Dispatches from the Flying M

Happy New Year

Apparently I'm starting 2008 with a miserable cold and almost no sleep last night, which means I'll be lucky to make it to 7:30 tonight.  I hope you're feeling better than that, and you have a fun New Year's Eve and a fantabulous 2008.

I've had a terrible time finding a calendar I really like for 2008.  I used to be easy--Ken Sanders at Dream Garden Press used to publish "The Western Wilderness Calendar," full of amazing photographs by some of the best photographers around and quotes from writers like Edward Abbey, Charles Bowden, Wallace Stegner, Mary Austin, etc.  Ken stopped publishing the calendar a while back, and since then I've had a variety of different calendars on my office wall.  But this year nothing has caught my fancy, so I spent most of today making my own, using this template, my own photos, and facts and dates from old Western Wilderness Calendars, an almanac, and my own research.  Mine may be the only calendar in the world this year that includes in its listings the birth dates of Ed Abbey, William Goldman, Thomas Gifford, Mickey Mouse, Yosemite National Park, and  Stephen King.  Doing this also brought some surprising juxtapositions to light, such as the fact that Harlan Ellison, Dashiell Hammett, and Rachel Carson all share a birthday (May 27).  If I think about it early enough, maybe for 2009 I'll do a calendar at CafePress or something similar so that other people can get it too (and so I can have it larger, and wirebound or stapled--this one is only 8X10 because that's what my printer can handle).

Phoenix Comicon

It's almost January, which means the Phoenix Comicon is on the way. This is a two-day convention actually held in Mesa (but to us, everything there is "Phoenix," just like all the smaller cities in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area are "L.A.").  The dates this year are January 26-27.  The guest list is impressive (although on the con's website they're listed alphabetically by first name, which is a little odd) but include some old friends and people I've worked with in my editing days, like Ed McGuinness and Mark Waid and Whilce Portacio, a studio-mate from the earliest days of Homage Studios, even before it became WildStorm Productions.  My pal Shannon Eric Denton, who co-writes Graveslinger with me, will be there too.  Other comics guests include Jeph Loeb, Howard Chaykin, Michael Golden, Matt Wagner, Ron Rosa, James Owen, Marat Mychaels, Tone Rodriguez and Mark Texeira.  Show biz guests include Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Bulloch and Peter Mayhew from Star Wars, Walter Koenig and Tim Russ from Star Trek,and Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane on the old Superman TV series.

Update: apparently I am on a panel, on Sunday from 11-11:50, called "Creating Fantastic Worlds," where I'm joining James Owen, Mike Bullock, Mike Kunkel, and Derek Benz.  The rest of the time I'll be at my table, and whatever books and comics aren't carried by the exhibiting bookstores and comic shops I'll have available.  Maybe I can even find some old copies of DefCon 4 #1 with the Michael Golden cover, or Union #2 with Texeira art, just to make those guys feel old...

If you're a comics/pop culture fan and you're anywhere in the American southwest you'll want to make your reservations now.  And if you're not in the southwest--well, Phoenix in late January is warmer than wherever you are.

UPDATED UPDATE:  Nathan Fillion can't make it after all.   But Lou Ferrigno will.

Wednesday pet blogging

Happy Kwanzaa, to those of you who celebrate it.  It's also Boxing Day, but I suspect that's more "observed" than "celebrated."

Everybody got presents yesterday, including Gray Mouser, who at 17 is feeling the chill these days, so here she is in her brand-new shirt.  There's also a shot of her and Stormy, and one of Stormy, Karma, and G'Nort, not exactly interacting but at least hanging out together.

Merry Christmas to you

Bat Lash

One of the most appealing characters from Western comics is DC's Bartholomew Aloysius Lash, aka Bat--a charming, handsome rogue, intelligent, popular with the ladies, a bit of a dandy, he's a far cry from most tough and taciturn comic book gunslingers.  I included him in the DC Western heroes I featured in my novel DC Universe: Trail of Time, and had fun writing him.

At the end of a year more crowded with Western comics (but precious few really good ones) than any in recent memory, Bat Lash has returned to comics in Bat Lash #1, written by Sergio Aragones (one of Bat's original creators) and fine Western novelist Peter Brandvold, taking his first crack at comic book writing.  The art is by the ever-incredible John Severin, who several years ago came back to regular comics after a long exile to illustrate my miniseries Desperadoes: Quiet of the Grave.  Although John is in his eighties, his talent is timeless.  Seeing his work in this new series gives me the same chill I got when I saw his pages for my own story.  The script is excellent as well, with crackling dialogue and a fast pace and an intriguing situation.  Any fan of Western comics--or great storytelling in general--is encouraged to saddle up and visit your local comics shop pronto and have a look at Bat Lash #1.

No Country for Cold Men

Old Man Winter came to some parts of the country ahead of schedule, but here in southeastern Arizona it was as if he had a calendar to follow.  On Friday, the Winter Solstice, a storm blew through, dropping some sleet and hail on the ranch.  Behind it were much colder temperatures--18 yesterday when we woke up at 6:00 a.m., and 17 this morning.  The dogs' outside water dishes are solid ice, the top of the pond has been frozen over, and most of the annoying insects are finally  gone for the season.  Just in time for Christmas.  It won't be a white Christmas here, unless you count frost, but it looks like a chilly one, by our standards.

Missing White Girl review

Tucson is the nearest real "city" to the Flying M, and although it's taken a while, that city's independent weekly, the aptly-named Tucson Weekly, has finally reviewed southern-Arizona-set supernatural thriller Missing White Girl.

The reviewer wanted it to be a straight thriller, which it's not.  But once you get past the idea that the supernatural aspects just didn't work for her, it's mostly a positive review.

Here's my favorite part:

"Still, Missing White Girl is frequently enthralling. Mariotte hits upon some fascinating topics, including those of immigration and the Border Patrol, Mexican and American patriotism, and the terrible things people will do when they feel maligned and desperate. He throws in just enough grit and gore to appease action junkies, but doesn't use it as an easy selling point to the Saw crowd. 

"But his true masterpiece is Buck Shelton. In his hero, he's crafted one of the finest new sleuths in fiction: a very real man who finds solace in the challenges of his job when things get rough at home, who isn't so hardened that a dead family of four can still shake him to the core--and who isn't afraid to make solving a crime a little bit personal. It would be a pleasure to see Buck again."

It had to happen...

...sooner or later.

A fire broke out in Vice President Cheney's "ceremonial offices" today.  The cause of the fire is still uncertain--it's possible that Cheney knocked over a ceremonial candle at one of the points of his pentagram, or maybe Satan temporarily lost control of his fiery pitchfork.  Either way, if you're going to perform the sorts of ceremonies Cheney no doubt does, you ought to have a fire extinguisher handy at all times.   It's only common sense.

Goodbye to the Magna Carta?

The Magna Carta is widely considered to be the document that philosophically underpins democracy as we know it.  It's the document that set out the standard of habeas corpus that the current Bush administration has seen fit to ignore.  Sotheby's has auctioned off one of the known 17 originals--the one that, until recently, resided in the National Archives for all Americans to see (although it was owned by Ross Perot), and was the only one in the United States.  The buyer, for $21.3 million--the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, to which the first President George Bush recently served in an advisory role.  The Carlyle Group is well known for war profiteering, and selling weapons has been very, very good to them. Given the Group's close ties to the Bush family, and the way its business interests coincide with Bush's proclivity toward making war, do we think the Group will continue to let the Magna Carta be displayed for all Americans?  Or will they ship it off to Cheney's undisclosed location, where he can use it for target practice when there are no willing old men around?

It's list-making time

This time of year everyone is tossing out lists of the best of 2007 (like the True West list that picked Desperadoes: Buffalo Dreams as the Best Western Comic Book of the year).

Online pop culture journal Scoop bypassed Desperadoes: Buffalo Dreams #1, but just barely, giving it an honorable mention. In their words: 

"The revitalized version of a 1980s favorite in the form of Suicide Squad #1, the latest installment of a gothic western, Desperadoes: Buffalo Dreams #1, the long overdue return of another 1980s favorite, Nexus #99, the even-longer-in-the-making return of some 1950s icons, Agents of Atlas #6, and the twenty-fifth anniversary a destructive force of nature, Groo 25th Anniversary Special, all receive honorary mentions since they just missed the final cut..."

The San Diego Union-Tribune showed better judgment, however, by including Mysterious Galaxy in their list of San Diego's best independent bookstores.  So in their words:

"The genre bookstore in these parts. Mysterious Galaxy melds mystery and science fiction/fantasy into a smooth, high-energy environment that boasts serious coverage of both genres, a knowledgeable staff, book discussions and a steady and impressive parade of top-of-the-line authors showing up to read, talk and sign. In the coming weeks, just for example: Susan Arnot Smith, Todd McCaffrey, C.J. Box and T. Jefferson Parker."

Have you seen any fun lists lately?