Lair of the Mad Alaskan

Long overdue

2008-06-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Nothing comic related this time, just spouting off about something I think is important.

Today is the Anniversary of D-Day. To quote Tom Hanks: "The peaceful world as we have known it for over half a century began in Normandy on June 6, 1944." That was the beginning of the end of WWII.

I learned something today that kind of floored me...there are something like 50+ monuments to the Allied heroes of D-Day. But somehow, the US Navy has been left unrecognized all this time.

Someone finally decided it was time to fix that. A sculptor here in the states is creating the bronze monument seen here. This September it will be shipped to Normandy, France (possibly the only place in France that still likes us) ;) and installed to honor the seamen who successfully conducted the largest naval operation in world history as well as those navy personnel who lost their lives.

Go to the site and check it, and contribute a couple bucks if you have it. The people and events of WWII need to be remembered.

IT IS.....DONE!

2008-06-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

Finally completed lettering the NYE INCIDENTS GN for Devil's Due. Of course, as things tend to go, NYE along with four other things kind of all came in at once and needed to be done ASAP...as compared to drifting in over the previous MONTHS as scheduled.

In spite of power outages costing me half a day and other little things coming up I managed to do the final two chapters in three days (as well as working on other jobs while waiting for scripts or correction notes or whatever). Which is pretty fast for me given that the previous chapters took about a week each. Maybe I need the pressure to get my speed up.

Also got TRAILER PARK OF TERROR #9 out last week. Most of the material for that came in just a couple days before NYE so it got in line first. This issue has a very.... interesting... "theme" of sorts. Whatever could it be? Might the cover art give some slight clue?

In some ways, I'm starting to feel like letterers are the ER doctors of the comics team. Invariably everything that can go wrong, does. (DAMN YOU, MURPHY! DAMN YOU AND YOUR LAW TO HELL!) Anyway, once Murphy has done his damage to the production schedule and moved on, the frantic "parents" rush their ailing "baby" in my ER and say "So, umm....any chance we could...y'know...maybe get that tomorrow? Or the next day? Pleeeease?" Other work, personal commitments, SLEEP be damned this thing needs to be saved.

So, yeah, we're like the ER docs.

Except, y'know, they get paid reeeeeally well.

And people respect them. (I've seen comic book reviews where everyone from the writer down to the editor was listed in the credits...but not the letterer. I mean c'mon, people! You have to go past the letterer on the credits page to even see who that editor was!!)

Very cool...

2008-05-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

....PISTOLFIST video promo!

Stuff

2008-05-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

Black Watch

The Nye Incidents
The Pack from When Drive-Ins Attack!

Wow...frikkin' ghost town in here...

2008-04-19T20:40:00.001-07:00

Look! There goes a tumbleweed!

So, apparently I suck at keeping a blog. ;) It seems like there's either too MUCH to write about...or too LITTLE. And it doesn't always help that working in comics...especially indie comics...can be a lot of hurry up and wait.

Couple of fun things going on right now...

Things happened and Black Watch had to take a step backward. It's turned out to be one of those lemons / lemonade things. I was NOT happy with what went down but now in the aftermath of that, the book is turning out so much better and has become an enjoyable experience once more. A little taste...a page from the new and improved Black Watch #1...

I'm lettering a GN (graphic novel, for the uninformed) for Devil's Due called The Nye Incidents. It's written by novelist Craig Spector and centers around UFOs and alien abduction. As a reader I'm quite enjoying it and can't wait for the next batch of pages and script to come in so I can see what happens next.

Here's a little info at the Devil's Due site.

You can click here to download a PDF preview of the GN: THE NYE INCIDENTS.

And of course things roll on with Trailer Park of Terror...the movie and the comic. But I'm short on time..."Hitman" is just sitting there demanding I slip it in the DVD player and sit down to watch it. Just google "Trailer Park of Terror" and you find all sorts of news about the film festivals they've been doing and what actors from the flick are up to and other stuff.

I feel like refried death served in a dirty ashtray

2008-02-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

So, I get through my first (and hopefully LAST) kidney stone just in time to pick up the flu bug or whatever it is going around in these parts. Basically the last week has been a complete wash. Tried to get back in the saddle today without much success. I think I may just stay in bed a couple more days and try to get really better.

I really want to get my review of the new Rogue Angel comic written up and there's more Pistolfist news and my story for the When Drive-Ins Attack! graphic novel anthology is almost completely penciled and I'd like to show a little of that. Hopefully I'll get all that up here as soon as I'm feeling human again (or as close to human as I ever am).

Let's see...just to give you SOMETHING to look at, up above somewhere are a couple of logos I did recently. The first is for the above mentioned anthology, which I'll also be lettering, and another for Rich Stahnke's story from that same book. Each story will have a "cover" designed to look like a movie poster.

BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS PICKS UP PISTOLFIST

2008-02-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Pistolfist is a miniseries that I lettered a while back. The first issue came out and was very well recieved....unfortunately the series fell victim to the identity crisis of the publisher Alias Enterprises. (Alias dropped several books mid-stream and became a Christian publisher...which is cool, but it left some books stranded) It's very nice to see it will now have a chance to be seen by a wide audience. Some people, probably the more jaded among us, will chuckle... maybe even give a slight eye-roll... at the title or the image of a man with what basically looks like a lightning firing musket where his hand should be.... but they're wrong.

This is a GOOD book.

Don't be a tool...BUY IT.

PRESS RELEASE:

Bluewater Productions adds PISTOLFIST -- the critically-acclaimed saga of a masked, runaway slave who becomes an American Revolutionary War legend. Starting this July, the series launches just in time for Independence Day.

Originally scheduled to be released through Alias last year, Bluewater will publish the series which asks the question: How precious is your freedom? Would you fight for it? Would you dare to die for it? Set amidst the American Revolution, this critically-acclaimed series follows the saga of a mysterious, masked runaway slave whose destiny is helplessly entwined with that of a famous, yet frail, Benjamin Franklin. Inspired by true characters and events, you'll soon discover why fans and fellow creators alike have chosen to "rev it up!"

Bluewater publisher Darren G. Davis said, "I remember seeing this issue floating around Alias and I loved the concept as well as the art. It is one of the most polished books I have seen come across my desk. J.S. Earls and his creative team are the perfect fit for Bluewater. We are not really looking to pick up books, but when one comes to me that I am excited about - how can you turn it down?!" Davis continues "We are still staying at around 5 titles a month. We do not want to compete with ourselves in the marketplace."

J.S. Earls -- creator of the series -- said, "To say I'm excited about bringing Pistolfist to Bluewater would definitely be an understatement. They're as passionate about and as committed to their creations as I am about mine. We definitely share certain standards of quality - not just with the usual stuff, but logos and everything. Those details are things which help keep you a notch above your competition...and that you can be proud of. Several publishers have expressed an interest in Pistolfist, but none of them were as honest or as focused as Bluewater Productions".

J.S. Earls went on, "Since this is an election year in the US, when people evaluate what's truly important to them, I think Pistolfist's core theme of 'freedom' really seems to resonate. Regardless of your political persuasion, it's that freedom to think and express and choose that many hold so dear. We take it for granted, but - when you think about it - it's at the heart of us all".

PISTOLFIST makes it mark at Bluewater in July of 2008 and will be monthly.

*NOTE: The attached cover is for promotional purposes only. Cover Artist JOEL ROBINSON is working on a brand-new cover for the special re-release of PISTOLFIST #1.

Nichole Hiltz video interview

2008-02-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

Go HERE to see a video interview with Nichole conducted at Slamdance!

She talks TRAILER PARK OF TERROR, comics, The Riches (great show with an amazing cast...frikkin' writer's strike*) and her new show In Plain Sight. Check it out.

*[Yes, yes, I fully support the writers getting their fair share of things, especially with all the new media formats coming into play ...but that doesn't mean that as a TV watcher I can't get a little irked that the strike means a lot of shows I really enjoy or new shows I might have enjoyed have to be scrapped or delayed or in the case of some, like 24, possibly even skipped this year. A year without 24...that's just messed up, people.]

Download NOTHINGFACE for FREE!

2008-02-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

The NOTHINGFACE graphic novel is finally available for FREE download through WOWIO.com!

Written by me with art by Yildiray Cinar (Noble Causes), Nick Postic & Nick Marinkovich (Underworld, Impaler), and others with a cover by Ben Templesmith (Wormwood, 30 Days of Night).

I get a little $$$$ for every download so even if you've read it already, please go sign up (takes like 90 seconds) and download this sucker! Besides, once you're signed up you can download tons of other comics, graphic novels and books as well! Search for NOTHINGFACE or go to the comics & graphic novels section and look for MORPHEUS FORGE under publishers. Guilt your neighbors and friends into downloading it too! Support your friendly (well, that might be debatable) neighborhood comic book writier.

Hopefully soon I'll have a couple more comics on WOWIO as well.

There are days....

2008-02-04T18:52:00.001-08:00

There are days... rare days when your feet slide out from under the covers and hit the floor and you realize the temp has dropped below a certain point... that point is different from person to person and house to house (For me personally it's around -35)... and you just think, "Nah. I maybe I'll just stay right here in bed." But you seldom do because this is ALASKA and if the world stops because it's a little chilly nothing would ever get done.

This morning my feet hit the floor I thought "Oh, HELLLL no!" I instantly knew we'd blown right past -35 and tumbled head long into real cold. (You grow up in Alaska and there's a serious difference between what most people call cold and real cold. There are actually, three levels...cold, real cold and frikkin' freezing.)

I got up anyway and looked at the thermometer...then looked at a different thermometer....then checked the temps online. Yeah, it was damn near -50. My feet were cold and I considered putting on a sweater...if you know me, putting on a sweater is not normal. Even when it's cold...even real cold...I rarely put on warm clothes inside. Today was just not happening for me. I went back to bed, woke up to see a heat wave had brought us up to only -30 so I got up and did some work. It's creeping back down...it's dropped about 6 degrees in 90 minutes or so. I'm going back to bed with an extra blanket and the tv remote.

The first "official" review of TPoT!!

2008-02-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

JUST A TEASER:

I have to be honest: I wasn't looking forward to seeing this film, despite the buzz at the Slamdance Film Festival, where I caught its premiere last week. At the fest's headquarters at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, Utah, the place was awash with half-drunk weirdos pumped to catch the late-night screening. I hid my press badge, hoping to avoid any conversation about what was sure to be a stinker--how could it not be with a title like TRAILER PARK OF TERROR? Settling into my uncomfortable seat in the makeshift theater, I sighed and waited for the war between sleep and cinematic schlock to begin. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Just click on our creepy-ass pal Stank here to go to Fangoria.com and read the whole review! They give TPoT 3 1/2 skulls!

Trailer Park of Terror movie clips

2008-01-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

Six....count 'em SIX...clips from Trailer Park of Terror available at ShockTillYouDrop.com!

Trailer Park of Terror's Hayley Marie Norman

2008-01-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a brief piece from the Desert Morning News about Hayley's adventures at the festivals in Utah promoting TPoT.

Okay, it's back to work for me.....

Nothing much to say, I SHOULD be working or sleeping...

2008-01-24T04:12:00.000-08:00

Wired.com - On his blog, Jason Silverman lists the Top 10 Movie Trailers @ Sundance (going on at the same time/town as Slamdance). Norma and crew made the list. CLICK-CLICK :D

I have found an artist for my contribution to the When Drive-Ins Attack! anthology!! The graphic novel anthology will feature stories from Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, Simon Dark, Batman), Rich Stahnke (Furious Fist of the Drunken Monkey), Dan Wickline (30 Days of Night), Dwight McPherson (Edgar Allen Poo, Dead Men Tell No Tales) and many others. I've had the story written and have been keeping an eye out for an artist for MONTHS. I finally found the right guy. I have rough character designs and thumbnail sketches of the all 19 pages already. Hope to have something to show in the next couple weeks.

Book 1 of Black Watch is only a few tweaks from being completely finished. Waaaaaay back when the book was picked up by Imperium and we learned that we'd be waiting until summer or later of this year to put the book out, everything kind of went onto the back burner. But now the time draws near and Rob is finishing the last color tweaks to the last pages as he gets ready to start cranking on the next two issues which are completely drawn and waiting for him. I have a few tweaks I think I'll make to the lettering/SFX/script as I go through and output the final files for print....and of course as we get really close credits pages and editorial stuff and ad pages...but basically it's ready to go.

OH YEAH! Almost forgot, my graphic novel Nothingface will soon be available as a free PDF download through WOWIO.com.

And they're off!

2008-01-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

The Imperium boys are off to Slamdance (see the post below if you don't know what I'm talkin' 'bout) for a big weekend and then Monday's debut of Trailer Park of Terror. In a Variety article the programming director for Slamdance predicts Trailer Park could be a break-out flick, saying, "It’s one of our Twilight films, and I think it’s going to be a big hit.”

I guess if anyone just happens to be hanging out over in Park City, go check out the flick and say hi to the guys. :D I'm pretty sure my favorite undead trailer park tramp will be there! (That'd be Nichole Hiltz who plays Norma. That's her in the picture over there...looking MUCH more sweet and innocent...and ALIVE...than she does as Norma!)

So good luck to everyone involved. Have fun in Utah!

One last thing! I just noticed last night the TPoT move site has been revamped. Looks pretty slick, check it out...

WWW.TRAILERPARKOFTERROR.COM

Slamdance Film Festival 2008

2008-01-04T04:41:00.001-08:00

Pretty sure I've mentioned this already but it bears repeating. The TRAILER PARK OF TERROR movie will be making it's premiere at SLAMDANCE. Slamdance is all about the indy flicks, it's my understanding that it was started in response to the Sundance Festival NOT being the indy festival it claimed to be...(You ever see the coverage of Sundance on TV? it's all corporate with $10,000 gift bags and lavish parties for all these big stars proving how cool they are for supporting "indy films". BLECH!)...or maybe they just think Robert Redford is a world class tool (I sure as @#&$ do!) and they wanted to get up in his grill. Either way, Slamdance was born and that's where TPoT will be having it's pervy blood splattered redneck undead coming out party.

And I for one think that's pretty monkeyfarmin' cool!

Links:
TPoT @ Slamdance
The TPoT movie site
The TPoT movie MySpace
The TPoT comic MySpace

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2008-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I hope everyone had some happy and safe fun for New Year's. And I hope it's left you with some "fresh start" energy for whatever you're working on...career, home projects, financial stuff....whatever. I'm off to a pretty good 2008 myself. Did I little cleaning house (figuratively and literally) and find myself with a good attitude for starting off the new year. Need to get some things taken care of, need to get some things back on track and I feel energized to do it and see very clearly how to go about it one-not-so-overwhelming step at a time.

Black Watch will be coming out this year.
Nothingface will be going up on WOWIO soon. (For those not in the know, WOWIO is a free ebook service. I can get my books listed there, you can then download them for FREE as PDF files and I make a little money of each copy downloaded.)
I plan/hope to have at least seven books out this year with my name in the WRITER slot! Four issues of Black Watch (hey, each issue counts, sparky!) and three more things, one shots of other properties. Planning for some new Nothingface with a one-shot...as well as launching Angeline 43 with a one-shot, and hopefully one more one-shot (and/or a sizable story in a big anthology).
I have several cool lettering assignments lined up....some old, some new. Trailer Park of Terror, Chaotic Soldiers, a kids book called Monster Truck Mayhem, a graphic novel for Devil's Due, possibly another GN I won't name just yet, the When Drive-Ins Attack anthology GN (an image from that book can be seen at right) and possibly a few other things if their creators find publishing homes for them.
Trailer Park of Terror the movie will be out this year (Premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival)...really bigger news for the boys at Imperium than me but it's nice to be associated with it.
The Lost Squad movie will hopefully be moving along for my pal Chris Kirby...if this writer's strike every gets settled. (Another case of a book I letter getting upon screen....not really MY news but still fun to be "attached to" no matter how remotely.)

Well, I guess that's enough jibber-jabber. Better get some sleep so i can get up and get crackin' on all this new year, new start stuff.

Merry...uhhh...day AFTER Christmas!

2007-12-26T02:52:00.000-08:00

Didn't get a chance to post yesterday. I hope everyone had a good day doing whatever they do on Xmas. Mine was pretty great. Had a good time with the family and scored some pretty excellent loot. ;)

Next up...

Xmas draws near!

2007-12-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

It's about 2:30pm Christmas Eve and I'm in the midst of final preparations for tomorrow. Got the Christmas tunes going. Thinking a lot. This is the time of year I miss people who aren't around the most.

Some are no longer with us...but others are alive and well (as far as I know) and probably just a phone call away. For various reasons, the calls are just never made or emails sent. Once in a while I see someone has found their way to this blog by searching Google or Yahoo for my name and i wonder if any of them are these people I've lost touch with. I wish they'd drop me a line if it's them....I don't think my number or email address has changed in 7 or 8 years. Yeah, I could probably pick up the phone too (assuming I have any clue as to how to find your number) but I didn't lose contact with these people because everything was peachy between us at the time. So, I don't know of they even want to hear from me.

In case any of you are reading this...I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Now for some fun stuff...

Just a little more Christmas silliness. More movie and tv images of things I enjoy during the season.
(And a few more babes...which, actually, I guess I enoy all year long.)

For my money, one of the best Santa's ever.

Gotta love Frosty...as long as it's not the sequel they made in the early 90's (I think). I'll stick with the original, thanks.

Just more classic Rankin-Bass claymation holiday good ness.

More Rankin-Bass!

And a few more babes for

Christmas Eve!

Happy Christmas Eve!!

2007-12-24T04:20:00.000-08:00

Another xmas card came in the email today. This one if from Mahmud Asrar, artist on Dynamo 5!

I certainly hope all of you did better than me at getting things prepared early. I'll be struggling against an aching back to be wrapping and baking and cooking all day.

They're starting to make me resent the entire country!

2007-12-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

India. Home of lots of cool and interesting stuff, I'm sure. Unfortunately, also the home of hundreds...perhaps thousands...of men and women who think I'm STUPID enough to believe them when they tell me their name is David or Bob, Susan or Mary in barely recognizable English with accents so thick Wolverine's adamantium claws couldn't cut through when I call a customer service number or (shame shame) I get a call about an overdue bill or something. You struggle to understand what they're saying and then they don't understand you half the time....

Kel - Okay, "Bob," let's go ahead and make that blue.

"Bob" - (Barely decipherable) Okay, we're making that red then. Yes?

Kel - No...blue...we're making that blue. Like the sky.

"Bob" - (Barely decipherable) Okay, yes, I have it. Now, let me confirm...you want "red." Is this correct?

Kel - No! "Bob"....BLUE....BLUE....B...L...U...E!!! Do you understand?

"Bob" - (Barely decipherable) Oh, I am terribly sorry...blue?

Kel - Yes, blue. Thank you!

"Bob" - (Barely decipherable) Alright we will get one of those out to you in red right away.

...this is not some racism rant...this is a crappy state of customer SERVICE rant. I don't care where someone is from or located...I just care that when I'm trying to address a problem or take care of some business that the person there to HELP me can actually do so without me emailing them a frikkin diagram of what I'm saying and without me having to play fill-in-the-blank guessing games to figure out the words between the words I actually understand.

And then when you get ahold of a number where you can call someone in-country and you explain to them your difficulties all they can do is sigh in a way that tells you they spend a good portion of their day dealing with people who are sick of outsourced customer DISservice.

Card from Cinar and Babes (Christmas variety)

2007-12-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

Noble Causes artist (he was the Nothingface artist first!) Yildiray Cinar has sent out a holiday card and I thought I'd share. :D
(As usual, click to enlarge)

And just for good measure...a couple Christmas babes. ;)
(you can click them too....ya pre-vert)

2007-12-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

So we all know those guys over on the right, don't we? Of course we do! It's the cast of the classic Rankin-Bass claymation special of the Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Below is another pic of Rudolf...but this time he's a light up Christmas decoration. Yay for electricity.

One week from to day is the big day. Christmas! I'm glad it's so close, we could use some holiday cheer around here. We had to put down one of the dogs yesterday. She was old and having some serious medical issues and it was clearly her time to go, but it's still sad...she was around here for 13 or 14 years.

Christmas Babe (installment one)

2007-12-17T10:19:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago I did a 12 Babes of Christmas thing...I was going to do it again this year but time got away from me. Christmas is less than 12 days away! (It's only like a week from now!) So... random Christmas babes will be popping up in here between now and Xmas.

Merry Christmas to our armed forces

2007-12-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

This poem was making the rounds on the internet some years back, I just laid it out.

(Please, no politics if you leave a reply)

Click to enlarge