So Cami and Charlie were once rivals in high school, eh? Now that Charlie has moved in across the street, will they rekindle their competition? What does Charlie think about this strange turn of events? Check back Friday to find out!
Before posting today’s comic, I showed Cami a rough draft. She was very concerned about being portrayed as “another jealous female”, so once again I need to make the distinction to the audience that the “REAL” Cami is nothing like what you see in the comic.
This little public relations campaign is a two-pronged assault. While on the one hand, I’m being asked by my wife to educate my audience about her true nature, I am also trying to convince my wife that this is non-fiction. An entertaining story that requires a set-up, conflict and resolution. All-in-all however, she’s being a very good sport as her character takes the Theater Hopper spotlight for the time being.
Feedback to Charlie’s introduction and the new direction in the writing has been kind of wait-and-see, but I think I’ll win over the doubters yet. If you liked some of the more emotional aspects of the story arc where Jimmy lost his job, then I have a couple of doozies on deck. We just need to get past this obligatory exposition first.
I want to point out a new advertiser – one that’s been with us for a while. O’Deer Comics. A very funny black and white comic about Santa’s reindeer and what they do when they’re not working. Seeing it’s the post-holiday season, it might be time to check up on them!
If you’re thinking about advertising with Theater Hopper, there are still spots available. Now would be a good time to do it. Since being linked from PvP earlier in the weeks, our traffic is seeing record highs. Check out the advertising page for all the information you’ll need, pricing, as well as an ad calendar that lets you know what spots are available and when.
I should probably mention that I plan on capitalizing on the recent PvP exposure and I will be extending pre-sales on all apparel past Friday, January 7 out another week to Friday, January 14.
I mention this partially for those who have already pre-ordered shirts. You will be getting an e-mail from me with details. But I mention it also because after the 14th, I plan to pull the shirts, baby-dolls and hoodies off the site for a while to give me some time to recoup. So this may be your last chance to get a Spoiler hoodie in the next few months. I’m also planning on offering some new merchandise soon and want to get that off the ground.
I recently purchased a 1″ button maker and will be producing buttons for the site. Basically, all the main characters will get a button treatment as well as some of the fan-favorite secondary characters as well. I anticipate adding new buttons all the time, so odds are your favorite Theater Hopper character, scenario or catchphrase will get the button treatment at some point.
I don’t know about you, but I really like 1″ buttons. They’re inexpensive to buy and they’re fun to collect. There’s no reason you couldn’t buy more than one and just switch them out from time to time. I actually plan on selling some of the buttons in sets of 5 at a reduced cost. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for that!
That’s all for now. See you Friday!
So I went over to PvP today and noticed that my good buddy Wes Molebash – Boxcar associate and creator of You’ll Have That had a guest strip up and running over at Mr. Kurtz’s site! You can view it here.
I can’t quite describe the level of jealousy coursing through my viens, but it’s borderline toxic. Like Britney Spears-toxic.
But the comic is funny as all get-out and the opportunity couldn’t have been given to a nicer guy. Scott even gave Wes’s new book a plug in the blog! And since Wes once did the same for me, I’d like to return the favor now.
Be sure to check out Wes’ book "You’ll Have That: A Comic Strip by Wes Molebash" is available at Amazon.com right now. Click here to order.
See how it works, kids? You plug my book and I’ll plug your book!
I should also send a shout-out to Clay Yount over at Rob and Elliot for sending over a bunch of traffic and talking up "Theater Hopper: Year One." Thanks, Clay!
If any of you guys have web sites and are feeling generous, please let all of your readers know about the realease of "Theater Hopper: Year One" on Monday, April 17. LiveJournal, MySpace, Facebook – whatever tools you have at your disposal to share information about the book. Any mention you can give, I would appreciate. And who knows? It might put you one step closer to those street team prizes! Just a reminder!
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I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing with the punchline of today’s comic or why I decided to throw in a very timely reference to Cool Hand Luke. I think I’m trying to maintain a level of wackiness and randomness that is simply not sustainable. If you want to read a funnier comic about Hancock, check out Joe Loves Crappy Movies. Their comic has references to Kate & Leopold, Themla & Louise AND Mallrats! View it here.
Oh, well. At least The Paper looks kind of good rendered like that.
Hancock was the big box office winner over the 4th of July holiday with a $66 million take. I kind of rolled my eyes when I heard the news. For the reason why, read my anti-Will Smith rant from Friday.
This is completely petty, but I was kind of hoping it would fail. Or, in the very least, not outpace Wall-E by two to one. Wall-E took in $33 million, down almost 50% from it’s opening weekend.
Cami and I finally had an opportunity to see Wall-E on Friday and I am over the moon about it. Without a doubt one of the smartest Pixar movies to date. I don’t even feel like I can review it properly because I’m still kind of processing it.
The film is a visual feast and looks almost photo-realistic in parts. If you go back and compare Wall-E against Toy Story, it makes Pixar’s first attempt look absolutely plastic by comparison. And, yes – I know the movie is about toys made of plastic, but you know what I mean. It looks lifeless. Even roaming around on a dead planet, Wall-E’s environments look more thorough, alive and immersive than anything Pixar has done to date.
I question whether the movies themes about environmental responsibility, personal accountability, the over-reliance of technology and the threats of mass consumerism run amok goes over the head of children. I don’t meant to marginalize Wall-E with the stigma of being “a chlidren’s film” The success of Pixar’s formula has always been scripts that pitch their concepts a little higher than your average animated fare. But with Wall-E, have the overshot the target completely?
Kids are smarter than we give them credit for and understand much more than we recognize, but I still think an adult will find Wall-E more cinematically nutritious than a child would find entertaining. There are LARGE gaps in the story where there is *no* dialogue being exchanged and 20 minutes of nothing happening can feel like an eternity to a kid.
All I know is, Wall-E is a movie that I’m going to have to see twice because I was getting to lost in the universe director Andrew Stanton created, I fear there were details that I missed. Any movie that creates a world as epic as Wall-E and entices you to come back to revisit it deserves a second look. Never mind the fact that Pixar basically got me to become emotionally invested in robots. Inanimate objects! AGAIN! How do they do it?
We neglected to share too many specifics when Gordon and I talked about Wall-E last week on The Triple Feature. We wanted to hold back a little bit until both Joe and I had seen it because we mutually felt that we’d be on the same page with our reactions. With a week and a holiday under out belt and recovered from Wizard World Chicago, I think we’re ready for the deep dive this week.
Be sure to listen to The Triple Feature tonight at 9:00 PM CST at TalkShoe.com as we talk more about Wall-E, Wanted and, of course, Hancock.
See you there!