Hey Everyone
Hope you’re all doing well. I’ve finally found some time (remembered) to get an update in. We’ll be launching the Monster Matador: Blood of the Matador #3 in the next few weeks and I’ll be at San Diego Comic Con in the Small Press area, table M-03.
Speaking of cons, this past weekend I exhibited at FAN EXPO Anaheim and, I’m sad to say, it was my worst show ever. Unfortunately, the sentiment was felt by most all the vendors/creators there. People were packing up Saturday and leaving a day early. Yikes! I did tough it out all weekend, but I’m glad it’s over. While I was only out the cost of most of the table, I talked to some vendors that were thousands in the hole.
So what happened? Well, attendance on the main floor was light. They had a celebrity autograph area, but that was downstairs so none (barely any) of that traffic filtered out into the main hall. The show was also thrown together pretty quickly and they did not have enough time to market it.
But, on a positive note, if you were there as a fan I’d think it was pretty awesome as there were basically little to no lines for most creators - you might have to wait 10 minutes for a Joe Quesada or Greg Capullo sig which is pretty much unheard of. And I did get a cool Lobo sketch from Simon Bisley so it wasn’t all bad. Plus, I got to hang out with my buddies Phil and Ian of Diabolik Comics fame - if you dig old school horror check them out. https://www.professordariobava.com
Having said all that, I can’t wait for San Diego Comic Con. Definitely stop by and say hi if you’re going to be there.
Monster Matador Blood of the Matador # 3 is going to launch in a couple of weeks and it is all out war in the Battle for Mexico. It’s the Matador and friends vs Nacho Lobo’s army and Chupacabra’s and I promise it’s gonna be awesome. Here’s a look at the variant covers from Rafael Navarro (Sonnambulo) and Jesus “El Kartun” Pedroza. You can sign up to get notified on launch HERE: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/monstermatador/monster-matador-blood-of-the-matador-1-3
Stuff I’m reading/watching
The Mercy of Gods: Captive’s War by James Corey - This is the latest series from the writers behind the Expanse. It’s about a galactic empire that basically destroys/enslaves other civilizations. I thought the first book was pretty good, though it took a bit to get going. The world building is great and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next book to see where the story goes.
The Upanishads - Yeah, my reading is all over the place. It’s probably been a good decade or two since I read these and I enjoyed this translation from Eknath Easwaran. Can’t go wrong with profound ancient wisdom!
Incredible Hulk - Return of the Monster Omnibus - This book is amazing! I’m about halfway through so far and I’m loving it. This collects the run written by Bruce Jones with art from John Romita Jr., Stuart Immonen, and Mike Deodato. This came out during a period when I wasn’t really reading too many comics so I missed it. I picked it up off amazon digitally during their comixology sale last week.
Toy Story 5 - Took my kids to see this one and it was ok. I can’t really say it was bad, it wasn’t, but at this point it feels like we’ve seen this story before. Still, worth watching, but I’d probably wait for it to stream.
The Long Walk - I really loved the book and I think they did a great job with the film. It’s a tough one, I mean, the book is basically… a long walk. The acting and pacing were really good and the ending (which is different from the book) worked.
I’ll be back soon when the Kickstarter launches and also with updates from SDCC.
Have a great week,
Steve