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The Antihero Comics Cafepress Store has returned. More items coming soon.
Let me know what you think. **UPDATE (5:37 PM)** Don't buy anything just yet! I think I'm going to make some changes to the design of the products in a day or two.
For those in the Dallas area, I will be at the Customer Appreciation Day hosted by Keith's, Titan, and Madness Comics. I will have my own table there from 1 PM until 6 PM, selling some of my anthology stuff and other random goodies. The event is at the Studio Movie Grill in Addison, on Beltline Road, a half mile East from the tollway.
Hope to see you there.
Received an e-mail a few days ago. My friend Amber is getting married, and she wants me to officiate the wedding ceremony. You know, be the pastor. And guess what? This isn't the first time I've done this. Yep, for those of you who don't know, I used to be a community pastor for a small church.
Ha! Learn something new everyday. It wasn't a full time career. I was still an English teacher. Those ministerial days are long gone. And my pastoral creditials have gone with it. Looks like I need to do what any self respecting person would do in such a situation... I need to get ordained online. Any suggestions where? I was thinking the Church of the Sub-Genius, but I need to go somewhere that's semi-legitimate and without it requiring $200 and seminary classes. And no other cults, unless they're really cool.
 Last year, I spent a lot of time studying Seven Samurai and the films of Kurosawa to find inspiration and direction as a visual storyteller. Recently, I've been drawn to Hitchcock and Vertigo in particular. Hitchcock and Kurosawa have a lot in common as directors. While Hitchcock focuses on the individual, intrapersonal conflict-- Kurosawa is more interested in the collective and the interpersonal. One sees the self, one sees the community-- both are interested in reducing these elements to their purist form. Hitchcock is a pessimist, setting a legacy for Kubrick. Kurosawa is a humanist, influencing the work of Spielberg. What particularly interests me is how both try to create a pure visual language, reducing dialogue and recreating the silent movie. I have more thoughts on this, but I'm off for lunch. Last Laugh: Was Hitchcock's Masterpiece a Private Joke?
FRONT: You will be rewarded
for being a good listener. BACK: 04 08 16 29 42 - 17 12 16 24 29 30. 2 4 5
The master, Saul Bass
 He designed the movie art for Psycho, West Side Story, Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder, North by Northwest, Ocean's Eleven, Bunny Lake is Missing, and many others. Saul innovated the idea of reducing a movie to a single visual statement, a very daring notion in the 1950s. We're using Saul Bass as our muse for some cover art that's currently in development. And while I can't show you yet, I think you'll find that it's unlike anything ever seen on a comic book cover. I'm excited.
From Jeff Elden, Matt Leong, and entire Exit 126 crew comes their exciting fourth issue of Exit 126-- one bad ass anthology.
They've been kind enough to include the Antigone prologue that Tom Kurzanski and I did almost a year ago. Overall, the Antigone project has been sitting on the proverbial shelf while Tom and I work on other things. So it's cool to see Antigone in print. Once Exit 126 sets up their online store, you may want to pick up a copy of issues one through four. There are some great stories in it. Shawn Gaston continues his dark and gritty "Doors and Windows" story. "Anemic" by Matt Lauer is fun and original. Joel Leong's prose story "Demon Hunters" continues in this issue, and it's a wonderful addition to the anthology. Matt Leong crafts his story "The Adventures of Mathilda Frump". Matt wins the so-damn-good award. Matt's artwork and storytelling sensibilities just keep getting better and better. I love it. Mr Western Tales of Terror himself Josh Fialkov offers two of his "Poorly Drawn Animals" strips-- quirky and cool. Magz' "The Tecnicolor Yawn" makes dry heaves oddly poignant. And finally, Jeff Elden's "I Brough Lincoln to the Future" has a wit and a humorous style I greatly admire. Jeff is becoming one of my favorite cartoonists. So have I sucked up enough? Jeff, Matt, love you guys. Next time you come to Texas, I get to be the big spoon. 
Scott Hinze and I offer this 30-minute, no-frills, web-only mini-episode for aspiring and/or novice comic book writers. This is not a "How To Break Into the Business" but a detailed listing of essential resources that all writers should use. Last episode we covered the three act structure and free writing. This time we focus on panels, borders and image placement.
This episode (#205.5) is offered for $.25 on the Fanboy Radio archives.
I'll have a table at the Customer Appreciation Day this next Sunday, January 30th at 1 pm, sponsored by Dallas-area retailers Keith's, Titan, and Madness. It'll be at the Addison Studio Movie Grill on Beltline, 1/2 mile east of the Tollway.
I will be selling copies of Western Tales of Terror #2, Silent Forest Parody Special, and some other indie comics.  Not every week, but occasionally, I feel the need to spotlight a book that you shouldn't miss. Recently, I mentioned the return of the Flaming Carrot.
Today, I want to point you towards... Ovi Nedelcu's PIGTALE. To say that I'm impressed by Ovi's art style would be an understatement, I'm amazed by it. In the deepest sense of the word, amazed. Ovi is part of a new generation of cartoonists and comic book illustrators who have figured out how to integrate an animator's sensibility into the comic book medium. I would add to this movement-- Kazu Kibuishi (who I'm convinced is the next Great One) and his gang on the Flight Anthology, plus Canales and Guarnido from Blacksad, and Doug Tennapel of Creature Tech. Ovi's shows us the benefit of a story arc. More space. Space to create absolutely beautiful two page spreads, not to waste space or flaunt ability, but as a way to pull the reader into the story. Ovi can also pack in the pages, moving a story along with attention to the narrative. Is it too early to say this is the best new series for 2005?
G-Mail Giveaway on the "You'll Have That" message boards at Vipercomics dot com. This Friday, January 21st, 7:00 PM EST/ 6:00 PM CST
So far Wes has 21 invites, but would love to get more. E-mail invites to him at wesmolebash@gmail.com.
Jim sent this video to me. He found it on Kazu's Bolt City site.
www.froghatstudios.com/art/froghatstudios_superman.movI used to think, that if ever given the opportunity, I'd rather write Batman over Superman. (Yes, I occasionally ponder these outrageous hypothetical situations.) However, I have to admit, after reading "It's A Bird..." by Steven Seagle, drooling over Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright (and still not having the money for the freakin' hardback... come on, DC! Give us the paperback!), after watching Smallville, and now this video-- I would absolutely write Superman over Batman. The Man of Steel. It is the quintessential modern American myth. The video? Love it!  The Silent Forest Television Parody Special arrives in stores today! Featuring four great tales by talents such as Jake Black, Chris Burke, Michael J. Bencik, David Hopkins, Patrick Rodriguez, and the Beranek Brothers, the Special is sure to please fans of Silent Forest and television alike.
Priced at $4.95 and containing 48 pages of goodness, the Silent Forest Television Parody Special is available now at your favorite local comic book shop. Pick up your copy today! My CSI parody is the last story in the book. The Werebear Brothers discover a dead golfer on their abandoned golf course. How did he get there? Who is responsible for this crime? What will the evidence reveal? And why is there a random crossover guest appearance in the middle of the story? Alas, these questions go unanswered. But at least they tried hard.
Jim Lujan started a comic jam ("the Bullet Angelica") with others in the Fanboy Radio community. My humble contribution to the project was scripting a single panel. Hey, easiest writing task I've ever had! Here's my epic accomplishment...
art by Jim Lujan
Real quick, go here and vote for couple #1 (Dan and Susan)-- scroll to the bottom and look for the "VOTE NOW!" link. Thanks!
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I've really got the best friends, incredibly supportive and kind-hearted. With every single step I've taken, they've been there. So... thank you. I realize it's not about artificial definitions of success or failure. It's about doing what you love and loving it enough to share it with others. I hope I don't sound too trite saying that. At times, I feel a little embarrassed. What have I done to deserve such cool friends?
The Zeus signing went well. To me, Richard is the best retailer in the business. He does everything right. Granted, comic book store owners are among my personal heroes-- rank them up there with teachers, firefighters, and astronauts. And there are many good stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Zeus is a model on how to make a fan-friendly store, which is also welcoming to first-timers. Thank you, Richard. It was awesome hanging with Ben. He's the nicest guy-- and ridiculously talented. I loved working with him on the Western Tales story. I'd love to work with him again. (Alex Hambry, if you're reading this, treat him right!) One of the highlights of my day was when a young kid Nick and his father came to get their book signed and a sketch. Nick was interested in being a comic book artist. Ben really made his day. Cooler than cool. Throughout the day, Ben did a few sketches-- Aquaman, Spiderman, Daredevil, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Fantastic Four (oh wait, the last one was for me!) Melissa and Kennedy were there for almost the entire four hours. Melissa is not only my partner-in-crime, my friend, my fashion consultant, and my editor, but she's also my biggest supporter. Whenever we go to a convention or something comic book related (last year's 24 hour comic book day for example), she works to take care of me in a hundred different ways that I often don't even notice or think about. But everything goes off without a hitch, and it's always because of her. She makes it possible. I love you. In more frightful news, Ben's wife Marlena nearly died yesterday. On I-35, a semi crashed directly in front of her. Thankfully for some keen driving skills, good timing, and some providence, she avoided a wreck and is alive to talk about it. Enough talk! Here's some pictures. 
I'd like to nominate the book "Guia del Migrante Mexicano" for the Best Single Issue category. Viva la comic books! Stirring controversy everywhere the narrative medium goes! Mr. Eisner would be proud.
Here and also here and also here and here as well A few excerpts from the comic: the cover - 1 - 2 - 3 The complaint is that this book was "too helpful" in giving information on how to illegally immigrate into the United States. But clearly the purpose was to educate Mexican citizens on the dangers of such actions, and offer a safer alternative. Oh well. We could talk about immigration ad naseum. But for me, it comes back to the point that a few generations ago my great great grandfather was an Irish immigrant. He came here back when people looked at the Irish much in the same way as the Mexicans nowadays. Fact is the Irish changed the face of America, and helped to build this country. I have no doubt that our Mexican arrivals will do the same. Good for them. And if Ireland bordered the United States, I imagine we also would jump the fence or swim the river... carrying with us a pint, a bag of potatoes, and our rosary. Aye!
Friday is a good day for confession. I find myself becoming "that guy"-- the kind of person who can't seem to talk about anything else but his own interests. Lately, I've been so busy with comics related stuff I seem to be incapable of any other discussion, without leading it back to comics. Kind of pathetic.
Truthfully, this week has been odd. So much has happened, and a few years ago any one of these events, would've been huge for me. * A French publisher contacted me yesterday.All these are good things. For many people, this would be no big deal. But for me, this is strange territory. And I need people to talk to in order to make sense of my surroundings. Egocentrism can be habit-forming. I'd like to break it before it starts. So I confess. In school-related events, the film club got their t-shirts. The officers did a good job on the shirts. It's the Fight Club bar of soap-- photoshopped so it says, Film Club. On the back, it reads, "How much can you really know about yourself if you've never been in a film?" In family-related events, Melissa is on the prowl for living room furniture. The futon is losing its luster as a makeshift couch. Melissa found some cool couches. She has an eye for design. This will probably mean having to repaint the living room. At first, the thought of more painting sounded like a massive chore, but it won't be bad once we get started. It'll look good. My parents bought us a garage-door opener for the house. I feel so fancy and rich. We have a garage-door opener. Don't ask me why, but even though this technology has been around for years, I marvel at it the same way my students marvel over the automatic stapler. Ooooh. And Kennedy? I spend more time with her than anyone else. She's so much a part of my life, I don't know what to say. Little smiles and laughes. Watching TV together. Playing with her toys. Feedings. Diapering. Trying my best to care for her.
BOOK SIGNING @ ZEUS COMICS
(DALLAS, TX) This Saturday, January 15th from 12 noon to 4 PM, Benjamin Hall and I will be signing copies of Western Tales of Terror #2. If you live in the area, we'd love to see you. Also, Ben told me he'll do free sketches for everyone who buys the comic book.
In class, we've started reading the Tragedy of Julius Caesar. This is my fifth year teaching... in total, with each class, I've now taught this play twenty-three times. And considering we also watch the film version with Marlon Brando, I've heard the play fourty-six times in five years.
It's not strange for someone to have every line of Breakfast Club or Princess Bride memorized. However, I know this Shakespearean play a little too well. Yesterday, to keep it interesting, I made comparisions between the tragedy and films like Scarface, Godfather, and Goodfellas. We discussed distinctions between the archetypes of the villain, the reluctant villain, and the antihero.
Viper's newest books Random Encounter and Oddly Normal are in this month's Previews catalog. (click here for an order form)
A few days ago, I received the lettered version of a short story I wrote for the upcoming Dead@17: Rough Cut, Volume 2 (published by Viper Comics). Greg Gaitlin did a wonderful job with the lettering-- adding the right touch to some incredible art by Guy LeMay.
For those of you who pick up a copy of Rough Cut #2, you'll enjoy LeMay's art. It's that noir-style, which people like Mike Mignola and Mike Oeming have popularized. LeMay knows how to work with shadows and use the darkness to create bold impressions of what's happening. It floored me when I first saw it. He took the story and plunged it into a much more sinister depth-- and then pages six and seven open to a glorious contrast. But of course, I'm speaking of things you haven't seen yet. I'm confident with how I told the story. Crafting it to fit the needs of what I wanted to accomplish. That being said-- it's different. I use no dialogue, except a hymn which is sung throughout the story. I'm interested to see how fans and reviewers respond. For those people who love Dead@17, I crammed a lot of important material into those eight pages-- the story of how Nara ends up being adopted.
From The Fourth Rail
David Hopkins and the Halls present a mood piece called "The Stranger Waits For Me" that works largely because of psychological identification with the lead character. I have to specifically single out the Halls' ability to make their bad guy dangerous and scary without ever really showing him.
Jim Lujan has created the look and sound of Fanboy Radio. In honor of the 200th episode, Jim created some music for that particular show. If you haven't listened to 200, I accepted an award on behalf of Joss Whedon and my daughter Kennedy was nominated for "Guest with Filthiest Mouth", but we all know Bendis owns this category.
This is the super cheesy (little heard) FANNIES 05 theme I did for FBR. I would be honored if you exhibited this mp3 on the AntiHero in a display of raw cheese at its finest.Anything for you, Jim. Feel free to post your tunes here anytime. Hmmm... maybe this site needs theme music? Heck, I think everything and everyone needs a soundtrack.
On the comics section, I've posted different art for Emily. It's some of Brock Rizy's more recent illustrations, most in color-- including both b&w and colored versions of page 17.
Speaking of Brock, he's been working hard on his ¡Bike_Gang! book and has featured some of it on his site (sneak peek: 1 - 2).
 "Welcome back to the world of strange, the land of odd, and ever-amusing dimensions of fun, fun, fun!" - Bob Burden
I'm so happy the Flaming Carrot is back. Burden created this surrealist superhero in the '70s and '80s, and now Image Comics is presenting a brand new set of adventures. The legendary Flaming Carrot returns in an all-new quarterly series! With no super powers to speak of, this free-wheeling, second-string, milltown hero usually just blasts his way out of a bad spot in a hail of gunfire and reckless violence. Then it's down to the nearest seedy bar or strip joint for the blue plate special and a night of brawling, carousing and wanton debauchery! America's first surrealist superhero! The poor man's H-Bomb! The pied piper of fun! From the creator of Mystery Men!If you have a chance, pick up an issue. I promise you'll be slightly confused, but enjoy it.
BOOK SIGNING @ ZEUS COMICS
(DALLAS, TX) Saturday, January 15th from 12 noon to 4 PM, Benjamin Hall and I will be signing copies of Western Tales of Terror #2. If you live in the area, we'd love to see you.
I came to school this morning to get ready for my first class upon returning from Christmas break. Checked my e-mail and visited the Fanboy Radio forum. Scott had posted "Will Eisner Passes Away" with a link to the news source. My first reaction was confusion. Sure, Mr. Eisner recently had major surgery, but reports were he was doing fine. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Comic legend Will Eisner died due to complications from heart surgery performed on December 22nd. Eisner had undergone quadruple bypass surgery, and was last reported to be recovering well.  My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, family, and enormous circle of friends. He was well-loved and well-respected. As a tireless advocate and patron for the comic book medium, many people owe Mr. Eisner a debt of gratitude. Will Eisner is the Father of the Graphic Novel. He started his career during the first days of this bastard artform's modern inception. He was there during the Golden Age. He worked in newspapers. He wrote and drew in almost every genre imaginable. He wrote the first true graphic novel, A Contract with God, giving comics a depth and intellect it previously lacked. (At this time, I was one year old.) Mr. Eisner wrote from his experience and culture, as a proud Jewish American. He told intensely personal stories with bold honesty, touching humor and irony. He also wrote about comics, creating guides and thoughful analysis on the medium. Unlike others, he never apologized for doing comics. He believed in comic books as literature to rival any other narrative media. The comic book industry was built on Mr. Eisner's confidence. In fact, the highest award in comics bears his name. This past summer, Craig Thompson won the Eisner Award for his graphic novel, Blankets. When Craig Thompson took the stage, on the verge of tears, he thanked and acknowledged only one person for all his inspiration and desire, Will Eisner. To say he lived a "full life" would be an understatement, Mr. Eisner lived an epic life. Amazingly, he was always in his prime. Even at 87 years old, he was still creating comics-- graphic novels that were just as good as, if not better than, when he first started. To all the artists and storytellers, Mr. Eisner was our patriarch. He will be missed. From Sean Keefeld (who I greatly respect) at FF Plaza: For those of you who may not think Will had an impact on mainstream comics, since his work was largely self-published and out of the mainstream, let me relay that Will was the guy who first hired Jack Kirby to draw comic books. Jack worked under Will for only a year or two, but recognized how masterful Will really was and continued to call him "boss" until Jack's death in 1994. Think about that. Jack Kirby worked under other greats like Joe Simon and Stan Lee, but continued to call Will Eisner his boss. Jack "The King" Kirby, who is almost universally revered in the comic book community as one of the all-time greats, continued to publically recognize Will Eisner as his superior.From Bob Andleman, author of the upcoming Eisner biography: At every Eisner Awards ceremony, each recipient was handed his or her award by the man himself.  **Audio from Mr. Eisner at the 2001 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards** **Will Eisner homepage** **CNN report** **NPR report** **For more information and a short bio, click here.** **another bio detailing Mr. Eisner's accomplishments**
Yesterday, I vegged in front of our TV and watched the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci-Fi channel. Probably not the most productive way to start 2005, but hey, New Year's Eve wore me out. I needed some veg time.
Today has been far more productive. I actually some got work done on my Jack Ruby script and wrote a few pages for the third issue of my *currently unannounced project*. 2004 was a good year. It will always be remembered as the year we moved into our house and the year Kennedy was born (May 11th). Other memorable events include: * self-publishing my own mini-comic * hosting and producing Fanboy Radio's The Indie Show * successfully completing the 24 Hour Comic Book * getting four different short stories published * Becoming deliriously sick on the first night of the San Diego Comic Con * Bush re-elected, Hopkins household spirals into a deep depression * Melissa hired as manager at Fast Forward Skate Shop Other events for the Monkey year: * Saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind three times in the theatre * dEUS announces a new album and possible U.S. tour for 2005, and release the single "If You Don't Get What You Want" * The Buffy Marathon! Melissa and I watch seasons 1-7 on DVD. Favorite comic books in 2004: * DC The New Frontier * Autobiographix * Street Angel * Daisy Kutter: The Last Train * Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life * Dead@17: Blood of Saints * Invincible Favorite TV shows in 2004: * Scrubs * CSI * Freaks and Geeks (on DVD) * Degrassi: Next Generation * Arrested Development * The Office Favorite movies I watched in 2004: * Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (as already mentioned) * Confessions of a Dangerous Mind * The Incredibles * Dummy * Spiderman 2 * Matchstick Men * Catch Me If You Can Favorite food for 2004: * Pineapple Chicken Curry from Bangkok City (once again) Favorite music for 2004: Not to be too pessimistic, but very little excited me this year with music. If anything, I rediscovered artists who I had never paid much attention to before. For instance, I really like The Who, despite my aversion to power rock operas. I also found a love for the meloncoly ballads of Nick Drake and 1960's surf guitar. Beyond that, here are my favorites (all available on iTunes, check them out). * Rasputina's version of "Rock'n'Roll" * Polyphonic Spree's album "Together We're Heavy" * The Raveonettes * Rilo Kiley's album "More Adventurous" * William Shatner's version of "Common People" * Soundtrack for Garden State
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