Posts Tagged ‘Victor’
34 items.
Happy Friday the 13th, everyone? Doing a good job of avoiding black cats, ladders and Jason Voorhees? Good for you!
As you can see, this is the continuation of my Perfect Strangers comic from Wednesday. I don’t know why, but I just thought it would be funny to cast Victor as a being from a village small enough in the Ukraine that they might actually worship a character from a 1980’s sitcom. No offense to anyone of Ukrainian heritage. Call it the Borat effect. People don’t really think Kazakhstan is like that. It’s all in good fun.
I’ll fess up and admit that Wednesday’s comic was pretty much the exposition needed to get to today’s punchline. I came up with “Thou shalt not be ridiculous” and worked backwards from there. Yeah, it’s kind of the same joke. But there’s humor in repetition sometimes. Give me a break. It’s a slow week!
Here’s some good news: I learned this week that my local comic book shop will be playing host to a 24 Hour Comic Day event next Saturday and I’m going to participate! I’ve always read the exploits of my contemporaries who do the 24 Hour Comic thing and I was always jealous. Finally, someone has taken the steps to organize our own event and I’m not going to miss it.
Originally I was planning on putting together the Theater Hopper origin story that’s been bouncing around in my head for a few years. But after consulting a few good friends, they talked me out of it. The catch in participating in this thing is to have 24 sheets of 11 x 17″ paper drawn, inked and lettered. I don’t want to hand-letter this story. It’s too important. Plus, there’s a strong likelihood that I’m going to run out of gas around hour 22 and I don’t want the last two pages looking like I was asleep at the wheel.
So, anyway, I tried to come up with a few other options. I had an idea for a story about Jimmy getting the day off. Except he doesn’t want the day off and keeps trying to sneak back into work. Not really original, but it’s a start.
Then I had an idea about Tom literally theater hopping into another dimension or into the movies themselves. He would take on the characteristics of people in the films he “jumps” into like Quantum Leap before going into another one. I couldn’t figure out what the point of that one would be, though.
So I talked to Cami about it and she suggested doing something completely different – a comic about our lives in 2006. A more personal story. Cami getting her Master’s Degree, our trip to Europe, our pregnancy and end it with Henry being born. I’m really warming up to that idea. I think it would be something special.
I don’t know. What do you guys think? Want to brainstorm with me a while? Leave your ideas in the comments field. Tell me what you think!
[ No Comments ]
So this marks the end of the week-long story sprung from The Invasion of The Body Snatchers remake – The Invasion. I hope you liked it. Any opportunity I can take to throw in Victor acting weird, I’ll take.
Not much new in theaters this weekend to get excited about. I guess since all the kids are going back to school, it’s going to be slim pickin’s until fall. That’s when all of the sensitive indie movies I love so much start cropping up.
Early box office projections are pitting War against The Nanny Diaries for the top spot this weekend. My money is on War (and I have a comic about that coming up on Monday!) Despite the fact that The Nanny Diaries has a strong cast, to me it looks like a warmed over reinterpretation of Raising Helen – and no, that’s not a compliment.
Plus, I think you have to fess up to the fact that Scarlett Johansson is not a big enough star to open movies on the strength of her name alone. I think she’s a serviceable actress and the 22 movies to her credit in her short time as an actress are impressive. But no one sees a movie she’s in strictly for her performances. She’s not Sandra Bullock, or whatever.
And no, that’s not a compliment.
This weekend looks like Cami and I will finally get around to seeing Superbad, which I’ve been looking forward to ever since I watched the red band trailer online a few months ago. If the red band trailer is any indication, the commercials and TV spots aren’t doing the movie justice.
As excited as I was to see the movie, there’s certainly been a lot of hype surrounding it. So I was pleased somewhat when I was talking to friends this week about it. They love the film, but couldn’t get into specifics. That’s a good sign. It means the majority of the movie is so funny, they’re not going to be able to pick their favorite lines until it comes out on DVD.
Of course, that doesn’t stop people from trying. I’ve already seen five or six different web sites peddling their own McLovin t-shirt designs. Everyone has appeared to latch onto that as a comedic touch point for the film.
All the same, I’m expecting to have a good time.
Real quick – I made a change in the store over the weekend where all items are now $15 and I am now providing discounts on shipping for bundled purchases. Save 50% on shipping on any two purchase, 65% off on any three purchase or 75% off on any four purchases. This system was a lot easier than the bundling system I had previously installed. Plus, since I’m planning on adding more t-shirt designs in the future, it’ll be easier to maintain.
I’ve also recently talked to the 3rd party vendor that wrote the code for the shopping cart I use for my site and they’re coming out with a discount code option in the next few weeks. So that means if you input a special code at checkout, you can save extra money. I plan on running promotions every so often to people who sign up to the mailing list. So if you want to be ready when that comes around, sign up now.
Since Wizard World Chicago, I’ve gotten the itch to make some changes to the site. I’m meeting with a web design company here in Des Moines on Monday for a consultation on some more air-tight features for the site. Hopefully I can bring back the comments section soon plus do a better job of integrating the Top 50 voting, social bookmarking, “share this comic with a friend” and so on.
Something that’s been bugging me a lot lately are the banner ads. I’m sure they’re no favorite of yours, either. I’d like to get rid of them, but frankly, I’ve come to rely on them. The revenue I make with them helps cover hosting fees as well as afford me the opportunity to do things like t-shirts, books and make convention appearances. All of this feeds into the site and either helps maintain it or helps it grow.
If you look at any of the big guys, they have advertising to help support them. So, in my instance, I don’t think ads will be going away any time soon. I just need to find a better way to make them harmonious with the site.
What is your opinion about advertising? Do you find the ads I’m running now intrusive? Excessive? How would you feel if they were removed and replaced with in-context text advertisements? Links that appear over key phrases in the blog copy that lead you somewhere off site? I have a strong lead on the latter option and I’m thinking it’s a viable solution moving forward.
This is an instance where the comments field would come in really handy for some quick and dirty feedback. But as such, you’ll have to e-mail me with your thoughts. I’m soliciting your feedback. If you have strong opinions either way, I would like to hear from you!
That’s about it for me. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday!
[ No Comments ]
You didn’t think you were going to get away with a week of me talking about Viggo Mortensen’s wang without an appearance from Victor, did you? I mean, Mortensen’s character is Russian in Eastern Promises, after all. And, well, Victor is from the Ukraine, which is kind of like Russia and… maybe gay?
I swear, any more when I use Victor, his behavior gets more and more extreme while Tom’s reaction to it becomes more and more blind. I suppose I only have one person to thank for this – Brandon J. Carr. He’s the dude who came up with the Victor subplot in a guest strip way back in March of ’06. Guess what? Now he’s got his OWN comic to do that in!
You might have remembered Brandon wrote and drew the excellent Kenmore. His new comic is called Weird Adventures in Unemployment. Show him your support and get in on his comic early on. I know it’s already found a snuggly spot in MY bookmarks!
Tell you what – it’s the end of the week and I’m feelin’ kind of randy. This works out perfect because I’m also feeling generous.
I have three copies of The Sarah Silverman Program: Season One on DVD to giveaway. If you didn’t catch it earlier this year on Comedy Central, than you missed out. It was everything I like about Sarah Silverman packed neatly into 22 minute episodes. Because – let’s face it – sometimes a little bit of Sarah will go a long way.
But if your into off-color humor – you know, sort of like today’s comic! – you’ll get a kick out of this. The DVD just came out in stores this Tuesday. So if you win one, you might be the coolest kid on the block
I’m going to make this contest kind of hard on you. It has to do with the title of today’s comic – “PALOMINO.” If you can figure out the reference of the title within the context of today’s strip and e-mail it to me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com, then all of the correct answers will be thrown into a hat and three winners will be chosen at random.
Up to the challenge? Then get crackin’! It beats doing REAL work, that’s for sure!
Good luck and have a great weekend!
[ No Comments ]
This is kind of a weird approach to a common problem I have this time of year. But I felt it was time to bring Victor out of hiding for a little bit.
Are you like me? Do you get stressed out by the sheer number of obvious awards contenders the studios pump into theaters over the holiday season. To me it’s an embarassment of riches that ultimately makes me feel stagnant. There are so many choices, I don’t know where to start!
Of course the issue is compounded by the fact that studios will “release” the movie in select cities first so they are eligible for awards contention before releasing the film wider several weeks later. I hate this because it makes me feel disconnected from the medium I love. I’ll see an ad for a movie that hasn’t made it to my town yet and they will wallpaper it with critical praise “ON OVER 100 TOP 10 LISTS!” It makes me feel like I’ve missed the boat.
Gran Torino is a good example. It was in limited release on December 12, but it goes wide this weekend. That’s almost a full month since critics first started talking about it. You and I both know how fast things move in the pop culture reference stream. The movie has slipped in and out of the current before it’s ever had a chance to be seen!
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m too close to movies so I notice these things. It’s more than likely that John and Jane Q. Public aren’t bothered by the Hollywood award season marketing strategies. But for me, it makes me feel like I’m better off seeing Paul Blart: Mall Cop and then no one wins!
Is it just me? Am I being over-sensitive or are you guys noticing this shell game, too? Also, what do you think Victor is going to do with those pictures and how exactly did he coerse Jimmy into taking the shots? Leave your comments below.
[ 20 Comments ]
By the way, I don’t know if you noticed, but since the site relaunch in January I’ve dusted off three obscure characters in a little more than a week’s time.
How do you guys feel about seeing Victor, Charlie and Goth Jared again?
If you’re a new reader and not familiar with these guys, I encourage you to check out the cast page for a little background information as well as links to some of the story lines they were featured in!
If you’re a veteran reader and if you think there are any important characters or story lines I overlooked, use our handy new contact form and let me know!
[ 10 Comments ]
If you’ve been visiting this site for the last four years (and bless you if you have), you might remember the storyline where I introduced Charlie as an additional female voice to the cast.
If you were REALLY paying attention, you might have remembered an exchange between Tom and Jimmy in the story line’s B-plot where Jimmy revealed something very personal about himself: He’s afraid to go into the women’s restroom.
I inserted that personal detail into that story line for a specific reason and with the intention of revisiting it in another story line sometime later.
Well, four years later, here we are.
It’s been a while since I’ve attempted a longer story line or made an effort to flesh out the characters a little more.
It’s kind of hard to flesh out Tom, Cami or Jared because they’re avatars for real people and I don’t want to dive into some kind of backstory inconsistent with their actual lives. It just causes confusion.
So Jimmy, Victor and Charlie become the tools that I experiment with and, in the process, you get to learn a little more about the background characters.
One of the reasons I wanted to tackle a longer story line again was because I’ve really been enjoying Questionable Content and Anders Loves Maria lately and, frankly, I’ve been jealous. Writing an engaging story is one of my weaker muscles. I have to flex it every now and again before it atrophies.
But probably the biggest reasons I wanted to give it another go is because I recently wrapped up work on Theater Hopper – Year Three.
The book covers my work from 2004 to 2005 and during that period I wrote both the “Jimmy Loses His Job” story line as well as “Meet Charlie.” That was a very successful period for me both in terms of the site’s popularity and my satisfaction artistically. So I’m going to see if I can’t try and put lightning in a bottle for a third time.
What can you expect from this story line? Well, obviously, we’ll explore the reasons why Jimmy is afraid of going into the women’s restroom. But the reasons why will shock you. In revealing his past, you’ll come to understand more clearly why he is the good-natured doormat he is today.
On that note I’d like to mention that Theater Hopper – Year Three is now available for pre-sale in the store. The book has not yet been published. To gauge demand, it is available for pre-sale until February 28. My goal is to have them printed up to take to the Emerald City Comicon in the first week of April. So if you order a book today, you can expect to see it by then.
As I mentioned before, the book has two of our my most prominent story lines as part of its collection of nearly 150 strips. Every comic includes brand new commentary that explores things behind-the-scenes.
The book also features 139 original sketches – collected here for the first time – and a forward from Joe Dunn of Joe Loves Crappy Movies.
I’ve prepared a 10-page preview of the book that will give you an idea of how the comics and commentary are laid out along with the front and back cover.
I am selling the book for $15.00, but if you are looking to save money, please consider bundling your purchase. Order and two books and receive $5.00 off the cover price. Order any three books and receive $7.50 off the cover price.
This book has been a long time coming and I’m pleased to finally offer it to everyone. I think it represents some of my best work and hope you enjoy it.
[ 9 Comments ]
I wasn’t planning on doing another comic about Bruno, but it was very interesting to read the comments from Wednesday’s comic. So I decided to ride this wave a little longer. Victor was the perfect character to provide an outsider’s perspective and deflate the situation some.
Generally, people seem conflicted about the characters Sacha Baron Cohen creates. I think everyone can see what he’s trying to accomplish in terms of social satire, but there is something about the persistence of his performances that makes people a little uneasy. Are people having a homophobic reaction to Bruno or are they just reaching a boiling point when confronted with a highly abrasive personality? Cohen doesn’t make that distinction, but he leads people to believe it’s homophobia at work.
In a pro-Bruno piece by Slate’s David Lim, Lim addresses the criticism that Cohen has been “indulging in gay minstrelsy” and suggests that the character is “a button-pushing social experiment in locating the tipping point of tolerance.”
“For his merciless ambushes to work,” Lim continues. “Bruno needs to be this flamboyant — and this moronic.
“The most discomfiting — and incongruous — aspect of Bruno’s pinkface masquerade is the character’s over-the-top sexual voracity… Bruno is a far cry from the prim and prissy old-school sissies, who were all innuendo and no libido. We have long been conditioned to regard effeminacy as a neutered, negative stereotype, but there are moments when Baron Cohen’s extravagant prancing… seems not grotesque but defiant, forcing his foils… to recognize the screaming presence of Otherness.”
Personally, I don’t know if I buy into this kind of analysis. Because the depiction of a sexually voracious homosexual is EXACTLY what some people fear most. In my opinion, it sounds like Cohen is trading in the winking, coy, guffawing Paul Lynde effeminate stereotype for another.
Granted, I could be accused of playing into the sexually voracious homosexual with the way I’ve written Victor. At times I’ve depicted him as a sadomasochist. But at the same time, this is in keeping with the authoritarian nature he projects – established early in the character before it was revealed he was gay. By equal measure, I have depicted Victor as lovelorn and pining from a distance.
I like to think that I am writing more than one facet of Victor’s personality with the limited amount of time that I use him. I don’t think Victor is a walking cliche like Bruno is and I think there is an interesting dichotomy between his strength, his heritage and his sexual orientation – all of which were effectively wrapped up in this one comic.
Cohen is almost a method actor in the sense that he often doesn’t drop character even while promoting the movie. I don’t think I saw him in an interview as himself once while promoting Borat. A few weeks ago he showed up as Bruno on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. But recently (and conspicuously) showed up as himself on Late Night with David Letterman.
What I’m getting at is maybe there is a little too much slight of hand or misdirection in Cohen’s satire and I kind of prefer to be in on the joke a little bit more.
Fundamentally, I think it goes back to the humor of embarrassment, which I have never been a big fan of. Whether Cohen is playing a gay Austrian fashion reporter or a socially clueless representative of Kazakhstan, I have difficulty settling in and enjoying the end result because I can’t laugh at people put in those situations. I can only wince.
[ 7 Comments ]
I think most of you figured out pretty early on that this little dress-up adventure was going to bring Tom, Jared and Cami into conflict with Victor dressed up like Whiplash, the newly introduced villain of Iron Man 2.
It makes sense. Whiplash is a muscle-bound Russian scientist who wears orange pants. Victor is a muscle-bound Ukrainian movie theater manager who wears a red bow tie. The parallels are obvious.
The big question is why does Victor’s costume appear to be a fully-functional and lethal weapon as depicted in the movie? We’ll get to that later. But, for now, dig that crazy electricity! Looks good, right?
Iron Man 2 is only 3 days away and it is getting harder and harder to ignore coverage. TV spots are in full rotation now. Most of the footage I’ve already seen from earlier spots. But once in a while they’ll throw in a shot of Iron Man swooping down out of the sky and I’ll think to myself, “Dammit! Stop looking at the screen, you idiot!”
I don’t know if it makes that much of a difference if I see 2 seconds more that I hadn’t seen previously. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be over the moon for this film regardless of how pristine I manage to keep myself before walking into the theater.
In fact, I’m seriously considering buying tickets for the midnight showing – something I probably haven’t done since Star Wars – Episode III
If I do decide to go to the midnight showing, Friday’s comic will most likely be delayed. I’ll try to work ahead on things, but it’s usually my habit to work on a comic the night before it’s due. I’m “No-Buffer Man!”
I seriously need to plan ahead better.
Switching topics, Cami sent me an interesting e-mail the other day. She said she wants to see the documentary Babies this weekend.
In case you aren’t familiar with the plot of the film, Babies follows around four, well… babies from around the world – Tokyo, Mongolia, Namibia and San Francisco – essentially prompting replies of “Awwww” for 90 minutes. It’s a perfect piece of counter-programming against the hype surrounding the testosterone and AC/DC-fueled experience of Iron Man 2.
Shamefully on her part, I had to remind her, “Honey, Iron Man 2 is coming out this weekend.”
“Oh! Oh! I want to see that, too.” But you could tell she had momentarily forgotten about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see Babies, too. The trailer for it is brilliant and it gets me every time. Watch it right now if you don’t believe me.
But here’s the thing… we have a 5 month-old at home. We’re kind of LIVING this movie right now. So finding a babysitter so we can go and watch a documentary about babies seems kind of backwards.
Although maybe I shouldn’t complain. If we manage to see two movies this weekend, that would be amazing. I should probably try to play the lottery if that happens, because I doubt I’ll ever get that lucky again.
Are you guys getting worked up for Iron Man 2? Has anyone else entered “lock down” mode? How successful have you been.
What about Babies? Is anyone else kind of excited to see it. I’m curious what the reaction to the film is between people with kids and people who don’t have kids. I probably would have rolled my eyes at a film like Babies a few years ago. But watching the trailer now actually kind of makes my heart swell with pride. I can’t tell if it’s because the trailer is well made or if it’s just pushing the Parent Button.
Leave your comments below.
Also, don’t forget about the recently reintroduced THorum! If you’re interested in having more long-term conversations and talking to other readers from the site, create an account and submit a topic! Let’s get talking!
[ 27 Comments ]
You have to be practical about these things, people. You’re just NOT going to be able to fit cardboard leggings into a closed cardboard suitcase armor. You’re just NOT, okay? Trust me, I’ve tried.
You can get the gauntlets in there. You can get the sleeves and the helmet. But if you want leggings, you’re S.O.L.
Okay, fine. I just wanted to draw another comic with Tom in his underwear. Are you happy?!
I know I promised you guys a review of Iron Man 2, but, well… as you can see… that hasn’t happened yet. There are a couple of reasons why.
First, you guys have been leaving GREAT comments after each of the blogs since Monday. I’ve been reading and I want to participate. But I also don’t want what you guys are saying to color too much of my opinion surrounding the movie.
Second, it’s almost been a week since I’ve seen the film and my memory is shot these days. That’s because I can only retain about 30 seconds of information before I’m dealing with some sort of crisis involving crayons or stained furniture.
To combat this, I’m thinking about seeing Iron Man 2 again this evening. Cami’s cool with it once the kids are asleep. She doesn’t feel a need to see the movie a second time, but I do.
Another reason I want to see Iron Man 2 again is just so I can sit back and appreciate it a little bit more. Maybe let my eye wander and soak in a few of the details. Or – since I know where the action is going be on screen – train my eye to those areas in anticipation so I can download as much information as possible.
Dialogue? Oh, yeah. I guess I’ll listen more closely to some of that, too.
In the meantime, I have several links to keep you busy. A couple of these are a little old and I feel terrible about not informing you sooner.
First things first, I sat in for a round of discussion with The F.I.L.M. Army crew on May 1 to discuss the bumper crop of Summer movies. I had a great time with these guys and they really knew their stuff. Talking with them reminded me of the good times we had recording The Triple Feature. Each of us were pulling weird references out of nowhere and laughing our heads off about it. I’d love to record another show with them in the future. I think they left an offer on the table. I’ll have to take them up on it sometime.
Second, the guys over at TGT Webcomics did an interview with me while I was attending C2E2 last month and recently posted it to their site. I think I did a pretty good job of answering Kurt “VertigoX” Sasso’s questions. But watching the video, one quote kept ringing in my head…
“Suck in the gut, guys – We’re the Ghostbusters?…”
Yeah, I gotta start working out.
THIRDLY, did you know that my good buddy Zach Miller has started producing new Joe and Monkey comics again? Better git while the gittin’s good. Zach is like Haley’s Comet. He comes around once every 76 years. But every time he makes an appearance, he puts on quite a show! Welcome Zach back to webcomics with your patronage, won’t you?
So that’s my good karma for today. I appreciate everyone coming back and checking out the new comic (ON TIME, I might add… *sigh*). I’m bringing the story line to it’s zenith. You should see it wrapping up around this time next week. Until then, more Iron Man goodness to sink your teeth into.
Thanks again for reading the comic and – if you’re so inclined – don’t be afraid to spread the word using those handy social media buttons to the right of the comic. It doesn’t have to be today’s comic. It can be ANY COMIC IN THE ARCHIVE! Pick out a favorite and share it with someone today! Every little bit helps.
Have a great weekend!
[ 6 Comments ]
Hey, guys. Sorry for another late comic. I know that this has been happening more and more frequently, but I feel like it’s a by-product of the time that I’m putting in on this story line.
I’m pretty far out of my comfort zone on this one. I’ve been coming up with new character designs, trying new panel arrangements and posing the characters differently. I’ve been doing a lot of effects work and generally trying to make the action pop off the page. I know the last few comics have been kind of light on the jokes, but I hope you at least appreciate the effort that’s going into the art.
That said, I think I’m about ready to wrap things up on this story line. It’s just taking too much out of me and throwing me way off schedule. I hate being late with the comic. It’s my number one rule and I keep breaking it over and over again. I want to get back on track.
I should mention that I was able to see Iron Man 2 again over the weekend and I think I had a better time watching it for a second time than I did the first time around.
I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy the movie the first time around. I think I was just trying to soak it all in. Watching it for a second time, I could relax and let it unfold in front of me a little more.
I’m in the middle of writing my review right now and I hope to have it posted to the site soon. Maybe Tuesday, we’ll see. The review is not 100% positive, which might surprise some of you. But I think I’m being fair about the films plot holes and shortcomings (of which there are a few).
In any case, it will be my definitive statement on the matter and hopefully we can move on to greener pastures soon.
Thanks again for your patience. Stay close to Twitter and Facebook for updates on the Iron Man 2 review when it’s posted!
Talk to you soon!
[ 9 Comments ]
