Damn

It feels good to get work done again.  Cranked out outlines for a couple of projects today.  The fifth Vampi, and something else that's not been announced yet.  It's actually a pretty huge challenge for me not to work... I have so much rattling around my head that if I don't get some of it out and on paper daily it can feel like I'm going to burst. On the recommendation of Gary Dauberman and Brian Reed, I tried out Scrievner for the new project.   It's pretty good, although I'm not wild about th idea that you can't just use it for everything, as you still need to use a traditional word processor for formatting.  I need to play with it some more.  Far and away the best feature, though, is that I can stretch the program between my two screens, letting me do some slightly more complicated split screening then you can do with any other program I've found.   I love the idea of being organized, but rarely take the effort needed with my writing to do it... in theory Scrievner'll do a lot of the organizing for me.  We'll see I guess.

As I mentioned yesterday, I submitted a comic to Zuda Comics the other day, but I'd be flabbergasted if it was selected.  It's a strange little piece of expressionistic nightmare photo collage that's probably a bit text heavier than most people think of when they think comics, but, y'know, I'm a writer, so, there you go.  Once it gets rejected, I'll post it here, and you guys can let me know if it's worth continuing it.

My back... hmm.  It's better, in the sense that it's not as bad as it was, but, after taking what was my usual daily walk today, I was left shakey and nauseous.  But, considering that and the 6 or so hours I spent at my desk, I'm actually not in THAT much pain.  Of course, it could just be the painkillers blocking it out.

And finally, Gary, Tony, and I have launched a new website.  It's still in the process of being built, but, y'know, set your bookmarks to http://www.thesandwichkings.com

Stir Crazy and Fancy Free

I haven't left my house other than for doctor's appointments, a trip to blockbuster, or to the grocery store in about ten days, and I'm going insane.  I spend virtually every day cooped up in my office regularly, but there's something about knowing that I CAN'T go outside that makes it worse.  Pretty much any walking around or driving, for that matter, aggravates my back to such a point that I need to be loaded up on pain killers for the rest of the day, so I'm better off just staying inside, but, goddamn do I want to not be here right now. I usually get to go out to lunch with one of the gang once or twice a week, and then get out for a daily walk to the grocery store or the mall or whatever.  Those days are temporarily gone, and it's really driving me batty.

The constant pain killers probably contribute to that too.

And so it begins

Welcome to the New Year.  My back is still pretty badly injured, although I did manage to get out of bed, showered, and dressed on my own.  Hooray for the little victories. I've got a bunch of stuff on the horizon this year, and I think it's going to be another banner year for me.  Between the Seven Seas Manga, the Dark Horse stuff, and the OGN with Guillory, I've got three projects I'm extremely proud of already on the horizon.  Over the break, it looks like I may have found artists for a few more projects I was really looking forward to as well, so, all engines are a go.

That's about all I can handle blogging right now (especially considering I've got another Princess Resurrection adaptation that needs to be finished ASAP) so, y'know, I'll be back later.

Things Learned Whilst Crippled with a Back Injury

30 Rock is much better than I gave it credit for.  I watched the first few episodes as they aired, but, the quality goes through the roof not to long after where I quit.  I also had missed the pilot, which I think is infinitely better than the three or four that come afterwards. Veronica Mars Season 2, while not as good as Season 1, is equally as addicting.  The mini-mysteries from episode to episode really sing, and it's a big help.  Add a big helping of Ken "I Wanna Dip My Balls in It" Marino makes it that much better.  It really was one of the best shows of the decade, wasn't it?

Progresso's Wedding Soup is the shit.

The Blackberry is perfect for those unable to move ones arms and sit up straight.

I'm considerably more resilient than I was a few years ago.  I blew my back out five years ago, and I feel like it took a week or more before I was moving around.  This time, I'm already walking and sitting up within the first day.

And finally, my wife is amazing.   I've never had anyone be so attentive, caring, and ready to help.

Christina's Sick...

I'd planned on doing that Sweeney Todd review, and talking more about end of the year-y stuff, but, both Christina and I were sick, and while I miraculously recovered, she's still zonked out, so I've been taking care of her full time.  So, y'know, back later.

THE LIST: Outlaw Kid, Punks, Supermarket, and TheFialkov.com

12-10-07

Hey gang,
As the year draws to a close, I’ve got a couple of books squeaking in before the roles are closed on the old year, and a few quick updates.

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First, this week sees my very first (of what will hopefully be many) Marvel work in the form of an Outlaw Kid story in Marvel Comics Presents #4. The art is by the amazing Chris Moeller and looks LIKE THIS:

Click the image for an interview with me about the book.

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Secondly, the Punks Christacular we’re hoping/praying/oodling should be in stores either next week, or the week following. I’ll send out another update when we know for sure. It’s been super-sized up to 56 pages (at no additional cost to you!) and contains a ton of bonus material, including an interview with the ever-charming kitsch king Charles Phoenix, a few words from Captain Marvel/The Circle/Ms. Marvel writer Brian Reed, a review of a Bob Mould ‘event’ by blogging sensation Ian Brill, plus not one but TWO bonus comics, including the all but impossible to get Free Comic Book Day short, and one that has cool stuff like THIS in it...

As always, more info on that at PunksTheComic.com

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Also of note, the old blog’s gone away, and a new blog has replaced it. The new site is up at http://www.thefialkov.com.

I’ve been updating it much more regularly, and hopefully will continue to.

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This weekend Tony Fleecs and I will be appearing at Supermarket L.A. at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood. Hopefully, I will have the aforementioned Punks Christacular in hand, as well as some surprises. More info on that here: http://www.myspace.com/supermarketla.

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And finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t plug my beautiful wife’s newly redesigned (by me) website over at http://www.anndvorak.com. She’s got an amazing collection of photos, and I’ve even managed to convince her to blog a bit about her collection, Ann’s movies, and things of that sort. There’ll probably eventually be pictures of the wedding over there, too, so, go check it out.

Happy Holidays and all that,

j.

And these are the days in our lives...

I've been closing out my gmail account for the past few days now.  I've had it since their first open beta however many years ago.  I love the service, but, have had a few issues with it as of late, including mail not getting through, massive amounts of incoming spam, and general unreliability.  I'm also really not a fan of the new interface (even knowing you can switch to the 'classic view' I have a bad feeling about how long that'll stick around...).  Add to that I've had a .Mac account for a while now that aside from being paid for, is also about a thousand times more reliable... Anyways... what's been interesting is spending the time going through my life of the past four or so years, in e-mail.  Watching the evolution of my career, friendships, loves, and all the rest.   There's the obvious 'first e-mail with' Wheaton, Dauberman, Fleecs, James Patrick, J-Rod, and all of the guys who've become an essential part of my life, creatively, socially, and spiritually.  There's the first awkward e-mailing between Christina and I, where I try desperately to impress someone who was clearly the coolest chick I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

There's the first few attempts to get work for hire, followed by the slightly more successful attempts, followed by the "Hey, I'm actually hired," style attempts.  Getting to watch the whole Speakeasy debacle from the first "This is a good thing" through the "Oh right, these guys are obviously clueless and shouldn't be in the business..." winding up at the "Hooray for Random House!"

Through many leaps, stumbles, wins, losses, and all shades of gray in between, it's been a helluva a few years.  Thanks to all of you for being along for the ride.

News and Things

Ah... November slips away,  Just wrapped up the last work for hire for the year (it's for Marvel, and I'm really looking forward to everybody seeing it), and put the finishing touches on a few other projects includind the Manga for Seven Seas Entertainment, the Wildstorm comic, and the 4th Volume of Princess Resurrection.  My plan is to spend December doing 'personal development' on a couple of creator owned projects I'd like to get going for early next year.   I'm finally getting the hang of having a balance of work that pays the bills and makes me happy. Speaking of which... the Punks Christacular is on it's way to stores, with an estimated ship date of the 2nd week of December.  I just sent out preview PDF's to critics and friends and if you'd like one, just drop me an e-mail.

In other things I done did... I redid Christina's Ann Dvorak site (http://www.anndvorak.com) with Wordpress and some Gallery plugins.  I think it turned out pretty good, and is worth checking out.  I'd bet there'll be some wedding pictures added on there relatively soon... which I'll link to.

Married life is everything it's cracked up to be, especially when married to the coolest chick in town.

There's a few other projects (including the aforementioned Marvel, Seven Seas,  and Wildstorm books) that'll be announced soon, one of which is a collaboration with screenwriting superstar Mark Wheaton for one of my favorite publishers.  Next years going to be very kickass.

Oh, also on Punks... once the pesky WGA strike is over, there's going to be some super cool news... something that Kody and I have been chomping at the bit to get going on... but the strike came in before the contracts could close, and while the strike doesn't strictly get in the way of the project... we decided we'd rather be supportive of the strikers (at least two of which are my best friends) than start work.

So there ya go.  Keep on smilin'.

The New Knapsack

So here it is. Made of a rugged (yet alarmingly soft) pre-treated leather, the bag's a mid-century infantryman's bag, which from what they told me at the store was used primarily to keep books and writing supplies (paper and pens etc.) as well as for maps and the like.  Which would make it perfect for me, as I just want something to carry around my various medicines, books, and note taking supplies. I keep finding myself on business calls of the creative persuasion when I'm out and about, and never have the stuff i need with me. Add to that the fact that I'm nearly busting my pockets with all of the crap my new hypo-allergenic state has forced me to stuff in there.

As you can see in the first picture here, it has a simple system of interlocking straps that hold it closed, and allow you to only open as much as you need...

Then, the inside front pocket is clear, for putting in a map, book, or letter during a rainstorm whilst in a bunker or swamp, and has a piece of cotton which was used to dry your reading glasses, magnifying glass,  or whatever needs drying... Me, I'm using it for all of my medications,hand wipes, glasses cleaners, business card holders, etc.

There's two pockets inside, and there's enough room for a journal and a pretty sizeable TPB size novel. That's a 700 page oversize TPB in there, and there's probably still a good 20% more space vertically.

I mostly keep notes on smaller size journals, in fact, I just got a Reporters Notebook style Moleskine that I'm crazy about (It's tough to find bound notebooks that are comfortable for a lefty...)but with all this extra room, I might upgrade to the full size version...

The next shows the thing filled up from the side.  It's still comfortable to hold in your hand, or use the detachable strack to throw it over your shoulder.

And finally, there's a side by side for scale. That's a regular size TPB Graphic Novel.

Oh, and as Christina would surely remind me to point out... total price from Glendale, California's own Armies of the World on the corner of Glendale and Colorado Blvd....

$7.95

Ay-yay-yay

Did a quick site redo, cause it's about time.  I think it's pretty cool, nice and simple, and has one of my favorite panels from the Punks Christmas Special at the top.  It's been a strange couple of weeks.  Had a few projects that were going along swimmingly get all but halted due to the writer's strike, but, it's a good cause, so that's cool. Married life is tops, and we've been settling into it swimmingly.  Chrissy has been devouring Gilmore Girls in preperation for the final season's release today, so, it's been great getting to watch it all again (and really quickly).  It's just really one of the most heartfelt, beautifully written shows in a long, long time.  Combine that with making my way through the Complete Angel box set, and I've been knee deep in great TV.  Great TV that makes me want to make TV.

Punks Christacular will be in stores in a few weeks, and it's easily the best thing to ever have my name on/in/near it.  It's a really exceptional book, and it's mostly owed to Kody.  I believe my Marvel Comics Presents story is due out any week now, as well, and it's super awesometastic.

And that's pretty much that.

The Wedding

As you can see from the charming pictures of Christina and I with our officiant, Charles Phoenix (http://www.charlesphoenix.com) the wedding was a whole lot of fun. We had folks in from across the globe (Australia! Canada! Paris!) and from all around the country (Des Moines! Pittsburgh! DC!) and a good time was had by all.

I'm still debating about whether or not to put up more pictures from the day (I try and keep the personal life stuff as separate as possible from the blog stuff, after all) so let me know if you want to see more.

j.

TheList for 10-17-07

Hey Gang, Just a quick word as the week of my nuptials bears down on me. We get married this weekend in Encino, and lots of friends and family are flying in, so I'm about to do a nice disappearing act for all of those not in the flesh for the next few days. Before I do, here's a quick look at what's going on.

First off, on the wedding kick, we made a comic book as a hand out for our guests, and got an amazing bunch of guys to contribute. Elk's Run's Noel Tuazon did an amazing job on the bulk of the pages, with a quick section of my Postcards collaborator Micah Farritor's work, and good friend Tony Fleecs put the thing together. Add to that it's wrapped in the above beautiful cover by Phil Hester. Keep checking the blog, as we're doing a giveaway of a few copies of this extremely limited comic. It's like if Elk's Run wasn't a miserable adventure in death and family.

Next up, over at Newsarama.com, John Siuntres's Word Balloon podcast has been posted, and it's the first of two parts of the Library Panel with myself, Mark Waid, Kazu Kibuishi, Christos Gage, Ross Richie, and Tony Fleecs. The panel was great, and relistening to it makes me feel pretty confident that it was a worthwhile endeavor for all involved. Special thanks to Dan Dupill from the LAPL for helping to set the whole thing up. Here's the full story.

Also, this week in stores, from IDW Gene Simmons House of Horrors #2 featuring a story by me drawn by the inimitable Andy Kuhn. I saw his original pages back at Comic Con, and they were absolutely amazing. Do yourself (and us) a favor and pick up a copy.

Finally, in somewhat bizarre news, a movie I wrote is actually on its way from Mark's and my pens (through some unknown Canadian rewrite guys) to the small screen. The movie's gone from being called They're Among Us to The Hatching (which I mistook for The Hutching, assuming it had something to do with vertical storage) and seems to possibly have at least something to do with what Mark and I originally wrote so many months ago. Best of all, it stars Isabella Rossellini and Judd Nelson. (I hope there's a walking away/fist pump/freeze frame at the end, but I doubt I'm that lucky.) God knows how the thing'll turn out, but, at the very least, I'm proud to cause each of you pain on a Saturday night in the near future. Here's the PR on the movie.

That'll do it for me. Thanks for reading, and see y'all in a week or two. Keep checking the blog and the Twitter if you'd like to watch my descent into insanity during my final week of pre-marital bliss.

Cheers,

j.

Somebody’s Getting Married

by Phil Hester, Colors and design by Tony Fleecs.

This weekend comes that day of days, my wedding. From all corners of the globe (Australia! Canada! Glendora!) come my family and friends. For those who don't know, my wife-to-be, aside from being totally and completely awesome, is also a memorabilia collector, specifically for one actress, Ann Dvorak. She's been the webmistress of http://www.anndvorak.com for years, and is in the process of writing an in depth biography of her, ten years of research driving it all. So, it's a huge treat for her that we're getting married in Ann's backyard.

The only house Ann ever really called home is the site of the wedding, the current owners kindly allowing us to bring 150 of our closest friends and relatives (although, predominantly relatives) to the beatuiful secluded property hidden away in Encino.

So, keep us in your thoughts this weekend, and forgive my week long disappearance.

When I return, I'll be a different (and better) man.

Cheers.

j.

Insult to Injury

Not the comic book by young Ben Rosen (which is very good and geting better), but, the actual... thing.  I had a rear molar crack or split or fall apart or whatever the fuck a molar does. Fuckadoodledoo.

Where oh Where…

I'm getting married in a week and a half.  We just got back from San Jose, and haven't stopped doing wedding stuff throughout.  Meanwhile, we got some incredible news about PUNKS, that requires me to pause all of my other work and crank out some scripts.  Should be announcing that shortly.  I'm also hammering away on this creator owned manga I'm doing with Seven Seas. In other words, I'm really busy.

Sorry for the disappearing act.

Viva Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas, originally uploaded by Joshua Hale Fialkov.

Heading out to Las Vegas for the rest of the week for good ol' Grumpus's wedding day. See you cats and kittens next week.

While writing the Punks Christacular, I listened to this on repeat for an hour.

Christina's ready to kill me, I think.

I haven’t been around…

I've been too busy pushing a rock out of my penis. Second time in two years.

Motherfuckers.

Which Glendale Residing-Tiki Steak House Loving-Mystery & Sci-Fi Bookshop Patron…

Could Marc Bernardin possibly be referring to?

My Desk

My Desk, originally uploaded by Joshua Hale Fialkov.

For the Flickr Deskset Group started by Matt Fraction. That's my 20" iMac with my 22" Samsung external playing the Daily Show. My TV with PS2 in the background. Wall art from clockwise from top left, Elk's Run Release Party banner, Hung Up production poster, Nate Bellegarde Hector Plasm, Postcards postcard, Scott Mills Martian Manhunter, Poorly Drawn Animals buttons, Pop Gun War print by Farel Dalrymple, Western Tales of Terror cover by Tony Moore, a Two Fisted Tales cover, a production still from my movie, some PDA art, and my favorite, a Stan Sankai Usagi print.