Review: Pretty in Geek season 1

I’ve decided this week to comment on the first season of the webseries Pretty in Geek, all of which is available for viewing on their website.  I found the first season an excellent critique of the social and political ramifications of role-playing in an advanced western society.  Okay, not really!!  It was, instead, a very fun and funny story about a group of women playing Dungeons and Dragons and the token male in their group.  In no particular order I’ll mention some season 1 highlights:

Best line: The stages of grief

Best role-playing event: The Bard’s singing spell

Most sympathetic character: Dani, the DM.  She has a dream and a lot of roadblocks in her way to achieving that dream

Most dramatic transformation: Stacey’s fade to black was more jarring than a polymorph.  (Knitting is relaxing.  Black is a color.)

Who I’d like to see more of: Anna the pyromaniac, I mean fire, Mage. But I’m also scared of her!

Moral of the Story: drinking and role-playing DO NOT mix!

And when you cheat while role-playing, you only cheat yourself.  And the DM.  And everyone else, really…

Okay, that’s a good random sampling.  Go watch the series!  It’s fun!  It also inspired me to draw this cartoony sketch of the characters:

 

Legion of super-Heroes/Statues

I posted this on my Facebook page on May 3, 2011: These are the first three of what I hope will be a very large series! They are: Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy-the original 3 members of the Legion of Super-Heroes!

Along with this photo:


Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy

 

Now, I have at last been able to continue (but certainly not complete) my Legion of Super-Heroes series thanks to a really nice patron who has commissioned more from me.  Here is what I have finished so far:

 



Brainiac 5, Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl



 

 



Star Boy, Dream Girl, Invisible Kid

 

 Dawnstar, Wildfire, Chameleon Boy

 

 

I’ll post more as I get them completed and shipped!  I love doing commission work, because it’s nice to know I’m making something someone wants, as opposed to making something I hope someone wants! So if you’re reading this and you’re interested in a particular statue, please e-mail at the address on this page.

Review: Mr. Morris

This week I am going to attempt to write a short review of a really neat webcomic called Mr. Morris.  I don’t want to spoil all the laughs from the series, so I’ll try not to write too many details about the comic, while letting you get the idea of why I like it.

Mr. Morris is a comic about a teacher.  It covers such interesting content as being a new teacher on staff, getting to know your students, and basic teacher survival.  I know a bit about these things because, like Mr. Morris I am a teacher.  (It says so in my biography found on this page, so you know it’s true!) Mr. Morris creator Rick Brooks (Also a teacher, which I know by checking his profile) hits these topics in a way that has me laughing while muttering “I have so been there!”  There are currently 16 strips up on webcomicsnation, so go check them out!

People have asked me if I incorporate my teaching experiences in my comics, but my typical answer is that I don’t do “gag strips”, so it isn’t really an issue.  Well, I’ve done a very limited number of gag strips, anyway.  I do have a school-related story developing in my current Mutant Elf webcomic, though, and it’s bound to relate somewhat to my teaching experience.

Thus ends another week of commentary from this teacher!

Review: Rose's Video Diary #3: Changing Relationships

Can I write a full blog post about a three minute video?  When I’m truly inspired I can!  I recently watched the third “Rose’s Video Diary: Changing Relationships” post at Out with Dad, and I was really amazed at how much amazing drama could fit into such a short time.  The first two of Rose’s video diaries were nice, but were pretty much establishing the idea of the diaries and summarizing how Rose arrived at her current status.  The third episode really did a lot more in moving the story forward, something I was not expecting.  Again, writer/creator Jason Leaver continues to surprise me and prove just how well he writes his well-crafted characters. 

Also, I simply must praise Kate Conway for her perfect portrayal of Rose!  As much as Jason is the visionary Kate is the vessel through which Rose comes to life!  I have some wonderful moment when watching her that I forget it’s all just an act, and that Rose isn’t a real person.  Kate has mastered the character and it’s impossible at this point to imagine anyone but her in the role.  Allow me to digress a bit and compliment Ms. Conway for her courage in taking on this role.  I think it’s very courageous to take on the lead in a show like this.  Though it isn’t as rare for an actor to take the role of a homosexual character as it once was, it’s still a big deal.  By this I mean that being the public face of such a project opens you up to a lot of criticism.  I’ve read some of the negative comments people leave on websites, and I know how some people feel about these issues.  It’s one thing to (like me) support the LGBT community from afar, it’s another to create such a project as Out with Dad, and it’s quite another to be THE face that’s instantly recognized with the project.  Kudos to Kate!

But on to the actual video diary I set out to talk about.  I was quite surprised that Jason moved the story past the school dance during the “off season”, as I thought that would be an interesting moment during season 3.  Rose still seems a little unsure of her relationship with Claire, but she showed her unselfish side by insisting Claire go to the dance while she stayed home.  (I tend to think “missing a stupid High School dance is no big deal”, but it obviously matters to Rose.)  I have a vision of Claire giving Rose a private dance to make up for her missing the school event… It also seems nothing’s changing between Vanessa and Ryan, which of course continues to bother Rose.  The most interesting comments in the diary entry, to me, is Rose ruminations about Kenny and Alicia.  Is Rose just jealous because Kenny is spending so much time with Alicia, or is Alicia going to end up a real problem?  Rose thinks Alicia is nosy and stuck up, but Rose wasn’t privy to the conversation between Alicia and Vanessa, which seems to show that Alicia’s motivations are to make everyone happy.  However, what if Alicia’s friends become antagonistic towards Rose-perhaps because of Rose and Claire’s friendship?  Will Alicia stick by her friends or reject their homophobic views?  Would Kenny reject Alicia if he finds her views less inclusive than his, or will he be blinded by her attractiveness?

Whew!  I think that’s enough for now.  Like I said, there’s a lot of interesting events for a three minute video!

Star Wars

Star Wars is back in the spotlight with the announcement that there will be more theatrical movies, continuing the story after the events in Return of the Jedi.  I’m cautiously optimistic and excited.  Excited because Star Wars is more than just a movie to me; Star Wars is the greatest work of pop culture ever.  I’m cautious because George Lucas will be less involved in the next movie than he was the previous 6.

Let me say up front: Star Wars, in my eyes, is perfect!!  I see nothing wrong with any of the movies.  They aren’t deep, meaningful stories but they don’t need to be!  If you are watching Star Wars you should be ready and willing to have fun!  Nothing in my life has ever been as much fun as Star Wars.

Sure, I love to over-analyze the characters and motivations and try to figure out the backgrounds of all the inconsequential minor characters.  But I don’t take such over-analysis too seriously.  Still, allow me to do a little bit here.

Initially, my favorite character in Star Wars was R2D2.  It’s really amazing how much character there can be in a non-humanoid who doesn’t speak a recognizable language.  Han was also an early favorite, probably because he’s cool and tough and not very conformist.  But the story in the original trilogy is really Luke’s, and the most interesting character throughout the trilogy is him, at least to me.

When I first saw The Phantom Menace I immediately took a liking to Jar Jar.  For some reason, he didn’t become the ultra-popular character I thought he would, but I still love him!  He’s total fun and an “ordinary guy” in the middle of Jedi and royalty.  However, my affections eventually were won over by Padme Amidala, the tough, intelligent and beautiful leader who is excellently portrayed and it’s so easy to see the qualities of Luke and Leia in her.


A great Walter Simonson cover!

After I first saw Star Wars, long before I knew there would be sequels and had a VCR to watch the movie over and over again, I discovered the Star Wars comic book series by Marvel Comics.  They weren’t always the best written or drawn tales, but they sure kept me entertained waiting for the next theatrical release.  My favorite run was by Dave Micheline and Walt Simonson and took place after The Empire Strikes Back.  And they were great stories despite being at a time when the story possibilities seemed very limited.

I could go on and on and on.  Maybe I’ll come back to this at a later time, but it’s time to end for now.

A little Star Wars meets Cthulhu of my own

 

Mutant Elf & comics update

Well, the second storyline of Mutant Elf, my webcomic, ended this week.  Which, of course, means that next week begins the third storyline!  No time off when you’re engaged in the never-ending battle to keep fairy creatures out of our mundane Earth!  In addition to the third webcomic story, I am also currently working on an 8-page Mutant Elf story for this year’s SPACE Anthology.  Since Mutant Elf premiered in last year’s SPACE Anthology, I couldn’t resist doing another strip this year.

The first Mutant Elf story was an 8-page introduction to the concept and main characters, Tom and Mysa.  The second story was a way for me to introduce Teri, Tom’s girlfriend, and the difficulties Tom has working with Mysa while maintaining a relationship with Teri.  The third storyline will swing the attention to Mysa, as we learn about her origin and little more why she’s a “Mutant Elf”.  The 8-pager for the SPACE Anthology is a light tale to show a typical fairy encounter. Hopefully, all the Mutant Elf stories are light-hearted fun.  Since my F.E.D.s comic is a big epic super-hero tale, I wanted Mutant Elf to be very different.

There are a couple other comic projects I’m currently working on.  The first being the 17^th issue of the F.E.D.s, which I should have done in plenty of time for the SPACEconvention.  The next is a strip for the Oh, Comics anthology that features the character of the First Lady.  The short super-hero strips are also a nice counterpart to the long drama in the F.E.D.s.  The final comic I’m doing right now has me more excited than anything I’ve ever done.  But for now, the details must remain a secret…
 

Review: The Flintstones

Shall we return to Bedrock?  Through the courtesy of Fred’s two feet?  Yes, I have been watching the first two seasons of the Flintstones recently, and it has inspired me to write my thoughts and feelings about the classic prehistoric cartoon family!  There are some really interesting aspects of the cartoon-especially in the early days- that I wish to discuss.

1)    Don’t look for continuity!  How did the Flintstones meet the Rubbles?  How many seats are there in Fred’s car?  Who is Fred’s boss and what does he look like?  Can Dino talk?  These questions have different answers depending on which episode you watch!  I think it’s a rather charming aspect of the cartoon.  The writers write whatever they thought fit the story and kept things funny and interesting.  It didn’t matter how much it contradicted what was on last episode.  In modern pop culture, people are a little too obsessed with continuity, and it is refreshing to watch a show that ignores such details.

 

2) I like Barney!  Yeah, I know it’s Fred and his antics that carry the show, and he’s a tribute to Jackie Gleason’s Honeymooners character Ralph Kramden. But the truth is, he’s a grump!  Barney is the fun-loving neighbor and best friend, and he’s very much the comedy relief for the show.  I love his laugh, and he always seems to make me feel better just by laughing!  And except for the episode where Barney gets a job repossessing Fred’s television, his source of employment is kept secret.

 

3) The Flintstones have been childless for a while.  The continuity is vague (see above)but Fred and Wilma have been married up to 15 years without becoming parents!  It must have been quite a lifestyle change when Pebbles came along!  No wonder they only had one child!

4) Rise and Shine! The opening theme song for the first two seasons is not the song I quoted in my opening paragraph, but rather an instrumental piece called “Rise and Shine” played over Fred’s journey home to watch TV, which is very similar to Homer Simpson’s journey in the opening of the Simpsons.  The original ending has a slightly different sequence of the cat locking Fred out of the house than what I was used to watching the show in syndication as a child, also.

5) They have a cat?  Did the cat ever make an appearance in the actual show?

In conclusion, I love the Flintstones, and think everyone should go out and get the series on DVD so you can be sure you see all the episodes!  You’ll have a gay old time, I’m sure!