Archive for January, 2005
Old Computer Museum
Here’s one for all you computer geeks out there. Old-Computers.com is a site devoted to all those early personal computers, from the TRS-90 to the Commodore 64 to the Apple IIe. Complete with pictures and tech specifications.
“It had 64 or 128 KB RAM, the 64 upper KB being used as a ram disk. It had one or two 5.25″ floppy disk (184 KB each) and ran under TRSDOS 6.0 or 1.3, LDOS or CP/M.”
Daily Musings: Day 91
I was just flipping through Tom’s No Dead Time graphic novel again and it reminded me of something I had meant to post earlier. You never really think much about lettering in a comic book, unless it’s really bad. As is the case with Brian’s lettering in this book. Granted, I’m a bit biased towards Tom’s art, especially after seeing how much blood, sweat, and tears went into it. So yes, the very fact that Brian covers up so much of the art with his hideous word balloons makes me mad.
But it’s not just that. It’s the poor (one might say haphazard) balloon placement, with no regard for what part of the artwork he’s covering up. It’s the fact that they overlap panels, extend into the margins, and criss-cross across each other. It’s the font size which could have been a half point to a full point smaller, thus saving precious space. And above all, it’s the leading (the vertical white space between lines) that’s way off. What, did he do the lettering as if he were typing a double-spaced report? Ugh.
The best letterers always say that if you don’t notice the lettering, they’ve done their job well. I certainly can’t say that about this book.
And don’t even get me started on the typos and grammar errors. Though in fairness, most of that blame rests on the shoulder of the editor.
Art Trucks
Forget about those puny little art cars. These guys work on a much bigger canvas. Trucks! Check out more pictures on this site.
Daily Musings: Day 90
Quick thought for the day…it’s no surprise that daily newspaper comic strips are on a dying path. More and more, editors seem to dismiss them as pointless and not worth the hassle, not to mention the economic factors playing in to their demise.
But if you think about it, newspaper strips are the most visible way that the “mainstream” audience gets exposed to sequential art. So with comic books virtually all but gone from the general public arena, and newspaper strips on the decline, do you foresee a day when most people will lose the skill (albeit small) necessary to read and understand comics? (I’m talking about the simple stuff we comic fans take for granted, i.e. how do you follow panels on a page, what do certain types of caption boxes or word balloons represent, etc.)
Daily Musings: Day 89
Question for all you creators out there: ever get the urge to create the type of sugar-coated, eye-candy fluff piece you’re usually ranting against? For instance, a good ol’ fashioned superhero slugfest. Without the postmodern twist. Without the clever psychological insight. Just bright, over-the-top four color fun.
Or say you’re a musician. Ever want to just write a really catchy, pure pop song? No introspective lyrics. No clever musical arrangement. Just bubblegum, through and through.
Sometimes I get that urge. I want to write a gratuitous sex and violence adventure with big boobs, big guns, and bigger explosions. Balls to the wall action, unabashedly low brow and lowest common denominator. But then I feel bad about it, as though it’s a sign of weakness. As if I’m betraying my self-imposed “higher standards”.
Is it? I mean, yeah, there’s a lot of crap out there and I really don’t want to contribute to that particular pile. But on the other hand, what’s wrong with doing a project just for the sheer fun of it? And just because something is big and loud and meant as nothing more than just simple entertainment, does that make it bad?
I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. Meanwhile, I’ll be working on my masterpiece, Jungle Commando Babes.
Appleseed and Kung Fu Hustle
The new Appleseed anime movie was supposed to have hit US theaters on January 14th. Still no sign of it here in Columbus. I’m hoping the Drexel will eventually screen it. Check out the trailer here.
Like your martial arts with a side of jazzy gangster action? Then Kung Fu Hustle is for you.
Real life superheroes
Ok, so I saw this link on my Yahoo home page with the title “Who’s the most powerful superhero?”, wherein some dork asks the geekiest of all geek questions. Yeah, that one. “Say there’s a brawl with all the superheroes. Who wins?” I guess it was morbid curiosity that had me actually click on the link and read the asinine question and answer.
However…
Embedded in the “article” was this link to a page devoted to real life superheroes. And I don’t mean like firemen or police officers or paramedics. No, I mean those crazy people you read about every once in a while on “news of the weird” or “oddly enough”. Folks like Angle Grinder Man (who goes around London sawing off wheel clamps from impounded cars,) or Terrifica (who patrols New York’s bars, saving drunk women from being taken advantage of by men).
Good thing our hobby doesn’t have a poor image, eh?
Daily Musings: Day 88
So I just watched the 2nd episode of the new CBS drama, Numb3rs. (For the uninitiated, that’s leet speak for numbers. See, they use the 3 instead of the letter E and…oh, never mind. Just know that it’s what the “kids” are into these days.) Anyway, the promos for the show made a lot of fuss about it being created by two big name Hollywood movie directors, the brothers Ridley and Tony Scott. Yes, the guys responsible for Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Top Gun, Crimson Tide, etc., etc., etc.
The verdict? It’s an ok show. Actually, I take that back. It’s more on the lame side
Think CSI, but the chemistry is replaced with mathematics. Entirely unbelievable mathematics, at that. In other words, Hollywood’s take on math. Super math genius Charlie can come up with equations pinpointing where criminals live, or what bank will be hit next. But oh that Charlie, he understands math but not human behavior. Good thing his FBI brother understands the criminal mind. Together, they solve all sorts of crimes.
If this show had come out in the 80s, it would have been a formula show like the The A-Team or Knight Rider. But today’s audiences are more sophisticated, hence a more sophisticated formula.
But in the end, it’s still a formula and not a particularly good one at that. It’s a shame, too, because it has a pretty solid cast.
Oh well, one less show to waste time on.
The Howard Eugene Day Memorial Prize Short List
Over at the S.P.A.C.E. website, Bob has announced the short list for the 2004 Day Prize, to be picked by Dave Sim. I’m sorry to report that none of the 3 books we submitted (BigCityBlues, Panel: Architecture, Panel: Space) were selected. But the short list looks to contain some really nice entries, so congrats to all the nominees.
US Submarine runs into undersea mountain
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen to a submarine if it were to run into an uncharted undersea land mass at nearly full speed, check out these pictures released by the US Navy.
“The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) in dry dock to assess damage sustained after running aground approximately 350 miles south of Guam Jan. 8, 2005.”
(via boingboing)
Daily Musings: Day 87
I have a 19″ computer monitor that’s about 5 years old. I don’t particularly like it, because the brightness/contrast controls don’t work too well and sometimes it makes an annoying high-pitched whistling noise. And flat panel LCD monitors keep dropping in price to the point where the 19″ ones are now quite affordable.
So by all accounts, I should just break down a buy a nice LCD monitor.
But then, where would Jinx take naps while I work my latest script?
Preview the new Bizarro World graphic novel
Indie and alt comix goodness abounds. It’s a huge PDF file, but if you’ve got the bandwidth, head on over to DC’s website.
“This time the contibutors weaving strange and wonderful tales about the quirky Bizarro include Tony Millionaire, Kyle Baker, Evan Dorkin, Dylan Horrocks, Harvey Pekar, James Kochalka, Peter Bagge, Scott Morse, Ben Dunn and a host of others, along with some double-secret surprise guests! All this, topped off with a cover by Jaime Hernandez! It’s big! It’s indisputably rectangular! It stays crunchy even after you pour on the milk!”
So how important is publishing good comics to Marvel?
Not much, really, in the big picture. Publishing is really just an “R&D” function to see what’s the best way to make money off their characters via movies and other licensing venues. From a Motley Fool five-part interview with Marvel vice chairman (and former CEO) Peter Cuneo:
“Peter Cuneo: From a profitability point of view, about 20%, 15-20% of our earnings come from the comic book business. The comic book business of course is very important to us. Not only is it highly profitable. We have about a 35% profit margin on our comic book business and growing very nicely if you look at our track record. But also this is our R&D function. This is where we try out new characters, where we … rework, re-cosmetize, if you will, other older characters, and try to see what kind of story lines work and so on. The nice thing about the comic book business is, and we publish over 60 titles every month, is we can experiment here and really actually lose very little or no money.”
(via The Beat)
Words to live by
“Talent will take you only so far; luck and knowing the right people are a big part of the game.” — comic writer Dan Mishkin, on the difficulty of finding your next gig, even if you have a huge body of work behind you.
“It’s this simple: sometimes quality sells, sometimes crap sells. No way to figure it. More often, nothing sells.” — comics writer and columnist Steven Grant, on why it’s getting harder to launch successful new comics titles, before going on to detail what the companies can do to lower the risk
Daily Musings: Day 86
Wendy and I watched Sexy Beast last night, featuring an amazing performance by Ben Kingsley as a brutal British gangster. Despite a couple small plot holes, the movie was quite solid and made up in style, cinematography, and performances what it lacked in other places. If you like crime drama and stylish gangster flicks, this one is highly recommended.
However, I’m glad we watched it on DVD instead of catching it at the theater when it was first released. You see, the mostly British cast had such heavy, pronounced accents that we actually had to watch the film with English subtitles on.
Now, I’m quite proud of the fact that I’m good with understanding accents, be they Middle-eastern, deep South, or what have you. But I honestly had a hard time with this movie. It’s amazing that a country that prides itself on speaking “proper” English can produce so many people who absolutely butcher the language.
But man, that Ben Kingsley is awesome in this flick! And speaking of accents, he does a spot-on cockney.