The War has broken!

This is the time of wars and rumors of wars. Yes, in October, War finally broke out, you may have heard about it by now or not, but it is here and there really is nothing that we can to do about it.

Fortunately, this is not a war with a (real) human body count, this is the War of the Independents of which I have spoken extensively, and it takes place within the pages of a funnybook. Yes, that’s right, Dave Ryan’s long-awaited magnum opus is finally hitting the stand, or rather has already hit the stands. Published by Red Anvil Comics The first issue showed up at this past October at the New York ComicCon, and let me tell you that it is an outstanding gathering of the best, coolest, most buzz-worthy comicbook characters to populate the Indie universe.

Seriously, kids, this is the comicbook aficionado’s version of Sly Stallone’s recent The Expendables. This comic will give you a Geekgasm of the highest order.

The story revolves around an event that threatens to rend the very fabric of the multiverse requiring the gathering of the greatest assemblage of heroes the comicbook world has ever seen (including Badger, Phazer, Scud, The Tick, Mr. Monster, Too Much Coffee Man, Captain Action, Crusader (Love & Capes), and, well way too many to list here, but take my word, there are a metric tonne of your favorite characters here — including yours truly's very own Wülf Girlz).

The story is fun and promises a whole lot more is to come in future issues (six plus a graphic novel containing an extra chapter, we are told), so you just know that you are going to get your money’s worth with this event. As a matter of fact, there is even a prequel of sorts with a comic staring Phazer, and published by RZG. The prequel (which is done independently of Dave’s work), provides a lead-in to the series, and is also quite well done; providing a background to several of the characters in order to get the reader up to speed.

As stated, there will be other comics whose heroes appear in the series that will appear in tie-in comics (Shadowflame comes to mind). So if you are a fan of Indie comics, if you have ever read an Indie comic, or you just want to see the coolest, most original concept in Indie comic series ever published, then you owe it to yourself to check out The War of the Independents.

*Ppfszt!

Hey kids, today is a banner day as I just got my exclusive copy of *Ppfszt! #28, fresh off the press from Main Enterprises. Don’t be embarasded if you are unfamiliar with this particular title, it is a (very) small press comic published by an old buddy of mine, one Jim Main. This particular issue of *Ppfszt! is of particular interest because it carries one of my stories (entitled Too much coffee, Man).

Hey! I have a story in this issue!

(And yes, it is dedicated to Shannon Wheeler).

More about this later.Shannon

Funnybook City

Hey, I just now got the PDF from Main Enterprise for the Big Book of Small Press, which contains my short story, Too Much Coffee, Man! (with art by Jack Bertram). the book is a whopping 200+ pages of wicked-cool art spotlighting all sorts of supremely talented people (and, well me). I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing as of yet, but just by skimming through it (to get to my contribution), I couldn't help but to be impressed by the level of talent in it.

Sure the book tips in at $18.95, but there are 214 pages and — while it isn’t yet available in a dead tree edition — I understand that Jim Main (head honcho of the aforementioned Main Enterprises) is making it available as a PDF download for substantially less (sorry, I’ve forgotten the price for the PDF, but I’ll let you know as soon as it is available. (That link above is for Jim’s ecrater site where he sells all of his other very cool books, and I’m sure that The Big Book will wind up there shortly).

In the mean time, Here is the cover off the book, and the first page of the art. To see the rest, you are just going to have to pick up a copy of the issue (either electronically or physically).

Oh yeah, not only was I was totally inspired by Shannon Wheeler of Too Much Coffee Man fame, but the most-excellent art in this story is (again) courtesy of Jack Bertram.

Too much coffee; Man!

One of my all-time favorite series is Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man. It is a brilliantly witty, and darkly sardonic strip that spoke to the heart of coffee drinkers everywhere. I recently submitted darkly humorous strip to Jim Main’s THE BIG BOOK OF SMALL PRESS, which is due out early this year. The wonderful art if by Jack Bertam and, well, here is page one.



Needless to say, the story was inspired by Wheeler’s work, and hopefully he will find it amusing and not hurt me.

(Too Much) Coffee Time!

We love coffee. In fact, consuming an excess amount of coffee it our last remaining vice. So it only goes to follow that Shannon Wheeler’s iconic comicbook Too Much Coffee Man was (and still is) one of my all-time favorite comics. So when I got an e-mail this morning from Boom Studios that they are about to release a Too Much Coffee Man Animated mug, I could hardly contain myself.

Interestingly enough, this discovery was followed up by an all-to-brief online chat with Mr. Wheeler himself, who told me that Boom was about to launch a new line of books that will kick off with a compilation of Wheeler’s cartoons that were submitted (but rejected) by The New Yorker.

The new imprint (named Boom! Town), will publish and market selective reissues of out-of-print works and merchandising, including the collection of Wheeler’s cartoons that didn’t make it into the The New Yorker. Wheeler’s book, I Thought You Would be Funnier, will be among the first wave of releases under the new imprint.

Too Much Coffee Man fans can also thrill to the announcement that it looks like Wheeler will also be writing and illustrating a new eight-page TMCM story for the relaunch of the Dark Horse Presents.

Seriously, how cool is that?