A Week in Writing #637 - Report from the Front: L.A. Comic-Con 2026

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

My week was mostly devoted to two things: the newletter, The Hound Dogs' Howl, and L.A. Comic-Con. Let's talk about the latter first.

To be honest, L.A. Comic-Con has not been a good convention for SRCC Press (Powers Squared and The Blade of Miracles). This is our second time to table there and we've had, what I would generously, call light sales and mild interest in our books. Part of the blame I'll put on ourselves. We're still fairly new at the Con game and we don't have a built-in audience, so the best we can hope for is that someone will take a card and look us up later. I'm happy with adding names to our mailing list.

Part of the blame, I put on the Con itself. To begin with, tickets are not cheap and many people have paid extra, and what I would consider, exorbinate amounts already to have a photo taken with the likes of Nicolas Cage or Hayden Christensen. These are probably not people on the look out for new comics. Also, the first charge people face at LACC is the $60 charge for parking. I'm sorry, but that's a lot for any convention. Spending that much for parking and $12 for a dole whip and the con takes money out of the congoers as fast as Disneyland, and no one is buying new comics at Disneyland.

We did have a good time, met some new people, and met some old friends, so I wouldn't say it was a total loss. However, I don't believe we will be tabling at L.A. Comic-Con again. I know I've said it before, but I really, really mean it this time. You can find images from the Con on our Events page.

As an added bonus:

If you've never tabled at a convention, here's a little note on jargon you'll hear:

"I'll come check out your table," when said by another seller, really means, "I won't be coming over to look at your setup."

"I'll come back around," when said by a con-goer, usually means, "I want to give you hope, but I'm not coming back." This is especially true if said by someone with a one-day pass or the odd relative that just popped up unexpectantly at the con and literally stumbled onto your table.

And, if you're told by an artist, "Hit me up on Instagram," or other social media, 90% of the time that means, "I'm telling you something to placate you in the moment, but I'll never respond." And they never do.

And now you know.

The Hound Dogs' Howl, like this blog post, came out a day late, but it got out, which is the important thing, so if you're curious, please sign up here.

Even though we were tabling at LACC, we still put on the On the Air with Powers Squared podcast. This one was a pre-recorded conversation we had earlier with Nina Gaillard, who went from our colorist to Eisner-nominated colorist. You can watch it on our Twitch channel for the next few days, listen to it here, or wait and watch it on our YouTube Channel Wednesday at 2:30 PST.

No new reviews from me this week. Sorry, but no Saturday night movie. That doesn't mean there wasn't a review on Trophy Unlocked. Trevor's review of Good Boy (2025 Leonberg Film) was our Halloween Saturday Morning Review, ending horror month for this year on the blog.

I managed a little work on Cold Case, mostly undoing some of the work I had already done. So, I'm down to 26,935 words as a result. Hopefully, more progress this week.

I think that's about all from me this week. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #636 - Feeling Discombobulated

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

There seems to be a lot swirling about so I'm feeling sort of out of control with things and pressed for time.

Powers Squared has a new issue coming out this week, #29, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 2" and we're tabling later in the week at L. A. Comic-Con. There's a lot to get ready and not much time, that sort of thing. We did a set up this morning at home, so I think we know what to put out. But there's still things to do, which I'm going to have to rely on others to help with, as my days are sort of booked.

In the new issue, with Agnes's Viribus-induced powers raging beyond her control, Marty, Eli and Mocha work with Dr. Atlas to stop her before she reaches and wreaks havoc on San Romero Community College. It will be available in print and digital through The Campus Store on the website.

I won't go through the list, but I don't think it's as hard as it's time consuming. But I'm pretty sure we'll get there.

If you're going to be at L.A. Comic-Con, I'd appreciated it if you could come seek us out. We're in Kentia Hall K-45 (see map):

Both subjects were the topics of our latest podcast. Colorist Julia Canon, who will be there as well, was our guest. You can watch it now for the next few days on our twitch.tv channel, listen to it here, or wait and watch it on our YouTube channel on the 28th at 2:30 pm PT.

My review of The Mummy's Hand was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. No new review for me this week, as we spent Saturday at LightBox Expo in Pasadena, and was too tired to concentrate on a movie after we go home. I hate to say it, but there will be no new review from me next week, as I won't have the time.

I did some work on Cold Case, but I think I'm going to throw it out. I got a better idea for the story that I want to explore instead. It's sort of a parallel with my main character. He's looking for a woman that "ran away" from home 15 years before, who was actually sent to Texas to have a baby. She's been found once before but didn't want to be reunited with her family, and my main character, also from Texas, doesn't want to go back because he'd be pressured to see his own estranged parents. I'm working it out but that's sort of the gist. Thoughts? Leave them in the comments.

Next week, is also newsletter week, as the first Sunday is November 1, when we'll also be tabling at LA Comic-Con. That's going to be a day late, as is this weekly missive, so look for things on Monday, rather than Sunday.  Forewarned and all that.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week, but a day late.

A Week in Writing #635 - 3,000,000 and Counting

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

I want to start off talking about Trophy Unlocked, this week, the number of views rolled past 3,000,000. That, I think, is quite the accomplishment and I wanted to point that out.

Speaking of that blog, my review of The Invisible Man Returns was the Saturday Morning Review. But that was far from the only review on the platform. On Friday, was Trevor's review of Street Fighter (1994); and on Wednesday, Game Day, was Paul's review of Ghostwire: Tokyo. Currently, I'm working on a review of Hitler's Children, which was our Saturday night drain the DVR film.

L.A. Comic Con is coming and we're starting to get ready for it. We're waiting on one order, which I won't get into, but I'm starting to get anxious about them. We had some back and forth with the printer, but it's my understanding they're being printed and should be here in time. That doesn't mean I'm still not anxious about it.

Otherwise, we should be ready and we're looking forward to it. We finally know where we're tabling. Not sure if I've been in Kentia Hall at the LA Convention Center before, but I'm going to be spending three days there in a couple of weeks. If you're going, come find us.

Another new page, lineart, completed this week for a future issue of Powers Squared. I think it's coming together.

The next issue is coming out on October 28th, and will be available in print and digital. However, one of our platforms is having some issue and we can't get the draft to a proof, so I don't know if it will be released on the same day there. Not naming names, but it will be obvious when we release. There are some things you can't control.

Our podcast this week was about the movie Resident Evil (2026), directed by Zach Cregger. This was sort of a continuation of other podcasts we've done recently. Last week, we talked about movies based on video games, and we've previously talked about Resident Evil a couple of times previously. While I'm not a real horror fan, I did enjoy the film. You can watch it on our twitch.tv channel for the next few days, listen to it here, or wait until Wednesday at 2:30 pm PT to watch it on our YouTube channel.

Worked some on Cold Case again this week, but it's never enough. I'm up to 26,661 words, so that's some progress.

Sorry, but nothing on the querying this week. There's a lot of work I need to do to get ready, but I ran out of time this week.

This coming week, I'll be working on a press release for the new issue, trying to take care of last minute things for the new release and LACC, finishing my review of Hitler's Children, probably review a new page of Powers Squared, and work on Blackmail. Sounds like a full week ahead.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #634 - Feeling Like I'm Getting Behind

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

I'm behind this week. You can blame it on seeing a movie this morning, but I still haven't put up a peek-of-the-week, or updated the website, or set up the social media posts, or updated Pinterest, and yes I do all of those things every week. I'll have to do those things this evening, so bear with me, I'll get those things done.

I did spend an evening setting up a list of agents to query. I started with a search on Query Tracker for agents who represent mysteries and thrillers, this is a private investigator story, and then filtered out agents who were closed to queries. That got the list down to 456, but I then went through the list and removed agents outside the U.S. That got the list down to 308 agents. I'm still working on the list, but I wanted to get credit for at least starting it. More to come on that.

I did work on Cold Case some, but I didn't make as much headway as I had hoped. If you're counting, I'm up to 25,613, so a little more than 1200 words than I had last week. 

My review of Haunted Mansion (2023) was Trophy Unlocked's Saturday Morning Review. I feel one for the new Resident Evil movie will be coming out soon, as that was the movie we went to the theater to see this morning, but I think that would be more Paul's review than mine. I am working on another review, and one that we also saw in the theater this weekend, Top Hat (1935), as part of the American Cinematheque's program curated by Mel Brooks of 100 years of films. I don't think I had seen this on the big screen, other than perhaps in the RKO Story class back at USC, but this, once again, proves that films are meant to be seen on the big screen and with other people in the audience. It's going to take me a while to do a proper writeup.

Our guest this week on the podcast was one of our own, Julia Canon, who talked about her new website, BlythePOV. You can watch it on our twitch channel for the next few days, listen to it or find a suitable platform here, or wait and watch it next Wednesday at 2:30 pm PT on our YouTube channel.

We're doing about a page a week on the art for issue #31 of Powers Squared. Issue #29 is scheduled for October 28, and I've got nothing new to report about L.A. Comic-Con, except, per the app, SRCC Press will be table K45 in Kentia Hall, which is beneath the South Hall. Now you know.

This next week, I'm hoping it's Cold Case, Top Hat and Powers Squared. And, of course, more work on the query list, and, oh yeah, my wife's birthday on Wednesday. Not everything is going to get done, that's for sure.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #633 - The Newsletter and More

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

Well, this was newsletter week, which took up a good deal of time for me. The biggest news is that we're releasing a new Powers Squared issue later this month, #29 "Agnes Wreckage, Part 2". In this issue, with Agnes's Viribus-induced powers raging beyond her control, Marty, Eli and Mocha work with Dr. Atlas to stop her before she reaches and wreaks havoc on San Romero Community College. It's scheduled for October 28th, to coincide with our tabling that weekend at L.A. Comic-Con.

Unfortunately, I don't have anymore information on our appearance at this time. Hopefully, more information will be coming my way and I will share it when I know it.

Speaking of Powers Squared, I think we're now on to page #6 of issue #31, which should be coming out next year.

And the last bit of news on the comic book, we've rebranded the website from Powers Squared Comic Book to SRCC Press to better emphasize that we're more than just the one book. The web address stays the same, only the name has changed to protect the innocent. It also fits as we're trying to table as SRCC Press.

No new review for me this week. We punted on Saturday night, having gotten our Covid and flu shots that morning. MST3K came to the rescue, but only one of the four of us made it through the screening as it was.

Trophy Unlocked has moved into Halloween mode, and as such, the Saturday Morning Review was Paul's for The Haunted Mansion (2003), a horror comedy. For the next four Saturdays, it will also be horror films, and three of the next four reviews will be mine, so stay tuned.

Our podcast this week, was a look at Video Game Movies. We talk a little about the history as well as films that worked, and those which didn't. You can watch it on our Twitch channel for the next few days, or listen to it or find a platform here, or wait and watch it on Wednesday at 2:30 when it goes up on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared).

The work on Cold Case, unfortunately took a bit of a backseat. I did do some work on it, but minimal. The current count is 24,371 words, which is only about 700 more than last week.

Cold Case, along with pages from the next Powers Squared, will be my focus next week, and I promise to do some, at least, pre-query work as well. I think I've putting that off for about as long as I can.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing, and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #632 - Birthday-O-Rama

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

Yes, this is officially the start of the Hankins-birthday-o-rama. My birthday was Friday, my sons' are on Monday and my wife's is in a little over 2 weeks. Yes, we're all libras and, no, it's not too late to send money, if that's what you want to do. And, as a reminder, we're now less than 3 months to Christmas.

That, of course, doesn't mean that nothing else happened. On my birthday, as an example, we still did our podcast, live, this time, discussing The Transformers: The Movie's recent theatrical re-release, the so-called "Apology Tour" for its 40th Anniversary. We also did, what I hope is, a fitting tribute to Peter Cullen, who voiced Optimus Prime in the movie. You can watch it here for the next few days, listen to it here or wait for it to premiere on our YouTube channel at 2:30pm on this coming Wednesday.

Work continues on issue #31 of Powers Squared, having settled on the lineart for page 4 and really close on page 5.

Not much to report on L.A. Comic-Con, other than we'll be there. Don't know any more details than that at this point, but will share when we know.

The Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked, was Trevor's review of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, which incidentally, we watched on Friday. The Wednesday review was also by Trevor, a Second Screening - The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 40th Anniversary, which ties back to the podcast. On Friday, we also watched The Conversation, which has been on my radar since I saw there was a 4K release of it. Turns out I had the DVD, which proved to be enough. I'm still writing the review, but that might give you an inkling of where it's going.

No querying this week. I just couldn't muster the will to delve into it, but it's something I need and will do.

Worked more on Cold Case. 23,632 words, if you're counting.

This week will again be newsletter week; the first Sunday of the month sure comes quickly, doesn't it?

So, next week, should be The Conversation, Cold Case and The Hound Dogs' Howl, with no doubt a page or two of Powers Squared thrown in for review and comments.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #631 - A Creative Gut Punch

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

The week ended on a bit of a down note when it came to Powers Squared. I remember a few weeks/months ago, reporting about our surprising sales at Golden Apple Comics in Hollywood. We had, supposedly sold, 8 of 12 copies of the first two trades we'd left there. We felt really good that we had a breakthrough and had made sales at a very prominent comic book shop. Well, all lies.

Friday, the manager of the store called, not only to ask us to pick up the remaining copies, but all 12 copies. The owner had been incorrect in saying we'd sold copies and they want their money back. When you're an independent comic book, that's the last thing you want to hear. Not in a big hurry to do that, but we'll probably have to do it next weekend.

But the call costs more than money. It was a sort of creative gut punch. I think we'll recover and carry on, but the incident won't be forgotten any time soon.

Finished the submission for San Diego Comic-Con 2027 small press, by sending copies of issues #28 and #29. Fingers crossed we'll be chosen. It's hard to know the rules, since there are a lot of non-small press in Small Press, but we're living in Comic-Con's world and by their rules, such as they are.

We're working on something fun for L.A. Comic-Con in October. I won't get into it, but we'll discuss when we get closer and have examples to share. Otherwise, I think we have everything we'll need, including candy for the kids. (It's over Halloween.)

Work continued this week on issue #31, with time spent going over page 4 with the artist. She's very quick to respond, so it means every other night, a new version of a page needs to be reviewed with everyone and then comments have to be written and sent. It's a necessary evil, I guess and a better situation than waiting for pages, which is the flip of the coin. I prefer this side.

My review of the 1943 Batman serial, was the Batman Day Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. It was something I had written about 10 months ago. It's one of the longest reviews I've ever written, since it covered all the episodes in a 15-part serial.

The rest of the week had seen the rollout by Trevor of three different Review Hubs. On Tuesday, Review Hub - X-Men; and, on Friday, two: Review Hub - Resident Evil and Review Hub - Wallace & Gromit. Proof that there's something for everyone on Trophy Unlocked. No new review this week, but while watching TCM's Silent Sundays, I realized I had already watched and written a review for So This is Paris (1926), so I put it up on the blog, but publication is pending; isn't it always.

I'm not much involved with this week's podcast. I mean I was there, but Trevor and Paul handled most of the questioning of Evan Brooks, a Transformers toy designer they had met at several SDCCs. I think it went well and if you're into Transfomers, then you're in for a treat. It's on our twitch channel for the next few days, you can listen to it or find other platforms here, and, as always, the podcast will be on our YouTube channel, starting at 2:30 pm PT on Wednesday.

Worked some on Blackmail. I think, except for some tweaks later on, that I'm done with it. Now that it's fall, I guess I'll start the ol' queries to the black hole of trying to find an agent. Now sure which book to try this time. I still like Broken People but it might be time to move on from that one.

I've been editing the next story idea, and still no name. Maybe I'll call it Cold Case, as he's looking for someone who disappeared 15 years prior. It's loosely, very loosely, based on someone I knew in high school, who ran away from home. We had "dated" if that's the word for it, a few years before. Then her family move to California and then back to Dallas, where I lived at the time. For over a year I was calling regularly to talk to her, only to be told she wasn't available. Then, at some point, the father told me she'd run away after they moved back. Well, it's been more than 15 years, but the idea of a high school girl running away is the prompt. I have no idea what ever became of her, so now I'll be able to get fictional closure; if that's a thing.

So, I'll probably be working on that this week, reviewing pages for Powers Squared, and maybe working on a new list to query.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you here next week.

A Week in Writing #630 - Not a Great Week

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

I will admit that this wasn't my best week in writing. I know I wanted to work more on Blackmail, which I did, but not as much as I wanted. So there's still some final touches to do. I don't know if this has happened to you but sometimes you just don't feel it when the time comes. And sometimes, you may feel it but not be able to get to it when you do.

I did look at the other book I had started before Blackmail. I was even making edits when I realized I was working on an earlier version of the book, so that was my sign to stop for the night.

Progress made on pages for the next issue of Powers Squared, but pages and edits come in at least four days out of five during the week. Good to see them, but they do require stopping and reviewing, looking at them with others and making comments. It's necessary but time consuming. I know, complain complain, but sometimes it's hard switching and then switching back, that's all I'm saying.

Our podcast this week was a look at the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise after 35 years. I'll admit it was mostly Paul and Trevor doing the talking, as I haven't played any of the video games, though I have seen some of the TV and the feature films. You can watch it on our twitch channel for the next few days, or you can listen to it here, or, as always, you watch it on our YouTube channel at 2:30 pm on Wednesday.

We're between Batman-related reviews on Trophy Unlocked, so it makes sense that the Saturday Morning Review this week was Trevor's review of My Little Pony: The Movie (1986), right? This comes after Trevor's Wednesday Game Day review of Sonic Free Riders. Of course, before that was my review on Monday of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I'm currently working on a review of Haunted Mansion, the 2023 remake of sorts of The Haunted Mansion. That review will appear sometime in October.

Next week, I will try to get back to Blackmail and get that finished. And I'll probably take another swing at the other book, and hopefully come up with a name for it.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #629 - The Newsletter and Other Stories

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

This was, of course, newsletter week. We release The Hound Dogs' Howl the first Sunday of every month, which is all about Powers Squared and related projects. In addition, each month we highlight twins in the arts, this month it was Yank and Doodle, now public domain superheroes from the 1940s. And we also make a recommendation, this month it was the video game Hi-Fi Rush. And there is also a special Heard Around Campus story, since this is after all, a school paper. For those of you new to Powers Squared, Marty and Eli are students at San Romero Community College when they discover they had been granted superpowers when they were younger. If it sounds at all interesting, sign up here and you'll get one next month, as well as a FREE copy of the first issue.

I know I wrote last week that I would be working on Blackmail, putting on finishing touches. However, I got the inspiration to work on a possible new script for Powers Squared instead. In this one, Jennifer finally learns the truth. It's a single-issue that I think would also serve as a jumping on point to the story. I'm not sure I'm finished with it, but I should be soon. I like to write and then re-read and edit a few times before sharing.

Work continues on the current Powers Squared, with our artist turning in the second page for issue #31, which is coming along nicely.

Our podcast this week, was a look at the Tenth Doctor, as we continue our deep dive into the Doctor Who franchise. You can watch it on our twitch.tv channel for the next few days, listen to it here, or wait and watch it on Wednesday at 2:30 pm on our YouTube channel when it premieres.

Trophy Unlocked was especially busy this week starting on Monday with A Celebration of 1800 Reviews, which Trevor compiles for us. On Tuesday was Paul's review of Buddy (2026), on Wednesday, Game Day, Trevor again, with a look at  Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity for the Wii. Thursday was Trevor's review of Coyote vs. Acme. And on Saturday was Paul's review of Batman: Hush.

I'm working on a review for October of The Mummy's Hand and wrote a review today of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which we finally saw today in the theater. Look for both in the near future.

Next week, it'll be back to Blackmail, finishing The Mummy's Hand and probably more on Powers Squared, as there always seems to be a new page to review.

Well, that about does it for me this week. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #628 - 7 Years of On the Air with Powers Squared, 1800 Reviews and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

As the title suggests, On the Air with Powers Squared celebrated 7 years of podcasts on Friday with #366. Our guest was Val Hochberg, noted artist and webcomic creator. She is someone we've been after for a while. The boys, especially Paul, is a big fan of her work, so it was great to have her on the show. Val talked about her career and influences, mostly with Paul, which was quite all-right. You can still watch it for the next few days on our twitch channel, listen to it on here, or wait and watch it on our YouTube channel at 2:30 pm PDT on Wednesday.

The night before, we recorded another podcast, this one with Nina Gaillard, former colorist for Powers Squared, and now Eisner-nominated for her work on Chickenpox, a book by Remy Lai. It was the first time Nina had done a podcast with us since 2019, so it was good to catch up. We're holding it back for a while, but it will be coming out soon. More when it does.

And if that wasn't enough, Trophy Unlocked celebrated 1800 reviews on Saturday, with my second review of Citizen Kane. A Second Screening came about from watching the movie with an audience, something I don't think I had done since college, and even then it was probably a bunch of film students, so they don't count as a public viewing with paying customers. It did change my perspective on the film. Earlier in the week on Wednesday, Game Day, was Trevor's review of Sonic Riders for the PS2. I'm workng on a review of Nancy Drew... Detective, while Paul is working on one for the new Buddy film and Trevor is working on one for Coyote vs. Acme.

On the Powers Squared front, Wednesday saw the release of Issue #28, the one and only issue drawn by Jen Moreno. In this issue, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 1", while trying to assist with his research, Marty and Eli Powers’ former science instructor Agnes Miller accidentally took an overdose of the Viribus compound, a chemical blend found in the blood of people with superpowers. As a result, she now has powers that she can’t control and neither can Dr. Atlas. With nowhere to turn, he comes to beg Marty, Eli and Mocha for help. But will they answer the call? It's available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

You have to give us credit; 7 years of a podcast, 1800 reviews and a new issue of a comic book. I don't think many people can point to that in a week's work. We're consistent if nothing else.

More on Powers Squared: We're also getting new pages on Issue #31 from our artist, and hopefully in the next month or so, we'll wrap issue #30.

I also applied to table at both WonderCon 2027 and San Diego Comic-Con 2027, so we'll see what happens.

Finally, I think I'm one step closer to being finished with Blackmail. I finished my final go through, and now it's just down to reviewing for repeats, which I hope there aren't many. By repeats, I mean where I might have talked about the same thing more than once, a description or an event. I'm not 100 percent happy with my final paragraph either, so I might not be totally done. The count is now 90,501 words.

Next week will be time for the newsletter again, so I think that's where a lot of my time will be spent, if it's not on Blackmail. You can still enroll here, if you want to get your own copy of The Hound Dogs' Howl.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #627 - 25th Comic Book Club

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing. Since it's August, hopefully you're also staying cool.

We had our 25th Comic Book Club meeting this past Friday with artists Julia Canon and Rachel Wells joining us to discuss Paul's selection, Maid to Skate, a manga by Suzushiro. It's always fun to listen to what others say about the works we choose. While it's a comic book club, most of the selections have been of the manga variety, which I think has more to do with the ages of all but one of the participants. I do learn alot, since oftentimes their references are new to me. As always,  you're invited to watch it for the next few days on our twitch channel, listen to it on various platforms, found here, or wait to watch it on our YouTube channel on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT. Rachel picked the next book, Dogs on Dates, a graphic novel by Luke Healy if you want to read ahead or join us for the next one.

Wednesday is also the day we're releasing the 28th issue of Powers Squared, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 1." Powers Squared, for those of you who have missed out, tells the story of Marty and Eli, college-aged identical twins who discover that they were granted super powers by a magical kitsune when they were young. In this issue, while trying to assist with his research, the Marty and Eli Powers’ former science instructor Agnes Miller, accidentally took an overdose of the Viribus compound, a chemical blend found in the blood of people with superpowers. As a result, she now has powers that she can’t control and neither can Dr. Atlas. With nowhere to turn, he comes to beg Marty, Eli and Mocha for help. But will they answer the call? It should be available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

I have yet to start a review of A Girl in Every Port (1952), but my review of Dr. Who and The Daleks (1965) was the Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked. This all comes from our recent obessession with all things Doctor Who. We literally just finished the Tenth Doctor's (David Tennant) run. We're taking a break, but there's more to come with the Ninth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures in the queue.

It's sort of the finale specials of the Tenth Doctor that I'm blaming for not finishing the go through of Blackmail that I've been doing. Some nights, if dinner is late and the show runs over an hour, I get less than two hours a night to work on things. I am enjoying the go through, as I'm finding a lot of little things that need changing. I'm currently at 369 of 408 pages and the word count is up slightly to 90,174. As always, the goal is to get through it this week, but don't hold me to it.

So, I've got a review to start and finish, a new issue coming out, and hopefully, two OAPS podcasts to record this week (details after they happen) and the work on Blackmail to keep me busy next week.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #626 - New Issue Preview

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

Powers Squared is coming out with a new issue on August 26th. To celebrate, our most recent podcast was devoted to a very brief preview of the issue, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 1", the 28th issue of the book series. Colorist Julia Canon joined Trevor, Paul and myself to talk about it. Normally, we would invite the artist to join us, but we had a parting of ways after the lineart was completed.

In the issue, Agnes Miller, the boys' former science instructor at San Romero Community College, tried to help her paramour Dr. Atlas in his experiments. But an overdose gives her powers that she cannot control. In need of help, Dr. Atlas turns to Marty and Eli Powers for help. The issue will be available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

The podcast can be watched on our twitch channel for the next few days, or be listened to here, or you can wait and watch it on our YouTube channel on Wednesday the 19th at 2:30 pm.

We've also noticed some sound issues with the podcast, and we're going to bring in some new audio equipment, hoping to rectify the situation.

We showed up officially as guests on the LA Comic-Con website, only some of the information is really old, like they have us with a Twitter account and we, Powers Squared, or myself, haven't had one for several years. I've asked them to correct. But it's still cool to see yourself on the website. Hope to see you there at the Con.

Speaking of social media, I'm hearing that Facebook is going to start requiring users to pay to post more than two posts with links a month, starting in December. For those of you who find this from Facebook, please know I won't be paying. You are free to follow me on Bluesky (@lionsroar91406bluesky.social), where I'll post the links, or on Facebook, where I'll post the links to this blogsite in my profile.

My plan was to work on Blackmail this week, and I did work on it most nights, though some nights is less than others. I've got less than 100 pages to go and I'm at 90,043 words at the moment. After this exercise, I want to go through it looking for certain subjects to be sure I'm not repeating the same thought too many times.

I'm currently working on a review of 99 River Street, a film noir from 1953. As always, no idea when it will be published, though I have heard that my Second Screening review of Citizen Kane may be getting a prominent publication on Trophy Unlocked. In the meantime, the Saturday Morning Review was Paul's for Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.

Next week, more work on Blackmail and prep for the next release of Powers Squared.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #625 - Stay Cool in August

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

I guess I should also say, staying cool, as August seems to be getting hotter every year. AC is truly a wonderful thing.

I spent most of the week on Blackmail. I'm trying to do a couple of chapters a day. I'm currently up to Chapter 34, page 282/409 and the word count is at 90,047. Going through it with a fine-toothed comb is what I'm trying to do. I'm enjoying it while at the same time trying to take out duplicates, you know describing the same thing twice, and moving wording around, adding here and there. I might be done with this by the end of the week, but that's the goal.

Got some templates from L.A. Comic-Con and put out our first post about the event. They gave me Canva to use, which I, of course, never have. It's a little like setting up business cards, but a little less forgiving. I wasn't sure what I was doing until I saw another artist put his out.

I think it's eye-catching. I've also done one each for Powers Squared and The Blade of Mircales:

They match the banners we'll have up for the show.

I think we're in pretty good shape with supplies, but I want to check on business cards before we get too much closer.

We've put the final touches on the lineart for Issue #30, and our artist is going to start in on Issue #31 soon.

Speaking of new issues, Powers Squared #28, "Agnes Wreckage, Part 1" should be coming out on August 26th, though we're still putting all the ducks in a row. The peek-of-the-week, this week is the cover, minus colors and lettering, so you might want to check it out. There's a new one every week.

In the issue, when Agnes Miller tries to help Dr. Atlas with his research, an overdose of the Viribus compound turns her into a monster with uncontrollable powers. Dr. Atlas needs help, but unfortunately for our heroes, there are only three people he can turn to.

As I wrote last week, the guest we had lined up for Friday's podcast bailed, so we had to come up with something new. We revisited Doctor Who and the franchise rabbit hole we find ourselves going down, with 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors, Torchwood and now The Sarah Jane Adventures all on our "to watch" list. You can watch our podcast on our twitch.tv channel for the next few days, listen to it here, and/or wait until Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT to watch on our YouTube channel.

The Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked this week was Trevor's for Mortal Kombat (1995). I did finish my review for The Big House, and tentatively started one for China Clipper. As always, no idea when these will appear.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing, stay cool, and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #624 - The Week After

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

I can't say I got as much writing done this past week as I wanted to. Part of that was do to recovering from San Diego Comic-Con and just sort of taking some time off. This was also newsletter week, so what time I did spend on writing was mostly taken up with that. One of the things we announced in the newsletter was the release at the end of the month of Powers Squared issue #28, "Agnes Wreckage, Part 1". We're looking at August 26th. If you'd like to be notified, we do send out The Bark for such ocassions, if you're subscribed to the newsletter, which you're always invited to do.

Our artist has been sending pages throughout the week, mostly the last two pages of the next issue. Our procedure is that she sends sketches and we give comments. Sometimes it's one and done but a lot of the time it takes multiple back and forths, but I think we're just about done with the lineart for issue #30.

One thing we managed to do this past week was watch The Odyssey in 70mm IMAX, which is apparently the preferred way to watch it. My review went up today on Trophy Unlocked. But, of course, this was not the only review this week on the site. The Saturday Morning review was Trevor's review of Ballerina (2025) or as it is also known as From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. We recently got into the John Wick franchise, and, of course, watched them all and have spent five of the last six weeks going through them, one by one.

I started a review of The Big House yesterday, so I hope to finish that in the coming week.

Our podcast this week was OAPS #362 - SDCC 2026 Recap, in which Trevor, Paul and I discuss our recent trip to SDCC, from panels to merch. It's available on our twitch channel for the next few days, or you can listen to it here, or wait until Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT to watch it on our YouTube channel. We still have, I believe, one more video before we totally move on from the Con.

I regret to announce that our scheduled guest for next week cancelled on us, so we're left a little bit hanging at the moment. I guess it's better to know now than say Friday afternoon, but it's still a disappointment, since we've had it scheduled for several weeks now. While I won't name names, I will say that I don't plan to ask them again to be on the show.

I had an update I wanted to make to Blackmail, and that has led me to re-reading it, which I've started to do, and so I'm currently giving a third or fourth go-through, making changes and edits as I go. I started on Friday and now I've gone through 8 chapters, so prepare yourself to be hearing about it for the next few weeks.

So, this coming week, we're going to start sending out formal invitations to creators we talked to at SDCC. I also need to finish my review of The Big House and I want to work some more on Blackmail.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #623 - Report From the Front: San Diego Comic-Con 2026

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

As promised, this is coming to you a day late. We did arrive back yesterday from San Diego Comic-Con, but I wasn't really at my best to tell you everything or really anything.

While I did attend several panels, at least one a day, several of them didn't live up to their titles nor did they really apply to what I'm trying to do. You go into them, hoping to be inspired by the muses, but many tines you only come away with the bios of the muses instead.

The first one I attended was:

How to Get Press Coverage - July 22
Moderator: Rik Offenberger
Alexander Raymon
Francis Sky
Ed Catto
Chris Squire
Todd Spear

I've been to this panel for several years, but it doesn't hurt to get a refresher every year.

A press release for an issue needs to include a cover, what it is about, and when is it coming out. But you need to sell the story of how you got there.

They also dealt with getting your book in retail stores, so in that case you're first marketing to the retailer and then marketing to the consumer. (Note: The how you do that is not addressed.)

They also suggested a way to get publicity is to do an event for charity or a public library and try to get the local press interested in it. If you can get news coverage, like your local network affiliate, you can use that clip in other ways down the line.

It was also said that when you table at a comic convention, you need to show passion for your product. One way to do that is to stand up at the table the whole time. That way you can engage with people.

Build Your Own World and Intellectual Property - July 23

Moderator: Lorran Garrison

Britton Payne

Tara Harrison Avery

Mark Nazal

Quinn McGowan

John Jennings

This, I'm sorry to say, was the least useful of the panels. Again, it wasn't a how-to discussion but rather the personalities and whom they were trying to represent with their creations. There are a lot of niche markets in comic books and the panel represented those. I was hoping to learn how to build a world rather than knowing what others had built.

Pitching Animation in 2026: What Buyers Want Now - July 24

Moderator: Sam Goff

Malia Dawkins-Jennings

Patrick Stou

Bill Drasta

David Trumble

John Rauschelbach 

Since Sam Goff is a talent manager, it should come as no surprise that the panelists were her clients.

They did emphasis that if you're not in the animation business, you're going to need at least one of the following to get into to pitch:

An agent

An Entertainment Attorney

Manager

This was a fast-paced panel using slides that they informed us we should take photos of, so it was hard to do that and take notes, so I'm going to show photos. Apologies for being over to the side of the screen and for the woman's hairdo being in some of the photos, but I hope these will help.

These are the slides from one pitch deck presented:

There will be two distinct pitchdecks. One that you will use for the demo and one to leave behind. They're similar, but the leave behind one should include contact information.

Also, while the presenters were good, they never said if any of the projects they presented were picked up.

The Future of Kickstarter Comics - July 25

Moderator: Chris Hacker

Sean Edgar

Jeff Smith

Eric Powell

John Layman

Rob Guillory

Natalie Andrewson

A bit of a misnomer, as this was not the future of comics on Kickstarter, but rather a panel of established artists and creators discussing their next projects or how they've used Kickstarter in the past. Sean Edgar is noteworthy as he is the new director of comics and collectibles at Kickstarter. Very entertaining but not very informative on what is happening next on the platform.

The Dos and Don'ts to Kickstart Your First Comic - July 26 

Moderator: Barbra Dillon

Shannon Bailey

Ash Troub

Kat Calamia and Phil Falco

Sean Edgar

Even though I have done two successful Kickstarters, I'm no expert, so I was hoping to learn here. However, these are not first-timers at this and since Shannon and Ash represent major brands, Todd McFarlane and Boom!, respectively, they aren't coming at this proces as unknowns. Kat and Phil are very savy at Kickstarters, doing, at their own admission, 2 to 3 a month, however, they have also garnered a niche market with LGBTQ works.

To be transparent, we have had Kat on our podcast, backed one of their Kickstarters and even hired her to advise on our second one with Arthmeric. Still, I'm a little off put by their constant Kickstarters, which all, to their credit, seem to be very successful. I'm just not into Kickstarters as a way of life.

Still, their advise would mean slightly more than the others, since they are in the same field as Powers Squared., indie comics. They were high on women-led stories and horror, two things our book is not about.

General advice:

Don't Over Promise and Under Deliver

Simplify Your Page

Use Graphics to Know What They're Getting

Have Preview Pages and Covers

Make Sure Your Thumbnail is Good (You can also change it during the Kickstarter)

Add a video to your Kickstarter, 1-2 minutes. (According to Edgar, Kickstarters do better with one)

Add a pre-launch page 2 weeks to a month ahead. The length of time varies, but you don't want to have one for six months, as it will go stale.

Don't start one around Christmas or January.

According to Edgar, October is "On Fire"

Launch early in the week: Monday or Tuesday, and early in the morning, but not midnight

You can add add-ons and stretch goals as the project moves forward.

On the personal side, we were able to meet our fourth colorist in person for the first time ever. Ninakupenda Gaillard was an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring for Chickenpox written by Remy Lai (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers). We're very proud to have been her starting point in professional coloring.

Powers Squared creators, Trevor, Paul and David Hankins meet Eisner-nominated
and former Powers Squared colorist Nina Gaillard at SDCC 2026.

Speaking of Powers Squared colorists, our current and longtime one, Julia Canon, took over our podcast for the week, and on Friday did a two+ hours presentation on her techniques. You can watch it on our twitch channel for the next few days, listen to it here or watch it on our YouTube channel any time after Wednesday at 2:30 pm. Many thanks to her. 

Speaking of On the Air with Powers Squared, we tried to line up some new guests while in San Diego, but until they're confirmed, we won't divulge names. No reason to needlessly get your or our hopes up.

Oddly enough, while SDCC didn't grant us a table, we did manage to sell two trades, thanks to the San Diego Comic Fest table in the mezzanine. At the News Coverage panel, a representative from the Comic Fest asked if anyone had books they wanted to present. I had taken our four trades (3 Powers Squared and 1 The Blade of Miracles) with me and let them use them. When I went back up to take a photo, two of them were gone, even though it wasn't supposed to be a sales opportunity.

There were four trades on the table when I left, but only two when I returned.

On a personal note, I walked over the five days, including Preview Night, 82,537 steps (36.88 miles) and burned 18,255 calories.

Work continued without us on the new issue of Powers Squared, as our artist submitted two new pages (19 and 20) for review.

I also did some writing on a possible script for our spinoff story, Billy and Raven. It needs more work, but I got it from concept to 20 pages.

Even though we were out of town, there was a new Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked, John Wick: Chapter 4 written by Paul, continuing our summertime look at the franchise. No new review from me this week.

This next week, I need to work on the newsletter and questions for our next guest on the podcast.

That about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #622 - Prepping for SDCC

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

San Diego Comic-Con is next week and there are a lot of preparations that have to be made before going; planning out panels, exclusives and the like. I will admit I'm not a big participant in the prep for the event, as my wife and two sons really have their pulses on what's going on. I do appreciate their efforts. I chime in with what panels I'd like to attend, but I'm not really big on autographs or exclusives. There are several panels I'd like to attend, but I also want to walk the floor, and, dare I say it, attend Hall H for the first time in 20 cons.

With the panels I attend, I'll be sure to write something up here next week, though, please be kind, that might not appear until Monday. You are forewarned.

A point of interest, is that our fourth colorist on Powers Squared, Nina Gaillard, will be at SDCC and is nominated for an Eisner Award. We hope to actually meet her for the first time in person and we, of course, hope she wins.

I took it on myself to do a better job cataloging the podcasts. Several are gone and some remain only in audio format, but I've finished cataloging all available 492 podcasts and videos, including our most recent one, OAPS #360 - "SDCC 2026 Prep + Unboxing", sort of keeping with the theme of Con prep mentioned above. If you watch our raw podcasts on Twitch, a couple of weeks ago, we attempted to unbox SRCC 70th Anniversary t-shirts, only to find that we received the wrong order. That was rectified, but we had other reasons for waiting, which I won't get into here. However, the t-shirts were correct and we talked about the new trades, one each for Powers Squared and for The Blade of Miracles. You can still watch it on twitch.tv for the next few days, listen to it here (where you can also find the other platforms it's on), or wait and watch it on our YouTube channel after 2:30 pm on Wednesday.

Julia Canon, our colorist turned artist turned colorist, will be hosting the podcast in our absence, but again there will be delays in getting the video to audio, which will have to wait for our return next week. Catch her on our twitch channel next Friday at 6 pm.

I think I'm finally done with Blackmail, though I won't be doing anything with it until Fall. I've learned that many agents take the Summer off or very slowly, so I won't start the query drudge until then.

I also worked on a couple of outlines for possible stories for Billy and Raven, characters we spun out last year into their own book this year, "Life on the Road".

No new review from my this week, sorry to say. The Saturday Morning Review was Paul's review of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Today, we published Trevor's review for Descendants: Wicked Wonderland.

Next week, I'll have to start working on the next newsletter, and work on questions for our next guest on the podcast, creator Demi Naito, who will be on August 7.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.