So, yeah, this week, Phantom Menace in 3D… Really, do you think this’ll have them lined up round the block? Somehow, I feel only the hardcore fans will go see this, as well as the kiddies who never saw it first time around. But, many fans in the forums simply see this as old Georgie-Porgie’s unsubtle cash-grab.

Either way, if this gets kids into Star Wars, that’ll be great. But, George feels like he’s just trolling the hardcore fanbase who are getting peeved with his constant rejigs and re-edits of the franchise.

So, you may know that DC Comics are going ahead with their Watchmen prequels, called (and this is sheer creative genius here, folks) “Before Watchmen“. Each of the characters, getting their own little mini-stories. Well, so far, the reception from the comic fandom has been very much as expected. Mostly a mixture of luck-warm disgust, along with the feeling that this was not surprising, to utter contempt towards DC.

You know, these comics will no doubt wind up diving straight into the bargain bins in a quick span of time, with only the morbidly curious willing to shell out for this comic-run on day of release. But, this new Watchmen prequel will go nowhere near being the cult success that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ creation is.

Many see this as a majorly cynical cash-grab (and a middle finger to Alan Moore) by DC Comics, hot on the heels of their their “52 relaunch” and the comic community’s complete and unimpressed apathy towards the new DC Comics logo.

But at least comic book shops will have something to keep the furnaces going, if ever the power goes out, and they have to start ransacking the twenty-five cent bargain bins for fuel.

Somedays, its hard for Lee to stay focused on things.

This actually happened last night, whilst my friend, Matt, and I popped into a walmart in LaMirada, CA.

We had been driving around, checking some places out, and I needed to go check the price on something. So, as we walked around, we spoke about this supposed Stretch Armstrong movie, and who had been put forward to be cast as the main star. And, whilst I spoke, Matt wandered off and this entire exchange in the the strip, actually took place.

Do you remember our first time with a gaming group? The trick of putting names to faces and then encountering the one who, at first glance, seems so very intimidating and scary?

But, oh, for the joy of rolling dice, sharing pizza, soda and the endless adventures that are to come…

I’ve noticed this past year, whilst looking at my stats, that the amount of hits I get from my home country of England, rank pretty low. Heck, they rank lower than countries I would never even imagine would read my comic. Yet, there, low in it’s ranks, sits England, and it seems to be sinking lower with each passing month.

Well, it got me pondering the thought of whether comic fans and geeks in the UK do read online comics. I even looked to see if there were any webcomics from the UK, and its sad to see that there is but scant few, and that number seems to sink on a mid-yearly basis, to a point, where I could only find five active UK-based webcomics. I discount the professional online comics that are being done by those who work in the comic industry. There’s a few of those still around, though not sure they update on a regular basis. I also discount any “here today, gone in two months, due to the artist getting bored or leaving the fad” anime comics/ fan-comics, done by teenagers, that dwell in places like Smack Jeeves and other free-hosted sites. I am only counting those that are hosted on their own URLs.

But, there does not seem to be that many webcomics from the UK, or just England, alone. The most noted from the UK is “Scary Go Round” by John Allison, and it’s growing number of spin-offs like Bad Machinery, but other than that, there seems scant-else. Jump Leads is another, and of course, Gunnerkrigg Court. But, looking at the lists at Wikipedia (though using Wiki is not reliable, as they have a burning hatred of webcomics and have been deleting everything and anything related to webcomics.), Comixpedia and OnlineComics, there seems, to a glance, to be quite a few, but most of those that are listed have either gone offline or have been non-updated in over a year or two.

There is untapped creativity in the UK, and it seems so infrequent that they appear. I just wonder, is there an apathy in England, towards webcomics, both in reading and creating? Are UK artists just not willing to put their work online for the world to see?

Or is it because schools/ colleges/ universities in the UK still drum it into art students that comics are not acceptable or recognised as art. I remember my high school art teacher being very snobbish and off-handed about comics and referring to them all as pointless scribblings of untalented mentally-stunted man-children (god, I’d give anything to have seen her try saying that Bryan Hitch, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, etc…)

It seems webcomics, very much like print comics, seem to be very much a heavily American-saturated thing. Not saying that’s a bad thing, just wondering why there isn’t more international webcomics out there (again, discounting the fan-made knock-off anime/manga/pokemon short-lived things on smackjeeves, etc.)

But I just wonder why there isn’t more coming from the home of such wonderful comics (either still in print or now defunct) as 2000AD, The Eagle, The Beano, Dandy, TV Action and not forgetting the awesome Doctor Who strips, in Doctor Who Magazine.

If you’re from the UK, let me know your thoughts, and if you know of any UK-based webcomics, then name-drop them, too. Also, if you have a webcomic (no matter which country you are in), comment if you have the same level of hits from the UK, or better.

Tim gets back into his more artistic habits, after spending so long being abducted by the mysterious alien beings. However, Gopher yet again ponders Tim’s work, and brings in Chris for a second opinion.

The start of this joke began back in the strip “Size Matters” http://www.geeksthecomicstrip.com/2011/04/25/comics580b/.

Chris reminisces about what he did earlier that day, and he still feels like it was just a wonderful dream.

We’ve all been told that its not good to kick a man when he’s down, but the rule is out of play when it comes to Gareb Shamus. I won’t go into his history, but I’m sure many of you know who he was and what he did, and how he single-handily ruined the Wizard World reputation within the comics industry, as well as convention industry.

Chris and Lee discuss Lucas Fisthandles’ constant need to make up fake rumours on his shoddy movie-rumour website, and his unreachable aims of trying to outdo Harry Knowles and his website, “Ain’t It Cool News”. But, no one realises that Lucas’ break into real news is about to unfurl.

Gopher does some toy shopping at his local Toys R Us, and makes an observation, to a nearby fellow customer, about the current waves of Star Wars toys, marketed around the re-release of Star Wars The Phantom Menace, in 3D. He also comments on the fact that a huge portion of the these”new” toys are just plain repacks of much older releases.

We take a trip to Arkwright Asylum, last visited back in 2010, where it was the site for a mysterious murder (http://www.geeksthecomicstrip.com/2010/06/16/comics443b/). It seems an inmate has vanished. Guess which one.