Posts Tagged ‘comic books’

I’ve been buying too many comic books. Without good reason or justification. Just because they’re there, and they’re cheap — or free — and I can’t say “no.” But I need to, right now, before I can no longer walk into my closet (I can’t) or my girlfriend kicks out me and my comics.

See, here’s the thing: I collected comics regularly when I was a kid, like most of us did. And when I hit my teenage years, I stopped. That was the early ’90s. Sure, I read and/or picked up an issue here or there, but I didn’t see the inside of a comic book store for about 15 years.

Then, as the story goes, I got bit by the comic bug again at San Diego Comic-Con about three years ago, and I started actually buying new issues again regularly, but that wasn’t the problem. That’s only about seven to 10 issues a month, if that. No, the problem started when I discovered Dreamwell Comics’ seasonal sidewalk sales, where the store (now called Wishing Well) would unload its back stock for pennies per copy. So I’d walk away with a stack of comics for the same price as a Capriotti’s sub (mmm Capriotti’s). At first, it was neat: Filling in holes in my back issue collection for a dime or a quarter a piece? Sweet! But then came eBay.

Not that eBay was new or I was new to it, but I discovered — don’t ask me how — a certain seller on there who auctions off Roger Stern’s “research copies” of comics. Stern is a comic book writer mostly known for his Marvel comics work in the 1970s and ’80s, hence, when he’d take on a new assignment, he’d have to bulk up his knowledge of that story or character set by consuming reference material, i.e., lots of comics. Well, these certified reference copies go for sale on eBay, the bidding is relatively low, and next thing you know, Pj is receiving boxes of dozens of comics on his doorstep. Again, at first this was really cool: “Ooh, Roger Stern’s reference copies! Certificates of authenticity! More comics to read!” But this week, the most recent batch came after a confluence of circumstances that have stuffed the closet in my second bedroom/band practice space nearly full.

Torpedo Comics, a giant online retailer launched by System of a Down drummer and certified comic geek John Dolmayan back in 2007, recently went out of business, and all of its assets were being liquidated. So yes, that means millions of comics, art, toys, games and other geek ephemera were being auctioned off for pennies on the dollar.  We’re talking lots of 5,000 comics for less than $20. And, wouldn’t you know, Torpedo was based here in the Vegas Valley, and of course, who gets the auction announcement directly sent to his e-mail? Yep. THIS GUY. Oh, what’s that? You have online bidding? IT’S LIKE EBAY FOR COMIC NERDS.

Thankfully, I set a spending limit for myself and got outbid of a few lots at the last second, but still, on Friday morning, I sauntered up to a warehouse in North Las Vegas to pick up another 350 or so comics I didn’t need — or as I found out later, already had — as well as some original art from a mid-1980s run of Iron Man by Mark Bright, Ian Akin and Brian Garvey. Money-wise, only the original art really set me back, which is OK, because that was still a deal. But the comics — oh, the comics — were subsequently dumped in my closet with two or three other boxes my guitar player, Peter, had generously donated to my collection over the last month or so.

To be fair, I don’t have THAT many comics. I have what amounts to maybe (now) seven or eight “long boxes,” which each hold about 250 comics. That’s barely 2,000 comics. I have friends who have entire rooms and houses full of these things, along with statues, figures and art (I’m looking at you, Harry Fagel). Me, I’ve never been into the collect-and-display aspect, at least not since I was still rocking a sweet mullet. But it does seem like I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just buying them because I can, not because I need or even really want to.

So … the buck stops here. That buck being the credit card in my wallet, of course. Don’t worry, Ralph, I’ll still be stopping by Alternate Reality every few weeks to pick up my (ever-dwindling) pull list. But as soon as I can find the time (hah!), I’m going to have to actually tackle this four-color monster growing in my closet, thin out the herd, and get my own eBay auctions up and running again. Before you see me on the side of the road, sitting atop a throne of long boxes, holding a sign reading “will work for comics.”

Oh, HI. I know it’s been quiet up here in Awesome City. It’s only because I’ve been slaving away at various projects to foist upon your delicate senses in varying ways. A brief rundown, because lists are fun:

• My band, As Yet Unbroken, has been breaking in our new guitarist, Peter Stauber, and we’ll be making our revived debut at Boomers Bar this Sunday night at about 10 p.m. We’re playing with a bunch of random bands, none of which play in the same style, so it’ll be like a mini-Lollapalooza. If that doesn’t sell it for you, I don’t know what will. Call in sick on Monday and come rock with us. It’s only $5, and allegedly, we get some of that money.
• I’m editing and publishing a one-off comic book anthology for the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival called “Tales from the Boneyard.” It features all Vegas-spawned creators and will be awesome. But it also has meant spending the last month assembling the talent, setting deadlines, creating sponsorship proposals (this is a nonprofit fundraiser for the Library District), attending meetings and working on my own contribution to the compilation, an eight-page tale about a girl and a robot. If, by chance, you’d like to sponsor this endeavor, drop me an e-mail and I’ll drop you a sponsorship packet.
• I finished painting my terrible entry into the LVSK8 IV skate deck art show. It’s called “Powered by Love,” and all I will say for now is that with its existence, I have created a new genre of art called “sci-fi folk art.” If you’re so inclined to see it, along with dozens of other decorated skate decks much nicer than mine, you should come to Place Gallery (1054 S. Maint St.) next Friday, July 2. I’ll be there from 6 p.m. until probably 8 p.m.-ish.
• Speaking of art, because of demand from one or two people, I’ve created an online store where you can buy prints and postcards and stuff. Why not?
• Been trying to get way ahead on the usual workload, blazing through updates of The Utopian webcomic and deadlines for various publications. A new HRH cover story came out this past week, but I’ll slather you in the details once its digital edition goes online.

That wasn’t so hard, was it? See, all you have to do is get me started and I just type like a madman. More soon on new comics, shows and convention appearances. If you’re interested.

We have found the way to the art ...

As I self-promoted in at least one or two places last week, my Friday evening was spent manning a table outside the Funk House at the corner of Casino Center Boulevard and Colorado Avenue, attempting to sell comics and pop art to the masses at First Friday. Despite having a location on the south side of the building (meaning I was facing away from all of the Casino Center action) and often being mistaken for part of the adjacent First Friday info table, it actually went somewhat better than expected. Though I didn’t sell as much art as I’d hoped (four prints and one set of postcards), I did a decent amount of comics – surely helped by the three-for-10-dollars deal I was offering on The Utopian.*

To be honest, I actually sold almost as much in four hours on a street in Downtown Las Vegas as I did in two full days at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle – and unlike the nearly $1000 trip to Seattle, the table at First Friday cost me nothing. Not sure what that portends, but there it is.

It helped that the weather was absolutely perfect – a rare day without wind – and the crowds were phat. I’m actually a little sad I missed cruising the art walk that night, but I did get a chance to preview most (but definitely not all) of the new shows that opened this week on Thursday night, including new works by Gina Quaranto and Peter Mengert at Place Gallery, and a mind-blowing exhibit by Philip Denker at Trifecta Gallery.

I may do the First Friday vendor thing again, though not until the fall. But stay tuned for upcoming First Friday appearances that may be more … wall-worthy.

*A number of people have inquired about obtaining the prints offered during First Friday, specifically “The Best at What He Does (Knitting Wolverine)” and “Giant Robot.” If you’re interested in either, just drop me an e-mail and we’ll work it out.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (and if you’re reading this, you probably are), you likely know I took a quick trip down to Los Angeles a few weeks ago. Aside from enjoying, um, endless traffic jams and the company of old and new friends, I was primarily there to chat with Stan Lee for this week’s Vegas Seven summer movie cover package. The resulting article, “Iron Stan,” is now available on the mean streets of Vegas, as well as online in both HTML and Flash versions.

A lot of people — including my editor — suggested that the meeting should have been exciting, especially for a guy such as me, who grew up reading comics Lee either wrote or created. But at this point, I’ve developed such a professional detachment from my assignments, that I merely did what needed to be done and got on my way. The situation itself was underwhelming anyway. As described in the article, Lee’s offices are smallish, his staff nearly nonexistent, and the interview was sort of rushed and subdued. But Lee was accommodating, gracious and funny, which is really the best you can ever hope for in these situations.

But you know I couldn’t leave without documenting the occasion, right?

Excelsior!

A few months ago, someone suggested on Twitter — or I did, not sure which — that I should get a table at Las Vegas’ monthly art walk, First Friday, from which to sell comics and stuff. So without really putting too much thought into it, I contacted the powers-that-be at Whirlygig (the non-profit that runs First Friday), and before I knew it, I was booked for May’s event. At the time, I told Cindy Funkhouser from Whirlygig that I’d be selling prints and sketches too … except at the time I had no prints or sketches.

I know, right?

Well … I kind of got my sh*t together. As most of you know, I work almost exclusively digitally when I do any illustration, so I don’t really have any original art, and I don’t have many sketches that aren’t 15 years old (something that really deserves a blog post unto its own). But I conjured up a few new-ish items for you kids to possibly enjoy. So if you find yourself at First Friday this week (that’s May 7, assuming you’re not waiting in line to see one of the first showings of Iron Man 2), look for me on the sidewalk outside the Funk House (corner of Casino Center and Colorado) with the following items:

This is actually one of the sketches I drew while manning a table at Emerald City Comicon in March. The original is just black Sharpie on paper. After I got back home, I got some good feedback on it, so I decided to digitally color it and make it into a print. So I’ll have 100 of these available, as well as the original piece if anyone wants it.

This piece — clever, ain’t it? — was made for my good friend Daniella, who is, of course, a knitting diva. I got a limit run of prints made — 10? — so if you want it, this is the time.

I’ll have 10 each of these postcards at First Friday. They’re from a series of celebrity/newsmaker digital art I debuted at my old Pop! Goes the Icon blog called “Newsicons.” I dunno, I think they’re kinda cool.

And of course, the whole reason I’m doing this in the first place: Comics. I’ll have copies of all three issues of The Utopian shown above (that last one DEBUTS this week … and I haven’t received the shipment yet, so I sure hope I’ll have it!), as well as the first issue of Omega Comics Presents, which features a new, nine-page story from yours truly. I’ll be doing bulk discounts if you want to get caught up on this stuff.

There you have it. I hope you’ll at least swing by between 6 and 10 on Friday to say “hi.” I’ll also take requests for sketches, though I can’t guarantee they’ll be any good.

So, yesterday I was reading the second issue of X-Factor Forever, a five-issue comic book series from Marvel Comics written by Louise Simonson, who is basically picking up with the storyline left off when she left the X-Factor series back in the early 1990s (and approaching it as if the last 18 or 19 years of stories never happened). I’m enjoying the heck out of it, because a) I loved Simonson’s run on the series back in the late ’80s, and b) Dan Panosian’s art is just fun and full of energy.

BUT. I have to take issue with this panel, whose appearance in the midst of an otherwise innocent birthday party scene is insignificant, except for one thing:

Anyone who’s been reading X-Men comics for any period of time — or, in my case, for 25 years, knows that CYCLOPS’ EYE BEAMS DON’T EMIT HEAT. They are beams of force, of pressure. Wikipedia says it right here: “they do not give off heat and instead deliver concussive force.” WIKIPEDIA DON’T LIE.

So … cute as the idea of Cyke lighting up young Timmy’s birthday candles with his optic blasts may be, it’s off-character and (sorry Louise) Simonson should know better. It’s as ludicrous as, say, Iceman conjuring up a delightful ice cream topping out of thin air.

It’s Tuesday afternoon. And I’m freaking out just a little. Because in four days, I’m flying up to Seattle for Emerald City Comicon. The reason I’m freaking out (just a little) is not because of the travel (which I love) or the city (which I love) or the convention (which should be awesome), but because even though I’ve attended many comic book shows before, this is the first major one at which I’m actually holding down a table. Pretty much by myself. For two days.

Actually, I’m excited. I know a lot of people who will be up there, though most of them I’ve only dealt with over the internet, including Denis Caron, Stephen Downer, Sven Straatveit and Jason Copland, who will be joining me at our little Pop! Goes the Icon table in Artist Alley on Saturday to hang out, sign stuff and help give away two pages of his original art from the first issue of Omega Comics Presents.

But the only show I’ve tabled thus far was the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, which is relatively small (1200 attendees), and was only five hours. I decided to forego bigger shows such as San Diego Comic-Con this year in lieu of more intimate (or at least, not four-day blowouts) venues such as ECCC and Long Beach Comic-Con. But still, ECCC is pretty huge, and I’ll have to be all cheery and approachable behind a table for two full days, something I haven’t done since I worked in retail — and that was a long time ago.

And as I’ll be in Artist Alley, people might expect, I dunno, sketches or something. And I’ve already had requests from folks attending for sketches. I gives me performance anxiety. And I would just pull the “I’m a writer” card, but everyone knows I also draw the comics I write, so I can’t really fairly do that. And sitting next to Jason, who’s a for-real artist, well, it has me a bit antsy.

But the main reason for my mini-freak-out, aside from still not having all my materials prepared and dreading how many supplies I’ll have to load into the luggage I don’t own yet, is whether or not I’ll sell enough comics to justify the huge expense of flying both Sara and I to Seattle, staying in a downtown hotel for three nights, and paying hundreds of dollars for space and power at the convention. Due to distribution fuck-ups with the first issue of OCP, I HAVE to count on convention sales to turn a profit on this thing and get my creators paid. So I’m being optimistic and bringing a bunch more copies than I think I’ll sell. But what if over the course of two days I don’t sell diddly? Is it because I’m a bad salesperson? Or because the product quality isn’t there? See why my nerves are a little wracked?

Of course, I’m sure things will go smoothly. And I’ll have a good time meeting new people, seeing old friends and generally hanging out in one of my favorite U.S. cities. But still: nervous.

If you live in Seattle or plan to attend the show, PLEASE come visit me at Artist Alley booth M-12. In addition to the first issue of the well-reviewed OCP #1, I’ll also have bargains on The Utopian #s 1 and 2, as well as free swag. And I’ll draw you a sketch if you ask nicely. So long as it’s not a car.