Don't even pretend, Eddie!

Super cool sketch of Tom Strong by Michael Golden


Xan and the man who puts the "Pop" in Snap, Crackle and Pop, Eddie Deezen


The lovely Dale Arden from the De Laurentiis Flash Gordon, Melody Anderson


Xan with Michael Gross. I should have asked if he has an UZI4U license plate!


Chris hasn't been a guest at the Motor City Comicon held in Novi, Michigan for a few years now, but we still go up every year as fans. It is a fun convention and always has great guests. This year, I was really excited because Eddie Deezen was there. Why? Because Eddie Deezen rules.

Eddie Deezen of course was in Grease, 1941, was Pop on the Rice Krispies commericals, and starred with the late great Wendy Jo Sperber in I Want To Hold Your Hand. He was also in a movie called Laserblast which was the experiment in what may be my favorite MST3K episodes. Which I asked him about, and he was cool with. I recommend everyone watch Grease tonight so you can all see Deezen hit Sid Caeser in the face with a pie.

We also met Melody Anderson, who played Dale Arden in the 1980s Flash Gordon, which is one of our favorite movies. She was incredibly sweet and talked to us for quite a while and seemed to like that we were total Flash Gordon geeks. She was nice and called us "Real fans" instead of "Freaks". She signed our poster "Go Flash Go!" We are very excited. Hopefully excited enough to finally hang it up on the wall, along with everything else we keep meaning to hang. If anyone has any motivation they can spare, please email us with a pickup time. Or even better for us, a dropoff time.

Also a super nice guy was Michael Gross. I loved Family Ties as a kid, then grew up to adore any and all things Tremors. Did anyone watch Tremors The Series? If so, then you know my feeling of loss and how odd it was that it was cancelled but that show where Shannen Doherty helped people scare their friends stayed on for like 2 more seasons. If not, shame on you! Anyway, he was a pleasure to meet. And I know what you are thinking, and the answer is no, I was a good girl and didn't bring up his appearance in Cool As Ice, the screen debut of one Robert Van Winkle.

Corin Nemec and Jonathan Frakes were there, but we sadly missed them. Perhaps next time. I seem to be at the same convention as Corin Nemec all the time, but I never seem to get the chance to talk to him. Maybe he could tell me why the hell Parker Lewis Can't Lose is not out on DVD yet.

We spent some time talking with Columbus pals Andy Bennet and Dave Aikins, who we oddly never seem to see when we are in Columbus. It is the same deal with Star Wars artist Joe Corroney. He lives like 10 minutes away, and we mainly see him at conventions in other states. We need to call people more often. We also got to hang out with Michael Golden and Renee Witterstaeter, but they live in Connecticut and New York, so conventions are our only real chance to hang with them. Chris was put on the Michael Golden sketch list while at October's Motor City Comicon. The resulting glory of said arrangement is that Tom Strong sketch you see posted here. We were glad to be able to pick it up from him rather than depend on a shipper to deliver it to us. So help me if that had been left on the porch in the rain...

Surprisingly, we didn't purchase much from the dealer tables. I forgot my database to check while flipping through back issues (yes, I have a database) so I didn't want to risk buying something I already have, since I have done that a shameful amount of times. I was also hoping for a Rancor, but no such luck. Oh well, the August show in Toronto is coming up soon (in August, of course!) and then Baltimore is not far behind. More aquisitions and brushes with greatness to follow for sure. After all, Malcolm McDowell is slated to be in Toronto, as well as Sean Astin. I am sure to have more stories of me embarrassingly gushing.
--X

Tintin

Here's a link to a story over at Newsarama.com about a Tintin movie that's in the works, with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg directing and producing. Sounded interesting until I got to the part about the movie being done completely in computer animation. Ugh. I am most definitely not a fan of computer animated cartoon films--every character and object ends up looking like a shiny plastic/vinyl toy--which was entirely appropriate and successful in Toy Story, but just ended up looking weird in other movies. While I've enjoyed other Pixar and Pixar-like movies(I loved The Incredibles), I always felt like they were done as computer animated films just because someone could do them that way, and not that they should have been done that way. The Tintin people claim they want to use 3-D computer animation to retain the feel and look of the comic...Does that sound a little contradictory to anyone but me? It'll work if they use computer animation the way they do in small doses on Futurama, or in the bizarrely repulsive yet fascinating The Drinky Crow Show that just aired last weekend on Adult Swim which is entirely computer-generated. On these two TV series the animation still retains a hand-drawn look. If the Tintin people go for a typical Pixar-ish look for their film, it most definitely won't retain the feel of the series. Frankly, if they're not going to animate it traditionally and retain the look of Herge's drawings, then they may as well just hire actors and film it. After all, Christopher Reeve's Superman looked nothing like a Curt Swan drawing, and the movie Batmen bear no resemblance to their printed counterparts, yet Superman worked fine in film, and some of the Batman movies were okay(I'm not talking about the writing here--just the look of the world and characters when translated to live-action film).

Rant over. Captain Negative signing off!

--C

Birthday Booty

Okay, my new photo? That was one of my birthday presents! My holy grail of Pez collecting, the Creature from the Black Lagoon! I cried when I saw it, as I have wanted this for like a decade. Chris gave me 30 other Pez, one for each year, and they are all great. Japanese mini Nintendo, Ultraman, frogs, a Jungle Book set, the Crazy Animals (all European releases) an E.T., MGM set (Tom, Jerry, Droopy, Spike) and an Earth from the Planet series. We are getting ready to go out so I can get more shelving for my new Pez. I collect Pez. Just in case you haven't been to my house. Because I collect Pez, this is like the best gift ever. Seriously. I can't believe I actually have a Creature! I am like a little kid, I won't put it down. If it weren't so delicate, I would probably sleep with it.


That last bit was written on my acutal birthday. It is now a couple of weeks later and I still cannot believe Chris got me a Creature! Since he is so old (The Creature was not manufactured after the 1960s except as The Fishman which really doesn't hold a candle to the Creature and the glory of his pearlescent stem. Sorry, no more Pez history lesson!) he does not have the usual "feet" that you see on Pez dispensers these days. The feet make them easier to stand up, and the ones without feet topple easily. So instead of displaying him on my Pez shelves, I put him in a shadowbox with a Creature From The Black Lagoon movie poster. It looks super cool, and he is well protected. Like I said, for me, he is the holy grail of Pez collecting.

As well as opening mad cool presents on my birthday, my friend Shelley came for a quick visit on her way to see her family in Southern Ohio. She arrived around 10 the night of my birthday, then we spent the next day just hanging out, record shopping, our usual. My gift from her was the Criterion edition of Slacker, which is fantastic. I always forget how good that movie is until I see it again. Some people swear by Dazed and Confused, I am a Slacker follower. Both are Richard Linklatter, so you really can't go wrong either way.

Shelley left to see her family Friday afternoon, and Friday night was the traditional Spaghetti Warehouse dinner with my parents and Juice. I went there with my oldest dear dear friend Lydia the year I turned 9, and we have been going ever since. Presents from Mom and Dad included an iTunes gift card and cash. Still deciding how to use the gift card, but the cash is gone. Spent on an eye massager and a Wii. More on the Wii later.

The weekend following the Thursday that was my birthday was S.P.A.C.E., the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo. For those of you who have never been, think like APE or SPX or MOCCA. For those of you who still have no idea what I mean, it is a comic convention for independant comics and self publishers, web comics, the indie scene of comics. Always fun, and I always get a lot of fun new stuff. My friends Steve and Bret (the old roomies) came from Chicacgo for the event. Steve does an amazing self published comic called Saki the Panda, which can be checked out at www.myspace.com/awkward____pause. That's 4 underscores, or you can find him on my friends page as Pandaman. Bret's girlfriend Crystal also does a comic called Lucille Brawl which she was selling at the show. I had not met her until she came out here for S.P.A.C.E. and I just loved her. She's also on MySpace as Lucille Brawl. Her roommates Cassie and Evey (I think I spelled those right!) also came along, and we all hung at my house Saturday night and went to the convention (hung over, all of us) Sunday. I once again spent Sunday reading comics. All in all, a fantastic birthday week. And I didn't even mention my carrot birthday cake. Those bakers at Whole Foods, they do some nice work.

--X

(Reprinted with Kind permission from Xan's MySpace page)

Busy Month, Part 2: Toronto

Toronto's CN Tower, No. 2 in our tour of North America's
Space Needles

Shortly after our return from Seattle, we packed up and headed to the airport again, this time for a trip to Toronto. This was the first time either of us had actually been to Canada. Unfortunately I had convention duties at the Toronto Comicon a few hours after we checked into the hotel, so the photos above and below showing some of the unusual architecture around the hotel document pretty much all of what I saw of Toronto and Canada this trip. I won't complain, however, because the convention was another nicely run and very successful affair and everyone I met--both fans and organizers--treated Xan and myself very well! Since I spent the entire weekend hunched over a clipboard sketching again(except for a wonderful dinner Saturday night), I'll turn this blog over to Xan, who actually got out and saw some of the city/countryside thanks to friends Sara and Henning.
--C

Hey all, Xan here, finally writing about our Toronto trip! As Chris mentioned, this was the first trip to Canada for both of us. Which is pretty shameful for me, considering I live and grew up in Ohio. Anyway, for leaving the country, it was pretty painless. The Columbus Internation Airport can pretty much call itself "International" only because AirCanada flies out of it, so our flight was mercifully a straight shot with no connections. The down side to that was that both going into and coming home from Canada, we were on a prop plane. I had never been on such a small plane before. There were so few people that our one flight attendant just took drink orders and walked a few feet back to the drink station to prepare them as a drink cart was a bit pointless on such a small aircraft. And my opinion of prop planes? Loud. Not just white noise loud like a jet can be, but loud and you vibrate. It was very Indiana Jones. I kept picturing a little red line tracing our path from Columbus to Toronro.

The organizers of the Toronto Comicon were nice enough to provide us limo service from the airport to the hotel, so getting to the hotel was even less painless than getting into Canada. They gave us travel vouchers, and when we showed ours to the limo driver he said "Everything's cool" and took our bags and got us on our way. And I have to say we could not have had a more stereotypical welcome into the country. Not only did we drive by a Molson bottling plant, but we swear, the air smelled of bacon once we got off the plan. We just looked at each other and said "Canada really does have the bacony stink of Canada!" (see "The Final Sacrifice" episode of MST3K for more information on the bacony stink of Canada)

Our hotel was right by pretty much every touristy thing in downtown Toronto. It was within walking distance of the convention center, right below the CN Tower and had rooms overlooking the stadium where the Toronto Blue Jays play. So there was plenty of food and souvenir shopping. I'm still working on my box of maple fudge! The gift shop of the CN Tower was as far as we got. No way in hell were we going up in that thing. No way in hell, I don't care if it is the world's tallest structure. That means it is high up. No way.

After a quick lunch and unpacking session, I called my friend Henning who I learned conveniently works in downtown Toronto and could come pick me up. So Chris went to the con (where he says he was swamped from the second he got to his table! I am so proud of him!) and I went with Henning to Markham, a suburb about 30-40 minutes outside of Toronto depending on traffic. He lives there with his wife, who is my friend Sara that I met in the 1st grade. Her blog is One Blue Tree that you can check out by clicking our link. She has photos of what it is like up in the CN Tower, if you are curious.

At the time I went to their house in Markham, Sara was pregnant with who we now know as her daughter Vala. We hoped she would arrive while I was there, that way I could stay home with their 2 year old son Gavin (who I love) and their dog Bonnie. But alas, Vala waited another 2 weeks before she arrived, so I spent Friday night hanging out with Sara, Gavin and Henning, and Sara's very active pregant belly. They took me to this fantastic restaraunt called Firefly, which was this odd Chinese Russian fusion that was amazingly tasty. More Chinese than Russian, but all the dinners came with an order of borscht, and beef stroganof was on the menu. We then went back to their lovely townhouse filled with even lovlier furniture and inspired by our restaraunt, we watched Serenity outtakes and geeked out until we fell asleep. The usual for me and Sara.

The next day, Sara and Henning piled Gavin and Bonnie into the car to drive me back to the hotel. They took me the long way so I could see some of the countryside. That part of Canada is very similar to the American midwest. Very urban, but if you drive a bit and pass the suburbs, you are way out into the country.

They dropped me at the hotel, and I went up to the room to shower and get ready for the convention. I got dressed, watched a little bit of King Kong, then made my way to the convention to meet up with Chris. The convention was small (I started calling it the appetizer convention since Toronto holds the 3rd largest comicon in North America in August) but was quite fun. I of course spent my day shopping while Chris was pretty much at his table the whole time. This being his first time in Canada, it was a whole new group of fans for him, all of whom were great. After the con on Saturday, the organizers took a bunch of us out for Italian, and I am kicking myself because I forget the name of the place. We ate, drank, hung out with other comic creators (I finally got to talk to Kevin Nowlan for more than 3 seconds) and had a generally good time. Needless to say, we were pretty bushed when we got back to the hotel.

Sunday was more convention, but we had to leave a few hours early to make our flight home. But it was still fun as all get out and we were so glad we were able to go. Thanks again Amat for inviting us, and thank you Tiz for putting a word in for Chris. We owe you guys-you are the best.

The trip home was again loud but uneventful, which is my favorite kind of air travel. My mom and dad picked us up from the airport, and Mom had food waiting for us, which was so great as we were so tired. And, since I pretty much had the rest of the week off for my birthday, I could just veg all Sunday night and Monday because Mom had bought meatloaf and pizza. So Sunday night we spent reading all the comics and books we bought, eating meatloaf and watching The Simpsons. Really, the perfect way to wind down from a convention, and the perfect way to start a week of birthday decadence!
--X

Our hotel(at right) with a sculpture celebrating
25 years of baseball in Toronto in the foreground


Giant woodpeckers threaten the convention
center(left) and Xan(center)


Young Gavin does his best Count Dracula impression


Sara and Gavin await the arrival of baby #2;
note bunny suit at left

Busy Month, Part 1: Seattle

Above: Michael Golden's colorful poster for the 2007 Emerald City Comicon

I haven't posted in a while because we've been incredibly busy lately...

The last weekend in March, we flew to Seattle for the Emerald City Comicon. The show's promoters were kind enought to arrange our flight so that we had an extra day before the convention for fun and sightseeing, and we sure milked that day dry, visiting the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project and the Museum of Science Fiction, followed by much music shopping at the amazing Easy Street Records. Xan's pick of the day from Easy Street: Andrew Bird's new album, Armchair Apocrypha; my faves: the At Least At Last rarities box set by the Posies and the Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Edition from Andy Partridge of XTC.

Photos, from top:

-Xan poses with some local kitsche

-The Space Needle

-Xan and Robby the Robot at the Museum of Science Fiction

-The original Twiki from my beloved Buck Rogers In The 25th Century(I know, I know--there's something wrong with me)--also found at the incredible Museum of Science Fiction

-A real live Mystery Machine on the streets of Seattle

-My new favorite record store

Saturday we attended the convention, which was a phenomenal success and loads of fun. I was so busy selling artwork and sketching I never left my table! I had a good time chatting with fans--everyone I met was as nice as could be. I was able to see a few old friends(Gene Ha, Adam Hughes), put some faces to some names(Hi, Neil Hill!) and I even got to talk music with the talented Matt Southworth, who has a band called The Capillaries which is well worth checking out. Xan shopped the con floor and artists alley, scoring some rare PEZ and meeting up with old pals like Georges Jeanty and Michael Avon Oeming. The day ended on a high note as fellow guest Michael Golden, whose art made me want to draw comics in the first place, invited Xan and me to dinner. We eagerly accepted the invitation and had a wonderful time with Michael and his agent Renee Witterstaetter at a local microbrewery.

From top:

-Renee Witterstaetter & Michael Golden

-Checking out Matt Southworth's artwork

-Gene Ha, Frank Cho, Ron Marz

Sunday saw us back at the con, where I pretty much just drew and talked for six or seven hours while Xan had more fun out on the con floor. She met Paul Chadwick, creator of Concrete, one of the best comics series of the last two decades and commissioned a drawing of "li'l Baby Concrete" from Paul. I can attest that she was absolutely delighted with the results! Xan continued to fill up her sketchbook with some lovely drawings from Jim Woodring(Frank) and Karin Yamagiwa Madan, creator of 8-Bit Chicken and other Stumpytown characters and merchandise, which you can check out here. The promoters took all the guests out that night, and we dined and chatted with Frank Cho, Ron Marz, Kurt Busiek and Michael and Renee.

From top:

-Paul Chadwick displays the "Li'l Baby Concrete" he drew for Xan

-Karin Yamagiwa Madan displays some sort of Chicken plush doll--not sure if it's 8-Bit Chicken, though

Xan says this convention was the best she's ever attended. I've never been treated better by promoters, and I've never been to a better organized show. Add in the nice fans, personal highlights like dinner with one of my idols, and the fun we had in the city, and I can't help but agree with her!

Next: Busy Month, Part 2: Toronto

--C

Jess-Belle Wants To Rock And Roll All Night...

I know the above is awfully similar to the photo below, but I couldn't resist. While flipping channels last night we landed on VH1 Classic and something about the pyrotechnics or all the shiny leather and metal caught Jess-Belle's eye...or maybe it was the music. Should I be more worried about her appreciation of classic Kiss or her growing TV addiction?

--C

Happy Birthday, Jess-Belle!

Above: Jess-Belle today
Below: Jess-Belle exactly one year ago

Our little girl is one year old today! It's been a blast watching her grow and change(see for yourself how much by comparing the two photos above). One thing that has remained the same is her seemingly endless supply of energy! She's also still cute and loveable as ever. Tonight we celebrated with some spirited laser-pointer play and a little cat film festival consisting of a slideshow of all the photos we've taken of her plus all the video we have.
--C

Front row at the film festival

Cleveland Alterna-Rocks, Part 2

Yesterday we enjoyed a great day off in Cleveland. Once again, we were visiting the city for a concert, but we went up early and shopped in Coventry at Big Fun, scoring some Pee Wee's Playhouse cards and a floaty toothbrush (a novel twist on the floaty pen concept!) for our collections, among other items. We also picked up some toys for our little girl at a posh pet store and grabbed a bite to eat at Que Tal. In the evening we headed to the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern to see a live show by Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips, formerly half of one of my new favorite bands, Luna. A thunderstorm that threatened to turn into a tornado caused some delays and the show started late, but the music was good(the setlist was heavy with Luna songs so I was happy)--even opening act Michael Holland was quite good, and as in the past, we were able to stay and meet and talk with the performers afterwards. They were incredibly approachable and really nice to us--especially Britta, who chatted with Xan for a while before grabbing Dean to autograph a poster and a setlist for us!
--C

The Spirit

Here's a peek at my take on Will Eisner's Spirit. More soon...

--C

R.E.M.

Button from Lifes Rich Pageant Tour, 1986

Okay--I promised/threatened in a post from last year that I'd soon be writing a longer piece on R.E.M., and here it is. So, if you don't like R.E.M. and/or have never had a favorite band or have never been moved by music(any kind of music, but especially rock and roll), then just skip this and come back next week...

Last night I watched R.E.M. get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I first discovered them my freshman year at college and it changed my life. No joke. I was a horribly lonely and insecure skinny little art major at James Madison University, looking for something/anything to connect with, something that spoke to me. I came to college with all the holdovers from my early 80's suburban high school years: stale prog rock(Genesis, Yes), Claremont & Byrne comics that I thought were the epitome of the comic book art form, polo shirts, and lots of other boring stuff that I was quickly growing disenchanted with. I spent my first semester at JMU feeling miserable and scared, not really socializing and just sort of going through the motions to get decent grades. I started hanging out alone most of the time, walking around Harrisonburg and spending a lot of time haunting record and book stores. On one such record store trip, I realized I was sick of everything I had been listening to and I wanted something completely new that I had never heard before. I scanned the albums until something caught my eye in the "R" section: Reckoning by R.E.M...the album cover was bizarre and captivating, with strange song titles like "So. Central Rain" and "7 Chinese Brothers." I dimly remembered reading a positive review of one of this group's albums somewhere, and I think I might have seen the "So. Central Rain" video on MTV(this was back in 1984 when they still played music videos). Whatever it was, something about this weird little album did speak to me, so that was that: I was trying something new and R.E.M. was it. Back in my dorm room, headphones on, I listened to the album and was instantly and powerfully hooked! I don't think I can describe the music very well and do it any justice, it was just a "Beatles-on-Ed-Sullivan" kind of eye-opening experience for me.

Things started to change very quickly after I bought that first album...Not only did I become an R.E.M. fan, but through interviews with the band and by researching songs they covered I found dozens of other new and interesting musicians to get excited about(Robyn Hitchcock, The Velvet Underground, The Replacements, Television, X, Billy Bragg, and on and on)--I was saved from dreary Prog-Rock Hell! I also began to come out of my shell--finally making friends at college, going on group road trips all over Virginia to see R.E.M. play live. I'll never see another concert as good as that first R.E.M. show I saw in 1985: me and six or seven friends who knew every word to “Gardening At Night”(well, as much as anyone can know all the words to any of those early songs), an encore set that went on longer than the main set, covers of everything from "Toys In The Attic" to "Behind Closed Doors!" All these changes in my musical life inspired me to experiment with my own chosen art form, trying non-superhero comics (like Love & Rockets, at least after the early issues) for the first time, which led to me trying to discover other art styles and art forms and break out of my very stilted comic book only drawing style. I actually stopped drawing comics for a while(something I'd been doing since I was a little kid) and started to let go of old influences as I took in new ones, concentrating on figure drawing from models and life drawing--the two most important art-related things I took away from my college experience.

Okay, I know it may seem like a stretch, but it's hard for me to put in words--I'm an artist not a writer! All I know is that I had sort of a creative and social awakening at the same time I was discovering this band, and it is absolutely impossible for me to think of that period of my life without hearing R.E.M. songs in my head.

I continued to follow the band, and their music continued to be the soundtrack to my life. I distinctly recall listening to Automatic For The People repeatedly while working on Legionnaires, going to see a great show on the Monster tour with a new group of good friends, and how much "Why Not Smile" from Up helped make some bad times a little better later on. Sounds corny, but that's me--sappy and sentimental...

In 2004, thanks to the love of my life, Xan, I was able to meet R.E.M. after a show in Cincinatti, almost exactly twenty years after I stood in that Harrisonburg record store looking at the cover of Reckoning. We splurged on tickets for good seats and went on our own little two-person road trip. I brought a camera and took some pretty decent photos from the sixth row, and I could have gone home right then and would have considered it a great concert just because of our phenomenal seats, the great setlist, and all the photos. I had heard the band would meet and greet fans after shows, but I just thought it'd never work out, and if it did I'd spaz out and feel like an idiot fanboy. Xan, a veteran of waiting around after concerts to meet bands and get autographs, prodded and reassured, and we ended up waiting with other fans after the house lights came up. The band did indeed come out and shake hands and talk with everyone--they were as nice as could be, and even a little shy, (except for Mike Mills, who looks like he should be the shy one) and very humble-- every one of them. Of course I was a complete spaz and blanked completely on what to say to them(I think I managed "thank you"), but we took some photos and got our ticket stubs autographed, and I was buzzing all the way home(non-alcoholically, of course). Incidentally, I eventually had Peter Buck sign my old copy of Reckoning at a Robyn Hitchcock show(see the archives for November 2006), but by then I was a veteran of these things myself, having met tons of bands after shows and I knew enough to bring something to get signed.

So...as I said at the beginning of this monstrosity of a post, I watched the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction last night. I found it unexpectedly moving--from Eddie Vedder's funny and touching induction speech(which strangely mirrored a lot of my own feelings and experiences with R.E.M.) to seeing how choked up and nervous Mike Mills and Michael Stipe were; as well as seeing and hearing Bill Berry playing with the band again after leaving ten years ago. There was also some of that old-style R.E.M. unpredictability with Peter Buck throwing his monitor offstage as well as the band unearthing "Gardening At Night" during their performance. What most moved me was thinking about how much had changed since 1984--who I was back when I first heard that unknown little band as opposed to who I was last night, watching a superstar rock band with a twenty-six year career behind them. I don’t know—like I said. I’m an artist, not a writer—I’m not sure what I wanted to say or exactly how to end this except that it was just fun being excited about my favorite band again and being happy for them, like watching your team win the Superbowl, maybe? Oh, well—enjoy the photos, at least!
--C



Reckoning LP cover, signed by Peter Buck 23 years after I bought it!


Ticket stub from 1986--check out that price!


Cincinatti, 2004--"Begin The Begin"


Cincinatti, 2004


Cincinatti, 2004

Film Premiere

I've posted a 30-second film on both of our MySpace pages showing our little psycho kitty in action. Follow either MySpace link at right (or if you're really lazy, just click here or here) to be taken to our mini-movie so you can figure out what's going on in the above picture! I'm pretty sure you'll have to be a MySpace member and be logged in to see it. If you're not a MySpace member, it's pretty easy to sign up, and you don't have to maintain a MySpace page if you don't want to(trust me--my own page was dormant for three years!). Give it a try!
--C

So since I have had glasses since the age of 13, I am trying to assure Chris that all will be right with the world and his eyes soon. New glasses are always hard. You either feel much taller or much shorter, and the sharpness of the world practically stabs you. Hopefully, he will adjust nicely. I am adjusting nicely to his glasses...I think he is super cute in them!

Due to illness, injury, and ice, I have nothing to talk about lately. So I guess I will go now...

The big news for me this week was that I finally had to get glasses. About two years ago I noticed I couldn't focus easily anymore on 3-D objects after long stretches of drawing, and it just kept getting worse. Additionally, I was getting frequent headaches and having to hold items I was reading out to a distance of about two feet to see them clearly. Time for glasses. Oh, well...the specs came in today, and I've been trying to get used to them all day...

--C

P.S. Received my comp copies of Midnighter #5 today, so that means it should be in stores this week or next. Possibly the best looking one so far--in color. Issue #2 is still my favorite in black & white.

A Virtual Tour
of Plankton Studios
Here's a cyber walk-through of Plankton studios for those who've never visited and for those who have and have perhaps wondered "what is all that crap?"

Click on each photo for a larger view(clicking twice may give you an even larger image). I've tried to point out and label some of the more interesting, fun and/or hard-to-identify items. Enjoy!
--C


My workspace


Xan's workspace


The Computer Corner? The Geek Grotto? I don't know
what to call the above area...


Reference shelf 2

Comic Book Update

New Midnighter cover pencils

Just a quick one this time: I'm working on future Midnighter covers. We have a new writer on that book, but I'll wait for some sort of official announcement before I say who it is--no big secret deal or anything--I just want to wait until all the papers are signed and everything's nailed down. Also, the Walter Simonson Spirit story is in, so I'll be starting that this week.
--C

Last week, we were treated to a visit from Xan's childhood friend Sara, along with Sara's son Gavin and Debbie, her mother. Sara, who is expecting her second child, grabbed a lightsaber(something you can actually do in our house) and posed for the photo below...

Sarah the Pregnant Jedi defends Xan's mom Lin and our Yoda collection

Gavin had a great time playing with our old action figures, which we keep in a drawer in the studio for just such occasions.

Gavin and the little girl

Later, an exhausted Jess-Belle climbed into the action figure drawer for a little rest...

Our favorite little action figure

On Sunday, Xan, her mom Lin and I all drove to Debbie's home in Dayton to visit some more with Sara and Gavin, who are in from Toronto. We also got to spend time with Sara's brother Eric, their aunt Marcy(who brought her famous peanut butter fudge), and our friend Sherry and her son Ben, and Sherry's sister Sally. Good times.

We may get to see Sara again soon if we actually make it to the Toronto Comicon in April, where I think I'm supposed to be a guest. I'm listed on the website for the show, but I haven't heard from the organizers since the initial invitation was extended last year, so it seems a little uncertain at this point. Here's a link to the Toronto Comicon's site. Stay tuned...

Speaking of links, here's a strange little thing I found today. Scroll down a bit and you'll find a reference to a scene I drew in Midnighter #3.

--C

Ocean Headed to the Silver Screen?

Well, no...apparently not just now, anyway...If you follow this link, you'll find an article from good old Newsarama.com which reports that Gianni Nunnari, producer of the movie 300(based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller), mentioned in a press release that he'd be interested in adapting Ocean(the graphic novel written by Warren Ellis and drawn by me) as a feature film. as Warren points out in the update to the story also found at the above link, no one has actually approached either one of us about this(we own the thing, so presumably someone will have to approach us before buying the film rights), so for now, it's just some guy in Hollywood dropping the name of a book we created.

Still had me feeling pretty good, though. Even the nasty little comments by those internet pundits I love so much did little to bring me down this time...

...because in the end it's still some guy in Hollywood talking about making a movie about a book I co-created and drew and had published by one of the top two publishers in the comics industry.

--C

Brrrr....
Not much news from the Sprouse House as we hunker down inside and try to avoid the brutal cold weather this week and last.

I finished up the first big Midnighter storyline and began working on covers for the next few issues, one of which I've posted below. Next up is a short story for the new Spirit comic (to be written by Walt Simonson, one of my comic book idols), and then back to the Midnighter for more dark humor and all-out (some might say "over-the-top")action.

The cover of Midnighter #7--freefalling with zombie-cyborgs in pursuit!

Xan has kept busy during her off hours bonding with her dad as she helps him figure out and fill up his brand new iPod. It's actually really cute watching them together, talking music and trading songs(doo-wop, soul, and classic rock, mostly).

Xan's dad: hyp-mo-tized!

Jess-Belle is loving having her humans stuck at home with her so much, but she doesn't seem to be enjoying the constant static shocks that come with winter. This hasn't stopped her from sleeping on top of the cable box, my computer monitor, my drafting table light box, and various other electrical appliances for warmth, however.

Yes, she really is sleeping like that in this photo...

Just around the corner for us: a trip to Seattle in late March/early April for the Emerald City Comicon, another jaunt up to Cleveland's Beachland Ballroom, and just maybe a comic convention in Toronto in April.

--C