roger's answers

okay...

so...
hope everybody had a nice weekend!
i've been working a lot and have tried to break that up with cleaning/straightening/bombing my office--it is an embarrassing mess--and have been coming across some really cool things that have been literally buried in boxes or under things that, now that i have a working, cooperative scanner, i thought i'd share with ya...

back in the early eighties, when everything in comics seemed to be new and fresh and the sky was the limit, when there was an incredible surge of both financial and creative growth, there was a wonderful little period where it seemed that every company was also doing great business with portfolios. i still have all of these treasures that i picked up back then, illustrations of many of my favorite characters by many of the top artists in the field at the time. here's a quick list of some of my favorites in no apparent order--

batman by marshall rogers
dr. strange by michael golden
ka-zar by brent anderson
spider-man and the x-men by fastner and larson
cerebus: the six deadly sins of cerebus by dave sim
the animated cerebus by dave sim
metamorphosis odyssey by jim starlin
frankenstein by bernie wrightson
marvel team-up vol.s 1 and 2 by various (simonson, byrne, perez, buscema, etc.)
the watchmen by dave gibbons
the x-men (french) by john byrne

all of them great, all of them gorgeous!

the fastner and larson x-men and spidey ones were really the first for many of us, i'm sure. the x-men comic by claremnot and byrne had been a juggernaut in the biz and was still climbing! everyone was picking up anything x-men!

the guy behind a lot of these early portfolios and "art of" books was sal quartuccio and he put out some pretty nice stuff, but the one that i went crazy for, the first time i saw it, was a new black and white portfolio by comics legend, neal adams! on the x-men! again! the ad came along with the fastner-larson portfolio and included an early order form for the 'folio which would be available in spring of '82!

i ordered two.

never happened.

i received one follow up notice sometime in the late summer of '82 saying it was coming and thanks for your patience.

and that was it. i wrote to them twice asking for an update and then asking for my money back, but i never heard from them again. or anything about the portfolio.

below is the only evidence i have of it, the only copy, i th8ink, of the only plate they ever had. i dunno.

i'd still love to see that portfolio though...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and yes, they were
a bit tough, but
here are the answers
to roger's

"FIVE FOR FRIDAY"

1) What is the name of the beauty parlor Carrie Fisher's character worked at in the movie The Blues Brothers?

Curl Up & Dye.

2) The three bands that spun out of the English Beat are: General Public (their big hit was "Tenderness"), Fine Young Cannibals ("She Drives Me Crazy"), and International Beat.

3) The Stan Sakai strip is "Nilson Groundthumper & Hermy."

4) The British cartoonist is a wonderful gent named Hunt Emerson. He also does a strip called "Phenomenomix" in the magazine "Fortean Times," which deals with strange happenings, cryptozoology, and stuff like that.
(Which sounds like a mag you'd enjoy if you've never heard of it.) You can see his work at www.Largecow.com.

5) The Goons are Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe. Michael Bentine was a founding member of the group, but left before they became popular. Their radio show, The Goon Show, and specifically Milligan, have been sited by the members of Monty Python as being highly influential on the development of their humor. If you're a Python fan, you should definitely
check them out. The site www.thegoonshow.net has a lot of great info on them, including some free audio downloads.

have a great day!
smell ya later!
todd

happy friday!

okay...

well, officially, we have now received 20 entries into the perhapanatus drawing jam over on the perhapanauts forum--(although i'm not sure if the leaf wants us to count his st.patrick's day chooprecaun as an entry...christian...?)

thanks to everyone who sent something in and if you haven't yet--keep 'em comin'! we love to see 'em and you'll probaly get some nice compliments--we've got such a nice, supportive family here... : )

below is one our pal, emilio, sent to me the other day!
first mg in the batch! great job, emilio! thanks for sending him in!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

there was a lot of continued discussion about the thing/she-hulk book i mentioned in wednesday's post and so i thought i'd post the cover here for anyone who want's to know what it looked like. i also jotted a brief run-down of that book's looong journey to being printed in the comments section. check it out if you like...





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in my plea for volunteer guest bloggers the other day, i had a few cool email conversations with some of you and i'm really excited about some of the blog ideas you came up with! some really great stuff ahead! to everyone who has the time and the urge, thanks for your help! it means a lot! to anyone still on the fence and thinking about it, just let me know and i'll schedule you in. it's fun, ya oughta give it a try...!

of those aforementioned email discussions, i was chatting with our pal, roger ash, and he came up with a very much appreciated "five for friday", which, it just so happens, i was unprepared for today. and so, without further ado, i give you
roger ash's

"five for friday"!

1. What is the name of the beauty parlor that Carrie Fisher's character works at in the movie The Blues Brothers?

2. Name three bands that spun-out of the British ska band, The English Beat (solo albums don't count).

3. What Stan Sakai anthropomorphic comic features a wandering rabbit and his companion, who may be a guinea pig?

4. What British cartoonist created such characters as Alan Rabbit (AKA Bill the Bunny), Calculus Cat, and Max Zillion and Alto Ego?

5. Who are The Goons?



have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

scale

okay...



i saw this calvin and hobbes sunday strip the other day and it reminded me of a conversation i had with mike years ago...

he told me, "no giants."

while still in the development stages of tellos, we were talking about the characters that would be part of our little band of resistance/renegades against the dread malesur. we were really having fun, him telling me the types of people and animals he wanted to draw and me fitting them with personalities and tying them together either in the tale or with backstory. the sky was the limit and no idea was shot down.

until...

mike pointed out something i already knew at the time and i'm sure many of you recognize this as well; having giants and ogres and pixies and gnomes all in the same shot creates crazy scale problems. if you're close on the giant, how ya gonna see the dwarf? focusing on one will always lose the other. this was also one of the reasons that mike wasn't too thrilled about having one of my favorite marvel characters, dragon man, show up during our run of sensational spider-man...

so we stayed away from the giants.

until mike thought that the djinn/genie needed to be huge.
and then started having a lot of fun with dani the faerie.
and then, a few months later, did an amazing job in the flashback issue of sensational where a young peter parker and his uncle ben go fishing and run into just about every giant-sized marvel monster stan and jack ever came up with! he said it was a fun challenge...!



(and he eventually did draw dragon man for a page or two in the later-scrapped thing/she-hulk story i wrote called "the long night". and loved it!)



i say all this because it reminds me how very, very lucky i am to have craig--as friend and artist! i'm killing him this week with a couple of grand pages, vast sweeping panels featuring lots of characters and lots of (necessary) detail with a lot going on. just when he needs it least.
craig is a real artist. solid. he never complains, never asks for a re-write, never quibbles or cheats. he gives it all his all.
man, i'm very lucky.
(don't tell him though--don't want him getting a big head...)
thanks.



and here's another calvin and hobbes that reminds me of all the games my brother and i made up as kids--and how sometimes life is just like that.



see ya friday!
smell ya later!
todd

lexie's merrow!

okay...

hope everyone had a very happy easter!

so--inspired a little bit by our pal, mike estelle's merrow sketch and craig's cover to PERHAPANAUTS #3, renee's daughter, lexie, sent this awesome entry into the perhapanauts drawing jam. (unable to get it to post over on the message boards, i thought it would look nice right here on the blog until i can figure out how to post it with the rest...) (as i did with my own feeble entries which can see seen down at the bottom...)
nice job, lexie! thanks so much for taking the time to draw the merrow!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are the
answers to the

"five for friday"

1. what academy award winning actor was originally chosen to play mike brady on the brady bunch?

gene hackman

2. what academy award winning actor was the original choice to play hannibal lector in the silence of the lambs?

gene hackman

3. what academy award winning actor currently provides the voice-over for lowe's home centers?

gene hackman

4. what academy award winning actor was dustin hoffman's roommate for several years while studying acting in nyc?

gene hackman

5. name the following dr. seuss books

a. a persistent salesman tries to persuade a resistant gentleman to eat a colorful breakfast

green eggs and ham

b. a boy considers a huge parade in his tiny town

and to think that i saw it on mulberry street

c. an enormous elephant finds himself playing mother to a very special package

horton hatches the egg

d. a boy removes his hat for the passing king...only to find an inexhaustible number of chapeaus underneath

the 500 hats of bartholomew cubbins

e. a boy ponders what he could catch if his little fishing hole were secretly connected to the ocean.

mcelligot's pool

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



here's a little doodle i did of big and choopie, and a sketch of the aswang since nobody did her yet...!

that's all for now!
smell ya later!
todd

hoppy easter!

a call to y'all...!

okay...

as i mentioned yesterday, with things really gearing up with the perhapanauts and a summer full of convention schedules and outside projects ahead, i'm looking to hedge my bets a little in regards to this blog.
it's been very important to me to make sure that i get a new post up here on the blog every monday, wednesday, and friday, and i've done a pretty good job of it for the past year or so. our little group here--our community, family, of "perhapa-pals", has come to mean a lot to me. it thrills me that you stop by here to read this on a regular basis and it means even more when you take the time to comment and join in and be a part of the gang! when a little dialogue or even a group discussion appears in the comments section--that's just too cool...!

so, what to do with so much suddenly on my plate and less time to blog...? well, with a wonderfully witty and creative family like this, the answer is obvious...

special guest blogs!!

we've had them here before--my good pal, scott weinstein, has graciously covered for me from time to time (with some well-researched and beautifully written posts that put me to shame, i might add...). both alison and brian have written their own perhapanauts stories/comics that have been featured here on the blog. and many of you have shared accounts of your own strange and unexplained experiences...

so i'm putting the call out to anyone and everyone within the sound of my voice! what do you think? got a subject you'd like to cover? a story you'd like to tell? a discussion you'd like to get started?

send 'em in! let me know! you too could be a guest blogger here on the world-famous perhapa-blog!

my only request is that we keep them to our usual topics; the paranormal, the unexplained, the just plain weird. comics, movies, tv, books! anything and everything having to do with pop-culture! got a funny or scary story you'd like to tell? a news report that you think the group would find fascinating? wanna try your hand at creating your own "five for friday"? try it! i guarantee you'll have fun!
also, and most importantly, you'll be helping me out, giving me a bit of a break while we work to get the perhapanauts together each month...

if you're interested,please let me know!
you can 'e' me at

todd@perhapanauts.com

thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so, here's something that freaked me out...

bizarre deaths always freak me out. i don't know why they should freak me out any more than a "regular" death...i mean, when it's your time, it's your time, right?. not to be too morbid or anything (and maybe i've already crossed that line...), but the subject of dying thoughts has always fascinated me. in a "natural" death, the process can be slow and the person have time to ease into that final sleep or, depending on what you believe, into the next, new experience. i guess we all kinda hope for that.
with a sudden death or accidental death, a person isn't afforded that opportunity. we have no time to get used to the idea (and, yes, many paranormal investigators believe that ghosts are, in most cases, the spirits of people who don't yet know that they're dead)
but a bizarre death...
when a person is killed in such a strange, freak accident...
late last night, while checking my e-mails, i checked out yahoo's most e-mailed pictures, always an interesting place for photos. the first seven were of this--an eagle ray--a larger member of the ray family--that had flipped itself up into a boat and stab a woman with it's barb, killing her.

my condolences to the family, of course. how very sad. this is truly a tragedy.
but a bizarre tragedy.

i mean, really, what do you think? did that just happen? did i just get stabbed by a manta ray? did that thing just sail out of the water and kill me?

until steve irwin's very similar death, i didn't even know this was possible...





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

some really great perhapanauts pictures are still being posted over on the perhapanauts forums!! click the forum link above and check them out in the thread entitled "how about a drawing jam?"
here are a couple more...

don kelly

scott weinstein

matt wieringo

alison martin

mike estelle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

before you go and have a great weekend,
thinking about what cool guest blog you're gonna do,
here are your

"five for friday"

1. what academy award winning actor was originally chosen to play mike brady on the brady bunch?

2. what academy award winning actor was the original choice to play hannibal lector in the silence of the lambs?

3. what academy award winning actor currently provides the voice-over for lowe's home centers?

4. what academy award winning actor was dustin hoffman's roommate for several years while studying acting in nyc?

5. name the following dr. seuss books

a. a persistent salesman tries to persuade a resistant gentleman to eat a colorful breakfast

b. a boy considers a huge parade in his tiny town

c. an enormous elephant finds himself playing mother to a very special package

d. a boy removes his hat for the passing king...only to find an inexhaustible number of chapeaus underneath

e. a boy ponders what he could catch if his little fishing hole were secretly connected to the ocean.

that's it!
have a great weekend!
todd

busy as anything--the best of the blog!

okay...

i--and when i say "i", i mean "we"--are currently working like crazy on issue 2 of the all-new, all-different PERHAPANAUTS. it's lookin' good, it's lookin' fun, it's got some surprises...!
so busy, in fact, that i totally missed posting a new blog entry yesterday. first time in a long time (i'm happy to say...) but still, i missed it. i was beating myself up about it last night when it was suggested to me to try a couple of things to buy myself a little time here. (we're already doing this with the comic, lining up some incredibly talented artist friends for some sweet, sweet back-ups...! can't wait for you to see 'em!)
one idea was to run a few of my favorite entries from years past as "best of the blog" posts.
great idea. and because i was discussing my own paranormal experiences with PROOF writer/creator, alex grecian, i thought i'd post the one below from january 2006.
hope you dig it.

wednesday, january 11, 2006
crypto-revelations: part I--what i saw...

okay, here's what happened to me...

in the winter of 94/95 i was cast in a play at marist college. (a really great play called "noises off" and probably the finest production i've ever had the pleasure to be involved in.) at the time i was living alone way out in the country with my then 2 dogs and 1 rabbit and driving my jeep the thirty miles (each way) back and forth. the play is a really funny farce and required a LOT of physical comedy as well as a lot of rehearsal time to work out the very intricate staging/blocking so we would rehearse some nights 'til 1 or 2 in the morning. no problem for them, they lived on campus. i'm telling you all this 'cause i think it's important to know my frame of mind and that i was particularly tired when all this happened.

so anyway, it's about 12:45 this one night. it's february but it's warm, what they call a 'strawberry spring', a kinda winter version of 'indian summer' with an early, false thaw and some really nice weather for about a week. i'm heading home on the pretty much deserted roads and i can remember that the moon was full, making the surrounding woods and farms fairly visible beyond my headlights. and i'm tired. at one point on rt. 9G in the town of east park, the town police have made a small building on a curve their new headquarters and park their cop cars out front at night, a trend that makes many nighttime travellers slow down thinking that the cars are manned and ready to catch them speeding. by that time i was used to it, but because i was so tired that night, it caught me by surprise and i slowed way down, mostly 'cause i was loggy.

so coming around this slight curve, i was going slow enough to notice some movement in the muddy field off to my left, a long stretch of ruts and puddles usually put up in corn and/or pumpkins. way off in the north-west corner of the field i saw what looked to me like the canvas tarp off of someone's woodpile rise up off the ground and levitate some 15 feet in the air. not really such an unusual sight; the wind catching hold of someone's not-too-well-tied-down firewood cover and playing the devil with it across an empty field.

except there was no wind.

and it wasn't a tarp.

i stopped the jeep. right there in the middle of the road. i hadn't been going that fast anyway, what with the driverless cop cars slowing me down. what this thing looked like to me as it continued to float a little higher in the air and then float toward me was still a large brownish gray canvas sheet, about 7 feet across the front and about 12 feet long. it looked thicker in the middle, down the length of it and, still keeping the idea that it was a wind-blown tarp, it looked to have a few feet of rope trailing behind it like a...tail.
and it undulated as it glided, it's sides continuously rippling, rising and falling, fluttering in the same way that a manta does as it skates across the ocean floor. it slid gracefully beneath some suspended phone/power lines, between the bare trees at the edge of the field, and then it was above me as i twisted my neck and craned my head to watch it pass some six or seven feet above my own canvas topped jeep. i was in awe. no fear, no creepy feeling. just awe.
i watched it pass behind me and then into another group of trees and then it was gone. i sat there for a few seconds and then continued on home, knowing that i hadn't been dreaming, but...man, that was weird.

the next day, of course, i described the whole thing to my friends and castmates, all of us getting excited and creeped out about what bizarre stuff there is out there. i did a slew of internet searches to see if anyone had seen or heard of anything like what i had seen, but google hadn't been invented yet and my keywords brought up zero results.

so that was it. that's what i saw. i had no name for it or anything, just the story and the feeling that i'd seen something 'not from here'. as far as i knew i was the only one who had ever seen it...

...until a few years later...

if you dug that and want more, check out parts 2 and 3 in the archive section to your right.
just scroll down to january 2006.
see ya tomorrow with an all new post and your "five for friday".
smell ya later!
todd

flying saucers when i was a kid...

okay...

this would be an awesome house to live in!


This 'flying saucer' house, pictured on the side of Signal Mountain in Chattanooga, Tenn., Tuesday, March 11, 2008, will go up for auction on Saturday. The buyer needs a fascination for outer space, tolerance for gawkers and at least $100,000. Built by the late Curtis W. King in 1970, the circular house has multiple levels, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an entrance staircase that lowers and retracts with the push of a button. (AP/Photo Mark Gilliland)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a couple of years ago, mike and i challenged each other to get on myspace, i can't really tell you why at the moment, but we did it and then watched as a stream of people we didn't know sent us messages asking to be our "friends." not because they knew us from comics or anything, that's just how it works.
we each posted pictures from tellos on our main page, thinking that that would be cool and hopefully get people interested in buying the (then) upcoming hardcover. then mike posted some silly sketch he did, and i posted a photo of my dog, jake. he posted a beautiful sketch he had done and i posted one of craig's perhapanauts covers.
then mike blew the doors off of this fun little game by posting a series of photos of himself as a kid growing up that he had found one weekend while visiting at his folks house.
i don't care who you are, old pictures of your best friend are hilarious.
so after this sweet run of his school pictures and prom pictures and the obligatory graduation shot, he begged me to post some of mine! fair's fair. only i didn't have a good scanner. that's not quite right, i didn't have a scanner at all.
i got myself one, however, this year for christmas and then stupidly told some people that i would finally get few of these (incriminating) pictures scanned and up on my myspace page.
they have been relentless in reminding me.

so here's the first. me at five.

i imagine it explains a lot...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

speaking of myspace, though, i HAVE made lots of on-line friends over there and have been fortunate enough to connect with some really interesting comic book people!
one of those is wiffleball tony, formerly spacedog2k5, who was kind enough to send us a link to his cool blog and review of the still-knockin'-'em-dead-in-peoria PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL! head on over and take a look!

http://dogbizkit.blogspot.com/

thanks, tony! we appreciate the kind words and the glowing recommendation!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

oh, yeah...
and here are the answers to the

"five for friday"



1. what was the name of his aboriginal companion in daniel defoe's robinson crusoe?

friday

2. what william golding novel served as a study of human civilization and featured a group of boys on an island with a conch shell?
(extra bonus question: what did the shell symbolize?)
(nah--i'm just messin' with ya...)

lord of the flies

3. what was the name of the volleyball in the tom hanks film, castaway?

wilson

4. what is hurly's real name on lost?

hugo reyes

5. name the seven stranded castaways here on gilligan's isle.
oh, and their real names...

a. giligan (bob denver)

b. skipper (alan hale jr.)

c. thurston howell III (jim backus)

d. lovey howell (natalie schafer)

e. ginger grant (tina louise)

f. professor roy hinkley (russell johnson)

g. mary anne summers (dawn wells)

extra credit if you knew
these full names

gilligan--william "willie" gilligan
skipper--jonas grumby

gotta go!
smell ya later!
todd


bahh!!!
i can't believe i totally forgot st.patrick's day!
and i'm not irish at all...!
(but i like the green beer...! )
here's how christian reminded me over on the perhapanauts forum!



thanks, christian!
awesome choopie!
you're the best!
happy st.patrick's day everyone!
todd

gnome in argentina

okay...

our good pal, mike estelle, sent this over to me this morning, saying that he found it both funny and creepy. me too, mike, though a bit more creepy and a bit less funny. just looking at the photo gave me the willies!
(of course, i could take the same picture by stealing mrs. kinnard's garden gnome from next door and getting it a little drunk. or me. or both.)
here ya go...

Argentinian "gnome" scaring the bejezus out of kids
POSTED BY MARK FRAUENFELDER, MARCH 13, 2008 9:57 AM | PERMALINK
A gnome is walking the streets of Salta, Argentina at night, and he scaring the town's children.



A town in South America is living in fear after several sightings of a "creepy gnome" that locals claim stalks the streets at night. The midget -- which wears a pointy hat and has a distinctive sideways walk -- was caught on video last week by a terrified group of youngsters. ... "One of my friends was so scared after seeing that thing that we had to take him to the hospital."

cool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we announced it over here, and i was gonna post all of the entries on the blog but there are just too many of them, and so may i direct you to hit the "forum" link up above and wander over to the perhapanauts message boards where you will find the topic "how about a drawing jam?" posted by the talented mr. don kelly. click on that link and you'll find yourself surrounded by all kindsa perhapanaut-goodness--some really great pictures and sketches and...when's the deadline again? i'd better get moving on my own (crappy) picture...
just come by to look, or grab a pencil and join in! we'd love to see what you want to do!
okay, well, here's one...!
(mostly 'cause blogger's not letting me upload any more...)
rich woodall

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the first issue was finally put to bed, late last night/early this morning and will be in stores on april 16th as promised (barring, of course, any unforeseen, unavoidable circumstances...) craig and rico did an incredible job on it and we're hopin' you dig it the most!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here, 'cause you asked
so nicely, are your

"five on friday"
deserted island edition

1. what was the name of his aboriginal companion in daniel defoe's robinson crusoe?

2. what william golding novel served as a study of human civilization and featured a group of boys on an island with a conch shell?
(extra bonus question: what did the shell symbolize?)
(nah--i'm just messin' with ya...)

3. what was the name of the volleyball in the tom hanks film, castaway?

4. what is hurly's real name on lost?

5. name the seven stranded castaways here on gilligan's isle.
oh, and their real names...

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

how's that?
have a kickin' weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

something like this...

okay...

running around again today--so much to do.
have plenty of things that i COULD write about, but thought that, since this blog hasn't been too spooky lately, i'd "borrow" another cool story from paranormal@about.com your true tales
sleepy and trying to work last night, i tripped over to paranormal@about and read over a couple of the entries and this one woke me up good! maybe it's 'cause i was tired and maybe it was because something very similar happened to me and a friend about 15 years ago--a very, very long back road that seemed to go on much longer than it should have--COULD HAVE!!--and such an odd and eerie feeling while driving over it. sections that seemed to change season as we drove through. and places where we definitely felt watched...


here's the story.
enjoy!

Your True Tales
March 2008 - Page 6

Mysterious Looped Road
by DirtRoadEnthusiast

In high school (I graduated in 2002), my best friend and I enjoyed driving around the country roads of Missouri at night, exploring the veritable wilderness and always trying to find roads we'd never been down before. The seasoned Missouri traveler will know that there are several species of gravel road. There is the road, the drive, the lane, and the loop, and the designation isn't cosmetic. For instance, a loop is a gravel road that connects to another road on both ends, as in a loop. A drive is like a very long dead end street, etc.

One night, my friend I were driving down a dirt road that teed off with another, and there across the road was the biggest tree I have personally ever seen in Missouri. We turned left and after a while came to a paved road, and turned right. We didn't put much stock in paved roads, and the next gravel road we came to, we turned down, which was on right, or back the way we'd come basically. After a while, we saw the big tree again and the road that teed with the one we were on and realized that we were on a loop. So we ended up back on the paved road again, and in some frustration, decided to turn around and go back to the road that teed with the loop, because back that way we'd seen some other gravel roads we might explore.

Only we never found the road, or the tree, but instead ended up back on the other end of the loop. By this time we were going batty, turned around once again, and viola! there was the tree and the road. Bemused, we returned to this loop in the daytime, and discovered that if you went down it one way, you could fine the tree and the road, but not if you went down it the other way. We even took other friends there from time to time to show off our latest discovery. No one could ever figure it out.

This was the same road that my friend and I got out of the car one night and snuck down into a little creek bottom. There were these little green lights everywhere. We were terrified until we managed to catch one and found that it was some kind of little beetle with lights along its sides that lived in the water. It looked like a miniature trilobite. We took one home in a film canister, but never managed to identify it with any book or website.

so, got a story of your own...?
share.

and if you have some time, stop over at paranormal@about.com and check out the other your true tales submissions for this month.
some of them are reeeeeeeallly creepy...!

smell ya later!
todd

perhapa-plans

okay...

as i mentioned last week, craig and i are all about giving you, our faithful perhapa-fans, not only your money's worth in each and every issue of the all-new PERHAPANAUTS, but MORE than...!

we are painfully aware that the cover price of comics is going up all across the industry.
we are also well aware that that fact might cause some people to have to choose between some of their very favorite comics due to budgeting and such. we know because we buy comics too! we long for the days when comics were less than a dollar--heck, even a dollar would be wonderful news right now. but with the cost of everything going up--especially gas--it affects everything!

so we're doing what we can to pack every issue of the PERHAPANAUTS with as much 'nauty goodness as possible! we've been hitting up friends in and out of the business for pin-ups, lined up some STELLAR talent for our back-up stories (i'm bustin' to tell ya, but craig says i hafta wait...@#%$!) and, as you've already seen with the stunning art adams cover to issue #1, some incredible guest covers!

things are happening here at BEDLAM central, and i think you're gonna dig what we've been digging up!

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things were flying so fast when we were trying to decide on a cover for the annual--craig, and our pal, dana moreshead, and i were throwin' all kindsa idea back and forth (well, mostly them...). but i thought it would be cool to show you one of craig's earlier takes on the cover so you could see how things evolve and take shape with something like this...
enjoy!



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and here are the answers to your

"five for friday"

1. what spider-man villain originally appeared as indy's guide in the classic opening to raiders of the lost ark?

alfred molina (doctor octopus)

2. who was the only actor to appear in both the film and television versions of mash?

gary burghoff--radar o'reilly

of note: gary's left hand was noticeably smaller than his right, and the actor would often be seen carrying a clipboard or something so as not to attract attention to it.

3. what david bowie song is quoted at the beginning of the breakfast club?

changes
"and these children that you spit on as they
try to change their world
are immune to your consultations
they quite aware what they're going through"

4. h2o is water? what is h2o2?

hydrogen peroxide

5. who played the devil in each of the following films?

a. witches of eastwick

jack nicholson

b. legend

tim curry

c. angelheart

robert deniro

d. needful things

max von sydow

e. the devil's advocate

al pacino

have a great day!
smell ya wednesday!
todd

ladies and gentlemen--rico renzi!!

okay...

well, as craig posted below, the full color art adams cover for perhapanauts #1 is proudly on "first look" display over at newsarama! you can check it out for yourself by going to

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=149218

a lot of people "oooh'd" and "aaaah'd" over the cover, and rightly so--art really outdid himself with this and i am still mesmerized by it whenever it look at it--but let's talk about rico.

rico is an amazing colorist and a very talented artist as well. we all saw the incredible detail that art put into that cover and i'm sure that, in preparing to lay down the hues, it was a little bit daunting.

over the years that we've worked together, i have been stunned again and again by rico's eye, by his color choices, and his ability to make things pop or blend things in. he and craig actually pulled off something that i didn't think was possiblein comics back in perhapanauts (first blood) #4 and then again in second chances #1 when he made the aswang's eyes actually glow and made a character truly disappear into the shadows...
i've said for years that craig is one of the most underrated artists in comics. certainly rico, too, is one of the most underrated colorists in the business and, while colorists are often overlooked in the grand scheme of things--his name was even excluded from our solicit copy--i just wanted everyone to take a look at what he does for us in each and every issue and give him the credit--and props--he properly deserves!
fantastic job, rico!
thanks for all you do!
this book would not be the same without you!

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so craig teased you with the cover to perhapanauts #3, so i guess i'd better put it up...
(i was gonna save it for monday, but...)

the solicit reads like this

The PERHAPANAUTS #3
Todd Dezago-–Story
Craig Rousseau--Pencils,
Inks, and Cover
Rico Renzi--Colors

32 Pages
FC
June 4
$3.50

"Big Secrets"
Triangle--Part 3
It is the veritable Calm before the Storm
as secrets continue to be revealed about
ALL of your favorite BEDLAM Agents!
Big and The Merrow travel to the UK to get
some answers as Choopie tries to cope with
the unseen responsibilities of being a King!
Also, The Mothmen tip to what went on back
in the Bermuda Triangle--and they are NOT pleased...!


the cover looks like



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are your

"five for friday"

1. what spider-man villain originally appeared as indy's guide in the classic opening to raiders of the lost ark?

2. who was the only actor to appear in both the film and television versions of mash?

3. what david bowie song is quoted at the beginning of the breakfast club?

4. h2o is water? what is h2o2?

5. who played the devil in each of the following films?

a. witches of eastwick
b. legend
c. angelheart
d. needful things
e. the devil's advocate

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

art adams and rico goodness...!

figured i'd post a quick link to the super sweet COLOR art for art adams' perhapanauts #1 cover over at newsarama.

todd'll be back as usual tomorrow.. .who knows, he might even post the cover to issue 3...

-c (decided to change my original title of the post from "rico and art adams, sittin' in a tree...")

more art!

okay...

well, i need to be quick today.

as we put the finishing touches on issue 1 of the all-new, all-different (i'm still reading my uncanny x-men omnibus) PERHAPANAUTS, we find that there WILL be more art in many ways!

first off, art adams has okayed us showing y'all his sweet sketch/designs that he did in preparation for his stunning cover! i always find it both fascinating and amazing to get a chance to see the thought process and the creativity and the magic that goes on in sketches and such. these look cool.

also, since we have so many extra pages that we're allowed to fill--and craig and i really wanna make sure you get your money's worth ut of every issue of the perhapanauts--we'll be featuring some sweet perhapanauts pin-ups and back-up stories in every issue featuring some of our very talented friends from in and out of comics! our first issue boasts a fun two pager by our pal, dave tata, called "choopie goes to church." don't miss it!

we've got lots of bonus stories and features planned for this book and i promise you won't be disappointed!

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our call for artists has already gotten some people revved up over on the perhapanauts forum; some of us are setting a deadline for ourselves (no pressure!) to keep ourselves honest and on schedule. feel free to stop on over and add your name to the growing list! it's fun!

our first piece sent in, our own rene carrol 'e'd me her "choopie doodle"



great job, rene! thanks so much for the great sketch--and for breaking the ice! now EVERYBODY can start sending their pics in...!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in the comments to the last post, alison asked who had drawn the pieces i posted. my apologies for not including those names. i'd intended to--the blog just got away from me.
they are

mark zanini--arisa, mg, big, and the dover demon in the study
don kelly--big and the serpent
philippe scherding--choopie/nosferatu

and here's another cool pic i found that our boy, brian mulcahy had done by scott wegener (currently having a blast on "atomic robot"!) to illustrate brian's 'haps story, "down in the dumps".


give ya some ideas? know what you're going to draw?
we can't wait to see it!

that's it for me!
smell ya later!
todd

we're looking for a few good artists...!

okay...

we're looking for a few good artists...!

one of the main things craig and i had asked kieran to do when he redesigned the website was to give us a bigger, more inviting place where we could share artwork or photos or any kind of images featuring the perhapanauts! i've said it time and time again, but craig and i LOVE to see other people's renditions of our "kids"--and we have seen some really wonderful, and really...let's call them creative versions of the team!

AND WE WANT YOURS!



we've received a buncha wonderful letters and e-mails from a buncha up and coming artists like alex brown and over on the perhapanauts forum (simply click "forum" at the top of this page), our pal, don kelly, has thrown out the challenge for a perhapanauts art jam! well, done, man!



so let's make it OFFICIAL!
we're calling out for any and all of you talented and creative people to show us your best! get out your pencils, your markers, your crayons, your paints...! how about clay or sculpy or whatever you wanna use to make some kind of perhapanaut-y sculpture thing! you name it! let your imaginations run wild!

don't draw? how about a short story or script? perhapa-fan emeritus's (emerituses? emeriti...?) bryan mulcahy and alison martin have each posted their own perhapanauts stories here! we'll be creating an all-new fan-fic section for those as well!

this isn't a contest! there are no prizes! craig and i don't feel that any artwork should ever be judged or compared to another.
your are all artists and we enjoy and appreciate everything you do and put into it.

so get out there and get going!

our e-mails are always up there in the "contact us" section above, but here they are again anyway...

craig@perhapanauts.com

todd@perhapanauts.com

send in your scans and your photos and we'll get them up there!
have fun--and thanks!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

if i posted this before, i'm sorry.
i looked to see if i had, but couldn't find it.
i thought it was pretty funny.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are the
answers to your

"five for friday"

1. what popular mystery writer, who just published her 20th novel, titles her books alphabetically?

sue grafton

2. what comic book featured a dog and a rabbit who were private detectives and who occasionally forgot which was which?

sam and max

3. what is the term used for the act of turning a liquid into a gas?

evaporation

4. h2o is water. what is h3o better known as?

hydronium

5. who was lancelot link?

secret chimp--a 1970's saturday morning get smart/james bond satire acted out by monkeys

special knock-yourself-out bonus

~ name any seven popular and/or recurring characters from any of saturday night live's 32 seasons.

a. i'm sure that
b. you all did
c. a good job
d. with this.
e. i'm not going
f. to list them
g. all...

hope ya dug 'em!
smell ya later!
todd

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snow can be fun, romantic, beautiful, amazing...

but i'm sick of it.