Category Archives: nerd

goodness, martial arts, nerd

Ogami Ittō, I come for you!

I recently finished the first volume of Lone Wolf and Cub, a manga about a rogue samurai and his infant son, who, against great peril, travel the countryside murdering the shit out of people for a large fee. It’s pretty friggin’ sweet. The main character uses his son as part of his often intricate strategies to assassinate his targets. And the son seems semi-aware of the danger. Their bond is hard to describe, pretty bizarre, and totally, ruthlessly, brutally awesome.

But who knew that there was a 6-disc TV series created in 1974? Apparently this series was first published in 1970 in Japan, where it was HUGELY popular. The original publishing company, First Comics, folded, and Dark Horse, bless them, re-published the entire series (even the last issues that were unpublished by First Comics).

So I’m hooked. But why isn’t there a collection of this somewhere? I need a Hellboy: Library Edition-style publication of this series. Am I really going to have to buy all 28 tiny little books? Yes. Will I? Probably. I’m going to get through at least the first four, and go from there. Wish me luck, oh people of the internet (none of whom read my secret blog)!

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goodness, humor, nerd

For Pony!!!

I just want to take a moment to express my appreciation for online comics. I’ve recently burned through years and years of backlogged comics like PvP in a matter of days. Here’s my favorites list:

PvP Online (my first love)
Looking for Group (Hilarious WoW-based characters on an epic quest)
Girls with Slingshots (it’s ok to be horny and female)
Chainsawsuit (Non-sequitur central)
Gunshow (totally dismally hilarious)
Thinkin’ Lincoln (intellectual, but not too high-brow)
Dinosaur Comics (uses the same illustrations for every frame, and it still works)

Penny Arcade doesn’t make the list because the majority of their humor is based on very specific gamer experiences, most of which I don’t share with the writers. I love Lookouts and Automata, and Twisp and Catsby are cute, but everything else is pretty much over my head. And I can’t stand people who idolize the writers (aka, my ex; get over it, they’re just some dudes who like games). The same goes for xkcd. I’m not in the math nerd circle, so I don’t understand a good amount of the material, and the stuff I do get isn’t very funny. So if you’re reading this blog, don’t tell me how awesome xkcd is. It’s not.
Regardless, the comics on my list are great.

EDIT:
This is part of why I love online comics so much. You can get to know the creators, and every strip starts to feel like an inside joke with a long-distance friend you met that one summer at camp. This particular post made me cry, but you get the idea.

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goodness, nerd

I love you, Hellboy

I’m such a huge fan of Hellboy. From the first time I saw the art, I was completely hooked. Mike Mignola’s style is so distinctive, so grounded, so deceptively simple; there’s always something new to discover from each frame. Hellboy is so damaged, so doomed, and so funny. He kinda reminds me of my uncles. I wish he was my uncle.
I found this desktop art on the Dark Horse website. I like to imagine he’s thinking about some task he’s not looking forward to much. It’s classic Hellboy; he’s all fucked up, there’s some ancient history in the background, and we never really get the full story of the evil he’s trying to stop before he kills it, because frankly, he’s tired of that shit, he’s heard it all and no matter what it’s about to say, he just doesn’t give a damn. He’s thinking, “Just die already, you bastard.”
I would love, and you can quote me on that, LOVE, to get the rest of the library editions of the Hellboy series. *sigh* Someday…

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goodness, humor, martial arts, nerd

Comics finally love me back

I participated in a small contest a little while ago at Meltdown Comics in honor of the Kick Ass movie coming out. I dressed up like a dog and did some martial arts (which turned out to be only slightly less ridiculous than it sounds), as you can see here. I had a lot of fun, got a few laughs, and met some cool people.

I placed fourth after a comedian, a fellow martial artists (he did flips, I can’t compete with that), and a guy who sang a song about coppin’ a feel (which was actually pretty harmless and funny).

Afterward, I got invited to be a guest on a radio show on comics (which I’ll post when it’s up). Then I was invited to blog for ComicsonComics.com. They’ve asked for one blog per week, and I’m a little freaked. I’m not sure I have that much to say on the topic of comics without any kind of prompt. We’ll see how it goes. I’m nervous! I’m hoping I can get through this with a healthy dose of pluck.

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