I know, I know, it's been forever and my dream of a weekly online comic got derailed and I have nobody to blame but myself. I should have started the first week of Hotwire with only the splash page, but I was feeling ballsy, so I went with three whole pages instead! I have this unnerving habit of putting extra pressure on myself unnecessarily. That happens with inking assignments as well, when I have a week or two off between issues of Gen13, but I've cut down my workload because it's one of those occasions where I have to pull back my committments, and refocus on doing the best work I can. It's easy to slide into hackdom if you're not self-aware. With the exception of pitching in on this week's Justice Society of America #10 (which I just couldn't pass up with such an important storyline-the "Kingdom Come" Superman joins the Society!), I won't be straying much from Gen13, specifically Carlo Barberi's issues.

   Before I go further, I have to fill you in on a one-day convention I'll be attending in Tampa, Florida. It's Sunday, November 11, less than two weeks away! For further info, check out

http://www.comicbookconventions.com/tampaconvention/index.htm

   I'll be signing and giving away comics from 10 am- 4 pm!

   I'm currently pilfering a few bags of fun-size Skittles bought for Halloween treats because it's late and I need the sugar buzz to keep myself awake! Webmaster Chris has been extremely patient with my running late with this last-minute blog. I hope I don't write anything I'll regret later (yes, it does happen).

   I'm curiously excited about this Bee movie of Seinfeld's, but I must confess to a point of contention I have with most animated movies of the past twenty years: Famous screen actors providing voices. Who give two craps if Renee Zellweger contributes a voice? Or Bruce Willis? Or Chris Rock, etc.? I can understand Jerry voicing it: it's his baby, but while Renee is a fine actress, I don't believe she's someone known for a variety of character voices (A British affect in Bridget Jones Diary. Yawn.). I think all animated features would benefit greatly from a return to an appreciation of voice actors hired specifically for animation. If you have the fortune of watching DVDs of Top Cat, Bullwinkle, Fractured Fairy Tales, and other bygone classic cartoons, you'll find unique voices that are projected and crafted specifically for radio and/or animation. The crude animation of those days simply served as storytelling devices for amazing actors/actresses of such talented voices, the effect was hypnotic. Imagine that level of voice acting commitment with modern animation-wow! Give me Don Adams' Tennessee Tuxedo or even those barely-animated '60's Iron Man and Sub-Mariner cartoons just to hear the booming authoritative voice of John Vernon who became most known later as Dean Wormer in Animal House. Other than the versatile Billy West, where are the great voice actors of today? Enough of these People magazine celebs who voice cartoons just to impress their children! Feh!

   Also...

   For some crazy reason, just because it's on my mind, I have to bring up radio host Don Imus. I've never understood why that gnarled mumbling mess was chosen to be born under the luckiest of stars! Over the years that I've freelanced at home, I've listened to many a talk show, from political shows to NPR book reviews and even occasional sports talk because I'm home all day, and having another voice in the room is a refreshing pace from music. Music's always a great option, but can make you lonely after a few hours.

   Imus is without a doubt the most overrated dullard I've had the misfortune of hearing. I don't remember if I ever could stand listening to his sleep-inducing show. In fact, out of boredom,during my hour-long commute to Tony Harris' Jolly Roger Studio in Macon Georgia, I would make a game out of white-knuckling a full five minutes of his show, just to see if I could resist switching the radio station to the same old Fleetwood Mac songs on FM. Imus would mumble some mild sneering comments that pass for "a badass attitude" and has a gaggle of in-house guffawers that prop up his poke-my-ears-out-with-knitting-needles gibberish. Lots of politicians go on his show, because, like Larry King, Imus presents such a lack of challenging presence that it becomes Open Mike Night for any Joe Politician to voice one's own agenda without any controversy (The Rutgers Women's Basketball Team notwithstanding).

   Now, here's the kicker. IF Imus were a huge ratings-grabber and marketable (Pop Quiz: How many of you KNEW who Imus was, before the controversy earlier this year?), I could understand why radio stations would court him again (I wouldn't approve, but I'd understand, I guess). But Imus is one of the lowest-rated shows in the radio industry nationwide, and the stations I'd rarely find him on had signals weaker than a small college station. For some reason, this leather-faced excuse for a rodeo clown is being groomed for a comeback of sorts. No, strike that. A comeback would suggest success in the first place. I have a friend who is on-air talent for an AM news station, covering traffic & weather, and he knows full well that if he isn't on his game, or, God-forbid, he would slip and say something inflamatory (which he wouldn't), he'd be looking for a new career. Similarly, when I moved to Atlanta, most of my new friends were working for CNN and made paltry incomes, requiring a side job to make the rent. Lots of people want to be in the media in some form or another, but why an Imus-type fossil isn't relegated to a trivia footnote in the 1980's editions of New York radio trade magazines is beyond me.

   Okay, enough soap box. Time for things that REALLY matter, like comics!

   For humor, I've really enjoyed this year's Simpsons Treehouse of Horror! It's the best one in years. Some of the previous ones had great talent, but missed the mark, but I never miss these Halloween specials. Also, a major surprise to me was the new Howard the Duck mini written by Ty Templeton and great art by Bobillo & Sosa of She-Hulk fame. I really thought the new look of Howard would throw me, but the story was such a page-turner, I got used to it quickly.

   Jack Kirby's Forth World Omnibus vol. 1 & 2 are such pop-art masterpieces, both in content and packaging, and it's a shame Jack didn't live to see this format as he dreamt it almost 40 years ago. I have most of these stories already, including the black n' white trades, but this stuff was meant to be eventually printed in glorious flat colors!

   Another great reprint by a departed legend is Sword of the Atom trade paperback by Gil Kane and Jan Strnad, which reminded me what a great writer Strnad is. If you love fantasy, you'll love this reprint of the '80's miniseries and several one-shots.

   I also really dig the new Booster Gold miniseries. I never had any affection for the character before, and the bwa-ha-ha era of the JLA almost trivialized him into non-existence, but the new premise works well. Norm Rapmund is a very underrated inker, making Dan Jurgen's work bounce off the page, so I thought I'd give a fellow ink-slinger a shout! Gosh, I could go on, but I probably would be done with this blog by Saturday, so I'll come up with some other quickie reviews next time!

   Lately, I've done a lot of writing, but it hasn't been Hotwire. Well, it WAS, but now...it's evolved into something else.

   I've had a friend who is a well-known professional comics writer read the Hotwire script for my newly-planned miniseries, and I was presented with a conundrum: The script received high marks, however...

   I was telling two stories in one and the "b" story was crowding out the "a" story, so it was suggested to me to drop the superhero angle and go with the drama/thriller/mystery angle. In other words, I now had two legitimate properties to sell, according to him, with the downside being, double the workload! It's a good/bad thing. If I only didn't have to sleep. or pay the mortgage by inking. or spend time with my sweet wife and the dogs.

   More that that...next month!