JACK STAFF SPECIAL #1 has arrived!

JACK STAFF SPECIAL #1
story PAUL GRIST
art & cover PAUL GRIST

He's called Molachi the Immortal. The Eternal Warrior couldn't stop him. Nor could Charlie Raven, the greatest escapologist of the Victorian Age. Now he's turned up in Castletown, and it's Jack Staffs turn to try to stop the unstoppable! This self-contained story is an ideal introduction to JACK STAFF, the critically acclaimed superhero comic, now monthly from Image Comics.

JANUARY 16 / 32 PAGES / FC / $3.50

JACK STAFF creator, Paul Grist, explains things this way:

Ok - here's what’s happening with Jack Staff - basically there will be no new issues solicited for until January 2008, but once we get there it will be monthly! That should mean there will be about 6 or 7 issues completed before I start so no future scheduling problems - and if anything does happen then there's plenty of time to take evasive action. Maybe I'll even get to do a Summer Special!


It's great to have a new Jack Staff tale to read. It’s also wonderful news about JACK STAFF starting a monthly schedule, as well. Did we see the possible fate of Ben Kulmer (the Claw) in John Smith’s dream? Ooooo… spooky. The JACK STAFF SPECIAL #1 was rockin’! I pray that new readers will be introduced to JACK STAFF through this issue. Hopefully, the rest of the world will get their act together and realize the greatness that is JACK STAFF! So, if you’re tired of reading crappy Marvel comics, than give JACK STAFF a try.

I give JACK STAFF SPECIAL #1 four out of five NM’s.

Stupid Marvel...

Above: A cool looking cover from PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #29… which has nothing to do with the mess found in the current Spider-Man comic books.

Spider-Man and his wife make a deal with Mephisto (a demon) to save Aunt May’s life (even though Aunt may is dying every other week, anyway). So, twenty years of Spider-Man comic book continuity is wiped away in an instant.

Spider-Man is now a single thirty-year-old living with his Aunt. He’s no longer a teacher, nor an Avenger. He no longer shoots goo out of his wrists. The world no longer knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. And Harry Osborn is alive again.

This awful story idea is getting a lot of bad feedback from fans. Marvel Entertainment isn’t doing this story because they think it’s a great story. They’re doing this story because they can’t come up with any new ideas. Marvel is just coasting on stories that were created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. They don’t know what to do with these characters. I’m done with Marvel.

If you want to read fun super-hero comics that don’t insult the intelligence of it’s readers, than pick up INVINCIBLE and JACK STAFF. And ATOMIC ROBO!


Update: This is interesting. In his column, ONE FAN’S OPINION, Erik Larsen gives his opinion on what he thought of "One More Day" and "Brand New Day" (the silly storyline that is responsible for all of this Spider-Man mess), and how he would have fixed Spider-Man.

Larsen states: "In the end, it is in Marvel’s best interest not to alienate their readership and drive away their paying customers. It’s in their best interest not to have stores selling fewer comics and struggling to make ends meet. It’s in their best interest not to have stores close and avenues of distribution closed."

A message from Pro...

Above photo: Steve Pro during his visit to New York in April 2007.

Ya wanna know what's going on with Pro? Well, just check out this recent e-mail letter from Pro:

Some of you know pieces and some have no idea. There is no rhyme or reason for this. In September 2006 while working on my laptop out of the local coffee shop in Dodgeville (Smallville) I answered an ad for *ahem* middle aged men needed for a photo shoot for Blaine's Farm and Fleet (a mid west Sears type store) I responded and reported for duty, we shot all day on a local farm and now yours truly is on the stores hang tags. Shortly after the ad agency was trying to track me down for some follow up shots (they miss placed my info) so they checked with the local talent agencies here in Madison. The young lady at the Rock Agency informed them that I was not one of theirs but I looked familiar. It turns out that young lady was Borka my neighbor across the hall in my condo. She finally realized it was me and knocked on my door, asking who I was signed with. Well, no one. I did the Farm and Fleet shoot as a lark. Well The Rock agency signed me and through them and on my own I've explored this new adventure. Over the course of 2007 I landed work in local print and commercial work a couple of independent films and one Hollywood pic, a little film called The Dark Knight. I shot two day's with director Chris Nolan and actors Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart. It's glorified extra work but I had some lines. Well things continued to snowball and through my agent I auditioned for IMTA (you can check it out on line) a twice a year competition one in L.A. and one in NYC. it is a week long event where you perform in front of dozens of agents, directors, and managers. Each performance is a competition with a chance to win awards (like the Oscars) with the award ceremony held Saturday night in the huge auditorium (thousands in attendance) when all was said and done The Rock Agency made an amazing showing with one of ours (Amman, remember this name you'll be seeing more of him) winning Model of the year and coming in second for actor of the year. Yours truly competed in nine competitions: commercial print, theatrical head shot, monologue, sitcom, soap, commercial, ready for your close up, cold read, team fashion. Well, I placed in the top ten in all, while winning first for commercial print, second for head shot, fourth for my soap reading and we placed third for team fashion (which we choreographed the day we arrived at the hotel, not bad). The awards are nice but what's important are callbacks which when all was said and done I met with nine agents/managers My agent was very please with the old guys showing. I have some decisions to make over the next couple day I'll work with my local agent to determine what's best for me at my age and who I'll do best with. The hardest part of all this was not sharing it with the people who mean the most to me but I wanted to make sure it was real and something I was serious about. I hope you understand. Now that the cat is out of the bag I'll keep you informed as things unfold.

Much love,
Stephen

Will Eisner and SVA...

Above photo: Will Eisner at his drawing table.

Many members of P.I.C. were fortunate to have Will Eisner as an instructor while attending the School of Visual Arts. Searching through my files, I was able find and now post a copy of Will’s Sequential Art course outline. You can check out the entire course outline at the Creator’s Rights Forum or at the Will Eisner Forum.

GLAMOURPUSS...

Dave Sim mailed me a free copy of his new self-published comic, GLAMOURPUSS. This was a pleasant surprise. I haven’t read the issue, yet, but it looks like Dave is taking a few shots at the fashion world and celebrity.

GLAMOURPUSS sure ain’t CEREBUS, but it does look beautiful.





Above photo: Dave Sim with some of his awesome artwork from GLAMOURPUSS.

New news...

The good news: I’ve been busy inking for Archie and writing for BACK ISSUE. I also got my professional pass for the 2008 New York Comic Con.

The bad news: As told by Scan: Jupiter is in puppy Heaven. That is sad news, of course. I can’t imagine how I would feel losing my own pet, or having to put her to sleep. I’ll be praying for Miguel and the friends of Jupiter.



Above photo: Miguel’s puppy, Jupiter.

Preview of Terry Moore’s ECHO #1…

Terry Moore says: "So why should you preorder Echo #1? Why not wait until it just happens to appear in a store somewhere? Because if you don’t preorder then it may not show up in the store at all! The comic biz is very tight these days, and anything that isn’t Marvel or DC has a very difficult time surviving. Think of it like the Rush song, the 2 big trees blocking all the light from the little guys. So Echo’s best bet for survival is to come out strong and grow fast. That happens one way: a lot of people preorder the book."

And - TA DA! - the 5-page sneak preview at the Diamond site.

Scan spends New Year’s Eve at Miguel’s crib!

Above photo (Left to right): Sean, Scan, and Miguel. Scan blogs about spending New Year’s Eve in Jersey City.

Happy Birthday, Beth!

Hey! It’s Beth’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Beth!



Above photo: Beth and the little Korns, Hope and Sam.

The P.I.C. Photo Album has now gone live!

I’ve wanted to recreate the old P.I.C. website containing all of P.I.C.’s photos. So, here it is!

I’ll be adding more photos over time… including after college photos, as well. I’m sure I’ll be tweaking the captions, too. I tried not to include any embarrassing photos (and there were plenty). My passing out by a toilet is probably the most embarrassing. Still, that’s a funny one.

The return of JACK STAFF...

"Robots! Vampires! A man with a Big Stick! What more could you want?" -Paul Grist

Newsarama has an interview with Paul Grist.

Will Eisner Retrospective...

www.WillEisner.com, the official website of comics legend Will Eisner, is giving away 20 copies of the Will Eisner Retrospective catalogue produced by the Museum Of Comic and Cartoon Art (MOCCA), New York City in 2005. The Will Eisner Estate recently uncovered copies of this unique Eisner publication and have kindly made the books available.

Looks like I’m getting one of these babies. I received an e-mail this morning stating that three of the winners didn’t pony-up for their copies of the Will Eisner Retrospective catalogue. So, I was chosen for a free copy. Neat, huh? Thanks www.WillEisner.com!

I can‘t say enough about the great Will Eisner. So, right now, I won’t.