It’s still way premature to say I’m on the home stretch but 100 pages sure feels like a significant landmark. At the very least, I’m over half way there and at my current pace should finish this leg of the journey in about a month. See you then!

Now you don’t have to take my word for it. Previews, the Diamond Distributors catalog has deemed the Act-i-vate Primer in its top twenty cool books for August! In light of the many many many books that are included in each month’s catalog, this is no small feat. For the complete list of certified coolness, click here. Thank you, Previews!

First off, I want all of you to be able to enjoy The Act-i-vate Primer however you choose to get it. It’s a great book full of good stories and gorgeous artwork. Over the next little while, you’ll be able to see more of this book.

My first recommendation is to encourage you all to support your local comics retailers (Diamond Item Code: AUG090968). For many comics fans, myself included, comics retailers were our first entree into this world. The four color heroics contained therein promised to pique the imagination and invited us to explore new realms. This is an experience that needs to be preserved. Unfortunately many places in North America don’t have easy access to comic shops and for them, the internet is their best resource. Fortunately for us, Amazon has The Act-i-vate Primer available for pre-order and I’ve included a link to it on the sidebar to the right. If you choose to purchase it from Amazon, please do so by clicking that link. A small portion of proceeds will go back into the production of more Act-i-vate comics!

Thanks for your support!

The folks over at The Girls Entertainment Network have discussed every Eisner nomination this year. That means that they have been kind enough to give my Next Door Neighbor story, Vs. with Alexis Sottile, a closer look. Here’s what Jill had to say:

Vs. by Alexis Sottile & Joe Infurnari, smithmag.net/nextdoorneighbor/2008/12/08/story-18/

The best way to describe Vs. would be to call it “Green Eggs and Ham” on acid.

Mostly in black and white, dashes of color in key panels make it a wild ride for the eyes. Artist Joe Infurnari was nominated in this same category last year for his work on The Process, but this time around he’s got a co-writer, Alexis Sottile, for this off-the-wall look into the dangers of renting. Vs. is part of SMITH Magazine’s Next Door Neighbor weekly web comics series and tells Infurnari’s real-life horror stories from his various New York dwellings. Of course, there is a slight twist: it’s in verse. But don’t even think of reading this one to the kids before bedtime. Here, in Infurnari’s own words, is what you can expect: “My terrible run-ins with vociferous fowls! Frankensteinian pooches! Tentacled jam bands! Drunken cro-magnons! Pill-pushing werewolves and many, many more!”

He admits he wasn’t the greatest at coming up with rhymes, but that’s where Sottile came in. She compliments Infurnari’s personal woes, which are smoothly narrated even as his Hulk alter-ego slowly emerges. As an extra bonus, Infurnari has posted a “director’s cut,” if you will, on ACT-I-VATE—where he tells the story behind each page. –Jill aka TheNerdyBird

Thanks Jill! To read the rest of the reviews, click here!