The ramblings of a ether fueled fool

Update

Gonzo Punk hasn’t been updated in probably a month now, why is that? Well I’m lazy… yea that’s right I’m lazy what are you going to do about it? Anyway, things should be changing in a couple of weeks. You’re going to be seeing more updates starting sometime in the first half of August, I’m reluctant to set a date until I have a buffer of articles roughed out and ready to be posted in more of a professional mater.

The reason behind the lack of posting (what you think I was just going to let the lazy comment go?) is because I lost interest. I do that a lot, it’s a part of my condition, you may have heard of it A.D.D. Now a lot of people say Adult Attention Defficet Disorder is a load of crock, well trust me its not! I do agree that it may get over diagnosed, but it does exsit and I do have it.

The quick rundown on A.D.D. is this, my brain isn’t making a connection it should. The part of my brain that controls concentration and focus doesn’t send the signal, or whatever the doctor was using big words. Anyway, the key here is focus, I was loosing it by a yard a day. It got bad, real bad to the point that I couldn’t do something like play a video game for more than five minutes and shutting it off and finding something else to do. I also lost intrest in everything, reading, writing, and even talking to people. Leaving the house was a chore and I would talk myself out of it. Other symptoms that got out of hand: Impulsiveness, Getting sleepy when reading a book, Multi Tasking when not needed, Depression and Devils Advocate. The last two got worse and worse and they feed each other so well.

I finally decided it was no way to live, I needed help. I’m on a pill now that’s working quite well actually. I still have some problems with focus (and become a real dick with I don’t take it) but I’ve improved so much. I’m actually writing again, reading with out wanting to doze off, and playing video games again! Since I’m writing again I decided it was time I dusted this old blog off and get her to working. Not only am I going to blog again but I’m going to change it up.

The tone of the blog is going to change quite a bit, out are the rough drafts and scripts; in with frequent articles, previews/reviews, opinions, and interviews. I’m going to try and not indulge into my personal life all that much but I will keep an update on projects I’m working on as I go.

The goal is to update the site every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Monday and Wednesday will be my article days where Friday will be all about the short fiction. Interviews will be posted most likely as soon as I’m finished with them.

Articles will deal with a broad range of what I’m interested in so what you get from day to day can be quite diverse. One day I might talk about a game I just beat while the next will be about the future of small farming.

Reviews will be done as soon as I watch, read, or finish playing something and have worked out my opinion on it. They can be posted any day of the week but I will try and keep them for Monday or Wednesday.

Interviews will be ran much like Articles, they will be with whom ever I find interesting and just want to learn more about.

That pretty much covers everything, I’m just going to end this one with an update of what I’m cooking.

Right now I’m working on a novel, something steeped in the Film Noir style but more of a modern setting. Also I’m working on a video game pitch with a friend, I can’t get into details about it but it’s probably one of the greatest things we’ve ever came up with! I normally wouldn’t be hyping a project, especially a video game idea, like this if I wasn’t as confident about it as I am.

I was going to start up a web comic and draw it myself but I decided to put that on the back burner for now, I haven’t ruled it out yet but I really want to get better at drawing and writing before I attempt it.

(Sorry about the sloppy post, I’m sick right now and I just wanted to announce this stuff while I had the chance)

          “Writing for comic books! Psh How hard can that be?” I said to my self in the Natrona County public library in the fall of 2004. The man sitting at the computer on the left of me gave me a look, you know that look the one you give to crazy people who talk to themselves in public. I get that look a lot. I just ignored him and went back to my googlings and email, with the thought of using comic book writing as a gateway into making movies. Like I proclaimed, how hard could it be to write a comic book?    

          Now that I know more I laugh at my naiveté. Writing for comics is work, don’t let that sound negative because its fun work. I have yet to publish a comic and in the 4 years that I’ve been learning to write, I’ve only scratched the surface but I know enough to be of help.

          For the next week or two I will be publishing a series of articles on the pitfalls that happen when anyone wants to write a comic with out a strong writing background. With that I give you the first mistake I made:

The Epic Idea

          The first idea for a comic I had was epic, the story was going to shake the industry to the core. Everyone would love it going to love it and it would rake in the cash! I had the plot figured out and the characters built. This story was going to be one for the ages, 78 issues minimum 150 if I really got into it. This was going to be awesome and I was pumped. Then the moment came where I sat in front of my laptop and drew a complete blank.

          This is a common mistake that most fledgling writers make and the second one in comic writing after “Writing comics, that’s easy”. There are a lot of problems that having an Epic idea can cause and it won’t be apparent until you get stuck on something. From there the common thing that happens is frustration and giving up on writing period. I don’t want that to happen so

here are the hiccups I’ve encountered with the Epic Idea, later on in the article I will discuss how to prevent these:

    *It can be overwhelming:

                   When I sat down at the laptop I realized that I didn’t know how         to start the story, what would be in the first issue or how many panels there were in a comic. It’s a mixture for writers block. If you know very little about comics, you’re going to run into this 800lb Gorilla Grod and you’re going to be tempted to quit before a single word is typed. It took me a good while to get past this block.

     *Details get lost:

                    My main character was the most popular girl in the school she   went to and everyone loved her. Why did everyone love here so much?  um… because she was cute? They just do okay!

                   Pick up almost any Teen romance movie and you’ll see my main     character in it. Why because she was just a general character, boring and bland. The lack of details gave her no personality and that made it hard to write her.

                   Details are the thing that can set a story apart from the other          books on the market. With the Epic Idea you’re seeing the big picture and details get tossed to the side. You’re more concerned with the plot twist in issue 25 and the action fight in issue 34. You don’t stop and think about the little things as to why your character is where they’re at and how they react to it. This just makes characters flat and plots cliché.

      *Problem selling the story:

                   Even though I put this as last, it was the first thing I did and   most likely you will try too. I hopped on Comic Publisher websites    and sent emails out. I never got a response and wondered why. Editors (or Interns) get hundreds of these a day and rarely do they read them. Some won’t at all for fear of being sued. I learned this after a while.

                    But if you’re lucky enough to run into Dan Didio and are asked to give a pitch, your epic wont be picked up.  Comic publishers do not want to take a chance on a full 78 issue run of a comic from a writer who hasn’t established him or herself. You could have the best idea in the world, however, the publisher doesn’t know if you’ll be able to stick with it or if the story will sell. If you are one of those unlucky people who can’t draw (like me) trying to sell this to an artist will also be difficult. An artist will be more likely to do a “one and done”.

Don’t let this list discourage you from writing comics or holding on to your epic idea. I’m positive it’s good, fantastic even, you just need to give it some love. As they say: Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (the book that made me want to write comics).

 Here are some ideas to help you get that epic published some day:

           -Come up with an idea that will be done with one issue or a short graphic novel. Keep the idea small, you can always come back to the idea and expand it from the first issue.

          -Work as if you were going to publish something yourself, as this will most likely be the case. You won’t get recognized as a comic writer unless you have something to show for it. Once you research the cost and realize that you will probably never see a profit from it, coming up with a short one issue story will come easy to you.

          -If you can’t think of an idea, start writing short stories like you did in grade school or high school. These can be bad, have little to no structure to them, the key is to get you thinking and working. The more you work at writing and coming up with ideas the more you’re going to have. An added bonus to this is you can go back to your short stories and see if you can pick something out of them and you can expand upon them. This step will also help you with another upcoming article.

          -Don’t only have one idea up your sleeve. You can have the general idea of something you’d want to do later but make sure you make note of it. This will open you up to have more chances to be published. A Publisher might like your idea of the epic but they might want to see something else and they will ask you if you have something you could pitch them. Always have a second pitch (and third, no use having a fourth).

          -Write a short comic biased in the world your epic is in. Lets face it, if you’re like me you already have the world created and you know most things about it. Write a story that takes place before your epic events happens or take a character and place them in another situation. Not only does this get you a “one and done” as they say but you’ve also taking your first steps towards character development.

          As you can see I’m still writing for comics, even after I found out there was more to it then I had expected. Why would I do it? Well I found out that I love comics, I always thought it would be fun to write a comic but that would have only after I made it in Hollywood. That didn’t happen and comics moved to what I thought an easy way to get into the movie industry. I’ve come to terms with it not being so, but because of my naiveté I learned how amazing telling story through juxtaposition can be (juxtaposition: fancy word of putting pictures side by side, learn it you’ll see it more often). Reading graphic novels by Alan Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, James Robinson, and Geoff Johns has only fueled my passion to write. Not only for comics but for other things like screenplays and novels, it is an addiction and a drive.

For more about writing in the field of comics check out:

-         Writing for Comics with Peter David

-         Reading Comics by Scott McCloud

Next Article: Writing With Out Experience

            It was the dawning of Aquarius, the Goddess of love. No not sex as those disco hippies would like you to believe. As a matter of fact why the hell would you listen to hippies? I mean have they ever contributed anything to the greater good? I personally only listen to that portion of the public that knows how to use soap and eats MEAT!

            It was the dawning of Aquarius, the Goddess of love. She reentered our world after a millennia traveling around the multi-verse exploring all its wonders. Aquarius did not come back alone however, on her travels she had found what she was looking for: her Soul mate.

            Yes, Gods can have soul mates and how ridiculous would it be if a goddess of Love didn’t have a soul mate? That would be like cooking with out a fire. Wait, did that make sense. I really need to get better with these similes, or would that be a metaphor? You know who I blame, the American school system! It’s all their fault that I didn’t learn crap about the English language, most of my English classes just had me doing finger painting. How the hell is finger painting teaching me about… um… Shakespeare? Tell me THAT!

            It was the dawning of Aquarius, the Goddess of love. She reentered our world after a millennia traveling around the multi-verse exploring all its wonders. Aquarius did not come back alone however, on her travels she had found what she was searching for: her soul mate.

            Aquarius soul mate was an… unusual sort of being. First off there was his name Ycthitho, nearly impossible to pronounce with the human tong. Cat’s quite often make a sound when coughing up a hair ball that comes close to his name. Then there was Ycthitho appearance, he was a blob of tentacles with a huge maw in the center of his mass with 15 eyes circling it and some other hole just south of the maw which well… um. You get the idea.

            It was quite odd to see Aquarius walking down the street, hand in tentacle, talking to Ycthitho in what ever Abyssal sound that he made. Apparently Ycthitho was quite a funny guy because Aquarius was always laughing at what ever he was saying.

            Personally though I never saw what she saw in him, Ycthitho was quite disgusting. The smell emitting form the guy… thing… it was well far worst then any smell from our plane of existence. I had to talk to the guy for an hour once and my nose was numb for the next month, couldn’t smell a thing…

DAMN! I did it again! That’s it I’m done, I keep getting distracted by every little thing my mind comes up with! I need a vacation, somewhere away from that damn smell.

The humble apartment of Boris Karloff (no relation to the actor) is filled with knick knacks and doilies. The feel of his house is semi Art Deco with the feel of a time long gone in the past. Inches of cluttered magazines and newspapers cover the surfice of most everything from the floor to the coffee table to the chairs. The sound of the Metropolis outside can be heard in his home, his walls are paper thin it seems. He has a gust today, a detective who is in search for clues to some mystery that Boris could care less about. The detective is looking around the house and notices a cat on a shelf. He goes to pet it but the cat attacks him and hisses. The Detective gives a shocked look to Boris.

Boris    

I bought a cat off the black market yesterday, I don’t like these “replica” cats they’ve made. They aren’t cats, just fleshy robot-clone things that are made to look like cats. No a real cat has personality, it has claws and it makes you know it too. A cat is attitude amplified; these “replicats” are cute and loveable. Owning one is like owning a sex bot, you don’t feel “real” love for a sex bot, you just get a warm fuzzy feeling because it has to love you. It’s programmed too.

Mechanical voice

Coffee’s done. One lump sugar, two ounces milk and a dash of honey for Mr. Karloff. Detective Blake how do you wish your coffee prepared?

Detective Blake

Five lumps no milk but I would like some honey though.

Mechanical Voice

Very well sir.

Boris

(to Blake)

Even though I don’t like replicant creatures I have to admit that I enjoy being around long enough to enjoy such exciting technology. So Mr. Blake

(A cart droid rolls out of the kitchen and hands Boris two coffees. He hands one to Detective Blake)

what do I have to do with this investigation.

Detective Blake

I’m not entirely sure, my contacts say that you were the guy to talk to about the Bush project.

Boris

(Large laughter)

The Bush project… pah-leese Mr. Blake that’s just an urban myth from the turn of the century.

Detective Blake

Yea, that’s what I thought until I found three identical dead bodies.

Boris

Some one killing replicants? What does that have to do with The Bush project?

Detective Blake

Not replicates, true clones. The bureau’s DNA investigator confirmed it. Not only were they clones but they were enhanced. According to the DNAI every single one of these bodies had been “naturally” enhanced, some may say that they were super human.

Boris

You found three dead Steve Rogers, that’s funny.

Detective Blake

I bet it is, anyway I decided to take a look into your past Mr. Karloff and I notice that I can’t find anything about you before 36. Seems like you didn’t even exist before then.

Boris

Fine, just get on with it. You already know who I am… so lets cut the bull shit so I can save myself the headache yes I’m Dr. Xavier Morrison, I was a member of Captain Project or as the conspiracy nuts like to call it The Bush project. God knows why those nuts think that that retard had anything to do with what we were doing in Arizona, I’ll never know.

(Flashback)

In the remote mountains of Arizona there stands a lab, inside of it a group of scientist, philosophers, and business men meet. Project Captain is what is referred to what is going on here.

Boris V.O.

I was fresh out of Berkeley’s Medical program. I was a regular Doogy Houser.

Detective Blake V.O.

Who?

Boris V.O.

Never mind. I was twenty one already a Masters in the field of human Genome research. I may have not been the first man to map it but I was the first man to figure out what shit did. I was studding it since it was mapped, I was ten at the time. I was super smart, still am. Even with all the knowledge that I uncovered in my short span of life I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to witness. For narrative sake are you a fan of H.P. Lovecraft?

Detective Blake V.O.

Doesn’t he have something to do with all those kids dressing in black wearing eyeliner.

Boris V.O.

Um..noooo… well maybe a little bit…. but anyway he was this writer from the turn of last century. He lived in New England and wrote about some pretty terrifying stuff. Everyone pretty much considered it dreary fiction… and for the most part it was. H.P. Lovecraft wrote about this one monster, not really a monster so much as a being of god like status. To truly grasp what he was you would be driven mad, utterly insane.

Detective Blake V.O.

Okay so what does this have to do with the dead clones.

Boris V.O.

I was getting to it but since you are so impatient, the monster Cthulhu was found in hibernation like state, he was the very mountains themselves. The Captain project was created by private investors, U.S. Congressmen and your typical line of corporate investors. They all wanted one thing, to discover if we could use this thing, and make sure the thing never woke up.

I opened my eyes, groggy as hell. My eyes took a second to adjust and I looked to my alarm clock which read a few minutes before four pm. Good a time as any I thought to myself. I pulled myself out of bed grabbed a clean pair of underwear, walked into my bathroom and showered. Some people drink coffee to wake up, I prefer scalding hot showers, makes me less jittery during the day.

After getting showered and dressed I started to forage my kitchen for some food like substance. It seems like our kitchen is filled with food but nothing ever to eat. I checked the stove and saw that my mother had some stir fry done up but no rice. A quick look in the microwave resulted in disappointment. No rice in there too. It was then that I saw the timer, the clock read shortly after three. I must have messed up on setting my clock again, I do that on a regular basis but I couldn’t help but think later that day “What if I didn’t?”

I went into the computer room and asked my mom if she was going to cook some rice, a skill that I lack completely. I can cook well but when it comes to rice I’m fumbles McGee. I can’t even nuke instant rice with out it coming out mushy. She told me it would be a couple minutes so I went to my room and popped in a DVD. Alias season one disc two to be exact. I was excited to see what happen between Gina Torres and Jenifer Gardner.

About half way through the show I paused it and went to see if the rice was done. It was however it was some rice-a-roani crap that I hate with a passion. I grabbed a bowl and shoveled some in with the Stir Fry and my mom went to wake up my dad for his last day of work. I looked at the timer on the microwave, it was 3:30. It was rare for my Dad not to be up at this time.

It was when I opened the fridge for a Diet Coke when my mom called for me to the bedroom. I thought that something was wrong, that for some reason my dad blew out his back and needed my help out of bed. It’s happened before. I strode back there and my mother was yelling his name. My face drained. Panic.

I started to call out to him shake him a bit. I touched his skin and knew that something was wrong. I thought he was dead. Hopelessness flooded my mind, I knew I couldn’t do anything to shake him out it. There was one thing I needed to do, I ran and grabbed the land line, almost forgetting the number for 911.

It was only a ring before the Emergency response dispatcher was on the line, but it seemed like twenty. It wasn’t fast enough. I managed to blubber out what had happened, that my dad was laying in bed not waking up. My mom came out, “Don’t you know CPR?” I didn’t know. I’ve had some training I guess but I wasn’t certified. Still in that moment I couldn’t tell you that I knew.

I told my mom to pick up the mobile and I rushed back to my dad. The CPR training that I did receive kicked in, I carefully rolled him to his back making sure his spine was secure. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. I tilted his head to open up the air way and gave him a breath. I forgot to check on a pulse but the breath seemed to kick something in because he was breathing.

I checked for a pulse but I couldn’t find one. It seemed like two hours at this moment. I’m screaming “Where they hell is the ambulance, It’s not here! I can’t feel a pulse… He’s breathing that means he should have one so Why can’t I find it!?” A few moments later the local sheriff came in to the house and took over the scene and then the EMT’s.

I moved out of the bedroom to give them space and to go throw up. I was about to but couldn’t didn’t have any food in me. I could hear the EMT’s say something about getting a stretcher in. I knew that would be impossible with the way our porch was set up. I rushed to the door and tried to pull down the hand rail.  I wasn’t strong enough, the thing was deceivingly well built. I attacked it with my feet, kicking it with the flat of my foot in thong sandals. The sheriff said to be careful, I grunted “I don’t care but I am”. With a large crack the hand rail gave way and I tossed it to the side. I was about to tear down the screen door but the sheriff had it taken care of.

The two Sheriff’s and I rushed to grab the stretcher and what not. Granted this probably wasn’t a great idea, but I needed to do something to kill how helpless I felt. It took me a couple of tries to lift the stretcher out of the back of the ambulance, it was caught in a safety hook.

After wrangling out of it we got it into the house. It seemed like another hour had passed it was three forty five. I was about to go back to the bedroom but one of the Sheriffs stopped me, I didn’t argue because I knew he was right. I noticed that my mouth was dry so I went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and also to attempt throwing up yet again. My gag reflex didn’t happen and as much water as I drank I couldn’t erase the dryness in my mouth.

Feeling weak I sat down on the couch. Feeling nervous I stood back up. Feeling helpless I moved around the house. I called my boss telling her I wasn’t coming into work. The stretcher came out with my dad on it and the EMT’s talking to him. He was awake somewhat. He could nod. I was a bit relieved but not much. He still wasn’t fully aware.

My mom and I stayed in the house for a little wile after taking care of calling his place of work and the person he was suppose to car pool with. I told mom to gather up some clothing for him and her. She did and then she took off to the hospitable. I waited a bit, I needed to break down a bit and couldn’t do so with her there. I put away the food and went to my lap top. I twittered what had just happened, I needed to tell some one or something.

I gathered up some of my things and walked out to the living room. I saw that my mom left the bag. I picked it up and got into my car for the longest drive of my life. The nearest hospitable to our place is an hour away. I couldn’t keep my mind from racing the whole trip. My mind filled with “What if”. The thoughts of it being a stroke or heart attack or something debilitating, flew by like a heard of buffalos. The irony of the situation hit me, it was my dads last day of work ever, that crap only happened in movies but I guess a cliché is a cliché for a reason.

My mind was all over the place, to focus it I called a couple people. I called my mom’s friend. She already knew because she just got off the phone with my mom. I then called my best friend, he was shocked. I felt kind of bad for ruining his day because he was going to the George Clinton concert in a couple of hours.

I finally reached Gillette with eyes blurry with tears. I had been fighting them back but they were getting harder and harder to restrain. I was about to loose it. I chose the fastest route to the hospitable. It took fifteen minutes to get there. I walked in and the nurse knew who I was and let me back into the suture room. I stepped in and a weight was lifted off my chest, my dad was sitting up groggy with a oxygen mask on. He was alive.

It’s been a day since then, we still don’t know what caused this but he is doing a 100% better but he is still in the hospitable. Maybe this time tomorrow we will have something but not entirely sure. I’m still shocked about how surreal this has been, it seems like a lifetime ago now and almost like it didn’t happen. I’m not even thinking about “What if” any more. Might be crass to say this but I’m feeling a bit Zen right now. I’m just happy he’s still around.

            I don’t talk about comics all that much, well actually I do but generally keep it to these Forms. Today I decided that I would like to talk about the comics that have me jumping around like a giddy school girl when Jared Leto comes to town. I compiled this list with the simple question “What would make me drive 3 hours to the closes Comic Store just to buy with out hesitation”. With the exception of number 5 (because it comes to the local news-stand) the list reflex that I have done this in the past.

5. Uncanny X-Men

          Ed Brubaker took this title over about a year and a half ago but it teetered the fence of mediocrity for quite some time. It wasn’t until after Messiah Complex where this title really sprang to life. It took Brubaker about a year to work on getting a cast of characters he wanted as he got rid of the ones he didn’t want but did so in a way that was acceptable and fit the story.

            Now that Brubaker has the cast he wants, the story has been picking up. Like all Brubaker titles, Uncanny started out as very decompressed, however; Brubaker is incorporating some elements of Morrison’s run on New X-men which is forcing him to tighten his run. In recent issues I’ve finished a Uncanny issue thinking that something actually happened. I think that might have something to do with Matt Fraction coming onto the title with Brubaker, but I’m not sure.

            The art for Uncanny of late has been really fantastic, Michael Choi is the current artist and with each issue I keep finding myself just concentrating on the art. Granted he does seem to come out of the Top Cow school of art but still it really fits a X-men title. Choi does a great job telling a story with his art. The colors have been great too, the tone and hue pattern gives a really fantastic painted affect. It makes the characters look realistic but on the down side it does take away from Choi’s art.

4. Astonishing X-men 

            This is still on the list because Giant Sized isn’t out yet. The series is written by Joss Whedon and drawn John Cassaday, two giants in their respective field. I picked this title up in trades and caught up to current issues pretty fast.

            I love this title because this is what an X-men book should be, it’s fun but it doesn’t take away from the serious matters that created the X-men in the first place. This book works well because it doesn’t get caught up in the whole continuity of X-men but still feels like it does through the way Whedon nails the characters. Again like the current Uncanny, Astonishing pulls from the Morison run of New X-men which makes this a very strong title. Plus I love it because one of the main villains is Cassandra Nova, which is the only X-villain in recent history to actually be a threat to the X-men.

            Also what makes this run special is Cassaday’s art. He has this way of making people look real but yet they still are drawings, cartoons. His action sequences are spectacular and this book is drawn as if it is a movie. Every page has from 3-5 (Occasionally one) panels and they all run length wise across the page giving this panoramic view of everything. It works and makes it read fast.

3. Thor

         I’m not really a J. Michael Straczynski fan, mostly because his name is hard to say and harder to spell. I didn’t like Babylon 5 and his run on Spiderman left me sleeping. With that said I do like J. Michael Straczynski when he combines mythology with modern day storytelling like he did to The Real Ghostbusters animated series back in the 80’s and doing now in Thor.

            I’m a huge Thor fan to begin with, have been since its re-launch back in 97 or 98. It was the first comic I regularly picked up and did so for quite a while. I think I lasted a couple of years on it before the story just had me too confused. It was steeped in continuity which I knew nothing about.

            The JMS re-launch of Thor has been reading a lot smoother and quite better. I understand and follow the story and the complexity better then I had on the Thor title of ten years ago. I try and think about why I like this title but I don’t have an answer to it. The storytelling is great and the art is fantastic.

2. Detective Comics

            It’s all about the Paul Dini. The man understands Batman and more importantly the Gotham Rouge Gallery. Not many writers can get both aspects of a Batman title down, but Dini does it with easy and he makes the Gotham Rouge’s just plane fun to read. There is just a magic in the way he loves these characters and it really comes across the page. Most of Dini’s run on Detective Comics have been mostly one shots but there is a connected storyline going on in the background. Dini does that kind of storytelling the best.

            The downside of this title though and why it’s not at number one is the art. Dini has different artists come and go on the run which really makes it disconnected and doesn’t make the title seem as solid as it should. I can see why he would want to do it, to emphasize the one shots but a constancy in art would be nice. Some times the art is great but other times it just doesn’t fit a Batman story.

1. X-factor

          I’m a huge Peter David fan and this is the book that made me that way. I’ve been reading re-launch or this title since issue 4 only skipping a couple issues during Civil War because I couldn’t find them. This title is everything I want in a comic, a mixture of Noir, Soap Opera, and Comedy. Up until after Messiah Complex this title has been delivering the right note just when it’s needed.

            Since Messiah Complex the title has been missing some punch, actually its missing its heart which was Layla Miller. The dynamic between Miller and the rest of the cast of X-factor made the book light hearted and fun to read. She also supplied a sub-plot to the entire book which is now missing because she is stuck in the future. If she doesn’t’ come back soon this title may take a turn for the worst which will result in me dropping it.

Honorable Mentions: JSA, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary

            All of these are solid titles and I’m sure once Astonishing wraps up JSA will be my new number 5 but I really don’t wait in anticipation for it as much as I do the others.

Comics that weren’t eligible for the list but I did want to pick up every month: Umbrella Academy and Suburban Glamour.

            These titles would have topped out in the number one and two positions if I had written this a couple months ago. These were both surprise hits for me from new writers. I lucked out and was in Denver when Sub Glam issue 1 and 2 came out and thought about driving down to Denver to pick up 3 but decided against it.

1. What was the first comic you remember reading?

2. What was the first comic that made you realize that you might be in this for the long haul?

3. If you had to make a snap decision to take one comic or one comic run to a desert island, what would it be? Don’t think too hard!

1. The first comic I remember reading, well I would be hard to say meanings how I can’t remember which one I read first but I know it’s one of these three.

1. When I got back into comics about 15-16 it was the Top Cow and Cliffhanger titles that drew me in. I’m still a fan of the Cliffhanger line I don’t think they ever relesed a crappy comic to my knowledge however Crimson was the only series to finish its run with Cliffhanger. Everything else just kind of ended, no warning they just kind of forgot they were doing it. “Oh shit, Battle Chasers was supose to come out this month… awh screw it they won’t notice it’s missing”.

The when I got back into comics after College it was all about the Green Latern Rebirth

1. Sandman, the entire run. I love the series and I always find something new when I read it. I think it’s the best series out there and I recommend it to everyone who is interested in comics. Well if I think they can handle it otherwise I tend to recommend Y: That Last Man or Watchmen.

Here are some links to others:

A Comic Book Girl

Kwok Talk’s

Luthor

Dave Accampo

Hudson Phillips

PF Montgomery

First off this is set in the Continuity of The Crimson Army however its not the second part in The Crimson Army serial, its more of a side note or side story that I had rattling around in my brain. You can blame Dave Accampo for putting this idea in my head, I was listening to the Fuzzy Typewriter podcast when he mentioned using blogs and linking to add more to a story and let the reader determine how deep they want to get into a story. As you can tell I think it’s a great idea and I’m just testing it out with this.

Secondly, I don’t know if I like this, it fits into the universe and all just I don’t think I like the voice of it. It’s not comical enough, but as I see these characters this is how they would act. I did originally see The Silver Falcon as a Tick like character, but I don’t think it fits him. I’m seeing him more as a Malcolm or Angel right now but a little more oblivious.  Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. I may tweak this a bit as I go, I’ve already gave it a good edit and I know I’m going to have to come back again. Thanks Dan

          “I’m not your maid! I’m a Boy Wonder I hope you know!” Avenger Boy screamed at the Silver Falcon. “They have child labor laws!”

          “Like I haven’t heard that excuse before, just clean up the mess Tom. It looks like one of the Crimson Army Henchmen lost his nerve on his way up”.  The Silver Falcon couldn’t help but almost vomit himself. What is it about seeing vomit that makes you want to vomit?  he thought.

          “No kidding, and I ever wonder why Batman beat you out for the title of Worlds greatest detective”

          “Damn it Tom, you know Batman is a clear knock off!”

          “Yes, because a comic book created fifty years before you were born clearly is just a rip off from you! Wow, Bob Kane must have seen into the future and picked the lamest Superhero and to avoid Copy write laws changed him just enough to avoid his inevitable lawsuit!”

          “I only lost because my lawyer was incompetent. You missed a spot”

          “That’s it I’m so done with this shit!” Avenger Boy threw down his scrub brush and started to march off up the stairs.

          “Tom that is not language befitting a Side-kick!” Avenger boy stopped and turned to the Silver Falcon and looked him squarely in the eyes.

          “First off Hank, I’m seventeen. And second of all you can get your self a new boy “wonder”. I’m done with being the Side-kick and the butt of every one’s gay joke. You know what I’ve been thinking about it and I’m going to do it, I’m going out on my own.” The Silver Falcon stood in awe at Avenger-boy’s statement, or Tom Young now that he just gave up the mantle of Avenger-boy.

          “You know what!” The Silver Falcon threw his hands up in the air, “I don’t need a Side-kick I did just fine before I adopted you.”

          “Fine” Tom Young growled

          “Just FINE then!” Silver Falcons jaws clenched together as he spoke grinding his teeth at a very audible level.

          “FINE!” Tom shouted and stormed upstairs to grab his stuff.

A moment of silence filled the Silver Citadel before The Falcon shouted up to Tom.

          “We’re still on for the Charity diner tonight right?” The tone of the Falcons voice was calm and centered, a total change from seconds before. His voice sounded almost fatherly.  

          “Yes, Naomi Brook would never forgive us if we didn’t show up for her Save the Forest Gala, you do realize she is the Emerald Queen right?”.

          “What kind of detective would I be if I didn’t know that… Really? Damn it, why do all the crazy chicks have the hots for me?” The Silver Falcon thought for a moment “Do you think she knows that I’m Hank Masterson? Na, probably not, well I will meet you at the Masterson Manor in a couple of hours, I still have to clean up the Crimson Army mess, I’m sure this isn’t the only vomit on the steps.” The Silver Falcon picked up the scrub brush and started to clean the vomit “What the heck, did these guys stop at a fast food joint before coming over?” The Falcon said to himself as he scrubbed away the stain.

I’ve been thinking about doing a serialized story on a blog for a while now, something that I will up date every week or so until I get a full story out of it. I typed this just as a warm up for the day but decided that I could really expand upon this, I really like the character telling the story and Crimson Dawn (Mandy Moore *drool*). I wont lie this is inspired by the Venture Brothers, however I wanted to take the Henchmen idea into a different angle. Make it a bit more serious (just a bit) and give it a bit more depth. Anyways enjoy the first part of The Crimson Army: Recruitment Story.

          “I want them dead” that’s all my boss ever says to me. He’s a huge dick but that’s probably why he’s the leader and I’m just a lowly henchman. Christ I can’t believe I’m actually working for the Crimson Specter, how the hell did my life turn out this way? I was just your everyday average drug pushing schmo, the guy you usually saw in front of the local McDonalds pushing “Confections”. How am I in a super villains employment wearing spandex fighting other people in spandex who are usually more powerful them me?

          It was 1999 when I was recruited by Crimson Dawn, the Specter’s right hand woman and between you and me I’m pretty sure he’s sticking it to her. She’s really hot for an evil heartless bitch, just think of Mandy Moore in a black spandex number with a crimson stripe hugging her curves and you have Dawn. I really don’t see what she sees in a man like the Specter, granted the guy is pretty awesome for an evil dude but he treats her like shit.

          I remember the day I was recruited, I was standing in front of Burger King, expanding my market when this van, we’re talking an 86 ford, pulls up and out comes like ten or fifteen people all in Crimson spandex being shouted at by Dawn.

          “Okay people we have thirty minutes to get in and get out, you have a ten dollar limit anything over is coming out of your pockets… um Paychecks. I realize that your suits aren’t equipped with pockets. Make sure that you’ve gone to the bathroom and cleaned up there is no more brakes until we get to the Silver Falcon’s Citadel. The Specter was quite insistent that we hit the place at 17 hundred hours on the dot”.

          The way the woman commanded the henchmen was, well it was a turn on I mean a lady in spandex being all bossy like, how could it not be? It was shortly after her orders when she looked at me and smiled. It was an enchanting smile, very seductive… and now I know very misleading. She approached and handed me this business card out of… well I have no clue where.

          “Hello, I’m Dawn Barkowski or as I’m known in the organization Crimson Dawn, commander of the Crimson Squad and second in command to the Crimson Specter. Have you heard of us?” Have I heard of them? Gawh they have only been the biggest threat to the Protectors of America since 95 when they almost killed Immortal Solomon.

          “Um… Yea, I saw you guys on the local news” I played it cool, everyone hates a fanboy.

          “Very good, then you know what we do. I’m just going to say this, we are looking for more willing bodies for the Crimson Army. To spread the word of our leaders glorious message of world peace through world domination. There are benefits to joining the Crimson Army such as full coverage health and dental insurance for you and family, 401k program, three weeks of paid vacation a year, and paid living expense. Plus there is a 3k signing bonus and if you were so inclined the Crimson Army would pay for college if you wish to go after a four year enrollment.”

          “I didn’t know henchmen had so many benefits” I couldn’t help but feel awe at what all she said.

          “Henchmen have a strong union” Something about this woman made me think that working for a super villain would bet a good idea.

          “Sold! When do I start?” Okay it was the spandex that had me, hers and the ones that I hoped I’d get issued.

          “Now, go in get something to eat and we will fill out the paper work tomorrow” Dawn grabbed me by the shoulder and escorted me in where I got a triple whopper and a milkshake. Just a side note if you ever get recruited into an evil organization and are about to storm a good guys citadel… avoid the fatty foods. Trust me on this one, the side cramps will get to you.

To be Continued in The Crimson Army: My First Assault or Silver Falcon BEWARE!

This post is in result to the List that we posted about a week ago. I wanted to expand on some of the themes I put into the post and talk about me dropping out of college and what lead me to writing.

            The last week I’ve taken a hiatus from writing and coming up with ideas. I managed to just shut my mind off, well as good as I can do. I decided it was time for me to sit down and examine, learn what I can. I just shut up and sat down, really took observance of movies, book, and comics to get a better understanding of the mediums and apply it to my writing.

          Why? Isn’t writing a simple endeavor? You simply put to paper the words in your head and tell a story. Quite frankly anyone can write anyone who is ambitious enough to put their fingers on home row and just peck away can come up with a novel or short fiction. Heck they can become a blogger (hehehe). I took this hiatus so that I can become a better Storyteller.

          That’s the true goal for me. I’ve realized lately that I have always been a story-teller, since first grade. One day I got up in front of my class for show n’ tell and weaved this story about how my Uncle Harold and I spent winter break up in Alaska bear hunting. The story was total bull-shit, I made it up on the spot because I simply didn’t have anything that day for show n’ tell (hind sight: this may have been the first sign of my total contempt for Homework, I was an early bloomer in that field).

          I remember going in to Parent teacher conferences that year and having my teacher ask my parents “I can’t believe that you let a boy as young as Daniel up to Alaska bear hunting” and my parents looked at each other and said “What?”. I had the teacher convinced about my story, kind of high mark in my career as a storyteller.

          Fast forward to about two years ago, well maybe three or four now. This getting old business is for the dogs I tell you. Anyway, I was living on my own after dropping out of college for oh the third time… It was a drunken blur so who knows how many times I dropped out of college. Well, I was living in a small studio apartment where I drank myself to sleep every night. Not a good time for Dan, let me tell you what.

          While in this drunken stupor I realized that something was missing. I had an urge (get your mind out of the gutter). I couldn’t put my finger on it, I thought it was me missing out on my dream to be an Actor. I know now that wasn’t the urge. It was in an issue of Wizard Magazine where I found something, the answer to what was missing (wait don’t judge, I was just getting back into comics then and I needed to know what was what. Even though it has a bad wrap Wizard does occasionally have something good about it).

          An Article about breaking into comics hit me like a brick. I found my salvation in the pages of Wizard (bwhahahahaha). For some reason that article opened up my eyes to why I chose acting in college, I wanted to create. Granted everyman wants to create, but what passion to create differs from man to man (and woman to woman, I know I can be so misogynistic some times). I wanted to create stories, weave tales about the human condition. I had my eureka moment.

          Now that I had that I decided to put my heart into it, I dusted off a laptop that I had for college (I couldn’t get online and look at porn with it so it collected dust, well that and it ran Neverwinter nights like shit!). I started to type away, I figured “I know how to write, I mean I’ve read a book or two”. Well… the stories were bad, really bad but I liked them. It felt good to just type out a story (The first one I wrote was about a D&D campaign I was creating, it was a lot like R.A. Salvatore if he had talent! I kid I kid he’s a good writer of straight up fantasy).

          I was addicted to writing, even though I didn’t understand the basics. Hell I couldn’t even spell worth a damn (I still have difficulties but trust me, you can read this which is a vast improvement!). Since I was getting back into comics at the time I decided that I might as well try and write a comic, it looked easy… until I started to write it. I outlined it in my head, created back story for everything in it from the characters to the whole system of how the world they live in works. Then I got hit with questions. Not questions about how should the story play out but how should I go about writing for comics?

          Questions like pacing and how to describe stuff going on in the panels or how to use panels efficiently came to mind. It scared me to death, made me freak out. I got obsessed with doing it right the first time that I couldn’t write anything (for all who want to write reading this is a very very bad habit to get into). And then I sank again. All hope totally escaped me.

          Even though I got nervous about writing and couldn’t do it, the ideas never stopped coming. Not to sound conceded but I think I have a gift for coming up with story ideas and how to flesh everything out in my mind. With that said, I ignored the ideas, refused to let them out and I paid. The ideas slowly stopped coming and I forgot details to some really good tales.

          Again I cleaned myself up, after one incredibly embarrassing night. I started to exercise again, riding my bike to work and just spending every moment on the bike so I was away from my apartment. The ideas started to come back as I biked to and from work. This time the ideas were more about internet TV type shows (I had no clue what a podcast was, in fact I don’t think many people had a clue about podcasts then).

          I got to pitching ideas to friends but they all told me it was a bad idea. I believed them so nothing happened. It was about this time that I got evicted from my apartment due to a bounced check (I decided a PS2 was more important then a place to sleep… I can be a dumb ass sometimes).

          I ended up moving back into my parents place and became a cliché. I really don’t care all that much about how people see it. I like living with my parents because I was able to kick my drinking habit. Which really helped me in the long run, I still have a beer or two but with the exception of December 8^th of last year I really haven’t drinking much past three or four beers.

          While living with my parents I still had the passion to create, I tried to get people on board to help me create but it seems like there was something wrong with it. Either they let me down or I let them down. Something just didn’t click. It was about two years ago now that it hit me, go back to basics. Don’t just come up with and idea and try to get everything on board before you write it, write it then get everyone on board. It was so simple but for some reason it didn’t click until then.

          From the idea of “Go back to basics” I thought writing. Writing is the most basic form of modern storytelling (basic as in every story in any medium starts off with writing). So from that moment I have been perusing writing, making it a passion of mine (which it is). This time I though, “I’m not going to let my questions get in my way”. I just wrote, again not that good but better then before. I learned something this time around, get the idea on paper then go back re-write.

          As I wrote I started to listen to things like podcasts, most notable ifanboy. It was shortly after I starting listening that they launched video podcast with a Revision 3.  I decided to become a member of the forums where I found some other people who are writers. They have pushed me, they may not know it (probably now) to become better in a round about way. I feel that I have to put quality writing up now (which has put me into some pitfalls which I push through now) so I don’t waste their time on something sub par. It’s a really fantastic motivator, the fear of ridicule from your peers ;P.

          My new found motivation has lead me to start researching more ways of writing, not only explore what I do myself but to explore what other do. I’ve been picking up How-To books on writing and even How-To books on drawing to better understand the artists mind. I look at the work of others with a more critical eye and look at their style then deconstruct it to see what I can use from it. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last week. I needed to stop coming up with ideas and listen to others idea. Learn in a sudo Master/Squire setting from people who know what the fuck they are doing.

          I’ve been watching Whedon, reading Morrison and McCloud, and deconstructing anything I can get my hands on.  I’m reading Aesop, which is the most bare-bone form of story telling there is and reading folklore. I’ve done all this because a common theme from established writers is this: never stop learning about the craft.   It’s what separates a good story-teller from a bad one.