OYE!

Sorry…bad mic, the audio is a bit low.  We’ll have to fix that for future video blogs.

Mat Nastos of Nifty Comics and I put together a video on creating comics.  Here’s part I.

More classic X-Men cartoon gets released on DVD 9/15/09 - Vol 3 http://bit.ly/S89se & Vol 4 http://bit.ly/F5CpT   You can pre-order on Amazon for $16.99.

If you haven’t picked up the first two collections, now is a good time.

Some great news for Ultraman fans, the classic Kaiju series is being re-released.  This is the complete set that you find on ebay for $130+ for only $15 pre-order!  BCI previously released the set but quickly went out of business, now Mill Creek Entertainment has picked up the slack. 

Do you create comic books? Do you wish you could? Maybe you just like a good meal and a chance to speak to some of your favorite creators? Whatever your reasons the comic creator dinners hosted by David Seidman are some of the best opportunities for those who live near Los Angeles. If you’re missing these sessions then it’s like throwing away free money covered in ketchup and mustard.  (Not to mention the comics that fellow creators usually bring/share/and giveaway each meeting.)

Here’s David’s last schedule.

Date: May 28
Location: Little Toni’s, 4745 Lankershim Boulevard (at Vineland and Camarillo) in North Hollywood, near the 101, 170, and 134 freeways
Topic: Money — Cutting your costs, lightening your tax burden, and finding new and bigger sources of revenue

June 25
Cheesecake Factory, Sherman Oaks Galleria, 15301 Ventura Boulevard at Sepulveda, near the intersection of the 101 and 405 Freeways
The San Diego Con and other conventions — choosing the ones to attend, preparing for them, and getting the most out of them

July 30
Junior’s Restaurant & Deli, 2379 Westwood Boulevard in Westwood, near the intersection of the 10 and 405 freeways San Diego Con recap and wrap-up — the con’s biggest news and biggest events, and what they’ll mean for the comics business

August 27
Little Toni’s
Foreign comics publishers — which comics they’re buying from the U.S. and which comics they’re selling in the U.S.

September 24
Cheesecake Factory
Comics for kids — which publishers are producing them, which comics the publishers are producing, and how to make a living working with them

October 29
Junior’s
New publishers — which companies and publishing imprints have come along in the past 12 months, and which ones seem likeliest to stick around

November and December
No comics dinners in these months, due to the holidays
About the comics dinner: Held on the last Thursday of the month, it’s for anyone who’s worked in comic books or graphic novels: artists, retailers, publishers, printers, teachers, writers, librarians, editors, everyone. (No fans or wannabes, though. This is just for the industry.) There’s no formal agenda: we eat, drink, trade news and gossip, show off new work, and so on. People have built friendships and business deals after meeting at the dinners. If you’ve got announcements or questions for your colleagues, bring them. Someone’s bound to be interested.

One of my favorite DVD publishers Animeigo is having a huge sale.  Animeigo has Lone Wolf, Zatoichi, Mikogami Trilogy, Bubblegum Crisis, etc.

Big spring cleaning sale 50-80% off @ Things From Another World. Toys, Comics, Art, Statues, Novels, Weird Stuff

 Worth mentioning since the stuff is so cheap.

For fans of samurai films there are a few film series that everyone wants to see on DVD.  Sleepy Eyes of Death is right up there with Lone Wolf & Cub and Zatoichi.  Ichikawa Raizo plays the lead character, Nemuri Kyoshiro, a sleepy-eyed swordsman in the Edo period.  There are twelve films with Raizo; five other films were produced.

Animeigo is going to release this excellent series.  They have yet to disappoint with their high quality DVDs.  Pre-order the Sleepy Eyes Of Death set @ Amazon.   Included in this first set are the films The Chinese Jade, Sword of Adventure, Full Circle Killing, and Sword of Seduction.

This is a little off the standard post for Oye!, but I think it’s important to help others when you can.   I’ve recently learned that someone I work with, Megan Jones, has advanced stages of breast cancer.  Megan is only 36 years old; much too young to be going through this.  To top it off, her insurance has said they won’t pay for treatment.  So if everyone could pitch in $5-$10 then she’d only need 10,000 benefactors.  Sounds daunting, but that is less than the number of unique readers I sometimes get for my webcomic Innocent in a single day!  I think it’s not too much to ask to skip lunch once in a while.  No pressure, but I’m putting this out there if you’re so inclined.

Brent Giles is not only a fabulous artist, but he’s been extremely kind in doing a series of Family Bones splash pages.  Pretty amazing stuff.  This will be in Volume 2 of Family Bones. 

Shawn