From The Archives 15

It's been a while since I've put up a "From the Archives" post. This one comes from the dawn of time and is something of a super geeky origin story as well. Below is one of the first professional bits of writing I ever did -- professional in the sense that I received money for something I wrote.

The piece comes from the January 1980 issue of Boy's Life magazine, the magazine for Boy Scouts of America, of which I was one. This issue came out when I was in Junior High School and all of thirteen years old. It was a tiny tidbit that was part of the monthly "Stamps and Coins" column. I actually wrote a number of these which saw print, and am not sure if this is actually the first one I contributed. It's the only one I could find though.

Yes, it was an unassuming, humble beginning, but I applaud the editors for encouraging kids to research and submit these little entries by paying them for the work. It was the first money I'd earned that didn't involve yard work or washing dishes, and while $5.00 doesn't seem like a lot now, back then I could buy two books or a record for that money.

So, without further ado, here's my contribution to the January 1980 "Stamps and Coins" for Boy's Life.

I like to think I've improved since then.

This Blog Turns Six Today

Six years is hardly a milestone, but it's the first year I happened to notice when the anniversary of this blog took place. Initially begun with the intention of solely promoting new work of mine as it became available, this blog quickly morphed into something not quite so commercial and a bit more personal.

While many of the posts were announcements that the latest issue of a comic book series I was working on was now available for purchase, or that a television episode I wrote was airing, more and more of the posts ended up connecting to things that have influenced me and my work over the years, particularly the stuff that shaped me as a child, so suddenly there were posts on children's books that had an impact on me as well as posts celebrating the birthdays of figures whose work had their own influences on me, and the dark reverse side of that coin, posts marking the deaths of those who meant something to me whether I knew them in person or only through their work.

I also began to give a look back stage into the processes that I go through in producing my own work, which led to a companion blog aimed at kids which introduces them to as much material as I can come up with connected to visual storytelling. With that spirit of sharing in the process behind why and how I do things to create my work, for this anniversary I've decided to direct you to some of the material that I've posted here from the past six years that I think is most significant to the evolution of this blog.

1. Fun with Scissors - While 2005 had no posts worth revisiting (or even initially visiting), in January 2006 I began a series of posts that would slowly peter out to a halt at 121 in November 2009. Most of these posts happened in 2006. This was a daily collage of various tv cartoon characters that I created in real time each day until I got too busy with other things and had to let it fall by the wayside. This proved to be a popular series, and if you search for any random cartoon character, you are likely to find one of my collages as an example (sometimes the only example) which made it something of a useful resource. It brought in a regular stream of visitors, some of whom still stop by on a regular basis and led to some sales and some commissions. Many of these collages are still available for purchase at very affordable prices here.

2. The Children's Book Display - I created for the now, sadly, defunct Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor,  Michigan. This was the first time I'd ever constructed anything like this and I pretty much made up how to do it as I went along. I also took the time to record and share the process here from start to completion. This was the first time I shared the process of how I did anything. I did many more installations and illustrations for Shaman Drum which can be found here.

3. Countdown to Halloween - In 2006, myself and a handful of like-minded individuals independently posted our own 31 daily posts counting down the days to Halloween (my favorite holiday). Some of us were already in contact with each other, others found us (or vice versa) as the month progressed. The following year a formal list of links of participants was put together, followed by an official blog of its own. It is now an annual online event attracting over 250 participants last year and countless visitors. I'm proud to be one of the founding fathers of this event and to see it grow in popularity year after year.

4. Star Wars 30th Anniversary - In 2007, Star Wars (or as it's now known Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) turned 30 years old. When that movie was first released I was at exactly the right age for it and it had a huge impact on me mostly because it was the first movie I'd seen set in a non-existent place that presented it that location as completely convincingly real. Unlike the usual gleaming, new, sterile white locations of most science fiction, in Star Wars everything looked, and sounded, like it really worked and had been used, and repaired a lot. This was a universe that real characters lived in. Every editor I've worked with, and many of my fans, have praised my world building abilities in my work. Thank this movie for it. For the entire month I put up a daily post on some aspect of Star Wars. In 2010 I did the same for the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back no doubt I'll carry on in 2013 when Return of the Jedi turns 30.

5. Semi-Regular Features - Throughout the years, I've tried to settle into a schedule of regular posts of a particular type with mixed results. The first attempt, Random Objects in my Office never came close to having any regularity.  The second of my regular planned features, From the Archives grew out of my occasional postings of odd, or interesting items associated with some past project of mine. I later decided I was going to run this feature every Thursday, but didn't stick to that either. Right now I'm hoping to get it at least on a monthly schedule, and hopefully, bi-weekly. The most successful in both terms of regularly keeping to a set schedule, and usage, is my ongoing Ask Me Anything series, where visitors can literally ask me anything and I will answer. This post goes up on the first Monday of every month except October. My answers follow any time during the course of the month the questions are asked.

6. My second most popular post far above any other in terms of visits, except for this one which brought in more traffic over two days than this blog usually sees in months. Thousands of people stopped in to take a look at that collage thanks to Pee-Wee Herman himself, who kindly shared that collage on his social media sites including his facebook and twitter accounts.


So now, for the years to come, and in an ongoing effort to improve this blog, I ask you what you'd like to see that I haven't done yet, what you'd like to see more of that I have done, and what you'd like to see less of. Brutal honesty is best here.

4 Questions, 4 Answers

Ben Z. asks...

1) Supposing you are in the deep woods of Michigan, how are the ticks this year? Do you have struggles with ticks, and if so, how do you approach the struggles? 


That biographical information about me on my website was not entirely true. I did live in Michigan for a time, but not in the deep woods. That photograph that allegedly is me was chosen because it looked nothing like me and that man looked like a real character. I live in New England now pretty well surrounded by woods and the ticks are a huge annoyance. You can't walk outside without picking at least one of them up. The deer ticks are not much bigger than this: .  so it's not easy to find them on you and they are the ones to worry about. I blame the mild winter. 


I usually deal with them by staking a small child down to the ground and once all of the ticks have attached themselves onto he/she, I know it's safe to go outside. 

2) Do you feel the scripts for Kobalt #17-19 could be successfully reconfigured to feature new characters (other Company characters or ones that you own)? Or were the scripts only viable with the Kobalt character and in the context of the 16 other issues?


I don't think it would be impossible to reconfigure those scripts for other characters, but there isn't as much point to doing it. They were really meant to serve Kobalt. One of the stories I did reconfigure as what would have been Midnight, Mass. #9. Sadly that series ended with issue #8. It worked really well for Midnight, Mass., and was probably truer to that particular series, but it was actually a stronger issue of Kobalt. I've taken the villain for that story and decided to include them in a young adult novel I've been slowly pulling the pieces together for. Don't look for it anytime soon. 

3) Have you ever considered a creator-owned series that used your ideas for the post-Morrison Doom Patrol as a starting point? 


Not really. Most of the ideas I had for that series were very specific to the Doom Patrol and its characters. Some of the material was cannibalized for Xombi, and some of it was going to wind up in Midnight, Mass., had that series continued. Some of it may end up in something else I'm working on, but it's really pulling out bits and pieces and applying them to other material rather than using them as a starting point to develop new characters and a new series around. 


The way I approach writing a comic book series is to start with the characters first and then come up with plots that bring out some aspect of the characters, or serve to change or develop them. Because of this, most of the plots I come up with are designed to be strong stories for the characters that would be taking part in them and not necessarily plots that could easily be transplanted to another character. 


When I come up with a new series I usually start completely fresh, developing characters that will serve the idea I have for a series, and then coming up with stories that will drive both the idea of the series and the characters created for it. If an old unused plot happens to be something that can serve that purpose, I'll retool it and use it on a new project, but usually it's in a form that is very different from the original plans for it.


4) Would you be able to endorse any current comic series being published outside of The Big Two?


I don't have a comic book store closer than about an hour away, so I'm not really seeing anything unless it's collected in book form, and most of what I'm buying that way are archival reprints such as the Creepy and Eerie archives, the Little Lulu collections and the Dell/Gold Key material such as Turok: Son of Stone and The Mighty Samson coming out of Dark Horse or the Carl Barks and Mickey Mouse reprints coming out of Fantagraphics. I have been keeping up with Hellboy/B.P.R.D. in book form, which I am always happy to recommend.


I'm also regularly following Drazen Kozjan's  The Happy Undertaker which I also really like. 


I see so little new stuff that I couldn't even recommend anything from the big two at this time. 

From the Archives - 16

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last posted a "From the Archives" entry. Here's a little something from the mid-late 1990s.

This is presentation material for a proposed graphic novel written by me with art by J. J. Birch, my artist from the first incarnation of Xombi.

The project began as a multi-part serial story for a proposed comics magazine along the lines of Heavy Metal, which never came to be. The first ten page installment was completely written, drawn and lettered. The material was then used as a starting point for a potential graphic novel being shopped around to investors by the same individual behind the magazine. Nothing wound up coming of it, but the material is still relevant, and if I can ever locate J. J. Birch, I may still try and do something with it, which is why I'm not including the actual story material here.

Instead, here is some more of the presentation material.

From the Archives 7

Another bit of XOMBI history from late 1995. This was the rough mockup for an ad promoting the series. It used artwork by J.J. Birch from the cover of issue #19 along with a quote by Harlan Ellison. This ad was probably thrown together before issue #19 hit stands, since the reason it was never used is that XOMBI was soon cancelled ending in a double-sized issue #21.

I was, and still am, thrilled with the quote from Harlan Ellison, the second of two he provided to support the series (the first appears on the cover of XOMBI #16). Harlan was always a literary hero of mine, so discovering his enthusiasm for something I was writing was a big deal to me and really added pressure to keep up the quality of the work. I can't thank him enough for all of the plugging and promoting of XOMBI that he did all on his own. He seems to generate a lot of horror stories from people, but I simply find him to be someone who is simply honest. If he thinks something, or someone is worth his time, he will give his all to that thing or person. If something falls short for him, he'll let you know and want no more to do with it. I had a great phone conversation with him while I was writing THE X-FILES comic book series in which he expressed his extreme disappointment in the work I was doing there. Everything he said was right on the money and tied in to the usual restrictions that come with playing with someone else's licensed characters, especially when those characters are on what is currently the hottest tv show on. There's not much you are allowed to do with such a property, and my hands were tied. Again, upon hearing this he was equally as supportive as any other time I've talked to him. I didn't find his dismissal of my work on the X-Files to be a nasty rant, but simply the opinion of someone who was disappointed because they knew I could have been doing so much better. And he was right.

From the Archives 11

The above is a portrait of Lydia Lunch created by J. K. Potter whose strange photographic illustrations were created without the use of a computer which makes them all the more remarkable. I met him when I was buying a large photographic print of the above piece at a gallery show of his work in New York City in the mid-1990s. He was a very likeable guy, and was pleased when I informed him that this piece inspired the creation of two characters from the then current original run of Xombi (he was more pleased to discover that I'd actually credited him in print for this); Manuel Dexterity and his sinister sister Manuella.

Manuel Dexterity and Manuella were two of the more popular creations from the original run, though their appearances were brief. Manuel was the focus of a single issue, while Manuella was seeded through a few subsequent issues in the same storyline. As characters there wasn't much to them. Both were bizarre assassins, and neither spoke their own words. Manuel only spoke the innermost regrets of his victims. But as visual elements, these hand-centaurs were pretty cool to look at. They would have made some truly creepy action figures.

The scene depicting their birth led to the only real incidence of censorship that I encountered while working at Milestone, but that as they say is a story for another day.

From the Archives 6

Back in 1998, I was one of the guests at  X-PO Los Angeles, one of the stops on the X-Files 10 City tour. The convention was held a bit south of Los Angeles in the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station's immense Hangar 2 on March 14-15. The hangar, used for housing blimps, was perfect for the occasion, and was actually used briefly in an episode the following season.

Aside from myself, Steven Williams (X) , Mitch Pileggi (Assistant Director Walter B. Skinner), William B. Davis (The Cigarette Smoking Man) and Dean Hagland (Langly) were all on hand as were show writers/producers Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Andy Meisler.

I spent most of the time signing a lot of comic books. What I found bizarre is that this was a convention aimed at the hardcore X-philes, but most of them I talked to had no idea that there was a comic book based on the show, and the comic book was well under way at this point (and in fact would be coming to an end not too much later). I did not get to see much of the convention itself since I was so busy, nor did I get to watch the other guests talk and perform for the guests. The writers (excepting Andy) I all knew from my interactions with them during my frequent visits to the X-Files production offices. With the exception of Steven Williams (whom I only met fleetingly) I did get to spend a good deal of time with the other actors in VIP lounge area. All were the friendliest people you can imagine, and I only wish that my good friend, Steve Kriozere had been a better photographer so I could share the chummy photos of myself with Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis.

The people who ran the convention did a fantastic job, and everyone I met was great. One of the centerpieces was a photo-op in a green screen version of Mulder's office. I also have another shot of me tossing the pencils into the ceiling panels.


    

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1

Image source

Welcome to the 6th annual Halloween Countdown. Every day throughout the month of October I'll be posting a variety of tricks and treats for your enjoyment. This means that it will be a month long holiday from the usual business at this blog such as "Ask Me Anything" which will resume the first Monday of November.

What you'll find instead are a wide range of posts pertaining to all manner of creepy seasonal things. I'm continuing to do post about my daily movie viewing throughout the month. Hopefully you'll find more recommendations of horror movies to watch than horror movies to avoid at all costs. There will be one new feature added this year, which will continue into next year. People really responded to the daily Halloween riddle that ran during the 2007 - 2009 Halloween Countdowns. I really wanted to add something again that unified the countdown here as a themed regular daily feature. So this year I bring you...

Free Halloween print and cut-out masks. Every day this blog will feature one, sometimes more, Halloween masks that you can print out at home, cut out, and wear. This is perfect for those last minute costume parties you aren't prepared for.

Finally, for anyone who wants to join me on facebook I'll be featuring a different Halloween related video there every day throughout October. Be sure to mention the Halloween Countdown if you choose to friend me there.

New this year is my companion blog The Grim Gallery a place where I'm posting all of my thousands of weird photos and images of monsters and other strange beings at a rate of one a day. This month's posts all lean towards being relevant to Halloween.

You can also peruse my past halloween Countdowns by checking the October archives from the years 2006-2010 in the archives to the of this post.

Also be sure to check out Countdown to Halloween where you'll find links to hundreds of other blogs and websites participating in this year's countdown as well as contests and cool merchandise to spook up your home for Halloween.

Now for the first treat I'm going to drop in your bucket.

I'd like to recommend to everyone who is enamored with Halloween Lesley Bannatyne's book Halloween Nation. Bannatyne has written, or edited several books about Halloween (including this one).  Halloween Nation takes an in depth and fascinating look into what Halloween means today to all of the adults who celebrate it with exuberant devotion. She interviews artists, musicians, spirit mediums, parade organizers, prop builders, yard haunters, zombie walkers, collectors and others in her entertaining and enlightening quest to document Halloween in the modern world.



    

From the Archives 13

Continuing with the lead up to the release of STATIC SHOCK #1 on September 7th, I thought it was time to bring out a look at the cover to Kobalt #7 from December, 1994. Published by Milestone Media, this issue features the first time I wrote the character of Static. This was a done in one story in which Kobalt's bumbling sidekick, Page, sort of teams up with the much more competent, Static to deal with the aggressive, Blowfly. The story was very light, and comedic in tone and played off some of the cliches of the teenage superhero as well as some of the drawbacks of being a hormonally activated teenage boy wearing a skin tight costume. Blowfly wasn't really a villain per se, but a student who had been transformed into a disgusting human fly and was more of a danger because of his condition and less of a threat through ill will.

The art was by Jamal Igle, who has grown tremendously as an artist and become one of today's superstar comic book illustrators.

I'd always wanted to revisit the character of Static, and this story was supposed to generate a sequel about a villain who was disappointed that the future that was promised him was never delivered as we approached the year 2000 and didn't have flying cars, moon bases, or underwater cities. When the kids at Static's and Page's high school decide to put on a production of Hair, the villain snaps and decides to punish the play. With the cancellation of Kobalt and the winding down of Milestone, the story never came to pass.

Again, this was to be comical in nature. The story could never happen now. Not only was it really tuned towards the upcoming millennial change and the traditional notion of the year 2000 always having previously seemed so futuristic, but now with aggressive litigation and rights issues, we'd never be able to use a real, known musical, such as Hair as a central plot element.

From the Archives 1

I've returned, not exactly well-rested, but bearing gifts of negligible value. I spent some time digging through stored files and came across a bunch of rare stuff that may be of interest to fans of XOMBI, KOBALT, and my work in general.

I'll be posting some of it here periodically, but the bulk of it will wind up in the improved "Writing" section of the website, which will hopefully be all shiny and new by summer's end.

Today's offering is a sample of "Date Due" a comic strip I used to due for the amusement of myself, friends, and colleagues, way back when I worked at the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at NYU. The strips were obviously drawn on the date due slips from the library books (hence the name) and varied in quality depending on how quickly i was trying to get them done between visits by patrons to the circulation desk.

Most of the stories ran several pages in length, and were pretty random in their content. Eventually, most of the stories centered around three kids, Randy (seen here), Barry, and Travis. While no date was given, based on their toys and interests, and despite numerous anachronisms, it was clearly the early to mid-1970s, a period I was well familiar with.

I realize that some of the dialogue is hard to read. So, the bottom tier reads like this:

Panel 7:

Randy: "Then some zombies to eat it."

Sara: "Randy! Stop, you're ruining it!"

Panel 8:

Randy: "Okay! Okay!"

Mrs. Marlette: "Sara! What are you doing? You're supposed to be putting a brain on your paper."

Sara: "I'm working on it!"

If there is any other dialogue difficult to decipher, please let me know.

From The Archives 16

I had originally planned to post this when I learned that the brilliant French artist, Moebius died several weeks ago, but could not find the image.

This is a poster that Moebius created for Milestone Media back in 1994-1995 for the comic book series, Xombi, which I wrote. The poster features Xombi, David Kim holding a wooden staff/walking stick which was featured in some of of the concept art and because of that on a number of covers and this poster. The staff never featured in the comics (though I think artist J.J. Birch drew it leaning against a wall in David's apartment in one issue as a joke. We toyed with revealing that it was one of those rain sticks that sound vaguely like rain when you turn them over on end. I think Dwayne McDuffie said that the original idea was that it was part of a caduceus that was meant to appear as a visual element meant to indicate that David's healing powers were activated.

Another weird bit about this poster concerns David's appearance which is very unlike his appearance in the comics. It turns out that Moebius was working from some old sketches for the character when he was meant to be African-American, David Saunders. When a request was made to correct this Moebius elected not to redraw David's face, but simply to color his skin with a different palette.

I know Dwayne was really disappointed with how this turned out and, admittedly, so was I. On one hand it was amazing to have Moebius depicting a character that was very much mine, but it would have been even more amazing if the artwork actually looked like the character it was meant to represent.

I don't know how well this poster sold at the time. Probably not that well would be my guess. It does show up on ebay every now and then which is where the above image came from. I do own this poster, but have never felt compelled to get it framed.

From the Archives 2

The above comic book is not the first issue of DEXTER'S LABORATORY published by DC Comics. It's actually a premium that was given out by Burger King in 2002. I suspect this would make it the most widely read Dexter's Laboratory comic of all time.

Inside it contains two Dexter stories reprinted from the regular monthly DEXTER's LABORATORY comic book. One is "Spoonj" by Bobbi JG Weiss, Chris Savino, Jeff Albrecht, Ryan Cline, Lee and Loughridge. The other is "Bubble Boy" written by me with pencils by Mike Manley, inks by Jeff Albrecht, letters by Ken Bruzenak, and colors by Zylonol Studio. "Bubble Boy" was one of my more popular Dexter stories and this was the third of three times it was printed. The story debuted in DEXTER'S LABORATORY #7 (March 2000), and was  reprinted in THE POWERPUFF GIRLS DOUBLE WHAMMY #1 (December 2000).

The stories in the Burger King premium were flanked by a coloring page and a word search puzzle. There are no ads except for an ad on the back cover for Burger King's Big Kids meal.

From the Archives 5

Like last week's "From the Archives" the above was done as a contest prize for HERO magazine. In this case the contest was meant to promote my other series at Milestone, XOMBI. The artwork was done by regular XOMBI artist J.J. Birch and depicts teh title character, David Kim fleeing from one of the kinderessen, a group of child eating monsters which debuted in XOMBI #13, then reappeared in issues #15 and #16 as part of a brief story arc connected to a company wide crossover event called "The Long Hot Summer."

Rewarding Comic Book Work

Shawn Robare asked what comic book writing gig has been the most rewarding to me personally.

While many might thing my answer would be Midnight, Mass., the comic book series I wrote for Vertigo in the early 2000s, they would be wrong. While I did create the series, and had been eager to do it for years before it finally hit stands, Midnight, Mass. went through a lot of difficulties at Vertigo before it ever hit stands, and both the initial 8-issue run and it's follow up mini-series Midnight, Mass. - Here There Be Monsters suffered from these difficulties.

My actual answer on what comic book work was most personally rewarding is twofold. On one hand I'd have to say it was Xombi a series I wrote for Milestone Media in the mid 1990s that had a 22 issue run. This series was pure me without any interference whatsoever. I had nothing but pleasurable experiences with everyone involved, particularly artist J.J. Birch, and if I could return to writing one series it would be this one. I'd love to finish what I'd planned. I suspect though That I would not be allowed the same level of freedom that I had then. My favorite issue was not issue #6, which is the issue almost everyone chooses not just as my best issue of Xombi, but my best work overall. (Issue #6 is included in the Brave and the Bold: Milestone trade paperback collection). My favorite issue was the Xombi Hanukkah Special which was illustrated by Guy Davis with color by Noelle Giddings) which was completed but never published. For the first time anywhere you can see a page from this unpublished issue below.

The second part of my answer will probably surprise most everyone. For sheer variety of satisfying stories I have to say that the work I did for the comic book incarnation of Dexter's Laboratory was probably my most satisfying work. The drawback in writing so many all ages comics, such as Dexter's Laboratory, is that no adults really read them, certainly not anyone who reviews comics professionally, nor probably anyone who edits them. The general attitude seems to be that these comics are the equivalent of Disney straight to video sequels, disposable dreck meant for an undiscerning audience. I've always found this funny in light of how seriously books like Deadpool or Gen 13, or any superhero title  are taken. What that also means is that the most significant body of work to my name has gone ignored, or dismissed altogether. Unlike Scooby-Doo, there is no real formula to follow in writing Dexter's Laboratory, and pretty much anything, no matter how zany, so long as it's true to the characters and the spirit of the property, was okay to do. This in itself made it a lot of fun. The trick was that a measure of the television show's strength came from how it used beats of movement vs no-movement, reactions, and cycles of movement. It also had those vocal performances and music. These are things we didn't have, but I think we captured the spirit of the show in the most true fashion that a comic book version of it could.

Issues of Dexter's Laboratory are probably pretty cheap on ebay. To see which issues I wrote visit my comic book archives.

      

From the Archives 3

The above sketch goes back to around 1995. This was my concept for an extra-terrestrial that would briefly appear in XOMBI #19 (this story was originally slated as issue #16, as exidenced by my note on the sketch, however this storyline was bumped three issues to accommodate a three issue tie-in to the company wide crossover "The Long Hot Summer"). I wanted something completely alien, and only with only the most rudimentary humanoid appearance in the sense that it had arms and a head and clothing. It took a while to mentally achieve what I was looking for. Inspiration came while I was standing within the door of, I believe Midtown Comics, in Manhattan, where there was a poster of the Roger Dean painting "Tsunami,"(seen below) taped to the wall.

Something about the vertical rock structure on the middle right suggested a head in profile to me, with the stone archway suggesting a flowing cape. That was when the lightbulb went off. When I went home, I took that basic shape and broke it down further to what you see above.

Here's how the alien appeared in the actual issue  as drawn by  J. J. Birch and colored by Noelle Giddings. It is accompanied by a cat woman based on Joan Chen and a creepy old man, inspired by Vincent Price, with his underage consort. The guy with the ears is a bellhop.

I also wanted the alien's language to be completely alien, and we did this by just using color to represent it. The idea was that it spoke in vibrations through the leaf-like digits of its "hands" which are placed on each side of the person it's talking to, like stereo speakers. Somehow it was also able to covey its language to the listener so that they understood it without translation. The extra-terrestrial only appeared in a couple other panels where it's seen sitting at a dinner table, though we don't see what is on its plate.

This extra-terrestrial was really only a throw away character, but I've always been pretty fond of it.

From the Archives 12

Here's something from the dawn of time, or at least April 1996. This is the one issue of Daredevil I wrote where my instructions were to make Matt Murdock/Daredevil lighter in tone, which made him essentially Spider-Man. I don't know if that lighter condition of his lasted longer. At the time I wasn't reading a lot of comics. Marvel editor, James Felder invited me in to do this. I don't recall the circumstances, but at the time I wrote a number of fill-in issues for Marvel because I was known as someone who could come in at the last minute and deliver a decent story fast. Because of this my memory regarding these issues is pretty lacking (as evidenced in this 2001 interview with me for Man Without Fear). Shawn McManus provided the lovely art.

It was one of the last things I wrote for Marvel. I ended up leaving because this was during the time that Marvel was going through a lot of turmoil with bankruptcy and changing ownership, including a time where Toy-Biz was dictating what characters could be used in stories based on which action figures they had scheduled to produce. This was what got me to leave them. No list was made available of which characters could be used. You simply had to pitch a story, which was then run by them for approval. it was too much work with almost no return.

Ask Me Anything #16

As everyone slowly recovers from the holidays, it's time once again for "Ask Me Anything." This feature runs on the first Monday of every month and gives you the opportunity to ask me anything you might be wondering about me, my work, my favorite stuff of 2011, or anything at all.  I've already said this twice previously and failed to deliver, but this month I swear I'll also be responding to a couple of questions from previous editions of "Ask Me Anything" that I've been remiss in answering, and had intended to get to before my work schedule and the holidays got the best of me. 

Head down to the comment section and post your question. I'll either post my answer in the comment section as well, or answer it in a special post all its own sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones. all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10,  #11,  #12 , #13, #14 and #15.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.

Now ask away.

From the Archives 8

In lieu of any major announcements concerning the forthcoming new XOMBI series from DC Comics, I decided to share a drawing made for me around 1994-1995, when the previous incarnation of XOMBI was in progress. I have a number of sketches of XOMBI characters done by some impressive comic book artists who never worked on the series itself. This drawing of Catholic Girl by Adam Hughes is one of my very favorites. First, it's just an absolutely amazing drawing of her. Nobody in comics is able to depict women like Adam Hughes. Second, it has great attitude and a sense of humor. Third, it is likely the only piece of art by Adam Hughes depicting a flat chested heroine. If Catholic Girl ever gets her own mini-series, I know who I want to handle the cover art.

Regarding the forthcoming XOMBI series, I can offer up a few tidbits. I have now written the scripts for the first two issues. There is an exciting artist working on the series. I can't tell you who it is yet. Because there's been a bit of panic because XOMBI did not appear in the February solicitations as was initially announced, fear not, it's launch has been pushed back to give the artist time to give it his all rather than rush them for a February debut. XOMBI is still coming. You just have to wait a little longer, but it will be worth the wait.

From the Archives 9

   

It's been a while since I've visited the archives here, hopefully I'll get this feature back on track on a regular schedule here. Here's a little something from 1994. This comes from DC Direct Currents #75 with a June 1994 cover date. This was a free publication that was available in comic book stores before the internet. It showcased all of the titles published by DC for a given month. This information is now available on DC's website.  

This particular issue ran a two page feature promoting the titles in Milestone Media's "second wave," introducing these three titles to potential new readers. The three titles were Xombi, Kobalt (both of which I wrote), and Shadow Cabinet (which I did not). All the Milestone Books that month featured a cover by John Byrne. 

Fun With Scissors - part 100

Choosing a worthy character for the 100th post was a tough choice. I didn't know who was going to do until the last second. I'd toyed with picking some lame arbitrary character, but am glad I didn't.

Here's Red Hot Riding Hood from the classic Tex Avery cartoon of the same name.

Before you pop that champagne cork, I feel a need to let you know that this will be the last Fun With Scissors post until mid-July. When it resumes, it most likely will not be on a daily basis. The reason for this long break is that I have numerous paying projects which require my attention, and trying to juggle them and a daily collage has been exhausting to the point where I ceased having fun about two weeks ago.

I'm taking this time to hopefully, finish these various projects, as well as take some time here and there to relax, something that I'd not been doing so that I could get these daily cartoon characters done.

In the meantime, I will still be adding posts to this site, including, hopefully, some more involved collage pieces, as well as a pretty cool announcement of an upcoming writing project, once the final pieces are in place.

I thank all of you who have visited, especially the regulars. Thank you for the comments, and please continue to visit. Now's a good time for anyone who came in late to go through the archives and see what you missed. I'll move some of these pieces over to the art section of the main website, which I'm also hoping to get refurbished by the end of the summer with poor Scottra doing most of the work. It's something we've talked about doing for a long time now. I figure why put it off any longer.