WOOHOO!

Got some great news today! Can't say from where or about what. Funny how things work that way sometimes. But needless to say, it is something I am very excited about and an opportunity that I think will be a very good one for me.
But that's all I can say for now... more as it develops...

On-Sale September 26, 2007...

ON-SALE NOW!

FRANKLIN RICHARDS: MONSTER MASH

Things get frightful this Fall as Franklin Richards returns to explore the deepest, darkest corners of his father's lab. Join Franklin and H.E.R.B.I.E. as they unleash all kinds of monstrous adventure! It's five brand new tales that will be so much fun it's downright scary!
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AWOL

Sorry for the long absence from the blog.
Deadlines are pretty tight this week, so don't expect to hear from me much.
Once I'm done writing for my job, I'll try to write for fun... at least a bit...

Coming in December...

Shameless self promotion time again!

POWER PACK Vol. 1 Hardcover
Written by MARC SUMERAK
Art & Cover by GURIHIRU

Readers of all ages rejoice as Marvel's youngest team of super heroes returns for more awesome action, family fun and Snark-stomping adventures! It's the triumphant return of everyone's favorite super-powered siblings -- Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie -- in brand-new stories that are sure to delight new readers and longtime fans alike! Marvel’s merry mutants team up with our super-powered siblings for more fun-filled all-ages adventures! Featuring Wolverine, Beast, Nightcrawler and Cyclops in four stories sure to delight new readers and longtime fans alike!! And hot on the heels of their adventure with the X-Men, Power Pack returns for another titanic team-up -- and this time, it's Earth's Mightiest Heroes leading the charge! Featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and more!
This oversized hardcover collects POWER PACK #1-4, X-MEN & POWER PACK #1-4 and AVENGERS & POWER PACK ASSEMBLE! #1-4.

IRON MAN & POWER PACK #2
Written by MARC SUMERAK
Art by MARCELO DiCHIARA
Cover by GURIHIRU

The race is on -- in more ways than one! Julie Power is running for class president against the meanest girl in school... but before all the votes are in, she'll find herself running to catch one of Marvel's fastest villains, the Speed Demon! Can Iron Man help lead Power Pack to the finish line first? Maybe if the weather stays good... Wait? What's that about a Blizzard?!?

SPIDER-MAN & POWER PACK
Written by MARC SUMERAK
Art & Cover by GURIHIRU

Zero-G! Lightspeed! Mass Master! Energizer! Together, they are Marvel’s youngest super heroes: Power Pack! When the Power family returns to New York for another exciting adventure, it isn’t long before our super siblings find themselves fighting side-by-side with everyone’s favorite wall-crawler, the Amazing Spider-Man! Featuring the villainy of Venom, the Sandman, the Vulture and more!
This giant-sized comic book collects SPIDER-MAN & POWER PACK #1-4.

SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #6
Written by ELIOPOULOS, AKIRA & SUMERAK
Art & Cover by ELIOPOULOS & AKIRA

(ribbit) Time for a team-up, Spidey! (ribbit) Let's see... Iron Man's busy (ribbit), Captain America's a little under the weather (ribbit), the FF are doing their own (ribbit) thing... who's not busy this month? (ribbit) FROG THOR!!!!!!!! And while you're (ribbit) trying to figure out how a frog holds a (ribbit) hammer, you can read the classic (ribbit) archive material and SPIDER-MAN J! 104 pages... best (ribbit) deal in comics!
This issue features a SPIDER-MAN J story with localized translation by Sumerak!
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iSplurged

I finally broke down yesterday and went to buy a new iPod. Instead, I ended up coming home with two!
First off, I bought a new 80GB iPod Classic (silver) to replace my old 20GB 2nd Gen iPod that I bought when I first moved to NYC. My old iPod doesn't hold a charge anymore, doesn't have video playback (or even a color screen), and doesn't have enough space for all of my music. So it was finally time for an upgrade.. and this new one was the perfect size and price for me. Yay!
I also bought a 1GB iPod Shuffle so that I could have a music player for workouts. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but I took it on the treadmill this morning and it may be the best purchase I've made in years. So lightweight and easy to use. I put 10-12 of my favorite albums on it and had a great variety of music to listen to. And the little guy never skipped once despite my intense jogging! Sweet!
So now I just have to figure out what to do with my old 20GB brick of an iPod. Maybe I'll make it my official carPod, since I already have a charger and FM transmitter for it.
Thoughts?

Moment of Silence

Six years ago, I looked down my street to see a plume of smoke drifitng over the city. I had no idea where it was coming from, but I had a gut feeling something was very wrong. I had no idea how right I was.
A few hours later, I stood out on 5th Avenue -- dust covered survivors streaming past me as they made the long march up the island to safety -- and took my last look at the Towers before they crumbled to the ground.
They may not be there anymore, but I can still see them.
Always will...

Over-qualified...

I've been using a lot of qualifiers when I talk to people lately.
"If things go well..."
"If they like my work..."
"If we decide to get together..."
"If there's something worth pursuing..."
"If, if, if..."
Where are all these "if"s coming from? Not from a lack of confidence. In fact, I've got more of that than I've had in years!
I think maybe it's just a little weird for me to be putting myself out there again. It's been a long time since I've had to (or wanted to) just open up completely and expect good things to happen.
But looking back at my life, good things have always happened for me. Usually they happen without any effort... but when they don't, I've always found a way to make good things happen.
Even when life took bad turns along the way, I've always recovered and found a way to get back on the horse and make things even better after it all settled out.
So enough with the qualifiers! Time to expect good things with no reservations!
(If I can...)

Hooray for free nighttime and weekend minutes...

Guess who I talked to last night.
New record. Three hours, thirty-one minutes.
According to the log books, that's over 7.5 hours of talking in less than three days. And I haven't even met her yet.
And most of the talking has been after midnight. So I'm pretty sleepy.
We've really gotta stop meeting like this...
...actually, no. No, we don't...

Ink me

As some of you may know, I've always been interested in the idea of getting a tattoo.
Sure, it would prevent me from getting buried in a Jewish cemetary (which I wasn't planning on anyway unless Jeremy and I finally splurged and bought that 'BFF' headstone)... but just imagine the instant street cred I'd get from having a cryptic message and a poorly rendered cartoon character forever stamped on my inner thigh! Right?!?
Seriously, though, it's an idea that has always intrigued me. And lately, the urge is there again.
But the biggest problem I've had is that I've never found a design that I thought was cool enough to permanently carve into my skin with an ink covered needle and carry with me the rest of my life.
So I wanted to consult my loyal readers (both of you) to see if you had any good ideas as to a piece of art that really defines me.
One thought I had: On the cover of the first major comic I wrote for Marvel, there was this symbol -- a triangular device that was a big part of the story... and also looked kinda cool. Here's a look at it:



It's simple and distinctive and might look good on my upper arm or something. (But not my lower back... for reasons I refuse to discuss here.)
Plus, it has a lot of meaning to it. That story was all about living up to your childhood dreams and making the best out of adult life, even though things may not have turned out exactly they way you hoped they would. So yeah... sounds like a good fit for me.
I'm really proud of that comic, as it opened a lot of doors for me. I have the original pencil art for that cover on the wall in my office... so that symbol is constantly in my sight already and I haven't gotten sick of it.
So that's where I'm leaning right now.
But I'm open to other suggestions. Got any?

Stupid flood warning... be less wet!

I REALLY wanted to go out and skate today. I had the path picked out and everything. I was so ready to go... and now it's pouring down rain with no signs of stopping (according to trusty weather.com). Not a good idea to go rollerblading with a Flood Warning in effect.
I guess I'll have to go down to the workout room and hit the treadmill for a while. Fun.
Oh well... the price I pay to keep my girlish figure...

Good night... umm... morning?

Got a message from Jess around 1 AM last night, and since I was still awake, we ended up talking again... for almost 2 hours. I think we both expected it to be a quick call to say 'hi' and wish each other a good evening... but we wrapped up around 3 AM.
So, yeah... just a little sleepy right now...
Still, it was another good conversation that ranged from politics to vampires to racism to otters. You know, typical small talk. ;)
If anything, I've learned one important lesson: I talk way too much. I never used to be like that, especially with new people, but I was amazed by how much I never shut up. The poor girl could barely get a word in!
Oh, and I also learned the true reason for lower back tattoos. (Don't ask...)
More later...

Bros before... D'OH!

Last night was interesting.
I got together with my good friend Andrew at a bar in Lakewood. Great little place called Two Bucks. Wanna guess their gimmick? Yep, you're right: They have two live male deer that tend bar. Or all drinks are two dollars. One or the other... I can't remember...
Anyway, things were going well and whiskey was a-pourin'. Andrew had to leave around 10:45 to pick up his girlfriend from work, but we were planning to hang out at least until then.
Didn't happen that way.
Around 9:45 I got a phone call from my new friend Jess. It's the first time we really had a chance to talk one-on-one, so I took the call. I went outside the bar and sat on the stoop in the rain talking to her for quite a long time, completely forgetting about the poor guy I had left inside to fend for himself at the bar.
Through a combination of good whiskey and even better conversation, I totally lost track of time until Andrew came out and told me that he had to leave. I had been on the phone for about an hour! I felt like such a jerk for abandoning my boy... but then again, I wasn't about to cut the conversation short. It was going very well!
As soon as Andrew left the scene, karma took its bitter revenge. My phone died mid-sentence! I rushed to my car and found my charging kit, plugged in the phone and powered it up. As soon as it came back on, it rang with a new call from Jess.
I decided to head home as we talked (I was completely sober by then). I was already in the car and my buddy had left... so why stick around? The conversation went on for the entire length of the drive and another 40 minutes or so after I got home.
A total of 2.5 hours of talking... and I still felt like I had more to say when we decided to wrap it up for the evening. I guess that's a good sign.
After that, I crashed, exhausted from the week...
So what's the purpose of this post?
Partially to apologize to Andrew for being a lousy wingman.
Partially to let Jess know that I really dug talking to her.
And partially to document yet another series of moments in my life.
More later...

Closure in Aisle 12...

Went grocery shopping yesterday and ran into an old girlfriend. She was the first girl I think I might have loved... and the first one that really broke my heart.
For a long time, I carried a lot of pain with me from that relationship. I always wondered what would happen if we ever ran into each other again. When I saw her, I was surprised by what I felt: Nothing.
Mind you, it wasn't the cold, numb 'nothing' of complete indifference. But at the same time there were no hidden emotions or attractions clawing their way to the surface either. It was just like running into an old friend. Nothing more.
After a few passes in the aisles, I think we had both figured out that we were indeed exactly who we thought we were... so we had to say something. We talked for a short time -- about jobs, about family, about friends -- and then we went our separate ways.
And as I finished my shopping, I was once again surprised by how I felt: Content.
We never really got any closure after things went bad... and now we did. And it sorta felt good. The ending of an old chapter finally written... and in a much more positive way than it had been the first time around.
10 years later.
In a grocery store.
Weird.

Research

I love the fact that watching four hours of cartoons can actually be considered research for my next gig.
Another hard day at the office...
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Dating games...

"It wasn't a date!"
That's what I told them. Over and over.
But they didn't believe me.
Now I'm honestly not sure that I believe me...

Weekend

The long weekend was nice. It was good to have a bit of a chance to relax and recover from the insanity of the previous weeks.
Nothing too exciting happened. Saw some friends, saw some family, worked out, spent some time by the pool, watched a lot of Scrubs reruns. But it was nice just to chill and not worry about work for a while.
Of course, now it's a short week... so it's back to worrying about work!
Luckily, the deadlines aren't as tight this week, so maybe I'll get to post a blog entry or two. (At least that'll make John happy!)
More later...

Secrets of the Amazon

Hmmm... interesting...
;)

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Everything After...

August is finally over... and I will now be able to sleep again... I hope...
This month was a crazy one, but also one of the most productive I've had in a long time. I really feel like my life and my job are both back in full swing.
In regards to work, I did some counting, and in the month of August I produced 96 pages of new material. I think that's a personal record! Thank goodness I get paid by the page!
I'm very happy with the projects I'm currently working on... especially the one I haven't been able to mention yet. I've got my first two issues done already, and am excited to get cracking on the third soon. My first issue should be hitting in January 2008, so keep your eyes peeled for info sometime soon.
I also got some really cool news about one of the projects I've been working on for a long time. Probably nothing all that exciting to anyone else, but it just made me feel special and appreciated. Again, I'll reveal more as soon as I'm able.
My non-work life has been good too... if not a little too busy.
Wednesday I went to a Tribe game with my buddy Andrew. Afterwards we hit a bar and ran into an old friend of mine. It was nice to see her again and reconnect. We're gonna try to hang out soon.
Thursday, had drinks/dinner with a new friend. It was cool. I've been trying to meet a lot of new people and see who's out there. That is so not "old Marc"... but that's not a bad thing.
Friday, went to the first happy hour (aka Book Club) of the year with my Aurora teacher friends. It was nice to see everyone again after a long summer. After that I caught the remake of HALLOWEEN with one of my friends from that group. The movie was not great, but the company was good.
Tonight, meeting another friend for a movie at the Cedar Lee and maybe coffee after.
Good God... when did I get a social life again?!?
So yeah. September is here... and I really look forward to what it brings. As long as it brings a few days off here and there...
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