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I knew djuby made fantastic illustrations, but wow, I had no idea just HOW awesome until at AMS' suggestion I checked out his forum here on HeroMachine.com. The images are simply outSTANDing. Here's a sample:
If you're looking for some inspiration, I highly recommend you check out his work. It's pretty incredible stuff.
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Posted in Things I Like
This is one of those awesome ideas that I am kicking myself for not thinking of. Basically you're challenged to come up with 30 characters in 30 days. They can be any genre, and any type. It lasts for the whole month of November; you sign up for free, and commit to posting your creations on their site. If you're a writer, you can come up with a character description or bio, or maybe a short scene that describes them. If you're an illustrator, you can draw your own or you could use HeroMachine to create yours.
It sounds like a fun way to stretch your creative muscles and challenge yourself. Apparently only 100 people have completed it, which sounds like the gauntlet has been thrown! If you're of a mind, head on over and check it out.
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Posted in Meta, Things I Like
(Frequent commenter, legendary HeroMachine creator, and Forum moderator Kaldath was kind enough to write up the following article today. Be sure to thank him in the comments! -- Jeff)
Kaldath - Today I saw within my newsfeed on facebook and update from the Terry Brooks Facebook fan page that really surprised me. Apparently Hollywood is interesting in turning the Shannara novels into a TV series, especially the "Elfstones of Shannara" title. Oh how I remember picking up my first every fantasy novel, which was “The Sword of Shannara” which was the first book I ever read by choice and not because I was being made to by one of my English teachers to write a book report on!
"The Sword of Shannara" hooked me on reading. The rich fantasy world of Shea Ohmsford, his brother Flick, their friend Menion Leah, the Towering Druid Allanon, and so many other facets of the story brought me hours of pleasure. I lost myself in the struggles of these characters, in their fight against the dark forces out to destroy them, and I absolutely loved that book. That love carried over to nearly all the other books in the Shannara series including the one being groomed for the little screen “The Elfstones of Shannara”. In this book the Son of Shea Ohmsford, Will Ohmsford, is tasked by Allanon to protect the elven princess Amberle Elessedil on her quest to restore the dying Ellcrys which is the Elven tree of life. The Ellcrys guards not only the Elves but all life from a horde of evil demons which the tree locks safely away from the world, and has done so for thousands of years before it began to fail.
When I saw they were making a book out of one of my most beloved fantasy novel series, my first response was one of joy. I would dearly love to see these characters in action on my television, but then I remembered another book series I loved which was turned into a TV series. “The Legend of the Seeker” based on the Sword of Truth Series written by Terry Goodkind was some of the most god-awful television I have ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on. The thought that the the Shannara series could be ruined the same way as the Sword of Truth was sickens me. We all know how hard it is to translate the written medium to live action, especially that of a fantasy world full of magic and dark beings, and while I am certain there is potential for some great TV to come out of this I somehow have my doubts.
What about you? What are your thoughts on "The Elfstones of Shannara" appearing on TV? Do you think it a good thing or does the thought fill you with dread of another ruined memory?
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Posted in Meta, Randomosity, Things I Like
(In lieu of our usual "Versus" matchup, today I'm bringing you a guest article about how you can help in a fight to save City of Heroes, the popular super-hero MMORPG. It's the players versus the world! The article is by Jason Brannen.)
[Illustration by Joe Rossow]
On August 31, NCsoft announced the abrupt closure of their City Of Heroes MMO. NCsoft immediately terminated its entire Paragon Studios staff, ending all development and plans ending services on November 30. The game launched over eight years ago and allows players to create their own customizable hero/villain and battle to save the world/and struggle for unlimited power. It was still profitable and one of the first non-fantasy MMOs on the market.
The announcement left the game's community in shock, but within hours, a rallying cry had gone forth. The players behind a group of virtual heroes began battling to save their Paragon City in the real world. Artists, programmers, financiers, legal professionals, and journalist volunteers began long-term planning. #SaveCoH appeared on Twitter. The Save our City of Heroes Facebook group was created. The community published multiple electronic banners, profile pictures, and forum signatures to spread their message. A write-in campaign quickly materialized. A petition organized by Meggan Russell has had more than 15,000 signatures in the first week.
Michael T. Eastham, subscribing for more than eight years, writes to Taek Jin Kim, CEO of NCsoft Corporation, "In the time since I first received an invitation to join the game, I have moved four times, held six different professions, had two friends and two beloved relatives pass away, and restarted and completed college. During hardships, I knew I could turn to those people I had made friends with within City of Heroes, and to the game itself as an escape from the pain and fatigue. I created countless characters, each unique with life of their own, whose problems I could create, and solve, giving me power to tackle my own hardships. City of Heroes has been there for me for a quarter of my natural existence now, and much of my life has been touched by its influence. When I went to college, I chose to go into game design because I held the dream of one day helping to craft the characters and stories I had become attached to within Paragon City.
"Everyone is experiencing the prospect of something we are passionate about being relegated forever to only existing as memories", says Tony Vazquez, administrator of the fan-run Titan Network. "We are Titans, all of us. We've shed blood, we've cried tears, we've never stopped and we're not about to quit now. We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time."
Links:
Save Our City! FAQ: bit.ly/SaveCoHFAQ
Titan Network: http://www.cohtitan.com/
Petition: http://bit.ly/savecoh
Write-In: http://bit.ly/write2ncsoft
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurCityOfHeroes
Twtter: http://www.twitter.com/#Savecoh
Notes:
City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the super hero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios, and published by NCsoft.
The game launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe (by NCsoft Europe) on February 4, 2005.
Twenty-three free major updates for City of Heroes were released since its launch.
On August 31, 2012, NCsoft terminated its entire studio (Paragon Studios), ending all development on CoH and other games with a planned end of services on November 30, 2012.
Jeff's Contact: Jason Brannen storyteller@fuse.net
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Posted in RPG Corner, Super-Hero Stuff, Things I Like, Versus
I am criticized from time to time for not doing more positive stories (a very fair criticism, I hasten to add), so I wanted to share this example of comics done exceptionally well. It's from a daily comic strip that predates even my ancient time called "Gasoline Alley" by Frank King. In its day it was as big as Spider-Man or Superman are today. But what caught my eye (thanks to a friend on Facebook) is the way the shadows define the forms here without requiring actual outlines:
The last two panels are just breathtaking in their elegance, simplicity, and effect. You barely notice that the figures are made of nothing but shadows and negative space, a wonderful rendering technique just on its own. But the magic of comics comes from the way the effect works with the dialog to enhance the sense of foreboding the creator is striving for. There is beauty in their upcoming marriage just as there is beauty in the forest, but some darkness awaits as well. Either the words or the art by themselves are still good, but when combined they achieve a kind of beautiful synergy that only comics can provide.
(Original artwork and a great essay are from "Hooded Utilitarian".)
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Posted in Randomosity, Retroviews, Things I Like
Hammerknight has absolutely knocked it out of the park with the 2011 HeroMachine Creators Club "Wanted" Poster. This thing is a real beauty, featuring some of the most prolific and talented creators who inhabit these here parts, each one done in an Old West "Wanted Poster" style. It's just great, and I can't thank Hammerknight enough for putting it together. Printed, it's 24"x36". Here's the web-sized version, with links to the big one and various smaller sizes after that so you can use it as wallpaper if you like.
Again, just a fantastic job, Hammerknight, thank you so much for putting this together. It's awesome!
Here are the links to the various sizes. Just right-click on the thumbnail and choose "Save Link As", or you can click on the link directly to be taken to the image itself, whereupon you can use the File Save option in your browser.
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Posted in Meta, Power User Profiles, Things I Like
Sometimes while reading these Golden Age comics, I stumble across a wholly unexpected gem. I downloaded what I thought was going to be a 1940s-era "Reg'lar Fellahs Heroic Comics" issue, only to find that in fact it was a 1954 "True Life Heroism" book. Although disappointed not to have the latest adventures of Hyrdoman, I decided to give it a read anyway, and boy am I glad I did, because the very first two-page story was illustrated by none other than legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta!
We're used to seeing Frazetta's work featuring leering monsters surging out of the murk and Rubenesque princesses being rescued by mighty-thewed barbarians on the covers of our favorite fantasy series. But take a look at the softer side of Frank in this charming tale of a horse rescue. And still, every panel and every pose is fairly bursting with dynamism.
I'm so excited to have found this gem and to be able to share it with you all. Enjoy!
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Posted in Things I Like
OK, this is a little bit of a cheap post, but I can't resist -- bona fide big time online magazine Slate has an article up on the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books! This opening paragraph pretty much nails why I liked them growing up:
Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, which required friends; or computer games, which required your parents to spend a lot of money; or arcade games, which required your sister to drive you to the mall, Choose Your Own Adventure books cost $1.75, and you could read them on your own.
The best part was the cheating. Oh Lord, how I cheated. Holding my place, flipping forward to see what would happen, then flipping back and taking the alternate if I didn't like it. Randomly opening the book and going from wherever I landed. Starting from the ending and working my way backwards. It didn't matter that the only person I was "cheating" was me; that was part of the fun. Little did I know I was actually already accounted for:
From the start, the books were full of innovative page hacks. Readers would be trapped in the occasional time loop, forced to flip back and forth between two pages. Most memorable was Inside UFO 54-40, a book in which the most desired outcome, discovering the Planet Ultima, could only be achieved by readers who cheated and flipped through the book until they reached the page on their own. At that point, the book congratulated the reader for breaking the rules.
My biggest problem was finding the darn things. Mega-bookstores weren't around back then -- at least, not beyond the Waldenbooks in the mall, and that was 45 minutes away -- so I had to make do with the two or three adventures I'd scrounged up.
I do recall getting frustrated because there were so many other things I would've done, but they wouldn't give me the choice. Like in our latest adventure -- how about jumping onto the spider claws, climbing into the robot cleanup droid, and commandeering it? This is why I had to move on to RPGs ultimately -- not enough scope for my deviant mind.
The problem with RPGs, of course, was that you had to have other people to play them, and all too often other people who like RPGs were in short supply. I think that's what makes computer RPGs so popular -- they offer a much wider scope of action than the "Choose Your Own Adventure" types of books (though always less than face-to-face pen and paper RPGs), and you can play them alone if you need to.
I have to say, though, I might've changed my mind had I been reading Montgomery instead of Packard:
While Packard was writing the standard sword-and-sorcery story The Forbidden Castle about dragons, knights, and princesses, Montgomery unleashed the berserk House of Danger which involved super-intelligent monkeys plotting to destabilize the world economy via counterfeiting, psychic detectives, Civil War ghosts, alien abduction, holograms, age regression, cannibalism, secret environmental conspiracies, and one ending that has the reader turned into Genghis Khan.
Clearly, I backed the wrong horse!
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Posted in Things I Like
Three middle-aged nerds (including yours truly!) review all of the MCU movies in chronological order. Short, funny, and full of good vibes, check it out and let us know what you think!
Nerdmudgeon.com
