The curse of interesting times continues to plague us. There’s certainly no shortage of topics to discuss, but so many of them are of such gravity that deciding whether or not to bring any of them up is a judgment call based on who’s at hand and how much time one has. As these are all matters of politics and religion (and too often the unfortunate intersection of the two), and you, dear and hapless reader, might just be coming by because this is a site (poorly) run by someone who enjoys comics, I’ll spare you all that. Any who are interested in seeing some of what’s given me chest pains in the recent past are directed to click on this link. Otherwise, just continue with what’s here and I will not think any less of you.

        Late June saw the death of the father of a long-time friend (we first met when we were 5), and while there are several matters that brings to mind I tend to think an open page on the world wide web isn’t the place to indulge most of the particulars. What I can say is that he was a good man who put his family and people in general ahead of most anything else – often to his detriment - and while I hadn’t spoken with him in years there was a considerable stretch of time when he and his family were a large part of my life. Having an adult who was willing to discuss matters from nuclear physics to the druids - though he would sometimes ultimately resort to plucking a thick tome from one of his shelves and handing it to us - was something special. In some respects he was a stand-in father for me during some early, important years.

        The viewing and funeral didn’t make for an ideal way to see my old friend and his family for the first time in over 11 years, but sometimes that’s how life works. Beyond that, though, I don’t have anything to say on the subject (especially not without at least permission from my friend Bob) here and now. Both directly and peripherally it gave me a great deal to think about, though, and in some way continues to be in my daily thoughts.

        The extended 4th of July weekend saw me flying to Chicago for the WizardWorld convention – one of the largest of the annual gatherings of fans of the idiomatically-named “comic book.” (The inarguably largest and most significant to the industry event, though, is the San Diego comic convention being held later this week.) As I’m preparing a Chicago convention report for my August Legends zine (being Central Mailer means I can literally pull it together on deadline, if need be) I expect to have an abbreviated form of it, complete with photos, up on this site later this week.

         For similar reasons I should finally have some new comics and graphic novel reviews up by week’s end, too. Speaking of Legends APA, our 95th issue is set to come together and ship to our members next week. (Deadline’s August 3rd.) Two new members join the roster this issue, which is something I feel good about. Check out the link at the start of this paragraph for more info about us, or just ask me via email or on the messageboard.

         Continued good wishes go out to fellow Legendaires Matt Cashell and Jeremy Haun. In my previous, desperately out of date, dispatch I was celebrating the release of the first issue of their innovative and intriguing self-published comic, Paradigm. Since then they were contacted by Image and negotiated a deal to allow it to be published under their banner. The new first issue of Paradigm, complete with a new wraparound cover and additional story pages, will be shipping to comics shops in September. Among other things the deal allows them to produce the comic on a monthly basis (as a self-published venture they had to settle for bimonthly), so once they get rolling it won’t be more than a few issues until they reach and surpass the point they would have been had Image not entered the picture. Click on the link above to learn a little more about the series (I also have a review of the first first issue, written back in March) and even drop by their messageboard to say hello.  If you find yourself at the San Diego Comic Convention drop by the Image booths to look for them and be sure to tell them Mike Norton said hi!

          Finally, former Legendaire (and former CBEM columnist) Marlan Harris finally had his comics debut piece, a Thor story told from the perspective of a young woman via a series of letters she sent to the thunder god over the course of her lifetime, officially put on Marvel’s schedule. It’ll appear in the first issue of a 4-issue anthology series, Marvel Double Shot, scheduled to ship this November. The story will be illustrated by the soft-spoken and restlessly innovative manga artist Kia Asamiya, known for, among other things, Silent Mobius, and Steam Detectives. Marlan was the unscheduled second winner of the writing challenge Marvel posed last year. Marlan broke the rules by sending in a complete script rather than the outline they’d requested, but it paid off for him. If nothing else it's just another example of how Marvel under Quesada and Jemas is all about chutzpah.

                                                                                                                 Mike Norton
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