PIRATE ON FIRE!!!

Now for a change of pace, the latest "Pirate Chronicles" episode showcases Talon May and his amazing ability to wield fire in the palm of his hands...ok...maybe not quite the palms, but closer then some might like to be to it.

Enjoy the show, and remember, DON'T DO THIS AT HOME KIDS!!!

Special Thanks To...

Thanks to all the Paranormal Agencies and Investigators who have lent a hand and donated various "paranormal tips" for use in Flagler's Few. Those of you who don't know, each chapter of this upcoming book will feature an investigative tip/quote from different paranormal groups across the nation.

I've received a lot of positive feedback, and was honored that so many teams answered my call. This is a perfect example of the inter-networking and community collaboration that the paranormal society should be based in. I will of course promote the groups via my book.

The following are groups that have donated tips thus far:

Michael Carrico of Las Vegas Paranormal Investigations

Larry Braziel of Research Investigators of the Paranormal, Inc.

Craig Kimmel of Pennsylvania Paranormal Research Association

Emmi Grossard, Paranormal Producer of NorCal Ghost Talk

Candice Shatkins of Kenosha Paranormal

Terry Hofer of S.P.C.T.R.

Jonas Brihammar of Ghost Augustine

Angela of S.O.S. Tidewater Paranormal Research

Kelly and Diana Elkins of P.I.T.O.N.

John Eagen of Sarasota Paranormal Investigation and Research

Mark Keyes of Pennsylvania Paranormal Association

If any other investigative groups want to donate tips, please e-mail me at ARFstudios@aol.com.

The Prologue...

So I will get chastised for this, but I just couldn't handle the frustrations and time-consuming nature that comes with using Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator or Indesign to make word bubbles for my pages. So I bought the program Comic Life, and I have to say...for the most part...this program is fun and stress-free!

I was able to letter 6 pages in less then an hour or so once I got the hang of it, and now for your viewing pleasure the first six pages of Flagler's Few penciled, inked, and lettered! I'm considering going back and possibly re-doing these pages because I've improved a lot as an artist since the time I did them, and a few editors have mentioned this to me.

Enjoy these for now. :-)







FFF

St. Augustine Archaeological Association

I was walking down Cuna Street, taking some reference photos a few months ago for the book, and I ran into a strange group of people working on an empty grassy plot. At first I thought it was a construction crew, working on a city work order or something...but as I drew closer I saw the people working in the lot were of all different ages (young to old) and looked waaaaay too happy to be working on some main line.



What I had stumbled upon, was the Saint Augustine Archaeological Association.

S.A.A.A. is a non-profit group that is well respected in the St. Augustine area and seems to work in conjucture with the city of St. Augustine, as well as Flagler College. Their mission is to educate and preserve the city's ancient artifacts and heritage. The group works on sites in and around the city and welcomes new members and visitors to join their historical investigations.



I just received my membership certificate (membership was under $15 for a year) and it covers my participation on future digs, meetings and seminars. Anyone who's into history and lives in the general area or is willing to travel to partcipate I highly suggest you look into joining this team!

Archaeology goes hand in hand with the paranormal, because to understand history is to better understand the paranormal.

The Pirate Chronicles, Roger Blimes

Next up on the Pirate Chronicles, we talk with Captain Roger Blimes, also known as my good friend Jujuan Burton, the truest inspiration for the wannabe pirate. Jujuan and I are reporting this interview from high a top Fort Matanzas, located along the intercoastal water way leading up to the city of St. Augustine.

Roger..errrr...Jujuan I mean, talks with me about his thoughts surrounding the character in the graphic novel, a little bit about what it was like playing him in the original film and how Roger stands up to iconic characters like Wolverine and Batman in the "bad-ass department".

Next up, we look at pages of work that were critiqued by Slave Labor's editor Dan Vado, as well as a step-by-step walk through of the creation of one of Flagler's Few's pages.

Editor's Day

SCAD puts on once a month, an event where they invite all the big publishing companies to come visit the students and review their portfolios for potential hiring or publishing. We call it "Editor's Day" and to many it's the next best thing to Christmas.

In all honest, RARELY do the editors actually pick up anyone's stories or hire artists to work for the company on their projects. I personally think it's more of a vacation for the editors (no offense to any editor's reading) but, I also think a lot of students get their hopes up too high.

The REAL benefit of the meet-and-greet event is to get some face time with the usually way-too-busy people who rule our world. See how they approach and review your work, and learn and accept from their critiques.

On Friday, I'll be submitting Flagler's Few to the editors of Oni Press, Dark Horse and Slave Labor Graphics to gauge their response to the idea of a REAL paranormal graphic. I'll be promoting the three elements (comic, history and paranormal guide) and take their feedback into consideration.

I'm totally prepared for the worst, which is what you usually should be, but you got to remain positive in these situations as well. You never know what fate throws you. It's going to be a very difficult, stressful and tricky day getting my foot in the door of all three editors (especially since I'm only scheduled to see Dark Horse "officially") , but, I'll be sure to fill you all in as soon as I'm out of the lions den.

Wish me luck!

What do you see?

This photo was sent along to me by the wonderfully talented Jennifer Jones, a professional painter based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Jennifer is a good friend of mine that I met on one of my ghost tours a couple of years ago and she was thoughtful enough to send my way a photo her friend took in Las Vegas while attending the Titanic exhibit.

Some of you might know of the Titanic exhibit through the SciFi show Ghost Hunters. I'm not sure if this is the same exhibit the TAPS team investigated, but I'm suspecting it is. The photo shows some distinctive blurring around the port hole. Faces can be seen in the image, but I can't decipher whether it's visual matrixing or possibly a legitimate haunting.

I'll probably send it along to Dr. Willin, a well established documentor of paranormal photography, but I invite you all to make your own conclusions as well.

Post them under the comment section if you can!

In memory of Hans Holzer (1920-2009)

I know I'm a bit late on posting this, but that's because I was totally unaware of it until a little over 20 minutes ago. Hans Holzer, a respected paranormal investigator and in many cases a legend in the field of paranormal investigation, passed away this past Sunday, April 26th.

Hans Holzer, was born in Austria, and was responsible for authoring over 138 books on the paranormal, as well as appearing and starring on a number of paranormal documentaries and TV specials.

While one of his most famous cases, the haunting at 112 Ocean Ave. in Amityville, New York, had brought him greater fame as well as likely some discredit (the cases is still disputed to be a fake) it cannot be denied that Holzer has given a great deal to the paranormal community and will be greatly missed.

My condolences to his family, however, let's hope that Mr. Holzer has found the long saught after answers he's be looking for. I will also be adding a little tribute to Holzer in Flagler's Few.

Farewell!