A Nice Shout Out from GeekGirlCon

Hey, GeekGirlCon '13 happens in less than 2 weeks, October 19 & 20 in Seattle.
They gave LarsenGeekery a nice shout out in their blog post talking about indie comics at the show:
http://www.geekgirlcon.com/comics-from-cute-to-cutting-edge-at-geekgirlcon-13/

Want to meet one of the coolest couples of all time during your nerdtastic weekend? Seek out Lady Evelyn and Lazy Jay, the hearts and minds behind Larsen Geekery! They’re makers of bright, snappy comics available both in book form and on clothes and bags—think Wonder Woman greeting cards, TARDIS purses, and original comics about dinosaurs in space. Not only will you want all of their artwork to adorn your everything, but you’ll want to throw a tea party with these artists as your guests of honor.

 Ahhh, isn't that sweet?  And completely true!

You can get Jay's comics (by clicking HERE) even if you can't go to the show.

Free Comic Book Day Offer

LarsenGeekery has an Etsy Store, full of great gear: Cards, Prints, Bags, and Comics.
And Saturday, May 4th 2013 (May the Forth Be With You...) is Free Comic Book Day.
You can visit your local comic book shop Saturday and pick up some free comic books.
Pretty cool!

Well, LarsenGeekery is doing its part to celebrate Free Comic Book Day.
Just visit our Etsy Store, pick out something you like, and order it before end of day Saturday, May 4th 2013 (Pacific Time), and we will include a Free Comic Book along with your order!

Go Visit Our Etsy Store Now!  Get a Free Comic Book!

Consume Wisely, It's Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day from Nebulus the Hungry, Baron Von Domino and the whole LarsenGeekery Gang!  Consume wisely.

Larsen Geekery's next show is May 11 &12th 2013, Pacific NerdWest 13 - Bellingham WA

ECCC 13 Mashup

Here is the Emerald City Comicon 2013, in comic form, at least as we experienced it:
Your experience of ECCC may have varied.

Evelyn and I had a fantastic time.
We dressed up as Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch.
We met lots of great comics people.  Saw tons of vendors we know and love.
Bought way, way too much stuff.  (Can you have too many comics??)
The show sold out all 3 days.
I heard people say there were 20,000 people there.  I think I bumped into at least 10,000 of them.  Sorry about that.
May put up some more personal pictures later, or on Facebook.
So much Geeky energy gives me all sorts of Geeky ideas.
Got to get to work.
Thanks to everybody who worked so hard to put on the show, to show things at the show, to attend the show.  It really is a very friendly group of people.
ECCC 2013 was a Huge Success!
 -- Jay

One Week to Emerald City Comicon and Counting

Only a week until Emerald City Comicon 2013 here in Seattle WA.
It's going to be the biggest ECCC ever!
And I'm hoping that will be a good thing.
Because part of the joy of past ECCC's has been the intimate tone and accessibility of the artists and writers.
The Show has spread out to take on the whole Seattle Convention Center.
But tickets are selling out and crowds could be huge.
Let us all prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
In that spirit, and just for fun, LarsenGeekery presents:
The GARGANTUS Guide to Emerald City Comicon 2013!!!

Hey Ho, Let's Go!  Hope to see you there.
Here is a link to all the fun the LarsenGeekery Gang had at last year's ECCC.

Comics Anticipation...Making Me Wait

Waiting for comics that have been announced, but that have not come out yet is a big part of being a comics fan.  The new book has a writer you really like, an artist that is good, and a character or two that you really enjoy.  So it has to be GREAT!  Right?

Well......not necessarily.
Comics are a hit and miss media.  It's easy to make bad comics.  It's hard to make mediocre comics.  And it is almost impossible to make really, really great comics.  That magic lightning of comic greatness only ends up on the page once in a while.  But as fans, we keep hoping.  And when that next project sounds like it has increased odds of maybe, just possibly manifesting into our reality as a genuinely great book, well... we get all excited with the possibility.

Luckily, for me, I am a fan of mediocre comics and I even secretly love the really bad comics.  So there is plenty there to keep my attention.  But I still keep hoping that this next book is going to be the one that redefines what is possible in this incredible media called comics.  I am 100% positive that there are untapped riches of comics that have not been discovered or imagined yet.

So learning to enjoy the anticipation phase of comics is important.  Anything is possible when Writer X meets Artists Y and Z while exploring Characters A, B and C!
Also, to be fair, a lot of what we love about comic characters takes place between the panels and between issues anyway.  There has never been a Doctor Strange comic as cool as the Doctor Strange in my imagination.  And every time a new Doc Strange project is announced I think, maybe this time the good doctor's true mystical potential will make it onto a page.
Don't get me wrong, there have been Good Dr. Strange comics.  But there has never been a truly GREAT Doctor Strange comic....Yet.  But he is Sorcerer Supreme again, so maybe someday soon...

So what books are in Anticipation Mode right now?
Thanks for asking.

Guardians of the Galaxy.  Can Bendis unlock the wacky weirdness that is Rocket Raccoon?  And not ruin it with too much Tony Stark?

Fearless Defenders.  Will Dani Moonstar get a chance to show how incredibly cool she is while standing back-to-back with Valkyrie?  Hel Yeah!


Books that have passed out of Anticipation Mode and into actual comic pages?
The Iron man reboot.  A good book, so far.  But not Great.
The Fantastic Four/FF Fraction takeover.  Hickman's FFs were literally "fantastic" 80% of the time.  So Matt Fraction has big shoes to fill.  But he is doing a good job of making things fun and he is really capturing the "family" vibe of the Fantastic Four and the FF.  So far so good.

Young Avengers #1  Wow!  What can I say.  This time the actual book is better than my level of anticipation!  A Great Kick Off to new series with some of the most interesting young Marvel characters.  If you can get your hands on this book, read it.  Billy is doing well intentioned, but really stupid things (just like his mom, the Scarlet Witch does).  I mean, even Kid Loki was trying to stop him.

Newly moved into Anticipation Mode...Young Avengers #2
Can Kieron Gillen and James McKelvie keep things at the high level set by #1?  Will this be more than just one Great Comic?  Will if be a great Story Arc?  Or dare I say it, a Great Comic Series?  We shall see...  Anything is possible.

Anticipation can be fun.
-- Jay Larsen
PS: You can read my new Comic, Giga-Geekery #1, with a minimum of Anticipation.  Just Click Here and go get one!

New Year, Marvel NOW!

I have already said that I have an affinity for Marvel comic books, so I may be biased.  When comparing DC's New 52 "reboot" with Marvel NOW!'s "non-reboot", Marvel wins hands down.

Good things were already happening at Marvel in 2012: Fear Itself (the 2011 event) was finally over. Hickman's run on Fantastic Four and FF were amazing!  Bendis ran Avengers for longer than any other writer in Marvel history, and he did amazing things with them.  Fraction's Iron Man was solid.  Defenders got resurrected with a bang and retired with a whimper (sorry Marvel, it wasn't all good).

The big event of the Marvel year was AvX, Avengers vs X-men, which sounded like a gimmick, and ended up being pretty damned good.  I especially liked when Black Panther slaps the science out of Tony Stark just as he was going to go all Civil-War-Serious on us again.  (Tony only gets to tear the world apart once a decade!)  Cyclops started sliding into madness years ago (in my opinion) and the Phoenix Force just made it so everyone else could see it.  AvX managed to hit the other books without making them slaves to the "big event" (which shows that maybe Marvel is learning from it's past mistakes.)  Wolverine reopening the school turned out to be a really fun ride and showed what an ensemble cast book could be like, in Wolverine and the X-men.  New Mutants had a great year (thanks Abnett and Lanning) especially the "Date with the Devil" issue #37--possibly the best single issue I read all year!

Marvel did get bought by Disney last year.  This still kind of creeps me out and makes me worry, but so far so good.
Marvel movies did great: Avengers anyone?

So 2012 was a good year for Marvel.
And then they announced Marvel NOW! (which has to have CAPS and an Exclamation Mark!) the new "not a reboot" of the Marvel line.  Uh Oh!, I thought to myself.  Marvel is going to do a DC-style New 52 (which I did not think turned out well for DC).
But so far, so good in my opinion.

Marvel moved all their most popular writers and artists around, giving them fresh books to work on.  This resulted in some really good endings to some of the existing story arcs.  Fantastic Four, Avengers, New Avengers, Iron Man, Spider-man all got interesting stories that their old teams wanted to tell before they left.

And NOW! the new Marvel NOW! issues have been coming out (with more promised for later).
Bendis is on X-men now.  He did my least favorite thing and did a time travel story where the 1960's teenager X-men meet the new screwed up X-men.  I didn't want to like it.  But it is turning out to be really great.
Matt Fraction has taken the Fantastic Four on an intergalactic road trip.  And put a replacement FF team on Earth to hold down the fort.  I can't wait to see what happens next.
Fraction and Aja have are also 7 issues into a new Hawkeye series that is one of the coolest things being published right now.  It is hard to describe, but a joy to read.
The new Thor series is good.
Avengers is going cosmic, Hickman style.
Spider-man just killed Peter Parker (again) and replaced him with Doc Octopus!  (Don't worry kids, it is the 50th anniversary of Spider-man this year.  I'm sure Peter will come back to us somehow.)
And there are still more NOW! titles that have not come out yet.  Fearless Defenders, an all Girl X-Men Team, Nova, and Guardians of the Galaxy!  I am Groot!

This could end up being a great year for Marvel Comics!  I think they are doing a lot of things right with their "not a reboot".  It's a great time to jump on and Marvel didn't throw all their history and continuity into the garbage.  I like it so far.  But maybe it's just me?

-- Jay

New Year, Old 52

I always seem to end up reading Marvel Comics.  Even as a kid.  But I always liked Batman and found Wonder Woman interesting but poorly written.  But it was Iron Man and Captain America that I would read over and over again.  I like the idea of Superman, but the actual Superman in the comics usually bored me.

As I got older, my tastes stayed the same.  I would dip into DC territory once in a while.  Hey Green Arrow got interesting for a bit.  Green Lantern got good for a while.  But mostly it was Batman that was worth reading.

So when DC announced the New 52 "reboot" of the DC Universe, I gave it a try.

I read dozens of their number 1's, and as the year went by I was reading fewer and fewer DC books.  I wanted to like Birds of Prey, but it went nowhere.  Flash has had great page layouts, but not a good plot to be seen.  Superman had all sorts of potential and just left me yawning.  Green Lantern (which I had been enjoying before the reboot) enslaved Hal Jordan to Sinestro and put me into blackest boredom.  Green Arrow just sucked... The only surprise was Wonder Woman, whose book has stayed very good all year by basically remaining independent from the rest of the DC Universe.  I am convince the Wonder Woman kissing Superman in Justice League is a different Wonder Woman than the daughter of Zeus who has been kicking ass in Hades and Olympus.

There were a few sparks of interest on Earth 2, but I'm not sure that book will ever stick with any of those characters long enough to make it really interesting.

And there has been Batman.  Batman, especially the Synder/Capullo series, has been fantastic!  I can't say enough about how good Batman has been.  That maze of the Owls sequence will go down in comics history.

But that's it.  Batman and Wonder Woman.

DC said this was a great time to jump in.  DC said we didn't have to know all the back story to understand these characters.  But it didn't turn out to be true.  The "reboot" didn't reboot nearly enough for me.  And the end result was kind of a wash.  I back down to reading Batman and Wonder Woman again.  Sorry DC.  I tried.  Maybe it isn't you.  Maybe its me?

Thankfully, there is still Marvel and other comics companies.

-- Jay

Count Down to Geek Fest 2012

Only a few more days until our next live show,  Geek Fest 2012, a concert and vendor fair put on by Seattle Browncoats Charities.  Spirited music, spirited performances and Spirited Shopping in Shoreline, WA.

Shoreline Conference Center, 18560 1st Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155 on December 15 & 16, 2012. Hours: Saturday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

We will be there with all our best Geekery Gear: Coffee Hero Cards, Prints, Comics, Bags, Hoodies, etc., etc., etc...  Oh, and there will be music and other vendors as well.

New Comic: Giga-Geekery #1 Is Here!

I'm pretty excited to announce that my newest comic book, Giga-Geekery #1: Emperor Jack's Day Off, is making its debut right here!  Ta-Ta-Dah!  That was a horn flourish...

It is the story of how Emperor Jack tries to beat the Monday Blues by taking a day off.
He leaves a plate of Eggs and Toast to run the government while he is away, and amazingly, his breakfast does a pretty good job while he is away having fun adventures.  And it is written, penciled, inked, colored, lettered, printed, stapled and folded by me, Jay Larsen.

You Can Read a Preview of Giga-Geekery #1 by Clicking Here!

You Can Buy a Copy at our Etsy Store by Clicking Here!  Only $3.00!

You can see all of my original comics by Clicking on the Comics Tab at the top of the page.

We will be bringing copies, hot off the press, to our next live show,  Geek Fest 2012, a concert and vendor fair put on by Seattle Browncoats Charities.  Great music and performances and Great Shopping in Shoreline, WA.

Shoreline Conference Center, 18560 1st Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155 on December 15 & 16, 2012. Hours: Saturday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

So what are you waiting for?  Get yourself a copy of this All-Ages-Friendly Comic and get yourself some tickets to Geek Fest 2012!

I'm pretty excited.  In case you missed that part.  -- Jay Larsen

The Water Cycle

Take Care of your Comics and they will Take Care of You!
Well, not really.  But you will be able to reread them if you take good care of them.
A Public Service Announcement from LarsenGeekery.com

PS, new live show announcement coming very soon...

Happy Halloween from LarsenGeekery

May you get more Treats than Tricks!

And may all your Witches be Scarlet!

Happy Halloween!

Hulk's Secret!

We all thought we knew what Bruce Banner's secret was: He is always angry.
But what is the Hulk's Secret?
Here is The Secret: The Musical.

Our next show is October 20th 2012 - Bellingham ComiCon 12 - Bellingham WA.
That's only a week away.
We will have all our LarsenGeekery Gear, so come and join us in Bellingham.

You Gotta, Gotta Go to the Show

Only 11 Days until the  Jet City Comic Show in Seattle on September 22nd.
So get ready to go to the show.
Here is some comic silliness to get you in the mood.

Mini Masterpieces of Geekery

I've been a making Mini Masterpieces all weekend.
5x7 inch watercolor and ink paintings on a variety of Geek subjects.

They are matted and ready to go in a standard 5x7 frame.
There will be dozens of these at GeekGirlCon 12, Booth 307 (just in case you forgot, GeekGirlCon is going to be here in 2 weeks!)

Fun, Fun, Fun.
I've been having fun making these.  I hope you will have fun taking them home from the show with you.  See you there!
-- Lazy Jay

Comics and More at our Etsy Shop

You can get Jay's Comic Book and more at our Etsy Shop:

Jay Has Comics for the Con

As if you needed more good reasons to visit LarsenGeekery at GeekGirlCon, August 11th & 12th in Seattle, Jay has published a limited edition collection of his best comics all in one Full-Color collection called, Turn On The Machine.

So get your GeekGirlCon passes, come by the LarsenGeekery Booth (#307) and get your hand-crafted American work of art for the low, low price of $10.  But wait there's more!  Catch Jay with a Sharpie in his hand and get this guaranteed collector's item autographed by the artist himself.  But you've gotta hurry.  Supplies are limited!

Can't come to the Con?  But you still have to have a Comic?  Well use the Contact Us page and drop Jay a note to arrange getting a copy of your own.  We wouldn't want to deprive any real fans out there.

The Larsens Mourn for Aurora

This kind of senseless violence should ONLY happen in comics and movies--NEVER in the real world of kids and families.  Our hearts break for the people of Aurora, Colorado.
-- Jay Larsen

Marvel Reboot is Nothing Like New 52

By Lazy Jay
Marvel Comics announced it is killing 9 books in October: Captain America, Fantastic Four,FF, Incredible Hulk, Invincible Iron Man, New Mutants, The Mighty Thor,Uncanny X-Men and X-Men Legacy.
Hey, I was reading most of those!  Fantastic Four and FF were at a change over point, so that makes sense with Hickman leaving.  But New Mutants were never given a good chance to get off the ground, and Uncanny X-Men had just restarted after the whole Schism thing.
I wasn't sure what Marvel was going to do after AvX...
But then they announced they are Relaunching things in the aftermath of Avengers vs X-Men (which I am not in love with, by the way).


But Marvel's relaunch will be NOTHING like DC's New 52 relaunch, where everything started over in the same month.  No, Marvel will stretch this non-relaunch out over several months. And they are playing mix-em-up with all the title names: "Uncanny Avengers"?  Really?
Jean Grey comes back from the past and Samuel L. Jackson's version of Nick Fury takes over the entire Marvel Universe, this time as Nick Fury Jr.
They are calling this new thing Marvel NOW, and I'm sure we will hear more about it as San Diego Comic Con rolls out this week.


On a good note: The preview picture has Rocket Raccoon in it!  So there is that!

Make mine marauding mammals!


I really liked 5 out of the 9 books they are killing for this slow-drip relaunch.  So I hope Marvel puts together something at least as good to replace them.


I guess the part of all this I dislike the most is hearing all this hype about October while I am still reading July's comics.  So current issues keep getting this big shadow of the future cast over them with all these previews.


Comics, can't live with 'em!  Can't live without 'em!

Know Your Water Cycle

Take Care to store you valuable Comic Books so they can avoid becoming part of the Water Cycle.
A public service announcement brought to you by LarsenGeekery and the Spinner Rack Society of Earth 23.