Doritos and Feet
So, we’ve had this vexing question that’s annoyed and puzzled us for years. Yesterday, we decided to take action and see if there’s an answer. We wrote a letter to the customer service manager of Alvin & Company.

Hi. First, I should note that I realize this might sound like a prank question, but honestly, it isn’t.

I’m part of a studio of comic book artists and we all use Alvin ellipse templates. We all bought them at different times, from different retailers, but they *all* have the same cheesey mildew smell, even the set that someone just bought this week.

It’s finally sunk in that we might be able to do something about this. Before we risk ruining an expensive set of templates by washing them in a bleach solution, we were hoping you’d have a suggestion. Is there a recommended way to clean them (and the clear plastic envelopes they came in) that would get rid of that unpleasant smell?

Steve Lieber
Periscope Studio
http://periscopestudio.com

And no, this wasn’t a prank. The templates are great. They’re lightweight, strong, and well-marked, but they smell like a bowl of doritos and feet. So anyway, the reply came today.

We know this is not a prank question.

See?

Unfortunately this is a line of product that we have this issue with.

We do not recommend a bleach solution. They can be washed with a mild soap to clean them, but that may not do anything for the smell. The only remedy for the smell is time. Eventually the smell should subside.

(name withheld)
Customer Service Manager
Alvin & Co.
www.alvinco.com

So that’s that. The only solution is time.

Whiteout Movie
Some nice news in Variety today:

Sena to direct ‘Whiteout’
Action-thriller is first Dark Castle film
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

Dominic Sena will direct Kate Beckinsale in action-thriller “Whiteout,” the first movie to go into production under Joel Silver’s new Dark Castle Entertainment genre label.

Warner Bros. will distribute the pic, based on Greg Rucka’s 1999 comicbook miniseries of the same name. Scribes Jon and Erich Hoeber are adapting for the bigscreen.

Dark Castle Prods., a unit launched last fall within Warners-based Silver Pictures, is backed by more than $240 million from 15 different investment firms. Coin will be used to finance 15 pics over the next six years, with Warners distribbing the entire slate.

Silver has sole greenlight authority under the terms of the deal. He also has full creative control. Film budgets are expected to be in the $15 million-$40 million range.

“Whiteout” is set to begin lensing March 5 in Montreal.

I’d like to say I’m starting to believe this might actually happen, but my brain doesn’t work that way. Truth is, I won’t fully believe any of this is real until I see the DVDs on the blowout rack at Blockbuster.

Jeff Parker continues to bask in the admiration of people who think the comics medium can delever “entertainment.”

Rack Raids | The ISB | Lone Star Comics | Jonny Bacardi | Don MacPeherson’s Eye on Comics.

Meeting David Hahn
Just found this. It’s a bloggers con storystory of how he met the artist of Bite Club and Private Beach.

Family Man

Dylan Meconis has posted page 49 of her ongoing serial Family Man, which means, she notes, that “the comic has officially covered 24 hours in the life of the unusual and imperfect Levy family. Phew.” Go Dylan!