Still Going...

 It's been a while since I've updated this old blog and considering I haven't written anything since New Year's Eve, I think I was past due.

The End of the Year (Didn't I Do This Last Year?)

So, here we are, end of the year once again.

This has been a very interesting year; very different but not too much.

Let's go over some highlights (and/or lowlights) of this year.

Last Ride

 

The Journey

 While the 11th of November of obviously an important day of it year, it also holds another special significance to me.

Two years ago today I woke up feeling slightly invigorated; the day before as I was heading into downtown Calgary, I got an eagerly anticipated phone call.
The job interview I went in for a week previously had been successful and I had the job.

How the Sausage is Made

 It's been almost a year since Marcelo, Carl and I released "The Partner", a fan-comic based off of Batman: The Animated Series. Marcelo and I had done one five months previous as a small tribute to the late Kevin Conroy, but this was the first time we were telling a real story.

For me, the big thrill of this cover was our names at the top

"Here's to Survival"

 

Behind the Scenes

It almost sounds a bit strange for me to actually say it out loud but for the past year, I've been making comics.
Certainly not on a professional level but at the same time, I take it seriously and get a lot of joy out of finishing a script.
Recently I've found that as I get close to the end of a story, my writing becomes a lot more intense; it's almost like the final 100 meters of a marathon.

Ch-Ch-Changes

I've been pretty quiet since I published my last webcomic (The Partner). Right now I'm in a spot where...I honestly never saw myself being.

I'm putting a lot of effort into writing more stories and comics (Right now Marcelo & Carl are working on our latest webcomic which will be coming out in late December) and for any future webcomics, I don't want to have all my stories in Gotham City. I do have another script I gave Marcelo earlier this year and I have another one that I finished just last week.

A few weeks prior to that, I finished what's my biggest comic script to date. And the exciting thing is, it's all original characters. No Batman, Robin, or any characters that you've seen before. It helps that it's based off a true story from my own life experience. To change things up...I'm actually thinking of self-publishing this one; making physical copies that one day I could sell at a show.

Am I happy with my warehouse job? No. In fact I'd go so far to say that it's right now the least favorite thing in my life right now. And maybe I'm being unfair to it by saying that but it's my opinion.
I want to stay there at least a year. And with my one year anniversary coming up in late November...

Don't worry, I'm not quitting yet. I'd want to have something to go to before I jump ship, however it'll probably happen next year. Besides, it looks more impressive on my resume if I say I started in 2022 and left in 2024 compared to leaving in 2023. A future employer will look and say, "Ah so you did two years at ________?"

Oh and to really shake things up, for the past few months I've been seeing someone. Yeah, believe it or not I found someone who can willingly stand my company over extended periods of time. 

I joke, but it's really nice to have someone who gives me self-confidence, self belief and encourages me in my writing. Honestly, since we've started dating I've felt more alive in my writing, more excited about it. More importantly, I've felt happier.

And apparently I look happier as well. I'm not too certain about that but then again I'm not exactly looking at my face that often. But even I think I must be happier if I'm writing love poetry (No, you may not read it).

So not the biggest update I could make at the moment but if right now the worst thing in my life is that I hate my job...things must be looking up.

The Partner

 

Schweitzer-Man Meets Susan Eisenberg

Calgary Expo.

Those are two words that mean a lot to me. I buy my tickets almost six months prior to the start of the show; in fact, back in November, shortly after getting a call-back from a job interview, the first thing I did was buy my tickets for the 2023 show.

With each passing week I'd check to see if there were any changes or announcements about guest announcements, more eager about Comic Creators than anything else. 

Project Manager or Enfant Terrible?

January was a huge month for me, writing wise. 

I realized a lifelong dream and teamed up with a great to release our fan-comic/tribute to Kevin Conroy (A Big Fan). I also got to work on writing three other scripts for fan-comics that I'm hoping to get published this year. In fact, I know at least one of them will because right now, Marcelo is hard at work completing the artwork on our next story which is titled...well, I'll leave that part out for now.

A Big Fan

 

The Comic Book Conundrum: DC...You Have a Crisis

DC Comics: Be sure to pick up the final issue of 'Dark Crisis: Young Justice' where we explain why the 1998 'Young Justice series by Peter David & Todd Nauck was actually sexist, racist & homophobic. (We will provide ZERO evidence or examples of this but trust us, OK?)

The pitch for this series was, "Let's get fans of this series to buy a comic where we let them know they're secretly human garbage!"

Also DC Comics: Be sure to pick up the final trade-paperback of 'Young Justice', completing the run of this classic series from Peter David & Todd Nauck which is beloved by fans to this day.

                Oh wow, something that looks...uh...um...what's that word?

        Oh right, enjoyable!

I'm not making this up either, both of these books are releasing on the same day. Do they ever wonder why former co-publisher of DC Comics, Dan DiDio, recently lamented that they "lost an entire generation of readers" and why manga is currently bending them over a table?

Oh and 'Dark Crisis: Young Justice' is not only a frontrunner for the Worst Comic of 2022, it's probably one of the worst comics I've ever read. I mean, up there with "All Star Batman & Robin".

I have no idea who the target audience is, what story they're trying to tell, what they're trying to accomplish by telling this story or why they felt this was the story they had to tell.

Me and Tom Grummett

Around a year ago, it really felt like the world was slowly-but surely-getting back to normal. People were allowed to eat out at restaurants, go to the movies, visit bars, breweries, attend concerts and even...comic book conventions.

Despite the show normally being held in April, in September of last year, the Calgary Expo returned in a slightly limited capacity. But I have to honest...I really enjoyed it. It felt a lot more organized and I thought it was great having all of the convention in one building instead of having vendors in the BMO Center and all the comic pros and Artists Alley (Along with other, smaller, vendors) in the Big Four Building.

Plus, I got a lot of cool things, a whole bunch of comics autographed, I picked up some art from new artists...and I also got COVID.

The Comics Conundrum: Batman Adventures #18

 As I mentioned last time, an early issue of the series Robin was one of the first comics I ever bought with my own money. But along with that issue there was another comic I bought that day as well.
My family was on a little road trip to visit my Tante who lived in Toronto and on the way to her apartment, I remember we stopped at a Coles book store and there was a rack full of comic books. Naturally I picked up Robin but I also picked up a comic I hadn't seen before. It turns out that the hit show Batman: The Animated Series had it's own tie-in comic and I had found it's latest issue and decided to buy it.

The Batman Adventures...sans Batman

The Comics Conundrum: Max Overacts

It was in April of 2014 at the Calgary Expo on the last day of the show for that year. I found myself walking towards the back of the hall where there were some food vendors when I noticed a table with a particularly eye-catching picture on the table.

I'll be honest, I use this line quite a bit to make myself sound clever...

The two characters were Max (left) and his best friend Klaus (right), stars of the webcomic, Max Overacts. I briefly chatted with the creator of the series, Caanan Grall and decided to purchase the first volume of the comic. The one picture had made me laugh and figured the book might give me a few chuckles.

The Comics Conundrum: Go Go Power Rangers!

Power Rangers in one form or another has been around since I was around six years old. I remember seeing it for the first time in first or second grade but in all honesty, I never thought it was that great.

Calgary Expo 2017 Wish List

Well, here we are again, once again it's time to slowly start gearing up for the Calgary Expo. While I may have been a bit critical of their guest line-up last year, (Feeling there was more of an emphasis on celebrities than comic creators) I must admit, I had a great time. Picked up some great comics, some great art, met some artists I admired. Even got to do a fist bump with Stan Lee-how cool is that?

Oh and he upped the resale value of my Spider-Man trade paperback...

And as they've recently announced guests like Nathan Fillion, Christopher Lambert, Danielle Panabaker, Millie Bobbie Brown and Jim Shooter, I figured that I would give them a list of people I would like to see them invite this year. 

Schweitzer-Man meets Stan Lee!!!

I had gone to the Calgary Expo many times over the past few years and despite getting the autographs of some actors, artists and writers, I never sought one from the man who was arguably the main attraction to each and every convention he went to: Stan Lee. 

You'd think a huge nerd and history buff like me would want the autograph of one of the few living legends left from Marvel's golden age but, and I must be honest, sometimes I'm not the biggest fan of Stan Lee himself. 

I'm not going to deny his accomplishments but I think a lot of times people give him too much credit undeservedly and he's very unwilling to share that credit. 

2016 Calgary Expo Wish List

Every time I go to the Calgary Expo, I always seem to have a great time. I always buy lots of great stuff like comics I've wanted from days gone by or art that I can't stop looking at (None of it's porn; I have the internet for that).