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The End Is Where We Start From

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”

-T.S. Elliot

After over eight years of general work, and four spent as store manager, I have tendered my resignation at Wizard’s Comics, effective December 31st, 2014.

This is not a decision that came easily. I love the shop and the people who frequent it. In addition, the owners have been very kind to me over the years, going above and beyond to help me out when various stresses started to overwhelm. My leaving Wizard’s is not a comment on the owners, the business, or the people who frequent the store – it’s a statement about myself, and what I want to do with my life.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be preparing for the next phase of my life. I can’t really tell you all much about it yet, but in the new year, I will continue to be a part of the comic book community. I’m not leaving, so much as adjusting my position within it, and as such, I’m hoping to become a much more powerful advocate for the medium.

Naturally, there will be a few more announcements to come. Those precious few who know more specifics, I’d appreciate it if you kept the information close to your chest. I can’t wait to share everything with all of you, but the timing of announcements is crucial for the next big thing, and I’m already scared enough.

Thank you all, for everything. We’ll talk again soon, I’m sure.

Inside Your Television

The first of two big announcements: in two short weeks, I will appear on CTV Edmonton’s Morning Live show.

Basically, if you turn your dials to CTV Edmonton on December 1st at 7:50am MST, you’re going to see my smiling face representing the world of comics. Probably. I mean hey, sometimes news happens and these segments slide. So that might be a thing. But right now, we’re good to go.

Stay tuned to this space in the next couple of days for another big announcement. I know I said I’d be dropping more news today, but I’ve been offered some other options I have to think about.

Comics Beat // A Confluence of Events

A few of you were wondering about my thoughts on DC’s upcoming Confluence event, so I went ahead and wrote ’em all down for Comics Beat last week.

Of the two, Convergence is being built as a necessity, more than something extravagant. Even if the concept was born out of creative decisions, the execution is all business, marrying the need for DC to pump out enough books to fill out their budgets while simultaneously alleviating editorial and creative pressures during the big move. As such, it’s already on the back foot, appearing as though it’s a fill-in event, something that is decidedly not their main line of books in any way, shape or form. If they don’t tackle this perception in the marketing, April and May might be a couple of DC’s worst months as many opt out of the two months of content.

The article goes pretty deep into what the company would need to do to make the event as successful as possible. Unfortunately, I think they’ve already screwed a few points up. You can read the whole article here – and when you’re done that, you can run straight into my thoughts on Marvel’s big multiversal event, Secret Wars.

While Convergence is an event being built out of near necessity, Secret Wars is an event that’s emerging from years of planning on the part of Marvel and writer Jonathan Hickman. Both approaches have their pros and cons. While I’m really enjoying Hickman’s work on the Avengers line, it was never anything I would be able to hand to a new reader easily – and his work on the title has only gotten more complex. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this approach, especially when you have several titles on the stands that new readers can easily gravitate to like Black WidowMs. Marvel, and Hawkeye – but when it comes to the big event, you want to try and make that thing as accessible as possible. DC can theoretically do this with Convergence by structuring their event as a low-threshold buy-in, featuring two part stories that exist without too much connective tissue. Marvel could theoretically do this, but there’s very little known about the actual structure of Secret Warsbeyond the fact that it will be impossible to escape if you’re interested in their line.

You can read that full article here.

Sometimes I think I go a little easier on Marvel because… well, because I’m enjoying more of their line right now, but I think I stayed pretty even-handed with presenting the potential problems and positives that both events could have. As always, your thoughts are appreciated, so comment below, or on the articles themselves!

Comics Beat // Degree of Variants

Because I love puns, you guys. I love them so much.

This week, I returned to providing weekly final order cut-off commentary at Comics Beat with a little ditty about some of the splashier variants coming down the pike.

I’m not a big fan of variants in general (a longer column for another day), but I can at least get behind variants that you can order without qualification. That says you’re offering another variety for a reader to sample, letting them choose what cover they’d like. That, I understand. Qualified variants, on the other hand, are the dirt worst. They’re a dirty manipulation of the whole “supply and demand” market designed for cheap, easy money, both for publishers and retailers alike. If a retailer wants a bigger supply, they will have to order more copies. In order to cover the cost of those copies (many of which won’t sell), they will charge a premium for that cover. And hey, even if they don’t need to charge a premium to cover the costs of extra copies, they’ll probably mark it up because of the low supply, and the high demand.

You can read the full article over at Comics Beat where you’ll also see a quote from the publisher of one of the industry’s biggest companies talking shit about variants. It’s fun for the whole family! Probably. Maybe.

The Doctor Whooch Editing Process

NoNaNo

In year’s past, I’ve tried to do the whole NaNoWriMo thing to varying degrees of success. Last year, I made it to almost 20,000 words before stalling – a failure given the scope of the project, but a success in many other ways. I now have a bit of foundation for a series I’ve been planning to do for a few years, and a bit of working history for a whole I’ve wanted to bring to life for even longer, so that’s pretty cool.

I’m not going to try to do NaNoWriMo this year. Between upcoming projects and current commitments, I’m stretched pretty thin as it is. That said, I’m still making it my mission to hit 50,000 words by the end of the month, through posts like this, and my work over at Comics! The Blog and Comics Beat. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I might even write some short fiction. Who knows? Regardless, I will be writing this month, and I will be writing quite a bit. Some of it might even be good. One can hope.

Unwritable Girl

My hands were shaking.

We’d been together for almost three years, had lived together for over two, and still, I couldn’t steady my hands. I had planned to propose a long time ago, but the ring I wanted to get her cost a bit of money, more money than I could afford under regular circumstances. She had told me that she didn’t want something fancy or expensive, but I knew it was perfect, and it had to be hers.

Finally, hands shaking, in Manchester, Connecticut, standing in the middle of a beautiful garden, under a beautiful gazebo, I get down on one knee… and promptly forget absolutely everything I wanted to say to her.

What do you say to the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with? Everything you can come up with will almost inevitably fall short of the goal. You strive for perfection, because that is what you have, the woman that fits with you perfectly, but you can’t possibly describe the feeling you have for her.

Flash forward a few short months. Ever since you’ve been engaged, you’ve talked about getting married. How could you not? You want to be this woman’s husband, and you want to be that as soon as possible. The two of you decide on October 17th, the day she asked you to be her boyfriend, and you accepted without question. Three years to that day, you get married.

It’s a small ceremony. Nobody you know is there, except your soon-to-be wife. You’re nervous and she’s nervous, and you’re sure and you’re unsure and the emotion swirls, and your head swims. The time draws near. The ceremony starts. She walks towards you, and taps you on the shoulder. You turn around. Instantly, you’re a ball of tears. This woman, standing before you. Smiling. Radiant. Gorgeous. Her dress is stunning, a beautiful lacy number that makes her look like she walked off the set of an old Hollywood movie. This woman. And she wants you.

We go through the ceremony, repeating words, and saying our own. The proceedings are a blur. The only memory is her face, her eyes, her smile. This woman.

Today, I’ve been married for a little over a week. In all ways, I’ve never been happier than I am now. There’s just something about the love of an amazing woman, a woman who makes you feel more than the sum of your parts… there’s just something about her. Something indescribable, something I scramble to put into tangible description every day. It’s impossible.

To you, my love. And to the time (and space) we will spend together, travelling through life, together.

I love you.

-B

Monday, Briefly

  • Tomorrow, I’m going to post about that time that I got married. By the way, you guys, I’m married now. I’m somebody’s husband. Specifically, the wonderful Danica LeBlanc’s husband. She wrote a wonderful piece about the day on her blog, and you should definitely check that out.
  • Today was a day off, which probably meant I should have been writing. Instead, I went into work for a bit and fielded a call from the shop owner that got me fairly riled up. I’m sorting through what the consequences of that call might be. Suffice to say, the next little while might be very interesting.
  • A big box full of Kyle Starks showed up at the homestead today, and all of Edmonton should be able to get their hands on it soon! Stay tuned for details…
  • Comics! The Blog got a bit of a redesign over the past week, and content is gearing back up after a lull. Look for a lot more in the near future.
  • It’s bed time. Time for bed. Night all.

Comics Beat // FOC Fridays

Two weeks ago, I began writing a weekly column about final order cut-offs for Comics! Beat. Time for some links:

  • (09.27.2014) // “So here’s the thing about this new Deathstroke book: I genuinely think there has never been a better time for DC to try and make this book happen. The character is coming off of a high profile turn as the big bad on the latest season of Arrow where he was watched by millions. The DVDs are out. The episodes will eventually hit Netflix. They’d be stupid tonot test the waters with a new series. The problem? They are testing those waters poorly.
  • (10.03.2014) // “This week’s final order cut off has the last issue of Superman Unchained, and now I can set fire my feelings of disappointment and send the whole thing off to sea. While Scott Snyder and Jim Lee put together a phenomenal book, DC could have done so much more with this series. So, so much more.”

Every week I’m not on vacation or otherwise indisposed, these’ll be running weekly, alongside a weekly shot of my regular retail column. All of this along with churning things out regularly. Or at least I hope. As always, we’ll see how this all turns out.

Doctor Whooch // Episode 032 // Into Dorkness

In which we’re drunk in Hartford!

We’re still on vacation, which means we have ANOTHER episode of Doctor Whooch ready for your ears, and this time, we’re talking about “Into the Dalek”, the second episode of the eighth series. What did we think? Well, we’re not entirely sure. We drank more during this episode than any other episode, for vacation reasons, and we can’t remember what happened. So, uh… enjoy?

Outro music is “I Am A Dalek” by The Art Attacks.

Podcast picture is by GIRL NAMED SHIRL PHOTOGRAPHY

Subscribe to Doctor Whooch on iTunes

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