Archive for March, 2012
5 items.
John Carter comes out next week and I’ve had a hard time giving a hoot. I’ve been reading good things, I’ve heard positive reviews from people who have seen advanced screenings. But I’m not feeling the love and tweeted as much a few days ago…
That’s pretty snarky. And, frankly, kind of mean. But every time I see a commercial on television promoting John Carter, I’m having a hard time finding a reason to care. Watch this TV spot and tell me the movie doesn’t look like a Prince of Persia rehash with about 70% more jumping…
A few days after my original tweet, director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles) tweeted the following:
For some reason (I don’t know why) I felt compelled to respond:
Things were well and good until Brad Bird responded… and retweeted me.
What happened next was a crazy twit-storm of retweets and replies from people I’ve never heard from and it provided me with an interesting window into the fan reaction to John Carter.
(Incidentally, the story was picked up by IndieWire and I was name-checked, so that was kind of cool.)
There are a lot of people who are really excited about this movie. I think that’s great. I’m glad they’re excited. But there seem to be just as many people out there like me who are confused about what John Carter actually is and and struggling for a reason to care.
Perhaps Disney is seeking to prevent confusion. Writer/Director Andrew Stanton’s resume is alarmingly good. But pretty much everything he’s done is for Pixar. Maybe Disney didn’t want people thinking it was a Pixar movie?
Maybe they thought John Carter as a property was attractive enough on it’s own? Lately I’ve been seeing ads propping the character as “Before Star Wars… Before Avatar… THERE WAS JOHN CARTER.” They then go on to explain that Carter was the character that inspired those franchises.
I guess I kind of have to take your word for it. But that still doesn’t mean you’ve given me a reason to care.
Arguably, you could say the same thing about The Avengers – a movie I’m positively gaga for. If you don’t read comics, you probably don’t have a reason to care, either. I guess it’s all subjective.
I don’t want to be put into the position of arguing that the studios should have to spoon-feed everything to us about their upcoming films. But first impressions count for a lot. So if I’m not seeing anything in the promotion of a film that indicates to me that it might align with my tastes, I’m not going to do any additional leg work to confirm if that’s true or not.
Now, if someone had told me before hand that Andrew Stanton was directing, I might have sat up and took notice. But I still feel like Disney dropped the ball on this one. To a certain degree, the die has already been cast.
Does that mean I won’t see John Carter next weekend? Maybe, maybe not. Disney still has a week left to convince me. And who knows? Maybe some positive reviews will come out between now and then that tips me toward seeing it.
Then again, if Brad Bird telling you the film is awesome doesn’t convince me, I guess I don’t know what would. Call me crazy, but he probably knows what he’s talking about. ;D
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In nearly every appearance he’s made, Victor has been depicted as a scowling monolith – a permanent frown on his face.
For this story arc, I thought it was important to see him smile – if for no other reason than for being recognized as another human being. I decided to make Victor smiling my Top Web Comics incentive sketch as well. If you’d like to see it, click on the graphic to the left and vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics.
Something I was concerned about writing this strip is that people would think I was depicting Tom as the hero for being accepting of Victor. The somewhat purposeful stride in the last panel might lead people to that conclusion, but that’s not my intent.
Victor just took a REALLY BIG RISK by kissing Tom on the mouth. Knowing that Victor is a prideful person who maybe just overplayed his hand, Tom’s trying to be delicate about the situation.
I don’t want to examine it too much because the point was that there’s now an unspoken understanding between these two – and life goes on.
In fact, I think that’s a good place to stop for now. The comic is shifting it’s focus to Jimmy and Charlie next week. But don’t worry. This isn’t the last we’ll see of Victor.
Have a great week, everyone!
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I was getting kind of tired of drawing profiles of characters for the Top Web Comics incentive image, so I did something a little different today. Jimmy’s trials at the movie theater kind of reminded me of Atlas, so I went that direction with the incentive sketch. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics if you want to see it.
I realized while plotting this week’s comic that it didn’t contain a joke. It sent me into a miniature panic. I’m not exactly known for writing drama and – to me – writing a comic without a joke feels… unfinished.
Ultimately I determined that cramming in the joke for the sake of one really didn’t benefit things. So maybe today’s comic isn’t funny, but it moves the ball up the field.
Incidentally, is everyone able to follow along with the changes in scenery? I’ve been doing a lot of jumping around from location to location – sometimes flipping back and forth between different sets of characters. I know you guys are smart and are probably following along just fine. I’m just self-conscious about it.
Like I said, I don’t write drama. Most of my comics are fairly self-contained. I really haven’t had to think of my story telling in terms of “What’s happening over here while these characters over here are talking about something else?” It’s kind of weird.
Something interesting that’s been happening in the last few weeks is that people have complimented me for allowing the characters to “grow up” a little bit. I can say with all honestly that it has not been intentional. But, with what I know about where I want the characters to end up when I end the comic in August, I would have to admit the transition has been almost subliminal.
Since announcing the comic’s end, I’ve made clear my intentions to let readers know that the characters will be “okay.” Perhaps some of this maturation is the unintended byproduct of that?
Sometimes I feel like it’s best to get out of my own way and kind of let the characters write themselves. I know that sounds pretentious. But in this case, I feel like its an honest assessment of how things are playing out.
On that note…
I NEED YOUR HELP
I’ve been presented the opportunity to attend and exhibit at Emerald City Comiccon in Seattle this March 31 – April 1 and I would really, really, REALLY like to go.
However, this was not a convention I had originally planned on attending. That there is now an opportunity is a complete fluke. As such, I don’t really have the money to secure a plane ticket, a hotel room, cab fare and the rest.
This isn’t really your problem. If I don’t have the money, I shouldn’t go, right? Buuuuuuut… if you have it in your heart to make a purchase from the Theater Hopper store or perhaps donate to my “Farewell Tour,” it would be really, really, REALLY helpful right now. That’s all I’m saying.
If you can help, great. If you can’t help, well, that’s how the cookie crumbles. Even if I don’t end up going to ECCC this year, I will be going to C2E2 in Chicago two weeks later. So, there’s that!
That’s all I have for right now. Thanks for checking out the comic and I’ll see you next week!
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I didn’t put together an incentive sketch for Top Web Comics today because I kind of ran out of time. Also, beyond generating sketches that I might or might not sell at a future date, I don’t know if it’s doing any real good in terms of A.) Generating votes or B.) Generating traffic.
I don’t know what it is about me that I insist on tinkering with how the comic is promoted when the finish line is only a few months away. I guess I can’t leave well enough alone.
That said, if you still want to vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics, you can do that.
I had the idea for today’s comic kind of before I decided if it was a good idea or not. I had this romantic idea in mind – that Jimmy would be willing to work at the movie theater because it made it easier to remember Charlie being there – but couldn’t decide if I was hitting the same beat as last week’s comic.
Either way, I think I’m going to have to squeeze in some jokes into next week’s comic. If nothing else, I certainly need to get Charlie’s side of the equation in there.
Part of me feels like I’m running out the clock a little bit in anticipation of May. Because I think by the time The Avengers hits, I might be in the mood for a reprieve from the dramatic stuff. I think you know what that means.
CONVENTION SCHEDULE
I wanted to take a quick moment and share my convention schedule for the next couple of months. It’s pretty aggressive and no one is more surprised than me by how active I’m going to be in the next few weeks.
- Emerald City Comic Con – Seattle, WA – March 30 through April 1
- I’ll be hanging out at booth #307 with Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex and Angela Melick from Wasted Talent.
- C2E2 – Chicago, IL – April 13, 14, 15
- I don’t know what table I’ll be at other than in the webcomics section of Artist Alley. Come find me!
- MCBA Springcon – Minneapolis, MN – May 19 & 20
- This is a smaller show, so I should be pretty easy to find. But they’ve got great selection. If you live in the Minneapolis area, come out and see me!
It’s weird. A month ago, I wasn’t planning on going to any of these shows. Then I did an interview with Kurt Sasso over at TGT Media and we talked about C2E2. I went to the show its inaugural year and said I wasn’t interested in going back due to the expense. Kurt ended up giving me a few tips and talked me into going. I even managed to find a cheap hotel downtown, too!
Shortly after that, Gordon sent me an e-mail about ECCC. One of the people he and Angela were sharing a booth with had to back out and he asked me if I was interested in filling the spot.
I went to ECCC in 2009 and it was one of the most exhilarating/stressful trips of my life. I had never flown to a convention before. I had no idea how to get my merchandise there. I was kind of on the outs with a few people in the webcomic community at the time. I had no idea how it was going to go over.
That said, it was a profoundly positive experience. ECCC is so well run and the people of Seattle are so welcoming toward webcomics, I look back on it fondly. I ended up socializing with other webcomic creators I had never met before and got to speak on a panel with Jeph Jacques, Danielle Corsetto and Robert Khoo. It was crazy validating and I’ve been struggling to go back every year. I’ve always kicked myself for not going in the years since.
So here’s Gordon with this opportunity and I’m struggling to find a way to make it work. I’m cashing in hotel rewards points, I’m looking at Priceline for cheap flights ever 15 miuntes, I’m hemming, I’m hawing. Finally I decided to pull the trigger and leave it all on the table – damn the expense. If I’m ending Theater Hopper this year, I’m going out with a bang.
And then there’s the Minneapolis Springcon. This was the first comic book convention I ever went to back in 2004. It seemed fitting that I hadn’t been there since 2007. It seemed appropriate that I should try to go back.
So here we are. Three conventions in two months. Cami isn’t exactly thrilled about it, but she understands. So if you’re going to be at any one of those three shows, help me make it worth my while, yeah? After all, there’s no telling the next time we’ll get to see each other again…
That’s it for now. Have a great week, everyone!
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Before we get too far into the blog for this week’s comic, it might be worthwhile for some of you to revisit the flashback arc that established Jimmy and Charlie’s relationship. Also, their untimely split. Check out where things all started to go wrong for them by clicking here.
I know that this week’s comic is egregiously late. That’s due to a confluence of personal obstacles and me also preparing for THIS:
If you are in the Seattle area, please do not forget that I will be exhibiting at Emerald City Comicon this weekend, Friday, March 31 through Sunday April 1. I’ll be hanging out at booth #307 with Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex and Angela Melick from Wasted Talent.
I’m both nervous and excited to go to this show. Excited because I know from first-hand experience how awesome the audience is that comes to this show and how appreciative they are of webcomics. Nervous because figuring out how to ship my merchandise and my own stinking carcass to Seattle has been a logistical nightmare. I’ve basically been second-guessing myself for three weeks.
Now if I can only figure out how to get the weight of my checked bag under 50 pounds…
Something else I’ll mention: If you’re thinking about buying anything from the store in the near future – ESPECIALLY T-SHIRTS – I want to encourage you to place your orders now.
Part of the reason behind my aggressive convention schedule this year is that I want to sell as much of my Theater Hopper merchandise as possible. I was going through my inventory as I packed for Emerald City and I’m starting to notice a dwindling supply of some shirts in popular sizes.
Since I’m going to Emerald City this weekend, C2E2 in Chicago two weeks after that and Minneapolis SpringCon a month after that, it’s very possible that I will not have the style of shirt you want in the size you want when it’s all over.
I DO NOT INTEND TO REORDER SHIRTS. ONCE THEY’RE GONE, THEY’RE GONE.
I am currently offering a “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” offer on all shirts and books. Previously, it was buy two shirts or buy two books. But yesterday I COMBINED the offer so you can mix and match items. Buy ANY two books or shirts and get the third item for FREE. I can’t make it any better than that!
So, like I said, if you think you want some Theater Hopper merchandise, I would strongly encourage you to make a purchase soon so I don’t sell what you hoped to buy at a convention somewhere.
That’s all I have for now. Next week’s comic will probably be a little late as well due to Emerald City, but hopefully it won’t be as late as this one was.
Thanks for your patience. SEATTLE, HERE I COME!
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