The Return of Stickman #1373

The news story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman #1372

That's one BBQ I'm glad I missed.

The Comic Critic Reviews Ghost Rider

I’m still not going to talk about the results of the court case between Gary Friedrich and Marvel Comics. I might when I get around to reviewing the sequel to Ghost Rider. What I am going to discuss is how a sequel can be better than the original. I get complaints from my fans when I review movies out of sequence. So rather than enjoying myself at the theater watching the sequel, I stayed home and watched the first Ghost Rider, a DVD I’d picked up from a pile of “Free” stuff when a number of other friends and I helped our friend and comic book store owner, John Munn, move. I also picked up a copy of The Maltese Falcon. I’m going to hold onto The Maltese Falcon because it’s Classic Noir with some great actors. I’m not sure what to do with Ghost Rider. Perhaps I’ll give it as a prize to the first person to make a purchase at my table in Artists’ Alley at the next Emerald City Comicon.

The Return of Stickman #1371

Just in cased you missed the news story that inspired the last two strips. Which just goes to show that you can't believe everything you read on the internet.

The Return of Stickman #1370

I'm going to wait until tomorrow to show the story that inspired this strip.

The Return of Stickman #1369

There is no story related to this strip. I just thought my friends in Hawaii might get a kick out of it.

The Comic Critic Reviews Trollhunter

Back in the late seventies, I remember seeing lots of kitschy troll dolls in gift and tourist shops. No, I’m not talking about those little, smiling, pasteurized figures with tall, brightly colored hair. I’m talking about those warty, big-featured things with weird donkey tails sticking out of their twisted butts. Tufts of rabbit fur were glued to them. They were so ugly that they were intriguing. Then gnomes with their tall pointy hats became popular, and the trolls got shoved to the back of the shelves. I don’t want you to shove Trollhunter to the back. I want you to see it in its original Norwegian. Trust me, reading the subtitled translations will just add more fun to its found-documentary style. I can understand why the English-speaking film industry wants to cash in on this movie with a remake. Look for it in 2014. But please give the original a try. With the subtitles. You’ll enjoy it a lot more that way.

Special thanks to Saint Bryan and the folks at Evening Magazine for doing this story on The Comic Critic. As a result there has been a jump in subscriptions and sales at my store.

The Return of Stickman #1368

Yes, there is a real new story that inspired this strip, I'm just not posting it. Happy hunting!

The Comic Critic was the Lead Story on Seattle Evening Magazine

I first met Saint Bryan during a 24 Hour Comic Challenge. He and I chatted while I sweated over drawing Tips on having a Table at a Comic Convention. Oddly enough the next time I would run into him would be at ZomBcon where I had a table and was selling my stuff. It was then that Saint asked me if he could interview me and if I would be interested in doing some drawings for the interview. I said, "Sure!"

The Comic Critic Reviews Time Bandits

1981 was a very big year for me. I finished high school and began college. The public school system had been a painful purgatory that I had to suffer through before I could finally go to college to fulfill my dream of becoming a commercial artist. The Space Shuttle Columbia launched for the very first time, the Prince of Wales married a girl named Diana, and the first test-tube baby was born. At college, I did more than come out of my shell—I exploded. My mind, fueled by everything I’d wanted to learn for so long, was ablaze with crazy ideas, art and fantasy; I embraced anything that allowed me to explore them. It was the best timing in the world for me to experience the haplessly crazy, wonderful, dark, bizarre movie Time Bandits. And because of that timing, I still can’t see any flaws that I know this film must have. I fell in love with Time Bandits then, and I’m still in love with it now.

Also, I'm going to be featured on Seattle's Evening Magazine on Channel 5 tonight at 7:00 p.m. and I hop you tune in.

The Return of Stickman #1366

Below is the video that inspired today's strip.

The Return of Stickman #1365

This strip was inspired by real life.

The Comic Critic Revies Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

I’ve yet to write a review of 2009’s Sherlock Holmes. But I’ll tell you right now that I gave that one an eight and was tempted to give it a nine. Just like I’m giving this one a seven while tempted to give it an eight. Why am I wavering? Because I’m a Sherlock Holmes nut. I began reading Sherlock Holmes stories while I was in grade school, and I could name off all the cases by the time I was in junior high school. I’ve seen nearly all of the American and British Sherlock Holmes movies, including the ones that were produced during World War II. Sherlock and I go way back and I’m totally loving these new reboots. Sure, they cover a lot of ground too quickly, and they loosely grab only some elements from some of the cases, but their overall feel and gist is spot-on. But I have to warn you—what you’re hearing is the voice of the very young me. And back then, I thought a lot of things were cool, like bellbottoms and disco.

The Hourly Comic

Today is Hour Comic Day. The challenge is to draw a comic every hour, reflecting your life for that last hour, for every hour your awake. So, today you get a slice of my life. This blog posting will be updated throughout the day.