One Page Prophecy

For the last few years, Bill Willingham has been handing out copies of a one-page comics story at his Fables panels at the San Diego Comic-Con. And this year's, posted on Vertigo's Graphic Content blog, is a doozy.

(click on the image to embiggen and make legible.)

I mean, who wouldn't want to see where that's going?

Rob

Matt Sturges: I Like the Way He Thinks

My hopes are high for new Blue Beetle writer Matt Sturges. First of all, he's co-writer of Jack of Fables, which among its other virtues, has sported what is arguably the greatest comic book cover of all time. But in Jack, he and Bill Willingham have fleshed out the most thoroughly despicable cad ever, and crafted a relentlessly inventive side-trip in the Fables universe.

Blue Beetle Jaimie Reyes is nothing like Jack. He's a genuinely good kid. He wants to do right by everyone, no matter the cost to himself. It's a classic superhero moral outlook, mixed in with all the drama of high school life. It's one of DC's best books, and more people should be reading it.

Michael May at Blog@Newsarama has posted an interview with Sturges that's worth checking out in its entirety. Here's the part where he assuages my fears that the title will take a massive swerve in direction:

One thing that’s really important to me is that I want Blue Beetle to continue to be a book that’s as fun for my twelve-year-old nephew as it is for me and my friends. I think you do that by being smart but not oblique, and clear but not condescending. Kids don’t want dumbed-down versions of grown-up comics; they want smart comics about things that matter to everybody, and without the adult content that would send them either to therapy or detention.

And here's the part where I find out he obsesses over the same things I do:

I’m pretty thoughtful about comedy; Bill Willingham and I have had conversations about which is the funnier item to poke someone with: a spatula or a slotted spoon. You’d probably think spatula, which would be the right answer in prose, because spatula is a funny word; but visually, a slotted spoon is actually slightly funnier. Because it’s rounded.

And here's my favorite part:

I have this green t-shirt that I bought from the CBLDF one year at the San Diego Con. It’s got James Kochalka’s Fancy Froglin on it and he’s saying “I am wearing little pants to hide my genitals. It is the law!” I always get a second look when I’m wearing that thing, which is funny, although one time I forgot and wore it to pick my seven-year-old daughter up at school, which was less funny.

I have this teeshirt too. But it's too small for me, so I passed it on to Kathy. Who wears it to paint, because there's no way she's gonna wear it out of the house.

Long story short, I think Blue Beetle's in good hands.

Rob

Happiness Meme of Happy Happiness

So a while ago, Ami tagged me with the Happiness Meme of Happy Happiness, or something like that. The rules are simple, and I reproduce them here for your edification:

The rules are simple. Just create a post about any number of things that have made you happy recently. Then tag any number of people and have them post this meme on their blogs.

I told you the rules were simple. What I didn’t tell you was that the simple rules were simple enough to proclaim their own simplicity. Ouroboros, baby. Simple enough.

I’ve decided to do this post today not because I’m particularly happy. Actually, I’ve been in a black mood for the past couple days. I’m hoping this can break that up.

Here goes.

1) I think I’ve got a really good D&D game coming up tonight. I’m particularly proud of a horrible incident that should set the stage for the carnage to come.

2) Fables. Month-in and month-out, there’s no comic that’s so consistently enthralling. It’s the best comic on the stands today, bar none. Every issue has a surprise, but every surprise is, in its own way, inevitable.

3) I just closed another issue of my magazine. Ahhh...

4) I just loaded Patton Oswalt’s new comedy album onto my mp3 player. Comedy is always happy-making, and Oswalt’s one of the best right now. I’ll start listening when I pick up my lunch.

5) One of the reasons I’m so gloomy is that I gave up my credit cards a couple of months ago, and I realized my former Christmas gift strategy (blissfully charge it) no longer applies. But I realized something good and meaningful I can give to Kathy for Christmas and not feel like I’m totally cheaping out (even though she knows my situation and has already assured me she needs nothing). I’m set, and while it’ll take some effort, it’s a load off my mind.

6) For the past couple weeks, I’ve been seeing pages of my first full-length comic book story sent to me via pdf. (Yes, I buried the lede.) They look fantastic, and I can’t wait to dialogue them. (Nothing’s been announced yet, so I’m keeping mum online, and may have to for quite a while. Sorry.)

7) My 20th high-school reunion is next Friday. I’ll be seeing a bunch of friends I’m still in touch with but rarely see, and hopefully a few that I’ve lost touch with completely.

8) Busy as it’s making me at the moment, I *am* going to Vegas for a business trip in February. That’ll be nice, when it comes.

9) My wife, Kathy. She melts my bad moods away like no one ever has.

Rob
(And my tags? Andrew, Jeri (when hibernation's over), Jayanada, Travis, and Jeff.)