across the state and (hopefully) even regionally. I have put together a new order form and sending that out along with a complimentary copy of the book. I will start doing this next week. I have no idea what the response will be like, but am optimistic. If anyone stumbles across this from out there in the wide open US of A and is interested in getting a copy of the book, please drop me a line.
We are working on having them available to order through the website as well, but as with everything else regarding our website, it is a slow and tedious process.

One of my favorite days of the year is fast approaching and that is Free Comic Book Day. FCBD is the first Saturday in May, and is a great opportunity to introduce new generations to the medium as well as re-enlist older readers. Some retailers throw huge parties, with giveaways, contests, guest creators on site signing books. As far as I know the local retailers around here have never really put much effort into FCBD in the past, but hopefully that can change this year. I have been speaking at length with my friend and comic shop owner, Jason Shreve is going balls out this year with a live radio feed, discounts on merchandise, and local talent on hand signing books, and doing sketches. I will be there as well with copies of both Black Jack and Bloods Own. Aside from the comics we will have some shirts made specifically for this event. Depending on how well they sell, we may produce more with different images on the. I think the first is a Black Jack wanted poster. Anthony Lucia will be there along with his new pinup gallery he’s been working on. They look amazing and are definitely worth checking out. I may try and hit up another local retailer as well, but have not yet finalized those plans, so there will more details to follow as we get closer to the big day.

So X-men Origins: Wolverine will be hitting theatres soon, which I am quite excited for. Even more so now that Hasbro has released their new toys based on the movie. These toys have great articulation and are about the same size as the old school GI Joe figures I grew up obsessing over. So far I have picked up a Wolverine, Maverick (one of my favorite characters), and a bizarre Deadpool figure that I pretend is a new character all together. I thought about calling him X-assin.

Aside from the figure Marvel has released its new Wolverine series called Wolverine: Weapon X. The series is written by fan favorite, Jason Aaron (Scalped, Ghost Rider), and illustrated by the wicked talented Ron Garney. The two creators previously worked together on a very popular Wolverine Arc titled “Get Mystique” where Wolverine set out across the world to do just that. The run was chock full of intrigue, action, and awesome surprises. A beautiful variant cover by Adam Kubert was released as well, and since I couldn’t decide between the two covers I bought both despite the 3.99 price tag. Needless to say I loved it, and can’t wait for the next issue.
Aaron does a great job in this issue with setting the stage, introducing us to a new group of high-tech mercenaries with a secret, but bloody agenda. When we meet Wolverine in this issue we are quickly reminded why he is such a timeless character. Aaron reintroduces us to Maverick, one of wolverine’s old allies from his Weapon X days who sets wolverine on the path to tracking down these Mercenaries.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Garney’s art, which always impresses me. I first took notice of his work on the “Get Mystique” arc in Wolverine, and that left me simply wanting more. I guess this book is like a wish come true.
The issue itself follows a standard first issue process, though that is not a bad thing by any means. There is great set up for the story and its plot points, introduction to the players, and plenty of action. The issue is easily accessible to those looking to get into a Wolverine Book for the first time. And those that feel Wolverine is overexposed and does not need another ongoing title would truly be missing the beginning of something great by passing on this. For any fan of the character or fan of the creative team this book is well worth the cover price.

KC's Planet Comicon

KC’s Planet Comicon has already come and gone. It was held this past weekend in Overland Park. Anthony, Chris, and I were in attendance along with Johnny Bananas. You don’t know Johnny Bananas, he is not a member of the antidote family, but has become somewhat of a mascot (much to his dismay).
The convention was a lot of fun despite the shitty weather. There was a blizzard on Saturday, but it didn’t stop the flow of Con-goers as there was a lot of traffic. Not a lot of sales, but a lot of traffic. Sunday had better weather and less traffic, but far better sales. As for Sunday, we more than tripled Saturday’s sales, but trust me that was no difficult feat.I spent most of my spending money on Saturday because I am impulsive and cannot help myself. I was left with a meager $10.00 to spend on Sunday, which made for a very long day. I mostly picked up some trades, which is what I typically go for, and found some great deals on them as well. I did pick up some cheap action figures – as in $.33 cheap – because, again, I am impulsive.
Along with spending all my dough on Saturday, I also sat in on a writer’s panel held by some of my favorite writers such as Jason Aaron, and Matt Fraction. The panel was very informative, and really challenged me to rethink my own battle plans as a writer. Based on what I learned at the panel as of yesterday I have created a new set of goals which involve writing at least four pages a day. By writing four pages a day I am able to write a full issue in a week. Now if I write more than four pages in a day, I can bank those pages and write less the next day. If I work on more than one series at a time, which I fully intend to do, I would need to write eight or twelve pages a day. Regardless of how many titles I work on, the key however is to write every single day. So far so good, I wrote four pages last night and plan on writing another four this evening.
Following the Panel I stopped by Jason Aaron’s table to follow up on an e-mail I had sent earlier that week. I asked Jason if he would be willing to look at a sample proposal and script for feedback on ways I can improve as a writer. The proposal is one I had created for Black Jack, and since I am self publishing it anyway, I figure that would be safe for another writer to peruse and give me some pointers. I am not looking to magically break into the business as a professional writer, but rather want to hone my craft so the breaking in comes naturally. Hopefully he has an opportunity to review it provide some feedback. If not, I won’t let it deter me and will keep chugging along, doing what I am doing.
I’ve uploaded a bunch of photos to my Facebook account, and have provided some samples here.

Though there isn’t a Con this weekend, I am still really excited for it. The wife and I have set up a spa day complete with a couples massage and pedicure…for her, not me. I would not want anyone to touch my nasty-ass feet. We will probably grab some lunch after that. Should be a great time!

Con-Spiracy Theories

CON-spiracy theories

The KC Planet Comicon is about a month away, and I am totally stoked. Last year was my first time at Kanas City’s premier comic convention and it was an absolute blast. I had the opportunity to meet some of my favorite creators such as Jason Aaron, Dave Finch, Javier Saltares, and Mark Texeira. I also had the opportunity to hang out at dinner with Tyler Walpole and Ron Wagner. The folks that run the con are as nice as can be, and do a great job organizing the floor and even the panel events. Plus they fed us lunch to!
So I am definitely looking forward to the Con this year. I won’t have a lot of money to spend as I am focusing on paying off my credit card debt by June, but there isn’t anything I am really hurting for right now anyway. I am looking forward to meeting Jason Aaron again, have him sign a bunch of Ghost Rider comics, and hopefully pick his brain a little. With the baby due in June, this may be my only convention this year other than the local I-Con, which unfortunately has always been lacking.
One of the things I look forward to most about each convention and something that was in abundance at last years Planet Comicon was the opportunity to meet and chat with the local con goers. The people I met in KC last year were incredibly nice and very supportive of our endeavor. I really look forward to seeing some familiar faces as well as meet tons of cool new folks. There are a couple of guidelines I would like to suggest for those that plan on stopping by our table, or any other table for that matter.

UNLESS YOU’RE A MUTE, PLEASE TALK TO ME: There are so many times at every con where I say hello to someone passing by only to be completely ignored. There are times when someone will approach the table and peruse the books; when I try to strike a conversation with them they look at me as if I am speaking a foreign language. It’s just rude people! You are amongst your kin, your friends. No one is going to ridicule you for your love of Aquaman, or if you think Dr. Fate could be Dr. Strange in a battle of magical prowess, or if you still beat off to the old Marvel swimsuit specials (maybe that’s just me!).
Tell me what you like, what you don’t like. Tell me what books you read, and what inspires you. Don’t be afraid to talk. I promise not to judge you even if you are dressed as an Imperial Storm Trooper; I always preferred the scout troopers personally!

LEARN WHEN TO SHUT-UP: At the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the people above are the people that do not know when to stop talking and move on. These people are rare, but they exist. Case-in-point: At last years Planet Comicon, Curt Peterson met a young man on Saturday and the two discovered they shared a love for the same type of music. On Sunday that same young man stopped over with his I-pod where he stood in front of the table listening to and discussing his favorite songs with Curt for about an hour. A fucking hour! I am trying to discuss the books and generate some sales, which is proven difficult with someone standing in front of the table drumming on it with a pencil. I may not have been nearly as miffed if they were discussing something relative to the company or comics in general…or if he would have purchased something, which brings me to my next point.

SUPPORT THY NEIGHBOR: I know that what we publish is not everyone’s cup of tea. There are a surprising number of people the frequent the artist alley looking for self-published books because of their disdain for the super-hero genre, and they are shocked and dismayed when the find a self-publisher actually publishing super-hero books. I also know that when we were selling out limited number of Black Jack issues for 5.00 a pop that may have been outside some peoples price range. What I absolutely cannot stand are the people that stop by the table telling us how good the book looks, how they so badly want to start publishing their own books, and then they just walk away. A rule of thumb I always followed is that if you want to self-publish books you should support other self-publishers. In this industry there are not too many people looking out for the little guys, so we have to look out for and support one another.

DON’T PITCH THIS STORY TO ANYONE: A lot of people stop by the table to tell me about their own story idea, which to them is the best thing since Babylon 5. The truth is that most of the story ideas I hear about are more like Alien Vs. Hunter (check your local listings for time and channel if you dare). I’ve heard this particular idea more than once:

“So it’s a story about a woman who’s this half-human and half-vampire, and she goes around killing other vampires. She can like walk around in the Daylight, and can only be killed the way you would kill a regular vampire. And She’s like really hot. She looks like Angelina Jolie from Tomb Raider, but carries a sword made out of a special metal that kills vampires, and wooden stakes. She ends up falling in love with the king of the vampires who declares war on humankind forcing her to choose a side, and we don’t know which side that’ll be, cause it’s like an internal struggle she goes through. And later on she also teams up with a group of humans who hunt vampires, and they don’t know that she is half vampire, so it’ll totally change the status quo when they find out.
This story is like Tomb Raider meets Watchmen”

Tomb Raider meets Watchmen? Is that even possible? Like those of you who just read that, I was also dumber after listening to this drivel. If I had a dollar for every story involving half-human half-vampire that hunts vampires and closely resembles Angelina Jolie I could quit my day job.
And don’t ever compare your story to Watchmen, because no one will take you seriously beyond that point though they may have you strapped and sedated for being severely delusional.

I’LL TAKE YOUR ART, BUT NOT YOUR IDEAS: I am a writer, not an editor. Though Antidote Comics LLC is technically a publishing company, we are currently not in a position to bring on new creative talent and publish their work. That may change in the future, but for right now if you are someone looking to break into the biz by submitting your story proposal to me you are wasting your time and energy. I guess I should specify that I am an aspiring writer and am still trying to “break into the biz” just as you are. I am all for networking and may be able to direct you to someone else, or another company to take your submission, but as of right now we are not that company.
Now since about three people read this column I will undoubtedly receive some story proposals, and God’s honest truth is that I won’t even read them, and I will tell them that.
Now if you are an artist looking for work, you can certainly submit to me your art samples. Those I do look at, and keep for my records. With the number of stories I want to tell, I am always going to keep my eyes on potential artists. Hopefully I will someday be in a position to hire on a freelance artist, and I will delve into those samples first.
So the bottom line is aspiring artists can submit your samples to me though I can’t hire you at this moment it will be held for future reference, and writers save those story proposals for Dark Horse, or Top Cow editors.


Other Bits and Pieces:

Heath Ledger won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the Joker in the Dark Knight. Based on that stunning portrayal I feel this was very well deserved, and congratulate the Academy for recognizing his masterful performance. It’s about time they get something right for once.
The rest of the awards seemed like a big yawn fest as usual.

We are going to be printing about 500 more copies of Black Jack to sell during the con season as well as get some copies into local shops. These will be ready to go in time for Planet Comicon. I am also going to be sending out samples along with a letter introducing our company to some other retailers around the region and hopefully expand our distribution. A KC based publishing company has expressed interest in a cross-distribution plan to hopefully get our book into some stores there in the Kansas City area, and vice versa. I will be looking into this more closely and will hopefully have some more details in the near future.

Also in regards to Black Jack: The rest of the Antidote crew and myself are looking at some ways of bringing in new artists to assist with getting books out. One idea is to have the company retain a certain percentage of ownership, while the creator retains a percentage of ownership. That creator can then allocate portions of their ownership to other individuals for work on the book.
As an example: the company owns 50% of Black Jack, I own 50% of Black Jack. I can give 25% of the ownership I own to an artist to pencil the book. There is no money out of pocket, but that also means the artist is not paid until the book would begin to actually churn a profit. The goal would be to get more books out in a more timely fashion. If the book becomes successful and actually makes money, they the artist is paid based on their percentage of ownership.
It is a good concept in helping new, aspiring artists get work published and get them some exposure, but at the same time I do not know too many (good) artists willing to work for free, but if you do send them my way!
I will be back with more details to follow as we iron them out.

For anyone interested in learning more about the KC Planet Comicon, or if you are in the area and want to attend check out this HYPERLINK "http://www.planetcomicon.com/" site for details.

The Spotlight interview with Jonah Hardenbrook

The Quarterly Cure is an online newsletter providing the fans with frequent company updates, the Quarterly Cure also wants give you the opportunity to get to know the creative forces behind the titles through candid interviews. In celebration of the release of their second title, Black Jack, we sat down with creator/writer Jonah Hardenbrook to get to find out how his journey began what he’s learned along the way.

Before getting into the details of Black Jack, let’s talk about the beginning. How did you become involved with Antidote Comics?

Chris, Curt and Anthony all know each other from college. Chris is my brother-in-law…our wives are sisters, and I met Anthony on a road trip to a Star Wars convention…because we are that cool (Laughs)!
Well, Anthony and Chris had gotten together to start work on Bloods Own, they laid out the story and completed the thumbnails, but were having trouble putting words with the pictures. Knowing I have always aspired to be a writer, especially a comic book writer, Chris approached me asking if I’d write the script. I basically said that they could either pay me up front for the script, which I knew they could not afford to do, or make me a partner! It also made sense because there are a lot of stories I personally want to tell, and this is a great opportunity to tell those stories.

Of all the stories you want to tell, why choose Black Jack as your first?

Just as Bloods Own is Anthony’s “baby”, and is something he has been planning since he was in college forty years ago, Black Jack is my “baby”. The idea is nearly a decade old, stemming back to my days when I wanted to write and direct movies. The initial idea was for a horror/western called Cursed World in which a posse of gunfighters and lawmen hunted down a werewolf. As I grew older I gave up on those less-than-realistic aspirations, but never abandoned the concept. Over the years it slowly evolved into it’s current incarnation.

The first issue of Black Jack is a self-contained story, however there is quite a bit of setup for possible future stories. Is Black Jack planned as a mini series, or an ongoing?

I wanted to kick off the series with a self-contained issue because in all honesty I do not know when a second or even a third issue will be completed. That being said, Black Jack is definitely planned as an ongoing series. I have the scripts for issues two through five completed and have the first thirty-five or so issues outlined. As I said before, there are a lot of stories I want to tell!

It has been over a year since the inception of Antidote Comics, what have you learned throughout the creative process?

It’s not necessarily what I’ve learned, but what I am still learning. And the answer is…everything! Bloods Own was the first script I’d written, and even that was based on thumbnails that had already been laid out. Black Jack was the first time I had to create a script from scratch including panels and descriptive images, so the entire process from script to layouts to lettering has all been a learning experience. The most important thing I’ve learned is that praise is good, but criticism is even better. I’ve never improved by receiving praise, and am looking forward to as much constructive criticism as necessary to better hone my craft.

Any advice you can give other aspiring creators looking to self publish or break into the business?

I don’t know about the breaking into the biz part since I’m still working on that myself. I guess the best advice I can give anyone that wants to be a writer is advice actually given to me a few years back: If you want to be a writer you need to stop talking about wanting to be a writer and actually start writing.

25 Random Facts about me

25 Random Facts about me

A good friend of mine had recently posted a note on Facebook with 25 random facts about herself. Seemed like a fun idea, and I am shy on other topics this week, so here it goes. Some you may already know, some you could care less about, and others may cause you to never look at me the same again.

1) I have been fired from four of my six jobs. Of those four, four of them didn’t count as real jobs.

2) I didn’t have my first kiss till I was seventeen years old, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.

3) My brother and I once made up our own form of martial arts called Kuma Te. The cool thing about that is you are automatically a black belt.

4) My soon-to-be-born son’s name is derived from one of my favorite GI Joe characters. It took some convincing to get my wife on board. And no, it is not Zartan, though I did present that as an option.

5) Rainbow Bright was the object of my first masturbatory fantasy…before I knew what masturbation even was.

6) I attended DMACC (Des Moines Area Community college) without ever completing an elected class. Yet made the Deans List after required to take a “Driver Improvement Class”.

7) I once pretended to be Jewish just to date a girl (in my defense she was really cute). She was not happy when she learned the truth. You think she would have caught on sooner since I always referred to the temple as “church”.

8) As a child I had aspirations to pursue a career as a paleontologist, zoologist, herpetologist and a marine biologist. I never once said I want to pursue a career in Insurance.

9) I plan on writing comic books for the rest of my life even if it never pays the bills or makes any sort of income. It is a true passion of mine.

10) My beautiful, talented daughter is decades ahead of her old man, she has already written her first children’s book, which is in the process of being illustrated. Once published, all net profit will go into a college fund.

11) I have yet to meet somebody from New Jersey that I actually like. I am starting to believe that person doesn’t even exist.

12) With aspirations of taking Hollywood by storm, I once made a bet with my childhood friend, Christina Calisesi, that I would win an Academy Award by age twenty-five. Needless to say I lost that bet.

13) I’d always wanted a nickname when I didn’t have one, but then when I had nicknames such as BF, NGB, Princess-Limpy-Wrist, Johann, and Goona, I wished I hadn’t had one. And those we the names given to me by my friends, I’d hate to have heard the names people had
for me that didn’t like me.

14) I enjoy reading comic books and still play with action figures, but make no mistake: I am all man.

15) Before I discovered hustler there was Penthouse. Before I discovered Penthouse there was Playboy. Before I discovered Playboy there was Victoria’s Secret. And before I discovered Victoria’s Secret there was the Newport News Catalogue.

16) I created my first superhero when I was twelve years old, it was a vigilante called Death Shadow. I used to dress up as this character wearing black sweat pants, a black t-shirt, a blue cape and a black hat. Death Shadow was armed with an Uzi and a sword…and a mullet.

17) The best advice I should have followed: “Don’t sleep with that girl.”

18) My wife, Lindsey is not just my lover but also my best friend. She has been without a doubt the best thing to ever happen to me. I often shudder at the thought of where I may be now if it wasn’t for her.

19) I didn’t eat salad or Mexican food until I was twenty. I still don’t eat chili with beans, but maybe someday that’ll change. The thought of Mushrooms make me physically ill, and I refuse to anything with them.

20) I used to say that I hate fat people, but after gaining a little weight myself I have changed my stance: I hate really fat people.

21) One of my favorite books is Sympathy for the Devil by Kent Anderson. It is a brilliant character study of one man’s transformation based on experiences during the Vietnam conflict. I have read this book multiple times and it is just as engrossing and disturbing now as it was the first time.

22) When I was in preschool the educators believed I might have needed to go into Special Ed. As it turns out I was just really bored.

23) I used to pretend that my life was a sitcom, and not the unfunny Rosanne kind. This “delusion” often dictated many of my actions and the things I said.

24) I've read the bible cover to cover.

25) Just because I do not believe in God doesn’t mean I am a man without faith.

A new blog is being added to my every growing series of entries. This new one titled Jonah’s Joe’s is dedicated to my love of GI Joe. From the toys of the 80’s and 90’s to the classic cartoon and 155 issue Marvel comic book series. If it’s about GI Joe, it’ll be posted there.
I have been cleaning up my collection and selling large portions of it in order to start paying off some debt, which I hope to have cleared by the time the new baby arrives. I hope to post some pictures of the collection to share with you all. I most recently started going through some custom figures that I had made a few years back and have the intention of posting pictures along with descriptions on this blog. Several of the figures had been added to www.joecustoms.com, and can still be seen there under the handle, Jogunwarrior. I can’t really remember where that handle came from; I think it had to do with a narcissistic variation of Shogun Warriors. I have always been fascinated by feudal Japan. I remember changing it from the previous online handle Wldcrd78 after a stalker started using an all too similar variation of it (Wldcrd70) to harass my girlfriend. I never did learn the identity of the Internet stalker. But I digress…
If you want to see the work of a man who had way too much time on his hands you can find it here: http://jonahsjoes.blogspot.com/
Notice I used past tense, because I have not had that much time on my hands for quite a few years.

On to more important matters: My wife and I had our ultrasound this past Monday to determine the sex of the baby, and ensure that it has all it’s limbs. I am proud to announce that the baby is healthy and on track as far as developmental stages go. It is also a boy! People always asked if was hoping for a boy or a girl. They assumed a boy since I already have a daughter, and one day will need someone to pass along all my toys and comic books to. There is a part of me that was really hoping to have a boy to pass all my manliness along to, but most boy children I see are complete douche bags. And I’m not going to be one of those parents that says, “My kids never gonna act like that!” Because the truth is that they probably are and then I’d look like a dick. Having another girl would have been cool to, but I already have two women in the house bossing me around and another one may lead me to drink heavily on a regular basis. The truth is that I would have been totally happy regardless of the sex just as long as he/she is healthy.
Our daughter went with us, and afterwards we are all went out to lunch. We went to the Olive Garden where I ordered the seafood-pasta-stuff and had them hold the syphilis (that’s a long story for another time).

What else is going on? Not much on my end other than the exciting baby news. I got a promotion at my day job, which means more work, and less time to sit around thinking about useless shit to blog about.

Not much has changed in the Antidote world since the last update. Anthony is still drawing Bloods Own issue 2. Chris is still drawing Children of Circus. I am going back and forth on scripts for several stories in the works such as Freedom Guard and Black Jack…I’ll have the forty-plus outlined issues completely scripted by the time anyone gets around to drawing issue 2. I need to hire an artist, but that takes something I am lacking right now called – what’s the word – Oh yeah, money! I am also working on some proposals for other publishing companies on the off chance I ever pitch one of the big dogs an idea it’ll be ready. There had been some discussion at the last antidote meeting, which I unfortunately missed, to reduce the page count of each issue from twenty-two to twelve. This would hopefully reduce cost, as well as the time it takes to complete an issue. Issues could have some bonus stuff added like sketches, and maybe even script pages. The reduced page count would come with a lower price tag to the consumer, which is nice. I am not totally on board with these changes, as I enjoyed the current format with the visage of being able to go head to head with the big dogs, but I am willing to try anything to get more quality products out sooner. I also need to realize that ultimately this is just a hobby.
With Diamond’s changes in their distribution guidelines (my friend and neighbor, Matt does a good job summing it up in his own blog here: www.cupokryptonite.com we will probably not be submitting Black Jack or any other titles to them anytime soon. We will stick to the convention circuit for now and may review alternative methods of distribution when we have more books available. Once again, I need to remember that this is still just a hobby!

Hopefully I’ll have some more stuff for next week, and remember to check out the new GI Joe pages!