New Showcase Poll: Favorite Avengers/Justice Leaguers

No, I haven’t abandoned the previous Showcase poll — we’re still taking your top ten lists on favorite villains. But schedules of my assorted co-hosts being what they are, I thought it may be prudent to have a few polls going at once to greater facilitate the recording of them, especially once school lets out for the summer and I’ve got more flexibility to meet up with my peeps. That in mind, here are the next two Showcase poll episodes:

Who do you consider the top ten greatest Avengers and greatest members of the Justice League? When I say “greatest” here, I’m not necessarily asking you who your favorite characters are (although you can certainly take that into consideration). I’m asking which ten heroes you think are most representative of the Avengers or the League as a whole, those characters without whom you simply can’t imagine the team existing. I am restricting this to people who have been official members of a team in one continuity or another, not characters you wish would join (that’ll be a poll some other time), so no voting for Nightcrawler for the Avengers, for example (Unless he joined the Avengers on Earth-527 or something). But anyone who has been a member of any of the teams in any of their incarnations is eligible:

Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Secret Avengers, Dark Avengers, Avengers Academy, A-Next

Justice League, Justice League of America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Dark, Justice League Antarctica, Justice League Task Force, Extreme Justice

Alternate universe versions count, but not as the same character. So you could vote, for example, for both the mainstream Superman and the Kingdom Come version of Superman, but they would count as two separate characters and take up two of your slots.

So send me your top ten lists, from favorite to least favorite. The character at the top of your list will get ten points, the character at the bottom will get one, and we’ll use those lists to create the Ultimate List on the Showcase. I’ll let you guys know when these episodes will be recorded, but it’ll at least be June before we do any of them, so you have some time to ponder. You can post your lists here or send them to me privately or at BlakeMPetit@gmail.com.

Okay. Let’s get started!

Everything But Imaginary #448: Digital Comics-A Second Opinion

I’ve been pretty resistant to digital comics for some time, but when Erin gave me a Kindle Fire, I decided to give them a second look. Now, having tried them out for a few months, we seem to have come to an… let’s call it, an “understanding”…

Everything But Imaginary #448: Digital Comics-A Second Opinion

The Pyrite War… FINISHED!

The plan continues apace…

Despite a remarkably busy week, including an insane schedule of End of Course testing at work and preparing the play I’m currently directing (Alan Ball’s Five Women Wearing the Same Dress — four more performances at the Thibodaux Playhouse, beginning Thursday), I managed to find time this week to finally finish the first draft of my current Work in Progress, The Pyrite War. This is a great feeling. It started as my NaNoWriMo project for 2010, and although I hit the required 50,000 word mark, the story wasn’t nearly finished. Unfortunately, as tends to happen, I lost the thread of the story for a while after that, getting distracted by other things. I found it again a couple of months ago, and although I haven’t reclaimed the furious pace NaNoWriMo requires, since I returned to it, The Pyrite War has been my sole fiction project. A few days ago, I wrote the last word of the book (the word, if you’re interested, is “do”) — 90’027 words total, spread over 17 chapters and an epilogue. And The Pyrite War version 1.0 is finished.

Other People’s Heroes, at its core, is the story of a young man who believes in heroes helping a lost city to find its way. The Pyrite War is about an older man, a more cynical one, who must overcome that cynicism so that the same city isn’t lost at the very dawn of the first heroic age. Set in 1939, The Pyrite War is the story of Siegel City’s first superhero. Although none of our friends from OPH appear in this book, their are threads that reach back in time. I am a true lover of heroic legacies. This story will show you how some of the legacies in OPH began.

It’s not ready to share, not yet. This is just the first draft, after all. But I’m quite proud of the story and the fact that it’s finished.

So my plans for the next few months are as follows:

•Complete final editing on Opening Night of the Dead. Then, as soon as the cover for that book is completed, it will be made available in print and eBook.
•Do a second draft of The Pyrite War. This time around I intend to add a few bits, specifically intended to strengthen the mystery (yes, mystery) and give a little more depth to one of the more important relationships in the story I don’t think got quite enough screentime in the first go-around.
•Send the second draft to the Legion of Beta Readers for comments and editing. Also send it to the great Jacob Bascle, who has designed the cover art for all the Siegel City stories thus far and, I hope, will be willing to do so for a very long time. The goal is to finish all edits and the cover and have this book available to you before the end of the year.
•Jump into the next fiction project. I don’t actually know what that will be yet. I may return to an incomplete project, of which I have several (including two more “World of Siegel City” novels). I may take a third attempt at the true sequel to OPH, 14 Days of Asphalt, which I’ve already done two versions of but I still feel goes in a strange (and not in a good way) direction about halfway through, and I can’t quite figure out a fix. I may start something else entirely, although at the moment I don’t have any brand new ideas fully formed enough to really start on. Whatever I ultimately decide to do, I’ll keep you posted.

That’s really all I’m willing to say about The Pyrite War just yet, but if you want another taste of the story, go to my Facebook Fan Page. I’ve posted costume designs for (almost) all of the heroes and villains who appear in the book… although at this stage of the game I won’t tell you much information about them. Gotta keep some secrets to myself, after all.

Keep reading…

Everything But Imaginary #447: Avengers Assembling a New Cinematic Landscape?

It’s a day late thanks to the great CX Server Malfunction of (Early May) 2012, but it’s time for this week’s Everything But Imaginary. With The Avengers outpacing everyone’s wildest expectations, it’s time to take a step back and think about what the film may mean for the future… the future of the Avengers franchise, of Marvel Studios, of superhero movies, and of Summer blockbusters in general.

Fair warning: although this is not a review of the film, there are spoiler herein. Read at your own risk.

Everything But Imaginary #447: Avengers Assembling a New Cinematic Landscape?

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 265: Free Comic Book Day 2012

On the tenth anniversary of Free Comic Book Day, Blake and Kenny set up camp at BSI Comics in Metairie and chat with fans, pros, and fellow podcasters about everything! In this episode: a spoiler-free discussion of The Avengers, our thoughts on the DC Nation cartoon block including Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice, discussions of the free comics on sale, Kurt Amacker tells us about his new graphic novel Tad Caldwell and the Monster Kid, and we chat with the hosts of the Nola Nerd podcast and Adam from the Graphic Panels podcast. In the picks, Adam recommends Earth 2 #1 and Blake (surprising virtually no one) talks about the first issue of the new X-O Manowar. And the free stuff isn’t over — Blake is giving away free downloads of his superhero novel Other People’s Heroes! Just go to Smashwords.com, use the coupon code XG56X, and download the book in your preferred eReader format! (Coupon expires on May 20, 2012.) Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 265: Free Comic Book Day 2012

Everything But Imaginary #446: Prepping Free Comic Book Day

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, friends, but what exactly does that mean? Today I remind you all to help make the event what it’s supposed to be…

Everything But Imaginary #446: Prepping Free Comic Book Day

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 264: Free Comic Book Day Preview

With just five days left before Geek Christmas, it’s time to gear up for Free Comic Book Day! Blake and Erin go through this year’s list of offerings and talk about which books they’re anticipating, which ones may not be to their taste, and whether or not there’s any reptile as awesome as Doctor Dinosaur. (Answer: No.) In the picks, Erin is absorbed in Rhiannon Frater’s As the World Dies series, and Blake urges you to watch Young Justice on Cartoon Network. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 264: Free Comic Book Day Preview

Everything But Imaginary #445: Every Age

There are so many comics out there aimed at adults, fewer aimed just at children… but what about those that are suitable for EVERY age? This most important demographic is being ignored, and publishers don’t know what to do with those comics they’ve already got.

Everything But Imaginary #445: Every Age

Happy Birthday Addie

My brother Kerry and his wife Kayla welcomed their first child today. Adalyn Renee was born at noon, and everybody is doing great.

Good day. Good, good day.

(Don’t worry. I worked on The Pyrite War in the waiting room.)

For one week only, get The Beginner FOR FREE!

So you’ve read Other People’s Heroes. Loved it. Devoured it. Built a little shrine to V3OL in your garage. Awesome. And I love you for it. But have you tried out any of my other work? The Beginner, for instance? The Beginner is a dark fantasy about a filmmaker who begins to notice people vanishing from the set of his latest film… and when those people vanish, the ones that remain forget they were ever there. It’s different from OPH, but it’s a book I’m proud of.

And for the next week, it’s FREE at www.Smashwords.com.

That’s right, folks. From now until May 1, use the promo code VF55N at checkout and you can download the book absolutely free in any eBook format of your choosing. Get it, give it a read, and, most importantly, tell people what you think.

That’s why I’m doing this, guys — I want to help spread awareness for The Beginner as I get closer to launching OPENING NIGHT OF THE DEAD, my next book, hopefully some time in May. Opening Night is set in the same universe as The Beginner, and I’d really like to get the word out.

So if you get the book for free, my little gift, I AM making one humble request. If you like it, please, review it. Drop a review at Smashwords, at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, the iPad store — or all of the above. Reviews are an enormous help when these online stores generate search results and sales lists, and every review you write for one of my projects helps all of them get seen by more people.

So please, check out The Beginner this week — totally free, from me to you. And if you’d be so kind, once you’re finished, tell people what you think.