linkage

A friend sent me this cool link. You can audition for either Jean Grey or Namor (voice acting).

Substitute Heroes

First appearing in Adventure Comics #306, the Legion of Substitute Heroes is almost as awesome as the Legion of Super-Pets. The Subs was founded by Legion rejects and the original team had six members.

Polar Boy, or Brek Bannin, had cold based powers. Honestly, I'm not sure why the Legion rejected him as the only objection seemed to be that the Legion was worried he'd freeze one of them on accident. He was later accepted when he had better learned to control his powers (or some other lame excuse to make up for the fact he wasn't accepted earlier) but until then he led the Subs.



Night Girl (aka Lydda Jath) wanted to join the Legion because she had the hots for Cosmic Boy. She was rejected because her super strength (given to her by her father who obviously supported his daughter wanting to join a team of super heroes for some crush) didn't work in direct sunlight. She joined the subs to be a Cosmic Boy groupie. She later married Cos proving that even stalkers can live happily ever after.



Stone Boy (Dag Wentim) had the awesome power of turning into stone. This may have been useful if he could move when in stone form. However, he made a great weight for Night Girl to use for lifting!



Fire Lad (Stag Mavlin) could breath fire... but often had accidents as he sneezed fire as well. He was deemed to dangerous to join the Legion. He aquired powers from inhaling meteor fumes - no, really!



Chlorophyll Kid (Ral Benem) could make plants grow really fast. He carried seeds around with him to make his power more useful.



Color Kid (Ulu Vakk) could make things different colors. He'd have made a fantastic designer but instead went off to join the Legion of Superheroes. The Legion told him to take a hike ("That's an unusual power, but not great enough for the Legion!") and he ended up with the subs. I think Brainy was snickering the entire time the poor kid was trying out.



Basically the subs were founded because getting rejected from the Legion created some self-esteem issues in the rejectees. So the subs vowed to use their powers to "pinch-hit" for the Legion.



Now, the best is yet to come as I introduced the subs for a reason... tomorrow: the Legion of Substitute Heroes vs the Legion of Super Pets in a battle royale! Or, dare I call it, the ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN OF ULTIMATE DESTINY!

Exibits A-C

I think these pictures speak for themselves, but I'll write a disclaimer. My Superman is not some creepy stalker asshole. BUT that's just my Superman. As far as the ONE instance in the new movie where Superman could be seen as a stalker type there is plenty of support from the comic books for what he does. Also, André made a good point in reference to said scene - it makes Superman seem a bit more human. Either way, enjoy the exibits!

and if that wasn't enough let me direct you to Scipio over at the Absorbascon... because even if kissing cousins is okay some places kissing 15 year olds isn't!

Like I said, I realize this isn't the Superman we believe in, but if you can read some of these stories and still enjoy Superman stories then you should beable to enjoy the movie.

Superman Returns

*WARNING* MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS (although I will do my best to avoid them)

André and I went to see a sneak preview of Superman Returns tonight. The AMC near us does promotional showings of new movies but you have to go really early and wait in a loooong line to have a chance of getting in - especially when it's a movie that everyone wants to see. We showed up a the theatre over an hour early and almost didn't make it in. In fact we were the last group of twenty to be allowed in the theatre. Literally. There André and I were standing at the front of the line, him wearing a Superman shirt and me in a Batman shirt (that's how we went into the Batman Begins movie as well) and one of the managers comes up to the front of the line. We really thought that we were going to be told that they weren't any seats left (especially because they didn't let us in with the previous group of twenty because there were two of us and they only had room for one more person) but then the guy tells us that there's only room for twenty more and only if you were willing to sit in the front row. Well of course we went in. See, André's brother had gone in much earlier and said he would save seats with us - so not only were we the last people in, but we got good seats as well. My point is, we went through a lot of trouble to see a movie we were both convinced was going to be a disappointment.

I'm so happy we went anyway.

The movie was fantastic. Even super!

No, really, I ended up loving this movie.

First off, let me say, I know there are quite a few things comic book fans will complain about in this movie - there are always things that people will want changed. I know, because I heard some of the complaints about Batman Begins and I still believe that it was the best interpretation of Batman (as far as live-action movies go) yet. Superman is much the same, a good iconic story reintroducing us to a character that has been too long absent from the big screen. Superman Returns is a story about Superman the myth, and as such it was wonderfully done. Superman is meant to inspire us - for me, in this movie, that's exactly what he did.

Brandon Routh brings much more to the screen than just a resemblence to Christopher Reeves. He brings a sense of awe to the role of Superman while allowing Clark, the human heart of our hero, to gaze longingly at Lois and wonder if he still fits into her life after his five year absence. Routh plays homage to Reeves while still making the role his own. His Clark Kent is sweet, a bit clumsy, and very lovable. His Superman is awe-inspiring, heartbreaking, and above all, heroic. Mr. Routh has come a long way from soap operas and I'm glad Bryan Singer convinced the studio to take on an unknown for such a major role.

Kevin Spacey does an almost John Shea-ish Lex Luthor. Despite the misleading nature of the trailers, Lex is the diabolical madman/evil-mastermind we have all come to love and adore... I mean hate. He is cruel, ruthless, and wants to bring down Superman and dominate the world. He does have a few over the top moments but nothing out of character. I certaintly didn't think of Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor but I've been proven wrong.

Kate Bosworth was another pleasant surprise. Having seen her previous work I hadn't thought she was a good call for the role of daredevil Lois Lane. I was happy to be proven wrong (again). Bosworth played a passionate and feisty Lois Lane and the chemistry between her and Superman was very realistic.

The action scenes were breath-taking and the iconic moments gorgeus without detracting from the story itself. I especially liked the tribute to Action Comics #1, it was very enjoyable.

Jimmy Olsen get showen up by a kid with a cell phone camera. Priceless.

Cyclops (James Marsden) gets to be a hero-type! The poor guy certaintly got the short end of the stick in X3 so it was nice to see him in this movie.

As for the plot, well, if you've been enjoying Busiek's run on Superman you will like this movie's story. I'm pretty sure Kurt has been working on the recent Superman books with the movie in mind. There are some striking simalarities.

I'm going to go see this movie again. Then, when it comes out on DVD, it's going on the shelf next to Batman Begins. I'm so happy that instead of being horribly upset I ended up being blown away. Superman has returned to us and it's about damn time.

LoSH cartoon

I've been looking forward to the Legion of Superheroes cartoon coming out this fall... until I saw the promotional pictures. Now I'm a bit worried.

What is with Timber Wolf's head? I mean, sure, I can see the werewolf look, but his head looks squashed. And Phantom Girl's eyes are just plain creepy looking. Also, where's Cosmic Boy? I mean, I know I've made fun of the poor kid's costume in the past but he's one of the founding three! You can't have a Legion without Cos! I've read that he's in the actual show (Wil Wheton's doing his voice) but I really think he should be one of the core members at the launch of the series.

This promo just causes me more worries. What did they do to my sweet wonderful Brainiac 5? Has he been replaced by girraffe boy? ugh. After the pain the animation causes me with the Titans series I'm not sure I can take much more. I'll still give the show a shot but it may go the same way as the Titans - in that I won't beable to watch it because it's so ugly. Oh well.

so sorry

It was pointed out to me that I accidentally left Beppo out of monkey day. In apology we're having a super-pets post.

The Legion of Super-Pets consisted of:

Beepo the super-monkey from Krypton who was tricked by Superboy into deep space only to be discovered years later by Supergirl and finally be accepted as a Super-pet. I still think it was cruel of Superboy to stand the poor chimp out in desolate space. The ASPCA would have had a field day if they had only known.

Streaky, or super-cat, was NOT from krypton and has a superhero orgin story! Streaky was Linda (Supergirl)'s pet cat who was exposed to Kryptonite X. The powers were only temporary but could constantly be recharged because there was a piece of K-X in the cat's yarn ball. If only they had known that any ordinary house cat could be super powered but it was not to be. I don't think they ever figured out where super-cat's powers were coming from. L33t Kryptonian science!

Krypto aka super-dog is probably the most well known super-pet even appearing as recently as S&B Public Enemies. Batman constantly makes fun of Superman for having a dog in a cape protecting his fortress. Indeed, I would make fun of Supes for such a thing too. Krypto's secret identity (because even a dog is smarter than Peter Parker when it comes to keeping a secret ID!) was Chip, CK's dog. He even disguised himself with a dark patch made with wood stain over his eye. Krypto was also the leader of the Space Canine Patrol Agency and found a way to become youthful again after almost dying of old age. Now that's one accomplished dog!

Comet (super-horse) was actually used somewhat recently in the Matrix run of Supergirl. He wasn't the same of course, but it was still fun to have them play with the idea of a super powered horse again. Comet was actually a centaur originally named Biron but when Circe tried to make him fully human the spell was sabotaged and he became a horse instead (but had nifty super powers). He could become human when there was a comet in the sky and he had the hots for Supergirl (then again, who didn't? It seems like everyone and their sister had a thing for S-girl).

And last but not least, Proty II. Proty was Chameleon Boys telepathic shape changing pet and was underestimated when first trying to join the Legion of Super-pets. He was given several challeges by other members and eneded up showing all the other pets up. He even saved Krypto from a shark (Krypto was weakend by green-K at the time)! Proty really seemed to be superior to Chameleon Boy in his abilities which I always found amusing.

Go go Super-pets! Outshining the actual Legion more times than is believable!

The really cool thing is I found something better than super-pets action figures. I know, I know, that's hard to believe. I sure you're shaking your heads right now and asking what could Cshiana be thinking? Something better than Legion of Superpets action figures? Well it's true. I give you *drum roll*



Super-pets stuffed toys! I totally need to get a hold of Streaky. So awesome.

monkey day

Today (partially because I didn't get my Dad a father's day present because I am poor) I bring you monkeys... well kind of. They're actually mostly gorillas but I like the word monkeys better.
First up is Wonder Gorilla! If there's any character I didn't want to see as a Gorilla it has got to be Wonder Woman. Although I'm always amazed at those superhero costumes. Now that's what I call well made!

Ahh, Evolution plus. As in Evolution plus brain swapping and gorillas... or maybe he was de-evolved? Nah... that doesn't make sense, I mean, the whole premise of evolution in relation to our closest "relatives" (chimps by the way, not gorillas) is based on our last common ansestor not an existing species. Poor Ralph, you're one confused primate.

Y'know, you learn somethign new everyday. I'd go by Detective Chimp too if my name was Bobo. Stupid human! Of course wax statues can kill! You live in a world where Composite Superman can exist!

Yes, those fearsome gorillas. Truely a blight upon the world with their heinous acts of leaf-eating and grooming. You go Batman, kick that gorilla's ass! Meanwhile the Joker and Lex Luthor are free to roam about.


And last but not least a monkey on Brainy's head. This ladies and gentleman is one of the most brilliant men in the 30th century and he has a monkey - so why don't you?

Fables #50

I cannot properly express my glee at recieving Fables #50 in the mail today. Inadequate as words may be I have to make the attempt regardless.

You already know how much I love Bigby Wolf and I thought little could top my happiness at his return last issue. I was wrong.

I've spoken before about how romance is mostly dead in comic books today. In Fables it is alive and kicking. Bigby and Snow's love story has been one of the more interesting things in comics since Fables hit the shelves. We have had the chance to see them through their growing friendship, their inevitable romance, and the pain of seperation. Finally united they are given a chance at a real happy ever after.

This issue also gives us the bonus of Bigby as an action hero once again. As much as I have enjoyed the interim issues (as in story archs without Bigby) the heart of Fables has always been Bigby Wolf and Snow White. Also, the cover art from this issue got autioned off on ebay! There are some rich Fables fans out there. I eagerly await whatever Fables has in store for us next and even if the next six issues are a complete letdown this comic will still be on my top 5 list for 2006.

If you haven't been reading Fables you've been missing out. It's a story that makes one feel as if there is a world of adventure, romance and possibility out there just waiting to be discovered.

Comic Book Movies

Tonight at work we had a discussion about comic book movies. It was between myself, another comic book fan, and a non comic book reader. When both the other fan and I expressed our disappointment at the latest X-Men movie it was unsurprising that our other co-worker enjoyed the movie and even made a remark about us comic readers being picky. It's only natural I suppose, we do after all have higher expectations of the movies going in... but part of it struck me as funny. After all aren't we the ones who continue to read comic books that constantly rehash the same old stories over and over again? And if they're written well we most likely enjoy said story all over again.

I mean sure, the movies have a lot of discrepancies... but really, so do the comics they originate from. Yes, in the X movies Rogue is jailbait (disappointing male fans everywhere I'm told) but so what? Does it really matter that much - is it really that people want to see an exact story form the comic books - or is it that they want to see their interpretation of the comic? Personally I could care less about the changes made to Rogue's character (although I thought they were stealing somewhat from Kitty Pryde's story when the Hellfire Club was out to get her, but only a bit). However I'll admit I've never been a fan of Rogue and thus have little interest invested in the character. When they changed Nightcrawler in the second movie though - I was pissed. So many people thought he was great in the movie (from what I can tell this came mostly from the opening scene in which he wasn't even acting under his own volition) but I couldn't stand his character. Why Cshiana, you may ask, as I have always professed a great love for the Nightcrawler character. Well it's quite simply because of how much I love the Nightcrawler character. I felt gypped during his movie appearance. I don't know about everyone else but I always thought that while religion was a part of Kurt's character, that it wasn't the sole focus of his existence. I always hated the small point in time where he was crazy religious. Seriously I hope they fired whomever came up with the priest collar + spandex costume. To me Nightcrawler will always be this fun loving swash buckler who grew up in a circus raised by gypsies. X2 seriously let me down with that character interpretation.

My point here is that for those of us who have some sort of emotional attachment to certain characters and storylines it's hard to accept something deviating from out own vision.

I wish screen writers would realize this. If they stuck more closely with the comics themselves they'd probably do a lot better with the actual fans as opposed to just trying to make a buck. They'd also still make money in the process as in order for these stories to become popular enough to make it to the big screen they had to be popular with the readers first. If the actual characters and stories weren't worth anything in the first place why would anyone be making a movie out of it? I mean it's not too hard - the whole thing is already story boarded for heaven's sake! At the very least throw a What if? or Elseworlds into the title... that was us comic book fans don't expect the characters we've come to know and love and maybe we can enjoy the movies as much as the uninitiated viewer.

filler!

Filler fun with Tsunami! (yes I know I said I'd stop but I feel guilty about not posting anything new...)

fyi

I start my new job today (Tuesday) so I'm not posting anything new tonight. I'll be back to posting regularly by Weds night at the latest. Sorry for any inconvienence!

I think I'm addicted!

This one wasn't the best drawing - the proportions are off, but besides that it wasn't too bad so I stuck with it. This is Kaylee from the game my boyfriend runs. Yes I play two different dark elves... kind of. Kaylee is actually a dark elf while Cshiana is a half shadow fey-half human. It's complicated. She supposed to be sitting on the edge of a ship (after we got away from the zombie pirates). I liked how the colors turned out - and yes, I know, it's a lot of black.



Don't worry, this is the last one for awhile... at least until I've made more headway on the background for Cshiana's picture. This is a picture I drew for my boyfriend's D&D character (not Corey's game, a different one). It's one of the few pictures I have of a guy that's half-way decent... all my male drawings look so feminine =/

Tsunami

Edge of Sorrow

Okay, after much work I have finished this picture of Cshiana except for the background (it's on black at the moment until I figure out how to make mist) which will take a lot more work. Let me know what you think!

side note

Back to comic books...

My boyfriend owns about 10 different Superman t-shirts and has always been a big Superman fan. So I thought it was really cute when he told me this story.

He went to Walmart the other night wearing one of his many Superman shirts and shorts that are blue with a red stripe down the side of them. When he was walking around the store a little girl smiled and shyly waved at him. He overheard her say to her mom, "Look Mommy, it's Superman!"

He's been in a good mood ever since :)

Evolution and ID

Today we're taking an interlude into a real world debate that has really been frusterating me. As many of you know I am an anthropology major at the University of South FL. As such I've taken several classes exploring Darwin's theory of Evolution. Recently there has been a movement to allow "intelligent design" (ID) into the public school system in science classes. Now, the idea here is that ID is NOT creationism but a legitimate scientific theory - and I think that's wrong. I hate the idea that we'd allow a specific religous belief into our public scools as a scientific theory. It defeats the whole idea of America being a place of religous freedom. Sure, put ID in schools - but keep it in private schools and theology classes. I apologize for the lack of comic books today...

Over the ages there have been many different ideas on how the earth was created. From Brahma’s cosmic egg in Indian Mythology to the Earth and Sky’s birth of the world in Greek mythology, the beliefs on how the world came to be greatly vary. The question we have to ask ourselves is: what sets evolution apart from creation mythology? The answer to this question is that creationism is a belief based on religion while evolution is a theory based on scientific inquiry.

To better understand the differences between creationism and evolution one must first examine the definitions of belief and science. A belief is an idea taken on faith that cannot be scientifically tested. Science is a method of inquiry requiring the generation and testing of a hypothesis that has the chance of being rejected. Creationism cannot be tested and there is no physical evidence supporting its ideas, therefore it should be classified as a belief. Evolution can, and has been tested successfully by scientific method repeatedly. The amount of physical evidence and data gathered supporting evolution is overwhelming, while creationism often relies on religious doctrine over fact.

Another major difference between these perspectives is time. Creationism has been a part of the human species for as far back as we can trace. Humans have always sought to explain the world around them. Looking back on mankind’s varying creation stories, one can observe how much time and effort has been put into the tradition of creationism. It has had centuries to develop and become indoctrinated. Evolution, in contrast, is a relatively new concept. Despite the amount of evidence supporting evolution as a theory creationists hold fast to the comfort of beliefs that have, in one way or another, supported humanity through its "childhood." Because evolution challenges entrenched ideology and forces a resolution that does not cater to man’s ego, it will take time to be more widely accepted.

The irony here is that evolution and creationism can peacefully coexist. Yes, evolution can challenge the beliefs of a creationist, but if people can question their faith and open their minds to encompass a larger explanation of creation and still retain their beliefs it would only serve to make their faith stronger.

Unfortunately many creationists see evolution as an attack on their beliefs and values. They end up undermining their own cause with such cartoons as Creationwise, by Dan Lietha. They attempt to attack the validity of evolution as a science by claiming that scientists who use evolution as a working theory are faithless individuals who lack spirituality. This only serves to make creationists seem infantile and petty. Spirituality is something that should be encouraged and explored rather than taken on blind faith. From a scientific perspective I can only look at cartoons such as Creationwise as a sad example of how creationists see themselves.
Creationism and evolution as a belief and a scientific theory are both important parts of modern culture. Science and belief can both be used to explore the vast universe of which we are all a part of. However, one must still understand that a belief cannot be tested and therefore cannot fall within the realm of science. Science is a process that helps us develop our understanding of the physical world and evolution is a part of that. Creationism is best left within the range of theology and faith. As Joseph Campbell said, "When the story is in your mind, then you see its relevance to something happening in your own life. It gives you perspective on what’s happening to you." (The Power of Myth, pg 2). Both evolution and creationism can be a part of Campbell’s story once it is understood that they are not opposing ideas, but perspectives that can work together to encompass a greater whole.

getting there

still pretty awful looking but I think I need a nap before game...

progress

OK, the basic colors are done - whee! Obviously no shading has been done yet.

Also these two filters were pretty nifty looking~








the one reminds me of the Sin City look and the other one is neat and glowy!

toys!

First off, another weekend has come around so I will be somewhat absorbed into the world of D&D but only for a short period - nothing as bad as last week which was many games in a row.

I got a new toy tonight - Photoshop! I am so excited to finally get ahold of this (thanks Gary!) as I can now begin experimenting with digital color. I have a feeling that much of my free time will be consumed by playing with photoshop over the next week or so, be warned. I'll still be posting of course, there's just a good possibility of me posting phases of my artwork.

The other night I spent a good amount of time assembling bags&boards and oddly enough it started me down memory lane. Growing up in a comic book store my sister and I both spent an inordinante amount of time with boards and bags... I remember how tedious it could be, and yet it's a good memory. We used to make games out of the task to keep ourselves from falling asleep. We had a lot of strange little tasks like that back then. Like organizing comic book cards... I remember it being fun at the time although now I'm not sure of the appeal. I mean, yes, playing with cards can be fun... I just don't see their purpose. Heh, I know at least one customer had my sister pick out his card boxes for him because she always seemed to pick the boxes with rare cards :) Anyway, it's funny what things will bring on an onslaught of memories.

Just to start you off on the art train, this is a picture of Cshiana for D&D. She's half-drow so it's going to be a challenge to do her skin tone. I'm sure I'll figure something out though!

Secret Identities

Are secret identities necessary? On a whole, yes. I mean I can just imagine how much duller Superman would be without Clark Kent. Not every hero needs a secret ID of course, but I find that the heroes who do have them are more interesting by far.


Lets take a look at heroes who have no secret ID.


She-Hulk


This book was BORING until they brought Jennifer Walters back. Seriously, I never could care about the glamourous world of She-Hulk and liked this character A LOT more when she had to be Jennifer again. I appreciate that Jen prefers She-Hulk but that was part of the reason it was interesting to give her a human side - it helped you to empathize with her character. Not to mention you got to discover the character all over again. As much as Jen isn't a "secret" ID (at least not anymore) the character is much more interesting without just She-Hulk.


Wonder Woman


I like Wonder Woman, I really do - but I have a hard time caring about the day in the life of an Amazon Princess. As much as I enjoy WW I could never relate to her character. She's one of the celebrity superheroes and as such she's seen as "above" humanity rather than beside it. I think this is one of the major flaws of the heroes who don't have a secret ID. Of course with this character her secret ID has always been a bit of an issue as she's always WW first and when she does have a secret ID it's little more than a facade. The only time her secret ID was convincing was in the silly WW hippie comic era with her wacky clothing and martial arts instructor. Of course those books are some of the most fun.


Supergirl


This is another character who has had some issues with the whole secret ID thing. As much as she really hasn't needed it I wish they had been able to do more work pursuing Kara as Linda Lang and this was a fresh twist on Kara's character. Without a secret ID it was difficult to fit Kara into the whole Earth thing. Obviously she doesn't need this on New Krypton, but everyone there has superpowers and there's no real reason to find a different way to relate to the main population. Of course I always loved Peter David's work on Matrix/Supergirl and that whole storyline was a cool way of giving Matrix a secret ID as well as really making her Supergirl. I was pretty sad they phased her character out.



in comparison:

Superman


As I said before, I wouldn't care for a Superman with no Clark Kent. Without his secret ID this character would lose the most interesting thing about him. Supes isn't about what he can do as Superman - it's about the fact that in spite of what he can do he still wants to be one of the people he protects. That's what makes him such a great hero. Also, where would the Superman comics be today with all the wacky secret ID hi jinks that ensued? There would be no bad jokes about the fact that Clark hid away his identity with a pair of glasses, there would be no torturing of Lois, and worst of all there would be no Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter. The secret identity is a wonderful thing!


Batman


Batman would be so much less effective if people knew who he was. I mean he'd be hard pressed to strike fear into the hearts of villains as Bruce Wayne: Millionare Playboy. I'm laughing just trying to picture that one. No, really, try to picture that one. If I was a villain I'd fall down laughing. Even the new Spectre said it - that somehow finding out who Batman was just made him a man behind a mask. Secret IDs allow for the superhero myth to grow, without it the heroes are just paparazzi bait. Beyond that now Dick can carry on the Batman legacy without having to do much more than change his costume. While many people do know that the man behind the mask has changed enough badguys think it's the same scary man out there hunting them down. Sadly some of the secret ID thing seems to have backfired with Hush but Dick seems to have worked that out (we'll see).


I think the secret identity is a long standing comic book tradition and is of huge importance to the superhero genre. Secret identities not only help to answer the question of how these heroes deal with the fact that their enemies could come after their loved ones but they also allow the reader to better relate to the character. Yes, there are some great heroes who don't have secret IDs (the F4 for one) but that doesn't mean it'll work for every character. I, for one, am a big fan of the secret ID :)

sweet sweet internet

Thankfully, after much internet withdraw, Brighthouse has restored our cable connection. It wouldn't have been that bad except for the realization yesterday that not only had I left my cell phone off over the weekend because of too many "unknown" callers but that since we have digital phone service my house phone was disconnected too. Now normally this wouldn't matter that much, but I realized that no one out of town had any way to contact me. In some ways this was kind of nice, a little break from a world where anyone can get ahold of me at pretty much any time. On the other hand this meant that I couldn't do things like send a thank you email to Jeff for the books he sent me... so I had to call my Dad (once turning my cell back on) and have him do it for me.

The thing is though, without my normal posting schedule I realized just how disconnected from the rest of the world I've been recently. I don't think I see my friends outside of game anymore... not that game hasn't long been the primary method of socializing here in Tampa (for my friends) but there's something to be said about just hanging out as yourself. This especially holds true after last weekend... three games in a row, ugh. Don't get me wrong, I love gaming - it fits in well with my fantasy-escapism personality. But three gaming sessions back to back (to back) left me feeling a bit burnt out. Maybe I'm getting old or something because I remember when a gaming filled weekend left me feeling refreshed as if I'd just had a pleasant vacation. Then again it may also be due to the fact that it was three separate games so I was playing different characters.

Either way I'm glad that last weekend was an exception due to shuffling schedules and makeup games.

A brief summary:

Friday - fighter/pseudo-monk action time! This was my first time at Gary (the inker of Legacy!)'s game and it was lots of laid-back fun. I got to fight a hot-pocket golem!

Saturday - Corey's D&D game, Ravenloft style. Seeing how almost all our characters are depressed several of us got "drunk":
Worf: ...and then Death took over Darkon.
Cshiana: Wait a sec... Death's a person?
Worf: uh, yeah, I guess so...
Cshiana: Is Life a person too then?
Worf: ..... umm, I dunno, could be.
Tori: Well if Hope can be a tree, Death can be a person.
*insert crickets chirping*
Cshiana: Sure, that makes as much sense as anything else here.
*more drinking*
Also, there was much cursing about gypsies...
Old gypsy woman: If you fulfill your oath a unholy reunion will result but you can overcome it if you remain strong.
Cshiana: ....
....
....
Can I ask you a question?
OGW: Of course.
Cshiana: Why do you even bother? I mean, seriously, what's the point of all this prophesy stuff anyway? No matter what you say it's always so vague that it could mean thousands of different things - so why even bother? I mean let's review here, first you all tell me that to save my father I have to save your granddaughter so she can tell us the wording of the curse she placed on my father... now you show up and tell us that we can't possibly save your granddaughter so we have to kill her - and that apparently you've known the words to the curse all along. And according to you the only way to break the curse is to bring the key to the world's destruction to the people who want to use it to free the thing that could destroy the world. So in summary: I can only free my father by possibly destroying the world and apparently bringing about some unholy union in the process... did I miss anything?
OGW: *looks all mysterious and disappears into the storm*
Cshiana: Bloody Gypsies!

Sunday - Aberrant!We managed to contain an unbelievably powerful nuclear radiation creature (aka Glowstick) while barely averting an international disaster.
Glowstick: I will take what I need, but I will stay out of your protectorate.
Valor: Great, how about you give us some time and we'll find a way to give you your own area to live in with a renewable energy source for you to feed on?
Glowstick: RAWR! I will not be imprisoned!
alor: Not a prison, your own property.
*more attempt to come up a a peaceful solution for all resulting in going around in circles*
Glowstick: I will take what I need.
Whisper: Wait! Why don't you go to Chernobyl? There should be energy to sustain you there while we come up with an unlimited food source for yo
*Creature flys off to Russia*
*Tsunami realizes that the Phoenix Corp has just sent a nuclear-powered being with no regard for human life to a foreign country*
Whisper: Well that should by us some time! *teleports away*
Somehow though, everything worked out okay in the end.

On the comic book end of things I finally got to read the new Wonder Woman book. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but it has potential.

As for 52... I had to be amused at the idea that Animal Man is hanging out with naked Starfire and complaining. That man is obviously devoted to his wife - about time someone's not just randomly sleeping around in the comic book world. I actually enjoyed the latest 52 since it had a bit more story and less Booster Gold.

On a side note my Mouse Guard books are now being passed between 4 different people down here - I haven't found anyone who doesn't enjoy those books. Most exciting was the fact that Jeff sent me a signed copy of Mouse Guard #1! Thanks Jeff <3 That goes right up on my list of cool stuff next to the Batman sketch Scott Hanna did for me of Batman back when I was a kid.

I'm sure tomorrow's post will be somewhat more coherent. Well, maybe :)

Writer's Block

I hate writer's block - and it's not so much that I don't have anything to say as I'm not sure how to get it across. *sigh* So today's post will be about lots of random things!

First off - last week's comics...
I had a really good time with my recent infusion of stuff to read. I convinced my Dad to find Ballad of Sleeping Beauty for me and it was a great read. You could definately tell that it was one of the author's first attempts at writing a comic book but it had some great ideas and I'm always fond of stories that make use of fairy tales and mythology. The art was perfect for the mood of the story and I loved the coloring. It was sparse and well formed. It's great when the art and story work so well together. Also, turning Sleeping Beauty into a western was a great idea :)

I finally got to read S&B 26 and maybe I was being overly sensitive but I cried at the end knowing it was for Sam Loeb. It really made me miss someone I never actually knew. It was very sweet that so many people came together to do that book as a tribute to him.

Then there was Nextwave the coloring book. SO awesome. I mean, yeah, it was a fun book anyway, but the idea of coloring a comic book is exciting for some reason. And yes, I totally plan on coloring it.

I really enjoyed Local #5 and I think it was the best issue so far. It was a very inventive story and we got to know the main character a bit better. That and I can empathize with the nametag thing, we used to switch them all the time at work.

onto other stuff:
I'm really excited at the idea of working on my comic, Legacy, again. I have our original artist and inker on the team and I may experiment with doing the coloring myself if Corey consents to helping me out a bit. After looking around online for a bit I discovered that Dark Horse is accepting submissions until December 31st '06 and Image and Asp seem to accept them on an ongoing basis. Hopefully it'll come together this time!

I'm still working on an illustrated story (illustrated by Legacy's inker actually) that will be published regardless of whether or not we find an outside publisher. We finally get to start pulling the layout together in 2 weeks and I figure it should be ready for publishing by early 2007. There's a website that does cheap publishing so if nothing else I'll be able to bully people I know into buying my book :)

Project Nightwing is on the shelf for now because as much as I'd love to work on it I won't have time now that we're restarting Legacy. So it'll be on the backburner for awhile although I already have a basic plot sketched out.

Tomorrow is D&D and Sunday is Aberrant so it should be an entertaining weekend.

I found this comic book while looking on ebay and for some reason found it to be intriguing. Cross-company storys always amuse me.

Oh! On a side note I've been spending some quality time over at Neil Gaiman's home page and I was surprised (and happy) to see that they're making a Stardust movie!

Anyway, time to sleep...