Catching up & Things to do

Mike Brim and a Vampire

Mike Brim (who writes horror novels under the name of Michael Goldcraft) was the guest author in my Education Encore class on Friday. He talked to the class about how he builds his characters, getting to know them before he begins writing about them. He wants to know how they react, and why they do the things they do, so he'll recognize immediately if they do something "uncharacteristic." He is scheduled to do a presentation at the Bay County Public Library on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m.

Minutemen by Nick May

Nick May will kick off his "Follow the Oil" tour to debut is new novel, "Minutemen," on Friday with stops all over the place for the next several days. I have read a pre-publication copy of Minutemen, and it's a hoot. (Look for my review here with the complete schedule of appearances on Thursday after it hits the web at NewsHerald.com.)

The Offer at The Axis Venue

The Offer made their official Panama City debut with new lead vocalist Nathan Simmons on Friday night. (I'll be posting a video of one of their songs later.)

I will be participating in Local BooksALIVE at the Bay County Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 29. It's a full day of local writers and their work, with a slate of speakers beginning at 10 a.m. (then a lunch break at noon) and book sales and signings from 1 to 3 p.m. I will be there with The Book of Gabriel as well as remaining copies of The Best of Days and other earlier works. I hope you'll stop by and see me before you head downtown to the second annual Panama City Zombie Walk at 4 p.m. (More on this as the event details are arranged.)

Meanwhile, check out this video I shot of last year's Zombie Walk:

What's up?

Mark Boss at Education Encore.

My friend Mark Boss, a local author, visited my Education Encore class last Friday to discuss "plot" in the craft of short fiction writing. While he was talking, a class member downloaded his latest novel to her smartphone. How cool is that?

Disembodied floating heads.

I toured the Jaycees Haunted House yesterday, where the good folks showed me some of the shocks they're planning. It opens Friday, and proceeds go to support a Christmas charity that buys toys for needy children.

Enlightenment-era Hipsters.

I also visited a dress rehearsal for AMADEUS at Gulf Coast State College. The show opens Friday and runs two weekends. Check out my behind the scenes video below:






Coming up later this week: Headed to the First Friday breakfast meeting of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce, grand opening of the Tervis store at Pier Park, and a concert where my son will debut as lead singer of The Offer. Check out their latest:

The final 13 of the New 52 (updated)

Today is new comics day all over the U.S., and here is a brief rundown of the comics I have read from the latest batch of DC's New 52 relaunch. (Read about the first release, Justice League, here; the 13 issues released on the first full week here; 13 more issues in week 2 here; and 12 more issues of week 3 here.)

The Good:

Justice League Dark No. 1: Dislike the title, which comes off like a joke from the movie "Mystery Men," but the art is strong, and the characters are coming together organically to face a threat superpowered heroes can't punch into submission. Always liked Xanadu, Zatanna, Shade, Deadman and Constantine, and this looks to be a decent adventure for them.

Aquaman No. 1: In which we see regular folks making jokes about how lame an idea Aquaman is, and we see how powerful he truly is. I used to enjoy the Jim Aparo Aquaman adventures in the 1970s, and this seems to hearken back to that (an attempt to make the hero less Silver-Age wacky and more modern). The art is excellent.

Teen Titans No. 1: Kind of liked this, although I feel like they've made Tim Drake (former Robin, now "Red Robin" and looking more like the old Black Condor) look too old. He should be a younger teen. But anyway, he's gathering other teen heroes to take on the forces of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.; lots of action and attitude, and worth a second look.


The Meh:

Flash No. 1: In which Barry Allen makes mistakes, finds out an old friend is now a clone trooper or something. 't's'alright. Wish they'd lay off all the lightning effects.

Superman No. 1: Eh. Too much shoehorned into too few pages, and lots of posturing about the "death of print" in this new media world. Also, why is it that DC's definition of "modern liberated woman" = "sleeps around," while the definition of DC's heroes seems to = lonely guy.


I haven't read these yet (expect an edit here when I do):
I've read these now, and wish I hadn't, for the most part:

Batman: The Dark Knight No. 1: Meh. Another Batman story about him fighting goons trying to escape Arkham Asylum. Been there. Done that.

Voodoo No. 1: AWFUL. JUST AWFUL. The whole book takes place in a strip club, where the title character strips while people talk about her, then she has a discussion with more strippers in the (un)dressing room, then she gives a lap dance to a guy who reveals that he's had her under surveillance, then SHE KILLS HIM and takes on his form. Feel like I spoiled that one? You'd feel worse if you'd read it. I plan to write a whole blog entry about this book and why it is representative of what went wrong with DC's rebooted universe. TERRIBLE BOOK, unless you're a sex-starved 13-year-old or a man with a cartoon fetish.

Blackhawks No. 1: Bad. And that's from someone who likes the idea of secret organizations fighting behind the scenes to keep people safe (i.e., Doc Savage, Buckaroo Banzai, etc.) And I liked the original Blackhawks okay, just not enough to buy a series about them. These Blackhawks are kind of dumb, though, as they fly around in aircraft with big Blackhawk emblems on them, then get upset if people take a photo of the emblem.

All-Star Western No. 1: Featuring Jonah Hex in a Wild West version of Gotham City. Er, pardon? I thought Gotham was on the East Coast? This is a good book. I should've expected no less from the creative team that has been knocking Hex stories out of the park consistently. Hex is hired to come to Gotham and find the "Ripper." He gets mixed up in a secret society that runs the corrupt city. Well done. Add to the "GOOD" list.

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men No. 1: 
Meh. Two guys who used to be firestorm in old continuity both become Firestorm in a new reboot of the idea. Kind of generic.

Green Lantern: New Guardians No. 1:
Meh. A reboot of the Kyle Raynor GL character in which he is chosen by rings from the spectrum of power ring-wielders. 

I, Vampire No. 1:
Meh. Disappointing, as I have fond memories of this title when it was just one of the stories running in the DC mystery comics of the 1980s. The art is moody and dark, sometimes too dark to tell what's going on or even who is supposed to be speaking. And not very much happens except talking.

The Savage Hawkman No. 1:
Meh. Good to see them trying to give us a clear and concise origin of Hawkman; a reboot of this character was needed long ago. But the execution was off.

Education Encore and Others

Nick May speaking to my class.

It has been a good month for writing, reading, and talking about writing and reading.

My Education Encore class began Friday, and I think it was a success. I had 13 women in the class (no men) and a visit from Nick May, author of Megabelt and the upcoming Minutemen. We talked about the elements of story, wrote character descriptions of ourselves (I encouraged them to make things up so the reader wouldn't know what was actual and what was virtual), and had a drawing for a writing book (I picked some up at the Borders slash-and-burn sale).

This Friday, we define "plots" (where characters are buried when they die), have another book drawing and a visit from author Mark Boss, who recently reviewed my novel "The Book of Gabriel" on his blog. I think it will be another productive and fun day. (I made the mistake of promising to try to write a story based on a few of the odd topics in the news that day. I'll share it here later this week.)

Writers Gallery

Last Tuesday was the first anniversary of Writers Gallery, a gathering I've been attending lately where we read samples of our work. It's open to all ages, genres, genders, and ability; there's no judgment passed, just sharing. This month, we met at Purple Grape, a wine bar in St. Andrews.

Writers Gallery

I took a few pictures, read the opening chapter of TBoG, had a glass of wine with my friends Sean and Stephanie, talked with people I don't get to see often enough, and heard some interesting poetry and stories. Lou and I discussed briefly the ongoing plan. I also met Shelby Vick, an editor of the online pulp magazine Planetary Stories. (I plan to send him some tales soon.)

Michael Lister, Olivia Cooley

A week ago Saturday, I sat in on two sessions at the annual Gulf Coast Writers Conference at Gulf Coast State College. The event, organized by author Michael Lister, brings readers and writers from across the region together. I participated in a panel on Short Story and one on "Other" types of writing (memoir, essay, review, etc.). In addition, the author John Dufresne gave the keynote address at lunch. John is a terrifically talented short story writer and novelist, and university professor. He stayed in town for the week, leading sessions at the nearby Rosemary Beach Conference for Writers; I had planned to get out there during the week for the evening readings, but could never swing the free time. (Here's something I wrote last time I went to the Rosemary conference; I was in a weird mood.)

Aside: The mail just arrived, including 13 more "New 52" first issues from DC. I'll have brief reviews in the next couple of days.

Peace.

12 more closer to 52

Got another shipment of new first issue comics in the NEW 52 relaunch of DC Comics' superhero universe earlier this week. Finally had a chance to work my way through all of them. This brings us to -- what? -- 39 total, leaving 13 more for next week.

The Good:

Wonder Woman. Spookiness and action meet in a story mixing Greek mythology with X-Files conspiracy (and giving me the first indication that this reboot is going to represent the gods of myth as akin to what we recognize in today's culture as "grey aliens" with high, rounded heads and big black orbs for eyes. Compare Hermes in this issue to Rama Kushna in the Deadman story below.) The art by Cliff Chiang is stylized and strong, and the story by Greg Rucka  Brian Azzarello (Rucka was a previous WW writer) makes our favorite Amazon a force to be reckoned with.

Birds of Prey. Strong art and a story with flashbacks used in a cinematic fashion introduce only two of the regular team this issue, although there's a visit from the team's former leader, Barbara Gordon. This is action adventure that could easily translate into film, which I maintain is the primary reason behind these reboots: Making the DC Comics universe more multi-media friendly, and more accessible to readers who like their books to reflect their video games and movies rather than vice versa.

Supergirl. (Am I seeing a pattern here? This week's best books seem to feature female characters?) This is another origin story for Supergirl, who was just relaunched a few years back in the pages of the Superman/Batman title (a story that was also adapted direct to DVD.) What can I say? The art is very good, and the story drops you in the heroine's thoughts as she wakes from a long sleep in a crashed spacecraft in Russia, only to discover she has frightening powers when she is attacked by armored goons. There's fun in her discovery, her confusion, and the way the goons react to seeing her costume. Worth a second look at least.

DC Universe Presents: Deadman. Boston Brand was a prima donna who died by an assassin's bullet and gained the power as a ghost to possess living people. In this new 52 version, he has a mission to complete in order to balance the scales; he just isn't sure what that mission requires, and he feels like a failure. Good storytelling, atmospheric art, and a blue Avatar alien for Rama Kushna. I want to know what happens next. (My understanding is that this series will tell a complete story about a DC character -- Deadman's tale is set for five issues -- and then begin a new mini-series that focuses on another DC character.)

Batman. Some reviewers are touting this as the second-best book of the New 52 (after Grant Morrison's Action No. 1). I don't know if I would say that, because it's just a pretty average Batman comic, with the exception of a teamup in the first seven pages that will make you go WHAT?! That was well-played, DC. The final panel drops a big bomb on the Batman family that will be interesting to see play out. You should see this one for sure.

The OK:

Nightwing. Dick Grayson goes back to fighting crime in a new costume that's closer to Batman Beyond than the original Nightwing suit. He visits old friends at the circus where his parents died. Nightwing fights a mercenary hired to kill Grayson. All solidly told and illustrated, but not enough to make me want to grab issue No. 2.

Legion of Super-Heroes: I'm familiar with the Legion, so this tale was not outside my realm of experience, but it was still a little thick with characters and catching up on continuity. This is not a reboot. It's a continuation apparently unaffected by the events of "Flashpoint," the recent mini-series that reset the DC universe. There's even a comment to the effect that the Flashpoint event has made time travel to the past impossible, meaning they can't expect backup from Superman again. Still waiting to see a reason why I should want to pick up a second issue.

Green Lantern Corps. I have a coworker who always pronounces the "p" in "corps." I think that would be appropriate with this book, which seems to be about piling up the body count so the heroes can make up things with the power rings. Never liked the Guy Gardner character, and don't understand why people keep reading him. Otherwise, solid art and portions of a decent story (John Stewart's portion).

Catwoman. Great art. Sexy character. Starts with a bang. Good action. But this one is definitely not one you want young readers picking up. Hint: The first issue is titled "all the costumes don't come off" and the second issue is supposed to be called "the morning after."Between the main character showing off her boobs at every opportunity and the three-page spread as she and Batman strip each other for some sexy time, this is a grown-up story ripe for a PG-13 (soft R?) movie adaptation.

Captain Atom. I picked up the 1980s launch of this character; DC had bought the Charlton Comics characters and introduced them via "Crisis on Infinite Earths," then launched them in solo comics as part of its combined and streamlined universe of 1985. If you read (or saw the film of) The Watchmen, you'd recognize a version of him as Doctor Manhattan. This comic brings the good captain close to Dr. Manhattan depth as he begins to see his body as atoms connected only by cosmic forces, and learns he can change matter into other arrangements by thought alone. Intriguing concepts and execution.

Blue Beetle. Another Charlton character, but this time rebooting and reintroducing a latter incarnation created only a few years ago by "Leverage" producer/co-creator John Rogers as a Mexican-American teenager. I'm familiar with the character as interpreted on the "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" TV show, but haven't seen much of him in comics, so this is pretty new. However, I don't read or speak Spanish, so much of the dialogue is beyond me. Doubt I'll give it a second look.

The Bad:

Red Hood and the Outlaws. Oh, this is just awful, especially if you have any history with the main characters. Red Hood is a jerk (but then, he always has been, which is why callers voted to kill him off when he was Robin back in the 1980s). Roy Harper (the former Speedy) is a douche, willing to hop into bed with his buddy's girl because she invites him. And Starfire, the former Teen Titan, interstellar princess, fierce and honorable warrior, and love of Dick Grayson, is now a slut from outer space who apparently cares so little about earth and its people that she can't be bothered to remember any of them for any length of time. Which makes it easier, I think, to forget about reading a book featuring her.

Next: Coming to comic shops on Sept.28 are ALL-STAR WESTERN #1, AQUAMAN #1, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #1, BLACKHAWKS #1, THE FLASH #1, THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #1, GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #1, I, VAMPIRE #1, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1, THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1, SUPERMAN #1, TEEN TITANS #1, and VOODOO #1.

Halfway Through the New 52

Still working my way through the issue No. 1 extravaganza DC is throwing. Here go some short reviews of the 13 books the company sent me this week:

The Good:

Batwoman: I would buy this book for the art alone, but the story is creepy and intriguing. JH Williams III continues the storyline from the original run of Kate Kane's adventures as the Batwoman, folding her ongoing personal story into the mystery of kidnapped children and ghostly intruders, as a secret government agency takes an interest in her activities. The most solid of the set this week.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.: Quoting Milton as he should, the creature leads a group of mutant monsters based on the Universal creatures (vampire, mummy, amphibian creature, and werewolf) to liberate a town overrun by Lovecraftian horrors. It reminded me of Hellboy and BPRD (in a good way), with the crazy technology of a Warren Ellis Authority tale. Try it.

Demon Knights: Gathering the various characters from DC's "past" that could be shoe-horned into a Medieval tale, we get to see Etrigan the Demon bonded to Jason Blood, Madame Xanadu pretend to love Jason so she can get close to Etrigan (or is it really Etrigan she's fooling?), Vandal Savage ... anyway. Good Lord of the Rings style fantasy adventure.

Resurrection Man: Without missing a beat, the original creators of the character return to his story, which could have been relauched without a change of universe. Mitchell Shelley gains a new superpower every time he dies and resurrects. Now he's being chased down by demons and angels as well as some of the same old enemies. Worth a try if you never sampled his series from the 1990s, and a can't miss is you remember him fondly.

The Bad: (Yes, I actually found a few I simply couldn't stand.)

Deathstroke: Spoiler alert, but if you couldn't see the ending of this story, where the super badass Deathstroke kills all the young up-and-coming members of his unwanted team, well, you probably shouldn't be reading comicbooks anyway. The book not only glorifies murder, it tries to make the villain into some kind of anti-hero. And it goes about it in a simple-minded way that's just insulting.

Red Lanterns: Atrocitus. Rage. I get it. Whereas the green lanterns tap willpower, and the yellow ones tap fear, the red ones tap hatred and rage. And their leader is called Atrocitus. They vomit blood while they fight. Awesome. I hate them. They make me want to vomit blood on this comicbook. They are one-note villains, not central characters of an ongoing series. Make them go away. Please.

Suicide Squad: They should just get it over with already. Ugh.

The Meh:
These could go either way. Not terrible, but not actually good. Sort of just there.

Superboy: Story of the clone of Superman and an unknown human, experiencing life in a virtual reality while he's studied by Deathstroke's daughter and a redhead who may be Fairchild from Gen-13.

Mr. Terrific: A "legacy" character taking the name of a hero from the 1940s, this guy uses super science to solve crime and save the world. He's also apparently knocking boots with Powergirl (is Karen Starr Powergirl in this new universe? I don't know. Maybe we'll find out soon.).

Legion Lost: Seven members of the Legion of Superheroes from the 31st century get trapped in the 21st century, but other than that I have no idea what's going on. I like the Legion, but these guys? I don't know yet.

Green Lantern: Starring Sinestro. Yes, I realize he was a Green Lantern in the recent movie, but he's not the character I tune into Green Lantern to watch at center stage. Also, why do you relaunch a whole comicbook universe, introduce it with Justice League (which takes place "five years ago" and shows us Hal Jordan as a new, brash, happy Lantern) and then give us Green Lantern No. 1, in which Hal is no longer a lantern? Confusing, yes. And frustrating. I want to see more of young Hal and his journey as a lantern in this new universe.

Grifter: Never read the old Grifter series, never got into the Wildstorm group series he was in, and doubt I'll read another issue of this one. Not that it was bad, it just made no impact whatsoever. Meh.

Batman and Robin: Most disappointing of the bunch, probably. This is Bruce Wayne and Damian, his son with Talia Al Ghul, taking up from the continuity of Grant Morrison's recent run on the title, with Bruce reclaiming the Batman cowl from Dick Grayson. Damian is a little punk, hateful, mean, disrespectful, careless. I'm hoping DC will ask fans to call an 800 number to see if he lives or dies. It worked once...

Okay, so we're halfway through the New 52. If I keep receiving these, I'll keep telling you what I think of them. You know where to find me.

Peace.

Adapting

I met with local artist and graphic designer Jayson Kretzer this morning to talk about adapting The Book of Gabriel as a graphic novel or comics mini-series. I knew we had a love of comics in common, but what I didn't realize until we talked was that we have similar views on theology. He has a great project of his own that mirrors some of the things in Gabriel, so we should click on all cylinders real soon.

His first order of biz was to put together character studies of the main heroes and villains. (He will be using a grittier style than you see in his web comic, which is very cartoony.)  I'll post some of those as they come in. While he's doing that, I will be reworking the text of the book into a comic script, rearranging some of the scenes to get more action up front and leaving some of the specifics for his brain and pencil to interpret.

I think this is going to be lots of fun. Our hope is that we produce the first 20 pages, inked and lettered, and shop it around to the publishers out there. While that set is making the rounds, we'll work on the next 20 pages. I believe the whole thing can be retold in five issues, or about 100 pages. We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, check back later tonight for my reviews of 13 more New 52 books from DC.