Absentminded

I haven't forgotten to conduct my little experiment in ambidexterity.

In fact, I've conducted it. I did a generic head shot today with my left hand. Not really sure what I think of it but I never usually like the way things look when I draw with my right hand either.

I should have time tomorrow to scan and post it and I'll try to ink it this week, too. It's tempting to go back in and start tweaking things and correcting the drawing in right-handed fashion but I'm planning on inking it right handed anyway so...I'll just do it in ink. I also suspect that I'll transform this generic sketch into a Superman drawing while I ink it because I'm gay for Superman.

I have noticed that because I do work primarily in brush and ink that I no longer have any patience with pencil. I crave the bold, final line that ink supplies and have lost the ability to pencil tightly somewhere along the way. Now, in those rare times when I actually draw something, I pencil as quickly as possible to get it over with and jump right into inking, where I feel the most comfortable.

Any other comic artists have that same tendency?

Ambidexterity

What? I have a blog?? Crikey, I guess I'd better update it.

A little known Keith Champagne factoid is that I'm naturally left-handed, although my mother raised me to be right-handed. I'm not sure why it was important to her and it's not important to me at all but regardless, I have a pretty high level of dexterity with my opposite hand. Growing up, I've always unconsciously done things with my opposite side. I eat left-handed. I'm much more comfortable boxing southpaw. Even playing kickball growing up, I always kicked with my left leg.

I'm goofy, what can I say?

When I was in the Kubert School, I had a teacher named Tex Blaisdell. Tex was a grizzled old cartoonist, equally kind and crusty. Everyone loved him. He had spent most of his career inking, everything from Green Lantern to Superman to Batman during the 60's, 70's, and 80's. He also did a lot of newspaper strips, Little Orphan Annie being one that comes immediately to mind. Tex passed away about six or seven years ago after a lifetime of good, hard living.

Tex was famous for being able to draw equally well with both hands. If I remember the story correctly, he drank his way through a deadline and passed out at his drawing board, his drawing arm pinned underneath his torso. When he woke up however many hours later, his right arm was useless. He had damaged it somehow and it took literally months for his arm to regain its mobility.

So Tex didn't skip a beat. He just taught himself to draw and ink with his left hand and honed his dexterity to such a high level that he was equally skilled with either hand. He used to joke that once his right arm healed, he could work twice as fast. Who knows, maybe he wasn't joking?

This is my long-winded way of saying that, inspired by Tex, this past weekend I started
sketching with my left hand. The end results seem pretty much the same to me, a little looser and sketchier but the information is all there. I think I'm going to continue working this way. I have some wacky theory that drawing with my opposite hand taps into the opposite side of brain and somehow makes me more creative or something weird like that.

So my plan here is to draw something left handed and then ink it with my right and post it up when I'm finished. I don't have a lot of free time to produce artwork when I'm not getting paid for it but hopefully, the experimental nature of this piece will inspire me to see it all the way through.

So stay tuned and let's see what happens.

This means WAR!!

By far, the best thing about the boring UFC 61 fight card on Saturday night was the announcement that PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei "The Ax Murderer" Silva would be invading the octagon in November to fight UFC Middleweight champion Chuck Lidell.

The hardcore MMA fan has been drooling for years at the thought of an interpromotional dream match like this. Hopefully, it's just the tip of the iceberg. My head would probably explode if Fedor Emelianenko, pound for pound the universally agreed upon greatest fighter in the world today, decided to crash the UFC's party and show them how it's really done.

I was going to write about some of the possibilities and ramifications of the Silva/Lidell match until I came across the following post by Zach Arnold at Fightopinion.com. He's much smarter and more well spoken than I am so if this kind of topic interests you, hit the link below.

Exciting times to be an MMA fan. It's gratifying to see the public catch up with the most exciting sport in the world.

http://www.fightopinion.com/2006/07/09/ufc-vs-pride-2/

Absolute Watchmen

I haven't posted anything comic-related in a while so...

I recently received the ABSOLUTE WATCHMEN collection that I ordered from the fine folks at Earth 2 Comics (www.earth2comics.com). Earth 2 is located in Sherman Oaks, CA and Carr and Judd run a great store. I can't recommend their services highly enough so there's a little plug for Earth 2.

I've been slowly rereading WATCHMEN, really enjoying seeing the artwork printed oversized, and have been reminded just how much ass this comic kicks. For a story that I've read fifteen times in the past fifteen years, I'm still seeing new things in the backgrounds or uncovering new subtext in the story. In fact, before I die, I'll probably someday really figure out the pirate comic within the comic.

Much smarter people than me have written about the groundbreaking technical achievements contained between the pages and every word is true. The Rorschach issue, for example, that is laid out so that the second half of the story mirrors the first the way the two halves of a rorschach blot mirror each other is a truly remarkable bit of storytelling. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about trying to plan something like that out. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons threw in everything and the kitchen sink and in spite of all the groundbreaking they were doing, they wisely never forget to center the story around the characters. To me, character should always dictate plot, not vice versa. I think I learned that on a subconscious level from this book when I was a teenager.

Reading it with fresh eyes, I'm also surprised to see how influential Watchmen is. A show like LOST is a great example of this. Take a look at the way they continue to explore the flashback stuff from different perspectives and then see how Watchmen did it, almost twenty years earlier. I'm planning on ripping it off myself in a Green Lantern Christmas story I'll be writing soon, in abbreviated fashion.

For the record, the Dr. Manhattan on Mars issue is my favorite of the series, followed by the Rorschach origin. In fact, those are probably my two favorite single issues of any comic book ever. And I've read a LOT of comics over the years.

I could ramble on all day and not make much sense so I guess what I'm saying is I truly LOVE this book. I remember loving it to death when I was a junior in high school, picking up each issue as they arrived in the stores and I love it even more now. If you're a comic fan and you've never read it, treat yourself. And if you have, go read it again because it's well worth the time.

Keith

Critical Countdown

I've been biding my time before, like the rest of the world, I post my thoughts on the new Superman movie so as not to spoil it. Suffice to say, I liked it quite a bit. It's not a perfect film and I don't agree with every choice Bryan Singer made but it's a worthy restart to the franchise and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

In the meantime, PRIDE FC, the world's largest mixed martial arts organization, held the second round of their open weight grand prix over the weekend in Japan and it was a fantastic card. Anyone that has gotten into MMA with the recent success and rise of the UFC should do themselves a favor and check out a PRIDE card. It's where the big boys play.

I was particularly impressed with Wanderlei Silva's destruction of Japanese heavyweight Kazuyuki Fujita. It was an intriquing match up due to the weight difference (Silva fights at 205 while Fujita is about 40 pounds heavier) and also because Fujita's incredibly thick skull (medically proven in Japan to be thicker than an average human skull) has shown it's almost impossible to knock him out.

Silva didn't manage to knock him out but he did stagger him pretty well late in the first round, unleashing a hurricane of punches, hammerfists, and soccer kicks. Fujita took enough unanswered damage that the referee wisely stopped the fight. Silva moves on to the semi's.

Joining him there will be Josh Barnett, who used the same strategy he tried in his first fight against CroCop to take Mark Hunt down as quickly as possible. He quickly and easily submitted Hunt with a kimura in about two minutes. Barnett looked great physically, in much better shape than he's been in years. He actually almost had abs and considering that his waistline always looks like three spare tires competing for dominance, that's saying something. It looks like he's pretty serious about fighting.

Noguiera and Fabricio Werdum had what I felt was the best fight of the night, a back and forth battle between two world class jiu jitsu fighters. Nog took the decision because, while the fight was standing, his boxing technique was more polished. Their brief exchanges of BJJ technique on the ground were beautiful while they lasted.

Finally, Cro Cop kicked the hell out of Yoshida's leg until he couldn't stand up any longer. Shades of Marco Ruas against Paul Varelens in early UFC. Those leg kicks hurt. I've been hit with a few delivered at half speed in training and couldn't help but wince. I can't imagine what a kick delivered with full CroCrop power must have felt like. Probably a sledgehammer hitting in the exact same spot over and over and over until the leg finally gives out.

It's a fantastic final four. I'm hoping for Silva/Crocop and Barnett/Nogueira in the semi's, mainly because I don't want to see Crocop/Barnett for the third time unless they have to meet in the finals.

The undercard also impressed. I was glad to see Pawel Nastula (Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo) pick up his first win in the Pride ring. He's a tough fighter who's been thrown to the wolves so far. Also good to see Vitor Belfort pick up a win although with Vitor, who knows what will happen next. He's the world's most confusing fighter.

Pride rocks. Check it out sometime.

The Final Cut and other thoughts

I haven't had much of interest to write about lately and haven't had a lot of time to devote to coming up with semi-interesting topics to write about anyway. So, in lieu (spelling?) of anything which is actually interesting, here are some bullet points of random things running through my mind.

I've heard through the rumor mill that my childhood favorite soap opera couple, Patch and Kayla, have returned to the town of Salem on Days Of Our Lives. Yes, I admit that I used to watch Days religiously in my late teens/early college years and still maintain a loose knowledge of the goings on in Salem. I might have to start tuning in again, especially since the rebroadcast on SOAP makes it more convenient to watch at different times.

I'm going to see SUPERMAN RETURNS tomorrow night and am keeping an open mind. Early word from industry friends who have seen advance screenings is that they like but don't love it. Honestly, I'm most jazzed about Marlon Brando's return to the silver screen. I was fascinated by Brando for years and years and years and this is probably the last time I'll ever see a 'new', albeit manufactured, performance from him on the big screen. Being dead will do that to a fellow.

I'm also the world's most faithful Superman fan and I don't need the film to be perfect in order to love it. I just want it to be good and respectful to the characters. I will say before going in that I really wish Lois Lane had been cast older. Even in the previews, she looks like a kid next to everybody else and I already don't buy that she's a single mother of a five-year old. But like I said, I'm keeping an open mind and have my fingers X'ed.

Never in all my life did I imagine there would be so many mixed martial arts cards to watch in such a short span of time. Between the UFC running three full cards in two weeks as well as Pride's fantastic card taking place in Japan this weekend, it's almost an MMA overload. It's a golden age for fans of this little sport.

Finally, I watched a film called The Final Cut with Robin Williams (currently the leading choice to play The Joker in the next Batman film) the other day. I remember when it came out in theaters, taking note of what I felt was an intriguing premise: That a biological camera installed in our heads would record our lives from start to finish and that those memories would be assembled into something like a film for our loved ones to keep for generations on down the line.

The movie itself was a jumbled mess but there was one small scene tucked into it that genuinely touched me. Early on, Robin Williams' character shows his girlfriend a short 'film' he's assembled (he's what's known as a CUTTER, basically an editor of these life films) of an old man at the end of his life, shaving in his bathroom mirror. The film then flashes back 10 or 12 years and we see that same man, younger, in the mirror. These flashbacks continue and the man progressively gets younger until we finally see him at the age of nine, still a boy, trying to shave for the very first time.

I'm not sure what exactly touched me about that sequence except that getting older is one of the main themes I constantly play with in the back of my mind and in my writing. I'm simultaneously fascinated and scared by the idea of aging, losing my youth, and becoming an old man. Seeing an entire life, even a fictional one, condensed into a thirty second span somehow spoke to me. To see where and how a person ends up in life and then flashing back to the beginning of that life, where every door is still open and the future is unwritten...to me that's powerful stuff. Poignant even.

Or maybe it was just the sentimental music playing over the scene. What do I know?

That's all for now.
Keith

Wizard Awards

Do you like me? I mean...really, really like me? Then go vote for me in the Wizard Fan Award Nominations. Here's the link:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazines/wizard/WZfanawards2006.cfm

I'm listed under the category of "Favorite Inker" for my work on JSA. Also, my Image series Armor X can be voted for under "Favorite mini-series." It's not hard to find, it's the first book on the list because it's all alphabetical. If you're feeling particularly warm and fuzzy towards me lately, you can also write me in under the category "Favorite break out talent."

From how this process was explained to me, this nomination ballot is put out there to cull the herd, so to speak. The top vote getters in each category then move on to the actual awards ballot later this summer. I don't realistically expect to win in any category but I would consider it a victory just to be listed on the final ballot along with some really amazingly talented people.

Thanks,
Keith

Late to the party

OK, I'm coming into this one a couple of months late (and if you don't know what this means, you're even more behind the times than I am so get with it, people) but can I just say...

There's motherfuckin' snakes on the motherfuckin' plane!!

I'm there opening night and every friend I have in the world better motherfuckin' be with me.

RIP Tim Hildebrandt

Well, twice in as many weeks, it's eulogy time again.

I found out this afternoon that Tim Hildebrandt passed away at the relatively young age of 67 due to complications from diabetes.

Tim and his twin brother Greg are both internationally renowned fantasy artists. Their most famous works are the original Star Wars poster and the hugely popular series of J.R.R Tolkien calendars they produced in the 70's. Technically, they worked side by side, easel next to easel for most of their professional lives. Occasionally, one would finish whatever painting the other was working on.

On a personal level, I didn't know Tim well but he was my painting teacher in my third year at The Kubert School. I remember him as an easy going fellow, very laid back in his approach to teaching. If you approached him for information, he would gladly share from the reservoir of knowledge he had accumulated over a lifetime of work. If you didn't want to learn, he wasn't going to force it on you. He didn't waste his time with people who weren't interested.

Tim would often come into class and set up 10 or 15 original paintings in the front of the room at the beginning of class, usually whatever he and his brother were working on at the time. They were always gorgeous. Being broke at the time, I used to half-heartedly wish that I could steal one and sell it.

The last time I saw Tim was at the San Diego convention in, I believe, 1994 or 1995. He was signing autographs at the Topps booth next to the Barbi Twins of all people. He graciously pretended to remember me and smiled, shook my hand, and listened politely as I updated him on what I was doing at that time.

I always found the way Tim described his relationship with his brother to be...charming? Beautiful? I don't know the word. They were best friends, creative partners...and they had that psychic twin bond thing you hear about from time to time. It was sort of fantastic and otherwordly and it seemed to fit their roles as fantasy artists.

My heart goes out to his brother most of all.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Hildebrandt.

My friend Dave Baldy(the fellow who is not Burt Reynolds in this picture) recently paid a visit to the set of a film he did some quick rewrite work on. Appearing in this fine motion picture is none other than the legendary Bandit himself. Luckily, there was a camera on set to capture the big moment for all posterity. What are the odds of finding a camera on a movie set? It's almost a miracle.

Not only did Baldy meet Mr. Reynolds, he also lost $200 in poker to Shannon Elizabeth, best known as 'the girl with no shirt on' in several fine feature films, including the first American Pie. Why he didn't charm her into playing strip poker, I'll never know but...to each their own.

I'm pretty sure Baldy is in six foot territory (that's 72 inches for those of you who subscribe to the Metric system), I know he's a couple of inches taller than I am. I was surprised that he absolutely towers over Burt Reynolds in this picture. While it's common knowledge that the magic of movies can make people seem taller than they are, I would also assume that The Bandit has withered with age.

I got a kick out of this picture because let's face it...it will always be cool to meet Burt Reynolds. The only thing that could make Burt Reynolds cooler is if he had made a buddy movie with a monkey at some point.Burt Reynolds + Monkeys = MONEY!

Keeping the pimp hand strong

Because I have this strange compulsion to try and pay my bills in somewhat of a timely fashion, I put up a large auction of JSA artwork on Ebay last night.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JSA-ORIGINAL-ART-10-pages-available-in-one-auction_W0QQitemZ6635500465QQihZ012QQcategoryZ14010QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

OK, I admit I'm just raising extra money to feed my addiction to gambling, pills, and whores. But don't let that stop you from from bidding often and generously.

Keith

Royce Gracie

So Royce Gracie returned to the Octagon and fought Matt Hughes a little over a week ago.

The fight was stopped late in the first round after Hughes took Gracie's back and started raining down punches. The referee stepped in and called a halt to the action in order to save the basically defenseless Royce from taking any permanent damage.

In the aftermath of the fight, many critics now have validation that the newer breed of martial artist is superior to the old guard represented by the fighters of Royce's generation. The almost unanimous consensus going into the fight was that Hughes would dominate, that Royce was behind the curve, that the fight game has changed in the eleven years since Gracie won the first 3 of 4 UFC's.

I still don't know if I agree with that. It's true that father time catches up to all fighters eventually, boxing is riddled with examples that prove that. For whatever reason though, I sort of feel like Royce chose a poor strategy going into this fight. It seemed like he wanted to start slow and wear Hughes down before going for a submission in the later rounds and was caught off guard and overwhelmed early. In a rematch...not that there will ever be one...I might consider putting money on Royce.

I don't have any specific reason why I would still bet on him except that I spent a few hours on Saturday at a jiu jitsu seminar with Royce and about 49 other Gracie Jiu Jitsu students. I'm just awed by the sheer amount of technical knowedge he has locked up in his head, and how clearly and easily he can explain the finer points of different takedowns and submission holds to achieve maximum results. The guy knows his shit, plain and simple. I would speculate that a fighting style founded in Jiu Jitsu, which relies on technique and leverage more than anything else, is something that won't cease to be effective the older the fighter gets.

Youth, speed, strength...these are all things that fade in time. Knowledge though...that never goes out of style and technique can always be refined and built upon, no matter how old we get.

I just realized that I have no real point here. I'm just trying to post something up here to keep the masses placated.

Talk to you soon,
Keith

Alex Toth

I was going to write something about the destruction of legendary MMA fighter Royce Gracie at the hands of Matt Hughes (and I probably still will) but then I learned that Alex Toth passed away yesterday and that's much more important to me.

I'm not one to eulogize, especially someone that I didn't know personally, but I was deeply saddened to hear about the death of Mr. Toth, who passed away yesterday at his drawing table at the age of 78.

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone currently working in the comics field who isn't influenced, directly or indirectly, by the work of Mr. Toth. He's probably best known for his design work on too many classic Hanna Barbera cartoons to name. Some of the more notable ones are Johnny Quest, Space Ghost, Herculoids (my personal favorite cartoon of all time) and Challenge Of The Superfriends (my second favorite). He also had a long career in comics. His last published work (that I've seen) was a Batman: Black and White cover a few years back. Like the best Toth work, the composition was simple, subtle, and perfect. The drawing was refined to the point of being minimalist, which was what made his artwork so great. He drew so much by drawing so little.

Anyway, like I wrote above, you'd be hard pressed to find an artist working in comics today that hasn't either studied Mr. Toth's work or studied the work of an artist who studied Mr. Toth's work. His influence over the last few generations is quiet, yet staggeringly far-reaching. I would list names but really...it's everybody that will ever draw comics, in one way or another.

He was one of the geniuses of our little field and I loved his work. It's sad to lose yet another legendary artist but, in a strange way, I find it comforting that he passed away at his drawing table, doing what he loved. Not to be melodramatic but I can think of a few million worse ways to go and none quite so appropriate.

Thanks for reading,
Keith

Jack...Nicholson?

My son likes to do impressions. He's a fantastic dinosaur, a kitty cat, a dog...

Oh, yeah. And Jack Nicholson.

The Bandit is shrinking

My friend Dave Baldy(the fellow who is not Burt Reynolds in this picture) recently paid a visit to the set of a film he did some quick rewrite work on. Appearing in this fine motion picture is none other than the legendary Bandit himself. Luckily, there was a camera on set to capture the big moment for all posterity. What are the odds of finding a camera on a movie set? It's almost a miracle.

Not only did Baldy meet Mr. Reynolds, he also lost $200 in poker to Shannon Elizabeth, best known as 'the girl with no shirt on' in several fine feature films, including the first American Pie. Why he didn't charm her into playing strip poker, I'll never know but...to each their own.

I'm pretty sure Baldy is in six foot territory (that's 72 inches for those of you who subscribe to the Metric system), I know he's a couple of inches taller than I am. I was surprised that he absolutely towers over Burt Reynolds in this picture. While it's common knowledge that the magic of movies can make people seem taller than they are, I would also assume that The Bandit has withered with age.

I got a kick out of this picture because let's face it...it will always be cool to meet Burt Reynolds. The only thing that could make Burt Reynolds cooler is if he had made a buddy movie with a monkey at some point.

Burt Reynolds + Monkeys = MONEY!

DaVinci Code...RED.

I saw The DaVinci Code tonight.

Anyone who's been paying attention the past week has heard the various film critics panning the film but I'm here to tell you all, brother...

That they're absolutely right. This might have been one of the more boring movies I've ever seen.

I liked the book, didn't love it but it wasn't what I would consider a waste of time. I thought it was very cleverly constructed and admired the way the author wove his fictional tale through all the real world historical Christian conspiracy stuff. The Knights Templar, the Holy Grail, the secret history of Christ...it's all pretty interesting stuff.

Anyway, the movie has all of that in it but still manages to just feel flat. It's a suspense thriller without any suspense or thrills. I like the lady that played Amelie and Magneto is always good. Tom Hanks ( who's gotten awfully chubby since Forrest Gump ran across America) sort of drifted through the movie. His character wasn't much of a protagonist. He just sort of got drawn into this adventure then reacted most of the time. Jean Reno (so great in the Professional) was one of the dumbest cops I've ever seen in a movie. The guy that played Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina, I'm not an idiot) wasn't very creepy and neither was Paul Bettany (although he does have A Beautiful Mind)...but if you like seeing a skinny naked albino whip himself, this is the flick for you, my friend.

If going to a movie and watching actors try really hard to make two and a half hours of expository dialogue sound interesting is your cup of tea, by all means check this one out. If you're interested in all the secret Christian Conspiracy stuff (which I do think is fascinating in its own right), then I guess you might enjoy seeing all the dots connected onscreen. But if you like good movies, go back to that last paragraph where I listed the cast and rent those. This one, you can skip.

Talk to you soon,
Keith

Bear eats Monkey

This is the strangest news story I've read in quite some time. I believe in my heart that the rest of the monkeys will form a gang and, not to long from now, I'll be posting another link entitled "Monkey gang takes revenge!"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060516/ap_on_fe_st/netherlands_bear_eats_monkey

And now, some reviews

While I was at the comics shop for Free Comic Book Day, I picked up a few titles I was interested in. I don't usually do reviews but after posting shorter versions of my thoughts to an email discussion group I belong to, I figured I'd flesh them out a bit and post them here. Just for a change of pace. Anyway, here's what I read...

CIVIL WAR #1

I don't know jack about what's going on in the Marvel Universe these days but I picked this up out of curiosity over all the hype. When did Namorita get all blue? When did the New Warriors become morons? I've missed out on all these developments since Marvel stopped sending me free comics. Anyway, I liked the total art package in this book, I thought the sum was superior to the individual pencils or inks or colors. It all worked well together somehow and the coloring in particular gave the book a very distinct look. I like Mark Millar as a writer although I've read very little of his Marvel stuff, just a few issues of Ultimates and his Wolverine run. However, his Superman Tangent book from DC years ago was stellar. So I consider myself a fan of his work.

So without knowing much of what's happening at Marvel lately, I still enjoyed this book for what it was. It wasn't the next Watchmen (although it does crib a major plot point) and I don't necessarily feel like I've got to rush out for the next issue but this was solid stuff. It was paced well and had that big event feel it needs for this giant crossover attempt to connect with readers.

For what it's worth, I'm on Captain America's side. How anyone can not take Cap's side in any sort of conflict is beyond me. He's the most principled and trustworthy character in the Marvel Universe. You know if Captain America is fighting for something, he's fighting the good fight. So fall in line, ya bunch of yahoos. I give this comic a B-.

Speaking of Captain America, I picked up the Winter Soldier trade because I like Ed Brubaker, I like Steve Epting's art, and I've heard really good things about it. I read it in three sittings and am glad to say I really enjoyed it. It was more plot heavy than I thought it would be, meaning it seemed less decompressed than I assumed it would be. Which is a good thing, I like to feel like I'm getting some bang for my comics buck!

It seems to me that writing Captain America is a pretty tricky beast. He doesn't really have a lot of internal conflict to play off of and it's not like a writer can dig in and deconstruct the character himself or do anything subversive with him. At the end of the day, Cap is going to be the same solid, decent icon that he was when he woke up, still fighting the good fight. Luckily for Brubaker, the plot he's set in motion around Cap makes up for it. It's one of the best Captain America stories to come along in a long time and Brubaker has been given a lot of latitude to play with the classic elements of Cap's world in some pretty surprising ways. Killing the Red Skull and bringing back Bucky...those are HUGE changes he's been allowed to make and as a result, it feels like anything can happen. It's as good as Cap has ever been in my opinion. I'm looking forward to picking up the next collection and seeing what happens next. I'll give this one a grade of 'A'.

Lastly, I grabbed issues 13 and 14 of Astonishing X-men. I wasn't too impressed. I read most of the first twelve issues of this book and loved it in the beginning, mainly because for the first time in years, it 'felt' like the X-Men I grew up reading. The longer it's gone, the less engaging I've found it to be. Maybe it's because it takes so long for anything important in terms of plot to happen.

The Kitty and Colossus stuff is the most interesting to me. Both characters are better when they're playing off of each other and they were long overdue to get back together. Also, I'm curious to see which mutant will be revealed as the one that will destroy the alien world. Most of it felt pretty flat to me, though. Also, I think John Cassaday is great but he's phoning this stuff in. Maybe he's got too much on his plate these days but it looks rushed and there are even less backgrounds than you usually find in a Cassaday book. Disappointingly, I give this a grade of 'C'. Considering the talent involved in putting it out, that's kind of a shame.

So that's what I'm reading lately. Anyone else?

Keith

Free Comic Book Day report

Well, Free Comic Book Day has once again come and gone. Like drug dealers, comic shops across the nation handed out free samples of their wares in the hopes of hooking new, steady customers. And I was once again there to witness the scene firsthand.

I've been sick the past three or four days and I had some serious internal debate as to whether I should just cancel my appearance at Sarge's Comics, stay home, and enjoy a combination of work and rest for the day. I don't really enjoy doing signings and wasn't feeling at my most social. The people at Sarge's are very nice though and I would have felt guilty if I had stood them up, especially at the last minute...so I stopped feeling bad for myself, jumped in my car, and made the 45 minute trek down to New London. I did get there about a half an hour late though, sorry. I was waiting for my underwear to finish drying.

The staff had laid things out differently this year although to describe the layout would be too hard for me so I'm going to skip it. I was seated next to a fellow named Ben from Wizard Magazine and a guy named Steve who published a comic called the OZ Squad. I already know Ben a little bit but Steve was new (to me) and seemed to be a nice guy.

It looked like a decent turnout, lots of families bringing their kids in for free swag. The stormtroopers were there. Even Lord Vader himself made an appearance. No one really seemed to know who I was or what I did, which was fine because I was kind of low energy anyway. All told, I think I signed maybe fifteen comics over the two hours I was there.

Giant mosquito and former pro wrestler Ox Baker, whom I used to know fairly well, made a point to say hi and instantly started harassing me in his Ox Baker way about doing a comic with him as the star. After over ten years of my saying "NO," Ox is nothing if not eternally optimistic. Armed with the experience gained from years of handling Ox, I subtly passed him off to Ox-handling rookie Ben from Wizard. Seeing him helpless in the Ox-slaught, I stepped back in and directed the conversation away from Ox's dream comic and towards which wrestlers could have kicked Ox's ass back in the day if they really fought. Lou Thesz was the one he seemed to respect the most for his real life ass kicking ways. When the free pizza arrived, Ox vanished to get his share. If it's free, the Ox is there.

I gave a page of artwork to a fellow named Murray who was back from Iraq and figuring out his next move in life. Store employee and friend Malinda threw me a couple of pieces of pizza and made sure I was alive every once in a while until my time was up. Brotherhood of the Whooping Stick member Brad popped in towards the end and we grabbed a quick bite of Thai food, at which point my FCBD '06 experience came to an end.

I decided on the drive home that this will be my last FCBD signing. It's a good cause and I genuinely like the Sarge's people but these signings, both in stores and at conventions, are something I enjoy less and less each time I do them. I'm not sure why except that it doesn't feel natural to my personality.

Of course, when they ask me next year, enough time will have gone by that I'll probably forget I decided I don't want to do signings anymore. So I'll probably say yes and write something just like this after FCBD 07. In fact, I guarantee I can just cut and paste the Ox Baker paragraph and save myself the typing time.

Thanks for reading,
Keith

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

This Saturday is the third or fourth annual Free Comic Book Day, I've lost track of how many there have been so far. I'll be appearing from 12:30-3:00 at Sarge's Comics in New London to support the cause. If you're in the area, come on down and pick up some free comics. If you happen to be a friend of mine, you can buy me lunch afterwards.

No matter where you live, if you have a comic shop in your town, stop in on Saturday. FCBD is a nationwide event. While you may see many people dressed as Stormtroopers, don't let that deter you. FCBD is a big day for the closet Stormtroopers; it's their chance to wear that insanely expensive armor and let their geek flags fly high. So don't throw things at them, just join the celebration.

BTW, thanks to Chris for the help w/ the links. I followed those instructions to the letter but my links haven't appeared. So here's a few websites I enjoy if anyone wants to check them out:

www.puroresupower.com
www.sherdog.com
www.thesuperficial.com

Take care, thanks for reading.
Keith