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!

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Anyway, APE! The Alternative Press Expo, folks! It returns once again this weekend in splendid San Francisco, CA and I will be there once again shlepping my wares and meeting the peeps and buying all kinds of fantastic stuff I can't find anywhere else! And that's what makes it such a great convention...NO, not the "me being there part"...well, yes I guess that does make it a great convention, sure. But I meant the "can't find anywhere else" part! Most of the artists and writers there are selling books and original art that doesn't make it to the mainstream venues like Barnes and Noble or Borders (especially not Borders anymore, eh? sad) or even most comic book specialty shops. And alot of this stuff is absolutely kick ass! Like my stuff, of course. And I'm one of the fortunate few "Indy Artists" who's had some commercial success.

So, if you've got the time or the inclination to seek out and discover some truly inspired and original reads I strongly recommend your visiting the APE! I will be there both days, Oct 1 and 2 and my lovely daughter, Stella, will be set up again with me selling her own sketches on Sunday the 2nd. Saturday she has a big Soccer game. I'm the head coach. One of us had to be there and represent.

Hope to see you there!

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R

Quick note. I still have some KING artwork up on eBay for those of you interested and I have dropped the prices on a couple of the pieces. I've also been posting Archie pages, BB WOLF pages and a TON of comics, graphic novels, dvds and other cool goodies. So go check it out! My eBay user ID is: poo666 and that'll make it lickety-split for you to find my listings.

In other news...

Mr. Dan Vado hosted another great little con last weekend at the Slave Labor Graphics headquarters. He's been doing these warehouse shows every few months and I encourage anyone in the area to go and check them out. He usually has 14-20 artists there and sales on all SLG books as well. It's intimate and the energy in the room is fantastic. I've done as well there in a one day 5 hour show as I've done in the same amount of time at shows like Comic-Con where a bajillion and one people walk through the doors.

My next con will be APE October 1,2 in San Francisco. Please come out for a fantastic show! APE is the premiere "Independent Press" show in the US. I believe there are over 200 exhibitors at the show and as many, if not more, artists and writers.

After that I'll be taking a few months off from cons to keep moving along on my newest graphic novel! Yep, I've got something cooking and I can't wait to make an official announcement soon. So stay tuned for more on that.

In the meantime enjoy this rendition of PINHEAD I just did the other day! It may see print in a very prestigious magazine very soon, fingers crossed! (No, the new graphic novel is NOT a Pinhead related story in case you're wondering)

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Well, I think I have JUST finally recovered from the mental and physical trial I affectionately call Comic-Con International! Yeah, I'm older now so cut me some slack...A hangover lasts two days now for me too. I just don't recover as quickly these days. And don't get me started on my right foot! Yeesh, I'm not kidding, that foot was so sore from all the walking and standing at the show that when I woke up Monday after the con it was swollen like a balloon and I could barely put any weight on it. Next year fashion be damned, I'm wearing my orthopedics!

So, the show?... Yes, it was typically exhausting/invigorating, overwhelming/awe-inspiring, encouraging and discouraging all at the same time. I went full tilt about 19 hours of each of the 4 days and nights I was there and had two days of travel. Add the 3-4 days of prep time and the 3-4 days of recovery and catching up with work days after and Comic-Con pretty much takes over the last 3 full weeks of July. I'm still actually doing follow-ups and working some angles for new work and such.

I was also able to enjoy dinners with friends, colleagues and a few film contacts. That's always my favorite part of the con...Going out for fine food and lots of booze! And the latter part was indulged in to the "excessive" side unfortunately.

I was also able to get into a couple of the exclusive parties again this year thanks to manager extraordinaire, Dannie Festa! The Zach Levi party was unreal! I met Nathan Fillian who always seems to be enjoying himself immensely and is always gracious with the fans. Spotting Malin Akerman on the dance floor was surreal as the heavens seemed to literally open up and shine a bright beam of light down upon her! She really has that "X" factor that makes her dazzle. A truly beautiful woman. Elijah Wood was DJing which was kinda cool, and, again, surreal. And then fellow Hobbit, Dominic Monaghan, lended a hand at one point. I spotted Jonah Hill who has dropped about 200 pounds! Good for him...he obviously wasn't following my diet that week. And I capped the evening by saying "Hello and great job on the Star Trek movie" to a very friendly Zachary Quinto, which made the little fanboy geek in me squeal with delight! I gotta say, I'm fully hetero, but that's one good looking dude! So was Zach Levi BTW! Basically all guys named Zach at the party were hot.

So SDCC was really great this year. I sold lots of books at the Top Shelf booth, saw a lot of old friends, had fun with the Archie alumni over at their booth, ate like a king and drank like Volstagg and got about 3 hours of sleep a night. All-in-all I'm going to rank this year's con an 8.5 out of a possible 10! And that's a fantastic score. The only thing keeping it from a 10 would be "no big movie deal signed" "no big book deal signed" "no crazy sex parties"...but other than that a near-perfect show. Oh, and the foot that looked like a fresh baked loaf of bread, of course.

Next show for me will be APE October 1-2 so I hope to see some of you there. After that I have no set plans until 2012 for cons. I will, however, be hard at work gearing up for 2012. I'm hard at work on a couple new books and still working on several film projects.

Other than we saw Captain America recently and were pleasantly surprised. I wasn't exactly thrilled when they cast Chris Evans as yet another Super-Hero (or villain) as that is all he seems to play. But he was really quite good as Cap! The movie was solid entertainment but it lacked a bit of soul we thought. Cap's all about heart, courage, intestinal fortitude, good moral values, etc... And while they showed that initially, they went away from it when it really counted in the end. It was really mostly an action flick. Dum Dum Dugan was awesome! The actor who played him (Neal McDonough) is always charismatic in all his roles and nailed Dum Dum. I've always thought him visually dynamic with that bowler cap and he looked very cool on screen.

Anyway, I score Captain America a B-/C+ or 6.5 out of 10. Worth seeing, yes. Enjoyable, yes. But not as great as it could have been. X-Men: First Class and Thor were far better.

Next stop, Planet of the Apes! I've heard mixed reviews so am going in with semi-low expectations. Of course it cannot be worse than the Tim Burton fiasco 10 years ago. Yuck, that one still leaves a rancid taste in my mouth.

A'ight, that's all I got for now.

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R

Just got back from the San Diego Comic-Con...still attempting to recover from the exhaustion! Awesome show as always and I had an equally awesome (and exhausting) time meeting fans, selling and signing books and partying at night (every night...ugh). I won't bore you with all the details and famous actors I rubbed elbows with, let's just say it was another fantastic year.

The next EVENT I'll be attending is the ARCHIE ART EXHIBITION and the details are listed below. If you're a fan of Archie this is going to be a pretty special exhibit and event. I hope to see you there!

70 Years of Archie Comics

Cartoon Art Museum Exhibition: July 16 – December 4, 2011 Archie Family Fun Day: Sunday, August 7, 2011

San Francisco, CA: The Riverdale gang makes its way to San Francisco this summer for an all-new original art exhibition celebrating 70 Years of Archie Comics! America’s favorite teenager, Archie Andrews, has been entertaining readers worldwide since his 1941 debut, through hundreds of different titles and over one billion comics sold. The Cartoon Art Museum looks back at seven decades with Archie’s friends Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, Moose and special guests including Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats.

This retrospective includes over 40 pieces of original artwork spanning Archie’s publication history, with ephemera including a special look at the Archie newspaper strip, preliminary sketches, correspondence and other rarities. Featured artists include Bob Bolling, Gene Colan, Dan DeCarlo, Frank Doyle, Stan Goldberg, Rich Koslowski, Harry Lucey, Bob Montana and others.

The Cartoon Art Museum will host an Archie Family Fun Day on Sunday, August 7, 2011 as we welcome Nancy Silberkleit, co-CEO of Archie Comics and Developer of Comic Book Fairs; David Rojas, Director of Education for Archie Comics; and veteran Archie Comics artist Rich Koslowski for a fun-filled afternoon including drawing activities, free Archie comic books for visitors, and a birthday cake celebrating Archie’s birthday! Rojas will run workshops for kids and premier Archie’s Education program for kids, teachers and parents throughout the day. The Archie Family Fun Day programming is free with paid admission to the Cartoon Art Museum.

Visitors to the Cartoon Art Museum bookstore can purchase Archie Comics through Comic Book Fairs, which will donate 40% of Archie’s sales to CAM throughout the year. Please visit http://www.comicbookfairs.com/ for more information about this program.

About Archie Comics:

The Archie Comics line of comic books is one of the most successful, longest running brands in the history of the comic industry. Archie Comics have sold 1.5 billion comics and are published in a dozen different foreign languages and distributed all over the world. Archie Comics has spawned characters whose popularity has spilled over into other media and who have become part of popular culture. SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH and JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS are just some of the many legendary franchises that are part of the Archie Comics Library.

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A few quick notes as of this day, July 3rd, 2011.

First off, Happy 4th Of July/Independence Day to all my fellow Americans! Let's celebrate our freedom together as one...as brothers and sisters of one great nation. Let's stop the petty bickerings amongst ourselves for one day and remember that Great Britain was the bad guy. Yeah, I know, we're great pals now, but for one day a year I think it's important to regurgitate our hatred and mistrust of them. That'll keep it real...keep us grounded, man! So if you see a Brit tomorrow, I'm not gonna suggest bodily harm or gratuitous violence certainly, but hurling a few nasty insults and possibly a little spittle directed at their shoes, all in the spirit of the day, would certainly be appropriate.

2nd item. SHE'S GUILTY! For crap's sake SHE'S GUILTY. Can we please (and by "we" I mean the jury) get this one right??? She's an evil, narcissistic bitch who, at the very least, killed her daughter by "accident" and attempted a ridiculous cover-up laden with dozens of obvious lies. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs an x-ray of their brain. CT scan..MRI...whatever for those of you who were about to shoot back some snarky comment like, "Um, yes, any educated person would know that an "x-ray" doesn't properly show actual brain content and it's capacity to...blah, blah, blah!"

To those snarky persons out there let me repeat...SHE'S GUILTY!!!!

3rd item. San Diego Comic-Con. Yeah, I know. I devoted last week's blog to the subject but it bears repeating, folks. SDCC is a comin' and we should all be girding our collective loins. Gear up and bear down cuz it's less than three weeks away! I will be hiding, er, I mean WORKING the Top Shelf Productions booth for most of the time I'm there so please come on by and say hello--and buy lots of my stuff while you're at it. And if you're a movie mogul type with deep pockets feel free to throw a few briefcases full my way. You won't be sorry, man...I'm tellin' ya. I'm a veritable font of ideas for pity's sake! My body of published work, to date, barely scratches the surface of the endless array of winning ideas I have socked away in my mind. So seriously, Movie guys, come on by and back this horse. Results guaranteed.

4th item. Movie moguls, see "Item 3."

5th item. While at SDCC I will be drinking like a sailor on shore leave. So if you see me out-and-about on the streets of downtown San Diego, Gaslamp District, odds are in your favor that I''ve filled my guts with high quantities of alcoholic imbibements. What does this have to do with you, you ask? It means that I'm probably gonna either a) be fast and loose with my money and buy YOU a drink or b) be out of my money and hit you up for one. Either way we both win so make sure to stop me on the streets and steer me to the closest drinking establishment...or if we're near the Hustler store or F-Street and you're a female and cute direct me there!!! Those two establishments are really great places for souvenirs.

6th item. How does a movie like "Walled In" get made? Yeesh, wasted an hour and a half of my life last night on that beaut! How??? Why???? Really??? Predictable? yes. Badly directed, edited, acted? Yes. And yet somebody ponied up a good chunk of change to make this stinker. Now, I shouldn't single out one unfortunate mistake like Walled In because, to be fair, we all know a LOT of bad movies are made and deserve equal vilification, but this one's fresh on my mind. This madness has to stop. With all of Hollywood's resources and talent they really should be capable of making more good movies. I'm not expecting a 100% success rate. That's impossible. But at least 50% should be good, right? And if you think I'm crazy suggesting that 50% is shooting high think again. More than half the movies made are terrible. To be completely fair I'd say it's closer to 90% that stink. Think about it...we only get a fraction of the movies produced screened at the local theaters. And of those most are mediocre to poor. Very few are what one should consider to be good or great. I'll end this rant here cuz I could go on and on for hours breaking it down. I'm just still mad about that damned awful movie last night is all.

I mean, really...it was really bad.

7th item. Congrats to Milwaukee Brewers players Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks for making the All-Star game. I've had my problems with Weeks in years past as he'd never lived up to expectations but this year he's deserving of the nod. And Braun is just flat-out a baseball stud! He's Top 10 in the entire league and his future is bright white if he stays healthy. Future Hall Of Famer for sure. And Prince is also having another mind-blowing year! The Brewers are one of the things I miss most since the move.

8th item. I am now ending this blog.

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Yes...it is THAT time again...the "girding of the loins" time for the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con International. For those of you unfamiliar, SDCC is not just your typical Comic book convention. Nay, tis a mind-blowing event of truly epic proportions--comics, movies, toys, babes, booze and little bedrest. It's a 6 day exhausting affair and that's just if you're a fan! If you're actually working a booth you have to add mind-rending stress the likes of which you've never experienced! Sure we all have a great time at SDCC...at NIGHT when we're drunk off our gourds, but during the con we're fighting for our financial lives. It costs a ton to attend and set up and we need to make our nut.

Anyway, looking forward to the show and I hope those of you reading this will stop by and say hello. I will NOT be setting up in my usual Artists Alley spot this year. I have decided to just spend my time primarily at the Top Shelf booth and also do some signings at Archie's booth. AND...AND finally actually walk around and see some panels and buy some back issues! I have NOT walked the show floor in about 12 years to just BUY and ENJOY myself as a fan and this year, by CROM, I shall finally do so!

So gear up, gird those loins and get in line (it started three days ago) for the biggest, baddest con on the planet!!!

Excelsior! R

A HUGE thank you to all the fans who stopped by the Top Shelf booth at WonderCon! JD Arnold and I busted our butts last weekend setting up, working the show, selling tons of stuff, meeting with the readers and drinking like a couple of sailors on Friday night (so much so that Saturday was 10pm sacktime!). If you haven't been to WC you really should go. It's a miniature version of Comic-Con International and that's a good thing! Much easier to get around, meet the artists and much less stressful all around. I can't recommend this show highly enough for the comics fan or for the comics pro!

I was delighted to meet a few artists/writers I myself am a big fan of! I got a Palookaville Hardcover signed by the incomparable Seth at the D&Q booth. He is one of my top 10 favorites and was a very nice man. Very talkative and approachable with the fans. I also had a great conversation with comics legend, Bill Sienkiewicz. I've been a huge fan of Bill's since the early 80s for Pete's sake so meeting him for the first time at WC was a thrill for me. Another extremely nice man.

Next stop on the con circuit for me might be BIG WOW in San Jose in May. I believe it's the 21-22nd if memory serves. BW was formerly "SuperCon" but had to change their name cuz someone else in FL was using it...legalities, lawyer fees...it was just easier for them to change their name. But I went to the show 2 years back before the name change and the guys running it were top-notch so I'm looking forward to a return.

Then it'll be San Diego Comic-Con! I better start girding my loins now for that one. Sheesh, I'm exhausted already just thinking about it.

Other than that I've been working diligently on several new stories and hopefully we'll be seeing one or more in print very soon.

Alrighty then, gonna watch Justified pretty soon...definitely NOT as good as season 1 but we're gonna hang in there a little longer and hope it hits its groove again soon.

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R

WonderCon 2011 is next weekend (April 1-3) in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. I will be there in full force with my lil buddy Mr. JD Arnold (writer on BB Wolf) at the Top Shelf Productions booth. We will actually be IN CHARGE of the booth for the entire weekend.

Yes, you read that right..."In charge" for the entire weekend.

I know! I couldn't believe it either.

So, since they've handed me the keys you can expect OUTRAGEOUS DEALS, DISCOUNTS and sloppy wet kisses at the bar after the con. I'm taking 10, 20, 50 and even 100% off certain items!!!! Weeeeee!!!!! So make sure to stop by the Top Shelf booth.

In other more recent news I will also be signing at Comicopolis in downtown Santa Cruz tomorrow, March 25th. Comicopolis is located at 814 Front Street. I'll be signing alongside fellow artist/cartoonist/writer, Jon "Bean" Hastings and a portion of our sales will be going to local schools. Cuz we're just that nice.

OH! I should also mention that I have some nifty new items available. The brand spankin' new "Voltron: United and Drawn" coffee table book which I contributed to as well as some new Archie comics.

I will also be previewing (for the very first time!) concept art for the upcoming TROLLS series. Trolls was recently picked up at Dreamworks for a feature animated film to be tentatively released in 2014 (I think) and I'm working alongside the head honchos on the publishing end of things. So I've got some cool art to show off for anyone interested.

Other than that I have a few new books in the works and by Comic-Con should solidify any announcements.

ALSO! My good buddy Russ Colchamiro who authored the fantastic novel, Finders Keepers, has been getting rave reviews from many highly regarded reviewers including Publishers Weekly!!! The PW review was so good that it led us to a distributor SPU (Small Press United) who we have just signed with! This is extremely good and exciting news as anyone who knows about publishing knows that distribution is vital. And getting picked up by a distributor is often quite a daunting and difficult task. SO, Finders Keepers will be distributed now nation-wide!

So if you haven't ordered your copies yet do us a favor and ask your local bookstore to carry the book. Order from them now. Russ and I will certainly appreciate it.

But you can still get it here, folks, if you'd prefer. So act now before the limited first printings (only 2,000) are all gone and Russ becomes an international phenomenon!

A'ight, that's about all for now I think.

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First of all I have been asked by a few readers if I will be attending this year's WONDERCON in San Francisco April 1-3 at the Moscone Center. YES! And if you have not seen my name posted in their releases it is because I will be running the Top Shelf Booth this year with sidekick JD Arnold. Chris and Brett were not planning on doing the show this year but we convinced/cajoled them into letting US run it for them since we're relatively close by. AND THEY AGREED!!!! HA HA HA...

Man, the deals we will be cutting! The POWER!

So stop by at WonderCon and take advantage of those ridiculous deals we'll be slinging.

In other news...

Daughter Stella celebrated her 9th birthday this past week. She is still as awesome as ever...perhaps even awesomer. 'Course it reminds me, once again, that I'm getting older and slower...that and the fact that my neck, back, hip and shoulder always hurt. But whatever, she's the only medicine I need to make all those nagging annoyances be forgotten.

In other news...

JUSTIFIED is back on tv so I finally have something to watch again. It hasn't been as good as it's Freshman season (we're hoping it's just the typical "Sophomore slump") but there have been moments of greatness so we're not giving up yet. Our biggest beef is that all-of-a-sudden Raylan's letting the dimwit hillbilly thugs get the drop on him! That's the whole "thing" that made Raylan so damn cool!... He had that inane sixth sense for those things and NO ON ever got the drop on him. In 4 episodes it's already happened 2-3 times! WTF?!!!

Saw RANGO and was disappointed. Took 9 kids for Stella's birthday party and for the most part they seemed bored. For the most part I WAS BORED. There was a few too many "weird Happy Feet" type of segments that should have been left on the editing floor. Disjointed story, unintelligible accents, and just not enough funny parts. C-

And finally...

Been hard at work pimping several of my books to the fine folks down in HollywoodLand. My manager, Ms. Dannie Festa, has been working very hard setting up meetings with many networks and studios. I had the fortune of going down to LA for a week and participating in the pitch meetings for The 3 Geeks. Lemme tell you folks, I know they're speaking English cuz I understand the words if you take them and analyze them individually, but as a whole...when they string them together in a sentence?... Not so much. I mean I even understand the sentences--I'm not a buffoon--but the sentences make no sense. It was an emotional roller coaster I'll never forget. I'm seriously contemplating writing my own "Fortune And Glory" comic akin the one Bendis did several years ago.

Anyway, things are a happenin' down there whether I completely understand the process or not. So hopefully I have some rather delightful news to share soon and all those first printings, NM condition books you've got mylared up will be worth a friggin' fortune.

Thassit for this week. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead (see, entertaining AND informative!),

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