Posts Tagged ‘comic books’
2 items.
First, because I can’t do a strip featuring Truman without showing a real-life picture of the little guy…
There. Does that make your Wednesday or what? He’s a sweetheart, folks.
Drastically pushing the timeline forward in the “Nerd Justice” story arc, I began to contemplate what it would really mean to lose your nerd license, should such a thing exist.
Surely one of the first privileges to go would be the internet. This is not to say that nerds are the only people who use the internet. We just use it so much better than the rest of you.
I don’t know what I would do without the internet. But strapping a satchel to Truman’s back doesn’t seem that far fetched when I really stop to think about my options. It’s either that, or start writing crazed, repetitive notes to myself Jack Nicholson-style.
“All work and no play make Tom a dull boy.”
“All work and no play make Tom a dull boy.”
“All work and no play make Tom a dull boy.”
Because it is obligatory, I want to remind everyone that pre-orders for shirts WILL END next Monday, May 16. So be sure to put your order in now so your purchase will be included in the batch that I send to the printer. We have a lot of really great, new designs to choose from – So choose wisely!
I wanted to quickly call your attention to a review that was handed down to Theater Hopper from the fine web site Journey Into History. You can find it if you follow that link and scroll down a little bit. For the impatient, a link directly to the review can be accessed here.
You might not be familiar with Journey Into History because it’s just getting off the ground. But it’s a very cool idea for a site. Basically, the concept is to take a web comic and use it to review… other web comics! Artist and writer Bob Stevenson then dissects the comic in a follow up blog.
I was very attracted to the site largely because of Bob’s writing style. I think he is very concise and accurate with his opinions. I just got the vibe from reading his stuff that he didn’t tolerate much B.S. – But that any criticisms he would make were fair and delivered with a velvet glove.
While not entirely complimentary to Theater Hopper, I felt Bob has some very strong insights into the mechanics of the comic. Stuff that I hadn’t even considered, but when pointed out to me, rang true.
He had plenty of good things to say about the comic – and that’s always welcome – but it’s the politely worded criticisms one can use to really advance their art.
A lot of other “review” sites could learn a lot by Bob’s example. You can tell he really takes the time to digest the material he’s reviewing – even when the archives are huge.
For example, Bob freely admitted that while he read most of the comics in the archive, he didn’t read all the blogs. He also confessed to not being that familiar with movies from the last 5 years ago, so he wasn’t the best to judge whether my opinions on recent cinematic offerings were on the money or not.
These deficiencies on his part did not color his review at all, I felt. Some people might look at this comic and say “Well, I’m not into movies – so therefore it sucks.” Bob gave it a fair shake and worked with the material he took the time to absorb.
Anyway, I’m ranting a little bit. But it’s just so refreshing to get feedback like this. Do yourself a favor and check our Journey Into History. Read the archives. Odds are Bob has covered another one of your regular reads at some point. It’s good stuff.
In the meantime, everyone should really consider signing up for that mailing list thingee over on the right hand side, below the comic. If you were signed up before hand, you would have already known about the Journey Into History review because it was something I shared with the subscribers Tuesday afternoon.
You never know when I might drop some more knowledge. Wouldn’t you want to be the first to know it?
More later. Maybe some vitriolic missives about the assured suckitude of The Fantastic Four when I have a minute later in the day.
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You can’t take a pot-shot at comic book nerds without calling forth their patron saint. It’s part of the nerd by-laws, or something. It’s just what you do.
Sidebar: The more I do this comic, the more I realize that I draw from the world of comic books about as often as I do from the world of movies and DVD. I was combing through the archives earlier tonight and it’s kind of funny how many of them refer to graphic novels.
I don’t know if that’s because Hollywood continues to make more and more comic-book movies in the wake of success stories like Spider-Man and X-Men or if it’s simply my alternate influences seeping in.
But I digress…
Main blog: Contrary to the statements of my illustrated avatar, I personally am VERY excited to see The 40 Year-Old Virgin this weekend. I think it’s going to be a hit akin to Wedding Crashers and hopefully the proof that Hollywood needs to cement the notion that R-rated comedies can be successful.
Advance reviews have been great and I don’t doubt it. It has Steve Carell in his first lead role and one where he finally hasn’t been propped up to do the anchorman thing that he cultivated so well from his years on The Daily Show. I think he’s been long past due to break out of that mold and I think he’ll prove exactly how versatile he is with this movie.
Second, Judd Apatow directs and was the co-writer with Carell. Apatow is one of my favorite comedic writers – he being the brain behind both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, which I both loved.
Third, I’m hearing rumblings that Virgin’s effectiveness lies not within it’s ability to be raunchy or shock. But rather in the tenderness it shows it’s characters and the sweetness it allows them to exude. It fleshes them out a little more. Evolves them past the point of catch-phrase dispensers.
At any rate, I have another comic lined up for Friday relating to The 40 Year-Old Virgin, so be on the lookout for that.
A couple of other things you need to be on the lookout for are our two new advertisers – Make With The Funny and Deathfist Ninja GKaiser.
The former is a web comic that’s been around for a while now and I find it puzzling that more people don’t know about it. The art is clean, the jokes are funny and the site design is sharp as a tack. What’s the problem people? Get on the bus now and tell all your friends you’ve actually been reading it for the last 2 years.
The later is a relatively new comic to the scene. Largely manga inspired and heavy on a narrative structure. If you like your comics with an little more characterization, this one is for you. I think these guys do a really good job with both panel layout and color. Their talent is only going to get stronger. Their ad is currently running in the THorum<. A banner that currently isn't up there but probably should be is that I've gotten a whole batch of new shirts in from the printer. If you’re thinking about buying one, now would be a good time. I have a full stock in several sizes, but due to the hit I’m taking on lower ad rates, I’ll probably raise prices on t-shirts by the end of the month.
So like I said. If you want a good deal, now is the time.
Speaking of new, attention-getting ads and t-shirts… If you refresh the home page a couple of times, you might see an ad telling you about the t-shirt I designed for Threadless.com. For about a month or two it was out of print, so I posted an ad on Monday telling everyone to request a reprint.
I did it partially for the satisfaction of seeing if they would do a reprint and partly because I’m very proud that my artwork is on a site like Threadless and I’m trying to tell as many people about it as possible.
Anyway, two days after I put up my ad – wouldn’t you know it, they reprint my shirt! Anyway, if you had your eye on it from afar, better scoop one up now before they run out again! If I remember correctly, the first batch emptied out pretty quick! Looks like I’ll have to whip up a new version of that ad now…
That’s about it for now. I’m still working on my recap of Wizard World Chicago from two weeks ago. I have the recap of Wednesday, August 3 up in the THorum. But I need to get cracking and start detailing some of the action on the convention floor. I know some of you guys are curious to know what happened.
Take it sleazy.
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