Appearances + Cameos

Since everyone else is off at C2E2 this weekend, I figured it'd be a good, relatively unobtrusive time to do some self-promotion on what I've got coming up in the near and semi-near future...

• Flying Pig Marathon
  OK, this has nothing to do with comics, but it's taking a big chunk of my time and is why I'm not attending C2E2. I'll be running in the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati on May 6. It'll be my first marathon -- my first official run of any kind, for that matter -- so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. If everything goes super-smoothly, I'll finish up in just over four hours; I'm guessing four and a half is more realistic. I don't know that it'd be very exciting to watch, but if you're in the area, feel free to do some cheering from the sidelines if you see me.
  
  
• The Avengers movie
  Last summer, I spent several days as an extra in The Avengers movie. I'm not sure how visible I'll be in the final cut, but there's a scene where Loki shows up in Germany during an Oktoberfest-style celebration. I'm in among that crowd. Consider it a "Where's Waldo" type of game. It also occurred to me that it's entirely possible that I could conceivably appear in some of the print material associated with the movie as well. It doesn't look like I'm in the The Avengers Storybook from the leaked pictures I've seen, but it's possible I make the trading card set or some of the other ancillary material. The movie itself has a formal release on May 4.
  
  
• MTV Geek
  I'm still cruising along with my weekly column, Kleefeld on Webcomics. I've been very pleased with how well people have been responding to this series. I've been having a lot of fun with it and learning quite a bit. Some of my recent columns include an interview with Brad Guigar, a look at the taxonomy of comics and webcomics, and a review of Adventures into Digital Comics.
  
  
• The Drawn Word
  Christopher Irving's new digital magazine about comics, The Drawn Word debuted last month and has 130-some pages of articles about comics. I'll be a regular contributor, looking specifically at European comics and creators. My first piece focuses on Enki Bilal's Nikopol trilogy.
  
  
• The Jack Kirby Collector
  I've also still got my regular "Incidental Iconography" column for the recently-nominated-for-an-Eisner-Award Jack Kirby Collector. I'm sure my column had nothing to do with that nomination, but editor John Morrow always pulls together fantastic issues. I'm still thrilled to contribute in any way. The next issue (#59) is due out towards the end of May.
  
  
• Comics: Philosopy & Practice
  I mentioned this conference earlier in the week. I'm certainly not one of the guests, but I'm going to make an ardent attempt at attending. If you happen to be there, ping me at some point to say hi. The comics conference runs May 18-20, although the S.O. pointed out this year's NATO Summit is May 20-21 and is held ten miles away. I expect this means traffic in/around the area will be a complete mess.
  
  
• Harry Blackstone, Comic Book Magician
  I first announced my next book project way back in November, and it's still very clearly not out yet. The art clean-up was taking longer than I'd anticipated and I've had this on the back-burner for a few months now while I've been training for this marathon. I'm hoping to get back to it afterwards while my legs recover. On the plus side, I've recently found some more avenues for background research, so I should be able to make that portion a bit more robust.
  
  
• The Only Living Boy
  You recall that Gallaher/Ellis Kickstarter project I mentioned a while back? It was successfully funded and, in accordance with my pledge to the project, there'll be a character in it named after me. I figured that sounded like a better incentive than having a monster in the book look like me -- wouldn't want to scare the children too much, you know! Regardless, see if you can catch Gallaher and/or Ellis on the convention circuit this year, and pick up a copy of the book if you haven't already ordered one.
  
  
• Kleefeld on Comics
  Finally, let's not forget my humble blog! Daily updates continue and some of them are even coherent!
  

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