Indianapolis, Indiana, InConJunction Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 In just six hours I leave the cozy cocoon of my home here in suburbotropolitan Orem, Utah and head for Indianapolis. I’ll have only spotty connectivity (no laptop these days, and I’m more productive without one). If you live within driving distance of Indianapolis, you owe it to yourself, to me, and to science-fiction fandom to head over to InConJunction. After all, you’re reading the blog underneath a science-fiction comic strip on the internet — you’re already nerdy enough to get passing marks at a sci-fi convention. But because it’s Schlock Mercenary you’re reading, you’re also hip enough stand out. Yeah, you’re not a demographic… you’re a demolitiongraphic. I have no idea what “demolitiongraphic” means. It does sound cool, though. Anyway, come to InConJunction. I’ll have books, warning signs, mousemats, Tagon Pins, T-shirts, and of course I’ll be banging out free sketches, ’cause that’s how I roll. I’ll also have the penultimate draft of The Teraport Wars cover art, and a couple of copies of Sandra’s book Hold On To Your Horses for you to handle and drool over. Here is the full list of programming. And now, I need to finish packing… Filed under Conventions, Merchandise, Events | 9 Comments »

Hancock: Sorry, can’t tell you about it… Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 I saw Hancock Wednesday morning at 9:40am. I liked it, but I can’t tell you much about it without spoiling the neat plot-hook. You know how both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk feature a climactic conflict between the hero, and a bigger, badder version of the hero? Well, Hancock doesn’t, and I’m glad it doesn’t. And I’m leaving it at that. Here is my ordered list of favorites for the summer, as of July 2nd: 1) Wall-E 2) Kung-Fu Panda 3) Speed Racer 4) Iron Man 5) Get Smart 6) Hulk 7) Wanted 8) Indiana Jones 9) Hancock 10) Prince Caspian Numbers 1-4 are what I’d call the “must see” films, with the addition of #8 because, hey, Indy’s back. Numbers 5-9 were all really enjoyable. Number 10 was the only one that was disappointing, and even then only a little. (Well… #8 was disappointing too, but that’s because the bar was set so very, very high with The Last Crusade.) Weird. Indiana Jones was the most disappointing of the bunch, but also made the “must see” list for nostalgia’s sake. My tastes, they are fickle and inconsistent. And I’m glad I saw Hancock. Feel free to discuss below, but if you’re going to post spoilers, say so at the top of your post. Especially if you’re posting spoilers for Hancock, since that one’s still pretty fresh. Filed under Reviews, Movies | 7 Comments »

See Howard in Indianapolis This Weekend! Monday, June 30th, 2008 This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I’ll be at InConJunction, the Indianapolis Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. I’ll have books, magnets, prints, and some originals available for sale and perusal, and of course I’ll be mouthing off at assorted panels. Join me and John Scalzi as we discuss “Nurturing an Online Audience” Friday night! Hear me lecture on “The Free Content Business Model” Saturday afternoon! Or maybe for lunch on Saturday you’d like a nice sandwich of “Cartoon Physics?” I’ll post my complete schedule later this week (but not MUCH later — I get on a plane Thursday.) I hope to see you there! Filed under Conventions | 19 Comments »

Dude. Busy Week. I mean… DUDE. Saturday, June 28th, 2008 This week so far… 1) Scripted, penciled, and inked a week of comics. 2) Upped the magnet order to ensure sufficient quantities for Comic-Con 3) Finished the edits on The Teraport Wars. This included some big image edits, commentary callouts, and huge piles of work laid at Sandra’s feet. 4) Sent The Teraport Wars off for printing. This means we now have a guestimated delivery date (to OUR door, not yours) of September 30th. 5) Scripted, penciled, and inked a second week of comics. I say “so far” because I still need to finish coloring a week or two of comics. Then (and ONLY then) I can be satisfied with my work this week. In unrelated news I saw Wanted and Wall-E. Wall-E is my new #1 for the summer, and Wanted drops in above (yes ABOVE) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This is not to say that Wanted is a good film, or has any redeeming value in my sight… just that I liked it a lot more. Filed under Movies, Cartooning, Merchandise | 15 Comments »

Summer Movies So Far Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 I’ve been seeing just about a movie per week this summer. Here is how I’m ranking what I’ve seen. Note that I’m including a couple of things I rented recently in order to broaden the scope a bit. 1: Kung-Fu Panda 2: Speed Racer 3: Iron Man The top three are close. It’s hard to say which one should really be on top, so I’m gauging it by which one I think I absolutely must own first on DVD. Speed Racer was brilliant, and outshone its source material and campy setting. The marketing flopped, and the critics hated it, but it’s a fantastic film — it’s what going to see movies is all about. 4: Get Smart 5: The Incredible Hulk 6: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 7: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Get Smart and Hulk were both really solid. Narnia wasn’t bad. Indy suffers because my expectations for this film were set higher than any of the others, and because they could have done so much more with it. I’ve seen it twice, and the second time I took my two oldest kids who have both seen Raiders and Last Crusade. My ten-year-old boy summed it up in two great comments. First, when Indy appears picking up his hat in the opening of the film… “I don’t want him to have to be OLD.” After the film I asked him how he liked it… “Indiana Jones didn’t swing on a vine even ONE TIME.” For an Indy move to disappoint a ten-year-old it really has to do something wrong. 8: Futurama: Bender’s Big Score 9: Next 10: Bee Movie A million: Jumper For additional comparison, Raiders and Last Crusade would jump to the top of this list, taking the #2 and #1 slots respectively. And just TALKING about Indiana Jones is more interesting than the films I’ve got listed at eight and below. Filed under Reviews, Movies | 52 Comments »