Author Archives: AFDStudios

Pop Quiz Insignia Results

Logos are hard to design, requiring a deceptive level of simplicity that can communicate big ideas instantly. I applaud you all for taking a crack at it with our last Pop Quiz, and I am delighted to share the results here for your viewing pleasure:

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I can be grumpy and mean and no man will DARE say anything!

The real life of 40+ year old guys at Dragon*Con

Never, ever order "The special treatment"

(From “Baffling Mystery Comics” number 9, 1952.)

Pop Quiz: Insignia

Happy Saturday, folks! Your one-day quick-fire challenge today is to create your own super-hero logo! These are the kinds of insignia you see on a character’s chest (or shield, belt buckle, car, helicopter, what have you), like the classic ones you see above. Often these are the most iconic representations of someone’s identity, and thus are key to any comics design.

You only get one entry — that’s right, just one! So make it your best. Most of the other rules are the same as for a regular challenge, but instead of a whole week I’ll announce my favorites either tonight or tomorrow morning. Elaborate backgrounds aren’t necessary, though if you’ve got one it’s fine.

  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the HeroMachine Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). Here’s a quick-start guide on how to do that for various image hosting services.

I’ll pick one entry as my personal favorite, which will get to be featured in the side bar to the right for ultimate glory! As a bonus you’re allowed to say you won the Internet for a few days.

Good luck!

Not the most horrifying of plot premises I've ever heard

(From “Baffling Mysteries” number 9, 1952.)

SOD: Medieval Superman

Sharing Day, Geek Interview Edition

One of the cool things about Dragon*Con is getting to see some of the creators and actors you’ve loved in person. So my question for you is:

If you could have one hour of live, in person, one-on-one time to talk with any real-life, currently alive person from the world of geekery, with whom would you choose to conversate, and what would you ask them?

As for me, I’d choose Joss Whedon, as someone who has excelled at producing geeky content from multiple genres (supernatural, super-heroes, horror) in multiple media (television, musicals, movies, the web) and who just seems like a nifty guy. Among other standard questions (“What was it like directing Sarah Michelle Geller!?”), I’d ask him what commonalities he sees between super-heroes powers and stories, and more standard fictional entertainment. And if he’s surprised that out of all the people he’s “made big”, that David Boreanz would be the one to ultimately star in another big hit.

In return for playing along, you can (if you want, no obligation) ask me a question about whatever you like and I’ll answer truthfully.

Weather comparisons you rarely hear

(From “Daredevil Battles Hitler”, 1941.)

You're Going to Die V

If you’re just tuning in, our goal is to write our own Choose Your Own Adventure where every choice is twofold, with one leading to further adventure and the other to a gruesome death. Last week featured:

A. Continue honing your paper ball throwing skills.

As another wadded up paper ball bounces off the rim of the waste paper basket, you get the distinct feeling that someone is watching you. You shrug it off, however, and continue to crumple up your “important” meeting notes and show-off your skills to whomever is watching. Hopefully, it’s Angeline.

This time, the ball goes in! “Yes!” You shout while pumping your fist into the air, “200 points.”

“That’s the first one I’ve seen you sink,” Jimmy, the boss’s kid says.

Startled, you try to compose yourself. In your excitement, you had forgotten someone had been watching you. “Well,” you reply snarkily, “Maybe each basket is worth 200 points.”

“I’m telling my dad,” he retorts. Then runs off to your boss’s office.

Oh crap! This could ruin your day…well, more than your day. What if you got fired? What if you got fired! There’s always unemployment…

Do you…
A. Chase after Jimmy
or
B. Let Jimmy report you to his father?

We had five really fun entries, many thanks to Myro, Shookman, Gero, HerrD, and Renxin. I decided to go with The Shookman’s take, partly because I think it lends itself well to the supernatural twist I’m asking for. First, here’s how we would have died:

B – Let Jimmy report you to his father: So you were throwing some mildly important documents at a trash can to pass the time. Big deal, right? Screw that little devil spawn, you’re hungry again, and you would rather chase a burger with a soda than chase a brat with an attitude.

You sneak away to the kitchen, ready to eat something that will finally satisfy. You pop open the fridge. Sweet! Left over Chinese food! The note says, “PAUL’S. DO NOT EAT.” Ppphhhh, as if that ever stopped you any other time. Paul has a good taste in food, and if you don’t eat it, how are you going to make sure it doesn’t go to waste?

Following your half-assed logic, you start to chow down. You see Paul in the distance, who is clearly making his way towards you. Oh wow. He looks pissed. Well, no point in stopping now, right? You begin to shovel the food down as fast as possible, when you suddenly realize you’ve stopped breathing, which is odd, because Paul isn’t close enough to choke you yet. Panic sets in as you realize it’s the food, and the only person in the office certified to do CPR is… Paul.

He walks away, muttering how you deserve it, as you choke to death, alone, in the kitchen of the office. Just like your mom always said you would.

Your office adventure ends here.

Bummer! But goodness knows, I’ve wanted exactly that fate to befall a coworker before who helped himself to my lunch. And now, here’s the continuation of our adventure:

A – Chase after Jimmy: Oh, you’re going to tell daddy over my dead body! You spring into action, grabbing a handful of those cheap office pens, just in case you need to throw stuff at him. You begin to notice your age as you pant towards the brat, but you’ll be damned if that stops you! You whip a pen at him, missing completely (unless you were actually aiming at Sue with the lazy eye from accounting, but you know you weren’t).

He looks back to see if that was you, makes an obscene gesture, and picks up the pace. If you don’t do something soon, you’ll have to listen to your boss lecture you for 15 minutes about conducting yourself in the office! 15 friggin minutes!!! You take every pen in hand, and throw them with all your might. Nailed him!

He turns around again, probably to make some stupid remark, when he runs right past his dad’s office, and down a stairwell. You hear him make a large amount of shrieks and shrills, as any annoying child is prone to do when they’re making a big deal out of some broken bones. Oh wait, this is bad! Now he’s going to tell his dad you made him fall! Unless he broke his mouth. Can you break a mouth? You’re not sure, but you bet that kid just found out.

Do you:
A – Check on the poor boy with the possibly broken mouth?
B – Beat him to his dad, and make up a story about him screwing around?

Now it’s your turn, but with a twist: I want something “fantastical” to happen this week. You can introduce magic or spaceships or zombies or talking rabbits, but something not of this normal reality should appear in both your choices. With that in mind, write up the results of Choice A (“Check on the poor boy with the possibly broken mouth”) and Choice B (“Beat him to his dad, and make up a story about him screwing around?”), with one ending in death and the other presenting us with two options from which to choose.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!