* Plug time: I don’t think there’s a single freelance assignment I do from which I get more enjoyment than writing for Twisted ToyFare Theater, so I’m super-psyched that Twisted ToyFare Theater Vol. 10 is now available. If you have a nerd-culture funnybone somewhere in your body, I really do think you’ll find it a hoot.
* San Diego Comic Con is coming up in less than two weeks, and while an almost comical amount of personal and professional stress has kept me from getting too excited about the fact that I’m now going to it, I’m starting to feel a few tinges. Anyway, the schedules for Thursday and Friday are up, though I haven’t looked at them yet, and apparently you can still get a room in a good hotel if you want. (Heh, I just clicked the schedule links to copy the URLs and seeing phrases like “Friday is Star Wars Day” gave me butterflies. Yep, starting to get excited.) As for me, I will be the Andy Samberg to Jonah Weiland’s T-Pain: I’m staying on the motherfucking boat!
* Speaking of cons I love, MoCCA’s Karl Erickson speaks with Robot 6’s Tim O’Shea about the festival’s problems and plans to solve them. I’m excited to see this being addressed so directly–to the point of moving the festival to the spring in an attempt to avoid heat problems entirely, no less. I also suspect that Erickson reveals the source of many of this year’s problems when he notes that there was virtually a 100% staff turnover prior to the show, forcing them to start from scratch in many ways. I wish them all the luck in the world getting things back on track for 2010 because MoCCA is my favorite show. (Good get for the Robot 6 gang, too!)
* Surprising no one, Warner Bros. is indeed preparing the real Director’s Cut of Watchmen for a holiday DVD release. Hilariously, this appears to hitting the news now only because a promotional flyer for the actual Director’s Cut that WB is including in the phony “Director’s Cut” coming out at the end of the month got leaked.
* I feel like a dope constantly posting updates about Clive Barker adaptations when I still haven’t seen The Midnight Meat Train, but here’s some new info and pics from Dread and here’s a red-band trailer for Book of Blood, which will be screening at Comic Con on Friday night.
* It’s always fun when a friend comes in cold to a comic series I really enjoy, and such is the case with my pal Ceri B.’s review of Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s Runaways.
* Another pair of worthwhile reviews: Jog takes a look at Wednesday Comics #1, while the AV Club’s Scott Tobias reviews one of my very favorite films of all time, Lost Highway, for his New Cult Canon series.
* Back when I worked at Wizard I helped create a hoax story about a direct-to-comics Goonies sequel written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. Click the link to let Ben Morse explain it all to you.
* Why do cartoon characters vomit up fish skeletons? Tim Hodler turns to Al Jaffee for answers.
* Jeffrey Brown draws the Hulk. Click already.
* Being Paul Pope is nice work if you can get it.
* Finally, do me a favor and give your pets a snuggle today, will ya?
I gotta say, I’m a big fan of TTT Vol. 10 and not just because it’s the first collection of strips I worked on. It’s also got the epic 3-part Manly Men of Action strip, a true masterpiece.