Comic-Con 2011

Well another Comic-Con has passed. And I had a great time. There's really nothing this year that I have to complain about that wasn't true last year. But I had a good time saw a few Comic related panels including Jeff Smith's Bone Retrospective, the Fantagraphics 30th anniversary, and a debate on the future of "floppy" comic books. So I'll have a lot to talk about on the ole wonder blog. Starting tomorrow I will be posting David's Wonder Blog's first V Logs that I filmed with my cousin Ruben. They are a group of interviews that we call "The Hard Work of Having Fun" in the six episodes we speak with Booth Babes, Cosplayers and Exhibitors. We're just starting out but they came out well.

But that said there is one aspect of Comic-Con I have to rant about. Pre Reg for 2012. For years Comi-Con has had pre reg available on site. I always operated smoothly. But this year someone decided "there's a problem here this pre reg thing works let's change it" So instead of pre reg being available in he sails pavilion on Saturday and Sunday. They had 2300 badges for sale from 9:00 to 11:00 at a neighbouring hotel. And it was a clusterfuck. The lines where closed at 5:00 am most days. Now my problem isn't that I couldn't pre reg, that sucks, but I'll live if I can't go to Comic-Con. My problem is that they took a system that worked and worked very well, and replaced it with one that didn't. In the old system I never waited in a line longer than 15 minutes, they scanned my badge, picked my reg option and paid. This year the ballroom where they where selling looked like a nightmare day at Disneyland and the only way you can get in this line, would be to be staying near by or spending the night waiting to cue up. It is bull.

But other than that great time.

The End of an Era.

Hello this post should have been earlier, but I was at Comic-Con (more on that later) when Atlantis Landed and I didn't have a computer with me.

Last Thursday the space shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center. It was the 33rd flight of Atlantis, and the 135th flight of the Space Shuttle program, it was also the programs last. At 30 years the Space Shuttle program is by far the longest space exploration program undertaken by NASA.

It's too soon to really know the legacy of the Space Shuttle, but as of now there are a few things that are clear. On the positive it filled the dreams of an entire generation, myself included, who have never known a world where people weren't going to space in a gleaming white bird. More people of different walks of life have gone to space than would have been possible without the relative ease of use and safety of the shuttle. And lastly it kept America in space, believe me despite all it's problems, we would have abandoned space long ago if we had stayed with disposable spacecraft.

Of course there always is a but. And the big but is that the Space Shuttle never completely delivered. First it took nearly ten years from, the issuing of the first contracts and the first flight of Columbia. The craft was also oversold, with claims of one week turnarounds, between flights. There was probably no way that the shuttle could have ever made this, but it captured the public imagination and gave it's detractors instant ammunition. It cost more than anticipated. And while it still had a better failure rate than most jetliners, When it failed it did so spectacularly in the loss of Challenger, Columbia and their crews.

But it was not the death of the crews, the overruns, and the failure to meet oversold expectations that killed the Space Shuttle. It was us. The danger of space travel is so great that it's almost a miracle that NASA only lost two of the Space Shuttles, no disrespect to the crews. And the cost of the entire program is a fraction of the cost of our millitary action in Iraq, and i'd be willing to say we've gotten more value for our money with the Shuttle. No we doomed the shuttle with our apathy. Space travel became ordinary, more so than ever because of the Shuttle's dependability and reusability. With minor exceptions we don't know the names of any astronauts any more and until the last few what the shuttle crews where doing in Space didn't even warrant a second on the news. Even as an advocate of space travel, I found myself not caring anymore. Was it because it wasn't as exciting as the day's of the moon? Maybe. But I hate to think that we're that cynical that Human's in space are boring.

The official reasons for the end of the Shuttle are going to forever be listed as cost and safety. But it's us and our lack of interest. I know this because in 1986 when we lost Challenger, the same issues where brought to the forefront, but back then we believed in space travel and the program returned. Too bad that spirit was gone when the next dark day came.

The Antelope Valley of Neuropsychosis

Neuropsychosis takes place in my home town of Lancaster California, and the adjoining town of Palmdale and the non incorporated community of Quartz Hill, an area known as the Antelope Valley (A.V.). It's a group of aerospace towns about 60 miles north of Los Angeles to which it also serves as a bedroom community. Many of the places in my comic actually exist or have existed in the past, some have pseudonyms others are portrayed in their accurate glory. But to keep things interesting, I've made the A.V. of Neuropsychosis a hybrid of the A.V. Now and of the past. Kind of a greatest hits version in order to make a more interesting town for the setting of my comic.

Today I talk about the primary setting of the now legendary "Attack of the Killer Cheeps" the Antelope Valley Mall. The AV mall opened in September of 1990, to much fanfare, and after it's first decade kind of started to go into a decline (loss of diversity of shops etc). By the mid Naughties it was Back on an upswing.

I did my Photo Safari of the mall in late 2001 which you probably guessed was not the best choice in times to be going around taking pictures of public buildings, And I used the Photos as reference a year later in "Killer Cheeps" As far as accuracy goes, I got the mall pretty much right, though I did use a fictitious Business Cutie Pie, as the teen store Aphy was tormenting Melissa with. As well fictitious fronts for the food court (which to me is ironic since I had them name drop Subway in the book). I got most of the geography right, the two Jewelry Stores, the (then) software etc. and the tobacconist. the food court and mall have proper proximity as well. But I messed up with Cutie Pie, it was supposed to be in the place that Wet Seal takes in real life By drawing one of the Jewelers in the background of the scene, I accidentally placed it where See's Candy is. Oh well, it was a fictitious business anyway.

Soon after I finished "Killer Cheeps" in 2003 the mall underwent a major refurbishment and many of the locations have changed. The theater which was the story reason why the gals went to the mall moved out about two years later, to be replaced by a Claim Jumpers and the soon to open Yard house restaurants. The food court is no longer the back wall of the concourse as it was extended to more shops, and a Dillard's department store. The food Court also lost it's topiary (which I'm sure your all "topiary... oh that's what those crosshatched blobs where supposed to be") and now has a playground in the center of the seating. And the fountains have all been taken out, except one that is in an area not featured in the comic. The changes, will be reflected in future comics that use the mall as a setting.

Of course I've always been wary of having "Teen Girls at the mall stories" but while writing "Killer Cheeps" I couldn't figure out a better place that would serve as a good stage for it. And while I'm still trying to not write "teen girls at the mall stories" There will come a time again I'm sure that the Mall will be a convenient location. Also the AV mall was the first full on environments I ever drew for Neuropsychosis and that was almost ten years ago, so I'm really eager to see what I can do with it now.

*photos will be added later please bear with me*

Atlantis Sets Off on it's Final Mission.

The space shuttle Atlantis set off this morning at just after 11 am est. on the final mission of the Space Shuttle program. The mission led by the first four person crew since the early eighties is to bring final supplies to the ISS. For thirty years this vehicle has been the way an entire generation of Astronauts has gone space and soon it will be all over. The time for reflection will come but the final mission has just begun so as always I wish the crew of the Shuttle Atlantis well and that their mission be a success.