Every night is the last night.

So, I know I'm late, but here's my quick reviews of some of last week's comics.


Flash v.4 #13 - Winner of the "Worst comic I've read since the last issue of All Star Batman" award. This issue, as was the case with the 12 issues before it, stars a character DC tells us is "Bart Allen", but who is not Bart Allen by any stretch of the imagination. I have every issue of Impulse and Young Justice, I know what I'm talking about. This issue differs from the previous 12 though, because they kill this character they claim is "Bart". This would have really upset me if the character that died was the Bart Allen we've known for all those years prior to Infinite Crisis (aka "Psshh! Man, fuck Young Justice!" as Mr. Didio calls it).
By amazing coincidence, this happens at the same time that the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America and the Legion of Super-Heroes of America are over in JLA #10 bringing back Wally West.
I'm more than happy to have Wally back, but that's because he never should have been taken away from us in the first place.


Justice League of America #10 -
Your first assignment for Clusterfuck 101 : Write an issue of JLA.
Due date : Whenever you get around to it.
Extra credit : Get Michael Turner to create another artistic abomination for the cover.


Countdown 45 - With a cover like that you'd think some really awesome stuff happens in this issue.
You'd be wrong.


Captain America #27 - Who knew Bucky was going to grow up to be such a badass? Godspeed on your mission to kill Tony Stark since the big, bad, scary, super-angry, Green King version of the Hulk couldn't get the job done.
Also, Buck, nice job on nailing Black Widow. All the better if it was while she was involved with Tony.


Incredible Hulk #107 - This ish was definitely a better read than the first issue of World War Hulk #1, and I'm really glad to see Marvel show that there would be people on the Hulk's side.


Iron Man #19 - I just liked this cover.


Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #3 - I think there were 4 or 5 books with Spider-Man in them last week, and this was the only one you should bother reading. There's really only one thing to complain about with this book, and it's the same complaint I have with Jeff Smith's Shazam, and that's that it's going to be over after only 4 issues.


The Spirit #7 - You don't really need me to tell you this is good, do you?

How do you do it?

That's an old line.

If you like candy, what is your favorite kind and why?

What you need is a rocket..

1) I just found out I must buy this game.

2) Enjoy these new pictures from The Dark Knight (aka Batman Continues to Begin/Batman Won't Stop Beginning/Batman Keeps On Keepin' On).

You'll notice Batman can now move his head from side to side and up & down.

And here's the new "Bat-cycle".

My review of Countdown 46.

Congratulations to DC Comics, Paul Dini, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and anyone else that was involved with the grossest line of dialogue I've read in a long, long time...


So, "made of stillborn babies" monster is saying that not only is he going to eat Mary Marvel/Black Mary's skin, but he's going to suck the shit out of her intestines and then eat said poop. Dubya. Tee. Eff.

Between Luke Cage's infamous "FOOM!" and this, comics are really for the whole family in 2007.

Life Meter 2!

The cat's out of the bag!
The Streets of Rage comic that Curt and I did a few months back will be appearing in the Life Meter 2 comic anthology.
From Life Meter...

"Debuting at the MoCCA Art Fest in NYC on June 23rd...Life Meter Volume 2

Following the success of last year’s mini-comic that sold out by the second day of the MoCCA Art Festival, this new collection will feature over 100 pages of videogame-inspired comic strips and cartoon art from an impressive range of comic artists and animators. This graphic novel-length anthology includes an 11-page MEGA MAN story by Matt Loux, the Harvey Award-nominated creator of Side Scrollers from Oni Press; a shoujo manga take on The LEGEND OF ZELDA by TokyoPop artist Queenie Chan (The Dreaming); and a gorgeous cover inspired by the cult favorite game NIGHTS INTO DREAMS by Flight artist, Bannister."

You can check out a full rundown of everything in the book by clicking here.

You can imagine how excited we are to have our little comic nestled alongside work from such a distinguished group of talented artists.

BONUS LINK!
After you get done checking all of that out, click here to see Sean and I representing Memphis' finest comic stop and our favorite place to dress alike.

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

(art from Dork #11 by Evan Dorkin, two minute colors by me)
This is infuriating.
The short of it is a guy here in Memphis got fired from his job at a local theater for writing a negative review of the new Fantastic Four before it's nationwide release.
The studio got mad and called the theater's management.
Management fires the guy.
You know, maybe the studio should work a little harder at not making shitty movies instead of just trying to silence people who give their movies a negative review.
Just a thought.
Once again, I'm literally angry with rage.

Mars Forever!

I wait for signals.

So, I've got this superhero character I've made up named Tiger Claw.
He's something along the lines of a pop-hero.
Think Madman, X-Statix.. you know, come to think of it imagine he lives in the Allred-verse and that should give you an idea of what I had in mind.
Point is, I've been working for a while on some kind of logo/emblem to go on his chest and I haven't cared for anything I've come up with so far.
This is where you come to my rescue.
I've toyed around with circles and other shapes with tiger paws in them, shapes with a T in them, shapes with claw marks in them, etc. Nothing has felt right.
I'm happy to admit that this may be due to my own artistic shortcomings and not due to those being bad ideas.
I'd post pictures of what the rest of his costume looks like, but it might change completely with a truly inspired emblem.
I'll say that he is a superhero, he has a utility belt, and he carries a ray gun.
If anyone wants to give something a shot, please feel free.

You run for cover in this heat.

http://www.mcfly2015.com/

LOL!

Yes!

The Monster Squad is finally coming to DVD!
Is this news incredibly exciting to anyone else?

I continue to be angry with rage!

This just in!
Bush to scientific progress, "Go fuck yourself."

My thanks (?) to April for bringing this one to my attention.

I'm literally angry with rage.

Bush to Earth and all it's inhabitants, "Go fuck yourself."

We've been in space for quite some time.

Ok, it's time for the "What is Jimmy Olsen Screaming?" Meme.
Take your pick.

Now I'm into the clear...

Superboy.
I originally drew this for Joe Martini back at Christmas, but I've only just now gotten around to coloring it.
The picture's a variation on an earlier picture of Superman I did based on the work of Ed McGuinness.
This is probably the most pleased I've ever been with a coloring effort.
Comments and critiques are welcome.

Bargain Bin.

Amazon has the 2-Disc Special Edition of Superman 2 for less than $10.
There is no good reason not to buy this if you don't already have it.

Dollar trades near four-month high.

So, some things were either made known to me or realized by me today.

1) If I'm ever asked in a trivial fashion what Green Lantern's weakness is, I now have a much better answer than the one you're thinking of.

2) People are much more interested in reading cute girls' blogs than mine or any other guy's.

3) Dorothy (as in Judy Garland). Really quite attractive. I wouldn't go so far as to say "hot", but.. kinda hot.

How do you grow up normal?

Here's some quick assorted awesomeness.


The Mach 5 from The Wachowskis upcoming live-action Speed Racer flick.


The USPS' upcoming Star Wars stamps.


Here's an Adam Hughes, art nouveau, Star Wars Celebration IV exclusive, Princess Leia print.
These are already going for over $100 on the ebay.


Zombie Daredevil and Giant-Man Minimates.
SDCC exclusives. I'll be there to get mine.

Huzzah!

I'll be honest with you, my only experience with Harry Potter is those movies. I've intended to read the books on several occasions, but I've just never gotten around to it. Maybe I will someday.
Though I've enjoyed the last couple of movies, I don't know that I could really call myself a big fan of Harry Potter in general.
Having said that, this sounds really awesome.
I can't wait to go check it out... in 2009.

Now that the local has taken effect.

April's got a great new entry on the upcoming changes DC has in store for Supergirl.

UPDATE
Speaking of all things "super", The Bargainist has the scoop on getting the Ultimate Superman DVD Collection (you know, the awesome 14 disc, $100 one) for $31.21.

State your case with black or white.

Newsarama has a pretty good little interview with one of my heroes, Ben Caldwell.

No matter the cost.

Would it really have been so hard for them to have the real trailers be this good?

I'm not telling you how to live your life, but I'm just going to go ahead and say you should check out Cracked's 15 (Painfully) Unforgettable Cartoon Theme Songs.

It seemed like a plan.

Here's the rough pencils of the first panel of the Streets of Rage comic Curt and I did for Life Meter Comics.
All of three of those are actual SOR characters. We did our research.

Last week really, really sucked, but starting with that Zombie Walk on Friday, life took a dramatic upswing.
Met new people, got to spend good time(s) with not new people, ate barbeque, saw a Jesus picture and a tiger costume, drank Gatorade, had awesome housing prospects present themselves, and had a great "comics making group" (we haven 't decided on a team name yet) meeting filled with fun and future prospects.
I want things to continue on in this fashion if the universe doesn't mind.

Memphis Zombie Walk.

I'm the zombie with a beard and a red shirt and April is right behind me at the 0:29 mark.


April and I shuffle by around the 0:23 mark on this one.
Joel shows up around 0:31.


(0:27)


We shamble by a number of times in this one, most notably around 2:39.


And, if you've got 9 minutes to kill here's a neat little documentary about the whole thing.

Plug in the drug machine.

April has written a funny blog entry about vegetarian disbelief, goth mothers, and the looming terror of scrapbooking.
Go read it.

UPDATE!
Chronicles of a Southern Vegetarian : Vol. 2

I've stepped away from it.

So if you look over to your right, you'll see (via the "Right now..") that I finally got to read the new All Star Batman & Robin.

You know, the one that took over a year to come out.

It's as though the longer this book takes to come out the worse it is.

If you haven't read it already, feel free to check out this 5 page preview of one of the worst comics ever.

It seems that however good All Star Superman is, ASB&R has to be the exact same amount in awful to keep the universe balanced.

Remember that this "All Star" line was supposed to be the comics that distilled the characters down to their most recognizable essences. This line is supposed to be the stories you can give to anyone, your mom, your dad, your grandparents, your nephews and nieces, your friends, your friend's little brother, your boy or girlfriend. The stories anyone can pick up and enjoy.

Now, call me crazy, but I don't think a comic that features Wonder Woman calling someone a "sperm bank" (no joke) is something I'd want to share with anyone, let alone people who I want to introduce to comics.

The ISB has a great review focusing on the absurd hilarity of it's awfulness, while Rachelle has a running commentary that softens some of the blow of reading the actual comic.

Is this whole thing some kind of sick joke that Frank Miller's playing on us, or has he honestly gone batshit (ha) insane? I could completely appreciate this if I knew it was intentionally being funny. I would be upset that Miller was hurting the All Star line for a joke, but I could at least feel like it was okay that I was laughing at this comic that Jim Lee and DC are wasting their time on.

If I don't get some answers here, Curt and I have every intention of getting answers in San Diego.

Flying high again!

Two year old chrishaley in standard attire.

This is all real-time.

This is my X-Men : Evolution Cyclops maquette. I've never seen an episode of that (no longer airing) cartoon, but I love Cyclops and I got an insane deal on this, so here it is.
Again, this picture has a few notes should you click upon it.

As I mentioned in the last post, I saw Sloan last night.
It was incredible.
Incredible.
I'll have pictures soon.
Until then, enjoy a new edition of my Top 25 Most Played Songs..

Some definite movement from the last time, but Dethklok and Sloan continue to dominate the charts.
There were a few new challengers this time though.
How much longer can the biggest band in the world and the boys from Halifax maintain their control?

Can we agree on that?

This is my animated Boba Fett maquette. It's basically one of the raddest things ever. This picture has a few notes should you decide to click on it.
I'm slightly obsessed with maquettes and statues as of late. I've got a problem.

Speaking of Sloan (I'm not now, but I was in the last post), I'm going to Nashville to see them tonight!
Whoo!

Things can happen if we stay...

Check out my pictures on Sloan's website.

I knew the answers to both right away.

Would you have sex with a robot?
That's the question Curt and his blog are discussing.
Go enjoy the conversation and see why I'm glad to be associated with Mr. Franklin.
Maybe we'll let you visit our Hobo-Batman butler having mansion someday.

He wants to look cool. I appreciate that.

I've gone lazer-crazy.

2007 Eisner Award Nominee Joel Priddy took me up on the bio writing challenge I issued.. as I hoped he might.
Even better, he wrote it as a haiku.

shooting lasers to
conquer the impossible:
it’s the chris haley.

Is there anything Joel can't do?

The millenial rhythms.

That's about as funny as anything gets. Ever.

So I got an e-mail earlier in the week that let me know that the Streets of Rage comic Curt and I did was enjoyed enough by the respective editors that it is going to be published.
This was very exciting news to the both of us.
Now we are faced with an even more daunting task.
We must write little bios for ourselves to appear along side the bios of the other creative type people in the back of the anthology.
If anyone wants to have a go at writing a humorous but mildly accurate 2 or 3 line bio of me I'd be more than willing to read it, and then use it without giving you any credit for your effort.
Doesn't that sound like a great deal and a lot of fun?
I thought so.

More details on the comic and it's publication as that information becomes available.

Listen, bud.

A great Spider-Man 3 essay/editorial(?) can be found by clicking here.
It's not very long and it's worth reading.

We're gonna get it started.

A quick sketch of some kind of alternate, possibly Legion-involved costume for Superboy I did on a post-it note.

Also, feel free to notice two things.
Item number the one is that April has updated her new blog.
Item the second is that my co-hort (hyphenated?) Curt Franklin has begun a blog as he needed something to link to in an upcoming biography. He's already feeling the pressure of The Curse of the Need for Content so why not drop by and give him a hard time about it.

What?

You didn't know I could do that?

Anyone else see this?

A word on tracing.

I am an absolutely awful inker.
No one is going to try and tell you otherwise, but if they do, they are lying.
I hate it.
I've been working on this one page comic about "Streets of Rage" all week for Lifemeter. I liked my pencils fine, but I feel like the inks I've done for it are just awful and soulless.
Blah.
It's done though.
For better or worse, it's done.
Well, the inking is. I started coloring it, and I'm hating how that's looking as well. Understand, I'm not a negative guy.

I've taken to drawing on CDs. These two feature Sagat of Street Fighter 2 fame and Erik Larsen's Dragon.

I've got the greatest view from here.

April and I made Miis of Clark Kent and Selina Kyle.
The Wii is awesome for allowing us to do this.
Do you have any idea how much fun it is being on a baseball team with Superman?
I've made Bruce Wayne and a Scott Pilgrim as well.
It doesn't get much better.

More Batman Birthday-ness.

I forgot this one.
I drew this on the side of a box full of figures.
I hate moving.

Happy Birthday Batman!

INTO BAT-ACTION!

On this day in 1939, Detective Comics #27 was published and so today we celebrate 68 years of Bat-Mania!


This Batman is on my desk at work.


Here's a little bitty Batman I painted on a little bitty canvas.


Here's a Batman wallpaper I made. Pencils by Ed McGuinness. Inks by Dexter Vines. Colors by me.

Let's do this thing.

I need to play some catch up with things I've intended to talk about, so I may have to do the quick and dirty version of some of these.


If that doesn't make you want to read The Spirit I don't know what will.


A quick little comic I did on a Post-It note about year ago. Click on it why don't you?


Rock 'n Roll Monster! (If you've seen the MST3K episode where they watch Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders then you know exactly how that should be read.)


Ah, happier times. Sigh.