Love It, Hate It!

This week on Love It, Hate It!...

Love It!
1. My Fantasy Life. If you're not playing this you should buy it. A bit text heavy, but it's an incredible, immersive game.

2. Homage to the gimmick arrows on Arrow. This week's episode showed the classic boxing glove arrow, though it was accidental, it was still awesome.

3. Couplescraft. YouTube super-boyfriends, Will and RJ, team-up in a new Minecraft series. My only complaint: I wish the episodes were longer than 10 minutes!

4. Justice League 3000: Yesterday Lives. Volume one compilation of the series is one of the best things to come out of the New 52. It's harsh and violent, but the characters really grow on you. And the twist at the end...

5. Grayson #4. Great art, great fun, shirtless Dick - nothing else matters.

Hate It!
1. Dumb and Dumber To trailers. I'm so sick of seeing this trailer every five minutes online and on TV.

2. The Pied Piper costume. I think Andy Mientus is adorable and the perfect choice to play Hartley Rathaway, but who designed this awful costume?

3. The Bane Chronicles. I picked it up because Magnus is one of the only good things to come out of that terrible series and I want to support of having more mainstream LGBT characters out there, but this book is historically horrific. Perhaps Clare should do her research from someplace other than Wikipedia.

4. Black Friday on Thanksgiving. As a former retail slave I speak for those poor souls now forced to work Thursday night. How about giving them ONE day to spend with their family before sending them off to battle? (When exactly did Thursday turn into Black Friday Preview Day instead of Thanksgiving?)

5. BAM. I love bookstores and I'm sad that they seem to be slowly disappearing. I traveled an hour away to the giant Books A Million store hoping to pick up 6 books that I've been wanting to read for a while now and they had none of them. Zero. Sure they could order them from their warehouse, but if I want them shipped to me, I'll get them from Amazon.

Bad Artist

If you follow me regularly, then you know that I have commissioned A LOT of art over the years. I've worked with dozens of different artists from all over the world thanks to our friend Mr. Internet. There have been a lot of amazing artists that I've had the chance to work with (and continue to work with) and some that I never want to lay eyes on again.

As a professional artist myself - and someone who has worked in the realms of the advertising world for more years than I want to say - I feel I'm totally in my rights to stand on a soapbox and make my voice heard. There are two simple rules that every artist, including myself, should have to live by:

Rule #1: NEVER PISS OFF YOUR CLIENT!!!
Rule #2: If you don't agree with your client, see Rule #1.

I've recently had the misfortune of "working" with three of the most awful artists. I'll refrain from giving their names or blogs because A) it is completely tacky to name names and B) I'd hate to give them traffic/advertising of any sort.

The first "artist," kept me and my project dangling for over three weeks. I passed on working with a few other (more talented) people because I was already contracted with someone else. So, three weeks in, no peep and I finally email him only to discover that he has "decided to pass on the project in order to work on something else." WFT?!? And when exactly was I, his current client, going to be informed of this? Apparently never. I wrote a polite, but scolding, reply to which he responded that he felt I was "guilting him into doing it."

Artist number two wasn't much better. I chatted with him several times through his Livestream and, after being closed for a period, announced that he was finally opening slots for commission pieces again. I was so excited, he agreed to do my piece and he told me to email him the details. I took care of everything that very night and sent it along. And never heard from him until I saw he was streaming again a week later. I asked if he was still interested and he told me he was so busy he hadn't checked his email in a while. Understandable. He looked things over and even started working on it in that very stream. I was so excited to see him doing it live and then he made an error with my character (minor, but important) and I asked him to please change it. His response was to delete the entire piece and then ban me from the room.

The last is perhaps the worst. Due to his popularity, I understood that I would have to patiently wait my turn. Suddenly, just after I sent him all of the specs and reference pictures, he decided that he was only having a single slot open and that people would now have to "compete" for the chance to hire him. After frantically emailing him for over a month attempting to win a slot, I finally succeeded in nabbing one. Only to get an email 15 minutes after his original telling me that I didn't respond fast enough and he passed the slot to someone else on the list! Apologies, I didn't realize that I needed to sit patiently by my computer desperately hitting refresh waiting for a reply from you.

I spent a decent hour deleting every piece that I ever reblogged or favorited from any of them on any site that I could think of. It may sound petty, but why I should I give these horrible artists any support or free publicity. I didn't even know it was possible on some of the sites, but I found a way. Why would I support artists who don't appreciate their clients or fans. I try to be understanding of every situation. I know all too well that real life gets in the way of things and plans are forced to change.

These are three very extreme (albeit recent) cases. For every bad artist, there have been a dozen great ones that I loved working with. If you're interested in working with an artist you've never worked with before, get some feedback from their former commissioners. Ask them in advance about their work ethics and communication process. Do they give you any updates or progress reports, if not, can they? What is their process from payment to completion? And if anything doesn't jive with what you want, DO NOT HIRE THEM. Often times that nagging bit of doubt is telling you not to do something for good reason.

Love It, Hate It

It's that time again.

Love It!
1. Daniel Radcliffe rapping. Old news, but this clip of Dan doing "Alphabet Aerobics" is amazing! It's like magic...

2. "I Ate All Your Halloween Candy." My professor actually showed us this clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live in class, and I still think it's hilarious watching it again today.

3. This week's Gotham. If you didn't see this week's episode, you have to watch it. I was on the edge of my seat the entire hour.

4. Diversity 2 with Stacy and Cupquake. I loved the interaction between these two as they struggled through the challenges in the original series. Now they're back for another round, and I'm hooked already.

5. Packages from Dean Draws. I posted about him before when I received my first commission pieces from him, and I was surprised again with my most recent order. Expect another post soon showing off my swag.

Hate It!
1. The "Alex from Target" buzz. I have no hate for the kid himself, but this media frenzy surrounding him is ridiculous. Leave the poor guy be, I'm tired of seeing him every time I turn on my phone or computer.

2. The Flash in reruns. Seriously, CW, the series is only five episodes in and you start replaying already?

3. The Simpson's Tapped Out. OK, not the whole game, but this final run of the "Treehouse of Horror" event. Seriously, the price (protein strands) of the prizes for this final run is ludicrous. It's an obvious ploy to get us to spend money buying donuts to get them.

4. Christmas movies the day after Halloween. It doesn't really need more elaboration...

5. Being the last to see a commissioned piece. I don't mind an artist posting a piece of art that I've commissioned on their blog or whatever, but at least send it to me before you post it for the world to see. Am I wrong in thinking that?

Halloween Movie Fest

Since I'm so disappointed by the AMC Fearfest this year, I decided to take a day and watch all of my favorite scary movies building up to the day itself. Starting tomorrow I'll be watching 7 of my favorite horror films, one a night until Halloween. Check out the list and follow along if you like.

Oct 25 - The Wolf Man

Oct 26 - Creature from the Black Lagoon

Oct 27 - An American Werewolf in London

Oct 28 - The Cabin in the Woods

Oct 29 - The Shining

Oct 30 - Friday the 13th

Oct 31 - Halloween

In the comments below, let me know what your favorite scary movies are and maybe I'll check out some of them especially if they are on Netflix. I don't have class on the 31st, so I plan to have a horror movie marathon. And just because Halloween is over doesn't mean I have stop stop watching horror flicks.

Love It, Hate It

Everyone has things they love and hate, and what better place to vent about the bad and rave about the good than online for the world to see. I've been thinking about adding in this onto the blog for a while now and finally decided to do it. I'm not sure if this will become a weekly thing or monthly - I suppose it depends on my school schedule. Regardless, here is the first Love It, Hate It!

Love It!
1. The Avengers:Age of Ultron teaser trailer. If you didn't see it yet, check it out here.

2. How To Get Away With Murder. I can't watch the series on TV because of class, but it peaked my interest so I started watching it online.

3. The Simpson's Tapped Out: Halloween. This year's Tree House of Horror is oddly alien themed, but I'm excited to have my favorite THOH character: Hugo Simpson, the "evil" twin, added to my roster.

4. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man. I picked-up "Getting the Band Back Together" and am really digging this series. Who says superheroes always deserve the spotlight?

5. Ray Palmer on Arrow. I was a bit confused when they added the character to the series line-up, but I think he's a great fit so far. I know Brandon Routh got a lot of slack playing Superman, but I'm excited to see him pull on the tights for The Atom!

Hate It!
1. Venipuncture! We've started poking people in class and I just can't get the hang of it.

2. Price gouging freelancers. I can understand if you are extremely talented and in high demand asking for a bit more, especially if it is your only source of income. But for a newbie, unestablished asking outrageous prices because they think they're the best... pass.

3. AMC Fearfest 2014. I keep seeing the same few movies over and over and over... how about switching it up and maybe playing some B&W classics?

4. The end of "Diversity" on YouTube. Well, the "Minecraft Diversity" series being played by Stacyplays and Ihascupquake - I'm ready for Diversity 2, ladies!

5. Mr. Pickles. This new (new to me, at least) series on Adult Swim ruins my Sunday night of cartoon watching.

The Pied Piper

The Flash series officially debuted this Tuesday, though I already did a review of that a few months ago when the pilot leaked onto the web. I watched the pilot anyway to support the series and I have to say that it was just as good watching it a second time. I've yet to see any of my geek friends to get their feedback, but I'm thinking they enjoyed it enough to not blow-up my phone with rants of how horrible it was.

In conjunction with the pilot came this interesting bit of news today. Something I was very curious about would be the inclusion of one of my favorite comic characters: Pied Piper. I've always thought that Hartley Rathaway was such a cool and interesting character, even before either of us came out. As silly as it sounds, he was one of the first gay characters to whom I could really relate. Unlike a lot of LGBT characters at the time, he was not just a one-dimensional gay figure. Piper had a great background and the struggle he faced was over his morals as a villain not his sexuality. He was a well-written character who also happened to be into guys.

So it was a nice surprise when I saw that not only will they be introducing Pied Piper (somewhere around Episode 11/12), but he will be cannon gay in the series as well. The CW has yet to shy away from same sex relationships as evidenced by the lesbian storyline between Sarah and Nyssa on Arrow. I'm hoping that Hartley gets a little romance - they did include his New 52 BF, Dir. Singh in the series - but more importantly, I hope he joins Team Flash as a good guy down the line.

Just a final note, while I'm a little disappointed they didn't pick a red-head to play Hartley, the actor they chose to portray him, Andy Mientus, is quite a cutie. And he is also openly bisexual, not a requirement for playing an LGBT character, but it can't hurt. I just hope he does the character justice!

PS - CW, please don't give him the raggedy 2000's costume or his original polka-dot tights. I'd much prefer him in his new costume or something similar.

Sexist Superheroes

Woohoo! That is the sound of my finals being over and another semester of making the Dean's List. Now that my projects and tests are over and I have a break, brief though it may be, I'll have a bit more time to spend catching up on my social media. I know I've been lacking but you know that school is my priority right now.

The real reason I thought I'd post, is to bring a little attention to a disturbing article I found tonight on my Yahoo News page. I'll let you read the article for yourself, but I must say that I'm very upset with retailers for buying stock in such gender-biased apparel. Why is the it the girl always has to be the damsel in distress rescued by the man in a cape? There are plenty of kick-butt superwomen out there and they have to make a tee that reads: "Training to be Batman's wife?" Why not Batman's sidekick? Look at how incredible the Batgirls are: Barbra, Cassie, and Steph have proved their worth time and again. Or even better, how about: "Training to be Batwoman?" She's an amazing role model not just for women but for the LGBT fans out there.

Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Black Canary, Vixen, Zatanna - and those are just the DC heroines! Why should a young girl, or a woman of any age, feel that the best thing she can be is a superhero's wife? I'll gladly accept that the t-shirt was meant to funny when they make one like this for the boys:

 

PS - I would totally buy this tee if it was available.

Gotham: First Thoughts

The premiere of Fox's newest series, Gotham, just ended and I must say that I'm having mixed feelings about the series. It's always difficult to re-imagine a universe with such well-known characters and beloved history like Batman's. I think, for the most the series handled things rather well, though there are a few elements that I think could use a bit of work.

It's nice to see a "Batman" prequel that doesn't focus solely on Bruce Wayne's rise to become the Dark Knight. When I saw the animated movie Batman: Year One, the story that interested me the most wasn't Bruce's but rather Jim Gordon's plot line. I'm hoping with Gotham, we see something similar. One of the things that makes Batman such an interesting character is his rich supporting cast. And something I've always found interesting in the comics was a spotlight issue that featured those characters and their lives in Gotham City. So now we have an entire series that will feature these characters center stage. And as interesting as some of them are shaping-up, I can't help but feel that they'll be overshadowed by the anticipation of the Batman-yet-to-be.

The star of the pilot episode for me was Fish Mooney, portrayed by Jada Pinkett-Smith. While the sexy, female crime boss may not be new, Jada's character is not afraid to dirty her manicured nails like most. Cory Micheal Smith, while only on the screen for a brief moment, also peeked my interest as police forensics expert Edward Nygma - better known as the Riddler. His geeky, quirky personality is exactly what I'd expect from this future foe - not to mention the death-stare he gives Gordon after solving his riddle.

For me, the worst character was the Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, played by Sean Pertwee. Alfred is a a staple in the Bat-franchise, but Pertwee's portrayal of him was cold and almost unfeeling. When arriving to retrieve a distraught Bruce from the murder scene, he shows little compassion. A brief hug followed by orders not to cry is our first impression of the character. Later scenes show him just as robotic and uncaring, something that hopefully improves later in the series. After all, Alfred is the heart that keeps Bruce grounded in reality.

My final thoughts on Gotham? An interesting series that I'll be keeping a watchful eye on for a few more episodes. To quote my brother, "it seems like they crammed as many characters into the pilot as possible." Is that a bad thing? Maybe, especially when an original character like Fish Mooney outshines them. If it were me, I would have focused on building up a history around a new cast of characters and slowly teased in recognizable names as the series progressed. Of course what's in store for the series may be a riddle even Nygma can't solve.

Overwhelmed

I had originally planned for a different sort of post this weekend (in fact, I may still post it) but things changed drastically this afternoon. As you know from last week's post, I've been in the thralls of getting some new artwork done. Typically I commission artists through the forums on DeviantART, but this time, most of them are people that I stumbled across on Tumblr.

Among my most recent batch of commissions, I found an artist named Dean Grayson who did the amazing trading cards, of which I showed you four. I was excited because, unlike my other pieces, which are digital, the cards were to be mailed to me so I would have tangible artwork (that I didn't have to print myself).

Well imagine my surprise when I opened my package today and this is what I found:

Check out all of the extra swag that was included with my cards! I was shocked enough to see that not only did he sleeve each of the cards, but he also threw in some chibi buttons and stickers, too! I am overwhelmed by this guy and the service he delivers to his clients.

Let me give you a breakdown of the stuff included:

8 Buttons: Green Lantern (Hal), Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash (Barry), Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Superman, and Green Arrow

3 Stickers: Young Justice versions of Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy

Dean, if you are reading this, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! You have no idea how much better you made my day when I opened this package. So here is a little free advertising for you. Check out both his Tumblr and DeviantART, leave him lots of faves and likes on his art and - if you've got the cash - commission him, too. Just remember, the line starts behind me!

Commissions

So, so sorry that I  didn't post this weekend or last but I've been overwhelmed trying to get all of my final projects done for all of my classes. Sadly, 4 of my 5 classes waited until the last minute to give us the project specs and a limited amount of time to complete them all. Blah!

Anyway, in the between time, I've been getting some character commissions done. I found a bunch of amazing new artists on Tumblr and I've had a great experience with them all so far. I hope I can work with them again in the future. Here are just a few samples of the amazing work I got.

Kelda and Dragonfire - my two OC heroes done by the incredible Pryce14. I actually had the chance to work with him before, but it's been so long between, it's like the first time again.

Miles & Eros with Everett & Lucky - I introduced you to my "Fakemon" OC Miles and Kupitty, Eros, in another post. Here he is with his best friend and classmate, Everett and his Eevee, Lucky, done by the awesome Zack.

Cog Queen - I've had a lot of pieces done in the past, but most people draw her as flirty and demure. I asked Vimeddiee to draw her sexy but a little tougher - and I think he gave me a great balance.

Artist Trading Cards - I saved the best for last. Not that I'm playing favorites with the artists, but I was most excited about this one because DeanDraws is sending me the actual cards through the mail! And who doesn't love mail! I'm so anxious to see them in person and hold them in my hands. I had a dozen done, and these are just a few: Superboy, Blue Beetle, Kelda, and Psyfire.

I hope you enjoyed. I've been considering doing a Fan Art Friday for a while. What do you think? If this gets enough attention, I'll make it happen. Until next time!

My Villains I: Intergang

As promised, this week I'm going to be showing off some of my villains. Originally, I'd planned on only doing a single post, but as I started prepping things, I realized that I had enough for a two or three. So I thought that, rather than post everything post everything at once, I'd space it out.

My first Villains Post is all about the international criminal ring, Intergang. A bit different from the classic comic set-up I first saw in Superman: The Animated Series, my version mirrors the conspiracy-plotting Light from the Young Justice cartoon. There is a tiny little change, however. I don't deal with the New Gods in any of my stories, so there is no Apokalyptian technology or dealings with Darkseid. As I said in the Teen Titan's post, I'm trying to streamline my Universe rather than over-complicate it. Trying to add in Darkseid (and even just a tiny assortment of his army) meant also including New Genesis and a bevy of their characters and backstory, too.

These are my Intergang bosses, a secret society of seven supervillains who manipulate crime throughout the world. There are very few criminal organizations that operate outside of their bounds, and even fewer who do so without being unwitting pawns in their plans. So who are these masterminds?

Intergang Bosses (L-R):
Chimera, West Africa, developed/markets the mutating drug called Primal
Petranovitch, Metropolis, arms dealer, smuggler, and counterfeiter
Bellaco, Mexico, controls drug trafficking into the US
The Clock King, Gotham City, illegal weapons manufacturing
Oni, Tokyo, illegal weapons manufacturing
Cernunnos, Opal City, distribution of contraband dark magic items
The Contessa, London, genetic experimentation creating "human weapons"

These may be the masterminds, but they have dozens of underbosses and lackeys to carryout their commands while they plot from behind the scenes. Among their ranks are a few re-purposed DC names you may recognize: Deadshot, Deathstroke, Tigress, Shadow Thief, Knockout, and Silver Banshee. Not all of them are exactly as you've seen them before. Some are quite true to their classic character, but a few are wildly different. And there are dozens of my own characters, too. Among them is one of the original characters that help to start my fanverse: Chromatix.

As you can see from the picture on the left, Chromatix began as my villainess character in DCUO. She started as a Gotham villain (where better for a new criminal to begin, right) but later set-up shop in Metropolis. She's got indestructible, silver skin and super-strength as well as ties to a Justice League member that you'll meet in the future. She's been a really fun character to write and my artist friends seems to enjoy drawing her as well.

So, that's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed getting a peek at the dark side of my fanverse. There is going to be a Part Two to follow, though I'm not sure if it will be next weekend or not. Midterms are over, but after next week, all of my final projects will be due, so I have a very hectic week after the holiday. I'll try my best for a post, but if I can't manage at least you were warned in advance. Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

Update

As I've said before, things this term are pretty crazy. I've got an overloaded schedule and a pile of homework almost daily. And to top it off, with midterms this week, there is extra studying for all of those fun tests. We also got the parameters for our term papers (only took the instructor half the term...) so I've got two papers to write as well.

But enough of my boohooing. I know that I mentioned posting my version of the Justice League to coincide with my Teen Titans, but it's not ready. And it probably won't be for another few weeks. It's not because I'm lazy and didn't get things organized - on the contrary, everything was ready to post earlier this week. So why the delay? I've created three new characters to round out the team roster and I'd like to post them along with the rest. My artist friends will be working on them once they finish their current projects, so it will take some time.

In the meantime, I'm working on a post for next weekend. I thought since the heroes are delayed, what better time to bring in some villains. I'm not going to say who as of yet, I'd rather have it be a surprise. Until then, I've decided that I can't leave you empty-handed. So for you're enjoyment, here is a little Boostle love.

Assault On Arkham Review

I saw there was a sudden influx of traffic to site after I tweeted that I would be doing a review of the new DC animated movie Batman: Assault On Arkham. Sadly, plans changed a bit and my brother and I didn't have a chance to get together and watch it until late last night. Lucky for everyone out there, I am having a bit of insomnia so I decided to post my review before I head off to classes.

Before I start my review of this movie, let me say that I feel DC's animated films have fallen short of their normal grandeur as of late. While Marvel was mastering the live action films, DC had a definite advantage in the animated market (both films and TV). However, after Flashpoint Paradox, I could see a definite downturn in story quality for the next few films. None of them held my interest, or made much sense for that matter, and they lost some of the awesomeness that they captured with earlier movies. Perhaps it's because the later films are based on the newer DC52 Universe which is, for the most part, also poorly written.

I was excited, but wary, when I first saw the trailer for Assault on Arkham. We finally were getting a movie from the villain's point of view. Not that there's anything wrong with seeing another Batman story, but I like a little variety in my life. I collect a wide range of comics and not all of them revolve around Superman/Batman. I understand that they are the big names and will draw the most patrons, but it's nice to switch it up now and then; bring in the unknowns or B-teams, some of them have great stories to tell, too.

After an interesting, but unexplained, opening between The Riddler and Amanda Waller (and her snarky comment about using Google to solve his riddles), Batman interrupts his capture by Waller's team forcing her to bring in Task Force X. Begin the montage of introducing our motley crew of teammates: Killer Frost, Black Spider, Killer Shark, Captain Boomerang, KGBeast, Harley Quinn, and Deadshot. I really enjoyed the selection they chose for the team, most of whom my brother had never heard of before, but a lot of them classic members. I wasn't a huge fan of the Killer Shark redesign, making him more human than the actual shark-man he is in the comics. However, I'm glad that they didn't use the horrendous New52, hammerhead version.

Now seems like a good time to also add in the disclaimer that, despite the fact that this is cartoon based on comic characters, this is not a movie for children. Despite the massive amounts of deaths from bullets, boomerangs, and decapitations there is also a sexual undercurrent to the movie that was unexpected. We get a "flash" of naked Killer Shark during his intro and an obscured but obviously topless Killer Frost later. But worse was the sexual encounter between Deadshot and Harley -  complete with near nudity. And add to that Harley's encounter with the Joker and talk of an abusive, sexual relationship - for me it was all in bad taste. I understand that these are criminals, but not all of them are morally corrupt individuals.

Ultimately, the movie ends where the Arkham Assylum game begins. Joker releases the other prisoners from their cells and all hell breaks loose. There are definite loose ends left at the finale, but for anyone who played the series, or watched the storyline on YouTube, then you know exactly how everything ties together.

So my final thoughts on the movie? It was an interesting ride, though not the one I signed-up for based on the trailer. I enjoyed the Deadshot/Boomerang rivalry - straight out of the comics - but there were some other interesting characters like Killer Frost and Black Spider, neither of whom got the screen time they needed or deserved. And while it was more enjoyable than some of the most recent films, the added (and totally unnecessary) sexual content took the movie a place it didn't need to go.

My Final Score: D+  DC, you're making a move in the right direction, but you have to remember that a big chunk of your market is still children and I would NEVER let my preteen kids watch this movie. Pandering to the lonely fanboys using sex to sell a story... I was hoping for better from you.

Happy Birthday!!!

If you are celebrating your birthday today like I am, then you may already be aware that we share this day with a very impressive list of talented and creative individuals - which makes sense since we're all Leos. But for those of you not in the know, I thought I would post a list of 15 famous people who also celebrate birthdays on August 15th.

Top row (L-R):
Joe Jonas - musician/actor
Julia Child - television chef
Oscar Peterson - jazz musician/composer
Natasha Henstridge - actress (Species)
Scott Altman - astronaut

Middle row (L-R):
Edith Nesbit - children's author
Carlos PenaVega - singer/actor (Big Time Rush)
Napoleon Bonaparte - French emperor/military leader
Carl Edwards - NASCAR racer
Debra Messing - actress (Will & Grace)

Bottom Row (L-R):
Brendan Hansen - Olympic swimmer
Sir Walter Scott - author/poet
Jennifer Lawrence - actress (Hunger Games's Katniss & X-Men's Mystique)
Paul Rand - graphic designer
Ben Affleck - actor/writer/superhero (former Daredevil, future Batman)

So, Happy Birthday to everyone out there celebrating today! May all your birthday wishes come true!

My Teen Titans

Recently there was a lot of talk about the possible return of my beloved Young Justice series for a Season Three. While the ambiguous announcement only revealed the release of Season One on Blu-Ray this Tuesday (8/12/14), we did receive a small bit of news that our favorite teen heroes will be making a brief return to TV in an upcoming episode of Teen Titans GO! this fall. While many hate TTG for replacing Young Justice in the Cartoon Network Saturday morning line-up, there has been a small hope that if that single episode gets enough views - combined with the Blu-Ray sales - Warner/CN will see that there is still a market for the failed series.

With all of the recent news, and I suppose to celebrate the Blu-Ray release, I decided to post the fan art of my very own Teen Titans/Young Justice team. Only half of the team are actual DC owned characters, the rest are characters that I played in DCUO (an MMOG set in the DC Universe). I've since stopped playing DCUO, but I loved my characters so much that I started having fan art done and writing my own stories around the team. I've even branched out and built a Justice League and designed an entire Universe around the team. I've previously posted some art on the old blog as well as on my DeviantART page, but I decided it's time to post some here, too.

This was the first set of the characters I had done about two years ago by the awesome Garnet Q (whose page, it seems, has been deactivated). This was the initial set on which all of the future ones are based. We have (L-R): Superboy, King of Shadows, Dragonfire, Supergirl, Robin, Psyfire, Kelda, and Blue Beetle.

 Here is the second series by one of my favorites, Wind-Box. You can see the evolution of a few costumes from the original as well as some more dynamic poses. You'll see Wind in some of my future posts, too. We work together often and she probably knows my characters, and me, better than any other artist I've worked with so far.

Lastly, we have the fan-favorite Ichan-Desu. His initial piece (see below) of the team was in a Height Chart with everyone in their skivvies. I'm in the process of having my individual Justice League characters completed, but sadly, Ichan has fallen on tough times - both emotionally and financially - and the final few are in limbo. He's a great guy, and I hate the thought of him being unhappy, so visit his page and leave him lots of faves and positive messages. And if you're so inclined, leave him a points donation. Or if you want, donate them on my page - they all go toward helping him either way.

Here we have the team out of costume - and everything else for that matter... You can see now why Ichan is so popular of an artist. (Due to people claiming my commissions as their own, I've been forced to take measures, so ignore the lines running through them.) In case you're confused and can't identify them here they are again (L-R): Jaime (Blue Beetle), Drake (Dragonfire), Kelda, Dick (Robin), Conner (Superboy), Kara (Supergirl), Olyand'r (Psyfire), and Alex (King of Shadows).

Let me end by saying this - I get a lot of slack about not having certain characters or questions as to why I replaced this member with that one. The important thing to note is this: it's my version of the team and it's based on my ideal set of characters. Remember, everyone has their own favorites - these just happen to be mine. It's fan art/stories that I created to revolve around the characters that I created. If nothing else, just enjoy the pretty pictures and leave the negative comments to yourself.

Pokemon: Cyan & Magenta

Last week I promised to post some fan art and never followed through. I spent the bulk of the weekend working on a class project and the other half getting lost in Pokemon X. Well, seeing as the poke-world was responsible for my lack of post, I decided to post my poke-fan art! Here is the Pokedex of "fakemon" (with art by the awesome Pequedark-Velvet) for my own fan series called Pokemon: Cyan & Magenta!

Welcome to the tropical chain of islands known as the Konshima Region! It may not be the largest region, but it has some pretty unique Pokemon to catch. Currently, there are only 15 Pokedex slots filled, but there are many, many more that have yet to be spotted. Perhaps a few ancient Pokemon still live deep in the underwater trenches...

Konshima Pokedex
1. Kupitty (Flying)
2. Seriphynx (Dark/Flying)
3. Angelicat (Dark/Flying)
4. Teddikinetic (Psychic)
5. Mediteddy (Psychic)
6. Psybear (Psychic)
7. Chargimp (Electric)
8. Orangutazer (Electric/Fighting)
9. Zape (Electric/Fighting)
10. Crimsong (Flying)
11. Rubyrd (Flying)
12. Scarleete (Flying)
13. Hachit (Ground)
14. Digrowl (Ground/Steel)
15. Nozeel (Water/Dragon)

Meet your best friend and fellow Trainer, Miles Trackett. Miles is your neighbor and the son of a  prestigious geologist studying the dormant Scarletta Volcano. When his father is kidnapped, you offer to help Miles find clues to his whereabouts while you explore the Konshima Region for Professor Alder.

Meet your rival, Pyre, a Trainer from someplace called the Kanto Region. He arrived on your island and challenged the first Trainer he saw, which happened to be you! He has a lot of strange, foreign Pokemon that you've never seen - his favorite being something he calls a "Charizard."

Guardians of the Galaxy Review

I'm always slightly hesitant to see a movie that is hyped as "The Blockbuster of the Summer" - I've been let down too often in the past to get my hopes up that it will be any good. As a comic book junkie, I've been let down before (many, many times) by the live action translation of some of my favorite characters. But Marvel has been slowly renewing my faith that it's possible to make a movie that will impress the fanboys and still keep the casual audience interested. And Guardians of the Galaxy does just that.

Plot aside, the movie is a great mix of comedy and action. Even if you can't follow the storyline or remember the back story of the characters, the effects, humor, and music make it an enjoyable time. So enjoyable, in fact, that I hardly minded the 2-hours of chatty patrons seated behind me. My attention was so focused on everything happening that I tuned them out until the credits started rolling and one of them said: "Yo, that should be the new Star Wars franchise!"

I've heard that comment before, that Guardians has the potential to be a Star Wars for a new generation. And it really could. While I love the ORIGINAL trilogy, the new one left a sour taste in my mouth. The crew of the Milano (yes, like the cookie) has a great dynamic that makes me wonder what would've happened had the Star Wars franchise made Han Solo the main protagonist instead of Luke Skywalker.

WARNING: SPOILERS

I could post the plot but heck, you can go an read that on Wikipedia, too, if you're interested in what happens. I thought rather than rehash the story myself, I'd rather post a list of the things that I liked, learned, and were irked by about the film instead. In no particular order:

1. Another Infinity Gem is revealed. I knew that there was a good chance that we would be seeing at least one of these in the movie and I was right. Let's tally them up: blue Mind gem from The Avengers, red Power gem from Thor II, and now the purple Space gem. We've now encountered half of the gems so we should be seeing an epic Infinity Wars cross-over movie soon, I hope!

2. Michael Rooker is a bad-ass space junker. Anyone who watches The Walking Dead will be pleased with his portrayal of Yondu. It's a different interpretation of the character than I've seen but it plays up perfectly to Rooker's strengths. Turning his trademark yaka arrows into a dagger for the film was an interesting adjustment, but one I can live with. Fun fact: Yondu, like Merle, lost a hand and had a hook, too.

3. Dogs in Space. In amongst the Collectors, uh, collections we see several live specimens including Cosmo the Spacedog who features as a character in the comics. Stay tuned through the credits and you'll see that he survives meaning he could make an appearance in GotG II. Who do I not want to see make an appearance in the sequel: Howard the Duck...

4. Lots of beefcake. Sure there's the beefy Drax walking around shirtless through the entire movie, but let me say: Chris Pratt is hot. I mean, he gives all the chubby guys out there hope that they, too, can become sex symbols. We get to see him half-naked, if slightly orange (watch the movie and you'll see) pretty early in the movie. But they aren't the only two showing skin. There's also Lee Pace as Ronan - yeah the main baddie - showing off his bare, blue backside, too. Maybe if Ned showed off those assets Pushing Daisies would still be on the air.

5. All clothes come in raccoon sizes. As far as I am aware, and the movie supports this, Rocket is one-of-a-kind. He does not come from planet of raccoons, he was genetically-engineered. Yet, of his four costume changes, each seems to be made in his size. I'll forgo his original and the prison uniform, but are you telling me that the humanoid Renegades and Nova Core both just happen to stock his exact size? A very minor flaw to the film, but it irked me just a bit.

6. You will love Groot. There's not much more that I can add to that sentence. He has really only one line in the movie, but despite the lack of meaningful dialogue, you can't help but  love his character. He seems almost child-like at times, but don't let that fool you - he's a bass-ass who will protect his friends from anything.

7. Star-Lord gets all the ladies. Back in the day, Captain Kirk was the player of players in space, banging alien chicks as he explored the Universe. Even though the newer version of the character played by Chris Pine lived up to that aspect of the character, Peter Quill does it better. He even has the scars to prove it.

8. Nebula is a whiner. Don't get me wrong, I loved the look of this character so much. And I was really excited to see that she would be in this movie. But, instead of being a bad-ass, unemotional killer, she's played more like a whiny child desperate for daddy's attention. Even her cool regeneration scene can't overshadow this for me.

9. There are Celestials in the Universe. Something that they didn't show when they introduced the Collector in Thor II was the location of his creepy shop. Seems that it's located in the middle of Knowhere which is in fact the severed head of a Celestial. If you have no idea what I am talking about, the Celestials are cosmic beings that have been alive since the dawn of time and are pretty much "gods" on the same power level as beings like Galactus.

10. There will be a GotG II. And that's not speculation. Just before the credits, the movie ends with the words: "Guardians of the Galaxy will return." That and a dancing Groot.



So, what's my final word on the movie? I think it's worth seeing, even if you have no prior knowledge of the comic. Heck, even if you're just a fan of sci-fi movies, or for that matter action-comedies, you're going to enjoy this one. And I hate to say it, but I really think this will be the Summer Blockbuster they touted it to be.

My Score: A+ - There's really not much more they can do to improve on this movie. Which means they have a lot to live up to if they're making a sequel.

A Tough Week Getting Better

As the title implies, last week was a pretty tough week  for me. I won't go into details, but there was a family tragedy that was expected but still a shock to everyone. My entire weekend got thrown off by it and, even today, I'm still trying to recoup. It's one of the many reasons that I didn't get a chance to blog at all this past week.

However, you can expect some posts this weekend for sure. Friday afternoon I'll be going to see Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie I've been itching to see since before the first trailer. It seems like it took forever to come out, but I heard - as much as I could without revealing spoilers - that it was a great movie and worth the wait. Anyway, at some point this weekend (hopefully Friday while it's still fresh in my mind) I'll be composing a review of it.

I've also got plans to post my first set of fan art this weekend, too. I've been overloaded with school work (I have an extra class this term), so I'm limited on my free time recently. I'm only writing this tonight because I needed to take a break from studying for my quiz tomorrow and thought I would kill two birds with one stone, as they say. Even though I have an added class, my schedule is only four days - so tomorrow my weekend starts and I've been getting a jump on assignments to keep it as free as possible.

That's it for now. Just a quick update really. But stay tuned for my review Friday or Saturday and another post Sunday (maybe?). Ta-ta for now!

Art Pop?

One of the reasons I wanted to switch the direction of my blog was so that  could show off all of the INCREDIBLE pieces of fan art I've commissioned over the years. However, I've been having second thoughts after getting into a discussion over on my DeviantArt page.

Last year, one of the artists I commissioned posted a picture of one of my original characters, which is fine. The artists and I have an understanding and we get the others' approval before posting (being sure that we give credit to the other). The incident happened on Tumblr when, while scrolling through my Dashboard, who should I see pop-up other than my OC. Now that in itself isn't what bothered me (some of the artists have Tumblrs, as I do, and we post as per our agreement). The issue was that neither of us posted this piece and the mystery man was: 1) claiming the art their own and 2) claiming the character, my character, as their own creation. It was a months-long process trying to fix the issue - and it is, like anything posted online, not completely fixed. However, the artist and I did get the original poster to admit that the work and character was not their own, which on the Internets is a win. He/she has subsequently disappeared under that Tumblr moniker.

After this discussion, the fellow with whom I was debating still didn't see a problem with what happened. "Art and stuff are borrowed all the time. You're never going to stop it." As a creative individual, I put a certain amount of my heart and soul into everything I design. To have have someone else claim your work as their own is infuriating! They put nothing into the creative process themselves and yet claim all of the success as their own. Another thing that irked me, was that when the picture was posted by the thief, it got twice as many likes and reblogs than when the original artist posted it.

There will most likely be some art posted here, especially the pieces that I've already posted elsewhere online. But this debate and the lack of understanding have left a bitter taste in my mouth. In the end, what I decide to do will most likely depend on the comments and support I receive from my followers.

Geekk Sale

Classes have started once more, and it's a very, very long day for me. I'm hoping that it doesn't interfere with me posting once or twice a week, if not more, but if it does, I hope you all understand: School first, Blog second.

Anyway, the last few days of my break I spent cleaning. Things have really piled-up since I started back at school; I mean literally there are piles of things everywhere. Neatly stacked and organized piles, but piles none the less. They haven't really bothered me until recently as I've been focused on schoolwork and freelance projects. Things changed when my cat decided to get frisky with a stack of DVDs and knocked them over in the dead of night scaring the bajeebers out of me.

That was the final straw, I suppose. I could no longer move anywhere without being suddenly conscious of the millions of piles of "stuff" everywhere. How have lived like this for  so long and not realized it? I fear that I am perhaps turning into one of those weird Hoarders people that cry over throwing out old pizza boxes. I suddenly feel very claustrophobic and need to do something about it.

The answer is simple: I HAVE WAAAAAY TOO MUCH STUFF for my tiny place. Some of my old "fat" clothes I'll be donating to the local clothing drive as they are now too big on me (yipee!), but the larger problem is what to do with my vast geekk collection? I don't especially want to get rid of things as they all have some sentimental value, but I'll have to get rid of at least some of it. My comic collection alone is six boxes and counting. Not to mention the two huge totes of sealed Lego sets.

I've decided to give eBay a shot and maybe also try Craigslist and Amazon. I've given a lot of thought to what I want to sell first and hang onto for a bit longer. I think first up will my CCG cards. I use to be really into Marvel and DC VS System as well as Magic the Gathering. I haven't played either in years and most of the cards have been sitting neatly organized in their boxes and untouched since. I'm working on a list of everything that I have but if anyone out there is interested in making me bulk offer and saving me the trouble, I'll definitely consider it.

After the cards will be some toys. I have a bunch of the Series 1 Ben 10 toys that I bought when the original series started (which was one of my favorite series ever until they jumped the shark with those movies). There are also some sealed Lego sets that I have doubles of and want to sell, too. After that, I guess I'll see how much more room I need and go from there.

It's a little sad that it's come to this, but until school is over and I relocate (which is another year at least), I'm stuck in this place for now. At this point I really care less about the money and more about getting my space back...

A Quick Trip To Forbidden Planet

I know my trip was nearly a week ago (that long already?), but I wanted to post a few other things before this one. It was only my second trip to New York ever and there was a lot on my list that I wanted to see. The first one was a bit of a bust since most of what I saw of the city was from a seat on a bus.

The bulk of our day was spent at the Museum of Natural History. It was incredible and we never even finished it. There were even a few areas I felt "rushed" because there was so much I wanted to see before we went to lunch. That turned out to be an event in itself. After trips to three different pizza shops with no luck finding "the right kind of pizza," we settled on going to Chipotle, another first for me.

The final highlight for me was a visit to the Forbidden Planet comic shop. I thought it was a great store, one of the best comic shops I've ever visited. Granted, there's nothing around here quite like it, but it was still an experience. We spent quite a while browsing, longer than I had planned given the group I was with. In fact, we would have been there even longer had my friend not gotten ill from the heat, forcing us to leave.

I didn't leave empty-handed, either. I  at least had a chance to pick up a new addition to my collection:

The Flash Pilot Spoilers

Warning: there are SPOILERS below. Do not read this if you have not seen the pilot and want to be surprised. The opinions and theories made are my own based on what I have seen and the conclusions I've drawn.

 

I had heard about the leak of The Flash pilot about 2 weeks ago and have been taking drastic measures to avoid reading anything about it until the premiere this fall. However, I happened to stumble across the pilot online and just couldn't resist watching it! So here is my opinion of the series as well as few spoilers/surprises/theories about what I think we'll see in the series.

First, let me say that I love Grant Gustin as an actor. Granted, I'm most familiar with him from his Glee roll as Sebastian. That boy has a serious set of pipes and I really wish that they would have featured him more both as a singer and foil to the Kurt/Blaine dynamic. However, Glee's loss is The Flash's gain. He's not who I would have chosen as Barry Allen, but after seeing him on Arrow, I quickly changed my mind. I've always been of the mindset that the Flash should be more lean than muscular and I think Grant has the frame for the role.

I love that we are also getting the 90's Flash actor, John Wesley Shipp, as Barry's dad. For the slightly older kids (ie - my generation) this is a nice homage to the old, if campy series. (I just pray that Mark Hamill doesn't return as the Trickster in that horrific costume). Of the rest of the cast we have Iris West and her dad who act as Barry's surrogate family after his mother's death and father's incarceration. At the moment, there is the predictable love triangle preventing Barry and Iris from hooking-up at the start. Understandable since she is practically his sister... Outside of the West family we also have a cast who, unlike DC's past CW series Arrow and Smallville, are in the know about Barry's secret identity from day one.

This is where things get interesting. Of our three STAR Labs cast members, two  of them have roots grounded in the cannon universe. Cisco Ramon, better known as Vibe, and Caitlin Snow, the latest incarnation of Killer Frost, are both directly involved with Barry and his Flash activities. Will we see them in their superhero/villain personas later in the series? My guess would be yes, otherwise why use such obvious names? The real mystery for me is the identity of Harrison Wells, played by Tom Cavanagh. The wheelchair-bound owner of STAR Labs reveals at the end that he 1) is fully capable of walking and 2) is in possession of future tech and info. My original thought after seeing the extended trailer was that he'd be revealed to be the "yellow blur" (aka- Professor Zoom) that Barry saw in his youth. However, in the pilot we meet Detective West's newest partner Eddie Thawne (and Professor Zoom's name in comics is Eobard Thawne) making me think that I'm wrong. So could Harrison be a time-traveling villain like Chronos, with an surname like Wells (who wrote the Time Machine if you're not aware) it's a possibility.

There are a few other nods to the series that people have been hyping over. There's the "Grodd" sign on a destroyed cage meaning we'll possibly see a visit from the notorious gorilla villain. There's also the bevy of hints mentioned in the future newspaper from a Wayne-Queen merger (hinting at a Batman appearance), the Flash's disappearance during a "Crisis," and the  mysterious "red skies" (a possible hint at Darkseid or Apokalypse).

I think that this is going to be a great series and, since it will be running in tandem with Arrow, we have the potential for some amazing arcs and crossovers. This is a series I'll be sure to tune in for each and every week.

Why Do I Do This?

I had planned to write a bunch more posts while I was on break, but I had a last minute offer to go to New York with a friend. As I've only been there once before, I jumped at the chance to spend another day in the RL Metropolis. This post was originally going to be about my trip, but something happened that I feel more inclined to write about.

So, I recently got a Twitter message about buying followers. Specifically the message said that I can buy 5000 followers for a mere $15.00 sent via Paypal. It sounds like an amazing offer because, of course, everyone involved in social media knows that numbers matter. Popularity through views, likes, favorites, followers - no matter how you classify them, quantity matters. The more you have have, the better you are, right?

Maybe that's true. There are amazing content producers out there like Tyler Oakly and Shane Dawson who make their living through social media. Their livelihood depends on their creativity: keeping their fans entertained so that they don't unsubscribe while simultaneously drawing in new followers. Yes, for them and thousands of others, things like YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr are perhaps a game of numbers and trying to stay on top.

For me, having something like a Twitter or this blog was never about trying to become a social media superstar. This is my chance to have my voice and my opinion heard; a way to express myself and find others with similar interests who want to comment or debate. I'm not set on building a vast empire of followers who worship me - that kind of power and celebrity is scary. Look at the recent Nash Grier debacle as an example. Yes he is young and what he did was meant as a joke, but in today's socially-charged climate what he did has cost him dearly. It means the loss of fans, the loss of his respectability, and (from what I've read) the possible loss of a movie deal.

This very blog, as a matter of point, is the perfect example of why I do this. The Interwebs is the modern day soapbox where I can voice my opinion and, if you are so inclined by my rant, you can stop and listen. In fact, join in and debate or comment if you agree/disagree with me. Ahhh, it feels good to get that off my chest. Stay tuned for something more light-hearted and fun next post!

Summer Reading List

Finals are finally over and I managed to pull out another 4.0 this semester. Now that all of that is over with, I have two weeks to relax before my next term. Other than a few day trips, including my second ever trip to NYC, I have nothing major planned. So, what to do...? Well, after a trip to BAM last weekend, I took advantage of their BOGO and built up a summer reading list.

Here's what I'll be reading over the next 2+ weeks:

Saga, Vol. 3 the latest graphic novel by Brian K. Vaughn, I loved the first two.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman, loved the movie and I hear the book is even better.

The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson, never heard of it, but I love the Superman mythos.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, another customer actually recommended it to me. I started this one first and I'm already blazing through it. America's first serial killer? Heck yeah I wanna read it!

So this is how I'll be spending my summer break, I'd love to hear how you'll be spending yours. Any other books that you recommend for my next break? Let me know in the comments below. I'm also still tweeking the site, but it's pretty well completed. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep the background or change it... Comment on that, too!

First!

If you followed my old blog then you know that I've decided to change my social media direction. I'm still following my plans set about in PNM360, but I'm probably as bored writing about weight loss and fitness as all y'all are reading about it. My most popular posts were the movie reviews and favorite YouTubers lists, so I decided to make us all happy and go back to writing about things I love. And that would be super-geeky, nerdy things: comic books, movies, fanart/fic, etc. So stay tuned to see what I have in store. I'm planning to work on this a lot during my break next week after finals, so stay tuned!