Strange Eggs

2005-06-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE GOVERNMENT COULDN�T GET ANY MORE CARTON VILLAINOUS, THEY CANCEL PBS:

A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," "Arthur" and "Postcards From Buster."

In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- which passes federal funds to public broadcasters -- starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million.

2005-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Monday Reviews, Views and News
By Alex Ness

FROM SLAVE LABOR

PUNCH AND JUDY: TWICE TOLD TALES Written by Christopher P. Reilly, Art by Jorge Santillan & Darron Laessig B/W $7.95 TPB 96 pages ISBN: 1593620152

Mr. Punch is a force of crazy mayhem. He punishes the righteous and the evil, he carries a wild stick and is one funny nut. He eventually decides to take down the devil as well as Santa Claus. And we are left with an hour of fun reading and some laughs. The writing here is very clever, ironic and somewhat naughty. As the characters Punch and Judy arose from puppetry and social commentary through humor, it is tremendously rewarding to read these books and see, translated for modern eyes, that tradition. The writing is good to very good, but the art is nearly perfect. I was impressed with the quality of lines, that it was smooth, even nice to look at despite some, at times, unpleasant scenes to relate. (Hell is just one of those places). I recommend this and suggest you share it with a bright friend who loves Political cartoons, they will assume it is just a comic, and they will find out just how great comics can be.
Alex Ness writes for: www.popthought.com

2005-06-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

Psycotix: Is their world �beautiful� simply because they�re too stupid to realize that a mob just crashed their gate and is about to murder them?
Aside from �plate of flowers lady� it looks as though these guys are about to get murdered by Rasputin�s angry mob. And why is the guy standing next to �hotdog on a stick guy� getting nailed in the head with a bucket of water? Even the Medieval Uncle Pennybags looks as though he wants to kill them.
This is one of the top ten, great �bad� comic covers of the past few years.
Psycotix can be found at www.landwaster.com

2005-06-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

CHARLES SCHULZ. HAGEMEYER DAILY. THIS IS A RARE EXAMPLE OF THIS EXPERIMENTAL STRIP DONE BY CHARLSE SCHULZ. CREATED ON A BLANK "PEANUTS" CARTOON PANEL. HAGEMEYER; THE OVERBEARING WIFE OF " MR. AVERAGE"

2005-06-04T21:23:00.001-07:00

HAGEMEYER 3

2005-06-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

CHARLES SCHULZ. HAGEMEYER 4

2005-05-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

I just signed emergency petition to stop the "nuclear option" the far right wing's plan to seize absolute power to stack our courts - and I hope you will sign too.

Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, Socialist or Anarchist you don't want this to happen. We (not to get all Star Wars) are a republic, not an empire. If Senator Frist and the GOP majority prevail, a long tradition of filibustering will be narrowed and a new precedent will be set allowing the Republicans to force a vote on a nomination with a simple majority instead of three-fifths of the Senate. This move will affect any party that becomes the minority in the future. It could be your party, it could be mine.
Republicans are fixing to blow up 200 years of Senate history just because they're not getting their way on a handful of "radical" judicial nominees. You can't change the rules just because things you're not winning. If we could, Vietnam and Korea would be a nuclear potholes. the Senate must follow its own rules when carrying out advice and consent responsibilities. The filibuster rules are designed to protect the interests of the minority party by creating an incentive for majority senators to reach out for compromise rather than adopting a winner-take-all approach. The result of compromise has historically almost always resulted in better government.

The filibuster swings both ways; Republican J. Strom Thurmond filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Things weren't going his way, but he had to follow proper procedure by filibustering. A guy who was "pro" segregation played by the rules, nearly half a century ago. That happened because pro segregation President Eisenhower (R) enforced the will of the people. The perfect example of this was when he, the following year controversially sent federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the Supreme Court decision to desegregate schooling.

Starting Monday, the petition will be delivered straight to Congress every three hours until the final vote, and many of our comments will be read aloud on the Senate floor.

Please find out more and sign right now at:

http://www.moveonpac.org/nuclear

Best,

Chris

2005-05-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

STRANGE EGGS review and interview at Nickelpig

We at Nickelpig Media got our sullied little meat-grabbers on an advance copy of Strange Eggs, SLG Publishing's latest comic foray. What greeted us inside this 48 page anthology were some of the best graphic stories we've seen in print.

When comic aficionados hear "anthology," Dark Horse's Sandman: Endless Nights inevitably comes to mind. After all, it was one of the most successful comics in recent years. But Chris Reilly, Ben Towle, and Steve Alhquist have put together an all-together different anthology. One that doesn't get weighed down in excess. One that walks the edge because it furthers the story, not because it's a sure bet for titillating teens.

Strange Eggs is a smart, well-crafted volume. It contains over a dozen vignettes that vary in humor from cute to dark, and cover topics as innocuous as public access television, and as controversial as abortion. We were thoroughly entertained from page one on.

The book debuts May 25th. But in the meantime, we have a little treat for you. I had the opportunity to talk with Chris, Ben, and Steve. The following is our exchange: to read the interview go to: http://www.nickelpig.com

2005-05-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund came away a winner in South Carolina this week with a little help from its friends. Joining a broad coalition representing everything from booksellers to an obstetrics practice, the CBLDF gained a crucial victory over South Carolina's Harmful to Minors Law. On Monday U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Michael Duffy struck down the law, and a key amendment that expanded the law to include on-line material, as unconstitutional.

Under the statue, the state would have been able to bring criminal sanctions against those who disseminated "harmful material to minors" online, defining the term "material" to mean "pictures, drawings, video recordings, films, digital electronic files, or other visual depictions or representations but not material consisting entirely of written words." The felony would have been punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $5,000.

According to CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein, the law represented a major threat to the comics community. "There were significant risks to retailers of comics and cartoonists who create content online," Brownstein told the Pulse. "The law would have threatened, for instance, a web retailer posting the covers or sample pages from books like The Complete Checkered Demon, A Child's Life, Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron, and Popbot. It would have threatened art dealers displaying original pages for sale that depict sexually explicit nudity that could be harmful as to minors. These are instances of protected speech facing a serious content restriction because of the law's overbroad wording."

The law might have also enjoyed a significant effect on the Internet comics community. "Likewise, web comics like Patrick Farley's Delta Thrives, Nick Bertozzi's The Salon, and much of Donna Barr's work, all of which contain some degree of nudity or sexual content could have been vulnerable for prosecution." Brownstein said. In the end, the costs could have kept artists of all types from risking certain kinds of creation for fear of being penalized. Brownstein explains: "And the penalties were so significant -- a felony charge carrying the penalty of up to 5 years in prison, a fine of $5,000, or both -- that the possibility for speech to be chilled by artists and retailers censoring themselves rather than face prosecution was a real danger."

The basis of Judge Duffy's decision seemed to be that the amendment violated the First Amendment because it failed to employ the least restrictive means from keeping minors away from harmful material on the Internet. The judge also noted that the law impinged on Congress' ability to regulate interstate law asserting South Carolina had the right to pursue cases against legal businesses in other states according to what was accessible in the state in which the law was passed and expressed concerns that the law would not keep minors from preventing material outside the U.S.

State Attorney General Henry McMaster disagreed with the Judge's decision in published reports, saying that the thread of prosecution would be much more effective than any filtering method, because they could be circumvented. "We think it's important in today's society that law enforcement take a strong view on obscenity aimed towards children," he told the Associated Press. In fact, Duffy's decision allowed that the protection of minors was in the state's interest Brownstein also allowed this in talking to the Pulse but that the amendment was unconstitutional despite that interest and therefore had to be struck down. McMaster's office will review the decision before deciding if the state will appeal.

Duffy also singled out a credit-card based verification that the state had proposed to block minors from the offending material as "too burdensome."

The South Carolina victory was a long time in coming. The law in question was expanded to include electronic files four years ago, and challenged before a single person could be prosecuted. Six other states have lost challenges to similar legislation, attorney for the plaintiffs Michael A. Bamberger told reporters Thursday. All of those challenges are beginning to add up to a solid Federal denial of such state laws. "Most of this generation of Internet censorship laws are dead," Brownstein confirmed to the Pulse. He was able to name several cases that had previously gone the Fund's way. "Media Coalition, and the Fund by extension, participated as amicus or plaintiff in both COPA and this one, Media Coalition has also led successful challenges in Vermont, New York, Virginia, New Mexico, Arizona, and served as amicus on a Michigan law of this nature."

CBLDF' fellow plaintiffs in South Carolina were the Southeast Booksellers Association, Print Studio South, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, and Families against Internet Censorship. The coalition was represented by David W. Odgen, Janis C. Kestenbaum, and Kenneth A. Bamberger of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, D.C.; the aforementioned Michael A. Bamberger of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, New York City; and Armand G. Derfner and D. Peters Wilborn, Jr. of Derfner, Wilborn & Altman of Charleston.

The CBLDF's Other Kind Of Advocacy

The win in South Carolina calls attention an increasingly important and vital aspect of the Fund's activities, that is, participating in challenges to unconstitutional laws in conjunction with other Free Speech organizations. Although not as highly publicized and not as easy to understand as when the Fund provides direct legal help to a retailer in danger of being convicted of a criminal offense, Brownstein firmly believes that this kind of work is just as, if not more, important as the more traditional CBLDF cases. "A maxim I repeat so much as to drive reporters like yourself nuts is that it's better to prevent a case than defend a case, and participation in these sorts of cases can help to prevent an actual prosecution that would require thousands of dollars and a lot of human misery to defend."

Brownstein also stressed that decisions to participate in such cases are hardly made in vacuum. Asked if South Carolina and other comics businesses are kept apprised on such cases, Brownstein said, "Yes, we're in regular contact with the retail, publishing, and creative communities on these matters, and generally find them supportive of our participation in challenges such as these." Brownstein pointed out that the way the Fund operates, with votes on all maters from the board, also means that the comics community's interests are solicited in this most direct manner possible. "Don't forget also, our board of directors, who vote on whether or not we will join one of these cases, represent a diverse cross-section of the business community, including retailers, creators, publishers, distributors, and a lawyer, so our participation in these cases is always a result of the Fund's board in their capacity as representatives of the business community we serve communicating that they see a need for us to weigh in on a case."

The South Carolina case did not represent a specific expenditure for the Fund. "The Fund participated in this case under the aegis of our membership in Media Coalition," Brownstein said, "And so there was no additional expense for participating in this case beyond our annual member dues."

What's Next?

With the Internet challenges beginning to die down, Brownstein says the next group of important advocacy work could take place "along the lines of violence and harmful to minors display provisions. We beat the Michigan and Arkansas harmful to minors display laws last year, but there's always one or another in committee that could actually get legs."

Brownstein pointed out one scenario under which these sorts of laws might become an issue. "What's probably most disturbing right now is a set of laws in Michigan that are seeking to restrict video game violence, but one of which attempts to apply a legal definition to 'ultra violence' as harmful to minors that would certainly be a threat to comics, movies, video games, and a wide variety of expression. Violence has never been proven to be obscene or harmful, but there's always someone trying to make that happen.' Brownstein noted that the Fund will be active in watching these cases, but take action according to what the individual situation calls for. "Now, we're not a lobbying group, so the best we can do is keep an active watch upon those laws and, when appropriate, such as this South Carolina case, participate in a constitutional challenge."

Brownstein cited as specific cases on the advocacy end Muslim Community Association of Michigan v. Ashcroft, an ACLU challenge to the PATRIOT Act as "stagnating in the courts, and Lyle vs. Time Warner as "still developing," concluding, "So there's not much on our advocacy docket, but I think we're at a bit of a calm before a major storm."

The Fund's Executive Director also mentioned that the full attention of the Fund remains on the ongoing retailer's case in Georgia.

"We remain ever vigilant and ever watchful."

2005-05-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

STRANGE EGGS REVIEW FROM THE NINTH ARTSlave Labor cracks open some STRANGE EGGS with an intriguing new anthology, Warren Ellis gets a JONES for a new ongoing, and we dust off our old Atari as comics dabble in the world of video games.
09 May 2005

Welcome to The Forecast. Every Monday, Ninth Art's core team of comment writers, the Ninth Eight, will be your guides to the best, worst, weirdest and most noteworthy books on the shelves of your local comic shop.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: STRANGE EGGS

When I was a boy, I used to watch a cartoon called LUDWIG. Ludwig was a morbidly surreal thing, a mechanical egg that would use his myriad gewgaws and contraptions in the pursuit of musical adventures. Here's a brief sample of Ludwig's unique style. No, I don't know what the pervert in the deerstalker is doing there, either.

For those of you for whom Ludwig is scarcely egg enough, Slave Labor Graphics has a chocodooby surprise in store this week, with the release of STRANGE EGGS.

STRANGE EGGS is a 48-page anthology comic that centres on the relationship between two urban urchins, transplanted to the countryside, and an egg-delivering lunatic named Roger Rogers. Each week, Mister Rogers visits the children, Kip and Kelly, and presents them with a novelty egg. One week it might be made of wood, the next plastic, but whatever the material, each egg hatches into a new and wondrous adventure. From cholesterol-seeking nerdroids to evil plastic kittens, Kip and Kelly find that life in the country may well be more than a little...eggsasperating?

Please don't hurt me.

STRANGE EGGS wraps the simple premise of Kids Plus Egg around the creative chops of the best and brightest at Slave Labor Graphics. Contributors to the book include Ian Carney and Woodrow Phoenix, Roger Langdridge, Scott Saavedra, Kerry Callen, Derf, and the delightfully monikered Crab Scrambly. Click here to sample some of the deliciously broad range of artistic styles on offer.

As we have seen in recent weeks, the high-quality anthology comic has returned with a vengeance. What STRANGE EGGS has over such wonderful books as BIZARRO WORLD, FLIGHT and FOUR LETTER WORLDS is a singular premise and an attractive price. If you find that the cost of books in this vein tends to outweigh your willingness to risk disappointment, then STRANGE EGGS might well be the thing for you. [Matthew Craig]

2005-05-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

NOMINEES for the 18th Annual HARVEY AWARDS (2005)

Best New Talent
Samuel Hiti / End Times - Tiempos Finales / La Luz Comics
Christopher Reilly / Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Andy Runton / Owly / Top Shelf
Leslie Stein / Yeah, It Is / Alternative Comics
Bryan Lee O'Malley / Scott Pilgrim / Oni Press

Best New Series
Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist / Dark Horse Comics
Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days / DC Comics/Wildstorm
Or Else / Drawn & Quarterly
Owly / Top Shelf
1602 / Marvel

Best Letterer
Daniel Clowes / Eightball / Fantagraphics Books
Todd Klein / Wonder Woman / DC Comics
Seth / Palookaville / Drawn & Quarterly
Dave Sim / Cerebus / Aardvark-Vanaheim
Richard Starking / Conan / Dark Horse Comics

Best Writer
Brian Michael Bendis / Daredevil / Marvel
Daniel Clowes / Eightball / Fantagraphics Books
Alan Moore / Promethea / DC Comics/Wildstorm/America's Best Comics
Christopher Reilly / Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Judd Winick / Green Arrow / DC Comics

Best Artist
Charles Burns / Black Hole #2 / Fantagraphics Books
John Cassady / Planetary / DC Comics/Wildstorm
Darwyn Cooke / DC: The New Frontier / DC Comics
Juanjo Guardino / Blacksad 2 / ibooks/Komikwerks
Jaime Hernandez / Love and Rockets / Fantagraphics Books

Best Cartoonist
Kyle Baker / Plastic Man / DC Comics
Daniel Clowes / Eightball / Fantagraphics Books
Batton Lash / Supernatural Law / Exhibit A Press
Bryan Lee O'Malley / Scott Pilgrim / Oni Press
Jeff Smith / Bone / Cartoon Books

Best Cover Artist
Charles Burns / Black Hole / Fantagraphics Books
Juanjo Guardino / Blacksad / ibooks/Komikwerks
James Jean / Fables / DC Comics/Vertigo
Scott McKowen / 1602 / Marvel
Humberto Ramos / Spectacular Spider-Man / Marvel

Best Single Issue or Story
Batman: Room Full of Strangers / DC Comics
Black Hole #12 / Fantagraphics Books
Dogs and Water / Drawn & Quarterly
Identity Crisis #1-4 / DC Comics
Eightball #23 / Fantagraphics Books
Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Supernatural Law #101 / Exhibit A Press

Best Domestic Reprint Project
Krazy and Ignatz / Fantagraphics Books
B. Krigstein: Comics / Fantagraphics Books
The Last Heroes / ibooks/Komikwerks
Marge's Little Lulu Vol. 1 / Dark Horse Comics
The Complete Peanuts 1950-52 / Fantagraphics Books
The Spirit Archives Vol. 14 / DC Comics

Best Continuing / Limited Series
Eightball / Fantagraphics Books
Identity Crisis / DC Comics
Love and Rockets / Fantagraphics Books
The New Frontier / DC Comics
Supernatural Law / Exhibit A Press

Best Inker
Charles Burns / Black Hole / Fantagraphics Books
Danny Miki / Ultimate Fantastic Four / Marvel
Andy Parks / Green Arrow / DC Comics
Seth / Palookaville / Drawn & Quarterly
Steve Leialoha / Fables / DC Comics/Vertigo

Best Colorist
Daniel Clowes / Eighball / Fantagrahpics Books
Laura Martin / Astonishing X-Men / Marvel
Patricia Mulvihill / 100 Bullets / DC Comics/Vertigo
Stefani Renee / Ant / Arcana Studio
Dave Stewart / DC: The New Frontier / DC Comics

Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work
American Elf: Sketchbook Diaries of James Kochalka / Top Shelf / James Kochalka
Bone: One Volume Edition / Cartoon Books / Jeff Smith
Clyde Fans: Book 1 / Drawn & Quarterly / Seth
Locas / Fantagraphics Books / Jaime Hernandez
R. Crumb's Kafka / ibooks/Komikwerks / Robert Crumb & David Zane Mairowitz

Special Award for Humor in Comics
Kyle Baker / Plastic Man / DC Comics
Jimmy Gownley / Amelia Rules! / ibooks/Komikwerks
Roger Langridge / Fred the Clown / Hotel Fred
Christopher Reilly / Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Johnny Ryan / Angry Youth Comix / Fantagraphics Books

Best Anthology
Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventure of the Escapist / Dark Horse Comics / Diana Schutz, Editor
Fight #1 / Image Comics / Kazu Kibuishi, Editor
Kramer's Ergot #5 / Gingko Press / Sammy Harkham, Editor
McSweeney's Quarterly Concern #13 / McSweeney's Books / Chris Ware, Editor
Nickelodeon (Comic Book Section) / Viacom/Nickelodeon / Dave Roman, Editor

Best Graphic Album of Original Work
Blacksad 2 / ibooks/Komikwerks / Juajono Guardino, Juan Diaz Canales
Carnet De Voyage / Top Shelf / Craig Thompson
Jimbo in Purgatory / Fantagraphics Books / Gary Panter
Owly / Top Shelf / Andy Runton
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1 / Oni Press / Bryan Lee O'Malley

Best Syndicated Strip or Panel
Doonesbury / Garry Trudeau / Universal Press Syndicate
Tom, the Dancing Bug / Ruben Bolling / Universal Press Syndicate
Maakies / Tony Millionaire / Self-Syndicated
Mutts / Patrick McDonald / King Features Syndicate
Underworld / Kaz / Self-Syndicated

Special Award for Excellence in Presentation
In the Shadow of No Towers / Pantheon
McSweeney's Quarterly Concern #13 / McSweeney's Books
Mr. X Collected / ibooks/Komikwerks
The Complete Peanuts 1950-52 / Fantagraphics Books
Valerian: New Future Trilogy / ibooks/Komikwerks

Best American Edition of Foreign Material
Blacksad 2 / ibooks/Komikwerks
Buddha / Vertical Inc.
Metabarons / Humanoids Publishing
Persepolis 2: Story of a Return / Pantheon
Valerian: New Future Trilogy / ibooks/Komikwerks

Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation
Comic Art Magazine / M. Todd Hignite / M. Todd Hignite, Editor
Comic Book Artist / Top Shelf / Jon B. Cooke, Editor
The Comics Journal / Fantagraphics Books / Gary Groth and Dirk Deppey, Editors
Indy Magazine / Alternative Comics / Bill Kartalopoulos, Editor
Men of Tomorrow / Basic Books / Gerard Jones, Author

2005-03-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

My dog Wiffleball is as cute as Ben Towle's cat. Children supplied by Steve Ahlquist.

2005-03-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

MIKE'S H'CAUST HONOR
This may be the greatest NY Post headline ever.
Bush sent Mayor Bloomberg to Israel for the opening of the WW2 Museum.
This is the headline: "MIKE'S H'CAUST HONOR." They actually
abbreviated the Holocaust. Is Dr. Dre editing the NY Post? They made
one of history's greatest atrocities sound like it may have been a
hip-hop song.
"This one goes out to all the J's that died in the g'cide; killed by the NZs"
If the post actually has any Jewish readers, this should cancel a few
subscriptions. They might as well stop shipping the paper to Florida.
Here's a link to the story: http://nypost.com/news/worldnews/42549.htm

Best,

Chris

2005-03-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Angriest Dog In The World (Hes so angry he cant even move)
By David Lynch
David Lynch´s cartoon 'The Angriest Dog in The World' was published in local papers such as the L.A. Reader, Creative Loafing, New York Press and Westworld since 1983 until 1992.
The images always stay the same, at least, they were meant to. But somehow a cartoonist chose to include an increasing number of bones, sort of derailing the concept.
Pete has a "running gag" ...

Best,

Chris

2005-03-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

I LOVE AMERICA, AND WOULD LIKE IT RETURNED TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

While I will not deny that this is an extraordinary nation, a nation that has changed the history of this world, and will continue to do so, I will quote the words of the servants the Romans use to put in the chariots right behind the victorious generals: Remember: Thou art mortal.
This country, for all it's changed and done, is a country of fallible human beings and institutions that can go out of control, or fall into disrepair. I say this not to blot out hopes of a better future, but to lay out the challenges always present for any civilization to maintain its identity, maintain its integrity.
I don't want us to become Europe. I want us to avoid its mistakes, and to pave our own path of culture, philosophy and art. But I want this country to remain the free-living, free-thinking nation that it is, and I don't want us to take a political detour into tyranny or decay. I don't want one generation of foolish and arrogant men to wreck it all. I believe that there was hopes amongst even the most jaded amongst us, after 9/11 that Bush would not take that path, or approach it, that he would rise to the challenge.
Instead, he has managed, to even my surprise to fail in just those ways. Bush may find something romantic and strong about us standing against the world, but I look at that, and I see pragmatic opportunities missed. We don't have to toe the European line. We just have to keep our disagreements from becoming discord. The harder we make it to influence policy in Europe against terrorism, the easier we make it on Osama to funnel his terrorists towards our shores. We don't need hubris and contempt for those who desire peace, we need an eye for we can get them to contribute, for what we can get them to agree to. Who knows, if we entangle them enough, perhaps they'll decide it's in their interests to help us.
Problem is, we've already gone and stirred things up. If we had let Iraq alone, a bombing like that in Madrid could have solidified European policy behind us, showed them that an Olympian ideal of peace was not tenable. It has only solidified opinion against our war efforts instead, because the context is our chaos generating war in Iraq.
Bush has a problem: he expects loyalty where he should only expect the working out of mutual self-interest. He expects best friends when he should only expect good relations. The trouble is, in terms of relationships with other countries, Bush lets the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Best,

Chris

2005-03-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

"TAN SLEEVE!"
It started in Miami, Florida, back in the eighties. The Wind was a fiery popcombo who "recalled the Beatles and Big Star" according to then-Rolling Stone writer Kurt Loder who gave the unknown group an unheard-of one page rave review in that paper. The group were local faves. The thrombosis-inducing live shows that went down at places like the Button and 27 Birds are still spoken of with reverence in the southeast. The band self-released the now-legendary "Where It's At With The Wind" and the Mitch Easter-produced "Guest Of The Staphs". A third LP, "Living In A New World" (Midnight Records) yielded the big MTV hit "Good News, Bad News". Then, like all good bands and butterflies, the Wind shriveled up and died.
End of story? Nah. After getting involved in projects as far flung as TV sitcoms and surrealist musical theater, the Wind's primary songwriters, Lane Steinberg & Steve Katz (now Steve Barry) found themselves living around the corner from each other in New York. Informally, they started gigging acoustically in the city with a young female Brazilian singer, Ella Conchita. They jokingly called themselves Teen Slave, due to Ella's youthful appearance and played mostly fun covers of obscure sixties tunes and soundtrack themes. Then, one day, Ella's number was disconnected and her apartment was vacated. No note, nothing. Lane & Steve were shocked (still are, she hasn't been heard from since) but decided to continue working together. They changed a few letters around and decided to call themselves Tan Sleeve. After outfitting their joint recording studio, they started writing slabs of new songs & recording them at a feverish pace. Many of the songs still retained the soft textures of their newer direction, but also recalled the pop savvy of the Wind. Then things started heating up: last year Lane had a compilation disc of his solo material (Wall of Orchids, Noel Coward's Ghost) released on EM records in Japan, and a Wind retrospective is scheduled to follow later this year. The Yellow Pilz label is slated to release the Wind records domestically, and the enclosed first official Tan Sleeve recordings have been released here on the Bus Stop Label. There is talk of a Japanese Tan Sleeve/Wind tour in the fall and a new Tan Sleeve record is 99% finished. Now if they can only get back the Jobim records Ella Conchita took back with her to Brazil, life would be perfect...
Chris Reilly

2005-03-15T22:16:00.000-08:00

"Condoleeza will lead us"

"Condoleeza will lead us"

2005-03-15T22:01:00.000-08:00
This song is actually not a joke. It's from the website:
http://www.americansforrice.com/
You can download the song "Condoleeza will lead us" right here:
http://www.americansforrice.com/Tan%20Sleeve.php
The band who recorded the song is none other than Tan Sleeve... don't
worry. No one's ever heard of Tan Sleeve.

I love this quote: "Most of us at Americans for Dr. Rice are "rock and
roll refugees" of the eighties, so we were certainly sympathetic.
Lane has a dream that one day his Russian-American wife will get to
meet Dr. Rice and speak with her in Russian and maybe play a duet
since she is a classical pianist, like Dr. Rice. None other than the
Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman, admitted
that he liked the song on CNN's Inside Politics."
That's like admitting that you're addicted to smoking babies.
I know that Rice is some sort of creepy Vulcan/vampire hybrid, but
even she must be mortified by this.
You can stop wondering who elects such chowder heads to office; it's the sort of people that write songs like this and think they've got a clue.
Remember what Winston Churchill said: "If you’re young and not a liberal, you have
no heart. If you’re older and still a liberal, you have no brains." I think that give up and sell your soul because your not twenty five anymore, is typified by people in their 30's and 40's devoting their lives to: http://www.americansforrice.com/ or being in the band Tan Sleeve. You suck, Tan Sleeve.

Best,

Chris

2005-03-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Spider-Man's Greatest Bible Stories 1

2005-03-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Spider-Man's Greatest Bible Stories 2

2005-03-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves Kite-Man

2005-03-03T16:47:00.001-08:00

batman't greatest boner

2005-03-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

bone

2005-03-03T16:46:00.001-08:00

next day

2005-03-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

and later

2005-03-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

so!

2005-03-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

wuxtry

2005-03-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Blood

Guest Post by Steve Ahlquist

2005-03-03T11:19:00.000-08:00
Chris Reilly once got into a kung fu brawl at an all night gas station. He was jumped by two muggers, and fought to defend himself. The guy working the gas station wouldn't call the cops, he just told them all to go away. He was safe inside his little booth, with it's bullet resisitant glass.

During the fight Chris screamed for the attendent to call the police, to no avail. Chris threw a punch, and missed, sending his arm through the plate glass covering a gas pump. The muggers saw the blood streaming from an openned arterie, and ran away. Chris ran to the booth, inside of which the attendant cowered.

"Call a fucking ambulance!" he screamed.

"Go away or I'll call the police!" screamed the attendant.

"Call the fucking police then you fucking moron!" screamed Chris.

Weakened from blood loss, Chris sat outside the booth, trying to staunch the blood. The police arrived, and called an ambulance. Neither cop would touch Chris or help him, because they were afraid of catching aids.

The ambulance came twenty minutes later. The sun was coming up. Chris went into the hospital, and recieved lots of stitches. He almost died.

True story.

2005-03-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

Cast & Crew:
Renaldo Rey, Anna Maria Horsford, directed by Greg Carter
Synopsis:
Audrey is a typical music student at a large Midwestern college, interested in pursuing a career in classical music. Her apparent "normalcy," however, makes her something of a misfit in her family, made up as it is by a group of outrageous performers. Audrey's parents were funk/ R& B stars in the 1970s, while her brother currently reigns supreme on the hip hop and fashion scene, and her precocious little sister is a streetsmart MC in the manner of Lil' Kim. Take out the story and this sounds like an Old Navy commercial.
This film was directed by Greg Carter, the man responsible for such small screen gems as:
The Black Man's Guide to Understanding Black Women (2005)
Treasure in tha Hood (2005)
Survival of the Illest (2004)
Thug Life (2001) A karate/stunt/gangsta/westside movie which could have been a "Bruce Lee Visits The South Side" Spike Lee joint. The whole plot comes down to two guys beating the nuts out of each other in a strange gang/cult's hideout, and of course, the main character, Boo saves the day. Boo the black, karate bad-ass/hero Boo.

MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 1 hour, 48 minutes
Genre: Comedies, Comedy, Family Interaction, Rap/Hip Hop, Family Life, Music, Parents, Musicians
Its funny that family interaction and family life have to be divided into two categories.

2005-02-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

Today the USA is the largest producers of marijuana in the world and it's not enough.

Marijuana has been quasi legal in Mexico the past 50 years and is grown commercially and exported to the US. Canadians would love to make marijuana legal and for the US to keep the status quo that would continue to generate billions of dollars going North.

The Californians complain that BC Bud is being dumped on the market and that wholesale prices have gone down 25%, which is great for the consumer. The drug Czar warns of the danger of Canadian weed and the high 20% THC content. (I guess he hasn't smoked any because BC Bud generally pales when compared to most Californian varieties.)

The DEA chomps at the bit in anticipation of kicking every medical marijuana grow ups door down and seizing everything as well as their souls. They well remember the 1980s when Reagan for the first time let the police sell you loads of marijuana as a way to infiltrate marijuana syndicates. And the biggest mass redistribution of wealth in the history of the US occurred when they shut down the good old boy marijuana networks that operated in the 1960's thru the late 1980s. It was Vietnam style body count, the more people they arrested the more possessions they confiscated. The best properties, the best of all the spoils went to further power the police state that had all ready been created when they declared a Drug War. They only other country in the history of mankind to have such search and seizure and confiscation and forfeiture laws was Nazi Germany.

Is it strange that we are still haunted by Richard Nixon's drug war when his own Shaffer commission recommended legalizing under an ounce of Cannabis? This report infuriated Nixon who sent it back, and when it came back around the word legalize was changed to decriminalize and by 2005 millions of Americans have been sent to prison for marijuana possession some working at slave labor as we speak!

Stranger yet instead of attacking the Shaffer Commission NORML jumped on the decriminalization bandwagon, and in 1980 came out with their own report on the harmful affects of marijuana and I guess jumped on Nancy Reagan's Just say no bandwagon! Hey I thought they were for legalization?

The drug rehab racketeers and Judges that own the Halfway houses they sentence you to, then get money from you, the state and the government! The billions generated by one word illegal. Is it that so much money is being made because it's illegal that no one really wants it legal? Are they afraid to lose the Goose that lays golden eggs?

First thing I asked people is why is marijuana illegal? Marijuana is illegal because it promotes free thought and expression and the society we live in does not want us to think for ourselves. It's as simple as that!

The Patriot Act is an extension of the Drug War and really it's out to get you and I! The DEA is in a panic because California is wide open with some Cannabis shops in Oakland featuring 60 or more strains of marijuana as well as hashish and all you need is a doctor's note! Can you believe that some of those guys are pulling a hundred grand a month. The Government has infiltrated the Medical marijuana movement completely! As an example Eddy Lepp sold one pound of pot to a friend and an undercover DEA agent. Lepp famous for his Medicinal Marijuana Garden was raided and over 32,000 legal plants were confiscated. Clearly Lepp was out of his league!

Everyday more and more extol the virtues of marijuana use and how it improves their lives. One medical patient went from 600 milligrams of morphine a day to just pot! Most profits that are made illegally in the marijuana trade are funneled back into our economy, except for the small percentage that goes to Canada and Mexico.

The American marijuana trade does not fund terrorism but instead puts shoes on little Bobby or Suzie. The huge underground marijuana economy keeps many of us alive in these lean and mean times. The lies the government spreads about marijuana funding terrorism when the reality is that it helps keep the economy humming. The American marijuana industry is home grown.

Cannabis has become the Golden goose and neither side is letting go, too much money on the table.

2005-02-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Diamond Comics' May Previews hits stores today. Books to be on the lookout for:
Punch and Judy tpb
Creators: Chris Reilly, Darron Laessig and Jorge Santillan
Page Count: 96
SRP: $7.95
Synopsis: Collecting The Comical Tragedy Of Punch And Judy, and Punch And Judy: A Grand Guignol. If you can imagine Tim Burton collaborating with Rankin & Bass on a Jingle Belle vs. Itchy & Scratchy Christmas Special or Grant Morrison penning a kids book with such things in it as palindrome bears, pickled children, and a protagonist who merely wants two bags of harps and the Double Jesus for Christmas then you can imagine what absurd delights await you."-- J. Torres Cover by Crab Scrambly 1-59362-015-2

Strange Eggs
Editor: Chris Reilly
Page Count: 48
SRP: $3.95
Synopsis: Some of SLGs top creators and a few guests join forces to tell the stories of Kyle & Kelly Hatcher; a lonely brother and sister who get a Strange Egg delivered to them every week, by the dapper egg deliveryman, Roger Rogers.

The eggs hatch into problems that the kids need to solve. Problems like aliens, dinosaurs, crazed ventriloquist dummies and several hobos.

Featuring stories by:
Crab Scrambly, Roger Langridge, Tommy Kovac, Jennifer Feinberg & Todd Meister, Jamie Smart, Derf, Chris Reilly, Steve Ahlquist, Darron Laessig, Jon Adama, Dave Ray, Kerry Callen, Ben Towle, Ian Carney & Woodrow Pheonix, Jorge Santillian, Scott Saavedra. Edited by Chris Reilly

Here are the Diamond order numbers:
MAR05 2545 PUNCH AND JUDY TP SRP: $7.95
MAR05 2547 STRANGE EGGS #1 (C: 4) SRP: $3.95

2005-02-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

The Strangest Egg is dead: 1937-2005

2005-02-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

Friends Remark on Hunter Thompson's Death

By ROBERT WELLER
Associated Press Writer

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -- While Hunter S. Thompson's suicide shocked many in his out-of-the-way neighborhood, one of his closest friends said Monday the writer had been in a lot of pain after a broken leg and hip surgery.

"I wasn't surprised," said George Stranahan, a former owner of the Woody Creek Tavern, one of Thompson's favorite hangouts. "I never expected Hunter to die in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of him."

Thompson died in his home Sunday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Pitkin County Coroner Dr. J. Steve Ayers said Monday.

Authorities refused to say whether a note was found. Thompson's body was found by his adult son, Juan, later Sunday evening.

Advertisement

Investigators recovered the weapon, a .45-caliber handgun.

Neighbors in Thompson's Woody Creek neighborhood said a broken leg had kept him from getting out as often as in the past, including to the tavern.

But Shep Harris, who now owns the tavern, said Thompson would sometimes slip in for a drink and a smoke if no one else was there.

Patrons normally are not allowed to light up because the tavern does not have a separate smoking area, but if Thompson were the only customer, he got a waiver.

AP VIDEO

Thompson's Story Ends with Suicide
Audio
Tsai reports Hunter S. Thompson died of an apparent suicide.

"We called it the Hunter Rule," Harris said.

Mike Cleverly, a neighbor and longtime friend, spent Friday night watching a basketball game on TV with Thompson. He said Thompson was clearly hobbled by the broken leg. "Medically speaking, he's had a rotten year," he said.

But he added that "he's the last person in the world I would have expected to kill himself. I would have been less surprised if he had shot me."

Thompson was legendary for his love of firearms.

"He had a thing about guns," said Mary Eshbaugh Hayes, an acquaintance and a former editor of the Aspen Times. "I was always very worried he was going to shoot someone."

He did, at least once. In 2000, he accidentally slightly wounded his assistant trying to chase a bear off his property.

Hayes said she was present when a drunken Thompson fired three shots into a copy of one of his books and gave it to a friend, saying, "This is your autographed copy."

Despite the gunfire and the wild, drug-addled image he projected in his writing, Thompson was on good terms with the sheriff's department and was friends with Sheriff Bob Braudis and with DiSalvo, the sheriff's director of investigations.

"I would definitely call him a friend," DiSalvo said. "This was not the way I expected Hunter to die."

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

2005-02-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

I swiped this friend's blog. Personally, I wish Superman had murdered Pat Boone. You'll note this is the start of a trend where Superman feels obliged to prevent anyone he knows from ever knowing the sweet, sweet taste of anything remotely resembling success.

2005-02-15T18:55:00.000-08:00
I swied this from a friend's blog:

2005-02-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

Do yourself a favor and check out the new strip by Owen Keegan. I think he describes it best:
It's not a journal comic or about adults. It's about what I loved about comic strips when I was a kid. Anyway, it will be a daily strip five days a week. Hope you like it!
www.teapotmusic.com/osiebob

He really does a great job of capturing those vague memories of being a toddler.

Chris

The Top Ten Cutest Comic Creators

2005-02-08T11:37:00.000-08:00
I never make the CCC's top ten; I always come in at around twelve or thirteen.

"Edited by Alex Miller" why on earth did this thing need an editor?

The CCC

The Top Ten Cutest Comic Creators

By Mary E. Brickthrower Edited by Alex Miller

While there are a few female voices in the comic book world, such as Gail Simone (writer exclusive to DC) and Colleen Doran (artist on Orbiter), the majority of creators and those surrounding the business are male. Even though Wizard used to cook up "Comic Book Babes and Hunks" a column devoted to animated hotties, the majority of today's message board talk is about the female heroine's portrayed in the latest pages, and no mention of the hotties that are behind the creation of the book.

The dearth of female creators has led to a drastic oversight in the comic book world. Ladies, I know you're out there--but guess what? Some of these comic creator guys are cute! So cute in fact that they are worthy of being recognized for something oft overlooked in a business that is predominately male. So in the name of meaningless awards like the Grammy's and the Golden Globe awards, I give you the first annual CCC, or Mary E Brickthrower's Top 10 Cutest Comic Creators. This list has been pain-stakingly put together to honor the hard working eye candy of the comic book world.

10-Ale Garza-I first spotted Garza at the 2004 Dynamic Forces convention in New Jersey due to his camouflage hat and kickass Deftones T-shirt. Turns out this guy can draw, too! It is hard to deny Garza's talent as an artist, with his recent work on Batgirl in addition to his hip fashion sense. Garza plays it like a rock star as a member of the of the Wildstorm studio Blog Collective Gelatometti. He is also happily married and has a cute little boy. If Garza is the future of comic book art, then the future is looking fine.

9-Cary Nord-Cary had done some fill-in work for the Big 2 including a stint on Daredevil. However he was virtually unknown until his lush art was picked to fill the pages of the re-launch heard round the world with Conan, written by Kurt Busiek for Dark Horse. Cary was introduced to me at the Toronto National Convention this year, and his smile and bright blue eyes were enough for me to get a picture with him. Cary was a genuinely nice guy and easily approachable. Nord embodies a relaxed cuteness as easy on the eyes as his art.

8-Michael Avon Oeming-The first official member for the M.O.B. (although not the last) to make it on the CCC, Oeming is as enterprising and energetic as he is attractive. Mike has made waves as Powers co-creator but now touts a well received Thor storyline and more upcoming writing projects for Marvel (Beta Ray Bill). Oeming has always been a great man to his fans, personable and set up at most any con he can make it to, including the smaller ones that take place in Philadelphia once a month. He is also an amateur director (go to his site to view his film work) and is in the process of working on a film version of his recent work Six (put out by Image). Oeming is "buff" and is one of the funniest creators I've ever met. A winning combination that makes him worthy of all the attention he has garnered.

7-Stuart Sayger-Leonardo Dicaprio look-alike, Sayger is not only cute, but borderline gorgeous. Sayger rivals Ale Garza when it comes to fashion sense, and his presence on the convention floor is brilliant, intense and just downright hot! Including a re-release of the indie horror comic Shiver in the Dark #1 and producing art for an upcoming DC trading card set, be sure to keep your eye on this cutie, you'll say you stalked him way back when.

6-Jim Lee-Jim Lee is uber-cute in a way that I just want to wrap him up and take him home whenever I've encountered him at a convention. He is almost always seen sporting the same casual look: a baseball cap and thousand watt smile. Despite all outward appearances, Lee is a busy man. He founded and is Executive Director of Wildstorm (a division of DC), illustrates Superman, attends in-store signings with his fellow Wildstorm cohorts and yet still has time to give away signed items on his daily updated online blog, the aforementioned Gelatometti. Jim has always been extremely nice to me, which is much appreciated after enduring the longest lines I've ever seen convention-wise to meet him…and he likes cigars to boot. Lee just recently returned from time abroad in Italy-so hopefully that means seeing more of smokin! Mr. Lee in 2005-and the ease of enjoying his charm on this side of the pond now.

5-Geoff Johns-DC's writer extraordinaire and excellent eye candy, Geoff Johns often changes his look by shaving off his goatee and moustache. Bearded or not, Johns maintains dark and mysterious good looks. Johns is known for single handedly rejuvenating titles like JSA, The Flash and Teen Titans in addition to most recently writing Green Lantern: Rebirth. He's also a family-oriented man; Star Spangled Kid was revamped by Johns and it is rumored to represent Johns' little sister who past away in a tragic accident. A sad story, but illustrates the softer and sweeter side to this man and his comics.

4-Michael Turner-Turner is almost too good and too cute to be true. He began his professional career as a background artist at Top Cow but made a name for himself with the co-creation of Witchblade in 1995. Turner has since developed and has sole creation rights to the immensely popular Fathom and most recently Soulfire. It is his recent DC covers (more accurately a particular Batman/Superman cover that featured Supergirl) that have sent fan-boy's hearts aflutter. Fan-girls, on the other hand, can get a thrill of their own by catching this gorgeous man's pearly whites and baby blue eyes at their nearest convention. Now at DC and cover artist for the critically acclaimed Identity Crisis, this is one creator that draws people that are "almost" as breath-taking as he is.

3-Darick Robertson-I'm sure that I've sounded like a broken record to many of my co-workers at my old comic book shop job as well as my fellow staffers on this site whenever Darick Roberston was mentioned. Inevitably, if he is brought up in "shop talk," I wax poetic on the brilliance of "my" artist. A sincerely loyal creator to both his work and his fans, Robertson is known for his work with Warren Ellis on Transmetropolitan. Most recently his Marvel exclusive contract put him on his two dream projects: Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Darick is happily married and the father of one beautiful son (and one on the way!). He may be taken, but dammit if he doesn't make for one cute comic creator…and an even cuter Jedi. Darick-you know I love you baby!

2-John Cassaday-Oh Mr. Cassaday-I knew not of your stunningly good looks until the 2004 Wizard World Chicago convention, where Marvel editor Nick Lowe introduced us. I was reduced to a giggling schoolgirl. Cassaday is the rock star of the comic book biz, a rebel with talent, with hair even girl's are jealous of. His likeness was written into Planetary, his co-creation along with Warren Ellis, so it seems even other creators seem to find him irresistible. Even his biography is modeled as if to speak of a legend during a montage before a prestigious award is given: it is compiled of testimonials from comic creators/friends and even the disgruntled and heart broken ex-girlfriend of which he has no doubt left many in every city he visits. Yes, "man-pretty" can be applied to John Cassaday but I think "Adonis" will suffice.

1-David Mack-When I first started the difficult and exhausting research necessary to concoct this list, one name and a face kept popping up whenever the words "cute" and "creator" were put together. That name was David Mack. Mr. Mack can usually be seen at a con, dressed head to toe in black, reeling in fan after fan with his own magnetic-charmed force field that emanates from his table. "Intense" is the best adjective to describe the aura that surrounds David, but there are many others that will suffice; talented, compassionate, modest, funny, handsome and dare I say…built? (I dare!) While in Toronto for "Ghetto-Con 2004" I helped some of the creators by grabbing them food or drinks if I passed by and was heading that way. Mack was one of those creators in need of liquid refreshment and by the end of the con he let me pick out a couple prints from his table as thanks for the simple favor I performed. That's David for you. He is so kind and generous that its hard to forget his talent (Kabuki creator and member of the M.O.B.) or his face. Like his haunting, multi-media approach to his work, Dave will leave an indelible impression on every fan-boy or girl or alike.

There you have it, the definitive Top 10 Cutest Comic Creators of 2004. All certified and 100% Girl Porn Approved©. As we settle into a new year, remember there is more to the comic books you buy every month; it is more than just talented writers or illustrators behind that comic but sometimes a super cute face as well!

++++++++++++++++end of transmission++++++++++++

[Editor's Note: Mr. Miller edited but made no contributions to the selection process other than the phrase "man pretty" for John Cassaday because he's so dreamy. Mr. Miller doesn't care because he's married and doesn't swing that way. Not that there's anything wrong with that….]

Did everyone get that? Mr. Miller's not gay.
Go here if you want to see the pictures: http://www.simplyjd.com/articles/ttccc.shtml

Chris

The Angriest Dog in the World

2005-02-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

The dog who is so angry he cannot move. He cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He can just barely growl. Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he approaches the state of rigor martis.
About the comic strip

David Lynch had the idea for the comic strip in 1973 when his life was filled with inexplicable anger. He visited a psychiatrist to find out about the origins of it but left after the honest man told him that therapy could affect his creativity. He subsequently discovered meditation that freed him from his anger, so according to Lynch
"the memory of the anger is what does 'The Angriest Dog.' Not the actual anger anymore. It's sort of a bitter attitude toward life."
From 1983 on his comic strip appeared weekly in the L.A. Reader. Now
"they pulled the plug on The Angriest Dog In The World. That was in 92! It went for nine years, and it had a good run."
David Lynch
"Well, I had tremendous anger. When I began meditating [in 1973], one of the first things that left was a great chunk of that. I don't know how, it just evaporated."
Why is the Angriest Dog in the World so angry?
David Lynch: "That's a mystery. Certain clues come from the world around him."
How much time have you spent on that strip in total?
David Lynch: "A long time. I've been doing it every week for seven or eight years. Every Monday is Dog day because I have to come up with a dog, and occasionally I've gone as late as Wednesday, but there's still time to get it in the paper."
"Yes, it is perverse because the humor in the strip is based on the sickness of people's pitiful state of unhappiness and misery. But it thrills me."

The comic strip was always introduced by the words:
The dog who is so angry he cannot move. He cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He can just barely growl. Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he approaches the state of rigor martis.
then ever followed by the same four pictures including balloons with remarks by the (invisible) family Bill, Sylvia, Pete and Billy junior, e.g.:
"The only way you have exceeded my expectations is in weight."
"The psychological origin of the idea of space, or of the necessity for it, is far from being so obvious as it may appear."
"It must be clear even to the non-mathematician that the things in this world just don't add up to beans."
"Unfortunately, life contains an unavoidable element of unpredictability."
I'll keep running these weekly until I receive a cease and desist.
Chris

2005-02-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

Someone emailed me to let me know that there were copies of Punch and Judy at www.adebooks.com: http://www.abetitles1.com/Title/776379/Punch+and+Judy+a+Grand+Guignol.html
I was thrilled. Not honored, but thrilled. This means that 4 people actually disliked the book enough to try and recoup $2. I think the only reason it's never made the quarter bin is that it won't fit.
I also just discovered that both Punch books got the "look inside" treatment at amazon.com.
I thought that was nice of them. I wonder if a sales rank of 600,000th best seller is good or bad?
Ben, if you're reading this, Farewell Georgia received the same treatment. Based on royalties; it's not great.

Chris
--
Chris Reilly

2005-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Candian bar bans alcohol (You suck Richard Walls)

January 31, 2005 (Winnipeg, Manitoba) What do you call a bar without booze? A good business decision.
At least Richard Walls hopes so. He's now the owner of a bar that was once considered among the toughest joints in Western Canada.
The place is called The Occidental, but was better known as simply the Ox. Former bouncer Buzz Baizley says the Ox was one of the last of the old-time bucket-of-blood bars.
Walls, who also owns an interior-design firm, plans something more genteel. He'll be serving coffee and juice instead of beer and booze. He's hoping the makeover of the New Occidental Hotel, and it's legendary bar, will help revitalize the surrounding area of Winnipeg.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

2005-02-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

Buffalo roams into center's dressing room
Feb 1, 2005 (RAPID CITY, S.D.) A buffalo that escaped from an auction ended up in a dressing room at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center where it spent a couple of hours staring into a mirror.
The buffalo jumped over a steel panel during the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo on Sunday morning, went down an alley and got into the dressing room reserved for visiting sports teams, said Brian Maliske, the civic center's general manager.
"The door happened to be unlocked and he pushed the door open and went in," Maliske said.
The crew conducting the Black Hills Classic Buffalo Sale decided to keep the animal locked in the dressing room for the rest of the auction. During its two hour stay, it reportedly became fascinated with the image it saw in a big mirror.
Once the sale ended, a rodeo crew member coaxed the buffalo out of the dressing room and back into captivity.
The animal never got into a public area, Maliske said.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

2005-01-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

For Immediate Release

Halles Berry Bad CATWOMAN, Olivers Stoned Epic

ALEXANDER Lead 25th RAZZIE® Noms as 2004s Worst

A Complete LIST of All Nominees Appears Below This Text

An Oscar® winner calamitously miscast as a cartoon character and a big budget epic that managed to be both historical and hysterical led the pack as Golden Raspberry Award Foundation members revealed their choices for 2004s Worst Achievements in Film. Contenders for The Gala 25th Annual RAZZIES® were unveiled for the first time in a press conference celebrating both the Awards having reached the quarter century mark and the publication of Foundation founder John Wilsons new book, THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE MOVIE GUIDE.

In addition to CATWOMAN with 7 nominations and ALEXANDER with 6, this years Worst Picture list also includes the inexplicable, astoundingly unfunny sequel SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2, Ben Afflecks snowball-from-Hell yuletide comedy SURVIVING CHRISTMAS and the Wayans Brothers creepy, cross-dressing reverse-blackface farce WHITE CHICKS. Vying alongside Halle Berry for Worst Actress are Hilary Duff for CINDERELLA STORY and RAISE YOUR VOICE, Angelina Jolie for both ALEXANDER and TAKING LIVES and two pairs of risible siblings, Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen for NEW YORK MINUTE and The Wayans Sisters for WHITE CHICKS. Besides Colin Farrells comically intense portrayal of ALEXANDER, the Worst Actor field also features last years winner Affleck for both SURVIVING and JERSEY GIRL, Vin Diesel in CHRONICLES of RIDDICK, Ben Stiller (setting a new record with FIVE titles) and one of several political figures garnering RAZZIE nods this year, President George W. Bush as himself in FAHRENHEIT 9/11, for which performance he is also nominating as Worst Screen Couple paired with either Condoleeza Rice and/or His Pet Goat. For their appearances in FAHRENHEIT, both Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld got Supporting nominations. And Californias current governor Ah-Nuld Schwarzenegger is also nominated as Worst Supporting Actor for his cameo as Prince Hapi in Worst Remake contender AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS. The Uber-Nator is also one of the contenders for a Special Commemorative RAZZIE as one of five Worst RAZZIE Losers of The First 25 Years eligibility for which was determined by having amassed the most nominations over the years without ever actually winning a statuette. There are also categories dis-honoring The Worst Comedy, Drama and Musical of the First 25 Years. A complete list of nominations is included in this press release.

Nominees were determined by mailing ballots to more than 650 film professionals, film journalists and film fans from 40 U.S. states and 15 foreign countries. Often called Tinsel Towns tackiest Trophy, the RAZZIE Award itself is an intentionally cheapjack tchotchke featuring a golf-ball-sized, handcrafted RAZZberry atop a mangled Super 8 film reel thats spray-painted gold and has an estimated street value of $4.97. Ceremonies will be held the now-traditional 24 hours BEFORE That Other Award Show: 7:30pm/PST Saturday, February 26 at the historic Ivar Theatre in Hollywood.

For more information on The RAZZIE nominees, RAZZIE history or THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE MOVIE GUIDE, please inquire to: HeadBerry@razzies.com

25th Annual Golden Raspberry (RAZZIE®) Award Nominations

WORST PICTURE

ALEXANDER (Warner Bros.)

CATWOMAN (Warner Bros.)

SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2 (Triumph Films)

SURVIVING CHRISTMAS (DreamWorks)

WHITE CHICKS (Columbia/Revolution)

WORST ACTOR

Ben Affleck / JERSEY GIRL and SURVIVING CHRISTMAS

George W. Bush / FAHRENHEIT 9/11

Vin Diesel / CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK

Colin Farrell / ALEXANDER

Ben Stiller / ALONG CAME POLLY, ANCHORMAN, DODGEBALL,

ENVY and STARSKY & HUTCH

WORST ACTRESS

Halle Berry / CATWOMAN

Hilary Duff / CINDERELLA STORY and RAISE YOUR VOICE

Angelina Jolie / ALEXANDER and TAKING LIVES

Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen / NEW YORK MINUTE

Shawn & Marlon (The Wayans Sisters) / WHITE CHICKS

WORST SCREEN COUPLE

Ben Affleck & EITHER Jennifer Lopez OR Liv Tyler / JERSEY GIRL

Halle Berry & EITHER Benjamin Bratt OR Sharon Stone / CATWOMAN

George W. Bush & EITHER Condoleeza Rice OR His Pet Goat / FAHRENHEIT 9/11

Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen / NEW YORK MINUTE

The Wayans Brothers (In or Out of Drag) WHITE CHICKS

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Carmen Electra / STARKSY & HUTCH

Jennifer Lopez / JERSEY GIRL

Condoleeza Rice / FAHRENHEIT 9/11

Britney Spears / FAHRENHEIT 9/11

Sharon Stone / CATWOMAN

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Val Kilmer / ALEXANDER

Ah-Nuld Schwarzenegger / AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAZE

Donald Rumsfeld / FAHRENHEIT 9/11

Jon Voight / SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2

Lambert Wilson / CATWOMAN

WORST DIRECTOR

Bob Clark / SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2

Renny Harlin and/or Paul Schrader / EXORCIST 4: THE BEGINNING

Pitof / CATWOMAN

Oliver Stone / ALEXANDER

Keenan Ivory Wayans / WHITE CHICKS

WORST REMAKE OR SEQUEL

ALIEN v PREDATOR (20th Century-Fox)

ANACONDAS: HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (Screen Gems)

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAZE (Disney)

EXORCIST 4: THE BEGINNING (Warner Bros.)

SCOOBY DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED (Warner Bros.)

WORST SCREENPLAY

ALEXANDER, Written by Oliver Stone, Christopher Kyle and Laeta Kalogridis

CATWOMAN, Written by Theresa Rebeck and John Brancato & Michael Ferris and John Rogers

SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2, Written by Steven Paul and Gregory Poppen

SURVIVING CHRISTMAS, Written by Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont and Jeffrey Ventimilia & Joshua Sternin

WHITE CHICKS, Written by Keenan & Shawn & Marlon Wayans and Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden

and Xavier Cook

Special Worst of Our First 25 Years Awards

WORST RAZZIE LOSER of Our First 25 YEARS

Kim Basinger (With 6 Nominations Total)

Angelina Jolie (With 7 Nominations, including 2 for 2004)

Ryan ONeal (With 6 Nominations Total)

Keanu Reeves (With 7 Nominations Total)

Ah-Nuld Schwarzenegger (With 8 Nominations, including 1 for 2004)

WORST DRAMA of Our First 25 YEARS

BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000)

THE LONELY LADY (1983)

MOMMIE DEAREST (1981)

SHOWGIRLS (1995)

SWEPT AWAY (2002)

WORST COMEDY of Our First 25 YEARS

ADVENTURES of PLUTO NASH (2002)
THE CAT IN THE HAT (2003)
FREDDY GOT FINGERED (2001)

GIGLI (2003)
LEONARD PART 6 (1987)

WORST MUSICAL of Our First 25 YEARS

CANT STOP THE MUSIC (1980)

FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY (2003)

GLITTER (2001)

RHINESTONE (1984)

SPICE WORLD (1998)

XANADU (1980)

NOMINATIONS PER PICTURE

CATWOMAN = 7 (Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Couple, Director, Screenplay)

ALEXANDER = 6 (Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Screenplay)

WHITE CHICKS = 5 (Picture, Actress, Director, Couple, Screenplay)

FAHRENHEIT 9/11 = 5 (Actor, Couple, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress 2x)

SUPERBABIES = 4 (Picture, Supporting Actor, Director, Screenplay)

SURVIVING CHRISTMAS = 3 (Picture, Actor, Screenplay)

JERSEY GIRL = 3 (Actor, Supporting Actress, Couple)

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAZE = 2 (Supporting Actor, Remake or Sequel)

EXORCIST 4: THE BEGNINNING = 2 (Director, Remake or Sequel)

NEW YORK MINUTE = 2 (Actress, Couple)

STARSKY & HUTCH = 2 (Actor, Supporting Actress)

©2005, Golden Raspberry Award Foundation and John Wilson

2005-01-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

CBLDF NEWS:
U.S. GOVERNMENT SEIZES PARODY COMICS AT CUSTOMS
*******************************************************
U.S. Customs seized copies of the anthology Stripburger (on their way
to Top Shelf Productions), charging that the stories "Richie Bush" by
Peter Kuper and "Moj Stub" (translated from the Serbian as "My Pole")
by Bojan Redzic constituted "clearly piratical copies" of registered and
recorded copyrights. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has retained
counsel to challenge these seizures. We'll have more to report on this
soon. For the full story, click here:

Yeah, I bet that's exactly why "Richie Bush" was seized at customs. That's why customs has never seized a crate of MAD magazines containing film, television or comic book parodyies at the Canadian border. That would also explain why Mel Brooks was never sued into bankruptcy by George Lucas for "Space Balls" or Universal for "Young Frankenstein."
If customs gave an ounce of crap about copyright infringements, they would blow torch any package from Malaysia that was shaped like or weighed as much as a DVD.

Chris

2005-01-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

You have to wonder; if the tsunami tragedy had happened to the United States, would our administration think that this card was enough evidence to attack Magic The Gathering's Wizards of the Coast headquarters? And would we have seen a clip of CEO; Peter D. Adkison haveing his mustache inspected 1000 times a day on FOX news?

2005-01-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Adolph Hitlers favorite comic.

2005-01-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

Will Eisner, RIP (1917-2005)
Will Eisner passed away on January 3rd, 2005 at the age of 87 following quadruple bypass heart surgery.
What else is there to say?

2005-01-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Another intentionally dumb submission I sent to Jim Valentino: The Techno Slug.
The only feedback I ever received for the Techno Slug was in the form of a question: Why would a slug use flashlights as weapons?
My response: Oh, right. Slugs cant see. Maybe he didnt know they were flashlights (because he was blind). He would have just called them hit sticks if hed had a mouth. I have no idea what his techno costume did.

2005-01-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

This was Techno Slugs arch enemy; The Big Man. He was just a balding Solomon Grundy, with a dumb bracelet.

2005-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

Heres a cover from the fourth issue of my first series: Rogue Satellite Comics, guest staring Flaming Carrot.
Below, is the only online review I could find of the book. The guys being fair. Everyone should have been confused. It was issue four of the book, and the third part of a three part story, and the publisher called it a Special instead of issue four. Oh, and some of the pages were printed out of order. I think I was twenty six when I wrote this, so that could have factored into it sucking, as well.
Rogue Satellite Comics Special Issue
[Modern Comics $2.95 US $4.15 CAN B&W]
Written by Christopher P. Reilly / Illustrated by Kevin Atkinson

You would think that something called a "special issue" would be a good jumping on pint for new readers. Not so for this comic. I wouldnt have even picked it up but my retailer pointed out that Flaming Carrot made an appearance so I flipped through it and the since the art looked decent I figured what the heck.
The story revolves around a villain named Kingfish manipulating time. If most of the comic had focused on the few characters in the Kingfish sections of the book I might have been able to follow the story. As it was the action jumped from place to place throwing lots of characters into the mix and made for a very confusing read. The Flaming Carrot appearance was equally confusing and didnt seem to have much to do with what was going on. Im sure if I had all of the previous Rogue Satellite Comics issues I wouldnt have been as confused and probably would have enjoyed the story.
The most positive thing I can say about Rogue Satellite Comics Special Issue is the artwork was good. There were certainly a lot of imaginatively designed heroes and villains.

I did get to work with Bob Burden (for about an hour)

2005-01-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

I had to just reprint this from Ben Towle's blog: "Best news EVER
January 4th, 2005
The Flaming Carrot is back!

One of my all time favorite comics series, The Flaming Carrot, originally published in the 80s, is cranking up for a new run with Image Comics. To really bring back the feeling of those halcyon days of the 1980s, be sure to buy an extra copy so youll have one to read, and one to immediately hermetically seal in a mylar bag!" Here's a link to a ten page preview: http://www.flamingcarrot.com/FC/preview/index.html

2005-01-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

The best shirt on eBay.

2005-01-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

I am curios (black)!
What makes less sense; the cover or its title?
Further proof that comic book writers are typically as in touch with the times as Dick Cheney, still trying to further the Nixon agenda.

2005-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the Boxing Bucket sat in a Mr. Softie Deep Seat Executive Traditional office Chair, waving an angry fist at all who walked by, swearing that they would all buy his hibachi.

2004-12-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what your Wu-Tang name is (Wu-Name)? Go to: http://www.blazonry.com/scripting/wuname.php
Mines Quiet Overlord.

2004-12-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

According to Shmoo legend, the lovable creature laid eggs, gave milk and died of sheer esctasy when looked at with hunger. The Shmoo loved to be eaten and tasted like any food desired. Anything that delighted people delighted a Shmoo. Fry a Shmoo and it came out chicken. Broil it and it came out steak. Shmoo eyes made terrific suspender buttons. The hide of the Shmoo if cut thin made fine leather and if cut thick made the best lumber. Shmoo whiskers made splendid toothpicks. The Shmoo satisfied all the world's wants. You could never run out of Shmoon (plural of Shmoo) because they multiplied at such an incredible rate. The Shmoo believed that the only way to happiness was to bring happiness to others. Li'l Abner discovered Shmoos when he ventured into the forbidden Valley of the Shmoon, against the frantic protestations of Ol' Man Mose. "Shmoos," he warned, "is the greatest menace to hoomanity th' world has evah known." "Thass becuz they is so bad, huh?" asked Li'l Abner. "No, stupid," answered Mose, hurling one of life's profoundest paradoxes at Li'l Abner. "It's because they're so good!"
So, why the hell does this Shmoo have a skeleton?!
http://michaelpaulus.com/gallery/character-Skeletons

2004-12-26T07:10:00.000-08:00

Unless the gorilla is named Boom Boom Brannigan, we pretty much know how this one ends Urko the gorilla almost succeeds.
Take that, Urko.

2004-12-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

The timelessness of douche baggery

2004-12-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

The Ameriman says:

THE STOMP!

2004-12-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

This is my all time favorite anti-hero creation; THE STOMP! His only power was that he could stomp anything. He wasnt indestructible though. If you shot him, and he wasnt quick enough to stomp the bullet, hed die like Bambis mom. The best way to kill him would be with poison, because you cant really stomp poison.
The Stomp!

2004-12-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

2004 Ignatz nominated (outstanding debut) HECTOR MORTEMS CASTLE FREAK, page 1
Here are the first three pages in color. I wrote this three pager and Jorge Santillan drew it.
Jorge is currently drawing the German version of Duel Masters. Check out his site: http://www.jorgesantillan.vze.com/

2004-12-18T19:09:00.001-08:00

2004 Ignatz nominated (outstanding debut) HECTOR MORTEMS CASTLE FREAK page 2

2004-12-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

2004 Ignatz nominated (outstanding debut) HECTOR MORTEMS CASTLE FREAK page 3

“What does the Dandy Ram do?”

2004-12-18T18:52:00.000-08:00
“What does the Dandy Ram do?”
-- Anonymous

The Dandy Ram is often called the king of the hill and this seems to be very true, as he is perfectly adapted to living on very steep slopes, because he has grappling hook guns. Dandy Ram has a thick white to yellowish collar on his jacket that protects him from cold and allows him to live in regions where about nine months of the year are winter, but he chooses not to (live in these regions).
Steep, rocky cliffs found in alpine and sub-alpine areas should be the main habitat of this man, buy he likes Manhattan. This Dandy Ram lives in high elevations, atop skyscrapers and observes the world from the bird's eye-view. These areas are usually covered with snow in the winter, yet this does not prevent the Dandy Ram from wandering freely in most cold climes. His wool collard jacket is not only a good insulator, but also a hiding mechanism that allows him to appear unnoticeable to police and super heroes. By July, the Dandy Ram is completely coatless, and prefers a tank top.

Unlike other criminals that have to bound when traveling in deep snow, the Dandy Ram tends to plough through it. Since balance is very important to him, he has rubber rubber-like pads on his boots. These pads provide for efficient traction that is absolutely indispensable for criminals such as the Dandy Ram.

Life Span: He should live for 65-80 years in the wilds of NY but may die when an over zealous super hero decides to drop him off of a building. In captivity/prison, he could live from 75 to 90 years, but odds are he’d get shanked in intake.
Diet: Vodka, Gray’s Papaya hotdogs and papaya drink. He usually smokes eight cigarettes for breakfast.
Preferred Crime: He’s a jack of all crimes, but master of none.

2004-12-17T02:31:00.000-08:00

Ever reach that point in life when you get sick of pitching good ideas to Jim Valentino? I sure did. So I figured Id pitch the worst super hero concept ever; RED EYE, With Fire Fists.
Red Eyes power was his curse (thats the hook). One day his hands caught fire, and nothing known to science, god or man (pick a pecking order) could extinguish them. Red Eye wears that thick scarf over his mouth, because he is always screaming in pain. Red Eye cant sleep, because hes in too much pain, and even if he could sleep, hed burn the bed.
Red Eye channels his agony by fighting crime; with fire. He pretty much just walks up to crooks and lights them on fire. They all knew his fiery touch, but never heard his screams because he used that huge scarf to muffle them

2004-12-17T02:29:00.000-08:00

And then there was the Dandy Ram.

My writing parter, Steve, on STRANGE EGGS

2004-12-16T19:17:00.000-08:00
A couple of years ago my writing partner Chris Reilly and I had four really good ideas in various stages of development at several animation studios, including Disney. The projects were Little Oz Squad, Hector Mortem's Castle Freak, Girl-World and Strange Eggs. Of the four, Strange Eggs went the furthest, with there actually being a pilot commissioned and as far as I've heard, completed for the Christian Learning Network or some such.
When we structure any kind of a deal, we always try to keep all the comic book rights to anything we develope. Usually the studio or agency is willing to give up the comic rights because there's no money in comics, and we love comics, and basically write them for free anyway.
What happened with Strange Eggs though is that we were offered the use of the CLN corporate offices in order to coordinate our efforts on the first issue. Our plan was to find as many independent comic creators as we could to do whatever wacky, zany ideas based on the concept that came out off there heads.
When the powers that be saw the pilot and the comic pages that came in, they closed down the entire project. They kept all the comic pages and destroyed the pilot (though I here there may be some copies floating around out there, I've never seen it.) After six months of letters from my extraordinary kung fu lawyer Kaz, they finally admitted to having destroyed all the files they had on our project, but they did have a listing of all the people who sent stories in. This allowed us to contact the original contributors and get them to send us copies of the stuff they did.
The end result is the comic Strange Eggs, coming out sometime in the summer of 2005 from Slave Labor Graphics.
Weirdly enough, shortly after Slave Labor made their announcement a former animator out of Georgia named Willis Johnson put up www.strangeeggs.com which covers most of the history of our project, and even for a short time had our pilot up (in shitty realplayer format), but CLN told him to pull it down. We've contacted him and we'll be sending him some art from the project soon and hopefully give him some pointers on grammar and web design. Years ago I was approached by a fan of my comic Oz Squad at an Indy comic-con in Vermont named Willis who lambasted me for my portrayal of Glinda and my non-inclusion of the Glass Cat. I don't know if it's the same guy.

2004-12-16T03:31:00.000-08:00

Strange Egg of the day: TV EGG: You just have to wonder what sort of god would do that; who wants to sit around and watch the twentyfour hour EGG Chanel. Everyone hates TV Egg.

2004-12-16T03:25:00.000-08:00

This was for a Sep. 11th benefit book, written Sep 12, 2001, completed Sep 16, but was deemed well, youll see.
For the first time ever, I give you Reilly & Laessigs: Xenfolie a Deux.
Looking back, I think we were overly kind to Bush and has gang of thugs.
Page 1

2004-12-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

Reilly & Laessigs: Xenfolie a Deux, page 2

2004-12-16T03:22:00.001-08:00

Reilly & Laessigs: Xenfolie a Deux, page 3

2004-12-16T03:22:00.000-08:00

Reilly & Laessigs: Xenfolie a Deux, Page 4

2004-12-16T03:05:00.000-08:00

This is/was The Trouble With Igors second false start. Its on course with Gus Fink, whos up to page sixteen.
Lets call this How different artists interpret a script.

2004-12-16T02:39:00.000-08:00

TTWI Page 1, Tom

2004-12-16T02:38:00.000-08:00

TTWI Page 2, Gus

2004-12-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

TTWI Page 2, Tom

2004-12-16T02:36:00.000-08:00

TTWI Page 3, Gus

2004-12-16T02:35:00.000-08:00

TTWI Page 3, Tom

2004-12-15T01:29:00.000-08:00

One of the many histories of the Boxing Bucket:
Known Occupations: poet, professor, noisician, forger, sailor, pimp, lumberjack, thief, boxer
During his time in Paris, Boxing Bucket would take control of his life by changing his identity weekly. Not only his name, but also his whole appearance and personality would be completely different each and every single week. Each new personality would never have any memory of any of the former identities. No one could deal with such a polywave of mannerism. Boxing Bucket however, thrived.
Boxing Bucket's messy brilliance, as cultural provocateur, is represented by his pledge to publicly commit suicide. The auditorium filled with curious Parisians. Boxing Bucket appeared, but he accused them of simple voyeurism, and then delivered an exceptionally detailed three hour lecture on entropy!
His guerrilla art magazine "Slop-Bucket!" was a prototype for the modern zine produced since the 1970's.
Boxing Bucket filled his poems and critical writings with longing references to freedom and new frontiers alongside hallucinatory prose fragments and seemingly arbitrary yet bilious personal assaults on his fellow artists.
Boxing Bucket traveled widely after the outbreak of the First World War. In New York City he fell in love with the Americas sweetheart Mary Pickford. They traveled together to Argentina, where Boxing Bucket disappeared in 1918. Boxing Bucket had been spotted in both Paris and New York in the 1930s & '40s; but to this day, nobody knows what really happened to him.

2004-12-15T01:11:00.000-08:00

Strange Egg of the day: PANT EGG: Egg that wears denim blue jeans. It is believed that this egg is also capable of donning Dockers kakis, but it doesn't!

2004-12-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Courtroom Sketch by Richard Rockwell.
The People vs. Mario Van Peebles. Where the state alleged that Van Peeples was in fact
C. Thomas Howell s. Mark Watson
Character from SOUL MAN, grown up.
SOUL MAN was described by Prosecutors as:
Regrettable exercise in trying to resolve racial issues through

humor, resulting in compounding the problem. A white youth,

unable to get into college because of minority preference rules,

poses as a black student (!) and receives a scholarship which, it

turns out, would have otherwise gone to the black girl student at

the very same university whom he just happens to fall in love with.

What a bunch of coincidences! What a conundrum! What a

disastrous concept! The unlikelihood of the imposture succeeding

is only the chief blunder; fear not, there are many others to

discover. Amazingly, a competent cast signed up for this idiotic

movie, including C. Thomas Howell, who specializes in looking

good in bad movies, and, more surprisingly, James Earl Jones,

who plays a black college law professor who can't tell that C.

Thomas is wearing blackface. And you wonder why students don't

learn anything in college.
It is still unknown why the trial was held in a boxing ring, or why the Boxing Bucket was a key witness in this case.

2004-12-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

The Boxing Bucket

There was once a bucket that people spit in. The bucket was spit in by a wide range of people. One day Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney spit in it simultaneously and from then on it became a prerequisite for Hollywood tough guys to visit said bucket, and huck it a loogie into the cylindrical vessel.
Tough guys from all over Burbank lined up to lob one into the bucket. Tough guys like:
Lee Van Cleef (famed master ninja, and mobster, ninja shooter, as demonstrated in the Octagon), Lee Marvin (Liberty Valence), John Wayne (The man who really shot Liberty Valence), Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Humphrey Bogart, Clint Eastwood, Dean the Five Card Stud Martin, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charlton Hesston (made the bucket the first, official non human member of the NRA)
One day, after being spit in by William Shatner, the bucket noticed that it had grown arms and legs. On October 14, 1988, to the buckets surprise, instead of hands, he had boxing gloves.
Several days later, Mickey Rourke, while on his Ill fight any drunken bum for a boxing title tour, the now known as Boxing Bucket was challenged by Pope of Greenwich Village, to twelve rounds of leather slapping fisticuffs.
Mickey chose not to spit in the bucket, too selfish to chance that his saliva might more empower the Boxing Bucket

Next page The Boxing Bucket vs. Homeboy

2004-12-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

As a promotional teaser, CLN (Christian Learning Network) asked comic book creators Steve Ahlquist (Oz Squad), Chris Reilly (Punch and Judy), and Ben Towle (Farewell, Georgia) to edit a promotional magazine for strange eggs. So, in the tradition of Nickelodeon magazine, they hired a bunch of indy comic creators to create the short stories that would comprise CLNs "SEAM" (Strange Eggs Adventures Magazine.)

The resulting stories were deemed too disturbingly inappropriate for children that the CLN halted the magazines production.

So repulsed by the Strange Eggs stories created for SEAM that in an unprecedented corporate move CLN reverted the rights to all of the stories created for SEAM back to their creators.

2004-12-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

The original five page Hector Mortem's "CastleFreak!" strip from 2001. This strip was never used, but Hector was a featured player in Punch and Judy: A Grand Guignol, and had a guest appetence in PUPHEDz: The Legitimate Puppet Society.
You can re-visit Hector this summer in Slave Labor Graphic's PUNCH AND JUDY: TWICE TOLD TALES.

2004-12-13T08:36:00.002-08:00

The original five page Hector Mortem's "CastleFreak!" strip from 2001

2004-12-13T08:36:00.001-08:00

The original five page Hector Mortem's "CastleFreak!" strip from 2001

2004-12-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

The original five page Hector Mortem's "CastleFreak!" strip from 2001

2004-12-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

The original five page Hector Mortem's "CastleFreak!" strip from 2001

2004-12-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

The finished art for TTWI

The Trouble With Igor, from script to art

2004-12-11T10:55:00.000-08:00
THE TROUBLE WITH IGOR
by
Banco Del Ladron (AKA Chris Reilly)

Page 1, panel 1
Igor is stirring a boiling pot over a campfire. Igor seems a bit down. He looks around at the barren land he’s drifted to, which is as inviting as Death Valley. He’s living the Igor life. Off in the distance we can see the smoldering remains of Castle Frankenstein.

Page 1, panel 2
Igor dips a ladle in and pulls out a steaming shoe, which
will be revealed as a penny loafer.

PAGE ONE Igor looks a bit unhappy, not really wanting to eat a shoe, but
given his local, a shoe is probably the best you could expect.

Page 1, panel 3
Igor sits down on a log, with the steaming shoe on a plate in his lap, as he starts to go at it with a knife and fork.

Page 1, panel 4
Close up of shoe, as Igor starts to slice into it, his knife stopping short of nicking a penny which he sees is still lodged in it.

Page 1, panel 5
Igor suddenly looks really happy.

Page 1, panel 6
Igor is walking away, staring joyfully at his new penny. This may be the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

Script for "Better on the Moon"

2004-12-11T03:23:00.000-08:00
Here’s a script I wrote for Gus Fink. My friend Steve said I went to far with one scene, and I think he’s correct. But, in honor of the obstinence I’ve obsorbed from being in close proximity of him for so long, I left it in.

Undead Ned & Pumpkin Billy: Better on the Moon

By Chris Reilly

PAGE ONE

Page 1, panel 1
UNDEAD NED and PUMPKIN BILLY sit on a large tombstone, in a graveyard full of ghosts and the walking dead.
Undead Ned is a Clive Barker, Cenobite looking dude. He’s clad in leather, and straps. He has a face that looks as though it is decomposing, and an invisible hand pulls it from behind, making his skin stretch away from his mouth an ocular cavities.
Pumpkin Billy is just a short, dumpy little guy, with a Jack O’Lantern for a head.
Igor strolls happily by.

Caption: On a night not unlike any other, Undead Ned was hanging out with his friend, Pumpkin Billy.

Caption: Igor was out for a stroll.

Pumpkin Billy: Hey, Undead Ned?

Undead Ned: Hey, Pumpkin Billy.

Page 1, panel 2
Undead Ned is looking at a couple of zombies attacking, and biting Igor. Igor is startled and terrified.

Caption: Oh, no; not Igor!

PUMPKIN BILLY: What’cha thinking about.

UNDEAD NED: I was thinking about how life would be better on the moon. Think about it…

Page 1, panel 3
Cut to UNDEAD NED and PUMPKIN BILLY on the moon, jumping up and down, really high. They are ecstatic.

Caption: We could jump, high as an Allen Sheppard golf ball.

Page 1, panel 4
UNDEAD NED lands softly on the ground, as PUMPKIN BILLY (still in the air) gets the top of his head chopped off by the Sputnik satellite: http://octopus.gma.org/surfing/resource/images/sputnik.gif

Sputnik: Смерть к тыкве!

PUMPKIN BILLY: GAH!!!

SFX: SPLACH

UNDEAD NED: I love the moon!

Page 1, panel 5
UNDEAD NED and PUMPKIN BILLY are throwing rocks at giant moon monsters UNDEAD NED is having a blast; PUMPKIN BILLY is a bit concerned. The rocks bounce off the moon rock monsters like rubber balls off a brick wall. The moon monsters are made of rock. They are two dimensional looking creatures. They look as if they were carved like ginger bread cookie men, out of a twelve foot high, three foot thick slab of granite. They look like waling pork chops with stubby legs, and massive arms. Moon monsters are always angry. One holds a bolder over his head, the other tosses one at our guys.

Caption: We could have a moon rock fight, with moon rock monsters.

PUMPKIN BILLY: Maybe picking a rock fight with giant rock monsters was a bad idea.
UNDEAD NED: Wrong. It was a great idea! Throw more rocks!

Page 6, panel 6
Moon Rock Monster drops a boulder on PUMPKIN BILLY. UNDEAD NED points at monster, and taunts him with strange bravado.

SFX: BOMPH

UNDEAD NED: Is that the best you got?! There’s a slim to none chance that he’s still alive, tough-guy-with-a-boulder!

PAGE TWO

Page 2, panel 1
Cut back to the haunted graveyard. UNDEAD NED and PUMPKIN BILLY are still sitting on the tombstone. UNDEAD NED is still watching the zombies feast on Igor, now, technically a corpse. There’s not much left but scattered bits of skin, muscle, bone and gristle. PUMPKIN BILLY is oblivious to this.

PUMPKIN BILLY: I guess the moon’d be okay-kinda-sort-of.

UNDEAD NED: “Okay-kinda-sort-of”?! What about the Moon Maidens? On the moon the Moon, Maidens outnumber men three to one.

Page 2, panel 2
On the moon; UNDEAD NED snuggles with a hot moon girl, as he points, laughing at PUMPKIN BILLY. PUMPKIN BILLY has a fat, ugly, moon woman taking a bloody bite out of his shoulder.

UNDEAD NED: Ha-ha! You’re Moon Maiden’s a fat cannibal.

SFX: CHOMPH

PUMPKIN BILLY: YARGH!

Page 2, panel 3
Cut back to the haunted graveyard. UNDEAD NED and PUMPKIN BILLY are still sitting on the tombstone. UNDEAD NED is still watching the zombies feed on the corpse of Igor. There is nothing left but bloody bones, which the zombies rip from the skeleton, to suck out the marrow. PUMPKIN BILLY is, characteristically oblivious to this.

PUMPKIN BILLY: What would we do for moon money?

UNDEAD NED: We could get jobs as moon janitors, or run for moon office.

Page 2, panel 4
Cut to a bunch of moon men (about 7) cheering for UNDEAD NED, who stands behind a podium. There is a banner behind him that reads “Undead Ned, Elected Supreme Dictator of the Moon” Moon Men all look like Hooper from Strange Eggs.
PUMPKIN BILLY, stands beside him, wearing overalls, holding a dripping, wet mop. PUMPKIN BILLY looks at UNDEAD NED, and is shouting angrily.

UNDEAD NED: As my first act as Supreme Dictator of the moon; I’d like to appoint Pumpkin Billy, my personal bathroom attendant.

PUMPKIN BILLY: You suck, UNDEAD NED!

Page 2, panel 5
Same as previous, except PUMPKIN BILLY’s head has fallen in shame, as Undead Ned, points at him, angrily.

UNDEAD NED: As my second act as Supreme Dictator of the moon, I demote Pumpkin Billy to the moon’s first, living open mouth toilet.

Page 2, panel 6
Cut to Undead Ned pissing in PUMPKIN BILLY’s mouth, while two Moon Men hold him down, in a really gross bathroom. PUMPKIN BILLY is crying. There is piss spilling out of his mouth and trickling from his nose.

Undead Ned: Ha!

Pumkinhead Ned: glorple…PAGE THREE

Page 3, panel 1
UNDEAD NED is still looking at the zombies, devouring the corpse of Igor. There’s not much left but the ribcage and skull.
PUMPKIN BILLY has a solemn, earnest look about him as he looks at UNDEAD NED.

UNDEAD NED: Any job’d be better than the one’s we have.

Page 3, panel 2
We now switch perspectives. We are behind UNDEAD NED and PUMPKIN BILLY. UNDEAD NED watches the zombies walk away, tossing the marrow drained bones. They’ve left nothing but a skull. PUMPKIN BILLY is still looking at UNDEAD NED, with the same expression.

PUMPKIN BILLY: We don’t have jobs, Undead Ned.

Page 3, panel 3
Close up of UNDEAD NED (talking head shot) we know that he’s looking at the skull, but we don’t need to show it.

Page 3, panel 4
Close up of skull. It’s a sad sight. It’s all that’s left of what once was a human being; what was once Igor.

Page 3, panel 5
This is a lot like panel one, minus the walking dead and ghosts, to give it a sense of loneliness. The sun is starting to rise. UNDEAD NED looks ponderous. PUMPKIN BILLY is just now looking at the skull.

UNDEAD NED: Pumpkin Billy.

PUMPKIN BILLY: Yeah, Undead Ned?

Page 3, panel 6
Same as previous panel, except UNDEAD NED has bowed his head in sadness. PUMPKIN BILLY is pointing at the skull, and happily shouting.

UNDEAD NED: It sucks to be me.

PUMPKIN BILLY: Free skull!

Caption: Could this be the end of Igor?

Punch And Judy: Twice Told Tales and Strange Eggs

2004-12-11T03:19:00.000-08:00
The “Punch and Judy: Twice Told Tales” TPB and “Strange Eggs” Anthology solicitations are both at Diamond, and will be in their February Previews catalogue. Punch and Judy will be available at most bookstores and Amazon.com.
Strange Eggs contain stories by:
Ian Carney & Woodrow Phoenix (Sugar Buzz, Pants Ant Trouser Hour)
Darron Laessig (The Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy, Punch and Judy: A Grand Guignol)
Ben Towle (Farewell Georgia, 2004 Eisner Nominee)
Rodger Langridge (Fred the Clown)
Crab Scrambly (Everything Can Be Beaten, The 13th of Never)
Tommy Kovac (Stitch, Autumn)
Steve Ahlquist (Oz Squad, Strange Eggs Creator, Hector Mortem's Castle Freak)
Jorge Santillan (Punch and Judy: A Grand Guignol, Hector Mortem's Castle Freak)
Dave Ray (Oz Squad)
Kerry Callen (Halo and Sprocket)
Chris Reilly (The Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy, Punch and Judy: A Grand Guignol, Strange Eggs Co-Creator, Hector Mortem's Castle Freak, 2004 Ignatz Nominee)
Jennifer Feinberg & Todd Meister (Little Scrowlie)
Derf (Trashed, The City)
Jon Adams (Truth Serum)
Jamie Smart (Bear)
Scott Saavedra (Dr. Radium)
And several “to be announced” special guests.

I’ve always maintained that anthollogies inherently suck, but I believe the folks involved have proven me wrong. Everyone did a great job and I can’t thank them enough.
There’s a guy named Willis Johnson who put up a fansite www.strangeeggs.com that looks like it was created using CompuServe in 1996.

Chris Reilly
www.slavelabor.com

2004-12-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

First Look at Jamie Smart's "Strange Eggs" cover.