Perhapablog

Monday, February 12, 2007

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

4 comments:

Brian said...

Beautiful pin-up by Mr. Ross. I think that's the first depiction of the team in a "realistic" art style.

As for this Wednesday and the 'Haps, they're predicting a good old fashioned N'or Easter for we folks in the Boston area - totals are still up in the air due to the rain/snow line question - so looks like the flower deliver people, the restaurant folks, and the candy gram guys, as well as we comic fans, will be facing a little challenge getting around.

Brian.

P.S. Hmmm, the Valentine's Day Blizzard. Sounds like a great title for a 'Haps Holiday Tale. Now, I just have to figure out who to feature in a romantic themed adventure. Choopie and a goat, no, the reading public isn't quite ready for that yet. Joann and the Chief, hard to pull off when one of the two apparently doesn't have a face. MG and Arisa, no that's Todd's baby all the way. Wait, I know, Molly and (The remainder of this message has been deleted by the moderator.)

Scott Weinstein said...

The pin-up looks great. I love that he put in some local flavor, and local lore. That's awesome. I always forget that this is the same Luke Ross from your Spidey days. His style has changed so much. And I agree, Samurai is a fantastic read.

By the way, who's Dexter?

Brian said...

He is the boy genius star of "Dexter's Laboratory" on the cartoon network.

Mike Wieringo said...

DAMN... that Luke Ross pin up is gorgeous!