NEW SHIRTS

April 13th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

After Emerald City Comicon, I had a couple of t-shirt ideas kicking around in my head. I tend to over-analyze my ideas and smother them before I give them a chance to get off the ground. So this time out, I decided just to roll with my instincts and try not to put too much thought into it.

Maybe I’m not doing myself any favors by putting them out here for your comments at such a formative stage. But I figure at this point, what do I have to lose? Either I entertain the notion of a new t-shirt design and kill it before I ever sit down to design it or I knock one out super quick so I can at least move on to the next thing. Who knows? Maybe you might like it? Maybe it’ll be the biggest-selling shirt I’ve ever designed!

Spoiler Alert t-shirt

Talk Movies t-shirt

So, what do you think? Leave your feedback in the comments below.

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IT’S ON!

April 13th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Looks like Gordon has some free time in his schedule so we’ll be recording this week’s Triple Feature after all.

Be sure to join us at 9PM CST at http://www.thetriplefeature.com as we discuss Adventureland, Observe and Report and more!

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DROPPED FROM GOOGLE

April 10th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

So I had something interesting happen this week. Theater Hopper was dropped from Google’s index.

Don’t believe me? Go to Google, type in “Theater Hopper” and see what comes up. Notice my URL isn’t displayed anywhere? Yeah. Good times.

So, what happened? Basically, someone hacked the site and placed a bunch of links to web sites selling cheap Viagra inside a hidden <div> tag. The links didn’t manifest in production on the site, but they were being pulled from the code by Google’s spiders and classified as spam.

Since Google has a very firm anti-spam policy (yet, oddly, continues to index literally MILLIONS of sites with malicious intent), my site was pulled from their site for no less than 30 days while I “clean up my code.”

Well, the code has been scrubbed and security has been tightened, but Google yanked me anyway.

I’ve submitted an appeal to be reinstated sooner than 30 days, but Google pretty much says they won’t make any promises.

This is really bad timing for me because I was hoping to attract some new readers after attending the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle last week. Now people can’t find the site.

At this point, I’m trying to raise a big stink to see if I can get Google’s attention. But, in the meantime, my traffic is suffering.

If it’s not too much to ask, can you guys go through the archive and bookmark some of your favorite strips using the ShareThis application under the comic? Index individual pages in Stumble Upon, Reddit, Digg… where ever you have accounts. Post comics to your Facebook page. ANYTHING. It’s the only thing I can think of to have you do to help stop the bleeding from this Google fiasco.

And if you’re reading this post through RSS, I implore you to please come back to the site and read the comic for the next few weeks. Keep your subscription to the feed, but if you could help me out for a short period of time, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for your help and I’ll keep everyone updated with any change in status.

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SPECIAL AIRING OF THE TRIPLE FEATURE TONIGHT!

April 8th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Since I was traveling home from Emerald City Comicon on Monday evening, we had to postpone recording our weekly installment of The Triple Feature. We pushed back the show to tonight and you can listen in LIVE at 9:00 PM CST.

Tonight, Joe, Gordon and I will be talking about Adventureland and Fast & Furious. I’m sure I’ll be telling more stories about my experience at Emerald City Comicon as well.

In fact, it might benefit you to listen to the live show tonight if you can, because there is a story I want to tell about an experience I had in Artist Alley too sensitive to commit to a recording. I think I might take a few minutes to share it after we’ve concluded the show and people are still connected to TalkShoe and can listen in.

Consider yourself teased. See you then!

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BACK IN THE SADDLE

April 7th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Hey, guys. I just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that I am back home from exhibiting at Emerald City Comicon and a new comic will be posted on Wednesday. I met a lot of really cool people and had a GREAT time. Seattle is a wonderful city. I felt comfortable there immediately!

Expect a full recap (perhaps with some pictures linked to my Flickr account) tomorrow.

In the meantime, if you posted comments to Friday’s or Monday’s comics, they’ve been approved and are currently live on the site. Sorry for the restrictions, but I didn’t have internet access over the weekend!

Talk to you soon!

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TOP WEB COMICS

April 1st, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

In my earlier post, I talked about my re-affiliation with TopWebComics.com and I wanted to take a minute to explain to everyone what it is and what my goals are.

People who have been visiting the site for a while remember that I was once affiliated with Top Web Comics. For the uninitiated, the site is a web comic promotion tool that gather votes submitted by readers and ranks the most “popular” comics on their homepage.

Top Web Comics was helpful resource when I was getting my start. It put the comic in front of a lot of readers as I ascended into the Top 10. I walked away from the ranking sites once I felt Theater Hopper could stand on it’s own two legs.

It’s been a few years since Theater Hopper and Top Web Comics parted ways. In that time, some readers have moved past web comics as part of their daily routine. Other people are being introduced to web comics for the first time. Now is a perfect opportunity to familiarize Theater Hopper with the next wave of readers and Top Web Comics is part of that strategy.

Here’s how it works: I post a new comic every Monday, Wednesday and Friday just like I always do. But in the blog post, there will be a link to Top Web Comics where you can “vote” for Theater Hopper and contribute to it’s higher ranking.

For you’re trouble, you’ll be treated to a bonus sketch that may or may not be related to that day’s comic. It might be an addition to the punchline or a little extra scene. People who own a copy of Theater Hopper – Year Two will know what to expect. I collected several similar sketches from my previous tenure with Top Web Comics in that edition.

If you don’t want to vote, that’s fine. If you do want to vote, that’s great! It’s totally voluntary. But voting for Theater Hopper helps the site by raising its ranking on Top Web Comics and potentially bringing in new readers. Basically, it’s a very high profile opportunity for some free advertising that I’m not going to pass up.

I should also mention that I’m thinking about selling these bonus sketches in the store sometime in the near future. So if you vote for the comic and see a sketch you like, there will be an opportunity for you to own it at a very affordable price. Look for updates on that in the future.

So there you have it. Pretty cut and dried. Now you know why I’m affiliated with Top Web Comics again and you also know what additional value you get out of the arrangement.

I want to say thanks to the people who have already voted. So far, we’re up to #18 on the list. That’s really good! Now let’s see if we can crack the Top 10 in the next few days.

In the meantime, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to leave them in the comments area below. I’d be happy to continue the conversation there.

Thanks!

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THE EVIDENCE

March 31st, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Nothing ruins a joke like over-explaining it, but there’s been an equal amount of confusion and adoration for the soft punchline in Monday’s comic.

To that end, I thought I would post the clip from the movie that the comic references. For those of you in on the joke, this may serve as a fun trip down memory lane.

For the rest of you, just go ahead and buy Monster Squad already, will you?

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ON PODCASTS AND INSTANT CLASSIC (UNRELATED)

March 30th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Two things that I couldn’t fit contextually with the giant blog post that preceded it, but I have more I need to talk about.

First, don’t forget to check out the podcast I host with Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex and Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies called The Triple Feature tonight at 9:00 PM over at TalkShoe.com.

For SURE we will be talking about Monsters vs. Aliens because I know this is one of the rare movies that all three of us have seen before recording the show. So you know we’re going to firing on all cylinders tonight!

We also gotten in the habit of reading listener questions on-air. We have a bunch of good questions for this week show and I’m really looking forward to answering them. If you’d like to have your question answered (it can be about movies, comics, whatever!) sent it to group@thetriplefeature.com. We WILL answer it!

The next thing I need to do is point your attention to another movie-themed web comic, Brian Carroll’s Instant Classic. Specifically, his latest strip, titled “The Last Seven Hours.” This comic is nothing short of brilliant. It’s basically a musical number in web comic form.

44 panels in length, plotted and written within an inch of it’s life, the comic is accompanied by a piano number written by Carroll and performed by three of his friends and the song is excellent.

I’ve known Brian for a few years. Our comics kind of came up around the same time. Stuff like this is where he really shines. It is unique, endearing and puts me to shame as a fellow artist.

I’ve always felt Brian’s efforts were the classier affair between our two comics. If Theater Hopper were Milk Duds, Instant Classic would be a chocolate covered truffle.

You owe it to yourself to check it out. Tell ‘im Milk Dud sentcha!

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VS. EVERYONE

March 27th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

It’s been kind of interesting to read the reaction to today’s strip. People have been leaving comments here and over at my Twitter account about what mythical or pop culture combatants they’d like to see in the free-for-all.

Vikings, pirates, astronauts, zombies, cavemen, vampires, Chuck Norris, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man… I’ve heard ’em all!

The idea was floated around that I draw it and sell a print. I think it sounds like a good idea, but I keep thinking I’ve seen something like that before. In fact, after rummaging through the ol’ memory banks, I remember Young American Comics produced an anthology a few years ago called The Big Ol’ Book of BIZMAR – 75 stories combining Bunnies, Insects, Zombies, Monkeys, Aliens and Robots. I remember because a few of my friends contributed to it.

Certainly no one owns the rights to these kind of mash-ups. But I don’t want to pour a lot of effort into something that’s already been done.

What do you think? Would you like to see an original art piece from me featuring all of your favorite pop culture heroes and villains duking it out?

Leave your comments and suggestions for additional fighters below!

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HAIR TWINS

March 25th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Last week Cami and I watched No Reservations starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart when I noticed that Eckhart has fabulous hair and I hate him for it.

Later, we watched an episode of 30 Rock we had recorded guest-starring Mad Men’s Jon Hamm when I noticed that his hair is also fabulous and that I hate him just as much.

Aaron Eckhart, Jon Hamm, hair twins

Clearly these two should team up so they can flaunt their fabulous hair and I can hate them equally at the same time.

Think of it as the W.A.S.P. version of Bandidas starring Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek from a few years back. Maybe Eckhart and Hamm can be investment bankers who run out of mousse, or something.

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