"War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."- General Sherman

SPOILER ALERT!!
So, I had a request to do a post about Marvel Comics Civil War Maxi Series. What to say....
The series has jumped the shark. The premise is solid, After a horrible Superpowered disaster in Stamford, CT, the federal Government decides that all Super Powered persons need to register with S.H.E.I.L.D. the world-wide peacekeeping taskforce (think the U.N., but useful). Some heroes (i.e. Iron Man, Reed Richards & Spidey) came out in favor of it, and some went against it and found themselves as outlaws (i.e. Captain America, Falcon & Daredevil). So, the registered heroes have to arrest the "Non-Registered Combatants." (Sounds a bit familiar, hmmm?) Kind of like a 3 year too late analogue of the Patriot Act. It's cool, but would have been cooler 3 years ago... Weeelll, after #4, the series jumped the shark and has revealed itself as a GIANT fanboy masterbation story. If you've ever sat and wondered "Who would win in a fight between Captain America and Iron Man?" this is your story. And that would be fine if that's all that this was. But no, the House of Ideas had this grandiose notion of an intelligent criticism of governmental policies and they have failed. In #3, it was 'revealed' that Thor (who was thought to be dead or in hibernation (huh?)) is back and he's on the registeration side. Okaaay... I couldn't figure out how, since he's not even a US citizen (he's Norse, natch), but I bought it. In #4, Thor is apparently a clone. A... CLONE... I'll let that sink in a minute....


Ok. The last time clones were used as a plot device in comics was in the 90's during the infamous Spider-Man Clone saga. That was majorly bad and led to me dropping comics for about 3 years. Leaving that aside, the clone was made by IronMan and Reed. So, apparently in the Marvel U,which is grounded in "reality", Clones are OK. Super Clones are ok. The fact that medical technology can't produce a viable human clone yet is apparently a non-issue in the 'reality-grounded' Marvel U (let alone cloning a GOD. Think about that, if we can't clone ourselves, how can we clone an organism that's supposedly so far above us? Unless the Cloning a God is a metaphor, and Mark Millar is trying to say that "Man made God, and therefore Man is all-powerful" hmmm...). the fact that GWB is president in the Marvel U and has banninnated all cloning in the US in the 'real' world is apparently not an issue. The fact that superheroes don't clone people for their own ends, because the ends don't justify the means in the hero mindset is NOT AN ISSUE. Marvel has their heroes acting in decidedly un-heroic ways. Iron Man and Reed have taken on the Villanous Mastermind personae in this series, which leads Sue Richards to leave Reed, and take up with the 'rogue' heroes. Oh yeah, and IM and RR have recruited badguys to do their dirty work, too. Murderous bad guys like Venom, Bullseye & Lady Deathstrike to name a few.

So, my opinion is that this series is going down faster than a 2 dollar whore. I hope that they pull up, because they had a really cool premise coming into this and now it's looking like it's gonna be a typical event book. All flash-no substance. If this book has any lasting repercussions, i'd be amazed. i.e. I doubt seriously that Spidey's secret ID stays public. I doubt that Cap stays an outlaw. But we're only 4 issues into a 7 issue miniseries. Maybe they'llpull it off and have us all scratching our heads saying "WTF? That was the best comic series EVAR!!!"


Let's hope.

"Wow, another mouth-breather with astigmatism and bad posture that digs comic books!"

So, the Phoenix Comicon was this weekend, and it was an unqualified success. I'm very happy with how it came out. I was a 'guest coordinator', which meant that I spent the entire time waiting hand and foot on all of the guests in attendance. It was awesome. I got so much one-on-one time with our guests (i.e. Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Josh Middleton, Ron Garney, Armand Villavert, Josh Blaylock, Bret Blevins, Nat Jones and more) that they knew me by name. These are people who see mouth-breathing fanboys on an almost daily basis, but they knew me. and they were all REALLY COOL people. *Geek Moment* It was cool. On Monday morning, I took Ron Garney, Tim Seely and Josh Blaylock to the airport in my car. MY CAR. It was really cool just talking to these guys about normal stuff and not comic stuff (you won't believe the shit we talked about... two words: Werewolf Beavers, 'nuff said).
I didn't get to spend any time at panels, tho. That was sad. :( I got a ton of free sketches and a couple of paid ones. I got a paid one at san diego, too, but these were SOOO much cooler. Maybe I'll scan them and show them off.

Sorry, no new art to show this week, let's see what I can dig out of my photobucke account.


Halloween's just around the corner! These are some illustrations I did for a greeting card line that I'm working on. I think they are pretty cool.

see ya next time!

When I was about 5 I think, I desperately wanted to be a pirate and have the hat and everything. - Kiera Knightley

Bear with me, this post will brought to you in pirate-0-vision...

AVAST! 'Tis TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!! Arrrr, what fun this day be. All across the vast seas, scallawags are setting sail and living the pirate life. Mayhap, yer friends and neighbors have been talking ter, sending emails ter , an' leavin' voicemails fer ye in pirate lingo, and ye've been wondering, 'what're they on about, buncha daft buggers...' This be what! 'Tis the second best unoffcial/official horliday that exists on the open seas... If'n yer wantin' to know what all the buggaboo is, direct yer attention to the link above, matey.

In honor of this fine occasion, I created me own version of the beloved Jolly Roger. I'll be tinkerin' wit' it, and mebbe I'll make a desktop fer all you fancy lads and landlubbers out there. I ye better like it, mates or I'll run ye thru wit' me cutlass ye scurvy dogs!

When we played softball, I'd steal second base, feel guilty and go back. - Woody Allen

Wow. Long time, no see, huh? If anyone's still reading this, congratulations, you're more dedicated than I am. :)

Well, Phoenix Comicon is just around the corner. We've been working our asses off on this convention, and I think it's gonna pay off. The past few weeks have been a bit different for me, as I've been designing the program guide exclusively. No meetings, no prizes, nothing. Just the guide. And I gotta say; it's looking damned sweet. I'd hate to brag, but I think it's gonna be one of the best looking program guides out there right now. We've got Mike Mayhew doing our cover, too. So, that's awesome. GET YER TICKETS!!!!

So this past week, Ashlie and I went to the first baseball game I've been to since I was a wee-lad and went to see the Rockies back when they were still at Mile-High Stadium (before Coors Field was built). We went to see the Diamondbacks get stomped by the Padres. It was fun. I'm not into sports really, but even I was getting into it, and yelling at the players, and cheering. I'll post some pics later.

Comics: I love 'em. Wasn't sure if I'd said that yet. Between Ash and I, we get 32 monthly comics. Not including miniseries, and oneshots. So, I figured that if there was anyone who reads this blog who is uninitiated, I'd give a rundown of some of my favorites.

Birds of Prey (DC): This is an awesome book. I originally grabbed it off the stands to show my girlfriend (now wife), to get her into comics. It's a girl comic, what do I (hardcore fanboy from way back) care about a girl comic. WRONG. This is consistently one of the best books out there. Gail Simone writes it, and they've gone through a few artists since we started reading, but it's always damned entertaining. Simone makes you care about these women as she puts them through their paces every month. Good stuff.
Ulitmate Spider-man (Marvel): This book really boils Spider-man down to his essence. It's a well-crafted story, written by master Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mark Bagley (who is leaving the title @ issue #110. I'm very sad about this, BTW). Bendis and Bagley have taken Lee and Ditko's seminal creation and truly made it theirs, without completely ruining what makes the character great in the first place.
I'll have more next time. Maybe I can make this a recurring thing? Let me know if you out thar in the internets would like that.

ART TIME!!!!

Waddaya know I have some new art to share!!11!!11!!!!!ELEVEN!!! Woot. So, what to tell ya... This is something I came up with this morning. I kinda like it, and I may make it into a shirt design (if I can ever get the frakatka cafe press thing to work...:(). Everyone say 'HI' to Clucky!