Archive for July, 2005
27 items.
So are you guys ready to see the lamest incentive sketch ever? Hey, you gotta understand, I was out celebrating my sister-in-law’s birthday last night. I didn’t get home until 11:00 PM and then had to whip together a comic. But if you vote for Theater Hopper at Web Comics List, you know I’ll treat you like a brother.
Here’s to poor planning!
Yeah, yeah. I know today’s comic kind of recycles Wednesday’s comic. But I promise I’ll make it up to you on Monday. I have a good one in the bin involving a certain Mr. Affleck and his recently announced nuptials.
Jury is still out on whether or not to see War of the Worlds. I think Cami has sincerely fallen in love with the idea of boycotting the movie on principle, but the hard core movie fan in me keeps saying “You should at least see it – just so you know what you’re hating.” I can talk myself into anything.
From what I’ve heard, the bulk of the movie is spectacular. Wrought with tension, fun to watch. It’s the beginning of the movie that’s lame and the ending that’s a real clunker. Again, it appears Spielberg can’t stop himself from heaping on the schmaltz and it totally deep six’s the atmosphere of dread he built up to that point.
This is only what I’ve read, but the criticism wouldn’t surprise me. He does this in all his films. I was particularly offended by the shiny, happy robot ending of A.I. – Artificial Intelligence.
I’m sure most of you remember that the movie was originally the pet project of the late Stanley Kubrick. After his death, Spielberg took it over to honor his friend. Let me tell you, that movie does Kubrick no honors. The first time you think the movie is over, eject the DVD and don’t look back, because the rest of it is just going to ruin it for you.
Anyway, back on track. I doubt we’ll have time to see War of the Worlds this weekend anyway because Cami and I will be taking the holiday weekend to pack up all our crap for the big move we have coming up on the 12th.
You guys know all about this, right? We’re moving to a new house about 5 minutes away from our old house. Of course, they say it’s the short moves are the worst. They’re probably right. I predict we’ll probably run about 30 or so car trips between homes before the professional movers come in on the 14th to carry out all the heavy stuff.
But this leads me to my next point – I’m REALLY gonna need guest strips from you guys before July 10. So if you’re interested, draw something up and send it to me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com. If you can keep your images in JPG format, that’s best. And the strips can be as long as you want, just no wider than 525 pixels. Otherwise, they break the site layout.
That about does it for me. I hope everyone has a great weekend!
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First things first. Theater Hopper has slipped down to the number two spot on the Web Comics List. I think I know why. You guys haven’t had any new incentive sketches since last Friday. It’s understandable that we’d take a little slide since last Friday’s sketch was, admittedly, a little lame.
But no worries! Today’s sketch is five times awesome! Vote for Theater Hopper to witness Ben Affleck in his post-bee attack state! Everyone wins!
Second order of business. Thanks for giving me the day off on Monday. Between packing up our stuff, hauling furniture up flights of stairs and performing the family and social obligations of the holiday weekend, I was far too depleted to come up with anything original or witty.
I feel bad about it because I’m not one to normally miss updates. And although most of my American readers were probably out celebrating the Independence Day holiday, my international readers got the short end of the stick and no updates at all! For that, I apologize, mes amis.
I think it worked out for the best, though. Because I’ve been sitting on the idea for this strip since last Thursday when I learned Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner got married and I wanted as many people to see it as possible. I’m just really happy with the way it turned out.
In case you’re only vaguely familiar with the site, Mr. Affleck and our good friend Jared have been entangled in violent encounters since February of 2003. In fact, they’ve met on several different occasions. So many times, in fact, that I’m considering assembling all the strips where their paths cross and selling it as “Ben Affleck’s Greatest Hits.” It would sell like hot cakes, I tell you. If it ever came to fruition, this would undoubtedly be the cover:
I have to give points to Affleck for keeping his nuptials hush-hush. Fleeing the country to wed in a private ceremony is much more preferable than the J.Lo spectacle of a year or so back. Who care if Jennifer Garner is knocked up! It was the classy thing to do.
I wonder though, does this mean that Affleck is starting to mature? Does becoming a family man mean that he can no longer be the object of my scorn and ridicule? Who else will I hold up as my bloated, only-in-it-for-the-money avatar of Hollywood excess? Whatever happened to the hard partyin’, hard drinking’, hard gambling, stripper tippin’ Ben of yore?
Oh, well. I suppose I should be happy for him. I think he did himself a service marrying someone with a strong jawline than his. Now there will be NO MISTAKING who the “man” in the relationship is!
Oh, c’mon! You know I can’t resist!
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As I’ve mentioned earlier, I will be going to Wizard World Chicago August 4 -7. If you come looking for me, I’ll be in booth 9131-A – in between my good buddies Joe from Digital Pimp Online, Zach from Joe and Monkey and Mitch from Nothing Nice to Say. I’m really excited about this because I’ve joined forces with nearly a dozen other web comic creators and we’ve reserved a block of tables together on artist’s alley. It’s going to be great. And hopefully we’ll draw a little more attention to our online genre by showing strength in numbers.
However, my trip to The Windy City is now in jeopardy and I need your help.
As you are aware, Cami and I will be moving to our new home on Tuesday, July 12. Due to some unforeseen/unplanned for expenses relating to the closing costs and moving the moving of all our crap to our new home, pretty much all of the savings I’ve gathered from advertising and merchandise sales in the last year have to be diverted AWAY from the site and into the purchase of our new house.
There’s a chance that I can scrounge up the cash I need for Chicago on my own, but with your help, I can do it faster. I need your help because after we close on the house, I’m only going to have about two weeks to get the money together that I need to pay for the hotel room, gas and food for 3 days and 4 night. Sure it would be nice to have a little “walking around” money to spend on the convention floor. But at this point I’m more concerned with being able to foot the bill for the necessities. I’ve already made a commitment to going to Wizard World Chicago. Both to myself and to others. I’m not about to walk away from it now that I’m so close. I’m asking for your help so I can meet my goal.
I’M NOT LOOKING FOR HANDOUTS. If you want to donate, that’s cool. I will reward you appropriately for your generosity. In fact, there are odds that I will probably start doing portraits for donations again to help make ends meet. Look for updated information about that soon.
What I’m asking of you is to help support the site by purchasing a t-shirt, baby doll tee, hoodie, button pack or poster. These are things I already have in stock and am ready to ship out. These are already proven sellers. What I need is a concentrated influx of orders from you guys to help me recover my loss. You’ll be getting exactly what you paid for and helping me at the same time. In fact, you’ll be DOUBLY helping me. Because if I can thin out my inventory, that’s going to be less stuff we need to move! Don’t you feel better already.
If you’re feeling extra bold, purchasing some advertising would probably be the quickest way to ammend my situation. Feel free to place orders for spots out into the future. I have an ad tracking system that will keep everything organized and will make sure your ad displays on time. Those ad spots to the right of the comic up there have been kind of lonely for a while, now that I think about it… If you’re thinking about spending your advertising dollar with us, I think you’ll find our prices very fair.
If you’ve ever thought about purchasing a t-shirt, baby doll tee, hoodie, button pack or poster and have procrastinated for any reason, I’m asking you to PLEASE reconsider now. I would grately appreciate it and it would help get me out of a real tight spot. If you’re wondering what item might be best, the button packs are a good place to start. They’re already pre-packaged and easy to mail. I can get those out the door as soon as I get your order. Plus, they are very affordably priced, so you won’t feel the same financial sting that I’m feeling right now.
I feel a little bit of shame asking you guys to help pull this together for me. But as I’ve come to know you as an audience, you’ve been nothing if not patient and fair. Even if it’s not possible for you to contribute at this time, just the fact that you come to the site every Monday, Wednesday and Friday is enough to keep me going. As always, thank you for your continued support. It has been and will always be sincerely appreciated.
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I mentioned this on Monday, but I’ve pulled the blog out of the archives.
In celebration of Rob and Elliot’s 100th strip, Clay Yount asked me to draw a guest strip for him. I was only more than happy to oblige.
I get a real kick out of reading Rob and Elliot. It’s a fairly pedestrian set up executed with sublime talent. It was a real treat to play in their sandbox for a while.
Anyway, the strip is up and running if you want to take a look at it.
By the by – It’s also worth noting that Joe and Monkey recently celebrated their 300th strip and that is an accomplishment worthy of recognition.
Zach Miller busts his hump 7 DAYS A WEEK to bring you guys the funny and he’s doing a damn fine job of it. Reward him with your traffic. Go on. Reward him.
Need extra motivation? Zach just celebrated the big 2-4. So click through to his site as a little birthday present, will you?
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Jul08
T.G.I.F., homeboys and homegirls. “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” indeed!
As most of you know, the big screen adaptation of the classic Marvel comic book Fantastic Four hits screens today. Most are expecting it to land with a resounding thud. Me, on the other hand? I’m… conflicted.
I’ll admit that my initial impression of the film was very negative. The casting of the principle characters was WAY off base for me. Each of the Four felt like an ill fit except for Michael Chiklis as the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing.
But even my excitement to see the erstwhile Commish in his portrayal was dulled by frequent interviews Chiklis gave complaining about wearing the laytex suit created for the The Thing.
Maybe he earns points for being the only actor that’s even READ the comics, but when you want to get hyped up for a movie, you don’t want to hear the actors complain about what a pain in the ass it was to make.
So time passes. Pictures, teaser posters and trailers come and go. Even the first round of television commercials really sucked. Heap on all of the merchandising on top of that, and I’m far past caring about this movie.
But a little voice in the back of the head keeps nagging me. “But you loved the Fantastic Four growing up! Won’t you see this movie? Won’t you see it just to placate your curiosity?”
And suddenly, as if by magic, the promotional materials started looking more appealing. There was The Thing in his fedora and overcoat trying to look innocuous. There was that commercial where the Human Torch pranks The Thing with the old “shaving cream in the hand while sleeping” routine – perfectly capturing the playfully contentious relationship of the comics. Maybe this movie won’t be so bad after all.
But the tide of negative buzz around this movie is enormous. It seems most people are beyond thinking for themselves on this one. So for even the morbidly curious to step forward and say “Hey, I might actually be interested in seeing this.” is met with a showering chorus of “Are you stupid?! It’s going to be TERRIBLE.”
Oh to be a nerd without a country.
I would totally see the film this weekend if we weren’t getting ready for our big move to the new house next week. So buckle up because that means you’re in store for a WHOLE WEEK of guest strips while my computer is packed away in Styrofoam peanuts. We’ve got some good stuff lined up. You won’t be disapointed.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I’ll see you all again soon!
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If you’re curious about the costume Tom is wearing in today’s comic, it is the assembled product of Madison Avenue in overdrive and is available in most online and brick and mortar retailers.
Noting the success of the Hulk hands from the Hulk movie a few years ago (which some note that the merchandising made more profit than the film), producers of the new Fantastic Four movie decided to up the ante and said “Comically over-sized electronic hands weren’t enough. This year we’re doing feet, a mask and chest plate!”
Incidentally, I did a comic about the erstwhile Hulk hands on June 20, 2003. So it felt only right to do a comic about its profiteering cousin. Enjoy!
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Jul11
GUEST STRIP – BEEFY
July 11th, 2005 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(8 votes, average: 4.13 out of 10)
You guys are probably wondering where your regular dose of TH goodness is at today? Well, in case you’ve been ignoring the blogs for the last few weeks, today is the day that I kick off a week of guest strips. The reason? Cami and I are going to be moving into a new house on Wednesday, so my attention is currently somewhat… fractured.
But you guys are lucky, because I have a wonderful assortment of guest strips to get you through the week. In fact, I’m running a guest strip EVERY DAY this week. So, really – everyone wins.
Today’s guest strip comes from a good friend. Someone I got to know quite well from hanging out in the THorum. His name is Beefy and he’s super cool.
I feel bad because this is a guest comic Beefy made for me AGES ago and I kept promising to put it up. For whatever reason, things didn’t work out the last couple of times I ran guest strips. Mostly I think it had to do with math. Meaning, if I had run his strip, I would have one day of a new week with a guest strip and the remaining two days with new content from yours truly. And since I’m really anal about that kind of thing, I never ran the comic. Stupid math!
Anyway, I’m making up for it today and running his comic FIRST!
Everyone needs to swing by his site Beefyness.com. He’s got a bunch of cool stuff for you to check out. A great blog, a forum and a bunch of really funny comics. But most notably, Beefy writes songs – rap songs – and each of them are excellent. You can download the whole of his Whitsican EP right now – but of course you can always help support him by sending donations.
Don’t you think it’s worth your time and money to check out the efforts of an extremely nice fellow who put togethera songs about the THorum? I do!
Thanks, Beefy!
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Wanted to clue everyone in to our newest advertiser, O’Deer Comics. I really like this comic and I think the premise is excellent – Santa’s reindeer only work one day out of the year. What do they do with the remaining 364? Give O’Deer a chance. I think you’ll come to love it.
Also worth mentioning, O’Deer has just published it’s first collection of strips in a brand new book. Very reasonably priced! Swing by the site and pick up a copy!
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Jul12
GUEST STRIP – VIC TAPLIN AND DING
July 12th, 2005 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(11 votes, average: 5.82 out of 10)
Big-ups to Vic Taplin and Ding for writing a Fantastic Four joke that ∗I∗ wish I would have thought up!
There’s is guest strip numbero dos in a full week of guest strip offerings while I am relocating headquarters to a new house about five minutes away from where I am typing this now.
Thanks to Vic and Ding for their contribution. I got a real kick out of their comic.
Hey! It just occurred to me that maybe YOU should thank Vic and Ding for their help this week by visiting their web comic! It’s called Blues and Twos and they’re just getting it off the ground. But bookmark it now so you can check it out later. I think their efforts today prove that what they have cooking will be good!
I didn’t have a chance to see Fantastic Four this weekend, but I was very impressed by it’s $50+ take at the box office this weekend. You have to assume that the aggressive marketing campaign had a lot to do with it. The reviews have certainly been less than kind. But with an opening that strong, a sequel will surely happen. Maybe they can find a different director and tweak the problems that so many have been grousing about. I’m eager to see it, but keep my expectations cautiously reserved.
The movie I’m REALLY looking forward to this week is Wedding Crashers. From everything I’ve heard, the dialogue is whip smart and Vince Vaughn knocks it out of the park. This seems to be a role written specifically for the charming schemer persona he’s been grooming since Swingers.
But I imagine there will be plenty of time to discuss the film in the next coming days. I have strips lined up every day until Sunday, so be sure to come back for more!
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Jul13
GUEST STRIP – THE BROS. PORTER
July 13th, 2005 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 10)
My thanks to The Bros. Porter for this excellent guest strip that made me laugh out loud!
I don’t know about you, but I’m really digging his rendition of my characters. It’s like they put them on a diet! They’re so skinny!
Seriously, though. I really like the emotion they were able to inject into their faces. Lots of really cool, subtle stuff there. Kudos, fellas!
If you want to see more of the Porter’s talent on display, they have their own web comic titled What Happens Next and it’s a hoot. Again, really fun and bright cartoony style and some sharp writing. Keep your eyes on this one, gang!
As you are reading this, I am likely lugging boxes like a whipped mule from my new house into my old house. According to local sooth-sayers, temperatures should be in the mid to high 80’s today. Let’s just hope the humidity stays low. If you’re thinking of me at all today, pray for a cool breeze.
I know a lot of people who are going to the San Diego Comic Con this week and I am pretty jealous. Even if I weren’t moving, I doubt I would be able to go, though. I don’t sell enough t-shirts to afford a plane ticket and a hotel room on the other side of the country. But more power to those who can!
The nadir of my convention experience in 2005 will be the Wizard World convention in Chicago August 4 – 7. And even then I’m splitting the cost of a hotel room with Jared, Zach from Joe and Monkey and Mitch from Nothing Nice to Say. But they’re all good guys and I know they won’t rifle through any of my crap.
I’m really looking forward to Chicago this year because we reserved tables together with a TON of other, cool web comics on Artist Alley. We’re hoping our unified front will help bring a little extra attention to our genre. Strength in numbers, right?
What’s even more cool is that Joe from Digital Pimp Online has his booth right next to mine. So I can look over his shoulder the entire con and try to figure out how he got so damn good at drawing.
No word on which movie we’ll all see together (as has become our informal convention tradition) but it’ll probably be Dukes of Hazard, since that’s what opens that weekend.
That’s about it for now. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another guest strip!
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