From Drawing to Creature to Department

Posted on 11/27/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

The YA book THE CREATURE DEPARTMENT is full of fun, excitement, suspense, humor, yummy food, corporate espionage, memories, and lovable folks. The writer Robert Paul Weston really created something absolutely wonderful in prose. A whole new “universe” that is full of more to explore once you’ve put the book down. If the book was just words it would stand strongly and be a worthwhile read, but the art and illustrations made up by Zack Lydon and the entire team at Framestore really made it a book to behold and enjoy.

The most amazing part is that when the book was just in galley format with just possible sketches it truly blew me away. These sketches became paintings and in the case of one Gugor, who has also made appearances at Book Expo America and New York Comic Con 2013 delighting buyers, readers, kids and unsuspecting adults alike, a fully realized CGI model.

The best to show that off is to actually show you some of that development.

Here’s an image of Gugor from the galley:

this is an image of color painting Gugor from the official book trailer:

Here’s a 3D model:

and this is the Final Gugor at Book Expo and then at New York Comic Con where there was an amazing display (which you can see in the image that tops this review/article/presentation):

As charming and as wonderful as these images are they barely capture the essence of the book and the images contained within it (both through the words and the actual illustrations).  The book introduces us to an assortment of amazing characters with immense personality and the setting for what could one day be both an amazing series of books as well as an excellent TV series.  There is something inherently perfect in super smart kids, above average parents, a crazy scientist and a town that from the outside seems completely normal and quaint but hides an amazing secret, a secret that is actually one that for all we know is actually a reality in our world.  I mean seriously, Bacon Chapstick?  That sounds like something only a creature could figure out how to make right.

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NYCC 2013: A Before the Event Primer on What You Might Not Know

Posted on 10/04/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Navigating through NYCC each year can be quite an adventure.  I’ve been going since year one and while I always have an amazing time, know my way around and have contacts in places, even I get lost in the shuffle of it all.  Panels pop at last minute, schedules change.   All that, and more.  This presentation of collected links is something a little different though.

This is for those NYCCer attendees who are either attending all four days or just have that ONE big panel they wanted to go to and don’t intend to explore New York City itself.  Because?  You don’t have to.  By all means, if you are on Vacation and using NYCC as an excuse to come to New York then take full advantage.  Yet I know there are plenty folks like me who live here or maybe just want to experience comic con.  If that’s the case even with a full schedule there will be hours of time where you’ll be “What now?” and instead of just standing there trying to be “I’ll just play more Zelda or stand around the Marvel booth” I went and looked up some interesting stuff for you to check out.

First up are some booths that could if anything provide moments of enjoyment and add to that getting the bang for your buck experience:

8-Bit Bakery: Video game inspired cookies, cakes and brownies
Electro-Flash Media : Activated Light-Up Apparel
Animated Closet: Beautiful clothing
GameChanger World: Mobile gaming company
STL Ocarina: Instruemnt making compay focusing on Ocarinas, and specially made Zelda ones at this time too.
Roadhouse Sons: A graphic novel, a prose novel series, a band and I think a cartoon… defintely one to check out.
Chop-Chop Store: Graphic Design Tees

and here’s a cadre of links of just info that you might want handy at NYCC, just things that caught my eye that could be on interest to someone.

A Listing of Parties before and after NYCC
A listing of Dark Horse’s panels and Booth Signings schedule
Info on some of the Paid Autographs and Photo Ops arranged by Froggy’s Photos
Info on Frank Bello of Anthrax at NYCC
Info on Image Comics Signing and their Party
Info on special Return to Nuke’Em High signing at TROMA booth
Cosplay as an Archie Character as a Zombie and win special prizes from Archie
The Soska Sisters and Glen Jacobs will be presenting See No Evil 2
Info on BOOM Studios panels and signings
More cool Archie Comics info for NYCC
Info on what NINTENDO is bringing
Here’s info on panels from TBS and TNT
Like Muppets? This link is for you!
Would you enjoy scavanger hunting for one of a kind crochet pieces that would be yours free? Check out this!
Info on John Dixon’s giveaway/signing for his upcoming PHOENIX ISLAND

all this is also just TIP of the Iceberg…
BIG ASS SPIDER! is something you definitely want to be aware of (if you’re like me)
and new news on THE FIFTH BEATLE
and really hitting up Artist’s Alley…

and just being ready for the unknown!

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#I am CHIKARA

Posted on 10/03/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

If you read Twitter through Discover or #RAW while watching WWE RAW on the night of September 30th, 2013 you may have noticed that there were many posts that included #IamCHIKARA or if you tend to follow many wrestlers or people who write about wrestling you might have noticed it as trending if you have trends marked for tailored (which I’d say 98% of people do).

If you aren’t a member of the CHIKARA 101 message board or a fan of CHIKARA who didn’t jump ship when you thought it sank at the end of  iPPV Anniversario: Never Compromise earlier this year you were probably scratching your head. If you don’t know what CHIKARA is (other possibly being a Japanese word) then you REALLY were scratching your head.

To explain CHIKARA is not the simplest thing in the world. While clips of slow motion action, amazing comedy bits, impressive action, and some of the most ridiculous costumes ever will let you get the visual and aural treat, I’m not sure if you aren’t already indoctrinated to appreciate wrestling or the concept of wrestling as a quality style of entertainment equivalent to watching your favorite sci-fiction or fantasy Television show then these videos will be just be mind numbing drivel to you.

Showing you a clip even of some hilarity inducing chuckles even one where a man dressed as a marching band leader hiding in a closet discusses his age with a lawyer who mysteriously looks a lot like him but is NOT him yet shares the same birthdate to the year, day and time will be lost on you. [1]  Even if you catch and appreciate that the marching band’s leader last name is Peck and when speaking of his father he seems to be speaking of Walter Peck, the lead human “bad guy” from Ghostbusters who went onto to work for mysterious government organizations (as seen in both the 80’s cartoon and the 2009 video game) it just is also a bit confusing, especially as this nugget of information or the true explanation of this character, who is known as Archibald Peck has claims of time travel and apparently he has doppelgangers created by time paradox. Although it is things of this nature that have kept the fans on their feet.

It is not the first weird thing to have ever been done though. This same company has been basically a bastion where every weird, silly, strange, and now looked upon poorly but with reverence silliness that happened in 1980’s WWF and early 90’s WCW is considered something to be treated with respect and a better understanding of where it comes from. These aren’t just talented performers playing out roles, but people who LOVE and admire what influences their roles. These are Power Ranger, Pokemon, Voltron, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Marvel Comics, Airwolf, Back to the Future loving geeks who also happen to love working out, being acrobats, acting and of course wrestling. If they weren’t working there, they’d be fans. Hell, there are MANY talents who are seriously respected (as much as one is respected in the world of sports entertainment) whom would would say their greatest times in wrestling and enjoyment came from watching or being part of CHIKARA.

What CHIKARA gives to me a self proclaimed wrestling geek going all the way back to 1986 isn’t even an alternative to the product produced by the current WWE (which features many former CHIKARA talent at this time) or TNA mainstream product or even the awesomeness of Ring of Honor or Dragon Gate USA (both whom has used current or as the case may be in the current storyline former CHIKARA talent). It’s so much more, because there’s a sense of community and family that exists in the fans of this company that I have never thought I’d experience in this particular hobby. I always felt wrestling would be the ONE place where I’d never really gain not more than 1 or two friends who I felt could look at wrestling with the same eyes as I do or at least eyes and responses that I respect and appreciate. It is through CHIKARA I am reminded of what brought me to wrestling in the first place.

The current storyline has truly made that family aspect come alive. In mid 2013 after months of crazy story-lines involving time travel, grand plans, magical items, corporate stooges and more, the company was shut down by its “director of fun!” in the middle of the main event. The PPV was yanked off the air as a security force kicked fans out of the building. For a couple months fans didn’t even know what to think, they were left to assume that CHIKARA was done and this was their closing story, but it was ONLY just beginning. I honestly can’t recall the order of events but there were multiple happenings.

On what was/is the official forum community board for the fans known as The 101, where the company had conducted contests, reported information and actually developed storylines previously, in the midst of most of the roster lamenting the death of CHIKARA and unexpected voice, that of pro wrestler Icarus (at one time one of the most hated men in the company, but in the last few shows before closing seeming to possibly change, AND a competitor in that last unfinished match) saying CHIKARA would only die if we let it die. He rallied the fans. He even stated that he would be at one of the canceled shows and if you could be to be there to. A nice amount of fans showed up to that Easton, PA rally. I think shortly after is when the Youtube channel for Wrestling Is… a group of companies called COOL, HEART, INTENSE, FUN, AWESOME, RESPECT and ART (which spell out CHIKARA, the F stands for K because the championship belt in FUN is a banana and bannas have Potassium and the element sign for that is K… it makes sense, trust me) premiered what was called ASHES – “Prelude” which showed the founder of CHIKARA, Mike Quackenbush seeking a place to open a wrestling school with a very apparent CHIKARA logo at the end. Since that video there have been two other episodes, one which had elements only longtime CHIKARA fans would really get and which the happenings of have not seen any actual repercussions as of yet. The third though definitely let us know that the efforts of Icarus were not just fun and silliness but tied deeply into the larger storyline being told of the death and rebirth of CHIKARA.

Before this third episode aired, there was a second rally conducted on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. At the time this happened a few weeks ago I was completely already pulled into the drama and excitement of all this hullabaloo and used it as an excuse to finally visit Philly in three years. I had an amazing trip there, in which I visited the offices of Quirk Books, ate amazing meals, met comedian and America’s Got Talent contestant Doogie Horner at his book signing and coincidentally at the same event the performer of the aforementioned “director of fun” who had ‘shut down’ CHIKARA, shot lots of photos streetart, visited historical places and eve by chance after the rally on the steps hung out with one of the new family members I had made I this fan community in which we had lunch and even went to a local wrestling show (which happened to one of the better wrestling shows I’d ever actually seen live or otherwise). Of course in between all that was the rally and I filmed and edited it and shared it on Youtube.[3]

That brings us to Monday night with the #IamCHIKARA call on Twitter and now the next step on the plans. Icarus has asked us to reach out to our brethren, those who may not realize they could LOVE Chikara as much as we do, but if they open their hearts and minds they will discover it is truly a place for everyone and it has something for all. Ants, Clowns, Monkeys, Pirates, Knights, Apes, Gentleman, Living Nightmares, Cult Figures, Monsters, Living Icecream, Toilet Demons, Sexy Women, even Sexier Men, Old Time Baseball players, Action Movie Fights in Furniture Stores, Video Game Parodies, Duck, Duck, Goose, Leather Jackets on Emo Bad Boys, Cocky Jerks, Girls from Space, Gods of the Cosmos, and even… yes, even the kitchen sink.

I am CHIKARA… and so are you.

[1] http://youtu.be/ATkfGtqiKRg?t=59s
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djqqgSEoW9U
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCDF3y4svXo
[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glF-HpJKfAw

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BATTLING BOY is truly an epic!

Posted on 10/03/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Paul Pope has done some awesome comics. Some of my favorite comics of all time actually. From his beginnings of Sin Titulo to the magic of THB, his mainstream work with an issue of the long lamented Spider-Man’s Tangled Web to his amazing Batman: Year 100 I was riding along. I was fortunate along that ride to have met him and spent time with not just as a fan but as an acquaintance and colleague so while we joke about it all the time, we go way back. It was things like his issue of SOLO and the 2007 PulpHope collection that cemented as a lifelong fan.

In 2012 though I saw a side of him I never realized existed. His work has always been dark, maybe even depressing and definitely adult. That year though he actually contributed a charming tale to the Adventure Time comic from BOOM! Kids which showed me he had heartwarming sensibilities that were still decisively Paul Pope.

Now with the upcoming BATTLING BOY (October 9th, 2013 with a a premiere release days later at New York Comic Con) he has shown me what charming, all ages work from Paul Pope can truly be with original characters, fisticuffs, fantasy, magic, and even sexiness in an accessible way while keeping that trademark style of heavy black inks, intricately detailed designs and just over the top weirdness.

BATTLING BOY seems to be telling two stories in one, but truly it is just one large story about that coming of age which can occur at various ages and for a variety of reasons.

Before we even meet the  eponymous character at around what would be around the 10th page of issue 2 if this was released as a comic instead of a GN we meet a ton of characters, but most importantly a girl who soon has to grow up faster than she ever planned to in the most tragic of circumstances. One who feels she is both more than ready and who will never be ready for the challenges about to come her way. The city/world that BATTLING BOY exists in is fraught with danger, monsters, creatures, and even cosmic gods. Aurora West and her travails and tribulations are as important here as the ones we soon meet with the young Battling Boy. This lead character is from a lineage of warriors who force their young men to start adulthood early and possibly too early, but this is their way and it always has been. I almost feel like despite the very appropriate material for ages 10 & up that Paul is putting a little commentary in here. He could just of been influenced by some of the the greatest science fiction and fantasy novels of all time, but those themselves were social commentary.

What is so wonderful about BATTLING BOY is that as Paul intercedes this two young lives together with believability and a proper pacing, he also gives us insight into the everything surrounding them. We get an understanding of the government, the situations that the soldiers must deal with in a city under constant monster bombardment and we even peek into the minds and social lives of the evil ugly baddies at their secret shared watering hole.

On top of all that is the battle scenes. These are some of the best battle scenes ever. It helps that Battling Boy has a cool power associated with character shirts. It’s some really more hinted at in this first volume but knowing Paul it’ll really come to a head in the second. Luckily, based on my last conversation with Paul (at a watering hole actually) he’s deep into that second volume with even longer, better, crazier battles and I’m sure more of that great character and story.

BATTLING BOY is a hit out of the ballpark, grab it on October 9th at your local comic or book store (softcover $15.99/hardcover $24.99_ or if you’ll be at New York Comic Con grab it from First Second and since you’re in town head out to Society of Illustrators on October 11th for a special Paul Pope/Battling Boy event. Check out their site for more information and if you head to the Battling Boy book site you can also order the book there and see a preview from Issuu.

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“Most Belated Review of Whipple EVER”

Posted on 09/27/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Doing something extra ordinary which one gets acknowledged for does not always happen. Getting acknowledged for feats that belong in a world record book? That happens even less frequently, but it does. Yet, it’s not often that a family garners multiple awards in the Guiness Book of World Records, the only type of record book of its like that I am aware exists. Yet in the Matthew Ward’s hilarious, fun, mysterious, dramatic and adventure romp The Fantastic Family Whipple such a family exists. A large family which has won awards for what may seem like the most mundane of things, such as (as these are ones I’m making up but I’m sure someone in the Whipples won at some point) balancing the most amount of toothsticks on your pinky for the most amount of time or the most amount of chimichongas engorged in the fastest time.

Now imagine if you were a member of this family, a family which has many many brothers and sisters, in age ranges from teenagers to still in diapers. Imagine you are the middle child in such a family and you have never won any award, got no acknowledgment… you are basically the failure of the family. That’s exactly the situation Arthur Whipple finds himself in this “fantastic” Middle grade book written with enough adult humor and easy situations to truly be considered all ages and easily appreciated by a variety of readers. Quickly the book becomes an amalgam of mystery and suspense as the drama and comedy unfolds. We meet many interesting characters AND animals as well as clowns of all shapes and sizes and demeanor along the way.

As a debut novel, Matthew Ward has proven to be a great new voice in the field, and has also been a really enjoyable twitter feed as well as the fact that he’s really funny as a performer as evidenced by his attempts of breaking World Records himself.

THE FANTASTIC FAMILY WHIPPLE came out in August 2013 from Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin, so it’s available NOW at book stores everywhere. Go get it.

And to finish my article here’s my snap of Matt at Book Expo 2013:

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Cognitive Reasoning Turns Its Final Time

Posted on 09/26/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

When things end, especially serials we hope that even if they end with room for more, they offer a satisfying ending. One we can contemplate and understand what has come and what may come. With so many series recently ending in ways that have left me scratching my head I am glad that COGNITION: An Erica Reed Mystery has concluded with an open ending that brings a MORE than satisfying conclusion to its whole and that its final chapter answers any and all questions developed through the first three chapters.

I had previously written about those first three chapters here on The Spectrum and stated how excited I was for the final chapter. It delivered and in spades, but not completely as expected and with surprising moments and changes that actually make a second playthrough not just good for the acting, music and story but that decisions you make will actually create a different ending.

This new factor the game was fascinating and it’s played through a great mechanism. Through dialogue trees, how you respond to certain questions and sequences will change how a character feels about you. There is no wrong or right answer in these cases, they will just decide which direction the ending will bring you. They are not a solution to a puzzle but an extension of nuanced game playing and upping the ante of play styles that have built through the first three chapters.

The puzzles this time actually do take a part of the pattern that I really didn’t like in the end of chapter 2, but this time around they weren’t as complicated and felt like they fit right into the fact that we are the final complex chapter of this dense mystery with characters who can see the past, the future, read minds, shoot guns and solve complex puzzles without any powers even.

Amazingly one of the most interesting and exciting parts of this final chapter is the tutorial section that delves deeper into some history that reveals the motivations behind the lead characters relationship with an important side character. It really sets up the game well too, guiding you to remembering how the supernatural powers combined with actual detective work really go hand in hand and make Erica Reed a special character.

I must also applaud the acting in this particular chapter. It seemed to be a bit of a step up even though it was the same actors as previous chapters, by the end it really felt like Raleigh Holmes had found a voice for Erica that really is its own. It made me feel sad that this might be the last we see of the character for awhile actually.

Here’s to hoping Phoenix Online Studios decides to work on a followup to Erica’s new mission, there’s plenty of story to be told and so many more intriguing ways to delve into the powers that were actually only touched upon in this final chapter.

COGNITION: The Cain Killer is now available on STEAM, GOG and the POS website and if you act fast you can catch some great sales on the POS website.

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BRAYFABE: The Dental Association

Posted on 09/03/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Since BrayFabe hit my brain as a concept I’ve done many many drawings.   They’ve been shown love by the wrestlers they featured even, as I posted them to Twitter and such.  Folks like Kassius Ohno, Ultramantis Black, Dasher Hatfield, Tim Donst, The Young Bucks, Kobald…. so yeah, basically the guys who really acknowledge and appreciate their fans (not that big wrestlers don’t).  Although I’ve haven’t done much WWE stuff.

One of the earliest ideas I got but not really formulated was what if Isaac Yankem, DDS stuck around despite a bad win/loss record found his footing, became a machine and then after many years of destruction realized he has to dominate and one way to do that was to build a stable. The first person he turned to was the man who brought him into the WWF, “The King” Jerry Lawler, someone who could help guide him and advise him on this new step. Through the power of certain things that just happen no matter what universe you’re in he first found himself aligned with the former Sixx-Pac… now working as X-Tract after going to dentistry school and learning everything Isaac knew. Although shortly after this Glenn found a kinship with a force so powerful he could not ignore it. A man who could rival his own strength and fortitude, a beast, a Latino beast, David Batista, the dentist from the South (of the border)… DENTISTA. Insulted and slightly angered that Isaac was “rejecting” him as a second in command, X-Tract demanded he got to add an x-ray technician who would also be X-Tract’s own right hand man. The entire wrestling world was shocked (or maybe dismayed) when brought in an unhinged man who Isaac knew back in his college years, a man who had also followed the wrestling path, but as the years got worse he lost his mind, and his name. Once known as Al Snow, he was now operating as an underground dentist himself, trying to prove himself, called Oren Kornpett (for those unfamiliar with cinematic dentists, combining the names of the sicko from “Little Shop of Horrors” and the dragged into adventure from “The In-Laws”) and X-Tract gave him just that chance.  At first Isaac was really angry, but he soon warmed to the idea and the five men now rule their own universe as….

THE DENTAL ASSOCIATION

Art by The Wrestling Cartoonist (with a logo designed by Reid Harris Cooper)

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100 Ghosts is a lot of Ghosts, The Perfect Amount

Posted on 09/02/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Here is a Twitter conversation I had with Doogie Horner in response to a questions I had about his forthcoming book 100 GHOSTS and working on the review:
Doogie Horner: “Writing about ghosts is like dancing about architecture.” –the ghost of Steve Martin
Reid Harris Cooper: Then it should be easy, I choreographed an entire ballet about the oeuvre of Frank Lloyd Wright. #liesthatlookedbetterinmyhead

If you’ve watched America’s Got Talent in a regular succession or follow comedians on Youtube or maybe even go to comedy clubs then you have had the privilege of hearing Doogie Horner‘s off the cuff, slightly irreverent humor that goes for fast laughs and good quips. If you haven’t well, you can either go watch him on Youtube or read him or twitter, his stuff is as funny on paper as it is on stage.

Another of his skills in comedy though is translating his thoughts into art. His first funny book was full of hilarious charts, all very pop-culture in nature, because, well, Doogie is a pure geek at heart. He loves all things books, comics, movies, television, all of it and it really shows.

His NEXT book is some of his most obscure humor though and it is very very quirky and quick witted but from the visual standpoint. Titled 100 GHOSTS: A GALLERY OF HARMLESS HAUNTS, it’s quite literally just that. 100 ghost drawings that are simply so harmless you can’t be scared but only laugh and smile at these silly-dilly floating sheets with eye holes.

While the majority of them are harmless, a few ARE creepy, scary, strange or bewildering. Especially things like Skull Ghost, but those as well as Muppet Ghost, Some Assembly Required Ghost, and Vinyl Ghost also show Doogie’s not only brilliance, but that he actually learned something in art school.

Yes, you read correctly, Doogie Horner is not a standup comedian, that’s his accidental career. At least I remember hearing that somewhere where he said something like that and in another video he mentioned going to art school. So let’s just go with that, because you know?

RADICAL GHOST

If THAT doesn’t make you want this book I don’t know what will. It means you have no soul, you aren’t even a harmless ghost, you’re a no ghost…. Not a Ghost. You know somewhere in this book there’s a ghost like that… probably, get a copy and check for me. 100 ghosts is a lot of ghosts!

100 GHOSTS: A Gallery of Harmless Ghosts from QUIRK Books comes out on September 10, 2013 for $9.95 in adorably sized hardcover.

For more information check out the books official website.

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Ba Dum, Chimk, Tzzt… Feel the Beat, of Beat Buddy

Posted on 08/20/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

This first time I tried out BEATBUDDY was a long time ago, or least a year. They had a pre-alpha demo on STEAM that was designed to literally just get you excited and it did. It looked really cool right away and was fun with awesome music.

I devoured every news tidbit that came in as the game went into full flung production. From the first trailer designed for PAX EAST 2013 to the announcement of the stunningly beautiful and brilliant writer Rhianna Pratchett of Heavenly Sword, Mirror’s Edge and the extremely well written 2013 game Tomb Raider joining the team to help out. The fact that Austin Wintory had provided music for the game had also made me excited.

They released an almost finished preview copy of the final build and that blew me away. Yet then I got my hands on a finished review copy of BEATBUDDY: TALES OF THE GUARDIANS and that is when problems started rearing their head. I am ignoring any and all bugs I encountered and just focusing on the overall difficulty. This game just amps its difficulty more and more but doesn’t really ever give you chance to get better before the difficulty hits. One second it’s smooth sailing, suddenly you’re having to zoom down with enemies hitting you, avoiding spikes and trying to grab a key at the bottom of a pit with the door you need to open at the top of the pit and all the while the pit has a spike ceiling which is coming down at you.

There’s another section where you’re in a ship and another ship is coming uo behind you. Your job is to protect this ship, but this ship can take hits and you can’t. Yet there are obstacles the whole route and the ship keeps trying to get ahead of you, so if you don’t destroy those obstacles or get stuck behind and then, well, death. This could be fixed in the final build, but it was the most headache time I had the whole game. I only beat it because of a bug which suddenly that ship I was transporting disappeared completely, so it was easy.

SIDE NOTE: The final released version of the game fixes these glitches I discovered, but obviously doesn’t fix the difficulty, that’s still pretty damn high, but that’s part the course for action platformers.

When the game isn’t being impossible than it’s absolute joy with charming visuals, a story that makes you feel compelled to continue and some of the coolest sounding music ever in a game. In terms of praise there’s very little more to say… I mentioned the writer, one of the musicians and that the game looks great. If difficult action platformers that are beautiful is your thing, you can’t go wrong.

One of the best things that THREAKS, the company that made BEATBUDDY did was it’s campaigning of the game. They were open creators, answering questions, and being just a fun company. On top of that early preview copy they released a year prior, they kept fans up to date with press releases AND if you really followed along? You got your hands on a Beat Buddy plush. Beat buddy is so damn cute, I could’ve hated the game and I’d still love him. You should play Beatbuddy just to LOOK at Beatbuddy and listen to the music because who doesn’t love cute and music? Well, somebody, but no body that I like.’

If you still aren’t sold though there’s a demo available of the first two levels on Steam right now.

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Kickstarter Reviews: Cats & Cabs, Family Matters and Dungeons & Dragons

Posted on 08/12/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Kickstarter has been very hit or miss for me. It’s a combination of that and financial issues that have kept me away from actually pledging to anything. Most (but not all) of the projects I’ve pledged have been very satisfactory. A few as of yet have not yet reached my hands to properly be critical of them either way. The ones that have been super successful though are the comics. In recent weeks/months, I’ve received three great comics with awesome Kickstarter only bonuses and I’d like to discuss them here now. Especially as they are also now available to all, minus those bonuses through online stores and other resources.

GALATICAT: I have not actually heard or seen a thing about Galaticat when I hit on their Kickstarter, but the art by Kasey Williams won me over right away. Then I went and read a few strips and even asked writer Gene Goldstein a few questions and was sold. While this was one of those projects like pretty much any project I’ve pledged since a few of my large ones early on, I knew I had to at least come in on the level for some original Kasey art.

The strip is about a cab driver in space. A reckless dangerous cab driver, who is also very good at his job, but also risks killing his passengers from his erratic behavior. After enough complaints, a reviewer is sent out to him and in the end the reviewer lets the cab driver keep his license, but insists on staying on board for future fares to make sure the driver doesn’t kill anyone… and hilarity and adventures ensue. I forgot to mention that the driver is a cat and that the reviewer is a duck right? The cat is anthropomorphic, the duck is not. This only adds to the awesomeness of the story.

The collection of the webcomic has tons of great extras as well including bonus stories not on the web, concept sketches and pin ups from Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos, Mare Odomo, Pia Guerrera and many more.

While you can’t get a copy with buttons, a crazy cool postcard or buttons that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a book if you don’t have one, it like the other two I’ll be writing about deserve to be in your library.

Here’s the store link for GALACTICAT.

GOD HATES ASTRONAUTS: Ryan Browne is quickly becoming a beloved cartoonist through his work over at IMAGE on books like The Manhattan Projects and Bedlam, but before that he was cranking out his awesome stuff including Monstro City in the backpages of HACK/SLASH. On top of that though he made the madcap Gods Hates Astronauts, a superhero science fiction romp of absolute psychoticness with owls, big heads, cowboys, hippos, nazis, boxers, um, stuff and other things and a other stuff and also Carl Winslow with ape arms. Yes, that Carl Winslow.

The Kickstarter he ran was to produce a Completely complete edition and it is one of the most gorgeous things ever. A Hardcover with vinyl on the cover and tons of never before printed material. While Ryan’s original story recolored and remastered is the star of the book, the little origin stories are totally worth the price tag alone. You got art from Tom Scioli (Opus-8, G0DLAND), Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash), Hilary Barta, Jenny Frison (cover artist extradoniare) and more. On top of that there’s some crazy pin-ups from Ryan Stegman (superior Spider-Man), Zander Cannon (HECK), Ethan Nicolle (Axe-Cop), Mike Norton and of course more. The Kickstarter basic package came with amazing extras as well that if you missed out on it you’ll be “Mannnn…” such as a bookmark, sticker, print by Joe Quinones (currently of FF) and Maris Wicks and a poster by Paolo Rivera. For my copy I also ordered a copy of his special BLAST FURNACE collection as I didn’t have a copy.

While this amazing version is not available to purchase as I believe he truly tried to print to order and then brings whatever is left over to conventions there is a TPB coming out from IMAGE. Yes, this book is so great, so awesome and IMAGE loves Ryan that much that they’re publishing (or well at least dsitrbuting) the mass market paperback. So be on the look out for that.

EDIT:  For a short time the hardcover beauty is available again… RUN to the GHA etsy store and grab yourself one.

One extra note of how awesome Ryan is? I asked a small request for him to draw an Urkel for me because in the origin story for the ape armed Carl, Urkel was drawn by Greg+Fake and he indulged me.

PENULTIMATE QUEST: Three of my favorite comics are Northworld Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and the side story bonus book by Lars Brown. So when Brown opened a kickstarter for a collection of a new story I went and read the whole thing on the web and knew he’d create a book that would be another one of those books that collects stuff you’ve seen before but is filled with extras.

What is exactly going on in Penultimate Quest isn’t completely clear but it combines fantasy, drama, swords, sorcery and a bit of sci-fiction. Actually possibly a LOT of sci-fi, but explaining that would really be major spoilers. What’s so great about is how “cute” Lars art is. It’s highly cartoony and that’s the energy that really makes his work so much fun.

Truthfully the collection itself doesn’t really have much in bonus footage but it was worth it none the less to read it in the way the artist wants it to be read. Plus by Kickstarting I got special stickers. I also opted for Lars drawing option which he is still offering for all orders on the book, just no stickers, I think.

This is another book worth owning if you don’t already.

Here’s a list of books I Kickstarted that am still waiting for to eventually “review”:
TO BE OR NOT TO BE by Ryan North and MANY more
VERY NEAR MINT Vol. 3 by Justin Peterson
EARTHWARD by Bryan Q. Miller and Marcio Takara
MEATSPACE #2 and 3 by Josh Gorfain and Matt Furber
RUMPUS-ON-THE-RUN by Jess Smart Smiley

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