Page 50: Val Doesn’t Cuddle
Monday, May 7th, 2007The Free Comic Book Day signing at Golden Apple went great on Saturday! My friend Kevin McDermott, who will be playing Mac in the Last Blood film, joined me for the signing and we had a great time. The owners and staff of Golden Apple were extremely nice and we can’t thank them enough. I can’t wait until we get to sign there again. If you’re ever in Southern California, you have to stop by and buy some comics. Take a look at the front of the shop to see how awesome of a place it is. And in the full sized version you can actually see Mac himself in the background, wearing the black shirt and white cap! Unfortunately my camera wasn’t working, but tons of pictures like that one are showing up online all the time. EDIT: Got one!
I met several people who post in the comments for Last Blood, including Lydia, who posts on just about every page! Mac and I even signed books for Superman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman. It was pretty cool shaking Spider-Man’s hand. Everyone seemed to love the premise of the story and there was much praise for Owen Gieni’s artwork. Owen did a signing in Canada at the same time, which went very well, I hear. Many new fans are now posting here. Prior to FCBD there was only one comment on Page 1, and now there’s 10!
There are two Golden Apple stores and we were told that they couldn’t keep Last Blood on the shelves at the Reseda location because demand was so high for them. I’ve heard similar reports now around the country, like in this post by AD, and this one from Kelly, who tried to bribe a friend to get her a copy and still couldn’t get one! I just hope the retailers take note of that and order lots of copies of Last Blood #2, and the re-release of Last Blood #1 with the variant cover by Remy “Eisu” Mokhtar, both of which are in Diamond‘s PREVIEWS catalog right now for July shipping.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: Call your local comic book shops and ask them if they’ll be carrying Last Blood, the new horror comic from Blatant Comics. Tell them you’d like to reserve a copy or two, if you want. We also have a retailer incentive for July where they get one free copy of the black and white variant cover for every four copies ordered of Last Blood #2 (click to see cover). So if you could remind them of that and say you want the black and white cover, that might also be helpful! No matter what we’ll be completing the full graphic novel (four issue mini-series), which tells the first film’s story, but we most likely won’t do sequels or prequels (not even online) unless the comic book series is a success. So get on those phones and make sure the comic retailers know that you want Last Blood!
And now please enjoy a ton of cool FCBD/Last Blood related links —
Store photos —
No, little girl, you can’t read Last Blood!
I think the lady on the left is eyeing Last Blood, but she shouldn’t let her baby read it.
More Golden Apple photos.
Hellboy creator Mike Mignola at Golden Apple, in the same spot where Mac and I signed later in the day.
Reviews/mentions —
Pretty nice review here (about halfway down the page, just use your search function).
An FCBD book that someone actually likes!
An FCBD gem!
Near the bottom this girl says Last Blood is great!
Nice Image Comics forum post, and another one, and more!
Scroll down to post #46 by Antoine — I think I’ll send him a book.
And just to find out how many of you are actually still reading this and clicking on all these links, I’ll throw this in at the end: Salon.com says Last Blood is the second best FCBD horror book! (They hate it, but oh well.)
Also, CLICK HERE to see my horrible mouse-drawn MS Paint sketch of Page 50!
May 7th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Aww… poor Murdo… just doing what he thinks a woman wants… I can see the thought bubble in the last panel “I feel so used…”
May 7th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
HIllarious. I actually laughed out loud and woke up my roommate. Great page!
May 7th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Yay, I wound up in your blog! It was really great meeting you and Mike. He really does look just like Mac. You’re right about his girlfriend too. She would make a rather good Devian.
This page is really great. I love the parellel situations. Math’s lips seem a bit large in one of the panels. And good lord, poor Murdo. I’d cuddle with him to make him feel better, but Math’s got me hooked.
I’ll go to a couple stores and ask for Last Blood. Just ’cause the comic and its creator are awesome. I battled traffic for you!
May 7th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Mike? Sorry, more like KEVIN.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
If i was murdo i would be pissing myself at vals reaction to cuddling but be excited that she wants more. lucky murdo. math looks really boyish in the second panel. i think im going to go yell at my friend who owns the comic store since he didnt have last blood and he should order a crap load keep up the awesome work
May 7th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
kelly i think the expression it self looks like he thinks hes being used but hey i wouldnt complain
May 7th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
I think Murdo is more expressing being scared in the last panel than feeling used. He was thinking simply of getting laid with a beautiful woman and completely forgetting the part where she is a vampire and unfortunately for him doesn’t know about the whole “I expect to die soon” thing that makes her a bit volitile.
Good luck Murdo, you’re going to need it.
May 8th, 2007 at 12:35 am
At least Murdo seems to have all his limbs. I half expected to find him severely damaged when next we saw him.
As to the potential nude scenes here: If they match the emotional flow of the movie then go for it. But if you handle it wrong you end up with Matrix 2 or Underworld 2 – both cases where (as nice to look at as I found the actresses) the scenes were much overdone.
She is a vampire, she is not a very nice person from the sound of it, and she she’s incredibly pissed at the whole world right now. Remember what Murdo said about ‘I’d die a happy man’? He might get his wish.
May 8th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Lydia,
I don’t just “look” like Mac, I “am” Mac.
At least in my deranged, puerile mind.
But hey, my mind is a terrible thing to waste and, for that matter, why didn’t anyone stop me?
I love your passion for the comic…book, that is.
Bobby is a wonderful and talented guy, as you saw firsthand on Saturday. He lives for you comments.
And appreciates them!
May 8th, 2007 at 1:13 am
You ARE Mac!
*roars*
May 8th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Mmmm
I was wondering… I don’t think my comic bookstores have a free comic day. But, after reading your post (specially the ‘how to help’ part) I started wondering if they’d be able to order the book.
I’m from overseas, Portugal.
I haven’t shown up at the damn place for almost a year now, and I usually didn’t order books back in the days I was a regular, but I kind of remember them only ordering from catalogues such as… what was the name? Wizard???
Oh, well, I guess I’ll just have to go and ask. I just need to tell them Last Blood is from Blatant Comics, or is there a place (catalogue, etc) where I can tell them to look it up in?
May 8th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Yes, Terry, the catalog is called PREVIEWS, which is Diamond’s catalog, and Diamond is the #1 distributor of comics. Almost every comic book store in the world gets their comics from Diamond and from the PREVIEWS catalog, I think. So yeah, that would be great if you told them you wanted “Last Blood” from Blatant Comics, thanks!
Kevin definitely IS Mac. I’ve never even called him Kevin before, except when introducing him to people at the signing. I didn’t even know his name was Kevin until a couple years after I met him, I think! I met him through a Tiger Woods computer golf game and we were on the same online team, which he was the captain of. I believe his name on there was macmets (he’s a big New York Mets fan). It’s nice to have you posting here, Mac — keep it up!
By the way, Mac gave me a pretty funny idea for the comic, which may end up being used in some crazy moment later on. He wanted Mac to tee up a golf ball and rip a drive through a zombie’s head! LOL, gotta at least try to find a somewhat believable way to fit that in.
May 8th, 2007 at 2:06 am
By the way, I’ve gone through the links and read the comments and what-nots pointed out at the beginning, and I have to say that I disagree with some of them.
First: the art IS great. I’m not an art student, but I had a “literature and arts” discipline with a great Portuguese art critic, and the first thing he said about great art is: you either love it or hate it – there’s no middle term to it. That said, I’ll say the style complements the mood and story telling. Of course, every artist is continually improving, and sometimes things don’t turn out as well as they’d wanted, but the art is great, in overall.
Second: The story isn’t badly-paced unless you expect them to go all out fighting against zombies with some snippets of “highly deep” cliché lines giving them characterization and “ominous pathos” or whatever. Maybe, if possible, you could say that at times it might get clunky as it hops from one point to the other (I don’t mean from Mac outside to Math talking quietly, I’m not sure if I’m being clear here). Of course, the solution would be to delve more into the so called “dead talkative moments” and then everybody would call out against the evil slow pace.
Conclusion: film, prose and comics are different art mediums with different needs and demands, as well as different focus. In comics, the story can move faster or slower, according to the readers eagerness and speed, but it can never match the visual dynamics of a movie, or the richness of good prose. Plus, if you don’t like something, you’re bound to go and find all faults without caring about positive points. I mean, how many people would talk positively of “The Wind and The Fury” while hating it? Every american literature student I know has absolutey hated it!!! Still, to hate and be able to see genius… that person would have to be the best critic ever!
PS – Of course, I might not be the best critic for horror stories. I don’t think I really am a big fan because I usually don’t have the patience for it. It gets boring after a while – it’s always the same “we’re gonna die – let’s weep and panic and get killed stupidly; or scream; or kill everything that moves before we’re dead”. Last Blood is different.
May 8th, 2007 at 2:51 am
Ooops. Not “The Wind and The Fury”, but “The Sound And The Fury” by William Faulkner.
May 8th, 2007 at 3:15 am
Fear the Mac. Respect the Mac.
Poor scared Murdo. Most guys would be like, ‘A chick who doesn’t demand cuddling…?! Hell effin’yes!’
May 8th, 2007 at 3:19 am
….Don’t worry, Math. I’ve checked out some books that did that to me, too.
Poor April. It must be hard to maintain your antagonism toward a vampire that’s cute AND narcoleptic. 😛
May 8th, 2007 at 4:06 am
Nice tattoo, Murdo. It’s an anchor, right?
May 8th, 2007 at 4:54 am
wow thats an interesting start to the day :), its interesting that both of the vamp’s seem to fall asleep at around the same time, (or val is just bored) but the reaction is priceless, and id have to agree with Brellchild, please don’t pull an underworld 2 scene, but looking good so far, interesting blend of characters here.
Yanson
thats a face on his arm it looks like! (at least thats what i see)
Poor math also, nighty night!
May 8th, 2007 at 5:06 am
Yay for April/Math action! He was trying to put the suave on…then out he goes. Oh well.
Yeah the Matrix 2’s nudity scene was really odd, so was that whole dance thing when they were in Zion. The last vestiges of humanity are an attractive bunch who love to dance, apparently.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:09 am
LOL Math snuggles but Val doesn’t. XD I want a cuddly Vampire to share a bed with! *snuggles with Janos Audron, he’s from a different universe but at least he’s sweet* Hey at least maybe now poor Math can get some sleep. ^_^ Sorry for being slack on commenting. my house went “ZOMGCRAZY”!!!
May 8th, 2007 at 5:30 am
I just started reading this since Free Comic Book Day. I really enjoy the story. Cuddling a vampire? Nice try Murdo…
May 8th, 2007 at 6:18 am
Hmmm… looks like Murdo got more than he bargained for. Val may be sexy, but she’s also extreme volatile. At least he doesn’t need to cuddle (though his face shows how he was reminded that she is something that could easily drain his body of his blood at her mere whim). Looks like Math was right about her, she is a lot to handle…
May 8th, 2007 at 7:49 am
“Nice tattoo, Murdo. It’s an anchor, right?”
Murdo was in the Marines, so that is likely the Eagle, Globe and Anchor that make up the Marine Corps’ emblem (that is what it looks like, to me at least). Most of the Marines I know have that tattoo but usually it is on the right shoulder, not the left.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Great page Bobby! I think theres a need for a few comedy moments in any good horror movie/comic to make it a bit more realistic, and these definitely fit the bill. Plus you can easily imagine Murdo hoping there’s a bottle of viagra around lol
So I’m taking it that Mac is a fan of the Dead Rising video game? You can kill zombies like that in the game, and its one of my favorite ways to do it
May 8th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Hah! Poor Murdo. That’s classic. XD
‘I do NOT cuddle!’
‘…understood!’
Love it.
May 8th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
“By the way, Mac gave me a pretty funny idea for the comic, which may end up being used in some crazy moment later on. He wanted Mac to tee up a golf ball and rip a drive through a zombie’s head! LOL, gotta at least try to find a somewhat believable way to fit that in.”
Way back when Math was telling april about the first zombie you see a “half-zombie thing.”
After Mac (hopefully) escapes the current predicament he is in, with the help of Devian of course, he could go golfing. After he hits the ball you could have it go flying and bounce off the “half-Zombie” thing’s head.
I know i changed it, but it is still worth a try…
-Tempo
May 8th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
That half-zombie thing is the the First Zombie, the guy Math is talking about during that scene you mentioned.
May 8th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Oh, btw, thanks for the +EV comic, Bobby. I really like that comic, even if I am poker-illiterate. =D
May 8th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Oh, no problem. Glad you like it. You should become poker literate!
May 9th, 2007 at 4:51 am
Bobby Crosby Says:
Yes, Terry, the catalog is called PREVIEWS
Hmmm What month/number of it mentions LB?
And by the way, is LB referred to as graphic novel or just a comic?
May 9th, 2007 at 9:34 am
I can understand Val’s attitude for other reasons too. Assume she has been around for a couple hundred years, and add in the fact that she most likely has looked extremely ‘hot’ for most of them. Now consider that 200 years ago women were almost considered property, and it has been less than 100 years since they got to VOTE (in the US it was 1920 or so).
To say it delicately, she would NOT have fond memories of men from back in her ‘youth’. It’s entirely possible that every couple years some a** would take her beauty and independent nature as a challenge – and one to be answered by force.
Murdo may be the nicest guy in the world, but deep down Val literally cannot let her guard down. Assuming she ever wanted to.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am
oh woe is me, I am off travelling for a month, so I shall be zombie-less for the whole trip (not bringing my laptop! way too much city-hopping for that :P)
I’ll see you guys June 11, at least I get to read a whole bunch of LB in one go when i get back!!! woot! something to look forward to! yay!
May 9th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I just checked out the “reviews/mentions” you posted at the top (waiting for LB to update!), and was completely surprised to find my blog linked there! Not sure how you found me, but I *do* think that LB is pretty great. I may not be the best critic – I’m still pretty new to comics – but I love a good story, and I think the vampire vs. zombie idea is very cool. I plan to tell my local comic book store to order LB #2, if they haven’t already.
One clarification, though: I am female. 😀
May 9th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Terry: I said this in the original post above —
———-
I just hope the retailers take note of that and order lots of copies of Last Blood #2, and the re-release of Last Blood #1 with the variant cover by Remy “Eisu†Mokhtar, both of which are in Diamond’s PREVIEWS catalog right now for July shipping.
———–
So they’re in the July PREVIEWS, and then #3 comes out in September and #4 comes out in November. Also, as far as the retailers know, it’s a regular ongoing series, and hopefully it will be one for a long time to come.
Nara: Have fun on your trip and I hope you like the new pages when you get back!
May 9th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
spacklegeek: Thanks! I corrected the original post to recognize your status as a lady! Thanks for contacting your local comic shop about LB too. My brother gave me all these links and I believe it was through a simple Google search.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
“Mr. Vampire?” XD Brellchild, I agree with your assessment of Vals’s anti-cuddling sentiments.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
awwwww… Math and April are such a cute couple…
Ahem. Anyway.
lovin’ it.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
THIS IS THE BEST PAGE SO FAR!
June 11th, 2008 at 1:29 am
LOL! I officially hurt myself laughing b/c Val doesn’t cuddle. I fell down the stairs a few days ago, so yeah.
May 30th, 2009 at 10:30 am
lol, she like a pornstar :p I think thats the downside of superpower, you don’t get tired too fast after sex :p, of course that is not always a downside ^^