Megazeen

Fasting from Facebook

2009-08-30T07:46:00.002-04:00

A reading from the letter of Joe to the Facebookers

And so, Joe was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil. And when he fasted for 7 days and 7 nights (from Facebook) he was afterward hungered.

And when the tempter came to him, he said unto Joe, check thine homepage, for witty piths doth emerge there, and thy friends have taken many quizzes and offered you many virtual drinks to imbibe. Surely thou art curious.

But Joe answered and said, It is written, "For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profaneness, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail." (Isaiah 32:6)

So then the devil taketh him to his flatscreen monitor and sayeth unto him, if thou art a Jesus Freak, at least change thy update on Facebook and share thy inner thoughts with some witty banter, for surely they will benefit from your wisdom.

And Joe said unto him, It is written, "Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil." (Proverbs 3:7)

Again, the devil took Joe before his monitor and showeth him all the games as far as the eye could see, from Mafia Wars to Pirates, from Vampires to Superhero City, and he said unto him, all these dollars and pesos and plunder and blood I can make real, and you must check in anyway before you lose your Energy Boosts and some scab comes and taketh away your health and money.

And Joe said, Get thee behind me Satan, for it is written, "The love of money (or points or whatever) is the root of all kinds of evil." (1 Tim 6:10)

Then the devil left him, to wait for a more opportune time to tempt him. And the angels came
and ministered unto him.

And he had a very satisfying week, enjoying the company of his wife and children, praying, and accomplishing projects at work.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

2009-05-01T22:57:00.002-04:00

Once again, will be at New Moon Comics in Little Falls NJ on Saturday, May 2, doing sketches with Jesus Marquez and Inkboy. This year we're raising cash for Team Lemonade to help in the fight against MS.

Years Go By

2009-04-26T12:13:00.003-04:00

The long gap between blogging has been largely due to my beng in a place in life where I know I need to listen more and talk less. I think it's far healthier than yapping about increasingly irrelevant stuff and pretending I'm more important than I am. There's plenty of bloggers like that. Feel free to visit them if that's your cup o' tea.

A couple months ago I discovered Facebook, which has (1) sucked away many hours of my life by assessing things like "The Top 5 Cartoons You Grew Up On" and (2) enabled me to touch base with many friends from high school and college that I'd not heard from in as much as 15-20 years. The latter of the two has been surprisingly rewarding and a lot of fun. It's helped me in refocusing on the importance of friendships.

I am stunned and saddened, however, at the number of friends I've reunited with that once had the Christian walk as the center of their lives, but now have allowed it to dwindle.

The times we spent attending Christian concerts is now referred to as "lame" and the zeal of their youth "naive." They place blame on the busy pace of life, or disenchantment with friends and family, as reasons they don't go to church. Sometims they say that they haven't found a church that "feels right" - and yet haven't tried to attend a church service in years. Sometimes they say the church, or organized religion, is "corrupt."

The bottom line is that church life, the Christian walk, no longer fit in as a convenient part of their life, and they cut it out.

I guess the part that has me confused is how you can love Jesus, and understand the sacrifice He made, and then not give it the all-consuming attention that that belief demands in your life.

Being a Christian is not convenient. It is not easy. To the world it appears foolish, and makes us out to look life freaks. It does not protect us from cancer or heartbreak, it does not promise happiness and success. Following Jesus requires bold, unwavering faith. It requires us to take risks, and sacrifice personal, material and physical comforts. It requires us to love those who are difficult to love, and to spend time with imperfect people just like us.

That's not a sales pitch by any stretch. In fact, it would appear as something that should be avoided at all costs. I think that's just what my friends have bumped into over the years. When things got tougher, it was easier to take the broad road. When people didn't act right it was easier to blame them than to make personal adjustments to accomodate. When life got busy it was easier to bump church down on the priority list. When choices had to be made, rather than take a stand it was easier to listen to the secular catch phrases, like
"I don't believe in organized religion"
"shove it down our throats"
"seperation of church and state"
"I'm a spritiual person"
"there are many paths to truth"
"I can be a Christian without going to church"

All lies, slapped on a dusty bible like a bumper sticker, that might look noble and wise, but in fact is a justification for laziness and lack of commitment. It's akin to a New Year's resolution to work out at a gym. It's easy to know what's right. It's easy to make that decision. It's hard to get up a month later at 5AM to hit the gym for an hour when it's snowy and cold out.

My prayer today is that my broken heart for these people will be healed, that they might rediscover the joy of their salvation and return to the cross. If you fall into the above camp I welcome the discussion.

I'm off to mow the lawn. Have a great day.

Comics Jam War

2009-02-21T17:58:00.005-05:00

A little trip down Memory Lane for me, to the most FUN experience i've had in my comic-makin' career.

On April Fool's Day 2006 the Megazeen crew participated in a contest called the Comics Jam War. We were sponsored by New Moon Comics in Little Falls NJ, where we set up camp for the day. On hand were Tom Hall (writer), Jesus Marquez (penciler), Keith Betancourt (Inkboy) and me (co-writer, letterer and thumbnails/layouts).

The contest went like this: at noontime the theme of a comic story would be revealed by the contest director. Each team then had twelve hours to produce eight fully rendered black-and-white comic pages.

At noontime sharp, the image of the above comic appeared on the website. That's all we had to go on.

It took about five minutes to agree on what could be happeneing on the splash page, so we could get Jesus penciling away while we banged out the rest of the story. I remember it took him two and a half hours to pencil the first page, leaving Inkboy to do nothing but shop the store during that time, and then another two hours for page two. This is still a pretty respectable pace for anyone to keep - but it left us with a mere 8 hours to do the remaining 6 pages, which had to include all inks and lettering. Yikes.

By the time he finished the remaining page we had literally fifteen minutes to finish it - I grabbed an exacto knife, sliced it in half, and let Inkboy lay inks on the top panel while I fairly mangld the bottom. Then we quickly scanned the last composite page, and I lettered it while the other pages were being emailed one by one at the stroke of midnight.

Out of over 100 contestants, we came in Third and made the collected book. Happily, another Megazeen guy, Ben Avery, took First place, so we represented well.

If you're interested in seeing a VERY funny comic that still cracks me up to this day (if I DO say so myself), I managed to scoop up a small supply of the books and I've got 'em on sale here.

Once Upon a Time in the 80's...

2009-01-27T21:19:00.002-05:00

... I had a mullet.

Pieces Parts

2009-01-25T21:09:00.003-05:00

In a fit of insanity two weekends ago I purchased a Rubiks Cube 5x5x5 puzzle. As of Saturday morning, two weeks later, this is where I had gotten to.

It's funny, you know? They say there are like 10 million possible combinations on this puzzle. And out of 10 million combinations, I had brought the puzzle down to a place where, literally, only two pieces needed to be reversed and it would be done. So the puzzle was, let's say, 99.99998% complete.

Not good enough.

I guess this morning I saw that cube as symbolic of my life of late. I've really got it very, very good. A terrific wife, awesome kids, I'm well-fed and well-sheltered. I've got my health and a dog to roughhouse with. I've got a huge collection of Yodas. I'm employed. I've got friends and a brother that call me Sunday night just to see how I'm doing.

And yet... there seem to be pieces out of place right now. And it makes the puzzle of my life maddening, tantalizingly just this side of incorrect.

Maddening I say.

For the record - I solved the cube this afternoon. In yo face.

I Dream of Fish

2009-01-18T14:52:00.004-05:00

I had a dream last night that my mother and I were standing on a wooden dock. It was dusk and the canal below the dock was a little swampy, and full of fish.

I wished that we had something to feed the fish. Then I thought, hey, if they just think that I have something to feed them I bet they'll come over. So I tapped my foot on the water, and almost right away dozens of fish were gathering around the dock, swishing their tails. I was pleased and impressed with how many fish were there, and all their different colors.

Some even appeared to be jumping out of the water over each other, which I pointed out with delight to my mother. Then I realized the truth - they weren't fish jumping, but rather small alligators, rushing quickly to the surface to gobble up the fish. But the fish remained oblivious, and continued waiting expectantly for a few bread crumbs to be thrown, even as they were being eaten by the baby gators.

One of the fish lept out of the water and I caught it in my hands, but I had no place to put it, other than to throw it back in the water to fend for itself. I even managed to grab one of the gators by the snout to keep it from devouring more fish, but there were so many more gators that I could not control while my hands were full. And there was no advice my mother could give me that could fix the situation.

I suppose that, when people look up to you as their leader, there is a promise implied that you will take care of them. And if you break that promise, they will continue looking to you for help, even as the problems of the world arise to bring them down. And if, as a leader, you've allowed it to get to that point, you're going to have quite a job on your hands fixing things.

God's Provision

2008-11-05T17:07:00.004-05:00

I lost my job a few weeks back.

Well, I didn't lose my job. I know exactly where it is.

But every time I go there, someone else is doing it.

Anyway, the recent loss of employment was largely the reason for the suspension of my "presidential campaign" and the reduction in posts. It was very sudden and unexpected - coupled with the fact it was a very new job was very shocking for my family and me. A victem of the times, and I thought I was invulnerable.

I haven't taken two weeks off back to back since I was, oh, 17 years old. For the first time in my life I didn't know what I was going to do on Monday. And for a 55+hour a week workaholic, this was a living nightmare.

And then God showed up.

Of course He was there the whole time. But it was through this traumatic experience that my eyes were reopened to His great provision. I was reminded, as in Ps23, that he provides all we need, and penny for penny that was true. I was taught that I had developed quite an arrogance about me regarding my God-given abilities that I was no longer giving Him credit for. There's nothing quite so humbling as having a prestigious job title one week, and standing in line for unemployment the next.

My wife has stood by me like a rock. The kids never blinked regarding their faith in God and their dad. My mom kept me well-fed and in good company. And the outpouring of support from our church, family and friends has been stunning to us. Someone even anoymously paid for me to attend a retreat at church.

I am actually grateful now that this all occured - it has made me (I hope) a better human being, because I've become so much more reliant on God the provider. It opened our eyes to our wants versus our needs - and how we'd gotten to a place of spending unnecessarily simply because we could. It also opened our eyes to the needs of others, something we'd become far too smug about. God replaced fear with faith, doubt with promise, stress with comfort, and pride with humility.

I have now been blessed with a new position, far more suitable to my abilities and interests, and only five minutes from home. I can't WAIT to get started!!!

So I'm sitting here now, stunned with how cool God is, to replace something good with something better, and for allowing me to travel the desert for just a little while. It has changed me for sure.

And that's how cool God is.

Energy Crisis

2008-10-22T20:03:00.005-04:00

The question of energy is one of the trickiest ones to tackle because it also overlaps with three other touchy subjects: the economy, the world market, and the environment.

Oil is the main culprit affecting all three. So the further we can get from oil dependence overall, the better. If we need less oil, we'll buy less from countries that hate America to begin with and begin to close the trade gap. It would wreak havoc with THEIR economy of course- but maybe it will teach them to play nice with others. It's for this reason also that we need to drill offshore and in Alaska.

I know people get all offended about what oil towers will do to the Alaska landscape - but seriously, show of hands here, how many of you have been there? Or will ever go? How much do you care really? Hey, I love bears too. But we bought Alaska for its resources. I think we can find the balance somehow.

More importantly, oil is in finite supply. We do keep finding patches of it here and there, off shore and in Alaska, but once it's gone, it's gone for good. The longer we can stetch the current supply the better.

In that oil is in finite supply, and is so expensive, and creates damaging effects to the environment, AND is chiefly in the hands of nations at odds with democracy, we need a solution that is renewable, cheaper and safer. Corn is an obvious one, as is wind power and solar. I'm finding it VERY hard to believe that we can't harness solar power more cost effectively. If I go to the beach I get burned to a crisp within a couple hours. Why can't we get that into buildings and cars?

Simple. Money. Solar is renweable and eternal. It puts oil companies out of business. But for the sake of the earth and our pocketbooks, we need to use solar.

One proposal my wife and I came up with was to shut down NASA for two years and put all their scientists on an energy quest. When they can figure out how to harness solar energy for the regular guy they can go back to figuring out how to get us to Mars. Believe me, I'm a huge space exploration fan, so the choice doesn't come easy, but at the end of the day the fruit will be there.

And since money talks, provide tax incentives and grants to companies puring R&D into alternative energy, and to businesses and homes applying these alternatives (installing solar panels, etc). Hiking up incentives for alternatives drives up demands, which drives up competition, which drives down costs and creates jobs.

And with that I am suspending my campaign, lest I pull any votes from the one guy that deserves to win... so sayest the Manx.

Joe for President

2008-10-20T07:51:00.002-04:00

Who'd have thought that this whole thing could actually take off?

Check this out!

See you at the polls in Novemeber - remember, vote early, vote often!

Mecha Manga in the Papers

2008-10-19T19:32:00.003-04:00

Great article today in the Record, one of North Jersey's largest newspapers. We had a great time doing the interview at IHOP. It was one of those great opportunities to share our faith without sounding like kooks. Special thanks to Virginia Rohan for going the extra mile with this article. The picture above is Paul Castiglia (left) and me looking at MMBH and the printouts of Colossians. That's John-Marc, our publisher, in profile on the right.

http://www.northjersey.com/entertainment/books/31243844.html

Our House

2008-10-18T14:22:00.002-04:00

It's Still the Economy Stupid

2008-10-18T09:25:00.005-04:00

By popular request (and when I say popular I mean only) I present Dr Doom. I betcha those two guys running for President right now aren't cranking out quality sketches like this, yo.

Speaking of Doom, it is essential to our economy that we stop sending jobs to Latveria, or India or China. Our country cannot survive this.

Small and large businesses alike, due to the advantage of a shrinking world, advanced technology and third world wages, have found a dramatic impact on their bottom line by manufacturing and even providing service overseas. I've worked for two traditional companies in recent years - one, a clothing company, saw a marked improvement in gross profit by setting up manufacturing in China - so much so that their former pride of everything being "Made in America" was tossed quickly out the window. Money talks. The impact was the elimination of no less than eight US jobs. The other company dealt in fresh produce, which does not allow the option of a six-week slow boat from China. Despite being ten times the size of the other company, they will likely barely be in the black this year.

While this may sound more like a recommendation FOR intead of against, one must look at the long range impact of closing automobile manufacturing plants and the like. The biggest one is the eventual oppressive unemployment in this country, which will mean less disposable income, which will mean less ability to buy the cheaply made goods in the first place. We're becoming a country of service-only jobs. All we do is move goods, sell goods, transport goods, talk about goods and services, provide services and count money.

We don't make anything anymore. Can't anyone see the problem with this? China is getting rich making product for us but buys almost nothing from us in return. Why would they? They can make it cheaper there. And they are smart enough to know that exports are GOOD, imports are BAD in the sense of a trade deficit.

As these other countries continue to make stuff for our country, they will want higher wages and will want to imitate our high standard of living. Freight companies will want a bigger piece of the pie. Goverments will want a bigger piece of the pie through tariffs. The gap will close.

What to do?

Again, I will likely not be getting the votes for President based on the reality of my platform, and will not make fans of businesses and trade unions. But I will not make promises just to get elected. To discourage a further hemmoraging of American jobs I propose a steep hike on import tariffs, to offset a reduction of employer-based taxes that will encourage hiring in the US. I will NOT raise the minimum wage during my term, in hopes of driving up a labor force to start actually manufacturing again. And I will propose credits for capital expenditures that businesses undertake to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

We can't keep sitting behind desks, kids. We need to get back to the assembly lines.

Otherwise, we're Doomed.

Next up: Energy. Still taking sketch requests.

It's the Economy, Stupid

2008-10-12T18:10:00.004-04:00

Continuing to share my stand on the issues as I run for President, and I'm da bomb-a like Obama cuz I blog about it. Once again, a reprint of a post from elsewhere, with a few added nuggets of "wisdom." So you don't feel slighted, a quick sketch of Taskmaster, one of my all-time favorite villains.

The stock market is a gamble - it's people taking their money, dumping it into large companies (with no say in their operations) and hoping to turn it into a landfall.

The housing issue, which has caused the most damage to the stock market recently, is a direct result of a very poor mindset of greed and entitlement that Americans have. Buy furniture we can't afford, buy a house we can't afford, buy a wide screen plasma TV we can't afford, and figure how how, or IF, to pay for it later on. Banks catered to this greed by providing (IMO) criminal opportunities to borrow including ARM's. Retailers provide a new credit card with a $5000 credit limit at the checkout counter - the CASHIER approves it!!! And when it all goes bad, they turn to bankruptcy as the way out - something that used to rightfully carry shame but has almost become a right of passage.

Should we be surprised about the housing market when waitresses are buying up real estate in order to "flip it" for a profit? That's not the American dream. That's greed. Should we feel bad for a couple who gets evicted from their apartment because they're four months behind in the rent, and we watch them move out two computers, a Wii, a PS3, a monster TV and a stack of DVD's that could choke Godzilla? That's not the American dream, that's irresponsibility. It's a poisonous victem mentality.

The problem is that we as Americans are fat and lazy and live too well. We're told on one hand to live by our means, and the next second we're offered "no money down and no payments until 2010."

That's got to end, in the form of responsibility laws. In my plan, Adjustable Rate Mortgages would be outlawed and credit card interest would be capped at 15%. Each individual or family would be able to have a legal debt-to-income & asset ratio (on a sliding scale based on their income and credit rating) that would not exceed their ability to pay off. Once they have that max reached in credit cards and car payments, they're cut off - no more credit issued. Just like a drunk at a bar. Anyone exceeding their limit would be guilty of bank fraud and subject to penalties and prosecution. Any creditor knowingly issuing credit beyond the ratio is also subject to penalty. And as long as my healthcare plan goes through, there would not be a problem with unpaid medical bills (thus eliminating the unfortunate circumstances that might create a credit issue beyond one's control).

It would mean people would buy less - for a time. Believe it or not this is a good thing - it would drive down prices and put a vast number of Americans on a path to debt recovery. We have too much stuff anyway. But my plan also calls for the elimination of income tax on interest and dividend income for a family earning $125,000 or less - encouraging saving. Ain't that a novel idea?

Tune in next time for "It's Still the Economy Stupid" as we start to transition toward foreign policy. Ain't I a little smarty pants? Oh, if anyone has a request for a sketch I'll try to accomodate and post that too.

It's Healthcare, Stupid

2008-10-11T10:05:00.012-04:00

(This is a reprint and expansion of an entry from another forum. Just in case you feel ripped off, here's a recent sketch of Iron Fist to go with it.)

Regarding healthcare. I don't believe in universal, government-run general medical insurance (or government-run ANYTHING). Don't agree with me, ask a Canadian family with double our tax rate and a three-week wait to see a doctor.

The reason we buy insurance is that our medical expenses may exceed our premiums - in essence, a gamble. If somehow we manage to get through the year without needing major medical care or surgery, in essence we've "lost" because we paid more into premiums than we really needed to pay for doctors and meds. And for the most part that's true.

It wasn't that long ago that insurance was a rarity and deductibles were huge - it was set aside for the big stuff, not the trip to the local doctor for the sniffles. Insurance became more prevalent and eventually became the main way doctors got paid - so, doctors began to bill based on what a huge corporation could pay, tacking on extra tests "just to be sure", rather than what the local person could pay. Insurance needs to be higher that actual claims to pay its administrative costs (and huge corporate salaries). As both got richer they became the targets of lawsuits - thus malpractice insurance, which made it easier to sue, which drove up costs, etc etc.

In trying to level out medical expenses, we've created an even more expensive middle man.

So, in many ways, the health insurance industry, which was supposed to be a help, became its own problem. And you can't go back, because once you give a person something it's VERY hard to take it back.

No president can fix this - or rather, no president can promise anything other than band-aids and expect to get elected.

The root of the problem is a mentality that we are entitled to health insurance - we are NOT. However, it does seem that we should be entitled to some level of health CARE, and it seems that protection from sudden spikes in our personal health care costs (ie birth of a child, surgery, chemo, etc) can be provided for in the form of high-end insurance, at pennies on the dollar from what it costs now. This would result in the reduction of a massive infrastructure of health insurance administration, and reduce medical costs based on demand, not what a health insurer will pay. The government would continue to protect the elderly and disabled through Medicare, because that is the right thing to do, and offer this high-end protection to the rest of us (insurers would quickly follow suit). To encourage employers to stay involved, businesses would be offered double tax deduction on their employee's health insurance costs. Low-income families with children (based on regional poverty levels) would be eligible for some basic insurance as well, to ensure that Johnny gets to the doctor with the sniffles before it becomes pneumonia.

Incidently - providing universal healthcare for all of America, $150 billion. Compared with the $850 billion Wall Street bailout, one might wonder if we spent our money wisely.

I am strongly considering one VP candidate at the moment, in case anyone is interested.

Why I Won't Be Elected President

2008-10-11T09:43:00.003-04:00

With all the back biting and lack of real solutions in the face of real problems in this most important election, I am doing my patriotic duty to declare, on this blog today, my candidacy for President of the United States.

What will follow are my takes on the problems that face our country and my proposed solutions. I won't be saying what I need to say to get elected. I will, however, propose to offer what I see as the real problems and present some potential solutions. And since I don't want to run a smear campaign, I won't talk about Obama or McCain until election day looms.

I will be looking for a running mate, by the way, and I have a very hot first lady.

Under the Category of "Who Cares?"

2008-10-05T15:15:00.004-04:00

Was Jonah swallowed by a big fish or a whale?

Does the Tribulation come before or after the Rapture?

Should Christians allow their kids to Trick-or-Treat?

How should one dress for church on Sunday?

Was Goliath really from a race of giants?

What happened to the dinosaurs?

Did Jesus really turn the water into wine, or was it just grape juice since it didn't have time to ferment?

Did the Wise Men see a star, a comet or an alignment of planets?

If Jesus died on Friday and rose on Sunday, how can we call that three days?

Who did Adam and Eve's sons take as wives?

I'm sure there are more. But these are just some of the many, many absolutely ridiculous arguments Christians get into that mean a bucket of spit, and cause such massive divisiveness in the family that it can only come from the enemy.

Some might argue that some of these mean something. You have fun with that.

Where Is the Love?

2008-09-28T19:48:00.001-04:00

Where is the love? It's there.

The question posed is absurd- if God took heaven off the table, would we still love Him? And what might that love look like? Absurd because God promises heaven. But the question begs because it makes me wonder, do we just do the paces for the eternal reward?

What is love? The tough part about defining love is that, in English, the word love covers a lot of ground. But let's take this to a level of the love a man and woman have for each other, for the sake of analogy to get a grasp on the subject.

Some say that love is not something you can control, that it's this weird spritual, emotional and physical magnetic cosmic fate. That's just stupid, although it makes for some watchable Hollywood fare. Some say love is an emotion that you either have or you don't. Some say they fell madly in love. Some say they fell out of love. Again, all indicating there's no choice in the matter.

I say love is proven by action, and that raw emotion without the mature choices made to act upon it is without worth. I say love is not the blushing bride who is worried about her hair and wedding dress, but the 70-year-old woman cleaning up her paralyzed husband of fifty years. I say love is not the starry-eyed young man trying to buy a woman a drink at a bar, but the husband who speaks highly of his wife consistently in public and in private. The wife who signs her husband up for art school. The husband who cheers on his wife as she pursues her masters degree.

Do we work harder at a job that we get paid more for, or one that we love?

Love is the actions of someone who is genuinely interested in the personal growth of the one he loves, even at the cost of potentially high personal sacrifice, and without the condition of return.

That's lofty. But that's how God loves us.

What if we loved God like that? What would that look like? That we would be interested in the growth of God's kingdom simply because we love him? Personal sacrifice? Unconditional? How much would it change our habits, our attitudes, our direction in life?

Egads.

How much greater can the motivation of love be over reward?

It's the Afterlife, Stupid

2008-09-23T20:16:00.006-04:00

The quote that got me going was the following: "You'll die and go to hell if you don't accept Christ" is good enough for me, but I know others need more convincing." My interpretation for that statement is that the writer's sole purpose for being a Christian is the prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack church box. And thus began my pondering about exactly how much of a factor heaven should play in our walk with God.

In the Old Testament Heaven is mentioned as God's dwelling place several times, but - get this - exactly one time as the future home for the righteous, in II Kings 2:11 when Elijah is called up into heaven. Before that, there's really no indication in the Bible that that's where we're going, and until the New Testament it's not mentioned as such again (except vaguely in connection with the Hebrew concept of Sheol). Without stretching, that's it gang. Hey, naturally, if I'm mistaken about this please clarify, but I think i'm onto something here.

Now again, let me make this VERY clear, I believe that there is an afterlife, and that Heaven is the dwelling of place of God, and that those whose sins are washed by the blood of Jesus at the cross are admitted there. I'm NOT making these statements to question the existence of heaven.

I am, however, very interested in the faith of the Jews who loved God and (for the most part) did their best to obey Him without obsessing about the afterlife. In fact, they seemed a whole lot more interested in what was going on here on the ground. Huh.

So what was their motivation? Was it fear? Guilt? Manipulation? I think nothing so cynical as these, which might cause some to label me as naive, but hey- those same people would probably question the existence of God and heaven anyway, and they'd be wrong, so what care I?

No, I believe they walked the walk because they adored God.

They adored God. They were impressed with His majesty and His creation, and His promises and fulfilment of promises. They were awed by a God that created the world, and the sun and moon and stars, and who took a personal interest in them. They worshipped him like the God that He is.

It wasn't about heaven- it was about God.

I think heaven will be a great place, but the thing that makes it great is that it's where God lives.
So, I wonder, what if we explore that kind of faith? And so my question is this for tonight:
If God took heaven back off the table, would you still love Him?

Ah, but that requires that we define love. And that, I believe, will bring us closer to the core of what God has in mind for us.

Heaven or Hell

2008-09-22T20:42:00.003-04:00

This week, I noticed what I think is a very basic problem with a lot of Christianity (not the message of Christ, mind you, but rather a problem with those that call themselves followers of Christ). I'm not quite sure why I never noticed it before.
John 3:16 reads "For God so loved the world that He sent His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." Nothing wrong with that, of course. But the hang-up I think a lot of us have is that our whole faith has boiled down to this, and while it's an important fact it's really just a piece of the whole pie.
I mean, do we really base our entire purpose for following God on the promise that we're going to avoid hell? Seriously?
Now I'll admit, I believe in heaven and hell. I think hell is someplace you DON'T want to go and heaven is where you DO want to go, particularly when you're talking about existing in wither place forever and ever. And I believe that the only way you get to heaven is by Jesus Christ's admission. Not a thing we can do to be good enough to get into that party, and that's that.
But is that really why we go to church, is that the only reason we pray, is that really all we have to offer someone when we're a witness for God? Is it just the difference between heaven and hell?
For me it is not. And when all of scripture is simply boiled down to the rewards in the afterlife, I believe we've missed the boat.
I'll be exploring this in the next few entries, and I welcome your comments and critique.

Mecha Manga CowaBUNGA!!!

2008-08-17T19:47:00.002-04:00

Ok, it's finally out, and it looks suh-weet!!! Getting lots of nice attention all over the net, radio, etc.

You can grab a copy online here at a steal for $2.25 (don't be fooled by the price- this is a high-gloss, full color, full size comic book). You can also find us at Revelation Generation at the end of August, or the NY Anime Festival in September. More dates to follow.

It is a great feeling when something you've worked on finally arrives in hard copy form. Nice job all around, and special thanks for JMG Studios for showing some faith in the creative team. No doubt it paid off.

Where'd July Go?

2008-08-01T19:34:00.002-04:00

OK so I haven't posted in a month, but it's not because I went to be among the blog wannabes that lose interest quickly, nor is it because I have nothing to say. Rather, I've been off the wall busy. July was one of the most eventful months I've had in many many years.

In my personal life, I was offered a job at another company, as a controller, so I left my workplace of nearly 10 years for new horizons. So far, what a great gig. I'm finding myself using parts of my brain I'd long thought dead. It's so cool how God brings stuff like this together. Before starting at the new place, my clan and I got away for a week in Disney, once again, and it was the best vacation we'd ever had. On the way home in the plane my daughter and I watched Edward Scissorhands, so I drew him up.

In the comics realm, I'm working with a friend on a cool little online submission, more on that later. And Mecha Manga Bible Heroes is supposed to make its debut sometime around 8/11. I'll keep you posted on that none too.

The big update on Colossians is that the coloring for issue 1 is COMPLETE (thank you Mark Melton), as is the cover art (thank you Jeff Slemons). Now my buddy Joshua Warren is working up a logo, and I'm playing with the letters and editorials. So little stands in the way now to get this puppy out. Also, Dan Barlow has informed me that the pencils for issue 2 are cranking along very quickly- like, nearly DONE already! There are also some neat developments regarding the ongoing story and viability for the entire series.

Talk soon!

Digital Crack

2008-06-29T14:44:00.003-04:00

I am a sucker for a good computer game, have been since I was a kid.

I remember jamming most of my meager pay as a dishwasher into the old Star Wars vectrex arcade game- that or Tron, or Tempest. We had "Intellivision" at home and countless hours were dumped into Dungeons & Dragons, Utopia and Astrosmash. When the first home computers came out I was hooked on Zork, Ballblaster, Shamus and Joust.

Later came Nintendo, and my hands would cramp up after hours of Super Mario 3, Batman and Battletoads. Then came PC's, and a miriad of dazzling choices- Age of Empires, Unreal Tournament, Half Life, SIMS, Jedi Knight, and Starcraft. Then along came MMORPG's and with that, my drug of choice, City of Heroes.

After swearing off COH (twice) I've hit on the Nintendo DS with Brain Age, Animal Crossing and, currently, Guitar Hero on Tour, which is just AWESOME!!!

But the time, the TIME, that gets pissed away on this stuff is staggering. I believe I could safely say I have lost at least one working year of my life. Probably two. Along with a couple grand worth of games, consoles and quarters.

I'm gonna go vomit now.

And play some more Guitar Hero!!! ROCK ON!!!

Mecha Manga Bible Heroes Redux

2008-06-27T20:33:00.007-04:00

I have seen the test copy... and it is good.

You can see the REAL copies of Mecha Manga Bible Heroes #1 around the end of July, in better bookstores everywhere.

You can also see us at Revelation Generation at the end of August.

And as we prepare for the big release, Tom and I are busy writing the next few chapters for the series. Without going into details yet, I can tell with with all certainty that what we've got planned will take what we started in the first issue to a whole new level.

It has been such an honor to be part of this project, watching the creative process from the point of view of a writer, in collaboration with my longtime friend, and then watching it come to fruition with a fabulous art team from beginning to end.

Just another one of those things that is SO cool about being a Christian, that I never would have experienced otherwise.

Oh, here's a little interview with our publishers.

Nothing to Fear

2008-06-21T19:06:00.003-04:00

Today I took the family once again to the local water park, which is always an amazing bonding time, good excercise, and a lot of fun. I also use the opportunity, whenever we go, to face my greatest fear: I'm terrified of heights.

I don't know WHY I'm terrified of heights. Maybe it's vertigo, maybe it's the time I fell from a treehouse when I was kid. Either way, there it is. A paralyzing and annoying fear.

I say it's an annoying fear because fear limits us. It keeps us from experiencing something in life that might actually be good for us. If we allow fear to control us it limits our growth as a person. Fear can be our built-in excuse for NOT doing something. Fear keeps us in a safe, comfortable, boring zone.

As I climbed the four-story tower, the wind whipped past. I could see how much higher I got with every step, with a view of the ground between the grooves of the wood and the open rails. Looking up made me dizzy and made me realize how much further I had to go. Looking down made me nauseous and made me realize how far I had to drop. The entire structure shook with every screaming adventurer takig the plunge. Twice I stopped, assessed the situation, the value versus cost analysis. Twice I strongly considered turning back, and prepared my speech for my family who was waving to me from the ground.

I considered my eldest daughter's parting words: "Daddy, don't die."

And yet I finished the climb, pulling myself up step by step with both hands on the rail for balance and courage. It was me and the lifeguard, alone.

I walked to the rail to see how steep the drop was, and as expected, it was so steep that I could not see the entire slide from my vantage point. It was waaaaay up there.

Finally sitting down in the chilling rushing water, the lifeguard said I could go whenever I was ready. I wasn't. I looked behind me, hoping for an impatient guy standing behind whom I could give up my place in line to. No such luck. It was just me. I inched forward, dangling my feet over the abyss, the water force nearly pushing me through.

And in that final moment, I thought, why not?

I had already probably done the scariest part in the climb itself.

And it would all be over in a few seconds.

And if I allowed a water slide to paralyze me, how would I be able to ever face real situations in life? Like one I'm facing right now (more on that hopefully very shortly).

That last idea gave me the courage I needed to take a deep breath, cross my arms and let go.
Life's not meant to be a list of do's and don'ts, will's and won'ts.

Sometimes, it's just do's and will's.

Even something as trivial as the big waterslide means something bigger, and we all know that deep inside. It means choices: to live or to watch, to fear or to conquer, to jump or to cower, to experience life or read about it.

Which choice do you think would God have us make?

Fanboy Weekend

2008-06-10T19:45:00.007-04:00

Well, my long fanboy weekend has wound down. It was GREAT hanging with the guys. There's something about men being with men that just clears the head. Special thanks to all our wives & significant others for understanding our need to occasionally bond.

Friday in the city was a hoot- Jer and I visited Ground Zero and the 9-11 Tribute, which got me all riled up again. It's good not to forget. I almost pounded a middle-eastern guy trying to sell photo books of the attack on the trade center (it's not that I'm racist, but it was a bad tasteless combo, don't you think?). But then we went to some comic shops and I found my happy place. Bought the elusive Atomic Robo#3.

Saturday was just wall-to-wall comics, starting with the Big Apple Show, where I scared up some good cheap swag. Not easy given my Marvel & DC ban to find much of ANYTHING at a show like this, but I did manage to find a rare Sam & Max comic, an old Cerebus comic and a couple cheat art books, as well as a Gorilla Grodd action figure (he's DC, but since it wasn't a comic I'm good).

The coolest part of Saturday, though, was MOCCA (Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art). That's where all the cool (and uncool) true starving artist types hang out. The variety was dizzying. I picked up a bunch of free ad cheap comics, a couple handfulls of buttons and a t-shirt with a variety of cheeses on it. Got to meet Evan Dorkin (Milk and Cheese). Grabbed a bunch of ultra-indy works like the Mighty Skullboy Army, Breathless, Harvest and one where Johnny Cash fights a killer ostrich.

Saturday night was kind of a working meeting with Tom and Jeremy as we worked out some kinks in the script for Colossians, so I can proceed with it. More on that later.

The Clifton show was pretty much a bust, since everyone was in the city for the day, but it was still great getting together for lunch with the gang one last time before real life catches up again. See the massive hordes of fans above. They need to do something about crowd control next time.

There are more shows coming up- looks like us Mecha Manga Bible Heores guys will be appearing at the NJ Super Mega Show in July, and at Revelation Generation in August. Maybe we'll see ya's there!

Rant n Rave- The Diet

2008-06-05T18:30:00.005-04:00

I know someone who says he's on a diet, working hard to lose weight. There are three big bags of snacks at his desk- but they're from the health food store, because he's on a diet. He opens his day with a big ole iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, loaded with cream- "Hey, if I don't I won't wake up!" He's got Crystal Lite at his desk, loaded with Nutra-Sweet which your body has NO IDEA how to digest. He orders a LARGE Chef's salad and eats every roll of ham, cheese and every crunchy crouton soaked in Creamy Italian- but it IS a salad, after all. About mid-afternoon someone makes a dash to Dunkin and yet another iced coffee appears. And before he left work today he ordered Chinese for delivery at home, you know, "for his family" (HE won't eat it).

But, since he SAYS he's on a diet, then he MUST be on a diet. Stupid scale. On a diet for a week and he gained three pounds.

Sounds ridiculous and laughable and even... hypocritical.

Now you know where this analogy is going.

Let's say I know a guy who says he's a Christian. He goes to church in his new SUV but can't afford the tithe. He WANTS to do ministry, but life seems too busy. He curses at work and speaks unkindly to people. He belittles a waiter at a restaurant, but then says grace openly and leaves a tract with his tip. When he's at home he opens his eyes, his mind, even his refrigerator to all sorts of inappropriate things, but his Bible is ever-handy, near the door so he doesn't forget it on his way out the door next Sunday.

But he goes to church, so he MUST be a Christian.

Right?

One Weekend- Three Cons

2008-05-30T17:45:00.004-04:00

The Megazeen Team will be wreaking havoc next weekend in the New York area.

On Friday 6/6 you might spot us at Jim Hanley's Universe or Mid-Town Comics among other stops as we do the tourist circuit of New York City.

On Saturday 6/7 we're hitting two comic shows, not as dealers but as fanboys, hobknobbing with the goobersmoochers as it were. Look for the "Suck it Up" Megazeen T-shirts and say "hi" at MOCCA and Big Apple Comic & Toy Expo! And hey, if we get a chance to shave our legs we might even cosplay!

Finally on Sunday 6/8 we've got a table at the Clifton NJ Comic Book Show, thanks to our buddy JP. We'll be selling swag, drawing, reviewing artwork, and talking about a few upcoming projects, including Colossians, Megazeen: The One Page Issue, Megazeen: The Christmas Issue, Eagle All-Star #2, and KING!

In attendace: myself, Jer "Freak Accident" Zehr, Tom "So Blame Him" Hall, Keith "Inkboy" Betancourt, and Jesus "My Thong's Riding Up on Me" Marquez,

Freak Accident Podcast

2008-05-23T07:50:00.002-04:00

My buddy Jeremy Zehr and I were supposed to do a roundtable discussion about comics n stuff, but it ended up just being me and him, so we talked about Colossians and Megazeen and comics and movies and American Idol (unless Jer edited that out, which I'll be grateful if he did).

So if you want to hear my voice talking about my favorite subject- me- tune in!

If You Want Something Done "Ehhh"

2008-05-21T07:40:00.008-04:00

If you want something done right...the classic completion to that, of course, is "do it yourself." But managing a multi-million dollar company for years, and being the editor of the longest-running Christian anthology comic alive, I can tell you that's rarely the case. It's usually ego, pure and simple. I'm more of the persuasion that it takes a village to raise a child- a team of well-assigned and well-trained experts to get a job done well.

As we were driving to "Positive Puppy Training School" (long story and I think there's a sermon in there somewhere), my wife asked me, "why didn't you just draw Colossians yourself?" Logical question. I'm not the worst artist I know by any stretch. But my attachment to the story, crossed with my own personal disatisfaction with my art (a problem that haunts many artists) was paralyzing the project. So, before Colossians languished further, I took the advice of Richard and Wendy Pini regarding Elfquest...

Deep breath... and let it go.

My two pencilers- Kneon Transitt and Dan Barlowe- have no long history with the characters and are very efficient and consistent artistically. They both simply like the part of the story they're drawing. No preconceived notions. Let 'er rip. And they have.

The next question made me think a little more. "What if the artist draws something you don't like?" Excellent point. After all, with literally 25 years of experience with characters like Foxx, Savage, Trogg, JazzMan and Stasella Paine to go on, what if the artist just didn't nail it just right?

The answer to that is that it's all in how you look at it.

If I wanted the characters drawn MY WAY, well, I should draw em myself, right? But since drawing them myself wasn't working I've got two real capable guys lending a hand. Rather than be the anal controlling guy, I found it was easier to chuck my ego out the window and just let the art happen. I wanted Kneon and Dan to have FUN drawing it- the hopeful result being a fun book to read. And it worked.

As an interesting side effect, for me- it was like reading my own story for the first time. This has given me a little more of the perspective of the first-time reader, which has certainly helped in developing a story that's for fans.

The creative process in comics continues to fascinate and excite me. I believe Colossians is happening as it should, and the results should be pretty durn skippy.

The image above is my original concept for the cover art for Colossians #1 (penciled, inked and marker colored by moi). While I don't think it's too shabby for a rough, I have to say I'm glad I've got a TEAM to make the vision come to life.

Colossians #1- Cover Preview

2008-05-19T18:15:00.002-04:00

If good things come in threes then maybe Colossians is a good thing. Last Tuesday I finished the inks for issue 1, Wednesday I received the first few penciled pages of issue 2, and last Thursday I got the pencil sketch of the cover for the first issue, courtesy of Jeff Slemons.

I won't show you the whole thing, since the scan is a little grainy and, hey, we've got to have some surprises when this thing hits the stands, right? What you're seeing is a giant ape named JazzMan that makes life pretty rough for our heroes for the first several pages. If all goes well, he'll also play a part later in the series, in a 4-issue arc called Fire.

Most of my comic efforts for the next few months will be on Colossians, including a website, a MySpace, and of course the lettering and back-up features (sketchbook, fan art, commentary, etc). I'll continue to preview elements of the book here and discuss progress. If there's anything specific you want to know about, please post a comment and I'll do my best to answer.

Colossians #2- Penciler

2008-05-18T08:00:00.005-04:00

A few months back I talked about how Colossians is envisioned as an ongoing series, with my concentration right on the first story arc, which will take us through issue 5, and that there would be other Megazeen artists on deck for each issue. Up until now I haven't named them, but since I just received the first 6 pages of pencils for issue 2 on Wednesday, I know it's a sure thing, so it is with great honor that I announce the penciler for issue 2 is none other than Dan Barlow.

Dan has been a regular on the boards for a long time, and has produced work for the three most recent issues of Megazeen (Frank Gun in the Horror issue, the cover of the Failure issue and Hair of the Dog in the sci-fi issue). Dan has the consistency, the vision, the absolute chops to make it in the long haul.

Seeing Dan's work on the second issue was awesome. I won't talk about them in too much detail, since it won't mean much until you've all seen issue 1, but Dan's another one of those artists (much like Kneon) that clearly enjoys playing in other people's sandboxes. What he's done in the backgrounds, the wardrobe selections, and the redesign of one of my characters (she will debut in issue 2) shows me he understands where we need to go with Colossians.

Dan's style certainly differs from the first issue, which is well-suited. Issue 2 will take some decidedly dark turns in the storyline, and expose a lot more about the uncomfortable backgrounds of Foxx, Savage and the Manx. This will also set up the action-packed twists that come in the third and fourth issues.

Dan's preliminary character sketch of Foxx is attached.

So things are rocking along pretty well with this book at long last!!! But that was Wednesday. I got another surprise in my email on Thursday that, believe it or not, made this whole thing that much better!

Colossians- INKS COMPLETED

2008-05-15T20:09:00.006-04:00

I'm embarrassed to admit it has taken me, get this, four years to complete the inking on Colossians #1, with a large chunk of it getting done in the past six months. This was the final panel I had to knock out, from page 11 of the first issue. In this shot, the Manx is leaping onto a rooftop to surprise some unsuspecting thugs.

I love working with ink. If my fingertips are black, I've had a very, very good day.

Working on Kneon's pencils has been a real privilege and learning experience. His work is tight and precise, an odd blend of cartoon and old-school classic style, which is what convinced me to ask him to do the work in the first place. His art sets the right tone for the book- it's fun but gritty, and very creative. I used a blend of pens, brushes, markers and quills to make his work pop.

Now that the inks are done I can move onto perhaps the toughest part of the project- believe it or not, there's NO SCRIPT for issue 1. Seriously. Not kidding you. Kneon drew these pages based on a loose plot synopsis that was about 3 pages long (including character descriptions). So in classic backwards Megazeen fashion, draw first write later.

It's not that there's no story of course- the story is actually a very involved and detailed mythology that will take these characters in a lot of weird directions, should it become the series I've envisioned. It's just the dialogue and narrative that I've got to get going on, so I can add the letters and get it off to the printer. And just as I've dipped into some of the best Megazeen talent so far (Kneon, Mark Melton on colors, and Jeff Slemons on the cover), I'll be tapping into the best writers I know to help be finish my baby.

Oh, by the way, I finished the inks on Tuesday. Wait till you find out what showed up in the mail on Wednesday... it makes completing this issue a lot more urgent.

Restriction or Freedom

2008-05-10T07:40:00.004-04:00

As editor of Megazeen I receive a few submissions a week from guys (mostly guys) who want to draw comics. I am not the best writer that I know and certainly not the best artist, so critiquing these submissions can be very awkward for me- I mean, who am I? But the fact is I am the editor of Megazeen, so my call (whether right or wrong) counts for something. I guess.

The hardest part, for me, is taking a look at work that really has no true vision. It may not be that the artist has no vision, but the work is like watered down iced tea. This seems to be a trap that many believers fall into when it comes to Christian comics. The artist, whether consciously or not, finds Christianity to be restrictive with regard to art and possibly in regard to life.

That's so unfortunate. Following Christ should not be viewed as adhering to a long list of rules and expectations. It should be viewed as freedom from the bondage of sin. When you're free, life is good. When you're free, you can have fun and enjoy life. Sure there's rules- but keeping in line with them simply accentuates the good life we've got.

(Side note: I remember the old comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Calvin invented this game called Calvinball, and would make up "the rules" as he went along, and conveniently void those rules when the game wasn't going his way. The strips moved at a maniacal pace and were hysterical- but when you read them, you realize Calvin really wasn't enjoying the game at all, and he'd inevitably get into a fight with Hobbes over it. However, usually Hobbes or Calvin's babysitter would start out frustrated with the game but could turn it to their advantage once they caught on.)

That said, I'm still surprised with the number of submissions I get that are tired old versions of the same old stuff, more suited for a church bulletin than a raw indy zine.

I don't want a strip that's going to make some old lady chuckle (the old lady who sits in the third pew every Sunday wearing her purple blazer and a hat, by golly a hat). I want a strip that's going to make a skateboarder spurt milk out of his nose.

I don't want a tired old sermon about Hell and fear of it. I want something that will scare the pants off someone for real and get under their skin. I'm not interested in the third-hand polished-up retelling of someone else's testimony- I want to read a real story story from the heart, warts and all.

I don't want a bunch of inside jokes about Vacation Bible School or the church collection plate, or old cliche's with an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other. I don't want church talk with words like sanctification, consecration, condemnation, salvation, revelation, new creation, glorify, edify... am I making a point here?

I want YOU. And I think God does too. And I don't think God is in the least interested in entertaining Christians with safe little comics that make the old ladies chuckle politely.

This is obviously a lot heavier than a single entry, so expand on some of these points in the weeks to come. The point of this series is NOT to discourage or make anyone feel bad. The point is to encourage you to get in touch with true storytelling vision, true artistic vision. Don't allow tradition to dictate what's acceptable.

Let's play Calvinball.

Musing at 40- Taking Risks

2008-05-04T14:24:00.002-04:00

There have been some recent events in my life that have led me to conclude that I have been leading a wonderfully comfortable, safe and satisfying life. However, the fact is that God doesn't call us to comfort, safety or personal satisfaction, at least for their own sake.

Ripping off a little of my pastor's recent series of sermons on Ecclesiastes (my favorite book in the Bible), most of what we do, just for the sake of doing it, is meaningless. We get up, shower, get dressed, eat some food, drive to work, get annoyed, drive home, eat some food, watch TV, go to sleep, lather, rinse, repeat. Yaaaaawwwnnn.

When you look at it this way, that's a pretty meaningless existence. We have a limited amount of time on the planet to live, to make a difference, to affect lives, to use the gifts God's given, to plow a counterculture. How much time can we really devote to the mundane 9-5? How interested is God in this kind of life?

There comes a time when you have to start putting things on the line. Mundane efforts get mundane results- they put food on the table and buy a few creature comforts but little else. Radical risks can result in radical rewards or, of course, radical loss, God willing. Either way, it sure keeps things interesting.

Up until very recently, turning 40 meant resigning myself to comfy, safe and satisfying, which didn't seem SO bad. But now, today, that has changed. I am determined to make the next 10 years a decade of impact and personal transformation. I have been placed in some very unique leadership roles and presented some very unique opportunities. It is time to capitalize on these things. It's time to take some chances and see what God does with it.

I know that many artists and friends read this blog, and I'll let you know, too, that I will not be stopping with myself. I will be extending my personal challenge to those around me, to see what a difference we can make together. We're going to do some crazy things, and then we're going to kick back and watch what God does with it. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

In a nutshell: I am 40.

Youth is wasted on the young.

So I'm stealing some back.

Timely Reminder

2008-05-03T19:27:00.005-04:00

I was planning to skunk out on Free Comic Book Day today. There. I admit it. Something got into my ego, and I forgot that the reason I do comics has never, ever been about doing comics.

For four years running New Moon Comics has welcomed the Megazeen team into their store to do sketches and sell books and talk to people. It is a small store in a new location off the beaten path. I came to the conclusion a few weeks ago that the store would probably not be well-traveled enough to bother this year. That and my wife and I had plans for the past several weekends that sent us down different paths, so I was setting aside some quality time.

But this morning, the weather was crummy, and Marie confessed she needed to do some shopping for my birthday tomorrow (have I mentioned I'm turning 40?), and would I like to join my friends at New Moon for a while?

Dude, I couldn't pack my gear fast enough, and tears of joy literally were rolling down my face as I drove down to Wayne.

A small group of young kids came in early, so I got to draw Spiderman, Wolverine (twice), Luke, Artoo, Boba Fett and a Skrull. Sold a couple books and pins which was sweet. Then my buddies Jesus Marquez, his fiance' Jennifer, and Keith "Inkboy" Betancourt joined us and we all had a blast. The crowd was light as I expected, but it was good because we actually got some time to talk.

Turns out Jesus is preaching for the first time at his church tomorrow. I really wish I could be there for myself to see it. He told me he's preaching about "Transformation," so I was thinking he's got to be using some kind of Optimus Prime references. "Actually," he said, "Part of my sermon deals with you."

Que?

Jesus told me about how part of true transformation requires accountability. Someone to mentor you, to push you to be all you can be. For him, he said, that's a lot of what I do for him.

And there I was reminded why I do what I do once again. It's not about volume, about comics, about publicity. It's about friends. And I drove home, again with tears in my eyes.

Then my ultra-cool wife brought me to see Iron Man. I'm not a movie critic, there are professionals for that. I will say great flick. I will also say that, if you wait through all the credits, you'll be very, very happy you did.

I believe that today, my final day of my thirties, is a precursor for what is to come in the next decade. I think I now know what it's shaping up to be and what God has been shaping me to be. I look forward to it now with far less depression, a little more healthy fear, and a lot more hopeful anticipation.

He I Are Now, Entertain Me

2008-05-03T08:41:00.005-04:00

To keep myself entertained, I'm watching the new Battlestar Galactica series, which is just amazing. I'm in the midst of watching Season 2.5 on DVD and the current eps on SciFi. It just never seems to go in the direction I think it will, which is one of the best parts.

I also bought King Kong at Blockbuster last week. The young whipper snapper of a clerk looked at me and said, "Um, you know this isn't the new one, right?" and I said, "Oh, yeah, know." And he said, "It's also not the original form the 30's," and I said, "Yeah, I know, it's the one from '76." And then, just to try to make his real point, he said, "But, this is the one that, um, sucks!"

What he doesn't know about me is that that's not a warning, dude, that's a sales pitch. Best four bucks I'd spent since lunch!

Comics... Tales from the Farm (Top Shelf) was a great read. It moves quickly for a graphic novel, which is fine because it allows more time to re-read it.

Musings at 39- the Final Day's Activities

2008-05-03T08:19:00.005-04:00

It is the last day of my thirties today. I'm looking forward to a nice birthday weekend- I'll be heading in to New Moon Comics again for Free Comic Book Day to do sketches with Jesus and Keith for a little while. I really enjoy those days- there's nothing like getting face-to-face with people and being able to use your God-given skills to make then happy. I'm hoping that I don't have to draw Spongebob too much.

After that, my wife is taking me on a date to see Iron Man, which looks awesome!

Let's see, what else has been happening... I visited the New York Comic Con a couple weeks ago, not as an exhibitor but as a fan, which was simultaneously very depressing and very freeing at the same time. I got copious amounts of time to visit with other artists and vendors and came hoe with some real interesting swag. The hard part, of course, was being there without Megazeen. I'll fix that next year.

Colossians is wrapping up- Mark has broken into coloring the second half of the story and the results are just amazing. I have three pages left that I need to ink the stoopid backgrounds.

I'm also in the midst of reading some scripts and plot synopsis by a very talented writer. Truth be told, I have the attention span of a gnat, so reading scripts usually doesn't work out too well, but this is some good quality stuff, and I'm trying to wrap my brain around drawing one of them if I can.

Numerology? Probably Not But...

2008-04-17T19:36:00.003-04:00

Interesting little Megazeen history lesson here.

In 1996 I responded to an ad in the back of Sam Kieth's The Maxx. Seems this kid in Arkansas wanted to start a Christian anthology comic book. The kid's name was Joseph Crossett, and together we published Cross Press Comics Magazine, a weird little b&w comic. He was 17. I was 27.

Issue 2 was planned but never happened. Joseph went to college. My wife and I had another kid. And life went on.

Six years after that initial contact, Joseph and I caught up with each other once again. Joseph's vision was an all-indy, non-cheesy raw Christian zine. In 2002 Megazeen was born. And it has been going strong for years.

Joseph and I are two stubborn dudes, let me tell you. So at some point we got tired of butting heads and went our seperate ways.

Until last night. Another six years. Coincidence?

Joseph is now pushing 30, and I'm a couple weeks shy of 40. When I say that somehow God keeps jamming the two of us together I really know that it's true. When I say I expect some amazing things to come from it I know that's true too.

And this time, we're going to let God do the driving, and stay out of his way.

Cross Press. Megazeen. What's in store this time? Keep watching. I know we are.

Fighting the System- Easier Done Than Said

2008-04-13T08:47:00.006-04:00

Back in January I announced my plan to boycott all products Marvel and DC. I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support. I want to let you all know I'm doing well, my health is still strong, I do not have the DT's.

I also quickly recanted my boycott for a singular exception, which was Tiny Titans by the fine guys at Blindwolf Studios. This book, while a quick read, is also a cheap read, and a darn entertaining read. I love everything about it. Tiny Titans goes far beyond cute cartoons, it plays into the mischief and innocence one would truly expect from children with super powers, and it is hysterical. Many of the gags call longtime DC mythology into question with hillarious results. I have no idea where they come up with this stuff, and then how they can execute it so simply and brilliantly. I hope DC has some smarts and keeps Franco and Art working for a long long time.

Here's a few more books I'd highly recommend you DON'T overlook while you ponder wasting your hard-earned cash on every "Secret Invasion" cross-over Marvel can regurgitate onto the shelves (seriously, what were they thinking? "Hey guys, remember that disaster in Fantastic Four about 20 years ago, when we had screwed up the book so bad that we had to make Alicia Masters a Skrull to clean it up? Let's ramp it up into an all-year event! Fanboys will be lining up for miles to read this crap!" And they're right, darn it all).

Anyway, sorry for the strange interludes. My recommendations go to:

Ghost Pirates vs Ghost Ninjas (Antarctic Press)

Atomic Robo (Red 5 Comics)

Mice Templar (Image)

Return to Wonderland (Zenescope) (this one is not for the squeamish)

Peace!

PS. I'm a Skrull.

Colossians- Progress Report

2008-04-12T20:23:00.006-04:00

For years now, since the start of Megazeen, my emphasis in doing comics has been to promote and assist other artists. I believe that's my calling even, it's where God wants me to be. I get excited when artists start out in Megazeen and then branch into other areas. I started offering Megazeen print services for the sole purpose of providing inexpensive printing for my friends. I revamped Christiancomics.net so they'd have a place to meet and grow. And we still do Megazeen to find and push new artists to new limits. It's not a pat on the back I'm giving myself by any stretch, and I certainly know that I have not done a perfect job with any of these things.

I guess that's why it's been weird, for me, even a little self-indulgent, to actually be working on my own pet project in the background. And it has taken a long time to get this ball rolling, with all of the above taking place. But finally, unless something goes seriously wrong, Colossians will finally come out this year.

Thankfully, it has not been a solo effort- the very best Megazeen has to offer have been lending a huge helping hand to make the first issue a success. The inks are complete, the colors are halfway done and the lettering is underway.

I'm not going to be one of those guys (I hope) that adds yet another plug to his blog every other day about the same old project. I'm still to busy for that. I'm also not going to be one of those guys to drop those taunting little "we've got a big announcement we just can't talk about" blurbs that rarely materialize into anything. As Colossians draws closer to completion I'll keep you involved. I will be shopping for a publisher- if that materializes I'll let you know, otherwise I'm sticking VERY proudly with self-publishing.

Anyways, for those that have been dropping a line wondering what's happening, here's a page of interior art- drawn by Kneon Transitt, inked by me, colored by Mark Melton. In this scene, a group of alien thugs are finding out the hard way what it means to take on the Manx.

Still Don't Get It

2008-03-22T15:46:00.005-04:00

The whole thing just doesn't make any sense to me. Try and follow this.

God creates the world and sets up a paradise situation. He creates the first couple of people, who basically have three things they're supposed to do- name the animals, eat and have sex. They have one rule- don't eat the fruit. They just HAVE to disobey that one rule to ruin everything. God casts them out but still loves them

The world gets so screwed up that God decides to wipe it out and start over, but has compassion on one family. He instructs them to build an ark to save their lives as well as many animal species they'll need to survive. Seems like a good restarting point, but they start sinning the minute they get off the boat.

Time goes on. The Israelites turn against God and worship a cow, even after he displayed his amazing power and got them out of slavery. Then Moses screwed up, David screwed up, Solomon screwed up. Ninevah, Sodom, Gomorrah. The list goes on and on. Mankind has demonstrated an ongoing penchant for having no respect for God. They have demonstrated that there is no way possible they can even earn their way into his good graces again. And yet he loves them.

He loves them so much, SO MUCH, that he comes up with a last ditch effort, one more desperate plan, to bring them back in. He comes to Earth as a baby. One minute he's in heaven, the next he's in a cold smelly barn. His life is instantly threatened and his family has to disappear for a while. He grows up as a carpenter's son in poor surroundings, likely amidst whisperings of the odd conditions of his miraculous birth. And yet he loves them.

When he decides to start preaching he's rejected more than he's accepted. They try to run him off a cliff. They drive him out of town after town. His disciples demonstrate no faith in him and no understanding of who he is or what he stands for. And yet he loves them.

He arranges a meal to explain his ultimate fate, and during the meal one of his dearest friends leaves to betray him. He's arrested and thrown in prison, and dragged around from one puppet court to another. He's beaten with whips woven with jagged stone and glass designed to rip flesh from bone. His beard is ripped out of his face and a crown of two-inch thorns is pressed into his scalp. And yet he loves them.

The crowd has an opportunity to free him and they choose a hardened criminal over him. And yet he loves them.

In his physically weakened state, he drags a cross through town amidst mockery and beatings. He's stripped naked. He's strapped to the cross, and huge rugged spikes are driven into his hands and feet. He looks down on the people laughing at him through his blood-soaked eyes as he pitifully tries to push himself up to gasp for breath. He asks for water and they give him vinegar. "Forgive them father, they don't know what they're doing." And yet he loves them.

And then he dies, so that all that sinning can be paid for with his blood.

And then he comes BACK and people still don't believe it and keep right on sinning.

And yet he loves us.

Man... I get bent out of shape if someone takes the last bagel at work.

I don't say that to make a joke of it at all. I'm just saying that after ll these years, I STILL can't fathom the unconditional love that God has for us.

Happy Easter all.

Megazeen - Sci Fi Issue Premiere

2008-03-05T19:54:00.004-05:00

I am excited to announce that the fifteenth regular issue of Megazeen is now available.

It's the biggest Megazeen to date! Tipping the scales at 44 pages, Megazeen returns with seven new stories in "The Sci-Fi Issue." Wall-to-wall aliens, monsters and weirdos! Featuring an amazing cover by Jeff Slemons and the following stories:

ALIEN IN THE COMIC SHOP - Tom Hall, Joe Endres, Jesus Marquez, Keith Betancourt (Third Place Winner 2006 Comic Jam War)

CHILD ROWLAND TO THE DARK TOWER CAME - Ben Avery, Mike Murphy

RITES OF PASSAGE: THE ORIGIN OF SPACELAD - Frank Humpris, Henry Chmielefski

HIS BOY ISSAC-ROY - Jamie Cosley

DEATH WISH ON ASTEROID 14532 - Ben Avery, Mark Melton

HAIR OF THE DOG - Dan Barlow (Hall & Endres script)

ZERO PERCENT SOLUTION - Steve MacDonald & Veli Lopenon

ON SALE NOW!

Larry Norman

2008-02-26T20:19:00.004-05:00

Larry Norman, also known as the Grandfather of Christian Rock, went to heaven Sunday night at age 61. Rolling Stone Magazine had named him the second most important songwriter next to Paul Simon. Nothing for nothing, Paul Simon's got nothing on him.

Larry never got the respect or recognition he deserved, and frankly I doubt he wanted it. He sang gorgeous, hopeful songs of the rapture and the second coming and fearful songs of the end times, songs that pleaded for salvation, songs that showed us how cool it could be to be a Christian and how uncool it could be to NOT be one. He'd make you laugh. He'd make you cry. His way of speaking was simple, his faith simple, his message so simple.

I had the good pleasure of seeing Larry in concert twice. His peaceful voice got straight to my heart so many times. He is a large reason I do what I do. A quote from his song UFO is the basis for my upcoming comic book series Colossians.

I am truly at a loss for words for what a tragic loss this world has suffered with his passing, and so grateful to Larry for his obedience to God and what his songs have meant to us.

I Hope I See You in Heaven, Larry. Thank you so much.

If you appreciated Larry as I did, you can leave his family a message at his message board off his home page.

Makin' Waves with Mecha Manga Bible Heroes

2008-02-21T19:10:00.002-05:00

A few weeks back I talked briefly about a comic I co-wrote called Mecha Manga Bible Heroes.

The bad news is that Diamond Distributors decided not to carry it.

The good news is that lots of other right-thinking distributors and stores WILL be carrying it, and once the press release came out, everyone started talking about it!

Like here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. here, here, here, here, here and here.

How bout THEM apples chump?

Superhero Quiz

2008-02-21T19:04:00.005-05:00

Go ahead and take it!
http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/

Apparantly I'm Spiderman... although Supergirl and Catwoman tied for a close second.

I think it was because I admitted to wearing a thong.

Musings at 39- Concerts

2008-02-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

As the dad of teen and pre-teen daughters, one of the inevitable events has come to pass. It is the dreaded concert scene. We're talkin mondo bucks here people. Seriously. But hey, that's what second mortgages are for. In this case, it is the Jonas Brothers, one of whom my youngest is quite convinced she will marry.

Personally, I'm just glad I didn't need to endure Hannah Montana.

It brought me back to my first big concert, which was in 1985 at Nassau Collesium: Prince and the Revolution, with opener Sheila E, on the Purple Rain tour.

Sheila E, by the way, was worth the price of admission alone (I believe the tickets were about $85, which was a huge chunk of change for a $3.35 minimum wage part time dishwasher like moi). But as the electric organ held its first note to "Let's Go Crazy", and the lasers and smoke poured fourth, and Wendy and Lisa and the Doctor rocked in sync as the purple one rose up through a trap door in the floor, it was pure magic. They continued through his huge catalog of music for the next three hours, hitting fans with twenty minute renditions of "I Would Die 4U" and others, joined onstage by Jerome and Sheila E toward the end. Say what you want about Prince- he is a master entertainer.

I guess it is one of those "coming of age" things, as you begin to realize how huge the world is and how you can be a part of it, standing in the same (huge) room with the likes of Prince or the Jonas Brothers. It's amazing to see a celeb live and in person for the first time. It's exciting and inspiring. And I look forward to sharing that with my girls.

Button Up!

2008-02-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

The very first Megazeen buttons- I just love stuff like this. Can't wait to show them off at the shows this year. The two designs selected are Joshua Warren's classic Megazeen logo and the cover art for the Colossians ashcan from 2005. More to come!

It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

2008-02-07T17:46:00.000-05:00

Feb 7 1988. I drove my little 5-speed Dodge Omni to the college theater at William Paterson College. I was picking her up from work. It was our first date.

I remember staring at a painting in the lobby of some old lady (I later found out it was the person for whom the theater had been named), pretending to be interested in it so she’d be impressed with me when she turned the corner to find me. I don’t know whether it worked or not, but after a while the painting actually did grow on me.

When she emerged from the office she was every bit as lively and lovely as I’d grown to find her in our year of friendship. We made some small talk as we walked to the car, where I announced that we’d be dining at Masen’s Mountainside Inn, a restaurant I had worked in as a kitchen manager (read senior dishwasher) followed by a movie. I had planned on Masen’s not just for the familiarity, but also for the somewhat lengthy drive so we could spend more time talking our way through the transition from friends to couple. She later told me she was impressed that I had made the decision of where the evening would take us.

Dinner was wonderful- Lillian (my favorite waitress, a grandmotherly Edith Bunker type of woman) set us up in a private, dimly-lit corner booth. I don’t recall everything we talked about. I do recall that she mentioned an annoying habit her ex-boyfriend had of tossing wadded-up napkins all over the table, something I was careful never to do from then on. I recall how she told me that she could not tolerate sugar and learned about hypoglycemia that night. I recall laughing a lot and enjoying healthy conversation about family and relationships and college. I recall how fair her skin was in the candlelight, how green her eyes were and how hypnotizing her perfect voice was.

After dinner we headed over to the theater- I had selected some abominable movie like Lair of the Spider Woman, but Marie suggested Moonstruck (a movie she’d already seen, she told me later, but a far better choice for sure). We shared popcorn and held hands.

On the way home I drove her past my high school and house as we continued to talk. At some point, I believe I was turning the final bend on Otterhole Road in Bloomingdale, I found myself asking an unusual question. Since we were both former Catholics, and our families were Catholics, and I was now Baptist and she was a Nazarene, I pondered where/how we would get married.

Not kidding.

Finally, back in the parking lot of the college, we kissed an awkward soft kiss somehow amongst my bundled up ski jacket and her dress coat, and we said goodnight.

It remains to this day the best night of my life.

Busy Busy BUSY

2008-01-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

My first week-long blog break in quite some time. Some of you may be wondering exactly what Joe's been up to? The rest of you don't care, but that's cool. It's probably mutual.

This week Tom and I got together and outlined a script for Dan Barlow's submission to the Sci-Fi issue. Dan's got this weird habit of doing awesome sequentials with no script. I don't know how he does it. Anyway, the piece is called Hair of the Dog and will appear in Megazeen #15. This week I've been fleshing out the script as I've been lettering, and also experimenting with computones to make the artwork pop. I also finally got the hang of lettering using layers on Paint Shop, which has saved loads of time and headaches. So, a little writing, lettering and shading. Sample above.

Speaking of the Sci-Fi issue, I've had to issue apologies to at least three people who believed their work would be in the book. It wasn't that their submissions didn't "make the cut" quality-wise or anything. But so much time had gone by since their submissions- literally two years- that honestly I'd lost track of them. The book will be extra-mongo sized anyway. So, in all liklihood, there will be a spillover into MZ16 this summer.

I've been working on a set of three 9x12 acryllic paintings that I will most likely make available for sale at shows and online. The first one is my character Blam from Colossians, done in the style of Carlos Meglia who's a genius. I'm pondering which other characters I'll tackle- in the running are the Manx (of course) and some mainstream characters. But I'm learning not to be too anal about my selection of subject to draw or paint- there's always time to do more later, right?

Mark Melton's Angeldreams #2 is going to press (as a "Megazeen Presents" book this time around) so I spent some time prepping the files and tweaking the covers for the printer. We're also working with our printer to produce a limited run of lithographs of various cover art from Megazeen, Megazeen Presents and others.

Oh, rumor has it that Megazeen just might be getting a little shout-out in Wizard Magazine, courtesy of an article they're running on Enemi Entertainment, a new, forward-thinking indy distributor that MZ has partnered with. More on Wizard and Enemi in the very near future.

So a slacker I have not been. I've actually had one of the best weeks in a long, long time.

And that's a week in the life of the editor of Megazeen.

Megazeen: The Sci-Fi Issue

2008-01-13T07:36:00.000-05:00

Here's the Jeff Slemons cover. It's Slem-tastic!

This should be out by the first week in February.

Stop drooling on your keyboard.

Why I Already Plan to Break Half of One of My Resolutions

2008-01-08T18:34:00.001-05:00

Jamie reminded me about this one... darnit.

Okay, so I'll break my DC ban for this one, just for my buds at Blindwolf.

How cool does that look?

Fight the System!!!

2008-01-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

So here we are in a new year and I've made two resolutions that I intend to keep, and about twelve others that I already broke so why list them here.

One is to get Megazeen back on a quarterly schedule. The Megazeen Sci-Fi issue will appear this winter, the One-Page issue this spring, an as-yet-undetermined issue for summer and hopefully a Christmas issue by the end of year. That's the plan.

The other is that I will NOT purchase a Marvel or DC comic book this year.

That second one is a lot easier to keep. Frankly, I've barely bought any comics that weren't in a dollar box in many months. Especially regarding the Big Two, the price has discouraged me, the slapped-together artwork looks too often like it's done on a conveyor belt, and the quality of the storylines fails to amuse me. This coming from a collector of over 30 years with well over 5000 books. Wake up guys.

That said, I have become far more convicted about the growing indy lines. There is some really hot stuff out there, made by guys that do it for the love of the medium, not the almighty dollar. So, if I can throw them some of my almighty dollars, instead of Marvel and Deceased, I'll feel a whole lot better and I'll buy them a hamburger.

So whilst in my favorite haunt (New Moon Comics) I picked up a handful of indies at Victoria's recommendation. Good calls all around. I'm going to continue sampling the world of indies and undergrounds this year in earnest, and reviewing what I like. If you have any recommendations please leave them in the comments.

First up is ABYSS from Red 5 Comics, by Rubio and Marangon, the guys that brought us Troops and Tag and Bink. Here's the skinny (as Victoria sold it to me): Imagine your rich dad died and you've inherited everything. Then you find out that your dad was Batman. Then you find out he was really Doctor Doom. This is a pure FUN comic, not too heady or goofy, made for comic fans BY comic fans, and it's great to see these guys doing well. The art and dialogue are simple yet clever, and they WORK. After years of Marvel and Diseased, it's hard for me to invest in another universe, but this is so worthwhile.

One Banner: Epilogue

2007-12-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.–Matt. 18:20

Not one, please note. Two or three minimum.

The bottom line regarding Unity in Christian Comics is this.

You can whine about it. You can stomp your feet and insist it’s the only way. And you’ll display your ignorance and end up coming up empty.

Or… you can actually do things to bring brothers and sisters together. You won’t get them all. All you need are two or three.

You can be like Ben Avery, who helped found Community Comics and the original Yahoo comics group to bring brothers and talents together. You can be like Nate Butler who created Christian Comics International and COMIX35, which recruits talent and helps to create and distribute evangelical comics in many languages all over the world. You can be like Phil Servant, whose Cyberlight Comics provides regular online comic serials from a variety of artists. You could be like Dean Rankine who united a group of artists form Australia to publish the Pulp Crucifixion anthology, or Veli Lopenon who created an anthology and translated work for use in Finland.

You could be like Tom Hall, Dan Bradford, Kneon Transitt or Dan Barlowe, all uber-talented but still smart enough to surround themselves with more uber-talented guys to make their great work even better. You could be like Jeff Slemons who lends his amazing painting skills to his friends’ projects, or Mark Melton or Josh Alves who provide the colors for many other works, or Psycho Ann who lends her comics to every anthology out there.

Let me also toot Megazeen’s horn for a moment. MZ has been recruiting talent from all over the world for six years. One time we sold a friend’s comic online as a favor and we gradually became an online store for a hundred independent comics. We began hosting Christiancomics.net as a fellowship and meeting place for Christian artists. We co-hosted Megaunity to challenge artists and get them working together. Most recently we began to offer quality, reasonably priced print services.

You can talk about unity, or you can create situations that are conducive to unity.

Thus concludes my series on One Banner. I trust I’ve been clear, and I hope somebody got something out of it.

Happy New Year all.

One Banner #10: Creative Differences

2007-12-29T19:38:00.000-05:00

Huh. Been a while since I drew that guy.

Up till now I’ve talked about why unity does not work, and still made it clear that I do not support complete unity, but haven’t said why. If there is any one overriding reason that Christian comic artists should not unify under one banner, one company, one ring to rule them all, it is creative differences. This issue is amplified by doctrinal differences, pride, artistic expression and ability.

Example: Artist A only wants to do comics about missionaries and bible adaptations- pure narrative documentaries, no artistic license. Artist B is okay with bible adaptations but wants to update the stories into a sci-fi setting. Artist A is offended that the characters are not wearing robes and sandals, and cites scripture as his defense. “The Bible doesn’t require updating,” Artist A would say. “The Bible is timeless and it doesn’t matter what they’re wearing,” Artist B would say. Then Artist C shows up and does a Bible comic, but fleshes out a scene with new and updated dialogue and character development. Now A & B think this is blasphemy, since scripture is being “changed,” but artist C thinks it’s cool because they’re still wearing sandals and robes.

Just down the road some guys don’t want to do Bible adaptations at all. They want to do superheroes struggling with Christianity (o but they’re wearing tights! The women look too hot and the guys need codpieces!). Or angels and spiritual warfare (most of which requires artistic license from a combination of scripture, tradition and imagination). Or end times (pre-trib trip? Pre-trip trib? Or any of a zillion interpretations of Revelations). Or superheroes and rock music combined (gag).

Then further on there’s a group doing comics with strong storylines but a more subtle spiritual message, more acceptable in the mainstream but less acceptable in the staunchy world of Christian marketing and churchface (because it involves, you know, thinking). And then there’s the downright irreverent, that have the nerve to make us laugh, to infer that, sometimes, Christians fart (it wasn't the dog) or act downright silly and/or obnoxious.

Take these differences and throw in religious conviction (aka self-righteousness most of the time) and you’ve got a melting pot that just won’t melt. Oh it’ll boil over a lot. But it won’t melt. Particularly where people have no ability to discern the difference between principle and preference.

Cerebus-300 issues later

2007-12-29T08:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, so back in August I mentioned that I was reading through the entire 300-issue, 6000 page run of Cerebus this year. Last night, after roughly one issue per night all year, I finally, finally completed my reading (I read the comics, btw, NOT the giant phone books).

It was interesting, in the next-to-last issue, Sim mentioned that those of us in happy relationships and marriages would likely not enjoy the last, oh, say, 120 issues and long for the days of the earlier, funnier issues.

Yeah, something like that. I found that wading through "Guys", "Form and Void" and "Latter Days" to be a nightmarish, rambling of a bitter man with so little to say and so many words to say it in. I missed the days where he could rip my heart out and stun me with plot twists and character developments, as he did during Jaka's Story, Church & State, and Melmoth and Women. Once Cerebus came back from the Ascension (the climax of the story in my opinion) he just wandered through 120 issues of pathetic, depressing "I am man hear me whine" narrative. The new characters seemed forced, where characters of the past (Elrod, Sophia, Lord Julius and the Roach, to name a few) belonged.

It wasn't that I minded his anti-feminist stand (I agree with him on many points, including his 15 Impossible Things to believe Before Breakfast That Make You a Good Feminist). I do pity his selfishness and inability to find joy in life with a good woman. They are out there. I got me one.

There were some bright points for sure in the last 10 years' worth, though far fewer and farther between than in the frst 180 issues). Loved the Last Day (although I didn't quite follow the revelations of #299 or where/how exactly SheShep had come along). I was pleased with Jaka's final appearance and Cerebus' final moments. Rick, Joanne, Weisshaupt and Astoria were wonderfully tragic characters. I'm going to miss them. I wonder if Dave does too?

If anyone has not heard of it, Dave has finally announced his new top-secret project, Glamourpuss. Will I pick it up? You betcha.

Anyway, thanks again Dave. You're not at all surprised that I didn't enjoy the entire series, but that should be okay. It doesn't make me ignorant any more than it makes you. You gave me reads that were a heck of a lot better than any superhero book I've read in the past 2 decades for sure. And I've scooped up a bunch of your Guide to Self-Publishing to give out to friends- should be required reading for indy artists.

What Would Jesus Say?

2007-12-24T13:59:00.001-05:00

I think he'd say HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Seriously... do we think God has no sense of humor? Do we think Jesus would not have done cool trendy stuff today? He was approachable in his day, and still is today.

Of course we COULD all flip out and start blowing people up...

Nah.

www.wearefishermen.com

Christmas

2007-12-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

You know what I love about Christmas?

There's a little ceramic jar in my house that my wife fills with M&M's for me, just because she loves me. And today, she came home from food shopping and had bought some port wine cheese spread and was excited to tell me that she got it for me, because she loves me.

It may not seem like much, but this is the time of year that we seem to find a few extra reasons and creative way to love each other.

My wife is a dynamic, wonderfuly smart, nuturing, hysterically funny person, and my goodness I think she's just gorgeous. Though she has little interest in the things that interest me (comics, movies, music, etc) she still seems to delight in just me. It boggles my mind.

You know what I love about Christmas?

Experiencing it with her.

One Banner #9- Parable Explained

2007-12-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

I would hope that the Parable of the Sandboxes is self-explanatory. However, I would also hope that the truth behind it would be so self-evident that artists would be working hard to make it a thing of the past. And yet, here we are.

The sandbox is the artist’s personal vision and body of work. Pride often attaches us to these projects so much that we become isolated, and the projects never become all they can be (in fact, they often fail to materialize at all). Further, someone else’s project might be improved and realized by someone else lending a creative hand- but that requires some sacrifice. There’s that word again.

Teamwork requires a character trait that will not be found in the prideful: compromise. Compromise means that you might have to give up YOUR project to work on another one. It might mean that your creative teammates might make suggestions about changing story or art elements for the betterment of the project. If you’re a hardliner “my way or the highway” kind of guy, you’ll be alone in your sandbox in short order.

As soon as you invite people into you sandbox, it becomes THEIR sandbox too in a way. If you can do it, you’ll have a lot more fun and your comics will rock. If ya can’t hack that, play by yourself.

The Bible teaches us quite clearly that we’re not to be alone. The New Testament alone has over 50 verses that emphasize how we are to be with “one another” and “each other.” There’s a reason for this: God loves it when we fellowship, and good things come from it.

I just get plain giddy when I see artists working together. Some of my best times in comics have been when I’ve gotten to work with talented guys like Tom Hall, Hale Burckinh, Jesus Marquez, Kneon Transitt, Ben Avery and many others. To me, that’s what it’s all about.

But I’m still not an advocate of one banner, one company, one ring to rule them all (just to be clear). Doctrinal, creative and business differences come into play more the larger the pool gets. I guess that’s where we’re going next- perhaps the ugliest arguments of all that have caused the most strife.

Kalypso

2007-12-16T11:58:00.000-05:00

Let it be know that the Endres Family does not mourn long.

Kalypso is about 14 weeks and 28 pounds already, a Great Pyranese mix that was rescued with her two brothers from a kill shelter in Georgia, trucked up to NJ for adoption.

And she's home.

Thanks to all your well-wishes and condolences about our loss earlier this week. We received a flurry of emails, cards and calls of sympathy. It really touched our hearts.

We're big advocates of pet adoption- there's nothing like the gratitude and loyalty of a shelter dog. To find a new friend, go to petfinder.com

ONE BANNER #8 – The Parable of the Sandboxes

2007-12-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

Once there was giant playground filled fence to fence with sandboxes. Each sandbox belonged to one guy (or gal) and they were busy digging in our own sand, building their own sand castles, making their own mudpies, and all seemed well. They talked to each other, waved hi and said, “Nice job” and stuff, but stayed in their own boxes doing their own thing.

Now there was one guy that has some fine looking nice sand and a shovel or two, but no buckets, and his sandcastle didn’t hold together. He spied a girl nearby with some buckets- she was using water and her castles look sturdy, but the sand was old and has leaves in it, and the castle didn’t have much form.

The guy had a few choices- continue doing what he was doing, OR offer to help the girl out with her project, OR ask the girl to help with HIS project. Yet he was only really interested in his own sandbox, and didn’t want to play in hers because it would take away from time spent in his OWN sandbox. But he knew that he needed help, so he asked the girl to come play in his sandbox and bring her buckets over.

The girl realized very quickly that, despite how pretty the guy’s sand was, she would be doing what seemed like the lion’s share of the work on the guy’s castle, since it was obvious he couldn’t make one on his own. She didn’t want to leave HER sandbox behind either.

And so, they continued to sit, working in their own sandbox island.

On the other side of the playground, a couple more guys each had a sandbox. But here, one guy looked at the other guy, who has some mad skills working the sand, and offered to bring his Tonka trucks and Star Wars figures over. Together they built an empire in the sand.

I ask you, dear disciples, which of these was most accomplished?

“The man who shared his trucks and figures,” they responded.

Yea, and I say verily, you are correct. For that man showed humility and generosity and mad skills in the sand. Alone, your sandcastles will blow into dust and be pooped upon by seagulls. But when we work in fellowship with each other, moving mountains is as easy as shoveling sand, and we can accomplish far more.

Next: Joe explains the parable of the sandboxes

Worst Day of My Life

2007-12-11T15:40:00.001-05:00

Bye Heidi. Bye Mush.

You two dopey dogs, don't drive Jesus too crazy.

One Banner #7- The Rock Star

2007-12-09T19:32:00.000-05:00

Recapping the traditional arguments against unity in Christian comics:

Egos are too big.
People all have their own projects and don’t want to work on others’ projects.
We all approach the art differently.
Comic unity won’t work for the same reason that there are Christian denominations.
No one wants to take charge.
No one wants to submit to a person in charge.
There aren’t enough comics to justify a company.
Money.

Pride is clearly the main demon to blame for three of them, but I will go so far as to state that pride plays into every single one of them, and that pride is at the root of virtually every sin imaginable.

Egos the size of Captain Kirk’s are common when it comes to the creative arts. When my friend and I were radio DJ’s for a Christian show, our respective egos nearly cost us our friendship. No different when it comes to comics. There is something odd that comes over a person when they see their name in print. Immediately the dreams start to play into our heads and we become Captain Kirk. We can take on the galaxy. We can be Jim Lee or Alex Ross or any one of the guys that’s come of rock-star status.

Also playing into this: artists are notoriously insecure. Do not confuse insecurity with humility; they are worlds apart. Insecurity is a monster that begs to be appeased and fed with unending compliments, starved for positive feedback. Insecurity will come out as extreme defensiveness when criticized. Insecurity crushes the spirit.

Humility is its own reward. Pride asks, “How can I impress other people?” Humility asks, “How can I serve other people?” Pride asks, “How can I impress God?” Humility asks “How will God impress me?” Pride says, “Look at me! Look at my stuff with my big ole name on it!” Humility says, “Look at God!” or “Look at the work that guy over there is doing!”

I find annoying those who do nothing but self-promote on their blogs and message boards. You never see anything added to a conversation that doesn’t involve their own product placement. They’re not interested in souls or friends. They’re interested in themselves, masked in a shroud of artistic mission. If their work is attacked they take it personally and cut off friendships and fellowships. It is these types of people, whom it might seem are so active in the art, who are also doing the most to cut down unity. Coincidentally, it is these same people who are usually on the forefront of stating why unity will not work (cleverly inserting a commercial for their product into the argument along the way).

Artists: your skills came from God. They are a gift. God has also given you the means (time, money, mentors, materials) by which you can refine the gift. And any of it can be taken away in a microsecond. God and God alone is solely responsible, so we shouldn’t be taking a shred of credit for it. If you’re proud, you’re proud of something that someone else GAVE to you. And that’s foolishness. If there’s bragging to be done it should be done as boasting of God’s awesomeness, not your own contracts and premiere dates.

I’ve got a lot to say on this. I’m on a roll.

Anime Con

2007-12-07T07:46:00.000-05:00

OOPS!!! Forgot to mention, Tom Hall and I will be at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC this weekend at the Anime Convention to promote our new book, Mecha Manga Bible Stories. Will have copies of Megazeen on hand as well as full-color ashcans and posters of the new book. BE THERE!!!!

One Banner #6- The Elephant in the Room

2007-12-06T18:56:00.001-05:00

Gonna get this out of the way first, since it is the most common reason cited for the failure of Christian comics, the most common reason provided for not supporting Christian comics, the most common reason cited for not printing the comics that have been created.

Money.

What a lame-ass cop-out.

First of all, the argument has already proven invalid if we were to use the scientific method. A few years ago, a guy had come upon a decent sized sum of money and decided to start a Christian comic company. He promised to collect the best talent available, and pay them, and crank out some quality comics. He did none of these things. More than half of the talent acquired was unimpressive at best, he failed to pay what he promised to many of them, and the comics sucked with a capital S. Thus proven, simply throwing money at it won’t make it work. One company had money, one company did not. The one with money, poof gone. The one with no money, still kickin’.

Secondly, the “prohibitive” cost of printing comics is hogwash. That is more of a mindset that the artist just has to get over.

There are two options an artist has to see his book get into print- (1) pay to print it himself or (2) get someone else to have enough faith in him to foot the bill. The latter option is an entirely separate issue. I won’t pretend to know a lot about it. What I do know about it is that the main motivation to pursuing a publisher or backer is money. It’s a mindset that’s tough to get over in this day and age of six-and-seven figure artists. Unless you’re willing to go through the steps of being a success in the industry (schooling, pounding the comic con circuit, collecting the mountain of rejection letters, prepping a portfolio, etc etc) that’s likely a steep uphill climb. Not insurmountable of course, but not easy.

Let’s go back to option A, self-publishing. “I don’t have the money to print.” Most artists could if they wanted to. I’m very frank about that and I believe it. The truth is not that the artist does not have the money- rather, that he chooses to spend the money in other ways. This is plain old budgetary stuff.

Let’s assume that the artist is your average fanboy at heart. It costs him at least $20 to go to a movie alone and buy a drink and popcorn. Bring a date and it’s a lot more- but hey, we’re talking average fanboy here, so dating really isn’t in the cards, is it? Ten mainstream comic books will set a collector back $30-$40 easy. A video game costs $20-$50 (without the system). Could we safely say that your average fanboy making a few sacrifices could scrape together $100 within one month? Then YOU can print 100 copies of your book, for about a buck a copy. Sell them at $3 cover and you just have to sell a third of them to make your investment back (selling 33 copies to friends and family is a piece o cake).

If you’re wise with the revenue, you won’t just turn it into another night at the movies and trip to the comic shop and PSII game- you’ll print issue 2 with it.

Money, like most everything else, simply boils down to choices. If God is leading you to write a draw a comic, which is LOADS of fun, isn’t it also logical he might be asking for a less pleasant sacrifice as well?

Now you could tell me that you barely scrimp by and eat Alpo, play an old Atari 2600 on a b&w TV and don’t have a dime to spare. But really, be honest with yourself. You don’t have to convince me. If I’m never gonna see your comics then the excuses don’t much matter to me. It’s your choice. Your elephant.

One Banner #5- The Traditional Arguments Against

2007-12-01T08:02:00.000-05:00

Whenever the topic of Christian Comics Unity has raised its head again like unto the Loch Ness Monster, usually a few well-meaning, seasoned vets of the movement will attempt to write off the idea in a quick nutshell, like there’s one simple overriding reason. The arguments AGAINST usually go something like this:

Egos are too big.
People all have their own projects and don’t want to work on others’ projects.
We all approach the art differently.
Comic unity won’t work for the same reason that there are Christian denominations.
No one wants to take charge.
No one wants to submit to a person in charge.
There aren’t enough comics to justify a company.
Money.

They’re all true. But they’re all not completely true. And they all should not be true. And there’s a lot more to the puzzle than any one of these individual sound bites.

I want to make it clear that I am NOT a proponent of the “One Banner” idea as it has been suggested, i.e. one ring to rule them all. I am a proponent of self-publishing. While I believe there are business reasons to do work under the heading of a larger company, I more strongly believe that artistic freedom in this industry is key to ensuring the purest expression. The greatest enemy of a visionary artist is a bureaucracy, and the worst kinds of bureaucracies I’ve bumped into have been (sadly) Christian bureaucracies.

However, I do wish to explore the validity of the arguments against the idea of unity, in an attempt to explore real solutions and to address the issue intelligently.

And when I say “intelligently” I mean that I’m not arguing these points on a message board in brief nuggets to be picked apart. “Intelligence” seems to fly right out the window on message boards. This is my little corner of the web, and my little one-sided monologue. So nyah.

“The Elephant in the Room” by the way, is money. I’ll kick off with that one next time.

One Banner #4- The Ratings System

2007-11-25T15:39:00.000-05:00

According to Websters, a conglomerate is a corporation consisting of a number of subsidiary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries, usually as a result of merger or acquisition. The fact that the Christian Comics Conglomerate really wasn’t this didn’t deter its use of the name. It was not a corporation and had no intention of acquiring properties. In fact, it had no money. But “diversified”, yeah, it had lots of that.

In fact, it was this diversification that probably made a few stiff shirts pretty darn nervous. They didn’t want their Bible adaptations and Barney Bear-esque, sugar-sweet kid stuff tainted with the other riff-raff (like Megazeen, which again had no intention of being a part of this). We’ve already established that quality would not be a factor. And so, many discussions went into the idea of a ratings system by which all comics that SUBMIT for Conglomerate APPROVAL would be judged.

This was coming just as the Comics Code Authority was dying (CCA is now a completely irrelevant issue). So yeah, leave it to Christians to drag themselves back four decades to the sixties. Oh, but don’t worry- when Christians get a bee in our collective bonnet, we go all out and create a series of uber-restrictive rules that ensure that no risks can be taken.

Case in point.

There were two aspects of the Ratings System being proposed. One dealt with age appropriateness. Some would argue that all Christian comics should be for all ages, and be nice and safe and kid-friendly, and thereby a ratings system should not be necessary. A little closer to planet Earth, some proposed a system similar to what they have for movies. Some mild violence might earn it a “PG” type rating, move adult situations (such as characters dealing with issues like drugs or sex or death) might bump it to PG-16, and foul language could push it to MA (a rarity but it happens). Because, you know, we don’t want to offend anyone.

But of course, with Christians, life’s never that simple. For example, what if there’s a demon in the book? Even if it’s not technically violent it could scare a kid or offend a parent. Can’t have that. And violence is one thing, but blood is another, and decapitations are way out. And so, any of these aspects of controversy that wight be in the book would clearly appear on the Conglomerate Seal Of Approval/Warning Label.

The second aspect of the rating system was far more disturbing.

It was the firm belief of one of the participants (it was not the Mastermind but someone else who had been pushing for this, so he decided to attach himself to this like pork projects on a government budget) that theological and denominational issues needed to be listed in the warning label as well. After all, what tragedy could unfold if an Episcopalian picked up a Pentecostal comic book? Or a pre-trib tripper bought a pre-trip trib end-times comic? Or a comic that leaned toward free will were to be purchased by a pre-destination loyalist? The chaos that could ensue. It’s unthinkable madness.

And so, where mainstream comics have enjoyed a rapidly shrinking CCA label or none at all, Conglomerate Christian Comics ratings would be incredibly oppressive. Let’s say a comic in which a teenager deals with temptation, such as in Mark Melton’s Angeldreams, would be forced carry a warning of PG16, Blood & Gore, Demons, Drug Use, Sexual Content, Free Will Protestant.

Soccer moms would now be terrified to purchase it, and comic fans that would purchase it would likely be wondering what all the warning fuss is about. The only bright side was that, if so much description is required, there would be no need to work on that pesky cover art, since there would be no room for it.

To rip through the rest of this inane story, I remember that there was the beginning of a contract for submission drawn up and posted to the board. Then the Mastermind abruptly announced he was moving to Canada and would be unable to participate any further, and we never heard from him again. I’m not kidding about this.

Ah, the insane world of Christian comic books.

For my next magical trick, I will attempt to define & conquer the main “unity” issues, starting with “The Elephant in the Room.”

One Banner #3- Submission and Approval

2007-11-24T13:19:00.000-05:00

Continuing my history lesson of the rightly-doomed-from-the-start Christian Comics Conglomerate, circa 2003.

The Conglomerate Mastermind (I thought about abbreviating this but I really really like typing it every time) nominated himself to head the approval board for any comic that would apply to the Conglomerate. As a reminder, the Mastermind (to our knowledge) had no credentials, no comic book background, no theological background and no business background that any of us were aware of. So if you thought the marketing plan was fun, this should really crack you up.

This was where several people seemed to come out of the woodwork and offer their opinions. The Mastermind listened to everyone, I will give him credit for that. He was not as ornery or defensive as many are on the ChristianComics.net board (including me). He was smart enough to want to be the dumbest guy in the room (mission accomplished) and took in loads of input before making decisions. The discussion went on for a few weeks, each day getting more ludicrous than the last.

This was just one of the decisions: Quality was not going to be a factor in the approval process.

That's correct. If someone was submitting an 8-page photocopied b&w ashcan comic that he’d drawn and lettered with his feet, or someone else was submitting a glossy 48-page full-color graphic novel with amazing art and a well-thought-out story, they would both be privy to the same approval process. This was to ensure that untalented artists were not discriminated against. Because, you know, that would be unfair, and sad, and we don't want to leave anyone out.

Borrowing from Groucho Marx, pardon me while I have a strange interlude.

(It’s a good thing our police force selects fit, intelligent candidates. It’s a good thing that the airlines select thin attendants. It’s a good thing that many years of medical training are required to be a doctor, and exam is required to become a CPA, a good speaking voice is a must if you’re a radio DJ. If you want to work for Marvel or DC you have to display certain elements of consistency, competency and quality to your skill. But by golly, how many times have we all heard ferociously bad singing from a church choir, bumped into inept church board members, complained how bad most Christian music is, snored through a monotone sermon and had to grin and fake it to encourage horrible, cheesy, badly drawn Christian cartooning?!? “Having a heart for it” isn’t enough- if God has told you to jump into this pool, then in my opinion you’re obligated not just to do it but to get GOOD at it. Quality in presentation should always be an overriding factor in whatever we do, if we want to glorify God with it.)

The Conglomerate, to clarify, was not setting out to be a publisher or an editor. The purpose was to create some name brand product recognition and to allow for an avenue of marketing not otherwise available to small-press indy Christian comics. However, in yoking the talented with the untalented the "brand" would become its own worst enemy.

Let's say Blue Bunny Ice Cream (my favorite brand) put its name on Brussell Sprout flavored ice cream. Very quickly, Blue Bunny would become know for putting out crap. Now, that doesn't seem right, does it? After all, there was some well-meaning flaor technician at Blue Bunny whose heart was in it. Wasn't her fault that the public didn't like her idea. Well, yeah it is. She misread the public. She didn't do her homework. She didn't take the time to get to know her trade. And in the end she brings the brand down, despite the fact that the rest of Blue Bunny's line is oh-so-yummy.

Same thing here.

So what, exactly, was being approved you may ask?

Next installment: The Ratings System.

One Banner #2- The Conglomerate

2007-11-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

In a prior incarnation of the ChristianComics.net forum, someone, I don’t remember who, I don’t think we ever heard from him again whomever it was, came up with the idea of a Christian Comics Conglomerate. This was his solution to the “undeniable need” for one banner under which all Christian comics would operate.

I recall this being a particularly annoying discussion, for so many reasons. For one, the person who started the discussion and who seemed to spearhead the operation, I had no idea who he was. To my knowledge he had never made a comic book, wasn’t an artist or a businessman or anyone responsible for anything. He went under a pseudonym and nobody seemed to question the anonymity or lack of credentials.

Despite this, the Conglomerate still seemed to get more interest and support than any other idea before its time, which would have frightened me quite a bit if I’d ever had any fleeting inkling of considering the slightest possibility of submitting any of my work or Megazeen to this insane concept. The Conglomerate was so completely preposterous that I don’t even recall participating in the discussion, although I watched from a distance with great interest, much like a visitor to a zoo watching the chimpanzees throwing their own feces. You don’t want to see it, but you can’t stop watching.

The concept of the Conglomerate went something like this (and to put this in perspective, look back about 3 years ago): taking the comic-making quality Community Comics, the e-commerce mechanisms and regular online updates of Megazeen (at the time we were updating weekly) and the talent pool and online fellowship and presence of ChristianComics.net, along with some other island grass-roots efforts, and utilizing them all under one banner where each could strengthen the other. I was flattered that he’d think of Megazeen as being a key part of the puzzle, but I never offered or suggested it.

The president of the Conglomerate (the aforementioned Mastermind nominated himself) would head up marketing efforts. These marketing efforts would include online sales for sure, and comic shops and bookstores. But the big brainchild here was that somehow we’d get into the end caps of supermarket checkout lines right next to the National Enquirer and Soap Digest. Hey it was working for Disney Magazine right?

This provides a further clue to how way off-base this idea was. First of all, putting any traditional true mainstream comic books in supermarket end caps is akin to selling feminine hygiene products as impulse buys at Home Depot. It’s like pushing Star Wars figures at Victoria’s Secret. It’s like selling power drills at the pet shop. Get the idea? Know your audience. Your audience is comic book readers, kids, teens, young adult males, aging overweight slobbering adult males, not soccer moms buying their week’s groceries.

Again keep in mind, the Conglomerate Mastermind had no business experience. But he was going to conquer Winn-Dixie and Stop n Shop.

The Conglomerate would carry its own logo and any book that would submit to the Conglomerate would get a Conglomerate seal of approval. Sounds good, much like the old CCA, and providing some product recognition.

But two words should jump out as big ole red flags. Submit. Approval. If you’re not seeing the problem with this, hang on it’s a fun ride.

One Banner

2007-11-19T19:40:00.000-05:00

I have been in the Christian comics scene since 1995, and I’ve seen it blossom since 2001 with the advent of the internet and the introduction of Megazeen. I’ll make two points here, then go right into my sermon.
1- Message boards have been both the best and worst thing that has happened to Christian comics.
2- Megazeen has played a huge role in the growth of independent Christian comics, whether the critics want to admit that or not.

However, I’m really not arguing either of those points at the moment. The thing ticking me off today is the argument that comes up at least once a year on the message boards (such as Yahoo or ChristianComics.net). It’s usually raised by someone dipping his big toe into the pool for the first time and thinks he’s an Olympic swimmer with all the answers.

The argument is presented in different ways but ultimately comes out the same: that the only way for Christian comics to succeed is for all of us to unite under one banner (company).

From an outsider’s viewpoint, it seems logical enough. One banner creates brand recognition i.e. Image/Marvel/DC. People working together creates defined jobs, synergy and specialization. Combined funds can produce and turn over product more efficiently and allow for growth. As a manager of a multi-million dollar company, I find it difficult to argue any of these points and won’t bother.

The problem comes in with the fact that this is a creative industry. Artists are a notoriously insecure lot. We like our playground and don’t like other people who want to play in our playground or criticize our playground. In other words, we don’t work well with others. Artists are also a notoriously frugal lot- we don’t have cash (thus the phrase “starving artist”). So, combining funds doesn’t much matter when you’ve got a roomful of starving artists who can’t ante up.

Now, add the word Christian to it. This should eliminate the insecurity issue, since insecurity is pride, and pride is a sin, and Christians don’t sin right? And the money thing, well, if we’re Christians we should be well-rewarded and God should meet our needs and we should know how to sacrifice. When you’re all done laughing I’ll continue.

The problem is that the Christian thing seems to amplify the other issues rather than cancel them out. Not only is the artist insecure, he’s also wickedly adherent to a theology and philosophy regarding his art. So, to attack my art is to attack me AND the way God made me. As far as money goes, Christians are stingy. We are. If every Christian tithed, world hunger could be eliminated in one year. That’s a fact. But we don’t.

Just for kicks, let’s put four guys in a room and see what happens.

One guy has a comical approach that addresses Christian weakness. Another guy swears by doing Bible story adaptations and ONLY Bible adaptations. Another will only do kid-friendly evangelical work suitable for a children’s Sunday school class. Another tells a clever, dark story with subtle spiritual themes. And these four guys are supposed to pool their resources and help each other under one banner.

What happens is that Bible Guy finds Dark Guy and Funny Guy too irreverent, and tolerates kid-friendly guy who really isn’t very talented. Dark Guy and Funny Guy get together and work on something together but produce something too risqué for Kid-friendly Guy to handle. Bible Guy gets bent out of shape because what the other Guys are working on ain’t Bible, and if it ain’t Bible then how can it possibly glorify God? Kid-Friendly Guy is feverishly working on his own on a sugary-sweet badly drawn story, but that shouldn’t matter because it’s a Godly story and he’s excited about it, but since the truly talented Dark and Funny Guys aren’t patting him on the back he’s getting quickly discouraged.

This is a lot of what happens on message boards. Imagine if these jokers actually tried to form a company together? And that’s before any money is involved.

There is a second ironic part to this. Stay tuned.

Musings at 39- Not So Smart After All

2007-11-18T14:05:00.001-05:00

When I was a young kid I shared a room with my brother who was five years younger than I. For the most part it wasn't a cool scene- he knew how to exploit my last nerve and I knew how to beat him up. More on that some other time, I'm still gathering my thoughts on that one.

Anyways, I had "my drawer." Every kid has a drawer or a box or a hidden compartment that only he is supposed to go through. It allows a kid to have some semblance of control, some element of privacy in a world where nearly every choice is made for them. It's not even important what you PUT in the drawer, only that it is YOURS. If I recall, I kept my Mad Magazines and limited comic book collection here, my limited cash, the guns for my Star Wars figures- you know, the important stuff.

Well, my brother liked to go in the drawer, because he knew how to press my buttons. Kid couldn't even read yet and he wanted to look at my comics. Unacceptable, right? Of course, redundant question. So to fix this, I tore the bell off the top of a toy schoolhouse, and tied a string between it and the drawer handle, precariously teetering on the edge of the dresser so that, should a bandit want to search my treasure drawer, he would surely be caught red-handed.

This is a good example of how we always assume we're just a little smarter that the next guy. What in the world made me think that my brother, at age 5, could not make the connection between drawer and string and bell? And here's the ironic part- if I'd never told my brother that the drawer was off-limits, ya think he ever would've given it a second glance?

As I have grown older, I have been gradually making the switch from thinking I'm the smartest guy in the room, which was almost always wrong, to wanting to be the dumbest guy in the room. The advantage in this second way of thinking is that you can't learn from anyone if you think the first way. If you're the smartest guy you can't hear- if you're the dumbest guy you'll listen to get smarter.

Wow. Trippy.

Musings at 39: Memorable Quotes

2007-11-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

Just passed the halfway mark to 40 this past week.

There are certain events in our lives that may seem insignificant to those around us, and even ourselves at the time, but they stick with us and somehow transform our lives. It's in those seeming inoccuous moments that our eyes open just a little more, and we make a decision that radically changes the direction of our lives.

Think about that for a moment. From the outside, that means that YOU might say something today, in your regular rambling diatribe, while shaking someone's hand, while speaking to your children or a friend, that will have an amazing impact on them and they will never forget it. You've already forgotten it. But THEY will replay that tape in their head, over and over again, and it could change their very view of the world, for better or worse.

I will always remember a church guy who took me aside after one of my earliest preaching gigs at a church in Dover. I had preached on integrity and told a story about my friend Anthony as an example, who was an honor-filled genuine friend (not perfect but real) who got saved a few years before a brain tumor got the best of him. Anyways, the church guy was rambling on about a storytelling clinic he'd been to, and tying in a story to a message, and yadda yadda yadda, and then got to the part where he just HAD to share, "And that's why your message didn't work for me."

I didn't preach for a year after that. It took me that long to pull myself back up.

On the other side of the equation, I will always remember my dad's words as he drove me to pick up my very first date at age 12 (believe it or not). He said to me, "I won't always be there there to tell you what to do or not do. But I will tell you this. Your mother and I waited until we were married, and we have never regretted it."

I abstained until I got married, based almost solely on those words.

We must make haste to be kind and impart true wisdom. We must hesitate and measure both motives and expected results when criticizing. Our words can crush or heal, halt progress or alter history. Right now I am doing a lot of soul-searching on my own, particularly about the unfortunate impact I may have had on people's lives, and the positive potential I still have. I am 39, and I don't want to waste a remaining moment or do any more damage. I only wish that this had dawned on me a couple decades earlier. But here it is, now, for the faithful reader of ye olde guy's blog, learn from me and may these words impact you.

Obituary

2007-10-28T20:47:00.001-04:00

Not how I thought I'd die but I'll take it.

At least that's what this site says. And hey, who am I to argue?

Starving Artists at a Comic Show

2007-10-28T19:37:00.000-04:00

I went to a small comic dealer show in Fairfield, NJ after church today. It's a small bimonthly show with maybe 15-20 dealers. Bargains galore and good collector stuff. I find the big shows are sometimes too heavy on dollar boxes and not so heavy on good collector's items. Perhaps that's a sign of the times in the industry. Anyways, good mix at this show, and they do this cool little no-minimum-bid auction with some good stuff dirt cheap. But I'm rambling, because I'm going through this phase of not finding any comics I like. I think my continuing journey through Cerebus (all 300 issues) has sucked the life out of my fanboy side. So I bought almost nothing aside from a DVD my daughter wanted and an old Yellow Submarine Ringo/Blue Meanie figure. But I'm rambling again.

There were a few artists there doing their thing, though, so I spent most of my time chatting with them.

The point I'm leading toward (geez there had to be a point sometime) is that you can spend 10 bucks on dollar boxes or you can spend 10 bucks and support an indy artist and make his day. Having spent lots and lots of time on that side of the table, I know what it looks like, watching people walk past your table because it's the straight line between the dollar boxes and the 3-for-a-dollar boxes. Not really wanting to give you a a glance for fear that you'll talk to them Not wanting to express interest for guilt of not spending cash. Not wanting to give a few minutes time to look at work that this artist has poured his heart and soul into.

I bought some xeroxed prints from Dana Greene, who had studied at the NY school for visual arts. Once we began to talk he showed me a stack of photos of the celebs he's met at shows. He was painting an Iron Man shot at his table so I watched his technique for a while. I learned a lot. Gave him the Megazeen site to look at. Who knows what will happen?

Another artist, Michael Parla, was doing some amazing work with Prismacolor pencils and black cardstock. Really cool stuff, I'd never seen anything like it before. I bought three postcard-sized prints from him. So impressed was I that I stopped on the way home at the art store to buy some Prismacolor pencils and black cardstock. I gotta give this a shot.

The third artist (I did not get the name I'm sorry) had a portfolio of pinups and sequentials that I flipped through. We discussed inking techniques, the old "brush vs pen vs quill" debate to which there is no right or wrong, just talk of the trade.

This weekend I spent $55 having my Amazing Spiderman #129 professionally graded, and I spent 10 bucks on some indy artists. I wish it had been the other way around. And I resolve to make it moreso from now on. You should too.

Today's pic is the Sculpy version of Dean Rankine's Sticky Bunny, because I had an afternoon to kill.

Side Effects

2007-10-19T19:22:00.000-04:00

I've had lunch with a former member of the Croatian mafia. I've met Kenny Baker (R2D2), Peter Meyhew (Chewbacca) and Rosie Perez (White Men Can't Jump). I've been a radio DJ, a comic book artist, a writer, a publisher. I've been a teacher with a captive audience. I've stood boldly on the streets of Philadelphia stating what I believe in and hoping others will too. I learned how to play basketball and played at 3 in the morning. I learned how to customize action figures. I've spoken with successful business leaders, politicians, evangelists and heavy metal guitarists. I've made friends with brothers in Taiwan, Cuba, Finland, Canada, Russia and the Bronx. I have had the honor of knowing some of the finest human beings God has created. I once went two days without sleep by consuming nothing but Jolt Cola, Yoo-Hoo and Scooter Pies. I married an awesome woman and have two terrific daughters.

These are just some of the cool side effects about being a Christian, that I would not have experienced if I were not.

So there.

The pic is of my character, the Manx, rendered by Keith Stone, whose work blows my mind.

Churchface

2007-10-11T19:58:00.000-04:00

When we get in a group of believers and fake it. That's churchface.

I guy I respect a lot (more than he realizes) once shared with me the philosophy of "Fake it till you make it." He wasn't using it in church terms, but rather demonstrating how to handle myself as a manager. In essence, if you act like something that you're not, for long enough, you'll become that person. IE if I act tougher I will eventually be tougher.

Doesn't work. Basically, what happens is that you become something you weren't meant to be, you become a pale imitation of something else that you're just really not. So, instead of becoming a tougher manager, I learned to be a jackass, and I'm fighting every day to unlearn that.

In church, too often the same thing is expected. We learn to say words like "steadfast" and "travelling mercies" and "sanctified". We learn to pray like the others and do like the others so that we can feel like we belong with the others. But if you dress a chimp in a tux you've still got a chimp.

My wife and I are in a small group from our new church and we're truly enjoying the company of our newfound friends. Truly. The conversations are real and not held back. There is frank honesty, confession, heartfelt stories, true salvations from the depths. We can laugh and we can cry and we can talk about stuff that bugs us and not feel that it's un-Christlike to be stressed out about things. Other than the severely judgemental holier-than-thou types, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a person who would feel out of place.

And yet, I am feeling a little out of place. I practiced "fake it till you make it" for a little too long. Being among these fine folk has made me realize that. It bugged me as I was drifting off to sleep last night, that I could only get (and give) so much in this fellowship if I'm still, subconsciously, wearing churchface.

Musings at 39- Diversity

2007-10-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

Recently I've been working with a guy, Joshua Warren. Despite many differences in opinion, differences in doctrine, and differences in creativity, we actually make a very good team. The evidence can be seen in the results of the revamp of the Megazeen site.

Joshua resides in Taiwan, but through the magic that is the worldwide web I've connected to him from the USA. Geographically, we live about as far away from each other as possible. Doctrinally, we disagree on rather important issues like heaven & hell. Our opinions on the 9/11 attacks have driven us to virtual message board fisticuffs.

To me, these are pretty important differences. They go beyond "Preferences" and push into "Principles" on many levels. See my entry on the subject.

How cool it is to sometimes still be able to get beyond these things, to get some awesome work done and have a great supportive friend to count on. Even if I disagree with him on a number of important subjects, passionately, I still covet his friendship and admire his skills.

Call me crazy, but I have this theory. I believe that there will be pre-trib and post-trib believers in heaven. I believe that there will be Catholics and Pentecostals and Baptists and Episcopalians in heaven. I believe there will be democrats and republicans in heaven. I believe there will be rockers with long hair and neatly dressed pipe organists in heaven.

Anyway, who am I to cut them off now? And why would I want to? If I wanted to only hang with those that agree with me and think like me, I'd start the First Church of Joe, membership of one, and call it quits. Pass the Kool Aid.

Talking with and conversing with Joshua doesn't change my principles. It has led to a few lively discussions for sure. And it has produced results. And it's made me a friend.

At 39 I am valuing friendships far more than I have ever in my lifetime, and appreciating the diversity. Far be it from me to allow differences in opinion, doctrine and geography to interfere.

Musings at 39- the Hollywood question

2007-10-07T14:41:00.000-04:00

In 1991 I was at a Creation festival and Randall Terry was preaching. I'd had an admiration for Randall Terry for his pro-life message (I'll piss some people off saying "pro-life" since it's apparantly non-PC these days, but I'll live with that) but somewhere along it way it became apparant that Mr. Terry had lost his mind.

Case in point. As part of his message (the bulk of which I can't recall because it got so off-center) he began calling Christians to ban Burger King. Why for? Glad you asked. 1991 was the year Batman Returns came out. At one point in the movie the Penguin bites a guy on his nose. There were probably other reasons Terry had issues with the movie, but that's the one he spent loads of time on. And apparantly, Burger King had Batman Happy Meal toys or something.

It was at this point in my life, at that very moment, it was like an amazing rush of insight, that I realized how ludicrous it was that Christians wasted precious time on this kind of propaganda nonsense. So, when Mr. Terry asked those in agreement with his "ban" to stand up and be counted, I was the first to my feet. Here comes the punchline.

I was wearing a Batman t-shirt. Hee hee hee.

People, people... why are we so intent on making ourselves look more foolish with every turn? We're battling windmills when we should be saving lives. And they all know it. And they're laughing.

I'm never impressed with those Christians that introduce themselves with a statement like, "We don't watch TV" or "We don't go to movies." I'm not impressed. For the most part it's just lazy Christianity, like wearing an arrogant t-shirt or bumper sticker that tells everyone how much better YOU are. Christianity isn't a list of "I don'ts", or Hollywood protests and picket lines.

We have much bigger fish to fry.

There's a lot more to that Randall Terry story, but maybe I'll save that for another day.

Freedom Fair

2007-09-30T18:57:00.001-04:00

During the past four weeks I've had my eyes opened a little more to the worldwide issue of human trafficking and slavery. As the father of two girls, ages 11 and 12, it particularly hit home in a very personal way.
The stats are staggering, so staggering that I think it's hard to wrap our minds around it. Two million children worldwide are trapped in sex trafficking. Children. Children who should be going to school and playing with dolls. Of course most of the are girls. Most slaves worldwide are female and most of them are minors. And we're not just talking about Nepal and Nigeria and Thailand and Cambodia. It's right here in the United States. In New Jersey.
We hear about it in odd little news clips here and there, but it seems so unimaginable and ridiculous that we can't wrap our minds around it. The problem is so mind-bogglingly huge and depressing and far-removed from us that we don't even want to take the time to learn about it.
I've decided to take some time to learn about it. This Saturday there's a Freedom Fair at the Holy Grounds Cafe' in Allandale, NJ, to bring about more public awareness. The woman who's running it has hands-on experience at a shelter in Thailand and is bringing a mountain of passion into it.
I'm contributing the above watercolor painting (19x24 on bristol) at the host's request. I'm still new to watercolors and I don't know whether it's crappy or not. Feel free to tell me, I can take it. But, right now, I guess I wanted to do something.
I'm not trying to preach about it and I don't pretend to be an authority. But here are a few links I've visited recently. Take a moment and try to wrap your brain around it. I'm still trying.
www.humantrafficking.org
www.polarisproject.org
www.jfci.org
This has been a public service announcement from MZJoe. We now return you to our regularly scheduled ramblings, already in progress.

Show at the Dive Bar

2007-09-28T18:59:00.000-04:00

Tom Hall and I were invited to do a small comic book show on Long Island, to benefit the Boy Scouts. Sounded like a good deal.

When we pulled up after a brief accidental tour of Brooklyn, our directions had led us to a little bar off the beaten path, sandwiched between a condemned building, a Chinese deli, a European bakery and a cemetary. The front door was locked. Around back, behind a dumpster and through a half-open door, was the 'show'.

There was no sign advertising it out front, no sign on the door. There were maybe sixteen tables. If there there a hundred mainstream comic books in the room I'd be surprised. Yes, I said a hundred comics, NOT boxes, NOT dealers, NOT titles, a hundred comics period falling out of some flat-laying dollar boxes. There was a knife dealer, a bootleg video dealer and a guy whose table included burned copies of garage band CD's and jumper cables. There was a table represented by the Libertarian Party supporting Ron Paul.

The rest of the tables were filled with artists who had been convinced at the Big Apple Con that this would somehow not be a waste of our time.

What can you do but try to make the most of it? The good thing was that I got to spend a day drawing pictures and talking with my best friend. The only customers that anyone had all day were basically the other vendors that had nothing to do but look around. Since it was slow (deader than the cemetary across the street) the artists all spent time getting to know each other and making contacts. I did some sketches at request and we sold (and gave away) a few Megazeens and KING!s to people that will surely read and appreciate them.

I suppose this is what rock bands talk about when they start out at dive bars with an audience of four people. I wanna know, how long do we pay our dues before we play the Garden?

The Truth About Lando Calrissian

2007-09-20T20:07:00.000-04:00

Lando Calrissian betrayed his friends to Boba Fett. That's usually what he's remembered for. But then he turned it around, escaped with Leia and Chewie, and later helped rescue Han Solo AND was largely responsible for the destruction of the second Death Star.

That's pretty darn skippy.

Here's something to take note of. Sure, Leia and Han kinda laid a guilt trip on the guy. But if guilt was the sole motivator, then maybe, MAYBE, Lando would have gotten Leia and the wookiee free from Cloud City, but it pretty much would have ended there. Instead he accomplished great things, gained the trust of his new friends and changed the course of history. Even got to dance with the Ewoks during the Yub Yub song.

That's because he found the greater good from within, and some friends took some time to get to know him and believe in him. It's not because they made him feel bad.

My POINT is (yes there's a point) guilt is not a motivator. It might work, a little. It's like the annoying bug near your ear, you'll swat it because it annoys you but it probably won't make you move, and it will just cause you to, well, hate bugs more.

I say this to those who would use guilt trips as a tool to call people to action. It doesn't work. It causes people to resent you and rebel all the more. It is a destructive force like few others, ravaging friendship and partnerships, tearing apart churches and businesses and families.

I've been there, I've even used it and and I've hurt people in the past. It's a power trip and it's prideful and disgusting.

I've also been hurt on the receiving end, which is how I learned my lesson finally. It's amazing how prevalent this is particularly in the church. For example:

I've been told that I'm not listening to God if I don't get involved in a particular project.

I've been told that my salvation is in question if I don't attend a prayer meeting.

I've been told that I'm commiting adultery if I attend another church on Sunday.

I've been told that my choice not to give to a certain charity demonstrates my need for a comfort zone, thus I'm not Christlike.

I've been told that my church commitments should exceed my commitment to my own family.

The amazing thing is that someone could argue that all these points could, in fact, be true. And they even might be true, warped as that sounds. But if you lay on the guilt trip, brother, I can't hear that truth. You're just a bug I wanna swat. And I will swat.

Preference vs Principle

2007-09-16T17:16:00.000-04:00

In church we're doing a series on how screwy the church can get. Very enlightening.

One of the things I dig about the church we're now attending, Emergence, is that they don't push the ideas that the Bible is silent about. They play rock music but are respectful of choirs and pipe organs. They don't push Republican over Democrat, or Wall Street tycoon over bohemian. They understand that, while there ARE absolute truths in life as outlined scripturally, there is room for the Holy Spirit to lead different people to different passions.

Megazeen has received its share of judgmental hate mail from those who say it's irreverent or distracting, but you know what? That's their preference. We also don't like the preachy tone that other Chrisitan comics take, and would prefer some more entertaining comics, whether deep from within a painful soul or just a good ole fart joke. That's OUR preference.

The danger comes in when we take our preference and decide that it is a principle that others should live by. There are principles we should all live by for sure. But the trick is in understanding the difference.

For example, my wife doesn't like Pink Floyd's "The Wall" or Stephen King's "The Stand", two emotionally charged works of art I thoroughly enjoy. But she shouldn't think less of me for listening to it myself. Just as I can't stand the morning DJ's or the music selection on the local Christian radio station- but I don't think they make my wife cheesier for her listening to them. These are preferences. In the end, we still go to church together on Sunday. That's a principle.

So, whether you like the new Transformers movie or are a cartoon loyalist, whether you get something out of Benny Hinn or you find him silly, whether you read Ghost Rider or Owly, or like Clinton or Giuliani, or Kirk or Picard, Disney World or Universal, Coke or Pepsi, etc or etc, they're all just preferences. It's when we decide that others need to feel MY way about the subject that we get into trouble.

Read I Corinthians if you doubt it.

A wise man once told me. "Being right ain't all it's cracked up to be." Changed my life.

I have my preferences on all the above, by the way. But that's not your problem.

Mecha Manga Bible Stories

2007-09-12T18:37:00.001-04:00

If you had told me a year ago that I would ever be involved in a project called Mecha Manga Bible Stories, I'd have laughed in your face like the cocky anti-establishment hippee artist that I always pretend to be.

But look at that preview concept art and drool.

I was humbled to be asked to be involved in this project, but not because of the intrinsic project itself or the publisher behind it (though both impressive). What really got me pumped was the incredible talent involved. I found out that I'd be working with four other artists that I have enormous respect for, all Megazeen artists that are graduating into the recognition they all deserve.

Tom Hall (whom I co-wrote with), Jeff Slemons (cover art), Kneon Transitt (pencil & ink) and Daniel Bradford (colors and letters). Add Paul Castiglia's experience as editor and you don't get a better team. Anywhere. From everything I've seen so far, this is the Bible comic I would have always wanted to read. And isn't that what we should be shooting for?

Art's underway. I'll gush more along the way. Trust me.

Getting Started in Comics

2007-09-09T13:33:00.000-04:00

I guess I've been at this long enough now that prospective artists now contact me wondering, "How do you get started in comics?" Some guy recently on my comic board jumped in with a recommendation that you make a graphic novel because that's where the money is.

Uh, no.

Telling someone who is considering doing comics to write and draw a 96-page epic graphic novel is akin to telling a kid who's showing up at the town pool for the first time how to try out for the Olympic free style 200m race. Or telling someone at a mini golf course how to navigate the 9th tee on the pro world circuit. Or convincing someone who's showing up to a school board meeting how to run for congress.

Here's how you get started in comics.

Here's the big secret.

Ready?

Pick up a pencil and start drawing on a piece of paper.

If all you've got is a few sweet looking pinups, all that other stuff is way out of reach yet, and all it's going to do is flood you with a bunch of confusing info that you WILL NEVER NEED unless you pick up your pencil and draw on some paper. Worry about printers, publishers, copyrighting, ancilliary rights and everything else later, because it doesn't matter at all right now, and will matter very little even in the future compared to your artwork.

(FYI- I recommend finding the right graphite or lead pencil which will usually NOT be the #2 pencil everyone uses to write with. I use a 2F for lighter lines, and an HB or 6B for the heavier lines, when I'm just pencilling, but get a bunch of pencils (most art or craft stores sell a full range of pencils as a cheap set). Experiment with a non-repro blueline pencil along the way too when you're ready to start playing with ink. As for paper, I use Bristol paper and prefer vellum finish, which has a texture and doesn't smear as easily, but you might like smooth better, just as you'll need to find what size you're most comfortable with. Oh, very important, use a white Magic Rub eraser or a kneaded eraser, not those stupid pink ones that will smear your lines and destroy your paper.)

And that's how you get started in comics.

Graphic novel... oy vey.

Musings at 39 - Baseball at 13

2007-09-07T20:39:00.000-04:00

When I was 13 years old my father took me to my one, and to date only, major league baseball game. It was the Yankees v White Sox at Yankee Stadium.

The game was probably, by accounts, a sleeper with a score of 2 to 1 Yankees, but I was in heaven. The stadium was massive, the steady muttering of the crowd was hypnotic, the game and the scoreboard and the "charge" organ were everything they were supposed to be. My dad bought me a hot dog and a soda. We never had much money, so I actually recall being so remarkably grateful and impressed with him that night, for splurging on his son, bringing me on an adventure I would never forget.

As the game ended with a quiet non-climactic strikeout (which was as exciting to me as any home run), we began our slow decent from the upper nosebleed tiers of the stadium. As I inched down the stairs with the crowd, talking with my friend Steve, I tried to hang back a bit so my father would not be far behind.

It was then that I was violently, inexorably shoved down eight steps to the platform, kneed solidly square in the back, colliding with Steve and several others before me. As my friend exclaimed, "What are you doing?" I turned to see a massive giant of a man, with mustard stains dripped down his white shirt, his huge double chin englufing his stretched out collar, his navy blue Sox hat cocked back over his greasy mullet. Glaring at me with angry, tired, cold eyes, and having not spilled a drop of the Budweiser in hand.

I saw my father behind him, looking on at me, smiling so as not to let me be scared, but a little frightened himself, an emotion I rarely saw cross his face. We were in the Bronx, and he was fifteen feet away from me. And for a moment it felt like the distance of that entire stadium. I waited at the bottom and stood way clear as Goliath lumbered past me, never taking his eye off me until he did (nor I him). Then my father put his hand on my shoulder, and did not remove it until we were back in the VW bus.

It was that day I learned that, most often, violence does not need a reason.

Musings at 39- Chest Pains

2007-09-06T18:55:00.000-04:00

For a long time I had planned on writing some of my various musings on life, what I've learned and when and how I learned it. But I think what ultimately prompted me to start was when I got a call one night back in July.

"Joey. It's Don's mom."

I know that can't be good. I've known Donny since I was seven. We still regularly keep in touch but rarely talk on the phone unless someone died. That Donny was not the one calling me, well, yeah, that can't be good like I said.

Turns out Donny had a big ol' heart attack and had just come through triple bypass. 38 years old. What the hell? Why am I seeing so many friends cut down way before their time? Anthony, Brian, Mychael, Jenna, the list is getting longer.

But at least Donny made it through. I went to see him in the hospital the very next day, with all the wires sticking out of his body, poor guy. The cool thing about Donny is that he's not one of those old frinds that just talks about the old days. We stay in the now, we get serious when we have to, we mostly laugh, and we don't get on each others' nerves EVER.

But now... man, he had a heart attack. And I've seen my friends cut down. And I'm 39 and I eat really bad food all the time and have an incredibly stressful job. And less than two years ago I was in the hospital for chest pains. And Mike Wieringo just died.

And right now, another one of my best friends is facing HER final days. I can tell when she looks at me, she doesn't say it, but I know she's wondering how much longer, and she's wondering why she hurts and why she can't hear my voice any more.

I'm not very smart, but I guess the best thing we can do is embrace the living, especially when we know days are running shorter. Embrace the living and cherish the days. Embrace the living and do our best to ensure that we meet up again in eternity after this trip ends. That said, I have a phone call to make and some quality time to spend with an old friend.

Musings at 39- Time

2007-08-29T19:54:00.000-04:00

No matter who you are, we all have one thing in common. It doesn't matter your gender, your job, your family size, your income or anything else. One crucial component puts all of us on an equal playing field.

24 hours in a day.

No amount of money or condition of life can give you a single second more.

What you DO with your 24 hours is what makes us different. Are we setting goals and striving ahead, or just treading water and wasting valuable minutes?

Yesterday I got up at 6:30 and took a half hour walk with my wife. I answered my emails, showered, ate breakfast and got to work at 8AM (an hour early as always). I left 11 hours later (YES, I work an average 50+ hour workweek). I came home and 'decompressed' by surfing the net for about a half hour, then put in 90 minutes working on my comic script, sending some reference shots to my artists, and answering more emails. I went to bed around 9:30 and spent an hour doing Sudoku on my DS, then read a couple Cerebus comics while watching TV, and fell asleep around 11:30 for 7 hours of sleep.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Clearly I wasted at least 2 hours yesterday. Some would say more than that, but that's my personal conclusion. Two hours that I could have inked some artwork, or pencilled something for Megazeen. Two hours that I could have spent bonding with my kids or talking with my wife. Two hours I could have spent with a friend or ministered, or prayed. Yup, didn't squeeze that in either.

At 39, I am realizing the desperate need to cherish the hours in a day.

Changes need to be made.

The picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, just so's you know.

Colossians- The Art Team

2007-08-26T19:21:00.000-04:00

Last month I talked about my personal series, Colossians, an idea that's been developing for way too many years, and is finally coming to fruition in ways I had never dreamed.

When I had re-written Colossians after a dismal first attempt in Cross Press Comics, I had mentioned that I thought Kneon Transitt woyld be the dream penciller on the project. He blew me away by pencilling the first 13 pages based on a quick plot synopsis I sent him. Later I convinced him to draw the other half of the story that would complete the first issue. I've been inking it slowly ever since, splitting my interest between that, Megazeen and, unfortunately, too many video games.

The project came back to life when Hale Burckinh expressed interest in coloring the pages. But as we proceeded, it occured to me there was a major problem- that the first issue was just a start, and that I did not want to leave it hanging. The initial story arc would take four issues. Kneon was already wrapped up in other projects, and I would never be happy with my own style to complete it myself.

So, I began to ponder, were there three other artists out there that would complete the dream the way Kneon and Hale had begun it?

The answer is coming from three outstanding Megazeen artists. I'd be hard pressed to find three nicer, more capable guys, each uniquely suited to draw their particular issue. I will reveal their names and share some work as I receive the first completed page from each of them.

I know I'm going to need more help before we're done. Colorists, inkers, help with the scripts. But we're rolling ahead full steam now. My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your help with this project. We're gonna blow their minds!

Things That Make Me Happy

2007-08-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

Sea lions and elephant seals, especially if they're performing in a show (because I remember my Dad laughing at them).
Free ice at a hotel.
The Country Bear Jamboree (because I remember Dad laughing at it).
Buying cheap junk at comic shows and thinking they're treasures.
Drawing or painting something really well.
Bad 80's music on the radio.
Time spent with friends.
PB&J with Fritos (because Mom made it like that).
Watching Forrest Gump every time it's on TV (it's a rule in my house).
Going to church on Sunday morning.
A good "City of Heroes" session (a rarity).
Pink Floyd's The Wall.
My Mom's fruit salad.
The smell of a new action figure fresh out of the package.
The Gong Show (because I remember Dad laughing).
The "Head-On" stick near my bed that helps me sleep.
My massage chair.
Gorillas, Chimps and Orangutans.
Being outside at night when it's quiet.
Petting my dogs.
My wife's continuing interest in me.
The stories my kids tell of their adventures at school.
My dad's laugh.

Yoda

2007-08-25T19:31:00.000-04:00

Yoda's my hero.

Watercolor painting this is. At a dear fan's request, painted it I did.

I have some stuff I really, really want to share about Colossians, as well as some stuff I've learned on my continuing journey through Cerebus. I'll get to that tomorrow. Deal?

Musings at 39 - The Crazees

2007-08-19T18:40:00.000-04:00

When I was about 18 or 19 years old I was at DMV getting my license renewed. On my way out there was a guy sitting at a table, with loads of Christian literature on his table. He called me over and asked if that cross I was wearing meant something to me, which I proudly agreed that it did.

He then asked me make a donation, and to sign a petition that would make Satanism illegal.

Now, I'm not the smartest guy I ever met, and I was a fairly new "born again" believer so I wasn't loaded with ammunition. I knew that I didn't like the idea that people worshipped Satan and did witchcraft. I also wasn't the most politically savvy guy, but I knew enough that something, something was wrong here.

I told him that our country was founded on religious freedom, which guaranteed the rights of the bad with the good. I told him that many of the practices he was citing as examples (animal sacrifice, child abuse, suicide and drug use) were illegal already anyway. I told him, therefore, that I was not comfortable with where my money would be going.

He rebuked me, saying that it's a good thing that Jesus didn't just do things he was "comfortable" with.

It was that day that I learned that some Christians are crazy.

Two Things that Matter

2007-08-17T21:04:00.000-04:00

There are only two things that really matter.
1-We were created to glorify God and ought to live that way.
2-When we don't, we can seek Jesus' forgiveness and get back on track.
Anything we say or do that deviates from one of these things is at worst a sin, and at best a waste of our time.

Cerebus the Aardvark

2007-08-17T07:05:00.001-04:00

When I was in high school/early college I collected Cerebus comics, picking up back issues sporadically and regularly reading new issues as they came out monthly. In issue 112/113, Dave Sim ripped into a Christian who passionately tried to share the gospel with him (I think "There REALLY is a hell" was in the letter). He also posted a picture of a self-proclaimed witch. I dropped the series at this point, as my frail new belief couldn't tolerate it. That, and this was the tail end of the wordy "Walking on the Moon" series that lost a lot of his readers. That, and I needed cash for a new jacket.

Many years later, a friend of mine found an issue in the dollar box at a con and gave it to me, and I became curious once again. I went on Ebay and Lone Star and grabbed up the Swords volumes, then all the regular issues, and I've been reading it from the very beginning, in rapid fire succession rather than month-long gaps.

I don't know how to talk about Cerebus without getting gushy about it. Dave Sim is a masterful storyteller and a risk-taking pioneer. Reading it as I am, I am floored by the tightly knit storyline, in which characters and minor ideas from the past continuously have an effect on the story later. Cerebus is both riotously funny and shockingly tragic at times, sometimes turning on a dime from page to page. The ideas and events are thought-provoking, the pacing unprecedented.

I'm so glad I picked it up again, and this time through I find Sim's commentary far for enlightening and informative than irritating, particularly his thoughts on the comic industry and creator rights. I can still disagree with his take on religion (his early atheist ponderings eventually developing into monotheist or universalist), but now I can seperate that from my pure enjoyment of this series. That's part of growing up. Thanks Dave.

Musings at 39

2007-08-15T19:09:00.000-04:00

It has dawned on me, rather depressingly, that the days of my youth are nearly gone, and that I must confront the fact that, somewhere along the way, I grew up and am growing older.

In less than nine months I will be 40.

I will say that, at nearly 40, I'm fairly pleased with my accomplishments and my general state of happiness. I'm married to an awesome woman, and have two terrific daughters. I've been to college and beyond, and have a successful business career. I've also had many unique opportunities to pursue dreams, through radio, comic books and even preaching. We've got a house and a couple dogs and we're virtually debt-free.

I think the part that gets under my skin is that life is slipping by, the girls are growing up, the hair's getting grayer and I'm far more tired than I was. Not that it's all bad- I do find my wife hotter than ever.

Realistically, I probably don't have as many days before me as behind me now, at least in this world.

So, what to do about it? And what have I learned?

I will be pondering these questions regularly in my "Musings at 39" entries, earnestly seeking assurance that I am not quite dead yet.

Mike Wieringo

2007-08-13T19:33:00.000-04:00

Mike Wieringo passed away at the tragic young age of 44 today.

Ringo was the artist who, along with writer Mark Waid, restored my faith that the Fantastic Four was indeed the World's Greatest Comic Magazine. Their work earned the FF back their title in my opinion.

His work was outstanding. Simple, elegant, he made you feel like these guys were right in your living room talking to you. I got to meet him at Wizard World in 2003, and told him that I thought his run on FF was the best EVER. He quickly told me he could not accept that compliment. I admired his humility but I meant what I said.

Of course his work went well beyond that, with the Flash and Spiderman, as well as his own creator-made series Tellos (which was getting set for a possible relaunch). Ah Mike... this sucks. We'll miss you.

Magic Our Way

2007-08-12T09:40:00.000-04:00

So my family and I have returned from our vacation at Disney World in Orlando, our third straight year and, if I'm counting right, my tenth lifetime visit. My wife and I will hopefully chronicle our trip in some detail on another board, so I won't go into incredible detail here, but it was an awesome trip.

There were many, many good times, but a few stand out. One of them is a somewhat hidden gem at Pleasure Island called the Adventurer's Club. What a hysterical concept. It really defies description, but if you get down there take a chance on it one night. You'll thank me.

Another real treasure is the Animation Academy in MGM Studios, where a Disney animator teaches a class how to draw a character. We got to do Goofy and Stitch this year. Special congratulations to our instructor Timmy, who's moving on to the Imagineer program. This guy was awesome, passionate about what he does, very talented and over-the-top enthusiastic. He deserves every bit of success he gets. I wonder how many of us could be like Timmy if we'd not allowed the harshness of the rat race to jade us.

Finally, this guy in the picture was at Cinderella's Castle three minutes before the fireworks, freaking out because some little kids sat in front of him on the sidewalk. Very intimidating, screaming for Disney security in his mouse ears. That kind of entertainment you can't buy.

Uncharted Water Colors

2007-07-29T19:38:00.000-04:00

My daughter asked me today if we could do some painting together. Sometimes I have to remind myself that when I go on these little quality time adventures with her they always pay off in a huge way. Much more than lying around on the couch eating.

So I broke out a couple of new sets of paints that I picked up from a local art store going out of business. I only bought them because they were cheap, since painting is certainly not my forte. My daughter asked for the one little canvas I had bought, so I gave her the acryllics and the little easel.

Me, I broke out the watercolor tubes. I had watched a guy at the Big Apple Con paint an amazing picture of the Manx using just black watercolor washes, and I was fascinated by the process, so I picked up some identical paints to see what I could do. After experimenting a little, I decided to get a little ambitious and attempt to re-create the first drawing I did in the "Old Men" series I drew a couple of years ago, on 11x14 vellum bristol. There be the results. I have no idea whether it's any good but I had fun doing it, and look forward to giving it another shot.

Oh, my daughter lost interest after 5 minutes and a canvas half-painted orange. God bless her. She's got the same attention span as her father. What were we talking about again?

Colossians

2007-07-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

Most of my comic efforts have revolved around Megazeen. But somewhere in the background of slapping together the zeen, I've been working on my own pet project.

The name of the book is Colossians, a character-driven space opera about (among other things) the acceptance of faith. It's hard to put it into a a simple package like that. It's got action, freaky aliens, humor, suspense, even some romantic tension. I'm really hoping people dig it the way I do.

I managed to convince Kneon Transitt to do the pencils for the first issue. I'm laying down inks myself, and Hale Burckin is doing colors. I'll probably letter it myself once I finally get a script written. Rumor has it Jeff Slemons is going to do the cover, which would be the perfect cap on this first issue.

Anyways, I wanted to pop up one of the colored pages as a preview. Enjoy. Coming soon!

What is dis 'Megazeen' you speak of?

2007-07-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

Megazeen is an independent, raw anthology founded in early 2002 by Joseph Crossett and me. The idea behind the book was to create a Christian comic that WE would want to read. It would not be the traditional "safe" fare that Christian comics were traditionally known for, which was either extremely kid-friendly or in-your-face and down-your-throat evangelism. We were tired of people telling us what faith-based entertainment SHOULD be. We didn't want a book that the forty-year-old moms at the Christian bookstores would look through. Our book would be raw, entertaining, funny, even controversial at times, geared toward regular comic book readers, loser kids, kids on the fence. Gone would be the sappy cliche's and dardee dar endings we'd become accustomed to. And from that came our first slogan, "Christian comics without the cheese."
This, of course, ticked some people off.
Were we implying that Christian comics were cheesy? Yup. Were we implying that Christian comics should be geared toward the Beavis and Butthead generation more than the church youth group? Yup.
The hate mail was almost immediate. Even before the first issue debuted.
And it was all from Christians.
It surprised us- but from that came our second slogan. "If you're not ticking someone off, chances are you're not doing it right."
Megazeen has become, in many ways, instrumental in the ongoing success of Christian comics in general. More on that later.
I'm going to be updating the main website shortly, with a page devoted to each issue we did. It will show some clips from the book, some of the stories behind the scenes, even some of the bitter internal feuds we had as we disagreed about content more than once. We even managed to tick each other off!
As we wrap up production on our 14th and 15th regular issues, it's pretty amazing looking back to see where we came from- but looking ahead, there's no end to this series.

Viva la Megazeen, la comica sans fromage!

The Wrong Miracle

2007-07-19T19:39:00.000-04:00

So there's this young man named Brian from my church. He's in his mid-twenties, one of "the beautiful people" - tall, blonde, blue eyes, athletic, the works. Married a beautiful girl four years ago and they bought a little log cabin together. He and I served together on the church board for a year (one VERY long year, btw). Mid-twenties. Such a cool guy I based my character "Smiling Bry the Nice Christian Guy" on him. The guy has his whooooooole life ahead of him.
A few months ago he was diagnosed with Melanoma.
We prayed for Brian and fasted for Brian. We collected money for Brian to help meet expenses. On Free Comic Book Day the Megazeen crew drew sketches and sold books and Brian got the full proceeds from that day. The expectation, of course, was a miraculous full recovery that we could sing songs about for decades. After all, that what we prayed for.
We named it, we claimed it.
Brian died two weeks ago.
The Bible says not to question God (see Job) but honestly, who can help it? It should have been A to B to C and let's move on to a long & healthy life. Right? But this was the wrong miracle.
The miracle had already happened.
Brian was mistreated and all but abandoned by his mother. In his teen years he (without going into details, you can fill in the blanks) sinned. A lot. This kid was hopelessly messed up.
Then Jesus reached out to this hopeless kid and gave him hope. He turned his life around instantaneously, and became one of the most integrity-filled men I have ever had the privelege to know. Brian was the real deal. But the day he accepted Christ, he had no idea how important that salvation would mean to him in a very short time.
Brian didn't know, but Jesus did.
He spent his last day (7/3) reading scripture with his wife and her family by his side. While everyone was talking in the room, Brian suddenly shushed everyone, and in the silence he closed his eyes. When he opened them, Jesus was by his side.
Brian- I'd say rest in peace, bro, but I know you too well. You're wildly dancing and praising and singing and eating, doing what made you happiest here too. Rest isn't on the agenda. Save some ham for me brother. We'll miss you down here, but we'll see you soon enough.