Whine and Cheese

After a LOT of work, I finally got this issue done. It's not that I dreaded working on it, but my day job has been very overwhelming of late. I was lucky to draw or ink or color a single page a night. I'm very pleased how this issue turned out though. Notes about the issue are on the last page. I hope you all enjoy it.



( Issue 33 - Hunting for Bear )

Questions, comments, criticism -- just let me know.

Recently, I cashed in a lot of Amazon points (and some real cash) and bought the "Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition" omnibus and the "Who's Who in DC" omnibus. Both are collections of character profiles from each comic book company that came out in the 1980's.

While the information is very dated, it assembles the information from the heyday of comic book reading for me. As a kid who was very much in love with comic books and enjoyed thumbing through the encyclopedias when bored, these books hit a happy place for me on multiple fronts.

One of the character changes that occurred in the 1980s that always has the flavor of the time was the transformation of Aurora, a mutant member of Alpha Flight in the Marvel Universe. She could fly at supersonic speeds, having identical powers to her twin brother and teammate Northstar. She also had multiple personalities. After an altercation with her brother regarding her behavior, she severed all ties with him. As a final "f@%k you" to him, she had her powers altered by her scientist boyfriend, so they were no longer identical to her twin's. Her flight speed was diminished to the speed of sound, but she could generate bright light, a power that usually required contact with her twin. This hair and costume change came with her new found freedom.


Aurora in the mid-1980s

This outfit is TOTALLY 80s! The hairstyle, the jagged edges of the sleeve cuffs, the short gold lame gloves and sloping edge boots -- all of them scream 80s. I particularly love the alternating thick black lines around the bursts on her costume. Sadly, this costume only looked good when drawn by artist John Byrne who designed it and subsequent artists either didn't do it justice or changed it. Artist (and gay muscle hottie) Phil Jimenez made it look good in recent years when he drew some flashbacks, but this costume is likely left in the 80s for the most part.

Still, I enjoy revisiting them in the omnibus and the trade paperback of Alpha Flight from wayback when.

Holidays, work, work travel, epidemic -- so many things have gotten in the way of my working on this issue. Only when the quarantine happened did I find that I had a wonderful respite from the dreadful news of the world in finishing this issue. I've been wanting to do more origin stories. After 10 years and 27 prior issues, I figured it was time to flesh out some stories of the hirsute heroes of Bruin City.

So behind the cut below is Issue 28 of "Grizzly and The Bear Patrol" with a story I call "Heroic Beginnings."



( Issue 28 - Heroic Beginnings )

No speaker notes, as they are the last page of the comic now. Questions, comments, criticisms - I welcome them all, just send me a reply below or a message privately.

My big plans for the weekend involved a trip to this year's Cincinnati Comic Expo. The downtown area had three specific groups converging -- the Comic Expo group, the Oktoberfest group, and the Reds game group. And it was kind of obvious who was who based on how they were dressed.

I don't always make it to the expo, but I do love going. There are usually a lot of comic book vendors, people selling posters and tee-shirts, and comic artists and writers to meet, along with the celebrities there for autographs and photos.

People go for different reasons. Some folks go to meet the celebrities, get an autograph and picture. This is not really my thing as the cost is high and I do not like to meet a celebrity in case he or she is a jerk. If I admire his or her work, it will color my opinion of it if the meeting is negative.

So I typically go to shop and people watch. The cosplay is fun to see. I only saw five "Harley Quinns" yesterday, which was a record low in my opinion. There were a lot of Doctor Stranges roaming about. And there is a lot of nerdish bears roaming about of various sizes, which is even better.

I ran into _decibel_ and kybigstew and roamed the place with them for a few hours. I got a pretty good haul of 1970s comic books, including a couple of giant-sized books, like "Superman versus Spider-Man." I also got a huge poster of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman.

After several hours of walking around and spending quite a bit of money, I got tired and decided I'd had enough. As I was walking to Fountain Square to get my car, I heard the familiar echo of bullhorn street-corner preaching. Feeling silly, I started bellowing out how people needed to heed the voice of the "Flying Spaghetti Monster," getting chuckles from a few Expo folks walking beside me. I completely ignored the preacher man and his two sign-holders as I walked past.

It was a fun afternoon. I'm happy I went, so I hope to go again next year.

It has taken a LOT longer to get this issue done than I would have liked. It has been since August since the last issue was posted. With holidays, work, and work travel, and other things, the process seemed to drag and get repeatedly interrupted. Eventually, things calmed down enough for me to get this issue completed. Despite a rocky creative start, I am very happy with the end result and I hope you will enjoy it.



( Grizzly and the Bear Patrol - Issue 26 )

I've been clearing the house of little projects that has been lingering for months. One of my errands that have been on the back-burner was getting a printed copy of my comic for my file to put with the original artwork. I was two issues behind, so the cost was not low, but it's a necessary evil.


Several folks have asked about getting printed copies of the comic. The only problem with that is that it is cost prohibitive.

However, I admit it looks great in a printed form.

This summer has been so busy with work and work travel that I really had not realized how quickly it was passing. August starts tomorrow, stores have back-to-school stuff out already, and everyone is already looking forward to Halloween. My time off has been almost non-existent, mainly due to having a co-worker out on maternity leave and training her temporary replacements.

I've been working on the next issue of my comic book in the evenings after work, so my days have been incredibly full. I should have it done in a couple of weeks. I've been going through my horror movie/TV show DVD's while coloring pages, ending this evening watching "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."

Once my co-worker returns and my comic book is posted, I imagine myself having some significant time off and what I will do with it is up in the air. I would love to go somewhere, but the idea of traveling makes me cringe right now.

So many mixed thoughts right now. No particular rhyme or reason, just having a stream of consciousness moment this evening.

When I was a kid and my parents would take me to the local comic book shop, it was a thrill for me. My parents didn't have a lot of patience, so I couldn't browse for very long. So I'd get what I could for whatever money I had, buying back issues was tricky so most were new, and race to get back to the car and head home. As soon as I got home, I'd take them to my room, flop on the bed, and gorge myself on the stories and artwork. I often would not get back up until they were all read. Then I would re-read them over the week.

I miss that rush of excitement that I used to get in buying new comics. Maybe it's maturity sneaking in when I wasn't prepared, but when I come home from the comic book shop now, I usually just sit them down and do other things. That urgency to catch up with the heroes and stories just isn't there anymore. I still enjoy the comics, but I'm not as enamored with them as I was. I went to the shop today, bought about $30 of comics, and they sit downstairs unread still as of this evening.

Part of it is me, but I will also say that part of it is the comics themselves. While I'm familiar with the characters, most comic books have gone into such divergent reboots and storylines that I couldn't keep up with them anymore.

As much as I LOVED "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in terms of story and artwork, I think it wrecked the DC universe in that a lot of history was lost, history that I loved and was engrossed in. Marvel has done similar reboots and ended up with the same effect.

I'll still read comics, but I have to admit that the shine has largely worn off for me for both DC and Marvel. I just keep hoping for something to rekindle my excitement.

I've not been a drawing kind of mood of late. Former LJ'er "prisoncitybear" coined the lack of desire to do artistic things after getting a project done as "post-artum depression." It's funny in a way. I'm not depressed, but just a lack of desire. I did do some designs for Christmas cards and I will have to work on a retirement cartoon in the next couple of works.

On the flip side of it, I've been trying to work out on a schedule again. Holidays are rough on the waistline. And I ate quite a bit during the holiday, especially when I'm helping with the cooking. My running speed is terrible, but I'm working on it.

I usually print one hard copy of my comic book for the "file," so I can put next to the original artwork. I was three issues behind, but I had Issues #21 and #22 printed today at Kinko's. It's nice to see them in print. Now I just need to assemble them into the sleeves.

The week is about mid-way done. I'm looking forward to the weekend already.

Yesterday, I went to the gym for the first time in a couple of months. I work out regularly, but I often do cardio by running outside or lift free weights at home. I joined Planet Fitness back in January because I needed to change things up and a place to get my cardio in when the weather was nasty. For the first six weeks, I was in a great routine. However, with Mom's stroke and broken hip, the aftermath of her hospital stay, the flooding at my house, the washing machine, and other bits of family-related drama, the gym visits fell to the wayside. It was just easier to work out at home and then deal with the other things.

Yeaterday's visit was perfect really. In my absence, the New Years resolution folks have bailed and the gym is a more manageable environment. I grabbed a bench in the free-weight area to get some chest presses in next to a very brawny daddy bear, then hit some of the chest and back machines. I finished out with some cardio and an episode of "Bob's Burgers."

When I got home, I mowed the yard in anticipation of rain. I got my shower and hunkered down for some coloring of comic pages, while watching both "Friday the 13th" and "Friday the 13th Part 2."

I feel pretty good today. Seriously, why should that surprise me so much?