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Today at AiT/Planet Lar

January 27, 2006
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R. Francis Smith over at Sturgeon's Law manages to catch Larry at the AiT R&D Laboratory, and presents their conversation in podcast form. Listen to this, you must.

AiT: Definitely Podcast Friendly™

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So I have this dry erase board sitting above my desk. It's been there for months, and I just started using it three days ago when I started writing my "to-do" list on there. There's so much Hot Comics Action™ going on that I needed to keep track and stay focused on my daily tasks.

The white board is now known simply as The Tree of Woe.

James Earl Jones wasn't messing around; that tree is useful. For, you know, contemplating things.

--Josh

January 26, 2006
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Just saw Brian Domingos' Year End Wrap-Up, where he writes: I'd hate to have to compare artists to writer/artists, because it's a different breed of creator. To keep it separate, my "Best Writer/Artist of 2005" is Rob Osborne.

Osborne has only two books under his belt, 2004's 1000 STEPS TO WORLD DOMINATION and last year's SUNSET CITY (both available now from AiT/PlanetLar). But to me, Rob Osborne is everything that's right about comics. He had an idea and ran with it, doing the writing and the artwork. Sure, there are bumps and snags but he put his head down and Did The Work. He's a real inspiration of mine. Sometimes when I'm sitting, stuck on a page or a piece of dialogue I think Osborne, armed with nothing more than a pencil, a football helmet and a pair of BVDs and I feel like I've got back up – like he knows how it is and come on man, we can do this together. A real "buck up, cowboy" sort of moment.

And then he does SUNSET CITY featuring Frank - a man in the twilight of his years – bored nearly to death. Frank experiences something horrible and then kind of goes a bit off the deep end. It's very "Falling Down" meets "Cocoon" minus the Steve Guttenberg. Osborne supplements the story with pages from the local newspaper and some of that stuff is hilarious. He's probably the smartest and more original overlooked guy out there. A large amount of writer/artists are doing the typical whiny-guy "I can't get laid" bullshit. Osborne says, "I'm making comics – get outtatheway!" It's commendable. I can't wait to see what he's doing next.

and

I pull out the collection of SCURVY DOGS every couple of weeks if only to laugh at the Rue McClanahan joke again. I love that bit. Ryan Yount and Andrew Boyd are hilarious and I hope there's more on the way. The collection includes the five hard-to-find issues as well as an issue-to-issue commentary which is as funny as the material itself. Thanks to Larry Young and AiT/Planet Lar for this – it made my February.

and

FULL MOON FEVER by Joe Casey, Caleb Gerard & Damian Couceiro was a near perfect OGN. The high concept: "Werewolves on the moon" was well crafted and the artwork by Couceiro was just what the doctor ordered.

...which makes me want to do a Year-End Wrap-Up of my own for AiT mentions. Let's see, there's:

Colonia on Tom The Dog's Top Ten list and Dave Campbell's, too.

Electric Girl Volume Three on Marc Mason's list and Johnny Bacardi's Best of 2005. Johnny B. also nods at Smoke and Guns, Scurvy Dogs, and True Story.

AiT is the The Comic Treadmill's Favorite Publisher of 2005, as well as Dorian Wright's... and Jason Rodriguez throws a little love Larry's way.

--Josh

January 25, 2006
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New Comics Day?! Fuck yeah!

Splash Panel talks about the Charlie Adlard 3-Pack that hits comic stores today, and especially digs the White Death:

"White Death however I can vouch for as being brilliant. Great art, great story, definitely pick this up even if you don't buy the other two."

Three AiT classics, White Death, Codeflesh, and Nobody, at one low price in the Charlie Adlard 3-Pack. Ask for it by name!

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Speaking of new comics, it's getting really close to the Diamond deadline to put in orders for the latest Previews. So since you're heading down to your fine local retailers today anyway, don't forget to add Sky Ape: King of Girls to your order.

Tell your retailer this secret code: JAN06 2801

Sky Ape: King of Girls: It Gets You Chicks™

--Josh

January 24, 2006
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Larry's oldest pal, sci-fi superstar Rick Austin, has finally hung out his own shingle and is writing producing and directing on his own. Surf around the video part of his website and check out all that Zoolander action. Don't hate; appreciate.

--Josh

January 23, 2006
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Matty at SFist pimps out his Monday madness with Codeflesh: "by Joe Casey and Charlie Adlard, takes some impressive risks, too... It's an unfamiliar, engaging experience..."

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on Demo: "The thing I love about it is that the stories aren't about the teenagers' powers themselves. Instead, the special abilities either amplify or provide a solution out of the problems the kids already have and the endings aren't always happy. Wood creates really mature comics not because of all the cuss words he uses, but because his characters find themselves having to grow up and see the world in entirely new ways."

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David Norman, The Clandestine Critic, gets a chance to review The Annotated Mantooth!

"I don't have the monkey/ape fetish that a lot of comic fans seem to have... but the idea just grabs you by the nads and bitch slaps you into paying attention to the story."

--Josh

January 22, 2006
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Matt Brady, of Newsarama.com: "Superman wears Larry Young pajamas." and Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin, in the same article: "Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim have a ridiculously simple, zen-like business plan: publish books they want to read."

What's not to love?

--Josh

Find any AiT/Planet Lar publication at your nearest comic store.

Can't find it at your local retailer? Get it online at Khepri.com