To give you an idea of what this looks like, here’s some shit I’ve done lately:

Note: this is in no way me claiming to be good or even actually worth $3ppd, but in the event that you happen to want some piece of shit from the dude that did Batman A Day and currently Cthulhu Holmes (really, I’m working on it), the paypal’s the89sound AT gmail.com

Oh, and if you’re crazy/fucking retarded, that Dr Strange up there is on like, 8.5x11ish artboard, and I’ll go fucking nuts on that shit for like $30. I guess. I don’t know. But if you’re insane, feel free to pay for it.

Once again: the89sound AT gmail.com for paypal.

The Sandwich That Kills... YOU

I think I’m just gonna start a Gaga sketchbook.

I’m not too pleased with it, but considering it grew out of a giant blob of ink that bled through the page before it, I’m cool with it.

That last one there is of two dudes from Ryan Kelly’s FUNRAMA. You should definitely check that out here: http://funrama.tumblr.com/

1) BFCiG – 8 pages thumbnailed, waiting to figure out some printing logistics before redrawing the formerly complete pages

2)Shame on You – Inspired by bathroom graffiti – gag strips thrown around the issue for funziez.

3) Exploding Head Boy – the worst super power ever, adventures in RAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDD. Plotted through, possibly the longest thing in the book.

4) DEATHWICH – THE SANDWICH THAT KILLS

5) A Lovecraftian Horror Detective – Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.

And sketchbook wackiness. I started using a brush. It’s different. I like the instant energy that comes across from the brush strokes and the control I can have over the line. Pretty fun, but maybe not the best idea for what I do.

It seems that a lot of the hostility and anger, and in some cases, apathy, towards the book (which hasn’t even been solicited yet, mind you) comes from the fact that these are two brand new characters that nobody knows about. The premise of the book, as it’s currently understood, is that younger and new characters are to be trained by established characters to become superheroes in a school of sorts. So the only thing that anybody seems to care about? Finding out who the teachers of the new characters will be. All anyone wants to know is “Who can I keep reading about?” There’s an attachment to these old characters that completely stops all attempted progress dead in it’s tracks. Look at a lot of the outspoken response to Rick Remender’s treatment of the Punisher, as people tear it apart because it’s not what they’re used to. Remender takes a decades old character, and fully immerses him into the Marvel universe, turning him into a Frankenstein’s monster that hangs out with Man-Thing and vampires in a sewer, and somehow, this “doesn’t fit the character” or “doesn’t make sense in the established universe of Marvel continuity.” There’s a cyclical nature to corporate comics, and the second a writer steps out of it, people riot. In fact, one could even say that the cyclical nature is a requirement for these books to continue on the way they have for years.

I think it’s a pretty well documented fact that major corporate cape books come out of editorial retreats and come down from that to their writers. It’s called “work for hire” for a reason. A writer can pitch something all he or she wants, but when it comes down to it, they have a job they were hired for, and everything written has to be pitched to and then approved by editorial. This happens because of that undeniable cyclical nature of long-running corporate-owned cash cow character use, especially when it comes to the serialization of ongoing stories. Disney bought out Marvel to use as an R&D unit, for further exploitation of the characters that have been set in a repeating motion for decades. Since I have no interest in reading editorially mandated stories for the sake of continued milking of these sacred cash cow characters, I tend to avoid a vast majority of the two major comic publishers’ cape books.

Upon reading my thoughts on it, someone asked me if that meant that I hated all major Hollywood films, seeing not much of a difference between the two. The thing is, that’s not an equal comparison.

Hollywood films often stand alone without any sense of what came out before, what will come out tomorrow, and what can be done with these characters to ensure that 1) people will follow them again and 2) buy a t-shirt with their face on it. Sure, within the major comics structure, there’s plenty of fine and decent stories, but to say that they exist solely to tell stories that stand on their own for the sake of being is unfortunately false. We won’t be seeing the Amazing Ongoing Stories of Peter Parker, the Racist Rapist Spider-Man, and that’s because nobody will buy that action figure and there will be a huge outcry over it. That’s a book I’d probably read though, because at least it’s different an interesting. This is the same reason that nobody will kill off those major characters. After a while, how excited can a person get when reading a story in which they know the main characters are all going to be okay at the end? There’s never any sense of dread or excitement or intrigue that maybe something major will happen, because you know that, no matter what, the main character will be back next month, just as it’s been for decades before.

Going back to “Avengers Academy” though. Here we have a book that, as far as we know from these promos, features new characters in this huge established sandbox that can do whatever they want, and that alone can stand to be potentially exciting or interesting. Look at Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos’ “Alias.” As the story of Jessica Jones, “Alias” featured a totally new character that works as a private investigator within the Marvel universe. It was able to step away from the capes and the kid-friendly wall around sex, language, and violence so often present in corporate comics, and do whatever it wanted without worrying if someone would buy the Jessica Jones action figure with “FUCK SHIT FUCK FUCK” soundbyte action. Not only that, but it worked to make some change in established characters: Luke Cage wasn’t interesting until he fucked a girl in the ass on page, and comics are probably at least a little better as a result.

BLUE FUZZY CAT IN GOGGLEZ

This will be important later.

SERIOUSLY.

IGNANT SHIT

GIMME A MILLION DOLLARS