New MONSTER KING and Thoughts on 2011

"This is the part of my Fantasy where I Kill You."

It's Saturday, Cats and Kittens, so that means it's MONSTER KING Time! Once again, we've got three pages up for your viewing pleasure, namely Pages 11-13. You can view them at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. After some comments/complaints on how I ran Monster King previously, I am going to Post Issue 2 in its Entirety this time. We'll see how that goes. Basically, I'll serialize the entire book, then leave it up for a week in its entirety, then leave it up for an additional week where I'll put up Page 1 of Issue 3, then I'll take Issue 2 down the next week. Like I said, we'll see how that goes. Of course, the best way to keep up is just to swing by www.torcpress.com once a week to check out the new pages. It's more fun than Facebook (which is not a very bold statement for me to say, cause I hate Facebook more than just about anything).

I've been thinking about stuff a lot lately. I had a strange, wishy-washy, ramble of a blog just before the New Year, where I was trying to figure out...everything, really. I still haven't really figured anything out, to tell the truth. There's a lot about my life that's swell, that I'm fine with, that's great. And there's a lot of crap that sucks. But the question I find myself confronting is this: Does the stuff that sucks in my life suck because it really sucks, or does it suck because I want it to suck? Am I wasting away in a Desert alone, or am I just standing in a lush, green lawn staring at my neighbor's lawn and going "I wish I had their lawn". (And, for the record, I'm speaking metaphorically here. Anyone who knows me knows I could give less than a crap about my lawn) What do I really want out of life? I mean, really, actually, truly want.

The answer is simple, really. My name is Joseph Morris. I make comics, and I eat tacos. Everything else is a ridiculous illusion conjured up by my psychotic mind. So, let's focus on that, and let God and/or the Universe deal with everything else. So:

1. I eat tacos. That one's easy. Got that one covered.

2. I say that I'm the Bizarre Human Comix Machine. That's not an idle boast. I produced 18 Comics last year. This year, I intend to top that. I, Joseph Morris, the Bizarre Human Comix Machine will produce 24 Comix this Year or Die Trying. Simple as that. And that's NOT counting Reprints or Trade Paperbacks of reprinted material. And I'm not gonna go farting out a bunch of crap either. Yeah, not everything's gonna be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and not every comic's gonna be a home run. But as long as I can keep up the quality of, say, HFSAC 9-11, on a regular basis, then I'm not gonna have anything to be ashamed of.

Anyway, that's the plan: 24 Comic Books in 2011. Because I can.

(Side Note: I'm already ahead by 2, and it's only January)

3. Inner Peace. That'll be tough, considering that I'm still adapting to that whole, I don't go to Church anymore, thing. I'm lonely a lot. I work a day job that takes a pretty rough toll on me, physically and mentally. I've got pretty serious self esteem issues. How do I fix it?

Dunno yet. I've got some ideas. Just gotta keep tinkering with it. I'll either figure it out or fall apart. What else is new, right?

MONSTER KING Fun

"This is REALITY."

I'm not gonna take up a lotta space today, cause if you haven't read it yet, please scroll on down to my lengthy blog entry on "The Megatext". It basically explains my theories going into TORC Press in the year 2011.

Anyway, it's Saturday, so that be MONSTER KING time! We've got another three pages up, Pages 8-10 which can be viewed at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. These pages are bad news, and end on a potentially disastrous cliffhanger. What'll happen next? Well, we'll see next week.

Also, don't forget, "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" Issues 9&10 are now available at www.torcpress.com/store.html. These are the first two parts of the three part "Pyramid" story arc. The final part, Issue 11, will be available on Tuesday, February 1st (which I can definitively say now, cause the book came in yesterday, and I gotta say, it looks loverly), so keep a heads up for that.

Viva la TORC Press!

The Megatext

Here we go.

You've got Mini-comics. A mini-comic can be a little one joke gag, or an intimate piece of self expression/autobio, or they can even be a massive, epic work of art, or all points in between. Same with webcomics. Some are little jokes, and some are sweeping epics, and most are somewhere between. And you have the slowly dying comic strip, telling their jokes or their little stories, day by day and week by week. Then there's comics. The comic book. You can have a one shot. A one time story that could be anything, big or small. My buddy Clint is the King of the One Shot, cranking out these strange, funny, surreal ideas, and then moving on to the next one. You can do a mini-series, a finite thing, three or six issues long. Tell a longer story. Something self contained. A lot comics best stories were mini-series. "Watchmen", "The Dark Knight Returns", "Maus", blahblahblah. Then there's the finite series. Even longer. Potentially more room to explore more facets of the story. Still largely self contained. Still its own animal. Again, some of comics most significant works fall into this category. "Sandman", "Cerebus", "Bone", ect. Then there's the Infinite Series. The series that just goes on and on and on until someone decides to call it quits. There's nothing wrong with the Infinite Series (despite the bad rep they've gotten lately), hell, it's been the modus operandi for comics for years. Lots of cool stuff have come out of these huge, lengthy, unwiedly behemoths. Think about it for a second. The same "Thor" comic that had all of those beautiful Kirby stories is the same "Thor" comic that had Walt Simonson's epic run. I followed the 3rd "Silver Surfer" series for over 100 issues, and some of those comics are still among the best comics I've ever read, ever (although to be fair, the incomparable Ron Lim provided the artwork for the better majority of that run...). Then there's the Universe. A bunch of Infinite Comics that all take place within generally the same place and generally the same time featuring characters that may or may not interact with each other if the opportunity arrises. Universes have gotten a bad rap lately, but they're cool things. I like the idea that Daredevil can run into the Silver Surfer. That's a goofy thought. One of the cool (or not so cool, depending on your perspective) things about a Universe is that it can give rise to the Cross Over. A Cross Over is an interaction between different Characters from different Comics. Sometimes they can be simple, short, fun little things, like "The Cosmic Norseman vs. New Super Duper Fun Comix". Or they can be big, epic, multi-month affairs that span an entire Universe, affect multiple characters and books, and have some sort of lasting impact on the overall Universe. Stuff like "The Infinity Gauntlet" or "Final Crisis" or "Unity" or whatever. There's a billion of em nowadays. Despite how much Impact a cross over has, a cross over is something that comes and goes. The comics that were involved move on with their lives. Hell, "Civil War" ruined Marvel Comics for me, but I'm pretty sure almost everything from that big, stupid Crossover has been written out. No one remembers that Peter Parker's Spiderman, Iron Man's not a Super villain anymore, Captain America's not dead. Hell, do they even still have that stupid Superhuman Registration Act nonsense anymore? Probably not. I suppose that's ultimately the problem with Crossovers. Not matter how much they try to matter, they're eventually lost in the sands of time.

And then there's the Megatext.

The Megatext is a bit of a rarity. Megatext isn't really a term anyone uses. It's one that I kinda came up with recently. A Megatext is weird, cause it's smaller than a Universe (oftentimes taking place within the greater context of a Universe), but bigger than a Crossover. A Megatext is Finite, but it's so big it can seem Infinite. I guess I should try to explain this a little better.

A Megatext is a singular story, told by a single Writer (or Writer/Artist or Writer, Artist Team) using multiple individual Comic Books to tell the story.

Got that? Well, let's throw some examples out there.

The first Megatext I've come across was created by the King, of course. Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" in my opinion is the first Megatext (or at the very least, the first one I'm aware of). "The Fourth World" is the story of the Cosmic War between New Genesis and Apokalyps told from four different perspectives, "Jimmy Olsen" (yeah, I know), "The New Gods", "The Forever People", and "Mister Miracle". "The Fourth World" was never completed, but it was intended to be a Finite thing. One giant Mega-story that ran through multiple books that would eventually come to a conclusion. And it was so damn cool when it got running. Wish Kirby coulda finished it.

The more I think about it, the more Megatexts I've started to come across. Paul Pope's "THB" is a Megatext. There was the regular THB series (still not completed...damnit), as well as a number of ancillary THB comics that supplemented the greater THB story, such as "Escapo", "THB: Parade", and a variety of other big and little comics. One story, one creator, multiple books, multiple points of view. Megatext.

Mike Allred's "Madman" saga is a Megatext. Frank Einstein debuted in one of Allred's pre-Madman anthologies. Then he became Madman in "Madman", and we've seen close to a dozen different Madman comics since then from "Madman Adventures" to the Madman crossover with Superman to Madman becoming a regular character in the Madman spin-off, "The Atomics" to the recent "Madman Atomic Comics". Again, lots of comics, one story, one creator.

What got me started on this thought process, of course, was Grant Morrison. Pope and Allred, I don't think were consciously trying to create a Megatext. In the case of Allred, Allred moved between a bunch of different publishers (uh... lessee, Tundra, Dark Horse, Oni, and Image off the top of my head. Didn't he self publish for a little while?). I think Pope was just kinda like me, stabbing around in the dark, experimenting with different stuff. But Morrison. Morrison has been experimenting with the actual concept of the Megatext for awhile now. I think it started with "New X-Men". "New X-Men" wasn't a Megatext, but it was the first real stab at one. "New X-Men" was a Finite series within the greater context of a long running Infinite Series Franchise, namely the X-Men. Morrison's run was a singular thing, referring to the past X-Men works without being controlled by them. It's one big story, but it's a story told from many, many different angles. Throw in the veritable army of artists that worked on the book during Morrison's run, and you begin to get a very Megatext vibe. Morrison's first real Megatext was "Seven Soldiers". The story behind "Seven Soldiers" was the war between the Sheeda and Human History. But it was a story told across a string of books, each one with a different perspective, and artist, and protagonist. And again, it took place within the greater context of the DC Universe, featuring a bunch of pre-existing or re-imagined characters, but it was its own self contained story. Morrison has done the same with his Batman run, which has run across the regular long running "Batman" book, bounced into "Final Crisis", dovetailed into both "Batman and Robin" while simultaneously running through "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" and now morphing into the (extremely exciting) "Batman Inc."

So, why am I wasting your time with this excessive dissertation on Comics and blathering about some vague concept that I made up about a couple of months ago? There's a point. Bear with me.

When I started, I was making a Universe. That was the point. I was not making a Universe cause I wanted a Brand, or cause I wanted to score a licensing deal with some Underwear company (although I would wear Cactus Joe Underoos in a heartbeat...), or cause I wanted to "Beat" Marvel and DC. I created a Universe cause it was fun. It was cool. I loved Marvel (back then), I dug DC. I wanted to do my own version of that. Why not? At least I had my own spin on it. It started as a mesh of Super Hero comics with Slasher film Monsters, then I took that and combined it with Hannah-Barbera and William S. Burroughs to get this cooky, surreal, actiony, funny, odd, horror thing. But I got caught up in Universe building, over and over again. I gotta do this comic, cause I need to create these characters to present this end of the Universe. I gotta do that comic to present this little corner of the Universe. I need a Superman. I need a Batman. I need a Spiderman. It's not weird enough. It's not actiony enough. Actiony is not a word, by the by. I was just throwing out ideas with no substance, no direction. I was throwing crap at walls to see what would stick. And no matter how many times I would create something new, it was often hollow. Where was it going? I didn't even publish a lot of the stuff I did. "Sickness Valentine" sits in a pile in the corner of my studio. "Cogs in the Machine" never got finished. I've got the reductions for an entire book ready to go, but it'll never see print cause it didn't work. I hate to say this about it, but "SDF: Pulp" didn't work. It was a noble effort, it was a cool experiment, and there was some cool stuff in it (Issue 2 is an absolute must-have in my opinion), but it didn't work. The Cactus Joe story was going nowhere (slowly) and Bad Jack didn't work. Bad Jack was gonna be my Donald Duck or my Batman. And I tried really hard to make him work. But he didn't work. Like so many of my experiments and attempts, it just didn't work.

So what did work?

The Clown and Penguin stories, in general, always worked (and yes, I'm aware that I just said that the stories in "SDF: Pulp" didn't work. That was an issue of simplicity and a lack of space to tell the story properly. It wasn't the characters' fault.). And the reason why they've always worked is because I'm invested in these characters. The Clown is essentially me, and Pengy...somehow Pengy makes everything work. Don't ask me how he makes it all work, he just does. I know the general direction the story is going, and I've got new ideas for Clown stories. Always. And we've seen so much evolution with the character over the years. In "Pulp Horrorshow" the Clown was a solo act, a grim and gritty, bad ass, tough guy out for revenge against the Ortex Coporation. In "The Watchdogs" and some of the issues of "Truth or Consequences Monthly" we started to see Cactus Joe as a more traditional Superhero. In the rest of "TORCM" we saw the Clown as a Man-on-the-Run, desperately trying to escape from Ortex and even Angels from Heaven. Along comes "Super Duper Fun Comix", and suddenly, the Clown's got friends, and he's kind of a normal guy (well, again, considering he's essentially me, the term "normal" is a bit of a stretch), even though he's still fighting Monsters and Demons and stuff. That was where Pengy came into the picture, and like everything involving Pengy, it was an accident. But it was an accident that worked better than I ever imagined. From there we moved to "SDF", and what I like to call the Violent Sitcom period, where the Clown and Penguin try to live a simple life in a quiet town only to get attacked by Demons and Robots and Mutants every time they turned around. It was cool. It worked. But it was also a little bit of a rut. Kinda like a sitcom. I did some stuff to break up the monotony like "SDF: the Great Race" and a couple of issues of "New Super Duper Fun Comix" and the Cosmic Norseman cross over. Then along came "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club", and it was like, Whoa Baby! Now we've got something. A nice ensemble cast. Exciting locales. Strange Adventures. HFSAC works. Big time. I'm 11 Issues (well, Issue 11 is at the Printers...) deep, and I'm still going strong. I can probably go to Issue 30 with the ideas I've got right now. And I'm always getting new ideas. But me being me, I couldn't just do HFSAC. Oh no. Gotta keep building that Universe. Gotta keep trying new books and new characters. Gotta keep slamming my head against that damn wall.

Until I had a realization at the end of 2010. I'm not building a Universe. I'm building a Megatext.

Click.

After that, it all started to make sense. My story is not the story of the TORCverse. The TORCverse is the setting. The TORCverse is the context. But the story I'm telling is actually the story of Cactus Joe the Clown and Pengy Penguin. Or as I call it, "The Ballad of Clown and Penguin". And it's a cool story. A big story. A story with many, many different facets. All the old stories are a part of it (I need to collect those in trade sometime), and "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" is part of it, and "SDF: Pulp" (flawed as it was) is part of it, and "MONSTER KING" is part of it. The book I've got at the Printers right now is part of it. It's a story about two guys going toe-to-toe with the entire Universe. It's my story. It's their story. It's TORC Press.

And you don't gotta read the whole thing. That's the cool thing about a Megatext. You didn't have to read "The Forever People" to enjoy the "New Gods". You don't have to read "Escapo" to enjoy "THB". You didn't need to read all of the "Seven Soldiers" books to enjoy any of the individual issues. You didn't have to read "SDF: Pulp" or my new Mystery Book to enjoy "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club".

BUT, the other neat thing about a Megatext is that if you do read the whole thing, you get this big, beautiful tapestry of a story. And that's something only Comix can do. And I love it when Comix can do something nothing else can do.

Viva la TORC Press.

Mike the Butcher

We recently introduced a new character over in MONSTER KING (which you can check out over at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html) named Mike the Butcher. Here's a little ramble on how he came about.

Despite my love of the manga "One Piece", I have, surprisingly, stole/imitated very little from Eichira Oda's pirate comic. But I've always liked the interplay between Luffy and Zolo. Roranoa Zolo in any other manga would be the main character. He's a bad ass Pirate/Samurai/Tough Guy/Swordsman. He's got a cool look, a cool attitude, a cool everything. But in the crazy world of One Piece he's stuck playing second fiddle (or First Mate, as it were) to Luffy D. Monkey, a silly, straw hat wearing, rubber bodied (literally) goofball pirate captain. I think that was kinda where Mike got started.

I also was toying with the idea of giving Cactus Joe a bodyguard. I think that concept started when I was still working on "SDF: Pulp", and I had considered the idea of having Pengy accidentally awaken a halfbreed Vampire that would basically become Pengy's servant/bodyguard. The idea never took, mostly because I just didn't like the idea of Pengy having a deadly living weapon at his disposal. But the bodyguard idea kinda stuck. Now the two of you reading this that read my comix might be asking yourself, "Self, why would a guy who's walking Death like the Clown need a body guard?" Well, the idea I had was that it would be an accidental thing, that CJ would just end up with this strange, powerful, tough guy as his bodyguard for no real good reason.

All I needed was a character that worked. I went through a few ideas before the final version clicked into place. Originally Mike was an alien and carried a Giant Sword. Unfortunately, it's really hard to draw a Giant Sword over and over and over again, so that idea got dropped. Then he turned into a weird mutant rabbit/crab hybrid thing. He could turn his hands into Crab Claws and cut through stuff. That was a neat idea, but it still didn't click. I went back to the halfbreed Vampire idea for awhile, but that didn't take. Eventually, I just simplified things and made him a really, really, really old samurai who was so old that he was basically just a walking corpse who had forgotten most of his life. As something of a shout out to Roronoa Zolo, I colored him green (which also represents that he's kinda moldy/fungusy...ew).

As for the name, it's a combination of "Sammy the Butcher" from William S. Burrough's "Nova Trilogy" and the character of Mike, the One Armed, Shoe Selling, Sorcerer from David Lynch's "Twin Peaks".

So, yeah, Mike the Butcher.

Monday Production Updates

Let's see what we've got today...

As was hyped all last week, we've got a new book in the online store. Issue 10 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" is now available from TORC Press. I can't believe I've made it to the tenth issue of something. For the record, I'm pretty sure if HFSAC goes to issue 14, it'll be my longest running series to date (I think, I may have to double check how many issues of SDF I produced). Anyway, HFSAC 10 is the second part of a three parter, it's really cool, and you can check it out at www.torcpress.com.

While you're over at the main site, make sure to drop by the MONSTER KING Index and check out the new pages I've got up. I'm gonna start moving faster on MK due to the fact that I wanna wrap up Issue 2 and move on to Issue 3, which I'm taking in a drastically different creative direction. Huzzah!

A new Comic will be available the first week of February, which is my Birthday Month, by the by.

Speaking of new comics, one of my two new "Mystery Books" has been sent to the Printers. This book should be available in time for both STAPLE and SPACE, and I've decided not to release it online until after both shows have wrapped up. I'm still debating on whether or not to try to send the other "Mystery Book" to the Printers before the Con Season starts. I gotta be careful with these printing bills.

About a year ago, my Brother's One Man Band, "The Dr. Orphyus Project", unleashed its second album, "An Introvert". It was a concept album with only five long (but very awesome) songs on it. Bro intended to perform three of the five songs live, while the other two songs would be album exclusives. If you've watched Bro's live show, you know the videos are integral to the performance, so last year I worked very hard at kicking out the three videos Bro would need to perform "An Introvert" Live. Unfortunately, I got lazy after that, and the other two, non-Live videos never really entered production. Well, Bro wanted to produce a full length video of the entire album, so Bro and I buckled down and did all of the Production work for both videos over the weekend. Now all Bro has to do is survive the long, arduous editing process.

Work on MK 2 is done. Penciling and Inking for MK3, HFSAC 12, and Mystery Book 2 is underway. I am the Bizarre Human Comix Machine.

Viva la TORC Press!

New MONSTER KING and HFSAC 10 Hyper Hype

"... Dude."

It's Saturday, so that means it's MONSTER KING time! We're picking up the pace a little, dropping three pages instead of the usual two, so it's Pages 5-7. Huzzah! So, a few weeks back we introduced a new guy called Mike the Butcher. You might be asking yourself, "Self, how does a guy end up with a name like Mike the Butcher anyway?" Well, this week we find out. There's lots of red on the page, to say the least. In addition, Ortex Captain Carruthers unleashes his inner Demon. Yut-Oh! Anyway, check out the wild swirling violence over at the index at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html.

Oh, and while we're at it, the Unstoppable Freight Train of Comix Awesomeness that is TORC Press is still chugging along. If you ain't seen it yet, we've got a new book out in the online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html. It's "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" #10, and it's chock full of Monsters and Smashing and Evil Dictators in Iron Armor and the return of an old character who spontaneously transforms into an even older character. Also, there's another strange Vision. And a Dance Number. Oh, and Cactus Joe does something crazy. There's a preview up over at www.torcpress.com/hfsac10prev.html. Give yourself some Comix Lovin'. Pick up the Book.

I'm watching an "Adventure Time" Marathon while working on Four Projects simultaneously. I am the Bizarre Human Comix Machine.

Viva la TORC Press!

HFSAC 10 Hype and Other Hype

As I mentioned before, we've got a new book over in the store, which is issue 10 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club". There's a Preview up over at www.torcpress.com/hfsac10prev.html or you can purchase it directly from the store at www.torcpress.com/store.html. It's an issue chock full of new stuff. New mutant dog soldiers. A new villain. A new giant monster. A new vision for the Clown and Penguin. But, there's some old in there as well. Much like how Issue 9 featured the surprise return of a classic TORCverse character, this issue features the sudden (and borderline inexplicable) return of a classic character that hasn't been seen since...jeez..."The Cosmic Norseman vs. New Super Duper Fun Comix" (?). It's a great issue, and it's not even the Climax of the three part "Pyramid" story arc.

I feel like hyping some other stuff while I'm at it. One of the things I decided to do this year was expand my comix reading. I've become very insular lately, reading only a very small handful of books. Although that's been good for my wallet, it's bad for my mind. So, after reading a bunch of "Best of 2010" Lists, I scribbled down any books that even remotely interested me, and began tracking them down in typical dogged Joseph fashion. I also decided to drop the long standing ban on Marvel Comics. I still don't like the company, and I still don't like Joe Quesada (at all), but that shouldn't prevent from reading the occasional decent book (or Silver Surfer comic) the big M (for Mickey...) farts out. So, here's the rundown:

Strange Tales 2: Well, this one sucked. I heard a lot of hype about this one, and it's mostly just a buncha guys screwing around, farting out poorly drawn crap with lame, one joke stories. The Wolverine story in front is okay, but the rest is lame. Not a good start.

Thor: The Mighty Avenger (I've scored Issues 1 and 3 so far): Everyone and their dog is hyping this series, mere seconds before it was cancelled. From what I've seen... it's not bad. It's not as good as the hype would lead me to believe, but it's not bad. I will say this, much like how "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" did the Impossible Task of making me like Aquaman, "Thor: TMA" does the impossible task of making me like Ant-Man. So kudos for that at least.

Spider-Man: Fever (Issue one acquired): Mark, if you're out there in Computerland, thank you for the recommendation on this one. Wild, tripadelic craziness featuring Spidey and Dr. Strange. Can't wait to score the rest of this mini.

American Vampire (Issue 3 acquired): We get so much Vampire Garbage shoved down our throats anymore that it's easy to ignore the good Vampire stuff sometimes (like HBO's "Tru Blood" for example). "American Vampire" is a pretty good example of that little problem. After a fair amount of digging, I found one issue of this series to try out, and was surprised at how pretty good it is. Vicious vampire that slaughter the hell out of stuff? Definitely worth watching.

King City (issue 12 acquired): Wowzers. Just absolutely wowzers. I need, need, need to find the rest of this series. I don't even know how to properly describe "King City" is the problem. It's an Americanized Punk Manga Comic about a Slacker who controls a Super Powered Cat in a City full of Demons and Spirits and Shadowy Characters and none of that does this wonderful, wonderful thing justice. Best New Comic I've Read in a Long, Long Time that didn't have the words "Grant Morrison" on the cover. Until...

The Bulletproof Coffin (Issues 1-4 acquired): I need to find issues 5 and 6, because this...THIS is IT. I was amazed when I read King City and was absolutely blown completely away, but to read another book that knocked me on my ass within the same month? Unheard of. A twisting labyrinth of a narrative, "Coffin" is a wild trip into a world of tattered, non-Code Approved Comix that gets so deep that the audience is as unsure of their footing on reality as the unfortunate protagonist is. Great stuff. Wish it wasn't a mini-series. Probably better that it is. The art reminds me of a rough cross between Geoff Darrow and Mike Allred.

X'ed Out: Uh... New Charles Burns. Instant Genius. Very Expensive. Totally worth it.

Issue 10 of the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club is Now Available

As promised, it's Monday, and we've got a New Book ready to go. Issue 10 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" is now available from TORC Press. It's a 24 Page BWG Mature Readers Comic for $2.50 plus $1.50 S&H. It is either available through our online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html or you can send check or money order to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.

There's a Free Preview of the book available over at www.torcpress.com/hfsac10prev.html. It's got the cover and two pages from the book.

So, what's it about already? Well, Issue 10 is the second part of the 3 part "Pyramid" story arc, and picks up mere seconds after the end of Issue 9 (so, yes, if you don't have issue 9, that's probably a better place to start...). Our Heroes, the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club, are in the Impossible Land of Forgottegypt. Their goal is to explore an ancient Pyramid. Unfortunately, they're not alone in their quest. A strange army of mutant creatures is also in the process of raiding the Pyramid, and, big surprise, they're not friendly. The leader of this evil army is a mysterious man named NER0, who we'll talk about more later in the week.

Besides a little bit of Pyramid exploration and plenty of Bashin' and Crashin', this issue also features Cactus Joe and Pengy Penguin undergoing another strange vision (see Monster King Issue 1 (available in print form soon) for the first such example of this...). Also, there's a giant monster. I love Giant Monsters.

Anyway, it's Issue 10 of the non-Award Winning series that No One is talking about, but they should be cause it's a big fat wad of Rock n' Roll. It's the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club, and it owns it.

Viva la TORC Press!

New MONSTER KING and Iowa

"Well, I'd love to Chat, Mike, but we're chasing a Crazy Cockney Zombie Guy who stole some Eggs, so we gotta roll."

We've got two new pages of MONSTER KING up over at www.torcpress.com/mk3.html. In this week's installments, we finally get a name for our Green Samurai Guy, and that Ortex Attack Squad that we saw briefly in issue one returns.

MK is a little early this week because I'll be leaving shortly after work with the several of my comrades for Iowa, where we'll be hanging all weekend. Despite the fact that it's a neighboring state, I never really pictured myself visiting Iowa. Odd. Anyway, I'll be gone all weekend.

But, on the bright side, we'll have a new book available in the online store on Monday, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Viva la TORC Press!

Post Holiday Whatnots

Uhhhh....

Got a busy week ahead of me, and not in the usual way. Normally I try to set a quota for the week of 8 Pages. This week there is no way that's gonna happen, so I'm just not gonna worry about it and do what work I can when I can. I got nothing done yesterday because I was busy preparing for and enjoying my annual Christmas Party, "A Very Cactus Christmas". Everyone seemed to have a real good time, myself included. Tonight is Fitch's Birthday Party Part One, and then on Friday we leave for Part Two, as we will be spending three days in Iowa visiting with our Long Lost Pal Tate. Should be fun.

Anyway, this week's MONSTER KING will probably go up on Thursday night or Friday morning. And speaking of MK, the first two pages of Issue 2 are up over at the Main Site at www.torcpress.com.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Viva la TORC Press!

New Year New MONSTER KING

"So Let's Get That Last Guy Down."

It's a New Year and a New Issue of MONSTER KING! Huzzah! It can be viewed over at http://www.torcpress.com/mk1.html. A new character is briefly introduced. I can't talk much about this new guy, because, well, we don't even get his name yet, but pay attention to the next couple of installments, this guy will prove to be fairly important.

Other than that, I hope everyone out there had a lovely New Year.

I've got a house to clean now.