I am very pleased to announce that the Motion Comic I was lead artist on (but not the only artist), THE TEMPLE, is now available for viewing and downloading at Amazon Studios. I will now turn over my blog to Director and all around fantastic fellow, Alex Greenfield, to tell you more about this incredible journey... Take it away, Alex...

< Long story short-ish: my dad read me “The Rats in the Walls” when I was like five, literally sitting around a campfire. Let’s agree to ignore the parenting questions that anecdote raises and skip right to the fact that I became a Lovecraft addict before I could read. It was only a matter of time before I would dip my pen in the Mythos well.

Flash forward about thirty years and you’ll find my writing partner, Michael K. Eitelman and I hacking away at a contemporary story that took a bunch of HP’s cosmological elements, mashed them up and turned them into THE TEMPLE. The tale of a group of soldiers in Afghanistan who track their quarry across the graveyard of empires to an ancient ruin that looks like a Cyclopean cancer on God’s earth, the screenplay got some really positive notice.

Amazon Studios (amazon.com’s odd hybrid of screenwriting contest and production company) awarded us their Best Script prize and a competitive $50,000 production grant to make what they call a “test movie” of TEMPLE. In essence, they were looking for a “visual rough draft” of a fully budgeted film. What I ended up going with was something in the no man’s land between motion comic, animatic and storyboard.

I put a hella awesome team together. Our lead artist is three-time Eisner nominee, Rich Koslowski. Our cast includes some pretty awesome genre favorites I’ve always wanted to work with: Bobby Ray Shafer (of THE OFFICE, any number of MegaKangaroo vs. TyranaSquirrel pictures and the awesome PSYCHO COP), Darin Cooper (X-FILES, ANGEL, a freaking Cardassian on DS9) and a whole rogue’s gallery of Folks You’d Recognize.

We turned in the assembly on January 6th, Amazon loved it, we did the final mix and today they’re releasing the movie both on their Amazon Studios site and on Amazon Instant Video. I would love as many people as possible to take a trip to the Temple of Shub-Niggurath because I’m both proud of the comic and I feel like if enough people respond to the motion comic, Amazon may finance the actual movie.

Thus this email and the begging for coverage. I’d love you to check TEMPLE out. If you’re moved to do so, some words and a link or two would help us a lot. If you have questions or want more info, I’ll spin webs of colorful lies at the drop of a hat.

Here's the link to check out the film... http://studios.amazon.com/movies/13729

Thanks so much,

Alex>>

So there you have it. I hope you all check it out and spread the word.

They look to "fill the void" left by WonderCon's absence from the Bay area this year. They've got a pretty impressive lineup slated for the show and it looks to be a lot of fun. So check it out all you Bay area comic books fans!

And fret not WonderCon fans, for they have not stopped but just moved for 2012 down to Anaheim, CA this March. I will also be there for that show manning the Top Shelf booth with my lovely wife and daughter. Yep, Chris and Brett decided to trust me with the money...tee hee hee...

So, after initially NOT planning on any winter/spring shows for early 2012 I am now doing two rather BIG shows! And I'm fairly ecstatic that I am.

So hope to see you there!

word. R

I am proud to offer this JUMBO oversized trade paperback collection of the limited comic book series here on the website. I inked the story so I can now add "working with the President" to my resume! "Oh yeah, and BTW the former Governor of Alaska."

So the story unfolds like this... Politics run awry at Riverdale High during the latest student council elections. So, natch, the President and Governor stop on by to help smooth things over and lend some sound political insight. I'm sure they do this all the time at high schools across America.

So check out the website where I just posted it. As always I will autograph all purchases and ship any order over $10 for free in the continental US of A!

In other cool news...

Writer/pal/former cookie maker JD Arnold and I were just informed that a high school (no not an Archie/President/Governor connection) up in Oregon will be using BB Wolf and the Three LPs in their 11th and 12th grade English Lit classes as a teaching aide! The English teacher felt that our book was not only an entertaining read, but also had underlying themes and messages beneficial to their curriculum. Needless to say we were both delighted and honored by this news. I can now add "shaping the minds of America's youth" to my resume!

Also...

The Green Bay Packers are my favorite football team. Some of you know this. I grew up in Wisconsin where most citizens cherish (some worship) the beloved Packers. I enjoy the fact that they are not only a superb team steeped in tradition but also the fact that they are owned by the people and play in a town (not CITY) that by all rights should not be able to sustain a professional team. There's simply not a large enough population. And yet they do and the team thrives. I will, of course, be watching them this Sunday in the playoffs and rooting for them. But what a horrible shock to hear the news the other day of the drowning death of the Offensive Coordinator's 21 year old son. How incredibly sad. I can't even begin to imagine how sad the family is--and by "family" I mean the Philbin family, the entire Packer's team and town of Green Bay and for that matter state of WI. And yet they will play on. With heavy hearts, I'm certain, but they will play. As a fan I hope they can overcome their sadness for those few hours and win the game and honor the Philbin family with the victory and, hopefully, bring them a little bit of joy during this terrible time.

I don't mean to make light of the situation at all, trust me. Nothing can replace the loss of a loved one. That entire family could just use a little bit of good news right now is all I'm saying.

And finally...

JUSTIFIED is finally back on the air next week! Yes!... because other than Football (GO PACK!) and Sportscenter there is nothing on tv that we watch anymore. Nada. We've been buying dvd sets of shows like ROME (as awesome the second time watched as the first!) and re-watching those instead of the dreck that's shown these days. If you have not seen Justified (or ROME) yet, get yer rearends to the local video store and rent them now.

word.

r