Whine and Cheese

I've been a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes since "The Great Darkness Saga" in the 1980's. The only negative I felt was that, for the most part, the male Legionnaires had the aggressive powers (Lightning Lad, Sun Boy, Wildfire) while the female Legionnaires had more passive abilities (Phantom Girl, Dream Girl, Duo Damsel).

When the characters were developed in the 1960s, this was not unusual. Almost every superhero team had a token female character whose powers were usually weaker. Marvel Girl in the X-Men was the weakest hero when she first started. The Invisible Girl in the Fantastic Four could originally only become invisible, as her force-field powers came later. DC actually had the better perspective on this, as the Justice League had Wonder Woman, the Teen Titans had Wonder Girl, even the Doom Patrol had Elasti-Girl.

The Legion stories did introduce Lightning Lass early on when her brother Lightning Lad was in a death-like state, which made her the most powerful female Legionnaire with the exception of Supergirl. Soon after, Lightning Lad was revived and Dream Girl altered Lightning Lass' power to making things "super-light" to correct the power-duplication issue with the Legion constitution. So she goes her aggressive power to a relatively passive one. She kept this power for almost 20 years, before she regained her lightning abilities.

So I wondered how the stories would have turned out, if the hot-headed Lightning Lad had his powers altered by Dream Girl instead. So here is my version of "Light Lad."

When my neighbors hand out candy, a lot of them park themselves at the end of their driveways. I never have done this. My driveway slopes toward the house, so it's not comfortable to sit on and it's below 40 degrees F outside tonight. So I left the front door open, making it freezing in the house, but I could sit on my couch and watch "Halloween" on DVD.

I had about 12 kids tonight. About twice that literally walked past my house from what I could see from the living room window (my couch faces the window). I figure I am handing out free candy, including good stuff like M&M's, Milky Way bars, and Starburst, so the least they could do is trek to the door from the sidewalk. Lazy brats.

My favorite costumes tonight were the two boys who came as strawberry jelly and JIF peanut butter. Big clunky box costumes, but very well designed. I closed up shop at 7:30 PM, even though treating goes until 8, as almost no kids show after it gets too dark. One little girl knocked on my door at 7:35 though and I rewarded her by dumping the rest of the contents of the candy bowl in her bag. Her mom started laughing and I thanked her for letting me get rid of the rest of it.

Between knocks at the door, I doodled this, then colored it after I closed up shop downstairs. I saw a commercial of parents who let their kids wear opposite gender costumes, with their son going as Wonder Woman and their daughter as Batman, without making a fuss. I thought it was awesome, so I let my hero Grizzly go as a flying witch.

Happy Halloween!

I had this idea during my all-day training meeting today at work.

Here is my Goth-spinster, alter-ego Bitchie Ann McSourpuss, pushing her latest money-making idea to fleece the syrupy-sweet romantic couples of the season.


Oh... Crap!

After posting Issue #20 of my comic in late August, the drawing well seems to have run dry for the most part. I'm not sure what it is. Every time I put pencil to paper, nothing seems to materialize. It's almost like my mind is preoccupied with other things and my imagination can't squeeze through. I'll be running tomorrow, which is usually a good time to let the noggin float a bit freely, so it might help.

The dry well couldn't come at a worse time really. I need to design my Christmas cards so I can get them printed, but again, no real ideas are coming forth. I need to draw some cartoons for some other things as well, and I would like to get started plotting Issue #21.

I have nothing specifically planned for the weekend, so I'm hoping to get some drawing done.

It's been a very busy week at work, generally wearing me out so that I didn't want to do much after work, but spent a lot of it getting things ready for the next day.

• I've been asked to join another training class for work. With my recent, permanent foray into the world of import compliance, a fellow instructor in my computer class recommended me for a national import compliance class taught in DC annually. It's a neat opportunity. I enjoy teaching and this literally goes hand-in-hand with what I do daily. To join the teaching group for this class, I have to "audition." So in June I go and teach for one hour in front of the latest class, where they will judge to see if I'm a good fit. I hope I pass the swimsuit competition. I'll have my "world peace" speech ready.



• Wednesday night, I went running around gathering items for a co-worker's 50th birthday today. I bought helium balloons, streamers, balloons, glitter, and ping-pong balls. I spent a large chunk of the evening drawing her a 50th birthday card (I couldn't find one I liked to buy). Given the way she decorated my office for my 40th, I needed to decorate her desk. On the surface, it didn't look like much. She even jokingly commented today that she "expected more." What she didn't realize is that I booby-trapped her desk. I filled her cabinet with the ping-pong balls, so when she opened it, they spilled out. The non-helium balloons on her desk are filled with glitter, so when she pops them... The more was there, it just was delayed.



• Another co-worker is retiring next week after 40 years at work. Her retirement party is Tuesday after work. I am spending a good chunk of this weekend drawing her retirement cartoon. While she's a really cute person, I found that drawing a close-up of her was rough and didn't turn out flattering. So I went for a more cartoonish one. I'll finish it tomorrow night.

I am so happy the weekend is here...

It is that time of year again. While I never remember the exact day, I know it was mid-January of 2003 that I looking into a mirror and finally admitted to myself that I was gay. I'm surprised that I don't recall the exact day. You'd think something so monumental would have branded itself in my mind. So, I'm thirteen years gay, I guess.

There are days I look back on things and I often wonder how my parents or my siblings didn't figure it out first. I wasn't great at hiding it, as evident from the teasing I encountered in junior high and high school. Often I wonder if I wasn't the invisible kid in my own house, the teenage antics of my sister and twin brother, both good and bad, garnering so much of parents' attention that they didn't have to spend much on me.

There were many instances of my admiring the hairy and/or bearded in TV shows and movies. I sometimes drew such men, but made sure to rip up and discard them before anyone else saw them. If anyone paid close attention they could have figured it out. I tried hard not to make any public demonstrations of my desire for these guys, but there was one good instance I recall where I slipped up.

I was the 5th grade and my mom and sister loved to read horrible rags like "The National Inquirer" and their ilk. I admit that I enjoyed reading them at times too. One such "issue" had a story about a pencil drawing that was being circulated publicly of Tom Selleck, that he supposedly didn't want seen. He was in all of his shirtless glory, chest hair for days, and that wonderfully wry smile front and center. From an artistic perspective, it was absolutely spot on (I tried to find it online and couldn't... drat). I used to stare at the drawing with the intensity of a stalker, admiring every curve, every shading, every nuance, getting a pre-puberty boner in the process every time.

One day in class, our substitute teacher was giving us a biology lesson. It basically was talking about how animals tend to have fur, which thickens in the winter time and thins in the summer. She was explaining how the fur helped keep the animal warm in the winter time. In the midst of the discussion, the teacher had said this didn't happen in people.

As if on cue, I raised my hand, asking "What about Tom Selleck? He's pretty furry!"

I felt it was on honest question, but I recall wishing I hadn't asked it almost immediately. The class turned and looked at me with this "WTF" stare and the teacher stammered that she didn't think it was the same thing. I clearly caught her off-guard. It seriously embarrassed me, which is why I remember it so vividly.

At least now, I can openly admire such furry beauty and make these comments without worry for the most part. And obviously, I draw what I like and post them publicly.

It's a good place to be.

After a quick trip to the grocery store tonight, I decided to stay in and be lazy. Netflix provided some cheesy entertainment in the form of "Two Thousand Maniacs!", which was pretty gory for a 1964 movie. It's not the best written flick, but it provided a good backdrop to do some drawing.


The chain-breaking superhero pose isn't new, but I think this might be the first with a shirtless hero. Or at least I like to think so.

I haven't posted much in the last week because I was out in my hometown for the holidays. While I have internet access on my phone, it's not easy to make LJ entries on it.

My best friend Brian and I went on Monday night to see the new Star Wars movie, which was a wonderful mix of nostalgia and newness. The story was captivating and mirrored a lot of what I recall from the original Star Wars Episode IV film. No spoilers, but I was incredibly entertained and am already looking forward to the next installment.

I had a pretty good time back home, spending time with friends and family. What surprised me the most was the weather, which was ridiculously warm. Christmas Eve was 73 degrees F and sunny all day. It certainly didn't feel like Christmas-time.

As usual, I did need a bit of "me time," so I snuck off a couple of times to the local coffee shop to get myself a bit centered and do a bit of cartooning.


Obviously, I had Santa on the brain. I enjoyed doing these and the coffee shop was a great respite from the holiday craziness.

Last night, my family unwrapped Christmas gifts as we usually do. I bought my 9-year-old nephew the game Simon. He continued to unwrap toy after toy, including a go-cart, and he kept coming back to the Simon game, as did my other nephew... and my brother... and my brother-in-law. It was ironic to see this kid get so much for Christmas and ignore the expensive for a relatively cheap game.

After breakfast with family, I headed home today. It felt good to get home.

Merry Christmas everyone!

After publishing the comic last week, I've been in a bit of a malaise. prisoncitybear coined the term "post-artum depression," the little bit of sadness after finishing an art project and the excitement dies down. That and some work stresses have left me feeling a bit out of sorts.

Today, I went out for a coffee and planned to do a bit of drawing. On the way, I stopped off at a local comic book shop and picked up a few titles. The shop guy and I started having a discussion after he asked me if I had seen this book or that book.

I told him that a lot of the current titles out didn't appeal to me anymore. The characters were the same in name, but, thanks to all the rebooting (which seems to happen twice a year or so), that's all that was familiar to me. For example, I told him that I wasn't an overall fan of the New 52 when it started. I told him that I lamented the loss of continuity and comic book history. Wonder Woman was particularly rough. She had gone from the "fight the war with love" character to being a vicious, almost callous, warrior. And she wasn't the only one. The clerk told me that the most recent "reboot" has Black Canary as the singer in a band with a mysterious history. No longer the wig-wearing wonder in fishnets, I was saddened by this desperate attempt to appeal to a new audience. Why can't DC just create new characters with new names and history? I'm sure the familiar name sells, but it seems to be a temporary boost in sales.

(I could make the same argument for the new "Jem and the Holograms" movie, but that's a separate post in itself.)

The clerk said something that made perfect sense in a way. He says that each title that comes out has a shelf-life of its own. He told me that most titles are lucky to make it to two years before the comic book company revamps or restarts it. It seems that the younger, modern-day reader has a short attention span when it comes to comics and maintaining their interest is nearly impossible. Per the clerk, a lot of new comics are automatically limited series.

I had recognized this phenomenon myself actually, but didn't realize it was so wide-spread. Most comic books are on-going stories, almost like serials, where the tales are continuous. Missing an issue means missing out on the continuity and getting lost. I told him that most of the comics I had bought were one-shot comics, or comics with short tales in them. When I started reading comics, stories were distinct from issue to issue (except for two or three-parters). If you missed an issue, the next issue was a separate story or adventure. My web-comic is like that too for the most part. Interest didn't seem like it waned so easily.

Where will comic books go from here? Who knows. I just wonder if this new business model has made me outgrow comic books for the most part.

After purchasing my comics, I made it to the bookstore for coffee and did some drawing of my own. With Halloween approaching, a lot of my drawings have been horror/sci-fi related. This one came to mind today and I put a bit of humor in it. I called it "Probe."


"Probe"

I took this week off. I have weeks of vacation that need to be burned through before the end of the year. The summer's acting branch director job didn't lend itself to taking vacation. One of the things I've been doing this week is *finally* drawing issue #18 of "Grizzly and The Bear Patrol."

At this point, I'm about half-way through the penciling of the issue, which is further than I had expected. Between penciling the pages, I have taken a few moments to draw some extra cartoons.

Here's a few of them. I put them behind the spoiler cut to save space.



Page 4 pencils - Center, Arctica, and Echo - in regular clothes


Grizzly's Sonic Growl


Full-Color/Inked Red Beard