Happy Halloween!

Hope many of you had or are having a safe and Happy Halloween! I'd normally be working right now, but gotta be at the airport quite early, so unless I wanted to do no-sleep (which I've done several times before), I took the night off.

I do take off for LA in the morning, for my step-sister's wedding this Sunday. Then I'll be spending the week, hopefully around the LA area. I do want to visit some places, but don't know what the plans are.

As for my Halloween, I picked up Casino Royale today. It was on sale at Best Buy for $12.99, and I had a $5 off coupon from my BB Rewards. Brand new Casino Royale DVD for $7.99! Score! Haven't seen it until today, while doing the last of my laundry to finish my packing. Great movie. So looking forward to the next one.

I also spent the night giving out candy to the kids coming around. Lots of nice costumes. Kinda disappointed with the amount of older kids that don't dress up, or even say "Trick-Or-Treat." At least say something, and don't hold out a bag for free candy. Lucky for them, I had a lot of candy to get rid of.

Anyways, I'm off to bed. Not sure how much blogging I'll be doing over in LA, so this might be it until I get back.

Take care.

Michael Turner Tribute Book out NOVEMBER 5TH!

As most of you know, the passing of Michael Turner hit me pretty hard. His passing also hit the comic book industry pretty hard, as he touched so many lives.

On Wednesday November 5th, 2008, we see the release of A Tribute To Michael Turner issue, featuring contributions from many members of the comic book industry, as they share memories and pay tribute to Michael Turner.

So get to the shop next week, and pick up a copy of this issue. I'm buying three.

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Official Press Release
Aspen Comics and Comic Book Industry Team Up For Tribute To Michael Turner Issue

10-27-08

Aspen MLT Inc. is extremely proud and honored to announce the upcoming release of the Tribute To Michael Turner Issue, featuring a huge compilation of writers, creators and artists from throughout the comic book industry and beyond. Following the passing of Aspen founder and more importantly—friend on June 27th, 2008, Aspen decided to pay tribute to Turner and the legacy he leaves behind with this very special memoriam.

Some of the participating creators spoke on the project:

Frank Mastromauro: “Those first couple of months after Mike’s passing were pretty unbearable for us, but thankfully we had a lot of great friends and colleagues around the industry to lean on and lend a hand, or shoulder. So many people were asking what we’d be doing for Mike, and this tribute book came to life. I can’t express how grateful we are to everyone who took time out to participate in this issue. It’s the most meaningful book we’ve ever done as a company, and the amount of support we received for this tribute book was truly overwhelming.”

Jeph Loeb: “When Aspen (Frank, Peter, Vince) asked about doing this tribute book you could put a razor blade between "Do you want -- " and my "Hell, yes!” Mike was a friend -- the best kind -- but he also was a supreme talent. Being able to be a small part in this tribute is privilege and an honor. He's missed, but this is a chance to see how others saw him. We have to keep telling stories about Mike -- it's how he lives on!”

Francis Manapul: “Mike and the Aspen crew are like family to me and contributing to the book was the very least I could do. I think it's great that Mike's characters will continue, and with some great artists contributing, hopefully it will help spread the word about Mike's fantastic creations. I really have mixed feelings about this in that I wished we didn't have to do this at all and that Mike was still here, but through his creations his legacy will continue.”

Brad Meltzer: “This book isn’t about mourning Michael Turner; or even remembering him. It’s about sharing him. With you.”

Tim Townsend: “Michael Turner was a son, a friend, a brother, a teacher, an inspiration, and a force of nature. The hole Mike's passing has left in our lives can only be eclipsed by the wonderful memories he left in his wake. Mike celebrated life every single day. We gather here together to continue the celebration.”

David Wohl: “Michael Turner was one of the most respected and admired creators in the comics industry…as well as a good friend. And now, myself and a host of phenomenal writers and artists have the opportunity to join with his many fans across the world to celebrate the man and his art in this special tribute book from Michael’s own Aspen Comics.”

With over 80 pages of all-new original artwork, words of remembrance, and more, A Tribute To Michael Turner is one of the largest assortments of comic book professionals in history. Highlights from this special tribute issue include:
-A first time compilation cover by Michael Turner and Alex Ross.
-An introduction by Michel Turner’s mother Grace Crick.
-Special tributes from the Aspen Comics staff—the company Michael Turner founded.
-Over 40 all-new original pieces of art from the industry’s top creators and artists.
-Words of remembrance and unique tributes from the industry’s top writers, editors, and friends of Turner.
-A special section featuring fan art produced in honor of Michael Turner’s life and creations.

Aspen Comics is also proud to announce the entire list of contributors to the A Tribute To Michael Turner Issue:

Agnes Garbowska
Ale Garza
Alex Garner
Alex Konat
Alex Ross
Alex Sinclair
Andy Smith
Beth Sotelo
Billy Tan
Brad Meltzer
Billy Tucci
Brandon Peterson
Buzz
CB Cebulski
Chris Moreno
Christina Strain
Dan Didio
David Finch
Dan Fraga
David Wohl
Dene Mason
Don Ho
Eddie Berganza
Eddie Nunez
Eduardo Francisco
Eric Basaldua
Francisco Herrera
Francis Manapul
Frank Mastromauro
Gary Frank
Geoff Johns
Grace Crick
Greg Pak
Humberto Ramos
Jason Eden
Jason Rubin
Jeph Loeb
J. Scott Campbell
Jim Lee
Jim McLauchlin
Joe Benitez
Joe Madureira
Joe Quesada
Joel Gomez
John Starr
Josh Reed
JD Smith
JJ Kirby
J.T. Krul
Leonardo Olea
Lori Hanson
Marc Andreyko
Marc Silvestri
Marcus To
Mark Roslan
Megan Fox
Micah Gunnell
Michael Birkhofer
Michael Gaydos
Oliver Nome
Paul Jenkins
Peter Steigerwald
Randy Green
Richard Isanove
Richard Starkings
Rob Liefeld
Sam Campos
Sana Takeda
Simone Bianchi
Simone Peruzzi
Stephen Platt
Siya Oum
Talent Caldwell
Tim Townsend
Vince Hernandez

A Tribute to Michael Turner is 80 pages soft cover, perfect bound, and guaranteed in stores next Wednesday, November 5th. For more information on this special tribute issue, please visit www.AspenComics.com or www.AspenStore.com.

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Michael Turner Tribute Event @ Golden Apple Comics (Valley) - November 15th, 2008

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Newsarama: Michael Turner Tribute Book Celebrates a Lasting Legacy - An Interview with Vince Hernandez

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The Hulk 100 Project (Hero Initiative)

Hero Initiative: Hulk Smash Bigger Book.

If I'm not mistaken, the Hulk 100 Project book will be released in December. This book will only receive one printing, so pick it up when it comes out. I surely will.

Boughts and Thoughts - October 29th, 2008

No B&T post next week. Not sure if I'll have access to a computer with internet, so I may go silent for over a week. But if I do have access, I'll try to post some updates with my trip.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 - That's quite an interesting story about Jackpot.

Beyond Wonderland #3 - Okay... I'm done with this title. Not too sure why I bought it to begin with.

Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns - Total bad ass! Oh, I'm so looking forward to the Blackest Night now.

Giant-Size X-Men First Class #1 - Picked this up for Michael Cho's contribution. Great stuff, sir!

Justice League of America #26 - Finally, the story of Vixen's power problems is finally over. That was so boring.

Superman #681 - He's... It's Back! Hopefully a few thousand Kryptonians die because of it. Can't keep track of that many people.

Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3 - I'm sorry, I was disappointed with this issue. I wasn't expecting "Peter and MJ Makes an underage Porno" or anything. This just wasn't that good. Felt like a total waste of money.

X-Force #8 - Mike Choi and Sonia Oback kick ass on art!

So what's up?

I know, I've been slacking with the blog posts. I did post a bit at the end of Sept./beginning of Oct., but since then, the posts were few, and mainly the "Boughts and Thoughts."

I recently joined a team (it's what the cool kids are doing these days). I'm not sure what I can or can't say, so I won't get into it any further. But I will say, I am quite happy to be apart of it.

I tried to get my car fixed last week. Nothing serious, just some weird rattling that occurs when I turn on my A/C, and when I have air blowing towards the front windshield. There's also a vibrating noise that sometimes occurs after I start the car, when it idles for a few seconds. Not really liking either of those noises, so I made an appointment to check those out, and hopefully fix them both.

I also got an oil change the same day I tried to get my car fixed. I really only bring that up, because I was three months and over 1000km overdue. Oops. Now my car is ready for winter... however, I'm not. Stupid snow.

So, it snowed for the first time this winter season, last Tuesday. Yeah, traffic was stupid... even before the snow. So, how many people made the mad rush to get winter tires on? Stupid and lazy me, I never took them off last year. Luckily for me, I don't drive that much, so these are (hopefully) still pretty good (knocking on wood).

Went to the Cyber City Warehouse Sale last Saturday. Was pretty bored, and the entire family was out somewhere, so I went there. Went looking for copies of books that I recently purchased artwork for (picked up some Doug Mahnke pages). Got the pages cheap... but can't find the comics. Hopefully I can find them eventually... though, it's not a big deal if I don't. I'll post the pages when I get them, sometime next month.

As my bro mentioned, my other grandfather passed away this past Saturday (my mom's father). I never really got to know him, even though he stayed with us in the late 90s for a few weeks or months... I can't even remember. He didn't speak English, and I barely speak broken Vietnamese, let alone actual Vietnamese. Because I didn't get to know him, his death doesn't really have an affect on me, other than it sucks that another family member passed away.

So I'm going to LA this coming weekend. Going over for my step-sister's wedding. Fly in on Saturday, wedding is Sunday, then a week in LA! I haven't seen the bulk of my family that's in LA, since 2005 (except for my step-bro and step-sis-in-law, when they came over a year ago). Hoping to see them all, as well as to travel around LA. Check out the sights... and comic shops. :)

Hoping that something goes down while I'm over there. C'mon, comic signing during the week I'm there? I'm missing the Mike Mignola signing that takes place this Wednesday at the Comic Bug. It looks like I'm missing the James Jean signing that's taking place the Wednesday after I get back. Oh, and the following Saturday after I return to Canada, I'm missing the Michael Turner Tribute Charity Event, which is something I wish I could've stayed for.

Oh, and let's not forget about the creator that's coming to Toronto this weekend, that I won't be here for.

But, when it comes down to it, my step-sister is getting married, so I'm really happy to be there for that.

Until then, two days of work, and Halloween to get through, and then I'm off.

Boughts and Thoughts - October 22nd, 2008

Daredevil #112 - The Lady Bullseye story continues. Matt Murdock arrested... again. Iron Fist appearance. Michael Lark back on art.

G.I. Joe #0 - New G.I. Joe series, now published by IDW. Was debating on picking this up, even with the $1 cover price. Did pick it up, because I like Robert Atkins' cover.

Hulk #7 - Jeph Loeb, Arthur Adams, and Frank Cho, in one issue! Hells yeah! Picked up the Cho cover. Looking for a copy of the Michael Turner cover.

New Avengers #46 - This issue revolves around The Hood, and his cronies. Also, we find out where he gets his powers from.

Superman: New Krypton Special #1 - Superman visits the New Krypton, on Earth. Kryptonians try to figure out their powers.

SpeakEasy’s Comic Book Show - Thursday, November 6 - Toronto, Canada

SpeakEasy’s Comic Book Show

Toronto is home to some of the best known comics artists in North America. We have an active and vibrant community putting out some of the highest quality comics to be found anywhere. The SpeakEasy Comics Show features an eclectic mix of Toronto’s talented comic book artists - from those who do newspaper strips and political cartoons, to underground comix and mainstream superhero comic books! The event promises to display an exciting cross-section of the comics community here in Toronto, as well as a glimpse into how good comics are made. As the old cliché goes, there really will be something for everyone.

Time & Space:
Thursday November 6th, 8pm-Midnight
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West - Second Floor Lobby
Toronto, Ontario

This Month's Featured Artists:
John Lang
Graeme Maitland
Spent Pencil Studios
Milé Murtanovski
Chris Hatzopoulos & George Todorovski with DMF Comics
Benita Hsueh
Willow Dawson
stef lenk
Ian Daffern, Blowout Productions
Charlene Chua
Sarah Ennals
Craig Marshall
Bruce Outridge Productions
David James
Jesus: The Awkward Years, Chris Henderson, Matt Burke, and Deann Parker
Tyrone McCarthy
Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association

Cover:
Pay What You Can ($4.00 Donation Suggested)

For more information contact:
David Brown
email: david@blttogo.com telephone: 416.533.1374

http://www.SpeakEasyTO.com

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Final showing of the VISIONS OF AN ICON: SUPERMAN artwork to benefit the Joe Shuster Awards at the Speakeasy Comic Book Show on November 6, 2008

The Joe Shuster Awards are happy to present a final showing of the Visions of an Icon: Superman artwork created by Canadian creators in 2008. Some pieces will be available for sale at the show, the remainder (including pieces by Dave Sim, Todd McFarlane, Tom Grummett) will be auctioned on eBay. The artwork has only been displayed in person once before - at the Sequential Art Symposium back on June 14, 2008.

The Joe Shuster Awards honour the achievements of Canadians working on comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. Established in 2004 and first presented in April 2005. The awards are named after Joe Shuster, the Canadian-born co-creator of Superman, and are named as such with permission of his estate.

The Joe Shuster Awards are run by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association (CCBCAA), (James Waley and Kevin Boyd, Directors), a not-for-profit organization that relies on sponsorship, eBay, sales of prints and memorabilia or private donations.

For more information please contact joeshusterawards@yahoo.ca or visit www.joeshusterawards.com

Boughts and Thoughts - October 15th, 2008

To my surprise today, Marvel Comics has raised their Canadian cover prices for comics again. I wonder how quickly it'd take DC Comics to revert to a higher CDN cover price, because it surely took them some time to drop the price.

That being said, I did only pick up two Marvel titles.

The Age of Sentry #2 - Wasn't going to pick this up, until I remembered that Michael Cho provides artwork for one of the stories. Get to see him draw the Marvel heroes. Great stuff!

Amazing Spider-Man #573 - Picked up the Kevin Maguire cover. Still gotta get a copy of the Stephen Colbert cover. Heard that one store has them priced fairly high, while another one is offering it at cover price. My shop didn't receive their copies of Amazing Spider-Man this week (which does suck), so I had bro pick it up, while I picked up a couple of books for him.

The Chronicles of Dr. Herbert West #1 - New title from Zenescope. Gave it a try, and although it's somewhat interesting, I'm going to pass on the rest of this.

Grant Morrison's Doctor Who #1 - Don't know why I bought this. I don't watch Doctor Who, nor do I know anything about the series. This collects some of Grant Morrison's stories for the Doctor Who series, which was probably released a while ago.

Grimm Fairy Tales: The Beauty and the Beast Collection - Probably should've opened this up, to see that it collects issues 12 and 13 of Grimm Fairy Tales. Can't remember if they were part of the trade that I picked up. I'll have to check. Cause if they are, then I wasted more money.

Justice Society of America #19 - Wow, this story has been going on for a long time. And it's still good!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars #2 - Ramon Perez on art! More great stuff! Sadly, I'm getting bored of the Star Wars universe, so I don't know how much longer I'll continue with this series.

Street Fighter II Turbo #1 - I missed Udon not publishing new material for the Street Fighter series. This series leads into the tournament. Finally! Let's get some action.

Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen - This leads to the New Krypton story that Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Sterling Gates will be working on. Jimmy Olsen is growing up.

Thankful

I'm still stuffed from this past weekend, and there's a piece of apple pie in the fridge left for me (what the heck happened to the rest of it?).

After a busy and stressful night of work on Friday (was I ever pissed that night there), I get up the next afternoon to find out that my cousin called our family over for Thanksgiving dinner. Figured, what the heck. Let's bring our pot roast over, cook it up there, and have a bigger meal.

Oh, what a meal!

Went a little old school in playing some games. Goldeneye for the N64! My all-time favourite first-person shooter. Hells yeah! Got totally destroyed, because I am not used to the controls anymore, with Xbox and PS dual joysticks.

Ended up playing Halo later on. Wanted to play Rock Band and Gears of War, but my cousin's Xbox 360 got that lovely red ring of death earlier this week.

Sunday was back at work. First Sunday shift in three weeks. It was busy. Started off very slow, but it picked up, and it felt like we got punched in the sack.

Monday was also a working day for me, so my family decided to do a Thanksgiving lunch, rather than dinner, with leftovers and various other food being dinner. This also meant I had leftovers for dinner at work. :D

Work did start off busier than a normal Monday, but died down once all the kids had to leave. Rest of the night was chillin'.

Hope you all had a safe Thanksgiving weekend!

Boughts and Thoughts - October 8th, 2008

Whoa, didn't post this right away, like I normally do. Oops! Anyways, here it is.

Action Comics #870 - Always sad to see that happen to Pa Kent. May just have to pick up the arc in collected format.

Deadpool #3 - End of Deadpool vs. Skrulls. Next up, Deadpool vs. Zombies... what's after that? Deadpool vs. Apes?

Emiko Superstar - Found this to be good. Picked it up in support of Canadian writer, Mariko Tamaki (Skim), and Canadian artist, Steve Rolston (The Escapist, Degrassi: Extra Credit).

Janes In Love - Janes in Love is the sequel to Joe Shuster Award winner (for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Writer), Cecil Castellucci's The P.L.A.I.N. Janes (featuring artwork by Jim Rugg). I enjoyed The P.L.A.I.N. Janes, so I decided to pick this up (though, a few weeks after being released). I enjoyed this one just as much as the first.

Presidential Material: Barack Obama - Didn't really know what to expect from these "Presidential Material" issues. I knew it'd be something like a biography, but wow, was it ever. Aside from there being pictures, it was so not like a comic book. At least this one has some dialogue.

Presidential Material: John McCain - Being more of a supporter of Barack Obama, I didn't really read this one. Flipped through it, and this was even more of a biography, than the one for Barack Obama.

Lego Batman!

I finally cleared Lego Batman this past weekend. Still not at 100% completion, but I did finish all thirty levels. I like that you get both the heroes story, and the villains story.

Now it's a matter of going back to find all the Minikits and Red Power Bricks.

I still think Lego Star Wars was the best out of all of the Lego games, but Lego Batman falls a close 2nd.

Digital Kontent is BACK!

I should've posted this earlier, but I saw the update just before I went to work. Digital Kontent has returned for SEASON 3!

Check it out: Digital Kontent - Season 03 Episode 01: Season Primer

Baltimore Comic-Con Pick-Up

Although I was not there (and I do wish that I was there), here is my purchase from Baltimore Comic-Con. This Zatanna commission is by Cliff Chiang.

I actually got onto Cliff Chiang's sketch list when he was at Fan Expo Canada, but he was unable to complete it (which I still regret not getting onto the list earlier). So this was arranged to be completed in Baltimore, with the help of Peter Fisico (of All New Comics). This was also brought home by Kevin Boyd, and I picked up this beauty (along with my brother's commission) on Wednesday night.

Thanks to Peter, Kevin, and of course, Cliff Chiang!

Boughts and Thoughts - October 1st, 2008

Back to what appears to be normal. Not much books this week.

Beyond Wonderland #2 - Still a decent story. Just realized it's been two months since issue #1. Hopefully this isn't bi-monthly.

Justice League of America #25 - Damn, this Vixen story keeps going. I'm getting bored of it. Lots of artists for this issue. Ed Benes, Ian Churchill, Ivan Reis, Darick Robertson, and Shane Davis. Great contributions.

Supergirl #34 - New creative team (Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle, Keith Champagne). I bought this issue, because I really like Joshua Middleton's cover (damn me and buying for the covers, again). But after reading this issue, I really enjoyed this. Looks like I'm continuing for the time being.