Come see, come see, and nab your free copy of the MECH CADETS book that includes the first issue of the MECH CADET YU series that the upcoming Netflix animated show is based on!
And also grab DC’s WE ARE LEGENDS sampler, that includes an introduction to the City Boy character who’ll debut in his own series later this month!
UPDATE: Also signing at the event: Franco, Jason May, Chris Gugliotti, Adam Wallenta, and Paul Kupperberg!
Happy to report that DARTH VADER #33 hits comic book shops today! The book was written by Greg Pak with interior line art by Adam Gorham, colors by Federico Blee, letters by Joe Caramagna, and a cover by Leinil Yu and Sunny Gho. Ask your local comic shop to hold a copy for you today!
Here’s the official solicit:
UNBOUND FORCE Part One!
When the Dark Lord of the Sith loses control of the Force, nothing is safe – not even his own Executor-class Star Dreadnought. But in the face of total destruction, Commander Sabé finds an opportunity. Does Vader’s untrammeled onslaught expose a vulnerability? Or is it just another doorway to the terrifying tyranny of the Sith?
I’m very happy to report that I’m a guest of Fan Faire NYC this weekend at the High School of Art & Design – my first comic book convention since the beginning of the pandemic!
You can find me in Artists Alley both Saturday and Sunday, where I’ll be signing and selling comics and books.
I’ll also be on the “Make Comics Like the Pros” panel at 11:30 am on Sunday with Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey.
This week was the third anniversary of recovering from my first wave COVID infection and the 18 month anniversary of my mother’s death.
So I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that nothing is guaranteed and every day we have is its own miracle.
I wanted to write a poem about all of this, and then I remembered that Mary Oliver already did. Please do yourself a tremendous favor and read “The Summer Day” here. The final lines destroy and revive me every time:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
After a hard day yesterday, I drew and watercolored the last words of the poem so I can read them every day. May they be as potent a reminder and affirmation to you as they are for me.
BIG NEWS: The MECH CADETS pilot is screening in competition at Annecy!
MECH CADETS is a Netflix animated television series based on the MECH CADET YU comics, written by yours truly with line art by Takeshi Miyazawa.
Huge love to the MECH CADET YU comics team, including Tak Miyazawa, Triona Farrell, Jessica Kholinne, Raúl Angulo, Simon Bowland, Cameron Chittock, Eric Harburn, Filip Sablik, and Matt Gagnon.
And huge congrats to Jane Lee and company at Netflix; Jack Liang, Patrick Awa and company at Polygon, Stephen Christy, Mette Nørkjær and company at BOOM; and the incredible MECH CADETS writers room of Aaron Lam, Ashley Eakin, David Shayne, and Mercedes Valle.
PLANET HULK WORLDBREAKER #5 is in comic book shops now! Ask your local retailer to hold a copy for you today!
ComicBook.com’s Evan Valentine gave the book 5/5 and said “Pak and Garcia have created an interesting, worthwhile finale for Marvel’s emerald bruiser and should the two never return to Banner’s world, this makes for a beyond-satisfying send-off.”
The book was written by yours truly with interior line art by Manuel Garcia, colors by Chris Sotomayor, letters by Joe Caramagna, and cover line art by Carlo Pagulayan.
My dear friend Colin Campbell’s incredible theater piece GRIEF: A ONE MAN SHITSHOW opens TOMORROW in NYC. Deeply moving show about terrible loss and grief that’s alternately devastating and hilarious. Can’t recommend it more highly. Please do check it out and buy tickets today if you’re so inclined. griefaonemanshitshow.com/
As a grad film student in the 1990s, I acquired a small collection of beautiful Kern-Paillard C-mount lenses, typically used on 16mm and 8mm Bolex cameras. I’ve held onto those lenses for almost 30 years in hopes of using them again some day, so I was thrilled to discover last month that Fotodiox makes an adapter to attach C-mount lenses to Nikon 35mm film cameras.
Since c-mount lenses were designed for a much smaller film gauge, they generally can’t focus to infinity on 35mm film cameras. In fact, my 10mm and 16mm C-mount lenses won’t focus on anything at all when attached to 35mm camera.
But on my Nikon FM, my 36mm and 75mm C-mount lenses have a narrow range in which they can focus on subjects just inches from front of the lens, which makes them perfect for specific kinds of macro photography.
I took the photo of the nickel below on Kodak TMax 400 film using a Nikon FM and a Kern-Paillard Macro-Switar H8 RX 36mm f1.4. The set up has limitations — as you can see, the center of the frame is sharp, but the edges go out of focus, and there’s some shadowy vignetting. But for this photo, I love that look. The vignetting and the focus fall-off give the photo a sense of movement that really appeals to me. I was also able to get incredibly close to the subject, close to a 1:1 ratio, meaning the size of the nickel on the actual film negative is almost the size of an actual nickel.
I also tested the lenses by attaching them to a Canon EOS Rebel T3i digital SLR — using the Fotodiox C-mount lens to Nikon adapter and a Nikon lens to Canon EF adapter. Again, the 16mm and 10mm lenses wouldn’t focus on anything. But the 36mm and 75mm made lovely macro pictures.
The first tree bud image below was taken with the Kern-Paillard Macro-Switar H8 RX 36mm f1.4. As with the nickel above, you can see the focus falling off as you move to the edges of the frame. But the effect is lovely and dreamy, and we’re incredibly close to the tree bud, almost a 1:1 ratio.
And here’s the same subject, but shot with a Kern-Paillard Yvar 75mm f2.8 C-mount lens.
The 75mm lens doesn’t magnify as much as the 36mm lens and doesn’t have the same focus fall-off issues. This feels like a much more standard macro photo look. It’s absolutely lovely, but it has a bit less quirky character than the 36mm lens.
I’ve had great results with more traditional macro photography tools for 35mm film, like the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens or a Hoya +4 filter attached to a standard 50mm f1.4 lens. But it’s a thrill to get beautiful images from these much older C-mount lenses that have no real business being attached to a 35mm camera in the first place. I can see myself continuing to use the 36mm lens in particular for certain kinds of images because its “flaws” produce such evocative, dreamy effects.
Made jook last night. Incredibly soothing Korean rice porridge made with just seven ingredients – chicken, garlic, salt, rice, water, green onion, and a little crumbled kim.
DARTH VADER #32 hits comic book shops today, featuring writing by yours truly, interior line art by Ibraim Roberson, colors by Federico Blee, and letters by Joe Caramagna.
Here’s the official solicit:
HANDMAIDEN NO MORE? Few bonds in the galaxy are as strong as the sisterhood of the former handmaidens of Padmé Amidala. But all that was threatened when Sabé entered the service of Darth Vader, the man the handmaidens always believed was responsible for Padmé’s death. Now Dormé, Saché, Rabé and Eirtaé are determined to save Sabé—or stop her, no matter what. But the influence of the Dark Lord is strong and dangerous—and not just to Sabé. What path will the handmaidens choose? And how does all this play into Darth Vader’s true plans?
