Archive for May, 2006
19 items.
May17
GUEST STRIP – RYAN SIAS
May 17th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(8 votes, average: 8.88 out of 10)
Today’s guest strip comes from illustator extraordinaire and creator of Silent Kimbly, Ryan Sias!
I’ve been a big fan of Ryan’s ever since I stumbled upon his now defunct journal comic Urban Observations. Not only because it was a journal comic, which I’m always a sucker for. But because it captured a quintessential persepective about living in New York City and parsing it through a very upbeat and child-like fantasy filter. I thought it was totally unique and it really made me think differently about what it meant to live in Gotham.
You know how it is; New York is portrayed in very specific ways. Either gritty and crime-ridden or the fantastic magical playground of the affluent. It was interesting to see it through the eyes of someone who could translate the New York experience in very relatable terms.
Ryan has carried his unique vision into all sorts of projects. Illustration, creating and pitching his own children’s television program and doing storyboards for movies like Robots and Bowling for Columbine. It’s an impressive resume!
His most recent foray back into web comics is Silent Kimbly which, by evidence of today’s comic, is more adorable than words. I think within the web comics "scene," it’s really easy to get caught up in what’s trendy or dubious. But then comes a comic like Silent Kimbly that silently excutes its purpose with extreme precision. It entertains. It makes you smile. It’s not pretentious about itself. It honestly aims to please. And that is *SO* refreshing.
With that in mind, I was honored that Ryan wanted to contribute a guest strip and I think this one is excellent. He totally got Tom’s "voice" down and I thought the punchline was especially poignant.
So a tip of the hat to Ryan. Thanks. And be sure to check out Silent Kimbly!
[ No Comments ]
May19
GUEST STRIP – DAVID SMITH
May 19th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(5 votes, average: 8.40 out of 10)
Today’s comic comes to us from David Smith, the creator of the web comic A Fairly Twisted Reality.
Dave is referencing the upcoming Adam Sandler movie Click – which I haven’t decided if it’s worth seeing yet or not. I watched Spanglish over the weekend and – although I hated Tea Leoni’s character – it’s interesting to watch Sandler stretch in a different direction. Doing a movie about a father who fast forwards through the "boring" parts of life only to learn a "valuable lesson" (TM) about missing what counts in the end feels like a step backwards. Seems like he’s slumming. People seem to like him. He has obvious marquee value. Why doesn’t he trade up?
But I digress. Thanks to David for the great comic. I really like how people are continuing to play with the idea that Victor has a secret crush on Tom. I swear there is more implied man-lovin’ in this strip than the FDA requires!
Be sure to check out David’s web comic, by the way. He’s got a really unique art style and I like some of the oddball stuff he has going on. Some of it is a little ribald – a little blue – but I think it comes from an honest place.
While I’m at it, I should probably mention our two new sponsors – Eejits and Hellbound. These two comics couldn’t be further apart.
Eejits is kind of an interesting art experiment where the creator posts images of the crazy, imaginative creatures in his head. The coloring this guy does is really amazing and some of the creatures he comes up with are really cute. Check it out.
Hellbound is a more complex affair. A very lovingly detailed narrative strip with several panels per update. There’s a great synopsis to help bring you up to speed on the story so far. Plus, you can read the comic in Italian! Who else does that?
That about does it for me. I’m kind of bummed that I’m not around to run commentary regarding all the "controversy" surrounding The Da Vinci Code. I have some strong opinions about it. I might try to tackle them when I get back. But don’t feel too bad for me. Cami and I will be in Nice, France on the 22 and we’re thinking about catching a train to Cannes for the film festival where we might check out Tom Hanks’ latest offering! Wish us luck!
[ No Comments ]
May22
GUEST STRIP – EDDIE BOWLEY
May 22nd, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(14 votes, average: 5.21 out of 10)
Today’s guest strip comes to us from a very clever chap from across the pond – Eddie Bowley, the creator of Edd Egg. I don’t want to spoil too much of what Eddie is doing here, but I strongly encourage you to go to the effort of "decoding" his guest strip. It not only tackles the "controversy" surrounding The Da Vinci Code in a very clever way, but it also makes me wish I had thought of the joke first!
Eddie did an excellent job of capturing Tom’s stentorian sermons, so I was doubly impressed by the effectiveness of this comic. I just love reading the comics from people who really seem to "get" the characters. It makes me feel like when I’m writing them, things are less random. People understand who they are – their likes and dislikes.
Or, as Eddie’s comic implies, perhaps Eddie is a genius and my attempts at character development are highly transparent to him!
In either case, be sure to check out Edd Egg and come back here on Wednesday for more guest strip goodness!
Side note: There is a good chance that Cami and I are in Cannes, France as you read this. Part of our vacation tour takes us to Nice, France and we found out that Cannes is only a half hour to an hour away. So we’re going to try and get a train ticket to Cannes and wander around for the day. The film festival is going on right now, so if we see any celebrities, we’ll take pictures and post them here. We’re hoping to get into one of the movies playing at the festival for bragging rights. But I don’t know how likely that is! So what, really? We’ll be in Cannes during the festival! That’s a big score for a movie buff such as myself!
At any rate, thanks for checking in with us! See you here on Wednesday!
[ No Comments ]
May24
GUEST STRIP – THE SUIZ AND HUSTLERTWO
May 24th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(10 votes, average: 8.80 out of 10)
I gotta give it up to The SuiZ and Hustlertwo from Nuclear Powered Toaster. The sheer volume of references from Theater Hopper’s past in their comic reflects a familiarity with my work that I only share casual knowledge of! The Cult of Sandler and that paper-plate girl being impressive throwbacks! Good on ya, guys! And by the way, I think I want that third panel to become my new avatar. Great close up!
If you want more of that kind of exaggerated action, be sure to check out Nuclear Powered Toaster. The artwork is top-notch and it has a great continuing storyline!
I haven’t mentioned it for about a week, so I want to remind everyone that the deadline for book pre-orders is closing in! Remember, June 11 will be your last chance to submit your pre-order. There’s still a bunch of orders that we need in order to meet the minimum print run, so I hope all of you guys out there thinking about buying a book can help me out! Please pre-order your book today!
By the way, did you know I have another guest strip for you on Friday? Because I do and it’s really good!
I think all of the guest strips so far have been really good, don’t you? I gotta admit, I really lucked out!
Thanks again to The SuiZ and Hustlertwo!
[ No Comments ]
May26
GUEST STRIP – SHAWN MILLER
May 26th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(5 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
Today’s guest strip comes to us from Shawn Miller over at Big Pond. I was immediately taken with Shawn’s comic for two reasons:
- I really dig his kind of waterbrush style. I find it captivating, really. I e-mailed him and asked him how he did it. He would reveal trade secrets, but told me essentially it was playing around with layers, colors and brush weight in Photoshop until he got what he wanted. Man, I wish I could dedicate that kind of attention to my comic! Still, looking at what he produced, it makes me want to experiment. Love the 3-D version of the Theater Hopper logo, to.
- The phrase "…in space" adds comedy value to any scenario. The Muppet Show knew it when they had "Pigs In Space!" Shawn knows it, too.
I hope you guys have been enjoying these last two weeks of guest comics. To reward you for allowing me this time off, I’m going to endulge you with a guest strip bonanza! Be sure to come back to the site on Sunday for A FULL WEKK OF GUEST STRIPS! That’s right! Not only will you get guest strips on our regular update days of Monday, Wednesday and Friday but you’ll also get strips on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, too! How cool is that?
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I understand X-Men 3 comes out today in the states. Cami and I are going to try to see it while we’re in Cannes, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m mad! I have to wait until I come home to see it!
See you here on Sunday!
[ No Comments ]
Give it up for the coincientally-named M.C. Man from The Adventures of Masked Cape Man for today’s guest strip. I know he was really nervous about doing a guest strip, but I think it turned out great! Be sure to check out his site and let him see some Theater Hopper love!
No, not that kind of love. The love that’s illegal in 15 states. The web-friendly love! No… The OTHER kind of web-friendly love…
Don’t forget that we have guest strips running EVERY DAY this week. See you here tomorrow!
[ No Comments ]
May29
GUEST STRIP – BEEFY
May 29th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(8 votes, average: 6.25 out of 10)
Once again my good friend Beefy comes through in a clutch? Is there anything this guy can’t do? First it’s awesome nerdcore rap (found only at Beefyness.com) and now it’s guest strips! I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. After all, he’s sent guest strips before. Don’t you think his art has gotten a lot better? I do!
It never really occured to me the Joe from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and I would get into a dramatic showdown, but I suppose, like Highlander, there can be only one. But one thing Highlander didn’t have going for it were the patient wives standing off to the side while their immortal warriors tussled in a giant cloud of smoke, throwing up the devil horns.
RAWK ON!
Thanks again to Beefy for the great strip. Remember that we’re doing a full week of guest strips. So if you missed the contribution of M.C. Man – the creator of The Adventures of Masked Cape Man – then his excellent comic is one click on the ‘back’ button away!
See you here tomorrow!
[ No Comments ]
May30
GUEST STRIP – ALI GRAHAM
May 30th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(6 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
Today’s guest comic comes from my fellow Boxcar Comics compatriot and creator of the web comic Hous’d Ali Graham!
Ali told me he felt a little lame submitting this one-panel Garden State parody. I told him not to worry about it because I think it turned out great! The graffiti on the crane is excellent and it looks authentic! Truthfully, I wish I had come up with the idea.
Not everyone knows this, but Ali is a guest comic machine. I think he’s done at least two guest comics for nearly everyone in Boxcar by this point. Of course, what do you expect from a guy with nearly 1,100 comics in his archive? We joke that there should be a contest to see who can submit their guest comic first whenever one of us asks for a little back up. No one ever beats Ali.
For more of Ali’s genius and quick handiwork on display, be sure to check out his comic Hous’d!
With that, we’ll see you here tomorow!
[ No Comments ]
May31
GUEST STRIP – ANDREW AND MATTHEW CORWAY
May 31st, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(7 votes, average: 7.86 out of 10)
Big thanks to Andrew and Matthew Corway (that’s Rusty and Jonas to you! {or is it Jonas and Rusty?}) for today’s guest strip. I really liked thier idea of Tom teaching an acting class. Of course, the cut right to the core of the matter when they depicted Tom as using violence as a teaching tool. Anyone well-versed in the history of Theater Hopper knows that outlandish cartoon violence is ALWAYS the answer.
Andrew / Matthew / Jonas / Rusty have thier own web comic with a name that’s fun to say – Robobo! Say it five time’s fast! Are you smiling yet? Of course you are! IT’S FUN TO SAY! Be sure to show them some love and check out their comic. It’s really good and it has robots in it. Always a good sign.
Not much else to say on a Wednesday except that Cami and I are still out of the country and you have a week’s worth of guest strips coming at ‘cha. Are you enjoying them? I hope so. Because I have another one on deck for you tomorrow.
See you then!
[ No Comments ]
