Mikester

Due to circumstances beyond my control…

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…I have to be up early Monday morning to take care of some stuff, so my Sunday evening blogging time is…well, non-existent, really. So, let me leave you with this:

1. Thank you for your kind birthday wishes yesterday. And also happy birthday yesterday to my birthday-brother, Andrew!

2. Please wish my sister Jeanne happy birthday, as it is today. Well, the 14th, which it isn’t yet as I’m writing this.

3. Reader Brian unleashes this image in honor of my and Andrew’s birthday.

4. As promised a couple of days ago, when I was plugging our book Write More Good: here is one full chapter for you to read and enjoy. And I certainly hope you do.

42.

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from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #3 (1993) by Douglas Adams
adapted by John Carnell & Steve Leialoha

I helped write a book, and I would like you to buy it.

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So I’ve talked a few times before about this, but now, with the release date nearly upon us, hopefully you will excuse me if I lay the hard sell on you:


Write More Good, the book written by the folks who inflicted Fake AP Stylebook upon the world, is due for release on April 5th. It’s not just gags from the Twitter feed, but mostly all-new material carefully and lovingly handcrafted by me, pal Dorian, and a few other roustabouts and ne’er-do-wells. I think it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and some of the stuff the other guys wrote is pretty good, too. Some excerpts from the book should be available online shortly, and I’ll let you know when they start popping up.

It’s a satirical look at the world of journalism, a silly exercise in wordplay, and I also wrote some fart jokes. Two in the same chapter! The science chapter, even! I used to get in trouble as a kid for saying the word “fart,” and now I get paid for writing it! America…what a country!

And, hey, check that out. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert wrote the introduction. Let me repeat that…Roger freakin’ Ebert wrote the introduction. Is your mind blown? I know mine is.

Anyway, the book is a lot of fun, and we had a great time writing it, and I hope you folks try it out and enjoy it as well. You can preorder a copy right here from my site:


…or you can pick it up from many other online booksellers listed here.

• • •

In related news, I told you before about how some of us Bureau Chiefs folks were working on a new project, a parody of those “how-to” guides of dubious usefulness that litter the web. Well, that site has moved from its Tumblr beginnings to its own domain at The Content Farm. Updated daily with all new instructional guides that are just about as reliable as your typical content farm, but intentionally funny! There is also a Twitter feed that not only informs you when the site is updated, but also features original short-form material as well. So go ahead…follow us on Twitter. It’s free!

• • •

Phew! Thanks for sticking through that, gang. I’ll probably post a brief reminder in a week or so, and another big push just before the Big Day, so consider yourself forewarned.

In brief…

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…because I spent my blogging time Tuesday night working up a post that I decided at the last second to save for later. Urgh.

Anyway, I helped Kevin Church with a recent Daily Batman entry…

…Mark Andrew Smith is seeking Kickstarter contributions to fund the next volume of The New Brighton Archeological Society…

…Gerry Giovinco has more stories about his early encouragement in the world of comics, including an encounter with Arnold Roth…

…Andrew whips out a Nobody’s Favorite that I can remember selling, if not lately (like, in the last decade or so)…

…pal Dorian presents his latest Previews for Gays…

…and the aforementioned Dorian, along with Ken Lowery, recently posted a new “In A World” in which they look at the latest batch of movie trailers. A perennial favorite here at Progressive Ruin Industries.

Perhaps I should mention the name Playboy a few more times to really goose those Google searches.

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Yet another item from the many mystery boxes of promotional / retailer goodies:


Clicking on the above image will reveal a 1988 flyer from Dark Horse Comics, ballyhooing Concrete‘s mention in Harlan Ellison’s Playboy article about comic books. In particular, warning retailers that this kind of exposure could increase demand for the then quickly-forthcoming Concrete Color Special, and orders should be adjusted accordingly!

This being about 23 years ago, and just about the time of my entry into the high-finance world of funnybook-selling, I don’t really recall a huge Playboy-fueled bump in demand for the Concrete Color Special. In fact, I bet we probably still have a copy or four left over from our initial order on those. If I were to hazard a guess, if there was a transfer of readers between the world of Playboy and the world of comics, there were probably more comic book fans who sought out that issue of Playboy to read a Harlan Ellison article about funnybooks, than Playboy fans who went looking for a comic book about a giant rocky dude. And if that were the case, I’m sure Playboy appreciated that extra 0.001% bump in sales.

Honestly, I have no idea. Like I said, I don’t have any specific memory of anyone coming into the shop and declaring “I have read of this Concrete comic in the newest issue of Playboy, and by God, I must have it,” assuming anyone would actually tell us that they read about it in Playboy. But I don’t remember it selling much better than normal, aside perhaps from the slight bump in curious readers who’d been avoiding the critically-acclaimed comic book because it was black and white, but were finally tempted to sample the series when presented with a self-contained full-color one-shot. Perhaps other folks present in comics retail at the time may have had different experiences.

Anyway, it’s an interesting flyer, and regardless of the results, I appreciate Dark Horse’s efforts in informing retailers and taking advantage of media coverage. Plus, that gag panel on the flyer featuring Concrete is pretty cute.

By the way, I remember reading that Playboy article at the time, sitting there in the barber shop waiting for my turn in the chair and feelin’ all adult and stuff, picking up the nudie magazine to, um, read an article about comic books. Yes, I actually did read Playboy for the articles. Or, at least, an article.

Do French-Canadians even do the “eh?” thing? I have no idea.

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Some other goodies from 1980s Comic Images retailer ads…bumper stickers!


I like the simplicity of this one…they should bring it back to tie into the Thor movie. Except they’d probably screw it up by, I don’t know, putting Chris Hemsworth’s face in place of the heart, or something.



I only got through year 2 of my X-Men language classes in high school, so I might be a little rusty. All I remember is “I…hurt” and “tovarisch.”



“Bonjour! Je m’appelle Puck, et je t’aime, eh?”



That’s going to make it hard to practice my X-Men-speaking skills.



I understand he also “bites,” and that he “never drinks…wine.” You could’ve had a whole line of Dracula bumper stickers there, Comic Images.



Sorry, Iceman!


I know Puck isn’t French-Canadian. But, c’mon, “Je m’appelle Northstar, et je t’aime” isn’t nearly as funny.