Brief thoughts, my first appearance, and a link to a thing you’ve already seen.
So on Saturday, I was discussing with pal Dorian the fact that customers were asking me if the Tad Williams that wrote DC Comics’ The Next was the same as fantasy novelist Tad Williams. Well, yes, it is, but the very least DC could have done is slap “FROM THE BEST-SELLING FANTASY NOVELIST” across the cover.
As Dorian noted, most comic fans know that Marvel has a Stephen King comic book coming out (eventually), and Stephen King isn’t even writing it. That I have customers unsure if the Tad Williams in question is in fact the Tad Williams…well, that tells me that somewhere along the line, word didn’t sufficiently get out to comic fans. Maybe there were house ads and such…I don’t tend to pay a lot of attention to those, so I could have missed them. And were there any ads in places where it might grab the attention of new readers, like in fantasy or sci-fi mags? “Hey, like Tad Williams’ novels? Well, he’s writing a comic book….”
Also, and I’ve missed this since I’ve been staying away from comic book message boards lately (just for the sake of my own soul), Dor tells me that he saw someone apparently complaining that The Next is a ripoff of Marvel’s Nextwave, because 1) both are humorous, and 2) both have “next” in the title.
You have got to be kidding me.
H at the Comic Treadmill reveals my first appearance in comics. He certainly makes a compelling argument.
On a related note, I find it so strange that I know have some sort of minor internet “renown” for being a Swamp Thing fan. Well, not “strange” as in “hmmm…how odd that people think I like Swamp Thing” — I know I may have brought up Swamp Thing once or twice on this site in the past. It’s just weird seeing my fondness for the character being discussed by folks all over the world.
Don’t get me wrong…I think it’s neat. It just surprises me to find other people talking about me and the things that I like (or dislike), especially considering that when I started this site, I figured it would be just me, Dorian, my dad, and a half-dozen other friends checking it out.
So anyway, thanks to all you folks for reading, and feel free to keep talking about me. I am my own favorite subject, after all.
I’m sure the vast majority of you have seen it already, but I finally got around to watching The Amazing Screw-on Head pilot, based on Mike Mignola’s one-shot comic from a couple years back.
It’s amusing (not “hilarious,” as the Sci-Fi Channel description would have it, but weirdly offbeat), the animation is very close to Mignola’s style, and the voice work (particularly from David Hyde Pierce) is well-done. Not sure I need to see a regular series based on this, but the occasional one-off would be welcome.