First of all, with the news that Lost Girls is at the printer, we're starting to get some buzz. The first 2-part interview that rolled out was conducted by Kurt Amacker over at Cinescape, and it is awesome. Alan really explains how and why this book is so important. Check it out.

Second, as per his usual excellence in blogging, Steven Grant throws in some fabulous insight into the history of comics culture in his new column, and how that has affected scheduling. And i mean that in a not-so-good way. He uses Grant Morrison's 7 Soldiers of Victory as a current example, but this is a widespread problem in mainstream comics; announcing and soliciting comics before the work is done, only to lose big face when the book is due, and it's not ready for consumption.

Actually, this is the very same reason why Chris and myself decided, almost a decade ago, that we wouldn't serialize comics at all. In fact, in a sense, we sort of broke the mold, with the decision to not serialize the mammoth Blankets. That (coupled, to be fair, with the phone book Cerebus volumes that Dave Sim has been releasing for forever now), has lead to the current trend for releasing anything and everything in the comics-brick mode. (Maybe i'm talking out of my ass, but i think not. Readers feeling i am talking out of line are welcome to write in, and i'll post their response here.)

Lastly, in the better-late-than-never category, here are the few pics i snapped at APE a few weeks back, before my camera battery died.

Aaron Renier, Liz Prince, and Jeffrey Brown

Jon Lewis and Jennifer Daydreamer (two members of the seminal Seattle Scene from the mid-90's, including Jason Lutes, Ed Brubaker, and Tom Hart.)

Kelley Seda, Chris (AdHouse) Pitzer, and Scott Morse.

Kristen Siebecker and Alex Robinson

Renee French (Wha..?)

There's Top Shelf Webmaster Nate Beaty, on the left, pimping his truly excellent comic book BFX.

This was my view, mixing margaritas as guest bartender at Isotope. Their new digs are much more spacious than the one in the Sunset, but true to form, it still got PACKED.

The lovely Kirsten Baldock (and yours truly), who so graciously shared her Sacred Bar Space. (Inside bartender thing.)

Sequential Tart Adrienne Rappaport … Queen of the Beer Taps.

Well i still haven't had much time for extracurricular entertainment, and i haven't been able to keep up with juicy comics industry developments either, but i did read just now a very inspirational (if somewhat depressing) essay by the great investigative journalist Bill Moyers, A Time for Heresy. If you have any interest in reading more about the real world in which we live, this essay might open some eyes. Especially as it pertains, given Moyers' professed and upstanding Christian Values, to the hypocrisy of the movement of the modern religious right to marrying church and state, all the while acting against the very values they profess to hold.

Oh, and i suppose, in all fairness, i can't say i haven't seen anything... during this final stretch of pre-production on the New & Improved edition of From Hell, i found myself rather enjoying a 48-Hour Nickelodeon Marathon of Miami Vice. I know, i know... i'm dating myself (hey, i am 40 years old, after all), and yes much of the trappings of this show are dated as well. But that said, if you can get over the pastels and Phil Collins tunes, it holds up pretty well. You can see where Michael Mann cut his teeth on this tv show, and episodes from the early seasons especially have plenty of gritty goodness. (Including the offing of Crockett's original partner, Jimmy Smits, the sacrificial lamb, whose death was necessary to bring in the laid back Tubbs.)

Plus, in just the several episodes i caught, there was a plethora of guest stars (who at the time i originally watched these, back in college, i had no idea who they were), including: Frank Zappa, Pam Grier, Steve Buscemi, Willy Neslon, and the latino crew-member from the second-to-last (and lame) Star Trek spinoff. Oh, and Edward James Olmos as Lt. Castillo was just a supreme bad-ass.

I really can't believe i liked watching these again as much as i did. So sue me.

Yes, it's been too long since i last posted. Post-APE has been chaos. I've had nary a moment to enjoy much tv, film, or reading as of late. Good news is … GASP!! … Lost Girls actually went out the door to our printer in Hong Kong over a week ago!! I seems like forever that we've been working on this book, and given the nature of its content, i'm VERY curious to see what kind of reaction it will get.

Meanwhile, i did pick up the newest Marvel Masterworks yesterday, compiling the last run of X-Men comics, before it was turned into a reprint title, and then relaunched and turned into the mega-franchise it is today. Neal Adams may be off his rocker now, but back in the day, this guy could freaking draw like nobodies business. I LOVE this stuff!! (This brings the reprinting of Adam's Marvel and DC work almost up-to-date, at least as far as his "big runs" go. But he did a plethora of stunning covers, one-shots, fill-ins and what have you... i'd love to see this collected as well one day.)

But what surprised me in this X-Men collection, was how much i enjoyed some of the work by Werner Roth and Don Heck. I'm guessing it must have been the solid inking, because both of these guys are pretty hit or miss for my tastes. The only drawback to the collection was some very poor reproduction, especially the line art, which is noticeably jaggedy. No surprise here though... Marvel has long been the weaker of the Big Two with their reproduction quality. (Although DC handily loses the production values game to Marvel, what with their shitty newsprint for the bulk of their trade paperbacks.)

Anyway, enough inner fanboy. I'm just hoping that this post will inspire me to get back to this on a regular basis again. Until then, enjoy this recent photo of The Kid, at a family event last weekend.

Back at the ranch, life is back to sort of normal. Deadlines. Sick kid. More deadlines. Etc.

To recap the last couple weeks, i'll try and make it short:

• Emerald City Con. Seattle. Pretty good day one, not so good day two. I still love the show, and will continue to attend. Shows promise.

•Â Three day break.

•Â APE (Alternative Press Expo). San Francisco. ROCKED! Best APE ever, easily. Good to see The City back on its feet again.

• Co-pilot for both trips, Bwana Spoons chokes on water and pukes in my car, when we're a mere two hours from home, at the end of the long-ass roadtrip.

• Adjustment from chiropractor, Dr. Jay. Ahhhh.....

•Â Lost Girls.

I've only had a chance to read a couple items that i scored on the road, with many MANY more still unread. Kazmir Strzepek's The Basilisk, a fabulous fantasy mini-comic with a nifty screenprinted cover and thread stitching, is a hoot. Kaz's work in generally is really strong stuff. In fact, his super tiny mini-comic The Mourning Star, is the best comic no one's read in the last two years. Just fabulous sci-fi fantasy weirdness, with great characters an a fun compelling story.

You can find samples of his work here.

(Note: The Basilisk is a short strip that was originally drawn for Jeffry Brown's now-defunct Elf World.)

Also, Scott Morse generously (no surprise there) gave me a copy of his stunning new board book, Noble Boy, a biography of animation legend Maurice Noble, told in a similar children's book manner as the Kurosawa parts of his Top Shelf book, Barefoot Serpent. This is a truly deluxe package. Kudos to Scott and co-publisher Chris Pitzer over at AdHouse Books. I'm pretty sure this is Scott's first release for his newly formed company Red Window.

(Here's hoping that one day we'll see Scott dive into his "next" Top Shelf book, Lyrical Whales.)

Oh, and i also picked up and read the Joss Whedon/John Cassaday 12-issue masterpiece run on Astonishing X-Men. Holy god what a fanboy's dream this book is. It's got everything: the return of Colossus; Kitty Pride; the Fastball Special; the Danger Room; the Danger Room gone all Hal on us. I'm actually only a recent convert to Whedon, getting the bug first (or actually, last) with his most recent film, Serenity. This ass-kicking film led me to the abandoned tv show Firefly, which in turn led to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, which i now have even my wife addicted to as well. (We're into Season 5.) I saw a t-shirt at WonderCon this year that pretty much sums up how amazing a visionary this guy really is. It read, "Joss Whedon is My Master Now." No truer words can be spoken, as the once mighty George Lucas falls from grace with his absolutely abysmal new Star Wars travesties.

But the beauty of Whedon's vision could only have been realized by the jaw-dropping panoramic artistry of artist John Cassaday and colorist Laura Martin. This powerhouse duo could be working on the lamest book ever … say, Power Pack or something … and i'd pay for the opportunity to see it. I'm out of superlatives. Trust me, this is great stuff for any X-Men junky (different yet on par with the mind-bending Grant Morrison run), super-hero fan, or acolyte of the new "widescreen" school of comics.

I can't wait to see their next run.

Yeesh, i feel like i'm 60 freaking years old. Having a bum back really sucks, eh? Anyway, off yet again early in the morning, mi amigo Bwana riding shotgun. Being a ten-over the speed-limit driver, i can blast from Portland to San Francisco in ten hours. Then on Friday morning, i'm picking up a mini-van, so i can tool on south to Santa Cruz, for a signing at Atlantis Fantasy World with Alex (Tricked) Robinson and his wife Kristen, Renee (The Ticking) French and Jeffrey (Every Girl) Brown. It'll be an all-day affair, so i suspect i'll be pretty beat by the time we get back to the city. In fact, we'll most likely roll in too late to make the Last Gasp pre-APE mixer. I think it's at their warehouse; if you've never been, it truly is quite the experience to walk the isles.

APE itself is Saturday and Sunday. Should be fun, since we'll also have several other Top Shelf peeps showing up, including Jeremy (Cry Yourself to Sleep) Tinder, Aaron (Spiral-Bound) Renier, Liz (Will You Still Love Me?) Prince and Jennifer (eponymous) Daydreamer.

Saturday night should be a kick too, given that i'll be Guest Bartending at Isotope Comics in the early evening. I'm really looking forward to this, since i haven't given the old can a shake in a long while. Also, i haven't been to the new location yet (since they moved from the Sunset District); James & Kristen are some groovy folks, and i heard the new store rocks.

Swing on by, i'm making my favorite cocktail, la margarita!! Ai ai ai!

Coming home on Monday, and then … get this True Believers!! … i'm putting Lost Girls together and sending it TO THE PRINTER!!!!!!

Wrapping up the office now, followed by the Daily Show, and maybe i'll be able to drag myself to bed.

Later, kids.