Hey Kneon!

Dreamfinder and Figment

2011-10-10T14:11:00.002-04:00

Me as Dreamfinder at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom on 9/26/11. I couldn't tell you how many times I was stopped for photos. A few people even thought I was park cast member. It just goes to show you how much the character is really missed!

(Big thanks to my wife Kam and my mother in law for the absolutely kick butt job on the costume!)

Art sale! Buy some original ‘Shadowbinders’ pages, Transformers, Disney and more!

2010-12-07T00:33:00.003-05:00

We’ve just put some original ‘Shadowbinders’ pages up for sale on Etsy. The pages are pencil on 11″ x 14″ Strathmore Bristol — 100% hand-drawn.

You can browse what we currently have listed at this link.

We also have some other artwork for sale on eBay this week, including an original page of Transformers art from the Mosaic project (view the published page), some Transformers G1 sketches, and some Disney comics Christmas sketches.

Here are the links:

Happy bidding!

Confused? We're just taking a slight detour...

2010-10-06T11:19:00.000-04:00

If you guys have been following Shadowbinders these past few weeks, you're no doubt confused by the switch from steampunk mayhem to high school hijinks. Never fear! The airships will return.

Soon.

In the meantime, keep reading Shadowbinders!

iPad comics? Or, “Will there ever be an app for that?”

2010-09-21T09:42:00.000-04:00

There’s been a lot of hullabaloo about comic apps on the iPad lately.

With print media rapidly declining in popularity, I can completely understand panicky publishers jumping onto the iPad bandwagon in the hopes of recouping readership. The thing that gets me, though, is that print publishers are still expecting digital readers to adhere to the print business model. That is, they expect to sell a relatively small serving of material for a few dollars a pop. That worked for print, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a smart move for digital comics.

Why? Well, for starters you’re asking people to pay a relatively high press for a smattering of offline material that’s locked to a specific handheld device (namely, the iPad) and one that still hasn’t found widespread adoption at that (yet.)

Alternately, webcomics are accessible to nearly everyone on a wide array of online devices. Sure, you can’t read them offline (unless you save the individual pages for offline use, that is) but in five years time, who’s going to be “offline” anyway?

Dear Comic Book Industry: Think Netflix, not iTunes. (But that’s a whole ‘nother rant for another day.)

So will there ever be a Shadowbinders app? I honestly don’t see the point right now. Even if we were to give it away, it’s nothing that you can’t already get for free on your iPad or iPod right now anyway. Seems kind of redundant to me, but if there’s enough demand, we may consider it.

Anyway, the Shadowbinders pages are sized the way they are so as to be easily viewable on an iPad. They’re a little on the large size compared to many other webcomics, but with ever-increasing screen resolutions, I wanted to make sure we were ready for whatever the future might hold.

(Reposted from the Shadowbinders blog)

Digital Comics vs. Print Comics Part XXXVIIII (or, The Cheese is Moving)

2010-09-10T11:56:00.005-04:00

Wow... the talk of digital vs. print comics (or illegal scans vs. legal, if you must) has BOOMed all over the place since Mark Waid made those comments.

It seems people's opinions fall into two camps: Waid is a digital prophet, or Waid is a nutty, tree-huggin' hippy. The former tend to be the more tech-savvy creators, while the latter are veterans who make their living in print and are completely FREAKING OUT over the digital revolution (as opposed to, say, learning to be open-minded, flexible and willing to change with the times.)

I made a career change from newspaper editor to "web guy" years ago. Even a decade ago, the writing was already on the wall for print. Why should comic books be exempt?

This came up over on the Disney Comics Forum, when someone posted a link to Beru's Disney Comics Fan Page -- a site that hosts hundreds of Barks, Rosa and Gottfredson stories. People freaked out, and the mods even went so far as to replace Beru's name with "XXX" so people wouldn't go Googling the site.

Ironically enough, that site has been on Disney's radar for years, but they haven't chosen to take any legal action... yet. In a more sane world, Disney would offer their own high-quality scans online for a nominal fee, but that doesn't appear to be something they're interested in doing right now.

Print comics people: The cheese is moving. Are you smart enough to find it?

New webcomic! Shadowbinders has airships, mecha and mystery!

2010-08-31T11:31:00.000-04:00

Looks like the cat is out of the bag. We weren't going to officially launch our new webcomic Shadowbinders until next week, but some pages have already been posted as a sneak peak.

Head on over to www.shadowbinders.com and see for yourself!

Kneon on Facebook

2010-08-26T09:48:00.000-04:00

Oh noes! I finally broke down and signed up for Facebook. Check out my page here.

I also set up a page for my upcoming webcomic, Shadowbinders. That page is here.

I hope you like them! (ba-dum-ching!)

Gizmoduck on Vacation

2010-08-24T10:26:00.002-04:00

More Disney comics fan art! Fenton Crackshell takes a well-earned vacation. Digital color over pencils.

Something wicked this way comes...

2010-08-20T00:48:00.001-04:00

My new webcomic Shadowbinders is coming September 9th. Stay tuned!

Shadowbinders: a steampunk fantasy webcomic

2010-08-16T16:33:00.002-04:00

The Mrs. and I are prepping our new webcomic. Look for it in September!
Want to see more Shadowbinders doodles? Check out my deviantArt portfolio here!

2010 Strawberry Shortcake Berrykins

2010-08-12T15:07:00.000-04:00

My wife picked up these new plush Hasbro Berrykins from Wal-Mart today. My daughter is a Strawberry Shortcake fanatic, and I'm sure these (creepy) little guys will wind up in the "babydoll" collection soon enough...

Free iPhone Game of the Day for July 17, 2010: Gravity Sling

2010-07-17T09:12:00.000-04:00

Today's 'Free Game of the Day' is Gravity Sling.

Rated 9/10 on Gamers Daily News - "It’s a cool idea and a cool game ... If you love puzzles and logic problems, you’ll love this game."

Gravity Sling Deluxe features all 109 currently available levels and any future updates with no additional purchase required. Compete against your friends and the rest of the world with full Open Feint support for global leaderboards, and achievements.

Download it here!

Deal on Disney Blu-ray/DVD combo packs!

2010-07-16T14:01:00.000-04:00

Amazon has a great promotion right now on Disney Blu-ray/DVD combo packs.

"Save $10 when you order two qualifying Disney Blu-ray combo packs. Review the titles in "List 1" and "List 2" and then pick two below. You must choose one title from each list. Your $10 discount will be deducted at checkout."

Qualifying titles include upcoming Disney releases such as Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, A Christmas Carol and The Search For Santa Paws.

This is a great way to build up your Disney Blu-ray collection at a fantastic price. Don't miss out! For more details, click here.

Free iPhone Game of the Day for July 16, 2010: iFlea

2010-07-16T08:41:00.001-04:00

Today's 'Free Game of the Day' is iFlea.

"iFlea is a very fun and relaxing game. Its goal is to catch a given number of fleas in a given time. The higher the levels, the harder it is to complete the objective, because our fleas don't really want to be caught. Give it a try, and find out how Your reflexes work. Try to have the highest accuracy, and You won't have any problems!"

Download it here!

iPhone 4? I think Apple's quality control was slipping before that...

2010-07-15T19:17:00.003-04:00

I'm an Apple evangelist no more.

Why?

Yesterday my iMac died.

This makes the second iMac that's died on me in less than one year.

This was my 24" Aluminum iMac. My primary work machine. Before that, my 3-year-old Whitey was taken before its time due to a faulty cooling system. I'm pretty sure the hard drive crapped out on my 24 incher. I'm hoping I can salvage it with a new hard drive I have on order.

Last month I noticed that my new iPod Touch was doing some goofy stuff. The screen flickers and becomes unreadable. A call to Apple's customer service department didn't do much good -- they said try reinstalling the software. And if that didn't work, well, it would likely need to be sent back.

It didn't, so now I have to either bundle it up or live with it. I didn't pay much for it, and I suppose I could just chalk it up to a lesson learned. I'm so furious with Apple right now that I don't even know if I want to bother boxing it up, to be honest.

So that's three... count 'em... THREE faulty Apple products in less than four years. Meanwhile, my trusty G4 tower sits in storage out in the garage and would no doubt boot right up if I plugged her in today.

I've used nothing but Mac as my primary workstation since the mid 1990s. But I think I've purchased my last iMac. The quality's just not there... not like it used to be. Maybe it's because Apple has been preoccupied as of late with selling phones, music players and other gizmos at Wal-Mart that they've forgotten how to make a truly excellent top-of-the line computer for the discerning professional.

Or maybe success has gotten to their heads and they just don't give a rip about quality control anymore. Who knows?

Just five years ago, I was that guy. You know, the one pushing Mac when everyone else was using a PC. I was like iMoses, giving a commandment to the heathens to buy whatever Steve Jobs beamed down from Silicon Heaven.

But I've since lost my religion. As well as time and money.

So as I sit here writing from my wife's $450 Acer laptop, I have to ask myself "Why Mac?"

Honestly, I can't answer that. At first, it was because Mac was the machine for graphic designers. But that was 1996. Times have changed. As far as Adobe products are concerned, Mac and PC are on equal footing now.

The prestige? The prestige of owning a pretty, shiny (and non-upgradable) piece of office jewelry that costs more than twice as much as a down-to-earth computer and has about 5% as much software available for it?

Yes, yes, yes... the viruses!

Well, I've never once lost a PC to a virus. But I've lost two Macs to faulty manufacturing.

So I'm really not surprised by the recent iPhone 4 debacle. From where I'm sitting, Apple's quality has been going downhill for years. I'll likely be buying a new desktop in the next month or so.

Dude, I'm getting a Dell.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to scrape this Apple logo off the window of my Toyota.

(Oh... )

Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern - First Photo!

2010-07-15T11:16:00.001-04:00

I'm not really sure I like this costume. It looks like a green stillsuit from Dune. Anyway, you can judge for yourself...

(via ComicNews.info)

Doctor Who and the Daleks

2010-07-15T09:52:00.002-04:00

Wow, who knew Hulu had this little seen gem? Here's the apocryphal Doctor Who feature film "Dr. Who and the Daleks" for your viewing enjoyment!

Free iPhone Game of the Day for July 15, 2010: Chain Link Pro

2010-07-15T09:34:00.000-04:00

Today's 'Free Game of the Day' is Chain Link Pro.

"With no complex controls to learn or buttons to press, CHAIN LINK PRO only requires one finger to play. Touch and drag an assortment of shapes across the screen to chain them with other similar shapes and send them into the pulsating vortex to score. The longer the chain the more points awarded but long chains risk colliding with foreign shapes which will destroy the chain and potentially end the game. With four degrees of difficulty, players of any age can enjoy this game."

Download it here!

A horse of a different color: Mattel asks fans to vote for "Classic" or "Royal" Swiftwind

2010-07-14T14:20:00.001-04:00

It looks like Mattel will be adding Swift Wind to its Masters of the Universe Classics line, and is asking fans to vote for either the pink "Classic" version or the white "Royal" version of She-Ra's ride at this year's SDCC.

My wife was thrilled, naturally.

Read more about it on He-Man.org.

The Disney Comics Sales Report

2010-07-14T12:35:00.009-04:00

Being a former Disney comics freelancer, I'm still a huge fan of the Duck and Mouse comics. And I'll be the first to admit that while Gemstone's books were critically well-received, they really didn't set the direct market on fire in terms of sales.

As such, I've been keeping a close eye on the sales of the Boom! Studios line, hoping that the more kid-friendly format would nab some more Duck readers. While the books started off strong, the sales quickly settled into the same sort of numbers Gemstone's line had near its end. This seems to point to there being only a set number of regular Disney comics readers to be had in the direct market, despite the change in format and target demographic.

Disappointingly (but not surprisingly, given the numbers) it was recently confirmed by Boom! that the hardcover "Classics" line has been canceled. Wizards of Mickey and Disney's Hero Squad seem to have been dropped after this summer as well, but that could be due to their respective storylines coming to an end and Boom's decision to simply not continue on with a second series.

However, it's not all gloom and doom. Darkwing Duck #1 has sold well, moving 6,300 copies in June (according to ICv2). The book has had some excellent word of mouth, and the series may have some legs because of it.

So it'll be interesting to see where we are a year from now. I'd like to see Disney comics make a real comeback here in the United States, given the insane level of popularity they have overseas. However, I just don't see that happening in the superhero-driven direct market.

(Though, technically, I guess we could say that Marvel books are "Disney comics" and that they're number one here in America, too!)

Below are numbers for the past nine months. If you're more visually inclined, Chris Barat made this graph based on the available data.

__________________________________________________________

Standard Character Disney Comics | Direct Market Numbers
Please keep in mind these ICv2 numbers are an estimate of the number of books sold to comic specialty shops by Diamond distribution, and don't account for sales through any other outlets (including retail stores, Disney theme parks, etc.) or possible reprints that were sold through Haven Distribution. Also, since this board is focused primarily on Ducks and Mice, I've only included the numbers for standard character titles, not the Pixar or Muppets titles.

ICv2 September 2009 actual sales
(source: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16022.html)

Mickey Mouse and Friends #296 | 6,340 copies
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 October 2009 actual sales
(source: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16243.html)

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #699 | 6,679 copies
Uncle Scrooge #384 | 5,835 copies
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 November 2009 actual sales
(source: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16433.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16434.html)

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #700 | 5,634 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #347 | 5,462 copies
Uncle Scrooge #385 | 5,232 copies
Mickey Mouse and Friends #297 | 5,196 copies
Walt Disney's Christmas Classics Hardcover GN | 739 copies
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 December 2009 actual sales
(source: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16618.html)

Uncle Scrooge #386 | 4,846 copies
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #701 | 4,885 copies
Mickey Mouse and Friends #298 | 4,761 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #348 | 4,571 copies
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 January 2010 actual sales
(source: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16810.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16811.html)

Uncle Scrooge #387 | 4,604 copies
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #702 | 4,567 copies
Mickey Mouse and Friends #299 | 4,542 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #349 | 4,502 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #350* | 3,924 copies
Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Vol. 1 Hardcover GN | 1,120 copies
(*Don't know why two issues of DDF shipped this month... delay?)
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 February 2010 actual sales
(sources: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17020.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17021.html)

Wizards of Mickey #1 | 5,055 copies
Disney's Hero Squad #1 | 4,557 copies
Uncle Scrooge #388 | 4,311 copies
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #703 | 4,233 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #351 | 3,801 copies
Mickey Mouse Classics Vol. 1 Hardcover GN | 785 copies
Wizards of Mickey Vol. 1 Softcover GN | 756 copies
Walt Disney's Valentine's Classics Hardcover GN | 383 copies
Wizards of Mickey Vol. 1 Hardcover GN | 358 copies
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 March 2010 actual sales
(sources: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17243.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17244.html)

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #704 | 3,917 copies
Uncle Scrooge #389 | 3,906 copies
Wizards of Mickey #2 | 3,704 copies
Disney's Hero Squad Vol. 1 Softcover GN | 743 copies
Donald Duck Classics Vol. 1 Hardcover GN | 733 copies
(NOTE: Neither Disney's Hero Squad #2 or Donald Duck and Friends #352 made the Top 300 list, so I cannot get you sales figures for those books -- sorry!)
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 April 2010 actual sales
(sources: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17449.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17450.html)

Uncle Scrooge #390 | 3,747 copies
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #705 | 3,497 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #353 | 3,107 copies
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Vol. 2 Hardcover GN | 1,043 copies
Uncle Scrooge: The Hunt For Old Number One Softcover GN | 1,015 copies
Donald Duck and Friends: Double Duck Vol. 1 Softcover GN | 834 copies
(NOTE: Neither Disney's Hero Squad #3 or Wizards of Mickey #3 made the Top 300 list, so I cannot get you sales figures for those books -- sorry!)
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 May 2010 actual sales
(sources: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17679.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17680.html)

Uncle Scrooge #391 | 3,677 copies
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #706 | 3,655 copies
Donald Duck and Friends #354 | 3,074 copies
(NOTE: Neither Disney's Hero Squad #4 or Wizards of Mickey #4 made the Top 300 list, so I cannot get you sales figures for those books -- sorry!)
__________________________________________________________

ICv2 June 2010 actual sales
(sources: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17860.html
and http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17861.html)

Darkwing Duck #1 | 6,300 copies
Wizards of Mickey Vol. 2 Softcover | 529 copies

And now for something completely confusing...

Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion Vol. 2 (Gemstone edition) | 420 copies

(NOTE: This month sees an overall spike in monthly comics sales, as even the lowest spot in the Top 300 moved 4,528 copies. I'm assuming all other Duck and Mouse comics sold less than that based on their absence, but cannot get you exact numbers -- sorry!)
__________________________________________________________

Gemstone Publishing Disney Comics | Direct Market Numbers
If anyone's interested, here are some Diamond numbers for Gemstone's books to compare 'n contrast. These are based off CBG's numbers (as opposed to ICv2), so I can't attest to accuracy, and they seem to be missing some of the last issues (possibly due to the sporadic publishing schedule?)

It's interesting to note that these numbers would still earn most of the Gemstone books a place in the Diamond Top 300 in 2009/2010.

Mickey Mouse and Friends
http://www.comicbookpage.com/SalesEstim … %20Friends

Donald Duck and Friends
http://www.comicbookpage.com/SalesEstim … %20Friends

Uncle Scrooge
http://www.comicbookpage.com/SalesEstim … %20Scrooge

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
http://www.comicbookpage.com/SalesEstim … %20Stories

Walt Disney's Christmas Parade
http://www.comicbookpage.com/SalesEstim … s%20Parade

Walt Disney's Vacation Parade
http://www.comicbookpage.com/SalesEstim … n%20Parade

Free iPhone Game of the Day for July 14, 2010: Invaders World Tour

2010-07-14T09:03:00.002-04:00

Today's free iPhone "Game of the Day" is 'Invaders World Tour.'

"This is a fast and furious retro arcade game played over 60 levels set across twelve countries.

Destroy as many Swoopers, Saucers, Kamikazes, Crawlers and Packers whilst protecting your ship and shields as you strive to save country after country.

Collect power-ups to upgrade your ship, weapons and defence system - you'll going to need them!"

Download it here!

Diamond's Top 300 Comics for June 2010

2010-07-13T23:10:00.008-04:00

Estimated comics sold to North American comics shops in June 2010 as reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. (via Comichron and ICv2)

1	New Avengers	1	$3.99	Marvel	129,084
2	Batman	700	$4.99	DC	104,755
3	Avengers	2	$3.99	Marvel	98,788
4	Batman Return of Bruce Wayne	3	$3.99	DC	92,140
5	Green Lantern	55	$2.99	DC	85,930
6	Brightest Day	3	$2.99	DC	85,815
7	Brightest Day	4	$2.99	DC	81,384
8	Secret Avengers	2	$3.99	Marvel	77,933
9	Uncanny X-Men	525	$2.99	Marvel	76,068
10	Avengers Prime	1	$3.99	Marvel	69,433
11	Flash	3	$2.99	DC	68,804
12	Superman	700	$4.99	DC	67,571
13	Green Lantern Corps	49	$2.99	DC	66,652
14	X-Men Legacy	237	$2.99	Marvel	65,578
15	Justice League of America	46	$3.99	DC	62,754
16	Amazing Spider-Man	634	$3.99	Marvel	61,736
17	Amazing Spider-Man	633	$2.99	Marvel	57,670
18	Captain America	606	$3.99	Marvel	57,443
19	Astonishing X-Men	34	$2.99	Marvel	57,363
20	Thor	611	$3.99	Marvel	56,443
21	Amazing Spider-Man	635	$3.99	Marvel	56,146
22	Green Arrow	1	$3.99	DC	54,400
23	New Mutants	14	$2.99	Marvel	53,926
24	Wonder Woman	600	$4.99	DC	53,525
25	Captain America	607	$3.99	Marvel	52,989
26	Invincible Iron Man	27	$2.99	Marvel	52,268
27	Nemesis	2	$2.99	Marvel	51,586
28	Ultimate Comics Avengers 2	3	$3.99	Marvel	50,797
29	Hulk	23	$4.99	Marvel	50,724
30	Ultimate Comics Avengers 2	4	$3.99	Marvel	49,606
31	Incredible Hulk	610	$3.99	Marvel	46,461
32	Detective Comics	866	$3.99	DC	46,178
33	Avengers Academy	1	$3.99	Marvel	45,890
34	Astonishing X-Men Xenogenesis	2	$3.99	Marvel	44,953
35	Ultimate Comics X	3	$3.99	Marvel	44,568
36	Birds of Prey	2	$2.99	DC	44,064
37	Justice League Generation Lost	3	$2.99	DC	43,278
38	Dark Wolverine	87	$2.99	Marvel	43,087
39	Justice League Generation Lost	4	$2.99	DC	41,702
40	X-Factor	206	$2.99	Marvel	40,981
41	Invincible Iron Man Annual	1	$4.99	Marvel	39,877
42	Ultimate Comics Spider-Man	11	$3.99	Marvel	39,149
43	Legion of Super Heroes	2	$3.99	DC	39,102
44	Deadpool	24	$2.99	Marvel	38,663
45	Shield	2	$2.99	Marvel	37,595
46	Justice Society of America	39	$2.99	DC	36,630
47	Fantastic Four	580	$2.99	Marvel	36,582
48	Justice Society of America	40	$2.99	DC	36,008
49	Red Robin	13	$2.99	DC	35,917
50	Serenity Float Out One Shot		$3.50	Dark Horse	35,266
51	Batman Beyond	1	$2.99	DC	35,113
52	Action Comics	890	$3.99	DC	34,744
53	Daredevil	507	$2.99	Marvel	34,744
54	Wolverine Origins	49	$2.99	Marvel	34,695
55	Adventure Comics	12	$3.99	DC	34,663
56	Thanos Imperative	1	$3.99	Marvel	34,285
57	Red Hood Lost Days	1	$2.99	DC	34,197
58	X-Men Hellbound	2	$3.99	Marvel	33,691
59	Superman Batman Annual	4	$4.99	DC	33,240
60	Titans	24	$2.99	DC	33,079
61	Thunderbolts	145	$2.99	Marvel	31,999
62	Superman Batman	73	$2.99	DC	31,425
63	Justice League The Rise of Arsenal	4	$3.99	DC	30,753
64	Deadpool Merc With A Mouth	12	$2.99	Marvel	30,572
65	Wolverine Weapon X	14	$3.99	Marvel	30,035
66	Zatanna	2	$2.99	DC	29,564
67	Deadpool Wade Wilsons War	1	$3.99	Marvel	29,406
68	Dc Universe Legacies	2	$3.99	DC	29,286
69	Jokers Asylum Harley Quinn	1	$2.99	DC	29,081
70	Batgirl	11	$2.99	DC	28,563
71	Supergirl	53	$2.99	DC	28,317
72	Secret Warriors	17	$2.99	Marvel	28,017
73	Hawkeye & Mockingbird	1	$3.99	Marvel	27,552
74	Deadpool Wade Wilsons War	2	$3.99	Marvel	26,466
75	Deadpool Corps	3	$2.99	Marvel	26,251
76	Doomwar	5	$3.99	Marvel	26,041
77	American Vampire	4	$3.99	DC	25,977
78	Gotham City Sirens	13	$2.99	DC	25,867
79	Walking Dead	73	$2.99	Image	25,645
80	Jokers Asylum The Riddler	1	$2.99	DC	25,413
81	Age of Heroes	2	$3.99	Marvel	25,354
82	Batman Streets of Gotham	13	$3.99	DC	25,205
83	Amazing Spider-Man Presents Black Cat	1	$3.99	Marvel	24,951
84	Teen Titans	84	$3.99	DC	24,593
85	Jsa All Stars	7	$3.99	DC	24,436
86	Jokers Asylum Mad Hatter	1	$2.99	DC	24,101
87	Dark Tower Gunslinger Journey Begins	2	$3.99	Marvel	24,024
88	Kevin Smith Green Hornet	5	$3.99	Dynamite	23,841
89	Deadpool Team-Up	892	$2.99	Marvel	23,697
90	Iron Man Legacy	3	$2.99	Marvel	23,340
91	Jokers Asylum Killer Croc	1	$2.99	DC	22,919
92	Franken-Castle	17	$2.99	Marvel	22,378
93	Punishermax	8	$3.99	Marvel	22,053
94	Secret Six	22	$2.99	DC	21,941
95	Jokers Asylum Clayface	1	$2.99	DC	21,806
96	Boys	43	$3.99	Dynamite	21,390
97	Young Allies	1	$3.99	Marvel	20,858
98	Stand Hardcases	1	$3.99	Marvel	20,802
99	Power Girl	13	$2.99	DC	20,583
100	Marvel Zombies 5	4	$3.99	Marvel	20,141
101	Star Wars Legacy	49	$2.99	Dark Horse	19,911
102	Booster Gold	33	$2.99	DC	19,895
103	Black Widow	3	$2.99	Marvel	19,892
104	Fables	96	$2.99	DC	19,842
105	Franken-Castle	18	$2.99	Marvel	19,605
106	Vengeance of Moon Knight	9	$3.99	Marvel	18,695
107	Izombie	2	$2.99	DC	18,620
108	Avengers Origin	3	$3.99	Marvel	18,463
109	Outsiders	30	$2.99	DC	18,045
110	Web of Spider-Man	9	$3.99	Marvel	17,581
111	Angel	34	$3.99	IDW	17,467
112	Heroic Age Prince of Power	2	$3.99	Marvel	17,068
113	Heralds	1	$2.99	Marvel	16,476
114	Death of Dracula	1	$3.99	Marvel	16,464
115	Conan The Cimmerian	21	$2.99	Dark Horse	16,421
116	Kevin Smith Kato	2	$3.99	Dynamite	16,361
117	Hercules Twilight of A God	1	$3.99	Marvel	16,302
118	Joe The Barbarian	6	$2.99	DC	16,219
119	Doc Savage	3	$3.99	DC	16,153
120	Atlas	2	$2.99	Marvel	16,130
121	Star Wars Invasion Rescues	2	$2.99	Dark Horse	16,098
122	X-Men Forever 2	1	$3.99	Marvel	16,094
123	Star Wars Dark Times	17	$2.99	Dark Horse	16,041
124	Powers	5	$3.95	Marvel	16,019
125	Invincible	72	$2.99	Image	15,689
126	Amazing Spider-Man Presents American Son	2	$3.99	Marvel	15,450
127	Invincible	73	$2.99	Image	15,340
128	Batman Confidential	45	$2.99	DC	15,070
129	X-Men Forever Giant-Size	1	$3.99	Marvel	15,039
130	X-Men Forever 2	2	$3.99	Marvel	14,933
131	Stephen King's N	4	$3.99	Marvel	14,927
132	X-Campus	1	$4.99	Marvel	14,867
133	Captain America Black Panther Flags of Fathers	3	$3.99	Marvel	14,264
134	Namora	1	$3.99	Marvel	14,079
135	Spectacular Spider-Girl	2	$2.99	Marvel	13,775
136	Iron Man Kiss And Kill	1	$3.99	Marvel	13,528
137	Jonah Hex	56	$2.99	DC	13,441
138	Unwritten	14	$2.99	DC	13,396
139	Chew	11	$2.99	Image	13,204
140	New Avengers Luke Cage	3	$3.99	Marvel	13,187
141	Spirit	3	$3.99	DC	13,030
142	Red Sonja	50	$4.99	Dynamite	13,017
143	Abe Sapien Abyssal Plain	1	$3.50	Dark Horse	13,010
144	G.I. Joe	19	$3.99	IDW	12,849
145	Heralds	2	$2.99	Marvel	12,832
146	Irredeemable	14	$3.99	Boom	12,608
147	Transformers Ongoing	8	$3.99	IDW	12,360
148	Predators	1	$2.99	Dark Horse	12,283
149	Marvelous Land of Oz	7	$3.99	Marvel	12,200
150	Heralds	3	$2.99	Marvel	12,132
151	Spike The Devil You Know	1	$3.99	IDW	12,057
152	X-Factor Forever	4	$3.99	Marvel	11,937
153	Doom Patrol	11	$2.99	DC	11,857
154	Heralds	4	$2.99	Marvel	11,694
155	Torch	8	$3.99	Marvel	11,513
156	Marvel's Greatest Comics: Deadpool	1	$1.00	Marvel	11,379
157	Peter Parker	4	$2.99	Marvel	11,335
158	Predators	2	$2.99	Dark Horse	11,237
159	Incorruptible	7	$3.99	Boom	11,091
160	Rebels	17	$2.99	DC	11,048
161	Mouse Guard Legends of the Guard	1	$3.50	Archaia	10,918
162	Captain America 1940s Newspaper Strip	1	$3.99	Marvel	10,913
163	Buzzard	1	$3.50	Dark Horse	10,888
164	Predators	3	$2.99	Dark Horse	10,811
165	Kato Origins Way of the Ninja	2	$3.99	Dynamite	10,668
166	G.I. Joe Origins	16	$3.99	IDW	10,643
167	Tom Strong And The Robots of Doom	1	$3.99	DC	10,552
168	Heralds	5	$2.99	Marvel	10,394
169	Predators	4	$2.99	Dark Horse	10,390
170	Spider-Man Fever	3	$3.99	Marvel	10,329
171	Green Hornet Parallel Lives	1	$3.99	Dynamite	10,322
172	Hellblazer	268	$2.99	DC	10,221
173	Crossed Family Values	2	$3.99	Avatar	10,165
174	G.I. Joe Cobra II	5	$3.99	IDW	10,136
175	Darkstar And Winter Guard	1	$3.99	Marvel	10,101
176	Grimm Fairy Tales	48	$2.99	Zenescope	10,011
177	Rawhide Kid	1	$3.99	Marvel	9,993
178	Project Superpowers Chapter Two	10	$2.99	Dynamite	9,892
179	Queen Sonja	7	$2.99	Dynamite	9,879
180	Azrael	9	$2.99	DC	9,802
181	Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special	1	$3.99	Marvel	9,760
182	Turf	2	$2.99	Image	9,668
183	Sweet Tooth	10	$2.99	DC	9,570
184	Daytripper	7	$2.99	DC	9,333
185	Terry Moore's Echo	22	$3.50	Abstract	9,277
186	Hack Slash My First Maniac	1	$3.50	Image	9,270
187	Mouse Guard Legends of the Guard	2	$3.50	Archaia	9,113
188	Captain Swing	2	$3.99	Avatar	9,063
189	Anita Blake Circus of Damned Charmer	2	$3.99	Marvel	9,060
190	GFT Presents Neverland	3	$2.99	Zenescope	9,006
191	Jurassic Park Redemption	1	$3.99	IDW	8,941
192	Iron Man Noir	3	$3.99	Marvel	8,913
193	House of Mystery	26	$2.99	DC	8,742
194	Grimm Fairy Tales	47	$2.99	Zenescope	8,721
195	Avengers Spotlight	1	$3.99	Marvel	8,595
196	G.I. Joe Hearts And Minds	2	$3.99	IDW	8,592
197	Transformers Ironhide	2	$3.99	IDW	8,546
198	Magdalena	2	$3.99	Image	8,327
199	Tiny Titans	29	$2.50	DC	8,195
200	Velocity	1	$3.99	Image	8,172
201	Fringe Tales From The Fringe	1	$3.99	DC	8,099
202	Red Sonja Annual	3	$5.99	Dynamite	8,098
203	Madame Xanadu	24	$2.99	DC	7,979
204	Dracula	1	$3.99	Marvel	7,960
205	G.I. Joe Operation Hiss	5	$3.99	IDW	7,947
206	Sonic The Hedgehog	214	$2.99	Archie	7,936
207	Sonic The Hedgehog	213	$2.99	Archie	7,893
208	Lone Ranger	22	$3.50	Dynamite	7,786
209	Warlord	15	$2.99	DC	7,755
210	TFW White Knight		$3.99	Zenescope	7,748
211	Angel Barbary Coast	3	$3.99	IDW	7,741
212	Yours Truly Jack The Ripper	1	$3.99	IDW	7,730
213	After Dark	0	$1.00	Radical	7,653
214	Northlanders	29	$2.99	DC	7,498
215	Simpsons Comics	167	$2.99	Bongo	7,477
216	Authority	23	$2.99	DC	7,226
217	Spider-Man	3	$2.99	Marvel	7,200
218	Transformers Nefarious	4	$3.99	IDW	7,194
219	Dracula	2	$3.99	Marvel	7,139
220	Marvel's Greates Comics: Amazing Spider-Man	546	$1.00	Marvel	6,936
221	Star Trek McCoy	3	$3.99	IDW	6,800
222	Marvel's Greatest Comics: New X-Men	114	$1.00	Marvel	6,757
223	Star Trek Burden of Knowledge	1	$3.99	IDW	6,757
224	Doctor Who Ongoing	12	$3.99	IDW	6,754
225	Magog	10	$2.99	DC	6,749
226	Sonic Universe	17	$2.99	Archie	6,717
227	Supernatural Beginnings End	6	$2.99	DC	6,711
228	Chronicles of Wormwood Last Battle	4	$3.99	Avatar	6,700
229	Red Sonja Wrath of The Gods	5	$3.99	Dynamite	6,695
230	Solomon Kane Deaths Black Riders	4	$3.50	Dark Horse	6,663
231	DMZ	54	$2.99	DC	6,661
232	Executive Assistant Iris	5	$2.99	Aspen	6,646
233	Orson Scott Cards Ender In Exile	1	$3.99	Marvel	6,568
234	Angelus	4	$2.99	Image	6,565
235	Authority The Lost Year	9	$2.99	DC	6,558
236	Sky Doll Space Ship	1	$5.99	Marvel	6,528
237	Ghostbusters Holiday Special Con Volution	1	$3.99	IDW	6,407
238	Flash Rebirth	1 New Ptg	$1.00	DC	6,400
239	Charmed Sourcebook	0 A Cvr Rio	$1.99	Zenescope	6,329
240	Darkwing Duck	1	$3.99	Boom	6,300
241	DV8 Gods And Monsters	3	$2.99	DC	6,295
242	Batman The Brave And The Bold	18	$2.50	DC	6,270
243	Lockjaw And Pet Avengers Unleashed	4	$2.99	Marvel	6,166
244	Gears of War	12	$3.99	DC	6,165
245	Bart Simpson Comics	54	$2.99	Bongo	6,160
246	Wildcats	24	$2.99	DC	6,051
247	Super Hero Squad	6	$2.99	Marvel	6,029
248	Soulfire Volume Two	6	$2.99	Aspen	5,965
249	Great Ten	8	$2.99	DC	5,958
250	Nemesis The Impostors	4	$2.99	DC	5,919
251	Batman Return of Bruce Wayne	1	$3.99	DC	5,913
252	Greek Street	12	$2.99	DC	5,905
253	Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep	12	$3.99	Boom	5,865
254	Human Target	5	$2.99	DC	5,838
255	Marvel's Greatest Comics: Daredevil	26	$1.00	Marvel	5,782
256	Detective Comics	854 New Ptg	$1.00	DC	5,775
257	Batman Return of Bruce Wayne	2	$3.99	DC	5,755
258	Buck Rogers	12	$3.50	Dynamite	5,722
259	Robert Jordan Wheel of Time Eye of the World	3	$3.99	Dynamite	5,701
260	Legion of Super Heroes	1	$3.99	DC	5,691
261	Super Heroes	3	$2.99	Marvel	5,678
262	Demo Vol 2	5	$2.99	DC	5,612
263	Savage Dragon	161	$3.50	Image	5,544
264	Garth Ennis Battlefields	7	$3.50	Dynamite	5,484
265	Sam & Twitch Writer	3	$2.99	Image	5,427
266	Unknown Soldier	21	$2.99	DC	5,371
267	Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z Update	2	$3.99	Marvel	5,312
268	Astro City	1 New Ptg	$1.00	DC	5,304
269	Fables	6 New Ptg	$1.00	DC	5,264
270	Whatever Happened To Baron Von Shock	2	$3.99	Image	5,253
271	Electric Ant	3	$3.99	Marvel	5,238
272	Waking	4	$3.99	Zenescope	5,235
273	New Avengers Finale	1	$4.99	Marvel	5,234
274	Dust Wars	1	$2.99	Image	5,212
275	Sam & Twitch Writer	4	$2.99	Image	5,206
276	Robert E. Howard Hawks of Outremer	1	$3.99	Boom	5,199
277	Thor And Warriors Four	3	$2.99	Marvel	5,190
278	Archie	610	$2.99	Archie	5,180
279	Amory Wars Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3	2	$3.99	Boom	5,178
280	Sky Doll Space Ship	2	$5.99	Marvel	5,133
281	Gen 13	36	$2.99	DC	5,124
282	Cowboy Ninja Viking	6	$3.50	Image	5,100
283	Shield	10	$3.99	DC	5,082
284	Her-Oes	3	$2.99	Marvel	5,021
285	Simpsons Super Spectacular	11	$2.99	Bongo	5,015
286	Farscape Ongoing	8	$3.99	Boom	4,983
287	Air	22	$2.99	DC	4,973
288	Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark	1	$4.99	Image	4,932
289	Super Friends	28	$2.50	DC	4,885
290	X-Men Legacy	236	$2.99	Marvel	4,881
291	Usagi Yojimbo	129	$3.50	Dark Horse	4,863
292	Gravel	19	$3.99	Avatar	4,857
293	Modern Warfare 2 Ghost	5	$3.99	DC	4,806
294	Punisher Franken-Castle Birth of Monster	1	$4.99	Marvel	4,796
295	Resident Evil	5	$3.99	DC	4,782
296	Dragon Age	2	$3.99	IDW	4,760
297	Jack of Fables	1 New Ptg	$1.00	DC	4,629
298	28 Days Later	11	$3.99	Boom	4,625
299	New Mutants	13	$2.99	Marvel	4,586
300	Last Unicorn	2	$3.99	IDW	4,528

Free iPhone Game of the Day for July 13, 2010: Jailbreaker

2010-07-13T14:02:00.003-04:00

Today's 'Free Game of the Day' is Jailbreaker.

"In collaboration with OpenFeint's Free Game of the Day, Jailbreaker is Free for TODAY only. Remember to download OpenFeint’s Game Spotlight App to get the Free Game of the Day every day!"

Download it here!

Epic Mickey: The Comic Book

2010-07-13T09:24:00.001-04:00

From Variety:

"Disney’s reintroduction of Mickey Mouse to the video game world is expanding into other mediums.

Beyond the work he is doing on “Epic Mickey,” developer Warren Spector is working on a comic book adaptation of the Wasteland world where the game is set. Comic and sci-fi superstar author Peter David is assisting on the book (and likely doing most of the writing).

The pair will discuss bringing the world to life in dual mediums and give a first-look at the comic pages in a conference on Saturday, July 24, from 4:30-5:30 at Comic Con 2010."

Peter David?! Sign me up! No word on if the publisher will be Boom!, Marvel, Hyperion or another publisher.

(source: Variety)

Nintendo Download for July 12, 2010: A whole lot of poppin' going on

2010-07-12T16:07:00.001-04:00

WiiWare
ToribashPublisher: Nabi Studios
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: Toribash is an online fighting game where you make all the moves. Use precision motion controls to create any move you want – the only limit is your imagination. Manipulate your fighter's joints for maximum impact and take out your opponents with precise hits. Boost your joints for added speed and strength to hit harder, then grab your opponents and slam them to the ground. Fight online and challenge players around the world using Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection (broadband Internet access required). Want to make your own fight movies? Just jump into the replay editor. You can enter replays at any point in time and review your fight to catch that mind-blowing move you missed. When you're done, share with your buddies through WiiConnect24™.

Balloon Pop FestivalPublisher: UFO Interactive
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Balloon Pop Festival is a revolutionary puzzle game that's suitable for all ages. Point the Wii Remote™ controller at the screen to aim and link a series of balloons to create satisfying combos. Watch as the festival is beautifully animated, releasing different graphical elements to represent each month. The goal of the game is to score as much as you can before balloons cross the line on the bottom. Each festival has different graphical elements, animation and character costumes. The more you do through the festival, the more you will unlock graphics for playing other modes.

Nintendo DSiWare
PrimrosePublisher: Sabarasa
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Take your time, set your own pace, establish your own goals and adapt your play style however you like. Primrose rules are easy: There are no time limits, no levels, no arbitrary objectives and no constraints. Just place pairs of tiles on a game grid and attempt to corral groups of tiles with pieces of a different color. Surrounded tiles disappear and surrounding tiles change colors, allowing chain effects to trigger combos for massive points. You can play long matches and try to keep up with increasing levels of difficulty, or just go all out on a huge single-move combo for millions of points.

Pop Island – PaperfieldPublisher: odenis studio
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Discover a fresh, fun universe with easy pick-up-and-play control themes. Join your team and race, surf or fly on three new islands. Get a maximum of flags to win in the "Race for flags" or "Capture the flag" modes. With the new "Magic Shooters" team, take control of eight land, sea and air vehicles (including tanks, hovercrafts and planes) or animals (surfing penguins, eagles and black cats). An impressive graphics engine runs fast and smooth at 60 frames per second. In Solo Mode, rack up points and unlock new playable vehicles and maps. Use DS Download Play to share Pop Island – Paperfield and compete joyfully with up to seven friends. If you own Pop Island on your Nintendo DSi system, you can get three new maps and four vehicles, including a helicopter and a submarine.

Music on: Retro KeyboardPublisher: Abylight
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Turn your Nintendo DSi system into a full electronic keyboard with a carefully chosen selection of sounds and rhythms from the mythic computers and consoles of the 1980s. Whether you're already an expert or taking your first steps, Retro Keyboard will help you capture your inspiration wherever you are. Features include an '80s-inspired interface and a selection of keyboard, console and computer sounds from the '80s, plus rhythms inspired by the first generation video games. You can also enjoy an automatic accompaniment function with chord recognition, up to eight user-definable chords, a six-octave keyboard (two octaves visible), pitch bend function, 16 instruments, an integrated sequencer, metronome, recording and replay options.

24/7 SolitairePublisher: cosmigo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: 24/7 Solitaire features 24 variations of the most widely known and best-loved single-player card games including Klondike, Freecell, Spider, Pyramid, Yukon and seven versions of Peg-Solitaire. Most games have custom game play options so you can enjoy the game with your favorite rules. On-screen instructions can help you learn new Solitaire variations. Statistics are available for players who love to track their wins. Save your game status at any time. The game's style and interface have been designed for easy, intuitive operation with the stylus or the control pad. Sit back, relax and enjoy the endless challenge and fun of this Solitaire game collection.

4 TRAVELLERS™ – Play FrenchPublisher: AGENIUS Interactive
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Challenge your family and friends in a new digital board game while learning your first words in a new language together. Compete in a foreign hotel where the goal is to acquire objects, money and friends. Strategy and fast learning are essential. The game is suitable for players young and old, and no previous knowledge is necessary. The more you play, the more your French vocabulary increases. The game is perfect to bring on your trip, including more than 240 carefully selected words.

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://wii.com or http://www.nintendodsi.com.

(source: Nintendo)

Doctor Who.... Disney Style?!

2010-07-05T08:41:00.003-04:00

This is brilliant!

(Hat tip to Disney Weirdness, who linked it from io9)

Disney's Robin Hood and... Don Karnage from TaleSpin?!

2010-07-02T21:27:00.001-04:00

More Disney fan art. Pencil drawing, digitally colored. Click for a bigger view.

For more of my doodles, check out my deviantArt.

Adventure Time in Polymer Clay? Mathmatical!

2010-07-02T17:34:00.000-04:00

The Mrs. has been busy making new polymer clay bracelets for some upcoming summer festivals. What's she been cooking up this week? Well, it's Adventure Time! This bracelet has Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, Princess Bubblegum, Tree Trunks the Elephant and Ice King. And it glows in the dark. Rhombus!

Wanna buy one? She's selling them on Etsy here!

Zuda, webcomics, iPad apps and the whole digital comics shebang

2010-07-02T15:18:00.007-04:00

It's official. Zuda is no more. From the Zuda blog...

"Last week DC Comics took a much anticipated second step into the world of digital publishing with the simultaneous launch of the official DC Comics iPhone/iPad App (powered by comiXology) and participation in Sony’s Playstation Network. I say second step because, as most Zuda fans know, we made our first step back in 2007 when DC Comics tasked us with a project that would evolve into ZUDA COMICS. Part webcomics collective, part community, part competition, all experimental; Zuda was an unique and ambitiously creative project, albeit an occasionally clunky one.

Recently we ended our competition format and put submissions on hold. And now, effective today, www.zudacomics.com will be shut down."

Let's have a moment of silence.

...

Okay, now back to business.

Zuda was a pretty interesting experiment, if I may say so. Corporate-owned DC Comics were stepping into the webcomics arena in a big way and letting unknown creators compete for a chance in the spotlight.

Now, the webcomics community is pretty tight and as I recall, some people were up in arms about this Zuda thing, saying it wouldn't last and yadda yadda. Kind of like Minx. And, well, they were right on both counts. But hey, you have to give DC Comics credit. They're willing to take more chances than their competitors -- and while it doesn't always pay off -- you can't fault them for trying.

Supposedly the plug has been pulled on Zuda in favor of these new-fangled iPad apps. In other words, DC is simply dropping one digital publishing model for another... and both attempts smack of print publishers trying desperately to find their place in a rapidly changing market.

Last week on Twitter, I had thrown out some of my thoughts on iPad apps, webcomics and such and how the big two print comics publishers are really grasping at straws to try and make sure they stay relevant in a digital world. I'll post some of those tweets and elaborate a little...

"Why do print comics publishers think they can waltz in a decade late and do #webcomics better than the folks that pioneered it? Just sayin'."

Good question. And one I can only speculate on. After paying no mind to webcomics for over a decade -- writing them off as purely an amateur act -- some started to come into their own. And a handful actually started to make some money.

It's no secret that the direct market is dying a slow death, so naturally publishers are eager to find "the next big thing." Webcomics were starting to come into their own, so... ta daaaa... corporations do what they do best and experiment. After months, possibly years, of extensive marketing research and focus groups, that is. (Can't be too spontaneous now, can we?)

"Early digital comics adopters (#webcomics readers) are used to reading comics for free. Once its free, there are no backsies."

This is key. Since the very beginning, webcomics have by and large been free with creators earning revenue off of advertising and merchandise sales. The concept of "free content" no doubt boggles the minds of print publishers whose business models have been based off of paid content since the beginning.

Even when dipping a toe into digital comics, the print guys want to (need to?) charge for it. Look at Marvel's subscription service, for example.

I think it's become obvious, though, that most readers won't pay for webcomics -- no matter if they're self-published or "professionally" produced. The precedent has been set by webcomics pioneers. Webcomics are a free read. Like I said, there are no backsies.

"I could be wrong here, but I think most paid/subscription #webcomics experiments have crashed and burned. People expect free."

I think Marvel's subscription service is still around, but I'm unsure how popular it actually is.

Enter the much ballyhooed iPad and its comics apps. Now, don't get me wrong. I think comics look beautiful on the iPad, but as I tweeted earlier...

"Print comics types have gotten all "app happy" over the past year or so -- no doubt hoping they'll (i)pad dwindling shop sales."

"I think these iPad comics apps are groovy, but I'm not convinced that the comic shop regulars will migrate to digital en masse."

And I'm not convinced. The comic shop crowd is generally a different breed from most webcomics readers. Many are collectors. They've been slow to latch onto digital comics, partly because of the quality and subject matter, but also likely because there's no real physical tangibility to webcomics. You really don't "own" anything.

So that's webcomics. What about apps?

Well, Comic Book Resources recently conducted a poll that asking its readers if they had any interest in buying digital comics. The results? Nearly 75% of respondents said they have yet to buy a single digital comic.

Let's look at this. The iPad is groovy, no doubt. But how many comic shop regulars actually own one? And out of the millions who've bought the device, how many want to spend a buck or two on a static comic book when they can buy a game or a song or a movie for the same price?

So which comic readers are more likely to own an iPad? Tech-savvy webcomics readers who read their comics online for free.

At the end of the day, all comics apps are just offline webcomics that you pay to read and require a relatively expensive, specialized reading device.

Let me repeat that for emphasis... Comics apps are just offline webcomics that you pay to read and require a relatively expensive, specialized reading device.

Seriously, an ad-sponsored mobile version of a webcomics site would essentially accomplish the same thing. I think as far as comics are concerned, apps are -- for the most part -- redundant. Publishers are just scrambling for a way to make money off of printed materials in the digital age, and the thought of giving away the store scares them. Print publishers are terrified of being left in the dust like they were with webcomics, but as I tweeted before...

"Maybe we can call jumping on the iPad bandwagon on day one "premature e-publication."

I could be wrong in the end, but I don't think the comic shop regulars (i.e. the Marvel and DC crowd) are going to flock to digital the way they're hoping for. I think it'll be a nice alternative to have a digital version of material available, but I think we're talking about two distinctly different readerships here -- digital and print. And I think digital readers will likely flock to the alternative (webcomics) as those can also be read on mobile devices. For free.

All print publishers are being hit hard by the digital revolution, not just comics. I think we'll always have comics in some form, just which is the dominant format of these future funnies remains to be seen.

Grab some popcorn and watch the show. It'll be interesting to see where things are in five years.

Final Fantasy VII remake for Nintendo 3DS? I'm calling it now.

2010-07-01T10:28:00.005-04:00

Once upon a time, gamers were thrilled at the prospect of a Final Fantasy VII remake for the much ballyhooed PS3. After all, Square Enix showed a tech demo of the game's opening at the 2005 E3.

And we all know Square Enix gives gamers what they want every time. Like a third Chrono Trigger, a good Secret of Mana sequel and the endless remakes of Final Fantasy I and II.

...

Okay, okay... you can all stop snickering now.

Fast forward to 2010. The PS3 is bringing up the rear in this generation's console wars, and there's no FF7 remake in sight. Once loyal Square Enix has even defected from Sony, releasing the "exclusive" Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360 in addition to the PS3. Honestly, they had to. The PS3 install base is much lower than Square Enix (or anyone) had anticipated when the game went into production a half a decade ago.

It's a numbers game, folks. You go with the console that'll give you the most sales.

That being said, which gaming system is the most popular worldwide? The incredible, undying Nintendo DS.

Now, a few years back I speculated that we might see FF7 on the Wii, just because it's the #1 console. I got a little flack for that, as people pointed out how its graphical limitations would be unsuitable for such a remake. (Um... have they ever played the original FF7? It's dated even by PS1 standards... anything would be a marked improvement. But I digress.)

However, Square Enix's Wii outings haven't been selling all that well. So maybe Wii doesn't make a lot of sense. But the DS does. Rather, the 3DS... with improved graphics capabilities that are reportedly above what the Wii and PSP currently offer.

Now this... this makes sense. Square Enix is remake-happy. But most of their remakes have appeared on the portables, not the consoles. They remade Final Fantasy III and IV on the DS to critical acclaim and great sales, and I have no doubt whatsoever that a remake of their most popular game of all time -- on what will surely be the hottest gaming system on the planet -- just makes too much sense.

So I'm calling it now. If we see a Final Fantasy VII remake, you'll see it on the 3DS. Any takers on that bet?

WTF: ColorFart?!

2010-06-29T14:03:00.001-04:00

You just have to love a product whose name says what it does. That being said... who in the bloody blue smurf would want this?!

This has to be a joke, right? Like Bansai Kitten? Um... right?

So, yeah, if you've been just sitting around thinking you wanna rip one in lemon, this is the... um... crap for you!

4th Annual Supergirl Jam Series Kicks Off June 30

2010-06-29T12:33:00.003-04:00

This just in...

"Warner Bros. Consumer Products, on behalf of DC Comics, and action sports event producer, ASA Entertainment, announced the dates for the 2010 Supergirl Jam event series today. For the fourth consecutive year, these unique events will feature more than 100 of the world’s top female action sports athletes competing in surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and inline skating. The Supergirl Jam is the industry’s only large-scale, all-girls action sports competition and is designed to celebrate female strength, independence and empowerment. In 2010, the Supergirl Jam series will kick-off with three events, each highlighting the sport’s most talented female pros as well as up-and-coming amateurs."

Read the full press release here.

BotCon 2010: Transformers Hall of Fame

2010-06-29T11:01:00.001-04:00

The first inductees into the 'Transformers Hall of Fame' were recently announced at this year's BotCon. TFormers.com has more...

"Hasbro inducted four individuals into the TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame who helped shape the global entertainment brand that has spawned popular action figures, comic book series, multiple animated series, video games and two blockbuster live action movies. The inductees, who were in attendance at the ceremony, are:

Bob Budiansky: While working as an editor for Marvel Comics in 1983, Mr. Budiansky named and wrote the personality profiles for most of the first 20 or so TRANSFORMERS characters. He then became the editor of the very first TRANSFORMERS mini-series, which led to his scripting most of the next 50 issues of the monthly TRANSFORMERS comic book. As he continued working with the brand on behalf of Hasbro, he named and wrote the packaging copy and personality profiles of dozens more TRANSFORMERS, and developed story treatments as new lines of TRANSFORMERS were introduced.

Peter Cullen: Mr. Cullen is a voice actor best known for providing the English voice for the wise and heroic AUTOBOT leader OPTIMUS PRIME in the popular 1980s cartoon series “The TRANSFORMERS” and in the 1986 animated film “The TRANSFORMERS: The Movie”. He reprised the role again in 2007 and 2009 in the live action TRANSFORMERS movies, and will return for the third installment slated for 2011. Additionally, he has provided the voice of five other TRANSFORMERS robots during his career.

Kohjin Ohno: Mr. Ohno started his career at TAKARA TOMY, working on the design of the Microman and Diaclone toy lines, which would later become one of the inspirations for the TRANSFORMERS toy line. Mr. Ohno created SUNSTREAKER, which is considered the first “car to robot transforming toy”. He was also instrumental in the introduction of Beast Wars TRANSFORMERS for the Japanese market. He helped design toys for both live action TRANSFORMERS movies. He takes great pride in being the person who designed the largest TRANSFORMERS toy from Generation 1: FORTRESS MAXIMUS.

Hideaki Yoke: While working at TAKARA TOMY, Mr. Yoke invented the Micro-Robot segment within the MICRONAUTS toy line, which featured the engineering innovation of transformation in action figures that were no more than 3 to 4 inches tall. TRANSFORMERS characters MEGATRON, SOUNDWAVE and RAVAGE can trace their origins to Mr. Yoke’s efforts. He acted as liaison between TAKARA TOMY and Hasbro during the early years of their business relationship.

Hasbro also inducted five iconic characters into the TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame. Heroic AUTOBOTS OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE, as well as evil DECEPTICONS MEGATRON and STARSCREAM were selected for admission by Hasbro’s TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame internal panel of judges. DINOBOT, a character from the 1990’s TRANSFORMERS Beast Wars series, was elected by fans voting at www.transformers.com during the month of May."

Read the full press release here.

Zelda: Spirit Tracks is HALF PRICE on Amazon!

2010-06-29T09:10:00.000-04:00

Here's another crazy game deal. 'The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks' is less than half price on Amazon today! Regularly $39.99, you can pick up this great game for only $18 even! I wouldn't wait, because Amazon's prices often fluctuate wildly throughout the day. Check it out here.

All aboard the bargain train! Choo choo!

Cheap Wii games you MUST own!

2010-06-28T23:52:00.009-04:00

Just because a game is cheap, doesn't mean it's bad! The following is short list of critically acclaimed Wii games that can currently be had for under $15 (some even under $10!)

Here are some of my recommendations...

'Ghostbusters: The Video Game' by Atari is only $14.99 on Amazon (one of my son's favorites! A+!)
'Elebits' by Konami is only $12.97 on Amazon (another one of my son's favorites!)
'Okami' by Capcom is only $14.27 on Amazon
'No More Heroes 2' by Ubisoft only $17.72 on Amazon
'MadWorld' by Sega is only $6.90 on Amazon
'Resident Evil 4' by Capcom is only $12.45 on Amazon

If you're looking for bargain games, definitely keep an eye on Amazon's game deals page as they're always posting some great deals. You really have to move fast, though, as its not unusual for prices to fluctuate throughout the day.

Video Game Deals Roundup for June 28, 2010

2010-06-28T19:53:00.005-04:00

Here's a roundup of the video game deals I've posted today on Twitter.

Wii deals:

'Just Dance' only $28.54 on Amazon (reg. $39.99)
'Wii Play with Wii Remote' only $37.54 on Amazon now (reg. $49.99)
'New Super Mario Bros. Wii' only $35.96 on Amazon now (reg. $49.99)
'Wario Land: Shake It!' only $19.99 on Amazon (reg. $49.99)
'Wipeout' only $26.95 on Amazon (reg. $39.99)

Nintendo DS/DSi deals:

'Glory of Heracles' for Nintendo DS and DSi $14.98 (reg. $29.99)

Xbox 360 deals:

Microsoft Final Fantasy XIII Special Edition Xbox 360 Bundle - $249 w/ $100 off code: XBOX625B at Newegg

Wiiware for June 28, 2010: Mario Tennis and More!

2010-06-28T15:46:00.001-04:00

WiiWare

Jett Rocket
Publisher: Shin'en Multimedia
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: Jump and run and fly. Let Jett Rocket explore the beautiful planet of Yoroppa and find out why it has been attacked by the evil Power Plant Posse. Visit tropical islands, poisonous swamps and freezingly cold glaciers. Ride the ocean on your Jet Boat, parachute from giant cliffs, speed through arctic regions on your Jet Snowboard or skyrocket with your Jet Turbine. You will need everything you've got to fight back and save Yoroppa. Just be Jett Rocket in this epic futuristic full 3D action adventure.

Pong Toss Pro – Frat Party Games®
Publisher: JV Games Inc.
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Alcohol Reference, Comic Mischief, Mild Language
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: Born on college campuses, Pong Toss is the ultimate party-game favorite. Now Pong Toss Pro takes it to the next level by featuring a completely redesigned throwing system for complete accuracy and improved graphics. Also new to Pong Toss Pro is Tournament Mode. You can have a four-, eight-, or 16-team bracket play in Pong Toss & Speed Pong. Pong Toss Pro features six regulation tables and the ability to modify simple house rules. Rock it with a high-energy rock soundtrack; listen to the announcer commenting on your play. Rule the table with Fireball bonuses for consecutive shots. In Speed Pong, up to three challengers can compete at the same time. Speed and strategy are the keys to this fast-paced game. Jack up your opponents by using a slew of power-ups that will slow them down. The first one who sinks the last cup wins it all.

Robin Hood: The Return of Richard
Publisher: Nordcurrent
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: While Richard, the true King of England, is absent from his throne, his country rages in chaos. England has been invaded, and enemies burn and destroy local towns and villages. After the house of expert archer and hunter Robin Hood was burned down, he, together with a group of free archers like himself, hides in Sherwood Forest and begins his fight for justice. The fate of the people now lies in your hands. Help Robin to defeat the villains and restore peace in this shooting game.

Features:

Complete 12 levels, defeating numerous enemies and visiting different locations in medieval England
Search for hidden objects to get bonus points
Fight with super villains, such as the Sheriff of Nottingham
Replay the game to improve your score in the High Score Table

Virtual Console

Mario Tennis
Original platform: Nintendo 64
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: The Mushroom Kingdom welcomes another sport to its lineup in the Nintendo 64 smash Mario Tennis. In addition to the bright graphics and intuitive, but incredibly tight, controls that all Mario™ games are known for, a cast of 16 Nintendo characters (including the first introduction of Waluigi™) is ready to take to the court. Along with the ability to unnerve an opponent by varying shots and precisely target their destination, each character has specific attributes in categories such as speed, power and control, all of which combine to offer multiple play styles to choose from. A variety of game modes ranging from a standard tournament to the crazy, item-filled Bowser Stage will keep you – and up to three of your friends – running around the court for quite some time. Whether trying to unlock all the secrets in single-player mode or challenging friends with some intense fun in multiplayer mode, this is a game that definitely holds its serve.

Nintendo DSiWare

Maestro! Green Groove
Publisher: Neko Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Animated Blood, Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Hello. Do you like music? Do you like platforms? Do you like pink bird-like things? Do you like the jungle? You'll love Maestro! Green Groove edition! So jump in and enjoy this wonderful feeling of being a virtuoso using your heart, stylus and voice. Everything you do is music – EVERYTHING! Hit the spiders to play some drums, shoot the fruit to bring out the melody, pinch the strings to play the tune and so on. Challenge the mischievous Staccato the Spider in a melodious battle in which the most talented one will win. For those of you who have no fear, once you have finished the adventure, you can activate the SING/WHISTLE mode to bug everyone around you with your precious talents. And for the talented ones, there is an improvisation mode in which you'll play the levels with the instruments and at the speed of your choice. Enjoy, Maestros from all around the world!

Date or Ditch
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Think you're a real Casanova? Let's see how you act in real-life situations when you face a whole gamut of dates, from romantic to wild. Date or Ditch is an absorbing dating adventure for both guys and girls, testing you through an evolving scenario. Discover unique game play mixing social simulation, hilarious face-to-face conversations and fun quizzes. Randomly meet someone at a party, go to the movies together, invite your date to dinner and more. And a surprise visit from your ex may spice up your love story a bit. Enter even deeper into the game thanks to the exclusive camera feature: Add your photo within the game and change your face according to your feelings. In real life, make sure you are compatible with your date by taking the Love Test: Based on your names and appearance, are you made for each other? Love has always been a game. We just made it more fun.

Animal Color Cross
Publisher: Little Worlds Studio
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Get hooked on colorful puzzles. The goal of the game is to reconstruct a mysterious animal image that lies beneath the grid. You just need to fill in each square of the grid with one of the appropriate colors available. To solve the puzzle, you can simply deduce the right color by using the numbers written around the grid. Don't worry, a short tutorial shows you the basic rules within a minute. Puzzle-solving champs, sudoku fans or even kids can enjoy the game. You can play 72 individual grids in up to 50 hours of game play. Players can select among eight levels presented as geographical zones including Europe, Oceania, North Pole, Pacific, North America and South America to discover local fauna. Enter a new world filled with fancy colored pixel art.

Ancient Tribe
Publisher: CIRCLE Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: In the ancient world of Savage, you play the god of an ancient tribe in this real-time strategy game. Expand your village by guiding its inhabitants on the hunting grounds to find food and resources. Use them to upgrade your village and increase its population. When the primitive tribe develops to a certain level, they will build a temple to pay tribute to your mightiness. You can recruit new troops and research new classes of tribal people by upgrading the existing tribe's equipment and technology. Besides improving your tribe you can improve your godly powers by sacrificing some of your tribesmen and resources. On the hunting ground your tribe will explore forests, deserts, volcanoes and frozen lands. They will meet various kinds of beasts such as boars, elephants and even dinosaurs. You can help trap and tame them so your tribe can ride on them as part of your army and hunting troop.

Brain Drain™
Publisher: Enjoy Gaming
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Brain Drain is a funny and challenging puzzle game. You have to place the elements of a scrambled puzzle according to a given model. Select four elements at a time with the stylus and spin them to move the elements to the right positions. Some puzzles may feature malicious game effects that will slow you down during your puzzle solving. There are three game modes to choose from:

Challenge: 200 fixed puzzles with preset best times to solve and beat.
Race: A stream of puzzles and best time tables to beat in four difficulty levels.
Random: Relaxed, random puzzling that continues endlessly.

Battle of Giants™: Mutant Insects – Revenge
Publisher: Ubisoft
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: After the defeat of the Mutant King, the Mutant Queen rose up from the core of the Earth and forced the remaining giant insects into submission. Now it is your job to locate and free the Scorpion Champion, the only giant insect with the ability to defeat the Mutant Queen. Complete 10 new missions, defeat your enemies and liberate the Scorpion Champion! Customize your giant insect with tribal stripes, equip it with special powers and enhance your abilities. Challenge your friends to duels of supremacy on the Nintendo DS™ system. Are you strong enough to win this Battle of Giants™?

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit Wii.com or NintendoDSi.com.

(source: Nintendo)

Kooky cult advertises on Monster... the result is pure comedy gold!

2010-06-28T15:01:00.011-04:00

So my wife was doing a little job search today. She came across this listing for a local company on Monster.com. Let's take a closer look at this gig, shall we?

"Our income-sharing community runs a rapidly growing out-patient psychiatric/substance abuse practice, as well as national advocacy efforts against the prescription of opioids for any condition. We are in need of someone who can help network out computers, help reconfigure and manage our websites, and help make out security systems operational as well as do many other tasks."

"Income-sharing community?" Um... please tell me that's supposed to be "profit-sharing."

And continues...

"We are an income-sharing community eating together and living in adjacent buildings."

Oh, alright. It wasn't a typo after all.

And goes on...

"We are currently treating over 280 opioid dependent patients with Suboxone or tramadol maintenance with a gradual withdrawal goal in addition to many psychiatric patients of all types. We expect to continue our current rapid expansion to at least 660 active opioid dependent patients by next year along with several hundred psychiatric patients."

Oh, this job sounds great! Communal living and drug addicts! Sign me up, cap'n!

So what's the salary like?

"The position is full-time with you becoming a member of the community after a six to twelve month trial period. All expenses are paid for including food, lodging, transportation, vacation expenses, and most health care. We payoff your student loans if you have any and possibly other debts as well. We give you $3000 after six months if you decide not to stay. You get four weeks of paid vacation a year plus $2000 is put into a Roth IRA for you each year. We provide high quality private day care and academically strong schooling for your present and future children during grade school and high school years. We pay for college expenses your children when the time comes. You are provided $100 per month additional spending money and $300 per week when on vacation."

Salary? Um... salary? Y'know... cold, hard, cash money? Oh wait, you're just letting me live in one of your communal condos and paying me an allowance. Gotcha.

It's just like living at home. When I was twelve.

Well, shoot, it's probably got some great perks to compensate, right?

"We are willing to pay for in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination if these are needed."

Oh. Oh snap. I was thinking more like dental...

"We currently own two houses in Clarion and recently purchased 117 acres of land in Venango county for further development. Our part of Pennsylvania is a beautiful, forested region full of great hiking and bicycle trails, rivers for canoeing and kayaking, and plenty of friendly people."

Translation: You'll be stuck out in the middle of the deep woods -- where no one can hear you scream.

"Our income-sharing community encourages the academically gifted to have larger families in order to help out the future of our world."

Erm... say what? You're "breeding" smart people in the middle of the woods. With the help of artificial insemination, I presume....?

"Alcohol consumption is restricted to adults over age 21 and no more than one drink per day for health reasons only, preferably not until middle age."

Can't let the young breeding stock go ruining their nubile young bodies with booze and cigarettes, can we?

"Non-violence is another important value, both politically and in our lifestyle."

Translation: We don't want any conflict when we tell you you're not allowed to leave.

"We are looking for individuals who are likely to become permanent members. New members are not required to contribute any current savings or possessions which they already have."

Oh, so new members don't have to turn over anything they own to you. How thoughtful to wait until everyone is nice and comfy (and preferably knocked up) before draining their bank accounts to fund your fruity little Super Adventure Club.

"We are very concerned about global warming. Thus, we accept pets, but limit any off-spring or replacement pets. We plan to build using Passive House technology, where with proper design and ventilation, no heating or cooling systems are needed. Our vehicles are fuel efficient and not overused. We live frugally but comfortably, while helping others but locally and globally."

I bet the houses are dome shaped and fruity. Just sayin' ...

"Of course, we do not discriminate based on ethnic background or nationality."

Of course not! Sounds like they need all the... er... willing bodies they can get!

Good grief. If you're actually interested in hooking up with these kooks, here's that link again.

New webcomic? Look for it on 09.09.10...

2010-06-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, we've been frantically working on a new webcomic over the past few months. For the first few months we're planning updates on Monday and Thursday, with Thursday, September 9, 2010 being the official launch date.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peak...

Swagbucks = Free LEGO Harry Potter for Wii!

2010-06-27T13:25:00.003-04:00

It's no secret to anyone who knows us -- we're cheap. So to pass along the bargains we've unearthed, I thought I'd pass along this little deal.

My wife signed up for some points program called Swagbucks. With it, she does searches with their search engine and racks up points in the process. On a good day, you can have a pretty good haul. In fact, just using Swagbucks instead of Google this month has landed her enough points to buy my son LEGO Harry Potter on Amazon.

It's totally legit, or I wouldn't be passing it along. It reminds me of the now-defunct iPodsweepstakes.com, which we successfully used to nab three free iPods (a Touch, a Nano and a Shuffle.) Check it out!

Unseen He-Man mini-comic?

2010-06-15T09:56:00.004-04:00

It looks like an unpublished Masters of the Universe mini-comic has been unearthed. Over on the He-Man.org forums, James Eatok (aka Busta Toons) posts this:

For those that don't know, MANY years ago I was fortunate enough to stumble upon ALL the artwork for an unpublished Masters of the Universe minicomic titled "Return from Terror Island!"

This is just to announce on a more official level that the entire minicomic will see print in a future issue of cereal:geek magazine - Until then, here are a couple of panels from a battle between He-Man and Rattlor!

Fascinating! He intends to post the whole comic in its entirety in an upcoming issue of cereal:geek magazine.

Transformers: Mosaic "Fire with Fire" is now online!

2010-04-19T16:34:00.006-04:00

Another Transformers: Mosaic strip I've drawn for the webcomics project was posted today! This is the second strip I've drawn for them, with the first being "Protest" a few years ago. As always, my thanks to all involved!

Read some more great comments here, here and here!

New webcomic? Maybe an old one...

2010-04-10T21:58:00.007-04:00

So what have I been working on lately? Besides having a ridiculously busy schedule with the day job, as well as a hectic freelance and festival schedule, I've been working on a little something on the side with the Mrs. lately. It's not entirely new, this project of ours, and we dusted off some old ideas and mixed with a lot of new. I won't say too much more, except "Fall."

Here, have a sneak peak. (Click images for a larger view.)

Want to see more of my doodles? Check out my deviantArt account!

Peanuts Specials You'll Never See: Twitter Fun For Everyone!

2010-04-08T22:05:00.004-04:00

Good grief! I was bored and decided to tweet a few "unused" titles for Peanuts animated specials that we'd never see. To my surprise (and great amusement) dozens of other bored people joined in using the hashtag #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

This went on for nearly 24 hours (so far) and has been a lot of fun with some truly hilarious "what ifs." That's social networking for you!

Now, as a disclaimer, I want to go on record as saying that I am a HUGE Peanuts fan. But like any good nerd, I always talk smack about the things I love. ;)

Anyway, here are a mere handful of the hundreds of replies we got. Feel free to keep the game going -- just use the #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee hashtag!

jaydeflix "Your Teachers All Have Throat Cancer, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee #ButItExplainsAlot

jszehr "Put The Lotion On Your Skin and Put it in The Basket, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

mkinyon "You Have No Followers On Twitter, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

GThorne "You have Male Pattern Baldness Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

n0t0fth1s34rth "There's An App For That, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

jszehr "It's Called A Sex Change, Charlene Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

Pen_Bird "You're a Buzzkill, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

KeyToons "What Happens in the Pumpkin Patch Stays in the Pumpkin Patch, Linus" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

autumnlake @mkinyon I prefer: "You've Been Unfriended, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

Ittousagi "Wah Wah Wawah Wah Waaaah, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

autumnlake "A Charlie Brown 9-11" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

AuntCranky RT @autumnlake: "An Exiled Nigerian Prince Needs Your Help To Transfer Funds, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee LMAO!!

BombThatBAS "It's the End of the Mayan Calendar, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee #yaymikesterling

jimmyjone "It's puberty, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

Ittousagi "Shazam, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

johnnymags "You're a Good Mandarin, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

Pen_Bird "Nobody Reads your Stupid Blog, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

RubyCosmos 'It's a Bank Holiday, Charlie Brown!' #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

emile_husson "I'm afraid I can't do that, Charlie Brown. I think you know the reason as well as I." #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

Gaijinder "Charlie Brown VS The World" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

jszehr "I'm Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

autumnlake "You've Been RickRolled, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

gappybubble That is just SO wrong! haha. RT @RubyCosmos 'You Sure Got a Pretty Mouth, Charlie Brown.' #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

autumnlake "You've Been Voted Off The Island, Charlie Brown!" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

And a few of my own...

"Snoopy Ate Chocolate, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"You Might As Well Kill Yourself, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"She's a Lesbian, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Quitcher Bitchin', Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"You Forgot I Was Jewish, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Your Mom's Birth Control Failed, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"The Guy in Front of You Got the Last iPad, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"You've Been Expelled For Sexting, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Pig Pen is a Hoarder, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Your Life is One Giant Facepalm, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Keyboard Cat is Playing You Off, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"It's Called the Tea Party Movement, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Your Webcomic Sucks, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"You'll Die a Virgin, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"That's Tax Fraud, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee #movies

"Welcome to Gitmo, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"It's Foreclosure, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

"Sadness is a Cold, Dead Puppy, Charlie Brown" #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee

Fun for all! Once again, feel free to keep the game going -- just use the #PeanutsSpecialsYoullNeverSee hashtag!

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Review

2010-04-06T23:13:00.005-04:00

Fired up the DVR and... it's good. :)

But... it's not what I expected! First off, the show is a reboot. I think. As far as I can tell, we're starting fresh. Granted, the "Scoobyverse" never had its continuity set in stone, but Coolsville is no more and now the gang hails from a place called Crystal Cove, which is renowned for its alleged paranormal activity.

A few quick observations... (Mild SPOILERS!)

* Unlike most past Scooby shows (save for The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo) this series has an ongoing story arc, while at the same time still sticking to the classic 'monster of the week' formula.

* The gang has been reverted to their original 1969 designs, but the overall art style is still very different from past Scooby shows. The closest show I can think of to compare it to would be Jackie Chan Adventures. That's not a bad thing -- it works -- it's just not what I expected (which would have been a continuation of the art style from Abracadabra-Doo)

* The tone of the show is more focused on mystery, and its a lot less slapstick and "moodier" than most Scooby shows. The tone actually reminded me of the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew... had they been animated... and featured a talking dog.

* This is a retcon, so there are lots of new elements added to this incarnation -- particularly the Mystery Inc. gang's family relationships. We find out that Freddie is the mayor's son, Daphne has four snobby sisters and Velma's flakey parents run the local tourist trap -- er -- paranormal museum. Velma and Shaggy are also a couple (!!!) but this is kept on the downlow as they try to hide it from Daphne and Freddie.

* There are homages to the original series aplenty! Matthew Lillard takes over as Shaggy, but Casey Kasem plays his father. The Crystal Cove museum is filled with the costumes of past Scooby villians, and I even spotted Don Knotts (!!!) in a crowd scene! Excellent!

This was just a preview. I guess the series doesn't officially premiere until this summer, but it shows a great deal of potential. I'll be tuning in for sure!

Disney Comics: Jack the Tripper and the Professor

2010-03-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

More Professor Nefarious fan art! This time The Sleuth's adversary is paired with (obvious homage character) "Jack the Tripper" (aka Professor Hoodi-doodi) from the DuckTales episode "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck" ...

(Click image for a larger view)

More Disney Comics fan art: Uncle Scrooge, Magica De Spell and the DuckTales crew!

2010-03-02T10:54:00.005-05:00

Two recent doodles. Click for a larger view.

Darkwing Duck: The Unseen Comic!

2010-02-12T22:18:00.006-05:00

A few years ago I'd talked to some of the folks over at Gemstone about a Darkwing Duck re-imagining that would be more closely tied into the Duck comicverse. There was some interest, but nothing ever became of it (unfortunately!)

A few months ago, I decided to sit down and write a script for a first issue based on what I'd talked about years ago. I started penciling the book in a 4 tier Egmont style. After several pages, I decided that the 4 tier pages weren't suitable for an action-oriented comic like DW, so I scrapped it and started over... working in a more traditional American superhero style.

Anyway, here are scans of a few of those early pencils. And a warning... I plan on posting some of the *final* inked/lettered/colored story right here in a few weeks.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Mickey Mouse as Indiana Jones?

2010-02-10T10:10:00.002-05:00

Here's a colored version of a quick sketch I doodled up between caricatures at Groundhog Day last week...

Mickey and the Sleuth: Professor Nefarious

2010-02-06T20:32:00.008-05:00

Here's a recent commission I did for a member of the DCF forum. This is Professor Nefarious, from the 'Mickey and the Sleuth' comics. This was "digitally inked" from a pencil sketch, then "painted" in Photoshop.

Click the image for a larger view.

Polymer Clay Bracelets: Super Mario Bros. and Disney Princesses!

2010-01-22T21:41:00.010-05:00

My super-talented wife has been selling her handmade polymer clay jewelry at craft fairs all over Western Pennsylvania for a few years now. In fact, in a little over a week she'll be setting up shop next to my caricature stand at the Punxsutawney Community Center on Groundhog Day.

Every year she comes up with some new designs, and this year we've got some kickbutt awesome Super Mario Bros. bracelets...

The Power Stars even glow in the dark for a little extra "Awwwww!"

And here are some kawaii little Disney Princess beads that will soon find their way on to bracelets...

Wanna buy some? Of course you do! Check out my wife's Etsy page right here!

Amazon.com Widgets

Pac-Man: Christmas Comes to Pac-Land

2009-12-22T22:44:00.003-05:00

This is one of the weirdest Christmas specials ever. Seriously. It's Santa. In the ridiculous Pac-Man cartoon from the 80s. This train wreck begs to be watched. So take a few swigs of extra strong egg nog and enjoy!

Ziggy's Gift

2009-12-19T11:36:00.002-05:00

He's bald. He's mute. He's completely unhip. He's Ziggy... and he had a very well animated Christmas special back in 1982. Enjoy!

The Snowman

2009-12-17T09:38:00.003-05:00

Based on the classic children's book (um... silent comic book?) by Raymond Briggs, this 1982 animated special is on my annual "Must Watch" list of Christmas shows. Gorgeous, gorgeous hand-drawn animation and haunting music make this one not to be missed. Enjoy!

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

2009-12-10T14:56:00.004-05:00

Based on the classic L. Frank Baum book of the same name, this 1985 gem was the last of Rankin/Bass' "animagic" Christmas specials. It was also one of the last of the Rankin/Bass classics to go without a DVD release, but apparently Warner Bros. has seen fit to finally release it on DVD this year. (Curiously, that release is paired up with Nestor, which has been released on DVD several times before, yet The First Christmas and Little Drummer Boy Book II still have yet to see a release... go figure.)

There's more of The Hobbit in this special than the classic Rankin/Bass Christmas magic of earlier years, but it's still a goodie. Enjoy!

A Claymation Christmas Celebration

2009-12-08T12:23:00.006-05:00

It came from the 80s! During the height of the California Raisins' popularity, Will Vinton Studios produced this fun little Christmas special. I remember seeing it once or twice when I was a kid, but I don't think it's been aired in a decade or two. Enjoy!

Christmas Is

2009-12-06T13:08:00.003-05:00

Here's another seldom seen animated Christmas special from 1970. I remember watching this one at school. Second grade, I think. I forgot all about it until I stumbled across it on Youtube. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

2009-12-04T22:56:00.008-05:00

This 1978 classic is easily one of my top five all-time favorite Christmas specials ever, and one of the finest pieces of children's entertainment to ever come out of 40 years of Sesame Street. When I was a tyke, I looked forward to my annual viewing of this special as much as I did Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Then came Elmo.

But let's focus on sunnier "sunny days," shall we? Enjoy!

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

2009-12-03T21:21:00.002-05:00

Here's another seldom seen Christmas classic. This 1974 special was directed by Peanuts animation guru Bill Melendez and was about Virginia O'Hanlon's famous letter. Enjoy!

A Muppet Family Christmas

2009-12-01T13:46:00.005-05:00

What happens when the cast of The Muppet Show meets the casts of Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock at Christmastime?

Pure insanity!

And the end result is one of my all-time favorite Christmas specials from the 1980s. This little seen show only aired for a year or two, and has long been out of print on VHS and DVD. Don't expect lightning to strike twice -- the rights to the Muppets, Sesame Street and the Fraggles have been chopped up after Jim Henson's death, so another "Henson family reunion" like this seems very unlikely.

My favorite part? The Swedish Chef tries to kill and cook Big Bird for dinner. Oh dear!

Enjoy!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T07:21:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving turkeys show us how they really feel...

2009-11-25T13:56:00.001-05:00

Mickey Mouse Christmas: Here we come a-wassailing...

2009-11-24T09:43:00.003-05:00

Another Christmas pic I did, this time with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy...

By the way, I'm selling this piece off on eBay right now.

Tinker Bell and the Disney Fairies: Christmas Celebration

2009-11-16T11:03:00.002-05:00

Here's a sketch I did of Tinker Bell and the Disney Fairies from the movies...

I have the original piece up for auction here if anyone is interested.

Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack: Let's get dangerous!

2009-11-13T22:48:00.004-05:00

Here's an original pencil sketch I did of Darkwing Duck and his good buddy Launchpad...

Uncle Scrooge at Christmas: Poor Huey, Dewey and Louie!

2009-11-09T20:51:00.003-05:00

Putting the "Scrooge" back into Uncle Scrooge with this pencil drawing I did...

Want to buy the original? It's for sale here.

Halloween Is Grinch Night

2009-10-20T13:36:00.004-04:00

You just don't see this classic special on TV anymore, so here it is. Enjoy!

Mickey Mouse: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2009-10-15T19:54:00.004-04:00

More Disney art! This is a pencil sketch of Mickey Mouse as "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia.

Want to buy the original? I'm selling it off here.

Lock, Shock and Barrel: The Nightmare Before Christmas fan art

2009-10-11T17:13:00.004-04:00

More Disney Halloween art! This time it's LOCK, SHOCK and BARREL -- those three mirthful miscreants from Tim Burton's THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Want to buy the original art? I'm selling it off here.

Lonesome Ghosts: Mickey, Donald and Goofy

2009-10-10T00:01:00.004-04:00

More Disney comics fan art. This one based off the classic short "Lonesome Ghosts."

Want to buy the original? I'm selling it off here.

Disney Halloween art: Huey, Dewey, Louie and Witch Hazel

2009-10-04T19:56:00.001-04:00

Here's more Halloween themed Disney fan art. Today we have Huey, Dewey and Louie and... Witch Hazel!

Want to buy the original? I'm selling it off here.

Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell as a Witch

2009-10-03T23:07:00.004-04:00

More Halloween themed Disney fan art!

Want to buy the original? It's for sale here!

Kingdom Hearts in Halloweentown: Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Sora and Jack

2009-10-02T16:15:00.004-04:00

Here's a pencil doodle I did of the Kingdom Hearts gang in Halloweentown. 'Tis the season!

Want to buy the original? I'm selling it off here.

Freelancer Advice from Twitter Part II

2009-09-17T17:53:00.005-04:00

Here's a follow up to yesterday's reposting of my tweets dealing with freelance advice. Enjoy!

True freelance horror story: Started my studio at 22. I went to a Chamber mixer and the old folks handed me their coats. I left humiliated.
True freelance horror story: I was once brought in to pinch hit for an Art Director who was fired for masturbating at work.
@Linktm Actually the people in his dept. let me know they scrubbed his desk down with Lysol before I arrived. I kid you not!
@Linktm The head of the company had no intention of telling me WHY he was fired, but found out on Day 1 from one of his female coworkers! :(
True freelance horror story: One of the most difficult clients I ever had is wanted for felony and fled the country > http://bit.ly/ICrUb
(cont'd) Felon Client used to keep me separated from his in-house employees because he didn't want them to "poison" me against him.
(cont'd) Turns out he didn't have to worry about his people poisoning the well -- he did a dandy job of making a jackass out of himself.
(cont'd) Now he's a wanted felon. I should have been shocked, but I remember thinking "How typical" when I heard the news.
Freelance advice: Watch your back if you are working someplace that also has in-house designers. If they feel threatened, it could get ugly.
Back to Felon Client: He let his asst. take the rap for him while he fled to France and took another high paying job >http://bit.ly/1DeVzM
Nice to see Felon Client is having fun on Facebook when he should be behind bars > http://bit.ly/oIR5W
@David_wc Even weirder -- the company who fired the art director for spanking it at work was run by Christians: a pastor and his wife.
Freelance advice: Give yourself breathing room. Estimate extra time into your due date. Things happen -- take that into consideration.
Freelance advice: Make sure you put a due date on invoices. And expect clients to wait until the last minute to pay. Late fees are OK too.
Freelance advice: You're not just a designer, but a salesman and business manager as well. Allow time for everything as it's all important.
Freelance advice; Make sure friends and family understand that just because you're "home" doesn't mean you're really home. Set a schedule.
(cont'd) I used to have friends hang out at my studio and play Playstation when I was working, not understanding that I was still "at work"
(cont'd) They also thought I didn't have a "job" when I worked more than they did. How else do I pay for the food you guys are eating?!
(cont'd) Family members would call me on the phone and ask me to run errands on "work time." They didn't think I was "doing anything."
Freelance advice: Make it crystal clear to family and clients that the hours of whatever O'clock to whatever O'clock are your office hours.
Freelance advice: Don't jump into freelancing. Cut your teeth at a full-time job. Let them pay you to learn -- like college in reverse!
@tudorlewis I'd agree with that. My wife @desert_starr_57 and I work very well together. :)
Freelance advice: Don't let ignorant clients bully you into an impossible date of completion at an impossible price. Good design takes time!
Freelance advice: I said before to 'be a dick.' This is in regards to getting paid. Nobody likes to work with a jerk. But don't be a doormat
True freelance horror story: Jumped into freelance at 22. Bought a $10K Mac. Was laid off from my day job because I was now "competition."
(cont'd) My day job at the time was for a commercial printer. I didn't print anything, and was doing more web design than print. Insane!
Freelance advice: Watch those non-compete agreements! I signed one with Clear Channel and was virtually unable to freelance for a year!
(cont'd) The Clear Channel contract stated I couldn't perform design duties within 100 miles of a CC owned station -- i.e. EVERYWHERE!
(cont'd) You may cut your nose off to spite your face to land just one client with a non-compete. Read very, very carefully before signing!
True freelance horror story: I once had an interview with an ad agency. It consisted of them trying to wrangle client contact info out of ME
True freelance horror story: Once had a lunch meeting with a prospective client. He tried to sell ME on his pyramid scheme. Yes, I ran!

That's all for now, folks!

Freelancer Advice courtesy the School of Hard Knocks (and Twitter!)

2009-09-16T21:47:00.007-04:00

I've been posting some advice for would be freelancers over on Twitter. I started posting these "kernels" because a friend of mine had a question about a billing issue he was having.

It dawned on me that I've spent about half of my 14-year graphic design/illustration career freelancing full-time and had plenty of battle scars to show for it. Hopefully by sharing some of these tidbits, I can help younger freelancers avoid some of the traps I've fallen into... and not be as bitter as I am when they get to be my age. ;)

So here are a bunch of my tweets dealing with the subject...

Freelancer advice: Be a dick. Don't be ashamed to be one. At the end of the day, you're the only one who has your best interests in mind.
Freelancer advice: Pro bono projects are OK every once in awhile, but you can't eat gratitude (if you even get that!)
Freelancer advice: Dealing with people is harder than any Photoshop class. You'll only learn this through real world experience.
Freelancer advice: Desperation leads to destitution. Don't attract bottom rung clients who often skip the bill. If you're good, ppl will pay
Freelancer advice: In the eyes of most employers, freelancers are treated as easily disposable employees. Go into a gig with your eyes open.
Not trying to sound like an old sourpuss with my "freelancer advice" tweets, just a 12 yr freelance vet looking to keep the kids safe. ;)
@StudioXIII The good outweighs the bad with freelancing, but there are a LOT of sleazos out there looking for cheap (free) labor, too.
Freelance advice: How to not get taken advantage of > http://bit.ly/q1o99
"I hate to see freelancers fall under the mercy of their clients (...) After all, the point is to earn a living, right?" http://bit.ly/q1o99
Freelancers: If you have any free time, you're doing something wrong! When you're not working, you should look for work or promote yourself.
@Linktm Thanks. Sorry if I sound curmudgeon-y. Freelancing is not glamorous. Honestly, a "real job" is usually much easier! Sad but true.
Successful freelancers seldom have time for movies, TV, video games and anything resembling a social life. Only so many hours in a day...
A *GOOD* credit card can be a freelancer's best friend. Use it to pay expenses between invoices (sometimes 45 days or so!) but PAY IT OFF.
Freelancers: Even the best clients with an excellent payment history can flake out. There's a first time for everything. Always have Plan B!
@dgriff13 You should get a deposit. Don't feel guilty -- you're not a charity! If you don't meet your end of the deal, they can get it back.
@JoshGorfain Heh. A contract should avoid any... issues. But some clients spend more resources avoiding bills than it would take to pay them
Pro bono work is good to hone your skills and get your name out there. But watch out -- some people will come to expect everything for free!
If YOU don't think your time and talent is worth money, why should anyone else? Even low end fast food or retail jobs pay. #FreelanceAdvice
Some freelancers fall into the trap of thinking they should be lucky to have anyone want to pay them and work too cheaply. Horse manure!
Freelance advice: At the end of the day, it's all just business. And no one has your best interests in mind except you. So take care of YOU.
Freelance advice: If you feel guilted into free work, help out a soup kitchen. Once you offer your services for free, many will expect it.
Not trying to sound bitter 'n old with the freelance advice, just speaking from experience. Want to make a living? Treat it as a BUSINESS.
You may get sob stories from your freelance clients, but I guarantee that YOUR creditors won't be as sympathetic as they expect you to be!
Freelance advice: The best way to avoid the bad stuff I've talked about is to prescreen clients. Be up front with fees. They balk? You run.
Freelance advice: Any serious client will sign a reasonable contract, which may include a deposit to cover time. No contract, no work. EVER.
Freelance advice: Let me repeat that last one for effect: No contract, no work. EVER. No exceptions for friends & family, as those can sour.
Freelance advice: If you want to turn your best friend into your worst enemy, go into business with them. Or do a job without a contract. ;)
Honestly, you're better off NOT working with friends or family as personal ties can cloud judgment. Again, this is a BUSINESS first.
Posted a bunch of "freelance advice" over the past few days. Can be applied to graphic & web design, writing, illustration etc.
@Th0r4z1n3 Yeah I'd agree with that one. Keep your friends and work relationships separate if possible.
So if you're wondering what gives me the right to spout off, I've spent more than half of my 14-year design career freelancing full-time.
If I can get through to even a fraction of starry-eyed would be freelancers with my grouchiness, then it's worth it. ;)
Freelancing is not glamorous. It's hard, hard work. There are definite perks, but you're often not as "free" as you think you'd be.
My Freelance Advice tweets may sound harsh, but get burnt a time or five and you'll come around to seeing things my way. I guarantee it. ;)
@davisac1 @eric_merced @ShivaeStudios Thanks for reading my spew! Not trying to discourage freelancers, just want to be real with them.
Freelance advice: Having only one client means you're actually an employee without the perks/protection of full-time employment. Watch out!
There were times when I only had one or two clients. When I was tossed aside (which happens to all freelancers eventually) I had no recourse
Freelance advice: Your clients will eventually tire of you, and you're much easier to get rid of than an in-house employee. Don't get comfy!
True freelance horror story: I had a client try and have me HELP them pick my replacement because they thought I was too expensive!
Freelance advice: Working in-house means you're a temp in the eyes of your employer... er... client. There's a difference.
Expecting a freelancer to be at your beck and call 24/7 makes as much sense as expecting every business to keep those hours just for you.
Freelance advice: YOU set your own hours and YOU tell the client when a project will be done. You're your own business, not their employee.
Freelance advice: Work crazy hours to please a client once, and they'll expect you to be a miracle worker every time.
True freelance horror story: I once took a project over the weekend to help out a client. They gave me work Friday afternoon from then on.
Freelance advice: Don't be afraid to lose a client if you won't work insane hours for them. Do it once, it'll be expected from then on.
Freelance advice: You can take the occasional weekend project if you're a masochist... just charge a premium. Like a 25% surcharge for OT.
Freelance advice: If you charge more for your time after hours, you'd be surprised how many projects can wait until Monday morning. ;)
Posted more "freelance advice" tweets today dealing with client relationships and sane working conditions. If anyone is interested. ;)
I have tons of advice tweets for would be #freelancers going back several days if anyone is interested.
True freelance horror story: Confronted a client who was past due on a small bill. Said he "couldn't believe I treated clients this rudely!"
(cont'd) Client only owed me like $80 yet & I'd bent over backwards time and again. Months before, asked if I'd be OK with waiting 3 months.
(cont'd) Same client also had very large government accounts and was billing 10s of thousands of dollars per month, but balked at paying me.
(cont'd) It's just insane how far people will go to skip out on a bill, and it shows you where the freelancer often is in the pecking order.
True freelance horror story: Made the mistake of doing work for a guy I knew from high school. Got stuck with business cards. (cont'd >>)
(cont'd) Had to stop by his business to pretty much demand the money he owed me, but his attitude was like "Duuuuude, we're buddies, right?"
So I can't stress enough how awkward/damaging mingling work with friendship can be when it comes down to brass tacks. #FreelanceAdvice
I'm not saying NEVER work with friends or family, just be able to separate business from relationship. Things go wrong, something WILL give.
I think spouses can work together easier than friends because they're playing for the same team: their own family.
Friends are often playing for themselves and their families, ultimately. And toes can get stepped on more easily.

That's it... for now. I'll keep you posted if the mood to tweet on the subject strikes again!

EDIT: Here's Round 2 of my freelance tweets [link]

Magica De Spell & Morgana Macawber

2009-08-31T13:11:00.001-04:00

In time for Halloween... a pencil sketch of two Disney duck witches...

Darkwing Duck vs. Gizmoduck: Disney Afternoon throwdown!

2009-07-20T12:27:00.006-04:00

Here's a pinup I did of Darkwing Duck vs. Gizmoduck... with poor Launchpad and Gyro looking on...

E3: Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Metroid... and Final Fantasy XIV?!

2009-06-02T21:13:00.007-04:00

So far, this year's E3 has been very good to us old school gamers. Just today, Nintendo announced not one, but TWO new Mario games for Wii and a killer looking Metroid from the Ninja Gaiden crew...

Another big surprise was the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV for the PS3. That's right, part XIII is still about a year away and they're already talking about XIV. I'd be excited -- but it's another online installment like XI, and I really don't care for MMORPGs. (I personally think the main Final Fantasy series should be strictly offline, single-player experiences and that they should save the online installments for a spinoff series. But hey, that's just me.)

So yeah, sounds like a good show so far and there are still a few days left. Maybe Square Enix will drop a Chrono bomb on us...? Maybe? Please?

whalecrash: Making webcomics with Twitter

2009-04-24T08:39:00.010-04:00

EDIT: I've since moved the comics archives to http://whalecrash.shadowbinders.com

So I've started a new experiment this week. I wanted to see if I could make a webcomic with Twitter.

No, not just tweet about a comic -- make it with Twitter.

"Constrained comics" lend themselves to something like this, so I whipped up an off-the-wall image and decided to pull tweets into the word balloon.

The result? WHALECRASH! (http://whalecrash.com)

With Twitter, I can update it on the fly whenever I want, from wherever I am. There's no set update schedule, but at least once a day would be nice. To the best of my knowledge, no one else has done this yet. I'm guessing either because they haven't thought to... or it's just an awful idea. We'll see how this goes!

Want to help me out? DM or reply @whalecrash with something clever and/or funny in 140 characters or less. If I like your script, I'll tweet it. And don't forget to follow me @kneon !

'A Miser Brothers Christmas' review

2008-12-22T22:15:00.005-05:00

They're too much? Nope... they're not enough.

So I wrote a couple weeks ago about how I was cautiously optimistic regarding the A Miser Brothers' Christmas special airing this year on ABC Family. This special was, supposedly, a sequel to the Rankin/Bass classic The Year Without a Santa Claus.

It... well... fell short. I'm not completely surprised. So far, there hasn't been a single truly worthy sequel to a classic Rankin/Bass holiday special. I had a glimmer of hope because this one had so, so much more going for it than the others, including the return of original voice actors Mickey Rooney as Santa and George S. Irving as Heat Miser. It was also the only sequel done in stop motion animation (as opposed to CG,) which was a hallmark of most of Rankin/Bass' specials.

So what, exactly, didn't I like? Well, the two biggest turnoffs for me were the writing and the music. Rankin/Bass was a well oiled holiday machine, and they usually employed the services of Romeo Muller as screenwriter and Maury Laws as composer. Muller's screenplays had a certain "it" factor... it's really hard to pin down exactly was "it" was... he had a real knack for pacing and characterization.

On the few rare occasions when they did sequels, Mr. Muller often took things in a totally different direction. This show, on the other hand, simply rehashed bits of the original (Santa is out of commission... again) and what was new, was just... not all that interesting, really. The pacing was slow, and none of the new characters were all that memorable.

Besides, as great as the Misers were in the original special, they were a plot device. That's it. They existed as an obstacle for Mrs. Claus and the elves to overcome. The story wasn't about them, and they got very little screen time aside from a snappy musical number. They were never meant to carry an entire show themselves, and they just... can't. The fighting gets real old, real quick. Then they kiss and make up, so the one thing they did have going for them was gone.

So that brings me to the music. The Rankin/Bass classics had classic music. The Misers are as popular as they are because of a catchy song. No memorable showstoppers are to be found here. Even the classic Miser Brothers musical number was watered down compared to the original. In fact, I have to say that all of the original tunes were downright painful to listen to. From the opening number to Mrs. Claus' awful warbling, the music was really, really subpar. Even the background music sounded like something from your average Saturday morning cartoon show.

I understand that Maury Laws probably wanted nothing to do with this thing, but surely there are some talented folks on Broadway that could write some catchy tunes...?

The music is absolutely, absolutely a key ingredient of most successful holiday specials. Aside from the Rankin/Bass specials, where would the Grinch be without "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" or what would Charlie Brown be without "Christmastime is Here" or "Linus and Lucy" ...?

Yeah, it's that important. And one of the things I've seen mucked up the most in these Rankin/Bass "sequels."

So what was done right?

Using stop motion animation. Soooo close, yet so far to go, guys. Cuppa Coffee is the studio behind this special. They're the folks who did Jojo's Circus on Playhouse Disney. And I cannot deny that they're talented.

The animation quality is excellent. This thing looked expensive. The art direction, well, would be very nice if this weren't billed as a sequel to a show with such a classic, classic look. Rankin/Bass shows had a distinct style thanks to the uber talented Paul Coker Jr.

This show was very bright, very pastel and very stylized. That's not a bad thing... it's just hard to reconcile it with the original when many of the characters look so different (such as a skinny Mrs. Claus and an unrecognizable Mother Nature.) Oddly enough, some of the new characters (like North Wind) looked more like a Coker design than the returning cast. The elves seemed to be a throwback to the elves from Rudolf instead of the elves from The Year Without a Santa Claus. Jingle and Jangle are nowhere to be found. Rankin/Bass characters were cartoony, but the sets and costuming were usually grounded in reality. Again, not understanding the logic here.

So yeah... if it weren't a sequel to a show with an established look, I'd have nothing but praise.

Voice casting. Bringing back Mickey Rooney and George S. Irving was inspired. They both did an excellent job with the material they were given, and Mr. Rooney slipped back into the Santa role effortlessly.

And, well, that's about it. Worth checking out for the curiosity of it, but don't expect the second coming of Rankin/Bass. It is what it is. And, believe it or not, it's the best of the bunch so far.

Now, if Warner/Cuppa Coffee would've worked on a new special that wasn't a sequel to such a classic, I think I would've been much, much more receptive. I see potential to do Rankin/Bass style shows... but the classics really should be left alone. (Yeaaaaah... I'm lookin' at you, Classic Media!)

But, man... if Cuppa Coffee teamed up with Rankin, Bass, Laws and Coker on something new... that might actually work out quite well indeed. There's definitely a demand, or these "sequels" wouldn't be churned out at such an alarming rate. Who better to give the public what they want than the guys behind the originals? One can dream...