Mike - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Omnivorous;
Drug-Free;
Nonsmoking;
Occasional drinker;
Atheist;
Unintentionally abstinent;
Passive aggressive anarchist;
Hopeless romantic dreamer.
You know that guy on the Simpsons? Fuck him. Hes the enemy. Comics are art; they should be appreciated, not fetishized by our American consumerist attitude of forcing a price tag on something. They should appreciated for their artistic merit, not by their resell value, and how collectible they are.
There is a COMIC BOOK for everyone, sexier than a book and less expensive than a DVD, thinking I dont like comic books is like saying I dont like CDs or movies.
Storytelling and pictures together go back to cave paintings and pyramid etching! Comics can be more innovative than movies, and people today are being denied the raw fun of comics because of STEREOTYPES of what they are and who buys them. The CBLF will fight to bring comics to the people using our 5 point platform.
..1- FUCK COLLECTING COMICS ARE ART. They should be read and enjoyed for the stimulation of your imagination, not collected like stamps or trading cards. Fuck caring about the condition of comics. Comics are entertainment; their VALUE comes from the enjoyment of reading them. Thinking of comics as collectors items is idiotic, geeks who think they will make money by fetishizing mint comics are the enemy. Comics should be read, enjoyed, and shared- not hoarded.
Fuck, I have a ton. But I dont ever plan on selling them, yes I bag and board them, but thats just to preserve them, so I can read them again. See, I read them, a lot. My room is a fucking mess. There are comics everywhere; Im always reading my old issues. I dont care if they arent in mint condition, whats important are the stories inside. I love lending out my issues to all my friends, I need to get these stories and art in my loved ones brains.
Fuck variant covers, just buy the damn book, dont judge a book by a cover. Dont fucken hoard your low print run cover, just buy the damn book and enjoy your shit. And sure for shit, dont CGC. Fuck CGC. Comic Graders Community. They can go fuck themselves, ranking comics on a scale of one to ten, and then encasing them in plastic prisons. Disgusting. Youll never read the story this way! And fuck Wizard magazine, and their Hot list and price guide, just feeding the system.
..2- FUCK NOSTALGIA Fuck issue ..1, fuck first appearance. Those are great stories but dont bust your ass and pay an arm and a leg for them, buy the graphic novel and get a ton of stories for cheap! No one wants to hear what expensive issues you got, or what you read as a kid. Buy some new shit, talk about the present. Not the past. Comics are new! New comics come out every week! Who fucking cares what you read as a kid, theres new cutting edge stuff coming out that all cool people will enjoy. What you read as a kid sucked. Some movies sucked when you were a kid too, but many new movies are good. And fuck comic movies! Sure, there are some good comic movies, but there is plenty better stories of those characters in the comics. And there are plenty of great non-super hero comics that wont be made into movies.
..3- FUCK THE STEREOTYPES Fuck the thought that comics are just super heroes, or that they are just for collector geeks. There are more comics then just super heroes books created 40 to 60 years ago. There are comics for everyone to read and enjoy, and more normal people are doing just that. You can read and enjoy a few comics a month and have it enrich your life. That should be the norm. The collector geek should be the freak exception.
..4- FUCK CONTINUITY Fuck the fifty years of history, just grab a new issue, dont worry about what you missed. Buy an Ultimate book, dont worry about the real Marvel Universe. Just look for good stories, not continuity. Dont follow what happens to the characters, just look for talented creators on a book. Fuck the status quo, let shit grow, let it evolve.
..5- FUCK CHAIN COMIC STORES Fuck the McComics stores that begrudgingly sell comics. You know the stores that have more merchandise and collector crap than actual comics, because comics cost less. You can tell the stores that dont get it, that dont read the comics themselves, that dont order and support the good stuff. Comic stores have a duty to connect readers to great books theyll enjoy. The chain stores dont make new readers; they dont push the medium forward. They simply try to get more money from the handful of collectors out there, selling statues and merchandise any everything but comics. Share good comics, and support good stores. Try a good comic, and share it with a friend. Try something new. If you are a collector, stop- read and enjoy what you buy and share the joy of comics. If you buy from a chain store, stop- supports a store that supports the medium. Stores that carry and suggest indy comics, stores that are selling stories NOT statues should be supported.

My Interests

I love comic books. That kind of love a man has for a woman, but not that sexy kind of fun love us kids have. That kind of love, married people have. Where they really appreciate what the other person does, and are utterly obsessed with every facet, good and bad. Well thats how Im gonna be when I get married! I will treat my woman how I look at comic books. And trust me ladies, thats a really, really good thing.

A comic book should be a beautiful piece of art, not a collectors item. An intriguing amalgamation of different artists works, combined into one delectable treat for your eyes and brain to savor. A finely made comic book is the visual equivalent of finely made music. The writer is the lyricist, the penciler is lead guitar, and the inker is bass, the colorist is the drummer, and the letterer is the vocalist. Each one a master of their own craft, but when their merits combine they make an amazing spectacle that could be enjoyed to its fullest.

Im a writer, with the intent of writing comic books one day. I love music, a lot. Not as much as comic books, but music is the soundtrack to my life. Im also pretty crazy about movies, especially artful ones. Im an artfag, I look for the art in life. I think Music, Movies, and Comics are the art to define our generation, even if you dont realize how important comics are.

The story written by the writer is the backbone, the tale that must be woven visually. But the art carries it, layout, and pencils set the scene like a director or cinematographer of a movie. Not just any artist can draw a comic, they need to be able to tell a story in a series of pictures, lay it out on a page, and make transitions from panel to panel that allow the reader to understand what is going on. The inker is not a tracer; the inker is the lighting director, and mood setter. A pencilers pencils will look similar in style, on two pieces of work, but different inkers will change the tone entirely, things can be dark and sinister or light and uplifting and it all depends on the ink. The colorist brings the pages into rich attractive life. Color, or shading have the same effect, it depends on which is more dynamic in each situation. Black and white can be just as good if not better than color. Even the letterer is an artist. Lettering is often overlooked, and is quickly being replaced by typesetting from computers. Lettering done right, is more than just writing legibly, you can stretch and space text accordingly to portray the emotion in which the words are being spoken. Size and style can determine the mood. The letterer is important, lets not see them fade away.

Sometimes you come across uber talented individuals who can do more than one of these tasks, and sometimes even all of them. In some cases these books are better than most collaboration, and only prove how amazingly talented they are. A lot of hard work goes into a comic, a lot of time and effort, and they are meant to be appreciated, and enjoyed. A comic is entertainment, like watching a TV show or listening to CD. For three bucks, you get twenty minutes of entertainment, not a bad deal. Its unfortunate that the comic book has been deemed collectible and has spawned a horde mentality that involves keeping them in pristine condition and never, ever reading them. The thought of the comic book fan stereotype sickens me, comics are not meant to be encapsulated in plastic and never read. They were created for us to read and enjoy, not horde like greedy little pigs. What brought about such mentality? Was it the paper drives of World War II? When parents donated all their childrens comics? And then ten years later when the kids wanted all their old comics back, and would pay anything for them, an industry was founded on the collectibility, and not the entertainment value?

Music:

Allman Brothers Band, Black Mages, Aquabats, Arcade Fire, Assemblage 23, Band Marino, Beatles, Bell Orchestre, Billy Idol, Bjork, Black Keys, Blonde Redhead, Chumbawumba, Clash, Coldplay, Cream, Cult, Cure, Darkness, David Bowie, Death Cab for Cutie, Dodger, Decemberists, Doors, Doris Delay, Dresden Dolls, Eisley, Electric Six, Elliott Smith, Emperor X, Enon, Fisherspooner, Flogging Molly, Foghat, Frou Frou, Gorillaz, Grand Buffet, Gwen Stefani, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, Jethro Tull, Juana Molina, Koji Kando, Kate Bush, Kinks, Le Tigre, Led Zeppelin, Left Rights, Madonna, Magnetic Fields, Mates of State, mc chris, Metric, Mindless Self Indulgence, Moby, Moldy Peaches, Most, Mountain Goats, Muse, NIN, Nirvana, No Doubt, No Vacancy, Old 97s, Peter Gabriel, Perfect Circle, Pink Floyd, Pillows, Postal Service, Puffy Amiyumi, Ramones, Ryksopp, She Wants Revenge, Sigur Ros, Smiths, Steve Reich, Stevie Nicks, Styx, Talking Heads, t.A.T.u., Tegan and Sara, T.Rex, Tool, tomanandy, Tori Amos, VNV Nation, Volcano I'm Still Excited!!, Wylde Ratttz, Wumpscut, Yip-yip, Yoko Kanno

Movies:

Empire Strikes Back, Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Life Aquatic, Rushmore, Royal Tenanbaums, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Duo luo tian shi, Oldboy, Amelie, Run Lola Run, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Evil Dead, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, X-Men, Hulk, Matrix, The Emperors New Groove, Goonies, Gremlins, Short Circuit, Fight Club, Clerks, Memento, Taxi Driver, Irreversible

Television:

Adult Swim, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Justice League, Teen Titans, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Scrubs, Even Stevens, Kimpossible

Books:

Ernest Hemmingway, Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Pratchet, R.A. Salvatore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Steve Gerber, Peter Laird, Dean Clarrain, Dave Sim, Brian K. Vaughn, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Mark Waid, Joe Casey, Brian Wood, Ed Brubaker, Robert Kirkman, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Gail Simone, Paul Jenkins, Bill Willingham, Jeff Smith, Jeffrey Brown, James Kochalka, Craig Thompson, Bryan Lee O'Malley

Heroes:

Batman

My Blog

Mike Blog 8/8/07

Mike lazy ass blog! Too much drinking, not enough blogging! Massaging the headache out of my sinuses, I look blankly at this computer screen trying to remember what has happened in the past fe...
Posted by Mike on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 09:46:00 PST

Mike Blog 8/1/07

Jesus, fuck, it's been an insane couple of days. Well, let's rewind a bit to Saturday; A Comic Shop's Zombie Night @ Hard Knocks. Since I got to do the zombie live firearm training exercis...
Posted by Mike on Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:24:00 PST

Mike Blog 7/27/07

Simpsons and Indy Comics After depositing my paycheck Cap and I ate breakfast this morning at Backyard Burgers, with Laurence via telephone. Laurence who still has quite a lot of stuff ...
Posted by Mike on Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:37:00 PST

Mike Blog 7/26/07

Well, two hours of sleep will most certainly turn you into a zombie. Today I decided to embrace the undead legions and deprive myself of sleep. My reanimated corpse shuffled along and made...
Posted by Mike on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:57:00 PST

Mike Blog 7/25/07

I GOT DRUNK AS FUCK AND THERE WAS A LOT OF COMIC BOOKS!!!Matt Rex Downham is a kid I met my junior year of high school, in my required Spanish class. He was an annoying freshman but cool enough ...
Posted by Mike on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 05:51:00 PST

I got a wedding invitation...

This was my response:
Posted by Mike on Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:05:00 PST