I’ve been talking with Todd Dezago– TELLOS co-creator and great friend– about various TELLOS related things lately. One of them has been the possibility of creating a slip-case in order to offer the two TELLOS trades together with as a nice package with new art done for the covering. Apparently there are still several hundred copies of each trade left at the IMAGE warehouse (which is really DIAMOND DISTRIBUTORS, but it sounds cooler thinking that IMAGE houses them). I did a piece based on the protagonists from our little fantasy world and actually inked and colored it myself. But I couldn’t remember if I had posted it here or not. I know that the colors didn’t come out as well as I’d like…. but it was one of my first attempts in using Photoshop to color, so I think I was a little too ambitious in that first try. But until I can go back and look at the archives in BLOGGER to see if I actually posted the cover– or someone who’s been reading long enough to be able to refresh my memory– I’ll post this sketch I did for the opposite side of the slip-case with the bad guys from TELLOS.

I’m not sure whether the slip-case idea will ever happen… but I CAN tell you that Todd and I continue to talk about future TELLOS projects. My desire to revisit those characters has been growing of late. I don’t know what brought it on…. well, actually, I DO know what brought it on, but that would entail engaging in a rant that could possibly get me in some hot water in certain circles. So I’ll just keep my (virtual) mouth shut.

That’s it for today.

This is entry 180 (coming up on 200 soon…!).

Mike

I was born in 1963, had my formative years in the late 60’s and into the 70’s and finished my teenage years in the early 80’s. If anyone had said the date 2006 to me at any of those times, I would have imagined flying cars, holographic screens, talking computers and rocket packs. It’s so interesting to look back at each generation’s idea of what a ‘SCI-FI’ vision of the future would/will be. And the reality that we’re finding out is that it’s not really our transportation technology that’s growing and evolving in leaps and bounds (in fact, we’re stuck in the PAST as far as that’s concerned), but the way we connect with and communicate with each other that’s changing so quickly. My computer comes with iChat, and I purchased an iSight– a video camera that mounts on the top of the monitor, and I occasionally have video chats with some comics buddies….. and that’s something that’s done over the internet…. something that was fodder for science fiction tales not all that long ago. Internet telephony is revolutionizing the telecommunications industry. SKYPE, a free internet telephone software company, allows others with the software and headsets to speak to each other over the internet… and the sound quality is fantastic. My phone service here in my home is provided by TIME WARNER CABLE now over my high speed cable internet service. They charge a flat fee for unlimited local and long distance calling in the continental U.S. and Canada. In entertainment, Multi-Player-Online gaming has become huge business. Games like WORLD OF WARCRAFT, STAR WARS GALAXIES, and BATTLEFIELD are massively popular on PC (and Mac)… and X-BOX LIVE and PLAYSTATION ONLINE are also giants with gamers these days. This is all not to even mention the fascinating strides that cell phone technology is making with TV on your phone…. music on your phone… games in your phone… and text messaging (which is really actually OLD tech by now). But I’m not so much into that stuff…. I’m a home body, so it’s the internet and the way it has brought us all so much closer together is what really blows my mind. And this is all in just the past decade! It’s truly amazing, when you really think about it.

I often think back to the science fiction magazine published by WARREN PUBLISHING ‘back in the day’ called 1984. When it first began publication, that date was in vogue (and some ways off) thanks to the George Orwell futurist novel. But then it became the year 1984 in actuality, and they had to change the name to 1994. Then it eventually became the year 1994…. and they stopped publishing it not long afterward. It’s quite an illustration that we’re ALWAYS moving into the future… it keeps moving inexorably (and ever quicker) in our direction.

I hope 2006 is an amazing year for us all as we meet that future head-on.

This is Entry 179.

Mike

The year 2005 comes to a close tomorrow. It’s been a very interesting year for me– a very good year in many ways… and in some ways, not so much.

THE GOOD: This year, I went from working on ONE set of Marvel icons– THE FANTASTIC FOUR– to working on ANOTHER icon in SPIDER-MAN. In fact, FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN was my first experience in being on the ground floor of launching a new ongoing title for a major comic book company. I made a lot of contacts and budding friendships through the magic that is the internet this year. I ‘met’ folks like Mike Bullock and Jack Lawrence from LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS, Larry Young of AIT/PLANET LAR, and perhaps most importantly and interestingly for me– lots of folks from Belgium, France and Italy. Through the web, I’ve been able to correspond and in small ways work creatively with many wonderful and generous folks from across the ocean. I sincerely hope that these relationships continue to grow and that I can expand my ‘playground’ (so to speak) and do more work in Europe one day. That would be marvelous. Early in 2005 I was forced by the slow agonizing death of my Mac G4 tower to buy a new system as well as updating my scanners and printers. It was expensive, but the enhanced power of my new iMac G5 and the new peripherals and various software and programs have made my computer and online experiences much more enjoyable– and thus very worth it. My fuzzy buddy Charlie reached his 1st birthday this year…. and he continues to delight me. He’s a hilarious cat…. and he not only gets more funny and entertaining every day, he gets sweeter as well. He seems to get more affectionate as time goes by, and he’s a true treasure in my life. This year, I decided to visit a chiropractor to try to get relief from my constant, agonizing back pain. And Dr. Krasnov (my chiropractor) has made an amazing change in the level of my pain levels. Going to see him was probably the BEST thing I did this year. So– THANKS, Dr. Krasnov.

THE BAD: Not much– but there’s been some. I’ve been to the doctor more times this year than I have in the past decade. From bladder infections to heart palpitations, it seemed as though my 42nd year of life has been the beginning of the end of a problem-free life, health-wise. I’ve never, beyond having the occasional sprain or twisted ankle, had any health problems at all. I KNEW that it wouldn’t last forever… and I hope the hiccups I’ve had in 2005 aren’t the herald of a continuing decline in my health. I’ve been very lucky… I hope that holds. I also had to get glasses this year– it turns out I’m far-sighted. I’d rather be far-sighted than near-sighted…. but I’d rather have my old 20/20 vision back. My old Mac G4 dying was frustrating…. but as I pointed out above, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Other than those few things, though– I’ve been pretty lucky. There are so many people that have experienced so much heartbreak and disaster in their lives this year that these things seem very trivial.

And so with 2005 coming to an end (WAY TOO FAST…. every year goes by faster as I get older….)– I hope everyone had a wonderful year… and I hope that your 2006 (and mine) is even better.

This morning, NEWSARAMA had the completed SPIDER-HAM variant posted… so I thought I’d post it here for those of you who haven’t seen it yet. I thought it turned out well…..!

OK… that’s it for today– and for 2005. See you next year…!

This is Entry 178.

Mike

Well, the Christmas holiday was a wonderful one for me and my folks. I drove up Christmas morning and arrived just in time for the big meal. That kicked off three days of holiday gorging (well, gorging might be too strong a word… but overeating was the norm for my three days at my parents’ home)– and I still feel very much like a beached whale. Or, an overstuffed bear, if you like. It wasn’t so much the ‘main course’ meals that my folks made as it was the abundance of rich deserts and candies that they had on hand. I ate my fill of pasta salads and soups and vegan ravioli and marinated mushrooms and the like, yes. But the cakes and cookies and chocolate covered candies is where I did the most damage. I’m most certainly going to have to spend some extra time on the stair climber to offset the past few days.

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful holiday season…. and for those of you who are the partying type, NEW YEARS EVE is right around the corner…! Me, I’ll be lucky to stay awake long enough to mark the change of the year at midnight……

This is Entry 177.

Mike

Christmas is this Sunday… and I’ll be driving up that morning to spend Christmas Day and a couple of days afterward with my parents. Every year, our entire immediate family gathers together at the home of my brother Matt and sis-in-law Suzanne for Thanksgiving. But for Christmas, Matt and Suzanne spend the holiday with her parents and family. And so it’s just my folks and me for Christmas. But that’s fine… though I wish my brother and SIL could be there, I still enjoy spending time with my folks. Over the years, our observance of the holiday has become more and more… casual, I guess you could say– and so it’ll be a wonderful, restful break from the grind of work.

I hope everyone out there has the merriest of holidays, and I’ll see you on the other side…!

This is Entry 176.

Mike