Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Graphical Comfort

I could quit my job today and get a government grant to prove my data-less hypothesis depicted in tonight's comic.  It's science, just without all the actual trials, information and insight to link factors together!

Also I should probably point out that I didn't really have a stressful day, thus making me wear sweatpants after work.  In fact, I'm disproving my own theory since changing into the cotton wonder was the first thing I did but my day wasn't really all that bad.  To be fair though, writing a comic about how I came home and put on comfy clothes because I didn't have any errands to run tonight really wouldn't interest too many people.

Tomorrow a character I've been following off and on for basically my entire "career" collecting and reading comics comes back in his own self-titled series.  Cable and the X-Force is hitting shelves tomorrow and I'm excited to be able to support it with my dollars.  Cable is an interesting character that Marvel has had a hard time dealing with since he has such a complicated, convoluted back-story. Oh, and that he's a time-traveler that could, if they wrote it as such, really complicate the entire Marvel Universe.  He's a truly gritty character, not in the Punisher way where loss drove him to blatant and unapologetic murder, but in the way that his entire story is always dealing with loss and continuing on in the face of it.  If the man has a super power, a friend, a favorite weapon or even a timeline that he's beginning to settle into, trust the comic overlords to yank it out from under his feet.  When I write it like that, I'm surprised I don't get tired of those kinds of stories.

Just a few days and weeks away from holiday relaxation makes this week sure to feel as if it's passing more slowly than those carefree summer days that don't have the same longevity.  I wonder if I could just build a pillow fort in my cubicle and read until the break comes.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

No More Gutter Birdies

It's amazing that I haven't been scooped up by some clandestine government think-tank to sit in their plush underground bunkers and just churn out world-altering inventions.  The reality-shaking game of Tetherminton would be just one example, sure to sweep any nation with casual and highly competitive play.

A major running theme in my entertainment and thus thoughts lately has been the idea of large machinations.  I'm speaking almost exclusively about government and spy agencies, with almost always a science fiction twist to them.  Even some ideas for projects I've been mulling over the past few months have had to do with concepts of story and interactions as pieces of a larger device.

Trying to understand why these elements put together would appeal to me so much, I think I hit upon a few points.  Science fiction is a no-brainer; attempting to identify with the fantastical injects mystery and excitement into my life which almost exclusively (by design, right or wrong) lacks the risks of adventure.

Also involved are always clear plans, even if these may not be revealed until working through the problems.  Having the rigidity of an intended outcome brings me some kind of comfort, that all the work being put in and  risks taken are calculated and have a goal in mind.  For me, this ties into the hole that organized religions much more often than not can't fill.  This isn't a failing on their part but my own inability to look at the theater of it and not question the motives.

It's clear though what would involve adventure with a clear outcome in mind: Tetherminton!  Yikes, did I just black out through a therapy session or something?  Luckily there's nothing too dark in there so I'll just leave it as is, until next we meet.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Electrichanic

Ahhh, it's good to be back.  Flexing (even as minimally as I do) my mental muscles to bring these posts can sometimes be as therapeutic as working out or talking at my wife's ear until I'm shooed away.  Tonight's inspiration comes as a result of a few things, of which we'll probably need to address in order.

It's no secret that I love building things.  This can be in the form of Lego, ideas, tension, jokes, websites or furniture.  It's the last that derailed me from completing my regularly-scheduled comic a few weeks back.  This segued rather comfortably into the Thanksgiving holiday break and all the related relaxation, during which I didn't even have a need to take my car out of the garage until returning to work this week.

At this time of the year, work is a nearly-constant fire drill (without the drill) mode as I rather deftly navigate between deadlines and expectations.  It's earlier tonight that for some of you the story actually becomes (momentarily) interesting.  Apparently the recent drops in temperature were enough to kill my car battery, which decided to completely give out after work as the sun began to set in the distance.  Luckily, my sister works nearby and we were able to easily get it purring again and back home to my garage.

Going back to my earlier point regarding my love for building, I can probably narrow that down a little bit more.  My love is for a job well done, that moment of standing back and surveying your accomplishment.  As stressful and disappointing as my car had become earlier in the evening, everything was forgotten once the new battery was installed and sockets spun to secure it snugly.

Smiling at the device that just hours before made me think for a second about mass transit or buying a good bicycle, I had a small self-realization.  As long as I get to fix it or put it back together, I don't really care what breaks.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Crack it, Chewie!

In what was to go down in history as yet another 'you got your peanut butter in my chocolate' moment, Angry Birds and Star Wars partnered to create, you guessed it, Angry Birds Star Wars.  The game immediately topped every chart when it comes to apps, then it made a few new charts just to top those too.

I assumed that there were a few that were proposed that ultimately didn't make it into the actual game, so I stealthily procured some test images and have posted them here tonight.  If they come for me, you now know it was so the truth could be told of the other birds in a slingshot game on your phone.

For those of you that play Fantasy Football, have you ever had a weekend where nearly every player on your team just decides that they're going to take it easy in their games this week?  Maybe they're thinking about their own bodies, or tending to injuries or are distracted by their personal lives or the politics of the locker room.  In any case, why can't they just run down the field a little farther so I can accrue a few more fake points in a game that might as well be called Statistical Roulette?  Actually, forget I ever mentioned that, I need to go design how you would play Statistical Roulette now.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

This Case Is Closed-ish

We've got another installment of everyone's favorite tough-talking, stick-walking private investigator!  He's got a 100% success rate for his cases.  Just ask him, he'll tell you.

Actually that brings up an interesting point that brings it back around to Batman eventually.  Thinking of all the cases that Stick Guy P.I. may or may not have just closed because he wanted lunch, this would create a potential wing of the local prison with guys that have something against the 'stache.  That's the point at which I think of Batman's rogues gallery.

I was listening to a podcast earlier today that brought up the point that Batman is unique as a super hero in that most heroes are a reaction to an inciting incident.  They then make it through the other side and find themselves changed and ready to take on graver and larger threats.  Batman inciting incident was post-traumatic stress and guilt as a result of small-time crime.  Instead of joining the police force though, he escalated things and was actually on the scene before his villains were.  The Joker, Two-Face, Killer Croc, Clayface, the list goes on and on of super-powered baddies that only seem to stick around in Gotham because Batman won't relent.  The idea of a hero that spawns enemies is fairly unique on the scale that Batman is responsible for, yet rarely do you truly feel a sense of guilt from the Caped Crusader about that fact.  Granted, it's not really something he could do much about it would just be nice to see him acknowledge it maybe once in awhile.  My favorite sociopath could use a little more self-awareness.

Hoping the weather cooperates with us this weekend, we're going hiking and maybe cow tipping! One of those things is false, you choose.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Mouse-ter Chief

I've been brewing on this story for a full week at this point, but if things go the way they have been, Disney will be acquiring additional properties over time, including more mediums of entertainment.  Word came down that Disney would be buying Lucasfilm, creating another trilogy of Star Wars movies and otherwise managing the universe Lucas created.

There are a few thoughts that come to mind as I try to process these kinds of things that I have no clear understanding or power over.  Firstly, I worry about one over-arching voice of creative control for so many different aspects of entertainment.  At the same time, the war chest that Disney can dispense for their projects allows for so many more projects to go through the machine.  In the end it may come down to your personal preference; do you prefer a lot of the things you used to really like or would you rather have less but respect the product more.

At the same time, I can't really complain that Disney took over everything Star Wars if I look to how they treated taking over Marvel a few years ago.  When word came down that the sugarplum empire was going to handle my childhood (alright, I'll concede probably lifelong) obsession, I was very worried.  In practice, the only problems I've had with Marvel since come from maybe a little too much marketing for movie cross-promotion and weak writing for their huge events.  Otherwise, writers kept on doing what they were supposed to do and artists did the same.

In the end though, I'll just have to wait and see.  It's like I said before, it's not like I'll ever have a clear look behind the curtain or have any chance to affect any change if I did.  Guess I'll have to work harder to create entertainment of my own.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Oversatirization

We made it! Hopefully this silly little drawing reaches you in your powered home or cave if you're living off the grid.  I know that "Superstorm" Sandy really bled off the majority of her strength making her way inland to us, however New Jersey and New York really got a pounding.

As always, the Monday Morning QBs come out of the woodwork both before and after to offer their own opinions and advice on how people should react to these kinds of situations.  The funny thing is that if the newscasters hadn't prepared people for the possibility that the storm was coming, these same MMQBs would be calling for something similar to what happened to the poor seismologists in Italy (if you're interested).  What's worse, instead of being thankful that they weren't affected as negatively as the people in the coastal cities and states, they complain about the extra stuff they got or the annoyance of waiting for more storm.  They wanted more storm!  That does not make any sense to me, but then again I draw dumb little doodles twice a week for my own sanity.

Vent aside, everyone that I know of got through this with very minimal damage to their own selves and property and we're very thankful for that.  I also picked up The Walking Dead video game for my tablet the other day and I'm hooked.  The combination of simple point and click with tense split-second decisions makes for a very engaging experience.  Just don't play it when you're home alone.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Eating For Two

When you typically do your food shopping for at least two at every meal, there's an interesting phenomenon that occurs from time to time.  If it's just one person that happens to be around, then a choice is presented: either you make all the food and only eat half, or figure out ways to portion it out and only make enough for just yourself.

However, when it's just me in the kitchen by myself a third option opens.  I pull back the third curtain and end up making all the food, and eating all of it.  And it's glorious.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to dim my intellect with a few action titles, B or C level at best.  The first was Lockout, the Guy Pearce badass space prison escape hostage rescue movie.  If you're willing to buy all that, they you very well may like this one, Snow (Pearce) has some great one-liners but he ends up not being on-screen enough to keep the action going and it ends in the most abrupt, odd way possible.  It's probably because it was a film by Luc Besson, crazy action movie director not big on story.  The masochistic piece of me ended up really enjoying the movie, but my expectations were simultaneously low and hoping for a bad movie.  Mission accomplished.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Murderous Heroism

I love a good hero story.  It's about overcoming your obstacles while holding yourself to a certain standard, no matter what the opposition chooses to hold themselves to.  So when I find myself drawn to the darker heroes that employ tools o' murder, I find it's time to dig deep and dissect that inclination.

My conclusion comes down to probably the most shallow it could: they just look cooler on the page or big screen.  I mean, some of my favorite characters employ this deadly violence.  Green Arrow isn't really in that hallowed mental pantheon, but others like Wolverine, Deadpool, Hawkeye, Cable, Nick Fury, the Punisher all fit that bill.  These are just the ones I like, not to mention the others that choose to strap a gun or sword to their hip or shoulder.

Don't get me wrong, Captain America is still at the top of the food chain and he usually only carries his vibranium shield.  He does everything that I feel a hero should and doesn't find himself in situations where he has to sacrifice his beliefs to get the job done.  That doesn't stop me from enjoying Wolverine dig those claws into the henchmen masses trying to get to the root of whatever problem is in front of him.

All this to say, I watched the premiere episode of Arrow this week and actually liked it quite a bit.  The production values were high, while the character was just as much of a bastard as Oliver Queen is supposed to be.  Regardless of how much I enjoyed the show, I found my grimace growing as the typical bad guy, who recently had arrow-ridden thugs in his employ, shouts at our protagonist "you put my guys in the hospital!"  Did he? Or did he in fact shoot them with arrows only to leave them not moving in the parking structure?  It is on the CW though, so while there may be blades, arrows and guns a'plenty, I doubt the body count is going to rise much at all in this early season.

C-c-c-combo breaker! Enough of this nerd talk, I'll talk at you all later.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Conspiracy Theory 101

It's that scene in movies we're all familiar with at this point.  Someone goes into a room and (gasp!) there's a huge collection of interrelated news clippings, pictures and artifacts connected to one another with some form of string.

We as viewers are then programmed to look at the character who created this room of mess as eccentric but maybe with a touch of genius.  The real thing of it is that we never really get the chance to take a really solid look at the materials being connected to one another.  Two thoughts come to mind for me.

First, there's absolutely no one there to check on this whackadoo's work and tell him whether or not anything is actually related to whatever shadowy thing he's investigating.  Without that check or balance, there's nothing stopping the train from pulling completely into Crazyville.  Second, all of these relational maps are gigantic, frequently taking up an entire wall or room.  I'd like to see a junior detective taking on a super easy case with four or five things all connected like I so expertly depicted this evening.

Well alright now, not much else to say other than power through this week so I can get back to my regularly scheduled nothing on the weekend.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Drive-Thru Dilemma

Everyone wants to stay active and feel healthy and happy.  Not ever work day seems to want to allow this same happiness to occur.  It's at times like these that you just have to push your chips to the center and find the nearest fast food establishment to really guilt yourself into moving the next time around.

There have been some minor renovations to the Manor!  When we purchased the estate, it has some masonry that was in need of some repair.  Throughout the course of this year, pieces of the mortar even began falling out some of the bricks were so loose.  We got lucky and within a week of agreeing on a price we've got a completely repointed/relayed brick chimney waiting for it's first fire to blaze up!  I think we're going to hold off on the mason to seal it all up and give us the thumbs-up that it's alright to let our inner firebugs loose for the coming winter months.

Speaking of, I know talking about the weather is a bit on the boring side, but it's not often that there's a forty degree drop in temperatures and it just stays that way.  Next thing you know, all the leaves will just fall off the tree in the course of one day, in the Spring all the flowers will pop up in the course of one day and it could go on and on.

Alright, let's go see what's going on in Guild Wars 2.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Monetary Trending

Wow, when it rains it pours!  The ideas for completely useful inventions just keep coming to me.  Tonight's solves the age-old problem: what do you do when you're out in the sun and need some light? Why, get our solar-powered lamps, of course!  They're the ultimate in portability, with only the slight downside of not being able to provide illumination on cloudy days.

Avengers vs. X-Men, published by Marvel Comics, finished it's run yesterday and I couldn't be more relieved.  The entire event has just felt like a doorstop.  It's been interesting enough (not nearly what was promised) but ultimately only serves to open the door for the Marvel NOW! initiative coming in this last quarter of 2012.

They shot themselves in the foot though, in that they released news about what was coming next early on in the AvX plotline.  This completely distracted the reader from what was happening and only made us start to read while we wait for the good stuff to come along.  I was less than pleased.  I am excited to see some of my favorite characters back out there.  Cable will make his long-awaited reappearance in his self-titled Cable and the X-Force and Deadpool will be written by one of my favorite comedians Brian Posehn.  Fingers crossed I don't get so jaded I give up on the medium altogether, but they've hooked me for one more ride.  Ball's in your court, Marvel.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Self-Mailing Substitution

This is a legally-binding digital copyright for a fantastic idea... that would probably immediately electrocute people.  It would also probably lead to immediate need for physical therapy from dislocated shoulders or herniated discs.

Well, we're back!  I took a week or so off from the comic to try and cleanse the palate, and this is what we come up with?  Honestly though, work was to the point where I almost was driven to working over my usual 40 hours. Insanity!  Breathe a sigh of relief true believers though, I was still home before dinner every night, but was just not in a state for any witty, amazing, life-changing comics.

That being said, one can't just go from inactivity to a sprint! I need to pace myself after my ultra-short hiatus so that's all for tonight.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

It's The 'Stache

Introducing the newest, thinnest badass to the dp world: Stick Guy, P.I.!  He has absolutely nothing to do with anything, and he doesn't take up very much space.  If there's any mystery in two dimensions though, he's your man.

Some day, we'll be able to look back on this day as the first time the world saw what turned out to be a character at the center of Six Seasons and a Movie!

On the Guild Wars 2 front, we had a few Epoch boys hit the coveted level 80 this past weekend, myself included.  It's super weird, but the idea of reaching the 'end of the game' hasn't slowed down my interest to keep going and completing every bit of the world that I can.  In fact, tonight we may have a crew taking down a dungeon or two.  Here's hoping it goes smoothly, it's just what I need to bleed off the stress of a particularly hectic work week.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Playground Platform

Politics are in the air, and I could not care less about it.  It's so hard to make any judgments pre-election on what your officials will actually do when in office that every promise, every argument is just taking up oxygen.

Then you get into the fact that there are some seriously whacked out ideas to spew forth from both their brains and their mouths.  You would hope that those tasked with safeguarding our way of life would have a better view of how to provide that, however it's more often the case they only really know how to do that for themselves.  It's clear that for the majority of these people, the real key to power is simply showing up and being willing.  If you keep asking for responsibility from people, especially to do something that they don't want or understand how to do, they just may give you the keys to the kingdom.  That thought is simultaneously sobering and scary while also being hopeful for those who want to make a genuine difference.

Either way, shortly we'll elect someone who has the opportunity to break my pessimism towards politicians, but if experience has anything to teach me probably will fall short in this.  As long as pointless webcomics don't get abolished, I'll adapt.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Inventing Stuff

It's been said that we are all standing on the shoulders of giants.  Why then, would we not try and use some of the same cues from these aforementioned large people.  So then it would only make sense that if you want to up the ante, why not update a classic that good ole Benjy figured out long ago.

Short post tonight, not really feeling the funny too much on a day like today.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

First Issue Problems

If you're not a comic book fan or don't get why it's fun to read adventures and stories on a monthly basis tonight may not be for you.

With that out of the way, it's getting a bit weird at the comic book store lately.  Let me break it down a little bit further for you.

Marvel Comics decided that they were going to release their flagship titles (Iron Man and Spider-Man for my own pull-box) twice a month, meaning now you'll be paying twice every 30 days.  This means a lot of content which is fantastic, but it also means that there's a little less weight in your wallet.  Speaking of Spider-Man, this year is the 50th anniversary of the character's creation, meaning that there was an extra-thick issue, complete with an extra-thick price.

DC Comics, meanwhile, went through their New 52 rebooting of numbering and title reorganization last year at this time.  It just so happens that they simultaneously decided that all of their titles would have their 'Annual' issues be released at the same time as a #0 Issue would be released to re-focus their titles.

So after all those consideration, my most recent trip to the comic book store netted 9 issues for only 5 different titles.  I doubled-down on 80% of the titles that were in my box this time.  Don't get me wrong, I love comic books and I love supporting the industry, but it's time to think long and hard about trimming back some of these titles.  Maybe the lackluster Justice League can go out to pasture.  Gratefully, Marvel's Avengers Vs. X-Men event is wrapping up so that will get trimmed out as well.

Hobby Economics 101, class dismissed.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Self-Inflicted Injuries

Tonight's comic encompasses probably something like 60% of the home-cooked meals that the Lady of the Manor is responsible for.  There came a point, as there absolutely should have, where the amount of sympathy and care I received for encountering a potential food coma diminished.  It's probably the case that knowing I won't have support if my guts are destroyed due to my own mistake keeps me repeating this mistake too often.

Ah well, I wonder what's on the menu tonight?

This past long weekend the theme was definitely mystery, specifically Sherlock Holmes.  We caught the BBC show Sherlock on Netflix and instantly devoured all of them that have been made so far.  The show is a modernized version of the classic detective, changing the setting to modern England and paying homage the original stories while at the same time keeping them from being outdated.  I wholeheartedly suggest you checking it out, even though the emphasis on Moriarty is much more  pronounced than in the source material.

Alright, it's a short week to let's get through it.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

At Both Ends

So a balance will be found between work, my gaming with Guild Wars 2 and some actual relaxation time. It just won't be found tonight.

We're still going to be burning the candle at both ends tonight because it's time for the first dungeon run in Guild Wars 2.

It also happens to be the exact time that work explodes into complete madness and responsibilities and projects fly through the air like crazy.

It saps energy, it destroys waking up in the mornings, and I'm loving every minute of it.

That's probably just the delirium talking though.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Free Wheelin'

Tonight's installment comes from a conversation with a friend who is very entrenched in the X-Family of Marvel Comics. He brought up the point that the once-leader and visionary of the X-men was being a real jerkwad recently, coincidentally while he regained the ability to get up out of that wheelchair and walk around.

His opinion on Xavier's current annoyance factor, it made us wonder if there was some correlation of legs to jerk for the follically-challenged one. Personally, I think it would be some kind of hilarious if as Charles became more ambulatory he also had less making him humble so his ego or attitude begins to run amok.

It may not mean much to the rest of you, but the fact that I can make a doodle that doesn't have to do with Guild Wars 2 is pretty amazing. I'm willing to do anything for stable internet all weekend long, up to and including cutting power to neighbors nearby to give my house that much more of that precious bandwidth (I have no idea how I would even go about this so no actual crimes will be committed). Umm - we're excited! 'Nuff said.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

I Am Legend- Wait For It--

In the original novel I Am Legend, Robert Neville was the last human left alive on earth but in his loneliness felt he could bring humanity back from the brink. It didn't turn out too well for him then, being captured by the rebuilding vampire society and all.

What if Neville had a buddy to converse with or to tell him not to trust any pale folks that show up telling him they were in no way whatsoever vampires coming to abduct him?  Hopefully he'd either have solved his crisis or realized that things could always have been worse: it could have been a world full of werewolves. Can you imagine the size of those errant dust bunnies left everywhere? And you can just say goodbye to in-home carpeting, that fur just does not come out.

The countdown for Guild Wars 2 is in the single digits at this point folks, and I could not be more pumped to log in and play at... wait, does this say I won't be able to log on until 2am Saturday morning? Are they out of their minds, or am I for the pathological need to be present that instant the servers get flipped on and I can rush into a game I'm going to spend most likely the entire weekend playing? Don't answer that and keep it down, I should start storing up extra sleep now for all that I won't be getting soon.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Intense!

Outdoors! The outdoors are awesome! I love the idea of having all your gear, packing it up and heading out into the wild. The only problem is that you get it out there, and the outdoors has the audacity to get dirt and grime all over your stuff.

Or it's just possible that I'm too used to the indoors.

No, let's stick with the outdoors should have less dirt.

Sometime in my past, I must have been spliced with an amphibian or a reptile. Recently I had a run-in with a blade in the kitchen that left me with a chunk missing off the end of my finger. Luckily it hasn't hampered my work at a computer (as you can tell because I'm still posting).  For me though, I appear to be bouncing back much faster than would be normal from it and hopefully all those layers of skin will just fall back into place.  The many different bandage combinations I've tried and worked out might have something to do with that as well, but I'll chalk it up to accidental freak gene-splicing.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Nerdmade Craftsmanship

It's amazing what you can get used to when it's a necessity.  A few months ago, my sweet high-backed leather office chair finally snapped and went to the big supply closet in the sky.

Like any other motivated problem-solver, it was easier to find an immediate solution rather than replace the original item. That's how I came to sit in a folding camp chair for the past three to four months instead of leaning back in leather-y comfort.  Well no more! Amazon, I come for thee!

Fingers crossed once the seating problem is solved, I'll be able to put the time I've been neglecting into a few ideas. Don't worry though, most of them won't include me building items or altering my home in any way. Mostly.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Some Pleasant Nighttime Reading

Ever since I could read, I've enjoyed reading a bit before bed. I know I'm not unique in this, it's just something that helps to get your body and mind to wind down enough to just fade into that blissful slumber. There is the distinct possibility that you'll get caught up in whatever you're reading and actually energize yourself to the point that sleep doesn't come easy.

On a completely different tack, sharing a bed with someone means that from time to time some considerations need to be made, and this has led to all manner of different bedside lamps, awkward book-lights on lanyards and weird positions so that you're not annoying to anyone.

It is nice to have devices for that kind of thing, with that soft back-lit glow keeping your items illuminated while not throwing off enough light to really affect any other person.

This doesn't substitute the feeling of looking at a book from the side and seeing your progress, however. Having those pages in hand to turn really is a great way to experience what entertains you. It forces you to slow down and really digest what's happening on the pages in front of you.

That is, as long as Mr. Sandman isn't helping you nod off... (it probably can go without saying that I'm a bit tired this evening).

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Gut Of A Champion

We're kind of a unique household. Unlike most of you, we've been watching a lot of the Olympics and I can tell yo - What's that? Basically every person on Earth is watching the Olympics? They know more about literally every event than I do? Alright then.

Unfortunately since I'm not able to really stream any events while I'm at work I haven't been able to keep up with the soccer (football) events too much, but I've been loving all the volleyball, beach and court, that we've been able to catch.  On both counts the women's teams just seem magnetic on the screen and it's amazing watching May-Trainor and Walsh continue their unreal winning streak.

All that being said, I have to go get ready in case any good events are on tonight!

Punch it, Chewie!


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Young Buck?

In creating a character as powerful as Batman I really think it comes down to equal parts luck, genius writing and community interest to give those writers time to stretch out in that creative space.

I'm just grateful for the evolution from that mysterious detective (prior to his origin story he even carried a gun - something his modern iteration is fundamentally against) to today's martial arts expert-billionaire-philanthropist.  Had any one choice in his character, such as cape or no cape would by degrees have degraded how captivating the ideas and images of The Batman are. In nearly every story, I'm just pulled into his brooding images and I love knowing that In Batman We Trust, he'll be able to figure out what's going on or come to some kind of resolution to whatever mystery or crime he's dealing with.

That being said, I was really disappointed after reading through DC's Final Crisis story event from a few years ago. DC's crisis stories have always made me raise an eyebrow, but this one seemed to go beyond what I thought they would do. While it does a good job at setting the stage for a few follow-up events involving Green Lantern (hooray!), the writing was almost hallucinogenic and overly vague to seemingly cover up the fact that even the writers couldn't really wrestle with the concepts that they were expecting us readers to. After letting this one sit with me for awhile, I'd suggest anyone interested in comic book events give it a pass. Read Batman's Night of the Owls event that came out earlier this year instead, it's fantastic.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Feeling Sketchy

As you'll see, tonight was mainly testing out what a sketching/drawing app could be like for my tablet. While this is super rough, I think that it does actually count as a success since I was able to create something from scratch and have it here for mild consumption.

The app that I found is called SketchBook Pro and for only $1.99 seems to be a very powerful program. Just using it for a few minutes, the quick undo/redo and menu toolbars helped me do more digitally that I've ever been able to do so far.  As you can see, even for my standards this is low quality, but without a stylus I think this is actually pretty decent. While I have a tablet for my PC, being able to watch where my hand is moving on the iPad increased accuracy much more than I would have thought to be necessary.

I'll have to figure out an easy way to hybridize tonight's process for the future since this was pretty fun.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Choring Story

Being a homeowner, one of the unfortunate side effects is that you're forced to maintain that same property that you've put all your money into. Unless of course you're a huge fan of concrete and just pave any yard you may have started with.

Myself and all the landscapers of the Manor were out yesterday trying to take advantage of the good weather, compounded with reports that terrible heat was coming right behind it. There's nothing more annoying (huge overstatement) than realizing all of the great TV or reading that you're missing out on because you're squinting in the dark trying to mow a lawn.

Changing topics with little to no segue, I wanted to talk about the shootings at the movie theater in Colorado just for a moment. I won't talk on the movie he chose for his attack or even whatever disgusting motivations he may have had. What I will address is a misconception that I find when thinking about this man or other people that commit mass acts of violence on others.  In this case especially, there was special attention put onto his 'intelligence' and, more recently, on maybe the overstatement of that intelligence.  My fear is that people will think that just because you're able to put together these kinds of terrible plans into action that makes you an intelligent person. To me, true intelligence isn't informational, skill-based or emotional, but all of them together.  Lacking the empathy for other people denotes abysmal emotional intelligence, and without it I feel a person is at a severe disadvantage and not really 'intelligent'. This man wasn't some kind of evil genius, he was just an angry man who wasn't able to process things and live like a whole human being. My intention is not to trivialize these horrible events, I'm just attempting to add my probably unnecessary two cents to the pile.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Case Of Medical Nerdiness

I'm nearly done blabbing about my recent iPad purchase. Probably. The comic tonight is (hopefully) clearly based on the 'if you keep making that face, it's going to stick like that' we would hear as children. This was almost universally said when we were making bad faces, funny how we didn't hear that when we had giant smiles on our mugs.

The joy in this situation comes from the mobility and utility. For a comic book freak like me, having this format is absolutely ideal for digital comics. I estimated that in the past week or so I've been able to catch up on old events and stockpiled comics to the tune of a few hundred issues.

If I have to nail it down to its more basic elements for me, it comes down to convenience. All of my favorite electronics and purchases have let me do something however I chose. It's what made having a laptop so amazing when I tried that out, even though that unfortunately burnt out a year later due to an internal design flaw. For reliability I went back to a desktop, but felt a little chained to a desk whenever trying to take care of nerd business. With my handheld friend, I'm able to do everything (that doesn't include Flash content) and wherever I choose. Reading through my comics with a morning coffee on the deck goes beyond liberating.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

And I Feel Fine

The end of the world as we know it, or TEOTWAWKI to those in crazier circles, is something that can loom over some people much more than others. I'd say loom over people more 'these days' but I don't think that's actually a true statement. There are always Henny Penny's out there just watching and waiting for the sky to fall, it's more a reflection of the general populace's mood as to how much attention it's being paid.

In internet culture, survival skills (built more for vampire and zombie attacks) are a cute way to mask a person's fear that it's all going to come crashing down around us. The weirdos that prepare for this kind of thing in earnest will have the enviable position to say 'I told you all so' if society ever does have a coronary, but until that time they're relegated to being the nutjobs that parents gently shoo their children away from in the grocery store lines.

For myself, I love camping. Actually, I don't think I love camping as much as I do packing to go camping. It's the strategy of trying to figure out how much space you'll have, what you'll want vs. what you'll need and trying to get ahead of whatever Mother Nature has in store for you. It's been a goal of mine to build a few hiking packs for those living here at The Estate, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Them being able to double as 'ditch bags' if anything serious ever happened would be a nice peace of mind just to have stored within easy access.

Uh oh, I think I'm identifying with the weirdos. Again.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Heat Rave!

As someone who more often than not tries to avoid the low-hanging fruit of conversational topics, to have a comic devoted to weather should show just how annoying it is here at the Ranch. This heat keeps you from really doing anything outside, unless you're willing to donate a pint of your sweat to the cause.

It reminds me that at my last job the most frequent thing you'd hear the IT guys telling each other is how they're lucky that they still come to work with pants on. Only in retrospect do I realize how little they were joking.

It's all good though, with all of the comics I had been stockpiling once I knew I was getting the iPad there's more than enough to do inside. Apple's in the process of releasing details on a smaller, less expensive version of the iPad. Thankfully enough though, I wouldn't be interested in having a device with a smaller screen so I'm more than happy with my handy little hardware purchase. So much so I think I'll go spend some time with my comics outside.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The I Stands For Intense

Well folks, it finally happened. The stars aligned, the trucks were on time and I now have the iPad. My self control was at an all-time high today, because I received the package at my desk before 10am and didn't power on the machine until I got home in the late afternoon.

I'm able to also report that the new iPad (or iPad 3rd gen if you're being literal) is completely as advertised and worth it. The screen resolution is amazing and doesn't track fingerprints, while the screen remains lit. Battery life is also strong, since I ran it almost non-stop for 3-4 hours streaming videos, reading comics, downloading apps and customizing settings. When I was nearly done, I could tell a slight amount of heat in the back, but honestly that could have been just as much from my holding the tablet in my hands.

It's very satisfying to wait for something like this for so long and then to have it meet and in some cases exceed your expectations. It's a good night here at The Estate.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Stick-Up Artist

Sometimes I get it in my head that a stick figure comic is a good idea. It's hard to tell if it is in fact worth it or whether I just enjoy the fast turnaround on a ten-second doodle. Knowing me, I'd say it's safe to lean towards the latter.

I'm an almost tablet owner! My shiny new iPad is en route (hopefully as we speak) and should be here in just a few more days. Receiving the screen cover today was like an appetizer (or teaser) to the main event.

It's amazing that with my love of electronics and things that are currently put the pop in culture, even though my hobbies and interests haven't really changed in decades, that I don't travel more to visit the West coast or anywhere else for that matter. When my iPad arrives, it will officially have seen more of the world than I have since it shipped from just outside Hong Kong. Weirdly fitting.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Holiday Leftovers

Wait, it's not the weekend right now? With the 4th of July's fireworks and day of revelry with friends and family alike, it certainly felt as if we all could kick our feet up for a few days. However, this wasn't to be and we all had to trudge down the road and realize how much more we'd rather be asleep.

I know that for all the relaxing and hanging out we did in the past day and a half that I am exhausted and ready for a weekend of doing more of the same. So much so that I'm going to cut this short and head back to trying to find a game to play for a little bit before my brain shuts off completely for the evening.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Hammock Anger

Due to my height, things like a hammock haven't been comfortable since I was a pre-teen.  I've also never fallen asleep in one, as I imagine (or fear) that I'd wake up twisted like the pictured pretzel.

Do you guys get how excited I am to escape into nature? It's pretty much been the single thing getting me through my work days this week. Wait, I mean creating these little cartoons for you guys is what got me through. Totally.

If you like the Warhammer 40K series of PC games, they're all on sale for 75% off on Steam for the pre-holiday weekend.  I snapped up the single title I'd yet to play since it was something I was interesting in and played a beta for a year ago.

August 28! August 28! Guild Wars 2 has a release date finally! With little in the way of preamble, ArenaNet announced that the extremely anticipated sequel to their initial outing in Tyria will come out right before most kids are going back to school.  If you don't hear much from me around that time, just wait a week and then poke me.  I'll most likely be otherwise occupied with my Guardian class.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Sugar Rushing

So it's clear and firsthand knowledge to most of the people that regularly read my posts that camping is something that I regularly like to go do.  To clarify, by camping I mean going to a state park and parking at a site and hanging out in the woods near other people doing likewise.  If I had to sustain myself without any amenities in nature, I'd probably have a less than stellar opinion on it were I to be missing any gear.


We'll be dragging some people with us to go stay at a state park this coming weekend, and this particular park has a few frisbee or disc golf courses which I'm super excited to get out and enjoy.  Now if only I could get wifi while out in the woods, I'd probably quit my job and become a hermit.


I just want to take a moment to thank the people that have made the transition over to Ink & Pixels with us the past few months.  We're still a work in progress over there, adding in an easier RSS feed and email functions and the like takes time when doing it as a hobby after a full-time job.  Creating a much more dynamic space over there where we can hopefully get into creating things together is the goal.  I hope you'll keep that patience up to the point where we can all start playing together!


Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Blood-Sucking Legislation

Tonight's comic came pretty easily, since it's nearly the same pose as the cover to my copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Obviously it's easy to imagine our heroes as something more than heroes, possibly even fighting back fantastic monsters like Abe did in this super entertaining piece of fiction.  I liked the idea of taking monsters and fantastic creatures and making them do things that other people might find pretty boring.  In this case it's just a simple reversal, but keep on the lookout for my Mummy: Insurance Adjustor.

Seriously though, try a few chapters of that book! I found it to be much more entertaining than I thought it would, since it's written in the form of journal entries as a historic accounting of a President's battle against the forces of darkness.  I will say that I felt the narrative felt much more focused in the earlier chapters, but as Abe aged he lost much of the edge he was developing over the years.  It was very Beowulf in that respect, but it was still a solid read.  I recommend, and my recommendations are always solid! You should trust that because I use exclamation points!

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Time Warpin'!

Exaggerated true fact about tonight's comic: in a massive meeting, I was fighting valiantly (and losing) to stay awake in the second row.  That blessed bit of adrenaline that jolts through you once you slip near that void was enough to keep me embarrassed until lunch break Huzzah for natural defenses!

I'm not sure how to make a good segue for this, so I'll just go.  There was some sad news on the Radiohead tour recently.  While they were setting up for the evening's concert in Toronto, the stage buckled and pinned a drum technician under the wreckage.  They weren't able to get to him in time and he lost his life, and a few others were injured.  No word yet on if the collapse was due to structural integrity or skirting regulations.  It's a somber note to add to the end of their North American leg of the tour.  Condolences to the family, band and loved ones.

Keep yourself safe and enjoy as much time as you're able. A little bit of silliness keeps the drudge of the world at bay.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fog Of Rock

Most people enjoy concerts. I think that's a fair assumption to make. There's even a good amount of people that enjoy a great outdoor show.  However, that does not mean you have to bring every combustible, legal or otherwise, and let 'er rip.

By no means am I complaining about people trying to enjoy a concert in their way. My annoyance was more that I also had to be subjected to their method of enjoyment.  Fortunately I didn't find myself in an altered state, only trying to defend the assault on my senses.

All this to say that we were very lucky to be able to go and see Radiohead on the tail end of their American tour.  They've been one of my top ten bands for a long time, with such a unique sound that can sometimes test my preferences with some of the longer electronic riffs they go into.  So after listening to this for all these years, I was expecting more of a new-age jam band session.

I could not have been more wrong.  With a really interesting group of around a dozen screens that were re-positioned over the crowd during and in-between songs offered them a lot of great options to enhance the performance on the stage.  Along those lines, Radiohead are some great musicians.  They were able to swap out their guitars out for percussion or electronic instruments, and everyone was able to do this.  Front man Thom Yorke obviously kept the songs tight in order to accentuate the different visuals.  It was a fantastic show, and I'd strongly suggest you check them out live.

Anyways, I've got to go recover from the later night and longer day today.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Comedic Sticks

I love comedy, I love jokes, and I love the different twists and turns a great joke can take you on.  It doesn't matter how much I love them, it doesn't really improve my retelling of these little gems.

I have found, however that I'm more of a short-form joke teller.  When it comes to the longer forms, short stories with clever turns in them, I'll invariably forget a crucial detail or let slip the punchline a bit too early.

The secret to joke-telling is really not caring if they're received well.  If the recipient enjoys the joke and hangs around for more that's fantastic, but most of the time telling a joke is for the person telling the joke to try and relive the memory of that first time they heard it.  If you look at it like that it seems like a fairly selfish thing, but most of the time the negative reaction to a joke gives the recipient some kind of joy and I'm willing to set the bar low enough to call that a victory.

The second Beta Weekend Event for Guild Wars 2 was this past weekend, and after spending another several hours exploring Tyria I am getting more and more excited for the actual release of this game.  I've never played a game where I'm excited to help people I don't know, explore the environment for all the different vantage points or try to manage my items so that I can improve my crafting skills and benefit a larger team.  It's going to be a good fall and a great winter, almost entirely from this game. To steal a quote from a great book series and TV show, "Winter is coming".

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Rain Make Sad Face

Pretty self-explanatory tonight.  I like reading in the sun, and was thwarted by Mother Nature.  I'll try to figure out my transgressions so I can make the appropriate apologies.

If you could influence nature through actions, it makes the argument for rain dances as actual practice.  Of course, you'll have to do so knowing full well that the practice makes you effectively the court jester of the animal kingdom.

This would normally be the section where I'd talk about a show or movie, etc. that I'd consumed recently, but it's time for a little change.  On Ink & Pixels, we're glad to announce that these movie reviews will be coming at a fairly regular frequency from my wife.  This is due to an unfortunate arrangement that we entered into involving rings and promises and whatnot.

Recently she posted up a review on Men in Black III, I think you guys should definitely check it out and give more feedback.  For an initial outing and even with my obvious bias, I think it's a great take on a regular person's movie-going experience.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Digital Gladiators

It was only after finishing tonight's comic that it hit me that there could be a few different ways to describe what I was thinking as my pencil very awkwardly depicted it.

The intention behind the comic was a nod to my current alliance's battles in the web-based game Ikariam.  It's a very medieval, Greek and Roman-based island colonization game that puts groups of players or individuals against one another.  The interesting thing is that you also don't have to fight anyone, instead climbing the highscore chart as a merchant or by having the best defensive scores.  Our alliance is waging war on a single player (mildly hilarious) while the rest of his alliance has given us a pass to bloody his nose a bit.

The other thought that came to mind was that it's really hard to have inspiring pep talks before going into battle if you're then going to sit down at a monitor.  Directing forces by proxy in a fashion makes things a bit less visceral and more detached when firing missiles towards targets.  Now that drones and digital warfare are so integral with battle strategy, it's difficult to wrap your mind around the idea that a person can run a mission, then grab their coffee break before lunch.

Anyways, though my thoughts seem helter skelter that's less to do with tonight's comic and more to do with the kind of week it's shaping up to be.  It's just that time of year when things will speed up and it's a necessary evil to justify the other weeks when the work moves a bit more glacially.

It's almost officially summer, we're nearly there!

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Comin' In For A Landing!

Regular readers will know just how much I love space, science fiction, and just about everything involved therein.  When I learned today that the Space X Dragon capsule was returning to Earth from their maiden voyage to the International Space Station, it got me hoping I'd see a little streak crossing the horizon on my lunch break.

This was obviously not to be, as an ocean touchdown has always been the most preferable.  Thankfully, from all reports everything in the mission went smoothly.  As long as things can continue to run this well, we can all look forward to many more spaceflights in the future.

Quick comic and a short post tonight, there's some serious yard work that's been piling up for the groundskeepers of the Estate that I'll need to go manage.  We're burning daylight, people!

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Artistic Fright

As you can probably tell from tonight's comic, we had the chance to check out a decently large arts festival this weekend a few times.  Even though spirits were obviously elevated to observe our memorial holiday, that didn't make the weather any less hot and sticky.

It was a really good walk though, and the items were really awesome to see all the different ways that people try to be creative with paint, ceramics, wood, cloth and metal.  For us here at the Estate, we followed the lead of a good source to check out the festival more than once before purchasing anything.  After the day or so to mull it over, we did acquire a new piece of art for the East Wing.

It should also be said that for every two or three awesome tents that we ran across, there were still a few oddballs mixed in there.  Even with that though, there was a lot of different tents that absolutely drew us in.  If not for the happy coincidence that it was mostly cash business inside the festival, we'd probably have had a few more 'acquisitions' to report.

So, now we're all back to work (unless you've a glut of vacation or personal time banked up).  Now with Memorial Day in our very recent rear-view though, for me it feels very much like summer is finally here.  That makes leaving in the afternoons that much sweeter as all the plans for weekend getaways are beginning to take shape.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Rocket Man Comet(h)!

As is my custom, I'm two months late to the party on the cool internet stuffs.  In this case, there appeared to be a man claiming he could take flight with his kite-like wings.  Jarno Smeets, the Birdman, achieved flight in his video blog that had an obscene amount of hits for being up for only two months.

If the video itself doesn't get you to drop your jaw, the reality of the situation might push you over that edge.  The lovable Jarno Smeets, labeled the Flying Dutchman, was found out to be a fibber not long afterwards.  It turns out that not only does Jarno Smeets not exist, but neither does the technology he made his videos on.  It was all a filmmaker who was trying to see what kind of interest he could get in his story, but didn't bother to tell anyone it was a work of fiction.  Joke's on us then, as every major media source at the time sucked it in and spit it back out of the 24-hour news machine.

The weird thing for me is that I was able to take this fake journey with the man people were now calling the Lying Dutchman which lasted two months in one five-minute burst.  My wonder and awe at his flight was almost immediately replaced with the standard cynicism we've all got a chunk of inside.

It did make me wonder though, what if it could be done? Does it really matter that this was fake, or I should say fictitious?  I have to hope that there's a piece of me that still wants to believe it could be done.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Spacial Ignorance

Space X reached orbit this past weekend! It's just one more notch towards the privatization of 'the last frontier' and I couldn't be more in favor of it. Not only will it lead to me possibly floating weightless outside of the atmosphere, but it should also help progress in our society that I feel has somewhat stalled-out.

The last time that there was a real push in invention and innovation was during the last Space Race against the Russians nearly forty years ago.  I think that once the private sector gets involved, given some mild guidelines, that some really interesting things could come out of it.

What really adds an interesting spin to all of this will be the inclusion of a society now fully in the Digital Age. NASA and governments have been using technology to improve their safety and effectiveness in space, but I'm not sure they've really been able to explore their options outside of government contracts for vendors.  There are plans to mine asteroids to help increase resources as well as provide industry off-planet, so the intellect of the people who can afford to dream is beginning to reach outward more and more...

Shake it off, it's not like I'll be suiting up for launch in a few weeks.  However, daydreaming on it could very well help this week fly by.  Join me!

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Camer-antics!

Goofy night, hopefully it's clear that's a finger over the shutter/camera phone/whatever.

It won't be a long post tonight, I'm feeling pretty tired after a fairly boring/grueling week of work.  The weekend brings some pretty good stuff though, so I'm completely into celebrating getting through it.

I'm watching Breakout Kings from A&E while I write this up, and it's not completely without merit.  If you're interested in checking it out, don't put your hopes high and it may surprise you.  I love the Dr. turned con turned profiler character, he's pretty complex. That and I remember his as a McPoyle brother from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Alright, tomorrow brings the end to another one.  Collective sigh of relief, go!

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Missing Nerd Report

Every time I'm in the book store, I always go to the same section.  Without fail, you can find me in or near the Science Fiction/Fantasy sections.  It's just always been that way, the other sections don't interest me enough to want to read words on pages about them.

In the past at our particular chain book store, my section was directly across from the children's section, something that brought the median age down quite a bit.  Luckily, to keep creepers from being near the kiddies (I sincerely doubt that's the real reason why), the store was rearranged and my section got moved.

The bad part is that now instead of being in view of the bank of windows and near laughing children and near the movies and music, we nerds don't have quite that setup any longer.  Now, we get to listen to boxes being moved in the storage areas and we are placed in the farthest corner in the store, without windows, music or youthful joy.  The really ironic part is that I end up feeling more comfortable in that situation since my professional nerding used to be a very private thing for me.

Either way, I'm ripping through a fantastic fantasy series by Steven Erikson, The Malazan Book of the Fallen.  I've read the Lord of the Rings books before, but I've never read something in the Fantasy realm that got this dark and kept me this captivated.  I'm not sure the Hobbits would fare too well on Genabackis or in Raraku.

Ah well, we're already through a good chunk of this week folks! Let's keep up the pace, as if our attitude will truly help the passage of time at work!

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Under A Starry Projector

Short and early posting tonight, I'll be heading to the theater for Avengers round 2.  I'm just as excited to see it for a second time!

There's not much to mention, other than the latter stages of the transition to Ink & Pixels are in process.  If you haven't already, you can un-follow or cancel the direct emails.  We'll be working on setting up a similar RSS feed for I&P in the coming weeks.

Well, in the absence of much content and my head in a completely different space, let's wrap this up!

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Coffee Broken

I wish that this were a true story. That would mean that I work with bears. I was trying to get a play on words using 'bear' but for some reason kept coming back to this one, which was obviously not the right phrase.

Free comic book day was Saturday, and from what I've heard we were just a few minutes behind seeing some guys from the 501st Legionnaires show up at my local comic book store.  If you aren't up on who they are, it's a group that designs, builds and wears different kinds of Star Wars stormtrooper armor out in public. If I had the space to store a full suit of armor I'd love to figure out how to do something along those lines someday.

Anyways, after getting our regular dose of comics and whatever free ones we wanted to grab, it was time. The Avengers! The movie was honestly everything that I had hoped it could be.  I'll most likely be heading out to see it again in the extremely near future. To my knowledge, this was the first time there'd been a franchise movie of this kind.  There were movies that introduced all of the characters before we saw the first image, so there wasn't a need to spend time on that, which was very refreshing. Having seen all the previous movies, I thought it did a solid job keeping the individual tones set while still feeding into one story.

I can't wait to see the movie again and to start hearing about the other movies coming out in the near future.  I've said it before, but this is going to be one amazing summer!

Punch it, Chewie!