Reddit AMA with David Walker, writer of the new Shaft comic!

David F. Walker, the writer of the awesome new comic starring John Shaft is doing an AMA on Reddit's r/Comicbooks community right now! Go check it out!

Comic Pick of the Week: Batman #36

Comic pick of the week is a weekly column in which I choose my favorite new comic of the week(imagine that!). I'll also name five other new releases I enjoyed. These are spoiler-free posts designed to make you wanna run out and buy some good comics, so read on with no worries of having the entire plot blown! 

This week's pick is Batman #36, part two of the epic Endgame story arc. Batman battles the Joker-ized Superman in an epic brawl through, below, and above Gotham City. This battle is a wonderful spectacle, beautifully rendered by the art team of Greg Capullo & Danny Miki and colorist FCO Plascencia. The twist near the issue's end is one of writer Scott Snyder's finest moments to date, and will have longtime readers scrambling for their back issues to scour them for the clues that whizzed right by them the first time around. 
The backup story by James Tynion IV and Graham Nolan(always nice to see him back in the Bat-verse) is another nice alternate "origin" of the Joker, displaying how manipulative and sadistic he can be. 
This issue is a real nail-biter from cover to cover, and well worth the cover price in an era where so many comics are simply far too pricey for their own good. 

Other comics I enjoyed this week: She-Hulk #10, Spider-Verse #1, Django/Zorro #1, Superior Iron Man #1, Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini #2.

New interview!

Forgot to post about it here, but I had another interview go up a week and a half ago. You can check it out here!

Comic Pick of the Week: Swamp Thing #36

Comic pick of the week is a weekly column in which I choose my favorite new comic of the week(imagine that!). I'll also name five other new releases I enjoyed. These are spoiler-free posts designed to make you wanna run out and buy some good comics, so read on with no worries of having the entire plot blown! 

Swamp Thing was one of the surprise hits of DC's relaunch in September 2011, guided by writer Scott Snyder for its first year and a half. Everyone was surprised when he announced he was leaving the book, and the surprise only grew when his replacement was named: Charles Soule. The collective reaction was "Who?" It's funny to recall that now, as Soule has become ubiquitous in the comic industry, writing enough comics on a monthly basis to carry the entire lineup of a small publisher. I've enjoyed pretty much everything he's worked on in that time, from the sci-fi series Letter 44, which far more of you need to be reading, to team books featuring a roster of characters I've never cared about such as Thunderbolts. In a strong body of work, Swamp Thing has remained the crown jewel. It honestly gets better every single month, and this issue is simply wonderful from cover to cover. Reeling from recent events, Swamp Thing has no time to catch his metaphorical breath as he is attacked by the newly-risen Metal, an equivalent kingdom to the Red and Green composed entirely of sentient machines. Swamp Thing pays a visit to someone we haven't seen in quite a while to warn them of the rise of the machines, and the Metal realizes it needs its own avatar, and that's where things get really interesting! Jesus Saiz is just killing it on art duties, as usual. This is about as perfect a creative team as you'll find on any series out there.

I also enjoyed: Amazing Spider-Man #9(Spider-Verse begins!), Green Lantern #36(Godhead continues!), Earth 2 #28(the origins of Darkseid's Furies!), Sensation Comics #13(the conclusion to a very nice Wonder Woman two-parter), and Grayson #5(espionage action!).

Comic pick of the week: Wonder Woman #35

Welcome to the first of a series of posts that will get me back to writing about comics regularly. Longtime Rant readers will recall that I used to do weekly reviews a few years back, but the workload was too much to sustain indefinitely with everything else I had going on. I miss writing about comics on here, but my schedule hasn't lightened up at all since then. So, instead of reviewing a bunch of new comics each week, I decided I'd pick my favorite and do a short feature on it. As always, I reserve the right to take a break or bail altogether if things get too hectic, but hopefully the much lighter workload attached to this feature will allow me to do it indefinitely. the plan for now is to choose a top pick, a runner-up, and then name five other comics that stood out from the pack.

Anyway, this week's pick is Wonder Woman #35.
Brian Azzarello, along with artists Cliff Chiang, Goran Sudzuka, and Tony Akins, have consistently delivered one of the finest superhero comics available since DC's New 52 relaunch in September of 2011. This issue serves as the finale to that epic run, and it is a jaw-dropping affair from cover to cover.

The First Born has seized the throne of Olympus, ruthlessly crushing any and all resistance to his reign. Wonder Woman and her allies are caught in a desperate battle to stop him, even as other gods make their own plays for the throne in the midst of all the chaos. Some live, some die, alliances are shattered, bonds of friendship are re-forged. It's a breathless finale that will leave longtime readers howling for more from this team because it's just so damn good.

My only gripe with this issue, and this really applies to the past few issues, is that so much is crammed into its pages that it feels rather rushed. Several key moments don't get the space to breathe that they really deserve because there just isn't room. Another issue or two, or even a giant-sized finale, would have helped a great deal in this regard. All that said, this remains an astonishingly good comic, and I'm damn sorry to see this run end. My wariness of the incoming creative team only intensifies that feeling.

Runner-up: Swamp Thing Annual #3.
Any other week, this probably would have won. I actually went back and forth between the two of them. Swamp Thing has been one of DC's best series since the current volume began, and since Charles Soule took over as writer, it just seems to keep getting better every month. This issue gives us the final fate of the immortal assassin Capucine, a recently-introduced character who has become a close friend to our beloved avatar of the Green. We get several flashbacks that range from revealing to delightful, and a guest appearance by the demon Etrigan caps everything off. Plus, you get to see Swamp Thing manifest via popcorn kernels!

As Soule recently signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, his time on this book appears to be numbered. It's a damn shame, as it's been one of my favorite series for quite some time now, and whoever follows him will have a hell of a rough time maintaining the same standard of storytelling.

Other books I enjoyed this week: Groo vs. Conan #4, Inhuman #7, Southern Bastards #5, Atomic Robo and the Knights of the Golden Circle #5, Sinestro #6.

Happy Halloween!

Hard to believe it's been more than four years since I started this blog! (The inaugural post was on October 1, 2010.) While I always intended to cover whatever interested me, it was intended from the beginning to be horror-centric. The first couple of years saw me post something Halloween or horror-related every day of October, something I really miss doing. Unfortunately, while it was big fun, it was also big work, and I just haven't had the time to do it the last couple of years.

Anyway, my point in all this rambling is to remind you, on this day that is friendliest to classic horror, that there is a wealth of Halloween-friendly stuff on here to help you celebrate the day! You can check out every October Halloween-related post here, or you can cast the net wider and delve into every horror-themed post here.

However you celebrate this day, I wish you lots of fun, and I'm happy if I've helped in some small way. Happy Halloween!

Apex Predator is on sale now!

Why are you reading this? didn't you see the title? Go get it! Or get it here if you have a non-Kindle e-reader!
There is a bit more news, actually. If you've been waiting for the print version, it's just become available here!

Additionally, remember the "pre-order the book and get a copy of Nightmare Escapade for free" promo that ran for the past week? I'm extending it through the weekend! So if you messed around and didn't pre-order, you have until 12:01 a.m. Monday morning to take advantage of that offer! Same rules apply, just tweet or DM me a screenshot of your order confirmation for Apex Predator, and I'll email it to you!
After you read it, the biggest favor you can do me is taking a few minutes to leave an honest review. Reviews sell books, plain and simple.

Apex Predator launch week begins today!

Apex Predator: A Grant Mercer Novel will be released a week from today, and you can pre-order your copy right now! (And yeah, I'm still waiting for my proof copy of the print version to arrive. It should be here in a couple of days. Barring any problems-- I've already proofed it digitally and the printed proof is a formality, so there really shouldn't be any-- it should be available the middle of next week. I'll keep you all posted.)

As an extra incentive to pre-order, send me a tweet or direct message on Twitter (@WorldofWaylon) with a screenshot of your pre-order to get a free copy of Nightmare Escapade! Getting lots of pre-orders will help a book gain a lot of visibility on its launch day, so every one helps! With this offer, you'll be getting two books for a lousy $1.99, so click on over and take advantage of it! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies! Let's make the launch of Apex Predator bigger and better in every way!

Apex Predator is available for pre-order!

Apex Predator: A Grant Mercer Novel doesn't release until the 24th, but you can pre-order your copy right now! You can get the Kindle version right here. If you need it for your Ipad, Nook, Kobo, or what have you, it will soon be distributed to those stores via Smashwords; in the meantime, you can grab a copy directly from them here. 

As for the print copy, I'm still waiting for my proof copy to arrive! Once I've inspected that and confirmed that everything is all right, it will be available as well. Rest assured that I'll keep you posted! (Keep in mind that my books are part of Kindle matchbook, so if you plan to get the print version, the Kindle version will be included for free!)

I'll have some special stuff going on in the next couple of weeks to celebrate the book's launch, so check back tomorrow for more on that! 

Halloween month kickoff!

To kick off October, I thought I'd share a couple of photos of some of the new Halloween decorations I've picked up in the last couple of months. (Just to clarify, I won't have time to do a Halloween-related post every day of the month like I used to, but you can absolutely expect plenty of Halloween and horror-related content, as ever.)

First up, courtesy of Dollar Tree, we have the Grotesque Garden Gazebo!

They're not as detailed or as well-painted as the Halloween miniature's you'll see at other places, but the price was right!

When I visited the Spirit Store a couple of days after they opened back up, I found this fella priced at $4.97! No idea why he was the only one marked down while the others were all still full price, but I didn't care. I snatched him up in a blur.

Pretty awesome, eh? Probably my favorite of all the fucked-up horror babies they had up there. (And if the Spirit Halloween store wants to use that line as an endorsement, they're welcome to do so!)

The new series of Lego minifigures has also been showing up the last couple of weeks, ahead of the official release date. I stopped by Walgreen's last week and happened to find the one I wanted most, the one they call Spooky Girl, who is totally not Wednesday Addams. She went right into the centerpiece Haunted House display, of course!

We'll close things out with  few pics of things I saw in stores that I was too cheap-- er, that is, too budget-conscious to buy.
Remember when I mentioned how you can find better Halloween miniatures than my Dollar Tree discoveries? Michael's always has plenty, and this was the most impressive.

This food truck was pretty awesome, too.

Note the prices, however. That lighthouse is pretty badass, but it's not $100 badass.
Back at the Spirit store, we have this apparently bewildered ghost lady who is cursed with man hands.

Then there is this pleasant scene. I think I can see why your toilet's clogged, lady.

That's it for today. Lately, I'm knee-deep in Forza Horizon 2 when I'm not ogling Halloween stuff and working on my next book, so give me a holler if you happen to see me on the open road!

Apex Predator: A Grant Mercer Novel is coming in October!

Anyone experiencing deja vu? Seriously, don't worry, I've taken extreme measures to ensure that such a catastrophe doesn't occur again. Having to re-write a nearly-complete novel is not a joyful experience. I figured I'd spare myself having to re-write the original blurb as well, and present it to you again here, with a few slight alterations where appropriate:

One of the most popular stories in Nightmare Escapade: A Horror Anthology was the tale that 
introduced Grant Mercer, a former detective whose search for a missing child takes a horrific turn when he stumbles upon the underworld of supernatural beings who are pulling everyone's strings from behind the scenes. Without spoiling things for those of you who have not yet read
the story, things take some unexpected twists and turns, and by the end, the breakout character
of the book was born. Almost every reader who gave me feedback on the book began with how much they enjoyed that particular story, and wanted to see what happened next.

It was my plan all along to launch Grant into his own series of novels, so naturally, I'm very happy that readers responded so well to his introductory story. In October, Apex Predator: A Grant Mercer Novel will pick up right where that story ended, delving into the supernatural empire that we've only glimpsed. Grant has only dipped his toe into the water; in Apex Predator, he gets tossed right into the deep end!

As a bonus, the story from Nightmare Escapade that introduced Grant will be included, so new readers won't have to buy another book to "catch up." With that inclusion, it seemed appropriate for that story to lend its name to the novel, since it picks up immediately following those events. Apex Predator is only a few short weeks away! For now, enjoy the debut of the (slightly tweaked) cover art, and give Nightmare Escapade another read to help you prepare!

I also have something very cool in the works to coincide with the release of Apex Predator, so stay tuned! 

Celebrating 75 years of Batman!

Today is the day DC Comics has chosen to observe the 75th birthday of arguably the most popular fictional character of all time: Batman. Comic stores across the nation are hosting special events with goodies provided by DC, so make your way to your local comic shop and join in the festivities! I had planned to observe this day in my own humble way by presenting you some essential media featuring the character and the people who have brought him and his world to life over the past 75 years. However, with a new job kicking off in addition to my writing duties, there simply hasn't been enough time for me to complete that post. While that will still be posted once it's done, I couldn't let this day pass without posting something, so this is what you get. ;) In the meantime, particularly if you don't have a comic store in your city, take a moment to check out Comixology's 75th anniversary sale and pick up some comics for dirt cheap!

Happy Moon Day!

Forty-five years ago today, human beings walked on the moon for the first time. For those of us who weren't alive at the time, it's really impossible to capture the feeling that permeated our culture at that time. We grew up in a world in which people landing on the moon was part of our history, after all. I can only imagine the awe everyone must have felt as they watched live as the first people stepped onto the lunar surface.

There are tons of trivia about the first moon landing floating around the 'net today, and this article rounds up most of my favorites. Give it a read, and take the opportunity to gaze up at the night sky in wonder and admiration this evening.

The Two Faces of Skeletor

Here are a couple of recent creations I figured regular TMR readers would enjoy. First, as the title suggests, we have a Lego Skeletor minifig, which I put together from various extra parts I had. Obviously, it's far from perfect, but it's a good start.

The shade of blue is all wrong, of course. I'll need to hunt down some parts in the proper shade of blue before I go trying to add any details to make it more accurate. That'll be a challenge; while I used to customize action figures pretty frequently, I'm rather out of practice, and I never really did any detail work on such a small scale. I may look into printing custom decals or something.

As for the promised second face of Skeletor, we have a Lego version of an old favorite, Skelepimp!

Skelepimp first came about-- my version, anyway, as the web has since shown me that I was not the only person to come up with a version of Skeletor who was inclined to peddle booty-- around ten years ago, when I was playing a WWE video game. The main draw of those games for me is the robust collection of creation modes. The roster of real wrestlers remains mostly unused, as I spend all my time creating my own wrestlers and playing them against one another. Since Skeletor is damn near my favorite character from anything, I naturally wanted to make him in the game. Sadly, the game was lacking the proper clothing and gear. I already had a good Skeletor base made, so I started outfitting him with some of the other things in the character creator, and wound up going with a pimp version. Skelepimp was born! He's been remade in every version of the game I've gotten ever since. Here are a couple of photos of Skelepimp from WWE '13. (I'm not equipped to record from my game consoles, so photos of the TV screen will have to suffice.)

So, the minifig isn't 100% accurate, but it's pretty damn close! The skull also glows in the dark, though efforts to get a decent photo of this were futile. I modified a sports car set to give Skelepimp a nice ride.

 When I get more parts in the proper colors, I want to mod it further, extending the body, and making the overall shape a little blockier and more Cadillac-esque. In the meantime, however, the ladies just can't resist Skelepimp, no matter what he's driving.

Armchair BEA: Novellas/Short Stories

It's day three of Armchair BEA-- day two for my late-to-the-party self-- so here is today's topic:

Now it is time to give a little love to those little stories in your life. Share your love for your favorite shorts of any form. What is a short story or novella that doesn’t get the attention that it deserves? Recommend to readers what shorts you would recommend they start with. How about listing some short story anthologies based upon genres or authors?

It will come as no surprise to my regular readers that I love short stories. There's something about a bite-size chunk of fiction that really appeals to me, and I really enjoy working in that format myself, which is why my first book was a collection of short stories. It's no coincidence that most of my favorite authors, such as Mark Twain, Ray Bradbury, and Robert E. Howard, were masters of the short story. Today, I'll be talking about one of  Howard's tales of Solomon Kane, The Footfalls Within.

I've covered REH's Solomon Kane work a couple of times before, and as with those posts, this story is found in the collection The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, which reprint all of REH's Kane work in their original form, unlike the edited versions found in some other reprint collections. The story begins as Kane runs afoul of a group of Islamic slavers, and is captured while attempting to free their captives. Their leader has heard of Kane, and has special plans for him once they reach their destination. The group encounters an ancient structure along the way, and things quickly go downhill from there. This story is a very concise twenty pages, and its relentless pace keeps it moving so quickly you could swear it was half as long. As with most fiction from the early twentieth century, there are a few cringe-inducing lines reflecting the common prejudices of the time, but REH was rather progressive in his views for that era, particularly for a Southerner. (I say that as a Southerner, where I routinely see that some of those views are, sadly, still disturbingly common. Definitely not the majority, however.) That said, this is a rock-solid adventure story with a wonderful pulpy tone, plenty of action, and some solid characterization work on Kane himself. With the religious zealotry and many of the prejudices you'd expect from a sixteenth century Puritan, Kane is certainly not the most likeable of REH's characters, but he is one of the most interesting. Highly recommended for lovers of classic adventure fiction, and these Del Rey REH reprint volumes are the perfect place to dive in!

Armchair BEA: More Than Just Words

I just found out about the Armchair BEA early this morning, and even though I'm a day late to the party, I'm diving in head-first!

There are so many mediums that feature more than just words and enhance a story in a multitude of ways. Examples may include graphic novels and comics, audiobooks, or even multimedia novels. On this day, we will be talking about those books and formats that move beyond just the words and use other ways to experience a story. Which books stand out to you in these different formats?

Personally, I've never been able to really get into audiobooks. I have friends who love to listen to them while driving, and I wish I could do the same, but there are a few things that prevent me from enjoying them. One of the biggest issues is that I read a good deal faster than an audiobook narrator can(without becoming unintelligible, anyway), so it just doesn't feel right. An audiobook that features a radio show-style full voice cast can definitely help alleviate that, but those seem to be few and far between, unfortunately. Additionally, any audiobook that's produced well enough for me to really lose myself in is definitely not one I need to be listening to while driving, as it will divert my attention from the road, and that ain't good. That means I'd need to listen to it at home, and if that's the case, I'd rather just read the book myself. So, I certainly don't hold it against anyone who listens to audiobooks-- some of the arguments I've heard denigrating audiobooks are truly ridiculous--  but they're just not for me.

Graphic novels and comics, on the other hand... regular TMR readers know that those are definitely my thing! I can (and have) go on and on about a plethora of comics that rank among my favorites, and today, I want to talk about one I don't believe I've mentioned here before: The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, by Vivek Tiwary and artists Andrew C. Robinson & Kyle Baker. Despite his role as the manager of history's greatest and most popular band, Epstein typically gets short shrift in recountings of the band's origins and rise to superstardom. However, Epstein was crucial to their success, and that story is told very well here. There are some liberties taken with the facts, of course; this is always necessary for the purposes of effective storytelling. This remains one of the most factually grounded tellings of the efforts of Epstein to help the young Beatles find success, despite the storytelling flourishes.

One of the most impressive things about this graphic novel is how Tiwary absolutely nails each of the Beatle's distinct voices. Each of them "sounds" exactly as he should, and it's so eerily accurate that it is sometimes difficult to believe that the dialogue was not transcribed from extant recordings. the art bears a special mention here, with Robinson handling the bulk of it, and Baker taking on a more fancifully-rendered section recounting the disastrous 1965 tour of the Philippines. The entire tale is whimsical, hilarious, and, at times, quite sad. This remarkable graphic novel is essential reading for any Beatles fan.

That's it for today, but I'll be back with more BEA goodness tomorrow! In the meantime, for more information about Armchair BEA, click the link at the top of the post!

Thoughts on the "Batman vs. Superman" Batman and Batmobile reveal

So, following director Zack Snyder's tease yesterday, he released a photo today with the tarp pulled off. As a surprise bonus, we also get our first glimpse of the new Batman costume!

As far as what we can see of the Batmobile, it looks awesome. I love the Tumbler from the Nolan movies, but I'm still happy to see a return to a more traditional style of Batmobile for this movie. As for the costume, many people are claiming The Dark Knight Returns influence, and with the short ears and "bloated" bat emblem, I see where they're coming from. I'm not a fan of a short-eared Batman costume personally, though I wouldn't want crazy Kelley Jones-style rocket ears, either. The costumes in the previous movies had a good ear length. The costume also looks as if it may be a return to the rubber suit look; if true, I am definitely not thrilled about that. In the larger version of the photo, however, you can see that the costume is textured, which alleviates that look somewhat. At this point, based on this glimpse, I think it's a decent, but not great, costume. It's particularly disappointing after all the rumors that it was inspired by the art of Lee Bermejo. (As always, those rumors were to be taken with a rather large grain of salt, but one couldn't help hoping...)

All that said, it should be kept in mind that all we have to go on here is one black and white photo in which much of the costume is obscured by shadows. It may well leave a more favorable impression once we get to see it in full. In the meantime, while it's not the exact costume many of us were hoping for, it's not bad, either.

Free Comic Book Day Fallout!

Because I am so damn prompt, here's a roundup of my Free Comic Book Day swag! Here's the whole pile!

Pretty good haul, and not too much money, either. you might notice that two of the figures are missing from that Simpsons Treehouse of Horror set; I got it for $10 by agreeing to split the figures with the guy who sold it to me. I mainly wanted Devil Flanders and Vampire burns anyway, so that worked out well. Nelson was one of the figures I never got around to picking up when the World of Springfield line was still being produced, so I was happy to snag one for $3. Here they are after being freed from their plastic prisons:

And here's an overhead shot, so you can see more of the set's detail. there are details from various THOH episodes, including a zombie from Dial "Z" for Zombie, Witch Marge from Easy Bake Coven, the crazy awesome Snowball II design from The Bart Zone, the evil talking Krusty doll from Clown Without Pity, the gemlin from Terror at 5 1/2 Feet, and Kang and Kodos! Pretty cool stuff.

Getting back to comics, here are the actual free comics I got.

Not quite everything I wanted, but our shop never gets that damn Tick FCBD issue. Ah, well. Still a very nice haul, and there were some "normal" non-free comics on the free table to choose from. I didn't wanna be greedy, so I just grabbed a copy of Batman/Superman #1. I was also very pleased to get another of Archaia's hardcovers; these little books are very nice, and I hope they keep doing them each year. There are a couple of the free comics I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Out of the ones I've read, I have a few favorites. Future's End #0 is a very interesting take on the classic"hero travels back in time to prevent a nightmarish future" plot, with a couple of gloriously twisted moments. This issue definitely got me excited about checking out the series when it continues with a #1 issue this Wednesday. Atomic Robo was decent, but not as good as past FCBD issues. The Bongo Free-For-All is a nice assortment of stories, with a great activity page by the legendary Sergio Aragones. Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck: A Matter of Some Gravity is lots of fun, with two classic stories by the great Don Rosa. The duck comics are always very fun reads, and this one is no exception.

Here's a handful I grabbed for a quarter each:

I have an abiding love for the black & white comic magazines of the '70s and '80s, so that Planet of the Apes mag was snatched up in a blur as soon as Cindy showed it to me. That issue of Sandman is one of my favorites, so it was an instant buy when I came across it. The Fraction/Allred FF series was a fun book(though it began more strongly than it ended), so I was happy to grab this issue. Both of these will likely join the comics I have framed and hung on the wall. Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword is an excellent anthology series that comes out a few times each year, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. Each issue is a whopping 80 pages, and the stories feature characters beyond Conan the barbarian(though he still shows up too). Howard created a good many interesting characters, and it's really nice to see them get a spotlight in this series.

I also picked up a few recent comics, some of them as recent as this past week.

All of these are series that I enjoy, and I grabbed an issue of each for framing & hanging purposes. Batman Eternal, of course, is the weekly Batman series that kicked off a few weeks ago. It's been a solid read so far, and I liked the overall design of the cover for the debut issue, with the cast spread across Batman's cape. It's a nice, striking image. J. H. Williams III & Haden Blackman's  Batwoman was one of my favorite series until the creative team got dicked around and departed the book last year, and this issue is one of the strongest of their run. DC's Masters of the Universe comic has been a good read after a somewhat shaky start, and this cover by Ryan Sook is just awesome. The fact that it spotlights the green Goddess, a character I've had a soft spot for since I was a tiny little kid, doesn't hurt. Superior Foes of Spider-Man is a great series that focuses on some of the B and C-list villains in spider-Man's rogues gallery. It's pretty much a blue-collar supervillain book, and it's great. (The issue by the regular team are, anyway; it's best to avoid the fill-ins.)

So, that's what I have to show for this year's Free Comic Book Day. We had a blast, as always, and can't wait to do it again next year!

Reminder: Free Comic Book Day is tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first Saturday of May, and that means the annual orgy of four-colored freebies is upon us once more! You can check out the list of free comics here, though keep in mind that the selection will vary from store to store. If you don't know where the nearest comic store is, you can find out here. As always, keep in mind that these comics are free to customers, but the shop owners have to pay for them, so it'd be swell and decent of you to buy something while you're there. If this will be your first FCBD, it might be helpful to read the brief primer I posted last year.

As usual, we're gonna make a whole day of it. We're fortunate to have two great comic shops in town, so we'll stop in both of them, have some lunch, kick around downtown a while, then go catch Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the theater!

As for the actual comics, here are a few of the offerings I'm looking forward to:

Future's End #0: DC is getting back into the weekly comic game in a big way, with the weekly Batman Eternal launching last month, an Earth 2-based weekly coming in the fall, and this series, which kicks off right here in this free issue. Revolving around a nightmarish potential future timeline, the series will star such fan-favorite characters as Frankenstein and Batman Beyond. With the likes of Brian Azzarello and Jeff Lemire involved,  the talent working on the book is equally impressive. This series promises to be a hell of a ride, and it all begins here!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Marvel's relaunch of this series has been a tremendous success, and the upcoming movie is hotly anticipated. That makes this issue a no-brainer, and it promises to be a great jumping-on point for new readers who want to try the book out.

Bongo Free-For-All: The Simpsons-centric Bongo FCBD issue is always a must-have.

Atomic Robo and Friends: Likewise. This is always a highlight!

Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck- A Matter of Some Gravity: Presenting some classic comics by Don Rosa, this is sure to be great fun! The classic Disney Duck comics are always a sure bet.

Valiant- Armor Hunters Special: The relaunch of the Valiant universe over the past two years has been quite interesting. It's a solid line of comics that deserves more recognition than it gets, and hopefully this free issue will help bring some new readers to the books.

Dark Horse- Project Black Sky: Dark Horse Comics, best known as the home of Hellboy and many licensed comics, such as the various excellent Conan series, is giving the shared superhero universe thing a go again. I haven't yet sampled any of their new superhero line, and this will be a perfect opportunity to change that.

The Tick: I always wanna get this, but it's never at the shop. Maybe this year...

Of course, that is only a small sampling of the lineup. We always wind up grabbing a few things that catch our eye that we didn't plan on getting. That's part of the fun! So, I hope you all have a great FCBD, and spread the word!

Construction of the Haunted House

I teased you with this last time, and here it is: the MASSIVE and AMAZING Haunted House! At over 2000 pieces, this is far and away the biggest Lego set I've ever owned. Nearly all the ones I had when I was a kid were dinky little $5 sets; I couldn't even dream of getting something like this back then! Cindy wanted to help, so we put on a succession of classic horror movies and spent the next eight hours building!

Here are all the parts! I didn't count exactly how many bags of parts the box contained, but it was around twenty.

The three instruction books...

... and the decals.

First floor done!

Some interior rooms. Note the ship in the bottle.

Two floors down!

Completed! A couple of days later, I modified the top so that it can spin, based on a suggestion I saw somewhere on the web. I had actually been looking for ideas for a weathervane, but came across that and liked the idea.

One side of the attic. I friggin' love that it has a Victrola!

Yeah, it's a pretty nice house, but can it really be called a home with no coffins? (Note the mid-day snack in the jar next to the bed.)

Make sure you squeeze all the flavor out of that spice serpent! (The organ is an original creation I whipped up a few weeks earlier.)

The entry room and staircase.

A little office area, complete with desk and stationary!

"Here's a little number I tossed off recently in the Caribbean..."

Here's the hearse. As a potential future project, I want to build a garage for it in a matching style.

Brick-Ho-Tep swings by for a visit.

Gill Man and Scarecrow hanging out next to the tree, in which dwells...

... the Wolf Man! The tree is significantly modified from its normal version, and I'll mod it further as I acquire more branch and "leaf" pieces.

"I bid you welco-- RARRRGH! FIRE BAAAAAADD!!!!"

Cindy was sold as soon as she saw that it had this widow's walk! Love the zombie faces carved into the columns.

Full shot of the house, with Man-Bat stopping by to hang out.

Yeti in the ice cave I whipped up for him. If you look closely, you may be able to see the dismembered Lego body parts he's been snacking on in the cave behind him.

The spire, post-modding. It's pretty cool to spin it and watch the ghosts swirl around the witch.

The mad scientist hanging out by the porch, possibly drinking a urine sample.

Sweet liquor eases the Frankenstein Monster's pain.

Full shot, with all minifgs added.

These are the minifigs that actually came with the house(there were two ghosts). Cindy is holding them; my nails are not that fabulous.

Circa 1931

I can say without a shred of doubt that, of all the Lego sets I've lusted after over the years, this one is my favorite. I'm very glad that I got back into the Lego addiction in time to get it before it's discontinued and the price skyrockets. (Seriously, if you wanna invest some money with no risk, buy some of these. They'll be going for 2 or 3 times the retail price in a couple of years. Lego sets are never worth less than you pay for them, provided you get them at or below retail.)

The Haunted House occupies a place of honor in the house, and will be the centerpiece of my Halloween decorations in the years to come. I'd still like to get the castle that is part of the Monster Fighters line, but if and when I do, it won't displace the Haunted House. This thing is simply amazing.