blah....

Writer's Block

It seems I can't write anything readable unless I'm drinking. This is problematic for me because I don't especially like drinking anymore.

So, how do I resolve this conundrum? I've tried substituting the booze with hash, but that didn't seem to be very successful. Cocaine was highly overrated in my experience, and I don't have any interest in heroin. I would burn some opium if I could find some, but where would I look?

I've tried just writing, no editing, etc...but that doesn't last long. Short bursts of intense creativity are the best I can muster, the rest of the time is spent trying to find words to put on the page. I know it's not supposed to matter, but seriously, have you ever tried writing that way?

Anyway, next few days I'm going to try revising and expanding some old stuff I have, maybe that will help.

Presented for Approval

Wow, long time since anything got posted here. Things in life have been strange, lots of ups and downs.

I have some concept art I got from an artist in Russia, goes by the name Lady Pencilshands. I really like her work, personally. I am going to add it to this post.


So, this is the first page of that test script that I wrote. Well, this is her interpretation of the scene, which is what I was looking for.

She has a distinctly European style, strange with her being from Europe, right? I like the look though, and this is just the rough sketch.



This you may recognize from an earlier post. The original post was done by Diva Zya, and this is the one envisioned by Lady Pencilshands. Both have their merits, and I am not saying one is necessarily better than the other. Each just represents their individual artists quick sketch of a scene. Pretty neat, right?


Don't have any of Zya's art to contrast with this, unfortunately, but this is still really good on it's own, I think. I really can't stress enough, however, that this was just rough sketches. Her full work would be pretty amazing based on this.



And this completes the test script sequence that I wrote. It was just something that I whipped together, so don't expect anything profound. As I continue to post, I will show how the work has evolved, until it reaches it's finished state.

That's all for now, check back later for more.

Just watched "Batman: Under the Red Hood" and I must say, I was seriously underwhelmed. They took the Robin everybody hated and turned him into Deadpool, a crazed killer everyone (including the entire Electric Aeons staff) loves. Also, they turned Black Mask into the Black Skull. Seriously, has he always looked like this?

Okay, a quick image search shows that yes, yes he has.

The movie is well-made, and engaging as far as licensed TM toy-driven anime in the US goes. It just ends up leaving us to ask "Exactly why isn't Batman in prison for recklessly endangering children on a nightly basis?"

This movie paints Batman as not only every bit as psychotic as the Joker. The difference being, Batman has a strong sado-masochistic streak allowing him to feed off the guilt he feels about all of the carnage the Joker causes every time he escapes Arkham.

The solution to the Joker's marauding, psychotic murder sprees, is simply killing him, which Batman is more than capable of doing. He won't, however, because he needs to relive the guilt of not being able to save his parents, so he gets to feel it every time the Joker murders some random person. This is clearly spelled out in the movie, it is fucking sick and tragic.

Almost, but not quite, Shakespearean.

Episode V: The Internet Strikes Back

Recently Wikileaks was the target of a series of DDOS attacks designed to cripple the site devoted to keeping people honest by reporting their misdeeds. One of the most vocal, and powerful members of the coalition against Wikileaks, and its founder Julian Assange, was no other than the United States government.

In addition to the DOS attacks, numerous companies began breaking their legs in an attempt to run as far from Wikileaks as fast as they could. Among them were Amazon.com, Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal. Nearly all of them due to political pressure.

And now 4Chan has turned its attention to the Wikileaks cause.

And a collective "Oh fuck..." was heard by everyone who knows what Anonymous is truly capable of.

I am not excusing 4chan for any malicious acts they commit, I am not praising any actions they take. What I am doing, however, is asking why the US government is so eager to take down a website devoted to unmasking criminals by posting evidence of their crimes.

Is it because the US has such a sordid history of spying on its own citizenry? Of using human guinea pigs illegally? Of destroying democratic governments that are hostile to US industries? Maybe its because the US has a track record of routinely violating international and domestic laws with impunity?

The answer, of course, is "Yes, those are all the reasons that the US government is dedicated to taking down Wikileaks." The truth of the matter is that democracy in the US is the exact scenario that Plato railed against. The circus that we call our government is a festival of corruption, crime, and contempt for the masses. And Wikileaks threatens to expose every single dirty deal, every single transaction will be exposed to the light of day and the corrupt will not allow that.

There are many who will rail against what I have to say here, calling me "unpatriotic" and a host of other names, slurs, and slights.

To them I say morality cannot be negotiable. The immoral claim that politics are amoral and thus are able to rationalize evil. The road to hell, as they say, is paved with good intentions.

The fury about Wikileaks, and the rush to destroy it, are both proof of how powerful a tool it is for the public good. There will be numerous specious arguments made about "national security" but ultimately the truth is that the guilty must be protected at any cost. They paid handsomely for their Congresspeople, and they want a return on that investment.

Revelations

So I was tripping on LSD today when I had a series of amazing revelations. I will now recount them in no particular order.

I. The USA is fucking doomed.

Yeah, let me be the one to break the bad news: the terrorists WILL win. You know why? Because they DESERVE it. If they are willing to strap explosives to the bellies of their children and use them to blow up hard-charging, US soldiers then GAME fucking OVER.

Call it a day, bring home the troops and cut the fucking defense budget by about 1.3 TRILLION fucking dollars.

Do any of you have any fucking CLUE how much money that actually is?

The big green portion of that pie is how much the United States is spending on weaponry to keep us safe. Now, if the US is spending THAT much money to keep us safe from the bad guys who are LIVING IN FUCKING CAVES then guess what? We fucking LOST.

So how about we just acknowledge the fucking loss and start spending that money on some shit that makes some fucking sense? I have a few ideas:

1. Free health care. FOR EVERYONE.

2. Free public transportation. FOR EVERYONE.

3. Free school lunches. FOR EVERYONE.

4. Free college educations OR vocational training. For EVERYONE.

And how do I propose to pay for it? Go back to the beginning of the article, stupid. I intend to cut the fucking defense budget after acknowledging that the most powerful civilization in the HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH is being destroyed by men living in CAVES.

While our brave men and women in uniform sit in air conditioned comfort pushing buttons that kill women and children 100 miles away the cowardly terrorists are willing to sacrifice their children to
steal our precious freedoms.

Pictured: Freedom

The sooner we acknowledge the loss, the sooner we can get around to spending money on some shit that is actually productive. Like birth control for men that isn't a rubber sack that fills with semen.

II. Meat eating should be the SOLE PROVINCE of people (notice the lack of gender specification) who are:

A. Capable of killing

B. WILLING to kill.

Yeah, that's right I said it. If you don't have the courage in your heart to look an animal in the eye and take its life to consume its flesh, then you do not have the RIGHT to eat that flesh.

If you are too weak or infirm to kill, then you do not get meat. You can get your protein from beans and be fucking happy.

And if you don't have the courage to slit Lambchop's throat then guess what? No rack of lamb for you. And that's the fucking END of the discussion.

Whether you look at this from a religious or secular standpoint, the facts are the same: animals can suffer, they can demonstrate affection, form life-partnerships, and can develop complex societies that rally together against external forces while cooperating to keep their whole in place. Which is why cannibalism exists everywhere that domesticatable animals don't.

So buying your beef from the Costco is UNACCEPTABLE.

You want beef? You walk right up to that Holstein, pat it on the head, look it right in it's big, stupid brown eye and CUT ITS THROAT.

If you don't have the guts to do that, then you don't get to consume it's flesh. You don't get to delegate the killing to someone else so your hands are clean.


III. Women and Men are equal. PERIOD.

Again, I am a veteran of the US armed forces, so I am not talking out of my ass here. I have served with women who were better runners than me, better marksman than me, heavier drinkers than me, and some of these women might have had bigger dicks than me...so enough with this bullshit about tampon breaks on the battlefield.

Ask the Red Army about tampons on the battlefield since it didn't seem to stop the Night Witches from bombing the living shit out of Germany.

Or, you could ask Boudiccea of England, the Tru'ng sisters of Viet Nam, or Joan of Arc all of whom led armies despite the handicap of having a vagina.

4. Sexuality is irrelevant to everything except choice of bed partners.
   
   News flash: homosexuality is not a recent invention. It has existed since the dawn of humanity in every society on this planet. I know, shocking, but don't take my word for it. Go look it up, I'll wait.
   
   See, the Spartans were sucking dicks for PLEASURE while they were fucking women as a CHORE. Again, don't take my word for it just look it up. Here this time I'll even provide you a link. Notice how that article said PEDERATSTY was an integral part of life in good old Sparta.
   
   Goes a long way towards explaining the "good job" rituals in sports, doesn't it? I refer of course, to guys slapping each other on the ass, bumping chests, and whatever the fuck they do in the locker room.

5. Having a pet is the same as having a child.

   When I was 17 I had to drown a 3 week old puppy because my neighbor couldn't do it. He was 14 and his dog jumped the fence and got knocked up and the puppy they kept got intestinal parasites and they couldn't afford a vet. And since he couldn't bring himself to kill the puppy he had me do it for him. That was my first experience taking another living being's life and while it isn't as dramatic as the story of Old Yeller, it is still something that I think about when I consider matters of life and death.
   
   

   If you want your kid to have a pet, then you need to sit them down and explain what the fuck they are getting into: that animal is now dependent on them for it's survival. Just like that child is dependent on the parent, except that the animal doesn't have cognitive reasoning capabilities is therefore incapable of making moral choices like eating beans for protein or the flesh of another animal.

See, it's the cognitive reasoning that's the kicker there. We as humans CHOOSE to eat animals. Dogs don't CHOOSE to eat Iams or whatever Safeway happens to have on sale.

I have 2 cats in my home and my lover and I had to have a long talk about this before I agreed to let the first one in. Cats are PREDATORS, ladies and gentlemen. I love my cats like they were my own family (Yes, I do hold a feline life to be of equal or GREATER value than a human life what of it?) but I harbor no illusions: Verbs and Zellie are killers. Clean, methodical, and GOOD AT IT just the way God designed them to be. And by keeping them indoors and feeding them corn-based crap we are harming them and there's no two ways about it.

Unfortunately I cannot allow my cats to roam as nature intended because our water is so fucking fouled by pollutants that my cats will get sick if I did so. Therefore I must confine them to the prison of my back porch, convicted of a crime they never committed and never a day of parole available to them.


VI. LSD was made illegal for a REASON.

Because Western Civilization would grind to a screeching fucking HALT otherwise.

You know why America lost in Viet Nam? Because the Vietnamese were RIGHT. It was THEIR fucking country and the French should have cut their fucking losses and gone home instead of running to the US for help. And the US should have said "Fuck that shit, we fought for our independence you know those little Yellow fuckers will too. Ever heard of the Tru'ng sisters?"

Instead we got 30 fucking years of lies that ended up costing billions of dollars and millions of lives.

And the lies, unfortunately, didn't stop after our disgraced withdrawal from that little patch of Southeast Asia. To this day you will find people who will tell you how America could have won, should have won, WOULD have won except for the pinko Commie faggots.

Except that is a fucking lie known to everyone who has ever spent 30 minutes researching the Viet Nam war.

And now we get the sequel, except instead of a jungle you get a desert. Seriously, go spend 30 minutes doing some research. Pick any speech made specifically about Iraq/Afghanistan AT RANDOM and do the same thing with Viet Nam. Then, compare those speeches and see how many times you find yourself referring to your notes to make sure which conflict you are reading about.

And let's go back to what I said earlier about doing your own killing.

Do you think that Madeleine Albright would be willing to slit the throat of an Iraqi child? How about 1,000? Here she is talking about 500,000 of them.

I was going to post a few pictures of dead Iraqi children to drive the point home but I still have a shred of decency that I am trying to stamp out, so bear with me.

So, let's just be honest with each other here.

If I say I am willing to murder an Iraqi child, than I am an evil human being.

Yet Madeleine Albright, the US Ambassador to the UN has no qualms about letting me do it so she doesn't have to.

So who is the real villain?

Some of what I said here may shock you. Some of it may offend you. Some of it may not apply to you.

Rest assured, I meant every word. ESPECIALLY the parts about killing.

If you've never tried LSD, you should run right out and get some. Find a chemist and help them make it. Call me and I will help you find it..

That shit should be given away by the fucking truckload to anyone who wants it.. Why not, we make poison available on a daily fucking basis to anyone able to turn on a public faucet.

Exciting Times

I was just watching "Three Minute Philosophy" when I had a sudden thought: I am pretty lucky to be living when I am. The spread of technology and mass media, while dulling the masses and wrecking our culture, has also destroyed many illusions that have kept things unequal for so long.

When I was a kid, I was told how awesome Thomas Edison was, how he invented so much shit. Then when I was 18 I got a Barnes & Noble catalog in the mail. One of the books was about Nicola Tesla, the man Edison wanted to be.

The Internet loves Tesla, and for good reason, he was a mad scientist. Who doesn't love a mad scientist?

Waiting on word from my prospective new artist. I liked the rough drafts enough to commission full sketches in black and white.

Let's see what happens.

The History of the Industry

As I am working towards getting our project into reality, I've been doing a lot of reading on the comics industry. What I have found has been enlightening, to say the least. One point in particular, is the idea that comics are read only by socially inept guys who dwell in their parents basement. This little stereotype goes all the way back to the 1950s when comics were suddenly blamed for every ill in society.

Sound familiar?

Here's another tasty historical fact: The first "graphic novel" was called "It Rhymes With Lust" and was pretty well done, according to David Hajdou in his book "The 10 Cent Plague."

Want to write more, but I just had dental work and the pain is interfering with my ability to think creatively. We'll see what happens.

Cyber Pranking and the Dearth of Common Sense

Was at CBR this morning and found this thread about someone called Jessi Slaughter (not her real name), an 11 year old who make a horrific mistake: she fucked with the Internet.

Now, don't get me wrong I am not advocating making children cry, or bashing up kids no matter how stupid they are. What I am saying is, it is well documented that the Internet is a powerful force that can annihilate those who are unwise as to its power.

This little girls parents, who are clearly not all that bright themselves, allow their offspring to roam freely through the vast realm of the Internet unattended. Have you SEEN some of the crazy shit that is out there? Tubgirl, Goatse, YouPorn, Twilight fan sites...there is no end to the horrors, tragedies, and travesties that await the unwary.

When Jessi Slaughter decided she was a Somebody and sent the Internet a video message saying she was invincible, it was viewed as a challenge. And she got slammed, hard.

You see, what little Jessi and her well-meaning, but ultimately clueless, parents had forgotten was that the Internet is society. Anyone with access (which is what, 80% of the population of the US? 35% of the rest of the planet?) can watch your YouTube channel, read your blog posts, and do some basic research about who you are. Internet Anonymity is not nearly as strong as people think it is, and Jessi learned that shit the hard way.

And it is the most painful lessons that we remember the longest.

She won't be posting any more videos promising to "Pop a Glock" in anyone's mouth to "make a brain slushie" any longer, I am sure. Much like the clowns from Pranknet, Jessi has learned that she is not untouchable, and that when you fuck with people, they have a right to retaliate. And when those people you encounter prove to be far meaner than you are, it's really no one's fault but your own.

The guys on Pranknet seem to be a collection of mean-spirited, cowardly assholes, but they are actually performing a vital community service. They serve as a very good teaching aid, helping people to understand the need to pull one's head from one's ass.

Breaking windows is the only way to reset an alarm system? Fire extinguishing equipment uses toxic foam that you need to clean off with urine?

And the prize winner? This girl is stripped, spanked, sodomized, and fellates a co-worker. Because a stranger on the phone told her to.

This shows a level of stupidity that has achieved epic levels. There were 70 such calls nationwide before this girl was thoroughly degraded. SEVENTY.

This shows how slavish and moronic the population of the US has become.

New Work

Well, the money went faster than I expected. Too many bills coming in, too fast. Le sigh.

Anyway, here is an article I wrote for another site. Part of a series, then I will write a few more. Maybe I can develop a fanbase this way and beg for donations.

Stranger things have happened.

The Road to Xibalba

Okay, so I am currently negotiating with 2 artists and the project is becoming less of a fantasy and more of a job. This means that I need to start outlining for you, the general public, exactly what this project is.

The project was originally conceived of as a series of 128 page graphic novels spread out quarterly or bi-annually (because that is much more realistic) basis, telling an evolving story of a wandering hero meeting his destiny. This won't be a run-of-the-mill adventure series, however, since I intend to keep the characters, all of the characters, 3-dimensional. There will be few clear-cut cases of good and evil, and quite a few moments where the reader is going to have to take sides as the hero and his allies sometimes fail to see eye-to-eye on issues ranging from crime and punishment to slavery.

The name of the series is going to be Xibalba which is the Mayan underworld. The reason why the series has this name will be explained in the series, but I am not sure if I am going to do that immediately, or if the answer will be revealed in the 2nd installment.

The nature of the work will be science fiction, but will incorporate elements of many styles including fantasy and steampunk. Yes, I know that this can destroy a story, but I believe that even the most severe critic would be hard-pressed to deny that my plots don't make perfect sense based on the premise of the series. A premise that I won't reveal until the script is compiled with the art and is ready to be sent to the publisher. Sorry, but that's what I have to do.

As we get concept art I will be posting it along with character bios, to hopefully generate some interest among prospective readers.

Anyway, I have to scoot off to do some other work.

Dr. V

A Conundrum

As I was reading the Comic Book Resources (CBR is how I will refer to it from now on. Permanently.) I found myself really thinking about the comic book reading public, especially those that haunt the web. What will they buy?

It's nice to have readers, no doubt, but this isn't a "literary work" likely to be found in a library, so buyers are far more important. The best kind of buyers, of course, are the ones that buy your work as a gift for others, thus helping to spread your name. This still leaves us with that question, though...what will they buy?

The CBR forums are packed with threads about Marvel and DC, but aside from occasional comments on the Idies (Usagi Yojimbo Appreciation, for instance) the "New Posts" button rarely turns up anything for the small presses. And since I hope to eventually market my book through Image, I need to know what the general audience is reading. Or, more precisely, willing to buy.

Using the mainstream fiction industry, I guess the best analogy is as follows:

Do I want to slowly write an intelligent (hopefully) thought-provoking story that might not make a lot of money or get noticed by anyone but a small circle of readers? Or should I just take a 30 day leave of absence from work and write a moronic masturbation fantasy marketed at the least intelligent sector of society that will likely be a NYT best-seller?

It's not an easy decision, let me tell you.

Winter Quarter update

Greetings, 'tis I - the Wikked One come to check in and let you know what's up and what's looming upon the horizon.
Winter Quarter straight up stole My free time - I unfortunately decided to take 'work study' with the concept that in so doing, I would have the opportunity to network, make useful contacts for employment and have less loans to repay.
Full time student; Psychology: heavy reading and writing.. hmm.. not exactly My best quarter as I feel slammed by the amount of assignments this time around. What really threw Me was that My supervisor required Me to read several books and articles, and it's just luck that I've already seen a few of the movies to write reflection papers on as well - and 'discussions' with her weekly.
Just going to stop there, since I haven't touched a lick of paint for 3 months!
I've still got the 'Unholy Triad' in background status, having masked off the figures themselves so I can focus on getting the rest of the great hall without involving or splattering the Trio.
My Sisters four Seasons quartet is calmly awaiting the next layer, I've resisted the 50% off sales up in Seattle at http://www.danielsmith.com/ honestly.. I'll need most of My scrawny paycheck to even consider re-supplying, but oh what a trip!
** I've got to run, hope I can follow up and finish this lil notie soon!**

Red and Green, and Awesome All Over

I'm not talking about Christmas, silly, I'm talking about "True Blood" by Charlaine Harris and "Weeds" from Showtime. These are two of the smartest, funniest programs that I have seen in a long time.

For those of you who have never seen "True Blood" it is a vampire serial set in Louisiana. The premise of the show is that vampires have revealed their presence to the world and, two years after this revelation, we see how the world reacts to them. This is what Joss Whedon would have done if HBO had picked up "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", instead of it being on the WB.

Diva Zya read the first 7 books of the series (currently 9 with 4 more coming) and from that she decided she wanted to see how the HBO adaptation had gone. Swimmingly, is my vote. I would love to pop over to Ms. Harris' home and take a look at her bookshelf, because she shows a deep understanding of the vampiric condition that far too many authors lack when they approach the subject.

The same can be said for "Weeds," a program about a suburban housewife who becomes a major pot dealer to support her family after her husband's death. It's been on for 5 years now, but I had never seen it (although I was aware of it) because no one I knew had ever watched it and I refused to get cable tv. Now, thanks to the internet, I am able to keep up with intelligent programming without spending a ridiculous amount every month on cable service just to watch 3-5 shows that don't make me want to choke someone.

The big draw for me, with regards to both programs, is how well-written the characters are. Especially the criminals that populate both fictional worlds. There is so much wisdom and insight (especially in Lafayette in "True Blood") that it makes you wonder about the people who write these shows. What have they been up to in their lives?

There are rarely cut-and-dry answers in life and good writers show this through meaningful dialogue, introspection, and believable conflicts. This is the kind of stuff that I want to write.

Now I just need to come up with the cash to hire an artist.

A New Decade BEGINS

I have neglected this blog for too long. And the reason for this, quite simply, is that I was asleep. I began this project with great enthusiasm, but got sidetracked by issues with mundane things like work, a mortgage, etc.

No longer.

I have decided that the next decade will be VASTLY superior to the previous one, at least as it applies to me and my projects. The key to this, is being awake and aware.

I am disconnecting from the bullshit. It was a gradual process I began in the past 3 years, and I have decided that it is time to accelerate it. To fully embrace the concepts that I am so enamored of, to live a life free from useless crap; be it material, emotional, cultural.

Watch this space, my friends. The next decade is going to be GOOD.

Time away from you is like no time at all

Oh Wikked One here (aka the Gun Moll aka Diva Zya, etc) and here to illuminate y'll to the latest in th eongoing sotry.
I went to College this Fall, that's a continuing story as well - Finals over & Evals over too - just the 40 hour work weeks now available and I'll get used to that too. Time is scheduled, Time is not wasted or hoarded. I intend to finish up the sketches, and post them so you can see how it goes.
I'm designing My style, and it's taking longer coz it seems that almost every thing else screams louder at Me to get them done. Alas, this is a tribute I am sincere about and do need to clear space to do a great job on it asap!
Always the best, ~Zya

Why not the next big story?

Another note from Zya ~

Where the Wild Things Are - the Movie.
17 pages in the book, and 6 don't even have words!
I used to have that Where the Wild Things Are memorized for babysitting.. strange how those images could rile up kids and then, turn around and put them to sleep.

If you don't want spoilers for this simple movie or book (if you haven't read it - do yourself a favor, get it now!) there are other things you can do while I ramble on.. go make a fort out of your mom's tablecloths or practice singing while balancing on one foot.

The glorious thing about the book is that there was SO MUCH left to the imagination! My little charges and I were so creatively enthused that we'd not only be Wild Things, but we would draw and color and cut them out and put them on the walls.

Let the wild rumpus start!

The sad ting about the Movie is that there is no Dream Sequence where "that night in Max's room a forest grew, and grew, and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the works all around.."
instead, in the Movie, Max runs off in a temper and just finds a boat and sails away.

Hard to call your little darling a WILD THING! and then have to say "oh, throwing dirtballs at your friends is not nice.. some one could get hurt!" There are relationship highlights, even some kind of romance - and it works.

Overall I do say that this is VERY well done but honestly, the movie -had- to find some way to extend it, to hook all the Mommys and Daddys who grew up with that story. Divorce, finances, job stress, typical siblings and traditional family troubles.

I could see it done as an Indie film, but really, why bother? It's now a movie you can talk about with your kindergartner as well as your high school senior.. perhaps one of the great stories for the entire family.

The Test Script

This is the test script that I drafted to test out potential artists. I made it deliberately vague so that way the artist would have a lot of freedom. This would allow me an insight to their style and we could go from there.

************************************************************
************************************************************

PAGE 1 FRAME 1

Exterior shot of a diner on a street corner to the left of a parking lot. Visible on the side of the restaurant is the name "King Solomon's reef"



PAGE 2 FRAME 1 top half of page.

A man sits at the counter of The Reef. He is wearing a dark blue suit, his hair short and light colored. The waitress is pouring coffee into his cup. She is wearing a t-shirt and dark pants. Her arms are full sleeve tattoos, her face is pierced. She is in her early 20s the man in his late 30s. The diner is a 1950s style greasy spoon. The place looks old and worn but clean.



PAGE 2 FRAME 2 BOTTOM LEFT HALF OF PAGE.

A newspaper is slipped against a plate. The paper is folded open to reveal the obituaries,, one name is circled.



PAGE 2 FRAME 3 BOTTOM RIGHT HALF OF PAGE

The circled obituary has a picture of a well dressed woman. Her face is stern but kind, her hair dark. She doesn't look old, just mature, hard to put an exact age to.

Rick Ashey: Adora Simry? Should I know who she is? And should I care? Aside from the whole "brotherhood of man" sense, that is.



PAGE 3 FRAME 1

Shot of man in dark gray suit. He is in his 50s, slender and clean shaven.

GRAY SUITED MAN: Oh, I think you will Rick...and her survivors will definitely interest you.



PAGE 3 FRAME 2

Overhead shot Rick holding the paper

RICK ASHEY: Oh, so James and Cyrus Kelley are her kids? I'm guessing she wasn't too thrilled with how they turned out.


PAGE 3 FRAME 3

Tight focus on the gray suited man, his smile humorless.

GRAY SUITED MAN: Got it in one, my friend. And unfortunately her death was not, despite what the obit says, "natural."

RICK ASHEY: Okay, I'll bite...so what got her?



PAGE 3 FRAME 4

Ricks's shocked expression as he drops his coffee.

GRAY SUITED MAN: The Dirty Poets wrote her a sonnet.

**********************************************************
**********************************************************

Consider this an open audition. Think you can draw this? Try it out and send it to us, let's see what happens.

Forum Foolishness Part 1

Was over on the Cracked.com Pointless Waste of Time forums when I saw this topic:

How would you rewrite the Star Wars prequels?

Here's the short version: Darth Maul survives all 3 movies with Anakin fighting him constantly while Maul just fucks up entire neighborhoods just because Anakin had lunch there one afternoon. Sound good? Read on...


********************************************************
********************************************************


Episode I: The Phantom Menace


In the first movie, Anakin is newly graduated from Jedi School and Qui-gon Gin is his training officer. He takes Anakin on the rough beats of the galaxy, rousting the smugglers, smacking the Twi'lek hos, that sort of thing. Then Darth Maul shows up on Tattooine where Anakin is from, and he just proceeds to lay waste to Hammerhead because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

When Anakin and Qwi-gon show up, they find that Maul was after Queen Amadala (played so subtly by Megan Fox). Anakin and Amadala fall in love and Qui-gon tells him to put it away, the Jedi are forbidden to marry. You marry the lightsaber in this line of work.

Anyway, Maul continues his little campaign of serious ass-kicking and since Anakin showed up, has decided it is his mission in life to kill Anakin Skywalker. Not for any real reason, mind you, just for g.p.


Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Anakin's lover Queen Amadala has been killed by his nemesis Darth Maul. Maul blew up her ship or something just to piss off Skywalker. This gives Anakin that really cool "alcoholic burn-out" vibe that was completely missing from the series. As he descends into ever more violent methods when dealing with criminals, Qui-gon Gin (played so ably by Independent Spirit Award winner Danny Glover) tells Anakin he needs to calm that shit down, the Jedi don't just execute people without giving them a trial first.

Senator Palpatine keeps interceding on Anakin's behalf which totally makes him look like a cool motherfucker who understands that life in deep space is rough. Senator Palpatine seems like the kind of guy who knows that being a Jedi isn't all acrobatics and trade negotiations, it also involves a lot of serious ass-kicking.

This makes Palpatine seem really cool until we learn that he is the Sith Master and Maul is just his apprentice. (Oh, SNAP, bet you didn't see THAT coming!) Here's the kicker: Maul doesn't know it, but Palpatine has decided that Maul is too ambitious, and maybe it's time for him to be replaced. Anakin is more powerful than Maul, and almost as good a swordsman (Darth Maul will, of course, be using his trademark staff) he is also a lot more stupid. So Palpatine is working the two against each other, priming Anakin to get enraged enough to CROSS THE LINE.

The Jedi Council calls Anakin in and tells him that his behavior is getting out of hand. Yoda is getting seriously irked about all of this violence and craziness. Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson for the win!) finally gets pissed and tells Anakin "The Force, motherfucker! Let it guide you!" and Yoda just shrugs and says "Yes, truth he speaks, yo." To help Anakin get his shit together, they pair him up with this guy Obi-Wan Kenobi who is the same age as Anakin, but much more level-headed.

Then we find out that Amadala isn't dead! She is either a clone (bummer) or she really did survive the assassination attempt (fucking righteous), but either way Anakin gets some booty! She learns she is pregnant, but doesn't share that information with Anakin who is a bit busy with this whole Clone War.

Maul then smokes Anakin's partner Obi-Wan Kenobi (oh noes!!!!) and this really sets Anakin's teeth on edge. It's on, now...no more Mr. Nice Jedi.


Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

After Maul killed Qwi-gon in the 2nd movie, Anakin is a loose cannon. He doesn't know Amadala is pregnant, all he knows is his master is dead and Maul is going down! With Palpatine's help, Anakin learns how powerful the Dark Side truly is and how he can use it to destroy Maul.

What Anakin didn't know is that Obi-Wan, his partner, was secretly cloned by Palpatine to serve as the nucleus of his new Sith Lord army that would be taking over the galaxy after all the Jedi are wiped out by the Mandalorians led by mysterious assassin Boba Fett.

Anakin and Maul meet up on the lava planet where Maul has his headquarters. Palpatine gets Anakin to switch to evil and cut down Maul, thus taking his place. Unfortunately, right after he does, the lava shield goes out due to the battle and Anakin gets all burned up.

Amadala learns of Anakin's shenanigans and fakes her own death, hoping to raise her kids safely in hiding. It's while she is in labor that it is revealed that she is a clone and a poor one at that, she is slowly dying.

Vader doesn't know he has kids, doesn't know his love was still alive. And Obi-Wan doesn't remember ever owning any droids because HE IS A CLONE. He hides on Tattoine while Yoda hides on Dagobah, waiting for the day that the Jedi will rise from their ashes.

***********************************************************
***********************************************************

Way better than that crap Lucas put out, if you ask me.

Concept Art

Zya did some concept art over the weekend while we were playing some D&D with friends, I'll post a bit of it here.


Zya is also working on a full portrait based on a rough sketch she did, so far it looks spectacular, much like the one on our Facebook page, actually. In terms of excellence, not in content or style.

What you see posted above is just a quick sketch she did based on a test script that I hammered out to test prospective artists.as I mentioned in a previous post. The test script didn't take long to write, about 20 minutes I think, but I liked it so much that I am now thinking of expanding it into a 3rd project. All I need to do is find an illustrator...

Fortunately, the new school year is about to start and that means I will have a greater chance of finding illustrators here once Evergreen is in session. As I said earlier, it seems like every quarter they have one student who does a project in the comics medium, so maybe I can get them full credit for working on this project. Stranger things have happened.

Going to try and hit up Oly Cards and Comics today with a flier, and maybe Danger Room later this week. The Craigslist method didn't work out too well for me, but I am going to keep trying it.

No risk is no reward, as they say.