2011 Year in Review

This was one of the worst years of my life. Hands down. Just a non-stop stream of crap that never relented. Boo to this year. Let's get this one over with and move on to the next one.

The only things that got me through this year were my Brother and the 24 Comix in a Single Year Challenge. The scene in Monster King #6 where Broken Tea Cup pulls the Clown out of his bottomless depression is loosely based on how Bro pulled me out of similar abysses this year.

So, yeah, not the happiest year this year. But I've got to learn to start focusing a little more on the positive, and since the most positive part of this year was the 24 Comix I produced, let's just round em all up and do a run-down on that stuff, shall we? Oh, and if you think any of these books sound cool at all, head over to www.torcpress.com and buy one or two. Couldn't hurt, right?

1. The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #10- The 2nd Part of the "Pyramid" story arc was probably the best part of the whole arc. There's Ner0, my attempt to mishmash Dr.Doom with Iron Man with Caligula. There's the Giant Snakegodmonster. There's a Cosmic Vision that's a part of the whole "Quest for Omnichronus", which is great. There's the return and sudden transformation of Broken Tea Cup, which would prove to be key to the whole year. And there's Cactus Joe with THREE HEADS. Yeah. One of my best.

2. The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #11- The Conclusion to the "Pyramid" story arc had some really great stuff in it. There's an excellent fight with a Giant Snakemonstergod. Cactus Joe finds internal harmony amidst his own warring soul (oh, that I could find the same). But the best moment was the reunion of Brothers, a moment I feel encapsulates why I'm more than just some guy doing weird stuff and violence. There's a heart to these comix, amidst all the insanity. The last part of the book is admittedly a little awkward, and is mostly just set up for the future as well as "The Clown & Tea Cup Show" and "Cosmic Love". But ultimately, this issue is really strong and a great wrap up to one of my best story arcs.

3. Monster King #1- Oh, MK1. It's awkward and odd and clumsy and the art is iffy and the colors are iffy and the cover's terrible and there are days where I wish I hadn't bothered to even publish it. BUT, there's some neat stuff here. I like the Crying Tree and the Giant Spider quite a bit. Also, chronologically, this marks the beginning of "The Quest for Omnichronus", which was my story-within-my-stories for the Year. So there's that.

4. Cosmic Love #1- Ah, my Kirby homage. Kinda. This wasn't my strongest issue. I felt like the plot was lacking, and there wasn't enough action. BUT, there's some really cool stuff in here (a running theme). I really feel like, even with the art being my awkward attempt at mimicking Kirby, that the Art in this issue is some of the best art in a TORC Press comic all year. There's some just beautiful stuff in this comic. Also, the "Trip Out" Sequence was one of my favorite moments of the year. This entire series was Painfully Underrated on the Con Circuit.

5. The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #12- When I started HFSAC, I Knew I Had to do an "ICE" issue. So that's what this issue was. The Fudgeheads have gotta climb a snow covered mountain in order to prevent Ner0 from getting his hands on another Aetherial Parasite. There's an appearance by El Gorio and Lab Bunny. The art is quite nice. I'm very proud of the art on this issue. It's a good, solid issue. Also, the cover is exactly what I wanted it to be. I wish it had sold a little better on the Con Circuit.

6. The Clown & Tea Cup Show #1- I had a number of "cheats" this year to give me an advantage. Several of the books on this list so far were Produced last year, but were PUBLISHED this year. I know it's a semantics argument, but believe me, when you're trying to do 24 books in a year, BY YOURSELF, you'll take any cheat you can get. Anyway, the point is, TCTC 1 was created mid-way through 2010, but wasn't published until early 2011. This book, quite simply, is what I like to call Pure TORC Press. What I mean by that is that, Only Joseph Morris could have made this book. No one else anywhere else would have (0r could have) made this comic. Besides being Pure TORC Press, the book is also really, really good. Arguably, the third best book I've produced this year. I love everything about this book. And as an added bonus, it was one of the Best Selling Books I had on the Convention Circuit this Year. I don't know why, but people gravitated to this book.

7. Cosmic Love #2- Believe or not, I consider this to be the BEST Book I Produced this Year. I'm the only person that thinks that, but I stand by it. The Cover is Beautiful. The Art is Beautiful. There's the entire history of Kikki Fortune. There's a funny Ping-Pong Match. There's Ultradolphins. There's a Fight with a Giant Space Worm. There's Space Sex. There's more pieces of the Omnichronus Puzzle. There's an Excellent "Trip Out" Sequence. And that's all Crammed into one 24 Page Issue that Somehow Doesn't Feel Cramped. That's how you do Comix Right. The only bad thing about this comic? It didn't sell for Crap on the Convention Circuit. Groan.

8. Monster King #2- Just like MK1, there's so much wrong with this comic that I don't feel like wasting any more time talking about everything that's wrong about it. Here's what's right about it. Mike the Butcher. The Undead Samurai is officially introduced here, and he was one of the best new characters to come out of the TORCverse this year. Also, there's some good fight scenes.

9. Sideshow- Another cheat, this time because the book was only 8 Pages long. I know, I know. Anyway, this comic was a failure. It's not a bad comic, in fact, I like it alot. It's just a failure because I wanted this comic to draw people into the TORCverse. I thought between the short, introductory story and the Coupon on the back, people might want to enter this strange little Universe I've created and...Stay awhile. That didn't happen. Needless to say, it was kind of a bummer.

10. The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Lucky #13- Everyone stumbles occasionally (actually, I stumble all the time), but when it's come to HFSAC, I have generally been swinging for the fences with every issue, and most of the time I've hit Home Runs. Not this issue. This issue is a clumsy mess. It's a filler issue (and I HATE Filler Issues). It's all set up with no pay day. AND the Cover SUCKS. This is the only time all year where my Muse led me completely astray. Only recommended for TORC Press or HFSAC Completists.

11. Monster King #3- On the other hand, MK 3 is Pure TORC Press at its BEST. I still personally prefer CL2, but MK3 gave the book a run for its money as my best book of the Year. First off, the Art is great. The Cover is great. The Colors are ultra-hi-fi psychedelic pretty. There's four new characters who are introduced in rapid fire succession. There's a guy with a TV for a head and a psychedelic monster and a talking frog and a Thing with No Flesh. As an added bonus, unlike CL2, MK3 Sold Really, Really Well on the Convention Circuit. If you want to try out TORC Press, this is probably the best issue to introduce you to my Personal Aesthetic.

12. The Clown & Tea Cup Show #2- Another Cheat, this was my 24 Hour Comic Book from Last Year. This is a surprisingly good book, especially when you consider the time frame in which it was assembled. After all of my homages to Kirby, this was my homage to Ditko, with our heroes getting lost in a Dr. Strange-esque Dimension full of Bizarre Monsters and what not. Also, inexplicably, this one sold really well at conventions. For some reason, the whole 24 Hour Thing was Selling Point. Don't ask me how that works.

13. Cosmic Love #3- Not my strongest issue. When I started this issue, I had hopes that it would be a strong follow up to CL2. It wasn't. It was bumbly and fumbly and awkward and the cover didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. BUT, there's some nice stuff here, floating around amidst the awkward. There's an Aztec Psychic Dolphin. There's some hints about CL4. There's Octopo-Man (more on him in CL5 next year). Um, that's about it. Like I said, not my strongest issue.

14. The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #14- Ahhh. The return of aliceislost. I mean, okay, she popped up in TCTC1, but this is her first real appearance in quite some time. That alone makes this book quite good, but then there's lots of other great stuff in here too, like the Lost Lands (always fun to draw) and a giant diseased dragon. Good issue, good cover, and a great set up for the stellar Issue 15. Also, the Clown experiences some good old fashioned heartache.

15. SDF: Pulp 2011 Special- Uh. I sometimes wonder if I should have published this issue. It's kind of unnecessary, really. And the art is rushed (intentionally, but still). But, there's still some cool stuff in here. I love the drawing of the Clown and Penguin riding around on a Goofy-looking Cartoon Horse. That almost makes the book worthwhile alone. Plus, there's Dr. Dendull. And a Giant Tree Civilization. Not my best, but not bad.

16. Monster King #4- There's a lot of good things about this issue, but I'll admit, right off the bat, that I should have spread this issue out over two comics. Too much happens too fast, and it sort of sinks the drama of the story. Having said that, I LOVE the first part of the book. "Why are we riding Pigs?" "Why aren't you wearing Pants?" Hahahahaha! I sometimes wonder what my Muse is smoking when she makes me write this crap.

17. The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #15- The excellent conclusion to the "alice's Apple" story arc, and, by and large, one of my best from this year. Great cover, great art, great story. There's a Giant Dragon, killer fight scenes, and more Dr. Dendull. The only awkward part is the epilogue at the end, which goes a little longer than it needs to. Other than that, one of my strongest this year.

18. Super Duper Fun Comic 2011 Special- A fun little All Ages Comic I wrote while being stuck in an airport for 8 hours. It's not very deep, but it's cute and silly, and sometimes that's all you need from a book.

19. Cosmic Love #4- Probably the most Important Comic I've Produced this Year, Narrative-wise. I've been waiting to tell this story from the very beginning. And I think I did a pretty good job of it. The last piece of the Clown's origin falls into place.

20. Monster King #5- This issue...there's nothing wrong with this issue. It's an important issue. It's a Key Issue in the overarching Narrative. But it's also a very sad issue, and one that I did not enjoy creating at all. That is all.

21. Super Duper Fun Comix Bowling Special- Conversely, this dumb little comic was a hell of a lot of fun to create. Unapologetically silly and ridiculous, this fun little comic had me dinking around with a different art style, as well. Not Essential, but still a lot of Fun, if you're in to fun.

22. Monster King #6- Things go from Abyssal Darkness and creep back towards the light. The final issue of Monster King left us with one, simple message: Your friends are the people who've got your back when everything else has fallen away. Other than that, solid issue, and a fair enough send off to an uneven series.

23. The Clown & Tea Cup Show #3- My mad last dash for the finish line. And, oh, what a beautiful mad dash it was. This issue is just odd. There's no explanation for anything that happens. There's Strippers turning into Dinosaurs. Why? I don't know. There's another Cosmic Vision, and we get a vague glimpse at Omnichronus. Kinda. There's this whole thing at a Factory, and then the Factory comes Alive. And then there's that quiet little walk through the desert. A really great comixwork. Even if it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and the artwork looks like I was on crack. I was not on crack. Now, whether or not my Muse was on crack at the time, that's her business, not mine. Also, I managed to seed in some glimpses of the Future that I may never actually come back to. To me, every issue of TCTC is what COMIX SHOULD BE. (Not Comics or Comic Books or Webcomics. Comix are an entirely different animal, and they are MINE.)

24. The Clown & Tea Cup Show #4- The last Ace up my sleeve. My last Cheat. My 24 Hour Comic Book for 2011 was the Last Comic of my 24 Comics in a Single Year Challenge. Poetic, right? TCTC 4, as stated before, is COMIX in All Caps. As good as TCTC2 was, I think I like 4 better. It's just so crazy and odd and fun. There's Music (there's so much Music in my Comix, which is weird, 'cause you can't hear anything in comic books). There's fighting. There's more Ditko-esque Dimensional Nonsense. There is my single favorite Page I Drew All Year, and I Drew it at 11:54 at night! Think about it, I Drew the 15th Consecutive Page of a Twenty Four Hour Comic shortly before Midnight, and it was a wonderful piece of ComixArt. In fact, if you want to humor me, head over to http://www.torcpress.com/tctc4prev.html and check out the Second of the Two Pages that Pop Up. "After I Smash Your Face in, I'm gonna Grab Me a TACO!" Ha. Oh, there's also, "We Gladly Go to Hell to Suffer for the Crime of Making Pussy Music." Maybe not the purtiest comic ever, but great Comix nonetheless.

So, let's see. Here's the Head Count:

New High Water Mark for Me as a Creator: 3
Excellent Comix Work: 7
Good, Solid, Enjoyable Comix Work: 9
Um, Not Bad, but not my Best: 4
Crap: 1

All in all, not bad. I mean, Marvel and DC would Kill for those kind of numbers, right? It was probably a bad idea to try to create that many books in a year, but at the same time, some of my all time favorite comix came out this year. I did some really strong work, and really grew and developed creatively, and I managed to cover a lot of ground in terms of my Narrative this year. I didn't finish the Quest for Omnichronus this year, but I did Seed the Narrative throughout a lot of the Comix I produced this year. And I set myself up to wrap up the Quest early (hopefully very early, if I get off my Dead Ass) next year.

So, yeah, good year. If you ignore everything else that happened in my life.

24

I figure that it's somewhat appropriate that my 24th Comic Published this Year would be my 24 Hour Comic from this year. Yep, ladies and Gentlemen, Impossible Challenge Completed as I bring to you "The Clown & Tea Cup Show" #4. It's 24 (there's that number again) Pages in BWG for $2.50 plus $1.50 S&H.

Basically, when we re-introduced Broken Tea Cup as the Clown's brother, we established him as a Heavy Metal Musician, but we haven't got around to actually seeing him perform. That's where this issue comes in. Broken Tea Cup has a gig at a Dive Bar, and Cactus Joe, Pengy Penguin, and the rest of the Gang are there, ready to watch the Heavy Metal Viking rock the house. Unfortunately, Luther Dirge, who has developed something of a hatred for BTC after "Monster King" #4, shows up with a bunch of Demons and an Evil Band full of Sell-Outs. Thus, we end up with a raucous Battle of the Bands, which, of course, escalates to a Full Scale Battle. In the meantime, the Clown & Penguin get lost in a strange parallel dimension.

It's a lot of fun, and you can check out a preview over at http://www.torcpress.com/tctc4prev.html.

Now that my Insanely Stupid Labor is Over, it's time to bring an End to the Third Era of TORC Press, and move on to the 4th.

4th, eh? Fourth World?....hmmmmmm....

New Pages of MONSTER KING, Plus MK 6 Now Available!!!!

"Y'know, after the Day I've Just had, I'm Just Not that Hungry."

Anyway, that's it for MONSTER KING. The last two pages are up for viewing up at http://www.torcpress.com/mk21.html. The issue only clocked in at 22 pages for some reason. I blame poor planning. Anyway, this is the END of Monster King. I'll be leaving the strip up for the rest of the year, and probably into January or February. I'll probably start a new strip sometime in Spring, unless my plans change for the billionth time.

Anyway, anyway, if you've enjoyed Monster King, the entire series is now available for sale in the online store at http://www.torcpress.com/store.html. Yep, the 23rd book I've published this year, Monster King #6 is now available for sale, exactly the same day the book wraps up online. So there's that. It's $5.00 plus $1.50 S&H, it's in full color with a neato cardstock cover. The inside back cover is blank, so if you buy a copy then I'll do a nifty sketch on that. Just let me know what you want.

The final comic of the 24 Comix in a Single Year Challenge, "The Clown & Tea Cup Show" #4 will be available on Monday.

Where TCTC 3 Came from

So, for those of you who don't know, the 22nd book I've published this year, "The Clown & Tea Cup Show" #3 is now available. You can head over to www.torcpress.com to score a copy. Here's a bit of a story on how that came about.

So, earlier this year, my Brutha Buzz put out a Killer new "Dr. Orphyus Project" album called "Death Jazz" (Free Plug: If you don'ts got a copy, head to http://www.thedrorphyusproject.com/ and score a copy. I command it!). One of the bestest tracks on this great album is called "Bud & Earl", which is a Project remake of the song "The Tale of Bud & Earl" from Bro's old days with his old band "Fustercluck". It was pretty much a given that I was gonna do a video for the song, so I did. I basically merged some thematic elements from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (both the movie and the book) with elements from me and Bro's life and smashed it all together using my faux-Ralph Steadman art style. The end result was ultimately one of my favorite videos to date.

Anyway, I dug the video so much, that it occurred to me that I could do something of a cross over with it. As such, I took the basic plot elements of the video, changed the main characters from obvious stand-ins for me and Ryan to Cactus Joe and Broken Tea Cup (who, in turn, are obvious stand-ins for me and Ryan) and added a few extra elements to fill up the remaining space. The end result was pretty darn cool. There's all the usual TORC Press insanity, some brotherly bonding, and I even managed to sneak in some (possible) sneak peaks of what I might be up to next year.

Other than that, tomorrow we've got the end of MONSTER KING, as well as the release of the 23rd TORC Press comic of the year, Issue 6 of Monster King.

The Clown & Tea Cup Show #3 Now Available!

It's Monday, and I'm tired, but I've got work to do! The 22nd Comic I've Published this Year is "The Clown & Tea Cup Show" #3. What is it about? It's TCTC Baby! It's Crazy, it's weird, it's goofy. It's about the friendship between the Clown and the Penguin and Broken Tea Cup. It's about Strippers turning into monsters. It's about strange visions and cosmic beings and walking factories. It's a heckuva lotta fun. Check out a preview over at http://www.torcpress.com/tctc3prev.html. Woo. Tired.

RIP Joe Simon, New MONSTER KING, and the Skull Mob

"Wait. What War?"

Before we get started, all of us here at TORC Press would like to express our condolences at the recent passing of the legendary Joe Simon. The co-creator of Captain America, and Jack Kirby's artistic and writing partner from the 40s through the 50s, Simon's most impressive trait (besides his business acumen, a rarity among us artistic types) was his offbeat perspective, that led to such oddball (and utterly cool) comics like "Fighting American" and "The Fly". He will be missed.

In other news, we've got the second to last installment of MONSTER KING Issue 6 up and running starting over at http://www.torcpress.com/mk17.html. Page 19 has just about every character I've ever created crammed into one page.

So, let's talk about the Skull Mob.

Originally, the Skull Mob was inspired by "The Bulletproof Coffin" and the cartoon "Batman the Brave and the Bold". Batman TBatB got my brain running on the idea about how in the cartoon Batman was everywhere. He was running around in Space, and he was a member of the Justice League and the Justice League International and was the leader of the Outsiders all at the same time. I thought it was neato. So I decided to throw the Clown and Penguin into all of these different situations with all of these different teammates. When I did Monster King #3, I threw the Clown & Penguin into this new group called the Skull Mob. The other members were inspired by the comic "The Bulletproof Coffin" which was this killer comic about these warped Golden Age Superheroes, so I kinda ran with that and came up with this little group of Gold Age Inspired TORCverse characters.

Somewhere along the line, I got the bright idea to have the Skull Mob be more like the Avengers or the Justice League. Basically, a big fat team of heroes where, sooner or later, just about everybody is a member. I then got the idea to divide the Mob into different divisions of Five. So, for those of you that are in the mood for some heavy duty anal retentive nonsense, here is the entire rundown on the Skull Mob.

Skull Mob Division One:
Colors: Orange and Black
Nickname: Butterfly Mob
Members: Cactus Joe the Clown (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.1. The Unkillable Clown Faced Killing Machine), Pengy Penguin (first appearance: The Bunnyville Experiment. Mute, blue Penguin), Broken Tea Cup (III) (first appearance: Watchdogs #1/SDF: Crumpled Planet. Chaos fueled Heavy Metal Robot), Mike the Butcher w/Kolby Koala (first appearance: Monster King #2, Undead Samurai Warrior and a sleepy koala), Johny Eraser (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #11. Superstrong redneck bunnymon), and Rakka the Witchdoctor (first appearance: Sideshow. Masked witchdoctor).

Skull Mob Division Two:
Colors: Yellow and White
Nickname: Masked Mob
Members: El Exclamation Point! (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v2.1. Masked, metaphysical detective!), Agent D (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.5(?). Hi-tech, armored secret agent), Armageddon Clock (first appearance: Monster King #3. The Dashing dandy of Doom), Dr. Z (first appearance: Monster King #3. Mystic surgeon of mystery), and The Kingfisher (first appearance: Monster King #4. Fishmon vigilante who really hooks criminals).

Skull Mob Division Three:
Colors: Red and Black
Nickname: Shadow Mob
Members: Bad Jack (first appearance: SDF:Pulp #1. Undead vigilante and master of Black Science), Beelzebub Joan (first appearance: Sideshow. Cyborg homunculus wasp woman), The Puzzelor (first appearance: Gulatta! #1. ?), Spookshow (first appearance: Gulatta! #3. The Avenging Wraith), and Mr. Hex (first appearance: Monster King #3. Baseball bat wielding masked psychopath).

Skull Mob Division Four:
Colors: Blue and White
Nickname: Colorful Mob
Members: Cosmico Rex (first appearance: SDF:Pulp #3(?). Cosmically energized cat-man), aliceislost (first appearance: SDF: Crumpled Planet. Unique, wandering changeling), Run-No-No-Run and Stop-Go-Go-Stop (first appearance: Anarchy Bootleg. Dancing Fools), and Riddle Bug (first appearance: Monster King #3. Masked Insectmon Vigilante).

Skull Mob Division Five:
Colors: Green and Purple
Nickname: Eyenigma
Members: King Dark (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.4. Living darkness and the greatest fighter in the world), Phantom Butterfly (first appearance: Gulatta! #4. The cowboy with a thousand faces), Creepshow (first appearance: Gulatta v2.1. The hyperactive poltergeist), The Masked Platypus (first appearance: Gulatta! #4. The duck billed, web footed avenger of the night), and Sparrow Girl (first appearance: Gulatta v2.1. Bird themed female vigilante.)

Skull Mob Division Six:
Colors: Blue and Red
Nickname: Anarchy Mob
Members: Akuma Boy (first appearance: Gulatta! #1. An American Punk possessed by a Japanese Chaos Spirit), Lady Luna (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #3. Warrior Woman created by the Goddess of the Moon.), Namo Redrum (first appearance: Gulatta! #3. The Gentleman Monster), Medusa Tina (first appearance: Gulatta! #3. The Gorgon with a heart of gold), Johny Payday (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #3. Money making fishmon), Mini-Toro (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #3. The world's most agile minataur), and Shinobi Crow (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #3. The crowmon master of ninjitsu).

Skull Mob Division Seven:
Colors: Dark Blue
Nickname: Halloween Mob
Members: Mr. Halloween (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.1. The pumpkinheaded protector), Doom Harvest (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.4. Primitive Plant Monster), Asylum (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.3. The hockey mask wearing flesh juggernaut), Candy Cane (first appearance: Truth or Consequences Monthly #1. The prisoner of Purgatory and the idiot savant of murder), and Zombie Chick (first appearance: Truth or Consequences Monthly #1. Um, a Zombie Chick).

Skull Mob Division Eight:
Colors: Dark Green
Nickname: Pig Mob
Members: Johm Smythe (first appearance: SDF: Perfect/Ugly. The not-so-retired Atomic Cop), Gemini Aqualung (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.3. The mysterious master of Technomagick), Shirac (first appearance: Super Duper Fun Comix (v 1): Killing Machine #2. Rough and tumble claw handed detective), Xavier Mystery (first appearance: Truth or Consequences Monthly #4. Psychic detective with an unpredictable anatomy), and CutUp (first appearance: SDF: Drifter's Rhapsody. Rotting flesh Golem).

Anyway, I was gonna do more with the Skull Mob, but I'll be honest with you, those ideas never really came together. Still, it was nice to see them all together, at least once.

Anyway, here's who's not in the Skull Mob:

Characters not in the Skull Mob because they're DEAD: Pale Man (First appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v.1.1. The half-demon monster hunter. Killed by the Deathbringer), The Crimson Enigma (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v. 1.1. The gun-toting predator of evil. Killed in the Mosquito City War.), Arcadie Sabat (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v.1.2. The Samurai Exorcist. Killed in the Mosquito City War.), Psychodriver (first appearance: Truth or Consequences Monthly #1. A Psychic Warrior. Killed by the Deathbringer), Pom-Pom Girl (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v1.2. The Genetically Engineered Cheerleader. Killed by Princess Perfection (there's a reference to this in Monster King #5)), Aphrodite Midnight (first appearance: Super Duper Fun Comix: Bristol. The NuAge Goddess of Torture. Killed by Princess Perfection), Mystery Woman (first appearance: Super Duper Fun Comix: Killing Machine #1. A mysterious woman. Killed by Minor Demons), Kanabub Abul (first appearance: SDF: Very Odd Jobs. Bizarre Scorpion Monsterman. Killed by the Founder's Cult), Lydia Sukuvent (first appearance: SDF: Very Odd Jobs. Cyborg woman. Killed by the Founder's Cult), Doom Eagle (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v2.1. Freakish superhero wraith. Killed by the Bob Mafia), and Secret Soldier (first appearance: SDF: Drifter's Rhapsody. Undead Cyborg Soldier. The Greatest Superhero ever. Killed by the Vampire God Lord Vlad).

Characters not in the Skull Mob because they're God-like Beings who can't be involved in such matters: King Smooth (first appearance: SDF: Strange Patterns. ?), Xipe Topec (first appearance: Pulp Horrorshow v.2.2. Dark Lord of the Vermin Angels), Darkwatcher (first appearance: Cosmic Love #2. The Prophet of Omnichronus), Abyssal Dragon (first appearance: SDF: Drifter's Rhapsody. The Space God of Righteous Destruction), Dawn Phoenix (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #15. The Space Goddess of Hope and Inspiration), and Proteus Platypus (first appearance: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #8. Technologically Brilliant Space Platypus and leader of the Waterbearers).

Characters not in the Skull Mob because they're Mercenaries or just didn't want to join up: El Gorio (first appearance: SDF: Perfect/Ugly. Fleshless, moral-less, four armed Mercenary Outlaw), Lab Bunny (first appearance: SDF: Very Odd Jobs. Genetically mutated Kung fu Bunny Rabbit), and Kikki Fortune (first appearance: Cosmic Love #1. Alien assassin and whore).

Also, obviously, none of my "silly" characters are in the Skull Mob.

So, there's that. Too much information, right? I dunno.

The Super Duper Fun Comix 2011 Bowling Special is now available

Almost forgot to load this one up. "The Super Duper Fun Comix 2011 Bowling Special" is now available from TORC Press. It's 16 Pages in BWG with a Color Cover for $2.00 plus $2.00 S&H. It's a fun little All Ages Comic about Bowling and helping a friend out of a jam. It features Cactus Joe and Pengy Penguin, and it's drawn in an intentionally cartoony style. You can check out a Preview at http://www.torcpress.com/sdfcbprev.html.

Three Comics to go to Complete my Challenge. One of them was delivered today. The other two are supposed to ship next Monday.

More Random Notes on a Random Sunday

It's kind of a lazy Sunday, so let's Rant some more, y'okay?

I picked up the new issue of Shonen Jump to discover something largely unexpected but still somewhat...annoying. Basically, the long running magazine will be ending its Print Edition in April (well, March really) and will be going purely digital. I'm not horribly surprised. Magazines are a dying industry to begin with, and throw in a recession, and the slow death of the Manga Market in America (funny, considering how many people I see dressed up as Naruto characters every time I go to a Con), and you have a recipe for the demise of Shonen Jump. I find the end of Shonen Jump annoying for a wealth of reasons. For starters, I don't really pay attention to Manga like I used to, and SJ was my only real exposure to the Medium nowadays. Secondly, I liked the monthly dose of "One Piece", a manga that still stands as one of my favorite comics being published today. Thirdly, the loss of the American version of Shonen Jump basically Sinks my theory that the Manga Format is viable in an American Market. I thought that SJ had proven to be a highly successful enterprise, and I had hopes that others would follow it, but that apparently won't be happening.

On the other hand, the loss of Shonen Jump won't affect me all that much. I've already been picking up the One Piece Trade Collections. Basically, instead of getting small doses of One Piece every month or two, I'll be picking up a new collection every...four to six months? I wasn't really reading any of the other manga that were running in Shonen Jump. I never liked any of the various Yu-Gi-Oh strips, I never got into the new strip Psyren, and it eventually became impossible to keep track of the billions of characters that populate Naruto and Bleach. Seriously, I just got through reading the latest installments of Naruto, and it made my eyes roll up into the back of my head because I couldn't keep track of what was going on. It's so confusing it makes "Final Crisis" (which I just reread today, on a whim) look coherent by comparison.

This seems to continue the seemingly inevitable trend of the death of the monthly comic. All of the major (and most minor) comic publishers are starting to introduce more and more accessible Digital Comics. A lot of the Independent Publishers have abandoned the "pamphlet" format for the better payday of the Trade Paperback (or Fancy Pantsy Hardcover). Fantagraphics openly derides the "Pamphlet" (oh, by the by, I HATE that term) nowadays, and they're not the only ones who have given up on the format. Most of my friends are strictly Trade Readers. Fitchie only reads Trades. Bro's gal Mary is a Trade Reader. Boolah mostly reads Trades (although he still reads a fair amount of monthlies as well. There's no real rhyme or reason to which comics he reads in which format either. I should pick his brain on the subject next time we roadtrip). Bro doesn't read many comics, but the ones he does are in the Trade format. He openly prefers the Trade format because, since he's not a lifelong comic reader, he finds it easier to follow the threads of a story when he reads it all in one dose (in fact, he's ran into that problem with some of my comix, namely loosing track of what happened from issue to issue). Hell, I even read a few comics in Trade only format, like "Madman" and "Godland".

And I'd do a whole thing on Webcomics, but that doesn't interest me right now.

I'm not gonna deny that the traditional comics format has its faults. One of the worst things about comics is the Ads. I hate Ads. And, yes, I know that every TORC Press comic has an ad for Ka-Blam in the back. What can I say? I get a discount for including the ad. I'm not made of money. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that, the ads mess up the reading experience. You're going along, reading your favorite comic, and then you've got to skip a page, or two, or four to get through some stupid ads. Hell, I remember when they promoted the Matrix online game, there's was a frickin' six page booklet in the middle of every damn comic. On the other hand, some comics stick all the ads in the back. Which is swell in a way, but then you get to the end of the story, and you've still got half the book left, and you feel ripped off.

The other problem with monthlies nowadays is that most comics are Written for the Eventual Trade Collection. This oftentimes makes entire issues anemic or borderline pointless. Plus, I mean, it's kinda silly to buy a comic if you're better served to score the collection six months later, right? There's other annoying things about the monthly, like how Big Events will interrupt your monthly reading experience. Or rotating art teams coming in and out of the book.

The Big Guns (and some of the smaller guns) still use the Traditional Format because they still have a large enough audience of Guys Like Me who came up on the Monthly Comic and still love that experience. Plus, they serve as Commercials for the Eventual Collection. Like I said above, a lot of companies have abandoned the format entirely. And webcomics people generally don't bother with the "Pamphlet" format (although that's not set in stone either), instead collecting their webcomics installments in the more profitable Trade Format.

But down here in the dark depths of the Small Press, we generally don't have much of a choice. Although I've noticed that several of my compatriots have switched to the Trade Format exclusively, most of us still do things old school style. The reasons why are pretty obvious. 1) Trade Paperbacks, while more potentially profitable, are also more expensive to produce in the first place. 2) A Trade Collection takes longer to produce (and if you're anything like me, you'll never finish the damn thing in the first place because you'll have a billion new ideas that will ultimately replace the idea you started with), which means you could spend a year (or two, or three, or five) sitting around with no new product to sell. 3) If you're a No Name Nobody, it's a lot harder to sell a $10 Trade Paperback to people who are totally new to your product than it is to sell a $3 "Pamphlet". (Of course, selling that $3 floppy isn't exactly a walk in the park, while we're on the subject) So, yeah, we still like our regular comics down here in the depths.

The Question I find myself Asking, ultimately, is this: How do I make the Most of the Regular Comix Format? How can we make the regular comic a worthwhile reading experience? What can we do to make it superior to the Trade, or at the very least, not completely redundant to the Trade? I recently thought that the brilliant "King City" was a shining example of the Possibilities of the Traditional Comix Format, but then they announced the Trade Collection, which will contain all of the neat little novelty stuff that was in the Comix. Sigh.

Something for another time, perhaps.

Could just not bother with the Trade collections entirely. On the other hand, I kinda want some neat Trade collections to put on my bookshelf that I don't actually own, but one day I want a bookshelf with a bunch of my books so I can say, "Look! I did stuff! See? I've got a whole bookshelf!"

Ponder, ponder, ponder...

I'm rereading Jack Kirby's "4th World Omnibus" Collection for, like, the second or third time this year. Man, I love those comics. That scene in "The Forever People" where Desaad has captured the team, and he's leering over Beautiful Dreamer's paralyzed body is easily one of the creepiest scenes in all of comics history. Although Kirby was more of a Plot Guy than he was a Character Guy, the 4th World has some of my all time favorite characters ever. Orion, the raging warrior lost between two worlds. Mister Miracle, the peaceful escape artist perpetually trapped in the tempest of war. Big Barda, the Amazonian Warrior woman with a heart of gold. Metron, the cold seeker of knowledge. Desaad, probably the sickest bastard Kirby ever dreamed up. Kalibak, the horror that Orion should have become. Mantis, the moron with the power to rip a planet apart. Granny Goodness, the old woman who would gleefully rip your nutsack off just for the hell of it. And Darkseid. There's a reason we keep coming back to Darkseid, no matter how many times we kill him off or get rid of him. Darkseid is primordial evil. A being of cold, stone-like darkness so pure, and yet complex, that we can't seem to escape his shadow. And all of that cool stuff. Boom Tubes. Magnetic Roads. Mother Boxes. Dog Riding Soldiers. Floating Cities. Apokalypse and its Fire Pits. And it's all so beautiful and strange and ugly and right and wrong. Raw, but so Refined. I dunno.

Random Notes on a Random Sunday

So, once again, I give Matt Fraction a try, and I am disappointed. "The Defenders" just didn't click with me. I wanted to like it, I really did. It was just, well, not for me. Also, once again the Silver Surfer had ears. Most people can't draw the Silver Surfer well anyway (Side Rant: Okay, since when did the Scrawny Ass John Buscema/Moebius version of the Surfer become the "Official" way to draw the Surfer. Last time I checked, Jack Kirby created the character, and Kirby drew the Surfer as Raw Power. As far as I'm concerned, THAT is the Official version, therefore, anyone that draws the Surfer as a Scrawny Wussbag Automatically is a Sucky Hack), but when you can't draw the Surfer well to begin with, and then you slap some ears on him, well, it just sucks. Sucks, I say.

Conversely, the new "OMAC" series shouldn't be a good comic. From a purely critical standpoint, the comic should suck. But, I say unto you, that verily, OMAC is muchly Awesome. (why am I writing like that?) Because OMAC has Alligators with Exploding Neon Laser Faces. Never seen that before.

Also, super excited about the upcoming OMAC/Frankenstien cross over. That is gonna be a BEATDOWN.

Speaking of which, I'm really amazed at how many of the New 52 DC Comics I've stayed with. So far I've only dropped "Nightwing", "Batman & Robin", and "Demon Knights". I'm on the fence with "Red Lanterns" (the every issue has some neat stuff in it, but I feel like the whole thing is kinda plodding along) and "Batman" (not sure if I'm enjoying this whole Secret Society of Owls thing... we'll see how Issue 4 goes). But everything else I'm reading I'm truly enjoying. My current DC stack consists of: Justice League (it's just fun), Action Comics (great stuff, truly enjoyable, I like what they're doing with Steel), Animal Man (every month this comic just blows me away. I did not expect this comic to be this good at all), OMAC (see above), Stormwatch (WOW! This one gets better with every issue, and it started off pretty damn good), Batwoman (pretty), Frankenstien (OMAC's only real competition for Best Book of the New 52), Swamp Thing (this one is just solidly excellent. Also, it makes a great companion piece to Animal Man), Resurrection Man (Wild Supernatural Stuff, didn't expect to like this comic, but it's great), Wonder Woman (Who knew this comic would Actually Live Up to the Hype?), and Justice League Dark (solid comic, but it needs more Shade. Yes. More Shade the Changing Man. Make it happen, Milligan). 11 Books on my Killer List, and 2 on my Iffy List? That's pretty good compared to the One Comic I was reading from DC.

Oh, has anyone else noticed that Marvel started off doing a bunch of big event Crossovers that were really easy to describe (Civil War=Superheroes vs. Superheroes, World War Hulk =Hulk vs. Everybody, Secret War =Superheroes vs. Aliens disguised as Superheroes, and Dark Reign=Supervillains pretending to be Superheroes), then they did a couple of Big Events that were Virtually Impossible to Describe (Um... Siege is about Asgard falling to Earth for no good reason, and then Norman Osborne attacks Asgard for some reason and then superzzzzzzzzz...., oh and then there was Fear Itself which was about Odin's brother (Odin has a brother? Wha?) who makes a buncha Thor hammers and gives them to people for some reason and there's the Red Skull's daughter (wait...now the Red Skull has a daughter? Wha?) and shezzzzzzzzzzz....). Apparently Siege and Fear Itself sucked so much that Marvel has gone back to the Old Method of making up Big Events that are easy to describe. Case in point, their next Event is "Avengers vs. X-Men". That's the name, and that's what it's about. Simple. It will probably do very well. I won't be reading it of course, but lots of other people will.

While we're on the subject, ain't like, half the X-Men members of the Avengers already? Maybe that's the point of this nonsense. "Who will Wolverine side with?" But isn't Wolverine already the leader of two X-teams? I'm confused already.

Also, enjoying the new "Russia" story arc in the BPRD.

The new "Muppet" movie is great. I laughed at everything and felt like I was 6 again. Nothing wrong with that. I hope.

All my Christmas Shopping is done. Only one of my presents hasn't shipped yet. Other than that, I'm gonna spend this week working on some stuff and getting my house ready for my annual Christmas Party, "A Very Cactus Christmas".

As stated before, new comic goes live on Monday. I should get that ready to go.

New MONSTER KING and Whatnot

"Did Someone Get the Number of that Truck that Hit Me?"

Ah, MONSTER KING. We've got Pages 13-16 of Issue 6 up and running starting at http://www.torcpress.com/mk13.html. After the life-sucking darkness of the previous pages, we finally start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The theme of this week's brand of insanity is: Y'know when you get really, really depressed, and you don't think you're ever going to come out of it, but then your friends pull you out of the abyss (kicking and screaming sometimes). And even though everything's not okay, at least you feel like you can keep going, y'know? Anyway, that's this week.

Other than that, I've got lots of stuff cooking right now, and as long as I can keep breathing (that's gonna be tricky enough), I can hopefully get a few things knocked out this weekend.

Oh yeah, there'll be a new book on Monday. In fact, to meet the 24 Comix Challenge, I need to release 4 more books before the end of the year, which essentially means that I gotta release one book a week for the rest of the year. So there' that nonsense.

Cosmic Love 4 Now Available

Ah. It's Monday, so it's New Book Time. I suppose. Why not?

"Cosmic Love" #4 is now available from TORC Press. It's 24 Pages in BWG for $2.50 plus $1.50 S&H. You can score a copy online at www.torcpress.com/store.html. There's a preview at www.torcpress.com/cl4prev.com. Or if you wanna buy it the old fashioned way, send a check or money order to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.

So, what is it about?

Well, see that's the problem. I can't really do anything to explain this issue, except to say that this issue is essential, story-wise. Quite simply, this issue finally fills in that last gaping hole in the Clown's History, as we find out where the Blood Sample that created the Clown came from.

New MONSTER KING and Old Hype and New Thoughts

"Enough Distractions! I WILL HAVE MY PRIZE!"

4 New Pages of MONSTER KING are up and running over at http://www.torcpress.com/mk9.html. This week we've got Pages 9-12, and we're hitting the climax of our sad little story. The Clown is broken, but Skull Mob Division 4 have managed to hold their own (sorta) against the Ortex Elite Squad. aliceislost has a brief (and very sad (something of a running theme)) confrontation with her "old friend" Voodoo Dolly. Also, it turns out that the Clown's allies may not be quite as dead as they appeared. Hope springs anew in the Darkest of times. Anyway, check that out.

Also, also, if you weren't aware, our Insane Comix Barrage has yielded quite a few new comix of late. Over at www.torcpress.com we've got the Print Editions of Monster King Issues 1-5 all available for sale. We've got a great new All Ages Comic in "Super Duper Fun Comix 2011 Edition". "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" is up to Issue 15. And on Monday we'll have "Cosmic Love" #4, which changes everything.

Meanwhile, if I haven't stated it before, Issue 6 is the final issue of Monster King. It's been an interesting experiment, and it's allowed me to move the story forward some (at least Issues 5-6), and it's yielded one of my all time favorite comix (Monster King #3), but it's also been stifling, and the webcomic format is so limited, and I really have no way of telling if anyone is ready it, because the only quantifiable way to gauge the success of the webcomic is with the sales of the Print Edition ONLINE. Sales which are, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent. Originally, I was going do a brand new webcomic next year, but the question I find myself asking is this: Why bother with a format I don't personally enjoy if it's not going to garner me additional sales and/or readership?

So, for the all of nobody reading this blog, I ask you this, and please feel free to respond either here or at my e-mail or on the Facebook: Are you reading the webcomic? If you are reading the webcomic, are you enjoying the webcomic? If you are reading and enjoying the webcomic, is there a reason why you're not purchasing the Print Editions, such as, "I'm waiting for the next time I see you at a Convention." or "I don't like ordering stuff online" or "I would, but your online store sucks" or "I would, but I'm broke, and Five Bucks is too expensive for my tastes." OR, "Why bother ordering online when I've already read the book online."

Anyway, long story short, if you've got any feedback at all out there in Computerland for me, please let me know.

Also, even if I don't have a new webcomic next year, I intend on having plenty of regularly updated online content available next year. I ain't going anywhere. I've just gotta find a method that works best for me AND my small readership.