Calling Aeolis 14 Umbra

Happy 40th Anniversary Star Trek!

2006-09-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

Star Trek debuted on this date 40 years ago. Needless to say that it is an important date to me as Star Trek has brought me endless entertainment, joy and creative energy. To me it is the greatest television show of all time. So I share my celebration with you.

Star Trek Lives! Long Live Star Trek!

Live long and prosper
Captain John M. Neal

Donations for Lea Hernandez

2006-09-06T15:41:00.000-07:00

A call to arms for my fellow Texan and fabulous talent Lea Hernandez. Below I have reprinted the plea that Gail Simone made on the Dixonverse. (www.dixonverse.com) Give what you can folks.

....................................................

Early this morning, the Texas home of award-winning writer/artist Lea Hernandez, my friend and co-creator of the graphic novel Killer Princesses, caught fire and burned. Half her house is now gone, and the rest is smoke-damaged. In addition, she lost at least six of her family’s beloved pets, two dogs and four cats. If you knew Lea, you’d know how devastating that is.

She’s lost a great deal of her family’s possessions, including irreplaceable art. She doesn’t yet know the full accounting of what’s been lost at this time.

Most know Lea as the brilliant creator of such works as Rumble Girls and Cathedral Child. She drew the Marvel Mangaverse PUNISHER book, and has drawn for TRANSMETROPOLITAN, among many other accomplishments. She is also the co-founder and original editor for GIRL-A-MATIC, one of the most important venues for female-friendly comics created to date.

She’s also my friend, and it’s entirely possible I wouldn’t have a career in comics if she hadn’t asked me to write Killer Princesses for her to draw.

And finally, Lea is one of the last great firebrand hellraisers in comics.

Lea has two (wonderful, amazing) special needs children and right now they need a place to stay and some clothes to wear. More than that, they need
some help, and fast, in the form of donations to her paypal account. Lea’s a proud person so I’m going to ask FOR her. This is important, and a great chance to do a wonderful thing for a creator who has consistently enriched this industry we all love so much. Please, take a moment and send WHATEVER YOU CAN to Lea’s paypal account and help make this time a little bit less painful for someone who would do the same for you if the positions were reversed.

If you’re a retailer, I ask that you set up a donations jar. If you’re a creator, I ask you to think of how devastating this would be to your career and donate what you can. If you’re a reader, I’m asking you to take a moment and hit the paypal link. You’ll be doing something heroic and you’ll feel great about it, I promise.

Read what Lea had to post on a neighbor’s computer while wearing her pajamas at: Livejournal.com/users/divalea

Donate (PLEASE) to her paypal account at: divalea@gmail.com

Finally, if I understand the story correctly (as told to me by Lea’s good friend and current Girl-a-matic editor), it was Lea’s daughter hearing the smoke alarm that allowed the family to get out in time, so for God’s sake, do everyone you love a favor and CHECK YOUR SMOKE ALARMS.

Thank you so much for helping. Really, any amount you can send will make a difference. That’s all I can say.

And also, if you have a blog or a myspace account, please spread this around as best you can. Every little bit will help and every eye that sees this might be someone who donates.

Sincerely and gratefully,

Gail Simone

TVology 101 and Tales of Aym Geronimo and the PostModern Pioneers!

2006-08-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hiya folks. I want to tell you all about my new blog and another great new blog.

Mine is called TVology 101 and I will have commentary, information and special features all about television of the past, present and future over there. Visit http://tvology101.blogspot.com or http://tvology-101.blogspot.com

There is a article on Star Trek news and rumors there now.

The other is Tales of Aym Geronimo and the PostModern Pioneers by Danielle 'Granny' Roh, one of the PostModern Pioneers herself and that is all about Aym and her world. You can view that one at http://aymgeronimo.blogspot.com

Granny's introductory post is currently there.

This blog will remain as a catch-all of everything else in my life.

Enjoy.

AYM GERONIMO DEBUTS AT WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO!

2006-07-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For information, please contact:

Scott McCullar, Creative Director
mccullar@shootingstarcomics.com

Kearny, New Jersey (July 27, 2006) – Action. Adventure. Aym
Geronimo.

Readers of the erstwhile SHOOTING STAR COMICS ANTHOLOGY series have
long recognized the science-loving heroine and her team of Post

Modern Pioneers as synonymous with high adventure when she appeared
in those earlier pages. This August finds Aym leaping into action in
her first full length adventure of her own!

The stakes have never been higher as Aym battles both time and

trickster. Aym takes on a man called Coyote, who is the world's
greatest thief, in order to recover an experimental and highly
dangerous device.

Debuting at Wizard World Chicago, Shooting Star Comics is pleased to

present AYM GERONIMO AND THE POST MODERN PIONEERS: TRICKSTER, by
series creators J. Morgan Neal and Todd Fox (Booth #3256B). Both
writer and artist will also be on hand at the convention in Chicago
at the Shooting Star Comics Booth (Booth #S23). You can also visit

the official Aym Geronimo website at www.aymgeronimo.com to learn
more.

Don't worry. If you cannot make the trek to the Windy Cindy, AYM
will come to you! AYM GERONIMO: TRICKSTER is also available now for

pre-order via the Shooting Star Comics secure online store along
with Aym's earlier exploits in the pages of select issues of
SHOOTING STAR COMICS ANTHOLOGY (while supplies last). The Direct-to-
Readers edition of the AYM GERONIMO: TRICKSTER summer special will

begin shipping in mid-August for those who purchase this special
edition through our online store.

* * *
Shooting Star Comics is an independent publisher that produces a
variety of high-quality comics-related products from both new talent

and longtime legends in the industry. More information about
Shooting Star Comics can be found at the company's website,
www.shootingstarcomics.com.

Shooting Star Comics, LLC

188A Kearny Avenue #301
Kearny, NJ 07032

(862) 452 -8080

####

It Came From A Test Tube!

2006-07-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

Wanna watch a fun little movie?

Coke Brown a friend of mine just posted a student film he had a hand in in his wayward youth and for having no budget and a really green cast it actually is a fun little film. Coke co-wrote and co-directed it and it has some great lines and gags and great shots utilizing what they had avaiable.

Give it watch if you are so inclined.

Blowing back into the Windy City

2006-07-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

After a two year absence I will finally be making it back to Chicago for the Wizard World convention. It will be wonderful to hook up with my Shooting Star and Dixonverse pals and the others I have met in the past and made fast friendships with. The whole thing was made possible by two very good and dear friends, Coke Brown and Cliff Roberts. This year is the biggest year of them all however as I have an even stronger personal involvement than ever before. I can't say why just yet, but I will post about it as soon as I can. Meanwhile if you are planning on attending the WW Chicago look me up in the artist alley and at the Shooting Star Comics booth. I will be splitting my time between the two. Chicago! Home of the Blues Brothers! :) Scott McCullar knows what I mean. ;)

Star Trek Rumour Time!

2006-06-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

theINSIDER is reporting that J.J. Abrams & Co. are smitten with the notion of Matt Damon as James T. Kirk in their forthcoming theatrical relaunch of STAR TREK.
The article also says Abrams has already received Kirk progenitor William Shatner's blessing on this.

New Aym Geronimo and the PostModern Pioneers website launched.

2006-06-08T03:44:00.000-07:00

If I may indulge myself for a moment I would like to invite everyone to the all new, all different Aym Geronimo and the PostModern Pioneers webpage.

www.aymgeronimo.com

Thanks.

Unbelievable!

2006-04-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of videos my movie making partner John Bock and I have done. An older one we re-edited a bit back and a newer one from only a year or so ago. We have plenty more where this came from and Morgy and Shoo is coming along. Hope you enjoy. If not, write your Congressman. :)

JMN

The Silver Lining.

2006-03-27T20:07:00.003-08:00

Well I turned 43 last month on the 20th. And besides that I was diagnosed with diabetes and high cholesterol on top of my myriad other health problems and in addition I discovered that all the footage my partner and I have done on our movie "Panhandling for Laughs: The Morgy and Shoo Story" is gone. Pfft. No more.

But ya know....this has honestly been one of the best birthdays of my life. I took those blows, barely winced and I am standing tall.

Go figure. :)

The fact is I have a good life really. I am not rich nor do I have a family or do I have a successful career but...I am happy. I could always stand to be happier, but then so could everyone. And I have the best friends and family in the world. Just when I am feeling my lowest they seem to come to the rescue just in the nick of time.

I am itching to write again, my artist is back in the game, the lost footage has actually lit a fire under my filmmaking partner's and my butts and the diabetes and high cholesterol are making me stick to my diet and I am losing weight and feel much better overall.

Now if I could just find some more money. Not a lot. Just a little. :)

Here is hoping that everyone who reads this little blog is as happy as I feel now.

Excelsior!

The Cataclysmic Cacophonous Continuous Crisis of Comicbook Continuity

2006-02-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Yes I know. It has been much too long since I have posted. When I was talked into creating one of these I worried that this would happen and it seems it was a self-fulfilled prophecy. So, first of all, my apologies to all who have checked in seeking updates. And second, well, I can't promise it won't happen again. That would be foolish pride. However I will pledge to update better in the future. Damn this "Grand Ennui"

Now let’s get to the good stuff. Or the attempt at least. :)

Comic Book Continuity...Oy vey! What a boondoggle if there ever was one. I suppose it can all be traced back to the first time Superman and Batman met (on radio before the comics ironically) or the Justice Society of America perhaps. After all these famed events and all that has followed is based off the simplest of postulations. To wit: "Wouldn't it be awesome if Super Powered Guy were to meet or fight Masked Crime fighter Dude. I mean...of course it would. Duh. I am there with bells on. I am after all a fan of The Brave and The Bold, Marvel Team Up and Marvel Two in One comics, in which respectively The Batman, Spider-Man and The Thing met every single character in DC and Marvel at the time these books were published. And I loved it.

The deal is though, Bob Haney rarely if ever troubled himself with any continuity in his B&B tales, and even the usually continuity heavy Marvel didn't trouble with it much in Team Up or Two in One. The reasons for this are myriad certainly but I think the most important one is that the folks running these titles at the time knew that the story was the thing and that any bogging down into complicated continuity issues would only subvert that.

So the trouble is...where do we draw the line? I mean it seems no one is happy with zero continuity in comics published by the big two. Indeed a lot of readers like to see it with some smaller publishers that have never established one. I know of a couple of cases where that came up with some readers concerning Shooting Star Comics. But of course this just brings us back to the initial desire. How cool would it be to see certain characters meet? Something most if not all of us enjoy certainly. However, there is a certain peaceful simplicity of the kind of comics done back in the day where the Atlantis of Aquaman was obviously not the Atlantis of Superman's side tail (sorry folks, couldn't resist) Lori Lemaris’. But I know too many people whom that would bug to no end and they would end up calling for or creating themselves the answer to this conundrum. Which of course someone did later, as the two co-exist in mostly harmony now.

Too much continuity in turn to my mind is even worse. When we have characters, stories and even entire eras mucked up as bad as things have gotten at times with the MU and DCU it is testament of the evils of continuity gone wild. Heroes Reborn, the Two Crises, Zero Hour and The House of M are symptoms, not the sickness itself, much less a cure.

So what is the answer? Well obviously there is no perfect answer. As I have told many of my fellow comic creators "Someone somewhere is going to hate what you are doing no matter how good it is" and the same is true for continuity policy. Someone is going to hate it no matter how you do it. But, I think the way Marvel handled it in the Marvel Age and how DC handled it in the Bronze (or super, get off my back Rogers) Age was the best way to do it. It exists. It ties some things together. It allows our favorite heroes to meet and fight. But it does not take over everything and make the characters, stories and events secondary to it.

Continuity should be a tool that serves our needs as writers, artists, readers and fans. Not our master.

And that is what I have to say about that. :)

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RIP to the great ones we lost this week. Dennis Weaver, Darrin McCain and the incomparable Don Knotts. Thanks for everything fellas.

Holiday Greetings

2005-12-14T23:35:00.000-08:00

Well I am about to experience my 41^st Christmas. I have always enjoyed this time of year and I love giving as much as getting and I love the food and the family traditions. And of course the whole meaning of Christmas. Some have been better than others in terms of finance or circumstances or personal feelings at various times but all of them have been a time where I can be with family, eat too much and get some great swag, but most importantly reflect on the spiritual side of things and where I stand in my life.

This year will be no different. I have had some set backs this year. No need to go into detail but there were money troubles and some health issues and those all led to me having some creative and business dreams take a bit of a beating. That was all a bummer no doubt. But…I still have my health for the most part, I have my talent such as it is, I have a great place to live, I have the greatest friends in the world and a very close and loving family. Most of all I still have my faith. Not to be too overtly evangelical, but the fact is God has been very good to me.

My only true regret is that I know that there are others out there who do not have it as good as myself. And I think about those people all the time but think about them even more when this season comes around. People as far away as the soldiers in Iraq, to people closer but no less strangers as the people who still struggle from the aftermath of Katrina and Rita and also family and friends.

So people like this and many others will be a part of my thoughts and prayers this season and I ask that you may give some thought and prayer to toward them as well.

Special shout outs go to The Shooting Star Comics guys, Chuck Dixon and the Dixonverse gang, my dear friends scattered from here in Sherman to Ft. Worth/Dallas to California to New York to London. And my creative partner artists who make me look good. My best friends (you all know who you are), my little bro, and my Mommy…and yes I said Mommy, ya wanna make something of it?! J

And may everyone that reads this have the merriest of holidays and enjoy your families and friends and eat hardy and have fun. These are the times that make all the rest worthwhile.

I know I will. As you can see from my picture there I am a fun guy…and way too fond of my Mom’s dressing and pumpkin pie. J

And ya know what else? I still have my dreams as well.

So Merry Christmas to all. And to all a good night!

Red Shirts: Debunking the Myth

2005-12-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

Geek Red Alert.

Okay obviously the header makes it clear I am a Star Trek fan to those who know what "red shirts" mean. No surprise to anyone who knows me. I am an avid Star Trek fan from way back.

Now for those who may not know, there are several inside jokes that Trek fandom have developed over the years that work as sort of a secret language between Trek fans. Especially when they gather together in bunches in clubs and conventions.

Most of these are fine and are rooted in actual parts of the show such as McCoy-isms (I'm a Doctor not a bricklayer!), Spock-ism's (How many times Spock says logical or fascinating.), or Scotty-isms (Me puir wee bairns).

However there are some and one in particular that is based off false perceptions and frankly as a person who knows the shows and characters it has always bugged me.

Red Shirts are NOT killed or die every time they are unnamed and beam down and separate from the landing party! Wearing a red shirt as Security personnel or Engineering personnel and not being a regular character is not a death wish. Not as much as fandom likes to make out. Heck even the excellent Trek parody Galaxy Quest had a character played by Sam Rockwell based on this very bit. Criminy!

My general knowledge of this fact has leaded me to reject this recurring apocrypha for a long time. However now I have done the research and thanks ironically to Sci-Fi Channel's website's excellent episode guide which plays along with this fallacy by listing red shirt death per episode I am prepared to provide the evidence to disprove this notion. One wonders though if the people putting that episode guide together happened to note how many episodes they had to put a goose egg by.

Here are the numbers. In the first season five red shirts die. Just five out of 29 episodes. And I might point out the most devastating part...more yellow shirts died then red shirts! For the record: seven crew members wearing yellow perish and 4 wearing blue and 2 wearing those crewman coveralls.

Moving on. We skip the second season to the third. We will come back to the second as it is a special case. 6 red shirts die in the third season out of 24 episodes. Again, a piddling amount but it is true that no other crewman were dispatched but those.

Finally we have the second season and on first glance it may look bad for my argument as no less than 21 crewmen wearing red tunics are dead before it is all said and done. However....a caveat. First for the record: 2 Blue, 1 yellow and 2 coveralls.

Now to that staggering number of red shirts. The number is misleading. For in fact 17 of those died in four episodes. One episode, “Mirror Mirror” really doesn't count as that was an alternate Enterprise where assassinations and executions were the way of life. So removing those 3 that leaves us with 18. But when you take the 5 that Nomad destroyed in “The Changeling” and the 5 the cloud creature murdered in “Obsession” and the 3 that had unfortunate accidents in “The Apple” that leaves us with only 5. This matches the averages we have for seasons one and three.

These particularly blood thirsty episodes are an anomaly. Only those three episodes had such a body count out of the 79. So therefore that should be taken into account in determining the average over 79 episodes that a red uniformed crewman dies.

So in other words there are many more episodes where a red shirt does not die than ones in which they do die.

In fact in only happened in 14 episodes out of the 79. Not a very high percentage at all.

So while it can be stated that a bit more red uniformed Enterprise crewman have died it is not a disproportionate number really and all of this long time ado made of it by fandom over the years is poppy cock. :)

Now, do I think my little blog here is going to change the minds of the massive entirety of Trek fandom both young and old and the new ones born every day? Of course not. But if I have managed to open just one set of eyes today to the truth....

...well you know the rest. :)

I am just happy to get it off my chest. Whether it is clad in red or not.

Standard Beginning Blog Message

2005-11-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all. My name is John Morgan Neal. I am a freelance writer and a guerrilla filmmaker. Some of you know me and most of you don't. I have been talked into creating a blog and this is the result. I will try and update as much as possible and will attempt to be as entertaining as possible with my musings and ruminations. If anyone is interested in seeing some of my work they can go to shootingstarcomics.com. I have several stories featuring some characters I have had a hand in with a couple of partners. Aym Geronimo and the PostModern Pioneers, Gone To Texas, and Rex Solomon. You can find them among the six issues of Shooting Star Comics Anthology and the Job Wanted anthology.

My movie making partner and I also hope to have some short films up online very soon and are back to working on our feature length documentary 'Panhandling For Laughs: The Morgy and Shoo Story'.

So, I guess this is as good an introduction as any. Next time I will perhaps type up something more substantive. Or maybe just some random crazy thought. I would bet on the later. :)