Saturday, January 03, 2004

The story of this sketch is told in my con report from the day I got it. That was an odd convention. It was a case of going to a con after we'd already agreed that it was too expensive. We had a good time, and I got six sketches. Rick Hoberg and Stefano Gaudiano were sitting together, and promoting their Batman Family books. Both guys were gentlemen, and both did sketches. Like most artists, I watched Stefano work on my sketch, and when he'd finished the pencil work he held it up to me and asked if I thought it needed to be inked. Loaded question for me, as I enjoy artwork both ways. His pencils were heavy enough, though, I didn't want to lose any of the detail, so I said I thought it would be just fine the way it was. He agreed, and this is the result.

AQUAMAN
by Stefano Gaudiano
10 November 2002
(permission to post given 2 November 2003 via e-mail)

I like the way his signature follows the lines of the image. He also used his eraser effectively to improve Aquaman's hair. And I also got two new fish to add to the Aquafish museum.

To see all the sketches I have permission to post so far, check out my Sketchbook Page. If you have any contact information for any of the other artists I'm trying to contact, please e-mail me. Click for a random Aquaman sketch.

by Tegan at 7:49 PM Seattle time

Here's a new experience for me. Writing a blog somewhere other than my house. I don't have an internet connection here, but I can save this for posting later. I'm in Ballard. The clouds are glowering, more of them rolling in... as I sit in the waiting room while my husband's car gets an oil change. It's strange, to be able to type and get computing done even though I'm not plugged into an outlet. It's a new experience in a lot of ways. I like it.

I hope to be able to blog on the road this summer, if hubby-Eric and I do decide to go on the summer trip together. That's not a certain thing at all, and I'm ready for it to not happen. In addition, I don't know how I'll be able to connect to the 'net when I'm away from home. I seem to recall that for San Diego 2000, Leah had her laptop, and we hooked up with Juno then used other software to use the connection. If we go on the trip, I'm going to have to figure out if I've got a modem (I think I do, but I don't have the connections for it), then from there figure out how to dial into a service. I wonder if Comcast has dial-in numbers for travelers?

I've discovered a couple more things about my laptop. I hate the built-in mouse, so I try to use a regular mouse with it. When I got to this waiting room, though, I didn't have anywhere to move the mouse on. I found that I could use the mouse just fine on the little space in front of the keypad as long as I didn't need to type as well. I suspect that if I fly and take the laptop, I will be using the built-in mouse.

I also discovered how to take screen grabs from DVDs I'm watching. This is helpful for hubby-Eric, who wants to eventually make a page about the "hanging man" in the Wizard of Oz, complete with screen grabs of the bird that people mistook for a man.

Ah, the car is done... time to leave. We want to get home before snow starts to fall tonight.

by Tegan at 11:14 AM Seattle time

Well, we managed to avoid last night's predicted accumulation... but now it's coming down again.

I thought of another reason it's so hard to drive in Seattle in the snow. We don't salt our roads. Ever. They put dirt down. They put sand down. But never, ever, salt.

by Tegan at 11:00 AM Seattle time

Friday, January 02, 2004

If I've said this once, I've said it a hundred times. There are two main reasons that Seattle shuts down when it snows. The first is that snow is rare enough that 90% of the drivers don't know how to deal with it. As my friend originally from Minnesota says, it's not driving in snow she's afraid of, it's driving in snow with Seattle drivers. The other reason is that Seattle has lots of hills. Everywhere. It's not that unusual within the city limits to have an elevation change of several hundred feet in a mile or so.

A couple of other reasons have occurred to me, too. Seattle public transportation is awful. People can't easily get out of their cars and onto a bus or train. And most places the average person needs to visit in a day aren't within walking distance. In New York you can hop on the subway and not be held up by a traffic jam caused by the guy in the SUV who thought he could stop on a steep hill covered in ice. In Seattle, the buses are caught in the jams like everybody else.

We also have an awful lot of elevated roadways. You know the kind, the ones that turn into ice cubes after a night like last night. Most of our major highways and arterials are elevated at some point along the way. That's what happens in a town with so many hills. That's why this morning when I checked the news I learned that three major roads were closed down, and the police were advising people to stay home until the sun had melted some of the ice.

And after a quick chat with a co-worker, it looks like I'm staying home today. The street in front of the store "is a sheet of ice" that is filled with so many idiots that my co-worker is tempted to "take a chair out and watch the show". Yeah, I think I'll stay home.

by Tegan at 10:00 AM Seattle time

Yes, it's that time again... time for "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". I'm going with last month's method, starting with the bulk of the book, and listing the "big four" at the end. Please remember, I'm listing what looks interesting. My actual purchase list is going to be much smaller.

First off is the Splash Page (8-9). First article is about the Hellboy tie-in wave about to start. With the movie coming out in April, expect to see much more Hellboy stuff in the next month. The neatest item though is the the 25 cent Hellboy comic. Yes, it's a reprint, yes, I've read that story twice now, but it's not a bad story at all, and I'll always support comics coming out for 25 cents. Also of interest is a small article about Cerebus ending. There's a larger article later in the mag. Also on the Splash page is the news that Supreme Power is being collected. The first collection will have the first six issues.

Skipping over the big four, and jumping into Wizard's section, I see that Wizard #150 is due out in March (180). I find the description of DC's upcoming series Identity Crisis a little unnerving. I'm kind of tired of big events hitting the DCU. I wouldn't look twice at most of the Wizard section, but Wizard Edge caught my eye. I'm not happy about it, either. There's an exclusive 8-page Powers story in Edge. Now, is 8 pages of Powers mixed with other Wizard stuff worth $4.99 to me?

The Cerebus farewell is on pages 194-195, and is a bit rambling, but worth reading for sure. It's hard to believe that the fellow who brought Cerebus to fans is really as humble as he seems to be in the essay, but I'm sure even he didn't really expect to make it all the way to issue 300.

AIT/Planet Lar is still putting out new issues of a now critically acclaimed series of one-shot issues about normal people dealing with superpowers. Demo #5 (202) is about a woman who is whatever people think she is. That could be a very interesting issue. I keep wanting to try this book, but it just hasn't made the list yet.

Another book that jumps out at me this month is Farewell, Georgia #1 (206) which is apparently from Amaze Ink/Slave Labor. It's a STAR, so I apparently missed it when it came out before. But then, I've noticed that I'm catching more books when I do this "Flipping Through Previews" exercise. Anyway, Farewell, Georgia appears to be a collection of folk legends and tall tales, which I'm always interested in.

Antarctic Press has a new book out called I Hunt Monsters #1 (207). The solicit is a different read, as you usually don't get first-person narrative from a fictional character in a comic book listing.

Mike Hall has written a guide to the world of small press with Make Your Own Comics Vol 1 TP (212). If I were only a decent artist with enough creative thoughts to make my own comic, I might consider getting this. As it is, I think I'll pass.

The cover to The Dreamland Chronicles #2 (216) jumped out at me. Incredible work for 3D graphic artwork. I'm actually quite curious about this book.

Avatar press is putting out a book called Nightjar #1 (217) that's based on something by Alan Moore, but isn't written by him. Without an art sample, I wouldn't touch the book. There is a website, though, www.avatarpress.com/nightjar, so maybe I'll check that out.

Blind Wolf Studios is putting out Patrick the Wolf Boy: Giant-Size Collection (223). I'm sorely tempted to get it just to see this series from the beginning. What little I've seen of Patrick has been funny.

Bloodfire Studios has the second issue of Kindergoth (224), the book that I found very disturbing because of the mature readers label. No, I didn't get it, but it's such a funny concept that it's worth mentioning again.

And suddenly I'm into CrossGen (239). Joy. Let's see... there's Archard's Agents: Deadly Dare despite the fact that Ruse has been cancelled. Not sure what to think of this, but we'll probably get it. El Cazador: Blackjack Tom #1 seems a little less likely. What do I want with another spin-off? Lastly for this month is Way of the Rat #23. The rat is still going strong, so we'll stay with it. Missing from this month's list is Abadazad and the regular El Cazador. Both should be back next month.

Moving on, Dork Storm Press is putting out PS238 #7 (270). I shouldn't have to explain why this one will make the list no matter what. I think I may have already made it abundantly clear that PS238 is one of the best books out right now.

88MPH Studios is putting out the second issues of Ghostbusters: Legion and Tron: Derezzed (284). Again, they look like neat concepts, but without a better idea of what the art looks like, they won't make the list.

Evolve Publishing has a book called Julia Cruz: Evolution Cop #1 (285) which involves time travel and DNA. Don't know if it's any good, but it did jump out at me. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to 1979, though.

Fantagraphics is putting out The Complete Peanuts Volume 1: 1950-1952 HC (285), and although I'm not fond of the cover, the contents are something that I wouldn't mind having in my collection at all. The books are apparently going to come out twice a year, and there will be 25 volumes. 352 pages for $28.95 doesn't seem like a bad deal when you are talking about something as classic as this. And if the solicit isn't enough information, pages 286-287 in Previews has a couple of articles about it. The sidebar is very difficult to read, though. Whoever did the design for the article has as poor color sense as whoever did the cover for the book. Ugly and brown. Yuck.

I've never been a big Felix the Cat fan, but the solicit for Felix's Totally Wacky News (289) is pretty cool. Putting tabloid reporters after fictional characters is a funny concept.

Penny Farthing Press has a mystery thriller coming out called Para #1 (315). I wish I had some more art samples... what I see isn't enough to judge whether or not I'll like it.

Renaissance Press has Amelia Rules!: Superheroes #3 (316). We'll certainly continue to get this book, which may be all ages but has both funny and serious moments.

Sirius Entertainment is putting out Akiko Volume 7: The Battle For Boach's Keep (318), which I just loaned to my little sister in individual issues. I'm kind of behind on the trades of Akiko.

Another book of interest to me is Stonehaven (320) from Stickman Graphics. There's a small sample of artwork on the next page, and it looks ok. The premise is of a world where fantasy creatures live alongside humans in a modern city, and a girl goes missing.

And so we move out of the comics section... on page 394 there's a very cool Green Lantern shirt that I would mind getting for my hubby. Not the flame logo one, the one right underneath it. Well, I thought it was cool.

I am going to try hard not to ever mention again the Care Bears Beanies (413). Nope. Not at all.

I've not seen many episodes of Buffy, but one I did see was "Hush", and because of that the bust on page 420 freaks me out quite adequately. Eeeeeuuuwwww.

I'm really glad that there's no Aquaman "Headstrong Heroes" (450). I hope they never put an Aquaman one out.

I have to admit that the "Magneto Desktop Helmet Magnet" (453) is pretty dang funny. I like the paperclips illustrating how it works.

I want the plush polyhedral dice on page 469. Particularly the icosahedron (20-sided).

Wizkids are putting out another DC Heroclix expansion (476). So not only will I be hunting for Mariners from Sportclix, I also have to keep an eye on this new expansion in case it includes any Aqua-character. I know that hubby already wants the Hal Jordan Green Lantern, who can be clearly seen in the promotional shots. I wouldn't mind the Kingdom Come figures, either. I hope they aren't uniques.

Ok... hit the end of the book, so now it's time to bounce back and visit the big four publishers.

Let's start with Dark Horse. Now that I know who the characters are, I'm interested in B.P.R.D.: A Plague of Frogs (18), but I'm going to hold off on buying Hellboy related books for a bit. Well, except for Hellboy: The Corpse (20), which we'll be getting because it's only 25 cents.

I'm also very happy to see Castle Waiting: The Lucky Road (27) at Dark Horse. I already have the individual issues, but if I had enough money I would buy the trade for my sister. The news that Castle Waiting will return, with Dark Horse as a new home, is good news any day.

While I won't be getting Conan #2 (28) for myself, my buddy plans on buying it, and like Phantom I'll be reading his copy. Another book I don't really want to spend so much money on is The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #2 (30), but it's not really overpriced for an 80-page book in today's market, so we'll probably get it. I kind of would like to see the first issue before we make the decision, though. We'll definitely be getting Usagi Yojimbo #74 (31).

On to the big one, DC Comics. At least, the big one for our order form. In the promotion section, the first thing that jumps out at me is the return of Swamp Thing (54-55). I'm slightly tempted, but will probably pass on it. I would like to pass on JLA, also, but since GL is in it, we'll continue to get it. Moving on, the It's A Bird... hardcover (64-67) looks intriguing, and more like something you would get from an indy publisher than from DC. I notice that it's a Vertigo book, despite being about Superman. Smallville (89) is trying to pull a crossover event, but since two of the three parts are in the comic and the other is on-line, it's not going to be noticed by anyone but us nerds.

Into the main DC listings, here's what will be on the list. Batman Adventures (92), Birds of Prey #65 (93), Superman: Birthright #8 (94), Superman: Secret Identity #3 (95), Smallville #7, Aquaman #16, DC: The New Frontier #3 (96), Fallen Angel #9, Green Arrow #36 (97), Green Lantern #175, H-E-R-O #14 (98), JLA #94, JLA #95, JSA #59, Justice League Adventures #29, Outsiders #10 (100), and Plastic Man #4. There's also a mini-maquette of Aquaman in the DC Direct section.

Moving on to Image Comics... Powers Vol 2 #1 (153) is the first thing on the list. Yeah, I'm sticking with this book. The only other Image book for the month will be Common Grounds #3 (162), which is already a critically acclaimed hit series according to Previews, despite the fact that the first issue hasn't shipped yet (to the best of my knowledge). I'm guessing that sales are good? I'm not surprised, as the concept is just wonderful.

And lastly... Marvel. The extra Marvel section didn't ship to our shop, so none of the Previews subscribers got it. Sure, charge us extra then don't bother to ship the thing! Diamond isn't too popular at my shop right now. Oh well. It's not like I personally care, since I've been just using the shipping list (174) to order, and I've got on-line resources if I really need to check on a writer or artist for a book. So here's what we'll be getting from Marvel: Supreme Power #8, Amazing Spider-Man #505, 1602 #8, and Amazing Spider-Man #506.

So that's it for this month's "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". Comments? Questions? Do you want to point out a book I missed? Please feel free. I'll even answer if you really want me to.

by Tegan at 8:06 AM Seattle time

Thursday, January 01, 2004

First food of the new year: cheese, crackers, and sparkling apple cider. My traditional New Year's feast, eaten right after midnight. This year the crackers were Ritz (original), the cheese was Tillamook Smoked Cheddar, and the cider was the standard Martinelli's (no alcohol, neither hubby nor I drink).

First Book finished in the new year: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. My library hold notice arrived in my e-mail yesterday afternoon, and hubby and I raced down to the library just before closing to get it. Yes, I've finished it already, and I think I'm going to read it again. Rapid review to come later... but it's as good as everyone has been saying. Hmm, should I say it took me two years to finish, since I started last night and finished at about 1 am this morning?

First belly-laugh of the new year: hubby-Eric answering a question in French, then stating very matter-of-factly that one of his New Year's resolutions is to speak more French. While I burst out laughing he explained "I'm going to break them anyway, I might as well go for silly ones." This from the man who met both his resolutions last year.

First geeky conversation of the new year: Someone should write a book on the origins of Fandom... a new field of study called "Fanthropology" should be developed to determine why people become fans of things. What are the origins of Fandom? How long ago did people start forming fan clubs and indentifying themselves as "fans" of a particular thing? The discussion started when I followed Mark Evanier's link to Bill Schelly's Website (and I urge you to buy the Otto Binder book, too, I'm currently reading it).

First great e-mail of the new year: Robin Riggs sent me a scan of the Aquaman sketch that Alan Freakin' Davis drew for me (and that Robin inked). Whoa. Wow.

First on-line annoyance of the new year: Blogger is acting up, and I can't get to half the blogspot sites half the time... including my own. New year, same old problems.

by Tegan at 11:59 AM Seattle time

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

May 2004 be ten times better. Not that that's saying much.

by Tegan at 5:21 PM Seattle time

This was very nearly a tie. I wanted to give the award to the following book and also to PS238 as a series. But I eventually decided that PS238 would get a collective "Rookie of the Year" instead.

And so (drumroll please), the Best Comic Book of 2003 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog is:

This is an issue which shows the lead character in the best kind of light, as both a person with a career and a superhero with hard choices. Peter's relationship with Melissa, complete with "nerd" jokes, works well. We get to see more of the teachers in Peter's school, some of whom were authority figures for Peter before he became a teacher at the school. There's also the moment when Peter first realizes that his actions as Spider-Man have an effect on people. Including some of his students. Including Melissa. And we get to see a little bit of MJ, and we get to see Spidey in action playing "thump" with the bad guys. I think, honestly, that "thump" put it over the top. Re-reading this issue, I think this one would be a hard one for a new reader, but then it has so much in it that a reader like myself would have become intrigued and it would have caught me... uh... in its web.

Yeah, I know, I know. It's a Marvel book, and I'm a DC addict. But this one was just the best this year. Maybe next year I'll pick something more normal for me (like an Aquaman book).

by Tegan at 9:08 AM Seattle time

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Let's review the titles that are in contention for "Best Comic Book of 2003 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog": Amazing Spider Man #55/496, Amazing Spider-Man #56/497, Amelia Rules #9, Aquaman #2, Aquaman #13, Aquaman Archive Volume One, Aquaman Secret Files 2003, Astro City: Local Heroes #1, Crossovers #3, Crossovers #4, the forgotten, Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom, JLA/Avengers #3, Leave It To Chance (FCBD edition), Leave It To Chance: Shaman's Rain, Leave It To Chance: Trick or Threat & Other Stories, Leave It To Chance: Monster Madness, Lone Wolf and Cub Volume 28, More Fund Comics, PS238 #1, PS238 #2, PS238 #3, PS238 #4, Sandwalk Adventures #5, Superman: Blood Of My Ancestors, Superman: Red Son #1, Usagi Yojimbo #63 and Usagi Yojimbo #67.

Wow. That's almost too much to pick from. So the next step is to eliminate some books from the running by giving them "Other Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog Awards".