(First off, sorry I haven't been writing much this month. I've been training a new job at work, rearranging my hours, so say nothing of the progress I'm making on Yonder. I hope to have a bigger blog up in the next week or two. But for now...)

While one Oscar montage controversially omitted Farrah Fawcett, another montage included too many out-of-place picks - as seen in last Sunday's horror tribute. Presenters Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner acknowledged the genre doesn't always get the respect it deserves, and some of that can been seen in the choice of clips.

While there were well-deserved glimpses of classics like Rosemary's Baby, Psycho, The Exorcist and Jaws, there were also more than a few head-scratchers in the montage as well, including Child's Play, Saw and . . . .the Leprechaun?

Though the tribute did a good job of highlighting the many actors who've gotten their start in horror - including Johnny Depp (Nightmare on Elm Street), Kevin Bacon (Friday the 13th) and Jennifer Aniston (Leprechaun), the overall montage made the genre look more hammy than horrific. In particular, the montage uses shots of the lumbering Jason and Leatherface seen in the mediocre sequels, instead of the iconic first appearances which originally made them cinema legends.

Perhaps most baffling was Stewart's assertion that "it's been 37 long years since horror had its place on this show, when the Exorcist picked up two Academy Awards." In reality, it's been 19 - when"Silence of the Lambs" (also included in the montage) won five awards, including Best Picture. "The Exorcist" isn't the first horror movie to win either - it's preceded by "Rosemary's Baby", which won Best Supporting Actress in 1968. Instead, "The Exorcist" is the first horror film to be nominated for "Best Picture"

Admittedly, it was refreshing to see a tribute to horror, but several goofs along with several out-of-place clips make this a nice little gesture instead of a true golden tribute to the genre built on screams.

I made a mind-blowing yet surprisingly simple discovery last Friday: if you want more energy, have more fun.

I went snow tubing with my work at Cascade Mountain. While the eight-hundred foot slope is probably a modest hill by your Canadian standards, I still had an awesome time screaming like a small child down the aforementioned small hill.

Now, it's Monday - I'm full of energy and ready to rock - and by rock, I mean work!

So if you have writer's block or burnout, try it. Do something fun. And not just a little fun - a lot of fun.

You have to do something with the end result is you laughing and/or screaming at the top of your lungs - whatever seems most fun to you.

Just remember the KISS rule applies here too - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't spend too much time, money or effort planning something fun - or else you'll defeat the whole purpose.

Whatever it is, it has to be simple, sheer, unpretentious fun. If you have vacation time, go to a theme park, or if you don't, at least find a small hill to go screaming down - you'll be surprised how good you feel afterward.

Sorry for my absence in the last weeks. I've been pressing on with Yonder, moving (hopefully) toward an April launch, as we await character designs and initial pages from our newly-hired artist.
In the meantime, I am excited to bring you a little bit of werewolf-related news: I saw "The Wolfman" yesterday.

I can't tell you what a thrill it is to see a monster that's not totally CGI.

A collector of all things Wolfman himself, producer/actor Benicio Del Toro stars as Laurence Talbot, a Victorian actor who returns to his estranged father John (Anthony Hopkins) after the disappearance/death of his brother. After meeting Gwen (Emily Blunt), his brother's beautiful fiancee, Laurence sets out to find his brother's killer, only to be attacked and bitten by the creature not long after. Now Laurence must contend with the curse of lycanthropy, as well as suspicious villagers and a high-profile Scotland Yard investigator (Hugo Weaving), who believes the key to solving the case lies in Laurence's past mental illness.

The saving grace for this movie come down to two things: the make-up and the cast. This is probably one of the best acted werewolf movies ever. Though he lacks Lon Chaney Jr.'s expressive acting, Del Toro succeeds in imbuing Talbot with chivalrous nobility so important to the human side of the Wolfman. Meanwhile, Hopkins portrays John - a character so wildly outlandish and implausible in the script - with melancholy believability. Blunt's Gwen is the vastly underwritten and underdeveloped, but her portrayal gives credibility to a very sympathetic and very proactive heroine - the last one a rarity in classic Universal horror.

The make-up is the work of Rick Baker - my favorite make-up artist of all time - and with good reason. He won an Oscar for his work on "American Werewolf in London" - the first Oscar given for make-up. His other werewolf credits include "Wolf", the TV show "Werewolf", the concepts behind "Howling" and even Michael Jackson's "Thriller." And if that weren't enough, his other credits include "Hellboy", "Men in Black", "Gorillas in the Mist" and even "Harry and the Hendersons."

Baker's Wolfman, simply put, looks awesome - but it also looks like the Wolf Man. The torn clothes, the shaggy mane and the bulky body all contribute to a full moon killing machine, but every frontal shot lends credence to the notion that Laurence Talbot is still there - somewhere - buried under all that fur and claws. In one of the many homages to past werewolf movies, the other Wolf Man looks like Oliver Reed's bulky, light-colored lycanthrope from "Curse of the Werewolf." To see both versions duking it out in the climax is rip-roaring, all-together-satisfying (but way too short) experience.

So the movie is worth watching. But is it perfect? Not even close. It neither lives up to the tragedy of the original "Wolf Man", the humor of "American Werewolf in London" or the satire of Wolf" - but it makes clever nods to both. And while the Wolfman isn't created with CGI, the computer-generated beast still rears it's head from time to time. The Wolfman runs on all fours at time - not part of Baker's original design - and looks rather atrocious in frontal shots. There's even inexplicably a CGI bear and stag in the movie . . . with very little reason why they were substituted for the real deal. This is to say nothing of the plot, which is ultimately rather predictable despite the number of twist and turns needs to make it to the conclusion.

But at the end of the day, "The Wolfman" is made by people who love werewolves for people who love werewolves, and for this unpretentious monster making, we can overlook the flaws. Dyed-in-the-fur werewolf fans will want to see this flick in theaters immediately - perhaps as a rather unconvential Valentine's Day treat - while everyone else should at least look to their video rental for catching the full moon fever.

Sorry for my prolonged absence for the past couple weeks - I've been really busy working on "Yonder." We've hired an artist - an insanely good artist I'm frankly surprised is even talking to us - and we should be seeing some character sketches soon. Once I get them, I'll be sure to post them here pronto.

The latest road block is the lettering. Luke isn't sure if he has Photoshop on his computer any more, so we need to figure out a way to do lettering. And therein lies the question - where can I find a cheap copy of Photoshop or is there a similar art program which will do the lettering for less buck?

I know we've discussed lettering briefly on this blog before, and I have to say, I just don't think hiring a hand letterer is practical for a garage inc webcomic. I know lettering is increasingly becoming a lost comic book art onto itself, but I also think budding webcomics have to focus on developing a reliable update schedule. And if there's one thing I've learned about this process, it's this: stuff happens. The more streamlined the process is between the creative team, the easier it is to update when problems arise (which they always do) and outsourcing lettering can lead to more interruptions in the future.

So what is the easiest and most affordable way to complete the lettering way accurately and effectively? Is it just a question of finding the right program, or are there other options to consider?

It's something to ponder while I'm working on Yonder (pardon the horrid rhyme). Either way, I'll keep you posted on our progress as we near some big hurdles in the coming weeks.

Last night, Luke and I stared down the elephant in the room with regards to "Yonder."

While the main character of "Yonder" is a superhero named Blue Yonder, the book is really a team book. Yonder's quest drives the team, but the focus isn't always on Yonder - it's on the team. And every team needs a name.

You all know my track record with names (first person to say it gets pushed down a flight of stairs! Seriously! Ask TK!)

But making a team name is doubly hard because it performs a practical function in the narrative. Montague and Campbell will only be referred to as "Bat & Wolf" for a very obvious pun, but a team's name is pretty much the entire point in a nutshell.

Right now I'm setting the (very ambitious) goal of trying to get a title done before Saturday. Regardless, it needs to be done soon - we don't a title without a a team name, and we don't have a website without a title!

I'm looking for something . . .

Urban.

Young.

Secure.

But beyond that, those are the only clues I have. What do you think? Any ideas of where I should start looking.

Sorry I haven't been posting as much as I used to. There are two reasons for this.

One - I've been hard at work on the fourth issue of "Staff of Ezekiel."

And two - more importantly - I've decided to change the way I write blogs.

As you know, I used to write blogs every day, and you probably will admit, it was hit or miss sometimes.

The reason is I made it a point to write a blog every day - even before I started working on my writing goals. As a result, I often sped through the blogging process, over-anxious to get a start on the writing projects just around the corner.

The results speak for themselves: gibberish.

So I'm reversing the priorities this year. I'm only writing my blogs after I've accomplished my writing goals for the day. That way, I have more time to get across what I want to say - and less pressure to mess it up.

Next week I'll be finishing up "Staff of Ezekiel", and then afterward, hopefully moving on to some "Bat & Wolf" and "Yonder" projects.

You can read about it hear - after I finish my work of course.

See ya soon!

It might be a little late for New Year's Resolution, but I've just thought of a deeper one. This New Year's, I want to be more honest with myself - and more assertive with others.

Last month, I had to read a book at work called "Dealing with People You Can't Stand" (you'd think they were trying to tell me something - just kidding.) The books tries to identify troublesome personality types and prescribe solutions for handling them. In the book, there was one personality type which struck a cord with me - the Yes Man - the person who says "yes" to virtually every request which comes his or her way in the workplace and beyond.

Having seen this already play out with the RWG website (which, by the way, have been revamped by my much-more-competent successor), I'm determined to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again. But on the same time, I do want to help out - I do want to be a go-to guy, and I do want to do what I can - I just don't want it to consume my life.

I'm a little concerned the same thing might happen with helping this woman from the RWG get rid of the old books she's been accumulating over the years. I've typed out the long list of books she owns. I've begun researching prices for the books, and I've also agreed to use my contacts within the RWG to start looking for interested buyers for the books. But all and all, I don't know anything about selling antique books, yet she still insists I "take care of it."

What's also frustrating is she hasn't gotten back in touch with me for some things I've asked for, like the condition of the books or a proof-reading of the list I typed up. At our last meeting, I suggested some other places to possibly take the books - including libraries and museums - and she more or less blew me off, furthering my frustration.

I guess this is where the assertiveness comes in - and its probably going to be spelled with N-O. The trouble is, I've never been good at saying the word, especially to a nice old lady. But there are things I can do for her, and things I can't do for her. I don't want to be Scrooge McStingypants with my time, but I don't want to be taken advantage of either, especially when I'm trying to balance work with full-time nowadays.

So that's a long-winded explanation for a belated New Year's Resolution. What about the rest of you? Have you ever had trouble saying "No", and if not, how the heck do you do it?!?!

Well, now that the holiday madness is over, I can focus on day 2 of the new year's writing schedule. So today I was looking forward to having the house to myself to plan, write and maybe finish a page or two of "Staff of Ezekiel" . . . only to find that my sister fell off her horse and her arm is in a brace.

She's fine - her arm is just bruised, not broken - and she's downstairs watching TV. My plans for the day are effectively up in smoke. Sure, I can write from my room, but it's a lot more cramped, a lot more dusty, and my computer chair has lost all ability to lean back.

It's mostly my fault for a) being petty enough to even complain about this and b) for not being able to tune out a distraction. I can tune out distractions plural - a busy office full of ringing phone, chatting co-workers and fingers clacking on the keyboards - I actually might even work better in that environment. But one TV on loud, and I'm sunk - I'm frustrated, agitated and having trouble concentrating.

It's been said that no plan survives the battlefield, and this is as true for writers as it is everyone else. Writers in particular are fickle creatures. We want everything a certain way, because we feel that way will achieve the results we seek, whether its inspiration or publication. Fate and reality often find this expectation about as tempting a target as a "kick me" sign on our backside.

So when unexpected development expectations occur, how you do you keep up your momentum? How you finish your deadline is the easy part - the answer is "anyway you have to." But what about everything else? How do you not let it get to you, and how do you keep it from affecting your morale? Because if you can stomach one more battlefield analogy, it's when morale is lost, so is the battle.

You'd think we'd all be use to life getting in the way of writing, but I suppose this blog shows we're not, or at least, I'm not. So what are the solutions? How do you not let the little things get you down while reaching for writing gold?

Today, my two week sabbatical from writing officially comes to an end. If one week away from writing is long enough, two weeks is an eternity.

For this month, I have the fourth issue of "Staff of Ezekiel" on my plate. I'm brainstorming it today, plotting it tomorrow, and then hopefully scripting it by the end of the week, with January 31st for the deadline.

Somewhere in the midst of that, I'm also writing up some character designs for Yonder. I already have an artist prospect at work right now on some sample pages for the webcomic.

For inspiration, I'm reading "The Best of The Spirit", and after reading the Golden Age Sandman stories, the difference is night and day. If you showed me any panel of "The Spirit" and asked me what year it was from, I would never say 1940. I'd probably guess 1980 or maybe even 1990. That's how far ahead of his time Will Eisner was.

For inspiration, I'm also watching the Blu-Ray "UP." Looking over the plethora of special features available,  In addition to the movie, the Blu-Ray includes two shorts - "Dug's Special Mission" and "Partly Cloudy" along with several alternate endings for the paranoid Muntz, an expanded back-story for the Fredrickson's and at least nine featurettes. In short, it's going to take me about a month to finish all of this Pixar goodness!

Lastly, for my New Year Resolution, I pledge not to make so many grammatical errors in my posts. This will hopefully make for a much smoother reading and a happy New Year!

What about everyone else? What are your goals for January and beyond in 2010?

Last night I checked out the Wolfman's new official site, and I was pleasantly surprised to find several noteworthy special features on the werewolf website.

This first - Monster Legacy - traces the Universal movie monster back through its roots in Lon Chaney I's Hunchback of Notre Dame to Lon Chaney II's Wolfman and all the way through Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. This would have a helluva a DVD package - there are movies I haven't even heard of listed on there.

The second feature - Lycanthropy: The Truth Behind the Myth - does a fairly thorough job exploring the roots - both mythic and clinic - of lycanthropy, in the pages of both folklore and history.
There's even a list of case studies involving incidents attributed to werewolves in the past. For example, there is information on Peter Stubbe, the 16th century farmer who plays a certain role in "Bat & Wolf Issue #2." I only wish there were some sources included so I could read further into these accounts. Some of accounts do seem overly-sensationalized - even for my taste. For example, while "Operation Werwolf" was the name of a real project in the waining days of Nazi Germany, it was the name of an attempted German insurgency, not an occult experiment, as the website implies.

Overall, there's some cool special features here, and I remain moderately optimistic about the film itself. Larry Talbot remains one of my all-time favorite horror characters, and having him portrayed by Benicio Del Toro, with make-up by Rick Baker, has me giddy as a fanboy right now. Still, a number of delays and reshoots has me a bit concerned this long-awaited remake might not be the harvest moon I'd hoped it would be.

So cut and paste below is an ad I've posted around the 'net for artists for my upcoming webcomic Yonder - due out tentatively at the end of March. I know I've posted shout-out's here before, but I figured just in case...

Hey guys,

Richard from "Bat & Wolf" here. My frequent partner-and-crime Luke and I are currently looking for an artist to round out our team.

We aren't looking for perfect. This will be an unpaid position to start. If and When we start making a profit, the artist will receive a cut of that profit equal to the work in which they put into it.

For now, we need a Comic Artist who has a grasp of pencils, inks, colors and lettering. We need to full boat. We are planning on releasing one comic page per week, but that is also negotiable once an artist is found.

How we choose artists: We would like interested artists to send us a sequential art page which best represents you as an artist. We will then choose who best fits the _style_ we wish our comic to represent. We will then send you a synopsis and packet from our future webcomic, to see how you feel about the story and we will ask you to complete a section of it for final approval.

The story centers around a young superhero who suddenly finds himself separated from his family and is forced to find shelter in a small apartment building filled with washed-out ex-heroes. The content is very Young Adult-oriented, with plenty of action, humor and heartache in-between.

If you are interested, please send one page of sequential art to the following email:

LLPERKS@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thank you very much, we look forward to working with one of you!


So if you know anyone (hint hint), please let me or Luke know. And speaking Luke, whoever you are . . . please stop sending Luke hentai! He's not interested, and his parents aren't amused either!

On a more serious note, I've recently been having a discussion with Darrell over at ScriptGraphicsArtPremier on Yahoo! Group over artists working for free. Obviously, artists should be paid. That much is a given. But how do you prioritize that with marketing, promoting and advertising a budding webcomic, all while on a budget? How do you prioritize your budget between paying an artist and building an audience? If you have any thoughts, you're welcome to chime in below!

PS - Avatar rocks. Avatar is 3-D IMAX is still making my head spin.

And it's great!

So far I haven't done much - or any - work. I slept in. I'm going to watch some TV. I'm going to play some video games. And if I'm really lucky, I might even watch "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation."

Just don't tell anyone - I don't want to jinx it!

If you missed my Facebook rant, you may have also missed this trinket about . . . sigh . . . a new "Teen Wolf" in production. Apparently Michael J. Fox and Jason Bateman weren't enough.

Actually, "Teen Wolf 3" is a bit misleading. This is a remake, in the form of the TV series created by Jeff Davis of Criminal Minds.

Honestly, when I stopped to think about it, I wouldn't actually mind seeing a TV series that was a continuation of the Teen Wolf movies. I seem to remember a cheesy "Big Wolf on Campus" TV show I watched a lot when I was in high school.

But, not surprisingly, with this remake comes a "darker" and "fresh take" on the premise. Apparently, the remake has more in common with . . . sigh . . . "American Werewolf in Paris."

Which is kind of like saying, "Our take has more in common with 'Men in Black 2' or 'Batman and Robin." Why not skip the crappy sequels and draw a comparison to the original - American Werewolf in London - unless "Teen Wolf" involves bungee jumping off the Eiffel Tower, attending underground raves, and computer generated werewolves which look more like giant shrews.

All and all, I suppose it could be good - Jeff Davis' involvement leaves me hopeful, and the premise is described as both a drama and a buddy comedy . . . not unlike you know who...

But Teen Wolf? Seriously?

Apparently taking a break is harder than I thought.

In fact, I'd go so far to say I failed to take a break at all yesterday. While I didn't do any writing, I did so some work - and for that reason, I am a failure.

What struck me was how easy it came. I got up, wrote a blog, went the grocery store, came back . . . and then started working. To be fair, what I was doing needed to be done - but it seems after three months of working before I even go to the office, work has become my default setting.

I have slightly more time this morning, and as such I'm slightly more hopeful I can at least find some time to pop in "Ghostbusters" into my PS3 . . . if only for fifteen minutes or so.

Once you've found time to take a break and not work, how do you actually do the lazy deed? How do you wind down, chill out and relax?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated before I lose my mind . . . more than I already have.

Pardon the double negative, but I cannot not write, so when I say I'm taking a break from writing, it shouldn't be construed as anything permanent or even long-term. It's not a sabbatical or leave-of-absence. It's not even a vacation (the only day I have of this month is Christmas.) It's just a little break from writing.

I'd like to say the last three months have went by in a blur, but in truth it was more of a tortured, agonizing haze - filled with some good and a lot of bad. I started writing "Yonder" in September (good). In October, I wrote "Bat & Wolf Issue #2", more "Yonder" and got full-time at FatWallet (all still good). But on the downside, I had more RWG website madness (bad) and I was so busy I almost completely missed Halloween (very, very bad).

In November, I started officially writing "Yonder", but work on the website became so dense that I eventually came to the conclusion it was either my comic book career or the website - so I had to step down as webmaster to leave it in better hands. And of course, I got swept up in the Black Friday busy-ness at work, limiting my writing time a little.

So now, after writing six oversized webcomic pages for Yonder, I think it's time for a little break. I'm going to sit down, watch some TV and maybe, just maybe try to beat the Ghostbusters video game I've had lying around since early October.

It won't be a total break from writing. I'll still be here, posting like crazy. My colleague at the RWG sent me her hand-written list of rare books and there's plenty of awesome to go around. I'm probably going to transcribe the list this week, and with her permission, post it here in case any one's interested in any of the books she's trying to get rid of. But that's a story (and post) for another day.

Its time for me to relax and enjoy the season a bit. I return to write "Yonder" and more in January.