July 6th, 2007 by bweber
One hundred twenty-two days ago, I stopped buying comics.
The thing to understand is I’m a comics reader, not a collector. I’m in it for the stories. And the stories from The Big Two have long been turning from stale to moldy.
I’d grown tired of the melba toast melodrama cranked out by DC and Marvel. I was evermore pissed-off about blowing three bucks on a “book” that took me less than ten minutes to read and was nearly half ads. And the stories? Jesus, the stories. Every comic read like a rejected “Days Of Our Lives” script; the annual continuity shattering/re-ordering “event” never failed to end in another Civil Crisis of Infinite Boredom.
Multiply by six books a week. That’s about a thousand dollars a year. For what?
It was time to yank that spandex-clad monkey off my back.
I called my comic shop guy on a Tuesday and told him to cancel my pull list — a decision beautifully validated the following morning by the “shocking” death of Captain America .
Yaaaaawn.
And except for taking my daughter to Free Comic Book Day, I haven’t been in a shop since.
My four-color ennui vanished last week when I read that my close personal friend, Rich Koslowski, will be writing for the upcoming revamp of MARVEL COMICS ANTHOLOGY.
A Marvel comic from the genius who brought us The King, The Three Geeks saga (soon to be an indy motion picture), and the Ignatz Award Winning Three Fingers.
The book doesn’t hit stands until September but, much to my surprise, I’m already in line.
Get all the details from Rich right here.
YOU GO NOW!
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July 6th, 2007 by bweber
This month’s 24-Hour comic came out better than I expected.
Due to a number of weekend commitments this month (e.g., the upcoming L.A.T.E Ride though downtown Chicago, and the San Diego Comic-Con), the latest attempt was started at 6AM on the 4th and, within a mere 20 hours, 24 pages of comics were scripted and penciled.
Alas, no cover.
During the time it took to ink seven of the pages came the realization that there was no way to finish this book and make it look any good. So yes, another “noble failure”, but I’m happy with it.
And right about now you’re wondering, “If it’s so damned great, where are the pages?”
I’m probably going to catch a lot of crap for this, being how it’s against the official rules, but I’m going to finish inking the pages. The story warrants it. Besides, the pencils are illegible as scans.
Patience, my friends, patience. The finished inks should be up by next Thursday. They’ll be worth your wait.
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July 6th, 2007 by bweber
“Cyborg Lincoln” by annihlist, from Celebrity Cyborgs 8
As regular readers to this site may have noticed, I tend not to post many links to other sites. I feel there are better link warehouses (e.g., BoingBoing) that showcase the rest of the Web faster than I can, and I’d rather spend the time creating original content.
That being said, I can’t pass up posting about Worth1000.com. This site runs topic-based contests for people of all skill levels to submit their work for review and reward. Categories include Photoshopped images, photography, the written word, and multimedia illustration.
You could spend days looking at the amazing art people turn out. Some of the contests are more successful than others (most the Dr. Seus entries were disappointing), though all are worth a look.
The best contest I’ve found so far is Vintage Products 6. Contestants were to re-imagine current products with older design sensibilities. The Honda Penny Farthing is a favorite.
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July 6th, 2007 by bweber
On the advice of the lovely and talented Stephanie (A.K.A, “the wife), I’ve joined the ranks of millions of Apple users. In her extensive experience the Macs have been easier to use, have fewer problems, aren’t susceptible to viruses, require less care and feeding, and are all-around better machines.
(One thing I need to make clear is that, the wife rarely gives me her unsolicited opinion. She knows I have definite ideas about what I’m doing and how I want it done, and lets me screw-up and fix my problems on my own. But when she decides to say something, I listen more to her than I do to anyone else. She’s piped-up only a handful of times in eleven years of marriage, and each time her advice has been sound. )
So I bought a MacBook.
We’ll see how it does, how easy it is to use. All I can say right now is — so far, so good.
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