Online Stalking is Easy.

You cannot kick-start a dead horse...

2007-12-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

...you just crush yourself and walk away.

Planet go boom.

So, as you know, I am a nerd. I like sciency-type shit. So I kinda marked out the other day when I read that NASA had created a way hi-def map of Antarctica, for the first time in ever. And then I saw the thing. And, just as you'd expect, it's just a whole bunch of white. Pretty lame, Milhouse.

Which got me thinking once again to a point a friend and I were jabbing about a week or so ago. As much as I love love love space, why are we spending so much damned tax money going up there and doing fairly useless stuff when there's so much work to be done here? Do we really need a map of Antarctica, for that matter? How much do you think that cost? I'm all for exploration and stuff, but now that the private sector (read: a bunch of nerdy rich people) seems to have been taken by the space bug, can we just shut NASA down and call it a day? They can't seem to get a shuttle into space these days without having the foam (foam? really?) they built it with fall apart, and why anyone still trusts them for a safe ride to the corner store let alone the Moon is beyond me.

I was in jolly-old England when the whole Challenger disastrophe went down, and, as space-fever didn't really hit in the UK when it did in the US, I wasn't as shaken by that day as a lot of my current friends were. I didn't see it live, as live TV didn't exist in England at the time (I'm lying, but I think it was past my bedtime over in Greenwich Mean Time), I heard about it the next day. But I would imagine that the kids my age, in the next 20 years or so are going to be the ones in real power, and they'll probably be all too happy to put an end to public funding of the organization that motherfucked their childhoods on that day in 1986.

And if they don't, I may just. If I run for President in 2020, (after I've already conquered the world, mind you, being elected would just be a formality, or kind of a vanity project), I think I'll run on the anti-NASA platform. That is, unless, they start designing their crappy shuttles based on Star Trek ships. Then I'd run on the pro-NASA platform. I'm easy to please.

This is what happens when I blog at 4 in the morning.

Necessary Evil 2007

2007-07-31T19:04:00.001-07:00

"San Diego. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."

So yeah, it was actually Mos Eisley spaceport that Obi-Wan was referring to, but San Diego isn't much different during the last weekend in July. Comic-Con International has gotten more and more unruly, less and less about comics, and more and more about, well, I don't even know. Movies, TV, video games, I suppose. That's nothing new, really, it's slowly moved its way there since before Lost in the Dark's been doing the show. But this year I felt it more than I had in the past couple of years. This year, the show became a bit of a Necessary Evil.

That sounds a bit harsh, and the show wasn't without it's large share of fun moments and good stories, but there was also a noticible atmosphere of cynicism in the air about the show, amongst fans and creators alike. The show sold out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which is an incredible feat, considering the show had never sold out on any day in the past. The problem is, the more people, the more crowded it got, the more difficult it became to leave the booth, and the more frustrating it is to try to find new and interesting things out on the floor. Also, when a potential reader wants to roam around to find and sample things they may be interested in picking up, having to navigate through 140,000 people (the early estimate for this year's attendance) to get back to a booth they had sampled some goods at to make a purchase becomes less and less likely.

There were several readers who expressed disappointment to us at the lack of indie comic offerings, which made me wonder if that was an issue with the indie comic scene or the show itself. I think it's a little bit of both, but really, if there was a waiting list of indie comic publishers (which, from past experience, there almost certainly was) trying to get a spot on the floor, and the ABC Family Channel has a massive pavillian on the floor, isn't there something a tad askew going on? I'm all for free enterprise, but really, ABC Family?

In a weird sort of way, however, that was a big motivator. Being surrounded by so much absolute bullshit just made me want to hole up in a room and make comics again. I suddenly looked forward to Stumptown, to Emerald City, to APE, to trying out the NY Comic-con and MoCCA. Shows that I can freely go talk to someone with something interesting to sell me and not have to navigate around Dimension's amputee booth babe and the crowd of gawkers around her.

I whine, but really, the good bits far outweighed the bad bits. Talking to The Homeless Channel's Matt Silady about the new Wacom tablet he bought and the Billy Joel one-man-cover-band he saw a few nights before, making fun of Silady's love of the Billy Joel one-man-cover-band with Xeric Winner Jason McNamara. Laughing to tears over Jeff's impromptu Joe Jusko impression. Admiring the massive line of fans at self-publishing guru Jeff Smith during his signing sessions, and admiring the cover art to the preview edition of his follow-up to Bone, called RASL. Marc Mason (I think it was Mason, I could be wrong) letting me know about Paul Pope's THB collection in color coming out from First Second in 2009, trying to keep up with Wisnia as he laundry-listed the creators he wants pin-ups from, stealing pizza from Mad Yak Press, convention hot dogs, convention pizzas, beers at the Rock Bottom, Hollywood meetings both ridiculous and non-existent, and a lot more.

And, of course, the Davidson Art Project.

This lovely piece of work got a huge amount of kudos, and really snazzed the booth up. So yes, it was a good show. I'm home, I'm rested, and I've already gone back to work on what may or may not be my next project. And, as next year's booth has already been paid for, here's to Necessary Evil 2008.

Hey Buell, where you runnin to with that gun in your hand?

2007-05-31T01:29:00.000-07:00

Almost finished pencilling the last page of sample interior art for the Elephant Cage pitch, and I'm kinda stuck. I need that last panel. I know what the dialogue is and who's saying it, I just can't find an original angle to compose the panel at. Here's the page as it is, so far:

Oh well. It'll come to me tomorrow. I have plenty of inking to do, so I can put this last panel off for the night. Started sketching out cover design ideas today. I think the original one I came up with is too spartan. I think I need to spend some time in dirty Barnes and Noble this weekend looking at design books. I'm a nyyurd.

........................

Not sure what I'm gonna do once the Finals are over. Sink into a deep depression, for one thing. I don't think I've watched any TV besides basketball over the past few weeks. When basketball isn't on, the iPod is playing and I'm drawing. I even skipped The Shield the other night. Shock and horror, I know! I'm sure it's just a phase. When does The Amazing Race come on again?

.........................

I found this lying around somewhere. Twenty years ago, this little idiot was roaming the mean streets of England...

.........................

Is my niece giving me a pimp slap here?? Methinks so. Anyways, she's growing by leaps and bounds, talking up a storm, imitating everything I say. I'm still about 80 years from ever wanting one of my own, but getting to borrow her every once in a while makes for fun times.

.........................

Obligatory YouTube video:

This is a fucking cool performance of Lennon's "Yer Blues," but you have to sit through Mick and John acting like nyuurds for about a minute before it starts. Really cool shit. Plus, Mick calls Kieth Richards "dirty" outta nowhere, which is both funny and apt.

And, while we're at it, here's my favrit Jimi song:

Gill Baby and stuff.

2007-05-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Three comics, three womb-cam shots. For whatever reason, I keep managing to throw panels in my comics showing a baby inside of a womb. First with Video, then with Fragile Prophet (which I didn't even write, I just threw it in there) and now, Elephant Cage. I present here, for the first time, the inside-the-womb-shot-of-a-baby-with-gills!

No, I won't tell you why the baby (or is it fetus? Yeah, I think it's fetus.) has gills. Unless I already spilled the secret, which I think I did to two people, and one of them is my Mom's, and she don't read my blog.

Anyways, more EC stuff later in the week.

...............

I am way too tired to think of anything else to write tonight, my legs are sore from yogging, my chest is sore from lifting and my brain is sore from flatting colors on the latest page I drawed. I want this week to be over so I can be eating Mountain Mike's and burritos and brownies and watching UFC with the Hiltons this weekend in Sac!

...............

Ok, but first, I used to watch this in reruns every afternoon the summer after high school graduation. How cool is Spock???

................

And oh yeah, watch this movie now.

................

That is all.

Another Sunny Afternoon...

2007-05-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

...sitting in the cube drawing a panel.

See?

The light at the end of the Elephant Cage tunnel is definitely within view, so I'll be posting some bits and pieces from the pitch next week. Regardless of what happens, it's been nice working on something completely different, especially now that I've gotten a chance to actually draw the characters a few times over. My favorite character is a girl named Lucky, who I'll introduce you to next week.

........

So I've been giving serious thought to moving lately. My head is back above the water of debt I've been swimming in thanks to Video and Fragile Prophet, so my savings is getting a bit beefier, and my options are opening up. The numerous pros in staying where I'm at are quickly fading due to my desire to Try Something New, but I'm stuck as to where I might find that Something. I've never really given Los Angeles a truly fair shake, the SFV is kinda the armpit of L.A., so who knows what I'd find if I headed further towards the Pacific. On the other hand, I've been exposed to enough L.A. culture (I say that with tongue-firmly-in-cheek) that I think I want to try out a new city. Nothing immediately screams "Be Here Now," so I've got time to figure it out.

.......

I'm not sure I'll be able to watch Suns/Spurs tonight. I can feel pre-game ulcer coming on, like Game 7 of Kings/Lakers back in '01. I really don't want the Spurs to win. I just used the italics tag to emphasize that point, so you know it's true.

.......

Gonna start writing a new project for an artist that isn't me. I have no idea who the artist will be, but I've got more stories than hands, so I've got to start looking at who's out there. It'll be interesting to attempt a collaboration with me on the writing chores this time. How critical I'd be on another aritst, etc. So that'll be interesting. I suppose the question now is which idea I'm gonna start working on. American Juice is completely mine to draw, so that's outta the question. Time to dig through some old notebooks...

Alternative Buell Expo 2007 Part One

2007-04-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

San Francisco is quickly becoming my favorite place ever, and, truthfully, if it wasn't for the constant fog and rain and presence of Jason MacNamara, I'd consider moving. Beyond my love for Downtown Brown and 2 a.m. grilled cheese sandwiches offered by Zeitgeist, though, Frisco also is home to my favorite little indie con of the year, the Alternative Press Expo.

Business First, Then Pleasure

Lost in the Dark did fantastic. Our new display could be seen from miles away, and, besides a few minor improvements, (cough foam core cough) it was exactly as I wanted. The exhibits staff gave us great placement, and it paid off. We did more than double the business than we did last year, which, given the seeming increase in attendance and the presence of the Video collected edition, was what we had hoped for.

More people seem to be aware of our books now, which is great considering how lousy of a marketeer I am. I'm a terrible huckster. Something to work on.

Speaking of which, enough about me. There was so much great stuff at the con this year, it was difficult keeping my spending down to the $100 I allowed myself. (Did anyone else know that Spiritualized did a quasi-cover of Amazing Grace, called Hold On? Man this is good stuff.) So, on to the items I picked up. I haven't read most of these yet, so these are just first impressions.

The Good Stuff

-The first item I picked up was The End is Neat,a graphic novel from Michael McCardle. The cover is striking and I love the title, which doesn't necessarily mean the interiors will be as good, but in this case, the interior images are just as striking. Very fine linework, deceptively simple and completely crazy and violent, this looks to be an interesting read, at least for the visuals. Looking forward to this one.

-The Funambulist, by James Oleson. A 24-Hour Comic about a tightrope walker. I read the first couple of pages, and the writing had a solid authenticity to it that made me give it a shot. I really wanna try the 24-Hour Comic this year.

-Numb, by Josh Kemble. I'd heard about this Xeric-winner a few times in the last six months or so, and with good reason. It's awesome. This is seriously that kind of book that you say, "Holy shit, that's me!!" but has that effect on everyone that reads it. And the break-up scene is BRUTAL in it's simplicity and effectiveness.

-Please Release by Nate Powell. Haven't read it yet, but I had to get it based on the artwork alone. Kinda like early Farel Darymple, which is high praise because Darymple's Pop Gun War inspired me to the point of making comics of my own. Looking forward to this one.

-Fallen and a set of postcard prints by Camilla d'Errico. The artist of SLG's Nightmares and Fairytales had some beautiful prints for sale, and a cool magazine-sized glossy graphic adaptation of a Mark Twain's poem. One of those tables I wish I had more money to spend at.

-A set of prints by Brian Ewing. I got ten of these suckers for like $5, which was an absolute steal. And a sticker for my laptop!

-Honorable mention goes to Brandon Bird, who didn't bring his DS9 stuff, much to my dismay. I guarantee I was the only person dismayed at this, because, as he himself said, no one ever asks for the DS9 stuff. One day I'll finally get the "The Death of Jennifer Sisko" and "Of Bajor" prints I covet so much. They're simply just beautiful.

There're a few more things I bought I'd like to show off, plus some sketches I did while behind the desk, and, of course, pictures!! Stay tuned for Parte Dos, coming soon!

4. Ronnie Gardocki > Bruce McGill (T/F)

2007-04-18T00:20:00.001-07:00

Because I was in England for the better part of my memorable childhood, from when I was 7 to 11, to be specific, I missed out on a lot of American 80's shit. We got some TV shows, mostly a year out of date, but whenever I came home to visit I was sorely behind on the "cool" shit. I remember coming back the summer of '88 and wondering why the hell everyone out here was nutting so hard over the California Raisins. What the hell is a Ninja Turtle? Then there was The Noid, which was strangley popular, too. Don't think I missed anything with that one, really. Those Big Johnson shirts everyone wore confused me, too. Not too hip to metaphor, this kid was, no matter how blunt it was.

And now I just stumbled on this, which I had never heard of in my life. Does anyone remember this? Was it popular? Was it as fucking creepy as it looks?

Anyways.

One show we did get (albiet later than everyone else) was MASK. I didn't play with GI Joe, either because my parents didn't wanna spend the money (very likely) or because it promoted violence (not as likely), but I looved me some MASK.

Pop quiz to follow:

Why does Matt Trakker here have enough money to spend on a train that runs from his computer room to his garage, (or MASK Headquarters, as he calls it) and yet he can't afford to pay his MASK employees enough so they won't have to take crap service jobs? One of his homies is pumping gas, for God's sake. And what the hell was that bald dude doing with a snake around his neck? What fucking job is that??

My migraine-riddled head and I are going to sleep now. It's been like three days in a row for my friend the headache and me, which is playing havoc on the creativity, so I'm hoping the extra sleep will help. Or maybe the long libation-filled weekend in San Fran coming up will hit the ol' reset button on the Buellbot. Crepes on Haight and beers at the Molotov...

American Born Buell

2007-04-16T01:56:00.000-07:00

Picked up American Born Chinese today at Borders. Going off on an immediate tangent, while I think it's great that Manga seems to be getting tweeners into reading these days, why must the spotty manga kids camp out in the graphic novel aisle at Borders? It made my search for Gyakushu (I have no idea if I spelled that right. It's from Dan Hipp, the arteest extrordinare on Image's Amazing Joy Buzzards!) that more difficult, having to sidestep these little ones a few times, almost crushing them under my giant Adio. In any event, Borders doesn't carry TPop's OEL (Original English Language) Manga. That's Manga written and drawn by American folks. Which really just makes it comics, but don't tell TPop that.

(OOh, I did spell it right, and here's the cover to Gyakushu!)

Anyways. So instead I got Gene Luen Yang's National Book Award Finalist-um-getting(?) graphic novel. Can't wait to sink my teefs into it. This book caused a bit of a stir this past year when it was it was given the distinction of being a National Book Award Finalist, a first for a graphic novel. The literary elite took huge exception to this, because, y'know, comics are just fer kids and stuff.

Now for some 2 a.m. 300 silliness.
Reallllly hoping the code works for these...

And finally...

Breaking the widescreen bars make it art.

XBuell 360

2007-04-06T00:55:00.000-07:00

Publishing fan mail is a staple of the comic book industry, a strange phenomenon that seems exclusive to this business. Maybe the periodical aspect of the medium, in addition to the strong sense of community us nerds feel the need for, combine to make the letter column a natural fit in the pages of a comic book. I'm too lazy right now to wikipedia the origins of the comic book letter column, but it seems to be the one entertainment business where the publisher/creator actually publishes and then responds directly to their fans/detractors in a public forum, certainly in a tangible form. Obviously, the net has opened this up for musicians, moviemakers, actors, etc to respond to fan letters in public, but it's long been an important community-building exercise for funnybook makers.

So, every once in a while, even yours truly gets some feedback on my comic books, and today, much to my delight, I got an email from a guy that bought a copy of my graphic novel Video, and I figured I had to publish it (for the two people who may or may not read this thing), if for no other reason than to boast that my stuff is better than Guitar Hero! Well, to this guy, for a brief moment in time, it was.

Hi, I don't ordinarily do this but I have to take a minute to apologize
and gush, yes gush over your series "Video."

I met you at Emerald City Comic Con, you probably do not remember me,
but I'm the guy who wandered around your booth for a bit, commented that
I liked the art style, and told you that my girlfriend would really like
it also. We came back twenty minutes or so later and bought a copy. The
apology part comes in when we didn't even ask you to sign our book, and
not knowing that you were the actual writer/illustrator. It was our
first con and we were both completely and utterly culture shocked (I
think that's the right words) by the whole experience, it was amazing.
So that gets the apology out of the way, now for the praise and general
ego stroking session.

I started reading the book last night, and got up to around chapter 3
before I put it up for the night. Well long story short, I came home
from work tonight with a big ass UPS package waiting for me and without
even giving it a second glance, I grabbed my copy of "Video" and a hot
pocket, and started reading. Depending on whether you are a gamer or not
you may or may not get the significance of this but, the contents of the
UPS package was Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox360 with the fancy new guitar
peripheral. (oooohhs and ahhhhs a plenty) so you see, I decided to
finish reading your book rather than playing the carpal tunnel inducing
goodness that is Guitar Hero.

So as you can see, I really enjoyed the book, the concept, the art, all
of it. I look forward to reading "American Juice" once it's released and
will keep my eye out for more of your work in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to read this rant, shit, for my girlfriend's
sake, replace most of the "I"s with "We" so she doesn't feel left out.

-Chris and Tracey

Seriously, reading that, it all melts away and I remember just why the hell I'm doing what I'm doing. Telling stories that resonate with people is eternal. Even if I never decide to infect this world with my spawn, an incredibly likely proposition, I'll always have the stories I tell and the pictures I draw, and really, that's alright. Thanks, Chris and Tracey. (Incidentally, I drew them a couple of sketches to make up for the fact that they didn't get the book signed, so, y'know, it pays to speak up.)

Anyways.

I stumbled upon this and realized I NEED to know more about it.

The character design is fucking astounding, to say the very least. Japanimation with a strong European influence? W.T.F.

I was gonna post one of the pages I'm working on, but I can't after that image. But I can easily post a page after this, though:

I can watch Dwight Howard dunk all day long...

Ok, here's a random page sans dialogue of what's been keeping me busy these nights:

My other car is a holodek

2007-03-15T02:03:00.001-07:00

Been sketching my ass off at the dayjob the past week or so. I don't typically sketch this much, because I typcially don't really sit around doing nothing for hours at a time. Now that I have a job, that's pretty much changed. So much time at the new job is spent drawing and writing, I'd be hard-pressed to quit even if I did get paid for full-time comics work... yeah, right, if you believe that, you smokin crack.

With everyone I know seemingly either leaving, leaving in the next few weeks, just coming back, or in the middle of an out-of-country trip, my travel bug is flaring up in a big way. After years of concentrating all my resources on the comic thing, I've neglected that part of me that wants to get out and explore. I seriously wanna do a graphic novel travelogue.

One thing at a time, though. The Elephant Cage pitch comes along nicely, one page at a time. Consistency is my biggest challenge. Keeping everyone and everything in sync, panel to panel, is vital to establishing a world people can escape into. I tend to jump into my projects, without much visual pre-production, which can lead to headaches along the way. I've out a bit more thought into my approach on this, and I think it's gonna pay off down the line.

But all that doesn't matter. Nothing any comic book does now can compare to this:

This was a comic released in 1954, right before the Comics Code was implemented and horror comics were essentially banned by the industry, all thanks to this douchebag. In fact, the cover was used in Wertham's book as evidence that comic books were corrupting the minds of the young. Man, if comics still had balls like the ones it took to publish this cover, who knows where the industry would be.

Anyways, all sorts of great old school comic covers here! Really, some of these realllly fucking rule.

And finally, no one, no one, NO ONE says "doo doo" like Chapelle. (Psst, he says it about 2:30 into this!)

2007-02-21T23:53:00.001-08:00

Buell in Spaaaace!

2007-02-21T23:45:00.001-08:00

is there nudity?

2006-12-29T01:45:00.000-08:00

Deadwood at 4 in the morning will produce this:

I say Yes entirely too easy...

2006-12-07T06:14:00.000-08:00

...which is of small concern now. Anyway, up late so here's a Scillian Jay (Fragile Prophet) sketch, from black and white to just a mess of undisciplined color, just the way I likes it. I just slap on the layers like so much peanut butter on a Red Baron.

In other news, what do Disneyland, Rocky Balboa, Hearst Castle (Kubla Khan), Stephen R. Buell and Mann's Chinese Theater all have in common?

Answer: Next week!!two

Once a nerd...

2006-12-05T01:39:00.000-08:00

This was me at like 3 or 4 I think. Harcore comics nerds will notice the discontinuity between my Spider-man (Marvel) cup and Superman (DC) shirt. And yet, I look so blissful. There's a metaphor in there somewhere, maybe, basically.

And so, even though I've long been over men-in-tights (with the exception of the occasional impulse buy), I still like to draw some of my more cherished super-heroes from time to time.

Like this guy.

One day I'll post my Batman drawing where he's traded in his utility belt for a fanny pack. But not today.

Just some warm-ups...

2006-11-27T04:46:00.000-08:00

...getting ready for the real thing.

Free Comic Book Day 2005

2006-11-21T23:44:00.000-08:00

Me on the news!

Wait like 4 seconds and the picture cleans up.

Tuesday

2006-11-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

Late Tuesday, getting some work done on the LitD website; it's a bit sparse as it is, and I've wanted to get it looking a bit busier, but with the same aesthetic as the current site. So I'm just adding more stuff. Links to the YouTube site I'm putting together, the MySpace site we have, etc. A link to this blog.

So I missed my high school reunion this past weekend. I was having much more fun in Seattle with my new amiga, but I did get a chance to look at some pictures from it. There were maybe 25 people in attendance, out of a graduating class of 400. There were two people that I wouldn't have minded catching up with, but, really, everyone I've wanted to keep in touch with from my teens I am in touch with already, and none of them went, and so it just woulda been really awkward for me. Which is never fun. Yeah, definitely had more fun in Seattle. Nice town.

Writing progresses on the first issue of American Juice at a snail's pace; just have had a hard time bringing the mojo. Tonight I'm gonna give it another shot and see what happens. I have about half of it outlined, but it's come too easy, and I'm wondering if that's a problem. I just need to finish a first draft and fuck with it afterwards. Yah? Yah.

American Juice Notes

2006-11-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

American Juice Notes

2006-11-10T01:41:00.000-08:00

Work began a few days ago writing American Juice. I'm actually writing myself a script this time, instead of winging it from the flotsom in my head, like I did with Video. Shhh, I didn't just say that. Anyways, I'm happy with what I gots so far. Decided to hop back into drawing as much as I can, starting with some character design stuff. Here's the first, for a character featured in the second issue.

Expect more of this type of stuff here, as it comes. No spoilers, though.

So Kniiiiives Oooooutt...

2006-11-10T00:45:00.000-08:00

Radiohead never ceases to calm the nerves. Well, Radiohead and Sigur Ros. Been crawling out my skin all day, itching for somethiing to do. Even though there's plenty I could do, I think I miss having mindless office work to do. Just for today, though. Anxious about a few things, none of which I'll go into here. All stuff that'll be nice and resolved in a week or so. I miss having a drawing desk in front of a television. I might try to fix that. NBA season is back on, and it's oddly calming to draw while watching a game in solitude. I'd love to have my own studio or office space to set up. One day, maybe.

I need to set up an Amazon account. I need to hit back the online comics people and get my files prepared. I need to order new bar codes for Fragile Prophet. I need to get my business stuff taken care of. I need to apply for copyright for Video, although I think the first one I did would cover me if anything happened. I need to finish revamping the website. I need to put together a trailer for Video and Fragile, for the YouTube site. I need to make the MySpace site look better. I need to update the press comp list. I need to do more retailer outreach. I need to ring either Diamond's or UPS's neck for fucking up my ashcan shipment. I need to design and build a banner setup, one that won't fall on Keith Giffen. This banner is lighter, so that shouldn't happen again. Heavier base is what we need for that. I need to finish writing American Juice #1. I need to send in my app for WonderCon, although it'll already be sold out.

This never ceases to make me happy.

Big Kirby Monster

2006-11-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

Chris Wisnia asked me a loong time ago to draw him a big Kirby-esque monster for his website; he has all sorts of comic artists and comic fans sending him pinups of big monsters and the like, so this is me tossing my hat into the ring. Just hope I don't get shown up by some bagboy at Ralph's.

Update...

2006-11-03T21:01:00.002-08:00

Fragile came out to great reviews and low sales. Video's about to come out to low sales and we'll see how the reviews go. I'm still fairly optimistic, as we all have to pay our dues at some point. Sacramento is treating me well these days, and although the vacation has been fantastic, the prospect of going back to work doesn't sound so bad. I'm just ready to start paying off my bills and saving some cash for whatever lies ahead.

I got my first new sketchbook in maybe a year the other day. The first sketched-on page went to my new friend, who's just suddenly popped into my life and, yeah. All that.

So I gotta start drawing again, on a regular basis. So more blogging, more drawings, more more more. Working on revamping the website again, it'll look basically the same but more more more. I need to stop tusseling with Turbo so much, he's killing my drawing hand.

American Juice is starting to come together, it's all becoming so clear in my head. Concept sketches will probably be coming soon.

Two days and counting...

2006-07-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

...til Comic-Con, that is. I always get giddy around this time, but this year so much is going on besides the con, the excitement is getting a bit lost in the shuffle. Sales on Fragile were good if not great, certainly a lot better than they could have been, given the hurdles we had to overcome. Hopefully the con sales will do us good and leave us with a bit of spending cash. I like our placement this year, one high-profile guy to one side and another relatively well-known self-publisher on the other. The traffic coming our way should be a lot more of our type of customer than in previous years. Bummer we're not going to be next to Patrick, as usual, but he's slummin it in the Small Press Ghetto this year. Gonna have to walk further to pick on him this time around.

Still, should be a blast, and, even considering that the following week I'm moving back to Sacramento, I feel a lot more focused this year than last.

Back in Sac for a few days...

2006-07-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

...and will be sneezing up black dog hair for the next few days, because of this mutt's insistance on sleeping in the guest room bed with me.

Government Cheese

2006-07-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

This is me, during the application process for unemployment benefits.

Notice the look on my face that says, "Which button do I push to make money be here now?"

About Fucking Time

2006-07-01T00:22:00.000-07:00

2/5/2001-6/30/2006

Singer Stalker Pic

2006-06-29T00:28:00.000-07:00

Saw this little art-flick called Superman Returns the other night, in a theatre filled with hardcore Superman nerds, and, only two rows ahead of me, director Bryan Singer. So, as is customary when any celebrity or person of interest enters my crosshairs, I snapped a picture.

But not your standard "Here's me and Bryan Singer standing next to each other all awkward because I just geekily asked him to stop what he was doing so my friend can figure out how to take a camera phone with my ghetto-ass Motorola phone that came free for signing up with Verizon for two years"-type pic.

No no, I took a stalker pic. Stalker pics are the best, and I was introduced to them two years ago when my friend Hilton, at the San Diego Comic-con, unwilling to pay the $20 Lou Ferigno was asking for a pic, took matters in his own hand, stood about 15 feet away, and took a proper stalker pic. This was fascinating to me, so I decided to start taking stalker pics of celebs should they be near.

So, here it is. My stalker pic of Bryan Singer:

Fragile Prophet- JAKE

2006-06-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Fragile Prophet Reviewed by AICN...

2006-06-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

...and they love it.

Books like FRAGILE PROPHET are the reason why I restarted up this Indie Jones column here at AICN Comics. Amidst the clutter of crossovers and hype you may miss a book that, although it may not be in the mainstream, turns out to be something truly special. Just by reading the introduction to this Original Graphic Novel, I knew I was in for something original and unique. Writer Jeff Davidson goes into detail about the inspiration for this series in a way that sucks you into this world by providing factual instances where the type of phenomenon that occurs in this book has happened in the past. After reading the intro I felt as if I was either being set up for the biggest letdown ever or in store for one of the coolest comic book reading experiences I’ve had all year.

Turns out, it was the latter.

Click for more

RIP Huey

2006-06-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

SPOILER ALERT: This is gross.

For the past ten years or so, I've had a wee little lump on my chest. It never bugged me, it was just there. Given my crippling fear of the doctor's office, most likely due to the fact that my entire life has been spent on crappy HMO's (YAY KAISER!) I never went to get it checked out.

Well, it got a tad bigger about three months ago. Unacceptably bigger. Then, a tiny tiny pinpoint head developed, so it would um, leak. Even cooler (grosser), I could squirt orangish juice from it and hit an intended target up to five feet away! It was really quite impressive (sickening). Shameless as I am, I even busted it out by request and shot it on command. Of course, only one of my friends was sick enough to request that I do so, which resulted in her boyfriend's leg getting spurted on by my chestlump, which resulted in huge laughs from said friend. It was pretty funny, actually.

So, given that my day job and it's full health insurance coverage would be ending in a month, I decided to get it checked out. The first doc said it was probably just a cyst or a fatty deposit, (like my belly ain't got enough in it) and scheduled some outpatient surgery for me. So I went in yesterday and had it removed. Few things to consider:

1. Having a reflective surface above the patient so that they can see the doc cut them open is probably not a good idea, because YOU ARE WATCHING YOURSELF GET CUT OPEN.

2. On the other hand, watching yourself get cut open ROCKS, in a really weird sick way.

3. The smell of your own flesh burning is kinda cool, too, although fuck me it hurts getting an incision cauterized. The doc kinda freaked out as I laughed when he was applying the Kaiser Blow Torch on my wound. He offered more numbjuice, but I chuckled and said "ECW!ECW!ECW!" as a tear trickled down my eye.

4. Kaiser sucks. Really, I've never been to a good doctor before, and I don't know dick about medicine, but man, something about the whole experience/procedure just struck me instictually as a bit barbaric. On the upside, when he sliced me open a fucking geiser came gushing outta me, most of which landed on him. Eat my lump facial, Dr. Mataheved. And thanks for taking my lump out.

Post Surgery

Pre Surgery

I know, I know, I should have snapped some during-operation pics, but the doctor really was kind of a dick, so I left it alone.

I'm listening to Mad Season right now, which is actually the first album I ever illegally downloaded, back when Napster was all the rage. It was also the album I was listening to when I started working at the bank, five years and change ago. Two weeks from now, I will officially be laid off!

Damn...

2006-06-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

A month goes by QUICK. 9 more working days til I'm outta this dayjob thing... and only 6 weeks til I exit stage North from Los Angeles and head back up to Sac. Maybe it's the anticipation because I've known about it for the past six months, or maybe it's just the enormity of the change itself, but I just want it to be here now. I think I just want to prove to myself that the people I love here won't become a faint memory, that I will visit and I will keep in touch (thank god for myspace), and that my 8 years here wasn't for naught(sp?).

I was talking with a friend the other day about how quickly things pass and she mentioned that, before I knew it, I'd be settled into my new environs. I've never felt "settled-in" here in LA. Since I came down here I've moved within the area 5 or 6 times, and always with an eye towards where my next location will be. The fact that I've lived in the same house for nearly 3 years now is only due to the fact that the rent is so cheap, a necessity after I decided to try my hand at publishing.
Lord knows I wouldn't live there if I didn't absolutly have to.

I have a fairly firm grasp on what the next few years hold for me, or at least I've laid out what my goals are for the next few years, so maybe the move will allow me the comfort of settling in while maintaining that same momentum I've carried over the last three or so years. In any event, to be close to my family again, especially to become a part of my niece's life, is something I've missed from my life for too long now.

Been working on promotional stuff for FP, which has been a lot of fun after the monotony of sequential work. These have been seeping into the message boards for the past few weeks... more to come!!

And, for David:

Arrested Development

2006-05-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Only 31 more working days... however, I have been watching DVDs of Arrested Development here at work to pass the time, which is pleasant...

Check out my new Nutritional Triangle.

33 More Working Days...

2006-05-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Big Layoff is coming up in about 45 days, or 33 working days. I've got a major case of senioritis going, which translates into the work days dragging much more, and hence, me feeling more tired at the end of the day.

To illustrate just how bored at work I've become, here's an entry from Wikipedia that I found great interest in:

Rank

O'Brien appeared on ST:TNG wearing pips on his collar. Viewers mistook these pips to indicate officer ranks, (initially an ensign, subsequently a lieutenant); however these pips were silver[citation needed], indicating enlisted ranks, not the gold used for officers. Even the show's writers seemed confused, referring to O'Brien as a lieutenant at one point. The confusion was later confounded when ST:DS9 began, where he was promoted and began wearing a single black pip with a gold ring around it (assumed to be a Warrant Officer rank). Later, the confusion was cleared up, when a new pin was made with 3 chevrons, and one dot (similar to the US Navy arm patch for Senior Chief Petty Officer); however, he was continually referred to as "Chief O'Brien", not the standard "Senior Chief O'Brien".

Many people believe that an enlisted rank, such as O'Brien held, would not have held such a position aboard Deep Space Nine. However, Starfleet, being similar to the US and UK navies, Chief Petty Officers traditionally hold a lot of sway in command decisions, and are considered equal with commander or lieutenant commander ranks when making decisions. CPO's are also much older, and wiser than the younger officers, and traditionally hold high positions in engineering or maintenance on submarines, ships, or aircraft.

Fascinating, no?

Deadface Stalkeratti

2006-05-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

Gearing up for a nice little promotional push for Fragile Prophet. Revamping the website (again), doing some promotion teaser images I'm gonna swamp the message boards and MySpacers with, updating the MySpace page, sending retailers a preview book... if this stuff doesn't help a little bit, then Fragile's gonna be one of those lost gems that people might discover later, if and when one of our subsequent projects does well. It's a marathon, etc, etc. Still, anxious to start working on the next project/pitch...

Free Booze and Faux C. Bennett

2006-04-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Spidey sketch

2006-04-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ten weeks left til I'm officially an ex-Washington Mutual employee. Still have mixed feelings. So anxious to get started on a few new projects, so anxious to just start over with a clean slate, see more of the family, explore a new place, get out of this rut, even though I'd hardly call the last six months of productivity a "rut." I suppose I see it as a great big kick in the ass for me. Feels like I've been on the same steady diet of LA for the past 8 years.

Bonus points for being able to tell people at my ten-year reunion this October that I'm living off unemployment and living with my sister. I may just go dressed like a homeless. Here's some Spiderman action. His biggest threat this week: Figuring out Turbotax!!

Currently listening to and being creeped out by the (new?) Eagles of Death Metal: Death by Sexy.

JIM JAMES!

2006-02-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Did this a few days ago as a joke.

Two in a Day? NICE!

2006-01-31T12:41:00.001-08:00

See it bigger here.

Been a whiille

2006-01-31T12:40:00.000-08:00

Because I'm on MySpace, most of my blogging and sketches end up there, so this thing gets neglected... NO MAS!

Back from Sac

2005-12-26T22:27:00.000-08:00

For Xmas, my niece got me a case of Bronchitis. Or someting like it. No matter, here's a sketch:

Sketch 12-12-05

2005-12-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

"We should take a trip now to see new places I'm sick of this town I see my face has changed."

This sonofabitch here started yelling at me mid-sketch, so I didn't finish him. Lesson: Don't yell at me.

Sketch 12-10-05

2005-12-10T00:28:00.000-08:00

Jeff turned in the script to the final chapter of Fragile today... man, I had chills reading that shit. HOPEFULLY my art will do it justice. HOPEFULLY.

A sketch two days in a row, fancy shmancy.

Sketch 12-09-05

2005-12-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Disneyland. I'll be posting some pics in the next few days.

In the meantime, here's the sketch of the day:

Sketch 12-02-05

2005-12-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a color version of the previous sketch

And here's a new one, along with its color counterpart...

I'm busy working on three or four projects at a time right now, but it's nice to take 30 minutes in a day and shit one of these out... fun stuff.

Only six days til I get to see my niece and go to Disneyland... I swear I'm gonna dry hump Mickey and have my brother-in-law take a picture of it...

Sketch of the day

2005-12-02T01:49:00.000-08:00

Gonna try and hammer out a few of these per week... just so that I have something to update this blog with. Lord knows I ain't gonma talk about my feelings. Not even sure I have any.

Not sure what this guy's deal is, I just like drawing creepy-ass guys with big tired eyes.

WELL WTF

2005-11-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

I mean come on, Kings. Losing to the Knicks at home? Pleeeeeeease. Pa-thetic.
Working cover to the Video TPB:

You Can't Imagine...

2005-11-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

...How Much Fun We're Having.

Thank you God, for bringing November to me once again. The NBA is in full swing again, and, although it looks like the Kings are gonna keep on sinking into pre-Webber oblivion again, it doesn't matter. Football bores me, baseball bores me even more. I feel complete once again.

Meanwhile, my epic rivalry on the court begins anew with Larsen, who suffered a broken ankle at my hands the last time we balled up. Two years has passed, and he is looking for revenge. It matters not. This will be the result:

teeesting

2005-10-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

again...

ECW!ECW!ECW!

2005-10-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

Listening to Sgt. Pepper just now. WTF is up with Paul and his wife-beater lyrics in Getting Better?

"I used to be cruel to my woman I'd beat and take her away from the things that she loved."

Geez, man, relax.

Just for a second

2005-10-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone reads this (yet), but I've been busy with my head properly down to the desk for the past two weeks, working my ass off on three or four different things. I'm figuring out a massive amount about web stuff, cuz we're thinking of starting up a Lost in the Dark video podcast at the beginning of next year. Interviews with comic creators, indie short films, music videos, etc. We'll see.

I'll post some of the stuff I've been working on, but most of it is just hanging out on my desktop, waiting to be uploaded or whatever. Completely rebuilding the website, from the bottom-up, looking into getting a lot more t-shirt designs for sale, getting the fragile ogn and the video tpb ready to go for the con season, and about to start work on the American Juice bible so's I can get started writing.

Phew.

test

2005-10-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

testing

Wanna be fly, call Continental...

2005-10-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

Think I nailed the cover to the Fragile Prophet OGN last night. I'm pretty happy with it, and it looks like the window is open again, cuz I've been on, creatively speaking for the past few days. Check it out:
"http://www.lostinthedark.com/fpcover.jpg"
Now I gotta work on that Video TPB cover... it's a weird thing, though, because everyone I talked to has basically said the cover to issue 1 of Video sold the hell outta that thing. I'm tempted to put the same cover on the TPB, but that's lame.

For nerds only.

2005-10-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

This if for nerds only: Doesn't Chief Justice John Roberts look dead-on like DC Villain Max Lord? Answer: Heck yes he does!

Motivation

2005-10-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Reading stuff like this makes me anxious to start on this.

Paaaaaaaaaperback Wriiiiiiiiiittaaahhhhh

2005-09-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Gonna be a loooong week. Anxious to get started on the last few legs of the Fragile Prophet OGN, though. Gonna be locked in my room hammering out random anti-government images for the next week straight. Fun times.

Trying to think of new ideas for convention banners.

What ass would do this to their dog?

Alien Echo

2005-09-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Working cover to first (second?) 80-Page Giant planned for '06? Eh? Maybe, maybe not...

Atmosphere

2005-09-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

So I was listening to an episode of The Tragically Nameless Podcast a few months ago, and, through that show, was introduced to a band called Atmosphere. I think I had heard of them somewhere before, but this raised my awareness to the point of looking into them further. Jeff had mentioned he knew about them, and let me borrow one of their albums. Then, while doing some more research, Jeff found this:

http://www.rhymesayers.com/aDetail.php?aId=3&cT=Bio

It's the Atmosphere official bio page, including a picture of Slug, wearing this:

Pretty nifty, huh? Anyone interested can buy the shirt with the term I coined right here.

Back to work.

She take my money... when I'm in neeeed...

2005-09-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

She's a gooold-digger!

Wonder what ever happened to Charlie Wade. Had a big crush on her when I was 16 or so. Here she is with some chauncey from Sac-town.
Probably got married in Hagan Park. (c) Jeff Davidson Has like 8 kids, living somewhere near Oak Park. That's what Sacramento will do to ya.

Mr. Big

2005-09-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Why did I upload Monster Ballads to my iPod? Was that really necessary? Obviously, yes.

This guy worries me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Martinez

With me, productivity is usually spurred by change. I need a change. Could move again, but Jebus, that's expensivo. Gotta happen sooner or later, though. Can't live in that house forever. Plus, moving that couch would be a BITCH. Just gotta get away, maybe? Go to Europe and kick around. Hell, even Vegas would work for me now. Just tired of the same old.

Need to get me a ninja-cat.

I'm a firestarter. You're a firestarter.

2005-09-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Ongoing, late 2007? Hey, gotta plan it right.

http://www.lostinthedark.com/aj.jpg

What you doin in my car, old man??

2005-09-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

My creative window has slammed shut, I've been terribly unproductive lately, which I aim to change this weekend. Due to immensly low orders, we're cancelling the last two issues of Fragile Prophet and are instead going to collect all three chapters into one OGN. Just makes more sense.

I'm gonna try my hand at a few 64-page one-shots, after which, I'm leaning towards attempting an ongoing series with American Juice, maybe late 2007. Really try to do it right, raise the funds, etc. In the meantime, these titles jump out at me, from the top of my head, as cool, quick fat floppy one-shots:

Akrid (poss. promotional tie-in to the clothing co. my friend is starting)

Alien Echo

Elephant Cage- really wanted to do this as a series, but we'll see. I like the idea of an Eraserhead meets Superheroes idea.

Stuck

Connected- no, not based on the 90's Stereo MC's song of the same name, which is going into my On-The-Go iPod playlist right now, BTW.

Now, PLEASE go here, you'll die of laughter, reading these people's posts. If you're cool, that is.

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=995391

Akrid

2005-09-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Been getting many kudos for the website I designed for my friend's t-shirt company. Still work to be done, but I think it's a good start...

www.akridsweatshop.com

2005-08-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

It is entirely possible that Fragile #2 will be completed on time, and with plenty of time left to edit it prior to sending it off to the printers. Working on a few projects at once does seem to keep me fresh on everything. Bout to draw a rattlesnake for a scene in the book. Ugh.

Christ I hate rattlesnakes.

Kickball

2005-08-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

"Kickball you are fun when played safe..."

Work on issue two of Fragile Prophet is steady and consistent; the quality has picked up quite a bit. Vacation has served my hands well, and the rest and reflection really shows in the work. I was worried that the few months I took off would hurt, but I really just concentrate a lot more and it's not like I haven't been drawing at all lately... preview pages coming soon...

In other news:

Jeff's prediction that theatrical distribution will go the way of Betamax may be coming sooner than later...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050828/ap_en_mo/dvd_dilemma

Even I could climb Mt. Mutombo these days...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-rockets-mutombo&prov=ap&amp;amp;type=lgns

Best Podcast ever.

http://tnppodcast.libsyn.org

Google Image Search Picture of the Day: