The 3rd Blade » Archive » Born Under the Same Star
THE GOVERNOR SAYS: Bittersweet and well done musing on the paths our lives take.
this post contains blatant linkage
June 20th, 2009(reposted from a stupid idea I had) I have WAY too many tabs open in Firefox. Time to live up to the blog name, and do some quick shots on what’s open.
First, I, like Jam, have uttered these Famous Last Words.
Bleeding Cool » So What’s The Big Secret About Spider-Man? SPOILERS
Marvel have made the solicitations for the September issues of Amazing Spider-Man classified for now. BleedingCool managed to find the credits for the hidden issues, but without actual solicitation information.That’s until SuperPouvoir.com showed the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #606, by J Scott Campbell.
I’ve read MAYBE five Spidey comics in my time, and I knew who was under Rich Johnston’s photoshop scribble out. That’s terrible. Also on Bleeding Cool: The Week That 39 Marvel Comics Hit The Shelves… I will be buying NONE. The only single I buy is Gravel from Avatar Press. I admire Marvel’s market spamming skills, but I don’t think they have anything for me anytime soon–Wait, what’s that, Robot 6? Criminal: The Deluxe Edition? 400-pages? Collects the first three volumes? Special Features?
Bastards. Luckily, I already have a collection with Rick Veitch’s topic of the day.
This has got to be one of my most reprinted stories. Written by Alan Moore, penciled by me, inked by Al Williamson, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Tatjana Wood, THE JUNGLE LINE first appeared in DC Comics Presents #85 and has been included in many DC collections and foreign editions over the last twenty-five years.
It’s… Superman and Swamp Thing. Teaming up. And it works. And features, by the by, one of the greatest pre-computer colorists of all time.
Meanwhile, Occasional Superheroine Valerie D’Orazio– who’s teasing she will be in Penthouse in some form soon1 gives some Lessons in Freelancing at comiXology
But the genesis for this article originally came not from comics, but my recent experience in another field. Basically, I did the work and did not get paid. And because I did not get paid, I almost could not pay my rent. Because I did not get paid, I was eating lots of ramen and cheese sandwiches. And when I asked to be paid, my client acted like somebody just farted. And when I again asked to be paid, client said the check was coming. And when the check didn’t come and I again asked to be paid, client admitted she did not have the money.Awesome.
Awesome like a VIP re-run on Spike, Val. Also, at her blog, Val makes Brendan McGinley spill on how he lands so damn many great artists. The envy in me is strong.
Let’s take a second here, and you go let Uncle Gabe remind you what’s important in life, while I get s’more coffee.
Mm. Chocolate merangie. Oh, you’re back. Good. You know, Warren Ellis, man. It’s heartwarming the rare glimpses he gives us of his family. As he reveals he and his daughter both share and don’t share a health English love of a good pint, I reflect on how this is much like my dad and I when it comes to coffee2. And when he shares this this tidbit:
I have a personal weak bias against location apps, not least because I’m in the lower rank of the class of people who don’t really want other people to be able to easily locate them (nutters who want to harm me or my family because I had a character in X-Men deflowered before said nutters could marry said fictional characters and therefore do it themselves, for instance). Read Harlan Ellison’s “Xenogenesis” sometime.That said: this is an interesting word, and an interesting metaphor. Also: locative technologies are not going to go away just because there’s a mad fanboy out there who wants to wear my skin.
… I’m reminded WHAT THE FUCK, FANDOM? I’ll admit, I harbored PSL for Julie Winters from The Maxx and Samus from Metriod as a young lad, first feeling those funny feelings in my loins the drive to continue the species brings… but, folks, I knew they’re FICTIONAL.
My teen fandom was fucked up in different ways. But that’s another story. KEY: Learn to draw the fucking line between IMANGINATION AND REALITY!
Also, everyone should read Xenogenisis. It’s in The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective. Get it.
In lighter Ellis news, FreakAngels Episode 0059 features Luke’s dick. Not Luke being a dick. His… yeah. Well, at least it looks like he might die soon, if Warren isn’t teasing us. Again. Bastard.
TCAF 2009 – Wrap Up at Comics212
That’s right, the next Toronto Comic Arts Festival will be held Saturday May 8th and Sunday May 9th, 2010, at Toronto Reference Library. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST. And yes, we know that’s Mother’s Day… All of the cool moms read comics.
Oh, sure. Taunt me that I’m usually not able to go despite living in the GTA TWICE AS OFTEN. Thanks, guys.
Finally, here’s the comics that real made me happy today:
Bob the Angry Flower - The Weak Force
Wondermark #528; In which Bonds persist
A really cool short film.
May 11th, 2009){kind=link}
Mother’s Day
May 10th, 2009If you have a good one, let her know.
If you don’t get along, don’t torture each other forcing it.
If your mother is abusive, and you’re stuck there at the moment– I survived it. And I’m told I’m relatively sane.
If you’ve gotten a horrible mom, to be your own person– hats off. If she calls with guilt in mind, tell her to fuck off. Then hang up.
Three Questions
May 2nd, 2009Part of the promotion for Warren Ellis’ serialized graphic novel No Hero from Avatar Press– with art by the scarily productive Juan Jose Ryp– is a rather good point about what makes a character interesting. Who wants to be an X1 is a very fine question, Ellis asserts, butt what will define him is how badly they want X. What are they willing to DO for X?
In reading Gravel, another important facet comes up. What are you willing to settle for? Gravel has pretty much accepted his life will never let him see the same female twice, much as part of him would like that person to see every morning or lie down and die beside. But he’ll go for optimum conditions– he’ll settle for, say, connecting with the lovely lady he’s supposed to kill, and taking away her memory of the incident she was supposed to be silenced for, but leave her with a small, hopefully pleasant memory of him.2
It occurred to me, the answers to these three questions– What do you want, how bad do you want it, and what’s the least you’ll settle for– these are probably two great keys to get into a characters desire and integrity3, that thing called motivation.
Another example. In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark wants justice for the death of his father. Hamlet is willing to feign madness– even risk actually going mad. He’s willing to send two supposed friends to their death, be callous to a woman that loves him, and egg the man he thinks is the murderer on.
And because he will settle for no less that his desire, everyone winds up dead.
It’s interesting to wonder, if what your character wants most and what they’ll settle for are both in reach, which will they choose?
This may help me attack my accursed personal challenge.
Work, Work, Work.
April 29th, 2009- The website redo goes well.
- A script is with an artist, and it’s someone I consider a friend.
- I’m writing. Writing. Writing.
- Found all the plugins that do what I want.
Sweet.
Uncanny Valley
April 21st, 2009Subnormality explores the Uncanny Valley.
Speaking as a longtime fan of the armored one… good point.
RPGs Are Engines for Making Interesting Decisions
April 20th, 2009When you get right down to it, what is an RPG? It’s an engine for making interesting decisions.
via RPGs Are Engines for Making Interesting Decisions - Gnome Stew, the Game Mastering Blog.
Hm.
RPG R&D: “Why doesn’t she get the damn sword?”
April 20th, 2009This was back when Global up here in Canukistanslavia1 had a weekday morning cartoon lineup. They aired DIC’s Sailor Moon dub. Which I watched because otherwise the sister would bitch, and we were in a farmhouse sans cable or sat at the time, and it was better than the crappy news on our other two channels.
So, two creative teens. Me 16, her 13. Just figuring out the stupid “let’s you and him fight” game Mom has us trapped in.
One day, during our second or third viewing of the “Doom Tree” arc, Liz turns to me and says, “Why doesn’t Salior Moon get the damn sword?”
I blinked. “She has the Moon Scepter.”
“Stupid. That’s a fucking support weapon. She should have the damn sword, and the Moonlight Knight or what ever the fuck Darien’s cosplaying as should get the wand.”
I blinked again. I do that when Liz makes sense. “Rei should have guns.”
“Yes. Lita can kick ass.”
“Lita, you make ultimate kung-fu gal.”
“Mina’s get that chain thing.”
“Give her a real goddamn chain whip. Give Ami the healing wand thing, she’s Mercury.”
“Mercury was a doctor?”
“He and his Roman counter part Hermes– you know that snake/ wand thing doctors sometimes have around? That’s a Hermes symbol.”
“And she wants to be a Doctor.”
“Yeah. Which is why none of her attacks are directly lethal.”
Then mom got home. And we never really brought the matter up again.
But I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
- Canada, yes, you wouldn’t believe how many “where’s that” e-mails I get when I joke on my great nation’s name. Some are serious. [↩]