Time management

New Crawlers shows how sometimes you follow an idea because you want to not because it actually saves you more time than you invested in setting it up http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/7

In Character

One of the reasons I avoid fantasy as a genre is I hate coming up with otherworldly sounding names. It was liberating to come up with names I thought others would come up with. http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/6

RPG Crossdressing

New Crawlers. It's common in MMORPGs for guys to play female characters because other players will give you free stuff if they think you're a girl and if your playing a female character they have a female butt to look at while they hide from real girls. One of the players in Crawlers has a different reason http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/5

Vacation Post

I'm on vacation so posting will be a little more sporatic than it's been (though Dungeon Crawlers will update automatically at crawlers.thecomicseries.com on Tuesday and Thursday) and I'm going to be a little less informed than normally. This is a good time to share my most closely watched news outlets.

MSNBC
This is the default channel in my house though I no longer go out of my way to watch a specific program. I am amused by rivalries and their whole thing with Fox news keeps me entertained as well as informed. I would still recommend the Dylan Ratigan show, but the others seem to be cheerleaders for Democrats, even while criticizing them.

Democracy Now!
This show is great for finding out about stories that fall through the cracks but the bias is so strong on this show I have to be in a certain mood to watch it. Take everything with a grain of salt because if the hosts agree with a guest they can say nothing wrong and if they disagree they can say virtually nothing right.

Talk of the Nation


This American Life
Documentary radio show that is very comprehensive when it's about current affairs. It's very often not though. Many times the show is just about interesting things or even feature readings of short fiction.

Frontline
I have yet to be disappointed in this documentary series. Well researched, comprehensive and well balanced.

The Daily Show/Colbert Report
These are actually great shows to watch to be informed because they show the footage other outlets will ommit in fear of looking bias.

Real Time with Bill Maher
Funny and informative but I don't get to watch it anymore until I can afford HBO

Penn & Teller's Bullshit
Great Libertarian spin on current events, though I occationally yell at the TV when watching (example: in the Wal-mart episode I was very mad that they were depicting Rogers Park as an upscale rich people neighborhood).

Politics and a word about bias

A few days ago I talked about how I often have a bias of a comic based on my relationship with the creator of that comic.  In the media outlets there is a debate about trying to appear to be objective. I say trying to appear objective instead of being objective because objective is an impossible standard. It is impossible to give every fact about an issue equal weight at the same time, and an apparent bias will appear even if the components of the story are randomly selected.
There is something lost in this debate about trying to remain objective. Passing on bullshit to the public. Currently the media sees America as having a two party system. According to this narrative there are two sides to every issue and both are equally valid. This is true but not for the reason the mainstream news seems to think. Both sides are usually full of shit. 
Evidence to the claim is the commonly sited "we need 60 votes" mantra of the Senate. To recap, the Republicans threaten to filibuster when they don't like a proposal by the Democrats, who then give up because they don't have the votes. What is rarely said is that filibusters are hard. Two people are required to hold the floor on a filibuster. When Mike Gravel filibustered he wore a colostomy bag so he wouldn't have to leave the floor to take a bathroom break. He was speaking so long he started to weep. Filibustering is self torture and I don't believe for a second Republicans intend to do it every time they have threatened to.


Also check out Olbermann on bias

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bottomless Purse

Why kill an enemy when you can trap them in a sort of purgatory http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/4

 

Explorers of the Unknown Review and a word about bias

I've been involved with the comics community for a long time. I know a lot of people who make comics. ?
Some are drawing group friends. Online friends. Convention friends. So my reviews are bias to some degree because I know many creators beyond what I learn about them from their work. I normally avoid pointing this out but there is something that must be considered when reviewing Explorers of the Unknown:

You are probably never going to meet anyone more excited about comics than the writer of the series Seth Fronzoli. If you've met Josh Elder he runs a close second for me. This counts for something for me. Maybe it shouldn't when I put on the reviewer hat.

When in the time I hung out with Seth he was a writer skulking around my artist group trying to find an artist to work with. Everyone in the group at the time was writing their own stuff. But he kept showing up, kept networking, kept helping us out when he could. Now he has a collaborator and  a webcomic that has run over 100 pages.

He was tenacious and as far as I know it was never because he expects a big pay off from a movie deal or something (though I'm sure he'd like that). There are delusional people who do that. Seth loves the medium.

Now lets take a look at the product of that love...

Web-Comic Review
Title: Explorers of the Unknown http://www.drunkduck.com/Explorers_Of_the_Unknown/index.php?p=442876
Creator(s): Seth Fronzoli, Shawn Atkins

Art
The art is highly stylized and would be at home at Slave Labor Graphics (though the series does eventually become color). In the beginning there are a few sequences that are a bit hard to read as shapes blend together. The artist takes many anatomical liberties but they do more good than harm.
There are a few panels where the artist splices black and white photographs into the page. The effect works better in some places than others and used infrequently enough to take me out of the story when I come across it so my brain can point out the obvious "Oh he used a photo here for some reason."


Another visual issue is the lettering. I'd like to give it kudos for being different than standard lettering but I can't do that when it is barely readable on some pages. A font size that may be perfectly readable on the printed page can easily become a blurry eyesore on the web.
Later in the series a minimalistic color pallet is very effectively brought in and adds to the graffiti feel of the series.

Writing



Explorers of the unknown is a romp. These are silly adventures in a world of mishmash genres. The writing doesn't get in the way of this. He has brought his, well I don't want use the word spunk... He brought his energy, heart, and playfulness.
The characters and plots are only as developed as they need to be. The nice thing about an ongoing story is that characters are going to develop with every page. The only drawback is that the reader has to trust the writer long enough for the pay off.



Overall
If you are a fan of The Umbrella Academy you will probably enjoy Explorers of the Unknown. Not just because you find the redundant title amusing.


http://www.drunkduck.com/Explorers_Of_the_Unknown/index.php?p=442876

I got this

The challenge of this series from page one is making the comic interesting for both people into pen and paper RPGs and people who are not.
http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/3

Safer kinkier air travel

What I planned to blog about today wasn't really working out. So instead I'd like to talk a little about airport security. Today MSNBC's News Nation program had a guy who refused to get a pat down or the body scan. As an informed consumer he checked to see if the airport had the full body scan (it sees through your clothes). The website said they didn't so he picked that one. I don't really see the big deal that someone in a booth can see you naked when you walk through it. I'm even okay (and flattered actually) if they play pocket pool while I'm being scanned. But I'm weird.

The real problem was that the airport did have the body scan and the alternative was a pat down. The man had read that several men felt physically sick after their groin had been checked. The host of the show turned to the pundit Michael Smerconish who said something like "I am concerned about his privacy rights. But what about my right to safety if I'm the guy next to him on the plane? I just want get through security as quickly and safely as possible"

I think something was lost in the translation in this story. This happens when people try to talk about genitalia in polite company. The guy was worried about getting his balls racked okay. He didn't appreciate the TSA saying "Show us the goods or we'll yank on your bean bag!"

I have an idea for Smerconish and his ilk. They should have a third line just for men who are in a hurry and not worried about their rights. We line all these guys up and have the TSA agents work their way down the line kicking the passengers in the nuts until they collapse in pain. This will take approximately 1.2 kicks per passenger. If a bomb doesn't fall out of the guys pocket when he crumples over, then it's safe to let him on the plane.

Alternatively, at least in the Vegas airport, there should be a security line where a specially trained strippers (male and female) will give you a lap dance as they check for explosives. Smerconish also gave me this idea because he said the good thing about the pat down was that it's someone as the same sex as you. I don't see how that's a good thing for me but also how do you know the TSA agent isn't a homosexual. It would make much more sense if we got to pick who was going to sexually assault us in the name of airport security.

Dexter Early Cuts Review (a few minor spoilers)

I'm looking forward to tonight's episode of Dexter. The Showtime series has from it's beginning been a dark reflection of mainstream superhero comics. All the elements are there: Dexter is a vigilante who works for the police as a day job. Dexter has unusual abilities (he can often recognize others with a dark side) with a dramatic origin. Special training. More recently in the new season Dexter, Julia Stiles is trying out to be his new sidekick.
I'm not the first to notice this connection. In the continuity of the show there is a comic based on Dexter's work. Showtime has been promoting Dexter for years at ComicCon. And last year Sho.com has been running webisodes of a Dexter animated series called "Early Cuts" which features the art of many great cartoonist.

Webisode Review
Title: Dexter Early Cuts http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/webisodes.do
Creator(s): Michael C. Hall, Kyle Baker, Ty Templeton, Andre Vera Martinez, Devin Lawson, Tim Schlattmann, Lauren Gussis, Bill Sienkiewicz and David Mack.

Art

All of the art is really spot on though the style varies from artist to artist. Sometimes the images are a little to spot on of actor Michael C. Hall which is odd when some things are rotoscoped and others are not. My favorite work is the Dark Echo story illustrated by Sienkiewicz and Mack. They compliment each other well and really match the tone of the series.
The animation is fairly static. It's closer to animated panels of a webcomic than an animated series. Most of the time this isn't an issue but there is one conversation in particular where the mouth animation took me out of the story.

Writing
The writing blends in perfectly with the show because it is written by members of the writing staff. Being an animated series allows them to create sequences that may be too expensive or difficult to film. Yet they don't over do it.


Sound

If you are a fan of Michael C. Hall's narration on the show prepare for some ear candy. Thanks to the static animation much of the dialogue that would be present in live action is replaced with narration. It is really effective with Dexter because it puts the audience in an uncomfortable place next to Dexter's thoughts.

Overall
This is one of my dream projects. Before this project came out I was keeping an ear toward my friends in LA hoping they would make some contact on Dexter I could pitch a Dexter webcomic to (my idea was a parrallell series that would retell each episode of the show from different characters points of view). This series is an even better idea. And the animation is a better idea.
http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/webisodes.do 

Can't spell Bush without BS

Remember a few months ago there were those billboards that said "Embarrassed yet?" and had a picture of Obama?

The recent media blitz of Bush's new book got me thinking about it because I'm not hearing too many Republicans throw Bush under the bus the way Democrats are supposed to throw Obama under there. So I thought I'd make a list of reasons I still hate Bush:

10) The 2000 election was probably stolen by Bush's people. That's my opinion. What is a fact is that in 2004 Bush's people tampered with the vote. They were bragging about it in emails that they accidentally sent to the wrong account (unfortunately for them the wrong account was a progressive journalist)

9) Bush got all offended by Kanye West saying "Bush doesn't care about black people" even though his cronies were putting up signs in black neighborhoods telling people to vote on the wrong day, making several common black names flagged as fraudulent for everyone with that name, and falsely reporting other voters registration as expired. I don't think Bush is a racist but I think it's fare to say he doesn't care about black people.

8) Bush is a fake cowboy. A lot of things Bush did I can explain away as him being an idiot. But he knows he's not a cowboy. That ranch in Crawford he was always clearing brush at was just a prop that he sold the second he was out of office he moved back into the city.

7) He gets credit for the surge working. The surge didn't work. Finally listening to the Generals, who literally wrote the book on counter insurgency, worked . The surge was a way for Bush to save face in a colossal fuck up.

6) He somehow doesn't get the blame for TARP AKA The Bailout.

5) The Bailout AKA TARP is just another example of how the Bush administration had no problem giving welfare to corporations but complains about money to people.70% of the foreclosures that caused the bailout could have been resolved if the banks would have renegotiated the rates.


4) That weaselly laugh.

3) The world isn't better without Saddam. It would have been if he was bumped off without killing several hundred thousand of his subjects. Also Bush is obviously not mature enough to grasp his impact on the world. He actually expected us to be greeted as liberators when we'd been using UN resolutions to bomb civilian water treatment plants since his father was in office. Which I'm sure contributed to the water born infections many of our troops got when over there.

2) Somehow attacks on American soldiers do not count as attacks on America. Bush justifies all the shady things he did in the name of national defense by siting there hasn't been another attack since 9/11. I hate the whole "we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here". To me it implies that the life of a soldier is worth less than that of any other citizen. We were unlikely to get attacked again without giving up our rights and invading foreign countries. There hasn't been another attack because these terrorist are mostly boobs who can't make a decent shoe bomb. They got lucky on 9/11, get over it.

1) At best Bush is exceptionally gifted at self deception. At worst he's a liar. Recent example is in the new Lauer interview Bush says he had no doubts about the intelligence for WMDs in Iraq. But in Bob Woodward's book (which sourced over seventy White House staffers) Bush seemed pretty skeptical. I could forgive Bush if he just didn't know but Bush refuses to know.

If you are a die hard Republican I will try to make this up to you by doing one about Obama. He hasn't been in office eight years so there isn't quite so much venom in me for him quite yet.

That'd be a no...

As I'm posting this I am listening to Kevin Smith talk about a new podcast he is starting where he will run D&D http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/2

Review: Skin Deep

Web-Comic Review
Title: Skin Deep http://www.skindeepcomic.com/archives/
Creator(s): Kory Bing

Art
There is a very big jump in the quality of the art between the first book "Orientations" and the current book "Exchanges". It makes it hard to talk about the art in the first book without insulting it when there isn't anything wrong with the art even in the beginning. If the book started out at a 6 it has sense jumped to a 9.
The current book is much more polished and has a very confident line in comparison to the first book.
Kory Bing has made an investment from the beginning of the series in giving each character their own fashion sense. But in the current book the sense of style has creeped into the architecture. Each location has it's own flair now.

Writing
The series doesn't seem to be about telling a story. It's about having a world built around you, on top of the one you see around you. When a character is talking the conversation may inches the plot along but almost always adds depth to the world and the characters in it.


We the readers are given a guide in this world in both "Orientations" and "Exchanges" that knows as much about the world of Skin Deep as we do. As they are educated so are we.
The writing seems effortless and treats the reader like an eavesdropper. While each of the characters has depth to them I'm not sure I'm invested in any of them. When most of the characters of the first book were put aside for "Exchanges", at no point did I wonder where they are.

Overall
 This series is a good stop for the escapist world. Skin Deep has a completely different take on mythology and cryptozoology. I will not be surprised to see fanfic and role-playing games pop up as fans want to bring their own characters into the world Kory Bing has created.

http://www.skindeepcomic.com/archives/

Dungeon Crawlers: I thought we were cool...

I haven't role-played in years and years. A few months ago my stepson and his friends said something about D&D (which I played like twice even when I did role-play), the idea of the Charismatic Blade jumped in my head, and suddenly I wanted to do a comic about role-playing. weird
http://crawlers.thecomicseries.com/comics/1/

Let's assume the rumors are true...

I didn't want to weigh in on this while running for congress but I want to address it now. Supposedly Billy Long was getting strippers the Metro Grill. I know there are other allegations but I don't think those are funny and this is the one that seems to have captured some imaginations.
So assuming the rumors are true: What's the big deal about getting strippers? I've always assumed I'm the only guy out there that hasn't gotten a lap dance from a stripper (I have an irrational fear of accidentally going to a place where a blood relative of mine is working).
I've decided to ask some industry insiders on Facebook what the BFG is, starting with a DJ from a local club:

Have you heard the allegations? Do you have any inside information about it?
DJ Anonymous: not really. I just go because it's my job, and i get to work with music in some way. got a girl at home so i don't really true to get to involved with the females there


Is having a stripper at a place like the Metro Grill more or less shady than at a club? Why?
DJ Anonymous: Doesn't matter where they are, according to this country at the age of 18 your an adult, and can make decisions. whether it's to die like a soldier or live free like a warrior. whether to follow people in the sky or your own beliefs. as an adult the government has taken the right to make adult decisions. It don't matter what that girl did for a living, as long as she's old enough to make that choice

Is there a type of person that goes to a strip club?

DJ Anonymous: adults...usually men 18-80 that enjoys the form of the female shape we get everyone from truckers to local news casters well...weather men at least.

Females arent excluded in that list, they just aren't as prevalent. Heck, remember one night that i had to check a few times, but yeah, even Amish had made theyre way there so no...not really a "type"

Do the ladies there seem to lack moral character? Don't say taking off their clothes because we know that part

 DJ Anonymous: Just like going to any store or resturaunt in America, you have good staff...then you have the staff that you don't tip so to speak, but morals are too relative a term. Is it moral that the youth of today walk around Springfield or any city acting like this is 1970's Compton? No, but you get the special intrest groups up your back side anytime you make fun of them for it. Is it moral that we give every little tick an quirk a special needs group and now normal upstanding citizens are buried under the pile. Taking clothes off is nothing in comparison to the recent "everywhere urbanization" that we have allowed. Instead of taking jobs from people trying to pay thier bills, maby this city...state even should worry about removing all the gangs that are polluting this place with drug war fare atleast it would be more productive

 But i'm a bit of an extremist on that end, just had problems like that right across the street recently\

Who do you think is more dishonest a generic stripper or generic politician?
who ruins more peoples lives....answers it's self

Under Batman:Under the Red Hood

Movie Review
Title: Batman: Under The Red Hood
Creator(s): Judd Winnick and a bunch others http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Under_the_Red_Hood

Art

The art throughout the movie is beautifully colored and drawn. 3D affects are integrated well ranging from barely noticeable to seamlessly integrated.
The title sequence art is even better. I would actually prefer the whole movie to be in the style of the title sequence. Though I feel this way about almost every animated movie that has come out recently. Yeah it would make the movies more static, but I don't know, I'd appreciate the 75 minute eyegasm

Writing

Judd Winnick was one of my favorite writers before going over to DC. I would have followed him over but I'm broke. And Winnick not only wrote the movie but the source material "Under The Hood" which sounds a little like a comic about working on the Batmobile.
While I didn't like most of the Joker's lines in the movie (which was only in part because of the writing) one character does shine: The Red Hood. This character is DC's answer to Deadpool. My best argument for this is a big spoiler. But trust me.
The Red Hood is a great villain to Batman especially for a number of reasons. Red Hood balances out Batman's grimness with a dark sense of humor and like any good villain he brings the heroes mission into question. RH's agenda is perhaps a better method than Batman's endless beatings on criminals.

Sound
What stands out is that the voice of the Joker does not work for me at all. I understand the casting. Someone went "The guy who plays Bender would be a great Joker!" It almost sounds like he was going for the Heath Ledger Joker but missing. It's one of the first voices of the movie and I almost turned it off.

Overall
I'm a pretty big Deadpool fan and seeing Winnick write a character so much like the 'merc with a mouth' is a treat for me. Most superhero fans would agree with me. It fits well into continuity of the comics. There are plenty of action sequences (including one with a robot). And the story wraps everything up at the end.
If you are not a comic fan or one of those 'just Batman' people I run into occationally, don't worry. you won't get lost unless you get hung up on who some of the more obscure characters are.

The Microwave Generation

A lot of people are calling this election a referendum on Obama. I hope not. I hope it's a whole lot more. I hope it's a referendum of the two party system. Amongst activists disgusted with the two party system there are two philosophies: Join/create a third party or take over one of the established parties and change it from the inside.
What the Tea Party is doing is giving me some mixed feelings. On one hand it's great that the technique can be effective. On the other they seem in danger of radicalizing the Republican party. Radicalizing doesn't usually result in things getting more radical/awesome. It's usually radical/crazy.
If this election was a referendum on Obama that bothers me more. The extra energy of the right is coming in part from the extra funds being dumped into the campaign because of Supreme Courts ruling on Citizens United (basically individuals still limited on how much they can give to a politician but companies can give as much as they want).
The idea that Obama is an extreme anything is poppycock. Nothing Obama has done is beyond the trajectory of previous presidents of either party. Every president in my life time and probably longer has pushed the boundries of their powers a little bit only to be escalated by the next guy. Congress has done the same thing. This is why I think every president should be impeached at least at the end of their term if not earlier. I'll go into this later.

What I really think this 'referendum on Obama' is about is that the American people are too used to getting their cake and eating it to. This is a generality so if it doesn't apply to you then I am not talking about you (but put some real thought into if it really is about you). The proof is in the "keep the government out of my medicaid" signs.
Americans who can't afford to hire someone themselves want the government to provide these types of services but don't want to pay for them. A prime example is the recent Congressional race I was a part of, My district is staunchly Republican but a significant portion of the populous draws unemployment three months of the year when Branson shuts down for the winter.
When I took electronics at the VoTech in Reeds Spring the teacher told us we were the microwave generation. We've never had to wait for anything in our whole lives. I think he missed the mark a little because it isn't just my generation. We all have come to expect everything to be wrapped up in a neat little bow in a timely manor and it shouldn't require any actual effort from us.
I have my own reasons for not liking Obama. Much of it comes from the fact that he doesn't practice what he preaches (criticizes gitmo but starts an assassination program for example). But it bothers me that the right is treating Obama as if he is anything but a continuation of Bush. I keep hearing Boehner and others referring to 2008 debt ceiling as if it were an acceptable number.
The silver lining in all this negative intellectual dishonesty is that the left is coming back with humor as anti-venom. It's what I've tried to do. Then there was the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and now there is this http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

Tricky Treats

I planned on launching a new comic today but my scanner is too old for windows 7. Instead today's posting will be kind of a grab bag.

In honor of the birthday of a certain Buffy fan I have fixed the links to my 'alternative mythology' Weight of Eternity. I can never decide if I like this series or not. Maybe I'll create a poll to settle it.

http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE00.htm
(The art gets better halfway through the series)
http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE09.htm

I have also slapped together an archieve of relevant postings about my candidacy
http://www.nilvsdcbs.com/responses.html

Finally, re-posting seemed like a cheat so I'll leave you with some new Observations of Oddities: Products
http://nilgravity.com/observationsprod.html
Observations of Oddities: Graffiti
http://nilgravity.com/observationsgraphiti.html

Can you Para-digm it?

Web-Comic Review
Title: Paradigm Shift http://www.paradigmshiftmanga.com/ps/part-one-equilibrium.html
Creator(s): Dirk Tiede


Art
Tiede is one of the best draftsmen out there.  Even if you normally shy away from art with a manga influence, Tiede makes it worth your while. The squeaky clean lines and shading are very pleasing to the eye. And the Chicago (and later other locales) city-scapes are a real treat. This is espeacially true if you ever lived in Chicago because every location in the book is a real place.
The layouts in Paradigm Shift are dynamic and exciting and rarely if ever confusing. Even though the tall pages for this web-comic  appear to be formatted for print, Tiede tries to maximize the reading experience for both web and print by designing the pages to be read five at a time online. The bottom of each page is made to flow into the top of the following page to make scrolling down into the next page seemless.


Writing
Paradigm Shift is a police procedural with a hint of X-Files. The story telling is excellent and captivating. Like many web-comics Tiede indulges in the freedom of not having a limit of pages to tell his story. Manga fans probably will not notice. But readers of primarily a superhero comics may not get into the story until they reach book three.

The main characters are classic comic relief and straight man. The feisty McAllister is, well, feisty. Her partner Mike Stuart is calm and disciplined. Both are mostly one note or two dimensional. The depth of the characters works if your reading the series as it's updated- a page at a time. But makes reading the printed version a bit watered down emotionally.


Overall

This series may be a slow burn but now that the series is catching on fire it's a must read.  http://www.paradigmshiftmanga.com/ps/part-one-equilibrium.html