Marriage: Let the Truce Be Told

Fantastic news for my wife, Stephanie, and I today. We've been writing essays about our marriage in a sort of he said/she said style. We take a topic or particular instance and write a short essay. We've received some great feedback from the few people who have read some of them, and today we got the best feedback of all: An online magazine wants to publish one of our stories.

The story, Diary of a Football Fan—And His Wife, is about the night the Packers lost to the Giants in last year's NFC Championship. I wrote it the following morning. It was one of those rare instances when I sat down and wrote 500 words in about 15 minutes and I didn't need to change a word. I mentioned the essay to Stephanie and she did the same thing. What's even more rare is the fact that they blended together almost perfectly, creating this nice little cohesive essay with almost no effort.

For the most part, we're writing these little vignettes for fun, but we agree that we'd love to have a magazine or website to publish them on a monthly basis. And if we get some positive feedback, we're going to shop around the idea in a book proposal. Marriage: Let the Truce Be Told. I like the sounds of that. I can already imagine the book tour. And the Oprah invitation.

Braids of the Gorgon

I haven't posted recently in part because I've been spending most of my free time creating comics instead of reading, buying, or talking about them. So I thought I'd take some time this week and show everyone what's cookin'...

First up is Braids of the Gorgon, written by Ken Faggio and illustrated by Jason Copland. A few months ago I asked Jason what he was working on. He mentioned a book that had sort of taken the back burner over the last year or so, but one that he was still excited about. With a little prodding, he sent me some art he drew for the story, a script for the first issue, and a synopsis for what was yet to come.

The story takes place in ancient Greece and features all of the action and mythology you might expect, but what drew me into the tale was the emotion that hid just under the surface from beginning to end. It's so much more than surface drama. There are some great themes running throughout the story, and the characters seem just right to make those themes come to life for the reader. I definitely liked what Ken and Jason had put together so far.

I told Jason I would love to help if I could, and the next thing I know, I'm on the phone with Ken. I thought Ken and I hit it off pretty well. He was certainly passionate about the story, and he was receptive to some ideas I threw his way. We had a pretty quick but very powerful brainstorm on how to tighten the script and pull out some of the key elements of the tale, and a few days later, Ken had a fresh script for me to read, edit, and make comments on.

Now we're just about ready to finalize the script for issue one, and Ken just sent me the second draft of issue two. Combine that with some fantastic sketches Jason recently finished (two of which I've included in this post) and it becomes evident that we've got a contender here. If all goes well, we'll have a pitch package ready before Thanksgiving. And if things go like I expect them to, you'll be seeing Braids of the Gorgon on the shelves next Spring.

By Crom, I'm a Conan Fan

Sometime last fall, I was in the middle of an email exchange with my good pal Jason Bovberg. We were talking books and comics, and at one point I asked him if he's ever read any pulpy adventure books like Conan, either as an adult or as a kid. He didn't take much interest in the topic and sort of brushed it off with a "I don't get into that stuff the way you do."

At the time I didn't know what he was talking about. I'm not a sword and sorcery fan. Sure, I've read a few comics, I've read a few books, but that doesn't mean I "get into that stuff."

Flash forward to last night. It's half time of one of the most thrilling Monday Night Football games in recent memory, and I'm sitting on the couch reading my third hardcover Conan collection in three nights. I'm eating it up, soaking in Cary Nord's art and enjoying the hell out of Kurt Buziek's version of the barbarian. Then it hits me: I'm reading Conan. Then again: I'm a Conan fan. Then again: I am so totally a fan of sword and sorcery stories.

It's funny, I've always loved Edgar Rice Burroughs and comics like The Warlord and Conan The Barbarian, yet I never considered myself a fan. I've always marveled at Frank Frazetta's art. Hell, I even dabbled in comics like Arak, Son of Thunder. With all the evidence stacked against me, how could I just now be realizing I love this stuff?

I have no idea why I never really put two and two together. It's not like adventure stories would be considered a guilty pleasure. There's no shame in the idea. I've never looked down on the stories or their fans. But for whatever reason, I'm just now figuring it all out.

And of course, knowing me, this new knowledge can only lead to one thing: a shopping spree. Yep, it's time to look for other books in the genre. I'm debating diving into Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja series, or possibly checking out their reprints of the old Marvel books. Or maybe some older Marvel Conan books are in order, or even some Tor, Ka-Zar, or even Jungle Girl action?

I've heard mixed reviews on all of these characters and titles, but at this point, I just want to devour some adventurous sword and sorcery books, and knowing me, my wallet will take the brunt of the chaos that's about to ensue. Actually, the more I think about it, I feel an eBay search coming my way...I think I found my niche.

Yorick Wouldn't Stand a Chance

I Am Hercules over at Ain't It Cool News posted a rumor about the forthcoming Y: The Last Man film. While I've always been behind Shia Lebaouf playing Yorick, I'm wasn't sold on Alicia Keys as Agent 355. That is, not until I wrote 500 words on why she wouldn't work. The more I wrote, the more I realized she would kick so much ass in that role.

I totally dug Keys in Smocking Aces. Let's face it, she can certainly handle herself as a beautiful killer. Agent 355 is a lot more than just a killing machine, however, and Keys didn't show off enough acting in Aces for me to feel totally confident in her ability to nail the more complex 355 character.

But let's imagine for a moment that she can. If so, I can see all sorts of great moments in the film. I mean, seriously, Yorick's the last man on Earth and for years he abstains from sexual relations as he searches for his long lost girlfriend. How hard would it be to stay the course if he's walking the Earth with 355/Keys, who, let's face it, is absolutely gorgeous? I can only imagine the great one-liners both characters would use in the film. Y features great dialog (which I hope would be carried over to the film), and I think a more attractive 355 could open the door to some great humor during those quiet moments between disasters.

Even more important is the Yorick/355 relationship. It starts with endless banter and random quips and sarcasm, then slowly turns into a solid friendship, and then turns into sexual tension you can almost feel. This slow build leads to one of the best, most bittersweet finales I've ever read. Damn, what a great series that was!

So yeah, if Keys can handle 355's more subtle attributes and can create some serious chemistry with Lebaouf, then my expectations will be through the roof for this one. I try not to get my hopes up for any movie, particularly before there's even a hint of a script or true casting calls, but with Y: The Last Man and names like Labeouf and Keys, it's hard not to get excited.

If Giddiness Had a Name...

I'm a simple guy with simple pleasures. And tonight I got totally excited when I learned that Dark Horse is reprinting the old Marvel run of Indiana Jones comes. Indiana Jones Omnibus: The Further Adventures Volume 1 reprints the first 12 issues of the old Marvel series along with Marvel's adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

This is the series that got me reading comics as a kid. Sure, I read comics from time to time before this title hit the stands, but I ate these comics up each and every month. I loved the character (and still do), and I read and re-read each issue, soaking up each panel. And those cliffhangers. Ugh! I hated having to wait 30 days to find out what happened next, but at the same time, I loved it. This was the first experience with serialized storytelling, and I couldn't get enough.

Sure, the series lost some of its edge once the issue numbers got into the double digits, but I didn't care how outlandish the stories got. It was Indiana Jones uncovering an artifact and having to fight or flee for his life. What more could a kid ask for?

I missed Dark Horse's reprints of the old Star Wars series, and the collector in me won't allow myself to get a second-hand copy or a later printing, but I'm not going to let that happen with this series. I've actually been seriously considering reading my old copies of the Marvel Indy series, but now I don't have to.

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On a side not, Dark Horse also announced volume five of their Savage Sword of Conan reprints. I'll admit that those old Conan tales are hit or miss, but I still eat this stuff up all the time. I don't even know exactly what I like about the barbarian, but there's just something about the sword and sorcery, the scantily clad women, the brutal fights...damn I love that stuff. Hell, just look at that cover. I'd say it's worth the price of admission all by itself (plus, it'll look damn nice on the shelf because Dark Horse does a nice job with their consistent use of their trade dress). Yep, I'm definitely looking forward to adding this volume to my shelf of Conan books.