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"Shooter" - April 2009




	Click here for links to high quality gicleé prints and T-shirts from Gallery Nucleus.



		*Amulet Nominated for Eisner Award* - Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper is nominated for an Eisner Award! *CBC Nominates Amulet* - Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper is nominated for a Children's Choice Book Award in which nearly 15,000 kids cast their votes for their favorite books of the year. *Best Books for Young Adults 2009* - Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper makes the list! *Will Smith and Akiva Goldsman option Amulet movie* - The film will be based on the story of the first two books. Screenwriters have been hired, but the film has yet to be greenlit. I hope it comes together! *Ain't It Cool News reviews Daisy Kutter* - "It’s just great when I come across a book that is a perfect representation of sequential art. When I read a graphic novel/comic book that is the pinnacle of characterization, storytelling and art I just giggle with glee. It makes me so happy to come across a book that exemplifies the best in its class and make no mistake about it DAISY KUTTER: THE LAST TRAIN is one of the best comics I’ve ever read. Period." Click to read the full review. *Best Books for Young Adults 2006* - Daisy Kutter - The Last Train is listed as one of the "Best Books for Young Adults" by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the American Library Association (ALA). *25 People in Webcomics* - Comixpedia cites me as one of the 25 people of webcomics for 2005. *Best Webcomics of 2005* - The Webcomics Examiner makes a list of their favorite online comics. Copper, along with the comics of a whole slew of my friends, made it on the list this year. *Comic Belief* - Another catchy article title. This is a scan of a recent article in the Pasadena Star News. Here's an accompanying cover image. *Scholastic Snares a Viper* - The title of this article is pretty hilarious. It talks a little about my next graphic novel series. This article is from Publisher's Weekly. *Copper in the New York Times* - Copper is featured in an article on webcomics. *Copper on G4TV* - Copper is featured on Attack of the Show. *DK review at Silver Bullet Comic Books* - "Daisy Kutter: The Last Train reaffirmed my faith in comic book story-telling, and I can’t wait to read it again." - Keith Dallas *DK review at Diamond's Scoop* - "We had managed to overlook Daisy Kutter when it first came out in mini-series form, but no such mistake this time." *DK review at The Fourth Rail* - "Mix equal parts George Lucas, Miyazaki and Sergio Leone and you've got some idea what to expect from Daisy Kutter, the western/sci-fi adventure by Kazu Kibuishi." - Randy Lander

The Bourne Ultimatum
August 26, 2007 - Sunday

The Bourne Ultimatum

I recently bought the first two Jason Bourne films on DVD since I hadn't seen them before. Well, now I've watched all three, and I have to agree with the hype. This is one excellent series. The first film, The Bourne Identity directed by Doug Liman (Swingers), is a solid espionage thriller. It is simple, elegant, and loads of fun. The second in the series, The Bourne Supremacy directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93), is also simple and elegant, but while the first film brought a sense of fun to the espionage thriller in the vein of James Bond, the second brought a sense of pathos and grittiness.

Both are great films, since the stories (from Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne book series) are excellent, but they are strikingly different. In fact, I was slightly disappointed to see that much of what I loved about the first film- Bourne's confidence stemming from the discovery of his latent superspy powers - was sadly missing from the second film, though Greengrass did bring a sense of seriousness that really helped make the government side of things look more intimidating and, when it had to be, more menacing. The shakycam style of his films was also a bit distracting, bringing just about as much to the piece as it took away, but admittedly, the action scenes (especially car chases) were brought to a much higher level. This brings us to the third Bourne film, directed by Greengrass, and it looks like both he and the rest of the crew have been doing their homework. Now, with the massive critical success of United 93 behind him, Greengrass brings back a real sense of confidence to his shaky style, and the results are amazing.

Everything I loved about the first film - the clever against all odds matches that pit the truth seeker Bourne against a morally-confused-but-highly-effective Black Ops program are back in full glory (where it was waning a bit in Supremacy), and now they're bolstered with the hard-edged action that Greengrass already brought to the series, which is in turn backed up by the confidence in style and purpose that is evident in United 93. The excellent soundtrack by John Powell also does a lot to provide energy, building off the themes he created in the first two films. Storywise, the script is solid, and for those of you who remember everything that happened in the preceding installments, the material is gold. Like a beautiful poem, the writers have brought the series right back to the beginning, using moments from the past films to bring emotional resonance to this film's climax, while also cementing Jason Bourne's legacy, or what he represents to the people who enjoy his adventures.

All in all, the entire trilogy is a marvelous piece of work, and I encourage all storytellers to check out the Bourne films. By never giving the audience more than they need, and always giving just slightly more than enough, this crew has delivered a finely-balanced series that effectively delivers the goods.

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Books available on Amazon: pre-order: -Copper - paperback -Copper - hardcover -Amulet 2 - hardcover -Amulet 2 - paperback available now: -Flight 6 -Flight 5 -Amulet - paperback -Amulet - hardcover -Flight Explorer -Flight 4 -Flight 3 -Flight 2 -Daisy Kutter -Flight 1
UPCOMING EVENTS
	Amulet 2 Signing @ Nucleus SATURDAY, SEPT. 12th, 2009 Reading & Panel: 1 - 2pm Q & A: 2 - 2:30pm Book Signing: 2:30 - 4pm Storytelling For Comics & Film Class @ Nucleus BEGINS SEPT. 18th, 2009 7:00pm to 10:00pm for seven Tuesdays, plus online consulting between sessions. Storytelling for Comics and Film at Nucleus. SIGN UP SOON! Amulet 2 Signing @ Altadena Library FRIDAY OCT. 2nd, 2009 - I will be signing books from 4:30pm to 5:30pm at the Altadena Public Library. Pasadena Public Library Art Night FRIDAY OCT. 9th, 2009 - I will be selling and signing books from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at the Pasadena Public Library. Yale University Master's Tea MARCH 1st, 2010 - Yale University Master's Tea. More info as date approaches.

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