Another from the con.  I need to find the credits though…

So how long will it take society to completely forget the familiar symbolism we all know and love?  The phone, computer, cell, mouse, vhs tape, cd, etc?  We see them everywhere but at what point do they become so arcane that their meaning no longer exists in our lexicon?

At some point these will be phased out.  Heck, it’s even started now!  While we still have the vhs tapes, I wonder how much of the younger techno-savvy generation understands of it.  And what of phones?  Even computer sales over the last year have yielded to cellphones and tablets.  And the best stuff we have yet to even imagine.  Computer?  What’s that?  We all use Google Glasses now!

So… What do you think will be the first iconography to bite the dust?

(sry for the late update and uh… analog drawing… been out traveling for the last few weekends.)

It’s ok though… Pluto had it coming.  Sitting out there alone, not joining the rest of us in the middle…

Still, Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of my favorite science spokesmen.  He seemed to pop up out of nowhere and is now an icon.  And hey, with a character like him, he makes wanting to learn about science fun.  All it took was destroying a planet. (insert Vader music here)

(quick note: next week’s comic will come either late Monday or Tuesday.)

Question of the week:
Who is your favorite science celebrity?

Hmm… looks like them bladesmen trio have a bit of a weed problem.  Tune in next time to see what happens!

Ok, next time being in 2 weeks from now.  Next week I will have up another convention art piece for your viewing pleasure.  >)

Hey everybody!  So like I said, we’re trying out the every other week thing here.  But to hold you all over until next monday, I have a little something special!  Not too long ago I went to Megacon with my special gal (no booth this time) and tried something a little different.  See, when I had booths, people would come up to me with art books that they would circulate around the convention and have artists interpret a single theme.  I thought these were just the coolest!  So… I brought my sketch book and had 2 very nice artists draw me up some goodies.  My theme, Coffinshaker and the gang (this one I had them do Coffin & Pai).

This piece was done by the talented Lulabee.  See more of her work at lulabeedraws.tumblr.com

So during my tenure as Mr. Dewitt, I have consumed a great many number of things… Sheesh, the guy must have an iron stomach.  It kind of reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George eats the doughnut out of the trash because it was sitting on top.

Anywho… Bioshock Infinite… Amazing game! Bad bad uncanny valley for anyone not a main character.  Great story that totally had me surprised at the end.  No spoilers for anyone that has not tried it yet, but if you can wait for a Steam sale, then you can grab this gem for next to nothing and have a lot of fun.  I haven’t tried the 2nd part of the dlc yet, but part 1 was pretty ok.  I really would love to see more of this, but since the studio dissolved and got sold, I’m not overly sure if there’s a future there.  Not sure if you guys liked my official game reviews, but if you want to see more of them (like for this game) let me know.

Well, hope everybody had a great weekend!  See y’all next Monday!  >D

Howdy Y’all!

Sorry about the delay… I know you all have been waiting for a long time now.  But we should be back up and running now.  The schedule for updates I think will need to be every other week for What’s Shakin’ (for now at least until my work schedule gets better) and every week for Coffin Comics.  (all on Mondays, of course)

But to make it up to you guys, I have some nice art I had commissioned at the last Megacon of Coffin & Pai for posts between the next 2 pages.

Well, I’m out for now.  Expect to see more pages from here out and an art post next week.

Howdy Yall!  Sorry, I’ve been away for a bit… Hope that doesn’t happen again.

Well, let’s get back into it then.  This is something that’s been highly irritating for the last few years.  Remakes and reimaginings galore!  Now, some have done an amazing job like Battlestar, Star Trek movies, and Dr. Whose.  But for the most part, we’ve all heard the same dang story over and over.

This is my problem with the whole “remake” industry.  It’s not just taking the franchise and rolling with a new incarnation with new ideas and new continuing “serial” episodes.  It’s taking the franchise and starting from episode 1 each time.  I mean, how many Spiderman origins do we need?  If you don’t know how it started by now then you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade.  Same with Batman, same with Hulk, same with TMNT, and so many more.

I would have no problem if they would continue the story, but when they reboot it from the beginning to only get about 2 episodes in before starting all over, I just get burnt out.

There was an interesting webisode out there that covered this (I think it was the Extra Credits crew), which stated that the reason for the remakes (and poor ones at that) is because studios purchase the licensing for that particular IP.  However, these have short timeframes to hold.  Meaning that if the IP is not used in x years, then the studio could lose it.  Thus the many subpar remake movies.  Also the same reason you’ll never see spidey or xmen in the avengers…  licensing.

Not only that, but when it comes time for a new movie to be approved, old IPs are viewed as stable and reliable.  That’s because they know the statistics on it and what to expect in terms of revenue.  If they make something new or edgy or unique, then the risk is high and not many producers want to back that.  The return could be anything.  It could flop, it could do great, but when you talk about tens to hundreds of millions in backing, that isn’t something many want to gamble with.  Thus, the death of artfilms and new IPs.

Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, and some studios will produce new things as well, but overall the more stable the project, the more likely it will be approved for production.  There is also a new hope with crowdsourcing apparatus such as Kickstarter where projects that would never be approved by studios get backing from the fans instead.

But what say you?
Remakes, reimaginings, and reboots: Annoying or just more of a good thing?

Some fanservice for the our lady viewers. lol.  XD

Anywho, good times ahead.

UPDATE 7/27/2013:
Sorry folks, I’ve been out of it lately.  Allergies & work have worn me down this month.  Let’s not use the word “hiatus”, but I’m looking to get back into the drawing schedule early August.  I apologize again for the delays.  >(

With all our great technology and sophistication, have we successfully defeated analog?  Or is the pen still mightier?

That is today’s discussion.  The replacement of analog with digital counterparts and how well they are holding up.

So let’s start off with some things digital has done well… and really well.  Such as word processing / writing.  I don’t think today’s youth (myself included) could possibly comprehend using a typewriter or handwriting lengthy reports for both school and work.  MS Word has pretty much made the paper medium extinct.  So I’ll go ahead and blame that for my terrible handwriting skills… I mean, it was illegible before I used computers, but I’m sure it would have ruined it anyways.  >)

Then there’s email.  Wow has it killed off the post office!  Just like the telegraph killed the pony express.  I don’t remember the exact figures, but the US Post office alone hemorrhages money in the millions per day.  Still, email has made it so easy to communicate with folks for basically no cost at all.

And then… There’s the not so greats… Like oh, wifi calling.  As a new smartphone owner, I feel that the actual ability to call has been downgraded with the better technology.  So unless you connection is blazing fast, it will sound like you’re talking inside of a diving helmet during a solar flare.

Finally… we get to drawing… I’ve tried drawing on the cellphone with the special pen.  I thought it would replace my little mini notebook… no dice!  Something about the pen just makes things look better and move quicker.  That said, I’ve completely unlearned how to draw on paper seriously.  Look at last week’s comic for example!  I’m so used to my giant wacom cintiq screen that drawing on analog paper seems… odd.  So I guess that’s a tie.  Notes/sketches for paper, drawing for digital.

So what says you good public!  What areas of life have you seen digital overtake analog and what areas has digital just utterly failed?

UPDATE 7/27/2013:
Sorry folks, I’ve been out of it lately.  Allergies & work have worn me down this month.  Let’s not use the word “hiatus”, but I’m looking to get back into the drawing schedule early August.  I apologize again for the delays.  >(

Ok… soooo… I kind of had an impromptu convention.  Alright, not so much impromptu as it is me being bad with dates.

Anyways, that’s where I’ve been this weekend… but I managed to draw something up just for you guys!  All analog style too!

If anyone has watched the Clone Wars, you’ll probably notice this “transformation” a lot.  Every time Palpatine puts his hood down, he’s the Chancellor… but when he gets a call from the Sith, up goes the hood and nobody’s the wiser.  Seriously, it’s like Clark Kent and glasses.  A hood is as far from a Nixon mask as you can get!

Oh, and here’s some other stuff!  Think I’ll make some more steamboat posters one of these days.  >)

Ps… I was at LameCon in Land O Lakes, FL!  Great anime convention with awesome folks running and attending the show.  I’ll definitely be there next year (probably end of June).  If you’re in the area and like anime, “like” them on facebook and go next year!  It’s free too!!

https://www.facebook.com/LAMEConvention

Ok folks, this seems to be something cropping up a bit in the news lately… Once again  some other country has some problems and we’re (US) debating whether to do something about it or not.

If you haven’t heard, Syria has been accused and “found” to have used chemical weapons against the rebels trying to overthrow the current government.  The US has been siding with the rebels, but only offering humanitarian aid as well as with some European countries.  Russia has been backing the operating government for some time as well.  So that’s what makes this a sticky situation.  Both sides have been reluctant to offer anyone in Syria weapons, though now that the “line has been crossed” with the chemical weapons thing, we might be handing out those too.  (that’s another comic for another time)

While we here like to poke fun at current events, this has been a particularly terrible encounter for everyone in that country.  Which all comes down to one big question… Should we get involved?

Well, historically, America has been pretty isolationist.  Even George Washington (prez#1) said in his 1796 farewell address that getting involved in other peoples’ drama was just asking for trouble. (paraphrased)  But on the other side of that, we were overly reluctant to engage in the first 2 world wars, which by the second in retrospect, we should have jumped into the fray much sooner.

I guess the point is, sometimes you can’t be too hesitant to stick your nose in.  But then again, we’re not the global police force and there’s real concern that the conflict will spread to the backers of the civil war… which… nothing good will come of.

Anyways… I’m pretty split on this.  Sure, we need to help folks and stand behind the underdog if it’s for a good cause, but also be mindful about our intentions and how things effect the world stage.

Takeshi’s Castle!!!

Best show ever!  It’s like Wipeout but Japanese and by the awesome Takeshi Kitano. (see the reruns on Spike TV or watch the ORIGINAL Hunger Games movie called Battle Royal he produced)

Anywho, finally finished Tomb Raider.  Pretty darn good game.  Read review at the link below.  One thing stood out though, Lara always seemed to have some commentary about the places she visits and upon closer inspection of the artifacts you find, lots of it is fake.  Nice little detail.  I loled out loud when one of the artifacts had a “Made in China” sticker on it.

So yeah, good game.  Kinda short.  Shotty multiplayer though… But overall a great buy and you can find it on sale occasionally for 50% off and probably more at the Steam Sale this summer.

Read the review HERE!

You win this round, Florida!

Anyways, got better allergy meds from the doc and I’m back up to my old shenanigans!  I have a real comic coming this Thursday.  Tomb Raider themed no less.  In other news, I finally beat it so I should have a nice review with it.