Posts Tagged ‘romance’
6 items.
Jun02
I’m continuing with the Harry Potter goodness this week, so if you vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix, you’ll be treated to an incentive sketch of Jared as a Hippogriff! We’re really blurring the lines of zoology with this one!
Not much to talk about comic wise. Just plugging along, doing a full week of comics devoted to Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. I guess I always did wonder what Hermione saw in Ron. You’d think that Harry would be getting all the girls – what with his celebrity status and all.
But then you realize that when there are all these mystical forces conspiring to kill you year after year, you probably don’t have the emotional capacity to remember your 5 week anniversary with some chick you meet in the Commons Room…
We’re still getting lots of e-mail concerning Truman and his recent bout at the vet’s office. Lots of people still sending their warm wishes. Others sending follow-up notes asking how he’s doing.
As always, you concern is overwhelming! I had no idea so many people would take an interest in our little beagle. But we’ve got a lot of people out there with big hearts, so I shouldn’t be too surprised!
Truman is doing much better and is eating, sleeping and running around like usual. We still have him on his painkillers and antibiotics until our vet tells us otherwise. Frankly, I think he should take every last one of those pills – we paid for them! But we’ll wait and see what the doctor says.
Incidentally, I’m taking Truman to the vet after work to have his staples removed. We’re ready to take those things out. We’re tired of looking at them. The skin has kind of risen up between the staples. He looks and feels like the spine of a football!
I’ll try to remember to take some pictures later so you can all see Truman in action. That might be a treat for those of you nice enough to send your letters.
Watch this space for updates!
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I guess it probably would have been a better idea to have written something about Charlie’s big secret on Friday when it was more at the front of my mind rather than waiting. Now it’s kind of slipped my mind what I wanted to say. Exposure to the reaction that could be found in the THorum probably didn’t help me to find a concise statement to make because now I feel like I’m being REactive rather than PROactive. But let’s see if I can squeeze one out anyway.
Pretty much everything about Charlie’s introduction has let up to this point. I knew from the beginning that she would have a shady past and that she was returning to Iowa to escape it.
In the original drafts, Charlie was coming back from Hollywood divorced from a man she met while she was there. It would become her intention to keep it a secret from Cami and wall herself off from her out of shame that she could not be successful in an area that Cami had succeeded. Namely – a happy marriage.
Thank goodness for “real-life” Cami who suggested that her lost love become Theater Hopper antagonist extraordinaire Ben Affleck.
I felt the original idea was good. A bit melodramatic, perhaps a little uninspired, but serviceable. Cami came along and knocked it out of the park by suggesting Affleck be Charlie’s foil. So many brilliant story concepts sprang from that simple suggestion. I imagine the rest of you can envision what Jared might do with that information once he got a hold of it.
I don’t want to tip too much of my hand, but I’ll share that we’re nearing the end stretch of the arc. The immediate future calls for the retelling of Charlie’s relationship with Affleck and the eventual escape of Charlie and Cami from the women’s restroom. After that, I’ll probably begin to steer the comic back into more topical and timely humor centered on current releases and entertainment news. Subsequent storylines have been born from this experiment, but I can wait to tell them.
At any rate, for those of you who were having a hard time adapting to the new format or those of you who were getting annoyed with how long it was taking me to tell Charlie’s secret are satisfied with the payoff.
I think I’ve learned a lesson in economical storytelling, but I don’t regret any of the decisions I’ve made up until this point. Good, bad or ugly – the feedback I’m getting shows a genuine investment in Charlie as a character and ultimately, that was my goal. To introduce a new voice to the comic and to have you guys adopt her and believe in her as readily as you do Tom, Cami, Jared or Jimmy. So far, so good.
Hmm. Looks like I found what I was going to say after all!
With that out of the way, I think everyone needs to check out or new sponsor Nothing Nice to Say!
You’d have to be living under a rock not to know that Mitch Clem made one of the best comic strips around for a while and he had a good run. I don’t think I’ve met another creator whose fans have anticipated his return of for so long. People who were kind of aware that Mitch and I ran in the same circles quasi-professionally/quasi-socially would write me e-mails asking when he was bringing NN2S back. I would tell them I didn’t know, but I was in the same boat, just as anxious to see him put pen to paper again.
Some people are reacting to Mitch’s return with skepticism, which disappoints me. Personally, I know Mitch is going to knock it out of the park this time around. We’ve had conversations and his enthusiasm for this work is palpable. He’s ready to rock and he doesn’t need doubt bringing him down.
Three cheers for the return of Nothing Nice to Say! And, hell. Check out Mitch’s other comic, The Coffee Achievers, too – while you’re at it!
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I tried to draw a picture of Tom Cruise in a business suit holding up a samurai sword based off a still I found from The Last Samurai. It didn’t turn out very well. So if you don’t feel like voting for Theater Hopper at Webcomics List today, I won’t hold it against you. After all, we ∗are∗ at the number one spot right now, so we can rest on our laurels a little bit!
Everyone seems to have an opinion about the romance he seems to have sparked with erstwhile resident of Dawson’s Creek – Katie Holmes. However, it seems that conventional wisdom dictates that the relationship is a sham. A shameless publicity stunt to help cook up interest in both Thespians upcoming June releases – War of the Worlds and Batman Begins, respectively.
Although I am largely a cynic, my greatest weakness is the notion of romantic love. So I find myself playing Devil’s Advocate and imagining reasons why the union of TomKat ∗isn’t∗ manically devised and orchestrated to be intentional ttabloid fodder.
Also, I hate siding with conventional wisdom.
For me, it’s all about motive. I can certainly understand why Holmes would want to hitch her wagon to Cruise. It’s what’s typically known in the industry as “dating up.” She has nothing to lose by being seen with him and it certainly raises her profile in relation to the other actors starring in Batman Begins.
Among the principal cast, you have Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman. Maybe co-star Cillian Murphy’s (as The Scarecrow) stock is among the same caliber and audiences certainly aren’t as familiar with Ken Wantanabe (as Ra’s Al Ghul). But ultimately, when people hear there’s a new Batman movie coming out, they aren’t saying “Hey, isn’t that the new Katie Holmes movie?” Now we’re thinking twice…
Now on the other side of the isle, what does Tom Cruise get out of this? Certainly publicity for War of the Worlds isn’t an issue. If Cruise’s name on the marquee doesn’t attract ticket buyers, than certainly Steven Spielberg as director will. It doesn’t hurt that the material they’re covering is a sci-fi classic.
So what possible benefit could there be for an A-list celebrity to date a B-list, or possible C-list celebrity nearly 16 years his junior? Why go on the Oprah Winfery show, act like a loon and have people start questioning your sanity?
Then again, the better question might be “Why would you ever leave Nicole Kidman in the first place?” But I digress.
Accessing the conspiracy theory corner of my brain, I imagine a situation where Tom and Katie met each other at some kind of ritzy Hollywood shin-dig, got to talking and realized how hilarious it would be if the two of them got together.
Realizing that the press and the majority of American’s would view their relationship as a stunt, they would play it up to the hilt. Lavish attention on each other at movie premieres, act bizarre with members of the press when questioned about it and even lob about rumors of marriage to really bring things to a boil.
Then after both War of the Worlda and Batman Begins premier in theaters, they would issue a joint press conference and admit to the world that – yes – their time together WAS a publicity stunt. It was all part of an elaborate scheme to expose the folly of “entertainment journalism” and the country fell for it hook, line and sinker.
But stepping away from that theory, I realize that the public backlash against being hoodwinked to such a degree would be enormous and the careers of both actors would probably be squashed immediately.
As such, I have to resign myself to the possibility that the TomKat relationship is not a stunt. Just another slight of hand by Cruise’s team of image manipulators to further convince the country that their client isn’t gay.
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I know that it’s not Valentine’s Day anymore, but you have to commemorate the season. I decided to commemorate it by drawing a better Valentine’s Day strip than I did 3 years ago. Man, how time flies.
Cami and I enjoyed the holiday together. We had a nice dinner, exchanged cards, and – although we agreed not to – I got her some gifts. Nothing complicated. A stuffed animal, a DVD and some CHOXIE! Sorry, I just like shouting the word CHOXIE!
Anyway, the DVD I got her was Just Like Heaven and I went through something Just Like Hell to get it for her. Does it make sense to anyone else that Target would be sold out of this particular DVD a few days after it’s been released? I mean, aren’t these guys sitting on crates of new releases, or did everyone have the same idea I did?
I wanted to get Cami Just Like Heaven because the film is set in San Francisco. One of our first vacations together as a married couple was to San Francisco. Of course the city is romantic as all get-out in its own right, but the time we spent there makes movies set in San Francisco extra special to us. We’ll sit and watch and then pull each other’s shirt sleeves – "We were there! We were there!" Does anyone else do this?
Of course, I should shamefully admit that I did something dunderheaded while making my purchase of this movie. In response to Target’s low inventory policy, I was sent scrambling to Best Buy to pick up the movie. In my haste, I grabbed the FULL SCREEN version instead of the wide screen version.
This… I never do.
I’ve lectured family members for hours on why wide screen is better than full screen and I come home with this? It’s like walking in the door with Mr. Pibb when you meant to grab Dr. Pepper.
Guh…
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I was getting kind of tired of drawing profiles of characters for the Top Web Comics incentive image, so I did something a little different today. Jimmy’s trials at the movie theater kind of reminded me of Atlas, so I went that direction with the incentive sketch. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics if you want to see it.
I realized while plotting this week’s comic that it didn’t contain a joke. It sent me into a miniature panic. I’m not exactly known for writing drama and – to me – writing a comic without a joke feels… unfinished.
Ultimately I determined that cramming in the joke for the sake of one really didn’t benefit things. So maybe today’s comic isn’t funny, but it moves the ball up the field.
Incidentally, is everyone able to follow along with the changes in scenery? I’ve been doing a lot of jumping around from location to location – sometimes flipping back and forth between different sets of characters. I know you guys are smart and are probably following along just fine. I’m just self-conscious about it.
Like I said, I don’t write drama. Most of my comics are fairly self-contained. I really haven’t had to think of my story telling in terms of “What’s happening over here while these characters over here are talking about something else?” It’s kind of weird.
Something interesting that’s been happening in the last few weeks is that people have complimented me for allowing the characters to “grow up” a little bit. I can say with all honestly that it has not been intentional. But, with what I know about where I want the characters to end up when I end the comic in August, I would have to admit the transition has been almost subliminal.
Since announcing the comic’s end, I’ve made clear my intentions to let readers know that the characters will be “okay.” Perhaps some of this maturation is the unintended byproduct of that?
Sometimes I feel like it’s best to get out of my own way and kind of let the characters write themselves. I know that sounds pretentious. But in this case, I feel like its an honest assessment of how things are playing out.
On that note…
I NEED YOUR HELP
I’ve been presented the opportunity to attend and exhibit at Emerald City Comiccon in Seattle this March 31 – April 1 and I would really, really, REALLY like to go.
However, this was not a convention I had originally planned on attending. That there is now an opportunity is a complete fluke. As such, I don’t really have the money to secure a plane ticket, a hotel room, cab fare and the rest.
This isn’t really your problem. If I don’t have the money, I shouldn’t go, right? Buuuuuuut… if you have it in your heart to make a purchase from the Theater Hopper store or perhaps donate to my “Farewell Tour,” it would be really, really, REALLY helpful right now. That’s all I’m saying.
If you can help, great. If you can’t help, well, that’s how the cookie crumbles. Even if I don’t end up going to ECCC this year, I will be going to C2E2 in Chicago two weeks later. So, there’s that!
That’s all I have for right now. Thanks for checking out the comic and I’ll see you next week!
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I didn’t post a new comic last week and I feel bad about that. But I’m also actually kind of glad I didn’t.
Something interesting happened this week and I don’t know if you saw it, but it was certainly relevant to the situation I find myself in, as we head into the home stretch toward Theater Hopper’s conclusion.
I’m not certain how much of our audience overlaps, but this week Tim Buckley decided to reboot his long-running gaming comic Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Tim and I started roughly the same time. We socialized a little at the beginning, but it wasn’t long after that his comic took off.
Tim’s kind of an odd cat in webcomics. He has an enormous following, but he’s a bit of a pariah among creators. I’ve never had a personal problem with the guy, but I’ve heard the stories about him and they’re kind of hard to ignore. So on Tuesday when Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellet, Brad Guigar and Kris Straub reassembled to produce a new episode of Webcomics Weekly to discuss Tim’s decision, the armchair analysis and schadenfreude were in full bloom.
I can’t quite articulate what it was about their recording that hit home for me, but a lot of what they expressed was immediately recognizable to me. There was a lot of talk about being burnt out, about maturing, about moving beyond the gag-a-day format and shedding the pursuit of persistent updates to generate revenue from advertising networks that don’t really pay out anymore.
I was listening and nodding my head the entire time.
I don’t know what’s going on right now, but I’m detecting this weird sea change in regards to web comics. Maybe I’m sensitive to it because I’m in the middle of it, but I’m hearing a lot of talk about ditching the traditional models, about moving into new territories.
I kind of consider myself to have caught the tail end of the “First Wave” of webcomics. Most of the big name web comics established themselves between 1998 and 2000 by people that wanted to be cartoonists but couldn’t get the time of day from the syndicates. Theater Hopper came along in 2002. So basically, I’m one of those people who looked at webcomics and said “I’ve never submitted to a syndicate, but I’ve always enjoyed cartooning and this looks viable.”
I don’t know. Maybe I’m Second Wave. Maybe it doesn’t matter. All I know is that 10 years in the game is a long time and it was comforting to know that other creators have struggled with the same issues, have the same thoughts and are afraid about throwing away the brand they’ve built up over the course of the “career.”
Now Tim didn’t exactly throw his comic away. His stripped it down. He got rid of what he thought wasn’t working and says he’s going to go back to more gag-a-day style comics about gaming. Some people have asked me why I don’t do the same thing with Theater Hopper – dump the stuff that I don’t think is working or is too time-intensive.
I know that I’ve expressed it before, but I never wanted to leave Theater Hopper in a “less than” position. In other words, having elevated the comic to a certain level from a time-investment standpoint and being unable to keep pace with it any longer, stripping things away from it for the sake of efficiency doesn’t feel fair to me. Fair for the audience, I mean.
For me – as much as it hurts to do it – letting Theater Hopper go is the best thing for it. That’s why it was important for me to communicate my goals for the last year of the comic – so that you guys knew what was going on and understood. More than anything else with these last few comics, I want to convey the idea that these characters will “be okay.” It’s as much for you as it is for me. Because I’ll be sorry to leave them behind.
I don’t know how successful I’ve been at communicating what I gleaned from Tim’s reboot or the Webcomics Weekly podcast this week. All I know is that it made me feel a little less haunted about the decision I made to end the comic.
Thanks for your understanding. Cheers.
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