And our history in the writing business suggests that at this stage, when things look likely to happen but aren't yet set, the bottom is most likely to fall out.

We have a lot of options swirling around us.

Our feature script, PARADISE SPRINGS, was just read by the director who was attached to it when it was a TV series pitch.  He really liked it, and has some notes.  We'll be doing a conference call with him, and the producer who's attached, at the start of next month.  Financing for this as an independent film seemed likely a year or so ago, so his involvement could be really good news, and his notes seem totally workable so far (without hearing the full extent of them).

That could be a huge deal... if the bottom doesn't fall out.

At DC, our work on Batman Confidential has at least one editor ready to try to work with us.  We have a proposal in for a project that would be a lot of fun, but there's no way to know if that's likely or a complete shot in the dark.  In addition, we have a short fill-in stint on one of DC's books all but lined up.  But the key words in that sentence are 'all but.'  It's bottom-falling-out time, and I'm watching every step carefully.  Which is one reason I'm not talking too much about this fill in stint.  Because if I do start telling people details about it before it hits 100% certain, it's pretty likely to then fall apart.

There's another option at DC, a job that would be a dream job, and could open the doors there way wider.  It's a great opportunity, and the signs are favorable.  But it's too good a job, and thus, we are almost certain it won't happen.  Because of the bottom-falling thing, you know?

And then there's Oni.  ALL SAINTS DAY is written, and we're incredibly proud of it.  But the artist is a little behind, and we're worried about it making it out by the actual November 1st date (All Saints Day).  That, however, is not the bottom falling out.  This book will happen, and hopefully soon.

We just got art samples from artists for a new OGN, and that means that book is rapidly approaching being on the schedule.  But 'approaching' isn't actually 'on' the schedule.   Bottom-falling, right?

And an artist has been signed for another ongoing, which means it is about to be official.  The bottom's real unlikely to fall out on this, and we're very excited about it (and the fact that it may have just passed the bottom-falling threshold).  We may be able to safely say this one is happening.  And once we can say that, we can check with Oni about what we can say about this book, and when we can say it.  But it would be a miniseries, the first miniseries in what would be a series of miniseries.  It would be co-written with a very talented woman, and has a great concept and a fun title.

Lastly at Oni, BAD MEDICINE's artist is hard at work on his graphic novel.  When he's closer to done with it, we'll get the scripts ready for him, and it'll be off to the races.  This has been in the works for years now, so it'll be great to get this officially out of the bottom-can-still-fall-out territory and into the 'published' territory.

Then there's the window that opened on a possible videogame.  No idea if that's even got a shot in hell of happening.  And our two tie-in manga series... one is happening, we just don't know when we can talk about it.  The other is just a pitch, that's being shopped around publishing houses.  If it happens, it'd be great.  But it hasn't happened yet.

And... Christina's about halfway through the first draft of our novel.  We plotted it together, but she's running with the first draft before I take a look and do a pass at it.  It's a great idea she's wanted to write for a very long time.  I personally think it'd be a great launching book for a young adult series that a lot of people would enjoy, not just young adults.  But, hey... I'm biased.

So many wonderful opportunities...

So why am I 100% certain the bottom's about to fall out?

But here's the thing...  I don't need to.

Pretty exciting.

I'm teaching an intro class at UCLA Extension this Spring, from April 7th-June 9th.  The class has a max enrollment of 20, and already has 16 students registered.

Even more exciting, only 1 of those students is a repeat student.  Over the course of the last few years, I've taught this class a few times, and I get a lot of the same faces.  Which is great as I get to stick with these students, help them grow.  But it doesn't speak to a broader appeal for the class or for the craft of writing comics.

This is exciting.

I'm also teaching an online class at the same time.  It starts on the 8th of April, and runs pretty much through the same weeks.

That has a max enrollment of 15, and has 12 students registered already.

Damn... I'm gonna be busy.

Anyway, I was gonna drum up the interest here, and I still feel like there are a couple of people who've expressed interest in the past that I want to get this information to.  But if this drums up too much support, I'm gonna be pretty crazed.

The link for the online class is here.

And the link for the class at UCLA is here.

And I'll be teaching the intro class again this summer, hopefully setting up a fall intermediate class where I can work only with students who have taken my intro class, and take their projects to the next level.

Check it out if you can, and look for the summer class soon if you're in Los Angeles.

Batman Confidential #27, featuring the second chapter of our King Tut-Riddler tale, is on sale today.

The legendary Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and Kevin Nowlan really hit this one out of the park on the art, and we're pretty happy with how our script came out.

Check it out if you get a chance.

Hopefully, this will open some doors at DC (or open the ones that were barely opened a wee bit wider).

Even if it doesn't, we got a chance to introduce King Tut, write the Riddler, write Batman, and (for me this is key) have our words brought to life by Jose, a true legend in the comics world.

Anyway, if you do check it out, we hope you like it.

It looks good, I promise you that!

When I was in college, and especially when I was in grad school (before the whole Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon thing hit pop culture), I would do something similar.

Only, it wasn't just Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  It was Six Degrees of Anyone.

Because, honestly, if you know enough about film and TV, anyone in Hollywood with even a reasonable resume is six degrees away from anyone else.  No matter what era.

Let's test it, shall we?  I used to joke, once the Kevin Bacon thing became public, that they missed the point by making it about him.  I'd joke 'hell it could even be Six Degrees Of Woody Harrelson.'

Thus, I present Six Degrees of Woody Harrelson.

I can link anyone to Woody Harrelson in Six Degrees.  By way of examples, I'll try to link him to a) any old modern star, say Christian Bale; b) a younger star like Hillary Duff, and to prove my point c) an old movie star, say Errol Flynn.

Woody Harrelson to Christian Bale in 3 degrees:

Woody Harrelson was in Seven Pounds with Will Smith (1), who was in Enemy Of The State with Gabriel Byrne (2), who was in Little Women with Christian Bale (3).

Woody Harrelson to Hillary Duff in only 2 degrees:

Woody Harrelson was in L.A. Story with Steve Martin (1), who was in Cheaper By The Dozen (and the sequel) with Hillary Duff (2).

Woody Harrelson all the way to Errol Flynn in only 4 degrees:

Woody Harrelson worked in Cheers with Kelsey Grammer (1), who did voicework in Anastasia with John Cusack (2), who was in The Sure Thing with Viveca Lindfors (3), who starredin The Adventures Of Don Juan opposite Errol Flynn (4).

Now, these are not the only routes.  Certainly, the closer the two actors are in timeframe, and the larger their resumes, the more routes you'll find.  For example, you can take Woody to Steve Martin again, who was in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine, who plays Alfred to Christian Bale's Batman.

But you'll note, none of them took an actual six degrees.  Woody Harrelson has a decent body of work, but he's no Kevin Bacon in terms of being a workhorse (for that matter, he's no Michael Caine, who would work just as well as Bacon in terms of diversity of costars and volume of work).

My point is, it isn't about Kevin Bacon.  It never was.  Some guys decided it was funny to wrap it around him, when the nature of Hollywood means it will work for almost anyone.

Not convinced?

How about Ke Huy Quan, who played Short Round in the second Indiana Jones movie?  Can we connect him to say... Charlie Chaplin?  In six degrees?

Ke Huy Quan wasn't just in that one Indiana Jones movie, he was also in Goonies with Kerri Green (1), who was in Lucas with Winona Ryder (2) who did a couple of films with Johnny Depp (3) who was in Don Juan de Marco with Marlon Brando (4) who was in a film called A Countess From Hong Kong which was written by, directed by, and featured a cameo by... Charlie Chaplin (5).

If that don't convince you, nothing will!

Come on, test the theory.

Give me an actor/actress to build a six degrees around.  Give me 3 names to connect them to.

I can do it, I swear.

So can you.

So our friend Jeffrey was apparently getting e-mails telling him that he had to do this, and when he did, he encouraged everyone to do the same.

He was asked to list the 10 celebrities he found most attractive or sexiest, male or female or both (depending on preference).  He was to list them, and post that list on his blog.  And he was to push for others to do the same.  A sort of objectifying chain letter!

Not sure why, on a day when we have to pack for a trip, this captured our imagination, but it did.  A list of the sexiest/most attractive celebs.   It's objectifying and pointless at the same time.  And also fun for the whole family!

So, anyway, this post isn't just from me.  Both Christina and I will post here.  First will be my list, then Christina's thoughts on it.  Then her list, then my thoughts on that.

Here goes:  who do I find most attractive...?

First off, my honorable mention list - there were a LOT of names I came up with, and cutting it down to 10 was really tricky.  Amanda Tapping and Keri Russell were the hardest cuts to make.  I also worship at the altars of Jodie Foster, Julianne Moore and Laura Linney.  And then there were the celebrities who would have made the cut except they were just a bit too thin for my tastes.  I find both Amy Acker and Keira Knightley very compelling, yet a spend a lot of the time I'm watching them wanting someone to give them a friggin' sandwich.  Thus, they didn't make the list.

Now, the 10.

#10:  Carey Mulligan

Anyone who's heard me talk about TV in the last year or two has heard me mention the Doctor Who episode "Blink."  I think it's one of the best hours of TV I've ever seen.  And Carey Mulligan is a major reason.  She's witty, charming, cute... you name it.  Frankly, based on her performance as Sally Sparrow, I could have easily put her at the top of this list.  But that's all I've ever seen her in.  One hour of TV.  Since I have such a small sampling, I had to put her in at #10.  But boy do I love Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow!

#9: Kate Beckinsale

On looks alone, Kate could top this list.  I find her one of the most beautiful women on the screen.  But she's also dangerously thin in some pictures (which almost made me lump her in with Acker and Knightley).  Plus, the others on this list have a huge pull for me based on persona and performances.  Kate's performance in Serendipity made me fall in love.  But her others... well, let's just say the PVC in Underworld was the main appeal of that film.  Still, I'd be lying if I left Kate Beckinsale off my list.  I just don't get into the performances and persona enough to put her any higher.

#8: Rachel Nichols

Appearance-wise, she was too pasty in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, but she was great in the part.  However, in Alias...  wow.  I was in love with the character.  She went from frightened newcomer to capable agent in one season, and did it well.  Most people know my deep love of Black Canary.  So you'll know how attractive I find her when I say that's she's my ideal casting for a young Dinah.  And, on another note, she's the only reason I'm even contemplating seeing the G.I. Joe movie.

#7: Natalie Portman

Not much to say here.  It's Natalie Portman.  Sure, she's much better when she has a real director and not, oh, say, George Lucas.  But honestly, that guy managed to get Liam Neeson to suck, so I don't blame Natalie for the prequels.  Beyond that little blemish, she's as talented as she is beautiful.  And that's saying a lot.

#6: Alyson Hannigan

Even when she was a complete dork who'd 'seen the softer side of Sears' in early Buffy, I was completely in love with Willow.  The dorky girl next door who's ultimately as hot as her spotlight grabbing friends, she's kind of my ideal come to life, in some ways.  Alyson Hannigan isn't Willow, but I have yet to see her in anything where I didn't come away completely charmed by her.

#5: Freema Agyeman

In Doctor Who, the Doctor spent series three getting over Rose, while not quite getting the fact that Martha Jones was falling for him.  And the whole season, I wanted to scream at the screen.  Martha Jones, as played by Freema Agyeman, was the perfect companion for him.  Cool, smart, sexy... if I was going to travel through space and time in a TARDIS, this is who I'd take with me.

Bad Doctor... no biscuit!

#4: Jean Arthur

I love old movies, and I love old movie stars.  But I love none so much as I love Jean Arthur.  With her unique voice, her penchant for playing women who were smarter and deeper than their leading men...  I fell in love with her when I went to college and discovered Frank Capra.  I later discovered that she'd taught at that very college a decade or so earlier.  If only I'd been 10 years older, I could have learned from her.  Or at least met her.

#3: Diane Lane

The most beautiful movie star in Hollywood today, if you ask me.   Grown up, beautiful, silly when the part calls for it, sexy when that's called for.  Perfect.

#2: Tina Fey

I'm a geek at heart, and Tina is the goddess of geeks.   The fact that she made the country realize Sarah Palin was an empty shell just makes her that much cooler.  One of two women I think are perfect to be Lois Lane (more on that in a sec), and given my love of Lois, that's saying a LOT.

And the big one, #1:

Lauren Graham

I know Gilmore Girls is supposed to be a chick show, but it was, without a doubt, my favorite TV show.  Ever.  In the history of TV.  And a lot of that had to do with Lauren Graham.  How she didn't win an Emmy once (when she deserved one every season) is beyond me.

Lauren Graham has the patter of a screwball comedy star, and the ability to look like both the girl next door and the most beautiful woman you'll ever meet.

I mentioned on Tina Fey that she'd make a great Lois Lane.  But even better (sorry Tina) would be Lauren Graham.  Again, given my love of Lois, this says a lot.

There you have it.  The ten celebrities I find sexiest.  A lot of it is persona.  And talent.  And a lot is your basic, crass, attractiveness.  So sue me.

Anyway, I'll turn this post over to Christina now.

***********

Hi, all.. moving on to the female point of view.  Not sure I have much to say on Nunzio's top 10.  My husband has good taste.  And while I was about to say I would have put Diane Lane at #1, it's hard to argue with Tina and Lauren.

So instead I'll move on to my Top 10 Hottest/Sexiest/Most Attractive Men.

It was hard to narrow down to ten.  So I, too, have an Honorable Mentions list.  They include Dennis Quaid, Antonio Banderas, John Cusack, David Boreanaz and Matt Czuchry.  Those who have been aware of my crushes over the years will probably be surprised that some of those names did not make the top 10.  But times change, people change (them and me) and well, the Top 10 is a small and elite category.

Here's my list.

#10: Taye Diggs

I'm not sure what else to say except damn is he good looking!  If I were more familiar with his body (no jokes please) of work, he probably would have been higher on the list.  But as it is, 10 is not bad.

#9: James Marsters

I love me my Spike.  And sorry James, but you'll always be Spike to me.  I'm not sure he fits in as classically good looking, but I do find him attractive and the man just oozes personality.

#8: Cliff Simon

I was not surprised to discover that Mr. Simon was once Mr. South Africa.  But I discovered him on Stargate.  It's the only show I've ever seen him on, but 1) I've seen A LOT of Stargate and 2) his villain Ba'al is one of the hottest, baddest baddies there is.  This man can capture me any day!

#7: Joe Flanigan

This is another discovery from Stargate, only this time from its spin-off Atlantis.  I think they just like to cast good looking guys over at Sci-Fi.  Joe, however, falls again into the category of liking him for his persona.  While he's easy on the eyes, his cocky grin gets me every time.

#6: Michael Shanks

You may be detecting a trend here as I give you Daniel Jackson, also from Stargate.  I spent ten seasons salivating over him.  He plays a bit of an intellectual dork, but I find him hot all the same.

#5: Balthazar Getty

If you read Jeffrey's post (remember, he started this whole damn thing), he comments on needing to respect someone to include them on the list.  I've heard stories recently about Balthazar's poor choices in is personal life.  This makes me sad, but that's his business and I don't have all the facts and I can't judge him on that.  And, besides... I still find him damn hot.

#4: David Sutcliffe

David is another actor I know from only one show.  But he was in Gilmore Girls and for seven seasons, I arranged my TV viewing calendar around that show.  Funny thing is, while I find him extremely hot, his character was not the one I was rooting for to wind up with Lorelai.  Maybe I just wanted to keep him for myself.

#3: Justin Hartley

Complete and total eye-candy!  And he makes a damn fine Green Arrow.  I don't usually go for blondes, but he's a keeper for this list.

#2: Goran Visnjic

This is more my usual type.  Tall, dark, broody.  The man smolders.

And, last but not least, at #1...

Christian Bale!

Again, dark and broody all the way.  Could there be a better Bruce Wayne?

And there you have it.  Or Top Ten.  I'm sure we'll regret having done this.  But it was a fun way to pass a few hours.

*********

And back to the male perspective for a few quick sentences.

I was one of the ones surprised to find David Boreanaz, John Cusack and Dennis Quaid off the list.  I wasn't surprised to see Antonio gone - the older that man gets, the more he looks like he needs to bathe.  And my wife doesn't do the grungy unwashed thing.

My only other comment is that, based on sheer physical hotness alone, I'd have moved up Cliff Simon and Taye Diggs.  I'm straight, but I'd gladly do either of them in a New York minute.

Anyway, that's it for us.

Wonderfully crass, huh?

So... who are your top ten?

Now, we have a certain attachment to this story.  We adapted the original F. Scott Fitzgerald story into a graphic novel for Quirk Books.  Our adaptation was 100% faithful, and our job there wasn't to add to the story or to change it.  It was simply to build the blueprint of a comic from it, and then step back at let Kevin Cornell's gorgeous artwork do the rest.

We immersed ourself in the story, despite it only being 17 pages long when published.  We grew very fond of it, but we could also see the problems, especially the problems that would come with trying to make a movie from it.  The women in the story needed serious fleshing out, the physical impossibility of a mother giving birth to a full grown elderly man and surviving (not to mention not having the size of the baby show was before birth) would need to be explained... lots would have to change for the more literal-minded Hollywood.

But a movie could be made from this story, one with a huge scope and a lot of humor and something intriguing to say about a couple of things - one, how the bookends of life, infancy and old age, are complete mirrors of one another, and two, how our emotional state isn't based on our age or even our experience, but instead upon the physical age of our bodies, and how that age shapes our hormones, our instincts and our desires.

We read an article about the film in Entertainment Weekly, which described David Fincher bringing "his own take" to the story, by insisting it should not be an epic love story.  And we knew there was trouble ahead.  Because no one should have to FIGHT to make that point.  Anyone who read the short story knows it's not a love story at all, much less an epic one.  Benjamin marries when he's young and his body old.  And as he gets older, his body gets younger, and he gets wilder.  This happens while his wife gets older... and he loses interest in her.  It's a credit to Fitzgerald that we still care about the schmuck after that, but we do.  Still, a romance, this is not.

The idea that Hollywood wanted to make it one was alarming.  The notion that Fincher was against it was reassuring.

So we approached the film unsure of what to expect.

The DVD was on 2 discs, and I stopped watching about 90% of the way through disc one.

I could review it with a handful of words:  Pointless, pretentious, boring, and a betrayal of Fitzgerald.

But because I am (as anyone who knows me can attest) more verbose, I will go a little more in depth, not on the first few, as they are subjective (I found it pointless, pretentious and boring.  Your mileage may vary).

I'll focus on the last:  this movie was a complete and utter betrayal of the story.

I'm not dumb.  I know, as most people do, that a prose work like a novel will have to become something different when adapted into a film.  It has to.  Different medium, different storytelling needs.  This is all the more necessary with a short story, which will require fleshing out the story to make it a full film narrative.

The key is to keep the spirit of the original piece.

And this is the biggest way in which the film fails, utterly and completely.  Some people are suggesting Eric Roth could (or worse, should) get an Oscar nomination for Adapted Screenplay.  Those people should either be shot, or should have someone explain the concept of 'adapting' to them.  Perhaps both.

This isn't an adaptation.  It's a completely new story, build around the concept of aging backwards, and beyond that retaining only (no joke) Benjamin's name and the title.

Little changes, like changing the name of Benjamin's father, suggest Roth may not have even read the story.  The bigger changes, like making it so that Benjamin's emotions reflect his age, not his body's age, pretty much confirm that Roth couldn't have.  Worse, they take the heart of what Fitzgerald was doing with his story, and turn it upside down.

Fitzgerald wrote a whimsical tale musing on how, even if our bodies aged backwards, certain things remain the same.  A person whose body looks and feels 70 will behave like a 70 year old, even if he's a newborn.  And a person whose body looks and feels like a teenager will mope and have out of control emotions, even if he's been alive for 50+ years and experienced a lifetime of wisdom.

In the movie, however, Benjamin is just a person with an odd physical disability.  For the first 10 years of his life, his moods were those of a child growing from 0-10 years old, even if his body looked like an old man's.  This way of emotionally aging continued throughout the film, or at least as far as I could tolerate watching it.

I suspect this was done to make the epic love story they tried to build not seem creepy (guess Fincher lost that one).  You see, when Benjamin has a 70 year old body, he's really 13, so it's okay that he gets a crush on a 13 year old girl.

There are changes everywhere.  Some, like the father's name, seem kinda pointless, but don't really betray the spirit of the short story.  Others, like giving Benjamin a happy home of senior citizens to grow up in, continue to miss the entire point of the story.

Like I said, everyone knows a story has to change to become a film.

But get the spirit of the piece right.

Then there's the pointless, pretentious and boring part.  That makes it all the more painful because at least if it were a complete betrayal of Fitzgerald and a decent film, I might have watched the whole thing.

Anyway, if you saw this movie, you have my condolences.  If you haven't, don't bother.  Check out the original story, or if you want something more visual, check out what Kevin Cornell's done with it.

I'm not just pimping our stuff here - I think you should all check out the prose story first and foremost (though I'd love it if you checked out the graphic novel).

I'm just trying to undo the damage this story has taken at the hands of people who really should have known better.  Because if they didn't respect the Fitzgerald story, why'd they want to make a movie of it?

Besides, if they don't have any respect at all for F. Scott Fitzgerald, they don't deserve any of my respect or time.

We got our comps of Amazing Agent Luna V. 5 today.  We're very happy with how it (the volume, and the series as a whole) came out.

This is the last volume of AAL.  Which is very sad.

Or at least, it's the last volume for the time being.  Jason DeAngelis, publisher at Seven Seas is pretty upfront about calling Luna one of the company's flagship titles, and he has a strong desire to bring it back someday.  And we'd love to do more with Luna and the gang.  And we think Shiei would be onboard - though we haven't talked to her about it in a while.

So, there may be a future for Luna.   However, Original English Language manga is not a supreme moneymaker, and the drop-off from one volume to the next (moreso on other titles, but also to some extent with Luna) makes it hard to keep a series running for too long.

So, it's all very up in the air.

And that's how we wrote the finale.

It ends, but it shakes up the status quo, and ultimately has an epilogue setting up a new beginning.

I know some fans will want (and we've heard from at least one saying as much) more closure.

But closure would mean Luna was over, and I'm not ready for that just yet.  If you read Luna, Volume 5 will have closure at the end of Chapter 26.  While some elements transform in that chapter, if the series ended there, it would end relatively cleanly.  The epilogue, Chapter 27, that's a whole other thing.  That's more Beginning than End, and that's by design.

So, if you're looking for a big finish, when you hit Chapter 26's end, consider the series over.  Then, if you so desire, take a peek at 27 and see what the book MAY look like IF it returns.

Fair enough?

For now, I will be content to know that Christina and I have created a book that captures our love of ninja, teen drama, and Buffy all in one place, without veering too far into just aping what we'd seen before.  It is a book we are both incredibly proud of, maybe more than anything else we've done.

If you checked it out, we hope you enjoyed Luna's first year at Nobel High, and that you send Seven Seas a little mail once in a while asking for more Luna.

If you like our other work, please pick up Luna.  She's at Amazon, and we're so proud of our little girl that we absolutely know you'll love her.  If nothing else, Shiei is a fantastically talented artist whose work needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

Thanks for a great school year, Luna.  Have a good summer, and we hope to see you soon.