more from the con--thanks, scott!

okay...

so though i only took a few pics of things at the con, scott--who, it turns out, is a phenomenal photographer--sent over a whole slew of shots that are definitely worth posting! in advance, thanks, man!

scott has, for the past year or so, been working on his own comic, a super fun concept and character that i really don't have his permission to announce right here and now--we'll work on that for later. needless to say however, craig and mike and i have avidly been following the progress of scott's project (i had tried to hook him up with a few notable artist's in the biz...), and were even more thrilled when scott found his perfect co-creator/artist in one of his very best friends from college, chris zaccone! we finally got to meet chris at the show this weekend and gush all over about how sweet his work is!
(also, i wanted to see if i could put the book--as well as scott and chris--in front of a few editors that i thought might have an interest in publishing said book...)
(a little of that got done, but not as much as i'd wished...)
anyway, here's scott and chris--or rather, chris and scott--hangin' out in front of the world-famous perhapanauts table...



and then chris and craig got together and it was this whole artist thing and scott and i decided to duck out and grab a pretzel and those bastards never even missed us! @^#%$ artists!



here's craig at the table...



and a few of the various--and wonderful--sketches craig did during the weekend...
(he's very talented, you know...)







i especially dig that last one, of choopie attacking the cockateau! i really hope we get a scan back of that one! it's awesome!

here are a couple more...











scott entitled that last one "why we really go to cons."
hear, hear! i'm all for that! more girls in costumes!

and these last comprise a great series of folks' reactions to the choopie cards...

















thanks for the great pics, scott!
if they don't get more people to check out the show next year, i dunno what will!

see ya friday, suckers!
todd

back from nyc-

okay...

well, this weekend was a blast and it was so great to get a chance to talk to so many people! we handed out choopie cards, sold a few copies of the perhapanauts, and had a really great time! it was so nice to touch base with long time readers and people totally new to the book as well! great to have people buy the trade one day and come back for the second chances books the next!

what was cool though was hearing first-hand what people thought about the perhapanauts! what really kinda throws me is how many people are frustrated by the on-going subplots that continue form one minseries to the next. i think we've all been somewhat conditioned to believe that everything needs to be wrapped up in the four or five issues that are collected in a trade. sorry about that. craig and i originally hoped that the perhapanauts could become an on-going series and so it just naturally wants to keep on going... and i am a firm believer in axiom that "the story is the boss." so i apologize to anyone who feels that those "to be continued"s are not fair or frustating and promise to make sure that the following stories are well worth the wait...

so while we were down there, we got to hang out with a bunch of our pals and here are just a couple of the pictures i took (or someone did...)



our pal, and perhapa-pinup artist, kelly yates, came up from north carolina to spend the (damn! it's freezing cold-) weekend with us and visit with his pal (and idol!), french comics legend, olivier vatine!



as advertised, our own brian mulcahy cut loose as official booth boy--when he wasn't running around getting sweet sketches and commissioned pieces from the stellar array of artists appearing at the show! i don't know what his favorite "treasure" was from this past weekend, but he certainly came back with some beautiful prizes!



i think this is the first ever shot of the entire perhapanauts creative team all in one place! left to right, it's craig, rico, and me.



also, as advertised, my friend, scott weinstein, came by on sunday, having had to work on friday and saturday (he was also able to fanagle a couple of tickets for craig and i to see snl on saturday night...thanks, scott!)

gotta run but i'll have more news and pictures from the con on wednesday!
smell ya later
todd

ps--and here are those answers...

1. david bowie is not his real name. he changed it to bowie (after the guy with the cool knife) because it sounded cool. he changed it ‘cause someone else was already using his real name. what is it?

david jones (davey jones of the monkees)

2. a pride of lions, a school of fish, a herd of buffalo, a _________ of whales, a ______________ of crows...

pod of whales, a murder of crows...

3. for the longest time, the whizzer (marvel-golden age) was celebrated for having the most inane origin story in comics. how did he get his powers?

he was given a transfusion of mongoose blood.

4. which state has the ten highest mountains in the united states?

alaska

5. michael keaton changed his name to keaton (after his favorite silent film star) because someone was already using his real name. what is it?

michael douglas

see ya at the NYCC--new york comicon!!

okay...



short but, hopefully, sweet today...

as i mentioned the other day, craig, rico, and i will be at the new york city comicon this weekend at the world-reknowned javitz center in good ol' manhattan! we will be accompanied by the lovely and talented brian mulcahy--official boothboy and manager of sales--and on sunday we will be joined by our pal, scott weinstein!

i will take pictures.

if you are gonna be at the show, please don't hesitate to drop by our table and mention this blog, mostly so i know that more than three people read this thing, but also to pick up a small perhapa-prize, a small perhapa-token of our appreciation...
(the code word is: bedlam)

and so, because i still have stuff to pack--and want to get some rest before the show--and 'cause earl, the office, and 30 rock are gonna be on soon--here is the "random picture of the week" as well as your "five on friday".



1. david bowie is not his real name. he changed it to bowie (after the guy with the cool knife) because it sounded cool. he changed it ‘cause someone else was already using his real name. what is it?

2. a pride of lions, a school of fish, a herd of buffalo, a _________ of whales, a ______________ of crows...

3. for the longest time, the whizzer (marvel-golden age) was celebrated for having the most inane origin story in comics. how did he get his powers?

4. which state has the ten highest mountains in the united states?

5. michael keaton changed his name to keaton (after his favorite silent film star) because someone was already using his real name. what is it?

i'm outta here!
see ya at the show!
todd



ps, have you picked this up yet...?

rico, rico, rico--at the new york comicon!

okay...

so last week i promised that, because of all the stress and strain we put him through, i would sing rico's praises here on the blog! but, y'know--i really don't need a special REASON to be giving props to the man that makes the perhapanauts jump and sparkle each and every issue! the guy that makes their world come alive in such a magical way with his unique color choices and palette! he's the man!

see, when we first started the perhapanauts, craig and i still weren't sure exactly what we wanted the book to look like. what tone, what mood, what textures. i was hedging for a very plain and simple look--less fancy than the multitude of comics on the racks at the time--a little retro in it's color and approach. when i asked craig who he would like to get on colors, his first choice was rico! he just felt that rico would bring it...

on the first series, if you look, we were keeping things low and told rico to keep everything flat, like a comic book from the 60's or 70's. and he did, in our opinion, an amazing job!

on the second series, we had a better idea of what the book should feel like--we were gonna up the stakes and hopefully blow the doors open! we told rico to go crazy! and crazy he went! with every page that rico would send us, craig and i would just go "ahhhh!" it was beautiful! it was fourth of july!





so, of course, when the time came for us to put the second chances trade together, and craig secured ted mckeever to do a pin-up for us, it fell upon us to get someone to color it when it came in. we, naturally, turned to rico...

who did a fantastic job!



and then, with some notes from ted, a tweak here and a tweak there...



this went on a couple more times, each time rico gave it a little something here, a little something there...
but after a few back and forths (and, i'm sure, slowly getting on rico's last nerve...he's an incredibly patient guy, but still...)
ted finally commented--and we agreed--that the piece was just so much more powerful as a black and white.
so sorry, rico. you are a saint.

as for where you could actually go and MEET this coloring God--this master of the hue--look no further! rico renzi--along with blog regulars, brian mulcahy and scott weinstein will be manning the perhapanauts perhapa-table this weekend at the NEW YORK COMICON at the javitz center! that THIS WEEKEND--FEB 23-25~! come down and pick up all your favorite perhapanauts issues, trades, sketchbooks, choopie cards, and more!

oh, and craig and i will be there too.

see ya there!
todd

perhapanauts pin-ups--last but not least...andy kuhn

okay...

i am, supposedly, a writer.
able, allegedly, to call upon a, hopefully, vast vocabulary with which to describe virtually anything that i might see, hear, taste, smell, or, especially, feel in my effort to convey sensations and images to the reader.
allegedly.
and yet i find that i just keep going back to the same four or five words to describe the beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking, and awesome pin-ups that our pals have done for us for our upcoming trade. those words would be beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking, and awesome.

so...

craig lassoed our pal andy kuhn into doing a pin-up for the second chances trade.

it is beautiful,
and gorgeous,
and stunning,
and breathaking,
and awesome!

i love it!

here it is for you to dig on too...!



so i met andy years ago at some convetnion or other and had recognized his name from work he had done at marvel and dc. but the stuff that i really love that andy's done are two creator-owned books that, when you look at 'em, seem almost like polar opposites.

first, there's rex mantooth, kung fu gorilla. yeah, that's right. it sucked me in with the title. what a treat--the monkey is a super-spy, nazi-smashing, bond type and, while andy tells me that his original concept was for a kid-friendly saturday morning sort of book, when his writer/partner matt fraction joined the team, he just couldn't help himself. the book became a more adult romp, filled with some hilariously crude language and sexual innuendo all over the place. i loved this series, but also mourn the loss of the potential appeal it woulda had for kids.



second is firebreather, the series from image comics that debuted as part of their new line of comics that included the blockbuster, invincible. firebreather was the co-creation of andy and comics great, phil hester, and featured the tale of a teenager coming to terms with the fact that his long-absent father just happened to be a dragon.
and, of course, he had some powers of his own...



if you wanna have some fun, track down either one of these books, though, as i said, rex mantooth has it's adult-ier moments! both are filled with andy's great art and that's worth the price by itself!

this pin-up, by the way, was colored by andy's--and our--pal cheeks!

gotta go!
smell ya later!
todd

gotta run...and jonboy meyers!~

okay...

really gotta run today! out to custom fit some really beautiful wood countertops with my pal jeff!
and it's still very cold here!

i've never met jonboy meyers in real life--but we've had many conversations on the phone, so i feel like i know the guy pretty well. i know his work, that's for sure!

jonboy and i were originally put together on marvel age spider-man a few years back. our editor, mackenzie cadenhead, who was a treasure to work for/with, told us that we were gonna be the new regular team on this fairly new aimed-at-kids retelling of the classic spider-man stories. jonboy and i were really excited and bonded quickly, determined to really make this project fly! unfortunately, the powers that be--the administrators above mackenzie--were still figuring out what this series would be and there were a lot of administrators. and a lot of ideas.
about a week later, mac called us and told us that we would be sharing the chores with another team, and the week after that that we would be doing every third or fourth issue, and then...
apparently they wanted these books coming out every 5 minutes, so it was a matter of getting EVERYBODY and their mother working on one story or another.

so jonboy and i only got to do two issues. the first one was marvel age spider-man, updating the story of "the living brain"! jonboy did an amazing job and it's still one of my favorite tales in that group. (unfortunately, i don't have any of jonboy's interior art, but here's the mark brooks cover of that issue...)



shortly after that, mackenzie, wonderful editor that she is, secured for me marvel age spider-man team-up, since she dug my work and knew that i'd loved the old marvel team-up books from when i was a kid! these books too were on a fast schedule, and though i was writing them fast enough, they wanted multiple artists working on them simultaneously. jonboy did the spidey/kitty pryde team-up and it really rocked!
here are a couple of pages from it that i stole from jonboy's website...







so when the time came for us to talk to our friends about doing pin-ups for the new book, craig said that he'd been talking to jonboy and that he'd be keen to do one. i was in! jonboy did this one in just a few days--it was the first one we got as a matter of fact, but i wanted to save it for last...or next to last, 'cause it's one of my favorites and just so funny!
also a great pin-up for the weekend!

thanks, jonboy! i laughed out loud!



for more of jonboy's awesome artwork, check out scribble: the art of jonboy meyers at:

http://www.scribble.ws/

gotta run!
have a great weekend!
todd

too much snow and ted mckeever!

okay...


well, i'm snowed in today and thought i'd be able to get this post up rather quickly this morning, but it didn't happen that way. jake and i slept in, and then he didn't want to go out. poor dog. and i couldn't blame him. we had about a foot of snow that was then covered by a crusting of sleet which then turned back to snow. and it's still coming down.

then i got talking on the phone with mike for about an hour--and if ya wanna see a really beautiful tellos valentine, head over to mike's blog at www.mikewieringo.com and see what i'm talkin' about.

then i chatted with craig--not as long. he had some baby stuff to attend to.

and here i am.

segue-less.

the first time i ever saw ted mckeever's work was on eddy current, this wacky, wonky comic book that came out in the late 80's. at that time the comics industry was still reeling with the potential of what the black and white explosion had promised. there was some awfully exciting (experimental) stuff coming out back then and, to me, eddy current was the cutting-edgiest!



the next time i saw ted's work was years later on a legends of the dark knight two-parter called engines. i remember this so well because, again to me, ted's style was EXACTLY what i believed a book like legends was supposed to be--many different visions and configurations of the batman legend we all knew by rote. new looks, new pacing, a new world for batman to inhabit each time! i celebrated those issues! they were great!

soon we had ted's all-too-fitting style realizing the elseworld's classics on superman's metropolis, batman nosferatu, and wonder woman: the blue amazon, these written by randy and jean-marc lofficier. i loved these books and the atmosphere ted's stark, lonely, dystopic style brought to them.



so, of course, when craig said, "oh, you know who i talked to and asked about a doing a pin-up...? ted mckeever.", i had a kinda surreal moment.

after i came back around, craig told me that ted said that he actually read the book (!) and craig and i started imagining what a ted mckeever perhapa-pin-up--or as ted put it, pin-upanaut--would look like. it would be darker and edgier than anything we'd seen before. it would look like...it would look like...

...this.



(i will be doing a special post on rico next week to tell of his many passes at coloring this piece, all of which weere just beautiful, and how, eventually, we all agreed that the pin-up was much more powerful in black and white. love ya, rico!)

thanks, ted, for this stunning view of our favorite cryptos! and for all your work over the years!

gotta go shovel!
smell ya later!
todd

the samurai, the haps, and luke ross! (and ron marz, too!)

okay...

first things first;
here are the answers--although they were all answered correctly at some point...

1. what is the name and number of the flight that crashed on "lost"?

oceanic 815

2. the joker was loosely based on the title character from what haunting classic film?



"the man who laughs" (1928)
starring conrad veidt

3. calvin's stratosphere-hopping adventurer?

spaceman spiff

4. dexter's sister?

dee dee

5. what are the 5 D's of "dodgeball"?

dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge!



and now, on to more exciting things...

i met ron marz about 12 years ago, shortly after i got into comics, at a little local comics show that, i believe, was being sponsored by the kingston armory. tiny show. but there were quite a few comics professionals there 'cause, for one reason or another, there are a lot of us all living in this mid-hudson area here in upstate ny. we're all sorta near woodstock, so that might be it.
anyway, i was writing x-factor at the time and ron, of course, was mr. green lantern. we chatted a bit and he, terry austin, and fred hembeck invited me to come and join in on their tuesday night volleyball game. i was thrilled to go, to get a chance to hang with these guys whose work i had enjoyed and admired, to hang--now--with fellow comic book professionals, and to play some sweet, sweet volleyball. (i was also a bit stunned to find that both jim starlin and berni wrightson were in that group--these two legends! holy crap-f'-crap!) i soon became friendly with all of them as well as inker extraordinaire, andrew hennessey.
we played every tuesday night for about eight years after that and it's no secret that those games--and those times--are some of my favorite memories ever! we had to quit due to insurance issues at the school we were playing in, but what great fun and great comraderie!

anyway, that's how ron and i met, became friends, started doing the convention circuit together, etc.

when craig and i were shopping perhapanauts around, ron was the guy put us in touch with our current editor, dave land, and the rest as they say, is mystery.

luke ross, on the other hand, i have never met in person.
but we were paired on spectacular spider-man at the very end of my run on that title for a memorable couple of issues. key issues, actually, in the clone debacle as it was coming to a close (...finally). luke and i won some great reviews on our first story together, the action-packed culmination of a lizard story i had been building up to, and the "best loved story in all the clone saga", the quiet and emotional spectacular spider-man #240, where peter and his clone, ben, share an afternoon in the attic reminiscing about "their" childhood. luke handled it all so masterfully, pacing the all-out action of the lizard's tale so dynamically and then settling things down for some truly touching moments in "revelations--part 1". i had hoped to work with luke longer, but marc dematties had been called back to help wrap up all the clone foolishness and they wanted to keep mike (wieringo) and me together on sensational.







we've all come a long way since then.
ron and luke are doing a wonderful book, also from dark horse, called samurai, and if you're not checking this out, you're missing out on a graphic treasure! the first arc, samurai: heaven and earth is now in trade and the new series has only just begun with enough of a chance for you to still catch up, so get out there and get it! i'm not kiddin'!



so ron suggested a pin-up trade off--which is something real easy for us writers to do 'cause it means that we just sit back and watch the artists do all the hard work. fortunately, we work with a couple of really nice, really agreeable guys, and the end result is that we got this gorgeous perhapanauts piece from luke--in, like, two days! he's fast!
also, he's very imaginative! once we got going on this, luke 'e'd me with the suggestion that he have the 'haps down in his neck of the woods, brazil, in hot pursuit of their own alien celebrity! seems that, in the small town of varginha, there has been quite a buzz regarding a recent ufo flap and sightings of a strange alien creature. luke even sent me the newspaper report so that i could get the whole story! sweet!
as is the pin-up! beautiful job, luke, and thank you so much!



and thaty's it for today.
wednesday we'll plug the hell out of perhapanauts: second chances #4!
'cause it come out this week!
don't miss it!
todd

technically, it's still friday...david petersen!!

okay...

sorry for the delay--it was a loooooong day.
at the end of a looooong week.

today was too-many-errands-to-do day, but before alla that; anyopne who lives in the northeast knows that the past week ar so has been bitter cold with temps around 20º to 30º by day and down below zero at night. my pipes have been frozen for the past four days and it has made everything that much harder. the caretaker assures me that he'll have 'em all thawed out by tomorrow which is great 'cause i'm gettin' tired of going over to my brother's to shower.


apparently it got so cold in 1911 that niagara falls froze over. awesome!

also, on my list for today was to go get a certificate of residency at the county court house, get copies of that as well as the certificate of inspection from my local garage. and the ticket i got for the inspection being overdue. drop off the ticket and the coi at the rhinebeck town court. go and pick up my college transcripts and a form to apply for independent study for the theater class i'm taking. take the form to my professor's house so he can sign it (he told me to forge it, but i wanted to see his house...). drop off the latest perhapanauts for my friend, beth. drop off the latest issue of the perhapanauts at my cousin joann's house. pick up a gift certificate for trish at barnes and noble (in place of the book i got her for christmas which craig got for her too...great minds...or a couple of jerks...?). and as a treat to myself after alla that running around, i swung by october country, my absolute favorite comic shop within 40 miles of my house, and picked up a few of this weeks books!
-----everybody DID pick up a copy of alter ego magazine and read the great article on my pal, NICK CARDY, right...?-----

it's got a great cover by nick and it looks like this;



also in there was the new paul dini detective (thank you for bringing back the batman that all we know and love, paul! he was away for far too long!) and astro city: dark ages book 2! and though i had it on my list since way back, i will mention that dave tilley highly recommends jeff smith's spectacular new shazam! book!

and, because i hadn't been in last week to pick it up, there was also issue 6 of david petersen's stunning mouse guard! not that the book didn't hit the comics scene like a meteor last year or that issue one is now in it's, like, ka-billionth printing, but if you haven't seen mouse guard yet...well, you're an idiot.

which kinda screws up my segue...

david's gorgeous tale comes to it's conclusion with this issue (and i haven't read it yet so shut up!) and while that's always sad (there's more coming, i'm told), david was kind enough to provide us with a pin-up of his own that will be featured in the second chances trade pin-up gallery!

as you can see, david was drawn to big and choopie too!




thanks, david! not only for the pin-up, but for mouse guard as well! what a beautifully done story--sure to be counted as a classic!

here is my "random picture of the week"...



and here are the "five on friday"...

1. what is the name and number of the flight that crashed on "lost"?

2. the joker was loosely based on the title character from what haunting classic film?

3. calvin's stratosphere-hopping adventurer?

4. dexter's sister?

5. what are the 5 D's of "dodgeball"?

peace out!
todd