my trip to Pittsburgh's Toonseum!

This weekend, I took a trip to Pittsburgh's Cultural District to visit the Toonseum, a cartoon and comic art museum that is one of only three like it in the country!  The Toonseum opened a few years ago, but this was my first time there, and I didn't know what to expect.  It ended up being a lot of fun, and I took a ton of pictures, which I'll show below.

Just so you don't have to scroll aaaaaallll the way down to the bottom of the page, I'll start with some basic info for the museum:

website: www.toonseum.org
address: 945 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222
price: adults 16+: $5.00; children 6-15: $1.00; children 5 and under: free
hours: LOOK THEM UP YOURSELF!!

These huge statues greet you just outside of the museum.  I have no idea if they are part of the Toonseum or not, but they set the stage for sure.  Plus at night, they come alive.  It's true.

Here's the outside of the Toonseum!  I'm not sure how I feel about the "Bam!  Pow!  Smash!" effects at the top.  I mean, they're recognizable, but there aren't better ways to represent cartoon art then through stereotypes?

One of the first things you see upon entering is a Sunday comic strip exhibit, featuring a number of comic strips, all from the same Sunday.  Here's one of my favorite, Monty.  Actually, I liked it a lot more when it was called Robotman, but...change is a part of life.  I guess.

Here's a wider view of all the original comic strip art.

There's even a mustache joke!  Great.

There was a lot of great original art on display, including a frame from Gertie the Dinosaur, one of the first cartoons ever, but this might have been my favorite of all of them: a Mel Blanc Bugs Bunny!

This was a desk in what apparently was the "office" area of the museum.  I have no idea if I was allowed back here or not.  Oh well.

This was one of the few "artist boards" I saw, featuring signatures and sketches from many great artists, including Jerry Robinson, Caroll Spinney and Mark Schultz!

I know an original Jack Kirby piece when I see it!

This was the hallway that led to the second exhibit room.

Hong Kong Fuey!

It was really cool to see this original animation cell from the generally awful Star Trek cartoon.

I will always think of the Black Vulcan from the character's role in Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.

Aquaman, even your villains are terrible.

Classic covers on the wall!

"Cobblepot for mayor".  Fantastic.  This was right next to bookshelves filled with comic and cartoon reference books.

I wish I could caption this...but I can't.  It's still pretty cool.

At the front of the museum sits an art desk used for many Disney productions including Fantasia.  Guests are encouraged to draw on it, and the best I could come up with was Tin Tin with a mustache.  I think it worked.

Giant anvil jokes always work.  Always!

I had a great time at the Toonseum and will be making my way back there before too long.  Anyone from Pittsburgh and anyone with a love of the medium should stop by and see it for themselves.  Here's hoping for continued success and growth for what is a very cool pop culture museum.

"Holy Terror" is probably the worst comic I've ever read.

Like many fans of the medium, some of my favorite comics are by Frank Miller - a giant in the industry if there ever was one.  Here's a guy who had created - mostly on his own - entertaining, sprawling, seminal epics like 300 and Sin City.  Heck, Batman has been around for 70 years and I don't think I've ever read a better story featuring the character than Batman: Year One.  When The Dark Knight Returns is second on a list of favorite Batman stories by one author, you know that there's some serious, prodigious, even, talent going around.

Because of this, and even though Miller has had a few flops to go along with his big hits, I was excited when I heard that DC Comics was publishing Batman: Holy Terror!, an original graphic novel by Miller.  My interest turned into curiosity once I learned that DC rejected Miller's proposal, at which point he took the concept to Legendary Comics (which seems to have been created for the sole purpose of publishing the book), removed the references to Batman from the story and truncated the title to, simply, Holy Terror.

My curiosity, in turn, became more of the morbid variety when the book was finally released and the reviews started to trickle in.  It seemed to me that, despite the interest surrounding the book, most of the reviews were overwhelmingly negative.  I saw the book stocked in a few local comic book shops, but didn't bother to flip through to check it out.

I probably would have forgotten all about the book if it hadn't been for my spring semester English classes.  The theme for the course centered around arguments - understanding them, making them effectively - and since I'm, well, a comic book fan, I started thinking about this book, the firestorm of criticism it caused for a while, and how something so apparently opinionated might work in a class that is set up to evaluate such forms of literature.  When I started putting my syllabus for the class together, I decided to take a chance and I ordered a copy of Holy Terror to read.

AND I HATED IT.  Seriously, every negative review of this book that I read was spot on.  It was, in a word, frightening to see how far Miller had slipped from "crime noir with its harsh view of reality" to "blatant, unrepentant racism", how a man so obviously talented could find himself so overcome by apparent hate as to put out a book such as Holy Terror.

The main characters are simply placeholders for Batman, Catwoman, Jim Gordon and other Gotham mainstays; some have even said that Miller took finished pages from his DC pitch and changed only a few details, presumably to avoid any legal issues with DC.  When I first heard that DC rejected Miller's pitch, I was surprised and thought that perhaps the company was overreacting.  Now that I've read the finished product, it's obvious that DC did the only thing it could have done, because allowing Miller to publish this as a Batman story would have, in my opinion, caused irreparable harm to the character and the overall concept.

The book, which simply deals with one night of violence, torture, ethnic stereotyping and misogyny to the worst degree, comes off as vapid in its content and disturbing in its message.  It can be difficult, sometimes, to separate an artist from his or her works, but in this case you almost have to to justify keeping anything of Miller's in your library.  It really is that shameful a piece of work.

I wrote a short review of the excellent anthology set 9/11: Artists Respond a while ago.  In one of the two volumes released, Miller had a short, simple story that read something like "I'm sick of flags; I'm sick of God; I've seen the power of faith" with an image of wreckage from the Trade Center attacks.  Miller seems to be playing again on this feeling of outrage, of indignation, but while the 9/11 short showcased the raw emotion that many felt that day, Holy Terror seems more venomous, more cruel and more bigoted.

I think that freedoms of speech and expression should be inalienable human rights, and thus I think that Miller should be able to print something like this, inflammatory as it is.  But I also can't strongly enough recommend that we all use a bit of common sense, don't get caught up in Miller's understandable level of fame, and put this book back on the shelf instead of buying it.

Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic store in Red Bank, NJ

I took a trip this weekend to visit some family near Allentown, PA (famous for the Billy Joel song and NOTHING ELSE), and while I was there we managed a little day trip to New York and surrounding areas.  My brother-in-law, great guy that he is, mentioned that the Kevin Smith owned comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, was nearby, so an impromptu side trip was quickly undertaken!  Below are some pictures of the shop, which was a pretty neat place.

While I'm not Kevin Smith's biggest fan in the world, I have seen most of his movies and I've enjoyed more than a few (the night before, thought, I watched Red State and MAN was it dark!).  I also think that, despite the fact that he does tend to reuse plot points and character traits, and despite his lack of ability to stick to a deadline, I think he's good for the comic industry and I have enjoyed most of his work.  His Green Arrow run from, what, 10 years ago (?) remains a favorite for me.

You've got to admit, however you feel about the man, it's pretty cool that he owns his own comic book shop.  The above two pictures are, of course, from outside the shop in Red Bank, New Jersey.  Red Bank was a pretty hip place all around, it seemed, and we spent some time in town afterwards.

One of the first things you see when entering the shop is this sign from Clerks.  There were props and memorabilia from a number of Smith's movies all over the place, which was pretty neat.  It beats storing them in some garage for years on end.

Here's the front of the store, complete with New Jersey Devils banners and framed Batman comics.  Smith supposedly works in the store from time to time (i.e. whenever he feels like it), though he wasn't there this day.  I wonder how often he does come in with the amount of time he spends directing and filming.

The store seemed pretty big for a comic shop, which allowed for the showcase areas with movie and comic props.  There was a hefty supply of comics written by Smith at the front of the store, some of which he had signed.  These were on sale for no extra charge, which I thought was pretty thoughtful of the guy.

The back of the store was a little more unorganized, with comics and props in random places as if this part was still under construction.  Even so, there were some neat, bigger items in the back such as outfits from Clerks II.

And look!  Here's Mooby the Golden Calf from Dogma and a number of movies.

I'd like to think that Jesus is my buddy, too.  I wonder who designed this thing.

In Mallrats (featuring an appearance with Stan Lee, in which he's asked about the Thing's junk), Jason Lee's character hangs out at the local comic shop and eventually owns one (if I'm remembering correctly...it's been a long time since I've seen it).  Surrounding this display were lots of comic book parodies from the movie, such as the one directly below...

...yep.  I'm not sure what else needs to be said about it.  But since it's a Fantastic Four parody, I had to take a picture.

On one side of the store, above the back issue bins of comics, there are what I assume to be original Alex Ross paintings.  Smith currently writes a Green Hornet comic for Dynamite Entertainment and Ross does the covers, which explains the connection.  It was pretty cool to see these, which were placed so inconspicuously that I almost didn't see them.

I ended up buying a couple things, including these two autographed Batman comics.  I said it before, but it bears repeating: it's cool that the guy comes in, signs some of his stuff, and then sells it without marking it up in price at all.  This was a cool, unique shop, and I had a good time looking at all of the original comic art, movie props and general merchandise.  And the place was jumpin' when I was there, too!  If you're ever near Red Bank, NJ, stop in and see it for yourself.

Oh, and I found lots of Mug Cream Soda in nearby Staten Island.  I bought a lot of it.  Dear Pepsi, sell Mug Cream Soda in the Pittsburgh area so I don't have to travel to New York to buy it!  Love, Jeff.

making Superman's beef bourguignon - with pictures!

Hey kids, you like beef?  Well, Superman does, as I wrote about when I first posted the recipe to his world-famous beef bourguignon a few weeks back.  The recipe is quite daunting and seemed perhaps a bit fancy for my tastes, but as I'm in the habit of making comic book recipes, apparently (check out my attempt at Larfleeze's Orange Lantern cookies!), I knew that I had to give it a shot - for Superman.  For Superman.

I'll repost the recipe here with pictures of my attempt so all can vicariously experience making this painstakingly-involved meal for yourselves.  One note before we get started - I'm not a big fan of booze, and as such I substituted for the alcoholic additions when they were called for.  This most certainly changed the end product's taste as mine ended up more beefy than it otherwise would have.  If you want to follow this recipe, just use wine instead of the non-alcoholic alternative and (highly flammable) brandy.  Let's begin (the recipe is italicized, my notes are in plain text)!

INGREDIENTS

            6-8 ounces salt pork, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

            4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided

            4 pounds trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes, patted dry with paper towels

            Salt

            10-12 shallots, chopped, about 2 cups

            2 large, peeled carrots, 1 chopped, 1 cut into 2-inch chunks

            4-5 garlic cloves, chopped

            1 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms (optional)

            2 Tbsp tomato paste

            1/2 cup brandy, plus 2 Tbsp

            1 bottle Pinot Noir, or other red wine

            Beef Stock (low sodium), at least 1 cup, quite easily more

            1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

            2 bay leaves

            2 teaspoons dried thyme

            4 whole cloves

            24 pearl onions, fresh or frozen

            1 lb fresh shiitake, cremini or button mushrooms

            Beurre manie: 3 Tbsp flour blended with 2 Tbsp butter

METHOD

1 If you are using them, pour 1 cup of boiling water over the dried porcini mushrooms and allow them to rehydrate for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and chop coarsely. Pour the soaking water through a paper towel (to remove any dirt or debris) into a bowl and set aside.

I totally didn't use this (optional) mushroom.  It was only an ounce, and while fans of mushrooms might balk at me saying this, I was already using a pound of button mushrooms and didn't think an ounce of another would make that much of a difference.

2 In a large sauté pan, pour enough water to cover the bottom by about 1/8 inch. Over medium heat, cook the salt pork in the pan until the water evaporates, stirring occasionally. Once the water is gone, reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook the salt pork until much of the fat has rendered out of it. Add a tablespoon of butter and continue to cook the salt pork unti the pieces are browned and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the salt pork pieces to a large Dutch oven or other large, thick-bottomed, lidded pot.

I had never used salt pork before, and as you can see, it is about 2/3rds fat to 1/3rd meat.  It popped and sizzled in the pan and smelled much like bacon.  Most of the fat melted off during the cooking, and it served as a base for the sauce that was to come later.  This ain't the most healthy meal, but I guess Superman doesn't have to worry about his arteries clogging.

3 Increase the heat to medium-high. Working in batches so that you do not crowd the pan, brown the beef. Leaving space around each piece of sizzling meat ensures that it browns and does not steam. Don't move the pieces of beef in the pan until they get a good sear, then turn them so they can get browned on another side. Take your time. This will take 15-25 minutes, depending on how large a sauté pan you have. Once browned, remove the beef from the sauté pan and place in the Dutch oven with the salt pork.

4 When all the beef has browned, add the shallots, the one chopped carrot, and the chopped porcini mushrooms if using. Stir in the pot to remove any browned, stuck-on bits in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic and the tomato paste. Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

5 Add the brandy and stir to combine. Boil down by half, then add the strained mushroom soaking water (if using). Scrape any remaining browned bits off the bottom of the sauté pan and pour the contents of the pan into the Dutch oven.

I pretty much ignored step 5.  Once I combined all of the ingredients (that I chose to use), I thought it looked like I had skimped on the carrot.  I might recommend adding another whole carrot to the mix somewhere, either here or later on.

6 To the Dutch oven add the bottle of wine and enough beef stock to almost cover the beef; the beef pieces should be barely poking up out of the liquid. Add the parsley, bay leaves, thyme and cloves. Cover and bring to a bare simmer. After 1 hour, add the second carrot, peeled and cut into chunks of 1-2 inches. Continue cooking for another hour, or until the beef is tender.

Here's where I make the most drastic changes to the original recipe.  As I mentioned, I didn't use wine, but instead sparkling red grape juice (which is a non-alocholic substitute for the red wine the recipe calls for).  Not wanting to eat the equivalent of grape-flavored meat when all was said and done, I added more beef stock - four cups as opposed to the one it calls for (thought the recipe is a bit ambiguous) - to hold in more of the beef flavor than it otherwise might.  I probably used 2/3rds of the bottle of red grape juice instead of the entire thing to compensate.  Regardless, I used enough liquid to almost cover all of the meat.

I was also pretty luck to have all of the spices on hand.  I actually still had parsley growing in my outside garden (crazy!), and Larry brought some bay leaves from his probably better-stocked spice rack at home.

DRINK

This is what it all looked like in the pot.  Now, the recipe calls for a dutch oven, and I'm clearly using a run-of-the-mill stove-top pot in this picture.  That's because dutch ovens, other than being a funny euphemism for, well, farts, are simply fancy lidded pots.  They're thicker and they might cook a bit more evenly, but you can (and I did) get by with a simple pot with a lid.

7 Meanwhile, trim the tough stems off the shiitake, cremini, or button mushrooms and slice into 2-3 large pieces; small mushrooms leave whole. Prepare the pearl onions. Boil them in their skins for 4-5 minutes. Drain and submerge in a bowl of ice water. Slice the tips and root ends off the onions and slip off the outer skins.

The pearl onions took forever to prepare.  Ridiculous amounts of time were spent on cutting and taking off outer layers.

8 When the beef is tender, use tongs to remove all the beef and the chunks of carrots; set aside in a bowl. Strain the contents of the Dutch oven through a fine-meshed sieve set over a medium pot. This will be the sauce. Boil the sauce down, tasting frequently. If it begins to taste too salty, turn off the heat. Otherwise, boil down until you have about 3 cups. Turn off the heat.

I found that I had cooked away too much of the sauce when the meat was done.  Using some more red grape juice and another two cups of beef stock/broth, I combined it with the sauce I had remaining, and it turned out just fine.

What a gross picture that turns out to be.  I will say that it didn't look much better in person.  I'll also again point out that more carrots (the recipe calls for two at different points) might be a good thing.

9 Heat a large sauté pan over high heat and add the mushrooms. Dry sauté the mushrooms over high heat, shaking the pan and stirring often, until they release their water, about 4-5 minutes. Add the pearl onions and 3 tablespoons butter and toss to combine. Sprinkle salt over the onions and mushrooms. Sauté until the onions begin to brown. Remove from heat.

10 Returning to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium and whisk in the beurre manie. Whisk in a third of the paste, wait for it to incorporate into the sauce, then add another third of the beurre manie, and so on. Do not let this boil, but allow it to simmer very gently for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of brandy. Taste for salt and add some if needed.

The "beurre maine" is just the flour and butter.  It took a while for it to mix in with the sauce, but it eventually did and thickened the sauce up.

11 To serve, coat the beef, carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions with the sauce and serve with potatoes, egg noodles or lots of crusty bread.

And here I am - FIVE HOURS AFTER STARTING - with Larry and plates of beef bourguignon.  How apprehensive we look!  Perhaps that's because the meal is missing something...something to make it more appealing to, say, Superman...

I KNOW!  KETCHUP!  As Larry remarked when I brought out the bottle from the fridge, "I don't think ketchup has any business being in this meal", and I'm inclined to agree.  It's a bit too hearty and beefy to demand a condiment, in my opinion, but it's a key Superman ingredient, so it stayed.

And the verdict?

Not bad!  In fact, despite it's fairly unappealing look, it was pretty good - the mushrooms in particular were a pleasant surprise.  It was very beef stew-like, though I imagine the amount of beef stock and the lack of alcohol played a significant role in that.

I don't know that I'll ever be making this recipe again, because of just how much time it took to prepare.  I realize that a lot of that's on me - I'm pretty methodical and tend to take a long time doing pretty much anything I work on.  But there were still hours of work involved no matter who was at the helm.  Add this to the fact that good old fashioned beef stew might be a good substitute, and this might be my last attempt at the Super-meal.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the entire process, though - it was challenging and rewarding to try something this different and this involving.  And now, if Superman ever comes to visit, I've got some practice in at making his favorite meal.

Pictures from the FUBAR signing

Today was the day for the FUBAR signing at Pittsburgh Comics, and if I had to qualify it (AND I DO), I'd say that it was a success.  I didn't take as many pictures as I might have liked to, but that's because I spent a lot of time selling books and talking to people, and that's a good thing.

Directly above is the table that Colin, the owner of Pittsburgh Comics in McMurray, had set up at the front of the store.  It's a great looking shop, and if you're from the area and haven't checked it out yet, take a ride down route 19 and stop in one day.  I gave away copies of Teddy and the Yeti #1 to anyone who bought a copy of FUBAR, so hopefully I managed to get a few people interested in T&Y as well.

I ended up selling a few books almost immediately after I arrived, including to this fine customer.  I drew zombie sketches in most of the books I sold, which probably immediately lowered the value of the book.

...not everyone was happy with the product, though, and I spent some of the day in fear, which is only natural, I guess.  You make a book about zombies and some people are bound to be violently outraged.  It comes with the territory.

This is an example of just how awful my artistry is.  Say what you will about my writing (no, seriously, someone react to it in some form), but at least they keep me away from the art boards.  Highlight of this image: finally getting to use the red Sharpie.

And look!  It's my adorable nephew, Jacob, along with a book that he won't be allowed to read for 17 more years, or until I'll be...uh...33.

Many thanks once again to Colin and Pittsburgh Comics for letting me set up shop in the store for a few hours.  FUBAR: Empire of the Rising Dead is in stores this Wednesday, so if you weren't able to grab a copy at one of the signings going on around the country, you can pick one up then.  I had a great time today for sure.

This blog doesn't have enough FUBAR news.

...so I must immediately rectify that oversight.

- The soon-to-be released FUBAR: Empire of the Rising Dead has been getting a lot of attention lately, and it doesn't seem to be letting up.  Just a few days ago, the popular website Ain't it Cool News posted a review of the anthology and reviewer Liz Reblin had some nice things to say.  I even got mentioned by name!  Awesome.  You can read the full review here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52472#5

- FUBAR 2 also made another "best of" list, this time on the website "Panel Patter" and their "Best of 2011: Indie Comics" compilation.  The book came in at #7 on the site's list, which includes the new Planet of the Apes comic and the fictional Mark Twain autobiography.  You can see the entire list here: http://www.panelpatter.com/2011/12/panel-patters-best-of-2011-indie-comics.html

- The above picture is iron-clad proof that Diamond distributors is actually shipping FUBAR 2 to comic stores after weeks of uncertainty.  The book will be on the shelves this coming Wednesday, January 11th.  If you want to get a copy a few days sooner, though, read the news below...

- In not-so-new news, the FUBAR signing tour is upon us in just a few short hours!  I'll be selling and signing copies of the new volume, days before it goes on sale to the world at large, as part of a tour that includes six other stores around the country.  My leg of the trip is at Pittsburgh Comics in McMurray, PA, at 113 E. McMurray Road.  Colin, the owner of the store (and a pretty friendly guy) put together a little writeup on the store's website: http://pittsburghcomics.com/2012/01/03/fubar-d-day-of-the-dead-signing-tour-saturday-1712/

This signing will take place from 4:00 until 6:30.  We had originally planned to go until 7:00, but Colin got tickets to the Penguins game, and who can blame him for wanting to cut out a few minutes early?

I'm proud of how good this book looks as a finished product...I know that all involved worked very hard to make this the best that it could be and I think that shows.  If you've been reading this blog and have wondered why so many of my recent posts have been about FUBAR, it's because I've seen how well it all came together.  I'd love it if you, mysterious reader, would take a chance on this book to find out for yourself.

FUBAR has landed; signing at Pittsburgh Comics on the 7th!

The above pallet looks like it could have been airdropped from a plane, and who knows?  Perhaps it was.  What you're looking at is the first edition print run of FUBAR: Empire of the Rising Dead; I received my copies in the mail a few days ago, and I can attest that they look impressive.  The sequel is nearly twice as long as the original and it's worth your time if you want to pick it up, from my obviously biased perspective.

Well, judging by this picture of the books that I just took, it's obvious that the camera on my phone is starting to crap out.  Huh.  Regardless, the books look great.

Coming this Saturday, I'll be signing copies of FUBAR 2 at Pittsburgh Comics in McMurray, PA, from 4:00-7:00.  This was in doubt because of the upcoming NFL playoffs, but the Steelers play in Denver on Sunday, so all is well (if there was a conflict with a Steeler game, no one would have shown up...I understand this).  So if you are anywhere near the Pittsburgh suburb of McMurray, stop on by and say hello.  I will probably say hello back.