Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?

Page two is done, and it's my first TSA based joke. Having flown to Texas and back recently, these airportisms are pretty fresh. I have to say, though, I've never had any problems with TSA. Sure, the water thing's a hassle and all, but they've always been friendly and professional. To me at least, I know your mileage may vary.

Incidentally, this joke was one of the two spurred by my brainstorming session with Mr. Jesse Jackson, and broke the mental logjam that kept me from starting back up. Well, now it's started up, so blame him.

Gentle Reminder

I've mentioned before the Candlelighters Auction organized by Thomas of Say It Backwards. I've got a Supergirl piece up there, and there are still a couple of days left to bid on it. I'm even throwing in some cool Love and Capes swag as well. There are a lot of other auction items over there, too. It's great art for a great cause

One Good Drop of Poison

While I was sitting at CAPE, I did a warm-up drawing of Poison Ivy to help drum up some commission work. Poison Ivy might be the most frequently requested commission I do. She's tremendously popular, both with men and women.

I did a fairly simple pose on this one, but I colored her much more cooly than I did my first one (which has since sold). It wasn't until I started coloring it that I realized I basically drew Charlotte from Love and Capes. That's okay. If Charlotte dressed up for Halloween, I bet she's pick Poison Ivy.

The Returns are In...

…and I pronounce Free Comic Book Day a success.

See what I did there? You were thinking it was some political thing, and I turned it to.. oh, well. You get it.

Reviews are good, exposure was good, and I had a great time. Aside from the Captains' game getting rained out and pushing their FCBD giveaway to the next day, as well as my traditional FCBD driving ticket (I so did not see that red light), everything went well. The first Saturday in May is becoming one of the highlights of my year. Now, let's answer some questions. Well, one, at least. From Craig Reade over at Comixtreme.com:

"Clearly it [Love and Capes #7] is a critical moment in the overall series, so much of one that I am honestly surprised they are giving it away for free."

Okay, that's not a question, per se, but it begs a question or two: Why a full issue when so many people do samplers or reprints? And why this issue, so important to the story?

The answer? Two things that don't often go together. Money and integrity.

Being a small publisher, I have to pay to print every book I do, including the Free Comic Book Day version. Now, if I do it right and sell enough copies (since comic shops do pay for them at a greatly reduced cost… read Vaneta Rogers fantastic article about it here) and sell enough ads, I can break even or so. But there are never any guarantees.

So I figure, I only get so many swings. Might as well make all of them count. If I'm going to take the financial risk of doing a book, I might as well do a full book.

As far as why this story, that one's easier: Because the story's the story. This is the story that followed the one I just told back in November. I'm not going to change the story just because it's Free Comic Book Day. Yeah, the release of Spider-Man 3 and the tie-in helped inspire issue #4, but that was being set up back in issue #2 as well. Issue #7 was always the pro... you know, I'm not going to spoil it, but if you've read it, you know what it is… so it didn't change. And deep down, I really want you to read the story. If that means giving away a sixth of it, I'm okay with that.

Besides, I think FCBD should be about full issues. If you want to get people hooked, you might as well show them exactly what they'll be getting. And to me, that's 22-24 pages of new entertainment.

Issue #7 will be released with an alternate cover available for order in Previews right now. When I'm printing an issue, it doesn't take much to do a new cover as long as the insides remain the same. John Gallagher was the one who pointed that out to me, for which I'll always be thankful. I think it's better for your readership to give away something for free and then offer it for purchase to those who missed it rather than the reverse, where I give away something that I charged them for last month.

I could hide out under there/I just made you say underwear

I'm back on the horse that is Love and Capes.

Fair warning, though, I'm trying to get 90 days ahead on the book, so you'll see stuff now, but it won't come out until October. Sorry for the extended delay, but I really did need the break. Trust me on that.

As usual, I'll post a panel, or in this case, part of a panel since it's a full-page splash every time I get one done. And you can follow me on Twitter, too. If you'd been on and watching today, your hometown could have appeared on the departure board in the Deco City Airport.

Writer's block is over. Time to get back to work.

Oh, and last time I posted panels with movie quotes. This time, I'll be doing song lyrics. I just get bored typing "Page Six" and so on, so it's something to keep me interested. Hope you are, too.

Twitter: Because All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

In an effort to be pro-active, edgy, web 2.0 and hep, I've gotten myself on Twitter. My screenname is loveandcapes.

I'll be Twittering my creative process, such as it is, on Love and Capes #8. I'll be starting the first page this afternoon. I meant to start this morning, but setting up Twitter took some time. But, if you notice, there's a cool purple box in the sidebar on my blog page, you'll notice the updates. Soon I'll add it to my Love and Capes website, too.

So, if you have a Twitter account, please add me to your peoples-you-follow thingee.

Recap Later, Rest Now

Reviews are starting to come in over the transom. I’ll post them where and when I can, and try to make a master list in a week or so. The book is getting good reviews nearly everywhere, which means more than I can say. I think issue #7 is a good issue, but it’s one of those ones where I felt tone-deaf. Sometimes that happens to me as a writer where I can’t tell if I’m doing good or bad. So I barrel on, trusting my instincts, and hoping that things come together. It seems like they have, and I’m thrilled about that.

I’ll also address some questions and theories about FCBD. For example, in the review from Craig Reade from Comixtreme.com, he mentions that he’s surprised that I had such a pivotal part of the Love and Capes storyline as a giveaway issue. There are reasons for that, but I'm still fairly fried from a fantastic and packed weekend, so I'll wait until I'm a little more coherent.

CAPE Crusade

Yesterday was CAPE here in Dallas, sponsored by Zeus Comics. The event’s pretty unique: an outdoor Free Comic Book Day event with more than eighty talented creators as well as me, too.

Things went really well. I sold fairly well, I think, during an event that has the name “free” in it’s name. There were a wonderful number of kids there, which I think is one of the most important parts of the day: getting kids into the hobby.

And, while it was a big event with big names, there weren’t huge crowds or lines. Mark Waid, Robert Kirkman, and Gail Simone all had some pretty thick crowds, but it wasn’t so bad that you couldn’t drift over and talk to them. I know Mark the best, and at most shows we walk by each other’s tables, exchange a few witty bon mots, and then go back to our busy day. Here, I got to talk with him a little more, about things Super Friends and toys and comics. I got to meet Gail Simone for the first time, something really not possible for me at most shows because of her well-deserved crowds.And I gave her some copies of the book, of course. I did miss Robert Kirkman, who my cousin Jamie turned me on to with his Christmas gift of the Invincible hardcover . I would have liked to have told him how much I like his book.

The day was a little chilly to start. And windy. Chilly and windy. Jesse and Christine were real troopers with the weather. It wasn’t, but it certainly started out... unpleasant. Cold doesn’t bother me too much, although the wind certainly caused issues for my light and frothy books.

The event does seem to be a little bifurcated. Zeus has a shop nearby, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of cross-traffic. That could be just anecdotal, and that there was a good amount of crossover. CAPE certainly wasn’t hurting for people either way. I moved some books, a commission, even a t-shirt, which seem to be the hardest product to sell (and the one that takes up the most space in my suitcase, despite my cool space saver bags).

I also got to talk with Scott Hinze from Fanboy Radio, and more importantly now from Heroes for Heroes, an organization supplying our troops overseas with comics, MP3s, iPods, iTunes gift cards and the like. I’ll be donating a chunk of books to them for sure.

I’m very glad I came to CAPE. And I’d certainly do it again. Having said that, Free Comic Book Day 2009 is a year away, and there are still forty-eight states that I haven’t visited for the big FCBD event yet.

Second Review!

So, the second review is in, this time from Douglas Wolk at Salon.com. And it's another good one. An A-minus in fact. Cooler still is that they've got an image on their home page, with a montage of some of the Free Comic Book Day books. There's Superman, and Spider-Man, and Hellboy, and…Mark and Abby? Man, that's sweet.

Here's Doug's review, but check out the full review on Salon's site, too.

Love and Capes #7 • A neat little romantic comedy in superhero drag: The Crusader wants to find exactly the right moment to propose to his girlfriend, but family issues, holidays and occasional spates of crime fighting are getting in the way. It's an airy, self-contained coda to the recent miniseries, and artist Thomas F. Zahler makes visual ideas from contemporary animation work on the page. A-

How Eugene Son Ruined the Iron Man Movie For Me

Eugene Son is a friend of mine. He's kindly put me up in his house when I had some meetings with some Hollywood-types. He's a talented writer. And yet, he ruined Iron Man for me.

It's really ironic, too, since he's actually written the Iron Man, cartoon.

First, let's cover the important stuff. I'm out here in Dallas, as opposed to with the Usual Suspects in Ohio, and I saw Iron Man with Christine and Jesse. The movie's great, really. Performances are superb (it's nice to see adults playing the characters), effects are great, and it's another one of those "wow, the movie's really good when they actually follow the original story" movies. So go see it, after you pick up your free copy of Love and Capes #7.

And things really are bigger here in Texas. Here are three shots of my Stilt-Man like legs from while I was sitting in my seat at the theatre. Taken way before the movie, don't worry. You know what that is? It's called leg room: something I'll apparently have to pay extra for on airlines and can't buy at Playhouse Square. It's a joy to not sit for two hours with my knees pressed against the seat in front of me.

But back to Iron Man. And, here's something rare, it's a non-spoiler alert. You know how picky I am about spoilers, and I'm pretty sure I can reveal this one part of a scene and not ruin the movie. But, if you're still paranoid, I understand. Bookmark me and check this when you've seen it.

So here's the thing: Tony Stark, who in this movie lives in LA, which works really well, really wants a cheeseburger. I understand this desire. I, too, have really wanted a cheeseburger. So, a scene laer, we see him with a sack from, wait for it, Burger King.

Okay, I'm not going to bash the King's product, as I've been known to enjoy it from time to time. It's a fine fast food burger. But, if you're a Los Angeleno, or even an occasional one like me, there's only one place to go: In and Out Burger. Why do I know this? Because Eugene Son took me there for my first taste of the fast food burgery and fry perfection that is In and Out burger.

No way in the 'verse that he goes to BK. Ain't happenin'. And that's how Eugene ruined Iron Man.

That said, see it, it's great. It's the first comic book movie that I've seen where I really wouldn't change a thing. And the writer side of me always wants to tweak things. So check it out. And, like everyone else has said: stay through the credits, True Believer!