FCBD is a great way to test out books of all genres for all ages (I really recommend Owly for pre-readers).

If you're one of those folks I've gotten hooked on books in Texas or North Carolina, Several Austin area stores are participating, as are NC stores, and several are doing more than "just" giving away free books. Rogues Gallery in Round Rock, TX, for example is making a big event out of the day, with several industry folks in-town for signings and meet-n-greets (including "in the family" folks like Marvel writers Paul Tobin, Paul Benjamin; Artist Colleen Coover; and Carswriter Alan Porter of BOOM! Studios).

If you're intimidated with how to get started with what to read, store owners like Randy Lander (who ownsRogues Gallery) are great about suggesting books based on your TV, movie, and game preferences.

Below are the "official" free books, but several of the participants are ponying up additional free offerings of their own.

Previews available on the FCBD Website.

• Archie's Summer Splash! #1
• Doctor Solar/Magnus
• Fractured Fables
• G.I. Joe #155 ½
• Iron Man/Thor
• Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock
• Shrek & The Penguins
• The John Stanley Library
• Toy Story
• War of the Supermen #0
• Sonic: The Hedgehog
• Worlds of Aspen
• Fearless Dawn
• S.E. Hinton / Fame
• Bongo: Free-For-All
• Irredeemable #1
• DC Kids Mega-Sampler
• Del Rey Showcase
• Green Hornet #1
• Weathercraft!
• The Overstreet Guide
• Library of American Comics #0
• Artifacts: First Look
• Love and Capes #13
• Iron Man: Supernova
• The Tick #1
• Oni Press Free-For-All!
• The Sixth Gun #1
• Radical: Bigger Books!
• Atomic Robo
• Freedom Formula: Speed Metal
• The Stuff of Legend/Mortal Instruments Preview
• Owly And Friends

Labels: comic books

• Alpha Flight #1 -- John Byrne sentimentality.
• Amazing Fantasy #15 -- First appearance of Spider-Man.
• Astonishing X-Men -- #3 (John Cassaday's leaping Wolverine, back in the yellows) and his #4 (return of Colossus).
• Avengers #503 -- The "Avengers Disassembled" cover, with Captain America sitting on the floor amidst Ant Man's helmet, Mjolnir (Thor's Hammer), Hawkeye's bow and arrows, the Scarlet Witch's headband, Iron Man's helmet, and the visions cape. Sad and weighty.
• Captain American -- #248, #250, #254 are John Byrne covers and Roger Stern arcs. Ish #248 was actually one of my first comics as a kid (and then I went back-catalog as an adult), #250 is the "Cap for President" cover that graces one of my favorite political Ts, and #254 is Baron Blood and Union Jack. Oh, and Mike Zeck's Annual #8, with Wolverine in his brown duds sparking off of Cap's shield.
• Captain America (2004 series) -- There are sooo many good Steve Epting covers here. I'm particular fond of the gravitas of Captain America at the graveyard in #4, the powerful S.H.I.E.L.D. cover of #9, both the bloody jersey and newspaper Epting variants of #25, and the Alex Ross variant of the not-yet-release issue #600.
• Daredevil -- #183, with Punisher unloading into Daredevil, shortly before Punisher crossovers became obnoxious. And there's David Mazzucchelli's excellent #228, which vividly shows Frank Miller's deconstruction of Matt Murdock, and his cover for #233, which is a powerful issue where Daredevil gets done with the Kingpin.
• Devil Dinosaur #1 -- Another of my first comics as a kid, and Jack Kirby owned me.
• Excalibur (first series) -- Wow, Alan Davis, Ron Lim, and Rick Leonard did some great, fun covers. I really dig Davis's #1 (team intro) and his wraparound #4 (first of the cross-time caper arc). Oh, and #23's riff on "Days of Future Past".
• Giant-Size X-Men -- First of the new team, and the long-time core members many of us remember as "the" X-Men.
• Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1 -- I can't remember who painted this cover, but it is gorgeous.
• Howard the Duck #1 -- I think this is a Frank Brunner cover, and it's got Howard, Red Sonja, and Spider-Man. Yes it does.
• Immortal Iron Fist #1 -- Dunno, but for me this David Aja cover just captures who Iron Fist is.
• The Incredibly Hulk #340, #345 -- I dig both McFarlane's Wolverine cover, and his gray Hulk smashing through the logotype.
• Iron Man -- For me, John Romita's cover of issue #126 is the Iron Man armor, and Bob Layton's gutsy alcoholic Tony Stark cover for issue #128 really sticks with me. I like Mark Bright's cover of #225, because even though I don't like the silver centurion armor, I'm oddly sentimental about those issues. Maybe because that was the height of my collecting before it went near-dormant for a few years (girls were prettier).
• Mighty Avengers #2 -- It's a Frank Cho female Ultron.
• New Avengers -- They're missing virtually all covers on Marvel.com, including some Frank Cho covers. Egregious.
• New Mutants -- All of the Bill Sienkiewicz covers (18-25). I would add his Daredevil graphic novel cover, but it's not listed.
• Secret Invasion #8 -- Can't remember the artist, but it's a great nod to New Avengers to Avengers proper.
• Secret Wars #5 -- Spidey's black costume!
• Spider-Man: Blue #2 and #3 -- Man, I love Tim Sale's 60s spy movie poster sexy vibe.
• Spider-Woman #1 -- Another of my first comics, with a cover by Joe Sinnott, so sentimental as hell. I just realized this is the only comic from my initial collection I haven't re-purchased.
• Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill -- I'm a ridiculous Beta Ray Bill fan, and while this series ultimately let me down, the covers of #1 and #2 -- by Andrea Vito and showcasing the raw majesty of this character -- certainly did not.
• Thor (first series) -- Sooo many good covers, but none (none!) like Walt Simonson's #337 (intro of Beta Ray Bill) and #366 (Frog Thor). (I like the Olivier Coipel covers of the new series ok, too.)
• Uncanny X-Men -- Long ride here, but I remember Dave Cockrum's #100 (Charles Xavier standing), #101 (Phoenix), #109 (intro of Alpha Flight), and #112 (why Wolverine should never fight Magneto). And John Byrne's "The Day the X-Men Died" cover and death of Jean Grey (#114 and #136) are alternately very sad, simple and powerful, angsty covers, as opposed to his very dynamically powerful "Days of Future Past" covers in #141 and #142. Paul Smith's cover for #167 (death of Professor X) is a solid nod back to #136. Alan Davis's cover for #213 is what I always think of as Wolverine versus Sabertooth. I so dig Jim Lee's cover to #268, which is a powerful portrait of Captain America, Wolverine, and Black Widow.
• Web of Spider-Man -- The Mike Zeck covers for issues #31 and #32 of the "Kraven's Last Hunt" arc (some of my favorite writing from J. Dematties) really capture the essence of that twisted story.
• Wolverine #1 -- Frank Miller's beckoning cover paints a portrait of the deadly, off-kilter canuck.
• X-Men #1 -- I so like how this Jim Lee cover brought Magneto back as the terrifying force of nature he should be.
• X-Men: Magneto Testament #5 -- This Marko Dhurdjevic cover is heartbreaking, and is for me the best in the series.

That's the list for now. Too many covers aren't listed on Marvel for the vote, so I'm bummed to not be talking about some of my other favs.

But this is a good nod to people who have inspired be over the years.

Labels: comic books, inspiration

Labels: comic books

"Mr. Kirby did a lot more than just draw. As the critic Gary Groth so ably put it in The Comics Journal Library, “He barreled like a freight train through the first 50 years of comic books like he owned the place.” He mastered and transformed all the genres, including romance, Westerns, science fiction and supernatural comics, before he landed at Marvel.

"He created a new grammar of storytelling and a cinematic style of motion. Once-wooden characters cascaded from one frame to another — or even from page to page — threatening to fall right out of the book into the reader’s lap. The force of punches thrown was visibly and explosively evident. Even at rest, a Kirby character pulsed with tension and energy in a way that makes movie versions of the same characters
seem static by comparison."

Labels: comic books, ramblings

• Countdown to Comic-Con 2007!
• Just landed in San Diego
• Comic-Con sum-up ...
• Comic-Con: Wednesday
• Comic-Con: Thursday
• Comic-Con: Friday
• Comic-Con: Saturday

This was a short day, and we spent it basically just trying to make the most of the Exhibit floor. I talked to some more companies and individuals, looked for last minute schwag, and tried to help my buddy find some gift for his girls (I was useless).

Toys:

I took a few quick picts of the new DC toys from Mattel, sculpted by the Four Horseman , and looked longingly at the Hasbro Legends series 3 and 4 stuff one last time.

Other Cool Stuff:

• Coming down to the real world ... 01:31 PM July 30, 2007 from web
• Posting Comic-Con video game links: http://tinyurl.com/2vnwth 01:18 PM July 30, 2007 from web
• Posting the first of my Comic-Con summaries: http://tinyurl.com/2ykqc9 12:56 PM July 30, 2007 from web
• Back in Austin. Dowloading Xbox Live Comic-Con content I missed while away. 12:38 AM July 30, 2007 from web
• "Amazingness" holds (so far). Delayed SJ to Austin flight, but at least it's not cancelled! 07:46 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• :- 05:09 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Dallas flight cancelled. I am _amazing_ and have secured an alternate flight. 05:08 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Looking at 4 generations of Nintendo Gameboy in use as people wait for the flight. I see one PSP. 04:16 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Best marketing move at Comic-Con? Dark Horse free bags for swag. Bright yellow, & all over the city & airport. 04:10 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Looking at a audition details for Tuesday morning. 03:07 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Heading home from Comic-Con. Bittersweet. 01:35 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Talking to Steve Lieber about "Whiteout". 01:02 PM July 29, 2007 from web
• Being followed by @Celebrity Watchdog. 11:41 AM July 29, 2007 from web
  @luge Congrats! 11:39 AM July 29, 2007 from web in reply to luge
• Getting ready to make the most of my last day on the Comic-Con show floor. 11:38 AM July 29, 2007 from web

Labels: acting, biz, business, comic books, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2007, events, festivals, inspiration, toys, video games, voice acting

• Countdown to Comic-Con 2007!
• Just landed in San Diego
• Comic-Con sum-up ...
• Comic-Con: Wednesday
• Comic-Con: Thursday
• Comic-Con: Friday

(Sorry for the delay; been wicked ill; as you were.)

Comic-Con on Saturday (July 28) was (oddly) less crazy than Friday. Maybe we just got used to the crazy.

And Saturday was fun. My buddy and I split up first thing, and he went to the Avatar panel while I hit the Exhibit floor to introduce myself to companies and individuals, meet up with folks I'd only previously known via Email and phone (like Mark Irwin, co-creator behind multi-format property Jack Secret; pitched as "Harry Potter meets Johnny Quest"), talk to a bunch of folks on Artists Row, pick up that Leinil Francis Yu signed Captain America "The Return" poster I'd eyed the day before, and so on.

Panels were great this day, too. The Marvel Spider-Man and Smallville panels, in particular, were what I expect panels to be. Poppy, unexpected, with panelists jumping in and out of conversations, having fun, and knowing their stuff.

Toys:

I picked up the "Ramathorr" figure from the Four Horseman's Seventh Kingdom, to complement the "Gauntlet of Vaskkh" figure with which I'd been gifted the day before. They guys offered to sign it, and were surprised when I told them I was actually going to take it out of the box for display.

Hasbro also added a bunch of their Marvel Legends series 4 figures to their show floor display case, so I snapped some picts of those, as well as their upcoming Japanese-derivative, 6-inch figures, which nonetheless look cool.

Panels:

The Marvel Spider-Man panel was a blast. It included writers, editors, and artist Dan Slott, Zeb Wells, Bob Gale, Marc Guggenheim, and Phil Jimenez, with Joe Quesada moderating. The panel was snappy, fun, well-moderated, and the guys are obviously having a blast (and taking seriously) the Spider-Man "One More Day" arc, then 3-times-monthly change-up. Writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Phil Jimenez are now exclusive to Marvel, and I felt bad that Jimenez let slip who makes out alive between Mary Jane and Aunt May.

And Dan Slott? Perhaps one of the funniest panel members I've seen. He was hilarious, punny, and having a lot of fun with the panel, and the absolute thrill ride that writing Amazing Spider-Man affords.

I also attended the GameTap "Re/Visioned" panel, consisting of Jim Lee, Warren Ellis, Peter Chung, Gail Simone, and Brian Pulido, and moderated by GameTap's Ric(k)ardo Sanchez. I'm really liking Simone's down-to-earth take on female empowerment, and it was fun to watch part 1 of Ellis's 3-part arc, at the same time he got to see it.

I also got to chat with Peter Chung and tell him "thank you" for the animated Æon Flux, and give him my voice demo. Very quiet, pleasant person. I was also able to meet the producer behind the Re/Visioned series, and let him know I was impressed with it.

The there was the Warner Bros. Smallville panel. Again, how I think a panel should be -- a lot of back and forth, people jumping in and out, playful, sexy people (Seriously -- Hartley? Vandervoort? Morris? Durance? Gough? Millar? Wow -- wicked sexy, all). The funniest exchange happened during the Q&A when a fan asked Hartley and Durance how they prepare for their steamy scenes -- and both of their spouses (and Hartley's daughter) were in the front row. Good feedback on the professional side of the preparation, though.

This panel was also a great example of how you video summarize an entire series, and tease the next season. Serious kudos to whoever pulled that off.

Other Cool Stuff:

Labels: acting, biz, business, comic books, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2007, events, festivals, inspiration, picts, toys, video games, voice acting

• Countdown to Comic-Con 2007!
• Just landed in San Diego
• Comic-Con sum-up ...
• Comic-Con: Wednesday

And the WizKids folks? Top-notch, every one of them. Brand Manager Mark is a machine, and Rae and Jenny (both of whom I'd known earlier only via Email) are phenomenal, and super-community and super-business minded. I made sure to introduce myself to all of the WizKids folks, who were all kind and helpful.

And (without me asking) they hooked me up with a Target exclusive two-pack of the Master Chief and Arbiter. Normally you only get this by pre-ordering Halo 3 from Target. Look for that to show up on my toy blog soon.

And a guy in full Spartan armor was there throughout the day. Just for effect.

Panels:

Just two panels for the day -- the "Hasbro Marvel" panel and the "DC Group Therapy" panel.

Hasbro:

The Hasbro panel was a bit ugly. We missed the first few minutes of it, but there were some angry folks inside for some reason. It might be due to some folks being upset about the Hasbro take on Marvel Legends (kinda understandable), but there were some (2) vehement folks in the room. It felt more like they were mad because they're completests(ists?), and things like chase variant figures make it hard to be a completest. My thought is (a) don't be a completest, and / or (b) realize that if we didn't have at least the figures as chase, we wouldn't have them at all.

I think collectors need to realize that Toy Biz version of legends catered to the collector, but Hasbro is all about the mass market. There are trade-offs there. More on that when I talk about Friday's Mattel / DC panel.

Hasbro did reveal some really cool stuff, like the Marvel Legends Wave 4, which seem to even more improve on the line, and includes first-appearance Daredevil (and red-suited variant), Black Bolt (and blue-suited variant, but I wish he was yelling), Punisher (with Crossbones variant). Wal-Mart will be getting two-pack exclusives of Cannonball & Domino and Cable & Marvel Girl, and on the Icons side we'll be seeing red suited Daredevil (with a first-appearance variant), Phoenix (with Dark Phoenix variant), Colossus, and Nightcrawler. In the case I also saw what looked like an Astonishing X-Men Cyclops Marvel Icon.

There are also going to Marvel Legends of Tigra, Nova, and Astonishing X-Men Beast, probably before December.

I also met writer / columnist Troy from Newsarama.com, who was knowledgeable and very pleasant.

DC Group Therapy:

This was a fun panel, and while I'm not a huge DC fan, per se, I really like Dan Didio, and all of the panelists -- Geoff Johns, Sean McKeever, Gail Simone, Tony Bedard, Eddie Berganza, Mike Marts, Mike Siglain, and (especially) Dwayne McDuffie.

Other Cool Stuff:

I missed the Marvel / MAXUM Games "Demons of Mercy" panel, which I really wanted to attend to check out the comic book / video game interaction. But I was in the room a couple of panels after that, and found that someone had left their Comic-Con Demons of Mercy comic. So, score!

And I got to meet a ton of cool people, and connect with folks I hadn't seen for a while. The Cartoon Network MMO folks in particular, are a great group of folks, and were very helpful in letting me try out the "alpha" version of the game answer questions, hook me up with a prelude comic, and just generally have fun. I also talked to several game and animation companies on the voice acting front, and they were much more helpful and responsive than I've experienced (sadly) in Austin.

What Sucked:

We had big plans to see the Superman Doomsday premiere that night, and the panel following that would include Bruce Timm, Gregory Noveck, Brandon Vietti, Lauren Mongomery, and Duane Capizzi.

But remember the lines I complained about? This night, we were victims. After waiting in line for an hour, we were the first people not allowed into the ballroom. We're talking they literally stopped us at the door, we could see in, and they wouldn't let the two of us inside. And then things got ugly. People who allegedly had been inside couldn't get back inside. People who had friends inside that were saving seats couldn't get inside. Then the fire marshal was doing a sweep, said there were too many people, and they were going to eject more. After about a half an hour of this ugliness, we left, bummed to have missed the premiere and the panel with one of our mutual idols.

The silver lining? The fine folks at Microsoft made the panel available for download over Xbox Live. Score again!

Pictures:

(Reverse chronology.)

Labels: acting, biz, business, comic books, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2007, events, toys, voice acting

• Countdown to Comic-Con 2007!
• Just landed in San Diego
• Comic-Con sum-up ...

Life-size Golden Compass polar bear mount:

Prototypes for upcoming Hasbro GI Joe 25th Anniversary figures:

Twitterings:

(Including related July 24 posts.)

• Enjoying the Comic-Con show floor ... 10:59 PM July 25, 2007 from web
• Just landed in San Diego for Comic-Con! 07:20 PM July 25, 2007 from web
• Packing last minute for the flight to San Diego ... 10:11 AM July 25, 2007 from web
• Setting up my replacement Xbox 360 ... 09:21 PM July 24, 2007 from web
• Looks like Xbox is doing a "Bringing it Home" for Comic-Con. Cool, and weirdly under the radar. Missed opportunity? 08:43 PM July 24, 2007 from web
• @luge I caught a screening of "Sunshine" last night. Amazing film -- Really enjoyed it, and been thinking about it all day... 07:43 PM July 24, 2007 from web in reply to luge
• Freaking out about Comic-Con prep. Not in a good way ... 04:25 PM July 24, 2007 from web
• Putting freaking TAPE on my CD printer so that it will work ... 03:45 PM July 24, 2007 from web
• Loving Brubaker's Captain America ... 01:08 PM July 24, 2007 from web
• Not liking Omega Flight. Again ... 12:32 PM July 24, 2007 from web
• Burning voice demos for Comic-Con ... 11:04 AM July 24, 2007 from web

Labels: biz, comic books, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2007, video games

I am freaking exhausted. But it's that great "I - just - worked - my - tail - off - had - a - blast - met - brilliant - inspiring - people - maybe - have - new - relationships - and - opportunities - on - the - horizon" kind of exhausted.

So I feel great.

In a previous post, I said I was hitting Comic-Con as a comic book & cartoon fan, toy collector, video game aficionado, voice & film actor, for professional (technical and management) opportunities, and for camaraderie.

Other than the last item, these were the roles under which I was going to play at Comic-Con, but as an abstraction, I was going to Comic-Con for camaraderie, passion, and potential.

Camaraderie:

Like I said, "I'm looking forward to sharing this experience with someone who gets all of this as much as I do." I've been meeting with a mentor pretty much every week, for at least six years. Not only is he a life / religious / business mentor, but he's an incredible friend and comic book and cartoon nut (like me). We mutually encouraged each other (led astray?) to go to Comic-Con this year, and we each probably would not have done it without the other. We were a great pair. There were things I was interested in and he wasn't (largely gaming), and we'd go to our respective panels, then re-sync and share. Or, there would be two panels we both wanted to go to, so we'd "divide and conquer" and fill each other in. Or we'd attend each other's event of interest, and broaden our horizons. Or there were panels or experiences we both wanted to do, and we'd experience them together. That last was the best, because we both "get it", and had common, amazing shared experiences. And we were there with like 100-150 thousand other folks who get it -- to some degree or another -- like us. And we realized we are far less geeky than some other human beings.

Passion:

Make no mistake, I am a huge fan of all of this stuff. I wasn't there to placate a friend or to exploit people for work. I am a lifetime comic book, toy, cartoon, video game, and film fan. Comic books and toys informed my creativity and story telling as a kid, and continue to inspire me with their artistry. Cartoons and video games got me into voice acting. Film got me into my current on-camera work as I bust my tail on the training front, and come alive under the lights.

I want to act in cartoon, comic book, video game, and film properties because I'm a voracious consumer of all of this stuff. I get it, and I want to give it. I'm like Phil Morris (I so admire and am happy for that guy).

Comic-Con was the place to be to get an inspirational re-charge, get closer to the creative and logistical process that gives me these things I enjoy, meet the folks responsible and say "thanks", and see what stuff is coming down the pipe, before anyone else knows. Sure, stuff makes it out on news wires and such shortly afterward, but it's nothing like being there and watching it for the first time it's ever been shown, with the creators (often seeing it themselves for the very first time), and talking to them afterwards.

Opportunity:

I am a working professional. I work ridiculously hard at creating opportunities for acting, for technical development, and for management. I do this for me, I do this mutually for other people, and I do this for people independent of whether there's anything for me. I almost never stopped moving at Comic-Con as I tracked down the right people to whom to give a voice demo, head shot, or resume. I hit up the companies I'm passionate about from a creative or business perspective, and there were so many of those, that I didn't hit many "new business opportunities" while I was in San Diego. That means I was hitting up the folks whose stuff I love, and asking to work for or with them.

There were more than 50 companies and people I wanted to meet in the four days. I knew this was shooting for the stars, but not only di I connect with roughly 30 of those, but some additional, unlooked-for, awesome, what could become "I was discovered" kind of moments. Great stuff.

I also sought out the PR or events folks for booths that I was particularly impressed by, just to say, "Good job." It is important to give the workers their due.

And my new demo has (so far) been very well received.

What sucked:

Nothing bad happened that can take away from the overall amazingness. Plus, I'm going to send a thoughtful note each to Comic-Con and the San Diego Convention Center calling out some of the challenges and offering some suggestions.

But yeah, it wasn't all roses. The "Red Shirts" -- folks who were supposed to help attendees out, were very disconnected and caused some serious pain to my buddy and me. More on that later.

And I had one of those "This is Hollywood, be-otch!" experiences with a biggie that was a good reminder for that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. I reset and changed my tack with a couple of opportunity folks that seem to be not so relationship-oriented. Seriously, I manage multi-million dollar, international programs and services, so if people want to go toe-to-toe on that hard-ass front, I can play.

Oh, and too many people. Lines kept us out of things we'd liked to have seen and done, because the prospect of hours in line with no guarantee of getting in didn't appeal to us. And we had a bad Thursday night experience. More on that later.

Not that we were going to see everything anyway. Between my split personality roles and passions, a top-notch packed programming and events roster, and my working so hard to make sure my opportunities didn't impact my buddy, I knew we were going to miss stuff. Which is fine. As in the rest of life, what should have happened did; what shouldn't have, didn't.

So what happened?

I'm a big tease, so I'm not going to tell you.

Actually, I will, but this post is already too long, so I'll do separate, day-by-day posts of Wednesday through Sunday. I'll try to hit them from the perspective of the roles and abstractions that were my "filters" for attending, and I'll also try to break stuff up by summary, cool stuff, genres, panels, twitterings, and pictures.

As far as pictures, there will be some, but not many, and they won't be overly high quality. The reason is I honored the "no-flash" rule during panels and reveals (I think I may have been the only one). Between that and popping my hand up and down quickly to snap a pict (so as not to block people behind me), the picts are a bit blurry.

And there are some things I snapped picts of that have not been released to the general public, so I won't be posting those picts. Creative and business folks work hard for their IP, and I'm not going to do them a disservice by leaking stuff they're working to release in a controlled, exciting way.

More later ...

Labels: biz, business, comic books, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2007, events, festivals, inspiration, other actors

After the wring-out session, I went away, focused on headshots, pulled music and sound effects together, then Jason and I spent yesterday afternoon mixing / mastering / finalizing the demo.

Jason was adept at maximizing the sound (without losing the fidelity), and appropriately prioritized the vocals over the music and sound effects (without making the latter two sound like they were just "slapped underneath" the former).

Like I said, I feel great about this demo. Not just for the finished product, but because I ostensibly self-produced this project (with Jason's spot-on collaboration) -- I feel great about the product and the result -- and it's the demo I'm talking to Comic-Con this week.

Jason's available to do this for you. You should contact him. Or me, if you prefer an introduction.

And there's more to come, because we also recorded clips for my new commercial voice demo. But that'll have to wait until after I shake things up in San Diego.

Labels: acting, acting process, animation, biz, comic books, inspiration, tools, voice acting

Labels: comic books, Comic-Con 2007, events, inspiration, toys, video games, voice acting

Labels: comic books, events

Labels: acting, comic books, inspiration, ramblings, tools, toys, voice acting

I found another avenue to combine my voice acting with my love for comic books.

Over the holidays, I picked up a stop-motion animation "toy" at Toys R Us. It was Marvel branded, and included put-together cutouts of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Dr. Doom, and the Green Goblin.

This week I animated a quick scene (no storyboarding this round), recorded some dialog for the four characters, put it all together and uploaded it to YouTube.

Why YouTube, rather than encoding the video myself and hosting it on my site? Since Marvel owns the licenses for the characters, I'm not worried about losing creative control of this particular clip, due to YouTube's user agreement.

Besides, one of the goals is for me to try out YouTube, have fun with it, and see if it's a decent marketing tool to drive additional like-minded folks to my site. And I may be a bit of an eyeball whore. But only when I get paid for it.

My weekend review of my weekly Web traffic stats shows a noticeable upswing for the days following the clip posting. Oddly, referrals don't show anyone coming from YouTube.com to adamcreighton.com; I say "oddly" because I did this twice at set times to make sure it was working. Ah well.

The only change to my voice is a slight mechanization filter to Doctor Doom -- no change in pitch / octave /etc. -- that's all me. The sound effects are a bit tinny, which is probably due to them being sampled at a different rate than the other video audio pieces that went into the final product. Lesson for next time.

The Tools:

• "Animation plane": Jazwares Marvel Heroes Ani-Movie
• Microphone: MXL-990 (with shockmount)
• Preamp: M-Audio MobilePre USB (the model before the M-Audio FastTrack)
• Audio Post Processing: GoldWave
• Video post processing: Roxio VideoWave (though it's a bit short for what I need it to do)
• Editing: Adobe Premier Elements 2.0 (ditto, but slightly less so)
• Rendering: Adobe Premiere Elements (message boards are alive with the known bugs that bit me here, so I've lost a lot of love for Adobe this round; and their pricing already cost them a lot of love)

Labels: acting, acting process, animation, comic books, voice acting