meltblog

Since its Thursday…
Image found here: LOSTPEDIA.COM

Text found here: mcsweeneys.net
THE OPENING ACT FROM THE ORIGINAL, UNUSED TELEPLAY OF LOST’S PILOT EPISODE.
BY ANDREW BRIDGMAN

- - - -

JACK: OK, everyone, gather round. I’m Jack. We crashed on this island. I’m kind of an alcoholic, and I had a really complicated relationship with my father, Christian, who was also an alcoholic.

CLAIRE: Christian Shepherd? That’s my dad, too!

JACK: No way!

SAWYER: Oh, yeah, I know that guy, too. I met him at a bar. He’s proud of you.

JACK: You met my dad?

SAWYER: Yeah, I met him right before I killed this guy I thought had ruined my life as a child. He was a con man who went by “Sawyer” and had an affair with my mother and then my dad found out and killed her and himself. It was ugly.

LOCKE: No way! That sounds just like my dad! He stole my kidney and then paralyzed me.

KATE: Paralyzed people can’t walk. (more…)

So we got in the new McSweeney’s Issue 27 and a restock of Wacky Packages book. All featuring the handy work of Art Spiegelman. New McS, even has an insert book with new works and sketches.

Consume now!
Thank you, Gaston.

Plunging straight into the grayish, faintly understood area of the art world that involves oddly drawn objects coupled with uncertainly spelled text, McSweeney’s 27 brings together a previously uncategorized cadre of pithy draftsmen, genius doodlers, and fine-artistic cartoonists, and buffets them with essays examining just what it is that these people are doing and why the world should know about it. With work by Jim Shepard, Stephen King, Art Spiegelman, David Shrigley, Tucker Nichols, and many others, and stories by a wide variety of excellent writers.

Wacky Packages—a series of collectible stickers featuring parodies… (more…)

First thing first–due to Memorial Day, new comics this week come out on THURSDAY, May 29th–come in Thursday, and we’ll politely tell you to come back tomorrow–then laugh behind your back (shout-out to Brian Hibbs)…here’s the list after the jump: (more…)

Just in time for the summer blockbuster season, LOADED BIBLE writer/creator Tim Seeley and digital artist Crank! have teamed to produce an all-new trailer for June’s LOADED BIBLE BOOK ONE TP!
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Various sources around the net are reporting that Rory Root, long-time owner of Comic Relief, "The Comic Bookstore", in Berkeley, CA, has died today following complications of a hernia operation.  Rory was a dear friend of Meltdown, we are all saddened by this news, and we send our condolences to his family, friends, co-workers and everyone whom he touched.

On a personal note, I moved to Berkeley in the Fall of 2005, and Comic Relief became my local comics shop.  Mr. Root was always in the store on Wednesdays, always with a smile on his face, always willing to answer even the most obscure questions.  On many evenings he would sit outside the store on his stool, a group of comics fans huddled around, swapping stories through the night.  Rory Root will be greatly missed.

Kirby_Press_Release.pdf

“I was thinking how the world should have cried on the day Jack Kirby died”
The above line is from a song titled MELT by the band Monster Magnet. It perfectly represents the undying enthusiasm for the many and varied works of Jack Kirby, an enthusiasm that is that is stoked, nurtured and built to burn ever higher by fantastic Earthlings like Mark Evanier, author of KIRBY: KING OF COMICS, a magnificent coffee table edition now in wide release from Abrams.

Mark Evanier was smart enough and lucky enough to have worked as Jack Kirby’s assistant and eventually became the standard-bearer for all things Kirby. He has done more than perhaps any single person to point the curious and the uninformed in the direction of the work of the King and in this new biography he does so in a wonderfully engaging yet unassuming style that brings neophyte and professional alike to the same conclusion; without Jack Kirby, modern comics would not exist.

While Jack Kirby is no longer with us, his spirit and legend are carried forward in print and in many wonderful tales that you can hear in person when Mark Evanier joins us at Meltdown Comics on June 7th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for a signing and question and answer session. We look forward to seeing you then. Long live the King!

A brief Q & A will be hosted by super Kirby Fan and ADULT SWIM Animation Producer/Director Jon Schnepp.

About Jon Schnepp:
Jon Schnepp has been directing, writing and producing episodic series and short-form shows for the past twelve years. His credits include directing the popular “Upright Citizens Brigade”, directing the 3D origin of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, editing episodes of “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast”, and co-producing and directing “Metalocalypse”. Jon has worked on programming for Cartoon Network , FX, Nickelodeon,
MTV2, VH-1, and Comedy Central. Deeply influenced by comic books, SciFi flicks, and all things “geek”, Jon continually produces, writes, and directs his own films, which include Nerd Hunter 3004 and The Removers. Jon has also used the skills he acquired from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to design and create characters for the animated series “Metalocalypse” on Adult Swim. Jon is currently co-producing/directing for its second season. Absorb!

MARK EVANIER SIGNS
KIRBY: KING OF COMICS
AT MELTDOWN
JUNE 7, 2-4 PM
7522 SUNSET BLVD
www.meltcomics.com
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I published a new Making Good column today over at ScrypticStudios.com, in which I interview comics writer Vito Delsante. Here’s a quick excerpt:

What’s the best advice you could give on the craft of writing?

Other than what I just said, I always give three pieces of advice:

1. Write what you know. Learn what you don’t.
2. If you’re given the opportunity to write a big name/franchise character, you have to treat it like your neighbor’s toy; you have to give it back the same way you got it.
3. Write every day. Because the writer you want to be? He’s writing right now.

Vito’s issue of Superman comes out tomorrow. Please join us in his “Help Sell Out SUPERMAN #676″ campaign. If you’re on Facebook, you can join the Facebook group here.