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

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