NEW YORK COMIC CON (NYCC) - news and notes.

You won't see the Brickthrower on the convention floor. Maybe it's social anxiety, or the smell emanating off of the literal THOUSANDS of fanboys, but the crowded house that was last year's NYCC scared me into inaction this year.

I will be living it up at after-hours and such...and I did try to get as much info on my creator friends and their plans for the weekend. See below blog for JOHN LIVESAY's exciting inks. Also to be noted is some news I got from JG JONES when I asked about what he's got cooking for the con and upcoming:

JG: "Hey Mary,It's all about Final Crisis. There is nothing else."

MEB: Really...no other news?

JG: Yeah, one comic...and not much else, I'm afraid. I have no time for a life. MARK MILLAR and I are supposed to do a bit of promotion for the WANTED film with JAMES MCAVOY at the NYCC. That should be fun.I wish I had more fun news.

MEB: MORE fun news? That's quite enough sir!

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MIKE OEMING gave some info about the con in his newsletter:

"I'm there sitting with DAVID MACK, TAKI SOMA and BRYAN GLASS. I'll be signing everything and anything, doing sketches and having fun. Bring me some Stella or Stoli and I'll hook you up with free head sketches. Think I'm kidding? Its a long con:) I'll also have FRAMED PRINTS for Mice Templar for the first time as well as early issues of MT #4."

(((plus check out the art he decided to show his fans on the fly - Roger from HELLBOY - sweet!)))

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From BRIAN EWING:
"Hey if you're going to be at the NY Comic Con this weekend please drop by Evil Ink Booth #1904. Claudio Sanchez (singer of Coheed and Cambria and creator of The Amory Wars) is making a major announcement at the Con about a new creation of his. It's something he has been working on for a LONG time and he is very excited to share it with you. You have to go to the Con to be among the first to experience it!!
I can't tell you what it is but they said it was cool to show you the poster they commissioned me to do for the event. The only place to pick up the ltd edition screen printed poster is at the show. These are going to go fast so if you can't make it tell one of your friends to pick you up a copy."

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Other notables - JOSH BLAYLOCK, TARA MACPHERSON, JIMMY PALMIOTTI and AMANDA CONNER....and even those stoned dudes from HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE. So be there...or be square!!!! What better way to kick off the con season than with a weekend in THE CITY, NEW YORK that is!!!!

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~Till Next Time Kittlings.

New York City Diaries - Part 1 - Comic Book Club

I recently received a tidy little promotion in my day job (read: office drone; business goth) and have been given a spiffy title of "in-house representative" and shipped off to New York. Working in NYC has always been on my list of things "to-do" as it provided me with more opportunities to get along with my comic book brethren known as the FOO (The Mike Oeming message board).

So last Tuesday marked my first visit to Comic Book Club @ the People's Improv Theater, a mere 2 blocks from Penn Station. A live show done in talk show format, this weekly comic book centered live show offers fanboys and girls alike the chance to see their favorite creators in an intimate setting talking about not only the most recent comic book scoop as well as pop culture topics alike.

I went especially to see my dear pal Mike Oeming, and a list of virtual comic book indie/Oeming board royalty came out to see Mike on the show - such artists as ZeeS and Taki Soma, Marvel Editor Jen Grunwald, musician Jef UK and writer of Silent Devil's The Last Sin of Mark Grimm M. Sean McManus. And that was just the audience! On the panel was not only Mr. Oeming but the most rockin' ANDREW WK, amazing performer as witnessed by yours truly at a past Ozz Fest.

The show was funny, offering both self-promotion for the panel as well as each guest's opinion on the newest comics of the week. If I can recommend a cheap outing in NYC that provides both fun and variety, it would be Comic Book Club. Check out their web site for upcoming guests!!!!

http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/

(((PICTURED: Mary E Brickthrower, Andrew WK and Taki Soma)))

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~Till Next Time Kittlings.

Brian Ewing Art Show in LA - check it out if yer local!

BRIAN EWING Art Show 4.7.

08 in Los Angeles, CA

April 7th 2008
Los Angeles, CA
at the ROXY on Sunset Blvd

A solo show of Brian Ewing's past and present rock posters.



Atticus and Jedidiah along with the awesome folks Punk Rock Social... are sponsoring an art show for me in LA. I'm usually way too busy trying to not miss a deadline and avoid the sun to have time to exhibit my work.



There are going to be some bands - like FINCH, THE SECRET HANDSHAKE, HALOS and some dude from HELMET will be playing the show.



The $10 goes to pay the bands. I'm offering $5 off, on any posters/ prints to help offset the admission fee.





©BRIANEWING. com

Livesay Promotes! And f*ck that Shite - Pabst Blue Ribbon! (PBR par-tay for Arrested Development fiends)

So when I decided to catch up with my pal and inker John Livesay - he laid some knowledge on me:
"I will be at the NEW YORK COMIC CON this year, went last year and plan to be back and signing copies of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES"

And gave me some awesome scans from the upcoming issues to peruse:

To see the rest, CLICK RIGHT HERE!!!!
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So when my darling friend Loretta advised me that she would be moving to Florida I was both excited and sad. Excited b/c she is moving to finish her degree and live with her very awesome brother; sad b/c I’m losing my favorite person in the whole wide world besides from my dear Goddard Bunny.

Loretta and I were brainstorming for ways to raise some extra cash for her move and we decided to have a going-away / fundraiser party. The theme? Why our favorite American sit-com, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT of course. As soon as the theme was decided, we started piecing together the details.

In Arrested Development, the Bluth family holds a “TBA CHARITY GALA” – because they couldn’t decide what they should raise money for. Our TBA would be the “TAMPA BAY ACTION,” a semi-formal dress up affair to help raise some extra cash for Loretta. We ordered a keg of PBR and are charging a measly $5 to drink and eat all you can. The food will be “upscale chic”: stuffed mushroom caps, crudités with assorted dips, bruschetta, CORN BALLS (from the infamous episode of AD where they reveal that George Sr. attempted to market a deep fryer for aforementioned corn muffins, THE CORN BALLER). Dressing as your favorite AD character or semi-formal is encouraged.
Prizes will be awarded in the following:
- Pin the mustache on Private Eye Gene Parmasean
- The Hot Cops dance competition
- Best Chicken Dance
- Best costume

We ordered special prizes off of http://www.cafepress.com/ including buttons, shirts and magnets that have sayings from Arrested Development. I think I’m going to make miniature hotdogs. =) Start your Arrested Development party planning today! And if you’re in the Philly area then come to my party!!!
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I saw some fun movies the past few weeks. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was by far the best. I cried at the end which is no major feat but is rare for a Coen Bros. film. I didn’t particularly like the foreign film SWEET MOVIE even if it did have full frontal nudity and scatological insanity. I think the message had something to do with Communism. But I could be wrong.
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Never underestimate your power to hurt yourself doing the most random things. I was playing RAMPAGE for PS2 – a remake of the arcade classic – and played so long and in a weird position as to spasm my back and the middle of my torso. It required a doctor’s visit and I felt rather old. To think: injuring myself on a video game that doesn’t even require physical exertion, just a lot of button mashing. But I learned something more as well – the drugs work. Flexaril is a buddhasend. Long live muscle relaxers.
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~Till Next Time Kittlings.

Takashi Miike / NIN's new album GHOSTS / DDR /Comics?

So it's been a crazy month of March for your fair Brickthrower. I have succeeded in obtaining a bit of a promotion within my "day job" office environ and starting March 24th I will be working full time in NYC.

And no, Goddard and I do not plan to move to NYC just yet.

We did however, set a date - SEPTEMBER 22nd, 2009 - VEGAS - more details to come. YOU ARE INVITED. =)

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So I think it was perhaps Goddard's friend/co-worker/awesome chick Danielle that put the boy on a Takeshi Miike kick. I couldn't mind; I've been a worshipper of the altar of ASIAN CULT FILM since my first jaunt with JU-ON THE GRUDGE that fateful night at pal Jaime Irate's humble abode.

While we have a few more films to go I would like to propose some quick little tidbits about the films we have seen so far: QUICK MIIKE REVIEWS:
AUDITION - awesome. Brutally graphic. The way she says "deeper deeper deeper" in Japanese is TEH sex. A man gets set up on a blind date that he will never be able to forget. The use of wire in this film is enough to make any man cringe. And proclaimed by comic book/

HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS - a musical, and f'ing brilliant in that CANNIBAL THE MUSICAL sort of way. I lurved it. A family renovates a "guest house" (read: bed and breakfast) named "White Lovers Guest House" or something equally weird. They then find their pleasant inn attracts the most unpleasant kinds of circumstances. The songs break out at the most inappropriate times and that is the beauty of this film.

VISITOR Q - so fucking strange. But so very intriguing and interesting. Goddard relates to me that this film was made as a semi-promotional item for digital cameras. I can't imagine anyone in Japan showing this film at a Electronics Expo or something. Incest, umbrellas, and bullies are highlighted in this flick. I wasn't dull for one moment.

IZO - Eh - I didn't like this one very much. The plot was connected in a rather hapless sort of way.

ICHII THE KILLER - This is one of the first of the "Asian Cult" films I ever saw, courtesy of my horror mentor Thee Irate One, and I still hold it dear to this day. Ultraviolence, Yakuza, awesome. Masochists and suspension artists alike will surely dig on this movie.
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So Trent Reznor as NINE INCH NAILS went back into the studio and quietly released GHOSTS, a 2 CD set full of instrumentals. A rather telling title, this album is marked by its haunting feeling, as if you have heard these songs hacked up into bits and pieces and sampled on some other NIN project. My first impression was the similarity between this and APHEX TWIN’s 26 MIXES FOR CASH - an easy concept to put together and get out for the fans to purchase. NIN offered many options for buying this - from the free download of the first 9 songs, to the $5 download onto your computer, and upwards into limited edition sets and whatnot. I opted for the $5 download. I am happy to say that in some way, shape or form I have purchased the last 5 albums and multiple singles instead of resorting to my usual methods of music saturation.

I do not find this album very entertaining, just as I skip over the instrumentals on THE FRAGILE. I find the combination of Reznor’s industrial/piano/loud/soft electronic sound and his angst-ridden lyrics a perfect match. To lose the lyrics is to lose half of my attention. This is not a bad album. It is a great background CD as my ’married boyfriend’ Matt said; while you’re working or busy putting together IKEA furniture or something then this is a great album to pop in. Just don’t expect some deep revelation in this album, although maybe we can credit Reznor’s recent prolific output to his new-found sobriety. Props for that.
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DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION is helping me lose weight. It’s not just for little Asian kids and Salt n Pepa anymore!!!
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If we wish hard enough, Goddard may put together some "one sentence reviews" on his most recent comic book reads. You can wish...can’t you?

~Till Next Time Kittlings.

An Outlaw kind of Antho / Western Anthology talk with Michael Woods

Michael Woods is the editor of the new Western Anthology, OUTLAW TERRITORY. I recently chatted with Mike in regards to his anthology and the business of comic book editing. Check it out!

Mary E Brickthrower: So what made you decide to edit a Western Anthology? Are you like most boys I know, with that soft spot in your heart for the idea of the "old west?"

Michael Woods: heh...no. Outside the cool hats and being able to wear a six shooter on your hip, it didn't seem like a great time to live. It was hard and I'm a soft kid from the suburbs. I do love the genre though. Something I'm sure most of us grew up with.

As for the decision to do a western anthology, I was putting together the Low Orbit anthology and looking for something to do that would be a polar opposite. A single genre with a darker, grittier tone. I had no idea what that would be until I talked to an artist about illustrating a short western story I had cooked up. He asked if it was for a western anthology. "It is now."

MB : Was this something that you CHOSE who you wanted to have in the collection or did you solicit for submissions?

MW : When I first decided what this book would be, I opened it up for submissions and set a deadline for scripts. Deadline rolled around and I received all of zero submissions. So, I took the book off the table and started looking at writers working in the industry who's work I enjoyed. I started contacting them directly. Some said yes. Others said no. A lot said no, actually. But I kept going and enough people said yes. A few people were recommended to me (especially when I started looking for artists), which was great.

Whether I asked or was recommended someone, there isn't a creator on either volume that I did not approve. So, if either book fails, it's all my fault.

MB: Have you been surprised by any of the submissions you've gotten? Like how some people interpreted the genre?

MW: The stories and artwork in the book is all pretty amazing. I could really rant and rave about them all day. But, I knew the quality of the contributor's work ahead of time. It's why I invited them onto the book.

A few stories did surprise me though. Joshua Hale Fialkov wrote something that was reminiscent of the old EC comics. Christopher Mitten did something with the color scheme he chose that really brought his pages to life. Probably the biggest surprise was from Joshua Dysart. His story floored me. I don't know what I was expecting from him, but not that. I loved it.

Truth be told though, I'm more interested in seeing how people react to some of the newer guys on the book. I know their work and am a fan of all of them, but artists and writers like Michael Jason Paz, Dean Kots, George Gousis, Charles Shay, Christie Tseng, Jose Holder, Jan Napiorkowski, Stephen Reedy and many others are these amazing little known or completely unknown guys that are really bringing something to the table. I want to see the reaction of the fans discovering these guys work.

MB: What do you find the biggest challenge in editing an anthology? Is this something you're used to at this point?

MW: I think I always underestimate the amount of time it takes. It's a lot of communication with a lot of different people who are all busy on other projects at the same time. And that's only after searching comics and the internet to find the right people. I think I got lucky that their are a lot of western fans working in comics who wanted to be a part of this. I wish their was some secret to how all these amazingly talented people decided to do this (because I'd use it all the time), but honestly...I just asked.

MB: TOMBSTONE or WYATT EARP?

MW: "I'm your huckleberry."

MB: Are you contributing at all to OUTLAW TERRITORY?

MW: Absolutely. Aside from putting a book out there that I think is missing from the shelves, being able to write stories for the book is what makes it worth doing.

MB: Where do you do most of your writing? Do you have a 'zone'- a place that is your perfect mise-en-scene for getting some writing done and good writing at that?

MW: I tend to write when and where I can. Usually on a legal pad and later onto my Mac Mini.

Usually the best writing comes when I am at home and without distraction. Their may be music or just silence. But that is about as close to a zone as I get. I am otherwise at the mercy of inspiration, which comes and goes at it pleases.

MB: How did the title come about?

MW: Honestly, I don't remember. I know I thought of it on the way to work, but can't say what it was that sparked the idea or what the train of thought was. I just know that I liked it and figured it would work at least as a placeholder until I thought of something better.

I think sticking with it was a good decision.

MB: What does the future hold for Outlaw Territory? Another volume? What about for you personally?

MW: There will be a second volume of Outlaw Territory and it is already in the works.

For me, there are some stories in future volumes of PopGun as well as a graphic novel I'm doing with Michelle Silva called 'Bruised Peach' (also being published by Image). There are a couple other things, like 'DragonWinds' and 'The Rampart Legacy' which I can't talk too much about just yet. But, those books will start to see the light of day soon enough.

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~Till Next Time Kittlings.

Daniel Day Lewis talks about Heath Ledger on Oprah

I've thought DANIEL DAY LEWIS was the man since seeing GANGS OF NEW YORK. Yeah, I came into that awful late right? Lewis is a brilliant actor all around, and the work he does for his roles is phenomenal. When I heard about HEATH LEDGER locking himself in a hotel room for a month to get into the role of THE JOKER for the upcoming BATMAN film, I immediately thought of LEWIS' own methods for getting into character.

Anyway - LEWIS was on OPRAH via satellite to talk about his Oscar nom for THERE WILL BE BLOOD, and this is what he talked about instead. I cried watching this, and just wanted to share b/c it just makes me respect Lewis even more. (((and thanks to Joe aka Danny Tanner for hooking me up with this clip)))