META: Open thread

Because I got nothin'. Talk about whatever you like folks, I'm off to an actual real-people, not-online party. Craziness! And yet, apparently this sort of thing is not only legal but encouraged. Strange.

16 Responses to META: Open thread

  1. John says:

    1. John Byrne was a world-class comic book creator up to and through his run on the Fantastic Four in the mid-80s. Then, he completely lost his mind. Discuss.

    2. Despite the bitchin’ and complain’ that fans do about the likes of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar, the fact is that writer-driven, conceptually sound comics are what saved the medium from complete and utter cultural irrelevance coming out the Image 90s. Discuss.

    3. Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics may have been, for one brief, shining moment, the most unbelievable, creatively ambitious and highly satisfying accomplishment of any comics creator since Jack Kirby. Discuss.

  2. John says:

    Wait! I’m not done!

    4. Gil Kane is one of the most under-appreciated illustrators of the Silver Age. Discuss.

    5. With talent like Mike Mignola, Brian Hitch, Alex Maleev, Ryan Ottley and Ryan Sook, we may very well be in the midst of a new Golden Age of comics. Discuss.

  3. haydnc95 says:

    I like Steve E Gordons work from X-Men Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men X)
    hes really good!

  4. The Imp says:

    Is anyone else as sick as I am of the damn pop-up ads on every UGO-sponsored site?

  5. William A. Peterson says:

    John:
    1. Agreed with the second part, but even before he ‘lost his mind’, he was merely good, not great…
    2. Writer-driven, conceptually sound comics are certainly better than the other kind, but…
    What does that have to do with Bendis? :->
    I’m a big Busiek fan, myself, and I think Millar is a bit spotty…
    3. Alan Moore’s ABC must have had an awful brief “One Shining Moment”… The few I picked up weren’t bad, really, but not industry-defining, or anything like that!
    4. I don’t think Gil Kane is underappreciated…
    He’s quite good, but I think he gets enough credit for being that good…
    And, I think George Perez is a good sight better!
    5. If we ARE in the middle of a new “Golden Age”, I don’t think any of those people you name are involved…
    I’d rate it more as a return to the Bronze Age, myself, which is still a BIG improvement over the “Iron” or “Plutonium” Ages!

  6. Richard says:

    Hey Is Hammernight gooing to be online I realy would like the stained glass window recipie Please HN if your out their could email it maybe

  7. J says:

    I’m sick of them too IMP. I’m also sick of this site loading so slow that it freezes at times. Only site that does this.

  8. Danny Beaty says:

    @Imp and J: You guys are right. Those pop-up ads are a pain in the wazoo. Also, I don’t know how many times I have been in the middle of creating a character and the darn thing freezes-up. Maybe it’s time one of those professional computer geeks was called in to diagnose HM3.

  9. Jeff Hebert says:

    Guys, it’s an ALPHA. I haven’t even been over 99% of the code more than the initial pass at “I hope this works”. It’ll get better. As I’ve said many times before, first comes basic functionality, then comes as many items as I can for the male, then the female, then code revisions to beta, then bigger testing, more code revisions, final items, and gold release.

    Patience, grasshoppers.

    I don’t have any control over the ads on the site, unfortunately. If only there were some sort of plug-in type software available for browsers that would, say, block pop-ups and/or Flash ads, which could be selectively disabled to allow, say, a HeroMachine like Flash app to work while the surrounding Flash-based ads were blocked. Oh well, surely nothing like that exists, and if it did, why, as the guy responsible for the site I could never suggest such a heinous act of rebellion against duly designated advertisers. Heavens, no.

  10. Bael says:

    That’s why I use Firefox. Adblock Plus is great. My computer is really too old to run, well, anything these days. Without a pop-up blocker, I get timed out of a lot of connections, so I wouldn’t be here at all.
    And Tom Strong and at least the first series of Top Ten were great.

  11. A-Bag says:

    tacos,tacos,tacos!

  12. rancid says:

    where are the winners for the green llama contest

  13. MartianBlue says:

    @Rancid, the Green Lama wasn’t a contest, it was a costume discussion. Where you talked about what you did, and didn’t like, and then you showed what you would have done to fix or re-design his costume. The point? To help you see what works, and what doesn’t with an existing costume, thus helping you to make better characters, thus making you a better artist.

  14. Whit says:

    I’m online and a real person.

    That aside, open-thread seems to be a popular idea, Jeff–maybe make it a weekly feature and give yourself another day off.

  15. Jeff Hebert says:

    Some sites do an open thread every day. I should probably do that, too.

  16. Whit says:

    Oh, here’s a question–as one who has never been able to afford to get into comic books, I have to ask, where are all the female comic book artists/writers/etc?