Yeah, I was considering going to PAX, but in the end decided I'd probably end up spending way too much $$.
In other news, the weather FINALLY feels like it might be moving in a more "spring-y" direction, rather than the "nope, going to hang out here in Death Winter forever" direction it had been following up until very recently.
NightDragon on
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MustangArbiter of Unpopular OpinionsRegistered Userregular
I was watching videos on CNN of the Earth Quake in Japan, and they were showing an office feeling the tremors, and i saw a robot dog.
And I couldn't focus on anything but the robot dog on the shelf. Thinking "Holy shit that's definitely Japan, they have a robot dog in the office."
You're not half as terrible as me, I started laughing hysterically when they showed footage of a car being swept away by the tempest of water and it's wiper blades were furiously pumping back and forth. I'm just a terrible terrible human being.
Maybe my example was poorly chosen/worded here. The point isn't so much, "Hey, I want to be the kind of guy that spends $1000 on a Gundam costume even though I live on unemployment", so much as I'm trying to get across that I think I may be excessively level-headed, and always making decisions on a 'is this the most rational use of my time, money, and resources' level doesn't leave a lot of room for doing, or becoming invested in things, that are just meant to be entertaining/fun.
For example, if given vacation time, the chances are generally 100% that I'll stay at home rather than travel somewhere or do anything particularly out of the ordinary; because I know that being in the video game industry is a volatile proposition, and the responsible choice is to save as much money as I can for when I may very well find myself out of work for months at a time. It's definitely a practical and reasonable decision, but it's hard to get all that super-ultra-jazzed about fiscal responsibility. (Which reminds me of my big weekend plans: do my taxes. )
The same sort of thing applies with the way-too-in-to-it con-going types. Spending a ton of money to fly halfway across the country and dress up a some damn weird thing and play some video games or see some previews for some movies makes a lot less practical sense than, for example, waiting a year and a half and picking those things up when they've hit bargain bin prices (or just renting them). It's just hard to imagine the kind of person who would do the latter (ie: me) being half as excited about their decision as the person who would opt for the former.
Look at it this way: If you go to a con or expo, you can at least get excited about the fact that you might make a chance connection out of the whole thing and further your career or just keep it afloat. Even if you don't use that as an excuse to get excited about the other frivolous, pointless shit, you can still soothe your conscience knowing there are perfectly boring reasons for you to be there.
In my experience, geek conventions are boring as hell, although this may be because Australia has really crappy conventions. Unless you happen to be cosplaying, which (despite the fact that I used to look down on all these people in their weirdo costumes) I can confirm is a hell of a lot of fun.
I'd like to go to a PAX though, partly because I might know people there.
Cons, like anything, are what you make of them. My first trip to Comic-Con was a blast and I think I only sat in on one or two panels, both of them being low key and specific to creating cartoons and such.
I also spent the entire weekend in a state perpetually fueled by whiskey. My body was definitely questioning my leadership skills for days after it was all over.
Hey, Artist's Corner! Normally I'm in the Critical Failures thread but I was hoping you guys could help out. I run a DnD campaign and I would love to commission a drawing of the characters in the group. I saw in the rules that I should ask here. Nothing fancy. I was hoping to have a balance between realistic/cartoony (if that makes sense), but if you are interested let me know and we can chat.
Look at it this way: If you go to a con or expo, you can at least get excited about the fact that you might make a chance connection out of the whole thing and further your career or just keep it afloat. Even if you don't use that as an excuse to get excited about the other frivolous, pointless shit, you can still soothe your conscience knowing there are perfectly boring reasons for you to be there.
Urgh, I find the idea of career-schmoozing completely terrifying.
Look at it this way: If you go to a con or expo, you can at least get excited about the fact that you might make a chance connection out of the whole thing and further your career or just keep it afloat. Even if you don't use that as an excuse to get excited about the other frivolous, pointless shit, you can still soothe your conscience knowing there are perfectly boring reasons for you to be there.
Urgh, I find the idea of career-schmoozing completely terrifying.
It's not really that terrifying. Please refer to my post above. That was basically my whole reason for going to Comic-Con when I went in 09.
Hey, Artist's Corner! Normally I'm in the Critical Failures thread but I was hoping you guys could help out. I run a DnD campaign and I would love to commission a drawing of the characters in the group. I saw in the rules that I should ask here. Nothing fancy. I was hoping to have a balance between realistic/cartoony (if that makes sense), but if you are interested let me know and we can chat.
See if there are any artists whose style you like and contact them as well. DMAC does a lot of D&D type stuff.
I could never be one of those comic guys, they anger me beyond words.
Yup. It's the main reason why I don't care for comics so much cause of bad fanboy experiences.
You know, in my years of studying Japanese I always ran into the same group of anime fanboys. Not that there is anything wrong with liking anime (God knows thats what got me started), but when they freak out to the point of derailing everything into anime it is just too frustrating to take.
I have the worst impression of Anime super fans in particular because of my personal frustrations with them.
I could never be one of those comic guys, they anger me beyond words.
Yup. It's the main reason why I don't care for comics so much cause of bad fanboy experiences.
You know, in my years of studying Japanese I always ran into the same group of anime fanboys. Not that there is anything wrong with liking anime (God knows thats what got me started), but when they freak out to the point of derailing everything into anime it is just too frustrating to take.
I have the worst impression of Anime super fans in particular because of my personal frustrations with them.
Yeah, I know a few people like that. They can be really unpleasant to talk to, normally I just ignore them. I think it's partly because of the stigma that was associated with geek subcultures for years (still is I guess), that leads people to feel like they need to be defensive of their interests all the time. And that's also partly the appeal of cons I guess; these people can finally lower their defenses and embrace what they love in public. I'm not a fanboy, but I know I've felt nerd-shame before.
On a side note, I've never really been that involved in the animoos (I've seen Cowboy Bebop and that's pretty much it), although being exposed to that culture a great deal, as well as video games was one of the things that swayed me to learning Japanese. The problem is people started assuming that I was a massive anime fanboy, including other fanboys, which made them a lot harder to avoid.
Oh well, I'm not studying it any more, I've dropped that half of my degree.
I used to be really into anime. I don't know what happened.
I still indulge in some Dragonball from time to time. It's too bad not to watch. It kinda inspires me to write a super hero comic, too. I guess I watch it for nostalgia.
I really think that planet shattering martial arts battles are a comic niche that one could still have some success in. Maybe someday I'll make a go of it.
e: I just wish they didn't yell like they do. That shit will give someone a hernia. Also 4 episodes of trash talk, 1 episode of intermittent fighting with even more filler is not a friendly ratio for your audience. And "darn" is not an acceptable exclamation when you're fighting for your life against an insurmountable opponent.
I could never be one of those comic guys, they anger me beyond words.
Yup. It's the main reason why I don't care for comics so much cause of bad fanboy experiences.
You know, in my years of studying Japanese I always ran into the same group of anime fanboys. Not that there is anything wrong with liking anime (God knows thats what got me started), but when they freak out to the point of derailing everything into anime it is just too frustrating to take.
I have the worst impression of Anime super fans in particular because of my personal frustrations with them.
I had the reverse effect; it's the Marvel/DC ones that have been so intolerable.
I know there are some cool, laid-back comic book fans out there; my best friend, the dude I would take a bullet for, is a big fan of Marvel, but he's able to turn it on and off just fine. The ones i've been around just beat it over your head, and if you miss one thing, don't understand or disagree with any tiny detail, you will never hear the end of it.
It doesn't help your case buddy, all it does is drive me away!
I could never be one of those comic guys, they anger me beyond words.
Yup. It's the main reason why I don't care for comics so much cause of bad fanboy experiences.
IDK what it is about comic culture, specifically SUPER HERO COMICS... The art, the fucking costumes, the FANS... Its all the same, for the last 50 years, all the same...
"GOSH GOLLY SPIDERMAN... JEE WHILACKERS!!!" That was written... in a superhero comic book... released in 2001
Been saying that for years, but it's never going to change. Right now if you want to survive as a comic book artist, you need to work for the Big Two or starve. It's not fair to the thousands of talented illustrators out there who want to do their own thing, but they're constantly muscled out by these companies all because they got there first, plain and simple.
I mean, super hero plotlines aren't even good. People come up with hundreds of "super hero" designs in a week. Thats why shit like Flight is so goddamn amazing, because its unique. I mean, I don't understand why people swoon over Invincible. It seemed like Superhero, but in a different costume.
We honestly need to stop rebooting these super hero movies, so we can move on into something NEW. I'll admit, Dark Knight was a fantastic movie, but lets stop with the others already.
IDK what it is about american animation/illustration? There's no room to maneuver. Strict REALISM, anatomy, hard reality,and some spandex does not make good fixion!
ninjai on
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NappuccinoSurveyor of Things and StuffRegistered Userregular
At the end of the day, isn't it the same exact characters, the same villains and the same settings? I'm sure it's great, but that's more of a reboot, not something really new.
I want the next big mainstream thing that isn't a superhero comic.
Godfather on
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NappuccinoSurveyor of Things and StuffRegistered Userregular
At the end of the day, isn't it the same exact characters, the same villains and the same settings? I'm sure it's great, but that's more of a reboot, not something really new.
I want the next big mainstream thing that isn't a superhero comic.
A well told story is a well told story mister "avatar is the best movie ever"
Been saying that for years, but it's never going to change. Right now if you want to survive as a comic book artist, you need to work for the Big Two or starve. It's not fair to the thousands of talented illustrators out there who want to do their own thing, but they're constantly muscled out by these companies all because they got there first, plain and simple.
It's a monopoly, plain and simple.
This... this just isn't true at all. Man, you need to get out and read more comics if you think this is true!
At the end of the day, isn't it the same exact characters, the same villains and the same settings? I'm sure it's great, but that's more of a reboot, not something really new.
I want the next big mainstream thing that isn't a superhero comic.
A well told story is a well told story mister "avatar is the best movie ever"
LoL... avatar...
But more to the point, its disheartening to note that superhero comics/ stories in general follow the same plot. They all wear similar costumes, and fight similar villians.
The fact of the matter is, while television and saturday morning cartoons have made anime out to be a childrens cartoon thing (even though its not),
Been saying that for years, but it's never going to change. Right now if you want to survive as a comic book artist, you need to work for the Big Two or starve. It's not fair to the thousands of talented illustrators out there who want to do their own thing, but they're constantly muscled out by these companies all because they got there first, plain and simple.
It's a monopoly, plain and simple.
This... this just isn't true at all. Man, you need to get out and read more comics if you think this is true!
They are a lot of individual comics out there, but they're barely scraping by. That's just not right, they need to be making more money!
The closest competitor to the two, Dark Horse comics, owns less than 5% of the market share. Marvel own Diamondhead distributors, which as far as I know is the only distributor for comics, so it kinda is a monopoly.
I'm talking more about the mainstream diversity, cause it's only superheroes over here. Like ninjai said, in the East they do that superpower sort of thing, but there is a wide diversity to choose from and they tend to keep to themselves instead of being shoehorned into this big multi-universe. Why can't we do that? I like that a lot better.
Been saying that for years, but it's never going to change. Right now if you want to survive as a comic book artist, you need to work for the Big Two or starve. It's not fair to the thousands of talented illustrators out there who want to do their own thing, but they're constantly muscled out by these companies all because they got there first, plain and simple.
It's a monopoly, plain and simple.
This... this just isn't true at all. Man, you need to get out and read more comics if you think this is true!
I will take you up on this, if you can recommend an answer to THIS thread.
Its all so boring and uninspired... I mean, who wants to be the next stan lee? I don't... Fuck that guy.
edit: Lol, STAN. LEE.
Edit: Tam that is a pretty badass game. I'll have to play some more when I have more free time!
IDK what it is about comic culture, specifically SUPER HERO COMICS... The art, the fucking costumes, the FANS... Its all the same, for the last 50 years, all the same...
"GOSH GOLLY SPIDERMAN... JEE WHILACKERS!!!" That was written... in a superhero comic book... released in 2001
who the FUCK would read that?
Well, let's start by you realizing how dumb it is to say something like this. Sure, there are some conventions of the genre that repeat themselves, but that's what a genre is. It's going to be harder to find a Western that's not set in a frontier.
Are you specifically looking for superhero titles? If so, you're going to find that, say, a comic like Watchmen, is drastically different from a black and white Ant-Man reprint collection. Stories like Gotham Central are still about supervillains even if they're more noir than superhero. When heroes show up, they're shown as almost mythical gods, unlike Fourth World stories by Kirby dealing with actual gods. There are plenty of superhero books that play superheroes pretty straight, but focus less on silly one off confrontations with the Weather Wizard, and more the characters' lives. See: Bendis' run on Daredevil or Morrison's All-Star Superman. They're unashamed to be superhero stories about fighting villains with animal-themed costumes and saving the world from an invasion of aliens from a cuboid planet. If you want something more intellectual, you could crack open Morrison's Doom Patrol and learn about Dada applied to life, or Gaiman's Sandman which constantly intersects with everyday DC continuity.
These comics wouldn't have been written 50 years ago. There just weren't writers working in American comics trying to make smart comics that could be read as literature.
Robert Kirkman isn't an argument against Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, etc., etc., but rather a testament to the diversity of opinions on what readers want from their comics. It's okay to want the kind of disposable, single-voiced hyperviolence that Kirkman provides. There's no requirement that anything you consume has to make you think.
And for the record, despite some truly horrible comics he did for Marvel, all of Kirkman's comics are all creator-owned. After Image takes their small fee, he and his artists get all of the mountains of cash his comics bring in. He has been so wildly popular that Image had him join as one of their head honchos and set up a special imprint just for him so he can pick creators that he will publish where they both get paid a page rate for their comics and own their IPs.
Toji Suzuhara on
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NappuccinoSurveyor of Things and StuffRegistered Userregular
Although I've never really read comics either, I've been thinking about getting in to some Deadpool recently. The Killing Joke is another I'd really like to give a try.
Posts
In other news, the weather FINALLY feels like it might be moving in a more "spring-y" direction, rather than the "nope, going to hang out here in Death Winter forever" direction it had been following up until very recently.
You're not half as terrible as me, I started laughing hysterically when they showed footage of a car being swept away by the tempest of water and it's wiper blades were furiously pumping back and forth. I'm just a terrible terrible human being.
For example, if given vacation time, the chances are generally 100% that I'll stay at home rather than travel somewhere or do anything particularly out of the ordinary; because I know that being in the video game industry is a volatile proposition, and the responsible choice is to save as much money as I can for when I may very well find myself out of work for months at a time. It's definitely a practical and reasonable decision, but it's hard to get all that super-ultra-jazzed about fiscal responsibility. (Which reminds me of my big weekend plans: do my taxes. )
The same sort of thing applies with the way-too-in-to-it con-going types. Spending a ton of money to fly halfway across the country and dress up a some damn weird thing and play some video games or see some previews for some movies makes a lot less practical sense than, for example, waiting a year and a half and picking those things up when they've hit bargain bin prices (or just renting them). It's just hard to imagine the kind of person who would do the latter (ie: me) being half as excited about their decision as the person who would opt for the former.
Twitter
Look at it this way: If you go to a con or expo, you can at least get excited about the fact that you might make a chance connection out of the whole thing and further your career or just keep it afloat. Even if you don't use that as an excuse to get excited about the other frivolous, pointless shit, you can still soothe your conscience knowing there are perfectly boring reasons for you to be there.
I'd like to go to a PAX though, partly because I might know people there.
I also spent the entire weekend in a state perpetually fueled by whiskey. My body was definitely questioning my leadership skills for days after it was all over.
Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
Urgh, I find the idea of career-schmoozing completely terrifying.
Twitter
It's not really that terrifying. Please refer to my post above. That was basically my whole reason for going to Comic-Con when I went in 09.
Twitter
See if there are any artists whose style you like and contact them as well. DMAC does a lot of D&D type stuff.
You know, in my years of studying Japanese I always ran into the same group of anime fanboys. Not that there is anything wrong with liking anime (God knows thats what got me started), but when they freak out to the point of derailing everything into anime it is just too frustrating to take.
I have the worst impression of Anime super fans in particular because of my personal frustrations with them.
I call it The Martian Gambit! Never lets me down.
Is that also what you're going to be cosplaying as the next time you go?
"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom, mon ami."
Twitter
Yeah, I know a few people like that. They can be really unpleasant to talk to, normally I just ignore them. I think it's partly because of the stigma that was associated with geek subcultures for years (still is I guess), that leads people to feel like they need to be defensive of their interests all the time. And that's also partly the appeal of cons I guess; these people can finally lower their defenses and embrace what they love in public. I'm not a fanboy, but I know I've felt nerd-shame before.
On a side note, I've never really been that involved in the animoos (I've seen Cowboy Bebop and that's pretty much it), although being exposed to that culture a great deal, as well as video games was one of the things that swayed me to learning Japanese. The problem is people started assuming that I was a massive anime fanboy, including other fanboys, which made them a lot harder to avoid.
Oh well, I'm not studying it any more, I've dropped that half of my degree.
I still indulge in some Dragonball from time to time. It's too bad not to watch. It kinda inspires me to write a super hero comic, too. I guess I watch it for nostalgia.
I really think that planet shattering martial arts battles are a comic niche that one could still have some success in. Maybe someday I'll make a go of it.
e: I just wish they didn't yell like they do. That shit will give someone a hernia. Also 4 episodes of trash talk, 1 episode of intermittent fighting with even more filler is not a friendly ratio for your audience. And "darn" is not an acceptable exclamation when you're fighting for your life against an insurmountable opponent.
I had the reverse effect; it's the Marvel/DC ones that have been so intolerable.
I know there are some cool, laid-back comic book fans out there; my best friend, the dude I would take a bullet for, is a big fan of Marvel, but he's able to turn it on and off just fine. The ones i've been around just beat it over your head, and if you miss one thing, don't understand or disagree with any tiny detail, you will never hear the end of it.
It doesn't help your case buddy, all it does is drive me away!
IDK what it is about comic culture, specifically SUPER HERO COMICS... The art, the fucking costumes, the FANS... Its all the same, for the last 50 years, all the same...
"GOSH GOLLY SPIDERMAN... JEE WHILACKERS!!!" That was written... in a superhero comic book... released in 2001
who the FUCK would read that?
It's a monopoly, plain and simple.
We honestly need to stop rebooting these super hero movies, so we can move on into something NEW. I'll admit, Dark Knight was a fantastic movie, but lets stop with the others already.
IDK what it is about american animation/illustration? There's no room to maneuver. Strict REALISM, anatomy, hard reality,and some spandex does not make good fixion!
At the end of the day, isn't it the same exact characters, the same villains and the same settings? I'm sure it's great, but that's more of a reboot, not something really new.
I want the next big mainstream thing that isn't a superhero comic.
A well told story is a well told story mister "avatar is the best movie ever"
This... this just isn't true at all. Man, you need to get out and read more comics if you think this is true!
(play it)
LoL... avatar...
But more to the point, its disheartening to note that superhero comics/ stories in general follow the same plot. They all wear similar costumes, and fight similar villians.
The fact of the matter is, while television and saturday morning cartoons have made anime out to be a childrens cartoon thing
(even though its not),
it still has a very wide variety of super power anime/manga
They are a lot of individual comics out there, but they're barely scraping by. That's just not right, they need to be making more money!
The closest competitor to the two, Dark Horse comics, owns less than 5% of the market share. Marvel own Diamondhead distributors, which as far as I know is the only distributor for comics, so it kinda is a monopoly.
I'm talking more about the mainstream diversity, cause it's only superheroes over here. Like ninjai said, in the East they do that superpower sort of thing, but there is a wide diversity to choose from and they tend to keep to themselves instead of being shoehorned into this big multi-universe. Why can't we do that? I like that a lot better.
I will take you up on this, if you can recommend an answer to THIS thread.
Its all so boring and uninspired... I mean, who wants to be the next stan lee? I don't... Fuck that guy.
edit: Lol, STAN. LEE.
Edit: Tam that is a pretty badass game. I'll have to play some more when I have more free time!
EXACTLY... that's why I'm asking for recommendations, that y'know... are outside the cookie cutter crap that are all over aisle caps.
I haven't had any good ones yet.
Just do it for the mainstream stuff, that's what I want to know about.
um... batman/superman/spiderman/man etc
no ty.
Well, let's start by you realizing how dumb it is to say something like this. Sure, there are some conventions of the genre that repeat themselves, but that's what a genre is. It's going to be harder to find a Western that's not set in a frontier.
Are you specifically looking for superhero titles? If so, you're going to find that, say, a comic like Watchmen, is drastically different from a black and white Ant-Man reprint collection. Stories like Gotham Central are still about supervillains even if they're more noir than superhero. When heroes show up, they're shown as almost mythical gods, unlike Fourth World stories by Kirby dealing with actual gods. There are plenty of superhero books that play superheroes pretty straight, but focus less on silly one off confrontations with the Weather Wizard, and more the characters' lives. See: Bendis' run on Daredevil or Morrison's All-Star Superman. They're unashamed to be superhero stories about fighting villains with animal-themed costumes and saving the world from an invasion of aliens from a cuboid planet. If you want something more intellectual, you could crack open Morrison's Doom Patrol and learn about Dada applied to life, or Gaiman's Sandman which constantly intersects with everyday DC continuity.
These comics wouldn't have been written 50 years ago. There just weren't writers working in American comics trying to make smart comics that could be read as literature.
Robert Kirkman isn't an argument against Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, etc., etc., but rather a testament to the diversity of opinions on what readers want from their comics. It's okay to want the kind of disposable, single-voiced hyperviolence that Kirkman provides. There's no requirement that anything you consume has to make you think.
And for the record, despite some truly horrible comics he did for Marvel, all of Kirkman's comics are all creator-owned. After Image takes their small fee, he and his artists get all of the mountains of cash his comics bring in. He has been so wildly popular that Image had him join as one of their head honchos and set up a special imprint just for him so he can pick creators that he will publish where they both get paid a page rate for their comics and own their IPs.
no sryrsly, like read it