Saturday, March 13, 2004

Dwight e-mailed me out of the blue to ask if he could contribute to my Aquasketch collection. I naturally had no problem with that. He sent me the sketch and I said I would post it as the first Saturday Sketch ™ after I got it, so here it is! To see more of Dwight's work, check out his website.

AQUAMAN
by Dwight Williams
1 March 2004
(permission to post given 1 March 2004 via e-mail)
Dwight Williams, Storyteller

As a reminder: Almost every sketch in my sketchbook was non-commissioned and done on the floor of a con. These are not the best works of the artists. These are only representative of what the artist can do under pressure in a loud, crowded, and often stressed-out environment. Most of them were done as quickly as possible, to prevent huge lines from forming. Don't judge any of these artists negatively by the artwork you see, instead be as impressed as I am by what they accomplished in far-from-ideal conditions.

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.

The Saturday Sketch ™ is brought to you by the letters "A", "Q" and the number "27", and also courtesy the fine artists who pour their lives into producing wonderful comic books, then come to conventions only to get asked by geeky fangirls for a sketch of Aquaman. Support an artist, buy a comic book.

by Tegan at 10:51 PM Seattle time

Eric's tribute.

The Seattle Times: In every major city and town, residents paused for a 10-minute observance of silence at noon; in Madrid, spontaneous shrines of candles, flowers and hand-written messages sprouted at train stations where men, women and children lost their lives. ..."Murderers! Murderers!" chanted a crowd both angry and somber. "We were all on that train."

I got the graphic from La Cárcel de Papel (The Paper Jail), and "¡Basta Ya!" was explained to me by my co-worker Carmen, who grew up in Madrid, and was hit hard by the attacks.

by Tegan at 3:33 PM Seattle time

From a comment: I would like to understand more of the common descriptions you use with comics. CrossGen, etc.

CrossGen is a publisher, like DC (Superman, Batman) and Marvel (Spider-Man, Hulk). Other publishers I often refer to are Image (Age of Bronze, WildGuard), and Dark Horse (Usagi Yojimbo, Conan). I also generally do my "Flipping Through Previews" post by publisher. Previews is the catalog of comics, and lists all the comics due out in two months.

CrossGen is a very new company that sprang onto the scene a few years back with lots of promise. The hope among some comic book fans was that it would revitalize the form and get more people reading comic books. But CrossGen made a couple of mistakes, the first being that they used a "shared universe" format, in which all their books were linked. This made some people, myself included, wary of trying to read their books. The second had to do with financing and marketing, and I'm not sure entirely where they went wrong, but I do know that they didn't pay my friend, inker Robin Riggs, money owed to him. Along with a number of other freelancers who worked for them. That lost them a lot of goodwill in the comic book community.

Um, some other terms I use: "writer" is the person who writes the comic book scripts. A "penciller" draws the artwork in pencils, then an "inker" comes in and puts inks on the pencils to fill in details and make it ready to be reproduced. A "letterer" adds the words to the artwork, deciding where the words should fit in. And the "colorist" adds, you guessed it, color.

What 'hooked' you on the genre? Was it stories, art, or what?

Are you talking about the genre of superheroes, or the form of comic books? Comic books are not, in and of themselves, a genre. I'll try to answer both.

I got hooked on superheroes thanks to old Saturday morning cartoons. Aquaman in particular always stood out to me. The fantasy of the characters appealed to me. I've always been into escapist literature, and superheroes are one of the best around.

As for comic books... I love artwork. I've always loved seeing what people can do with drawings. But books of just plain art don't really interest me that much. Adding it text, adding in a story, puts it over the edge. In addition, we all know how to read comics. It's the thing I look forward to the most in the newspaper each day. Getting 22 pages of artwork with story instead of a tiny strip is kind of nice, if expensive.

Any more questions?

by Tegan at 9:30 AM Seattle time

Friday, March 12, 2004

Fallen Angel #9: Whoa. Again, this book confounds me. I still can't figure out why I'm reading it! In part, I wonder who or what Lee really is. In part, I wonder what this town has to do with the DCU. But overall, I'm just really curious. Keep up the mystery, and this book will probably keep me.

Powers #37: Well, that's the end of the strange monkey porn storyline started back in the infamous issue #31 (which I was right about). And while there are some hints there about Walker's abilities, there's also a lot more. We'll have to see how this goes, starting with the next issue... vol 2 #1. I'm not really sure what to think of this issue, but I think I'm looking forward to the relaunch.

And a special bonus review:

Noble Causes Vol I: In Sickness and In Health: Hubby-Eric says he read this while working at the store over the summer. My first taste of it was this free sample from the Emerald City Comic Con, the whole first volume. In a pretty nice package, no less. Better yet, the main artist is none other than new Aquaman artist Patrick Gleason, so I get to see more of his work. The story was good. Interesting and with lots of twists and turns. I also enjoyed the back-up story. I think I may have to get more of this series, and I'm very happy this was a giveaway at the con.

Shipping St Patrick's Day (according to the list): Abadazad, Batman Adventures, Secret Identity, Smallville, Aquaman, The New Frontier, Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, and Wizard Edge (with a Powers Preview story).

by Tegan at 8:34 PM Seattle time

Green Arrow #36: Interesting cover. The story had some high bits too. That's what I would call one heckuva diversion. And this is a fairly well written Riddler, too. Not bad.

H-E-R-O #14: It's often hard to tell the difference between a fantasy and the regular story in a comic book like this. And there's one bit in there where the story seems to be going entirely right. The ending it more true to the flavor of the whole book so far. And I'm finding myself actually looking forward to seeing what Robbie Reed is up to.

And a special bonus review:

8 1/2 Ghosts: The title evokes a few movie titles, none of which I've actually seen, so despite the intertextual references I came to this book clean. There's a movie director who wants to save on special effects. There's a handful of bored ghosts. And there's a movie to be shot in their haunted house. There's some fairly nice artwork, at times overly cute for the subject matter. And there's a really weak ending. This one I'm solidly neutral on.

Still to review: Fallen Angel and Powers.

by Tegan at 2:39 PM Seattle time

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (e-book version): I'm no stranger to e-books, having been involved with Baen Books program for a couple of years now. But when I was searching the local library's database on-line, I noticed that a bunch of books were available as e-books, and couldn't for the life of me figure out how that was possible. So, being the curious gal I am, I had to find out. It's actually a very simple system... you "check out" an e-book, and a copy is made available for you to download. Once it's downloaded, you must use Adobe Reader 6 to decrypt it and read it. After 28 days, the copy is "deactivated" and cannot be opened anymore. You can also choose to "return" it early, and Adobe removes the file for you. I used Coraline as my test case, as it was the first e-book in the listings that I recognized as something I wanted to read. In any case, I downloaded the book a couple of days ago, read it tonight, and "returned" it to the library when I finished reading.

I wish someone had warned me not to read this book before trying to go to sleep. This book is truly creepy. It's one of those books that will deeply disturb the adult mind while building the imagination of young minds. As Neil himself says (to paraphrase), the kids love it, the adults have nightmares. In the daylight, I'm sure I will admire the book greatly... but here in the depths of the night knowing that it would be fruitless to try to sleep I'm just hearing every noise of the house settling as an ominous warning, and I wish I had my own little mouse circus to give me some advice. At least there aren't any doors that open on brick walls in this house. I think this story will stick with me, and I think that someday I'm going to have to get a real copy for my library (it would fit in ok with the gentler Oz books) just to fully appreciate the Dave McKean artwork. So this one gets a strong recommendation from me along with a warning to adults to not read it at night.

Some final thoughts on the e-book system. Limited copies are available to "check out", so you can still end up with a waiting list on the books. Also, no security system is completely secure, so it's possible that some enterprising hacker has already found a way around the limitations imposed by Adobe. Another downside is the mere act of reading on a computer screen. While I can handle it now, I'm sure my eyes won't let me in a few years. A short book like Coraline is much easier than a long novel on the eyes, but some folks might even have trouble with that much. On the plus side, it's definitely a case of "instant gratification"... I want to read the book, and moments later there it is for me to read. E-books will never replace paper books for me, but it's nice to have them as an option.

by Tegan at 1:39 AM Seattle time

Thursday, March 11, 2004

My heart goes out to Madrid tonight.

Perhaps if our country had gone after the terrorists (instead of attacking Iraq and dividing our forces) this attack wouldn't have happened. But then, perhaps it would have anyway.

by Tegan at 8:58 PM Seattle time

So there's no new Angel or Smallville this week, I can still supply you with a few extra reviews of stuff you might otherwise not hear about.

Dodge's Bullets ashcan: A straight up detective story set in modern Seattle... perfect for someone looking for something new and different. The artwork is by James Francis, who captures the feel of Seattle fairly well even in the few pages afforded by the ashcan format. The writer is Jay Faerber, known for his many works for DC and Marvel, as well as the critically acclaimed Noble Causes. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

If you missed Dodge's Bullets, you can still order it using Diamond code DEC03 1315. It's from Image ($9.95, 80 pages) and due out the last week in March or the first week in April.

As long as I'm promoting, I might as well mention my very latest acquisition:

Cells by Scott Mills via free comic book month offer: This is a short tale, set within prison walls. It will give you a good taste of what Mills work is like while giving you something to think about. Quiet, short, and thought-provoking. You can get it for $1 shipping until the end of March at Scott's message board. Go, check it out. It's worth a look.

Still to review: Green Arrow, Powers, H-E-R-O, and Fallen Angel.

by Tegan at 1:42 PM Seattle time

Amazingly enough, there's three CrossGen books out this week that we got. All three were written by Chuck Dixon, too. Here's some rapid thoughts:

Way of the Rat #22: Not a bad issue, but I'm already tired of people waiting behind doors and wish that a little more progress had been made by Boon. Or one of the other plotlines. Po-Po just isn't enough to keep my interest.

Archard's Agents: Deadly Dare: Dare was an annoying blowhard in the regular Ruse book, and he's not much better here. Nice enough art, but the story is a bit disjointed. So we've got nice artwork, ok story, and unlikeable characters. It's pretty much a wash.

El Cazador: Blackjack Tom #1: Nasty little pirate story. Decent artwork, decent enough story. But missing some crucial element, I guess. Like Deadly Dare, there's something there, but just not enough to put it over into a must-read category. So far, I've been only mildly impressed with all the books I've read this week.

One thing I do miss about CrossGen books is the variety among the ones we got. Notice, three reviews from three different genres. Way of the Rat is basically a martial arts fantasy, Deadly Dare is a straight-up rip-roaring adventure tale, and Blackjack Tom is a pirate story. Not a spandexed flying person in sight. This is what CrossGen promised, and seeing these books all in one week is bittersweet. Ruse was cancelled and is already gone. Way of the Rat only has two more issues, and lost its artist besides. Only El Cazador continues, and who knows for how much longer? So much promise, and so much good faith squandered.

Still to review: Green Arrow, Powers, H-E-R-O, and Fallen Angel.

by Tegan at 9:58 AM Seattle time

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Phantom #2: The second part of the story started in issue one, and as it turns out, the completion of a two-part story. This was nice, to have a complete story in two issues. There's seeds for more stories, of course. But this was a solid couple of issues. Probably best for Phantom fans, but not bad for someone like me, too. The artwork is very nice.

JLA #94: Manitou Raven is talking to himself. Stupidly, too. "My only hope -- to teleport to the watchtower --" Stop talking and do it already! Gah! The writing is stilted and annoying, but the plot is fairly interesting taken all together. Can't be much worse than the average Joe Kelly issue.

JSA #59: What an absolute jerk. I'm speaking about the villain of this issue. I wish there were fewer characters. This book always seems like a bunch of people all trying to get their couple of scenes in - fighting each other for a couple of extra pages.

Still to review: Powers, Way of the Rat, Fallen Angel, Green Arrow, H-E-R-O, Blackjack Tom, and Deadly Dare.

by Tegan at 5:19 PM Seattle time

There are two birds, couldn't tell you what they are, fighting each other in my front yard. They look to be the same species, when I catch a glimpse of them, but they are fluttering and flying so fast I could be wrong. And they're LOUD. I opened up the doors and windows to let some air in, and it lets the sounds in too. These birds are going at it like a couple of piccolos on steroids. I suspect I would still hear them if I closed the doors and windows, it just wouldn't intrude so deeply on my thoughts.

I hope they finish up whatever they are arguing about soon. I may just have to go out again to get away from the noise.

by Tegan at 3:37 PM Seattle time

Elayne Riggs reports that CrossGen has contacted freelancers about the money owed to them. Let's hope this means that the money owed to them will be getting to them soon. Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed, everyone!

There's an on-line source for mini-comics starting up: www.bowzizzer.com. I saw nothing in their catalog that jumped out and said "buy me!" but I think if more folks know about this, it's more likely to become a better resource.

by Tegan at 9:03 AM Seattle time

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

I don't know if it's true, but I've heard rumors that less people are remembering to click on the following sites once a day, thus donations are going down. Each day you click helps, as the sponsors donate depending entirely on the number of clicks per day. It's hardly any effort, especially if you've got a fast connection or can load things in the background (I love Mozilla's multiple tabs). Consider clicking. It's an easy way to help:

by Tegan at 10:26 PM Seattle time

Oh, this is really funny. Dear Abby Column Pulled because of a Simpsons prank. Thanks much to Mah Two Cents for the heads up on this one. Update: It's already made Snopes.

John Jakala links to his forum, and a response from Steve Lieber about Jeff Parker's comments on superhero comics.

Neil Gaiman is still on vacation.

Bob Hughes, comic book historian extraordinaire, has put together a DC Timeline, which isn't like what most fans would cover. No, this one covers the business side, starting at he very beginning in 1925. Go. Read. Via Mark "Hates Coleslaw" Evanier.

Also from Evanier is this link to a delightful press session with poor presidential mouthpiece Scott McClellan, who has to make Bush's evasions actually sound reasonable. Your Mileage May Vary.

by Tegan at 12:28 PM Seattle time

Monday, March 08, 2004

Ah, finished our comic book order. Find out what we got when I start reviewing it all in two months...

I also downloaded this week's shipping list and pulled out the stuff I ordered from it. Looks like we'll be getting Powers, Way of the Rat, Phantom, Fallen Angel, Green Arrow, H-E-R-O, JSA, JLA, and a couple of Crossgen spin-offs, Blackjack Tom from El Cazador, and Archard's Agents: Deadly Dare from Ruse. A big week. In addition, the Eric Shanower lunchbox is due to ship, so we might be seeing that.

Let's see, stuff that's shipping that we aren't getting but might interest you... hmmm... Fables is up to #23 already? I really haven't been paying attention, have I. I just assumed that one would be cancelled before it got going. Nice to see it surviving. Same with Gotham Central, it's at #17. Wow. Marvel is putting out the first Supreme Power trade. Probably a good way to read it. The pace is a bit slow, but there's a lot happening in each issue. Looks like the 300th issue of Cerebus is due out this week. There's a wow for you. And a couple of new books I think I mentioned in my various flipping through previews: Dreamland Chronicles #1 and I Hunt Monsters #1 both are shipping this week. And lastly, is Seamonsters & Superheroes going to be forced to change its name by DC and Marvel? It's on issue three now.

by Tegan at 10:31 PM Seattle time

Yeah, we're back to that subject.

If all went well tonight, the woman who had a huge role in causing the strike is now officially no longer part of the district, despite the best efforts of the old school board to make sure she stayed on to cause more trouble (including a lame duck vote after three of them had been voted out of office). Superintendent Linda Whitehead is finally gone. And the district is well rid of her. Now if we can only get rid of the anti-union anti-teacher jerk who's still on the school board acting all put out now that he no longer has power. On the other hand, maybe it would be best to keep him around, he makes for good comic relief.

The teachers are still waiting for their contract, but there is a strong belief that now that the jokers who hate teachers are gone a contract will come out of this that is fair and actually shows some respect for someone other than the administration. Speaking of which, the administration building is apparently not a joyful place right now, as it's expected that some of the extremely overpaid administrators will soon be moving on, whether they like it or not.

Maybe now that Linda Whitehead is gone, she can take her expensive mouthpiece Judy Parker with her. Since Whitehead refuses to talk for herself, maybe she can hire Judy to speak for her wherever she goes, using some of the $340,000 she took from the kids of Marysville.

by Tegan at 8:56 PM Seattle time

I gotta say shame on the Comics Journal if they really are going to print a 13 year-old interview with Colleen Doran in which she criticized the actions of "a dirty old man" on the convention circuit, a man who recently died. If this man is the one Franklin Harris suspects, I have a couple of things to say. Heck, even if he isn't, I have something to say about this.

I have always given a little more leeway in such areas to old men who formed their initial views of the world before the world underwent a paradigm shift. The prime example I can think of is William Hartnell, who was already very old in the sixties when he took on the role of the Doctor on Doctor Who. He was known to be a racist, because he was raised in that environment. While I don't excuse his behavior, some of which was terribly distressing to people around him, I at least understand it.

Same with this guy. Before I met him, I knew what he was like. That didn't detract from his accomplishments, not for me, but it was something that detracted from him, as a person. What he needed was someone to explain the pain it was causing, to call him on it. Guys like that need to have things explained to them. They don't understand. There's a gap there, an inability to see what they are doing as anything more than harmless fun.

Now, Colleen was willing, thirteen years ago, to come out and say that what the guy was doing was wrong. She was willing to call him on it. And they never printed it, so it never did him or anyone else any good. Had the Journal printed that interview back then, maybe he would have realized just how much hurt he was causing, and maybe he would have apologized directly to Colleen and modified his behavior back then, instead of only apologizing to her agent shortly before his death.

Dredging up the interview now does no one any good, and seems to me to be in bad taste. Perhaps the Journal ought to focus on the living instead of ripping on the dead.

by Tegan at 11:54 AM Seattle time

Sunday, March 07, 2004

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction, and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

"Balance?" Inquired Michael, curious.

God explained, pointing to different parts of earth . . . "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over there I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people."

God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land mass and said, "What's that one?"

"Ah," said God.. "That's Washington State, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful streams, hills, and forests. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous, and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout the world - as diplomats, and carriers of peace."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance!"

God smiled, "Wait until you see the idiots I put in the other Washington."

by Tegan at 9:18 PM Seattle time

So, I brought my computer over to the Pug House tonight when hubby-Eric and I came to visit niece Bea. To my satisfaction, I was able to connect my laptop to the Pug House of Horrors wireless network, so now I'm connected and blogging on my own computer from the House of Pug.

Gotta cruise, the sister-in-law is back and there's a family event happening.

by Tegan at 7:03 PM Seattle time

I was warned. When you suffer from fibromyalgia, you have good days, and you have bad days. I knew from the moment I woke up this morning that this would be a bad day.

I hurt all over. Every part of me that can possibly hurt, and a few I wouldn't have thought of, all screeching in agony. It's almost enough to drive a person insane. For a time this morning, even my fingertips hurt. Trying to make breakfast was sheer torture.

Even so, I had obligations, and I intended to fill them. I was going out to help with the LEGO trains at the Rollin' Rails show up in Edmonds, so I got myself ready and jumped in the van.

I forgot to bring a map or directions, but it isn't too hard to find Edmonds from Bothell. You just go north and west until you hit the water. And follow any sign that directs you to the Kingston ferry. Since I knew the place I was headed was on Main Street, I just drove until I found it then drove up the street. I recognized the place as I got near, having attended Rollin' Rails every year for four or five years now. The only time I ever go into Edmonds.

I went in and delivered the stuff I'd brought, but I just couldn't stay. I knew it in the van driving in, I wasn't going to last. So I left my stuff, apologized for visiting and runnning, and headed out again.

Leaving Edmonds I got lost. I mean, really lost. Getting lost is underrated, however, especially in a place where you can't go far without hitting a freeway, mountain, or the Puget Sound. I was in pain, but I wasn't too worried. All I needed to do was find one of several freeways and I would be able to find my way home. Turning down several back streets, however, I got completely confused as to what direction I was going. Then I spotted THEM.

An aside: Hubby-Eric bought some Thin Mint cookies from some Girl Scouts the other day... completely forgetting that his wife is a Tagalong fiend. So he assured me that if I ran across any Girl Scouts, I could buy myself a box.

And there they were. Girl Scouts, on the sidewalk in an area where pulling over was safe and easy. I pulled over, walked back to the girls who were very happy to see a customer, and bought my box of Tagalongs. Then I asked them, being scouts, if they knew the way to the nearest freeway.

As it turned out, I was only a couple of blocks away from 99, which got me right to where I wanted to be. I got home pretty quickly then, and intended to blog about the LEGO train creations I saw, but as soon as I walked in the door I realized I had to sleep.

I had the most vivid dreams. People entered the room and talked to me. Some yelled at me. At least one animal came snooping in, but I couldn't get the energy to get up and drive it off. At one point I was dying of thrist and a man I didn't recognize came in with a bottle of water and gave me great big gulping drinks of the purest water I've ever tasted. He left the bottle, and I dreamed I put it on the floor. I heard a plane crash down the street, or maybe a truck, but it sure sounded like a plane when it passed over the house. I heard the garage door open and close. Another person came in and yelled at me. Then I heard a car door slam. I thought maybe Eric was home, but I wasn't sure. I tried to pick up the bottle of water. It was gone. Then Eric was there, and he was real. I almost pinched him to make sure, but I was waking up enough to know that wouldn't be my best ever idea. I still hurt, but I didn't need sleep anymore.

And so, here I am, a couple of hours later, trying to recall the dreams before they vanish completely. Too late, they are almost gone. I still hurt. Less than this morning, and far less than when I got home. I managed to accomplish my main goal today despite the pain, and I got a box of Tagalongs out of it, too.

Oh yeah, the train I wanted to blog about? Someone made a "Conjunction Junction" set out of LEGO. All the boxcars and tankers with the words on them, sitting in a switching yard so they could be moved around with the controllers. Heh. One of the more amusing displays I've seen in a long time.

by Tegan at 3:41 PM Seattle time