JoeMD.net

JoeMD.net Is No More

2012-01-04T11:38:00.000+11:00

JoeMD.net has been closed down. Now I'm running the new CC it's hard to keep on top of everything. So, in an effort to make my on-line life a little simpler I've moved to Tumblr. The tumblr page is somewhere I can continue to geek out over the things I enjoy.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. I hope you take a moment to check out the new site.

Cheers.

Cool Comic Covers - House of Night #1

2011-11-24T15:36:00.000+11:00

It's been a while since I did one of these, but after picking up the first issue of Dark Horse's House of Night series I thought it was time for another. The beautiful cover for the issue, which is by Steve Morris (the issue's B cover), stood out among all the others on the new releases shelf so I just had to have a look.

I had never heard of House of Night before this I didn't have any clue what the issue was about. A quick flick through the book revealed more wonderful art inside by the very talented Joëlle Jones, as well as several paganism-inspired themes. My interest peeked, I decided to pick it up. After finishing the story I found that it's based upon a series of novels of the same title by P.C. Cast. Who knew? (Well, loads of people, actually. The series seems to be pretty popular.)

As for the story itself, with the first mention of 'vampyre' and the fact that the characters are mostly teens, I inwardly groaned thinking this to be just some Twilight cash-in (I've not read Twilight but what I've seen of it turns my stomach). However, I persisted and found I really enjoyed the book. The art is amazing and the story - written by P.C. Cast - was really well done with some lovely character moments and the teens weren't written in that annoying "like, totally" kind of way.

What REALLY caught my attention though were the aformentioned pagan-related themes in the book. The four elements, the goddesses, the rituals. The thing is full of them. Being impressed by what I hoped wasn't just good research I had a look on-line and found that Cast was inspired by pagan and Wiccan religions. Brilliant!

I've decided that I'll continue getting the rest of this five issue series. A series that satisfies my pagan, fantasy, mysticism and geek-lovin' heart all at once. How could I not pick it up?

If the rest of the series remains as good as the first issue, I think I'll have to take a look at the novels as well.

Completed Game - Dead Space 2

2011-11-23T00:19:00.000+11:00

I just knocked over Dead Space 2. Really enjoyed the first game but feel this one is even better. It wasn't as scary as the original, but I found it more intense with some really stressful (in a good way) sections and some pretty epic set pieces. It did suffer from some similar problems to the original such as not being able to see anything when backed into a corner and that the 'bosses' repeated, but it was done in an interesting enough way. The end-of-game-boss was a right bastard.

Like all sequels, it upped the anty on the aspects that made the original successful. Here, it's defiantly the violence. There is blood everywhere and in some parts I looked away from the screen on instinct it was so graphic. I'm not against this kind of thing, but squeamish people really need to steer clear of this game!

Oh, and I felt that the exploding babies was a bit...tasteless.

I can understand why some reviewers felt the sequel didn't push the Dead Space formula enough as it's very similar to the first game. However, I think that it's enough of an improvement on the original to stand on its own. The ending totally sets up for a third game, so I'll be looking forward to that.

Marvel Comics: Floppies No More

2011-11-03T23:45:00.000+11:00

Looking through that latest Previews catalogue, I'm amazed at just how many Marvel titles are $3.99US or more now. It seems that every new Marvel title (including Defenders, which I was very much looking forward to) is now going to be $3.99US and, as mentioned previously, only 32 pages (22 pages of actual story). I've already mentioned a what I think of Marvel's current price point (see the above link) but now, after seeing those listings, I've made my mind up to drop ALL my Marvel $3.99US titles and not buy any new/ future Marvel titles at that price point but rather wait for the trade or buy them digitally. I'm even considering no longer getting the $2.99US books.

$3.99US is not a price point I'm willing to support for only 32 pages of comic. Honestly, I think Marvel - and the comic industry in general - is going to price itself out of business if it keeps going the way it is. I'm currently spending $95AU a month on comics - that's WITH those $3.99US books dropped - so I need to be selective about what I buy. 22 odd pages of story is NOT worth $4US!

While I DO hate to drop many of those $3.99US titles such as Amazing Spidey and X-Men, the price really is forcing me to do so. It's a shame, but I guess I'll no longer be makin' mine Marvel....

Sonic Generations Collectors Edition Unpack Video

2011-11-02T23:48:00.000+11:00

Today my copy of the Collectors Edition of Sonic Generations arrived. As such I thought it the perfect time to do another video seeing as I've not done one for a while. In the video I unpack the box and take a look at all the goodies inside. If you've like a more close up view of the items that come in the Collectoes Edition, you can see photos of them in my Picasa Sonic the Hedgehog gallery.

Enjoy

Ghostbusters Bishoujo Lucy

2011-10-27T22:22:00.001+11:00

If you've been following my collection galleries over at Picasa you'll know I'm big fan of the Kotobukiya Marvel Bishoujo statues. So, of course, I couldn't resist when a Ghostbusters bishoujo statue was announced. And, it arrived today.

As with all of Kotobukiya's Bishoujo statues this Ghostbusters one is of a very high build quality. Beautifuly moulded and painted, the statue looks an absolute treat on my shelf. The detail in the base and trap upon it, as well as the proton pack - while it is smaller than a proton pack would actually be - is superb.

As nice as it does look though, I wouldn't be a true Ghostbusters fan boy if I didn't nit pick a few things. Firstly, and most strangely, the girl is for some reason named 'Lucy.' No idea why Kotobukiya didn't just do a mangaesque characterisation of Janine Melnitz. She did pull on the proton pack several times in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series, after all.

I must say that I don't find Lucy's face to be as attractively sculpted as the girls from the Marvel line, but it is still pretty in its own right. My biggest problem, however, is that they've changed Lucy's pants into short-shorts by having the legs conveniently ripped. While I realise that all of the Bishoujo statues are supposed to be sexy - indeed their pin-up like quality is part of the appeal - this just seems a little cheap. Why not give her short-shorts straight up, or have her wearing tight pants similar to the Black Widow Marvel statue? At least then it'd be a somewhat legitamate reason to show off her sexy bum, rather than have her pants look like they lost a fight with a Terror Dog.

Still, even with the strange name change and the somewhat questionable 'wardrobe malfunction' this is a trully beautiful statue that I'm very happy to have as part of my Ghostbusters collection.

Spider-Man, No More!

2011-10-21T10:58:00.000+11:00

Marvel is REALLY beginning to turn me off. They have dropped the page count of Amazing Spider-Man to 22 pages of story but are keeping the price at $3.99US/8.80AU. When they started the Big Time event back in January, the book was boosted up to 30 pages of story. I'm happy to pay for 30 pages at $8.80, but 22, no way. I should say that the main factor is this is that the book is TWICE a month, not just once. If it was once, OK, I can manage that, as I but other once-a-month books at $8.80. But twice? And the worst part it I knew they'd do this, I KNEW it! I even had a discussion about it with a friend.

It's just ridiculous. If it's twice a month at just 22 story pages the book should be $2.99US/6.60AU, NOT $8.80. So I'll be dropping the title once the current Spider-Island arc finishes in two issues. Haven't decided yet if I'll move to digital copies of the book or wait for the trade, but I'm won't be buying the physical issues of Amazing Spider-Man until the issue price drops back to at least $2.99US. Marvel are doing similar thing with other $8.80AU books, dropping the story page count back to 22. Guess I'll have to re-evaluate those as well...

My New Theme Song!

2011-10-06T17:12:00.000+11:00

If I were a hardcore gansta playa, this would totally be my theme song! From Kirby Krackle's new album Super Powered Love.

Retro Collect: Prince of Persia (2008) Review

2011-10-05T16:46:00.000+11:00

Having recently completed this homage to Jordan Mencher's 1989 original I thought what better way to talk about it than write an article for the net's best retro gaming site?

You can picture the meeting at Ubi Soft. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and it's sequels had been a huge hit for the company. They were looking to expand the Prince of Persia brand. However, rather than continue with a winning formula, they decided, in their wisdom, to scrap everything and start again...

Read the full article here!

Staff Bio @ RC

2011-09-25T23:19:00.000+10:00

It's take a while, but I've finally added my staff bio to the Retro Collect Staff page (see HERE). It's been a while since I wrote an article for them due to uni, but I've several ideas for articles that I'll be working on over the next two weeks (bless holidays) so hopefully I'll have one or two of those up before the term starts back up.

Featured on RedBubble!

2011-09-10T12:21:00.000+10:00

I just received an e-mail letting my know that my artwork Comics Are Art (colour version) has been featured on the front page of art site RedBubble, where I also have my artist store. According to the e-mail RedBubble sent me less than 3 in a thousand works are chosen to appear on the front page of the site so this is something of an honour.

URL Fixed and Writings Up-dated

2011-08-25T23:42:00.000+10:00

Finally, the JoeMD.net URL is working, with or without the www. prefix. I've also up-dated the Writings page to list all of the articles I've written for both RetroCollect and ChronicleChamber since around May.

Cool Comic Covers - Retroactive Wonder Woman

2011-08-17T22:34:00.000+10:00

It's been about three months since I did a Cool Comic Covers, so I thought it was darn well time for another. In this installment I'm featuring the cover of DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman: The 70s #1 by artist Jason Bone.

For those who came in late, in the 60s DC decided that to ensure Wonder Woman would appeal to the modern, liberated woman she should become powerless and appear as more of an Emma Peel (of TV series The Avengers fame) type character. Due to being powerless she became the student of a master arts expert who was, in classic 60s style, oriental and blind. Her powers were restored of course, due to the populatiry of the 1976 Wonder Woman TV series staring Lynda Carter.

This art by Bone really captures that groovy 70s feel. His work is like a sexy version of a Disney animation and it fits that period of Wonder Woman's career perfectly.

JoeMD.net URL Not Working

2011-08-15T21:20:00.000+10:00

Ok, so something weird is going on with the JoeMD.net URL that directs people to this blog. Not sure what the problem is, it's something on my domain host's end, and I'm trying to fix it. Unfortunately, I've not ETA on when it will be resolved. Thankfully, the blog can still be accessed via the regular Blogger address of http://joemd.blogspot.com/.

I apologise for this inconvenience and I hope (really, really hope) it gets sorted soon.

Cheers.

Work In Progress: Mz Ann Thropik 2 - Part Two

2011-07-31T11:47:00.000+10:00

Ah, Uni. It always gets in the road. Just as I began adding colour to this Uni enrolments opened - which of course the art education faculty stuffed up - and then it was getting all the books ready, organising documents and into classes. It's the first week and already I've had to complete an assignment. In summation, I've not had as much time to work on this as I would have liked. However, I have been able to finish the colours on the face, so that's something.

You may remember in my original post I said that I would take out the pencil work once the colours where put in. Well, after messing around a bit, I feel the image looks much better with the pencils remaining. It gives the image a nice grungy, edgy, darker tone which, I link to think, Mzzy would appreciate.

So below you can see where the image is at thus far. Given that the week after next I have no classes on the Thursday or Friday I'll be making sure I do more on this then.

Cheers.

Read Part One.

Retro Collect: To Be This Good Takes Archie: The History of Archie Comics' Sonic Series

2011-07-09T15:58:00.001+10:00

One of my favourite comic series ever, I've taken a look at the history of Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog series for an article over at RetroCollect.

Going down in the Guinness World Records as history's longest running comic book series based upon a video game Archie Comic's Sonic The Hedgehog has gone from strength to strength. With Archie starting the series' biggest story arc ever to celebrate Sonic's 20th birthday with the just-released issue #226 now is a great time to look back at Sonic's four-colour adventures....

Read the full article HERE.

RetroCollect: Sonic Anniversary PC Pack

2011-07-01T19:40:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I picked up the Sonic Anniversary PC Pack, a release by Sega for PC fans who wish to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog's 20th birthday. I've written something of a mini-review of the pack over at RetroCollect.

PC gamers have not been left out of the loop while all the celebrations of Sonic the Hedgehog's 20th birthday. Sega has released a special anniversary pack for PC fans that contains several games and special Sonic 20th Anniversary labled mouse and mouse pad.

READ FULL ARTICLE

Work In Progress: Mz Ann Thropik 2 - Part One

2011-06-29T10:59:00.001+10:00

This is something I started waaaaay back during the last uni break but, as we only had a few days due to prac, I didn't get it anywhere near finished. It's another Mz Ann Thropik fan work, an idea I had while doing the first one.

As you can see, the pencil work is done (although somehow I managed to chop off the left hand side when I scanned it) and I thought this time I'll put the image straight into Photoshop and colour it from the pencils. The idea is to treat it more like a painting than an illustration so we'll see how that goes.

Read Part Two

Sydney Haul

2011-06-28T11:18:00.000+10:00

Rather than write about it, I thought I'd make a video of what I managed to pick up while in Sydney. The trip itself, the dinner and the con were all brilliant. I've written a wrap-up article for for CC about it all which you can read HERE. For now, though, I hope you enjoy the video. Sorry about the bad sound quality though. it was taken with my small pocket camera and, obviously, video is not it's best setting.

Retro Collect: Thor: God of Thunder Review

2011-06-23T16:53:00.002+10:00

Long has the film-to-game adaptation been seen as a scourge across the face of the gaming world. But lo, a new warrior in the form of Thor: God of Thunder comes. Will the tides forever more be changed?
There is some fun to be had in Sega's adaptation of the recent Marvel Studios' film based upon one of Marvel Comics' longest serving heroes, and I don't just mean the excuse to use purple prose when talking about it. However, for all the good there is also some bad in Thor, but we shall come to that....

Read the full review HERE.

A Gathering @ Supanova, Sydney

2011-06-15T13:17:00.000+10:00

This Friday, my girl and I are off to Sydney. While we'll be spending a few days there the main reason for our trip is Supanova, Australia's biggest pop-culture expo. Of course, the large amounts of money that will be spent on comics and related awesomeness is only part of the reason for going. As with previous years ChronicleChamber.com is having a Gathering of Phantom fans. It's going to be great to catch up with all those guys again, looking through back issue bins and trading stories. And, as with 2009, the Lee Falk Memorial Bengalla Explorer's Club is having another of their dinners the night of the con, so we'll all be there as well.

Excitingly, this will be my first con at which I'll be cosplaying. Originally I had planned to go as Doctor Strange but due to some cock up with shipping between the US and Australia the cape that I was to use as part of the costume never arrived. Thus, my plan was dashed. However, I found that by wearing my cravat shirt with my velvet purple pinstripe coat, black jeans and black boots I can pull off a rather convincing 3rd Doctor costume. I even have his cape from an old Mandrake costume!

Apart from the con Ms E and I shall be frolicking around Sydney taking in the sights, spending many hours in book stores and cafes and (hopefully) dodging the rain. It all adds up to a very good time.

On an unrelated note, this shall be my last post from my beloved laptop for a little while. The poor dear has lost the use of its quick-touch buttons and thus needs to spend some time at the doctors. Hopefully it won't be too long of a stay as I do feel somewhat naked without it. I also hope the repair isn't going to be too costly. I'll have to battle through with the family desktop which, frankly, is rather rubbish, so it'll be a hard few days. Still, I have heaps of retro games that need to be played to take my mind off it.

So, until my return from abroad, I bid you all a fond few days.

Uni Pin-Up

2011-06-04T22:24:00.000+10:00

Uni lectures are boring, so what do you do to pass the time? Do a few pin-up sketches, of course!

Kirby Krackle's Ring Capacity Video

2011-06-01T11:25:00.000+10:00

Geek rock band Kirby Krackle have released an animated video for their brilliant Green Lantern inspired song, Ring Capacity. Easily their best video yet, this NEEDS to appear in the Green Lantern movie!

The Doctor's Wife

2011-05-21T20:55:00.001+10:00

I've seen it twice. I may have teared up both times. I expected Neil Gaiman's Doctor Who episode to be good but that - THAT - was the most amazing episode yet. It's level of brilliance will depend on your familiarity with the show but, for me, this is the single best episode since the 2005 resurrection.

Blink, The Doctor Dances, 42, Vincent and the Doctor, they were all brilliant but The Doctor's Wife hit every single note a Who story should and paid homage to the show's history AND gave us arguably the most important character interaction we've ever seen. I can't describe how much I love this episode, but you all know how much I love Doctor Who so I'm sure you can imagine.

Cool Comic Covers - Inspector Gadget FCBD

2011-05-17T22:18:00.000+10:00

Of all the titles on offer for this year's Free Comic Book Day, Viper Comics' preview of their up-coming Inspector Gadget series was the one I was looking forward to most (you may remember me mentioning it here). Thankfully, I was not disappointed as the comic brilliantly captures the spirit of the cartoon series. Presented with a beautiful cover by Jose Coba, I can't wait until the first issue hits the stands.

Mr.D

2011-05-10T17:32:00.000+10:00

Going into my third week of prac teaching I realised that I am, in fact, not hating it. Which is a good thing considering I've spent no small amount of money and time on this course. The school I'm at, which I'll not give the name of to protect the innocent, is a nice enough school, which is at odds with the bad name it has however this is mainly due to the area it is situated in. The staff are all welcoming and I feel very at home (that's a scary thing to say!) in the staffroom. Apart from one or two all the students I've encountered thus far have been far from monstrous. While they do misbehave, it's more often the kind of misbehaving in which they sit at their desks and do nothing rather than yell and scream or throw chairs, which is nice.

So things are going well thus far. I'm not the biggest fan of sport day, however. Not being a sporty person (just in case you haven't figured that on out already) two periods of basketball and netball is not exactly what I call a good time. Why can't it be two periods of Video Game Appreciation, starting with the Sega Master System and going forward? At any rate, the first two and a bit weeks have been going well. Here's hoping the last two and a bit weeks are the same.

RetroCollect: Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine Review

2011-04-25T20:33:00.001+10:00

A Sonic tie-in game in which Sonic doesn't even appear is one of the best puzzle games from Sega. A great little game that will keep you up nights and leave blisters on your thumbs.

No Sonic, lots of villains and a heap of cute little beans. By looking at the colourful, cartoony visuals of Doctor Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine you'd be forgiven for passing it off as quick Sonic cash-in. However, this is one fiendish puzzle game that will have you returning over and over again.

Read the full article HERE.

Elisabeth Sladen: 1948 - 2011

2011-04-20T13:36:00.000+10:00

Elisabeth Sladen, arguably the most famous of the Doctor Who companions, who travelled in the TARDIS as Sarah Jane Smith from 1973 to 1976 and reprised her role for all three of David Tennant's series, passed away yesterday morning after a battle with cancer. She was 63.

To say that I, and I'm sure thousands of my fellow Doctor Who fans, am sadened by this is something of an understatement. Sarah Jane was and is one of the most loved characters of Doctor Who and will forever be remembered as one of the Doctor's greatest companions.

She will be sorely, sorely missed.

Cool Comic Covers #30 - Nonplayer #1

2011-04-13T16:01:00.000+10:00

Nonplayer #1 is filled with the most beautiful art I've seen since...Jamie McKelvie's are in Phonogram, another Image title. I adore the simple flow of lines what McKelvie achieves and Nate Simpson takes it to a whole other level with his work here. Of course the astoundingly beautiful colours don't hurt either.

The story goes something like this;

Mid-21st century America doesn't have much to offer Dana Stevens, but there's plenty for her to live for inside Warriors of Jarvath, the world's most popular full-immersion online game. In the real world, she's a tamale delivery girl who still lives with her mom, but inside the game she's an elite assassin. When she gets the drop on King Heremoth, a celebrity non-player character, she thinks she's finally got a shot at fame. But when she slays Queen Fendra, the King's reaction is disconcertingly realistic. Something's amiss in Jarvath, and the effects may reverberate well beyond the boundaries of the game.

It's an interesting riff on the current MMO game craze but even if video games aren't your thing you really should check this title out for the art alone. But my words cannot convey just how wondrous Simpson's art is, so take a look for yourselves and be sure to check out the Nonplayer website..

Cover art -

Interior art -

T-shirt Design: "Comics Are Art"

2011-04-01T17:50:00.000+11:00

Here's my latest t-shirt design, "Comics Are Art." As you can see below there are two versions of the design, one with frames and one with speech bubbles. Both designs are available for men and women for $25AU each from RedBubble.

I've also just signed up to Artician Pro. It offers a bunch of services that the regular account doesn't and at only $5 a month it's a pretty good deal. Still, I'll try it for a few months and see how it goes.

Housekeeping

2011-03-30T12:57:00.002+11:00

I've changed a few links around the place - mostly to do with my Artician gallery and portfolio - as well as up-dated my artist story. So if you haven't checked out either for a while please take a look at the new edits as they flow a lot better than previously, especially the Gallery.

Cool Comic Covers #29

2011-03-29T22:22:00.000+11:00

I know that usually I post covers of comics I've read, but after seeing this cover for Sonic the Hedgehog #226, the first issue of the series' reboot, I just had to post it!

The cover, by artist Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante, harks back to the grand days of Sonic's first outing on the Sega Mega Drive. So while I await this issue I'll be drooling over this awesome cover and hope you enjoy it just as much.

RetroCollect: Deus Ex - Still the Best Game Ever?

2011-03-26T19:46:00.000+11:00

When it was released in 2000 Deus Ex was hailed as the Best PC Game of All Time by various magazines. Now, 11 years on, I've taken a look back at this gaming milestone to see if it can still hold that title.

Deus Ex. If you were at all interested in PC gaming in the early 2000's it is a title that you would have heard quite a lot. Released that year by Edios Interactive and developed by Ion Storm, Deus Ex received huge amounts of praise from the gaming press, including Game of the Year awards from nearly every corner and even Best PC Game of All Time from PC Gamer and PC Zone. In the eleven years since the game’s release many high-profile games have come and gone so can Dues Ex still retain its title of Best PC Game of All Time? Let us don our sunglasses and trench coats and find out...

Read the full article at RetroCollect.com!

Read Pile - 20/03/2011

2011-03-20T20:43:00.000+11:00

After reading a few books on my Read Pile list I decided that rather than just write about it I'd make a video of myself looking like a fool talking about them. ^_^

Enjoy.

The Goddess And The God (Inked)

2011-03-13T19:21:00.000+11:00

This is the inked version of my Goddess and God work. Apart from the ink I also altered a few things to improve the balance, composition and anatomy of the image.

Again using various hatching techniques which Ive been experimenting with for a little while now I feel this is a great improvement over the pencil version. Still, Id love to hear any thought you guys might have.

Cheers.

Uni 2011

2011-03-06T02:03:00.000+11:00

The first week back at Uni is done and I'm already exhausted. It's amazing how draining sitting in lectures and tutorials for six hours a day can be on your mental faculties which, in turn, drains you physically as well. This semester is going to absolutely crazy as a whole semester has been crammed into eight weeks to due prac.

I'm not sure exactly how much time I'll have to post here this semester but I shall try to continue to do so as well as write articles for RetroCollect. However now I need to rest my weary brain.

Until the morrow. TTFN

Anti-Valentine's 2011 Shirt and Card

2011-02-26T23:24:00.000+11:00

I've been having trouble up-loading work to RedBubble of late, and that is why these additions have been a little while coming. However, those issues seem to have sorted themselves so now my Anti-Valentine's 2011 design is available as both a t-shirt and gift card. You can buy the t-short from RedBubble HERE and the card HERE. Take a look below for a preview of the designs.

RetroCollect: Master of Darkness Review

2011-02-26T14:14:00.000+11:00

My third article for RetroCollect is now on-line. My first review article for the site, I take a look at one of my favorite Sega Master System games, the Castlevania inspired gothic horror adventure title Master of Darkness.

Castlevania is a game that is mentioned a lot in the reto gaming press. It’s a classic title that has stood the test of time and continues to excite gamers. Spare a thought then for fans of Sega’s Master System console as Konami never released their game – in any capacity – on Sega’s little 8-bit machine. However, hope shone through in the form of Master of Darkness.

Read the full article HERE.

I've also added a writing portfolio to the site. It lists all of the stories, interviews, reviews and articles I've written that have appeared on-line. You can find it under the Portfolios tab in the menu, or direct link to it HERE.

Christchurch

2011-02-24T08:20:00.002+11:00

I would like to send out thoughts and well wishes out to all those in Christchurch, New Zealand who have personally or have friends and family who have been affected by the horrible earthquake there. With 60+ lives already lost and hundreds of people displaced, I hope that soon the mending can begin and that no more tragedy lies ahead.

Quoted by Collectorz

2011-02-20T00:45:00.000+11:00

Today I got the newest newsletter from Collectorz, the company who produces the comic database (as well as movie and game db) program I use for cataloging my collection. In it they quoted my thoughts on the newest version of the comic db program, which I thought was rather nice of them.

Joe Douglas:
"I've spent the last hour or so adding comics to v.5, both manually and
automatically and I've gotta say I'm REALLY loving the new version.
The new layout for the Add Comic window seems to flow a lot more smoothly IMO,
with the new order of various fields in more logical places.
The new Vee Five templates are great, I really appreciate their clearer,
cleaner appearance. As for Add Comics Automatically, the tree list makes
things a lot easier to find the issues I'm after.
This is by far the best version of Comic Collector so far."

Anti-Valentine's 2011

2011-02-14T10:16:00.000+11:00

Although I said I wasn't going to do one, my girlfriend convinced me that having the ani-Valentine's Day works be a yearly thing would actually be pretty cool. I had two days to come up with something so I put on MzAnnThropik rather loud, sat, thought, drew and this is what came out.

In the next few days I'll be making this available as both a greeting card and t-shirt over at RedBubble. I'll let you know once they are up.

Cheers

Hidden from Facebook

2011-02-11T14:39:00.000+11:00

In their infinite wisdom the people at Facebook have made it harder to follow all your friends and pages. For the full story on this, check out THIS page but the basic problem is as follows;

Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your newsfeed from the same people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, the same circle of people are commenting and everyone else seems to be ignoring you?

Don't worry, everyone still loves you and nobody has intentionally blocked you. The problem is that a large chunk of your friend/fan list can't see anything you post and here's why:

The "New Facebook" has a newsfeed setting that by default is automatically set to show ONLY posts from people who you've recently interacted with or interacted the most with (which would be limited to the couple of weeks just before people started switching to the new profile). So in other words, for both business and personal pages, unless your friends/fans commented on one of your posts within those few weeks or vice versa - you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

HERE'S THE FIX: Scroll down to the bottom of the newsfeed on the homepage and click on "Edit Options", click on "Show Posts From" and change the setting to "All Of Your Friends and Pages" Note: This is the fix for personal pages but I am unsure of whether or not the business pages are set up the same way.

As you're probably aware you can follow me via Twitter and, of course, here, but if you're on Facebook please make sure my Facebook page isn't hidden from your news stream.

Harlequin Valentine

2011-02-11T00:29:00.001+11:00

Valentine's Day. If you've been following my blog(s) for a while now you might recall that I've done a few anit-Valentine's Day type artworks. This year I've several works in the midst of being created and, as Valentine's is a "holiday" that I feel is rather insulting, I'm not going to do such a work. However, in keeping with the "Valentine's be buggered" theme of previous years I present one of the greatest works of art to be inspired by this most unnecessary to days, Harlequin Valentine by the brilliant Neil Gaiman.

You can hear Neil read his short story HERE as either a download or streaming audio.

Enjoy.

Cool Comic Covers #28

2011-02-09T23:09:00.000+11:00

A new batch of comics, a new entry in Cool Comic Covers. This time we have Wonder Girl: Growing Pains, a one-shot whose cover is provided by Jason Wright, Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood (pencils, inks, colours respectively.) Not read the issue yet, but I hope the interior is as good as the exterior.

RetroCollect: Getting to Know Lara Croft

2011-02-03T16:43:00.000+11:00

My second article for RetroCollect, Getting to Know Lara Croft, is now on-line. The article looks at how I came to know Lara through the Top Cow comic book series Tomb Raider: The Series long before I'd played a Tomb Raider game.

Tomb Raider: The Series was the first US comic I bought regularly and I absolutely loved it. I still feel the original 20 issues by Andy Park and Dan Jurgens are some of the best comics I've ever read. Parks' art in particular was a HUGE inspiration to me and my art career. The article is something of a love letter to those first 20 issues.

Hope you enjoy.

Experiment

2011-02-01T23:24:00.000+11:00

Today I did a little experiment. I wondered what it would be like to colour a black and white image which has shadow already defined in it. For this little task I used my Grace 2008 work , below you can see the result. What do you think?

Utility Belt #17

2011-02-01T20:00:00.002+11:00

Goings On: Yesterday was a long, hot, tiering day. So, today I decided to give myself a day off from doing anything too stressful and spent my time reading Retro Gamer and Wonder Woman, playing Dragon Age: Awakening (which I finished ^_^) and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and watching Doctor Who.
What I'm reading: As I mentioned, Wonder Woman or, to be more specific, Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals. It's the first trade that collects George Perez's groundbreaking run on the title. In 1987 DC wanted to reintroduce Wonder Woman to the world and this series of trades is the result of that. So much though has been put into the history and culture of the Amazons, from how to came to be to what they represent. Even the famous bullet reflecting bracelets are given an actual historic meaning. It's wonderful!
What I'm watching: Re watching series 5 (31 in actuality) of Doctor Who on DVD. Up to the first part of the Angels story. Enjoying it just as much as the firs time 'round.
Listening to: A mix of various metal artists. Been feeling a little wild.
Playing: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, which I just started today. The isometric view works really well and it's a fun game. Hopefully it won't get overly frustrating at points as other Tomb Raider games tend to.
Favorite recent purchase: Recently scored the compete series one of Legend of the Seeker on DVD for $35 off eBay. Looking forward to that arriving in the post!
Aim for tomorrow: No plans really. A spot of drawing, more tomb raiding and then whatever takes my fancy.

To finish this post off here's something rather cool, Kirby Krackle's newest video for their song Secret Identity. Enjoy.

So Many Books, So Little Time

2011-01-31T23:57:00.001+11:00

As most people do I made some New Year's resolutions. One of those resolutions was to start reading all those books that have been sitting on my bookshelf since I bought them, some for years. Thus I've created a list of all the books (be they novels, biographic, factual, etc) and graphic novels that I've yet to read. The list is rather long.

As time passes I'll periodically post here on the main page what books I've crossed off the list. I've also posted a full list of the books HERE. As I read a book the list will be up-dated accordingly.

Here is a full list of the books;

Books:

20th Century Ghosts

A Life in Time and Space: The Biography of David Tennant

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Alchemy of Mirrormask

Beowulf

DC Comics 75th Anniversary Poster Book

DC Comics Covergirls

Dracual (unabridged)

Dragon Age: The Calling

Drawing Down the Moon

Earth Power

Four Lovers, The

Graveyard Book, The

Hit

Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Marvel Chronicle

Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa, The

Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman

Sandman: Book of Dreams

Smoke and Mirrors

Spiral Dance

Unholy Ghosts

Witch - A Magical Year

Writing Comics and Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels:

Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1

Absolute Sandman, Vol. 2

Absolute Sandman, Vol. 3

Absolute Sandman, Vol. 4

Arrival, The

Bomb Queen, Vol. 1

Bomb Queen, Vol. 2

Bomb Queen, Vol. 5

Bone: Tall Tales

Books of Magic

Dark Reign: Young Avengers

Defenders: Indefensable

Devi, Vol. 3

Devi, Vol. 4

Diana Prince: Wonder Woman, Vol. 1

Dick Tracy, Vol. 1

Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil

Dr. Strange VS Dracula

Echo, Vol. 1

Echo, Vol. 2

Echo, Vol. 3

Essential Dr. Strange, Vol.2

Essential Ms. Marvel

Essential Spider-Woman, Vol. 2

Fables, Vol. 2

Fables, Vol. 3

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic, Vol. 1

Green Lantern: Secret Origins

Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead

Lost at Sea

Marvel Divas

Mouse Guard, Vol. 2

Moving Pictures

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2

Nobody, The

NYX: No Way Home

Phantom: Complete Newspaper Strips, Vol. 1, The

Phonogram: The Singles Club

Red Sonja Omnibus

Runaways, Vol. 1

Runaways, Vol. 2

Sandman: Endless Nights

Sandman Presents Dead Boy Detectives

Sherlock Holmes

Signal to Noise

Silence, The

Spellcheckers

Spider-Man 2099, Vol. 1

Spider-Woman: Agent of Sword

Supergirl, Vol. 1

Supergirl, Vol. 2

Tomb Raider Trankobon, Vol. 4

Tomb Raider Trankobon, Vol. 5

Uncanny X-Men: Lovelorn

Uncanny X-Men: Manifest Destiny

Witching Hour, The

Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals

Cool Comic Covers #25 - 27

2011-01-30T15:37:00.000+11:00

Due to the holidays and all the goings on they have entailed I've missed a few weeks worth of Cool Comic Covers entries. Thus, I've chosen my three favorite covers from the last three weeks and present them here.

First up we have Brightest Day #16 by Gary Frank and Nathan Eyring. It's got great composition in a classic hero VS hero image.

Secondly, it's Birds of Prey #7 by Stanly "Artgerm" Lau. I really like this depiction of Batman. His somber expression, the lighting, the flow of the cape. It's a beautiful image I'd love to have on my wall.

Last but certainly not least we have Zatanna #8 by Stephane Roux. The cover captures what I love most about this series - it's spirit of fun and not taking itself too seriously. It's also a gorgeous splash image

The Creators Front for Diversity in Comics

2011-01-29T15:07:00.000+11:00

The Creators Front for Diversity in Comics is a new movement by creators of original comic IPs within the comics industry to bring more originality to the medium. While I do love superheroes I will admit that "saturation" is too light a word when describing their make up of the comics market. It is incredibly hard for an original, creator owned series to get up and running. This is not something that will change overnight, but by supporting creators of original comics perhaps some headway, however small, could be made.

The following video discusses and illustrates this situation better than I could explaine. At first it may seem nothing more than satire or a cheap knock at superhero books but stick with it to the end and your eyes will be opened.

To support The Creators Front for Diversity in Comics visit their Facebook page and click the Like button.

Twitted

2011-01-28T19:07:00.000+11:00

You may recall that some time ago I closed down my Twitter account. Well since then and now a friend of mine remarked on how I shouldn't have closed it because it's a good way to make contacts. This has been playing on my mind for the last few weeks and I've realised that he was indeed right. Thus, I've re-upped my Twitter account. Luckily I've been able to use the same user name, so you can find me exactly where I was before at @Joe_MD.

I hope that anyone who may have followed me previously will do so again, and of course I'll return the favor. ^_^

In other news, now that the fixing of the ceiling at the house is done and only the painting (and moving furniture - ugh) remains I can sit and draw comfortable again. I've several ideas I'll be working on over the next few weeks, including more geeky t-shirts, a fan work and a re-imagining of an older painting series I did some years ago.

Until then,

TTFN

First RetroCollect Article

2011-01-18T09:52:00.002+11:00

If you've been visiting the blog for a little while now you may have noticed the RetroCollect banner in the menu. RetroCollect is, as the name suggests, a web site for retro game collectors and is by far my favorite website on the subject. It's houses heaps of information about games for a huge variety of systems, has a brilliant community and a great forum. It also hosts some very interesting and well written articles of which I can proudly claim to now be the writer thereof. Well, the writer of one of them, anyway. ^_^

While writing an entry that was originally going to appear here I decided, on a whim, to send it to the RetroCollect crew to see if they'd like to use it. Happily, they liked it so much the offered me a regular writers gig on their site. That original article has not yet appeared (although it will be soon) however I've written another that is now on the site. Entitled Top Five Comic Book Retro Games, I'm sure you can guess what it's about. You can read the article HERE.

As mentioned I've one other article ready to go and another in the works so I'll have more work features on RetroCollect in the future. It's great to be able to write about a subject I love, so I can't wait to do more!

Spirit of Awen T-shirt

2011-01-17T00:05:00.000+11:00

Over at my RedBubble account I've made Spirit of Awen available as t-shirts, stickers, cards and prints. It's also the first work I've used on a 'girly fitted t-shirt.' (Seriously, that's what RB calls the style!) As with the previous t-shirts, Spirit of Awen is available in various sizes and colours and costs $30AU.

PKE Meter

2011-01-14T15:55:00.000+11:00

Yesterday my Ghostbusters PKE Meter toy replica arrived from Matty Collector. I have the brilliant Vivek to thank for getting me the collectible as I would not have been able to order it myself due to being away from home on release day. Thanks man, I hope my small gift to you goes some way in saying thanks.

Below are several photos of the PKE Meter, however photos alone are not enough to showcase its brilliance thus I also recorded a short video of the PKE in action.

Enjoy.

Check out all of my collection photos HERE.

Spirit of Awen - Coloured

2011-01-08T17:23:00.000+11:00

I've finished my first attempt at colouring using the graphics tablet I received for Christmas. The image I coloured was Spirit of Awen, the black and white version of which I posted a while ago. I'd always intended to do a colour version of the image at some point so it was the perfect image to use for my first attempt. So, without further ado, here it is (be sure to click the image for the full version).

I'm pretty happy with it, I think it's a decent job for a first attempt. I'm sure there are many areas that could be improved and I know there is much I've still to learn in the way of technique and so forth, but I think this looks rather nice.

Please note that there isn't a Recent Works links for this yet because Artician is having issues with its' submissions. Once that is sorted and the work is on the site I'll add a link there.

Utility Belt #16

2011-01-06T18:48:00.000+11:00

Goings On: Since Christmas most of my time has been spent playing with my Wacom tablet. I've almost completed my first colouring work with it and it's been a joy. Also, I've a writing project that is about to take off and, happily, someone bout a whole slew of gear from my RedBubble art store. Yay!
Best thing about this weekend: As it's the holidays it's been like one big weekend. But I'm off to Newcastle soon to spend time with my girl and buy more comics, and that's always awesome!
What I'm reading: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. When I was in early high school I read an abridged version, so this is my first reading of the unabridged text. I'm enjoying it so far, but some of it is hard to get through.
What I'm watching: Just finished watching Superman: Doomsday which is basically an adaptation of Death of Superman and his return from the dead. Pretty good film but the best thing on the DVD, for me, was the documentary about the goings on when the original Death of Superman comics came out and the aftermath of it.
At the Moment: Chillaxing. Yes, I hate that word too, but it's the best description for what I'm doing right now.
Listening to: The Deux Ex soundtrack.
Playing: Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. I have completely fallen in love with the Dragon Age world so being able to revisit it with Awakening is great.
Favorite recent purchase: Pier Solar, a brand new game for the Sega Mega Drive by some homebrewers. It's an RPG and, by all accounts, epic, both attributes that I love in my games! These kind of releases are far and few between so it'll be a collectors item!
Aim for tomorrow: Probably try and finish my article for my writing project (more on that once it's 100% confirmed) and reading more Sonic Universe comics. I've 18 to go!

Intermission

2010-12-31T10:42:00.000+11:00

The days since Christmas leading up to New Year's have been nice and relaxing. Seeing my little cousins was a treat (sooo cute) as has been playing with one my of presents, a Wacom Intuos 4 graphics tablet! Something I've wanted for a long while, my parents were kind enough to buy me one this year. It's amazing fun to use and I've been colouring an piece which was originally black and white so that I can learn how to use the tablet. I've a lot to learn but learning is going to be a lot of fun!

Apart from the tablet I received many brilliant gifts. My parents also bought me the DC Comics 75th Anniversary Poster Book which provides high quality reproductions of famous DC covers which can be removed from the book and framed. From my grandparents I received Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane, a novel that I hope is as cool as it sounds; and from my lovely girl I was given a brilliant pagan ring and some awesome Wonder Woman drinking glasses. I was also lucky enough to recive enough money to buy one of the new iPod Nano, 6th generation players.

Now, leading up to the New Year, I'm considering what my Resolutions should be. There area few things I want to do next year so they might go on the list. Nothing too life altering, but things I've been wanting to do for a while.

Hope everyone's holiday break was good and your New Year proves to be just as grand.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-24T12:01:00.000+11:00

Not being Christian I don't observe Christmas' "traditional" religious overtones. When others celebrate Christmas I'm celebrating Litha, but I still view it as that time of the year when friends, family and loved ones gather around to eat, talk and be merry.

Given that so many people have so many varied ways of celebrating tomorrow I won't say happy Christmas, but rather Happy Holidays.

Hope you all have a good one!

(image courtesy of Christopher Walker)

Re-Discovered!

2010-12-18T17:42:00.001+11:00

Going through an old art storage folder that I hadn't had out for a few years I discovered several forgotten works form around 2002-2005. I took photos of my favorite "rediscovered" pieces to share them here. Sorry the reproduction isn't the best, but you should get an idea (you can of course click on the images for bigger versions).

This first image is interesting at I've used a lot of crosshatching, something I've returned to now. I actually do remember this first image; it was at a time when it was thought that Cyan, the company responsible for the Myst series, would be shutting down. This image was, obviously, a tribute to the company. The second is an unfinished page of a Phantom comic. I can't recall what the story was to be.

This third image is a page from an un-finished Myst comic. I have the script lying around somewhere. I did four pages in total, but this was the only one to be inked. As for the fourth image I'm wondering what my inspiration for it was. I was reading a lot of fantasy comics at the time so many it came from that.

Finding the fifth image was a bit of a shock. I've hardly ever used pastels and can not remember doing this image, yet my signature is on it. Even though the proportions are out the use of colour is surprising because I've never been that confident in my colour work. Maybe I should do some more pastel images! The last image is obviously inspired by Riven. I think it might have been a sketch I did when I was doing my Diploma of Fine Art, but I'm not certain.

So there you have it, six re-discovered works from the dusty depths of my art draw. Even though most are unfinished, it's interesting to look back at what I was doing eight or so years ago and compare it to the work I'm doing now.

Red Sun

2010-12-12T11:07:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we had an amazing sun set in which the whole sky turned a brilliant orange-red. They joys of living on a farm, the juxtaposition of the red and the greenery was amazing. I took a few photos but the following, in which the light of the sun silhouettes all else, is by far my favorite.

Also, my Sonic Screwdriver DS Stylus arrived!

Asterix - Sega Master System

2010-12-07T22:54:00.000+11:00

It's been a while since I put up a video but finally I've got around to doing another in which I look at Asterix for the Sega Master System and get a bit tongue tied in the process which makes me sound a bit...special. ^_^

Arwen and E-Mails.

2010-12-06T17:47:00.002+11:00

As you all know, I love Liv Tyler and although I already had the deluxe Arwen LOTR figure I just couldn't help bidding on the 6 inch LOTR:ROTK Arwen figure of her in her coronation gown. Happily, I won the bid and the figure arrived today. It's a great likeness of Liv and now sits atop my bed head (yes, this one I look out of the box! 0.0 ).

If you'd like to see more detailed photos the figure, check out my Collections gallery.

Just before logging on to post this very entry I saw that I had an e-mail from non other than Amy Reeder Hadley, artist of the now ended Madame Xanadu. You may remember my anguish at the series' ending. Apart from writing that entry lamenting the series' closure, I also sent an e-mail to both writer Matt Wagner and, of course, Amy. Well, Amy kindly replied to my e-mail and this is what she said;

Hi Joe, this is so kind! Thank you for the kind words. It's crazy but a great feeling to know that people have loved it--I certainly put a lot of love INTO it! Best wishes and happy holidays,

Amy

Although they do a lot while creating the books we enjoy, it's always wonderful to see creators taking a few moments to talk to fans.

Thanks, Amy!

Sketches and Comic Covers #24

2010-12-05T14:09:00.000+11:00

Since my last sketches post I've been working on a few images between reading comics and books, seeing friends and going back to the future. Thus, here I present scans of the images in their current form. Any guesses to who they might be?

As we're on the subject of art here is my favorite comic cover from the last batch of issues I picked up. Featuring the amazing talents of Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic, the cover is a brilliant depiction of Vampirella in all her dark beauty. Unfortunately, however, the best thing about Vampirella #1 from Dynamite Entertainment is this very cover.

Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Screening

2010-12-04T19:06:00.000+11:00

If there are two movies I'd give my right arm to see on the big screen, it'd be Ghostbusters and Back to the Future. Well, BTTF can be scratched off the list. On Wednesday night my girl and I traveled to Sydney for the Back to the Movies: Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Charity Re-screening at the Event Cinemas in George Street. Put on by Parkinson's NSW to help raise awareness and charitable support for Parkinson's research it was a night that made one dream of this geek come true - to get to sit behind the wheel of that famous DeLorean.

Emma and I both got dressed up for the night (people were encouraged to dress in either 1950's attire or as one of the trilogy's characters) and arrived an hour early to ensure we got good seats, which we did. Not only were there good seats from which to view the film, but my seat was one of the randomly picked seats to hide a prize copy of the newly released BluRay edition of the trilogy. Now I just need a BlurRy plater. ^_^ There was also an air-guitar contest to win a guitar that looked amazingly similar to the one played by Marty in the closing scenes of the film. And then, of course, there was the film itself.

People say that seeing a movie in a cinema is the best movie experience one can have. They're wrong. Seeing a movie in a cinema filled with fans is the height of movie viewing awesomeness. No crying kids, not annoying tween girls constantly on their mobiles, but rather rapturous applause when the actors names appear on screen and cheers when the film's title pops up. The energy and atmosphere that is in such a screening is tangible. And unlike anything else you'll experience at the cinema.

While the whole night was amazing there one moment that remains the strongest in my mind is when, at the end of the film, the whole audience all as one accompanied Doc Brown in those final, immortal words;

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!"

A Journey Through Riven

2010-11-29T23:31:00.001+11:00

Today I was moving some files around on my computer when I came across some images I forgot I had stored on my HD. They were scans of a book I'd made during my second year of art school, way back in 2005.

I'm sure that at some point you've heard people talk about books or films or music that changed their life. Something that hit a certain chord within them and altered the way they viewed not just the world but themselves as well. For me, that life changing thing was the Myst series of video games and novels, in particular the first two games in the series, Myst and its sequel, Riven. If you've never played Myst then it's hard to understand just how powerful and moving this game can be. Ignore any pre-conceptions you may have about video games because Myst doesn't fit them. As one reviewer described it, you do so much play Myst, as experience it.

For our major drawing assessment that year we were tasked with creating a work that had, in some way, great personal significance. While many of my fellow classmates draw portraits of family and friends I decided to do something a little different. Myst had already taken hold of me and changed the way I looked at my own work and the work of artists, writers, painters, etc that I admired and I wanted to have my major work reflect this in some way.

Within the Myst fan community it is common for people to write journals of their adventures through the Myst world while playing the game. This may sound strange to those of you who have never played Myst, however books are a very large part of the Myst mythology and this journal structure fits well. There are literally hundreds of player journals on-line.

So, I decided to create a journal of my time exploring the worlds of Riven. I made the book by hand using paper, thick cardboard to make the covers sturdy, binding tape, a nice textured paper for the cover and string to bind the interior pages together. Every page was hand written, first in pencil so I could get a balanced flow of words and images, and then over it all in pen-and-ink. I used a pen-and-ink nib because I wanted it to have that scratchy, old-world look of an ancient journal. It was a long process and it took many hours of writing and many hand cramps but I am still terribly proud of the end result.

I honestly can't remember what my mark for it was, but I passed the course so I guess it couldn't have been too bad. Having found these scans I thought I'd share them here. Unfortunately, there aren't terribly big (although it seems I made larger scans of some of the illustrations which I've also included here), but I hope they'll give you an idea of what the journal looks like and the work that went into it.

This journal was very much a labor of love when I was making it. I hope you enjoy this small glimpse.

An Unearthly Child

2010-11-28T21:26:00.001+11:00

Recently I re-watched the very first episode of Doctor Who which originally aired on the 23rd November, 1963. Titled An Unearthly Child, the episode is a perfect introduction to the world of Doctor Who and, as I watched the episode, I realized just how amazing the episode truly is.

Those who are not familial with the pre-2005 series of Doctor Who would find the episode very interesting, even puzzling. In an absolutely brilliant piece of writing the episode actually places the Doctor himself in the villain role for most of the episode. The story of An Unearthly Child follows two high-school teachers, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, who are completely bemused by their newest student, Susan Foreman. Investigating Susan they find that her "home" is an old junkyard. Upon investigation they discover the TARDIS in the junkyard and here encounter the Doctor.

The first Doctor, as played by the brilliant William Hartnell, was an argumentative, somewhat arrogant man. Completely secure in his own genius (and he is a genius) he could be patronizing and condescending to those around him. He is completely mysterious and there is an air of danger about him. However, thanks to Hartnell's wonderful performance (even with the odd dialog fluff) he also holds an air of power, of greatness. We can tell straight away that there is something more to this mysterious character. Even so, the audiences' uncertainty as to if the Doctor is holding Susan captive or not coupled with his actions toward th end of the episode make the Doctor a figure who lays very much in the "grey area" of heros. This puts him at odds with many of his future incarnations, with the possible exception of the 6th Doctor, and there are hints of the 1st Doctors' personality coming through in Matt Smith's 11th Doctor.

Another interesting point is that for a program now known for its monsters there actually are no monsters at all in the first episode (or, indeed, the following four episodes). As mentioned before, the Doctor is effectively the villain of this story, or at least the anti-hero. The story oozes mystery and while both the Doctor and Susan explain where they come from there is just enough information left out to make the viewer want to know more. It's also worth pointing out that the Doctor's first companions where never given the choice to come along or not.

For a series that was originally envisioned as a childrens' program this episode is pretty heady stuff. We have a hero - the show is called Doctor Who after all - who at best appears cantankerous and yet asks children to follow him. However, the first episode is cleverly told through the eyes of Barbra and Ian. The program never once talks down to it's target audience, something so many children's programs seem to do nowdays. It's a very intelligent episode, more-so than some (perhaps most) of the current series.

Watching An Unearthly Child it's easy to see why a whole generation fell in love with the show. The original Doctor was very much a walking man of mystery. A bold, abrasive old man that somehow remained endearing. It's a brilliant episode and if you've only seen the 2005 series and never had the chance to see An Unearthly Child I highly recommend searching it out (you should be able to hire it from your local video store).

To close this post on possibly my favorite Doctor Who episode ever in its 47 year history, I've posted below an excellent tribute to the first Doctor I found on YouTube. Enjoy.

Cool Comic Covers #23 - Batman Incorperated

2010-11-25T23:40:00.000+11:00

With DC putting the prices on all of their comics back to $2.99US unlike some other major comics publishers (that's you, Marvel) it means that more awesome books are able to be bought. Such as, for example, Batman Incorporated. The cover for this issue is by J.H. Williams III and is one heck of an image, I think you'll agree!

A Little Bit of Housekeeping

2010-11-24T19:25:00.001+11:00

Due to leaving DA, I've had to re-organize he above menu a little bit. Nothing too drastic, just took out the DA stuff and made access to my profile and gallery on Artician a little easier. I've also added some Quick Contact links to the left hand menu bar under Recent Works. By clicking on the icons there you'll be able to e-mail me, get the blog's RSS feed, and visit me on Facebook and YouTube (respectively).

Speaking of Facebook, I've recently created a dedicated page for my art there. All blog posts be linked there and I'll also be adding art work from time to time to the page's gallery, so it's another way you can keep up with what's going on. You can access the pafe by clicking the quick links button or via the main menu under Correspondence.

I've also added the ability to "like" each post on Facebook. Simply click the Like button that appears at the bottom of each post to like it.

DeviantArt No More!

2010-11-24T12:47:00.000+11:00

So you may remember a while ago I said I was leaving DeviantArt but then decided against it because many friends asked me not to. Well, I'm changing my mind again. I will, from today, be deleting all my work from my gallery and letting the account gather dust .

The reason for this is a parts 3 and 4 of DA's user agreement that has been bought to my attention. Part 3c I find completely unacceptable. Using someone's art to promote your site is one thing, manipulating it without consent is something else entirely. But this does not only mean that DA can use our artworks to promote themselves without asking, but also our names, likenesses, journal entries, ANYTHING we put on the site (see part 4 of the agreement). To simply take all of this without consent is wrong, plain and simple! The only respite you may have in reading this is that DA must get your consent before they use your images to promote a third party (so, anyone who isn't DA). But still, it's not enough.

I joined DA six years ago. I read over the agreement then and I can't recall anything like this being in there. If it had I doubt I would have joined. However, I am willing to admit that the ignorance of youth may have meant I missed this important piece of information. However, this acknowledgement raises the issue that many of the young artist who are currently on DA also don't realize that DA "owns" their work in everything but name.

I'm not claiming that DA will ever use my work to promote their site, nor am I claiming that my work is of such a high standard that DA would want to use it. I've not made a lot of money from my art, but a little but of income does trickle in from it. No, this is more a moral distaste for what DA is doing here. I may not be the greatest artist in the room but I AM passionate about creating art and this is NOT how I'd want my art used, especially without being asked for consent first. Thus, I will not support a web site that functions in such a way.

Thus, my work will no longer be appearing on DA. I will of course continue to add new work to my Artician* portfolio and post on works on this blog.

I wish all the best to the many amazing artist who remain here on DA, however I would suggest you give DA's user agreement a good read before submitting more art.

*In the spirit of fairness I've included here a link to Artician's user agreement.

Work in Progress

2010-11-18T12:40:00.000+11:00

Here's two images of which I've recently completed the pencil work for and will be starting on the inks today. One of them you'll probably recognize, the other is a re-working of a previous image.

Breaking my Fanboy Heart: The Cancellation of Madame Xanadu

2010-11-17T13:30:00.000+11:00

One of the very worst things about being a comics fan is having one of your favorite titles taken away from you. Having been a serious comics reader for almost 15 years now I've seen my share of titles come and go, many of which I enjoyed very much. However, none of them hurt as much at the cancellation of the DC/ Vertigo title Madame Xanadu.

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that Xanadu is one of my favorite comics currently being published. I've mentioned it several times here on the blog and featured it twice in Cool Comic Covers (HERE and HERE). It is an absolutely wonderful title which constantly delivered the highest caliber of stories courtesy of Matt Wagner, one of comics' finest writers, along with stunningly beautiful art thanks to Amy Reeder Hadley, an artist who is fast becoming one of the best in the medium.

Xanadu did that one thing that is becoming more and more rare in comics - it experimented. Yes, there were issues that followed a similar construct to more mainstream comics, but Wagner isn't a writer to not try out new ideas. For example, the recently concluded arc Extra-Sensory did not feature the title character until the final pages of the issues, instead concentrating on (seemingly) regular individuals who found themselves in amazing situations. This made for some very personal, very touching stories and re-enforced just how amazing this title was.

Reading the blurb at the end of Xanadu issue #28 saying that #29 will be the final issue of the series honestly hurt. I felt that choked up, sharp pain you get when you lose something special to you. I suppose, on the bright side, we have one more issue in which we will be able to have a proper fair well to Nimue, but it will be a very bitter-sweet read.

The cancellation of Xanadu will leave a rather large hole. Apparently the cancellation has come because DC wants their character back to use in the regular DCU. While this means that it is possible that we will see another Xanadu series in the future in all honestly I can't see DC using the character as anything more than a "deus ex machina" of sorts when some mystic/magic halabaloo is going on in one of their superhero titles. And that's a terrible shame because a character as interesting as Madame Xanadu really deserves to be explored in her own title.

Everyone involved with the Vertigo Madame Xanadu series deserves high praise. It's been one of the most original, inventive and enjoyable series since its first issue in 2008. Thanks to all for a brilliant run.

Cool Colic Covers #22 - Women of Marvel

2010-11-16T22:58:00.002+11:00

This edition of Cool Comic Covers goes to the Women of Marvel #1 cover by Sara Pichelli and Christine Strain. What could be cooler than mixing beautiful heroines and pin-up cheesecake art?

Doc Brown "Great Scott!" T-Shirt

2010-11-15T10:08:00.000+11:00

When I bought my tickets to the 25th anniversary screening of Back to the Future I realized that I didn’t have a cool t-shirt to wear. Thus, I decided to create my own.

Depicting Doc Brown exclaiming his signature catch phrase, this design was created with the intention of capturing actor Christopher Lloyd’s likeness while keeping a creative bent on the image.

I hope you enjoy the shirt. If you're interested in purchasing one please click on the design image below. The shirt is available in a whole range of sizes and colours.

I've also added a specific page to the blog listing all of my t-shirt designs with purchase information. You can access the page by clicking on the Original T-shirt Designs banner to the right, or selecting T-shirt Design from the menu above under JoeMD.

New Layout

2010-11-11T13:49:00.002+11:00

You may have noticed that the layout here has changed a little. I've added a fancy new tab navigation menu and moved the Recent Works links to the left menu bar and consolidated various things on the blog. Hopefully, this will all make the blog both easier to navigate and nicer to look at.

Let me know what you think.

Also, I've closed my Twitter account as I just didn't have time to keep up with it.

Cheers.

Utility Belt #15

2010-11-10T18:40:00.000+11:00

Goings On: So close, but yet so far. Prac is over but of course the uni couldn't give us any time torelax as we've two assignments to do that can only be completed once prac is over. So, this week I've had that hanging over my head. Not the best way to start the holidays. Still, this Friday uni will OFFICIALLY be over for the year. Can. Not. Wait!
Best thing about this weekend: Not having uni work to do.
What I'm reading: I've been reading the adventures of the DC heroine Power Girl. Starting with the Power Girl trade paperback that acts as something of an introduction to the character I've moved onto to the Power Girl: A New Beginning, a collection of the first six issues of her current on-going series. So far I'm really enjoying the stories, especially those from the current series. They are fun, humorous and have some great super hero action. Despite what kind of ideas or stereotypes her physical image may cut in one's mind Power Girl is quite a deep character and I'm looking forward to reading more of her adventures.
What I'm watching: I recently saw the reboot of Star Trek. I've never been a Star Trek fan but I really enjoyed the film. While it's not something I'd rush out and buy on DVD I'm looking forward to the sequel.
At the Moment: Trying to motivate myself to finish this last uni assignment....
Listening to: The Myst IV: Revelations soundtrack. So beautiful.
Playing: Bioshock. I know, I'm late to this one. But it is a great game so far. The underwater world of Rapture is amazingly constructed and the combat is amazingly frantic.
Favorite recent purchase: I really haven't bought anything recently. Well, nothing other than my regular comics and such, so I'll have to leave this entry for the moment...
Aim for tomorrow: Finish this blasted assignment and, if I've time, bag and box a few months worth of comics.

A Spot of Life Drawing

2010-11-03T18:20:00.001+11:00

Today at prac during the double period of classes in which I observe only, my supervising teacher had the kids do a spot of life drawing. As it's been the better part of a year since I last did any life drawing I thought I'd try my hand at it.

I must admit I think I've become a little rusty but it felt really good to get back into it, the longing to have time to site and draw growing all the stronger (bring on the holidays!) Below are what I made of my efforts.

Mini Sonic

2010-10-28T17:33:00.002+11:00

Amidst the business of prac six little anthropomorphic animals I'd half forgotten about arrived, my set of miniature Sonic figures. The set, from First4Figures, contains Sonic, Super Sonic, Tails, Knuckels, Metal-Sonic and Amy Rose in her original Sonic CD costume (rather than the newer costume she has been seen in since Sonic Adventure).

These little guys may be small (only 6cm high) but they look way past cool!

Utility Belt #14

2010-10-17T20:03:00.000+11:00

Goings On: Last Monday I started my first block prac for Uni at the local high school. Four weeks, every day of the week, teaching at least three lessons a day. Already it's been a heck of an eye opener. It's been fun so far, but bloody hell is it tiering. Already I'm looking forward to the end of year break when I can just do nothing.
Best thing about this weekend: Hanging out with my girl. After such an exhausting week it's nice to relax together.
What I'm reading: Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, a prequel to the Dragon Age: Origins game. It's a great fantasy novel thus far, filled with interesting characters and already two big battles.
What I'm watching: The New Sherlock Holmes is on tonight. I've heard a lot about it from our cousins in the UK and apparently it's brilliant. It does look rather good so I'm looking forward to 8:30 when the first ep airs.
At the Moment: I've just been called to dinner, so must get this done.
Listening to: The Machinarium soundtrack. So beautiful in its electronic minimalism.
Playing: Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror. After completing Dragon Age I felt like something a little slower paced and I do love a good point-and0click adventure. The game has a marvelous witty humor too which adds to the charm.
Favorite recent purchase: Haven't been buying much of late due to not having much money since coming back from Sydney, however my favorite purchase from that trip would be my cravat shirt. So amazing cool!
Aim for tomorrow: It's back to school so another day of teaching the young-ins. As long as I do OK and my CT seems pleased that'll be enough.

The Comics Revelations

2010-10-14T17:11:00.000+11:00

It's another video! This one looks at the 14 page comic I created for my major HSC Visual Art work in 2003. The book discusses why comics should be considered works of art in their own right.

Enjoy.

Machinarium Review Video

2010-10-09T19:07:00.000+11:00

I've just uploaded a new YouTube video, a review of the delightful point-and-click adventure game, Machinarium. Hope you enjoy.

Cool Comic Covers #21 - Girl Comics HC

2010-10-06T19:02:00.001+11:00

Apologies for the length of time between installments of CCC. For this installment I've chosen the cover for the hardcover edition of Girl Comics from Marvel.

By Amanda Conner and Laura Martin the cover depicts Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man) getting owned by Jennifer Walters (AKA She-Hulk). Quite appropriate for a volume celebrating the greatness of female comic creators.

Facebook "Friends"

2010-10-06T12:24:00.000+11:00

Ok, so I have to admit I'm beginning to get a little frustrated about receiving friend requests on Facebook from people I don't know. Everyone gets this, sure, but it does get a trifle annoying after a time. So, I'll not longer be adding people who DO NOT send a message with their friend request saying who they are and how they found me.

If you'd like to become my friend on FB please send a quick not saying how you found me, be it via here, the CC website or Facebook page, Twitter, Artician, Deviant Art or whatever else. It takes five seconds. If you don't send a message I'll simply hit the "ignore" button.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I don't wish my Facebook content to be open to people I don't know.

Cheers.

Witches Ball

2010-10-04T22:02:00.000+11:00

Thus I have returned from Sydney and the Witches Ball. It was an absolutely amazing night and Emma and I will be attending next year's ball for sure. I am much too tired at present to recount the night save to say it was a beautiful, friendly event filled with much laughter, dancing and music.

To the left you can see myself and my lovely girl in our masquerade masks but if you'd like to see more photos from the night you can do so HERE.

Ghostbusters - Master System Review

2010-09-29T22:06:00.000+10:00

Presenting my first ever retro game video review. Here I take a look at the very first video game I ever owned, Ghostbusters for the Sega Master System. As this is my first video review for a game I'd love to hear any feedback you guys might have.

I hope you enjoy the video

To the Ball...

2010-09-29T08:51:00.003+10:00

I'm off to the Ball, the Witches Ball to be spercific. Put on by PAN (the Pagan Awareness Network here in Australia) the ball is a chance for pagans all around Australia to meet and have a great night of music, wine and food. The official blurb for the even goes something like this;

Come dance the night away with SPIRAL DANCE and ethereal singer LOUISA JOHN-KROL with accompanying musicians JENNI HEINRICH and DANDELION WINE. Learn a new (well actually old) step or two from the energetic BLACK JOAK MORRIS DANCERS and show off your witchiest and most outrageous outfits. There will be finger food, $5 dollar cocktails from 5 to 7pm on selected cocktails, lucky door prizes and prizes for the best costumes.

My lovely girl and I will be attending and we are both terribly excited. We have our costumes, our masks and our tickets ready to go. However, we won't only be spending the night of the ball in Sydney (it's held at the Dome Lounge on the first floor of the Crown Hotel) but three nights in total. We thought a nice holiday away before the stress of school prac kicks in was in order. Much spending of money will ensue.

Thus these next few days promise to be very good ones. As long as the weather behaves (it is not fun being caught in a down pour in the middle of Sydney - I speak from experience) it should work out to be the perfect holiday.

Scott and Ramona

2010-09-27T15:53:00.000+10:00

Because they are soooooo cute I couldn't help but share more photos of my Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers plushies. ^_^

Ghostbusters Master System Remix

2010-09-26T23:32:00.002+10:00

This is what I get up to when I got up to today enough of doing assignments. ^_^ I did this for fun while editing footage for a future video. A kind of Ghostbusters music video using game footage from the Master System version of David Crane's 1984 Activision Ghostbusters game.

The theme remix is from a Citroën commercial.

Hope you enjoy. ^_^

Doctor Strange Commission!

2010-09-23T22:42:00.003+10:00

This week I received a Doctor Strange piece I'd commissioned from my friend and fellow artist Mick Collins (AKA Puggdogg). Mick is a brilliant artist and his skills have appeared in the pages of various Moonstone comics, including their Phantom books. Here's a scan of the commission he did for me.

The Light Box

2010-09-21T15:34:00.001+10:00

Presenting, my first attempt at making an utter fool of myself - a vidcast! Yay. Depending on what people think of this first video I may do more. In this first one though I show off my new favorite toy - my brand new light box.

Hope you enjoy.

Agent Rock!

2010-09-20T22:28:00.002+10:00

This post is a shameless plug for my mate's band I Am The Agent. Fear not, if they were rubbish I wouldn't bother posting. However, the band is far from rubbish so it'd be awesome if all ~~three~~ of you who read this blog checked out their tunes.

As I've said before my music knowledge is rather limited thus I don't feel confident in describing the band's sound to you. However, to overcome this problem I've included one of their songs in this very post for your listening pleasure.

<a href="http://music.iamtheagent.net/album/volume-i">Volume I by I Am The Agent</a>

If you like what you hear please check our their website, where you can listen to the whole EP free, and their Facebook page.

Covert Affairs

2010-09-12T21:51:00.001+10:00

As I'm something of a fan of actress Piper Perabo (read "total fanboy crush") I feel a little bad that I'm soooo far behind in watching her tv series Covert Affairs. The fourth or fifth ep aired on network 7 last week, but I'm only up to ep 2, which I watched tonight. (I've been recording the show as I'm at Uni while it airs. Damn uni.)

I've gotta admit that I'm not a fan of cop/CIA/American-law-enforcement-of-any-kind type shows. I find them predictable and all pretty much the same. So, even though CA stars my ~~love~~ favorite actress I really wasn't expecting to like it. And after watching the first episode....it really wasn't doing it for me. Piper was great, but it just seemed to tick all the generic cop drama boxes.

However, in this second ep the "voice" of the show seemed to come through. It had some wonderfully cheeky, self-parodying moments which isn't something one usually sees in any American series. The story was intriguing as well and I didn't see the twist at the end coming which is always great.

So, while I continue to defend my stance that Brittish TV is much, much more interesting than American I'll be adding Covert Affairs to the rather small list of American TV shows I enjoy. But then any excuse to watch Piper is brilliant! Although, admittedly, I just can't bring myself to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Sorry, Pipes. ^_^

Morgana Thead

2010-09-09T21:48:00.000+10:00

In the first of something I might start doing regularly I thought I'd share with you an amazing artist I discovered on Artician while setting up my account. Morgana Thead is a digital artist whoes fantasy themed photo-manipulation is absolutely mind blowing. I can't say enough about her work, so here's a sample of one of my favorite pieces.

For more amazing art check out Morgana's gallery and portfolio!

Artician

2010-09-07T13:12:00.001+10:00

I have moved all of my art works from DeviantArt over to Artician. The reasons for this are many and varied thus I'll simply say that it was beginning to feel like more a popularity contest than a place to share and discuss art. Also, as I'm not using the "JoeMD" moniker for my artwork I wanted to keep my portfolio in line with that, the "Dougy2040" on DA was an old, high-school nickname.

Artician is a very new artist community and thus is at the moment quite small. However, while it may be small all of the people there are passionate about what they do. Thus, the atmosphere of the site is one of creativity and mutual support.

As far as the blog is concerned everything is pretty much the same. The slideshow is a little different in that you can scroll through the works at your own pace. ~~Under the~~ ~~Contact and Portfolio~~ ~~header only Artician is listed as a portfolio (the tear-drop like icon)~~. All of the Recent Works thumbnails still like to the works featured, just not it links to their entries on Artician.

So I hope you all will continue to follow my work over at Artician. I'll be posting up-dates on new additions to my gallery just as I used to do with DeviantArt. Please head on over to my portfolio and take a look.

Here's a peek.

Sketches

2010-09-06T22:41:00.002+10:00

At uni the lectures can be pretty damn boring. In such instances (which, admittedly, are most) I tend to sketch. Here are three sketches I've done over the last week which I will work up into full drawings.

Up-date: I've added some new subscription options to the blog. I plan to blog more than I have been so these fancy do-hickies will help you keep up-to-date with the goings on. Along with the regular RSS ~~and Bloglovin' options~~ you can now also subscribe via e-mail and via Google Friend Connect. All of these wonderous options are found under the Subscribe header.

Utility Belt #13 + Cool Comic Covers #20

2010-09-05T20:38:00.001+10:00

As its been a while since I posed both a Utility Belt and a Cool Comic Covers entry I thought I'd do both here.

1 Mood: Okay. I've had to start work on Uni assignments today and that is never fun.
02 Best thing about this weekend: Seeing The Expendables. Big, stupid, actiony fun.
03 What I'm reading: Vampirella: Crimson Chronicles. After reading the very cool Vampirella: Second Coming from Harris Comics I decided ot go back to where it all began. And as Dynamite Entertainment are about to release an all-new Vampi series it's a great opportunity to read the early stories.
04 What I'm watching: Wolverine and the X-Men. Probably the best Marvel-related cartoon I've seen, although Spectacular Spider-Man is supposed to be good so I'll have to check that out next.
05 At the Moment: Cataloging comics!
06 Listening to: A band I've just discovered called Kan'nal. Awesome tribe/ rock music!
07 Playing: Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1 on the DS (via GBA emulation) and Dragon Age: Origins which I'm attempting to now finish. It's a great game but sometimes one just needs a break.08 Favorite recent purchase: Windows 7! Gone is the absolute horror that was Vista! Now I can use my computer without Windows crashing every five seconds.
09 What I'm looking forward to: Going to Sydney at the end of this week.
10 Aim for tomorrow: Try and make sense of this non-sensible uni assignment.

And the for this installment of Cool Comic Covers I've chosen Adi Granov's cover to X-Men Vol. 2 #1

Inspector Gadget Comic from Viper!

2010-08-29T13:02:00.001+10:00

I've just discovered that Viper Comics is bringing one of my all-time favorite cartoon heroes, Inspector Gadget, to comics in 2011! So far it sounds interesting and it looks like the series will follow the original TV show (note Dr. Claw's jet in the promo image below) rather than the absolutely horrid Disney movie and series.

The blurb from Viper reads

Viper Comics is thrilled to announce we have secured Inspector Gadget and (Cartoon Networks) Johnny Test license. Viper will be developing books based on both Inspector Gadget and Johnny Test and releasing them in 2011.

Jessie Garza with Viper states, “we are ecstatic to have been granted the opportunity to give both of these characters the comic treatment. These are two awesome properties to add to our line-up of recently acquired license (Odd Rods).”

INSPECTOR GADGET:

Inspector Gadget is an animated television series developed about a clumsy, simple-witted detective named Inspector Gadget, who is a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget’s arch-nemesis is Dr. Claw, the leader of an evil organization, known as “M.A.D.”

Often cluelessly stumbling through any case he is given, Gadget frequently ignorantly makes foolish and insufferably clumsy mistakes pertaining to surroundings and current environment, mistaking innocent bystanders (and sometimes Brain, his niece Penny’s dog) for enemies, and believing that the real enemies are friends. His ineptitude always leads him into danger, but he always gets out of trouble through either his trusty gadgets, Penny’s unseen assistance, or pure luck.

Here's hoping that the comic captures the spirit of the cartoon. If it does, I'll be adding yet another title to my pull list in 2011!

The Evils of Telstra + TOYS!

2010-08-27T17:43:00.002+10:00

Today I reverted back to a prepaid plan for my Telstra mobile. Like many people I was caught up in a plan that was simply unaffordable. I admit that it was probably a good dose of ignorance about such things on my part, but the fact that I was out-and-out lied to by the sales person didn't help either. I had been paying $150+ a month on my bill, often more than that amount, and I just can not keep up with it. Thus, I devised a plan to to help cut my costs.

I went and bought a $30 prepaid SIM card which I'll be using from now on. The plan SIM will simply sit doing nothing. This means that each month I'll have to still pay the $30 for the plan itself (it's a $30 cap) but that will be all. Even if each month I get $30 for my prepaid that's only a total of $60 a month, much less that what I have been paying.

So what's the moral of the story? DON'T go on a plan, just stick with pre-paid and buy more credit when you need it.

On a happier note, today not one, not two but THREE figures/ statues I'd ordered on-line arrived. They were the first in Matty Collectors Retro-Action Real Ghostbusters line, Peter Venkman and the Psylocke and Dark Phoenix Marvel Bishoujo statues. All three look amazing and I can't wait to put them up on my shelf. Here's some pics (click for larger versions);

While on the subject of figures, I've created a Picasa gallery featuring photos of all my various collections, including more photos of the above collectables. You can see the gallery HERE or click the Collections banner to the left.

Read Comics In Public Day - August 28th

2010-08-26T22:44:00.001+10:00

Everyone should do it!

The concept is fairly simple: we’re asking that everyone take an hour or two out of their day on August 28th (also the birthday of Jack “King” Kirby, incidentally) to read a comic book in a public setting—a park bench, a beach, a bus, the front steps of your local library (we do ask, however, that you be mindful of local loitering laws). Let strangers see you reading a piece of sequential art.

Take to the streets. Be proud. If someone asks what you’re reading, say, “a comic book” (the phrase “graphic novel is also acceptable, but let’s face it, it sort of defeats the whole purpose). Heck, lend them a book, if you’ve got an extra—what better way to make a new friend and convert a new reader?

While you’re at it, why not get a friend to snap a picture of you reading? Send it along and we’ll post it up for you in our photo gallery and on our site.

It’s all pretty straight forward, of course, but if you’ve got any questions—or suggestions—feel free to drop us a line at readcomicsinpublic@gmail.com.

Thanks and happy reading.

Team Sonic

2010-08-15T18:28:00.000+10:00

My lovely girlfriend Emma came over today and decided she wanted to know what this "Sonic" character I'm always talking about was. So, I sat her down and booted up Sonic 2 on the MegaDrive. She'd never played a Sega system before let alone a Sonic game so she didn't really know what to expect - nor did I know what she'd think - but thought it would be along the lines of Mario. HA!

She played through the first three Zones and had a ball of a time. She was laughing and calling out "oh, no" when she was hit by an enemy and "this is so cool" during the fast runs and loop-the-loops. After she'd finished with Sonic 2 I loaded up Sonic Adventure 2 on Dreamcast to show her the break-neck speed of it's levels. She was amazed! She said she'd never seen anything like it and wants to play more. She also said that she understands now why I much prefer Sonic over that rotund plumber.

Heh, first Scott Pilgrim and now Sonic. I truly am corrupting her.

Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Release

2010-08-14T09:07:00.000+10:00

Bloody hell, I'm gonna have to buy this again, aren't I?