I went to Austin and all I got was this Awesome shirt...and a bunch of comics

Diana, Grace and I decided to go on a weekend trip to Austin this weekend, in part to go to STAPLE. It is a small press/independent media expo that features comic book and I was extremely interested in going to see a couple of my favorite creators, Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener.  They created Atomic Robo, which is one of the best comics out there. 

We drove in to Austin on Saturday and went straight to the center the show was being held at.  I wasn't expecting to spend a lot of time there, and after about an hour and a half, we were done.  I hit the Atomic Robo table first and cleaned up with a bunch of stuff.  A couple of trades, a free comic, some autographs, and this awesome sketch.

We then went walking around as there were a few books I wanted to pick up. I got,

and

and

not to mention I found this awesome print of Cookie Monster.

 

and I got this funny shirt.



Diana was happy that we didn't stay for hours and hours and I had a good time.  Gracie was a big hit once we got her out of the stroller.  She wouldn't stop gibber-jabbering and people were eating it up.  This was her first(of many) cons and it was a great way to get her started on them.  

That is all,

Newt

Batman XXX: There is a Nerd God

"Holy Threesome Batman!"

Apparently there is a Nerd God because you can now see Batgirl getting pounded by the Boy Wonder. Axel Braun, Porn director extrodinaire, found a legal loophole that allows for the Porn Parody of the old 60's Batman TV show to be made into a porn.

It is called Batman XXX and it is awesome. I have never hidden my interest in comics and I have also been verbal of my love of porn so when these two things were combined and looked to be genuinely entertaining, I had to do something I haven't done since I was 18. I actually purchased a porn DVD.

I finally finished it, I had to stop a few times to...uh, well...huh? Oh, yeah. Anyway, it was fairly good. Dale Dabone plays Batman and can do a mean Adam West impression. The girl who plays Batgirl is a favorite of mine(Lexi Belle) and the extras are something that are actually kind of fun to watch.

They give a sex free version of the film that clocks in at about 30 minutes, the full length (pun intended) version runs about 2 hours, and the behind the scenes footage shows you the guys playing the characters seemed to have actually been fans of the old show. Also they show a reading of a script for porn which was an odd thing to watch. I believe I read they even hired the old costume director for the show to come in and make the costumes.

This is the trailer. It is safe for work.



I got my copy off of Adam & Eve and if you entere 'pop' in at checkout you save 50%. Oh the wonders of the internet.

That is all,

Newt

A post about how cool web comics can be

I have been reading comic books since I was around 8 years old and it finally happened, I got mentioned in one. I began reading this awesome web comic strip called Heropotamus around January. It involves a little girl who sends Santa a letter saying, "I want a Heropotamus for Christmas", and that is just what she gets. The strip is very funny and rather clever as Heropotamus gets ready to battle his arch-enemy, Villianocerous.

Well, a few weeks ago we started a comment line that pretty much said, "What is Hero's catch phrase? Instantly, the comments were throwing out suggestions and I, of course, had a couple and one of them was deemed good enough to make it into the strip. Thus, I finally got mentioned in a comic.


You should all go read Heropotamus this instant. I can't wait until Josh Alves, the creator, gets around to making T-shirts so I can finally have my favorite water horse shouting his catch phrase, or more specifically mine.

The second web comic I stumbled upon came directly from Heropotamus because a guy named Jamie was always commenting on the Heropotamus site and it turns out he writes this really quirky comic called, "This is How We Met". It is hard to describe it exactly, but it involves a pony named Tony, a crazy doll thing that is named Mr. Izzy Goots, Humpty Dumpty, and a ton of other weird characters. It is like a mix of Dilbert, Pearls Before Swine, and a little Calvin and Hobbes all mixed into one.

And, Jamie was having this awesome contest a few weeks ago where he quoted famous lines from classic children's literature and if you guessed the answer, you got awesome prizes. Below are the sketches I received for getting the correct answer of The Giving Tree on one of the posts.
A few days later I was graced with this awesome set of sketch cards. My favorite was the one below entitled "Wild Thing".


In all, I got 4 sketch cards and he was kind enough to doodle the characters from the strip onto the envelope, which is what you are seeing on the left and right of the dog.

The third and final comic I wanted to alert you guys to is called Axe Cop. It is about a cop who uses an axe to fight crime. He has a strange dinosaur cop partner and it is weird. It is written by a 5 year old. Yes, you read right, a 5 year old. His brother draws it.

You can definitely tell that it is written by a minor as it jumps from one idea to the next and the simplicity of the ideas brings about teh nostalgia of being a child. Other character include Unicorn baby, Sockarang, Baby Man, Leaf Man, and Wexter the T-Rex. The list of ridiculous characters can be found here. The whole thing is just a lot of fun.

So, go support the people I love to read so they will keep making them and I can keep reading them.

That is all,

Newt

Busted - A Post about being a nerd and a compulsive shopper

I think I made a grave error in judgement. Remember a few weeks ago when I was helping my coworker find a comic related gift for his nephew? Well, that kind of backfired on me. It started innocently enough. I got on ebay to look for something for his nephew and found a few things. If you haven't ebayed before you might not realize this, but sellers ususally sell more than one thing. It is old hat that when you are buying something from a seller that you usually just check out his or her other auctions to see what else they are selling so if you are interested you can buy more and save on the shipping.

All in all this is usually a good idea but when you are Newt the Wonder Frog, things can turn a little froggy and that is when you know you are in a bad place. I found an auction for him and did just as I said, checking the other availible items when I came across this beauty.

Meet the Mole Man. He is a Fantastic Four villian and was only $9.99. How could I turn it down? Well, I couldn't and this was the match that lit the dynamite that ended with me finding over $300 in mini-busts from three different sellers and a huge drop in my personal spending. Below is the rest of my haul.

Mysterio

Rhino

Hobgoblin

The Lizard

Kraven the Hunter

Morbius the Living Vampire

Black Cat

The Vulture

Sandman

Hulk - Grey Version

The Beast

Wolverine

Bucky the sidekick to Captain America

Yellowjacket

The Absorbing Man

I was so excited to put them up on display for my shelves, or most of them anyway. The Wonder Frog Sculpture Gallery now has a Fantastic Four and Spiderman display. The original Avengers exhibit has been retired for now.

That is all,

Newt

TBWCYL Day 310 - Egomaniacal no more

Friday was a day where I was meant to put my own ego aside and think of others and that is just what I did. A few days ago a co-worker asked for my help in the realm of comic books and I used today to put aside my own problems and help him.

He has a nephew that is 10 and is a big fan of comic books. He reads them when he can and has a "finger quotes" collection "end finger quotes". I put that in because he really only has a few but he is working on it, and just as I was a tadpole so to is he, and his will one day grow into a real collection. That is where I came in.

My co-worker knows nothing about comics outside of what he has seen at the movies so he enlisted me to find the perfect present for a 10 year old comic book fan. Working at a comic book store allows for a lot of extra knowledge on younger audiences so I sat down on ebay and began searching for what I think he would like the best. I actually spent a good couple of hours of downtime plugging away at this. I still haven't found exactly what to get but I have a budget and until Christmas to get something so I am not worried.

And I know that when he hands his nephew whatever it is He will be a hero and I am happy to help him. Take that Ego! You beautiful bastard!

That is all,

Newt

My Contestulaphoria is in overdrive

I won the contest. That's right, Me. Little old Trinity went and won himself an entire run of Exiles trades and Jeff Parker, who is ever greater than I thought, is throwing in the first hardback of the Agents of Atlas ongoing series.

I would like to thank, first and foremost, Thomas. He was instrumental in helping me make it clear I was an advocate for Jeff Parker's books.

I would also like to thank 'the girl in the pink teacup' who went above and beyond by posting a comment on Jeff Parker's blog stating that she too was looking for an Agents of Atlas book because of my recommendation.

Thirdly, Mo Stoneskin said he would try something by Jeff Parker and I don't know if it helped but it didn't hurt.

I think the smile on my face might be permanent. I think I may have moved from Contestulaphoria to a full blown case of Contestulitis.

That is all,

Newt

Jeff Parker is the Greatest Writer in the World

So, I just read about a competition online that is being held by superstar comic writer extrodinare, Jeff Parker. Don't know who he is? Well, that is a shame.

He wrote this. This is The Hood.



And this. Mysterius the Unfathomable was a great 6 issues series about a magician who is like that weird uncle you like but the rest of the family seems to shun. It was awesome.



He is one of the most creative writers out there and since everyone on this thing knows how good my taste is, you should believe me.

Well, a travesty has occured. You see, Jeff wrote one of my all time favorite comics, called the Exiles. It was about a group of alternate universe X-Men that jump from universe to universe trying to set the world back on the path it is supposed to be on. And, like all things good, it was cancelled. Well, you can read about the contest here but what I am writing about is to...

PIMP JEFF PARKER

so I can win stuff

You see, Jeff Parker is not all there. He currently writes a book called Agents of Atlas that involves, and I shit you not, a Giant Talking Gorilla, a killer Robot, a Uranian who can read minds, the Princess of Atlantis, Venus the Goddess of Love and a de-aged Asian guy who is also a secret agent and leader of a secret society. Oh, and I forgot there is also a talking Dragon named Lao.

WTF right? But it is awesome. I turn people on to this book every chance I get while working at Titan Comics. In fact, I got my best friend to read it and he dropped a higher selling book so, in his words, "I don't worry that New Avengers will get cancelled, but I am giving my dollars to AoA to hopefully help save it."

So, Jeff Parker has challenged me, not me personnaly but via his blog, to get people to read his stuff. I will start by saying I read everything he writes and that isn't an exaggeration. All of the books I talk about I have, or will have when they come out.

The Underground

This looks like it is going to be a fun book and I can not recommend the team enough. However, I don't have to as you can not only read a free B/W preview of the first issue here but you can also see how many good reviews it is getting.

Thunderbolts

I have read this book since it started and will not stop. It is essentially about villians who walk a fine line between going straight and secretly still being as bad as they can get away with. It has some twisted people on the team and is always one of the first books I read. Jeff is taking over soon and I can't wait.

He also has a couple of other projects out that may tickle your fancy.

Gorilla Man even thinks, "That Trinity is a Swell Guy". (It is hard to see but Jeff actually drew this for me in my copy of the Agents of Atlas Hardback.)

So, in closing, here is what I am going to do. If you go out and buy a Jeff Parker comic and don't like it, I will refund your money. No joke, I will give you back the $3 you spend if you don't enjoy it. You will have to tell me why, but I will. This doesn't count if you already buy any of them, but only one person who reads this does.

That is all,

Newt

Book It!

So, a few weeks ago my good buddy Thomas and I got into a discussion in which he stated that I have too many books. We went round and round and I told him I thought that I had read the majority of them but that I had probably read all but about 10 % of them. Well, I decided that I was going to figure out the exact number and in doing so, catalog the entire Vaughn Library for insurance purposes. So, what happened?

Well, first let me take you on a tour of the Vaughn Library. The Vaughn Library was established in 2008 when a young go getter by the name of Trinity Vaughn convinced his wife that it was time to get rid of the old book cases and move up to a larger set. After crunching some numbers it was decided that Billy the Bookcase, a staple of the retail giant Ikea, could be bought and in budget. Thus the Library was formed.

Notice in this recent photo the sculptures that adorn the shelves of the library. Characters such as The Thing, Spider-Man, and the Machine Man are littered throughout the shelves. But not to be trumped, Jack in the Boxes such as Popeye and Mother Goose keep a good balance to the shelves.



The Vaughn Library has expanded out into a curio cabinet/desk that is housing the classics library.

Also added was the Vaughn Children's Library. This small upstairs nook was established as an overflow library but was soon swapped to a Children's Library when it was too cumbersome for Diana to go up and down the stairs when Trinity needed a bedtime story.

So, now that you have seen the library maybe you agree with Thomas. So, lets get to the numbers. I broke down the 580 books we own into three categories. Books that are Diana's, books that I have read and are mine, and books that I haven't read and are considered mine. Here are the results.

On this pie graph we can see that of the 455 books that I own, I have read 369 of them. That would be a read rate of 81.09%. Now that is clearly not 10% so my estimate was slightly off but it is less than 20% which I think is acceptable.

But, the above graph counted my graphic novel collection which is a rather large amount and can be read rather easily. So, to make sure my numbers were accurate, I ran them minus the Graphic Novel counts. In that estimate out of the 307 books that fell in this category, I have read 225 which brings us to a read rate of 73.28%. So, I have read 3/4 of all the books on my shelf.

So, do I have too many books? Maybe. But at the same time I don't mind. Thomas' position on the subject was that I should just buy books and read them before I buy more. But I don't roll like that. Never have. I will say that with 25% of all my books still to read, I like the idea that I have a variety to choose from and don't have a limit to hit.

That is all,

Newt

TBWCYL Day 161 - Poetry in Hiding

Today's task was another subversive bit of fun. These are the tasks I look forward to in The Book that make all the stupid, waste of time tasks worth the trouble.

I was to write a poem and leave it in public where someone will find it. Since it is New Comic Wednesday I took the opportunity to do something fun with this. I wrote this poem...

BAM! POW! ZAP!
Fist meets Face!
Bombs! Rockets! Guns!
Who says comcs are violent?

Then I placed it inside a copy of Deadpool #11 that came out today. For those who don't know, Deadpool is one of the more violent/funny books out on the shelves and I thought it ironic that whoever buys this will find my poem.







Also, here is a little bit of Deadpool fun to give you an idea of what people read in the comic book world. I love Deadpool.












That is all,

Newt

Spider-Sense...burning?!?

So, I just read the coolest story in the history of Thai firefighters. You can read it here. Essentially, Spider-Man is real and he lives in Thailand. He is apparently pretending to be a firefighter. How cool would this be?

I am going to go stand on a ledge and see if I can find Iron Man.

That is all,

Newt

New York ComiCon 2009

If you don't know, I went to New York last weekend to see my wife. More importantly though, I went to go to New York ComicCon. That's right, I went to New York and instead of seeing more of the city I spent 3 days in the Jakob Javitts Convention Center and had the time of my life.

I began Friday by carrying a back pack, a satchel bag and a small box with me, total weight of 50 lbs. I know this because I shipped the entire thing to myself from Dallas so I didn't have to carry it on the plane. I was at the convention hall from noon til almost 7 and the only reason I left was sheer exhaustion and the fact that I got all the signatures I could for the day. I actually skipped lunch because I was going so incredibly nuts that I forgot to eat.

Saturday was better as it was spent without the box in my hands. I got a ton of signatures and sketches and was out of cash by 4 o'clock. I actually got walk around the convention hall and see things which was great. I saw tons of people in costume which is always a blast. I went ahead and headed home around 4 with a plan to come back Sunday with less stuff and a mission to get the most important things signed.

That night after going to see The Little Mermaid, Diana and I went to a diner to get Cheesecake and while we were sitting there talking, a guy two tables over heard us talking and it turns out that he is an organizer for a Con in Atlanta. We sat there talking to him and his wife for at least 45 minutes.

I went late to the convention on Sunday and headed right to a booth I had seen the day before. A newer artist whose work I love was selling his art pages for $10 a piece so I swooped in and spent 80 bucks at his table and cleaned up. I spent the rest of the day going from table to table getting sketches and signatures. I got in line at 2 for a signing of a writer and was 2 people away from the line getting cut off. It was a close call but I got one of the harder signatures to get. From there I ran to another line to get the remainder of my books signed by another writer who had only done limited signings and I left the con at 5, just as it was closing.

The entire con was great and I wish I could have gone with less to get signed just so I could have seen things without my hands being full but I love the chase of the signature and the sketch.

Below is all of the art I got.

That is all,

Newt

I feel like a teenager again

Well, some random occurrences have been happening to me over the last couple of days that makes me feel like I was in high school again. I have reverted back to a social state that was very prevalent during my Sophomore to Senior years in school. I have been dealing with...Comic Overload!!!

I use to work at a comic book shop in Midland, and as such took home a crap load of random comics at ridiculously low cost(most of it was trade for work and the owner didn't have a good understanding of a payment process). I have been randomly finding great deals on comic books this week that is giving me flashbacks.

First it was a great week of trade at my local comic shop from working, then an awesome online deal followed by a moving sale at another comic shop that I just happened to stop at. Even today I found some cheap issues when I wasn't even looking for them.

I need my wife to come home, and she is today, because I am on a tear. I need detox or something. The worst part is that, like any of us, you just can't pass up such a great deal.

I need help,

Newt

Oh What a Night...Pt 2

Well, we can continue our journey into the night of Greek and Geek by telling you about the comic book art show. After finishing up our Gyros we headed to Titan Comics, the greatest comic book store I have been to, and I have been to a lot of comic book stores.

They were serving alcohol and snacks so we went in and grabbed a can of wine. Wait, did I just say can? That's right. In a night for trying new things, we found out that some company makes carbonated wine in a can. It is about the size of a grapefruit juice can and comes with a straw. It wasn't too bad if you didn't use the straw but I don't think I will ever drink it again.

Luckily, they had bottled wine so me and my lady friends partook slightly, I more than they. I am a glutton when I am not fitting the bill so even the cheap donated wine was good. There were two bands playing throughout the night but the comic book store wasn't the greatest venue as sound doesn't travel well.

The auction was at the end of the night and by then I had already put silent bids on a few items. I got an awesome Scott Kurtz sketch of Spider-man and Spider Woman that is now hanging in my room. I also picked up a new art page of Spider-man. All in all I walked out spending $90. The girls didn't have much fun but I did, and 33% is not a bad rate of return.

Now that is all,

Newt

Oh, What a Night...Pt 1

I have been meaning to post on an evening that Erin, Diana and myself shared recently. Wait a minute. You perverts, that's not what I am talking about. Get your minds out of the gutter. Jeez!


The night I am talking about is when I dragged Erin & Diana to a mediocre comic auction to benefit the Hero Foundry. It was to benefit the charity's rebuilding efforts after flooding washed them out of their building. I will post on the Art Show/Auction later but today I will discuss what happened before we went.


Dammit, stop trying to make this a dirty event. I mean, it does involve Greek but that shouldn't put your mind in a dirty hole. We went to eat Greek food at Stratos. You Love It, Baby! I have never experienced a Gyro but I had one that night. For the few of you who don't know, gyro is a Greek work meaning Taco. It contained a sauce that I was hesitant about but what the hell, I ate it.


What made this evening special was that there was a belly dancing show right in front of our table. There were two women and they were scantily clad. I have never seen a live belly dance so the awe in my face was pretty apparent. The girl in Green and the girl in Red were the two dancers.


I was afraid we needed to tip them but wasn't sure if that was an insult. But then the money dance came up and I was forced to put a dollar down the side of this woman's skirt. She smelled nice though. The entire event was awkward for me but it was fun to watch. I will admit that I tried to belly dance for Diana the next day but it didn't have the same effect.


That isn't all,


Newt

Captain America R.I.P.

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, Captain America was killed in issue 25 of his series. While being escorted from prison following his surrender at the end of Marvel's Civil War, a sniper working for Cap's Arch nemesis, the Red Skull, shot him through the chest.

In the commotion, Captain America's girlfriend, Sharon Carter, shot him three times in the stomach. I know, what a bitch. But cut her some slack. She was under the control of the Red Skull at the time. How would you feel if you killed the man you love and had no control over it.

The reason I am writing this post is that this story has hit the media and made a big stink. I was reading some responses to the MSN story and people were saying that killing Captain America was political and unAmerican. That Marvel made a mistake in killing him since we are at war. I have also read people say that this is all a ploy to sell more comics.

To this I say, "No Shit!" That's what Marvel does. It sells comics. And fuck you, public opinion. Your opinion is ridiculous. Almost all of the people who have commented on this story don't even read comics. They weigh in on his death but they don't read. Why the hell do you care? You haven't been reading it. You read the story online and thought, "Well that's unAmerican. They destroyed a symbol of freedom." Bull. People make me so angry. They comment on things that they don't know about and try to make it sound like they care.

You can watch an MSN report on it Here. And an interview with the writer of Captain America, Ed Brubaker Here.

That is all,

Newt

Worn Out, Tired and Busted

Well Howdy. What a weekend. Thomas came down and we had a hella weekend that will be remembered until our dying days. Let me give you a definition:

def. Nirvana - a state of being caused by Rocking Hard, getting your inner nerd on, and drinking on someone else's dime.

And that is what I achieved this weekend. By Sunday, I had obtained from Wizard World Texas 2006.

1. An assload of signed comics by the likes of Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, George Perez, and J. Scott Cambell
2. A copy of The Watchmen as well as a Black Cat mini series that I have been looking for.
3. a Thing Mini Bust that rocks(pun intended).
4. an original comic book page signed by the tracer, I mean Inker.
5. Three copies of Ultimate Alliance in which I sold one and gave one to Tommy Boy.
6. Tons of original sketches, which I plan to post on.

All that for about $200,

I had an awesome time and it really makes me miss not being around Thomas more(hint hint Jackie, move to Dallas). I can't wait until next year and maybe this can start being a yearly event. Who knows.

The other two people involved in this weekend have touched upon most of the things that happened over the last couple of days so I will leave the details to them.

That is all,

Newt

Phil Noto & Steven Rude

I had an interesting experience today. A couple of weeks ago I got an email saying that Steven Rude, a comic artist and writer who has written some really great stuff over the years, was going to be at Lone Star Comics in Dallas today. It was a signing that was 5-7 so I got online and ordered a few comics to get him to sign.

So, being the uber nerd that I am I took off work today at 4 to give myself enough time to get to the store and get in line early so I wouldn't be there all night. I arrived at 4:30 and no one was there. I asked one of the guys that worked there if the signing was today and he said yes. I was a little surprised that there was no one there but didn't worry to much about it because I was shooting for a sketch from Steven Rude and when there is a line, it is hard to get anything.

Then the clerk told me that they had also added Phil Noto (http://notoart.com) to the list but it was short notice. I was pissed. I didn't bring any of his stuff to get signed and wasn't happy. I did buy a Graphic Novel of his to get signed and thanks to my favorite cousin, Kristy, I got some online help that lead me to a cover of Captain Marvel Vol 5, issue 4.

The artists plane was late so they didn't actually arrive until 5:30 but even then it was only me and one other guy to meet the two of them. When they arrived I got introduced to the both of them and we actually had a small conversation. They sat at a table with some of their works on it and me and this other dude sat on the opposite side. For almost 2 hours I sat across from these two amazing artists and got to know them.

FYI, Steven Rude is a weird man. He is absolutely full of himself and at one point even said "I don't read new comics. I go back and read my old stuff because I know it is good." Phil Noto, however, is a laid back guy that was easy going and I could definitely see hanging out with.

I have never had a conversation with a comic artist and to have two of them all to myself was the ultimate. I got to hear how they got into comics and ended up with a load of stuff signed and two amazing pieces of art(only one was free). This made my day.

That is all,

Newt

Civil War - Major Revelations

So, for anyone who read my last post on the greatness that is Marvel Civil War, issue two just came out and DAMN! I am going to warn that I am giving a major piece of news away but as no one who reads this reads comics I will now go for it.

Spiderman revealed his identity to the world. That's right, the secret is out. Iron Man held a press conference and Peter Parker announced to the world on national television that he was Spiderman and has always been. I am just getting my mouth off the floor.


This is monumental. So many things will change after this. His family will never be safe. The need for a mask goes right out the window and he won't have to be running from the law because with this, he is now registered. That means he is a government agent. A paid agent. He's no longer a vigilante.

I peed myself a little just thinking about it. Sometimes they say "After this things will never be the same" but this is really one of those times.

So for now That is all,

Newt

Zombies Rock

So, I am currently reading a set of Graphic Novels of the comic book series 'The Walking Dead' and can I just say that I am really getting turned around on the whole Undead thing. I use to think that zombies were stupid and had no value but after reading this and seeing movies like Shaun of the Dead I realize that zombies aren't stupid, well I mean they are because they have no thought process because they are dead, but they have great story value.

In 'The Walking Dead' a man wakes up from a coma and the entire world has been zombiefied. He goes looking for survivors and finds his family living with a group of humans. The story is really character driven and the zombies are used as a looming threat. They stop the humans from finding food and shelter, but are barely in the book. The real story happens after the zombies appear because people who you wouldn't normally care about are now interesting because we see how they survive.



Also, the use of zombies as a comedic device have numerous possibilities. Why, I was just reading 'Marvel Zombies,' which is a zombie take on the Marvel superheroes, and lets just say that when Zombie Hulk eats a leg of a person and then changes back to Bruce Banner, the leg doesn't fit so well and busts out. Pure comedy gold. Plus, Zombie Spiderman is even funnier than regular Spidey.

All in all I have really changed my opinion of Zombies. And with that I say...

That is all,

Newt