Lots of new stuff on a Monday. First off, we've got Issue 16 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" available in the online store at www.torcpress.com. You can also view a preview at www.torcpress.com/hfsac16prev.html. In this issue, the Fudgeheads set out on a trip to find the Lost Underwater City of Lemuria only to have everything go horribly wrong.
In further addition, we've got a new page of SDF up for viewing at http://www.torcpress.com/sdf6.html.
And, lastly, I've got a show coming up in a couple of weeks, apparently. I'll be at the Metropolis Super Con on March 10-11. Details at http://www.comiccitytn.com/Metropolis_Super_Con.html.
And now I've gotta go work in a Sawmill. Funny, that.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Random Notes As I Try to Wake Up
I've never really been a fan of comics featuring a female lead. Whoa! Whoa! Stop throwing stuff at me! Let me finish! The reason why I've never really been a fan of those kind of comics is that there are rarely (very, very rarely) GOOD comics that feature a female lead. Sure, a comic like "Persepolis" comes down the line every now and then, but in the more mainstream world of the superhero comic (and, sidenote, isn't it silly as hell that in comics, "superhero" is the mainstream?), typically, a book with a female lead is just an excuse to tart up some chick in a costume that barely covers her, give her a sword, and have her strut around acting like the Man with No Name. I mean, seriously, Catwoman? Witchblade (well, the early stuff. I've heard Ron Marz really made something out of that crap)? Dawn? I have DOZENS of small press comix stashed all over my collection that are the same old same old. Hot female lead, armed with a sword, standing around in impossible poses that someone manage to prominently display her perfect boobs and ass at the same time, killing things and acting like a tough guy. (Movies aren't much better at this while we're on the subject. For examples, check out the repugnant "Resident Evil" movies or "Sucker Punch") And I don't have a problem with portraying women as sexy or tough. Quite the opposite. I like sexy women, and I like strong women. I am a dude after all. My problem is the SIMPLICITY of this portrayal. Having a dude that's a simplistic, one dimensional tough guy makes sense. We're dudes. We're all pretty one dimensional when you get down to it. But there's something... I don't know... disgusting about turning a female character into a sexual blow up doll that's armed to the teeth. Maybe I don't like my sex with my violence.
It seems like female characters get a better shot at being more well rounded characters in a team book setting. Look at the list, shall we? Invisible Woman- Hot? Sure. But also a strong wife and mother who fiercely protects the ones she loves from danger. Storm- Honestly, she's hot, but they don't overdo it with the revealing costume nonsense. She's also the strongest and most prominent black female character ever created. She's been a Goddess, a Queen, the leader of the Morlocks, and the leader of the X-Men. Kitty Pride has always been portrayed as a complex female who has actually never been reduced to a sexual object, even when she's being sexually active. I recently read Joe Casey's "Vengeance" which features a couple of strong female characters, Miss America (who, admittedly, isn't wearing much of costume, cough-cough) a Latina (points for that alone) whose shear grit and determination add a new dimension to her borderline cookie-cutterness, and Angel, a character originally created by Grant Morrison, now depowered because of that stupid "House of M" garbage, but still fighting the good fight.
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah.
So, imagine my surprise at how much I'm enjoying "Wonder Woman" and "Glory". In many ways, the strength of Wonder Woman is its sheer inventiveness. By re-imagining and modernizing Greek Mythology (seriously, Neptune alone is worth the price of admission), the book has given a new life and spark to my childhood obsession with Mythology. Wonder Woman herself walks the thin line of meandering into cookie-cutterdom. But, first off, Wonder Woman sells it well. This is a warrior woman, born and bred, a woman of action, not just someone strutting and posing for the camera. The internal conflict with her heritage gives her an extra dimension, and even her particular way of handling it comes off as natural. She doesn't just shut off her emotions, nor does she get all weepy. She's a woman of action, and that's how she handles her internal strife. Also, this rendition of Wonder Woman is clever. She thinks fast on her feet, but she's not infallible either. But when things go wrong, she's still in the mix, trying to make things work.
The strength of "Glory", at least based on the first issue, lies primarily in the art. Which is not to say that the writing is bad or weak. Quite the contrary, it's excellent. The new Glory takes elements of all the old versions and re-imagines the character in a way that seems fresh and new. Much like Wonder Woman, Glory is a war machine, but she's a war machine that spends too damn long waiting for her war. She's one part high minded idealist and one part petulant child. But, again, the strength of the book is the art, which portrays Glory not as an impossibly big breasted Barbie doll, but instead as a female war machine that legitimately looks like she could stop a tank (and does!). And yet, she still manages to be pretty and feminine. It's a feat that I would have considered impossible if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Long story short, much like the new "Prophet", "Glory" is off to an excellent start.
What else do we got, besides a long rant that may or may not be viewed as moderately sexist?
"Snarked" is cool. Good old fashioned cartooning using concepts from Lewis Carrol to build a fresh new world. Cool.
I'm just gonna say it, okay? Jeff Smith's "Rasl" is brilliant, but I can't follow it at all. There's too much of a gap between issues, and I keep losing the story threads. I really, really hate to say this, but I think I should have just waited to collect the whole series in a single volume. Considering how I consider myself a crusader for the continuation of the Traditional Comic, I really hate to admit that, but it's the truth. I just can't follow this series in its current format. Sigh.
I think it's time for us all to stand up and give a round of applause for Greg Capullo. While virtually every artist involved in the "New 52" has not managed to make it past issue 6 (some didn't even come close) (hell, even Kieth Giffen didn't make it to issue 6. That one surprised me) (and jumping back to our previous topic, the fill-in artist from the last two issues of Wonder Woman kind of sucks. I mean, he's better than I am, but who isn't?), Greg Capullo has delivered absolutely brilliant (and in some cases, quite experimental) artwork on "Batman" and he's done it consistently and on time. Despite being a prominent artist, I still feel that Capullo is perpetually underrated. I was skeptical when I heard he was taking over "Batman". Skepticism over.
Although it's got the dumbest and longest title ever, "Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense: Hell on Earth: The Long Death" #1, is killer. BPRD:HOE:LD continues the long and storied tradition of this series just absolutely ruling. Great art. Great story. Tons of blood. Me happy.
I should try to do something today.
It seems like female characters get a better shot at being more well rounded characters in a team book setting. Look at the list, shall we? Invisible Woman- Hot? Sure. But also a strong wife and mother who fiercely protects the ones she loves from danger. Storm- Honestly, she's hot, but they don't overdo it with the revealing costume nonsense. She's also the strongest and most prominent black female character ever created. She's been a Goddess, a Queen, the leader of the Morlocks, and the leader of the X-Men. Kitty Pride has always been portrayed as a complex female who has actually never been reduced to a sexual object, even when she's being sexually active. I recently read Joe Casey's "Vengeance" which features a couple of strong female characters, Miss America (who, admittedly, isn't wearing much of costume, cough-cough) a Latina (points for that alone) whose shear grit and determination add a new dimension to her borderline cookie-cutterness, and Angel, a character originally created by Grant Morrison, now depowered because of that stupid "House of M" garbage, but still fighting the good fight.
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah.
So, imagine my surprise at how much I'm enjoying "Wonder Woman" and "Glory". In many ways, the strength of Wonder Woman is its sheer inventiveness. By re-imagining and modernizing Greek Mythology (seriously, Neptune alone is worth the price of admission), the book has given a new life and spark to my childhood obsession with Mythology. Wonder Woman herself walks the thin line of meandering into cookie-cutterdom. But, first off, Wonder Woman sells it well. This is a warrior woman, born and bred, a woman of action, not just someone strutting and posing for the camera. The internal conflict with her heritage gives her an extra dimension, and even her particular way of handling it comes off as natural. She doesn't just shut off her emotions, nor does she get all weepy. She's a woman of action, and that's how she handles her internal strife. Also, this rendition of Wonder Woman is clever. She thinks fast on her feet, but she's not infallible either. But when things go wrong, she's still in the mix, trying to make things work.
The strength of "Glory", at least based on the first issue, lies primarily in the art. Which is not to say that the writing is bad or weak. Quite the contrary, it's excellent. The new Glory takes elements of all the old versions and re-imagines the character in a way that seems fresh and new. Much like Wonder Woman, Glory is a war machine, but she's a war machine that spends too damn long waiting for her war. She's one part high minded idealist and one part petulant child. But, again, the strength of the book is the art, which portrays Glory not as an impossibly big breasted Barbie doll, but instead as a female war machine that legitimately looks like she could stop a tank (and does!). And yet, she still manages to be pretty and feminine. It's a feat that I would have considered impossible if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Long story short, much like the new "Prophet", "Glory" is off to an excellent start.
What else do we got, besides a long rant that may or may not be viewed as moderately sexist?
"Snarked" is cool. Good old fashioned cartooning using concepts from Lewis Carrol to build a fresh new world. Cool.
I'm just gonna say it, okay? Jeff Smith's "Rasl" is brilliant, but I can't follow it at all. There's too much of a gap between issues, and I keep losing the story threads. I really, really hate to say this, but I think I should have just waited to collect the whole series in a single volume. Considering how I consider myself a crusader for the continuation of the Traditional Comic, I really hate to admit that, but it's the truth. I just can't follow this series in its current format. Sigh.
I think it's time for us all to stand up and give a round of applause for Greg Capullo. While virtually every artist involved in the "New 52" has not managed to make it past issue 6 (some didn't even come close) (hell, even Kieth Giffen didn't make it to issue 6. That one surprised me) (and jumping back to our previous topic, the fill-in artist from the last two issues of Wonder Woman kind of sucks. I mean, he's better than I am, but who isn't?), Greg Capullo has delivered absolutely brilliant (and in some cases, quite experimental) artwork on "Batman" and he's done it consistently and on time. Despite being a prominent artist, I still feel that Capullo is perpetually underrated. I was skeptical when I heard he was taking over "Batman". Skepticism over.
Although it's got the dumbest and longest title ever, "Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense: Hell on Earth: The Long Death" #1, is killer. BPRD:HOE:LD continues the long and storied tradition of this series just absolutely ruling. Great art. Great story. Tons of blood. Me happy.
I should try to do something today.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Page 5 Puzzelor
The Thursday Edition of "SDF" is now up for viewing over at http://www.torcpress.com/sdf5.html. This week we've got the return of our old buddy from Gulatta!, the Puzzelor. Other than that, I seem to be having a dry spell on things to yammer about. Oh well, off to the Mill.
Monday, February 20, 2012
First Monday SDF
It's Monday, it's President's Day, and it's time for a new SDF! Huzzah! This week we've got Page 4, which can be viewed at: http://www.torcpress.com/sdf4.html. Today's page features a brief scuffle between a man and a pair of disembodied hands. Yeah.
Other than that, the publication of Page Four brings an end to the Contest from Page Three. Congratulations to the two people that chimed in with the right answer. Sketches are done and will be sent out as soon as the Post Office wakes up again.
Page Five debuts on Thursday.
Other than that, the publication of Page Four brings an end to the Contest from Page Three. Congratulations to the two people that chimed in with the right answer. Sketches are done and will be sent out as soon as the Post Office wakes up again.
Page Five debuts on Thursday.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
New SDF and New Contest
BIG KICK!
I almost screwed up and forgot that I post new blogs on Thursday. Whoops. Anyway, there's a new Page (Page Three to be exact) of "SDF" up and running over at http://www.torcpress.com/sdf3.html. It's an actiony page. Always fun. Also, if you scroll on down to the NOTES section, you might notice a Little Contest that I'm running until Monday. Just send me an e-mail of comment on this blog or the TORC Facebook if you know the answer.
Other than that, I'm just slowly slogging along, working on this and that.
I almost screwed up and forgot that I post new blogs on Thursday. Whoops. Anyway, there's a new Page (Page Three to be exact) of "SDF" up and running over at http://www.torcpress.com/sdf3.html. It's an actiony page. Always fun. Also, if you scroll on down to the NOTES section, you might notice a Little Contest that I'm running until Monday. Just send me an e-mail of comment on this blog or the TORC Facebook if you know the answer.
Other than that, I'm just slowly slogging along, working on this and that.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Weekend Shananigans
Hey, this is my 200th post on this blog! Huzzah!
Had a nice birthday weekend, and pretty much got what I wanted out of the deal, namely Pizza, Comics, and Tacos. Lots of Comics. We also hit the "City Museum" in St. Louis, which was a lot of fun, despite the fact that Bro and I both managed to bump our heads, and I damn near twisted my stupid ankle. Still, apparently, a good time was had by all.
Speaking of comics, a few random notes before we ramble about "SDF"...
Right now my biggest problem with DC's "New 52" is the fact that apparently we're not getting a full year of story from any one team. Most of the artists are taking breaks for an issue or two (in fact, I'm pretty sure every issue 6 except, surprisingly, Justice League, has been by a fill in artist) at some point in their run. Plus, apparently, there's going to be a linewide game of Musical Chairs shortly that will completely change the writing and/or art teams on just about every book. That kind of annoys me. I was hoping for 12 issues by singular art/writing teams. I guess we can't do that kinda thing anymore.
After checking four different comic shops in Evansville and St. Louis, I finally found a copy of "Prophet" #21 (with a damn variant cover...beggars can't be choosers...). I guess shops underestimated how well this one would sell. Which is too bad because it was awesome! (Pun not intended)
"Adventure Time" 1 was sold out at two different comic shops in St. Louis.
I'm happy there's a new "Lobster Johnson" mini-series. Very, very happy.
I now possess all of the "Essential" volumes containing Jack Kirby's complete runs on "Fantastic Four" and "Thor". A couple more and I'll have damn near everything Kirby produced in the 60s. Mwa-hahahahaha!
Anyway, enough about other people's comics. Let's talk about my new webcomic, "SDF". Eventually, I plan on releasing a new page every Monday and Thursday. Unfortunately, I'm not really prepared to put out a new page today, so I'll try to have a new page up on Thursday, and then get the whole Mon/Thur thing going full steam next week. I am literally writing this comic as I go (no script, no net), so we'll see how things turn out as I bumble along.
Had a nice birthday weekend, and pretty much got what I wanted out of the deal, namely Pizza, Comics, and Tacos. Lots of Comics. We also hit the "City Museum" in St. Louis, which was a lot of fun, despite the fact that Bro and I both managed to bump our heads, and I damn near twisted my stupid ankle. Still, apparently, a good time was had by all.
Speaking of comics, a few random notes before we ramble about "SDF"...
Right now my biggest problem with DC's "New 52" is the fact that apparently we're not getting a full year of story from any one team. Most of the artists are taking breaks for an issue or two (in fact, I'm pretty sure every issue 6 except, surprisingly, Justice League, has been by a fill in artist) at some point in their run. Plus, apparently, there's going to be a linewide game of Musical Chairs shortly that will completely change the writing and/or art teams on just about every book. That kind of annoys me. I was hoping for 12 issues by singular art/writing teams. I guess we can't do that kinda thing anymore.
After checking four different comic shops in Evansville and St. Louis, I finally found a copy of "Prophet" #21 (with a damn variant cover...beggars can't be choosers...). I guess shops underestimated how well this one would sell. Which is too bad because it was awesome! (Pun not intended)
"Adventure Time" 1 was sold out at two different comic shops in St. Louis.
I'm happy there's a new "Lobster Johnson" mini-series. Very, very happy.
I now possess all of the "Essential" volumes containing Jack Kirby's complete runs on "Fantastic Four" and "Thor". A couple more and I'll have damn near everything Kirby produced in the 60s. Mwa-hahahahaha!
Anyway, enough about other people's comics. Let's talk about my new webcomic, "SDF". Eventually, I plan on releasing a new page every Monday and Thursday. Unfortunately, I'm not really prepared to put out a new page today, so I'll try to have a new page up on Thursday, and then get the whole Mon/Thur thing going full steam next week. I am literally writing this comic as I go (no script, no net), so we'll see how things turn out as I bumble along.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Return of SDF...Digitally
Welp, it's my birthday, so, as promised, it's time for the debut of my new webcomic. You can check out "SDF" either by heading to www.torcpress.com and clicking on the Link marked SDF, or you can start with Page One at http://www.torcpress.com/sdf1.html. The first two pages are up and running.
There's a few interesting things worth mentioning about the new webcomic. First off, SDF does Not feature the Clown & Penguin. Although Cactus Joe and Pengy will always be the central characters of the TORCverse, one of the main differences between Era 3 and Era 4 that I wanted to establish was that while Era 3 focused almost exclusively on the Adventures of CJ & PP, Era 4 will take some time to feature other characters, some new, some old. In SDF we've got the debut of a (sorta) new character.
The other thing of note about the new webcomic is the rambling Notes section at the bottom of the page. I basically stole the idea from reading other people's webcomics. Essentially, the Notes serves as a director's commentary track, giving you a tiny peak into the thought process behind the comic.
Anyway, enjoy the comix!
There's a few interesting things worth mentioning about the new webcomic. First off, SDF does Not feature the Clown & Penguin. Although Cactus Joe and Pengy will always be the central characters of the TORCverse, one of the main differences between Era 3 and Era 4 that I wanted to establish was that while Era 3 focused almost exclusively on the Adventures of CJ & PP, Era 4 will take some time to feature other characters, some new, some old. In SDF we've got the debut of a (sorta) new character.
The other thing of note about the new webcomic is the rambling Notes section at the bottom of the page. I basically stole the idea from reading other people's webcomics. Essentially, the Notes serves as a director's commentary track, giving you a tiny peak into the thought process behind the comic.
Anyway, enjoy the comix!
Monday, February 6, 2012
My Long Week
With the Stuper Bowl wrapping up (pretty good game this year, by the by), that means it's my Birthday Week. I turn 34 on Thursday. Not a significant date by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm always happy when I make another lap around the sun. This weekend is reserved for much partying and merry making and food eating. Should be fun.
The most noteworthy thing TORC Press related that's going on this week will be the debut of a new webcomic on my Birthday on February 9th. I'll be putting up two new pages, both of which I've already penciled and inked (still gotta color em though). I'll probably leave both pages up for a little over a week before I start releasing pages on a regular schedule.
Other than that, not much else to report. I'm currently hard at work on HFSAC 16 and the latest Dr. Orphyus Project video.
The most noteworthy thing TORC Press related that's going on this week will be the debut of a new webcomic on my Birthday on February 9th. I'll be putting up two new pages, both of which I've already penciled and inked (still gotta color em though). I'll probably leave both pages up for a little over a week before I start releasing pages on a regular schedule.
Other than that, not much else to report. I'm currently hard at work on HFSAC 16 and the latest Dr. Orphyus Project video.
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