Our Power User to profile this week is frequent commenter and excellent comics reviewer McKnight57! Which reminds me, I should add a question to the list like "How did you come up with the 'handle' you use?"
- Online name used in HeroMachine environs: McKnight57
- A photo (or drawing) of you in "real life":
- Real name: Andrew aka "Flash" (not kidding)
- Real city/state/country: Originally from Rome, Georgia. I now live in Carmel, California.
- Real job: student/grocery clerk
- Real age: 24
- Gender: I'm a dude
- Relationship status (married, single, in a long-term relationship, dating someone, "it's complicated", etc): single, though trying to change that
- Online archive of your creations: http://profile.imageshack.us/user/Mcknight57/
- The best piece of HeroMachine art you've created:
- Favorite all-time geeky movie if any: Here are the top 5. Ghostbusters, Batman, Dark Knight, V for Vendetta, Watchmen.
- Favorite all-time geeky book if any: Currently reading a collection of stories from HP Lovecraft, which includes Call of Cthulhu. Otherwise, Portrait of Dorian Grey will have to do.
- Favorite all-time geeky TV show if any: MacGyver, Batman animated series (I went fishing with the writer Paul Dini and his brother years ago) or Darkwing Duck.
- Favorite all-time comic book character if any: Split between Flash/Green Lantern/Batman/Grifter.
- If you could have one super-heroic power in real life, you'd choose: Super speed. Just imagine how much you'd save on gas.
- In your leisure time you like to: Read comics and graphic novels, write for my comic, play pool and visit interesting places.
- Character design turn-ons (things you love to see that make for a good design): Use of lighting, creating new pieces out of odd items, creative poses and images that tell a story.
- Character design turn-offs (things you hate to see that make for a bad design):Bland colors, images that look too "busy" and of course hands, arms or legs in poses that look out of place and general careless mistakes.
- Best tip for a HeroMachine newbie: Don't be afraid to create something with a blank background at first. You should work on your character first and foremost. Background will help the image but it's secondary. Don't be afraid to ask for critiques. These folks can help you and don't mind doing so. When discussing Poll Positions, be ready for Doom's new PR guy (Joshua) to chime in. Trust me, it definitely adds to the flavor the forum, only in the best of ways.
- Any personal message you'd like to share with the HeroMachine community about Geek Life: I'm going to teach by example for a moment. For the last year and a half now, I've been working on my comic. Sure, only 80% is done by now, but in putting all of my effort and love into the project, there have been quite a few lucky breaks I've caught in connection with it. The point is, find what you want to do and go at with all of the knowledge and dedication you have. When you really love doing something and put your full effort into it, new opportunities will present themselves. Embrace your inner (and outer) geek. You never know when it'll work in your favor. Also, take a look at the reviews for the last few weeks and please comment on them:
http://mcknightsreview.blogspot.com/
Never thought I'd get to fill one of these things out, by the way. I figure it'd be about 6 more months before I got a chance, so thanks to Myro and Worf for the endorsement.
