Saturday, September 04, 2004

I was told after the fact that Oliver didn't really enjoy his con, being shy and feeling like he hadn't done a good job on sketches. However, I thought he presented himself extremely well and drew a fantastic version of Aquaman. I met him at the 2000 San Diego Comicon, when he was with the Legion team (report here).

AQUAMAN
by Olivier Coipel
22 July 2000
(permission to post given June 2004 on Latveria)

As a reminder: Almost every sketch in my sketchbook was non-commissioned and done on the floor of a con. These are not the best works of the artists. These are only representative of what the artist can do under pressure in a loud, crowded, and often stressed-out environment. Most of them were done as quickly as possible, to prevent huge lines from forming. Don't judge any of these artists negatively by the artwork you see, instead be as impressed as I am by what they accomplished in far-from-ideal conditions.

To see all the sketches I have permission to post so far, check out my Sketchbook Page. If you have any contact information for any of the other artists I'm trying to contact, please e-mail me. Click for a random Aquaman sketch.

The Saturday Sketch ™ is brought to you by the letters "O", "C" and the number "65", and also courtesy the fine artists who pour their lives into producing wonderful comic books, then come to conventions only to get asked by geeky fangirls for a sketch of Aquaman. Support an artist, buy a comic book.

by Tegan at 9:50 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Digital Webbing Presents #17: Six stories. The first one didn't impress me as I could hardly tell what was happening with the artwork, but the second story had no such problem. Like the first "Bad Elements" story I read, this one introduces the universe nicely within the context of the story. I left it wanting more story. The third story was also pretty good, with a large universe feel to it. The fourth story's ending really annoyed me, although as a story it worked very well. I think that was part of the annoyance. I was beginning to really like the characters. The last two stories were one-pagers and were ok. All in all, the majority of the book was pretty good. Definitely worth a read if you can score a copy.

Noble Causes #1: Yah! The book is back! If you haven't been following the story, it's about a normal woman named Liz Donnelly who marries into a superhero family. And it's good. Really good. This issue keeps up the fun from the earlier series and gets the new one off to a powerful start. If you are at all a follower of intricate continuity laden stories and want something that is both fun to read and fun to learn about, pick this book up.

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles Preview Comic: I got this for Eric via Buy Me Toys.com. This is a preview with some script pages, some sample pages, and sketches from a new series due on in 2005 that features Dorothy and Alice grown up as college students who think their faintly remembered adventures in other realms were just daydreams. From what little is available of the script, this is going to be one really cool book. Anything that has Ruggedo afraid of Humpty Dumpty is amazing enough to impress me. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing this series. Recommended.

Still to review: Justice League Unlimited, Birds of Prey, Swamp Thing, Avengers, and Marvel Age Fantastic Four.

by Tegan at 7:50 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Friday, September 03, 2004

The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 8) by Lemony Snicket: In some ways the formula has been thrown completely away in this book. The ending is certainly different than any of the other books, as it's a true cliff-hanger. I'm enjoying Sunny's words more in this book. At the beginning, her words were true nonsense. As the book progress, though, we're getting everything from more nonsense to words that mean something similiar to the concept she's trying to convey in another language. It's really quite funny. And this series would be a definite vocabulary builder for kids. It's the kind of series I would have loved to read when I was young, because all the new words would have made me feel smarter, and Snicket puts in enough context that you don't often have to hit the dictionary to figure out the meaning. So next up is "Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography". This ought to be fun.

by Tegan at 5:52 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

• Weight = X-1
  
• Change From Last Weigh-in = +2
  
• Met Exercise Goal? Yes
  Goal was fifteen minutes a day (walk/bike/swim) at least six days.
  
• Current Exercise Goal = fifteen minutes a day (walk/bike/swim) at least six days.
  
• Kept food diary? Yes.

Ok, this is disheartening. I've not only kept my exercise up, I've been exceeding my goals. Here's last week's journal: Fri - 30 minutes, no exercise on Sat, Sun - 30 min, Mon - 32 min, Tue - 33 min, Wed - 33 min, and Thu - 33 min. And yet I've gained back most of the tiny bit of weight I've lost? Argh!

Still, I have to keep reminding myself, I feel healthier in general. I finish my exercise feeling great (if incredibly sweaty). I'm enjoying myself while exercising thanks to the TV shows (I'm on Farscape now). And there's that old saying that muscles are heavier than fat to keep me from complete despair, although I hardly think I'm gaining 2 pounds of muscle for every pound of fat lost.

While my big goal remains to get down to my college weight, I've got a short-term goal now. I noticed that my drivers license expires on my next birthday, so my first goal is to get down ten pounds by January 20th for my next license photo. With all the strange yo-yo-ing my weight has done, I think my weight needs to stay below a certain level for three weeks before I'll declare victory, so the goal is ten pounds by the end of the year, kept off until my birthday. It's not unreasonable.

Wish me luck... I can use the encouragement.

by Tegan at 8:25 AM Seattle time - Permalink  

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Comic book reviews coming later. When I read them.

I approve of Chris "Lefty" Brown's rating system, and wish him luck in scoring a copy of Demo #9.

Libraries continue to get loads of crappy CDs from the music industry. Pathetic.

The Irish have invited Olympic bronze medallist de Lima to be a guest of Ireland and a runner in the Dublin Marathon to apologize for the actions of the idiot defrocked Irish priest who attacked de Lima during the Olympic Marathon. "De Lima, speaking from Brazil on the programme, said he was thrilled by the invitation and would do everything possible to attend if his schedule allowed." Now that's class, on both parts.

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project is an attempt to collect firsthand accounts of the WWII incarceration before all the people who remember it are gone. Learn about the causes an reality of one of the most shameful cases of collective punishment in United States memory. Via LII.

Here's a fascinating hobby: Letterboxing. It sounds like a cool thing to do, and if I ever get more hobby time, maybe I'll make a stamp and find someplace to hide a little box. It sure seems like a neat way to find out more about local history... one of the boxes hidden in my hometown has information about a gunfight that happened there in 1902. Via LII.

After reading some of Captain Normal's blog, particularly his entry about being thrown in "Gitmo on the Hudson" along with several folks who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, hubby-Eric finally allowed me to put up a yard sign in support of Kerry. I located the local headquarters, drove down, and was given a sign without any question beyond "are you registered to vote?"

Within two hours of putting up the sign, a pickup truck stopped outside my house and the male occupant (I didn't actually see his face since he gunned his engine and raced away as soon as I came out with my camera) yelled "Kerry is a f*****" and several other obscenities. I'm now more glad than ever that I'm taking a stand against that sort of person, and I think I'll be volunteering some time at the local Democrat headquarters. I won't make phone calls for them, but I can do data entry and stuff envelopes.

by Tegan at 10:30 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Larry Young on blogs, with copious commentary from comic book bloggers. Myself included. I still have a couple of books from Larry's big box he sent me that I haven't had time to read and review.

Fanboy Rampage tells us that Mark Millar is absolutely certain who will play Superman, enough to wager $1000 on it. I'm still not convinced, but this is a fun show he's providing for us.

Want to know whether or not Madrox or Strange are good before you buy? Check out the low-res versions available at Mile High Comics. Yup, that's the whole book.

Near Mint Heroes reviews a book I miss a lot and wish would come back.

Speaking of wishing for returns, the latest casualty of real life is Grotesque Anatomy. We'll miss you, man.

Robo-Blammo (look for September 1st entry). I want this book.

As long as I'm mentioning Larry yet again, I think I'd better put in another plug for Ursula, which was thoroughly enjoyable on multiple levels. I had to go back and re-read it again. And the art is just perfection.

SETI has picked up a strange signal... that might even be from space. Yes, don't get excited, because interference by the telescope itself (or something on the ground close to the telescope) has not been ruled out.

I will NOT talk about politics. I will NOT talk about politics. I will NOT talk about politics. I will NOT talk about politics. I will NOT talk about politics.

Ok fine. One item about politics. I've already sent in my absentee ballot. I've already voted in the Washington state primary. No, I didn't pick a party. As far as I'm concerned, if the parties want only party members to vote in their races in the primary then they should pay for their own elections, not force the state to bear the burden. So I only voted in the non-partisan races in the primary.

Here's a picture from Nancy's Garden.

by Tegan at 10:58 AM Seattle time - Permalink  

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Justice League Unlimited: This Little Piggy: A fun little romp featuring lots of magic and a few characters we haven't seen before or recently. I enjoyed the Red Tornado cameo. Zatanna was a stage magician in the Batman series before, so it's interesting how she's changed for the more general DCU. I liked seeing Zatanna and Circe react to Batman's singing, too. A pretty cool story.

The Filth: A very appropriately titled book. It makes no pretensions of what it is or isn't. I don't know who recommended this to me, but whoever it was... you were wrong. I'm not completely sorry I read it, but if I'd known going into it what I was going to be reading I wouldn't have bothered. See, this is definitely an adult book, and it went over my personal comfort line repeatedly. I'm not sure, in fact, why I kept with it. Perhaps I realized that Morrison stories tend to have a payoff and I wanted to see what it was. And yes, there was a payoff, and yes, it was a nice convoluted Morrison payoff... but I don't think it was worth reading the rest of the book. At least not to me. The problem is, of course, that you can't have the payoff without the rest of the book. So it's a nice little catch-22: I didn't like many aspects of the book due to the subject matter, but the subject matter was integral to the story that was told. Anyway. I can't give this a high rating, since I didn't really like it. However, it was a solid book that accomplished exactly what it was trying to accomplish. So I'm going exactly neutral on this one.

by Tegan at 7:49 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

The store's 50lb box of comics was accidently left on the dock in Portland, so I didn't get our comic books today. Grrr.

by Tegan at 1:38 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Boing Boing links to pictures of James Doohan getting his star. I'm glad I met him when I did. He is a very kind man.

Spider-Man reviews Crayola Crayons. Via MetaFilter.

A strange item from Boing Boing about Goths hissing at other kids, and a crackdown on Goth style. So, making Goths wear "normal" clothing is going to stop them from hissing at other kids?

Via 24 Hour Pixel People, a great campaign during the RNC is Republicans for Voldemort. Far better than insulting wounded veterans.

To end this little post, here's a picture from Nancy's Garden. Yes, that's a bee.

by Tegan at 11:04 AM Seattle time - Permalink  

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1-09]: The Puppet Show: This one had a few little plot holes, which I'll forgive this time due to the generally high quality of the show. The new principal was an actor I was not expecting, but he's absolutely perfect for the part. I do have a comment about the school though. Like Smallville High, the death rate at Sunnydale is remarkably large. In this episode alone we've got what will certainly go down as two deaths and a disappearance. I wonder how many grief counselors the school has? Then again, nobody seems to really know anyone else, so maybe grief isn't really a problem there.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1-10]: Nightmares: What if your worst nightmares came true? Pretty bad, yeah? But what if the Vampire Slayer's worst nightmares were also coming true? I didn't see any deaths in this one, so the death count goes on hold, but if anyone remembers what happened besides Buffy and crew, the school might need those counselors anyway.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1-11]: Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Ok. Big school I understand. Big school with so many deaths and disappearances... anyway, the FBI is drawn in by something, and it's not all the other stuff happening at the school? Cordelia gets her first real dimension in this one, as she demonstrates that she really isn't stupid as she sometimes appears to be, just really really shallow. And the appearance of Angel is very nicely done. How nice that a vampire is assisting Giles. This one is pretty much made by Cordelia's performance, which doesn't make it great, but certainly made it more interesting.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1-12]: Prophecy Girl: A very cool way to end the season. Buffy is destined to die, but she's only sixteen years old... how does that affect a person? The entire gang gets together for this one, including the cool teacher from the "demon on the internet" episode. And there's some good bits with Xander's love life and lack thereof. A couple of nits. The Master didn't fully dust, his bones were left. If I were Buffy I wouldn't have walked away without making sure he was all dust. Especially since the kid is still wandering around out there somewhere.

by Tegan at 6:59 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

The stylish accessory at the Republican convention appears to be a bandaid with a purple heart on it. It's been spotted on CNN, even. The delegates have stooped so low as to make fun of Americans wounded in combat. How can ANYONE vote Republican, knowing that they hate our troops and think that getting wounded in battle is trivial?

I cannot believe how angry I am at this grave insult. It's a slap in the face to every soldier in our armed forces. It's a slap in the face to the military itself, and the rules that govern the award of the Purple Heart (I'll give you a hint, nobody can nominate himself for one, his commander has to do it). The fact that the Republicans are not only sporting this grotesque insult, but FLAUNTING it, makes me mad enough to scream.

The Republican party has sent our soldiers to die in Iraq for a lie, and now they are making light of those wounded. How can ANYONE support them?

by Tegan at 10:13 AM Seattle time - Permalink  

Monday, August 30, 2004

For these reviews I thank Steve Lieber of Mercury Studios for starting the meme, and the King County Library System for its excellent collection of books and ease with which they can be checked out. And lastly, I also thank TangognaT for compiling the list of elevens into one big list for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

Bone Volume Four: The Dragonslayer: Ok, I didn't see the end coming, where Phoney gets exactly what he doesn't want to get. On the other hand, it was a pretty cool way to end the book. And at least the villagers were aware there was danger in their valley, even if they were looking in entirely the wrong direction. Another fun volume. I'm certainly more curious about how this will end now.

Bone Volume Five: Rockjaw, Master of the Eastern Border: A nice move back from the "main" action featuring Thorn to some side action in which we get more of Fone Bone and Smiley. We also get more information into what is facing our heroes, even if we don't really understand it, and we get a new player in the action with a fun name. I'm really enjoying this series.

Bone Volume Six: Old Man's Cave: That was the omen? Oh, this story just gets better and better. While this one was scattered in parts, it ended up holding together very well. Now I just wonder what else is left, as it seems like the whole story has been told. Are there any hanging plot threads? I'm not sure... maybe I ought to read the next book.

by Tegan at 5:14 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Here's a nice overview of the Olympics from the point of view of some smaller nations... like Latveria, Khandaq, and Zandia.

Rich Johnson has a rumor about Identity Crisis that is so completely idiotic it might even be true. I'm sure you can find the rumor elsewhere, but I'll go ahead and put spoilers around it anyway, just in case: (spoilers)"The rumours doing the rounds is that Kyle Rayner is to be identified as the killer in "Identity Crisis." Apparently there's a flaw in his ring that has turned him crazy."(end spoilers)

Stuart Immonen has finished his 50 Reasons To Stop Sketching At Conventions. I've recognized myself in at least one of them, which made me cringe. (Maybe this one, too, although I don't think I've ever been upset with the final result of an Aquaman sketch, despite the artist feeling less than pleased with it.) I respect the artists and I don't want them to be stressed by me, so I feel guilty reading this even though most of them don't apply to me.

Speaking of sketches, my thanks to Pia Guerra and Rick Hoberg, who both responded very quickly to my request for permission to post their sketches on my blog. Oliver Coipel will be this Saturday's sketch, then Pia on September 18th, then Rick's sketch on September 25th. I will not be posting a sketch on September 11th.

More excellent linkblogging by Near Mint Heroes. Go, look. Read. Click.

Read a banned book. The list of the ten most challenged books of 2003 is out, and at the top of the list is a series I've never heard of. In fact, I've only heard of half the books on the list, and I've only read two (counting the series as a single book, as they do on the list).

Politics warning! Skip this last bit if you don't want to read poorly written rants about politics.

The latest Electoral College Predictor shows neither candidate winning a majority. Interesting stuff, as usual. There are several other electoral vote predictors around now, but this seems to be the best organized as well as the most methodical one. There's also now a couple of animated movies of the changes in the map over time. I like this one the best, but this one isn't too bad either.

New York City sounds worse than the infamous "Battle of Seattle" at the moment, with police arresting people for no good reason, like Bikes Against Bush techie Joshua Kinberg, who was arrested and spent the night in jail. In addition, the police have stolen his bike, which was souped up to draw perfectly legal chalk messages on the sidewalks as he rode. Although the arrest has utterly no merit whatsoever, the police will be holding onto his bike until after the convention that he was preparing to protest. Way to go, NY's finest! Stop protests by illegally arresting protesters and stealing their property! This is Bush's America: Freedom of speech is only for the people who agree with Bush.

Speaking of freedom of speech, Garrett points us to a particularly galling example of government censorship. The Department of Justice thinks this quote is a danger to national security: "The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government attempts to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect 'domestic security.' Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent." That's from a Supreme Court decision, by the way.

By the way, depending on who you talk to, the New York protesters numbers "over 100,000" to nearly half a million. Either way, that's a lot of people protesting Bush.

If you still believe the Swift Boat Liars, here's a website that demolishes all their false claims. Sadly, some people will believe those lies anyway because the media isn't doing their job, and is simply passing on the lies like they were some sort of valid opinion, not facts that can be checked. They can hate Kerry all they want, but lying about his service in Vietnam is beyond the pale.

Ok, Politics rants over now. It's safe to read again.

And, since I can't end on such a political note, here's another picture from Nancy's Garden:

by Tegan at 2:20 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Sunday, August 29, 2004

The moment in the men's marathon when that insane idiot attacked the front runner was one of the all-time low points I've ever seen. It may have cost him the Gold, but we will never know for sure if he could have kept up the pace until the end if he hadn't been disrupted.

by Tegan at 12:16 PM Seattle time - Permalink  

Usagi Yojimbo #78: Another day-in-the-life story of Usagi, with a fun little character introduced. Poor Usagi. As usual, the story and the art is top-notch. Sakai's only danger is in producing so much good stuff that people start to expect something more than sinple excellence from him.

Weird Secret Origins: Ah, a fun bunch of little tales. Some of them definitely didn't date all that well... "Dad - Dad! Oh, my golly -- He's sick!" "He is dead!" ohh-kay. And who knew that Nabu was originally an alien from the planet Cilia? In contrast, the Spectre's origin held up pretty well. I really enjoyed the Enchantress story, although it was definitely a product of its times, and the Animal Man story appeared to be a one-off. I don't think I'd ever heard of El Diablo, but it was a stylish story, and the other tales were fun to read. A really good read. I wish DC would do more books like this.

Amazing Spider-Man #70/511: So the plot flaws people saw in the last issue were addressed in this one. For instance, on the second page as Peter thinks through the problem, he realizes that the pair are too old to be who he thinks they are. And then later he admits to MJ that (spoilers)they couldn't possibly be his kids(end spoilers). And the cliff-hanger makes me much more curious. Just what is going to happen next? Another strong story.

That's all for this week... next week's comics due in: Birds of Prey, Swamp Thing, Justice League Unlimited, and Noble Causes (I hope, it didn't show in our shop last week, so I hope it arrives this week).

by Tegan at 8:36 AM Seattle time - Permalink