| | The weather here has become incredibly unpredictable. While I would take the age old route of blaming the skills of local meteorologists, these professionals have shown themselves to be of above average skill in the past. However, after being assured last night that a mere dusting of snow was due this morning, I have awakened to a full six inches of snow on the ground. And it is still snowing.
The weather will be braved, though, to travel to my local comics emporium. Naturally, this will result in more additions to the reading section. The rest of my day will be spent reading about the Travels of Marco Polo. While perhaps better known for the water sport which bears his name, Marco Polo was also apparently an explorer of some renown. Hopefully, he was an explorer of warmer climes. If not, I'll sit down and write something that involves a desert. |
|
| I apologize for not updating late last week, but I feel ill with something that had me spewing out substances that resembled this. My apologies to the children of Mills Lawn Elementary, but it really was the best example I could find.
The reviews I promised last week are going up today. They are, as always, over there. |
|
| Josh Howard Presents: Sasquatch is now available for pre-order over at Amazon. Feel free to go over there and buy a few dozen copies.
So I'm checking out the China Daily News site when I realize that the first article involving the United States is about Britney Spears going into rehab. Yes, folks, this is how the rest of the world sees us. I'm so proud I could cry.
New reviews will be going up today. However, I'll be attending a hockey game in the company of friends this evening, so expect to see some up tomorrow as well. |
|
| As promised, the first eight pages of lettered pencil pages for The Forgotten are available for your viewing pleasure. You can find them at the bottom of this section.
In other news, the White House disputes the claim that the Iraq is the worst U.S. policy mistake. Now when you compare Iraq to, say, Vietnam, that claim obviously doesn't hold up. However, the fact that a senator even made the comparison says a great deal about how this war is going. |
|
| I've finished up the first draft of a script that I have tentatively named The Reckoners. If you are so inclined you can read it over there. Next week I'll be posting the full eight page art preview of The Forgotten. And yes, I write things other than westerns. Check out the writing section.
So yea, 300. I am a huge fan of the book as a dramatization of a pivotal battle at the beginning of civilization. Sure, it's got some glaring historical inaccuracies. Frank Miller admits as much in many interviews.
However, my first problem with the movie is that it is being marketed as what really happened. A couple of examples of the worst errors are: |
| • | King Leonidas was not the only king of Sparta, but one of three kings. He achieved this position by killing his half-brother. Despite his portrayal in the graphic novel, Leonidas was a deeply religious man who believed that killing one of his own family would bring down the wrath of the gods on him. In order to redeem himself, he led the 300, a small portion of a much larger Greek force, to do battle with the Persians. |
 |
| • | The Spartans were not fighting for the freedom of all men, but for the survival of their own society. At Sparta's height there were 15 slaves for every one Spartan soldier. |
| If you want to read about men fighting for freedom, go read about the Athenians. While the Athenians also had slaves, they were fighting for an ideal. Spartans were considerably more practical. However, if you look past the splash pages in comic books and TV ads, it becomes clear that no one involved in making the film claims historical accuracy. It is an historical epic.
But the film looks like it isn't just satisfied with being an epic. It wants to be a hyper-epic. There's not a subtle moment. The best example I've seen is where Leonidas screams, "THIS…IS…SPARTA!" When I read the novel I didn't get the feeling he was screaming in that scene. Apparently, dumping a messenger from the most powerful empire on Earth down a well just wasn't dramatic enough. It seems that each moment of the film is designed to slam the viewer with the idea that this…is…an…important…film! Also, the direct interpretation of Miller's art to screen makes it look like The Matrix meets ancient Greece.
I suppose we always have the "it's just a comic book" thing to fall back on. I'm just tired of that one.
If you're interested in learning more about what most likely happened then check out Thermopylae: The Battle for the West. It tells the whole story, not just the Spartan side of it. It's also a great read that's almost as much fun as the graphic novel of the same subject. |
|
| In celebration of Valentine's Day, Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain continues to kiss the ass of the religious right. Mind you, this is a man who in 2000 called Jerry Falwell an agent of intolerance. To say that this is no longer true is patently false.
Be sure to check out the reading section as I'll be adding new reviews the rest of the day. Also, I hope to find some time in the near future to talk about the upcoming film 300. If I do, you'll be hearing something other than the usual fanboy excitement.
|
|
| Thank Allah, Buddha, Jesus. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you're not busy rattling you're saber at someone. Let's just hope that it already hasn't gone too far. |
|
| Four lettered pages are up for The Forgotten. That's right, you can actually tell what the characters are saying now. You can find them at the bottom of the proper section.
It seems that this month I've been making fun of other places quite a bit. However, every time I make fun of somewhere else, something happens here in Colorado that makes me shake my head. Like a man stabbing his girlfriend over salad dressing. However, I'm afraid that Boston wins again with its population of homicidal 10-year-olds. |
|
| In what must be considered one of the greatest achievements of novelty in science, researchers have developed a formula for how the "beer goggles" phenomena alters one's vision to make the less attractive more so. It is: | |
| • | An = number of units of alcohol consumed |
| • | S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky) |
| • | L = luminance of 'person of interest' (candelas per square metre; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting) |
| • | Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard) |
| • | d = distance from 'person of interest' (metres; 0.5 to 3 metres) |
| Fascinating, heady stuff. We can all thank the good folk at Bausch & Lomb PureVision for conducting this much needed research.
In lesser news, the third page of The Forgotten is up. I have posted it over there. |
|
| While writing a review for Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse I was reminded of another great comic from Australia, named Platimun Grit. I then proceed to waste my entire evening reading over the old archives of Trudy Cooper and Danny Murphy's work.
Point being, it's good stuff. You should go check it out. |
|
| This is truly horrible. Not like Darfur horrible, but still. I mean, when I was a kid, being an astronaut was high up on the list of fantasy jobs. However, as it became clear that I didn't have the math skills needed, I put that aside. Not just math skills, though; most astronauts have multiple degrees, with several Masters and perhaps a PhD just for good measure. What causes someone to throw all that away?
Let's contrast this with Eileen Collins. Eileen joined the Air Force because she wanted to be an astronaut. Four degrees and 6000 hours of flight time later, she became the first woman to command the space shuttle. She retired in May of 2006 and, so far, no one's been murdered.
What separates one person from another in situations like this is anybody's guess.
The Forgotten project has hit a milestone with the first pencils being completed. You can check out pages one and two right now. |
|
| Well, the Turner / Boston snafu has resolved itself. I suppose that $2 million is less than it would have cost to buy that type of publicity.
A few days ago I posted a review for the Ms. Marvel one shot. Robert Hiatt of Atlanta, Georgia wrote a response to it which I have posted over there. It is by far the funniest thing I have read in quite some time. |
|
| You have got to be freakin' kidding me. Only in a country run by yellow journalism and an administration intent on keeping its populace scared does putting up Lite Bright signs cause a panic. I'm glad that the two men arrested had the guts to plead not guilty.
Since this week's releases fell on the last day of the month, I'll be waiting awhile before archiving the reviews in the reading section. Look for more additions today. |
|
|
