So, yeah, I’ve been doing the artwork for The Omega Sanction, which involves a FUCKING TON of little Kirby-styled illustrations… and I thought I’d try out Manga Studio with my Wacom DTF-510 digital drawing device – the former is a piece of software specifically for drawing comics. And the latter is, um, a digital drawing device.
That video up there is of my first go… which was fine, but by the 4th I was on FIRE (you’ll be able to see that tomorrow. Hint – EVIL).
I have to say, it is by far and away the BEST piece of illustration software I’ve tried, certainly for line work. It’s just lush. None of the wobbly line problems you have to work around in Photoshop – the thing flows like a river. You feel like you’re painting with real ink, and the response of thing, once you’ve got used to it, is almost perfect.
So, that’s exciting. This is going to be a beautiful looking record, and an even lusher T-Shirt. Happy me.
Never let it be said that Redditch isn’t a den of sin, because it bloody well is. I know, I lived there, and it was sordid. Even now they’ve closed Our Price I bet rowdy little teenage music fans still gather on the steps in The kingfisher Shopping Centre, clad in torn denim and Nirvana T-Shirts, plotting another under-age assault on The Golden Cross. Tut tut.
When I lived there I paid no attention to politics whatsoever – not unlike now, where the uniformly corrupt and rotten doings of our elected leaders interest me about as much as do those of this year’s Big Brother contestants, for good or ill. I am going through a period of Ignoring the swine, which may well be misguided, and isn’t easy… especially when one wakes to Radio 4 on a daily basis… but, really, I don’t wanna know about evil. I only wanna know about love. Word to John Martyn.
Still, outside of the usual genocidal bullshit, a few smiles can be found amidst the treachery and filth. Home secretary, Redditch MP, Orwellian State Architect and celebrated Aston Villa Fan Jacqui Smith has been paying for her poor pathetic wretch of a husband’s online pornography habit on Commons expenses.
Oh, ho ho fucking ho!
Dude already gets paid £40,000 out of her allowances as a year to work as her “parliamentary aide” (whatever that involves, fnar fnar etc), so its not like he can’t afford to pay for his own porn. And really, anyway, what kind of goon pays for online pornography? Why would anyone ever have to, given the readily available free glut of the stuff permeating every corner and orifice of ye ancient internets? I mean, as far as I can work out, the only reason a person might have to pay for pornography online is if it’s really, erm, specialist stuff that they’re after. Like giant skat donkey dick, or something equally heinous. Or maybe he’s just fucking lazy, and egregiously imbecilic.
Not only that, but amongst the pr0n expenses were bills for viewings of Ocean’s 13 and Surfs Up! Christ On Steroids! What kind of freaks are we dealing with here?
I mean, sheeeeeet-it! Ms Smith is already being investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for claiming £116,000 in second-home allowances for her gaff in world-famous Birmingham over-spill town Redditch. Dictionary definition Ho ass ho! Not content with locking people up for months on end with no reason (nice one!), not content with putting all our sensitive data in one easily-abuseable/hackable database (cheers!), and making it illegal for us to take photos of policemen (wow!), this terrifying Nazi has been expecting us, her grateful proletariat, to foot her deviant idiot husband’s pr0n bill! That is fucking out of order!
“I am really sorry for any embarrassment I have caused Jacui,” said her husband, Richard Timney, in an insincere, half-assed apology yesterday. “And as you know, that money is being paid back.”
Nice one, douchebag. You’re not sorry for ripping us off, you’re just for upsetting your grotesque hag of a meal ticket. This country has been systematically fucking destroyed by you and your fammo, and you’re sat home wanking on expenses. You are a fucking disgrace. Cheers!
Batman artist Tony S Daniel has taken his blog down, after incurring the wrath of his publishers, DC comics.
Oops.
Dude posted the above pic of a proposed costume for The New Batman, complaining that DC had rejected it:
“They didn’t want the all black, which I understand. But I thought it would be a cool change, and he’d still be recognizable as Batman. Looks a little (or a lot) like the movie version.”
Oh well. But it wasn’t the complaining that caused the upset – it was the picture, for scribbled at the side is the text:
“Pitch black cape can envelope Dick & hide him completely.”
Dick, as in Grayson, the OG Robin. Whoo! Big surprise!
However, after this got reported by comics blog Robot 6, causing something of a frenzy in the Bat-fan community, Daniel took his blog down entirely, and left the following message on, um, a messageboard:
A note to the good guys and the bad guys,
No trouble from DC, so I can stop that before it gets any legs right there. But the good folks at CBR have helped me come to the conclusion that I should keep more to myself. Thank them for my permanent radio silence from here on out.
For the record – Jason, Tim and Dick each had their own suit designed by me for BFTC. That’s what was shown, and before I could correct it and put the right images up, people ran with it and made it into something it wasn’t.
I would hope that the good folks didn’t mean to be malicious in posting something I almost immediately took down because I realized it was the wrong image. So for my own good I’m going silent. No more blogs. No more correspondence.
Over and out. For good.
Thanks to everyone who’s visited my blog and supported me. Almost half a million since it began. Maybe when I’m old, drunk and senile I’ll do something again.
Tony S Daniel
Which is kind of sad (and a little lame). Daniel should not have been surprised that, having posted something, it got noticed. And he’s shown a propensity for paper-skinned over-reaction before – a reader of his website was allegedly banned for posting the following comment, regarding his writing on the new Batman mini-series, Battle For The Cowl:
Re: BFTC #1
The issue was good. Damien was our of character. Not the type to cry for “mooommmmmy” or ask dick “are you okay!?!?”
The writer, one Rob, claims, “Tony called me a troll and banned me from his blog! I said the issue was good! Maybe I am just a bitter fanboy…. but Tony really strikes me as a complete tool who can take no criticism (even in a positive review) and accepts no accountability for his mistakes.”
I’ve said it before – blogs from creators can be awesome things, but not everyone’s built for it. If you can’t communicate effectively, take criticism, or have difficulty with any aspect of the intimate nature of web based interaction, stay the hell away. Mystique is an underrated concept these days anyway. I mean, could you see Alan Moore blogging, and posting on messageboards?
RIP Tony Daniel, The Blogger. More time for making stuff, eh?
This is, like, the best video response to a comment ever.
In fact, it is the only video response to a comment I have ever seen.
But I bet it’s the best one.
The creator of the video, the excellently coiffed Yorkandpomona, who’s actually called Liz and lives in a rather beautiful part of America with some chickens and an Iron Man poster (the life!) left a comment on my …Springvideo, pointing out that,
“first day of spring 09 is march 20th:)”
And I posted the video on the 23rd. So I replied, eloquently enough,
“FAIL!”
Meaning that I had failed, spectacularly, but was excited anyway.
Sadly, Ms Yorkandpoma thought that I was calling her a FAIL and made that charming video up there.
So, I had to go back on there and explain that I was meaning to call her a FAIL at all, and accidentally deleted someone else’s comment in the process, which will likely cause more offence in the general population. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I usually don’t go on Youtube comments… There is a curse on that place (probably something to do with Alan Moore), that turns even the most well meaning of conversations into huge scary wars.
Still, I learned something, and that is important. So thank you Ms Yorkandpomona, I am forever in your debt. And your hair is awesome.
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
):
OMG THIS IS SO MY JAM 
