ready for christmas and connie cobbler

okay...

so i'm hoping that everyone had a terrific thanksgiving and that all got a chance to sit back and relax with family and friends for a couple of days. or not. sometimes it's nicer not to be with family. depending on the family. 'tever.

i got to spend some good time on thanksgiving day with both my family and sharon's--where there was lots of food and drink at both--as well as visit with my friend, kathi and her family on saturday--where there was also plenty of food and drink. (somewhere in there, on friday afternoon, there was a ping-pong tournament between tyler, sharon, and myself and i was mostly awesome...!)

so, though i'm loving the continued mild fall-ish weather in our region (knock wood), it's given me a false sense of the season and so, though i've tried not to let them sneak up on me, halloween and thanksgiving seems to come and go rather quickly. i don't want that happening with christmas, so i'm doing my bit to get into the spirit early, listening to the dedicated christmas music radio station and starting to get out some of the classic christmas movies. it's helping, but i need something more...

some cool retro-christmas nostalgia.
something to tug on our heartstrings and take us back to those christmases of old...


oh, yeah...
here it is...


a little "scared of santa" to get the season started.













how 'bout it? got anything for me...?
send it in.

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


so i've known my pal, james desalvo, since the early 80s when we were studying theater in college together. typical story; we lost touch in the mid-eighties and ran into each other somewhere in the late nineties, always chatting, always excited about whatever the other guy was working on. as a high school teacher in the winter and camp director in the summer--working weekends at the nearby second-run movie theater as well--i was always amazed that he had any time to work on anything on the side...but he did.

and so i'm proud to post here, james' first foray into the world of being a published author, as he presents--and i do too--




here's the description from the book jacket that illustrates it a lot better than i ever could...

"Connie Cobbler is a toy who had it all. She was the star of her own television series Connie Cobbler and the Pastry Pals. Her face appeared on t-shirts and she even starred in The Pastry Pals Movie. She was one of the brightest stars of Toy Town. Then tragedy struck. Her friend TIFFANY TART accidentally disappeared into the Custard River while filming an episode of Connie Cobbler and the Pastry Pals. Unable to save her friend and spurred on by grief, Connie Cobbler turned away from show business and became a hard boiled, root beer swigging private detective, dedicating her life to protecting the toys of Toy Town.

"Connie Cobbler's day begins with a tough case. BRENDA BOMBSHELL, one of the top stars in Toy Town, needs Connie to find her kidnapped dog. When Connie starts working on the case, she soon figures out that not everything adds up. Clues lead her to the missing pooch, but some clues also suggest that Tiffany Tart's disappearance might not have been an accident after all. The closer she comes to the truth, it becomes clear that someone wants her out of the picture. Permanently. Calling upon her best friend ACTION JIM, a former action figure who gave up a life of adventure for love, and the rest of her Pastry Pals, Connie sets out to discover what kind of toy would want her gone and solve the case of what really happened to her friend."


fun, right?
i'm sure you can gather the references. and i can promise you there are many more--and quite a few twists and turns--throughout this wonderful, fanciful book! give it a look and make my friend james happy!
you can see the book and read the first few pages at

http://www.amazon.com/Connie-Cobbler-Detective-James-DeSalvo/dp/0982917104/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1



gotta go~!
smell ya later!
todd

happy thanksgiving!

okay...

i have, in my attempt to kinda straighten things up in my office, neglected the blog for the past week or so and for those of you who noticed, i apologize. truth is, i've been rather uninspired lately--we all go through that from time to time, i think--but it's left me feeling disappointed with any post that i begin to type up, and i don't want to just post something for the sake of slapping something up here. i'd like it to be new or fun or informative or creepy...and i've felt that anything i've started lately has been lacking.

i'm hoping that next week i'll be back in the swing of things and that i'll have some worthy and exciting news and items to share. for now, thanks for being patient.

that said, i DO want to wish each and every one of you a very happy thanksgiving~!

i'm thankful for you! as blog readers, as (perhaps) perhapanauts readers, as friends...




and now here are some pictures of some animals.






















George
George, who is now a 6 month old Asian elephant at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, is seen in the womb of his mother three months into her 22 months pregnancy, on a 3D ultrasound monitor in Dunstable, Bedfordhire in 2008. The picture was released by the zoo to promote a documentary television program. REUTERS/Zoological Society of London/handout (BRITAIN - Tags: SCI TECH ANIMALS IMAGES OF THE DAY)








happy thanksgiving!
smell ya later!
todd

slow down.

okay...

my office is a mess.
my god--this place is a disaster.
reflective of how things have been around here for the past week or so. just chaotic and disorganized. that's okay. that happens. there were lots of unforeseen interruptions, last minute change-of-plans, minor emergencies, chores piling up--not to mention trying to get some actual work done in between all that. no time to make some phone calls, no time to talk, no time to blog...no time for me.
but last night we had a storm here that knocked the power out from about 3 a.m. til, well, just now. i woke up with no computer, no way to really work (yeah, i could have sat down and used a pencil and paper like the dinosaurs did, but that's not where i'm going...) it was quiet, it was calm. and i realized it was the little break i needed to see that i was running around like crazy and getting nothing done. i needed to step back and slow down--take that deep breath and realize that it's all gonna be here tomorrow, stop adding stress to it.

so here's a post.
it's not going to be long.
just checking in and sharing some photos i've had on the radar for the past week or so.
and also to remind you...to take a break. step back. slow down.
it's okay to relax.
and reset.


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

craig and i are moving along diligently with the next perhapanauts story arc and, as i've said here before, i am also working with a bunch of fantastic artists on back-ups and side-stories that will fill out the issues and make this the biggest, bestest perhapanauts package yet! and we've got some other projects in the works that promise to make 2011 the year of the perhapanauts! (i hope...!)

one guy who's hard at work is the talented eric henson--i've shown you some of his awesome work before. eric's been very patient with me as i've been trying to subtly fold his story into the big picture, coordinating it with the main story and making sure that it lines up chronologically and environmentally. in his patience, eric sent me these choopie sketches he did to warm up and start getting the feel for the guy...and i just had to share them with you...!





and 'cause i never get tired of this joke, here's eric's thing...




and a stunning supergirl!



thanks, eric!
it's gonna be great!


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

and here are some pics i've been saving.

this one christian sent to matt and i a week or so go and i just think it's funny.





a card i found at barnes and noble that states a philosophy that has served me well from time to time...










gonna need a few more balloons.






no. 1 on the list of what not to do in the woods.



that's it for today.
i'm gonna clean my office.
smell ya later!
todd

the Mid-Ohio Con!

okay...

so, i'll get to the most exciting part of every con report i post (the photos, of course...) in just a second, but just so you know, we had a fantastic time at the mid-ohio con this past weekend! big thanks to show organizer, james henry, and his entire crew for making it a smooth and hassle-free con to attend! the turn-out was great and craig and i were surprisingly stunned at how many new readers sauntered right up to the table and bought BOTH trades, saying that they'd heard good things about the perhapanauts and were ready dive right in!! terrific! to any of you who might also be reading this--thanks so much! not only are we happy to have you onboard for our crazy journey, we also appreciate that our bags were that much lighter going home! (those books can be heavy...!)

best part was that craig and i got to really have some time to hang out this trip and catch up with friends! i could name-drop, but i don't wanna be that guy...although i will say that i hadn't actually seen my buddy chris sprouse in years and it was great to spend some time with him and his always-bubbly better half, xan!

craig and i also got a chance to catch a showing of megamind together and laughed from beginning to end! if you get a chance, don't miss it!

okay, enough about me; here be the pictures...












gotta get to work!
smell ya later!
todd

goin' to the MID-OHIO COMIC CON!!

okay...


so we're buggin' out today to go to the mid-ohio comic con this weekend in beautiful columbus, ohio! craig and i are really excited 'cause we haven't been to this show before (well, i went once about ten years ago, but i think they've probably forgotten about that puppet thing...) and we've heard so many really great things about it! we're hoping to go and expand our fan base a little and expose as many new readers as we can to the perhapanauts phenomenon! so if you're in the area, come on by and see us and help us spread the word!

along with our two best-selling trades...perhapanauts:triangle and perhapanauts:dark days...














we'll also have on hand...

the wildly popular perhapanauts t-shirts!




the now-back-in-stock perhapanauts character pins!



and, of course, the exclusive mid-ohio comic con perhapanauts one-sheet--featuring the haps vs. the legendary LOVELAND FROG CREATURES!


we'll also have the latest edition choopie butt cards, several variant postcards, craig will have his gorgeous canson paper sketchbooks, i'll be touting some super hero squads and we'll have some other assorted stuff!


it's sure to be a great time and we really hope to see ya there!

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


my friends over at the First Class Comics Review--ellie and lily egleton--have created their ow comic book characters ande were kind enough to send me these two sketches!




thank you, ladies!




here's a card that i picked up the other day and realized that it says so much about my life...







and finally...
at first i thought that powergirl wanted to be my facebook friend, but it was just this stunning picture of
powergirl by stanly lau

though i'm still enjoying the fantasy that powergirl is my facebook friend...




have a great weekend!
see ya at the show!
smell ya later!
todd

packing for columbus!

okay...

running around today to get a buncha errands done--and some writing done as well--as we pack up to head for the mid-ohio comic con, so not a lot of time to blog...


so, to celebrate the all-new november offerings of your true tales over at paranormal at about.com, here's a story to get you started...

WEREWOLF ON THE SHORTCUT
BY DAVID E.
By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide


Before I start, let me just stress that before my encounter, I had no belief whatsoever in supernatural creatures, just as most people don't. It happened almost a month ago from today, actually in September.

My big brother and I were coming home from our grandma's place down the Milford Harrington Road. I think it had to be around 9 o'clock at night because I remember we were rushing home to catch a certain show that came on at 9:30. But because my brother forgot his wallet on my grandma's table, we had to go back to Harrington and get it. We decided we'd try for a shortcut, this street that went off from the main road and into the woods.

We were driving for about five minutes on this road until something shot from the woods and in front of our car. My brother hit the breaks, but we were 99.9% sure that he'd actually hit this animal, so we're both a bit panicked at this point.

I told him to drive, but he was curious as to what we hit. So, like always, we did what he wanted and got out of the car to see what it was that we thought we ran over... there was nothing. No blood. No dent. Nothing.

We looked all around the car, still finding no damage, then we saw it again. This time it stood in the middle of the road. Most people say they see glimpses or little hints that COULD be something. We saw it clearly.

This thing was standing on two feet. Hunched. Pointed ears, long arms and pointy nails. It had a very weird tail like a rat. I could tell it had fur. And its eyes were glowing from our headlights.

Needless to say, we got in our car as fast as possible. It didn't attack us. It simply stood there watching. Even as we drove away, we could still see it standing there in the distance.

In a small state like Delaware, you wouldn't expect to see much of anything and I haven't until that night. No one believes us, but that's okay -- two people seeing it is better than one.

We still talk about it every now and again. Every time, we remember something different that gives us a closer clue to what the creature might have been. For example, the night we saw the creature, it was a full moon.



i was thinking werewolf until he mentioned delaware.
any chance this could've been the goat man, david...?


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


here are a few cool jpegs that didn't make it up the other day--


like an mc escher picture brought to life...










and just in case you wanted one last glimpse of halloween before we put it away til next year...







smell ya later~!
todd

cully's RED

okay...

i put this off all last week in favor of keeping things halloween-oriented and figured that i'd write a little something about RED today...or as we call it in our house cully's RED (i know it's warren and cully's RED, and though i've met warren once or twice and he's a very nice guy and i, of course, love his stuff...cully's a brother and well, dammit, i'm just so proud of him!)
anyway, i was going to write something up about it this morning, but matt said everything i was going to say over on ad nauseam so you should just go over there and read that. i meant every word.

http://mafus.blogspot.com/




we loved it! we saw it last wednesday and i think i gotta see it again. i might have missed some of it while i was laughing so hard.

if you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and go now!
the commercials don't give everything away (though that bruce-willis-stepping-out-of-the-car thing is pretty cool and darn near impossible to duplicate. my nephew and i were trying to do it all last weekend and i'm still bruised.) it's a wild, hilarious action-packed thrill-ride and you'd be very disappointed in yourself if you let it get away!

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

now that halloween is over and craig and i have to get our stuff together for mid-ohio con next weekend--you'll be there, right? we will!--i thought i'd take a moment to run out the jpgs that have been collecting on my desktop the past week or so...
here they are...


before the video games and the tv show and the sam and max shaped corn dogs--there was sam and max the comic book! one of my all time favorite series that busted out of the 80s black and white explosion! man, this is a funny book and no matter what the job, writer and artist, steve purcell, and his self-appointed freelance police would make me laugh at least three times a page! if you want some laughs and some great comic fun, track down an copy of sam and max: surfin' the highway and enjoy!





i labelled this one, how...?




sharon saved this one of a lion cub taking a swim




from our pal down-under, matt pott sent me this fantastic mr. fantastic!




says it all...


okay--happy monday, everybody!
and happy november!
smell ya later!
todd