@$$hole! #37 - 38 -:- Tuesday, November 27, 2007

@$$hole!'s doing pretty well on both my website and on Drunk Duck, but not as well as it could be. It's dropped from the top 200 on DD to the top 800 (out of over 7,000). I have a plan for 2008 to help fix this, but it's going to require a lot of work on my end - and a lot of help from everyone who reads it. Be sure to check the comics out on both my site and Drunk Duck. Thanks, and enjoy!




Temple Chapters 3.8 - 3.10 -:-

Alright, now that the move is over with, I can hopefully start having some regular comic update notices (because the comics are coming out on time, I'm just not announcing them on time).


Chapter 3.8


Chapter 3.9


Fan Art Friday - by Trevor


Chapter 3.10

Temple continues to grow in popularity on Drunk Duck, so be sure to check it out! It updates Monday, Wednesday, and has Fan Art Fridays!



The Move -:- Monday, November 26, 2007

Well, it was quite an exhausting weekend, to be sure. Laura and I went out to Necto on Wednesday night, everyone kept giving me free drink tickets and I got a little trashed (mixed with the fact that I hadn't eaten since 4pm). I was quite a bit hung over on Thanksgiving Day (thankful that I didn't puke), which is the second hang over I've had to date. Friday, Laura and I packed up the apartment and took a load of stuff over to the new place. It was a late night, and we had an early day for moving....

8am people showed up. More people than I expected to, actually, which made me feel pretty special, and helped the process go a lot faster than it could have gone. A special shout out to Allison and her father for providing the moving van and trailer, as well as for putting in the time to move the heavy stuff.

After the 2 trips that it took to move all of the furniture, we took a brief lunch break and planned out how we were going to tackle the rest of the stuff. We set up a few things in the new apartment (like the entertainment center), and Laura put away everything in the kitchen and made the bed (she's such a trooper). After that, we went back to the old place and empied it out completely, packing up all of the food (both frozen and non), cleaning supplies, and anything else that was left. We cleaned the place and took off back to the new place. A few people went out for food while the rest of us put away the stuff we just brought. We called it a night when food arrived, and relaxed a bit. It was about 10pm by the time we stopped (approximately a 14 hour day).

A huge thanks to Scott, Mike, Mia, and Justin for sticking with me the entire day. I could not have done this move without your help, and I know it was a long day - from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And Laura, for being the trooper that she is, for organizing everything in the kitchen and helping out with the bedroom (not only on Saturday, but also on Friday) - I don't know what I would do without you.

Thank you everyone who helped (Erin, Allison, Allison's dad, my mother, Bill, Nate, Justin, Laura, Scott, Mike, Mia), and even to those who wanted to but could not make it. I appreciate all the help. The new place is awesome, and I will be having a house warming party after Allison's Body Shop party on Friday, November 30.

Also, I will be throwing a New Year's Party this year, so be sure to keep your calendar clear for that New Years Eve! It's going to be another blast!



The Exile 4: Page 1 -:- Saturday, November 17, 2007

As I've been mentioning, I've been super SUPER busy lately. And to further prove that point, here's some work that I've been doing for The Exile 4 (which starts up on Monday, November 19).


Here's some concept art for the main character, which I ended up settling on the right side-middle face. I had a vague idea of what I wanted this character to look like in my head, and just played from there. It was a fun process, which involved eatting Doritos and watching Heroes for a few hours.


Here's a full body shot of the main character, who I still have yet to name. I decided that I wanted him to be Native American, and have an earthy / rustic feel to his outfit. His primary weapon would be an energy sword (however, in retrospect, an anergy axe would be more appropriate). All in all, it's not bad for a quick design.


Here's a shot of the inked first page for The Exile 4. I've noticed that many of the previous Exile stories start out with some drolling monologue that explains something about the character or the world that they exist in (or something a very arbitrary narration about how something's going on - something good or bad - how vague), but I wanted to just jump right into an action sequence. I tend to want my stories to just get started, and then play catch up from there. Here's hoping that it works in The Exile.


And after about five hours of coloring, here's the final result. I have two conflicts going on here:

1) the main character has to get to the other side of the space station in less than 5 minutes, or else some girl's gonna die (who knows how or from what, or if her life is being threatened)
2) the cops are hot on his tail - or are those people pretending to be the cops? Who can say for sure!

Anyway, this took up most of my weekend to get done in time for Monday, and it looks a lot better than my previous pages on The Exile 3. So be sure to check out The Exile on Monday for the first page of The Exile 4!



Movie Night #69: Pirates (the porno) -:-

Movie Night #69 (which was last week) was "porno and lingerie" night. Only three people dressed up for the occasion: Laura, Lauren, and Justin. I put on a robe and claimed to be a pimp or something, but really I was just being lazy. Also, I didn't fit into any of Laura's under-thingies....

Movie Night #69: Pirates (2005)
Director: Joone
Cast: Jesse Jane, Carmen Luvana, Devon, a crap-ton of other porn stars
Plot: People dressed in pirate outfits fornicate for the camera...and I think there may have been a sword fight against some CGI skeletons at one point - I wasn't really paying attention.



Temple Chapters 3.5 - 3.7 -:-

Okay, so it's been a while since my last Temple update, but as my previous post stated - I've been SUPER busy. Here are the latest few pages (including an awesome piece of fan art by TheMidge28 and another one by Scott Heinowski):


Chapter 3.5


Fan Art Friday by TheMidge28


Chapter 3.6


Chapter 3.7


Fan Art Friday by Scott Heinowski

Be sure to check out The Temple of a Thousand Tears: The Definitive Edition on Drunk Duck, which updates every Monday and Wednesday, and has Fan Art Fridays! I'm also accepting fan art for Fan Art Friday, so if you'd like to draw some art for me please shoot me an e-mail. As for me, I'm going back to work...backing some boxes and coloring next week's pages! :D

T



@$$hole! #36 and 37 -:-

Holy crap, I have been so busy at work lately that I haven't had the time to promote any of my comic stuff (and unfortunately, my Drunk Duck standings have suffered for it).

Anyway, here are the latest two @$$hole! pages (which went up on time), including the conclusion to The Prisoner story arc.


Page 36: My Site and Drunk Duck


Page 37: My Site and Drunk Duck

Please check them out on both sites, to help drive the traffic up a bit. I want to make some links and banners soon for @$$hole!, but it may have to wait until after the movie (which is Tuesday for me, but for everyone helping out it's Saturday). Thanks for reading!



@$$hole! #34, Temple Chapter 3.4, Movie Night #68, and my 26th Birthday! -:- Monday, November 05, 2007

Step one, the comic pages with links for you to check out and worship / enjoy:

Drunk Duck and My Site

Chapter 3.4

Movie Night #68 was a blast over at Scott's apartment. As you may already know, Scott and I share the same birthday (which is today, actually). As such, we decided to celebrate with a non-movie night over at Scott's place (although a few movies were played in the background).

The usual gang showed up, along with several of my friends from college including Justin, Matt, Carl, and Sarah. Pizza was ordered, gifts were exchanged, and Allison and Erin made Scott and I a gorgeous and tastey red velvet cake! I drank a lot, and we had an all-around good time. Perhaps as I start packing up to move into my new apartment, we can have a few more movie nights at Scott's, since it's closer to Canton than my place (however, Belleville will be a nice new location since I'll only be 10-15 minutes from either Canton and Ypsilanti).

A reminder that I'm moving the heavy stuff on November 24. Allison has already volunteered her van and trailor, and Justin, Jo, and Scott have all said that they will be available to help me move in the morning. More details about that as it draws closer, but the more help I have the better - please let me know if you'd be available to help me move. There's beer and pizza involved for all who volunteer.
Obviously, after the move people will need new directions to the movie nights, which I can provide via e-mail.

Here's the list of remaining things happening in November:

November 9: Movie Night 69 (I say we watch porn - ladies can wear their lingerie)
November 16: Movie Night 70
November 18: Dinner with my brother (to celebrate his b-day)
November 19: My brother's birthday
November 20: I start moving into my new apartment
November 23: Movie Night 71 (POSTPONED) - I'm going to be living in boxes
November 24: In the morning I'm going to be moving the big furniture and whatever boxes I couldn't get out by myself previously. This will be the big move day, and I'll need help with it. Beer and pizza for all who can help.
November 30: Movie Night 71 - New Apartment Warming Party!




@$$hole! #34, Temple Chapter 3.4, Movie Night #68, and my 26th Birthday! -:-

Step one, the comic pages with links for you to check out and worship / enjoy:

Drunk Duck and My Site

Chapter 3.4

Movie Night #68 was a blast over at Scott's apartment. As you may already know, Scott and I share the same birthday (which is today, actually). As such, we decided to celebrate with a non-movie night over at Scott's place (although a few movies were played in the background).

The usual gang showed up, along with several of my friends from college including Justin, Matt, Carl, and Sarah. Pizza was ordered, gifts were exchanged, and Allison and Erin made Scott and I a gorgeous and tastey red velvet cake! I drank a lot, and we had an all-around good time. Perhaps as I start packing up to move into my new apartment, we can have a few more movie nights at Scott's, since it's closer to Canton than my place (however, Belleville will be a nice new location since I'll only be 10-15 minutes from either Canton and Ypsilanti).

A reminder that I'm moving the heavy stuff on November 24. Allison has already volunteered her van and trailor, and Justin, Jo, and Scott have all said that they will be available to help me move in the morning. More details about that as it draws closer, but the more help I have the better - please let me know if you'd be available to help me move. There's beer and pizza involved for all who volunteer.
Obviously, after the move people will need new directions to the movie nights, which I can provide via e-mail.

Here's the list of remaining things happening in November:

November 9: Movie Night 69 (I say we watch porn - ladies can wear their lingerie)
November 16: Movie Night 70
November 18: Dinner with my brother (to celebrate his b-day)
November 19: My brother's birthday
November 20: I start moving into my new apartment
November 23: Movie Night 71 (POSTPONED) - I'm going to be living in boxes
November 24: In the morning I'm going to be moving the big furniture and whatever boxes I couldn't get out by myself previously. This will be the big move day, and I'll need help with it. Beer and pizza for all who can help.
November 30: Movie Night 71 - New Apartment Warming Party!




Saw 4: The Halloween Experience -:- Thursday, November 01, 2007

Laura and I went to go see Saw IV in theaters yesterday (on Halloween), as we haven't been on a date in forever and a half. Now, bear in mind that she loves the Saw movies (except for the third one), and I think differently. I enjoyed the first one just fine, but like the Scream series, they just didn't need to make any more of them.

The first flick was fine and dandy: two guys trapped in a room trying to figure out how they got there and why. The second flick was a huge rip off of the movie Cube (a highly superior film as far as I'm concerned). The third flick was a cookie-cutter sequel, trying to explain stuff that didn't need explaining and show aspects of a character who is more creepy the less you know about them. Mostly, it was a gross-out gore fest with little plot. This fourth "episode" in the Saw series is better than but not dissimilar from the third flick, further expanding upon subjects that didn't really need clarification and asking questions about things that we the audience were not aware were even questions. Mostly, it allows Hollywood to make more money and keeps horror makeup artists in the business until a movie worth working on comes down the pipeline.

I won't go into the details of the flick so as to avoid spoilers, but suffice it to say that I was curious how this movie would play out because Jigsaw died in the 3rd movie (hope I didn't spoil it for anyone). Obviously, someone new has taken on the role and has been testing people - as some random character's backstory is explained and other character's loose ends are tied up (usually through dying). The ending just didn't make any sense in this flick, and without giving away the "twist" I think I can just say this: The series needs a timeline. A chronological series of events that shows what happened where and when, and why.

I'm sure that after they cap off this newly revealed killer of the Saw movies, they're reveal that Jigsaw (played masterfully by Tobin Bell) pulled a Keyser Soze on the audience and never had brain cancer and never actually died. Just wait, there's your ultimate twist right there. ;)

A comment on the trailers: It appears that M-TV music video directors are no longer content to have their work be exclusive to 2-3 minute quick-cut minis, because there's another Step Up movie coming out. Now, when I was in high school no one was able to dance like this - even if they tried. And certainly no one was trying to show off that they could dance like that if they could. Dancing has about as much street credibility as a face full of acne. So when I saw the trailer for Step Up 2: Electric Boogaloo, I instantly tasted some vomit.

This flick is so far removed from my world (and as far as I know, reality in general) that it really has no place in theaters. Sure, the fact that people can do those moves is impressive and I could never do it in a million years. I'm not saying don't make the movie, I'm saying why try to loosely fit some urban city plot around a series of music video sequences? The movie's already been made 8 times in the last 3 years, and countless times on M-TV in 2-3 minute installments. If rappers wanted to move like N-Sync, then hire their dance coreographer and learn to dance. Don't make a movie about it. Stay to your music videoes, and for the love of god don't follow in the footsteps of those before you who somehow accidently fell into directing a real movie (or what should have been a real movie, but was - in that director's hands - an abomination of celluloid).

I'm sure someone wants to see a movie like this, and that's what direct to DVD releases are for. That, and Leprechaun sequels. But I hate to see Hollywood so starved for new film (and revenue) that they can only spit out remakes or older (better) movies, remakes of TV shows, remakes of foreign flicks (like Jessican "no talent" Alba in The Eye), and crappy dance movies.

Even the comic adaptations are starting to get old with me, mostly because they're not honoring the source material (hint: Wanted isn't about a Fraternity of assassins that save the world like the movie would like you to believe, it's about a secret society of supervillains that rule the world). It's getting to the point where comic companies are even producing their own films now (ie: Iron Man) because they're no doubt sick of Hollywood's interference in their creative properties.

In summary, Hollywood sucks and I had a good time with my lady. How was your Halloween night?



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