American DVD

The first DVD collection of the show I currently work on, American Dad is in stores now! This collection has the first 13 episodes of season 1, plus some really cool behind-the-scenes extras, including a collection of animatics that I helped put together, and their comparisons with the finished shows.

I personally can't wait to get my copy autographed by all the geniuses that created the show, and as many Directors as I can wrangle an autograph out of.

Our show is the #2 top rated show in its slot- edging out the Simpsons. Family Guy is #1! DVD sales hopefully will be brisk, and we'll be headed for season 3! So please click the image above and buy a copy, or just run over to the nearest video store and buy one!

P.S. if you're related to me and reading this- this is actually mandatory! Support your dear family member's career! I thank you in advance!

PHMA Short Film

Mike's been working on a video for the PHMA- (Protective Headgear Manufacturers' Association) a voluntary, not-for-profit organization of manufacturers of headgear for non-motorized sports.

It's an 8 minute short film, all animated with Flash, and so far it looks really nice! I've been working on the music soundtrack for it lately. Here's a screen shot taken straight out of my editing session using Sonic Foundry's Vegas:

A few more screen caps from the film:

The Sound of Music

I spent a very productive weekend finishing up the music soundtrack for a short educational film on helmet safety that Mike Milo is producing for a client of Milowerx Animation Studios. The film looks really sharp, now hopefully it'll sound really sharp as well! It features flash animation by Mike Milo and backgrounds by Jason McAuthur. The main character is voiced by one of Mike's very talented daughters, Melissa. Creative talent very much runs in the Milo family!

For sound and video work, I love the applications originally created by Sonic Foundry (now under ownership of Sony Media Software) such as Sound Forge, Acid, and Vegas Video. I still use the last-gen Sonic Foundry versions of each application, as I just haven't warmed up to the Sony versions yet.

Aside from soundtrack work, I also managed a bit of writing this weekend, and finalizing my first western novel, Badhat for press after an unfortunate delay.

Hot Mexican Availability

Thus far, Hot Mexican Love Comics is available in the following Los Angeles area comic stores:

-BURBANK-
House of Secrets
1930 W Olive Ave
Burbank, CA 91506
(818) 562-1900

-HOLLYWOOD-
Meltdown
7522 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, California 90064
(323)851-7223

-GLENDALE-
Legacy Comics
123 West Wilson
Glendale, CA. 91203
(818) 247-8803

-PASADENA-
Comics Factory
1298 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, 91106
(626) 585-0618

-SANTA MONICA-
Hi De Ho Comics
(& Books with Pictures)
525 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica CA 90401
310-394-2820

-SHERMAN OAKS-
Earth 2
15017 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 386-9590

-STUDIO CITY-
ComicSmash!
11824 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 761-3753

Be sure to check these stores out if you're in the area, or if elsewhere contact them to order by mail. We'll post more stores in other locations as the publisher makes them available.

From the APE Con

HMLC Editor Ira Sherak has this report from the Alternative Publishers Expo in San Francisco this past weekend:

"We have returned from APE in San Francisco and are excited to tell you that the book KICKED ASS!

Friday afternoon, Albert C. (Founder and co-publisher of HMLC 2006), Janice (Lady of Tolerance/my girlfriend) and myself, did the long drive up to San Fran. Saturday morning we met up with Rob G.(owner of Robot Publishing & co-publisher of HMLC 2006) and Cathy Malkasian (Robot contributor, illustrator and friend). Saturday afternoon the fun began.

We were told by various people "not to expect to sell too many issues. 15, maybe 20 per day" We wanted to prove those people wrong. From the title of the book, to the AMAZING eye-catching painted cover by Paul Wee, to the talent of the contributors and the energy of our booth. Throw in the free gumballs we provided and the sex-appeal our crew emitted (especially Albert, although Cathy mentioned my plunging collar/revealing my chest hair was caliente). We lured in the attendees and exceeded our own expectations. We showed up with 100 copies. We sold 77! (That's a damn fine number).

The crew had a lot of fun and met some great and interesting people (ask Albert about the cross-dresser). Special Thanks must be given to Rob, for reserving the table. Louie Del Carmen for sharing his experience and calming me down at points prior to the show (he did a brand new book, his own, for the first time this year, too.) And Rafael Navarro, one of our own contributors, who truly shared the love by promoting the hell out of us from his own booth. (Quite a number of buyers showed up saying "Rafael sent me")"

Finally...

...got a copy of "Hot Mexican Love" in my hands today. All I can say is, wow! The book really looks great! The print quality is top-notch! The layout and design is fantastic! All the artwork, from cover to cover looks great- a lot of it is truly amazing. And I'm really relieved that the Bunny Brothers story Mike and I did came out good as well- it certainly fits in with the rest of the book.

I just got to see a sample issue from the co-publisher who works with me at Fox, but I'm just so pleased I finally got to see it. Can't wait to get my actual copies of the book.

By all accounts, the APE Con went extremely well for the publisher, who sold 80 copies or so of the book. Not bad numbers a'tall!

1:02:03 04/05/06

A cool bit of trivia- today, April 5th, 2006 time will line up in complete numeric order at 3 seconds past 1:03pm. Doubtful I'll be starring at my watch at just the right moment to see this historic second tick past, but what the hey.

They're Heeeeeeeere...!

Hot off the presses, the first copies of the new 2006 edition of "Hot Mexican Love" comics is in the hands of the editor. Above is the run of 3 issues- the last from 1996. The cover of the latest edition looks pretty racy!

No word yet on a general release to comic book and specialty shops, but the publisher, Robot Publishing, will be attending the 2006 APE (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco, CA on April 8th-9th. Look for them at tables 519 and 520.

The largest gathering of alternative comic book publishers in the country.

In other news... time flies! That is all.