Wednesday, November 06, 2013

The 2013 Saga Reader Survey

Since I was just talking about writing to comics letter-pages, it seems appropriate to write an open letter to Saga, though maybe not the kind you'd expect.

Brian K. Vaughan has a tradition of doing Reader Surveys that are more slam books than actual demographic data about his audience. The questions are always fun, and he asked a bunch of new ones in Saga #14. I'm answering mine here instead of mailing them in, so feel free to chip in with your own answers in the comments or on your own blog.

Beware the Internet
1. In the parlance of these newfangled "chat rooms," what is your A/S/L?

I'm not at all embarrassed that I had to look up that term. 46/M/Saint Paul.

2. And if you don't mind us asking, where do you buy your comical books?

The Source Comics and Games.

3. Okay, but when was the last time you climbed a rope and/or used a rope to aid your ascent?

Ha! Last time they forced me to do one of those "skills" tests, so probably like fifth grade.

4. Do you believe in any kind of afterlife?

Yeah, but I'm real shaky on the details.

Tony Angelotti and Johnny Depp
5. Who's the most famous person you went to school with?

Johnny Depp's stunt double from Pirates of the Caribbean.

6. In adolescent sex talk, what does "third base" represent to you?

Anything that you can do unprotected and still not make a baby.

7. President Obama probably hasn't had too much freetime since he was elected, so which (non-Saga) comics that have been released in the last five years would you most recommend to him?

Tumor, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, the Resistance trilogy, George O'Connor's Olympians series, The Unwritten, Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, Return of the Dapper Men, American Vampire, Kill Shakespeare, Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake, Sailor Twain, Hark! A Vagrant, Planet of the Apes, The Dare Detectives, Wonder WomanDaredevil, Hawkeye, FF (the Fraction/Allred version), Battlepug, the Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer trilogy, Templar, Boxers & Saints, and I'm kinda partial to Kill All Monsters.

8. It's your final meal; what would you like to drink with that?

Part of me wants to try something that I've never had before like absinthe, but truthfully I'd go for something familiar and comforting like Pepsi.

9. On Star Trek: The Next Generation, which two characters had a never-acknowledged love affair that only you know about?

I bet I'm not the only one who knows about Troi and Dr. Crusher, but that'll still be my answer.

I paid for this one. Promise.
10. What's the best thing you've ever stolen?

A Magnum p.i. T-shirt. Not that I got away with it.

11. Who or what do you miss?

Mr. Hooper.

12. Have you ever had a possible supernatural experience, and if so, what happened?

I'm such the opposite of having supernatural experiences that my super power, apparently, is to repel all ghosts, aliens, and sasquatches. Whenever people get around and share those stories, I just have to sit there and listen jealously.

13. Do you know anyone currently in prison?

Not currently. I've got a dear friend who spent some time in the joint, but not anymore.

14. Which field or fields do you consider yourself an expert in?

I am to Alpha Flight what Chris Sims is to Batman.

In all seriousness, I'm really proud of
the Harvey Award that Robot 6
won this year.
15. Have you ever been given an award?

Sure. I got that one Letter of the Month from Milestone. And a perfect attendance award from work several years ago. And I won first prize at a Halloween costume contest for dressing up like a scarecrow when I was a kid. When people used to pass around those blogging awards, I got a few of those too. I even got a participation trophy for being on my last-place city-league soccer team. I'm very well recognized for my achievements.

16. Has Twitter made you a happier person?

Let's just say that I'm happy to have finally figured out how to make Twitter useful for me.

17. What did your parents almost name you?

I'm named after my dad, so there was never any debate as long as I was born a masculine child. But had I been a girl child, I'd have been "Michelle."

18. Did you watch any of those videos that Chelsea Manning helped leak, especially that one?

Nope.

19. If you had to fight in any war from human history, which would you choose?

The Cold one. Armed with an Aston Martin and a Walther PPK.

Card by Witsickle
20. Isn't there someone you should finally apologize to this week?

Anyone reading this. And Witsickle for borrowing the photo of her awesome card.

21. What is the most important article of clothing that you own?

Man, clothing is so low on my list of important things, but lately, I'll go with my coat.

22. Are you happily addicted to anything?

Caffeine.

23. We're having a dance! Would you like to come to our dance?

Only if I get to DJ.

24. You have to permanently give up either movies or television, so what's it gonna be?

Movies. That would be difficult, but forced to choose, I'll keep the one that's more adaptable and conducive to long-form storytelling.

25. Finally, please draw a quick doodle of yourself, especially if you're not an artist.




5 comments:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

I always enjoy survey questions like these. Its great to learn about people you follow. Although this is a bit more open than I'm used to seeing in your postings. I thought for me a minute I had stumbled onto one of Calvin's Cave of Cool "Me Memes".

Michael May said...

Yeah, it's rare, but I try to break down and keep it real every once in a while. :)

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

9. As far as Next Generation goes I always figure that Geordi and the Enterprise had a special relationship.

10. All good artists steal. I don't keep a record, it'd be too much to catalog.

12. About five years ago when I lived in my Ohio apartment I kept a bowl of candies by the front door to entice visitors to stay. One day I come home from class to see that the bowl is empty. I refilled it and went about my business. That night I woke up at 2:30 in the morning to this muffled boom noise. Confused I just went back to sleep only to discover the next morning that the bowl was empty again.
Curious, I filled it again, and the next morning again at 2:30 there was a muffled boom that woke me up. I got out of bed and looked in the living room. The bowl was empty.

Alarmed, I imagined that there was a wormhole to hell opening in that room and would come back and swallow me up. I slammed and locked my bedroom door, booted up my laptop to tell everyone on Facebook that this was my last night on Earth and waited in terror for what ever it was to come back and get me. And nothing happened.

Recalling the incident to my mother, she claimed I made the whole thing up to try and get money out of her or something. That I had probably eaten it all and just forgotten about it. Thanks a lot Mom.

Michael May said...

Candy-stealing ghosts are frustrating, but at least I understand their motivations. Thanks for sharing that story! (Especially the end, which is fantastic.)

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Thanks Michael. Always nice to put the cherry on top of the shame sundae. haha.

It probably didn't help matters that this was around the time the first "Paranormal Activity" movie came out, which has some similarities to this situation, just not as sugary sweet.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails