Michael May's Blog, page 162

Godzilla and SpringCon: A Perfect Weekend

So, a few things.

First of all, Happy Memorial Day to those of you in the US. I'm eating bratwurst with friends and family, but also remembering fallen soldiers like my father-in-law. Hope you're able to do something similar.

It's nice to have a day off after an extremely busy May. Between C2E2, SpringCon, and just work in general, I'm excited to not do very much today. I started a new day job in December and it's been tough to get back in the creative groove. This blog has suffered and my fiction writing has suffered, but I guess that's expected. Cartoonist Jake Parker wrote a really encouraging blog post about how to ramp up creatively after a major life change, but points out that it usually takes about a year to recover after starting a new job, having a baby, or moving to a new city. I hope it doesn't take me that long, but it's good to know that I'm not alone in struggling.

I'm going to try to update at least once a week, which is way less than I used to, but if I want to get any fiction written then I've got to be a less prolific blogger. I'm finding Tumblr super useful to quickly share weird, fun stuff, so this blog is going to be more about updates and longer pieces like the Bond series that I promise I haven't given up on.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a post up last week, because the weekend was too full of fun. Friday night, David and I saw Godzilla (Diane had a previous commitment) and it's probably the most fun I've had at the movies since seeing Star Wars about thirty-two times in the theater in 1977 and '78. The new Godzilla isn't a perfect movie, but it's awesome and we engineered our experience to pull the maximum amount of fun from it. We finished our massive marathon of the entire series (minus a couple of impossible-to-find entries) about a week before and then made it to our local screening of the original 1954 film. We were eating and breathing Godzilla by the time we saw the reboot.





The next day was SpringCon and Diane did go to that. It was a family affair with David and I sharing the table. Kill All Monsters sold equally well on both days and I sold out my stock of The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible . That's probably the third time I've done that; it's a consistent seller at conventions.

David had planned to delay the third issue of his Hulkasaurus comic and instead came up with a card game that he designed and drew. He sold a few of those, but he also did monster sketches all weekend and even had a commission when a woman asked him to draw a fire monster for her.

As fun as that stuff was, he got asked about Hulkasaurus #3 enough times that he went home on Saturday night and finished it. We printed enough copies that he was able to fill the demand on Sunday and he earned enough to buy a Skylanders game he'd had his eye on all weekend.



David and I were able to hog the whole table, because Diane set up in the aisle to do face painting.



She's always a hit and it was pretty cool that one of her more involved paintings won Best Makeup at the convention's costume contest. She'd painted a young Hermione with cat makeup for a Chamber of Secrets look.



Sunday was my first time on a panel at a convention and that was a lot of fun, too. The other panelists were - from left to right, below - Erik Burnham (Ghostbusters), Anthony Hary (Fifteen Minutes), and Otis Frampton (Oddly Normal). The topic of the panel was Local Boys Made Good, so we talked about the idea of "making good": what are our metrics for success, how have we gotten to wherever we are right now, and how do we keep motivated to push to greater success? I thought it was an interesting, inspirational conversation and we had some nice audience participation.



Of course, one of the most inspiring things for me at conventions is just to be around so many creative people and comics fans, some of whom I only get to see a couple of times a year. That's a major highlight of any show and SpringCon was no exception. It was a perfect weekend, even though I'm glad that this one's a lot more relaxed.

This Weekend: Kill All Monsters at SpringCon

I'll be at SpringCon this weekend with lots of Kill All Monsters books and prints. If you live near enough to plan to travel there, you probably already know about SpringCon, but just in case you don't, it's a fantastic, two-day show that's all about the comics.  Guests this year include Jeff Parker, Adam Hughes, Bill Willingham, and a ton of other great creators. My wife, Diane will be back too, making everyone's faces more superheroey or Pokemony or whatever else people want to put on their kissers.

One of the things I'm most excited about is that I'll be on a panel with my pal Otis Frampton and a couple of guys I haven't met in person yet, but am looking forward to getting to know: Erik Burnham and Anthony Hary. Here are the details:

Sunday, 1PM to 2PM: LOCAL BOYZ MADE GOOD! 
Meet a crew of hot local creators on their way up and discussing how they got that way. Featuring Otis Frampton (Oddly Normal from Image), Erik Burnham (Ghostbusters), Anthony Hary (Fifteen Minutes), and Michael "Kill All Monsters!" May!

So if you're in the area, come by and say hi. And if you're there on Sunday, please come to the panel and ask hard questions like, "Who would win in a fight: Skullbot or Mechagodzilla?" Then I'll ask you which Mechagodzilla and we can have a whole conversation and totally take over the panel. It'll be fun!

Free Comic Book Day was amazing

Free Comic Book Day was awesome. It was a family affair for us with David and I selling Kill All Monsters comics and Diane doing all kinds of nerdy facepainting from superhero logos and Pokemon characters to full-blown Spider-Man masks and zombie makeup. That's her setting up behind me in the photo above.

We were at The Source Comics and Games, which has completely figured out how to win at Free Comic Book Day. They turn their store into a mini comics convention, not only giving away free comics, but also having a huge sale and inviting local cosplayers and creators to come and be part of the festivities. It's grown bigger every year and this time the line at opening was unbelievable.



What you don't see in that picture is that the line continues to wrap around two more corners to the opposite side of the store. There were tons of people and Kill All Monsters sold really well. In fact, from a sales per hour standpoint, it did even better at FCBD than at C2E2.

So thanks again to The Source for hosting a great event, and thanks to all the customers who came by and chatted and/or bought a copy of KAM. It was great meeting you all and I couldn't be more excited for SpringCon in two weeks.

Top 5 Spider Movies

Amazing Spider-Man 2 starts this weekend and sadly, I couldn't be less excited. I'm planning to see it, but mostly for the kissing parts. The villain-focused mythology this new series is building doesn't interest me at all, largely because that was the weakest part of the previous Amazing Spider-Man movie.

With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to remember and talk about some other spider-based movies that I expect I'll still like better than this new one once I've seen it. I picked my five favorites and some honorable mentions that didn't quite make the cut. Naturally, I want to hear about yours in the comments.

5. Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)



When I wrote about Beast from Haunted Cave a couple of years ago, I mentioned that it's primarily a crime drama disguised as a creature feature. The monster takes backseat to the conflict in a group of bank robbers and the guide they trick into helping them, which is what makes me love the film all the more. What crime thriller wouldn't be enhanced by a mysterious, cave-dwelling, web-spinning beast? The fact that it's not really a giant spider, but a spider-like humanoid only makes it more appropriate as a replacement for Spider-Man.

4. Charlotte's Web (1973)



I don't have a lot of time for the live-action remake from 2006, but the original cartoon adaptation of EB White's book still holds a special place in my heart. Paul Lynde's Templeton the rat was a huge attraction, but I'm amazed at how fond I grew of Charlotte the spider and how heart-broken and yet optimistic I was over that ending. That's a complicated blend of emotions to ask from children, but it's exactly why the story is so powerful and enduring.

3. Tarantula (1955)



If you're gonna turn ordinary animals into giant freaks - which people loved to do in the '50s - you can't do better than the hairiest, nastiest animal of them all. I don't know if I've mentioned, but as much as I complain about cephalopods around here, spiders - and tarantulas in particular - are 1000 times worse. This is almost my worst nightmare.

2. Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)



And this actually is my worst nightmare. I feel like I can get away from one, enormous tarantula, but there's no escaping a seemingly intelligent infestation of the things. The film makes up for its wild scientific inaccuracies by having a famous space captain Shatner up the place as a veterinarian investing the vindictive monsters and then leading a small group of survivors holed up in a lodge.

1. Spider Baby (1968)



One of my absolute favorite horror movies. Lon Chaney Jr. wasn't doing so well by this time in his career, but he's in excellent form as Bruno, the caretaker of a trio of creepy siblings in a decaying mansion. The Merrye kids all have an odd, hereditary syndrome that causes them to mentally and physically regress, exhibiting inappropriate behavior like eating spiders with a fork. Young Virginia is especially obsessed with spiders and she's the one who gives the movie its name.

Things get complicated when a couple of city-slicker relatives show up with their lawyer. As they try to claim control over the family estate, Bruno begins to lose control of the siblings and hilarity and murder ensue. It's a strange and disturbing, but weirdly beautiful film.

Honorable Mentions

Spider-Man 2 (2004)



It would've been weird to include another Spider-Man movie on my official list, but it would also be weird not to mention any of the others at all, especially the best one.

Dracula (1931)



Not at all a spider movie, but that awesome web and the rubber spider that lives in it are so memorable that I wanted to include the film.

The Angry Red Planet (1959)



I didn't feel that the giant bat-spider was a vital enough part of the film to include it in the main list, but again: really memorable.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)



Not one of my favorite Harry Potter films, but it does have a couple of cool things going for it: Kenneth Branagh and the super scary chase scene with giant spiders.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)



I have a giant soft spot for the spiders in the 1977 Rankin-Bass cartoon and their tormented whine, "We are no match for Sting!" But I genuinely love the first appearance of the Peter Jackson version as we get glimpses of them swarming over Radagast's cottage and then disappearing into the forest. I wasn't able to find a screenshot I liked that really captured that creepiness and horror, so I went for the more flashy image above from The Desolation of Smaug. But it's that brief appearance in Unexpected Journey that makes me want to mention them honorably.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)



I like to think that it was Alfred Molina's being covered in spiders here that actually turned him into the spider-hating villain of Spider-Man 2.

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)



If I'd been picking a Top Six, this would've been on the list. In fact, on a different day, it would probably replace Tarantula. It's inarguably a better film, but on most days I prefer the camp of something like Tarantula to the serious tone and downer ending of The Incredible Shrinking Man. Awesome screenplay by Richard Matheson, based on his own novel, with excellent effects. Highly recommended.

So what are your favorite spider movies? Tell me!

Kill All Monsters at The Source this weekend!

This weekend is Free Comic Book Day! As usual, I'll be spending it at The Source Comics and Games, but this year I won't just be picking up a stack of free comics and taking advantage of the store's huge sale. I'll also have a table with copies of Kill All Monsters.

KAM will be for sale, but I do have some awesome prints to give away with every purchase of the book. So... Free Comic Book-Inspired Art Day, I guess? And of course I'll be happy to sign any copies that you already have for absolutely zero dollars. Whatever the situation, if you're in the area, I hope you'll come by and say hello whether you buy anything or not. My wife Diane will also be there face painting; also not for free, but super fun. She's great at superhero faces, logos, Pokemon, and pretty much anything geeky and cool. If she can find a reference for it, she can put it on your cheek and make it look amazing.

As long as I'm writing about appearances, I should quickly mention that C2E2 was a great success. I got to spend the whole weekend hanging out with Jason and a bunch of other friends, both old and new, whom I don't want to list because I'll forget someone important. But we sold a bunch a books and talked to a lot of kaiju fans, all of whom never fail to humble me with their vastly superior knowledge of giant monsters and robots. If I talked to you last weekend, please know that I loved it and look forward doing it again as soon as possible.

Jason sets up before the show

A few notes about the first part of Les Vampires (1915)

I'm making my way through Louis Feuillade's Les Vampires, one of the first movie serials. I'm not that familiar with Feuillade's work, but I love serials and silent film and the iconic image above that's most often connected with Les Vampires, so I needed to at least check it out. I didn't have high hopes going into this one though for a couple of reasons, biggest of which is that I couldn't make it all the way through Feuillade's other silent, serialized masterwork, Fantomas. I liked Fantomas for a few episodes, but they got repetitive, even when I staggered my viewing out to an episode a night. I grew tired of it and I expected that I would with Les Vampires as well.

That repetition is connected to my second reason for being pessimistic, which is that Les Vampires isn't about vampires at all, but - like Fantomas - is about an intrepid investigator and his humorous sidekick who are looking into the affairs of master criminals. I knew before I started it that Les Vampires isn't a monster series, but the more I watch of it the more it reminds me of Fantomas, at least superficially. It has a couple of things going for it though that have a chance of pulling me through the whole series.

First, the criminals have a lot more style than the titular villain of Fantomas. Not that Fantomas is without class. He's an intelligent, resourceful bad guy and fairly charming, though ruthless enough that I never wanted to see him get away. The criminal organization from whom Les Vampires gets its name though are all about flash with their ninja outfits and secret meetings. I also like how petty they are: beheading a policeman for getting too close and targeting a ballet dancer for daring to dress like a vampire bat onstage (that's her in the screenshot above).

They also have an agent who's boldly named Irma Vep and I'm kind of in love with her. She reminds me a lot of a murderous Aubrey Plaza and I'll be interested in the series as long as she's in it.





Women do especially well in Les Vampires, which is another thing that could keep me going. The main character - an investigative reporter - lives with his mother, who looks pretty helpless on the surface. But when she's kidnapped by the Vampires as leverage against her son, she doesn't wait around to be rescued, but figures out how to free herself.



I'm only three episodes in, but if the rest of Les Vampires is as surprising as this first part, I'll happily stay on for the whole ride.

Kill All Monsters at C2E2

Just a quick note that Jason and I will be at C2E2 this weekend with plenty of copies of Kill All Monsters and other cool swag. Table Q-8 in Artist Alley.

Hope to see you there!

Brandon Graham's Emerald City heroes drawing

I love this drawing that Brandon Graham did for the Emerald City Comicon program book. It's all creator-owned characters from people who were at the show.

It's fun to figure out who everyone is, but if you get stumped, Graham has the cheat sheet on his blog.

Kill All Monsters fan art by A.Shay Hahn

A.Shay Hahn is a Toronto-based painter who's working on a couple of comics called Squirley Corn and Homeless G-Men for planned publication next year. While looking at different formats for comics, he discovered Kill All Monsters and dug the landscape format, which I hope I can be pleased about without sounding like a jerk since that was all Jason's idea.

Anyway, he also created this lovely piece of the Lionbot and a former adversary. Thanks so much for sharing that, Mr. Hahn! Jason and I are thrilled that you like the book!

More Kill All Monsters fan art by Daniel Mead

You may remember Daniel Mead's name as the artist who made these awesome kaiju/giant robot pieces a while back featuring some of the Kill All Monsters Bots. Turns out, he's super versatile as proven by this adorable showdown between the Skullbot and a giant friend. Thanks, Daniel! Now I want Kill All Monsters plushies!

Check out Daniel's DeviantArt page for more of his great stuff.