The Bum’s Rush #20

Boy, Do I Feel Dumb

Hi!

How are you?

Good, good. Oh, me? Well I’m not feeling particularly hot at the moment. In fact, I’m just a tad sick to my stomach. You see sometime Saturday night my place of employment was robbed. All of the G5’s from the Graphics Department were stolen. As well as all the other computers in the rest of that part of the building I’m told.

I found this out when I dropped by work on Sunday to send out some emails and do some work for Stumblebum. See, I don’t have the Internet at home right now. I usually do a great deal of work from the office (after hours of course) so it hasn’t been strictly necessary for me to have the Internet at home. I know, I know … I’m a caveman. Anyway, I knew something was wrong when I pulled up and saw that not only were there three or four cars parked outside the building (definitely unusual for 10 P.M. on a Sunday) but there were several wood planks boarding up one of the large windows of my area of the building. As I entered the office I hoped and hoped that when I turned the corner to the Graphics Department I wouldn’t see what I was dreading to see. No such luck. All of the beautiful Mac’s were gone. At least the bastards left the pictures of my nephew, my collection of plush Superpet’s and my Buddy Christ.

I was … shocked to say the least. And while my shock certainly sprung somewhat from the notion of my place of work being ransacked, most of it stemmed from the fact that, well, in many ways my life was on that hard drive. And that makes me feel like a complete idiot. See I’ve worked at this place for almost six years now (jeez) and during those six years I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours working on various design projects, short stories, comic strips, etc. And because I took for granted that my stuff was safe in my personal folder on that computer, well, I’ve lost a ton of work.

I’ve not only lost a lot of that work (some of which actually is backed up, but not nearly all of it) I’ve also lost personal emails that I’ve saved for years, hundreds of wallpapers and mp3’s, all my LiveJournal icons and many, many links to different websites that I’ve put together over the years. And I’m mad as hell. Not at the guys that did this, not completely. Mostly I am mad at myself for being the architect of my own misery. It’s exactly because this was so preventable that makes me furious. But live and learn I guess. From now on there is not one computer file I create that will not be backed up and transferred to my home computer on a daily basis (as well as backup’s of the content on that computer.)

Now, when this first happened, the first few hours I was sorting this out in my head, I actually thought to myself this is the worst possible thing that could happen right now. Just the worst. It’s funny how we tend to take these awful things that happen to us and make them into these world-shattering events. After all, they happened to us right? Yes, horrible things happen to other people, but that’s other people, not us. Nothing could possibly be as bad as whatever bad thing has turned our world upside down at any given time. But now, as I’m writing this, I realize that this thing that happened is far from the worst that could happen to me. My designs can be recreated, stories rewritten, links found again and on and on.

It seems particularly poignant at this moment, given the terrible tragedy that has befallen people in Louisiana, Mississippi and other parts of the country. Whatever small amount of suffering I am feeling at the moment is nothing compared to that. It’s just bad luck really, what has happened to me, but it is far from irreversible and might one day make for an amusing anecdote at the many cocktail parties I attend … never. I have my health (such as it is), I have a home and stuff to put in it, I have a job and a loving family and close friends. None of that is any different now than it was a day or two ago.

But man do I feel like an idiot.

On A Lighter Note

Corey Lewis is, in my humble opinion, one of the best and brightest young creators in the field of comics right now. I’ve been a fan of his for quite some time, long before the debut of his first major work in the business, the brilliant and beautiful graphic novel, Sharknife. His stories and artwork flash and sparkle with unbridled enthusiasm and love for his profession.

Since the debut of Sharknife, published earlier this year by Oni Press, Corey has been hard at work on a follow-up book, a 72-page comic entitled PENG, also from Oni. It’s the story of young Rocky Hallelujah, brother of Caesar Hallelujah, the star of Sharknife. Rocky is a champion in the sport of Advanced Kickball. It’s like kickball but … advanced. Think Shaolin Soccer. Martial arts, special moves, insane powers. Rocky and his team, the Foot Knux, have entered into the final rounds of Advanced Kickball and have to face off against three other competing teams, including the evil Aroura Skeddos. I’ve seen the artwork. I’ve read all of the info. It’s quite possible that I am anticipating this book even more eagerly than I was the debut of Sharknife.

Recently Corey mentioned that orders for the book were … somewhat low. Despite the fact that numerous creators, creators such as Warren Ellis and James Jean, have touted the book as an artistic achievement it seems that relatively few people even know of its existence. Hell, when I asked my local retailer to order six copies for me (four for myself and two for friends who want the book) even he didn’t know what I was talking about. So here I am trying to spread the word, because I love Corey Lewis’ work and I love his enthusiasm even more. Do yourself a favor and check out Lewis’ site and then go order the book yourself. If you have to, use the handy Comic Shop Locator to find a retailer near you.

The industry needs more energetic and enthusiastic young creators like Lewis. And to ensure that we get more of these types of creators we need to support them and show them that their enthusiasm and creativity is both wanted and needed.

Quick Bits

1. Aw yeah, I was right! Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira will definitely be the new creative team for Ultimates Vol. 3. I’m not saying I predicted this or something, I just paid attention to the news here and there coming out of various conventions and it seemed like a sure thing in my mind. I’m really looking forward to seeing what these two superstars do with The Ultimates. Let’s just hope they get plenty of lead-time before Marvel starts announcing any release dates.
2. Did anyone else get a chance to check out the All-Star Superman preview pages in the latest issue of Wizard? I flipped through an open copy of the magazine at the comic store the other day. This is going to be one great looking comic.
3. Joy! The Superman Returns teaser poster is here!
4. The writing team for DC Comics’ 52, the weekly comic spinning out of the final issue of Infinite Crisis, has been announced. Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Grant Morrison will handle the main writing chores while Keith Giffen will coordinate and provide layouts for the book. J.G. Jones will provide all 52 covers for the series.

NEXT WEEK: Back to our regularly scheduled program.


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

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