Free Comics Monday: Smash Comics

Well, if you woke up this morning wondering where you could download a comic featuring a robot wrestling an alligator, you came to the right place!




[ Smash Comics 05 ]


And here's something you don't see very often - a comic featuring a hero called Abdul The Arab. That's a name usually reserved for the guy fighting against Ric Flair, isn't it?



[ Smash Comics 07 ]



Enjoy!

Kinkos No More

It's rare that I do autobiographical blog posts, but here's one...

This week, FedEx is ditching the name Kinko's for the more all-encompassing "Office." For many Indy comic guys, Kinko's has been a home away from home, so it's sad to see the name fall away like this.

This represents the end of an Era, and is of particular interest to me because I originally got my start in the digital world by working in Kinko's DTP (desktop publishing) as a typesetter because...wait for it...I could type!

Back then, typing was a skill that was hard to find. Now 12 year old girls types 50 words a minute on their friggin RAZRS! :DDD

Anyway, I started as a typesetter on a b/w macintosh with a...wait for it again...20 meg hard drive. Yes. 20 MEGs. Not Gigs. (A gig hard drive was something we couldn't even conceive of back then.)

Kinko's was supposed to be a *day job* that I took while I worked on my writing career. (I had been cleaning dishes for $2.81 at a local cafeteria, and the thought of making $5.00 an hour was AWESOME to me.)

As it turned out, I really enjoyed the kinko's environment. The free thinking *we can do anything* principles of kinko's in the early days were very cool and customers were always very appreciative when we helped them out with their projects. I spent many late nights helping out some guys from the government, or a law firm, or Indy comics guy with a big project they needed for the next day.

And while we didn't make a lot, it wasn't uncommon to collect big tips from these customers. :D Hm...we also ran *freebie* jobs for local restaurants sometimes, which usually netted us free pizzas or meals from said restaurants. Our manager, was cool with it because he felt it was a way to reward us for the good jobs we were doing. (And a way to ensure all the co-workers stayed on site when we were slammed at the counter.)

When I started at kinkos, you could wear jeans. The guy who interviewed me, Jimmy Trentanove, he was wearing a Led Zepplin T-shirt. We were definitely still living the Paul Ofala hippy copyshop dream. :)

During my years there, it changed to a more formal work environment. This was good because we got health insurance, 401Ks and Profit Sharing. To this day, of all the places I've worked, Kinko's always had the best profit sharing plan because it was monthly. Being monthly, it really showed you the impact of what your actions were.

I eventually left when I was offered a job at a small digital color photo lab that needed a Mac operator to print large color prints. At the time I thought the freedom of a small mom and pop place was what I wanted, but it really turned out badly.

I then bounced to another company where I made scorecards for golf courses. You can see some samples on my website http://www.rosettadesign.com/

While working for the golf company, I started teaching myself html. - I really took to html and from there my career exploded. Getting involved in the web has been the most empowering thing for me in my whole life. I recommend it to everyone! :)

And now you know...the rest of the story. :D

Pierre Speaks: Fan Films

Once in a while, you will find on the net something awesome that someone did. I would like to share with you a few of those awesome things. Although most are from a few years ago.... there are some who may not have seen them yet.

Let's begin with Batman: Dead End

The best Batman movie ever. Hard to believe that someone with barely any money was able to make something infinitely better then anything the big studios ever did. The director managed to give us the REAL Batman as opposed to the other takes on the character with rubber suits and nipples. And it even features some surprise opponents (no I wil not spoil it here... go watch it).



The same director also did the World's Finest trailer with Batman and Superman.... although World's Finest is also great, Dead End is by far my favorite of the two.

Then there is Grayson.

An awesome trailer of a movie that I wish we could see someday featuring Dick Grayson the original Robin. This trailer also give us various guest stars (once more... no spoilers... go watch it). Once again hard to believe that someone with such a microscopic budget was able to make such an awesome trailer. My favorite fan film yet.



Then there is Heroes.

An awesome Clerk's parody featuring some Marvel characters. Heck I would say that it was infinitely better then the Clerk's cartoon. Lots of fun to watch.



And finally Icewind Dale.

A short animated line test that I saw online by pure luck. Being a fan of the Icewind Dale trilogy of novels featuring Drizzt Do'Urden, the most famous Drow in the Forgotten Realms. Once again, something done with limited ressources was infinitely better then what was produce for the Dragonlance DVD.



Such gems are wayyyy too good not to share with everyone.

Enjoy.

Until next time.

Free Comics Monday: DareDevil Comics

Today I present two more great Golden Age DareDevil Comics!




[ DareDevil Comics 33 ]




[ DareDevil Comics 32 ]



Enjoy!

Check out Mister Crimson

I want to take a break from Paper Comic DeathWatch post today, since Heidi MacDonald seems to have done a good job covering this weeks omens of doom, and direct your attention to Mister Crimson!

Mister Crimson is a Zuda entry by artist Diego Tripodi, who was the artist on the Terrorsaur Rexx Backstory.

Fans of genre bending old school comics will get a big kick out of this comic!

Mister Crimson is the story of a pulp-era superhero that has been abducted through time. Taken from the 1930s, and sent 200 years into the future he is forced to take up fisticuffs against a rebellion that hopes to overthrow the city's leaders.

Mister Crimson is used to scraping his knuckles on shifty criminal types-- but here, he is forced to take on mutants and cyborgs who have powers that match his own. But Crimson was selected for this task specifically. His futuristic handlers know that in a word, he is unbreakable.

Fighting criminals has always been Crimson's bag-- but soon he realizes this future is not what it seems. The city leaders are corrupt, and those mutants and cyborgs that have been branded as malcontents, are actually fighting the just cause. Does Crimson join them?

Or does he continue to fight for the men who have the ability to send home?

Crimson left the past at the worst possible moment. His arch-nemesis, Ace of Spades, had finally deduced his secret identity, and kidnapped Crimson's wife and son.

Crimson had found Ace, and their final encounter had just begun when Crimson was snatched into his future.

Mister Crimson faces his biggest dilemma. Does he quell the rebellion, and earn his ticket back in time to save his family?

Or does he do what he has always done-- fight the good fight to protect the innocent? Even for a man that has no limits to his strength and invulnerability, this adventure could break him.

Flashback Fans:

I encourage fans of Flashback Universe to go and check out the Mister Crimson on Zuda and vote for it!

Pierre Speaks: Thoughts on Secret Invasion

It seems that life is a cycle.

After a few decades, you can actually "see" the cycle. You can see people repeat what has been done before. Sometimes they will repeat something that they loved. Or sometimes they will have no clue that what they are doing has been done before and before and before.

Wayyyyy too many times do I have to explain to someone that what seems "new and original" to them, has been done thousands of times before.

I would say that it is worse to repeat the past out of ignorance then when you are trying to recapture the feeling of a time long since past. But maybe that is just me.

But sometimes, it is difficult to tell if something is repeated as an homage to what has come before. or just out of ignorance of what came before.

How can we tell the difference, I have to admit that other then to ask the person "you know this has been done before?", I am not sure how you can tell the difference for certain.

Let us look at an example.

Secret Invasion (Although with the last page of the second issue, I fail to see how "secret" this invasion is).

To many, this storyline might seem "fresh and original". But to an old warhorse, it is difficult not to feel like we already have seen this before...

... and before...

... and before...

... and before...

... and before, and countless other times that I fail to mention.

Although this time Secret Invasion (heck and Civil War) seems to be repeating/reusing the plot of the "Confession" story from Astro City. Although in a verrrrrryyyyy decompressed way. I guess that is part of the problem to me.

Not only are they reusing a story that has been done countless times before, they are reusing a plot that was brilliantly executed in 6 issues, and they are stetching it over 2 years in countless of comics.

When I saw the Elektra reveal, it reminded me of two things.

This...

... and this.

The one by Byrne was not that big a reveal. It was planted in the issue before that Skrulls were pursued by Gladiator. So it was... not obvious... but likely that some Skrulls would be revealed in this story.

For the Astro City one, once again all the clues were planted in the preceding issues, but in a subtle enough way that it made this a powerfull reveal at the time. Althought the clues were there early on, it was subtle enough that the reader did not realise that this actually was an invasion story untill the end of issue 8 (possibly issue 7).

And once you get the reveal that it is actually an invasion story. Pretty much all the pieces fall into place and you can go back and read the previous issues with a new perspective in mind. Now THAT was a "secret invasion".

But the Elektra reveal seemed to come out of nowhere. And even then when word came out of a big reveal in the pages of New Avengers....... wayyyyyyy too many people saw that reveal come a mile away. And I was one of those scratching their heads wondering..... "This is the big reveal?? Why?? What makes this so special compared to the thousand times the Skrulls tried to invade Earth??"

Some would say that it is because it follows Civil War. But if it turns out that the Skrulls were actually behind Civil War as once again wayyyyyyy too many people suggested at the time (although most would say that sarcastically), imagine if they turn out to be right after all.

Apparently all the clues have been laid out for this "Secret Invasion". Not having read that many Secret Invasion related titles, I might have missed at least some of those clues if not most of those clues.. So that might actually be my own fault for not reading enough comics. ;)

Although I did see a clue (although one that I am sure Bendis never intended to be one since he seems to ignore pretty much everything that he did not write himself) in an "old" FF comic.I found this gem while re-reading some awesome FF comics by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne and Joe Sinnott.

I would like to think that this was the seed that gave birth to "Secret Invasion". But I would be surprised if there was any reference to this scene in Secret Invasion. Chances are that Bendis does not even know this scene exists. Will the lack of reference be caused by ignorance?? or just simply because Bendis has decided to simply ignore it??

Only one way to know for sure...

... maybe we should ask him. ;)

Free Comics Monday: Unknown Worlds

Today I present a public domain comic with a Caveman fighting a Nazi!




[ Unknown Worlds 07 ]




[ Unknown Worlds 08 ]



Enjoy!