Photographing the invisible. I'm sure there's applications in illustrating sequential art, but mostly, it's just damned cool. Be sure to check out the slide show. Via Design Observer.

The report from New Comic Night begins by noting I've missed quite a few posts. Of those lost weeks, the highlights were:

• Captain Britain and MI13 #6; a solid read that juggles multiple characters well, but now I expect more, having recently read the Pete Wisdom miniseries.
  
• Astonishing X-Men #27, I think, turned a corner with the most recent issue. It's still all way, way too decompressed, but if the rest of the arc follows through on the promise of the just-revealed premise, it should be a valuable addition to the X-Men mythology. I find the art way, way too overworked and static, but there's one page where it all comes together.
  
• and in Invincible Iron Man #6, I suppose I should be careful what I ask for. Arc concluded with about an issue-and-a-half of fight scene, continuing this series' problem of drawing things out too much. Still, I like the take on Tony, technology, and Tony's technology. Sticking around to see what happens next.

From this week:

• Tangent: Superman's Reign #8 has more action and fights, along with more characters standing around and talking. Still going to stick this out, but when it's all done, I have the feeling I'm not going have gotten more of Tangent universe, like I was hoping, but rather a typical cross-world team-up story. Like the new artist on this issue. And that backup story, really just an excuse for exposition, is just starting to get annoying.
  
• Challenger Deep also undeniably falls into the trap of feeling "like a movie pitch with art," but it's at least a moderately interesting movie, if not particularly innovative (except for the whole threat of global conflagration). Pacing continues to be odd, with two issues of talky setup, and this one all-action issue.
  
• Criminal's newest arc is proving to be my favorite yet. The story's more stripped down in a lot of ways, as predictable as a noir tale, but I'm more engaged. The gimmick of having the cartoon character come to "life," which I was initially apprehensive about, I think is one of the reasons.

At Jamie's urging, we watched The Fall last night. It is really a visual treat, and don't let the kinda downer of a storyline put you off — the tone is terrific and the tales (though I think they could've used a little tightening) are a lot of fun.

That time of year again, plugging one of my favorite charities — Donors Choose (though I wish they weren't necessary). Help out teachers across the country; search for "graphic novels" or any other subject or location.

Happy second birthday to Midnight Fiction! First ran across Richard's site at the beginning of the year, and he's been good enough to write some nice reviews and offer some ongoing coverage. But his site's also become a regular read for me for its coverage of and commitment to really small press publishing and his historical perspective on comix.

Marc's posted another treat from our upcoming comic. This full-length one-shot will follow Target, a character who's been mentioned, but not yet introduced, in RBS. See how we got to this splash page by checking out the PDF of the first four pages.

Well, we're wrapped on another terrific 24 Hour Comics Day in New Mexico, held at Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque and at Warehouse 21 with the assistance of True Believers in Santa Fe.

Plenty of liveblogging from the events; my Santa Fe posts are at the official 24 hour comics blog:

• Underway
  
• Snacktime
  
• We're Into the Coffee Now
  
• Works In Progress, Pizza
  
• Morning, Bagels, and a Newspaper Article
  
• Just About Wrapped up

Extra-special cool treat: a reporter and a photographer from The Santa Fe New Mexican stopped by, and prepared an article that ran in today's paper.

Hour-by-hour posts from Albuquerque (Q-Town) are at 24hcd.blogspot.com as well — but they also had their own dedicated blog at 24 Hours in Q-Town.

Much thanks again to Walter Burke Catering, Java Joe's, Upper Crust Pizza, La Montanita Co-Op, and BAWLS, the official energy drink of 24 Hour Comics Day for their donations.

24 Hour Comics Day is underway here in Santa Fe. And I'll be liveblogging it.

A PDF of string #8 is now available for download. In addition to an assortment of work from 7000 BC, this issue features the first ten pages of the first issue of New West — admittedly in the works for quite some time, but it's picking up again. And see how it began by downloading the preview PDF.

Ahhh! So behind on posting, still owe a couple weeks' worth of Reports from New Comics Nights. In the meantime, some recent comics-related links:

• PSFK notes the trend of comics as business communications tools. Like that Google thing.
  
• James points out that there's actually money to be made in comics — if you're Marvel or DC.
  
• A(n?) NYT review of The Alcoholic (which actually sounds pretty good) contains this astute observation: "The scene is a testament to the superb work of Mr. Haspiel, who conveys, through the characters’ body language, their anguish and true feelings. The accompanying caption … seems almost unnecessary." Yeah, folks, it's a visual medium — if you need a caption for everything, somebody's not doing their job.
  
• Jeff's parents ran across this piece on a project by Neal Adams. Just couldn't get away from a superhero reference in the headline, though. C'mon, people, it's about as far away from superheroes as you can get.

New webcomic: Bobwhite, about a bunch of art students in Rhode Island (a thinly veiled RISD?) Ha ha! RISD. No, I'm not bitter or anything. Why do you ask? via Making Light

OK busy with all sorts of goings-on, including our visit to FallCon, where I got to meet a bunch of folks from the Conspiracy. We also picked up plenty of self-published comics — and got a photo of "the greatest Mary Worth-related thing you have ever seen."

Been working on the 24 Hour Comics Day events in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It's coming up this weekend and I plan on blogging some, and maybe even getting some work done. To participate here in New Mexico, send an email, or check out the other participating sites around the world to find a location.

San Serriffe’s exact location is a matter of dispute.

Off to FallCon in St. Paul tomorrow. No, we won't have a table, we weren't organized enough for that (but there were mitigating circumstances). Plan on trying to meet some of the folks from the Cartoonist Conspiracy.