plays well with otters

okay...

hope you all had a great weekend!

our pal--and newsarama correspondent--russ burlingame and i had fun with this casper interview the other night.
and here's why it was so much fun...i've done 4 or 5 interviews for casper already and when russ sent his first question over, i thought they were gonna be more of the same...but they weren't. russ certainly knows how to have fun with an interview and you can check out how here:

http://blog.newsarama.com/2009/08/28/qa-dezago-on-casper-the-spectrals-from-ardden/

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

for those of you who might not know, while the perhapanauts is published by image comics and we love them for it, craig and i call our little virtual comics studio "plays well with otters productions". while producing the highly-sought-after, widely acclaimed self-published 16 page perhapanauts not-gigantic-color-special #1, we realized that we needed a little somethin' somethin' to act as our logo and make the thing look somewhat professional. we threw a few names back and forth and went "meh.", but the one that really stuck with us was this one, a little play on words that i had come up with a year or so earlier while filling out some silly online survey and the asked me what my indian name would be. i said, "masequa." when they asked what the name meant, i wrote, "plays well with otters".

so craig drew up our logo and we were in business. now we make sure that the "pwwo" logo shines on every issue we put out.







so the next time we were hanging around with mike--a couple months later at a show somewhere--animal lover that he was, mike said how much he dug the design and how cute that little friggin' otter was. a while later we talked about creating our own virtual studio--the three of us--and start doing some projects together, and that maybe with the three of us working on things, we could get more out there and have more fun! we asked mike if he wanted to join in on plays well with otters and he was thrilled!
he, of course, went right home and did up his own design (the idea being that we would rotate the logos and create a new brand...)







soon after that, as our pal, nick cardy, started asking to have his table moved closer to us at conventions, we asked nick if he'd like to join the otters too! we were excited to have a comics legend join the team--and nick was touched to be asked to be "one of the boys!" we told him that he'd have to design a version of the logo--he keeps calling it "plays well with beavers" and we have to keep correcting him--but then...things came up.

i should get nick to do that logo.

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

"five for friday"

1. which u.s president coined the phrase, "walk softly, but carry a big stick"?

theodore "teddy" roosevelt

2. who said, "imagination is more important than knowledge"?

albert einstein

3. what six states comprise the region known as new england?

maine, new hampshire, vermont, massachusetts, rhode island, connecticut

4. what is known as big sky country?

montana

5. comics creators
who created...

a. superman?

jerry siegel and joe shuster

b. batman?

bob kane

c. spider-man?

stan lee and steve ditko

d. the fantastic four?

stan lee and jack kirby

e. wonder woman?

william moulton marston

f. wolverine?

len wein, john romita, sr., and herb trimpe

g. impulse?

mark waid and mike wieringo

h. savage dragon?

erik larsen

i. after-school agent?

scott weinstein and chris zaccone

j. amber atoms?

kelly yates

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

read the PERHAPANAUTS for free!

bigfoot sasquatch



okay...

does everybody know that you can download (and read) the celebrated PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL for FREE off the perhapanauts website?!? it's true! the PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL--our very first issue under the ever-popular IMAGE COMICS banner--is yours for the taking at www.perhapanauts.com it's right over there --->
got nothing to do this weekend...? why not settle in for a crazy adventure with some of cryptozoology's craziest creatures? there's a bigfoot, a chupacabra, a mothman, and the jersey devil!!
check it out--i dare ya!

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

i came in from volleyball late last night to find our pal, warren's comment to wednesday's post and his closing line (which i know is and has been echoed by so many comics fans for so many years...)

"Why can't they just put out comics that tell fun, dramatic, compelling stories, and get over their big events?"

and the answer is--'cause we keep buyin' 'em, baby.

your dollar is your voice and we (the comics buying/reading public) just keeps saying "yes! hell, yes! bring it on!"
they know we're addicted to the characters, know that they have us all strung out, and they know that we'll never have too much...

(that is, of course, until they legalize comics and the government takes over...)

sorry.
(stepping off my soapbox now...)

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

well, it's a little over a month away, but it's never too early to get the parade started--!
craig and i will be at the baltimore comic con on october 10 and 11 and it's gonna be big fun!
we'll have copies of the all-new, hot-off-the presses PERHAPANAUTS HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR!
copies of the previous issues (if you missed one along the way), the triangle trade--as well as recently uncovered copies of the two dark horse trades, first blood and second chances! we'll also have the all new perhapanauts button which we be debuting here in a few short weeks!
so mark your calendars and meet us in b'more!
you're not gonna wanna miss it!


baltimore comiccon!



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

i am, of course, a huge calvin and hobbes fan and as i mentioned in the blog the other day, gocomics.com does a fantastic job of making calvin--and a whole slew of other great strips--available online and delivered to your email each morning where you can pretend that you're reading it in the paper like you did the first time.
i loved this little storyline when bill watterson first presented it back in the late 80s and couldn't resist posting it here for you!
go, calvin, go!






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

* correction: on wednesday i said that it was talent caldwell doing the wonder woman comic in dc's wednesday comics. in fact, it's ben caldwell producing that lovely strip!
sorry, ben.

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

and here, just for
the hell of it--
"five for friday"

1. which u.s president coined the phrase, "walk softly, but carry a big stick"?

2. who said, "imagination is more important than knowledge"?

3. what six states comprise the region known as new england?

4. what state is known as big sky country?

5. comics creators
who created...

a. superman?

b. batman?

c. spider-man?

d. the fantastic four?

e. wonder woman?

f. wolverine?

g. impulse?

h. savage dragon?

i. after-school agent?

j. amber atoms?


have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

wonderful wednesday!

okay...

i had one of those "moments" again the other day--realizing that the blog has recently become a little more about me lately and a lot less about the things i set out to talk about some 600 posts ago. namely the spooky, scary, curious sides of the paranormal, comic books and tv and movies, and, of course, the perhapanauts.
so i'm getting focused.
not much to say on the perhapanauts front except to reiterate that the PERHAPANAUTS HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR is at the printer and on schedule for it's october release. it's got some great stories by some great artists and we can't wait for you to see it!

as i've said in the past, i live in a rather rural area and my localist local comics shop is about an hour away. i dig the store and i love to drive, but suffice it to say, with work and deadlines and the current state of comics these days, i only get to the store once every three weeks or so. that's okay--mike and john hold my books for me and i can always give them a call or drop them an email asking them to pull something for me and put it in my box. (that's october country in new paltz, ny, for those of you looking for a good store nearby...) needless to say, this lag in getting my books keeps me out of the loop in some conversations, most notably when scott posts "this week's comics" as a topic over on the perhapanauts forum each week.

...

so i've started this particular paragraph three times now, deleting and starting over when i realize that i'm a little bitter. see, i have always been a big dc fan, big justice league fan, big batman fan. sadly, over the past four or five years it seems like dc has done everything in their power to make me walk away from their books. (this is the part in the paragraphs previous where i began spouting my vitriol, listing the many reasons i just can't follow their books anymore and why i've abandoned all of my old favorites in frustration and sadness, but you don't want to hear that...)
so i left.

leave it to mark chiarello to haul me back.

mark chiarello, aside from being a fantastic artist himself, is an editor and the art director at dc comics and the guy responsible for the creation and development of many of dc's boldest and brightest project such as batman: black and white, solo, and, now, wednesday comics!

if you haven't heard, wednesday comics is a weekly newspaper sized--that a whopping 14"x20", folks!--series that features all of dc's superhero superstars in their own on-going full page adventures, making it both super-retro and super-cool all at the same time! the concept itself is awesome, but mark--always with a eye on quality--has blessed these heroes with some of the industry's top-notch creative teams to make this series the one to look for if, like me, you've been wondering where your heroes have gone.
batman by brian azzarello and eduardo risso!
superman by john arcudi and lee bermejo!
green lantern by kurt busiek and joe quinones!
wonder woman by talent caldwell!
sgt. rock by adam and joe kubert!
the list goes on...

check 'em out!






mark chiarello and wednesday comics have made me excited about comics again!
and eager to get to october country a little more often than every three weeks!
thanks, mark!


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

facebook=time machine

okay...

a week or so ago, over on my facebook page, i made the comment that facebook may very well be the closest we ever come to having a real live time machine.
i mean, figure this...
in the year or so that i've been on facebook, i have;
re-connected with more than half of my high school graduating class--
been in touch with over forty schoolmates from other classes (a year of two older, a year or two younger...)--
got the old gang together from my theater and school newspaper days in college--
become great friends all over again with one of my best friends from junior high that i had lost contact with long ago--
been "friended" by just about every one of my ex-girlfriends (which, oddly enough, isn't weird at all. 'matter of fact, it's kinda nice...)--
and have even joined a group that's put me in touch with kids i went to elementary school with when i was a little kid in hicksville, long island--and my old babysitter! (not...that i have a new babysitter, just that...forget it.)--

anyway, if you haven't already guessed, i'm a bit of a sentimental sap as it is, always eager to reminisce about times gone by, shared experiences, great adventures we had, trouble we got into--stuff like that. my memories of the past--and especially my childhood--are incredibly vivid and can, most times, take me right back there. sure, it makes me a little wistful from time to time and makes me long for those sweeter, supposedly more innocent days, and it makes me sad sometimes and wish that there were some way to go back and live those wonderful times all over again. (and the part of me that believes there's a heaven, believes that there's a department up there where you can do that--not just review your life, but relive it. over and over if you want. )

so facebook has become a bit of a time machine for me. a chance to re-connect with dear friends from the past and laugh about not only what we did all those years ago, but share in who we are now and how that experience--and those people--helped shape us into the people we are today. some of those people have joined us here (hi, alison and wendy!), some check out the perhapa-blog 'cause it gets linked on the facebook page, but don't come over and comment (and you should, you know! we're a nice bunch and we don't bite. much.), and some check us out but like to remain anonymous (...but i know you're there, j.) (and m. and l. and p...)

i already have plans in september for two reunions--my high school (well, that was gonna happen anyway...) and one the following weekend with all my friends from college (thanks to wendy who did an awesome job of making that all happen!) i owe lunch to gaby (my blood sister) next time i'm in new york--and to kathi, too, the time after that! i see my old friend garth whenever he comes into town to see his mom and we laugh about when we were 12 and 13 and trying to figure out life and girls and music and girls and people and girls...

and people send pictures.







facebook is a time machine.
well, until we get a real one...

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




to subscribe and get your own daily dose of calvin, go to gocomics.com


and here are the
answers to the
"five for friday"

1. what is a group of jellyfish called?

a smack. a smack of jellyfish.
(thank you, dani!)

2. who wrote and originally performed the song that both rod stewart and sheryl crow covered, "the first cut is the deepest?"

cat stevens

3. what is the name of the head keebler elf?

ernie

4. what were the three names that kitty pryde tried on when she was just starting out as a young x-man?

ariel, sprite, shadowcat

5. and while we're on names--and i know we've done this one before but i've been reading some recent archie comics and they're on my mind--what are the last names of:

a. betty COOPER

b. veronica LODGE

c. archie ANDREWS

d. jughead JONES

e. reggie MANTLE

happy monday!
smell ya later!
todd

friday mix

okay...

sorry the blog is late today.
blame wendy.
we were on the phone.

i am really at a loss today. craig and i have been finishing up all the last little details on the PERHAPANAUTS HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR and i think it came out very well...we announced CASPER the other day...i'm working on more casper today and the next ANT-MAN story for MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPERHEROES. (is the last one out yet? with heroes for hire/daughters of the dragon? i am SO out of the loop...)






and here's more magic...






hey--i was thirsty!


and here are the
"five for friday"

1. what is a group of jellyfish called?

2. who wrote and originally performed the song that both rod stewart and sheryl crow covered, "the first cut is the deepest?"

3. what is the name of the head keebler elf?

4. what were the three names that kitty pryde tried on when she was just starting out as a young x-man?

5. and while we're on names--and i know we've done this one before but i've been reading some recent archie comics and they're on my mind--what are the last names of:

a. betty

b. veronica

c. archie

d. jughead

e. reggie

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

casper the friendly ghost!

okay...

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD!!

one of the secret projects i've been working on these past few months is a 60th anniversary revival/re-imagining of everybody's favorite friendly ghost--CASPER!! casper turns 60 this october and the fine folks at ardden entertainment were kind enough to ask me if i wanted to be involved! and i DID!!

i was a huge casper fan as a kid, watching him on tv and later reading his comics--usually at the barber shop before i got my haircut. what a great character--poor casper! all he ever wanted to do was make some friends! and all he ever got were people running into walls or losing all their color after uttering--and stuttering--those two tell-tale words, "a g-g-g-ghost!"
i jumped at the chance to write some casper!

but really, casper was only half of the reason i jumped! the other half was to work with my friend and former spider-man collaborator, j.m. dematteis! i was a big fan of j.m.s long before i got into comics and, actually, it was his leaving x-factor that landed me my first official gig on the book! soon after, he and howard mackie lured me over to the spider-offices and i was home! the three of us--along with our other brother in the clone saga, tom defalco--weathered some pretty crazy (editorial) goings-on before we were finally able to put that mess to bed, but it made us close and it made us strong and, in my case, i'm hoping it made me a better writer.
anyway, i love marc! (that's what i call him--you have to call him j.m....or mr. dematteis...or mr. moonshadow, he likes that! : ) when i saw him last year at the new york comicon, we talked of how much we would like to work together again and that we'd keep in touch and see if we could find something that would be fun! a few months later, marc called me in his role as floating editor for ardden entertainment, the company responsible for reprinting and relaunching flash gordon, among other things, and asked me if i was interested...

"in what?" i asked.
"i can't tell you." he said.
"i'm in." i replied.

and it was casper.

the three issues miniseries features casper, of course, along with wendy and hot stuff, with appearances by spooky, the ghostly trio, and some other characters from casper's supporting cast! the tale revolves around spooky town, the ghost world where the ghosts live, and how it relates to--and is affected by--the real world nearby! a re-imagining, this also has casper, wendy, and hot stuff meeting for the first time with the characters having been redesigned for the new millennium. being all old school, i wasn't sure about this at first, but just WAIT 'til you see what artist pedro delgado is doing with these characters and this story! every single page has been a joy to see--it's so exciting when another jpg shows up in my email! keep your eye on pedro--this guy's gonna be gone!

so make sure you pick up casper in october--it's his birthday!






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

what a wonderfully, summer-y, childhood theme.

look what this guy did with just a balloon.





what are you doing, bill watterson? i miss you so much.

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

i'm listening to--wonderful by gary go (itunes free download of the week--AWESOME!), spoon, bruce springsteen, john cougar, plain white t's, kate nash...and various episodes of coast-to-coast am with george noory

i'm watching--battlestar galactica season 3, drain the ocean, ufc 100, wipeout, and, yes, america's got talent...


smell ya later~!
todd

the eye of the bee-holder...

okay...

sorry for the lateness of this--and the briefness of it as well...
i have a bunch of deadlines and a handful of errands that had to be done TODAY...and i'm still not all on it.

nothing really exciting to write about, so...

hope you all had a great weekend! things were busy, yet peaceful here. got stung the other night by a yellowjacket when i was bringing jake in from outside. we've been having a real time of it with mosquitos this year (all that rain in may and june and a severe drop in the local bat population due to what's called white nose disease...) and so as was coming in, the jake under my right arm, i was squatting the swarming mosquitos away from my head when this bee, attracted by the porch light, i'd guess, somehow got involved and flew into my face between my eye and my glasses. he panicked and i panicked and, not wanting to drop jake i tried to reach over and get my glasses off with my left hand, but then that hand coming at him musta freaked him out 'cause he stung me just below my right eye. i swore a few times and got jake down gently, but man, that hurt! iced it up and let it get numb before i could apologize to sharon for yelling at her (actually, i was yelling at everything...) and at least it didn't sting me ON the eye.

there, see, i told you nothing to write about.

here are a couple of pictures i stole offa yahoo and the answers to the five for friday.





double rainbow over charlotte nc






sun comes up on the balloon festival in baotou, china






Mosha, a 3-year-old elephant, is helped to walk by its keepers after putting on an artificial leg at the Elephant Hospital in Lampang province, northern Thailand Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009. Mosha, also a land mine victim, became the world's first elephant with an artificial leg.

"five for friday"
i'll name three songs,
you name the band.


1. lady, renegade, blue collar man

styx

2. that's not my name, great dj, shut up and let me go

the ting tings

3. crash, satellite, ants marching

dave matthews band

4. drive, i'm not the one, moving in stereo

the cars

5. tuxedo junction, in the mood, moonlight serenade

the glen miller orchestra

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

scares for your weekend

okay...

because i have lot on my plate today and because stephen wagner does such a great job each month over at paranormal.com compiling YOUR TRUE TALES, here are a couple of creepy accounts to spook you through the weekend...


GOAT MAN ENCOUNTER
by George W.

This event took place in Shafter, Texas around 1964. My older brother at the time was about 17 years old. He and three other friends took off from our home town Alpine, Texas to go to Ojinaga, Mexico about 89 miles away.

They had to pass through the ghost town mentioned above. On their way back home my brother was driving and his friends were asleep. At Shafter, Texas there is a long overpass across a dry creek. This town is located between mountains and is extremely dark at night.

My brother stated that as he was about to cross this overpass he noticed this person asking for a ride. He stated that he slowed down, but as the car lights hit the ground from the slowing down, he noticed that this man had goat's feet! He stated that he floored the gas pedal and took off praying.

He stated that this woke up his friends and they asked what was wrong. He stated he would tell them when they got home. I remember him telling my mom and for quite awhile he would an go out and slept with the lights on.





INCUBUS OR DREAM?
by Sonia C.

This happened in July, 2009. I was in my home in bed in Rochester, New York. This might sound crazy, and I don't know if I was dreaming or it was real.

One night my daughter was watching a kids' movie and around 12:30 in the morning she came running into my room asking me if I was alright. I told her yes, why? She said she heard me saying, "Paige, help me." But when she came in, I was asleep. I went back to sleep.

Two days later, I went to bed early, then woke up around 12:30. I got on the computer for a while, but sleep was still calling me, so I went back to bed. I turned off all the lights and the TV and I was dozing off. I felt the breeze from the window, my eyes opened slowly and I smiled. I have liked the look of the moonlight coming through the window since I was a child. It made me think of a line in the Batman movie: "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? I have." I closed my eyes. I was falling back to sleep.

It seemed like I had just fallen asleep when I felt hands on my body. I felt my body being turned over. The upper part of my body seemed to lift off the bed, like I was in the arms of a big man. Then I felt hands on my breast. It felt so dreamy and I wanted to see who was touching me. My head was dangling back like I was still asleep. It took my all to lift my head. I felt like I was drugged.

When I opened my eyes, I saw no one, but I could see my breasts and they were moving like someone was really getting a thrill off of them. I felt myself get scared, but my head dropped back and I was out.

The next feeling I felt was someone huge behind me and he grabbed my breast from behind. At this point I felt like I was waking up again, but somehow figured it was a dream, so I just relaxed. I felt him pull me closer into him and he just felt up my body. It felt so good and so real. I felt my head resting back against his chest and I heard a moan like he was happy doing what he was doing. I felt so relaxed, I fell back to sleep.

The next thing I knew, it was morning and I woke up thinking about what happened. But my mind is so confused. Was I dreaming? How could I lift my head and see my breast being squeezed and nothing's there? How do I know if it's an incubus or just a dream?


hmmm. maybe instead of dreaming she was actually just watching barbara hershey in the entity?







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



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

"five for friday"
i'll name three songs,
you name the band.


1. lady, renegade, blue collar man

2. that's not my name, great dj, shut up and let me go

3. crash, satellite, ants marching

4. drive, i'm not the one, moving in stereo

5. tuxedo junction, in the mood, moonlight serenade

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

not sad

okay...

all i wanted to do today was write a short little something about mike that wasn't sad. something happy and funny and not sad or mournful in any way.

but nothing was coming.
i went to bed and told myself something would come--only to end up tossing and turning and not being able to sleep. i got up at about 3, came into the office. nothing. for inspiration, i opened up the files of the story ideas mike and i had hoped to one day get to work on. zip.

i went back to bed at about 5:45, feeling defeated.

i just read matt's...

it's perfect.

go read it.


http://mafus.blogspot.com/



great story, matt!

and thank you--'cause YOU inspired me.




okay...

did i tell you this before...?

in january of 2000, while mike and i were in france for the french debut of tellos at the angouleme festival international de la bande dessinée (comics convention), we were fortunate enough to enjoy a trip on the super-fast bullet train (speeds close to 300 miles per hour) which took us from paris to the show in the bordeaux region. though the train emitted a constant hum due to the speeds it was traveling--with the occasional BOOOOM! of compressed air when the train passed another bullet going in the opposite direction (the first time this had happened, mike had been dozing a bit with his head against the window. woke him up fast.)--after a fashion, everyone else on the train had settled into and almost ghostly silence. most were reading. there were a few people having conversations like us, but they seemed to do this almost by reading lips. and even though we were barely whispering, we were acutely aware that we were talking the loudest. and imagining that we were being rude. ugly americans.

a short time later, in one of the seats/booths catty-corner to our seat, a family was also making the trip; mom, dad, grandma and grandpa--and a little boy of about 6 or 7 sitting between his grandparents and quietly working on a coloring book on the narrow table between him and his parents. he was wearing a small walkman or discman or something. mike and i noticed him because, every once in a while, he would hum a bit of whatever he was listening too under his breath.

and then, he started to sing.

at the top of his voice.

the spell broken, the whole car came to life as every passenger snapped his or her head around to see where the noise was coming from. the parents and grandparents quickly shushed the little boy who, himself was surprised by the sudden attention from his parents. "pourquoi?" he yelled at them before they could get him to take his headphones off. mike and i had to pound one another in the arm to keep from laughing out loud.
the parents quietly explained to the little boy that he could not sing with his walkman on the train, he said, okay, and the train fell back into it's mesmerizing trance.

until he started singing again.

once again, everyone looked around, some wearing expressions of frustration or even distaste. mike punched me in the mouth to keep me quiet. i stabbed him in the thigh with a sharpie. cap on.

the boy was once again, wide-eyed and apologetic, his six-year-old innocence buying him another chance. with a nod of understanding and agreement, he put the headphones back on and got back to work coloring.

so when he started singing that third time, we just couldn't hold it in any longer. sure, fewer people turned around--they knew now that there was a decidedly uncouth little boy back there whom his parents could not control--but they snapped around even quicker when mike and i broke. we just couldn't hold it in any longer and we broke like dams, bellowing out our laughter, mike with that pure, uncontrollable, honest laugh. the ugly americans were embarrassing themselves now more than they could've ever imagined.
and, of course, didn't care.

but really--we just broke the seal. 'cause once we just let it out, the entire car--well, maybe not the entire car, but definitely our area--let loose, filling the car with laughter and finding the little boy, and the whole situation, quite funny indeed! and maybe, probably, they were laughing at us too--or maybe they needed us to break the ice--or i don't know...
i just know that it struck the two of us so funny that we laughed for a good long time and were wiping tears from our eyes before we were through.



miss ya, mike.
thanks again, matt.
smell ya later!
todd

back from OBX!!

okay...

so after a week of the ocean and sun and fun and family and great food and lots of drinking and no work (well, maybe a little work--i'm always thinking about something...) i'm back. it was a fantastic trip, but in the end i was eager to get back home to sharon. and jake. and kayla.
and to get back to work. i actually did do some writing while i was there, but mostly after a couple cocktails so i'll have to see if any of it was actually legible...

THANK YOU, ROD HANNAH!!

before i go any further though, i gotta send a big THANK YOU out to my pal, rod hannah, for being there and making the blog happen on friday. and while his note at the end of the post might make it seem like he was the last person i'd call or my last resort, believe me when i say that that is the farthest from the truth. yes, i called rod 'cause i thought he'd be home and because he's usually pretty savvy about these things, but mostly 'cause he's a friend. and i wanted him to plug his and leanne's blue milk special webcomic/website

www.bluemilkspecial.com

because i had been writing leanne's upcoming perhapanauts story and she/they were on my mind a lot while i was writing it.
also, 'cause i trust rod and, having full access to the perhapa-blog, he can now step in and mess things up anytime he wants to! i wouldn't hand that power over to just anyone...

anyway, a huge, huge THANKS, rod! i really appreciate it!

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

oh, just so you know...



THIS is the ad you'll want to be looking for in the next previews to remind your local comic shop to order a bunch and get some people on board with this cool book. the halloween special is a great jumping on point and, i gptta say, it looks great!

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after my post a few weeks ago about how i've been hooked on hooked!--national geographic's awesome show where they go out to catch the world's biggest and craziest fish, i got a chance to see a surf fisherman pull in three separate sting rays on the beach at diamond shoales. it was amazing to watch--they are some tough fish to bring in--and quite a crowd gathered each time to watch him catch and release them. i got a few pictures of him wrestling with the smaller one, but they're on my nieces' camera and i'll post them in a day or so...

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got home late saturday night to find this great choopie pic from perhapa-fan, james duncan, and thought i'd share.



though obviously a fan of the choop--who definitely gives us a few of those "choopie moments" in the aforementioned halloween spooktacular--james was also keen to find out a little bit more about our mysterious mg, noting that his shadowy past has james intrigued...

i told him to make sure not to miss our next miniseries...where a lot of mg's secrets will be revealed...

you can see james' blog and more of his artwork over at

http://www.kaesye.com/?p=953

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WEC--WEC--WEC--WEC--WEC--WEC--

did anybody see that torres-bowles fight last night...?
i jumped out of my chair...!

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

i will admit that these were a bit difficult--
mostly 'cause they just don't write that
many great movie blurbs anymore.
maybe all the good ones have been taken.
i don't know.
anyway, here are the
answers to your
"five for friday"

1. "this summer; heroes aren't born, they're built."

iron man

2. "would you put your eggs...in this basket?"

baby mama

3. "if you want to live, you will obey."

eagle eye

4. "in space, no one can hear you clean."

wall~e

5. "many saw evil. they dared to stop it."

valkyrie

smell ya later~!
todd

anatomy of a page--PERHAPANAUTS no.5--part 3

okay...

and, finally, here it all is with words.
as with most action sequences, there is usually not a lot of dialogue involved (unless you're quentin tarantino, in which case , that's where you include all of the most important dialogue). action sequences require lots of bursts of banter, cut offs, censored expletives, and HEAVY SOUND EFFECTS!!! SQUIRCH!






and that's it! that's how we do it! if you have any questions about any part of the process or anything, just ask! we're here!

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

and now, from lovely
cape hatteras, north carolina,
your "five for friday"...
movie taglines
i'll tell you this--they're all from
the past 2 years...

1. "this summer; heroes aren't born, they're built."

2. "would you put your eggs...in this basket?"

3. "if you want to live, you will obey."

4. "in space, no one can hear you clean."

5. "many saw evil. they dared to stop it."

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

--- Note ---
Hey all, this is Rod Hannah, making the above post on behalf of Todd who is chillin' at the beach. He called me out of the blue this morning with internet problems and no way of making today's blog post happen. After trying everyone in the known universe for help he then turned to me! So there ya go. What Todd doesn't realize is that I'm going to blatantly pimp Blue Milk Special the Star Wars webcomic that Leanne and myself work on. We update it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so check it out quick before Todd gets back and deletes this!
BlueMilkSpecial.com

anatomy of a page--PERHAPANAUTS no.5, part 2

okay...

still on the beach. still probably having a lot more fun than you are.
sorry. would it help if i said, "wish you were here"...?

so, monday i showed you the plot and craig's sweet black and white pages for this rather sad scene from perhapanauts 5.
once i get the artwork, i'm off to scripting those pages with dialogue, narrative, sound effects and doing the initial lettering.
meanwhile, our man in amsterdam, the amazing rico renzi, takes those same pages--and makes them sing!

here's what rico did to add to the suspense, the mood, and especially, the action!









nice, huh?
i thought so.


by the way, i'm still at the beach.




see ya here friday.
smell ya later!
todd

anatomy of a page--PERHAPANAUTS no.5, part 1

okay...

so as i said on friday, i'm not here.
i am speaking to you from the past--last thursday morning to be exact--and hoping that i can set these up easily for craig to simply cut and paste and post (since blogger keys in the time and date that you started composing the post rather than the day you actually post it...)
so, we'll see how that goes...
if you are reading this now, it all went well.

anyway, i am either relaxing on the beach or playing in the waves with my niece and nephew or maybe even writing up the last few pages of the beats to what will in all likelihood be perhapanauts 11. that's the plan; to have the whole next story arc outlined by the end of this week. and, man, it is gonna be crazy...!

anyway, for a treat while i'm away, i thought i'd post the progression of a perhapanauts page or two, like i promised a few months back when we did it with a few of sanford green's marvel adventures spider-man pages.
as i said then, these days marvel likes everything to be done full-script. that's plot and narrative and dialogue all in one complete package. and i can certainly understand the positives of that--it cuts down on traffic for the editor and a certain amount of anxiety if the deadline is looming. me, though, i love the old marvel style, where the writer supplies a plot and the artist goes from that, and then the writer scripts the dialogue with the art at hand. it's a much more creative, collaborative, and liberating style and it makes, i think, for a better, more engaging story.

so here's my plot for page 12-14 of perhapanauts no. 5. maybe not your favorite part of the issue, but certainly an exciting one. and, hopefully, a powerful one.
i've posted craig's inked pages below each one so that you can see how he (masterfully) made them happen and how a truly talented storyteller can even make my far-too-much-detail-ed script work.


PAGE TWELVE

Panel 1
Suddenly startled, terrified, CHOOPIE jumps back as the CHIMAERA’S CLAW (now even longer and sharper and...clawier!) smashes up through the grill, destroying it and tearing into the wall of the ducting as well--just ripping the wall and duct open!

Panel 2
From out in the hallway as the raging, railing CHIMAERA desperately buries his arm into the open duct, reaching blindly in to dig and scrape CHOOPIE out! Above him, across the hall, we can see the same schematic on a monitor screen...

Panel 3
On CHOOPIE, leap-frogging toward us (i really like the image of CHOOPIE resorting to running like an animal when he’s really scared--or gotta move...! yes?) , a worried look on his face, as the CHIMAERA’S arm continues to flail and search back at the blow out!

Panel 4
On the CHIMAERA, insane with pain and rage, eyes burning with a new madness, and we can see the monitor screen showing CHOOPIE’S location on the grid--

Panel 5
Cut to; a short time later, as CHOOPIE furtively rounds the curved corner of the abandoned, shadowy hallway, looking cautiously to make sure the coast is clear. The sign on the wall reads; “Blue Team Quarters.” Room for CHOOPIE thoughts...

Though we’ve already seen this before, here’s how i’m seeing the layout of this section of hallway. On one end we have the hallway back to the rest of the facility. Then the six doors to the HAPS individual apartments and their “common room”/living room. And the hallway ends with three P-Tubes against the wall at the dead end.








PAGE THIRTEEN

Panel 1
On CHOOPIE, as he places his hand on a scan-pad on the wall next to the door, about to enter as a familiar voice greets him from off--

Panel 2
From behind CHOOPIE as he looks down the hall to see the smiling LARRY back at the curve we just saw CHOOPIE at--LARRY is purposefully--and proudly--walking toward CHOOPIE, telling him that he knows that he wasn’t supposed to return until he was told, but he wanted CHOOPIE to know that they have the problem under control and even now Grem Forces are--Behind him we can see the HUGE shadow of the CHIMAERA coming around the corner, darkening the hallway even more!

Panel 3
On CHOOPIE, almost hysterical, eyes HUGE as he yells at LARRY to go, get away, now is not the time, he’s gotta–

Panel 4
Big panel; From behind and above the very small, startled LARRY, his final panel, his mouth frozen in a tiny “o”, (he isn’t scared, more mildly surprised) as he turns to look up at the giant shadow that’s suddenly appeared behind him--from over the top of the CHIMAERA, his massive paw/claw raised to pound/swat/pulverize--

Panel 5
On CHOOPIE, his mouth hanging open in disbelief, his eyes wide at the horror he is seeing (can we see the CHIMAERA’S hand coming down on the GREMLIN in CHOOPIE’S goggles...?)







PAGE FOURTEEN

Panel 1
SFX panel; a big grisly “SQUIRCH!”

Panel 2
Big panel; as the sly, sneering CHIMAERA gruesomely scrapes/slides/smears what looks like a gallon-sized jar of strawberry jam across the spot of floor where LARRY was--a panel we will remember forever--his hand dripping a few little flecks of it, the CHIMAERA staggering a bit as that big hole in it’s chest isn’t helping--

Panel 3
And here’s the shot through the circular hole, we can see what looks like gross internal organs and bone inside almost as if a foot wide glass tube were inserted through so that you could see all the inner workings. Beyond that and down the hallway a bit, we can see a slightly in shock CHOOPIE, still looking down at the smear of LARRY. Now CHOOPIE is standing right before BIG’S door--

Panel 4
From behind CHOOPIE as he now desperately, quickly applies his hand to BIG’S door, having jumped up to and kinda hanging from BIG’S higher scan-pad, watching as the CHIMAERA charges at him--




notice how craig paced the action out, how he built suspense with his body language and camera angles. choopie looks scared, larry looks small, the chimaera looks confidently evil. craig moves your eye from panel to panel effortlessly, smooth, there's no confusion as to where you're s'posed to go next. it's a roller coaster ride...!

more on wednesday!

here are the
answers to the
"five for friday"

1. as america celebrated the bi-centenniel and scooby-doo was still a pretty hot ticket, what patriotic character did hanna barbera cook up as a ghost who chased ghosts?

the funky phantom

2. who was the little ant with the super-strength?

atom ant

3. who were the banana splits' arch enemies?

the sour grapes bunch

4. quick draw mcgraw's alter ego?

el kabong

5. i think i did this once before, but what the hell--it's one of my favorites--
sidekicks

a. quick draw mcgraw's sidekick

babalooie

b. peter potomus' sidekick

so-so the monkey

c. secret squirrel's sidekick

morocco mole

d. yogi bear's sidekick

boo boo

e. the cartoon canine version of the three musketeers

yipee, yapee, and yahooie!


hope you're having a nice day!
smell ya later!
todd