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"The Cat's Corn Hole" just sounded like such a fun name for a place. On the one hand, it sounds like a dive place, like a hole in the wall. On the other hand, it sounds like a kitty's bum....

I'm starting to gear up for Wizard World Chicago next week. Been working on some special things, and also making sure that I have enough content to post while I'm away (and not make myself rush at the last minute to get it done either before or after the con). My plan is also to get the book off to the printer's this weekend. While it won't be available at Wizard World Chicago (which wasn't a goal anyway, since I'm not exhibiting), it'll be a good feeling to have it done and out.

Then when I get the proofs, I get to figure out how it'll look. It'll be a great test for future collections, to make sure that they are absolutely perfect.

The book will be available at Reactor in September, where I'll probably be speaking about comics in some panels. Programming hasn't been announced just yet for that con, but I've been talking to some people and it's rather promising.

Also, if you haven't done so yet, be sure to check out Erica Hampton's website, as she's the awesome person both taking the pictures and playing the Crazy Cat Loving Lady (who will have a name soon).

Now go vote for @$$hole!, if you haven't already! :P

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The 2009 Drunk Duck Awards
The DD Awards are upon us once again, and the categories are up. Last year, without trying, you the reader graciously nominated @$$hole! for "Best Photo Comic" and "Best Experimental Comic" - an honor which I'm told that if popular demand had determined the winner, @$$hole! would hold both titles.

This year, I'm asking for some nominations - so please be sure to vote for @$$hole!:

Best Antagonist: Susie
Best Dialogue
Best Humor Comic
Most Deliciously Offensive
Best Overall Strip Comic
Best Photo Comic
Best Slice of Life/Autobiographical Comic

If you think that @$$hole! deserves any of these awards, then I implore you to vote for @$$hole! in the 2009 Drunk Duck Awards. Voting goes until July 31 (Friday)!

Labels: comics, drunk duck, drunk duck awards, web comics, writing

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The very emotional final scene in this sequence, and even when I was doing touch-ups on Olivia's artwork and lettering it I was crying.

Do yourself a favor, go back and re-read the sequence from the moment that Selphi gets stabbed and tell me if it flows well. Again, this is where I thought the series really found its voice.

And it's certainly when the story changed.

And Selphi's last words, "Why do they hate us?" is the question that I constantly ask whenever I hear about religious wars or tribal conflicts going on in the world. Sure, we all have different ideas and beliefs, but why do we have to kill for them? Why do we have to make it personal? Why do we have to hate each other?

I'm sure it's asking a lot to say, "Can't we all just get along?" but is it too much to ask, "Can't there be another way other than killing?" Forgiveness has to start somewhere.

But I digress. This story is hardly ever going to turn any heads or open any eyes to the error or futility of old ways and bad blood. But if it could generate a little tolerance in the world - if even one person read this and decided to use their words instead of their fists - then it would have exceeded my wildest expectations.

We can only hope.

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The 2009 Drunk Duck Awards
The DD Awards are upon us once again, and the categories are up. Last year, without trying, you the reader graciously nominated The Temple of a Thousand Tears as the Most Profound Comic - an honor which I'm told that if popular demand had determined the winner, Temple would hold that title.

This year, I'm asking for some nominations - so please be sure to vote for Temple:

Best Action Scenes
Best Adventure Comic
Best Dialogue
Best Fantasy Comic
Best Overall Story Comic
Best Philosophical / Spiritual Comic
Best Protagonist: Sophia
Best Sci-Fi Comic
Best Dramatic Comic
Best Overall Writing

If you think that Temple deserves any of these awards, then I implore you to vote for The Temple of a Thousand Tears in the 2009 Drunk Duck Awards. Voting goes until July 31.

Labels: comics, drunk duck, drunk duck awards, samurai, temple, the temple of a thousand tears, web comics, writing

My Site and Drunk Duck

The 2009 Drunk Duck Awards
The DD Awards are upon us once again, and the categories are up. Last year, without trying, you the reader graciously nominated @$$hole! for "Best Photo Comic" and "Best Experimental Comic" - an honor which I'm told that if popular demand had determined the winner, @$$hole! would hold both titles.

This year, I'm asking for some nominations - so please be sure to vote for @$$hole!:

Best Antagonist: Susie
Best Dialogue
Best Humor Comic
Most Deliciously Offensive
Best Overall Strip Comic
Best Photo Comic
Best Slice of Life/Autobiographical Comic

If you think that @$$hole! deserves any of these awards, then I implore you to vote for @$$hole! in the 2009 Drunk Duck Awards. Voting starts today (July 24)!

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Not only was the photo session a blast to do, but this comic is turning into a lot of fun to assemble. Part of the fun is trying to choose pictures that I think fit the scene or situation the best - and then adding dialogue to it. But when I said that I had a lot of pictures to go through, I wasn't even kidding. Do you know how large 800+ hi-res photos are? Or how long it takes to even preview them in your viewer? Let me give you a hint: they have to load! :P

Once again, the very talented Erica Hampton reprises her role as the Crazy Cat Loving Lady and this promises to be the worst blind date ever (but hopefully the most entertaining). And we haven't even made it to the place yet. That will be next week.

As for how the book's coming along, pre-pressing is all done and I've been making the final adjustments to the supplemental material. Sketches and some scripts, mostly, but also an afterword by myself and a forward by...someone more famous than me! Should be a fun book, but more about that as it gets shipped off to the printer within the next week or so.

Other than that, my announcements are about conventions. San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) is going on right now, and unfortunately I was not able to attend this year. Perhaps next year. However, I will be attending Wizard World Chicago in August (how is still up for debate, but I'm working on a few angles for a hopeful surprise - wish me luck), and will be a guest at Reactor in September. I submitted a few panel ideas, and they're finalizing the programming guide as we speak.

Well, enough out of me - go vote for nominees in the 2009 Drunk Duck Awards (and don't forget my other comic, The Temple of a Thousand Tears, is also eligible for nominations). Other than that, have a great weekend!

Labels: blind date, comics, dating, online dating, web comics, writing

My Site and Drunk Duck

The 2009 Drunk Duck Awards
The DD Awards are upon us once again, and the categories are up. Last year, without trying, you the reader graciously nominated @$$hole! for "Best Photo Comic" and "Best Experimental Comic" - an honor which I'm told that if popular demand had determined the winner, @$$hole! would hold both titles.

This year, I'm asking for some nominations - so please be sure to vote for @$$hole!:

Best Antagonist: Susie
Best Dialogue
Best Humor Comic
Most Deliciously Offensive
Best Overall Strip Comic
Best Photo Comic
Best Slice of Life/Autobiographical Comic

If you think that @$$hole! deserves any of these awards, then I implore you to vote for @$$hole! in the 2009 Drunk Duck Awards (when voting starts, that is).

###

Here's the first of the Blind Date story arc, and who's this: it's the Crazy Cat Loving Lady from the Vet Visit story arc! Played by none other than the lovely and talented Erica Hampton.

If you recall from the Vet Visit blogs, Erica is a professional photographer (recently specializing in weddings) who is incredibly talented and easy to work with, and gracious enough to allow me to borrow her time and equipment to make another crazy story involving her bizarre character. Unlike the Vet Visit story, however, this story isn't entirely scripted. Sure, there were some beats that I knew we had to hit, but I only really had a general idea of what would happen while we were shooting this. The benefit is that the photoshoot only took 3-4 hours this time (as opposed to the Vet Visit, which took over 6 hours). Also unfortunately (more so for me than you), is that I have over 800+ photos to shift through and organize to direct this piece. And I'm not entirely sure yet just how long it's going to be - but I have a goal in mind.

Suffice it to say, what you're about to read is going to be a fun train wreck - a roller coaster of gags and goofy stuff, and maybe even a little back story. I'm going to work for those nominations, let me tell you!

So enjoy, and I'll see you Friday with the next update!

Labels: blind dating, comics, dating, drunk duck, drunk duck awards, online dating, photography, web comics, writing

Comic Review: Bloody Pulp (Zuda)
Writer: Jorge Vega
Artist: Jeff McComsey
Plot: This is the house that Pulp built and the house rules are simple: NO ONE LEAVES. Ever. BLOODY PULP is the story of John “Pulp” Polpowski, a nightmare for hire who leads a dangerous double life — secretly moving the men and women he’s been paid to kill to a remote safe house far from the syndicate controlled streets of 1930’s Kansas City.

The 8 page preview is available on Zuda.com, and is currently ranked in the #1 spot (but it's a tight race for #1). Jorge is a personal friend of mine, and an amazing writer. His first graphic novel, Gunplay from Platinum Studios, was fantastic and the fact that he was not given the opportunity to finish the trilogy is a tragedy. His other works from Two Fisted Press include Ghost Village and 9-Months.

The set up for this comic (the 8 page preview) is absolutely gruesome and fantastic. And in order to win the competition, Jorge needs your votes and faves! Unfortunately, this requires signing up for the free comic service that is zuda.com (not because it's a bad service, but because it requires about 1-2 minutes of your time). Fortunately, it gives you access to a boat-load of free web comics that are professionally done and allows you to support what you like. And that support could help land someone (cough cough, Jorge Vega, cough cough) a paying gig supplying more pages for Bloody Pulp on zuda.com.

So do me (and Jorge) a favor, and go sign up and vote / fave the comic already! Because I want to know how this thing ends. And if you read the free 8 page preview, then you will too!

Labels: bloody pulp, comic review, comics, jorge vega, zuda

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Perhaps this is the changing point for Sophia that turns her from the badass that we've seen in this story into the sweet wife and mother that we saw in flashbacks in the original story? Perhaps not. There's another Sophia story that I want to tell sometime after this about her meeting with the swordsman.

I'll be honest, I was crying when I wrote this sequence. It was a very emotional thing to write. Sophia is so helpless right now, doing the most that she can - but the car can only move so fast, and her sister is clearly coughing up blood. A lot of blood.

In the script I envisioned Sophia with her eyes closed and her mouth open wide screaming the last line, but unfortunately we weren't able to make those changes in time. Perhaps in a collected edition?

I'm in pre-production right now for the first two @$$hole! collections, which should be available later this year. My goal is to have them done before my speaking engagements in the late summer at a few conventions, and then get more of them printed next year for con season. However, let's take a poll: anyone here who might be interested in a Temple collected edition?

Labels: comics, samurai, sci-fi, temple, the temple of a thousand tears, web comics

Movie Review: Paper Heart (2009)
Director: Nicholas Jasenovec
Cast: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake M. Johnson
Plot: An indie mockumentary (part documentary, part fictional comedy) about actress / comedian / musician Charlyne Yi (herself) interviewing people about love. She doesn't believe in it, herself, and doesn't think that she'll ever experience it, but during the heart-felt interviews and stories (told through hilarious and extremely cute recreations with homemade puppets) that she discovers all around the country with her "director" Nick (Johnson), Yi begins to form a relationship with actor Michael Cera (himself). The documentary that they're filming suddenly changes from finding what love is, to showcasing Yi's experience in this relationship with Cera.

This is the cutest indie romantic-comedy mockumentary of the decade, and I absolutely mean that! I ran the full gamut of emotions with this flick, and enjoyed every second of it. Yi is a delightfully awkward "one-of-the-guys" girl, and her journey in this movie is both entertaining and heartfelt. Granted, some of it is acting, but I haven't enjoyed going to a flick this much in ages!

Nominated for two awards (and winner of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriting Award), this flick isn't officially released until August 2009. However, I was able to secure some free passes to this special screening, followed by a Q&A with actors Yi and Johnson (a Chicago native).

As magical and amazing as the movie is, I can't wait for the DVD. Yi explained that there was over 300 hours of footage taken for this movie, with more interviews with the children (which will leave you both jaw-dropped and in stitches), and several people not even shown in the final cut of the film. From the first interview, you'll be stuck to your screen watching this incredibly imaginative movie. Be sure to go see it in theaters - you will not regret it!

Trailer

Labels: aintitcoolnews, indie film, movie review, paper heart, sundance, sundance film festival

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I'll be honest, I had nothing for this comic. I've been busting my ass on the first @$$hole! collection, which will consist of 41 page Laura's 21st Birthday story arc, plus some bonus material. Next year, the first big @$$hole! collection will hit with the first 100-150 strips collected in glorious color on that shiny magazine paper (like those "professional books").

Until then, I need to get to work...enjoy this teaser / filler. :P

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Ladies and gents, you are looking at @$$hole! #200 (technically it was the t-shirt comic from Friday, but I didn't want to count that one). Being someone who's clearly not even keeping track of his own page count, instead of a super-awesome page today you get the prologue to a super-awesome photo story arc...about blind dating!

Whoo-hoo!

I will say that this photoshoot, like the Vet Visit shoot, was shot professionally with the help of the very talented Erica Hampton, took about 3 hours to shoot (during an incredibly stormy and rainy night), and was about 800 photos when finished. Unlike the Vet Visit story arc, which was the story that got this comic nominated for best photo comic and best experimental comic in the 2008 Drunk Duck Awards, this story was unscripted.

An improv photo comic story arc? How is this possible? Well, I had some ideas of what I wanted to have transpire, and then they just got crazy. Seriously, one of the funnest things I have done in ages with my friends.

So anyway, to kick things off we start with my friend Scott, the expert. Scott truly in a genius, I would like to say, but maybe not about cats or blind dates. Be sure to check out his stuff at The Adventures of Scott, as well as The Exile.

Friday is a filler, and then we get this ball rolling!

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The previous fight scene and this scene is where I really felt that this story hit its stride. This is where it felt right to me. That's a bad thing to say as a writer who's more than halfway through their story, and I certainly enjoyed the rest of the story up to this point, but this sequence is where it went from being an adventure to being a personal tale. It's about two sisters trying to do what's right when no one else would. And the next few pages have some good sisterly moments, I think.

It was a great sequence to write, and you'll have to let me know if it's as enjoyable to read once the sequence is completed.

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Not really much of a comic (but I'm pre-pressing this strip for print...shhhhh, don't tell anyone. Actually, I lied: tell everyone!)

Here are some concept ideas for t-shirts (which I would offer in a few colors). The last one I like the line, but not sure how well it works on a t-shirt. Which is your favorite? What are some things you would like to see on an @$$hole! t-shirt? And how many of you would be interested in a remastered edition of the first 100-120 strips?

Debate!

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Humility is the purpose behind today's comic. This "Character Study of Man," if you will, really has no purpose. Just inspiration.

I've been in a bit of a mood of late, unfortunately, and it's because I messed up on something over the weekend, made a mistake, and my ability to time travel is limited to hind-sight. Sure it's a learning experience, but can you fully learn from an experience if you're not given another chance? And if you're sorry for what you did, do you deserve to be forgiven and receive that second chance?

These are questions that are postulating throughout my brain at the moment.

2009 is certainly a better year than previous, but it is also the year of hope. So with that in mind, I'm hoping that my second chance is forthcoming. My redemption within itself will be served with a big fat slice of humble pie.

Also, for the record, cargo-pockets are chick magnets!

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Time's running out, as a deep wound (it was scripted as being under the armpit) could cause all kinds of internal damage. She could have a punctured lung, or any of those important organs that the rib cage protects....

Good thing Sophia has that car. I hope it's fast and gets good gas mileage.

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I went to see Transformers 1 and 2, so I also blame myself in helping the germinate the abomination that is Transformers 2. I won't even go into details about how bad the flick is, nor will I probably end up reviewing the movie - better websites than this have already beaten me to it and anything that I had to say would just be redundant at this point. So instead of making fun of Bay, Shai, or the fact that there was no plot in this movie and that it contradicted not only itself, but the first movie several times (did they say that Optimus and Megatron were brothers, but then in this movie they claim that Optimus is the last Prime...which, to me, sounded like a different race of Transformers, but they never really explain it).

No, instead I decided to make fun of the movie-goer. And perhaps a little too harshly, but I assure you that my rants are intended to be done all in good fun.

But there's a lot of truth in this rant as well. The all-powerful dollar does hold a lot of weight in Hollywood, and what people pay to go see helps determine what kind of movies will be made. We, the people, dictate the kind and level of entertainment / quality that is within our movies - or we continue to feed the current machine, which allows movies like this to get made.

I have little doubt that there will be a Transformers 3, and that it too will be god-awful. The movie made almost as much as The Dark Knight in its opening weekend...and The Dark Knight was a good movie! So where's the disconnect? How does a terrible movie and a good movie make almost the same amount of cash?

If you were insulted by today's comic, then I apologize that you identified so strongly with the type of stereotype that I was speaking out against. Perhaps you would benefit from re-evaluating your entertainment choices, or just pop 2Fast 2Furious back into the ol' DVD player and relive your glory days vicariously through Paul Walker's attempts at "acting."

Meanwhile, the rest of us should demand better from our movies. It's not like this couldn't be seen a thousand miles away. Ignoring the fact that the first Transformers was terrible, Michael Bay made Bad Boys 2! Where Florida cops invade Cuba to stop the bad guys! Since when do Florida cops have authority in Cuba!?!

Michael Bay needs to go back to directing Playboy movies, and the rest of us need to demand that Hollywood make better movies. Period.

But I digress, what did you think of Transformers 2?