My friend Howard, who is also my current writing partner (on that thing that I can't tell you about) has gotten himself nominated for a Shuster Award. That magnificent bastard! The nomination is all fine and good for him, and as an added bonus it helps me out since now our pitch can have "from the Shuster nominated writer" in it. There's an online vote that can be checked out right here. If he doesn't win I'm flipping over a table.

Happy Free Comic Book Day! Oh man...how I do love FCBD. It's my favorite holiday of the year. If you're not familiar with this wonderful annual event held by the comic book industry, go and find yourself a comic book store and check it out. Free comics! What do you have to lose?

Raphael by Kevin Eastman

Last batch of sketches for now. Hope to have more worthy additions to show off post NYCC. Above is a sketch of Raphael by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman. I love the Ninja Turtles. Especially those characters as published in their original Mirage Comics incarnations. Now I've met pretty much everyone ever majorly involved in that run past and present. Kevin isn't involved in TMNT anymore, but you can tell that he still has a real love of the characters. And I got to give him my card and explain to him the origins of Batturtle Productions. He complimented the Batty design, really liked it a lot.

Lobo by Simon Bizley

The other star attraction at the Heavy Metal booth was Simon Bizley. Biz is one of my comic book hero's. His run on 'Lobo' is one of the defining memories of my high school geekyness. He wasn't about, just an empty seat behind the table, with a bunch of doodles on the table-cloth in front of it. I asked the nice lady in charge of the booth if she knew when he'd be back. She said he was just out having a smoke, and should be back soon. Right then he appeared. If you're familiar with the character Lobo, well...that's EXACTLY what Biz looks like. Well, except for the pale white skin and the things over his eyes. Besides for that though, mirror image.

I went over and said hi. He was surprisingly pleasant for a big scary monster of a drunk-ish British fella. I asked if I might be able to get a sketch from him. He said sure, paused, then asked if I wanted to go out for a smoke (except, where Biz comes from, they call them 'fags'...yeah yeah, very mature, stop snickering). I don't smoke. I've never smoked. I've never had the desire to smoke. Right then, for the first time ever, I really wished that I smoked. I told him I didn't smoke, he said join him anyhow. So I followed him outside. He's a giant lumbering Frankenstein's monster of a man. He basically walked in a quick straight line, and people dove out of his way. We bumped into an old lady who gave him cookies, which he politely accepted (not sure who she was, but they knew each other).

After his smoke...he said he wanted a drink. We headed for a nearby hotel bar. He asked me what I wanted to drink. And once again, having never drank or had any desire to drink...now I wished that I did drink. He commended me for not drinking, and bought me a Coke. We sat and chatted about everything from Canada to history to politics to comics to the Ramones. An hour later, we left the bar. He said he needed more cigarettes. And at the nearby hotel store they had those, and they also had beer (they sell beer all over the damn place in the States). I had my backpack on (which Biz called a rucksack), Biz noticed this and asked if I would mind smuggling in some beer for him back into the Con. I can neither confirm nor deny that I did this for Biz.

Two hours after having initially asked Biz for a sketch...I finally got my sketch. I can also neither confirm or deny that Biz gave me some free books.

Later, my friend asked why I missed the George Romero panel. This was why. My friend Tom claims that this was the greatest Con story he has ever heard.

Tick by Gabe Crate

More sketches! Oh what an age of wonders we live in! Above, I'm sure that you will recognize the mighty blue force of justice himself, The Tick. In my first Year visiting San Diego, I was lucky enough to meet and get a sketch from Tick creator Ben Edlund (he also directed maybe my favorite 'Angel' ever). Year two, I got another sketch of the character from another fine Tick artist, Gabe Crate. He also gave me a copy of his comic, 'The Flickers'. Which I highly recommend you track down. It's funny and evil and actually made me laugh aloud while reading it.

Deadpool by Rob Liefeld

Ok...I know that hate is a strong word, but I hate Rob Liefeld's artwork. As should any other rational comic book reader with anything close to the smallest amount of good taste and reason. With all those teeth, scratchy ink lines, awful anatomy on everyone, panel to panel continuity thrown out the window. BUT, I would feel really bad if by some fluke he stumbled on this lil' blog, read that, and that my statement hurt his feelings. 'Cause he is likely the nicest comic book guy that you'll ever meet. It has been my goal to acquire a sketch from him for quite some time. Not sure why. Some kind of ironic, humorous take on my enjoyment of the world of comics. Like a fan of Elvis getting one of those velvet Elvis paintings. Or I'm just a jerk. Or a bit of both. I'm sure that Rob's millions of dollars and mega success keep him unworried about critics though.

Batman by Grant Morrison (!)

I showed off this Batman sketch to my friend Tom (who draws comics for a living), and he was unimpressed. Then I said "Grant Morrison drew it!", and he thought it was much cooler. I had gone to a DC panel solely to see Grant. As per usual, he has a tendency to blow yer mind with his stories. If he ever starts up a crazy cult, I'll be first in line to sign up. Later in the day, I was at Dark Horse Comics land, and my friend ran up yelling that Grant was signing at the DC area! I immediately sprinted my way over. I had nothing for him to autograph, so I was just going to get him to sign my sketchbook. Then, next thing you know, he's drawing me Batman. How did he know I liked Batman!?! THEN, he drew my friend Al an Animal Man. Which is Al's favorite Grant Morrison related character! He truly has magical powers greater than we average humans can understand.

Grifter by Travis Charest
Impulse by Todd Nauck


Humpty Dumpty by Tony Akins

Sketches! Forever and a day ago (ok...well, more like nine months) I was in California for the San Diego Comic Con. At which, I got a bunch of cool sketches to add to my collection thanks to the ever so nice comic artists in attendance. At the request of a few curious geeks, I had intentions to put some of these new treasures up much sooner. Alas, I don't actually own a scanner, and time flies. With the NYCC on the horizon, it was on my mind though...so I finally got around to the deed of going to a friends place where-at there was a scanner. And much scanning commenced!

So, here's three for now. The first: Grifter by Travis Charest. A character he drew during Alan Moore's writing stint on Wildcats (which was a great run). More recently he's done a whole bunch of amazing Star Wars covers. Next is Impulse by Todd Nauck. Todd has drawn a lot of Bart Allen in his day, and we lamented over the characters death. And third but not least, Humpty Dumpty, as seen in Jack of Fables drawn by Tony Akins.

More sketches to come (have to go be productive now).

Yesterday, my pass for the NYCC arrived in the mail. They don't have their complete schedule up just as of yet as I write this. Two things to do right at the top of my list though are going to be: trying to get an Ambush Bug sketch from Keith Giffen, and a Blue Beetle sketch from Kevin Maguire.

This has reminded me that I've totally dropped the ball and have neglected to put some drawings that I collected down in San Diego last year up here. Have to make sure to get my sketch book near to a scanner so I can do so.

I try to make it a habit of attaching pictures to my blog updates. Just to make the page more interesting, so it's not text from top to bottom. But no pictures this time. Why you ask? Because evidently it's a horrible world that we live in where people rip off ideas and concepts from other folks all the time. Which I guess is true...that's why you get movies like 'A Bug's Life' and 'Antz' coming out so close to one another...when up until that point, there had been zero animated feature films starring ants.

The news that I have to pass along is that I got to look at some artwork today for an upcoming project. The one that I'm working on with my friend Howard (see previous post). And, said artwork inspired me with geeky glee, and filled me with inspiration to get back to writing. I wanted to put some of the drawings up here, but Howard nixed that idea (with logical reasoning). So, they'll just have to wait to be posted until the project is a bit closer to actual realization. Keeps things all nice and mysterious I guess.

In unrelated news...all the comic books I bought today were $2.99 US/Canada. People smarter than I have tried to explain that the faltering of the US economy can have bad repercussions all over the place in various aspects of life. All I know is that my comics are like 66 cents cheaper. And that's all good by me.

This is a picture of my friends Howard and Rosario. Ok...fine...I don't know Rosario. Didn't even get to meet her dammit! That Howard bastard was just in the right place at the right time last year in San Diego. I was probably off donating blood or doing something else equally unimportant.

Anyhow, Howard and I are working on a project together that seems to be actually making a lil' bit of headway. Wheels are in motion towards it actually reaching a completed point. Just can't really talk about it quite yet. I know you want to steal all of my ideas...you can't trick me.

Made it into the comic store today for the first time in an age. Bought a giant stack of comics. What do I need to save money for? I'll just spend less money on food and bills and rent, put less money in the bank...everything will be fine. All very well thought out.

In another small geek accomplishment, I got a letter published in 'Angel: After the Fall' #4. Further proving that Joss Whedon is my best friend. Ok...fine...it doesn't prove anything...but it pleases me. Very easily kept happy I am. The interesting thing is though, is that they only printed half the letter. The half in which I praised the current run of 'Angel'. The editor chose to take out all the parts where I trashed the previous attempts at Angel comics that IDW released. Clearly not very good with criticism. Anyhow, current run (co-plotted by Joss) and the couple other mini-series by Brian Lynch and Franco Urru are very good stuff. Love this era of Joss in comics.

Forgot to mention that there'll be a couple of short films preceding tonight's screening of 'Dead of Winter'. Just like the good ole' days of big screen movie presentation, when they used to show serials and other such things in front of movies. Well...kind of like that. The two shorts are: 'Cassandra' (that I directed), and Anne-Marie Frigon's 'Scare Bear'.

Friday night (the 11th) marks the premiere of 'Dead of Winter'. A movie that I worked on some time ago that's finally all edited up and ready to be released upon the horror film enjoying public. The event happens at the National Archives (395 Wellington) at 7PM. You can check out a trailer over on the ole' YouTube.

My friend Logan and I hope y'all have an excellent holiday season. One filled with lots of presents and food and joy, and little in the way of adamantium clawed berzerker rage. Snikt!

Ottawa Actors is a new site / message-boards set up by Brett Kelly that should be of great use to local talent in film and stage. If you're interested in such happenings here in Ottawa, go check it out.

Went to see 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' today. Thanks to the Mayfair Theatre here in Ottawa having screenings of movies from the 30's to the 90's in celebration of their 75th anniversary. The repertory theatre (or revival house) is a dieing form of motion picture entertainment. Which is a sad thing. Seeing a movie like 'Raiders' up on the big screen just cannot be beat (even in this magical high-tech day of HDTV, big-screen TV's and home entertainment centre's with THX surround-sound). It's unfortunate that the majority of people are seemingly disinterested in leaving the house to enjoy movies. People had such a good time this afternoon that they even clapped when the movie came to an end...which is pretty much a non-existent happening in the average first-run movie theatre viewing experience. On the plus side, there was a very good sized crowd there...hope that the theatre pays attention to that and schedules more such screenings.

Check it out! Killer63 won an 'Honourable Mention' in the 'Best of Ottawa 07' year-end poll in the X-Press. We're listed third...so I think that's like a Bronze...2nd runner up...whatever. I didn't think that we actually had a shot at making the cut since we're just a wee little one day fest for horror enthusiasts. So very big thanks go out to everyone who took the time to vote for us. Wheels are already in motion for another K63 next year, to premiere sometime pre-Halloween 2008.

working the box office at the Mayfair for the K63

Another year of the Killer63 has come and gone. Meant to come and post an update over the weekend, but I'm fairly worn out and exhausted. Even getting up the ambition and will-power to do a lil' blog update is quite a feat for me at the moment. Anyhow, everything went really well. Been getting lots of ego boosting praise over the last couple days. Extra special thanks to all the filmmakers, cast and crew involved in making up the shorts that screened this year. And to the staff of the Mayfair, and to everyone who came out to our late late show premiere.

Despite wanting to take a bit of a break...wheels are already in motion for next year. Folks asking how to submit a film for consideration to be screened...talk of maybe expanding to more days...maybe include some features. Lots of ideas. There will be a part 3 for Killer63 for sure. Halloween 2008...so still a bit of time to get things organized again.

Oh...and for those who haven't heard yet, the Ottawa X-Press has nominated the K63 for the 'Best Film Festival' of 2007 in it's Best of Ottawa Reader's Poll. It only takes a couple minutes to vote online...so if you head over to their site and do so, I'll be your best friend. Thanks.

The Killer63 preview trailer is up on YouTube. Brett (pictured above, acting in my short for the fest) did a fine job at putting it together. Go check it out.

Did an interview yesterday for CHUO in regards to the Killer63 fest. The interviewer (John Sekerka from a program called 'Tornado Warning') e-mailed me this morning to let me know that he's going to hold of on playing the segment until next week. For a Halloween themed night. If you're outside of Ottawa you can give it a listen on CHUO.fm on Thursday the 25th, sometime between 10 - 11PM.

In related news, we finished shooting 'Cassandra' on the Saturday. Everything went well. After doing lots of dialog sitting around a table, got to do some fun action and fake blood and gun-play. I went in for some editing a couple days ago and will finish up on the weekend. Horribly behind schedule, but still in time for the screening. Putting together the master tape for the premiere on Monday (waiting for three more submissions...then we're all good).

This past Saturday we shot day 1 of my Killer63 project. And as per usual, the indie filmmaking gods were out to smite us. There was a message flashing on MSN, that was sent towards me at 5:20AM. It was from my assistant director, who is also the person getting us into the location (an office building that she used to work in that is now empty for a couple months). She was up all night due to her fiance (one of my actors) and his state of immense sickness. So at that point I pretty much figured the day was a write-off.

She was kind enough to still come out though. After the other actors and crew arrived on location, we discussed and decided to shoot everything we could do without our fallen to illness actor being present. Managed to get a good chunk of the dialog shot, and a couple other things. Including a cool lil' fx shot for our actress. I was very pleased with the performances, and all went well. We're returning on Saturday to finish up.

That puts me way past the deadline which I myself set for the fest. Sometimes these things happen though (and this Saturday is the only day where the trio of actors are all free). My editor did drop by today to pick up the stuff we got so far. Get a bit of a head start on that post-production work.

Y'know...it's when the lil' dreams that come true that you have to stop, take a moment, and appreciate them. For the second year in a row the Killer63 presents a batch of short horror films, all making their premiere at the Mayfair. I love the Mayfair theatre. In high school my friends and I practically lived there. Memorizing Monty Python, shooting cap guns at the screen for John Woo films, spending full days avoiding sunshine by instead watching Star Trek marathons. And now I get to go see something I directed and the work of a bunch of my friends up on that same screen. Friday October 26th, 11PM (on the same night as a Pixar movie...that is also geekily cool!), spread the word, bring your friends.