the daily show’s been on fire lately

andy macdonald and i are the guests on tonight’s COMIC BOOK CLUB in nyc.  come and see us.

the show takes place at :

The Peoples Improv Theater
154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor
[Btwn. 6th and 7th Aves.]

www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub

andy macdonald, cliff chiang and i are driving to baltimore this weekend for the (?) annual baltimore comic-con, one of my favorite shows with a hell of a lineup this year.

http://www.comicon.com/baltimore/

aaron sorkin writes the west wing again. sorta.

HERE

BARACK OBAMA: The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

JED BARTLET: GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it.

so, ok- i’ve been a little short on words here, since i’ve been back in the country.  the good news is i’ve been ridiculously busy with new work… last week 2 giant boxes arrived with reference from 2 publishers for a new series i’m supposed to write for each next year.  adding that to VIKING, which i’ll finally be able to announce formally in the near future, and there are 3 ongoing comic books in the works for 2009.  

and that’s just comics… i’m developing 2 other-media things at the same time and continuing to travel… i’ve boarded about 25 planes in the last year and i’m headed to baltimore later this month and then back to los angeles, maybe and vegas the month after.  and maybe i’ll end the year in brazil, again, if i can work that out.   

there’s a lot going on.  some of it takes time to announce, but i’m going to try to keep my attention here, too.  

and i still owe you a deleted scenes post or 2 about the things i couldn’t write about in the hectic last month in south america.

the last part of niko henrichon and my machine man story is out today in marvel comics presents #5, and i made him draw so many crazy crazy things.

it takes place in bombay.

tomorrow to sunday i’ll be in canada at the TORONTO FAN EXPO signing and selling books and robotic shark shirts.  i will most likely have copies of the giant and excellent tori amos COMIC BOOK TATTOO anthology along with my regular batch of graphic novels and if you ask me nice, i might show you some art from the upcoming VIKING.

i’ll be at table P47 all day except on saturday from 1-2pm, when i’ll be on marvel’s BREAKING INTO THE HOUSE OF IDEAS panel.

i will accept any and all strange canadian snacks.

i’m very sad to say that carlos meglia died recently of complications related to aortic problems he was hospitalized for a couple days previous.

carlos was a spectacular artist, the main inspiration for humberto ramos and the army of people who followed and continue to follow that style.

he called himself “matute”, and he was 50 and crazy and living in buenos aires, argentina. i only ever met him briefly in person, and never once in his country in the months that i lived there. i’d put off going to his studio, figuring he’d be there the next time i was in town. i’m full of great decisions sometimes.

we’d instant message, and i’d joke that you could confuse his side of it for the words of a teenaged kid full of sugar, full of animated smiles and enthusiasm. the last time we talked to any real length, though, was a sad occasion; i got in touch to let him know that mike wieringo had died, very soon after mike had asked if i could introduce them. it was only today that i realized that carlos died a year later, to the day, from that conversation.

i miss them both. what the world’s lost in art and personality without them is immeasurable.

(it would help if i remembered to post these things more than a couple of hours before they happened, sorry)

i’ll be signing tonight at golden apple on melrose in los angeles, with ted mckeever, eric canete, david mack, andy macdonald, mark sable and rantz hosely (i think there are more but those are the ones i know)

anyone brings me a hot dog from pinks gets a free comic book.

http://www.goldenapplecomics.com/events/2008/08-01-08tori.php

starting friday at the san diego comic con (see below for exact signing times) andy macdonald and i will be selling this exclusive new shirt to you and anyone who’d like one, in sizes for all the boys and girls.

EDIT TO ADD: it has come to my attention that the amazing rafael grampá’s MESMO DELIVERY, which i wrote the english version of, will be debuting at the show.  take a LOOK.