The truth is finally out. Valentine’s Day was invented as a scheme to help Daisy surround herself with more hearts.
In other news, have you seen the awesomeness that is Michelle’s Dog Culture series over on her tumblr? If not, go look now!
#Fourcomics is a hashtag that’s been making the rounds on Twitter the last few days. Here’s the tweet that started it all:
Tweet four comics that influenced you when you were growing up. #fourcomics pic.twitter.com/qAqfLLOfst
— Jim Zub (@JimZub) January 22, 2015
I thought it might be fun to put a little twist on it by posting four comics — two from me, two from Michelle — that have had the biggest influence on us while making Reckstar.
Michelle’s answer:
“Saga, definitely, because space and aliens and it’s just perfect.”
“Blacksad, because of his attention to detail with EVERYTHING but mainly interesting background characters and their stories.
“They’ve both defined comics for me, in and out of Reckstar.”
For myself, the choice was a little tougher because most of my inspiration for Reckstar came from movies. That said, there are two comics without which Reckstar might not even exist:
Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes is a fantasy adventure webcomic by Ellipsis Hana Stephens, who balances laugh-out-loud comedy, visceral action, and massive amounts of heart with absolute, unflinching confidence. Elli’s a masterful storyteller, and before I even knew what Reckstar would be called, I knew I wanted it to follow her example.
The fact is, Calvin & Hobbes was THE comic of my childhood. Any other correlations to Reckstar I leave for greater minds to suss out.
2014 is almost over. Like everyone else in the world, I’m looking back at the things I accomplished this year — and the much longer list of things I didn’t, and there’s one thing in particular that stands out; one egregious omission from my “Done That” list…
I never wrote about Interstellar.
Y’see, Interstellar was a pretty important movie to me. It touched on a lot of things, both creatively and philosophically, that I hold very dear. From the moment I left the theater, I was formulating the review I’d write for it in my head… but, as so often happens, I got distracted. By life, responsibilities; the usual. And at the height of that distraction, I made one fatal error:
I started reading other people’s reviews.
Nothing kills your critical thought process faster than flooding it with the opinions of others. Now, over a month later, almost everything I might have said about the movie has already been said. It had its share of positive and negative reviews (with the negatives sometimes missing the point entirely). People wrote about the astonishing use of practical FX; the misguided audio choices; the scientific breakthrough the movie accidentally spawned; the surprise cameo. And of course, much-deserved praise was heaped upon Hans Zimmer’s unconventional, Philip-Glassian score.
The reviews have all been written, but I couldn’t let the year end without shining a spotlight on Interstellar one more time. Call it a sort of New Years resolution; a way for me to express what I feel most optimistic and impassioned about for the coming year — or years.
Beyond this point, things get… sciencey.
Check out this awesome collection of character mugshots by artist Jeremy Jack.
FREE LOVE FOR ALL – 40,000 COMPLETE by jeremymjack on deviantART
Every time the pageviews on his DeviantArt account double, Jeremy does free character sketches for his followers. This particular set is to commemorate 40,000 views (congrats, Jer)! If you look carefully, you may even spot a familiar face.
I don’t intend to comment here on every cool trailer that comes out (or maybe I will, I dunno), but this one felt noteworthy, if for no other reason than… DUDE. STAR WARS.
So, yeah. That’s awesome. Brief… but awesome.
There are several snippets in this teaser that get me really excited for the new movie. I love the shots showing us a more intimate perspective of storm trooper life (if they’re still called storm troopers), and I’m sure we’ll get even more in the full movie, since one of the protagonists happens to be one.
But the big one for me? The thing that really got me excited?
Come on. You know what it is.
I know, I know.
A new lightsaber is about the silliest, most superficial thing to get excited over in a new Star Wars trailer. Especially if you consider what came with the last one…
I know, I KNOW!
But if you look past the gimmick, I think this new lightsaber could potentially be telling us a LOT about the character wielding it. Even moreso than Maul’s did.
Lightsabers don’t usually come with hand guards, presumably for three reasons.
1) The jedi/sith fighting styles value precision and dexterity. Some are balletic hit and run fighters who deliver quick attacks before dancing away. Others are fencers who stand their ground, searching for holes in the enemy’s defenses and making swift, decisive strikes.
2) Their intuitive connection with the force keeps them from making rookie mistakes with the saber itself.
3) Lightsabers have been shown throughout the saga to be deflective in nature (which is why they make such effective shields against laser blasts). When blades meet, they push off of one another, and whenever we’ve seen someone maintain that contact, they show the signs of physical exertion. To lock blades with an opponent means fighting against the strength of the blade as well as your enemy.
Now, imagine what it must mean to have a character whose lightsaber is the size of a bastard sword and uses a crossguard made up of smaller lightsaber blades.
It means, where other fighters match blades and withdraw, this dude meets them head on, maintains contact, and pushes through. He expects to get in close and even slide along the enemy’s blade, so he’s built in hand guards. His blade has a longer reach than most other lightsabers, which makes him hell to close in on, but the blades in his crossguard act as hazards to any enemy who does. He’s a brute fighter whose technique values physical strength and proximity damage over speed and precision.
We have never seen a lightsaber wielder like this before. And that excites me.
(And before anyone starts complaining about the crossguard not being effective because the smaller blades don’t cover its full length, remember that there ARE certain rare materials in the Star Wars universe that can stand up to a lightsaber blade. This Washington Post (Washington. Freaking. Post) article goes into more detail.)
(And, no, it wouldn’t have been better to construct the entire crossguard out of that material, because it would interfere with the easy portability and concealability of the saber handle. Plus, a bladeless crossguard isn’t nearly as dangerous against enemies.)
(…or as cool looking.)
(WHAT? This is Star Wars! Cool still has currency!)
Of course, when the movie comes out, I could be proven completely wrong… but for right now, while all we have to go on is speculation, that dude just became the most interesting character in the movie for me.
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