Recommended Reading

Caught up on a few magazines this weekend...

The new WIRED, the one with the plant on the cover, has a great interview with Ridley Scott about BLADE RUNNER and the impending release of The Final Cut. It also has a cool Before Blade Runner/After Blade Runner chart that illustrates what influenced Scott in making the movie and how the film in turn influenced different aspects of popular culture.

There's also an incredibly insightful article into the life and times of mega-producer Rick Rubin in the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE from a few weeks back, the one with him on the cover. Rick has always been an inspiration to me in many ways and to get a more personal look into his mind and his thoughts on music and art in general here was pretty fascinating. His position in the music industry and deal he negotiated for himself show just how big an impact this man has had on the creative and business ends of the biz.

Check 'em out!

Banging My Head Hurts Till It Hurts

So I'm in the supermarket of all places today when a little Quiet Riot comes blaring over the loudspeakers. As riffs from "Bang Your Head" flood through the aisles, much to the shock of some customers, I realized it'd been years since I rocked out to a little QR. I was even tempted to throw up a quick devil sign right there while buying cat food! So I came home and downloaded a few of the classic tracks this young metal head used to indeed bang his head to. However, while definitely fulfilling my nostalgic need for speed, these songs also served to make me realize just how truly awful some metal was. Want proof? Check out these lyrics:

Well I'm an axe grinder... piledriver
Mother says that I never never mind her
Got no brains. I'm insane
Teacher says that I'm one big pain
I'm like a laser 6-streamin' razor
I got a mouth like an alligator
I want it louder
More power
I'm gonna rock ya till it strikes the hour

Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad
Band your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad

Well I'm remonstrated... outdated
I really want to be over-rated
I'm a finder and I'm a keeper
I'm not a loser and I ain't no weeper
I got the boys to make the noise
Won't ever let up
Hope it annoys you
Join the pack
Fill the crack
Well now you're here
There's no way back

"Got no brains. I'm insane"? "Fill the crack"? What the fuck?

Who wrote this shit?! If I had paid any attention in 1982, I could have written better lyrics than that and made a mint!

Ah, well... you gotta love it!

Repeat track.

December Solicits Are Up

This is a great Avengers special packed full of fun stories by some truly talented up-and-coming comic creators. With a Bryan Hitch cover to boot!!


GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS SPECIAL #1
Written by C.B. CEBULSKI, MATT YOCUM, DANIEL MERLIN GOODBREY, DOUGLAS NOBLE, T. CAMPBELL & SCOTT GRAY
Penciled by PAUL NEARY, BRIAN DENHAM, NELSON, DENIS MEDRI & ROGER LANGRIDGE
Cover by BRYAN HITCH
As the Avengers battle to take down the Serpent Society, the team recalls never-before-told tales of their past! Watch as:
Spider-Man tries to integrate into a team and learns a thing or two about history, Luke Cage and Wolverine go toe-to-toe against a terrifying cosmic foe, Henry Peter Gyrich becomes an unlikely hero on an unlikely world, and Jarvis the butler cleans house…after some robot Vikings drop by unexpectedly. On top of all that—it’s the return of the critically-acclaimed Fin Fang Four by Scott Grey and Roger Langridge! That’s 55 pages of all-new comics, PLUS classic reprints from Avengers history!
96 PGS./Rated A …$4.99

Travis Charest Does Ultimates!

A quick panel from November's ULTIMATES SAGA, featuring a new story by Travis Charest and yours truly! It's available for pre-order now so don't forget to hit up your local retailer to reserve a copy today.

Loners in AZ!!

I just got forwarded this amazing pic from Atomic Comics in Phoenix, Arizona. Manager Thomas Healy and staff employee Michelle Poulson are big Loners fans and felt the book deserved a little extra love and attention. So to help hype the title with the release of issue five this week, they created the following Loners display, comparing Jason Pearson's amazing John Hughes' homage covers to the actual movie posters!


And I hear their promotional efforts paid off as Loners sales picked up! Fans of the films gave Loners a second look, noticed the teen drama aspects the book owes to the movies, and decided to give Loners a shot. I owe Thomas and Michelle a huge debt of gratitude for their hard work and support in pushing this comic that is so dear to me! Thanks, guys!!

Tales of Fear Agent Back-Up

About a year ago, when Rick Remender's amazing Fear Agent comic series was coming out through Image, he was running a series of eight page back-up stories called Tales of Fear Agent. Rick was kind enough to let me write one which was illustrated by Japanese artist Tommy Ohtsuka of Slayers fame. However, before our story saw print, the series moved from Image to Dark Horse where it was rebooted sans back-ups. However, Rick really liked the story and promised us that it would one day see the light of day, possibly in a Tales of Fear Agent trade. Being a man of his word, Rick is now making good on that promise and I'm pleased to announce that mine and Tommy's story will be featured in this October's Tales of Fear Agent #1!! This premiere issue will feature a main story by the incredible Eric Nguyen with with tale that Tommy and I did being run right behind it! (And coincidentally, Eric and I are also both featured in Marvel's Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm one-shot that same month!)

Orders are still open so please run down to your local retailer and reserve a copy today!

Here's a look at Eric's stunning cover to the issue, as well as a sneak peek at a couple of our interior pages, colored by the extraordinary James Rochelle. Enjoy!

My Fat Face on Video Again

Me discussing ChesterQuest at the Marvel Mondo panel in Baltimore...

Three From Me

Three new comics from yours truly will be hitting the shelves of comic stores across the country today. Keep your eyes peeled for:

LONERS 5 with Karl Moline and Beth Sotelo...


SPIDER-MAN FAIRY TALES 4 with Mindy Owens, Nick Dragotta, Mike Allred and Laura Allred...


COMPASS 1 with Akihide Yanagi and Ryusuke Hamamoto...


I hope you'll check them out. Thanks for your support!

Old Bay Wings!

I was down in Maryland for the amazing Baltimore Comic Con this past weekend and hit the Wharf Rat for dinner on Saturday night. As most everyone knows, Buffalo wings are my favorite food and I try and eat them at every new restaurant I go to. So I was going to sample the Wharf Rat's BW offering but then I noticed they also had Old Bay Wings, dry rubbed in the amazing spice of the same name. Being in Maryland, it would have been a crime not to order them and I was not disappointed! Crispy and tasty as hell, these wings were a meal in themselves. And the home-brewed Oliver's Pale Ale was the perfect beverage to wash them down! If you're ever in Baltimore, try and plate for yourself...

Baltimore Bound!

I'll be heading down to the Baltimore Comic Con this coming weekend, September 8th and 9th. I'll have a table in the Image Comics booth where I'll be selling and signing most of my Marvel and Image books both days. Compass #1 will debut at the show as well! Please stop by and say hi.

Also, while I'm not sure of the times yet, I'll be on the Image and Marvel panels on Saturday, and also helping Tom Brevoort dish out the Marvel trivia at his Prize or No Prize panel on Sunday! Come check us out for some cool news and announcements, ask all the comic book questions you like, and maybe even take home a prize or two!

Info on the show can be found here!

Hope to see you there!

Weekend Movie Report Card

SUPERBAD - A+
Everything I expected and more! Brought me back to my high school days, which granted, isn't hard to do, but this captured that magic perfectly. Michael Cera and Jonah hill were outstanding, and that actress who played Becca did an amazing job! The kind of movie I want to watch, the kind of movie I want to make!

BOURNE ULTIMATUM - A-
I thought it was really well done and deserving of the praise it's getting. The camera work didn't get me as sick as I hear it's been doing to others, except in that last chase scene. Good build up, great tension, fantastic action... a fun edge-of-your-seat thriller.

PAN'S LABYRINTH - A+
Why I skipped this movie in the theaters is beyond me?! Just a wonderful piece of film making! I can't say anything more that hasn't already been said about this movie. Guillermo Del Toro is truly gifted and his commentary and featurettes on the DVD are insightful, educational and truly inspiring.

DISTURBIA - B
Better than I expected. More teen drama than fright flick, which appeals to me to begin with, combined with a good mix of comedic moments. A couple of the twists had me going. Shia continues to impress! Worth checking out if you have two hours to kill.

Queen Lotto

Too Funny Not To Share

I was scanning a new batch of reference for the third round of Wonderlost stories and I came across this gem. I left for Japan a year before this was taken, clean-shaven and with short hair. I flew back into NYC looking like this. I walked up to my mom at the airport and looked right at her, expecting a shocked, but warm welcome. Her reply was "Excuse me, sir, but could you step aside. I'm looking for my son."

This made me laugh for hours...

From Tony Fleecs, writer/artist of the amazing comic In My Lifetime, and Wonderlost 2 contributor...

Compass at Summer Comiket

So pre-order sales of Compass 0 have been kicking ass in dojin shops across Japan, and Ryusuke debuted our preview issue at Comiket in Tokyo this past weekend. We were hoping for a warm reception and brisk sales as it's a new title by a rather unknown creative team, but I just got the report back now from Aki that the book sold out on Friday in two hours!! The show opened at 10AM and by noon he had sold clean through the 500 copies he brought!! Wow!! This bodes very well for the future of the book...

Bat For Lashes

Doreen Mulryan was kind enough to pass on the link for the cool new Bat For Lashes video. You can check out their creepy new "Donnie Darko-esque" clip here!

Slacking TV Execs?

I just tried to watch the new ABC animated series Slacker Cats. I like cats, I like animation and I'm a slacker, so I'm their target audience, right? Holy shit, was it horrendous! Pitiful! So bad I couldn't even watch past the first 5 minutes!

How the hell did a piece of garbage like this get greenlit? What are studio executives thinking? How could anyone have watched this and approved it? If it was for kids, I would understand, but it was on at 10PM and had adult overtones, so I don't think it was for the Disney or Nick kid crowds.

Watching Clyde and Lotto sleep was more interesting than suffering through that piece of crap.

Custom Ricochet

I was out in Chicago at Wizard World this past weekend and had the please of meeting LONERS fan John Coffey at the show. Besides being a huge comic fan with good taste, John customizes action figures and informed me he'd made his very own Ricochet figure recently. After exchanging e-mail addresses, he was kind enough to send over the following pics of the high-flying Loner...




Pretty cool, huh?! You can check out more of John's cool custom figures at his site here!

Books Without Pictures

A Loners fan I met at SDCC recently dropped me a line and asked me if I could provide him with the names of some novels that influenced me and the way I write. Two came to mind right away and I thought I would share...





Murakami and Yoshimoto both craft characters that are so genuine and relatable that you can't help but fall in love with them. They make their emotions so tactile that feel what they feel as you turn every page. And there's an eccentricity to both their work that makes each story a pure pleasure to read. I would recommend reading anything they write!

Open Wide

I usually don't make it a habit of taking pictures in the mens room, but in this case I just had to make an exception...