The Dark Bite Returns!
Solicited in the Previews catalog this very month is Weekly World News #2,published by IDW. (Hey, don't they publish some critically acclaimed superhero romantic comedy, too?) When I was in San Diego, I met Chris and professed my love for The Weekly World News and Bat Boy.
Pause. True story: One of the best Christmas presents I ever gave was getting my brother a subscription to said Weekly World News. It became the gift that kept on giving, as Mike would bring it over to my grandparents' house and it would make the rounds from Grandpa to Uncle Jim to Dad and so on. I think it became more popular than the Sunday Comics. And resume.
Chris was kind enough to let me do one of the alternate covers for WWN. We batted (hah!) some suggestions back and forth, and then I suggested this parody cover of The Dark Knight Returns. I think it turned out spectacularly and look forward to seeing it when it comes out in a couple of months.
Issue Twelve
If you're on the cover of Love and Capes #12, you should receive an e-mail from me today about ordering additional copies if you need them. I'm just putting this message out on all my frequencies to make sure that everyone sees it.
They're Coming Around the Mountain
I picked up my inital copies of Love and Capes #12 today. More boxes will come later, and the books will ship out to Diamond later this week. I'm not sure when they'll arrive in stores because of that Diamond skip week and all. Hopefully, they'll be there by the end of the year.
I'm taking my copies to Alter Ego in Lima, Ohio this weekend where I'll be doing a special advance signing.
And, if you're one of the guests on the cover, your copies will be going out tomorrow along with information about getting extra copies if you need them.
A Mocha of Victory may be in order.
Have Yourself an Amusing Little Christmas
One of my astute readers noticed that the PayPal links in my post about selling previous year's Christmas Card designs wasn't working. I took a look and fixed it, so now the buttons all work right, and I'm reposting it so that if you tried to order and couldn't, well, now you can.
Every year I do a custom Christmas card, and every year I print more than I use. So, I'm making the previous year's cards available for purchase. The cards are still pretty funny, and they're definitely different from anything else you'd be sending. Each card has a cartoon on the front, and a smaller folllow-up cartoon on the back.
"REALITY" Christmas Card
This Christmas card takes aim at the reality show trend. The inside reads "Hope you have a REAL good holiday."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"BAILOUT" Christmas Card
Everybody gets a bailout, including Frosty, on this card. The inside reads "Hope your Holiday Season is crisis-free."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SECOND CHRISTMAS" Christmas Card
Everybody gets a bailout, including Frosty, on this card. The inside reads "May THIS be your best Christmas yet.
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SECURITY" Christmas Card
Border security becomes an issue for old St. Nick on this Christmas card. The inside reads "Hope your holiday joy isn't hard to find."
Cards measure 5.5" x 4.25" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
The Quiet Times Aren't All That Quiet
I haven't posted anything in a few days, I know. There have been things keeping me busy, and announcements I can't yet make. But here, have some art from something I'm working on.
Read into that what you will.
The Proof is in the Oven
Yup, I just signed off and sent the books to the printer. I should have them in-hand next week, and then out to you shortly thereafter.
Also, there was a random review of Love and Capes #11 over at Hero Sandwich. It's pretty favorable, and I always dig that.
Test Flight
I'm testing out a new sharing link on my blog, so I needed to post something. I decided to share this bit of art.
They seem pretty tan, don't they?
Memories of the Future
Wil Wheaton and I have a hate/hate relationship.
He and I have a lot in common. We’re about the same age. We both have brown hair and brown eyes. We’re both ruggedly handsome. And, in 1987, while Wil was the youngest member of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was the youngest member of the Starship New Promise, a Star Trek fan club.
Oh, and we both seemed to wear a lot of sweaters.
So it’s no surprise that my friends in the Trek group teased me by calling me “Wesley” and I grew to really hate that character.
There’s a thing that happens with actors and their parts. You know the actor is only playing a character, but since that character is all you have to go on, you do blur the two of them. So, my disdain for Wesley was transferred to Wil.
Wil and I grew up. Wesley got a real promotion and eventually left the show. But I always associated some of that Wesley Ick with Wil.
Then, a few years back, I found Wil’s blog. It’s why I tell you about how I felt towards Wesley and the actor who played him. I had a fair amount of irrational predisposition to dislike the blog.
What I found there was an surprisingly honest accounting of being a creative person. He wrote about the difficulties of writing, what he had to do to bring a character to life. I’m stupid for behinds the scenes stuff, and he was delivering it gangbusters. It wasn’t long before, solely through the strength of his writing, that he won me over completely.
So now he’s written a book. Another book, as he’s written a few. This one is called Memories of the Future, and it’s his recapping of the first half of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Hmmm, more behind the scenes stuff. Wonder if Im going to like it.
He’s described his book as “looking through a yearbook and saying ‘Oh my God, can you believe we thought that was cool?’” That’s a pretty accurate description of the book’s vibe. It’s irreverent fun.
I’m a big Star Trek fan. There are parts of that show that have actually defined my life. I once turned down a big job by quoting Kirk in Generations when he told Picard to not do anything that got him out of That Chair. As such, I’m sensitive about people hacking on the franchise too much. (Except for Voyager and the first three seasons of Enterprise, but that’s another story.)
It’s very much “nobody picks on my brother but me.” Wil’s part of Trek, so he can deconstruct some of the early season missteps and do it without malice. The books a lot of fun, and I’m not sure anyone else could have written it.
Wil’s writing style is breezy in the best possible way. Each chapter is candy coated with humor over a solid center of content, and you wind up wolfing it down. Yeah, it’s literary Twix. And eI recommend it.
Here’s the thing that really impressed me, and why I’ve decided to devote a chunk of blog real estate to the former Sweatered One and his book. Wesley was pretty reviled, and Wil could have taken the tack of I read the lame lines I was given as best as I could, dudes, so deal, and he’d be more than justified in doing it. But he takes it a step further and shows, from a writerly point of view, why the character was so unsuccessful.
That shows a pretty impressive intellectual honesty.
The first volume takes covers Encounter at Farpoint to Datalore. He breaks down each episode with a funny recap, some insider’s memories, and a criticism of the episode itself. If you like Star Trek: The Next Generation or behind-the-scenes process stuff, I recommend it completely.
Like I said, I have a hate/hate relationship with Wil Wheaton. When I was younger, I hated the character he played and the teasing I got from it. Now, he’s been on Big Bang Theory, hangs with Felicia Day, and has a family that liberally quotes Monty Python.
So now I just hate him because I’m jealous.
Keep It Under Your Hat
Because I'm just mean like this, I wanted to show you some art.
Wish I could tell you what it's for.