Random Thoughts

Taking a break from reading all the free comics... here's some random thoughts.

Going back to Comic Book Idol, the round four images have been posted on the forum, and you can check them out here:

John Rubio: completely colored, and featuring the "drugged" scene from the story. I've got mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, it's a very striking cover, and he's done a great job putting the color on it and mocking it up to look like the real thing. On the other hand, the main character of the book doesn't appear on the cover, which is a general no-no (one that is often ignored, true), and Fatality is really extremely ugly in the scene depicted.

Larry Chy: also colored, but no logo, just the scene. I like this one a lot. Green Lantern in the corner, with Fatality front and center. There's a strange sense of a lack of movement in Fatality's figure, but the image as a whole has a nice sense of movement to it. I like the color choice for the background. Very nice.

Jason Masters: colored with logo. This one features Green Lantern being choked by Fatality's robo-hand. I can't really decide on this one. It's good, but I think I like Chy's effort more. I still haven't seen the last one, though, so I don't know which cover I'll be voting for.

Carlos Rodriguez: colored, but no logo. I've got very mixed feelings about this one. While I loved Carlos' work on the interiors, this cover really doesn't do much for me at all. It seems like he put in a lightning bolt just to give the scene some action, because the figures don't have any movement to them.

Conclusion: They are all so good it feels like I'm nit-picking. When the voting starts, I'll probably go with Chy's (what irony, he's one I thought would be voted out last round!), but Masters' piece also has a chance. I'll probably be looking at both of them a bit more over the next day or so to try to decide. This could be another very close vote, but if people go by what's there on the cover, I predict Chy and Masters to move on.

And now for something completely different...

The official John Cleese website announces that the kettle is mended, and don't forget your hat. Um. Ignore me, just go to the site and see for yourself (people with small monitors will want to scroll down). Link via Mark Evanier.

There was this contest, based on Street Angel, something about a squid. I still don't quite get it myself, but the results are out, and everybody's favorite new medical/comic book blogger Scott at Polite Dissent got an award. Go read. He includes Topo...

Another episode of WildGuard has been posted.

My thanks to Elayne for saying hello to Eric Shanower for me! If you haven't tried Age of Bronze, and you have any interest at all in the Trojan War, go get yourself the first trade now! The second collection is coming out in Hardcover any day now. I ordered it direct from Shanower, so I'm not sure when I'll get my copy, but everyone else should check their stores for it in early July. And don't forget to read the cool interview with Eric Shanower on Archaeology Magazine's website, which features samples from Age of Bronze.

I went to the website of the anti-Tent City people I mentioned in my last Tent City post. I was surprised at the level of pure hatred there. These people, many of whom proudly proclaim themselves Christian, are condemning Tent City without any real idea of what it does or how it works. I wonder if any of them have actually gone up to Tent City and talked with the residents? While I have some mild issues with Tent City, I've actually talked with them about it, not just ranted to the world about how evil they are just because they are homeless. I guess actually trying to solve problems is too difficult for those so-called Christians. They'd rather drive people away than resolve differences and make life easier for everyone. I wonder what would happen to them if they became homeless?

While I still think the handover is a joke since the Iraqis will be getting very little real power, I think the timing of it was excellent. Reading some Iraqi blogs the last few days, it was clear that many people thought the insurgents/rebels/thugs were going to try to make Baghdad a bloodbath on June 30th to mark the handover. By doing it two days early, the interim government of Iraq stole the thunder of the thugs and hopefully made mass violence less likely. Of all the hideous mistakes the US has made in Iraq... I don't think this is one of them.

The Electoral Vote Map based on polls continues to fascinate me. As of today, Red and Blue are tied with 269 votes each. The "New from the Votemaster" section of June 26th explains what would happen if a tie occurred in the actual vote.

Ok, back to the comics and to Previews. I still need to finish my Flipping Through Previews post, which I started then realized I was comic'ed out so I stopped... yeah, me, comic'ed out. It happens. I got better.