Let me get this out of the way.  I know Andy Schmidt,  I like Andy Schmidt, and I respect Andy Schmidt.  His work at Comics Experience has helped me to develop as a comic creator.  Now, that that's out of the way.  I want to recommend Andy's new series(from IDW) called 5 days to die, which wraps up this week with issue 5.

The official description of 5 Days to Die is:

Upon surviving a terrible car accident, Ray is left a widower and his daughter is in critical condition. Believing this was a planned hit by the city’s drug lord he’s been pursuing, he must decide to track the killer or stay with his little girl. With a brain injury that leaves Ray less than a week to live, how will he decide to spend his last days on Earth?

But, there is so much more than that.  Things may not always be what they appear.  I won't give anymore details, lest I spoil some a major twist.

On the creative side, this book does some interesting things.  First, as can be expected from someone who teaches comic writing,, the pacing is pretty near flawless.  He draws you into the book with the first scene and keeps you running.

On the artistic front, Chee, the artist on the book, does not waste a single panel. Comics are a visual medium. As such, there is this concept known as "real estate", which basically refers to how well a creator fills the panels and the page. Big action scenes and major plot points get more real estate.; talking heads get considerably less.  There is a perfect example of this concept in this series--a full page showing a shoot out.  As the main character is highlighted in a center panel shooting, his opponents (and targets) surround him in blood shaped panels, which depict each hit.

There is also some creative use of coloring, which transcend the typical color artist technique.  Rather than presenting each page in full color (like a traditional comic), color is used to create mood.  As a creator, I know that this also saves money, but it also is very effective. 

Andy's connections to the industry also show as the 5 issues feature covers by some of the biggest names in the industry. 

David Finch for issue #1;
Michael Avon Oeming for issue #2;
Ben Templesmith on issue #3;
Gabriele Dell’Otto on #4; and
Pablo Raimondi is on this week's  issue #5.

5 Days to Die has been coming out for the last 5 weeks  (This month has five Wednesdays) so your local shop probably still has the whole series.  If you are a wait for the trade person, Amazon is showing that the trade paperback will be released in December and is available for pre-order.  (buying it through the below link helps this site.)

I apologize for not updating this site as much, lately.  Between travel for work at my real job, book festivals, and a couple of new writing/comic projects (to be named later), I have bearely had time to breath.

I have also been preparing to send my daughter off to kindergarten.  And by preparing, I don't mean buying pencils, books, and lunch boxes.  I mean emotionally.  You never realize how these little little ones work their way into your heart as you grow up.  (just watch all those parents balling in Toy Story 3).  It is surprisingly emotion to see your little girl get on that bus for the first time. 

But, don't take my word for it.  Here is a great poem that they read each year on our local radio station that sums up my, and many parent's, feelings. I believe the author is anonymous.  If you are not crying by the end, congratulations, you have passed the Vulcan ritual of Kolinahr.

A poem for the first day of school
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Dear World,

I bequeath to you today one little girl in a crispy blue dress with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long and a flash of light blonde hair that  bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you'll treat her well. She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart  this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day of school.  Never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proper, she'll wave a young independent hand this morning and say "goodbye", and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now, she'll learn to stand in lines and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for sounds of school bells and
deadlines, and she'll learn to giggle, and gossip, and look at the ceiling
in a disinterested way, and she'll learn to be jealous.

Now she'll learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on
the front porch on a hot summer day and watch an ant scurry across a crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew.

No...now she'll worry about important things like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friend is whose. She'll forget her blocks and dolls, and now she'll find new heroes. For five full years now, I've been her sage and Santa Claus, pal and playmate, Father and friend.

Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers, which is only right.  But, no longer will I be the smartest, greatest man in the whole world.

 Today, when that school bell rings for the first time, she'll learn what
 it means to be a member of the group, with all its privileges and its
 disadvantages, too. She'll learn in time that proper ladies do not laugh
out loud or kiss dogs or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms, or even watch  ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk.

 Today, she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends, and I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long lonely journey to becoming a woman.

So world, I bequeath to you today, one little girl in a crispy blue dress
 with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a flash of blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you will treat her well.