May 14

Captain Action Interview

Captain Action is one of my favorite toy lines from the 60′s. The idea behind it was brilliant. Buy just one figure and have infinite adventures by dressing him up as your favorite hero. The toy was Ideal Toy Company’s answer to G.I. Joe, and for those of us with more of a taste for Sci Fi than camouflage, Captain Action was the hero of choice.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of playing with a Captain Action, he’s an odd fellow. His head is shaped a bit funny (makes it easier to get the masks on) and his expression suggests he might have stomach upset. That never bothered me though, because his head was always hidden behind a mask. The base figure came with a blue and black uniform, including a nifty hat, a sword and a ray gun. If, like me, the action in Captain Action came from the outfits, you could choose from Superman, Batman, the Lone Ranger, Tonto, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Captain America, Sergeant Fury, Steve Canyon, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Buck Rogers (MY FAVORITE!,) and the Green Hornet. There were other toys in the line, including a villain, Doctor Evil, a sidekick, Action Boy, and some female companionship in the form of Super Queens Posin’ Dolls.

I have fond memories of Captain Action, so I was thrilled when I ran into him in a dark, dangerous subterranean basement party at San Diego Comic Con. If you’d like to read an interview with Scott Sebring, Live Action Captain Action, head over to BugEyedMonster.com.

May 09

Matter Eater Lad

I was just thinking today about what super hero I would most like to write. There are the biggies (Constantine, Swamp Thing, Animal Man) but the character I’d actually really like to write is Legion of Super Heroes alumn Matter Eater Lad from planet Bismoll.

The Buckaroo Banzai of the Legion?

His super power? He can eat anything. Anything at all.

You heard me. And what a power it is!

No jail can hold him – he eats his way out.

No nefarious device can destroy the universe – he gobbles it down before it can go off.

He’ll chomp your gun in two before you get a chance to plug him.

His tagline? “That gives me an appetite! And you don’t want to give me an appetite!”

There’s a Legion story line where MEL eats a super powerful alien device known as the Miracle Machine. No living Legionnaire can destroy it, except the man with the mouth! In the story line, eating the machine drives MEL insane, but I think eating the machine has the potential to open up a story where MEL finds himself in current DC continuity, out of time and space, a bit deranged the way Starman found himself, with an appetite…

You can see where I’m going with this.

Alas, a Matter Eater Lad writing gig is a fantasy at this point, but one day…

For more on the bizarre history of my favorite DC character, check out this link at Major Spoilers.

Apr 03

Line of Defense Comic

My good friend Derek Smart recently posted about a Line of Defense comic being done at DC Entertainment to support the launch of his MMO FPS game coming out this summer. I just finished working on the script a few weeks ago and the artists that we lined up for the comic are already producing some amazing results.

The cover is being handled by a relative newcomer to comics, an artist from the Philippines named Puppeteer Lee. He’s a digital painter with a great sci fi, techy style. My first thought looking at his stuff is that it looks like some of the best work coming out of vintage Heavy Metal Magazine. It is very European in style, and it reminds me of one of my favorite artists, Argentinean born Juan Gimenez, who now lives outside of Barcelona. I’m lucky enough to have one of his pieces hanging in my mancave.

Panels are being done by Brian Ching, who’s done a number of books including Knights of the Old Republic, Gears of War and Arkham Unhinged. Here’s his DeviantArt page. The dude really knows how to draw tech and has taken the script I wrote, which is lots of combat, lots of gadgets and lots of sci-fi vehicles, and made it gorgeous. His ability to take the source material and make it come alive on the page is just amazing. I recently saw the first six completed pages and was just planed stunned.

I can’t post any pics yet of what’s being worked on by these two guys, but WOW is the word I keep saying when I see the work. Looking forward to having the cover and sample pages revealed as the book gets closer.

Mar 25

Metal Art

Went out for Mexican food for lunch today and ran across an art fair. Most of it was the usual landscape or nature paintings, hand-made jewelry and other art fair stuff. But one dude was selling some phenomenally cool metal artwork. It was cool enough that I had to stop and snap a few shots.

Mar 15

Latest scripts

Just finished two scripts. One for comic that will be given away at SDCC this year and another for a yet to be announced digital series. Both are pretty exciting.

The SDCC comic is based on an FPS MMO coming out this summer called Line of Defense. Space marines. Big gun fights. Lots of cool tech. Lots of fun to write.

The second comic script is my first shot at a cape. My favorite cape at that. Not sure when I get to talk about it but so excited to have done it!

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