Thursday, November 29, 2007

It’s Beginning to look a lot Like a Spidey Christmas!

That’s right Spiderophiles! I was in my local Hallmark store the other day and look at the two new Hallmark Spidey Christmas ornaments I found!




Both of those are new this year I believe (especially the Black suit Spidey one — ‘natch. Some other Marvel ornaments that I have acquired over the years are below (most of these I got from Toys ‘R Us).







All of these (as well as other comic-related ornaments) go on my Christmas tree.

I’ll post those when I pull them out of the attic.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Lets hear it for Fabio!

Yep, I want to talk about my good buddy from Brazil. Fabio not only did he draw my new story for Psychosis! #2, but he published it (twice) in Brazil. Further, he sent me a copy of a Spider-Man comic that was published in Brazil.



How cool is that?

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Spidey’s Identity Problem Solved!

That’s right, Peter Parker no longer has a secret Identity problem. It’s true! After outing himself at the start of Marvel’s Civil War event well over a year ago, Peter Parker has (quite accidentally) been relieved of the burden of having everyone in the world know that he wears his underwear on the outside and beats the crap out of crooks with silly names and powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men (and women).

You read all of that right. Spidey is back to his normal routine (that is until Joe Q. Screws it all up again with the contents of the Brand New Day storyline).


Yep, and the best part of this scenario, is that it didn’t happen in any of the on-going Spidey-titles. nor did it happen in a “special” one-shot spider-related title. Nor was it previously announced and/or leaked to the fan press to create a media-generated run on title in question. Nope, it happened as part of the regular incidents in an under-rated, on-going title. It happened in Avengers, The Initiative (issue #7, to be precise).

If you are interested, I’ll tell you here what happened, but before I do, I want to talk about it for just a bit, and give you the opportunity to stop reading the rest of this post if you so choose — you can keep reading for a bit, I’ll warn you before I actually plan on revealing the plot point). There have been those of us who have been wondering how the powers that be over at Marvel would fix this tremendously horrible idea. (yeah, it was good for a few stories, but as a long-term plot point, it is a bad idea and it surely needed to be fixed).

So now it is fixed, and not in a Deus Ex Machina sort of way, but in an organic, fashion. in such a way so that it is actually believable (both in the world of Marvel, and to us readers as well). There are those of us that felt that this “fixing” was going to require a spell by Dr. Strange, or some sort of Wanda Maximoff Hex-power incantation. But no, Marvel fooled us all and did it in a totally believable way that should satisfy all of us.

Well, I’ve been reading Spidey from the beginning, and I bought it. I was also very surprised and entertained as to how writer Dan Slott brought it about. Oh, and after having thought about it, I’ve decided not to reveal how it was done, at least not in this post. Now go and buy the book

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Brush your teeth with Spidey

Today may be the day of turkeys, but when you are done eating your T-Day meal, you are going to want to brush your teeth, We suggest that you use your Spidey Tooth Brush, of which we have a few. Here’s one that we have.

I know that I have at least one (and maybe two) others. I’ll add those into this post later on today. Right now dinner is being served, and everyone is wondering where I am.

OK, Back now, and I’ve brought more pics. Well, at least one more (I still think that I have another tooth brush, but I can’t seem to find it now. I’ll have to look more later.

Monday, November 19, 2007

I just flew in from the National
(and boy, are my arms tired!)


Yeah, I know that it is an old gag, but it is one that I do so enjoy. I also enjoyed myself at The National Comicbook Convention. For those of you who don’t know, the National is a three-day show held in NYC and put on by Big Apple Conventions.

I was in on Saturday and Sunday, and split my time between the Comicbook Artists Guild table(s) and the Guild Works Production table. I also spent quite a bit of time visiting several of my other friends and acquaintances at their tables. Chief among these were Melvin Ylagln, Andria Grant, Mark Teixeira (whom I had previously interviewed for Comics Values Annual 2007), Mark Torres and the always lovely Belkis from Comicbook Novice, Mikes Raub and Gold (of ComicMix), and Jeff (One Live Beast).

I met the folks from Dafixer's Hideout who do a great podcast over at their site; Andy Schmidt (The Comics Experience), Mark Bode, Frankie Washington (who is a very pleasant chap from Massachusetts). I also ran into Jeff Rovin (a man I consider to be my mentor as he helped kick-start my career) and Mike Catron (who purchased my very first article and published it in Amazing Heroes #5). I got to spend some quality time w/Mike (he came to dinner with us). The whole thing turned out quite enjoyable for all of us (especially me, because I got to spend time with good friends of mine).

I got to spend time with Matt Ryan (my partner on the Wülf Girlz which will appear in the third issue of Psychosis! #3 — due out in early 2008); and Chris Torris (who is helping me revive Agent Unknown (again to appear in early 2008). There’s more, but I’ll save that for another time. Suffice it to say that I had a real good time.

Oh, the pics in this post are just some of the characters that were wandering around the con.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Nationals come to NYC!

The Big Apple Convention presents Hayden Panettiere, Kristen Bell, Walter Koenig, Katey Sagal, Neal Adams, more at National Convention NYC, November 16-18!

On November 16-18, the Big Apple National Convention, NYC's longest-running comic book/sci-fi/fantasy/horror/pop culture convention will occur at the Penn Plaza Pavilion, 7th Ave at 33rd St./ This will be it's biggest show ever! Special celebrity guests include Hayden Panettiere, Kristen Bell, Katey Sagal, Walter Koenig, Gigi Edgley, Mira Furlan, Butch Patrick,William Mapother, Soupy Sales, Celeste Holm, Debbie D, King Kong Bundy, Joanna Krupa, Brian Clevinger, Dan “the Beast” Severn, and many, many more from movies, TV, pro wrestling, centerfold models, scream queens, athletes, and more. Over 100 comic book creators will be present including legendary comic book artists Neal Adams, Steranko, Carmine Infantino, Sergio Aragones, Joe Sinnott, along with fan favorites like Adam Hughes, Billy Tucci, Tim Sale, Mark Texeira, and underground creators S. Clay Wilson, Spain, and Mark Bode.

There will be free giveaways, prizes, panel discussions, art seminars, special film showings, performances, the NY Jedi, live action role playing, gaming, and much much more, and of course Captain Zorikh's Costume Contest! Be sure to visit the website for all the details.

Tickets are $18 per day in advance, $20 at the door, $40 for all three days, available through the website.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Lovely Demon: Demonic-Reaper Chronicles

Occasionally, I read non-Spidey comics (yeah, hard to believe, eh?) Well when I do read a non Spider-Man comic, it very often tends to be an Indie comic belonging to a friend of mine. Well, Just yesterday, while I was attending the NY-CAG, meeting, I purchased a comic from my friend and fellow CAGer, Rebecca.

I really enjoy Rebecca's art and story, and have even invited her to participate in creating an on-line web comic that I’ve written. A short time ago I sent her the first eight weeks of the comic (entitled FunnyBook City), and I hope that she gets the chance to read it soon.

Now that I’ve promoted her book here I’m hoping that she’ll find the time to work on my project. Seriously though, her comic (Lovely Demon) is a very nice first effort and deserving of your attention. I know that she will be at The National here in NYC next weekend (Nov. 16–18) and at the NYC Animie Fest next month. Her Web site is here, so swing on over and check her out, and don’t forget to tell her I sent you over.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

I’m not dead yet! (no really!)

Well folks you’ll never guess who (else) over at Marvel is back from the grave. Yep, none other than that Sentinel of Liberty, Captain America, well sort of... You see, as we all recall, back in the March 7 issue of the comic book Captain America, our American hero was killed by a sniper’s bullet, bringing to an end his storied career.

Well We knew it wasn’t over, because soon he'll seen in a comic published especially for U.S. troops:

DALLAS (Nov. 10) - Captain America may not be back from the dead, but he's back - sort of. After Marvel Comics unexpectedly killed off the champion of liberty and the American way earlier this year, he appears in a comic made exclusively for U.S. soldiers. He is seen on a videotape made before his death.
(Read story)

Personally, I already have the first four copies of this new comic (produced specifically for the U.S. Military, and you know that I plan on acquiring this new issue as soon as it shows up on ebay.



More as it happens, stay tuned.

* * * * * UPDATE * * * * * UPDATE * * * * * UPDATE * * * * * UPDATE * * * * *

The U.S. Military is carrying news about the reappearance of Captain America in the new issue of the New Avenger comicbook that is being distributed to the Military:

Captain America is back in free military comic

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Hippo Birdies to me!

A couple of years ago when I hit the half-century mark (yea, I am that old,now sit down and shut up, this is my blog). My lovely wife threw me an all-Spidey birthday party. I’m bringing this up now,as a buddy of mine from SpiderFan shot out an email to the lot of us telling us how his wife baked him a Spidey cake. He indicated that it had something to do with his age, which I found entertaining, as I had a similar sort of event occured for me a couple of years back.

Well, I wanted to post some images of my Spidey cake from my 50th B-Day (I may have done this already, but am too lazy to go back through my posts here and elsewhere to find out).

At any rate, the cake was purchased at a local grocery store or somesuch (I’ve seen the cake at a couple of different places, and I’ve even seen it since, with new and/or different “toy” toppings. Most currently, I’ve seen it with Black-costumed Spidey. I think I’m going to either have to convincer her to buy me a new cake soon, or simply go to the store and purchase the toppings separately. Which is the way that I think that I’m going to have to go with this one, because — quite frankly — I’m more interested in the topping stuff, than in the cake itself.

Oh, as an aside, I think that one of the kids down the street must have had a Spidey cake as well, as he gave my daughter a Spider-Cake toy that was a topping. Needless to say, she gave the toy to me. She’s the coolest.





Enjoy, effendi!
Holy Space Ghost!

Hey there kids, how was your Halloween? Have fun? Stay Safe? I certainly hope so. A buddy of mine had his birthday a couple of days before the Eve of All Hallows, and well, when I accidentally strolled into his birthday party, I found, not only several old friends of mine in attendance, but my friend, dressed up as Space Ghost.

Some guys know how to celebrate, and Matt Raub is one of them, you can read some of Matt’s reviews over at ComicMix, or even buy some of his fan gear (Hey Matt, you have fan gear? How’s that working out?)

Me, I didn’t go out, but well, I had fun anyway. My daughter went out, collected a bag full of candy, and she lets me eat the ones she doesn’t like. She’s the best!

Oh Yeah, so long as I have your attention, in case you haven’t heard, Spidey 3 is on DVD (in three flavors, no less!). Anyway, Sony is having a tie-in with Papa John’s Pizza. That’s right, if you purchase an Extra-Large three-topping pizza from Papa John’s, you get a $3.00 off coupon on the DVD (I’m told that if you purchase the DVD at either either Target or Wal-Mart (not sure which), you also get some sort of Spidey card. I need to look more into that, and get back to you).

Anyway, I purchased a Papa John’s pizza this Saturday, and got my coupon. Now I’m off to get the DVD.

Write what you know: Joe Martino’s The Mighty Titan

Here is yet another older article of mine that appeared  some years back  on another web page with which I am no longer associated. It has b...