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Irony shook his head, politely declining Bela’s offer, and stepped into the brightly lit room. The fluorescent lights set into the ceiling shone brightly, and the phospherescent photons they emitted lit lightly upon Edwood, Bela and Something’s delicate features. And Jakob’s, too. Probably.

Irony stared for a long time at Bela’s checker-proffering form and glared meaningfully at Something in a way only an abstract entity can. (more…)

The first post San Diego Stash Wednesday.

PAD

I just flew in from the west coast…

(more…)

NOTE FROM PAD: Sorry for the delay, Potato Tots (my freshly coined name for fans of the story, since “Potato Moonies” has unfortunate connotations.) It was entirely on my end; Alison turned in her contribution right on time. I’ve been pretty brain fried because of Comicon. I’ll tell you all about it shortly.

“You what?” Jakob asked from the floor. “But aren’t they me? You baked me?”

“Well you were half-baked already,” Bela said unsympathetically,
walking over to where the doctor was looking awkwardly into his Oven.
Edwood followed. (more…)

I present our annual ask the wife thread with a  bit of a twist.

You can also ask Ariel questions and for the first time,  you can ask Caroline a question.

A few rules:

If I deem a question inappropraite, it will not be answered. I ask that you limit yourself to one question per person (being one for me, one for Ariel, and one for Caroline)

I will not discuss politics or religion so those are  both off the table.

If the question is in the fuzzy NDA (Non-disclosure Agreement) area then I will not answer the question.

If I don’t answer your question please don’t take it personally. A lot of times why I couldn’t answer it becomes clear about a year to two years later.

So there ya go. Ask away.

Putting this one up early since I’ll be in transit.

PAD

My family and I were visiting Israel, and we watched on television as the astronauts walked on the surface of the moon.

Some weeks later, my kid brother Wally, all of six years old, started school, and he came bounding home at the end of his first day all excited to relate what he had learned that day. “America landed a man on the moon TOO!” he informed our parents, since he’d been under the impression that the moonlanding he’d witnessed had been achieved by the Israelis.

PAD

Folks have been asking me what my schedule is like for the San Diego Comic Con. It is as follows:

Thursday – 1 – 2 PM, Marvel Booth signing (#2429)

Friday – 10-11—Xbox 360 booth, Hall G #5225, signing
Friday – 11:15 – 12:15 PM, X-Men Panel, Room 6DE
Friday – 1-2 – F&W Booth, signing
Friday – 3-4 – Impact University Panel

Saturday 10 – 11 – IDW Angel Panel
Saturday – 1-2 – F&W Booth, signing
Saturday – 4-5 PM, Marvel Booth signing (Booth 2429)
Saturday – 5 – 5:50, Signing, Mysterious Galaxy, (Booth 1119,) signing (so if you see me sprinting across the dealers room Saturday at 5 PM, stay out of my way; I’m trying to get from one signing to the next)
Saturday 6-7:30 – Gays in Comics Panel

PAD

“The wot, milady?” asked the confused vole.

“Never mind!” snapped the Potato Goddess. “Which direction did they go?”

“Well… that is… I don’t rightly know.” The vole quavered as he shut his eyes, certain that something unpleasant was about to befall him, probably involving chives.

Fortunately, they were interrupted by a new, unfamiliar voice. The voice said this: “I can take you to them.”

The vole opened his eyes to behold a waspish figure dressed in a three-piece, pin-striped suit and a brown duster.

“And who are you?!” demanded the Potato Goddess.

“Dr. John Smith,” was the figure’s reply. “Weight loss consultant to the stars.” (more…)

From the opening sketch for this year’s “Mystery Trekkie Theater” at Shore Leave: “Mad scientist” T. Alan Chafin goes on a rant, and then perfectly mimes having the beginnings of a heart attack. With Mike Friedman, Bob Greenberger and me clustering around him, I shout, “We need a doctor!” and Mike bellows the classic line, “Is there a doctor in the house?!” Out steps con guest Bob Picardo and with impeccable timing delivers his classic line as the holographic doctor. Result: A standing ovation from a jazzed (and maybe a little relieved) packed house.

Photo by Dawn Swingle

Half-Blood, half-baked, whatever.  Discussion with mild spoilers (oh, right, like you don’t know every beat already) follows: (more…)

“SAN DIEGO (July 17) – Jumbo flying squid — aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles — have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.”

Am I the only one who thinks they’re coming to town for Comicon?

PAD

NOTE FROM PAD:  For those of you who are wondering where you are on the queue, be aware that we have JUST gotten to the people who sent their “Count me in” emails on day 2 of the initial announcement.  That’s how many people volunteered on day 1.  (Even more, actually, since nearly a dozen people did not get in contributions for varying reasons.)  Fortunately the vast bulk of emails came in on day one, so we should be moving through the queue a little faster now.

The broken glass encrusted, sequin bedecked, beadazzled, and overall glittery Sparklepire leapt through the air, and teenage girls swooned like overcooked au gratin potatoes, leaving memories that became legend. Legend becomes myth and even myth was long forgotten in the 1.77245385 minutes it took for a new teenage fad to take its place. In the gravity defying minutes as Edwood flew through the air and the author grew tired of this literary allusion, a sputtering breeze blew some of the broken glass from Edwood’s tousled bronze curls into the eyes of a nearly forgotten character. (more…)

Out today are “Fallen Angel: Reborn” and “X-Factor #46.” Plus I think some other stuff came out as well.

PAD

As he drove up to the school, Edwood’s attention, which was normally drifting about with a steady level of disinterest except when it caught something reflecting his own image back into his piercing eyes with that striking thing he does with his brow and the firmly set lips and … Anyway, his attention was drawn to a swam of crashed vehicles near one end of the parking lot where all of the occupants were fighting one another to make their way to the head of a crowd. This certainly was odd behavior for the teenagers who were supposed to be looking at nothing but him, so Edwood quietly tucked his vehicle off to the side, just enough so its foreign make and expensive model would drive jealousy into everyone still entering the lot, and used his powers of exaggerated leaping to spring from tree to tree until he was able to peer over the crowd to the center of their attention.
 
His eyes, straining against the half-opened pensive appearance they’d become accustomed to, actually widened. They widened so much, in fact, that beads of blood drew from the cracks forming in skin that had met the limit of its developed stretching abilities. He never noticed because all he saw at that point was Bella. She had become … different. (more…)

Joe Quesada addressed the Shatterstar revelation and Rob Liefeld’s complaints in the current “Cup O’Joe” over at Comic Book Resources.

Particularly gratifying was when he said that if Rob wants to undo the revelation of Shatterstar’s sexuality, he’s going to have to take it up with the next editor in chief.

PAD

Woeisme stared at Bela; stared at her with the burning angst of a million suns and a couple smaller dwarf-suns.  Bela stood there smiling like a nincompoop who was enthralled by something shiny, like ball of aluminum foil or a pile of glitter. Worst of all, everyone had the exact same stupid look on their faces. The exact same stupid way they looked at her because she was an awesome 16-year-old 4-year-old.

“How could I have been so stupid?” Vlad asked himself, “Clearly, Bela should have had the One Onion Ring from the start.”

“Bela, have I ever told you how much I adore you for no good reason?” Fig asked, as Woeisme continuously kicked him in the shin with no reaction whatsoever. (more…)

So what’s new and interesting this week?

PAD

“Do I have to transform into a food?” Bela asked

“You will transform into your innermost desire,” the woman replied wispily. “Forged in the fires of transmutation, as the onion and the potato are plunged into the vat of oil and emerge, tempered and strong, golden and delicious.”

”You mean they turn into apples?” Bela was confused now.  She was worried that the woman would seize on her first stray thought and turn her into that, so she was trying to keep her thoughts blank lest she turn into the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man.  Naturally, she now couldn’t think of anything else. (more…)

An alternative cover to issue 3 of Fallen Angel Reborn