On May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, I went with artist Mike Cole and my two older chidren, Sabrina and Max, to Des Moines for Demi-Con 20.It was a great con. I always enjoy spending time with Mike; I ran into my fellow author and acquaintance Glen Cook. I also made a lot of new friend like Tadao Tomomatsu.Mike introduced me to the Demi-Con tradition of late night karaoke.He sings a mean rendition of Tim Curry's part in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".
Here I am warming up since my daughter asked me to do a "Phantom of the Opera" duet with her.
Here is Tadao Tomomatsu who, among other achievements, played Detective Furakowa on "Heroes".He sings well, too. He's a great guy and his sense of humor is an absolute hoot!
Here is my beautiful daughter who stole the show, if I do say so myself, at the Karaoke.
Beginning on Sunday May 10th, we are going live with our first "digital only" offering...a fully remastered and revised edition of the first book in the award-winning Eye Witness series, A Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth.This is our first attempt at creating something specifically for digital distribution and since the original edition of the book was very experimental, production wise, I was dying to go back and remaster the colors, revise some of the narrative while cleaning up the editorial missteps.Initially, the revised edition of Eye Witness Book One will be exclusively available through the Head Press Publishing website, at:http://www.headpress.info/order.html...but also, we are currently having discussions to make it available through other select comic and Christian venues sometime in the near future (Stay tuned).This is a huge step for us toward making Eye Witness available to more people, both inside and outside of North America. We've heard from numerous potential fans, who've read a very complementary review on the Internet, only to find the books weren't available to them locally in stores or through web retailers. Now, virtually anyone with a computer and PDF viewer can purchase and read the first book in the Eye Witness series at a very reasonable price.The fourth and final book in the Eye Witness tetralogy, Eye Witness: Unknown God, is currently in production and tentatively scheduled for a summer 2010 release.R.J. Luedkewww.headpress.infoRead more…
I'm not much of an artist much more than the skill required to recreate XKCD. I'm more talented with my voice / writing.. I'm a radio jock who is a huge art advocate.I hate the day the word "Christian" became an adjective when it was originally a noun.I hate the day when the adjective "Christian" became synonymous with "mediocre".I hate the day when Christians elevated reclaiming above pioneering.I hate the day when the North American church followed North American culture and disposes of art because it is not practical.
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For the moment, the Truth For Life (tm) ministry is offering 1000 free mp3 dowloads of not just individual radio sermons of Pastor Begg, but whole series of his lectures! Best Scotsman Preacher I know! Here's a link to his daily broadcasts for starters:http://www.truthforlife.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lst_dailyRead more…
I wanted to let you know about a great new site/service that you might have an interest in. It's called eMotionbooks.com and it's ran by a very creative young man who did the production work on my video book trailer.see: http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=85ff5f07fef5bc711addChris has taken his experiences with Readerviews and created his own company specializing in being a one-stop-shop for this kind of work. If you haven't already tried this type of marketing, for a very nominal fee you get a very attractive way to market your books and their content that gets attention (I've had over 11,000 people view this trailer online).To help best design his business and services to serve his customers (you) he is doing a survey of your marketing wants and needs. Go to this page to take the survey...(http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=HMNOI_c53a6e41)...and when you do, make sure to enter my I.D. Code so Chris knows I'm helping (rluedke061008)It's very short, will only take about 60 seconds to complete, you won't be sold anything and you'll really be helping Chris get this new venture off the ground heading in the right direction.thanksbob-www.headpress.infoRead more…
God is good in all he does. I have always struggled with doing things my way, or trusting on my own abilities first. Well I feel God has asked that take a step of faith. There are several items, including a scanner, (since mine went down) that I am going to need as I pursue his will in my life with my art and writing. The cost of these items reaches close to $1500. This is something I was planning to just save for and get on my own. And it may be that God still has that planned. But he has placed it on my heart to trust him for these things. To stop trusting in my own abilities, and start trusting in him from the start. So I give it to you my lord. Bless me, that I may shine for your son. Amen.
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in God we trust.Who is that God for have i put my trust in Him? The the questión of many.Answer: The One truth God who give his son for save us of our crimes, for today i dont hear about any other Lord, Emperor Or God except him who gave his son for save his enemies and rise of the dead for be the defender of men.where this God Lives? Emperors have palace, Lords Castles and Gods Temples.answer: The truth he dont need Buildings, perphaps he have a palace in the heavens far far away of the space. He Lives In the hearts of everyone of his loyals who make them his temple.when have been created? Emperors have fathers , nature beggining, and not only beggining ending too.answer: Yes, but considerer we are only creations but The creator is the existence himself He sostain everything. emperors pass, countries and kingdoms perish but God Stand Forever like his followers.Are you crazy ?His followers aren´t men? Paul, Bunyan, Luther , Spurgeon All they are dead and i can see their tombs?Considerer in that way: For him they are alive because they are part of him, we are not called the Christ body for nothing. like a characters of a story , dont care you if the story ends , they will be in you heart because you give them life, you follow them and developed a friendship with them. God give us his life and we have developed a eternal friendship with him for that: We dont care if we die someday , this will be only the end of our first book who our friend the almigthy created.we No die Only we only travel for our second aventure in his lands.
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On a rather emotion filled ride home from getting my wife's children, God placed a rather powerful realization on my heart. My wife had went through a divorce several years ago. Her husband had made her and her kids the victims of adultery. The children do not know the events that took place of course, but none the less feel the effects. They were missing their daddy, and it made for a heart breaking hour trip home.About halfway through the trip my wife leaned over to me and said, "This may sound bad, but I don't think it is fair that me and the kids should have to suffer for him (their dad) choosing to leave."I saw the tears well up in her eyes again, and my heart sank. It was in that moment that God spoke to my heart. He flooded my mind with an image of a pond. A smooth and heavy stone being tossed forcefully into it. The grand splash and the endless ripples that followed. Each ring going farther and farther out. Anything and everything in it's path being moved, changed and altered.Not only did he speak to my heart, but he spoke through me. I began by explaining my own failings. See, I myself am no better than her ex husband. I too chose to leave my first wife. No matter what happened between us, no matter my or her transgressions, in the end, it was me who left. I threw the stone into the pond.I explained that it all goes back to the idea of why God allows bad things to happen to good people. We are all given a choice. We are given the FREE choice to either follow God, or not. To live our life seeking to do his will or living daily focused on our own selfish desires. When we choose to walk away from God, allow sin in our hearts, and make selfish, self gratifying decisions, we send ripples that we never see, or do not feel for weeks, years or never at all. What God showed me this day was just how far reaching those ripples can be. I told my wife about how my decision affected my son and my ex wife. Those were easy ripples. I went on to point out the ripples that were not so obvious. It affected my friends, who I lost when I left. It affected my church, and the view they had of me and my wife. It changed my extended family. I then also pointed out that it keeps going beyond that. That in the end, it affects her, it affects her kids. Cause they are apart of my son's life now. It affects her parents who love my son. It changed things for my ex wife's boyfriend and his son. And the ripples go on, and on, and on. Some ripples I will never see, but even the ones that God put in front of my face were hard hitting enough.I told her, that no matter how close I now get to God, no matter what my walk is when I die, my life and the lives of many have been forever changed by that one event. It is in that moment that I turned to her and said, "Isn't it amazing that we choose to do anything that isn't God's will when you think about the ripples you cause others around you?" I have been a changed man for a while now, but one thing that God made clear to me was that what I wanted as a man was NEVER what was best for me. So daily, I pray to my God, NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL. That simple prayer that has been so strong in my heart the past year or more, became even more passionately clear to me now. How could I EVER want to do something that isn't God's will ever again, especially knowing how I can directly and even indirectly affect those around me. So my prayer has become stronger, and even more fervent....NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL BE DONE! AMEN...
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Everyone knows the story of Jonah. However I think there is a much bigger picture, beyond the fish and Nineveh. In Jonah 1:1-2 it says, "The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.'" (NASB) In the first two verses God is very clear about WHO he is sending. He specifically called upon Jonah. The thing about this is that Jonah was neither the only prophet at the time, nor in Theory, was he the only one who could do the job. If we believe God to be all powerful, then he could have sent anyone to let Nineveh know of the impending judgment. In fact, Jonah was believed to possibly be one of a group of traveling prophets of the time. (see 2 Kings 2:3). So why Jonah specifically? What made him special?In Jeremiah 29:11-13 he writes, "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'" We believe this verse is for all of us, so if it is for all of us now, it too was for all mankind in history. However, when we read this verse we limit it's meaning. We think when it talks about the plans for us that it is our future and ministry. It goes much further than that. His plan for us also include lessons for us to learn, trials we will face to make us grow in him. In this story, God had a specific plan to change and affect Jonah.If you look at Jonah 1:17 it says, "And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights." Your saying, "...yeah, so the fish ate him." If you look deeper it says that the Lord APPOINTED or PREPARED (NLT) a great fish to swallow him. This means that the fish was set apart for this purpose. In fact, Jews had a word for Whale, and that word was NOT used in describing this great beast if you look at the original Hebrew. So it was a fish unlike any other, brought to Jonah for God's purpose.God is awesome that when he works, he isn't limited to teaching just one person, or one group of people. He can grow and nurture his own people while his will is being done. This story is as much about Jonah's growth as it is the saving of Nineveh. My wife is now working so I can follow where God is leading. Yesterday she said something profound. She said, "You know, God put it on my heart that maybe it is you who is staying home so that I can be a witness at my job, instead of the other way around." She went on to talk about how she feels it was to be specifically her there. Yes someone else could have been sent to her job to witness, but God wanted her there. Why? I told her that maybe it is because you are growing as a Christian there while you bringing those there to know him.Probably the biggest evidence that this was about growing the prophet Jonah as much as it was about the saving of Nineveh, is what Jonah says after God spares the city. He says in Jonah 4:1-3, "This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.'" (NLT) You can hear the resentment and anger in Jonah. He had many reasons to be this way towards Nineveh which was the capital of the Assyrian empire. If you look at Nahum 1:9 through chapter 3:4 the Assyrians were guilty of evil plots against God, exploitation of the helpless, cruelty in war, idolatry, prostitution, and witchcraft. He didn't run because he was fearful of what might happen to him there, but because he knew they would turn. He knew God would have mercy. He didn't want God to show them mercy for all they had done. This man was a prophet and had certainly seen a lot of God's love and mercy shown in his travels. This was about vengeance for Jonah and his own personal judgment on these people. God knew this and even responded by saying, "Is it right for you to be angry about this?" (Jonah 4:4) He went on to say in verse 11, "'But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?'"The book doesn't say that Jonah realized the poison in his heart and the hate he felt for these people. However, the Lord has a wonderful way of taking anything and making good out of it. We can believe that since this book is in the Bible, that Jonah later woke up to his foolishness. Better yet, we can believe that God knew YOU would read this story, and had a plan for personal growth in YOU. So the next time God puts it on your hear to do something, he may have plans to do some moving in your Christian walk, and that you may be there for more than what you think you are.May God bless this message...Amen
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Wearing the..CROSS.. around your neck... MY... personal feelingson wearing the cross around your neck:Would you wear the "revolver"that killed your loved one-around your neck?even if he died forfor the most WORTHY OF ALL REASONSI do realize;that many BELIEVEwearing the cross is a good thingand of course that is their choiceand between them and their ElohimBut because of what.. I .. believe.. I .. could neverWEARorMAKE MONEYfrom such an imageJust as the revolverwould be the tool used to Killyour loved onethe cross was the tool used to Killyour loved oneWhosoever has ears to hearand eyes to seelet this light be revealed unto themIf you left Texasand were driving towards Missouriand after hours of drivingyou saw a sign that said California 150 mileswould you keep going...BECAUSE YOUR INTENTIONS WERE GOOD??Let everyonebe fully persuaded in their own minds
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I've finished another painting and it is up for sale at my art blog:http://markmelton.blogspot.com/Check it out and if you have time please leave comments if you would like.Thank you,Mark
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Written for ECPA's E-link publication...
Just a few weeks ago Newsweek magazine's cover story declared "The End of Christianity in America.” It’s not a secret that the church is at a crossroads in U.S. culture. This means our Christian market is also at a crossroads. Sadly in many ways for us, we do live in a post-Christian culture now. People don’t have the same core beliefs that we once enjoyed. I’ll leave the statistics up to The Barna Group. If you haven’t read their reports or David Kinnaman’s book Unchristian, they are excellent.
Multi-generational Change Creating a Fragmented Christian Market
A massive multi-generational change has already taken place. It’s not happening. It has happened. At this point, we are seeing changes to the changes. Facebook has surpassed Myspace as the primary social network. Hulu’s online broadcasts are replacing the user generated content (UGC) of YouTube. The iPhone has upstaged the iPod. In the midst of all these “advancements,” we’re experiencing fallout that is a reduction in or obsolescence for many of the models we all have been working in, just ask any magazine, newspaper or music label. This is how revolutionary change always happens.
While there is only one Body of Christ, there are at the very least two very different Christian markets, and realistically, part of this new era is that there will be a much more fragmented Christian market with many sub-markets. That makes the job of reaching the audience you want both easier and tougher. For the record, I don’t believe that the old market is shifting to become the new market. I believe that God is pouring new wine into new wineskins, rather than updating the old wineskins.
While there is turmoil, there is hope. In fact, I am very encouraged by what I’m seeing from Christians in every area of the arts and media: traditional and digital. From my many conversations, observations at 2009 events like the NRB Convention, GMA Music Week, Catalyst West, Biola Media Conference and so on, and as an Advisory Board member for several arts-oriented national movements, I think and feel that we are at the start of what just may be a massive U.S. revival. I pray it is so.
At the same time, I’m saddened as we all experience the amazing damage and destruction happening to our traditional way of doing things. Our tried and true older business models aren’t working as well as they used to. We’ve lost many Christian stores. There has been a complete collapse of the CD distribution system. These are just a few examples. As the iPod was to the music industry, is the Kindle our Habakkuk or Paul Revere in the publishing industry? I don’t think so, but still, we are in a new frontier.
Boldly Going into a New Frontier
In this new frontier, it’s very possible that those who are not “boldly going” are in danger of being “left behind” and slowly eroding away. A couple of great reads about this new frontier are Seth Godin’s Tribes or Phil Cooke’s The Last TV Evangelist. If you haven’t read them, I strongly encourage you to do so. As we heard at ECPA’s Executive Leadership Summit, in the case of Phil’s book, not only is the content required reading, but the publishing model itself put together by Stan Jantz and the team at Conversant Media Group is equally intriguing.
Online promotions have created the fastest growing industry in the past decade and given birth to corporate giants like Google, Facebook and Yahoo, and Christian market giants like iTickets, Hollywood Jesus, and HearItFirst. I doubt anyone would argue that online promotions are by far one of the most affordable options available. With the advent of mobile technology and texting, what you’ve been able to do has expanded from the Internet to include all four screens: movie theater, television, computer and mobile.
Because of the unique way in which FrontGate Media serves the majority of companies who are reaching out to the Christian consumer, we have been blessed to see God’s major brushstrokes and how the audiences are responding. Our experience in online promotions, advertising, and social media comes from being very proactive. We started way back in 2001 by creating some of the very first banner ad placements in the Christian market, and helping companies connect to Christian consumers through one of the first segmentable direct email databases in the industry. Currently, we are working with publishers, film studios, music companies and non-profits to help their marketing teams brainstorm and deploy online promotions that go beyond the banner: combining editorial, advertorial and advertising; pioneering video commercial placement options, and making their social media marketing actually manageable.
From the thousands of campaigns publishers and other companies have run through us, here are the top three online marketing mistakes and the top three social media opportunities for Christian publishers.
Top Three Online Marketing Mistakes1) Is the subject line an afterthought to your direct email campaign?
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve received direct email ads without a well-thought out subject line, and sometimes without ANY subject line. Our reminder call asking for a subject line often yields a response like “Oh yeah! How about…” You should be putting more time into your subject line than into your graphic design. Aside from the fact that text only ads often generate better response and are more spam-safe (don’t get me started here…), the pretty pictures we’re all creating for email serve no purpose if the email never gets opened. A direct email provider like our iTickets or Gospel Music Channel databases get you in the door by making sure your email is delivered to the consumer because of their brand relationship and subscriber trust. After that, your subject line is the only thing that consumer uses to decide to open your email. Every subject line you write should be written for the specific audience receiving it. Also, don’t undervalue having something “Christian” in your subject line. It’s wrong to assume that the Christian subscriber receiving your Christian email from a trusted Christian site, is going to automatically connect your message to their passion of faith. If the subject line isn’t obvious and compelling, then the layout and message of your direct email doesn’t matter. Have you Googled “writing good subject lines” lately?
2) Make them take action!
Another common mistake I see from ads is that they are often informational only. This issue has come in across the board with banners, direct email ads and email newsletter ads. Do you have a call to action? Is it obvious and in multiple places? “Available Now” is not a call to action, but “Special Price: Buy Now” or “Read Chapter 3 Now!” or “Get your free coupon now,” are calls to action. Take a look at the ads on the sites you are visiting, or in the emails you are receiving. Our Human Events web site and direct email databases reach over 5 million email subscribers and are home to the subscriber audiences for Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, Chuck Norris, and Ann Coulter. They are a great place to mine what the general market is doing with direct email ads, particularly direct response ads. Be sure your ads have clearly visible, compelling benefits that will cause the consumer to take a next step.
3) Don’t ignore online video spots.
The Internet has finally delivered the power of the commercial spot to the Christian market. Advances in technology and gear have reduced production costs tremendously, while affordable distribution provided by sites like Tangle, VideoRocket, GospelMusicChannel.com, HearItFirst, and more, finally give you the ability to deliver full motion audio and video advertising and content to create impact for your message. In the old media model, the cost to produce and then place television spots combined with the relatively limited placement options on television have mostly kept this valuable tool out of our Christian marketer’s tool box. No more. There are not only outstanding online options for your commercial spot and content, but we also have the benefit of better television outlets like Gospel Music Channel, Nielsen rated as reaching 45 million households, and JumboTron spots impacting captive audiences at conferences and at the Summer events like our Creation Festivals which provided a captive audience totaling 100,000 people per day.
Top Three Social Media Marketing Opportunities1) Fan Development Not Advertising
To gain the benefits of social media, you really can’t just be on the communities with ads. You have to be in the communities if you want to gain the real benefits of social media. This process cannot be approached like advertising. You should not be pushing your message to your “friends” like an ad. My social media philosophy in serving our clients is all about Fan Development; establishing relationships for your author or brand with the audience.
2) Lifetime Not Marketing Cycle
If you expect to start and stop your social media campaign in a 90 day marketing window, then don’t bother. You can’t work your books for one cycle, then move on to the next cycle’s books. It’s not about the book. It’s about creating a relationship with the fan. How many good friends have you made in your life by starting to hang with them and then stopping 3 months later? This is the place with many publishers have hit the wall. They’ve dabbled in social media, but come to realize that the learning curve to be effective is longer and harder than they thought, and most importantly that it takes more time than their core marketing team has, especially in the current environment where the entire team may be 2-3 people, or even just one person …and yet you can’t afford to leave behind the audiences inside of Facebook, MySpace or ShoutLife, not to mention the video sharing platforms at YouTube and Tangle, and killer app: Twitter. That doesn’t even get you started on the vast number of more niche-oriented social media sites.
3) Interactive– Not One-Sided
Have you ever had that friend who could only talk about themselves while you listened? Many companies approach their social media in that same way. There is a reason that the people you interact with through social media sites are called “friends.” There’s a reason that Twitter’s people are called “followers” instead of friends. Think about it. These people could have been called anything. It’s the internet, the same place we got names like Google and Yahoo. The reason they are friends is because we’re supposed to be having a two way relationship. More than simply an average reader, these people are there to be the friend of your author or your brand, and some of them are your Raving Fans. Don’t be that friend who only talks about themselves. What can you do to get input from your audience so that you can get to know your friends?
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Scott A. Shuford is the founder of FrontGate Media and co-founder of Extra Mile Merch and was was recently interviewed for Adweek’s cover story “Church and State: the role of religion in modern consumer culture.” FrontGate Media connects publishers to the faith audience through the largest pop-culture media group: 15 million email subscribers, 25 million monthly page views, 600,000+ at events and in 45 million television households. The firm serves as both conduit and coach for brands and companies desiring to reach any and every demographic of faith-based consumers through online promotional campaigns, social media marketing, and public relations services.
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Man, April flew by and I didn't update my blog! Well, the update for this month is my publisher is almost done with a website for my comic and by the end of May or the first week of June the comic should be out.I'm excited. Volume #2 is pretty much done. I just need to do a few pages. Then I'll place some art from volume #2 on my website and here.
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I got some lovin' from the Houston Chronicle today, in advance of my appearance this weekend at the Comicpalooza Comic Festival:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/star/6402239.htmlIf you're in that part of the country, stop by and say hi (West Oaks Mall)...the festival is free to the public and I'll have FREE copies of Eye Witness book 1 on Saturday (while supply lasts)!bob-
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Saturday May 2nd, is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY nationally...where comic shops, publishers and creators come together to give away comics at stores around the country. This is all done in an effort to help more young readers discover the joys of reading in general and reading comics in particular.Since I'm already scheduled to make an appearance the ComicPalooza Comic Festival in Houston on May 2nd and 3rd, I'm going to contribute to the spirit of the day, by giving out FREE signed copies of Eye Witness (Book 1): A Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth.This is only going to be offered on Saturday and only while my supplies last (since I am limited by what I can haul to this event). So if you plan on attending, come find me first!In additional I'll also have some FREE 2 x 3' Eye Witness promotional posters to give out to anyone who stops by my table the entire weekend.RJ Luedkehttp://www.headpress.info/Read more…
Eric Merced (an amazing illustrator!) interviewed me regarding my AngelDreams series on his Blog in hopes of bringing AD to awareness for his Blog readers. If you never read the interview, check it out here:http://ericmerced.blogspot.com/2009/04/angel-dreams-3.htmlRead more…
I have put a number of my cartoons and drawings on the Peace and Justice Support Network website, for which I am staff (www.mennoniteusa.org/peace). They can be downloaded for free. I often get requests to use them in Christian or peace publications. Or people add them to their blogs or websites. Recently someone in Bolivia requested two for use in a documentary on reconciliation. Tonight while googling I found one of my cartoons on First Committee Monitor, an NGO report on the United Nations General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and National Security! What a surprise! It can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/FCM08/week1.pdf
Early this month, award-winning comic book writer and editor Len Wein lost his home to a fire. He and his family were safe; sadly, their beloved dog perished.
Wein also lost a lifetime of awards and comics and books and games and toys and artwork. That's something, considering the scope of his comics career: The co-creator of Wolverine and Swamp Thing (among others), he served as writer and/or editor for several companies, on a multitude of comics -- including X-Men, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Watchmen, Superman, Batman, Justice League of America, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, The Simpsons, Futurama, and many others.
Now online is the ninth installment of Erica's and my crime/mystery comic Best Mann For The Job. Grace Mann is a woman with a complicated past who returns home to become sheriff of Hope Falls, Tennessee. Even as Grace is sworn in, the deputies are grumbling ...
