Setting Sail for Destination Eks!

Quote of the day: "Are we about to get it on? Because I'm as hard as a diamond in an ice storm right now."--Ricky Bobby, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby"

Hey-Oh!

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Eks Factor. Through some maneuvering, I got the day off. I was so tired that I fell asleep on my buddy Kirk's floor--probably looking very much like a beached whale--well, a Killer Whale, because if I was going to be any kind of whale--a Killer one it be! The newest reviews starring the Best Shots Crew will be up at the 'Rama on Monday morning around 9 a.m.-ish. This upcoming week I've decided to tackle:

Incredible Hulk #102 and 52 #35

The Hulk review is my "most brutal" review yet and 52 is more of a story re-cap with some analysis and I might do some mini features (or "pellets" the Best Shots Crew call them) on:

Uncanny X-Men #482
Front Line #10
Jonah Hex #15

Besides those books, I also purchased:
Civil War #6
newuniversal #2
Fantastic Four: The End #4
The Irredeemable Ant-Man #4
Powers #22
Front Line #10
All Star Superman #6
Amazing Spiderman #537
Manhunter #27 (the REAL Blue Beetle was on the cover--discuss.)
Exiles #89

Yes, I know it was a HUGE week--NEXT week is totally lightweight:
52 #36
Green Arrow #70
Justice Society of America #2
Friendly, Neighborhood Spider-Man #16
New Excalibur #15
Thunderbolts #110 (Variant Cover, of course)
Wolverine: Origins #10 (Arthur Suydam cover)

Looks like less than 30 bucks for me next week. Feel free to post up what you're reading or buying from week to week and discuss, discuss, discuss.

So, as promised, I am going to provide you with my little "mini-interview" with Steve Niles, creator of 30 Days of Night--which is being made into a film as we speak, directed by Sam Raimi. Steve was nice enough to answer some little odds and ends for my meager little blog, I like to call it, "Steve meets a more important and famous Steve" or "Oh look, our little baby is all grows up...":

Eks: In my recent review of your book, Criminal Macabre #1 from Dark Horse, I mentioned that some of the imagery was disturbing enough to make me want to sleep with the lights on. What makes you sleep with the light on?

Niles: Zombies lumbering around in the yard.

Eks: No kidding, my friends make fun of my Zombie fixation--because you never know, right? What was the first movie/book/other that set you on your path as a writer? How old were you?

Niles: I was around eleven or twelve. I'd been reading comics my whole life but it was when I read Richard Matheson's I am Legend I realized I wanted to be a writer.

[Short note: If you don't know who Richard Matheson is, click here.]

Eks: What genres or characters would you interested in tackling outside of what you're working on?


Niles: Well, I've done horror, comedy, kid's stuff and superhero. I suppose I'd like to try a straight hard-boiled character--something along the lines of Cal McDonald [lead character in Criminal Macabre] but without the monsters. I'd also like to do more Science Fiction at some point.


Eks: With the return of Westerns and Romance comics faring so well, what mainstream horror icons seem ripe for revitalization? Who would you call "dibs" on?

Niles: If there weren't so many of them already out there, I'd love to write an on-going Frankenstein series.

Eks: Yeah, the Christopher Lee version from "The Curse of Frankenstein" still gives me the creeps. What's the valuable lesson you had to learn the hard way in your career as a writer?


Niles: To never give up. I almost did a couple of times and now, looking back, I'm very happy I didn't. I kept writing regardless of getting published right away.--eks

I just want to thank Steve Niles one last time for letting me talk to him, if you can pick up Criminal Macabre #1 at your local comic store--it's a lot of fun.

I think that's going to wrap things up for me today--check back from time to time, I may post little things to ruminate over. Feel free to post your remarks or if you happen to be someone from the industry wanting a book reviewed specifically for Best Shots give me an e-mail at eksfactor.blogspot@gmail.com!

Thanks again for checking out the Eks Factor!
Steve
01.06.07

Listening to: Josh play World of Warcraft, the sounds of battle are making me bloodthirsty!
Reading: Fantastic Four: The End #4 by Alan Davis from Marvel Comics.
DVD to watch: Dungeons and Dragons: The Complete Animated Series
Plans for the day: WoWing it up with my boys. Happy early birthday Betsy!