Unmen

The Super-Human Race

2011-01-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

In the United States, four different groups were set up for post-human production. First group’s goal was to create more intelligent humans – a post human think tank. The second group was to create a super power human. The third group’s goal is to develop technologies for super powers. And the fourth group is to keep the other three groups in check – the place for information exchange between the three groups.

One image I keep getting is a child of a post-human tracking down one of the doctors that worked on the government projects, turned AWOL. A German in his late ‘70s, still very sharp, with traces of a great mind hidden behind wrinkles. He’s ex-Nazi, but really didn’t have a political affiliation – most scientist don’t – but was forced to work on government projects, the division of gods & monsters (insert German equivalent here). Later in the story, we find out that he’s gay – what forced him to leave the US government projects was the death of his lab assistant Karl, in a incident similar to Ictheas; the boy who flew to close to the Sun and crashed to his death. This, and some other policy changes in the fourth group forced him to leave.

This post-human child is looking for some answers to his recent developed powers. His father was one of the earlier test subjects of the first group – his mind was chemically enhanced/altered. He became super smart, but the effects seemed to wear off over time. Adding more chemicals seemed to damage him physically & psychologically, that he could no longer used the drugs. But the alterations affected his son; he developed telekinetic & psi powers.

Genesis of a Criminal Genius

2009-05-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

I've thought about writing a short Steampunk story; sort of a Commander Jake and his squadron of Zeppelins. He'd have a girl named Betty Lindbergh and a mechanic side-kick named Ito. All the classic elements to a good pre-World War pulp fiction, action hero. But first I wanted to create a worthy villain.

Drawing upon The Time Machine for inspiration, I thought what if someone did build a time machine, went into the future, saw the wonderful advances and decided that he wanted to live forever. Let's say he's in his 50's when he discovers the key to time, hatches a plan to give his younger self the technology (to travel through time) & future-knowledge to plan his future with -- gaining power & wealth. However, the younger (and maybe smarter) self, upon hearing the older self's plan & collecting his future-knowledge, formulates his own plan.

For the older-self (or future-self) to exists, and for the younger-self to be able to talk with him, can only exists for a short time. For once the younger-self makes any decisions, the future-self's memory will become very fluid to reflect those decisions; and for both selfs to still be able to exist in the same point in time. You could use that to your advantage, make decisions then query your future-self on how it turned out... Then what if you could trap your future-self in time pocket; using wireless communication to you future-self in the time-pocket. After a point, the future-self would become insane, but still useful.

But then there are other questions like, if by trapping your future-self in a time-pocket or time-loop, can you prevent yourself from becoming older?

There are other things to consider the idea of choice could lead to the infinite possible futures or worlds... However, like AI, after exploring all the different choices, some branch-worlds would be eliminated because of bad-decision trees... so this idea of a governing force, or counter-balancing force, would guide most worlds down very similar paths (ie. most humanoid life found on most of these worlds would most likely all breath oxygen & speak english; there might be a counter-balancing reason why silicon based life could and would never exists, in this world or any other).

So, not only would this time machine need to travel through this world's time, but be able to jump into the time-stream of other worlds.

What if, a time bubble could be made to wrap an individual human, say through a ring... or a pocket watch. Then that person wouldn't grow old. And it would protect him from time anomalies.

It seems a little Dr. Who in nature... and since we're talking about a criminal master-mind, more like the Master... but this wouldn't be some Moriarty type of character, but he'd be a ruthless killer... with motives that are not easily seen, until certain future events unfold.

He'd have other things to consider as well, processing the watch would keep him young, but what would protect him from accidental death & if he did accidently die, could he transfer his soul to another vessel and continue living? And to what end?

So the villain wouldn't believe in an after-life, once he's dead, he's dead. To cheat time is one thing, but how do you cheat death? And maybe that is the questions our villain is tackling when our clueless hero crosses his path.

Superman & Fables

2008-12-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

I picked up a few graphic novels this week, All Star Superman (Vol. 1), Fables: Homelands (Vol. 6), and Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) (Vol. 7). Grant Morrison's writing is growing on me... I didn't grow up reading Animal Man, Doom Patrol, or The Invisibles, but I did read his Marvel Boy, The Filth, & New X-Men. His take on Superman is good -- I think he identifies too much with Lex Luthor -- but the stories have been solid & good, if not mind-altering with a touch of subversion (that I've come to expect from Grant). I will pick up the 2nd volume when it's released.

I guess what really surprised me was Fables... A few months ago, I went through this funk trying to find a good graphic novel to get into. I've been tossing around the idea of reading through Sandman again, but decided to give Fables another go. I had picked up the first few issues when they first came out -- the story was okay, the concept behind it was kind of cool, but it didn't strike a cord with me. But friends heaped praise after praise about how good Fables was. Now I've read some of Bill Willingham's other works and to some degree or another, they were cute stories, but I wouldn't seriously consider following them for a long time -- a little trite and predictable, not the epic story to hold my attention. And to be honest, the first few Fables graphic novels still didn't do it for me, until about March of the Wooden Soldiers (Vol. 4)... up until that point, the stories where ok, just not great, but each time, it grew on me a little bit -- either I connected a little more with the characters (Boy Blue), or he adds a little background mythos that adds a little more depth to the story, or slow moving away from just pitching the story idea, to (doing research and) actually telling the story. Whatever it is, I'm growing fond of it.

I don't know what it was, at first if felt like Willingham picked a few characters from fairy tales/nursery rhymes and threw them into a Fabletown. It's not like picking up an issue of Top 10 where every page had some sort of subtle homage to superheroes; there could have been more nods to other fables in the background... or fable artifacts. And maybe this is a failing of the story artist, and not of Bill's. But with following novels, Bill seems to be adding more to the over all background, with nods to other fables (either directly in text or in directions to the comic artist) that are adding layers to make the story better.

Evil Dead meets Tarzan

2008-12-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

So my 10 Word Plot from April 22, 2007 was this:

10 Word Sci-Fi Plot: Scientist creates worm-hole, unleashes elder-gods; man, gun, and monkey save world. Think Evil Dead meets Tarazan.

Hmm... This could be the plot of the next Hell Boy movie; substitute man and monkey with Hell Boy and you almost have the plot of the first movie...

Or you can set the story in a steam-punk world, full of mad-scientist, blitzkrieg-bots, and blimps (or airships built using Cavorite). Areas on earth still untouched and unexplored by men. Primitive cultures living nearby lost civilizations (maybe long descendants). World political tension building towards a world war; each country trying to build armies or the next super-weapon. Then from out of the jungle, a half naked man & his monkey emerge with a monster from the ancient world -- elephant gigantus -- a elephant twice the size of any ordinary elephant, with two trunks.

Or hero, Jack Howard, was orphaned in the African jungle until the age of 12. Jack was rescued by local natives & turned over to the US embassy. From there, he was adopted by Nathan & Martha Howard, former ambassadors to Africa. Jack was a bright boy, curious, with a strong affinity for science. The Howards sent Jack off to Yale, where he majored in anthropology, girls, and football. After college, Jack was quickly recruited by the US government as a kind of exploratory anthropologist -- which gave Jack an opportunity to return to the jungles of Africa, where he met his monkey companion, Kima. Unknown by Jack, this gigantic elephant was the weapon the US government was looking for.

Meanwhile in Bavaria, scientist Josef Fuchs is performing an ancient Thule blood ritual, which he thought was to bestow more savage strength on to warriors, but they were swallowed up by a portal into another universe... and an ancient evil was released, the lesser of the ancient gods...

Quick Wrap Up:

Whatever creature the lesser god is based on, begins to reproduce and spread out from Bavaria... to the point where other nations are taking notice & Bavaria is asking for help. The US government calls in all "exploratory adventurers" to form a plan. Jack recognizes symbols on a picture taken from ground zero & realizes from African folklore what evil has been unleashed... the elephant gigantus is the key to earth's salvation... and of course, Jack's 50 cal pistol, Bess.

Bone: One Volume Edition (revisited)

2008-12-11T12:26:00.000-08:00

Went to Ohio last weekend to visit family between the holidays. Got my one volume edition of Bone back from my brother-in-law... it didn't thrill him. Can't blame him, it's a big book and (since I started to re-read it) slow at the beginning. We have similar tastes on somethings, but I don't expect him to like everything that I like.

During our visit, he downloaded the Watchmen animated comic to his X-Box, we watched the first chapter. It looked one part South Park, one part comic, and I guess they only hired one voice actor to do all the speaking bits. On one hand, it was kind of cool, the editing was good. The story followed the comic pretty closely (if not 100%). But the amount of time and talent put into the production, couldn't Warner Brothers/DC hire a few more voice actors? I mean I like Tom Stechschulte, and looking on IMDB, he hasn't been in much that I recognize his voice from -- in the back of my mind, I though he's done some other voice acting work in animation, like Super-Friends, or newer shows like animated Batman -- but to make him do both male and female voices??? And just read on another blog about the author wanting more ambient noises; I agree.

Saw a post about Top 10 over on Gene Ha's blog; sad to say, I've stopped reading it since Alan Moore left the book. I'm thinking it's about time to start re-reading Alan's run on the series.

Tween Super-Hero Looses Powers

2008-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

I've been using Twitter and Plurk to do 10 word plots for a comic or pulp sci-fi story... I think Wired magazine did something similar... the magazine asked several famous writers to come up with a 10 word story. I'm not up to the point of doing 10 word stories, but I thought I could come up with some plot lines in about 10 words (give or take a few)... I've been using Twitter and Plurk because a micro-blog is a good place for a micro-plot...

Anyway, my latest idea is about a Tween super-hero that looses his powers...

10 Word Comic Plot: Tween super-hero looses powers, how will life be afterwards? Think early Peter Parker becomes Lindsy Lohan.

I'm thinking an early Peter Parker with all the growing up crap that he dealt and balancing it with being a super-hero finds himself no longer in the spot light, no longer able to scale buildings or lift things 10 times his weight. Lets say in one of his internal battles about being a normal teenager, he decides to go to a rave with some friends. Our super-hero decides to do some harmless drugs like all the other normal teenagers, but it has a very negative effect on his super-powers -- lets say the drug was made by a super-villain and using the dancing teenagers as test subjects -- and we don't know if he'll ever get his super-powers back. Our hero wakes up the next day, tired, hung-over, feeling drained, but happy knowing he did something 'normal'... but not knowing he's lost his super-powers, until he goes out later that night trying to prevent a robbery.

Now, our super hero has made some enemies... and annoyed the hell out of a few other super-heroes. His ego was stroked by the media, he lived the rock-star life-style for some time, up until this point -- being invited to charity events, fawned over by the public, companies talking to his agent about signing endorsement deals, paid under the table by the mayor to help pay bills, attended super-hero gatherings at the UN, etc. But slowly, the reality of it all going away is slowly sinking in. It was tough balancing both worlds -- his super-hero life with his normal high school life -- but knowing that high school would end made the pressures bearable.

Slowly, our super-hero's life goes to hell. Does he try to get his super-powers back by trying to reproduce the accident that gave him his powers in the first place? Does he try to keep up his 'brand', not knowing if his powers will return or not? What will he do if one of the super-villains he's put away in jail, get out on parole... you know, the ones that actually know his secret identity? Will there be any sympathy/help from the super-hero community? How will the blog-o-sphere deal with his lack of visibility out fighting crime? Will he call for help from neighboring super-heroes to help him when one of his arch-villains show up or will he try to fight on his own? And what happens to the "King Pin"-type of criminal that slipped him the mickey to begin with be dealt with?

This 10 word plot actually has some good story material...

Snakes and Ladders

2008-08-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Read Snakes and Ladders, The Birth Caul, and Miracleman Book Two earlier this month... The Miracleman book is still a solid read, but the other two didn't thrill me as much. I think after reading Alan Moore's treatise on magic (via Promethea) these two are a pale companion read.

When Alan announce we was quiting writing comics and devote himself to learning magic, I didn't know what to make of it (I've always love his books). The Birth Caul and Snakes and Ladders were written after his decision (or near to it). In both books, I see the germination of ideas that he later expounds upon in Promethea -- the Tarot as a creation story (myth) explanation; heaven is about escaping the trappings of the mundane and reaching (intellectual) enlightenment -- and I also see his pain over his mother's death...

I've also picked up another copy of Watchmen and finished reading it... I think at the time it was mind blowing; I just started getting back into comics from a long dry run and a comic store owner recommended it to me. His condition was, take it home and read it, if you like it, buy it; if you don't bring it back. Well, the next week, when I went back, I paid him for the book.

In the mean time, I think I have either misplaced my copy, or I have lent it out to someone else to read... Even if I do find my other copy, I'll probably end up giving this copy away to someone to read.

Watched the Watchmen movie trailer... it looks good. I think because I've already read the book (maybe this has been my 3rd or 4th time through it now) the story doesn't seem to be as mind blowing as it once was... I think I'm use to Alan's comic "twist endings" that for a new generation of kids, Watchmen will be simply amazing, but to me, I've seen Alan's genius for years now, that popular culture is finally just reaching what I already know about the man. I've seen Alan's genius back when Swamp Thing was coming out... the man could take an old story and twist it into something new and amazing by re-telling Swamp Thing's origin story. In the process, he created a new "comic language" (visually and verbally) in the process; adding a new dimensions to the comic craft... and I see his influence on comic creator since.

When I saw Dark Knight, I was blown away. The visuals, the sounds, Heath Ledger's acting, the story... all the elements were there for a great Batman movie. But in the back of my mind, even though it's not a strictly an Alan Moore story, I see his fingerprints (see The Killing Joke).

My only concern for Watchmen is that it is a little dated... The story came at the height of the iron age of comics; they were being cranked out fast and furiously as retailers were cashing in on fan's blind dreams of collecting comics and one day retiring by selling off their collection. Stories were plentiful, but not meaningful. Alan took some of DC's lesser know intellectual properties, created a alternative world back story, and asked the age-old question, does the means justify the end? And how terrible can the means be, before it doesn't? The story asks a meaningful question and leaves the reader to decide (think about it more).

Now, Coming off the Dark Knight success -- here you have the Joker dishing out enlightenment to the common person, forcing them to make moralistic choices with sever (real, damning) consequences -- to a movie where someone has already made those choices, brings about a type of "world enlightenment" (see LSD in the drinking water), then asks the question "was I right in playing God?" Should be interesting to see how the general audience responds... I just don't think it will have the same impact.

Kung-Fu Panda

2008-06-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

Kung-Fu Panda

Erika and I went to see Kung-fu Panda last night at the AMC theaters in Downtown Disney, Orlando. When we arrived to pick up our pre-paid tickets, there was a huge giant inflatable Wall-E outside the doors. Many years ago, when the wife and I went to Disneyland, there was a similar inflatable crystal ball from Eddie Murphy's The Haunted Mansion movie... didn't take a picture of it, but it did light up at night -- very cool. Don't know if the Wall-E light up...

I would highly recommend Kung-Fu Panda! Visually rich, good music, lovable characters, good plot. I didn't tear it apart too much; this one I just wanted to enjoy, without being super critical; and I did. I'd give it a 5 out of 5 stars... now I want to go out an rent more old school Kung-fu movies... takes me back to my childhood, with watching Kung-fu movies marathons on Sunday afternoons... the movie was good enough, I could see another sequel to it.

MegaCon '08

2008-03-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

MegaCon 2008
Originally uploaded by thumat2002

So, went to MegaCon 2008 with a few GFLUG friends... And all I can say is that I feel old. I've read fantasy and sci-fi books, comic books, and manga magazines. I've followed sci-fi, brit-coms and anime shows. I've play video games and D&D. I've written computer program. I'm not into doing costumes or LARPing. Overall, I feel like I have a good grasp on nerd-culture. But what is with all the otaku kids? And I'm talking otaku in the creepy, basement dwelling, furry, cuteness, obsessed sense of the term, not just Japanese culture nerdom.

It was an interesting slice into 20-something culture. I was just coming to grips with vampires and goth-culture, but I feel like there's been a major shift in nerdom that I wasn't aware of -- I think out-right BDSM cosplay was the most 'shocking'... and along those lines, 'free hugs' and 'you can spank my pet' signs people wore around.

Anyway. Fun was had by all. I picked up a few issues of Love and Capes. It's given me some ideas for a LEGO display we'll have there next year, so look for us. And please don't call me 'ojiichan'.

Today's Fortune

2008-03-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

"Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn."

Email from Dead Poets

2007-10-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

So I got a spam messages this morning from Elizabeth Browning, telling me that I need to buy a penis enlargement pill. This is so wrong on so many levels... I know Elizabeth is a romantic poet and all, but to endorse enlargement pills? *sigh*

The New Frontier

2007-04-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

I picked this up yesterday at the comic shop as well. Finished reading it tonight. The first volume took me a few days to flip through; this one only took a few hours. I'm a long time DC fan, but even there were some character references that threw me. King Faraday for instance... just looked him up on Wikipedia. I loved the reference, but didn't know how he fit into the DC universe. Excellent book... I kept waiting for Hal Jordan to met the crashed alien and gain the ring... been waiting for it to happen with the first volume. It paid off for me. The artwork is great and the story was great. Well worth the read.

Rate: A

Champion of the Worms

2007-04-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Just read this at lunch. Picked it up from the comic shop I blogged about earlier. It's a nice read, the jumping point into Mignola's Zombie World project... the origin story, if you will. The artwork is good; a little too cutesy for me. I really like Mignola's Kirby-esque artwork. And the dialog was a little too cutesy, the bad-guy didn't see evil enough to make the overall story convincing for me. But overall: B+

Store sponsors Civil War mock protest

2007-04-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

So, I go to this comic shop that put on a Civil War mock protest. The last time I went into the shop, I overheard the protest organizers talking with a co-worker about last week's staged protest -- it was hilarious -- fortunate for the comic shop it was spring break at the college, otherwise they would have been swamped with protest. :)

To quote Newsrama:

The Orlando Sentinel covers the Superhuman Registration Act “protest” organized by A Comic Shop to promote the release of Marvel’s Civil War trade paperback. More than 30 comic book fans showed up for the event, many dressed as Marvel characters and holding signs for or against registration.

You can view video from the protest on the store’s MySpace page. Photos from the event can be seen here.

Sinister Forces

2007-03-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Sinister Forces
Originally uploaded by
Gems from the Collection.

Very cool collection of pulp sci-fi covers and art. I'll be using it for reference material for the LEGO micro moonbase that I'm suppose to be building... :)

Captain Marvel

2007-02-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Since I read Jeff Smith's take on Captain Marvel (very good, btw), I've been thinking about how Alan Moore has corrupted the character for me. Here is a list of moments on his Miracleman runs that just completely mind-blowing:

Michael Moran relearns his magic word in the middle of a terrorist raid on an atomic research center.
Miracleman's power are scientifically explained; the body-swapping technology is also addressed.
Child birth in a comic book???
Miracleman kills his maker, Dr. Gargunza; his origin is retold in a way that isn't just an orphan gains magical powers, but an orphan is kidnapped for a military research project with alien technology.
Miracleman kills Kid Miracleman.

Kimota!

Gaiman's Eternals

2007-02-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Picked up #6 of 7 of Gaiman's run on the Eternals... Now I'm not a Marvel Zombie; I'm a hard-core DC fan. I've been reading Lee and Kirby's run on the Fantastic Four in trade and I'm enjoying it. I know a little about the Marvel-verse, but I'm not familiar with Kirby's Eternals run. You would think before Gaiman did his run on the Eternals, that Marvel would release Kirby's run in a trade-paper back format. And when I started Gaiman's run, it was #1 of 6... #2 of 6, now it's #6 of 7? Did Marvel forget how to count? Just silly... Aside from Marvel being a bunch of idiots, the series is great... typical Gaiman. I just wish I knew a little more of the back story or the history to really appreciate how he puts it into the Marvel-verse.

Shazam Thing

2007-02-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Shazam Thing
Originally uploaded by Lady, That's My Skull.

God, I found this funny!

Eternals

2007-02-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

I've picked up Neil Gaiman's run on the Eternals and I'm loving it. The artwork is superb, the story is engaging and poetic. It's typical Gaiman. I also picked up Jeff Smith's Captain Marvel... Now I like Bone a lot. I'm thinking I need to get my copy of Bone back from my brother-in-law so I can read it again. But his Captain Marvel is very Bonesque... seems like a very simple store on the surface, but lots of "Oh, wow" moments. I'm glad I picked it up...

Now I need to pick up the Essential Captain Marvel in trade... saw it on the shelf at the comic shop I went to. In my mind, I'm corrupted by Alan Moore's run on Miracleman and Tom Strong. I know Jeff is sticking to the spirit of the old Capt'n, but some of story elements and ideas in Alan's Miracleman is burned into my skull... And Neil Gaiman did a few Miracleman stories after Alan left... very good stories, considering it was an hard act to follow.

Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 1

2006-12-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

Been reading through Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 the last couple of days. Now, I'm not a Marvel zombie, but I did read some FF back in the 80's -- I've always had a fondness for the team. I've always been a DC reader -- Swamp Thing, Superman, Phantom Stranger, Batman, etc. But I decided to give Stan Lee and Jack Kirby a chance and let me say, I haven't been disappointed. Jack Kirby's creatures are cool... I can really see his influence, especially on Mike Mignola's artwork and for that I'm appreciative.

The funny thing is, with Stan Lee's writing, I get ideas for other stories... for instance, when the FF first encounter the Skrull, 3 of them were left on Earth after the first invasion attempt, hypnotized in to thinking they were cows. Not being a Marvel zombie, did a little research and found out they broke the spell and came back later in another story. But I wondered if they mated with normal cows during that hypnotic stage, why types of creatures would have resulted -- Shape shifting cows? Super-smart mutant cows? :) This in itself wouldn't be the story, but the backdrop for something more interesting... I'm wondering if there's enough loose threads like this for an interesting non-super-hero types of stories.

Rate: B+

DC Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, part 3

2006-12-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

Finished it today! Great Len Wein stories. Terrific art work by both Jim Aparo and Tony DeZuniga. I'll have to pick up a few more Showcase trades; it's a nice format and a great read, especially when I don't want to spend $7+ dollars per comic to read a continuous arc.

With as the series develops, the stories are no longer formulaic. But with Len and his story-telling style, there seems to be more of a back-story to the Phantom Stranger; just not a supernatural super-hero that show up out of the moment of kismet -- his word, not mine, but I love it.

Rate: A+

DC Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, part 2

2006-11-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hadn't had much time to read my copy of DC Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, but I've read through the first few issues... It's a little formulaic at this point, 3 mysteries, one solved by the Phantom Stranger, one solved by Dr. Thirteen, then the over-arching mystery that requires both the Phantom Stranger and Dr. Thirteen to solve. So far it's a good read, but can't wait till I get into the later issues with Neal Adams and Jim Aparo artwork.

DC Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger

2006-11-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

Picked this up last week; started reading it. I'm glad that this is back in print, even though it's in black-and-white format. I've been missing a few of the earlier issues and it's great to finally read them...

I'll talk more about it in a little bit...

Pirates & Octopi

2006-10-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

From the 100 Pirates in 100 Days project, I give you #13, this cool octopi-pirate... I think the flag is very cool as well.

Orlando Comic-Con

2006-08-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

So I read about the Orlando Comic-Con on the Orlando Metro Blog. Since Erika was working Sunday, I thought I would go and check it out. Didn't recognize any of the names except maybe one... I might have recognize some of the artists from stuff I've read over the years, but no real big names come to mind.

Got talked into buying some stuff (people were very friendly; it was hard to say 'no thank you', especially when you consider how hard these people work to make a living). One guy ended up talking to me about his hilarious take on a werewolf comic -- I just didn't have the heart to say that it wasn't my cup of tea.

Anyway, passed up buying The Song of the South boot-leg copy... again. I might break down and buy it at the next Con... I think next January or February in Orlando.

I had a good time, but the Con was small, compared to the Mid-Ohio Con I attended a few years ago -- there the dealer space was just as large as the artist space. This one had maybe 60 booths, but the vendor space was small. I was looking for some back issues of Powers or that missing issue of Promethea I need for my collection, but vendors seemed to have really limited their stock for this event... And is seemed to me about 90% Marvel (zombie) stuff... Not much DC, Vertigo, or Wildstorm...

And I'm not a big fan of digging through crap to find what I'm looking for. Lots of $0.50 to $1.00 bins; not much golden/silver age comics... It was diversified, but almost to the point of blandness. I did find a few House of Mysteries, House of Secrets, and a Phantom Strangers that I didn't have, but hadn't plan on spending $10+ for a reading copy. One dealer had tons of The Witching Hour, but again at dealer's prices; when all I really want is a reading copy, not a collection copy... Hmm... maybe I should write DC about releasing a collection of some of those great old horror titles...

Happy Trogdor Day!

2006-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Trogdor Day! It was 3 years ago today that he started to burninate the web. :)

StormWatch

2005-12-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

About to finish Warren Ellis's run on StormWatch. Found all 5 trade paperbacks hidden away in a junk closet. It was rough starting out (books 1 & 2), but by the time you finished book 3, you're blown away. I love Warren's The Authority series; StormWatch set the foundation for it. Might be time to dig The Authority out the of the closet as well. Rate: A+

Sin City: Hell and Back

2005-11-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

After watching Sin City at my in-laws, my FIL let me borrow his copy of Sin City: Hell and Back. Finished it last night... good read, similar story as to what's in the movie. Artwork is typical Frank Miller. Rate: B+

Captain Britain

2005-08-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

Picked this up at Half Price Books... It's been a good read so far... From what I'm understanding, this run of comics came after the Alan Moore/Alan Davis run... To be honest, it's been a year since I've read Alan Moore's run; I should probably go back and read it first before reading more of this one. Rate: C+

Bone: One Volume Edition

2005-06-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

I got this for my birthday last month... I ended up taking it with me on vacation to Maine. Finished the whole thing in about 4 days and I must say it was an excellent read, well worth the money spent on it. I liked it so much, I ended up lending it to my brother-in-law for him to read -- I think he'll like it as well.

Some thing to note.. Jeff Smith is from Columbus, Ohio. :)

Now, I haven't read Moby Dick... and I probably should. It's one of those things you should just read... if you haven't guessed, there's many references to Moby Dick in Bone... Rate: A+

Donald Duck Adventures #3

2005-05-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ended up taking this on vacation with us to Walt Disney World... It's cute... The stories are simple. The first story is D&D related, with a little spin... Where the story is very important.

I'd give it 4 out of 5. Good for a quick Disney fix... I like the quote about this series on the web-site, "just right for kids to carry with them on vacation or on family excursions - so they'll never be far away from the exciting Disney stories produced just for them"... yep, it was the perfect size... but I really needed about 5-10 of these books... very quick reading. ;) Rate: C-

High Society

2005-04-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Finished up High Society... I really liked it. I really shouldn't had read them out of order... might go back and reread the book 3 & 4 again... or might just skim through them...

Really impressed with David Sim's portrayal of Lord Julius... or Groucho Marx... Makes me want to pick up a few Marx brothers movies...

And I really like the story... intelligent, funny, witty... but it's a made for trade paperback story... In the first book, the stories were self contained... now there's multiple thread lines... Rate: A+

Bone: Out of Boneville

2005-04-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Picked up Bone: Out of Boneville at Half Price Books today... just finished reading it. It was good... I'll have to pick the next one up. I've been hitting the library lately & saw they have a pretty good selection of graphic novels; I'll see if they have the next book in the series. The artwork is good, the plot is simple (for now, unlike Cerebus). It reminds me a little bit of Pogo. Rate: A

Cerebus

2005-04-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Per a co-worker's tip, local Half Price Books had the complete Cerebus trade paper back run. Picked up the first 2 books for now -- I've read through books 3 & 4, now I'll go back and read 1 & 2. Hopefully after I finish them, some of the other trades that I'm missing will still be there for me to purchase... Rate: B+

Dr. Strange

2005-02-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

If I could take a Marvel character and revamp the character, which character & what twist would I do? Hm... Doctor Strange, because I wouldn't take on someone from the super-hero line. I like darker, moodier characters... The revamp is a little harder to come up with...

I'd have to do some research... I forget if there's a significant other in his life. Don't think he has any kids... From the stories I do remember reading, he seems isolated, emotionless, cold... Not really a likable character like Batman. Part of the coldness might be from his religious/magic studies, but can't seem to put my finger on it. I remember that he was an arrogant surgeon, who had nerve damage, that sent him on his quest, which led him to study mysticism...

Some initial thoughts, I'd do some flash back (al la Alan Moore's Supreme style).

...more later...

New Comic Store

2005-01-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, went to a new comic store in town -- Packrat Comics (in Hilliard, OH), I think. They've been advertising around town with little signs on street corners & in people's yards. It's a little shop... I set up a pull there... maybe a mile away for the house. The owner was friendly... He said they had a comic store a few years back, and he was getting back into the business...

Cerebus: Church & State

2004-12-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

First heard about Cerebus the Aardvark back in college. It was toted as the greatest comic ever at the time... Had no interest in it them... Never read it until now. Found copies of Church & State (I & II) at Half Priced Books. Picked them both up and I just finished reading them... the artwork is wonderful. The story line is great, but I'd probably like it more if I had read the first 2 volumes -- it's like jumping into the middle of the story... I like it enough that I'll try to find copies of the first 2 volumes to pick it up. Rate: A

Star Wars!

2004-09-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

In honor of of the DVD release, I picked this and the 2nd & 3rd trades up at Half Priced Books over the weekend. Great read! I have in my collection issues #1-9, 50-107... I'm missing most of everything between #10-49... I might have an issue here or there, to this has been a great way of going back & catching up on the issues I'm missing without paying out a lot of money to collect them. Rate: B+

Oh... and I picked up a few Oh My Goddess! trades from Dark Horse that I was missing as well.

Latest News

2001-04-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

Let's see... where to begin. I've gotten married -- we're both adjusting to married life. Been busy & haven't had time to update my web-page or have any time to devote to LEGO. Just finished reading a book on Japanese folk lore. Also been reading Lone Wolf and Cub from Dark Horse and Super Manga Blast whenever I can find it.

21st Century?

2001-02-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

What did I imagine the 21^st century to be like? Did I believe in the dreams of flying cars, rocket back packs, & mechanical maids? All of life's troubles being completed in a push of a plastic button? I don't think I ever did.

I wasn't raised on a diet of Flash Gordon ray guns, on quirky expressions from Dr. Zachary Smith, on moon landing missions, or on space men traveling to Earth only to steal our women. From bad acting, bad props, simple stories, to dated technology -- it all have always turned me off of the sci-fi mind set. No one could capture the future as I saw it.

I wasn't easily fooled by the juxtaposition of the words 'space' and 'cowboy' -- something that appealed to all boys, both young and old. I didn't believe in technology that was built out of spare parts, had flashing lights with random bleeps and blips. And I just couldn't bring myself to believe that everyone talked so melodramatic in the future... or maybe they will... but did they have to take everything so seriously?

... more later ...

The Super-Human Race

2000-09-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

One of the ideas that I’ve been thinking about is a post-WW II world that didn’t have the a-bomb or the space race; but a super-human race. Countries like England, US, Russia, China, Japan, & some other countries start manufacturing post-humans.

In the United States, four different groups were set up for post-human production. First group’s goal was to create more intelligent humans – a post human think tank. The second group was to create a super power human. The third group’s goal is to develop technologies for super powers. And the fourth group is to keep the other three groups in check – the place for information exchange between the three groups.

One image I keep getting is a child of a post-human tracking down one of the doctors that worked on the government projects, turned AWOL. A German in his late ‘70s, still very sharp, with traces of a great mind hidden behind wrinkles. He’s ex-Nazi, but really didn’t have a political affiliation – most scientist don’t – but was forced to work on government projects, the division of gods & monsters (insert German equivalent here). Later in the story, we find out that he’s gay – what forced him to leave the US government projects was the death of his lab assistant Karl, in a incident similar to Ictheas; the boy who flew to close to the Sun and crashed to his death. This, and some other policy changes in the fourth group forced him to leave.

This PH child is looking for some answers to his recent developed powers. His father was one of the earlier test subjects of the first group – his mind was chemically enhanced/altered. He became super smart, but the effects seemed to wear off over time. Adding more chemicals seemed to damage him physically & psychologically, that he could no longer used the drugs. But the alterations affected his son; he developed telekinetic & psi powers.

Comic Book Idea: Lithium & The Loosers

1997-09-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

An idea I had for a comic book some time ago...

Endless Parody:
Probably one of the better ideas that I've had in a long time is to create anti-characters to Neil Gaiman's Sandman... a farce on his seven Endless characters. These character wouldn't take themselves as seriously as the ones created by Gaiman... sorta tongue-in-cheek... sorta their bungling counter parts.

The Endless	The Losers
Destiny	Lucky
Death	Life
Dream	Lithium
Despair	Lost
Delight/Delirious	Loony
Desire	Lust
Destruction	Larry

First Episode:

In the first episode, Lithium wakes up after following the Grateful Dead around for the past 20 years or so... he lost count because of the drug induced haze he's been in since 1972. He's looking to fill the empty void that Gerry has left in his life... his world is slowly crumbling, the new bands just don't do it for him anymore. He first consults Lost of the Losers, to see there's anything he can do about his dilemma -- bottom line, he needs a new drug. Lost seems lost in her own problems... she has no direction herself, and Lithium realizes that Lost should have been the last person to ask for directions. In frustration, Lithium gets up, goes into the Lost's room of symbols, picks up Lucky's fuzzy dice in his hand, and repeats the following limerick:

"There once was a man named Luck,
who was good at winning a buck,
the women liked him,
but he's not serious about them,
he only likes them for a good fu.."

He is transported instantly to Lucky's domain before he can finish his sentence.

The Symbols:

One word should be said about the Loser's symbols. Like the Endless, each of the Losers have their own sigil or symbol. Lucky's is the pair of fuzzy dice. Life's is two copper coins. Lithium's is a rolled joint. Lost's is a sign post pointing in many directions. Loony's is the Warner Brother's shield/logo. Lust is like a peep show window -- you need to insert a quarter to get it to open up. And Larry's is a book -- the title changes every time. In Lost's symbol room, it might have been Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or something similar...

Back to Our Story:

"God I hate that", says Lithium as he picks himself up off the floor and goes over to the casino bar to get himself a free drink to settle his nerves. This is Lucky's domain. He is the god of the Native-Americans, the smaller diety of the mobsters and Chinese. The man who married all three of the Fates...