Pirat Tales Available For Download

So, you say you missed out on getting a copy of and reading the comic book, Pirat Tales: Legend of the Cat O’ Nine Tails — created and written by yours truly. Well, avast, ye rattie. Ye be in luck. Issues one and two of Pirat Tales: Legend of the Cat O’ Nine Tails is now available for electronic download at Eagle One Media.

Not only that, but Doomed #2, in which I adapted Robert Bloch’s short story Warm Farewell, is also available for download. So, do this humble blogger a solid (or three) and download one (or all three) — and be sure to let me know what you think of ’em.

Below is the official press release…

IDW Publishing and Eagle One Media Join Forces to Give Comic Fans an Innovative New Way to Enjoy IDW’s Unique Library of Titles

(San Diego, CA; February 18, 2009) – IDW Publishing, known for its wide array of comic books and graphic novels, has partnered with Eagle One Media to start a comprehensive backlist on the Web. Featuring a range of books from the Eisner-nominated artist and co-creator of 30 Days of Night, Ben Templesmith, to the Presidential Material: Barack Obama and McCain comics, to work by acclaimed artist Ashley Wood, each title will be available for download as a PDF for a minimal $1.99 fee.

Eagle One Media’s President, Eric Reichert, is excited about this new relationship. “Being able to work in partnership with IDW to make a significant number of their comics available for download to fans worldwide is a great opportunity for us. We’ve simplified the process so that comic fans can easily and quickly download complete PDF-style issues to their computer. They can also print the issues and save them to more than one computer if needed.

“Plus, with a sales price below the printed books, we give fans the opportunity to discover and try out comics which they may not have had access to in the past, in an innovative format. IDW joins our growing list of publishers who have made their comics and graphic novels available in our retail download store at: www.eagleonemedia.com.”

Chris Ryall, IDW’s Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, added “I love seeing our comics expand into areas that allow readers to sample books that are new or unfamiliar to them. Eagle One’s formatting is clean, quick, and easy for anyone who wants to read comics on their computer, and when you consider that you can download an entire issue of the 72-page Doomed magazine for $2, a great value, too.”

This pairing ushers in a brand-new platform for fans to enjoy IDW’s extensive backlist, with titles to appeal to a wide array of fans. Currently available for download are Blood-Stained Sword, Cobb, CVO, D’Airain Aventure, Doomed, Everybody’s Dead, Grumpy Old Monsters, Igor, Lore, Lost & Found, Pirat Tales, Presidential Material, ShadowPlay, Singularity 7, Snaked, and Zombies!: Feast. This already impressive backlist will be frequently updated at Eagleonemedia.com.

Shout Out To My Peeps ’09

To know me is to know that I love yellow Marshmallow Peeps. My favorite thing about this time of the year (other than the fact that Spring Training is underway and the start of the official Major League Baseball season is just around the next month and a half) is that store shelves are stocked with the delicious and succulent sugar and corn syrup treat known as the Marshmallow Peep.

After work tonight I walked over to the neighborhood grocery store to stock my recently cleaned fridge. I headed over to the store’s ATM to check my fund level (pleasantly better off than I had expected), and I was greeted by the vision of seeing the grocery clerk stocking the shelves with this season’s Easter candy — which of course, includes Peeps. The first thing to go into my basket was my first Peep purchase of Spring (I also threw in some Top Raman, Gatorade, hot dogs, and other bachelor necessities).

So, if you’re looking to bribe me, reward me, seduce me, or just want to get on my good side, nothing will work better for the next seven and a half weeks or so than yellow (they got to be yellow — pink, purple, green, etc… don’t cut it) Marshmallow Peeps — or even Bunnies.

Go Animate. Alright I Did…

So, I was checking out my “Nerd News” last night and my usual routine of course took me by TrekMovie.com. While there I gravitated toward the article Make Your Own Star Trek Animations At GoAnimate.com – Trek Movie Takes A First Look.  This in turn lead me to GoAnimate.com. I was instantly hooked and spent about an hour and a half playing with this new animation creator featuring nifty looking Star Trek characters.

I jumped right in — not bothering with any tutorials or reading any how-tos. I beamed right into the mix of things and started to create my first Star Trek cartoon. I had no plan on what I was going to produce, but what I did come up with (while rather simple) I feel is worthy enough to share. Please check out One Red Shirt, To Go and let me know what you think.

Now I’ve already got other animated short ideas bouncing around in my head. Hopefully, with any luck and a bit of motivation, I’ll produce a few more.

22 Minute TV Danatic

I’m thinking about doing regular posts about my guilty pleasure of watching various sitcoms of various of various degrees of quality from syndicated reruns to first run programming. I’m not necessarily proud of my television viewing habits, but over the years I’ve developed some interesting theories about the programs that I watch and I watch them — sometimes over and over…

Maybe I’ll post my sitcom rants, raves, reviews, and rebuttals here — or on a dedicated blog of its own. I’ll have to kick the idea around. If I were to do such a blog, the image here would be quite fitting I believe. I’m guessing I’m upset about the fact that Peter might not be allowed to go on a camping trip after breaking a vase because he disobeyed the commandment of “don’t play ball in the house.”

Wrong Turn On The Way To The Land Of The Lost

Alright, let’s get this out of the way… I’ve seen the Land of the Lost Super Bowl XLII TV spot. Though, I’m glad that I didn’t actually see it that day. It could’ve — No, it would’ve ruined what was generally a pretty good day spent with friends.

Anybody that knows me knows that I’ve been a fan of the original Land of the Lost since I was the age of six. Way back in the day, when Saturday morning children’s programming really meant something. They’d preview the upcoming Saturday kid fair with a prime time special. And, it was during the the NBC preview that I got my first glimpse of Grumpy — the terrifying tyrannosaurus rex that would relentlessly torment the Marshall family for three seasons. It scared the crap out of me — but I was hooked nonetheless. During my early days of elementary school I’d struggle through the grind of learning my three Rs — reading, writing, and arithmetic — just to get to Saturday and another episode of Land of the Lost. I also dug Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (not so much when Rip Taylor showed up), Super Friends, and Star Trek: The Animated Series.

I’ve kept it no secret that over the last number of years I’ve wanted to adapt (and even update) Land of the Lost as a comic book. When I heard there was going to be a big-budget motion picture based on the Land of the Lost I had high hopes for something glorious. Then I heard it would be starring Will Ferrell — and a piece of my childhood died. Then I heard it would be a “comedy-adventure” and another piece of my childhood chipped off and fluttered away in the wind. Then online I saw the commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. My heart “plunged a thousand feet below…”

If you haven’t seen it yet… Well, here it is…

Sigh. It looks like the only thing they did get right was the raft plunging down a thousand feet below. The original material was so ripe with possibilities and all kinds of probabilities. Instead, we’re apparently getting a hundred thousand dollar budgeted spoof of a true Saturday morning television classic. Sid and Marty Kroft… I hate you.

Tom Petty — It’s Not You, It’s Me

Hey, Tom… We have to talk. It’s just not working out right now with us. It’s not you. It’s me. Well, actually it’s her.

I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I respect and appreciate your music — and have since I first saw the Refugee video on Mtv way back in the day. Cool Road Warrior imagery. You’re definitely a rock icon — there’s no denying it. But, you see… Here’s the deal. The girl that I just split with after almost close to four years is a major Tom Petty fan. You are, without a doubt, her all-time favorite musical performer.

Before she came into my life I think I may have had one of your greatest hit collections in my CD collection. But her influences during the time we were together got me to much more into your music than I had previously been. I’ve got a number of your albums in my current iTunes collection. I had never attended one of your concerts before going with her — we went to two different shows. To be honest, I didn’t spend a lot of my dollars playing your tunes on the jukebox before she came around, but I’d hunt for your songs (especially Here Comes My Girl) whenever I was at a bar with a jukebox. And, when one of your songs came on the radio while driving I instinctively reached over to turn up the volume.

But, like I said, we broke up. And, I’m sorry to say the same goes for you and I. Right now, we’re just not… What we were. Again, you haven’t changed. It’s all on me. Your music hasn’t changed — just how it affects me now.

That’s not to say that you and I still can’t be friends. I’m sure I’ll come around, and not always switch the station on the radio when you come on. I’ll eventually play your tunes on jukeboxes again (just not Here Comes My Girl).

This isn’t the first break up like this that I’ve been through – and I’m sure the same can be said for you. There was one girl that was both a Steeley Dan fan and a U2 fan. Now, before she came into my life I was already a fan of U2 myself, so after that relationship ended the separation between me and the quartet from Dublin didn’t last all that long. We had already had a history together before this other girl and I were together. But, there was a time that I felt very uneasy and uncomfortable listening to U2. As I said, this other girl did turn me on to Steeley Dan, too. I wouldn’t have seen them live without going with her. I wouldn’t have played their tunes on the jukebox if she wasn’t a part of my life. Now though, I just don’t feel the same about them as I did then.

The other major girl in my life had horrible taste in music, so the split between those performers and I was easy.

I think you and I will be okay someday. Not right away, but I’ll come around, and I hope that I can enjoy your music as much as I did over the last four years. It really meant a lot to me. And, I’m sure it will mean a lot more to me in the future. I’m still hurting, and I hope you can understand that. You keep playing your music and making her happy. I’ll miss you’re music.