frankbeaton

CBR has a preview up for THIS IS A SOUVENIR, a new anthology of short comics inspired by the songs of English indie-pop band Spearmint. The PHONOGRAM guys are in there, as is Chynna Clugsten, Jamie S. Rich, and a whole bunch of other people with good taste in music.

The preview includes three pages from my contribution, “My Girlfriend is a Killer,” art by Ryan Stark. Here’s a page from it:

Okay, I finally got rid of the Twitter feed and deleted all the blog entries it created. I’d installed it as a way to keep the content dynamic when I knew I wasn’t going to be blogging much, but the damn thing took over the site and caused me to lose more than a few subscribers. Lesson learned. I guess it’s better to have an infrequently updated blog than a half-assed pseudo blog full of one-liners and out-of-context replies to other people’s one-liners.

I also got tired of the flowery design and reverted back to the old one — at least until I find something I like better.

Fresh from my sources inside Fox Studios, here is a (partial) list of working titles for Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s daring new show about how pretty Eliza Dushku is:

Eliza is Pretty
The Pretty Eliza Show
Dollhouse
Hey Everybody, Look At How Pretty Eliza Is
J + E 4-EVA
I Hope My Wife, Mrs. Whedon, Doesn’t See This
The Eliza Whedon Hour

Dollhouse airs Friday nights at 9:00 on FOX.

Will she still be pretty next week? Will she be even prettier? Tune in to find out!

A couple decides to hold their son’s bar mitzvah in Kenya, to ensure that their boy has an entirely unique and original experience. So the whole family is on elephants on their way to the venue, when they get stalled on the road. The father asks their guide what’s the hold-up, and the guide says, “Oh yeah, sorry. There’s another bar mitzvah ahead of you guys.”

Ain’t it the truth.

The way we feel about Alaska right now? You know: led by an unqualified and hateful executive, and full of proudly ignorant rednecks who keep electing criminals to office?

That’s how the rest of the world has viewed THE ENTIRE COUNTRY for the last eight years.

At least Alaska never set up a gulag.

Just a quick note: the Image Comics western anthology OUTLAW TERRITORY (in which I have a story with Turkish artist Melike Acar) is in the current issue of Previews and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The book arrives in stores October 15th.

You’re going to like this one. There are some excellent stories in it from a group of very talented creators, many of whom are not even me. (I know!)

But seriously, folks. Grek Pak, Ivan Brandon, Christopher Mitten, Joe Kelly, Chris Moreno, Andy MacDonald, and like two dozen other people who are awesome — all doing stories about cowboys and shit. How cool is that?

Buying this book is the right thing to do, America. So do!

Excellent New York Times article examining the hows and whys of being an asshole on the Internet.

I’ve been waiting for an article like this. Something comprehensive. I’m too sensitive a soul to ever fully understand the desire to torment people you’ve never met, simply because “pushing people’s buttons” makes you laugh. It is, as the author put it, like sneaking up behind someone and hitting them with a baseball bat, then blaming the victim for not wearing a helmet. That complete and utter lack of empathy is fascinating.

Full article here. (registration required)

Found via Ivan’s forum.

INT. THE BAT CAVE - THAT DAY

BRUCE WAYNE is standing in front of a mirror, flexing his sculpted, shirtless torso.

BRUCE
Let's do this.

Cue AC/DC's "Back in Black." A series of quick shots show BRUCE gearing up: putting on the boots, slapping on the gloves, a brief glance across those beautiful pecs. Finally, there is no longer BRUCE WAYNE, but BATMAN standing before us.

BATMAN
Back in black.

Pyrotechnics erupt in the distance. Guitar solo.


More…

Had a fantastic time this year. Even though I’m exhausted and my feet are ready to secede from the union of my body, this proved to be the most laid-back, good-vibe-y Con I can remember.

In addition to discovering the joy and wonder of room service at the Marriott (I tell you those raviolis were stuffed with LIGHT!), we got to see a ton of old friends and hang out with some really awesome comics people. (And some less-than-awesome Hollywood people.) Plus, our professional-type efforts actually bore some fruit! I sold a couple stories and had some very interesting meetings that I’m not allowed to talk about, and Jill’s first convention as a full-fledged editor was a rousing success — so much so that, after five straight days of meeting with creators, reviewing portfolios, taking pitches and selling books, she managed to completely lose her voice, poor thing.

I’ll be posting a bunch of photos to my Flickr page in the next day or two. In the meantime, I propose the design for the Eisner award be officially changed to this:

Yep, I’m going this year.

I’ll be lurking around the Oni and Image booths a good deal of the time, so if anyone wants to say hi, get something signed, or discreetly hand me a suitcase full of cash, you know where to find me.

Also, after much toil and heartache, I managed to set up the post-by-email and MMS dealy on WordPress, so I may do some live-blogging from the convention floor with my not-quite-an-iPhone, if the fancy strikes me.

See you in the sunshine.