First. Constantine. Trailer.

At the VERY least they cast this right. Whew.

Seriously though, this first trailer for the upcoming Constantine trailer opens on a nice bit of continuity from the Vertigo book - Ravenscar. It also eludes to Astra, which really seals the deal for me. Also, the trailer appears to go out of its way to assure us that all of the elements the *ahem* movie eschewed (American instead of English, dark hair) this has fixed. Have they fixed Chas from being a little kid? Hopefully. And yet for all of these checks in the plus column the trailer does go on a bit long and at times reminds me maybe a bit too much of that ill-fated film from 2004, what with the CG and ancient evil rising bit. Still, how often do we get to see Occult symbols on nbc?

I'm in.

Drinking with Comics Issue 5 (includes David Lapham interview)

It just occurred to me that I never posted the newest issue of Drinking with Comics here, despite it having gone up early last week. This was another 'landmark' for us in a series of landmarks - landmarks not because they're incredible but because we are still refining the formula and this particular issue adds a new and at the time somewhat unexpected ingredient - a live studio audience!

A few weeks before we filmed issue five - which was back at the beginning of April - a great guy named Ivan contacted us via our Facebook page and asked if we allowed a studio audience. Honestly I'd thought about maybe one day trying that as I'm a HUGE fan of Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman's Hollywood Babble On podcast, which has an audience that really adds to the show, so you know, emulation is the most sincerest form of flattery, or whatever. But the real reason why the idea of having an audience appealed to me is the entire impetus behind Drinking w/ Comics is those wonderful late-night, beer-complimented conversations my friends and I have when gathered together and the feeling that gives me. I'm not a very social guy, but when it comes to comics I can and will talk to anyone about them. So yeah, we told Ivan we'd definitely be up for an audience and now, going forward, it looks as though that will be a regular feature. It's taken some re-thinking of our production set-up but we're still honing that regardless. You'll notice in this issue the Science Officers - Sara and Erin - have their own mic and it ended up mixed waaay louder than we'd meant to mix it. However, the process for editing is a fun but lengthy one, and the process of actually uploading the finished product to youtube is gruelingly long - hours - so we probably won't go back and change it. It's not that big a deal anyway, and it's another note to jot down to make the next issue that much better.

Speaking of the next issue, we filmed issue 6 the day 5 'hit the stands'. Look for that in about a week - hopefully - and expect another guest, as we were thrilled to welcome A Voice in the Dark creator Larime Taylor for the entire episode! The final issue of the current arc "Killing Game" - yes named after a great Skinny Puppy song from my favorite Skinny Puppy record Last Rites.

Interview w/ Gun Up Paintball Creator Cassidy James

Art by Marco Roblin, image courtesy of the Gun Up Paintball kickstarter page

Is what's on tap at Thee Comic Column over on Joup this week. Hear what he has to say about his book, the Kickstarter and the process of creating the book!

Big Trouble in Little China - the Comic!!!

image courtesy of introtogeek.wordpress.com

Wow. You know, John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China is one of my all-time favorite movies. It has everything I love: that beneath-the-city, sewers-and-secrets mystery, magic, martial arts, and of course Jack Burton! The fact that Bloody Disgusting just blew my mind with this article is worthy of opening a beer and throwing up a toast. Who'll join me?

"Here's to the Army and Navy and the battles they have won; here's to America's colors, the colors that never run. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather."

Larime Taylor Emergency Relocation Fund

This man is an inspiration and I'm lucky enough to now be able to say he is my friend. Please, if you can, help here. Thank you.

Brooklyn Vegan has a BEAUTIFUL Photo Spread on David Lynch @ BAM

see it here. As a bit of a soundtrack for your reading, here's The Pink Room, from TP: FWWM.

Kickstart the Gun Up Paintball Comic

I know nothing about Paintball - except I always thought it looked like fun - but I know comics. After meeting Cassidy James several evenings ago and talking to him briefly about this book he is currently running a kickstarter for I'm convinced this book will be great.

If you can pledge go here and help an independent creator do what he does best!