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Archive for November 16th, 2009

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Nov16

A VALID FORM OF I.D.

November 16th, 2009 | by Tom
  • Comics
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A VALID FORM OF I.D.

First, I have to give a shout out to Jackson Ferrell over at This Week in Webcomics who gave me an idea too good to pass up for today’s comic.

Last night, over Twitter, I talked about how I needed to brainstorm ideas for Monday’s comic and was not really interested in doing a comic about New Moon (although I knew I kind of had to). Jackson suggested doing a comic specifically about my disinterest in the film and our conversation evolved into what you see today.

Twitter is great for batting around jokes or story ideas, especially when you’re stuck. In the past, I would have been very uptight about integrating anyone else’s ideas into the comic. But a good idea is a good idea and I’m not going to turn it down because I didn’t come up with it whole cloth.

If anything, my exchange with Jackson actually gave me a jumping off point to do a whole week of comics around New Moon. All it took was a little push in the right direction. So, thanks, Jackson!

So, as you know, New Moon comes out on Friday and I am as non-plussed about it as I was when Twilight came out a year ago. I’m just not in the target demo (as today’s comic plainly illustrates.)

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, I had an epiphany about Twilight that I shared last year. My attitude is basically “good for them.” Girls SHOULD have a franchise like this that they can geek out over. I mean, Harry Potter was close to becoming that franchise. But it was really more for kids and had a wider appeal. Twilight is a film franchise that (to my knowledge) is pretty much exclusive to teenage girls.

I mean, I know older women who like the books and movies, too. But that’s a case of arrested development no dissimilar from my own fascination with all things Star Wars or Iron Man.

That’s why I’m happy something like Twilight exists for the ladies — because it makes me look less weird.

Ever since the dot com boom, people have said that the geeks have taken over. But let’s face it, we’re all geeks. Every jock that has the ritual of going to a sports bar each weekend to keep track of his favorite team and favorite players, knows all the clubhouse drama and can rattle down the stats of any team from any era? Total geek. Mr. Money Guy who is on top of the stock market, monitoring the ups and downs of business? Total geek. Top Chef watchin’ foodie that has 5 or 6 restaurants they have to go to before they die and can name 10 celebrity chefs? Total geek.

THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS! This is what living in a technological society has afforded us – free time to care about these trivial things. Only in the past was it consider odd to devote any attention to these peripheral interests because it mean you didn’t conform to societies expectations of school, marriage, work, breed, eat, sleep, die. People used to pursue their interests at the exclusion of acceptance in society.

Maybe we’re all becoming cut off from each other. Maybe we’re all standing in the center of our own little pockets of “ME.” But I don’t think so. If you love sports or money or food or robots or vampires, why SHOULDN’T you be allowed to pursue your interests and be excited about them? We should all be so lucky, right?

So, girls, go crazy for Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. You deserve it!

What about the rest of you? At what level is your interest / anticipation for New Moon? Is anyone here planning on camping out to get tickets? What about midnight showings? Share your New Moon love in the comments below!

I’m just gonna be over hear reading production reports from Iron Man 2 in the meantime…

└ Tags: disinterest, driver license, gender, New Moon, teenage girl
[ 25 Comments ]

TWO PODCASTS TO CHECK OUT

November 16th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

First, I just wanted to remind everyone to check out The Triple Feature tonight at 9:00 PM CST. Not sure what we’re going to talk about, although I know that Joe tweeted about seeing The Fantastic Mr. Fox over the weekend and I’m very eager to hear what he has to say about it.

Cami and I had a date night on Saturday and we saw Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol, so I plan to spend a little time talking about that. For the Cliff’s Notes version of my review, I can say that the motion capture animation that Zemeckis is advocating continues to advance, but I don’t much see the point of it.

I mean, it’s impressive that they can use the technology to allow Jim Carrey to play 8 different roles (like some kind of digital Eddie Murphy), but the film boats an amazing cast. Between Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Cary Elwes and Robin Write Penn I couldn’t help but think that I wanted to see the live-action version of this movie more.

I think this problem is compounded by the fact that the animators stay a little too close to the likeness of the flesh-and-blood actors and don’t push them far enough into caricature. Obviously Scrooge is an exaggeration of a contorted human face and the fact that you can still see Carrey’s mannerisms through the “digital makeup” is kind of revolutionary.

But it seems like they didn’t even bother to try and hide Oldman as Cratchit, Firth as Scrooge’s nephew Fred or Hoskins as Mr. Fezziwig. Granted, Oldman’s Cratchit is about two feet shorter than the actor in real life. But the faces are almost exactly the same. What’s the point?

At least in Beowulf, Zemeckis went to the effort of bulking up and tanning the other wise chubby and pasty Ray Winstone.

Anyway, check out The Triple Feature tonight at 9:00 PM CST for more of that.

CHANGING GEARS QUICKLY!

I wanted to point your attention to an interview I did with Andrew McDonald over at New-Gen that was posted over there this morning. It’s an audio recording and it’s a little over a half hour long, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out. If you have the time to listen to it, I think there are some particular insights that you will enjoy.

Andrew asked some very intelligent questions and I thought the conversation flowed naturally. We got beyond the boiler plate about Theater Hopper and my history with the comic and wandered into some really interesting territory regarding digital media, distribution models and webcomics in general. I strongly encourage you to check it out. It will be well worth your time.

Cheers!

└ Tags: interview, New-Gen, podcast, The Triple Feature
[ No Comments ]

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KICKSTARTER UPDATE

November 16th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Now it’s time for the obligatory update on the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three.

I gotta say, when I posted on Friday about meeting the goal of $1,000, you guys responded with gusto! We’re now at $1,090 pledged with 32 backers and 31% of the project funded!

You guys kind of pulled the same trick the Friday before last when you pledged almost $350 over the course of a weekend. Maybe it’s because Friday is payday. But I like to think it’s because you guys are as excited to see this book finished as I am!

I’m starting to think that managing the Kickstarter campaign is all about highlighting smaller milestones among the larger goal. So remember that I am giving away me copy of Monsters, Inc. on DVD along with some original Monsters, Inc. artwork drawn by me after we reach the $1,500 mark.

Only people who pledge before that point are eligible for the random drawing that will award one winner! So the more you pledge means the less competition you have in the drawing! If you’ve already pledged, you can go back and INCREASE the amount of your pledge at any time to help improve your odds!

I will be sure to post an update of the artwork when it’s finished. Until then, keep pledging!

└ Tags: campaign, fund raising, Kickstarter, Theater Hopper: Year Three, update
[ No Comments ]

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MAX VS. MAX

November 16th, 2009 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

I know I’ve been a little blog crazy today, but I have one more post and I promise I’ll let you go back to your daily lives.

I just wanted to take this moment to point you to my friend Wes Molebash’s new comic Max Vs. Max.

If you recognize Wes’s name, it’s because he was the creator of the excellent comic You’ll Have That which he brought to an end earlier this year. It’s a real treat to see Wes throw his hat back into the ring. As a cartoonist, he has a very relaxed and classic style and as a humorist, he is highly adept at plumbing jokes from everyday situations. I consider him to be a very well-rounded talent that I could benefit from being a little more like. From the looks of it, Wes’s time off has really benefited his art and I’m looking forward to checking out more of his work!

Add Max Vs. Max to your bookmarks today!

└ Tags: Max Vs. Max, Wes Molebash, You'll Have That
[ No Comments ]

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