Avast ye!

Slow blogging from Dernwerks. Philly is less than a week away, and lots of prep is needed still (and this is me without doing a booth this year). Also, the facelift to dernwerks.com is slightly delayed with the plesant arrival of pages from issue 3 of the Expert's Guide. Meanwhile, a hint of things to come from dernwerks:

Oddly enough, I’ve grown used to the twitching.

Things are not well in the house of Dern. Not like there’s an earth-shaking disaster about to happen, or someone’s about to die... Well, maybe it’s a matter of perspective.
It’s already 4 p.m. on Thursday, and I still haven’t bought comics for the week yet.
This is partially due to the fact that I didn’t wake up until 1 p.m. today. Even those that knew me in college realize that’s freakishly late on top of late (after coining the phrase: I like to wake up at the crack of noon).
Yes, healthy living is slowing taking over my life these days. I’ve gone back to that running thing I was good at eight or nine years ago. I eat regular meals (thanks Kendra). I sleep at semi-normal hours. Sorry, but I still like to sleep in to at least 9:30 a.m., 10 on a better day. I’m still a writer, damn it. I’m allowed to be eccentric.
But for this week, I haven’t got any running in. And the sleep. Oh how I miss the sleep.
Basically, all my free time slipped into a vortex known as playoffs. While I’m not going to address anything that happened at that job, I will establish that my schools were freakishly successful, and I found myself writing a pound of extra stories above and beyond my normal output. Three track previews, three lacrosse season-wrap ups, two baseball wrap-ups, a coaching change story, and a cover story about how one of those lacrosse teams took a state championship. Throw in some scoreboard material and some more uncredited stuff, and yeesh. Ten bylines. Not a lot of time to do it in, too.
By Monday, I was already fighting for more time, and losing, badly. I could have stayed up late then, but after a meeting at work followed by a court date (fighting the law, and the law stalemated), and some phone interview follow-ups, and I was already beat. Plus, staying up Monday would have only made me tired on Tuesday, when I was putting the finishing touches on most of those 10 stories. However, I had to take time out of Tuesday for five hours to cover two of those lacrosse stories, and wasn’t in full writing-mode until 9 p.m. Nine hours later, the sun coming in the window was yelling at me, and I needed a nap to recharge. By 8 a.m. I was trying to function as best as I could, and I was scheduled to be in the office. But at this point, nothing was really operating the way it should, and I had to call in quasi-sick. Instead of working from the office, I spent the next eight hours telecommuting. Oh what a joy.
So on the holy day of comic booking, I didn’t bother leaving the house. Instead, I affixed a nice twitch to my body. And since once awake, I don’t sleep until dark, I had some rough hours ahead. Thine lovely wife Kendra helped me out, despite torquing her knee pretty bad in a softball game. We nabbed some pizza and caught Chicken Little (nice underrated Disney flick with another excellent Adam West vocal performance). And then I finally was able to pass out.
Looking for 52 clues? Eh, maybe by tomorrow. I’m working again for the next three days, but it’s one of my favorite assignments of the year (which is shocking, because it involves no free food).
And it looks like I’ve only got about four bylines for the coming week, which is almost normal. Back to healthy living tomorrow.

52 Clues Week 2

First, an answer to an unasked question - yes, I have been paying attention to DC’s 52 website. Maybe sooner or later a clue will leak over. Such as the cast not being fully complete.
On the website, there are bios for six players - The Question, Black Adam, Steel, Booster Gold, Ralph Dibny, and Renee Montoya. And then there are three missing spots. Lets just file three names that those question marks are not - Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Done. And log it into the mystery file.

So here’s my log:
Greater Mysteries:
What’s the statue with the upside-down Superman Symbol?
Who wrote on Sue’s gravestone? What was written?
Who kidnapped Doctor Sivana, and what part does Mr. Mind have to play?
Why was Nightwing spotted in Week 1?
What is Booster’s plan and what is wrong with Skeets?
Who is against Black Adam?
Who are the other three newsmakers?
Lesser Questions:
Who’s the guy in the black jumpsuit?
What was the Anselmo case of 1995 for Dibny?
Cannon Cigarettes?
52 Pickup?
Fleishcer Brothers?
Dearbon?

And on to week two.
Add in Dreamland Park as a possible clue. Probably more of a background touch to show that Dibny can be awesome.
Meet Doctor Magnus and note that the Metal Men are down for the count at the moment. And note that Skeets is saying he thinks it’s a glitch.
Meet T. O. Morrow, creator of Red Tornado. And Tomorrow Girl, for that matter. A little crazy. Side note: Did Haven not get a prison break two weeks ago? Or did T.O. not want to leave? Otherwise, he’s not much of a genius if he’s getting caught within two weeks of a prison break.
American Science is already noting that there’s something up with the hero community. This is only eight days from the Crisis (and less than a week since a lot of heros made public appearances at the Supes Statues). Also, if that magazine is supposed to be something akin to Popular Science, the turn-around for a PS issue is in months.
Anyhow, a mystery plot thickens. Doctor Sivana isn’t the only scientist missing. Add in Dr. Cyclops, IQ, Doctor Death, Doctor Tyme and Mad Doctor Jeremiah Clugg. Tyme is a Doom Patrol villain, IQ was in Mystery in Space. I can’t dig anything up on Cyclops or Clugg, but Dr. Death dates back some of the first Batman issues of Detective Comics.

The No More Heroes article from Renee’s house is actually up on the 52 website, sans hot lesbian hookups.
What is 520 Kane St? Well, it’s a warehouse. And Kane is definitely an homage to Bob Kane, creator of Batman.

On the Plane job - it took me a second read to notice that Skeets is opening the landing gear, not sabotaging the plane. Then again, maybe he is. So, is Skeets glitched, or is he overreacting in an effort to make Booster heroic. He may have had a true glitch in the direction of the plane, or it may have been a temporal change. What the Sydney paper tells us is that historically, Booster did not save the plane. Heck, booster probably didn’t do much of anything. And now Skeets is sending him to the worst disasters on record for the year. Rip Hunter is going to be pissed.

Towards the end of the book, we’re getting a good look at the Superman statue, though it’s not the one shown in Week 1's shards. It’s got the right S. Interesting that they use the word Superboy, considering it looked like they were trying to purge that word for a bit now. And So Say We All? So Say We Borrowed a bit too heavily from Battlestar Galactica. Watch that.
Answer part of one mystery - An upside down S was on Dibny’s grave. Who put it there? Ralph is thinking Cassie Wondergirl. And note that the Kryptonian shrine is set up in Titans Tower, but on the top floor (not the Robin cave). Did Wondergirl write the message, though? Not sure. Her reaction seems off. She is trying to resurrect Conner, however. No doubts there.

And the Alan Scott has two eyes counter moves to Week 2.

Lets put out some wild theories. The other three newsmakers are Power Girl, Lex Luthor and Wondergirl.

52 Clues

Okay, digging through some of the clues hidden out and about in the comic 52. Eh, it’s a hobby.
Page 1: Messiest of them all, there’s a lot of hidden stuff in the crystals. Black Adam, Joker, Animal Man, Wonder Girl, Elongated Man losing Sue, baby Kal-El, Booster Gold, Frankenstein, the JLA getting wooded, Adam Strange, Wonder Woman, Robin, Joe Chill, Green Lantern getting a ring, John Henry Irons, Robin and Stargirl, Max Lord getting cranked, Superman, and Batman. There’s a couple shots of a guy in all black with a motorcycle helmet on, and there’s a blonde-haired guy getting something spilled on him (probably two-face).
Most interesting shard is lower right, where it’s that guy in the helmet and black jumpsuit. But he’s standing in front of a Superman statue with the S emblem upside down.
Page 2: That shard is there in Panel 1, too. It’s not a typo. And again in Panel 3, which only has the Big Three, a Black Adam moment, and Booster Gold. Tag it as our first official clue.
Page 3: The Anselm.. Case of 1995. Anselmo? Someone get on this. Ralph’s history will be important.
Page 4: Clue one: the ashtray is Cannon Cigarettes. Clue two: 52 Pickup? I’m guessing it’s a road sign, but the three spades are odd. Might need to keep a tally of all 52 references.
Page 5: Fleishcer Bros. Is the name on the bus. And Hot Dididogs for sale.
Page 11: There’s something about Sue’s name really being Deardon, not Dearborn. The Ambassador Hotel thing there isn’t a clue, just a note to show that Ralph is there. With the gun from 1995.
Page 11: First mystery - what the heck was written on Sue’s tombstone, and by who? My guess, it’s the Question, bringing Ralph back from the brink.
Page 15: Mystery two: Who’s best interest is it to destabilize Kahndaq.
Page 16: Mystery three: Who kidnapped Doctor Sivana, and what part does Mr. Mind have to play.
Page 17: I heard rumors about Jade. I feel so bad for Alan. Weeks into the year that Alan keeps his eye: one.
Page 17: Oh yeah, side plot: what happened to Uncle Sam. I’m sure he’ll pop up about a year from now.
Page 18-19: Roll Call Splash: Zatanna, Martian Manhunter (old costume), Green Arrow I, Green Arrow II, Black Canary, Dr. Light, Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan, Sand, possibly Gold of the Metal Men, Nightwing (WTF?), Power Girl, Blue Devil, Ragman, Enchantress, Jim Rook, Detective Chimp, Artemis, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Raven, Dr. Mid-Night (flying?), unidentified guy in red with white T, Thunder, Shift, Bulleteer, Grace, Mr. Terrific, Ray, Aquaman (Old style), Mera, Ray, The Doom Patrol, Star-Spangled Kid and STRIPE, Geo-Force, Red Star, Jakeem Thunder and T-Bolt, Bulleteer, Flash I, Wildcat, Plastic Man, Mr. Miracle, John Stewart, Huntress, Thunder, Frankenstein, Klarion the Witchboy, Sasha B., Mr. Bones. Might have missed a couple.
Page 20: Ah, what could have been a clue. The 1s and 0s that Skeet is saying translate into 24, 6, 6, 6. These are not the binary calls for ASCII letters. But if you make A=1, B=2, C=3, it only says XFFF. It could have been a fun way to hide in something like OMAC. Sadly, no.
Page 22: What does that CHAK mean? Wait, no, he’s just turing on the "? Signal." Odd that he’s already figured out that Bats is gone, not even a week since his last appearance. Either that, or The Question is unstable.

The Read Cycle

Still doing some housecleaning on the site. It’ll take a while, and this out-of-box template probably has about a month to live before I scrap it and facelift the whole ball of wax.
For now, the Read Cycle is up and running. These are comics that I check in on almost daily in hopes of new pictures to make me go hur.
Just a note for those reading: Only PVP and Questionable Content are even close to daily. QC is an ironman comic, holding an every weekday schedule like money.
What can I say, I like those that consider deadlines sacred.
I’ll get a profile up later, as well as a 52 clues installment.

The Rules of Engagement:

Just so everyone’s clear, yeah, this is a blog.
Yeah, it’s going to have the occasional opinion.
Yes, I’m a writer for a newspaper, and yes, I’m a comic book writer.
No, I will not talk about topics related to my newspaper job. If I have any opinions there, I’ll share them through the appropriate outlets.
So, what the heck will I be talking about?
First off, yeah, yet another blog about comics. Woo hoo, the internet was so empty without me, I know.
I’ll be doing the occasional review of webcomics that I stumble along to. I’ll be sure to keep my linkage of the reading cycle up to date there.
My best posting day will be Thursday, also known as the day I fully digest my weekly diet of paper comics. I’ll take a look at what I read. More often than not, I’ll not review it. I could point you out to more than a few review sites if you need to be told who agrees with your world view of comics.
On 52, I’m thinking about making regular clue-hunting posts. There’s some stuff that they’re trying to sneak by there (XFFF? Wait, they missed that).
I’m a big gaming fan, so I tend to get interesting thoughts on that realm. Yeah, I could geek out in that department, too.
The rare times that I tend to comment on sports, it’ll be on the level of sports that I rarely cover.
Most importantly, I’ll be talking about Dernwerks, my little comic book company. Updates on where projects are, and what I’m thinking. Also, the occasional post of preview art. Good times all around.
So, buckle up and feel free to comment.