Random updates

...get it? The image is of the character "Random" from X-Force...or X-Factor...one of those X-Men spinoff teams. Whatever. Anyway, a few updates to pass along, none big enough to warrant a long rant:

- I've updated this blog site just a bit by adding a few widgets to the side bar over on the right. Now you can search all posts (just like you've always wanted!), and wander through the maze that is the largest, most incomprehensible tag cloud with all the many, many labels I've used in the past.

You want to know how many times I've used "The Thing" as a tag? Four! (well, now it's five.) How about "Pittsburgh"? Take a peek on the right...and you just might find out! I've even tagged Sarah Palin once, for who knows what reason.

- Todd Nauck has agreed to do an interview for Teddy and the Yeti issue #2. As you'll recall (YOU WILL!), Todd drew the Mr. Massive cover to the same issue. Phil Hester was kind enough to do the same for issue #1 - a cover and an interview. I wasn't sure if I could get a hold of Todd, but I was able to a few days ago.

- They're having a ridiculous sale over at Toyrocket.com, the place I preorder most of my Futurama toys from. I'm not sure how long the sale - 50-90% off their entire stock - will last, but I moved on it as soon as I got the e-mail: among a few other things, I got the Marvel Legends 1st Appearance Thing figure for five bucks!

- I got an e-mail from Pat Olliffe on Thursday saying that his Teddy and the Yeti cover is done. He both penciled and inked it, and I'll be getting it in the mail in a few days. This is theoretically the cover to issue #4, though Duane and I may take some time off after #3...so we'll see what eventually happens.

- Teddy and the Yeti #1 is officially on its way from Brenner Printing to my house. I should get all 2,000 issues by Tuesday, at which time I'll have to figure out where to put them between now and when I ship the orders off to Diamond's various warehouses.

- Teddy and the Yeti #1 is currently number 40 on Exclamation Comics' top 100 best selling comic books of the day, outranking Dark Reign: Hawkeye #5, Haunt #1 and Deadpool Team-Up #899. I have no idea what this means in any real context.

- Artist Nick Acs has a new blog with art from a backup story that will be featured in a future issue of Teddy and the Yeti. It was posted on October 25th, and as of now it's very much the only post on the site. Which is awesome.

That's all I've got! And a great time was had by all.

Fate Magazine

As has been mentioned before, I do the "occasional" Google search for mentions of Teddy and the Yeti. Many times the results point right back to this blog, while others come from the standard Previews issue description online retailers have picked up on. In all, there aren't a whole lot of surprises, save for one curious result from Fate Magazine. Their online preview of the January-February issue includes a table of contents listing for "Presidential Bigfoot: Teddy and the Yeti" by Gary W. Hemphill, which, upon making this discovery, scared me right to high hell.

I'm sure a listing like this might make a lot of people worry. For one, the magazine is using the EXACT NAME I've chosen for the book, but beyond that, Teddy and the Yeti's first appearance in 2007's Josh Howard Presents: Sasquatch anthology dealt with the duo taking on robotic doppelgangers of historical figures, prominently including US Presidents, making the "Presidential Bigfoot" title all the more troublesome.

I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I also didn't want to turn a blind eye to something that could end up being a serious case of copyright violation and cause me problems in the future, so I went ahead and plunked down $10.95 ($5.95 for the magazine, $5.00 shipping!!) to get a copy of the issue in question, which arrived in my mailbox today.

To my relief, there's no connection between Teddy and the Yeti the comic and Teddy and the Yeti the Fate Magazine article. The article in the magazine deals with Teddy Roosevelt and his experiences with a man who at one time MIGHT have encountered Bigfoot, and nothing more. Apparently Gary Hemphill also finds "Teddy and the Yeti" to be a clever title...but the similarities end there, much to my overwhelming solace.

I now have to deal with the fact that there is a searchable record of me purchasing a conspiracy theory magazine. This issue of Fate Magazine came with the can't-miss offer to purchase "Species Link: The Journal of Interspecies Telepathic Communication", which I can't imagine is an actual journal of academic repute.

The magazine itself had a section on psychic predictions for 2009 (remember, this was the January-February issue), which included one that stood above the rest: "Our government", predicts noted medium Jennie Easterling, "will obtain a device that will break a hurricane when it is several hundred miles out, so when it reaches land, it will be broken up into several tropical storms scattered along the shoreline." Well, I guess they still have almost two months to reveal this secret hurricane buster, but...I'm a bit skeptical.

Finally, if you look at the scan of the cover I took, this issue of Fate Magazine also offers tips on how to sell a haunted house, which, during a recession, is quite topical...so kudos on whoever thought to put that on the cover.

In 20 years or so, I'm sure there will be some congressional hearing not unlike the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s in which this purchase will come back and damn me. And I'll have no recourse but to admit I bought it.

Halloween 2009

I'm not usually one to get dressed up for Halloween - I'm not really sure why, it just seems that I never think about it until it's too late. This year, however, I made the decision to make a costume with a few hours to spare, otherwise known as enough time to run down to Goodwill and frantically try and throw something together (which, as it turns out, is a thought that many many other people have, as the store I went to was teeming with dozens of other Halloween costume procrastinators).

As this is a comic book related blog, I will let you figure out who I decided to go as. Some incorrect answers I heard ALL NIGHT are as follows: guy who was in a plane crash, guy who needed to go to the dry cleaners (??), and the most popular of the three, "The Castaway." Apparently I had a Tom Hanks vibe going on that day. I HAVE PURPLE PANTS, PEOPLE! COME ON!!

Also, two dogs managed to sneak into this picture. One is real.

An unexpected pinup.

Karin Rindevall has been a colorist on Teddy and the Yeti since there WAS a Teddy and the Yeti to be colored, and she recently surprised me with a fun little pinup of the characters. Never has the Yeti looked more cute.

Karin's not just a fantastic colorist, but as you can see here she's got her own distinct style with her drawing as well. I can't quite put my finger on the exact reason I like it so much (and I do), but I will say she mixes an Asian and European style (in my opinion) together better than anyone I've seen before. You can check out more of Karin's work here and here!

IN...TER...VIEWWWW

I was recently interviewed by Richard Vasseur on Teddy and the Yeti. I probably yammered on too long about things, but I figured that if I was going to have a chance to talk T&Y, I might as well talk A LOT. That's one of my very own keys to writing - if you can't do quality, the least you can do is quantity.

I'll post the first question and response here...because this post would be a little thin on words without it (not that that's stopped me before), but you can find the entire interview here. READ IT!

Richard: What is the basic storyline of "Teddy and the Yeti"?

Jeff: The first issue of any new title is a balancing act, I think, because you've got to tell a compelling story while fitting in a lot of exposition in the meantime. The first issue of Teddy and the Yeti is no different - we'll learn a little bit about our character's origins, but that serves as a backdrop to the main plot of the issue. Very simply, Ted is part of a global defense agency, and he's partnered with an Abominable Snowman. Their jobs, which will become more well defined over time, involve protecting the planet against anything that threatens it. In this first issue, Ted is kidnapped and the Yeti has to go after him, which sets up the reemergence of a character from their past.

Pat Olliffe covers Teddy and the Yeti

Pat Olliffe has a lot going for him in my book. He's got a smooth, consistent style, he's reliable in a time where artists seem to jump from project to project without taking the time to put their mark on a book, he's from the Pittsburgh area and as such almost assuredly cheers for the Super Bowl champion Steelers, and he's working on a cover to Teddy and the Yeti.

I met Pat, probably best known for his long run on Spider-Girl, a few years ago at the Pittsburgh Comicon, and it's always been one of my goals to work with him eventually. Since I've got the book coming out at the end of the year, it seemed like a good time to give it a try. At this year's con, I managed to have a conversation with him and over the last few weeks we worked on the details of the cover sketch you see on the right of this post.

Obviously, this is just a sketch and not a final product, but I needed to show it off in any case. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. Thanks, Pat!

...what's he LOOKING at?

To answer the title, probably a hot dog or something. Wait, scratch that...Rusty would never be so calm in there were a hot dog dangling over his head.

I got in contact with Carla Wyzgala a few months ago to possibly create a cover for Teddy and the Yeti. She's a great artist and her watercolors really stood out to me, and I thought that something of that nature might in turn stand out on a comic cover. We're still working the details out on the cover idea, but in the meantime I couldn't help but commission a spot illustration of my dog Rusty. Above are the results!

I love that dog. I'm going to try and get him in the book if at all possible.