Post-Traumatic Tech Disorder

It’s a busy week for me, but I wanted to get an update out here with some miscellania.

• Links to more Comic-Con reports (courtesy of the Comics Reporter).

• Pulse is getting a message board upgrade. Might have to fix my Comic Headlines program after they get done, but you’ll still get the updates from the other comic news sites. And if anyone hadn’t noticed yet, there are some new features over in the Comic Headlines section: RSS feed and an events section where you can hit the archive of the SDCC 2005 news links and visit the newly created Wizard World Chicago 2005 news page (just look for the link at the top or the “event news feeds” dropdown under the calendar).

• Seth and I will be at Wizard World Chicago next week. Table 9193 in Artist Alley (I believe it’s in the new Artist Alley section). Stop by and ask us about our Steampunk Faeries book (available at Chicago).

• Science time!

The FDA approved a pacemaker-like implant that sends electric shocks through the vagus nerve to the brain to stimulate the region of the brain that regulates mood. The device is being used as a new therapy for severe depression.

Ultra-lifelike android.

What’s it like living on a big radioactive mudball?

• “And I’ll form the head!”

Passerby: Hey Jeff, how was San Diego?
Jeff: It was good. Tiring, but good.
Passerby: Tiring?
Jeff: Walking around while carrying 20-30 pounds of stuff. I dropped my weight by eight pounds.
Passerby: Eight pounds? That’s a lot of walking.
Jeff: Actually, I think some of that weight was from my liver. It was slowing me down at night, so I chucked it.

Well, I have an article to finish up for another website that I said I’d get to them by tomorrow, so I don’t really have time to be as thorough as I was for preview night. But… there are some people out there that provided some nice SDCC coverage, so I’ll provide some links (and I’ll chat some more about SDCC later).

Day 1:
The Comics Reporter
The Beat (and The Beat’s Barcon report)
Augie De Blieck Jr.
Mark Evanier

Day 2:
The Comics Reporter (and an Eisner Awards diary)
The Beat’s Eisner wrap-up
Augie De Blieck Jr.
Mark Evanier
Broken Frontier

Day 3:
The Comics Reporter
The Beat, Saturday part 1 and news and notes
Augie De Blieck Jr.
Mark Evanier
Broken Frontier

Day 4:
The Comics Reporter
Augie De Blieck Jr.
Mark Evanier

The Day After:
The Beat

tagicon international: comicon, comics, conventions, San Diego

Made it into the preview night. I’ll be doing a more detailed report for Scryptic Studios after the con, but here are some quick bits from today.

• Finally met Ryan Ottley in person. Ryan and I worked on the Dungeon Bears story (you can read it up there in the published section) and an unpublished little one-pager called “Time Travel Management” (which he gave me the original artwork for today). Looks like things are going well for him with Invincible… a fun book (be sure to check it out).

• Chatted with Todd Roy, creator/producer of Kwoon. Kwoon is a new series coming from the Martial Arts Channel (which launches later this year… if you’re interested in having a channel dedicated to martial arts 24/7, be sure to call your cable/satellite provider and ask for it). It looks like a fun show… basic concept is “bad acting, good kung fu.” Quick note: what stood out about Kwoon was that amidst the flurry of press emails for Comic Con, they actually sent out a physical letter. That really stood out (and was probably the reason it was the first booth I visited).

• Chatted with my boss at the ‘Shoot, Chris Ryall. He also works for IDW Publishing along with Hero Happy Hour creator Dan Taylor.

• Also hanging around the IDW booth was Ben Templesmith and his wife. Ben’s really excited about his new book coming out in September called, Fell (written by that Warren Ellis fella). The interesting thing about Fell is the format. Each issue will be a self-contained 16-page story in a 9-panel grid format. And even though each issue is its own story, they will build up a larger story over time. Kind of like episodic TV… and those classic comics I read as a kid.

• Another person at the IDW booth (it was a gathering) was 24 (comic adaptation) writer, Mark Haynes.

• Chatted with Justin Peniston and Matt Filer from Quixotic Comics.

• Scott Kurtz was there and already burned through a box of his Skull plushes during preview night.

• Stopped by to talk with Rafael Navarro of Sonambulo. I met Rafael at the STAPLE convention in Austin. He has lots of great stories, so if you get a chance to stop by his booth here in San Diego, head on over and be entertained.

• Write Bros, Inc. is there and showing off their software (Movie Magic Screenwriter is what I use for writing comics and screenplays). If you’ve wondered what screenwriting software can do for you, they have a presentation where you can see it in action.

• Digital Webbing is all over the place. Echo 3 Worldwide had a booth and selling off BloodRayne comics left-and-right (and I got my comps… yay!). Epic Proportions is set up near by, and so is the main Digital Webbing booth.

• John Gallagher of Buzzboy was set up with some cool new t-shirt designs.

• Penny Arcade had a nice set up right across from Penny Farthing (I wonder if the Penny’s were placed next to each other on purpose). They have some cool CTS prints for sale… ask them about it. They’re also near the Keenspot booth, which looked packed compared to how spacious the PA booth was.

And that’s it for now… I gotta head out and do some drinki… socializing.

tagtastic: comics, San Diego, conventions, Comic-con, writing, martial arts

Twenty years ago today, Coca Cola gave in and unveiled its plans to bring “Classic Coke” back to the market. I remember that period of time when there was only “New Coke.” Coca Cola zombies in my school were quivering at their desks from withdrawal (luckily, I had a Mountain Dew addiction to fall back on). People were scouring the convenience stores for that Holy Grail of old recipe Coca-Cola. Grocery shoppers were bitching about their funny tasting Coke. And one curious scientific mind was testing out the blast radius of this New Coke after its aluminum shell had been compromised via homemade explosives [warning: don’t try this at home… don’t try this at all].

tagitis: cola, explosives

• Medical science has developed a future source of revenue for the online porn community. A device that can relay an artificial sense of touch anywhere in the world. Sure, they’re using it for a good medical purpose right now, but you know someone’s thinking about using the technology to take cyber-sex to the next level. Truly interactive DVDs. Online shows where the audience can actually lay back and really enjoy the show. Or even a tool used to keep relationships strong (a couple separated by distance due to work or other circumstances would be able to spend some intimate time with each other).

Source: New Scientist news service

• Clive Barker… IDW. Looks like IDW will be publishing a bunch of Clive Barker’s comic projects for the foreseeable future. Could be interesting. I’ll have to keep an eye on what shows up from that.

Source: Newsarama

• Video gamers may have quicker eyes. Uhhh… really? You mean all that practice staring at a TV/monitor hour upon hour and day after day, scanning your environment, and evading/targeting small objects as quickly as possible might actually improve your reaction time and visual abilities? Yeah, it seems like this is one of those crazy research projects just to do a study on something that seems so obvious, but they do have a reason for the research… to see if video games could be used to help rehabilitate the brain when it falters (due to stroke, old age, etc).

Source: Reuters

• And on the flip side… games and violence again. Research on whether violent games prime the brain for violence. At least, they do admit, “But finding out whether it is the games that make them violent or the violence that attracts them to the games has proved much harder.” I used to play a lot of games, and a lot of violent, shooty games. But… one of my primary reasons for it was to relieve stress. Bad day at work? Blow up some things to get that out of my system, so it isn’t buried deep percolating and waiting for an opportune moment. I’d go to work the next day, and I’d be fine. No aggression… no problems. Sure, I might get a little frustrated and cuss at the screen during the game (especially if I’m in the middle of a good game and lost my connection), but after the game, I’d be fine. I’m sure there are others like me… where does that lead their research? Would we be an exception to the rule or would that exception be the people that express aggressiveness after gaming?

Source: New Scientist news service

• I haven’t seen it yet, but apparently, BloodRayne: Skies Afire (original printing) is listed at $28 in the new Wizard price guide. Hehe… anyone need a copy? ^_^

• And derived from a Warren Ellis tradition of breaking down some stats for his website, here are a few of the interesting search terms that brought people to the site last month: “giantess”, “lesbian girls”, “cosplay tights”, and “frank miller”. ^_^

“2020 Visions” was a story idea I came up with while doing a bunch of psychic and paranormal research for another story. Like its title hints, it deals with hindsight…

In the future, police investigations benefit from the use of a new technology that allows them to download the sensory information from a person’s short term memory. Detectives can then experience everything a witness hears, sees, feels, smells, or tastes throughout the length of that individual’s short term memory. But one detective finds himself addicted to this sensory immersion. The rest of his life unravels, so he throws himself into his work. But one day while on the trail of a murderer, his world gets turned inside-out when his sole witness is an insane woman that can only see the future.

Research required: dynamics between sensory and short term memory; psychological disorder an “always on” precog could be misdiagnosed as having; other science and tech advances for the year 2020; legal ramifications of downloading a willing witness’ sensory memories

Every now and then, I like to read through the section of my journal I call my “thought bucket.” The thought bucket is where I write up story ideas I come up with. I usually start out the day jotting down a story idea or two… as kind of a cleansing ritual to clear those thoughts out of my mind and allow me to focus on the projects I’m currently working on. I’ve been doing this for nearly three years now, and I realized I had over 200 story ideas in there (that I’m not currently working on). Even if I crank out four novels/screenplays/graphic novels a year, it would take me over 50 years to get through the current list (and if I keep jotting down ideas, I’d have another 3000 story ideas collected in that time).

So, I thought I’d share some of my crazy ideas every now-and-then… kind of a look into my brain (it’s a scary place… I know ’cause I peeked one time). So, let’s look at an idea I had a couple years ago (actually came up with the idea on my way home from work and wrote it down the next morning). I tentatively titled this concept, “Taco Assassins.”

Various costumed food mascots, waving the crowds into restaurants around the world, turn out to be a secret society of trained killers.

Taco by day, one man deals with the onslaught of the fast food experience–impatient customers, bratty children, and steaming inside his costume as the sun beats down on him all day long. It’s almost enough to make a man feel like killing someone. And now, he gets his chance. While filling in at another store, our hero gets pulled into this secret society of fast food garbed assassins when they mistake him for the regular employee of this store. He could just walk away now, but there are two important things making him take a shot at this whole assassin thing… he’s afraid of pissing off a group of assassins, and the money is good. Now, he must kill or be killed… and get back to work before the lunchtime rush ends.

George Lucas. Yep, the racecar driver hopeful turned filmmaker was born May 14th, 1944 in Modesto, California. Interesting tidbits gleaned from IMDB about Lucas: he was an executive producer on the film Labrynth, and he was also an executive producer on the international version of the Akira Kurosawa film, Kagemusha.

Manga on the go.

Gotta wonder if any other comic companies will do this as well. This looks like it would be a nice option for companies to put together a collection of 5-page previews of all their books available for pre-order each month (or even small press/independents giving away downloads for a first issue to hook readers). Imagine how much easier things could spread by word of mouth. “Dude, check out the artwork on this book from Comic Company X. Got it right here on my PSP.”

Saw this mentioned over at Mark Evanier’s blog… earlier this month, the book Foul Play was released. It’s a book that profiles (bio, sample art, and sample stories) a bunch of the artists from EC Comics. Will Elder, Al Feldstein, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Harvey Kurtzman, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, and more.