Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore

Steve Geppi is the owner of the Diamond Comic Distributors, which is the only major distribution network in all of comics. There's been a lot said about Geppi in recent months, and a number of people in the industry have some strong opinions about the man. All I'll say about the matter is that the industry as a whole would be healthier with more than just a single major distribution system for comics in North America.

I had the opportunity to share a table at the 2015 Baltimore Comic-Con last fall. After the opening night of the show on Friday, Geppi hosted an event for exhibitors and professionals at his very own entertainment museum. I didn't get to Baltimore until Friday evening, but since my hotel was right next to the museum, I grabbed my badge and went over to the museum, which is located right next to Camden Yards, the baseball stadium for the Baltimore Orioles.

Much of what the museum holds is Geppi's personal collection of pop culture memorabilia, and I was stunned at much of what I saw. I had heard of the museum before, but I never knew what kind of things it had on display. I took a bunch of pictures and thought I'd share a few here.

The layout and display of the museum is thoughtful and impressive, and there's a lot of different items to see, but I was of course most excited by the comics. As you can see at the top, Geppi has some of the most valuable comics in existence for all to see, including Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27, the first appearances of Superman and Batman. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out if these were even real copies or just facsimiles, and I overheard others asking the same questions. The staff let me know that yes, these are indeed the real things. The books were situated on a display that looked appropriate for the Constitution.

The room held hundreds of comics and pulps from various eras, all the way up to ones that were fairly modern.

There was original art from Frank Cho in one section as well. Other than time periods, there didn't seem to be a theme to many of these sections.

In addition to the obvious aesthetic qualities of this space, the movie posters that lined this hallway were simply incredible. There were posters from 80 years ago that looked brand new. How in the world were these kept for so long in such good condition? Maybe there was a sale at a movie studio lot. There was a wide variety of posters and prints to see.

It seemed like there was always another room to see, each with at least one mind-boggling piece on display.

One thing that stuck with me was just the preponderance of different items from all different eras. The different collections just seemed to go on and on.

Oh, look, Larry. He even has some Dukes of Hazzard items on display.

I saw a lot of movie memorabilia, the result of years of collecting and certainly millions of dollars spent.

The museum also had items on loan, including an entire room dedicated to Will Eisner.

There were dozens of pages on display that spanned Eisner's entire, decades-long career.

And there was even some Frankenberry artwork!

This whole exhibit was just a sight to behold. I showed up to the event toward the end, so I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked. I saw Geppi as I was leaving and expressed my disbelief at everything I had seen. It's hard to imagine that something like this museum even exists. If you're in the Baltimore area, you should take a few hours and take in everything that's here on display. It's impressive, to say the least.

Oh, and it happened that the Cincinnati Bengals were staying at the same hotel that I had booked for the weekend. It was odd, seeing coaches, staff and players walks the halls. My wife wouldn't allow me to run through the halls shouting "THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS HAVE SIX SUPER BOWL TROPHIES", but I did announce my presence at least once. After all of the turmoil between the two teams during the 2015 season, I kind of wish I was a little bit louder, but I'd say there would have been a 20% chance one of the players (you know which ones) would have beaten me up by the vending machines. Can't wait until the 2016 championship season is here, Steelers.

"Weird Al" Yankovic in "Eat It", a FUBAR comic by McClelland, McMunn and McComsey

Read the story for free here!

I've been involved with FUBAR for about five years now, and there are a lot of stories that I'm proud of and enjoyed working on. A while ago, I wrote a story featuring Elvis Presley and the many conspiracies surrounding his death. It ran much longer than I had planned, so it was eventually decided that it could support its own single-issue book, which soon grew to a full 32-page issue to be filled out with a few backups. These backups would all focus on musical artists. I almost made the biggest mistake of my life (possibly) by not putting two and two together and writing one of the stories about "Weird Al" Yankovic. But soon enough I came to the obvious conclusion and the eight-page short "Eat It" was born.

The story itself might just be the easiest thing I've ever written in my entire life, as the inspiration was of course there. I tried to add in as many references as I could and sent the script off. Jeff McComsey provided the pencil roughs before sending it off to Jim McMunn for the finished art. I lettered the final product, which I'm very happy to see completed. McComsey and I decided to show the entire "Eat It" story online, and you can read the whole dang thing for free here: http://imgur.com/gallery/17maB/new

The entire issue, titled "All the King's Corpses" and featuring an Elvis cover by Danny Cruz and Paul Little, while be solicited in Previews soon. In addition to the Elvis and Weird Al stories by me, there's a Jim Morrison story by Michael McDermott and Will Perkins, a Waylon Jennings tale by your friend (and mine) Larry Franks and Kelly Williams, and a new Combat Quiz by Jennie Wood and Williams.

When I was at the Baltimore Comic-Con a few months ago, Jeff McComsey surprised me with the eight pencil roughs, all framed up and looking great. I was really taken back. This is hanging up right behind my computer, actually, so I'm looking right at it as I type this.

Not only that, but soon after, Jim McMunn was kind enough to send me the original page art for the story. Here are a few images of that.

Jim finished all of the artwork digitally, so the physical pages are in different states of completion. They look just fantastic and I'm absolutely thrilled to have them in my possession. This was a passion project that will hopefully have some appeal for others as well. I'm so glad that I finally got to write a Weird Al story. I'm even more grateful that some friends helped out and that it turned out as good as it did. I hope you all enjoy it as well!

Addendum: Sometimes I think, "what can I title this post that might make it show up earlier in search results?" Or, "if someone sees an image from this post on a Google search, how can I try to make sure he or she knows that I had something to do with this?" (this usually occurs when I am shouting into the void). And then, a title like the one at the top of this post is born. Carry on.

The triumphant return of RANDOM NOTES!! Steel City Con, FUBAR, Kickstarter, Franks and Beans and more!

Selected short subjects:

- The latest of the installment of the Steel City Con was held at the beginning of April.  I'm continually surprised at how popular this show has become.  There are three shows a year and you'd think it'd suffer from fatigue by this point, but it seems to still be gaining steam.  It'll be interesting to see how it holds up after the Wizard World Pittsburgh show later in the year.

I was able to snag a few cool items from the show, including some Thing items and some comics.

All of these books were around 50 cents each, so I grabbed about 40 of them and spent way too much time looking through boxes...but there were some cool finds to be had, including Superboy #101 (in rough shape, but still), the last issue of Strange Tales vol. 2 (the only issue of the series that featured the Thing, a mainstay in the first volume) and the second issue of Simpsons Comics.

There was also a big Dukes of Hazzard presence at the show.  Larry wrote more about it on his blog, and you should check it out!

- I'm pretty sure this Thing magnet is homemade, but when I saw it at Pittsburgh Comics I had to grab it.  I can't quite place the artist, and it's driving me nuts.  Needless to say, I love it.

- The Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo came and went at the end of March, and it was better than I expected.  I managed to sell some books and buy a few that came home with me.  There was a lot of talent at this small show, which was encouraging.  I also met Don Simpson there, and we struck up a dialogue, at which point I learned that he...works at the same school that I do.  That is really bizarre.

Don is offering up a class for the fall semester in cartooning and character design.  This would be an awesome class to take.

- The second volume of Jennie Wood and Jeff McComsey's is currently up on Kickstarter and it's nearing its goal.  This is a great book and a the kind of comic the industry needs more of.  Check out the campaign and pledge if you can!

And speaking of Kickstarters...the UHF movie campaign is nearing its end with some work to be done.  It's finished on the evening of Sunday, April 26th, so if you haven't pledged yet...there are only a few more days to do so!

Some of the rewards for the campaign are making their way to me, including these 8-bit pins featuring characters from the movie.

- I'm currently catching up on some lettering work.  Whenever I letter, I use a page from IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic as a template.  I type in "that's turtle power!" every time I start a new project to make sure that my letters are the size they should be.  This continues to amuse me, so I'm sharing it.

Just what am I lettering?  Among other things, some FUBAR for the By the Sword collection, including this short story titled "The Leper King", written by Mark Bertolini with art by Chris McFann.

- And lastly, there's a newly released, really short episode of Franks and Beans to watch!  This episode was originally released as a Vine, hence the brief time limit.  There's also a loop of the video (100 times, over and over) in case you want to feel the cold grip of insanity.

Wow, these random notes are fun.  Look for them again whenever the hell I feel like writing them.  See you then!

Support the FUBAR: By the Sword Kickstarter! (please)

This has been a few years in the making.  The FUBAR: By the Sword trade is finally ready to print.  Kickstarter has been kind to us in the past and we're offering a number of rewards that will hopefully make this version a successful one.  FUBAR: BTS contains stories from the individual issues (including the "Guts and Glory" one shot) along with some all new material from a few dozen independent creators.

The campaign went live a few weeks ago and it proved to be a poplar one from the start.  I took a screenshot of when it reached the magical 2099 mark:

Now we're into stretch goals as we wind down the campaign.  They include some bookmarks, book plates, and trading cards so far, and the one I'm most excited about is an all-new 32-page issue that features musicians titled "All the King's Corpses".  Here's the cover, by Danny Cruz and Paul Little:

The lead story, drawn by Rob Croonenborghs, features Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon as they team up to take on the zombie menace.  I'm kind of enamored by Elvis's more mythological features, so I had a lot of fun writing it.  The book also has stories about the Doors, Waylon Jennings (written by Larry Franks) and another entry by me with art by head honcho Jeff McComsey and featuring "Weird Al" Yankovic.  I hope that it's received well.

If you feel like contributing to the campaign, here's the direct link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1607639297/fubar-by-the-sword

It ends in just over a week.  Get some new FUBAR while you can!

Larry Franks writes FUBAR

It was bound to happen, or so we all had hoped.  Larry Franks, creator of DukesCollector and co-creator of Franks and Beans has joined the ranks of FUBAR, contributing his first story to the upcoming FUBAR: By the Sword collection.  Needless to say, Larry has been one of my favorite comic book writers for years.

Larry's story takes us back to the origins of the Robin Hood myth in a way that incorporates classic literature with his very real love of puppet shows...and zombies.  I can't wait for everyone to see what he's done with this story.  These panels are just a hint of what's to come.

Be sure to check out this story in the new FUBAR collection, as well as Larry's other works through the usual channels.  Very excited to see this take shape.

Pictures from the 2013 Comic-Con International, part 8: The Epilogue (Pop Culture Paradise in Tempe, Phoenix Art Museum and more!)

Comic-Con International closed on July 21st at 5:00 pm, and what a sad time it was.  I feel that the event is, save for a couple hours on Sunday, as long as it can be.  I mean, Comic-Con could last an entire week, from Sunday through Sunday, and it'd be just lovely, but most people do have jobs and other commitments that would probably keep them from spending eight days at the event.  Such is life.  At any rate, I am already looking forward to next year and what is certain to be an even greater event.  I left San Diego on Sunday tired but filled with the satisfaction of a convention well traversed.

As wonderful as Comic-Con is, it seems that every second spend there revolved around the show; there isn't time for anything beyond what's connected to the convention.  Just as I did last year, I took a few days afterwards and did some sightseeing in a nearby city.  Last year took me to San Francisco with stopovers in Los Angeles and Oakland, and this year I drove east out to Yuma and Phoenix, Arizona.  There were some pretty cool things to see there, and I thought that I'd wrap up these Comic-Con pictures by posting some of the post-convention photos, most of which have at least something to do with comics.  Oh, and cactuses, too.

Did someone say cactuses?  The word that is just as acceptable as "cacti"?  Well, it is well known that I have a great love for the spiny desert plants.  And boy, were there some specimens to see as we drove east.  The above picture is from Yuma, right across the border from California.  It was amazing to see the scenery change so quickly after we left San Diego - it wasn't an hour before the climate changed from breezy and temperate to hot and arid.

Hey, it's another, absolutely gigantic cactus!  I'm in this picture to give it some scale, and because I like to have my picture taken.

In between Yuma and Scottsdale was the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site.  There were a lot of prehistoric paintings just out in the open.  I thought that the one of the left of the above picture looks quite a bit like Dr. Zoidberg...

Once in Scottsdale, I stopped at the much-cooler-than-it-sounds Musical Instrument Museum, where I found this tribute to "Weird Al" Yankovic (I'm assuming, anyway)...

...and Elvis Presley.

You might have thought that coming right from Comic-Con, I might have been able to skip a trip to a local comic shop, but no, once Wednesday rolled around, I drove to Pop Culture Paradise in Tempe.  I took a couple copies of Teddy and the Yeti and the Tick to leave with them.  It was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit this day.

The shop was pretty big with lots of different displays.  There were more than a few people walking around when I showed up.  They had all of their new comics lined up on a wall, and had a small back issue section as well.  I picked up a few comics and browsed.

I find that I've taken pictures of a number of comic shops for the blog in the past, and I always feel like at one point someone's going to catch me doing it and think I'm some corporate spy or something.  Not this time, I guess.

The shop had a really nice action figure section with both new and vintage toys.

There were even some video games and snacks!  This is a great store for events and killing time.  It's not just a place to buy comics and leave.  A large section of the store is devoted to gaming, too.

This was the most...interesting?...piece in the store.  "Hey, kid, you want a terrifying bust of Harrison Ford as Han Solo?"

There were a number of high-end items as well, such as this super Thundercats statue.  It was a fun store!  I'm glad that I got to stop in to pick up my weekly comics.

On the way to my hotel, I saw this Dukes of Hazzard-themed saloon, which I'm sure made Larry extra jealous.

On one of the last nights I spent in the area before flying back to Pittsburgh, I went to the Phoenix Art Museum, which coincidentally, had a gallery on video game art!  The whole museum was very cool, but one of the really neat things was the arcade they set up in the museum, with working games that you could play for free.

The video games all came in custom-painted cabinets, pained by local artists and re-imagining the original cabinet design.  There were all kinds of classic games, from Mario Bros. to Pac Man to Gunsmoke to Rampage to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to this X-Men game, which seemed especially popular.

Hey, there's Colossus doing that weird thing that he does in the video game that has no basis on his actual powers at all!

And, for some reason, here's original Cyclops.  He and Professor X look like they are taken from some John Byrne artwork, though I couldn't say exactly where.

The TMNT cabinet looks pretty cool, until you get down to April O'Neal, who is apparently...being molested?

Here's a high-angle shot of the exhibit floor with video game systems from all over, old and new.

There are always some great pictures to be had at Comic-Con, and I hope that you've enjoyed all of the ones I've posted from this year's trip.  Here's some good news - I've already been approved for a professional badge for the 2014 show, so as long as I manage to claim one in time, I'll be going back for another round next July.  And, yes...I'll take pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.