Random Notes Before Bed

Woo. I'm tired. Let's see what we've got.

If you haven't floated by yet, we've got a new comic up in the online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html. It's Issue 13 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club", and it's cool. There's crazy cosmic stuff and the narrative moves forward a bit and so forth.

Also, Monster King Issue 4 is up and running. It's ridiculous and makes no sense. You should check it out at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html.

So, there's the hype. Here's other stuff.

"Hellboy: The Fury" just started. I'm super hyped. While every other comic just treads water or reboots or does big stuff that doesn't matter three weeks later, Hellboy and the BPRD are bringing on the Apocalypse FROM TWO DIFFERENT ANGLES! It's exciting and dark and strange and I love it.

Speaking of I Love It, "Batman Inc." is the best thing being put out in American comics right now. In a way, it's kinda unfortunate that the DC reboot is going to monkeywrench some of what Morrison's doing in "Batman Inc.". But, I kinda approach Morrison's work as kinda existing on its own, so we'll just pretend that BI #1-6 are their own little comic novel, and the relaunched Vol. 2 will be sorta its own novel. Kinda. Anyway, I just read Issue 6, and it's really everything that makes comics worthwhile. So there's that.

So, I picked up "Kirby: Genesis" #0 and 1. Issue Zero is pretty much what everyone else has said, namely, a good start with a lot of potential. Issue One, on the other hand, gets off to a horrible start. HORRIBLE START. The art, although competent, is boring as snail snot. Seriously. Pedestrian. The "real world characters" are Super Lame (to make matters worse, the main character is drawn to look like the actor from the film version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Major Sin. Major). The first seven pages are some of the worst comics I've ever had to suffer through, and I've read "Brigade".

Then...

It shouldn't have happened. It makes no sense. But, there on page eight or so, this tiny, watered down, distilled Sliver of Jack Kirby slips into this book...and Explodes Like an Atomic Frickin' Bomb. Just Wild Characters and Concepts Explode Outward in a Million Directions, and we've no longer got some run of the mill comic where nothing happens, we've got an entire Universe slamming facefirst into our faces.

The only thing wrong with the comic (besides, y'know, the pedestrian art and the first seven pages...and all the ads, but what else is new?) is that for a comic with Kirby on the cover, there's not a lot of action. Only one person gets punched in the face. Seriously? Pick up the brawling and slamming and ray zapping, people! Just having people running and posing does NOT a Kirby comic make.

Still, good enough to get me to pick up Issue 2.

I go to bed now.

MK 4 Page 2

"Why Aren't You Wearing Pants?!?"

Hahahaha! After fighting random power outages, and apparently wrapping up the page before another hellacious thunderstorm hit, we got Page Two of Issue 4 of MONSTER KING done in the sun on a bun. It's funny as hell. Check it out at: http://www.torcpress.com/mk2.html.

Also, don't forget, we've got a brand new comic up in the online store. Issue 13 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" is now available for Sale. It's a good issue in terms of moving the continuing narrative forward. Plus there's lots of neat stuff in it. You can check out a preview at http://www.torcpress.com/hfsac13prev.html

I'm watching classic Looney Tunes Cartoons.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

So, I've got a Comic Quest Creator's Alliance Meeting today, so I thought I would try to get Monster King colorized and uploaded before I set out for E-ville. I was about halfway through with the color process, when the power spontaneously went out for absolutely no good reason. All my progress was lost. Just like that. I would, once again, like to thank Ameren Illinois for being a worthless, crappy, utterly unreliable source of power. Last time I checked, I live in America, not some third world country. Right? I pay my bills on time. There's no call for this.

Anyway, instead of spending the next few hours desperately trying to play catch up, I'm just going to call it good and try again tomorrow morning.

Insert Curse Words Here.

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Issue 13 Now Available

As promised, Issue (Lucky) 13 of The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club is now available from TORC Press! It's a 24 Page, Mature Readers Comic in Black/White/Grey with a Color Cover for $2.50 plus $1.50 S&H. You can order at online at www.torcpress.com/store.html, or you can send a Check or Money Order for the Proper amount to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.

There is a preview of the Book which can be viewed at www.torcpress.com/hfsac13prev.html.

So, what's it about? Welp, this issue is similar to HFSAC 8, in that it's not really a Slam Bang, Smash n' Grab, Adventurey Issue. Whereas Issue 8 delved into the past, while moving toward the future, Issue 13 is all about propelling the Narrative forward toward Tomorrow. Long story short, at the end of Issue 12, our heroes became separated, and are spread out across the Galaxy, where a part of their Destiny awaits. El Exclamation Point! makes his first real step towards becoming the Servant of Justice he was always meant to be. Agent D embraces the dormant power she's always possessed. Cactus Joe and Pengy Penguin get another piece of the puzzle in their Vision Quest. And the Hip Bros do what they do best...Party!

It's not the strongest issue, but it is an important one, with moments that will (hopefully) echo forward. Probably not a great issue to start reading on, but if you've been following my work for awhile, this issue is a must have.

Also, this issue, I believe, ties with SDF as my longest running series (numerically) to date. I think SDF ran for a total of 13 (mostly 48 page) issues over the course of its 7 year run (not counting Convention Specials and Promotional Comics). HFSAC is only 24 Pages an issue, but we've already gotten the same number of issues in only 3 years. So that's kinda neat, too.

Issue 4 of MONSTER KING Starts NOW!

"Run Pigs, Run!"

Hahahahahaha! What was I thinking? That's right, MONSTER KING is back, and it's more bizarre and surreal than ever. The first page of Issue 4 can be viewed at http://www.torcpress.com/mkex.html. There's a giant monster, and pigs, and it's just page one and it already makes no sense. I love it!

I'm still learning and experimenting with Photoshop. If you dig what I'm doing, tell me. If you think it looks sucky, please tell me. I'm still learning.

Other than that, Issue 13 of HFSAC goes Live on Monday. Keep on Rockin' in the Free World.

So, What is the Answer?

So, Bro and I were talking about HFSAC 13 (available on Monday) a day or two ago. It's kind of an odd issue, an in-between issue that focuses more on developing characters and advancing the overarching narrative instead of the usual slam-banginess (which is not to say that there isn't a fair amount of smashing and bashing. This is a TORC Press Comic after all). Anyway, Bro said he enjoyed the issue, but he had trouble keeping track of everything. He couldn't remember all of the previous plot threads, and kept wanting to refer back to previous issues. He thought he might enjoy the series in general if he just read it in trade form. I found that a bit odd, because even though I have been telling longer form stories lately and working to move forward my overarching narrative, I personally feel like each issue of HFSAC tends to hold up well on its own (although, admittedly, issue 13 does kinda push its luck in that department).

Of course, it's worth mentioning that Bro's not an inveterate comics reader. He reads TORC Press comics (because he has to) and some Garth Ennis stuff, and that's about it. He doesn't read issue to issue or month to month, so he doesn't have that mindset. He's not accustomed to holding a dozen or more plot threads in his brain at a time.

But the tricky thing is, Bro is Comics target audience. Well, not Bro specifically, the Non-Comics Reader is who we're trying to pick up and indoctrinate. Hell, that's supposed to be half the point of all these big budget, fancy pantsy movies is to pull in the Nonreaders and get them hooked. But the problem is, the Nonreader, like I said, isn't used to the month to month, week to week, grind. They don't have that mindset of keeping track of what's going on in the X-Men and Green Lantern every month and looking forward to it with bated breathe. Even if you can pull in a Nonreader for awhile, how long are they willing to keep up? The first time they realize they missed an issue of the comic they're reading, they may not bother coming back, or digging around trying to find the issue they missed. They'll just move on.

So what's the Answer? You might think I'm gonna try to promote Trade Paperbacks, but I'm not. TPBs are swell, TPBs are great, and TPBs are the model for where we're going, but they're not the answer. And the reason why is because TPBs aren't regular. Referring back to Bro as our example, I can't remember the last time Bro bought a Trade. Since we've run out of Garth Ennis "Punishers", there's not really anything else to buy him right now for Christmas/Birthday. Without something to regularly keep him interested, Bro has went from being a Nonreader turned occasional Reader, back to being a Nonreader.

In fact, this is a running problem with a lot of creators. For example, I really enjoy the work of Paul Pope. But Pope only puts out a new comic once every two or three years. That's a long time to wait for new comics from a guy I dig. It's pretty easy to forget about someone and their work in that amount of time.

Conversely, my buddy Fitchie is also a Nonreader, but he's actually become something of a full fledged reader in the last couple of years. Why? Because he's a fan of "Invincible" and "The Walking Dead", two books that come out more or less monthly and are collected in Trade form on a regular, consistent basis. He's also a fan of "BPRD", another book that maintains a fairly consistent schedule. Although he'll pick up single issues from time to time, he mostly just buys Trades.

So, then, are Trades the answer after all? I dunno. It's kinda like "Scott Pilgrim". Let's say you're a Scott Pilgrim fan, and you go pick up the books in Bor-whoops, they're almost out of business, Barnes & Noble. You pick up the whole series of TPBs, read them, enjoy them, blahblahblah. Now what? The series is over. It's done. No reason to swing by the Graphic Novel aisle anymore, right?

Plus, I don't like the idea of "Writing for the Trade". If you're gonna Write specifically for the Collected Edition, then why bother doing the regular comics in the first place?

Web Comics (New MONSTER KING on Saturday) don't seem to be the answer, either. I mean, some people make a go of it, and there's been a few out there that seem to develop strong, vocal, possibly even non-traditional fanbases. But they're rare, especially when you consider the amount of material out there (not to mention most people would prefer to mindlessly watch Youtube than shuffle through a static webcomic). Hell, I'm a pretty big Tom Scioli fan, and I have trouble remembering to check his new webcomic, "American Barbarian" every week (speaking of which, I haven't checked his site in a week or two...). Bro has told me that he has trouble keeping up with Monster King, and I don't think any of my other Pals are reading it either. Hell, is anyone reading MK?

So, what's the Answer? Is there an Answer? Should I even bother trying to find the Answer?

Hell, don't look at me. I ain't got no Answers.

More Pointless Nonsense

So, like I've mentioned earlier, no new Monster King this week. Take this opportunity to read the issue for free now, and, y'know, when it's available in print you could always pick that up anyway, too, right? Right? In the meantime, let's Rant about Marvel and DC for no good reason.

Marvel annoys me. Marvel has annoyed me for some time. All I want out of Marvel is a good "Silver Surfer" series. Or a decent guest appearance by the Silver Surfer. Instead, if the Surfer is guest starring in anything, he gets punked out somehow (or enslaved, or duped, or whatever). The Silver Surfer gets a new mini-series, and guess what? He loses his powers and spends the ENTIRE SERIES running around like a normal guy, whining. I'm just glad I didn't spend any money on this crap. I did spend money on "The Annihilators". I regret that. The Surfer had ears. Seriously. I'm still pissed.

I kinda feel like Marvel is out of ideas, as well. I mean, think about it. When they started kicking out these big "Event" Comics, the books were really easy to explain. They had a Strong, Easy to Understand, Hook, right? "Civil War" was Superheroes vs. Superheroes. Easy, right? Cap punching Iron Man. Iron Man punching Cap. Fight, fight, fight. Easy. (Yes, the series sucked and kinda killed Marvel for me, but you gotta admit, great premise) "World War Hulk" was the Hulk vs. Everybody. So obvious it shoulda been done years ago. "Secret Invasion" was Superheroes vs. Aliens pretending to be Superheroes. Sorta the same thing, but with more paranoia. "Dark Reign" for all of its disgustingness, was easily the most brilliant. Bad Guys Pretending to be Good Guys. Simple, easy to explain, great hook.

And that's when the momentum ran out. What the hell was "Siege" about? Bad Guys Pretending to be Good Guys Fighting Good Guys and Gods. I think. Maybe. What the hell happened in that thing? Norman Osborne finally got his comeuppance, I think? Bah. "Shadowland"? Daredevil becomes a Bad Guy (why? how? what?) and only the street level heroes can stop him because Thor apparently has better things to do and Black Panther takes over for Daredevil for no good reason and in the end Daredevil goes back to being Daredevil in less than a year. Yeah. Compare that premise to some of the others. Bit of a mouthful, right?

And now we've got "Fear Itself" and "Spider Island". What the hell are these comics about? Seriously. Someone tell me. It's like Marvel's been doing so well that they don't even have to come up with a decent premise anymore. It reminds me of that episode of "South Park" this week where the movie previews talk about how people will go watch the films no matter what kinda crap the movie studios crap out.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, apparently, Bucky's Dead Again. So, I guess we can start using the term "Bucky Dead" again, right? Does anything matter in Mainstream Comics anymore?

Speaking of nothing mattering in Mainstream Comics anymore, you've got the DC Line Wide Reboot. Good idea? Bad idea? Eh, little bit of both, really. It's a move that will alienate some of their established readers, that's for sure. But at the same time, let's face facts, cats and kittens, the DCU been a big old fat bag of stagnation for awhile. The only exciting things that have come out of the DCU in the last few years have been Grant Morrison's "Batman" comics and the whole Rainbow Lanterns thingie. Rebooting the whole line, and mixing and matching bits and pieces of the Milestone Universe and the Wildstorm Universe and the Vertigo Characters that used to be DC characters and now they're DC characters again, is actually not that bad of an idea. At the very least it's got people talking about DC again without mentioning the word "Lantern". Plus, historically, the DCU has rebooted a few times already, with stuff like "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and the lesser known "Zero Hour". So, at least there's a precedent.

I just read through the list of the 52 Comics in the reboot, and I think I'm gonna try some of the new books. Here's my Listo: Action Comics (ahem, Grant Morrison's writing Superman again. This one is a super given), OMAC (it will probably suck, but Keith Giffen is co-writing. I like Giffen's work from time to time), Frankenstien (it's not written by Morrison, sadly, but I really enjoyed the character, so I'll give it a shot.), Justice League Dark (SHADE the CHANGING MAN! Woo-Hoo! Written by Peter Milligan! I'm in like Flynn), Animal Man (Might skip), Swamp Thing (I liked what little I read of Scott Snyder's "American Vampire", and Yannick Paquette is awesome, so this is definitely worth a shot), and Red Lanterns (more Peter Milligan, also, let's face facts, if I was a Rainbow Lantern, I'd be a Red one).

The fact that I'm thinking about picking up SIX books from DC (five of which aren't written by Grant Morrison) is a pretty good indication that there's some merit to DC's battle plan. Will it work with other folks? Who knows? Maybe they'll scrap the whole plan in six months. Maybe it'll be a huge success. Hard telling. But in a world where Marvel doesn't even have to bother explaining their series anymore to sell them, DC had better do something. Hell, everyone should do something better.

Actually, I've been thinking about that. And that's my cryptic blog ending for today.

It's Too Hot

So. It got too hot too fast. That's all there is to it. Too hot. Too fast. It's really screwing me up, slowing me down. I get home at night, clean up, and flop down on the couch, and I am DONE for the night. Needless to say, hot or not, this cannot continue. TORC Press operates the way it operates because of my tireless (hahahaha) work ethic. If I'm laying around on the couch all the time, books don't get done, and if books don't get done, I'm never gonna wrap up my Impossible Kirby Year.

So, yeah, it's too hot. But I can't let that affect me. What else is new?

Monday Production Updates while Groggy

Welp, the air conditioner is installed, and my parents are away on motorcycle somewhere far away. It must be Summer. Let's see what we've got in the Production Updates department...

(As always, our main site is www.torcpress.com, and our online store can be found at www.torcpress.com/store.html. HYPE!)

"The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club"- Issues 1-12 are currently available in the online store. Issue 13 is currently at the Printers. I expect it to be available in late June/early July. Issue 14 is scripted, and I've (barely) started Pencils and Inks. Since 14 & 15 are a two parter, I'd like to script 15 soon. I should probably bring the script with me to the Mill and work on it over lunch or something.

"Cosmic Love"- Issues 1-2 are currently available in the online store. Issue 3 is completed. I'll be sending it to the Printers around the end of the month. I'll probably script CL 4 after I finish the script for HFSAC 15. CL 4 is going to be a VERY pivotal issue.

"Monster King"- Issues 1-2 are currently available in the online store. Issue 3 can be viewed in its entirety at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. Issue 3 has also been sent to the Printers. Physical copies should be available sometime in July or August. Issue 4 is scripted, and I've started Pencils and Inks. Page One of Issue 4 will debut online on Saturday, June 18th (in theory). I'm in no rush to start the script for Issue 5.

Other Stuff- I've got the script for an All Ages book that I'd like to complete before the end of the year. I currently have one page finished on that. It will be a laid back, but still kinda actiony, throw back to "New Super Duper Fun Comix". I'm also working on something else that sort of fills in some blanks in the story. But I've barely started on it, so it may not even come out this year.

Oh, and sadly, TORC Press is back on Facebook. Groan. It's just my "Corporate" Page. I DO NOT have a Personal Page, which basically means that people can "Like" my page and communicate with me, and I can communicate back, and that's it. I don't like Facebook, I don't want to be on Facebook, but since everyone on the Planet is on Facebook, it's a handy tool to keep my tiny readership informed on the comings and goings of the TORCverse. So there's that.

MK3, CL2, and Sideshow

"We Heart Tacos!"

First off, we've got the final page of Issue 3 of MONSTER KING up in the Index at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. Old One Eye throws a baby fit, and Luther Dirge (last seen way back in "SDF: Foul Business" (remember that one?)) steps up to the plate to be the next demon to go gunning for the Clown. Meanwhile, our heroes find the legendary Jungle Taco. TASTY!

Anyway, the way this will work is pretty simple. Issue 3 of MONSTER KING will be available for viewing for the next three weeks. Next week we'll have no new pages of MONSTER KING. Sorry in advance. Then on June 18th we'll have all of Issue 3, as well as Page 1 of Issue 4. Then on June 25th we'll be taking Issue 3 down. In the meantime, I'm gonna try to get MK 3 to the Printers before the end of the day.

While we're on the subject, I really dig this particular Issue of MONSTER KING. I know, I know. I'm totally biased. Still, I'm not gonna lie to you, MK 1 and 2 were solid books, but I don't think they had that essential... whatever the hell it is that makes a TORC Press book really "Click". But Issue 3. MK 3 is a TORC Press book, Big Time. A plot that makes no sense, a talking frog, weird monsters, brand new characters (hell, FOUR brand new characters), Cactus Joe gets some strange new way to kill things, and there's Tacos at the end. MK 3 IS TORC Press at its best. Or at least I think so.

Speaking of TORC Press at its Best, if you don't have a copy yet, I can't recommend "Cosmic Love #2" enough. It's just a fabulous, fabulous comic. The whole fight/chase scene with the Giant Space Worm alone is worth the price of admission. But then on top of it there's a briefly introduced new character (the Darkwatcher, keep your eye on this guy), the life & times of Kikki Fortune (which also features a little smidgen of info on the Bob Mafia, also important), and a cool little Cosmic Vision. Also, there's a couple of games of Ping Pong and UltraDolphins. It's really excellent, and you can check it out at http://www.torcpress.com/cl2prev.html.

Aaaaannnnnnddddd, lastly, we've kinda got a new comic. Kinda. A while back, Bro gave me an idea. Business Cards suck. You give out a billion of em, and no one ever contacts you anyway. Plus, when you're working a show, you'll get a couple hundred people that'll say crap like, "Oh, I just got here, I'll come back later after I've checked everything out" (which is a lie, incidentally) or "I really like your stuff, I'll try to get around later" (and they don't). So, we had the idea to try to kill two birds with one stone. Thusly, I created "Sideshow". It's kinda like a business card. It has all of my contact info right there on the inside front cover. It's got an eight page story that gives you a nice overview of the TORCverse (the art's pretty as well). And, in what could be described as a bold move (and totally my Brother's idea, by the by), there's a coupon for a dollar off of your next Convention Purchase in the inside back cover. All for a $1.50. Not bad, right? The idea is that either A) worst case scenario, people will pick it up, I'm up a buck and a half, and they've got my contact and website info if they wanna try my stuff out later, or B) Best Case Scenario, they pick it up, read it in the hotel room that night, go "Holy crap, this is awesome!" and then they return the next day, show me the coupon, and buy some books. I'm only out a buck, and maybe I pick up a new reader. (Of course, I guess the actual worst case scenario would be no one buys it at all, but what else is new) Worth a shot, right? Anyway, the bad news is, the entire point of the book is for it to be sold "live", so I'm not putting it online. It will only be available at Conventions. So, there's that. Don't worry, I plan on using the book for at least a year, so if you're a reader (all, what, five or six of you....), you can pick one up at the next show.