Last night I got a belated Christmas gift in the form of a Shazam Domo. It has the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury...and all the adorable! It's a belated tiny vinyl Christmas miracle!

My east coast comic store mega-tour concludes with my second comic store appearance in two days! I'll be at Strange Adventures in Halifax to sell and sign some Zomkeys comics from noon o' clock until 4:00pm. I feel like a regular Neil Gaiman! Strange Adventures is one of Canada's greatest comic emporiums, if you are in Halifax, do drop by and say hello (and then buy stuff!).

We have made it to the brave new world of Halifax, after our swell visit to Moncton. Much appreciation to the staff and to everyone who visited me during the comic signing at The Comic Hunter today. Thanks for making me feel like a big shot as I Sharpied my name onto the cover of the rampaging monkey comic book that I wrote.

Old board games are cool. We played Dungeon, the parents basement dwelling geek classic today. The more unpolished the Dungeons & Dragons-y art on the box the better. Take that video games!

Dropped by to visit the fine folks at The Comic Hunter in Moncton today. Delivered a batch of Mirror Comics, so if you live in Moncton, be sure to drop by the store for all of your Mirror Comics needs. I'll be back at the store on Saturday morning starting at 11:00am for a brief couple hours for a comic signing visit, to try and sell off some copies of Zomkeys. I'd visit longer on Saturday, but we're off to part two of our whirlwind east coast Canadian tour in Halifax (the next day at Strange Adventures) right after we flee The Comic Hunter at 1:00pm. East coast Zomkeys domination! Please come and buy all the things so I don't have to bring them back to Ottawa. Paper is heavy.

What's the most exciting thing to do while in Moncton? Why, get caught up on weird Netflix movies of course! We watched Chocolate, a Thai martial arts extravaganza from the director of Ong-Bak and The Protector. No Tony Jaa rescuing elephants in this one, but it does have an autistic teenage girl with mutant like kung-fu powers brutally battling her way through an ongoing onslaught of endless gangs that owe her ailing mother money. That old story! My favourite movies on Netflix are the kind of stuff you'd find way in the back on dusty shelves at third tier video stores.

Flying off to the wilds of Moncton today for some belated post-Christmas visitings. Flying Porter, the best airline in all the land and sky. Why? Because, they will give you all of the almonds you can eat! Endless almonds! I will eat all the almonds. Visiting friends is ok too I guess.

If you don't live in Ottawa, that means that you don't have a Thimble Cakes in your home town. You should move to Ottawa. They are that good.

For not the first time,one of my bestest friends and I exchanged the exact same gift at Halloween. This year, we unknowingly swapped the same book, Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half. I just finished reading this brutally honest and hilariously funny autobiographical blog collection of her work, along with a bunch of new original material. As much as I love her stuff, I'm not quite sure how to classify it. With the inclusion of super simplistic cut & paste looking character drawings accompanied by archaic early era computer lettering, it's technically a comic book I think. I do know that it's so funny (especially the dog stories) that it makes me cry with laughter.

Saturday Morning Cartoons! On those rare Saturday's when my girlfriend and I both have a moment to spare, w like to get in a bit of cartoon watchin'. This-morning we watched TheRegular Show, Phineas & Ferb, Adventure Time, Bob's Burgers and Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

I'm not sure how I feel about the latest incarnation of the Scooby Gang. It's not that I mind reinterpretations of classic cartoon characters, but something about this new reboot is just slightly off. My main concern circles around Velma. They've made her skirt shorter, she's lost 20 pounds, and now she's doting and love-struck over Shaggy. You have to try new plot-twists and throw new conflict possibilities at characters who are many decades old, but there's something about her reboot that just rings a little offensive I think.

Anyone who complains about the lack of originality in film clearly hasn't sen Bad Milo. This dark comedy with a great cast of comedians (Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs, Patrick Warburton, Kumail Nanjiani, Stephen Root) centers on a man who realizes that his stress induced stomach pains is actually an ugly adorable revenge demon. That old story again!?

Support weird independent movies (with cool posters) and watch Bad Milo. We start screening it at the Mayfair tonight at 9:30pm.

As the comic book fates would have it, the reboot Detective Comics #27 comes out in the 75th anniversary year of Batman's first appearance in in the original Detective Comics #27. One of the stories is written by Peter J Tomasi (who wrote some great Damian stories in the pages of Batman & Robin), and features an alive and grown-up Damian at a birthday party for a 75 year old Bruce Wayne. From a geek pov, this short story probably falls under the umbrella of a 'What If?' or an imaginary story (imaginary within the imaginary world that is). It gives me hope that there's a chance Damian will be resurrected (common in comic book character circles of course), and that more Damian stories are on the horizon.

Jonah Hex is currently trapped in present day times of the DC Universe. It's making for some very fun modern western twist tales. Some complain that a character like Jonah Hex should be left alone as a straight western, but especially with comic book characters who have been around this long, I like them to be thrown into the biggest and most imaginative of situations. This months crossover characters include former Vertigo cornerstones Swamp Thing and John Constantine.

The World Exchange mini-multiplex here in Ottawa is officially gone. I guess they were holding out some hope that someone else might want to take over the location, but that isn't going to come to be. My most fond memory of the place was going in underage to the opening night screening of the (unfairly) R rated 'Army of Darkness'.

Many journalists and Ottawa residents are reacting to the location closing down as if it signifies the death of humanity as we know it. It's sad to see a theatre close, and even more unfortunate for some people to lose their jobs, so I can understand the negativity.

My frustration is that if many of these people would have shown that much concern while the place was open and had actually gone to see movies there, it would still be open. People often ask why Mayfair Orleans closed. It's not that difficult to figure out. If a movie theatre packs the place with patrons every night, it's not going to close. Also, a midst all the sadness that no one can go see movies in Ottawa except for in suburbia anymore, they neglect to mention that the Mayfair and Bytowne still exist and are showing movies.

Ottawa is a very rare city that has not one, but two classic style single screen cinemas in their central core. Very few cities on the entire planet can equal that claim. Unfortunate to see another movie theatre go extinct, but instead of fretting over that, why not go out and catch a movie at a good old fashioned theatre?

I have pretty much stopped listening to music all together. I hear music when I go to a concert, work at a concert, or watch a music based documentary...otherwise it's greatly dropped from my day to day life. Any multi-tasking time that was spent doing something else with music in the background or on the head-set has completely vanished. It's nothing personal against music, I have just become a fan of, addicted to, and fallen down the well of podcasts.

It all started with Nerdist, which lead to FEAB, then to Doug Loves Movies, to the Pof F. Tomkast, then Comedy Bang Bang, then Judge John Hodgman, then You Made It Weird. This L.A. based corner of the podcasting universe all crossover's with each other, and everyone involved seems increasingly ambitious despite full schedules. So, even with successful stand-up, writing, and teevee careers on the go, they keep finding time to make more podcasts.

The latest edition of podcasts that I'm making my way through is James Bonding, a limited series podcast from Nerdist alum Matt Mira and actor / writer Matt Gourley. This pair of 007 movie nerds are going to make their humorous and trivia filled way through each James Bond film, starting with Dr.No, then going to Skyfall, then jumping back and fourth chronologically until they reach the middle film. I'm not a James Bond super-fan, sometimes it all seems like bad puns and extreme chauvinism to me, and none-the-less I find this podcast thoroughly enjoyable.

And, as a Mayfair related PS, you can listen to episodes in prep for our presentation of four James Bond films this month (you can catch the very first in the series, Dr. No, tonight at 7:00pm).

'Blue is the Warmest Color' is an enthralling, intimate, intense, painfully real, passionately honest, and at three hours long, zooms right by. This is a truly modern love story, a simple story and character piece, and I never once got restless or clock-watched during the 180 minute running time (which I can't say for bigger more action packed movies the like of The Hobbit or Th Dark Knight). It is loyal to the comic book source material, but also adds on enough extra content that the film could really have been released a two singular works. Plus, as you may have heard, it also happens to have a couple of attention getting, NC-17 rated lesbian sex scenes. Having a couple of those in a three hour movie can never hurt...maybe that's what those other epics are missing.

Blue is the Warmest Colour , winner of the Palme d'Or at th Cannes Film Festival, is screening at the Mayfair tonight at 6:00pm and Tuesday January 7th at 6:15pm. Highly recommended...and not just because I am a fan of lesbians.

Believe it or not, there was a time when there wasn't a comic book based movie released on a frequent basis, a time when Marvel didn't produce such blockbuster hits the quality and caliber of Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, and the highly anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy all the time. We weren't always so spoiled with this embarrassment of cinematic geeky riches.

Once upon a time, in the same year that the original Star Wars was capturing the hearts and imaginations of a generation, a very different kind of super-hero movie then today's offerings was released. The first two episodes of the now immensely dated and kitschy and low-budget Amazing Spider-man series were released as a theatrical presentation in the UK. The 'movie' is not good per say, but it is none-the-less incredibly enjoyable.

I can't imagine there's any more fun you can have then joining us at the Mayfair this-afternoon at 3:00pm for The Amazing Spider-man (1977).

Zomkeys at the library

I would of course rather that you bought a copy of Zomkeys, but it's also pretty cool to have it on a book-shelf at the Ottawa Public Library. I wonder who my book-shelf neighbours are?

Today I ran errands in -40 temperatures. I remained conscious throughout, and never had to be shoved into a dead Tauntaun. I think that mans I am tougher then a Jedi.

Kicked off the New Year with a matinee shift guarding the Mayfair, followed by a New Years Day dinner. Spent an enjoyable non-thrilling New Years Eve at home watching movies - the almost unbelievably violent and patriotic Die Hard wannabe 'Olympus Has Fallen', and a pair of politically incorrect baseball kids 'Bad News Bears' films: 'Basic Training' and 'Goes to Japan'. Even though things never got more action packed then eating lots of great food and not so great movies, was still feeling the Holiday exhaustion.

Went for a family New Year's day Chinese food dinner. Got a few post-Christmas belated gifts, including an Ackbar 'It's a Trap!' shirt. I remember the cover of an angry sci-fi geek movie with the slanderous proclamation of '50 Reasons Why Return of the Jedi Sucks!'. This is ridiculous of course, 'Return of the Jedi' has Jabba's Palace, Lando flying the Falcon, Ewoks terrorizing Storm Troopers, and way more then 47 more reasons why that movie is awesome. Top of that list might just be the second Death Star battle, with maybe my favourite piece of John Williams, and Admiral Ackbar is his space-chair yelling "It's a Trap!".

It's almost 2014 and I still don't have my jet-pack or robot butler. Sure, we have tablets and mp3 players and smartphones, but when I was a kid I figured that the year 2014 would be much more science-fiction-y then this. Get on it scientists!

I don't want to make the watching of an episode of British sci-fi teevee sound too over-important, but I went into watching The Time of the Doctor feeling a bit like approaching a wake. I knew from previous Doctor Who experience that I would likely love the episode, and it would most definitely end in tears.

The modern Doctor Who is maybe my favourite teevee series of all time. The last two actors who have left the role behind broke my geeky little heart in doing so. I don't know why British actors can't just be happy with the gig at hand and stick with a series for a decade or so. I do understand the concept that an actor wants to try new things once their carer gets to a slightly safer spot and they have a few dollars in the bank. It also must be nice to leave 'em wanting more instead of driving a character into the ground and becoming supremely type-cast. And, of course there's the point that if the brilliant David Tennant hadn't left we wouldn't have gotten the follow-up brilliance of Matt Smith, and if Matt Smith hadn't left we wouldn't have the impending brilliance of Peter Capaldi.

Well played Mr. Smith, your time as the Doctor will not be forgotten,and you will be missed. Looking forward to seeing you back for the 60th anniversary of the series in 10 years.

Even in this day and age, I find that many a person still think comic books are all Spider-man, Batman and Archie. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I like Spider-man, Batman and Archie. Comic books are more then their spandex, vigilante and teen hi-jinks roots though. Comic books are as diverse as anything you'd find in any form of media intake. On television, you can find programs ranging from Sesame Street to Breaking Bad, and theatres like the Mayfair you might be able to catch a family friendly cartoon, an Oscar hopeful, and a grindhouse classic all on the same day. Sometimes I listen to Gershwin, sometimes I listen to Weezer, sometimes I listen to the Wu-Tang Clan.

Comics are equally diverse in their offerings for your reading pleasure. My latest indie comic recommendation is the 2010 french book from Julie Maroh, Blue Is The Warmest Color. It's a beautifully illustrated tale of true love in black and white and blue that should at the the same time inspire you and leave you heartbroken. It's gotten a lot of press due to the rated NC-17 extra sexy movie adaptation winning the Palme D'or at Cannes this year (and we have it at the Mayfair soon).

Blue Is The Warmest Color knocked me out, I look forward to reading more from the creator. It will be added to my go to list of examples for excellence in comic books.

250 loyal Mayfair patrons watching three hours of cartoons sure do go through a lot of cereal. All expectations were blown out of the water, way more people showed up then anticipated, and we went through a whopping 46 boxes of cereal (had initially purchased 20). Luckily, there was a nearby store where we could make runs for more supplies as boxes emptied out.

Everyone had a great time and there were many a request for a follow-up cartoon event. I'm thinking March Break might be a logical time to try this out again. We will buy more cereal this time.

The only thing better then the glory days of Saturday morning cartoon watching of the 1960's - 1990's is the thought of watching said cartoons up on the big screen amongst a crowd of cartoon loving geeks. Now, encourage patrons to wear pajama's, supply endless amounts of cereal, toss in some old commercials, and have the program be at least three hours long. Mash that all together and you get the Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party, which will invade the Mayfair starting tomorrow morning at 10:00am! You can't possibly have plans that are going to be any more fun then this event.

I'm spending my Boxing Day afternoon working the Mayfair box-office, where I hope a whole bunch of people show up to take in the glory that is Space Jam. I think that for folks younger then I who are fans, Space Jam is their Monster Squad or The Goonies. The glow of excitement and anticipation that I've seen in movie geeks eyes at the mention that we're screening the Bugs Bunny / Michael Jordan sci-fi mash-up has been quite the overwhelming joy to witness. There has been major excitement on the social media, now let's keep fingers crossed that that translates into real world dollars. This weird 1990's imaginative merchandising machine holds a special place in my heart, if only because it sounds like a movie plot much too bizarre to be true. And, of course, Bill Murray is in it.

Space Jam screens today at today and tomorrow at 3:15pm, and Saturday January 28th at 3:45pm

After a breakfast of Oreo pancakes (original AND gingerbread style in the mix), I got a lot of great gifts from Santa and others this year. I received geek treasure the likes of a TARDIS ice bucket, a sonic screwdriver toothbrush, and a whole bunch of blu-ray's and comics. Maybe the most awesome, and strangely specific, is the R2D2 soy sauce bottle. Don't put vinegar or salad dressing in that thing! It is ONLY for soy sauce! If you put anything but soy sauce in that lil' plastic droid, you will ruin Christmas no matter what time of year you are using it.

After all it's only one more sleep 'til Christmas time!

It's the 25th anniversary of the greatest action movie ever made, the greatest Christmas movie ever made, the greatest Bruce Willis movie ever made: Die Hard! We celebrate Bruce Willis and his every-man festive battling of bad guys tonight at the Mayfair with our Die Hard Double Bill extravaganza.

With no hipster irony or kitsch factor praise, Die Hard is genuinely my favourite Christmas movie. I can watch that annually the way a more traditional cinema aficionado might take in It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. It's the action movie that all other action movies that came after wish that they could be, and Bruce Willis brings to life the most iconic and copies action hero of the modern film era.

Die Hard 2 ain't half bad either. I would say that it's the best action sequel ever made. It's also set at Christmas-time again too, which makes it the best holiday season double-bill of all time. (Geek Trivia - The movie is not in fact called Die Hard 2: Die Harder. The Die Harder tag was used on posters and in print ad's, but doesn't appear on screen in the actual movie as a subtitle).

Die Hard at 7:00pm and Die Hard 2 at 9:30pm on Monday December 23rd at the Mayfair! Yippee-ki-yay Merry Christmas!

Hey, I love comic books and I'm going to be in Halifax that weekend...I should go check that out!

The Mandalorian made the drop off. We have our new prisoner on display at the Mayfair Theatre.

The fourth printing of the excellent Sex Criminals #1 from Image is maybe the greatest cover in the history of the medium.

Considering that stuff like this exists, especially when that stuff is songs from the Muppets, I can never wrap my mind around how people can not enjoy the Holidays.

I'm very excited to be booked to drop by Strange Adventures on behalf of Mirror Comics to try and get some Zomkeys comics into the hands of Halifax readers. Strange Adventures is a legendarily awesome comic store, which many of my comic book making friends can't praise enough. I'll be there Sunday January 19th from noon-4pm, do come out and say hi if you are in the East Coast hood.

PS - this awesome Strange Adventures tribute drawing comes from caanantheartboy on Deviant Art.

Hellboy in Hell #5 was well worth the extended wait. Mike Mignola writing and drawing his creation is pretty much comic book perfection. The only bad news is that the 6th issue doesn't come out until sometime in the middle of 2014.

A bit of comic book spoiler kinda stuff follows!

Justice League #25 continues to tell the tale of the latest crisis to befall the super-hero's and residents of DC Comics New 52 Universe. A team of evil alternate universe versions of the Justice League have invaded the planet quite successfully and are on the verge of world domination.

In this issue writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke tell the very different mirror secret origins of what happened around the deaths and the aftermath of Bruce Wayne's parents. The beginnings of Owl Man (evil Batman) are revealed, and we then leap into his present day exploits.

One simple three panel page in the midst of the story made my geeky heart skip a beat. My comic geek radar was clearly at 110% Jedi like levels as I knew exactly what was about to happen, even though the panel was a the mere close-up of a hand of a guy in a pin-striped suit fidgeting with an elastic. In the second panel the mystery man plays with the elastic, and in the third it snaps and someone off panel calls him "Eel". I may have actually gasped or cheered at that point. If not out loud, I definitely did in my mind.

As we all know of course, Eel O'Brian is the small time hood who had a bad mishap with some hazardous goo and he went on to become the heroic jester Plastic Man. Plastic Man is finally in being put into the New 52! Now, this causes a giant continuity error conundrum, since way back in Justice League International we saw that Plas was passed over for membership. So, that means that the character was just created now, even though he was around a few years back. I don't care. I'll give you a pass on this one DC. I'll gladly pretend that that first appearance never happened as long as I get some new Plastic Man stories.

The annual beloved Yuletide tradition of a cozy fireplace big screen image greeting Mayfair patrons as thy enter the theatre has returned just in time for the Holidays. This year, with the help of some festive colourful lights, even the Alien has gotten into the Christmas celebration game (that's him up in the balcony on the right).

Hollywood seems to be in an age of simplicity in regards to movie titles. Maybe they did a focus group and came to the conclusion that people in the 18 - 35 year old demographic don't like syllables or something. The seventh big-screen Muppets film was simply called The Muppets, and the second Wolverine solo theatrical effort went with The Wolverine. The Fast and The Furious franchise went with Fast and Furious, Fast Five and Furious Six for the last three installments in the now seemingly immortal series. Animated fare seems to be sticking with unimaginative sequel branding of just slapping a number after the original title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Despicable Me 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2.

The Beetlejuice 2 production rumors have seemingly almost become a fact. The script is being worked on, Michael Keaton has confirmed involvement, and supposedly Tim Burton is in negotiations with Warner Bros to return to direct. Michael Keaton is one of my favourite actors, and I would be very happy to see him return to portray the host with the most for another turn.

Here's my idea for what the movie should be called, inspired by the aforementioned simple titling trend. Although the original film was called Beetlejuice, the spelling of the characters name was actually Betelgeuse. Instead of just slapping a 2 on the end or inserting a 'The' at the beginning, go with calling it Betelgeuse. It keeps the name brand, it's weird enough to garner some attention, and it keeps things down to three syllables. We all know that to summon the bio-exorcist you only have to say his name three times. So, if part two goes well and the powers that be want to do a third, that one can be called Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

You are welcome Warner Bros big shots.

This weekend at the Mayfair we continue our festive holiday programming with a pair of matinee screenings celebrating the 10th anniversary of the modern Christmas classic Elf.

If watching Elf does not fill you with pure happiness, you really should re-examine your life and maybe go talk to a psychiatrist about why you hate goodness and joy. If you do not like Elf, I will assume that you also have green fur and haven't learned your Christmas lesson yet.

Braving the Hoth like temperatures will be worth it as we present Elf on Saturday December 14th and Sunday the 15th at 1:00pm on both days. Remember not to eat any pre-chewed gum that you might find on the way to the theatre. And look out for taxi-cabs, they don't stop.

My friend Bao and I were just like intergalactic bounty hunters yesterday. Except we made use of a mini-van instead of Slave 1...and neither of us have a jet-pack. I'm very excited that this carbonite imprisoned rogue will soon be on display at the Mayfair.

I don't acquire as many sketches as I once did in my hey-day of comic art collecting. Mainly because I have met a ton of artists over the years, they've been kind enough to draw stuff for me, and so I don't wanna bother them again. I don't really need back-up sketches to show off to prove that I've met someone. Having one sketch from an artist is awesome and plenty.

I do manage to add a handful of new pieces to my collection every so often, usually getting a couple new ones every time I hit a convention. At last weekend's Pop Expo here in Ottawa, I talked one of my Mirror Comics bosses into doing a sketch for me. I left it up to Dominic (Bercier) to draw whatever he wanted. He chose to do a Ninja Turtle. I love the Ninja Turtles, so that is fine by me. He seems surly...I think it's Raph.

Got snuck into the preview screening of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. My girlfriend and other friends in attendance, all Lord of the Rings aficionado's, seemed to quite enjoy Peter Jackson's latest Tolkien adaptation. There was much excitement over the Hobbit souvenir cups for sale at the candy bar, and quite a few in various form of cosplay garb.

Clearly I'm in the great minority, because these movies continue to make all the money and have won a dump-truck full of awards, but they just aren't my cup of geek. To me, they feel like they are about six hours long, and have way too much walking around. Every time there's an extended scene of elves speaking their elvish language, I just get bored and distracted. The movie showcases some great action sequences...but they feel drawn out and just slapped in to try an instigate the need for another trilogy. There are a whole bunch of talented people who I really admire involved in this franchise, none-the-less I just can't raise an interest to care about them. I don't even know enough about Lord of the Rings to complain about how this trilogy is being based on one singular book, or that a bunch of characters are being inserted into it from other Lord of the Rings-y places.

I would rather Peter Jackson was spending his time doing the kind of movies he did pre-swords and sorcery success...The Frighteners, Heavenly Creatures and Dead Alive are more to my liking. Hopefully he'll be able to keep away from another Tolkien inspired trilogy another ten years from now.

Our Christmas Tree is made out of an old comic book spinner rack and topped with Wavy the Crocodile (from Th Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson) wearing a Black Lantern ring and a Weeping Angel Hat. The not-tree is adorned with various Star Wars, Marvel Comics, Nightmare Before Christmas, Loony Tunes, Spongebob, and Muppet decorations. Each and every space on the rack is filled with a Holiday themed comic book ranging from Archie to Tick to Lobo. I dare say that it is the geekiest Christmas Tree type thing in all the land.

Today I met a real live Ghostbuster! Or...well, an actor who portrayed a Ghostbuster in the movie...but you know what I mean. Mirror Comics writer / artist / president Dominic Bercier bumped into Ernie Hudson outside of the washroom. They had a brief conversation, and Mr. Hudson invited Dom to drop by his table later to say hello. When Dom told this to me, I replied "I'm going too!". I am not shy at the prospect of taking part in potential once in a life-time opportunities. I love Ernie Hudson in Ghostbusters...just recently I ranted about he and his character being ignored on the cover and back of the Ghostbusters blu-ray.

We gave Mr. Hudson a couple of our comics and he actually took them with interest. It was clear that he wasn't going to throw them in the trash as soon as we turned our back. He was kind enough to take multiple pictures with us. He was quite impressed with my Ghostbusters tattoo and he took a picture of it in turn. It's so nice to meet someone you admire and they end up being a great and lovely person that appreciates their fan-base.

On of The Doctor's companions visited us at the Mirror Comics table at Pop Expo today. I'm so glad that talented nerds have the free time on their hands to construct such things. I want one.

I will be at the inaugural Ottawa Pop Expo (which really is kind of Ottawa Comiccon 2.5) with the Mirror Comics gang. My first convention as a writer of a comic book! Do drop by and say hi if you are attending the event.

Nick Bradshaw, pride of Moncton, will soon jump over from drawing Wolverine & the X-Men over to Guardians of the Galaxy. Wolverine & the X-Men is on of th few books being published by Marvel currently that I really love. Looking very much forward to checking out Nick's take on the Guardians of the Galaxy. Extra exciting considering that this title just happens to be Marvel's next big potential movie franchise too.

Rocket Raccoon has been one of my favourite characters in comics since reading his Mike Mignola drawn mini-series when I was a kid. Nick posted this sketch of Rocket that he did in his prep for his upcoming gig. I am looking forward to both seeing Rocket on the big screen and reading his further adventures in comics in 2014.

The third issue of the latest incarnation of Marvel Knights Spider-man (Marvel's numbering policy is so confusing) is in the comic stores and available for download right now! It is drawn by my friend Marco Rudy, which isn't the only reason I think you should check it out. The series is filled with beautiful art that shows off Spidey in a whole new style. I can't remember ever seeing Spidey in a book like this. Amazing stuff. Go buy it!

Han Solo in carbonite is even better when that carbonite is in the form of chocolate in an advent calendar. I will refrain from posting all of my advent-y surprises for the rest of the month. Don't want to make everyone jealous and sad that they don't have an advent calendar as awesome as mine. I just got a working full-blown smart-phone for the first time in months, so it's much easier for me to share images of such things now. In conclusion...chocolate Han in carbonite: good. Bell: bad.

Nothing says the Holiday Season is upon us more then Day 2 of an advent calendar with a Batman logo shaped chocolate in it.

My girlfriend is better then your girlfriend. Ok...sorry...I take it back, I'm sure that your girlfriend is nice too. My girlfriend makes me homemade Christmas countdown advent calendars filled with vegan friendly chocolate in various geeky shapes though. Did your girlfriend do that for you? No? Then I win! Day 1 - Superman chocolate!