The Bum’s Rush #28

Victory Puke!

Some comics are pure candy. They’re pretty, they make you smile, they remind you why comics are better than almost any other form of entertainment on the planet. Comics like this are rare, but they are often the purest examples of the form. When you read a comic like this there is no doubt in your mind that the creator’s working on the book have an unconditional love for the medium. The energy, the enjoyment, and the fun they have is raw and unhidden, exposed on the surface of the page for every reader to see. That passion is infectious.

PENG! is exactly this kind of book. PENG! is pure, unadulterated candy. It’s so sweet and tasty it will rot the teeth right out of your mouth. Corey “The Rey” Lewis, creator, writer and artist of PENG! (and the jaw dropping graphic novel Sharknife) loves comics. I think it’s safe to say that he might love comics more than I do, which is quite a feat. It’s because of that, and books like PENG! and Sharknife, that Corey has become one of my top five favorite creators of all time.

So what’s this book all about, you may ask? PENG! is all about the fiercely competitive sport of kickball. Not just any old kickball but Advanced Kickball, a game so fast, fierce and intense that the audience must ingest special pills, called Slo-Moz, just to follow the action. As we join the story the game is about to enter the finals with only four teams (The Foot Knux, The Anologgers, The Aurora Skeddos and The Dolpheets) remaining to battle it out for dominance of the sport. The story of PENG! mainly revolves around The Foot Knux, a young team who has amazed everyone by getting all the way to the finals, and their leader, Caesar Hallelujah. However, the current champions, The Aurora Skeddos, led by the fiercely dedicated Jeeyuh Yeeauh, are determined to keep the young upstarts from achieving glory. What follows is a glorious tale filled to bursting with martial arts, special combos, honor, agony, humor and loads of fun. And since Caesar is the younger brother of Rocky Hallelujah (star of the Sharknife graphic novel) you just know that Sharknife will get in on the action.

As much as I gushed about my love of Sharknife when it first debuted I honestly love Corey’s second book even more. Not only is it one of the most fun comics I’ve ever read, it’s also one of the most beautiful. From the cover (ooh, I love the way that cover feels) to the interior design, all the extra goodies, like a breakdown of how Advanced Kickball works, and the larger format, which makes Corey’s energetic and detailed work easier to follow. Did I say candy bar? Forget that, PENG! is a full course meal made entirely of your favorite sweets!

Do your eyes and mind a favor and get in on the ground floor with this kid because as great as these books have been I have no doubt that his future projects are going to be even better. He’s already hard at work on his next book for Udon Comics (www.udoncomics.com), Rival Schools: United by Fate based on the badass fighting game from Capcom. And if it’s more Sharknife you’re craving then don’t worry you’re pretty little head because a second Sharknife graphic novel will be published by Oni Press in 2006!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to read PENG! for the fifth time.

Wiz World ’05!

Jumpin’ Jimminy Crap! After weeks, months even, of hard work, name calling, hair pulling and robbing banks for capital the Wizard World Texas show is just around the corner. Less than a week away actually. The butterflies in my stomach have abandoned the fluttering about method for the more extreme tactic of stabbing me with sharp knives.

You see, each time the Stumblebum Crew decides to do a public appearance we get a little bit more ambitious. At the first comic convention we did we debuted a preview of our in-progress comic book, Twilight: High Moon, a book that we busted butt putting together and gave away for free. Our next major appearance was at Titan Comics for the national Free Comic Day event. Initially we were going to make more of the Twilight preview to hand out but we decided instead to create something brand new. We came up with the idea of doing a “dime novel” type book and ended up with the Twilight Tales: Second Skin illustrated novella.

So a few months ago, when we decided to get a table at the Wizard World Texas convention, we tried yet again to come up with something different. Boy, did we. Not only did we come up with the idea of putting together a book that would collect articles and other content from this website, as well as original short stories and comics but we also decided to do a few smaller books, the Cultural Void/Der Wundervolle Bean Flipbook, collecting comic strips by me and Dave Sherrill and a new printing of the aforementioned Twilight Tales novella. I think we all knew it was going to be difficult, but as usual knowing something and actually doing it are completely different things.

As of this writing two of the three books are in the can. The table is bought and paid for. We have our name badges (mine says Paul Millison instead of Milligan but whatever). The flyers advertising the Stumblebum Store, Titan Comics and Dave’s band, 100 Damned Guns are done and just need to be cut. Our ass-kissing technique has been honed to perfection (just kidding if you’re someone important we met at the show, you’re great!) We still need our business cards and the table banner but that’s easy. Of course I’m most nervous because we have yet to receive the biggest item we’ll have at the show, the Stumblebum Studios Anthology 2005. If all goes according to plan we’ll receive the entire run of the book on Thursday. That’s cutting it a bit close but it wouldn’t be a Stumblebum Studios appearance if it didn’t come right down to the wire on something.

So yeah, I’ve got a mixture of feelings going on right now. I’m nervous, but excited. I’m scared, but hopeful. If all goes well we’ll get a lot of attention and pull in a lot of new readers. If all goes well we’ll be riding on a new wave of creative energy. If all goes well we’ll be millionaires before we’re thirty. Okay maybe not. But I’m really hoping that all goes well. So hey, if you’re in the area next weekend (November 4th – 6th) then come out and see us. If you’re a regular to the site let us know, maybe I can slip you a free copy of the Anthology without anyone seeing. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. Seriously, we’d love to see you!

Wish me luck.

Quick Bits       Click on images to view full size in a new window

1. I love Marvel Team-Up a little bit more with each passing issue, especially now that Paco Medina is the regular artist. That kid sure can draw.
2. A few months ago Marvel teased fans with a promo featuring the single word “King”. Many speculated that this meant that a certain famous horror writer was going to be writing comics for Marvel. Now it appears that speculation was correct. Stephen King will be teaming up with Marvel to present a new chapter in his Dark Tower series of books, this time in comic book form. Jae Lee will provide the art (which looks amazing) and the first issue will drop in April. This is certainly an interesting move considering the obvious potential for bringing a number of new readers, King fans, literary fans and horror fans alike, into the world of comics.
3. Even more novelists are getting in on the comics game! David Morrell, author of First Blood, basis for the Rambo series, is slated to write a Captain America comic and New York Times best selling author Eric Jerome Dickey will tackle a comic featuring Storm and the Black Panther.
4. Zombies are the new vampire. Seriously, once upon a time most horror comics involved vampire this and vampire that. Now? All-zombie all the time. There’s, like, a zillion zombie comics out there, man.
5. Not really new but I heard tell that Mike Allred’s original cover for his issue of the DC Solo book (which is awesome!), featuring an Adam West-style Batman doing the batusi, was yanked because DC wants to get away from the campy Batman image. Boo!
6. Mark Verheiden and artist Ethan Van Sciver are taking over for Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness (who really wasn’t that regular on the book) on the Superman/Batman series starting with issue #27. Not too sure how I feel about this, I haven’t been very impressed by Verheiden’s work on the regular Superman book. Van Sciver sure does draw purty though.

NEXT WEEK: Report on Wizard World Texas 2005! Or an angry missive full of naughty words. Depends on how the show goes.

Send me hate mail at thesuperleezard@yahoo.com

Read more stupid crap I write at www.livejournal.com/users/superleezard

Check out my (semi) daily comic, Der Wundervolle Bean, at www.livejournal.com/users/der_magic_bean

End of Line