Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 05142017

(Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1  #44 1994.  Cover by Kevin West and Steve Montano.  Stolen from Marvel Database.)

(Side note; That cover makes it look like Yondu is wearing one of Donald Trump's neckties as a belt.  Alternate joke; That cover makes it look like Yondu's little Yondu wears a necktie.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week weeks ending 05142017.

"A good artist can save a bad script--a good writer can never save a bad artist.
Thus, it's a collaboration, usually an even split in effort, despite the protestations of the management representative class, who have been sold a bill of goods by a number of writers, and who have a vested interest in the maintenance of the delusion that comic book artists are tools, unfortunately necessary parasites present to illuminate the writer's concept.
Those of us with long term careers, particularly those of us like me, who write their own stuff, draw other people's stuff, and write stuff for other people to draw, know and respect this collaborative balancing act as the genuine reality of our field.
Anything else is smoke and bullshit."  -Howard Chaykin

• Hello sisters and brothers of teh intronets and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shannon and I'll be your host.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that have ever mothered.  You did it.  You created life.  That's a hell of a thing. Good job. 
• The comics family lost one of its champions recently. Mr. Tim O'Shea has left us after a long and valiant fight with cancer.  I only met Tim in person a time or two but he was just the nicest most sincere guy and he was one of the first people in the comics press to give any sort of attention to so many creators in the small press and self publishing.  I'm going to take the liberty of stealing from Patrick Dean's facebook post about Tim because it sums up my feelings perfectly; "Tim O'Shea was one of the first people to report our early FLUKE mini-comics shows. He and his son would show up, buy some mini-comics and chat with everyone about whatever projects they were working on. At CBR's Robot 6 blog, he wrote a lot of creator focused articles and news items, with a genuine interest in people outside the larger comic companies. He was one of the first people in comics journalism to acknowledge my work and interviewed me a couple of times, to which I felt really touched that somebody cared. Tim cared about a lot of people.  It broke my heart to hear that he was battling the same cancer that took the life of my father eight years ago, and so many other talented people in recent years. From looking at his Facebook support page, By A Landslde, it was obvious that he had a loving family and circle of friends who were with him every step of the way. Tim was a funny, warm and loving fellah. He'll be sorely missed."  Tim's facebook page has become a sort of ongoing memorial and is worth the scroll through if you are in facebookland.  Rest in peace Tim.
• Speaking of our man Patrick Dean, he's been posting some great dream comics recently on his facebook and/or his instagram and/or his twitter.  He's kinda the best ya know. 
• I saw that  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 movie.  I really enjoyed it.  It's a movie with a talking raccoon so there was around a 100,000% chance I was going to like it.  There isn't much to talk about with the movie though.  The plot is basically a throw away episode of Star Trek you forgot on purpose.  It doesn't really mean anything or move the characters at all.  The only character with an actual arc is Yondu.  Drax is really funny but the movie is about Yondu.  The stuff with Star-Lord's father is just an excuse for a movie and not really any kind of movie that matters.  You don't care who his dad was/is because we've never seen this character before.  There is no emotional weight to the revelation.  It's just, hey Pete, I'm your dad, well... okay then.  And none of that matters because the reason these movies work is because they have likable performers playing colorful characters in front of a background inspired by some of the best creative minds of the past 100 years.  You can't screw that up.  The only way these things can fail is if they come in over budget. I thought the movie looked great.  Certainly the best looking Marvel/Disney movie so far.  I have never ever used drugs for recreational purposes because I am an American and that is illegal but, I'm gonna assume that if tripping balls and rolling into the movie theater is your deal then you would have liked this one.  The soundtrack was fun.  Could have used a few more rockers but it is of course your late 70s early 80s mom's favorite jams so they all had to fit that theme.  I feel like it could have used at least one song by the Statler Brothers. 
• I like to take a moment to acknowledge the creators whenever one of these big comics movies come out;
• The Guardians of the Galaxy were created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan
• Give some credit as well to Jim Starlin and Bill Mantlo for creating several of the characters and themes as well as Jim Valentino for the 90s version of the team and to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for the more recent version of the team that re-launched in 2008.  And don't forget Jack Kirby for being the driving force behind the look and feel of the Galaxy in which the Guardians exists. 
• Star-Lord created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan.
• Gamora created by Jim Starlin.
• Drax created by Jim Starlin.
• Groot created by Jack Kirby, Larry Leiber, Dick Ayers and Stan Lee.
• Rocket Raccoon created by Bill Mantlo and Kieth Giffen.
• Yondu created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan.
• Nebula created by Roger Stern and John Buscema.
• Mantis created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck. 
• Stakar Ogord (Starhawk) created by Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema. 
• Ego the Living Planet created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.
• Ayesha/Kismet/Her created by Len Wein, David Kraft, and Herb Trimpe.
• Taserface created by Jim Valentino. 
• Howard the Duck created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik.
• Cosmo the Spacedog created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
• Charlie-27 created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan.
• Martinex created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan.
• Aleta Ogord created by Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema. 
• Krugar created by Jim Valentino. 
• Adam Warlock created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
• The Grandmaster created by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema
• The Kree created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
• Mainframe created by Jim Velentino and Herb Trimpe.  (Sort of?  Thier version is kind of a version of Vision in the future so... it's complicated.)
• The Celestials created by Jack Kirby.
• The Sovereign are arguably based on the what would be creations of the Enclave which were created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.  The movie version seems to go back to Ayesha/Kismet/Her who was created by Len Win, David Kraft and Herb Trimpe.  It's complicated. 
• The Watchers created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.
• The Ravagers as seen with Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stalone's character) are basically the original Guardians of the Galaxy so credit Arnold Drake and Gene Colan.  However... they were not called Ravagers until they showed up more recently (I think) so credit that to Sam Humphries and Javier Garron. (Maybe?)  But the idea of the Ravagers as bunch of space pirates may really just have to be credited to James Gunn and the movies. Also complicated. 
• Stan Lee created by Jack and Celia Lieber.
• David Hasselhoff created by Joseph and Delores Hasselhoff.
• Fluke happened since our last "episode". I went.  A great time was had.  By me.  I'm the one that had the great time.  Perhaps others had a great time as well.  I don't know for sure.  I'm not a telepath and I'm kind of self-centered so I don't always catch on to how great or not other people's times are.  I'm gonna talk more about Fluke and about how Patrick Dean's cat just won't stop drinking out of the dogs' bowl no matter how many times it is explained to her but I'm not gonna tell that story right now. I'm going to tell that story in a different post.  Hang in there. 
• Another thing that happened was Free Comic Book Day, also known as FCBD, also known to shoplifters as Saturday.  I went to Cavalier Comics in Wise VA go get my FCBD on.  Cavalier has been my main store for the past several years since I moved back to the Clinch Valley.  This was the store's first FCBD in a new larger location and it seems to have been one of their best years ever.  The checkout line was probably the longest I've seen there.  My pal Jeremy Massie was there with his new comic Amazing Age.  It is part of Alterna's new line of monthlies.  I got all the first issues and enjoyed them especially since they only cost $1.50.  Love the newsprint.  Amazing Age's colors looked really great on that newsprint.  Get yourself a copy before they all sell out. I have not had a chance to read through all of the FCBD offerings but the X-O Manowar comic was good.  I'm excited as always about the 2000 AD comic.  My kids were pretty happy with the selection of books they picked out.  
• Val D'Orazio read Secret Empire 1 so we didn't have to.  I read the Secret Empire FCBD offering and was put to sleep by the color pallet.  
• Have you guys been listening to the Process Party podcast over at Study Group?  I'm checking out the Julia Wertz episode because she's one of our funniest cartoonists and because I'm about two thirds of the way through her book Infinite Wait.  It's good!
• Infinite Wait is one of may great books brought to us by Koyama Press which is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year. 
• Side note, I fail to understand how anything can be 10 years old.  I'm a mental eight year old and just can't deal with things like time and change. 
• And finally... Francis doesn't care what the slime does as long as he gets paid. 

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Never stop running unless it's to pick up a friend.  Read comics and chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until you're dead. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics.  Do you make comics?  Maybe you should hire me to write comics. 
p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 04282017

(The Savage Dragon #34 1996.  Cover by Erik Larsen.  Stolen from Cover Browser.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 04282017.

"The takeaway here, as I see it, as that there is no lack of customers for periodical comics, and there’s no lack of passion and energy for the format, and that there is no indication that “casual” readers won’t be interested in purchasing periodical comics (A big chunk of those “Saga” readers, like the “Sandman” wave that happened two decades before, are not normal and traditional “Wednesday Warriors”, yet there are still stoked to buy periodical comics!) – but that Marvel (and DC, largely) have harmed their own sales and chased their own customers away. There’s a problem when I sell 160 “Saga” and 16 copies of “ASM”… but this is problem of Marvel’s making over the accumulation of time." -Brian Hibbs.

• Guys guys guys guys guys guys guys guys guys!!!  The world is spinning at 1000 miles per hour and we are all going to die!  The future's so bright I gotta wear a radiation suit!  Doomed!  Doomed!  What can save us?  Comics?  Don't be ridiculous.  Of course not.  Nothing will save us.  There is nothing left to do but, ya know, whatever you feel like doing I guess. Me?  I'm going to go to the Fluke Mini-Comics and Zine Festival in Athens GA this Saturday, April 29th.  It's going to be great.  Robert Newsome, Patrick Dean and other people will be there.  Other people!  Come find my table.  I probably won't be at said table.  I'll be walking around blabbing my mouth off about professional wresting or guitars or some other nonsense but that's okay.  Just leave a huge stack of cash on my table and take whatever you want.  It's gonna be great I tells ya.  I can't wait to hear about how great you think I am.  Thanks in advance! 

• Hey.  Are you super depressed about the world and clinging to comics as your chance for escape and/or inspiration?  Well good news, comics are super depressing too!  One of the things about comics currently giving me the sweet sweet butt hurt is Marvel's new "Digital Edition" policy.  To explain why this bothers me so much let's go back to my tender youth, way back to the year 2012 when the first The Avengers movie was on the big screen and the Avengers vs X-Men (AvsX) miniseries was on the comics stands.  At that point about the only mainstream comic I was reading was Savage Dragon but my daughter was just getting into comics.  She liked The Avengers movie ans she loved old X-Men comics so we bought AvsX.  It came with something that was new to me, the Digital Edition codes.  You could redeem these codes and read the comic you bought online or on your cell pad pod phone. You could also link your Marvel account up with a Comixology account and read them in the Comixology app.  It was around this time that the family first got cell pad pod phones so my daughter and I really dove into the Comixology app thanks to the digital codes.  The best thing was that I could buy the paper comic (because I'm an old man who loves paper) but my kid could read the same comic digitally without me buying two copies.  This.  THIS.  THIS MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE PREVIOUS TEN YEARS got me back into going to the comic shop, starting back a "pull list" and buying ongoing Wednesday floppy comics again.  My daughter and I bought stacks of them.  And thanks to the digital codes we could read them anywhere any time.  And if the last comic we read made us curious about something we could pull up related issues on the Comixology app and buy those too!  (You can't do that anymore by the way.  Amazon killed the store feature in the Comixology app because they hate making money or something.  Again, always be super depressed.)  So yeah, it was good times.  It was a brilliant offering from Marvel and I spent years yelling at other publishers to follow suit.  Only Dark Horse tried.  DC offered a version where the comic with a digital code costed more.  That was stupid and awful and embarrassing for everyone.  But the Marvel deal was good and like all good things some stupid jerks would eventually decide to make it go away.  Recently Marvel has replaced their Digital Editions with a digital code where YOU DO NOT GET THE COMIC YOU PAID FOR.  Under the previous system, if you bought five Marvel comics in one week you got a code for each of those five comics you paid for. Now, you do not get the comic you paid for.  Instead each week's shipment of Marvel comics all have the same three promotional comics.  So, if you bought five Marvel comics, you just got three digital comics, none of which are the comic you paid for.  Let me say that part again; in the past, if you bought 100  Marvel comics you got 100 digital comics.  Today, if you buy 100 Marvel comics in one week you get three digital comics.  The digital comics in question are generally the first issue of something that has recently been collected in a trade paperback.  So these comics are not a promotional tool for you to buy more digital comics, or to return to your comics shop and add a comic to your "pull list".  These are comics promoting you to by a trade paperback. Or, to put it another way, if you are a regular Marvel customer, these are comics you already own. This my friends, is a situation I refer to as total bullshit. So, here's the thing;  Marvel, I love you.  I love your nutts.  You are a big part of my life.  For years and years.  Stop making it so hard to be your customer. 
• Sigh.
• And again with the Marvel... Let me just say this as open advice for all creators; Take risks.  Be bold.  Shake things up.  Challenge your audience.  But remember, if you have to explain it, you probably already failed.  And, more importantly, remember that you do not get to tell your customers how they should feel about it. 
• Again with the Marvel part 3;  Every time I read an article like this it occurs to me that we are just one Disney executive saying, "Wait, we still publish paper comic books?" on a conference call away from the whole freaking  business being tossed into the crapper or the top characters licensed out to the highest bidder.  A publisher that is not Marvel now publishes the Frozen comics.  If Marvel can't be trusted to make money off the Frozen phenomenon why would you trust them to be able to make any money off Ant-Man or Doctor Strange?  Because they did six decades ago?  Good luck with that answer on the next investors call. 
• Also, FDR Democrat Steve Rogers forever. 
• Can there still be good news in comics?  Can there still be something to get excited about?  Yes.  Yes there can.  I'm excited about Alterna Comics' new line of newsprint comics for several reasons.  For one thing, they're gonna be super cheap with a $1.50 cover price.  And one of the series, Amazing Age, is created by pals Jeremy Massie and Matthew David Smith.  I checked out that comic in its original webcomic form and liked it a lot.  Those bros are the solidest of bros so I'm excited for what I believe is going to be a breakout book appealing to a new audience that may have missed their other stuff.   And, arguably most importantly, Smith has confirmed that the newsprint in his comp copies smells great.  The books start rolling out next week.  I'm not familiar with many of the other creators but at $1.50 I'm sure to check them out. 
• Hey.  Do you like comics?  Do you like guitars?  Do you like comics that are guitars?  I recently built a Stratocaster using the Carmine Infantino drawn issues 14 and 15 of the original Star Wars comics.  It's probably the coolest guitar on Earth.  Maybe you wanna check it out. 
• When it's time to comics we will always comics hard.
• It was twenty five years ago several days ago Sergeant Malibu told his band to play.
• Tom Scioli's new Princess webcomic is pretty rad.  Also, that Transformers vs. G.I.Joe The Movie comic he made is bonknanners. 
• Ain't no party like a wizard battle party cause a wizard battle party don't stop until one of them dies and the other wizard creates a hyper sigil making people focus on the number of rapes in the other wizard's comics instead of their valuable contributions to the medium. 
• And finally... Francis gave up candy for your sins.

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Never stop running unless it's to pick up a friend.  Read comics and chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until you're dead. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics.  Do you make comics?  Maybe you should hire me to write comics. 
p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 01292017

(American Flagg! #10 1983.  Cover by Howard Chaykin.  Stolen from My Comic Shop.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 01292017.

"And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave." - President Ronald Reagan

• Hello sisters and brothers of teh intronets and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shannon and I'll be your host.  Happy Chinese New Year.  To quote the last prophet of the 90s Keanu Reeves, "whoa".  What a week huh?  Just a week ago when we last spoke we had just seen the inauguration of a new President in these United States and inspiring marches all around the world.  Since then,  every day has been a series of events that were never supposed to be possible. There are millions of Americans and millions and millions around the world right now who are scared.  Their lives are uncertain.  Their future is uncertain.  I have my own fears of course.  Everything is fragile. A politician or an executive I've never met could end my livelihood with the stroke of a pen.  But I'm a white man in America so my fears are those of inconvenience and folly compared to those of different birth country, skin tone or religion.  I don't know much about anything but here is what I know about Muslims. Here is what I know about refugees.  For about four years my next door neighbors were a Muslim family.  They were refugees from Bosnia. If you walked by their house you wouldn't have known they were Muslim.  The father was an auto mechanic.  You'd see him outside working on cars or playing with his kids.  I thought he was Italian at first.  The mother was a brunette.  She was quite but polite and generous.  Most of my interaction was with the kids.  They were always outside playing and my daughter played with them all the time.  The kids had blond hair and blue eyes.  They could have passed for my kid's siblings. They had a trampoline and my daughter would want to bounce with them every day. If you were around enough you'd begin to notice the accent and that the parents spoke to the children in Bosnian.  You'd hear the kids playing games counting in Bosnian.  You'd notice that they had a pit for roasting lamb.  If you were around long enough to notice the lamb pit you'd probably be invited over to enjoy the feast.  They were generous beyond measure.   If they were eating popsicles you had a popsicle.  If the father and his cousins were drinking beer you had a beer.  The father fixed my car for free multiple times.  He loaned me tools.  He loaned me his lawnmower.  They were as good neighbors as I've ever know.  One time we were over for dinner at their house.  I think it was a holiday for them.  They had a lot of family over.  But, then again, it was like that every Sunday there.  They served lamb, beers and strong Turkish coffee.  They had a huge gold embossed painting of Mecca on the wall in the dining room.  I asked the father if he had ever been there.  He laughed.  He said that no, he had never been because he could not give up his beer.  This was a man, an auto mechanic who worked hard for his family.  He loved God and he loved beer.  What's more American than that?  Picture him in your mind.  Out in his yard after a long day of work at the garage working on another car either for extra money or as a favor to a friend.  He's got his blue mechanic's shirt on. It's untucked and his belly shows a little.  The kids are playing in the back yard.  The mother comes out onto the front porch to call them all in for super.  There he is drinking his beer and taking care of his family.  The American Dream.  And he was a Muslim refugee.  

• Look, I'm super liberal but the New York Times and the UN can stick it up their asses.  Will out of touch adults always make bad decisions that belittle and alienate the people they need most and should serve most?  Probably.
• "We are all going to die" or "save us Doctor Manhattan".
• Hold freedom close. 

• Chris Schweizer talked about storytelling with Jerzy Drozd. 
• Also, Schweizer has a Patreon now. 
• Wrestling zine heavyweight champ Robert Newsome of The Atomic Elbow has a piece on Paste about the new DDT Universe streaming service. 
• Speaking of Robert Newsome, Athen Georgia's finest minicomics and zine fest had its registration yesterday and sold out fast.  So, I mean, I guess this news post is worthless to all you longstapler jockeys that might want a table but there's no reason every dang one of us can't go to Fluke on April 29th and have a fine time. 
• The Dollar Bin podcast is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.   This week's podcast features America's most hugable cartoonist J. Chris Campbell interviewing Adam.  The whole world is upside down I tell's ya. 
• The bad news is that the Steelers are out of the playoffs.  The good news is that world champ sports cartoonist Rob Ullman will be starting a regular gig with DK Pittsburgh Sports. 
• I haven't watched that new Archie TV yet show but Abbey Coleslaw did and that's good enough for me. 
• And finally, Francis has a problem with taking the easy way out...

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Never stop running unless it's to pick up a friend.  Read comics and chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until you're dead. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics.  Do you make comics?  Maybe you should hire me to write comics. 
p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  I guess it's a law or something.

I drove 628 miles round trip to buy your minicomic: The 2014 fuo Fluke report.

This is Fluke. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  I started writing this soon after Fluke but then I got busy with work that pays me money.  Sorry.  As much as I'd love to spend all day creating "content" for you to share with your mom on Facebook, I gotta get paid. The kids gotta have their My Little Ponies.)

FLUKE, APRIL 19th 2014. ATHENS GA, USA.

Fluke is a mini-comics and zine festival that takes place in Athens GA USA every spring.  I love it.  I think this is year twelve of the show.  I think I've been to maybe seven of them?  I like it so much that when I don't go I have Henry Eudy drop in by parachute to write a report about it for file under other.  (Or maybe he drives there?  I forget logistics.)  The point that I am trying to make with this opening paragraph is that Fluke is great.  I love it.  You love it.  We love it. 

I love Fluke so much that I requested to have off from work the Friday before the show months in advance so that I could drive down before the show and enjoy Athens.  This request was denied.  So, I had to leave after work and drive in the rain all Friday night showing up in town sometime in the Saturday AM.  Same as always.

The way you (and by you, I mean I) get to Athens GA from southwest VA is to drive to Kingsport, TN then get on Interstate 26 and take it through the Carolinas then on into Georgia.  I'd like to take a moment to talk with you about the abomination that is Interstate 26.  

I once read a book about traveling through Mongolia and post Soviet Russia and how terrible the roads were.  As in there were not any roads.  I'm assuming it was a lot like Interstate 26.  Calling Interstate 26 an "interstate" is the most flattering lie I could direct at Interstate 26.  Interstate 26 is a nightmare.  It is driving for three hours on road so bumpy that you have to keep telling yourself over and over that you do not have a flat tire.  Yet.  How do people in North Carolina live like this?  If you drive that road more than once a week I assure you that you are living with a constant concussion and you are most likely brain damaged right now.  Brain damage being the only thing I can imagine that has prevented every single citizen of North Carolina from marching on their state capital and demanding that Interstate 26 be improved and/or just murdering everyone in the building. 

Sections of I-26 have sings that read "Future".  They have said this for years and years.  The future is never going to come to North Carolina.  I guess the future can't happen everywhere.

Eventually, I made it to Interstate 85 and headed on into Georgia.  Touching tires to asphalt on I-85 after hours on I-26 is like arriving at Disney World after a days long journey.  I can only imagine what it must feel like for pilgrims to arrive at Mecca but I'm guessing the elation is much like that moment when you realize that all of I-26 is behind you. 

This concludes the Interstate Highway System review portion of the report. 

Around 12:20 or 1:30 AM (some time with a 30 in it) I finally arrived that the home of cartoonist extraordinaire and Fluke organizer Patrick Dean.  Patrick had graciously offered me couch space to I took him up on it as I am cheap and don't like sleeping outside. I presented my host with a collection of Werewolf by Night comics as is the custom.  Patrick gave me the tour of his lovely home.  He has some very impressive original art but I mainly looked at his kids' toys. We then talked about Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko for a while.  Again, as is the custom.

The next morning everyone got up and I met Patrick's wife and kids.  Patrick's son showed me his toys.  We had a nice breakfast and then it was time to get out there and make Fluke happen.  Patrick lives a few minutes outside of Athens and I enjoyed the drive into town.  The non-Atlanta parts of Georgia are very pretty.  Trees, ponds, ducks, covered bridges, Waffle Houses with giant bulldogs painted on the side... it's nice.

We went to Kroger and picked up a giant cake for the show.  As is the custom.

This is 40 Watt Club around 9 AM before the Fluking starts.

We got to the 40 Watt Club around 9 AM and met up with Fluke organizer, writer, editor, publisher, retired pod-caster and all round swell fellow Robert Newsome.  This is a good two hours before the show starts but there were already a few exhibitors waiting to get into the show.  Which is odd, because Fluke adopted a pre-show registration process last year so these guys knew they had a table.  But, who am I to question their enthusiasm?   I drove six hours in the rain.

At 9 AM on a Saturday, 40 Watt Club is an empty place.  It was strange to be in a bar in the AM and not be intoxicated.  I pressed on. Robert and Patrick's friends showed up to help set up for the show.  They included Joey Weiser, Michele Chidester, Drew Weing, David Mack and maybe some other people I apologize for forgetting.  In my mind, I call this group of people Athens Force and when I think the words "Athens Force" I see it in my mind in the font from the cover logo of  Atari Force.  They showed up to help load in the tables but the tables were not there yet.  Drama!
Not really.  The tables showed up a little while after 9:30.  We probably had them set up and ready for Fluking by 10.

Somewhere previously in that last paragraph, I should have mentioned that while we waited for the tables two fun things happened.  1) Patrick Dean went to Waffle House to get a knife to cut the Fluke Cake but he also bought and ate a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit because he felt it was the polite thing to do.
2)  Robert Newsome played with the Fluke megaphone.  Fluke has a megaphone.

This is Michele Chidester using sorceress powers to make a cake appear. (She did not really use sorceress powers to make it appear.  Patrick Dean bought it from a grocery store bakery. I saw it happen.  Both Michele and Patrick may have sorcery based powers but I'm pretty sure the cake was just eggs, flour, sugar and whatever else goes into cakes.  What does go into cakes?  I honestly have no idea.  (It's probably sorcery.)

This is the stage of 40 Watt Club.  Famous people have performed music on that stage.  I have never seen that happen.  I have seen people buy, trade and read minicomics and zines in a rock club though.

This is Robert Newsome harassing complete strangers with a Megaphone.  (He totally knows who those people are but the thought of him harassing strangers is funnier.)

 It was my understanding that the Earth revolves around the sun so the appearance of sunshine moving is just an illusion.  But, since these guys have an exact street address of where the sunshine has moved, I may be wrong.

Tables hungry for Fluking.

The line was backed up all the way to where the sunshine had moved.

At 10 AMish, exhibitors were allowed into the show to set up.  This is great because a lot of the exhibitors are my long time pals.  It only takes a few minutes to set up so that leaves some time to socialize.  As soon as Henry Eudy came through the door I flagged him down and asked if he wanted to share a table with me.  This is because I love him.
He said yes.
We used his cool Halloween skull tablecloth to cover our table.  It looked nice.

This is my table setup.  Kinda orange. 

After the tables were set up, the knife was acquired and Patrick ate his biscuit, the non-exhibitor patron type people were welcomed in at 11 AM and Fluke was on.

Also at 11 AM, 40 Watt Club's bar opened.  I believe I was the first customer.  I ordered Jim Beam with Ginger Ale.  Five bucks and a tip.  It was good. 

This is me making a face at Henry Eudy. (Image stolen from Henry Eudy.)

This is Henry Eudy (the world's most dangerous man) making a face at me.

 Robert Newsome.  The longest reigning The Atomic Elbow Professional Wrestling Zine World Heavyweight Champ of the modern era.

This is Robert Newsome yelling at my shoes with a megaphone.  (He is not really yelling at my shoes but, again, made up stuff is funnier.)  (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

Now there are people in Fluke doing Fluke things.  I see Rich Tommaso, J. Chris Campbell and Jason Horn.  We are doing Fluke y'all!   (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

This is Adam Daughhetee doing Adam Daughhetee things.  (Image stolen from Fluke.) 
Adam and Shawn Daughhetee had the new Dollar Bin comics zine thing and it looked great.  It contains an Adam Rose pin-up by me.  You should track them down and buy 12 copies. 

That is Eleanor Davis on the right being tall and awesome. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

Yes, David Mack and Joey Weiser would like some cake. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

Fluke does not have an awards show or panels.  Fluke has cake.  I think we started eating the cake around noon.  

It was probably also around noon that Patrick's wife showed up with more biscuits from Waffle House.  Patrick ate them.

Henry Eudy's cake kind of fell apart.  He cried for a while and then murdered all of us.  (No, he did not murder us.  But again, made up stuff is funny and murder is hilarious.)  (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

That is Adam Casey doing Adam Casey things. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

 This is people Fluking.

The show had a good crowd.  All of the tables were sold out in one day of registration so we knew the room would be full.  I think the walk up non-cartoonist attendance was steady.  Not the most shoppers I've seen at Fluke but it was a rainy day and the day before Easter.  I didn't sell as much as I have in the past but a lot of the business you do at a show like this is with other cartoonists and I did not have anything new on my table that the folks that I already knew had not already picked up.  I was also out of what have been my two best selling comics so I guess I need to re-print those and finish some new stuff right now.

 Here is a picture I took from one of Henry Eudy's sketchbooks.  I think it is great.

Henry Eudy seemed to do very well.  Henry's table is a good example of my multiple price points philosophy in action.  Henry had small prints and comics in an affordable price range.  And his stuff looks great.  His bigger prints with their bold colors seemed to bring folks over and the smaller stuff gave them something to walk away with.

I didn't ask anyone about sales or numbers but Rich Tommaso seemed to be very busy.  He had a solid variety of Recoil books on his table.  The all look great.  Picking up some stuff from Rich was one of the main things on my to-do list.  So I did.

Other things on my to-do list included getting whatever Drew Weing and Eleanor Davis had to offer and getting anything that Patrick Dead had that I was missing from my collection.  I did those things and it was good.

I really was not focused on selling. I was mainly there to talk to my comics friends and see what was new.  I talked to J. Chris Campbell about Brad McGitny.  I talked to Rich Tommaso about Patrick Dean.  I talked to Drew Weing about Margo Maloo.  I talked to Robert Newsome about Jimmy Valiant.  I talked to a lot of people about wrestling.  A lot of people talked to me about how rad my Brad McGinty t-shirt was.  I regretted not talking as much as I wanted to to many other people.  (Sorry bros.  Get at me at HeroesCon.)

 This is Patrick Dean announcing that Fluke has cake for people to eat.  I really should have put this picture up above the pictures of people eating the cake but get your own blog and don't tell me what to do. Maybe try tumblr.  All the kids love tumblr.

Here are more Fluke people.  I'm pretty sure I've known everyone in this picture for about a decade but I don't know any of their names.  (I know some of their names but, again, comedy.)

Here is another picture that looks almost the same as the other pictures I took from behind my table.  Walking around and taking pictures honestly never occurred to me.  Professional photo journalists just stand in one spot and wait for something exciting to happen right?  Well, that's what I did.

The dude on the left is me and the dude on the right is my pal writer and former co-worker Todd O'Brien.  The last time I saw him was a previous Fluke show about 5 years ago.  He grew a beard.  And a hat.  Maybe he bought the hat.  I didn't ask.  Look, if anyone can grow a hat, it's that guy.

After Fluke we all went to the Bizzaro-Wuxtry comics shop.  As is the custom.  It is great.  You should go there.  They have at least one of everything.  Also, Devlin, the gentleman that runs the shop, bought copies of Fluke peoples' minicomic and zines to sell in the shop.  Go there now.  I several different minicomics on sell there right now.  Right now!

This is Robert Newsome playing with a Hulk toy at Bizzaro-Wuxtry.  I thought about cropping out that bending over dude's back but whatever.  When I put this picture on my facebook page it wanted me to "tag" all of those masks because it thought they were all real peoples' faces.  Ha hah hah!  The joke is on you Zuckerberg!  You may be worth a billion dollars but that website you "invented" that is just MySpace with the customization features turned off does not know the difference between a Sylvester the Cat mask and a human being!

We eventually left Bizzaro and headed out looking for some dinner.  I was super hungry having eaten only breakfast, cake and some tic-tacs.  Patrick was starving having only eaten at least breakfast, cake and three bacon egg and cheese biscuits.  Robert, Patrick, my pall Todd and I ended up at Yummy Pho where we found Rich Tommaso, his girlfriend and another fellow to whom I apologize for not remembering his name.  I ordered grilled pork.  It was great.  Robert and Patrick ordered these huge bowls of crazy Vietnamese noodles.  These bowls were the size of bowls you would use if you were going to make a large quantity of food that would then be served in several smaller bowls to several people.  They ate it all and did not die.  I was impressed.

Yummy Pho was very good and very affordable.  I recommend it.  I wish I was there eating right now. (Even though Robert Newsome thinks that adults should not say the word "yummy".  I kinda agree with him.  Maybe mothers can say the word yummy to their own children but a grown man should probably never say it unless talking specifically about a Vietnamese restaurant with the word "yummy" in its name or Chester Brown comics.)

This is a picture of the stuff I got at Fluke.  Actually, I got other things but those were for my kids and they took those things before I took this picture. 

After dinner and a stop in a record store (it was record store day) it was time to say my sad farewells and head back to Virginia.  Huge enormous thank-yous to Patrick Dean and his family for having me.  Thanks to Robert and everyone else for hanging out and having a swell time.  I miss you all already.  Let's do it again. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 03282014

(Star Wars issue 103 published by Marvel in 1985.  Cover art by Cynthia Martin.  Stolen from ComicVine.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 01052014 01132014 01192014 01222014  03282014

"To hell with every greedhead operator who flocked here throughout history because you wanted what we had, but wanted us to go underground and get it for you.  To hell with you for offering above-average wages in a place filled with workers who’d never had a decent shot at employment or education, and then treating the people you found here like just another material resource—suitable for exploiting and using up, and discarding when they’d outlived their usefulness.  To hell with you for rigging the game so that those wages were paid in currency that was worthless everywhere but at the company store, so that all you did was let the workers hold it for a while, before they went into debt they couldn’t get out of."  -Eric Waggoner speaking on the situation in West Virginia and/or the situations the majority of Americans are living in right this second.

• My kitty cat Choo Choo died a while back but this is the first time I've posted since then.  I still miss her.  She was the best cat.  She loved me like crazy.  She talked to me and played games with me.  She would play hide and seek with me.  Death is stupid.  One day, probably after I die (I will never die) I will murder Death.  I will murder Death dead and no one will shed a tear for that jerk.  
• I started this post months ago then things happened.  Look, I know you don't wanna know my bizness so I won't go into it.  I'll just say that almost everyone in my family has been hospitalized since Thanksgiving of last year.  So, I've been busy.  It has sucked.  Feel sorry for me.  Thanks.  Whatever.  Most of this post was written in the way back times so it will be old news to you. Also, whatever.  Look, I don't know why I didn't hit the "publish" button on this sometime back in January.  I just didn't.  Sorry.  Whatever.  Hang in there and maybe I'll get back to regular updates with more recent news.  Maybe.  Whatever. 
• Hi frequent readers.  Some of you may have noticed that I often (almost always) post videos with no explanation.  Some times that is because there is no explanation.  They are just dumb videos I liked.  Other times, they are there for a very specific reason but I want you to guess what it is.  Like, it's this game you and I are playing but only I know we are playing the game.  That way, I always win.  Sorry.  But today I want to post a video and tell you exactly why I posted it.  Below is a video from Blake Werts where he talks about minicomics.  It is great for a lot of reasons.  Werts is charming and has that cool accent.  Also, it's about minicomics and I love minicomics.  Blake shows off a bunch of physical copies of some fascinating rare comics.  (As well as some that are not rare but just too expensive for me.)  He does a very good job of making sure the viewer gets a chance to see these comics and put faces with names.  But what I like most about the video is that he is not talking to you and I the comics reader.  As someone who normally makes videos about records, he is talking to an audience that does not necessarily know anything about minicomics.  I feel like we need more of that.  We get too insular and sometimes forget how to talk to people that don't already speak the language of comics.
• And here is a follow up if you enjoyed that one. 
• Speaking of minicomics... yes, put a price on the dang things!
• Did I tell you guys about this big anthology of minicomics that I'm in that is on sell at Amazon?  Well, I am.  Go buy it.  I bought it.  I like it. It's very nice. 
• Hey guys, it's time to go register for the Fluke Minicomics and Zine Festival in Athens, GA USA.
• Oh man, sorry pals.  Fluke registration filled up in just a few hours.  Dang, I probably should have mentioned that in the bullet point up above these words.  I might be a jerk. Hey, don't cry.  They have a waiting list. I personally DID register for Fluke.  I hope to make it.  I missed the past two years.  It's going to be tight to fit that trip in since it is the day before Easter but I'm working on an elaborate plot to make my children believe that the Easter bunny has been kidnapped by Robert Newsome and the only way I can set things right is to go to Fluke.  Again, I might be a jerk. 
• Robert Newsome has a new issue of The Atomic Elbow out. 
• Josh Latta did some talking words on The Busy Creator Podcast.
• Finally a New Yorker cartoon that made a lick of sense to me.  
• Patrick Dean is the best.  Go read these comics.  Also get super excited about the privilege you will have of buying Patrick Dean comics from Recoil. Also, you can be Ant-Man.  Always be Ant-Man. 
• Brad McGinty has a bunch of super rad new shirts and stuff.  I just got a shirt and those patches.  You seriously will not believe how awesome those patches look until you hold them in your hands and look at them with your eyeballs. 
• My pal Jeremy Massie now has two issues of his All My Ghosts comic up on comixology.  You should buy and read it.  
• In a move that was surprising only in that it took this long to announce, Disney has finally made it official that they will move the Star Wars license from Dark Horse Comics to Marvel in 2015.  A date that is not all coincidental as the first Disney Star Wars movie is scheduled for 2015.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I'm a big Star Wars fan and in my own personal connection to Star Wars the Marvel Star Wars comics from 1977 to 1986 are second only to the films themselves.  Marvel did a great job with those comics but they were made years ago when Marvel was an entirely different company and there is no reason to expect that any of the people that made those great comics will be involved with the new Marvel Star Wars comics.  There is also the fact that Dark Horse has done a good job with the line as well.  And that is where one of my main concerns lies.  I would hope that talents like John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, for example,  would be welcome in Marvel's Star Wars line.  That is Marvel's loss if they are not.  And the fans' loss too I guess. 
• Who knew that when comics finally got its own mainstream celebrity comedy slow motion trainwreck it would be Shia LaBeouf?  (UPDATE:  Not really an update.  When I started this post Shia was still new news.  Old news now.  But one of the things interesting to me about the whole deal is that Shia is a guy that makes comics.  His biggest moment in the public eye however is playing a character that was created by Marvel Comics.  Spike/Buster Witwicky was created by Marvel for the comics and the TV cartoon.  Not by Michael Bay, Hasbro or any of the companies Hasbro bought the Transformers toys from.  But despite the fact that Marvel created most all of the characters of any value in the Transformers franchise, they don't get a penny for anything from those movies.  They don't get a penny for the Witwicky characters they created.  But Shia does.  So yeah, Shia LaBeouf, bane of the comics world, probably has made and will make more money off those characters Marvel created than anyone at Marvel ever did or ever will.  Shia is currently worth about $25 million.  But hey, at least we got that week or two where people in comics got to feel superior to the millionaire.  Comics everybody.)
• Hey guys, guys, guys.  Do you like looking at things that are funny and great?  Well Patrick Dean has a new tumblr where he gives you illustrated cosplay ideas. 
• Also, that wrasslin' book Patrick Dean did the cover for is out. 
• Matt Fraction wrote about alcoholism and drug addiction.
  Julia Wertz also talked about (and drew about) her issues and other things at Narratively.  And, there is going to be a Fart Party Omnibus. 
• The Doctor Who comics are moving from IDW to Titan.  I'm kinda bummed about that. I thought the IDW Doctor Who books were pretty good.  I don't know that I've ever held a Titan comic in my hands. 
• Yeah, sure, give Bill Finger a Google doodle.  Also, go read that Ty Templeton comic.
• I'd like to take second to point you in the direction of the Punching the Clock webcomic.  Mainly to point out that Jeff Manley is back on the comic after being away due to some family health issues.  I like Manley's style, he's a sweetheart of a guy and he works really hard at comics, family, life etc.  Good to see him back at it. 
• I wish all history could be delivered in a one panel Rob Ullman cartoons. 
• I feel your pain Mike.  But on the bright side, at least it's not Jessie.
• "I have learned never to engage with people I don’t already know, as you will likely be wasting hours of your time arguing with some political zealot."  Um, well, good luck avoiding the human race.  I mean, I guess it gives you more time to draw and color insane looking comics so... 
• “...the business in the direct market [the comics shop market] is a much stronger model and try as we might, we have not been able to make the comics newsstand model work for years, I don’t think anyone has.”
• That new Miracleman comic costs way too much and I'm super, super, extremely pissed that it did not come with the digital code at that price but... it's always good to hear that people are going to get paid.   
• Must have Howard Chaykin blanket now!
• I really like this Ryan Andrews comic that The Comics Reporter pointed out earlier this week.  Reminds me of Josh Simmons and Gabby Schulz.  
• This is a world where people cheer when someone gets health insurance. 
• Never stop turning the knife.  Never let them catch their breath.  Never stop kicking them until they stop trying to get up. 
• We are all going to die.
• Also dead, the internet. 
• Some good advice on 2000AD's submissions page.  "THE FIRST PERSON TO SPEAK SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON THE LEFT."
• I want to marry the Baxter Building. 
• Can't we just let this be the next Fantastic Four movie?
• One man's space garbage is another man's gold. 
• Here is a neat look at Kirby's 2001. 
• Retrofit has posted its lineup for its next subscription run.  Remind me try to get on board that as soon as I get paid.  (Especially since it was my new year's resolution.)  Rob at Panel Patter talked about Retrofit's digital expansion. (UPDATE:  I did subscribe.)
• I wanted to share a link to the interview Chris Sims had with Mark Waid but that giant transitioning link box thing at the top of Comics Alliance's webpage made me so angry I just gave up on finding the link.  The future is stupid. 
• I enjoyed this Paul Pope interview at TCJ.  I'm a big Paul Pope fan but I have not yet read Battling Boy.  I keep bidding on it on eBay and losing. Comics are very expensive. 
• So, that Alan Moore interview.  First of all, it is not an interview.  It is an essay.  Or, several essays.  And I think I'm done with Alan Moore's essays.  Alan Moore is a great comics writer.  Is, as in still IS a great comics writer.  As in, despite often acting like he is retired from comics, he is still writing new contemporary genre comics.  And he is still very good at it.  But I'm through with the essays.  Let me know when someone draws them as comics. 
• There was that day my pal Robert Venditti was mentioned in the USA Today for being a part of the new team on The Flash.  No big deal. 
• Comics art from the collection of HeroesCon founder Shelton Drumm is on exhibit about 45 minutes from my house.  I need to go to that!
• I'm excited that the powers that be have finally decided to take our money for a home video version of the Batman TV show.  I'm also excited that I can already watch the show every Saturday night at 7 PM on MeTV. 
• Listen, we're all *possibly* Frank Sinatra's son.
• And finally... I don't wanna live in a world without Nintendo.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.