Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Happy Holidays!





My gift to you is this beautiful Eyvind Earle painting.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Sinking Snowman






Over the last couple of winters we got plenty of snow but almost all of it was that crappy dry snow that you can't do anything fun with. Last year, I think, we only had one day with decent snowball and snowman making snow.


This picture is not from that day.


On this day, there was only enough wet snow for my kids to cobble together this snowman head before giving up in frustration. They abandoned him on the lawn with two spindly sticks for arms stuck in the snow on either side. This made the whole thing even better. The failed snowman was now "snowman sinking in quicksand (or quicksnow, I suppose)" which immediately made me think of all those great snowmen from "Calvin and Hobbes." I think the expression on this snowman's face is perfect for his situation.

Mystery Solved!






The past couple of months I mentioned that I'd not received copies of issues of "Scooby-Doo" that featured stories I wrote. It turns out that it's because those issues never actually shipped. "Scooby-Doo" has been on a bit of an unplanned hiatus. If you want a reason, you'll have to ask DC. It's not my place to tell.

So, for both of you who went to your local comic book store to buy those issues only to leave empty handed, I apologize for sending you on a fool's errand. Hopefully you found some other outstanding comics to read. Issues # 137 and 138 of "Scooby-Doo" will be published in the early Spring as Issues #142 and #143. Right now reprint issues are being run in place of new material. Most likely those reprint issues also contain work of mine, so it may be worth a look for you anyway.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I Obtain My Own Theme Park ---


---well, at least for a year, but it's a fantastic theme park.

Feel free to start grovelling for discount admission tickets any time now.

Available Today












You can find a copy of "Cartoon Network Action Pack" #32 which features an adventure of "The Secret Saturdays" written by me. This time Zak, Fiskerton and Komodo encounter some new cryptids and battle V.V. Argost over the Kur stone.

Friday, December 05, 2008

R.I.P. Forrest J Ackerman 1916-2008




The knowledge that this day was coming has only slightly lessened the blow of actually finding out that FJA has finally been spirited away by Prince Sirki as he would have put it in the obituary pages of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. Just two minutes shy of Midnight on Thursday, December 4th, Forry went gently into the night.

I cannot stress how important this man was in my life. He was like the Walt Disney of the monster set, but unlike Walt who seemed as remote as the President of the United States, Forry seemed completely accessible, and he was. He's probably had the biggest influence on shaping my career path out of anyone, and I deeply cherish the times I got to spend with him in person, and especially all those Friday night calls I made to him when I was 12, and he patiently answered all of my questions about the Universal Monsters and Boris Karloff and how he felt about the more recent horror and science fiction movies vs the older ones. He really did seem like an uncle to me back then, a distant relative who understood my affinity for monsters and actually knew what I was talking about when I asked questions about them. He was also very encouraging, and made it seem not so far fetched that somehow I could turn all of my weird obsessions into a viable livelihood, something that brought concern from many of the other adults in my life at the time.

I also know I'm only one of thousands of people who's lives were changed by this man, and to all of you others, your pain is mine.

Forry I raise my glass to you.

Good-bye, my friend.