Guten Tag.21

Hello hello. I've got two new strips this time, since I was lazy and didn't get the last one up in an appropriate amount of time. 

Lately I've been coming up on a day or two before my strip is due, not having a clue what I'm going to draw, and I'll sit there for hours hoping some sweet idea pops in my head. It's not particularly a good way to do things, but I think the nature of my strip allows it to work, since these strips really don't follow a strict chronological order. Anyway...

For all of you who are interested in comics, but shy away from them due to the overabundance of nerd that's inextricably associated with them, let me suggest a book that will restore your faith in this medium:

It's called Flight, an anthology of various stories from several very talented independent comics creators who are still up and coming. The stories range from personal recollections to inventive fiction, and each author has their own unique style of writing and art. This is the fifth volume in the series, and like the ones before, it's a 

great value for the amount of story presented (around 380 pages!).  My favorite stories were "Igloo Head and Tree Head in Disguise" by Scott Cambell, "The Dragon" by Reagan Lodge, and "Seasons: Frank and Frank" by Chris Appelhans. I'd suggest checking it out at Barnes and Noble or Borders first, if you're not familiar with the series, but it's definitely worth it. You can also get it on Amazon.com. These guys are doing a great job in comics.  

Alright, until next week or the week after that, have a great week.

-ryan

Guten Tag.20

Holy delayed update, Batman!

 

So like a select few hundred thousand nerdly Americans young and old across the country, I attended a midnight screening of The Dark Knight last night. By the time I got to the theater from work, it was already packed and people were throwing beach balls around in restless anticipation for the movie to start. Yes, there were a lot of Batmen in the crowd, but I saw more Jokers, and from my seat all the way at the top I could even spot a 60s era Robin down on the floor...who turned out to be my friend. But it was all good, since this movie was and is worth it. Go see it. 

It is the best Batman movie in existence. It has the best plot, the best characters, the best action, everything works. Heath Ledger owned Joker, and I would say almost stole the movie from Christian Bale. I used to love the animated 90s Batman tv series, and this movie evokes the grittiness and dark chemistry between Batman and Joker better than any other Batman movie. I knew I was going to love their characters, but Harvey Dent was the icing on the cake for me. Finally a realistic, fully realized Two Fa..I mean, Harvey Dent. He belongs in this movie, and it only works because of him. 

The only sad thing about this movie, is that I don't know what to be excited for in the next one. With the last movie, we were waiting on Joker, but now it could be anyone, and that's a little scary. I don't want to see the third movie suffer to a lame, minor villain that, sadly, the Batman universe is full of. Who would they reinvent? Riddler? Mr. Freeze? Poison Ivy? Penguin? I don't see how they'll fit into this franchise. I just think that they've already picked the best villains (Ra'as al Ghul, Joker), and they're going to have to write one heck of a story for the third movie. 

Alright. Nerd ramble completed. Go back to your lives.

p.s. I still need to see Hellboy 2. argh.

Guten Tag.19

Peep the strategy. Of my new strip:

This comes in relation to a recent purchase I made. I finally broke down and bought my first Apple computer. Yeah I know, I might as well be attempting to make fire with a bunch of sticks and rocks, since I'm living so far in the past, but I decided it was a good time to get a decent computer if I'm going to go ahead and do graphic design for the next couple of years.  I went with the Macbook Pro for a couple of reasons. One of which being the wider display that's better suited for design programs such as Photoshop and Ilustrator. One of the things that gets a little on my nerves when using Photoshop is having to move the toolbars around so they're not constantly in the way of my 'canvas', and hopefully this will free up that kind of space. The other reason was the faster processing speed and higher memory that will be needed to run those programs simultaneously without lagging like heck. Finally, the Pro has these cool stereo speakers on the sides of the keyboard that are louder and, I think, fuller than the ones on the Macbooks. Anyway, I'm liking it so far. Plus, I got the free iPod deal for being a student. I was going to go with the nano, but I got the 8 gig Touch cause it's like having an iPhone without the phone, and having to pay for it every month. 

Alright, enough jibber jabber about Apple. Hellboy 2 comes out tomorrow, and I want to see it so bad. I will burn in nerdly passion until I see it. Here's a movie poster I want, because the creator of Hellboy drew it, except it's going for upwards of hundreds of dollars on ebay.

Alright, I'm out. Gotta earn them dollars at Wally World.

Have a good rest of the week, sorry for the belated update.

-rh