My ChildHood Heroes

Warning: You are about to read something very nerdy.

Neil Gaiman Has Done Something Wonderful

Which is really nothing new, but, you know.

It all started with Twitter and Blackberry. On February 4, Gaiman tweeted twelve questions, one per hour, to his followers, themed around the months of the year. Out of the many, many responses he got for each month, he chose a prompt for a quick short story, around 1000 words. Then, over the next three days, and with a camera crew hanging over his shoulder, he wrote the stories. 'Nuff said on that account.

The stories are now available as a PDF download here. They're all quite wonderful, in that way Gaiman has. I've said for years that he's one of our best magical realists, and these stories prove it. They're all fantastic, but very grounded, very human, reminding me of what it's like, trying to get through this life. Some are sad, some are funny, some are scary, some are varying combinations of all three. I don't think I'll ever look at a calendar the same way again.

Oh, and it's not over yet. They're looking for illustrations of the stories for an eventual digital showcase and print edition. Obviously, I won't be participating in that part, but there's no reason why you couldn't. At worst, you've lost a bit of time, and gained the experience of having read some really good stories.

I am toying with the idea of doing something with my own answers. Maybe just an entry regarding where they came from. I don't know. Some of it might be a bit more personal than I'm willing to get into in my old age. (I really do look back at some of my old entries on this blog and cringe.) Or maybe I'll turn them into stories. One of them, January, was about something I've considered in story terms for quite a while now.

But that's all for later. Right now, you should go download those stories. Then, get a cup of your favorite beverage, sit in your favorite chair, and do some reading. It's good for you.

What Day Is It? Oh, Yeah

I know from feedback that some of you are big fans of my yearly tongue-in-cheek posts about being lonely and bitter on Valentine's Day. Well, I'm sorry to report there won't be one of those this year.

I've been seeing a wonderful girl since last June, it's going smashingly, and tonight we're doing fine Italian dining and champagne & snuggles at home. So not so much with the lonely, and as for bitter, I'm taking the day off from that.

Hopefully, you've got something nice to do tonight as well, whether alone or with someone. And if not, well, there's always next year. Or even tomorrow.

How To Help Peter David

As reported below, Peter David's going through a bit of a rough patch right now. He's about to have a very expensive year, and his wife has suggested that those who want to help their family out buy some of his books:

The most direct way is to buy his books from Crazy 8 Press (via ComicMix) or from Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites. These are books that he gets the money from directly and the most per book.

Of the Crazy 8 releases, I can personally vouch for the Hidden Earth series and The Camelot Papers. And they're all available in print and ebook formats.

Once again, best wishes to Peter and his family.

Best Wishes To Peter David

The acclaimed and awesome writer of, among other things, X-Factor, suffered a stroke two days ago. All my best wishes for a speedy recovery.

My Favorite Comics of 2012

It's that time again, nerds. As always, this is a list of my favorites out of the comics I read this year, which is nowhere near the number of comics that were released. So don't take this as a comprehensive list of the best comics of the year. All the big comics websites are doing that anyway; Comic Book Resources' Top 100 list in particular has given me some food for thought for next year's reading.

But enough of that, let's get to the important bit: Where I rave about Hawkeye.

I Aten't Dead

Just a couple quick things before I start my holiday shenanigans.

I wrote a post over on the Sequential Salon blog about my reference shelf. There may be more posts there from me in the coming year.

Favorite Comics of 2012 will be up sometime next week. Although it might just be me saying "Hawkeye Hawkeye Hawkeye" a couple thousand times.

Finally, a quick "Happy Birthday" to Tony Isabella, one of the coolest and nicest guys in the comics industry (and the guy who pretty much invented comics blogging, back before "blogging" was a word).

And So It Begins

Township is finished, and has been submitted under its new title of Greensparrow.

On to the next thing.