Posts Tagged ‘Truman’
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I think when we first saw images of Liam Neeson as Zeus from the set of the movie, very few of us were impressed…
…but I think we can agree that Neeson’s delivery of “RELEASE THE KRAKEN” is a classic.
That said, the REAL joke in today’s comic is the Craklin Oat Bran in the third panel. Man, what a great cereal. So much fiber. I’m pooping myself just thinking about it!
I didn’t get a chance to see Clash of the Titans like I thought I would this weekend and that doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I was looking forward to a bit of dumb cinema until I realized that lining up for that kind of abuse was, well, also dumb.
That didn’t seem to stop most people, though. Clash of the Titans made over $60 million at the box office this weekend.
Usually when a film makes that much in it’s first weekend, people start talking about filming a sequel. But I was momentarily emboldened when I thought to myself “Mythology doesn’t have a sequel does it?”
Not so fast. Director Louis Leterrier recently said that he envisioned a TRILOGY of films and Clash of the Titans writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi confirmed it. So be on the lookout for that one, I suppose.
I don’t have much more to say about the film, but I’m curious if anyone here saw it. If so, what did you think? Did anyone see it in 3D? Reportedly, the 3D effects are horrendous. I’d like to know if it’s as bad as the critics say it is. Leave your comments below.
In the meantime, I’m getting ready for C2E2 next week in Chicago. I’ve been working on a new booth banner and some exclusive merchandise. If you follow Theater Hopper on Facebook, I’ll be posting some images soon. Including a series of 1″ badges I’ll be selling as well as artwork from an exclusive print I hope to sell at the show as well.
That’s all for me. Thanks for swinging by and have a great day!
[ 28 Comments ]
Jun19
GUEST STRIP – JESSE KIEFER
June 19th, 2012 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
Working on this week’s comic and I’l almost done. It’s another extended strip. I seem to have forgotten how to write four panel comics. Then again, I’m not really writing jokes at this point – it’s all story. So I tend to go on a little bit. Oddly, though, I’m not using and dialogue. Chalk that up to it featuring Victor.
I promise there will be lots of action after this week’s comic. So stay tuned for that!
In the meantime, please enjoy this guest strip from Jesse Kiefer. Jesse writes a comic called Tank-Monkey that you should really check out. If you like monkeys and you like tanks, Jesse pretty much has you covered!
I thought his guest comic was appropriately sweet and actually very close to a strip I planned on doing later on feature Truman.
People keep asking me if we’ll see Truman before it’s all over and I calmly reassure them, “Yes, he will be back.”
It’s one of the great mysteries of my “career” how much people love Truman. I get requests for comics with him in them all the time. I can’t figure it out. He doesn’t do much. Mostly just sits there. We’ll, accept for that time he piloted a bi-plane, which Jesse cunningly references the fourth panel of his comic. You can see that what he’s referring to here. In fact, here are the other two Truman comics he references: “Sexybark” and “Legally Stoked.”
People used to love that gag with Truman in a purse. That drawing was actually one of our first t-shirts back in 2003! Wow, man. Time flies.
One parallel between Truman and Theater Hopper I can think of is how close both came into my life. We brought Truman home in April of 2002. I started Theater Hopper a few months later in August. So, in many ways, he grew up with the comic. I know I wrote my fair share of blog posts about him. Maybe that’s why he resonates with fans? You grew to love him the same time I did? It’s kind of cool when you think about it.
At any rate, that’s it for today. Thanks again to Jesse for the very sweet guest comic and everyone be sure to visit Tank-Monkey. It’s got tanks, it’s got monkeys… DOOOOO IT.
By the by, if you’d like to contribute to the fun, I’m still looking for guest strips to put up on the site. Feel free to chip in by sending your comics to theaterhopper@hotmail.com. They need to be 525 pixels wide, JPEG format and relatively free of obscenities. Nothing your Mom would be embarrassed about. If you’re down for that and would enjoy a moderate bump in traffic as Theater Hopper ends its run, we’d love to have you!
Until then, hang tight and stay tuned for a new comic tomorrow!
[ 2 Comments ]
I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of eager to get Tom, Jared and Cami out of that burning theater. Not just because they’re my characters, or whatever. But because I’m sick to death of fire, smoke and lighting effects! I takes a fortnight to put these comics together!
I’m not kidding, people. I’ve been working on this comic in fits and starts since Thursday. I hope it shows, but I honestly can’t tell anymore.
I’ve had a few people ask me if we’d get another chance to see Truman again before the comic ended. This comic is my response to that.
Is it unreasonable to assume that a dog can dress himself in a Hawkeye costume, learn archery and saves three people? No less unreasonable than a dog who can fly a bi-plane.
That Truman. He’s full of secret talents.
After today, things will start winding down for the comic in earnest. I’ve got the last few strips plotted out. Maybe 5 or 6 left. Depends how desperately I cling to them. Next week was SUPPOSED to be the last comic. That’s not happening because I didn’t plan things out right. But that’s okay. Consider it bonus material.
I just thoroughly bummed myself out. I think I’m going to leave it there.
But, hey! Dog in a Hawkeye costume! Nothing more adorable than that!
See you in a week or so!
[ 6 Comments ]
Well, here it is. The comic I spent the better part of last week working on in fits and starts. DO YOU LOVE IT? IS IT EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED?
I fall into these unusual traps. Sometime I spend a lot of time working on a comic and while I’m in the middle of it think, “This is great! This is excellent!” I’m liking the poses, I’m liking the line work, I’m liking the shading and the coloring…
Then I lay down the dialogue, take a step back and think, “So that’s it, then? That’s all?”
Artists are their own worst critics, so I’m certain this is not a unique phenomenon. It just kind of sucks when you invest a large chunk of time into something, maintaining a certain level of excitement throughout the process and the minute you have a moment to step back from it, the end product isn’t exactly what you envisioned.
I don’t know. I think it’s still a great panel. But it just kind of sits there. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself.
At any rate, I’m very much looking forward not to include fire effects in these comics again anytime soon. And I have a joke in mind for next week’s comic – a nice visual gag. I’m confident it will work.
Thanks for being patient, guys. We’re zeroing in on the end now.
[ 6 Comments ]
You probably didn’t think it was going to happen did you? The updates are getting farther and farther apart, I know.
I feel like the last couple of weeks have been moving so quickly. Illness, public speaking, lots of distractions. But I’ve already penciled the comic after this one. I keep trying to make up ground.
As you can see, we’ve skipped ahead three months into the final arc of the comic. In a way, I’m relieved that I can go back to drawing “talking heads” against their usual backdrops, wearing their usual costumes without having to add layers and layers of smoke, fire and lighting effects.
In another way, I’m profoundly sad – and I think you know why.
I probably have about 5 or 6 comics left in me. That doesn’t sound like much. But as things have been going, that probably puts me on pace to wrap things up by the end of the year.
I know I said I’d end the comic on August 6. That didn’t happen. But wrapping things up in December feels okay to me, too. I tend to put a lot of personal emphasis on the end of the year and the sea change emotionally it seems to conjure in me. So the sense that I’m closing a chapter in the Book of My Life will likely feel more profound.
So anyway, that’s all I have for now. More comics on the horizons. A few more jokes to tell. Oh, and before it’s all over, you’ll find out where Charlie and Jimmy end up.
Thanks again for your patience. Happy Halloween!
[ 5 Comments ]
I have this weird problem where I’m coming up with strip ideas well in advance, but not being able to knock them out as quickly as I used to. You’ve probably noticed.
I used to be able to pencil, ink, color, shade, letter and do backgrounds a comic in one evening. Now it takes me several night. One night to pencil, one night to ink… so on and so forth.
I really have no idea how I was able to do THREE of these comics a week back in the day. Well, except I was staying up past 2:00 in the morning to do it – sacrificing sanity and effectiveness during the day. Kind of a losing proposition.
You guys continue to be more than patient with me and I appreciate it. I’m trying to find ways to work faster. It just isn’t happening.
At any rate, here’s a new comic about Tom, Truman and Truman’s secret identity. I like to portray Tom as obtuse sometimes. But I don’t think that a dog practicing archery is something that would escape his radar. If anything, that would be something he would actively seek out in his life – and be disappointed when he didn’t find it. The fact that Truman dresses up like Hawkeye and saves lives is basically the best thing that’s ever happened to him.
Truman’s always been a fan-favorite and I like to think it’s because I anthropomorphize him juuusssst enough. Anything more would be like… Well, like Brian on Family Guy, I suspect. Personally, I’m more interested in utilizing a character that doesn’t talk. Kind of hints at a reservoir or deeper understanding.
Anyway, I think I have one more Truman comic in mind before I start moving the plot along to the final conclusion. That’ll include a visit to the charred ruins of the movie theater and a change in the status quo for Charlie and Jimmy that I think you guys are really going to like.
That’s all for now. Thanks, everyone!
[ 4 Comments ]
This was a comic I felt had to happen. Mostly because it mirrored real life so closely.
I don’t know if any of you had pets before you decided to have kids. If you have only one or neither, maybe this isn’t for you. But I know that before we decided to have kids, I felt a little guilty about what it would do to Truman.
I mean, we FAWNED over that dog for 5 years. We got him gifts on his birthday. He was our child until Henry came along.
That’s not to say that we ignored him completely after Henry was born, but your priorities shift when you’re a first-time parent. You learn how to juggle your responsibilities, but the shift takes time.
I remember when we brought Henry home and put him down on the floor, resting in his car seat. Truman sniffed all over the place before giving us an inquisitive look. After that, he got… sad. He didn’t eat much for the next two weeks. He literally started to isolate himself in other rooms in the house. It bums me out to remember.
Eventually he came around. He learned new ways to steal attention where he could get it. By the time Pearl was born, it was all old hat to him. We worried that he’d resent being knocked down another peg. But, honestly, he took it all in stride.
Truman’s a great dog, by the way. He’s fantastic with the kids. Never snarls or bites, even when the kids messed with him while he was eating. He’d just sit back and wait for them to get out of the way.
Truman will be 11 years old in February. In many ways, he’s the spry dog he’s always been. Loves to play-fight. Loves to cuddle. But sometimes I worry that maybe his better years are behind him. He has a lot more white on his face now than he used to. Henry is 5. Pearl will be 3 in less than a month. They love Truman, but sometimes I feel sad that maybe they’re not getting the best of him or that they won’t remember him when they’re older and we’ve lost him.
I guess it emphasizes the point that you’ve got to cherish the time you have – not spend too much time thinking about what was or what will be. Now is all we’ve got.
Funny it takes me writing a blog post about a dog to crystallize that sentiment.
Cheers, all.
[ 4 Comments ]
Dec27
GUEST STRIP – JESSE GUIHER
December 27th, 2012 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(4 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)
I know that the comic is ending in less than a week and maybe now seems like an odd time to share some fan art. But, c’mon. Did you look at that thing up there? I HAD to share it.
The above piece of art comes from Jesse Guiher. You can learn more about him at his web site – Tiger Tail Art.
Jesse actually wrote me a few months ago asking me about some of my favorite movies. Bi-polar as I am, I remember suggesting both Vertigo and Anchorman. Little did I know that inquiry would result in this piece of fantastic art!
I don’t know if there’s more that I can say about it other than I am very appreciative to have fans like Jesse who pour their heart and their talent into pieces like this.
Jesse was very complimentary to me in his e-mail. “I am sorry to see Theater Hopper going away, it was one of a handful of comic sites that influenced me to try my own hand at starting a comic on the web after sending countless submissions to syndicates over the years,” he said.
My reaction to that kind of praise is to almost shy away from it. I’ve had people over the years tell me I’ve been an influence to them – which I appreciate – but I’ve never doubted for a second that these talented individuals couldn’t have made their dreams real on their own.
But then you look at a piece like this and it’s kind of hard to ignore.
And I am humbled further.
Thanks, Jesse. And thanks to all of the fans that have kept me humble over the years. Cheers.
[ 1 Comment ]
