War of the Independents original art by Don Simpson!

There are a number of really talented and impressive comic artists living in Pittsburgh, and I've been lucky enough to meet a number of them. Over the last year I've had the pleasure of talking with Don Simpson on a number of occasions, and at last year's Wizard World Pittsburgh, Don gave me a page of original art from the upcoming War of the Independents #4.

This issue of the series features a number of cartoon animals such as Usagi Yojimbo, Felix the Cat, Simpson's own Cowboy Gorilla and....The Tick. There are also some non-animal cartoon characters like Milk & Cheese and the Gumby characters.

I wasn't expecting to get this page so it was a big treat to get a page of art from the guy who created Megaton Man, Border Worlds and other great comics.

 I would absolutely love to work out a Tick/Megaton Man crossover one of these days in an official capacity, but the two characters do actually meet in this issue as well. I'm hoping to see this issue in stores soon!

Megaton Man: Rebirth @ Half-Life comic art gallery in Brownsville

Don Simpson's "Megaton Man" is one of the greatest superhero spoofs to ever be put to paper, and I was a bit surprised when I learned that Simpson was going to have an art showing in, of all places, my hometown of Brownsville, PA.  It turns out, unbeknownst to me until I arrived at the Frank L. Melega art museum, housed at the Flatiron Building, that Simpson is a Pittsburgh native.

It's unusual to have something like this show up in Brownsville, so Larry and I took the short trip a few weeks back and caught a glimpse of the show.

The gallery includes an impressive display of Megaton Man artwork, with a few other items sprinkled in for good measure.

Simpson himself was at the gallery when the show opened.  I would have loved to have been there, but it coincided with the New York Comic-Con, which was a shame.

There were a couple reference to the Tick at the show.  It's hard not to see parallels between the two characters, and I got the impression that maybe Simpson wasn't too fond of the blue guy (Megaton Man showed up a few years before The Tick).  Obviously, I think there's room for more than one superhero parody on the market.

Interestingly enough, there was some art from the War of the Independents miniseries at the show.  I had all but given this series up for dead, as the series has been on quite the hiatus.  But it seems that Simpson himself is drawing the fourth issue, and that it'll be released this summer.  See here is a print and what I believe a cover for War of the Independents, featuring both Megaton Man and the Tick.

I'll admit that I hadn't read much of Megaton Man before going to the show.  Indy comics from the mid-80s don't often show up in the back issue bins I sort through.  But I decided to grab the 10-issue first series online and I have to say - it's got its moments of brilliance.  The relationship between Megaton Man and Stella Starlight is complicated, deep and sometimes tortured.  I soon after picked up the followup "Return of Megaton Man" and I'm working my way toward the '90s Image crossover titles (one issue of note that's on its way to me currently: "Yarn Man", a secondary Megaton Man character and Thing parody).

Also worth mentioning is Simpson's "Border Worlds" series, which I also picked up and quickly consumed.  It's a very ambitious sci-fi concept that I also enjoyed very much.

Near the back of the gallery, almost hidden, was a display of some bigger pieces, and art from Simpson's own collection.

Included in this collection are a few pages of original Fantastic Four art from John Romita.  Needless to say, it was just incredible.

The gallery was supposed to have ended by now, but according to Simpson himself, it's been extended to run into February...so if you haven't seen it yet, there's still time!  Do yourself a favor and, if you're from my part of town, go and see this great gallery.  Here's the address:

69 Market St., Brownsville, PA 15417

I'd love to see a Tick/Megaton Man crossover happen one day.  Maybe Simpson, who recently got his PhD (!) from the University of Pittsburgh, will hit a few more conventions in the coming months and years.  I'd love to meet the guy.

Everyone loves handbooks!

Handbooks, while certainly not unique to the comic industry, have perhaps been embraced by comics more fervently than in any other field.  Teddy and the Yeti, you'll note, has handbook entries in the backs of every issue for no other reason than I like 'em (I have heard from at least one other person who enjoys them, too, to be fair).  When you think about them and realize that comic handbooks are simply statistical and historical reference guides for fictional characters and places, it's difficult to image why they're so prevalent in comics today, but they're here and I'd imagine that they're not going anywhere.

Dave Ryan, mastermind behind the War of the Independents series, is putting together a new handbook featuring characters from the series.  A big fan of handbooks myself, I of course made one for Teddy and the Yeti.  Much of the information is the same as what's listed in the issues of Teddy and the Yeti, but this time around I added a quote from Chet Raymo so it'd sound smart and meaningful.  How academic!

The Teddy and the Yeti War of the Independents handbook entry is posted above.  Below are some other pages that will, I'm told, be published both in print as well as electronically.  I'll try to keep up on it and let everyone know when it shows up in comic shops.

Trading links with MDMacro, crochet yetis galore, Comic-Con and more RAAANDOM NOTES!

It's time again for some random notes that YOU need to read!  Yes, all of this directly affects your life, so pay attention.  Case in point, the screenshot above.

- Back in 2010, I wrote a short post about musician MDMacro, who placed ads in Marvel and DC books for a while, emblazoned with the phrase "beats for reading comic books to".  Obsessively checking my stats recently revealed that I was getting a few click-throughs from the MDMacro homepage, which was interesting.  A quick trip to the page and I found the reason: the post is linked under the heading of a "press release":

I don't know that I'd call what I wrote a press release, but whatever.  It's curious that the post was linked at all.  I'm still not sure just what MDMacro is trying to accomplish with his music or his advertising, so I'd like to publicly offer to interview MDMacro for this blog.  MD, I'm sure that a lot of people would like to know more about you.  How about taking a few questions?  I'd love it if you took me up on it.

- I voted online for the Eisner Awards.  Hooray!  I'm fulfilling my duty to the comic book community!  The ceremony will take place at Comic-Con, which is officially one month away.  I found this picture online of the crowd lined up outside for a previous years show:

Oh, man.  I am doing my best to get ready for the show, and that has meant a lot of late nights recently. My wife is helping out as well.  Here's a bag full of crochet yetis:

Wow!  That's a lot of crochet yetis.  And there are lots more here at home, too.  We're gonna sell the heck out of them at Comic-Con.

Also, here's a box full of blank shirts.  What could I possibly have these many blank shirts for?  All will be revealed...shortly.

- New England Comics had an online sale in the last few weeks that I took full advantage of.  It was a great sale!  I got a bunch of books that I had been on the lookout for, and I got them super cheap.  Included in this lot is a first edition Tick #1 (wooo!), a logo-less Tick #8, and the first issue of Tales Too Terrible to Tell, which has a four-page Tick story in it.  If I'm remembering correctly, the story hasn't been reprinted anywhere at all.

Flipping thought the 20th Anniversary book (top left) had the added benefit of helping me identify one of the mystery artists in my Thing sketchbook.  I was a familiar signature, and I grabbed my sketchbook to compare...and as luck would have it, the signatures were one and the same.  I got the following sketch at the Pittsburgh Comicon in 2003, and I had since forgotten the name of the artist:

Thanks to the Tick, I was able to identify the artist as Mark Wheatley!  I'm pretty happy that I was able to find this out.  This is something that irked me for years.

- War of the Independents #3 came out this month, and I mentioned that Teddy and the Yeti had a small role in the book.  The above picture is from the issue in question.  You can see the Yeti getting zapped with the rest of the indy heroes - I almost missed this one as I flipped thought the book.

- Issue #5 of the Magic Bullet is set to come out in September, and I should have another one-page story between the covers.  The folks involved in publishing the title have a Kickstarter fundraiser going on for the next 10 days or so, and there are a lot of great rewards to anyone who is inclined to donate.  Check it out here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2104849681/magic-bullet-5?ref=live

- Colorist and good friend Mike Adams has been working on his creation Kung Fu Bean for a while now, and he was just involved with the release of the Kung Fu Bean mobile game!  I downloaded it to my iPhone and I will say this about it...it's hard.  As a player, you've got to avoid being hit by your enemies by jumping over or ducking under them, and what sounds like a simple task ends up being very challenging.  I hope that the game designers put out some updates soon as I think this could be a really cool download.  Regardless, it's an awesome thing to have and I wish Mike the best of luck with it!

Mike also recently came to the rescue and colored some Teddy and the Yeti pages for me at the last minute.  Thanks for the assist, Mike!

- That's it for now.  Back to the grind.  Oh, heck, here's a picture of Franks and Beans!  Yeah!

another Teddy and the Yeti handbook page

Teddy and the Yeti #4 makes its way to the printer in the next few days, and I find myself staying up late working on page after page to make sure it happens.  Recently crossed off the list is this issue's handbook entry, which is a beast to work on for sure.  On one hand, I like the idea of this extra content and of handbooks in general, but in practice, the handbook pages are so unbelievably tedious and they take up an incredible amount of time and energy to create.

Even so, I can't imagine that the handbook entries will be going anywhere any time soon.  If nothing else, they force me to come up with backstory for characters that are otherwise a bit shallow - case in point, this issue features an entry on the Aquaticons, seen in Teddy and the Yeti #0, a story that was reprinted in issue #3.

I also, with Joe Martino's permission, wrote up an entry on Maldestrak, the main villain of the War of the Independents series, which was fun to do.

I wonder if I should put all of these handbook entries up on the website as a reference for anyone who wants to learn more about the characters.  Perhaps I'll get on that after I (a hem) update the "previews" section of the main site and this blog.  We shall see.  This issue will be on sale at Comic-Con!

War of the Independents #3 now on sale!

The indy comic book crossover War of the Independents #3 went on sale yesterday, and you should, you know, pick it up.  It's got a flip cover by Todd Nauck and Chris Giarrusso and features two comic characters you've possibly heard about on this site...Teddy and the Yeti!

Our guys had a cameo in issue #1, and from what I understand, they'll also be in issue #6.  But #3 features their biggest role and they're also on the Giarrusso cover right above the Tick!  I'm gonna buy a few copies of this for sure, and if you see it at your local comic shop, I hope you'll pick up a copy as well!

War of the Independents #3, page 11

Here's an uncolored page from the upcoming War of the Independents #3.  This indy crossover features a bevy (that's right, a bevy) of cool characters, but this page specifically is near and dear to my heart, as it features Teddy and the Yeti in two panels!  Can't pick 'em out?  Here, I'll do all the work for you (grumble):

That's from the final panel (where Ted is unceremoniously getting hit in the head with a rock); they also appear as tiny little figures in the first panel!  I can't wait to see this page colored and the entire issue in all its glory.

From what I'm told, issue #2 of the mini series will appear in stores this month.  Issue #3 is back in Diamond's Previews catalog with an order code of JAN121247.  This issue features Teddy and the Yeti's first cover appearance, with art by Chris Giarrusso, with another by Todd Nauck!  Check it out, kids, and order away!

War of the Independents #3

I got my first look at both covers to War of the Independents #3 today, and both of them are very impressive.  In addition to Todd Nauck's cover, I'd like to highlight the above by none other than G-Man and Mini Marvels artist Chris Giarrusso.  Featured rather prominently, between the Tick and G-Man, are both Teddy and the Yeti!  I knew that at least one of the characters would be on this cover, but to see both and in such prime location is quite a treat.

As the issue works its way closer to the stands, I hope to get a little more information to pass along, but in the meantime, here's the official solicitation info direct from Diamond:

Title: The War of the Independents #3 

Plot &Art: Dave Ryan 

Cover art: Todd Nauck 

Flip cover art: Chris Giarrusso 

Script: Robert Sodaro 

Colors & Letters: Wilson Ramos Jr.  

Imprint: Red Anvil Comics 

Rating: All Ages  

Format: Comic (32 pgs) 

UPC: 609224530005 

Price: $2.99 

The Story: The War of the Independents raves across the multiverse, and in this issue the supermen are on their way to Norway to locate the fabled hammer, belt and gloves of Thor, the legendary Norse god of thunder. Meanwhile the villain, Maldestrak — a being of godlike power who is pure evil , and bent on the utter destruction of all forms of life — arrives there first acquires the magical items as well as their incredible power; then proceeds to kick everyone’s butts. Guest stars this issue include the Tick, Atomica, Karna and El Gato Negro, as well as many others.

Be sure to check out this book once it reaches stores!

Teddy and the Yeti cameo in "War of the Independents"!

Yesterday at Pittsburgh Comics, I picked up the first issue of Dave Ryan's War of the Independents, an ambitious crossover event with independent comic characters galore from dozens of different publishers.  Dave first previewed the book at the 2010 New York Comic Con, and the first part of this miniseries is now out in comic shops everywhere.

As I made my way to the back of the issue, I came to the following spread:

There are a lot of recognizable characters to be seen - Bone, Hack/Slash, the Tick, Ms. Monster, Todd Nauck's Wildguard, Digital Webbing's Fist of Justice...oh, and if you look near the top left corner, you'll see the Yeti!

I knew that Teddy and the Yeti would be making an appearance in this book at some point, but I didn't know it'd be so soon.  The image is taken from Jorge Correa's cover to T&Y issue #3 - it seems that there was a lot of cutting and pasting when it came to characters in this shot.

This won't be the last appearance of either Ted or the Yeti in this series - I'm told that they'll both have a part in issue #3 and, if I'm remembering correctly, we'll see them in issue #6 as well.  So check for this at your local comic shop...if you can't find it, I'll try to get some ordering info to pass along.  Issue #2 arrives this December!

Pictures from the New York Comic Con, part 1

It's time to look at some pictures from last week's New York Comic Con!  There was lots of fun to be had, plenty of costumes, and a good number of visitors to the Wagon Wheel booth - if you're one of them and are new to the blog, thanks for stopping by!  Now let's put a few images up on display!

So there I am, minding my own business at the booth, and who do I run in to but the Yeti!  Well, "a" yeti, anyway.  This fellow was promoting a new Animal Planet show (of all things), but he was generous enough to stop to take this picture.  I went for a crazed look in this picture, and I'm glad it turned out well.

Outside of the Javits Center on a sold-out Saturday morning.

There were so many Venture Bros. characters running around the convention (it helped that there was a VB panel and signing with creators Jackson Public and Doc Hammer).  These two were great - I hope that henchmen end up replacing Stormtroopers eventually (but I'm not holding my breath).

Part of the booth setup: a new wire comic rack that doubled as a crochet Yeti holder.  The Yeti dolls were a big hit!

I had to take a picture to prove that someone was willing to pay money for Franks and Beans.  I repeat: SOMEONE WAS WILLING TO PAY MONEY FOR FRANKS AND BEANS!  This cannot be understated.  Also, we both decided to wear Jane Cobb hats from Firefly.  This guy obviously knows his stuff.

I spent some time at the FUBAR booth with Jeff McComsey and friends, and was around to be interviewed by the guy in the Captain America hat.  I'll post a video of the interview soon - it's something to see, for sure.

After the show on Saturday night, Dave Ryan of "War of the Independents" fame threw a party at a nearby Irish pub.  Great times!  Gordon Gano and the Ryans played and I met some cool people.

...aaaand afterwards Larry, dressed up as Lion-O, got some pictures taken at Times Square.

Let's stop there for now!  I'll post more pictures soon.

Teddy and the Yeti to cameo in "War of the Independents"

"War of the Independents" is being billed as a "Crisis for independent characters" - and it's certainly an ambitious comic project if I've ever seen one.  Perhaps the attempt got a little more ambitious (let's say 0.5% more) in the past few days as I've recently learned that Teddy and the Yeti will have a small role to play in this six-issue series that's set to debut at the New York Comic-Con in October.  The extent of their roles is yet to be seen (perhaps some lines of dialogue? *nudge nudge*), but it's an exciting prospect nonetheless.

Dave Ryan is heading up the book, which is being published through Red Anvil Comics, and I wish him luck in this massive undertaking.  There are a lot of nice things being said about the project scattered over the web - thanks, Google! - and you can read a few of them here, here and here.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Public Financing

I recently got a message promoting the upcoming miniseries "War of the Independents" (a play on words, I get it!), which is a big crossover event featuring lots of independent creations.  If you look at the image above you'll see some fairly big names on the independent circuit: Savage Dragon, Zot!, Hack/Slash, Kade...oh, and hey!  Ms. Monster in the top right.  I'm not quite sure how this all came together (or how many permissions the people working on this had to get), but it seems like a pretty cool idea.

The message included a link to the website Kickstarter, which allows people to raise money for various causes - in this case, the creators are looking for funding to create the project and are asking the Internet comic community at large.  I'm not sure how I feel about something like this.  I mean, if someone wants to ask for money for a project, then he or she is more than welcome, and if someone is willing to drop a few dollars in the cyber hat, then all the better.  But I don't think it's something I'd ever do with Teddy and the Yeti.  Maybe I just want to keep the creation process as simple as I can, or maybe I just want to focus on putting the book out and not asking for donations.

In any case, there's a tiered structure that awards several "prizes" based on how much one donates.  Donations start at $5.00 and go all the way to $350, which gets you a bunch of things including the miniseries, a page or original art from the series and - oh yeah - a cameo appearance by characters of the donor's creation.  It's a unique concept.  I'd be happy - naturally - to get Teddy and the Yeti in this book (hell, almost any book), but it's not something I want to spend $350 on.  For that price I could get a top-rate cover for the book or a bunch of other production work.  Now, if I could talk the people putting this together down to, say, $100 for just the cameo, well, that might be a bit different.  Ah hem.

"War of the Independents" debuts at the New York Comic-Con in October.  The Kickstarter donation page is here.