It's That Time of Year Again

Ten years ago or so, I did the Big-Easy-Con in New Orleans. I loved the show, due in no small part to it being run by Super Con Promoter Roger Price. It was a great show, and did well, but not well enough to continue, unfortunately. But I have nothing but fond memories of the show.

The New Orleans Tax People though, are a different matter. They've got the tactics and the charm of the Stormtroopers who raided Hoth. You need to get a seller's permit and file tax forms to set up at the show. Perfectly understandable. But that they demanded your tax bill be paid in cash at the end of the show. And they couldn't wait. I went upstairs to my room to get some change to pay them and then they were gone. I escaped New Orleans without paying, but then I sent them a check for the outstanding amount. A check they held on to for over six months, long enough for me to switch banks when my existing one closed up... and then they hit me with charges for that.

And they were really rude.

They also wouldn't let me fill out my own form. No, I had to dictate it to them. When you live on a street which takes its name from The Poem of Hiawatha, that's always dicey.

I haven't been to the Big Easy since 2000. That's something I need to rectify one of these years. I really enjoyed my time there. But every year, since my two con appearances, I get not one, but two tax forms from them.

One is apparently to Thom Zahler of Zahler Thom, the other is to Thom Faber Art Studio. Mr. Faber, no relation to the talented Rich Faber, has been so successful that he's gotten credit card applications, too. All of this because I, the guy with immaculate comic book handwriting, couldn't fill out his own form.

I'm not the only one, as I know other attendees who get our yearly junk mail from New Orleans. And I've written them to tell them to stop. They don't. So, how much money are they wasting sending out such notices?

All this as I've just found out that the California Board of Equalization has managed to lose my Sellers Permit forms for San Diego for the second year in a row, after being told my permit was mailed out a week ago. It does befoul one's mood.

That Nancy-Boy Hair Gel I Like So Much

I read the blog of one of the frequent Pub Quiz opponents of the much-vaunted Team Eleven. It's a fun read, and she mentions her love of the Spike "To the Angel-Mobile, away!" monologue from "Angel." Along the way, she links to a product I did not know existed, but am not strangely intrigued by.

Keeping with nettiquette, I'm linking to her blog so you can see it, rather than stealing the link and passing it off as my own. It's only proper.

Process Crimes

I love process stuff. I love books that go behind-the-scenes of TV shows and movies (like the way-cool Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) and into artists' studios and especially Steven King's On Writing. So, in that spirit, here's a glimpse into the way I write.

I got a little stuck on page five of Love and Capes, so I grabbed my iPod and took a walk. It seems to clear my head, and by the time I got to the beach, I'd gotten two and a half more pages of LNC #8 plotted. It's amazing how well that works, and I wonder why I don't take walks to get over writer's block more often.

Being an artist, I tend to think visually, so I keep my plot for the book as a series of Post-It notes. I keep them on my kitchen wall, which is close to my studio and is the largest empty wall here in Zahlerdu that's not in the living room. Not that I have that many visitors, but I like to keep the public areas a little clearer than my work areas.

Each Post-It one represents four panels of the book, and has some note, usually the punchline, to help me remember the bit that I'd written. And having this in such a visual medium lets me plot the pacing of the book and see how many more pages, how much more I have.

You'll notice one note in the lower right hand corner. That's the last page. I always have the ending planned out before I do the middle. It gives me an idea of where I'm headed. As I plot other sections, they'll appear in other places on the wall so that I can see the book as a sequence of scenes rather than just one age at a time.

You Say It Was My Birthday?

This past weekend was my birthday. I got to spend time with my loved ones, which is always the best present. But this giant Shogun Warrior (Dragun, for those of you in the know) from my cousin Jamie is certainly the most photogenic for the blog. He's two feet of giant robot, and he is vastly cool. I'm sure this won't be his last appearance in this digital forum.

Thanks to everyone who was part of celebrating, as my friend Rog says, one more successful trip around the sun.

How Eugene Son Ruined the Iron Man Movie For Me

Eugene Son is a friend of mine. He's kindly put me up in his house when I had some meetings with some Hollywood-types. He's a talented writer. And yet, he ruined Iron Man for me.

It's really ironic, too, since he's actually written the Iron Man, cartoon.

First, let's cover the important stuff. I'm out here in Dallas, as opposed to with the Usual Suspects in Ohio, and I saw Iron Man with Christine and Jesse. The movie's great, really. Performances are superb (it's nice to see adults playing the characters), effects are great, and it's another one of those "wow, the movie's really good when they actually follow the original story" movies. So go see it, after you pick up your free copy of Love and Capes #7.

And things really are bigger here in Texas. Here are three shots of my Stilt-Man like legs from while I was sitting in my seat at the theatre. Taken way before the movie, don't worry. You know what that is? It's called leg room: something I'll apparently have to pay extra for on airlines and can't buy at Playhouse Square. It's a joy to not sit for two hours with my knees pressed against the seat in front of me.

But back to Iron Man. And, here's something rare, it's a non-spoiler alert. You know how picky I am about spoilers, and I'm pretty sure I can reveal this one part of a scene and not ruin the movie. But, if you're still paranoid, I understand. Bookmark me and check this when you've seen it.

So here's the thing: Tony Stark, who in this movie lives in LA, which works really well, really wants a cheeseburger. I understand this desire. I, too, have really wanted a cheeseburger. So, a scene laer, we see him with a sack from, wait for it, Burger King.

Okay, I'm not going to bash the King's product, as I've been known to enjoy it from time to time. It's a fine fast food burger. But, if you're a Los Angeleno, or even an occasional one like me, there's only one place to go: In and Out Burger. Why do I know this? Because Eugene Son took me there for my first taste of the fast food burgery and fry perfection that is In and Out burger.

No way in the 'verse that he goes to BK. Ain't happenin'. And that's how Eugene ruined Iron Man.

That said, see it, it's great. It's the first comic book movie that I've seen where I really wouldn't change a thing. And the writer side of me always wants to tweak things. So check it out. And, like everyone else has said: stay through the credits, True Believer!

Today's the Day!

Go out and get your books. If you're in Dallas near Cape, come by and say "Heidily-Ho!" I'll post my adventures if I get a chance.

Cool Night

Continuing my theme of acknowledging the good times...

My brother Mike and I went up to Baskin Robbins tonight for their 31¢ scoop night (with proceeds going to America's Firefighters). The Baskin Robbins in our area is across from the new Chick-Fil-A that will be opening soon. Here's the thing, or things: Baskin Robbins had a huge line because of their promotion. And Chick-Fil-A offers the first 100 customers free food once a week every week for a year, or something like that. So they had a DJ, a dancing guy in a cow suit dancing to the "Cha Cha Slide." It was a party all around, and a cool place to spend some time.

Then, being Wednesday, I went to Starbucks and got my free tall Pike's Place Roast. Aside from spilling some of it on said brother Mike (man, that's happening a lot) it was just a good time.

I even ran into a former co-worker from the News-Herald. Bonus fun!

Look Who's On teh Internets

My "Del's Folks" interview is up on YouTube. This is my favorite interview that I've done, and it's a pretty good piece all around. I don't know if I'm going to be as huge as the DC vs. Marvel spots, the finest live action superhero show ever, or even this ever popular one but you never know.

You're Something Special When You've Been Selected for Del's Folks

(That's how the theme goes, it's not just a rampaging ego... this time.)

Four years ago I was the feature of Del's Folks, a weekly interesting-people segment on Cleveland's WKYC-TV3. Obviously Del had run out of fascinating people and came to my name in the alphabet. We chatted about my work with the Indians, how I got started in art, all of that kind of stuff.

I've been on the news and radio a few times in my career, and the Del's Folks spot is still probably my favorite. And Del's a great guy. I watched him and Tom Haley on Today in Cleveland every morning before catching the bus for high school. He's retired now, but he's still on TV every week. That's my kind of retirement.

Del may move a little slower than he used to, but he's still sharp as ever. When he called asking me about re-running the segment, he left a message on my voice mail at 1:00pm saying "I know you cartoonists sleep all day, so I guess I called too early."

If I have to get older, I want to get older like him.

Anyway, the segment will rerun during Channel Three News Saturday, on from 9:00-10:30 on Saturday, April 26.

I'm Just Not Smart Enough

I did have one problem with the New York Comic-Con. I wasn't smart enough to make The Joke. I know it's there, I just can't get there. Here's what we had:

1. The Pope was in town.
2. The previous Pope had a comic or two.
3. The New York Comic-Con was in town.
4. Richard Branson owns Virgin Comics.

Somewhere, there's a joke that ends with them forming a joint company called Blessed/Virgin Comics. I just can't seem to make it happen.