Dribble Drabble

More weblog reviews are rolling in on Love and Capes #4…

"The laughs are authentic and realistic as, despite the superhero backdrop, the relationships among the characters remind us of people, couples, and friends we’ve known. This realism has helped The Crusader receive more character development in four issues than Superman has received in 75 years.

Zahler doesn’t just give us an enchanting view into the private life of a superhero and his girlfriend; it delivers Zahler’s sharp, crisp art. His panels are as dynamic as they are comedic, and that makes Love and Capes a delight to look at.

Imagine the 1992-1999 television series Mad about You, it’s charm and humor, but with Paul Buchman being a superhero, not an aspiring film director, and you’ve got Love and Capes. Buy the books, and check out some of the original online strips at the Love and Capes website. You’ll enjoy it."

I have to say, I really appreciate the comparison to "Mad About You." Occasionally, I have referred to it as "Mad About You if Paul had super-powers." Read the full review here.

Thomas Zahler’s super-hero romance comic is cute and unpretentious, and liberally littered with in-jokes for super-hero fans. He has a unique art-style and a good ear for snappy dialogue…This particular issue’s story, about a Superman-type hero’s jealousy of a Spider-Man type’s popular film is especially fitting given the timing of this year’s FCBD.
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Another compliment about the art. I can't express how cool that is. When I was at Kubert, I was definitely one of the mid-level artists and I always thought of myself as a journeyman illustrator. It seems like I may have found my wheel house with Love and Capes. Check out the full review here.

Last Chance for Love and Capes Shirts!

It's your last chance to make sure to get your Love and Capes t-shirts. If you enjoy the book, please order one. Shirts are available in the red ($10 plus shipping) and black ($20). A portion of red shirt sales go to benefit The Hero Initative. The rest of all shirt sales go to benefit me, and keep me producing Love and Capes.

Click here to be taken to the order page. All orders must be received by July 14th.

Calm Before the Next Storm

Love and Capes #5 is at the printer, right now. It'll be in stores the end of July/beginning of August, depending on when they leave the printer. And, there might, just might, be some copies in San Diego.

It's a weird feeling when a book is done. There's joy and elation, and then a sense of emptiness. For three months the book has been a weight on my shoulders and while I love working on it, there's always that feeling of "I'll be glad when it's done." But then when it's done, I lose that sense of purpose and feel a little rudderless. I don't relax well, I guess.

Still, I'm giving myself a holiday from the book until August, when I start on #6, the last book before I take a longer hiatus from the series.

Last One of the First Batch

This is the last of the first batch of four Buzzboy pages. I finally get to color the rest of Buzzboy's gang. And with this done, I'm just waiting for more pages to get my hands and digital crayons on.

Buzzboy, Page Three

Here's the third of the first set of four pages of Buzzboy. In this one, giant walker things attack the city, and yet, the book avoids the stench of Spielberg's War of the Worlds remake.

Page Two

Here's the second of the first batch of Buzzboy pages that I'm coloring. I'm getting back into the swing of things, and I think they're turning out nice so far. Two more to go. As always, clicken to embiggen!

Buzzed Because

It's time for another issue of Buzzboy, and I'm back coloring again. I did a few pages for the Free Comic Book Day issue, but wasn't able to do the whole issue because of my work on my FCBD book, a little something I may have mentioned somewhere called Love and Capes.

Anyway, here's the first page. Click to embiggerize!

Bah Wah Grah Na Weep Ninny Bong!

Transformers was an interesting experience. I was incredibly jazzed for a movie that I had absolutely no expectations for. How weird is that? I really wanted to see this film, and didn't care how it was going to turn out.

I've talked about how I like seeing certain movies with my group of friends. This one was funny, that way. My closest two friends and I all had wives or girlfriends who absolutely did not want to see this film. I didn't want to take up a weekend with it. So I suggested the Tuesday night pre-premiere (before they announced a Monday release). It was perfect, I figured... they could put their kids and wives to bed around nine and head out to see a 10:00pm show. The next day was Independence Day, so none of them had to work. Why, it was artful in how perfect it was.

What I didn't expect was how perfect it would be. When all was said and done, we'd bought twenty-one tickets. Two of my brothers came. A couple of friends brought their kids, despite the lateness (and more power to them for that). My cousin was there. A whole batallion of Dulzers showed up.

Counting the after-movie trip to Steak and Shake, it was just five hours of pure fun. And, on a perfectly clear, cool night with the 80's Transformers soundtrack blaring on my convertible driving down an empty street, it was also the hardest time I've ever had driving closest to the speed limit.

So how was the movie? Does it matter, really?

It's decent. Enough of a plot to hang things on, decent characters and decent acting, great effects, great action, and everything I could have hoped for. There was a fair amount of clever to it, too, from working in a catch phrase to quoting the Transformers movie, to one character's interesting way of communicating.

Sure, there was a plot hole or maybe two, but none glaring enough that it took me out of the film, and none I couldn't explain away. I really don't have any complaints about it. Except, well…

Jazz. He wasn't my favorite toy, but he was one of my favorite characters in the cartoon. "Do it with style, or don't do it at all" was his catch phrase, and I really liked that. And, in the cartoon, he was voiced by the late, great Scatman Crothers, who could take the Autobot's few lines and give them a great spin. Darius McCrary voiced him in the film, and while he's a fine enough actor (I liked him in Committed) but, well, he's no Scatman.

Still, if that's my biggest problem, that's no problem at all.

Robots in Disguise

I appreciate cool.

I don't mean gotta have it cool, like the much-beloved iPhone, or slick cool like George Clooney. Just the whole that's just visual or neat or somehow, well, cool vibe. Like this pictured here. It's my brother Mike's car. And, you may notice, it's now an Autobot.

It's temporary, don't worry. At some point I'm sure Mike would like to have a girl in that car. It's some sort of car-art-paint that washes off with soap and water. But I have to say, it's cool.

I love that my family gets cool, too. After fixing my garage door, my Dad went to his house, and Mike asked if he could paint the Autobot logo on his Grand Am. Dad didn't say "Aren't you in your late twenties" or "that's stupid" or "I have better things to do with my time." He said, "That's cool" and then he did it. My family can appreciate a powerful squirt gun or a neat looking car design or some great looking art (wonder why that appeals to me so much). That's one of the things I love about them.

They're cool.

Button It!

You can see here the free buttons that I'll be giving away at San Diego. These are "band button" size (one inch round) and a very popular at shows. I rarely bring any home, and see them pinned all over people's shirts and bag straps. I've designed a new one this year, and will still have some of the older pink design available, too. I'm man enough to wear pink, although not often, but I wanted something a little more boy-friendly, hence the blue background version.

If you're going to be at Comic-Con, or some of the other shows I'm doing this year, be sure to come by and grab a couple.