closed on account of rabies

This blogger/blogspot is hereby closed for the foreseeable future. All of my writing obligations are also shelved indefinitely.

Any objections, feel free to fucking burn.


must shift the paradigm...

There a Robot Mechanic in the house?

Rob Bot: Robot Mechanic Halloween Special
Created by Jason May
Written by Steven Withrow, Shawn Granger, & Joe Caramagna
Illustrated & Lettered by Jason May

Rob Bot is not your run of the mill mechanic. He knows robots, he lives and breathes robots, and can make robots out of just about anything. Serving all robot repair needs in his nondescript futuristic city, Rob Bot is a solitaire man with a purpose. The creation of real life inventive maestro Jason May, this Halloween one-shot should do well to introduce many folks to the strange, strange world of robotic maintenance.

The first of three tales is Rob Bot's Midnight Visitor, authored by Steven Withrow. A brief, but expressively moody piece with a lyrical tone. Even in a setting as objective as a mechanic's shoppe metaphor can find its place, in this case with the spirit of Halloween officially knocking at the door.

In the second story, Shawn Granger's piece titled The Monster In My Bot, we get a plot that would've fit in to Serling's original Twilight Zone just fine. An old widow seems to have a haunted robotic servant, but is such a thing even possible? A nice twist, and maybe an Aesopian example of how little things can sometimes carry great big meanings.

The third and longest tale is Joe Caramagna's somewhat sentimental The Trick's The Treat, with Mister Bot's robotic assistant Reggie being the focal point. Some dastardly, headless thing comes along on its demonic horse and makes away with poor robot Reggie's head. And what does Rob Bot do in turn, for his friend? In addition to some good olde-fashioned jetpack action, we learn about Reggie's origin. A nice testament again, of how anything can have spirit, from people to holidays to gear-heavy mechanized automatons.

May has something here. He is known already in some circles for his imaginative robot illustrations (and check his site for the crazy-cool cigar box geetars he makes as well!), but Rob Bot is a fun premise that could go in so many different and wonderful directions. Sharp but reader-friendly subject matter told with black and white, kinda Mignola-esque art. This is original, this is imaginative, this is just plain fun.
Check it out.

http://www.jasonmay.com

Chaos Campus 9

Chaos Campus #9
Created, Written & Lettered by B. Alex Thompson
Illustrated by Caio Majado
Post-Scripting & Polish by John Ward
Published by Approbation Comics

The latest iss of Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls Vs. Zombies or, "Nihilism Cubed" has our heroic and busty threesome of Jaime, Brittany, and an at last non-possessed Paige stuck in some manner of demonic nether-realm. The kicker? They must literally fight their way through a series of levels pulled from the Golden Age of video games. Really.

B. Alex Thompson pulls out some wicked nostalgia in this tale, as the ladies are subject to the games of a Cenobite-esque big bad by the name of Nihilism. Possibly pulling the colourful game worlds from the memories of the girls themselves, we are exposed as readers to iconic puzzle-solving platforms and adventure boards galore as the Apartment 3-G 2.0 team supreme maintain their cool and keep their wit, and all with the still lurking menacing threats of serial killer Kurtis Kasey, the demonic pleather-head Winky, and the expected legions of hungry, hungry undead. This might just be the most well-rounded and solid issue of the series yet.
A big part of this is the wonderful art. Majado handles full chores for cover and interiors, homaging the living hell Mike Wieringo in animated spectacle, and rarely have the Sorority vixens looked better, or more consistent! Even following through with small gestures from previous stories, like Brittany's nervous need to constantly grope her own boobage. Little things like that add a "one universe" feel to the work, even with an ever-changing creative roster. Really pretty pages, lots of tremendous energy. I would not mind at all seeing this kid tackle another issue, and soon.

And as the story ends on a note torn from one of the greatest B-movies never made, the future of this series just looks better and better. However, considering that by now, all of the friends and family of Paige, Brittany, and Jaime are likely long since dead and zombified, if not just eaten. The darker aspects of the Chais Campus premise never seem to stray too far though, in spite of the comical verbiage unbounded. Great wrap to a great iss of a great series.

www.chaoscampus.com

Detectives In Space!

Mr. Phelps: Space Detective #'s 1-3
Created & Written by Shawn Granger
Illustrated by Jason May
Lettering by Jamal Walton & Ian Sharman
Colouring by Ray Dillon
Published by King Tractor Press

"I'm always trying to dodge my past, but you can't. The best thing you can do in a situation like that is listen, see what your past wants, and then punch 'em in the face."

That bit of dialogue from the first iss is a great indicator of the level of character this series has between its covers. The Mr. Phelps in question fits well into the "Marv" archetype (presuming it's safe to call that an archetype just yet), an aged and toughened space detective who might not always be opposed to throwing the first punch, but is indeed smarter than he comes off. Imagine the Goon, only troubleshooting in futuristic outer space instead of stuck in a perpetual Hallowe'en.

Mr. Phelps and his feline partner in crime Kit Kat kickstart the story in being attacked by ships from the Syndicate, who seem to want something Phelps has, and bad. They pursue him to a nearby planet, where Phelps and Kat throw them off of their trail only to be pulled into an entirely different adventure along the way. And so it goes. The pair are pulled from one mystery to another, with barely a chance to catch their collective breath, providing for a really fun and fast-paced story. Sci-fi fans who still miss the wit of Firefly would find an outlet here, as the dialogue stays in the realm of sarcastic by way of borderline absurdist. Very fine, and with tons of action pulling the characters from ship to ship and world to world and a big fat mystery bombshell dropped on the last page of iss 3. Hopefully, this is by no means whatsoever the end of this tale.
The art is handled ably well by May, whose Guy Davis-like linework is very easy on the eyes. Great expressions, and some exciting scenic compositions. I especially dug how the cover for each issue was literally the first panel for that particular chapter. Nice work.

This is a science fiction comic book with loads of action and adventure, plenty of tasty humor, and characters who really grow on you, even after just a few issues of story. Is Mr. Phelps: Space Detective rocket science? No, but it is a brightly dynamic, comical and imaginative little read, and well worth the time. You can find the books either through the King Tractor website or through DriveThruComics.com, and please do. Don't let this be one of those oh so many overlooked gems from the world of small press, because it really is.
And to help further prove its readability, I end this review here with another true gemstone sampling of a line from the books:

"If god wanted robots then toasters would talk."

http://www.kingtractorpress.com

resolute and illicit

My thoughts on creative writing never really change. Finding the time and means necessary are another matter entirely though.
I never stop writing, whether I am otherwise reading anything or not, whether I have a muse or not, whether there is aim to my shot or not. Generally, my efforts are confined to my head. I may test ideas, from full-blown scenarios to random pieces of dialogue, with the people around me at any given moment. Lately however, as I am spending the bulk of my waking hours in the pursuit of respectable employ, as well as a place to live, finding the appropriate windows to actually scribble or type up my progress is as random and unpredictable as anal sex with an Egyptian goddess. Just doesn't happen often enough.
And among my current writing projects are things that do call for my full attention, from very elaborate research to the constant rewrites of insanely perfectionistic self-edits. I want each piece to not only fit a greater puzzle of a whole, but to individually be as near what I see in my own mind's eye as feasibly possible. Fleshing in the bones of the skeleton is a seemingly neverending process. Don't get me wrong, as I absolutely love this. The effort, the obsession, everything.
But while my days now limit and weigh in on how my time is spent, I only wish I had the resources to give these metaphorical children all they truly deserve. Instead, I have to wait for the right timeframes to stab out what I can, while the rest of my time (waking and dreaming) is occupied primarily with endeavors that are still forming themselves, still growing their own skeletons with which I can later clothe in my whim and fancy.
And I never write for others. I have always tried to just expel the ideas, just to see them on paper, or the screen of my dying laptop computer. Sometimes they are the kind of stories that I would personally want to read elsewhere, sometimes they are stories I wish existed already in some form or other. Sometimes I have no earthly explanation whatsoever, for either their origins or intent. Yet, as a creator, and whether any of my words should ever find an audience or not, as a creator I believe that each word I smith should be its very best.

Or else why even bother?

Chaos Campus 8

Chaos Campus #8
Created, Written & Lettered by B. Alex Thompson
Illustrated by Daniel Fitz
Coloured by Schimerys Baal
Post-Scripting & Polish by John Ward
Published by Approbation Comics

In this iss of Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls Vs. Zombies (or part two of "Bites Of Sin"), after the heroine trio of Jaime, Paige, and Brittany dealt with the mixed threats of the US Army, the slasher Kurtis Kasey's return, and an honest to god demon last issue, they now must face a possessed and suddenly gothic Paige (as sampled on the great Quinton Bedwell cover). Skintight black leather, people!

B. Alex Thompson pulls us straight into the story, with Paige going dark and the demon now her lapdog, what can Jaime and Brittany possibly do to save their friend? But what about the hulking Kurtis Kasey, and why is Brittany so quick to forget how he murdered some of their friends just a couple of issues earlier? He does seem to be following them, which is an interesting subplot- the hunter and prey scenario. So Paige teleports everyone away to a stadium filled with zombies for a knockdown dragout brawl. Does it turn into a dance competition? Can anyone figure out the (Barker by way of Rubiks) puzzle box? Thompson's dialogue of Paige verbally berating Jaime was especially nice, and brutally honest.
Fitz's art jumps a bit compared to the last issue, his confidence with these characters and their world of anything goes oh crap there's zombies livelihood increasing noticeably. Still kinda sparse on details and backgrounds, but there was clearly much to be had fun with in this story, and it does show.

Another solid issue, with more tidbits of backstory tossed in for seasoning, and I am left a happy camper. If you like B-movies, "T and A" visuals with tongue in cheek dialogue, and nightmarish scenarios kept in check by popular culture references galore, then read this comic book. How many other series on indyplanet have lasted this long? There is a damn good reason for that. See for yourself why.

www.chaoscampus.com

Venger

Venger: Dead Man Rising #1
Created & Written by Matthew Spatola
Illustrated & Lettered by Jason Ossman
Coloured by John D. West
Published by Ronin Studios

In this first chapter of an ongoing series, we see a city panicked by a rapidly rising crime rate and the police force both distracted and hopeless to do much about it. But all of this has happened before, and one frustrated old man remembers everything.

Venger: Dead Man Rising is Spatola's story of a hero whose age is catching up with him, even as violent threats rise anew. His grandson Michael is a cop, but just does not believe the stories, the warnings his grandfather tells. Despite an increasing murder rate, the police forces are otherwise tied up with an impending trial involving one of the city's more notorious criminals. Much of the narrative is told through news reports and police dispatches, making for a myriad feel of a whirlwind gathering pace. We have a small core cast thus far, but much thought is given to characterization. Some directions are made obvious, insofar as where the story may be headed, but there is yet a level of suspense to the insinuations that all of the many problems are indeed somehow connected. Action-adventure with a healthy dose of mystery, and glimpses of pulp to the backstory all make for a nice read.
Ossman's art is really nice as well. A touch of both Frank Miller and Jim Lee with a strong mood for things anime and manga. The eyes of his characters look wistful, for the better times from before, for lives less complicated. While the action sequences remind me of early Image comics, the story still gets told, progressing better through scenes that allow him to display more emotion than run of the mill violence. And West's greytones give every image a sense of introspection, adding to the feel of Venger's world, his city.

Venger is about second chances, about renewal, and about passing on the torch. But moreso, I think it concerns secrets from the past storming up to make themselves brutally known in the here and now. Not at all a bad first iss by my standards. I gather the series and premise have progressed a bit as of the time of my review, so I suggest those interested in vigilante drama ought to check this out.
Possibly the very best from Ronin from what I've seen.

www.ronin-studios.com