We are pleased to announced that you can now download the full HeroMachine 2.5 application for use on your local computer, freeing you from needing an Internet connection (once it’s downloaded and installed the first time, of course). You can access the HeroMachine Desktop Edition 2.5 here. Be forewarned, the new version is literally twice the size of the old one, clocking in at almost 60MB.

This release is the culmination of a year of hard work, and we’re very proud to have it finished and in your hands. The Expansion features hundreds of new items and doubles the overall size of the application. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together for you.

When asked if she wanted to go see “Iron Man”, my wife said “Who’s he?”, immediately disqualifying her from attending. So it was up to me and my pal Dave to pass geek judgment on the film. Dave and I are pretty hard to please when it comes to movies, and very hard to please when it comes to super-hero movies. Having said that, here are the three things you need to know about “Iron Man”:

1. “Iron Man” is the best super-hero movie ever made.
2. Stay all the way — ALL THE WAY — to the end, past the credits. You’ll thank me. And bring a wet-wipe, you’ll need it.
3. I’m so blown away by this movie that I am up at 1:40 in the morning, too keyed up to sleep, writing this review.

The longer version, containing random jumps from topic to topic, is after the jump.

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In 1993, Topps Comics published “Ray Bradbury Comics No. 1″, featuring two different versions of the classic Ray Bradbury short story “A Sound of Thunder”. One dates from 1952 by Al Williamson and the other from 1993 by Richard Corben (produced specifically for this comic). After the jump I’ll reproduce a page from each version at roughly the same point in the story; it’s a fascinating look into how different the same script can turn out in the hands of various artists. You can read the original story in its entirety here if you like, it’s excellent.

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Here’s the prize for Caption Contest 7, which was won by Ashton. It’s a drawing of his father’s friend, who’s very ill. I think it was extremely generous and thoughtful of Ashton to think of his dad this way, I really hope they liked it. It turns out that drawing trees in ink is very hard.

If you want to win your very own professional black and white illustration of whatever you like (within reason), make your entry for Caption Contest 9: The Poetic Pooch going on right now!

As if having to marry Deanna Troi wasn’t punishment enough, Worf the Klingon now has the dubious “honor” of having his very own onomontoPOWia:

While I am sure it’s nice to be memorialized, I have to wonder if having your name be the embodiment of the sound of a giant, gas-filled fat guy exploding is all that great.

What the hell am I saying, of course that would be an honor for a Klingon! Having your name associated with exploded enemies is pretty much like winning an Academy Award for those guys. Which, given the level of acting in the Star Trek universe, is, let’s face it, not going to happen.

At this point, the only thing the former Enterprise security chief has left to accomplish is to track down this “Hoogh” guy the former blimp is calling out for so he can give him a bad case of the BWORFs too.

I thought you might like to see the latest illustration I did for Jeff Mejia’s “World of Broadsword” expansion. The spec was:

I’m thinking American Indian features without the American Indian accoutrement’s
dark weathered skin. bald or scalp lock like a Pawnee warrior or Yul Brynner in Taras Bulba see pics
for weapons : primitive but exotic- Egyptian style axe/mace, boar spear, big ass hunting knife, short bow
clothing hide armor. leather with steel refinements maybe parts taken from legionnaires armor. not too constricting though. sturdy belt for knife, pouch, hand axe, etc.
pose: maybe crouching as if following a trail. in hot pursuit.

And here’s the final illustration: