Jul 062016
Moby
Jun 182016
gnome (nōm) n.
A pithy saying that expresses a general truth or fundamental principle; an aphorism.
Gnome #3:
People generally like characters that are sort of like cats.
(Gnome #3.5: Actual cats only count if animated.)
It’s true. I don’t claim to understand it entirely, but throw a few cat-like characters into the plot of a book or movie and suddenly it’s Q Score goes through the roof. If you stop and think about it, I am sure you can think up at least a few cat-like characters in books and movies, all of them wildly popular.
From the Beast in Beauty and the Beast to The Cowardly Lion, just throw a cat suit on someone and BOOM!
Just look at Captain America: Civil War: The entire movie plot depends on a cat character, The Black Panther, getting some revenge and Boom! Huge international hit.
And they make great sidekicks too. Let’s see…there’s Stimpson J. Cat of Ren & Stimpy, Hobbes of Calvin and Hobbes, Scratchy of Itchy and Scratchy, and Shrek’s pal Puss in Boots to name a few. If you want your cartoon creation to become hugely popular and immortal, all you have to do is partner your shitty character with a cat character partner and you’re done.
It’s almost too easy. You can’t go wrong with a cat character, even if they’re the bad guy or girl. Continue reading »
Jun 092016
Sometime within the last year or so Moby had a difference of opinion with a guy who had a Kickstarter running, and things might have, perhaps gotten just a tad out of hand. This is the short version of that long story. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it has a happy ending.
So long story short, this guy is/runs/publishes (or something) Maelstrom Comics, and he has a Kickstarter running. I thought some of his reward tiers were a bit high and a tad excessive, and he disagrees. Nasty emails are exchanged, but not so many, just a couple or three.
Now, let me just say upfront that I like Maelstrom’s product. It has an extremely professional look and the quality of the work is as good as you could expect from any publisher, just with a lot of tits and ass.
Among Maelstrom’s titles are Prymal the Jungle Warrior and Star Valkyrie, which I came to think of as Jungle Tits and Space Boobies.
I liked the books and the art so much I even bought a page of original Prymal art for my collection.
The point is that what follows is not out of some lack of admiration for the quality of Maelstrom’s stuff or what not…it was petty. So, what happened? Continue reading »
Jun 072016
Dragon Phoenix Media’s Bill Lutz sent over a little present for Moby’s readers the other day, along with some great news:
Pencils and inks for Pathways issues 3 and 4 are done!
I have to admit I am a bit biased in favor of this series, the Zero issue of Pathways was Moby’s ‘Free Comic Book Day Digital Pick’ for 2015 (and is still available for free).
Like issues 1 and 2, these two books each have three stories or segments. This unconventional approach works well with the variety of stories being told, allowing us to meet more than just a few characters. I asked Bill if the three story per issue format was going last throughout the Pathways series, and he said that would NOT be the case.
There will be three segment format, but also a special issue spotlighting the villains like World Smasher, and a series finale that will lead directly into Frontiersmen. Things will start changing sometime after issue 5.” – Pathways Writer/Artist Bill Lutz
Raw line art for Pathways Pin-Up by Bill Lutz
Jun 012016
I really do. For what, you ask?
Everything.
I admit it’s a little harsh, but allow me to explain. We Americans used to have a lot going for us that we have just let go of, and it saddens Moby a bit.
Whatever happened to our sense of humor? We could laugh at ourselves. We had thicker skin. We could take it. And we needed it.
What I’m trying to talk about is the uncomfortable truths, those little white elephants that we need a nudge or excuse to talk about. SNL used to target the offended even more, to really go after those that took themselves so darn seriously. They knew if they got flak for some skit, that only meant they were on target. And it got us to talking, talking about things we might never mention to one another.
Even ‘back in the day’ you couldn’t go up to someone at the water cooler and broach just any subject. SNL gave us that little excuse we needed to ‘finesse’ our way into a conversation about something that we might be curious about, but could not otherwise bring up. Continue reading »
