I'm sure this blog is kind of a miracle... right?

In case you haven't seen the latest and most talked about Insane Clown Posse video ever, I've posted it above. The video came out a few months ago and its been made fun of, SNL has made a parody, and been the hot topic with Juggalos (die hard ICP fans) everywhere! The name of the song is "Miracles" and it talks about how everyday occurrences and scientific facts are indeed "Miracles" to the Insane Clown Posse. Any one with a half a brain can tell you that your child looks like you because of genetics, ICP on the other hand calls it a "miracle". Personally I watch the video to get some good chuckles and be flat out flabbergasted by the line "Fucking magnets, How do they WORK???!!" Which has now turned into a huge internet meme.



I've tried to sit down and understand the video. I have picked at it from all angles and I've tried to "get" the song so that I can see where the "miracles" are. I have a LOT of time on my hands and nope, NO DICE! I think its safe to say that if you completely understand this video and agree with the lyric "I don't want to talk to a scientist, Ya'll motherfuckers lying and getting me pissed!" You're fucking crazy! Not funny crazy either, I'm talking about you need your family to sit you down and figure out what's the best way to get you professional help crazy. Why would a scientist LIE???!!! That boggles my mind, What scientist would say "OK, magnets work by magic spells put on them by sugar plum fairies!" The only kind of scientist that would say that is clearly one that wants to be discredited and lose all respect in the scientific community! I don't like people who call scientists liars, you might as well be a pedophile! YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!



"I've seen shit that'll shock your eyelids
The sun and the moon, and even Mars
The Milky Way and fucking shooting stars
UFOs, a river flows
Plant a little seed and nature grows"

YOU SON OF A BITCH! I've seen all those things, even the UFO I thought I saw once was actually a weather balloon but it wasn't a miracle! The sun is made up of gases not miracles, you uneducated bastard! Did the ICP miss the ENTIRE Fourth grade? I swear we learned all about this stuff during science hour! Did you guys ever plant seeds in Styrofoam cups? Mine never grew! Not because I don't believe in miracles, they didn't grow because I thought Coca-Cola would be essential to its growing process! My theory was wrong, but at least I didn't attribute my failure to miracles fucking me in the ass!

"Crows, ghosts, the midnight coast
The wonders of the world, mysteries the most"

Really? You had to throw GHOSTS in there? No one believes me about my ghosts experiences, who's gonna believe a couple of assholes who throw scientists under the bus and call them out as liars! Watch the video, but don't read too much into it. Unless you want to end up like this:


"I said...hop on!"

Arizona can suck my balls!

My whole opinion on Illegal Immigration is a bit fuzzy to say the least. I've always felt that people shouldn't break the law to live a better life. That really isn't the case anymore, I've changed my mind. Illegal Immigration is something that happens because there isn't a better way to make a better life for yourself other than to break the law. You have to admit we as American citizens have it pretty easy here, we have cell phones, cable TV, video games, and a bunch of stuff we don't need to make life a lot easier. We don't have to worry about having to feed our children as much as people in different countries have to, we get a lot of help here from various organizations. Aside from that we can choose to take almost any job we want because we have opportunity thrown at us since grade school all we have to do is reach out and take it. Illegal Immigrants don't have that, they have to fight for any scrap they can get just to have a slightly better day. What's my point? My point is that on top of all that Arizona passes a stupid law to make life more difficult for these hardworking people.

Sure they may be breaking the law and some might say they are a problem. But the truth is, Illegal Immigration wouldn't be such a big problem if people born here didn't feel like they were too good to work "shitty" jobs. What jobs do most Immigrants have? Line cooks, dishwashers, landscapers, fruit harvesters, farm work, ditch diggers, any hard physical labor. Work that most privileged people look down on because "book smarts" aren't necessary. But these people will work circles around you and ten of your friends! This law makes it so police can stop anyone that "looks illegal" and have them prove their legality. Sounds like something straight out of Nazi Germany! That's NOT what America is about, and this has me very ashamed to be an American. This law has opened my eyes to the injustice and hate that lives in this country and I will not let this happen. I support the boycott of Arizona based companies like Petsmart, Cold Stone Creamery, Discount Tires, U-Haul, etc. People will say "If you boycott them the local economy suffers too!", My answer is: TOO FUCKING BAD! You know how many people there are out there who suffer from not having enough money and working 3 jobs just to barely make ends meet for a family of 6? Some of you will NEVER know what that is like, but many of you know someone who is an illegal and in a shitty situation. I've heard things from American born citizens who say "Hey! We had it pretty rough growing up! Both my parents had to work and raise us on hand-me-downs!" If you are from here and you have to struggle to live and you aren't trying to better your situation: YOU OR YOUR PARENTS MADE SHITTY LIFE CHOICES AND DID NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THIS COUNTRY OFFERS! If illegal aliens swoop in and take your jobs then you aren't working hard enough!



This country was built on the backs of immigrants, the state of Arizona has forgotten that. I bet you the Lawmakers there have a horde of illegals working their lawns and caring for their children. We who are the children or grandchildren of immigrants need to rise up and help. It took years of working with honest hard-working guys in the kitchen at Bakers Square to teach me that these people work hard. I feel embarrassed that I used to think differently and was for laws that hunted down illegals. But this law woke me up. We need to step up and back up this boycott! We need to let this country know that we are the sleeping giant, We need to keep Obama in the White House because he's the son of a immigrant too! We need to show the world that: Si se puede.

This Oil Spill is MONEY!

So everyone is really up in arms about this oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico, apparently its a huge environmental disaster that we're going to feel for years to come. Dolphins are dying, pelicans are blowing up, and fish are going straight up silly in the ocean. There's a really good chance that the Gulf will never get completely cleaned up and the ecosystem is forever ruined. Great news everyone: It's not that bad!


First off, Only the stupid animals get oil on themselves. That is a true statement! Hahahaha! Look at that picture of that stupid bird! What an asshole! I bet he was all like "Hey, I wonder what all this black stuff I'm swimming in is? AWWW man! It's OIL! Really?! Who did this? Phil? Was it fucking you Phil? You're a jerk, dude! Who puts oil in the ocean? I'm such an asshole! If I was flying and not dicking around in the ocean this would never have happened! PHIL!" There's a really good chance that oceanic birds have names like Phil and whatever the above bird's name is. Many of you will say "Leo! Dolphins are super smart! Why are they affected?" FACT: "Dolphins are not smart, if they were they would not live in the BORING ocean." -Dr. Mortimer Smartzenstein. Dolphins get stuck in Tuna nets all the time, I have never been caught in a net. EVER. So therefore I'm smarter than a dolphin and if I'm smarter than a dolphin they are pretty fucking dumb.

Secondly, We can't drink salt water. Trust me I've tried many times but it can't be done. What's my point? The oil spilled in water right? We drink water right? The water the oil spilled in was salt water right? We can't drink salt water right? THE OIL SPILL HAPPENED ON SHIT WE DON'T FUCKING NEED ANYWAY!!!!!!!!! Is everyone living in crazy town?! Why does everyone care?! Not only that but the most contaminated areas are islands protected to preserve wildlife. So they're animals we cant hunt to make food from! Worthless! All of those animals are worthless, the water is undrinkable, and islands aren't even man enough to be continents! Suck my dick planet Earth!


Lets wrap this shit up! It all seems clear to me that all of you tree hugging hippies and eco friendly hipsters don't want the inevitable Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland from Mad Max to happen. You people don't want this happening because you're a bunch of pussies! Lord knows you can't put up a fight wearing nerd glasses and fedoras, you wouldn't last two seconds in the fucking THUNDERDOME! Your "going green society" has turned you into the punk ass marks that would be the first to fall under the iron hand of Lord Humungus and his futuristic biker gang. I'm a firm believer that the oil spill is the first in a set of cataclysmic events that will bring forth the environmental apocalypse, and I'm getting ready for the world of tomorrow. While my gang is pillaging your hipster havens for its resources and my hard hand is choking your scrawny neck while you're coughing up blood onto your skinny jeans, you'll think "Damn he was right... That oil spill WAS money!"
BOOM!

Iron Man 2.... Love it or leave 'Merica!

Many of us called the first Iron Man: The best documentary EVER made. Iron Man 2 is the other best documentary ever filmed in REAL TIME! This movie is incredible! If you're a Marvel buff (like me) this movie is the closest we'll ever get to watching our children be born (don't kid yourselves we're fucking nerds, we don't get sex... without paying). Iron Man 2 is what we want all of our comic book movies to be, and Marvel Studios is delivering! Marvel Studios is keeping true to the characters and story lines of all its product while entertaining the movie crowd and keeping nerds happy!

Watching this movie gets me all hot and bothered with anticipation for the Thor, Captain America and Avengers movies. They have done such a fantastic job bringing Tony Stark to the big screen, Robert Downey Jr. plays him so well and he should really just start living like a Billionaire superhero playboy because however he lives his life in the real world is a fucking lie! I also like how they don't have Iron Man fighting petty street thugs because he isn't Batman, Iron Man battles big time super-villains and bangs chicks during breaks from kicking ass. I've read reviews where people state that there was too much talking in this film and not enough action till the end. Here's a newsflash: Iron Man has always been about Tony Stark, actually ALL Marvel comics have emphasized on the humanity of the characters more than the "super alter ego". That's why we learn more about Peter Parker and his troubles than we do about Spider-Man, or Bruce Banners dilemma with being a monster than we focus on the Hulk. I was more than happy with 2 and a half action sequences in a blockbuster super hero movie. We need to see Tony Stark dealing with his larger than life persona and witness his flawed character. More than anything we need to understand that Iron Man is perfect while Tony Stark is a complete screw up!

Mickey Rourke is great in this movie! Aside from his grandpa titties and dirtball looking face, Mickey Rourke was a hell of a Whiplash. Mickey Rourke OWNS his characters and did his complete best to become Whiplash. Can anyone not like Sam Rockwell? Sam Rockwell can play a complete douche better than anyone, He's like a better acting, uglier, more talented, smarter, but more of a failure Johnny from the Karate Kid. I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT DESCRIBES SOMEONE OTHER THAN JOHNNY FROM THE KARATE KID BUT SAM ROCKWELL IS AWESOME! The introduction of these two characters was exceptional and for the first time multiple villains has actually worked in a comic book movie! (Two-Face from the Dark Knight? Yeah... His five minutes as a minor annoyance was real super-villain worthy.
The last scene with Iron Man and War Machine fighting robot drones was ridiculous! I felt like we needed to see Iron Man just wrecking shit up, beating up on unmanned robo drones and making unnecessary decisions like fighting near civilian areas is awesome! Action scenes like this are truly a fanboys wet dream and they really stay true to the comics with Iron Man using the Unibeam, Repulsor blasts, and cool moves he can only do once because seeing it two many times kills the effect of seeing the move in the first place!

Iron Man 2 is doing such a great job at leading up to the Avengers, I really need to see that movie NOW! Especially if its full of Skrulls and a fight scene with the Hulk I might need an oxygen tank and a clean pair of pants at the theatre because I might have an actual SHIT ATTACK! Stop reading this and go see the damn movie! STAY AFTER THE CREDITS!!!!

C2E2 Avatar Press panel by John Bruni

I've got Bruni here again with some awesome news and a great article on the Avatar Press panel from C2E2. Sorry its late guys... I HAVE A JOB!

The Avatar Press Panel
By John Bruni

As one who has worked as a journalist and reviewer in the past, I hate to break the fourth wall. It’s downright unprofessional. It even bothers me when Shakespeare threw asides into his plays. But for the Avatar panel, I have to do it. I have no choice. You’ll see why.

Cliff and I went to the Avatar panel, and when I saw there were only a handful of attendees, I shook my head. Some of the best work in the industry could be found with Avatar’s logo on it, and this was the biggest crowd they could get?

Brian Pulido took to the lectern while the rest of the panel took seats at the table: Mike Wolfer, Jacen Burrows, William Christensen, and Christos Gage. Gage was the last to arrive because he said he’d gotten lost, that he’d tried every panel room, and this was the last one. (That’s another problem with McCormick Place: it’s really hard to navigate.)

From the very introduction, it was clear that this was not to be an ordinary panel. The ball-busting began very soon in the presentation, and it did not let up a bit. Off-color remarks were hurled about, including cursing, which one simply does not find at, say, a Marvel panel. I think Karen Berger said “shit” twice at the Vertigo panel, but that’s nothing compared to how the air turned blue around the Avatar guys. At one point, they declared that their evening event with George R.R. Martin and Max Brooks would feature the ritual sacrifice of William Christensen, but the joke stopped when they realized that they should never sacrifice the money.

But in between the gloriously inappropriate humor, actual information was mentioned to the crowd. The biggest news Avatar had to offer was their new imprint, Boundless Comics, of which LADY DEATH was going to be the flagship title. In the year 1351, Lady Death has fallen from grace. Her powers are gone, and so is her memory of them. She makes her living as an assassin and thief in the Dark Ages. Then, she encounters a rebel demon who tries to convince her that she used to be something more than what she is. Pulido promises that the new storyline will not fuck with the old Lady Death, and fans will not be disappointed.

The next biggest news is the return of CROSSED, and I’m not just talking about the comics series. There is also a movie in the works with the screenplay written by Garth Ennis. It is to be a live-action movie, and many on the panel tried to speculate as to how much of Ennis’ grotesque story will make it onto the big screen. They wondered about one thing in particular: the horse cock. (Readers will know what I’m talking about.) Will there be “live action horse cock?” In addition, there will be a second series of CROSSED, launched by Ennis and Burrows before it is handed off to a new creative team. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is disappointed to hear that the reins will be passed on, but I have faith in Avatar. They’ve never let me down before.

Burrows talked about his new project with Alan Moore, NEONOMICON, which is the sequel to THE COURTYARD, both of which you can read more about in my interview with Burrows. He also quoted Moore at the panel: “[This is] HPL as done by HBO.”

The final project they discussed was Gage’s upcoming sequel to ABSOLUTION, which is titled ABSOLUTION: RUBICON, in which the protagonist, who had turned to a life of killing villains who couldn’t be touched by the law, is on the run from his superhero/cop friends as he continues his new calling in life.

And then the show was turned over to Q&A. Every single person in this very small crowd had a question, which goes to show the dedication of the Avatar fan. Then, I put my hand up, and Pulido told me to state my name and who I work for.

I’ve known him for many years now. In fact, my job as a reviewer of comic books kind of began because of him. Back when I was just a mere fan, I was big into his EVIL ERNIE books, but there was a period of time when they were starting to disappoint me. Rather than gripe and moan about the horrible state of comics, like most do (and this was a time before the internet was prominent in armchair critics lives), I wrote an eight-page letter to Chaos!, in which I critiqued EE, not just pointing out where they were going wrong, but also showing where they’ve done really well.

Part of the letter was published in an issue of EE, and I was named Fiend of the Month. Pulido actually called me up to discuss a few of the points I’d made, and during that phone call, he invited me out to Wizard World Chicago to meet him. It wound up being my first convention. (Not long after this conversation, I went on to start reviewing comic books for the Elmhurst College LEADER, and my first review was of EE.)

So, I’ve seen him every year from that moment on, and I’m sure he was surprised to see me show up in a suit to C2E2 this year. I explained that I was a working member of the press for this convention. As I was the only one working for the press in the room (Cliff had yet to read his first Avatar book at that point), I was singled out for this bit of ball-busting.

I had interviewed almost everyone at the panel, and they remembered me, so they broke out laughing. Then, the panelist who was wondering about the CROSSED movie suddenly laughed and said, “Don’t quote me on the horse cock thing!”

It was my greatest moment as a journalist.

Anyway, my question was regarding Boundless Comics. I wanted to know if they were planning on having BELLADONNA, GYPSY, and WAR ANGEL as titles for their new imprint. Christiansen and Pulido exchanged glances, and the former said, “We haven’t discussed that yet.” They said that it was a possibility, and Pulido asked me, “Is that something you’d like to see?”

Considering how open he is to his audience (since after my eight-page letter, EE went on to some of his awesomest, mind-blowingest adventures), I answered with a resounding yes. “Especially WAR ANGEL,” I said.

Pulido then mentioned that he’d heard that WAR ANGEL was actually 50-Cent’s favorite comic book. A bit of weird trivia. Who knows? It might come in handy someday.

So, there are a lot of excellent things coming from Avatar and Boundless soon. If you’re not on board yet, you need to buy your ticket. You’ll get a kick out of the ride.

John Bruni interviews at C2E2!

While I continue to expand this blog and eventually create our website, I'll invite some of my pals (whose writing skills are a lot better than mine!) to contribute a bit. Here's my friend and published author John Bruni! WARNING: He's a sick bastard.

Interview with Bill Willingham
By John Bruni

Bill Willingham was born in Ft. Belvoir, VA. He got his start working for TSR, illustrating for their D&D role-playing games. He came to prominence in the ‘Eighties for his series, ELEMENTALS. He has since worked on PANTHEON, IRONWOOD, and PROPOSITION PLAYER, and he is now helming FABLES and JACK OF FABLES for Vertigo and ANGEL for IDW.

JB: So far, we’ve had FABLES and JACK OF FABLES. Will there be any more FABLES spin-offs?

BW: We have the CINDERELLA mini-series [FROM FABLETOWN WITH LOVE], and it’s done pretty well. Chris Roberson, the writer, has an idea for a second case. It hasn’t been guaranteed yet, but we might be doing the next Cinderella caper. FABLES will continue, of course. I hope we’ll continue forever.

JB: Do you have any other projects coming up soon?

BW: Next for me is, of course, a lot more FABLES. 301 issues of FABLES would be a good goal to go for. Then again, Hal Foster did 33 years of Prince Valiant, and we’ve only done 9 years of FABLES, so we have another 20 years or so of FABLES to go. We’re always going to do a FABLES special project. We have CINDERELLA coming out. The next big thing is going to be issue 100 of FABLES, a 100-page spectacular with a FABLES board game inside, and a paper puppet theater that Mark Buckingham is doing with FABLES cut-outs and stages. And we’re doing a switcheroo for one of the back-up stories where Mark is writing the story that I’m illustrating for him. And the next big FABLES project is going to be “Werewolves of the Heartland” in which Bigby finds, of course, werewolves in the heartland and what happens as a result. I wish I could show you the cover. It is so cool. It’s Bigby holding a hot blonde in his arms as he’s fighting off an entire pack of werewolves.

JB: What is your favorite Fable?

BW: I’ll give you the silly sounding, but accurate, answer, which is, I kind of like whichever one I’m working on right now. We have the Rose Red arc going, so I’m really into Rose Red at the moment. During “The Good Prince” it was all Flycatcher. But all time favorite? I don’t know. I’d have to go with Bigby and Snow White, because they’re really the core relationship of the book. My all time favorite before I started writing FABLES was always the Pied Piper. I loved the villains.

Interview with Brian Azzarello

Brian Azzarello was born in Cleveland, OH, and now lives in Chicago. He has had stories appear in comic books like WEIRD WAR TALES, GANGLAND, FLINCH, and WINTER’S EDGE. While he has worked on high profile books like BATMAN, SUPERMAN, SGT. ROCK, and HELLBLAZER, he is best known as the writer of 100 BULLETS, among other crime books, such as JONNY DOUBLE and FILTHY RICH. Other projects of note include LOVELESS, EL DIABLO, and his new project for DC, FIRST WAVE, featuring Batman, Doc Savage, the Spirit, and a few other old DC pulp characters.

JB: You’ve been writing some of the best crime comics I’d say in the history of comics. Ed Brubaker’s close, but—

BA: But he’s not better. Make sure he hears that. I’m just busting his balls.

JB: What’s coming up next for you?

BA: FIRST WAVE, which I’m doing with Rags Morales, bringing back some of the pulp characters.

JB: Doc Savage, the Spirit, and Batman with a gun.

BA: Batman with two guns.

JB: Thank you very much for the brief interview.

BA: That was brief! Jesus!

Leo Perez: Like he is in bed. I mean, I wouldn’t know.

JB: This is my boss, by the way.


Interview with Brian Pulido

Brian Pulido is best known as the president and publisher of Chaos! Comics, and the creator of horror/fantasy characters like Evil Ernie, Lady Death, and Purgatori. He has also written comics based on horror franchises such as NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and CHILD’S PLAY. He is also a filmmaker, having written the animated feature, LADY DEATH, as well as writing and directing KILLER GNOME and THE GRAVES (the latter featuring Tony Todd and Bill Mosley). For Avatar, he has developed such characters as Belladonna, Gypsy, War Angel, and his own Lady Death. Lady Death will soon be resurrected for Boundless Comics.

JB: Is there any possibility that you might get Evil Ernie back and do another series?

BP: I really don’t know. All the characters except Lady Death are owned by another group, and I don’t know what their intentions are. Is that something you’d like to see?

JB: I would love to see you helm another Evil Ernie project.

BP: Thank you very much.

JB: Music plays a big role in your work. Do you have any influences in particular?

BP: I veer towards all kinds of rock and roll. If it’s blues-based, I enjoy it. These days, in the hard rock realm, I really enjoy Lamb of God. In fact, Randy Blythe from Lamb of God is in my movie, THE GRAVES. I enjoy a lot of local Phoenix rock and roll. Bands like Calabrese, bands from Tucson like the Mission Creeps, so I love all forms of rock. I’m a classic thrash metaller, so I like Overkill, Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer. I particularly enjoyed Slayer’s latest, WORLD PAINTED BLOOD.

JB: You used to do characters like War Angel, Gypsy, and Belladonna for Avatar. What happened to those projects?

BP: They came and did their run. I don’t know if they were top-sellers, but I had a lot of fun doing them. You never know. Something as crazy as WAR ANGEL could fit very nicely with Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. I don’t know what will happen in the future. The great thing about comics is, they never seem to die.

JB: What’s next for you?

BP: Next up in the world of comics is that LADY DEATH is going to be a monthly series written with Mike Wolfer. It begins in winter 2010. In the world of film, my movie THE GRAVES is now out on DVD from Lions Gate, and it will be on SyFy this summer or fall. Then I begin the next movie I’m writing and directing this summer.


Interview with Jacen Burrows

Jacen Burrows was born in San Diego and now lives in Urbana, IL. He has worked with Caliber Press and London Night, and he now makes his home at Avatar, where he has worked on DARK BLUE, SCARS, 303, CROSSED, and THE CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD.

Bruni: You’ve worked with great writers like Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis. How do you think this has affected your work?

Burrows: When I first started working with that level of writer was with Warren Ellis, and at the time my skill level was kind of low and I was still trying to figure a lot of stuff out. Having to work with a writer at that level really makes you want to up your game and live up to the quality you know is in the writing. It helps you push yourself. You realize there is going to be a certain expectation on the buyers’ part of quality based on the previous work of the writer. You don’t want to be the crappy artist that he worked with. I want to improve with every single page and every single project. I think working with these people really pushed me faster. They’re so good at telling stories. The paneling descriptions, the flow between panels, made me aware of certain nuances, and how to be a little more cinematic with my work.

Bruni: What are your influences?

Burrows: They’re all over the place. I’m a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design. I did sequential art and illustration, and they have a major focus on art history. I’ve studied everything, essentially. Fine art, Renaissance painting all the way up to modern art. All of it plays in. You learn basics about composition and even abstract painters, which isn’t something that normally affects sequential artists. You take it all in in subtle ways. You’re constantly evolving. These days, the main thing I’m focusing on is trying to increase my composition skills, so I’m looking at a lot of classic illustrators like Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, people like that, as well as the constant influx of new comics artists who bring something new to the table. You can’t stop looking for influences. Every source, cinematic, too. I study a lot of films and a lot of great directors. It never ends. I’m constantly evolving through external sources.

Bruni: What’s next for you?

Burrows: The next project I’m doing is called NEONOMICON with Alan Moore. It’s the direct sequel to THE COURTYARD, which I did with him five, six years ago. It’s an original story, not an adaptation. It’s Alan Moore’s deconstruction of H.P. Lovecraft’s work, taking the work and placing it into the modern world and applying a contemporary realism to it. It’s intensely sick and twisted and very psychological. It gets surreal in spots. It’s a crazy project. I’m excited to see how it turns out.

Interview with Mike Wolfer

Mike Wolfer entered the comics field in 1987 with DAIKAZU, a title published by his own company, Ground Zero Comics. He is best known for his WIDOW series, and he has worked for Chaos!, London Night, and Dark Horse. His current home is Avatar, where he has worked on STRANGE KISS and all of its sequels (including the monthly, GRAVEL), WOLFSKIN, and STREETS OF GLORY.

JB: You’ve worked with some great writers, like Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, and now Brian Pulido. How has this affected your work?

MW: It’s given me a lot of opportunities I haven’t had before. Obviously, if you work with someone the caliber of Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis and Brian Pulido, they push you to take what you’ve got and go to the next level. Not that I wasn’t trying before, but it’s a little bit different. You’ve got to step up your game. It’s been great, and Avatar has given me one opportunity after another. I couldn’t ask for more.

JB: Do they allow for a lot of artistic freedom? Or are the writers strict?

MW: It depends on the project. When I work with Garth, he has an exact idea of what he wants. He provides all the details. When I work with Warren, on the other hand, he leaves it a little more up to me. I wrote with him after a while, and when you’re writing it, as well as drawing it, it’s totally different. Some things are very vague, but some things are very exact. I work from Warren’s plots, then I actually script them, so in that situation, I’m writing for myself.

JB: What are your influences as an artist?

MW: A lot of people ask me that. What artists do I like? What do I read? Probably nothing in the last thirty years really influenced me. My influences are older. The artists that Warren Publishing had back in the ‘Seventies. The stuff I read when I was growing up. To me, those guys were the classics. Typical comics guys like Jack Kirby and John Byrne and all those guys, I don’t really see them as being influences as much as the guys at Warren. That solid black and white look, the gray tones, the washes, that’s what really captured my imagination.

JB: What’s next for you?

MW: There’s a lot, most of which I can’t discuss. There will be more GRAVEL. Then there’s WOLFSKIN #3, a six-issue miniseries, of which issue one just came out. The big announcement at this show is that Avatar is launching a sister company called Boundless Comics, and the flagship title is going to be LADY DEATH, which I wrote with Brian Pulido.


Short and sweet interviews and even a bit of myself making a compete fool of myself in front of Brian Azzarello. If any of you are in the need to stray away from the DC or Marvel way of comics I highly recommend picking up an Avatar Press book and I also think that Azzarello should never NOT have a full line of people wanting his signature on a book because the man is a genius! More from Bruni to come! P.S. Sorr Bruni my camera didn't save the picture of you and Pulido... BUT we've got Wizard World Chicago my friend!

Adventures at C2E2!

The first annual C2E2 hit Chicago up last weekend at the McCormick Place, It was brought to you by the same group that heads the San Diego Comic-con! So you must think it was the illest comic book and entertainment expo this city has ever seen right? Wrong. It was Wizard World lite to say the least, I'm not saying it sucked because it didn't. If you've never been to a convention and C2E2 would be your first then it would have been a hell of a time! If you have books that you wanted signed by your favorite artists and writers at the event, It was a total piece of cake because the lines were very small. For me this was the first time I'd ever gone to any of the panels at a comic book convention (I'm usually buying hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise!), The panels were a lot of fun including the DC Nation panel. The panels were interactive and a couple were full of loud and enthusiastic fans, When Q & A time came we heard a lot of stupid questions that made us even wonder whether the people attending the panels had read a recent comic book in the last year. I had a fulfilling and nerdy weekend that really gave me an insight to the seedy underbelly that is comic book fandom.


Yeah that's the fucking Delorean.

The crowd was decent the convention floor was never crowded and in all out panic mode. There definitely was the cosplay crowd although I could have done with more "bad" costumes, I saw alot of really good costumes like a couple of guys dressed as Stryfe and Zero. They were awesome!

We spit HOT fire of course.

Another costume that was really cool was a girl dressed as Kitty Pryde, cool thing was that she had a different Kitty Pryde outfit on every day of the convention. This chick even busted Lockheed out!


Jesus Christ! Watch out Kitty! Mojo is gonna fucking eat you! Someone get me a Slim Fast quick!

Here's a couple more cosplay pics!


This guy busted out X-Force Wolverine!


This pic made me laugh so hard cause the guy took his costume so seriously that he had to really think about taking this pic, when he said "Yes" the look on his face was like if he died a little inside. You did, man.


Fuck it, I'm joining the S.T.A.R.S. team...

I actually had a ton of fun and I spent a total of $1 because of all the panels and people watching I did (Don't worry I'll spend shit tons of cash at Wizard World). As for the C2E2 here's the deal, next year will probably be a bit better. My pals said it was probably first year jitters and they wanted to give it a try. I'll buy that and check it out again next year, if the C2E2 isn't up to the degree it should be I'd probably say that next year will be the last. If next year you really want to go to your first comic book convention check out the C2E2 then graduate to Wizard World. I am really looking forward to next year though, hope to see you all there!