Digital vs. Print

In this day and age, I hear more people going towards digital comics rather than the traditional print comics. I understand the appeal, but I don't think I would ever switch entirely to digital.

For about 8 or so years, I worked with books... from your standard paperbacks you can find at your local store to textbooks. I worked closely with rare books and for about 4 of those years, my workspace was right in the depths of a "rare book room". This room helped to imbue me with a sense of nostalgia and a greater understanding of the tactile world. The feel and smell of a good book can never be replicated by a digital version. Sure, I may be able to acquire a copy of Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz" easily through a digital service, but it provides little satisfaction from the sensation of holding an original printing of the actual book. You can almost feel the history from the actual book and imbibe it like a fine wine.

I'm thinking about engaging in a monthly digital comic book service subscription so that I can actually start reading what I'm buying, and therefore wouldn't necessarily feel so bad for not reading their stories until I get their subsequent trade.

Something I've also found is that there are comics from my younger years that actually haven't been compiled into a trade paperback format yet. I'm sure that I can find this issues digitally, so this would allow me to further rediscover my lost childhood readings without having to wait for the publisher to finally release a trade.

I'm sure that if I actually owned a tablet device to read digital comics, I wouldn't have nearly as much of an issue as I have. With the computers I own, I simply don't feel like either of them (1 laptop and 1 desktop) were ever meant to be used as a reading device for comics. I know that may sound a little silly, but I have a certain place where I read trades and I don't have my computers there. And my eye sight is bad enough without trying to read a comic book on my iPod Touch or smartphone. No thank you!

Gaming as Therapy

As many of my close friends can attest, I am an introvert and like to observe more than participate. I generally start characters who don't get into the middle of things and are not openly aggressive. My characters tend to start out as wallflowers and "blossom" from there as the game progresses. To me, this is very therapeutic from the day-to-day stressors of real life.



I know that there have been several crimes that have been directly or indirectly tied to gaming; from tabletop RPG's to MMORPG's. I can understand how gaming could have such an effect on someones mind, and this is why there are so many games with disclaimers on them. If a person lacks the mental or social discipline to treat this games as just a game, they should probably no partake in them. I have seen my fair share of people who have played the games and thought that the game world was their real world, and it scares me. So far, these people I've witnessed have not gone so far as to become destructive.



For me, gaming is a stress release. If I let all the stress I normally endure during a normal week build-up with no release, my head would explode. I play RPG's, LARP and video games so that I don't become a "disgruntled postal employee". For those that know me in real life, I generally project a calm demeanor and let most things slide off of me like water off a duck's back. While inside, I may be raging to kick someone's ass at whatever insult they may have lobbed my direction or some new way to get under my skin. It's a good thing I didn't take to chemistry when I was in high school for fear I'd work to develop a Jekyll and Hyde concoction.



I deal with in-game stress easier than I think most of my friends do. Recently, I've had several players communicate that they were sorry about an argument that took place in game. I understand that they didn't want me upset that it took a great deal of actual game time, but what they failed to understand in return is that disagreements and arguments are a way of life. I learn a great deal from fellow players by how they react to in-game opposition. As heated as some of the arguments may get, I never find myself taking an issue with it outside of the actual game and I try not to let it have an effect on me.



I game so I can de-stress, and this is a therapy for me. It's not all about escapism... even though that helps in the therapy. I also don't feel that I need a game to occupy what little free time I have in my life. If I didn't have my current responsibilities with my LARP group, I would probably have a relatively relaxful life. I guess that at that point I would have to game just for fun!

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Hooked

Title: John Constantine,
Hellblazer: Hooked

ISBN: 9781401227289

Price: $14.99

Publisher/Year: Vertigo,
2009

Artist: Guiseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Landini

Writer: Brian Peter Milligan

Collects: Hellblazer
#256-260

Rating: 3/5

Urban occultist John Constantine has straddled the fine line between
right and wrong since his debut more than 25 years ago in the pages of Alan
Moore’s acclaimed run on Swamp Thing. A conman and a trickster, he has proved
willing to make any sacrifice to achieve his objectives, whether that be friends,
family or even his own mortal soul. The jaded, cynical Constantine has allowed
himself to get close to someone, but the old weaknesses are hard to abandon,
and he resorts to using a love potion to win her commitment, something he would
never have needed to resort to in the past. But Constantine is getting old, and
for the first time he appears frightened of being alone, leading him to take
dangerous risks and sinking to new moral lows.

As anyone who has followed the character will know, things never end
well for the streetwise shaman whenever a woman gets involved, and this story
is no exception…

Writer Peter Milligan obviously has a long game plan for his run on
Hellblazer, and there is much set up here which will only be resolved in
subsequent volumes, but that shouldn’t discourage new readers from exploring
what dark and deadly corners of reality he is taking John these days.

Zanziber is Going to Wizard World Portland!

Wizard World Portland

That's right! Thanks for an offer on Groupon, I was able to afford a ticket for Friday, February 22nd. My plans are to go primarily for some autographs and take some photo's.

As I previously posted, I am unable to afford the expense of going to Emerald City Comic Con this year, but Portland is a day trip from my home, and easier to afford. I'm also currently working on getting some time with a special guest at Wizard World for my very first interview!

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that I'm planning on attending Stumptown Comics Fest this year. This will be my first year attending, and I look forward to connecting with special guest Bill Willingham from one of my favorite series, Fables.

Stumptown Comics Fest

As always, I will post about my experiences at both of these fine conventions along with whatever photos I happen to be able to take.

The Games We Play: Customizing Your CCG's

When I was regularly playing Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, I found an interesting site that provided instructions for creating customized cards for the game. I thought this was a unique idea and went for a ride with it. I was able to create cards based on some of my past and present character in the various Vampire: The Masquerade games I've played... including the Camarilla LARP games. Here are a few of the cards I've designed based off my personal characters:

Anthony G. Keel- This was one of my LARP PC's. He was a part of a large and somewhat infamous Ventrue family known as the Keel's. His backstory was that he used to be a member of the Giovanni family and was taken by his sire before he received the proxy kiss.

Erika Kekman- Those people that know me know that my favorite vampire clan are the Tzimisce. Erika was an NPC I developed for a game with my ex-wife and some friends. As I recall, she quickly became a thorn in the side of all the PC's.

Simon Archard- Probably one of my favorite character's from Vampire: The Masquerade. I have used him as an NPC in several of my tabletop games, and I'm currently working to develop him into a LARP character for the next Mind's Eye Society chronicle. There is a long story behind Simon, and I've recently decided to try and write his story for possible publication.

Alexander Bennette- This is another of my NPC's from the same game that I used Erika in. You can see, from their respective titles, that I played Chicago as a contested city. Considering that one of the PC's was Alexander's childe, this provided a great deal of drama for the game.

Khalid- Another of my NPC's from the Chicago-based game. He became more of a key player in the political scene that I had originally intended. This was primarily due to Alexander's childe bonding with Khalid. A young Toreador bonding with a Nosferatu. If you know the clans, you'll understand the strangeness.

Hiroko "Blade" Takano- For the Cam/Anarch side of things, "Blade" was probably my favorite LARP character in the Camarilla organization. I designed him as a weapons dealer, and with a couple of friends, we created the Takano family that spanned across the United States and even crossed venues. There were several Takano in the Cam/Anarch venue, but there were also numbers in Sabbat, Werewolf and even 1 Changeling. In time, I hope to again develop this Japanese family for use in the Mind's Eye Society.

Dakota Black- This was my first actual LARP character. He originally was a Tremere, but was soon adopted into the Brujah clan to help save him from the Tremere. Playing Dakota was the best times I had before the 4.0 chronicle for the Camarilla organization. I traveled up and down the Willamette Valley to play this character. That was back when such inter-Domain gameplay was promoted. Now, there is very little reason... outside of getting together with friends in other cities... to travel for other games. This is one of the several reasons why I'm considering dropping LARP from my list of social obligations. We'll see.

Azima- A counterpoint to Erika in my Chicago game. I'll be honest, I don't remember much about her character, but I do remember that the concept for her was based off of an old Dark Ages character I played.



If you're interested in creating your own Vampire: The Eternal Struggle cards, this site is a great resource... even though it's out of date:



Damnans' VTES Page

Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.

Title: Spider-Woman: Agent of
S.W.O.R.D.

ISBN: 9780785119999

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: Marvel, 2010

Artist: Alex Maleev

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Collects: Spider-Woman
#1-7

Rating: 3.5/5

It’s a got a great, moody noir feel. 
This can often be heavy-handed and forced, but not here. The gritty mood
and Jessica Drew’s first-person perspective is quite appropriate for a former
secret agent (two times over) and private detective who is at an all-time low
and seeking some sort of redemption after the Skrulls have tainted her name and
reputation by replacing her with an imposter as their queen during Bendis’
INVASION storyline. The noir atmosphere is especially right for a story in
which Drew is hired by a shady counterterrorism organization to hunt down the
shape-shifting Skrulls, first in a nasty part of the world.

Normally, I would hate muddy art like what’s used in here, but artist
Alex Maleev’s inked drawings/paintings really adds to the gritty feel. Clear,
distinct art just wouldn’t work here.

Drew first was an agent of Hydra before working for SHIELD. Now an
Avenger, Drew is recruited by Abigail Brand to be agent for S.W.O.R.D., the
Sentient World Observation and Response Department.

“It’s an international counterterrorism and intelligence agency that
deals with extraterrestrial threats to world security,” Brand tells Drew in
their first clandestine meeting on an empty bus.

Give Drew’s history with espionage (on the sides of both good and evil),
one would think she’d be full of confidence. But her inner monologue reveals a
skilled woman who not only second-guesses herself and her situations, she’s
just plain neurotic. She’s equal parts confident and unsure of her next move
and obviously, who to trust. This makes Drew come to life. She’s not just a
spurned superhero on a mission. This is important since AGENT OF S.W.O.R.D.
truly is a Jessica Drew story, not a Spider-Woman one (regardless of what the
title is).

Drew doesn’t have the stereotypical everything-is-under-control
demeanor of a James Bond- or Jason Bourne-style superspy. She’s more of a
shoot-from-the-hip-and-I’ll-figure-it-out-later person. At the same time, she’s
reluctant to use lethal force and even more hesitant to release her pheromone-based
gift of making others either fall in love with her (in turn, getting them to do
what she wants) or making them deathly afraid of her. It makes for a fun,
unpredictable mix.

Adding more intrigue to Drew’s character is her heritage, considering
she was raised in the Hydra terrorist organization and has a tumultuous
relationship (if you can call it that!) with Madame Hydra aka Lady Viper, whom
Drew calls “queen of the crazy women.”

I’ll let Jessica explain: “Factoid. In her most crazy moments, she
actually thinks she’s my mother. She’s not. My mother’s dead. I know because I
watched my Hydra terrorist father kill her right in front of me.”

Visually, what’s intriguing Maleev used Joylnn Carpenter as his
real-life model for Jessica Drew. Maleev makes Drew quite realistic, especially
with her expressive eyes - an extremely nuanced and difficult to do with any
character. Since I was curious as to what Carpenter actually looks like, I
found her on the Internet Movie Database (aka imdb.com). In short, Carpenter is
a stunning looking woman with incredibly alluring and sexy eyes. Maleev’s Drew
is attractive, but not in any kind of supermodel, or even underwear model, way.
Well played, sir!

Combine all this with Bendis’ obvious lifelong jones for Spider-Woman
and, well, this tale has legs.

ECCC 2013 Personal Announcement

Emerald City Comic Con

Over the past 2 years, I have made it a priority to attend ECCC in Seattle. I have posted about my experiences and have always enjoyed the trip and the convention. This year, there are several of my favorite artists that will be attending. I was extremely psyched to go this year.



Due to several financial obligations, it seems like I will have to miss this years event. I had even tried to make considerations for not staying in Seattle as long as normal and driving up with a friend instead of taking the train. Unfortunately, the numbers did not align in my budget.



I am making plans to attend Rose City Comic Con this year (September 21-22), and look forward to it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that with the new partnership between ECCC and RCCC will allow for some of the artist I'll miss in Seattle to come to Portland. (Ron- If you happen to read this, I'd love to help you any way I can help make this a reality. ;) )

 

Rose City Comic Con