The parade is hitting the road, folks! June 27th-29th we setting up shop at Wizard World Chicago. We are extremely excited since this is our first official convention outing. We will also have the very first issue of Pretentious Record Store Guy miniseries for sale as well as the Wizard World Parade of Freaks Special Edition which has the much anticipated Agent of C.H.A.N.G.E. 5 page story as a bonus. It’s going to be amazing and we can’t wait to see you there. So if you’re in Chicago and are attending WizardWorld, come look me up. Enjoy.

Every journey has a beginning, every story has a start and every record store has a Pretentious Record Store Guy. This is his story!

When you’re Pretentious Record Store Guy, you’re life is pretty much made in the shade right? You get to see all the cool shows, pick through all the good music and take home all the latest promos. Life is pretty good, right? A pretentious existential crisis, with jokes about music.

The key to being in a scene is to be seen, and nowhere is more important than in a record store, where the employees are cooler than you and know every big band a year before anyone else does; welcome to the world of Pretentious Record Store Guy.

You’ve seen his adventures monthly in the pages of Playback:STL and online at pretentiousrecordstoreguy.com and now Pretentious Record Store Guy is going on his biggest journey yet. Issue #1 of the epic Pretentious Record Store Guy story hits the web like underground single from your favorite band, only instead of being sonic delicious goodness for your ear holes it’s music for your eyes and your cerebral cortex. If you have never read any Pretentious Record Store Guy comic, than do yourself a favor and read the first 10 pages for free at the Pretentious Record Store Guy website.

It’s a Hipster BaTTTle happening (3Ts like XXX only TTT)!!!

Available now at IndyPlanet: http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1076

What goes better with breakfast than some Milk and Cheese.  It’s even better when the Milk and Cheese in question involve a carton of hate and a wedge of spite!  Evan Dorkin’s classic comic returns on Dark Horse’s MySpace Presents comics.  Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenum=10&storynum=2!

For those of you who really, really wanted Development Hell to win December’s Zuda competition(all three of you out there), your prayers have been answered! To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the Zuda’s initial announcement, the fine editors at Zuda have decided to give the also rans a chance to redeem themselves. That’s right, all your favorite comics that didn’t win their respective competition can be voted back to the island for another go round at the tribal council. Behold, the the ZUDA COMICS 2008 INVITATIONAL!

Here is the official Press Release:

One of the most frequent things we hear from readers through e-mail, at conventions, in the blog and in the message boards is a sincere desire for a comic that didn’t win a competition to continue in some way.

While Zuda has posted over 60 comics at this point, only one per month is awarded a contract. Thankfully, many of the comics that didn’t win have found new homes in places like ACT-I-VATE or Amalgamated, but the question remains – how can a non-winning comic continue here on Zuda?

Now we have the answer – the ZUDA COMICS 2008 INVITATIONAL! Timed with the anniversary of announcing Zuda, our July 2008 competition will feature ten competitors returning from previous competitions – and we want to hear who you want to compete! Here’s how it works:

1. Make a list of ten comics from previous competitions that you think should compete in the Invitational.

2. Send that list to FEEDBACK (feedback@zudacomics.com) no later than May 23rd.

3. We’ll tally the responses and contact the creators. If a creator declines the invitation, we’ll simply move on down the list to the next creator.

4. Throughout June and July we’ll announce which comics will compete.

5. On July 7th (the start date of the July competition) we’ll post eight new screens for each of the competing comics (for a total of 16 screens if you include the original 8).

After that, normal competition rules apply and may the best comic win!

So what are you waiting for? Write to your local Zuda Editor and let’s get some Hell going!

Today is April 20th and I wish all you freaks out there a good day.

Happy 70th Birthday, Superman!

Superman is 70? Seriously? He looks pretty good for a guy his age. No longer the freshman reporter from Smallville, Kansas, Clark Kent is now a seasoned Metropolitan; there is nothing that, either as Superman or Clark Kent, he hasn’t seen before or done twice already, only backwards and with heels on.

This is a problem.

Writing Superman has to be the hardest gig in comics because everything that you can do with the character has already been done before. Hell, writer Steven T. Seagle even wrote a whole damn graphic novel about how difficult it was to tackle Superman (It’s a Bird)…and then he went on to write Superman. Ironically enough, his run is best remembered more for the graphic novel than by anything that actually happened in the book during his time there. But still, it simply goes to show how tough writing the Man of Steel really is. I mean, what do you get somebody who already has everything? What can you possibly do with someone who has done it all? What do you do with the “Man of Tomorrow” when tomorrow comes today?

Click here to read the full article at Playback:STL.

There are very few comics that serve as a sublime example of what happens when images and words collide on a blank sheet of paper. In that rare instance when that comic comes around you cherish it and hope that it never ends. 100 Bullets is one such comic. Unfortunately, the series has just begun its final arc before the curtain falls and one of Vertigo’s longest running series comes to an end.

Brian Azzarello is the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer of 100 Bullets, which he created with artist Eduardo Risso. 100 Bullets is second only to Hellblazer as the longest-running title from DC’s Vertigo imprint, and Azzarello and Risso’s unbroken run on the title is second only to Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man for the longest consecutive issue streak by a creative team in the last 15 years. Recently, Azzarello launched a new ongoing Vertigo title, Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.

I am a HUGE 100 Bullets fan and was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to interview Brian.  In the first part of my expansive interview, Azzarello talks about 100 Bullets, Loveless, the American vs. European comic market, and punching lead singers of rock bands in the face.  Check it out on Playback:STL.

Come back next week for the second part of the interview, where Brian talks about the Batman: Gotham Knight DVD (a companion to this summer’s blockbuster Dark Knight film), his superhero work, the long delayed 100 Bullets game, and why Bruce Wayne is the man.

Evan Dorkin is pretty much the man. Besides the fact that he is a multiple Eisner and Harvey Award winner, Evan has worked for every major and just about every minor comic publisher, weaving his mainstream work with the Big Three with his own indie comics published through Slave Labor Graphics. Here is a quick run through of his amazing work: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic, Milk and Cheese, Dork and World’s Funnest to name just a few.

Honestly, the guy and his wife and partner in crime Sarah Dyer are a one stop shop for comics and animation. Collectively they have written for Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Superman Adventures, Shin-Chan and Yo Gabba Gabba.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to have the opportunity to interview one of my favorite comic writer/artists, not to mention a creator who has had a HUGE influence on my own work.

Check out the interview on Playback:STL.

And for more Evan Dorkin madness, check out his blog, Big Mouth Types Again, as well as his and Sarah’s website, House of Fun.

Enjoy.

Shannon Wheeler is just Too Much!

He is too original, he is too innovative, he is just too smart for his own good!

Shannon Wheeler’s recent book Screw Heaven, When I Die I’m Going to Mars combines the adventures of Too Much Coffee Man, the How to Be Happy strips and the Postage Stamp Funnies (appearing in The Onion) into one fantastic piece of existential excellence.

There are very few truly original voices working in comics today.  Lucky for all the readers out there, PLAYBACK:stl recently had the opportunity to interview one of these amazing talents—the absurdly gifted and prolific Shannon Wheeler.

It is hard to interview someone who, as a fan of their work, you put up on a pedestal and hold in high regard.  This was my first interview for Playback:STL (or ever, really) and I would like to thank Shannon for making it so easy.

Check out the interview on Playback:STL.

Keep up with Mr. Wheeler on his website, Too Much Coffee Man.

Enjoy.

All things must end, and so it goes for the December Competition at Zuda Comics.

Pray for Death is the winner of the December Competition. Congratulations to them!

Thanks for everyone who voted for Development Hell! It was a fun ride and a great experience being selected to Zuda. I would like to thank the editors for selecting Development Hell for Zuda. Good times.

See you in the funny pages…

Carlos