Schizoid

I'm not saying it's easy being a comic book writer.  It's not.  The really, really good ones take time, do research, study, plan, make outlines, form extensive story lines, graph out character arcs, and do a bunch of other stuff that I would find really, really boring, all in the name of producing intelligent, thrilling, thought provoking comics material.  Which they then promptly put in the hands of an artist who will do one of two things 1) enhance their ideas significantly or 2) utterly wreck everything.  So, it's not easy being a comics writer.  But it is easier, in a way to be a comics writer.  Comics writing is faster than drawing comics.  A comics writer can easily (well, okay, maybe easy isn't the word) write two or three monthly comics.  Conversely, good luck finding a comic artist who can keep up with more than One Monthly Book (if that), let alone two (again, as always, John Romita Jr. is the exception).

Now, writing AND drawing more than one book at a time.  Well, that's where the rubber really hits the road.  I don't know how Kirby did it.  During the height of the Marvel Age he was Writing and Penciling a ton of books.  I'm not sure what the official count was, but during that decade Kirby was, at one point, producing the Fantastic Four, Thor, and Captain America FULL TIME, and at various points there was also the Incredible Hulk, Ant Man, Sgt Fury, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, the Rawhide Kid, the Avengers, and the X-Men.  And he did ghost work on Daredevil for awhile.  And provided cover work for other people's books.  The 70s were no better.  During the height of the 4th World Period, Kirby was running the show on 4 different books.  Admittedly, three of those books were bi-monthly, but still, that meant the King was producing a ton of material in less time than your average superstar artist nowadays can make one book.  And he was writing his comics as well.

Right now, I'm doing three webcomics and two non-webcomics, and the challenge for me is two-fold.  As a writer, I want to give every book its own individual theme and voice, and I want to give every character in each book their own individual personality.  As an artist, I want every book to have its own individual look.  I try to do different things with the inking and the coloring to try to ensure that none of my comics look exactly identical, despite the fact that there's only one guy drawing them.  It gets confusing after awhile, almost to the point where it's kinda like being schizophrenic, y'know?  I'm not sure what the answer for it is.  I suppose I need to... what's that word I keep hearing nowadays...compartmentalize more, I guess.

Because Lord knows, it's not like I'm gonna make fewer comics.  That would be silly.

Speaking of which, in the race to the 100th TORC Press Comic, it looks like "SDF" #3 is nearing the finish line, which would make it #96.  "Truth or Consequences Zer0" has almost been solicited online, but I still have to finish the back up features, so it will be a bit yet.  "Clown & Penguin" #2 is almost halfway finished.  Aaaand "Death Moth" #2 is bringing up the rear, with only 4 measly pages in the can.  Once all of those books are done, I'm a gonna concentrate my efforts on the landmark 100th TORC Press comic, which, I'm sure will be a whole lot of build up for not nearly enough pay off.  Such is life.

I've been lonely lately.

Mission Accomplished

At 10 am, Saturday morning, me and Mr. Cosmic Moustache himself, Clint Bassinger, sat down in the Best Darn Comic Shop on the Planet, Comic Quest, and went to work on our 24 Hour Comics.  There were numerous guest stars that popped in and out, most notably David "Straw Man" Branstetter, as well as other members of our oddball little gang, the Comic Quest Creators Alliance.  There was much food consumed, including Donuts, Candy Bars, Green Tea, Candy infused with Coffee, Cheezy Poofs, Bugles, Pizza (a big thanks to Comic Quest owner Jim Jones for scoring us a Pizza!), and even Pie & Cake (Thanks, T!).  There was rambling conversation, dirty jokes, lots of music (Clint's iPod is bizarre...), and plenty of background noise from the various games going on in the game room.  There was an uncomfortable nap around 4am.  And, of course, there was plenty of wandering around the shop, flipping through various graphic novels.  Anyway, long story short, when the dust settled, at 10am on Sunday morning, I had produced a 24 Page Comic Book.  Huzzah!

Unfortunately, and somewhat ironically, the story won't be published for a little while.  The reason why is because the story takes place after "Untold Tales of Clown and Penguin pt. 3" which will run in "Clown & Penguin" #3.  And I'm still working on Issue 2.  So, yeah, my 24 Hour Book won't be out until sometime next year.  Oops.

Other than that, make sure to head over to the mainsite, www.torcpress.com, and check out our trio of awesome webcomix, "SDF" (updates Mondays), "Pulp Horrorshow" (updates Wednesdays), and "Truth or Consequences" (updates Saturdays). 

24 Hour Party Comic

Alrighty, we've got the newest page of Truth or Consequences Zer0 up for viewing at:  http://www.torcpress.com/torc0-8.html.  It's a little early because as soon as I get home from the Sawmill, I'm gonna head off to Evansville, IN, crash in a hotel, get up tomorrow, head to the Best Darn Comic Shop on the Planet, Comic Quest, and start work on my latest 24 Hour Comic.  Obviously, I will be at the shop for 24 Hours.  Then it's back to the Hotel to sleep, and hopefully home Sunday evening.  Should be fun.  Later.

Random Notes on a Monday

Had an excellent time at the Chikara show in Chicago.  It was just an incredible night of action and wrestling and craziness.  I had a ball.  The only downside was that they announced the date for the next show in Chicago, and it is the one day of the entire year that I already know I can't make it.  What are the odds?

We've got Page 12 of SDF 3 up for viewing at:  http://www.torcpress.com/sdf3-12.html.  It's a talking heads page (eh), but it's got lots of interesting and/or important information.  So it's not a total loss.

Lastly, I'll be creating my 3rd 24 Hour Comic this upcoming weekend.  Much like in previous years, I will be camping out at the best darn comic shop on the planet, Comic Quest, for 24 continuous hours, while I rock out, drawing my little butt off.  It'll be a hoot.

Hurricanrana Muck Monster

Welp, enough Politics for awhile.  It's a lovely Saturday morning, and in a few hours I and a couple of my crewmates make the long, arduous journey to Chi-Cah-Go to watch some of that there newfangled wrastlin'.  Yep,  It's Chikara in Chi-town, and I couldn't be more hyped.  Plus, we're snagging burgers.  Bonus.

Speaking of bonuses, there's a new page of Truth or Consequences Zer0 up for viewing at:  http://www.torcpress.com/torc0-7.html.  The battle with the Muck Monster continues, and we find out what happened to Octopus Jones.  It's a cool strip.

Also, also, we've got a new book out.  Pulp Horrorshow v. 3 #2 is now available from TORC Press.  Check it out at www.torcpress.com.  It's got three stories and grungy black and white artwork. 

This blog is much shorter than the last one.

Whew!

Okay.  So, I've been trying to avoid politics on the blog for awhile now.  This is a Blog about, in order of importance, 1) TORC Press, 2) Comics in General, and 3) Some Random Crap from my Life.  And I've been trying not to bother with the third one too much.  But, having said that, anyone who knows anything about me knows I'm a fairly Liberal dude.  If you've spent any amount of time talking to me, and if the conversation has strayed away from important stuff like Comics or Pro Wrestling or Tacos, then sooner or later I'm gonna start talking politics, and when I do, I'm gonna lean to the Left.

Needless to say, this Election was a Nailbiter for me.  In the beginning it seemed Eezy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.  Romney sucked as a Candidate.  He was Fake.  And he wasn't even good at being Fake.  He always looked uncomfortable and a little scared, like deep down inside he knew he wasn't really up for this, and yet he was gonna do it anyway.  Romney's main qualification for President was that he was Super Rich.  No military service, a brief and less than honorable track record as Governor of Massachusetts, and his time at Bain Capital made him out to look like a Money Vampire, viciously bleeding companies of their money to feed his bloated, overseas bank accounts.  Romney didn't want to be President to help the American people, in fact, on TWO separate occasions Romney openly Dismissed Poor People (little political tip, when 2% of the country controls 90% of the wealth, and 50% of the country are Poor, you better suck up to the poor, cause they gots more votes).   No, here's why Romney wanted to be President:

Most of Romney's income comes from Investments, most of which are held in overseas bank accounts which he doesn't pay American taxes on.  His actual income-income comes from Making Speeches.  People hire him to stand up in front of a bunch of people and blather about... I dunno, whatever it is that he thinks he's good at.  In a single year, Romney makes more from Speechafying than I will make in 18 Years.  That's not a joke.  Those are the numbers.  18 Years Working 45 Hours a Week in a Sawmill = One Year of Speech making.  Now, why did Romney wanna be President?  Because after you've been President, you can CHARGE MORE FOR YOUR SPEECHES!  Yeah.  Here's a guy who is already stupid rich, already makes more money in a single year than most people will earn in their entire adult lives, and he wants to President so he can make more money after he's President.

So, no, never liked Romney.  And that whole Mormon thing didn't help.  Kinda creeped me out.

Of course, the Republicans never had a better choice.  Hell, they never really had a choice.  All the other candidates sucked, and Romney outspent his competitors big time. 

And at the beginning, things went smoothly.  Romney insulted the Poor on National Television.  Romney went to the Olympics and made an ass out of himself, which didn't exactly give people faith in his skills at diplomacy (conversely, Obama improving our image overseas has been one of his top selling points).  Stuff like that, coupled with strong Poll Numbers for Obama, made it look the election was gonna be cake.

Then Paul Ryan got the nod for VP.  Yut oh.  He's young.  He's handsome.  He's dynamic.  He's superultraconservative to make up for the fact that Romney was a Moderate, then a Superultraconservative, then suddenly in the span of a month, a Moderate again.  Sure, Paul Ryan's economic plan sounded like a Nightmare from Hell specifically designed to Destroy the Middle Class, but he was young, handsome, and dynamic.  Hell, for most Conservatives, Ryan shoulda been at the top of the ticket, not Romney.  Suddenly, the Republicans were back in the game, and I started to get worried.

Then the Democratic National Convention hit, and my boy Billy Boy Slick Willy I would Vote for him Tomorrow if He was Running for a Third Term as President Bill Clinton got up and made such a Killer Speech for Obama that it reversed the Game right back around.  Cake walk.  Bill says Obama's the Guy, so Obama must be the Guy, right?

Then things went nuts.  Negative Campaign ads 24/7 from both sides.  Lies.  Fabrications.  Falsehoods.  Half truths.  Obama's supposed lead started to erode.  Tea Party commercials.  Super PACs (oh, how I hate Super PACs). 

And then there was that first Debate.  Holy Crap!  That went poorly.  That one debate almost sunk the whole boat.  Suddenly, Romney had the lead in the Polls.  Crap!  And he held that lead for too long.  Suddenly, Romney wasn't stumbling and bumbling like he used to.  After sucking for most of the Campaign, Romney was now in the Zone.  He was owning it.  He hit his stride, he had his confidence, and it looked like he could win it.

Needless to say, this did not sit well with me.  The whole thing kinda made me sick to my stomach.

So, Election Night hits, and it's 50-50.  It's all down to Ohio.  Everything hinges on Ohio, and Romney has spent asstons of money in Ohio, and there's rumors that Republican in Ohio were attempting to rig it so minorities and poor people couldn't vote, and I'm nervous and freaking out and kind of depressed.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I went to bed at 8 o'clock, with Romney holding a lead in Electoral Votes.

Got up this morning expecting the worst.  Obama wins.  Decisively.  He needed 270 Electoral Votes.  He got 303.  And Florida still hasn't even got their results in yet.  Obama won most of the Key Battleground states, including Nevada, a state I spent almost a whole week in, and had to listen to hundreds of Radio Ads for Romney. 

So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good this morning.

Oh, and as an added bonus, that Scumbag Sleezy Piece of Crap, Tod Akin, lost his bid for the Senate in Missouri.  Guess what?  Turns out in the New Millennium you can't go around insulting women on National Television and get away with it.  Who knew they could vote?

Hahahahahahaha!

Oh, also, I'm watching Fox News this morning, and for the first time ever, it's not annoying me.  It's just hilarious.

Now, do I really think this makes everything swell or that the next four years are gonna be smooth sailing or anything like that?  No.  Of course not.  We've still got a Gridlocked Congress.  We've still got Fox News.  We've still got Insane Conservatives.  We've still got the upcoming Fiscal Cliff (whatever the hell that is).  It's gonna be rough.

But at least there's not some Fat Cat Businessman in the White House openly seeking to Destroy the Middle Class.  I'll buy that for a dollar.

Oh, new page of Pulp Horrorshow.  http://www.torcpress.com/ph3-3.html

New Pulp Horrorshow, New SDF

First off, the standard business.  It's Monday, so it's time for a new page of SDF, which can be viewed at:  http://www.torcpress.com/sdf3-11.html.  Today's page features a guest appearance by Sally Mander and Razorfish, who first appeared in Pulp Horrorshow.  What are they doing in the Community?

Well, you can find that out by purchasing the newest book from TORC Press, "Pulp Horrorshow" v.3 #2, which is now available at:  http://www.torcpress.com/ph2archive.html.  It's 24 pages in B&W with a color cover for $1.50 plus $1.50 S&H.  If you don't like online ordering, you can send a check or money order to:  TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.

PHv.3.2 not only contains all 12 pages of the Online Content from the web version of Pulp Horrorshow: DirTown, it's also got two EXCLUSIVE BONUS STRIPS!  See, I used All Caps for emphasis.  The first strip features the Blade Rebels, and explains what Sally and Fishy are doing in SDF, as well as a guest appearance by the mysterious Psycho Boy, and the surprise return of a classic TORC Press character.  The other EXCLUSIVE BACK UP STORY (ha, I'm such a huckster) features the debut of another very, very important character to the future of the TORCverse, the deadly K-9.  This story is bloody, bloody, and really puts the Horrorshow in "Pulp Horrorshow".

Anyway, it's a great book.  It's a cheap book.  You should score a copy.  Yep.