_  It's a well known fact that us BiblioBabes LOVE us some Pat Shand, so we couldn't be more tickled (c'mon, you can even try us!) to have him back guest blogging about the badass new comic he's been working on: 1000 Ways to Die.  Really, how much cooler can this guy get?


1000 WAYS TO DIE

the graphic novel

On any given day, should you find yourself visiting the Biblio Babes, you’re likely to find any or all of the following: the eponymous Babes geeking out over horror, literary sexiness, and posts about the utter idiocy of mankind. That’s why, on the release of my 1000 Ways to Die graphic novel from Zenescope Entertainment and Spike TV, I chose this site to celebrate the occasion*. At the core, 1000 Ways to Die, both the comic and the TV show, is a sexy horror anthology about how moronic we all are and how, one by one, we’re paying for our stupidity in the most gruesome ways possible.

I’ve written my fair share of horror. I’m of the belief that some of the best horror are those character driven tales that are less about the frights and more about the fear we writers, directors, and artists instill in you, the audience, that the characters you love might not make it through the end of our story. However, there is a different, equally effective kind of horror: the kind that makes movie goes screen, “Don’t do that, you idiot!” We’ve watched many a buxom blonde and countless douchey frat boys run from masked murderers, knowing that, were we in their shoes, we would be a hell of a lot smarter. That’s the reason why, when Zenescope offered me a shot at writing the 1000 Ways to Die tie-in comic, I immediately said yes because the show is pretty damn good at showing us a similar kind of schadenfreude – because who doesn’t like to laugh at someone dumb getting a smack in the head (or their head in a vat of burning oil, for example) from fate?

1000 Ways to Die warmly embraces that B-movie ethos, and I tried like hell to capture that within the pages of the comic. With salacious, I-feel-dirty-having-read-that sex; the goriest, grossest, most gruesome deaths this side of Eli Roth’s fever dreams; a narrator who puns more than a CSI-Miami parody; and a tongue-in-cheek attitude to add a playful tone to all of the above, this is certainly not your normal graphic novel or show. I hope you, the dedicated fans of the Biblio Babes, will check it out. It’s a bloody good time.

Now, I’d end this post with a picture of me doing the whole Naked Reading thing, but something tells me you didn’t come here to see that.

* I say my in a very lose sense, just to make the sentence less awkward. I contributed five stories to this thick volume; truly, a team of hyper-talented people contributed to this volume, including my editor and fellow writer, Ralph Tedesco, who got me involved with this project in the first place.

_PATRICK SHAND writes comic books, short stories, plays, films, literary criticism, and his enemies' obituaries. You follow him on Tumblr, Twitter, or Amazon.
patrickshand.tumblr.com
twitter.com/patshand
http://www.amazon.com/Patrick-Shand/e/B0056NT0CU/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1328714120  

We are very happy to introduce Andrew, one of our favourite people! Here is his review for RAGE. It's very well written (way to show us up dude) ;) xx 

High school student Charles Decker enters his English class, pulls out a gun, and shoots Mrs. Underwood in the head. This act of violence is the catalyst in “Rage”. As his teacher lays dead in a pool of blood he holds the rest of the class hostage. Charles is a very angry young man. Even before he decides to come to school with a gun we learn of an earlier incident in which he severely beat up another teacher of his. 

While his English teacher lies dead and the students, frightened for their lives, try to understand why Charlie has done this. The story itself examines this question. What makes someone resort to such violence? However while the author attempts to put us in Charlie’s head, primarily through the use of first person perspective, he does not provide the reader with definitive answers.  

So as the police arrive outside of the school, Decker and the other students start to see what makes each other tick. Like something out of “The Breakfast Club”, fellow classmates Sylvia Regan, Ted Jones, Irma Bates, Carol Granger, Sandra Cross, and Grace Stanner listen to and share stories amongst each other. Its Charlie we learn about the most. Like the tense relationship with his father, a man who believes in corporal punishment. Is the violence of his father passed onto Charlie? When Grace and Irma get into a shouting match Charlie’s “civilized” approach is for the ladies to face off with character assassinations of each other and slapping matches. Students who started out in fear of Charlie, start to identify with him.  

“Rage” was written in the 60’s. Reading this story in the year of 2012, its hard not to be reminded of the school violence in this modern age. The simplicity of the title suggests an emotional reaction that we are all capable of. If Charlie is able to confront where his rage stems from, perhaps he and us readers can begin to understand the violence and rage within us all.            


Thanks again Andrew! You can follow Andrew on Twitter. We do! 
Much love Xx

The BiblioBabes are very excited to present to you, for the very first time, our very first guest article - written by the very talented Patrick Shand!
Not only is he cool as hell, but he's famous, too; he's been published multiple times, and he makes us BiblioBabes swoon like crazy. 
So, without further ado, Mr. Patrick Shand!

The New Comic Book Readers Movement

by Patrick Shand

Okay, I admit it. I’m neither a babe nor am I Canadian. Before you say “fuck this” and scroll down to catch up on the latest Naked Reading Sunday (for your sake, dear reader, I won’t be participating – sorry, you’ll have to use your imagination), hang out with me for a moment to talk about funny books.

And no, I’m not talking about the books you’ll find in the humor section pictures of cats who can’t spell very well, collections of clouds and other objects that look like dicks, or rants by grumpy old white men. I mean the ones that used to be sold at news stands and drugstores. The ones that now find their home in quaint (and sometimes scary) places known as comic shops.

Now, before I go on, I’ll tell you why I’m talking about comics on a site where you’d normally see the two founding Babes, Kat and Cara, talk about books. First of all, Kat is a friend, and she was nice enough to invite me to her site, which seems to get more and more popular every week. The other thing… I think I may have a point to make about the comics industry and its relationship to BiblioBabes – and not just our two gracious hosts, but women all over the world who would rather spend their nights reading than anything else.

The Internet has been in a bit of an uproar over recent depiction of women in comics, and rightfully so. The hashtag #womenreadcomics has been floating around Twitter, and many female creators and fans have posted their own blogs about how they came to read and love comics… and yet they’re constantly marginalized by an industry often plagued with an “old boys club” atmosphere. That has to do with a lot of the mainstream superhero comics, but it also comes down to the comic shops. Some comic shop owners act, essentially, as the hipsters of the industry. There’s a lot of the “if you haven’t been into comics for years, you are a n00b and thus a poser” ideology permeating these shops, and it’s sad and prevents new fans from getting into comics. Here are a few examples.

When I was young, my uncle used to buy me comics from a magazine stand. He brought some classic Iron Man, Rocketeer, Hulk, and even some more indie stuff from the late eighties and early nineties. My favorite was an over-sized copy of Stephen King’s CREEPSHOW. Scared the shit out of me. I grew up, though, because I, like many others, thought that comics were just for kids. I was ignorant, though, and would discover later (obviously) the extent to which I was wrong. I decided to get back into comics in late 2006, and I went to my local shop for the first time. I saw they had issues 2-5 of IDW’s ANGEL: OLD FRIENDS, but I also saw that they had boxed upon boxes of back issues. I asked the owner if there was any chance he had the first issue – a fair question, I thought. From the look on his face, you’d have thought I asked if he’d be cool with me stabbing him in the head with a screwdriver. I was supposed to know, of course, that he keeps all of his miniseries together on the shelf until months after, at which point they become back issues. I left the shop thinking, “Fuck this guy and fuck comic shops.” I went back to the shop eventually, and I got used to the owner and he got used to me, and now he’s quite friendly. But still. I would take that as an isolated example, but a friend of mine recently went to another local Long Island shop to buy Ghostbusters #1, and THAT guy was a dick to him as well and he decided not to go back. And trust me – there aren’t many shops on the island. And while I, again, am not a lady, I’ve heard stories about ladies having uncomfortable experience in shops. While there are many, MANY shops that are more than welcoming to new fans, regardless of gender, it’s a disturbing fact that some are not.

So what happens to the people who want to buy comics, would rather support local business than buy online, but don’t want to get treated like an asshole when they ask a question about a comic?

I don’t know the answer. But I want to find out.

I have a challenge for you BiblioBabes readers. And hey, the Biblio Babes as well. I’d like to ask you all to find and visit your local comic shop between today and next Monday. Buy a comic, take a picture of yourself with the comic, and send it to me at patrickeshand [AT] gmail DOT com. Along with the pictures, tell me a story about your experience at the comic shop, whether positive or negative. When you do so, give me your address and I’ll send you a free comic. Maybe one that I wrote if I have enough copies when my GRIMM FAIRY TALES comic hits stands (more info on that below), but I have a lot of older issues of comics that I really don’t need anymore. I’d love to use those comics to foster love for what is, in my opinion, not only the most overlooked but also the richest storytelling medium.

It’s important, as readers and writers, for us to ingest every bit of literature we can. It’s a shame that comics and graphic novels are often disregarded, and I would like to see if we can start a bit of a new comic book readers movement. This industry is my livelihood, so let’s keep it alive!

Thanks a bunch to Kat and Cara for having me. Hopefully, I’ll be back in the future. Ranting Ginger Wednesday, anyone?

…No? Fine.

PATRICK SHAND is a writer of things and stuff. His comic book writing includes Joss Whedon’s ANGEL, Spike TV’s 1000 WAYS TO DIE, and Zenescope Entertainment’s GRIMM FAIRY TALES. He has also written plays that have been produced in New York City and short stories that have been includes in literary magazines and small press anthologies. You can find out more about his writing by doing any of the following things: A) Asking him, B) Offering him gifts, gratitude, and gift cards to local restaurants, or C) visiting patrickshand.blogspot.com

 

His latest comic, GRIMM FAIRY TALE: HOLIDAY EDITION 2011, comes out in two weeks (Wednesday, 12/21). If you preorder here, you can save a ginger’s life. That isn’t at all a lie.