Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Finding my voice.

This weekend at Tucson Comic-Con reminded me of something very important. I started making comics to tale stories of all kinds to any audience that would listen. I have lost that drive and the passion due to a hectic schedule and a person trying (whether he realizes it or not) to ruin this end goal. It took Tucson Comic-Con to show me that.

Going forward, I am going to take advantage of every opportunity, commit myself to writing at least a page or outline a day and begin submitting a pitch a week to studios. 

I have made this proclamation before, but my resolve is stronger then ever. I have met someone special in my life and her support has been amazing. One she and I will most likely have kids. Do I want those kids to have a father who simply gets up everyday and goes to a job that means nothing to him but a paycheck to support them. No. I want to show them that dreams are achievable, even if it is a couple weekends a year. 

I love comic books. I love film. I love art. I am going to find a studio that believes in me. That believes in my artist. That believes in me like my special someone does. 

We will find or voice. We will find our story a home. We will....


-Tommy

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Tommy Needs Your Help!

Howdy, Ya'll.

As Many People know, I write comic books (well... I try to.). Issue two of my book is raising money for it's print run. We aren't looking for a handout, in fact, you get awesome, awesome things in return for your contribution to the cause. In the sense, It's more of a pre-order then anything else.

Here is the break down.


$1-- For this, you get our undying gratitude for contributing and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions! (I'm a writer, it's what I can offer with my talents.)

$5-- You will get a signed copy of "Brief History in Time" issue 2 and an ashcan size of issue 1(that way you are not lost in the story) and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions! 

$10-- You will get a signed copy of issue 1 and 2 of Brief History in Time. (Issue one will be a standard size comic as opposed to the ashcan size from the $5 reward.) and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions!

$20-- You will get a signed copy of issue 1 and 2 of Brief History in Time as well as 2 8.5 X 11 prints inspired by "Brief History in Time" and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions!

$30-- Here is where the real fun starts. You will get a signed copy of issue 1 and 2 of Brief History in Time as well as a the Variant cover for issue 2 by Jeff Pina of Sideways 8 Studios. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sideways-8-Studios/352035155472 and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions!

$40-- Here is where the real fun starts. You will get a signed copy of issue 1 and 2 of Brief History in Time as well as a the Variant cover for issue 2 by Jeff Pina of Sideways 8 Studios and Caleb (artists of "Brief History in Time" and the other dude from the video) will do a 8.5 X 11 original sketch for you based on one of our books! and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions!

$50-- Here is the big one! You will get a signed copy of issue 1 and 2 of Brief History in Time as well as a the Variant cover for issue 2 by Jeff Pina of Sideways 8 Studios and Caleb (artists of "Brief History in Time" and the other dude from the video) will do a 11 X 17 original sketch for you (full inks) based on one of our books! and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions!

$75-- Here is the big one! You will get a signed copy of issue 1 and 2 of Brief History in Time as well as a the Variant cover for issue 2 by Jeff Pina of Sideways 8 Studios and Caleb (artists of "Brief History in Time" and the other dude from the video) will include a random page from either issue 1 or 2 of "Brief History in Time"! and you can have your name included in the book on the "thank you page" for your contributions!

You can reserve your copies today at here

We hope we can count on you with our goal of sharing our love of comics, story telling, art and learning. 

thanks,

Tommy.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

the truth of it all


the truth of it all

I spoke. she laughed.
Her eyes turned to me.
electricity.
an idiosyncratic moment which can never be repeated.
no. but, why no?
there is no tomorrow for those who live today.
leafs may change as do the color of the heavens.
in you I find a tomorrow.
in me you found a yesterday.
today we find a truth.
A truth that runs deep enough to leave it's mark where no one can see.
it's evidence only appears when fate crosses our path.
oh, yesterday. I remember you well enough to still have faith.
faith, however, is a young man's game and my soul hasn't the time.  


I forgot how much poetry i used to write. It soothes the soul when worldly remedies seem to fall short.  

Monday, July 23, 2012

My response to a comment on healthcare.

Why we need medical reform. My response to a negative feedback I received on Facebook about healthcare. I think it's important.

"I just lived through a very similar situation with my Uncle whom had insurance only to be denied treatment for his disorder because it would not be covered. Forcing him to forgo his work, being a productive member of society and tax payer and get on access to simply be treated. The common misconception of the issue at hand is that it will allow the government to "monopolize" the medical industry. All of us who have been directly effected by the morally corrupt business of health (I'm saying this as a raw, panning generalization) simply want to see regulation. As of now, the medical world is the wild west where business practices seemed to made as they go. Monopoly? What is more of a monopoly? Available medicine being sold at 500% profit and on the rise because you are the only maker and refuse to se the rights for others to make it as well? Thus making a treatment available for more of those who need it.

Regulation and alternative options is all we want. I am a capitalist but I am also a human being. There are countless drugs that have been made that were being sold at a reasonable profit only to have that price skyrocket when it was found to treat more serious disorders. Thus making it unaffordable for their original, niche market and cutting their new demographics market in half by tripling their costs and making it unaffordable when they should have left it at cost, or a small rise because or production cost would be acceptable due to the rise in demand, but profiteering at the cost of human life and their suffering is what needs to be examined. This isn't a republican, democrat or whatever thing. It is a human being thing. The reason that most people are against this needed change or regulation is because they can afford to be sick financially or have no problems medically. Politicians have their insurance provided by the government... Talk about hypocritical... it's like Britney Spears judging talent. Where do they get off?

I don't want private healthcare to go away. I am lucky enough to have a great insurance that covers my health needs. I'm lobbying for those who can't move on from their souls crushing jobs excuses they are tied to their company insurance because they happens to get sick once. For the kid who is suffering ecause their hard working parent(s) can't afford shoes, rent and food let alone a doctor visit and
Or more importantly, being sick should never bankrupt a family or cost them their home.

People who are sick should be treated not exploited!

The system is admittedly flawed right now, but, we are lucky enough to live in a country where are laws are not set in stone. We can amend and adjust until a law or system works.

This shouldn't be political, it should transcend politics, business and personal wants. It's a moral obligation to help. To regain our spot atop the world powers, we first have to fix our backbone, to make people, our greatest commodity, healthy again.

Regulation and alternative options is all we ask for. "We" being the people, whom simply want to do more than breath free. We simply want to breath and suffocate under a mountain of debt because they or a loved one simply got sick once.

I'm now off my soap box."

Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises Above Expectations

As a long time reader of Batman, I came into this film with very high expectations. High enough to the point that I, along with two friends, drove a hundred plus miles to see this film in the best theater possible. Were my expectations reached? As a fan? Yes and beyond. As a film lover? A couple of issues with editing but that would be extreme knit-picking. I will put it to the reader of this review as simply as possible. The movie was so epic (a word I do not regularly use as a descriptor), on a level that only the Nolan brothers can afford us with a hardy assist from great acting and comic to movie heavy weight, David s. Goyer. In this era of the handy cam, first person film; dark knight along with films like Promethus, the Avengers, Amazing Spiderman and so on, are not only a throw back to the time of blockbusters but a throwback to Hollywood giving us the films we want and deserve. Not films made simply to be released.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

I graduated.

I received my diploma today from the University of Arizona. The tactical affirmation that a chapter of my life is officially over.... This was simply chapter two, however. Tomorrow the new chapter of my life begins. A chapter filled with possibility (and a ton of student debt). I can't help but stop and reminisce of everything it took to get here. The drive, the perseverance, the support, the doubt, the trials and the tribulations. Most importantly. The will. I did because of family, friends and desire. I did it in spite of fear, naysayers and myself.

Today marks a proud day for me, my loved ones and my future. I have met my most formidable foe face to face and slew him. With this victory at my heels, tomorrow brings a new more exciting battle of which I am more prepared for.

Thank you to everybody who helped or inspired along the way of my adventure.

-tommy

Saturday, May 19, 2012

To my Uncle whom I love...


To my Uncle, whom I love;

                Some of my earliest memories are traveling to my family’s quaint hometown of Hotchkiss, Colorado. A town of a few hundred people and where someone “egging” doors was headline news and if I were ever able to manage to get a date it would be wrong due to the fact I was releated to the entire town in one way or another…

Another memory is sitting around my Grandmother’s home watching University of Arizona basketball with my entire family. Cheering along with every Steve Kerr jump shot, leaping out of our seats with every Chris Mills fast break and finish, celebrating their wins and crying through their losses (I am referring to my beloved cousin Danny on this one). The only times we could hear ourselves talk was when we would all superstitiously sing the theme to Jack Furrier's westernTire Center so the Cats could pull out the victory. The rest of the time we were all muted, lost in the commotion if you will, as were all the commentators. There, above all, was my passionate Uncle arguing, commenting and for all intents and purposes “coaching” at the TV.  Like most adolescent memories, at the time I was annoyed, just wanting to hear the game and the roars of the crowed. Now, as a man, I look back on these times and treasure each moment; each time the ref “needed to pull the whistle from their ass” or “the refs are obviously paid off” are now sacred and sadly finding myself thinking the same things as I watch Pac12basketball.

My Uncle will always play a vital role in my life. I was lucky enough to have two parents who loved me; One affectionately and the other in his own, distant way. My Father, despite all of his faults, is a good man and I have never held anything against him or blamed him for any of my problems or him never being around, mostly because I have never felt I had anything missing from my life or childhood. Those “missing parts of our childhoods that only a father could fix” were never a concern for me. It wasn’t till later that I realized it was because the gaps were filled by an attentive Uncle who loved and treated me like a son. Teaching and playing basketball with me and his own kids, being that loud voice from the stands at all our sporting events that either was cheering us on or telling us to keep our head in the game and even helping me learn to drive a car as well as work on one…. There are many things a boy can only learn from a having a father around… I agree… I am fortunate enough to both have had a father as well as a surrogate one.

One of my faults in youth and now, to a lesser degree, is becoming easily annoyed. Mostly when people give an opinion and refuse to hear or cede that another opinion may be right. My Uncle and I would spend endless time “arguing” over the most inconsequential and trivial things. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that we weren’t arguing but discussing (be it loudly) these touchy topics. Moreover, I may have been arguing but he was always showing me that there are other opinions than my own (as wrong as they may be). These things that I once thought annoyed me are the very same that will make me laugh and smile 10, 20 and 30 years from now.

In 2010, my Uncle was diagnosed with esophageal cancer; another family member falling victim to cancer in my family. He has fought since day one by enduring chemo, radiation and multiple surgeries. Even now, as the final round of his bout approaches the end, he continues the fight.

 I have many heroes. Kevin Smith, Aaron Sorkin,Stan Lee, Robert Kirkman, Orson Welles and more. But chief among them is my Uncle. His strength, thirst for knowledge and love for his family will always serve as inspiration for me.

I wish I would have said all the above more the last 27 years, but I am saying them now. And putting it to stone in the cyber-verse for all to say and, like my Uncle has done for me, inspire all to love, pursue knowledge and understanding and, more importantly, take time to yell at the TV and coach your favorite team on to victory.

Forever your Tommy Two-Shoes,
Tommy