James Bond... as a Priest?

So the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" is out today... I'll have to check it out this weekend! Some folks say they think my lead character in the Vatican Assassin trilogy is kind of like James Bond in space, if he was a priest (but Moonraker it ain't). Bernard Campion or "BC" as he's known certainly has a license to kill... for the Pope. It all starts in 2109. BC is on a mission to kill the Governor of Lunar Prime, the main city on the Moon. She's collaborating with the enemy - the Muslims of the Universal Islamic Nation or UIN, headquartered on Mars.

In case you've come in late, I've got three science fiction novels out, my Vatican Assassin Trilogy: Vatican Assassin (2005), Vatican Ambassador (2007) and Vatican Abdicator (2008).

The best part? You can listen to me reading you all three books for FREE!
Vatican Assassin
Vatican Ambassador
Vatican Abdicator (in progress)

As a radio announcer as well as a novelist, I've been podcasting the chapters of my books since 2006. You can find them on Itunes by searching for MIKE LUOMA. Or just go to the books themselves on Podiobooks.com, a site dedicated to offering free audiobooks as downloadable podcasts: Vatican Assassin - Vatican Ambassador - Vatican Abdicator. So if you're itchin' for a little interstellar assassin action, give a listen!

By the way... If you're into the Amazon Kindle, you can get each book for just 99 cents!
Vatican Assassin
Vatican Ambassador
Vatican Abdicator

Barack Obama for President

Just wanted to state publicly, here on my blog, something folks who know me have known for a long time. I am supporting Barack Obama for President of the United States. I urge you to get out and vote, and to vote for Obama, this coming Tuesday, November 4th.

I first became aware of Barack Obama during the run-up to the 2004 Democratic Convention, when he was announced as Keynote speaker. Although it was John Kerry's convention, after hearing Obama's keynote speech the talk among my friends was, "Why isn't this guy running for President?!" He grabbed my attention and the attention of many with that speech. I wanted to find out more, so I bought his book The Audacity of Hope when it came out. "Audacity" covered Obama's outlook on politics, America, and what it was like to be the freshman Senator from Illinois. Reading the book, I agreed with his outlook, his clarity of vision, and his pragmatic approach to problem solving. At the time, he wasn't sure he was going to run. After reading the book, I truly hoped Obama would run. My hope was that there would finally be a candidate I could vote for... as opposed to the many years when I was voting against the other guy while only half-heartedly supporting the candidate who received my vote. When Obama announced his candidacy in early 2007 in Springfield, Illinois I was instantly onboard.

I am not a fan of Bill Clinton. I am a proud liberal, and have no patience for those who concede the term to Republican smearing. The United States of America is founded on and based in liberalism. You would not know this, the way the right has disgracefully used the term to focus their derision, and the Democrats let them get away with this for far too long! Clinton's brand of Democratic Party gives in to the Republican's "liberal" smear campaign and instead tries to be more like the Republican Party. Corporations are favored over individual citizens. Clinton is a Corporacrat, not a Democrat. Hillary Clinton promised more of the same. Her smear tactics in the primary campaign were disgraceful. Her suggestion that Obama might be assassinated during the campaign was outrageous, and planted dangerous ideas in the minds of madmen. Her attempts to smear Obama with guilt by association with Reverend Wright and William Ayers were also despicable. And these tactics provided grist for the John McCain campaign's "dark satanic mills" (to quote Blake). What sort of Democrat stoops to these gutter lows against another Democrat? Obama's primary win was a vindication for the Liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

Then there's John McCain. I respected McCain when he ran in 2000. I didn't agree with him on many things then, certainly not his anti-choice stance. I still do not understand how a party that claims to want government "out of our Lives" can be so intrusive, nay, invasive! This and other internal contradictions have finally eaten through the rotten core of the Republican party, causing the collapse we see today. The wave of Republican endorsements for Obama comes from the old school conservative wing that clearly despises the intrusive nature and ugly personal politics employed by the hardcore new right. The old school conservative right feels betrayed by McCain, who, in 2000, was numbered among them despite his anti-choice stance. Some time after he lost the Republican Primary in 2000, John McCain decided, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" He began to support George W. Bush in every way, shape and form he could, seeing this as his road to the WhiteHouse. The "old" McCain was gone. For him to campaign as a Maverick NOW is ridiculous.

And the McCain campaign has been despicable. Lies, distortions, half truths, innuendos... if John McCain wins, it will be because he's convinced a lot of people to support him based on misinformation and lies. "Joe The Plumber" is the most glaring example of this. First of all, his name isn't Joe, and he isn't a plumber. He's not buying the business he spoke of, he thinks he might like to some day. The plumbing business he spoke of is not a $250,000 business, but instead a $150,000/year business. The business will not incur any greater taxes under the Obama plan. "Joe" himself will actually get more money back under Obama's plan than McCains. That's right. "Joe's" taxes will go down under Obama. But the McCain campaign has lied about all of this consistently, trying to corner the blue collar vote by lying to them... or worse, by providing the white blue collar worker afraid of a black candidate with a rationalization for voting against Obama, even though the rationalization is untrue and fallacious.

In contrast, the Obama campaign has relied on facts. There is no need to lie when the country is in the shape it's in. There's no need to lie when you put all your plans for governance out with transparency and clarity.

Barack Obama for President!

Panthea Obscura Video Trailer!

Can't believe it! Juan Carlos put together a video trailer for our comic book! He did it all, even the music! Check it out, and let me know what you think:

New! "TOO MANY MORONS" T-Shirts!!

Just got inspired to put together some shirts featuring the "catchphrase" of my character Troy, the Destroyer from Panthea Obscura, "Too Many Morons!" They're for sale in a wide assortment of styles and colors over at my "Panthea Obscura" Cafe Press store: http://www.cafepress.com/pantheaobscura

Art Dump!

It's been a while since I've posted any original art... thought it was time for an Art Dump!
Click on the image for a (slightly) larger size









I'm putting some of these designs on T-Shirts... click on the Doodlerama Store link to get yours Today!

VATICAN ABDICATOR is out as of TODAY!

I gave the go ahead this afternoon. VATICAN ABDICATOR is out as of now!

This is the conclusion of the VATICAN ASSASSIN Trilogy, the follow-up to VATICAN AMBASSADOR.

Bernard Campion is back. He's the Pope? And there are aliens out to kill or control humanity?

Things aren't looking good for BC. Or for any of us, for that matter!

The "official" release date will be this Friday, August 8th.

The FREE audiobook goes live this Friday at Podiobooks.com! I'll be reading a chapter each week. If you haven't listened yet, you can catch up on the series. Both Vatican Assassin and Vatican Ambassador are available now at Podiobooks.com.

For those who wonder... The book won't be available on Amazon.com until early September. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for the book to list there. I've ordered copies for the local stores as well.

I've written more about the book and the series over at vaticanabdicator.com.

Always more over at glowinthedarkradio.com, too!

Panthea Obscura #3 Out NOW!!

I've spent the evening updating web sites, fixing graphics, checking links... made a new banner:






Feel free to download and use the banner to spread the word about Panthea Obscura!

Here's the Lulu Page: Panthea Obscura #3

Downloads are 99 cents!

High Quality, Ad Free Print copies are $6.99.

And you can still get the first two issues free!
Download the PDFs right from http://glowinthedarkradio.com.

Got the proof copy of Panthea Obscura #3 in last night... here I am holding it in my hot little hands... OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE JULY 23, 2008!!

Take a look at Panthea Obscura Issue #3 Page One!

Written by me -Mike Luoma
Art by Juan Carlos Quattordio
Lettering by Pablo Lizalde

Click for a larger version...
Coming soon!

Get Him While He's HOT!

This is SO preliminary as to be premature... but it's also so cool I had to share it with you! I'm working on a new Super Hero story pitch with artist Rhys ap Gwyn, and he's graced my desk (er, desktop computer, actually) with this pin up of our lead character...

INTRODUCING... RED HOT!!



Watch this space for FUTURE DETAILS...

What A Review...

Vatican Ambassador was reviewed this week over at Time Well Wasted... it's quite a review! Read it here:

Vatican Assassin Podcast Reviewed!

Gemini over at "Time Well Wasted" took the time to listen to my "Vatican Assassin" podcast and give it a fair and sometimes stingingly accurate review. You can read the review here.

Looking for Artists/Collaborators Horror Project

I'm going to pitch this but have no guarantee it will be picked up. This should at least be a web comic, so we may be able to make some cash that way. No illusions, no promises. You feel like taking the chance? Read on...

The Horror project is both the oldest and the newest project I've been working on. It's called "The Gnostic", and it's the story of a modern day college student who discovers that an ancient ancestor has let a demonic force loose into our reality... and he has to stop it or everyone dies.

More in a bit.

I'm Mike Luoma, a writer and artist, mostly writer. I've just put out a second edition of my Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ which I wrote, drew and self published. And Troy Brownfield on Newsarama raved: "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing..."

I'm also putting out Panthea Obscura: Deifornication with Juan Carlos Quattordio. Newsarama said, "Brought to you by Mike Luoma, the guy who did the sublime Holy ____!: Or Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, Panthea Obscura trades heavily on two trademarks that Luoma established in that earlier book: a fine eye for cultural weirdness, and lacerating humor..."

So there's that...

I've been working on the ideas for this one for a while. I've been drawing the first pages myself, but... I want something better. Maybe you can provide that something.

Here are the early pages I've drawn which feature the ancient ancestor doing his thing:
Page One
Page Two
Page Three
Page Four
Page Five Pencils
Page Six Pencils
Page Seven Pencils

A couple years back I was approached by a now-defunkt company interested my writing. They commissioned me to do scipts for their superhero line, were interested in a horror graphic novel I was developing, and they were talking about adapting my science fiction novel "Vatican Assassin" to the graphic form. Unfortunately, the company fell apart, I made no money, but there were no hard feelings... They got me writing at a good clip and made me get off my arse to develop projects that had been incubating. "The Gnostic" was one of those. After developing a couple other projects, I want to develop this one further.

If you want to read the project outline you can download it here:
"The Gnostic" Outline

If you're still reading, thanks! If you're interested in maybe collaborating on this, drop me a line at glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net. My website is glowinthedarkradio.com.

Looking For Artists/Collaborator: Super Hero

I'm going to pitch this but have no guarantee it will be picked up. This should at least be a web comic, so we may be able to make some cash that way. No illusions, no promises. You feel like taking the chance? Read on...

I'm looking for an illustrator for PROOF. It's a three issue mini about how you prove yourself as a super hero, told from the POV of RED HOT, a third-generation hero trying to make a name for himself and failing miserably. In issue #1 he tries to stop a bank robbery he's tipped off on, only to find that the "robber" is MIND MAN, another better-established hero!

More in a bit.

I'm Mike Luoma, a writer and artist, mostly writer. I've just put out a second edition of my Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ which I wrote, drew and self published. And Troy Brownfield on Newsarama raved: "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing..."

I'm also putting out Panthea Obscura: Deifornication with Juan Carlos Quattordio. Newsarama said, "Brought to you by Mike Luoma, the guy who did the sublime Holy ____!: Or Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, Panthea Obscura trades heavily on two trademarks that Luoma established in that earlier book: a fine eye for cultural weirdness, and lacerating humor..."

So there's that...

PROOF features a lived in universe where the heroes have come together as "The Team", originally led by the enigmatic MIND MAN and now under the auspices of strongman LEADER ONE. RED HOT's father was the original RED HOT and his grandfather was REDDY HOTMAN, both members of The Team in their day. RED HOT wants to prove he can join the ranks of The Team.

The scripts for all three issues are done. A couple years back I was approached by a now-defunkt company interested my writing. They commissioned me to do scipts for their superhero line, were interested in a horror graphic novel I was developing, and they were talking about adapting my science fiction novel "Vatican Assassin" to the graphic form. Unfortunately, the company fell apart, I made no money, but there were no hard feelings... PROOF was a concept I adapted to fit the company's characters... now I'm taking it back and retooling it, taking it back to the original concept and form.

If you're still reading, thanks! If you're interested in maybe collaborating on this, drop me a line at glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net. My website is glowinthedarkradio.com.

Looking for Artists/Collaborators

Well, I've been posting on Digital Webbing and had a couple of nibbles, but no real success on finding a collaborator on these projects. Here's what I've been posting:

I'm going to pitch this but have no guarantee it will be picked up. At the very least this will be a web comic, so we may be able to make some cash that way. No illusions, no promises. You feel like taking the chance? Read on...

I'm looking for an illustrator for Vatican Assassin. It's 2109. The Universal Trade Zone (UTZ) rules the Earth alongside its ally, the New catholic Church (NcC). They're at war with the Universal Islamic Nation (UIN), the Muslims now exiled to Mars. We follow the lead character as he works as an assassin for the NcC...

More in a bit.

I'm Mike Luoma, a writer and artist, mostly writer. I've just put out a second edition of my Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ which I wrote, drew and self published. And Troy Brownfield on Newsarama raved: "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing..."

I'm also putting out Panthea Obscura: Deifornication with Juan Carlos Quattordio. Newsarama said, "Brought to you by Mike Luoma, the guy who did the sublime Holy ____!: Or Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, Panthea Obscura trades heavily on two trademarks that Luoma established in that earlier book: a fine eye for cultural weirdness, and lacerating humor..."

So there's that...

Vatican Assassin is a science fiction adventure set in the near future. Bernard Campion or "BC" as he's better known, kills people for the Pope. As the story begins, he's on the Moon attempting to assassinate the Governor of Lunar Prime. But it's not going so well...

Vatican Assassin is already a novel and a Podiobooks podcast. It's the first book in a Trilogy. Book Two: Vatican Ambassador is out now, and it's an ongoing podcast at Podiobooks. I'm working on the third draft of Book Three: Vatican Abdicator right now. Well, I'm writing this post right now, but you know what I mean.

A couple years back I was approached by a now-defunkt company interested in adapting Vatican Assassin to the graphic form. Unfortunately, the company fell apart, no hard feelings... but the idea was planted. I scripted a ways into the book and did layouts for the first five pages.

If you're still reading, thanks! If you're interested in maybe collaborating on this, drop me a line at glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net. My website is glowinthedarkradio.com.

New Favorite, Kinda Creepy Doodles

Here are two more Doodles tonight. My new Favorite:

















And A Kinda Creepy one:

Angel Art

I haven't posted new art for a while (if you'd like to see more, just scroll down or hit the archives...). Did this one recently, put some color on it tonight:

HOLY S#!T: The Second Coming... Or, Jesus is Back And Boy Is He Pissed Off!

**UPDATE!**
The text was hard to read at the smaller image size. The images are larger now, not too large but certainly easier to read!! Click on the images to read.**

Hello from your favorite Heretic...

I just finished putting together a three page comic:

Holy Shit: The Second Coming... Or... Jesus Is Back and Boy Is He Pissed!

I'll be submitting it to a local Burlington Zine that's trying to get off the ground, but I thought you might enjoy it here as well.

One caveat: Where the original "Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ" was non-fiction, this new comic is decidedly, entirely fictional. As you'll soon see.

Enjoy!

Holy Shit! New Edition! Pat Robertson Still Anti-Christ!

I've been sending out the following Press Release to Trumpet my good news...

Pat Robertson Is Still The Anti-Christ!
Writer & Artist Mike Luoma Releases New, Expanded Edition of "Graphic Novel" Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ.

Second Edition of the Graphic Novel Available Now Online: http://stores.lulu.com/mikeluoma

In 2006, Vermont writer and artist Mike Luoma released his first comic, the non-fiction, self-published "Graphic Thingy" Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ. February 2008 sees the second edition released - Luoma has digitally cleaned up the lettering and digitally sweetened the illustrations to create a "digitally remastered" version of the comic. The free hand lettering is now easier to read, and the added shading and gray scale backgrounds help the illustrations flow better, creating an overall easier to read book while preserving the feel of the original edition. Luoma has written a new introduction, and the Second Edition of Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ also includes additional background material. Luoma's original essay that inspired the comic, "God Is Love, Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, And Almost Everything You Know About Christianity Is Wrong" is now included, as is a full bibliography of Luoma's source material.

Reviews of the First Edition: Troy Brownfield of NEWSARAMA raved, "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing... Holy Shit is certainly meant to anger and inflame a certain segment of the population. Luoma's taking aim at an especially nasty brand of American hypocrisy, and his work definitely has bite. It might not be to everyone's taste, but it's definitely thought-provoking, and that's something we can always use in comics."

J. Caleb Mozzocco in the Las Vegas Weekly: “…he posits that Robertson, and other similar Christian fundamentalists, are simply anti-Christ, as in, they often preach the exact opposite of what Jesus taught in the Gospels. You know, all that stuff about loving your neighbors. Robertson has the bully pulpit of TV to spout from, but Luoma takes him on via this self-published, magazine-sized comic book. Calling to mind Chick Tracts in its rough, sketchy art and preachy, folksy, occasionally funny tone, Luoma's Holy Shit is a pretty compelling read, tracing the history of Christianity from Jesus' original message to the rise of an institutional church to the fundamentalist movement that began in the 19th century, a movement that seems to rule much of America here in the dawn of the 21st.”

Steven Grant weighed in on HOLY SHIT in his CBR column "Permanent Damage": "...a surprisingly respectful (to Christ, anyway) dissertation on how Christianity got twisted throughout history from the original teachings to the inane blather of televangelists like Robertson. It briskly covers a range of topics like unpleasant discoveries in Biblical scholarship, the latter day misguided origins of Christian fundamentalism, religious right wing misinterpretation of the Constitution and its historical basis, and suggestions for finding paths back to the real Jesus. And he backs up his argument; it's not simply a screed. The art's iffy at best but the book's pretty impressive."

Shay Totten in the Vermont Guardian wrote, "Using rough-edged, often comical, ink drawings, Luoma guides readers from Jesus’ original teachings to the rise of an institutional church and eventually to the fundamentalist movement, which has become the dominant sect in the United States and influences both culture and politics. Rather than page after page of scholarly dissertation, readers find ink-drawn images of Christ and Pat Robertson, alongside biblical quotations and those from Robertson. This contrasting approach underscores Luoma’s core argument that what Robertson says is based on Christ’s teachings is not quite accurate. It also makes for a compelling read. For those who believe Christianity is more than the 700 Club and calls for the assassination of world leaders, Luoma’s work will tickle the mind, and the funny bone."

Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ is available now, online through glowinthedarkradio.com or at http://stores.lulu.com/mikeluoma and in comic and bookstores throughout Vermont.

Contact: Mike Luoma
Phone: 802-865-2597
EMail: glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net

Obama=Hendrix

Okay...

I Had to write this down, because when it hit me I laughed out loud. And I don't think anyone actually reads this blog anyway, so this is really just for me.

I flipped over to VH1 Classic and saw Jimi Hendrix playing. It struck me as I watched him: Hendrix was so good at what he did, you didn't think about what color his skin was. Didn't matter. His sheer talent on full display mesmerized you as you watched him play. Made you realize (if there was any question in your mind) that color was immaterial.

And Barak Obama is there, too. When he gives a great speech, you don't think about his skin color (unless you're really obsessed). He's inspiring, and makes you realize skin color is immaterial.

I'd like to think I don't care about skin color. I don't, so far as I know. Both Hendrix and Obama bring home the point that drawing distinctions is artificial.

Hillary Wants Schuster's Head for "Pimped Out" Comment

I just posted this over at Steven Grant's "Permanent Damage" Website, thought I'd put it here too...

The Clinton Machine keeps utilizing Republican tactics. The latest iteration? The use of the "Manufactured Outrage" campaign, employed successfully time and again by Republicans and Republican administrations to generate sympathy and publicity since Reagan took office. Hillary Clinton is generating fake indignancy over MSNBC Reporter David Schuster's asking if the Clinton campaign "pimped out" daughter Chelsea. Oh, the horror!

It was a stupid thing to say on the air. Schuster is usually sharper than that. I think he's a little stiff, a little square and was trying to sound "hip" and came off anything but hip to be square... But for the Manufactured Outrage Campaign to work, there has to be some truth to the offense, and on some level what Schuster said could be construed to be offensive. And ripe to be misconstrued to be abhorrent and horrific.

Hillary is demanding Schuster's virtual head, saying a temporary suspension and apology are not enough. Shame on her. She wants to ruin his career over this, and doesn't mind saying so. The Millionaire wants the under paid cable reporter on unemployment, or worse; a demand without mercy - scorched Earth tactics. Pretty brutal.

This false bravado covering petty retribution used to be the hallmark of Republicans, who used and overused it to the point where the American people stopped believing it. Hillary and the Clinton campaign are gambling on the fact that Hillary can preface her remarks with a statement no major Republican candidate has been able to use: "As a mother...". She's playing the "gender" card in a major way, and coloring the false indignancy she's shoveling with the patina of protective motherhood. It could prove a masterstroke of manipulation, or backfire against her. We'll see.

But, yet again, the Clinton campaign's tactics are Republican tactics.