I wish I could say that I had some sort of elaborate April Fool’s Day prank lined up for you guys today. But truthfully, I’ve been so busy preparing for the Kansas City Planet Comicon comic book convention, I didn’t have time to plan ahead.
I wonder if Zach and Mitch are as uptight about preparations as I am?
I won’t have a lot of stuff to sell at the con. I never do. I’ll have a few shirts left over from previous pre-orders to give people a sense of stuff they can buy. If I don’t have their size or the color they would like, I’ll ask them to join my mailing list (no link just yet) and I’ll send out a message to everyone letting them know when I’m doing another round of shirts.
The once facet that I am really prepared for are button sales. I’ve been working overtime the last few weeks putting together packaging for 2 different sets of buttons. I don’t know how well they will be received, but I hope they are a hit. If not, I’ll probably never have to work this hard assembling button packages ever again. I should be set for a long time.
As a side note, once I get back from the convention, I’ll probably start selling merchandise again on the site. So keep an eye peeled for that.
Anyway, if you’re in the Kansas City area tomorrow or Sunday between 10AM and 5PM, come say “Hi.” It should be a good time.
Now onto comic stuff…
I don’t know why, but Wednesday’s comic really seems to have struck a nerve. People in the THorum were complimenting it left and right and it actually got a couple of write ups at I’m Just Sayiny (a web comic review site – scroll down a little to see my entry) and more surprisingly, but no less enthusiastically, Film Rot.
I’m not bringing this up to brag. I’m just not used to people taking notice of the strip outside of the “web comic community” much less writing about it. This must be what it feels like for Jeph…
I feel kind of skittish taking any credit for these compliments, however. Because as I stressed yesterday, Frank Miller is the one who has inspired this work. All I did was parody it.
Odd, isn’t it that I’m apologizing for Wednesday’s strip but doing the exact same thing in today’s strip? I dunno. I guess I picked a winning horse. I’m gonna stick with it for a little while.
Can you believe people wanted me to put the splash panel of yesterday’s comic on a t-shirt? Bordering copyright infringement there, I think!
At any rate, I hope you’ve enjoyed these last two strips. I know I’ve had a lot of fun drawing them. As you can probably tell, I’m a big Frank Miller fan and a big Sin City fan. I actually used to practice by looking at some of the Sin City stuff and drawing replicas. So this has been a little nostalgia treat for me.
I’ll probably do another similarly-styled comic on Monday to capture reactions of the film after I see it on Saturday. So if you like what’s been going on, you have that to look forward to. Maybe I’ll cast Jimmy as The Yellow Bastard!
As for the movie itself… What can be said? Critics really seem to be on board with this one, which pleases me to no end. Not only because it is such a powerful and singular vision brought to the screen. But also because it further legitimizes the artistry of graphic novels.
Besides the recently deceased Will Eisner (R.I.P.) I can think of no other creator than Frank Miller that has done so much for the medium. I mean, between Sin City and The Dark Night Returns, there’s just no comparison!
The film production, too, is so far outside the boundaries of conventional film making, I’m willing to bet film schools are going to cite it as a textbook study in the next 10 years. If this thing takes off, Robert Robert Rodriguez’s “digital backlot” technique could spin things on its head.
I could go on, I suppose. But I think it’s time to let sleeping dogs lie. I’ll probably be back later in the day to discuss the donating incentive artwork I created for February and March.
If you recall, I did Constantine for February and Robots for March. Well… I kinda never got around to coloring the Robots piece, and now it’s April.
Anyway, I have to make reparations for that and will probably be taking this promotion in another direction. More on that later. Stop by again today if it fancies you.
Love to all.
Let me begin by saying that Yes, I did see Sin City this weekend and its imagery has been swimming around in my head ever since. I’ve been replaying different scenes from the movie over and over in my mind. I’ve been comparing them against the comics for accuracy.
My conclusion is this: Sin City is the most faithful, most accurate, most astonishing comic book movie ever committed to celluloid.
If you’re a fan of comic book movies. See it. If you’re a fan of films that wield technical advancement with marksman precision – See it.
The only caveat I would insert is that (although black and white) the movie is VERY GORY. Lots of bullet-riddled bodies. People being decapitated. People losing hands and other extremities. People being blown up. Sin City ∗earns∗ its “R” rating. If it were in color, it would be NC-17.
That said, I hope you’re enjoying my continued re-interpretation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel classics. Today’s comic is parodying the last page of That Yellow Bastard, part 5 of 6. In my opinion it’s the best of the Sin City books. It also happens to bookend the movie, which I think is no coincidence. The more I think about it, the more I love it.
Some of you might be curious how things turned out at the Kansas City Planet Comicon comic book convention. First of all, I have to give props to the show organizers who were very attentive and made sure we were having a good time. I haven’t been to a lot of these things, but when we needed chairs for the booth, they were on it. And during the show, they came around to ask us if everything was okay and if we were having fun. A small gesture, but it meant a lot. Especially considering we were sitting on Artist’s Alley. We’re the guys who pay the least to exhibit our wares, so it’s not like we’re getting rock star treatment.
Anyway, I had a blast catching up with Mitch and Zach, as evident by this picture:
Sorry, Mitch old bean. But when you take a goofy picture, odds are it’s gonna end up on the internet.
IT’S OVER!
/inside joke.
But in all seriousness, we had a blast. Time flew by while we were down there and we had a bunch of great conversations about our comics, our motivations and our future in “The Game” as it were.
That dramaticizes things a bit, but what I’m trying to communicate is that it was time well spent and it really re-energized me.
Between work and life, there is very little room for the comic. The time I spend on it can sometimes wear you down. I’m not trying to lay a big “woe is me” story on you. Just stating the facts. Every once in a while, you run the risk of suffering burnout. This weekend strengthened my defenses against it.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth and said they liked what we do. And for those of you kind enough and curious enough to give us a chance after meeting us for the first time this weekend, thanks for looking us up in the digital realm. Hopefully we can keep you as readers.
Now only if I can figure out a way to bail Jared out of the Imperial drunk tank. He’s a handful, that one!
I just wanted to mention that buzzComix finally got around to resetting their list (4 days late, but beggars can’t be choosers), so if you’d like to vote for Theater Hopper, that would be great! You’ll be treated to another sketch of Jimmy as That Yellow Bastard for your trouble.
Related Posts ¬
Sep 28, 2004 | PUBLICITY STUNT |
Feb 25, 2005 | BECAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE SAID… |
Jun 3, 2003 | SO CLOSE! |
Feb 14, 2005 | MORE COMMENTS SOON |
Oct 17, 2003 | BUZZ COMIX |
I didn’t really have time to prepare this morning’s blog. The detail work on today’s strip took me longer than I anticipiated. After a week of doing the comic in Frank Miller’s Sin City style, it took a little for me to get back into the swing of things!
Anyway, in the meantime, if you’d like to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix, I would greatly appreciate it. Last month we maintained a strong showing around the number two position. Let’s see if we can repeat that!
Your reward for voting is a fun little sketch that further explains Mitch’s side of the story from today’s comic. I’ll have all the details a little later…
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Nov 1, 2003 | VOTING INCENTIVE UNVEILED |
Dec 4, 2003 | I HATE TO TROUBLE YOU |
Dec 1, 2004 | THE VOTING THING… |
May 9, 2005 | VOTE FOR IT |
May 15, 2003 | BROKEN |
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that I dropped the Frank Miller-inspired high contrast look of Sin City in a return to form for today’s comic. What can I say? You can only ride the wave for so long.
I’m a little bit O.C.D., so I had reservations about switching styles back to normal in the middle of the week. But honestly, there was nowhere else to go with it. All I really wanted to do was push the arc to the point where I could cast Jimmy as That Yellow Bastard. And now I’ve done it! It’s time to move on.
Besides, you can only go so long paying homage to another artist’s style before people say “Okay. That’s enough.”
The events in today’s comic are 50% true. Mitch ∗did∗ actually fall asleep near the end of Sin City and sheepishly admitted so. We didn’t strand him in the theater parking lot because…
* THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST WAS LOST WHEN THEATER HOPPER MOVED TO WORDPRESS IN JANUARY 2009 *
I think the sleepiness was less an indicator of the quality of the movie, and more an indicator of the joys of happy hour at the hotel.
True story.
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Oct 15, 2003 | LEMME GET SOME SLEEP FIRST |
Apr 11, 2005 | BIG OL’ AUCTION GOIN’ ON! |
Apr 6, 2005 | FORGOT ABOUT THOSE FREE DRINK TICKETS |
Jared makes a good point. I totally forgot about those “wine-shooters” we were doing before we got something to eat and then see the movie.
Guess you boys can’t hold your liquor like “Mr. Bloated Kidney”.
That’s me, by the way.
I remembered some of the other things I wanted to talk about.
Seeing comic book movies at comic book conventions is starting to become a kind of mini-tradition among our ilk. You guys might remember this comic I did regarding Aliens Vs. Predator when Zach and I went to see it during Wizard World Chicago.
I guess the next big comic book movie to hit the screen will be Fantastic Four. It comes out a month before Wizard World Chicago this year (August 5-7), but since I plan on avoiding the movie like scurvy when it’s unleashed upon an unsuspecting public, maybe the radioactive half-life on the film will have expired and we can snap it up in a dollar theater when we all assemble again.
Another couple notes of interest: Yes, Zach ∗did∗ in fact wear that very same Homestar Runner shirt. And yes, Mitch ∗did∗ in fact wear a very similar Jawbreaker shirt.
I’m nothing if not a stickler for the details!
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Feb 15, 2005 | ART AUCTION |
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I’m letting you know right now that this isn’t the blog for today’s comic. I have some specific thoughts about the Americanization of Nick Hornby’s novels and will be back later to extrapolate those thoughts.
In the meantime, if you find a certain glee within the premise of physical violence befalling the criminally OVERrated Jimmy Fallon, then vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix and be treated to a small slice of celebrity abuse.
I’ll be back soon.
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Feb 14, 2005 | MORE COMMENTS SOON |
May 31, 2004 | TOP LIST RESET |
Sep 2, 2003 | SITE BUSINESS |
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PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT ORIGINAL THEATER HOPPER ARTWORK BEING ACUTIONED OFF AT EBAY! YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED! AUCTION ENDS NEXT MONDAY, APRIL 18TH. SCROLL DOWN TO LEARN MORE!!!
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Feb 18, 2008 | ANNOUNCING A PARTNERSHIP WITH FIRSTSHOWING.NET |
Jun 1, 2005 | SHIRTS ARE A’COMIN’! |