Still In it to Win It!

On September 18, 2013July 29, 2020 By UncannyDerekIn The DistomosLeave a comment

It’s been awhile, eh?

Don’t worry! I’m still writing! I’m well-over halfway done my science-fiction novel!

Where have I been? As I’ve mentioned before, I work a full-time – but seasonal – job, so between March & July, I hardly have time to buy groceries, let alone sit down and write for few hours. So yes, the story had been put on pause until just recently.

Since I left you last, I’ve added another 30,000 words to the story starting from July. I have another 30,000 words or so to write until I’m fully done, then major edits and what-not. Either way, I AM writing and this novel WILL be done by the end of 2013.

In the meantime, I’ve also been listening to a TON of new music. 2013 has overwhelmed me with great lyrical and thematic inspiration. However, I’ve been listening to a lot of science-fiction themed albums. Ayreon’s 01011001 and Star One’s Victims of the Modern Age play on a constant state of replay while I write. And lots of tea, of course.

Also!

This is my work station. I have lots of notes and tea on standby while I write. Ain’t that something?

I even have a name picked out for the book already, but we’ll get to that in a later post.

Until next time, folks!

The Walking Dead, FanExpo, and More!

On July 26, 2012July 29, 2020 By UncannyDerekIn Comic BloggingLeave a comment

Isn’t it weird to be back on schedule again? Maybe I’ll get some reviews up shortly as well. (No promises!)

The Walking Dead

Nowadays with comic book sales, it’s really difficult for books to sell over the 150,000 mark. Seriously.

Back in the 70’s and 80’s, comics sold by the millions. Then the 90’s hit and suddenly comic book sales dropped. Was it over-saturation? Was it people upset with the “death and re-birth of Superman?” Maybe comics just weren’t worth their value come the 90’s anymore. Maybe when writers and artists quit working for the big-names in the 90’s, it shook up the faith in the industry?

And now in 2000, comic book sales get beaten down by both legal and and illegal downloads through comic-related websites or torrent sites.

It wasn’t until DC rebooted their franchise did comic sales start regularly peaking over 100,000 per month. With Marvel’s big blockbuster comic events, their sales teeter between 100-150k.

If I were to tell you that an independent comic – not owned by the big two: Marvel and DC – sold over 380,000 comics two weeks ago, would you believe me?

Image Comics The Walking Dead #100 sold 383,612 – the most a comic has ever sold since 1997!

Since the book’s arrival to television, the comic hasn’t bumped up much in sales. It wasn’t until the few issues building up to #100 did the sales start to increase. Dramatically.

Maybe if there is decent content out there, comics still can be saved? Either way you look at it, a little guy just beat the crap out of two big guys.

Way to go, Image.

FanExpo Canada

FanExpo Canada has almost arrived! I’m very excited to be going this year – not only because the legend and my personal idol, Stan Lee will be there. It’s also because I just love being able to mingle with creators and artists over something we all share in common.

I’m also looking forward to doing another major recap like how I did last year.

Although I met a lot of these people in the past, I have to say, the comic guest-list so far is pretty damn impressive:

Stan Lee (!!! X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, etc.)
Neal Adams (!!! – Everything under the sun)
Bob Layton (Hulk, Captain America)
Len Wein (X-Men, and billions of other things)
Dale Eaglesham (Alpha Flight, Hulk)
Tony Daniel (Batman, Teen Titans)
Steve Epting (Avengers, Civil War)
Mike Choi (!!! – X-Force, X-Men, cover artist)
Jimmy Cheung (Avengers)
Dale Keown (Hulk, cover artist)
Ed McGuinness (!!!)
Steve McNiven (Wolverine, Civil War)
Tony Moore (The Walking Dead)
Yanick Paquette (Swamp Thing)
Carlos Pacheco (Uncanny X-Men)
Esad Ribic (Uncanny X-Force, XO Manowar)
Leonard Kirk (X-Factor)

Not to mention there’s a ton more. Yeah, I’ll be busy that weekend for sure.

NaNoWriMo Update

Remember when I started my NaNoWriMo back in January? Well, who wants an update?

Just over 75,000 words into it, I’ve decided to cease production and work on something else. My reasons are personal, but I know a few of you have been wondering about where the status is on the book.

As for my new story, I’m doing some heavy plotting and kicking around many ideas in my head. I’m really, REALLY, excited to do this next story.

Unlike the first story, I felt like I HAD to write it, rather than this new story where I WANT to write it. It’s a major difference.

I’ll keep you posted when I get going on it some more!

Until next time, keep on Space Truckin’!

Returning – And Jumping Off Points

On July 23, 2012July 29, 2020 By UncannyDerekIn Comic BloggingLeave a comment

Well it’s only been what? Three months?

Maybe a little less than that.

I’ve been away because work has consumed most of my time. If you haven’t noticed, I also stopped the UncannyDerek Facebook because I never could keep the darn thing updated! It’s good to be back, and I’ll do my best to keep this thing updated regularly again.

But man, do we have some catching up to do!

Marvel’s: The Avengers

A little movie called The Avengers came out shortly after my last real blog post and it kicked a ton of box-office records. I’m obviously not going to go on and talk about the movie that has been talked about to death.

And I’m certainly not going to say how wrong I was about assuming the Skrulls would’ve been in the film either. . . Let’s just forget about that.

Avengers Movie

What I WILL say about the film is that it was fantastic. I really enjoyed getting to see The Hulk finally BE the Hulk on-screen. I was first worried about Edward Norton’s replacement being a romantic comedy actor, but Mark Ruffalo was definitely an excellent choice as a replacement.

All of the actors did a pretty good job with acting, for that matter. I just found it rather unfortunate that Colbie Smulders as Maria Hill didn’t get more on-screen time or a better chance to show off her butt-kicking skills.

As for the Black Widow – as expected – Joss Whedon made her a power to be reckoned with. Unlike in Iron Man 2, Whedon made a strong and confident female superhero take charge in the film. It was completely refreshing to see the Black Widow used properly rather than the stiff-acting Barbie doll she was in Iron Man 2.

Of course, I also loved that Thanos was put into the film. While I do enjoy Mad Titan’s in my films as much as the next guy, I’m pretty excited to see how he’ll mess around with the next Marvel films.

Kudos to Marvel for putting together one helluva fun movie. Maybe with all the money coming Joss Whedon’s way, maybe we can see more Firefly?

Speaking of Marvel movies. . .

Guardians of the Galaxy Movie

I never in my wildest dreams would’ve imagined Marvel doing something as daring as a Guardians of the Galaxy movie! I mean, with having Thanos in the Avengers film, yeah, it was the next logical step – but how can Marvel pump up something so obscure? I love Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett’s take on the team – especially with the Annihilation and War of Kings sagas (and as a side, I’ll admit that “the Annihilators” is a fun concept for me).

But where will our heroes go? Will the fight Thanos? Is Annihilus even an option, or is his rights owned by Fox with the Fantastic Four? Maybe Korvac? I don’t know?! Either way, I’m very excited to see some more science-fiction in my life!

August 1st, 2014 can’t come fast enough!

L to R: Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora

Canceled Titles

As I seem so busy from pumping up Marvel, why don’t I take on how disappointed I am with them too? At ComicBookResouces, Marvel has announced the cancellation of NINE major titles – four which I collect monthly.

While no, that’s not a big deal that I’M losing books to read – it’s just more upsetting that as a collector I’m stuck falling for Marvel’s marketing plans.

I’ll also add in that yes, I understand this is under the Marvel NOW! campaign and a lot has to do with the current Avengers vs. X-Men debacle, but I’ll be talking about that in a later post.

As Marvel NOW! cancels The Incredible Hulk, New Mutants, Uncanny X-Men, & X-Men: Legacy – marketing the new books as “jumping on points” – I’m using them as jumping off points. I tire of having to lose and re-collect comics. It becomes too much to follow. Mostly, it becomes too much of a headache to stick around. I was upset when Marvel canceled Uncanny not too long ago – and now they’re doing it again – all to gain another dollar.

I say no more!

Upcoming

Soon to be talked about topics on this blog include: Avengers Versus X-Men – my thoughts so far, FanExpo Updates, Comic Sale Updates, The Walking Dead, and how my NaNoWriMo story is doing so far.

And Finally

I have ended just about every blog with me saying, “Keep on Space Truckin’!” In case you hadn’t figured it out, the line is paraphrased from the Deep Purple song, “Space Truckin'” – my favourite Deep Purple song.

Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord passed away July 16th with complications due to pancreatic cancer and suffering from a pulmonary embolism. Lord was an original founding member back in 1968 – he continued with the band up until he retired in 2002. Next to Lord, only drummer Ian Paice was the only remaining original member in the band.

Lord’s keyboards helped defined hard rock keyboardists from Yes to Dream Theater. Anytime I hear a Deep Purple song, I air keyboard Lord’s because his work just gets me moving. He was a genius and an incredible musician. He will be missed.

Keep on Space Truckin’, Mr. Lord.

A Few Announcements!

On March 8, 2012March 8, 2012 By UncannyDerekIn Comic Blogging, DiscussionLeave a comment

To keep you all updated with the goings-on with this site and writing, I felt as if I should dedicate an entire post to this.

The Blood Theatre

I’ve taken up the job as a contributing writer to a friend’s Horror Fan website called The Blood Theatre. (http://thebloodtheatre.com/)

I’ll be writing some features (Versus Mode), horror comic reviews, horror book reviews, and film reviews from time-to-time. It’s a pretty exciting engagement to take on. If you love horror films, books, games, or whatever, I highly recommend you check it out. I’ll keep you posted on here when my stuff gets updated or whenever we’re getting something exciting going on that’ll affect everyone.

In fact, I’ll be reviewing DC’s Swamp-Thing and it will be up shortly.

Don’t forget to bookmark the site and join the forums! I’ll see you there!

Toronto Comic Con

I’ll be in Toronto this Saturday for their ComicCon (a smaller version of August’s FanExpo).

Legendary creator George Perez will be there, as well as Dale Keown, Paolo Rivera, and Leonard Kirk. Given that I’ll be reviewing Swamp Thing shortly, I’m definitely going to take advantage that its artist, the magnificent Yanick Paquette will be there.

Expect me to post my take on the whole event (and maybe some pictures) when I get back and have the time to update it! I’m really excited for it, but unfortunately will be only able to attend one day. I’ll do what I can!

Novel Writing

As I’ve mentioned last month, I’ve jumped back on doing my NaNoWriMo project. I currently have eleven days left to write and I’ve gotten in about 10k words. I know it’s not a lot, but I’ve actually spent a LOT of time with character and plot development. It’s taken precedence over writing. I had some recent “realizations” that made me have to take a few days off from writing so I wouldn’t botch the rest of the novel. It’s what I needed to do.
One day I’ll explain it all to you.

What Else?

I’ve been working my butt off. Isn’t that enough?!

Keep on Space Truckin’!