Lucked out at the last minute and got 2 tickets to see 300 on IMAX last night.

Wargasm.

Once the action starts, it’s quite an insane spectacle of action and carnage. There’s so much testosterone on screen that the film could impregnate a women from 50 yards away. It’s extremely well done and almost 100% faithful to the graphic novel.

Minor plot problem (spoiler) behind the cut

Everyone in the comic industry (and a bunch of major media outlets) are talking about Marvel killing off Captain America in the Epilogue issue of Civil War, the massive crossover that dominated the Marvel 616 Universe as of late. Chatting yesterday with retailer friends, they’ve appreciated the media frenzy and sales that Civil War has generated but also pointed out some serious problems with Marvel’s timing on it.

When you have the New York Times, USA Today, CNN and other mass media spotlight focusing on the comic industry in a positive way, that’s powerful stuff. It’s the kind of attention the industry needs to jolt more people in to reading comic books and securing a bit more ground as entertainment media. With that in mind, it’s a bit baffling why they’d put such a crucial mainstream media worthy event at the end of their massive insular crossover. Collectors and gawkers may buy Captain America #25 to own the issue where he’s capped (pun intended) but none of them will be able to understand why it happened or the events leading up to that moment.

Marvel’s Civil War includes over eighty (no exaggeration) issues throughout the entire Marvel comic line detailing the many story threads being woven in to it. It’s practically impenetrable to someone not marinated in Marvel lore and recent continuity. Even if a new reader decides to back track and read only the main Civil War mini-series, there’s no guarantee that a retailer will have all the issues in stock and a trade paperback is not coming out for several months, long after the peak of “Death o’ Cap” frenzy. There’s no convenient way to get in to comics once their interest is peaked.

If Captain America had died at the start of Civil War, it could’ve created a real frenzy of new readers with an actual jumping on point. They’d be brought on board by mainstream media for the start of a big story worth following: a moral battle between Superhero Registration and breaking the law. In the midst of the media push with Captain America’s death, Marvel could’ve then pulled out the “Spider-Man reveals his identity to the world” stunt and catapulted the whole thing even higher. Imagine motivated brand new readers in comic book stores for several months straight instead of just groping around looking for a single Epilogue issue.

Instead, the whole thing looks like it’ll just be a sales blip/flash in the pan – nothing about it serves as a jumping on point whatsoever. People will flood comic stores to buy the valuable death issue (Have you seen the price on Death of Superman issues? You can find them in the 25 cent bins of many a comic retailer nationwide.) and will just as quickly leave, never to return, confident that they were there when America’s Super Soldier took a few bullets in the gut and bled out the last of his liberty juice.

Am I missing something here?

TONs of people I know are now on Facebook now and raving about it.

Why?

As far as I can tell so far, it’s a website template with links to other peoples’ website templates. Links to other peoples’ pages of links to other people… a big loop of back patting and “Hi! You’re here too?” messages.

DeviantArt is a site to post artwork, writing and photography while seeing other peoples’ work.
Livejournal is a site to post journal entries and photos while seeing other peoples’ entries and thoughts.
Those two make sense to me right off the bat.

So what is Facebook?

I guess it’s neat to see that someone has known you as a friend for 10 years or whatever, but beyond that… what’s the point? You seem to be able to organize social events with it, but that only works if every person you want to go is on Facebook.

Am I missing some incredible functionality here?
What purpose does it serve beyond ‘me too’?

Chris Butcher has posted more details on the Comic Festival 2007 FCBD Special: Check out the line-up of indy comic talent rock n’ roll… and me somehow clinging along for the ride. 😛

And the comic is gonna be FREE!
How can you lose?

In other semi-related news: Butcher and Zdarsky rock. I had a fantastic conversation with them last night as they finished up laying out the book. It was worth braving the soul-shearing cold for.

I got home from a nice pub dinner at the Victory with charmingmonstrs and then went home feeling a little groggy and expecting to crash out. As I got in the door I remembered that I still had artwork to do for the Calgary Comic Expo. They have a pin-up book each year, with all proceeds from it going to charity. It’s a brilliant way to commemorate the con, do something nice for their community and get people at the show to meet more artists as they go around getting it signed. Click here to see the one I drew last year.

I thought I’d just do a quick rough and head to bed but then I got on a roll and couldn’t quit until it was done:

2B pencil on comic art board with tones added in Photoshop.

The actual pencil drawing will be up for auction at the show to raise extra money for charity, so if you’re going to be there you could own the original.

Kandrix, the head organizer of the Calgary Expo, is one of the smartest business guys I know. He strikes a perfect balance between approachable/fun and responsible/mature. He went to cons for years before organizing his own and you can tell how much he’s learned by analyzing the strengths/weaknesses of other shows. Last year’s Expo was easily one of the best shows I’d ever been to. Clean, organized, professional – everyone was great. This years’ looks even better, with a killer guest list to boot. If you’re even remotely out that way you should check it out.

I went to the college yesterday to do a presentation for high school students touring the college. Most of the high schools tours are pretty awful and the students seem to be there just so that they can get out of their regular classes. This group actually wanted to know things about animation and asked questions. It actually went quite well.

I gave them a tour of the animation wing, talked to them a bit about drawing and still-framed through part of What’s Opera, Doc? to show them how individual drawings mesh together to create motion.

There was some interesting interactions from the students… and a couple weird ones worth noting here so I don’t forget them:

Student: I heard from a friend that if you fail your first semester of college or university you have to pay an extra penalty fee to get back in.

Zubby: Not as far as I’m aware… I mean, other than having to pay your tuition over again, assuming you get back in.

———-

Zubby: The great thing about these Looney Tune cartoons is how timeless they are. You focus on the fact they’re entertaining, not when they were created. Does anyone know what year ‘What’s Opera, Doc?’ first came out? It’s older than you think.

Different Student: Old… 1987?

Zubby: Nope. Old, old. You’re off by 30 years. 1957 actually.

———-

Another Student: Is it true they took Bugs Bunny cartoons off TV because he’s running around naked?

Zubby: Uh……… no.

Thank you so much to everyone who posted or e-mailed about my New York trip going kaput. It was a harrowing day but things are slowly getting better.

Thursday night I stayed completely off my feet and chilled out, taking some pain killers and resting as much as possible.

I went to chiropractor/physio and my doctor there realigned my spine, initiating some of the most audible crunches either of us had ever heard. I awkwardly limped my way in and carefully walked my way out of his office. I’ll probably go back on Monday for another adjustment and to start planning an exercise regiment for strengthening the offending muscles.

Since then I’ve been resting a bunch but not so much that I let myself stiffen up. A couple friends have stopped by to help and my girlfriend took me out for dinner last night so I wouldn’t have to cook. Other people have called to check up on me and offer help as well. You guys and gals are incredible.

Work wise people are also being amazing. Our business contacts have been very understanding and we’ve set up a bunch of appointments for the coming week via phone conference. Our book buyer meetings are being shifted to the New York Book Fair happening in a few months. The literary agent I was set to meet with was also very reasonable and is going to take a look at my pitch package via mail so that we can talk about possibilities later this summer.

All in all, it could’ve been much worse. If we would’ve gone and I’d made the injury worse in New York I would’ve been really stuck and without even the comforts of home. I made the right decision, as hard as it is to imagine the comic book social going on without me lurking about.

When I posted my airport tale of woe on Thursday I figured most people wouldn’t even want to read through the sea of text I’d spit out. That so many did and responded to it really surprised me, honestly. You all kick incredible amounts of ass.

Holy crap, today sucked.

Up all night at the office working and getting ready to leave for the New York Comicon. Erik and I hit that lack of sleep where things are funnier than they should be. Just after 4 am our taxi arrives and we head off to the airport. We’re actually quite organized and, barring the need for a nap, we’re ready to rock. We zip through security clearance and chill at our gate.

The new terminal has seats crafted by some vengeful bastard uninterested in comfort of any kind, so I curl up on the floor and snooze there instead. When Erik shakes me awake, we can hear the final boarding call for our flight. Apparently the dozens of passengers sitting near us and the airline people at the desk 10 feet away didn’t think to wake us even as we almost miss our flight. But, luckily, we get on board. Looking out the window, we see big blobs of snow falling from the sky.

I doze off again until an announcement comes over the PA that we have to get the wings of the plane de-iced. Twenty minutes goes by for de-icing, then another thirty minutes waiting for a clear lane for take off. We wait so long that another announcement pops up telling us we need to de-ice the wings again and get more fuel. Our hour and a half flight has already taken most of that time just sitting on the runway.

We wait another half an hour for the fuel truck to arrive, but it never comes. They eventually tell us the entire flight is canceled and we have to head back in to the terminal. We’re frustrated but we’re told there will be an attendant waiting when we get off who can get us rebooked on the earliest flight possible to New York. Our book distributor meetings are today, so it’s crucial we get to New York by 1 pm. Another half an hour goes by as we’re told we can’t disembark the plane until the attendant arrives. When we’re finally let off there’s no attendant at all, just a security person telling us to “Go left” down the hallway… leading us straight towards customs.

Now we’re snared in the line for Canada Customs even though we never left the tarmac in Toronto. None of the staff directing lines seems to care that we’re losing valuable time and that we didn’t actually travel to the States. Every one we ask passes the buck and tells us to follow the line. After that we’re directed to the baggage area to retrieve our checked luggage but no one has any clue which bay it’s going to show up in. We find out the snowfall caused only a couple of flights to be canceled – this isn’t a major catastrophe of passengers overwhelming the terminal’s resources or anything like that, they’re just incompetent, unsympathetic and rude. We complain about the lack of information and a staff member tells us it’s a ‘weather issue’ but it’s not. I have no problem with canceling our flight for safety reasons. My frustration is a complete lack of information or proper process once that flight has been canceled. No one is even remotely trying to help us get back on schedule.

We finally track down our luggage in a carousel that never gets labeled with our flight. I lift my suitcase off and feel a horrifying icy stab up my middle as I strain a muscle in my lower back. My body was a bit tense the night before and now I’m in 100% absolute agony.

We’re told to head up to the main terminal area and grab one of the white phones on the far side of the building to rebook our flight. Having no other choice, we slowly make our way there as I limp along. We can’t even find a wheelchair or trolley to help us.

Erik gets bounced to 3 different people on the phone and waits on hold for about 45 minutes. The time wasted has wiped out our chances at getting a flight before the evening, negating the pre-convention graphic novel conference and blowing all our major meetings. Thursday was the killer day, the rest of the con was more about general social stuff. Toronto’s spiffy new airport terminal has NO chairs or benches to sit on any where in sight, so I lie slumped on the floor near the phones trying to find an angle that doesn’t burn like fire across my spine. It’s been almost seven hours since we arrived at the airport and everything has gone wrong.

We book a flight any ways and resolve ourselves to waiting around the terminal all day. We’re exhausted and need food. Erik goes over all the stuff we’re going to miss and compares it to what’s left over the rest of the weekend. Almost everything for Friday to Sunday is optional for him – without Thursday there’s almost no point in going at all. I’m going to miss a meeting I had with a literary agent but the rest is no big deal and my body hurts so bad I want to throw up.

We give up.

The full flight cost gets refunded after another frustrating half hour wait on the phone. I would’ve been laid up in the hotel for half the weekend any ways. It was a lost cause. At least we don’t waste money on New York taxis, meals, booze and all kinds of other incidental costs.

I just woke up a few minutes ago after shambling home and crashing in bed. My body aches and I feel like garbage, I haven’t eaten since noon and my packed luggage is sitting in the living room. I still have to phone and e-mail business contacts to let them know why I won’t be seeing them in New York.

What a waste.
Time for more Advil to keep the muscle spasms at bay.