Saturday, July 22, 2006

Life On Pause

Life on Pause is a webcomic about four friends - Jeff, Mike, Sam and Kit. It is written by Don Oskowski.




I was going to give Don a better review than this, but it has been a bad week here at home. So, please take the time to check out Life on Pause. It's a great comic and he's back from his hitaus, so this is a good time to start reading.

BTW, Don was so sweet to allow me to post this comic. Thanks, Don!


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The Comic Book Challenge

Did you hear about the Comic Book Challenge? Well, I just saw it mentioned on the Life's A Bluff website, so I thought I'd check it out.

According to the website, here's what the Comic Book Challenge is:

Platinum Studios is partnering with NBC 7/39 TV to discover the next big name in Comics.

Do you have a hot idea for a new comic character in genres such as romance, western, fantasy, horror, superhero, science fiction, or others?

Submit your artwork and story idea. You just may win!

Semi-finalists will pitch in person in San Diego to our panel of celebrity and industry Judges and three finalists will be chosen.

If you're a comics fan come back between July 21 and noon July 24th to choose the winner from the 3 finalists.

GRAND PRIZE:
The Winner's Idea will be Fully Produced and will debut to the public at one of the major comics conventions of 2007! NBC 7/39 TV will showcase the finalists on the air!

The voting will close on July 25th, which is Tuesday, so there really isn't a lot of time to vote. Head on over there and check out the three finalists.

Oh and if you're wondering when the next review will be, come back on Monday. I'm posting my review about Life on Pause then.

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Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Paying for your comic fix...

There aren't too many online comics that I actually paid to read/view. I pay for my comics.com account and the uclick.com account. I pay for Ctr-Alt-Del and, well, that's pretty much it.

There are some -- and I'm not naming who -- comic creators who expect to get paid for their creations and, while I believe everyone should get paid and make money on their art, some of their comics just aren't good enough.

I wasn't sure what I was in for when I paid for my CAD Premium subscription. Did I really need to pay good money to watch a monthly Lucas and Ethan animation? No, not really, but I will say that since I paid for the subscription, I haven't regretted it. I like the animation and I love hearing the voices of the characters. Now, when I read the static comic, I can hear there voices in my head and it adds another dimension.

However, getting back to those that didn't really deserve the cash, I went to read a webcomic that I used to read religiously and I discovered that you have to now pay to read it. Well, sorry, I never really thought the comic was that good to begin with, so why would I pay good money to read it?

So, my advice -- which you should take because I'm not using it -- don't charge $20.00 for your comic unless you're going to really, really offer something spectacular for it. Now, I like CAD Premium, but if the price goes to $25.00 next year, I might have to think twice. $25.00 is a lot of money to me in the scheme of things, but I have to admit, Tim does a good job with his site.

Well, that's all I've got to say about that.

Blogger's doing Maintenance...

So, I hope that's why my blog looks like crap!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Life on Pause

This is going to be quick, as it is mid-term week and I'm backed up...

I like Life on Pause. It's a good comic, nicely drawn and it is on hiatus until Monday, July 17th. So, this is the best time to start reading the archives and catch up with the story.

Happy Reading!

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Thursday, July 06, 2006

Dave's Back!!!!

Dave Wright, who does Todd and Penguin, is back with more strips for Taking up Space!!!! And, he interviewed Wes Molebash of You'll Have That.

Something is right with the world.

Welcome back, Dave!!!!

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Baldo

I've been reading Baldo for about the last year. The comic doesn't count as online, even though I read it via mycomicspage.com. The reason I mention it at all is because of today's comic:



(reprinted without any permission at all)


Hector D. Cantu and Carlos Castellanos mention that latinos are twice as likely than non-hispanic whites to have diabetes. The authors list two links to the same site, so I figured I'd be nice today and post them.

www.nclr.org/vote

www.nclr.org/health

Happy Reading!



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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Multiplex

Do you like movies? Do you like webcomics that talk about movies? Then, you'll like Multiplex. The setup is a group employees at the fictional Multiplex 10 Cinemas. The drawings are good, but the writing is what makes this comic. Inside jokes on movies and the interaction between the cast is what really makes this comic. The added bonus is that it's funny. Most of the storylines are one shot deals, which is nice so you don't have to wait for weeks for the action to move along or the punchline.

Below is one of the best comics from the series. Usually, I link directly to the site, but this time I linked to the comic I'm showing, since it is hard to read.

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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Brinkerhoff -- Reviewed here.

I read Brinkerhoff, which you all know because I reviewed him back in March. Well, I was catching up with Brinkerhoff this week and Gabe has written, "So what's it going to take to get Brinkerhoff reviewed by one of those webcomics review sites?"

Hey, Gabe, isn't my site good enough for you? Isn't it hip?

Guess not!

Happy Reading!

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Monday, July 03, 2006

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)

So, I'm reading Ctrl-Alt-Delete and, I think, hey, I'll take a minute and read Tim's latest post (actually, it is the second one down on the page). He posts the transcript of Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) reasoning for voting against Net Netraulity.

Here's a part of it:

"There's one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.

But this service isn't going to go through the interent and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.

Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?"

So, I'm left wondering, is this for real? Is there really a Senator who is so dumb that he doesn't understand ANYTHING about the Internet? I'm not expecting an elected official to understand things like bandwidth, but he should know that the Internet is both free and commercial (read the whole post to understand).

Tim, the author of the post on Ctrl-Alt-Delete, lists the site from where he received the Senator's words, so I should too. It is http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/?entry_id=1512499. This would be a good time for the good folks of Alaska to start thinking about voting for a different Senator. We can only hope that they decide to do so. If I lived in Alaska, I certainly wouldn't want this man representing me in Washington.

I did a little research on the dear Senator and it turns out that he has held this seat since 1968 and he is 83 years old. The man will be in office forty years come his next election cycle in 2008! I could hope for retirement, but I'm sure that won't be happening! My late grandmother understood more about the Internet than this guy and she was older than him!

This is the same guy who threatened to resign if the famous "Bridge to Nowhere" wasn't funded, along with another bridge in Alaska. BTW, the town to where this 250 million dollar bridge was to be built has 50 residents. (Hey, maybe, if I lived in Alaska I would vote for this guy, at least he makes sure that the pork comes home to rest!) He actually said, "I don't kid people. If the Senate decides ... to take money from our state, I will resign from this body."

Interesting. Last I knew, the government approved the bridge, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!

Here are some facts about Federal Spending in Alaska you should think about:

"Federal government spending has figured prominently in Alaska’s history and is still a major force today. The federal fiscal
year (FFY) runs from October 1 through September 30, and in FFY 2003 (the most recent data available) the federal
government spent $7.9 billion in Alaska.
(1)
Part of that spending came from the activities of the various federal agencies,
part was in the form of grants to state and municipal governments, and still another part came in payments to individuals.
In FFY 2003, Alaska taxpayers received $1.89 in federal outlays for every $1 paid in federal taxes." -- taken from: http://www.tax.state.ak.us/sourcesbook/2005/spr2005/federal.pdf

Hey, Alaska! I want my money back!

God Bless

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Superman Returns...

I saw it this weekend. I liked it. I know that it has been getting some bad reviews, but it is pretty good. They could cut about 1/2 hour out of it. Here's my own review...

I'm glad that Bryan Singer didn't turn Superman into some dark sinister movie like what had happened with the Batman movies. I should say, as I've said before, that the only thing I know about Superman is the Christopher Reeves movies.


This movie didn't break an enormous ground with Superman and didn't really move him to far forward, but, man, what a movie. The special effects were just awesome! The suspense did keep me on the edge of my seat -- for a while -- the movie is 1/2 hour too long.


With Christopher Reeves accident and his recent death, Superman's red boots are very hard to fill. Afterall, to an entire generation of now grown up kids, Christopher Reeve was the only Superman we knew. Brandon Routh steps into the role with grace and dignity. He even, at one point in the movie, has Christopher Reeves' curl on his forehead. It helps that he looks at lot like he could be Christopher Reeves' son. He's tall, built and total hunk, like Reeves was during his Superman heyday. Here's where I think he failed. Reeves played Clark Kent so well that even though I knew Superman and Kent were one and the same, they often seemed like too totally different people. Routh has a way to go before being able to truly made you forget your knowledge that Superman and Clark Kent are the same guy. I hope the movie is enough of a success that he gets the chance to play the two as one again.

During the ending credits, the following dedication appears and I think it showed a lot of class on the behalf of the producers and cast, etc.

This movie is dedicated with love and respect to Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve.
Made me cry, but I'm an emotional person.

The official Superman Returns website offers downloads and pictures that webmasters can use on their sites. I've added the video below, but if you want more information or to see another trailer, click the Superman Logo below and visit the site yourself.



Superman Returns


I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone who wants to see it, but I do have some questions, so if you would like to discuss the movie, feel free to email me. Especially, if you're a huge Superman fan and know all the ins and outs!

One last item, the pics from Superman Returns are from the official Superman Returns site -- click above logo to visit. The pictures of Christopher Reeve are from the photo gallery on the Christopher Reeve Homepage.