Bleeding Neon

A preview from this week's "The Utopian"

Harrah’s Rock Band competitions and As Yet Unbroken shows aside, I’ve been somewhat of a recluse lately, as between the regular freelance journalism gigs, I’ve been spending just about every waking minute working on writing of a different kind: Comic books. In addition to wrapping up a series pitch about which I’ve only mentioned in hushed tones publicly, you should be vaguely aware of the weekly digital comic series I launched last week at the all-new Pop! Goes the Icon, The Utopian. The newest installment is live and ready for your enjoyment (or disappointment).

In addition, I penned a blog post over at PGTI pulling back the curtain to reveal the process that goes into the making of even the seemingly simplest webcomic. Because, you know, why not?

Allegedly, I have a review in the current issue of What’s On Las Vegas, though I haven’t seen it yet. The magazine, I mean.

What’s my point? Oh. Yeah, so I’ve been busy doing all this other nonsense, and in the meantime, I have about a half-dozen saved drafts of blog posts with titles such as “L.A. Story” and “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood” sitting on the back end of this site, just waiting for my completion, as well as a spreadsheet full of upcoming art-related events needing attention for my Las Vegas Fine Arts Examiner gig.

I’m flying off to the Midwest for five days, which means none of these things will get much attention, because I could really use a mental break. But I will have a notebook and sketchbook with me, so hopefully all that time either cooped up in airplanes or surrounded by lakes and trees will shake out some junk trapped up in this noggin of mine. When I return, well, I’ll be hard at work but that’ll just give you kids something more to look at. So there.

I learned of Boom Studios’ Cover Girl graphic novel (actually, a trade collection of the eponymous five-issue series) via Kevin Church’s website, BeaucoupKevin.com. As a regular reader of his blog and webcomic The Rack, I figured anything Kevin touched couldn’t suck. Plus, I try to support my friends’ creative output, so I clicked the Amazon link on his website and bought the trade, not really knowing what to expect.

Well, it turned out that I wasn’t just humoring Kevin by buying Cover Girl, which he scripted from a plot by Eureka creator Andrew Crosby: It’s a damn good story, one that packs in a whole lot of dialog, action and humor into 128 pages. The basic premise: Struggling, dumb-but-pretty actor Alex Martin plays hero, becomes Hollywood’s next “It” boy, gets wrapped up in a mystery that finds him on the wrong end of guns, explosives and fists, and is saddled with tough-but-smoking-hot bodyguard Rachel Dodd.

Yeah, on the surface, it’s pretty much Moonlighting-meets-Lethal Weapon, but along the way, Andrew and Kevin use Cover Girl to take shots at just about every aspect of the motion picture industry, punctuated by acerbic, punchy dialog crafted by … acerbic, punchy Kevin. While the resolution of the main plotline comes a little too easy, it doesn’t detract from the overall satisfaction I felt finishing the book. It’s just a fun, engaging read, with vibrant, clean art from Mateus Santolouco. And really, what more can one ask from their funnybooks?

Oh man, you guys, I really love your enthusiasm and support. I really do. However, while a few of you sniffed out the fishiness abound in my April 1 post, not nearly enough of you connected the dots on this one — which is fair, as I kinda targeted the announcement about my alleged forthcoming Marvel Comics series, Iron Man: Agent of A.I.M. to my friends in the comic industry.

But really, I think the problem is, the punchline of the post was this “one-page preview” image which apparently few visitors clicked to view:

Click to April Fool's-size it!

Yes, readers of my old geek-in-review blog will recognize this as a page from A.I.M.2: Power Corrupts, a graphic novel I wrote and drew when I was, um, 15 years old, a project I found going through some old files last year and mockingly reviewed over a few posts on the Pop! Goes the Icon blog. It’s funny stuff, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The truth is, yes, I actually AM working on a few comic book pitches, but they’re what we call “creator-owned properties,” and not of the mainstream, spandex-clad variety (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). I’ve been pretty secretive about this stuff because, as mentioned in the April Fool’s post but actually fully sincere, I don’t like to publicly air details on projects that are not absolutely done, ready-for-press deals. But I will say this: The main project I’m shopping right now is something like the mash-up of 24, Heroes and the Bourne series of films. If that sort of super-powered, fugitive, espionage, secret government agency type of stuff is up your alley, well then my friend, hang tight and save your pennies.

Otherwise, a heartfelt “thanks” to all my friends and visitors who so robustly congratulated me on “news” delivered during an April Fool’s blog post. As I lamented on Twitter that day, you really can’t trust a single news story, headline or blog post with an April 1 date anymore. Really.

As many of you know, aside from the usual freelance journalism, rock ‘n’ roll drumming and internet self-promotion in which I immerse myself to fill up every nook and cranny of each day, I’ve also been working on pitching a comic book series or two to various publishers. And as you also likely know if you’ve been following my exploits for a while, I keep things under wraps until they’re confirmed and ready to announce. So today I’m pleased to pull back the veil on the latest fruit of my labor. It’s a four-issue limited series for Marvel Comics, a deal I just signed the faxed contract on yesterday, and can now share. The title?

Iron Man: Agent of A.I.M.

If you’ve been reading Marvel Comics for the last year or so, you’ll know that after the end of Civil War, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, became not only director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but also head of the 50-state Avengers Initiative. But after a nearly successful invasion of the Earth by the shape-shifting Skrulls, Stark was not only excommunicated from the Avengers and fired from S.H.I.E.L.D., but also effectively became a fugitive.

Well, in Agent of A.I.M., Iron Man takes over Advanced Idea Mechanics, the multinational weapons developer and supplier of destructive devices to the super-criminal community. Why? Covertly, to take on the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. replacement agency H.A.M.M.E.R., Norman Osborn (also known as Iron Patriot), and dismantle A.I.M. from the inside while doing it. This tale of intrigue, deception, romance and over-the-top action culminates in a no-hold-barred final showdown between Iron Man and Iron Patriot!

It’s coming this summer to a comic shop near you, and as soon as I have more details, I’ll post exact dates and what not. For now, satiate yourselves with this one-page preview from the first issue. Excelsior!

Anyone could have done a parody of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ much-lauded graphic novel Watchmen, especially one whose release is so precariously synced with the U.S. premiere of Zack Snyder’s film adaptation. But with Watchmensch (Brain Scan Studios), Rich Johnston and Simon Rohrmuller merely use the familiar settings and characters of the original book as a platform to tell quite a different tale, that of creators’ rights and publishers’ legal acrobatics. Of course, the story of Moore’s ongoing disputes with DC Comics is the stuff of legend at this point, but Watchmensch goes beyond that single case, delving as far back as the birth of the superhero comic industry: When Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster sold their creation, Superman, for $130 to the future DC Comics.

If there’s any one person qualified to write such a far-reaching work of critical satire about the comic industry, it’s Johnston, whose weekly column, “Lying in the Gutters,” has been spilling the inside dirt on all things geeky since 2002. There’s a lot of meta commentary happening in Watchmensch, and it’s a lot to digest, but just as in the series that inspired it, Johnston includes a helpful text page, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow Stories?,” which spells out some of the between-the-panels details.

It takes about half of the book to really grasp who characters such as “Mr. Broadway,” “Nite Nurse” and “OzyOsbourne” represent and how everything relates, but by the time you get to the surprise ending (no, really, much like Watchmen, this tale has a few twists you won’t expect), the payoff is worth the sometimes-difficult journey.

The art by Rohrmuller is pitch perfect: He apes Gibbons’ detailed-yet-clean lines well enough without merely copying, but the revealing spreads on pages 18 to 20 are some of the best-drawn panels I’ve seen in years. And presented in black-and-white, the artwork is crisp, clear and refreshing.

While Watchmensch shoves a lot down your throat in just 28 pages, it’s a good primer for anyone interested in the somewhat-sketchy, behind-the-scenes workings of the entertainment industry. The story works even better if you’ve read Watchmen, as otherwise the stylistic storytelling choices make little sense, but on its own, you could do worse with your $3.99 than send it the way of Mssrs. Johnston and Rohrmuller when Watchmensch ships next week.