Eric, Rick, and I are going to try to do a Google Hangout tonight at 6pm PDT/9pm EDT. I say try because we just spent the better part of an hour failing to actually make everything work right.

But we are undaunted! UNDAUNTED, I TELL YOU!!!

Anyway, we’ll be taking questions via Twitter, hashtag #SabreChat, and we hope you’ll be joining us to talk about the Kickstarter Campaign and other such things.

Not even a year ago, German intelligence predicted Syrian autocrat Bashar Assad’s regime would soon collapse. Now, the agency instead believes the rebels are in trouble. Government troops are set to make significant advances, it predicts.

From the writer-of-espionage point of view, what’s going on in Syria is fascinating, and very reminiscent of the Cold War.

myrrhdyrrh asked: First off, congratulations on the success of your kickstarter, I look forward to getting my copy! My actual question is this: I'll be moving up to Seattle for work at the end of the summer, and I want to take a weekend trip to Portland. Do you have any things or places in the city you'd recommend a comic and beer enthusiast should check out? Thanks!

Powell’s. You must go to Powell’s, or else you can’t say you’ve been to Portland. Killer Burger or Little Big Burger if you want a great, quick burger - each is distinctive, both are terrific.

Beer and coffee… you won’t be able to turn around and not find a brewpub or coffee shop. There are a couple good places near Powell’s, actually - Rogue has a place, as does Bridgeport (my preference). This is all on the west side of the river.

If there’s a soccer game being played at Jeld-Wen, specifically a Timbers or Thorns match, I’d recommend trying to catch it. It’s a very different experience live, and even if you don’t like the sport, the crowd-watching is fantastic.

Comic shops, I’d recommend Floating World (near Ground Kontrol, too!), Excalibur, Bridge City, Cosmic Monkey… we’re lousy with great comic book stores.

And while I’m at it, when you’re on your way up I-5 to Seattle after leaving Portland, you want to stop at Olympic Cards and Comics in Lacey, Washington.

zgoyette1980 asked: Hello Greg. I loved your run on The Punisher and just listened to your interview on body count. I could listen to you talk character all day. My question is: will you have back matter or bonus material in Lazarus? I preordered it, but I was curious about any bonus material. Thanks for your time.

Thank you!

And your timing couldn’t be better. I’m working on sorting the LAZARUS backmatter right now. Still working on the Issue 1 material, but Michael and I would love to actually have a letters page. I know, retro, right?

What sorts of things would people like to see in the back of LAZARUS?

Never had laughed so hard before I saw this movie, this moment.

From Der Spiegel. “Tulip Time.”

A Punisher post-mortem of a sort. Had a great time talking to the P:BC podcast, but I did get a little long-winded (well… even more long-winded than normal, I should say…).

nealbailey:

Kickstarter announcements and other goodies over at Cura Te Ipsum today! 8 DAYS LEFT! Tell a friend! Tell two! http://www.curateipsum.com

yuripup asked: So are you excited for the One? Do you think we should trust a software company which calls it's third iteration of a system "One"?

XboxWon, I think is what they were going for.

I didn’t watch the “event.” I think events like that are kinda silly. It’s a console, it’s not a cure for cancer. I’ll look further into it eventually, but right now, it’s not high on my priority list.

mattokeefe asked: More of a comment. Just want to say that I'm really impressed by your Lady Sabre Kickstarter. I expected something from you to be very professional, but this is the best Kickstarter I've ever been a part of. I'm definitely going to look at it when I so my own sometime in the future.

Thank you very much for saying so. We spent a lot of time thinking about this campaign, and how we wanted to conduct it, and how much it mattered to us to be honest and open with the community. We felt, at the start, that we were asking for a lot from folks, that we were asking them to put a lot of faith and trust in us. We want to return it.

Honestly, the response has been far beyond anything we could’ve imagined. I know there are probably people who don’t believe that, maybe, or who think I’m being coy, but I’m not. We sincerely had very, very low expectations.

To be proven so wrong, to be met with such a wonderful response. It’s humbling, and it makes us all the more committed to doing this as well as we can.