Fighting the System- Easier Done Than Said

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.

Button Up!

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!

Mecha Manga Bible Stories

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.

Cerebus the Aardvark

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.

Colossians

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!

Megazeen of FAILURE

The Megazeen of Failure (our 13th regular issue) contains some of the best comics I've ever seen in an issue of MZ. Tom Hall, longtime contributor, took the reins as editor for this issue and recruited some of the most amazing talent we have access to.
You like MANGA? Psycho Ann always delivers. Parody? Jeff Slemons hits it with Mad Magazine-esque accuracy. Minimalist? Uncle Schlomo returns with a bible adaptation from I Samuel. The list goes on with Dean Rankine, Keith Stone, Jamie Cosley, Kneon Transitt- all very consistent artists, and their work in this book is no exception. Top it off with the Dan Barlowe wraparound cover and you've got a heck of a book. This Megazeen's got EVERYTHING.
Except, apparantly, readers.
Other than the name of this issue, which may have turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy saleswise, I don't get it. I really don't.
(Now I know, this is the part of the show where the smug among you will be sitting back in your chair, cross your arms and say, "HA!" Those Megazeeners, those trouble makers, those hooligans. Serves 'em right. Not that you've ever read an issue or anything to see what we're all about. We don't MAKE Megazeen for you, you judgmental little twerp. Not that you're not entitled to your opinion, but your opinion doesn't count for much if you're not a reader. It would be like me reviewing the new Sandy Patti album. I'm not impressed, but I'm not her audience. She's out to entertain Christians. I'm not. But...I digress...)
Guys... here's the story. Tom contacted specific artists and told them, "The theme is failure, do something that deals with that issue." There's not one of us that hasn't failed at something (probably TODAY in fact), not one of that hasn't been disappointed in the failure of something, and plenty of examples in the Bible that deal with failure. It's a topic that should be confronted.
Credit to Tom who weeded out the trash, like artists who intentionally drew a bad piece and called it a failure. What made the book is spot-on one of the best anthologies out there. Funny, creepy, thought-provoking, edgy.
People keep asking me "When is the 'One-Page' book coming out? The answer is, well, when I sell enough Failure books to pay for the printing. That's what we call 'non-profit.'
Buy it. http://www.christiancomics.net/cart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=77

Big Apple Comic Con

After a two-year absence from the convention circuit, Megazeen decided to have a go in the city that never sleeps, cuz hey, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere, right?
Now, the Big Apple Con is not Wizard World or San Diego by a long shot, but it is a LOT friendlier toward small-press indy comics. For example, they don't make you take out a home loan for a table (hi Gareb) and the show is small enough that the artists are fairly well integrated with the dealers, so the fanboys trying to fill the gaps in their "52" collection from the dollar bins might actually see something GOOD and WORTH READING for a change. But I digress. You'll find I digress often. Another perk is that the guys who run the show REALLY love comics and are not so driven by the almighty dollar. They're cool, they still really admire the art of comics and not the speculation (as much).
So we took our prize money from the Comics Jam War (we won third place, don't hate me cuz you ain't me) and got a table. Jeremy, Tom and I arrived nice and early and, as is typical with most of these shows, they sandwiched the Christians by the comic porn. Ha ha. Never gets old guys. So anyway, our neighbors included a young lady in a red vinyl dress that squeaked when she walked, and an overweight dominatrix.
WWJD? He'd make friends, so we did just that. Always better to talk WITH people than to talk AT them. Then we finished setting up our table with our comics and I left my "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" bible prominently on the table (gotta love them XXXchurch guys, you ROCK!).
Almost immediately, one of the show organizers asked us if we'd be willing to participate on a panel discussion for indy publishers. Since Tom was willing to man the booth, Jer followed me with his high-tech video camera to the 18th floor where we did a Q&A session about the creative processing, publishing and realistic expectations. Since I've been reading a lot of CEREBUS lately, I adopted a Dave Sim like attitude and had some fun with it, figuring the audience would rather hear some truth and humor than rambling subjective nonsense. I think it worked well. Once Jer gets the tape edited I'll post what I can on Youtube or something.
Jesus Marquez and Inkboy joined us halfway through Saturday, since they hit Mocca first. What hosers planned both of those events the same weekend?!?
That's when we really started drawing sketches. It's amazing how many people won't give your table a second glance normally, but how many tightwad scabs will flock to you if they see the old "free sketches" sign. I'm learning that free is not always a good thing. If someone is paying for art, you know they'll care. But FREE sketches? "Hey, can you draw me a girl dressed like a devil with an angel's halo? Cool! I'll be back in like 20 minutes." You can't even take the time to WATCH or TALK to me? Or (heaven forbid) plop down a buck or two for one of our comics? I got so annoyed I took the sign down (sorry Keith). Keith drew headshots of the red vinyl girl and the dominatrix- they didn't ask, he just did them as gifts, and they came out great. I drew a Nightcrawler but Jesus drew a better one.
We only met a couple of fellow believers. There was a guy who did some mad crazy multi-panelled shots that would look pretty cool in Megazeen. The other guy in his "Jesus is Lord" t-shirt barely noticed us as he couldn't get his eyes off the porn across the way from us. With his eight-year-old son in tow.
Sales-wise we did better in 2 days than we ever did in 3 days at Wizard World Philly. We still spent more money on swag than we made, but the best part about doing these shows is that we get together as friends to do our thing. That's pretty priceless.