On the surface, I think The Adjustment Bureau looks like a fun adventure. But I’m starting to role my eyes at films that are using the inevitability of fate as a plot device.

I mean… is it me, or are were seeing that theme pop up more and more these days? Maybe people feel helpless and there’s a hunger for movies where the hero shakes off the conventional and preordained? Tiny rebellions of the mind again societal norms, I guess.

Or am I digging too deep?

Stylistically, the movie seems mired in the conspiratorial trappings of 1950’s G-Men. Why they decided to give John Slattery and the rest of the bureau fedoras and overcoats, I’ll never know – other than it’s lazy visual shorthand for stodgy authority and sinister government influence.

Paul Southworth from Not Invented Here had a brilliant zinger about the film on Twitter that I wish I had thought of.

“What did members of The Adjustment Bureau wear before the 1950s?” he wondered. “I’m going with loin cloths.”

In less than 140 characters, Paul summed up what I thought looked so ridiculous about the movie. I wish I could have stolen his joke, but I’m happy with the direction mine took.

Not much else for me to talk about right now. Probably because I’m exhausted. Why? Because I not only produced this comic last night, but another as well!

Have you had a chance to check out Gordon McAlpin’s Multiplex yet? Well, you should. Because I have a guest comic running over there!

Gordon was away at Emerald City Comic Con this weekend and needed a little help hitting his Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule. I stumbled into a guest strip idea about a week ago and told him I’d be happy to share it with him.

This was kind of a big deal for me because I AGONIZE about doing guest strips for other comics. I’m terrible at it and it usually takes forever. I get hung up on trying to find the right “voice” for the characters. Basically, I don’t want to do anything that might misrepresent someone else’s work. I have high anxiety about it.

I’m trying to break myself of that habit, though. I set a challenge for myself to create and submit one new guest comic every month for the rest of the year.

I’m kind of behind on that goal.

I told myself that I would have a guest strip for Danielle Corsettos’s Girls With Slingshots by the end of Feburary. I’m still working on it.

The idea is good! Just difficult to execute. It’s also much longer than the typical comic I put together. It’s hard to find time to wrap it up. I’d say I’m about 65% there. Most of it is drawn and what I have is already inked. I only need to draw a few more panels, color, shade and letter everything before I send it off to Danielle.

Maybe she’ll use it. I don’t know. But it’s more important to me to get over my hang-ups about guest strips so I’ll be ready when someone comes calling.

Like Joel Watson from Hijinks Ensue, for example! Joel asked me to do a guest strip for him by the end of the week to help him cover the bases while he’s at C2E2 in Chicago next week.

Joel’s a good guy and I don’t want to let him down. So it’s fortunate that Hjinks Ensue and Theater Hopper kind of swim in the same geek/pop culture waters.

So look for those guest strips and more in the coming weeks and months!

Switching gears abruptly one last time… after sending my guest strip to Gordon, I asked him to give me the full recap of his experience at Emerald City Comic Con. I went to that show a few years ago when I was at a really weird place in my life professionally. I felt really alone when I first got there and – despite the great fans and fantastic indie-friendly scene in Seattle – and was wrestling with this sense of failure.

The show turned out well, of course. Actually, it was probably one of the best shows I ever went to. So I was really kicking myself that I didn’t go this year. Especially when I had made an effort to reach out to different creators in the conventions I’ve been to since then. It felt like a wasted opportunity.

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure I would go to any conventions this year – or ever again. I missed the boat on ECCC and C2E2 coming up next week happens on the same weekend as my 11th anniversary with Cami. I kind of felt like the universe was sending me a signal to give up conventions.

An opportunity came up that allows me to go to Chicago Comic Con in August. Most of you probably know this as Wizard World Chicago. Now, obviously Wizard has its problems – on both financial and reputation fronts – but that never really phased me. Wizard World Chicago was the first “big” convention I ever went to and I’ve always had success there. So it kind of feels like home.

Reading Gordon’s ECCC recap, thinking about Chicago Comic Con in August… these things get me excited. They’re the kind of jolts that can really inspire someone creatively. I’m eager to get back into the convention world.

It’s not easy. Especially with two young kids. It puts a hell of a burden on Cami when I leave for 4 days. It’s not fair to her and I’m mindful of that.

So, I’m not going to be going to a dozen shows a year or anything. I’m just excited that I haven’t written off shows completely.

Sorry for the bit of public therapy. But it’s the same old story with me. I’ve will have been producing Theater Hopper for 9 years in August and it’s too important to me to give up yet.

Since dropping the update schedule to once a week, I would say I’m a lot happier. I’m more well-rested and probably easier to be around. But I also miss the grind a little bit. I miss the opportunity to reach out like that three times a week. It’s a tough balance to strike.

I’d really like to make it to 10 years. I’m just looking for the embers that will keep the fire lit.

Until then…