Sunstroke of Genius

I spent much of yesterday in a blur of creativity, pounding out conversations, panel sketches, and a story skeleton for the mini-comic. My Stupid Sense isn't tingling yet. Your Sis agrees the idea may have potential, but she chided me for writing an origin story. She knows I hate origin stories. I wish the majority of comic-book films would present their character origins in a five-minute montage and get on with the story. Except Batman Begins, which was incredibly well done.

We caught a school soccer playoff game after work. Our girls won 3-1. A strong sun blasted us, and I awoke this morning feeling weak. I only had one beer with last night's fajitarittos. I know I'm not hungover. I'm sipping Gatorade to stave off nausea.

Picture of the Day
Approximately 18,000 folks posed nude in Mexico City for artist Spencer Tunick.

The Idea Blooms

I had the notion of a publishing title for years now and considered it for a name of the mini-comic. It was a light-hearted, goofy turn of phrase. But as I started to compile story ideas, I brainstormed on building a tale around the title itself, and suddenly I have a Very Big Idea that can be a series of stories, all stemming from a once-throwaway joke name. And it would be darker, less screwball. I'm being vague, I know, but I'm still swimming in the happy ether of a thought explosion, and this is a temporary euphoria that could appear as pathetic delusion once my brain settles down. I might trash the whole idea. Or not. At this point, I have to pursue something to make the comic (or maybe comics) before the convention. So I'll work with this for now. The first issue of this would be all introduction with later stories to follow.

I have a handful of mini-comics from other guys working with the publisher so I have templates to follow in size and presentation.

We had a teacher pal over for dinner as part of our planned open-house events. We want to throw parties this summer, and a small dinner is akin to cracking our knuckles before getting to work. Your Sis made stir-fry, and many school matters were discussed. I contributed the geek topics.

Picture of the Day
Here's how far I got with the screwball idea before my mind turned a corner. This was going to be my cover art. The Podunk story did the exact same thing. It was to be a parody of 1950 atomic monster movies, and then it became a statement on simmering racism. It lost the fun but became something more substantial. This threatens to do the same, just without, so far, the social commentary.

I am so fucking jazzed right now. It's like I drank seven crackuccinos.

Quick Comic Work

I'm going to the local annual comic convention in Charlotte next month. My anthology publisher will have a table, and I'm going to whip together a mini-comic for sale. I won't make a profit here. I'll print maybe 50 copies and sell them for a buck each. I luckily have notes for a smorgasbord comic -- a mini-anthology by itself -- and I can produce it before the convention weekend, I'm sure. I have an extended story in the works, a few actually, but will need much more time to flesh it out. The trick for the immediate project is to not worry about making a classic, just get ideas on paper and get my name out there. There's an anthology title I worship called Dork! produced by Evan Dorkin, and it will be my template for this very sudden project.

I may sit behind the con booth and sketch for passers-by, a notion that gives me the holy-shit giggles. Me, sitting alongside pros and other indie guys, hawking my spindly brain gunk. I guess I'll need personal business cards too. I've been to this con before, a few times as a reporter for the daily paper. Most professionals there are quite nice to talk to. Lou Ferrigno, the TV Hulk, was not. An utter jerk. But there are a few regular attendees who have drawn comics forever, since before even Your Sister was born.

Now that I think of the usual attendance of 20,000 people, maybe I'll print 100 copies.

Picture of the Day
No idea where this is from.

Spidey Luau

I got home early enough on Friday that we zoomed to the local stadium-seat theatre to watch Spider-Man 3. I won't spoil anything for you, but it's a big, fat Spidey movie that will appeal to longtime comic fans more than casual moviegoers. The movie reviews seem to concur as critics are hitting the film hard for being dark and weighty. But that's what we loved about the Spidey comics in the '70s. I knew the reviews wouldn't keep audiences away, and the film made almost $150 million in three days. We scarfed Krispy Kreme doughnuts while we debated the film. There was quite a bit Your Sis felt she needed to know about how the film compared to the comics.

I ran at the gym on Saturday and outlasted all the poorly dressed seniors who flocked to the treadmills once I arrived. I don't know if my stamina or my funky doughnut sweat intimidated them, but they did ultimately peel away, leaving me along to run my 5k. We spent much of the weekend again poring over research papers, but we did catch the four hours of Kentucky Derby coverage. That night, we attended a retirement luau for local teachers. Good food, good atmosphere. We wore garish tropical shirts. We picked up a Smirnoff Green Apple 6-pack on the way, and man is that good hooch.

On Sunday, we worked over more papers, and I watched some playoff basketball. She tried a pork soup dish at the local Mexican restaurant, and we believe they used the entire pig for the dish. The bowl was huge, and it had various sizes of pig chunks within. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner, a place we haven't been to in ages, and made a run to the grocery store for cookies for her. No, she's not pregnant. I also had my very first Twinkie. No, I'm not pregnant. It's good. I expected a bland, muddy snack, but the cake is so tasty and light, you don't need the creme filling.

Picture of the Day
Neptune and its moon Triton.




In the News
You can download the anthology comic here.

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The photos from Greensburg, Kansas, are similar to images from The Day After.

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ABC announced that "Lost" will end in 2010 after three more seasons of 16 episodes each. The shows will run in uninterrupted blocks each year. I'm OK with that and relieved to hear the show will end on TV and not on the movie screen as rumored.