New Super Duper Fun Comix

So, awhile back I was working on a "Mystery Project". This Mystery Project was in fact a sorta-new comic called "New Super Duper Fun Comix". Essentially, I enjoyed doing "The Great Race" so much, that I decided I wanted to be able to use that format whenever I wanted to.

NSDFC can be ordered online at www.torcpress.com/comicshop.html. Or send a check or money order for $4.00 ($2.50 for the book & $1.50 S&H) to:

TORC Press
c/o Joseph Morris
330 S 5th St SW
Clay City, IL 62824

Specs: New Super Duper Fun Comix: A is a 24 page B&W Bi-Annual Comic with a B&W cover.

Plot: The various characters of the TORCverse head to the beach for a day of relaxation in the sun. Chaos ensues.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Score This Issue:

10. If you enjoyed the Great Race you'll dig this issue.

9. We've got a year long promotion going on. If you buy an issue you'll get some cool random bonus thingie. Maybe art, maybe old comics, maybe something else.

8. Some characters who haven't gotten a lot of screen time, like Johm Smythe and Cut-Up appear in this issue.

7. Some new characters pop up as well.

6. Two words: Ultra-Dolphins

5. Two more words: Giant Monster!

4. Pengy swims. Believe me, it's a lot cooler than it sounds.

3. The great debate: Tea vs. Lemonade

2. Two more more words: Parasite Men

1. It's a beach issue, which means Voodoo Dolly and aliceislost in bikinis. Nudge, nudge. wink, wink.

Random Notes Before Springfield

Two days till my first Con of the Year. Not too nervous yet. But there's still a ton of stuff to do. Need to work up some sketches, load up the new comics, do a few other things.

Bro's moving into his new house this/next week. Woo-Hoo! All of our hard work finally amounted to something.

Damn snowstorm. I was in Evansville yesterday, and the new comics hadn't come in yet due to delivery delays. Went to Louisville today to pick up my business cards, and they hadn't come in yet because of the weather as well.

I did manage to get my hands on Anihilation #6. Lessons learned from this awesome story: #1) Trying to overthrow the Kree is easier said than done. #2) Never, Ever, Ever, Never, Ever Piss Off Galactus. Ever.

Other than that, I'm kinda hanging in Limbo waiting on a handful of things.

Birthday Bash

So, the gang and I took off on the 9th for a day of crazy craziness to celebrate my 29th birthday. We hit Fairview Heights first and ate at Olga's. Food good. Very stuffed. After a quick stop at Hobby Lobby for Art Supplies, we rolled onto St. Louis proper. Went to Star Clipper on lovely Delmar Blvd where I not only scored a Fat Stack of comics, but also took the time to inquire about consignment. From there, we rolled to the ass end of the city and went to Dave and Busters, which for those of you sad souls that have never been there, is like a Chucky Cheez for adults. We loaded up our cards and hit the game floor. Shot some aliens, did some Pod Racing, and played some Skee Ball. We found a couple of ways to score Mondo Tickets, which we cashed in for Yo-Yos, a stupid hat, and a Hello Kitty that I'm gonna give to Ma. Coolest Thing #1: Y'know those Crane Machines that you can grab stuffed animals out of? Well, they had the Economy Size version, which had a massive crane, and really big stuffed animals in it. Using my Mad Skillz, I actually got a bear out of the machine on my 2nd try. Coolest Thing #2: They had this Arcade Trivia game. Not only was it cool to be able to display my talent at remembering useless crap in a public forum, but the machine also dispenced tickets depending on how many questions you got right. Bonus!

After that we went to Harrah's Casino and ate the buffet. It was expencive, but worth it. They had lots of great stuff, and (ching!) all you could eat crab legs! And the desserts were awesome as well. I got stupid stuffed. Then we hit the casino floor, which actually was the worst part of the night. I bombed out on both the slots and roulette. Damnit. Other than that one low spot, though, I had a killer day. Made me less bummed about turning 29.

While I Wait

Welp, I'm 29. Great. One year away from 30. Got no job, no worthwhile skills, running out of cash, single, haven't had a date in a ridiculously long amount of time, and ect. Trying to find a way to make money with the comic, which is pretty damn hard when only 1 out of 20 comic shops you contact actually respond.

But whatcha gonna do? Today the crew and I take off for Saint Lunatic for a day of food, fun, and gambling. Always bet on black, baby.

As I wait, here's a few things dancing around the back of my skull.

On www.comicbookresources.com, there's an article on Mark Evanier writing not one but TWO biographies on Jack the King Kirby. This is exciting, exciting news. Can't get enough Kirby goodness.

I really love the manga One Piece, which can be found either in stand alone trades or monthly in Shonen Jump. The latest story arc, "The Little Garden Adventure" is finally wrapping up, and turned out to be a very entertaining arc in the end. Lately, One Piece has been all over the map, with new characters popping up and disappearing seemingly at random (Naruto has had the same problem lately). As such, I wasn't sure if this arc, which introduced a handful of new characters, would be worthwhile. But the conclusion was quite fun, and showed the Straw Hat Crew really using effective teamwork for the first time. Also, we get to see Nami in a bra. Bonus! Oh, and once again, I'm proven right and Shafe's proven wrong, as none other than "Useless" Usopp saves the day. Hooray!

Speaking of Shonen Jump, I hate the newly added manga "Gin Tama" and "Yu-Gi-Oh GX". Gin Tama's got a lame premise, a lame main character, lamer supporting characters, boring art, and lame stories. Not a fan so far. As for Yu Gi Sux GX, if I didn't like YuGiSux, why would I like a lame ass spin off? I haven't even bothered reading this one yet.

For the record, Jump's still an enjoyable read just for One Piece and Naruto, plus I still get a kick out of Shaman King (the X-Laws' Giant Angel Robot Spirits are AWESOME!), Hikaro no Go (even though I still don't understand the game of Go at all), and YuYu Hakusho (beat down!). The manga is still worth my money, it just sucks that there's now two manga in it I can't stomach.

Hopefully they'll still have copies of Annihalation #6 at the comic shop in St. Louis. I've got to see how the series ends.

What else? Can't really think of anything. Babel's not playing in the greater St. Louis area anymore, so I can't catch it today. Damnit. There's nothing else I'm just dieing to see. I'm gonna wait to watch "The Queen" and "The Last King of Scotland" on DVD. INLAND EMPIRE still isn't playing in St. Louis (or anywhere else for that matter). Oh well, still got plenty to do today.

My Birthday Gift to You

Okay. The 9th is my 29th Birthday. Boo! Anyway, as a gift to the three people that read this blog, today I'm putting up the recipe for my signiture dish, Cactus Chicken. This is NOT the exact recipe that I use, but it's close enough to give you all the joy that is this dish (I can't include the recipe for one of the spices, cause I got it out of another cookbook). So mark it down, try it at home, and feel free to modify it as needed (for example, if you don't like it too hot, make sure to seed the jalepenos, or if you want it hotter, substitute Seranos or (try this at your own risk) a Habenero). Enjoy!

Cactus Chicken

2 lbs of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1Tsp of Olive Oil
1/2 White Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
3 Jalepenos, Stemmed and Chopped
2 cups Tomato Juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Cumin
1 Canned Chipotle Pepper in Abodo Sauce, Chopped

1) Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken in the skillet and set it over Med to Hi heat. Cook the chicken, flipping occassionally, until there's no more pink inside. Don't wanna give yourself salminella afterall. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the heat and set aside.

2) Pour the olive oil into a medium saucepan. Set the saucepan over Med to Hi heat. Pour the onion into the pan. Sautee the onion until the onion starts to turn a nice shade of golden. Add the garlic to the pan, and let the onion and garlic sautee for about a minute, stirring occassionally. Add the jalepenos to the mixture. Let everything cook for about another minute.

3) Pour the Tomato Juice into the sauce pan. Stir. Add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and chipotle pepper. Stir some more. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes.

4) Hopefully, your chicken has cooled off by now. Cut off and discard all of the burnt and hard parts of the chicken. Chop the remaining chicken into chunks. Add the chicken to the sauce mixture. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Serve hot.

How to Serve:
The best way to serve Cactus Chicken is on homemade corn tortillas with Queso Fresco cheese, eaten taco style. If you don't have Queso Fresco, substitue Pepper Jack or Chedder. Sour cream can also be served with it, but I think it detracts from the flavors too much. If you don't have homemade corn tortillas, store bought corn tortillas fried in a skillet with oil will work, or you can use store bought flour tortillas nuked in a microwave. If tacos aren't your thing, just pour the Chicken mix into a bowl, sprinkle some cheese on top, and serve it as a very thick soup. Or grab some nachos and serve it nacho style.

T-Shirt A Go-Go

This is pretty much a mirror of my myspace post. In fact, I think I'll just go there and copy it. So, if you've already read my myspace post, skip this one.

As I've mentioned before, I'm currently without a job. As I've also mentioned before, I'd very much like to arrive at a point in my life where I no longer need a drone job. Instead, I'd like to be able to make a living off of my creative abilities. So, for the next several months, I'm going to trying various things to make money (read: whoring myself).

One of my first little whatevers is that I've scored an eBay account. I've never used eBay before, but I figure it'll be cheaper in the short term to sell various items through eBay than it would be to build up a whole new site devoted to selling crap on my own terms.
Anyway, to Field Test the eBay site, I've put one of my TORC Press World Tour '06 T-Shirts up online for sale. It's a size Large. If you didn't score one of these cool shirts last year, and you'd like one (and you wear a Large size), then head over to http://cgi.ebay.com/TORC-Press-World-Tour-T-Shirt-Large_W0QQitemZ140081876115QQihZ004QQcategoryZ15687QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem and put in a bid.

I'M ON FIRE!!!

I'm gonna kick myself for saying this when I inevitably go broke, but man oh man I LOVE being unemployed! Woo! I honestly thought I'd get all depressed not being gainfully employed, but turns out, quite the opposite has happened. I've never felt better!

I'm almost halfway through with the latest issue of SDF already. I'm several chapters in on my first novel. I've got an eBay account so I can start hawking merch and whatnot. I'm painting again. I'm getting back to work on me and Bro's Crudeimation Music Videos. In other words:

I'M ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!

I know, I know. Gotta get a job soon. Gonna be broke otherwise. Still, this has been a great month for me. Can't wait to see what happens next.