Hey! Three comics in one week! It’s been a while since something like that happened! Maybe there was something good to come out of my computer problems after all!
About that – my computer problems – I’m still having them. In fact, be sure to hit the little “BACK” link and check out the comic I posted Thursday and read the blog post that describes them. Originally it was my plan to post a special Fourth of July comic using my day off to accomplish the task, but I posted it late because of… well, computer problems.
Today’s comic was based around my reaction to the redesigned robots of Transfomers when my opinion of them was less favorable. I’ve since eased back from my position, mostly because I’ve bought into the hype. But you can’t deny that when those first images of the movie version of Megatron started showing up on the internet, people had a hard time making heads or tails of it.
I’m not of the opinion that Megatron needs to retain the aluminum mullet look from the original cartoon show. There have been probably a half-dozen iterations of the Transformers franchise in cartoon shows over the years and Megatron has been everything from a tank to a Tyrannasaurus Rex. Altering the look of the Transformers to suit their environment isn’t the problem. In fact, that’s the whole point – they’re robots in disguise!
But take a look at this guy and tell me he doesn’t look like his designer had a conniption fit while illustrating him. Shards of twisted metal? What the hell is he?
As I said before, I’ve softened on my opinion of the designs. This is mostly due to the overwhelming positive response given to my by friends who have already seen the movie. They’re convinced that Transformers does something no Hollywood picture has done in a while – and that’s show us something new that astonishes us. I’m down for that and I’m really looking forward to seeing the movie tonight. I’ve even got Cami talked into going! She wants to see what all the noise is about.
As much as I’m psyched for Transformers, I’m afraid I’m falling behind on other movies I want to see equally as bad. A small indie theater in town just picked up the Irish musical Once, which I’ve been dying to see since I saw a trailer for it on IFC a month ago. Of course, there is still Sicko and Ratatouille to contend with. And these are all movies Cami wants to see, too. So it’s not like I can sneak out of the house under the guise of not wanting to waste her time.
I feel like I’m reaching for the low-hanging fruit by going to see Transformers first for the simple fact that it’s the movie that everyone is talking about. It’s like there’s this weird peer pressure to see it. If not peer pressure, at least some kind of need to prove we’re still tied to pop culture in some way. I feel guilty that we’re giving it priority when a movie like Once probably won’t be around for another two weeks.
But what can I say except “the squeaky wheel gets the grease?” Or, I suppose in this case, the movie with the most explosions and makes the most noise gets the grease?
At any rate, that’s pretty much all I’ve got. I should be back on Monday with a review of Transformers. See you then!
Watching the live-action adaptation of Transformers, one sits and wonders if Michael Bay will deliver on the franchise’s famous promise of being “more than meets the eye.” In many ways, the film delivers. But in others, it feels like it’s all been done before.
Even though it feels like you’re a third of the way through the movie before you get a chance to get a good look at one of them, the three-story robotic monstrosities known as the Transformers are a marvel of visual effects work. Hats off to Industrial Light and Magic for their innovations in kinematics that allow for the explosive unfolding and reassembling of complicated machinery into the heroes and villians we’ve grown up with.
No detail is spared in the transformations. Several close-up shots demonstrate the complex but true-to-form physics of displaced joints and appendages. You literally see the gears turning. And, of course, they sell it by adding the infamous “chh-chh-chh-chh!” noise that countless little boys made themselves when playing with the toys growing up. Good call.
Bonus points as well go to giving the role of Optimus Prime to Peter Cullen (who originated the character in the cartoons). Hearing his rich baritone deliver Optimus Prime’s lines just feels right – like an old pair of slippers (even if Cullen had to audition twice (!!!) to get the role).
As a side-note, there was some fan outrage when the role of Megatron was turned over to Hugo Weaving, but it’s a non-issue. Weaving does some interesting things with the tight-lipped Aussie snarl he perfected as Agent Smith in The Matrix Trilogy. You won’t even recognize him until he’s on screen for a good 10 or 15 minutes. No disrespect to Earl Hammond (who originated the role of Megatron in the cartoons), but his addition probably would have put the film over the top in terms of cartoonishness.
Not that Bay doesn’t do a good job of that on his own. Carrying his signature style (sweaty and grimy heroes walking in slow-motion against back-lit scenery) the action sequences deliver full-throttle excitement. There is always something awe inspiring to look at. If you would have flipped on the lights during the Optimus Prime/Bonecrusher fight over the Los Angeles freeway, I’m sure you would have seen a sea of slack-jawed amazement. Sometimes it’s almost impossible to soak it all in as Bay brings the battle in close for a robot-on-robot death match. Speed, fluidity, and explosive force are all hallmarks of his trade and there isn’t a movie better than Transformers for Bay to use his entire bag of tricks.
However, for everything that the movie does right, there are areas that come up short. Specifically, the screenplay. Five writers had their hands in this thing and it shows. Anytime a character speaks, they really shouldn’t because most of what they say are melodramatic cliches.
As far as the performances are concerned, Shia LaBeouf as the lead knows his role is to act as our witness – to allow the story of the Transformers be told through his eyes. At times his delivery comes off like a spastic Vaudeville routine. A lot of fast talking and stumbling over his words. But he holds his own.
Megan Fox as his romantic interest offers little than a sweaty midriff to look at. She looks half-asleep through most of the movie. Her background as the daughter of a grease monkey felon is inconsequential and only inserted to mask the fact that she’s only along for the ride as arm candy.
Josh Duhamel is serviceable as an Army Ranger who’s squad first encounters the Transformers in the desert of Quatar (ooo, topical!), but he’s no Timothy Olyphant. Tyrese Gibson as his war-buddy is pretty much there to taunt the evil Transformers after calling in an air strike with the summer’s newest non-catchphrase “Bring the rain!”
There’s a curious amount of military involvement in the film, which felt odd at first for a science-fiction movie about giant robots. But considering this is an alien invasion of sorts, the response is appropriate. Maybe it just feels odd since the original cartoons never really addressed the human response to Transformers being on Earth. They carried out their war in our backyards pretty much undisturbed. But if you’re applying real-world logic to the film, the government would be on this pretty quick.
Seeing all of the tanks, jets and helicopters made available to Bay by The Department of Defense, it’s easy to see why Bay has a strong following among the NASCAR set. He makes the soldiers out to be more quick-witted, heroic and ass-kicking than Rambo. I’m not saying we couldn’t use a little positive representation of our men in uniform, but I was surprised at the level of American gung-ho spirit in a movie whose source material comes from Japanese robots.
That said, there’s almost too much military action. There’s so much at the beginning, we’re not introduced to Shia’s character until almost 40 minutes in. By the third act of the movie when John Tuturro and his secret government agency that smells like a Men In Black rip-off shows up, the film veers dangerously close to plagiarizing Independence Day when it’s revealed how much the government knew and when they knew it.
If I could express any other complaint about the movie, it would have to be the amount of product placement that Bay can’t seem to divorce himself from in his films. From eBay to Burger King to each of the good-guy Transformers depicted as GMC vehicles, the stamp of marketing executives are all over this film. At one point, there is a convoy of all the vehicles that looks like a commercial I’d see while watching The Office. Lens flares, close-ups of the GMC logo, swooping overhead shots from a helicopter. I leaned over to Cami and whispered “The all-new 2008 Bumblebee with 0% financing and factory rebate!” Hell, even a Nokia phone and a Mountain Dew vending machine transform into robots! Of course, the movie itself is a gigantic commercial to sell toys. It pretty much tells you as much in the opening credits when it reads “In partnership with Hasbro.”
Ultimately, Transformers is a big, dumb Hollywood action movie that brings the fireworks for the Fourth of July holiday. It doesn’t disservice the characters I grew up with and loved as a child, but it really doesn’t bring anything new to them other than the amazing photo-realistic transformations in the effects work. If you like Bay’s other action movies, you’ll love this one. If you’re not already a fan, there’s nothing here that will convert you. Take Transformers with a grain of salt and you’ll have a rollicking good time at the movies.
Comic Tom’s reaction to the current Transformers movie is a little more judgemental than the movie review I posted Monday. So I don’t want there to be any confusion about which opinion is more accurate. Today’s comic was pretty much an excuse to share a story from my real life.
Back in the day, when the original animated Transformers movie was in theaters, I begged and pleaded my Dad to take me. Just as I said in the comic, my Dad tried to use peer pressure to talk me out of it. Honest to goodness, he dismissively said “Transformers are SO over” – as if liking them made me uncool.
This has always stuck with me because I think it was the first time I can recall my Dad editorializing my interests. There would be many more dumb fads I would follow in the coming years (dying your hair green, anyone?) but this was the first my Dad really seemed to have an opinion on.
I was ten years-old at the time, so it might have been his attempt to steer me away from childish pursuits. Or maybe he was just tired of buying the damn toys. More than likely he didn’t want to sit through an animated movie about shape-changing robots.
A few years ago I picked up Transformers: The Movie on DVD. Watching it, I think my Dad was onto something. That movie is an incomprehensible mess. Even MORE SO than the live-action version! I know there were all kinds of problems during production and that’s why it’s edited together kind of weird. But the casting alone should have been a heads-up. Judd Nelson, Eric Idle, Leonard Nemoy and Orson Welles? WTF?
Watching the movie as an adult, I can appreciate what makes the movie terrible. Because I love the characters so much, I’m willing to kick my feet back and ignore some of the worse aspects. But I think, had I cajoled my Dad into taking me to that movie when it was in theaters we probably wouldn’t be speaking to each other ever again.
I didn’t mention it on Monday, but you guys should check out Monday’s broadcast of The Triple Feature talkcast. You can download it from TalkShoe. In it, Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex and I talk about our reactions to Transformers before spending the latter half of the episode talking about the two-year anniversary of Multiplex – which happens to be today!
So download the show and then swing by Multiplex to extend your words of encouragement to Gordon.
That’s pretty much all I have for today. My sister-in-law went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and The Order of the Pheonix. I’m interested to hear what she things. The movie has been getting some middle of the road reviews. But I’ve also heard it’s a lot darker than the previous movies, which is exactly what I think the franchise needs at this point.
Be sure to come back Friday for a comic all about Harry Potter! See you then!
Watching the Transformers two-disc special edition on DVD feels like an unfairly muted experience. A spectacle of this proportion is better served on the big screen. I reviewed the film during it’s theatrical release and found most of the problems I experienced in that initial viewing remained intact. The plot is spread too thin over too many characters. There are logic and pacing problems and there is still too much signature “Michael Bay-ness” in the film to endear itself to me.
One thing I became more forgiving of was the designs of the robots. Engulfing your entire field of vision on the big screen, the bodies of twisting, twitching metal were tough to identify. Confined to your TV, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots become more manageable and recognizable.
As the movie progresses to it’s big downtown battle sequence, I found myself even more impressed with the complexity of their design and the fluidity of their movements. Once you get past the knee-jerk “But Ironhide doesn’t look like that!” reaction from your childhood, these modern updates makes more and more sense.
That aside, the two-disc edition includes an excellent set of extras on the second disc. Two hour-long documentaries broken into different chapters detail brilliantly the filming of the movie from concept to completion.
ILM comes off looking the best explaining the Transformers look and feel – how they developed the complex programming that gave every last nut and bolt a place to fold and lock into shape between vehicle and robot transformation. The detailing given to each character down to every last nick and scratch is the hallmark of this film.
The writers of the film – Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman – do a good job of explaining why some robots made it into the film and others didn’t. They also made a good case for fan favorite transforming into an “alien jet” and not a more terrestrial vehicle – more glaringly, why he doesn’t transform into his signature form, a Walther P-38 handgun.
“We decided there would be no mass-displacement in the movie. Megatron can turn into a gun in the cartoon and you don’t think twice. But we found in the movie that Megatron turning into a gun was the equivalent of Darth Vader turning into his lightsaber and having someone else swing him around.”
Although they make no explanation about the mass-displacement of the condensed Allspark, they make a good point about Megatron.
Between the writers and the animators, there is clear affinity for the characters and an understanding of their histories. But not everyone comes off so well. In their interviews, Michael Bay, Shia LaBeouf executive producer Steven Spielberg and representatives from Hasbro all look like money hungry opportunists trying to revive a 20 year-old franchise. It’s really not worth going into detail, but more often than not, you get the sense that these parties are looking down their nose at the geek culture that spawned this level of success for their film.
Despite the general unpleasantness Bay exhibits on a regular basis (yelling his direction through a megaphone is one of his more “charming” traits) you have to give credit to him as someone who knows how to deliver a visceral thrill and for insisting on doing it with practical effects. Watching the behind-the-scenes on how many of these complicated shots were achieved makes the film a much richer experience and makes the two-disc edition well worth the money.
I was up late Sunday night working on today’s comic and right now I’m at home watching Henry as he’s now going to day care three times a week.
As such, I’m going to need a little bit of sleep before I dive into the blog post that will accompany this strip. I have a couple of important things to talk about and I want to be sure I have my ducks in a row mentally before I proceed.
You can expect an update to the site in the afternoon while Henry is down for his nap and I can dedicate a little concentration to what I need to say.
In the meantime, please enjoy this interview of Shia LaBeouf from last Friday’s Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Apparently, Shia was being paid each time he used the word “outrageous” because I counted 6 times his vocabulary made employ of the word.
Then again, I probably shouldn’t be surprised considering how fond he is of repeating certain words.
Enjoy. It’s outrageous!
I feel kind of weird because I feel like there isn’t much for me to blog about in relation to this storyline. I always get this way. There’s nothing here to explain except for what’s in the comic. I can’t go into much more detail without exposing plot points later on.
I suppose I can address one question a reader left in the comment field regarding Wednesday’s comic. I was asked how Shia LaBeouf could have confused Tom for Jared after the hand-smashing episode if Tom was never at the scene. It’s a fair question. At the risk of being completely opaque, I will say that Shia’s confusion will be explained soon. Don’t worry. This little mini-arc will be done soon.
I already have a joke in mind about The Ugly Truth, which is coming out today. It’s been really funny to watch Cami and her reaction to this film. She hates the commercials for this thing – says it looks awful. Part of me think she’s reacting to the obvious and hackneyed plot any movie-goer could decipher in 5 seconds. I think the other half of her scorn is just watching Katherine Heigl on screen.
If you follow celebrity gossip at all, Heigl has burned a lot of bridges with her diva-like behavior. Pretty much a classic example of a star thinking they have some kind of pull when they’re not famous enough to get away with it.
My parents have offered to watch Henry Saturday evening, so I think Cami and I are going to try and catch something, at least. I have my eye on Moon, the sci-fi movie with Sam Rockwell. Cami thinks it looks scary, so we’ll probably end up seeing Food, Inc. instead.
I’ve been hearing some pretty interesting things about Food, Inc. Basically, that after watching it, you’ll never buy anything that isn’t locally produced again.
Considering my terrible eating habits, Food, Inc. could end up being twice as scary as Moon could ever be!
That’s about it for me right now. I know everyone is at San Diego Comic Con right now, but my mind is on Chicago Comic Con coming up in two weeks. I’m putting together 1″ pins for giveaway and a press kit I can hand out to people who stop by the booth. It’s good to have a goal.
Speaking of goals, before I leave, I want to point out the t-shirt pre-order goal I have at the top of the page. We’re half-way to the 50 orders I need by the end of the month. If you’re at all thinking about buying a shirt or a book, please do so now! If you want to float a donation my way, every little bit helps! I could really use your support before going to Chicago Comic Con!
Thanks again, guys! Have a great weekend and I’ll see you here on Monday!
GUEST STRIP – MICHAEL MAY
December 21st, 2009 | by Tom- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip










(16 votes, average: 8.81 out of 10)
Today’s guest strip comes from Michael May who does a great comic called Eros, Inc. It’s about a Jewish girl who is hired as a Cupid for her neighborhood. Wacky hi-jinks ensue. Mike’s comic updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and it would behoove you to check it out.
I’m lovin’ Mike’s comic for several reasons – mostly the little details. The transition from the second to third panels had me laughing out loud. The caption under the photo in the fourth panel made me smile as well.
But, man… That second panel. Shades of my Ren and Stimpy youth, I tells ya!
Thanks again, Mike, for the excellent guest strip! Check out Eros, Inc., everyone!
I ended up seeing Avatar yesterday with Cami after my parents offered to watch the kids for the afternoon. I feel like I’m still sorting through it. I guess the movie must have done something right if it’s managed to stick with me overnight. Some movies you forget about on your walk back to the parking lot!
After watching the movie, I asked Cami what she thought about it and her first reaction was that it was too long. At nearly 3 hours running time, I’m inclined to agree. But in the same breath, I was never bored watching the film. Yes, the plot has been done before. Yes, the dialogue isn’t ground-breaking. But the visuals… hoo boy, the visuals. Maybe I was just too distracted to care about the negatives?
One thing I’ll say for sure, Stephen Lang brings the thunder as Colonel Miles Quaritch. Between this movie and Public Enemies, he’s having a great year.
The rest of the performances aren’t much to write home about. I’m still not convinced by anything Sam Worthington brings to the table. He seems like a one-note kind of guy to me. A meathead with a knack for playing in front of a green screen.
I think Giovanni Ribisi’s character from Avatar and Paul Reiser’s character from Aliens should get together and have a beer. They’re both a pair of corporate stooges.
Lastly, can we all agree that Michelle Rodriguez will be typecast as the tough chick for the rest of her life?
This is not in-depth criticism, I recognize. Like I said, I’m still working through it.
I guess I would say that Avatar – despite it’s length – does a good job of moving the action along. We find out in very short order what Worthington’s character is doing in the far reaches of space. We understand very quickly how the Avatar technology works without Cameron reducing it to techno-magic that “just is” because the plot demands it. Similarly, none of the characters act as if this technology is anything new. So the movie spends very little time trying to convince the audience “This is new! This is different! This is amazing!” through the eyes of the characters.
I think Cameron has also done a very good job of creating a dense and fully visualized world in Pandora. One where the environmental threats that can kill you in minutes feel tangible.
On the one hand, Pandora is clearly beautiful, luminescent and lush. But on the other hand, when Worthington’s character becomes lost in the jungle not knowing anything about the environment, you feel tension because you don’t know what is safe to touch or what unexpected fresh death might be around the next corner.
Cami and I saw the film in 3D and I don’t know if that added to the experience or not. We both left the theater with headaches. My feeling was negative to the point where I was telling myself “Well, that was fun, but I don’t think I need to see it again.” Now that I’ve had the opportunity to have the film swim around in my head for a few hours, I’ve changed my position and probably would like to see Avatar again in the future. But in 2D next time.
Bottom line, I guess you could say that I got what I expected from Avatar. The technology on display is awesome, but the plot… while not lacking in emotional authenticity… just didn’t connect with me for some reason. It’s not a bad movie. Maybe just not the best movie for me.
I read a review last week where the reviewer expressed admiration for the film, but felt like it was built more for a 15 year-old’s mentality. It wasn’t a criticism. In fact, he said he wished he could be 15 again so he could approach the film with that same kind of wonder and enthusiasm.
I guess I feel the same way.
Switching gears, I wanted to bring your attention back to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. There was a bunch of activity last week. We are 74% funded with $900 left to go! I feel really good about the momentum we’ve built up for this, so let’s keep the ball rolling! I’m convinced once we reach 75% funded, that’ll be the tipping point and the rest of the pledges will follow!
There are only 10 days left in the campaign, though. And if you’re celebrating with family this week, then we need to treat it like we have maybe a week left to make goal!
If you need a little extra incentive to pledge, today is my birthday. I 32 years-old. A pledge to the Kickstarter campaign would be a great, last minute gift! Even a dollar! Hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?!
Thanks again to everyone who has pledged their support so far. I appreciate it!
In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Eros, Inc. And if you had a chance to see Avatar this weekend, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
TMZ posted footage of actor Shia LaBeouf getting knocked to the ground by some hairy, shirtless dude outside of a bar in Vancouver. Although, truthfully, most of the video is of LaBeouf getting talked down by his bros before he decides to engage in any more fisticuffs.

Shia’s looks pretty drunk in the video. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone who has had a few too many try to clumsily extract themselves from the grasp of a friend who is trying to keep them from getting their head caved in. If that’s the case, it makes it a little difficult to cheer for the comeuppance I feel he’s due for. Make it a fair fight, at least.
That said, the wave of schadenfreude that took over Twitter when the news broke pretty much reflects what I believe is the general consensus – “People don’t like Shia LaBeouf.”
This coupled with the news that LaBeouf won’t be back for the next two Transformers sequels they’re filming back-to-back (Jason Statham is rumored to be the replacement), it’s been a pretty interesting week in Shia-related news.
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Jan 10, 2011 | TRAILER – THE MECHANIC |
As you may have noticed, I’ve advanced the timeline of the story by four months. If you remember, it was January when this whole thing started. People were wearing coats! Time to bring everything up to speed.
What happened in those missing 4 months? Not much. Jimmy and Charlie went on a few dates. Tom and Cami caught up on Mad Men using Netflix streaming. I think Truman found a bone, or something? Trust me, you didn’t miss much.
I knew I had to advance the timeline to accommodate the inevitable comics I’ll be doing about The Avengers. But there was an ancillary experience I had at C2E2 in Chicago a couple of weeks ago that inspired today’s comic and, well… here’s the story.
So, after driving all morning, I pulled into the McCormick Center pretty much right as the doors were opening to the public at 1:00 PM. That made load-in a little stressful, but I got set up fairly quickly.
After getting settled, meeting a few fans and drawing a few sketches, word started getting back to me that no other than Shia LaBeouf was at the convention!
This isn’t a huge deal. Celebrities come to conventions all the time. He was probably speaking on a panel or something, right?
WRONG. He’s was in Artist Alley. Apparently he was there to promote a comic that he had worked on.
Everyone I talked to about Shia’s appearance that afternoon had the same initial reaction that I did. “Bullsh*t!” So I scoured Twitter for confirmation and specifics.
It didn’t take long before people confirmed that Shia was in attendance. Several people had tweeted photos they had taken with him. An opportunity had presented itself. I had to go meet him. But where WAS he?
Eventually I learned that he was in Artist Alley, table O22.
For some perspective, I was at table O2.
You know that scene from When A Stranger Calls when the police office tells the babysitter “The calls are coming from inside the house!” Yeah. It felt like that.
So I knew it was now or never. I had to get a picture with the guy. Readers of this comic know my feelings about Shia LaBeouf, if I punk out now, I’d never live it down. So I start walking down the aisle.
As I approach the end of the aisle, I see a huge line near the tables. I immediately assume it was for Shia, but quickly realize that George Pérez was at the table right next to him doing commissioned sketches and the line was for him.
And if you don’t know who George Pérez is, then I strongly recommend you read more comics.
Anyway, no one was in line to see Shia, so I walked right up to him to say hello.
“Hi, there,” I said. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I was wondering if I could get a quick picture with you?”
LaBeouf was more than gracious. “Sure!” he said. As I leaned back over the table to get in the shot with him, he put out his hand and said “Bring it in here,” to go for the bro shake. And that’s why I look a little more awkward than usual in this photo…
I know it’s a little blurry and I know that Shia’s face is obscured a little bit by his hat a little bit, but that’s him.
It was over pretty quickly. I thanked him for his time, shook his hand and told him to have a good show. In retrospect, I probably should have bought one of his books, but I seriously didn’t have a game plan before walking up to the guy. I knew if I thought about it for too long, I’d lose my nerve. So I swooped in there to get my photo trophy and swooped out.
Back at my table, panic started to settle in a little bit because I realized that my banner was promoting some mild anti-Shia sentiment on it…
I wouldn’t have thought twice about it except that he was in the SAME ROW that I was. What if he walked by it and saw it? What if he approached me about it and commented on it. He’s punched people for less, you know!
I tweeted my concerns about the banner and several of my follower suggested that I take it down to him and have him sign it.
While I can’t deny that would have been unbelievably cool, I couldn’t envision a scenario where I could approach the guy and NOT come off like a complete jerk.
“Excuse me, Mr. LaBeouf? Yeah, I just got my picture taken with you – No, I didn’t buy one of your comics – and I’m exhibiting just up the aisle from you a little way. I was wondering if you would sign my banner? Y’see, my comic is about movies and I regularly make comics about how much I think you suck. Oh! You drew a penis on my main character’s forehead! Ha, ha, ha! Delightful! Thank you very much for your time, Mr. LaBeouf.”
So, no. I didn’t get Shia LaBeouf to sign my banner. I thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie.
For the rest of the weekend, people kept talking to me about Shia LaBeouf. Often I would take out my phone and show them the picture I took with him. Incidentally, I heard from someone who was standing in line to speak with him a story about another con-goer that asked him to draw a sketch of Megan Fox naked. LaBeouf gave him a dirty look and slapped together a quick stick figure before telling him to take off. I actually thought that was kind of cool.
I guess he was only there on Friday and didn’t come back Saturday or Sunday. But, honestly, could you expect him to?
So… what do we do with this experience?
I’ve taken lots of shots at LaBeouf over the years. Mostly it was for fun. After I decided Jared didn’t hate Ben Affleck anymore, the comic needed a new straw man and LaBeouf was an easy target.
Did I ever truly hate LaBeouf? No, I can’t say that I ever gave him that much thought. But a lot of other people really seemed to hate him and I felt like I kind of taped into that. But – and here’s what everyone gets wrong – it’s not how I really felt about the guy. I took my moderate dislike of him as an actor and amplified it for the sake of the comic. After that, it became it’s own thing. Was it exploitative? Sure. Do I regret it? Well, yeah. I do.
It’s easy to forget that these actors are people. We build them up and we tear them down. We do it because it’s fun. I’m guilty of it and I’ve also been victim to it. It’s just how things are.
But I have to give LaBeouf credit for showing up to promote his comic on Artist Alley the way he did. He didn’t use his celebrity to pull strings or get preferential treatment. He met with fans, put in the time and promoted his book just like anyone else. I can’t fault him for that.
Are his comics any good? Critical consensus says “No.” But I don’t think that accounts for much. Have you ever been to an Artist Alley at a large comic book convention? It’s just like anything else. You’ll see some amazing stuff and you’ll see some real crap. Shia’s comics maybe aren’t my cuppa tea, but I’ve seen worse. MUCH worse. And those guys NEVER get reviewed. So let’s keep it in perspective.
As for Theater Hopper… well you saw how that played out in the comic.
Everything about this last arc is about evolving the characters – even if it’s only by a fraction – so that when it’s all said and done, you know that everyone is “okay.”
It didn’t seem fair to me to advance Charlie and Jimmy’s relationship or put Tom and Cami on the path to parenthood without giving Jared the opportunity to grow a little as well.
Even if “Movie Jumpers” looks totally lame.
Anyway, that’s where we are today and that’s my Shia LaBeouf story. I seriously can’t believe I’m leaving comics behind. Because I sure as hell wouldn’t have a story like that to tell without ’em.
Keep checking the site. I’ve got Avengers comics comic up soon…
…and the return of CARDBOARD IRON MAN.