(Star Wars issue 103 published by Marvel in 1985.  Cover art by Cynthia Martin.  Stolen from ComicVine.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 01052014 01132014 01192014 01222014  03282014

"To hell with every greedhead operator who flocked here throughout history because you wanted what we had, but wanted us to go underground and get it for you.  To hell with you for offering above-average wages in a place filled with workers who’d never had a decent shot at employment or education, and then treating the people you found here like just another material resource—suitable for exploiting and using up, and discarding when they’d outlived their usefulness.  To hell with you for rigging the game so that those wages were paid in currency that was worthless everywhere but at the company store, so that all you did was let the workers hold it for a while, before they went into debt they couldn’t get out of."  -Eric Waggoner speaking on the situation in West Virginia and/or the situations the majority of Americans are living in right this second.

• My kitty cat Choo Choo died a while back but this is the first time I've posted since then.  I still miss her.  She was the best cat.  She loved me like crazy.  She talked to me and played games with me.  She would play hide and seek with me.  Death is stupid.  One day, probably after I die (I will never die) I will murder Death.  I will murder Death dead and no one will shed a tear for that jerk.  
• I started this post months ago then things happened.  Look, I know you don't wanna know my bizness so I won't go into it.  I'll just say that almost everyone in my family has been hospitalized since Thanksgiving of last year.  So, I've been busy.  It has sucked.  Feel sorry for me.  Thanks.  Whatever.  Most of this post was written in the way back times so it will be old news to you. Also, whatever.  Look, I don't know why I didn't hit the "publish" button on this sometime back in January.  I just didn't.  Sorry.  Whatever.  Hang in there and maybe I'll get back to regular updates with more recent news.  Maybe.  Whatever. 
• Hi frequent readers.  Some of you may have noticed that I often (almost always) post videos with no explanation.  Some times that is because there is no explanation.  They are just dumb videos I liked.  Other times, they are there for a very specific reason but I want you to guess what it is.  Like, it's this game you and I are playing but only I know we are playing the game.  That way, I always win.  Sorry.  But today I want to post a video and tell you exactly why I posted it.  Below is a video from Blake Werts where he talks about minicomics.  It is great for a lot of reasons.  Werts is charming and has that cool accent.  Also, it's about minicomics and I love minicomics.  Blake shows off a bunch of physical copies of some fascinating rare comics.  (As well as some that are not rare but just too expensive for me.)  He does a very good job of making sure the viewer gets a chance to see these comics and put faces with names.  But what I like most about the video is that he is not talking to you and I the comics reader.  As someone who normally makes videos about records, he is talking to an audience that does not necessarily know anything about minicomics.  I feel like we need more of that.  We get too insular and sometimes forget how to talk to people that don't already speak the language of comics.
• And here is a follow up if you enjoyed that one. 
• Speaking of minicomics... yes, put a price on the dang things!
• Did I tell you guys about this big anthology of minicomics that I'm in that is on sell at Amazon?  Well, I am.  Go buy it.  I bought it.  I like it. It's very nice. 
• Hey guys, it's time to go register for the Fluke Minicomics and Zine Festival in Athens, GA USA.
• Oh man, sorry pals.  Fluke registration filled up in just a few hours.  Dang, I probably should have mentioned that in the bullet point up above these words.  I might be a jerk. Hey, don't cry.  They have a waiting list. I personally DID register for Fluke.  I hope to make it.  I missed the past two years.  It's going to be tight to fit that trip in since it is the day before Easter but I'm working on an elaborate plot to make my children believe that the Easter bunny has been kidnapped by Robert Newsome and the only way I can set things right is to go to Fluke.  Again, I might be a jerk. 
• Robert Newsome has a new issue of The Atomic Elbow out. 
• Josh Latta did some talking words on The Busy Creator Podcast.
• Finally a New Yorker cartoon that made a lick of sense to me.  
• Patrick Dean is the best.  Go read these comics.  Also get super excited about the privilege you will have of buying Patrick Dean comics from Recoil. Also, you can be Ant-Man.  Always be Ant-Man. 
• Brad McGinty has a bunch of super rad new shirts and stuff.  I just got a shirt and those patches.  You seriously will not believe how awesome those patches look until you hold them in your hands and look at them with your eyeballs. 
• My pal Jeremy Massie now has two issues of his All My Ghosts comic up on comixology.  You should buy and read it.  
• In a move that was surprising only in that it took this long to announce, Disney has finally made it official that they will move the Star Wars license from Dark Horse Comics to Marvel in 2015.  A date that is not all coincidental as the first Disney Star Wars movie is scheduled for 2015.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I'm a big Star Wars fan and in my own personal connection to Star Wars the Marvel Star Wars comics from 1977 to 1986 are second only to the films themselves.  Marvel did a great job with those comics but they were made years ago when Marvel was an entirely different company and there is no reason to expect that any of the people that made those great comics will be involved with the new Marvel Star Wars comics.  There is also the fact that Dark Horse has done a good job with the line as well.  And that is where one of my main concerns lies.  I would hope that talents like John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, for example,  would be welcome in Marvel's Star Wars line.  That is Marvel's loss if they are not.  And the fans' loss too I guess. 
• Who knew that when comics finally got its own mainstream celebrity comedy slow motion trainwreck it would be Shia LaBeouf?  (UPDATE:  Not really an update.  When I started this post Shia was still new news.  Old news now.  But one of the things interesting to me about the whole deal is that Shia is a guy that makes comics.  His biggest moment in the public eye however is playing a character that was created by Marvel Comics.  Spike/Buster Witwicky was created by Marvel for the comics and the TV cartoon.  Not by Michael Bay, Hasbro or any of the companies Hasbro bought the Transformers toys from.  But despite the fact that Marvel created most all of the characters of any value in the Transformers franchise, they don't get a penny for anything from those movies.  They don't get a penny for the Witwicky characters they created.  But Shia does.  So yeah, Shia LaBeouf, bane of the comics world, probably has made and will make more money off those characters Marvel created than anyone at Marvel ever did or ever will.  Shia is currently worth about $25 million.  But hey, at least we got that week or two where people in comics got to feel superior to the millionaire.  Comics everybody.)
• Hey guys, guys, guys.  Do you like looking at things that are funny and great?  Well Patrick Dean has a new tumblr where he gives you illustrated cosplay ideas. 
• Also, that wrasslin' book Patrick Dean did the cover for is out. 
• Matt Fraction wrote about alcoholism and drug addiction.
  Julia Wertz also talked about (and drew about) her issues and other things at Narratively.  And, there is going to be a Fart Party Omnibus. 
• The Doctor Who comics are moving from IDW to Titan.  I'm kinda bummed about that. I thought the IDW Doctor Who books were pretty good.  I don't know that I've ever held a Titan comic in my hands. 
• Yeah, sure, give Bill Finger a Google doodle.  Also, go read that Ty Templeton comic.
• I'd like to take second to point you in the direction of the Punching the Clock webcomic.  Mainly to point out that Jeff Manley is back on the comic after being away due to some family health issues.  I like Manley's style, he's a sweetheart of a guy and he works really hard at comics, family, life etc.  Good to see him back at it. 
• I wish all history could be delivered in a one panel Rob Ullman cartoons. 
• I feel your pain Mike.  But on the bright side, at least it's not Jessie.
• "I have learned never to engage with people I don’t already know, as you will likely be wasting hours of your time arguing with some political zealot."  Um, well, good luck avoiding the human race.  I mean, I guess it gives you more time to draw and color insane looking comics so... 
• “...the business in the direct market [the comics shop market] is a much stronger model and try as we might, we have not been able to make the comics newsstand model work for years, I don’t think anyone has.”
• That new Miracleman comic costs way too much and I'm super, super, extremely pissed that it did not come with the digital code at that price but... it's always good to hear that people are going to get paid.   
• Must have Howard Chaykin blanket now!
• I really like this Ryan Andrews comic that The Comics Reporter pointed out earlier this week.  Reminds me of Josh Simmons and Gabby Schulz.  
• This is a world where people cheer when someone gets health insurance. 
• Never stop turning the knife.  Never let them catch their breath.  Never stop kicking them until they stop trying to get up. 
• We are all going to die.
• Also dead, the internet. 
• Some good advice on 2000AD's submissions page.  "THE FIRST PERSON TO SPEAK SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON THE LEFT."
• I want to marry the Baxter Building. 
• Can't we just let this be the next Fantastic Four movie?
• One man's space garbage is another man's gold. 
• Here is a neat look at Kirby's 2001. 
• Retrofit has posted its lineup for its next subscription run.  Remind me try to get on board that as soon as I get paid.  (Especially since it was my new year's resolution.)  Rob at Panel Patter talked about Retrofit's digital expansion. (UPDATE:  I did subscribe.)
• I wanted to share a link to the interview Chris Sims had with Mark Waid but that giant transitioning link box thing at the top of Comics Alliance's webpage made me so angry I just gave up on finding the link.  The future is stupid. 
• I enjoyed this Paul Pope interview at TCJ.  I'm a big Paul Pope fan but I have not yet read Battling Boy.  I keep bidding on it on eBay and losing. Comics are very expensive. 
• So, that Alan Moore interview.  First of all, it is not an interview.  It is an essay.  Or, several essays.  And I think I'm done with Alan Moore's essays.  Alan Moore is a great comics writer.  Is, as in still IS a great comics writer.  As in, despite often acting like he is retired from comics, he is still writing new contemporary genre comics.  And he is still very good at it.  But I'm through with the essays.  Let me know when someone draws them as comics. 
• There was that day my pal Robert Venditti was mentioned in the USA Today for being a part of the new team on The Flash.  No big deal. 
• Comics art from the collection of HeroesCon founder Shelton Drumm is on exhibit about 45 minutes from my house.  I need to go to that!
• I'm excited that the powers that be have finally decided to take our money for a home video version of the Batman TV show.  I'm also excited that I can already watch the show every Saturday night at 7 PM on MeTV. 
• Listen, we're all *possibly* Frank Sinatra's son.
• And finally... I don't wanna live in a world without Nintendo.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Spinner Rack Magic

Comics magic infected me long before I could build up any natural defense.  At an early age I was somehow convincing my mother and grandmother to buy me comics off the spinner rack at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store.  I would try to get my mother to read them to me at bed time.  I have a memory of my mother trying to read to me what I think was an issue of Devil Dinosaur and her becoming flabbergasted and giving up because she could not make sense of the thing.  But it made perfect sense to me.  I soon started reading them to myself.  If I did not know the words I knew the pictures.

And there were also the Sunday Funnies from grandfather's copy of the Bristol Herald Courier.  It is easy to take their influence for granted.  They, like Saturday and Sunday morning cartoons were as big a part of my life as food or air.  I cannot remember any part of my life where I did not know about Peanuts and Popeye.  As far as conscious memory is concerned, I’ve known them as long as any of my family.

Around age five I was picking out comic books based mainly on seeing characters I was familiar with.  The first comics I owned featured Star Wars, Tarzan, Spider-Man and The Hulk. The more characters the better.  I ended up with a lot of Marvel Team-Up comics.  Late 70's Marvel's domination of the spinner rack had a big influence on me.  But thanks to a fairly unique situation, I also had access to stacks and stacks of comics from before I was even born.

I grew up in a very small rural town in the Appalachian region of these United States.  Think Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show with a layer of coal dust on everything.  I lived down town and a short walk away from the library.  My mother would take me there on Saturdays.  She would check out novels, LPs and 8-tracks.  I would take home stacks of comics.  I don't know how and I don't know why but my library seemed to have kept subscriptions from just about every Marvel, DC, Archie and Charlton comic from about 1968 through the mid 80s.

And I read them all.  Crazy war comics about wars I would not hear about in school for years.  Insane comics with insane drawings I did not understand by guys named Kirby and Ditko.  Weird old comics where the Iceman guy from Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends hung out with these strange guys in yellow and black jump suits. Haunted tanks, unknown soldiers, ape-men, man-apes, man-things, cowboys, barbarians, talking ducks, masters of Kung-Fu, masters of the Mystic Arts, etc., etc.  They smelled amazing.  And I read them all for free.  I read the covers off the things to the point that eventually the library just let me keep the ones I wanted.  I still have many comics with "Property of St. Paul Bicentennial Library" stamped on the cover.  At a young age I was becoming well versed in comics beyond my years.

When I was eight I got my first comic book subscription.  My aunt got me a subscription to Marvel's Star Wars as a birthday present.  By the time I was nine or ten years old I was allowed to walk beyond the library and go shopping for new comics off the spinner rack all by myself.  There were at least five different stores with spinner racks within walking distance of my house.  (A walk that included crossing creeks and railroad tracks that I would certainly not let my own kids go near today.)  The Piggly Wiggly, Jessee’s grocery store, a former bus stop turned dinner/grocery called Molinary's and two convenience stores; Darwin's Mini-Mart and the one that served "Hillbilly Fried Chicken".  And if I was out and about with my Dad and he drove across the river into Castlewood he might for a pack of smokes and I could luck into a comic from the Stop N Shop or from Milton's country store.

Yes children of teh intronets.  There once was a time where in even one of the smallest poorest towns in America you could buy comics in as many as seven different stores none of which were comic book shops or book stores.  Read it and weep America.  (Dear modern comics industry- you are doing it wrong.)

By the 4th grade I was told that I had filled in circles with a No. 2 pencil on reading comprehension tests at a skill level higher than 95% of the rest of the country and that I was reading at a 10th grade level.  By 5th grade I was told that I was reading at a college reading level.  Everything I know about reading came from reading comics.   Telling a kid that he can read at a college level before he enters high school is a terrible thing to do.  By sixth grade, I was certain that there was nothing any public school teacher could teach me that I either did not already know or could not teach myself.  I was correct but his benefited me in zero ways.  That kind of knowledge makes for a terrible student but a very good nerd.   I read my hidden comics in my text book while those other suckers were learning long division.

Then the GI Joe phenomenon hit and I was no longer alone with my infection.  Every boy in my class read Marvel’s GI Joe comic.  We’d pass them around, borrow them off each other and steal them from one another.  We would race to the spinner rack after school and whoever got there first would hide them and say the store only had one copy.  (I, being a chubby kid, was never first.)  We would fight for them on the playground.  Those first twenty or so issues were so hard to find.  And then one day Raleigh McRynonlds rolled into class with the first two issues of GI Joe and told us that he got them at a comic book shop.  He explained that a comic book shop had “back issues”.  What the expletive was a comic book shop and how could I get there?!

The next Saturday I cashed in all the goodwill I had built up in my young life and talked my grandmother into making the hour long drive to a comic book shop in the next state over.  It was a dark strange place.  Rows and rows of boxes full of comics on tables arranged like a maze.  And the smell.  It was the smell of all the old comics in the library times one hundred.

I quickly dug my way through what felt like the Creature Cantina from Star Wars and found some of the “back issues” I was looking for.  But there was all this other strange stuff.  Swords, sorcery, elves, boobies, guns, turtles, ducks, bleeding smiley faces,  post-apocalypse Tokyo, Batman with blood all over him...  Was this the larger world Obi-Wan Kenobi told us about?  I bought all I could afford.  The stranger the better.

I would start up a “pull list”.  It would grow and shrink over the years.  There would be distractions.  Girls, sports, school, jobs, family, pets, home etc. etc.  But the comics would always be there.  In my closets, in my dorm room, in my apartments, in my house and now in the basement.  But mostly in my blood.  Not like an addiction.  More like an infection.  Like vampirism.  You can put them in the cellar and hide them but eventually you have to sink your teeth in just to survive.  Maybe the ink gets in your fingertips and creeps into your blood.  Maybe the spinner rack pricked my finger and gave me some sort of mental tetanus.  Maybe it’s through the smell.  Invisible nostalgia agents float up your nose and penetrate your brains reshaping them into a Jack Kirby mother box.

I can’t explain the magic of those old comics.  They say time travel is impossible but if you give me a Marvel-Team up comic from 1978 I’ll be standing in the Piggly Wiggly looking up at the spinner rack.  Dozens of comics towering over me.  The squeak as it spins and the characters fly by like a carousel.  Star warriors, barbarians, cowboys, soldiers, sailors, ducks, mice, goofy teenagers, magicians, dinosaurs, space knights and yeah, even super heroes.  I can’t explain magic but I know what it smells like.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

This essay was originally printed in the Wide Awake Press book The Sickness of Fandom and would not have existed if editor/publisher J. Chris Campbell had not asked me to throw something together for that book.  Thanks Chris!  

Maybe you should go buy a copy of that book. It is very good.

Always be spinning.

Always be spinning.

via Tumblr http://globalcozykamikaze.tumblr.com/post/47544800295

The semi-annual save Shannon's kids' Christmas fundraiser.

I should probably call this a kickstarter right?  People love to throw money at that junk right?  Oh well, it's not a kickstarter.  This is me selling my goods and services to you so that I may go and give that money to Monster High and La La Loopsy.  Commerce!  America! Yayy!

Basically, it is that time of year that I dig through the basement and turn my old stuff into new stuff for the kids.  Right now I'm selling a couple of old Star Wars theatrical posters.

The top poster is the real deal yo.  A Star Wars theatrical poster from 1977.  The 2nd photo is a reproduction of the real deal, a copy of the original teaser poster.  The copy was made in the late 70s or early 80s.  Both are super rad and awesome and you probably won't make it to 2013 alive without owning them.

Read all about it and give me your money here!

I'll probably dig out some other things, comics toys etc.  But, what I would prefer to do rather than sell you my old stuff is draw new stuff for you.  That's right, I will draw pretty much anything you can imagine for $10 and up.  

Read all about that  and give me your money here!

I'm going to try to draw a lot over the next weeks.  These will be amazing drawings that you will want to pay money for.  So, check back often and make sure there is plenty of money on your credit cards and pay pal accounts.

Thanks!

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 11042012

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 11042012

via Tumblr http://globalcozykamikaze.tumblr.com/post/34975833224

Some random thoughts on Lucasfilm enlisting with the Disney Empire.

So then there was that day nerdtopia 'sploded. 

My first reaction was that it was joke.  Second reaction was total shock.  Third reaction was back to thinking it was a joke and I literally Googled the words "Star Wars Disney hoax".  Fourth reaction was, well duh, we've been hearing rumors about this for 35 years.

I am an unashamed unapologetic Star Wars fan.  I love Star Wars.  Star Wars is robots, spaceships and lasers.  If you put robots, spaceships and lasers up against anything, I'm going to go with robots, spaceships and lasers 99.9999% of the time.  So, the idea of more Star Wars is fine by me.  I'm old enough to remember the promise of 12 Star Wars movies.  Then they cut it down to nine.  Then by the time of the prequels,  George Lucas insisted that it was always only going to be six.  But I never forgot.  I spent huge chunks of my childhood sitting on the floor playing with the action figures wondering what episodes 7, 8 and 9 would be like.  I wanted 7, 8 and 9 more than I ever wanted 1, 2 and 3.  We dedicated Bantha Tracks readers already knew how Episode 3 was going to end.  (Lava fight etc.)   But 7, 8 and 9 are the great unknown.  So ya know what, I'm in and may the Force be with Disney. 

What follows is just a random list of knee jerk reactions and thoughts that popped into my head based on what I've heard today.  And, what I've heard to day is made up primarily of two sources.  One just being the standard info in the press releases that everyone has posted, tweeted and re-tweeted.  The second source is from a conference call I listened to.  Someone on twitter posted a link to the conference call.  I apologize for not remembering who.  I think one of the primary people talking on the call was Bob Iger.  I think the call was with shareholder or department head types.  I could be wrong. (UPDATE:  I was wrong.  The call was between Iger and analysts.  Whatever that means.)  I don't know anything about money so it may as well have been Chinese. 

•  I do think it makes perfect sense.  The companies were already partners in the theme parks.  Disney was already using Industrial Light and Magic for special effects.  Lucas has been in the process of retiring for a year or so.
• I remember going to Disney World a week or so after Episode One came out in 1999.  They had Star Wars stuff in all the gift shops.  Most of the boys in the park we wearing Jar Jar or Darth Maul t-shirts.
• I like hearing Bob Iger say that Disney will be the "care taker".  I wish Time Warner and DC Comics itself would look at their "properties" that way.   
• "Did you know? The Star Wars universe now has more than 17,000 characters inhabiting several thousand planets spanning 20,000 years." Boasts Iger.  Yeah... but, really, it's like a dozen or so characters that have any value.  Nobody wants to see an Expanded Universe character getting a movie or TV show.  Just don't even think it for a second.  It's Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, Vader, Artoo, Threepio, Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Lando, Palpatine, Yoda and that's about it. 
• I'm in, but if I hear the words reboot or re-launch I may be out. 
• In the video with Lucas at starwars.com he talks about it going on for 100 years.  Will I never get to die?
• On the conference call they pretty much just straight up say that a Star Wars sequel is worth more than any new movie they could come up with.  And think about it.  Take away the movies Marvel already had in the pipeline.  Take way Johnny Depp.  Take away Pixar.  And tell me one original idea Disney has had a hit with in the past 20 years?  Hannah Montana.  That's it.  Just Hannah Montana. 
• (Pixar which they also bought from Lucas.  Did they buy Johnny Depp from Lucas?)
• Lots of gross talk on the conference call about things like "tent poles" and "exploitation" of the "intellectual property".  Gag. 
• Also talk on the conference call about how huge it is that this deal does not have the baggage Marvel had.  With Marvel, they don't get Spider-Man, The X-Men, Wolverine or the Fantastic Four for movies.  They spent 4 billion on Marvel and just got an annex of the Marvel Universe.  Here, they get the whole thing.  Fox still has distribution on the old films and Paramount on the Indiana Jones films but Disney can do whatever it wants with the new stuff.  No lawyers.  No Sony.  No Fox.  This is a huge deal.  A bargain compared to Marvel. 
• How do you feel if you are a Marvel guy right now?  Hmm...
• In the question and answer part of the call some of the guys are down right giddy.  They can barely get their questions out they are so excited.  That's right, there are grown ass fanboys that are going to get rich off Star Wars while losers like me are going to be paying for it.  Point me in the direction of the nearest bridge.
• Lucas is still talking about making those experimental films he's been talking about making since before Revenge of the Sith came out.  I hope he does.  American Graffiti and THX 1138 are two of my favorite movies. 
• Lucas says he has been working on scripts for Star Wars episodes 7, 8 and 9 for a year or so.  (Give or take 35 years.)   In the conference call thing, they talk about having "treatments".  So, I guess they have plots?  Are they all still in that same green notebook?
• Let the speculation on what those plots will be about begin.
• I would think that they have to have Luke in them.  Star Wars is about the Skywalkers.  Luke would be that link the the next trilogy.  And also Star Wars is about generations.  It is about how the next generation deals with the issues the previous one left.  Curious to see how that plays out.
• I do hope Mark Hamill is Luke even if only in a supporting role.  I can see him in the Obi-Wan role of the aging mentor but trying not to make Obi-Wan's mistakes.
• (I personally have some seriously strong opinions on what Luke would have done after Return of the Jedi and none of the novels have come close to getting it right as far as I'm concerned.)
• Or, they could go with a younger Luke and use a younger actor.  Which would be really odd.  And God help any young actor what has to deal with the fan backlash of playing Luke or, even worse, Han.
• Han? Leia? Chewie?
• Iger talks a lot about being able to use all these great characters?  Which ones?  Again, if you are making 7, 8 and 9 you have to link them to Luke.  Have. To. 
• Luke!  Luke!  Luke!  Luke!  Luke!  Luke!  Luke!
• (Carrie Fisher is looking pretty good lately.  She and George are tight.  I bet she knew.)
• And Artoo and Threepio of course. 
• I can't see them making Ford, Hamill or Fisher major players in these things but Disney did put Keith Richards in a movie and they did get The Dude to be in a Tron sequel.  Anything is possible.
• And about the Expanded Universe.  Um, my guess is you are screwed if you liked all that para military fetish future of the legacy of the Jedi stuff.  Just can't see that stuff being in Disney movies and it is way too limiting.  I suspect Lucas' ideas for 7,8 and 9 will have absolutely zero regard for the post Return of the Jedi expanded universe.  And it shouldn't.  I don't for one second think Lucas has read any of it.  And Disney will not and should not be beholden to that stuff.  Sorry continuity geeks. And hey, it was always just paid fanfic.  That stuff is bad biscuits.  
• Speaking of fanfic. How is this going to effect all the Star Wars fanfic, fan art, fan films etc. etc. ?  Will Disney shut that down?
• On the conference call they say that the films will be distributed by Disney and "co branded" so I guess that means when you sit down for Episode VII you will see the Disney logo, the Lucasfilm log and then "A long time ago etc."  No 20th Century Fox fanfare!  That is going to be weird.  I may have to take a boom box into the theater and play it myself just to make things right. 
• Wow.  Kathleen Kennedy is suddenly one of the most powerful people in entertainment in the whole world.  
• I wonder how Rick McCallum feels about that.
• I wonder how Gary Kurtz feels about that.
• I wonder how Ike Perlemuter feels about that.
• And speeking of Ike Perlmutter.  There was a lot of talk since the flop of John Carter and the phenomenon of The Avengers about how Marvel's Ike Perlmutter is now the power at Disney.  I think he just got served hard core by Bob Iger.
• And notice that there is a lot of "I'" and "me" from Bob Iger.  He clearly wants everyone to know that this is his deal.  Who's house?  Iger's house. 
• And speaking of the Marvel deal.  The knee jerk reaction at the Marvel deal was that we would get more Marvel on TV.  Well, that absolutely has not happened.  When Disney bought Marvel, Marvel had four cartoons making new episodes for TV.  They now have two.  And that "Marvel Block" on Disney XD is buried on Sunday morning.  So, as far as Disney television is concerned, Marvel ranks somewhere way below reruns of Fish Hooks, Pair of Kings and Kickin' It.  I would not get too excited about the prospects of new Star Wars on TV under Disney.
• Disney get's Indiana Jones too.  Johnny Depp is Indiana Jones and Jack Sparrow in Indiana Jones and Curse of the Billion Dollar Intellectual Property.
• And Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic.  The ILM purchase alone would be a huge deal.  ILM was one of the primary fx houses on The Avengers.  Tons and tons of top talent at ILM and Skywalker Sound.  Industry leaders.  I hope Disney takes care of those guys.
•  The Ranch?  Marin County?  Will folks be moved?  I hope it all works out for the best for everyone.  
• What about The Clone Wars cartoon?  I love that show.  I think it is about as good as TV gets.  But I also think Cartoon Network has been trying to bury it this year.  On the conference call they talk about Star Wars potential on TV and say that Disney XD will be the place for that.  So long Cartoon Network.   
• So is that live action Star Wars TV show ever happening?
• Willow 2?
• Howard The Duck Returns?
• Comics!  Marvel had the original Star Wars comics.  Lucas wanted Star Wars to be in comics so he have it to Marvel for free.  For free!  And many say it saved the company.  No Star Wars, no Marvel.  Disney buys Marvel.  Disney buys Star Wars.  What a small world.  Dark Horse has the license now and they've done a fine job but, there will be speculation. 
• We had to wait 16 years from Jedi to Episode 1.  If they make their 2015 target that will be just 10 years between trilogies.  Crazy.
• 2015 seems awfully quick.  That's just over two years to make a "tent pole" movie that has not even named a director.
• (But Disney made what, 4 Johnny Depp pirate movies in an afternoon?)
• I guess that as of today, we are more likely to see a Joss Whedon Star Wars movie than another Joss Whedon Firefly movie.  This world is weird.
• Oh, and hey Disney.  Let me know if you need some help making those movies.  I know exactly everything that is supposed to happen in them.  I've had it all worked out for decades. 
• Well, I guess we should see what Francis thinks about it...(Not safe for work or, well, anywhere.)

May the magic of Jiminy Cricket be with you always. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.

Revenge of the Jedi is going to be the best movie ever!

Revenge of the Jedi is going to be the best movie ever!

via Tumblr http://globalcozykamikaze.tumblr.com/post/29659275425

Pew pew pew!

Pew pew pew!

via Tumblr http://globalcozykamikaze.tumblr.com/post/28834380602

10 insane images from Krull.

I clearly remember seeing the trailer for Krull in a movie theater when I was a little kid. I was super excited to see this movie about Space Robin Hood. Just look at the thing. It looks amazing. I don't know if I saw the movie in the theater or not but I do know that I watched it a dozen or so times on HBO and loved it enough to make my own cardboard Glaive and spend a lot of time running and jumping around pretending to be Space Robin Hood.  

That was during the long ago way backy time of 1983.  For you children out there that don't know anything, the only thing important that happened in 1983 was Return of the Jedi.  Krull came out in the summer of '83 after Return of the Jedi.  It really did not matter how good Krull was, it just could not make a dent in Jedi.  I mean, Space Robin Hood is about as good an idea as the human brain is ever going to come up with but it ain't gonna put a dent in Luke Skywalker fighting Darth Vader, Han Solo leading an army of Care Bears and  Princess Leia choking out a space slug in a metal bikini.  Sorry Krull, you never had a chance.  Hollywood has been trying to top that magic for almost thirty years and has not even come close.  

But you gotta give Krull credit.  They tried really hard.  Like soooo many movies of the 80s they tried so hard to capture the George Lucas and/or Steven Spielberg sci/fi box office magic.  But magic ain't easy and it sure ain't cheap.  They spent at least 10 million dollars more making Krull than Lucas spent making Return of the Jedi.  

Let me just say that again.  They spent at least 10 million dollars more making Krull than Lucas spent making Return of the Jedi. 

And that's when a million dollars could buy you stuff.  And if you watch Krull today,  you will see that money up on the screen.  I don't think the Krull production crew understood that the whole point of special effects is that you don't really have to build a whole dang space planet.  You can uses miniatures, and matte paintings and all other kinds of movie magic.  Nope, them Krull guys just went ahead and built some of the most amazingly ridiculous and expensive sets ever built.  Let's take a look at some of them.  Shall we?  Yes, lets! (And I do highly recommend that you "click to enlarge" cuz these suckers do look great in biggie size.)

Here we have a space princess trapped inside Steve Ditko's eyeball.  Genius.

Here we have some people on the way to see the Dread Dormammu. 

This would be one of the more conservative shots of the film.  Just Space Robin Hood and his Merry Men on a stroll through some giant trees.  If only there had been Ewoks and speeder bikes. 

Just wow.

Just say nope kids. 

My favorite Yes album cover. 

A guest appearance by the mother of the Kwisatz Haderach is always a good idea in a sci/fi movie. 

They actually launched a second sun into the sky for this shot.  Again, $10 million more than Jedi. 

No wait.  This is my favorite Yes album cover. 

They actually got a nice deal on this one from some guy named Saruman but it turned out the thing had termites.

The movie holds up pretty well today.  It's not what I'd call a good movie but it's very enjoyable to look at.  The story is super simple.  Very little plot.  Basically Space Robin Hood, Qui-Gon Jinn, Hagrid and some dude that looks like Dio go to save the princess from a Doctor Strange villain.  And as far as plots go, you don't need anything more than that.  That is Shakespeare level stuff right there.  But the execution is very clumsy.  It is very slow and feels very old.  The direction and pacing feel like something from 1953 instead of 1983.

A lot of movie execs in the 80s thought that they could just throw 10s of millions of dollars at a sci/fi idea and end up with a Lucas and/or Spielberg styled blockbuster.  And haters can crap on those "New Hollywood" era boy wonders but those guys could catch lightning in a bottle in a way no one has since.  And here is what is super crazy-  The Krull producers hired a British director that did not know crap about making a sci/fi blockbuster.  You know who directed Return of the Jedi?  Richard Marquand, who (God bless his soul) was a British director that did not know crap about making a sci/fi blockbuster.  (And by directed, I mean that George Lucas pretty much ghost directed the thing through him but still, Lucas magic folks.)  You can't buy magic folks but sometimes you can stand close enough to it to learn some tricks.

So watch Krull and pretend it came out in the 50s and you will be blown away.  Plus, it has almost the exact same James Horner score as Star Trek II.  James Horner came up with about one film score that was not terrible so I don't fault the guy for using it twice.
Oh, and it has a cyclops and flying space ponies.  Rad.

And oh number two-  you can totally watch Krull on Netflix instant play right now. See there.  I just made someone some money.  Capitalism everyone!  America F yeah!  Suck on it SOPA!

* Sources include Wikipedia and my brains.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s.  Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind.  I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.

Six Degrees of Howard Chaykin

I've been thinking about Howard Chaykin a lot and so has the rest of teh intronets. I keep seeing Chaykin mentioned in all kinds of blog posts, interviews, comics history articles and news items. I think that teh intronets are currently being puppeteered by people about my age that read a lot of the same comics during the time when Chaykin was really shaking things up. Another reason I've been thinking of Chaykin a lot is because I recently unearthed a lot of his comics in my basement. Plus I found some old comics magazines with articles, interviews and advertisements relating to some of his comics from back in the day. As a writer/artist, sometimes the ideas I come up with for a story or gag can be tedious and/or painful to draw. I've been trying to find ways to draw that are more fun and feel less like work. I want drawing to be a joyful experience. When I think of joyful drawing I think of sitting on the floor as a kid drawing space battles inspired by Star Wars and other sci-fi comics. A lot of which were drawn by Chaykin. So, I've been looking at his stuff a lot and trying to re-inspire myself with his magic.
At some point in recollecting on all of that junk I just blabbed on about I invented a game I call Six Degrees of Howard Chaykin.
The game is just like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon thing only with less Bacon and more Chaykin. Instead tracing actors back to Bacon based on movies they co-stared in, Six Degrees of Howard Chaykin links comics creators back to Howard Chaykin through comic books they mutually worked on. And to clarify, I'm thinking comic book titles, not just characters. With team books and cross overs, lots of guys have drawn the same characters. I'm talking about being a credited creator on a comic book by the same title. Here is an example. Just think of any comic creator that comes to mind. How about the late great Mike Wieringo.

1) Mike Wieringo drew Fantastic Four.
2) Jack Kirby drew the Fantastic Four and Challengers of the Unknown.
3) Howard Chaykin drew Challengers of the Unknown.

See? Easy. But wait, that is too easy. Kirby messes up everything because he worked on so many books with multiple publishers. So, let's have a rule I call the Kirby Clause. You can't use Jack Kirby. Let's try again. Gene Colan has also been on my mind lately. My laptop's desktop currently features a nice piece by Gene Colan I stole off teh intronets. Let's try him.

1) Gene Colan drew Daredevil.
2) John Romita Sr. drew Daredevil and Amazing Spider-Man.
3) Gil Kane followed Romita on Amazing Spider-Man and also drew Green Lantern.
4.) Neal Adams drew Green Lantern and also drew The Flash.
5) Carmine Infantino drew The Flash and also drew Star Wars.
6) Howard Chaykin drew Star Wars.

Wasn't that fun?! Exclamation point!

Kids, DO try this at home. Think up comics names and start playing now. It can be writers, inkers, pencilers etc. Underground creators will be hard but not as hard as you think. You can post your game results or here using the comments field.

And now, for almost no reason at all are some random Howard Chaykin images I stole from teh intronets. I'll get ya back teh intronets. I promise.

Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith

p.s. Both Mr. Chaykin and myself have our birthday's in early October. Start shopping now true believers.

UPDATE:

I linked myself...

1) Shannon Smith was in Fluke Anthology with Johnny Ryan.
2) Johnny Ryan was in Pete Bagge's Sweatshop.
3) Pete Bagge was in Bizzaro World with Kyle Baker.
4) Kyle Baker is in Wednesday Comics with Walt Simonson.
5. Wal Simonson drew Star Wars which was also drawn by Howard Chaykin.

You can see some other folk's attempts here.

Go read the new Comics-Op column at Comixology.

Why should you go read Occasional Superheroine's Valerie D'Orazio's new column at ComiXology? 1) It's good. 2) It talks about Archie. 3) In the column I blab on and on about Star Wars.

teh intronets don't get much better than that. (Seriously. They don't. teh intronets mostly suck.) Go read it with your eyes. Love it with your little Grinch heart.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

Hourly Comic Day 6:00 PM

Hourly Comic Day 1:00 PM

Hourly Comic Day 12:00 PM

Hourly Comic Day 11:00 AM

Okay, the internet has been renewed.

But only to bring you this.

Again stolen from my new favorite website of the past 24 hours or so: Bully Says: Comics Oughta Fun.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

The internet has been cancelled.

Because it will never get better than this.

Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith

This might be the best comic panel I've ever seen.

Zzrakk indeed!

And here is the creepiest!

Both from Howard Chaykin's Star Wars and stolen from Bully. Go see more here.

Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith

Friday night is the new Saturday morning.

(Asajj Ventress.  Pencil sketch by el Shannisimo.)

The new Star Wars cartoon, The Clone Wars, premiered last Friday night on Cartoon Network.  I sat down and watched it with the same kind of excitement I had during Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid.  I watched it sitting on the floor like I did as a kid and it inspired me to start drawing just like the cartoons did when I was a kid.  Here are some sketches I knocked out during the show.  I really like the character designs.  The villains are awesome.  Asajj Ventress is a pretty radical design for a kid's cartoon.  The big samurai double belt thing gives her a low center of gravity which makes her feminine but she is not pretty.  She's pretty scary looking.  That long neck and sharp features make her look like a vulture.  It's a really neat design and fun to draw.

(Count Dooku a.k.a. Mr. Grumpy Face. Pencil sketch by Shannana Montana.)

The design for Count Dooku is nothing radical but I like the big evil mustache and that grumpy bottom lip.  I like most all of the character designs and think that it is a great looking show.  It is probably the best looking computer animated TV show ever.  It has some weak points.  The human admiral character looks like he came out of one of those Barbie movies.  Humans look awkward when they walk and some times seem to slide across the frame but that's pretty common in computer animation.  I never for one second thought Golem looked like he was connected to his environment in those movies about those guys walking and camping.  I am generally not a fan of computer animation.  And I know, even the stuff  that looks like hand drawn cell animation is all assembled with computers these days but you know what I mean.  Simply put, I prefer my cartoons to look like cartoons and not like video games.  The Clone Wars does look like a video game but it looks like a really cool video game.  More importantly the stories (at least the two they showed on Friday) are really good.  Well crafted, well executed fast paced episodic adventure television.  That is something we don't see often on TV.  Firefly is the last example I can think of.  Don't even go there with throwing Heroes or Lost in my face.  That stuff is just soap opera with a bigger budget.  I'm talking about entertaining TV episodes with a beginning, a middle and an end.  I love that!  That is probably a big part of the reaon that cartoons and the occasional sitcom are the only fiction TV I watch.  

Another thing I really like about these Star Wars cartoons is that they have Star Wars in them.  I've wanted this cartoon for 31 years.  It's Star Wars man!  Space ships and aliens and light sabers and droids.  Freaking Star Wars on TV!  And not some low budget movie or special.  This is a freaking Star Wars TV show!  Exclamation point!  I never thought it would happen.  Now I know a lot of my nerd pals out there have gone to the dark side and flipped the hater switch firmly to the on position when it comes to all things relating to Uncle George.  That's fine.  I'm not going to cheerleader the Star Wars cause.  You don't owe Star Wars or Lucas anything.  They are doing just fine.  From all accounts Uncle George and his nice family are living happy healthy lives and will be just fine whether anyone watches a cartoon or not.  I'm just saying that if you like short adventure stories that require none of the investment of the longer TV dramas then you should check this show out.  And yeah, if I had my way, it would be a cartoon that looks more like a cartoon and it would have Luke and Han and Chewie (It would look just like the Howard Chaykin and Carmine Infantino Star Wars comics I loved as a kid and I would be hired to help write the thing or something...) but you can't have it all and I like these characters plenty.  And have I mentioned how much I like Ahsoka Tano?  Oh and there is this guy...

(Fiskerton from The Secret Saturdays.  Pencil sketch by Shannotron 3000.)

Wait a minute.  He's no Jedi.  That's Fisk from The Secret Saturdays.  He's a gorilla cat!  The Secret Saturdays is another new addition to The Cartoon Network and half the reason I think Friday nights are the new Saturday morning.  This show is awesome!  There is almost nothing original about it but they have stolen from all my favorite Alex Toth-ish cartoons.  If you fused Thundarr, The Herculoids, Jonny Quest and Scooby-Doo you would have the awesomest adventure cartoon ever and it would be The Secret Saturdays.  I really like the Fisk character I drew above.  He is basically a cross between Chewbacca and Scooby-Doo.  I can't believe it took someone 31 years to figure you that if you mix one part Chewie and one part Scooby you get awesome.  But, the real star of the show is action mom Drew Saturday.  She's got white hair, big boots and a huge freaking sword like that girl from the Heavy Metal movie.  How can that not turn your nerometer to wow?  Don't answer that. It can't not. (Or it can will!  Grammar?! Exclamation point!)  I really like this show.  Give me The Secret Saturdays, The Clone Wars, throw in some Ben 10 and man, you've got yourself all the excitement of a great Saturday morning!  (On Friday night.)

In conclusion.  Thank you Cartoon Network.  I'm six years old again.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith