craig's distraction...

okay...

so while craig has found time recently to really get cracking on pages for the next perhapanauts mini-series, churning them out at a phenomenal rate, this past week and a half or so he's been pleasantly...distracted.

see, we got talking about t-shirts.
and how we like them.
and how we'd like to have some more t-shirts featuring our gang on them.
and so he started doing this...

here are the designs he's done for what we hope will be our first batch of perhapanauts character shirts.
which...we hope to make available sometime soon...
if there's enough interest in them.
(no sense in making them if nobody want's to buy them...)
so maybe we'll be able to make an announcement about them soon,
but in the meantime i just thought you hadda see them--'cause they're so freakin' cool!

















great job, partner--now get back to those pages!
smell ya later~!
slavedriver todd

dark days and praise for vincent kukua

okay...


first of all, this wednesday sees the premiere of the incredibly gorgeous new trade from image PERHAPANAUTS: DARK DAYS (vol.0)!
this brand new package features all the early perhapanauts tales collected together in a trade so stunning it has to be seen to be believed! oh, yeah, sure, it's noce 'cause of craig's wonderful art and rico's spectacular colors, but that's not waht i'm talking about...

which brings me to my second point; vincent kukua at image is a production wizard and we can't thank him enough for the spectacular job he did putting this book together! his design work makes all of these now-classic stories look new again...even to craig and i! we couldn't be happier with the look and the design and the production values of this trade! vincent, you've made us so proud! thank you!






and here, thanks to betsy gomez at image, is a link to broken frontier where you can check out a sample of what's inside!
(although this is one of those "you-gotta-hold-it-in-your-hands-to-really-appreciate-it" things...go check one out at barnes and noble. or, better, yet, why not order one...?)

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/image-comics-previews-for-september-22-2010


perhapanauts:dark days--dig it!

smell ya later~!
todd

SHS! #9, matt's birthday, and commercials i hate...

okay...

it's a cornucopia of topics today so, have fun...


first up; as brian pointed out in the comments from the other day, marvel's SUPER HERO SQUAD! #9 is in stores now! i was having tons of fun with the guys up until now, but once i was given the nod to do whatever i wanted on the book, i HAD to bring the girls in! besides i just love she-hulk, tigra, and the wasp!
go get it!






HEY! today's matt's birthday!
say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATT!"
what did you get him...? i got him a 2/3rds replica of my very own self that he can carry around with him in his backpack and send across the room when the remote is left over by the tv (i hate when people do that--defeats the purpose, dunnit?)
happy birthday, brother.




i'm working on a cool custom comic for marvel that, sadly, 'cause it's custom, probably none of us will ever see (customs are comics that are commissioned by one group or another to feature some marvel characters to promote or inform about their group or business--and then usually given away to employees, shareholders, or customers. i've done them for amtrak, the spider-man 3 movie, battle dice, etc.) anyway, that's a lotta yap to tell you that the abomination is in it--the real abomination, not the funny super hero squad abomination--and in looking for some visual reference and inspiration, i found this wicked action figure (which, surprisingly, i don't have and hadn't seen before) and so i put it on my desktop and have been glomming it every chance i get! i love the big, monstrous characters, but doesn't this look heavy?! i love it!
(also, 'cause it seems that the didn't-like-it-then, love-it-now, infectious 80s ditty, fascination, is being featured on about 7 commercials these days--i'm serious, count 'em!--i can't stop looking at him and singing to myself..."he's the a-bom-in-ation...")





and speaking of commercials, though we dvr just about everything we watch these days and quickly skim through the commercials, i do try to check out any new ones that come along. sure, there are always cheap commercials; injury lawyers and car dealerships, infomercials and i've-fallen-and-i-can't-get-up commercials that you see on the game show network and tv land. they're doing the best they can with what they got and they certainly have their place and know it.
but it seems that every four months or so, there's a commercial that's featured in the prime-time rotation that's so obnoxious or irritating that it gets right into your brain and starts scratching at it. sometimes it's a song and you hate it 'cause it's catchy and they play it over ands over and over and you can't wait for the campaign to be over but it seems like it never witll be (toyota's "everyday people campaign was like that for me...i found that song annoying before the ads started...)
at the moment--a sign of the end of days, i think--there are three that fall into that category. i can't think of the other two at the moment--i'll get back to you--but for me, the latest and greatest offender is the david spade/7up commercial. oh, it hurts me just to think about. makes me ask the question, was he ever funny?! (answer: yes, he was. but this commercial is so bad that it actually erases former glories...) he wanders around this new house with a can of 7up in his hand, tossing out his trademarked snarky commentary and lame innuendos as movers bring in his furniture. it's painful to watch and you can tell that even he has gotten tired of his own character; his delivery is even less than "phoned-in"--it's faxed in. he looks like he's been up for five straight days while, conversely, his clothes look like he's slept in them for a week. and, dude--i learned in freshman year of college that you shouldn't try to grow a beard or mustache if you can't grow a beard or mustache.

so there, that's my rant.
what commercials do you hate?




and here, because that time is coming brothers and sisters--are a couple of creepy pictures i found on the net to start getting us all in that halloween-y spirit!










i gotta get to work!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATT!
have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

PS--alison is out of the hospital and home, back on her feet--well, getting back on her feet...and wanted me to thank all of you for your prayers and well wishes. take it easy for a while, alison--you work too hard!

jared's ghost

okay...

i've known jared ather for years now. we first met on the tellos message boards way back when mike and i first started tellos and jared was very active--along with a close knit group of others--on that board. we've kept in touch over the years and he was eager to jump onboard when craig and i debuted the perhapanauts. jared and i "talk" from time to time via emails or instant messaging and one of the cooler things that he's done over the years has been to go (along with a friend) and investigate reportedly haunted places in the northern new england area. though they never really uncovered anything that the skeptics call concrete--physical or photographic evidence, evps, scars--the tales of their exploits always thrilled me (and has inspired me to embark on my own paranormal expeditions).

so jared and i were chatting the other night, catching up, when i asked him if he'd had time--he's very busy with work these days--to look into any new haunted happenings.

here's the transcript of what he told me.
(this transcript has been edited to remove
almost all of my annoying verbal cues
and stupid comments...)




Funny you should ask....

The biggest event in my paranormal career happened the other day!

Ok man, here it goes:
First of all, I 've been living alone in the woods for the past couple months. I drive like 30 miles to work everyday, but for the most part, I'm alone.
About two weeks ago, I noticed a few things out of place in the house...
I just dismissed them, since the truth is, I don't (didn't) have a real belief in the paranormal. I just like the idea of it!

The items out of place were things like, comics, clothes, etc.
Nothing big, and nothing that bothered me too much.
One day I came home to find the doorknob on the front door broken, and that kinda put me on edge a little.

Still, I dismissed it. The door was old, it was probably just 25 years of wear and tear...
So....one night I got to bed.
I look at he clock on the wall before going upstairs, it's midnight.
I ALWAYS go by that clock, and have whenever I stay at this house.
On my way to bed I make sure to barricade the stairway, as I always do.

Again, not for paranormal reasons, but in case anyone breaks in.
I also shut the bedroom door and barricade that.

So, I go to sleep and wake up in the morning.
I look over at the alarm clock, it's out.
No power.
I get up and try the lights.
Nothing.
So, since I have no idea what time it is, and I don't wanna be late for work...
I decide to head downstairs and check the clock on the wall. It's not electric. This is the clock I've always relied on during power outages, and the one I went to bed by the night before, and previous nights.

It's still a bit dark, so I assume it's too early for work, but I need to check.
I head downstairs and stare at the wall.

The clock is gone.

I've been living alone for weeks on end.
To my knowledge, no one has been in the house except me.
I'm shocked.
But....I hear ticking.
I follow the sound and find the clock
It's set on a bureau, a good 6-7 feet to the right.
I immediately know that there is no way the clock got there on it's own power.
It could not have fallen and ended up there.
Impossible.

I throw the nearest clothes on, grab the keys, throw the cat food down and speed out.

11:41pm
Me
are...you in this house right now?

11:41pm
No lie, I've seen horror movies. Get out of the house.
(Yes, I'm in the house now)
So, I show up at work 3 hours early, freaked out.
I tell my boss.
He says I must have done it in my sleep.
That's the only possible explanation.
I know there's no way.
I try to explain the barricades to him...
...what I would have had to have gone through in my sleep, in the dark w/no power etc.
No way.
I'm too afraid to go back, so my boss and his wife follow me home.
We go through the house.
Check all windows, locks, etc.
I show them the clock, still untouched.
This guy is an engineer, and he confirms, there is no way possible that clock got on top of that bureau without a human placing it there.

He tries to tell me that I did it sleepwalking.
No.
I don't.
I have no idea what happened.. None.

Something put that clock there. It knew I was gonna have to check it due to the power outage.

11:46pm
Me
does the cat act funny in this new house?

11:46pm
Not at all.

11:46pm
Plus....the boss's wife claims that she is a psychic. I don't believe in that stuff, but she claims she felt nothing...
That morning, I sure did.
I've never been that scared.
I didn't sleep for 2 days.
I stayed up w/the lights and TV on.
Got a nice cold due to it as well...

It was a very strange week.
This is the first paranormal experience I’ve ever had.

Here's the odd thing.

The lady who lived in the house across the road from me died 2 weeks before this happened, and I recently became reunited with her son due to her death.
she was my math teacher in 3rd grade.

...and was the town clerk when she died.

She is now buried 1/4 mile behind my house.
If anything, I have to guess.
It's the only thing I can think of.

Weird....
I'm not scared now. Don't know why...
....but I was freaked for a couple days.
When I left the house that morning, I felt like I'd never stay in it again.

Now, to be fair to the people who think I was sleepwalking, I have been stressed due to work, but still, I don't think I could have done it.

Especially w/ no lights due to the power outage.
I dunno man....

A previous resident told me that she once saw a cup move on it's own in that corner of the house, but I never believed it.
I believed that she believed it, but I just couldn't.

Now I wonder.

But it will always haunt me, I guess.
Now I've seen it. The possibility of something that will always be unexplained.


yeah, man! THAT"S what i'm talkin' about!
thanks, jared--good talkin' to ya, buddy!
keep us all posted...


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




have a good wednesday!
smell ya later!
todd

alison and playing with the moon

okay...

so i don't usually do this, but here's what's up...

many of you know (of) alison from here on the blog as a pretty regular member of our little perhapa-family. she is a big contributor to the stuff i post here, especially the pictorials, like the canine and feline tornado survivors last week and the beautiful and imaginative series below.

alison and i have been friends since we were kids, going to school and sunday school together. our parents had all grown up together in our small town and our moms were great friends back then. alison is a wonderfully kind, generous, giving person who is always there when friends need her...sometimes, it woud appear, magically.

now alison lives in puerto rico (choopie!) where she lives a very happy life with her husband and two boys (excuse me...young men. sorry, guys.) as well as her mom for about 6 months out of the year.
this past weekend, however, alison has been in and out of the hospital where they're trying to pin down exactly what strange tropical ailment she's contracted; she's suffering severe joint pain, body aches, high fevers, and overall exhaustion.
so, as i said, i don't do this very often, but if you're the type who prays, could you throw in a good word for our alison...?
thanks.


playing with the moon

















get better, alison~!
smell ya later~!
todd

perhapanauts: the print and the pins...!

okay...

now that i'm pretty much back on my feet and back on my game, many of you have been writing in to inquire about the availability of the perhapanauts baltimore comiccon one-sheet and the best-selling perhapanauts pin sets; are there any left? will they be made available in the perhapanauts store? are they as cool as they look in the pictures?
the answers are; a few, eventually, and cooler.

our site IS in need of an update and it's something that craig and i have discussed. unfortunately our designer and web master, kieran is a very busy guy, but we'll have him do a once-over when he gets a chance.

in the meantime, these new items ARE available and here's the 411 on that...


the baltimore comiccon (previously exclusive) 2010 one-sheet featuring the MARYLAND GOAT-MAN mixing it up with our very own BIG is 11 X 17, printed on a heavy stock paper, signed by us, and ready for immediate framing. mailed in a sturdy cardboard tube, the piece sells for $10. plus $3. for shipping and handling. (the handling, by me, will be gentle.)









also available are the previously SOLD OUT! perhapanauts pin sets.
these were such a big hit at the show that we had to give out rain checks!

sold in Sets A and 2--as seen in the poorly-lit photos below--these 1 1/4' buttons are bright, colorful, and eager to be featured on your hat, lapel, backpack, or lingerie. each set sells for $5. plus $2.50 for shipping.
shipping costs on all perhapanauts items can be combined.








here's a shot of the buttons in their original form as i don't have time to play with the lighting on the highly-reflective pins...




in other perhapanauts news; things are really happening here at perhapanauts central! craig has been on a fantastic roll, continually churning out fantastic pages of the forthcoming miniseries! as are the various artists working on some of the back-up stories which will be featured in that series as well! craig is also hard at work on the NEXT perhapanauts one-sheet for our next show; the mid-ohio comiccon in november...featuring the mysterious LOVELAND FROG CREATURES seen years ago in loveland, ohio.
and in just a week and a half, the perhapanauts:dark days trade hits the stands and shelves of your local comic shops and barnes and amazons! collecting the entire dark horse runs--first blood and second chances--this is a gorgeous book and is a great way to introduce new readers to the world of the perhapanauts! (end plug.)

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

here's a tip;
when operating a drive-in movie theater, choose your double features wisely...




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






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

and here's the time of year when i'm always torn--
i want so desperately for summer to continue for, well, i'd take another 3 months of it. summer's flies by too quickly around here.
on the other hand, the nights are getting a bit of that slight chill to them that triggers that part of me that loves the fall...and with autumn comes that swirling obsession of all things creepy. i can feel it coming, threatening to consume me.
so though it's still a whole 2 months away, i want you to start getting ready...to start thinking about it. whatcha gonna be for halloween? (if you start now, it could be awesome!)


that's it for me.
have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

in a rush~!

okay...

really busy today trying to catch up from all that lost time, so here's a bigfoot story from your true tales over at about dot com!

go on over there and read the entries that stephen has posted for us for september--there are some winners in there for sure!

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/true_tales_10t.htm

Sasquatch of Vinton, Iowa
BY DENNIS A.
By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide



Bigfoot
One late afternoon in early August of 2009, I decided that I wanted to go for a walk to enjoy the countryside of Vinton, Iowa. I grabbed my MP3 player, headphones, and a bottle of water. I left the house around 7:15 p.m. and made my way to 58th St.

Now, 58th St. is mostly pavement, but about halfway down it turns into gravel. I made my way down the road until the pavement ended. I made it to the end of the road just before it turned left onto another gravel road. At this point, it was around 8 p.m. and the sun had almost set. I figured it was getting dark so I should call it a night.

As I was walking back, I noticed a neighbor's dog barking uncontrollably at something up the road. I brushed it off as a raccoon or opossum. As I walked further, I noticed a foul odor in the air. It smelled like a cross between a wet dog, a skunk and rotten eggs.

I neared a trailer off to my right,with a lamp post directly beside it. The light was a good hundred feet from the street so it made a very dim light as I passed. I remember the smell getting stronger and stronger as I kept walking.

I stopped in front of the dim light so I could change the song on my music player. In my peripheral vision, I noticed movement in the ditch. At the time I assumed it was just a tree, but then I noticed that this "tree" stood up!

I snapped my head to the right and what I saw, I will never forget. It had to have been at least ten feet tall and covered in reddish brown hair. It had an oval head that connected directly to very broad shoulders. It was facing away from me so I didn't see its mug.

The creature seemed like it didn't notice my presence. After a few seconds of staring at this thing, it walked out of the ditch on two legs and into the field. It made its way to the tree line of the surrounding wooded area and let out a blood-curdling scream.

I ran home as fast as my feet would carry me. I lived with my mother at the time. As soon as I walked through the door, my mom asked me what happened. She said that I looked like I'd seen a ghost.

I told her what I saw and she said my mind was playing tricks on me. I know that what I saw and what I heard was real! I went to bed and tried to forget what just happened.

The next day I went to the grocery store in town to pick up a few things. I overheard some of our neighbors talking about a couple down the street that had two baby cattle go missing last night. They were also talking about how the branches on the trees leading up to the cattle were all snapped in half, and three of their sapling trees were tore from the ground.

I've always been very skeptical about paranormal things, but I still think, to this day, that what I saw was a sasquatch. Most people I tell the story to don't take me too seriously anymore. I'm glad I found this site with people who have similar experiences.





After the tornado (Greensburg, Ks.)
This is such a Great Story!





The story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little
Guy they named Ralphie. Someone had already taken him
Under their wing but they weren't equipped to adopt.






Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers...






I wouldn't think anything could live thru this...But we were wrong.






This little lady also survived that wreckage.






Here she is just placed in the car - scared, but safe.






And then..they are no longer alone!






Instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car







Add two more beagles found after that...The more, the merrier!






Oh boy, a new traveler to add to the mix...(Note: the cat coming
over the seat needing shelter...) Now just how is this going to work?
(and remember they Are all strange to one another)






It's going to work just fine, thank you very much!






Wow! The things we learn from our
Animal friends...

If only all of mankind could learn such
Valuable lessons as this.
Lessons of instant friendship,
Of peace and harmony by way of respect
For one another -- no matter one's color
Or creed.
These animals tell you... "It's just good to
Be alive and with others."

Yes, it surely is.

So...Live, love, laugh. "Life's a Gift..Unwrap It!"


i'll post more on friday with info about how you can get your very own copy of the perhapanauts baltimore comiccon exclusive one-sheet and the very popular --and SOLD OUT!--perhapanauts pin sets! (we're making more...)
gotta go!
smell ya later~!
todd

the con

okay...

so i got hit pretty hard the other day with the obligatory post-convention cold (known in some circles as the "con crud') and have been fighting it back with nyquil and oj and plenty of those amazing fisherman's friend cough drops and am finally back in service. not 100% just yet, but better than 60...

so the show was awesome and i got to hang with many wonderful people...and i forgot my camera. craig let me use his camera to take pictures of a costume or two--i'll post them when he sends them over--but the photos that follow are courtesy of the lovely suzanne wieringo and others. thanks, squeeze!



i put them in chronological, so this comes first as craig and i were once again visited by our pal caleb, impulse fan extraordinaire, this year decked out as the scarlet speedster's golden apprentice--kid flash! it was so great to see caleb again--and his mom and dad, mindy and john--as we loved his impulse gear so much last year that we were sure he was an over-sized shoe-in in the costume contest! alas, it wasn't to be--but caleb is always our first pick if we were running the show! excellent costume, buddy! see ya next year!







here's caleb at home, putting on some speed!







long story how we ended up here, but here are craig, kelly yates, rod hannah, and me at the hardrock cafe, inner harbor, baltimore. rod was our hero that night and we all ended up having a good time!







sunday morning at the broadway diner.
we have these things at conventions called the brotherhood of mike breakfasts where people who were friends with mike get together usually sunday morning and have breakfast together to relax a little and remember mike. there are a lot of brothers in the brotherhood and not everyone can make it every time, but we try. this year jamar nicholas suggested we trek on down to the broadway diner in baltimore (he saw it on the food network's diners, dives, and drive-ins) and so we did. glad we did! great food and lots of laughs--mostly from jamar who is hil. ari. ous.
this is jamar's friend, stu, jamar, me, craig, suzanne.







jamar showing us his speed racer pose.
suzanne has been replaced by matt.







sunday evening, after the show was over.
i split the show about a half an hour early to go have dinner with my two friends from high school, sarah and maryanne. when i got back to the hotel, i was invited by marc nathan--the man who runs and organizes the baltimore comiccon--and brad tree--the guy who coordinates that big octopus of a show--to go out with them and the few remaining guests for some late night cocktails and snacks. i was fortunate to cab over to the place with (comics royalty) walter and louise simonson! on the way in we took some pictures which weezie was kind enough to send over. (i just wish i had been awake enough to ask walter to take one of me and his lovely wife...)














and here's the only costumes i have for y'all right now.
ms. marvel (who turned many a head) deadpool and...are they calling her lady deadpool? i dunno. cool costumes though!





that's it!
have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd