the expressionless

okay...

so, i haven't done this in a while...spotlight some weirdness from out there on the web...but mike estelle brought this bit of creepiness to my attention and told me that there'd been a lot of discussion about it on his facebook page. the story itself is from the creepypasta wiki website  --   www.creepypastawiki.com  -- and, though it seems to me that the point of this whole website is to create wiki legends and myths, this one goes a little too far. okay, a LOT too far...but there's a pretty creepy idea behind it and, with the accompanying picture, it had me hoping there for a few paragraphs...

whadda you think?

The EXPRESSIONLESS

In June of 1972, a woman appeared in Cedar Senai hospital in nothing but a white, blood-covered gown. Now this, in itself, should not be too surprising as people often have accidents nearby and come to the nearest hospital for medical attention, but there were two things that caused people who saw her to vomit and flee in terror.

The first being that she wasn't exactly human. she resembled something close to a mannequin, but had the dexterity and fluidity of a normal human being. Her face, was as flawless as a mannequins, devoid of eyebrows and smeared in make-up.

There was a kitten clamped in her jaws so unnaturally tight that no teeth could be seen, and the blood was still squirting out over her gown and onto the floor. She then pulled it out of her mouth, tossed it aside and collapsed.

From the moment she stepped through the entrance to when she was taken to a hospital room and cleaned up before being prepped for sedation, she was completely calm, expressionless and motionless. The doctors thought it best to restrain her until the authorities could arrive and she did not protest. They were unable to get any kind of response from her and most staff members felt too uncomfortable to look directly at her for more than a few seconds.

But the second the staff tried to sedate her, she fought back with extreme force. Two members of staff had to hold her down as her body rose up on the bed with that same, blank expression.

She turned her emotionless eyes towards the male doctor and did something unusual. She smiled.

As she did, the female doctor screamed and let go out of shock. In the woman's mouth were not human teeth, but long, sharp spikes. Too long for her mouth to close fully without causing any damage…

The male doctor stared back at her for a moment before asking "What in the hell are you?"

She cracked her neck down to her shoulder to observe him, still smiling. 

There was a long pause, the security had been alerted and could be heard coming down the hallway. 

As he heard them approach, she darted forward, sinking her teeth into the front of his throat, ripping out his jugular and letting him fall to the floor, gasping for air as he choked on his own blood.

She stood up and leaned over him, her face coming dangerously close to his as the life faded from his eyes.

 She leaned closer and whispered in his ear. 

"I...am....God...."

The doctor's eyes filled with fear as he watched her calmly walk away to greet the security men. His last ever sight would be watching her feast on them one by one.

The female doctor who survived the incident named her "The Expressionless".

There was never a sighting of her again.

and i loved this math problem from a guy who not only thinks outside the box, but draws his own box way over there and seems very happy in it...

that's all.

smell ya later~!

todd

rockin' the cover to Danger Down Under! no.5~!

okay...

we have been blessed to have had our friends and favorites grace our covers with their incredible talents during this run of Danger Down Under! jim starlin and terry austin on the variant cover to issue 1, joe staton on issue two, charles paul wilson III on three and mike maihack on issue 4. they have made for some stunning and eye-catching covers and have made craig's and my dreams come true!

so we wanted to continue to the trend onto issue 5 and you've already seen the amazing piece that walter was so kind to do for us. we thought, "man--that's the way to go out on top! a walter simonson cover for the grand finale...?! smokin'!!"

but, wait...
there's more.

so, we had also asked another friend--another hero and comic book icon--if he might have time to do a cover for us, knowing that his schedule was crazy busy, but hoping against hope that maybe he'd be able to squeeze yet another masterpiece in. his agent, the lovely and talented renee witterstaetter, said that he was very eager to help out his pals, but also seriously booked.

but then, suddenly, he had a window. a week or so where he thought he might be able to fit the perhapanauts in. he sent us a cover sketch and our hopes soared. our deadline was looming, but we didn't want to discourage him with any of that...

then, with our decision to delay the final issue a month due to time lost from superstorm sandy, the pressure was off and we realized it was all gonna work. not only that, michael hit the original deadline with time to spare.

oh yeah--the pal and comic book icon is michael golden.

let me say that again...MICHAEL GOLDEN!!

right. batman family, marvel fanfare, the micronauts, the nam, bucky o'hare and that little thing called avengers annual no.10...!

and so, i am mighty pleased to announce, that along with the legendary walter simonson, our other variant cover for The Perhapanauts: Danger Down Under! no.5 will be this...

michael--thank you thank you thank you~!

it is...golden!

have a great weekend, everybody~!

smell ya later!

todd

A slight delay...

okay...

for those of you diligent in your previews reading, you may have noticed that, while issues 1-4 of our thrilling, highly-acclaimed DANGER DOWN UNDER! hit the stands as scheduled--issues 1 through 4 coming out nov. dec. jan. feb.--issue 5 was not solicited for march release as would seem the natural progression. and not as we had planned...

the problem, sadly, was the storm.
when superstorm sandy hit, we were deep into the production on Danger Down Under! no.3 when, suddenly, we had artists trying do their jobs without any power. dean trippe was coloring part 2 of matt and christian's 'choopie and karl in the wild wild west' story and craig and regular series colorist, mike thomas, were all without electricity for at least three days, dean for even more. to be safe, craig and i asked image, always understanding and eager to help, if we could bump the print and publication of issue four by a week to buy us a little more time and not be rushing mike or dean on their respective jobs. they said okay.

jimmying us around on the schedule, however, threw us out of the rotation for the following month and  when we finally realized it, we thought that, while we weren't happy about our final, fantastic, fear-fraught issue being a month late, we might be able to make that work to our advantage, using the extra time to snag not one, but TWO of our all-time heroes to do some kick-ass variant covers for us!
(you've seen walter's stunning, powerful, gremlin-filled masterpiece in previous posts~!
wait'll ya see the other secret surprise cover we'll be unveiling for you right here on friday...!)

and so, while we apologize for these delays, we are more than happy to have the chance to do this right, to take this extra time to make Danger Down Under! the absolute best it can be and to give our friends the time to not be rushed and make it a job they can be proud of.

for being so patient and understanding yourselves, here's a pin-up by jason may to keep you on your toes til friday~!

have a great day!
smell ya later!
todd

the amazing adventures of...matthew dow smith~!

okay...

so matt and i have been friends for...man, forever!
our mutual pal, ron marz, introduced us years ago as matt was making his way into the business and was then immediately pounced upon by DC to work on the "day of judgement" event/miniseries. he went on to work on some wonderful projects--hellboy: box full of evil, the keep, and, one of my favorites, nightcrawler. these days he's better known for his gorgeous work on the dr. who titles, a dream job for a who fan from waaaaaaay back!

                                     

                                        

we live not far from one another and are regular guests at the albany comic con where, tired of the same old, same old comic book panels and the usual blah, blah, blah that goes with that--us yammering on and people having to listen--matt and i created the 'matt and todd roundtable'--where everyone in the room gets to talk and share what they love about comics. we have a lotta fun with it and always more than a couple laughs.
but we've never worked on a story together.
we always said we wanted to, but nothing came up.
matt kept saying that he'd love to do a perhapanauts story with me and to let him know when i had something for him...

little did he know what he got himself into...

when i told craig about matt's offer, he lit up like a christmas tree. "matthew dow smith?!? i LOVE that guy!"
so when we were working on danger down under!, and the story called for a dream sequence for big (...or is it...?), craig and i immediately thought how very cool and dreamy matt's style would make those eight pages. i asked matt, he said sure, and we were in heaven.

unfortunately, matt is a very busy guy and an artist in high demand.
so when i gave him the pages and said, "no rush.", i knew we'd have lots of time before we'd actually need them. whenever we'd talk, i'd remind him they were there, but he was constantly working on this project or that one. i told him that, if it were too much, if he had too much on his plate, that i would (reluctantly) find someone else to do it. he told me to shut up. he was determined to do this.
ultimately, it came right down to the wire and, matt--the great friend and always true to his word--promised me that he meant what he said and that he would have them done on time. he worked long, coffee-fueled hours into the late, late night, both nights, on that final weekend before the monday morning deadline. i was amazed at the fantastic work he kept sending me--and touched by his integrity and friendship.

thank you SO much, matt~!
you made this dream sequence a dream come true for us.
thanks, buddy!


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

rich and craig's KYRRA~!

okay...

so, we are getting some really great feedback and reviews for the third issue of Perhapanauts:Danger Down Under!--many people questioning where the second half of Eric Henson's Molly'S Mission went to (heh heh...< g >), i'd like to swing your attention in another direction for just a moment and let you in on a little secret craig and rich have apparently been keeping form us all.

over at the swiftly-growing, check out all the titles, ARTIST'S ALLEY Comics, craig and rich have posted the third installment of their exciting and gorgeous comic, KYRRA, the Alien Jungle Girl!
with stunning colors by lawrence basso, this is just a beautifully told, dynamically illustrated fantasy adventure that YOU JUST CAN'T MISS!!

i really don't wanna say anymore and just let these few pages speak for themselves.

so...what are you waiting for...?!

head on over to    www.artistsalley.com   and get the rest of this story--and the others!

there's some great stuff to be had at AA--take a look around!

that's all for now!

 have a great weekend!

 smell ya later!

 todd

Danger Down Under! no.3

okay...

first off, let's start out with some very nice words from a very nice guy named chuck suffel from his blog whatchareading.com


whatchareading.com/2013/01/06/the-perhapanauts-danger-down-under-january-9th/

i can't thank chuck enough for this great write-up, mostly because it does what i've been trying to do for years; sum up the perhapanauts in just a few sentences to make it appealing to new and, as yet, unenlightened readers that might be wondering what its all about.
thanks, chuck! we really appreciate it!


next, as the heading on the top of this post and chuck so eagerly explained--PERHAPANAUTS: DANGER DOWN UNDER! no.3 hits the stands this Wednesday (that's this Wednesday, January 9th) and I know you're not gonna wanna miss it!

To make sure you DON'T miss it, here are the two covers that this issue will be sporting

this lovely bug-eyed monster cover by craig...featuring the terrified reflections of choopie and gef, respectively...

...and this wonderful, whimsical, winnie-tne-pooh-esque (e. h. shepard-esque) piece by our pal, The Stuff Of Legend artist, Charles Paul Wilson III! (if you do not read The Stuff of Legend you are missing out on one of the most enjoyable, entertaining, and lushly illustrated comics EVER! go order volume on and fall into this beautiful and richly detailed world! awesome!)

issue three of DDU--that's what craig and i call it for short--also features part two of matt and christian's hilarious "choopie and karl in the wild wild west" and a stunning favor from a friend as Dr. Who's MATTHEW DOW SMITH dropped by to lend his incredible talents to some pages along the way!

oh--and, of course--craig continues to knock it outta the park with the main story. (i get so wrapped up talking up our friends' art and contributions that i sometimes neglect my incredibly talented and incredibly patient partner...sorry, c.!)

that's Perhapanauts:Danger Down Under! no.3--On sale this week! Don't miss it!

Smell ya later!

 todd

the danger down under! you didn't see...

okay...

so, seven more days until danger down under! no.3 hits the stands featuring covers by craig--of course--and the stuff of legends' fantastic artist, charles paul wilson III!

(...and if no one got you the collected stuff of legend for christmas, do yourself a new year's favor and get it for yourself--it's wonderful!)

our third outing also features an awesome back cover paining by artist daniel warren that will make your eyes pop out! i'll be posting that gorgeous artwork here sometime after the book comes out, but, for now, i'm gonna keep you in suspense!


so, that's just what's on the outside of the comic--wait'll ya see the insides!!
featuring artwork by craig, matt and christian (wieringo and leaf, respectively) and, from the pages of dr. who, my good pal, matthew dow smith, this issue's gonna turn the tale on it's head! ...or on it's side! ...or something...something's gonna turn, that's all i know...!
it's 28 full color pages of story! story! story! and who gives you that these days! (we like to make sure you get the most for your money, so we pack the pages with POW!)

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

that is true--craig and i love to give you those extras, like pin-ups and promo pieces and behind-the-scenes stuff when we put together the trades. it's the kinda stuff we love to see when we read collections from other comics, so why not do it ourselves, right?

one of the things that'll be showing up in the Danger Down Under! trade when it comes out next fall is a sampling of pages that i wrote for the first issue as i tried to capture emo woody franson's australian dialect phonetically.

i have been a long-time fan of dave sim's graphic masterpiece cerebus and loved when he would write various characters phonetically, capturing elrod the albino's foghorn leghorn-esque speech patterns or mick jagger and keith richards (mick and keef)'s outrageous british cockney. fabulous stuff!

and so, when the time came for emo (woody franson) to talk, i wanted to see if i, too, could dip into that magic and translate accent to paper. i would need an expert--someone who would be able to proof-read my attempts and let me know where i was missing the mark. enter my good friend, rod hannah, a kiwi by birth (that's a new zealander for those of you familiar only with this hemisphere...), who, while no huge fan of the aussies (kiwi's and aussies have a long standing rivalry apparently) knows how they speak and could help me make it 'sound' authentic.


rod was on-board and eager to help and so i jumped in with both feet, scripting the dialogue for the first two issues, taking great pains to capture all the nuances of the australian dialect. it was lots of fun and i couldn't wait to run it past rod to see what he thought, if i'd gotten it right.

but after sitting on it for a day or two, i read the pages over and felt that it just didn't fit. it was too distracting and, while it worked marvelously for dave sim in cerebus, i didn't have the luxury that he had with his wonderfully rambling narrative and gorgeously liberating layout. i had already made my decision when i floated them past rod, but he agreed. emo woody franson would have to be australian with a few 'oy's  and an occasional bit of aussie slang thrown in here and there.

here's a sample of how one of the phonetically scripted pages woulda read and what i ultimately went with...
hope ya dig 'em...

that's it for now!
happy new year, by the way~
join me monday for the countdown to issue 3!
smell ya later!
todd