The Comic Critic Reviews Birthday Girl

This movie, Birthday Girl, haunts me. When I drew this review in ’07, I found it a decent thriller and gave it a seven. Yet, other movies I’ve rated with a seven don’t have their scenes popping into my head at odd times. I’m thinking I might have been wrong, and this film deserves an eight. But giving it a new rating creates logistical problems for me. It’s currently featured in my book, “The Comic Critic Presents Seldom Seen Films.” When my book goes into a second edition, should I alter the rating? Should I alter the rating on my website? Should I alter my rating at all? Part of me wants to just forget the whole thing and leave the rating as it is. I’m wondering which part of me is struggling to bring further attention to this film, the movie reviewer or the guy who likes to tie knots.

The reason I did not post a new review is because this weekend was nuts. On Saturday I was a Moderator for a panel discussing Graphic Novels with Matthew Southworth (Stumptown), Megan Kelso (Girl Hero), Emi Lenox (Emitown), Brandon Jerwa (G.I. Joe) and Kim Thompson (Fantagraphics). We went for over three hours and it was well received. The event was put on by the SPGA/Seattle Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild with sponsorship from Fantagraphics, Emerald City Comicon and the Seattle Chapter of the AIGA. There was a reception afterwards at Fantagraphics and I got to sign some of my books. But the day was not over. My next stop was Ray Weisgerber's (Emitown) birthday party.

Since I was already so far north I spent the night at Joe Manfredini's house. On Sunday I helped him with a photo shoot. We were in his studio taking pictures of one of his dogs for use on a greeting card. I finally made it home in time to have dinner with my wife.

Monday my father came over. We spent most of the day on Facebook. Here's his page, be his friend.He's bound and determine to learn all the ins and outs. It was great to spend time with my dad and all of my friends, but it left me with no time to draw a new strip. I will have one next Monday, I promise.

The Return of Stickman #1363

Here is the news story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman #1362

This strip was inspired by this news story.

I get asked a lot of complicated about copyright and contracts. But I also get asked some very simple questions. This latest video covers one of those questions.

The Comic Critic Reviews Naked Lunch

When Naked Lunch was released in 1991, I remember being struck by a barrage of imagery that kept testing the audience’s perception of whether or not the hero of the film was hallucinating, going mad, or being drawn into a bizarre world. The extremely weird scenes stayed with me over the years. They stuck in my head with such force that I was under the illusion that I could remember the entire film, an illusion shattered when I watched it again before writing this review. One scene in particular struck out at me. Back in 1991, I found the coffeehouse scene with men plucking away on their portable typewriters slightly humorous, but it wasn’t a visually startling scene. When I saw it again, I was hit by its “cinematic prophecy.” Once again, a vision of the future has become the mainstay. On my last trip to Starbucks, every table was filled with one or more laptops and people typing madly away. It may not have been a perfect representation of an Interzone coffeehouse, but it came oddly close. How great is it that one scene can reinvigorate a film? Since ‘91, I’ve thought Naked Lunch was a great film. This just reconfirms it.

The Return of Stickman #1360 and #1361

Here is the news story that inspired this strip.

I didn't get this strip posted yesterday due to a trip to the car mechanic. Looks like the care will be in the shop for the duration of the snowstorm that's falling today in Tacoma, WA.



Here is the news story that inspired this strip.

The Comic Critic Reviews The Deathless Devil

I never want to hear the words “Turkish Pulp Cinema” ever again. After watching Tarkan vs. The Vikings, I promised myself I’d return the DVD without spending even a moment on the second feature on the disk. But I was weak. Was I rewarded for my moment of weakness? No! Instead, I was bludgeoned with an endless stream of random fistfights strung together with random car chases, random rescues, or footage of cars, trains and planes. This film seemed to go on so long that every character’s costume kept aging, including the robot’s. And you know it was the robot that lured me into watching The Deathless Devil. What an apt name for a movie that just would not die.

The Return of Stickman #1359

Woo Hoo! I was about to do a full week of cartoons on top of my regular workload. I think I'm getting back into the swing of things. I even went out to lunch with my neighbor the other day without worry that I was going to give him the plague. Oh, here is the news story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman #1358

Here is the news story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman #1357

Here is the news story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman Returns from the Holidays

After spending most of December, and all of the holidays, sick in bed with the flu, it feels wonderful to get back to the drawing board. One of the first things I did to climb back on the horse was to make some entries into The Marketing Awards. If you work in the industry of advertising and marketing in Seattle then you know that this by-invite only newspaper has its finger on the pulse of everything that is happening in the Northwest. And if you don't know, well, you're just not old-school.

There is a category for videos done under $5,000. I can guarantee that the video I submitted was done for well under that. My special thanks to Adam J. Manley and Joe Izenman who were the other creatives on the team. Wish us luck.

The Comic Critic Review Tarkan and the Blood of the Vikings

I let the words “Turkish Pulp Cinema” lure me into watching Tarkan and the Blood of the Vikings, aka: Tarkan vs. The Vikings. Maybe I was hoping to capture some of my youth. I’d be stuck inside on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and because the T.V. didn’t have a remote, I’d end up watching (out of sheer laziness) some poorly-dubbed Italian film featuring some herculean he-man throwing his weight around. Now I’m an adult laid up with the flu and stuck with watching this DVD from Netflix. If I wanted to see something else on my queue, I’d have to pop it into the mail. The horror is that two weeks later I’m still recovering from the bug, and this was the first of a double-feature DVD. I’ve suffered enough. The disc is back in the mail—with the second feature unwatched.

The Return of Stickman #1355

I think this will be the last strip I do about weasels for a while. I'm not making any big promises. I find weasels a funny topic.

The Return of Stickman 1354 - More Marten Madman

I feel so inspired to beat this story to death.

The Return of Stickman #1353

I apologize for not posting a comic to this blog for the last few weeks. I came down with the flu, which turned into pneumonia, which laid me out for the holidays. Thanks to modern medicine and lots of bed rest I’m finally feeling better. You can look forward to plenty of comics in 2012.