De Boss' Bally Blogspot

Saturday Night Live (with the Dooleys)

2012-01-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

Things have been kinda mixed for us as 2012 kicked off... no sooner did the new year start than I wound up with the sniffles, which graduated into full-blown pestilence. And its timing could not have been more perfect, as I had scored fairly good tickets to the Saturday night Pacers game, the first one we've attended in almost four years. The Charlotte Bobcats were in town, and it was great to see most every seat in the Conse- er, sorry, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, filled, whereas over the past four years you couldn't get people to come to the games with a shotgun. Even the security people and Fieldhouse ushers were just super enthusiastic, some remarking to us just how much fun it was to see the crowds back and the love for the Pacers along with them. Many, many props to Coach Frank Vogel, who turned what was once the NBA laughing stock into a team to be feared come playoff time.

Dee and I made a night of it in downtown Indianapolis, taking in dining at the Hardrock Cafe, then doing a little sightseeing at the Circle Center Mall, while desperately ducking at least a dozen ticket scalpers. I was feeling much better by gametime, and with the 20 pounds I'd taken off over the last few weeks, my legs weren't as sore from the stair climbing and the several blocks of walking we did.

Not only did we get to see the Pacers come from behind during the second half and deliver a sensational 22-point lead at the end of the game (this despite a fearful injury in the third quarter to Ron Hibbard's ankle that put him out of the game... until he came roaring back in the fourth), we got coupons for free milk shakes at Steak and Shake! Perfect end to a perfect day.

Showcase Presents Batman Vol. 5: A Life-changing Tome

2011-12-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

DC has recently released the fifth volume of their Showcase Presents Batman series, reprinting the entire run of Batman stories from the debut of the "New Look" in 1964 to the present in inexpensive phonebook-sized editions in black-and-white, and this is the collection containing stories that, for me, not only launched my seriously taking up comic collecting but also defined my love for the character and appreciation of the art of comics. My passion for creating my own comics was directly inspired by these tales, now conveniently stored in this single volume.

As a young teenager in 1970, I'd been separated from comics for about three years, having been moved from my beloved downtown apartment in Columbus, Indiana to a house in the township of Newburn about twenty miles away... far away from the wonderful stores I regularly bought my comics from during the super-hero fad of the mid-sixties. Things were not good between my Mom and my stepdad, as he had become very abusive toward all of us and her in particular. And I was facing a lot of problems at school with bullying, which at one point forced me to forego taking the regular school bus back to Newburn and walking the three-mile distance from the north side of town to the downtown area and my grandparents' house on 2nd Str.

Between the two were the recently rebuilt Cleo Rogers Library, where I could pick up any number of great books, and my three favorite places to buy comics... Nagel's Bookstore (if you couldn't find it at Nagel's, it hadn't been published), Murphy's 5-and-10, and Cummins' Bookstore, all within a half-block radius of one another. Mom was initially alarmed by my walking so great a distance by myself, but Grandma and Grandpa’s house was on the way home from her workplace, and I promised not to do it except on the days new comics came out (which actually back then was every Tuesday and Thursday) and I went directly from there to the Grands.

Well, came the day I walked into Murphy’s and saw the comic that would change my life forever… Batman #222, with the eerie Neal Adams cover of Batman and Robin huddled in the shadows of a graveyard and observing what appeared to be the Beatles walking away in single file from a freshly-covered grave in a bizarre tribute to the Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper album covers.

Having been a late-blooming Beatles fan for the last couple of years and curious to see how things had been going for the Dynamic Duo since the Batman fad faded in 1968, I picked up the issue (even though I found that comics were now at the unheard-of price of fifteen cents! Highway robbery!).

What I found in those pages was an excellent mystery rendered by writer Frank Robbins, “Dead… Till Proven Alive!”, a send-up to the “Paul is Dead” era of the Beatles’ careers, excellently rendered by artists Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. Besides the nifty story, I was gobsmacked by the facts that Dick Grayson was no longer living at Wayne Manor, and was now a full-fledged college student only occasionally teaming with Batman when he was on leave, and that Wayne Manor and the Batcave had been closed down for some time, as Bruce was now living at the main Wayne Enterprises building and operating a new Batcave below it.

But what really changed everything for me, changed everything I knew about Batman, was the back-up story, also superbly illustrated by Irv and Dick, and written by Mike Friedrich, “Case of No Consequence”.

It was unlike any Batman story I’d ever read. No Robin, no arch-villains, no Batmobile, no gadgets… just a weary man in a costume, beaten and broken by his brutal vocation, trying to make his way back home in the wee hours of the morning, and suddenly having to come to the aid of a mugging victim, a deaf photographer whose thin wallet and means of support, his camera, were stolen by a cheap petty crook. Despite the temptation to walk away and turn the case over to the local cops, Batman spends his dwindling energy to pursue the punk and render justice.

To say the least, I was absolutely absorbed by everything… the grittiness of the writing, the fact that the bat costume was no longer just another super-hero costume but like a living creature itself, the deftly rendered nourish artwork, and that the true meaning of the Batman concept had finally been restored after years of being buried by the camp era.

It was the equivalent of that fateful bat flying into Bruce Wayne’s foyer, bringing him the icon he was searching for to launch his crimefighting career. I wanted to become a writer and artist of comic books... and the best way to do that was to study.

My comic buying, particularly with any new Batman comics, would pick up steam over the next few months. Batman #224, “Carnival of the Cursed”, took Batman out of Gotham and into the heart of New Orleans, courtesy of writer Denny O’Neil and artists Irv and Dick, searching for the murderer of a famed jazz musician. Again, none of the usual trappings of a gimmick-filled Batman story of the 1960’s… just one determined man using his mind and body to hunt down a bizarre killer in the perfect setting of Mardi Gras.

And that pretty much sealed the deal.

I picked up practically every Batman book I could get my hands on. I made some pretty nice deals with a comic-collecting friend of mine to swap some old books for much of his Batman collection, which got me up to speed on everything that was going on with the Caped Crusader.

The next book I picked up off the newsstand was Detective Comics #402, “Man or Bat?”, the second appearance of Prof. Kirk Langstrom, the Man-Bat, written by Robbins and illustrated by Dick Giordano and a man who would become one of my idols, Neal Adams. Langstrom’s final metamorph, the sprouting of giant wings, gave me nightmares for weeks.

One of the eeriest stories that have made it to this volume is “The Demon of Gothos Manor” from Batman #227, marking the second appearance of Alfred’s niece Daphne, whose kidnapping by a demon-worshipping cult draws the Batman into a gothic tale of the supernatural. Recommendation: this story is at its best when you play “Green-Eyed Lady” by Sugarloaf in the background.

Also, the League of Assassins made its first appearance in Detective Comics #405, “The First of the Assassins”, a meeting that would eventually lead to Batman’s confrontation with Ra`s Al Ghul and his daughter Talia… moments that will undoubtedly be found in the next volume.

And these are just a few of the classic stories to be found in this book.

There are not enough stars on the grid to recommend this great volume. Coupled with the fact that I lost many of these to the flood of 2009, this book is more than a treasure. It’s the seed of my years as a true fan of comics.

By the way, if there are some of you who reject stark black-and-white reprints in favor of color (no matter that these are invaluable as a study of inking styles uncluttered by the generally poor color press process of the time), well, that's why God made Crayons.

HANDY DEENA

2011-08-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Deena's just got back from surgery for her carpel tunnel syndrome. I am currently looking forward to six weeks of cleanin', cookin', dusting, dishwashing, mowing, cat poop changing, while Dee lays on the couch, doing her impression of a miniature Jabba the Hut, watching all-day marathons of Walker, Texas Ranger, and graping herself. "Hey (munch, munch), Honey, you missed a spot. (Gulp!) Oh, man, these grapes are great..."

The Double Nickels

2011-08-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, I can honestly say I had the best birthday weekend in quite awhile, at least in the past three years. But do you honestly need to call "55" the ol' "Double Nickels"?

I took an extra day off from work to enjoy the entire weekend and Monday because, as you've probably already guessed, I desreve it. I spent a gorgeous day at Garfield Park in Indianapolis with most of my friends in the Whoosier Network. A few couldn't make it because of heavy commitments and/or illness, but those who came had a great day in near-perfect weather, and best of all we got to try out a number of new games given our resident game critics at GenCon to review. I got to play a wonderful yet simple card game called "Crappy Birthday", which could also be titled "The Mark Dooley Story", and have, over the course of the years, received at least two or more of the botchy birthday presents represented on the cards.

I also got some really nifty gifts from all my friends, including an awesome "tattoo sleeve" featuring many characters from Doctor Who, a Batman trivia game, and, to my astonishment, the highly elusive Eighth Doctor figure from the Doctor Who action figure collection to complete my own display on my TARDIS deck playset.

We broke up the beautiful day around 6:00 PM and drove home in the best kind of weather, totally oblivious to even the possibility that a couple of hours later, nature would wreck vengeance on the crowds at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Of course, we pray for those families who lost loved ones in the disaster and the quick recovery of those injured.

Of course, the next day we celebrated after church with most of my family gathered around for the making of "old jokes" that are probably older than me. My sister Tammie bought mine and Deena's dinner at the Texas Roadhouse while trying to wrangle her grandkids Lehloni and Chris (ages four and one respectively), and it all ended with me being planted on top of one of the saddled hobby horses which you can see to your upper left.

Best birthday I've had in a long time. Not crappy by any means.

Dog Days of Summer? I Don't Think So...

2011-07-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone keeps yakkin' about the Dog Days of Summer, like its supposed to be a misery. Well, I have a slightly higher opinion after the last couple of days. First off, in just a few weeks, the NFL will be playing pre-season football, with the lockout finally ended and everybody scurrying to get as much practice-time in as they can. And the amazing generosity of Peyton Manning, willing to give a sizeable chunk of a record-setting contract to ensure that key players that were part of his success will be there... that's just too cool.

And then, on August 27th, Doctor Who returns with the final six episodes of the season that will wrap up the search for Melody, the secret mission of the Silence, the return of the Weeping Angels, the Cybermen and their long-lost sidekicks the Cybermats, and what may be the final curtain for Rory Williams. And what about that clown with the balloon?

Much to ponder over as we wrap up this hot, hot summer with cool, refreshing, excitement.

Back from the Un-Dead

2011-07-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

Gravy, it's been forever since I've finally got time to punch in around here, but with InConJunction behind me and some downtime before September, it's time for updates, new news, and even some artwork!

For those who've been wondering why the Mark and Dee strip has been gone for so long, your wait is almost over. I've been redrawing many subsequent installments due to my total dissatisfaction with what I was doing, and the strip will be back in the next couple of days.

Another project I've been working on has been a series of watercolor and ink paintings of all 11 Doctor Whos, and without further ado, let's take a look at'em...

The first I completed was the 11th Doctor and Amy last Christmas as a commissioned piece, and I would have stopped right there, except I really enjoyed the work I did on it and decided to do a similar study utilizing the ten others. As you can see, the 11th Doctor and Amy, TARDIS standing at the ready, are flanked (left upper corner going clockwise) by the new Dalek Paradigm, a Weeping Angel, the Dream Lord, a Smiler, Prisoner X, Dr. River Song, the Crack in the Wall, a newly evolved Silurian, Sir Winston Churchill, and Rory Williams.

Appropriately, I decided to head back to the beginning with William Hartnell as the First Doctor, flanked (l-r) by Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, and granddauighter Susan Foreman. Surrounding them from upperleft corner and clockwise are two of the Thals from Skaro, two of the War Machines, Koquillion of "The Rescue", a Zarbi, a Menoptra, the Meddling Monk, Marco Polo, a Dalek, Cyberman 1.0, and the sinister Celestial Toymaker.

Standing proudly beside the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) are (l-r) Zoe Hariott and highlander Jaime McCrimmon. From upperleft corner and clockwise, we have a Yeti, the Cybermen marching on London, a Dalek and the Emperor Dalek, a rather shouty Dominator, two toy soldiers from "The Mind Robber", Theodore Maxtible from "Evil of the Daleks", former companion Victoria Waterfield, the adjudicating Time Lords, a Quark, a Fish Person from "The Underwater Menace", the War Lord, Salamander from "Enemy of the World", an Ice Warrior, and Colonel Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

Due to referencing issue (and because I love them so much), I decided that my next painting would be the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace. From left corner and clockwise, they are framed by the Chief Caretaker of Paradise Towers, the Master in leopard people mode, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Davros as the Emperor Dalek, the Gods of Ragnorok, the Candy Man, Morgaine Le Fey, a Leopard Person, two converted Hamoevores, former companion Melonie "Mel" Bush, a Bannerman, and a Tetrap.

I'm currently finishing paiting of the Third Doctor, have completed inks on the Fourth, and have started pencils and line work on the Fifth. More to come soon.

InConJunction was once again an off-the-hook blast, though this year we had our own little challenges, particularly with the Mariott undergoing remodeling out front, so hauling everything into the hotel was a bit more work, as we had to take the rear entrance, which was as far away from the ballroom we were going to be in as could be. But everything worked out fine, everyone had a great time, everyone's jazzed for the remainder of the sixth season of Doctor Who, which will begin on August 27th on BBC America!

Gonna take a break, and hopefully have more news about things coming my wife Deena's way.

Crazy Daze

2011-05-23T17:14:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought I'd get a Monday of relaxation...

About 4:00 in the morning, Columbus got hit by a wild storm that left just as quickly as it had come, just in time to take Deena into work (we're only two blocks from the hospital, but I didn't want her walking into any freak storms on the way).

After picking up Mom and taking her to dialysis early this morning, I stayed awake long enough to see the terrifying reports about the tornado strikes in Missouri and Minnesota. I'm so sorry for all the pain and suffering that's struck those states and I pray that their recovery will be swift and sure.

I grabbed some Chinese after picking Mom up later this morning and getting her home, then came back to my place for an hour or so to catch up on "The Event" episodes and "Mike and Molly", then headed over to my church to help my minister Hywel figure out how to change the printers in his Epson printer and how to print CDs and DVDs on it. Of course, when I hit a couple of tough spots getting the set-up done, he started giving me a good-natured ribbing: With my brother Tim there also he spouted off, "Your brother here seems to be completely useless."

We did, however, manage to get the set-ups done and that Welsh ninny can print his buttocks off.

I love my minister. He's an old school Doctor Who fan and absolutely adores the new series.

Now, up until now the skies were as clear as bell, the temperatures were super mild, and I thought, damn, what a beautiful day this is

going to be.

No sooner did I get home than the skies grew dark, lightning struck, the rain poured... and, of course, while I

was working on a project for InConJunction on the computer, the power went out.

We were dark for about an hour and a half, without fresh batteries in anything but the mini-flashlight. The C batteries barely stayed strong enough in the radio to let us hear the current weather updates. So first thing tomorrow I'm stocking up on C, AA, and AAA batteries.

And I was in such a great mood this morning....

A Half-Hour to Breathe, The Doctor's Wife (light SPOILERS), Liberty Meadows Returns

2011-05-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

A month later... no Mark and Dee? Yep, I'm a big disappointment. But I will be resuming our tale in the next week or so, as soon as I get a little free time. Right now, I'm working hard on getting some commissioned artwork done and preparations for July's InConJunction, as well as dealing with a bit of sleep apnea. Try doing this and holding down a day job that mostly has you showing up at seven in the morning and not going home until four in the afternoon. Plus taking your mother to kidney dialysis three times a week at 5:30 in the morning.

That's why I look forward to days like today, when I have very little commitment during the day and can work on several projects.

Last Saturday's Doctor Who, while not very much tied to the current arc storyline about the Silence, was a truly moving standalone adventure from the powerful pen of fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, and an insight into the relationship between the Doctor and the true love of his life (lives), the TARDIS.

If you haven't seen this epsiode, we're going into a few spoilers, so you might want to skip a bit downward.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Briefly, the Doctor and his friends are lured to a junkyard asteroid in a pocket universe when the Doctor suspects that some Time Lords may still be alive. Unfortunately, the meteor, called "House" (the voice of Michael Sheen) is sentient, and desires to escape the bubble universe before it collapses. Therefore, it manages to possess the TARDIS after drawing out its matrix and placing it in the body of a madwoman named Idris (fabulously played by Coronation Street's Suranne Jones). For the first time, the Doctor is able to talk face-to-face with his beloved time-travel machine and discovers that they were a match made in Heaven over 700 years ago. But their time together is brief, as they have to stop the House-possessed TARDIS with Amy and Rory trapped inside, and her human body is dying...

Dialogue moves very quickly on Doctor Who, and I always have the closed-captioning turned on so I can follow it more easily. I can tell you that I watched this episode at least five times Sunday, absolutely delighted by Gaiman's dialogue and his enthusiasm about exploring a part of the Doctor Who mythos that to now had only been hinted at. The Doctor's final moments with the TARDIS/Idris before things had to go back to normal were simply the most heartbreaking of the season so far. And I felt a great satisfaction in discovering that what I've always said about the TARDIS' wonky steering was absolutely correct: Baby doesn't take where you want, Baby takes you where you need to be.

END OF SPOILERS

Some other great news I got this weekend was that one of my very favortite comic books/comic strips will be back in production and back on the stands at the end of 2011. Liberty Meadows, Frank Cho's hilarious mish mash of soap opera and funny animal antics, has been out of circulation for almost three years now due to its rights being tied up with Sony and the development of a Liberty Meadows cartoon series. The entire enterprise which has certainly put premature grays in Monkeyboy Cho's hair fell through the usual comedy of errors that happens when a studio grabs a potentially valuable property and has no idea what to do with it. I rejoice to hear that all rights have now reverted back to Cho and he can continue to work on the comic book, hopefully starting up from where Brandy broke off her wedding and jumped into Frank Mellish's arms.

I'm currently working on a final draft of the InConJunction schedule for the Doctor Who/Whoosier Network room, which I'm hoping to have something very unique occur on the Saturday afternoon or Sunday schedule. More about it later. Our video programming, besides presenting the original BBC broadcasts of the seven episode half-season this year, will be dedicated to the passing of two beloved Doctor Who actors: the great Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT), and, shockingly, Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith). I'm currently editing music video tributes to both of them, and we'll debut them both at InCon this year.

Well, that's enough updating for now. Gotta get back to the job at hand. I'll be back as soon as I'm able.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon... 'bout time

2011-04-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

After a huge, grumpy weekend of work and extra driving around and crap, I'm finally getting a nice, relaxed Sunday afternoon and evening where I can literally get loads of projects off the ground, and do some new entries to my blog.

First up is, of course, my excitement that we'll soon have some brand-new Doctor Who on our screens, with an unparalleled location-shoot in the United States. Many questions will be answered this year, including what the Voice of Silence is really all about and the true nature of Dr./Prof. River Song. Rumor has it that no classic monsters will be part of this season, although the scenes of the Doctor holding what clearly is a Cybermat in a scene in a upcoming episode may have put the lie to that.

The Pacers are preparing to play in just a few minutes against the Knicks at home, and it's been a long, long time since I've felt any kind of excitement about the Pacers. Coach Frank Vogel has elevated what was one of the worst teams in the NBA into a real contender in the playoffs. I've no real illusions about how far they will go in the first round, as they're up against the Bulls, No. 1 in the Eastern Conference, but I saw them beat the Atlanta Hawks for the first time in years the other night, and beat them with impunity. They've laid waste to the Celtics twice this year, so who the heck knows?

Here are the saddest words I'll hear this year on television: "Next week, on the season finale of Justified..."

Back with more later!

Look Who's Getting a Make-Over...

2011-03-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

While you folks are all waiting for more Mark and Dee (I'm only a couple of projects away from resuming work on it) you might like this...the new creative team of Dick Tracy!

I'm very excited to be reading Dick Tracy once again, especially after reading the last week of strips leading up to the arrival of writer Mike Curtis and veteran comic artist Joe Staton. Dick Locher has wisely decided to retire from the strip, along with his artist Jim Brozman. While I can't really comment too much on the story, the artwork has been horrendous.

With the Tuesday installment, linked above, a cherished supporting character returns to the Tracy fold, and by tomorrow, two classic villains return to menace the razor-jawed detective. I just can't wait!

It can only go up from here...

2011-03-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Never, ever have I had a week that was as full of darkness as this past week. Deena's stepdad, Gene, passed away after a long illness, my brother Kenny had exploratory surgery for heart disease, Wisconsin public workers lost collective bargaining rights thanks to Republicans totally trashing the First Amendment and Democrats too wimpy to stand up to them in person, the Pacers have been knocked out of the playoff rankings by half a game, the Middle East is a war zone (even more than usual), and, oh, yeah, Tokyo looks like Godzilla and all his buddies from Monster Island had a hoedown.

Is there any way to put a positive spin on any of this?

Well, let's start from the top:

Deena's mom, Donna, has had a really rough time of it all. I got a first hand look at what she had to go through just to get Gene ready to go to dialysis three times a week. It was tough enough to get Gene situated from the house to the adjoining garage and into the car when he still had one good leg and his prosthetic. Just before he passed, Gene's good leg went septic and had to amputated, which placed him in a deep depression which he sadly never recovered from. And I can only imagine in my worst nightmares what managing Gene would be for Donna. I'm quite certain it would have killed her.

So, as tragic as Gene's death has been for the entire family, I think it has been a blessing for everyone involved. Gene is forever free of the pain and misery he has endured for years, and Donna's burden is now off her shoulders. She's even contemplating a trip to Florida for a couple of weeks to visit her son Kent and his wife Rosie and their kids Kent, Jr. and Kiki in Boca Raton. I think now she can finally have a long and deliberate period of fun. More than about time.

The surgery on Kenny went very well and revealed no irregularities in his heart. Which does not mean he can continue smoking and eating crappy McDonalds and Wendy's food. So I can only hope that this is Kenny's wake-up call to make healthier choices.

After a six game losing streak, the Pacers had a great away victory over the Knicks last night, and maybe this is a re-direction to get us back in playoff contention. Tyler Hansborough may be the diamond in the rough.

As for Wisconsin, the Middle East, and Tokyo... not a whole lot of ideas on that.

Yet.

Current Events (where the hell is "Mark and Dee"?)

2011-02-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to update you on stuff going on here at the Dooley Lair. And yeah, I know I'm amazingly late with the continuing adventures of Mickey in England in "Mark and Dee", but know that that storyline will be continuing very soon. I really have to devote some time to scanning, coloring, and lettering each strip, and with my work schedule being what it is, I only have so much time from when I get home to when Morphius calls... and of recent, I've been hitting the hay as early as 8:30 PM. So I have to pick and choose what I can accomplish in that time.

One of the things I have finished out during the weekend is one of several Doctor Who videoes I plan on producing for the July InConJunction. This one is called "For Love of the Doctor", featuring clips of the many near-romances of the Doctor, with everyone from Jo Grant to the enigmatic River Song, and set to the tune of a very popular song of last year. It will make its debut at the March Whoosier Network meeting on the 4th.

So far, the new Buick is performing magnificently, though it still hasn't been given a full baptism of fire by taking it up to Indianapolis. That may happen this Friday when Dee and I hit the Cinemark 8 to catch up on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I. It's been almost ten years since we took in a movie there and it should not only be a good night at the movies, but also a true test of Electra's endurance.

Yeah, we named the car Electra. Bite me.

Never Can Say Goodbye

2011-01-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, this is the only good picture I can find of my old '90 Lumina, this partial with my Mom sitting in it. I place this here, because just minutes ago the old girl was towed off to that big scrapheap in the sky. We got nearly twenty good years out of that car, more than we ever expected to get out of it. And with all the amazing memories of the places that battered behemoth took us to, I have to say it was hard to let it go.

But when I look at our new '96 Buick, it wasn't that hard....

The Long National Nightmare is Over...

2011-01-14T17:23:00.000-08:00

Deena and I got a new car today.

Just to give you an idea about how timely this new car came into our lives, as some of you may know, we've been nursing our 1990 Lumina like a patient at a nursing home for more than a year now. We have literally been trapped within the confines of Columbus, Indiana, with the exception of the occasional rental to get to important Whoosier Network meetings, because once the car hit over 50 the motor would start sputtering, missing, clacking, and doing all manner of nasty things. I've taken it to our regular mechanic many times, and he's practically begged us to consider a new car.... to the point that he decided it wasn't worth trying to fix.

Last week, while driving back from Mom's, the engine started missing.... horribly. And then the front wheels started wobbling like the front end was out of alignment. And for most of this week, it was everything it could do to get me from home to work everyday... and thank God work for me is just a few blocks east of us. But there was no doubt about it this time. We had to get something workable and fast.

Anyway, we came across an ad in the paper for a well maintenanced 1996 Park Ave. Buick for $1900. Yes, lots of mileage on it (189,000), but we were desperate enough that we thought it wouldn't hurt to at least check it out. So I called the lady who had the car, but only got the answering machine. So I left a message, but I didn't hear back from her right away, so I figured it was a lost cause.

But Tuesday she called and said the car was still available, but that I might want to wait a couple of days until the snowstorm let up. I told her if it was all right, I'd really like to take a look at it right away. So I got out there (she lived only about a mile down the road from my Mom's, and the coincidences don't end there) and she let me take it for a test drive.

Immediately I could see driving this thing would be like driving Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Practically everything is powered and run by buttons, with a surprise at every turn. I haven’t driven anything like this car since my beloved ’74 Marquis back in the 80’s, which, but for a black paint job and a set of green headlights, was my personal Black Beauty. The only real flaw it had that I could see was a small electrical problem that kept the driver’s seat from moving forward or backward, which my mechanic said he could fix in a jiffy next time I came in. It rode like a dream and handled really well in the snowy weather.

We got all the title transfers, plate switches, and paperwork all done in minutes at the BMV (yeah, go figure that), and we took it out for a cross-country acid test last night. Ran great, has terrific gas mileage, and we’re extremely happy.

But here’s the weird part… the woman who sold it to me is the sister of the ex-husband of my sister Tammie. On top of that, last night I discovered that my mechanic is the uncle of my other sister Vicki’s husband Kenny. None of this was known to me as we’ve only reconnected in the past two years after a very long estrangement from my late father and his family. So everyone involved in this transaction is somehow related to me in one way or another.

And I’m certain that, hiding in the shadows of my neighborhood, Rod Serling’s smoking his cigarette and going “So, how you likin’ the Twilight Zone, kid?”

And the Aftermath...

2010-12-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas this year was far from the usual dysfunctional disaster it has been in previous times. Not that I didn't give it my All-American effort...

My all-around gift to everyone to the families was a print of my Eleventh Doctor portrait, fully framed, just right for the empty spot in the attic. It matches well with the official stuffed Sarah Palin's Alaska polar bear. You know, the one with the bloody bullet hole in its forehead?

I won't go into the circumstances of the booty getting, other than that, for the most part, everything I predicted bore out. But that's okay... I'm so much more into the giving part of things than I am in the getting. I'd just as soon not get anything for Christmas, as it just doesn't seem to be the point of the whole holiday. And besides, nobody likes shopping for me, especially the in-laws. They don't wanna have to explain to the youngsters why Uncle Mark is getting cooler toys than they are.

"Wahhhh! Uncle Mark got the Spider-Man action figure with the kung fu grip and web shooters and all I got was a Star Wars toy! Why? Whyyyyy????"

'Cuz I'm cooler than you kid. Now, sheddup!

Another reason is is that both sides of my family either fear, or have no understanding of how, to shop online. If they did, all their Christmas shopping for me would be done in no time and I could direct them to places where they could save a bundle. Now, the fear part I can understand. Both sides of my family have had encounters with identity theft, the worst case being my brother's wife. She's still dealing with the reprecussions of an encounter a few years ago that still rears its ugly head now and then. I myself had someone hack into our account a couple of years ago and nearly wipe us out (fortunately my bank saw the red flags and took all the necessary steps so we didn't lose anything). But I find there's just as much risk, and perhaps more, of doing in person transactions with a debit card as much as there is on the net. One way or another, there's always a chance the horse is gonna throw ya. The best thing to do is brush yourself off and get back in that saddle.

But I can't seem to convince them to just try it out. Save a little money. Find a bigger variety of items out there. At any rate, if you just go down to the graphic novel section the local Waldenbooks at the mall, I can give you a list and various 40% off coupons. Somehow, I still get the perennial sweaters, pants, socks, undies, and more aftershave, cologne, and deodorant than a man would need in three lifetimes. I'm not that offensive....

But I did have fun at the in-laws this Christmas, much in part to the three crazy dogs they have there. The moment I showed up, they all wanted various degrees of lovin', and I was more than happy to oblige them. While we were waiting for dinner to be served, I went downstairs to the rec room where my nephews were busying themselves disposing of zombies in Black Ops, and to join in on the fun, I hunkered myself down with Vols. 3 and 4 of The Walking Dead softbounds. Below everyone's feet, we had turned the basement into Zombieworld.

Of course, once we got back home, I couldn't wait to turn on the DVR and catch that Doctor Who Christmas Special... during which I fell asleep ten minutes into it. But I did catch it all Sunday... another brilliantly realized Steven Moffat script, with an ingenious twist where the Doctor actually does too good a job at reforming a heartless villain. And, of course, we got a scrumptious teaser trailer for the next season in April. The Ood will be back. The faux TARDIS will be back. The Doctor comes to America (for real, this time!). Musketeers! Stetsons! River Song in various stages of clothing! And the Fez may once again rear its tacky tassel...

I'll be back with more later in the week, along with new episodes of MARK AND DEE. See you then!

Season's Greetings from the MARK AND DEE gang!

2010-12-24T00:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know... I've been extremely neglectful of this blog for a while, and I'm hoping to turn that all around this week as I go into a lovely and much-needed three-day weekend that hopefully will give me a chance to catch up on the MARK AND DEE strip, the next in the Doctor Who watercolors I'm doing, and kick back with some fabulous Christmas movies, starting off with my annual Christmas Eve viewing of Bob Hope's The Lemon Drop Kid. Screamingly funny film, one of the last truly great Bob Hope comedies before television claimed him and his steady stream of film comedies began a downward spiral. I wish this was running on TV somewhere because, like so many other Christmas-based movies, it just seems special to just sit and watch it on netwrok and cable, knowing there are other folk out there discovering this lost gem and laughing at it too. Having it on DVD is great, but it just seems a tad empty as an experience. That's why I'm grateful that NBC still runs It's a Wonderful Life twice during the Christmas season, and particularly on Christmas Eve. It gives that great film a national audience.

Yes, Christmas is tomorrow, and I'm not really looking forward to it, as I have always felt that Christmas Eve, the anticipation of it all, is always better than when you get there and it kinda sucks. But I think I can handle it for one really good reason: even if I don't get a darn thing I really wanted for Christmas (and this year especially it's looking more or less that we're heading that way), I still get one thing that's really special: a brand-new Doctor Who episode on BBC America. This year's DW Christmas Special, entitles "A Christmas Carol", will actually air on the same day here in the States as it will in Britain, no stalling for two or three days (or even longer). So Christmas Day won't entirely suck tomorrow, because after all the running around from one family gathering to another, the bloating of my stomach, the yuletide dysfunction, and weariness of the whole bloody mess, I will still get to come home and spend an excellent hour with the Doctor, Amy and Rory.

Sometimes, in spite of it all, things do work out.

Have a lovely holiday season.

MARK AND DEE: The Journey Parts 10-14

2010-12-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

And a day and two months later...

Yeah, I've been extremely neglectful of this blog, so my apologies to all those who were wondering "WTF"! I do have a lot to comment on from the last couple of months, but in the meantime, let's start the make-up process by giving you a whole lot of MARK AND DEE. Merely click on the images for a bigger view.

As you might recall, Tandy Breckinridge, our antiquities dealer and favorite British person has more or less kidnapped her boyfriend Mickey Walton to help with a job for her father. They're currently winging their way aboard her family's private jet for parts unknown. With the exception of Mick's aversion to air sickness, things have gone smoothly until Tandy heads to the pilot's control room...

PREVIEW: Halloween cover for Gallifreyan Gazette #265

2010-10-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been gone for so long, but after a nasty bout of depression and finishing an actual commissioned work (yep, I'm actually getting paid for wat I love to do!), I'm back with some new stuff, starting with the cover of the next issue of the Gallifreyan Gazette, the official newsletter of the Indiana Doctor Who club Whoosier Network. Merely click on the image for the larger view. Hope you like:

And we'll be back with more MARK AND DEE in just a day or so!

Finally: the Brave and the Bold returns!

2010-09-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

The last new episode aired in the middle of April, and it's been a long, dry summer of reruns... but the good news is that the Emmy-nominated Batman: The Brave and the Bold returns with all-new episodes this Friday at 7:00 PM on the Cartoon Network. They'll be wrapping up the season-wide subplot with the two-part "The Siege of Starro", as Batman battles the legendary space starfish who has taken control of practically every costumed hero on Earth.

For those of you who haven't been tuning into this terrific series, it's a valentine to long-time Batman fans like myself who feel that, after watching the Dark Knight get darker and darker in both the comics and two cartoon series, we needed a break from the doom and gloom, a return to the fun Batman of the mid-60's and early 70's before he became a sullen psychotic. Well, producer James Tucker, who has been mulling this kind of Batman as far back as the last season of The New Batman Adventures (when he supervised the storyboarding of the Dick Sprang-inspired segment of "Legends of the Dark Knight"), gave it to us and good.

This new series steeps itself into the Silver Age history of DC Comics with the kind of wild stories that do honor to Gardner Fox, Julius Schwartz, John Broome, Robert Kanigher, Jack Kirby, and especially Bill Finger (whom many credit as the real mastermind behind Batman). If you've come here looking for that psychotic bully he's evolved into, just keep marchin'. Batman is the Caped Crusader in this one, a Sprang-inspired creation, with the talented Dietrich Bader as a cross between the raspy Kevin Conroy and the straight-laced camp of Adam West (who actually appeared in an episode with Julie Newmar as Thomas and Martha Wayne!). And while the series itself never takes itself too seriously, there are the dark moments that fans of the Dark Knight clamor for, such as an episode where Batman tracks down the man responsible for his parents' murders (courtesy of Batman: the Animated Series' own Paul Dini).

And let's not forget the musical episode, "Mayhem of the Music Meister", a story with flavor straight out of the 1960's Brave and the Bold comics, featuring Neil Patrick Harris as the Conducter of Crime, with a fantastic score that could persuade Andrew Lloyd Webber to don a cape and tights.

Ewww.

This series has one last full season to go, and I'm hoping before it disappears we'll get that Music Meister action figure. I'll be the first in line for it.

Anyway, put it in your DVR... this Friday, Cartoon Network, 7:00 PM EST.

De Boss' Bookshelf: True Story Swear to God #13, Bone in Full Color

2010-09-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

In between running the Whoosier Network, working on the latest MARK AND DEE episodes (more to come very soon!), and actually doing some paid artwork for a change, I've been trying to catch up on the few comics I buy, and we have a couple of real stand-outs from my own library.

After a long hiatus involving a fall down the stairs and a debilitation in his drawing hand, Tom Beland is back in action on a semi-regular basis with his autobiographical comic series True Story: Swear to God. To tune you in very quickly to this witty, delightful, and sometimes heartbreaking series, Tom is the former writer and parttime cartoonist of a small Napa Valley newspaper who, on a wild set of circumstances, got a free trip to Disney World and met the woman who would change his life forever, Puerto Rican radio star and author Lily Garcia. They conducted a long distance romance for months before Tom decided that his heart was calling him to Puerto Rico. After many trials and tribulations in adjusting to the culture shock, Tom eventually married Lily with all their families gathered in Puerto Rico, an event depicted in TS:STG #12.

In the latest issue #13, Tom is having dissfunction issues and seeks medical advice. Doctor after doctor run tests that come back negative, and Tom's frustration at not being able to please Lily is growing by leaps and bounds, as well as his own well-founded fears that his problem may be cancer-related (both his parents died within mere months of each other).

Eventually, one of Lily's medical experts on her talk radio show suggests to Tom that he try Viagara. Tom gleefully depicts his adjustment to the medication, while never trivialising the serious undercurrents his problem could have for his marraige. It's excellent adult reading, and rates a *****+ on De Boss' 5-star meter.

Jeff Smith's Bone (full-color edition) Vol. 1-9: Though I've read the original comic book run from practically the very beginning, now that I have the entire collected series in 9 volumes, and now in full color, I thought now would be a good time to revisit the epic tale that gestated in the five-year-old mind of Columbus, Ohio resident Jeff Smith and became the epic adventure that has sold millions of copies all over the world.

Inspired by Walt Kelly's Pogo, Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge adventure stories, and J.R.R. Tolkien's Ring trilogy, Bone is the tale of three curious cartoonish creatures, the Bone cousins, and the adventures they encounter after they are run out of Boneville following one of the scheming Phoney Bone's flim flams, utilizing the not-so-bright Smiley Bone as his henchmen. Of the three, Fone Bone is the most stable, a heroic dreamer whose chance encounter with the beautiful human Thorne leads him and his two cousins into a world of talking animals, dragons, good friends, and despicable enemies.

While I realize Smith is finally done with this epic tale he has spent a lifetime creating and that he is moving on to other projects, such as his current series Rasl, I'm hoping that one day he's going to have another itch to scratch, and that we'll eventually return to Barrelhaven (or maybe even Boneville itself!) and have yet another great adventure with the lovable Bone Cousins and all their friends. ****** out of 5.

Loss in the Family

2010-08-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

To your left, you will see one of my favorite pictures of one of the nicest pets we've ever had in our home, Samson. We adopted him almost ten years ago while we were still living in my Mom's old house on Wehmeier Street in Columbus, Indiana and our long-lived cat Demon, by now age 16, was still with us. He was actually the house pet of our next door neighbor, but she was looking to give him a better home because her health problems physically kept her from giving "Sam", as she called him, the kind of attention that he deserved. From the moment he saw us pulling up into our driveway, he made beeline toward us, his cropped tail wiggling back and forth on his butt, and you could literallly hear that old 1970's disco tune "I'm Just a Love Machine" filling the air.

Deena, of course, said "No! We're a one-cat household! Demon would go crazy!" So I had decline the neighbor's offer.

A couple of nights later, a big storm broke, so Deena and I, of course, manned the buckets, as the roof at the old house leaked like a siv, and we kicked back to watch some TV on my night off. At the height of the storm, we heard a THUMP at the screendoor that scared the living crap out of us. I looked out, and sitting, waiting patiently, soaked through and through, was Samson, with a meow that sounded like a banshee's wail.

I told Dee who was outside, and she said, "Well, let me get Demon into the bedroom so we don't have a fight."

So I let the little fella in, and Deena came out with a dry towel and we dried him off as best we could. So we gave him some food and water, and after he'd finished that he came back out to the living room and hopped right up in my lap and got ingratiatingly comfortable.

The storm that night was just not letting up, and I suggested to Dee we let him spend the night. Dee rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, but Demon ain't gonna like it."

We let Demon out, he took one look at Samson, gave a squeeky hiss, and got very self-centered in his own dinner bowl.

We went to bed, leaving Samson out in the living room. Well, he wasn't about to have any of that, so as we got comfortable, he hopped right into our bed and squeezed himself into the crook of my arm and immediately fell asleep. I turned to Dee and said, "Can you really say he has no place in our home?"

Deena rolled her eyes and went to sleep.

The next day when Dee and I both got home from work, Samson was sitting right on our little cement porch, waiting to be let in. "Deena..."

The Walls of Jericho finally crumbled. "Ooooooh... alright, but if he doesn't get along with Demon, he's gone!"

I talked to the neighbor, and she immediately handed me a ton of canned cat food, a bag of cat litter, and a bunch of cat toys. He had already had his front claws removed and he was also fixed and had his shots. So he was a pretty much "made-to-order" housepet.

It took about a month for Demon to get used to the new addition. In fact, early in the morning of my birthday, the two of them decided to give Daddy the best gift of all... a pay-per-view event! They nearly tore the house to shreds fighting each other, but the odds were pretty even: Samson had no claws, Demon had no teeth. Finally, after beating the living pulp out of each other from one end of our very small house to another, they seemed to end it all in the kitchen by going to neutral corners.

I poured them both a couple of bowls of milk, and incredibly enough, they walked over to the bowls together and started drinking, side by side.

For some reason, I felt I was in a feline version of the final bar scene in "The Quiet Man".

With a few altercations that didn't last, Demon and Samson got along very well, right up to when Demon's kidneys started failing and he began having seizures. As Deena and I talked about calling the vet first thing in the morning, Samson reached over to Demon's frail little body and placed his paw on Demon's shoulder. Who wouldn't break down upon seeing that?

Not long after Demon passed away, we decided that Samson needed someone else with him while we were both at work. So we adopted a friend of mine's kitten Syryn. Again, difficult to get the two of them to get along, especially since Syryn is really picky and paranoid about any kind of physical contact that she doen't implement. But in time, they could often be found laying down next to each other, catching a nap, or sitting with both of us watching TV.

In 2006, we moved to a pleasant little house on 22nd Str., and with some difficulty managed to get the cats to move in with us. Samson was on his best behavior, sitting on Dee's lap, enjoying the short trip to the new house. Syryn, on the other hand, went absolutely bug nuts. When we got her to the new place, she immediately squeezed her enormous butt under the new dresser drawer and stayed there until all of Deena's family had finished the painting and furniture moving. Eventually, she crept out while we were alseep, started exploring the new house, and designated it as livable.

All while Sampers laid in between us, sound asleep.

Last night, after a long illness, Samson crawled beneath our bed after spending some time sleeping between us, purring softly, and passed away. While Deena and I mourn losing him, we're thankful that he's no longer in pain and misery and that he's now running with the strength of a kitten.

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 9

2010-08-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 8

2010-08-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Another Friday the 13th Birthday Behind Me....

2010-08-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

I just hate, hate, hate when my birthday falls on that accursed Friday the 13th, because it means something really, really annoying is going to happen that's going to disrupt what should have been an otherwise pleasant day of fun and frollic. So I decided to head it off by starting the day off with a birthday present to myself... I went to iTunes and downloaded Lewis Black's Stark Raving Black CD, which finds the explosive comic at the apex of his hilarious indignation of the human condition. In his examinations of the foibles of people both high and low, I believe he is now at a comedic level where dwell such performers as George Carlin, Robin Williams, and Bill Cosby at their peak. His incredulous pairing with Vince Gill and Amy Grant at a charity show made me pee my pants just a little.

Armed with a burned CD to play in the car as I headed to work, I thought, "This day is going to be great! I'm gonna get everything finished early at Subway, maybe Jeannie will even let me off a little early, then I'm heading home, grab Deena, and we're heading to the movies to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World! I'll show Friday the 13th! I'm going in with a better attitude!"

And, ya know... I should have realized from that moment that thinking all that stuff, I was just setting myself up for a fall. I should have just brained myself with a 2X4 in the garage and laid there unconscious until Deena found me. It would have been far more pleasant than the following six hours and forty minutes.

Now, to be fair, Jeannie got me a really funny birthday card, which further deluded me into thinking things were going to come out well. Almost immediately after that, things started sliding. The breakfast rush got so that I barely had time at the prep table to finish the food slicing before lunch began. We fell a bit behind on the bread baking. Then we had one obnoxious customer right after another... and then, in handling the hot soup pan coming out of the microwave, Jeannie spilled a nice puddle of it on the counter.

The day dragged, the dishes got higher, the prep list got bigger, but we did manage to get most of it all caught up to just before I was ready to clock out... and then, as if on cue, about two dozen customers, one right after another, showed up to order a jillion sandwiches. I was 40 minutes late getting out of there, forcing Dee and I to go to a later showing.

Later that night, a nice young man on Tony Isabella's bulletin board wrote me a birthday greeting and advised me to ignore the Friday the 13th superstition, that, as far as he had researched it, it was a "relatively recent invention of the 20th Century."

I wrote back, "Ah, so that was a relatively recent invention that's been kicking my @$$ all day today, spilling hot soup on the counter, making me and Deena late to the movie! You know, he was standing right outside Wal-Mart, actually paying people to go in and throw crap on my day. I met him as I was going out and I said, 'Hey, Relatively Recent Invention! Thanks for putting the screws to what was supposed to be a worry-free day!' He said, 'Not a problem! Hey, here's a rash! Don't say I wasn't thinkin' about you on your birthday!'"

So, we decided to go get some eats at Grindstone Charley's before I absolutely fell over from insulin shock and catch the later showing. It was worth the frustrations... if you fuse the best of John Hughes' teen angst movies with the crazy-ass energy of a Jet Li action flick and the classic video games of the 80's and 90's, the result is absolutely the world of Scott Pilgrim. Edgar Wright, the director of great British comedies like Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, has reached a whole new level of energy with this film.

The rest of the day, thankfully, went uneventful, and the Sweet One and I settled down to a couple of hours of good television before letting my 54th birthday slink off into the dusk.

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 7

2010-08-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 6

2010-08-09T06:54:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 5

2010-08-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 4

2010-08-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 3

2010-08-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 2

2010-08-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???!!!!

2010-07-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

After far too long a time with nothing but the previous MARK AND DEE comics filling in for me, I'm back to my full powers of observation and making up goofy s#!t.

InConJunction July 2nd-4th was once again a huge success for the Whoosier Network, with a much bigger room this time and perfect audio and visual equipment thanks to or good friend James Robinson from Cincinnati. His contributions, and those of Stephen Kendall, gave everyone a chance to see this season's Doctor Who on a big screen and surround sound.

I, of course, precided and hosted over the room for the 49-hour marathon of the 31st Season, classic Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, and other cool extras we scrounged up, making me Who Fandom's Jerry Lewis... especially at the end when I was looking and feeling pretty scraggily. But the final two episodes, "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang", played to packed houses, with the finale blowing the roof off the place.

Amazingly, everything went without a hitch thanks to plenty of prep time to get everything set up. In fact there was only glitch during the entire weekend... while I was napping during the wee hours of Saturday morning during the running of Torchwood, someone swiped my cellphone. Many of the Whovian and Who-Net community rallied to help me out, from offering me time on their cells so I could stay in contact with Deena at home to posting posters around the convention hall to see if it could be located. I was reminded how close and tightknit our club can really be.

Anyway, we had some great panels, headed up by myself, Pyramid Magazine editor and writer Steven Marsh, and our guest-of-honor author Keith R.A. DeCandido (who currently writes the ongoing Farscape comic book), and a terrific round of "Are You Smarter Than a Sci-Fi Geek?", with valuable collectibles going out as the grand prizes. We also had the premiere of my fan video set to the tune of "Doctor Who is Gonna Fix It", and some of Craig Ferguson's hilarious comments about Doctor Who.

I'll have some more commentary about the convention in our next session. Don't be late!

MARK AND DEE: The Journey, Part 1

2010-07-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

With our having reached a nice moment for a break from Mark and Dee's trevails, let's check out what's happening with Mark's pal Mickey Walton, now the new owner of the Comic Cave, and the center of his romantic eye, Tandy Breckinridge, British antiquities dealer

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 26

2010-07-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

And here it is, the stirring conclusion to "The Letter"!

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 25

2010-07-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been exactly talkative in the last month or so, but I've been engulfed in a lot of projects and obligations, particularly the comic strip below. As soon as this storyline is finished just a few days from now, we'll get back on the true purpose of this blog... me thinking up goofy s@#t.

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 24

2010-07-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 22 and 23

2010-07-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here comes a double dose of MARK AND DEE, as we get closer to the end of "The Letter"

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 21

2010-07-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 20

2010-07-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

After far too long an absence, MARK AND DEE are back, continuing with Deena's heavenly confrontation with an unwelcome slummer...

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 19

2010-06-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 18

2010-05-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm very proud of the dialogue for this and the next few episodes, as it's taken directly from our second mini-issue. And it's so cool to finally get to color it!

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Parts 16 and 17

2010-05-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long between posts, but we're dealing with lots of crazy things around here, particularly a car that is in its final days, but I finally found time to get things going on the final episodes of The Letter. Enjoy!

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 15

2010-05-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE - The Letter, Part 14

2010-05-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Fun day today, despite all the rain and being broke (as usual). Finished a neat little Doctor Who video using the classic Aussie novelty song "Doctor Who is Gonna Fix It" for InConJunction and, after a long, long week, we have a new installment of the MARK AND DEE opus, "The Letter"

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 13

2010-05-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've been gone so long, but as my last few entries have indicated, this week has been a... ditch. Hopefully more episodes this Thursday and many more during the weekend.

Just Got Worse

2010-05-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

Just got word that I'm probably going to be the one that has to take Mom to her foot doctor's for re-dressing her foot every day this week, making the chances of getting the car fixed this week next to impossible.

And, on top of that, classic fantasy artist Frank Frazetta just passed away after a very long illness, and after a very stressful ordeal concerning his family's management of his estate. Fortunately, the latter was resolved a few weeks ago.

Now I know why they're called Mondays.

It Got Better....

2010-05-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Brother Tim called a little while ago and offered to get Mom to her appointments while he was in town with his ward Devon, so I won't have to take the car anywhere until later in the afternoon over to Bob's to talk to him about the car. A postponement of bad news, but at this point, I'll take anything.

Just got the mail in, and I finally broke down and ordered DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TIME Parts I & II. Besides a rip-roaring conclusion to David Tennant's award-winning performance as the immortal Time Lord, many special features abound, including David Tennant's Video Diary, chronicling his final days on the show. There's also the fantastic reception the DW team got at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con. Best quote of the day: from a San Diego newscaster who came in off duty just to meet David Tennent and Russell T. Davies before a live interview: 'Who knew the best show on American television was produced in Britain?"

Not Going to be a Happy Day

2010-05-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been away for a while, especially with any rambling comments I have, but we've hit a rough patch here financially this last couple of days, culminating in what looks like a very expensive car repair bill, of which I have no clue as to how we'll pay it. And the car being sick comes at a really bad time, as my brother Kenny is going in for some outpatient surgery in Indianapolis to fix the rotater cup of his shoulder. This means he won't be able to drive for about a month or more, and he is the one who takes Mom in for her dialysis Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with myself on Mondays and others the following days getting her back home. So they're dependent on me to pick up Mom early those three days.

I'm heading over to my regular mechanic later today to see if there's anything he can do, but even he has told me that it's time for a new car. If our finances weren't so entangled in paying off debt for at least the next three months, I wouldn't even hesitate. So we have to keep the old Lumina going as best we can until at least August. So there's where we are.

Meanwhile, I have to pray that the car holds up well today, as I have to pick up Mom, get her to the foot doctor, then double back to the other side of town to get her to her regular doctor, go pay a storage shed bill, then get her home, as well as myself. I have a feeling this might be too much for the old girl at one time, but we'll have to take it on faith that we'll get through.

The only good thing that I see coming out of today is that I'll have some new MARK AND DEE episodes posted later this afternoon, and I'm winding down the number of backed-up TV shows and movies I have on my DVR. Oh, yeah, plus Young and the Restless. From what I've heard, Patty's little switcheroo with Emily pretty much collapses this afternoon.

God, what I wouldn't do for a big ol' fish sandwich from Ye Old Fish Shop today. But due to all the road construction down by their way, the shop is closed until June.

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 12

2010-04-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 11

2010-04-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

I just discovered from my good friend Bev Keddy that I have a following in his native land. I'm the Jerry Lewis of Nova Scotia.

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 10

2010-04-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 9

2010-04-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 8

2010-04-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Took the week off to take care of some business, but we're now into the first layer of a very long-running storyline that I was going to do in the MARK AND DEE comic (and may still do eventually), but I've been jonesing to do this thing, and, by golly... here we go.

MARK AND DEE: The Letter Part 7

2010-04-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Our special guest-star, Tony Isabella, not only granted permission to me to bring him into the storyline, he came up with the witty dialogue in the final panel! many thanks, Tony!

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 6

2010-04-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

I thought this might be a good time to bring my cats Samson and Syryn into the frey. They're my feline Greek chorus....

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 5

2010-04-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 4

2010-04-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

2010-04-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

MARK AND DEE: The Letter Part 2

2010-04-09T19:35:00.001-07:00

Sorry we've been late getting to the next episode, but Dee and I have been wretchedly ill for the last three weeks. But my energy is up, I've spent the last few Sundays doing a backlog of strips, and they're ready to be colored and dialogued, so you can pretty much count on a new episode every other night, if not sooner.

New Doctor, Great Batman: Brave and the Bold, Fabulous Easter Weekend!

2010-04-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the week off, but things have been incredibly hectic and stressful at work, and between that and trying to fight off a horrible spring cold, I've had to keep a low profile.

However, despite all the coughing and snottin' around, this Easter weekend has started off brilliantly.

First off, last Friday's Batman: The Brave and the Bold was one I've been looking forward to all this season, and it did not disappoint. "The Power of Shazam!" may challenge "Mayhem of the Music Meister" as the best episode of the series, as it is a love letter to fans of one of the greatest (and most abused) classic super-heroes of all time. Captain Marvel, who once rivaled Superman as the number one comic book hero throughout the 1940's, has really suffered under DC Comics since he was revived under the title SHAZAM! After the original run of the comic failed, the good Captain has been relentlessly rebooted, revised, turned grim and gritty, meshed half-hazardly into the DC Universe, been the subject of a TV series that dropped nearly everything that made CM wonderful, and was recently revived as part of a children's comic where any resemblance to the original character and the abstract version that now passes for the World's Mightiest Mortal is purely coincidental.

I'd almost completely given up on ever seeing a decent version of Captain Marvel... until last Friday.

This is exactly how Captain Marvel should be portrayed... light-hearted, a great sense of fun for both kids and adults, and faithfulness to the original designs by C.C. Beck, Pete Costanza, and Otto Binder. Every moment that passed had an Easter egg that made me squeal like a school girl. The only thing that would have completely knocked me out would have been an appearance by a certain wicked worm...

Still, it was great to see the Sivana family in full evil mode, the deadly Black Adam, the ancient wizard Shazam, and a great wrap-up that gave us hope that eventually the entire Marvel Family could show up in the future.

Saturday night kicked my two-days off just right... through secret sources of my own, I got to see the opening salvo of the new Doctor Who series, "The Eleventh Hour". Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat is now producing the series, and wrote this episode, and he's certainly putting his distinctive stamp on the show... dark, witty, macabre, with an awful lot of the "Creep Factor" thrown in. And he certainly does not disappoint.

The inspired choice of Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor is a masterstroke. In fact, in many ways both in physicality and mannerisms, Smith reminds us of a much taller and leaner version of Patrick Troughton's second Doctor.

But even more so is the choice of Karen Gillan as the new companion Amy Pond, who may be as different a traveling pal as the Doctor has ever had. She's been a gal who has had to do certain unsavory things to make her way in the world in between waiting, waiting, waiting for the strange man and the even stranger blue box to take her away, and always running late... years late.

You can already see the subplots being developed concerning this new addition to the TARDIS crew, and by the end, we just wonder how much someone will give up to travel with the Doctor, and what the ultimate consequences may be.

Another great move is a new opening title sequence that mirrors the new dangers that this new Doctor will face. Now instead of a mere tumbling through the time vortex, the tunnel now seems to resemble the eye of a tornado, with the hapless police box being buffeted and tossed and struck by dangerous lightning bolts. Murray Gold's rescoring of the classic theme is perfectly in line with a new tone the series is taking on.

Anyway, April 17th, BBC America. Miss it at your own risk.

No Deal

2010-03-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

In a sad turn of events, the last remnants of Deal or No Deal will soon be gone from our screens, as the syndicated version of the show will finish out its run this spring.

Quite frankly, I'm not surprised. Almost everything that was fun and thrilling about the show went out the door when NBC cancelled it two years ago... the theme shows, the $1,000,000 (and sometimes much more) top prize, the families, the luscious models, and the hope that you would be picked to be a contestant from the tens of thousands who sent their auditions (myself among them).

But the syndicated show was hugely scaled back to accomodate a half hour version. With the exception of two of the originals, no more models. 28 hopefuls now opened the cases for a week with five contestants picked out of a random spin of a big roulette wheel (nuts to you if you were one of the five reserves who didn't get to play until the Friday taping), the top prize was only $500,000, no themes, no families... and as shallow as the show was on network TV, the syndicated version was even more so. The excitement was gone. I could speed through an episode in seconds on my DVR, depending on how soon the contestant had opened the top three prizes.

Sad to see it go, and on such a low note. It might not have been great TV, but at its best, it kept you glued to your seat.

So I guess Howie Mandel will be going back to putting rubber gloves over his head.

Death is Eating High on the Hog

2010-03-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

After laying low for quite a while, Death got out a knife and fork and started going to town this week on some of my childhood idols... Peter Graves the week before, then earlier this week Robert Culp, and yesterday one of the comics industry's great movers and shakers, Dick Giordano. I was fortunate enough to meet him several years ago at a convention where he signed several issues of his classic colloborations with Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams on Batman. Sadly, I lost a few of those books in the flood of '08, but I still retained a few because they were in a box a few feet over the floor. His crisp inks could make the worst hack artist's pencils look good, and fortunately he was paired mostly with great pencillers... Adams, Bob Brown, Irv Novick, George Perez, to name a few. But even more so than his artwork, his generosity and ability to seek out new talent as an editor at DC Comics make his passing a great tragedy indeed. His work both on and off the page was a great inspiration to me, and I feel very fortunate that I had that one chance to tell him how I felt. Thanks, Dick, for all those great comics.

2010-03-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a way cool preview of the upcoming Doctor Who series coming to BBCAmerica on April 17th. Hope you likee!

Den of Geek reviews DOCTOR WHO: The Eleventh Hour

2010-03-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

A spoiler-free review of the launch of the Eleventh Doctor's adventures can be found here

MARK AND DEE: The Letter, Part 1

2010-03-19T03:44:00.001-07:00

A bit more dramatic episode this time around....

Just Not Enough Drugs in the World....

2010-03-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

For the last three days, I've been wrapped up with a crappy cold that has totally put anything that doesn't involve laying on the couch and watching movies in between sleeping completely on hold. For the first time months, I actually took valuable time off from work, but there was little else to do for it.

I can't believe Dee and I have had all these freakin' flu shots and I can still get my ass kicked by something as stupid as this. I think I'm going to demand a refund.

Phyllis Comes Through!

2010-03-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the big Friday finale came and went with Phyllis Newman not torching the damning letter that has sealed the deal on Adam's skullduggery once and for all. Sadly, with the baby switch now out in the open for everyone save Ashley, who's in complete denial that her Faith is actually Sharon and Nick's baby, Phyllis went back home to her little girl, unsure of what will happen to her marraige. Nick returned shortly after, and Friday's climax left them pondering what would be next.

Quite frankly, after the many ringers that Sharon had put me through, I would take that luscious redhead in my arms, tell her how much her amazing sacrifice meant to me, then carry her straight upstairs and stay there for a week.

Okay, I wouldn't carry her. The woman stands at least a head taller than me on her bare feet. My back would snap like a twig, not to mention the obligatory hernia.

Will she or won't she...?

2010-03-12T00:36:00.000-08:00

As I predicted, the entire Adam debacle on Young and the Restless was skipped over Wednesday to get everybody revved up for what proved to be a big nailbiter for both Thursday and Friday. Every one who ever got crapped on by Adam (which would be half the friggin' cast) showed up at the cabin to interrogate Adam about what he has really been up to all this time.

I personally was hoping that this would all take place back at the Newman ranch and that Victor would knock down a few brickwalls to reveal that torture chamber he kept in the basement waaaaaayyy back in the 1970's. But I would think that having Heather and Rafe there, being officers of the court, for the proceedings would have complicated things if Victor felt inclined to putting Adam in it. "Uh, Victor, why do you have a torture chamber in your basement?"

What we didn't see coming (and what seems to me to be a last ditch effort to wring the last little drop of suspense from this whole deal) is that Phyllis, Nick's wife who has had her own little history with honesty, has headed off a lawyer in possession of a last minute confessional from the evil Dr. Taylor to Ashley he dictated before he died that confirmed the whole baby switch that Adam is responsible for.

Phyllis, as cool as she has been of recent, is trapped in a rock in a hard place... doing the right thing and bringing this letter to everyone's attention and risking that Nick and Sharon may get back together, or remain silent and hope that the baby switch never comes to light. We were left with Phyllis preparing to torch the letter outside the cabin.

For what it's worth, I think Phyllis is going to step up to the plate and reveal that letter. Her character has come such a long way from her villainous origins, especially concerning her working with her son to save Amber last year. She has used her dirty tricks on the side of the angels in the past couple of years, and fans have firmly stood behind her when it's come to dealing with the whole Nick/Sharon mess.

And yeah, it's probably going to wreck her marraige to Nick. I say dump the guy and hook back up with Jack when the whole deal with Emily/Patty falls apart.

But that's a mess for another day...

Y & R Fans... Take a Break Today

2010-03-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, Young and the Restless fans.... yesterday, the suspense built to an almost unbearable level, as nearly everyone to whom Adam Newman had done dirty put aside their own animosities toward one another to bring the little buggerer to heel, ending with Adam being lured out to the Abbott cabin by Sharon and quickly getting slugged into unconsciousness (presumably by his own father, Victor). It's obviously all leading up to daytime TV's biggest intervention....

And I can tell you you'll see none of it today. So if you have anything to do between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM, that will be a great time to do it. Because as sure as James Cameron knows where the blue food is, you will see absolutely none of that storyline today. The focus will be entirely on all the other storylines not tied to the Abbotts and the Newmans; Jena's capture and Lauren's torture at the hands of Daisy and Ryder, Caine's fate at his immigration hearing, the ongoing thaw between Tucker and Katherine, Lily's lab results, and Chance's continuing investigation into his frame-up.

So if you don't like those storylines, and/or you don't want to feel cheated out of what promises to be one of the highlights in the history of Y & R, don't even bother to tune in today. Cancel it out on your DVR, or take it off your VCR's programming schedule. I'm just trying to head off the crashing disappointment I know everyone out there's going to feel if you're expecting the Adam Intervention and it's nowhere to be found...

But, by diddily dern, I'd run over my own mother to see what's going to happen Thursday.

If this Day Got Any Better....

2010-03-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

... I'd swear I wasn't awake.

Looks like I'm sneaking back into reading comics at just the right time, as DC Comics have just announced that one of my all-time favorite writers, J. Michael Straczynski, the creator/writer/producer of Babylon 5, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Changeling, and author of tons of books and short stories, is finally getting his long-awaited dream job: he's taking over the writing of both Superman and Wonder Woman, beginning with both titles' anniversary issues in June.

Joe's been waiting for this moment for his entire career, and this summer, already crammed with the returns of Iron Man, Kick-Ass, Tron, and Toy Story, as well as the returns of Spider-Girl and The Green Hornet to the comic shops, we're going to be nearing sugar diabetes levels of sweetness around here.

The Weekend I Really Needed

2010-03-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

I am soooo worn out....

Very big, very busy weekend, lots of highs, lotsa lows, but it definitely kept me hopping. First off, I have to give a shout out to my computer guru, Randy, for helping me out with new hardware for the Black Beauty (the nickname for my computer), and a nasty advertising virus that glommed up just about everything afterward. To paraphrase the late, great Zelda Rubinstein, "This computer... is clean."

Terrific meeting with the Whoosier Network, and, as mentioned earlier, what a thrill it was as a group of science-fiction fans, to look up in the sky and see, in real life, something that not very long ago was considered science-fiction, and is now science fact.

The Oscars had some great moments Sunday, but was pretty much excrutiating to get through, and sad to say, it didn't help that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin was just one awkward pairing. Neil Patrick Harris, the Music Meister himself, did a fantastic opening number, and he's got my vote to host the whole damned thing next year.

So... on this Monday and a special day off, I'm finishing up some DVD recordings, begin coloring and lettering the new Mark and Dee serial, right now known as "The Letter", pick up Mom from dialysis, and work on the new posterboard for the Whoosier Network meetings. Lord knows, it'll all be over with by tomorrow morning and my return to a full week of hard work at my mundane job. You gotta make every free moment count.

Yeah, and watch today's Young and the Restless. Sue me.

KUR-PLUNK!!! AND DASBADANIA!!!

2010-03-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Whoosier Network got an amazing thrill as we watched with the Russian space station pass overhead, visible to the naked eye at 7:15 PM Friday.

Unfortunately, that was the same time that they scheduled the purging of their septic system.

"Hey, Sergei! Look at vwittle fat bolchovik standing in parking lot! Bet you 15 Euros I can nail heem!"

"That's why you graduate with honors from Cosmonaut training, Boris!"

"Bombs away!"

It's okay. Actually, it tasted like Buluga caviar... and some really bad vodka.

Sniff, sniff... wait a minute. That wasn't vodka....

Welcome Back, Tom Beland!

2010-03-03T01:33:00.000-08:00

It is with great pleasure that I just got word that one of my very favorite comics, True Story Swear to God, is back on the shelves with issue #12 this week. For those of you out of the loop, it is an autobiographical series about the lives of cartoonist/journalist Tom Beland and his beautiful wife Puertorican radio talk host and author Lily Garcia. This amazing couple met on a chance encounter during a weekend vacation at Disney World, and through many trials and tribulations (including Tom's decision to leave his beloved home in Napa Valley for Puerto Rico) made a life for themselves, ultimately getting married at Disney World as their guests.

This last year has been a traumatic one for Tom, as a home accident late 1n 2008 affected his drawing hand, rendering him unable to continue the comic for the longest time, as well as fighting bouts of deep depression. It is a testimony to Tom and Lily's love and the support of both of his families that Tom has finally been able to finish issue 12, depicting their wedding at the House of Mouse, with the promise of more to come in 2010.

As soon as I hit Indianapolis this Friday for the Whoosier Network meeting, I'm charging over to the nearest Comic Carnival and picking up #12, which hits the stands today.

Back to the Grind....

2010-03-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

Well, back to work today. Fortunately, I got nearly everything done yesterday that I set out to accomplish... the February Gallifreyan Gazettes are in the mail to our Whoosier Network members, got through a lot of the videoes I rented from Red Box and Netflix, and got a brand new brush for inks I'm just crazy to break in. Hopefully, I'll be out of there by 3:00 today and get the March GG wrapped up this evening, plus catch the Monday runs of Big Bang Theory, 24, and Damages and get them out of the way.

Also, I'm looking forward not only to tonight's American Idol, Lost, and The Good Wife, but also the new version of Parenthood, produced by Ron Howard, Brian Glaser, and Jason Kitims, who has been showrunning my very favorite sports drama Friday Night Lights. Tuesdays are starting to become as full a deck as Mondays.

Yeah, We Watch Y & R!

2010-02-28T17:19:00.000-08:00

There's been some nasty rumors flying about that I watch daytime soap operas. Well, I'm here to stop those rumors once and for all...

Yes, I'm a fan of "The Young and the Restless". My wife and my mom got me hooked onto this slop back when I had just graduated high school, and before I got my first regular job, Mom insisted that I keep her updated on all her soaps on CBS. While Dee still had another year before she graduated, she asked me to keep her updated on "Young and the Restless". And I've watched all of these off and on for over 35 years.

As most of you know, the daytime soap is a dying artform. The internet, DVRs, shifting viewing habits, and downright pitiful ratings compared to even just seven years ago have drawn closing curtains on "The Guiding Light" and soon "As the World Turns" two of TV's longest running shows. "Y&R" and its sequel series "The Bold and the Beautiful", are still hanging in there, but mostly because the former is still a big money-maker for CBS daytime and the latter has a gigantic international following that keeps the half-hour serial in the black for the network.

Even my personal preferences for daytime have now been whittled down to only "Y&R". Now that I'm no longer working nights, Dee and I spend all our evenings together. The battle for the big screen TV is as bold and bloody as anything seen on Battlestar Galactica, but one thing we can agree on is to sit and watch "Y&R" after we get home and join in together as we MST3K every episode, as each one has some outrageous plot hole you could steer Gallifrey through or scripting that tips off that one set of writers has not been paying attention to what the other set has been writing.

One character, though, has us absolutely caught up in his evil, psychotic ways, and that is Adam Wilson, the sociopathic son of Y&R's complex hero/villain Victor Newman, who has tried to drive his father's ex-wife Ashley crazy, is directly responsible for the loss of her baby and blackmailing a molesting OBGYN into convincing Ashley that her baby was still alive, switching the dead baby with a live one that just so happens to belong to his brother's ex-wife whom he is now married to (!!!), and committing acts of industrial espionage that could land him, his father, and his brother in the county clink. And that's just the stuff he's done recently.

This guy is quickly approaching levels of soap opera evil that haven't been seen since Dr. John Dixon made life miserable for nearly everyone in As the World Turns' hometown of Oakdale. He hasn't quite reached that level just yet, mainly because Adam is mentally and physically ill, and therefore isn't entirely responsible for his own actions. John Dixon was a (OOLALA!!) who knew what he was doing every step of the way. But it is Adam's terrible flaws (and the great acting by actor Michael Muhney, whom I predict is heading for great things after he's done on daytime) and his ability to charm anyone that give him an unsettlingly human face and keeps us coming back for more.

But I do have a feeling his current situation is about to hit the fan. Almost everyone connected to him suspects that he's far more dangerous than even they realized, and his only support, wife Sharon, who's stood by him despite overwhelming circumstantial evidence, is finally questioning what she got into by marrying him. I can't wait until tomorrow...

Oh, my God. Did this crap really come out of my head?

Great Sunday

2010-02-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

Man, am I glad it's Sunday...

We had a great time in church today, with many people giving testimonials on the miracles in their lives, including my Mom, who didn't have to undergoe any furthur invasive surgery for her clogged heart valves and was watched over by the same very caring nurse who helped her get through a very trying stress test a few months ago. She also got her new orthopedic shoes this week after two seperate bungles, and she says they're just perfect.

Even I had to step up and give thanks for all the extra time I put in this last couple weeks which put my usual paycheck way over what I had expected. And then we both got to pray and bless other folks all in lots worse shape than we are. Great service today, very emotional.

Finished up the last of the backlogged shows on my DVR... two weeks worth of Lost. Here's what I'm figuring... the bomb actually created two seperate realities... one where all our heroes are still on the island (only now in one time and one place) and another where Oceanic never went down and everyone went on their seperate ways and resumed their lives. But the fact that their lives in the latter reality continue to crisscross, and that Jack in the "normal" reality can't account for some of the nastier scars on his body, especially his appendix scar, leads me to believe that there is one hell of a bang heading our way.

Anyway, it was great to see Veronica Hammel back on TV again and still looking foxy freaky hot at 60+ years old playing Jack's mom.

Have two fully inked Mark and Dee strips and two more with fine-line work waiting for brushwork. Unfortunately, I have to go buy a new inking brush tomorrow as the hair tips warped, rendering the brush unusable. Fortunately, Hobby Lobby is just down the road and their prices are next to none.

If all goes right tomorrow, we might go check out the "Book of Eli" still playing at the Kerasotes. Brother Tim gave it a real high recommendation, so I think we might take a chance.

Household update

2010-02-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

I'm finally catching up on all the shows I've let go by on my DVR, and should have almost all of them finished by Sunday night/early Monday.

I hate to say this, but I'm really disappointed by this year's "24". Almost every year, even at its worst, it was never less than balpines-to-the-wall action and suspense, with Kiefer Sutherland clearly in charge as Jack "Suck-it-Captain-America" Bauer. This year, Jack is barely in this fight, and this story is having trouble keeping me, a diehard 24 fan, glued to my seat. When I can let nearly a week pass before I watch a new episode, something is definitely wrong. It certainly can't help that production had to shut down twice this year, first because the storyline was having problems, secondly because of medical problems with its star.

Anyway, I can't wait to get tomorrow's work week over with and have a lovely two days off to work my evil will over this land. Hee, hee, hee....

Can't Wait for the Weekend

2010-02-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

Work has been just one huge drudgery this week, and I just can't wait to get tomorrow and Saturday out of my hair (or what's left of it). I just finished the Gallifreyan Gazette for February, and I have to really jump into the next issue to have it ready for next Friday's Whoosier Network meeting. The great news is is that we finally have somewhat of a standing date for the new Doctor Who series... April 14th on BBC America, and possibly April 3rd in the UK. We should get more details this weekend.

And I'm currently starting the new MARK AND DEE serial, for which we may have to run an earlier storyline for those of you new to this blog and have not seen some of my earlier work. In fact, some of the earlier strips I was not happy with, so we may have to redo a couple of them for good measure.

Done with work for the day!

2010-02-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

I had a three hour shift today at my mundane job at Subway, just filling in some time while the manager took the day off and others came in in her place. Of course, we couldn't leave scott free without it leaving a mark, and as sure as God makes the little green apples, minutes before I left I cut my left pinky on the vegi slicer. That's always a good signal that you've been working too hard.

So I'm back home after picking up Mom from dialysis and a foot doctor appointment, and here is where I'll stay. I'll be working on the next batch of Mark and Dee strips, finishing an overdue Gallifreyan Gazette for the Indiana Doctor Who fan club The Whoosier Network, and do a little more experimenting with the logo for my blog. The one I've just placed is okay, but I'm certain I can make it a whole lot more attractive. I may even be up for a name change. We'll see how the day progresses.

Also, I'm trying to get through some new movies from Netflix: Coraline, which ought to be the Oscar-winner for Best Animated Feature (but will undoubtedly be beaten by Up)and Knowing with Nicholas Cage. What can I say, I gotta get geared up for Kick-Ass with Nick as Big Daddy. Just a little over a month away!

Oh, yeah, and spend the rest of the day with the woman I love. Hope the wife doesn't find out....

BANG!!!!!

Man, Dee, don't you think vengeful wives with frying pans are a little cliche?

MARK AND DEE: Star Trekkin' 20

2010-02-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

Little late, but here's our stirring conclusion!

New Doctor Who Promo!

2010-02-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Spectacular new promo for the Eleventh Doctor and his new companion Amy! You can find it here!

Sci-Fi TV: My Picks

2010-02-20T01:13:00.000-08:00

One of my regular news haunts, Sci-Fi Wire, has posted a rundown of the surprisingly great variety of sci-fi and fantasy shows available this year and the possibilities of their renewal. You can find the post by clicking here.

Among my faves already guaranteed a return engagement are The Big Bang Theory (newsflash: Evil Wil Wheaton will be back this spring to taunt Sheldon Cooper a second time!), Saving Grace (Holly Hunter is hotter than any 50 year-old has any right to be), and True Blood (still have yet to see its second season).

Dollhouse was kind of a tough watch for me, as it was a lot more episodic at the beginning than most of Joss Wheadon's series, and far more complex. But I always mourn the loss of a series that challenges the sensibilities of its audience, and while I won't greatly miss the show, I'm really hoping that Wheadon's next project (rumored to be heading for the FX network) will give him much more control and less network interference.

Chuck, Heroes, 24, and Big Bang Theory make Monday Ubergeek Night here at the Dooley household, though 24 this season has paced a lot slower than in previous years. We're hoping things will just explode this Monday when Dana Walsh deals with her ex, Kevin, and his partner in crime and we get a glimpse of her true nature. looks like there's a good chance this may be 24's final TV season before Jack Bauer gives us his worst day ever on the big screen.

Fringe started off as another tough watch for me, but with things really ramping up with the alternate dimension, I'm so on board. Has there ever been a better mad scientist than Walter Bishop, played by the magnificent John Noble? He can leave me astonished at the utter evil nature of his past experiments, and yet drive me to tears as he deals with the situations he's helped create.

The Human Target is getting better with each passing episode (I very much appreciate the opening title sequence resembling a modern-day graphic novel), and anything that keeps the great Jackie Earle Haley on screen gets my undivided attention.

Medium is one strange show, and in a good way. It depicts a really tightknit family whose matron just happens to have psychic powers, and yet it also has some of the most gruesome murders I've ever seen on TV outside of a typical CSI episode. Still, NBC's loss has certainly been CBS' gain, and it's doing very well on Friday nights.

Smallville... why don't they just call it Metropolis? We rarely ever go back to Clark's hometown outside of brief returns to the Kent farm or the Talon (and with Chloe now firmly esconced in the Watchtower, not even that). But we're slowly getting to Clark's letting go of the "Blur" in favor of the blue-and-red ensemble, especially with his discovery of a whole passel of legendary super-heroes in costume still muckin' about ("Absolute Justice" made me squeal like a little girl). The good news is that the scripts are getting much better episode to episode, and if they avoid botching the season finale (last year's Clark/Doomsday battle was beyond horrible), this could be the best run of the series ever.

Another big favorite of ours is Cartoon Network's Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which is just a long-time comic book fan's wet dream. I hate that we won't see new episodes until the end of March, and that they're making me wait for the first full-blown appearance of Captain Marvel, Dr. Sivana, and Black Adam. Holy Moley!

As for the return of Doctor Who this spring and the possible return this year of Torchwood? 'Nuff said.

So chime in, folks! What's been among your favorites this year?

No snow?

2010-02-18T15:59:00.001-08:00

Well, now my local newspaper says that not only are we not going to get more snow, but that temperatures this weekend will be around 35 to 40 degrees.

Which means my front yard is going to become prime real estate for Dr. Alec Holland.

And unless some apocalyptic event hits town, this is the last time you will ever see a weather report on this blog.

More snow on the way....

2010-02-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

Our local meteorologists (dare we ever call them "weathermen" again?) have predicted yet another huge pile of snow heading our way here in Columbus by Saturday. You know, I don't care, as long as it lands after I get home from work. More than likely I won't have to take Dee to work Sunday morning, as she has a ride in on her weekends she has to work, church will probably be cancelled if the roads get exceedingly bad, and I can stay home and finish up any number of projects and not set foot outside. It would be a great day to banish all the remaining shows I have built up on my DVR. What a plan!

What is going to happen is that I'll be shovelling a ton of this white sky poop out of my driveway, walkway and back walk to the garage... again!

SCORED!!!!

2010-02-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Three times a day I check in on Harry Knowles' Ain't-It-Cool-News website for updates on TV and film, and last week his correspondent "Scorekeeper" set up a contest for five people to win the long-awaited CD release of John Williams' film score to Black Sunday from 1977. It is one of the few soundtracks by Williams that have never been printed on LP, CD, or digital, and is being released under Film Score Monthly's limited edition label.

The rules were simple: briefly tell Scorekeeper why he should send you the CD, what your favorite John Williams' movie score is, and what your favorite sports related soundtrack is. So I hopped into the Wayback Machine and reminiced about how Black Sunday, at the time, was one of the few movies I felt compelled to go back and see more than once.

With this and the previous year's Jaws, even as a young fledgling in cinema back in '77, I knew that the Maestro was a force to be reckoned with in the composition of great orchestrated movie music.

"Force" was the key word here, because a mere three months after Black Sunday's release, Williams' music would be hummed by nearly every man, woman, and child who ever walked into a movie theater when Star Wars exploded onto movie screens and changed almost every aspect of Hollywood filmmaking forever. And for this callow youth who drove almost 50 miles to the only theater playing the movie in central Indiana with his fiancee and kid brother, the legendary Eastwood Cinema, my life would never be the same.

But before Star Wars, Williams' magnificent score for Black Sunday helped put me on the edge of my seat to John Frankenheimer's terrorist thriller. I'm very happy, honored, and a bit flabbergasted that I'm one of the five people to win a copy of that soundtrack.

Man, almost 35 years ago. Who the heck knew?

Operation Snowdrift: Phase 2

2010-02-15T16:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, there is one thing I don't like about this snow: shoveling it twice in one day. But at least the falling snow is leveling off and I was able to get the driveway cleared off, as well as the walkways out front and leading from the back of the house to the side garage door.

Meanwhile, I finally got through the two episodes of Human Target (which seems to be getting better with each episode), today's installment of Young and the Restless (it's the only thing that Dee and I can agree on watching now that we're both home in the evening), and I'm working on last week's Leverage and hopefully squirrel away two episodes of Ugly Betty before we hit the sack.

Tomorrow evening I should have the final installment of Star Trekkin' wrapped up and on the blog. Hope you tune in then!

Operation Snowdrift: Phase One Completed!

2010-02-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here in Columbus, IN, we're getting hit with one of the biggest snowstorms we've had in the four years I've lived here on 22nd Street. I just finished digging up the driveway and the walkways to get to the house, but I fear this to be a futile gesture, as the snow is still coming down with no hint of letting up.

Still, if I need to get to the grocery, we're only two blocks away from Marsh, so we should be okay for the next couple of days.

Of course, Deena hates every second of this, but despite the backbreaking work I had to do out there, I love, love, love it!

Star Trekkin' 18 and 19

2010-02-15T07:05:00.001-08:00

Star Trekkin' 16 and 17

2010-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Star Trekkin' 14 AND 15

2010-02-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Star Trekkin' 12 and 13

2010-02-15T06:52:00.000-08:00

Star Trekkin' 10 and 11

2010-02-15T06:49:00.001-08:00

Star Trekkin' 8 and 9

2010-02-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

A Neil Gaiman Doctor Who epsiode

2010-02-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, now I have to live until next year, if for nothing else than to see a Neil Gaiman-scripted Doctor Who episode. How off the wall do you think that will be?!!!

Gobsmacked by snow!

2010-02-15T03:20:00.000-08:00

My entire neighborhood is covered in snow, and on my day off. I don't have to pick up Mom from dyalisis today, so I'm pretty much snowed in until the plows show up. Good for me, good for you, since I have no pressing projects other than the Whoosier Network's January Gallifreyan Gazette to finish up, and I can spend the rest of the day posting the Star Trekkin' series and experimenting with my new blog. That and try to clear my DVR's harddrive of stuff that's built up for days.

Star Trekkin' 7

2010-02-15T03:03:00.000-08:00

One of the things I loved about that night was that we did have a few people in costume, including a Klingon guy and an Andorean girl holding hands in public. What's next, dogs and cats living together?!! Ewwww!

Star Trekkin' 6

2010-02-15T03:01:00.001-08:00

Star Trekkin' 5

2010-02-15T02:05:00.001-08:00

I had to check in with Misty Bulthius about this angle with the story.

"How would you feel about hitting on Raj?"

"Do what you want. I think he's cute."

Star Trekkin' 4

2010-02-15T01:56:00.001-08:00

Just to let you know, the only "Actual" part of this Actual, Semi-True Adventure of Mark and Dee is that we did go with the Bulthiuses to the IMAX premiere of Star Trek, sans costumes and meeting with the Big Bang Theory gang. I could never fit in my Deep Space Nine costume again. Deena, on the other hand, has room to spare. Doh!

Star Trekkin' 3

2010-02-15T01:52:00.000-08:00

My goodness, that actually worked! What a happy boy I am!

Star Trekkin' 2

2010-02-15T01:47:00.001-08:00

That last one was a little big, but I think you'll get the full size by pressing the thumbnail.