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 http://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.

100 Comic Book Movies

With a little time to kill this afternoon, I decided to make one of those “Movie List Challenges” over on Facebook. Being the sort of nerd I am, I whipped up a list of 100 movies based on comic books, graphic novels, and newspaper comic strips. Some of these are kind of indirect — the comic strip was made into a broadway musical, the musical was made into a movie. Some of them will be movies you’ve seen but maybe didn’t know were comic books first. Some of them will be foreign and some of them, especially the movie serials of the 40s and 50s, will be characters you’ve heard of in movies you didn’t know existed. And although I tried to stay with theatrical films, it’s possible a made-for-TV movie or two snuck in while I wasn’t looking. But let’s see how many of ’em you’ve seen. For the sake of fairness, I’ve put an asterisk next to each movie that I’ve personally viewed…

1. The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) *
2. Batman (1943)
3. Congo Bill (1948)
4. Batman and Robin (1949)
5. Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
6. Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom (1952)
7. Lil’ Abner (1959)
8. Batman: The Movie (1966)*
9. A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)*
10. Tales From the Crypt (1972)
11. The Vault of Horror (1973)
12. Superman (1978)*
13. Flash Gordon (1980)*
14. I Go Pogo (aka Pogo For President, 1980)*
15. Popeye (1980)*
16. Superman II (1980)*
17. Annie (1982)*
18. Swamp Thing (1982)
19. Superman III (1983)*
20. Supergirl (1984)*
21. Howard the Duck (1986)*
22. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)*
23. Akira (1988)*
24. Batman (1989)*
25. The Punisher (1989)*
26. Return of Swamp Thing (1989)
27. Dick Tracy (1990)*
28. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)*
29. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)*
30. Batman Returns (1992)*
31. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)*
32. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time (1993)
33. The Crow (1994)*
34. The Mask (1994)*
35. Batman Forever (1995)*
36. Judge Dredd (1995)*
37. Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)*
38. Barb Wire (1996)*
39. Tales From the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (1996)*
40. Batman and Robin (1997)*
41. Men in Black (1997)*
42. Spawn (1997)*
43. Steel (1997)
44. Blade (1998)*
45. X-Men (2000)*
46. Ghost World (2001)*
47. Blade II (2002)*
48. Road to Perdition (2002)*
49. Spider-Man (2002)*
50. American Splendor (2003)*
51. Daredevil (2003)*
52. Hulk (2003)*
53. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)*
54. X2: X-Men United (2003)*
55. Blade: Trinity (2004)*
56. Catwoman (2004)*
57. Garfield (2004)*
58. Hellboy (2004)*
59. The Punisher (2004)*
60. Spider-Man 2 (2004)*
61. Batman Begins (2005)*
62. Constantine (2005)*
63. Elektra (2005)*
64. Fantastic Four (2005)*
65. A History of Violence (2005)*
66. Man-Thing (2005)*
67. Sin City (2005)*
68. Son of the Mask (2005)*
69. V For Vendetta (2005)*
70. 300 (2006)*
71. Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
72. Over the Hedge (2006)*
73. Superman Returns (2006)*
74. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)*
75. Ghost Rider (2007)*
76. Persepolis (2007)*
77. Spider-Man 3 (2007)*
78. TMNT (2007)*
79. The Dark Knight (2008)*
80. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)*
81. Iron Man (2008)*
82. Punisher: War Zone (2008)*
83. Surrogates (2009)*
84. Watchmen (2009)*
85. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)*
86. Iron Man 2 (2010)*
87. Jonah Hex (2010)*
88. Kick-Ass (2010)*
89. The Losers (2010)*
90. RED (2010)*
91. Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (2010)*
92. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)*
93. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)*
94. Cowboys and Aliens (2011)*
95. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011)*
96. Green Lantern (2011)*
97. The Smurfs (2011)
98. Thor (2011)*
99. X-Men: First Class (2011)*
100. The Avengers (2012)

Approaching the finish line

Okay, my friends. There is a chance — a CHANCE — that I can finish the first draft of THE PYRITE WAR by the end of my spring break. I’ll be off from April 21-29. I do have things to do (set builds on both Saturdays, rehearsals at night, etc.) but looking at how much story is left… I think I can do it.

So I’m asking you guys to please, from now until the end of the month, NAG THE HELL OUT OF ME. Ask me if I wrote anything today. Ask me how MUCH I wrote. Ask me how much I have left. And the shame of potentially having to answer this question in the negative, God willing, just may be enough to push me across the finish line.

Everything But Imaginary #444: Take Off the Spandex

Not every comic book is about superheroes… and not all superheroes wear tights and capes. Today’s EBI looks at some of the alternatives.

Everything But Imaginary #444: Take Off the Spandex