Think You Should Think? Think Again!
No. This one-pager is from Charlton’s Secret Romance #11. Not Dilbert.
Bite-Sized Romance #1
First in a series—reprinting classic one-page romance stories from the days when women were women and men were clueless. Today’s comic is from Romantic Story #122:
My Adventures as a Playboy Model
My pal Dana Braziel-Solovy is a real model, but I'm the one who "posed" for Playboy at Comic-Con International. (Dana is showing off a Last Kiss print and I'm holding Dana's new comic "The Adventures of a Comic Con Girl.")
Amazing?
No, that’s too small and timid a word to describe my adventures at Comic-Con International this year.
I had the most freaking awesome, incredible, phenomenal, extraordinary, stupendous, career-changing, adjective-defying convention of my life.
Most of the business and writing opportunities that opened up for me, I can’t talk about yet. So, instead, I’ll just tell you about my experience with a Playboy model.
Thursday—the first full day of the con—I’m at my booth when a guy walks up, looks around and pretty much blew me away when he announced that he was from Playboy and that he loved my Last Kiss merchandise. Our conversation went something like this.
“Would you mind if we interviewed you for Playboy.com?” asked producer Tim Gibbs.
“Yeah,” I said calmly as my brain revolved 360 degrees in my head. “Sure. I guess I could deal with that.”
“And would you mind if we buy one of your shirts and have our model wear it while she interviews you,” asked Tim.
“Oh,” I said as my brain started spinning at light speed. “I guess that would be fine too.”
So Tim bought a shirt and said they’d probably be back the next day (Friday) around 11 a.m. Great, I thought. I’ll be fresh, rested and maybe even calm by then. (Instead of exhausted, but buzzed with excitement.)
So, of course, Tim came back later that afternoon—15 minutes before the exhibit hall closes—and says he’d like to do the interview right now. Then he introduces me to the adorable Chloe Miranda who is wearing one of my dark fuchsia “Me Innocent” T-shirts.
How could I say no?
So I stand next to Chloe. The camera man repositions me so that he can see my face better. (Hey, that makes me a Playboy model too—sorta!) And the interview begins.
“Hi. I”m Chloe Miranda and I’m here at Comic-Con International. I couldn’t get a Comic-Con T-shirt because I think they were sold out. But…I got something even better,” says Chloe pointing to the Last Kiss shirt she’s wearing.
Now, this is where the top of my head blows off and my brain goes into orbit. A Playboy model is wearing my shirt and telling everyone she loves it. Life is good!
Somehow I manage to answer all Chloe’s questions about Last Kiss. And I’m told it even went well.
So, how come I don’t have any pictures of Chloe and me here?
Unfortunately, I was so awestruck that I forgot to ask a friend to take some photos. And I don’t have Playboy’s permission to use Playboy’s photos. (Although it is apparently okay for me to use a thumbnail photo.)
You can, however, see photos of the Last Kiss-clad Chloe on the free part of Playboy’s site. Chloe is wearing a Last Kiss shirt in the first two pictures of Playboy.com’s Comic-Con photo gallery.
As for me, my chance for video glory seems to have come and gone. So far, Playboy has not included any video or photos of me in its Comic-Con coverage. (You can, however, see a second or two of Chloe wearing a Last Kiss shirt plus a brief shot of my Last Kiss magnets in this video. But if you blink you’ll miss them.)
That’s okay, though. I can now say that I posed with a Playboy model. She even wore one of my Ts. (And you can too.)
Plus, I was a Playboy model myself—sort of.
Lip Service Podcast with John Lustig
Rod Jenkins of Kiss Me Comix did a fine job of interviewing me for a recent Lip Service podcast. I just
wish my answers were as good as his questions.
The problem? I’d only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep the night before and I sounded as if I’d had none.
This didn’t faze me during the interview, though. I thought I was brilliant.
In fact, I was pretty sure that the interview was going something like this: Question from Rod. Witty remark by me. Hilarious explanation by me. Fascinating anecdote by me. Great gag by me. Next question…
What actually happened was more like this:
ROD: What’s your name?
ME: Uh…Uh…Uh…Uh…Uh…
I believe I set the North American record for saying “Uh” more consecutive times than any other human (or parrot.)
Given that caveat, if you’d like to listen to the interview, please do. I think I do have a few insightful thoughts between my “uhs.” And Rod is a cheerful and entertaining interviewer.
(The interview with me begins about 10 minutes into the podcasts. Prior to that, Rod talks about the dangers of doing work-for-hire in comics.)
I’m warning you, though, if you turn this into a game and try to take a drink every time I say “uh” then you’ll pass out…in the first few minutes.
J.P. Patches R.I.P.
Several years ago when I was doing my Last Kiss comic for The Seattle Times, I found a way to work local kids TV show host J.P. Patches into one of the gags. (See right.)
Of course, it being Last Kiss is was somewhat sarcastic/flip. But I really admired Chris Wedes (J.P.’s alter ego who passed away today–July 22, 2012.)
If Chris wasn’t the funniest man on TV—not just local TV, but TV in general—he was darn close.
His shows with sidekick Bob Newman (Gertrude, Ketchikan the Animal Man, Boris S. Wort—the second meanest man in the world) performed live on TV twice a day every weekday (plus Saturday mornings) and it was mostly unscripted.
Chris and Bob would discuss what they were going to do before the show and then just wing it.
As a kid, I thought they were extremely funny. But their genius was that they were funny to adults too. In fact, in some ways, they were even funnier to adults. They were doing a kids show, but there would be all these extra little references and jokes that only adults would understand.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Chris many times and he was hilarious offstage. And very kind.
Last Kiss couldn’t be more different than the J.P. Patches show. But I suspect that some of his whimsy is an influence on my approach to humor.
One thing I can say—without a doubt—no one in Seattle has ever been more loved than J.P. Patches.
Christmas in July Card Sale
No, you aren’t hallucinating from the heat. Sleigh bells are ringing…because NobleWorks is have a “Christmas In July” greeting card sale!
Stock up on any NobleWorks Christmas cards now—especially the Last Kiss Christmas cards, of course—and save 40% off your order of $40 or more. Use coupon code XMASINJULY when you check out to take advantage of this great deal!
The sale ends on July 25th. So act now…and avoid Santa’s naughty list!
Schedule for Comic-Con International
I’ll mostly be at the Last Kiss booth (2302) the rest of the con. But I will be at the World Famous Comics booth (5560) from 3:30-5:30 Saturday (July 14) and 1-3 p.m. Sunday (July 15.) Come see me if you can. And get a free Last Kiss tattoo.
Free Last Kiss Tattoos at Comic-Con—July 12-15
Comic-Con International is early this year—July 12-15. But the Last Kiss Entertainment booth is the same as last year—Booth #2302. It’s near the middle of the con floor, close to one of the front doors. So it’s easy to find.
I’ll be at the Last Kiss booth roughly 39,000 hours a day…eagerly waiting to talk to you…and any other unwary souls who wander by. So come by.
We’re giving away Last Kiss (temporary) tattoos this year. They’re free to members of my Last Kiss mailing list. (Three times a week, I e-mail Last Kiss comics to list members.) Join now or at the convention.
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Cool Stuff! But you can’t get it at Comic-Con—unless you ask now!
How much merchandise will I have at my booth (#2302) at Comic-Con International?
A truckload of Last Kiss T-shirts. A mountain of Last Kiss tote bags. And a huge heap of other goodies such as Last Kiss sticky notebooks, art prints, mugs, magnets and more.
In short, a lot!
Even so, I can’t take everything. So if you’d like any of the following wonderful things, contact me by this Saturday, July 7, 9 p.m. PDT. Otherwise, I may not be taking them to San Diego.
Last Kiss #2
My favorite issue (#2) from my Last Kiss comic book series. It’s the “Dick Giordano issue” and it leads off with all-new Giordano art for “Widow Ms. Muffet” – the story of a little girl who wants to grow up and become a rich widow. The issue also features reprints of two Giordano stories from the 1950’s-60’s (with hilarious new dialogue by John Lustig). Plus an interview with Giordano about why doing romance comics is so difficult; the winning stories in the reader writing contest; and the ultimate story of amnesia, archeology and runaway lust “Remember to Forget Me” 48 pages of fun! Cover by Giordano.
I only have a few copies left. $14. (Autographs free.) E-mail me here.
The Virgin Project
Creators 
Kevin Boze and Stasia Kato often sell copies of The Virgin Project at my booth. They’re not coming this year, but if you want a signed copy (by Kevin) at a great price $17 for either Volume 1 or Volume 2. $30 for the set. I can’t recommend these books highly enough. It’s absolutely amazing stuff—true tales, told as short comic book stories. Some of these are hilarious. Some of them of them are horrifying. You can read more about VP, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on Amazon. On Amazon they sell for $22.95 each. So this is a great chance to pick up autographed copies. E-mail me here.
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Yesterday’s Romances: “I had to be Tamed!”
Think Last Kiss is outlandish fun? Well, so were many of the original romance comics.
“Flip” Landers is spoiled worse than last month’s milk. Men are eager to give her everything she wants–and she despises them because of it. “I wanted a man…strong enough to make me want to let him have his way!” She’s the girlfriend from Hell that your mother warned you about.
“I had to be Tamed!” was originally printed in UNTAMED LOVE, 1950.
- Click image to enlarge.
