Entry tags:

comfort guide, eisner awards, emerald city comicon, television, video games

A guide to your comfort...

And I'm back! I've also got something pretty hilarious to share, and that's The Comfort Guide website and pamphlets. The samples of these guides done for the Emerald City Comicon on-site book were a scream. I'd post them here but (1) I don't have permission and (2) my copy of the guide is in a FedEx box somewhere between here and Seattle at the moment. But trust me, they're great. And they're quite handy (I learned that dressing as Hitler is an "X" thing to do at a comicon, as is asking your favorite artist to tattoo your chest). I wish it was a webcomic or something, because I'd be quite happy if I could read a new one once a week or so.

And just to keep everyone updated, Dave Arneson is still with us. I was fortunate enough to see him at Origins once, and he was wearing his plushie viking helmet. There was no time to talk, because there was a buffet, and gamers don't engage in idle chit-chat when there's free eats. :)

Update: Mr. Arneson has, according to AICN, 'failed his last save'.

As several alert readers (and Fiona, la artiste de phenomenomenomeneaux) noted, the upcoming comic I wrote now has a trailer as well as an interview! I believe the first issue is due out in July, so the San Diego Comicon should have it available. I sure hope it's well-received... the "old ones" aren't forgiving if their stories aren't popular...

But on to other fiction in a few capsule reviews:
1. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The season finale next-to-final episode was awesome! Now we just have to wait for it to get canceled since it's become a pretty cool show (or has it been canceled already?).
2. Red Dwarf: Back to Earth: The trailer looks good, but the show was in a kind of muddled state when we last left our heroes. Let's hope the writers weren't smeg-heads.
3. Fringe: Okay, they follow this "watcher" guy around, saying he's really important, and don't notice a kid who looks just like him, down to no eyebrows? Okay, fine. Also, those images at the commercial breaks are a code.
4. Heroes. They turned it into a newt, but it got better. Let's hope it improves next season.

The 2009 Eisner Award nominees have been announced, and I have to admit I'm pretty unfamiliar with almost the entire list. I like that Wondermark got a nomination, though I'm still not sure what to think about "Tiny Titans" getting a nod for "Best Publication for Kids." Don't get me wrong, the art is quite charming and all that, but I'd be really surprised if the target audience knew enough about the Teen Titans these "tiny" versions are based on to either understand the in-jokes or even know who they are. But that could just be me.

Did you ever get the feeling that a video game was lying to you about how important your actions are? It's a pretty clever illusion, making you think you're doing cool stuff, saving the day at the last minute. I'll be the first to admit that the strider battle in "Half Life 2" they mention had me fooled, but then again, I kind of stank at tossing the bombs, switching to a pistol, and then actually nailing the thing so it would explode. I suppose I could have still been seasick from the riverboat ride...

Anyway, it's back to the drawing board for me, and into the linkpile for the rest of you:

- I'm addicted to bad weather. In Effing Hail, you use your mouse to blow hailstones into the upper atmosphere, let them grow, and then guide their descent to cause as much damage as possible.
- Getting married? Want to let your spouse know that you're not only a "team," but you'll follow them anywhere? Then get to the cake-gate!
- A large gallery of those artistic interpretations of the Enterprise mentioned a few posts back.
- Director Robert Rodriguez has an uneven track record, especially with kid films, so I can't tell if his next film, "Shorts," will be cool or not. It looks promising, but... so do most trailers.
- Space Mutants from Space is a pretty and power-uppable "Space Invaders" update, complete with aliens that go "squish" when you shoot them out of their saucers.
- We've had a few discussions about song meanings in the comments before, so here's Songfacts. It may not clear everything up, but it's a start.
- I wouldn't accuse Disney of overusing Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, but they seemed to use the same dance moves for a lot of movies.
- Finally, a sequel to a game I think I played the first installment of several computers ago: A.L.I.A.S. 3, where you find your humanity and blah-blah-blah just shoot stuff and blow things up. :)