After several weeks, Tom, Cami and Jared have finally escaped the burning theater. It looks kind of bad, doesn't it? That's a lot of fire.
One thing that I enjoyed most about this part of the store is that Jared and Tom are walking around in a building ENGULFED by fire, wearing cardboard boxes and being completely casual about it.
The truth of the matter was, having the costumes catch on fire during those strips seemed like an unnecessary pit stop. I thought it would be funnier if I used it to punctuate their escape.
Tom has a pretty poor record record when it comes to maintaining these cardboard costumes of him. So far he's threefor three. You think he'd pick a better construction material.
Things are starting to wind down now. We'll deal with the ramifications of the theater fire in the next few strips. After that, who knows?
Sorry for these persistent delays. I keep trying to add more to the comics and they're taking longer and longer for me to do. As I noted on Twitter earlier in the week, if this comic was in black and white, you would have had it on Monday! Funny, right?
As it is, I stayed up until 2:00 am last night putting the finishing touches on this strip. The shading, the lighting, the effects. I had to figure out what the outside of the theater looked like for a background shot that will never be used again.
I'm posting this week's Theater Hopper extraordinarily late on a Tuesday evening. I actually finished the comic late Monday night, but didn't have a blog ready. I presumed it would have gone live this morning, but I woke up with what could only be described as "crippling nausea." I don't know what it was, but it was enough to put me down for the count on Tuesday. I spent most of the day slipping in an out of consciousness.
I'm much better now, thank you - although still a little foggy. A 24-hour bug, I presume. I'm looking forward to getting up on Wednesday morning and kicking ass again.
I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it's debilitating to me. I think because I don't get sick very often, I assume I can't get sick. That's kind of a ridiculous way to operate.
Certainly since having kids, I've been sick more frequently. Nothing serious. The odd cold here, a sniffle there. Pearl has been wrestling with an ear infection, which is where I'm sure I picked up my bug. Fun times!
Anyway, let's talk about the comic! Sexy, no? The first time Cami appeared as the Black Widow in this comic from 2010, I proved very popular. So, like the hustler I am, I decided to up the ante a little bit. Yeah, maybe it's a little salacious. But I'm putting a ribbon on this in August. What do I care, right?
Actually, considering how well the splash page of Cardboard Iron Man turned out last week, I thought it was only fair to give Cami as Black Widow something with a similar impact. I'm really happy with how the artwork turned out! It might be fun to make mini-posters of these, or something. We'll see!
This will be my last convention appearance promoting Theater Hopper. It is strangely appropriate because Springcon was the first comic book convention I ever went to back in 2003. I split a table with Mitch Clem from Nothing Nice to Say, Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey and Carrington Vanston from the erstwhile Movie Punks. At that first show, I established friendships that still stand to this day. Who would have guessed (for at least three of us) that webcomics would still be a thing we do to kill time.
I have it on good authority that Zach Miller will be in attendance this year and that newly-minted Minnesotan Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex will be there as well. I'm thrilled that I get to see them again on my last lap around the convention circuit (even IF I just saw Gordon a few months ago in Seattle).
I was actually very much surprised to learn that Mitch Clem will be there as well! For those of you who follow him, you know he's living in Texas these days. But as it worked out, he'll be in Minneapolis this weekend and splitting a table with Zach!
I don't much by in to kismet, but you have to admit there's something kind of cool about that. I probably haven't seen Mitch in 5 years. It's oddly fitting that I get to see him one last time at the convention I kicked things off at.
Anyway, that's what my weekend looks like. If you're in the neighborhood, please come by and say "Hi." I'm selling books and drawing sketches. Mostly I'm just going to soak in what a crazy trip the last 10 years has been...
I will say this... if you're thinking about buying any Theater Hopper merchandise before it's all said and done, I'd get on it sooner than later. I've already sold out of Large, X-Large and 2X-Large sizes of the popular Spoiler I t-shirt. It's only a matter of time before the rest of it goes as well!
Remember, buy ANY TWO shirts OR books and get the third one free. It's a pretty sweet deal, folks. I'd hate for you to miss out on it.
Oh, one last thing, I added a bunch of photos of the sketches I did at Emerald City Comicon a few months ago to this gallery on the Theater Hopper Facebook page. Check them out. I'll be adding more sketches from C2E2 soon!
That's all for now! If you could use the little links below to help share the comic (y'know, on account of the lateness) I would appreciate it. Just tell your friends that boobs are involved. I'm sure they'll want to check it out.
Theater Hopper fans are awesome. Similarly, they do awesome things.
Case in point, this real-life Cardboard Iron Man costume submitted by reader David Welsh:
David said he built his costume for Halloween last year. It makes me think I should try building my own Cardboard Iron Man costume to embarrass my kids with this year...
I'm always amazed at the positive reaction Cardboard Iron Man generates, but I shy away from taken any credit for it. To me, making an Iron Man costume out of cardboard boxes seems as natural as laying a slice of bread with jelly on it atop a slice of bread with peanut butter on it.
But you guys like it and I like drawing it, so we're gonna ride this one into the ground together!
Incidentally, I sat down to watch Iron Man 2 while producing this comic and realized that I had plotted something that was in the trailer, but not the final movie.
In the trailer for the film, Tony and Pepper have an exchange where Tony says he's going on a dangerous mission and might not make it back. Pepper kisses the Iron Man helmet and tosses it out of the back of a cargo plane. Tony dives after and and says "You complete me!" before dropping out of view, scooping up the helmet and rocketing onto the stage of the Stark Expo. Watch it.
That scene's not in the movie. Instead, Stark, in the full suit simply jumps out of the back of the plane.
That's fine. It was just kind of a forehead-slapping moment for me.
Anyway, sorry the comic is a little bit late. As things are winding down, I'm finding myself more and more enticed by doing larger and larger comics. Six panels here, eight panels there. It kind of adds up in unexpected ways.
I'm planning on living inside this arc for a little while. Tom's attendance at The Avengers will likely live on the site for the next two months or so. Looks like that won't be a problem considering the movie did over $207 million in box office over the weekend.
Much like everyone else, Cami and I went to see The Avengers last Friday night. I hadn't been to a big, popular movie on opening night in a while and immediately wanted to kill all of the teenagers in attendance.
Okay, that's a generalization. But I definitely wanted to kill the kids sitting behind me. They took up the whole role, shifted around in their seats constantly and Would. Not. Shut. Up.
Waiting for the movie to start, I can hear one of them sitting directly behind me whine "Why did we have to sit behind tall people?!"
Expecting there would probably be a problem later on, I turned around and said, "Hey, I can hear you."
Sure enough, there was a problem later on.
Look, I don't have a problem if your loud and rowdy waiting for the movie to start. It's annoying, but you're excited. I get it. I don't even really have a problem if you're talking through the trailers. Nine times out of ten I've already seen them online anyway. But once the opening credits start and you're still squawking? Then I have a problem.
I think I've addressed this on the site before, but I have a three-phase approach to dealing with obnoxious movie goers.
STEP 1: Calmly look over my shoulder, try to catch the offender's eye to let them know that there are other people present that they are disturbing.
If that doesn't work, I move on to...
STEP 2: Turn around completely in my seat and stare at the offender until we lock eyes and they know that I am certifiably crazy.
And if that doesn't get the point across, I jump right to...
STEP 3: Turn around in my seat and tell them at normal conversational volume "SHUT. UP."
With these goons, I had to employ my three phase technique in the first 15 minutes of the movie. It worked. The girl that wouldn't stop talking pretty much immediately shot straight up in her seat.
What's always funny about this is that the people who are talking almost NEVER notice that I'm staring at them until it's too late. It's always their friends that notice me first. In this case, this girl's friends were trying to interrupt her and make her aware that there was a man with blood-red eyes staring holes into the back of their head. But as it goes, these people are typically too self-involved to listen to anything but their own yapping maw.
Incidentally, Cami hates when I do this. She hates confrontation. She saw that I was getting annoyed with these teens before the movie even started and suggested we move elsewhere. I might have entertained the idea if the teens were there first and we sat in front of them. But it was exactly the opposite. We were there first and - as juvenile as it sounds - they invaded our space. I'm not one to retreat in those situations.
Civility in theaters blows and it's getting worse. I'm not the first one to comment on this. But it sure as hell doesn't get any better if you quietly slink away from these loudmouths. I pretty much view that as an endorsement of their behavior. Nuh-uh.
Incidentally, there was a family sitting next to us that brought what looked to be a 3 year-old with them. I don't really have a problem with parents bringing young kids to PG-13 movies. It's not what I would do, but I'm not in a position to say that's not what other parents should do.
But what was interesting was that it was the Dad who was kind of out of control. Very loud commentary throughout. Wasn't annoying, exactly. Just kind of... interesting.
I'll give you a for instance. There's a scene in the movie where Captain America (played by Chris Evans) chases after Thor, who has just abducted Loki. The Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson) tells Captain America not to go after them - they're basically gods. Cap responds with the line "Ma'am, there's only ONE God and he doesn't dress like that!"
It's a funny line, ruined somewhat for me when the guy sitting next to me responded "THAT'S RIGHT!"
Nevermind you're talking at the screen for a minute. Why are you treating it like someone in the movie suggested there WASN'T one God? It made me wonder if - the whole time - he was mad at the idea that Thor and Loki were in the movie. I immediately pegged him as a Glenn Beck fan, or something - looking for an excuse to be offended.
I dunno. People are funny.
You might have noticed that I have spent very little time actually reviewingThe Avengers in this space. That's intentional. I don't really want to review it. All I can say is, if you haven't seen it yet, you need to get on it quick.
I actually have to applaud the internet for not dumping a bunch of spoilers leading up to the film. Considering that Europe got The Avengers a full week ahead of the United States, you'd think web sites would be littered with information. But that wasn't the case. People kept a lid on things - which I think reflects and endorsement toward the quality of the film.
People don't really have a problem spoiling a movie that sucks. Who cares, right? But if the quality is there, people generally want you to have the same experience they had so you can form a little bond around it. That's exactly what's happening with The Avengers.
I can say that The Avengers was everything I wanted it to be. They did a hell of a job juggling the story lines of each of the main characters and it felt very balanced to me. While Robert Downey Jr. tends to get the best lines, The Avengers is not Iron Man 2.5 - it could have very easily been that. It would have made sense to put the other characters in orbit around him. But they didn't play it that way and the movie is better for it.
Something else I'll say about the movie is that I loved the fights. I won't spoil anything except to say that the film does a great job of mixing different characters together in a myriad of different combinations. Some fights you expect to see, others you don't. But all of them are satisfying.
Last thing I'll say, there's a scene in the film where the characters are kind being torn apart at the seams - a lot of interpersonal conflict. There are so many barbs and insults flying back and forth across the room. Everyone gets dealt on by one character or another. Watching made me think that I never want to get into an argument with Joss Whedon, ever. He's kind of a master at a withering put-down.
So that's it. Go see The Avengers and expect more adventures with Cardboard Iron Man in the coming weeks!
Like this comic? Share it with your friends using the buttons below! Facebooks, Twitters, Google-y Pluses! Whatevers!
I really don't have anything to say about this week's comic except that I decided to take the themes explored in last week's comic and ran with them.
I guess as I thought more and more about a horror movie with social media elements, I figured that there had to be some kind of boogeyman to really stoke audience's fears. Y'know, like Jason Vorhees or Freddy Krueger. Facebook's Privacy Policy seemed as logical a choice as any to depict the embodiment of walking evil. So, there you go.
Oh, and also, please use the ShareThis plugin below to spread the comic around to all your friends - preferably the Facebook share button.
Y'see... that's what evil DOES. It creeps into your heart and becomes commonplace. You come to depend on it for strength. Before you realize it, the evil has consumed you... FROM WITHIN!!!
Is "a fistful of power rings" a new sexual euphemism? Let's see if we can make that happen.
Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I always found the original Green Lantern comic design to be one of the sexiest in comics. Yeah, I know Hal Jordan is a dude, but I always appreciated the costume's sleek, retro-future design. It's truly one of the few costumes in comics that doesn't need improvement. Even Jim Lee managed to leave it relatively unchanged in his horrible Nehru collar-inspired reboot of DC comic's entire line of characters.
Of course, the producers of the Green Lantern movie managed to muck that up by making Hal Jordan look like a emerald-hued Slim Goodbody.
But the fan reaction has been interesting. People seem to be defending the movie as mindless fun. I take that to mean that the eye-candy was satisfactory even if the story fell flat on it's face.
If you had asked me a few months ago to speculate on Green Lantern's odds of success at the box office, I probably would have sided with the critics. Despite Ryan Reynold's inherent likability, all of the new movie clips and preview material they were showing made Green Lantern look like amateur hour. Everything from the costume design, to the lumpy CG character work to the inclusion of Sinestro, Hector Hammond AND Parallax as villains did not inspire confidence.
But a strange thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. The success of X-Men: First Class effectively eliminated my doomsday predictions for Green Lantern. I don't know why. Beyond their superhero subject matter, the films couldn't be more different from each other.
I guess it's because I was convinced that X-Men: First Class was going to be a complete bomb. To me it appeared as tone-deaf to the comics as Green Lantern appears to be. The fact that X-Men: First Class was actually good forced me to put my assumptions on hold and adopt a wait-and-see attitude toward Green Lantern.
So, despite the bad reviews, I'm still willing to invest the time to see Green Lantern. I'm willing to open up my heart a little bit and take my chances.
Because here's the thing: I LOVE Green Lantern. For me, he's the DC equivalent to Iron Man and I've been a fan of the character and the mythology for a long, long time. In fact, the GL books are the only DC books I read right now. So you know I'm serious about it.
It's easy to love Superman or Spider-Man... Captain America or Batman. That's like saying "I love America" or "I love vacation days." It's kind of a given.
It takes a little bit of fortitude to say "I love Green Lantern" or "I love Iron Man." Because, for a long time, these guys were second-stringers and their comics were not very good.
I hate to be all "I loved these characters before they were cool." That's not how I feel. I'm thrilled these characters are getting their due in popular culture. I'm just trying to explain how long I have been invested in them.
So, yeah. I want to give Green Lantern and - more surprisingly - Cami wants to come with me.
Well, maybe not surprisingly. She's a huge Ryan Reynolds fan. How big? Her favorite Ryan Reynolds movie is Just Friends. Okay, admittedly, it's a pretty funny movie. But, yeah... watching Reynolds run around in a painted on costume for two hours? I'm sure it doesn't hurt.
Did any of you check out Green Lantern this weekend? What did you take away from it? Is the costume everything it's trumped up to be? Leave your comments below!
Warner Bros. released three new stills of Ryan Reynolds dressed up in costume for the forthcoming Green Lantern movie. As I'm sure you're all aware, he's not wearing an actual costume, but a CGI suit that is being painted over his body by very lonely computer nerds in post.
Here's my take... I've always felt that this movie version of the Green Lantern costume was needlessly ornamental and vaguely Tron-like. But I've gotten used to it. Now that I'm looking at this complete head to toe shot, I'm really creeped out by what looks like shrink-wrapped socks on Reynolds' feet. Seriously, animators. I don't need to know what the indentation of Reynolds' toenail bed looks like. But, my! Those foot tendons are FABULOUS!
I swear, with this movie, it's one step forward and two steps back.
Do you have an opinion about Green Lantern? I bet you do! You should leave your comments below!
I know I'm a little bit behind the curve on this, but let's talk about it anyway.
On Monday, Sony released a brand new, official promo image of Andrew Garfield in costume as Spider-Man in director Mark Webb's reboot of the franchise.
The film's official title was also announced - The Amazing Spider-Man.
There have been plenty of photos of Garfield in costume from outdoor sequences the crew has been shooting around Los Angeles. I will state for the record that I haven't been impressed by those shots. But I reserved judgment until we saw something official from Sony.
Now that we have something concrete, I can say... ehhh... I don't hate it.
Sony originally released a photo of Garfield sans-mask looking pummeled and forlorn a few months ago. Aside from the aesthetic changes they made to the costume, that shot didn't mean much to me. Without the mask, the jury was still out.
Now that I've seen the mask, I'd say they did a pretty good job. It still has the Oakley lenses similar to the costume in Sam Raimi's version, but the webs on the mask are thinner and horizontal across the forehead and scalp. To my eye, it looks more like the old Steve Ditko version of the costume (comic book nerds will know what I'm talking about) and I think that's a good thing.
Even though I think there's too much blue in the costume - and unnecessarily textured - the colors are bright and poppy. That, in combination with the decision to title the film The Amazing Spider-Man leads me to believe that the film will have a lighter, bouncier feel than the angst-ridden Raimi films.
Don't get me wrong. Peter Parker's life sucks. That's what makes the character relatable. But when he puts on the mask, he's free - almost jubilant. That's something that Raimi's films never fully captured. I have my fingers crossed that Webb's Spider-Man will be much wittier and quicker on the take.
This reboot will live and die by the tone it establishes. If it's not different enough from the originals, the 5 year span between the last movie and this relaunch will make the film feel perfunctory. Here's hoping they pull it off.
Hey, everyone. Apologies for the delay on Monday's comic. I had it finished and uploaded, but the blog wasn't posting with it and I couldn't get things sorted out until late Monday night. I would have gotten to it earlier, but I had a bunch of house stuff to take care of first.
It's been a little more than a month since we moved into the new house, but it seems like we're constantly addressing issues inside the house. Nothing serious. But a lot of little things that cumulatively make us feel like it's not OUR house yet. So after we get the kids to bed, we work and toil and try to erase any trace of the former owners. We're installing light fixtures, door handles, painting rooms... everything.
But like I told Cami earlier tonight, "Every time we replace a light bulb or cook a meal in this place, the more it becomes ours." So, there's that.
Of course, on top of things, I'm wrapping up my Master's degree. I also had to do a little work this evening on an outline I'm putting together for a group project due in a couple of weeks. I have class this weekend and then finals on November 19 and 20 and then I'm done - DONE, I tell you! No more night classes. Free time unencumbered by thoughts of marketing initiatives and ethical practice. It will be a glorious day, I tell you.
Don't tell Cami, but with my Master's out of the way, I'm toying with the idea of bringing Theater Hopper back maybe twice a week at the start of the year. Don't hold me to that. Obviously I need to figure out a schedule that allows me to do that. But I kind of figured since it will be Winter and we'll be in the house much more, maybe that'll be a good time to explore my options.
I have to tell you, I haven't enjoyed updating the comic once a week. I'm the kind of guy that usually does better with a little momentum behind him. I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that sometimes Theater Hopper feels like a neglected chore.
I don't WANT it to feel that way, though! I like Theater Hopper. I want to continue doing Theater Hopper. After 8 years in the game, I'd really like to make it to our 10 year anniversary - even if that means hanging on by my fingernails for the last 6 months.
Anyway, this took kind of a weird turn into personal confession territory. But sometimes I like to paint a picture for you guys with where I'm at in my life and I feel like I haven't been communicating that very well lately. I want to re-establish myself. Not just for your benefit, but for my own. Like I said, once I have that momentum, it's easier for me to stay focused and get other things related to the comic accomplished. Until then, it's kind of a waiting game.
Lets talk about Saw 3D for a second, shall we? It's the 7th movie in the franchise, right? I can't even keep track anymore. They say it's the last one. I'm very "meh" about it. I mean, I guess it's good that they've tried to weave a narrative through the movies, but at this point, is anyone invested except the die-hards? I hope the ending was satisfying for them because the Saw franchise pretty much painted itself into a corner in terms of attracting new fans.
Who among you watched Saw 3D? Was it what you expected? Were you satisfied? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
If you didn't watch Saw 3D, tell us about your Halloween weekend? Go to any cool parties? Have any good stories? What was your costume? Share with us in the comments below!
If you want to know what I did this Halloween weekend, I walked Henry and the neighborhood and took him trick-or-treating. He wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. I decided to coordinate with him. It went over pretty well.
So, here it is. This is the artwork I was threatening to do a week ago. A nice little cast portrait to commemorate my Iron Man 2 storyline. Apologies for the lack of color, but I think it looks better in black and white.
Yeah, I know it kind of ended with a thud. But I'm really proud of about 95% of it and thought it was worth celebrating. Goodness knows I burned up a lot of midnight oil putting it together for you guys.
As a special treat, I filmed myself drawing the artwork last night and sped it up for you in this delightful little YouTube video:
If you find that exciting, then I have even BETTER news for you!
I have decided to auction off the original inked illustration you see in the video on eBay. You can find it here. It's on a 9 x 12" sheet of Bristol board with a 1" border (so you can frame it if you want to!) I will make sure to mail it flat.
Bidding starts now and the auction will remain open for the next 5 days. I don't sell original artwork all that often, so if you're looking for a one-of-a-kind piece from yours truly, now is the time to snap it up!
I went to this extra effort with the video and the auction because I'm afraid I have some bad news and I wanted to let you guys down gently. There isn't a good way to say it other than to just come right out and say it...
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, I WILL BE SCALING BACK PRODUCTION OF THEATER HOPPER TO ONE DAY A WEEK.
This decision was a hard one for me but, ultimately, necessary. With the end of the Iron Man 2 story line, now seemed like the best time to make a change.
The primary motivation behind this cutback is actually very positive. A year after having been laid off, I have finally found full-time employment again! I start work in June and am very much looking forward to the opportunity.
But, as such, I recognize that I cannot continue to dedicate myself to Theater Hopper on a thrice-weekly schedule. The late nights spent staying up past midnight working on the comic have caught up with me. I don't bounce back like I used to when I was 24 years-old and just starting the comic. Add to the mix two children with irregular sleeping schedules and, well, the end result is that I'm not 100% like I should be.
There's been a lot that I've sacrificed for Theater Hopper. Primarily sleep. But my health, my attitude and my availability to my family have all suffered as a consequence. I don't blame anyone by myself for these choices. But, at some point, one has to recognize when enough is enough. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to be effective in all the areas I need to be effective in.
Part of me wondered if it was better to end the comic completely. But I didn't want to do a disservice to you, the fans, for supporting me. Nor did I want to perform a disservice to myself and the investment that I've made over the last 8 years.
Eventually, Theater Hopper will have to end - as all things do. But when it does, I want to make sure it goes out on a high note with a story that satisfies the long-term readers and appreciates them for their kindness and encouragement.
Until then, it will be business as usual content-wise. I'll continue to make fun of the latest releases, just not as often. I'll probably be playing around with the format a little until I strike the right balance. But from now on, you can expect a new comic here every Monday morning.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them either here in the comments section or in the THorum. If you're not comfortable with that, e-mails are okay, too.
This is a large adjustment for me, as I'm sure it will be for you. I will miss updating the comic three times a week. But, in the end, I know that this is the decision that will benefit me and my family most. At this point, it's all about realigning my priorities. I will always enjoy producing the comic and interacting with the fans. But my family, my livelihood and my personal health must come first.
As the excellent, supportive and understanding audience you have always been, I know you will appreciate my reasons.
Again, I thank you. You have been much more kind to me than I deserve.
