How's it going? I know, I know. You're wondering where I've been, what I've been doing. "Where's my Iron Man Versus?!" Well, I'm moving on.
It's sad, I know.
Well, it's not really sad. I don't really care. Hence the reason I'm moving on.
Yup, got pretty tired of the old blogaloging after two... three... shit it's been a long time. I needed a change of pace. I've been putting all my free time into two things lately: reading comics and drawing comics (well, drawing mostly comics and some other random stuff). As I'm sure you all already know I have a webcomic. Awesome Adventures! Comics, please check it out, tell your friends, etc. Apart from the monthly comic I post weekly sketches every Friday, partly to keep the site active. My skill has been improving over the last few months and I think I'm starting to evolve a style, which is very exciting. There are FaceBook and Twitter feed links over on the site so you can easily keep up to date.
Anyway, I'm writing this post mainly to tell you about something new I'm doing. I'm one-third of a podcast hosted by my local comic shop Captain Blue Hen Comics. You can check out the premier (and all future episodes) of From The Booth on their site. Shows are short (about 30 minutes) and updated weekly. I'll continue to be a part of the show as long as I'm having fun. Now rather than not read what I have to say about comics you can not listen to it! There are plans to put the show on iTunes after we hit a stride.
Who knows, I may return to the Mutterings at some point in the future, but right now I'm having too much fun drawing to be bothered with it.
There is one comic book blog I still read regularly. I highly recommend Living Between Wednesdays for all your comic blog needs! They have sponsors, and content! Good content!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have this stack of ROM comics sitting next to me and their Awesomeness beckons.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Awesome Adventures! Comics is here!
If you haven't heard, I teamed up with my good friend Charlie to create a new webcomic. You see, I've been learning to draw recently and I thought this would be a fun way to keep me drawing. We are both having a lot of fun and it's nice to be creating something new.
I hope that all of you will go and check out Awesome Adventures! Comics and leave a comment or comments on the site. There will be a new 1-5 page complete graphic story updated (roughly) monthly, so it certainly isn't a heavy reading burden! I look forward to seeing how my art skill will improve over time.
This brings me to the part of this post that (I hope) at least some of you might be disappointed in. With the webcomic, and life in general, putting more constraints on my time I'll be drastically cutting back the work I do on The Mutterings. Working on the blog is starting to almost feel like a chore, and since this is just a hobby of mine that means it's time to take a step back. I'll still post from time to time, but nowhere near as often. I still have a bunch of Iron Man Versus segments squirreled away, and I'll put those up as I feel like it. Next week I'll be posting the last of my sketchbook pictures from Baltimore Comic-Con, then I probably won't post much of anything for a few weeks. I still plan on doing monthly trade paperback reviews over at Nerdgasm. I seem to be having a hard time getting into the swing of it though.
I just want to say thanks to everyone that read the blog regularly! Keep it in your RSS feeds or on FaceBook so you'll still get updates of when new stuff posts here. And please go check out Charlie and my webcomic!
Friday, July 30, 2010
He's got wheels, and he knows how to use them!
An old friend of mine Tweeted this to me today concerning his Happy Meal toy:
@doktorandy when did Ironman add wheels to his suit?
An excellent question, @Chaddah! The answer, which you probably were not expecting, is 1963!
Yup, that little slice of awesome appeared in Tales of Suspense #44, the sixth Iron Man comic book!
An excellent question, @Chaddah! The answer, which you probably were not expecting, is 1963!
Yup, that little slice of awesome appeared in Tales of Suspense #44, the sixth Iron Man comic book!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Go-Go-Gadget Get The Hell Out Of Here!
I'm on vacation for the next two weeks, so don't expect anything from me other than drinking and chillin' until July 27. Yeah, don't all cry at once.
If you just marked your Google Calendars, you might have noticed that July 27 is a Tuesday. Right about now I bet you're asking yourself, "What the Hell?! Where did all this mayonnaise come from?!" Well I have no idea, but maybe you should clean your computer area. What you SHOULD be asking is why I'm not posting on Monday, but instead posting on Tuesday. Well I'll tell you if you'll stop bitching about the mayonnaise! I've been getting increasingly busy what with having a crawling poop factory... uh, I mean bundle of joy to take care of, so I'm switching to a Tuesday & Thursday post schedule effective July 27. This will give me more time to make the posts a higher quality, and hopefully get back to doing some of the longer form posts that I haven't had time for. I have lots of great ideas for the site, including a contest or two for you folks, and some new ongoing series. There is one in particular that I've been planning for some time involving everyone's favorite Spaceknight. More that that later...
What I'm going to try and do is have every Tuesday be when I post part of a series, like Iron Man Versus, Hawkeye Sayz or The Random Dredd (which I will be returning to after the break). Thursday will be regular (hopefully longer) posts. I'm sure I'll be posting random stuff here and there throughout the week, so be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed and/or fan on FaceBook.
Remember that I'm still doing TPB and Netflix reviews monthly over at Nerdgasm.
Don't forget to tell your friends about the site, and check out the FaceBook fan page. I post short stuff on there occasionally. I'd love to see the membership on the fan page hit 75. I'd probably piss myself, honestly. FAN THIS BLOG ON FACEBOOK IF YOU WANT ME TO PISS MYSELF!
Above panel from Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Annual #1 (2008).
So in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "Peace Out, Y'all!"
Above panel from Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Annual #1 (2008).
Friday, June 18, 2010
Awkward Praise for Secret Warriors #15
Well congratulations, Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli. I've never been more turned on and simultaneously disgusted by a comic book portrayal of a woman.
Joking aside, Jonathan Hickman is one of my favorite writers and artists (he is mindblowingly awesome at both). Stefano Caselli is my all time favorite comic book artist. He's the first artist that really made me say "Damn, this art is amazing" while I was reading a comic book. When I feel I have some cash to blow I hope to get a Caselli commission. As you can see from the above he is an amazing artist, but where he really shines is facial expressions. Absolutely outstanding.
If you're not reading Secret Warriors you should consider picking it up. It really is great, especially after Bendis left the book... although it appears Caselli is no longer on art duties. It's still solid writing though.
Joking aside, Jonathan Hickman is one of my favorite writers and artists (he is mindblowingly awesome at both). Stefano Caselli is my all time favorite comic book artist. He's the first artist that really made me say "Damn, this art is amazing" while I was reading a comic book. When I feel I have some cash to blow I hope to get a Caselli commission. As you can see from the above he is an amazing artist, but where he really shines is facial expressions. Absolutely outstanding.
If you're not reading Secret Warriors you should consider picking it up. It really is great, especially after Bendis left the book... although it appears Caselli is no longer on art duties. It's still solid writing though.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
What may be the most Awesome ROM Pin-up EVER.
I've recently become addicted to deviantART. Don't misinterpret, I have basically zero illustrating talent, I'm there purely to enjoy the awesome art that people put out. During one of my periodic searches I came across this MINDBLOWINGLY AWESOME piece of ROM art!
It was done by Andrew Griffith, aka glovestudios on deviantART. One of the great things about the deviantART community is that most people don't watermark their stuff or inhibit your ability to download their artwork (there's actually a "download" button). I'm currently using this bad boy as the wallpaper on my Droid phone, and it is beautiful.
So check out deviantART, you'll be amazed at what you can find!
It was done by Andrew Griffith, aka glovestudios on deviantART. One of the great things about the deviantART community is that most people don't watermark their stuff or inhibit your ability to download their artwork (there's actually a "download" button). I'm currently using this bad boy as the wallpaper on my Droid phone, and it is beautiful.
So check out deviantART, you'll be amazed at what you can find!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Comic Box Craft Project
Note: This post contains the willful mutilation of comic books, which may offend sensitive readers.
A while back I got a "comic brick" from my shop as a present. It's kind of a grab bag of comics, all no older than 2006. There were quite a few in there that I liked, but it did include some duplicates and some that I'm not interested in reading. I left them in a big pile on top of one of my longboxes until I could figure out what to do with them when it occurred to me: I could cut them up and plaster them across said boxes!
With the help of my much-craftier-than-I wife, I set to the task. This post constitutes a bit of a how to, along with some things I learned from making the prototype if you would care to try it yourself.
This is the glue/finishing coat stuff. It looks like white glue and dries amazingly clear. Along with this I got three foam craft brushes of different sizes. These items are available at any craft store or (undoubtedly) on the internet.
I applied the glue to the center and corners of full comic pages and overlapped them at different angles, as you can see below. Make sure you get any creases out, that's really important. The picture below is the cover of the box.
Dealing with the "triple point" corner is a problem I wasn't able to fully work out. Having three sides come together and having to fold the page doesn't really work, so I tended to band individual panels around the edges. Not ideal, really. If you can think of a better way I'd love to hear it.
This is the box itself after I was well along. The box is obviously easier than the cover.
You can see I tested having a page fold all the way over into the box. I realized right after I did this that the cover actually falls a considerable distance down the box, so you don't have to get anywhere near the top.
Once the pages were all attached I applied a surface coat of the glue using a small brush, then smoothing it out before it dried using a larger dry brush. I found this gave the best results for getting an even and smooth coat. I applied two surface coats, but more should probably be done.
Here is a finished shot of the cover.
Which leads to the final finished product.
You can see the problem that the box top corners pose. In the closest corner the naked box is clearly visible, and on the left you can see the top of the panel cutout sticking up, waiting to be torn.
You might also notice that I did not cut holes for the handles. Given the small openings I didn't want to deal with folding panels into the holes. Conceivably I could just cut a hole now and not worry about the potential ripping, but I wanted to see what it was like without handles. The answer: really hard to lift. Then again, the whole thing makes this crackling noise when you move it. So in the end you probably don't want to do this to your whole collection, but maybe just a few shortboxes that you want out on display because A) they contain your read pile or B) they are a themed box of your favorite comics. I have some duplicate ROM comics that I was going to use to make a ROM shortbox, since the entire ROM series plus tie-ins will easily fit in a shortbox.
Things I learned:
Using primarily whole pages is not ideal. You run into a lot of problems doing folds at corners. I think the best procedure (and the one I'll use in the future) would be to use pages to cover massive areas but then paste individual panels over most of the box. I'm concerned that this might give a very cluttered look, but the only way to know for sure is to try. Applying glue only to the corners and the center of the page is a bad idea. As I added more layers I found that some earlier layers would wrinkle. Or when the box shifted it would cause a wrinkle. I think the best bet is to plaster the entire pack of the page with glue. This is what I did with individual panels and they came out much better. Selecting pages and panels isn't as easy as you'd think. You want stuff that really pops and is interesting visually outside the context of the comic. You also have to pick something that you're going to want to look at for a while. This is actually a very fun part of the process. I was concerned that the "new" glossy comic paper might not take the glue well. Turns out that isn't a problem at all.
A while back I got a "comic brick" from my shop as a present. It's kind of a grab bag of comics, all no older than 2006. There were quite a few in there that I liked, but it did include some duplicates and some that I'm not interested in reading. I left them in a big pile on top of one of my longboxes until I could figure out what to do with them when it occurred to me: I could cut them up and plaster them across said boxes!
With the help of my much-craftier-than-I wife, I set to the task. This post constitutes a bit of a how to, along with some things I learned from making the prototype if you would care to try it yourself.
This is the glue/finishing coat stuff. It looks like white glue and dries amazingly clear. Along with this I got three foam craft brushes of different sizes. These items are available at any craft store or (undoubtedly) on the internet.
I applied the glue to the center and corners of full comic pages and overlapped them at different angles, as you can see below. Make sure you get any creases out, that's really important. The picture below is the cover of the box.
Dealing with the "triple point" corner is a problem I wasn't able to fully work out. Having three sides come together and having to fold the page doesn't really work, so I tended to band individual panels around the edges. Not ideal, really. If you can think of a better way I'd love to hear it.
This is the box itself after I was well along. The box is obviously easier than the cover.
You can see I tested having a page fold all the way over into the box. I realized right after I did this that the cover actually falls a considerable distance down the box, so you don't have to get anywhere near the top.
Once the pages were all attached I applied a surface coat of the glue using a small brush, then smoothing it out before it dried using a larger dry brush. I found this gave the best results for getting an even and smooth coat. I applied two surface coats, but more should probably be done.
Here is a finished shot of the cover.
Which leads to the final finished product.
You can see the problem that the box top corners pose. In the closest corner the naked box is clearly visible, and on the left you can see the top of the panel cutout sticking up, waiting to be torn.
You might also notice that I did not cut holes for the handles. Given the small openings I didn't want to deal with folding panels into the holes. Conceivably I could just cut a hole now and not worry about the potential ripping, but I wanted to see what it was like without handles. The answer: really hard to lift. Then again, the whole thing makes this crackling noise when you move it. So in the end you probably don't want to do this to your whole collection, but maybe just a few shortboxes that you want out on display because A) they contain your read pile or B) they are a themed box of your favorite comics. I have some duplicate ROM comics that I was going to use to make a ROM shortbox, since the entire ROM series plus tie-ins will easily fit in a shortbox.
Things I learned:
An unanswered question that requires testing is how older comics will respond to this process. As I said, I want to make a ROM box. All the above comics were printed on glossy paper. I'm not sure how the old newsprint style comics will respond to this much glue. Mainly I'm concerned about bleeding colors. I'm optimistic though.
This project also strikes me as something that a kid would love to do. Raid the quarter bin at your shop (or convention) and give it a go! I used pages from four or five different comics to make this box. It would also be really easy to make a themed box, using (say) Spider-Man comics. I intentionally used a little of everything on this box to make it generic.
Let me know what you think in the comments, and feel free to ask any questions. I've never written a craft how to before, so I'm not sure if it's entirely clear. Of course, if you make your own I'd love to see pictures! Email them to me and I'll post them on the site if you'd like!
This project also strikes me as something that a kid would love to do. Raid the quarter bin at your shop (or convention) and give it a go! I used pages from four or five different comics to make this box. It would also be really easy to make a themed box, using (say) Spider-Man comics. I intentionally used a little of everything on this box to make it generic.
Let me know what you think in the comments, and feel free to ask any questions. I've never written a craft how to before, so I'm not sure if it's entirely clear. Of course, if you make your own I'd love to see pictures! Email them to me and I'll post them on the site if you'd like!
For the complete gallery of the project, click here.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1
If you happened to pick up the amazingly awesome Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1 this past week, and you happened to read the letters column in the back, you probably spotted the following.
Yup, that's me!
I asked Mini Hawkeye to do a review, but it amounted to 45 minutes of him screaming in joy to be the star of such an excellent ongoing series. Most of it wasn't even coherent. I did gather he especially liked the "Pym particle" part.
Yup, that's me!
I asked Mini Hawkeye to do a review, but it amounted to 45 minutes of him screaming in joy to be the star of such an excellent ongoing series. Most of it wasn't even coherent. I did gather he especially liked the "Pym particle" part.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Brain Slug Hats!
This post is completely shameless.
Not only is it a plug for you to buy something from my best friend's Etsy store, it's also a lame excuse to post a cute picture of my son.
I have no shame.
Anyway, my best friend has this Etsy page where she sells lots of neat stuff, mostly jewelry and stuff for the ladies (hellllooooo, ladies). A recent addition to her site is brain slug hats for babies! You remember brain slugs, right?
Yeah, that's it. Nice.
Not only does she have classic green brain slugs, but the rare non-green variety as well! I'm a canonical guy, so I'm a fan of the green ones myself, but I can see the appeal of non-green.
So go and check out SquirrelProductions and get some brain slug hats! Buy them and put them on your babies, or your friend's babies, or babies that you happen to pass on the street. DO IT!!!
Just look how awesome they look on kids!!!
Awwwww... He's got a space parasite!
NOTE: If you don't have a "baby" but have a "toddler", "little boy/girl" or are a "full grown man" that would like a brain slug hat, you can contact SquirrelProductions via their Etsy site and request a custom! You would not be the first adult to request one!
Not only is it a plug for you to buy something from my best friend's Etsy store, it's also a lame excuse to post a cute picture of my son.
I have no shame.
Anyway, my best friend has this Etsy page where she sells lots of neat stuff, mostly jewelry and stuff for the ladies (hellllooooo, ladies). A recent addition to her site is brain slug hats for babies! You remember brain slugs, right?
Yeah, that's it. Nice.
Not only does she have classic green brain slugs, but the rare non-green variety as well! I'm a canonical guy, so I'm a fan of the green ones myself, but I can see the appeal of non-green.
So go and check out SquirrelProductions and get some brain slug hats! Buy them and put them on your babies, or your friend's babies, or babies that you happen to pass on the street. DO IT!!!
Just look how awesome they look on kids!!!
Awwwww... He's got a space parasite!
NOTE: If you don't have a "baby" but have a "toddler", "little boy/girl" or are a "full grown man" that would like a brain slug hat, you can contact SquirrelProductions via their Etsy site and request a custom! You would not be the first adult to request one!
Friday, May 14, 2010
2000 AD via Book Depository (Review)
As I have lamented many times on this blog, it is very hard to get 2000 AD graphic novels in the USA. This will be made much better soon thanks to new US editions of many 2000 AD books (I'm keeping a running list of the announced books for your shopping convenience). Of course, not all books from the enormous 2000 AD library will be made available in the US, at least not at first. What about the others? Well, one reader of this blog was kind enough to point me in the direction of The Book Depository, a UK company that offers FREE SHIPPING on all books to just about anywhere on Earth. Their prices are also comparable to Amazon.com prices for many titles, making acquiring 2000 AD books no less affordable than any other graphic novels! I recently received my first order from Book Depository and wanted to let you all know how it went, and my feelings on getting 2000 AD from them.
For my first order, I got myself copies of Invasion! and The Best of Tharg's Future Shocks. I picked these two in particular because out of all the 2000 AD books I really wanted, I considered these two to be the least likely to have new US editions anytime soon. For instance, they have already announced that the Complete Judge Dredd will be included in the new US editions, so I refrained from getting any Dredd books.
First off, pricing. These two books are your standard size graphic novels, reproduced in the original B&W on glossy paper. They're each about $16 (US$, of course), including the free shipping, so I think you can agree that's a good price. The website says that shipping to the North America typically takes 7-10 working days, which probably would have been the case had this not happened:
Yup, the Icelandic Volcano Of Death erupted. The above picture was taken on 17 April 2010, and I had placed my order on 14 April. Yup. Since the books come via air mail from the UK I was screwed. I can't feel to bad though, I mean I was just waiting for books. Many people were waiting to get home. So I had to wait.
But, my books came. Huzzah! But then, one of them was defective...
Yup, my copy of Invasion! had a printing error. It was missing about 10 pages from the front, and there was a binding problem in the back of the book. I want to say two things about this. 1) Until you opened the book, you couldn't tell anything was wrong with it. Thus, I can't imagine anyone would have knowingly sent me a defective book. 2) I had a similar thing happen with Amazon a few years ago, so at this point Book Depository had as good customer service as Amazon, which I think is a pretty high standard.
I sent a (polite) email to Book Depository explaining the problem and requesting they replace my book. They promptly replied, apologized, and sent a new one my way, free of charge. Because of the shipping complexities they told me they didn't want the original one back. I think I'm going to use it in a craft project I've been meaning to start.
How long did it take to get the replacement book? I got it in the mail eight days after I sent my request for replacement. Clearly they rushed it out the door that day, so I think their 7-10 working day shipping quote is quite accurate.
So my overall review is very positive! I will definitely order from Book Depository again. If there are US editions of the books coming out I will get those though, since I definitely want to help show Rebellion (2000 AD's parent company) that there is a market over here. Oh, I also learned that Icelandic volcanoes are formidable foes.
One comment about prices though. If you are looking to get a book on Book Depository I suggest doing the following: bookmark the page for the book, then check the price on it every day for two weeks or so. I have noticed a decent daily price fluctuation on the site, worse than Amazon has. If you don't care about $2-$4 dollars then you can skip this step, but I'm pretty cheap and patient. Once you have an idea what the lowest price is, order it the next time it hits that price. Just a tip.
Also, Book Depository has this kind of creepy, very British, thing on their website. It's this thing that lets you "watch people shop" in real-time. What it actually does is show you recently submitted orders and where they are going to on a map of the world. Kind of neat, kind of creepy. Here is my order. Click to see the world map.
As you can see, it doesn't report any personal info, so it's not really a privacy thing. I don't know, it's just weird.
So if you are in need of zarjaz thrills, The Book Depository is an excellent dealer!
For my first order, I got myself copies of Invasion! and The Best of Tharg's Future Shocks. I picked these two in particular because out of all the 2000 AD books I really wanted, I considered these two to be the least likely to have new US editions anytime soon. For instance, they have already announced that the Complete Judge Dredd will be included in the new US editions, so I refrained from getting any Dredd books.
First off, pricing. These two books are your standard size graphic novels, reproduced in the original B&W on glossy paper. They're each about $16 (US$, of course), including the free shipping, so I think you can agree that's a good price. The website says that shipping to the North America typically takes 7-10 working days, which probably would have been the case had this not happened:
Yup, the Icelandic Volcano Of Death erupted. The above picture was taken on 17 April 2010, and I had placed my order on 14 April. Yup. Since the books come via air mail from the UK I was screwed. I can't feel to bad though, I mean I was just waiting for books. Many people were waiting to get home. So I had to wait.
But, my books came. Huzzah! But then, one of them was defective...
Yup, my copy of Invasion! had a printing error. It was missing about 10 pages from the front, and there was a binding problem in the back of the book. I want to say two things about this. 1) Until you opened the book, you couldn't tell anything was wrong with it. Thus, I can't imagine anyone would have knowingly sent me a defective book. 2) I had a similar thing happen with Amazon a few years ago, so at this point Book Depository had as good customer service as Amazon, which I think is a pretty high standard.
I sent a (polite) email to Book Depository explaining the problem and requesting they replace my book. They promptly replied, apologized, and sent a new one my way, free of charge. Because of the shipping complexities they told me they didn't want the original one back. I think I'm going to use it in a craft project I've been meaning to start.
How long did it take to get the replacement book? I got it in the mail eight days after I sent my request for replacement. Clearly they rushed it out the door that day, so I think their 7-10 working day shipping quote is quite accurate.
So my overall review is very positive! I will definitely order from Book Depository again. If there are US editions of the books coming out I will get those though, since I definitely want to help show Rebellion (2000 AD's parent company) that there is a market over here. Oh, I also learned that Icelandic volcanoes are formidable foes.
One comment about prices though. If you are looking to get a book on Book Depository I suggest doing the following: bookmark the page for the book, then check the price on it every day for two weeks or so. I have noticed a decent daily price fluctuation on the site, worse than Amazon has. If you don't care about $2-$4 dollars then you can skip this step, but I'm pretty cheap and patient. Once you have an idea what the lowest price is, order it the next time it hits that price. Just a tip.
Also, Book Depository has this kind of creepy, very British, thing on their website. It's this thing that lets you "watch people shop" in real-time. What it actually does is show you recently submitted orders and where they are going to on a map of the world. Kind of neat, kind of creepy. Here is my order. Click to see the world map.
As you can see, it doesn't report any personal info, so it's not really a privacy thing. I don't know, it's just weird.
So if you are in need of zarjaz thrills, The Book Depository is an excellent dealer!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Contributing Blogger
I'm now a contributing blogger over at Have A Nerdgasm! I'll be providing comic book trade paperback reviews on a monthly basis (posted toward the end of the month) and will be starting a "movies you might have missed" Netflix review column that will post around the 15th of every month. My first TPB review is up for The Big Book of Barry Ween.If you're wondering, this won't change any of the content here. I'll still be doing the same stuff just as often. The Nerdgasm stuff is different, as I've refrained from doing any in depth reviews here in the past.
So go check it out! And keep checking out Have A Nerdgasm for all the news that's fit for nerds!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Ways Comic Books Have Lied To Me
I love comic books. Although I went a long time without reading them (for a variety of life-circumstance reasons) I never really stopped loving them. Comic books were always pretty good to me. If you're a regular reader of this blog then they were probably good to you too.
The ads though... Sometimes the ads lied to me.
I mean they REALLY lied to me.
Yup, I remember building model cars when I was a kid. I remember how cute girls of every hair color would gush over me as I stood with my latest accomplishment for show-and-tell.
Oh wait, I don't actually remember that happening because THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!
Above ad clipped from Iron Man v1 #218 (1987).
The ads though... Sometimes the ads lied to me.
I mean they REALLY lied to me.
Yup, I remember building model cars when I was a kid. I remember how cute girls of every hair color would gush over me as I stood with my latest accomplishment for show-and-tell.
Oh wait, I don't actually remember that happening because THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!
COMIC BOOK AD, YOU LIED TO ME!!!
Above ad clipped from Iron Man v1 #218 (1987).
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Site Changes
Some of you may have noticed some site changes, but some of them are less obvious, so I thought I'd do a quick post about them.
First and most importantly, a post schedule. I'm moving from the sporadic post "schedule" I've had in the past to something actually regular. I decided to do this after I had a week where I posted every day then realized "WTF do I post next week?" So new content will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon EST. I do reserve the right to post more often. For example, I don't think a post like this should be considered MWF content because there isn't anything... entertaining about it. Also, Mini-Hawkeye can hijack the blog at any time to do a new Hawkeye Sayz, so keep an eye out for those.
Of course, the easiest way to keep track of my site is to use RSS! You can follow my Mutterings in your favorite feed reader. (I use Google Reader, but I hear there are others.)
Another way to follow new content is to fan my Mutterings on FaceBook, where new content is posted as a title and link automatically. Another reason to fan is that I've started using the FB fan page for microblogging content that is relevant to the site. If I find a neat/funny article I'll post the link there, rather than make a whole post about just one link. So you can follow the FB page if you're interested in that kind of stuff. I also just enabled the "Discussions" tab (like a forum) if anyone wants to use it for that.
Finally, I have created an Amazon Store. If you click this link you'll go to Amazon.com, but anything you buy will give me a kickback. I love kickbacks. The real reason I created the store was to present you with My Recommendations. Check them out. I'll try and add more later, but I think this covers the basics. I'm really just experimenting with it right now and getting a feel for it.
So if you know anyone that you think would enjoy the site, tell them about it ( www.DoktorAndy.com ) or tell them via the FaceBook fan page, I'd really appreciate it! It's nice to not feel like I'm talking to myself, even though I do that often enough to be certified insane (I checked the DSM-IV).
First and most importantly, a post schedule. I'm moving from the sporadic post "schedule" I've had in the past to something actually regular. I decided to do this after I had a week where I posted every day then realized "WTF do I post next week?" So new content will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon EST. I do reserve the right to post more often. For example, I don't think a post like this should be considered MWF content because there isn't anything... entertaining about it. Also, Mini-Hawkeye can hijack the blog at any time to do a new Hawkeye Sayz, so keep an eye out for those.
Of course, the easiest way to keep track of my site is to use RSS! You can follow my Mutterings in your favorite feed reader. (I use Google Reader, but I hear there are others.)
Another way to follow new content is to fan my Mutterings on FaceBook, where new content is posted as a title and link automatically. Another reason to fan is that I've started using the FB fan page for microblogging content that is relevant to the site. If I find a neat/funny article I'll post the link there, rather than make a whole post about just one link. So you can follow the FB page if you're interested in that kind of stuff. I also just enabled the "Discussions" tab (like a forum) if anyone wants to use it for that.
Finally, I have created an Amazon Store. If you click this link you'll go to Amazon.com, but anything you buy will give me a kickback. I love kickbacks. The real reason I created the store was to present you with My Recommendations. Check them out. I'll try and add more later, but I think this covers the basics. I'm really just experimenting with it right now and getting a feel for it.
So if you know anyone that you think would enjoy the site, tell them about it ( www.DoktorAndy.com ) or tell them via the FaceBook fan page, I'd really appreciate it! It's nice to not feel like I'm talking to myself, even though I do that often enough to be certified insane (I checked the DSM-IV).
Monday, April 12, 2010
Distant Memories from My Youth
Note from the Dok: This post is much more sentimental and far less snarky than most of my posts. I hope you still enjoy it.
A few years back I found myself in this dusty, dingy, dirty comic book shop in Miami in the middle of the summer. It was just a few months after I'd gotten back into comic books, and I was checking out this shop while on a work trip. I was dripping with sweat and flipping through Iron Man back issues absent mindedly. All of a sudden my hand froze. My face tightened. I though, "wait, what was that?" I flipped back an issue or two. "What is it? Why do I feel like this comic is important?" There was something about that comic. That comic was Iron Man v1 #222 (1987).
Sure, it's an awesome cover, but it was more than that. I could feel there was something there, but I wasn't sure what. Then it happened. It was like going into the Monolith at the end of 2001, all these memories came flooding back to me. Long lost memories from my youth washed over me. That's when I realized why this issue was important to me! I owned this issue when I was a kid!
When I was young, I didn't have a lot of money. I grew up in a one bedroom house (figure that out) without a lot of frills. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't starving or anything. There was always food in the cupboards, heat in the winter, and even A/C in the summer. I believe the socioeconomic term is "lower middle class". Even when I got older (I was five years old when this issue came out) I couldn't afford to get a comic every month. Some months my Mom would buy me two or three, some months I wouldn't get any. Dems da brakes. As a result, I reread every comic book I had. Didn't matter if it was chapter three of a six part storyline. Sure, I cared that I didn't have the rest of the story, but I couldn't let it bother me. I just held onto what I had and was happy with it. I think I learned a lot from that experience... Anyway, my point is that this was one of the few comics I had, and I must have read it a thousand times. Somewhere deep in my memory it was waiting there, and seeing it again after nearly two decades opened the floodgates.
One thing that I've always remembered from this issue was this awesome sequence where Iron Man dives underwater to get into his secret lab built underneath his house.
When I was five that was the most awesome thing EVER! I used to stare at these panels and get lost forever in the awesomeness of it all. Secret lab under your house, accessible via elaborate, yet simplistic, tunnel system. I think I dug the whole Batcavedness of it.
About a year ago I got my old comic collection back from my parents. I was afraid they had been lost because I hadn't seen any of them for at least twelve years. When I got them I plowed through the small pile to find my old friend. I was surprised to learn that I only owned three Iron Man comics when I was a kid. This one, #246 (1989) and #318 (1995). I do remember always liking Iron Man though, and I think it was because of this issue, because I don't get the same feeling when I see the other comics.
Rereading it now I have to say that this is a really fun issue! It's all about how Tony is trying to get to his housewarming party but can't because numerous ridiculous accidents keep happening as a result of this freak (but naturally occurring) rainstorm. (Expect some ridonculous Iron Man Versus segments coming out of this one, folks!) This is a GREAT stand alone issue!
Now that I think about it, I think this issue may have had a big affect on my subconscience. I only own one variant cover for a comic book, and that's for Iron Man v4 #7 (2006), which coincidently was the first comic I read when I got back into them. Anyway, here is the cover.
I always thought this cover looked really awesome. Now it's thematic similarities to #222 makes me wonder...
That's all the nostalgia I have. Thanks for listening. Now if you'll excuse me, I must continue my quest to read every issue of Iron Man...
... and I think I've been waiting to read this next issue since I was five years old.
A few years back I found myself in this dusty, dingy, dirty comic book shop in Miami in the middle of the summer. It was just a few months after I'd gotten back into comic books, and I was checking out this shop while on a work trip. I was dripping with sweat and flipping through Iron Man back issues absent mindedly. All of a sudden my hand froze. My face tightened. I though, "wait, what was that?" I flipped back an issue or two. "What is it? Why do I feel like this comic is important?" There was something about that comic. That comic was Iron Man v1 #222 (1987).
Sure, it's an awesome cover, but it was more than that. I could feel there was something there, but I wasn't sure what. Then it happened. It was like going into the Monolith at the end of 2001, all these memories came flooding back to me. Long lost memories from my youth washed over me. That's when I realized why this issue was important to me! I owned this issue when I was a kid!
When I was young, I didn't have a lot of money. I grew up in a one bedroom house (figure that out) without a lot of frills. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't starving or anything. There was always food in the cupboards, heat in the winter, and even A/C in the summer. I believe the socioeconomic term is "lower middle class". Even when I got older (I was five years old when this issue came out) I couldn't afford to get a comic every month. Some months my Mom would buy me two or three, some months I wouldn't get any. Dems da brakes. As a result, I reread every comic book I had. Didn't matter if it was chapter three of a six part storyline. Sure, I cared that I didn't have the rest of the story, but I couldn't let it bother me. I just held onto what I had and was happy with it. I think I learned a lot from that experience... Anyway, my point is that this was one of the few comics I had, and I must have read it a thousand times. Somewhere deep in my memory it was waiting there, and seeing it again after nearly two decades opened the floodgates.
One thing that I've always remembered from this issue was this awesome sequence where Iron Man dives underwater to get into his secret lab built underneath his house.
When I was five that was the most awesome thing EVER! I used to stare at these panels and get lost forever in the awesomeness of it all. Secret lab under your house, accessible via elaborate, yet simplistic, tunnel system. I think I dug the whole Batcavedness of it.
About a year ago I got my old comic collection back from my parents. I was afraid they had been lost because I hadn't seen any of them for at least twelve years. When I got them I plowed through the small pile to find my old friend. I was surprised to learn that I only owned three Iron Man comics when I was a kid. This one, #246 (1989) and #318 (1995). I do remember always liking Iron Man though, and I think it was because of this issue, because I don't get the same feeling when I see the other comics.
Rereading it now I have to say that this is a really fun issue! It's all about how Tony is trying to get to his housewarming party but can't because numerous ridiculous accidents keep happening as a result of this freak (but naturally occurring) rainstorm. (Expect some ridonculous Iron Man Versus segments coming out of this one, folks!) This is a GREAT stand alone issue!
Now that I think about it, I think this issue may have had a big affect on my subconscience. I only own one variant cover for a comic book, and that's for Iron Man v4 #7 (2006), which coincidently was the first comic I read when I got back into them. Anyway, here is the cover.
I always thought this cover looked really awesome. Now it's thematic similarities to #222 makes me wonder...
That's all the nostalgia I have. Thanks for listening. Now if you'll excuse me, I must continue my quest to read every issue of Iron Man...
... and I think I've been waiting to read this next issue since I was five years old.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Yeah for 28!
Today I turn 28 years old!
28 is a composite (non-prime) number whose divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and of course 28.
28 is the second perfect number, the first being 6 and the third being 496 (with I am dubious about the prospects of living too). A perfect number is one which is equal to the sum of it's proper positive divisors, specifically 1+2+4+7+14=28.
Since 282+1=785, and the largest prime factor of 785 is 157, which is more than 2x28, 28 is a Størmer number.
28 is a harmonic divisor number, since the harmonic mean of it's divisors is an integer. Specifically: 6/(1+1/2+1/4+1/7+1/14+1/28)=3.
28 is a happy number, meaning that the sum of the squares of it's digits will recursively reduce to 1, like so:
22+82=68
62+82=100
12=1
28 is a triangular number (meaning you can stack a 2D triangle with 28 items), a hexagonal number (meaning you can make a regular hexagon with 28 items), and a centered nonagonal number (meaning you can make a regular nine-sided polygon, or nonagon, with 28 items).
28 is a member of the Padovan sequence, which consists of the sum of the second and third preceeding members of the sequence, with the first three members defined as 1. Specifically: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 21, 28...
28 is a Keith number, which means it appears in a Fibonacci-like sequence which starts with it's own digits. Specifically: 2, 8, 10, 18, 28...
28 is the atomic number for nickel.
28 is the fourth magic number, meaning that an atomic element with 28 nucleons will be more stable and resistant to radioactive decay.
28! = 304888344611713860501504000000
Messier object 28 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius approximately 19,000 light years away, and was the first globular cluster discovered to contain a millisecond pulsar.
NGC 28 is an elliptical galaxy located in the Phoenix constellation.
Texas was the 28th state to join the United States.
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, serving in that capacity during World War I.
The 28th Precinct in New York City is a largely residential community in Harlem.
The 28th episode of the Twilight Zone was "A Nice Place to Visit", which is about a gangster that dies and thinks he's gone to Heaven.
Iron Man v1 #28 was published in 1970. This is the 2nd panel on the 8th story page:
This is all good, but next year I get to be a prime!
28 is a composite (non-prime) number whose divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and of course 28.
28 is the second perfect number, the first being 6 and the third being 496 (with I am dubious about the prospects of living too). A perfect number is one which is equal to the sum of it's proper positive divisors, specifically 1+2+4+7+14=28.
Since 282+1=785, and the largest prime factor of 785 is 157, which is more than 2x28, 28 is a Størmer number.
28 is a harmonic divisor number, since the harmonic mean of it's divisors is an integer. Specifically: 6/(1+1/2+1/4+1/7+1/14+1/28)=3.
28 is a happy number, meaning that the sum of the squares of it's digits will recursively reduce to 1, like so:
22+82=68
62+82=100
12=1
28 is a triangular number (meaning you can stack a 2D triangle with 28 items), a hexagonal number (meaning you can make a regular hexagon with 28 items), and a centered nonagonal number (meaning you can make a regular nine-sided polygon, or nonagon, with 28 items).
28 is a member of the Padovan sequence, which consists of the sum of the second and third preceeding members of the sequence, with the first three members defined as 1. Specifically: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 21, 28...
28 is a Keith number, which means it appears in a Fibonacci-like sequence which starts with it's own digits. Specifically: 2, 8, 10, 18, 28...
28 is the atomic number for nickel.
28 is the fourth magic number, meaning that an atomic element with 28 nucleons will be more stable and resistant to radioactive decay.
28! = 304888344611713860501504000000
Messier object 28 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius approximately 19,000 light years away, and was the first globular cluster discovered to contain a millisecond pulsar.
NGC 28 is an elliptical galaxy located in the Phoenix constellation.
Texas was the 28th state to join the United States.
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, serving in that capacity during World War I.
The 28th Precinct in New York City is a largely residential community in Harlem.
The 28th episode of the Twilight Zone was "A Nice Place to Visit", which is about a gangster that dies and thinks he's gone to Heaven.
Iron Man v1 #28 was published in 1970. This is the 2nd panel on the 8th story page:
This is all good, but next year I get to be a prime!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Could My Son Be a Time Lord?
Wait, hear me out on this!
I was watching Xavier play in one of his many baby contraptions and I started to think, "you know, this thing looks like a teeny tiny TARDIS." It has lots of lights and funny shapes just like the console of The Doctor's TARDIS, and Xavier's always happy when he's throwing the thing around. Also, his nickname when he was born was "The Professor", which has an eerie similarity.
This is a picture of one of the control panels in The Doctor's TARDIS:
Now look at some pictures of some of Xavier's toys.
Looks a lot like a control console, doesn't it? No? Well look at the lights on the thing!
Those are some funky shaped lights! I haven't seen lights that look like that outside of the TARDIS! His toys have funky control knobs, too!
He even has tools hanging off the console that he can use to hit it when the TARDIS misbehaves!
I agree, that might all just be my imagination. But look what I found in his toy box while he was taking his afternoon nap today!
Honestly, where the hell would he even get one of those!
I don't know. Maybe I'm imagining the whole thing. I mean, my son couldn't possibly be related to what the Dalek's call "The Oncoming Storm." Right?
Right??
I was watching Xavier play in one of his many baby contraptions and I started to think, "you know, this thing looks like a teeny tiny TARDIS." It has lots of lights and funny shapes just like the console of The Doctor's TARDIS, and Xavier's always happy when he's throwing the thing around. Also, his nickname when he was born was "The Professor", which has an eerie similarity.
This is a picture of one of the control panels in The Doctor's TARDIS:
Now look at some pictures of some of Xavier's toys.
Looks a lot like a control console, doesn't it? No? Well look at the lights on the thing!
Those are some funky shaped lights! I haven't seen lights that look like that outside of the TARDIS! His toys have funky control knobs, too!
He even has tools hanging off the console that he can use to hit it when the TARDIS misbehaves!
I agree, that might all just be my imagination. But look what I found in his toy box while he was taking his afternoon nap today!
Honestly, where the hell would he even get one of those!
I don't know. Maybe I'm imagining the whole thing. I mean, my son couldn't possibly be related to what the Dalek's call "The Oncoming Storm." Right?
Right??
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Random Dredd, Part 8
Today's Random Dredd comes from 2000 AD Prog 1504 (6 Sept 2006).
What's so special about this panel? Honestly? I just like the phrase "hover BLANK". Hover car, hover buggy, hover chicken, hover saucer... Say "hover saucer" out loud. It just sounds neat! Well, it makes my four month old laugh when I say it.
What's so special about this panel? Honestly? I just like the phrase "hover BLANK". Hover car, hover buggy, hover chicken, hover saucer... Say "hover saucer" out loud. It just sounds neat! Well, it makes my four month old laugh when I say it.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Like Tears in Rain
If any of you are still kicking around when yours truly kicks the ol' bucket, I'd like you to ensure that the following goes on my tombstone (or space tombstone if I'm lucky enough to live the 500+ years I intend on living).
Thanks.
Oh, and make sure it lists me as "Dr." That'd be nice too. Thanks.
"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
Thanks.
Oh, and make sure it lists me as "Dr." That'd be nice too. Thanks.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
2000 AD in the USA; Or: This Must Be How UK Marvel Fans Feel
A salesman once told me that you should start your pitch by dazzling them with visuals. Wait, maybe it was a University Professor that told me that. Either way, check this out!
Awesome, right?! That little teaser video features the characters from one of my favorite 2000 AD regular story lines, the A.B.C. Warriors, a race of sentient robot warriors created to fight in the Volgan War. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
One of the gifts I got for ComiXmas (thanks Kim!) was The Best of 2000 AD hardcover. I had been wanting this for a while, but had been reluctant to buy it. You see, I can't eat chocolate.
Allow me to explain.
I get migraines, and can't have caffeine. Hence, I can't eat chocolate. It's been so long since I've eaten chocolate that I'm not even sure what it tastes like anymore. But I still kind of remember what it tasted like, especially Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Having gone through that, I try to avoid similar circumstances in my life. I obviously don't subscribe to the "better to have loved and lost" mentality.
So I was reluctant, at first, to read any 2000 AD. As a British comic book, it is almost impossible to get in the US. In fact, a majority of this post concerns how to lock your eyeballs on regular weekly copies if you reside here in the US of A. That's right, weekly. Therein lies the problem. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.
So why did I taste the chocolate of 2000 AD? Well, because I decided it was worth the possible migraine. (You know, this metaphor is getting annoying. I'll stop now.) As I've commented on this blog before, I've been looking for a good anthology sci-fi comic for quite some time. I finally decided that there were only two options: check out 2000 AD, or give up on ever seeing a regular monthly anthology sci-fi comic in the US of any quality. For some reason this is just not what most US comic readers are after. So I took the plunge with the aforementioned hardcover.
Guess what.
It fucking rocks.
Oh course, as soon as I realized that, I also thought: "I'm screwed."
"Now I have to figure out how to get more of this!" So I checked Amazon for more 2000 AD books. Nope. The Best Of is the only book currently in print in the USA. Shit. As a monthly import comic, it would be really expensive to read weekly issues from my comic shop. I knew they'd have to be special ordered, and I knew from previous research that they only come in "month packs". Apparently, Diamond can't be bothered with shipping a weekly comic... you know... weekly. Now a month pack from Diamond is going to run you about $20, if you have a decent discount from your comic shop. Damn. To make my budget work I'd have to drop a few comics... maybe that's doable. So I did more research.
Turns out these month packs are a nightmare. You can read accounts here and here, but the short of it is that the issues (or "progs" as they are called) don't necessarily come in order in the month packs! A month pack will include four progs. They may be in order, they may not. They may have been printed before last month's month pack, maybe after. You may not get certain progs, for no known reason. Since 2000 AD stories are serialized weekly over a few months, this is obviously the recipe for intense personal suffering.
The search continued.
How about buying them directly from the company? Well, that option does indeed exist. Of course, this invokes my extreme hatred and distrust of the US Post Office, so I wasn't too confident that I would receive my weekly books in one piece. Still, let's check the price. A monthly subscription to 2000 AD costs £15.50, which at current exchange rates is... $24.81 !! Holy shit! I'm not made of money! This is like half my monthly comic budget! Maybe twenty five bucks a month doesn't seem like too much to some people, but I intend to stay married, so this wasn't really an option for me.
There has to be another option. There has to!
Then it dawned on me: this is the digital age! That must be an option...
Sure enough, CBR did two stories (here and here) about 2000 AD going digital, specifically to reach non-UK residents. But it gets better. These are not shitty digital comics like Marvel's Digital Flashfuck Subscription Service. These are downloadable DRM-FREE digital comics! There are currently two places you can get authorized, totally 100% legal DRM-Free digital copies of 2000 AD: ClickWheel and DriveThruComics.
ClickWheel is owned by Rebellion Developments, a British video game company who, in 2000, bought the 2000 AD comic. (Those Brits are clever, no?) So if you need some assurance that ClickWheel isn't going anywhere, there you have it. You can be pretty sure that as long as 2000 AD is still being printed and sold, ClickWheel (or something like it) will be there to give it to you digitally. New progs appear on ClickWheel one week after they hit news stands in the UK, which means I can actually get newer copies of 2000 AD than most US comic books, as I can only make the 45 minute drive to my comic shop about once every 2-3 weeks. ClickWheel has a complete back issue database that currently starts with the first 2006 issue, but they are constantly adding more back issues. When you create an account and list yourself as living in the USA, prices change to US$. Individual progs go for $2.99, which I think is really affordable since these are 30 or so pages of magazine size comics. This is actually a better deal than many US comics, except of course that this is digital only. They also have a monthly subscription service that is four progs for $11.49, which is definitely doable (this is 3-4 monthly US comics at current price rates).
The other awesome thing about ClickWheel is downloading options: most ClickWheel comics are availble as PDFs and CBZ files. I'm in the minority that prefer PDFs, but most people that read digital comics prefer CBZ or CBR files, so that is a big benefit/attractor. Once you purchase a comic you can download it as many times as you want, and in whatever format. They also have a format they call "iComic", which means it has been specially reformed for the iPhone/iPod Touch and can be accessed through the free ClickWheel iPod App. Worth getting as they have access to some nice free comics, although you need WiFi access to use the app.
You can see the full list of 2000 AD progs here. They also have a nice selection of free comics if you are new to 2000 AD or just want to check out some free content! Judge Dredd Metro Strips (iPod and CBZ format); Droid Live (iPod and CBZ format); Judge Dredd: Fifty Year Man (iPod, CBZ, PDF, and dumbass movie format); The Ten Seconders; and 2000 AD Origins #1, which contains some of the classic strips in the Best Of hardcover.
The other buying option is DriveThruComics, which has a slightly different selection. They have some older (but still modern) progs, but at a much lower price. They only have one downloading format: watermarked PDF, but it's still DRM-Free, and individual progs are only $1.99! The main advantage of DriveThruComics is that they have digital trade paperback collections. Let's say you wanted to read all the original A.B.C. Warriors strips. Well, those TPs are not in print in the US, but you can get it on DriveThruComics for $9.99. The same goes for Rogue Trooper (another of my favorite strips) also available for $9.99. They have a good number of collections for cheap. Check them out!
Want to check out a few free, classic 2000 AD strips? The BBC has them for you. (Are you starting to see what 2000 AD is in the UK?)
Now I haven't really done much to convince you to read 2000 AD. My point here was to tell you how you can read it, at an affordable price. If you check out the above free content and think it's zarjaz (2000 AD lingo for "awesome"), then pick up the Best Of hardcover from Amazon. It's one of the nicest hardcover comic collections I've ever seen, honestly. If you like that, maybe buy some of the collections from DriveThruComics, or maybe you like it enough to get a monthly (or yearly for a $12 savings) subscription from ClickWheel.
Okay, maybe you're the type that can't stand these digital comics, but you can't afford or don't want to pay for weekly issues mailed from the UK. You can get many of the trade and hardcover collections from Amazon UK, but it will cost you. There is a chance that customs will charge you something too.
So what do you say? Check out the free stuff! Taste the chocolate (damn it, I need to stop that)! You might like it. Besides, you don't want to stay a nonscrot, do you? Check out the zarjaz thrills in each prog, or Tharg the Mighty might get angry.
Update (1/8/2010):
I just discovered that you can order many "graphic novels" (ie: collections of related stories) from the 2000 AD online store. There is shipping to the USA as an option, but it is pretty pricey, as you'd expect. Shipping is $7-$9 per book, although prices on the actual books are on par with US graphic novels/trade paperbacks. Just another option. Unfortunately, many of the books appear to be out of stock, which you can't tell until you click on their page and try to add them to your cart. I don't know if this is just because it's right after Christmas, or they don't stock them anymore.
Awesome, right?! That little teaser video features the characters from one of my favorite 2000 AD regular story lines, the A.B.C. Warriors, a race of sentient robot warriors created to fight in the Volgan War. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
One of the gifts I got for ComiXmas (thanks Kim!) was The Best of 2000 AD hardcover. I had been wanting this for a while, but had been reluctant to buy it. You see, I can't eat chocolate.Allow me to explain.
I get migraines, and can't have caffeine. Hence, I can't eat chocolate. It's been so long since I've eaten chocolate that I'm not even sure what it tastes like anymore. But I still kind of remember what it tasted like, especially Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Having gone through that, I try to avoid similar circumstances in my life. I obviously don't subscribe to the "better to have loved and lost" mentality.
So I was reluctant, at first, to read any 2000 AD. As a British comic book, it is almost impossible to get in the US. In fact, a majority of this post concerns how to lock your eyeballs on regular weekly copies if you reside here in the US of A. That's right, weekly. Therein lies the problem. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.
So why did I taste the chocolate of 2000 AD? Well, because I decided it was worth the possible migraine. (You know, this metaphor is getting annoying. I'll stop now.) As I've commented on this blog before, I've been looking for a good anthology sci-fi comic for quite some time. I finally decided that there were only two options: check out 2000 AD, or give up on ever seeing a regular monthly anthology sci-fi comic in the US of any quality. For some reason this is just not what most US comic readers are after. So I took the plunge with the aforementioned hardcover.
Guess what.
It fucking rocks.
Oh course, as soon as I realized that, I also thought: "I'm screwed."
"Now I have to figure out how to get more of this!" So I checked Amazon for more 2000 AD books. Nope. The Best Of is the only book currently in print in the USA. Shit. As a monthly import comic, it would be really expensive to read weekly issues from my comic shop. I knew they'd have to be special ordered, and I knew from previous research that they only come in "month packs". Apparently, Diamond can't be bothered with shipping a weekly comic... you know... weekly. Now a month pack from Diamond is going to run you about $20, if you have a decent discount from your comic shop. Damn. To make my budget work I'd have to drop a few comics... maybe that's doable. So I did more research.
Turns out these month packs are a nightmare. You can read accounts here and here, but the short of it is that the issues (or "progs" as they are called) don't necessarily come in order in the month packs! A month pack will include four progs. They may be in order, they may not. They may have been printed before last month's month pack, maybe after. You may not get certain progs, for no known reason. Since 2000 AD stories are serialized weekly over a few months, this is obviously the recipe for intense personal suffering.
The search continued.
How about buying them directly from the company? Well, that option does indeed exist. Of course, this invokes my extreme hatred and distrust of the US Post Office, so I wasn't too confident that I would receive my weekly books in one piece. Still, let's check the price. A monthly subscription to 2000 AD costs £15.50, which at current exchange rates is... $24.81 !! Holy shit! I'm not made of money! This is like half my monthly comic budget! Maybe twenty five bucks a month doesn't seem like too much to some people, but I intend to stay married, so this wasn't really an option for me.
There has to be another option. There has to!
Then it dawned on me: this is the digital age! That must be an option...
Sure enough, CBR did two stories (here and here) about 2000 AD going digital, specifically to reach non-UK residents. But it gets better. These are not shitty digital comics like Marvel's Digital Flashfuck Subscription Service. These are downloadable DRM-FREE digital comics! There are currently two places you can get authorized, totally 100% legal DRM-Free digital copies of 2000 AD: ClickWheel and DriveThruComics.
ClickWheel is owned by Rebellion Developments, a British video game company who, in 2000, bought the 2000 AD comic. (Those Brits are clever, no?) So if you need some assurance that ClickWheel isn't going anywhere, there you have it. You can be pretty sure that as long as 2000 AD is still being printed and sold, ClickWheel (or something like it) will be there to give it to you digitally. New progs appear on ClickWheel one week after they hit news stands in the UK, which means I can actually get newer copies of 2000 AD than most US comic books, as I can only make the 45 minute drive to my comic shop about once every 2-3 weeks. ClickWheel has a complete back issue database that currently starts with the first 2006 issue, but they are constantly adding more back issues. When you create an account and list yourself as living in the USA, prices change to US$. Individual progs go for $2.99, which I think is really affordable since these are 30 or so pages of magazine size comics. This is actually a better deal than many US comics, except of course that this is digital only. They also have a monthly subscription service that is four progs for $11.49, which is definitely doable (this is 3-4 monthly US comics at current price rates).
The other awesome thing about ClickWheel is downloading options: most ClickWheel comics are availble as PDFs and CBZ files. I'm in the minority that prefer PDFs, but most people that read digital comics prefer CBZ or CBR files, so that is a big benefit/attractor. Once you purchase a comic you can download it as many times as you want, and in whatever format. They also have a format they call "iComic", which means it has been specially reformed for the iPhone/iPod Touch and can be accessed through the free ClickWheel iPod App. Worth getting as they have access to some nice free comics, although you need WiFi access to use the app.You can see the full list of 2000 AD progs here. They also have a nice selection of free comics if you are new to 2000 AD or just want to check out some free content! Judge Dredd Metro Strips (iPod and CBZ format); Droid Live (iPod and CBZ format); Judge Dredd: Fifty Year Man (iPod, CBZ, PDF, and dumbass movie format); The Ten Seconders; and 2000 AD Origins #1, which contains some of the classic strips in the Best Of hardcover.
The other buying option is DriveThruComics, which has a slightly different selection. They have some older (but still modern) progs, but at a much lower price. They only have one downloading format: watermarked PDF, but it's still DRM-Free, and individual progs are only $1.99! The main advantage of DriveThruComics is that they have digital trade paperback collections. Let's say you wanted to read all the original A.B.C. Warriors strips. Well, those TPs are not in print in the US, but you can get it on DriveThruComics for $9.99. The same goes for Rogue Trooper (another of my favorite strips) also available for $9.99. They have a good number of collections for cheap. Check them out!
Want to check out a few free, classic 2000 AD strips? The BBC has them for you. (Are you starting to see what 2000 AD is in the UK?)
Now I haven't really done much to convince you to read 2000 AD. My point here was to tell you how you can read it, at an affordable price. If you check out the above free content and think it's zarjaz (2000 AD lingo for "awesome"), then pick up the Best Of hardcover from Amazon. It's one of the nicest hardcover comic collections I've ever seen, honestly. If you like that, maybe buy some of the collections from DriveThruComics, or maybe you like it enough to get a monthly (or yearly for a $12 savings) subscription from ClickWheel.
Okay, maybe you're the type that can't stand these digital comics, but you can't afford or don't want to pay for weekly issues mailed from the UK. You can get many of the trade and hardcover collections from Amazon UK, but it will cost you. There is a chance that customs will charge you something too.
So what do you say? Check out the free stuff! Taste the chocolate (damn it, I need to stop that)! You might like it. Besides, you don't want to stay a nonscrot, do you? Check out the zarjaz thrills in each prog, or Tharg the Mighty might get angry.
Update (1/8/2010):
I just discovered that you can order many "graphic novels" (ie: collections of related stories) from the 2000 AD online store. There is shipping to the USA as an option, but it is pretty pricey, as you'd expect. Shipping is $7-$9 per book, although prices on the actual books are on par with US graphic novels/trade paperbacks. Just another option. Unfortunately, many of the books appear to be out of stock, which you can't tell until you click on their page and try to add them to your cart. I don't know if this is just because it's right after Christmas, or they don't stock them anymore.
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