Hey all, the RalphinCru (get it?) is heading your way! Well, your way if you live in or around the Pittsburgh area. That’s right, the good ol’ boys are taking a little road trip for the Pittsburgh Comicon. I will be acting as chauffer, with Ralph and Stu providing commentary.

Look for us on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of April. And, if you do not live in the area, you should spend some money and make the trip just to see us. Trust me, we are worth it. Just ask good friends Mark Bloodworth and Randy Zimm…… You know what? On second thought, don’t. I don’t think Mark is still over the Birch Run thing……I just HAD to switch his coffee with Folgers Flavor Crystals…..

Ralph and I have been doing a lot of brainstorming and writing lately, which is partly why I haven’t been online so much. Because of this, we have a bunch of material waiting to be produced. Anybody out there have a spare hundred grand? Not yet, I suppose, but that isn’t going to stop us. We are actively seeking artists for several upcoming projects. We’ll be looking for 4, 6, 8, and 10-page stories right on up to 28-page one-shots, mini-series, and possibly new ongoing series. Now, don’t expect all this material to come out all at once, of course. This will be about a two-year plan, starting very slowly, but we want to start up a comic book company again. And anyone who knows us, also knows that we’re not artists! Okay, Ralph has some skills, but I am little more than a doodler. We need some artists to bring our tales to the printed page. If you can’t catch us at one of our convention appearances, drop us a line, an email, or tell us about your own website where we can check out your work. This may be your big chance, boys and girls. Don’t delay. Act today!

I was on vacation last week, which in my hectic life means I finally got all my laundry done! I also spent most of the week online and driving around town looking for a new (used) car, as my old beater gave up the ghost…on the night before my vacation actually started. Basically, my kids were out of school for Easter break and I decided I wanted to take a week off too. So this past Friday I took my kids out sledding. In the snow! Never in my life have I gone sledding on March 28th! The following day I was in my shirtsleeves in the backyard grilling hamburgers. I would like to say that the snow is finally done, but I was putting a new battery in my car this afternoon, and a few flakes were blowing around in the frigid air. Not many, but they were there. Only in Michigan. Michigan is known for more than just wacky weather, however. We’ve always had good luck finding talented comic artists all over this state. In the months to come, we’ll be actively seeking artists for several projects. That’s a hint, guys. If you have a portfolio, drop us a line, or meet up with us at one of our upcoming convention appearances. Looks like 2009 will be the year of Ralfinstudio. We plan to have a number of printed book available between now and the 2009 convention circuit. I’ve already given notice to my pastor that I’m taking the summer of 2009 off from my worship leader position, as we plant to do as many convention appearances next year as possible. Every weekend that we can find a convention within striking distance, we’ll be on the road. This year, we’re just getting our feet wet. Again. If you are a penciller or inker (or both), we’re interested in seeing your work. We have TEN different projects in the works, so whatever your style, we may have a script that will be a good match. Here’s the email address that I check most often: vonstueben1960@comcast.net. Hope to hear from you soon!

This is just a quick notice to all visitors/posters. I have been having a helluva time fighting spammers on this blog, but I just finished solving the problem. However, I had to make a few sacrifices. Firstly, I added a bazillion words to the Blacklist. Secondly, I changed the way people can reply to comments. If you try to leave a comment, and cannot, chances are you tried to put in a Forbidden Word. Please do not be angry. I do not hate you. The useless sacks of blood and hair called spammers, however, do.

Safety, security, and peace of mind. All in exchange for a razor thin slice of your soul……

It’s been a long week at work, but it’s Friday, the sun is out, and it’s 50 degrees outside!!! Woo hoo!!! It’s a heat wave! I’ve got to get back on track with the Oz:Book series (sorry, Gary). But tonight I’m getting ready for tomorrow night’s St. Patrick’s Day songfest at the Garden City Senior Towers. Those old dames just love me! I’ll be singing for close to two hours Saturday night, so I’m sure I’ll sound great at church Sunday morning. I do some Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Englebert, and Tom Jones; then move onto some Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond; and finish up with a round of Irish favorites. Sorry to disappoint everyone out there, but this gig is for RESIDENTS ONLY. You’ll have to catch me at karaoke night at the Pittsburgh show, or on one of those rare occasions I actually get out of the house long enough to sing a few tunes at a local pub. It’s been about six months since my last outing and I’m seriously overdue!
But getting back to serious matters, I’m going to have to turn my attention away from all this Dark Oz buzz that’s been going around lately, and get everything finished up for Oz:Book One. The cover has been scanned at 600 dpi, and I’ll email that to Gary Reed this weekend. I’ve got a few text pieces to finish up, and a quick rewrite of a Deadworld prose piece I sent him a few months ago. Sounds like I’m pretty booked up Sunday afternoon. Oh, well, this is the path I have chosen, so….I’m off to see the wizard…….

Well, we have a table at the Pittsburgh Comicon coming up in April, but we signed up a little too late to make their convention flyer. I just got mine in the mail today, and nary a mention of Ralfinstudio. (Note to self: make sure you’re earlier for the next batch of cons!) Nonetheless, we should be popping up on their website any day now. And we’ll be there all three days, manning our small press booth, pushing our product, and gladhanding everyone that passes by. Plus, I’ll be giving my lungs some excercise at the All-Star Comicon Karaoke on Friday night! See the events page on the con’s website for more details. I, for one, do not plan to embarrass myself. I plan to knock ‘em dead! I mean that in a good way. Ralph respectfully declines. We won’t even mention that incident in the 1980’s with Devo’s Whip It. Ooops! I mentioned it.
Now that I’m caught up on the other websites (darkozthecomicbook; MySpace) I’ve got to get back to scanning Oz pages for Oz: Book Two, and writing some text pieces for Oz: Book One. I don’t know how I ever got so busy!
My Dad is coming home this Friday, so that will help ease up the schedule. My sister Joyce and I live closest to the folks, so we’ve been driving Mum to see Dad pretty frequently. I’ll be stopping in to see them a couple of times a week on the way home from work, but it will be much easier than picking Mum up and taking her to the nursing care facility. Thanks to all those who have been praying for him.
You want to know how busy I’ve been lately? Our TV died eight or nine days ago, and I haven’t even started looking for a replacement yet! Maybe this weekend….
Well, just got back from the Boy Scout meeting, it’s getting late, and I’ve got to get up at 5:00am, so talk atcha later!

Hip-hop artist Pras Michel of the Fugees has optioned film and TV rights to the comic series “Oz,” originally published by Caliber Comics and then under the title “Dark Oz” from Arrow Comics. Storyline follows an older Dorothy Gale in a “gothic and more macabre” setting as she journeys through Oz with the characters known to millions via L. Frank Baum’s “Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
Pras Michel is producing with Marjorie Jean, who starred alongside Pras in 2002’s “Go For Broke” and Aaron Denenberg. The screenplay was adapted from the work of original comic creators Ralph Griffith and Stuart Kerr by themselves with Mr. Denenberg completing the scripting chores. The main hook of the comic and films will be spells of evil placed on our favorite characters, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion by the conquering Nome King. The comic book can be viewed at DarkOzTheComicBook.com

Plans are to begin production at the end of 2008. The pic will be a live-action version of the long running comic series which spanned over forty issues, which Michel intends to produce as three separate films. In addition to producing duties, Michel plans to star as the Scarecrow with Jean playing Scraps, The Patchwork Girl.

Michel produced upcoming release “The Mutant Chronicles” with John Malkovich and Thomas Jane, and a 2007 docu on homelessness, “Skid Row,” in which Michel lived as a homeless man in Los Angeles for nine days.

WILD PLANET PREVIEW COVER

Cover art for OZ: BOOK ONE

Seems like a few people are talking about the whole Dark Oz thing…check it out.
Variety, cinematical.com, Ain’t It Cool News, mania.com, bloody-disgusting.com (a horror site, dontcha know), comics2film.com, The Movie Blog, cinemablend.com, dreadcentral.com, and…oh, do you really want to see more? I’m sorry. I just a little excited that after a year or so of plugging away at this website, that there is a sudden flurry of activity out there in the cyberverse. We’ve been here all along people. Why don’t you stay and visit for a while?

It’s been a rough couple of weeks, a rollercoaster ride with my Dad’s health. I’ve spent quite a bit of time visiting him in the hospital. He is now at a short term nursing care facility near home. Hopefully, in a week or so, he’ll be strong enough to got back to his apartment in the senior towers where he and my Mum live. In the mean time, my brother and sisters and I are taking turns taking Mum to visit Dad, or just going by ourselves. Everything else takes a back seat to family.
On top of that situation, I’ve been building a new website for Dark Oz, at the behest of our producers. I just finished uploading www.darkozthecomicbook.com and it will become available for viewing in the next 24 - 72 hours per our hosting service. It’s a bit more basic than this site, as it was designed by someone with no HTML programming knowledge, but it still looks pretty cool for an amateur. Not all the pages are active yet. I’ve still got some work to do, but it’s more than just an “under construction” page. Check it out….
This Monday is also Ralph and my first meeting at the Wonderworld store location. We hope to meet a few fans, maybe check out some artist portfolios, and generally have a good time talking comic book shop. Hope to see some of you there. TTFN!