Industry professionals and retailers, the Eisners are now open for voting.

Atomic Robo was honored with nominations for Best Limited Series and, thanks to Ronda Pattison, Best Colors.

Now, I’m not going to tell you to vote for us, but I will remind you that Atomic Robo is the only nominee in any category to show you why Stephen Hawking is a bastard.

First of all, thanks to everyone who came out. It was great talking with you folks. I was surprised to see so many people who weren’t yet into comics but were excited to get into them. But, hey, Free Comic Book Day is all about suckering new readers into the hobby, so way to fall for our trap, you fools!

Second, let me just say that Chuck Dixon is my new hero. He’s a pro’s pro.

Third, apparently the Robo & Neozoic FCBD issue was one of the fast movers at most stores and a lot of people missed out on picking up a copy. Do not despair, Team Robo looks out for the reader! We guarantee that story will be available at no additional cost to you and in a format that will make it available to our international friends as well. It might take until February or March ‘09, but it’ll be there.

I love writing Atomic Robo because it makes me find things like this.

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. It’s an annual event where you can go to a comic book store and, in case there’s some confusion about the name, get some free comics. Most stores participate, but not all of them, so it’s best to check ahead of time. If your store is worth the space it occupies, they’ll have ordered Red 5’s FCBD offering with all new original Atomic Robo and Neozoic stories.

I’ll be signing at Sci-Fi City from about noon until question mark. It would not be out of the question for me to make surprise and totally unofficial appearances at the Bad Apple Comics by UCF or maybe A Comics Shop across from Full Sail. Maybe if I did that, I’d give away some of these copies of Atomic Robo #1 to people who haven’t yet taken the plunge on the series. But who can say? The future is a terrifying place filled with uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Scott will be signing at Jetpack Comics from 9am - 12pm, Double Midnight from 1pm to 4pm, and Larry’s Comics from 5pm until whenever.

Oh, and I guess Iron Man and GTA4 and Mario Kart are all happening too. If that’s what you’re into.

Immortal Iron Fist has been my favorite Marvel title since its first issue. I love it because it relies entirely on its own mythos and only borrows what it needs from the larger Marvel universe. The closest it’s come to doing the usual “HEY THIS IS IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE HERE’S A CAMEO” is that it made a couple narratively logical nods to Civil War’s fallout.

I mean, there’s more to the title’s success than just that, but its ability to create and then rely upon its own mythic momentum is pretty much never brought up, which is odd, because I tend to think that’s its greatest strength. You don’t need to know a damn thing about Iron Fist, because the character’s history is recreated in the issues we’re reading. And it doesn’t matter what ridiculous horseshit is going on in the rest of Marvel’s line, Iron Fist is left alone to do his own thing. This makes for a very fun and accessible title.

Unfortunately, the current creative team is moving on to other ventures. It is almost inevitable that the folks coming into it will completely miss that Immortal Iron Fist has more than enough self-sustaining mythos to cherry pick its involvement in the rest of the Marvel Universe. And if they don’t, then the people in charge will miss it. I could see a sales slump or increase being used to justify a ton of cameos and crossovers that can only choke the series — “Sales are down, do camoes to boost ‘em!” or “Iron Fist is popular now, do cameos to reflect is greater involvement!”

Oh, well. It was a fun ride while it lasted.