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Here’s a quick schedule of where you can find me during the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City.Friday2:00 – 3:00HWA Signing, along with Del Howison6:00-6:50 pmWriting a Graphic Novel (Cullen Bunn, Cody Goodfellow, Nate Southard)7:00-7:50 pmThe Fine Art of the Gross-Out (Jeff Strand (mod), Rain Graves, Cullen Bunn, Weston Ochse, Bill Breedlove, Wrath James White)8:00 – 9:50Mass Autograph Session10:30 – MidnightGross-Out Contest (where I’ll be judging)Saturday6:00-6:50 pmCall of Cthulhu: the best horror RPG on the market? (Cullen Bunn, Richard Dansky, Cody Goodfellow)Sunday2:00-2:50 pmThe best horror games (Cullen Bunn, Richard Dansky, Christopher Treagus)I’ll also be sitting in on a bunch of other panels. The schedule looks pretty good this year. Hope to see you there!
Category : Comics, Distractions, General
This month has slipped by pretty quickly, but I was finally able to sit down with a copy of Previews to check out the cool new stuff that’ll be coming out in May. Here are the items that interest me most.
Essential Rampaging Hulk Vol. 1 (Marvel) - The Marvel Essentials (and DC Showcases) are great editions to any collection, I think. The Hulk’s black and white magazine adventures were always wild, and I only read a few of them when I was younger, so this will be a real treat for me.
Invincible Iron Man #1 (Marvel) – Iron Man (along with Green Arrow) was one of the first superheroes I really liked, in large part thanks to Mego toys. With the release of the movie, there will be a ton of new Iron Man comics. This one looks the most promising to me, like a return to what Iron Man should be – action-packed and fun.
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (Dark Horse) - Here’s the story of grim prophecies, superheroes, strange powers, and zombie robots. This trade paperback collects the first six issues of the comic series.
The War That Time Forgot #1 (DC) - One of my favorite war comics returns. I doubt it will ever capture the magic of the original stories, but I have to give it a shot.
Tor #1 (DC) – Another all-too-brief return to one of the cool comics of my childhood … a journey into the past … not to the dawn of time, but to the days when caveman comics were “in”.
Final Crisis #1 (DC) – OK. I admit it. I’m a sucker for “big event” comics.
Cursed Pirate Girl #2 (Archaia Studios Press) - I’ve seen some previews of this beautifully-illustrated comic, but I somehow missed the first issue. I’ll correct that problem ASAP. Regardless, the second issue of this strange pirate yarn will definitely be on my order list.
Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko (Fantagraphics Books) – Ditko’s work is easily recognizable. As a kid, I didn’t really dig his art, but I learned to respect it over time. Not to mention, some of the stuff is just … odd … offbeat in a wonderful way.
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Category : Distractions
At a recent meeting of the Midwest Writers of Horror, we discussed flash fiction. I find it difficult to leave a voice mail greeting less than 500 words in length, so writing a story at such a word count is a chore for me. Luckily, I figured out a method, and here I’ve posted (with apologies to The Monster Squad) my new zombie flash fiction tale:
Dear Army,
There are zombies.
Please come.
***
Dear kid,
We are zombies.
Signed, the Army.
The nice thing with this format, you can make whatever kind of story you want. Zombies aren’t your thing? Voila!
Dear Army,
There are sasquatches.
Please come.
***
Dear kid,
We are sasquatches.
Signed, the Army.
Feel free to use this technique to your heart’s content. I only ask for a little acknowledgment when your first “Dear Army, Dear Kid” collection is released.
Category : Uncategorized
Here are a few links I thought I’d share with you on this gloomy St. Patrick’s Day.
Bernie Gonzalez has been treating us to a new creature every day for a while. They’re fun, and they remind me of the kind of trading cards I loved to buy when I was a kid. Does anybody else remember those monster alphabet stickers?
Over on Horror Library, Erik Smetana has posted an insightful essay on what it takes to be a writer.
I’m still fascinated by the idea of organization and uncluttering. A couple of posts on Real Simple, one on Tackling the Paper Stacks of Doom and another on Tips to Maintain Focus While You Organize were enough to get me thinking about cleaning up my act again.
Category : Comics
What a strange, awful month. Steve Gerber, Gary Gygax, and now Dave Stevens have passed away. Yet another of my favorite creators is gone, and the world is a little less colorful for it. Mr. Stevens was one of my favorite artists. He is probably most famous for his good girl pinups (often featuring Bettie Page) and as the creator of The Rocketeer, a character who so perfectly reflected the pulp heroes on which he was based, you almost felt as though you were traveling back in time when you read one of those glorious, amazing comics. If you aren’t familiar with the character (or with Dave Stevens’ work) do yourself a favor and correct that right away.
Category : Events & Appearances
Brian managed to stave off his killer instincts for a bit, and I survived my trip to HurleyCon. What’s more, Jeremy Haun waved the white flag and begged for mercy, which I granted. Therefore, I proclaim HurleyCon a sparkling success! I got to hang out with some talented friends, meet some fans, and talk about comics. What more could I want? A few random notes and highlights:
- During an interview, I was asked what the central themes of The Damned might be. While this isn’t something I’ve overthought, the answer is pretty clear. The book is about family, both from a figurative and a literal point of view, but it is also about the choices we make and the reprucussions our decisions have. And about tommy guns.
- Brian enlightened me that while I write fun comics, I don’t write important comics. Perhaps he wasn’t listening when I dreamed up the idea for my latest masterpiece–The Incredible Huck. He’ll be sorry when I find another artist to illustrate this masterpiece of gamma irradiation along the Mississippi in 1876.
- B. Clay Moore apparently does a pretty good grumpy Cullen impersonation, but he denied this to my face.
- How does someone get the name Doctor Fantastic? In addition to T-Rex Daddy, I’ll also henceforth be known as Captain Fanmazing!
- To summarize–I was the world’s youngest hypnotist; I was once attacked by a cougar; and I’m afraid of power tools–all true. I also have tales of tarantulas and scorpions–also 100% true.
- Brian is afraid of gremlins. For serious. However, he is in no way afraid of donuts.
Category : Events & Appearances
So … this weekend, I’m heading to HurleyCon in Joplin, Missouri, where I’ll be surrounded by some of the most talented, nice people you could ever hope to meet.And then there’s Jeremy Haun.Jeremy and I are working on a super-keen project that will be released in 2009. I’m not going to say much about it just yet … but it is an out-and-out horror comic that we are both really excited about … and our goal is to create the scariest comic experience possible. I’m getting a kick out of scripting it, and Jeremy’s artwork so far is amazing.That doesn’t change the fact that Jeremy and I are now officially at war. Continue Reading
Category : General, Slave to Nostalgia
Gary Gygax, who co-created the game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died this morning. I owe my love for storytelling to many people … My dad, of course, because he’s always been a good, old-fashioned yarnspinner … many of my teachers, especially in high school, for showing me that a well-told tale can get you out of homework, tests, and extra-curricular assignments … and Gary Gygax for creating a game that fueled my creativity and interest in creating not just stories, but characters and heroes and villains and entire worlds.
I think Gary Gygax was one of the first fantasy writer/creators I knew by name. I remember being fascinated by the possibilities presented in the original Monster Manual. (The beholder being my favorite critter. I sometimes imagined it floating slowly down the hallway of my house, its central eye scanning for prey, its numerous eyestalks wriggling around.) And the first adventure I played was Tomb of Horrors, written by Gygax and DMed by my friend, Vardell, who even sang a little song about the demi-lich.
I was 8 years old. Continue Reading
