FUBAR Comic-Con signing! Awesome Toy Blog! Weird Al!

Comic-Con is just a few days away, and it's shaping up to be even bigger than ever before.  I'm trying to pack, make last minute plans and figure out some semblance of a schedule for the coming week.  I'm flying in to San Diego a day earlier than I did last year, so hopefully that helps me get accustomed to the west coast in time for the show...but let's face it, no one is ever really prepared for Comic-Con. I'm hoping for the best.

Plans don't get much more last minute than this, but I'm still finalizing a few details on some exciting news.  There will be a small FUBAR signing at Comic-Con, complete with a few exclusives to boot.  The picture at top is of our con exclusive poster, measuring 11x14 and featuring the "Ace of Spades" Free Comic Book Day cover.  It sells for five bucks!

The signing will take place on Friday the 25th in the small press section, booth M-06.  I'll be there along with Chuck Dixon and Jennie Wood to sign some books and say hello.  Eric Esquivel and Lesley Vamos are scheduled to make some appearances as well!  The time for the signing is tentatively set for 3:30-5:00, but we're still working out individual schedules.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

I'll hand out a bunch of these post card sized flyers before the singing to hopefully drum up some interest.  The front has the pertinent details...

...and the back has a place for autographs!

There'll also be a special item for backers of the "Mother Russia" Kickstarter. Cryptic!

The Awesome Toy Blog is a great site with lots of great information on, well, toys in general, but I use it most to find a list of convention exclusive merchandise.  The site compiles it and I scan it to see what I need to get for SDCC and other conventions (but mostly SDCC).  The site recently put up a post about the Tick exclusives from New England Comics!  I'm glad someone (uh...) tipped the site off about them!



In the category of "dream come true that might quickly turn into a nightmare" comes news that "Weird Al" Yankovic will have a panel all to himself at Comic-Con on Saturday.  This is fantastic news until you find out that the panel is a limited ticketed event and you'll probably have to wait in line for seven hours just to get a chance at a ticket.  There are better ways to do this, Comic-Con...just look at Nerd HQ if you want to know how to do it right!

Regardless, I'm going to try to get into the panel and see Al once again, so I hope that it's relatively painless.  Al just released his new album, "Mandatory Fun", which is, of course, a gift to humanity.  I'm doing my best to learn all the lyrics to the new songs before Saturday.  Above is the video for what might just be my favorite song on the album, "Foil"!  Watch and enjoy.  And then go buy the album.

Best of luck to all heading out to San Diego for what is sure to be a great, manic time.  I'm sure to come back with lots of pictures.

Tick and FUBAR Free Comic Book Day 2014 previews

Free Comic Book Day is creeping up on us once again, and the FCBD website has recently been updated with previews of all the participating books.  I've got two books that I'm involved with this year, which is, of course, very exciting.  I hope that everyone will head out to a shop on May 3rd and pick up some comics.

Here's a mild shock to anyone who follows my work: I wasn't fired after the 2013 Free Comic Book Day issue of the Tick.  In fact, I've written this year's issue as well, and I'm very happy to see it take shape.  Both this book and the FUBAR issue went out to the printer earlier today, which means that it would now take a lot of effort and money to keep these books from hitting the shelves.

Above is the first page of the new Tick story; if you'd like to get a further (and surprisingly extensive)  look at the issue, click here and hit the "download" link: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/1042?stockItemID=STK634560

The website has yet to put up the solicitation info for the issue.  I...I think I can post it here?  Right?  Yes.

Publisher: NEW ENGLAND COMICS

(W) Jeff McClelland (A) Duane Redhead (CA) Duane Redhead

THE TICK returns for FCBD 2014 with a BRAND NEW, FULL COLOR, 32-page comic book sure to entertain fans both existing and new, young and old!  In “The Bigger Dig”, The Tick and Arthur face off against the Hoarder, an alien menace who does the unthinkable by stealing The City and all The Tick has sworn to protect!  Plus all new backup features!  An exciting introduction for new fans and more fun than you could shake a spoon at!

 If I get yelled at for this, I'll take it down.  But damn it, I wrote the thing so let it rip.

A preview of FUBAR: Ace of Spades is also online on the FCBD site.  You can see it here: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/1042?stockItemID=STK634561

It's written by Chuck Dixon with art by Jeff McComsey and Steve Becker.  I lettered it, which in itself is worth the price of admission.  Wait...

Fun fact: after we submitted this book to the folks at FCBD, they made us take out all of the swear words.  I think that if we reprint this story in the future, we'll put them all back in, and toss in a few more for good measure.

Free Comic Book Day 2014: New Tick and FUBAR comics!

Free Comic Book Day 2014 isn't until May, but the folks over at the FCBD website have just released the "Silver Age" sponsors for next year's event.  Now that the cat's out of the bag, I can relay the news that Duane Redhead and I will be working on a new issue of the Tick.  It seems like the site has yet to upload any descriptions of the books as of yet, so that will still be forthcoming.  But rest assured that there will be new Tick in 2014!  I've seen some of the pages as they've been rolling in, and Duane is really doing a great job with the story.  I'll be excited to share some of those when it's allowed.

There's also a new FUBAR issue due out for FCBD, this one featuring a full-length story written by Chuck Dixon!  The cover you see is drawn by art director Steve Becker, and it puts that damn Phillies hat right on the cover.  Whatever.  I'll be doing a little bit of work on this issue as well, so just as last year, I'll have two Free Comic Book Day comics coming out this May.  This is, of course, very exciting news.  I'll provide more updates as we get closer to the event.  Spread the news!

FUBAR: By the Sword #1 on sale now!

If you make it out to the comic shop this week, be sure to keep an eye out for FUBAR: By the Sword #1, the first issue of a two-part mini-series featuring medieval zombies in fantastic FUBAR fashion!  This issue is 44 pages and runs for only $2.99, which is, if I can say, a great deal.  Steve Becker outdid himself on the eerie cover that you see directly above.

I did some editing and production work for the book, and I also wrote one of the stories, featuring a guy who gets a bite taken out of his ass, apparently.  Actually, it's a zombified version of "The Miller's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales...so yes, I managed to embarrass myself by trying to adapt one of the most beloved literary works in human history, in case you were wondering.  But the ass biting thing has a little more context now.

Art on my story was provided by the extremely talented Rob Croonenborghs, who really outdid himself in bringing it to life...and afterlife, I guess.

The issue also has stories from FUBAR stalwarts like Jeff McComsey, Chuck Dixon, Jim McMunn, Michael McDermott and Julie Shelton, to name a few, plus some new faces to the FUBAR scene, including a special "Barbarian Lord" story from the always impressive Matt Smith!

By the Sword #2 is available for pre-order now and should be in shops in late September or early October.  It also sports a cover by Steve Becker and moves thematically from medieval times to feudal Japan!  The FUBAR machine keeps on rolling.

Comic-Con 2013 bound! And a FUBAR release!

As anyone who's read this blog knows, last year's trip to Comic-Con international in San Diego was a pretty big deal.  Not only was it lots of fun, but I was able to meet a lot of great people and make some inroads that ultimately led to my writing this year's Tick Free Comic Book Day special.  I had a booth in the small press section and I created a costume to wear around the convention, and both of these things took an unbelievable amount of planning and legwork to make happen.

I was pleased with the results on both ends, but once the show was over, I started thinking about the 2013 show and realized that if I was lucky enough to get a booth once again, I'd have to start planning almost immediately, and honestly, I didn't know if I had it in me.  There was so much preparation work for the show that it took up a lot of my time that would otherwise be reserved for writing and creating comics, which was, of course, the reason for going in the first place.

So I eventually decided that I wouldn't be applying for a booth for the 2013 show, but I took a chance and applied for professional registration, and I'm happy (shocked, really) to say that I was accepted and will be attending with a red badge this time around.  The Comic-Con organization, as always, is incredibly generous in its attempts to cater to the comic book industry and promote comics in general.  The process was incredibly simple - I filled out the application, went online to claim my badges, and got my e-mail confirmation.

It should be a fun time, and a different experience than last year, when nearly all of my waking hours were taken up setting up the booth, standing and selling behind the booth, adjusting things for the booth, buying things for the booth...it was stressful at times.  This year I'm looking forward to seeing more of the attractions both inside and outside of the convention center and maybe sitting in on a few more panels.  There'll still be lots of networking and signing going on - the plan is that I'll spend some time at the New England Comics booth over the event - but there'll be time for other things, too, and I'm excited about that.

I'm sure, just like last year, that I'll be posting many more things about Comic-Con before the show takes place.  But for now I'm just happy to know that I'll be going back for another swing at things.

For those who missed it, Wednesday saw the release of the FUBAR Winter Special!  I've got two stories in it and there are several other great contributions from folks like Chuck Dixon, Jeff McComsey and Steve Becker.  Numbers on this issue were pretty good, so chances are that your store ordered a copy or two for the shelf, so pick one up if you've got the chance!  The FUBAR train keeps on rolling.

FUBAR: Free Comic Book Day 2013 special

A few days ago, I broke the news about the 2013 Tick Free Comic Book day special.  If you took a closer look at Diamond's list of all the FCBD offerings, you'll see another book with my name attached to it.  FUBAR, everyone's favorite zombie war comic, will have a special issue out with all new stories and a new Frank Frazetta-inspired cover by Mike Hawthorne!

This issue will feature four stories that span US history.  My story is in the familiar WWII timeframe and deals with Edward R. Murrow, journalist and patriot in one of his early war assignments.  Other contributors include Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker, Chuck Dixon, Shawn Aldridge and Jason Copland.

May just got a lot bigger for me.  Two books on the same day, with a pretty wide release for both!  It's very exciting.  So if you go to a comic shop on Saturday, May 4th of next year, you can be sure to pick up two books: the Tick and FUBAR, absolutely free!

A big FUBAR update!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  It's been a while since I've posted, but I promise, it's been because of other productive activities...and this time it's even comic related!  What a shock.

Quick, think of something that gets bigger and bigger every day!  Well, yes, "your mom" is an acceptable answer.  But also FUBAR, the comic that keeps on coming.  The success of this book continues to amaze, and it's something I'm proud to be a part of.  After this year's Empire of the Rising Dead graphic novel and the well received Summer Special, things have really been picking up steam to the point where 2013 is shaping up to be a banner year.

Above, you'll see the cover to the aptly named FUBAR: Winter Special, due out in January and in the "monthly" format that we all know and love so well.  Adorned by another beautifully rendered cover by Pietro, the Winter Special features stories by Chuck Dixon, Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker, and me. And a few other people.  It's gonna be great.

The FUBAR: American History Z Kickstarter campaign has been an unqualified success that I don't think anyone could have predicted.  With nearly two weeks left to go, the book has raised more than double of its fundraising goal and has just passed the $13,000 mark.  Who knows where it'll end, but it was certainly helped along when it was showcased on the very front page of Kickstarter as a staff pick, as you can see in the screenshot above.

Reaching seemingly unattainable goals means the unlocking of pretty decent "stretch" rewards, and FUBAR does its best to impress with the announcement of a brand new one-shot title: FUBAR: By the Sword, a medieval anthology that's in its very infancy, but already has a beautiful cover by Steve Becker:

This book further expands the FUBAR universe and will keep us all busy well into next year.  I'm already thinking of potential story ideas, and I'm doing my best to try and not let Games of Thrones influence me too much.

These things all add up to an exciting year ahead, but there's even more to come, and dare I say the most exciting news of all is still to come.  In the next few weeks, there'll be an extra special announcement from the ranks of FUBAR Central Command that'll really blow the doors off their hinges.  It's definitely something to keep an eye out for.

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Blogger is now telling me that I've reached my quote on pictures for this blog.  To which I can only have one realistic reaction: PANIC!  I had no idea that there was a limit on the amount of images one could upload to a Blogger account, but apparently there is, that number is 1GB, and I've reached it.  What to do?  What to do indeed.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

FUBAR: Summer Special out today! Signing at Pittsburgh Comics!

I've had a few comics published in the past several years, but FUBAR: Summer Special, which is out in stores today, is the first to get mentioned (and pictured) on Diamond's Previews website.  The above image is a screenshot, one that was pretty neat to see when I checked to confirm the release date.

I'm pretty excited about this book - not only does having a new book feed my ceaselessly growing ego, but the Summer Special also features work from talented folks who, unlike me, you might actually recognize and admire, such as Chuck Dixon, Tim Truman, Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker, Lonny Chant, Jim McMunn and Leonardo Pietro.  I've read Chuck's story and it's really just fantastic.

I'll be at Pittsburgh Comics in McMurray, PA tonight from around 5:00-7:00 to sign copies in anyone is interested, or to just stand around and stare intently as people walk in the door.  I'll have a few copies of the anthologies for sale, and I'll bring the new issue of the Magic Bullet with me!  If you buy anything FUBAR related, you get the Magic Bullet, too.  What a great deal!  Trust me.

Pre-orders were solid on this book.  I'm hoping we get the chance to make more.

We all love random notes! With FUBAR, TMNT, a Hulk haiku, Franks and Beans and more!

I've got a little bit to say about a lot of things.  Who wants to hear them?  All of you?  All right, then let's get started.

- The last day for comic shops to order the FUBAR: Summer Special one shot is almost upon us!  I put this above flyer together and FUBAR head honcho Jeff McComsey did a lot of legwork in contacting individual shops about the book.  We're both very excited about the chances of this single issue doing well in stores.  It's got stories by Chuck Dixon, Tim Truman, Michael McDermott and...me.  So ask your local comic shop to order a few copies!  The Diamond order code is JUN12 0760.

- The number of page hits I'm getting per month continues to grow pretty steadily.  With a few days left in June, this has already been the most popular month for the blog (thanks, everybody...and also Google Images).  A big reason for that was a link that someone posted on Reddit, linking to a post I wrote last year about Bernard Krigstein's "Master Race".  It's a fantastic short comic, and I've got the whole sequence posted, so if you haven't gotten around to reading it yet, do it!

- I took a trip to Goodwill a few days ago and landed a Franks and Beans prop and a component for a Comic-Con costume (a great haul!).  While there, I spotted Venom hanging out in a collection of some random junk.  I'm not sure what his scheme is, but rest assured that no good will come from it.

- After my spring semester ended at school, I posted awful pictures my students had drawn of the Hulk.  My good friend Lauren, formerly of the Grouchy Gastronome website, sent my a Hulk haiku in celebration of this event.  Perhaps in direct violation of her wishes, here is her poem:

There's no Hulk picture
For I am not an artist
Enjoy this instead

Well, Hulk, what do you think?

Oh, Hulk, you're such an idiot.  The Thing is so much better than you.

- Fullfilling a wild and long-standing fantasy of mine, a picture I took has been seen and shared by others on the Internet, as the "The Shredder is Dead" picture I made and took at school was posted to the TMNT Tumbler page and reblogged by several dozen others!  YES!  Viral images!  Please share with your friends, Internet.

Oh, and Paramount shut down Michael Bay's live-action Ninja Turtle movie in hopes of finding a better script.  Heh.

- Click here for a nice and wildly positive review of this year's XCon Myrtle Beach.  There are lots of pictures from the event, including the above one.  It's funny because this is my table from the convention...before I showed up.  Ha!  That happened a lot.

- Facebook is getting eerily specific with its ads, as I found this waiting for me one day when I incessantly casually checked my page.  Really?  There are enough Weird Al fans out there that Facebook can run an ad specifically catering to them?  Wow.  And the guy in this ad looks dumb.  Get with the times, man.  Weird Al shaved his mustache years ago!

- Finally, here's a programming update on Comic-Con's film festival!  Franks and Beans didn't make the cut.  Oh, heck.  It was a long shot, I guess, but that's still a bit of a bummer.  I'm sure there will be plenty of good entries on display.  In the meantime, here's an extra new episode of Franks and Beans with special guest stars - from this summer's Dark Knight Rises - Christopher Nolan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt!  Maybe.

Preorder FUBAR: Summer Special!

The June edition of Diamon's Previews catalogue was just released, and if you flip to page 229, you'll see that there's a new FUBAR book being solicited: the FUBAR: Summer Special one shot!  This book was advertised in FUBAR's Free Comic Book Day offering, and I'm happy to finally be able to show the cover and give up a little more information about it.

Rather than a big phone book-style anthology like volumes 1 and 2, the Summer Special is a standard sized, 32-page b&w comic and will feature four stories.  I've written one of them, a short tale that'll be drawn by a familiar artist, none other than Leonardo Pietro, who also provided the cover.  The book also features a story from the upcoming third volume of FUBAR as well as two other brand new stories, one written by Batman and GI Joe alum Chuck Dixon and another by Conan and Hawken's Tim Truman!

The book retails for $2.99, which is a dollar less than what I expected.  It really is a great price for what's being offered, and I'm not just saying that because I desperately want people to buy it (though that is also true.  It is!).

If you've got a favorite comic shop that you go to, ask 'em to order a few copies of the Summer Special for the shelves!  It'd really help out and I think that there's an audience for it.  The all important Diamond order code is JUN12 0760.

The book will arrive in August and it'll serve as a lead in to the third volume.  Check it out!

My favorite comic book convention story - Heroes Con 2008 (featuring Dan DiDio!)

Let me start off by saying that I think that for the most part, comic conventions are great.  They're a vital cog in the machine that connects fans to creators and companies to the people who keep them running - retailers and readers.  Teddy and the Yeti, even though it still occupies such a small area of comic-dom, would be, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent without conventions.  So I recognize their importance.

There are certain aspects of conventions that I'm not fond of or just don't get excited for, and on the top of that list is panels that big companies like Marvel and DC hold at nearly every stop.  I've gone to a few and they all tend to be the same thing - a sales pitch from the company with no "real" information being passed along to fans.  Most convention panels are structured like this: "Hi everyone, welcome to the panel with important people from the company.  Here's some big news - next year, the Fantastic Four will battle...DR. DOOM!!!"

To each his own, of course - if you're up for it, then good for you.  But I don't see the point in sitting though a 90-minute advertisement for stuff I already buy.  Maybe people like q&a panels where they can talk with creators...I dunno.

Anyway, in 2008 I attended the Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I sat in on the DC panel that was taking place on the Saturday of the show.  There was a lot of fluff, of course, mostly centering around recently completed "Sinestro Corps War" storyline and looking forward to what would become the 2009/10 event, "Blackest Night".  In attendance were many creators and staff members, notably Executive Editor Dan DiDio.

After announcements were made, Didio started to ask questions of the fans in attendance, asking what people thought of certain characters and storylines.  The conversation worked its way to the Batman family of characters (as they often do), and Didio began to ask people in the audience about the various iterations of Robin.  "Who's your favorite Robin?", he'd ask.  "Who here likes the book?"

To the second question, a girl sitting about 25 rows deep raised her hand, and Didio called on her.  "What do you like about the book?", he asked her.  The girl stood up and began her answer: "Well, I'm really sad that Chuck Dixon isn't writing the --"

The rest of her answer, the part that wasn't cut off, couldn't be heard, because as soon as he heard the name "Chuck Dixon" pass over the girl's lips, Didio shouted "BraRaRaRaRa...don't worry about it" into his microphone, and quickly went to the next person with his/her hand raised.

I was pretty stunned by all this.  To give a little bit of context here, Dixon, an industry veteran who might be best known for his extended runs on Batman-related titles, had been rather unceremoniously fired from DC, including as the head writer on the Robin title, just a few weeks prior to this convention; it's still not widely known why he was let go.

The rest of the panel went off pretty smoothly: we all got to vote on things like "who's happy to see Hal Jordan back?!" and were able to ask questions ourselves, like "what character do you like to draw the MOST?"  If I have a regret from attending this panel, it's that I didn't use the question and answer session to call attention to this snub once more.  "A little while ago", I should have said, "a girl mentioned the name of a creator who was recently fired from your company, and your response was 'BraRaRaRaRa!'  Do you think that was an appropriate answer to someone who was expressing her opinion - which you in turn solicited in the first place?"  Of course, I chickened out and kept my mouth shut, so I'll never know how something like that would have gone over.

Probably not well.

In any case, anyone who's ever attended a comic convention invariably comes away with some good stories - that's the best one I've got, at least for now.