This is the third time I've talked with John Siuntres on his Word Balloon podcast, and I think it's the best.  It was certainly the longest chat we've ever had.  Topics covered include kids' comics, Michael Mann, hell, soccer and my own books too.

Click here to listen

I will see this.

A lazy Sunday morning song. ♫ http://blip.fm/~soe2m

The basement of my house is filled with equal parts comic book longboxes and heaps of broken dishes.  The comic books are mine.  My work-related reference library.  The broken dishes belong to my lovely wife, Kelly, who uses them to make mosaics.  Switchplates, picture frames, chalk boards and the like.  Her offbeat and wickedly cool work is currently on display all throughout our house and at the following stores:

Sister's Garden and Bloom
4895 Hwy 1 SW
Kalona, Iowa 52247

Frank
309 N. Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, California 95030

Stuff
316 West 63rd Street
Kansas City, Missouri 64113

Or you can peruse her blog and ask her about a custom piece.  She's currently working on a bulletin board for my office featuring crucifixes and freaky dog heads. So, you know, just my style.

New Nina Nastasia. ♫ http://blip.fm/~smycw

Colored bacon. Yes, please.

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Interview at Newsarama

Nrama: Then to finish up, how would you describe your overall experience of working on Scalped?

Guéra: It’s gratifying on all levels, especially the feel of tremendous luck it came to be reality at all. Giulia Brusco on colors, that also is absolute blessing.

I think that by now it’s obvious that Scalped is a serial of both of our careers, Jason’s and mine, no matter what we do after. There’s a strong sense that the best is still to come, which is simply inspiring, as we’ll go on together.

I said it once somewhere, I’d draw Jason’s recipe for a cake. And I mean it...

A little Junior Brown for breakfast. ♫ http://blip.fm/~sj3ct

Really digging the new album by Nas & Damian Marley. ♫ http://blip.fm/~sfplj

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Talking PUNISHER with USA Today

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SCALPED #42
Written by JASON AARON
Art by R.M. GUERA
Cover by JOCK
In the gut-wrenching conclusion to “The Unwanted,” Carol decides the fate of her unborn child while Dash struggles with the idea of fatherhood.
On sale SEPTEMBER 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • MATURE READERS



WOLVERINE #1
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by RENATO GUEDES
Cover by JAE LEE
Variant Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN
Variant Cover by PAUL SMITH
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Sketch Variant Cover by JAE LEE
Blank Variant Cover also available!
Acclaimed author JASON AARON (ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN AND WOLVERINE, WEAPON X) and superstar artist RENATO GUEDES (Action Comics, Adventures of Superman) launch an all-new ongoing Wolverine series as Wolverine goes to hell...
literally! Someone’s out to destroy Wolverine—permanently—and they may have succeeded. But if Wolverine’s soul is in hell, how is his body terrorizing those closest to him?
40 PGS./Parental Advisory ...$3.99



WOLVERINE: THE ROAD TO HELL #1
Written by JASON AARON,MARJORIE LIU, RICK REMENDER & DANIEL WAY
Penciled by GUISEPPE CAMUNCOLI, WILL CONRAD, RENATO GUEDES & JEROME OPEÑA
Cover by MICO SUAYAN
This September, Wolverine starts down the road to hell and we want to take you along for the ride...it all starts here! With all new material by the creative teams bringing you WOLVERINE, X-23, DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE and X-FORCE, The Road to Hell is packed with clues and signposts to help you find your way through the brand-new launch of Wolverine’s own family of books! You won’t want to miss it, because bonus material includes a second look at the first issue of Namor the First Mutant #1 and an exclusive preview of the November launch of an ALL NEW X-BOOK! You won’t want to miss it!
48 PGS./One-Shot/Parental Advisory ...$3.99



ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE #3 (of 5)
Written by JASON AARON
Pencils & Cover by ADAM KUBERT
Wolverine and Spider-Man have gone from the dawn of time to the end of time. Now they’re stuck in the future, which would be so bright were the sun not eclipsed by DOOM: THE LIVING PLANET! Not only did Dr. Doom conquer our planet, but he also conquered Ego: The Living Planet and is back to finish the job on Earth. Only Wolverine and the Phoenix Gun stand in his way. All this, plus a shocking end that will change the way you look at the two biggest Marvel characters, thanks to Jason Aaron (WOLVERINE, PUNISHERMAX) and Adam Kubert (ULTIMATE X-MEN, HULK).
38 PGS. including Interior Gatefold Spread/Rated T+ ...$3.99

I bet it's filled with buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy. 

That is all.

I hit a few snags while traveling to Michigan for the Cherry Capital Con this past weekend, and learned a very important lesson.

Everytime I start to set my hat on the bed, I hear Matt Dillon's voice in my head.  2:46 PM Jun 11th via Twitter for Android

Stuck in MPLS for the night. Anybody got Prince's number? 8:22 PM Jun 11th via Twitter for Android 

I missed my connecting flight in Minneapolis because my flight from Kansas City was late and the trams were out of order at the Minneapolis airport so I had to traverse what seemed like 1800 miles of airport on foot. I ran, as they were calling my name over the loudspeaker, but didn't make it in time. Instead I got a free night's stay at the Holiday Inn and a flight the next day.

I'm still coming to the con in Traverse City. Just gonna be late. 8:29 PM Jun 11th via Twitter for Android 

This hotel shampoo makes me smell like I just showered in piña colada. This really is the land of Prince! 10:59 PM Jun 11th via web 

Also, am convinced I'm having travel problems because I put the fucking hat on the bed. 11:01 PM Jun 11th via web 

Flight delayed again. Minneapolis won't let me leave! 9:53 AM Jun 12th via Twitter for Android 

Delayed again! Changing pilots! 10:45 AM Jun 12th via Twitter for Android 

Am in Michigan. Only 17 hours late. 12:51 PM Jun 12th via Twitter for Android 

Daniel Way's battery dead... the curse of the hat on the bed continues. 7:15 PM Jun 12th via Twitter for Android 

Me, Daniel Way and Steve Dillon went to leave the con in Dan's jeep only to find that his battery was completely dead.  He got someone to jump him off, but even that didn't work.  At this point, I started to suspect that my trip was cursed.

Steve Dillon is trying to educate me about cricket and is only making me more confused. 12:56 AM Jun 13th via Twitter for Android 

Got stuck in a tram, barely made my flight. Fuck you, MPLS airport. You are a bermuda triangle of fuckedupedness for me. about 16 hours ago via Twitter for Android 

On my return voyage, I again needed to traverse miles of the Minneapolis airport in a short period of time.  But hey, this time the trams were back in working order.  Or so I thought.  Got on the tram and it went about 10 feet before dying.  At that point I just had to laugh.  It was either that or kill everyone within arms reach.  Had to wait for a technician to come out and pry open the doors and get it running again.  But hey, at least it's dropping me off right at my gate, right?  No.  I got off the tram and still had miles to go.  All the monitors showed my flight as being on-time, which meant I had about 10 minutes before they locked the door and I was stuck in Minneapolis all over again.  There I went, running my ass off again, doing my best OJ-in-a-Hertz-commercial impression. I got to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare... only to find out the flight was delayed.  Delta, you fucking suck.

Home. Not a superstisious guy, but I will never ever EVER put my hat on the bed again. about 13 hours ago via Twitter for Android 

My travel problems by the way were the fault of Delta and whatever demented sadists built & maintain the Minneapolis airport, not the con. about 13 hours ago via Twitter for Android 

Cherry Capital Con was a blast and the folks who run it couldn't be nicer. about 13 hours ago via Twitter for Android              

What the hell did I just interrupt?, originally uploaded by Jason Aaron.

Skottie Young and Daniel Way

Steve Dillon at work, originally uploaded by Jason Aaron.

Cherry Capital Con, Traverse City, Michigan

Epic showdown, originally uploaded by Jason Aaron.

At the Cherry Capital Con, Traverse City, Michigan.

Fuck you, airport, originally uploaded by Jason Aaron.

Not what you wanna see at the airport after a 15 hour flight delay.

Love for THE OTHER SIDE:

CBR's "A Year of Cool Comics -- Day 161"

THE OTHER SIDE at Bookalicious

Links and what-not:

Dark Roasted Blend: Battleship Island & Other Ruined Urban High-Density Sites / fodder

Mexico’s Drug War Tabloid: El Nuevo Alarma - The Daily Beast / fodder crime
As Mexico’s drug war leaves a trail of the dead, El Nuevo Alarma! photographs the casualties in gory detail that has the tabloid flying off newsstands. Bryan Curtis on a sick paper for a sick war.

Robert Johnson revelation tells us to put the brakes on the blues | Music | guardian.co.uk / music
Nearly 50 years after Columbia first packaged his work as King of the Delta Blues, we discover that we've been listening to these immortal songs at the wrong speed all along.

Back to Rockville: Review: The Black Keys / i-was-there

Cartels recruit Guatemalans in Mexico drug war / crime fodder
Mexican traffickers are increasingly turning to Central America for reinforcements, ammunition and help from corrupt authorities there, experts say. The cartels are training Central American recruits at camps in Guatemala and Mexico, infiltrating weak Central American police forces and carving out "safe zones" in foreign countries beyond the reach of Mexican authorities.

mental_floss Blog » Why Are Iranian Movies So Good? / movies
Iran’s regime is one of the most repressive and censor-happy in the world, and yet their independent filmmakers have, over the last twenty years or so, proven themselves to be some of the best and most creative minds working in cinema. In 1978, cinemas were burned to the ground after images of American decadence were shown on screen. The medium itself was outlawed until the Ayatollah Khamenei saw a film he liked, the cinemas were reopened, and the industry grew again.

sinkhole, Guatemala, natural disaster - The Daily Beast / fodder
The enormous sinkhole that swallowed a building in Guatemala is all the more terrifying for being so strange. From rampaging venomous snakes to tornadoes made of fire, here are a few more examples of how Mother Nature gets creative when she’s angry.

Futuristic mega-projects by Shimizu / future-shit
Japanese construction firm Shimizu Corporation has developed a series of bold architectural plans for the world of tomorrow. Here is a preview of seven mega-projects that have the potential to reshape life on (and off) Earth in the coming decades.

Renato Guedes blew this issue out of the water!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26637

Looks like I'll be headed to San Francisco in September to sign at Isotope. Dates and times to be announced. Never been to San Fran before. Am already excited.

http://isotopecomics.com/index.php/events/

Interview I did for Techland, featuring ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE preview pages

My son wants to see that new CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE movie. Think I'll make him watch this instead.



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And remember the greatest TV show ever.

You will find the following threads:

One on One: Darick Robertson & G. Willow Wilson

The Jason Aaron Q&A Thread

If You Don't Like Country Music, You Can Kiss My Ass

Wanna Fight

From the Native American occupation of Alcatraz, 1969-1971


From SCALPED #12

I'll be heading to Traverse City, Michigan this weekend for the Cherry Captial Con, one of the few cons I'm doing this year.  I drastically cut my con schedule this year after overloading myself a bit last year.  I'm not going to San Diego, not going to Chicago.  I do still plan on attending the New York con, but that and this Michigan show are probably it for the year.  Hope to see you there.

Cherry Captial Con

Thanks to @gdwessel for the heads up on these guys: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. Hell yeah. ♫ http://blip.fm/~rjom0

SCALPED Vol. 6 on the New York Times bestseller list

So I can ride around in this helmet.

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Would totally trade whatever's left of my soul if I could just live one day as a standup bass player in a rockabilly band. ♫ http://blip.fm/~rhj0j

Every time the World Cup roles around, I sit and watch some games and try to foster an appreciation for soccer.  I have so far been unsuccessful.  I guess I might as well face the facts.  No soccer "tackle" will ever give me anywhere near the violence-boner that seeing a middle linebacker level a running back does.  There it is.

Early 20th century Japanese steamship travel poster. Via.

Found this file while cleaning up some old folders.  Before THE OTHER SIDE became THE OTHER SIDE, it was going to be titled GRUNTS.  But then another book came out called GRUNTS, so we needed a new title.  It took a long time to come up with one.  Me and Cameron Stewart and our editors all threw out ideas.  Here are some of the ones that were suggested:

ORDNANCE

OUR TIME OF DYING

BROTHERS IN DARKNESS

US DAMNED

US WRETCHED

THE DEEP GREEN

BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION

MOTHER CARBINE

FIRE FOR EFFECT

TAKING FIRE

BLOOD MAKES THE GRASS GROW

IN EACH OTHER’S BLOOD

SHELL SHOCK

ONCE UPON A TIME IN VIETNAM

LAY DOWN FIRE

I CORPS ‘68

MAGGOTS

THROUGH HELL

ALL HELL

FIELDS OF FIRE

BLACK RIFLES

FATIGUES

THE LUCKY GRUNTS

JUST A GRUNT

LAST GRUNTS

BORN GRUNTS

HELL SUCKS

DEEP SERIOUS

BEYOND THE WIRE

AMONG THE LOST

JUNGLE ROT

DECOMPOSING

LITTERS

CORPS

BOONIE RAT

BODY COUNT

PRAYING FOR WAR

ENEMY GRUNTS

INTO THE FIRE

EXPECTANTS

BEATEN ZONE

SNUFFIES

expectants -- casualties who are expected to die

double veteran -- Having sex with a woman and then killing her made one a double veteran.

beaten zone -- area where the majority of bullets will strike when a machine gun is laid-in to cover a part of a defensive perimeter or part of an ambush zone.

SNUFFY: was/is the term Marines use in the same way Army calls themselves grunts. This term's footnoted in one of the major books on Khe Sahn and was in common use in I Corps (1/67-7/68).

It has triple meaning to Marines: 1. to snuff is the mission, 2. we don't grunt under our loads, and 3. a wry reference to the historical willingness of Marine leaders to expend their lives for what may seem like small gains (arising from the fact that this small service just doesn't have the logistical ability to throw much ordnance on an objective beforehand). 

I'm still kinda partial to ONCE UPON A TIME IN VIETNAM.  Oh well.  I think we made the right choice.

Share my shame.

My One On One interview thread with David Lapham, recently completed at the Standard Attrition forums


An all-new One On One thread featuring Darick Robertson and G. Willow Wilson


CBR's X-Position, featuring yours truly

I will need to see this.  More info here.