Monthly Archives: September 2013

Big Question ♯19

Posted on September 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on Big Question ♯19

Now, originally I was going to ask about the TMNT cartoons, but considering I haven't seen the newest one yet I can't really form an opinion on that.

However, I am going to allow myself an opinion on the TMNT film scheduled for release in 2014. Megan Fox as April O'Neil, Michael Bay producing....... Anyone else remember the last time these two worked together on a childhood icon of a generation? Oh yeah! It was (comment self-censored for reasons of decency). I will restrain myself from talking about Bay too much, because lets just say I can't remember the last thing of his that I watched and liked, but my main gripe is that I can't see Megan Fox being a good April O'Neil. She's too sultry and seductive and I remember the cartoons from my childhood and whilst April was hot, she was more about her brains than her looks. She might have had to play the damsel in distress more than a few times, but she was easily the one of the smartest characters on the show (mind you that isn't saying much when you're comparing against such intellects as Mikey).

So anyway, two different questions for you. 1. What's your opinion on the up coming TMNT reboot, are you like me and feeling apprehensive or are you willing to give Michael Bay another chance to ruin your childhood? And 2. What's your favourite TMNT cartoon series?

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Kaldath’s Caption Contest #12

Posted on September 25, 2013 by | Comments Off on Kaldath’s Caption Contest #12

It is Caption Contest time again folks and this week your challenge image that I want you to give me replacement dialog for is!

 

bat-tickle

 

As usually you are limited to Three (3) entries per person and all entries must be in by Tuesday November 1st by 12 noon Eastern time. Also keep your entries PG-13 else they will be disqualified.

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Posted in Caption Challenges

Anime Talks: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Posted on September 25, 2013 by | Comments Off on Anime Talks: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

This weeks Anime Talks is going to be a mini review of "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex". This 2002 anime series which follows the exploits of Major Motoko Kusanagi ( simply refereed to as the Major most of the time ) and her team from the Japanese anti-terrorism crime unit "Public Security Section 9" . The series is set in the fictional Japanese city of Niihama during the mid 21st century, where cyber crime, and cyborgs are common and the setting is very cyberpunk in it's feel.

 

It is worth noting at this time that there is also a Ghost in the Shell movie, and a Manga series however while the characters are more or less identical within these there medias each is independent of each other with vastly different plots. I like Ghost in the Shell ( both the SAC series and the movie ) because I find the characters interesting, and while it has plenty of action with tons of violence the show is more about detective work and mystery solving though it can get bogged down at time by the heavy political commentary which can be a turn off to some viewers.

 

The Animation is beautifully drawn, the story is gripping most of the time, the characters are very well developed and the plot twists are intriguing.   This is a series that I recommend unless you are not a fan of politically intrigue or dark gritty worlds full of violence, deceit and death.

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Posted in Anime

Power User Profiles: FRM

Posted on September 24, 2013 by | Comments Off on Power User Profiles: FRM

One of the highest posters on the forums (although I think he may have fallen behind a bit recently), it gives me great pleasure to welcome this week's Power User; FRM Continue reading →

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Posted in Power User Profiles

Poll Position Delay

Posted on September 24, 2013 by | Comments Off on Poll Position Delay

Hey folks, I am not feeling well and ended up falling asleep very early last night before I wrote my Poll Position post so it will be delayed til later in the day.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Book cover design prize?

Posted on September 23, 2013 by | Comments Off on Book cover design prize?

Hi all, your nearly-absentee-owner Jeff here with a quick question.

I'm thinking of running a Facebook contest designed to get more likes, increase the pool of people using HeroMachine beyond the traditional, and increase incoming links. The idea would be to have people use HM3 to make a portrait of a character from a novel, novella, or short story collection they have written. The winner would get to have a cover for that product designed and illustrated by yours truly, much like I've done for Ian Thomas Healy's "Just Cause" books.

Is that something you think would be of interest?

I imagine even if you haven't written a book yourself, it might be fun to have one for a book idea you've had.

Anyway, I'm throwing it open to comment, please let me know what you think (good, bad, or indifferent).

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Posted in Meta

Character Design Contest ♯42- Public Domain Amalgamations

Posted on September 23, 2013 by | Comments Off on Character Design Contest ♯42- Public Domain Amalgamations

This week, your task, should you choose to accept it, is to make an amalgamation of two characters in any of these public domain comic book company lists: http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Characters_by_company

Incase you don't know what an Amalgamation is, here's the definition:

Amalgamate: to mix or merge so as to make a combination

Your two characters must come from two different comics companies and must have amalgamated costumes, powers (unless the two characters have very similar powers) and names. Use the Amalgam comics characters as a guide if you are unsure what to do, but you can only use characters on these lists.

As per usual, there are no entry limits, the contest will close at 12am Sunday (blog time). Please read the rules before entering, have fun and good luck.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges that I am hosting: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warnings. Only post characters that you have either created for this contest specifically or you know for certain have never been entered to a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

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Posted in Character Design Challenges

What Were They Thinking: More Marvel-ous Transformations

Posted on September 23, 2013 by | Comments Off on What Were They Thinking: More Marvel-ous Transformations

As promised two weeks ago, when we covered DC's weirdest and most ill thought out transformations, this week we're going to have a look at the exact same thing in the Marvel universe. As with last week, these are all completely cannon.

Continue reading →

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Posted in What Were They Thinking

Character Design Contest ♯41 Poll (Fashion Show)

Posted on September 22, 2013 by | Comments Off on Character Design Contest ♯41 Poll (Fashion Show)
[polldaddy poll="7415903"]

This week, I thought I'd also take a look at some of my other favourites that unfortunately didn't make the final five. I don't know if this is going to become a regular thing or not, but I thought it might make a change.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Challenge Favorites

Character Of The Week: 21st September

Posted on September 21, 2013 by | Comments Off on Character Of The Week: 21st September

Earlier this week, Delirious Al posted three pieces that I think might just be the best stuff this incredibly talented creator has ever done. I could have featured any of them in this blog, and in fact I changed my mind on which one to cover several times, but I eventually settled on this one because it just seems to have wonder spilling out of it (literally).

9: 21 DeliriousAL_MidnightMagician

 

I'm struggling to know where to start. The glowing effect on the symbols/ tattoos across what of the characters body you can see is just stunning, the simplicity of having the white glow behind the yellow font in order to enhance the font and make it stand out in such a way that it seems realistic is brilliant. Then we have the characters expression and his pose, which are just the right mixture of malevolence, mystery and charisma to make him an enticing centrepiece to a piece with so many different eye catches.

But really, the reason this piece won out over the other two is the background. And to discuss that we must start with the costume, because the two are basically inseparable. For once I find myself unable to recognise what item was used to create the effect of the stars spilling out of the coat, but the effect is magnificent. It does look like a condensed gas escaping from a container. The fact that the rest of the costume is also black adds to the effect, because it is hard to tell where the character ends and the background begins. And then there's the sunrise, which just adds another layer of warmth and I might just have run out of superlatives for which I apologise, but I think you get the idea.

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Posted in Character of the Week, Cool Characters