July 31 -  Oh, my.  What a day.  The last thing that I want this WOMP-Blog to become is a place where I gripe about my dreaded "real" job, but, tonight, I am sorely tempted.  Actually, now that I think about it, the LAST thing that I want this WOMP-Blog to be is a forum for Nazi war criminals, but a close second is that whole "real" job thing.  That's why I don't have much to talk about tonight.  I'm sorta wiped out.  My only consolation is that I might actually get some sleep tonight!  Hooray!  Sleep!  My favorite word ending with "eep!"  This is a fairly crummy entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog, I must confess, but they can't ALL be gems.  In fact, so far, I don't think ANY of them have been gems.  Maybe Cubic Zirconia, but nothing better than that.  Anyhoo, I'm gonna cut out early, gang.  Tomorrow I'll try harder.  I promise!  Bye!

July 30 -  What a great turn-out at the Crawford County Fair!  I set up there to draw caricatures by about 12:30, and I was busy with a constant stream of subjects until I left, numb-armed, at just before 5:00pm!  I don't know the exact number of faces I drew because so many asked for two or more people to be put in the same drawing.  I went through a little over 50 sheets of paper (as a guess, I'd say that must have been about 75 faces) before I just had to quit.  It doesn't really look like it (even to me), but drawing caricatures all day is a LOT of HARD WORK!  Anyhoo, I also met a lot of nice people, and was surprised to see some old friends as well!  I was first greeted by a former co-worker, Kris Rogers, and her son, Ethan.  They were pretty busy (and, of course, so was I), so they only had time to say "Hi" and melt back into the crowd.  Another old friend, the multi-talented Mr. Eric Lee Olson, Official Friend of WOMP, spotted me as I was drawing.  He stopped by with his 7 to 10 year-old daughter, whom I last remember as a newborn infant!  Although I was still busy drawing caricatures, it was nice to talk to both of them!  Oh, and I had a handful of people sign up for The "BIG DEAL" Contest!  Anyhoo, back to the caricatures.  They all went pretty well, except for two and a half of them.  And a HALF?  Let me explain.  One not-so-hot drawing was of a little boy who started looking at me with his head back, then, after I'd drawn his hairline, he leaned forward.  The result was that, even though he had bangs nearly in his eyes, his caricature had the receding hairline of a 40-year-old accountant.  The second clinker that I drew was all my fault.  I drew a gal's jaw line, and it looked pretty good.  Then, as I filled in the details of her face beginning with her eyebrows, I accidentally started too low, resulting in a tiny mouth that was on her chin instead of above it.  UGH!  And the half is for a very good drawing, of three girls, that was nearly finished when my marker fell out of my hand, drawing a fine three inch line right across one girl's chin!  This unexpected line wasn't that bad, but I felt bad about it anyway.  All in all, though, I was pretty satisfied with the day's results, and I think that most of my "sitters" felt the same way.  Well, I think I'll wrap this up for tonight so that I can get some more artwork done.  See ya!

July 29 -  So, last night (or earlier this morning, to be more accurate), I went on and on about how much I needed to go to sleep.  After that, I turned off my computer and went to bed.  Three hours later, we got a phone call from my mother-in-law saying that she needed to go to the emergency optometrist in 60-mile-away LaCrosse, Wisconsin.  She had eye surgery earlier in the week for complications from her Glaucoma.  This morning, that eye suddenly went blind, and pink where there should have been white.  I cleaned up and, within a few minutes, we were on the road.  She was able to call ahead on her cell phone so that the doctor was more or less expecting her when we got there.  She got right in, and, after about an hour and a half, she emerged with orders to have a sample of her blood drawn at the other end of the hospital (of course).  As we walked, she explained that the doctor found that her eye itself was slowly filling with blood from the incisions made during surgery.  She had an appointment for a follow up procedure early next week, but was given a prescription to reduce the swelling in the meantime.  In short order, she had her bloodwork completed, and we were back on the road to WOMP Central.  After that, I just went on with my day of running errands, drawing more of my art commissions, and burning an expensive pizza to the point of complete inedibility (I swear that I saw someone grill a pizza....oh, well).  It's now just a few minutes before midnight, and I am WHIPPED!  Those three hours weren't much more than a light nap.  But I still have so much work to do yet tonight...and I am going to be drawing caricatures at the Crawford County Fair tomorrow, so I need some rest!  ACK!  Well, stop by tomorrow if you're in Gays Mills, Wisconsin!

July 28 - Hey!  I have to tell you something.  It's sort of a secret, so don't tell anyone else unless you trust them.  I have to tell you that....I'm lazy.  Shhh...not so loud....YES, I said it.  I'm lazy.  Lazy and sleepy.  I've been drawing since just 9:00pm, and now, at only 3:00am on the 29th, I'm too pooped to go on....too pooped to even write a proper WOMP-Blog entry (just this "I'm lazy" junk).  And I'm going to bed now, too.  I just can't do anything more tonight, other than try to finish this entry.  Sorry.  I should include a disclaimer in the header-text above that says something like "Caution: John is a lazy dork.  Reading his WOMP-Blog could be dangerous to your potential to admire him in any way."  Oh, well...I'd better go before I pass out at the keyboard.  You gotta admit, though, there are times where I have been wide-awake, and those were good times, weren't they?  We had fun when I was awake, you and I.  We would laugh together and talk about our dreams of the future....and I only started to use sleep on occasion.  At first just for medicinal purposes, then for recreation...now....now I seem to need sleep more than, well, more than just about anything.  I don't know how I let sleep come between us.  It just happened.  I wish I could erase that fact, but I can't.  "The Sleep" has got me, and I can't quit.  I promise, though....things will get better, just you wait and see!  I can control my need for sleep!  I can!  I will spend more time with you, I promise, I promise....I.....promise.........but, it's hard, you know?  I....I just need a little sleep once and awhile, OK?  You can't expect me to quit cold turkey.  Just let me get a short two, three, eight, ten hours TOPS, and I will be ready top start my life all over again, I swear!  Thanks!  It means a lot to me that you're giving me this second chance....you won't regret it!  Well, uh, I guess I'd better be going to, well, you know......

July 27 -  Salutations, WOMP-Blogites!  Have you signed up for the "BIG DEAL" Contest yet?  If your name is Aaron, chances are that you might have, but, for the rest of you, this is your "ONLY ONE MONTH LEFT" WARNING!  Yep, only a month from now, I will be drawing the winners, calculating the shipping costs, and wondering just why I thought this was a good idea.  SIGN UP!  Don't let this get away from ya!  I've got quality stuff here, people!  I'm talking about Christmas Tree ornaments, T-shirts, mugs, comics, trading cards, books, magazines, and all sorts of other nifty bling.  If I were you, I'd sign up right now by clicking HERE!  If you want to see a partial list of prizes, click here.  Other than saying all of that, I don't have much more to say.  I'm trying to finish some artwork, so I'll wrap this up for tonight.  Bye!

July 26 - Hey there, my fellow WOMP-Blogians!  How's it going?  Not much to talk about tonight.  I've been working on commissioned pieces today, taking a break to drive to nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin, to purchase a bunch of the over-sized newsprint pads of paper that I use for drawing caricatures.  One of La Crosse's "hobby supply" stores was having a HALF PRICE SALE on them!  There were six pads on the sales floor, and six more in the back room.  I bought ALL of them!  And why not?  I know I'll use them, they'll never be cheaper, and now, at least for a while, I don't have to hesitate if offered an opportunity to draw caricatures (there have been times when I had to say "no" because I just didn't have the supplies).  Anyhoo, I'm back now (obviously), and, after a scrappy tussle with yet another virus that has plagued the noble WOMPuter, I hope to continue working on the commissioned pieces.  While they have no specific deadlines, I want VERY much to have them all sent off in the next three days.  So, I have to go back to the drawing board (hee hee) in a few minutes, but I didn't want to just "toss off" this entry, so I have to think of something fun or cool or at least entertaining in some small way to talk to you about....but what?  Uh, hmmm....I've got nothing.  NOTHING!  I'm dry!  This is worse than the time I had to say that I had nothing to say, because now I have to say that I want to say something but I got nothing instead of something to say!  Say...THAT was something, wasn't it (if I may say so myself)?  Well, I guess that will have to do.  Gotta go!  See ya!

July 25 - OK, so do you want to know about I, ROBOT?  As mentioned in yesterday's entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog, the entire WOMP Staff went to the late showing of the film last night. WARNING!  IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT I, ROBOT, JUMP TO THE NEXT SECTION BELOW THAT ALSO BEGINS WITH ALL-CAPS AND RED LETTERS.  IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE FILM, OR DON'T CARE, PLEASE READ ON... OK, so I guess I'm having trouble watching movies anymore.  I, ROBOT is a great film, with everything you'd want or expect from a modern science fiction motion picture.  It has a solid story, appealing characters, a couple of twists which are nicely foreshadowed, action, special effects, great designs....but...  But what?  I don't know.  It just seemed to lack...something.  Maybe it was Will Smith's "Will Smith" character that he seems to play in most of his films.  I know that he's a good, maybe great, actor, but here he was, playing the same likable streetwise smartass that he has since his "Fresh Prince" days.  Yeah, there were some tweaks to the character, but they were like putting pinstripes on your old car and calling it "new."  And I like Will Smith!  Many great actors have played versions of the same characters for their entire careers (John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Harrison Ford, etc.).  There's nothing wrong with that in general.  It is just that...oh, I don't know.  I can't really put my finger on it.  The whole film struck me that same way.  It fell flat, even though I was kept "entertained" through the entire thing.  Part of the trouble, I believe, is that there was no spark, no sense of ever-increasing tension, and, really, not much of a climax.  Then again, it may just be me.  Like I said, maybe I'm just having trouble watching movies now.  I've seen a LOT of films in my life, having once been addicted to AMC, TMC, and other similar movie channels.  Maybe I just have an older "palate" when it comes to my taste in motion pictures.  I might be expecting too much, or something.  Not everything I see is going to be Citizen Kane or Titanic.  Oh, well.  I GUESS I'M DONE TALKING ABOUT I, ROBOT FOR NOW.  I also wanted to tell you a little about the 95th Anniversary celebration that Pete's Hamburgers was having this weekend.  I stopped downtown to visit the stand on Saturday, and was almost immediately interviewed on the live radio broadcast that was going on (which reminds me: in the interview, we had a little fun at the expense of Mr. Brent Frankenhoff, Official Friend of WOMP and former local radio disc-jockey...tee hee!).  I signed up a few of the postcards with my illegible squiggly autograph, hung around a little, then had to split to go the work at the dull "real" job.  It was fun hanging out there with Pete's descendants, if only to hear the funny stories of what it was like for four generations to grow up making hamburgers on the street!  Pete, of course, died long ago, but some of his kids were there, as well as his grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids (mostly aged 7 to 12 years old, or so, these kids were forced to dress up as jars of mustard, burger patties, etc.).  That's pretty cool, isn't it?  Pete's Hamburgers is truly an institution here in Prairie du Chien.  It's part of the fabric of the city.  As a community, Prairie has been around for about 330 years, which means that for nearly 1/3rd of the history of this, Wisconsin's second oldest city, people have been able to walk downtown and get themselves a great burger from the same family-owned business.  There are not a whole lot of other places where this can be said.  In fact, I wonder how long ago our conception of a "hamburger" (bun, burger, onions, ketchup, etc.) came into being.  It couldn't be much older than Pete's stand itself.  It really goes to show you that sometimes history is being written, imperceptibly perhaps, by normal everyday people.  You don't have to be a General or Movie Star or Inventor to have a profound impact on people's lives.  See ya tomorrow!

July 24 - Hey, everyone.  A little different procedure today.  It is about 3:30pm right now, and I'm just heading out to the dumb "real" job.  When I am done there, the entire WOMP Staff is going to see the movie, I, ROBOT, so I may not write an entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog until very late, if at all.  If possible, I will review the film yet tonight (or, technically, early tomorrow morning).  I have a feeling, though, that I may just call it a night instead, because I have to go into the dang "real" job EARLY tomorrow, so I should probably get some sleep.  Sorry!  Well, gotta go.  See ya!

July 23 - What up?  I have had an OK day, but nothing of much interest (at least when it comes to electronically sharing it via the ol' WOMP-Blog).  I seem to remember having several neat ideas for tonight's entry....but that was earlier in the day, so I, of course, have completely forgotten what they were.  I must say that I've been thinking a LOT about Mr. Geoffrey Hammerlinck's idea for "some sort of independent comic event some day or something."  Geoff was/is the Minnesota State Mini-Comic Blue Ribbon Champion, having produced the surprisingly (and rightly) influential mini, Minty Comic.  His recent e-mail reminded me of all of the fascinating minis that I've seen over the years, and of all of the raw talent contained therein.  With the exception of the "Timtastic" Mr. Tim Seeley (Official Friend of, and Contributor to, WOMP), all of the artist friends that I've made were introduced along with their mini-comics.  Minis are a sort of portfolio/business card (in fact, they often cost less than business cards to produce).  Because of this, even though I haven't bought a lot of minis over the years, I still have nearly 200 in my collection!  Some are crummy, many are humorous, a handful are AWFUL, a surprisingly large number are wonderful, and two or three are some of the best comics that I've ever read!  Anyhoo, the creators of these mini-comics are often seen as less-than-human by collectors and comic book conventions.  I understand that, to some extent.  If I were organizing a convention, I'd want to feature those creators who have established credentials, so that attendees feel like they got their money's worth.  As a collector, I am still faced with the dilemma of just how to file mini-comics.  If they are "larger" minis, 5.5" x 8.5" in size, they fit in a magazine size polybag that has been cut in half horizontally, and they can be stored in anything that also holds regular 8.5" x 11" paper.  However, most minis are either smaller, or just plain oddly sized.  It may seem like a petty "complaint" (if it even is one), but much of the perceived uncollectibility of mini-comics is based on the irregularity of their formats.  This, of course, is like complaining that paintings are not collectible because they are not uniform in size!  To be fair, though, at a certain point, as a collector, you have to set boundaries to your collection.  You know, like "Only Marvel," or "No Archie Comics," and so forth.  Minis are a convenient place to draw a line.  That's too bad, because I've come to believe that mini-comics are to "real" comics what Jazz music is to Pop music.  The Pop-comics are good, even VERY good, but they just don't have the raw soul and warm intimacy of the Jazz-minis.  In fact, many of the Pop-comics are the cleaned up versions of something that first appeared in a Jazz-mini.  That's part of what appealed to me in Geoff's message.  There should be some place where these mini-comics, and their creators and fans, can meet and be featured.  Of course, the Minnesota Comic Book Association's annual FALLCON is an exception to the prevailing treatment that minis and their creator's usually receive.  The FALLCON is like a powerful radio that picks up every kind of music imaginable....all without judgement.  I can't say enough good about those MCBA folks.  They are always enthusiastic, supportive, and on the cutting edge.  It is not a stretch for me to say that they produce what could be called the Jazz-convention.  Even so, I wonder how a "small-press only" convention would fare.  Hmm....I guess I had better wrap this up for tonight.  Tomorrow, July 24th,  marks the 95th Anniversary of Pete's Hamburgers, and I am supposed to be available for the live broadcasts that they will have from the stand during the day (I was already a trivia contest question on the radio!).  I'd better get some sleep.  See ya!

July 22 - Another shorter entry tonight, gang.  The beleaguered WOMPuter is once again under attack from rotten adware and virus-type problems.  I won't bore you with the details (for once), except to say that you might want to expect another period of incommunicado in the next few days.  If I can't get this thing to act like it should, it's going back to the computer doctors, and that point may arrive suddenly and without warning (except that, well, I guess that I am warning you right now, so, technically, it may happen without specific warning of the exact time and date).  Anyhoo, because of the continuing problems, I only have time to tell you that the mysterious Mr. Geoff Hamerlinck, reputed genius and Official Friend of WOMP, sent a nice e-mail message today.  He filled me in on his current undisclosed secure location, his recent artistic endeavors, and his suggestion for organizing "some sort of independent comic event some day or something."  Hmm....now THAT'S an intriguing thought.  Thanks for the up-date, Geoff!  It always puts a (much needed) smile on my face to hear from "old" friends.  Toward that end, I will fill up the remainder of this entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog with a strangely interesting list of specific references to my past, in the hopes that friends may be "Googling around" for the same words.  If this works, I expect many "out of the blue" messages, people!  Here goes - Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, Class of 1984, Keystone Kopps, Hello, Dolly!, Oklahoma!, Once Upon A Mattress, Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Comic Art, Dover, New Jersey, cartooning, comics, Prairie Potential Cultural Committee, Li'l Abner, Man of La Mancha, The Mystery of The Fabulous Questionable Quacklebury Letter, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Anything Goes, Drood (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), The Fantasticks, Irish Lullaby, Chicago Comicon, MCBA FALLCON, Splash Page, Inc., and, uh.....I'm running out of pertinent words.  Maybe I'll think of more tomorrow!  Until then, click HERE to e-mail me.  See ya!

July 21 - A Profound Sandwich.  Yep, tonight's entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog has a title.  Why?  Well, let me tell you a little about what happened to me today.  First, though, it's important to understand something about me that impacts the story.  When I was in high school, my friends and I, like the nerds we were (are?), would spend our lunch-hours discussing current events, history, art, and whatever else kept our minds off of our greasy and vaguely depressing "real" lives.  On occasion, we actually performed short Woody Allen plays or read aloud from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., books.  It was great fun, and, by the time we were seniors, we often drew small appreciative crowds to our daily diatribes.  If I may say so myself, the six of us (five by my senior year) were quite entertaining, but we also took these regular conversations pretty seriously.  We would argue (always politely) our views and opinions, trying to reach a consensus as if we were making policy statements for The President.  When it came to these arguments, we each had our strong points (and weak points, I suppose).  By my senior year, I discovered that my strongest argumentative tool was my use of analogy, simile, and other comparative devices.  I could easily take an otherwise ethereal concept and see a "down to Earth" example that would explain it.  When I came to this realization, I thought "I wonder if I can reverse the process?"  So, I started looking at normal, everyday stuff, to see if I could imagine larger, more universal themes imbedded within them.  I was happy to find that I often DID see "bunnies in the clouds" (as I often say).  That, if anything is, may be my one "talent."  The rest of the stuff is just craft.  Anyhoo, since those days, I really do try to take the time to consider what lessons can be learned from the world around me.  I try not to take anything for granted (a separate lesson re-taught to me as my friend Bill nearly cut his thumb off on Saturday).  That brings us to today.  I was in the kitchen making a snack (yep, you guessed it....a sandwich).  I plopped down two slices of bread, two slices of thin bologna, a slice of Swiss cheese, and a dollop of cherry/rhubarb preserves.  It may sound gross, but it tastes GREAT (Official WOMP Cookbook to follow someday).  Anyway, as I began to eat my culinary concoction, I noticed that the preserves had been made by my Grandma Fry.  As long-time WOMP-Blog readers may remember, Grandma died earlier this year.  I must admit that I kinda broke down a little and cried.  I really love my Grandma, and I miss her very much.  Here, today, she was still making a snack for me even after death.  She was like that....the prototypical bespectacled white hair granny, baking pies, wearing flower-covered house dress and apron, actually saying things like "goodness gracious" and "land sakes!"  It's ironic, then, that something called "preserves" also preserved her memory.  Moreover, it got me "a-thinking."  The preserves are only "preserved" when unopened.  When used properly, preserves are literally NOT preserved....at least not as preserves.  Today, Grandma's preserves helped preserve me!  Believe it or not, this "profound sandwich," then, made me think about the nature of my Monkey comic books (as all things do, eventually).  I think of The Adventures of Monkey as roughly my equivalent of Grandma's preserves.  It's the thing I do because I care, and because I can.  I have to say that I have sometimes had delusions of posterity, imagining a collector in the year 2265 carefully handling T.A.O.M. #1 as he teleports it into his acid-free storage dimension.  There is some validity to this, of course.  Tonight, however, I realized that the true preservation of my comics, like Grandma's preserves, is through the people who "consume" them, and, perhaps, share a bit of what they learned with others.  That's also what I hope to do with this WOMP-Blog when I can.  So, enjoy a sandwich and I'll see ya tomorrow!

July "20" -  OK, so it's really about 4:00pm on Wednesday, the 21st, as I write this.  As you long-time WOMP-Blog readers may know, I am suffering through various virus and adware attacks to the venerable WOMPuter.  Yesterday, the virus-jerks won a minor victory as our computer could not stay connected to the Internet for more than a few seconds at a time.  I finally solved the problem, at about 4:00am this morning, but was too exhausted to write anything other than "ZZZZZZ."  So, consider this mini-entry as the explanation of yesterday's non-entry.  If all goes according to plan, I will post a normal, non-virus oriented entry later tonight.  See ya then....I hope!

July 19 - Hello, all!  How are ya today?  Sorry that I sorta skimped on yesterday's entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog, but I barely had time for even that.  Let me explain.  WARNING: THE FOLLOWING WOMP-BLOG ENTRY IS NOT FOR THE SQUEEMISH!  IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE THINKING ABOUT BLOOD AND GORE, SKIP IT AND JOIN US AGAIN TOMORROW FOR LESS DISGUSTING FARE!  Long-time readers may recall the name of William Waite (or Bill, as I will always know him), Official Friend of WOMP.  Bill and I have been friends for over twenty years, which is why I had to help him out yesterday.  You see, Bill, among his prodigious list of artistic talents, is the designer of complex three-dimensional puzzles (like Rubik's Cube).  On Sunday, as he was assembling a few more handmade wooden puzzles to take with him to a quickly upcoming International Puzzle Convention in Tokyo, Bill accidentally caught his left thumb on a spinning table saw!  The saw's blade instantly snatched into his skin, and pulled his hand down, cutting as it went.  Bill was able to pull himself free almost as quickly as he'd become entangled, but the damage was done, and his thumb was hanging off of his hand by just the skin on one side.  He cradled the bloody mess in his right hand, and ran off to the hospital.  There, surgeons put him under with powerful anesthetics, then went to work saving his hand.  GOOD NEWS!  They were able to reattach everything, even the nerves, and, with the help of two long surgical pins (which are disgustingly now jutting out of the tip of his thumb), the prognosis looks good.  He is expected to regain full use of his hand, thumb, and all therein, with only slight loss of feeling in the thumb's tip (even though he is a "righty," Bill is also a concert pianist, so this is a particularly big deal).  With a "re-wrap" dressing of his hand in a couple of days, the doctor says that there should be no reason why he couldn't go to Japan after that....that's more good news!  HOWEVER, since he basically had just one hand, and MANY things to get done before he goes, I was his hands for a day!  I helped him do a bunch of stuff, mostly just that everyday junk we often take for granted.  I was glad to help, but it made for an unusually long day when paired-up with a stint at the drab "real" job immediately thereafter.  You may forgive me, then, if I wasn't "up" to writing much yesterday.  I am still thinking about which My Top 10 or 12 Favorite Somethings list feature I will tackle in the next couple of days.  I've had a new idea, too; My Top Ten Favorite Comic Book "Supporting Cast" Members!  More later!  See ya!

July 18 - Salutations, WOMPsters!  VERY short entry in ol' WOMP-Blog tonight.  Crummy day, but good e-mail replies to prospective My Top 10 or 12 Favorite Somethings list features.  One vote for Top Ten Most Shocking Secrets In Comics, and another for, well, I guess it was more of a non-vote message of general interest in the whole idea.  Thanks!

July 17 - Greetings!  How are you today?  Me?  I'm OK.  I have spent most of my day at my dumb "real" job, so I haven't accomplished much of anything.  In fact, I actually forgot to eat today, so I came home with an incredibly dizzy headache!  OOPS!  I've had two sandwiches and a handful of Pringles (with jokes printed on them!).  Ahh....I'm feeling better now.  Anyhoo, a couple of days ago, I mentioned that I had some ideas for more My Top 10 or 12 Favorite Somethings list features.  People seem to like them, and they are fun to write, so I'll probably do another one in the next few days, but which one?  If you, dear WOMP-Blog reader, are so inclined, perhaps you could offer your opinion on the matter.  Prospective categories include My Favorite Women In Comics (covering cartoonists, editors, writers, etc.), The Most Important Comic Book Creators That You've Never Heard Of (not everyone got the just recognition that they deserved), My Favorite Superpowers (counting down the coolest super-abilities in comics), My Top Ten Favorite Comic Book Stories (highlighting the best individual storylines and issues), The Top Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Drawing My Own Comic Book (this list could be a "Top 100!"), and Top Ten Most Shocking Secrets In Comics (this is the one that I'm leaning toward...it's so juicy!).  If you'd like to voice an opinion about these choices, or suggest a list of some other topic, click HERE to e-mail me.  After a few days, either from your suggestions or based on my own whims, I'll begin the next My Top 10 or 12 Favorite Somethings list feature.  Until then, let's have a little test run, shall we?  Here, for your entertainment, and edutainment, are My Top Three Favorite Comic Book Prices!  OK, this may seem nuts, but keep reading anyway, won't you?  Number Three - Ten cents.  I was never around to see ten cent comics on the stands.  In fact, lots of people weren't.  They went to twelve cents each in the 1960s, and things haven't been the same since.  When I find old comics with the quaint little ten cent price on them, it makes me wish that I could have gone back to the time when a single dollar could buy you Superman, Detective Comics, Action Comics, Captain Marvel, Marvel Comics, Donald Duck, Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Archie comic books, and still have enough left to buy a U.S. Savings Stamp!  Number Two - Thirty-five cents.  I remember quite well, however, when comics went from thirty cents to thirty-five.  For me, thirty-five cent comics remind me of my coming of age years.  Thirty-five cent comics, like Micronauts, Richie Rich, Marvel Two-In-One, Marvel Team-Up, The Brave and The Bold, Metal Men, Hot Stuff and Casper form the basis to my desire to make comics of my own.  They are some great comics, but not often considered "important" or "influential."  This just proves the comic book theory that every comic, no matter how obscure or mundane, has the potential to be someone's first comic.  Finally, Number One on the list of My Top Three Favorite Comic Book Prices, is $1.50.  Why a buck and a half?  Well, as some of you may know, my current comic, The Adventures of Monkey, is based on a childhood version of the same title.  I drew Monkey's little adventures and assembled them into one-shot comics.  To make them look more "professional," I put a price on them (even though I had absolutely NO intention of ever selling them).  That price was, of course, $1.50!  At the time, comics were thirty cents each (shortly to become thirty-five), and people questioned me as to how I arrived at my seemingly high cover price.  I told them that, by the time I was able to draw REAL comics, $1.50 would be the standard price.  Fast forward several years.  When I finally did draw The Adventures of Monkey as a REAL comic, the standard price of comics was indeed a buck and a half (the price of each of the first two issues)!  Weird, eh?  So, there you have it, My Top Three Favorite Comic Book Prices!  See ya tomorrow!

July 16 - ACK!  The mighty WOMPuter has once again been plagued with a nasty virus!  I have spent most of the day trying to get rid of the infection and save to CD any of our irreplaceable documents and pictures.  It is now actually 12:30am on the 17th, and I think I've got everything under control....at least for now.  Sad to say, I'm afraid that I am the only thing that stands between the shockingly vulnerable WOMPuter and the big, bad, evil world of hackers and spammers and other computer-based anarchist jerks.  Oh, I've got all sorts of anti-bad-stuff programming installed, and we now run scans and updates every single day, but that all works about as well as putting up a fence around the WOMPuter with a sign that says "STAY OUT."  I have decided to think of this situation in these terms; as far as our "daily commute" on-line is concerned, we used to live in the country, and now we live in a big city.  When we "lived in the country," our trip to the Internet was down a quiet gravel lane, through the rolling countryside.  We didn't lock our doors when we left home, and we seldom saw anyone else along the way....although, if we did, we'd know who they were, and we'd trust them to treat us in a neighborly way.  Now, as we "live in a big city," we look through the peephole, then unlock several safety devices and bolts on our door before we go out to the Internet.  We cautiously size up all of the people we see out of the corners of our eyes, and we no longer really trust anyone we deal with.  Of course, this is a living arrangement that is only OK if it's WORTH living in the big city.  If the "price" of doing business on the Internet, both in actual money and in frustration levels, gets much higher, then we will suddenly wake up and find that we live in the slums of the big city, trapped by the economics of limited choices.  That's where the back-up CDs come in.  They are our cabin in the woods, inherited from our past, into which we can always move if life in the big city becomes too difficult.  We'll just wipe everything off of our system, and start over nearly from scratch.  We did it before, and we can do it again!  Ah, the circle of life is a beautiful thing.  Well, I guess I'll wrap up this entry.  It's going to be a VERY long dumb "real" job day Saturday, so I'm gonna need SLEEP!  See ya!

July 15 - Well, I'm feeling much better today than I was yesterday.  That's due partly to better food, partly to the day off from the dreaded "real" job, and, in great part, due to the kind words of Mr. Aaron Uglum, gentleman cartoonist and Official Friend of WOMP, espoused in a recent interview that he gave!  As you may know, dear WOMP-Blog reader, Mr. Uglum has a daily on-line comic book called The Flying Banner.  What I did not know, however, was that I had played a role in Aaron's development of the comic.  In the interview, conducted a little more than a week ago, he says some very nice things about me as he describes how he came to do his entertaining series.  If you're interested, you, too, can read the interview by clicking HERE.  I am happy, and humbled, to have been able to assist Aaron in any way.  He possesses a great talent, a strange and wonderful sense of playful humor, and a slyly intuitive sense of character development.  Oh, and he's a great guy!  Anyhoo, feeling better, I have been able to draw a lot today.  For some reason, I have been drawing "portraits" of some of my characters...perhaps inspired by Brian Payne's recent series of drawings of WOMP characters.  These sorts of "character studies" help me to not only fine-tune the character's look, but also to explore facets of the character without (and, perhaps, before) featuring them in a full-blown comic book story.  I have GOBS of such studies in what I call The Monkey Files.  The Monkey Files are broken down into two sections.  The first section is composed of chronologically organized photocopies of my childhood drawings of Monkey and his World.  This, along with a fold-out timeline that I've designed of Monkey's entire life (so that I keep everything in proper order), form the basis for all The Adventures of Monkey comics.  The second part of The Monkey Files is composed of literally HUNDREDS of character studies.  These have all been produced in the last twelve years or so as I began to re-imagine Monkey's original stories and cast of characters.  This second part of The Files has taught me a lot about the value of "back-work," the term sometimes given to thinking through some of the minor details of a fictional "world" before it is presented to anyone else.  I found out recently that this process was used for the original Star Wars movie.  Much like they did with the world of Luke Skywalker and The Force, I designed basically everything in Monkey's World (including even obscure things, like school systems, police badges, economic forces, specific alien planets, etc.), before I wrote my first "modern" Monkey comic.  That story, called "The Monkey Haters," was printed in the first Chicago Comicon (now WizardWorld Chicago) Special Issue (in 1992).  As a "test run," it was very successful (at least I thought so), but it is set about ten years into the future of Monkey's current storyline.  It features all of Monkey's most evil foes as they hold a meeting of their secret society of, well, Monkey Haters.  I love the story, and think that it is still some of the best work that I've ever done, but it will be TEN "COMIC BOOK" YEARS before I can use it.  After I drew it, I decided that it would be more fun to introduce the villains one-by-one through the course of the series.  Also, most of the fun with Dan would be gone if he was already twelve years old, instead of being the cute little toddler he is now.  Today, I constantly refer to The Monkey Files, using the first part for inspiration, and adding elements to the second part as needed.  My suggestion to anyone starting their own comic book "world" is to start a similar file.  It has helped me a great deal!  Well, I guess I'd better wrap this up for tonight.  I just wanted to remind you all to enter the BIG DEAL Contest every day for more chances to win cool stuff!  The latest prize added is a TEN DOLLAR Gift Certificate to anything in WOMP's on-line catalog!  Enter by going HERE!  See ya!

July 14 - Hey, gang!  I am not feeling so good tonight, so this is probably going to be another fairly short entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog.  I was going to tell you that "Crazy Days" (which, might I add, doesn't even qualify as a single day, none-the-less "days") was a bust.  I bought five packs of carrot seeds for five cents (which IS a great, even "crazy" deal), and Vickie bought a black fifty-dollar sweater for eight dollars.  That's it.  "Crazy," huh?  When we returned to WOMP H.Q., we both went back to bed.  Ever since then, I have been sorta sick.  I don't know if it's the disruption of my normal sleep patterns, the gobs of junk food that I ate last night, or just some gnawing, aching psychological dysfunction that is manifesting itself as a groaning stomach pain.  Whatever it is, it is keeping me from doing much of anything, including this entry.  In fact, I think I should try to rest now, so I'll wrap this up  for tonight.  Thanks for putting up with me.  TOMORROW, assuming that I'm well enough to type, I will try to make up for the last two skimpy WOMP-Blogs.  Bye!

July 13 - OK, tonight's entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog will be pretty short....I am getting up in a few hours to take advantage of our hometown's "Crazy Days" sales event!  It begins at 6:00am!  ACK!  Of course, there is some evidence that every day is "Crazy" here in Prairie du Chien.  Hmm.  Anyhoo, since I also have to work at the dumb "real" job later tomorrow, I want to try to get some sleep tonight.  Even at that, I will probably draw for awhile yet tonight before I turn in (in to what, I don't know...).  Have a great night/day, and I'll see ya tomorrow!  Toodles!

July 12 - WOW!  This doesn't have anything to do with comics, but I just watched the 2004 Home Run Derby, won by Miguel Tejada.  It was a great event, in which Mr. Tejada set two H.R.D. records; most home runs in a single inning (15), and most total home runs in a Derby (27...or was it 28...I've already forgotten)!  The night was marked by the appearance of every living member of the "500 Home Run Club," including one of my heroes, Mr. Henry Aaron.  When I was a kid, and I'm talking like five, seven, ten years old, there was no other player in the game.  Other teams simply sent mannequins, wearing their team jerseys, to face Mr. Aaron, who quietly and politely tore them to shreds.  Or at least it seemed that way.  I remember where I was when Mr. Aaron hit his 715th homer to beat Babe Ruth's long-standing "all-time" record.  I was staying with my Grandpa and Grandma Fry on the old farm for a week or so.  It was April 8, 1974.  My Grandparents, who were virtually cut out of a Norman Rockwell painting, were big baseball fans, especially my Grandma.  They followed the Brewers, and, because they had not so long before been in Milwaukee also, the Atlanta Braves.  Grandma's favorite player was "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron, but she also like pitchers Goose Gossage and Rollie Fingers (she knew her stuff!).  Anyhoo, we watched the game on TV, and I think that I must not have been really "into" it, because I remember Grandma straightening me out and making me sit down.  "When you are old like me, you'll be telling your grandchildren about this night!"  So, we watched the game, Grandpa playing solitaire on a lapboard, Grandma embroidering a quilt panel, and me sitting on the huge braided rug right in front of the set.  Every time Mr. Aaron came to the plate, we stopped whatever we were doing and watched, nearly holding our breath.  The huge crowd (a Braves record number, by the way) did the same thing.  A huge cheer would rise from the stands, then silence as Mr. Aaron stepped in.  There was something about how Mr. Aaron handled himself that inspired immediate respect, and that was never more obvious than when he stood at the plate that night.  I remember the pitch being thrown, and Mr. Aaron's swing, but I never heard the bat hit the ball.  The split second that he hit the most important home-run of his career, everyone in the stadium, in my grandparents' house, and, I suppose, in America, screamed "YES!" at the same moment.  It was obvious immediately that the ball was leaving the park.  The crowd went nuts, we went nuts, and, through it all, Henry Aaron quietly trotted around the bases, calmly doing his job.  Grandpa was laughing, and Grandma was crying tears of joy.  It was exciting, and I understood that it was somehow important, but it perplexed me a little at the time.  I asked my Grandma why she was crying.  She said "Because sometimes great men do great things right when we need them to."  As I sat there, just eight years old, I had no idea that there was a place called Viet Nam where young men had been dying, nor protests in the streets, nor even the rampant racial bigotry that marked, and marred, the era.  All I knew was that a modest man, who, now that I think about it, was African American, did something so profound that it made my Grandma cry.  I haven't felt like I did that night very often in the twenty years since, so the singular importance of watching that event with my Grandpa and Grandma has only grown.  If I ever have grandkids, I'm sure that I will tell them about that night, in 1974, when I watched three of the people I admire most experience the joy of a great moment in time.

July 11 - Hello, again!  Not much to talk about today (on a side note, just how many times do I begin these WOMP-Blog entries with "Not much to talk about today" as a premise?  But I digress...).  This was another dopey "real" job day, so I haven't done anything yet today but eat, go to work, come home, and eat again.  I did want to tell you that Mr. Brian Payne sent another batch of sketches of some of my characters (Poivoit The Koala, The Dynamic Barbella, and Professor Ink - obscure characters all), and a very kind note, comparing The Adventures of Monkey to Don Simpson's Bizarre Heroes, a comic which I admire quite a bit.  That bit of flattery was just enough to keep me going for two days or so, so I'd better use that inspiration to get some work done.  I am working on the cartoony chicken commission art, and am going to do a color version of the cartoony horse art.  I also have another project due shortly thereafter, featuring caricatures of national figures (I think it's sort of a secret project for now, so I won't reveal any more about it yet).  If possible, I hope to get them all done between now and Tuesday evening, after which there's nothing on my schedule but work on T.A.O.M. #5!  It's been a long time coming, but I have to finally buckle under and GET IT DONE!  There is a problem awaiting me, though.  Part of me is a little frightened that, after issue #5 is done, I'll look at a completed "This Changes Everything" story arc and feel like I'm "done."  It would be very tempting to just wrap up my comics "career" at that point and feel like I accomplished "enough."  That's why I have already written and laid-out issue #6 (a "stand-alone" story), just to keep my feet in the fire.   In many ways, I am SO much more looking forward to #6 than #5.  You see, #6 is a short story, complete unto itself, so I can clearly see that I haven't left ends untied or plot lines unresolved.  With #5, it's a bit trickier as I have four previous issues-worth of characters and plotlines to wrestle with (not to mention those also introduced in #5 itself), and I want to make sure that the "pay-off" is worth all of the build-up.  That pressure makes #5 a bit more of a challenge than #6.  Ooh, and #6 is also just so much FUN, with lots of laughs, a twisty plot, surprise ending, and official introductions of TWO major WOMP characters!  Of course, before I can do either of them, I have to clear up the other projects I was talking about, so I suppose I should get to it.  Have a great day, and we'll talk about "not much" again tomorrow!

July 10 -  Yesterday, I told you about the evil Axis of Inactivity with which I am constantly at war.  These three despicable forces (The State of Obesity, The United Emirates of Low Self-Esteem, and The Union of Impossibly High Expectations) are the bane of my existence, but they don't always win.  Thankfully, I have some help in my fight, the Allied Positive Powers!  This intrepid, rag-tag band of supportive forces has always come to my aide in my darkest hours, and, so far, we are holding our own!  The first member-state of the Allies is Great Progress.  Great Progress is there to remind me of how far I've come, and how much I've done along the way.  I can now look back on a lifetime of fun, and perhaps even important, projects that I've been involved in, and that gives me a sense of the possibility that I might be able to do even more.  I can also see the improvement from one to another.  That is a very handy ally to have!  Another one of the A.P.P. is the State of Inquisitiveness.  When faced with a new problem (or, indeed, an old, recurring one), my State of Inquisitiveness starts to work on solving it.  I want to know about how all kinds of things, and people, work, and I am fortunate enough to be suited to trying to find out.  So far, no problem has arisen in my life that I haven't found a way to deal with it!  The final member of the Allied Positive Powers, maybe the most important one, is The United States of Self Delusion!  For some odd reason, I refuse to accept defeat.  Even when it's obvious.  It's not a case of "sour grapes," nor even necessarily rationalization.  I just find a way, in my mind, to see the conflict as a single battle of a war that I must, and WILL, win!  Some battles I win, some I lose, but, in the end, I feel like the losses are outweighed by the successes.  Examples?  Well, I am not the most attractive Benevian slime-devil who ever lived, but I always knew (and, as an optimistic pessimist, doubted) that I would someday find true love.  It took twenty-six years before I even went on my first date, and that date was with the beautiful woman who is now my wife!  As I try to remember all of the profound loneliness of those heartbreaking years, I really can't.  I just see the heartbreaks as learning experiences, trial runs and practice for when the real thing came along so that I'd be ready!  I feel the same way about Monkey (OK, not EXACTLY the same way, but you know what I mean).  In pure business terms, my comics have been financial flops, even disasters...but I see this situation as the fabled "tough early years" of what will someday be a success story!  While this is clearly a delusion, it is also a helpful mental construct which keeps me from giving up when any sane man would have.  On a whole, the Allied Positive Powers are, even on my worst days (and today was DEFINITELY one of those, but that's another long story), winning the war against The Axis of Inactivity!

July 9 - Sometimes you eat the bear.  Sometimes the bear eats you.  This has been a "bear eats me" kind of day.  No matter how hard I have tried today, I just can't shake this feeling of being swamped under a list of things that have to get done, none of which I got to.  Actually, I did finish one of the commissioned pieces that I've been working on, but, with that exception, I basically floundered around all day, fretting at the quickly passing hours.  "How will I ever get anything done," I worried to myself, "if I can't even stop time?"  Ah, you youngsters out there have no idea what I'm talking about.  For you, Summer is an entire year unto itself.  You have grand adventures everyday, fall in and out of love, watch fads come and go, and never even once imagine Winter.  For an old timer like me, though, as soon as it is June, it's November already, and even simple projects must be completed over a geological period of time.  Every day you see people, most of whom are younger than your socks, who are running lightspeed circles around you, all while looking at you with an expression of disgust mixed with pity.  That used to be me!  I remember creating entire civilizations over Summer vacation!  I wrote plays, produced them, even acted in them, all in an afternoon.  I built treehouses that rivaled the tallest structures in town.  I drew entire projects in a few hours, printed them off, and distributed copies by dinner.  Best of all, I was never tired.  I hated to sleep.  It felt like a waste to have all of that creative energy focused on dreaming, instead of something that I could immediately share with others.  So, what happened?  Was the culprit simply my advancing years?  I suspect a series of factors, an Axis of Inactivity, if you will.  The first evil force that began to undermine my ability to get things done is the State of Obesity.  I was never an athlete of any sort.  I hated most sports, and to say that I threw like a girl is an insult to females everywhere.  But, as a kid, I was skinny.  I never thought about weight until that wonderfully awkward period ironically called "The Best Years of My Life."  I began to develop my familiar "pear" shape while in high school, but it wasn't until I hit about 20 years old that I began my slow, imperceptible transformation into Jabba The Mundt.  Now I wheeze when I stand up, I sweat when I even THINK about work, and I have to eat a side of beef each day just to maintain the calories to fuel my withered brain (OK, maybe that last part is a slight exaggeration).  Obesity is a nasty foe, but, alone, it is not as powerful as when it teams up with the next member of the Axis, The United Emirates of Low Self-Esteem!  This loose federation of old fears, new worries, and an over-riding sense of not being worth a hill of beans, is only exacerbated by it's association with Obesity.  One seems to egg on the other.  The older I've gotten, the more I realize just how small a fish I am in the GIGANTIC ocean of humanity, and that, no matter how hard I try, or for how long, I will never be any good at anything.  The Axis is completed by the third, and most evil, member, The Union of Impossibly High Expectations. As I have grown as a fan of comics, my expectations of where I "should be by now" in comparison to what I see becomes nearly CRUSHING.  I know people, half my age, who are further along in their artistic progress than I will be for years.  These three "states" are the villains that I fight each day, the Axis of Inactivity that conspires to attack me at my weakest points when I am most vulnerable.  Is it any wonder, then, that it takes me so long to get anything done?  Well, I suppose, even with the possible threat of Axis attack, I'd better try to go get something done.  Wish me luck, and the same to you.  See ya tomorrow!

July 8 - I was wrong.  I have nothing of interest to talk about tonight.  Today was another great day for drawing.  I am almost done with a commissioned piece featuring a cartoony horse, and have started another piece featuring a cartoony chicken!  I also drew, and mailed, Brian Payne's character, Andy Warlock.  That was a lot of fun, and it turned out pretty cool, if I may say so myself!  The main villain in Brian's comic is basically a devil in a Nixon mask, so I got to dip into my cartoonist's morgue for the first time in a long while (for those who don't know, or don't remember from when I talked about it in a previous WOMP-Blog entry, a cartoonist's "morgue" is a collection of photos and magazine clippings, etc., which can be used for drawing reference.  In this day and age of the Internet, they are mostly obsolete, but not entirely).  Oh, speaking of Nixon, I did take some time this afternoon to FINALLY change out the display case in our local library!  I took out our "Little House On The Prairie" items, and installed a pile of 1970's things!  That looks pretty cool, too...even if I couldn't find our miniature mirrored disco ball (I suspect a cat's involvement in its sudden disappearance).  If you are in P.d.C. in the near future, please stop by the public library and have a gander!  Anyhoo, I have an idea for another one of those "My Top Ten or Twelve Somethings" type lists, but I don't want to over-do it, so I may wait until next month.  That reminds me, by the way, to remind you that, even though Mr. Aaron Uglum, Official Friend of WOMP, may seem to have the "BIG DEAL" contest all sewn up, there are over 50 prizes.  Even counting the handwritten entries from I-CON and drawing caricatures at Willy and Nellie's, I only just now have 50 total entries!  Enter every 24 hours!  I may add more prizes as we go along, too!  Well, I'd better get back to the drawing board!  Bye!

July 7 - OOPS!  It's actually already July 8th, early in the morning, and I just remembered the ol' WOMP-Blog!  I've been drawing for most of the day, with a two-hour break to roast some hot dogs and marshmallows over our blazing FIRE PIT!!  OOH, how I love to burn stuff!  Heh heh heh.  Don't worry.  The scratchy little voice that tells me to set things on fire also tells me not to hurt anyone....unless I can see the evil inside of them, of course.  Heh.  Anyhoo, after burning up all of the brush I could find, I came back in and went back to the drawing board (I really do love saying that).  That's where I was just moments ago, and that's where I will be just moments from now!  That's not an interesting thing to say, and it certainly doesn't warrant inclusion in an on-line daily journal, but it's all I've got, so there it is!  I'd better get back to drawing while I still feel like it!  Perhaps I will have things to talk about tomorrow.....OOPS, I mean later today.

July 6 - Hey, everyone!  How was your Tuesday?  Mine was pretty boring.  I have been trying to get things organized around here.  As I mentioned, WOMP Central is in slight disarray.  I hate that, but it seems like it's the standard state of things around here.  So, in amongst the many loose papers on my desk, I found today's mail, which included two more excellent sketches of WOMP characters from Brian Payne of Darshan Studios!  He drew Pendragon, the wise and all-seeing stage-manager who appeared in The Adventures of Monkey #1, and The '70's Man, who appears (briefly) in issue #2.  They are VERY cool, just as Brian himself is.  Brian draws and publishes a cool mini comic, Zinc Comics, that features a series called Warlock Hotel.  The lead character, Andy Warlock, is, as Brian says, "an amalgam of Andy Warhol and Doctor Strange."  Hmm...I think I have my drawing assignment for the night!  Meeting new people is the best part about going to comic book conventions, and exploring another creator's comic book "universe" in this manner is a common result.  I haven't always gone the route that Brian has in sending the artwork that another comic inspired me to draw, but I think I will this time!  I guess I'd better get to it.  Tomorrow I hope to do a lot of drawing, as the temperature should be just PERFECT for me (nice and cool, even during the day).  See ya later!

July 5 -  Hey, everyone.  Did you check out my picture in the June 30th Telegraph Herald?  No?  You missed it?  I don't know how you could.  It was featured on the very first page of the Grand Excursion round-up issue.  There I am, drawing a caricature.  Of course, all you see is the subject, the drawing, and my hand with a marker in it!  Actually, that is probably my best side!  If you'd like to see it, I put it on the Recent Event page.  Click HERE to look at it. SPEAKING of the Recent Event page, you may remember that it has recently featured pictures from President Bush's trip to WOMP's hometown, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.  At the time of his visit, I listed all of the Presidents who have, for whatever reason, come to Prairie over the years.  It is an impressive list, with more than half of all who ever served having also made the trek to little ol' P.d.C.!  Well, yesterday, the list got a new entry tentatively penciled in!  Elections are not until November, but, depending on how they go, we might be able to add Mr. John Kerry!  Mr. Kerry, riding HIS special campaign bus, came through Prairie du Chien on his way to Independence, Iowa (the perfect place to spend Independence Day)!  He stopped, briefly, in just about the same place where I took the pictures of President Bush (I'd imagine BECAUSE OF my pictures, as he undoubtedly reads the ol' WOMP-Blog every day).  I am a little shocked that yet another Presidential candidate came to/through Prairie, if only because it is such a tiny town (six thousand people).  There must be something interesting in the air here.  I've always thought so, but, of course, I'm biased!

July 4 -  So, how was/is your Independence Day?  It has been very hectic here at WOMP H.Q. over the last few days, mostly because of the sudden seasonal demands of the dreaded "real" job.  That, plus the assorted piles of things either just back from somewhere (like the I-CON in Des Moines), or just about to go somewhere (like the two boxes of 1970's items that are on their way to the display case at our local library), have made WOMP Central look like an abandoned warehouse!  Anyhoo, I don't have much to talk about tonight.  I am just sitting here, enjoying the awesome Twilight Zone Marathon on the SciFi channel!  Right now, it's the classic 1960 episode, The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, one of the top episodes of the entire series.  WARNING!  I am about to spoil the story of this Twilight Zone episode, so stop reading if you have never seen it!  I love this one!  It's about the "aliens" inside of all of us.  This one has been parodied often, most recently on The Simpsons!  The story begins as a strange meteor passes over a typical suburban neighborhood.  Immediately thereafter, power goes out in the neighborhood, including in portable radios and cars.  A kid suggests that "They" don't want anyone to leave, based on a story he'd read in a comic book (ooh, those rotten comics were nothing but trouble!).  He further describes how, in the comic, a seemingly normal family was sent as advance scouts, by some alien race, that they might blend into human society, subvert it, and, eventually, help destroy it.  This all seems like a joke until a single family's car starts...on its own!  Reluctant to believe this nutty theory, yet obviously shaken by the oddness of it, the neighborhood spokesman (Claude Akins) confronts the family.  Tempers raise, and fears grow, until Claude Akins says, in effect, "This is nuts!  Are you going to find suspicious every idiosyncrasy of every man, woman, and child?"  Then a dark figure begins to approach from the end of the street.  In a panic, they shoot it...and it turns out to be another neighbor.  As the man lies there, dead, the agonized neighbors are shocked to see that the lights in the house of the shooter suddenly come on!  People gather rocks and start stoning the house, when, just as suddenly, they accuse the comic book kid, then the lights go off and on in houses all up and down the block.  Chaos and murder ensue, and, as the camera pans out, we see that two aliens, high above, dispassionately observing the commotion.  One says to the other, "You see how it's done?  Turn off a few of their devices, put them in darkness.  They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it is themselves."  The other asks "So, this 'Maple Street' is not unique?"  "No, it is very much the same everywhere.  They will destroy themselves, and we need not do anything more than this to conquer their world.  First this neighborhood, then the next one, and the next one, and the next one..."  That's when good Mr. Serling chimes in, letting us know, "For the record, fear and distrust can kill."  And not just in The Twilight Zone!  That's so cool!  Always makes you think, even when you know the outcome!  OOH, and now it's the CLASSIC The Shelter episode from 1961!  Talk about much parodied episodes!  I guess that I'd better go.  I just wanted to share something with you tonight, so I thought we could watch Twilight Zone together!  See ya!

July 4 - Happy Fourth of July!

July 3 -  I hate computers.  I mean it.  They are like the genie who promises to grant you three wishes, but each wish has this ironic, unforeseen consequence that turns it into a curse.  If you are lucky, you have reserved the last wish for wishing that you'd never met the genie in the first place.  That's where I am right now with computers.  When did my life begin to revolve around this particular little box?  I mean, I grew up with TV.  TV is like my big sister who helped Mom and Dad look after me when they couldn't, but the computer is another matter entirely.  The computer is like the strange foreign kid who transferred to my high school just before graduation.  He dropped out of the sky, made no friends, and, within months, graduated Valedictorian!  Actually, I am SO old, that personal computers were only just becoming available at the tail-end of my Senior year in high school.  The school bought two computers, which may have been Coleco units (I can't remember).  Because they were so new and expensive, a closet in one of the Math rooms was converted into a two-man computer lab because it had a locking door!  Only Seniors and select Juniors were allowed to use the computers, and then only by appointment.  A new teacher, I believe it was Mr. Antoniewicz, constructed a "Computer 101" class curriculum, to which only a handful of Seniors were invited (like six).  Never good in Math, I was not among the invitees, but two of my best friends, Joe and Mike, were.  They spent the better part of the last free hours of their high school careers writing a single program each.  I can't remember Joe's, but Mike's was a program in which you could type the name of any major city on Earth, and the computer would give you the local time there.  That's it.  That's all it did.  This was old-school data entry, with literally reams and reams of that over-sized accordian-fold print-out paper used just to record the program for the teacher.  It was pretty neat, even if it was just green block letters on a simple black monitor screen.  Now, I may not have been one of the chosen few who got to touch the precious keyboards, but I wasn't stupid.  I've known that computers would rule my world in the distant, unforeseeable future ever since I was a kid watching Star Trek reruns.  At the time I graduated, twenty years ago now, I just thought to myself "Well, traditional cartooning will always have a place along-side computers.  It may be as a curious example of a lost technology (like using a spinning wheel or Guttenburg press), but it will always have a demand during my lifetime."  So, I didn't worry about computers.  Later, after college, I began to feel the crush of computer-inevitability weighing upon me.  Prices of PCs started to drop to below what a used car could be bought for, and EVERYONE was telling me that not having a computer was like not graduating from high school!  That's when I started my quiet "I'll NEVER get a computer" protests.  I imagined that I'd be the last man on Earth who had never used a computer, like some sort of folk hero...who died a miserable, yet comically heroic, death when he refused to flee his home before the volcano exploded.  That period actually lasted quite a long time.  Then I got a job where I HAD to use a computer...and, you know what?  It was pretty cool.  In fact, it was VERY cool!  I took to it surprisingly well, although only to using it as a work tool (I still have no idea how to properly steal music on the Internet).  Shortly thereafter, I finally got a computer of my own...a grandparent to the current mighty WOMPuter!  Little by little, the siren songs of e-mail, web-surfing, and sweet, sweet Solitaire, lured me into the place I am now...totally dependent on a computer for almost EVERYTHING that I do!  ACK!  This all hit home when we had the virus a couple of weeks ago, of course, but it is REALLY striking me now that the same problems are starting all over again!  But how did I get to this point?  The answer, I suppose, is as old as man.  There is a reason why we no longer live in caves.  As ever-changing, always evolving, beings, we are VERY reluctant to take a step back once we've taken one forward.  Much of human history has centered on this.  That cranky, lazy, yet ultimately inspiring, trait is probably the entire reason we go on.  Of course, I still hate computers.

July 2 -  You won't believe it.  I think that the virus is back on our computer!!!  It is a sort of "adware" or "spyware," but it does the same thing as a virus; mess up our lives!  It constantly changes the mighty WOMPuter's homepage, and it automatically converts some of the words we see into links to roughly what the word says.  To see if YOU have the same problem, I'm putting some of those words in a following test sentence that begins "I want."  If you have the same mess on your computer, a couple of the words will have links.  DO NOT GO TO THOSE LINKS!!!  They have nothing to do with WOMP or anything other than infecting your computer further!  Here goes... "I want to read some good books about travel, and then I'll get moving."  Good luck.

July 1 -  Hey, gang.  So, it's July, eh?  SIGH.  I won't bore you all with my typical "years seem to be getting shorter" whining, but it is hard to believe that 2004 is more than half over already.  That means only a few months are left in The Year of The Monkey!  I'd better get off of my seat and get some stuff done!  Oh, that reminds me... I feel like I have to talk more about Spider-Man 2.  If you read yesterday's entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog, you saw that I gave a mixed review of the film.  Today, though, I have been told that it sounded like I hated it.  I thought I'd made it pretty clear that I enjoyed the movie, but let me reiterate that opinion.  I REALLY liked the film, and I hope to see it again soon.  My only reservations came from seeing the film with non-fanboys.  My wife, for example, only remembers Spider-Man as a character on The Electric Company TV show, and as the main character of the first Spider-Man movie, so she was left a little confused and off-put by the melodramatic close-ups and sobby acting because so much of the build up of those emotions was in the comics only, not on the screen.  She did, however, LOVE the opening title sequence which was (at least I assume it was) illustrated by Alex Ross!  For her, that REALLY was the best part of the film!  Speaking of illustrations, I want to thank Mr. Brian Payne, of Darshan Studios in Des Moines, for the nice sketch of Dan that he drew and sent to us here at WOMP H.Q.!  Brian is a super guy, talented as an artist and as a collector of world class original comic art.  In fact, his collection is now on display as a comic art museum.  Maybe someday he'll get some of my art for the collection!  Well, I gotta get some work done, so I guess I'll end this for tonight...see ya tomorrow!