Category: Webcomics

The Week(s) in Comics (My Pull Lists for 3/6/24 & 3/13/24)

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Bruce

Oh the joys of being out of town… it means you have twice the comics to read when you come back!

I’m not sure which comics are from which week so I’m not even going to try to figure that out, but there were some awesome comics released!

While on my  trip I happened to stumble into a comic shop in Odense that was pretty amazing, it had a bit of everything, but it made me realize just how lost I am when it comes to European comics.  This hole in my knowledge base I intend to fix, but it will take time.  First place to start, there’s TinTin.   I’ve read some of Hergé’s masterpiece and even sat through the film.  Our first geocache, before Sue took over the ProfessorZoom caching name was “TinTin & Snowy” at a nearby dog park. It was archived at the beginning of 2024. 🙁

Faraos Cigarer as seen from my hotel room in Odense.
They weren’t open, but were running a game night so we snuck in here are cars from TinTin.
The LARP/Cosplay section of this amazing store… I just need a bigger suitcase (or two)

While I’d love to blabber on about my lack of knowledge when it comes to European comics Nothing Special Volume One – Through the Elder Woods the book came out while I was a away and I’d love to take a moment to blabber on about this amazing comic and all three volumes that hopefully will be coming out in paper form more sooner than later. First of all Katie Cook is amazing (amazingly amazing). Her style is cartoony (which I like) and she has been a standard at conventions for years. I have a cartoon of Hemi (bestest cat in the world) done by her and I own a few of her drawings and strips. Due to personal stuff she vanished for a couple years (starting around COVID and things piled on after that) and is now coming back. I found her at C2E2 years ago and started reading Gronk, her Webcomic at the time. When Webtoon started up they gave her the opportunity to tell another story in their format which is like having an infinite scroll. Nothing Special is the story of a teenage girl, Callie, who lives between worlds. Her father spends most of his time in a fairyland with magic and cools stuff, while she is in our world. It’s senior year and she stumbles upon DeClan who has carried a torch for her since kindergarten. They actually connect (over dead plants- it makes sense… really it does) and when her father goes missing on her birthday Callie heads out to find him with DeClan a perfectly “normal human boy” coming along to help. I don’t want to give too much away, but it is one of the stories from Webtoon that I followed religiously until towards the end of the third season, life got complicated for Katie and it took a hiatus. Having taken a hiatus (or two or three, myself I can’t complain). Nothing Special is especially funny, clever, and just a great read. If you don’t like it… we might need to discuss our friendship. 😉

This Week’s Comics Minus Nothing Special (see above):

Ultimate X-Men #1 – As the Ultimate Comics relaunches after the issues of the Maker in Ultimate Invasion & the stuff that followed it’s time to figure out what happened to the X-Men. We have Ultimate Spider-Man, which I enjoy. Ultimate Black Panther, which I don’t follow… I know I really should. Now Ultimate X-Men, which having not really followed and X-men comic since the last Ultimate X-Men and before that John Byrne and Chris Claremont were the creative team. I’m trying to piece it all together and it looks like this might take some time. The artwork is beautiful, and the story pasted with emotion, but I need to give it s few issues to figure out what is going on.

Love Everlasting #13 – We now get to see the first time the Cowboy had to deal with Joan… and it seems like its all part of a organized effort focused on Joan…but why?

Batman # 145 – Batman, Batman, Batman… Can you stop trying to confuse me? after that brief intermission, we are back dealing with Zur-En-Arrh the Batman personality that now is running Failsafe, the Batman robot Batman built for that moment when he might do something wrong, like kill. So mBatman is locked up with a joker who is physically incapacitated and Zur is going around cleaning up the city, and being a better Batman than Batman… When will Bat-Mite come back and save the day?!? What does Ace, the Bathound, think of all this?

Action Comics #1063 – Superman teams up with Bizarro Joker to solve the whole Bizarro problem… but at what cost? Can Superman trust the Joker? I can say, a “sane” joker is almost scarier than the crazy one.

Speed Force # 5 – Am I just getting old? Maybe it’s jet lag. Maybe it’s my lack on knowledge or interest in music… It looks like Wallace and Avery are figuring out what needs to be done to save the world of teenagers addicted to an app just as congress tries to outlaw TikTok (life imitates art?). SO how is the Speedforce, and Magic being used to create this (insert modern slang for crisis)? Can they stop it in time?

Wesley Dodds Sandman #6 – The conclusion 😢 of this adventure, will the Sandman be able to recover his notebook filled with formulas that in the wrong hands (the military) could create havoc across the world? Didn’t this guys learn anything from watching Oppenheimer? Ultimate weapons just lead to ultimater weapons that lead to ultimatest weapons, that lead to… you get the idea. Well, I guess if you are a weapon manufacturer all that matters is profits.

Spectacular Spider-Men #1 – SO Peter Parker and Miles Morales decide to take some time and just chill. every Wednesday meet at a coffee shop and talk over life as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. What could go wrong? If you’ve ever read a Spider-Man comic, you know the answer. Humberto Ramos is doing the art, so I had to buy it. I’m just hoping that I won’t get confused since I’m already reading a handful of Spider-Man titles that just got out of Gang War.

Captain America #7 – Has Captain America now become the Patriotic Sorcerer Supreme? int eh last arc he was fighting a demon that tried to cause problems in pre-WWII New York and now present day. So issue seven we get to deal with the repercussions of actions… by visiting The Front Door, a theater macabre or is that theatre… Spell check says they are both correct. then again is it macabre?

The Amazing Spider-Man #45 – So Gang War is over? Finally? What happens now? This is what could be called a “filler Issue” in which we set ourselves up for whatever comes next while tying up some loose ends fhat may have been forgotten over the past issues. Can we get MJ’s Aunt out of the asylum? What is going on with airplane mode around a ginormous green brain (did the Leader have a full lobotomy and no one told me?) And what about those not quite so mysterious fellows on the last page? I’m sure they are planning something nefarious like hijacking a truck load of Girl Scout cookies! Oh the horror! Oh the Thin Mints!

Batman First Knight Book One – Detective Comics #27 started things off for the Bat-Man. Bill Finger and Bob Kane created this character and comics at that time had multiple stories that were pretty quick reads, only a few pages. This takes us back to those simpler times, but expands the story with more details, and some stunning artwork. Missing is Alfred since he wasn’t in those early comics. The mystery- who is going around killing corrupt politicians (Oh, like our generation invented the concept of corrupt politicians- go watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). Then again there is something strange about the killers…

Dark Ride #11 – So we’ve established that We have an amusement park of horror run by a guy who made a deal with the devil. He’s done everything he can to not let the devil collect his soul… His son was last seen running into a ride to rescue his daughter. Now after much mayhem, there is a family ruin, I mean reunion, as a new ride is unveiled, a giant kaiju sized animatronic devil, who will be sacrificed? When will Mickey and a gang of lawyers come and save the day?

I Hate Fairyland #12 – A retelling of the Tale of the Billy Goats Gruff as only Scottie Young & Gert can do it…

Adventureman Ghost Lights #2 of 2 – Will Adventure get rescued and save the day? Will the ghosts win? What will the effects of the Super-serum be on Adventureman’s friends? Frankly, this is one of those series that you almost need to read the entire arc in one sitting. So much going on, but all of it amazing.

Sons of Star Trek #1 – Those of us old enough to remember there was a time when we were trying to figure out life, the universe, everything. We tried to decide our path and wouldn’t listen to any advice. As I look back on it and look at how my life worked out I can’t say I made a bad decision, although I’m sure I made a bunch. The thing is I like who I am, if I learned anything from ingesting decades of science fiction and loving time travel stories it’s that one change, no matter how minor could change things in a drastic way. (Watch It’s a Wonderful Life for an example. Gosh, I’m just full of Frank Capra references today) Here we have three sons of major Star Trek characters – Jake Sisko (Son of Captain Benjamin Sisko), Nog (Son of Grand Nagus Rom), and Alexander Rozhenko (Son of Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok, son of Sergei, House of Rozhenko, Bane to the Duras Family, slayer of Gowron. maker of chamomile tea.) All are at a turning point. So who comes along to help them out but… Q or as he calls himself son of Q or QJ (for Q Jr.). Now these three are in an alternate universe where things are… different. Morn is in a Star Feet Uniform, Tuvix is still around as is Jadzia Dax… It looks like Mariner, and Shaw are also on the crew of this ship… I’m sure I’m missing others. I’m also very curious as to what series of events happened to create this alternate timeline. This is going to be either a train wreck or a wonderfully wild ride… I’m hoping for the latter.

No/One #8 – The plot thickens… and I need to go back and reread all the past issues. The gun used in the current string of murders has been tied to a past killing that was controversial… Gee a militant white supremacy social club (we wouldn’t want to call them a gang) has decided to take matters in their own hands… and No/One… <spoilers>

Fishflies #5 – It looks like we are getting to a conclusion, but, I could be wrong. Francis and bug have met a couple of nice old folks who are not shocked or surprised by seeing a giant bug with a little girl… shouldn’t this send up some red flags? Some research is being done at the library (why you should always support your local library- who knows when you might be researching similarities between events in the past). And our helpful police man who has been removed from duty decides to do the right thing… will he be too late?

Comic-Con Without a Badge

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Sue

As you may have heard, a certain person (who runs this website) received their ‘professional’ credentials for Comic-Con this year.  Unfortunately, as a new ‘professional’ there was no way for him to get extra badges so I ended up in San Diego without a badge.  Knowing this going in, I had made alternate plans to keep myself occupied.  Trust me, I needn’t have worried – there was plenty to keep a ‘Comic-Con Muggle’ busy without venturing anywhere near the exhibit hall!

When we got in to town on Wednesday, we headed directly to check-in at the convention center.  Since Bruce had his paperwork in order I just tagged along through the process.  After Bruce received his badge we continued through the line and we were both handed the awesomely huge Warner Brothers Comic-Con bags that (almost) everyone carried through the week.  Even without a badge, I sure looked official!

There was plenty of time before ‘Preview Night’ so we wandered through the Gaslamp District to people watch and grab some food.  We stopped at the Chuck Jones Gallery, got some swag, and ultimately ended up at Nicky Rotten’s for food before Bruce headed back into the mayhem.  Because it had been a long day, I sat and read while he did his thing – it was a lovely, cool evening so all was good.

Thursday was to be Bruce’s big day at the Con so I dropped him off and went geocaching – that way he didn’t need to worry about me.  But, a friend had told us about a Cirque du Soleil event to be held at Comic-Con that evening so we decided to meet up and attend.

When I got back into town, I took some time to explore an area for upcoming movies located in a parking lot adjacent to where I parked.  The movie Cowboys & Aliens (to premiere in San Diego Saturday night) partnered with 7-11 and they were giving away Slurpees and promotional items.  Then there was the giant inflatable Smurf, the shark movie area, and the dog on the remote control motorcycle (don’t ask).  Eventually Bruce and I hooked up and he was stopped to receive some quite interesting swag – deodorant (trust me, he wasn’t the only one)!

We went for pizza at a place Cartoon Network rented out and redid to look like the cartoon Adventure Time (there were also restaurants taken over by SyFy- the Cafe Diem, NBC- The Playboy Club, not to mention various video games).

Cirque Du Soleil was probably the low point of the Con.  Billed as ‘Battle at Comic-Con’ it was to be a 3-D Battle from the show Ka.  We’d heard so much about Cirque from friends that we thought it would be amazing.  The lawn near Petco Park was packed and people were really excited about the show.  First it started a half-hour after it was billed then there were technical difficulties.  But, probably the most disappointing was shortly after it started I thought, “I wonder what they’re going to do for the battle” and then it was the end!  Complete showtime less than 5-minutes.  After this show, I just don’t see the allure of Cirque.

Friday I did take a break and Bruce and I explored Balboa Park in the late afternoon.

Saturday we spent some time wandering downtown.  We ran into the Zombie Walk (remember, Zombies=bad), the Top Gear America theater (no, we didn’t go in since it wasn’t the BBC version), and saw NerdHQ.  This was all before the geocaching Comic-Con Meet-n-Greet.  This was held in a park near the SouthPark theme area that we never even had time to visit.

After the meet-n-greet we headed up to the 4th & B theater for the Nerdist Podcast Live with Dr. Who – excellent!  It was a terrific event with Matt Smith and Karen Gillam as well as special guest star Wil Wheaton (and free burritos at the end)!  I also don’t think I mentioned that the theater was right across the street from the San Diego Civic Center where they were concurrently premiering Cowboys & Aliens!

In all, there were plenty of free things I didn’t see and some ticketed things we didn’t get tickets for.  So, even if I can’t get a badge in 2012, I have a plan to make the most of my Comic-Con time!

Total swag without really trying:  Looney Tunes and Pan Am bags, obnoxiously green Psych sunglasses, blowup sword, Slurpee, Butterfinger bar, bag of PopChips, many, many fliers, coupons, etc.

 

Guest Comic posted!

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Bruce

Just the start of my fun with Al & Scout

For those who don’t follow me on Twitter (I don’t tweet as much as I could or should) you might have missed my post on Monday about my guest strip on Ed Cho’s “Al & Scout” a great all ages comic about two cats. Remember that Cecil made the observation long ago that the only way to have a successful comic in Indiana was to have a cat in it. Ed has doubled his luck by having two. It’s a great a strip updated on Mondays.

How did this happen? Well Ed and his wife decided that they would have a baby- now having a bouncing bundle of joy does require some adjustment. So Ed asked local cartoonists to provide guest strips while he adjusted to the life of a dad.  I had read his strip and decided that it would be fun… and it was.  I look forward to see what the other folks in the local community come up with and how Al & Scout really handle little Nina as she grows up.

Shhh… Don’t tell anyone it’s a secret

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Bruce

For those who have been following some of my posts I might have mentioned something about a secret project I was working on which has caused me to be a bit behind on the strip. Well the secret is out… I have been asked by MINIUSA to take the comic on their big rally marking the end of Summer- MINI Takes The States. So starting August 9th until the 15th My Geek Odyssey will be on the road & in color. I’ll be dragging the studio along with me as we travel to Denver with a whole lot of our MINI friends. What will happen along the road? No idea… That’s why I’ll be doing the strip on the fly. I’ve taken over the coloring duties since Ben has been on vacation and will continue to color these strips since I have no clue when I will actually get them done.

You may be wondering how this got started… Well, I did a Friday strip at the beginning of the Summer that was a commentary on MTTS which ended up with a few phone calls from the people putting this whole ginormous event on. While we talked they brought up the idea of continuing the comic as the event went on. My response was “sure” since I was going to do it anyway. The first of my efforts has been sent out as a link to those who have registered for the event, so if you got the “Know before you go” email and didn’t read the entire thing you might have missed it. I was finishing up this strip (more like a comic page) Tuesday while at my workshop. Added to what I had worked on before was the top panel integrating the song and I tweaked some color things that I had missed when I first sent it (stuff I would know was wrong but no one else would) so if you haven’t seen it here is the link- http://www.eventjack.com/registration/minitakesthestates2010/announcement/PDF/my-geek-odysssey-cartoon-series-1.pdf
The actual strips during the rally will be posted in both on the event page & here.

To me this kind of brings it all back around to what started this strip which was a MINI event – MINI United. I now have the chance & a bit more experience to do MINI Takes The States the way I would like to have done MINI United (now that I have looked back on those strips). Of course lots to do before school starts but amazingly enough it will get done “it’s amazing the things that would never have been accomplished if it wasn’t for the last minute.”

So how do you do this?

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Bruce

When I first started on this odyssey I happen to discover this video of Dave Kellett going through the process on his comic strip “Sheldon” having read and listened to Dave for years (back on the Blank Label Comics Podcast days) I was curious as to how he does it. I am not creating my comic the exact way he does, but I have modeled my process after his.

How the Comic Strip “Sheldon” is Created from Sheldon Comics on Vimeo.

Arrrgh!

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Bruce

I do apologize to anyone trying to see my comics… it seems that I messed up and upgraded the software quickly, without checking to make sure everything was compatible and that I had backed up all my files.  I’ve guess I’ve been on a Mac too long and trust that software just works, this time it isn’t and the tweaking I need to do is a little beyond my expertise- or at least I can’t find the files I need to tweak.  I’m hoping that ComicPress comes out with an update soon since the one they came up with yesterday only kinda sorta worked.  Again, sorry for the technical difficulties.

The Process Redefined

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Bruce

As I start working on next week’s strips I figured I should take a few minutes and go over the process. First, of course, comes an idea… sometimes this is just something I saw that I thought was amusing, sometimes it is a commentary on the day, sometimes it is an idea that I’ve had for a long time. This gets drawn out in pencil- I use Prismacolor Verithin non-photo blue. I have created a template to draw on that has been copied onto card stock. It consists of the rectangle and the type. I use a ruler to draw the lines needed for text using the top third of the rectangle keeping this a more traditional comic strip for now. After drawing out what I want I ink it all in. I am presently using a set of Copic pens with a varied with including a brush. I’m still working on my inking which I hope will improve as I continue. Once the comic is inked and the text and speech bubbles have been drawn I scan this into my laptop to finish it all. I start with a 600 dpi scan and clean up anything I need to (erase the lines so that the individual panels are defined) I tweak the brightness and contrast and then save the file for my archives. I then go back and resize the stripe to 850 pixels wide at 100 dpi and then save it for the web as a .gif file. From there I upload that file to the website using the Comic Press plug-in in Word Press and type a short message telling the story in a little more depth. I hope you are enjoying the journey and as I continue to grow as a cartoonist I am hoping that not only my artwork but also my storytelling will improve.

I may be back from England but I still have a bunch of observations during that portion of the trip along with other ideas that need to be published.  I’ve even been asked to chat about the trip next week at our local MINI dealership (Dreyer & Reinbold MINI) and show some of the photos I took (that alone should make an interesting strip).