Some of you may or may not know that recently, it was announced that at this year’s upcoming San Diego Comic Con, there will be a protest against the newly announced DC Comics relaunch. The protest is to take place July 23rd between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM at the SDCC. Most of the comic book/pop culture news sites have covered it as well as some of the national news. Having just celebrated the birthday of the United States, this news of the protest has pretty good timing in showing everyone that we have free speech and have fought for it in this country for a long time. 
My personal thoughts on the protest aren’t that strong. I believe that when it comes to entertainment, if you don’t like something, protest with your wallet. Tell your local retailer or source where you buy your comics that you aren’t going to buy it. Don’t buy the item if you don’t like or want it. That’s what makes big change.
Personally, I’m glad to hear that DC Comics is willing to make some changes with “business as usual” comics, that is if they are really going to make some changes and take some risks. I hope those changes are writing compelling stories and most importantly, making the characters of interest. If the characters are not interesting, then all the costume changes and mega events aren’t going to mean a thing. Create interesting characters and your comics will sell. It is that simple.
I do applaud those that are forming the protest, it shows me that there are readers that have passion for their entertainment, at least I hope that’s why they’re doing it and not just to make internet news. Trust me, if there wasn’t an internet, this protest would never happen.
Don’t Fire Until You See the Emptiness of their Eye Sockets
For those of you that admire the craftsmanship, mechanics, history and skills of weapons, you know that to really respect a weapon you should know how to use one and apply the safety skills that are needed to own one. In my lifetime, I’ve grown up with weapons. I sold them to make ends meet while in my youth, and still continue to add to my personal collection today. To acquire any skill, you have to practice. In the case of weapons, you need to practice hitting a target. Recently I was lucky enough for Marshall Johnson to enlighten me on the wonders of zombieammo.com, monsterammo.com and scfiammo.com. At these sites you will find the coolest of targets to use for guns, knives, paintball, hand to hand or maybe you’ll just wanna use them as posters to decorate your room in a manly fashion. The selection is huge and amazing. These are the kinda targets that my character Wynonna Earp would use to keep her gun-slinging skills sharp in the war on paranormal organized crime. They’ve got zombies, monsters, aliens and even an evil Santa to fire down on. Hours of good shooting, good fun and good groupings. Make sure you check the sites out and tell them your ol’ gun toting amigo, Beau sent you.
A Beau For This Bonnie Lass
A couple of weeks ago, my friend and comic book writer Clint McElroy (Green Hornet, Blood is the Harvest) contacted me and said we should meet up for lunch. He had a guy he wanted to introduce me to, said he had a great comic book character that he wanted me to see. He told me the guy’s art was top notch. Never one to miss a great opportunity, I said I’d be there.
Over a great table full of food at Central City Café , I met Michael Mayne writer, artist and co-creator of the four part mini-series Bonnie Lass-The Legend. Nice guy and quite talented. Over the years I’ve looked over a lot of folks’s work, have helped a few, and always been honest with people when the work wasn’t up to par. My meeting with Michael Maybe was one of those rare occasions where my eyeballs got a huge treat. Bonnie Lass-The Legend is a very fun ride of comic book creativity. Michael Mayne is a guy to watch. Please take the time to check out his site and see for yourself. Here are a couple of pages of his pencils to give you a rough idea what kind of fun lies in store for you.
Busted Knuckles Babe of the Week: Moon Bloodgood
Actress
She’s tall, amazing looking and always able to pull off a great genre role that all of us in comic books love to see. Currently she’s in the new sci-fi TNT series Fallen Skies, but you’ve also seen her in such stuff as Faster, Human Target, Burn Notice, Terminator: Salvation, Streetfighter: the Legend of Chun Li, Pathfinder, Daybreak and Journeyman. As you can see, she’s in demand and a very busy young lady.
Busted Knuckles Manly Cover of the Week: Marvel Premiere #39 featuring Torpedo
Marvel Comics
1977
Back in the late 1970s, Marvel and DC were putting out all kinds of strange, but wonderful stuff, partly because the first generation of comic book fans were now in charge and partly because nobody knew what they were doing most of the time. There was still a sense of “not too serious” in comics and I’m sorry to say, it was fading fast. Back in the ‘70s I really enjoyed books like this because it could either be a huge “Next Big Thing” or it could be so bad it was great. The Torpedo fell somewhere in between. It was just flat out fun. It was written by Marv Wolfman with art by the very dependable and creative team of Bob Brown and Al Milgrom. This team of creators would never let you down. This issue started with full throttle action and never let up. The story was well paced and fun and most of all, it had a cover that screamed “BUY ME! READ ME!”….and I did. This book can still be found at less than a new comic cover price. Torpedo is also one of those characters like Red Wolf and Skull the Slayer that I’d love to have a shot at.
The Round Up
Some r
andom thoughts before we round this up and head home:
- I miss Lost, 24 and Human Target being on TV every week and not knowing what was going to happen.
- Winter was too cold, spring too wet and summer too hot.
- I’ve been hearing from my comic book retailing friends that post-speculator, low print run Marvel & DC Comics from 1996-2001 are going to be the next valuable comics to collect.
- SyFy Channel’s annual Twilight Zone Marathon is always wonderful.
- The secret to the success of the USA Network is that they make you feel as if the characters are your friends and are welcome into your home every week.
Okay, amigos, let’s call it a day, see ya next time!
Beau Smith
The Flying Fist Ranch
www.flyingfistranch.com