• 22:56 Get a free copy of Wonder Woman #39 tomorrow December 24th at Zeus comics. #
• 23:04 @kenlowery it was already spoiled on @scans_daily with @gailsimone's support so why the fuck not. #
• 23:08 @kenlowery I'm only losing a couple hundred bucks. I can spare that right? That was the guest we were flying for @variants. Or maybe rent. #
• 23:10 @deadlyblonde I think that's a good thing, right? #
• 23:11 @robcrogers3 11am to 6pm. Come get a free Wonder Woman! #
• 23:12 Support The Variants, add a #twibbon to your avatar now! - bit.ly/3dXZDg #
• 23:16 @variantsjoe I will stab you fucker with a fucker shut your fucker. Um - what your quote earlier? #
• 23:18 @mikesterling at the roller rink...it was amazing. Now that was an album. #
• 23:22 @everettguess are you having trouble sleeping in a clean, white room with wires attached everywhere? Maybe that's why you can't sleep? #
• 23:30 @variantsjoe we can't unspoil things, Joe. so no. #
• 23:33 @kenlowery in a polyamorous kind of video community sort of mass consciousness way then "yes" #
• 23:37 @variantsjoe do it! Keep twattering! I fully support this. #
• 23:38 @variantsjoe we don't need no water or something. Where's my dress? #
• 23:43 I love seeing the Variants twibbons! It may be my buds but its still cool. #
• 00:07 @kingbaz if you haven't already read it on scans_daily. we have it for free, too. #
• 00:10 Reverend Fred Phelps opposition to Lady Gaga will still not make me like Lady Gaga. #
• 00:19 @variantsjoe thanks Weezer. #
• 07:15 up early adding comic covers to the product database. #
• 07:26 I love hearing the rain outside. I just wish I was in bed listening to it. #
• 07:56 We're under a winter storm advisory? Possible snow? what? #
• 08:03 @LordShaper Are y'all a day ahead? Is it the 25th? #
• 08:04 @wrenlet was not expecting that at all. #
• 09:10 @kingbaz at least it looks like the mods took down the scans. Still very dangerous attention to garner. #
• 09:42 .@peeplesart All retailers had to sign an affidavit. Is it wrong to expect a little integrity? #
• 10:36 Zeus is open today until 6pm. Come get your comics or last minute gifts. Plus the new Wonder Woman #39 is free while supplies last. #
• 15:08 I firmly believe that the folks that comment on idiot drivers when it rains, snows or ices are idiot drivers themselves. #

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• 00:50 fascinated by Hanna Barbera's the Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan on Boomerang...tinyurl.com/2sbtcq #
• 09:59 I want to wish everyone a merry new comics day. #
• 16:35 a new icon must mean new photos were taken for the next episode of @variants! #
• 16:40 @variantsjoe not the face! No not the face! #

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a Blood Syndicate picture i did for the upcoming Milestone Forever!

saw Avatar. i was expecting all the "mighty whitey" stuff and the disregard for American Indian and First Nations people, but i didn't expect it to be so damn boring, haha. i've never been a James Cameron fan, i think the only movie i like of his is the first Terminator (although T2 is supremely watchable even if it's really dumb). i haven't seen Piranha 2 or Titanic, but i've seen enough of his stuff to know that even when i don't like the movie it at the very least has really entertaining action and thrills, but Avatar was pretty blah across the board, i was really surprised by that. we're supposed to do a podcast about it next week so i'll wait for that to say more i guess, but overall the movie was pretty bad, unintentionally racist, full of "noble savage" stuff, the monsters were dull earth animal analogues (ooh, alien horse!) on a pretty generic jungle planet, and what was up with the "mystical" subtitle font? fucking Papyrus or whatever? wtf. Neytiri was cool, though, i think if they ditched everything else and ditched the thinly-veiled (or non-veiled), romanticized Native American parallels i might like a Neytiri Show. i guess i have a soft spot for cat people, blue people, and blue cat people (anyone remember her: one, two. Cameron ripped me off! ha) but that couldn't save this mess.

here are some good links regarding the movie:

When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar? by Annalee Newitz

and another stance by Scott Eric Kaufman, which is a little mean-spirited i think, and i don't think i agree with everything he's saying, but is an interesting read.

this one isn't about Avatar specifically, it was written a year ago, but the writer articulately talks about a lot of the problems with the sort of movie Avatar is and the problems you run into when you use aliens and monsters to explore race.

ETA: dcmoviegirl reviews Avatar! the Na'vi: Brendan Fraser?! XD

So, the hits just keep on coming this December. During Saturday's snowstorm an NYC Sanitation Truck smacked a utility pole across the street from our house, yanking out our power line. Miraculously, our power remained on, unfortunately, this happened at 2 am and kept us up until after 6 am, with cameos from the Fire Department, Con Ed, a Sanitation Dept Supervisor, and an earth mover to clear snow so the Con Ed truck could manage the hill and get the power line repaired. One idiot in a truck managed to hit the power line, ignoring the truck guarding it (also, stuck in the ice). I found myself clearing our steps at 5 am with a gardening shovel, because, oh ha ha, we had no shovel, stupid me forgot pours broke last year and we hadn't replaced it. I didn't want the Con Ed worker falling down the steps as the firemen and I had (I hit my head on the downed power line retaining box twice, but didn't get any electrical super powers. No luck, I tell you). So, fun up the ass, there, just as Sarah's root canal pain died down and a few family-spawned nightmares developed.

Further fun -- I couldn't get out of here on Sunday because of the snow, and had to make do with the gardening shovel to clear our walk. My back is now spasming like a worm orgy on a white-hot skillet as a result of the weekend, and my arms feel like someone played Stretch Armstrong with them, forgetting they aren't rubber. You know those cartoonists who hit the wights and are in great shape? All dozen or three of them? I'm not one of them. As it pained me to realize, yet again. Fucking ouch, man. Fucking ouch.

And yesterday - some scumbag parks his car in front of our cleared garage and goes to work, leaving the car for at least ten hours. So, we couldn't get our car out of the garage. And if you're familiar with Satan Island (my sympathies), you need your car if you have plans. Called 311, no help. I did get to shovel some more with the glorified two-handed spade. Why didn't I write a note last year: "Shovel broken. You live in NYC. Might need another one. Seriously, consider buying a new shovel."?

And today -- well, we found out we're writing a good-sized check tomorrow,  to an electrician, to fix the damage to the house and power lines. And we're putting in a claim for the damage with the city. But even if we get the money quickly (ha ha), this is a seriously big swift kick in the teeth, after several swift shots to the head and kidneys this year. We simply cannot catch a fucking break. I was going to say at least we have our health, but...that's kind of debatable. At least our daughter has her health. There. Good.

In other news:

I'll be on SLG Radio tomorrow, Wednesday, at 5 pm EST instead of Thursday. Dan Vado and I will yell at one another for an hour about whatever the hell crops up. Maybe I'll throw myself off a building during the podcast, that might actually get a few listeners to the archives.

Beasts of Burden #4 ships tomorrow to various comic shops. And then we're done, at least for now. My thanks to everyone out there who picked up the series, gave it a try, gave it some ink or helped spread the word online. It's all been appreciated. This really has been a pet project of mine (sorry), and the response from the readers has been incredibly gratifying. If all goes well, we hope to have some good news on further material sometime next year, fingers crossed. And we'll definitely have a collection of the first 8 stories out mid-2010. I think Jill and I made some good comics, I really do. I hope we get to make some more. Hope #4 works okay for you folks who will be picking it up, thanks again.

This decade can't end soon enough. Honestly.

• 20:16 @amboy00 you are such a racist. #
• 20:21 @sk716 But this promises connecting covers and foil covers and cover covers. #
• 20:48 Is it 8pm so I can kick these kids out? #
• 20:52 Met some really nice folks from Longview. Big fans of @gailsimone. #
• 20:52 @deadlyblonde it will happen one of these days. #
• 00:09 @charlithegreat You got your bits between my phone. Whu? #
• 00:10 There are so many gingers in my life that the "other ginger" doesn't work in describing someone to @amboy00 #
• 11:32 working. so much to do. #
• 11:50 Out of Spider-Woman pint glasses, Ahsoka action figures and Obama banks. #
• 12:00 Out of the Criminal Deluxe Hardcover, the Chew trade and the plush Hello Kitty in Kimono dress. #
• 12:04 The Blackest Night hold until the 30th is making my shipping customers wait to get comics. Harumph. #
• 16:34 @ruckawriter clarification - its not the end end. Jock comes on board and then probably more? Detective is selling better than it ever has. #
• 16:36 There is just not enough time between now and tonight's read through for @variants. #

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• 21:01 Its a great project with people too busy to work together to make it bigger. #
• 21:12 The grinch is amazing in terms of its simplistic animation effects yet huge storytelling. #
• 23:12 Liv Tyler is not a convincing scientist. #hulk #
• 23:17 However Dr Spaceman is hilarious. #hulk #
• 23:41 I might've watched a Def Leppard animated series 20 years ago. Does anyone younger than 30 even know Def Leppard? #
• 23:55 Dethklok or Def Leppard? #
• 03:20 Can't sleep. Punishment for doubting Def Leppard? #
• 12:02 Just opened my bill from the CPA. Wowza - the CPA wants a lot of money. #
• 12:37 oh wow - Mileycyrusnudemileycyrusnude didn't fill in the checklist form on the Zeus website this week. and we were becoming close : ( #
• 13:32 The @variants editor said I can use the real image for episose 7 and he can alter it in post. Just a warning to @variantsjoe & @schmeschme #
• 13:42 @kenlowery more like blackest night goatse #
• 13:48 I don't understand why the violence in the Texas Chainsaw comics is okay for a 13 year old but the nudity isn't. #
• 13:51 @ChaosMonkey they've settled on Vampirella. ugh. #
• 13:59 Having a run on gift cards. If you're a Zeus customer, there's a pretty good chance someone you love got you a gift card. #
• 14:00 @solipsiae yes. #
• 14:03 oh - school is out. #
• 14:05 I'm wearing a green lantern shirt and selling comics. Before you say I'm living the dream just remember I have to deal with the public. #
• 14:08 I didn't realize parking was better at the old location. Thanks. I totally would have picked a different place. #
• 14:09 @pingley yes. a blessing all round. #
• 14:19 A woman just walked out because an action figure fell of a rack when no one was near it. I'M SERIOUS. spooky. #
• 14:44 @bclaymoore I caught one Sunday. It was right after Jackie cut her hair. I swear I spent a 5 minutes wondering if Martin Short was guesting. #
• 16:21 this vegan fried rice is really good. #
• 17:42 @kenlowery I've read so many amazon purchases tweets on here that it's not surprising. Who goes to a book store anymore? #
• 17:43 spent 10 minutes chatting with someone in-store about their love of @variants. It was cool and weird at the same time. #
• 17:48 @noelgross yeppers. people are odd. #
• 17:56 @kenlowery I prefer book stores myself but then I have one kind of. #
• 18:43 Its a shame @ruckawriter's Detective isn't collected. I could sell that shit of that for Giftmas. #
• 18:46 @AronHead will check it out later tonight. #
• 18:57 People keep referencing Team Jacob and Team Edward. Was that in the books? Where did it come from? Because its driving me crazy! #
• 19:01 @charlithegreat I hear kids tormenting each other with it. #
• 19:15 Everyone pick a side! Are you a Team Barry or a Team Richard? one will die. none will survive. The universe will forever be changed. #
• 19:26 @krisstraub and there's a rogue contender in the running! #

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• 21:00 not going to make it to 9pm. not enough interest. stupid cowboys. #
• 09:01 I was propositioned walking into Whole Foods last night. I'd tell you I was insulted but really I was flattered. #
• 09:02 @kukheart I know. I don't really think the Cowboys are stupid. #
• 09:03 It started with "You look familiar. Do I know you?" #
• 09:08 and ended with "Stay faithful, man." #
• 09:26 @Talulla of course. #
• 09:27 @Talulla I will be up there no later than 10am this morning if that helps timewise. #
• 09:30 @Talulla Tis the season for me to have no choice but to get in early. #
• 10:34 @gamgie Its like getting carded for drinks! #
• 13:56 We are seeing a zero bump in sales from Christmas. Its kinda depressing but I'm happy we're not dependent on those sales to exist. #
• 14:05 Did Brittany Murphy die? #
• 14:57 @idrake76 How so? When looking it up, I saw some of the photos of an early December super skinny Brittany. #
• 15:41 I didn't realize Alaina Reed Hall from Rose from 227 and Olivia from Sesame Street had passed too. December 17 from breast cancer. #

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• 10:18 Zeus Super Saturday Hours: 9am to 9pm. Comics, trades and toys for everyone on your Christmas list! #
• 15:41 @amboy00 Two of those photos were from CAPE actually. #
• 15:43 going to run out of gift certificates. crazy. #

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• 20:32 @ruckawriter Do you want me to call someone? Have a few words? I will do that. #
• 21:13 @Templesmith except mormons. #
• 21:18 @Templesmith and Verdukians #
• 08:26 up early enough to hit the gym before Zeus. #
• 11:30 Christmas is saved! Or at least my email to execs at DC were answered. Hooray! #
• 11:33 @kingbaz yes. #
• 11:39 different subject but more wonderfulness. @ruckawriter helped out a new comics reader in Dallas and deserves a big thanks. #
• 14:05 did sprints at the gym this morning. Now all I need is my 22 year-old metabolism instead of my 39 year-old metabolism. #
• 15:07 I've never liked the song Silent Night. #
• 15:09 Bad ass dude! rt @pvponline Holy shit! Scott Kurtz to ink Neal Adams on Batman Odyssey? Seems so! bit.ly/6eVMoy #

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...are whatever you say they were.

• 22:33 oh sister, a new pair of earings, a bottle of white wine and that CVS pregnancy kit you just bought is an evening unto itself. #
• 22:46 @kenlowery wait wait don't tell me. You're in a box. No you're pulling a rope. Uh walking on the moon? gah - damn mimes! #
• 07:52 day off. scanning this weeks comic covers for website. #
• 08:30 Dallas Comic Con has a great line up in January tinyurl.com/dcc2010 #
• 09:54 All Starcraft and Warcraft comics canceled by Wildstorm. Future books to be all OGNs. #
• 10:07 @seanjackson Where's their license plate? #
• 10:26 annoyed by the big publishers plans for the week of the 30th. Poorly planned and poorly executed. #
• 15:35 Uh #
• 16:11 going to find out if I have any pull within DC Comics. #
• 17:16 a call is being made on our behalf. here's hoping. #
• 17:20 excited about the Tuesday @variants meeting and possible convention stuff. #
• 17:27 @peeplesart That's a full time responsibility requiring 6 months of work. I'm more focused on @variants honestly. #
• 18:13 @seanjackson yes. too much time and money. Please watch the @variants. #
• 19:20 @AngieK and a promotion! #
• 19:21 @bryan_lindsey Those trees are really nice for like $50. Your traffic ticket will cost more. #

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No seriously you guys, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Here is the first six minutes.

• 09:39 that goo that's all over my truck bed and now my winter jacket I suspect is from a faulty grease trap in the Gloria's parking garage. ugh. #
• 09:52 did @variants just get invited to its first convention? crazy. #
• 10:53 @deadlyblonde Can't really talk about it until it solidifies. #
• 10:59 @Kezilla That Keith Williams is talented. #

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I'm working on a "Blog Post", so I was gonna hold off until that was done to let y'all know SEEDLESS IS UPDATED! But, inking and etc are preventing me from finishing said blog post, SO-- SEEDLESS IS UPDATED!



I colored this Seedless LIVE on livestream podcasting whatever last night. If you missed out on it, here's the video:



Another update coming later tonight, probably. Topics include: Sharknife, Lady Gaga, 2010, Macross Plus, Cannonball, Street Fighter, and how they all work into each-other. STAYTUNED.

Beasts of Burden was written up in USA TODAY. Jill and I were interviewed for the article, they also ran the cover for #4 and the first three pages as a preview, in case anyone hasn't seen them yet. It's a nice piece, and it says nice things about the series, which is certainly appreciated.

(BTW, #4 isn't supposed to be out today, as the article states. It ships next week. I'm not really sure where the confusion about this came from, the previews running on several sites list the date as today, but Diamond has it listed for the 23rd, and DHC has told me it ships next week.)

Both Sarah and I are scheduled to be on SLG Radio tomorrow, airing on the internet at 5 PM EST. We'll be speaking with host Dan Vado about health insurance and other financial/career issues for cartoonists. For more info, and how to listen in live or via the archives, go here.

It's possible I'll be calling in to SLG Radio tomorrow from a comic shop, as I'll be one of the creators signing at the Comic Book Jones second anniversary event being held here on Satan Island. Signings, a sale, and an after-party for those of drinking age are in the offerings. So, come on down. Or over. Or whatever. It should be fun.

I think that's it. My thanks to those folks who chimed in on the health insurance conversation, especially professionals sharing their experiences and advice. I hope the conversation gave a few people something to think about regarding their own situation and career.

Hope to see some of you HOF faithful at the Jones event tomorrow, otherwise, type to you soon.

• 12:24 @nicole78jedi yes! #
• 12:31 I love Cascada's new single "Evacuate the Dance Floor" but I have to admit...when she says "evacuate" I think she means pooping. #
• 12:39 @kenlowery congratumaltions! #
• 12:43 This $1 Marvel comics thing is interesting - but Punisher Max? really? I wish they had picked more accessible comics. #
• 12:45 Most folks with minimal interest have already picked up those in trades. The others have already torrented them. How about something new? #
• 12:47 Oh! @kingbaz is right. Its a Marvel movie thing. Kind of like the two Black Widow minis that came out of nowhere. #
• 12:59 @GailSimone Makes signings that much easier. I don't think @billwillingham got up once when signing at Zeus #
• 13:05 burning JSA All-Stars #1 for heat. #
• 13:13 @matt_sturges Its okay. We all know @gailsimone is @markwaid in wonder woman underoos. I save a lot in airfare at CAPE 2008 #
• 16:12 The @variants needs your help! Vote for the 2010 Streamy Awards here - bit.ly/59CYlr our url is www.thevariants.com/ #
• 16:20 I just submitted The Variants for Best Comedy Web Series in the @StreamyAwards streamys.org #
• 16:39 just set up @kingbaz for failure. #
• 16:40 just kidding. #
• 17:44 chatted with my dear friend Celeste Martinez. I now have what I need for the @variants shoot in January. #
• 18:07 @LordShaper we'd stick you in an episode. #
• 18:21 @LordShaper You might not be our first aussie though... #
• 18:33 @LordShaper I know nothing. Hey what's that over there? #

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