Sunday, June 20, 2010

Still catching up

Well, it seems I was much too optimistic last time because I still haven´t gotten to the next part of my trip to Erlangen this year. I just hope I can give a decent travel report as it gets more difficult to remember the exact happenings the longer it takes.


Posting on Sundays seems to become a habit, I´m just glad I managed to finish a HORST story this week even if the follow - up takes longer than expected. Last time I posted a few links and there are still a few left that I haven´t gotten to post. So here´s the second part :

THE DC CORNER

Jeffrey Renaud poses ten questions to Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray about " No Way Back ", the 136 - page hardcover featuring art by Tony DeZuniga, who co - created Jonah Hex in 1972 with writer John Albano. The writing duo also share their thoughts on the " Jonah Hex " ongoing series, the forthcoming movie and the DC Universe Animated Original Movi " Batman : Under the Red Hood " scheduled for July, which will also feature a Hex animated short.


  • 20 questions about jonah hex


  • I have to say I´m not up to date on BATMAN books, I jumped ship on BATMAN AND ROBIN the moment Frank Quitely was off the picture, BATMAN R.I.P. didn´t manage to catch my attention as well as BATTLE FOR THE COWL and THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE sounds pretty boring to me. As there is no new BATMAN ADVENTURES title that has halfway decent art the only BATMAN book I´m reading now is the german version that has the new story of Dick Grayson as the new Batman.

    Nevertheless as well as over at Marvel some of DC´s titles are nearing the big numbers so it seems there is something special planned for Batman issue 700. So far I haven´t read the article because I will probably read the german version next year but judging from the pictures I would surmise that there could be spoilers involved.

  • more about batman 700 ( possibly with spoilers )


  • We´re staying at the batcave with Ben Morse over at THE COOL KID´S TABLE who takes a really good look at the history of the different incarnations of Robin.


  • the history of robin


  • Here are some older links that I haven´t gotten around to post. Old news to most readers but maybe there´s someone out there who hasn´t read them yet :

  • neil gaiman ends batman with a loveletter in comic form


  • neil gaiman interview my mark daniell


  • interview with detective comics artist j h william


  • the new line of bat books ( after battle for the cowl )


  • And last but not least, something of a newer date over at GRUMPY OLD FAN where Tom Bondurant takes a look at the Man of Tomorrow´s role in the DC universe

    THE STONE AGE CORNER

    Speaking about iconic characters Steve Sunu interviews Scott Beatty about DYNAMITE´s new LAST PHANTOM series. I tried to get into the PHANTOM new books because I have alway been a fan of the character, but after reading a rather unimpressive trade it somehow got on the backburner. But I have to say, those covers by Alex Ross alone are making me wonder what´s it all about.


  • new and maybe the last phantom series


  • And since we´re on this subject I would also like to plug a new blog about the PHANTOM that goes by the name of THE GHOST WHO BLOGS. It started this year and I don´t remember where I saw the link first. In any case it´s a cool blog and if you´re interested in the works of Lee Falk or the Phantom in general you should check it out.


  • PHANTOM - the ghost who blogs


  • THE SPACE AGE CORNER

    Here are some articles on the newest trends in comics : webcomics, digital comics and the i - pad.

  • yen comics publishing director ken hassler on digital comics


  • jason snell about the i - pad as a comic reader


  • kelly thompson about ten really cool webcomics



  • Not really space agey but since I posted the ten cool webcomics list here´s a list about the 30 most overlooked comics. I recommend to take a look at it as you may find some jewels in it as well as some of your favorite reads.

  • 30 most overlooked comics


  • THE " THIS IS FOR LA RAZA " CORNER

    As a guy from Spain, who lives in Germany and writes about comics from America I can understand which role minority superheroes play in the lives of some fans. The next links all deal with this subject.

  • david uzumeri on why we need minority superheroes


  • k. d. brian on self - identity and hispanic superheroes


  • article about young x - men´s female muslim dusk


  • johnny bacardi on red wolf


  • THE WOMEN´S CORNER


    As Marvel´s trying ( but not really succeding ) to get more attention to female comic artists here are some reads on that subject. Now while I don´t say you should read comics only because they are made by women I am an advocate of seeking out those comics as they often fail to get attention. And mostly it´s not because of a lack of quality.

  • hope larson tells the truth about girls and comics


  • how girls can find comics


  • comic book store etiquette ( must read for shop owners )


  • girl comics´coleen coover interview


  • another coleen coover interview about girl comics


  • coleen doran on the business of being a comic artist


  • interview with famous webcomic creator kate beaton


  • THE ARTISTS CORNER

    My favorite part : the comic creators interviews.


  • joe kubert on doing xoai


  • frank miller on doing the passage of time in comics


  • comics college harvey kurtzman


  • comics 101 love and rockets


  • talk with roger langridge


  • THE ODDS AND ENDS CORNER

    The usual assortment of various articles that didn´t fit into the other categories.

  • origins of the word fanboy


  • how old is peter parker


  • how long does death last in comics


  • And with that it´s once again time to wrap it up as I´m already 20 minutes over my time limit. I now have to immerse myself in water or else I loose all my strength.


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  • Sunday, June 13, 2010

    Catching up

    No Erlangen post today as I´m catching up a bit on comic news and other stuff like material for the blog. I´m probably six months behind on previews so that I have to get the ones for the comics I´m reading right now.

    Since I´m going through the news sites anyway, I thought I could put some interesting links up....using the opportunity you know. So here are the ever popular links :

    I AM AN AVENGER


    Yes, now that SIEGE has ended everything Avengers starts new with AVENGERS, NEW ( NEW ) AVENGERS, SECRET AVENGERS, AVENGERS ACADEMY, AVENGERS PRIME, AVENGERS : CHILDREN´S CRUSADE and the new flavored AVENGERS CHERRY.

    While many readers are sad to see such surprise hits like AVENGERS INITIATIVE and DARK AVENGERS go I´m relieved that MIGHTY AVENGERS has finally come to an end. From the initial six issue story by Frank Cho the comic has gone always downhill, artwise and storywise being really painful in the end. This whole Scientist Supreme nonsense was really embarassing and besides a few good moments like Caveman U.S.Agent still afraid of communists there was not much in it.

    While I´m not so sure if I´m going to follow AVENGERS ACADEMY which will be the new AVENGERS INITIATIVE ( I´m a bit reluctant with all this new series starting at 3.99 ) I already got the first issue of SECRET AVENGERS. Despite all my protests. I also didn´t want to get DARK AVENGERS or at least I thought I could quit after issue 6. Well, the story was so good that I stayed with the series till the end. I´m not sure if the same will be true with SECRET AVENGERS as I haven´t read the first issue - yet - but at least with the art by Mike Deodato Jr you can be sure that it will look terrific.

    Let´s hope the Avengers franchise is going strong now with big guns like John Romita Jr, Mike Deodato Jr and Alan Davis - who hopefully will finally get the superstar status he deserves for twenty years - on board.


    The only weird thing is that Bucky is now Captain America, Captain America is apparently Nick Fury and is using U.S.Agents old name " Superpatriot ".....and where is Nick Fury ? I hope taking a vacation with the Contessa.

    Anyway, here are some more infos to the new series :

    The Young Avengers franchise finally continues in Avengers : the children´s crusade by Alan Heinberg and Jim Cheung

  • article about Avengers Academy ( with spoilers )

  • preview avengers academy 1

  • preview avengers 1

  • preview avengers 2

  • preview avengers 2 - now with text
  • NEW !
  • preview avengers prime 1

  • preview secret avengers 1

  • preview secret avengers 2


  • I AM NOT A HULK

    Least of all a Red Hulk. I mean really, is anybody still reading Hulk ? Okay, I mean reading and enjoying it. The whole Intelligencia story seem to have offended more readers than anything else and I have to say : mea culpa. I´m one of those who´s bitching but still buying it.


    I have mentioned before that it depends on Paul Pelletier and Ed McGuiness still bringing their magic to the book. And I have to say that while you may take issue with the storyline or the revelation who is thr Red Hulk / Red She Hulk the art has been pure joy especially the hulked out superheroes. Now my guess was not true - so far Glenn Talbot is not the Hulk of any colour - but I knew he would appear. But I also have to point out that the true identity of the Red Hulk was on my suspect list.

    Anyway, as the story of the Red Hulk seems to come to an end here are some infos :

  • Co - creator Ed McGuiness on the Red Hulk story


  • And the name of INCREDIBLE HULK will be changed to INCREDIBLE HULKS as both Hulks are going to star in the book. I´d say the chances of me picking up the book depend highly on whether Paul Pelletier is on board. Aside from that the whole Hulk universe has just become to complex for me, especially the Skaar part.

  • Hulks team up in Incredible Hulks


  • I AM MOST DEFINITELY A FANTASTIC FOUR


    It seems that I can still continue reading Fantastic Four comics because while regular artist Dale Eaglesham is doing the new SUPERPATRIOT series none other than Steve Epting is doing a six - issue story. Normally I´m not so keen on artists changing projects so fast but after his wonderful art on the just finished MARVELS PROJECT and his stellar run on CAPTAIN AMERICA Steve has a bit of leeway.

  • Steve Epting new artist on Fantastic Four


  • The allways favorite top ten list links

    Here´s the usual assortment of odd things and comic lists :

  • periodic table of superpowers


  • top ten george perez comic book runs


  • 12 coolest personifications of death


  • ten things comics do better than other storytelling media


  • the ever growing list of greatest stories ever told


  • invincible vol 12 still standing 20 page preview


  • And that´s all for today, as I initially just wanted to post a quick notice that I won´t be posting today. Aww, man, I really got to wrap this up now.


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  • Friday, June 11, 2010

    My second Erlangen Diary - Day 1 continued

    As usual I´m not up to date so I have to make a public announcement first. As you may have noticed there is a new link in the link section called SPOILER ALERT, that is the new location for PANEL WARS.


    It´s totally cool, totally up to date on all things I´m not - like news on the Captain America movie - and still totally in german. So now you can jump to the blog from here and sorry man that it took me so long to get the link up.

    Time now for more on my adventures in Erlangen. Now there has been a few days since my last entry, because on Wednesday I decided to go to my comicshop.


    I must have overextended myself because on Thursday I was so wasted all I could do was lie in bed and eat. I also went out to buy some stuff and in the afternoon I was at least strong enough that I could burn some stuff on CDs. It´s unbelievable how much junk you collect in just a few months. Just when I thought I was finished I found another folder with 15 GBs of stuff so I didn´t do much else the rest of the day. Today I´m at least well enough to continue my travel diary.

    Back to my visit to the comicshop, I thought I could do a post about my second experience with FREE COMIC BOOK DAY but so far only two of the books I ordered had arrived. In fact there was not much in my comicbag so I had to order a lot of stuff online the next day. Lately I find less and less comics I can buy outside my subscription in the comicshop and have to rely more and more on online comicshops.

    And there are also less and less comics in my bag. My brother always says that my bag is too full but the trip to the comicshop costs money so maybe I should wait one or two months for my next trip. Speaking of my brothers : it has been mentioned that reading my blog I conceive the image of being cool while being quite the opposite by the stuff I omit.


    Now to make it quite clear : this blog is not about me. It´s about comics first and foremost and if I mention personal stuff it´s mostly in the vein of " Yesterday I didn´t get to post because I watched NINJA ASSASIN ( wicked movie by the way ) " and such stuff. I try not to bore the readers with too much detail of my personal life. Okay, sometimes I just have to rant but I try to keep it to a minimum.

    But so there are no misconceptions about my persona : I am not cool. I never have been cool. And I probably never will be cool. In fact I´m the complete antithesis of coolness. Coolness : Normal universe. Subzero : Bizarro universe. I mean I like to watch Spongebob Squarepants. That should be a dead giveaway. No really, I´m short, I´m overweight, I´m totally out of shape and I´m a total whiner.


    So for the record : I´m not cool. If, by reading the blog, you should get the misconception that I am in fact the coolest cat to ever walk the planet I want to apologize in advance. On the other side there´s not much I can do about it because it seems to be caused by stuff I don´t even write.

    Back to my visit at the comicshop, one of the employees was so nice to give me a few free comics from GRATIS COMIC TAG. Since I already have 10 of the 30 comics I want to wait and see if I can get the other 20. Initially I thought I could collect them all in Erlangen but as always my youthful ideas were crushed by the reality of me being totally unfit. Which brings us finally back to the continuation from part 1 of my first day in Erlangen.

    It´s a bit difficult to trace back the events one week later but according to the schedule the panel called eBook, iPhone, Playstation & Co about the future of comics was to take place at 15.00 hours so it must have been around 14.45 when I made my second purchase of the day. Because I remember that the nice guys at LASKA were worried about having time to finish the sketch for me as there were only 15 minutes left before the panel started. In fact I was at quite a few panels this time, although I have to admit that I was always sitting in the last row. Because of sleep deprivation I fell asleep during almost all of them so I thought it would be a good idea to stay at the back and not draw too much attention to myself.


    At the table of LASKA COMICS I got the newest issue LASKA COMIX 9 that had a new story of LUZIE AUS DER HÖLLE......HÖLLE, HÖLLE.....( Lucy from Hell ) and the LUZIE AUS DER HÖLLE collection that had been published by SCHWARZER TURM that collected all the old stories. So with these two comics I had collected them all ! I tried to find a picture of the cover to LASKA COMIX 9 because it´s pretty cool and it´s also a hommage to the cover of AVENGERS 1 ( the original one not the new one by John Romita Jr. ). But I couldn´t find it online.

    Anyway, my american readers might know the name LASKA COMIX because a few years ago they did a comic called KAKTUS,


    followed by a second part that was done entirely without words and because of that it was also published in Amerika. The second part is - of course - also done completely without words.

    I´m a big fan of the distinct LASKA art style


    which is also apparent in the LUCY FROM HELL ( I´m using the english name from now on ) pages. LUCY FROM HELL is the story of Lucy Lucifer, daughter of the devil with the same name and her pet dragon ( demondog ? ) Samsara ( or short Sam ). They escape hell for a shopping trip but after a failed assasination attempt they try to find out who is behind it all.


    Not the most original plot but thanks to the charming execution and a lot of inside jokes, like Lucy´s special move that´s called the Fing Fang Foom Flash or the angel of death, who looks like the cat Son Goku has to deafeat to drink the water that gives special strength ( DRAGONBALL readers know what I´m talking about ), it´s a funny and entertaining read.

    While the collection is a normal sized US comic format bookshelf with 48 pages LASKA COMIX 9 is in the european album size and has 32 pages. Besides the 11 page LUCY FROM HELL story there are also other short stories and while the first one is clearly the best ( or at least my favorite ) the rest of the book is also cool.


    Sadly I couldn´t find any preview pages but here are some reviews and stuff. Sorry, once again it´s all in german :

  • lucy from hell review from roter dorn


  • lucy from hell article by comicradioshow


  • order it via the independent freibeuter shop


  • You can also get it from amazon ( if they have it in stock ), directly from SCHWARZER TURM or at any good comicshop.

    Directly after getting a really cool sketch of Lucy for my new big sketchbook I went to the e-book panel with David Boller from Zampano Comics, Horst Gotta from Splitter, Steve Jones from comicstars.de, Steffen Volkmer from MyComics.de and a few others. Even if the discussion was quite interesting, and I was relieved that the old urban legend about printed comics being obsloete in a few years wasn´t brought up, I fell asleep a few times. I hadn´t had much sleep prior to Erlangen and I also was very tired from all the walking during the convention.


    Exiting the room I met up with my brother who had - like always - gone of in a different direction doing who knows what. In some cases I think it´s better not to know all the things he does at conventions. We decided to go back to the car but like always we didn´t find it. Then we split up and each one of us found the way back to the car seperately but went back to look for the other one. So it took us quite some time to get back to the car. The good thing was that once we had found the way it was quite easy to get back to the car and we decided to park the car at the same place whenever possible.

    I think we went back and got lost in the convention once again. I found a vendors table were they were selling all trades and hardcovers at ten EURO and at first I had a pile of ten books but because of my limited budget I had to cut it down to two. I decided on the 2 hardcovers I would buy anyway : THE STAND - CAPTAIN TRIPPS and SPIDER - MAN - NEW WAYS TO DIE. I´m avoiding most Spider - Man comics because of the whole BRAND NEW DAY s - word but John Romita Jr´s art is just too cool for words. I hope I can do reviews in some upcoming posts.


    After this I had already spent the main part of my comic budget and since we were both tired and it was only half an hour till closing time we went looking for the guys from splashpages. Before the convention I had offered to translate in the event that they planned on doing an interview with Juan Gimenez so we wanted to ask if there was already a date. Afterwards we went to our respective hotels which was pretty easy thanks to the navigation system.

    Back when we bought it I wasn´t sure if that was such a necessary acquisiton but it has since been really helpful in a few occasions. With it my brother checked in ( and we left my comicbag in his room which really bummed me ) before bringing me to my hotel where I did another one of my patented stray runs. I don´t know what it is but when it comes to following directions I´m like pirate bounty hunter Lorenar Zorro from ONE PIECE. The room I had booked was at another installation of the AB HOTEL which was basically just across the street but thanks to my superior navigation skills I took a five minute detour that lead once around the block before crossing the street. And just before arriving the strap of my bag broke so that I had the bag in my suitcase for the rest of the convention. Which may very well have been a blessing in disguise because I don´t know if I wouldn´t have gotten a heart attack if I had to carry the bag on the shoulder for the rest of the convention.

    Naturally my room was at the third floor and the room was pretty small but for 35 EUROS ( with breakfast included ) it wasn´t too bad. Sadly I couldn´t sleep very good in it because of my shoulder and because I couldn´t put it against the wall but that´s my personal problem.


    So much for now as it´s once again time to wrap things up. We still got to cover what went on at the country party ín the next part so stay tuned. I´m off to my brother´s room to borrow his issues of KOMMISSAR FRÖHLICH since I read a review today that recommends them highly.

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  • Tuesday, June 08, 2010

    My second Erlangen Diary - Day 1

    Before starting the report about my misadventures at the 14th Comicsalon in Erlangen I have to mention that this year I had no preparation whatsoever. Usually when I know that I´m going I take certain safety measures that I didn´t get around to this time.


    As I already mention in this post why I couldn´t prepare I´ve decided to write how I usually prepare :

    step 1 - stop buying comics at least three months before. This goes strictly for german comics. When I´m in Erlangen I usually try to get a lot of sketches, which means going to all the signings I can. Sometimes you have to buy the newest comic to get a sketch so it´s better not to have bought the comic in advance. And there is of course the fact that you get comics cheaper at the con than in the shop.

    step 2 - make a battleplan for the sketches. This usually means finding out who will attend, who I´m interested in and deciding on the order in which I´m trying to get sketches. This is always subject to change. In some cases I even bring some special issues to sign but that´s an exception. Normally I get the comics I get signed there.

    step 3 - trying to get as much money together as I can. Comics can be cheap at Erlangen but food and lodging isn´t. And to top it all off you can spend a year´s salary in Erlangen. So you have to be a little conscious of your spendings.

    Step 1 was not that much of a problem. Since my budget is always tight as it is there wasn´t many german comics I did buy aside from the occasional WEISSBLECH production like HORRORSCHOCKER. And the last time I was there was 2006 so there were a lot of comics I still didn´t have.


    Step 2 was a complete no - go because I opted for finishing the HORST story instead of getting information about the signing schedule. And as for step 3 - I had to make do with the budget I had. Which was becoming shorter at the first gas station when I paid my half of the gas money.

    Initially I had planned to go by train but thanks to my brother we took the car. And I really have to say thankfully because without it I have no idea how we would have reached my hotel that was 10 kilometers outside of Erlangen. No wonder nobody from the Comicforum had ever heard of it. I had managed to get all my stuff in one big suitcase which I picked because it´s the only one where the camping chair fits. At my age it´s impossible to stand in line for hours so I have to bring the chair with me. Too bad I didn´t need it. Okay, when I was waiting at the busstation at the second hotel where I stayed it came in pretty handy.

    Looking out the window I´m reminded that initially the weather forecast prophecied good weather from Thursday to Sunday and the sun didn´t come out till Saturday. I didn´t pack much stuff : my small sketchbook, my new big sketchbook, showering gel, toothbrush, towel, underwear and t - shirts to change, a few more t - shirts ( just in case ) and the usual assortment of stuff like gloves, a scarf, pencils, other stuff to draw, the mp3 player etc, etc.


    This time we took a different route that was much faster that my brother had found through the internet. But this wasn´t the only surprise for me : besides doing the navigation I was also promoted to chronicle of the journey which in this case meant recording the trip with the camera. Now that in itself is no big deal IF you know it before or get a bit of training. All I got was a ten second crash course how to turn the camera on and I have to say if you keep that in mind I wasn´t so bad. I don´t know if my footage is usable at all but hey, you want quality you gotta be a bit more patient.

    All in all the trip wasn´t that bad and we soon arrived in Erlangen. Somehow it was all still familiar but also different. We went to get the tickets ( we always get tickets for the whole four days ) and then decided to eat because we still had some time till they opened the doors. My brother thought that we would be late because he thought they would start at ten but since they started at noon we still had some time. Now we have had bad experiences with going out to eat during conventions but this time I have to say we really lucked out.

    In retrospect I have to say that we might have spent too much money on food but that´s something I have to watch the next time around. We went looking for a restaurant in the sidestreets because you find better ones away from where all the tourists go. Most of them were closed at the time, like a restaurant that had albondigas but we found the MIKE`S EKU STEAKHOUSE where the prices were in the middle range but the food was excellent and the helping more than sufficent. The waitress was a nice girl and the service was excellent. I tried to find the website but it seems there is only one for the main restaurant in Fürth.

    So we started the convention with a good experience and a full belly. Usually it takes me a bit of time till I´m at operating temperature which usually happens after I have bought my first comics. This time I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size of it and because it was pretty packed for the first day.


    I had no idea who was signing, what the programm was, which discussions were held or which exhibitions were planned, so instead I tried to find some people who I wanted to talk with. Since the lay of the convention is always the same I went to the section of the german indie publishers where I met GRINGO COMICS Girl Friday Holger Bommer.

    Of course I had no idea what new comics they had - it´s easy to loose track with the amount of output they have - of which the ones that interested me most where the new HARTMUT issue HARTMUT SUCHT DEN SUPERSTAR and the second book of KOMMISAR EISELE a comic by Martin Frei


    ( sorry that I forgot that you wrote the stories ) about a swabian police officer. Of course he has a woman as his new partner that just has been transferred to the swabian Kripo and doesn´t know much about the swabian people and their customs, who serves as the identification figure of the reader - at least the ones who are not swabian. It´s full of local colour which is part of it´s charme.

    The art is different than in other works by Martin Frei like my favorite SUPERBABE or others but that´s one of the things I like about his art. It´s always adapting and although it is still recognizable as Martin´s individual style it always changes according to the needs of the story. Here´s a preview from the first book.


    And I really don´t have to say much about the adventures of HARTMUT, do I ? I already wrote a bit about it here and there´s not much to add. One of THE best german comics even for people who don´t read comics. I promised to buy a copy in the next days since I always have to buy two : one for my own collection and one for my brother - in - law. And if I can buy them in Erlangen or at another convention I can even get it signed.

    With the promise of a future purchse ( I bought the new HARTMUT issue on Sunday ) I then went to the WEISSBLECH COMICS booth ( I´m not sure if I gave Geier the new spanish translation of the newest HORST story before that or right after it ) where I made my first purchase of the day and got my first sketch of the convention. The sketch I got was Charon the storyteller from HAMMERHARTE HORRORSCHOCKER by mastermind / publisher / writer / artist Levin Kurio himself and I bought the big " Weissblech year´s worth of comics convention special " which is all the publications of this year which is roughly 32 bucks of comics for meager 25.


    Included are HORRORSCHOCKER issues 21 and 22, WELTEN DES SCHRECKENS 2 and 3 and XXX COMICS 10. Since I already had issue 21 of HORRORSCHOCKER Kevin was so nice to switch it for WEISSBLECHS WELTBESTE COMICS - WOLLÜSTIGE VAMPIRE AUS DEM WELTALL and he even threw the new free mini comic ( WEISSBLECH does the best mini comics ever ) and the GRATIS COMIC TAG into the package.

    This took out a big chunk of my comic budget but it was totally worth it. For me as a fan of horror comics and comics like TALES FROM THE CRYPT, WEISSBLECH is the leader in the segment of high quality comic trash entertainment in Germany. Good writing, good production value and always with the top german comic artists doing some stories. In this bunch I have to say that Kolja Schäfer was really standing out. He had the stories PAPIERHELDEN ( paper heroes ) - which is reprinted in the GRATIS COMIC TAG issue - and STRAFVERSETZT ( transfered for disciplinary reasons ) in HORRORSCHOCKER 22, he did the Kala lead story DIE MUTTER DER BERGE ( the mother of the mountains ) in WELTEN DES SCHRECKENS 2 and the back up story ICH WAR ZEUGE DER INVASION DER SUPERLADIES ( I was a witness to the invasion of the superladies ) in WEISSBLECHS WELTBESTE COMICS - WOLLÜSTIGE VAMPIRE AUS DEM WELTALL.


    So I got the full Kolja Schäfer package and judging from his impressive art and his awesome coloring I can guarantee that we will be seeing more of this talented artist in the pages of WEISSBLECH and maybe in some other projects.

  • preview pages from HORRORSCHOCKER 22



  • And with this I´m coming to the end of this day´s post since it´s time to go to bed for me. In the next part we will continue with my adventures on the first day of Erlangen like how we didn´t find our car ( always a favorite in Erlangen ) or what happened at the country party.

    Of course some other comicfans were faster than me so if you want to read more about Erlangen 2010 here are some links. Sorry, it´s all in german :

  • Erlangen report from Comicstammtisch Leipzig


  • Erlangen post by Sarah Burrini


  • Erlangen post by Grizzlyfear


  • the official coverage by splashpages



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  • The boys are back in town

    Once again the International Comicsalon in Erlangen has ended. The last time I went there was 2006, so keeping in mind that this was the 14th Salon and I missed the first one this was my 12th time.


    I don´t know, but judging by the reports I read about the last one - and according to my memory - I didn´t expect it to be so big. Or maybe that was just because I´m not as fit as I used to be. That´s also the reason why I didn´t post Yesterday because I was still too groggy from the trip back and the whole experience. Thank god I can stay at home this week since the course from the Unemployment Office has closed its doors for this week. So Yesterday I spent a lot of time sleeping, eating, reading some comics and just relaxing.

    In any case I still have all the comics, flyers and other stuff on my table and have to sort it out a bit before bringing my thoughts and adventures to my faithful readers.

    For now I just want to thank a few people without whom I wouldn´t have survived my trip to Erlangen : first, my brother, who insisted we take the car. Without it we would never have found my Hotel. Then of course my peeps from SCHWARZER TURM : Robi, Mille, Asja, Caroline, Wittek and the rest of the crew. Thanks for providing me with a kind of homebase to crash whenever I was tired or needed a place to hide so I didn´t spend more money on comics. Sounds weird coming from me but a guy has to eat.

    Anyway, thanks guys ( and gals ) and I hope we can repeat this very soon. Who knows, maybe we can meet up in Essen this year.


    And of course to all the other nice folks I met and talked comics ( and life ) I want to send a shoutout and hopefully we will meet again. And last but not least, to the guy who sent me an e - mail before going to Erlangen : sorry that I missed you. I tried to warn you NOT to go and watch THE SPIRIT but I couldn´t find you. I know that movie can scar you for life.

    So that´s all for now....yes, I haven´t said for Today because it has been brought to my attention that I have to post more often. And as HOUSE has been kicked off the network and MONK is in reruns there may be the chance that I can write about what happens when you go to a big comic convention like Erlangen with no preparation whatsoever. Psche, you may think that after 11 visits a guy would finally learn something.


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