Look in a book (in a book), It's in a book
Two of my webcartooning comrades are unleashing new books! Over on the Girly side of things, Josh has finally put together his best comic's first print collection, which you can preorder now. Meanwhile, in Scary Go Round territory, John is relreleasing his first collected volume with a new cover and other goodies. These are the first two webcomic-related books I have ever bought on the intertron. Money well spent! Who needs to eat?
Speaking of books, you can look forward to more Sam and Fuzzy collections later this year. The mini-book has done very well for me, and I'm eager to follow it up with something more comprehensive... a true "volume one", if you will.
But comprehensive or not, it won't include any of the exclusive comics found in the current mini-book. Lots of people have already bought it, and I would not want anyone to have spent their hard-earned money on a redundant collection! Instead, I will just do my best to keep the mini-book in print and available for newcomers to snag for as long as I can.
Sam Logan
Space monkey mafia
The new storyline is called Vignette I: "Vignette" because it is a short scene (it will be over by Friday), and "I" because it is the first of several similarly-sized stories (which will be appearing now and then throught the year).
Anyhow, next week we will be jumping back to Fuzzy's story. So if you are starving for a Fuzzy-fix, now you know how long you have to power through the cravings. But trust me, don't try to substitute with a real bear. The only thing that will be getting "fixed" there is... your wagon! Man, fix your wagon. Am I dating myself yet?
I wasted a lot of time this weekend playing this. It's pretty brutal, but if you've mastered the original Mario Bros. 3 as thoroughly as Claire has, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
Sam Logan
Someone's shadowboxin' my house, yeah
And that, my friends, is the cap on Behind the Music. A new story kicks off on Monday. I'd hoped to accompany it with some new changes and tweaks to the website, but I don't think they'll be finished in time, so I might need to hold off for another week or two. Rats!
I just finished off the first hardcover volume of The Ultimates. I figured I should give it a try, since I've enjoyed the appearances of Nick Fury and others in Ultimate Spider-man. On the whole, I really enjoyed it! It kind of feels like 24 with Superheros... big plot twists, big action set-pieces, lots of conspiracies and doublecrosses, and a good helping of soap-opera-esque personal interaction. It also has some of the most gorgeous artwork I've ever seen in a book published by Marvel.
But the one thing that drives me nuts is all the cameos of real-life people. Mind you, I love it when they use real-life military and political leaders in the World War II flashbacks. It's the history nerd in me... the same one that lets me really enjoy The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. But cameos from current day people, especially celebrities, just drive me up the wall. It's a minor issue, but that didn't stop me from cringing everytime George Bush or Shannon Elizabeth or whoever else popped up.
Sam Logan
