The only reason I dislike being labeled a “funny” writer is because it seems to come with that sort of baggage.  But really, I try to have my humor come from real places and genuine characters.  I don’t write to be silly.  Even if a story is about monster gods and vampires in overalls, I’m not just out to be goofy for goofy’s sake.  And if my hero happens to be a robot who talks like a P.I. or a raccoon god in a Hawaiian shirt, it doesn’t necessarily mean that weirdness is my goal.

Most of my stories are set in strange universes and feature odd characters.  I tend to have a healthy dose of humor even as those universes explode or those characters struggle with their day-to-day lives.  Often, it’s the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the fantastic that form the humor in my stories, but just as often, I think it’s the universal elements of existence that form the funny bits.

In Gil’s All Fright Diner, Duke and Earl’s exchange witty banter.  But it’s built on an understanding of just how good of friends they are.  Most scenes between Earl and Cathy have humor on the foundation of Earl’s awkwardness, his gradual realization of what Cathy represents to him, and how his own insecurities and clumsiness make things more difficult than they have to be.  And Tammy and Chad have a real relationship, even if it isn’t a healthy one.

In In the Company of Ogres, Never Dead Ned’s weary attitude and loss of motivation is something we all experience now and then.  He’s an immortal who doesn’t see the point in any of it.  And if you can’t relate to that, well, count yourself lucky.

A Nameless Witch is about family and friends, love and loss.

The Automatic Detective is about the struggle against our inner nature and learning to find our place in the world.

Too Many Curses is about the hidden strength in those we so often consider weak and powerless.  And about how one person can bring people together without even realizing it.

Monster is about our inability to learn from our mistakes and to keep failing because of that.  It’s about notions of destiny and control with Monster and Judy representing two ends of a very different spectrum.

Divine Misfortune is about our desire to have the universe notice us without ever really pausing to ask what that means. And it’s also about responsibility and growing up, even when you don’t technically have to.

Chasing the Moon is about living in an incomprehensible universe where nothing is certain and everything could be important or pointless.  And you’re unlikely to ever know which is which.

Underneath all the humor and weirdness, I have to believe all these stories have something important to say.  Because these stories matter to me.  That’s why I wrote them.  I care about the characters, their struggles, their tragedies and triumphs.  Even in the most absurd situation, I have to think they’re worth investing in.  Otherwise, what’s the point?  If it’s just about a cheap laugh, I’d feel like I’m wasting my time with them.

I don’t expect everyone to see anything deeper in what I write, but I’ll admit it bothers me when my books get dismissed as empty calories, as the literary equivalent of a Three Stooges short or a Tom & Jerry cartoon.  Heck, I love Tom & Jerry, but I’d like to think I have more emotional resonance than that.  Though I can’t force anyone to see that.  I can only write the stories and hope someone does.  And if they should find them just silly, I can’t complain about that either.  Because if someone likes the books, it shouldn’t matter.  My royalty checks cash the same either way.

But if you should happen to see me on the street or at a convention or wherever, I wouldn’t complain if you said something like “Hey, I really liked Nessy the kobold.  She’s a great character” alongside your “Your books are so funny” compliment.  Not that I’ll hold it against you if you don’t.  But it’d be nice to hear once in a while just the same.

Oh, and Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain?  That’s about living with the our mistakes and ourselves.  Also, giant awesome robot fights.

Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,

Lee

BEASTS OF BURDEN by DARKHORSE COMICS is a fantastic mini-series that is something like a cross between Benji and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  This alone should be enough to intrigue anyone looking for something different.  But I’ll go ahead and share a little more because this isn’t an easily defined comic book.

The first issue of Beasts of Burden starts, in many ways, in typical “secret world of animals” conceit.  Then the rain of frogs falls, and the frogs start eating each other.  It only gets weirder from there.  Before you know it, our heroes are tracking down a demon in the woods and . . .well, it’d be a crime to give anything else away.

Beasts of Burden is a difficult book to peg down.  The art is beautiful, but realistic.  Even the expressions of the animals are rarely exaggerated.  Instead, the art usually expresses our heroes emotions via their expected body language.  There might be a hint of a smile or a glint in the eye, but for the most part, this is a very natural looking book.  You might even mistake it for a ”Homeward Bound” type story if it wasn’t for the weirdness.

But there is weirdness, and it can be surprisingly graphic.  Nothing too shocking (especially in today’s modern comics) but there can be blood.  And the second issue features a very dark story.  Things are always tasteful, but that just confuses the issue more.  Is this a horror comic?  A fun animal adventures comic?

Actually, it’s both, and while that might be a delicate balancing act, so far the comic has managed to pull it off beautifully.

What is most intriguing about Beasts of Burden though is the way the story is told.  Rather than starting at the very beginning, it seems as if we’re thrown in the middle.  One of the dogs has been bitten by a werewolf, we’re told.  Another has begun magical training.  Both are important story points.  I’m not sure if I’ve missed a previous mini-series with these characters or if the writer has just elected to skip the obligatory origin story.  Either way, the backstory is handled well, and it’s nice to just get on with it.

It’s about dogs and a cat who encounter supernatural weirdness.  It’s surprisingly sincere, and it never apologizes.  So Beasts of Burden is a must buy as far as I’m concerned.  So go ahead and run down to your local comic book store and give it a shot because anything this unique deserves all the support it can get.

Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,

Lee

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I still can’t get over the position I find myself in.  People care what I have to say.  My thoughts and opinions, for better or worse, can have an effect on others.  I’ve been quoted, gang.  In a modern age where anyone with a computer and a blog likes to pretend that everyone in the world hangs on their every word, I have at least a few examples where some random thing I wrote in the middle of the night (like I’m doing right now) got someone’s attention.  Hopefully in a good way.

The irony is right now I’m blogging about blogging.  And you’re reading my blog about blogging.  Maybe for an extra level of weirdness, you could blog about my blog about blogging someday.

Is there a point to this thing beyond that?  I don’t know.  I guess it’s more of an observation about the strangeness of my position.  For lack of a better term, I am a (very) minor celebrity, a role-model to some, a devil-may-care rogue to others, a friend to children everywhere (or is that Gamera, the jet powered giant turtle?  I get us confused sometime), a curmudgeon with a heart of gold, a clown with a poet’s soul, a dinobot trapped in a human’s body, an outlaw hunting outlaws, a dude who could seriously write all the above and expect that more than a few people will actually read it.

Weird.

Stay in school, kids!

Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,

Lee

While most of Marvel’s mainstream offerings are dull and / or wretched, not everything produced by this comic book giant is terrible.  Some of it is both fun and impressive in both its storytelling technique and subtlety.  That’s right.  I’m saying it right here, for the record, that Marvel’s kid’s comics are far more interesting and nuanced than anything going on in their so-called more mature comics.

But today’s recommendation is mostly fun.  It’s a digest compilation of four issues od the Marvel Adventures anthology comic.  Each issue features a different hero and tells a complete story.  So in Marvel Adventures: Thor, we’re treated to four stories of five different Marvel Heroes.

First up, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man team-up to stop an omnipotent cosmic entity from devouring the very fabric of the universe.  What’s amazing here is the amount of quality writing crammed into this single story.  Characterization, adventure, humor, and otherworldly weirdness are handled with such a deft touch that this sets a high standard for the rest of these stories to come.  In particular, the portrayal of Doctor Strange and Spider-Man (and their interplay) is just a treat.

Next up, Ant-Man!  Yes, Ant-Man!  Who doesn’t like Ant-Man?  Well, maybe a lot of people don’t.  And who can blame them?  He’s kind of a dumb superhero.  He can talk to ants.  He can shrink.  Not exactly prime superhero material.  But here, once again, we find what exceptional writing can do.  The humor is spot on, and it really shines through, making Ant-Man a worthy character after all.

Then, Thor!  I have to say that of all these stories, Thor’s is probably the weakest.  It never quite clicked in the same way as all the others, but considering how awesome the other three are, that’s not much of a slight.

Finally, we have a Captain America story, and once again, the origin of a character is told in stellar fashion.  While it’s hard to retell an origin without seeming like something we’ve seen a million times before, this one manags to give an abridged backstory of cap, bring him into the present day, introduce his sidekick Rick Jones, and have the nefarious Hydra in a flying saucer.  And there’s even a short backup story here taking place before Cap wound up frozen.  Good stuff.

At only $10, this little digest is packed with comic book reading goodness.  Highly recommended for anyone looking for some worthy comic book action.