Author. Writer. Editor. Fool.
Years ago I walked into a B. Dalton store and purchased some books. Nothing extraordinary about that. But while standing at the checkout a little book o’ comic strips caught my eye. The cover had a creepy Goth kinda priest looking dude on it. Flipped through it, read one or two, and bought it on the spot. It was Red Meat, and it is disturbingly brilliant. So wrong, it’s right. Go visit their website. Buy a book. You’ll thank me later.
Is there anything in the world that was better than Calvin & Hobbes? I’m not sure there was. Sure, sure, there is eating and sex, but Bill Watterson’s masterpiece of a comic strip is right up there. Far more than three panels of humor each day, the full scope of the work will long stand as one of the great achievements of sequential art. And no, I don’t think I’m overstating the case. In 10 years, Watterson evolved his strip from a quirky and funny comic strip that was a slightly edgy, modern version of Peanuts into something wholly unique. Something with a pretty amazing range. Something that could be risque one day and charmingly quaint the next; dealing with childhood antics on Monday…
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In addition to being a zany, funny guy with a great sense of humor, Ian Sokoliwski is also a very good artist and colorist. Go see his blog. Dude has a great sense for the page. Having watched him draw for three years now, it’s amazing to see the great strides his artwork has taken. He gets better every day. Check ‘im out. While you’re at it, check out my interview with Ian. You’ll learn something about how comics are made, guaranteed.
As mentioned in a previous post, I recently had the chance to do some video game reviews for Havoc PC. The last of my initial three reviews is live. Take a look if you’re so inclined. Here’s a preview: Halo Wars Despite there being just one on the Xbox 360 console and only three previous games in the series overall, the Halo franchise is a juggernaut of epic proportions, the kind of money-maker video game execs would sell their children to have. The Halo brand is a record breaker. A system seller. A guaranteed payday. So it comes as no surprise that we’re beginning to see the start of what will presumably be a whole roster of games expanding on the Halo universe — and…
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The second of my video game reviews for Havoc PC has gone live. Check out this preview; link to the full at the bottom: Tomb Raider: Underworld To say that Tomb Raider has been the most consistently mediocre long-running franchise in video gaming history would certainly be an overstatement, though many critics would tell you exactly that. The first game dropped in 1996, and eight unchanging games have followed since. New games in the series are routinely criticized for being more of the same, which is true enough, but “the same” is pretty fun. The iconic Lara Croft is slammed as being an unrealistic fanboy fantasy. Also true enough, but it’s hard to argue with such an instantly recognizable image. The truth is this: While…
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