Special guests sparkle in the second panel of this, another great entry in the @$$hole story arc. Pogues is sporting his support for Trutle, who won the Turlte vs. Bunny race that recently concluded on the Digital Pimp website. Tom Brazelton from Theater Hopper is accused of reviewing crappy movies - and let's be honest, the guy reviews just about everything. He's a hard worker. And Joe from Joe Loves Crappy Movies rounds out the special guests with his appearance. Joe works on so many comics that it's impossible to list them all, but his work is very distinctive and very entertaining to read.

The funny thing about watching The Prisoner is that the fashion is completely different from today. Obviously, this is due to the fact that the show was filmed in the 1960s, and in the British Isles. I tried to pass some of that along to this strip, although still maintaining the same outfit as the main character (who wears a very dark brown coat, black or blue turtleneck, and tan pants). The background characters were usually always wearing bright colors, capes and ponchos, and everyone seemed to be very pleasant despite the fact that they were all stuck on an island prison. While trying to factor this into my version of The Village, I tried to think of characters that I knew who were typically seen in bright colors.

Pogues, Tom, and Joe jumped into mind almost instantly.

Ignore the fact that they don't have English accents, and then next week's joke might be a little more funny. Until then!

T

@$$hole has officially hit strip #25! Although it's technically strip #57, it's only the 25th strip since I started putting the title on the page. I feel like celebrating - maybe I'll start working on some more comics, so you can enjoy even more of the story....

...or maybe I'll take a break, and go watch a movie. :P

So, Trevor is still very convinced that he's dreaming and that he's going to score (and who knows, maybe he will), however #69 has other plans. She's taking him to go see #2, who may be able to answer some of our heroes questions. However, fans of the TV series will know that #2 usually creates more questions, so we shall see what happens.

So, I was working through the scripts last night, and I realized that this story (as currently written) is running a little long. I'm writing page 15 for this story already, with the end not in sight - so I'm going to try to refine it a bit. Shrink it down. Maybe make it more funny. Who knows. However, I finally showed some pages to Laura over the weekend (since I had to borrow her scanner), and she started cracking up at some of the stuff. I'm excited about it. You'll just have to wait a see....

Next week I will have another Exile 3 page go live (2 in a row, actually), and there's always a new @$$hole on Fridays. Until then, my friend!

T

Movie Night #60: Oldboy (2003)
Director: Chan-Wook Park
Cast: Min-Sik Choi, Ji-Tae Yu, Hye-Jeong Kang
Plot: Dae-Su Oh (Choi) has a wife and a little girl. However, while making a call from a public phone booth, he is kidnapped and imprisioned for 15 years. His only company is a television set - which informs him that his wife and daughter have been killed, and he's suspected to be the murderer. He is gased and rendered unconscious every few weeks, finding his hair cut and his nails trimmed when he awakens. He is fed fried dumplings every day for every meal. Eventually, he begins to train himself in combat and plot revenge on whoever put him in this prison. One day, when he is about to escape, he is gased and awakens in a suitcase on a rooftop. He has been released.

Now, Dae-Su Oh must find out who imprisioned him and why - and exact revenge for the death of his family, and the loss of 15 years of his life.

This has to be one of the sweetest revenge movies that I have ever seen, mixed up with the fact that the ending is not predictable (and is quite the jaw-dropping experience). The ultimate revenge all around, I'd say. It's also the happiest ending to any Korean movie that I've ever seen (without giving it away completely, the main character is hypnotised to forget the events of the movie).

Some of the events of the flick require a limited cultural knowledge, but most of the ideas and themes are pretty universal - love and loss. The entire movie you're asking yourself why this guy was locked up and by who, but those are entirely the wrong questions to be asking.

Also, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing a single guy with a hammer go against 30+ henchmen in a hallway...and even though he has a knife sticking out of his back, he still manages to beat the living crap out of every single person. And no cuts in that fight, either. Just a single pan along the hallway as the main character progresses through the horde of guys. Very awesome.

The thing that I think is most appealing to me about Korean movies is that they never pull any punches in the content or violence category. And this movie has both aplenty. The violence isn't necessarily always stylized and entertaining, but it is also very grotesque and hard to watch (as violence should be). This movie definately has some moments were the audience wants to turn away or forget what they have just seen - but you can't. And you shouldn't. Violence is one of those things that I've always wondered why it's entertaining in movies - and I think that one of the reasons is because no one is ever in pain in American action movies.

Obviously, the people writing these movies haven't gotten into a fight themselves. Getting hit in the face or shot in the leg hurts. A LOT.

In any case, this flick is absolutely awesome and you should watch it. It's part of a vengeance trilogy by this director (the other two movies are Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance).

T

I want to make two apologies for this comic: 

First, I'm sorry that the website was down for the better part of Friday.  This was outside of my or my admin's control, as Dreamhost occasionally shuts itself down for periods of time without warning or explanation.  It sucks, but they host our webspace - so we have to deal. 

The second apology is for the poorly rendered text in this strip.  I was trying something new, and for some reason could not get the text to smooth out.  I will try to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future.

The Prisoner parady continues, as Trevor - thinking that he's dreaming, attempts to fornicate with the Laura-like #69.  However, she appears to only be there to collect him and bring him to the mysterious #2.  If you've ever watched The Prisoner TV series, then you'll know that every episode features a new #2 and #6 is always trying to escape from the island - while #2 is always trying to break #6 into giving away his secrets. 

Patrick McGoohan has been quoted as saying that the reason he chose the title character to be #6 is because 6 is the only number that (when flipped upside down) can become another number.  #69 is a reference to that, and also a fun little play on adolecent-minded male fantasies. 

In any case, I have another strip ready to go for next week, and then I'm going to try to stick for a format size.  Attending Wizard World Chicago made me realize that if I planned out my comics better, it will be easier to get them into more media (ie: print).  Right now, I only limited myself for a surface area - but when printed, some of the trips would require the book to be turned in another direction in order to fit on the page.  Perhaps @$$hole just won't be printed, but I think I'd like to see it collected in a book some day. 

I'm still trying to recover and play catch up from WWC, since I have so many people to get in touch with and thank - and so many new titles to check out and talk about.  I also have some feedback coming in from some outside sources who've been doing this a lot longer than me, so it'll be great to get some feedback from some independent people who won't be scared to give me some good honest advice about how to improve my art and storytelling.

Anyway, enjoy the latest @$$hole, and be sure to stop back again next week for more!  As for me, I have to go buy a scanner online and hope that it shows up before I run out of comics in my queue....

T

So, if you're not into the web comics scene, you may not be aware that Retail Rage and Matriculated have been having a cross-over for the past few months, and each has featured Pogues from Collective Comics: Rose City.

Now, Pogues and I have been talking on the forums for a good year or so now, and he decided to put me in the foreground of his party story for this cross-over.  (See panel 1). 

Pogues will be making an appearance in my comic, @$$hole, sometime in the near future.  Definately during this new story arc.  I'm going to try to order a new scanner this weekend, so I don't have to borrow anyone else's. 

In any case, I'm looking forward to Movie Night #60 tomorrow, and a weekend full of getting shit done.  It's gonna be a good time, however busy I may be.  I'll thank myself for it next week, when I'll finally have time to do some stuff that I want to do - like get comics updated, and play some video games. 

Later!

T

Well, I wasn't able to post about it yesterday (I've been so busy lately), but the new Exile 3: Serpentine page went up on Monday (right after Wizard World Chicago)!  Be sure to check it out on their website, and post about it on the forums.

Things are heating up in this story, as Moby has attacked the King of the Cosmos and transformed him into a portal that leads to another world.  From that portal, he is acquiring god-like powers and abilities, and a new form!  Meanwhile, Gideon and Emma are trying to figure out a way to stop him from whatever plan he may have up his sleeve. 

But what of Clistro and Wally, sitting on top of the mountain not firing their cannon?  No worries, we haven't forgotten about them - it'll just take a little time to get to their story.  I get to illustrate that as my next page, which should be coming out around September 3 and 10 respectively (I just can't stop breaking the rules about doing Exile in sequential order - someone else is supposed to go between my strips, at least). 

There are still a few openings in the schedule, if anyone would like to contribute.  Just go to the Exile forums and sign up (it's free), and ask Scott for the date that you want.  Exile 3's ending has been scripted, but Exile 4 will return to an "every person for themselves" mentality.  Should be tons of fun!

Anyway, I'm off to work on some more stuff.  I'm gonna try to get Wizard World pictures up soon to share the events of the weekend.  Keep a look out for my announcement of the con coverage.

T

Apparently, my friends think that I have a video game addiction / problem.  Truth is, I rarely get to play video games these days.  Heck, I barely have enough time to work out 2-3 times per week (in fact, this'll be week 3 of not working out at all).  When I talked to them about this addiction they seem to see, they said, "Oh, we don't think you have an obsession or anything - that's what makes it funny!"

I don't get the joke.  :P

Erin is a very talented artist that I met at Factory Night Monday at Necto, the exact same time I met Laura.  In fact, Erin sought me out on MySpace and added me before Laura ever did.  We became quick friends after that, finding that we like a lot of the same things:  video games, art and design...and ladies! 

That's right, part of the joke in this strip is that you have to know that Erin likes the ladies.  In fact, her girlfriend Allison has become a fast friend to our group of Movie Nighters - and we even called her after she got done with knee surgery, since she couldn't be with us.  We try to support each other. 

Erin also has one of the coolest MySpace layouts I have ever seen.  It's no wonder that she landed a job designing them for money.  She's also taking classes at EMU to further her design education.  She's also the one who designed the clues for Laura's birthday scavenger hunt! 

Erin's strip was so cute, too.  She was one of the first people to turn it in, and I instantly fell in love with it.  It's probably one of my favorite guest strips thus far!

Tomorrow will be the start of the new story arc in @$$hole, so be sure to check it out!  As for me, I'm off to a Lions game tonight (compliments of the Detroit Free Press), and then finishing packing for Wizard World Chicago this weekend!  It's going to be a blast, and I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures while I'm there!

T

What I particularly love about this comic is how honest her reaction is.  If I were to do this to her, she'd go into the bedroom and cry (and chances are, Susie would go comfort her).  However, in truth, Laura would probably be sitting right next to me while I play video games saying things like, "Jump over that!  Go down that hall!  You're doing it wrong!"  It's a good time, hanging out with her.  Also, she thinks that she can kick my ass in Smash Bros for the N64, but she's totally wrong.  :P

Laura and I met at Necto during a Factory Night Monday.  I was a little intoxicated, and saw her and Erin (Erin's strip goes up tomorrow) talking to Jimmie.  Jimmie comes off as a little creepy sometimes, so I went over to see what was going on, and we ended up hitting it off from the start.  However, later that night I caught her making out with someone else - which didn't really turn me on to dating her.

Down the road, she cut all ties (well, most ties) to that person and we started hanging out - she came to a Movie Night, and we found that we had a lot in common.  I made a date with her for a week later, cooked her dinner and we went to go see The Omen remake in theaters.  Erin tagged along, which is kinna funny.  Like a chaperone.  It was a good time, though. 

And the rest, as they say, is history.  Laura and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary in June.  We have talked about starting some collaborative artistic projects, but this is the closest we've come so far (between the two of us working, and her still in school, it makes it difficult to get together to work on stuff).  She has some great ideas for an Alice in Wonderland-themed photoshoot, which PhotoShop edited effects.  Like a goth Alice in Wonderland.  Should be a good time.

But the most important thing to remember about Laura is that I MISS HER  MOSTESTER!  (That gets her back for the Ewe magent that she gave me to counter my comic...so HA!  For those of you out of the loop, Laura made me a magnet that says "I miss EWE mostest" to further push the contest that we have going - now we're even).  If you don't get it, I apologize.  'Tis a personal joke.

In any case, only one more GUEST STRIP WEEK comic to go, and then the new story arc starts for @$$hole.  Don't miss it!

T

GUEST STRIP WEEK has officially begun, with updates every day this week until the new story arc begins on Friday.  Today's Comic is brought to you by my long-time friend, Kevin Kingston (currently residing in Taiwan). 

Kevin has always thought outside the box, and enjoys challenging the norm.  He and I were making comics together in 6th grade and all throughout middle school, sharing a locker and many classes (except for math...I suck at math, and Kevin's a math genius).  We made about 6-8 of these hardcover books with our stories, and sold most of them to my old roommate Travis for about $10 a book.  I still have the last two - unfinished - collecting dust on my bookshelf. 

During college, Kevin and I tried to start another comic together and outlined the entire story, but for some reason it fell through and we fell out of touch.  Then I found out he was in another country, living the high life and learning other languages.  Lucky bum.  However, Kevin has always enjoyed learning and he's always been one of the smartest people I've ever known.

I remember him trying to prove Pathagorean Therum to me on the dry erase board while we were working at Domino's Pizza.  To this day, I still don't entirely get it, but again - he's a math genius. 

I hope you enjoy reading his comic (hint:  you don't read it left to right, up to down), which I admit to having to have read twice before I got it - and it was damn funny.  Tomorrow will be a strip by another long-time friend (and the inspiration for G-Man: The Defender of Food), Jeremy Galimberti! 

Wednesday will be a comic by my girlfriend, Laura Tache.  Thursday will be the final guest strip by Erin Sullivan, and then Friday will conclude the cliffhanger and lead into the new story arc.  ENJOY!

T

PS:  None of the above links will work until their respective days have hit, so please don't send me an e-mail asking why the links don't work.  The answer to that question is:  because it's not that day yet.  ;)