Archive for the ‘comics general’ Category
You can hand your old comics out at Halloween (which, unless you have a huge collection of Scrooge McDuck’s, I do not recommend), donate them to your local library, put them in the recycling bin, leave them at a barber shop or use them for kindling (we’ve done that and honestly, for a few of those comics it was no better than they deserved). One of the most satisfying options, however, is to send them off to American troops fighting overseas.
Andy Khouri and Mark Sable asked me on Twitter yesterday to remind them how you go about doing that. Good news: it’s pretty easy. You’re going to be out the price of postage, but it’s worth it.
Here’s how it works:
- Go to anysoldier.com.
- Click on WHERE TO SEND.
- Click on ANY SOLDIER SEARCH TOOL.
- Leaving everything else blank, put either COMICS or COMIC BOOKS into the REQUESTS AND EMAIL CONTENTS field. (As I write this, COMICS returns 8 units requesting comics–7 Army, 1 Air Force; 5 in Iraq, 1 in Qatar, 1 in Afghanistan and 1 in the Philippines.)
- Click on one of the soldiers names and read their email, making sure what they want is actually what you’ve got. Often they’re specific — they want funny comics, or newspaper comics, or Marvel comics, or they may even request a particular hero.
- Once you find someone who either wants what you’ve got or is just generally requesting comics, click where it says CLICK HERE TO REQUEST THE COMPLETE ADDRESS.
Now, it’s been a while since I’ve done this and I can’t proceed any further right now because I don’t actually have any comics to send, but if I recall correctly, you fill out a short form and then you’re emailed the soldier’s address. I believe you can request up to 2 addresses per day. (While you’re at it, you might look at what else your soldier is requesting–sometimes it’s something as simple as cotton swabs. Surely you can throw a package of q-tips in the box.)
The postage fees you pay to an APO or FPO address are NOT international shipping rates. You pay domestic rates, so while you are picking up a bill, it’s pretty small considering the effect. And it’s worth mentioning that our local UPS store in KC used to pack up any donations for troops overseas for free. They’ve since changed ownership and we’ve since moved, so I have no idea if that’s common practice or not, but it’s certainly worth asking.
Good luck!
Jeffery Klaehn has a blog, wherein he has posted excerpts of interviews with a number of comics folks, including Fraction and me. I can’t remember how long ago we did this interview, but I sound horribly pretentious. (I totally name-dropped Neil Gaiman, btw. As in, “Neil Gaiman once told me…” You can go ahead and shoot me int he head right now.) (Not that I don’t adore Gaiman — I do, absolutely. But really. That was just tacky.)
Fraction comes off far better and, as always, his interview is worth your time. I’m thinking in particular of social fiction and science fiction as illustrated by Warren Ellis’ HELLBLAZER piece “Shoot” and TRANSMETROPOLITAN #40.
(It’s a little beside the point, but if I haven’t said so recently, I’ll say so now: I remain in awe of Ellis’ talent.)
Anyway, the blog is here:
http://jefferyklaehn.blogspot.com/
From my contribution to the Blog@Newsarama series I [HEART] Comics:
I drifted away from what I loved and got all frothy about the industry and its trends. The comics industry is not comics. You’re smarter than I am (and, let’s face it, prettier too) so you know this already and you don’t need to be reminded, but for me this is kind of an AH HA moment, one for which I probably need to thank Michael May. This is a big idea for a mind like mine that can get fat and comfy jogging back and forth on the same old neuropathways, even when the very nature of back and forth means zero progress is being made.
The comics industry is not comics.
More in link.
(That’s me on the far left!) I didn’t think to jot down notes for my lame-o con report until, oh, the last day or so. As such, this is going to be frightfully incomplete. If we had a meaningful encounter and I’ve forgotten to jot it down here, it’s because a) I’m an idiot and/or b) I’m greedy and I don’t want to share your love with the masses. I assure you, it’s not a lack of interest.Okay, in no particular order:
- It was so great to see Ed Brubaker and Mel Tomlin. I wish the money truck would come to our house so we could move in next door to them in Seattle. Alas, I’m not holding my breath. (Mel has a real gift for, well, gifts. She bought Henry the only sunglasses he’ll tolerate and a puppet book that he just loves.)
- Speaking of couples I wish we lived closer to: Eric Searleman and Beth Kawasaki. Love.
- Totally had dinner with Zoe Bell! She’s hilarious and awesome. (Thanks for including me, Ed and Mel!) There was another gentleman there, from Sony, I think, who was a delightful conversationalist. He went out of his way to make me feel welcome, which I appreciated. So much so that I forgot his name. Wah wah. Anyway, thank you kind stranger.
- We chatted with Tim Callahan and his brother a bit at the Marvel booth. Tim’s a really bright guy; if you haven’t checked out his blog, I recommend it.
- I am was waaaay too old for the IDW/Circle of Confusion party! It was, like, a gabillion people and loud music and I am a dinosaur who does not get the point of loud music when no one is dancing. However, in the four seconds that I actually stayed I got to chat with THEREMINA (At long last!!), Wil Wheaton, Warren Simons, Joanne Starer, CB Cebulski, Andy Schmidt, Dan Curtis Johnson, Ben Templesmith… and I don’t even remember who all else. The place was PACKED and there was a line down the block to get in, so I’d call the party a wild success even though it wasn’t my bag. (Imagine that!)
- All my colleagues on the Comic Book Tattoo were delightful company. Special thanks and shout outs to Rantz, Ted McKeever, Jeremy Haun, my most beloved Andy MacDonald, E. Bess (Oh, and hey! I met Leland Purvis at long last!) Dean Trippe, Lea Hernandez and Kako.
- At the Eisners, we checked in with some of our favorite people: Ivan Brandon (who looked totally great, modern and stylish… until he put on the JEANS JACKET. Dude. It was a nice jeans jacket, but COME ON), Kristyn Ferretti (Yowza), Jeff Parker, Joe Casey, the Twins, Ed and Mel. Mel and I both rocked the fake hair. Tom Spurgeon looked fantastic, like he’d walked right out of Gatsby, in a beautifully put-together linen ensemble. Heidi MacDonald sported the most impressive shoes of the evening. The awards were a bit long, but shoot — Fraction was nominated so I’d have happily sat through a reading of War & Peace. I’ll do it again, too. [Ivan wrote me to insist that he didn't put the jacket on until AFTER the ceremony, so that's entirely different. Mm hm. Ivan, you have no idea how satisfying it is to tug on your pigtails.]
- Had my yearly catch up with Joey Cavalieri at the Hyatt on Saturday night. He declared my blouse very 80s and meant it in a good way. We also discussed the merits of the various wedding dresses that wandered by and our crushes on the Immonens.
- SOY GELATO! at Mondo Gelato with Kit Fox! Awesome.
- If I try to talk about how great Terry and Susan were, I’ll cry. They took such great care of all of us. And Terry made me a HUNGRY FOR CHANGE button with a cupcake on it!
- I bought presents for me and Miss April from JustJenn, a fellow cupcake enthusiast.
- Saw colorist extraordinaire and my Twitter pal Trish Mulvihill at the Hyatt and it had been so long since I’d seen her that I didn’t recognize her. Dur. As we were walking away I asked Fraction who was the woman with the gorgeous mane. “That was Trish!” I was too embarrassed to go back and say hello again properly so I make my confession here.
- Han! Oh, Han! How I adore Han! Han and Megan (who is similarly adored) came back to the condo to see Henry. *Sweethearts*. I ran into Jill briefly but somehow never saw Dan or Chu. WTF?!
- Sam “Kubark” Humphries still has the best hair in comics, California and possibly the world.
- Sam, what was the name of your friend – the gentleman who gave me the polaroid? He used to be a nanny…? He was charming. [Mystery solved: Lou O’Bedlam!)
- Met Kevin Church for about 2 seconds at long last. Hi, Kevin!
- Saw Aman and Scott too! How is it I’ve never made it to Aman’s Big Gay Dinner? Am I retarded? (Rhetorical question.)
- Saw Bryan O’Malley and Hope Larsen in passing. I like them. In addition to being crazy-talented, there’s something really… warm… about them. Does that make sense? Sincere, unadorned, no-bullshit. Hope, in particular, exudes good taste, too. I bet I’d be stupid jealous of their home.
- Speaking of Canadians with good taste: Chris! Butcher!
- Okay, that’s enough for now. I need to go get my car inspected. I’ll correct name spellings and add links later.
- EDITED TO ADD: Dinner at Morton’s with Rick Alexander! And guests Gloria (Eep! Her last name escapes me.), Nick Barrucci, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (who, very mysteriously, stopped me later and told me my husband was a Very. Bad. Man. Something to do with some text messages…?) and Ivan Brandon. Hello, yum?!
- EDITED TO ADD: Right next to JustJenn, we met a couple of guys from Kansas City! I promised to put them on the email list the next time the whole KC Comics crew gets together. Well, I hope they read this because my stack of postcards and business cards doesn’t seem to have made it home with me. (Fraction, did you pack them…?) Guys, if you do see this, drop me a Twitter DM or leave a comment here.
- EDITED TO ADD: Finally met Kevin McShane! I met Kevin on Flickr, but as it turns out three of his friends also friends of mine — all from different circles. He knows Dave Holmes, who I used to perform with in NY; Irene White, who I went to college with; and Opus Moreschi, who I met in Las Vegas and met through an old music posting board. Weeeeird. Opus was also at SDCC apparently, but our paths never crossed, alas.
It’s very simple, I think:
- Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00 pm Signing at Image Booth, #2729
- Thursday, 6:00 – 7:00 pm Signing at Image Booth, #2729
- Friday, 5:00 – 6:00 pm Signing at Image Booth, #2729
- Saturday, 11:30 – 12:30 pm COMIC BOOK TATOO PANEL, Room 6B
- Saturday, 6:00 – 7:00 pm Signing at Image Booth, #2729
- Sunday, 4:00 – 5:00 pm Signing at Image Booth, #2729
My husband has posted his appearance schedule, appropriately, at Matt Fraction dot com. Eisner Info is here. General Con schedule info is here. I forgot to pack a sweater and a belt, so at some point I have to hit the Gap. Just in case you were wondering.
The Comic Book Tattoo is out July 23rd! Woo hoo! I have two stories in this fine collection: SILENT ALL THESE YEARS with Laurenn McCubbin and SUEDE with Muscles MacGunshow Andy MacDonald.
Comic Book Resources has a blog up for the book here and a forum here.
(Also, my friend Kathryn’s HELLCAT book is out. I have read it. It’s funny and good and ohmygod BEAUTIFUL and you should totally buy it. I wanted to link to the purchase page on Midtown Comics but apparently they don’t do permalinks (?), which is, in the parlance of our times, a bummer. )
(The Immonens are revamping their site. It’s gorgeous and I’m jealous. Go see.)
- I usually come down against Cruelty to Animals. It’s not a controversial position I know, but this morning, where my own canine household members are concerned, I’m rethinking it anyway.
- I’ll be appearing, along with Tori Amos (!!), editor Rantz Hoseley, moderator Douglas Wolk, David Mack, Ted McKeever and Elizabeth Genco on the CBT panel at SDCC to ‘launch’ the Comic Book Tattoo. Yeah, that’s right. My 22 year-old self thinks my 37 year-old self is cool at last.
- Heroes Con remains awesome. I apparently don’t have it in me to do full con reports anymore so if you’re looking for that sort of thing I’ll point you towards Tom Spurgeon’s full report and collective memory links page. For my part, I enjoyed myself immensely. Many thanks to Sheldon, Dusty and their crew. A couple of bits worth mentioning:
- I met Kathryn Immonen (and Stuart!) in person, at long last. Turns out she’s just as lovely as I’d imagined. More so, even.
- My favorite exchange of the Con:
- Matt Fraction: Kathryn came by while you were gone.
- Kelly Sue: Did she say anything about meeting up later?
- Matt Fraction: No, but she gave me a Slim Jim and a knife.
- Fraction said the collaboration panel he did was the most craft-intensive panel he’d ever been on and possibly the best. I was minding the table, so I missed it but The Dollar Bin recorded it and posted it here.
- Newsarama documented my potty mouth on the Creative Household panel here. (Incidentally, Russ Lane came up and introduced himself later. What an interesting guy — turns out he lost 200 pounds five years ago. TWO HUNDRED POUNDS. I find that fascinating and inspiring. It takes such courage and faith to make profound life and identity changes like that. Russ writes some about his accomplishment here. )
- Steve Niles and I talked a bit more about a project he suggested that’s got my wheel’s turning. That’s all I can say without jinxing it, but yeah. Wheels: totally turning.
- Sarah Wilkinson and I also chatted about doing a little something together. I think I know what it’s going to be, but again with the jinxing.
- Fraction’s parents made us all FRACTION t-shirts, which might have been the cutest thing ever. (Well, next to the little boy dressed as Iron Fist.) The genesis of the idea came from a photo of Fraction and his dad when Matt was about three. They’re wearing shirts that say “Fritch” and “Little Fritch.” We’ve now got a shot of Fraction, his dad and Henry in shirts that read “Fraction,” “Dad Fraction” and “Lil’ Fraction.” We’re going to frame the two together.
- I adore Ivan Brandon and Rick Remender. Can I just say that? Cool.
- I didn’t do a lot of shopping but I did pick up this print by Imaginism for Miss April. (I nearly picked up one of a Lady Snowblood-esque kimono-clad woman wiping blood off her sword for myself, but I couldn’t think of where I’d hang it. And — go figure — it’s not on their site. Alas.)
- Miss April also scored a monster print moleskine cover by Sarah Dyer.
- Introduced myself to Chris Sims from the Invincible Super Blog. I find that guy’s blog utterly hysterical. And clearly he’s got great taste: Fraction’s Thor: Reign of Blood is his Pick of the Week.
- Speaking of Fraction’s books this week, did you all pick up his Young Avengers Special? I know I’m not unbiased but I particularly loved this one.
- I’ll probably add more to this post as I think of things.
- Okay… back to work.
Fraction and I are headed to Charlotte tomorrow for Heroes Con! Woo hoo! If you’re going to be there, please stop by and say hello. We’ll have books and buttons (W.A.S.T.E. and E.M.P.I.R.E., but we’re running low, so you might want to swing by early for those) and possibly even some Casanova t-shirts if I can twist Fraction’s arm. (Wish me luck.) Details on Upcoming. Details on Heroes Official Site. Oh! And come to our panel, please!A couple of other tidbits you might have missed:
More in a bit…
- Holy crap, the dummies of Comic Book Tattoo
 (pictured above) are gorgeous, no? Rantz, you should be very proud. You have the patience of a saint, corralling eight gazillion creators the way you did, but it looks as though it’s going to pay off in spades. I’m certainly proud to be a part of it.
- Preview Kathryn Immonen’s Hellcat here. (Kathryn, on whom I have a truly embarrassing girl crush, was kind enough to let me read the pitch for this series and I assure you it’s a HOOT with a capital HOO.) I should also note that I will get to SEE the lovely lady live and in the flesh at Heroes Con next week. Here’s the kicker: if you come to Heroes Con YOU CAN SEE HER TOO. And me. And Fraction. And Stuart, even. And even more lovelies, all of whom are listed here.
- I’m working on the very last volume of Black Cat today. Sniff, sniff. I’ll miss you Train Heartnet. You’re a scamp.
- In domestic news, I made a batch of Green Tea cupcakes at 7am this morning and had walked the dogs 2.75 miles before 9. I like mornings. Go. Me.
- EDITED TO ADD: Kevin Mellon sent me a link to this girl’s awesome softies. Thanks, Kevin. Wow.
- Okay… back to work.
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