Art Show Confidential

Welcome back, if you ever left, and if this is your first time, then just plain welcome.

Things are ramping up for tomorrow, which is, of course, both Free Comic Book Day and International Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You).  And not that I haven't talked about both of those things enough--reviewing the archives will show you that I have talked about little else in the last two to three weeks--but both events are happening tomorrow, and in conjunction with the latter, Star Wars Day, Ryan's Comics in Murrieta, California will be hosting a Star Wars party in shop, with an art gallery of Star Wars paintings, drawings, and other illustrations created by local artists.  I was just there a few moments ago finalizing a few things with Ryan, who has already set up the artwork for display.

Please to be enjoying these photos of the artwork:

Between my wife and I, we have submitted a total of seven pieces for the show.  I stuck primarily with good guys for my pieces, and Loreal did the portraits of the two Sith lords you see up there.  Her portraits of Darth Maul and Darth Sidious/ Emperor Palpatine are both original acrylics on 16" x 20" canvas.  The Darth Maul painting is entitled, "I'm Ready For My Close-Up, Mr. Lucas," and the Emperor Palpatine image is called, "This Painting Is Fully Operational."  Both works are available for viewing, and purchase at the low, low price of $99, which, if you've ever gone to local art shows, or attempted to by original works you will know is actually very reasonable.

Myself, I am responsible for the paintings you see of C3P0 and R2-D2, "The Droids You're Looking For," the painting and sketch of Admiral Ackbar, "Your Eyeballs Can't Repel Artwork of This Magnitude!", the pencil drawing of Obi Wan Kenobi, "May The Sketch Be With You...Always," and the  Boba Fett drawing, my only villain, entitled "Boba's Smoke Break."  I've set the price for the larger images at $99 a piece, and the two smaller matted/framed pencil drawings at $49 per.  Following are some photos of the pieces a little more close-up.  The photo of Emperor Palpatine shows more of a work in progress, as I was unable to get a shot of the finished piece before it was dropped off at Ryan's the other day.  

So yeah.  These be they.  If you are stopping by with intention to purchase, both Loreal and I will be there to chat it up.  I'm not sure how flexible Loreal is with her pricing, but I'm willing to negotiate if someone is looking to purchase more than one, or whatever.  The evening is going to be pretty awesome whatever happens.  There will be cash prizes for the best Star Wars costumes, refreshments, etc.  Also, if you're coming by earlier in the day, Free Comic Book Day festivities are going to start in the morning around 10AM and continue until official close of business at 7PM.  The store will actually be closing and re-opening for the Star Wars party.

In other news, I underwent an epidural steroid injection to my lower back, which was pretty gnars bars, but surprisingly fast.  It also got me a doctor's note which excuses me from work for today, which is why I'm home today, writing this blog and digesting some delicious street tacos.  

That's about it from me.  If you're going to be at Ryan's tomorrow, I shall see you there!

Yours Recumbently,

J. Schiek

Mmmmkay.... (Thoughts on The Superior Spider-Man #9 and Moral Compasses)

I should probably change the name of this blog to something to do with Spider-Man, since that's all I ever seem to talk about on here, and admittedly, this entry will not deviate from that practice, but given that I am a 31 year old comic book nerd who likes to both read and write comics, Spider-Man is what I read primarily and thus it is the only title--other than my own Jed the Flying Head that I feel I can speak about with any sort of authority.

Man, that was a long sentence.

Okay.  So today is Wednesday, which, for anyone who visits comic shops, or has seen a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory, is new comic book day.  Not to be mistaken for Free Comic Book Day, which is this Saturday.

So the new comic book that I picked up today was The Superior Spider-Man #9, which I had read somewhere was largely anticipated for a story point that was going to polarize the Spider-Man fan base, or at least piss a bunch of us off.  I've been scrambling through the back issues of SS-M to be ready for issue #9.  My feelings on the series, at least up to this most recent issue, have been mixed, but more or less hopeful for my idealized outcome.  To re-cap, Marvel ended their title, The Amazing Spider-Man at issue number 700, after a fifty year run with Peter Parker as your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.  As of #700, Parker was mind-swapped into the deteriorating body of his arch nemesis, Doctor Octopus, who swore, after stealing Parker's body and memories, and seeing the emotional events that turned hapless Peter Parker into a hero that he would become a Superior Spider-Man.  And to some degree he did.  Peter Parker may well have been a genius inventor, and strong asset to Horizon Labs where he built tech for Spider-Man, but Octavius definitely brought some ideas to the game that greatly increased Spider-Man's efficiency, both in his professional and personal life.  The Spider-Bots, reminiscent of Octavius's own Octo-Bots patrol the streets of New York City, eliminating needless web-slinging.  Also, his familiarity with villains and groups of villains like The Vulture and The Sinister Six, respectively, give him an edge that Parker never could have had.  In fact, as an over-all character/superhero/what have you, Otto Octavius is doing a pretty decent job.  There's really only one problem:

Dude's an asshole.

No matter how much good intention Octavius pours into his efforts, he doesn't seem to be able to get over his ego, his emotional scarring from a troubled past, and more importantly, his violent tendencies.  Going back a few issues, we watch as this new Spider-Man puts near fatal hurt on Goofball and The Jester for humiliating him on a web-cam.  We never actually see him do it, but there's a bit where two jerk-off students from Empire State University end up locked in the trunk of their car, and the car totaled for their verbal bullying of a diminutive physics student/tutor to whom Otto takes a liking.  There are bits where he does some good, like saving the life of a little girl with brain damage by using a device and performing a surgery that could only have been invented/performed by Dr. Octopus, but if it hadn't been for Dr. Octopus holding the world hostage against his threat to microwave the planet, the girl wouldn't have had brain damage at all, and her parents might also still be alive.  But woohoo! The surgery was a miracle!  He saved her!

 (Sigh)

There are myriad other instances of Otto Octavius's particular brand of douchery, and all through it, there is Ghost Parker riding shotgun and voicing protests that go unheard until...Issue #9.  If you have not read that issue yet, and are planning to, please consider this blog post finished.  Nothing more to read here.  However, if you have read it, or for any other reason you are not averse to what is going to be a spoiler, please; read on.

Using the same brain scanner that saved the life of the above mentioned little girl, Octavius tracks down the little piece of Peter Parker that remains and, in a HUGE showdown in which all of Peter's family and friends--in militant memory form--go all battle royale against Peter's anxieties and fears, embodied by every villain (including the thief who took out Uncle Ben way back in Amazing Fantasy #15) Spider-Man has encountered in his entire run as a costumed superhero.  Finally it is down to Parker and Dr. Octopus, in his classic Dr. Octopus get up with the bowl cut, Elton John specs and green unitard, which he then rips off to reveal himself as a slightly beefier Spider-Man underneath.  The two go back and forth over who has the right to Parker's body and life and at the very last, (GASP) the remaining memories, essence of Peter Parker are dragged to trash and deleted.

Seriously.  That's what happened.


The guy at the comic shop told me it would piss me off, and it kind of did, but I've got a couple of straws that I'm still grasping at, and I'll tell you what they are so that if you're in the same position as I am, confused as to how anyone in their right mind could think that Otto Octavius could be a better Spider-Man than Peter Parker, could outright murder Peter Parker and continue living in his body, assuming his life and functions thereof, there may still be hope.

By hope I do not mean that hey, maybe Dr. Octo-douche didn't delete all of Peter, maybe the Peter Parker we've been reading about was actually a clone and we get to re-live that old double-done clone arc from years back.  No.  What I mean simply, is this:

Spider-Man, Peter Parker, is a hero.  Dr. Otto Octavius is a villain.  Maybe there's some good in the old bastard, but that doesn't really matter.  As one fan pointed out in his letter to the writers, specifically in regard to issue #700, and I quote: "You seriously want me to believe, embrace, and get excited over the fact that the villain who murdered the hero will make a better hero than the hero ever did?"*

That's pretty much what it comes down to for me, and why I believe that Peter Parker will one day come back as Spider-Man.  I have to believe he will, by virtue of what it right and wrong and why we have heroes in comic books to begin with.  Without spilling a huge diatribe (too late) on the nature of right and wrong, why comic books are important as moral stories as well a modern mythology/chronicle of moral and immoral men and women in this day and age, lets sum it up plain and simple for what it is:

The villain can change, but he doesn't get to murder the hero, steal his life and expect that that behavior is okay, or somehow virtuous in its own undertaking.  Killing people and stealing their lives/physical appearance is a job for the Talented Mr. Ripley, or maybe this guy:

I know there are a lot of people out there who are happy, even excited about this change.  And I will admit, while I'm not a fan of the premise, and up to today had been hoping that this Superior Spider-Man business would be a short-lived mini series, I have enjoyed watching it play out.  Not because I'm pulling for Dr. Octopus to somehow be a better Spider-Man, but its been interesting to see what he does with the role.

But if this is the direction that Marvel, and on a larger scale this nation/world are taking, morally, there won't be much more of Mine for Marvel to Make.  This has been a fun ride, and hopefully it will continue to be, but the time is coming, and that very soon to do the right thing.

Please don't let me down, Marvel.  Please.

Yours Trepidatiously,

J. Schiek

*Letter from Rob Walton, The Superior Spider-Man #3

Hope, Shame, and Those Droids You've Been Looking For

I'm starting to sound like a record skipping, a CD stuck in a recursive loop, a looped sample from iTunes, depending on what generation you're from and how you personally consume your harmonic audio input and analogies, but Free Comic Book Day is very nearly upon us.  I am excited for it for all that it portends, but even more so because it is also International Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You).  This year, Ryan's Comics will be hosting a Star Wars after party, wish cash prizes awarded for the best costume and also...An art gallery!

There will be a number of local artists featured that evening, including my lovely wife, Loreal, and none other than yours truly.  For this event, Loreal and I have been working tirelessly on some acrylic on canvas originals to be posted for view (and sale) at the store that evening.  Traditional medium is definitely my wife's forte, and while I am no slouch at it, I tend to do better with digital painting (primarily because I don't favor the clean up involved with traditional media, particularly if I have to work in oils, which, fortunately this time I do not).  Both Loreal and I are hoping to have two original paintings posted that evening, and I will also have some matted, framed original pencil drawings.

The painting just below is a piece I like to call, "The Droids You're Looking For."  This one is approximately 10" x 24" on a 1.5" thick heavy duty canvas, and will be available, as noted above, for viewing and sale the evening of May 4th, for the low, low price of $99.

Also to be featured, if I can get the go ahead from Ryan, will be the matted and framed pencil drawings I mentioned.  Here are a couple of the ones that I have completed:

 It's been a good long time since I've done any Star Wars work, and most of what I have from the old days is either lost, or not of the sort of caliber that I would be comfortable presenting to the public with the idea of obtaining objective criticism or monetary compensation.  I'm a starving artist, but I do have a few scruples rattling around in the old moral cookie jar.

But just a few, which leads me to my next point.

Spider-Man.

Or, more importantly, the self proclaimed at yet to be verified (at least by me) Superior Spider-Man.

Checking back through the archives of this blog, one will find an entry containing my thoughts and feelings regarding Marvel's wrap-up of their 50 year old Amazing Spider-Man title run, its conclusion and subsequent re-introduction of the Spider-Man character with a new, and seemingly disastrous twist.  What I'm talking about was the apparent "death" of Peter Parker while his mind (and spirit? Is that a thing?) were trapped inside the rapidly deteriorating body of Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus, Doc Ock, what have you.

Anticipation for the death of Doctor Octopus had been building from as far back as issue #600, if not further, as Doc Ock recounts that litany of physical set backs, knocks to the head he had received in his various run ins with Spider-Man.  Personally, I had been anticipating said death to occur in issue #700 from as far back as issue 687 or so, when Ock took a major role in the story arc.  And to tell you the truth, I wasn't excited about it.  It seemed predictable and something that I would buy and read more or less for the milestone it would have marked; the death of a long time Spider-Man villain, perhaps the quintessential Spider-Man villain apart from the various incarnations of the Green Goblin, who all have died and come back at some point or another.  Death in comic books, really, is just a way to shake the readership tree.  A few leaves, meaning readers, might fall off, but sooner or later they grow back and its still the same tree with all the same limbs.  Superman died way back in 1992 but he's still around.  Batman sustained a near fatal spine injury that left him crippled for the better part of a year in comic book time, but he picked himself up and got back to doing what he does best.  Likewise Captain America, and even Peter Parker's dear Aunt May (The Amazing Spider-Man #400).  I think the only one that Marvel has really played for keeps was the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Spider-Man run, which picked up with a completely new Spider-Man, the young Miles Morales and has, so far as I can tell, been pretty successful.  And not to go too far into the rant on this, but DC did a similar number following the death of Superman in 1992 when they introduced four different versions of the character with four separate titles, including Steel, which was later adapted into an atrocity of a film starring Shaquille O'Neal.  But I digress.  Anyone wanting more definitive information regarding so called "Comic Book Death," should check out this article on Wikipedia.

So, with my all-time favorite Marvel character killed while in the body of Doctor Octopus, and his long running title seemingly at an end, I felt like I had come to the dirty end of a long term relationship.  I love my wife, and would never dream of getting a divorce, but on some scale, my relationship with and to the events in The Amazing Spider-Man #700 were probably pretty similar to what one feels when severing the ties of marriage.  So it was that I decided I would not read any of the ensuing issues of Marvel's new title, The Superior Spider-Man.

As of this moment, I still have not read any of the new Spider-Man title, but I plan to.  I have purchased several of them, and have them on-hand, ready to read.  And I'll tell you why.  It comes down to predictability and surprise.  As I have said above, I had been anticipating the death of Doctor Octopus since issue #600 back in 2009.  When the title started nearing #700 and Doc Ock was scaling up, I knew it was only a matter of time before I picked up the issue where he actually croaks.  And when it comes to story telling, good storytelling, predictability is the smooch of death.  Predictable stories get knocked in reviews because they are just that: Predictable.  What Dan Slott did in killing my favorite hero was to take a long expected outcome and flip it on its ass. While  I may not have appreciated that outcome, might even have nicknamed Mr. Slott as Damn Slott in thinking and in conversation, might even have missed some sleep over it and stared glassy eyed at the shelf at the comic book store where my beloved Amazing Spider-Man used to rest, the conclusion I came to in the end was that Marvel had done once again what they do when they are at their best, and that is to take an idea and twist it around into something new, and hopefully marvelous.

Hopefully.

I've got a stack of The Superior Spider-Man that I plan on reading this afternoon.  This may still be terrible, but I understand the intention now, and I hope that Marvel and I can work out our differences.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and if you're in the Murrieta area on the evening of Saturday, May 4th (8PM to 11:30PM) be sure to stop by Ryan's Comics over on Madison and check out some amazing costumes and artwork.  You won't be disappointed!

Yours Precipitously,

J. Schiek

Life Finds A Way

When I was a kid, on the edge of being a teenager and you told me we were going to the movies, I would take it to mean that we were going to the DeWitt Theater in Auburn, California.  The first time I it up DeWitt was when I was eight or nine years old and my parents took us to catch a double feature--which was a common occurrence at that particular theater.  I remember we saw The Gods Must Be Crazy II, and, the main showpiece, Back To The Future III.

I saw a lot of movies at that old place before the powers and economies that be decided it was no longer a rational business decision to keep it open (to my knowledge, the standard price of admission for a showing, be it single or double feature was a whopping $2.50, with free refills on pop-corn that was priced at $1.75 for a large).

Probably the greatest moment for me at that theater, however, was catching Jurassic Park on the big screen at age 12.  I was at that age where scary stuff wasn't so scary anymore, and I could appreciate on some level the sort of artistry that went into creating the kind of special effects that could take a load off of my imagination in my suspension of disbelief.  I remember I saw Jurassic Park there twice during its theatrical run, my toy t-rex with removable battle damage clutched tight in my prepubescent little hands.

Flash forward twenty years.  I'm a long way from home, or at least where home used to be, and I'm getting ready to catch Jurassic Park on the big screen for the third time, this time in Temecula, California, this time in 3D Imax.  And I'm just as excited now as I was as that 12 year old kid who talked his grandparents into taking him not once but twice to go see some super realistic CG dinosaurs tear it up.

Good times will be had by all!

J. Schiek

The Ice Mage Cometh (And So Doth Free Comic Book Day)

JTFH's medieval ancestor, Sir Hedivere, once did battle stuff with bad-ass wizard named Gorgometh.  While in the throes of mortal combat, Gorgometh accidentally loosed an avalanche upon himself which encased him and held him frozen for nearly a thousand years.  After thawing out in the present age and finding himself in the inconceivable future, Gorgometh quickly set about finding the descendant of the knight who had sort of bested him and exacting his revenge.  That descendant?  If you've forgotten the first sentence of this paragraph already then shame on you, but yes, it is none other than our own Jed Cranium, aka Jed the Flying Head.  All of this and more in the upcoming JTFH adventure, The Ice Mage Cometh.

In other news, I'm still hard at work on the comic--when I'm not blogging, or working, or goofing around, or sleeping and whatever else I do that isn't working on the comic book.  I sincerely hope to have the origin story completely done in full color by May 4th, which if you haven't read any of the previous posts, is Free Comic Book Day.  I'll be hanging out at Ryan's Comics in Murrieta, just enjoying the day for what it is.  Afterward, Ryan is hosting an art show featuring a number of local artists, including myself.  I will be submitting a couple of original acrylic on canvas paintings.  All of the work will be available for purchase, and Ryan is instituting a very generous price ceiling so anyone wishing to purchase an original piece of art will be able to do so without taking out a second mortgage, or selling an internal organ to pay for it.

I haven't found out yet who will be there as far as costumed characters and the like, but May 4th is also international Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You) so there will likely be a lot Imperial Stormtroopers in their subtle variations, intergalactic bounty hunters, and lots of Jedi.  I'm hoping Spider-Man will be there, personally.  Whoever that fellow was last year, he was awesome.

Now I'm starting to ramble.  So long for now!

J. Schiek

Free Comic Book Day: A Story of Hope, Tradition, and Raffles

I was going through my comic book collection today, getting a few items ready to sell, and I stumbled upon my old copy of Mike Mignola's stand-alone Hellboy story, The Corpse.  I'm always pleasantly surprised to find this in my stack.  I don't read it or the series with any kind of regularity, but this issue, purchased for the cover price of twenty five cents back in 2003 or 2004 has become one of my all time favorite comics.

But, while I'm not selling off precious pieces of my decidedly ongoing childhood, I am hard at work on the JTFH comic book, which, as I have already posted, I will have available in some form or another on Saturday, May 4th, 2013.  This date, if you didn't know already will marks Official Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you) which coincides perfectly this year with Free Comic Book Day, which traditionally falls on the first Saturday in May.  This is one of my favorite holidays, and one that I have celebrated these past three years at Ryan's Comics, in Murrieta, California.  Ryan's Comics is a family owned business, and they have gone a long way (and spared very little expense) in making themselves an active part in the local community.  While Free Comic Book Day is perhaps their largest, most attended event each year, they feature a wide array of gaming nights, art shows featuring the work of local artists, as well as just opening their doors for folks to hang out after hours and watch episodes of The Walking Dead, or major sporting events like the Super Bowl on one or all of their many large screen TVs.  It is a treat to visit on any day, but Free Comic Book Day is particularly fine.  The picture below is of my wife and I striking a pose with Spider-Man at last year's event.

So, God willing, I'll be back again this year, so long as work can spare me the day off.  I know I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I like to tell the story anyway, so here goes:

Free Comic Book Day 2011, I had failed to get the day off work through the normal channels, but managed to switch with a friend.  My wife and I hit up FCD within a couple hours of it starting (we had stumbled upon it the year before while we were walking our dogs through the area, but this time we came prepared).  One of the attractions the previous year had been artist, Ali Garza, doing sketches and signing books for attendees.  Loreal, my wife, had had him do up a sketch of Batgirl.  And, for the 2011 FCD, Mr. Garza was back.  To really make our Ali Garza line-up definitive, we brought with us a copy of Batgirl #67 comic, and we were going to have Mr. Garza sign it for us, and draw up a quick sketch of the front cover's other inhabitant, Canary.  While we were in line to have the signing and second sketch done, one of the shop's proprietors approached us and sort of asked/told us if/would we mind letting a younger fellow, who had been waiting in line to enter the shop is 11PM the night before, cut us in line.  While we had waited a while, and were anxious to move on and get some lunch, we obliged them.  When it came our turn, Mr. Garza drew it up just as we asked, and we were stoked to move on and grab a bite to eat.  

Now, the thing that really excites me about Free Comic Book Day at Ryan's Comics, other than all of the free comic books, and the endearing sense of community, and all of the really cool costumed characters and comic industry people that Ryan brings in each year, are the raffles.  FCD 2011, Ryan was doing a raffle every two hours or so.  To join, all you had to do was be there and hit up one of the many costumed superhero girls for a ticket.  In the first raffle of the day, Loreal won a Yu-Gi-Oh backpack.  We really had no use for the backpack, but it was exhilarating to win something, just the same.  2011 wasn't off to the greatest start, but you will always lose the raffles you don't attend.

After we had grabbed some lunch, Loreal opted to go home for a little while before heading out to a family event concerning her siblings to which my attendance was not in this instance required.  I decided, after she had lit off for her brother's place, that I would go back and see this Free Comic Book Day thing to the end.  

I showed up and immediately scored a ticket for the 4PM raffle from Batgirl.  Upping my odds, I managed to get another from the lovely lady dressed up in the Robin outfit.  I was wandering around the shop at this point, having gathered all of the free stuff I required earlier that morning, when I was approached by the fellow who had asked my wife and I to accommodate the young man by letting him cut us in line earlier that day.  

      

            "Are you hanging out for the raffle?" he asked.

            

             I told him I was.

            "Here," he said, "Come with me."

            He led me over to where Batgirl was standing, handing out raffle tickets to a mom and her son.

            "I want you to give this guy ten raffle tickets," the fellow said to Batgirl.  "I let a guy cut in front of him in line earlier and he was a good sport about it."

            Batgirl smiled and carefully counted off ten raffle tickets before tearing them off the roll and handing them to me.

            "Thank you," I said, both to the fellow, and Batgirl.

            "Don't mention it," said the fellow.  "Hope you win something good!"

            So did I.

            I continued to wander until 4PM finally rolled around.  I was standing there, the afternoon sun tapering off behind the nearby mountains, feeling the first cool breeze of evening waft across my tensed shoulders.  My sweaty fingers were fanning before me twelve little pieces of red paper, each with a seven digit number.  I was going to have to watch and listen very carefully.

           Now, I can't remember every single thing that was raffled off that afternoon, but I do remember a large number of collectible trading card boxed sets, a few hardcovers and trade paperbacks of various ongoing titles and graphic novels.  One of the higher interest items were two copies of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 of the newer reboot, both signed by Stan Lee.  These went to two very lucky people, and I felt my chances waning as I watched those people walk off so excitedly with their winnings.  

          And then came that breathtaking surge of excitement as one of my numbers got called off, the first ticket I had gotten from Batgirl just a half hour before.  I had won. . . A Ryan's Comics t-shirt.  It wasn't signed by Stan Lee or anything like that, but I had won something.  That shirt still hangs in my closet, and is the same one I am wearing in the photo above.  

         But there was still more to be raffled off. . . Much more.

        I watched with growing awe and excitement as the raffle team brought forth a stack of CGC graded comics.  This was the final raffle of the day, and this was the good stuff they had been holding back.  I was terrified at this point that the sweat from my shaking fingers would wipe the ink from the tickets in my hands, that the number would be there, would become unreadable when brought forth for verification, should I be so lucky to have my number called.

        The excitement was too much to handle.  I watched as a CGC'd copy of a very early issue of The Incredible Hulk went home in the clutches of a soccer mom in her early 40's.  She had a boy with her, about nine or so, who was clawing all over her to get at it.

        "Not this one," she told the boy, "You see?  You can't read this one.  It's worth a lot of money!"

        She was right.  The price tag running along the bottom touted $400.  

        I watched a couple of other similar items with similar price tags walk off in much the same fashion.  Some of the winners were confused by what they had received, but most of them had some understanding that they had just been handed something very special.

       And then came the last item: A CGC copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #28, featuring the first appearance and origin of Molten Man, graded at a Very Fine 7.5 and valued at $595.  This was to be the last comic raffled off that afternoon, and for that matter, that year.  My blood pressure, in that moment, might have merited hospitalization.

        It is a common occurrence at raffles and defines the statement I made earlier that you always lose the raffles you don't attend, that a person will grab a ticket, and, feeling the odds stacked against their winning are so high that there really is no point in hanging around and so they pitch their tickets and leave.  The other altruism that I would here add is that, insomuch as you will always lose the raffles you don't attend, someone will always win said raffle.  Always.

       I can't remember exactly how many ticket numbers were read off, their owners found absent, and moved from to the next number, but it was at least one, and felt like about fifty.  This was particularly upsetting to the old ticker given that a lot of the ticket numbers bore the same three digit prefix followed by the unique three or four digit number.  But then at last a number was read off, and it just so happened to be--as you might have guessed or known already--yours truly.  My mouth was dry, and I remember a pang of fear as I spoke out that I had the winning ticket that they wouldn't hear me and would move on to the next, but that didn't happen.  I forced my way through the crowd to the shaded canopy where the fellow who had so graciously allowed the young man to cut in front of my wife and I earlier, and who had with equal graciousness asked Batgirl to give me ten extra raffle tickets took the ticket from my head, and, confirming it against the one he had just drawn, nodded concession and handed me that CGC graded copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #28 to have for my very own.  

There really isn't much to be said in summation to a story like this one.  I have drawn out the details as I remember them, and so I think, this entry has been more for my benefit than anyone else's.  If you do find yourself at Ryan's Comics this year on May 4th, you will find me there living it up with the rest of the community who have gathered to take part in something truly special.  

As always, thank you for stopping by!

J. Schiek

        

        

May the 4th Be With You!

May the 4th will mark this year's annual Star Wars Day, and, as it is the first Saturday in May, it will also mark Free Comic Book Day.  Myself, as I have for these past three years, I will be observing and celebrating this date at Ryan's Comics in Murrieta, California.  The upshot of my attendance two years previous led me to win the Grand Prize in their raffle, a CGC graded 7.5 copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #28, valued at $795.  No questions asked.  My raffle ticket matched that chosen and they handed it to me, thus winning my lifelong loyalty.

But I said all that to say this, that regardless of my participation in Free Comic Book Day this year, whatever I have finished of the JTFH comic will be available for free on that day for anyone who cares to read.

That is all.

Thank you.

J. Schiek

Shameless Self Promotion

Back again, if for no other reason than to keep myself regular as a blogger and edge myself ever closer to a gnarly case of carpal tunnel syndrome.  As the title above should infer, I'm here today with a little shameless self promotion.

About a year ago, I developed an obsession with robots and 1940's/1950's sic-fi.  My influences at the time were the wonderful Frank R. Paul, and the myriad artists responsible for the covers on science fiction paperback novels of the above mentioned decades.  It was fortunate also that I was involved in an upper division illustration class at the time and was given the directive, by way of a syllabus, to determine my dream job and develop a portfolio for that job.  I don't know if sitting around all day painting robots is exactly my dream job, but it isn't not my dream job either.

Lets jump ahead a little bit to where I completed that project within those parameters.  Through the slow digestive process of painting, and re-painting, sketching, and writing, what I finally pooped out at the end was a little portfolio/coffee table book which I had printed through Blurb.com.  They did a wonderful job printing the book, and the product was excellent.  I say all that to say this that the book is still available for anyone who is interested.  As of today, it looks like the little mothertrucker is on sale for $18.29 for a paperback copy.  Included in the book are a number of images, such as this:

And numerous others.  A fun fact about this book is that all of the images were painted on an iPad 2.  

If you're interested in checking it out, or perhaps purchasing a copy (all proceeds from sales will go toward keeping me from starving to death) you can get a preview of the book and also buy it directly at  http://www.blurb.com/b/3176324-robotique-life-in-the-age-of-rude-mechanicals.  I don't have an arrangement yet for signed copies, but if you buy one and would like to have it signed, please contact me directly through this blog and I will do what I can to make that happen.  It might even be worth something someday.  

Alright.  The shamelessness is starting to wear off.  But if you want a really cool book with some pretty awesome robot paintings, or know someone who might like something like that as a gift, this thing is pretty sweet.  Thanks for stopping by.  I'll try to stop selling you things for a while.

J. Schiek

P to the S: I finished the first page of Jed The Flying Head #1 today.  Once the comic is finished, I will release it free through this blog for anyone who would like to read it, so keep checking back!

Issue #1 On The Way!

I'm diving headlong into issue number one of the long anticipated--by me, at least--Jed The Flying Head comic book series.  I have been compiling many stories, both as written drafts and as short synopses in my Jed The Flying Head Idea File essentially since the idea's inception back in 2005.  While I will not be releasing any of the pages until the comic is actually finished, I thought it might be fun to show a couple of the earliest JTFH drawings from when the idea was still in its genesis.  At the point these drawings were made, that was really all that existed.  The earliest germ of the origin story was still at least six months away from being drafted on my old Smith & Corona typewriter, and the only real intention behind it was to get a few laughs and pass the time at my job as a bookseller.  Without further ado, here are a couple of those drawings from the archives.

The first issue that I am working on will of course feature the origin story of Jed The Flying Head, and will merge thence into one of his greatest adventures from the World War II era.  There is much left intended, and so there is much to be done.  

J. Schiek

The Talented Dr. Octavius: Why I Will Not Be Buying Any New Spider-Man Comics

Hey, hi, and hello!

While I know this is a blog about my own comic book character, it seems remiss of me not to mention the comics and characters that have helped to shape my own world.  Of those comics and characters, there is not one that stands out more in my mind than Spider-Man, and his geeky, witty, often hapless alter ego, Peter Parker.  I will preface now that this diatribe contains many spoilers, and if you are not among those who have read The Amazing Spider-Man #700, may I suggest that you do so now.  While I do not guarantee that you will enjoy it--I certainly have mixed feelings about it, as the following paragraphs will tell--it is an important entry for those who have had an interest in Spidey, either past or present.  This blog will be waiting for you when you return from the comic book store.

I read my first Spider-Man comic way back in 1991.  It came as part of a pack of 25 comics from the Sears Wish Book.  I don't recall whether this was a Christmas present, a birthday present, or just my grandparents spoiling me rotten as they so often did in those days.  Peter Parker had Aunt May and Uncle Ben to see him through his formative years, and I had Grandma & Grandpa Woolbright to indulge me in my often chaotic childhood endeavors.

But I digress.

The first Spider-Man comic book I ever read was The Amazing Spider-Man #350, written by David Micheline and penciled by none other than Erik Larsen.  The story featured Spidey saving a no-account jewel thief known as The Black Fox from the wrath of Dr. Doom.  The aforementioned Black Fox had stolen a jewel called The Dragon's Egg from his excellence, Dr. Doom and Doom would stop at nothing to get it back.  Spidey took quite a pummeling in absorbing the bad doctor's wrath, landing him with a concussion which in turn led to a brief flashback of the Spider-Man origin story.  This was immensely satisfying for me as a first time reader, as I was exposed to the wit and heroism of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man along with a glimpse into his origin, his family, and a solid villain from the Spider-Man/ Fantastic Four Rogue's Gallery.  The Amazing Spider-Man #350 was and still is one of my favorites from this title's span, and I consider it interesting that that first issue I read would mark the halfway point for that same span.  You see, it all ends with #700.

Fast forward to one week ago.  I was hanging out with a friend of mine, grabbing the essential B's and C's of existence: Burritos, beer, and comic books.  I had been anticipating issue #700 for some time, and had figured, given that all of the recent storylines had been building to it, that it would spell out the end for good old Doc Ock.  Well, yes and no.

I finally got around to finishing the book last night, the aftermath of which left me staring at the ceiling with my covers pulled up over my chest, feeling an emotional blendo of anger, confusion, fear and sadness.  Two things had happened in that issue, one that I had expected and the other not so much.  The Amazing Spider-Man#700 does feature the bodily death of Doctor Otto Octavius, but it spells out the mind-death of Peter Parker, who was trapped in the rapidly deteriorating body of Doc Ock when he assumed room temperature.  The final few panels show Peter's final link with his body as he exposes Octavius to the brunt of his memories, everything he had ever thought and done with his great power and consequent responsibility.  Those panels spell out a character 180 on par with Ebenezer Scrooge and his experiences with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, albeit it much shorter.  In the final panel, Octavius, now armed with Peter Parker's body and memories vows that he will be a different kind of Spider-Man, a better Spider-Man than Peter Parker ever could have been, a superior Spider-Man.  

A page and a half.  Forty plus years of super villainy, which had culminated in that final moment as the intended death of Peter Parker, trapped inside the disintegrating body of Dr. Octopus recanted and spun on its heel in a new and heroic direction.  In a page and a half.  Please excuse me if I'm not falling all over myself to accept this "new leaf" in the life of Otto Octavius.

Writer Dan Slott has stated that this development has been in the works for a while, and that the publication of the new title, The Superior Spider-Man,  coupled with the cessation of The Amazing Spider-Man indicates just how serious the World Famous House of Ideas is taking this new direction.  The idea, as Slott puts it, is that Dr. Octopus was really nothing more than a shadow version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man to begin with, that both of them had the propensity for great evil, and both of them chose their respective paths as a result of their own life events.  In Slott's own words:

"When you look at Peter Parker, and the kid he was before he got bit by that radioactive spider, he was an outcast, he was a nerd, he was resentful of all his peers. One of the first things he says is, "Someday, I'll show them all. They'll be sorry they laughed at me." That's one of the first things Peter Parker ever says, when you read Amazing Fantasy #15.

Peter Parker, at that point, is a guy who could have really easily become a supervillain. We're just all lucky he was raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and even being raised by them, he still went on to become a complete jerk until the moment he learned that lesson of "great power" and "great responsibility." (Vaneta Jones, Newsarama.com)

This does come off as a rather dubious, even villainous statement on Parker's behalf, but all the same, within a few pages, after he has obtained his spider powers, embarked on a life of fame and fortune, has irresponsibly let a thief go and discovered as a result of his own hubris that this same thief has murdered the only positive male role model in his life that with great power must come great responsibility.  

While Spider and Doc Ock may share a common thread to the effect that both are bespectacled nerds with uncanny intelligence and physical abilities, the commonality of their character stops right there.  Peter's sole act of villainy was a result of dereliction of civic duty; he should have stopped that thief when he had the chance, but he didn't and Uncle Ben paid the ultimate price for Peter's selfishness.  Up to the end of his own physical life, Otto Octavius was a villain and a murderer.  He swapped minds with Peter Parker with both implicit and explicit intent of murdering him, the physio-mental equivalent of putting a man on a sinking ship and casting him adrift on open water.  In the final plunge to his place of dying, Peter, in the body of Octavius states that after this moment, after this leap from the building, he could no longer continue as Spider-Man because he had made that leap with the intent of killing Octavius by doing so.  The idea was that he would use the gold Octobot that had facilitated the mind swap to begin with to swap in mid-air, so that when both hero and villain landed, Peter would be safe at home in his own body, and Octavius would be in his for what would amount to the last few seconds of his life.  This was the ending I anticipated when I picked up and began reading, and of course, this was not what I received.  

What this all boils down to for is the end of ends, as far as Spider-Man is concerned.  This isn't the first time a version of Peter Parker has been killed off.  There were the Jackal's clones from all those years ago, resulting in Ben Reilly, and of course Kane, who pops up from time to time.  And more recently the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Spider-Man series--which I deeply enjoyed in its first run--only to have the title and mantle resumed by a new character from a different background, the so far critically esteemed Miles Morales.  This is something that has been happening to comic book characters across the many universes of Marvel and DC for decades now.  The first I recall was the death of Superman in Superman #75 way back in 1992, just a few short months after I had read my first Spider-Man comic.  And it is something that continues to happen.  The different comic book universes as we know them are a paradox of concrete hypotheticals.  These are all fictional characters in largely fictional universes--Spidey at least lives in the real world city of New York, while Superman and Batman are consigned to Metropolis and Gotham, respectively--and are prone to death as often as they are prone to resurrection.  

Change is as good a method as any to shake the dollar bills out of the pockets of the comic book reading public at large, and resumption of an original path, providing that sigh of relief that things are finally where they were before can be equally successful.  I've seen Superman die and come back, I've seen Batman return from a near fatal spine injury.  I've watched the Human Torch, Captain America and so many others blast their last across the panels and come up breathing on the other side after so many month's hiatus.  

Will Peter Parker return to inhabit his own body once more?  Who is to say?  I'll be waiting for him when he does, but with the ending of The Amazing Spider-Man as a series, so ends also my interest in the continuing endeavors of the body thief, Otto Octavius.  I picked up with #350.  There are still a lot of issues before and in between that I haven't read yet.  So until you're ready to make mine again, Marvel, that's where I'll be.

J. Schiek