Posts Tagged ‘tattoo’
6 items.
So what’s the biggest, nerdiest tattoo Tom is having applied to his back? You’ll have to wait until Monday to find out! See that little “To Be Continued!” graphic in the lower right hand corner of the fourth panel? That means it’s a “cliffhanger!”
Oh, don’t be mad. Desperate Housewives does it every week!
As you may have detected by now, I’ve shifted my focus off of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and have moved on to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. This is wholly intentional and was my plan all along.
Like the dastardly Emperor Palpatine, I have been nurturing this sinister plan for ages!
…nearly two weeks. Enjoy!
Anyway, big tattoo reveal next Monday. Be on the look-out for Star Wars references abound.
Speaking of tattoos, I drew a picture of Tom incorporated into a tribal pattern for use as today’s buzzComix incentive sketch. But since the site has been down for the last week or so, it’s been difficult for you guys to view them by voting for the comic.
Well, that’s pretty frustrating. And I won’t hide my displeasure. I’ve even thought about jumping ship. But we’ll see if the buzz crew can’t make things right soon.
Anyway, I drew the Tom-as-tribal-tattoo picture and thought it was too good not to share. So if the buzzComix site is still down when you read this, here it is:
Incidentally, if you want to see the ENTIRE ARCHIVE of buzzComix sketches I’ve done, all you have to do is donate to the Theater Hopper Walk of Fame. One of the privileges of donating is being allowed access to otherwise locked-off areas of the THorum. There’s no minimum amount to earn this privilege. The smallest amount will grant you access. You can read all about our donation incentives here.
Everyone needs to know that you’re running out of time to place a pre-order on any item of apparel in the store. The last day to make your purchase is this coming Monday, May 16. That’s the day that I send all the information to the printer. So if you want your order in with that batch, don’t space it off over the weekend. Make your purchase now!
And we appreciate your support.
Tonight Cami and I are going to see the new Will Ferrell comedy Kicking & Screaming. There is no doubt in my head that this will be a very inoffensive, domestic, suburban comedy and it pretty much telegraphs it’s story arc in the trailer…
But I don’t care. I’m going for a reason and one reason only. To listen to Will Ferrell scream for an hour and a half.
I know, I know. To some of you, it’s repetitive shtick. But I happen to think the man is quite funny. I plan on enjoying this rote exercise in Screenwriting 101 for the sole purpose of watching Ferrell imbue his two dimensional character with more electricity than what was likely written for him.
So there.
I have my eyes on a couple of other movies. One is still in theaters around here and one I don’t think made it this far, yet.
I’m talking about Crash – the race drama written and lensed by Million Dollar Baby scribe Paul Haggis and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. A documentary pieced together based on the book of the same name, as written by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind.
Despite my enthusiasm for a picture like Kicking & Screaming, I’m also in the mood for something challenging and something that might piss me off. I’m at a point right now where I need art and not entertainment. Or maybe a more equal helping of both. I need that shove that confrontational filmmaking can sometimes provide. I think it would be a good thing.
Eyes on the prize, folks. Eyes on the prize.
Real quick shout out to Instant Classic which just celebrated its two year anniversary. That’s crazy to me. It makes me think about how long we’ve been in the game. I wish I had Brian Carroll’s knack for characterization, but we work with the hand that we’re dealt.
Anyway, congrats to Brian and here’s to two more years!
More later if it comes to me. I’m feeling chatty lately.
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First things first. TODAY IS YOUR LAST DAY TO PRE-ORDER APPAREL! If you want to pre-order a shirt, baby doll or hoodie – MIDNIGHT TONIGHT IS THE DEADLINE! After that, I send the artwork and the order into the printer and we go about the task of getting you your shirts.
Orders have been strong, but if we can make one, final push, it will position me closer toward my goal of having a standing inventory from which I can send you the shirts directly upon receipt instead of having to arrange a pre-order and making you guys wait.
Many thanks to those of who have purchased shirts already. I appreciate your support! Hopefully in the future I will be able to maintain the store more long-term than opening and closing it based off inventory.
Now, regarding that pesky web comic!…
I felt kind of bad of making you guys wait for the punch line that should have rightly been included in Friday’s comic. So today I’ve treated you to twice the tattoo action for one low price!
I’m pretty happy with how this arc turned out – especially revealing that Judge Cann is a Star Wars nerd. People wondered why he wouldn’t understand the reference Tom made to his name back on May 9. All along it was because he was a Star Wars nerd and not a Star Trek nerd! See how it all comes together?!
At any rate, while the “nerd justice” storyline has concluded, I plan on talking about Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith for a good long while, so buckle up for that. Clearly, there is a lot of content to mine out of what will probably be the biggest blockbuster this year. Can you believe it’ll actually be in theaters in less than 3 days?
Jared and I went to Iowa’s largest non-Imax theater this weekend to purchase tickets in an advanced pre-sale for the midnight showing of Episode III this weekend. I didn’t want to see this movie in some generic multiplex. I wanted an honest-to-goodness MOVIE experience.
This theater is great. It doesn’t share screens, there’s only the one and it’s huge. The auditorium seats 800 and there’s not a bad seat in the house. At this point in history, it’s almost a throwback!
Makes me kind of sad that there aren’t more big screens like this anymore. There really should be. Don’t you think people would pay MORE for an honest movie-going experience? You’d think with the rise of DVD and satellite televisions, theaters would make a return to form and create an immersive experience. What about those old movie houses in the 50’s that had those great themes? Jungle movie house! Egyptian movie house! There’s an audience for this kind of thing, I swear. If I had the money to put behind an idea like this, I totally would.
Anyway, Wednesday night Jared and I are going to stand in line after work with our reserved ticket and tough it out with our nerd brethren for the last midnight showing I will likely subject myself to for a long time. Honestly, there isn’t another franchise that I can think of where I would do the same thing. It’s going to be a real treat to sit in a theater with 800 other people and know we’re all like-minded and ready to devote our whole attention to whatever flashes across the screen.
When you think about it, that’s what the movie-going experience SHOULD be. But instead you get cell-phones and crying babies and a girls volleyball team sitting behind you giggling like idiots for two hours. No respect at all. But when the lights go down on Episode III, I know the 800 of us are leaving all that disrespect at the door.
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Today’s comic plays a little inside. Either your familiar with Joe Loves Crappy Movies and it’s creator Joe Dunn or you’re not. However, if you’re a fan of this site, I would think you would be educated in the ways of Dunn. He’s done a bajillion guest strips for us, is a friend of the site and tackles movies over at his comic with great enthusiasm.
With that said, I don’t want people thinking this comic is the start of some kind of flame war between Joe and I. It actually sprung from a real-life conversation we had about Cars on his LiveJournal. Everything Joe said in the third panel? That’s a direct quote.
Okay, okay. So Joe didn’t like Cars and I understand that. Do I think it’s as good as The Incredibles? No, of course not. Do I think it’s the worst movie they’ve ever done? No. Is it somewhere in the middle? Maybe. But then, when you’re talking Pixar, even a half-assed attempt has more craft and care in the first 5 minutes than other movies execute in two hours.
Joe and I have disagreed on movies before, so I don’t know what it is about Cars that I felt I had to defend it in a comic. Honestly, there’s not much to it. I was writing the comic backwards more than anything else. I came up with the Buzz Lightyear tattoo and needed to figure out a reason why Tom would roll up his sleeve to display it. My little conversation with Joe seemed like a good opportunity. And, frankly, I think the guy is really cool and I wanted to sent another shout out his way!
Not much more to say today. I’m writing this post kind of late and I’m drowsy. Now that the artwork for the books is at the printer, I’m kicking around ideas for a new site design. Does that grab you? Oh, well. I only have sketches at this point. I need to take some time this weekend and put together a first draft. It’ll be fun.
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It occured to me that Jimmy needed some kind of souvenir from his wilder days – and not something easily faked – because even though we know modern day Jimmy as forthright and kind, there needed to be some evidence to back up his claims as a womanizer. A poorly thought through series of tattoos seemed like the appropriate solution.
I imagine a lot of women will probably look at this comic and be really, really turned off by the idea of a guy sporting a sleeve of crossed out names permanently etched into his arm. But there’s something to be said about the appeal of a bad boy, too, right? Oh! But who could hope to tame him?
There’s not much more for me to talk about today and I feel conspicuous cutting today’s blog short. But at the same time, I stayed up WAY too late last night working on the comic after my night class and I’m pretty sure my eyes are focusing in two different directions.
So enjoy the comic and be sure to come back bright and early on Friday for another BIG REVEAL from Jimmy’s sorrid past! Wanna take a guess as to what the big reveal might be? Leave your comments and we’ll see who is right!
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For today’s incentive sketch, I decided to make a point. A handle bar mustache and a neck tattoo don’t make you a bad ass. They make you look ridiculous. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see what I’m talking about.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 comes out on Friday over a VERY slow weekend with very few other releases. It seems weird that there is a lull like this at the top of the blockbuster season.
I have a cursory interest in the film, but only for Tony Scott’s particular brand of action directing. Even though his last two film Deja Vu and Domino were muddled messes, Scott gets a good length of leash for Man on Fire.
I’m not particularly interested in either Denzel Washington or John Travolta – which is kind of sad considering their roles as A-list talent. I think Denzel looks like too much of a sad sack in this one. Certainly the man is allowed to branch out from his typical action hero template, but it’s not how I’m used to seeing him. Washington should be running roughshod over this production. Instead, he almost looks incidental.
Travolta as the hilariously code-named villain “Ryder,” (Get it? Subway rider? Ryder?! HAW!) looks ridiculous to me for all the reasons outlined in the comic. I’m wondering at what point everyone sat down and figured out what this character’s look was going to be. It is as if in the back of someone’s head they decided “mustache = evil” and someone up the decision-making change vetoed them on the Snidely Whiplash protruding number that Travolta could twist around his finger. “Sorry, guys. We’re going with the handle bar ‘stache.”
Travolta has played charming villains before. Most notably in Broken Arrow and Swordfish. He didn’t have to bring a visual shorthand to that performance, so why is he doing it now? I guess those guys were supposed to be smooth operators. Maybe Ryder is a little more blue collar? Even so, if this is Travolta’s idea of a working man villain, it’s laughably bad.
The reviews I’ve read so far have said that Travolta brings a strong intensity to the character, so maybe I’m way off base with my criticisms. All I’m saying is that first impressions matter and Travolta as Ryder does not make a good one.
Switching gears here, I’ve been getting feedback from a few people that they’re getting error messages when they try to log onto the site. Their browsers are warning them of malware? I’m not encountering any errors, so I’m trying to gather consensus. If you are having any problems with the site, please let me know in the comments below. Try to tell me what’s on the screen when the error comes up and specifically what the error message is.
Myself and my web administrator have combed through the site’s code and we can’t find any malicious links so we’re suspecting it’s one of the ads being served through the ad network that’s causing a problem. We want to try to isolate that ad and shut it off.
Then again, we could be on a wild goose chase. Any information from you guys would be helpful.
If you have nothing to add about the errors, why don’t you let us know what you think of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 instead? Are you going to see it this weekend? What do you think about Travolta’s look? Leave your thoughts below!
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Dec28
First things first. I know the comic is late, but if you could click on the little image to the left and vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics, I’d appreciate it. We’ve been hovering around the Top 100 all week and I want to break through. I think if we can get everyone into the habit, we can find permanent placement on the list next month when the vote tally resets.
C’mon. Click the link. You want to see Cami’s Yoshi tramp stamp, right?
My apologies for the lateness of this comic. It’s late. Like, really late. Wanna hear my excuses? No? Here it goes, anyway.
As you might recall, Sunday was Christmas. Sunday’s are usually the nights I work on Theater Hopper. Since I foolishly work without a buffer: no comic.
I had planned to work on this week’s strip Monday night, but our Christmas celebration was unexpectedly extended with a dinner invitation to my in-laws: no comic.
On Tuesday night, a good friend who had moved to New York City came back for the holidays and wanted to get together: no comic.
Wednesday night was the first night this week that I didn’t have some kind of external committment. So that was my opportunity to put together this week’s comic. And here we are.
I feel a guilty that the comic is late because I’ve basically hard-wired that deadline guilt into my DNA. But at the same time, I feel like I shouldn’t have to apologize for it. Spending time with family and friends? Dude, that comes first. I love my readers, don’t get me wrong – and I hate making excuses. I’m just explaining that I wouldn’t exactly give the time back, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, let’s talk about the comic.
There was actually a little debate about whether or not Yoshi was a dragon or a dinosaur that I instigated on Twitter. For the most part, people identify him as a dinosaur. Although some people told me that he has a power-up in Super Smash Bros. where he turns into a dragon. So I guess it’s in dispute.
I was primarily concerned that I might have shot my punchline in the foot. But then I realized it’s kind of funnier if Yoshi wasn’t a dragon, but Cami was convinced he was.
I think about these kind of things way more than I should.
I’m very eager to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I haven’t read the books. I haven’t seen the original Dutch films. But I’m a big fan of David Fincher and that’s my primary reason for going.
It doesn’t hurt that the Academy award winning duo behind the soundtrack to Fincher’s The Social Network are back for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I already own Trent Reznor’s and Atticus Ross’s soundtrack and have been listening to it for the past week. It’s creeping me the hell out and I love it.
I was thinking about how badly I want to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and I realized that there are very few films at the end of the year that I feel I have to rush out to see.
Typically, I feel very overwhelmed at the end of the year. Studios pump out their awards contenders and fight for their piece of the critical pie. I don’t get the sense that is happening this year, do you? I can’t tell if my enthusiasm for movies in general has waned or if there simply aren’t that many thoughtful, reliable films for adults out there.
I mean, sure, dig deep enough and you’ll find one. But where’s the buzz? Where are the early contenders for next year’s Oscars? The Top 10 lists I’ve been reading over the last few weeks rarely seems to demonstrate and consensus. It’s interesting.
This is my last comic of 2011 which completes the first full year of my shift to a once-a-week schedule. I’ve actually been doing comics once-a-week since last May of last year. So I guess it’s been a little more than a year.
I’ve lost some traffic after going from 3 updates a week to 1. That’s to be expected. But I really didn’t expect so many of you to hang on and to become more resolved in your support of the comic. I wanted to take a moment to thank you guys for that. If you’re reading this, you’re one of the tried and true fans and I appreciate it.
I have some big plans for Theater Hopper in 2012. Things are going to change dramatically. I won’t keep you in suspense very long, though. With next week’s update, I’m going to tell you exactly what 2012 looks like. It’s going to be interesting, for sure. I’m anxious about it, but I think it’s the right decision to make.
Thanks again for your support in 2011 and for putting up with the late comics. May 2012 greet you warmly.
See you next year.
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