The Fanboy Subconscious

EPIC Sundance Trailer of the Week

2012-01-23T21:37:00.001-05:00

The video game industry doesn’t have much of the exposure and awareness that other entertainment mediums have, such as film or television—having grown to the size and popularity it has over the past 20 years, I’m surprised a project like this hasn’t been capitalized on by a bigger studio.

Then again, that’s probably a good thing. This trailer seems particularly earnest about its subject matter and those being talked about. Indie game developers logically would be the most mentally driven and have the most internalized struggle in getting their game out there. Without support from investors, a large development team, or higher-ups choosing a production timeline, it’s really a free for all for indie game developers to bring their baby—in the form of an innovative digital experience that’s unique to them and their players—into the real world.

By that notion, it should be full of drama, intrigue, and struggle.

Don’t know about you, but it felt dramatic enough.

A good exposé into a field of work that you might not know particularly well is a good way to expand your perceptions and notions of what goes into something.

Which is a nicer way of saying this documentary might make prejudiced or ignorant people outside of gaming culture a bit less so.

More importantly, HBO has picked up this concept, as rumours have said, for it to be a fictional series in a thirty-minute format (thankfully not a sitcom), about an indie game developer building up their game from ground up.

Hit or miss, it could go down to how much consulting HBO does with the gaming industry. You do something like this wrong and—as recently demonstrated about the Internet—if you fuck up, there will be consequences. And gamers are not a particularly forgiving bunch of demographic. It’s HBO though, so fingers crossed.

SOPA Blackout Day: Don’t stop just yet!

2012-01-18T18:44:00.001-05:00

If you have your own Tumblr, Blogspot, website or any other presence on the Internet, go to www.sopastrike.com for some instructions on how to represent the Internet community and protest against the asinine U.S pieces of legislation that are the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect-IP Act.

The fight against a corporate-controlled Internet is not over.

After today, there’s still a lot to be done, a lot of voices to reach, and a lot of action to be taken against these pieces of legislation before they’re fully KILLED. PIPA’s vote will take place on January 24th, and even if you’re not an American citizen, the internet does not have borders. Tell friends, family, American cousins, The U.S State Department, anyone who will listen.

Hollywood versus Silicon Valley – Be on the right side.

Ah, but there is no taking sides with this issue. Everyone has been exposed to online piracy and copyright infringement. Most of us have probably done it. Yes, it hurts the entertainment industry, but the the executives and lobbyists and politicians in Washington do not know the extent to which they are screwing with us—these are people of a past generation, angry at the fact that things are progressing out of their realm of understanding.

They’d rather kill technological innovation, the possibility of new start-ups, the next YouTube or Facebook, social networking, and the communication between me and you over the net, in favour of maximizing the profits that their multi-billion dollar industries make already.

In fighting against SOPA, we are PEOPLE rather than STATISTICS.

This is one fight where you can’t protest with your wallet, you must protest with your voice, because it’s what the Internet is based upon.

I like memes, you like memes, we all scream for more memes.

In the past five or so years I’ve seen Internet culture grow alongside myself and I’ve grown incredibly attached to it. It’s unique, it’s self-sufficient, and it addresses both serious issues and trivial aspects of our lives collectively, through crudely drawn faces and snapshots of silly looking people with text under them.

And yet, they’ve come to represent what it is to be on the Internet. Much of it relies on taking what’s already out there and making it our own. SOPA/PIPA would destroy that identity, and those behind it consciously seek to.

The U.S Congress will not stop, nor should you.

Just because a bill’s been shelved, doesn’t mean its gone forever. Further proposed legislation could sneak in amendments that do the same thing, only shrouded more from the public. Supporters could come out and try to work around public opinion. The high paying lobbyists from Hollywood have money to spare—and their spending it all on trying to shut us up.

My message? Don’t.

These are powerful people thinking they can abuse their power freely without consequence. A lot of the time, they can, and they do.

Make this the one time they face those consequences.

Call your representatives. Reach out through social networking. Spread word about the damage SOPA and PIPA can do to the Internet as we know it.

Join Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress, Google, Cheezburger Network, Minecraft, Mark Zuckerberg, BoingBoing, Craigslist, deviantart, Techdirt, Flikr, Scribd, Yahoo, StumbleUpon and the countless others in this fight. We all need you.

It’s not over yet.

http://www.blackoutsopa.org/

www.sopastrike.com (participants)

http://americancensorship.org/

Protect your online rights and freedoms.

---The Fanboy Subconscious

Now I can enjoy this meme.

2012-01-16T22:13:00.001-05:00

If you haven’t met me yet, you’ve met me now.

Feast your eyeballs on these movie poster pops!

2012-01-16T21:44:00.001-05:00

Alternate universe movie posters that your alternative universe self watched, or should have watched.

There’s a bunch more from a guy who does a ton of these at his Blogspot.

This is cool because of re-appropriation and the pondering of things that would happen if something else were different and it’s really just fucking cool to think about these things because otherwise life is just boring, you know?

If you’re not into this kind of thing, then you are a really boring person.

Go fix yourself.

EPIC Unaired Pilot Episode of the Week

2011-12-29T22:34:00.001-05:00

If you’re looking for a new drug for your police procedural buzz, then I’m going to taunt you with what could have been, had this show been picked up by NBC.

As with recent news, a la Whitney getting a prime-time slot in the fall comedy line-up and sidelining Community, NBC has really been goofing on their executive television decisions.

Ratings may matter, but targeting the dumbest demographic isn’t always the best decision. If you kill smartly written and produced series, somewhere a long the way the market is going to decline. Can’t ride the success for too long.

Exhibit B: Ron Moore—creator of 2004’s Battlestar Galactica, you may have heard of it—had a show in the works that would blow all of its contemporaries out of the water. Adding to the fact that the show’s premise effectively blends two completely different genres of fiction into something that you can actually see on screen, this pilot throws around some ambitious concepts, and it’s exciting.

Full pilot below, albeit not the best quality.

The final few minutes throw a curveball that, whether you were expecting it or not, would be a pretty awesome storyline to play out.

The sceptics can suck it, this looks way too fun to have passed up. Thanks, NBC.

Thanks for all you do to kill good television programming.

The Meaning of Holidays

2011-12-25T00:54:00.001-05:00

Happy everything and Merry everything else! Love each other for a few days!

Save the Internet; Watch & Listen to this Video.

2011-12-18T15:15:00.001-05:00

Thirty minutes of your time to educate yourself about a potentially destructive piece of American legislation that will cripple and destroy everything about the Internet. This guy is a UK Law graduate. He’s smart. Listen to him.

Everyone will suffer. Corporations, Internet platforms, social networking, digital content creators, consumers, producers, regular people, you, me, your children, your ability to enjoy creativity, cultivation of ideas, Tim Berners-Lee, Mark Zuckerberg, Shaun Parker, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs’ idea of technology progressing society and culture, independent artists/filmmakers/producers/musicians, YouTube videos, Facebook accounts, memes, internet entrepreneurs, free speech, access and freedom to information, and the future of the digital age and new media.

You censor information, you censor people. You censor people, you censor freedom.

Fuck you, Congress. Everyone suffers. Globally. AROUND THE WORLD.

SPREAD THE WORD.

http://www.americancensorship.org has been, fittingly, taken down.

This cannot happen. If this happens, it’s another step to a world in the near future that no one wants to see. Please. Don’t let stubborn 50-year olds tell our generation what’s right and what’s wrong about an innovation that we grew up with.

Send this video out to everyone you know, tell them to watch it. Tell your American friends, tell your parents.

Tell the Internet, before its voice is gone for good.

A Case in Pride

2011-12-13T03:15:00.001-05:00

I’ll sound like a broken record soon, but time and time again I encourage most people I see to start reading comics and graphic novels. If there’s at least a hint of interest in simply reading, as in prose fiction, the threshold of picking up a comic book, or a closed graphic narrative, is not far away.

And as the dwindling demand of mainstream comic books is seeing its decline, probably the earliest one to go in the slow, steady, inevitable decline of all print media, I’m concerned.

Losing comics is like losing an entire language—no, imagine losing television. Losing cinema. Losing plays. If that was gone from the combined cultural context of a society. The worst case scenario is, in the 5,000+ year history that sequential art has existed on Earth, that it’s going to die out because of the social contexts and mass preconceptions and the pop-culture pothole it can’t seem to get out of.

The cynic in me broods, but I have high hopes. Despite the marginal attention it gets in its actual domain—minus the adapted properties other mediums suck out of it, providing no aid in pushing a potential consumer base into the works that inspired such properties, I have hope that comics may survive—nay, thrive, if it can climb its way out of those social and cultural barriers it’s been trapped in for the last 20 or so years.

I just finished reading Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, a cartoonist and a comics theorist—yes, I consider it an actual term, like it deserves to be, and the things it taught me about the medium—the artform—is that there’s way more importance to what it has to offer and and what it provides to the literary world than I originally thought, and most likely more than anyone of my peers or elders think.

It’s a great textbook, a great study and a great tool. If you have any doubts picking up a comic, whether for the potential self-ridicule or judgmental peers, this book quells those anxieties. It made me feel privilege to be a fan, a participant, in the medium of graphic storytelling. It’s a special kind of medium. Like no other.

So, in wondering why there’s not more attention to it, I tried searching for any kind of academic presence towards the medium, because I know old professor-types still read comics no matter how sophisticated they want to seem. Hell, some may embrace it.

Like this guy.

Henry Jenkins – “Comics and Graphic Storytelling: A Sample Syllabus”
He teaches at the University of Southern California, and his students are lucky.

There are programs at SCAD that teach sequential art, and may art schools around the world also offer sequential art programs of study or related courses, which is awesome—no matter how small it is, the comics industry and consumer base will always look for, and find, new artists, inkers, pencillers, letterers and the like.

But teach the academic worth of comics and graphic storytelling as a literary medium, as far as I can tell, is a far-off dream. At my school at least, no such courses exist, sure they may be touched upon by professors who want to spice up their syllabi with ‘fun’ comic book topics. Most pop culture courses refer to comics of staples of Western identity, but most of the time it ends there.

Where’s the deconstruction of Alan Moore’s iconography and character symbolism in Watchmen? Art Speigelman’s mastery of storytelling craft with Maus? The superficial beauty and representation of intimacy through line, shape, and panelling in Craig Thompson’s Blankets? The history and source behind the cultural contexts that characters like Superman, Batman, or Archie provide?

Not in textbooks your school makes you buy, that’s for sure. Jenkins in his proposed syllabus provides Understanding Comics as required reading among Will Eisner’s great Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative (that inspired McCloud’s book), and a great sort of graphic novel examples: Batman: The Killing Joke, Persepolis, The Unwritten.

If these names are new to you, Google them. Now. Learn. Teach yourself. Indulge in this medium, for the sake of its preservation and cultivation. So you can read comics in a classroom, and no one is allowed to be ashamed, because there’s no reason you should be.

Maybe, put down the Hemingway and the Plath and the Dostoyevsky and pick up some Alan Moore, some Grant Morrison, some Charles Shultz.

Just pick up a damn comic, and be proud you’re reading it.

The schools might follow suit.

EPIC Cinematic Trailer of the Day (also Spike VGAs)

2011-12-10T21:54:00.001-05:00

Right now, Spike’s 2011 Video Game Awards are in full swing, and a slough of awards have already been won, with Portal 2 rightfully taking many of them, including sweeping the voice performance category, as well as Minecraft snatching a well deserved indie game victory.

Pretty happy with what’s been shown so far, save for the uber-casual vibes I keep getting from both host (though he was great in Tangled) and audience—the way they say ‘graphics’ just irks me, maybe it’s just my elitist geek showing through—but one of the greatest things about gaming award shows is that I can see the trailers live as well. Conventions are lame in that you have to be there to see them.

Despite the fact that I just saw Charlie Sheen onstage and Modern Warfare 3 win an award, it’s still a good feeling when you feast your eyes upon something like this:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, The Last of Us - VGA 2011: Exclusive Debut Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Naughty Dog Inc. are the guys behind the Uncharted franchise. Three games in, they’ve established themselves as one of the most innovative game developers when it comes to interactive storytelling. They did the games industry a huge favour, if you already didn’t know.

They’re developing this. So hopes are high, and that’s helped well along by this amazing cinematic trailer above. What’s wrong with that zombie-or-whatever’s head in that trailer? Well, it’s not science fiction.

It’s just science.

Okay, not fully just science, but damn it, this concept is outstandingly cool for a post-apocalyptic game, and there’s already been a huge surge in recent years, we’re hoping for a fresh take. Could this be it?

Naughty Dog has yet to fail its fans, or its industry. Or its console. If this is a PS3 exclusive, Microsoft might finally have a run for its money. Console-war pointlessness aside, this trailer is a definite reminder for me of how far video games have come artistically as a form of more than just cheap entertainment.

It’s a medium that’s like no other, and should stay that way. It should be the next step. If this lives up to what this trailer is teasing, lets hope games like this push that notion forward.

Previously: Dead Island’s GDC ‘11 Trailer gave me a similar reaction.

UPDATE: Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim takes Game of the Year, along with Best Role-Playing Game. Bethesda Game Studios takes developer. This makes me happy, and makes up for Charlie Sheen / MW3 combo (a fitting one, actually).

EPIC Everything About this Video of the Week

2011-12-06T14:21:00.001-05:00

No words. Too much awesome.

EPIC Badass of the Week

2011-11-30T21:50:00.001-05:00

Oh, excuse me while I go retrieve my fucks.
My bad, they all seem to have been smelted into molten metal to make swords.

EPIC Game Trailer of the Week

2011-11-17T21:20:00.001-05:00

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom, following up the vanilla release a few months back, included a new roster of additional characters for both sides.

The game’s been out for a while now, with those additions wilfully ready for your fighting pleasure.

I could talk about how well-crafted, simplistic, and conceptually awesome this trailer is, but my mind can’t even comprehend what I just saw.

DEM MATCHUPS. DAT EXPRESSION. DEM FIGURES.

Excuse me while I go change my pants.

[via theawesomer]

Green Lantern: The Animated Series (2011) | Review

2011-11-12T02:40:00.001-05:00

It’s a damn good month to be a geek.

Along with the assload of amazing video games releasing/released this month, and the New 52 still going strong from DC’s print side, the televised world of geekiness has steam running in its engines too. If you hated Green Lantern movie like I did, and looking for some redemption, or just some faith that the property isn’t completely dead after that debacle, look no further.

This is the review of Green Lantern: The Animated Series’ first sneak peek.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Episode 1x01 “Beware My Power”
Directed by: Sam Liu, Rick Morales
Written by: Jim Krieg, Ernie Altbacker
Executive Producers: Sam Register, Bruce (fuckin’) Timm

I actually chanced upon the season opening, thinking Cartoon Network shows wouldn’t be automatically syndicated over the border to Teletoon so I could set aside my time to catch the entirety of the show. Fate would have it that I’d watch it anyways, and it glued me to my seat until the credits rolled.

This is a new kind of cartoon. Not just a superhero cartoon, a cartoon in general. I’m making a bold statement because this is a bold move by both Warn Bros. Entertainment and DC Entertainment, to venture so far up into the space of wild creative ideas without tethering it in whatever’s been half-working for the network executives and higher-ups. Now, I don’t have one tiny particle of an insider look at what’s going on at the roundtables and the board meetings, but hell, the final product shows us something—things are changing for weekend children’s television.

Because of my late entrance, shameful, I know, I didn’t catch the first few minutes, but when I did flip to it, it seemed pretty much already in full swing. The show centers around everyone’s ‘favourite’ Green Lantern—Hal Jordan, ace pilot, sometime jerk-wad, cocky-yet-goodhearted star corpsman of our wonderful little 3,600 strong space force. He’s already an established character within this universe—it’s not a coming-of-age tale. Considering what didn’t work with the Green Lantern movie, there really wasn’t any other way to go.

Rudimentary comic book knowledge aside—if you’re a complete newbie to the Green Lantern mythos, or comic books in general, you won’t have problems with this. This is a condensed, approachable series from the get-go. That’s reflected in both the visual elements and the narrative ones, at least from this pilot episode. Given the projected demographic I’m assuming they’re trying to reach, maybe somewhere around 12-18, that’s a necessity to do this in order to hold onto those viewers I think they’ve indeed hooked in with this premiere.

Down to the nitty-gritty. As the plot in this pilot goes, Hal along with hardened, no-nonsense drill sergeant Kilowog choose to investigate a missing Lanterns case out on the fringe sectors, despite the threats of reprimand from the Guardians of the Universe (their bosses). From there, the narrative trajectory is straightforward for older audiences, but for the kid in all of us, it’s still a thrill ride from the start since the villains of this episode are featured prominently in the opening sequences.

Here’s where the backstory kicks in that propels this into an ambitious endeavour. These guys are Red Lanterns—a ‘Lantern Corps’ that only recently appeared in the Green Lantern publications by DC. These are new ideas from comics being translated into television. Hyperaccelerated creative syncretism. The television industry is rigid. This doesn’t happen often. But, the creative minds behind this project—Sam Register (one of the big guys at DC animation) and Bruce Timm (the Stan Lee of DC’s animated properties) propped these characters up as golden for the show.

Boy, were they right. Not only do the concept of Red Lanterns fit perfectly and easily into the structure of the plotline, they retain their thematic value from the comics—for the hardcore fans, that’s major points. They seem natural, even if we’ve never seen them before on the screen. They’re even new to the Green Lanterns who first battle them, Kilowog’s on the same boat as the audience is. But he’s intrigued by these raging, blood-vomiting vengeance seekers, and so are we.

Most of the debate beforehand came from the approach that the animation style was way improper for the content of the show. After the impact of Justice League, helmed by Bruce Timm in the early 2000’s, his set style as lead animator paved the way for all comic book animated properties to follow. With this foray into CGI, heads were shaking. I can see where they’re coming from, but the argument me and many others have made in support, is the ‘why not?’ aspect of it.

If this is Green Lantern, the source of their power is two-fold, willpower to wield the green energy in their rings, and the imagination required to utilize it. GL’s can create anything with their minds—it’s all just light from a ring. In a 2D world, sure, that would look fine—but Bruce Timm’s already done 2D worlds, three times over. The change is a chance for the team and for this show. The producers consciously decide on this creative direction because it’s a way to separate and diversify a visual style.

But most people just want a pretty cartoon. Well, for you guys, it’s sleek, polished, and clean. The influences from The Incredibles and stylistic throwbacks to early CGI like Toy Story, as my friend compared it to (although with negativity attached) aren’t attempted to be hidden behind embellishments. It’s simple and shiny. It’s Timm’s style made into three dimensions, and the eyes just have to adjust a little.

This is seen in those character designs of our two other, non-comic Green Lanterns that act as the plot points that push the story forward. This is where the writing comes in and adds a layer of sophistication that’s desired so much as a formula for success. The fast version: they have depth. They’re not beats on a script for our leads to have something to do. The story pushes character development for everyone, including these ‘one-offs’. They mean something by the end, as characters, and not footnotes.

If you watch the episode, it’s an easy feeling to grasp onto—they’ll feel like more than caricatures, or mock-ups of what the other, more important guys feel like. They’re peers, not sideshow acts. They’re Green Lanterns, damn it. And as a result, it feels like a bigger universe ready to be explored in the future. Kudos to the writing team on that one.

Diversity in character weaves in with diversity of design—those alien looks are the traditional varied humanoids you’d expect from a space opera. Bottom line is, it’s cool—that should be one of the reasons you come to this cartoon. It presents itself within this visual style with elegance. Nothing’s overtly wonky with design and the look—static or moving. The digital lighting effects add those touches of detail, but their soft and implied, the presence is on the shapes and figures.

The animation side of it is the shaky area, you’d think, it’s handled beautifully here. The scarcity of detail in the look of the whole thing is an opportunistic decision. It allows for swift, fast-paced action that hits hard and keeps hitting, because our eyes don’t have to wander too long. It’s easy on animators and pleasing to my eye. The clean-cut nature of it allows for denser, faster movement. And with the fact that these are guys using mind-made hard light weaponry, the cleanliness is a treat.

Plus, the believability of the whole thing is stemmed into the performances. The casting director, a veteran at the studio, casted it perfectly. The actors working on this are established (Lucius Malfoy among them), and their voices work synonymously with the animation. It’s probably my favourite part of this episode—having voices that fit the character. They sound like that in my mind when I flip through comic pages.

These guys aren’t scared either, or safe or cautious—like I said, they’re bold. They’ve introduced new characters, thrust viewers into an established world that they’re confident they can craft for us, and used the mythology cleverly enough that it works despite the preconceptions. That should get some respect.

Then again, these are super-experienced, seasoned veterans at animated television tactics, with a double major in superheroes and awesome. Why would they do more of the same? They’re pushing boundaries, getting new viewers, spreading awareness, and coming up with new ideas.

It’s a excitedly fresh move from these producers, and I’m down. I’m so very down.

“Beware My Power” can be found online everywhere, soon probably. The rest of season will commence Spring 2012. So you have lots of time to brood and reread this to convince you ten times more to watch it. Just you wait.

In brightest day, motherfuckers.

EPIC Illustrators of the Week

2011-11-06T16:05:00.001-05:00

Kevin Wada has a knack for combining the elegant with the awesome to create a pretty stellar take on our favourite X-Girls. Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Mystique below.

There’s more at his art blog. He takes on many recognizable ladies from the X-Universe and retools them into chic supermodels with some clever visual references to their looks in the comics. Neat-o!

Round 2? Max Wittert who takes another stylistic direction with his depictions of the X-Ladies. Equally high-end and chic, but a very different look. Tons more at his blog.

Dazzler is dazzling as usual.

Six arms? Six times the accessories.

Jubilee and her trenchcoat. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.

Any of of these works by these guys could pass off as magazine ads in Vogue or something. These guys are legit fashion illustrators, so that explains most of it.

Who said comics can’t be chic?

[via io9.]

Young Justice: Season 1 (2010-Present) | Review

2011-11-05T18:26:00.001-04:00

Created/Produced by Greg Weisman & Brandon Vietti

The resurgence of the superhero genre in entertainment is certainly something to be excited about. Franchises like Spider-Man and X-Men began pushing for more presence on the big screen, while Justice League brought back almost everything that cartoons like X-Men: The Animated Series did for comic book properties in the 90’s. When I was growing up, there were only about three superhero shows to watch, and probably never at the same time.

Then, when the 21st century hit, I’m assuming the creative professionals in the field started to realize there was a market in people like me, and hopefully you. Justice League and Justice League Unlimited carried the weight of having a critically and commercially successful property. Then Teen Titans came along and reinvigorated the range of viewership that a superhero cartoon could attract. They were all great, and I wasn’t even a little kid—well into my teens, and I was still hooked on those characters.

So coming back to the animated comic book universes, after dipping my feet into the actual comic book universes, is a good feeling. To see how everything’s developed since the 90’s when I first got my childhood glimpse into those worlds, till now, when the demand and ability for animation to reach new heights is, well, higher than ever.

The premise of a show like Young Justice isn’t new. Like the names I just dropped above, superhero teams strike a cord with wide-eyed kids and nostalgic comic book fans alike. When the announcements for this series first hit the net, people were either screaming foul, or screaming it’s been done before. Little was there the notion that it could a breath of fresh air. And fifteen episodes in, that’s exactly what it’s become.

The show follows a new team of teenage heroes from the DC universe, not explicitly the Teen Titans, and not something you’ve seen together before. The roster consists of Robin (Dick Grayson), Aqualad, Kid Flash (Wally West), Miss Martian, Superboy, and Artemis (Tigress in the DC Universe). Existing on what the producers call Earth-16, as in not the actual main DC Universe, the show features many familiar DC characters amidst a slew of classic villains that the team has faced since their pilot episode.

The problem with team-based anything from a production standpoint is establishing distinct characters that the viewer has to care about, and especially in a superhero cartoon, those characters have to balanced both narratively and with their action. This is where my biggest praise comes to this show. As it’s travelled from pilot episode to where it is now, the character development has been nothing short of phenomenal, and it culminates in the most recent episode, “Failsafe”, which many fan sites, and critics, are citing as the best episode of the season.

When you compare it to a show like Teen Titans, the levels of competency in establishing and fleshing out character relationships is on par with is predecessor. The archetypes are played with throughout the season, keeping it direct and accessible to its demographic, yet there’s enough substance for even older viewers to latch onto. At least that’s how I see it. Teen Titans was aimed at a pre-teen crowd, while Young Justice’s more ambitious visuals and older characters are to attract the more mature teenage audience. With that, the producers understand the necessary steps to take in order to present their characters. They know their stuff.

The examples can be found if you dedicate yourself to watching the show. I’ll admit, it’s kind of a rocky start from the beginning five or so episodes, but the over-arching plot and classic cliff-hangers sure do give enough incentive to come back. But, it’s the characters that are at the core of the show.

The voices, while at the start of the season, may seem even grating to some (it did to me for a while), they collectively pull of convincing teenage tones. Each cast member brings a vibe to their voices that helps distinct personalities from one another, that only builds upon the strength of character for Young Justice. They have a pretty good writing team to work from too, including comics great Peter David on board. The plot they’ve hashed out, that recently has finally reared its head, is worthy of a fist-pump, but still, the crew has taken the narrative for this team in new directions.

They work with an established universe, and distil it into how a team of kids fighting for validation are slowly becoming the centre of it. It’s the ultimate fantasy for any teen watching it. I find myself now hooked on seeing how they triumph too.

An equally praiseworthy element of the show is the extensive action that it packs into every episode. Again, like Teen Titans, this one’s got its fair share of fights. While the stylistic choices of Teen Titans were very angular and simple, Young Justice finds its stride in the incredible movement it puts into its sequences. And the costume designs are a kicker—they’re a chance to see familiar faces in different outfits—perfect for the comic book geek (stop whining, haters).

The animation is headed by an overseas production company, MOI Animation Inc, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Animation studios. The combined effort gives, if anything, a satisfactory amount of superhero badassery in showcasing all the talents of the team members, including the antics of the 150+ other characters that have shown up since the premiere.

From the episode “Downtime”. Atlantean fight scene. Excuse the lame opening.

The acrobatics of Robin, the dynamics of Artemis’ archery, digital effects showing off Miss Martian’s abilities, Kid Flash’s speediness, and Aqualad’s water constructs are all juicy visual treats that any kid, and any adult, can get down with.

If the witty quips from Robin or the catchphrases from Miss Martian throw you off, their battle sequences will get you back on, trust me on that. It’s got the features you want, and the cameos a show like this needs. There’s something for everyone.

So if you want to ignore the challenge of writing team-based superheroes on television, and that Young Justice achieves its goal in representing them in a way that works (wait till you get to “Failsafe” to see that in action), then the impeccable animation should hook you in for when the series really gets rolling. It’s worth the wait.

This is a show for a comic book fan, or a comic book cartoon fan, if you want to get back the nostalgia from the 90’s or just miss Teen Titans and all its glory. Give it to your kids to watch, and watch it with them cause it will probably hook both parties.

There’s enough in this show to quell the fears of doubters who seem weary for another superhero cartoon, but really, where else can superheroes be successful off the panel? Young Justice is doing its fair share of introductions into comic book universes for potential fans, and that gets my respect any day.

Don’t do a disservice to comics and superheroes and the fantasy of capes, go watch Young Justice.

iam8bit – The new age of artistic expression

2011-11-03T23:44:00.001-04:00

One thing I am, aside from a geek, gamer, and sometime gnome enthusiast, is a student of media production and theory. So I see a video like the one above that I really do hope you watched, especially if you’re into one of the following:

gaming culture
artistic cultivation
cultural relevancy
the application of design in multiple media platforms
Donkey Kong/Super Mario/Atari/Capcom/Zelda/Pac-Man/Pong
new artistic endeavours
the electronic entertainment industry
entrepreneurial possibilities
cool shit

So yeah, I just heard about Iam9Bit today, but what I’ve learned from Machinima’s coverage of the art initiative/independent collective/grassroots start-up is that the limits of artistic expression can be continually pushed into regions that our traditional understanding may not be able to grasp yet.

Throughout history, artistic movements have pushed past scrutiny and criticism to bring upon new ages of creative expression, and therefore affect the entire culture that it draws from and vice-versa. I get good vibes from this collective. Will it achieve such iconic status? Probably not. But I can agree with that they’re pitching in that video; there is no other group doing something like this.

It’s an amalgamation of art and culture, in that it brings two worlds that are incredibly similar on principle, though worlds apart in perception and cultural significance and combining them how they should be seen: awesomsely.

What do they exactly do? Well watch the video if you haven’t already. But if it’s not clear, they make/collect/share art inspired by video game culture. If you check their site, linked here, you can see their most recent stuff includes commissions by top game developers to promote/market their products.

Shit like recreating Newt’s doll from Aliens to celebrate the release of Aliens: Colonial Marines, and also a kick ass NERF-replica pulse rifle, customized and detailed to resemble the movie props. Badass? I think so.

Their earlier stuff includes and underground community event promoting the then-upcoming Street Fighter 4 with what better than a fight club?

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 FIGHT CLUB (LA) from iam8bit Productions on Vimeo.

Their site has tons more in their portfolio and gallery, and just looking at all this awesome stuff blows my mind, as a student and as a appreciator for gaming and art.

These guys combine the two and really transcend preconceptions and assumptions about both. They throw those in the bin and cut off the binds that tie them down. The result is amazing art pieces and attention from major industry players from both the gaming and artistic communities locally and abroad. They are how you do entrepreneurship, and it all starts with the grand idea and the passion required to pull it off.

New role models? Hell yes. Thanks, iam8bit.

Come to Toronto to show us how it’s all done!

They’re based in Los Angeles. Reach if you’re near. You won’t be disappointed.

TEH MEWSIKS, LET ME SHOW U THEM.

2011-10-30T18:28:00.001-04:00

Two things to talk about on the docket. CHARTattack & Chill, Bro.

CHARTattack.com just revamped their site in a number of big ways, and if you haven’t heard of this awesome music site, then it’s the perfect chance to get on board. New content, new voices, and new music. It’s a Toronto-based website focusing on independent and alternative music from the local scene and internationally. CHART started as a Canadian music magazine back in the 90’s and has since moved into the Internet to focus on a specific demographic: us. It’s focus has always been campus radio, which meant students, which means that its music that’s important to us that we want to hear about.

I love music. I’m sure you love music. If you like the music I like, then you should check out this website. The Pitchforks and the SPINs may be the bigger boys, but if you’re from the GTA, and you want some people who show you music like it is, participate as much as you do, and just like to share with others, I’d go with these guys. Rock, hip-hop, electronic—it’s all there. And CHARTattack wants you to be a part of it, Canada or abroad. So like them on Facebook, and check the site.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Changing topics, there’s also Chill, Bro.

I’ve been doing internet campus radio with SPIRITlive.net for three semesters now, and done a number of shows. Different Levels Productions Co-Founder and buddy of mine Issa Shah tells me:

“You’re like the Orson Welles of SPIRITlive.”

Which I do think I’m going to be using for a while. But I digress, this year, Joey Ferguson and I teamed up to create a show that would have a pretty distinct focus, that would let me share some of my music taste to interested ears, and just plain have some fun. And oh, have we.

Chill, Bro. is a show that we developed for a specific purpose: to calm everyone down. Since this is radio for our fellow Radio & Television Arts students, we want to share music that will have that effect. Calming, collected, soothing—you name it, just as long as it’s chill. If you’re a student and your stressed, this is the show to listen to.

If you want more info, check us out on Facebook, and follow us on Tumblr.

Chill, Bro airs on SPIRITlive.net every Tuesday from 4-5pm. If you can’t catch that, we have archives of every episode. Listen in below.

So, there some new music endeavours to subscribe to! If you want new music, just holler at any of these two places, and your bound to find it. Happy music-ing!

EPIC(ly shocking) Music Video of the Week

2011-10-23T22:27:00.001-04:00

Lights Out at The Daily What usually has some interesting internet tidbits for those who can’t really sleep at one in the morning, and they usually help the insomnia along with videos like the one I’m about the show you.

Apparently, a French animator/director by the name of Jérémie Périn knows his away around the tablet and the timeline, and brings a pretty stellar animation to the table for DyE’s debut single “Fantasy” of his new album. The sounds remind me a lot of M83, really good atmospheric melodies combined with simple, bubbly synths. Matches the video a lot. Until…

Lovecraft approves.

If you ever do watch The Thing, which I endlessly prompt you to do in every other post, you’ll like the similarities. Or Akira. You know what, just anything with mutating flesh and terrifying monster-morphs.

The Thing (2011) | Review

2011-10-15T21:52:00.001-04:00

Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Joel Egerton

Antarctica, 1982. It’s cold, snowy, and isolated. There’s hardly a soul, and where there are, they’re countless miles away from anyone else in the icy landscape of the loneliest continent. But, they’re less alone than they think. A team of Norwegian researchers find something in the ice, something big. Something not from here.

They dig it up, bring it back, and study it. They find out too late that it probably wasn’t a good idea. And they slowly discover what they’re dealing with; a thing that can hide in plain site, prey on whoever it wants to, and keep coming back without you knowing. It makes you scared. It keeps you on your toes. It pits you against your friends. It feeds off paranoia. And it doesn’t stop until it’s gotten everyone.

In 1982, John Carpenter produced a film that stands as my favourite movie of all time. It made me love science fiction and special effects. It was an inspiration for me to immerse myself in everything I do today, and it sparked my imagination. It was a great movie, and still is. It was digusting, terrifying, heart-pounding, and throught-provoking. It was like no other horror I’d seen.

So this prequel had a lot to live up to.

Purely from a fan’s point of view, did it? Well, yeah.

Coming into this film, when I first heard about it I was incredibly cautious. I didn’t know what to make of it through the early news releases and the rumours that it was a remake, that it would be all CGI, that it was actually a sequel. It was scary at first preparing for the worst, that your favourite movie would be tainted by modern day horror sensibilities and the filtration of quality through the lens of mass appeal.

Initially, I was on the fence, and the closer it got to the release date, I was getting more optimistic. Would it be a film for the fan? Or simply an exploitation of cult value? Would it be an honest take? Or take everything away from the original?

I’ll say right now, if you’re like me, you’ll like this prequel. It does its job. Does it do more? Not really, no. But that’s really the crux, if you expect more than John Carpenter’s version, you’re pretty naive as a fan. The producers, I highly doubt, wanted to achieve the same status and fame. More so, I think, they were fans first and moviemakers second. It’s a love letter to the original. That I could get on board with.

That status of the horror genre in contemporary cinema is a daunting one to examine. Franchises dominate box offices, the same tropes and formulas are rehashed under new attractive casts and big-name directors. Scare factors come in the form of cheap thrills and superficial shock value. The horror that thinks is long over. The time of The Thing, the original, seemed over too.

But, this prequel supersedes those tropes, if not only for the reliance on its parent film to guide its every move. It brought back a lot of what The Thing from 1982 gave to the sci-fi and horror genres. It was a competent effort, devoid of those resemblances to current contemporaries. It was a stand-alone film in its genre, it was tunnel vision from the producers, ignoring the surroundings and getting straight down to the gory, paranoid business.

Things like a strong female lead, in Winstead who does a superb job of not being like any other female protagonist in recent horrors, to the atmosphere that it tries to match as closely as it can to the original, to the lack of useless sub-plotting and a swift script. For that, it gets some points.

But as much as it tries to achieve that validation from the original, like a little kid looking for a compliment from his dad, it tries a bit too hard. It does go over the top a bit, and it suffers.

It’s easy to determine where a fan might pick out the downfalls, which says a lot about the film as a whole. For the average movie goer unfamiliar with the legacy this film tries to live up to, chances are it might be more tolerable and enjoyable—it’s a fresh take (or reminder) on horror nowadays. It’ll be different from other ones.

But for the fan, the list is pretty substantial. Won’t spoil anything, but there’s definitely more presence to the antagonist, if you catch my drift. The original was built on staggering suspense and tension between characters and the environment—here it was sacrificed for the more immediate and shocking. The problem here is the original had the equal amount, but still had those former elements framed around it. Another big pointer is obviously the special effects. There’s a huge dichotomy between processes and the subsequent impact. For both the 80’s version and this one, they have a central importance.

The question is, will the average movie-goer or the fan like or dislike this movie more? Some argue that it’s a bland re-hash, following the exact same footsteps of the original providing no variation or interest. Others say its a faithful, respectful companion piece meant to be just that, an add-on for an already established universe.

The impossibility of examining it as a film by itself poses concerns, since I have a bias already to begin with. The detracting qualities don’t overwhelm the necessary elements to make it a “Thing” film. The real concern was, did The Thing need another one at all? That’s where some predispositions might be up in arms.

Breaking it down into a T-chart of what worked and what didn’t work, what it maintained and what it was missing, I think is beside the point. Personally, I think the special effects were tastefully (if it can be called that for these effects) done—they respected the process and look for the original creature design. The CGI is in inescapable truth, it’s the environment movies are made in now, like it or not. Again, taking the viewpoint of a newcomer, I’d say it’s the same reaction whether it was prosthetics or not—even with that, datedness doesn’t work well in today’s audiences. It’s an argument about this film that will be a big one, but I think it’s taken without a context, which takes away from its worth.

As a whole, the film acts like a blend. A mixture of modern day horror and a big bag of cues from the original. It’s easy to go down for some, tough for others. I liked it, because of the Easter eggs it gave me, and the competence I can live with from the production. It was decent, to say the least, but I’ve said much more than that.

It’s a recommendation definitely for the fans, because the temptation is probably already too much. And for a horror fan, this is a breath of fresh air in the current situation for horrors, it’s a unique entry for the theatres (despite its nature). For sci-fi, it’s a jumpstarter I hope for more originals to come along and debunk those tropes that keep the genre in a stand still at the moment.

Walk into it with open, tolerant, unassuming arms, and you’ll exit with a good taste in your mouth.

DC Comics New 52 | September Pull List

2011-10-04T21:02:00.001-04:00

A month later, and the first phase is over. Would you call it a success? Well, every single issue one has been sold out of first printings and gotten back to the presses, and Justice League #1, released August 31 to kick it all off, is going back to a fifth printing. All fifty-two new comic books are going back to second printings.

May not be amazing to you, but it is to me considering the controversy, criticisms and scepticism that dominated online forums, blogs, and comic book websites. How about that DC Comics boycott (pretty sure this isn’t the real campaign, but it’s funny and sad nonetheless)?

Wonder how that’s working out for them.

Just maybe, DC Comics gets the upper hand on Marvel for monthly sales returns. Wouldn’t that be something. In following this entire re-launch from day one, examining all the discussion and dialogue exchanged between retailers, publisher, and audience, it’s a really interesting case study into the sociological and cultural workings of fanbases, and the industry of comics as a whole, both creator and consumer end.

This is just trying to make things relevant. Because I know so many of you care about it. In all honesty though, studying the response on a weekly basis—more than just pulling my books of the shelf and reading them—actually participating in how the audience reaction is taught me a lot about how a niche market operates and how, in turn, are affected by a very specific, loyal, and incredibly passionate consumer base.

Going into detail is for another post. Here’s what I’ve picked up since last time:

Up from 12 to a lovely round number like 20, I’ve added a few ones that have won me over. As well, ones I was eyeing from the beginning for Week 4 of this first month. Specifically:

The Flash #1 – Written by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato, art by Manapul.

Superman #1 – Written by George Perez, art by Jesus Merino.

Aquaman #1 – Written by Geoff Johns, art by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 – Written by Tony Bedard, art by Tyler Kirkham & BATT (Matt Banning)

Justice League Dark #1 – Written by Peter Milligan, art by Mikel Janin.

I, Vampire #1 – Written by Joshua Hale Fiakov, art by Andrea Sorrentino.

All-Star Western #1 – Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, art by Moritat.

All-Star Western I just picked up today, because there were literally three of DC’s new ones left on the shelves at Silver Snail in Toronto today. Sad to see Aquaman sitting lonely in a corner, but what can you do, slow and steady wins the hearts of haters, I hope?

Speaking of Aquaman, that one I will definitely be talking about soon. All-Star Western was a gem, can’t believe I passed on it till now. Sleeper hits like I, Vampire, and earlier released ones like Batwing deserve some praise (considering the controversy surrounding Batwing’s author for his other book).

There’s still 32 more, but unfortunately I’ll have to cut it here for the month. The three issue ones I never got a hold off cause I was late to the game—or rather the comic book shop, were DC Universe Presents, Wonder Woman, and Detective Comics.

The others I’ll still read, but necessarily in the most supportive of methods.

Big pile of comics on my desk makes me a happy fanboy. Reviews to come when I muster up the energy. Really, these are all just really good issue ones.

Oh and, Francis Manapul signed my Flash #1, and drew me a sketch. I bet you’ll want to see that.

Stay tuned. And read comic books!

EPIC Illustrative Art of the Week

2011-10-01T20:46:00.001-04:00

Fuck essays, look at art!

Not looking forward to Monday.

In the meantime: Caitlin Hackett.

There’s a certain calming quality to high Victorian portraits melded into morose detailing of scalped animal heads. Brava!

Straight off the Tumblr dashboard presses. It does have its uses.

Check out fuckyeahillustrativeart, some neat shit over there.

[via fuckyeahillustrativeart]

Back to Terra Nova.

School sucks guys, don’t go to it.

DC Comics’ New 52 – Current Pull List

2011-09-25T23:50:00.001-04:00

Last Wednesday marked the 3/4 mark of DC Comics’ New 52 Initiative, with their re-launching of 52 all-new issue one comic books introducing both brand new and iconic characters to their line of monthly ongoings.

There’s be debate, there’s been controversy, there’s been a substantial amount of buzz regarding DC’s new venture. For a niche market like comic book fans, this is bigger than World War Three (I hope this is an exaggeration). For newbies to the market of comic books, this is a great start for them to get on, and for others to get the word out.

But they question remains, for a creative medium that I’m hope isn’t nearing its end in the coming future, was it a success?

To fork out four dollars every week to get twenty-five pages of fisticuffs and sequential art may seem like a dollish routine, but hell, lots of people do it. It’s the best way to support what comic book creators and audiences do and love.

So how I have helped? Well, let’s see.

Usually, recognition goes to the writer and both the pencillers + inkers, and the colorists (as represented below) as the combined art teams. Collaboration for the win!

Justice League #1, Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Jim Lee & Scott Bryant.

Action Comics #1, Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Rags Morales & Rick Bryant

Batman #1, Written by Scott Snyder, Art by Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion.

Batwoman #1, Written by J.H Williams III, Art by J.H Williams III & W. Haden Blackman.

Batgirl #1, Written by Gail Simone, Art by Ardian Siaf & Vincent Cifuentes.

Batwing #1, Written by Judd Winick, Art by Ben Oliver.

Green Lantern #1, Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Doug Manhke & Christian Alamy.

Green Lantern Corps #1, Written by Peter J. Tomasi, Art by Fernando Pesarin & Scott Hanna.

Animal Man #1, Written by Jeff Lemire, Art by Travel Foreman & Dan Green.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E #1, Written by Jeff Lemire, Art by Alberto Ponticelli.

Swamp Thing #1, Written by Scott Snyder, Art by Yanick Paquette.

Demon Knights #1, Written by Paul Cornell, Art by Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert.

Resurrection Man #1, Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Art by Fernando Dagnino.

I think all of them are first prints—the ones that matter at least I know are. Still on the hunt for Detective Comics and Wonder Woman, but I’m pretty sure they’re all sold out around the GTA, Toronto for sure since I’ve been to both Silver Snail and The Beguiling and coming up empty handed this week.

It started with Justice League and Flashpoint #5 at the start of the month, and now we’re three weeks in with most of DC’s new titles selling out in a day, if not sooner. Which is great for the industry, bad for me. Still, looks like all wheels are go on this initiative. And I’m still looking for grabs, so DC’s doing something right.

Going to do some more reviews on my grabs so far, but all-in-all, I’ve been careful with my grabs in making sure they’re worth it, all others I just download because I’m poor. All the Jeff Lemire (Animal Man, Frankenstein) and Scott Snyder (Batman, Swamp Thing) are probably going to be subscriptions from me.

Batwoman is a definite, you just can’t find that kind of art anywhere else. Both Green Lantern books are looking good, and GLC just has that ‘space epic’ feel I can depend on—I’d much prefer that over Legion Lost #1 or Legion of Superheroes #1 and their more closed-off and teen feel (but still looking forward to testing out Teen Titans #1 next week for my teen book fix).

So, there’s my proof. I’m a legit geek. I’m looking at you, Sheldon.
Don’t need some stupid quantum mathematics knowledge to get some geek gratification. Fuck laugh tracks, buy comics.

EPIC Sound Design of the Week

2011-09-20T21:45:00.001-04:00

Audio production last year was an awesome course, save for the shitbag teacher that gave me and my buddy a 75 for the most horrifying soundscape our class has ever heard.

But I learned a few things, and I like how I can appreciate stuff like this now:

Diego Stocco - Music From A Dry Cleaner from Diego Stocco on Vimeo.

Good vibes.

[via dailywh.at]

StoryCorps–The Importance of Listening

2011-09-11T17:08:00.001-04:00

I think I may have posted about this a while back, but it deserves readdressing because I’m really a sucker for these kinds of things.

Especially now, on the wake of 9/11, which personally doesn’t emotionally impact me that much at all, but you realize it’s important for a lot of Americans. My opinions aside, there really is no better way to recount or remember all the people who died there than to do it through something like this.

StoryCorps is a non-profit organization devoted to telling stories. Oral history of ordinary people from ordinary lives. Yet, they always seem to be able to capture something greater, and the audiences are always captured by them.

They’re sad, yes, but every story enriches the viewer’s life. I certainly get a better understanding of humility and humanity. It makes you feel good about yourself, and people as a whole.

Now, if these were international, it’d be a great way to raise awareness. StoryCorps in crisis zones in the Middle East, Palestine, parts of Africa, that would really make an impact.

These is the oral history of the ordinary, and yet, there’s always something amazing about discovering people’s lives. We relate, because we want to, because its necessary, because it’s instinctual.

The themes are always the same, and that shows you a lot about why StoryCorps exists, and why it needs to continue to exist to share stories about ordinary people.

We need it. Check them out on Wikipedia. Subscribe on YouTube.

Everyone has a story, just takes the right person to listen to it.

Comic Reviews!: Animal Man, Batgirl, Swamp Thing

2011-09-07T23:58:00.001-04:00

Hey, hey, hey, guess what? Reviews are coming back.
Yeah, they basically change with whatever I’m into at the moment, and I’ll admit I don’t usually review things unless for something else (ahem, WILDsound those eons ago), but god damn it, it’s new comics.

AND I LOVE ME SOME NEW COMICS.

Might do some more movie/television/book reviews. Like always, read this blog with a grain of salt. Except for what’s below. Follow it to the letter.
----------------------------------------------------------
Every Wednesday in North America, in comic book stores everywhere, is comics release day. Like how movies are usually released on Fridays, comics have a particular day that publishers send their books out to stores to go on sale.
This Wednesday, out of the dozen or so comics that DC Comics released, I only got three (but now I definitely plan to get more). I’ll just cut to the chase. DC is re-launching 52 of their comic books this September with all-new Issue Ones.
Some big names released today, but I went on the fringes and got some that I always wanted to get into—which is the real point of this entire initiative.
BATGIRL #1

One of the two Batman titles releasing today, I decided to pick this one up because I’ve always wanted to see Gail Simone’s work on other titles like pre-launch Secret Six.

I never got around to it, which I regret, but the re-launch gives me a chance to sample some of her writing, which I’ll admit doesn’t astound me like it’s hyped up to be given what I see on forums, but it’s definitely up there on quality.

The internal dialogue is a big hitter with this one.
If you get comics and read them frequently, you realize how important internal dialogue is to characterization, especially in a solo title. Gail knows how to write women, and I don’t think it’s solely because she’s one of the rare lead writers that is female, I just think she gets the character of Batgirl. ‘Getting’ a character is a loaded term, but it’s a necessity for a writer to engage with the story they’re telling. And that’s happening in this one.

Barbara Gordon, aka. Batgirl, has been paralyzed for three years, as the continuity regarding her wheelchair escapades has been kept. Controversy prior to launch day regarding how her miraculous recovery has swept the web, and the big question—probably the final say on whether this issue one is worth it, is how Simone writes it (or ignores it) in the book.

I want you to read it for yourself, but if you’re a new reader, you need not worry, the information of her past is front and centre, and well composed into her characterization, visually and narratively. The best part is, if you’re familiar with Barbara Gordon, it’s even better. Really intuitive way to keep her grounded in who she is, combined with essentially a completey new identity with his relaunch.

It was a good taste for me into Barbara Gordon as a character. She was done right in this issue. On the fence for a monthly pick-up, but a good start. And Simone leaves nothing under the table, which is expected of a writer of her capacity.

Check it out.

Forgot all about art; I’m writing this on a whim. Ardian Syaf makes it action-packed, poppy, and clean. Easy on the eyes, like it should be.

SWAMP THING #1

Been following this one closely since it was announced, and pretty hyped. The comics master/completely senile old man that is Alan Moore gave the green giant comic book fame, and the decision to re-launch him with Supes, Bats, and the rest, is a respectable decision (one Moore is cranky as usual about). Gives me a chance to finally get into Swamp Thing; again—something I’ve always wanted to do, that this re-launch lets me do.

I won’t summarize it for you, but basically it revolves around a botanist who died developing a flora-saving compound, and resurrected as a creature composed of plant matter with sentient thought, and the memories of this man. That was before this rewriting of origins. What struck me is that this starts off with Alec Holland, the man instead of the creature, and focuses on him in detail. The decision to bring Holland back to Swamp Thing stories (he was absent for most runs of prelaunch Swamp Thing) was a nice turn. It represents a true retracing of steps back to the core of the comic character and its mythology.

This is a comic that’s dialogue-heavy, but has a nice cameo interaction that, I think, connects it closely to the entire new DC Universe within these 52 comics. Really nice to see that Swamp Thing’s importance is represented in these interactions with big name characters.

This is all thanks to Scott Snyder, responsible for American Vampire—an award-winning series. In interviews he’s cited Moore’s run on the comic as a big influence, and if I read Alan Moore’s run (sadface), I bet I’d agree. The dialogue, while heavy, gives a lot of presence to Holland as a character, plus its exposition was a treat, since I never really understand what’s behind Swamp Thing—that’s a new reader standpoint.

From the art, I can gather the ‘dark’ side of the new DC pretty well from Yanick Paquette’s artwork. To me, I get a sense of the range of artistic styles throughout all these artists working on the 52 books. The villain reveal is a real treat, I can say its definitely dark, and quite literally, twisted visuals. It balances out with clean and bright colours, but when it does go deep into the supernatural, it delivers.

Not really any negatives, since I’m treading new territory, and it’s engaged me on a level that makes me really want to see where Alec Holland and his troubles with chlorokinesis go. Snyder immerses me with the dialogue, and Paquette drags me into the world with those swell visuals. Could definitely be a monthly pick-up.

Check it out.

ANIMAL MAN #1

Animal Man is one the other ‘Dark’ line of titles coming out of the new DC. And damn, did it hook me on this line. Probably the most hyped ‘fringe’-style book on the web, it did not disappoint anywhere, I don’t think.

Jeff Lemire is some new talent, coming straight out of Toronto for one thing, and his Sweet Tooth project, I hear is worth the endless reads. When it comes to Animal Man, shot from C-list status into the DC front-line by writer superstar Grant Morrison in the 80's, I had a feeling from the news and previews that Lemire was going to take this book to some crazy places, much like many think of the prelaunch Buddy Baker and his numerous adventures.

Within the first three pages, I was seeing some quality writing, and some striking, unique artwork by Travel Foreman. The way it starts out too, is unconventional to say the least, but for an Animal Man new reader, it worked very well. I’ll let you read for yourself when you pick it up, but it perfectly summarizes what I need to know in order to get with this book, and it did it in a way that seamlessly blends into the narrative. It engaged me right off the bat, and I got to know this character in one page.

From there, it’s easy pickings for Lemire. He knows Buddy Baker, and his writing shows it. It was naturalistic dialogue coming into my head easily, and by the time the action starts, the artwork by Foreman signifies a narrative change that the writing almost has to catch up with—like the naturalistic feel is leaving Buddy Baker’s life at that moment, and he as to deal with something pretty unnatural by the middle of the issue. You can clearly see it in the intricacies and technical details of Foreman’s art.

By far, this is my favourite of the three. If not only that it’s unlike any other superhero comic I’ve read in a while, it combines generic elements from horror and fantasy and just crazy stuff that’s even outside a cape comic’s norms—and that’s saying a lot—but it’s what you’d expect from the 'Dark’ titles of the New DC.

And that villain reveal, it gave me chills. Foreman’s artwork shines most here. Lemire’s carried the character the whole way, and plops him right in front of some twisted shit that puts the cherry on top. And the ending is like putting another cherry on top.

That’s two cherries. It caught me from the start, and dragged me into a story that I don’t think I can get out of. You start feeling a little of what Buddy Baker might be, and it gave me goosebumps. I hope it gives you some too. This is alternative/counter-culture/’contemporary-style’ comics given a new spotlight. Morrison should shake Jeff Lemire’s hand, because this comic is in good hands.
Definitely going to be following this awesome comic book. Check it out.
------------------------------------------------------------
Alright, that’s it for now. Three comics that were definitely worth picking up, which is a good thing because it lessens the blow of the cash I freely give to the comic book overlords. Not an addiction people, creative resource.

If I had bad reviews on a comic, then I’d regret buying them. And that sucks. So they’ll probably be good reviews. Sorry for the lack of variety.

Go to your local comic book store and ask about DC’s The New 52. Hell, ask about what’s happening with Marvel if you feel so inclined. And guess what, you can buy them online, and read them on your computer. No creepy fat guys accosting you.

Just buy some damn comics—the ones above, or any others that catch your eye.
Happy hunting.

[no, there probably won’t be posts about not-comics for a while.]

“Why Read Comic Books?”

2011-09-04T19:49:00.001-04:00

A web column By Martyn Pedler, on Bookslut.

Sometime back around 2004, geeky Seth Cohen became the unlikely heartthrob of teen soap The O.C., relegating the traditionally dreamy Ryan Atwood to sidekick status. If I was forced at gunpoint to pick the exact moment that comic book reading lurched into the mainstream, this might be it.

In this post-Seth world, however, convincing someone to read a comic is more like getting them to try a new band than getting them to admit that “music” as a whole might be worthwhile. If you’ll forgive my apples-to-oranges comparisons and rah-rah cheerleading, here are some random reasons why I read comics.

Starting big: comics can do anything. (Cancer? Cured!) Without limitations like sets, makeup, or special effects, comic art encourages the transformation of subjective reality to objective reality. The art can feel like it’s coming directly from the artists’ sticky subconscious to the page. It’s also why the best horror comics always feel like nightmares; like drawings that require a child to be sent home early from school.

That’s because they feel less mediated, too, thanks to the illusion created by pencil, ink, and especially lettering by hand. Of course I know most comics are mass-produced, and yet that illusion remains -- the odd notion that what you’re holding could be the only and original copy, made just for you. (Even the most idiosyncratic novel is still obviously typeset, right?) Comic books are an especially intimate artform, and many autobiographical comics succeed by exploiting that sense of reading someone else’s diary.

I won’t begin to explain -- or, frankly, entirely understand -- the mechanics of how sequential art tells stories and make motion. Writer and editor Dennis O’Neill once wrote that “a comic book world is a world lit by a strobe light,” and how that hypothetical strobe is used varies wildly from artist to artist.

Exhibit A: the animal-like characters of Norwegian artist Jason. They don’t seem to move like other comic stars. His precise art seems to capture them in the most awkward moment between two events, showing them frozen, deadpan. Jason’s been compared to Buster Keaton -- high praise, but warranted. At one point in his chess-themed western Low Moon, someone’s so surprised their hat flies off their head, and yet it seems to hover in the air like a bemused UFO.

Exhibit B: Jack Kirby, the King of Comics. Writing on “why read comics” without mentioning him would be cause for revolt, as he’s responsible for much of the visual vocabulary of superhero comics to this day. His men and women are drawn in such energetic poses that they exude dots of extra ink -- the famous "Kirby Krackle" -- and I always imagine the simple act of standing like statues in each panel requires herculean effort. Tensing every augmented muscle, they stay frozen until the moment I look away, turn the page, and they leap back into action again.

(A quick, tangential rant about “motion comics.” More and more, comic companies are hoping to supplement sales by offering digital versions of their titles with limited animation and voice acting that sounds like a first take at best. They think it’s just adding a gimmick to an existing story, like, say, slapping 3D on an old film. What they don’t understand is that forcing this motion onto sequential art actually breaks something fundamental about comic book storytelling. It suggests a group of executives throwing a comic on the ground and poking at it with sticks. “Look!” they say, jabbing at the page. “It’s moving! It’s moving!”)

Returning, then, to my scheduled evangelism. Once thick comic collections are sitting on your shelf, it’s easy to forget that these stories were ever presented in any other way. I was surprised to hear that Daniel Clowes’s latest tale of misanthropy, Wilson, was his first true graphic novel -- everything else had first been serialized. Why buy individual issues when, more and more, everything is out in collected editions soon after? And sold in respectable bookshops? It’s not just the credibility of comics that’s made them more accessible; it’s this newfound ubiquity.

Focus too much on the package, rather than the content, of comic books makes me feel like one of those people who decries e-books by reducing reading to physical objects and waxing lyrical about how paper smells. (You’d swear they snort up every sentence like cocaine.) But I do believe design and narrative sit together more closely when it comes to comics. Adrian Tomine asked that his earliest Optic Nerve comics, once found in a fancy collection, could be reprinted as the photocopied mini-comics they were always meant to be. He explains why in the new introduction:

The format -- the very thing that tempted me in the first place -- seems too professional, too aggrandizing for the material. […] Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like there’s a different criteria that we apply to a little Xeroxed pamphlet versus a fancy-pants book, and in the translation from one iteration to the other, these comics of mine suffered.

Similarly, Jeffrey Brown’s heartbreaking novella, Every Girl Is the End of The World for Me, has just been collected in a larger book -- but it just won’t feel the same as the original version. Its scribbled pictures and shaky text sit in the palm of your hand. If the idea that a comic has been drawn just for you is an illusion, Jeffrey Brown’s so good at it that he could have his own Las Vegas magic show.

As comic book collections crept into those respectable bookshops, they were inevitably lumped together under the banner of graphic novels, no matter what sort of stories they might be. Autobiographical indies sit next to hysterical manga teens next to sequential art documentaries next to corporate-owned superheroes. As annoying as this might be, it accidentally highlights how comics possess unheard levels of generic bleeding. When a movie or TV show does a “western in space,” it’s a high-concept hybrid. When a comic book has frozen World War II soldiers, Norse gods, billionaire inventors, and gamma-powered monsters fighting side by side? That’s just business as usual.

Let me get my pom poms for the big finish. Ready? I love the strange split between stillness and motion, action and contemplation, that defines comic book reading for me. I love the inventive pages-as-puzzles techniques used by Chris Ware to illustrate angst in Jimmy Corrigan or that J. H. Williams employs for his spectacular action in the recent Batwoman-starring Detective Comics. I love the stylistic tornado of Grant Morrison’s conspiracy-fuelled series The Invisibles, and how it somehow made meaning out of its dozens artists using a dozen techniques.

I’ve run out of room to mention the pleasures of serial storytelling; the addictive fun of cliffhangers; or the sheer scope and dependable insanity of superhero stories. One last thing -- I love word balloons. When it comes to prose, I’m with Elmore Leonard. Almost any word used to describe dialogue delivery other than “said” makes me wince -- but the shifting shapes and sizes of word balloons are a wonderful thing. Growing, shrinking, dotted lines for whispers, icicles for dripping sarcasm. By combining the verbal and visual into something ridiculous, effective, and unique, word balloons serve as shorthand for comic books as a whole.

Right now, as I’m putting the final touches on this column (mostly involving kicking myself over all the books I promised myself I’d mention that didn’t make the cut) it’s August 28. It’s been declared the first annual Read Comics in Public Day:

Let strangers see you reading a piece of sequential art. Take to the streets. Be proud. If someone asks what you’re reading, say, "a comic book" (the phrase "graphic novel" is also acceptable, but let’s face it, it sort of defeats the whole purpose).

I’m for anything that generates sales for artists I admire, and it’s sweet to choose Jack Kirby’s birthday, too. But call me Pollyanna, call me naïve, call me blinded by Seth Cohen’s charms -- it feels about a decade too late for a rallying cry like “be proud.” The same could be said for everything I’ve written here. I can see the headlines now: “Biff! Kapow! Comic Books Worthwhile After All!”

Why read comics? As with all art, there’s only really one answer: why not?

Pretty much embodied everything everyone should take from reading a comic book. Wish I could write it as well as he does, but hell, I’m not a web columnist so whatever. Still, I think I did a pretty good job on my end.

[via Bookslut]

EPIC Interdisciplinary Profession of the Week

2011-09-02T22:25:00.001-04:00

Mountain Climber + Videographer + Documentarian =

On Assignment from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

Jellllyyyyyy. But not really. I’m physically not able to do anything near this intensive.

The payoff though—God damn, like no other.

If you print it, they will come.

2011-08-31T20:03:00.002-04:00

I follow up on my word.

It’s a dawn of a new age. A new, possibly financially destructive age for me, and hopefully the opposite for DC Comics.

The first of the new 52 are here. Down with the old, in with the new.

Haven’t read them it yet. I will soon. Don’t wait up.

EPIC Artist (and Art) of the Week

2011-08-31T19:41:00.001-04:00

This time, we’re surpassing dimensions.

I’ve always been a fan of alternative art—the creative phenomenon where many fans and artists alike visually reimagine some our most beloved characters. The result? Hours of browsing interpretations, and how cool and weird and incredibly well done they are, more often than not.

Well, this time Futurama steps up to the plate once more, and it’s a common subject for visual reinterpretation. Deviantart (or deviantsculpt?) user artanis-one takes it to…

A whole.

Notha.

LEVEL.

“Hi, I love comic books.”

2011-08-30T14:45:00.001-04:00

My guest post on preposterousthoughts:

No, I’m not a fat-ass, the Simpsons didn’t draw me, and my comic book shirts look fucking awesome—no three week old stains and unwashed smelliness. My voice isn’t obnoxious. I’m not an elitist.

My basement is, in fact, unfurnished, but my bedroom is a nice place to sleep.

But yeah, I enjoy comic books. I enjoy picture books for overgrown children. The almost literature. The stuff for little cousins and creepy guys in your English lecture. And I tell as many people as I possibly can, because more people need to like them.

More of you, and your friends, and your parents, and your children. You need to benefit from reading a comic book, because there’s more good in one than you can possibly know right now, and because it will help you. It will help you be a more creative person, a more imaginative mind. It will aid you in understanding your perception of the world and help you think critically and creatively about absolutely everything you experience.

You know why? Cause it’s helped me in the two and a half years since I picked up my first one, and it sure as hell can help you and everyone you know.

Look, I realize you have better things to do with your time and money. You have work, you have school, you have more productive, active hobbies. You may read books, and since comic books are not those, there’s no need.

It’s a common misconception. A majority one. A one comics can’t yet seem to break.

That’s because they rely on us—on me, the reader, to spread word. To recruit audiences. To get people interested. Because unlike books, there’s never an end to them when the author sells a bunch of them to a company, and calls it a day.

No, comics are a rare form of narrative. They’re deviations from the structure. They’re special. In a self-contained narrative, you have characters, plot and setting to create a story. It’s alone. It ends, and with it, so does everything else contained within. Comics are not self-contained. They’re self-sufficient. They evolve with each generation. And because of it, there’s people you and I both know, that have been alive far longer than we have, and will most likely continue to do so.

Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker. They don’t end with the story. They live on. That’s what they do, because they’re more than characters; they’re icons. They exist to give us examples, to provide us with something, to enrich our understanding of life and its values. They are templates.

To be important, they must represent importance.

Lets do some role-play. You’re the scrawny kid in school. You grades are pretty good for your age, a few friends, you keep a low profile because that’s how you roll. Then you find out there’s some others who don’t like something about you. Your scrawniness. Your good grades. Who you are. They beat on you, they hurt you, they make you feel less than them.

You want to get back at them, show them who’s boss, make them understand what they’re doing is wrong. You want to be powerful.

Who do you turn to, without making a scene, without risking yourself? When there’s that much fear involved, of consequences, of punishment, what’s the way out?

I hope, for that kid, it’s a comic book. The reason why someone like Spider-Man is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comic book characters of all-time, is that he was born into a generation of nerdy, bullied, and weak kids like he was. He had the grades, he liked a girl, he was picked on. Then he got bitten by a spider, and had these amazing abilities. Abilities that real life would never allow under any circumstances, and right in front of your eyes, after each page flip, Peter Parker’s doing it all in front of you.

When you’re a kid, ‘real’ can be as fluid as your next daydream in class. That kid takes that comic book with him wherever he goes, because after each bully pushes him around, he turns to Peter Parker. ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Those catchphrases become mantras. They live by them. It moulds them. It guides them through turmoil and helps them overcome hardships thrown at them.

When they grow up, the grow up with Peter Parker too. That’s how comic books get fans. They connect with you. You see something in those iconic characters that have survived sometimes longer than your parents. They have amazing abilities, crazy powers, but there’s one thing that they will always be:

Just like us.

They’re human. Maybe not in the literal sense, but they are like us, because they’re written by us. They’ve had lovers lost. Their parents are gone too. They’re orphans in a place they’re not used to. Problems to them are problems to us, just with supervillians thrown into the mix.

The fantastic versus the realistic. The unimaginable versus the understandable. There is no competition in comic books. They co-exist by necessity. When I read comic books, for that moment, in that panel, reading that word bubble—I’m hearing, seeing, witnessing the character come to life. My imagination connects with the page. I bring it to life myself, I fill in the blanks. I have the power to make it as real as I want it to be.

When you’re a kid, that seems like the easiest thing to do in the world. Everything else is a mountain to climb. When your head’s in that comic book, it’s a way out. It’s a resource, and a bible. You live in it, and it lives in you as long as you carry on everything your favourite characters and stories represent.

Truth, honesty, responsibility, justice, kindness, heroism, understanding, tolerance—the list goes on. Comics teach more than they tell. We want the heroes to win, that’s a universal truth of storytelling. In comic books, rarely, if ever, is that fantasy not fulfilled. For that kid, it’s a wish come true. It’s reaffirming. It’s validation.

It’s telling him, ‘If you’re a good person, and you do the right thing, and you stay true to who you are and what you stand for, you’ll always be the good guy—you’ll always be the hero.’

Basic. Simple. Direct. A comic book is all these things on page. Yes, they’re complicated, and yes there’s a lot of history and backstory and pretext, but you distill those things into what’s important: the character—what, and who, they fight for.

I’m not going to lie, it takes work. When you grow up, you lose a lot. Most of why being a kid is awesome slowly dissolves. I think one of the first to go is that enthusiastic acceptance of the incredible. Everything is exciting. You’ll accept anything as reality—is it naiveté? No, just wild abandon. Not caring for the world, because you don’t fully understand it yet. And that’s okay, you’re a kid.

When you’re older, you have to care. You have to be a realist, accept that this is the world you live in. There’s no more tea parties with stuffed animals, or car races on your bedroom ceiling. Just you and the world you live in.

Then you pick up that issue of Spider-Man, remember how much it did to save you from yourself, and others, back when you were that scrawny kid, and it all comes back. You live it all over again. Your imagination sparks, you start thinking inside the book. Things come to life. People come to life.

Just think, how could you ever drop something like that again?

You have to take yourself outside your world. Your bubble needs to be burst from the inside out. Open a comic book to a random page—I’ll bet you anything something amazing is happening. If not, within the next two or three pages. It’s not like films, where it generally has to be rooted in reality, or like books, where your imagination is exercised to the point of exhaustion. Reading comic books is a team effort. It gives you glimpses into another world, with you to decide the rest.

You provide the images motion. You give the comic book a life of its own. All it takes is for you step back from your world, and your perceptions, and your understandings as vast as they may be, and pick one up and read it. Leave ‘real’ at the door. Enter another one—it will takes you places.

There’s a commitment. Comic books make money, yes. But it’s in the most creatively satisfying way possible, for both parties. Readers, they get a perpetual storyline and an awesome protagonist (a few have run to 900 issues), and creators—writers and artists—they get to create those worlds, guide your hand while you traverse something you’ve never seen before.

To me, that’s enticing. That’s something I can commit to. It gives me inspiration that things so fantastic can engage me that closely. Evoke a plethora of emotions and thoughts with each page. I want a lot of what I can’t have. But I can take pieces of it, and use them elsewhere. Create my own stories, my own realities. Engage with my imagination and let it, instead of trying to make it, go places.

I hope you have an alternative. For me, comic books represent the ability to dream, the opportunity for escapism, and the inspiration to use my imagination as freely as I possibly can. Maybe you have other ways, and I’d love to hear them.

Just know that, that creepy guy in the English lecture, he could have been that kid who grew up without Peter Parker, or Clark Kent, or Bruce Wayne. I want you to help him. Get a comic book. Give it to him.

His mind, and his heart, and his dreams will do the rest.

Support comic books. Visit your local comic book store and ask about DC Comics’ ‘New 52’. There’s 52 new issue one comic books releasing tomorrow, featuring 52 of DC’s top characters and teams.

No history needed. Just pick one up and start reading.

If you get confused, just ask me. I know my shit.

[via my tumblr & preposterousthoughts]

Good Fucking Design Advice

2011-08-30T00:53:00.001-04:00

This site makes you want to fucking do better.

Just keep clicking, the advice keeps coming.

I want to live off this site come second year.

And I will. I’m ready. Bring on the design.

Tons more to get you pumped.

I want it to be that easy.

2011-08-29T12:26:00.001-04:00

‘I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. You live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. And even the inside of your own mind is endless. It goes on forever inwardly. Do you understand? Being the fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to be bored. – Louis CK.

Word.

New Initiative.

2011-08-28T20:30:00.001-04:00

There’s something called Tumblr and it’s been like a really annoying rash that you don’t know it’s there half the time but when it does show up you can’t really avoid feeling it right there, begging to be dealt with.

Well, I scratched it.

This is me. Toned down, brass tacks, simple stuff. If you want to know what I’m up to in terms of my head and its craziness, follow that Tumblr.

I promise myself I won’t re-blog every single cool thing I see, but now that I’m in enemy territory it’s hard not to develop some Stockholm Syndrome. It’s just so easy. There’s even a Tumblr directory devoted to comics. I don’t know what to do.

If I turn, know that I loved you all.

Bee tee dubz, I’ll be concurrently using both. This is for the general crazy shit. The other one, I hope, will turn out to be mainly for the creative crazy shit.

Born like an artist

2011-08-28T19:42:00.001-04:00

Click through to enlarge.

[via jellyvampire (the artist) & currycloud]

EPIC Motion Comic Short Film of the Week

2011-08-27T16:48:00.001-04:00

Fubar from Hasraf HaZ Dulull on Vimeo.

Motion comics are always a pleasant sight. It’s like two different mediums having a baby together. A baby that kicks ass.

The voice acting, the expressive animal faces, the sense of realism and the military jargon are all contributing factors to making FUBAR, FABAR (Fucking Awesome Beyond All Recognition).

God damn, I’m so clever.

On to something big.

2011-08-26T01:52:00.001-04:00

30+ pages kind of big.

Several characters kind of big.

Arms aching kind of big.

I want to be in this world kind of big.

Might turn into something.

Check back in a little while.

Preposterous Thoughts

2011-08-23T13:52:00.002-04:00

Mitch Reed’s the kind of guy who will get shit done when he has his mind set on it, finish it, and then fist-pump in the air. And then flip a table and laugh at the person sitting there.

And then high five someone.

Also, he’s famous and he makes video shorts like a boss.

Also, he reps my blog cause he’s a cool motherfucker.

Get at him at his tumblr, folks.

How to become a knowledgeable person:

2011-08-22T17:08:00.001-04:00

Watch the Sagan Series, right here, right now.

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” – Carl Sagan

God is Life. Life is God. We are its saviour. And we’re not doing a fucking good job right now.

The best kind of disgusting.

2011-08-21T23:17:00.001-04:00

Is the one you get to watch following your favourite movie.

Posted a few days ago about The Thing’s prequel, with a news article almost a year old. Well, they were well into production then, and now they’ve updated with some more news from the production set.

Graphic, epic, disgusting news.

That cautious optimism? Yeah, that’s now become giddy excitement. I am so down for this shit. Bring on the writhing bones, gargling flesh, painful screams, and assimilating awesomeness.

BODY STATUS: READY.

[via Bloody Disgusting (among others), more nasty pics at the link)]

Soundtrack for life’s situations.

2011-08-20T23:17:00.001-04:00

For every time I swagger into a room, or chase a bear.

The album is Treats, from 2010. Noise pop that ditches the flowers and cuteness and just goes hard.

On Imagination

2011-08-20T03:57:00.002-04:00

Don’t know if many people do this, but I’m guessing there’s some of you out there.

Few hours ago, I was walking home with a buddy and we were imagining some crazy, stupid, epic shit that would be cool and awesome and probably terrifying to see in our measly ordinary existence in this reality. Fantastic, incredible, unimaginable shit—things that could and would never ever happen in our lives, or anyone’s for that matter.

It was only a short walk, and we discussed it for a brief time, and I don’t know about my friend, but all I could see in my head was all that crazy shit coming together, and me being a center of it, and it coming at me, and it being awesome.

Throwaway conversation becomes inspiration to me. “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” becomes “Why not make that?” “Why not create that world?” “Why not become that person?” “Why not believe?”

Say what you want about it, but the way I think—the way I’ve developed my imagination, I’m always more willing to see the fantastic than the ordinary. If only in my head, if only for a brief moment in time, I’d rather imagine something greater than the world itself than sit in a chair and observe reality.

Sure I’m a realist in normal situations, but shit, when I dream, I want to dream up things that I will not ever experience. In a way, I’m creating it then, it’s mine, and I can do what I want with it.

‘An idea is the most resilient parasite’ – Dom Cobb

I’m paraphrasing, but I think Cobb from Inception said something along those lines.

I know a lot of creators and storytellers and artists have that parasite in them, and the cure is the camera, the paintbrush, the typewriter, or what have you. I don’t think I’m at that stage yet, where the idea becomes unbearable to control, because, well, I invented the parasite that is this idea, it’s mine, but it also feels like its own entity. Certainly shaped from my perceptions and experiences, my resources and definitely the clusterfuck I consider my imagination, but it can grow and thrive and writhe this way through my psyche until I put it on a page.

Do I want that to happen? Eventually, yes. I want to constantly spend my time trapped in my mind’s worlds, creating and destroying, shaping and reforming everything that I have under the control of imagination—or maybe, rather, under control of whatever idea is consuming me, I hope.

Look, I can’t draw, but I’m planning on learning, I can’t dance too well, I don’t do a lot of sports, not a scholar or a savant, I don’t have a +1 in Charisma or Strength, and I probably can’t do a lot of things my friends can.

For me, it’s always been, “What do I have?” –mind you, I don’t mean “What do I have that others don’t”, because that’s restrictive and overly self-deprecating. Just, without any ceiling to reach, any basis for comparison, what are my assets?

I’m fairly good with words, I know people who have a better grasp of it, but I can write a decent paragraph on lots of topics. I have pretty eccentric, sometimes broad, tastes in music and movies, and TV. Gaming’s a big thing, and I’m pretty good at it. I know a lot of esoteric information about mainly comics, but also some other topics.

I’m a nice guy too—let’s check that off for those wondering.

Above all though, because recently I think I’ve chosen this one as the big winner, just because it’s probably the main thing I have going for me—I imagine things greater than myself, this world, and the people in it. By no means is this a set-in-stone trait. And by no means, am I done learning more about this asset, let alone done developing it, even eventually training it if I have enough willpower, frankly.

I like to think I’m a bit more imaginative than my peers. I see solace and interest in things that most other people wouldn’t be the most keen to discuss. I like thinking about things that will never happen, simply because it provides a chance that it will happen for me—in my head, yeah, but really what’s the damn difference?

The whole fiction vs. reality debate and all that, I don’t want to get into. Who would pick reality, really? Everyone has the story they want to be a part of, be they the writer or the protagonist. Every boy wants that girl. Every unhappy wife wants that harlequin novel affair to happen.

Every person wants to escape.

There’s just some that can’t, because they have a 10-foot tall wall made of believability and comprehension blocking their way out from that rut of being stuck with this reality.

A lot of people can jump over it too, break it down, stomp on the rubble, with a pen, pencil, brush, keystroke, mouse click—whatever, they’re all tools. Just takes one fantastic idea, one fantasy, specific as a space cowboy rescuing alien refugees, or as vague as just getting up and leaving, is all it takes for someone to accept that dreaming big and taking what you know and turning it into something no-one ever will know is okay for a while.

After all, it’s all in your head, until you want to make it more.

And I’ve wanted to make it more for some time. Ever since I’ve witnessed others who do it daily, for a living, and love it. Ideas turned into fruition, into worlds—not yet real, but not totally intangible anymore. A great in-between—perhaps the closest form the idea will get to an individual’s reality. I’m thinking comic books right now, but it can be novels, films, television--hell, even music if you value hearing as much as sight, but it’s all the same, again.

I dream big; vivid and vast, because it’s the best thing I can do right now. I don’t like reality. I’m sorry. It’s just not working with me. Hell, I know I’m stuck with it, and I got a lot of helpers I’m thankful for to make the ride enjoyable, but after what I’ve seen and what I’ve dreamt, I'll take any chance I get to hop on board any other reality out there.

That’s why I read what I read—probably most others who do it do it for that reason too. Escapism is the drug that keeps imagination alive. That one core desire that we’ve developed for ourselves, and not enough people I think embrace the power of imagination to self-sustain that feeling of escapism, if only for until the movie ends or the last page is written or read.

In my mind, with that one parasitic idea (I hope), my imagination creates the drug. And I control my imagination. But wait, that’s an oxymoron. You should never, ever try to control your imagination, in fear of what you might find, or whether it hinders your grasp on every day life, it doesn’t matter. Just do it because you can, and because it will inevitably take you places.

I’m not talking about imagining God’s telling you to slaughter a bunch of kids to bring them to Heaven, those people are flawed from before this whole ‘imagination is a drug’ thing.

I’m talking about me, and hopefully someone like me. Maybe you. I hope, you.

Hell, it’s brought me places. You can’t really tell right now, because I’m in the same physical place as I was since I was born; normality reigns, reality binds.

Places don’t have to be physical though. I’ve imagined a couple worlds, a few dozen or so people I’d really like to meet if I could, and a few world-changing/cosmic events to spice things up. So yeah, I’ve gone places, and back. And gone to them again.

So do I prefer those realities over this one? Sure. As much as acting on that preference is an impossibility, nothing else is. I have real people, real places in housed in my mind. Real to me, is real enough, okay?

I don’t care if I sound bat-shit crazy, this is what I want to do for a long time. I want to make worlds and hopefully, painstakingly, make them as real to everyone else as they are real to me.

That’s the burden of imagination. That’s the cure to the parasite that is that one, award-winning, life-changing idea. That’s my biggest dream.

Three minutes of walking down my street, thinking about how a discoloured lamppost could actually be housing an light-based energy alien lifeform scouting from inside the shell of the casing, which is actually a camouflaged outpost to send information to its homeworld.

And look where it’s brought me.

Don’t just think about life, imagine it. It’ll do you some good.

[I really am grateful for you, dear Blog Reader, if you got through all of that. I thank you for your dedication for this blog, I know I’m light on the GIFs and reblogging. Kudos]

Internet already hates this video.

2011-08-19T19:53:00.001-04:00

EPIC Gamescom Trailer of the Week

2011-08-18T13:04:00.001-04:00

So, Gamescom in Germany is happening again. And all the big players are out there flaunting their neat new games, like Battlefield 3, Guild Wars 2, Resistance 3, Saints Row 3, Borderlands 2, Dark Souls, Modern Warfare 3, and plenty more both you and I have never heard of, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is the year of the sequels, and threequels, but to spice things up a bit, some new players are entering the ring.

NCSoft, the company that owns ArenaNet (creators of the Guild Wars franchise), have had a sleeper agent waiting to pounce on the games convention circuit till now, in the form of this awesome trailer and potentially awesome game.

It’s another MMORPG, yeah, but as I said in previous posts, sometimes the standard tropes with big steel swords and ancient ruins and medieval sensibilities gets bogged down. Enough arrows and mage staffs. Bring in the hoverbikes and space freighters.

That’s right, it’s a damn space western, a ‘future fantasy’ and an MMORPG. Not much news yet, since just about everyone is discovering this game for the first time, but I’m stoked to see how they handle classes and gameplay mechanics. Looks like your standard class archetypes though; rock-dude tank warrior, bunny-girl sorcerer, dashing duel-wielding rogue—but hey, those things work in MMO’s, so I’m not complaining.

Also, I would watch a movie of this, like if Pixar had a fringe sister company taking care of less kiddy-oriented, more awesomesauce ideas like space westerns. The animation reminds me of Tangled though, if Tangled was set on an alien planet and everyone had energy pistols. Lovin’ the art direction this game, is my point.

Disney-Pixar X-Treme?

Fund it, Pixar. Fund it.

For those interested, here’s some commentary. Apparently it’s been in dev for four years. Jeez, NCSoft, you’re really holding back to cards on this one.

EPIC Cosplay of the Week

2011-08-17T13:38:00.001-04:00

Makin’ the rounds here, folks.

Elizabeth, from the upcoming Bioshock: Infinite. Click through for flickr.

And the character as seen in-game:

And a trailer, just for kicks:

nex lvl levitating city shieeet

Sick photography by the way, always want to try some portrait, but my camera is as useful as a fistful of really shiny dirt. The photographer’s photostream is pretty packed with some decent, and some awesome cosplay of other characters.

Could cosplaying be making an entrance at The Fanboy Subconscious?

Am I really going off the deep end?

What’s next? Anime-Con coverage? Some manga reviews? Furries?

That’s next time, on The Fanboy SUBconscious: How Far Down Will He Go?

[photo via theawesomer.]

EPIC Music Video of the Week

2011-08-17T12:50:00.001-04:00

Old, but awesome.

Also, hands!

EPIC Comic Book Artist of the Week

2011-08-16T18:07:00.001-04:00

Fanart or official, I’m not entirely sure, but it doesn’t matter.

Here’s Karen Zachary Wang. Discovered her three minutes ago.

Check out her blog at http://iamacoyfish.blogspot.com/.

The world needs more Wonder Woman, in my opinion.

Much more at the link below (most importantly, some Plastic Man, bitches).

[via ComicsAlliance & Daily DCU]

Cautious Optimism

2011-08-16T17:52:00.001-04:00

Ever wondered what my favourite movie is, you nosy bastard?

Well it’s this:

And a few months ago, I found out somebody was making this:

So I was like this:

It’s difficult to say what exactly there was to expect from a remake—what it was thought to be at the time of the first news breaking out—but to have your favourite movie modernized with contemporary horror tropes that ensure profitable returns (aka. turned into shit), you have to take it with a pinch, or entire bowl, of salt.

But, as it turned out, not a remake, but a prequel. For those of you who haven’t watched the original 1982 The Thing, go do it, and you’ll get what I mean. Seriously. Now. Look, I’m giving you a fucking download link.

Last year in October, the horror movie/games/comics news site Bloody Disgusting had extensive coverage on the developmental process of the prequel so far. Fun tidbit, the production studio was actually located on the Harbourfront in downtown Toronto, at Pinewood Studios. Passed by it a couple times, big-ass building. Wanted to go inside, but there was a big-ass gate too. Sucks.

I digress. It was a pretty comprehensive article, if you have enough attention span and interest to read the whole thing, be my guest. But here are some excerpts.

"No matter what you do, somebody is going to come after you. You say 'The Thing Begins' and they go, 'John Carpenter's is the beginning, asshole. Yours is like 'The Thing Bullshit'. Why don't you call it that?" – Producer Marc Abraham on possible fanboy reactions to a new title

I like their attitude, and self-awareness. The producers behind the prequel are the guys who remade Dawn of the Dead back in 2004, still one of my favourite zombie flicks—and cited alongside 28 Days Later as reviving the genre and the emergence of ‘fast zombies’.

"Matthijs [the director] has on his laptop…screen captures of that entire movie", he said. "He's so careful about where the axe is in the door or what the ice block looked like, or the spaceship, where they stand when we see the spaceship…when it [comes] to being anything that was referenced in that movie, we have absolutely stayed with it. Thousands of hours he's spent looking at that movie. He knows and is respectful of every aspect."

This is why I’m queasy over it as much as I was when it was announced. If that kind of care is taken into recreating and respecting the original as much as possible, and because it’s not a remake—and thusly, not changes in the original narrative can happen—the risk-reward ratio for a viewer like me is much better. Maybe, like 10/1. Nah, that’s bullshit, it’s just better when I read that.

Now, before you get your panties all up in a bunch about the use of CGI in the film, keep in mind that had Carpenter and his team enjoyed access to the modern computer effects technology that's available today, you can be 99% sure they would've taken advantage of it. It's all a question of whether it's used judiciously - that is, utilizing it in a way that doesn't overwhelm the practicals and take you out of the movie. Luckily, Image Engine – the studio behind the fantastic CG effects in last year's District 9 - is holding the digital reins here, so hopefully they'll be able to adhere closely to the type of work they pulled off so brilliantly in Neil Blomkamp's movie.

This was probably initially my greatest concern after the first announcements. Practical effects are a huge part of the original, and to rely on CGI to recreate those iconic monsters in the original would be doing a great disservice to the astounding effort put into those creature designs and prosthetics—most importantly, it’d be a disservice to Rob Bottin, the lead SFX artist on the original The Thing, who worked overtime seven days a week during production on the various monsters on the set.

Anyways, that’s just some of the tidbits the full interview, in two parts, tells about the production. The point is, it was a good way to quell my concerns at least a little bit, and since that was from a while ago, I was sure that so early into the production they already had that positive mindset in relating it back to the original, that they can’t deviate much from what the original meant to a lot of its fanbase.

And, just recently, the first trailer popped up looking pretty damn good, sporting the soundtrack emulator from the original trailer and movie, and having some awesome Mary Elizabeth Winstead footage—I mean, reason enough to watch it, forget being my favourite movie of all time.

Norwegian actors, detailed recreations of original set pieces, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Splitface, Image Engine, flamethrowers, mass paranoia, connecting the dots—not much to be pessimistic about. I’m downskies.

October 14th, 2011, folks. Two days from the season premiere of The Walking Dead? Gonna be a pretty sick October.

Get stoked.

2011-08-16T14:01:00.001-04:00

sum nex lvl warfare simulator shiiiieeeetttt.

Eat a donkey cock, Modern Warfare.

Impressions.

2011-08-11T21:50:00.001-04:00

…just cause.

Somebody gimme more to watch.

‘My Christ wears a cape.’

2011-08-06T13:33:00.001-04:00

captainfuck [on Tumblr]:

Superman is easily the most misunderstood fictional figure in modern popular culture.

Any issues people tend to have with him are a result of lazy writers, not any failings of the central myth behind him. His lack of appeal speaks more to the persistent cynicism of our society than anything else. Why else do people have such a hard time rooting for a man with the power of a God who seeks only to do good? Same reason you don’t trust that really nice guy who’s helping you with your groceries. Your first instinct is “he’s a rapist.”

That’s the appeal of Batman. Batman doesn’t fucking trust anyone. You wouldn’t either if you saw your parents get capped at age 8. People can relate to that. Bruce was normal, then the world showed him it’s true colors, and he never looked away again.

Clark is essentially Jesus, but far less preachy. People can’t relate to that shit. Superman is like Jack from LOST. Most people cannot relate to a gifted, well to do Anglo alpha male struggling with his place in the world. Bruce is the emo kid acting out his revenge fantasies on drug dealers and motherfuckers dressed up likes clowns. Clark is the jock valedictorian who felt bad that his best friends didn’t get accepted to the schools he did.

I think at this point I should get across that I am a Batman stan for life. Period. I’ve been Team Rich Nigga Vigilantism since birth.

Just, as I get older, I wish for the moral fibre and the dedication to be more like Superman.

People point to his absurd power levels & shit but be honest: if YOU could fly and punch the moon, how many kittens in trees would you save? Bruce is incapable of seeing the good in humans, and understandably so. Clark is incapable of not at least trying to. That’s admirable. Bruce is equally restrained. I mean, he’ll beat the shit out of a crackhead with a car engine if the mood strikes, but he can’t cross a line. Can you imagine having the wealth and means to just fucking murder serial rapists and get away with it, and have the strength not to?

I don’t like regular people, mostly. I grew up with titans and misunderstood freaks who held themselves to a higher standard. 95% of the people I’ve met in life have at one point or another fucked up my perception of humanity. Shit, myself included.

Superman never let me down. Never cut a corner. He never fucked somebody over out of selfishness. He stood on a line and wouldn’t be moved. Half of the historical figures who’s regurgitated mantras and quotes we parrot and strain to adhere to were fuck ups just like us. I’m pretty sure Gandhi told a white lie or two in life to get some head. Superman? Not so much.

As a kid, I thought Superman was lame. I’ve read the end fight scene from THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS thousands of times. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve respected him more.

Idk. Some people really fucking like Jesus. I wasn’t raised with the bible. I was raised with The Justice League. My Christ wears a cape. I think belittling the myth of Superman down to being a boring do-gooder is reductive and insulting.
I’m just saying…how many kids right are going to grow up idolizing nihilistic, selfish, jaded cocksuckers with broken belief systems? If I have a kid, I don’t want him to grow up to be like me. That’s a low ceiling to build over a child. Why can’t he reach for the skies?

Doing the right thing is fucking HARD. Clark Kent is an awkward, workaholic nerd who keeps people at a distance so he doesn’t endanger them. Here’s a dude who could basically turn 22 and walk into the white house and incinerate the President, and run the free world. He could build iron fortified fuck palaces with his bare hands and stock them to the brim with color coordinated cooze puppets in every city. Instead, he works at a fucking newspaper. He’s in love with a bitch who only likes him when he wears a cape. Everyone dogs him. His boss is a dick. His parents are the only two people in the world who seem to understand him at all. He doesn’t take days off. He gets up every day and sacrifices anything he could be doing for himself to save lives. And better the world around him. I don’t understand how no one can relate to that? You’ve never done something because you know it’s right, even if it doesn’t benefit you? I’m not saying, you know, defeat Darkseid on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Shit, you never helped an ungrateful friend move? How many parents leave their kids in front of an Xbox and let Master Chief raise their young? Shit, pop in some Superman cartoons.

I’ve always considered myself a man in search of a cave to plot revenge in, but I’m trying Ringo. I’m trying REAL HARD to be more Super.

He was raised by two decent, hard working, loving humans. He saw in them that EVERY human, regardless of circumstance, had that capacity. Bruce knew from a young age the very worst humanity had to offer. Clark knew the opposite. I’m cynical as fuck! When I meet new people who seem genuinely nice, it takes WEEKS for me to stop secretly assuming they’re pedophiles!

I don’t fucking trust ANY of you people! I WISH I’d studied to be a ninja to facekick shady fucking people. But, God, how I wish I could be a kid again. Children have that quality Superman has. It’s not naiveté. They just still believe in magic.

Obviously, Superman can afford to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. If he ends up being wrong, you know, he can atomize hem w/ a look. I think the beauty of the character is that, if our sun didn’t turn him into a God, and he was raised just the same, he’d be no different. He’d just be a shy nerd who gives people the benefit of the doubt, and probably get mugged a lot.

People. you don’t have to be able to fly to be Superman. Take a week trying not to be a dick. You’re halfway there. Just fucking SMILE at people in the streets. ASPIRE, dammit.

Remember that poster for Donner’s SUPERMAN? “YOU WILL BELIEVE A MAN CAN FLY!” When’s the last time you believed in anything aspirational?

I think I’m pretty much done. Been in a bad mood for three weeks and I read SUPERGODS and decided Kal-El was going to be my new religion.

Still BATMAN 4 LYF, but I think we could all stand to see a little more Superman when we face the mirror in the morning.

You caught me in a rare, uplifting mood. Tomorrow it’s back to big asses, hipster music and bad mouthing stupid people.

[thanks, deebeemonster]

Great rant. And a good incentive to pick up at least Action Comics #1 this September.

EPIC Comic Book Artist of the Week

2011-08-03T20:19:00.001-04:00

Fuckin’ Adam Hughes, bitches.

You know his covers when you see them.

ABOVE: Covers for Teen Titans, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl and Zatanna. It’s mostly women for good reason: he knows how to draw them.

Mostly known for his work on Catwoman (vol. 2), being the dedicated cover artist for over almost forty issues. Most Wonder Woman art you google will turn up his work. His style is basically pin-up art modernized with superheroes. The lines and the detail in his characters makes each cover.

Only downside? His work takes a long damn time to make it look so good, so you won’t find him doing any interior art. Shame.

Prime example of those who draw women the way they’re supposed to be drawn, I think. His website is http://www.justsayah.com/. Have at it.

This shit matters, okay?

2011-07-31T23:17:00.001-04:00

I don’t talk a lot about the comics I read personally and in detail because I have reason to believe not many people I know care too much about it, and also they lose interest within three minutes on average when I do begin discussing such things that are less important to them than the fungi that they don’t yet know are growing under their carpets.

But now and then, certain comic books can do some good. Maybe sway some non-believers into picking up a copy. Maybe Archie can take a back seat to Cable & Deadpool or The Preacher once in a while. Hard to believe. There are moments where its genuinely beneficial for someone to read a comic book.

This is one of those times.

You already know my opinions on gay rights and all that jazz, at least at this given point, I hope you all are on the same page with this. If not, all the more reason to at least check this comic book out. It’s only 40 pages of a picture book for older people, so bare with me.

SOLICTIATION: "OUT, OUT..." This is the X-Men comic that will have people talking for years! Some candles burn twice as bright and half as long. Some candles don't get a chance to burn at all. Generation Hope discover what happens when a light goes out.”

NECESSARY BACKSTORY: There are not a lot of mutants anymore in the Marvel Universe. Recently, one girl became the first mutant to come a long in a while, and after, her existence started springing more across the world. Mutants were happy, because they were growing out of imminent extinction.

These new mutants just manifest their powers, so they’re teenagers. And the girl bands them together, as a sort of teenage team, under guidance of the big X-Men. Their main job is to look for the newbies who spring up, and get to them before someone else does.

Generation Hope #1-8 are in Local Comic Stores now if you want to know more.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ IT: Spoilers, kind of, below.

“It Gets Better” is a direct reference to a certain online help group that allows bullied and suicidal LGBT teens seek guidance if they feel threatened, ostracized, disowned, or considered unequal.

The character on the left is one of those new mutants, and if you read the comic issue, you’ll understand what he’s saying a bit better. You know the character on the right. And you can get a sense that he knows what he’s talking about, since he’s been around for a while. The point is, comic books and real life are very much alike in some ways. Comic books are not novels, they don’t just end. There’s not stand-alone narrative that can be taken as it is and then left alone.

Comic books reflect life as we live it. It’s very modern, and most times, events in our reality are often satirized or represented in comic books across the medium, within major publishers specifically. Rooting that kind of realism in frankly spectacular stories of superheroes creates a contrast that persists through the narratives presented.

As I’ve said before, X-Men is a prime example. X-Men’s subjects, its allegories, change with each generation, because they represent an entire concept, instead of a specific issue. Prevalent today is very much so the damaging effects of gay bullying, rashes of gay-related suicides in the US (where most comics are set), and added onto that, is the fact that this book is marketed towards teens, because it’s about teens—one of the few out there today.

This is a prime example of good comic book writing, and what comic books can do for its readership. Yes, comics and their characters are absurd, but they can also incredibly real.

Think I’m full of shit? Deal with it, go back to your Gossip Girl, Catcher in the Rye, Adventure Time or whatever piece of narrative you prefer. I’m sticking with the spectacular.

Give it a chance. Please do pick it up at your local comic book store. No need to read previous issues, it’s a one-issue story, and it works well that way.

Wooooooo!

2011-07-27T13:50:00.001-04:00

Christening of the second (?) official fashion post is underway! If there’s been more than two on this blog, then let’s just say one of them isn’t official.

Ever wanted to know how to pull of Hogwartsian style without looking like a cheap cosplayer or something you got from a party store? Ever wanted to look like a supervillian without being arrested for public indecency? Ever wanted to be cool?

Well, blogs exist out there to assist you in such endeavours.

Character Inspired Style is a Tumblog that combines your favourite characters across all works of fiction, and some non-fiction, and the lovely person who runs it arranges outfits distinctly inspired by each said character. Tons of neat stuff on there. Characters from movies, television, comic books, novel series, you name it.

If you are secretly a geek, go check it out. I know you are.

One small problem, it’s girls only—but really, if you’re male you won’t have the attention span for that blog anyways.

Aurually Audacious Endeavours – Wye Oak

2011-07-26T23:46:00.001-04:00

From The Walking Dead’s new Comic-Con Trailer.

Literally found these guys three minutes ago. Indie folk duo from Baltimore.

Thought the singer was a man before I saw this video. Turns out it wasn’t. And that’s a good thing, too.

Title track off their new album, Civilian.

EPIC Concept Art of the Week

2011-07-24T02:22:00.001-04:00

Kekai Kotaki is a concept artist from Hawaii.

He’s the lead concept artist for Guild Wars 2.

Click through any of these above tidbits to get to his website. Plenty more goodies including his work with the original Guild Wars, and most of his freelance work.

I honestly hope you find all this as cool as I do. Read my posts about the game itself if you want to know more about it.

While fiction about real-life drama and existential monologues are all good topics to make narratives about, nothing really beats experiencing what we most want to: an entirely different world.

It’s guys like this one who are in the industry getting to craft those worlds and share them with everyone so they can live it too. Truly an amazing profession.

EPIC Comic-Con Trailer of the Week

2011-07-22T17:30:00.001-04:00

AMC is known for their badass series. Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Killing. Yeah I only watch one of those series, but fuck it, we all know they’re sick shows. A while back, I did a post on The Walking Dead, the first season, like two fucking years ago (Holy shit, why I have blogged for so long?), and since then I’ve been following it lazily since last Comic-Con and eventually when it aired…

…You can imagine my reaction.

Point is, season one is worth watching. Honestly, it is a great series, probably not on par with long-running critical and commercial successes like Mad Men and to a lesser extent Breaking Bad, there is a lot of really good material here. And I don’t need to tell you how ambitious this is. This is horror drama, with zombies. Instead of period suits, there’s hours of grimy dead person make-up and sweltering on-location heat. Instead of drug deals, there’s guns and blades and crossbows and trust issues.

This series takes a lot to make. Check out the behind-the-scenes production featurettes at amctv.com to see how much goes into making this series.

If you need more reassurance: this isn’t a summer horror blockbuster. This isn’t a satire. This isn’t a B-movie with a budget.

It’s a drama. It has characters, it has conflicts, and it has writing.

The kicker—and probably the best kicker in all of modern television history—is that there are zombies thrown in.

There is not a logical way that something like that could be bad.

Season 1, while hyped to oblivion, didn’t capture as many of the audience’s hearts as I imagined Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile—he’s legit), executive producer along with Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator) may have wanted, but shit, the fanbase is so huge now, I don’t see this stopping anytime soon.

Talks of a third season were well underway before Comic-Con. Put it in the bag.

God, I fucking love zombies.

Oh yeah, read the graphic novel series. Still ongoing. Started nine years ago. Award-winning and best-selling since then. You’re dumb if you don’t read it.

NEVER CHANGE, Americans.

2011-07-17T17:57:00.001-04:00

We are despicable creatures sometimes.

‘Persons of Colour’ is a stupid phrase.

2011-07-17T14:41:00.002-04:00

I mean, its pretty outdated. Kind of a dumb thing to point out.

‘Colour’ certainly has a connotation of diverse hues. Like blue, or aquamarine. Or lime. Nobody’s skin colour is lime.

There’s only like, three. Dark brown, brown, and beige. And most of it depends on how much melanin you have or something.

Now, if someone ate a shitton of carrots and turned orange, I think I’d jump on a chance to say he or she’s a person of colour—no, I’d rather say a colourful person.

That way it’s literal and complimentary.

Just say, non-Caucasian if you must. But still, white people have skin, and it’s a colour, and its definitely not white. I know it’s a conditioned phrase, but since ‘minorities’ is the politically-correct term, even though it really shouldn’t be, just use that.

Never mind where this is coming from.

Just know that saying ‘Persons of Colour’ is a faggy thing to say.

Didn’t mean it like that. Disassociations are the first step to tolerance.

More on THE SECRET WORLD

2011-07-08T15:38:00.001-04:00

Okay, I’m sorry, but watch these videos on the Secret Societies.

Well, this explains a lot.

The original shit-disturbers.

Uptight.

OH MY GOD MAKE A COMIC BOOK ALREADY. HOLY SHIT IT WOULD BE SO AWESOME.

I’m doing fanfiction, fuck this.

EPIC Video Game Trailer of the Week

2011-07-08T15:16:00.001-04:00

The more I read up on The Secret World, my imagination starts running rampant with the possibilities of what this game might include and what I want it to include and what if this was actually real life and oh my god, what if the Slender Man is real?

And then I go to wondering about how awesome this concept for a Massively-Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. For anyone who’s not familiar, most MMORPG’s are Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones/any well-known epic fantasy fiction-esque arching storylines with magic and swordsmanship and GLORY.

What’s different about this? Well, as you can tell, there’s that guy in the trailer who reminds me of John Constantine only he actually gives less of a fuck, and also there’s a crazy tentacle ghost-monster? The Secret World is set in modern day times, in ‘our’ world, with everything seemingly normal except that every single fucking supernatural conspiracy exists beneath the shroud of everyday life.

So, given that realization, I jumped on the bandwagon because I love me some supernatural creature design. Werewolves, Wendigos, Vampires, Djinns, Spectres (badass-looking ghosts) and zombies are just some of the enemies to be found in this game, replacing the traditional enemies you’d find in other MMORPG’s we’re familiar with.

Since you probably don’t care about gameplay mechanics, I’ll just skip that part and keep talking about the art of this game. It’s pretty damn cool if you look at both gameplay and cinematic trailers. Like these earlier two:

With all these fantastically Lovecraftian creatures running about the world, there needs to be some bros to put an end to it right? Right! So you got three ‘secret societies’; hell yeah, they exist—the Illuminati (of course), the Dragon, and the Templars. Three factions have different philosophies, intentions and ulterior motives to what they want with the supernatural, but I believe they’re all looking for certain relics around the world to do something crazy with.

Really, if you don’t think this is cool, your imagination is about as thriving as a decomposing leaf.

I mean, fuck, I could spend 2 blog posts just talking about the character and creature design. But I’m merciful. Do I care if this game will be good or not? Hell no, I just want more cinematic trailers. Cinematic video game trailers are one of the best things ever in the world ever. Ever.

Supernatural monsters come a close second.

NEW ROLE MODEL

2011-07-07T00:03:00.001-04:00

Best dad ever. Also, zombies.

Crossover, season 3?

PRIDE and stuff

2011-07-05T01:21:00.001-04:00

So, I think Pride Week just ended with the Pride Parade in downtown Toronto, and guess what, I went. Pretty much dragged along, a nothing-better-to-do sort of thing, but I might as well while I’m not doing anything really that productive at home.

What I regret, is that I didn’t go with an intention, or much of a motivation. For me, there wasn’t much of a goal. Being heterosexual, and more so, being me, I found it hard to connect with a lot of what was going on. PRIDE Week might as well be Healthy Nutrition Week in my books—pretty much a detached, apathetic observer than a participant, or an activist, or a community member.

I regret it because I didn’t get to appreciate a lot of what I saw. I saw a lot too. There were drag queens, transsexuals, gays, lesbians, straights, couples of all types, topless women, pantsless men, the old, the young, the middle aged; firefighters, policemen, gamers, DJ’s, dancers, singers, school groups.

Saw them all, and I regret not getting to feel something along with them. Because the more I think about it, the more I think about how proud they really are for having the life that they have, and being able to express themselves the way they do.

I’ve never had the privilege of having a close gay friend. I wouldn’t have called it a privilege a year ago, maybe even a few months ago. But if I could talk closely with someone who has gay, I’d learn how to be a better person, absolutely.

I deal with problems—external, internal. I battle with myself, my emotions, past and present decisions. I beat myself up. I hurt.

But it’s obviously nothing compared to someone who is gay. That’s what I regret not taking to the PRIDE Parade.

To be gay, is to be labelled immediately. Without your knowing, and with the inevitable realization—at least in a society where it can be labeled—that you will have to walk with it wherever you go, either waiting to burst through your skin, or having it come out by itself and facing the consequences without preparation, mental or physical.

So much of what defines Western society depends on what someone or something else has told all of us, and we’re conditioned to listen, to the letter, until something or someone different happens and we’re too damn scared to face it that it leads to hatred, ignorance, suicide.

I don’t know what it it must be like, but I know the emotions that a gay adolescent probably goes through. Intensified, I’m sure, much more vivid. Much more concrete and convincing. Not only emotions, but thoughts. To have that kind of seed planted, and the potential of having it planted so damn early in one’s childhood—those roots stay with you. Stay with you into your early adulthood, if not you’re whole life.

It takes an army to pull out that kind of root. Gay people rarely have an army behind them. Surely, it’s quite the opposite. In America, definitely. In Canada, I’m thankful it’s not that bad.

Gay people take more shit from others than I had my entire high school experience. For most, it’s started earlier. And it starts with the first bully—themselves. They ask the questions of their sexuality first. And then others ferment it, reinforce it, and convince them of what or who they are. I may not know it first-hand, but I can relate.

Bullying, ironically, is all-inclusive.

And to fight back from that, to be one of those that crawls, hands and feet, up from the mile-deep hole that others—friends, enemies, parents, strangers—dig relentlessly for them and shove them in it, that takes a fucking powerful person to do.

Gay people are shoved with adversity and hardship right out of the gate, and I’m surprised the child suicides aren’t higher now. In fact, I’m proud they’re not high. Because I know, thankfully, that most of those gay kids who are fighting for that place in a society that mostly shuns them, are succeeding.

The one way I can relate to someone who is gay is that they’re constantly getting back up. There’s no doubt in my mind that they probably feel there’s little left in the world for them, when they’re in, or were in, that place or time, and there’s but one tether, one anchor keeping them from falling off the face of the earth, as if its what they deserve, because someone tells them it.

I thought I had it hard. I didn’t. I still don’t. Yes, it’s hard to stay humble when you’re given such a privileged life. But thinking about something like this gives you those moments. I’m choosing to record it, so I can come back to it, and realize all over again, why there’s something to be happy about in the world.

Gay people are tried and tested. They come out on top, more often than not. I know God would be proud, if he’s out there. If he’s not, all of us that support them are proud, and that’s enough.

I regret not thinking about all this while I was there. While I was there I was indifferent. Detached. Not realizing that what I’ve gone through, and sometimes, what I’m still going through, is an infinitesimal fraction of what someone who finds out they’re gay has to face. Daily, yearly, perhaps for a better part of their life.

But things are changing. Snail’s pace it may be, they are changing. We’re moving progressively, in the right direction. Albeit, it’s often one forward and two back, but I hope with a large quantity of my hoping ability that the veils of ignorance and prejudice pull back one day.

Fuck, if there’s one thing you should be irrational about, it’s hope.

And if you’re reading this, and you’re not sure of your sexuality, or if you are sure, and you’re regretting it, please, don’t. I regret not caring. I regret not being able to walk down a hallway and stop it the moment I see it, and at times, being a part of it. I regret not having the chance to help save a life. I regret not feeling proud for you.

Feel proud. You should. You’re going to beat out everybody else, you’re going to take the worst possible punishment and you’re going to come out on top.

And if you already have, then I’m sure you were at the PRIDE Parade.

The Comeback

2011-06-30T23:45:00.001-04:00

Psyche, I never left.

Just recovering from eating my own words with that rant a while back on Green Lantern. But honestly, it wasn’t that bad. Honestly.

More to come if you’re interested. It’s going to be a long summer if I’m gonna stay the same unmotivated, aimless and distracted self. One day it’ll all funnel into something worthwhile, and you can be the first to witness it.

I’ll pay you. In Internet money. I’m serious.

I’m just getting started.

Honestly.

BUT I THOUGHT GREEN LANTERN WAS BLACK?!??!!

2011-06-13T21:54:00.001-04:00

HURRDURR I’m not watching, GREEN LANTERN IS RACIST.

GET THE FUCK OUT.

Food for Thought.

2011-06-12T04:39:00.001-04:00

Big question, bigger answer.

This is why I’m taking philosophy electives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the problem Science has with God. He asked one of his new Christian students to stand.

Professor: You are a Christian, aren’t you, son?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Professor: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Professor: My brother died of cancer, even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn’t. How is God good, then? Hmm?

(Student was silent)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you? Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Professor: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From.. God.

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Professor: So who created evil?

(Student didn’t answer)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immortality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them?

(Student had no answer)

Professor: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son.. have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your God.

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God, for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Professor: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, Science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my Faith.

Professor: Yes, Faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as Cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student: No, sir, there isn’t.

(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of Heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was a pon-drop silence in the Lecture Theatre)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light… But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and it’s called Darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, You would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is, your Philosophical Premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?

(The class was in uproar)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? .. No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable and Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on Faith, son.

Student: That is it, sir.. exactly! The link between man and God is Faith. That is all that keeps things alive and moving!

----------------------------------------------------
That student was Albert Einstein.
Brilliant.

[reblog: fashionchief on tumblr (times like this I wonder if I should convert)]

NEAT.

2011-06-06T00:51:00.001-04:00

I’m peering into Stephen Fry’s life, I feel dirty. I never knew any of this about him though. Wanna know why Britain is awesome? This guy, with all of his problems, apparently. He’s still epic. LISTEN.

Parts 2 and 3 are on the related links.

[via awesomepeoplehangingouttogether]

Not tl;dr for once.

2011-06-03T14:01:00.001-04:00

Just watched How To Train Your Dragon again. So now I’m gonna give you a list, because I know how much reading you have to do with this blog. I apologize.

My favourite animated movies—Western and Eastern animation—are as of right now:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
How To Train Your Dragon
Up
Toy Story 3
Tangled
5 Centimeters Per Second
Toy Story
Grave of the Fireflies
Monsters Inc.
iunno, The Land Before Time, maybe?

This is not an accurate representation of my favourite animated films, come to think of it. Just the first ones that came into my head. Pixar is always the best, but Dreamworks makes some gems once in a while. And Disney’s newest princess is rightfully deserving of a Top 10 place in anyone’s lists, I think.

Fuck yeah, animated movies. Real life can eat it.

Aurally Audacious Endeavours – The Reign of Kindo

2011-06-03T02:38:00.001-04:00

I should be asleep, but I gotta tell you about this band that someone recommended to me, first. Because the more I listen to them and watch them the more I start figuring just how fucking ridiculously talented this band is. I’m not even bullshitting you, this is pretty unreal stuff when you watch or hear them play. Really, it’s not surprising, they’re signed to the indie label Candyrat Records. Other guys on it? Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour—not a bad rep.

If you play an instrument, and know about playing music, this will probably be an even better song.

The basics: that’s what Wikipedia is for. But they’re from Buffalo, they used to be called This Day & Age, but they got a new member and changed their name to this peculiar one. They’ve decided to call themselves a jazz influenced progressive pop-rock band. I call it Jazz Rock, cause it’s simpler. And Jazz is the slickest, coolest, smoothest genre in music.

And that’s what this band is. Sonically, they’re tight as hell. Because what they play is so damn complex all the time, you don’t really notice it, but slowly you pick up on the individual sounds and rhythms these instruments are playing, and it blows your mind—it blew mine at least. The piano and the drums specifically, are reason enough to listen to this band. The drummer is insane. And the piano melodies are the main jazz element in this outfit. Who doesn’t love jazz piano?

The vocalist is the other big point. Off their new album, This Is What Happens, there’s 15 tracks worth of vocals to take in. The sound of this guy’s voice is damn grappling—it seems to form with the sound of the band around him, like a cup. It just fills it all in. Probably has to do with the mixing of the album—in that case, that is some sick mixing (you should hear the snares on this thing), but the timbre and the projection of his voice is just so perfect—technically, and stylistically for these songs.

It’s a versatile vocalist for a versatile band too, they switch up time signatures for multiple tracks, their chords and rhythms are very diverse, and the overall sound is a clean, polished, and cohesive. Everything’s neat and tidy, but its still full and lush

Is it rock? Is it jazz? Is it pop (stylistically, anyway)? Don’t know. Don’t care. It’s awesome, is what it is.

They have 3 releases, 1 EP and 2 albums, their latest is mentioned above.

Check ‘em, folks.

[shouts to Preet for showing me! Thanks, bro!]

EPIC Follow-Up of a Fanmade Game Trailer of the Week

2011-06-01T17:46:00.001-04:00

Big news buzzing around the computer gaming community on the Internet right now is related to Half-Life, one of the most well-known and critically acclaimed computer (or video) games ever made.

When this video went up, it sparked buzz immediately across game websites, blogs, and gaming news outlets across the web. Why? Well, it’s not because the graphics are outstanding by today’s standards. Half-Life was as game created in 1998. What this independent animator did, was take everything in the game, and polish it up.

Original gameplay clip. Notice any changes between this one and the one above?

As the animator, James Benson, describes in his video, he took 99% of what the game gave him in terms of materials and graphic assets, and he worked with it to create a really damn epic movie-like trailer for a game that just about anyone who plays computer games will know about.

As you’d think. It went big quickly. And when I went to his channel, I realized that this guy had done something else pretty spectacular.

This post from a while back introduced you to my favourite game in the style of a dance-off with a bunch of crazy lookin’ characters. Same guy. Makes sense really. But all those dancing dudes? They all came together.

The common consensus is that James Benson should be hired by Valve Software already (the game developer who created both the Half-Life series and Team Fortress 2). If anybody’s interested, he animates using the program 3DS Max, and yes, it is a program for the pros. I jelly.

Half-Life 3, get this guy on board. 2022!

Fuck, man.

2011-05-30T19:33:00.001-04:00

I want a pet. A loyal, loving pet.

There’s a movie called Hachi: A Dog’s Tale based on an original Japanese film. It’s about a Akita Inu who waits for his master at his train station every day. Even after his master passed away. I cried like a baby. Go watch it. It’s based on the true story of a real dog.

Also, watch this, and cry like a baby:

Man…just—…man. This shit gets me.

EPIC Animated Short of the Week

2011-05-25T23:26:00.002-04:00

Hambuster from Hambuster Team on Vimeo.

This is probably happening in Soviet Russia somewhere.

Watch it, it’s fun. Gets pretty gory, and its hilarious.

[via. theawesomer]

A Serious Investment

2011-05-24T19:01:00.001-04:00

DC’s getting ready to release their behind-the-scenes production insider at the end of the month. It’s chocked full of creature designs, special effects processes, a shit-ton of storyboard and concept art—probably anyway, I’m just guessing that’s what I’m going to see when I get my hands on it. And I will, damn it.

I’m 90% sure the four of you reading this don’t give two shits about creature design, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Green Lantern, if nothing else, is a great example of the capabilities of the imagination in creating truly interesting creatures, or in this case, sentient beings.

What’s interesting is that they’ve gone both ways with interpretting the comic book characters for the screen. Some designs are strikingly similar to the comic book mythos, while others deviate greatly, and that’s where I assume much of the creative gets their hands dirty with figuring out ways to reinvigorate the goal in portraying these characters: truly make them look alien.

With Salaak (left) – the guy has four arms, so that’s already not very humanoid, but they still made his chest distinctly different from a human’s, unlike in with comic book artists who do take liberties with drawing these alien characters and basing much of them off human anatomy. But with Medphyll (right), who’s actually a sentient plant species, the creature designers wanted to play that up in the film, so giving him a much more recognizable plant look as their take on his appearance. Plus, they make the one-eye thing going on not look as dorky as it possibly could have.

More hi-res Flickr photos of the book here.

My main praise with what I’ve seen so far from the film, is the creature design that I’ve been exposed to. Frankly, I think its astounding, because you don’t normally get to see this kind of art and design in a comparative and relative manner. Usually, creature design comes directly from the imagination, but with Green Lantern, you have a before and after to look at, and to see what those artists have taken with them and what they’ve changed is like looking into a candy store for me.

[via io9.]

Hey if it’s not your thing, that’s okay. But you gotta admit, it’s a bit cool.

I’m gonna jump on the ‘I dont give a fuck if you don’t like what I post, this shit isn’t about you’ bandwagon. Should just get a Tumblr, really.

For real this time, guys.

2011-05-21T18:01:00.001-04:00

Let’s put Green Lantern, Portal, Guild Wars, video games, comic books and other things you have little interest in aside for a while. Change of pace. And by that I mean things I actually used to post that mattered to most people.

By that I mean a MUSIC POST, oh my what?!

The Kollection is a website. With music, oddly enough. A lot of music, actually. And guess what, you’ve probably never heard most of this music. Because most of this music is assembled, produced, scoured or sponsored by the people behind this website and posted for your listening pleasure, and they make sure most of it is special, unique, and creative. Mash-ups, remixes, mixtapes, collected albums, it’s all there for you to download.

Give it a click, and it’ll save me some explanatory effort. But what I can say if you’re too lazy is that most, if not all, of these mixes are very well done. I’ve listened to a few, and this site has some pretty stellar quality control. That whole correlation between artists that are unknown and their quality of music has some validity here. Rightly so, because some of these remixes are absolutely ridiculous. Some of these indie artists and great finds, and some of these mixtapes are tailor-made for your specific situations, moods, and troubles so you have a soundtrack to your life for a while.

It’s a damn civil service. So check it out. It’s your duty as a citizen. Of good music.

ALSO, recommendations. I feel like doing recommendations. You feel like being recommended music? Good. I love you, because you love music and being recommended some by me. I love music because I get to recomme—

ALRIGHT,

1) Starfucker – it’s electropop with an indie style; dream-poppy, raw vocals, some high, pulsing beats on most of their tracks. Their sound is chilled out but still energetic. You like melodic electro? Check ‘em out. Even if you like the glitch or dub sounds, these guys have some sonic references to those genres as well. Also, that band name. I mean, come on now. Reptilians is a good album to start.

2) Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats – Remember the Red Hot Chili Peppers (and how they ‘broke up’—fuck the doubters)? Well, they’re still here. They just took a break. Their drummer looks like Will Ferrell, and this side-project funk rock collective is his version of ‘taking a break’. Don’t let ‘funk rock’ deter you, some of their tracks off their debut Meet the Meatbats are pretty versatile in style and genre. Some sound post-rocky, some even grungy, but with Chad Smith banging those drums with that familiar RHCP rhythmic control, it’s still got groove and flavour. Dig funk rock? Dig rock? Dig 90’s? Dig into these guys. Also, there’s a theme going on with these band names. Guess what it is.

“Drummer swag.” Definition: Chad Smith.

3) All India Radio – Jus chilllllllll. Describes them pretty well. This band’s been here for a while under the radar of mainstream and pumping out album after album of steady trip-hoppin’/ambient/electronica grooviness. The vocalist has that soothing, ethereal feel to it, combined with the atmospheric and interesting beats, it gets you into another place. Wonderful genre, wonderful band to represent it. Good for soundtracks, discovering one’s purpose in life, falling in love, and slow-motion. I lied about the theme, kind of. India’s pretty epic though. Lots of shit happening there. Echo Other is a good starter for this band’s rich and broad discography.

4) Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Fun as hell indie pop. If you dig Vampire Weekend, they have sort of the same vocal sound, and a arguably more epic band name. Crisp vocals and up-beat, clean instrumentation make for a pleasing ear-massage whenever you want them for one. Good cheer-up music too, especially their album Let It Sway. Nothing’s in-your-face. It’s laid-back rock pop, approachable, and enjoyable. Melds genre codes, but still gives you exactly what you want to expect from a band name like that.

5) Guitar – Well, this is just deceptive. It’s not a rock band. Not even a band, just a music producer with a very unique sound. It’s trip-hop at its core, maybe—an artist like this doesn’t bode well with categorization. It’s just what it is, and what it is down-tempo beats combined with guitars (accordingly) and other strings; even some cultural traditional instruments from Japan. Again, it’s chill music, but with a nice twist. The classical feel of the guitar against the trip hop/ambient beats provide a damn interesting sound to absorb in. Only album I have right now is Tokyo. Planning on getting to some more. It’s worth it, trust me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know there’s no rap, no death metal, no jazz (full-on jazz at least), and no tribal music, but I do try to be broad with recommendations, buy its my first one so cut me some slack. If you want some more recommendations, The Needle Drop is where to go. I took a page from his book for the post he did today:

My album recommendations aren’t debuts, but still, check them out. I download my music illegally, because its cheap. But I don’t recommend doing that. If you have the money, and the motivation, buy on iTunes or go to a music store. Gives you hipster cred, and you get to support artists worth supporting. Downloading music is a shameful thing. But I’m a shameful person, so it works out.

I might be expanding on one of these artists, audaciously. If anything, there will be more of the good ol’ days of music posts. Been binging on chill music for the past week. Going to need a lot more. If you don’t already know why, you’ll have to keep checking in for the big reveal. That’s right, you’re gonna have to read more. But in the future, I might proofread, and write more concisely, but I sucked at English in first year, so maybe not.

Stay tuned, and happy listening.

Now for something completely different.

2011-05-20T20:52:00.001-04:00

AA Gun powered by swag and willpower? Haters can ESS EMM DEE.

Get stoked.

I have the weirdest boner.

2011-05-19T21:53:00.001-04:00

(Weird Geeky) Swag.

Slowpoke, I know, but I haven’t gotten to dig into Gambino’s lyrics, especially for this song, until now. Too many brown kids reciting all of his rhymes in a car slightly too well to not be an obsession. But, I hear ‘em now, loud and clear.

“I got some pussy that was insane / So insane, it’s an enemy of Bat-mayne”

There’s a lot of reasons why Black Spiderman/Troy/Gambino/Donald should be listened to, but for me, that one line was enough. It’s a sick line. You probably understand why.

This song is like pop cultural references + weird swag = new age black rapper. Or something. Fuck, I don’t know, I just dig the Joker reference.

Fuck yeah, Joker (well, to be accurate, almost all of Batman’s rogues gallery are legitimately insane in one way or another, hence Arkham Asylum, but you don’t really care so I’ll leave it at that). Sick beat too.

And dat dolly in. Nothing’s better than a smooth, slow sensuous camera movement on a rapper on crack jumping around spitting about how he digs voluptuous fangirls. Bam, I just made an application of my learned skills at school. How you like me now?

Also, Freaks & Geeks is classic 90’s television. Sick show, go watch it.

EPIC Follow-Up

2011-05-18T21:59:00.001-04:00

Here’s an optional aside for those of you interested.

Have you played the first Guild Wars? Then this 30 minute Gamescom demo footage will please your meagre little brains—by that I mean blow your minds.

Don’t know what Guild Wars is? Too bad, this is 30 minutes of LotR-esque, fantasygasm, magic-spewing, sword/gun/staff/relic/bow-wielding multi-race awesomeness filled with kick-ass armour, instanced gameplay, customized narrative, mech suits, and just about everything that you could possibly think of in something that’s awesome.

You get to click shit, and watch numbers pop up. Hell yes.

Original Guild Wars was addicting. This one will be unfathomably more destructive to my well-being if I get my hands on this dirty motherfucker of a game.

K, I’m done.

EPIC Fanmade Game Trailer of the Week

2011-05-18T21:12:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, all you need are some booming orchestral voices and some bare gameplay clips to make something look absolutely epic.

Guild Wars 2 is an upcoming massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. Dragons, magic, swords, guns, and being able to play as a furry menacing gruff-looking lion dude, or a tiny, squeaky alien-looking elvin dude are all reasons I’m going to blow loads of money on this game. Also, it’s free to play monthly—eat a dick, Blizzard.

YUS.

No release date. I sad. Going to have to wait for all the multi-profession PvP and event-based battle gameplay mechanics for not a whole while longer I hope. Must have my fantasy fix!

Anything’s possible if you believe.

2011-05-17T22:40:00.004-04:00

Even dressing like a superhero, and looking respectable!

There’s a an entire site dedicated to professional or unprofessional redesigns of superhero costumes made by comic book artists, fan artists, and I would assume a lot of people who are really awesome, because this site rocks so much.

I mean this post about superhero-inspired high-fashion for normal day attire rocks especially. I can picture those outfits being pulled off pretty damn well in reality--in fact I picture a lot of aweosmeness and then me high-fiving her. Cause she’d look awesome, and also be awesome.

Inspirations are: Raven, from the Teen Titans. Green Arrow, an archer with kick-ass facial hair. Black Canary, she fights well and screams loudly. Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter’s cousin or something.

Here, let’s play a matching game!

These are the favourites I picked out—yeah, I like women’s fashion, what’s good? There are plenty more at the link above. Next challenge is, if any of you girls are reading, pull these outfits off and find me on the street, and then have your high-fiving hand ready.

The blog is actually really damn cool if you’re into comic books. Check it out.

The post’s author has her own blog where she’s actually doing this for a shit-ton of superheroes, it’s actually insane. Look at this god damn list. For each of her design ideas she actually provides you with clothing suggestions and sometimes links to actual items that match closely to those designs. So half the work is done for you. No excuses people. Her blog’s Asterous Fashion.

Go. Be fashionable. Believe.

Legitimacy, can I has it?

2011-05-15T18:55:00.001-04:00

PS3 Games - E3 2011 - Flower

Video games are culture. What this guy is saying, to me, is all correct. At first, I was one of those people who were up in arms with Ebert’s statement that ‘video games are not art’ because, well, the notion of something being a work of art is a notion presented with merit, respect, and significance.

And a lot of people weren’t taking very kindly to the thought that video games did not contain some, if not all, of those aspects of something being a ‘work of art.’ So, really, I think the argument against stemmed from an entirely different basis than the ‘art’ thing, because we associate specific qualities to what makes a product a work of art, outside of simply using such a statement as a figure of speech. Though still, in that instant, those associations work too.

So the criticism against video games being works of art, rather than, say, having artistic qualities (which unless you are blind, or a complete fucking idiot, are obviously not true), is an incredibly flawed one on both sides.

I haven’t read the article, yes I’m too lazy, no I’m not trying to be smart here, I’m just talking out of my ass and you’re gonna like it. But I’m assuming, after watching Sessler’s commentary on it (he’s a host for a gaming review show on G4, channel 90 on Rogers Cable [fuck those bastards]), that Roger Ebert is not an avid gamer. Don’t think I can picture that either. But my biggest qualm is that I think he’s talking out of his ass when he says what he says. This was a while back, so I don’t know details and I passed on discussing this before, but really, I don’t think Ebert has any basis for what he’s saying.

Nor do I think what Adam Sessler is discussing about what pertains to ‘art’ as a whole in context with video games was the mindset Ebert had when saying those comments. I’m going to be cynical and say he’s with the rest of the bandwagon.

It’s a bandwagon of ignorant fucks.

These three games are by an indie game developer called Thegamecompany, a group of grads from an Interactive Media program in the States that have a very specific development philosophy when creating their projects: the decide what emotions they want to evoke through their games and into their players, and design the game accordingly. The result is art. I dare you to disagree.

What Sessler is saying about participant influence in whatever video games actually are, art or not, is an incredibly valid point. The notion of a work of art having to be presented to its audience in one form by the artist, and that experience needing to not be altered is also a valid point. Once the audience starts being a participant, does the notion of art within a project cease to be?

If you watched that first video, that’s probably one of the ‘philosophical issues’ that video games sparks debate for. And in Sessler’s view, that’s what makes video games so progressive, transgressive, and interesting as an entertainment medium.

The participant is the third piece needed to finish the artwork is what Sessler posits. In that sense, it is true. Does that necessarily mean, given this reality, that a video game, as a whole, in its package, isn’t art?

If everything that surmounts to creating the finished video game product requires incredible levels of skill and talent pertaining to all aspects of art, design and interactivity, does simply making this art more accessible, more personal, deny those elements the ability to assemble together and create a true artwork?

Upcoming MMORPG with a shit-ton of art. Like, in-your-face art. Everywhere. Yup.

How can this be art?! There’s nothing to look at! Joke’s on you, fucker. It’s art, DEAL.

To me, video games, if they are to be considered ‘art’, connect with its audience at another level. Once again, it transgresses a lot of what’s considered art these days. Participants are experiencing the artistic elements in a game first-hand on several different levels. Sessler points this out in his video, visual design, AI design, character creation, environment creation, narrative structure, user interface. The participant interacts with the art, instead of just viewing the art.

The validity of that realization ferments my opinion in that video games are art. Traditional art? No. But I can’t deny the fact that so much of what’s put into a game relies upon every single principle artists of all kinds rely on, themselves, to create a visual, aural, or narrative piece of artwork from their imagination.

Google Team Fortress 2. Example of high stylization and a distinct focus on creating visual atmosphere, and awesomely hilarious narrative mood with their character design. Something like Braid or Limbo. Arthouse games. Yeah, that’s a genre. If you research countless indie games from indie developers, like the three mentioned above, all of them probably have clearer, more traditional artistic elements that may sway your opinion.

Horror. Like in movies (also art), it’s in games too. Horror requires art. Believe it!

Everything in video games has to do with art. Even coding. Programming. All the numbers and code and processing create something visual and interactive and appealing to your eye and ear. Designing not only visuals, but gameplay mechanics, working with gaming engines and designing a product goal rely on artistic vision and execution. ‘Interactive Art’ is sprouting up as the next big thing—new art movement, media topic, whatever, but it’s here, and its getting popular.

Video games as a medium, if not an art, combines everything artists know about creating art, and makes it into something else. Like Sessler says, maybe video games don’t have be categorized inside art, or culture, or society. Maybe it’s something else.

Maybe it’s the next step.

Wouldn’t that be the day, huh?