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!

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!

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!

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!

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!