Side boobs, to be exact.  

Mandy and I went on vacation to San Francisco last week.  We didn't see any naked boobs (although we did see a surfer taking off her wetsuit alongside a road north of Big Sur, but her back was to us), but I did write three issues of Side Boob - a silly, sexy super hero comic that I've had on the back burner for a long time.  An artist pal of mine has been bugging me to get it done so he can draw it.  It needs some polish and little more exposition, but it's a fun story full of boob jokes, girl-girl groping, and action.  It will get a "hard R" rating for sure, possibly an NC-17.  Believe it or not, I've left out hardcore sex.  There's plenty of nudity and double entendre, however.

I had two cool comic-related moments while on vacation.  The first was finally getting to meet Monty Borror in person.  Monty's the Code Red artist, and he lives in San Francisco.  We talked for over an hour at a cool local dive and it was like we'd known each other for longer than we really have.  The one thing we didn't laugh about?  The trailer for Prometheus.  None one jokes about that. 

The other cool comic-related moment was going to the Cartoon Art Museum and seeing not only their great displays (with the Jonny Quest character study sheet and a sheet of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant thumbnail sketches being my favorites), but a collection of local Latino and Latina comic creators who were there for a Cinco de Mayo exhibit.  It was great to see so many people getting excited over indie comics.

Now that I'm back from California, it's time to get back to writing other things like music reviews, short stories, and maybe even an e-book.  I also need to update the website and explore my options with my Amazon.com creator page.

Stay tuned.

The last of George Romero's original zombie film trilogy is the most depressing, the most gory, and the most realistic of the three films.

In the mid-80's, the zombies have overrun most of the Earth and only small outposts of humanity survive.  One is a combination of soldiers, scientists, and civilians in southern Florida.  Housed in an underground bunker, the civilians and scientists venture out in a helicopter now and then to search for survivors and supplies.  As it becomes more and more evident that they're not going to find anyone, things begin to unravel.

Of course, they've been unraveling for years.  The film presents a microcosm of the conflict that would arise in a zombie apocalypse (not to mention the conflicts that had arisen in the political climate of the 1980's) between military forces, scientists, and civilians.

The military unit, headed by the psychotic Capt. Rhodes (wildly played in scenery-chewing glory by Joseph Pilato), has degenerated into a group of reckless goofs and thugs with rapidly falling morale.  The civilians are the two helicopter pilots, John (Terry Alexander) and McDermott (Jarlath Conroy).  The scientists, headed by Sarah (Lori Cardille) and Logan (Richard Liberty), are examining captured zombies in hopes of either finding a cure for infection or, in Logan's case, training the zombies so they can be controlled.  Logan has long since lost most of his rational mind and has no qualms about using the dead bodies of Rhodes' soldiers for his experiments.

Sarah is caught in the middle between the military units and the chopper pilots.  She needs the military units to capture zombies for research and for their protection, but she can't stand their brutality and knows they're growing out of control.  She's also romantically involved with one of Rhodes' men - Miguel (Antone Dileo), who is stressed beyond belief and has become terrified of the undead to the point of making costly mistakes.  She tries to convince the civilians that all her scientific effort will one day be worth it, but she's beginning to doubt even that.  John, the philosopher figure of the film, has accepted the new reality and suggests they pick up and move to an island to start anew.  McDermott has taken to booze, but is yet the voice of logic often in the film.

There isn't much zombie action until the third act, but one it takes off it is nuts.  Tom Savini's effects are still top-notch to this day.  It's an angry film, a dark film, and a good film that is often overlooked by fans of the first two "dead" films.

Jon Kulczar (creator of Wicket and Imp) and I took off at the crack of dawn the morning of the 21st.  We talked movies, comics, and music the whole trip and I decided to try another route to Columbus than the one I took for Horror Hound.  This route took us through Lima and a more diagonal route than others.  We made it to the show with a half-hour to spare, but I decided not to take the Lima route back home.  There were too many stoplights for my liking and there would be more traffic at night.

We got to our table and I discovered that my table was eight feet wide instead of the six I expected.  I strung up the Pickle Press banner and headed to the car for another load of boxes.  When I returned, Bob Corby (head guy of Back Porch Comics and boss of SPACE, and all-around great guy) was in front of my table with some indie comics folks.  It turned out that I hadn't noticed pieces of tape on my table that trimmed it to six feet.  Apparently they'd run out of six-footers and had to put tape marks on eight-foot tables so everyone had the same space.  Jon was to my right and also had to scoot down, which meant his neighbors, who had completely set up their table by this point, had to scoot down.

Once all that was straightened out, the show got underway.  As usual, it's a fun time.  One of the best parts of SPACE is seeing old friends and making new ones.  It was great to see Dustin and Bryan Carson, J.C. Filer, Uko Smith, Steve Hager, Tom Cherry, Joe Morris, Tom Scioli, and Todd Goodman.  I picked up some fun books this year and will review them after I've read them.  Another great thing about SPACE is that you can pick up a lot of great indie books for little cash.  You also don't have to worry about the books being mired in corporate decisions and headache-inducing cross-overs.  Everything is creator-controlled and owned.

I ended up doing better sales than I thought I had by the end of Saturday.  Once I counted my sales, I realized I'd made back my table fee and enough for a tank of gas and breakfast the next day.  Jon and I packed up and met with Jon's friend, Andy Fraser (creator of Bridgette's Belly), who joined us for dinner at W.G. Grinder's near the OSU campus.  This is also referred to by Jon as "the sandwich shop of the gods."  It's become a tradition for us to eat there after the first day of SPACE each year.  I also instituted the tradition of going to Used Kids Records and Buckeye Donuts afterwards.  The 21st was Record Store Day, so Used Kids had live bands playing and 20% off all used stuff.  I scored Clutch's Blast Tyrant and Fantomas' first album, as well as a 7" new Black Angels record on orange vinyl.  This record was half the reason I went to Used Kids and I scored the last copy.

Back at the hotel, we stopped at the bar for the "live art" party in which everyone draws on big sheets of paper.  The jam sketches are later auctioned for local charities.  I drew a few goofy "writer sketches" and hung out for a little while before going back to the room to lounge.  I was awakened by Jon getting back around 1:00am and then again at 2:30am when the fire alarm sounded.  The word was this was caused by some sort of domestic disturbance on the fifth floor and that eight Columbus PD officers showed up.

The breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant is not worth ten dollars, and I will be looking for other breakfast places next year.  The second day of the show was slow.  I made perhaps a third of my sales from the previous day, even after slashing prices in half for the last three hours of the show.  I used the downtime to work on the script for Side Boob #1 - a sexy superhero parody that I've had on the back burner for about two years.

I took the "Horror Hound route" home and made better time than the trip to Columbus (mainly because it's four lanes almost the entire trip).  We stopped at a Caribou Coffee on the way and I discovered their "Black Thai" chai.  It may be my new favorite coffee house treat.

In other news, April Hunter has approved the script for Stripper Viking #2 (which she described as "dir-tay").  I also sent Bonnie "Rain" Maxson the script for Rainstorm #1 and await to hear from her.  I'm also about half-done with the edits for Galactrix #2.  I've also sent in my table fee for Horror Hound Indianapolis Sept. 7-9th.  You'll see me, April, and Jay Fife there.

You'll also see us at Wizard World Philadelphia June 1-3rd.  It's my next show and it should be bonkers.  The venue is the biggest one I've worked in a long while.  Philly is also April's hometown, so we're expecting a good turn-out of her fans.
 

I just sent April Hunter the script for Stripper Viking #2.  If she approves it, I'll send it off for pencils and inks.  I also finished the script for Rainstorm #1 starring Bonnie "Rain" Maxson.  I'll need to review it for errors before I send it to her.  I plan on editing the script for Galactrix #2 next.

I also updated the Pickle Press website, so check that out.

And check out SPACE this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.  I'll be at table #90 next to my buddy Jon Kulczar.  It's a great show and I hope to premiere Haiku-mics Volume 1 there.  It's coming down to the wire to get it printed in time, so wish me luck.

Back to work.

I finally finished The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius.  It's a great biography of the rulers of Rome by someone who lived during a few of their reigns.  Suetonius pulls no punches and frequently points out the flaws of the Caesars as well as their triumphs.  One of my favorite things I learned was how Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates, was freed after ransom was paid, and then went back and had them all killed...as he told them he would do once he was freed.  The chapter on Nero is fascinating.  That guy was nuts.

I'll be returning to Columbus, Ohio for the annual Small Press Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) April 21-22nd.  I'll be making the trip, and set up next to, my pal Jon Kulczar.  I'll be at table #90 and he'll be at #91.  If you like indie comics, you owe it to yourself to attend this show.  It's a fun time and one of the best collections of indie talent in the Midwest, if not the country.  I still hope to premiere Haiku-mics Volume 1 there.  I'm waiting on two more pages of artwork.  

In other Pickle Press convention news, I'm already making plans for Horror Hound Indianapolis in September.  I hope to have a couple more books done by then.

Speaking of new books, half the art for More Tentacle Love is completed.  It looks great.  Philo's started on the second half of the book and it's well on track to be done by summer.  Wish me luck.  I've also finished the rough draft of Stripper Viking #2 and Galactrix #2.  In "old book news," Scared Ya! is nearly sold out.  If you don't have a copy, don't wait much longer. 

I'm off to update the Pickle Press website.  Stay tuned for more.

I'll be interviewed by the lovely Cy-Fy at Live Paranormal Radio tonight from around 8:10pm - 9:00pm EST.  Tune in and you can hear us talk about a wide variety of subjects.  The show is free flowing and easy going.  I'm sure we'll talk about writing and pop culture and monster movies.  Cy told me the last show involved a discussion on "Nazis and boobs," so the sky's the limit.

And in case you forgot who Cy-Fy is...


Hubba hubba!

Be there or be square!

April Hunter's video update from Horror Hound Columbus features yours truly talking about Code Red #2 and the show.  You also get to see a lot of April, which is always a bonus.

Check it out.

I got to the show in plenty of time to set up.  I discovered our tables were in "the tent room."  This was a large tent complete with ceiling fans, lights, and air conditioning that was attached to the southwest corner of the hotel.  It's a large space used a lot for wedding receptions and other such gatherings.  It was down a hall from the main exhibitors' room and far from the hotel lobby.  I thought this might be a "room of death" for sales, but I was happily mistaken.

Friday was fairly busy.  I didn't do a lot of sales, but Jay Fife and April Hunter did well.  A lot of people were walking around and getting the lay of the land.  I took the opportunity of light table traffic to run around and score autographs.  First up - Adrienne Barbeau.


As you can see, she still looks great at 67.  She was sweet and signed my copy of The Fog.

Up next, Tippi Hedren - who is still sharp as a tack and signed a great 8x10 of her and Alfred Hitchcock for me.


After that, Sherilyn Fenn.  She signed my Twin Peaks DVD box set and an 8x10 for Mandy and me.  She's still lovely and I was a bit starstruck to say the least.  The giddy look on my face says it all.


April and I then ran around so she could get some photos for her website.  She got a photo with Sherilyn Fenn and Norman Reedus, who remembered her from Horror Hound Indianapolis last year.  April geeked out over that.  Mr. Reedus then offered to take a photo with me, and who am I to say no to a cool Irishman?


I also got to meet a model / actress who goes by the name of Ms. Pretty Poison.  She had the coolest dress ever.


It was a fun day.  The only complaint?  Security was rather aggressive.


Saturday was nuts.  April got to model a Pinhead bra...


I got interviewed by the lovely Cy-Fy for Monsters & More Radio...


...saw this cool hand-painted Day of the Dead guitar signed by many members of the cast...


...found something dangerous...


...had fun when Acid Pop Tart joined the gang...


...met Julia Adams for a second time...


...talked writing and art with the very cool Lori Cardille from Day of the Dead...


...and met her co-star Antonie Dileo, who was also groovy...


...saw a zombie Rosie the Riveter...

...a sexy werewolf...


...and hung out with my friend Madison...


Apart from that, nothing much else really happened.  Oh, wait.  There was this...


I nearly made back my table before the day was done.  On Sunday, April and I got to meet Pam Grier.


Many thanks to all who stopped by our tables.  It was a good show for all four of us.  We're looking forward to the next one.  Thanks also to all who bought Code Red #2.


Next up...SPACE (back in Columbus, no less) April 21-22.  Don't miss it.

I was not selected by the convention jury to receive a table at this year's Summit City Comic Con in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I am, however, on the "alternates list."  If you wish to see me at the show next year, or to express your disappointment in them not choosing me and my wacky comics for this year's show, please send them an e-mail at info@summitcitycon.com.  Please don't make it foul.

I think I would've received a table if I could draw.  This is one of the bane's of being a comic book writer.  You can't draw Batman, let alone Rogue making out with Mystique.  A lot of my friends got a table at the show, and all of those friends are artists.  Convention attendees love sketches, and convention promoters (rightfully so) love promoting that attendees can get sketches from "Artist X."  No one promotes you can get your book signed by "Writer Y," unless you are Stan Lee or someone who has worked for Marvel and / or DC for at least five years straight.  At least Gary Friedrich (a writer and creator of Ghost Rider) got a table and can receive more donations for his legal battle with Marvel.  Please support him and my artist pals while you are there.

The show is a who's who of Midwest talent, so don't miss it.  It's well run and the downtown convention center in Fort Wayne is a nice place.

And don't forget to come see me at Horror Hound Weekend in Columbus, Ohio this weekend.